31 Days of Vince Russo "Special Matches" in 1999/2000 WCW - #13: Crowbar on a Pole Match (Diamond Dallas Page vs David Flair) at Starrcade 1999 - 12/19/1999
The 13th entry of this 31-day series features DDP vs David Flair in a Crowbar on a Pole Match at WCW Starrcade 1999 on December 19, 1999.
A clip of the match is also available on the WWE Network here, starting at the 1:32:10 mark.
At Starrcade 1999, DDP faced David Flair in a Crowbar on a Pole match.
The rules of this match are as follows: The first wrestler to retrieve the crowbar gets to use the weapon on his opponent.
This will be a common theme throughout most of the Vince Russo "pole matches" in this era of WCW.
Before I get into the match itself, here’s some brief context:
This match is the culmination of a feud involving Diamond Dallas Page and his wife Kimberly on one side and Ric Flair and his son David Flair on the other.
The feud started after Fall Brawl in September 1999. On the October 11th, 1999 Nitro, Kimberly Page gave David Flair a hotel room key, saying she was lonely since her husband DDP was out of town. However, toward the end of the night, Ric Flair showed up at Kimberly's hotel room instead of David. Space Mountain, Woooo!
At Halloween Havoc, DDP defeated Ric Flair in a strap match, and then brutally attacked Flair until Ric had to be hospitalized. David Flair sees this and snaps. This is also the beginning of David Flair going crazy and carrying a crowbar with him.
The following night, David Flair attacked DDP with a crowbar. One week later on Nitro, Kimberly ran David Flair over with a car (yep). One week later, David Flair is okay, but stalking Kimberly Page with a crowbar in hand for a really long time backstage. (At this point, David Flair's father had been hospitalized by DDP, and David was run over with a car by Kimberly...not saying David should have stalked Kimberly, but I understand).
Upon seeing Kimberly being stalked by a man with a crowbar throughout Nitro, WCW Management decides to do the only right thing in this situation...sign a match at WCW Mayhem PPV between Kimberly and David Flair, the man who is stalking her. David Flair and Kimberly had a match which was ruled a no contest after DDP and Kanyon rescued Kimberly. David Flair didn't win. Kimberly didn't win. Anything who saw this match didn't win.
One month later, we have DDP and David Flair facing off in a Crowbar on a Pole Match at WCW Starrcade.
Now, onto the match itself.
David Flair is in a dimly-lit room with a crowbar acting crazy. We then cut to a 30-second promo on the buildup to this match.
Mean Gene Okerlund is interviewing DDP backstage. They are standing in front of the WCW Starrcade logo with about 12-16 WCW backstage crates in the background (they can't get a real interview set put up for WCW's biggest PPV of the year, I guess.) Okerlund says, "the first superstar to reach it literally gets to use it on his opponent." DDP says David Flair has problems after mentioning David Flair came after DDP with a crowbar (after DDP hospitalized the man's father) and stalked Kimberly (a week after Kimberly ran his ass over with a car). DDP says he'll beat Flair, as the camera pans back so we can see how crappy the interview area looks (this is a multi-million dollar wrestling company).
DDP's music hits, and he comes down to the ring. The announcers say that David Flair hasn't been normal since DDP took out David Flair's father, Ric.
Page is in the corner when David Flair comes in and lightly taps hits DDP's ribs with a crowbar. The bell rings as DDP rolls to the outside mat. David Flair raises his hands and walks around at ringside.
David Flair gets back in the ring, and referee Charles Robinson takes Flair's crowbar away. The real crowbar is already hung up on the pole. The ref checks on DDP outside, as David Flair walks in circles inside the ring. The ref signals for David Penzer, WCW Announcer, and says something to him. David Penzer gets on the mic and says that the ref determined that DDP cannot compete. But before David Penzer can declare David Flair the winner of the match by forfeit, DDP shoves him away.
DDP pulls himself into the ring and lies down in the corner. The referee rings the bell to start the match...again...for reasons. Flair has the early advantage, but DDP counters with a rollup for a 2. Flair targets the lower back and ribs again. Bobby Heenan on commentary wants David Flair to get the crowbar, because Heenan is smart. DDP picks up Flair, but Flair falls on top of Page for a 2 count.
DDP and David Flair go back and forth with some half-decent wrestling. Both men go down to the mat, as the ref starts a ten-count. Flair and Page get up around 8 and go toward the crowbar of the pole. David Flair hits a lowblow on DDP. David Flair sees the crowbar, but puts DDP in the figure-four leglock instead. After a couple of 2-counts, DDP reverses the hold.
David Flair lets go of the hold, and retrieves the crowbar from the pole. According to the rules of this match, David Flair gets to use the crowbar on DDP. Flair swings the crowbar at Page, but DDP ducks and hits the Diamond Cutter. David Flair is lying face down, motionless except for him grabbing the crowbar and tossing it aside slightly.
DDP pins David Flair for the 1-2-3 and wins this match in 3 minutes, 55 seconds. DDP celebrates the victory. DDP then picks up David Flair and sits him on the top turnbuckle. Page hits a top-rope Diamond Cutter onto David Flair for good measure. Page picks up the crowbar and is about to hit Flair's testicles with the crowbar when a mystery woman hits the ring and protects David Flair. This marks Daffney's debut in WCW, I believe. DDP leaves the ring, as we move on with the rest of the show.
I have to admit that this is one of the best matches I have reviewed so far in this series, although that's not saying much. The match was brief, but there was actual wrestling in the match. There was a story told in the ring. There was a backstory behind the match taking place (as long as you don't think too much about it). There was no interference, no run-ins. DDP didn't even use the crowbar after David Flair got it first. And, a clean win in the middle of the ring.
This was at a time in WCW when there was still good wrestling even after Vince Russo took over. As time went on, that would gradually change for the worse. In the meantime, enjoy this match.
Previous entries:
Day 1: 11-15-1999 Nitro - House of Pain Match: Saturn/Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero/Konnan
Day 2: 11-8-1999 Nitro - Texas Tornado Ladder Match for the U.S. Title: Bret Hart vs Goldberg vs Scott Hall vs Sid Vicious
Day 3: 1-16-2000 Souled Out PPV - Catch-As-Catch-Can Match: Billy Kidman vs Dean Malenko
Day 4: 10-2-2000 Nitro - Tag Team Ladder Match for Disqo Duck: Rey Mysterio, Jr/Konnan vs Disqo/Alex Wright
Day 5: 8-16-2000 Thunder - Kamloops Street Fight: Gene Okerlund vs Mark Madden
Day 6: 7-9-2000 Bash at the Beach PPV - Graveyard Match: Vampiro vs The Demon
Day 7: 7-9-2000 Bash at the Beach PPV - Wedding Gown Match: Stacy Keibler vs. Daffney
Day 8: 8-13-2000 New Blood Rising PPV - Canadian Rules Match for the US Title: Lance Storm vs Mike Awesome
Day 9: 7-24-2000 Nitro - 4-Way Tag Team Caged Heat Match: Filthy Animals vs MIA vs Perfect Event vs JIndrak/O'Haire
Day 10: 8-28-2000 Nitro - "Prisoner of War" Table Match: Lance Storm vs General Rection
Day 11: 6-5-2000 Nitro - 1-on-12 Gauntlet Match: Kevin Nash vs. 12 members of the New Blood
Day 12: 12-19-2000 Starrcade PPV - Powerbomb Match: Kevin Nash vs Sid Vicious
Posted Dec 14, 2018, 1:06 AM UTC · edited