Slamboree 1997: Ric Flair Comes Home, the Crowd Does the Heavy Lifting, and WCW Mostly Gets Out of the Way

Steven Regal and Ultimo Dragon open the pay-per-view with sixteen minutes of patient technical wrestling that gets better the longer the crowd realizes Charlotte is willing to appreciate it. Regal slows Dragon with uppercuts, mat control and the kind of holds that look mildly illegal even when they are not. Dragon answers with speed, kicks and sudden counters that keep the champion from settling into one rhythm. Sonny Onoo's accidental kick creates the opening for the Regal Stretch and the title change. CAGEMATCH's current matchguide sits at 7.57, with the Observer at three-and-three-quarter stars, while TJR gave it 3.25. The interference is familiar WCW seasoning, but the wrestling earns the finish.

Madusa and Luna Vachon get only five minutes, which is both limiting and merciful. The pace is fast, the strikes have enough attitude to make the rivalry feel personal, and Luna carries herself like she would rather fight Madusa in the parking lot than wait for a bell. Madusa's offense is sharper, especially when the match speeds up, and the short runtime prevents the usual midcard drift. TJR rated it two stars, while CAGEMATCH's guide is just above five. That range fits. There is not enough time for anything substantial, but there is enough intensity to avoid feeling disposable. On this card, concise competence is a useful feature.

Rey Misterio Jr. and Yuji Yasuraoka work a match that feels like a quiet luxury on a card obsessed with football players and faction warfare. Yasuraoka is aggressive and unfamiliar enough to create a fresh dynamic, while Rey remains one of the best wrestlers in the company at making impossible movement look like an ordinary Tuesday. The middle slows with arm work and positioning, but the closing minutes regain urgency through counters and aerial bursts. CAGEMATCH's current matchguide is 6.34 and the Observer went three-and-a-quarter stars. It is not a classic by Rey's standards, but that standard is unfair. This is good midcard wrestling from two people trusted to fill time without wasting it.

Glacier and Mortis barely get started before Wrath arrives and converts the match into an angle, which is probably the correct decision if the alternative was twelve more minutes of mythology. Glacier throws a few kicks, Mortis bumps with his usual commitment, and James Vandenberg creates enough ringside noise to signal where everything is headed. The disqualification comes at 1:51, followed by the heels continuing the beatdown. CAGEMATCH does not even qualify the match for its guide because of the length. That says almost everything. This is not really a scored wrestling match in spirit, but it occupies a pay-per-view slot and therefore gets judged as one. The verdict is mostly about opportunity cost.

Dean Malenko against Jeff Jarrett is a professional wrestling match in the purest sense: technically competent, logically structured and just messy enough around the edges to remind everyone which company is promoting it. Jarrett slows Malenko with targeted offense and veteran shortcuts, while Malenko keeps returning to the leg and the Texas Cloverleaf. Steve McMichael eventually appears and throws Jarrett back inside, creating the opening for Malenko's powerbomb and submission finish. CAGEMATCH's current guide sits at 5.47, while period reviewers generally land in the solid-but-unspectacular range. That feels right. The work is dependable. The match never creates the emotional gear that separates title wrestling from good television.

Meng versus Chris Benoit is the card's most convincing fight. Neither man needs furniture, cartoon rules or a moving truck to suggest danger. Meng simply absorbs offense like an industrial appliance, while Benoit keeps throwing harder strikes because restraint has never been part of the character. The match builds around whether the Crossface can stop a man WCW has spent years presenting as nearly impossible to hurt. It cannot. Meng eventually traps Benoit in the Tongan Death Grip and wins by submission. CAGEMATCH's current guide is 7.30, one of the best scores on the show, and modern reviews consistently identify it as a standout. The violence is direct, the finish matters, and the stipulation finally matches the tone.

The Steiner Brothers against Konnan and Hugh Morrus is not elegant, but it understands that Scott and Rick Steiner should spend most of a nine-minute match throwing people. Konnan and Morrus provide size and occasional offense without ever feeling like a serious threat to the brothers' momentum. Scott's power spots wake the crowd, Rick works naturally from underneath when needed, and the finish arrives before the matchup can outlive its usefulness. CAGEMATCH's guide sits a little above five, which is exactly where this belongs. It is competent heavyweight tag wrestling with no real stakes beyond keeping the Steiners warm for the Outsiders. That is enough for television and only barely enough for pay-per-view.

Steve McMichael versus Reggie White is the attraction WCW wanted mainstream sports fans to notice and the match wrestling fans had to survive. White is clearly athletic, remarkably game and more comfortable than many one-shot celebrities, but fifteen minutes is a cruel amount of time for a novice wrestler. McMichael is not experienced enough to guide him through the dead stretches, so the match alternates between football-flavored power spots and long pauses where both men appear to be searching for the next instruction. TJR rated it poorly and singled it out as the match that sucked life from the room. CAGEMATCH is even harsher, sitting below two. White's effort deserves respect. The match still earns an F.

The main event is not a technical masterpiece, but it is almost perfectly matched to the building. Ric Flair is wrestling for the first time in six months and doing it in Charlotte, so every tag, chop and strut lands like a hometown referendum. Roddy Piper supplies chaos, Kevin Greene again looks surprisingly comfortable for an NFL player, and the nWo trio knows exactly how to stall until the crowd is ready to explode. The closing stretch becomes organized mayhem before Flair pins Hall while the Figure Four is applied and Piper traps Nash in the sleeper. CAGEMATCH's current matchguide is 7.35, while Leighty gave it three-and-a-quarter stars. The atmosphere pushes it above the mechanics.