Monday Nitro #160
Date: October 26, 1998
Location: America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan

Halloween Havoc is over and not a lot has changed. Hogan beat Warrior in one of the worst matches of all time, Goldberg kept the World Title in a good match over Diamond Dallas Page, Rick Steiner is still an idiot (though he won the Tag Team Titles in one of the only changes) and Nash walked away instead of beating Hall. We’re four weeks away from World War 3 which will set up Starrcade. Let’s get to it.

We open with stills of Bret vs. Sting from last night.

Nitro Girls.

Tony talks about the overrun from last night, saying about 10-20% of the houses didn’t see the end of Hogan vs. Warrior or the title match. WCW has held meetings all day and came up with two options. One would be giving away the replay for free. Quote: “No. A lot of fans bought the show and saw all eleven matches. We don’t want to give the whole thing away for free.” Nice to see them just say “we want your money instead of making it right.”

Therefore tonight at 9pm we’re going to see the World Title match in full. Tony insists this isn’t a ratings ploy and proves it by saying the match will start at 9pm rather than the end of the show. Why not have a meeting to find out who decided Tony should say this on air and have them listen to how stupid it sounded? Larry says sometimes technology is out of control and just wait until the KY2 bug hits.

Alex Wright vs. Stevie Ray

Stevie has dubbed himself the enforcer of the NWO. He runs over Kaos to start and yells at the camera before kicking Kenny in the face. Stevie misses an elbow drop as Tony drones on about the technical issues. Kaos hits a springboard shoulder block for two but here’s Buff to throw Stevie the Slap Jack. Kaos is knocked out and the Slap Jack is enough for the pin.

Rick Steiner comes in for the save as Tony says Rick single handed won the titles. “It’s one of those things you only see when you watch a WCW pay per view.” I wouldn’t be bragging about what you get when you watch a show at this point Tony. Rick grabs the mic and says he has to pick a partner, so if Kenny is interested in some revenge, he can be a partner if he wants. Kaos says his partner is out with an injury and it would be an honor to defend the titles with Rick. This was always a bizarre choice to me as Kaos just lost a match and had no history at all, so let’s make him a champion. Even the replay shows him getting pinned.

Opening sequence.

Kanyon vs. Prince Iaukea

Raven is with Kanyon as Tony talks about the World Title match replay for about the 6^th time so far. However, even though it was cut as well, we’re not going to see the end of Hogan vs. Warrior because “it was too disgusting to show on television.” He’s talking about Hogan failing to light Warrior on fire (the second time he couldn’t get it to work if you’re counting), which happened after the match. These jokes are writing themselves tonight.

Kanyon does his schtick before the match and jumps Iaukea when he doesn’t get the response he wants. Tony says they can’t show you the ending to the Hogan match and Tenay adds that it’s not up to TNT standards. Kanyon gets two off a rollup and puts on a chinlock until Iaukea sends him to the floor. The Prince goes up top and dives at Kanyon, despite him standing four feet from where Prince aimed. Prince backdrops out of a piledriver on the steps to get the announcers talking about the match for the first time. Back in and a springboard flip attack gets two on Kanyon but he grabs the Flatliner for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was better than I was expecting but at the end of the day, Prince Iaukea isn’t going to win a match on Nitro at this point. The flip dive did look cool but there are a ton of guys on this roster that can do the exact same thing. It’s always nice to see Kanyon get a win as well.

The Nitro Girls are at the announcers’ desk.

Gene calls the Horsemen to the ring. There’s no Mongo in sight and Flair says he was a casualty in Vegas but will be back by the end of the night. That’s an odd statement. Gene finds it interesting that Bischoff isn’t trying to keep the Horsemen off TV but here’s Bischoff in person. He says he’ll admit if he’s wrong, and he underestimated how much Flair means to all of these people. The fans clearly want to see him wrestle and that’s what Flair will be doing tonight. Flair says line them up and he’ll be ready in ten minutes.

Nitro Party winner from Hampton, Virginia.

The announcers talk about some of the other big matches last night and show us stills of Nash vs. Hall.

Alex Wright vs. Barry Horowitz

Wright takes him down with ease to start but charges into an elbow in the corner. A jumping kick to the face puts Barry down and Alex goes up, only to jump into a boot. Barry gets dropkicked off the top and a great looking neckbreaker gives Wright the win.

We look at stills from Hogan vs. Warrior. Of course this is ok to talk about but Heaven forbid we show it.

Wrath vs. Sick Boy

Sick Boy actually drops Wrath with a spinwheel kick but Wrath chops him back into the corner. Wrath puts on a chinlock before throwing Sick Boy out to the floor. A slingshot shoulder block gets two on Sick Boy but he comes back with a suplex into a swinging neckbreaker. Wrath completely no sells it to complete the squash.

Hour #2 begins so here’s Goldberg vs. Page. I don’t feel like watching this match twice in four days so this is copied and pasted from the Halloween Havoc review.

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Page charges right at him a few times and is easily shoved away. An armdrag frustrates Goldberg and they lock up before falling to the floor without breaking it up. Back in and Page tries a legsweep but Goldberg does a standing backflip to avoid it. Men his size should not be able to do that. A bad looking cross armbreaker has Page in trouble and Goldberg shoves him out of the ring to block the Diamond Cutter.

Back in and Page takes him down into a hammerlock but a hard shoulder block puts him on the floor. Page is able to snap Goldberg’s throat across the top rope and he follows up with a swinging neckbreaker. A Russian legsweep gets two and we hit a front facelock. Goldberg knees his way out of it and hits a spinning neckbreaker to put Page down. A hard hiptoss puts Page down and a side slam gets two for the champion. Back to the cross armbreaker but Page makes the rope.

A superkick sends Page flying but he sidesteps the spear, sending Goldberg hard into the post. Page gets two off a flying clothesline and the running DDT puts the champion down as well. He calls for the Diamond Cutter but Goldberg nails him with the spear. It injures his arm though and Goldberg can’t get the Jackhammer. Page slips behind him and grabs the Diamond Cutter but both guys are down. The fans are suddenly WAY into this as Page gets a very close two. Page tries a suplex of his own but Goldberg counters into the Jackhammer to retain the title.

Rating: B. It’s not a masterpiece but it’s definitely Goldberg’s best match ever. The fans were buying into Page as a threat at the end of the match and that’s more than can be said about the vast majority of Goldberg’s opponents. To put it simply, this was a good wrestling match. You can’t often say that about a WCW main event but that’s what you had here.

Goldberg helps Page up post match and poses to end the show.

The announcers praise the match.

Gene goes to Kevin Nash’s huge locker room to ask him about leaving Hall laying last night and walking out on the match. Hall himself comes in and Nash says it wasn’t about winning and losing. He’ll win when Hall is his friend again. The audio keeps cutting in and out. Hall says something I can’t make out but they shake hands, only to have Giant sneak in (unless there’s another door to that room, Giant was somehow hiding in there and Nash never saw him) and help Hall throw Nash through a wall in a good visual.

Nitro Girls video.

Nitro Girls dance.

WCW likes UNICEF.

Here’s the NWO with Hogan looking thrilled. Bischoff talks about how great his life is and presents Horace his shirt as the newest member of the team. Hollywood throws in the weightlifting belt and it’s a big celebration. Somehow this takes almost six minutes.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Saturn

Feeling out process to start until Eddie takes him down by the arm. Saturn comes back with an armdrag but Eddie complains of a hair pull. The distraction lets Eddie take him down and stomp away at Saturn’s knee. A backbreaker gets two for Eddie but he gets caught in a sitout wheelbarrow slam for two by Saturn. Eddie’s tornado DDT is countered into a northern lights suplex for two more but Eddie escapes a vertical suplex into a rollup for yet another near fall. Saturn comes back with a t-bone suplex and a brainbuster but the LWO runs in for the DQ.

Rating: C+. The match was entertaining as expected and the ending actually does something with the LWO for a change. Until now they’ve all just been wearing the same shirt without actually accomplishing anything. I’d like to see more of this pairing and a finish but this advanced something.

The LWO, including a new unnamed member, lay out Saturn so Eddie can hit a frog splash.

Judy Bagwell is here to talk about how bad her son has been lately. Gene goes through the horrible things Buff have done lately and the Bagwell Family is tired of it. She loves Marcus but is tired of Buff. This was received about as well as you would expect.

Tag Team Titles: Kenny Kaos/Rick Steiner vs. Giant/Stevie Ray

Steiner and Kaos are defending. Kaos goes after Stevie to start but Giant adds in a kick from the apron. A superkick drops Kenny and the NWO takes over. Off to Giant for a bearhug but Kenny gets over to the corner and makes the tag to Rick. Giant splashes Rick in the corner and chokes with a boot but charges into a boot from Rick. A top rope shoulder gets two on Giant but he launches Rick to the floor on a kickout. Stevie gets the tag and Kaos distracts Giant long enough for Rick to bulldog Ray for the pin to retain.

Rating: D. At the end of the day, Kaos just doesn’t fit in here. It’s like they drew a name out of a bowl and made him a Tag Team Champion. The match wasn’t any good either as it was Kaos being treated like the jobber that he was and Rick hitting a quick move to keep the titles.

Hour #3 begins.

Eric Bischoff has replaced Tenay on commentary and promises the best of Ric Flair tonight. He has a video package of Hogan beating up Flair from Bash at the Beach 1994 for the title. Tony praises Hogan and calls Flair a coward but is embarrassed by what he said. Bischoff says it’s proof that Flair will always play second fiddle to Hogan.

Cruiseriweght Title: Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera

Kidman is defending. Neither guy can get control off a wristlock but Juvy fires off elbows to the head and sends Kidman into the buckle. Juvy goes up top and shoves Kidman down before getting two off a missile dropkick. A brainbuster gets two more for the challenger and we hit the chinlock. Kidman fights up but gets caught in a Rocker Dropper for two. Juvy’s headscissors is countered into a wheelbarrow slam for two more.

Kidman tries a belly to back suplex but gets countered into a sitout bulldog, followed by a cross body for two. Juvy goes up but gets dropkicked out of the air, setting up the Shooting Star. Guerrera is able to get to his feet and crotch Kidman, followed by a top rope hurricanrana for a VERY close two. Kidman counters a powerbomb into the sitout powerbomb and the Shooting Star retains the title.

Rating: B-. This started a bit slow but the ending sequence was great. Juvy looked great in the ring and Kidman was in over his head for most of the match. The counter to the powerbomb looked good and the Shooting Star was even better. Kidman is nailing the division right now and having solid match after solid match.

Ad for Sting and Randy Savage tapes.

Here are Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell to brag about their physiques. Bagwell says this is for the women: your job is to cook and clean and take care of your man. Scott wants JJ Dillon out here right now because he wants a match with Rick tonight. JJ comes to the ring and Scott accuses him of thinking Rick is the better brother.

Dillon says he has no favorite but Scott wants to know why the new referee came in to help Rick win because he thinks JJ had something to do with it. JJ says buy the replay to see what happened. Scott stays on it and JJ says he didn’t send the referee but would have if he had the chance. Steiner kicks him in the gut and puts him in the Recliner until security makes a save.

Here’s the Warrior because this hasn’t gone on long enough. Hogan had the chance to face a challenge last night but failed again. Last night will haunt Hogan forever (understatement of the year) because there’s a difference between beating someone up and defeating them. Warrior beat Hogan up last night and the bull pinfall doesn’t change it. Warrior calls himself a gatekeeper and says the time is near on the same Warrior channel.

Hogan comes out and Warrior is ready to go but Horace stops his uncle from getting in. Horace gets beaten up and sent to the floor. Giant comes in and gets the same so Hogan gets in. Warrior ducks a big boot and hits a shoulder to the ribs. Bischoff is knocked off the apron and the NWO runs.

