Monday Nitro – February 10, 1997: Can Someone Smack Debra In The Face? Please? I’ll Give You A Dollar

Monday Nitro #74
Date: February 10, 1997
Location: Jacksonville Municipal Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

After last week we have our two biggest matches for Superbrawl and we have this plus one more Nitro before we get to the PPV. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen here as they have a lot set for the PPV so it’ll likely just be promos for that. I say it’s hard to say because there would be a very strange set of promos by Piper before it, which I’m sure will get a few comments out of me. Let’s get to it.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko

Before the match Dean talks (?!?!) to Syxx, challenging him to a match anywhere anytime. This is non-title I believe. Eddie wraps him up to start after a quick headscissors. Dean takes the arm but gets headscissored back down. Dean comes back with a powerslam for two and takes over. Eddie tilt-a-whirls him down for two.

Time for the chinlock and then they hit the mat for a move that no one is sure as to what it was. It might have been a submission but I have no idea who it was on. Dean hits a release German for two and a tombstone as Syxx comes out. He clocks Penzer and steals the US Title. Eddie chases and gets counted out.

Rating: C+. It’s Eddie vs. Dean. Were you expecting anything other than a good match here? They were flying all over the place and put on a clinic out there while they could, but the ending really brought it down. Then again it’s advancing an angle so I can’t complain as much as I do when it’s the same things over and over.

Here’s DDT with a chair. He sits down in the middle of the ring and says that there’s a bullseye on his forehead. Here’s here to make a statement: he’s tired of running and if something is going to happen, let it happen right now. Here come Sting and Savage to the ring and they circle him. Savage hits the chair with the bat and Page jumps up. They shove him back with the bat and Sting pulls his back to swing it but stops. Page doesn’t leave and Sting hands him his bat. Savage and Sting turn their backs but Page doesn’t move. Savage and Sting leave.

Konnan vs. Bobby Eaton

Konnan hits a quick dropkick and shrugs off Eaton’s right hands. Seated dropkick sets up the 187 for a very quick pin.

We get a clip of Luger getting attacked last week.

Lex Luger vs. Ron Powers

Eric comes out and says not so fast because Luger isn’t medically cleared to wrestle because of a big cast on his left hand. Lex has the rest of the show to get him a medical release or he’s out of SuperBrawl. Lex leaves and Giant comes up behind Bischoff.

The Giant vs. Ron Powers

Giant throws him around and hits the chokeslam for the pin at about a minute and a half.

Giant says he’ll have a partner at SuperBrawl in the form of Lex Luger because Luger is the only one that would trust him. Luger comes out and says nothing will stop him from going for the titles.

The rest of the NWO gets here. Actually it’s just the Outsiders and Bubba. Bubba wants DDP at SuperBrawl.

High Voltage vs. Steiner Brothers

Scott and Rage get us going as Tony talks about a fatal fourway match which would never take place. Harlem Heat, another team that is scheduled for that match, is out watching. Rage clips Scott’s knee but gets caught in a powerslam coming off the top. Gorilla press brings in Rick and the Faces of Fear are watching too. Kaos is in to face Rick and the Public Enemy is here too. Malenko vs. Syxx will happen at the PPV as well. Rick works the arm for a bit and it’s back to Scott. High Voltage cheats to take over but Scott won’t sell any of that. Rage’s springboard is caught in a Rick powerbomb and the Bulldog gets the pin.

Rating: C-. Just a step above a squash here but it was fine to give the Steiners some momentum going into the PPV. High Voltage was a good jobbing team like they were used as here so I can’t complain much in that regard. Having the other teams come out was a nice touch as well.

Here’s the NWO for their regular takeover of the broadcast desk. It’s Hall, Nash and Eric on commentary with Syxx and Nick Patrick behind them. Eric brings out Randy Anderson with his kids to beg for his job. Bischoff gets in one of his greatest lines ever with “Kids, will you please tell your daddy…..THAT HE’S STILL FIRED!” Next week Anderson can wrestle Patrick for his job. Anderson’s wife says no because that’s against what his doctors said. His doctors told a referee that he can’t wrestle?

Outsiders vs. The Extreme

This is the same team that the Outsiders killed a few weeks ago. The Outsiders jump them in the aisle and this lasts about a minute and a half. A Torture Rack (in a fireman’s carry position) by Nash gets the submission.

Syxx interviews the Outsiders post match with Nash talking about how a giant is a goon according to the dictionary. Hall says Nash is a cool giant, not a dorky giant.

Hour #2 begins with the usual announcers.

