Let's Talk About...

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

 

Of all of the gimmicks that I would like WWE to steal from WCW, it's this one. Everybody talks about how much they love War Games, but I still prefer the Battlebowl concept above all else.

 

 

I prefer the format that they used for the 1991 and 1993 competitions. While I don't see WWE running a PPV consisting of unannounced matches, I do think that it would be intriguing for them to run a special three-hour RAW featuring the Battlebowl concept.

 

 

If done properly (like, the opposite of what they did in 1996) it can be used to start new feuds and elevate new stars.

 

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

[King Kamala 0]

Battlebowl is an idea that is better in theory than execution IMO. There's never really any chemistry behind the teams and the whole thing just felt thrown together at the last minute outside of a few matches. However like you, I wouldn't mind them reviving the idea for a three hour RAW. Like I said, I like the concept but I don't like the way WCW pulled it off.

 

Incidentally, I kind of liked Slamboree '96. Then again, I haven't seen it in ten years and when I last saw it I was a massive mark.

 

 

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

TNA is doing it this month, plus it bombed on PPV

[BUTT 0]

Doing the Battlebowl-only PPV in '93 was quite an odd decision. I remember barely any promotion for it, not that you could do angles for it since all of the matches were unannounced before the show. And having Vader, then WCW champ, win it was weird too. I would have had Flair win by eliminating Vader to set up their title match the next month, but that's just me. Also, the PPV was on a Saturday. At 8:30. When do pay-per-views ever start in the middle of the hour?

 

BONUS BATTLEBOWL JOKE:

 

Why is Battlebowl a college girl's favorite WCW show?

 

Because it's SO RANDOM!

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Vader winning set up Flair as the underdog the following month.

[JHawk 0]

Also, the PPV was on a Saturday. At 8:30. When do pay-per-views ever start in the middle of the hour?

And it still went the normal 2:45, ending the show at 11:15.

 

Never understood it either, but that was my favorite Battlebowl aside from the first one.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I think the problem w/ a lot of the Battlebowls was that there was so damn many tag matches. Having there be 16 (like in 92) or 20 participants would be ideal for a Raw. 4-5 tag matches before a battle royal to crown a winner is much better than 11 tag matches like in 96.

[cabbageboy 0]

Battlebowl never really works because it comes off one of two ways: 1. Teams are completely random and the matches have little heat as a result. 2. Teams are meant to be random but are blatantly NOT random, such as the mismatched Steiners/Harlem Heat match or Flair/Macho being on either the same or opposite sides, etc.

 

Also, it would have helped if there was a real incentive to win the thing. Sting ended up with a title shot at Luger, but was his Battlebowl win in 1991 exactly #1 contender? Muta won in 1992 but only got a nice ring and jack shit otherwise. Vader was already champ in 1993. There needed to be some reason for it to happen, like the winner gets a world title shot.

[majormayhem1 0]

I think it was wonderful idea. But, who would would want to watch anything with the stars WCW had in '94-'95?

 

Shockmaster and Too Cold Scorpio vs. The Equalizer and Cobra. We're having a good time now!

 

But, I did love the '91 version. Some of the better matches (one match included Rick Rude and Arn Anderson as a team) were actually edited down for time while the worst matches involving El Gigante and Bill Kazmeyer were shown in their entirety. But, the Battle Royale was great.

 

 

What I'd really love is a Survivor Series/Battle Bowl/Royal Rumble . Teams of four picked at random wrestle in elimination style tag matches and the winning teams advance to the Battle Bowl where they enter at random two-minute intervals.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

That would actually be kind of neat, mayhem, though I doubt WWE would want to take away the "special-ness" of the actual Royal Rumble. They could do your idea with some sort of otherwise modified battle royal, though, maybe.

 

I do think the standard Lethal Lottery thing would work well on a three hour RAW, though.

[JST 0]

What I'd really love is a Survivor Series/Battle Bowl/Royal Rumble . Teams of four picked at random wrestle in elimination style tag matches and the winning teams advance to the Battle Bowl where they enter at random two-minute intervals.

 

Survivor Series 96 had part of that with the Wild Card Match. You had "random pairings" of HBK, Sid, Amhed Johnson and Bulldog VS Owen Hart, Yoko, Razor Ramon, Dean Douglas. It was interesting at the time and I'm surprised they didn't further pursue it.

 

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

That was actually 95, but I wholeheartedly agree, I thought the mixed teams was a really cool concept - one I'd still like to see from time to time to this day.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

I remember before DDP won his first championship, the announcers always put over his Battle Bwl ring.

 

I had no idea what it was at the time, but they had me convinced it was something special.

[cabbageboy 0]

I agree that the Lethal Lottery could make for a fun 3 hour Raw, but as a PPV it's too hard of a sell. It's too tough to hype a show when you can't really advertise the matches.

[LooseCannon25 0]

That was actually 95, but I wholeheartedly agree, I thought the mixed teams was a really cool concept - one I'd still like to see from time to time to this day.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I loved the "WildCard" concept and thought at the very least that they should have had one of those matches every year during the survivor series.

[Brocklock 0]

Battlebowl never really produced an awesome card but still it just produced some fun shows.

 

These matches were my personal faves:

 

Luger/Arn vs Z-Man/Taylor - Starrcade 91

Sting/Butcher vs Eaton/Pillman - Starrcade 91

Muta/Windham vs Pillman/Scorpio - Starrcade 92

Flair/Austin vs Payne/Scorpio - Battlebowl 93

Flair/Savage vs Arn/Eddie - Slamboree 96