Lex Luger/Konnan vs. Scott Steiner/Scott Hall

It’s a brawl to start as the Wolfpack is out for revenge for Nash. Konnan and Steiner fight to the floor with Konnan getting caught in the Recliner outside. Steiner adds a chair to the ribs as Luger and Hall fight in the aisle. I don’t think a bell ever rang so this isn’t even a match. Steiner beats on Konnan in the ring but Konnan comes back with a clothesline.

All four guys go to the floor and Konnan gets laid out again. Luger gets double teamed in the ring and a chair is brought in. Konnan comes in for the save as there’s no referee in sight. Luger nails Hall with the chair and Racks him but Steiner breaks it up and we take a break. Not a match but a fun segment.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bret Hart

Bret is defending and gets a quick two after countering a slam. They trade arm work until Page gets two off a rollup of his own. A neckbreaker gets two more for Page but Bret knees him in the ribs. Bret hammers away at the ribs and chokes on the ropes as the announcers talk about Sting’s injuries last night. We hit the chinlock on Page for a good while but he fights up with a jawbreaker for two.

Page gets crotched on the top and Bret brings him down with a gorgeous superplex. Hart misses a charge into the buckle to give Page two but Bret scores with the legsweep and middle rope elbow. Page is up at two and Bret is getting frustrated. Another jawbreaker has Bret in trouble and Page rams him into the buckle. Bret counters with a low blow that takes out both Page and the referee. The champ pulls out a foreign object but Page ducks a big swing and hits the Diamond Cutter for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. This really didn’t do it for me but it wasn’t horrible. It felt like they just wanted to get the match over with but had to fill time. It’s nice to see Page get a clean(ish) pin for a title and to take it off Bret who just didn’t care at this point. The match didn’t work though as it just jumped into the Bret control with very little beforehand.

Bret goes off with chair shots post match and works over his knee before putting on the Sharpshooter. Page’s screams really make it that much better. Bret works the knee over with the chair even more until Goldberg makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. You can see things getting in trouble from here as the earlier matches were nothing to see and the rest of the show felt like they were trying to figure out what to do next. There was some fallout from Halloween Havoc, but at the same time it was like they had no idea where they wanted to go. That’s a problem going into a big battle royal show as there’s no story to a match like that. The show had good points but it didn’t work for the most part.

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It’s a hidden gem in a dark period for WCW.And it’s a Dustin Rhodes match.  There’s no real backstory here.  Vader is #1 contender and Dustin is a midcard guy ala Kofi Kingston today.  From Clash of the Champions XXIX.

Vader vs. Dustin Rhodes

Dustin is a solid midcard guy and Vader is the #1 contender so this should be interesting. The feeling out process doesn’t last long as Vader shoves him into the corner and hits a hard shot to the chest before spitting at Rhodes. Dustin just charges at him and takes Vader down to hammer away. Vader covers up and Dustin rips his mask off before getting a VERY close two off a cross body. A clothesline puts Vader on the floor and another shot to the face knocks him up to the barricade. Dustin lays out Harley Race and waits for Vader inside.

Back inside and Dustin hammers Vader down in the corner before suplexing the big man like it’s nothing. Vader has had enough of being on defense and just runs Dustin over. He hammers away in the corner but Dustin avoids a splash and gets another close two off a rollup. Another body attack puts Rhodes down but he comes right back with a powerslam of all things. Vader tries to counter a sunset flip but Rhodes gets away and drives in more right hands. The referee gets a shot in the face so Vader throws Rhodes over the top and ot the floor.

Vader brings him back in and runs Dustin over with a clothesline. Two Vader Bombs get two each and Vader is getting even more angry. The referee starts a ten count on Dustin but him getting close to his feet just makes Vader even madder. He goes to the middle rope but jumps into a powerslam to put both guys down. Rhodes nails a string of clotheslines and a Bionic Elbow before a top rope lariat gets two. A middle rope DDT gets another near fall on Vader and there’s the bulldog but Harley comes in for a distraction. Vader lays Dustin out and just ends him with a wheelbarrow slam for the pin.

Rating: B+. You saw a preview of this a few shows back in the six man tag but man alive this was awesome. Dustin wasn’t going to win the match but he had the fans buying into the idea that he could pull off a miracle. He was throwing Vader around and beating the fire out of him for the first part of the match. That wheelbarrow slam made it even better.

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Thunder
Date: October 22, 1998
Location: Tingley Coliseum, Albuqurque, New Mexico
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s the very last show before Halloween Havoc and we’re actually coming off a good show on Monday with every major PPV match getting some focus. Nothing has been announced for tonight but that’s usually the case coming into Thunder. I’m sure we’ll get plenty of videos on the two main events though. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about Hogan attacking Horace on Monday and call it a horrible act.

We look at Goldberg and Page nearly brawling after Goldberg cost Page a match against Jericho.

Super Calo vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Calo takes over with some kicks to the ribs to start and gets two off a shoulder block. A missile dropkick gets the same and Calo hooks a seated abdominal stretch to slow things down. Back up and Calo throws Rey to the apron before sending him to the floor for a big dive. Totally one sided so far. Back in and Rey climbs corner to hit a nice headscissors followed by the yet to be named 619 back inside. Calo gets caught in the ropes and the top rope legdrop to the back of his head gets two. Super gets to his feet and goes up, only to get crotched and taken down with a hurricanrana for the pin.

Rating: C-. Nice fast paced match to start things off here but there wasn’t much to it. It’s nice to see Mysterio back and mostly healthy though as no one could keep up with him when he was at even 85-90%. Calo looked better than usual here, but that doesn’t really say much as he isn’t one of the better luchadores.

Post match Eddie and the LWO comes out to offer Rey a spot but he throws the shirt back at Eddie and leaves. Chavo watches with a smile on his face from the entryway.

Video on Page vs. Goldberg.

Here’s Page for a quick chat. Monday was nothing but intensity and it makes him think of Goldberg as even more of a champion. The Diamond Cutter is enough to beat him though because he’s next. On Sunday, Goldberg will feel the BANG.

Ad for the Mastercard.

Alex Wright vs. Johnny Swinger

Wright cranks on the arm to start and puts Swinger down with a fireman’s carry takeover. Johnny comes back with an armbar of his own and a Russian legsweep has Wright in trouble. A spinwheel kick puts Swinger down and Alex drapes him ribs first over the top rope. Swinger comes back with a hard shot to the chest but gets dropkicked out of the air, setting up a neckbreaker to give Wright the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here with Alex looking good as almost always. I’m still not sure why he never got a huge push but the thick accent might have had something to do with it. Or maybe that this is WCW and it’s a good day if they can tie their shoes properly. Swinger never did anything for me but he was fine for something like this.

We look at the Steiners brawling on Monday.

Video on Sting vs. Hart closing Nitro. Tony accuses Heenan of being a snitch for the NWO. Heenan: “I am not!” Tony: “That’s true. You’re a liar, a traitor, a coward and a snitch.”

TV Title: Kanyon vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending and this has some serious potential. Kanyon does his Who Better bit with Jericho putting bunny ears up behind his head. Chris takes the mic and says the real question is Who Better Than Jericho. Kanyon doesn’t take kindly to gimmick infringement and the fight is quickly on. Jericho knocks him to the floor with a shoulder and we take and early break.

Back with Jericho getting two off the Lionsault as we see Raven for the first time, looking on from the apron. Jericho does his long stride and Kanyon sends him face first into the buckle to take over. The superplex from the middle of the rope (not the corner) puts Jericho down for two as the fans get distracted by something in the audience. Jericho counters a suplex into a reverse suplex for two but Kanyon comes back with a swinging neckbreaker for the same.

The announcers talk about Raven looking distracted as Jericho scores with a gutbuster but can’t get the Liontamer. An electric chair into a flapjack gets two on the champion but Jericho fights out of a superplex. Jericho tries a missile dropkick but hits the referee (Billy Kidman according to Tony and Lee) which draws in Raven. The Even Flow is easily countered into the Liontamer and Raven taps, which is good enough for a submission win for Jericho.

Rating: C+. Good while it lasted but the match was more about Raven than anything else. It’s nice to see Jericho get a win for a change, even if he was acting more like a face while doing so. The Raven story is interesting as he’s lost his edge without the Flock and could have some good stories as a result.

Clip from the new Kurt Russell movie Soldier.

We see Hogan beating up Horace and Warrior on Monday

Saturn vs. Norman Smiley

A lockup goes nowhere so Norman makes his chest dance to entertain Saturn. Apparently Saturn is more of a song than dance man as he throws Smiley down with a beal before dropping him with a t-bone suplex for two. Norman picks the ankle but Saturn is quickly in the ropes before anything can be done. A neckbreaker sends Smiley to the floor but he comes back in with a nice sunset flip for two.

Since this is a pretty good technical match so far, the announcers are talking about Horace. Saturn slams him down but misses a top rope splash, allowing Norman to take over with some uppercuts. A tiger bomb gets two for Smiley but Saturn drills him with a superkick. There’s a belly to belly to Norman followed by the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: C. The match didn’t have time to go anywhere but it was nice while it lasted, much like the previous match. Smiley is a very sound technical guy and could actually keep up with Saturn on the mat. Saturn’s superkick always looked good though and it nailed Smiley in the jaw here. Nice little match.

Lex Luger vs. Scotty Riggs

Feeling out process to start until Luger remembers he’s fighting Riggs and runs him over with some clotheslines. Riggs snaps Lex’s throat across the top rope and chokes away a lot before scoring with a dropkick. Luger quickly breaks out of a chinlock as the announcers say no one anticipated seeing Hogan vs. Warrior again eight and a half years later. A few running knees in the corner have Luger in trouble but he comes back with a suplex. Luger comes back with all of his usual stuff and finishes Riggs with the Rack.

Rating: D+. Not the worst squash in the world here as Riggs looked decent out there. That’s rather surprising as Riggs is usually one of the least interesting wrestlers on the roster. Luger was his usual self here, meaning he was charismatic but used the same moves he’s done for ten years now.

We takes yet another look at Bischoff being thrown out of the United Center. It really wasn’t that big of a deal.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Prince Iaukea

They trade takedowns to star until Juvy charges into a boot in the corner. Iaukea gets two off a snapmare and breaks up a sunset flip attempt. We hit the early chinlock on Juvy followed by a suplex and chops in the corner. It’s Chinlock: The Sequel followed by another suplex attempt but Guerrera counters into a Fameasser. A top rope corkscrew dive puts Prince down and sets up the 450. Disco runs out to break it up but Juvy dives off with the 450 for the pin just in time.

Rating: C. Short but fine as Disco vs. Juvy continues to build. I’m not sure how good of a match that’s going to be when we get there but it’s nice to see them doing something in the cruiserweight division that doesn’t involve the title. Prince wasn’t bad here but the bald head doesn’t make him more interesting.

Clips from Nitro of Bischoff being thrown out by cops and the mayor of Minneapolis.

Konnan vs. Scott Armstrong

After the usual intro, Konnan hits the rolling clothesline just after the bell. There’s the seated dropkick and Scott bails to the floor, holding his shoulder. Back in and Scott uses his bad arm for a test of strength and rakes Konnan’s eyes to take over. A few basic moves later and we’re in the chinlock. Konnan fights up with some elbows to the ribs but gets dropped by a clothesline. A bulldog and rollup get two on Scott before Konnan kicks him in the ribs, hits the X-Factor and hooks the Sunrise for the win.

Rating: D. These squashes are getting weaker as we’re approaching the end of the show. Konnan was always better on the mic than he was in the ring and this match proved it for the most part. Scott was the least interesting of the Armstrong Family but he wasn’t that bad out there.

Clips of Bret and Sting’s rivalry.

Horsemen video.

Kendall Windham vs. Dean Malenko

Kendall says he knows the Horsemen and can prove Dean doesn’t measure up. Dean hammers away in the corner to start but runs into a big boot. A lariat puts Dean down again but he grabs a sunset flip. Windham punches the mat instead of Dean’s head, allowing Malenko to hit a quick kick to the leg, setting up the Cloverleaf for the win in less than 90 seconds.

