Monday Nitro – February 12, 2001: Not This Again

Monday Nitro #277
Date: February 12, 2001
Location: Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson

It’s the go home show for SuperBrawl and it’s probably not a good sign that they’re in Mississippi for the second week in a row. We’re set for the pay per view and the card isn’t exactly thrilling but you can see how we got there for the most part, which is a lot better than some of the shenanigans we’ve put up with from WCW over the years. Let’s get to it.

Rick Steiner vs. Dustin Rhodes

This is joined in progress as the show opens and I’m assuming the title isn’t on the line. The Cat has allowed Dustin to wrestle here and it’s very strange to see him in a singlet. Flair comes out and says this isn’t happening. Ric threatens to have security take him out but it seems to be an excuse to have Steiner jump him from behind. I don’t think you can really call this a match and the “action” wasn’t even a minute long.

Dustin is told to leave because he’ll never work here again. Ric gets in the ring with Rick, Animal and Sanders to brag about how much power he has. Cue the Cat for the same argument these two two have every single week. Apparently Dustin is reinstated (Was he ever instated in the first place?) but Flair makes Cat vs. Lance Storm for the Commissionership right now with Sanders as guest referee. Thank goodness he has a referee shirt under his suit.

Before the match we go to a break and come back with Chavo Guerrero Jr. yelling at Flair about the El Nino stuff last week. Ric promises that he’ll get revenge before SuperBrawl.

The Cat vs. Lance Storm

Cat kicks him down to start and does a little dance before uppercutting Sanders for fun. He loads up the dancing elbow but Sanders decks him instead, only to have Cat DDT them both at the same time. An elbow drop gets two with Cat making Sanders slap the mat but he’s not the Rock so an elbow doesn’t work. The Feliner drops Storm and Cat tries to steal the referee shirt, allowing Storm to hit the superkick and put on the Mapleleaf for the quick non-submission because that’s the only screwy thing in this match.

The Magnificent Seven comes down to celebrate and they all get together to beat on Cat. Before anything can happen though, Nash pops up on screen to say he wouldn’t do that. Ric says he has all the bases covered but Nash isn’t so sure. The camera pans back to show a beaten up David Flair with tape on his mouth. Wait we’re doing the Flair father/son thing again?

Since he’s in charge tonight, Nash wants Storm vs. Cat for the commissionership at SuperBrawl. Flair agrees, so Nash wants Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Steiner for Dustin’s job tonight, and if Dustin wins then Nash gets a World Title shot against Scott Steiner tonight. The threat of a left hand to David forces Ric to make the matches and he promises to smooth this over with Scott.

During the break, Ric sends Sanders to find Dustin.

Totally Buff offer O’Haire and Palumbo spots on the team so the Magnificent Seven (thereby making it nine) so they can have all the gold.

Sanders finds Dustin but he’s not interested in saving David’s skin. Dustin: “Now go on, git! GIT!”

Lash Leroux vs. Yang

The winner is in the #1 contenders match at SuperBrawl. Yang’s kicks confuse Lash to start so it’s time for the Crane Kick to knock Lash around even more. Lash is sent into the corner for another running kick to send him outside but Yang holds off on the dive. The second attempt takes Lash down though, followed by a moonsault to floor Lash again. Back in and Lash powerslams him for two, only to miss a frog splash.

A quick ankle scissors puts Lash on the floor but he comes right back in with a slingshot clothesline (looked good too) for two. Lash drives in a knee lift and you can see how dark the top of the arena really is. Yang comes back with a tornado DDT but can’t cover. Instead it’s Lash up first with a pumphandle into a sitout powerbomb for two more. Whiplash gets the same so Yang runs to the top for a moonsault press and a near fall of his own. A Regal Roll sets up Yang Time (which mostly hits Lash’s head) to give Yang the pin and the spot on the pay per view.

Rating: B-. Lash was in over his head here but he was able to hang in there well enough to make this work. Above all else though, this got an unthinkable nine minutes, giving it a chance to actually go somewhere. Yang winning was the right call though it’s getting more and more obvious that we’re heading towards the Dragons vs. 3 Count again in that six way on Sunday because that’s where they belong, likely opening the show again as well.

Sanders tells Ric that he’s negotiating with Dustin but that’s not what the boss wants to hear.

Dustin agrees to the match tonight if he gets a title shot against Rick on Sunday if he wins.

Shawn Stasiak says he’s going to prove he carried Palumbo to the titles.

Diamond Dallas Page gives Cat a pep talk.

Ric has Animal hold Sanders up by the throat until Sanders says it’s taken care of. Dustin’s demand isn’t mentioned.

Video on the Steiner Brothers reuniting.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Steiner

Non-title. It’s a slugout to start and Tony is SHOCKED that Rick was dropped with a flying clothesline. Like, how could a former US Champion do damage to Rick Steiner? The Steiner Line gets two on Dustin which is a lot more realistic of course. They head outside with Rick being sent into the barricade but he doesn’t have time to sell. Back in and Rick slaps on a reverse chinlock before ripping at Dustin’s face and ripping open his nose.

We hit a chinlock because Rick is already spent after so much effort. Even that looks lazy but it still manages to get two armdrops, only to have Rick blast him with a Steiner Line for two. Back up and Dustin accidentally headbutts the referee, meaning there’s no one to count the cover off Dustin’s bulldog. Cue Animal to knock Dustin into a belly to belly but here’s Shane Douglas to hit Rick with his cast. Dustin grabs a DDT for the pin and the title shot.

