SuperBrawl VIII

SuperBrawl VIII
SuperBrawl VIII
	VHS cover featuring Hollywood Hogan and Sting
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Brand(s)	WCW; nWo
Date	February 22, 1998
City	San Francisco, California
Venue	Cow Palace
Attendance	12,620
Tagline(s)	"Hogan vs. Sting II for Championship"
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous; Souled Out	Next →; Uncensored
SuperBrawl chronology
← Previous; VII	Next →; IX

SuperBrawl VIII was the eighth SuperBrawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The event took place on February 22, 1998, from the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California.^[1]

Storylines

The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.^[2]

The central storyline entering SuperBrawl was the ongoing dispute over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. At Starrcade in December 1997, Hollywood Hogan and Sting squared off in the main event for the title, which at the time belonged to Hogan. Hogan was initially awarded the victory, but the decision was reversed by Bret Hart, who claimed referee Nick Patrick had made a fast count and restarted the match, which Sting won by submission. Due to the circumstances surrounding the match, a rematch was ordered for the December 29, 1997 edition of WCW Monday Nitro.^[3] After that match, officially a no-contest, it again ended with controversy surrounding its conclusion. On the premiere episode of WCW Thunder on January 8, 1998, WCW Executive Committee Chairman J. J. Dillon announced that the title was being held up pending a solution. The solution was announced at Souled Out on January 24, with the announcement of another match between Sting and Hogan for the vacated championship.

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role:	Name:
Commentators	Tony Schiavone
	Bobby Heenan
	Mike Tenay
Interviewer	Gene Okerlund
Ring announcers	Michael Buffer
Ring announcers	David Penzer
Referees	Randy Anderson
	Mickie Henson
	Charles Robinson
	Nick Patrick
	Billy Silverman

The match between Brad Armstrong and Bill Goldberg was added at the last minute. Initially, Larry Zbyszko was to face Louie Spicolli in a match, but Spicolli died of a drug overdose seven days before the event.

Rick Martel was initially booked to win the match against Booker T. However, he suffered a torn knee ligament after hitting his leg on the ropes after a hip toss from Booker T. The winner of the match was to defend the title against Saturn immediately. Due to Martel's injury and the reworking of the finish, Saturn and Booker were forced to improvise the entire match.

The Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera match was initially called a win for Guerrera on a pinfall after a Juvi 450 Splash, but the referee belatedly saw Jericho reach the ropes and ordered the match to continue. After a few more minutes, Jericho forced the submission, and when Guerrera's unmasking of himself took a little too long for Jericho's liking, he ripped off the mask for him.

Steve McMichael suffered a broken arm during his match against The British Bulldog.

Lex Luger forced Randy Savage to submit with the Torture Rack. Elizabeth interfered while Luger first put Savage in the Torture Rack and pulled him down. Immediately after that, Scott Norton, Buff Bagwell, Brian Adams, and Vincent rushed the ring and began attacking Luger and Savage. Hollywood Hogan then came out and called all four members of the nWo back to the locker room, thus leaving Savage alone in the ring, where he suffered the Torture Rack and lost the match.

Scott Hall pinned Rick Steiner after an Outsider's Edge. Scott Steiner turned on Rick midway through the match and refused to help him fight off The Outsiders. After the match Scott handed the tag team title belts to the Outsiders and joined the New World Order.

In the main event, Sting pinned Hollywood Hogan after a Scorpion Death drop. While Sting hit the move, Hogan kicked referee Nick Patrick and knocked him down. While the referee was down, Scott Norton, Buff Bagwell, Brian Adams, Vincent, Konnan, and Randy Savage came to the ring. Everyone except Savage went to attack Sting. As Hogan was trying to get up, Savage struck him with a spray can and left the ring. Sting scored the pin and won the match.

Reception

In 2012, Jack Bramma of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 7.0 [Good], stating, "Really solid PPV until the prime time players show up in the last hour to bathe in the tears of small children with two swerves, several run-ins, and no clean finishes in the final three marquee matches. Watch the first 2/3 for work and the final 1/3 for personality."^[4]