Dean grabs the mic and says that’s why he’s a Horseman. The rest of the team comes out and Arn has a mic. He says it’s obvious why the Horsemen are here and calls Bischoff a vicious coward. Bischoff has been making fun of Arn’s physical shortcomings but he’s not even half the man Anderson is. If Bischoff ever makes fun of his family again, Arn will do things to Bischoff that his family should never be allowed to see. Flair says that this is the Horsemen’s party and names each individual member. He’ll be running this company one day and Bischoff will be working for him.

Sting vs. Giant

Giant misses a charge and Sting hammers away but misses the Stinger Splash. The big man steps on his chest and pounds on him in the corner, only to miss a big elbow. Three straight Stinger Splashes set up a slam but Scott Steiner runs in with a chair to the leg for the DQ before the Deathlock.

The NWO lays out Sting until Rick Steiner and the Wolfpack makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s still good and a different kind of show from Nitro. This is one of the most frustrating things about WCW. It’s clear that they can put on entertaining shows but we get the garbage that they put on so often anymore that it’s barely worth watching half the time. Good show tonight with some entertaining squashes and small build to the PPV on Sunday.

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Monday Nitro #159
Date: October 19, 1998
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 15,722
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone

We’re FINALLY up to the go home show for Halloween Havoc after what seems like months of buildup. Tonight is likely going to focus on Flair getting Bischoff thrown out of the United Center last year, which likely means it’s time for Bischoff to get one up on the Horsemen. Other than that we’re probably going further into the Hogan vs. Warrior mess as it continues to not really have any business on a wrestling show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Bischoff getting ejected by the owner of the United Center last week in favor of the Horsemen.

Nitro Girls.

The announcers do their intro and former AWA star Larry Zbyszko gets a bigger reaction than usual. We get another package on Bischoff and the Horsemen from last week.

Kenny Kaos vs. Saturn

Kaos takes an early advantage with a hard clothesline but Saturn comes right back with a quick swinging neckbreaker. A spinning springboard forearm gets two on Kaos but he drops Saturn over the top and out to the floor. Back in and Kaos hits a nice gutwrench suplex for two followed by a gorilla press slam. Kaos isn’t looking bad but he’s favoring his elbow after that press. Saturn is sent into the corner and kicked in the back, only to come back with some roundhouse kicks to the head. An overhead suplex puts Kaos down and a falcon’s arrow sets up the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: C. This was much better than I was expecting with Kaos putting in a nice performance. Apparently some other people thought the same as we’ll be hearing some more from Kaos in the very near future. For the older fans out there, does this victory over Kaos make Saturn a Control agent?

Tenay polls fans about last week’s show.

Halloween Havoc ad.

Normal intro.

Gene brings out Ernest Miller for a chat. Miller says he hates this town and its’ kids in particular. He threatens Gene until Okerlund gets out of the ring and invites anyone to get in the ring for a challenge. A “fan” jumps the barricade and is stopped by security but Miller says let him in. The fan gets destroyed as you would expect and now security takes him away. We get a better look at the fan and it’s none other than future WCW Tag Team Champion Chuck Palumbo.

We recap Nash chasing Hall around for the last few weeks.

Nitro Party video.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Steiner says he was the real success of the Steiner Brothers and he had to overcome Rick’s weaknesses.

Speaking of Rick Steiner, we see his incident with Chuckie last week and the announcers analyze it like it’s a match.

Video on Goldberg vs. DDP.

Damien/Psychosis/El Dandy/Hector Garza vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./La Parka/Ciclope/La Parka

The former team is LWO and they have their own music now. Damien goes after La Parka’s chair before the bell and gets kicked in the head. Serves him right. This is under lucha rules so going to the floor counts as a tag. Lizmark hammers on Damien in the corner to start and gets two off a hurricanrana before it’s off to La Parka vs. El Dandy with La Parka chopping him in the chest and back. A big enziguri puts Dandy down and it’s off to Ciclope and Garza.

The LWO comes in for a four on one beatdown until Damien snaps off a top rope hurricanrana for two. Garza comes in with a missile dropkick to the back and it’s off to Chavo for the first big pop of the match. Chavo quickly dropkicks him down but things quickly break down.

Psychosis misses a charge into the post but Ciclope comes in with a missile dropkick. Everyone misses something off the top before La Parka and Chavo hit some dives. A Hart Attack with a springboard dropkick from Lizmark gets two on Psychosis but La Parka comes in to clean house with the chair but knocks out Ciclope, giving Psychosis the pin.

Rating: C+. This was the usual fast paced lucha match which was almost impossible to keep track of a the end. La Parka’s chair shot seems to turn him to the LWO which is fine as the team needs some bigger names. The match was able to fire the crowd up as well as advanced the LWO story so nice multitasking WCW.

Post match Eddie comes out and gives La Parka a shirt. So the way to prove you’re united with the other luchadores is to hit another with a chair? Chavo seems happy but walks off, telling Pepe he doesn’t need a shirt.

We look at Bret’s history with Sting and turning on him, leading to the brawl two weeks ago.

Kanyon vs. Scott Putski

We get the Who Better Than Kanyon bit before the match. Kanyon: “You guys just don’t get it.” They fight over hammerlocks and headlocks to start until Scott scores with a few slams. A belly to back suplex gets two on Kanyon but he comes back by sending Putski into the corner and hammering away. Kanyon hits a middle rope Fameasser to send Putski outside and drops him face first onto the apron while standing on the steps. Back in and Putski hits a release overhead belly to belly but gets caught in a fireman’s carry pancake. The Flatliner is enough to get Kanyon the pin.

Rating: C-. Kanyon was fun to watch as always and Putski wasn’t bad either. I still don’t get his choice of attire as he’s an eye patch short of being a pirate from 1638. The match wasn’t bad though and it was a good way to keep Kanyon around. Why can’t we get stuff like this on Thunder?

Video on Hogan vs. Warrior.

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Here’s Scott Steiner to start the second hour. He talks about being cold, having freaks and being your hook up. Last week he beat up Buff Bagwell and calls out any Minnesota Vikings here tonight. Instead he gets Rick Steiner who is ready right now if Scott wants a fight. We have a referee down here but Scott says Rick is too easy.

Scott actually gets in and asks if this is going to be a fair fight. Rick says no and decks Scott in the head before pounding him into the corner. Scott charges into a boot as the announcers play up the idea that they know each other so well. A low blow stops Rick and Scott gets a chair as the bell rings. It never rang in the first place so this wasn’t a match. Buff runs out and takes the chair from Scott before nearly killing him with a big swing.

Nitro Girls video.

Nitro Girls in the ring.

We get a clip of a Goldberg autograph signing for charity.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Fit Finlay

Finlay takes him over with a headlock to start but walks into a slam for two. We hit a chinlock from Smith for a few seconds before another slam gets another two count. Finlay comes back with a clothesline and rips at Smith’s face before missing a charge into the buckle. The referee gets poked in the eye, allowing Alex Wright to run in and hit a quick missile dropkick to knock Bulldog into the tombstone from Finlay for the pin.

Rating: D. This was just a filler match and it didn’t do much to fire up the crowd. The King of Europe storyline wasn’t anything interesting when there were only a handful of people involved and they were just trading wins. This was Bulldog’s last appearance on Nitro as he would go to the hospital for a staph infection from breaking his back at Fall Brawl. Bischoff would fire him via FedEx while he was laid up.

Here’s Jericho with Ralphus at his side to brag about beating Greenberg three times in a row. Goldberg wants the sheet writers to think he’s the best but everyone knows that’s nonsense. DDP comes in and calls out “Jerkicho” for his lies and a match is made for later.

Hall is shown at a bar wearing his title belt and wrestling gear. Nothing else to the scene than that.

Wrath vs. Tokyo Magnum

Clothesline, chops and stomps, flying shoulder and the Meltdown are enough for the squash by Wrath.

More charity stuff from UNICEF.

We look at Buff saving Rick and cut to the back to see him throwing away his NWO shirt. Insert your own sarcastic response here.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Silver King/Super Calo

Silver King and Calo say not so fast because they have replacements.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit

An annoyed Bischoff comes out to commentary as Dean cranks on Wright’s wrist. Eric goes on a rant about how there are four people not getting paid tonight: “Those two Mexicans, Arn Anderson and…..make it five!” Dean hammers away on Wright’s head but gets pulled down to the mat. Disco comes in and walks into a suplex, only to pop up with a clothesline to take over. Inferno dances a bit and turns around to get chopped and stomped by Benoit. Everything breaks down and the Crossface quickly ends Disco.

The Horsemen yell at Bischoff who shouts about breach of contract.

Hall is still at the bar.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Jericho

Non-title of course. A shoulder puts Jericho down and he claims a hair pull. Page drives in his shoulders before they fight over hiptosses. That goes nowhere so DDP takes his head off with a left arm clothesline. Page tries to hammer away in the corner but gets dropped down onto the top turnbuckle to change control.

Jericho throws him outside and whips Page into the barricade for two. Page comes back with right hands and the discus lariat followed by a belly to back suplex for a near fall. Jericho grabs a quick jawbreaker and the Lionsault almost gets the upset. A low blow breaks up the Diamond Cutter but Page counters the Liontamer. Page calls for the Diamond Cutter but Goldberg comes in to spear Jericho for the DQ.

Rating: C+. Better match than I was expecting here as Jericho got in a lot of offense and wasn’t entirely beat at the end. They had to do something to give Page and Goldberg a real issue and this was as good as anything else they could have done. It’s always nice to see a champion not do a clean job too.

Page is ticked and the brawl is almost on until referees make the save.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Billy Kidman

Rey is returning from an injury to challenge for the title here. They feel each other out to start until Kidman takes him down to the mat in a front facelock. Back up and Rey snaps off a standing hurricanrana before backdropping the champion to the apron. Kidman comes back in with a slingshot headscissors and a hard dropkick gets two. We hit the chinlock for a bit on Mysterio before Kidman sends him into the corner for a running forearm which looked like a blown spot.

Mysterio takes his head off with a spinwheel kick and a high cross body for a very close two. Rey tries his sitout bulldog but gets countered into a wheelbarrow slam, sending Rey to the apron, only to get suplexed out to the floor by the masked man. Back in and Kidman shrugs it off and hits the lifting powerbomb for two. We hit the chinlock on Rey but he fights up and takes Kidman to the floor with a hurricanrana. Rey is favoring his knee but hits a nice flip dive to take Kidman down.

Rey takes too much time going up top and Kidman gets up, only to be dropped stomach first onto the ropes. A legdrop to the back of the head gets two but Rey is too banged up to cover. Kidman slams him down and misses a frog splash, allowing Rey to go up for a top rope seated senton and two.

Tony calls it a Thesz Press and Tenay doesn’t correct him. Mysterio hits a double leg Fameasser for two but gets caught in a powerbomb from the champion for two more. Mysterio crotches Kidman to break up the Shooting Star before taking Kidman to the mat with a hurricanrana for two. A jumping Killswitch gets two for Mysterio and he goes up top, only to dive into a dropkick as the bell rings for the time limit at about thirteen and a half minutes.

Rating: B+. This was one of the best matches we’ve had on Nitro in weeks with both guys countering a lot of stuff but still getting in their own big moves. Mysterio’s knee messing up was fine for a story and Kidman more than held up with the cruiserweight legend. I’m not sure how you can have a legend for a division about two years old but Tony kept using that term.

The Minneapolis mayor comes out holding a proclomation to huge booing and a Jesse chant. She brings out future Baseball Hall of Fame member Kirby Puckett and future NFL Hall of Famer John Randle but the fans still aren’t impressed with her. Maybe it’s the very loud and grating voice? Anyway she brings out Ric Flair and declares it Ric Flair Day in Minneapolis.