Rating: D-. Rick Steiner is just so bad and it’s getting harder and harder to watch him every single week. Dustin was Dustin Rhodes instead of the interesting character he was capable of being but that doesn’t make for anything interesting. Shane Douglas becoming a face isn’t the most interesting idea either, which is likely why we’re seeing it happen.

Post match Rick and Animal break Shane’s good arm with Dustin’s save attempt failing.

Scott Steiner isn’t happy with what Ric has done and says he’s doing things his way.

Billy Kidman vs. Elix Skipper

This should be good and it’s another qualifying match for Sunday’s six way. Kidman dropkicks him into the corner as we get a graphic saying SuperBrawl is in six days. I’ve always liked that as WWE would have you believe that the pay per views are on Monday when Cole says the show is in two or three weeks on Raw.

Skipper takes over to start and stomps a bit as the fans chant USA. Kidman’s cross body misses completely as Skipper pulls out the Matrix move for a sweet counter. Skipper heads up top and gets powerbombed back down for two and both guys are a bit gassed. A reverse suplex gets two for Kidman and he reverses the Overdrive (Play of the Day) into the Kid Crusher for the quick pin.

Rating: C+. As usual the cruiserweights are putting on the best matches of the night and for a change they’re actually getting a bit of time. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter if this doesn’t lead anywhere because it’s the same cruiserweight stuff we’ve seen for years with no one actually being elevated. That’s one of so many of WCW’s problems over the years and this is no exception.

Hugh Morrus is told he gets the Wall at SuperBrawl so he issues a challenge for a tag match on Thunder: Morrus/Mysterio vs. Wall/Chavo. I know it’s not much but that’s a simple, logical story and a match that makes sense.

Scott Steiner beats up a backstage worker for not knowing where Nash is.

Ric is on the phone with his wife and promising to find David.

Video on Kanyon and Diamond Dallas Page.

Shawn Stasiak vs. Chuck Palumbo

It’s a bad idea to have Palumbo be the one that is going to be carrying the match. Stasiak is knocked to the floor to start and a fall away slam gets two for Chuck back inside. A not great looking gutwrench slam gets two for Stasiak and Palumbo gets the same off a small package. Stasiak bulldogs Palumbo onto his leg (another botch as Stasiak isn’t great in the ring) sets up a neckbreaker for two.

We hit the choking for a few seconds as the announcers speculate about where David Flair might be held hostage. Stasiak charges into a boot and gets caught in an Alabama Slam for two more. Chuck tunes up the jungle but gets caught and turned into an awful looking rollup with the referee not being sure if he should count or not. Clearly that was going to be the ending as Stasiak grabs a quick rollup and hooks the trunks for the pin.

Rating: D. This right here summed up the issue with the Natural Born Thrillers in a nutshell: they were generic wrestlers and not very good in the ring. Neither guy here did anything special to make them stand out and they were both just guys in trunks. It also doesn’t help that neither has anything resembling a character or a personality and it shows more and more every time. Oh and there were several botches here because they weren’t much to see in the ring either.

Post match Stasiak says that proves he carried Palumbo.

Here’s Diamond Dallas Page in a Sopranos shirt with something to say. He’s ready for Jeff Jarrett at SuperBrawl but he has to talk about Kanyon. Page isn’t happy with Kanyon stealing all of his stuff so it’s time for Kanyon to learn that no one steals nothing (his words) from DDP. He’s ready for Kanyon anywhere, anytime. Instead here’s Jeff Jarrett to say he’s ready for Sunday. Page wants to fight right now but first he has to fight off a sneaking Kanyon. The distraction lets Jeff come in with a guitar shot and the Stroke to leave Page laying.

WCW World Title: Scott Steiner vs. Kevin Nash

In case you just couldn’t wait to pay for it on Sunday. Nash is challenging and brings David Flair out with him for a right hand to the face. Ric comes out to get his son but Nash powerbombs David first. They start fast with Nash sending him into the turnbuckle before the bell rings. A clothesline gets two and unfortunately Scott puts together the fact that Nash is getting a shot in Nashville.

We cut to the back to see Ric sending the troops out despite promising that there would be no interference. Steiner posts Nash to take over and it’s time to choke and shout a lot. Cue the two factions to fight on the way to the ring as things stay even. A side slam gets two for Nash and there go the straps but Ric comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D-. No surprise here as they kept promising no interference and you always go with what they promise not to happen. I’ve never gotten the idea of having a match on Monday and then asking people to pay for it on Sunday, especially when it’s the same match we’re going to be seeing with no changes whatsoever. They could still change something on Thunder, or knowing WCW, they’ll change it at the pay per view and blame the fans for being annoyed.

Ric takes the Jackknife but Steiner destroys Nash’s knee with a pipe to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The cruiserweights tried tonight and almost pulled off the minor miracle of saving this show. However, there’s only so much you can do when you’re up against this much bad. The David Flair stuff isn’t interesting as he and Ric have turned on each other so many times over the years that it’s hard to care about. Page vs. Kanyon is good, partially due to Page’s natural charisma and ability to make anything seem somewhat interesting. Other than that though, this is another show where you can see a lot of the holes that need filling in a hurry.

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