WCW L.A. Melee Closed WCW's Internet Experiment with a Sellout and a Loaded 1998 Card

Booker T against Fit Finlay is exactly the kind of television-title match that makes this card feel more substantial than an anonymous house show. Booker was in the middle of the frantic 1998 Television Championship picture, while Finlay brought a style based on pressure, physical contact and veteran timing. The surviving event references confirm the title defense but do not provide a dependable complete official replay or match length, so the grade has to rest on stakes, pairing quality and how well the result fits the period rather than move-by-move reconstruction. Booker retaining is the logical choice, and the matchup gives the opening portion of the event a championship purpose immediately. It is not a historic title defense, but it is a credible, useful piece of WCW’s deep midcard at its commercial peak.

Eddie Guerrero versus Chavo Guerrero Jr. carries more narrative weight than a typical touring singles match because their family feud was already one of WCW’s most character-driven midcard stories. Eddie’s controlling uncle persona and Chavo’s increasingly unstable rebellion gave even a simple match an emotional hook that did not depend on a championship. Historical result summaries record Eddie winning with the frog splash, followed by Chavo fighting back and cutting some of Eddie’s hair, which means the segment advanced the rivalry rather than merely filling a slot. Without a complete official replay it would be irresponsible to grade every transition, but the documented angle, the participants and the timing all point to a meaningful chapter. On a card full of protected finishes, this one also benefits from having a decisive pinfall and a clear post-match consequence.

The six-man lucha match is a reminder of how absurdly deep WCW’s cruiserweight ecosystem remained in 1998. Juventud Guerrera and Psychosis were established television names, Ciclope was a useful masked presence, and the opposing trio brought familiar Mexican workers who could keep a multi-man match moving. The documented finish has Guerrera pinning Damien with the Juvi Driver, giving the bout a clean ending and a logical featured performer. There is no trustworthy complete official recording available for a precise technical review, so the score reflects the lineup, the likely pace implied by the participants and the fact that the result is consistently preserved across event histories. Even with that limitation, this is exactly the kind of depth match that makes L.A. Melee attractive as a historical card: WCW could place six capable luchadores underneath four separate headline programs.

Ultimo Dragon versus Dean Malenko should be a dream technical pairing, and the names alone give the middle of the card credibility. The finish, however, tells you what WCW needed more than what the match could have been. Historical summaries have Malenko leave the ring while pursuing Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho, allowing Dragon to win by count-out. That advances Malenko’s ongoing issue with Jericho but sacrifices a satisfying conclusion between two elite workers. Because the original full official presentation is not available, the grade cannot assume they produced a classic simply because their résumés suggest they could. The booking idea is defensible: protect both wrestlers, move another feud forward and give Dragon a victory. Still, when the pairing itself promises a wrestling showcase, a storyline count-out inevitably feels like an incomplete payoff.

Chris Jericho against Rey Mysterio Jr. is historically interesting because it sits only two days before their Bash at the Beach title match, where Mysterio would defeat Jericho for the Cruiserweight Championship. Here, Jericho retains by disqualification, preserving the championship and keeping the rivalry alive for the pay-per-view. That is classic bridge booking: the audience receives the marquee pairing, but WCW protects the larger scheduled match. The drawback is obvious, especially on a card already using other non-decisive finishes. Without a complete official replay, the score leans on the rivalry’s known chemistry, the championship stakes and the event’s place in their July sequence rather than invented detail. As a historical artifact, it is one of the strongest matches on the card because it shows WCW using the internet special as connective tissue between television and PPV.

Konnan versus Vincent is the clearest maintenance match on the card. It keeps the nWo factions represented and gives Konnan a singles victory during the Wolfpac’s hottest stretch, but there is little documented evidence that the pairing carried major stakes or produced a memorable standalone attraction. In a normal preserved show, execution and crowd response could rescue a thin booking premise. Here, with no complete official replay available, there is not enough evidence to inflate the score beyond what the matchup and result suggest. Konnan was a popular act and the live Forum audience likely gave him a reaction, yet Vincent was positioned primarily as supporting nWo depth. The clean result is at least preferable to another protective disqualification. For a nine-match card, this is the bout that can be removed without damaging the event’s historical story.

The Wolfpac versus nWo Hollywood tag has enormous name value: Kevin Nash, Lex Luger, Bret Hart and The Giant were all major television personalities, and the faction split was one of WCW’s central 1998 stories. The problem is the disqualification finish. Historical results preserve the matchup as another protected faction encounter, which makes sense when none of the four men should be taking an unnecessary decisive loss on an internet-only special. It also means the match serves television continuity more than event satisfaction. With no complete official replay to judge pacing or crowd heat precisely, the score reflects the attraction of the lineup against the weakness of the finish. The live audience received four stars in one ring, and that matters. But on a card already filled with major names, star power alone is not enough to turn a non-finish into essential viewing.

Goldberg defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Curt Hennig is the event’s most important match historically. Four days earlier, Goldberg had beaten Hollywood Hogan at the Georgia Dome to complete one of the defining rises of the Monday Night War. L.A. Melee therefore catches him almost immediately as champion, before his Bash at the Beach rematch with Hennig two nights later. The result is straightforward and correct: Goldberg wins, protecting the momentum of the new champion and establishing that the title change was not a one-night spectacle. The absence of a complete official replay prevents a detailed performance grade, and the imminent PPV rematch limits the event’s exclusivity. Even so, this is a rare documented world-title defense from the first week of Goldberg’s reign and gives L.A. Melee a direct connection to one of WCW’s biggest historical moments.

Sting against Hollywood Hogan in a steel cage is almost absurd as a closing attraction for an audio-only internet special. The rivalry had already headlined Starrcade, SuperBrawl and Malice at the Palace, so novelty was not the selling point. Instead, the matchup gave the sellout Forum crowd the two faces most associated with WCW’s war against the nWo. Historical summaries record Sting winning the cage match, giving the event a decisive babyface finish after several protected results earlier in the night. The repetition keeps the score below the card’s strongest midcard pairings; WCW had gone back to Sting-Hogan many times by July. Still, as a live-event closer it makes perfect sense. If you were one of the 15,678 people in the building, the cage and the star power provided a clear main-event spectacle even if modern viewers cannot reconstruct every detail.