Flair is thrilled but here’s Bischoff to complain. He doesn’t need some three named mayor to ruin his show but the mayor says this is her town. Randle and Puckett get between them and cops tell Bischoff to stay back. Apparently Bischoff has some unpaid warrants and has 20 minutes to get out of the arena. Eric promises to be back and walks out but sees his car being towed away.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Norton/Scott Hall/Stevie Ray vs. Konnan/Kevin Nash/Lex Luger

Norton comes out wearing the IWGP Title. Hall staggers out after them and his partners aren’t pleased. That’s actually better than Nash who is nowhere in sight. Luger is back in trunks instead of pants. Konnan does his thing and we cut to the back where Nash is staggering around and dropping a cup.

The bell rings and Kevin slowly comes into the arena. Konnan and Stevie get things going but the Wolfpack asks Nash what’s going on. Kevin tries to get in but Luger and Konnan won’t let that happen. Nash keeps drinking until Luger takes the cup away. Stevie and Konnan get things going with Ray in control until Konnan comes back with the rolling clothesline.

Off to Luger and Norton with Lex throwing him around like he’s nothing. The running forearm puts Norton down but Stevie offers a distraction and the Black and White takes over. Nash is kneeling on the apron, cup in hand. Hall is asking for a tag but Ray and Norton just ignore him. Luger and Norton clothesline each other down and crawl to the corners where Hall and Nash tag themselves in. They make a drunken toast to each other but Nash has an empty cup. The fight is on and Hall gets his clock cleaned until the match is thrown out.

Rating: D. This was an angle instead of a match and that’s fine. The Hall vs. Nash idea is fine but I was hoping for it to be an actual match rather than the whole drunken Hall thing. I’m also not sure why it’s on a stacked Halloween Havoc card when it could have headlined a lower PPV card if treated well.

Hogan vs. Warrior promo.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Horace

Raise your hand if you think this is actually happening. Hollywood comes out to the wrong music at first and tells Michael Buffer that this isn’t happening. Horace comes out and admits that he’s Hollywood’s nephew which I thought was public knowledge before this. Hollywood says they’re blood so he calls the NWO out here to see what blood means to him. He’s proud of Horace and loves him before taking his shirt off.

Hollywood talks about the sacrifices you have to make to be in the NWO and says this is his sacrifice. He blasts Horace with a right hand and goes off on him, saying imagine what he’d do to Warrior if he’d do this to family. A chair shot puts Horace down and everyone but Norton leaves Hollywood alone.

Hogan rants about how Warrior is going to admit Hollywood rules the universe and tells him to say his prayers and take his vitamins. The NWO gets back in the ring and here’s Warrior with a ball bat. He cleans house as Hogan bails to the floor. Giant shrugs off a bat shot and chokeslams Warrior down. Hogan spray paints Warrior’s chest and drops some legs. The crowd has almost no response to this at all. They’re not booing or cheering and just kind of sit there for the whole thing.

Here’s Bret Hart to make a challenge. He runs his mouth about how he has no fans but his cat and calls Sting the worst there is, was and ever will be until Sting comes out for a fight.

Sting vs. Bret Hart

It’s a brawl to start with Sting in full control and hammering away. They head outside with Bret being sent into the barricade. All Sting so far as they head back inside with the big jumping elbow actually connecting for two. Bret gets in a kick to the ribs and drops a headbutt to the abdomen. He rakes Sting’s eyes across the top rope and hits the backbreaker but Sting blocks the middle rope elbow. There’s the Scorpion but Bret makes the rope. Sting doesn’t let go and it’s a DQ. “You might as well go get help because I’m not letting go.”

Rating: D. Again there was nothing to the match but that wasn’t the point. I’m not sure why you would have an actual match between them before Sunday, especially with Sting dominating the whole thing with ease. At least it wasn’t a clean finish or anything so there’s a reason to watch the match Sunday.

Referees can’t get the hold off so Stevie Ray and Vincent come out to pound on Sting. He still won’t leg to as he no sells everything before letting it go on his own. Bret limps away to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was better than most Nitros lately and actually has me wanting to see the show on Sunday. There was entertaining wrestling and all of the major matches for Sunday got screen time. What else can you ask for from a go home show? Also Warrior finally got beaten up and the crowd just didn’t care at all. Good show actually.

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Thunder
Date: October 15, 1998
Location: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall

WCW is in a bad place right now as their last two shows have been very, very boring. For some reason this show doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence as Thunder becomes less and less important every single week. We’re ten days away from Halloween Havoc which still feels like it’s about a year away given how boring these shows have been lately. Let’s get to it.

Hammer vs. Sick Boy

Sick Boy comes out to no music. They didn’t have 247 generic rock songs available? Hammer shoves him into the corner to start and tells Sick Boy not to freak out. Sick Boy takes him into the corner and slaps Hammer into the corner, earning him an elbow into the jaw. Hammer clotheslines him out to the floor and hits a nice dive for a guy his size.

Sick Boy scores with a baseball slide and drops Hammer before putting on a sleeper. The announcers talk about ANYTHING other than this boring match. Hammer counters into a sleeper of his own Sick Boy comes out with a jawbreaker. A middle rope elbow gets two for Sick Boy but Hammer throws him off the top by the hair in a painful looking move. Back up and the Flashback (Alabama Slam) is good for the pin on the sick one.

Rating: D. The match wasn’t horrible but it just wasn’t interesting at all. That’s the problem with most of the matches on Thunder anymore. I’ve seen far worse matches, but it doesn’t mean I want to sit through them at all. This was another double taping so I can’t imagine how bored the fans must be at this point.

Video on the Horsemen.

We see clips from Monday with Bischoff trying to keep the Horsemen out of the arena. By clips, I mean everything that happened, running about seven and a half minutes total. It’s becoming more and more clear that they’re just filling stuff in here.

La Parka vs. Konnan

Konnan does his usual schtick followed by the rolling clothesline and seated dropkick. At least the fans care about the people in this match. Back up and Konnan decks him with a back elbow but walks into what might have been a low blow. La Parka chops away and hits a running clothesline followed by a spinwheel kick.

He loads up another charge into the corner but runs into two boots, followed by something resembling a powerbomb from Konnan. La Parka clotheslines him down but gets rolled up for tow more. Konnan grabs a bulldog and gets in a slightly low kick of his own before the X-Factor and Tequila Sunrise get the win.

Rating: D+. Again, this was just two guys doing moves to each other for about five minutes. It’s not a terrible match or anything but there’s just no reason to care at all about this. Konnan could at least keep a crowd going well enough and La Parka is always entertaining but there’s just nothing to see here.

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Riggs vs. Finlay

Finlay hammers away to start but walks into an armdrag. With nothing else to do, Finlay rakes the one eye he can see, causing Heenan to go into as many jokes as he can. At least it’s better than hearing about Hogan vs. Warrior the entire time. Finlay grabs a quick chinlock but Riggs fights up and dropkicks him down before they choke each other against the ropes. A clothesline puts Riggs down and Finlay rams his head into the mat.

We go outside for more punishment from Finlay including a kick to the head. Back in and Finlay hammers away with whatever he can think of and rips the patch off to work over the eye. Riggs blocks a top rope splash with some raised knees and gets two off a knee drop. A top rope ax handle misses though and Finlay tombstones him down for the pin.

Rating: D. This was similar to the first match in that it wasn’t terrible but it just wasn’t interesting at all. As usual, Riggs continues to be someone who is just there and could have been any one of about a dozen guys and not changed a thing. Finlay was his usual hard hitting self but that’s not enough to carry a six minute match.

Cruiserweight Title: Kaz Hayashi vs. Kidman

Kidman is defending. Kaz grabs a headlock to start but misses a spinwheel kick. He comes back with a headscissors and we get a standoff. Kidman sends him outside and hits a nice plancha before taking him back inside for some right hands against the ropes. Kaz backdrops him out to the floor and hits a nice twisting plancha to put both guys down. Back in again and Hayashi chops him down a few times before we take a break.

We come back with Kidman getting two off a sunset flip but getting kneed in the head to put Kaz back in control. Kaz misses a moonsault and gets bulldogged off the middle rope. Kidman puts him down with a sitout powerbomb but Kaz pops up to break up the Shooting Star. He breaks it up again and hits a jawbreaker off the top in a nice spot. Hayashi gets two off a spinwheel kick Sonny Onoo comes out. Kidman dropkicks him out of the air but gets caught in a quick hurricanrana for two. A German suplex gets two on Kidman and Sonny is shaking his head. Kidman slams him down and hits the Shooting Star for the pin.

Rating: C+. It was good but nothing we haven’t seen done better by Juventud. Kaz was yet another name on the very long list of cruiserweights that could be inserted into a match with the bigger names and have a good match. Some of the spots were good here and while it wasn’t a great match, it was about ten times better than anything else tonight so far.

Sonny beats up Kaz post match until Kidman makes a save.

We get clips from Nitro with Buff and Scott having their argument.

Chucky clip. I would love to hear that being pitched to Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair.

Hogan vs. Warrior video.

Here’s Ernest Miller to challenge anyone to fight him. He talks a lot of trash until a “fan” comes into the ring and is allowed to stand behind him until Miller lays him out. Security takes the guy away.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Prince Iaukea

Chavo rides Pepe around to start and dances a bit before we get going. A shoulder block puts the Prince down and we get more dancing. Chavo pounds away in the corner but gets caught by chops and a dropkick. Iaukea sends him to the floor and it’s time to talk to the horse. Chavo waves Pepe at the Prince and talks to it some more before heading back inside for a test of strength.

They trade some nice counters until Chavo armdrags him down into a chinlock. To keep up the comedy, Chavo gives the Prince a wet willy to the indifference of the crowd. Iaukea reverses into a chinlock of his own, sending Chavo off to talk to Pepe. The Prince grabs the horse and Chavo begs for mercy, only to blast Prince in the back of the head.

Chavo slams Iaukea down and rides the horse around before peppering him with some European uppercuts. Prince comes back with a quick cross body for two and a victory roll for the same. Guerrero gets a knee up in the corner and goes up for the tornado DDT and the pin.

Rating: C. This was much easier to sit through as it at least had something entertaining to it. I’d much rather watch a not very funny comedy match than a boring wrestling match and it was much easier to sit through this. Chavo and the horse are getting a bit tiresome but at least it’s not Finlay vs. Riggs.

Bride of Chucky ad.

WCW Mastercard ad. 1998 was a strange time.

Video on Page vs. Goldberg. You know, a wrestling match. I know you’d rather see ads for movies and credit cards but they had to fit this in there somewhere.

Here’s Page for his weekly chat. Page is all fired up for the title match and is jacked up tonight. He’s happy just being himself instead of being undefeated with all the pressure on him. Page has two words for Goldberg: Diamond Cutter. Again, simple stuff here.

Stevie Ray vs. Dean Malenko

Here’s your main event. Dean yells at Vincent and Ray gets in a cheap shot to take over. A big boot sends Dean to the floor and Ray throws on a bearhug as we take a break about a minute in. Back with Dean getting sideslammed and put in a chinlock with a knee in his spine. Dean fights up but gets elbowed down and put right back in the hold.

Malenko fights up again and gets a quick belly to back suplex but Stevie powers him into the corner. Stevie whips him across but Dean jumps to the top for a missile dropkick of all things. He loads up the Cloverleaf but Vincent comes in for the DQ. Too much was in the commercial but this was your usual NWO main event.

Scott Norton comes in to help with the beatdown but the Horsemen run out for the save. Arn says the NWO is trespassing here in Horsemen country and if they want a war, the Horsemen are going to win. Flair says that Bischoff is just an abuse of power and the Horsemen aren’t afraid of subpoenas. Malenko survived a beating like that because he’s a member of the most elite group in wrestling. Dean says he’s ready for any member of the NWO because that’s what a Horseman does. Flair promises to take Bischoff’s job and run this company, prompting Heenan to suck up even more as the show ends.

Overall Rating: D+. It’s still not a good show and not a show that you need to see, but this was far easier to sit through than most of these shows. Just throwing a pair of watchable cruiserweight matches out there was such a breath of fresh air tonight and gave you the break from all the boring matches that you never get on Thunder. I’m not going to think about this show again five minutes after it’s over, but at least I wasn’t miserable sitting through it.

