Monday Nitro – April 21, 1997: Nash Explains Why The NWO Makes No Sense
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Nitro #84
Date: April 21, 1997
Location: Saginaw Civic Center, Saginaw, Michigan
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone
Hogan is FINALLY out of the intro sequence.
US Title: Yuji Nagata vs. Dean Malenko
Glacier vs. Ciclope
TV Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Bobby Eaton
Eaton pounds him down to start for a surprising early advantage. Dragon fires off the kicks though and Bobby has no idea what to do. You would think after hanging out with Stan Lane for so many years he would be familiar with martial arts. Sonny offers a quick distraction and Eaton gets dropkicked to the floor. Onoo kicks Eaton into the barricade and sends him back inside for the super rana and the Dragon Sleeper to keep the title in Japan.
Meng vs. Chris Jericho
Video on Benoit.
Steiner Brothers vs. Public Enemy
Before the Steiners come out we cut to the back where the Steiners are fighting with the Dungeon of Doom. The Steiners are the hometown boys here and their dad is here. Rick and Grunge start with Grunge being powerslammed down almost immediately. Off to Rocco who grabs a headlock but Scott tags himself in. He picks up Rocco and throws him at Grunge out of a gorilla press in a scary power display. Back to Rick vs. Grunge after the Public Enemy bails to the floor for a bit. A double clothesline puts Rick down but Rocco misses a flip dive off the top. Not that it matters as Konnan/Morrus run in for the double DQ.
Hour #2 begins so we get the usual recap.
Scotty Riggs vs. Jeff Jarrett
This is a rematch from Saturday Night which the world was waiting for. Jarrett lost on Saturday and beat him up post match so we needed a second match. Riggs charges in and gets beaten down by Jeff. A swinging neckbreaker and release gutwrench suplex put Riggs down followed by the move that would eventually be called The Stroke.
Cruiserweight Title: Syxx vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Rating: C. Not bad here but the ending sucked. Seriously, how could the referee not notice Rey slamming into the mat two feet away from him? Syxx would hold the title for a few more months while Rey did his thing for the foreseeable future. Either way, this was fine but the ending was about what you expected.
Dillon comes out post match and yells but nothing comes of it. Rey is taken out on a stretcher.
Video on Luger.
Hogan is in a movie and we take a look at him on set.
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Psychosis
The luchador hits a dropkick and goes up, only to get pulled into a Diamond Cutter for the pin in less than a minute.
Savage pops up in the crowd and implies Kimberly is in love with him but nothing comes of it.
Here are Flair, Piper and Greene to close the show. They call out the NWO and Hall finally returns to stare at them. The B Team gets beaten down to end the show.
Overall Rating: D-. What a worthless show. From the Nash promo to the short (longest topped out at 6:01) and dull matches to JJ Dillon being treated as less than nothing on his first night as WCW boss, this was absolutely horrible. Slamboree would wind up being perhaps the most pointless show in the history of WCW which is saying a lot when you think about it. Terrible show tonight with absolutely nothing of value.
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