TV Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Steven Regal

Regal takes the arm to start and it’s time for some chain wrestling. They both fight over the arm but Regal casually picks him up and hits a backbreaker to take over. Rey comes back with a springboard missile dropkick and Regal is in trouble. Steven gets in a quick thumb to the eye and a European Uppercut to take over. There are the knees to the face and Regal is dominating. Rey manages a dropkick to put him on the floor but walks into a guillotine to keep the advantage with the champion. They trade some very fast rollups for two each and Rey has him cradled as the bell rings at 6:54 for the time limit draw.

Rating: C. I know wrestling isn’t great at keeping time, but less than seven minutes? That has to be a botch of some sort because that was off by about three minutes if Tony’s statement of a ten minute time limit is correct. They were starting to click at the end too which makes the ending all the stranger.

Kevin Sullivan vs. Maverick Wild

Wild has what would become Mongo’s music. Sullivan jumps him immediately and knocks him to the floor, where Jackie beats him up. Wild gets thrown out there again and beaten up one more time with Heenan freaking out. Tenay actually mentions the Women’s Title. Tree of Woe and double stomp end the squash quick. This was more about Jackie than the match.

Sullivan cuts off the interview post match and talks to Nancy and Chris. He talks about being in bed last night and getting a call from someone named Paulie and saying that the deal is falling through. A bunch of people have told him to do his job which makes Sullivan talk about the difference between a community and a neighborhood. He implies that if Woman tries to use a weapon on Jackie, there will be punishment. The girls are going to be strapped together at the PPV. Jackie says the same thing.

Some Jacksonville Jaguar is here.

LONG recap of the ending of Nitro last week, and by that I mean they SHOW THE WHOLE THING, with Tony doing a voiceover. There are no cuts in this and it eats up like 8 minutes. I guess we’ve just found the rest of the TV Title match.

Hugh Morrus vs. Alex Wright

Morrus pounds him down in the corner and Wright comes back with kicks and punches. Wright’s spinwheel kick takes Morrus to the floor and Wright hits a big dive to take him down. A charge misses for Hugh and they botch a missile dropkick spot badly. Morrus powerbombs him and the moonsault gets the pin. I think this was cut short.

Chavo Guerrero/Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Benoit/Steve McMichael

That’s an odd pairing. Benoit and Chavo start things off with Chavo speeding things way up. Off to Jarrett and they take Benoit down pretty quickly. Benoit hits the buckle chest first and Jarrett puts him down with a belly to back suplex. Mongo hits him in the back to a BIG reaction and gets the tag to an even bigger one. Weird crowd man. Powerslam gets two and it’s back to Benoit. Jeff hits a picture perfect dropkick and tags Chavo back in. Chavo erupts and beats up the Horsemen by himself, hitting a moonsault for two on Benoit. Debra won’t let Jarrett get back in and Mongo kills Chavo with a tombstone for the pin.

Rating: B-. For a three and a half minute match this was pretty fun stuff. Jarrett can throw a mean dropkick and Chavo’s were good as well. Also Mongo killed him dead with that tombstone, which was pretty much the only move Mongo could do competently. Good little match here, which is what happens with talented people.

All of the Horsemen come to the ring post match for their meeting of the week. Anderson talks about everyone getting weapons and Flair steals a foam Horsemen hand from a fan. Arn warns Sullivan and Jarrett to stay away from the ladies. Flair says the Horsemen are united. Benoit is ready for Sullivan.

Mongo insults the fans after everyone else seems to be a face. Mongo gets on Debra about the Jarrett thing and Debra thinks Jeff should be a Horseman. She’s so upset she hasn’t been able to shop for a week. Mongo says they’ll have a match and if Jarrett wins he’s a Horseman. Debra says she’s not a gossip and you didn’t hear this from her, but Sullivan and Jackie aren’t good people. Debra is reaching Michael Cole levels of annoying at this point.

Time for Hogan and Piper to close the show. It’s Piper first and he talks about his family. Hogan pops up and it’s split screen time. Hogan hasn’t said anything yet as Piper goes on about how he was supposed to be going home to his family. He’s seen Hogan on the screen now and starts to ramble. Piper talks about how he’s having to break his promise to his son and Hogan says he doesn’t care. He talks about how the footage from Starrcade was doctored and Piper goes off, talking about OJ Simpson or something. That’s enough to make Hogan mad and Piper storms off to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Good wrestling, they added a lot of stuff to the show and they hyped up what they already had. What more can you ask for from a show? Well less Debra and someone that can tell time would be a start but still this show worked pretty well. These shows have been getting a lot better lately and hopefully that sticks better than I remember it doing. Good show this week.

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