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Thunder
Date: October 8, 1998
Location: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

The main stories coming into this week are Bret Hart and Sting having a big old fight in the back to close out Nitro and Eric Bischoff apparently going completely insane because he’s the only person that didn’t see Warrior in Hollywood Hogan’s mirror. We’re still on what feels like an eternal road to Halloween Havoc so let’s get to it.

We open with the laughter and Tony trying to find out what it is.

Mike Tenay is going to a bar forty miles away from the arena tonight to meet with Scott Hall. We go to the bar where Hall says Nash knows where he is tonight and can come find him if he wants. They used to hang out at a place called the Meridian and Nash can come down here anytime. Hall implies that Nash should drop the Wolfpack and just be the Outsiders again.

A limo is seen leaving the arena, presumably with Nash inside.

Kanyon vs. Prince Iaukea

Kanyon does his Who Better Than Kanyon bit and complains when the crowd doesn’t say no one. The Prince is quickly sent down but Kanyon bails to the ropes when he comes back up. Iaukea hits a spin kick to send Kanyon to the floor and hits another one off the apron in a nice spot. Back in and the Prince gets crotched on the top, setting up a neckbreaker out of the corner for two.

Something resembling a Fameasser gets two more, followed by another neckbreaker and a fireman’s carry pancake. All Kanyon for the most part as the announcers ignore the match and talk about Nash chasing Hall. We hit the chinlock for a bit before the Prince grabs a dragon screw leg whip to take Kanyon down. Iaukea goes up top but jumps onto Kanyon’s back and gets slammed back first onto the mat. The Flatliner ends it a few seconds later.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do it for me but I’ve seen worse. Iaukea continues to be one of the least interesting wrestlers I’ve ever seen as there’s just nothing special about him. Kanyon is kind of all over the place anymore as he’ll squash a jobber one week, then get crushed by Goldberg, then be Raven’s lackey. I’m surprised he hasn’t gone towards a midcard title yet.

Chris Jericho is outside a locker room yelling for Goldberg.

Scott Steiner video.

Here are Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell with something to say. Buff doesn’t want to live there so the fans need to sit down and shut up. The Halloween Havoc match against Rick isn’t happening because Rick is scared. That’s quite the announcement. Scott grabs the mic and yells at Buff for allowing his mom to show up and embarrass the NWO on Monday. Buff gets in Scott’s face and blames his neck injury on Steiner. He’s tired of it always being about Scott and walks out.

Peyton Manning is here.

Jerry Flynn vs. Meng

What do you expect here? Meng no sells everything and pounds Jerry down in the corner until Flynn comes back with a kick and cross body for two. Another kick is blocked and the Tongan Death Grip is good for the easy win.

Jericho yells at Goldberg and hides behind security. Goldberg isn’t on camera.

Meng hasn’t gotten out of the ring yet when Chris Adams comes out for his match and gets destroyed for his efforts. This brings out Wrath to pull Meng off and the monsters brawl. They head outside with Meng getting hit by a chair but throwing Wrath over the barricade. That could be a good blowoff match.

The Horsemen are here and immediately handed restraining orders. Dean isn’t given one so here’s JJ Dillon to say that if Dean stays then all of the Horsemen stay. The Horsemen leave and Dean stays as the Horsemen continue to look worthless half the time.

Tokyo Magnum vs. El Dandy

Dandy grabs an armbar to start but gets taken down by a sunset flip for two. The fans aren’t exactly thrilled by this. A hard slap puts Tokyo down but Magnum comes back with a dropkick. Dandy suplexes him down and the laughter starts up again. Dandy hammers away and they chop each other a lot as this is going nowhere. Cue Scott Norton to destroy both guys and the match is thrown out.

Post break Eddie Guerrero and his LWO lackeys are in the ring. Eddie accuses Bischoff of sending Norton out there and asks El Dandy to join the team. Magnum tries to get in on this too but is shot down because he’s Japanese. Dandy agree and puts on the LWO shirt.

Saturn vs. Scott Putski

They trade armbars to start until Saturn takes him to the mat with amateur stuff. Putski stis out in a nice move and blasts Saturn in the ribs with a kick to take over. Saturn pops back up and runs Putski over before firing off some nice kicks to the ribs and head. Back to the armbar but Putski sends him into the corner and clotheslines him out to the floor. Saturn goes into the barricade and Putski stomps away back inside.

Scott hammers away again with another clothesline and puts on a sleeper. Saturn quickly breaks it up with a jawbreaker and goes off on Putski with kicks and a quick suplex. A top rope knee drop gets two on Scott but he comes back with a nice powerslam for a near fall of his own. Saturn ducks an ax handle and suplexes Putski down again. The Death Valley Driver ends Putski with far less ease than expected.

Rating: C. Better match than I was expecting here but like Kanyon, why was Saturn never allowed to go after the US Title or something like that? He was having good matches and interesting stories, but I guess there was no interest because he wasn’t in an NWO shirt. Putski had a decent look and wasn’t half bad in the ring actually.

Here’s Disciple with something to say. He goes on a horrible rambling speech about Hogan not making his career and how Hogan has turned WCW into his playground. Disciple calls out Horace Hogan, saying Horace doesn’t deserve a job. Cue Horace for a match. Oh joy.

Horace vs. Disciple

Horace jumps him but gets his eyes raked to slow him down. A neckbreaker puts Horace down for two but he comes back with a belly to belly suplex. Disciple no sells it and comes back with a ridiculously slow Stunner for the pin. To clarify, they’re fighting over whose career Hogan made less, but guys like Juvy, Kidman and about 30 other talented guys can’t get a two minute match.

Horace jumps him post match.

Long video for Warrior vs. Hogan.

Here’s Jericho in the ring to call out Goldberg. First off, Jericho says get well Brian and come back soon, referring to Brian Hildebrand, more commonly known as referee Mark Curtis, who is fighting cancer. Jericho says Goldberg is more green than gold, so get out here right now. There’s no Goldberg so Jericho says start counting and declares himself the winner by countout.

Bret Hart comes out and tells Tony he can take care of this by himself. He’s been waiting a long time to face Sting and wants a match with him at Halloween Havoc. Sting better bring everything he’s got….and that’s it.

Horsemen montage.

Here’s Dean Malenko to sit in a chair in the middle of the ring. Bischoff seems to have forgotten about him but he’s not leaving until he gets a match. Cue Eric who gives Dean the Barbarian. On the way to the ring, Eric asks Jimmy Hart what Barbarian makes. Jimmy says $500,000 (!) and Eric offers to double it if Barbarian wins.

Dean Malenko vs. Barbarian

Barbarian goes right after Dean and Eric sits in on commentary. All monster to start with stomps, slams and punches. Dean’s comeback is easily stymied as he’s rammed into the corner to block a suplex attempt. Barbarian’s superplex is countered as well and Dean scores with a missile dropkick. Jimmy tries to interfere but Barbarian accidentally runs him over, setting up the Cloverleaf for the quick submission. Bischoff freaks out and beats on Schiavone with some papers.

Goldberg vs. Page video.

The laughter starts up again as Raven comes out with something to say. He wants to know why DDP gets all this attention and no one worries about him. Page pops up and says he’ll bang Raven.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven

Raven chokes Page to start and blocks an early Diamond Cutter attempt. A suplex gets two and Page is sent into the buckle for a stomping. We’re already in the chinlock and Raven actually gets a two count off the hold. Page fights up but gets kneed in the ribs and sent outside where Raven grabs a chair.

Raven tries to wrap Page’s legs around the post but gets pulled face first into the steel in the most common counter. Inside again and Raven comes back with the drop toehold onto the chair. Cue Lodi but Page rams Raven into him and gets two off a clothesline. A chair to Raven’s back sets up a suplex but Raven comes right back with a drop toehold into the buckle. Raven throws on a sleeper but Page counters into a quick Diamond Cutter for the pin.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but it doesn’t work as well without the backstory that made their earlier matches great. Raven’s free fall continues which is a shame as we have to sit through Disciple getting a push because he used to be a midcard star nine years ago. The match was fine for five minutes but at this point I’d give a passing grade to anything decent.

Stevie Ray vs. Lex Luger

Here’s your main event people and it’s already after 10pm. Tony tells us that a MAJOR Hollywood star will appear on Nitro. They pose at each other to start before hitting each other with a basic move and posing some more. Luger takes over with a quick slam and a clothesline but walks into an elbow and kick to the face. Vincent gets in a few cheap shots on the floor and Stevie hooks a chinlock.

Luger quickly fights out and scores with a suplex, only to get caught in a quick jawbreaker. The Slap Jack is countered with a backdrop and Luger goes into the same sequence he’s used for ten years. He loads up the Rack but here’s Hall to jump him. Lex fires back with right hands but Stevie hits him with the slap jack (weapon) for the DQ.

Rating: D. I’ve got nothing left and this was a dull match with a lame ending.

Konnan tries to come out for the save but gets laid out. Hall says he fooled Nash and does

the Survey to finally end this show.

Overall Rating: F. This was AWFUL and one of the biggest waste of time I can remember in years. The most interesting thing all night was Meng fighting with Wrath. Think about that. MENG was the highlight of a show. The Horsemen look like nothing, there was almost no star power doing anything of note and the wrestling was so uninteresting I could barely sit through the show. This had me longing for a Hogan promo so I could at least have something to laugh at. It’s a terrible show and Havoc needs to get here so we can move on to ANYTHING else.

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Monday Nitro #157
Date: October 5, 1998
Location: Carolina Coliseum, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 8,782
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay

We’re very slowly making our way towards Halloween Havoc and the stories are already dragging. Thunder was actually a nice break from the Hogan vs. Warrior stuff as Goldberg and Page got the spotlight. We’re also in Horsemen country tonight meaning an appearance from Flair and the boys is a solid possibility. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Hart turning on Sting and revealing his allegiance to Hogan, shocking very few people.

Nitro Girls in pink.

Halloween Havoc promo.

Tony wants to know about the maniacal laugh. I have a very bad feeling about where this is going.

Bret vs. Sting for the US Title tonight.

We look at Piper telling Bret Hart to be a man a few months back as the fans want Flair.

We look back at Bret saving Sting from a whipping by Hogan back in August.

WCW Mastercard ad. Those looked awesome when I was ten and didn’t quite know what they were.

Normal opening about ten minutes into the show, complete with hearing Penzer counting the crowd down to cheer.

Lizmark Jr. vs. Saturn

Saturn grabs a hammerlock to start before pounding away in the corner with kicks to the head. A superkick drops Lizmark but he comes back with a hot shot and chops in the corner. Saturn clotheslines him down and hits a nice falcon’s arrow followed by the Death Valley Driver for the pin. Not much to see here.

Videos on the main events at the PPV.

Nitro Girls in black.

Kaz Hayashi vs. The Cat

Miller does the five seconds thing and calls Hayashi Jackie Chan like the jerk that he is. Tenay lists off Miller’s athletic background including some time in the NFL. Hayashi tries to come back but a stiff kick to the head drops him again. We get an old school stomach claw as the fans aren’t thrilled with this one. Hayashi throws him down and goes up top, only to jump into a side kick. A big kick to the chest is enough to give Miller the pin.

Post match Miller grabs a mic and runs his mouth as Sonny Onoo comes in wearing a purple suit. Sonny offers his services and Miller seems to accept but it’s not clear. Hayashi, a former client of Onoo, isn’t thrilled.

A bunch of eight year olds win the Nitro Party contest this week.

Another Page vs. Goldberg video.

Jerry Flynn vs. Juventud Guerrera

Disco Inferno takes Tenay’s place on commentary and we stay on them for a few moments. Flynn pounds away to start as Disco complains about Juvy messing with his weight. Juvy slides through Flynn’s legs but gets kicked in the face to put him right back down. Guerrera finally gets in some offense with a springboard missile dropkick followed by some chops in the corner. A sitout bulldog ala Rey Mysterio gets two on Jerry and Juvy sends him outside for a big dive. Back in and a quick Juvy Driver gets the pin.

Rating: D+. Why did Juvy get that much offense in this one? It was looking bad for Juvy to start but at least he got the clean win at the end. Disco vs. Juvy in a non-title feud could be interesting, especially if Disco gets to show off some comedy skills by trying to make weight. I’m not sure why Guerrera didn’t win with the 450 here but it was a nice change of pace.

Third Page vs. Goldberg video.

Tenay asks some fans who will win the title match. The people are split.

Heenan joins commentary while Tenay is taking a phone call. The announcers talk about how great Hogan vs. Warrior will be.

Long Hogan vs. Warrior video.

Villano V vs. Wrath

Wrath throws him into the corner and slams him down with ease. Villano is tossed outside and sent into the steps before a slingshot back elbow to the jaw drops him again. The Meltdown is enough for the fast pin. Wrath looked like a monster here.

We get our third video on Hogan vs. Warrior as the night of the video packages continues.

Tenay asks more fans about the World Title match and again it’s split.

A Hummer limo arrives in the back with the Wolfpack. They appear to be hunting for someone as they walk through the back. Konnan is holding a broom and head into the wrestlers’ dressing room. They run behind a wall and a brawl can be heard. The camera shows that it’s against the Black and White until security pulls them apart after a few minutes. They break away from security and the brawl continues until Sting goes into another room and finds Bret Hart. Cops finally come in and break the two of them up.

Back from a break with the Wolfpack walking outside and finding a forklift to flip over the Black and White limousine. Nash and Luger bash it with hammers and Sting slashes the tires for good measure. Cool segment actually.

Hour #2 begins. It’s nice to see the first hour end with something interesting for a change.

Hector Garza vs. Damien

Hector pounds away in the corner to start and takes Damien down with a hiptoss. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker drops Damien again but here’s Eddie Guerrero maybe a minute into the match. The referee calls for the bell before Eddie does anything.

Eddie wants to talk about what Eric Bischoff has ever done for either of them. Damien and Hector can’t answer and that’s Eddie’s point: they’re just wrestling each other week in and week out without ever getting anywhere. Why can’t they ever climb the ladder of success? They can’t even afford their own rental car or hotel room because the NWO is taking all of the money. Eddie says La Raza has to unite as the LWO and he has shirts for everybody. Both guys accept them and leave with Guerrero.

Mike Tenay is in the back with the Wolfpack. Nash says Hall isn’t here but he’s going to go from bar to bar until he finds him. Cameras are going with them.

Another video on Sting vs. Hart.

David Flair is in the front row and acknowledged by the announcers.

Nitro Girls in white.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Kidman

Kidman is defending. Psychosis works on the arm to start and wraps it around the top rope, only to get taken down by a hiptoss. A quick northern lights suplex gets two for the champion and Psychosis is sent outside for a nice plancha from the champ. Back in and Psychosis busts out a gordbuster of all things for a delayed two count. A top rope spinwheel kick to the back of Kidman’s head (called a body attack by Tony) puts the champ down again but Psychosis takes forever to cover a second time.

We hit the chinlock on the champion but Kidman is quickly up with a dropkick. That’s the extent of his offense at the moment though as Psychosis hiptosses him out to the floor and follows up with a nice plancha. Billy gets sent into the steps and dropkicked down again as this has been one sided for awhile now. Back in and Kidman scores with a hard clothesline for two but walks into a suplex for the same for Psychosis.

Back to the chinlock from the masked man before he just stomps the heck out of Kidman. The third chinlock doesn’t last as long as Psychosis tries a powerbomb, only to be countered into a faceplant for two. A standing hurricanrana gets two on Kidman and a tilt-a-whirl slam gets the same. Kidman comes right back with a sitout spinebuster for two but walks into a moonsault press off the top. Psychosis puts the champ on top for a hurricanrana but Kidman shoves him off and drops the Shooting Star on Psychosis’ face to retain.

Rating: C+. Nice match here but the ending was looked nasty. Kidman’s knees landed on Psychosis’ face so it’s lucky that Psychosis is even getting up. It’s nice to see a match get some time tonight instead of having them all fly by like the earlier matches have. Kidman is getting better and better every week.

Warrior talks about the Wrestlemania VI main event and rambles about power. The point is he beat Hogan before and can do it again.

Scott Steiner takes credit for the Steiner Brothers’ success.

Tenay is chasing the Wolfpack limo as they hunt Scott Hall.

Here are Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner to the ring when it’s supposed to be Rick Steiner vs. Brian Adams. Scott promises to prove how great he is at Halloween Havoc and Buff starts to bark. This brings out Rick who reminds Bagwell that this is the building where he hurt his neck. Buff might want to make a joke about it, but Rick has someone who takes this seriously: Buff’s MOM, Judy Bagwell.

She gets on the apron and rips Buff apart, talking about sitting with him in the hospital and reading the fans’ letters. Buff says he made a decision and that she and his dad couldn’t eat without his support. Judy slaps Buff in the face so Scott gets in her face. Rick takes out Scott and Judy drags Buff out by the ear. This was so hilariously stupid that it was awesome.

Back from a break and we get a clip of Scott and Brian Adams double teaming Rick.

Rick Steiner vs. Brian Adams

This is joined in progress with Rick in big trouble. JJ comes out and ejects Scott as Brian hooks a chinlock. Adams walks around for awhile before getting two off a piledriver. Slow choking ensues and a backbreaker gets two for Adams. Rick comes back with a powerslam and Steiner Line but walks into a boot. Luckily for him it’s to the head, meaning Steiner can easily come back with a DDT and the top rope bulldog for the pin.

Rating: D. Slow match here though the high impact spots weren’t bad. Rick going through the Black and White on the way to his showdown with Scott is fine for an idea, but they need to actually have a complete match at some point. Adams was good in this role but he shouldn’t go much higher.

Hour #3 begins.

Tenay and the Wolfpack go into a bar to look for Scott. No luck so the search continues.

Time for Hogan and Bischoff who we somehow haven’t seen so far. Bischoff brags about Hogan’s physique. Hogan talks about how the Warrior has been looking for him but it’s clear that Warrior is terrified. Warrior can come out here right now if he wants a fight but no one appears. Hogan runs his mouth even more before they leave.

Video on the Horsemen.

Nitro Girls in black.

Kanyon vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Page gets a very quick two off a rollup before shoving Kanyon across the ring. A belly to belly suplex gets another near fall and a forearm puts Kanyond outside. Cue Lodi with signs begging Raven to reform the Flock but he gets a dive from Page instead. The distraction lets Raven come in with a Diamond Cutter to Page for two. Page fights up and throws Kanyon into the corner for some rights and lefts but walks into a Fameasser for two.

We hit the chinlock on Page before he comes back with a sunset flip. A clothesline drops Kanyon but Page can’t follow up. Page hammers away and gets two more off the Pancake but a Raven distraction lets Kanyon grab a rollup for a near fall. Page calls for the Cutter but Lodi and Raven run in for the DQ.

Rating: C. Better match that I was expecting given the first few seconds. I was worried they were going to squash Kanyon but he got to look good at the end. I’m not sure why they didn’t let Page get a pin but it’ snot the worst result in the world. The Goldberg vs. Page match should be awesome.

Page gets double teamed post match but Goldberg makes the save.

Hall isn’t at the second bar either.

Lenny Lane vs. Disciple

Lane dances around like Warrior to start and gets his head knocked off as a result. Lenny tries snapmares and some kicks but Disciple no sells everything, clotheslines him down and wins with the Apocalypse.

Disciple says he’s done carrying Hogan’s bags because he’s his own man now. Hogan and Bischoff come out but Disciple storms past them. The two of them head into the back and the storyline takes a sharp turn into a nose dive. Hogan stands in front of a mirror and says everything is falling apart. He looks up and sees Warrior standing behind him but there’s no one behind him. Hogan sees Warrior in the mirror again (we can see him too) and begs him to come to a truce. Bischoff can’t see the Warrior and asks Hogan what he’s talking about. Hogan ignores Bischoff and keeps talking to Warrior until Bischoff tells the cameraman to get out of here.

So yeah, apparently Bischoff is the crazy one as only he couldn’t see Warrior. I could live with the storyline being stupid and only existing to stroke Hogan’s ego. The segments were really stupid to start with the smoke and everything, but you could REALLY stretch and say Warrior was attacking them under the cover of the smoke. They had toned it down in the last few weeks and just used regular (as regular as Warrior can get) promos to build the match but this takes it to a level where it’s stupid and bordering on insulting rather that just eye rolling. Why do I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse too?

Tenay follows the Wolfpac to a bar that looks a lot nicer on the inside than on the outside. Hall is inside and Nash goes right after him. Nash sends Hall into the mens’ room. The Wolfpack follows him in a few moments later and invite the camera in. Hall is out cold just like you would expect him to be.

Here’s a distressed looking Bischoff with something to say. He assures us that Hogan is just fine but has a story to tell us about a man named Flair. Bischoff makes fun of country fans that go to Waffle Houses, drawing a huge WE WANT FLAIR chant. Flair isn’t here tonight and Bischoff has made sure of that because Ric is a coward. This brings out Double A who says this is a Horseman job. He’s officially in charge of head games, so let’s just bring out the champ right now.

This brings out Reid Flair in a singlet with a medal around his neck. Eric is annoyed and says there are Flairs everywhere. Reid: “Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean WOO! Gene!” He’s here to handle his father’s light work and steps up to Bischoff before easily taking him down twice in a row. Bischoff goes after him but Arn gives him a look to scare Eric off. Reid holds up the four fingers and Bischoff doesn’t know what to do.

Back from a break with Bischoff alone in the ring, ranting about wanting Ric Flair out here right now. Liz comes to the ring with a phone and is told to call Ric right now. Someone answers but it’s Ric’s wife Beth who yells at Eric until Ric’s music comes on. He hits the ring and takes off the jacket but here’s the Black and White. Benoit, Malenko, Mongo, Anderson and Reid hit the ring to protect Ric and the NWO bails. David Flair gets in the ring as well to complete the showdown. Awesome segment as the Flair vs. Bischoff showdown is another week closer.

US Title: Sting vs. Bret Hart

Pay per view? What’s that? The challenger Sting is alone here as the Wolfpack is still gone from chasing Hall. Bret comes down the aisle but turns around and heads back through the entrance. Sting gives chase and the fight is on in the back. No match of course. Sting sends him into a steel door and then hits him with a dry erase board. Bret gets his jacket off and they head to the cafeteria area where thankfully there isn’t any food left.

Hart takes over with some right hands and suplexes him through a table to put Sting down. He goes after the leg and ankle with a chair and pounds away with fists until Sting throws him down. Sting limps after him and crotches Bret against the side of a door. Bret gets away and tries to commandeer a golf card but there’s no key. Sting chokes him with a pole and puts on a Scorpion. Bret: “CHEATER!” Security breaks it up to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a very angle heavy show and they worked for the most part. That being said, the Hogan mirror stuff is just so stupid and sticks out like a sore thumb. The NWO stuff still doesn’t have an end game but at least they’re building up to a card of matches at Halloween Havoc. There are still a lot of problems plaguing the show though.

As has been the problem since he first turned, we really don’t know why Bret turned in the first place or why he turned again last week. The closest we’ve gotten is he respects Hogan and wants to support him but it’s still a problem in the whole story. We know they’re feuding, but there’s really no backstory other than one guy turned on the other after being together for no apparent reason. It’s not confusing and you can figure it out well enough now, but it was a confusing few months leading up without an actual reason for any of it happening.

The wrestling wasn’t the focus here and that’s fine. Kidman vs. Psychosis was a decent enough match but it was just there to have a longer match. This show still needs to be back at two hours as there’s too much meaningless filler. There was only one really bad part tonight and the pure awesomeness of Judy Bagwell brings this one home.

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Thunder
Date: October 1, 1998
Location: The Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Attendance: 8,858
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

Back to the weather show with the big story being Bret Hart turning on Sting after their long friendship of two weeks. The Black and White is reunited again as we very slowly make our way towards Halloween Havoc and the EPIC rematch between Hogan and Warrior. Hopefully Thunder continues its tradition of focusing on everything except that match. Let’s get to it.

The announcers run down the main events, including Raven vs. Goldberg for the World Title.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Lodi

Lodi gets to talk before the match, saying that Page brought Saturn into WCW and Saturn ruined Lodi’s life, so Lodi is going to ruin Page’s life. “YOU’RE NEXT!” Page is fine with the threat and dives over the top to take Lodi out as we get going. Back in and Lodi gets a few cheap shots on Page followed by some choking, only to walk into right hands and a discus lariat. Page calls for the Diamond Cutter and we’re done quick.

The announcers tell us to stay tuned for Jerry Flynn and Mike Enos. Seriously.

Jerry Flynn vs. Mike Enos

Feeling out process to start until Flynn gets in some of his kicks in the corner to take over. The announcers talk about Hogan vs. Warrior in one of the rare occasions where that’s far more interesting. Enos takes over with an enziguri and a hot shot sends Flynn to the floor. We get a quick chase ending with Jerry dropping knees back inside as this just keeps going. Enos catches a leapfrog in a powerslam in the only nice move of the match and here’s a drunk Scott Hall to interrupt things. The match stops and I’ll call it a no contest.

Rating: D-. I really don’t think this needs an explanation.

Hall beats up both guys and does the survey. He talks about all of the bosses he has but Kevin Nash isn’t one of them. They’ll fight but it’s going to be on his terms.

Kanyon vs. Scotty Riggs

Before the match Kanyon says that he’s the Innovator of Offense and no one is going to prove him wrong, especially not Riggs. He calls Riggs a pirate and wants to know where’s his peg leg. Tony can be heard covering a laugh. Kanyon tries to get Riggs to rejoin Raven but gets punched in the face to get things going. Riggs hits his nice dropkick for two and throws Kanyon out to the floor before ramming his shoulder into the post.

Back in and the arm goes around the post again but Riggs misses a charge and hits the buckle. Kanyon comes back with a middle rope Fameasser and a swinging neckbreaker for two of his own. The fireman’s carry into a pancake gets another near fall on Riggs but he counters another Fameasser attempt into a powerbomb. Riggs drives him into the corner but is sent face first into the buckle, setting up the Flatliner to give Kanyon the pin.

Rating: C. The same problems that plagued Riggs over the years plagued him here: he has no character to speak of and his offense looked like he’s been in the ring six months. He had a nice dropkick but there are a dozen people that can make that move look good. There was never a reason to care about him and this match didn’t change things. Kanyon was his usual awesome self.

Raven talks about how there’s no reason to get attached to anything because everything goes away. Those are good words for Goldberg, because tonight his world title is going away.

Wrath vs. Ciclope

Heenan thinks Riggs and Ciclope are the same person in a funny bit. Total dominance to start with Ciclope being thrown into the post and then the corner, followed by kicks to the ribs and a belly to back suplex. They head outside with Ciclope being thrown around like he’s a rag doll. Back in and Ciclope gets in a few headbutts but slips while trying a missile dropkick. A running shoulder block sets up the Meltdown to end the dominance.

Rating: D+. Wrath is good in this role and would make a nice one night challenger for Goldberg on a Nitro with another big main event. It’s also nice to see WCW mixing up their jobbers like they do. That drives me crazy in WWE where they have a huge roster but have the same handful of guys do all their squash jobs.

The creepy laughter is heard again.

Cruiserweight Title: Billy Kidman vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

The bell rings and Chavo goes straight to the corner to pick up Pepe. Back up and Chavo grabs a headlock followed by a shoulder but we need more horse. The champion comes back with a nice flying headscissors to send Chavo outside, setting up a pescado to the floor. The announcers are actually into this and thankfully haven’t mentioned Hall squashing Kidman on Nitro. Back in and Chavo throws Kidman right back to the floor before diving off the top with a cross body for two inside.

Billy elbows him in the face gets two off a dropkick but gets kicked away and taken down by a top rope bulldog for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Billy suplexes out of it and heads up, only to get crotched as we go to a break. Back with everyone in the same place (the joys of taped shows) and it’s Chavo dancing around with Pepe before we hit the chinlock again.

Kidman fights up but misses a dropkick and gets caught in a camel clutch. That goes nowhere as Kidman fights up and avoids a splash in the corner, only to go up top and hit knees with a splash. Chavo puts him back up top for a superplex for two but Kidman grabs a quick short powerbomb and goes up for the Shooting Star to retain.

Rating: C+. This was really good while the action was going but they stopped for chinlocks and camel clutches. Kidman is back on track after that annoying loss on Monday where it was made clear that the cruiserweights are secondary to the heavyweights. Chavo continues to show that he can wrestle well instead of just being insane all the time.

Lenny Lane vs. Van Hammer

Hammer is a hippie now. Lane shoves him away and celebrates like he just won the world title but Hammer shoves him down much harder. Another shove puts Lenny down and it’s off to a powerful armbar. Hammer runs into a charge and gets rammed into the buckle for Lane’s period of false hope. Lenny spends too much time posing and gets taken up top for a superplex, followed by an Alabama Slam to give Hammer the pin.

Rating: D. The match was nothing to see but I was a big Van Hammer fan when I was a kid so it’s always cool to see him. Lane was a funny guy but the fact that he looked so much like Jericho didn’t help him. Just a squash here but Van Hammer as a hippie was only going to take him so far.

Raven talks about crying looking like laughing and about how no one has ever taken it to Goldberg like he or Saturn have.

Damien vs. Disco Inferno

Disco bails to the corner to start before getting caught in a headlock. They run the ropes a bit before a crossbody sends Disco running again. Disco charges into a boot but still rolls away from a top rope splash. The neckbreaker and a bunch of stomps in the corner have Damien in trouble and a middle rope ax handle gets two. Damien makes a very quick comeback but charges into a boot as well, setting up the piledriver to give Disco the pin.

Rating: D+. Disco is likeable even as a heel and that piledriver has looked great in the last few weeks. Again, it’s nice to see them mix up the jobbers and build up someone like Disco so that a bigger midcarder can beat him later. The good thing here though was they kept the match at about three and a half minutes so he didn’t wear out his welcome. Simple yet effective.

Konnan vs. Stevie Ray

After his LONG schtick, Konnan scores with an early rolling lariat and the seated dropkick. Unfortunately the match doesn’t end ten seconds later as Stevie comes back with his heavy forearms and punches in the corner. A clothesline puts Konnan down and we hit a quickly broken chinlock. Ray hits a nice high knee and gets two off a slam as we’re just waiting on the screwy finish. Vincent gets in some choking but Konnan is able to stop a charging Stevie with a boot (popular move tonight). The X-Factor sets up the Sunrise but Vincent gets on the apron, allowing Stevie to hit Konnan with the slapjack (object, not move) for the DQ.

Rating: D. Nothing to this one but again they kept it short to take away some of the pain. It seems like these guys have been fighting for months and as always the question is where is this leading? There’s no end game for the NWO war and the matches just keep going and going without anything really changing.

The beatdown ensues until Nash makes the save. Hall comes out to the stage but doesn’t get past the aisle.

Video on Hogan vs. Warrior. I’m fine with it being limited to one segment per show.

WCW World Title: Raven vs. Goldberg

DDP comes out to do commentary. We get the long Buffer entrances to fill in some time. The match is under Raven’s Rules, which Buffer describes as “No time limit, pinfalls or submissions, no DQ or countouts.” Goldberg shoves him down to start as Page says he’d rather face Goldbeg at Halloween Havoc. A powerslam puts Raven down but Goldberg misses a running knee in the corner and falls out to the floor.

Raven rams him into the steps and puts Goldberg on a table, only to miss a dive over the top and go through a table. Page: “He’s like a big cat. Like Ernest Ladd. Er Miller. What the heck was his name?” Back in and the spear connects but it takes out the referee as well. Kanyon comes in with a chair to knock Goldberg into the Even Flow but Page will have none of that. He runs down and lays out Kanyon with the Diamond Cutter as Goldberg gets up and Jackhammers Raven for the win.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I was expecting to. They actually made Goldberg seem a little bit vulnerable here and Page saving him helped even more. Raven had no chance of course but it was nice to see Goldberg have to break a sweat to win for a change. For a Thunder main event that’s more than you would expect to get.

Goldberg and Page growl at each other to end the show, I believe in their first face to face encounter.

Overall Rating: C+. This is a tough one to grade as most of the matches weren’t very good but they were almost all short so the pain wasn’t that bad. The two title matches were both solid though and seeing Goldberg vs. Page get some focus was a very nice change of pace. It never ceases to amaze me how much easier WCW is to sit through when there’s no Hogan involved. Best Thunder in awhile.

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Monday Nitro #156
Date: September 28, 1998
Location: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, New York
Attendance: 10,523
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

We’re four weeks away from Halloween Havoc and things aren’t exactly looking up. The big news is Disciple joining Warrior to close out last week. I’m not exactly sure why that’s big news but Tony Schiavone said it was a huge moment in our sport and Tony would never lie to me. Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks recaps Warrior vs. Hogan and the One Warrior Nation revolution, whatever that was supposed to be.

Announcers and Nitro Girls open things up.

Here’s the NWO for their first interview of the night. Eric thanks the fans for all the money they’ve handed to him tonight. Hogan thanks them for laying on the ground so he wouldn’t have to touch the streets here in Rochester. He brags about making wrestling what it is today and greatly increasing revenue in towns like this.

Hogan made all the “good guys” think they were great but they really couldn’t hang with Hollywood. I’m not sure if he was referring to his friend of the month back in WWF or guys who weren’t all that talented. He’ll prove that again at Halloween Havoc when he beats the Warrior into the ground and moves a step closer to getting the title back around his waist.

He went out to “the hood” and all of his friends said he should slaughter all of the lambs he lead to slaughter (his words) so tonight he’s starting with Sting and Bret Hart. Hogan’s voice is cracking as he talks here and keeps referring to the Black and White as the Wood. You can even call him Woody because he’s just too sweet. Larry: “Did he say the boys in the hood think he’s Ed Wood?”

Opening sequence.

La Parka vs. Super Calo

La Parka has a sombrero this week. Calo blasts him in the head during the dance but La Parka comes back with what looked to be a low blow for two. The dancer is sent face first into the middle buckle and Calo hits a nice middle rope hurricanrana. A running charge misses and La Parka’s shoulder hits the post, setting up a BIG dive from the top to the floor by Calo.

Back in and La Parka quickly puts him in the Tree of Woe for a running spinwheel kick to the ribs. Calo gets his boots up to catch La Parka coming off the top but is almost immediately kicked to the floor. He pops back onto the apron and pulls La Parka off the top and drapes it on the top rope. Another hurricanrana gets two on La Parka but he comes back with an Alabama Slam and a corkscrew off the top for the pin.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and another example of the incredibly deep cruiserweight roster the company had. Super Calo hadn’t been seen in months but came back and had a nice match here. It’s nice to be able to hold back on the big names for once and let the other guys get the spotlight.

Calo blasts La Parka with the chair.

Here’s Bret Hart with something to say. He takes up Hogan on his challenge tonight and promises to have people watching his back to make sure it’s one on one. He’ll make Hogan a zero if the fans give him one more chance to be a hero. The fans really dug the speech.

Disciple vs. Sick Boy

No sunglasses for Disciple here and he comes out to the NWO music though he’s wearing an OWN vest. Sick Boy jumps him to start but Disciple no sells a suplex and chokes away. This time it’s Sick Boy no selling a gutwrench suplex but Disciple immediately no sells a neckbreaker and hits a big boot “to the face” (clearly missed) and the Apocalypse is good for the pin. I wonder how many people knew that was Brutus Beefcake. The only direct reference to it was a one off line from Warrior calling him a barber and he looked so different that it might not have been clear.

The announcers hype Hogan vs. Hart tonight.

We recap the battle of the Steiners and Scott and Buff faking all those injuries. Their match at Halloween Havoc will be No DQ.

Jericho has challenged Goldberg for a World Title shot tonight.

Nitro Party.

Nitro Girls. The song instructs the fans to say HO.

Lenny Lane/Nick Dinsmore vs. Scott Steiner

Steiner talks some trash about his brother before the match. Lane is quickly sent to the floor and Dinsmore gets tossed around with ease. Steiner’s dinner changes places and Lane is put in the Tree of Woe. Dinsmore is tossed into the steps and Bagwell gets in some cheap shots of his own. Scott suplexes Nick onto Lenny and a double Steiner Recliner is good for the win.

Scott feigns an injury post match and is walked to the back by a trainer.

Hour #2 begins.

The lights go out and we get Warrior Speak over the announce system. Warrior says he and his fans have a message for Hogan: ever since Warrior returned, Hogan has only shown him a pittance of what he used to be. Warrior won’t make himself less than what he is until Hogan becomes what he needs to be. That’s the most coherent he’s been in years.

Here’s Buff to talk about Steiner’s injury earlier. Scott is on his way to the ambulance but Gene doesn’t buy it. The evil laughter cuts them off and Buff wants to know where it’s coming from. Back on subject, Buff doesn’t know if Scott will be ready for Halloween Havoc or not.

The Cat vs. Psychosis

Miller does his five seconds schtick but Psychosis doesn’t understand. This ticks Miller off so he kicks the masked man in the face. Psychosis comes back with some kicks of his own and sends Cat to the floor. Back in and a missile dropkick puts Cat down for two and it’s off to a figure four neck lock. Miller blocks a spinwheel kick into a slam but walks into a slam of his own. The guillotine legdrop misses though and Miller’s Feliner hits the shoulder for the pin.

Rating: D. Some of Miller’s kicks looked good and that’s about all there was to see. Psychosis wasn’t bad but he needed something better than Miller to work with. At least it’s better than having another battle of the karate guys. Hopefully the accuracy of the kicks get better as the night goes on.

Alex Wright insults the crowd and the British Bulldog. Who thought we needed to build to that match?

Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Feeling out process to start until Disco takes over with a hiptoss but stops to nearly break Pepe the stick horse in half. Chavo goes NUTS and takes over with right hands before throwing Inferno to the floor. Back in and an atomic drop and clothesline get two on Disco but he slams Chavo down. A dancing middle rope elbow gets a two count and Chavo makes his comeback, only to have Disco jab him in the throat with Pepe for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was more of a story than a match with Disco proving that he can hang with the cruiserweights but not being legally allowed to compete in their division. Chavo has toned down the insanity in recent weeks and is becoming a more well rounded wrestler as a result.

Juvy comes out to yell at Disco and gets a piledriver for his efforts.

Cool Horsemen video.

Here are the Horsemen for their awesome promo of the week. Before they can start we’ve got Bischoff, Stevie Ray and Doug Dillinger to interrupt. Flair kneels down and bows to “god” but cops snap him back to seriousness. Apparently Stevie is claiming felonious assault against the Horsemen for attacking him on Thunder. Dillinger is getting thrown out as well for allowing it to happen. Bischoff rips on Flair for missing the taping six months ago for his son’s wrestling tournament and mocks southern people. This would be the second time that Bischoff has made the Horsemen look weak while he gets to stand tall.

Video on Goldberg vs. Page.

WCW World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg

Jericho has a shirt saying “Jericho – 1, Goldberg – 0.” Chris does the long walk from the back and calls this a match for the WCW World Television Unified Championship.” Goldberg comes through the entrance with the Mini-Goldberg on his shoulder. Jericho’s security takes the spear and the one that isn’t Ralphus gets the Jackhammer as Jericho runs.

Here’s DDP for his regular chat. Page says he’s an incredibly competitive wrestler but he isn’t getting in the ring with someone he hates. It’s not Savage or HOLLYWOOD SCUM HOGAN but rather about good competition. He’s getting jacked, the Horsemen are back and he’ll be for real at Havoc.

Scott Hall vs. Billy Kidman

Hall actually looks sober here. The toothpick toss cracks him up but Kidman won’t back down. Hall takes Kidman into the corner for some loud chops but goes for a drink, allowing Kidman to get a quick rollup for two. A sunset flip gets the same but Hall jacks Kidman’s jaw to take over again. Vincent still won’t let him have a drink so Hall stomps away in the corner.

We hit the abdominal stretch as Kidman is getting crushed. Billy tries to speed things up but walks into a chokeslam followed by mocking the Giant. Why Hall would mock his World Tag Team Championship partner is beyond me. Hall goes to the floor for a drink but Kidman takes out Vincent and gets in some shots on Scott. A missile dropkick and high cross body are good for two. Kidman counters an Outsider’s Edge attempt but the second attempt is enough for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was a glorified squash and I’m sure there was no other cruiserweight except for the champion. Kidman got in a few shots and the fans were into him but cruiserweights aren’t allowed to be competitive outside their weight class in this company for reasons that I’ve never been able to fathom.

Hour #3.

British Bulldog vs. Alex Wright

At least it’s not on PPV. Before the match Bulldog says suck it in German. Bulldog shoves him against the ropes before they trade hammerlocks. Apparently Hall has been celebrating a lot in the back and Tony lets us figure out the details for ourselves. Bulldog puts on a surfboard and bends him back for a two count but Wright pounds on Smith’s chest to take over. A slingshot splash gets two for Alex but Smith comes back with right hands in the corner. The powerslam takes Wright down but the referee got bumped. Another referee comes down as Alex hits the German suplex and it’s the old double pin ending.

Rating: D+…….seriously? With everything WCW has going on right now they pick this to continue? It wasn’t a terrible match or anything and Wright could use more TV time but I see no reason for them to fight again. Bulldog wasn’t long for the company due to his back injury flaring up but he didn’t look bad here.

Nitro Girls with the very cute Spice getting a solo.

Video on Kevin Nash.

Brian Adams vs. Kevin Nash

Some kid jumps the rail and runs up the aisle at Nash who seems oblivious to him. Feeling out process to start until Adams takes over with a nice middle rope clothesline. Nash is knocked to the floor but he sends Adams into the steps to take over again. Back in and Kevin hits the big boot and loads up the Jackknife but Stevie Ray comes in with the slap jack for the DQ.

Hall comes down with a cup but pours it out to pound on Nash. Luger and Konnan make the save.

Lex Luger/Konnan vs. Hugh Morrus/Barry Darsow

As we come back we see the exact same section of the crowd for the fourth time tonight. You can see the same Hulk Hogan Wrestling Buddy and a few signs that have been on camera multiple times earlier. Konnan and Luger do a full entrance despite being in the ring just four minutes ago. The Wolfpack take turns pounding on Darsow to start but it’s quickly off to Morrus who misses a running splash in the corner. The rolling lariat sets up Konnan’s low dropkick but Barry breaks up the Tequila Sunrise. A bad looking X Factor puts Darsow down and it’s back to Luger for a quick Rack and the submission.

Nitro Girls.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Bret Hart

Bret comes to the ring with no music and a slight limp. Feeling out process to start with Hogan actually scoring with a takedown but Bret easily takes over on the mat. Hollywood takes over again with a cross armbreaker of all things but Bret is too close to the ropes. Bret avoids three straight elbow drops and they head to the floor with Hogan going shoulder first into the post.

Back in and Bret is pulled to the floor again and the knee is in trouble. Hogan drapes it over the barricade and bends it around the post before putting on a spinning toehold. This brings out Sting to pull Hogan off as the Wolfpack comes out to help Hart. Bret shouts at Hogan to take on Sting and you can see the swerve from here.

Rating: D+. This should have headlined Starrcade and instead it’s a five minute match that is pretty clearly setting up a screwjob to close the show. Nothing to the match of course but seeing Hogan trying technical stuff is always bizarre. One thing though: assuming Hart is with Hollywood, why would Hogan do that much damage to the knee?

Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting

They slug it out to start as Bret is being taken out on a stretcher. A belly to back puts Sting down for two and Bret is nearly in an ambulance. Two medics jump Konnan and Luger before unhooking Bret. It’s Bagwell and Scott Steiner pounding on the Wolfpack as Bret limps back to the ring. Back in the arena Sting avoids the legdrop and hits the Splash but Bret comes in to DDT Sting to block the Deathlock for the DQ. Tony is of course in shock that someone would pull a swerve in WCW.

Bret puts Sting in the Sharpshooter with the knee looking fine. The NWO does a number on Sting’s leg until Konnan comes out and can’t do anything. Luger gets down there and pulls Sting to safety. The lights go out to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. This is a difficult one to grade. For one thing they kept the Warrior stuff confined to the earlier part of the show and we didn’t have any smoke hijinks tonight. On the other hand though, none of the matches were anything special and the swerve into a heel turn is just dead anymore. Actually Hart didn’t so much turn here as much as he dropped the charade with Sting. Either way, there’s nothing to see here and I dread the eventual burial of the Horsemen to make Bischoff look good more and more every week.

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Thunder
Date: September 24, 1998
Location: Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Attendance: 8,858
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall

The main story tonight is the Horsemen being back in Horsemen country despite Bischoff ordering them not to show up. Other than that the big deal from Monday is Warrior turning Disciple to his side which is big because it involves Hogan and the lack of the story making sense is just a detail. Let’s get to it.

The announcers welcome us to the show and run down the highlights tonight, including Goldberg vs. Kanyon. Bischoff is in Japan tonight. Heenan thinks a WE WANT FLAIR chant is for Goldberg. What exactly is in that cup?

Rick Steiner vs. Hugh Morrus

Morrus has hacked off most of his hair since we last saw him. Steiner quickly slams him down and decks Jimmy Hart for fun. A clothesline puts Hugh on the floor and Hart gets chased because that’s what he’s around for. Morrus gets in a few shots from behind to take over and scores a slam of his own, only to miss a Macho Elbow. Rick goes straight up and the bulldog is good for the fast pin.

LONG recap of the Hogan vs. Warrior nonsense from Nitro. Nonsense is the right word for it. The story was about a man talking about a revolution and kidnapping and brainwashing a former barber now known as a disciple through the use of magic smoke that sometimes puts everyone to sleep but sometimes doesn’t and babbling incoherently.

Ernest Miller vs. Nick Dinsmore

Miller holds up three fingers and Marshall points out that it’s not the sign of the Horsemen. He does the five seconds deal for Dinsmore but Nick fires off forearms and gets two off a northern lights suplex. Miller comes back with a variety of kicks and stomps before the superkick and Feliner are good for the pin.

Psychosis vs. Saturn

Feeling out process to start with Saturn trying to take it to the mat but Psychosis fighting him off with a dropkick and some chops. A cross armbreaker from Saturn doesn’t last long and Psychosis drops him with a clothesline, only to walk into a superkick a few seconds later. Cue Lodi with a “Saturn Ruined My Life” sign, triggering a discussion about Saturn’s honor. Marshall says the fans in Norfolk must understand what that means due to Saturn being a former Army ranger. I’d hope no one in the arena heard that as Norfolk is a Navy town.

Saturn goes after Lodi and the distraction lets Psychosis hit a nice dive to the floor followed by a missile dropkick back inside for two. A regular dropkick works as well but Saturn comes back by dropping him ribs first on the ropes. Psychosis comes right back and clips the knee before sending Saturn outside again. He tries the guillotine legdrop to the floor but Saturn gets out of the way and throws him back inside. Saturn goes up and hits a frog splash for what didn’t seem to be the planned pin but ends the match anyway. Psychosis appeared to kick out but the referee counted the pin and Saturn looked confused.

Rating: C-. Saturn is in a weird place right now as he doesn’t have much to do after the Flock broke up but he’s on fire with the crowd. The smart thing would be to send him after a midcard title and I have no idea why he isn’t going after Jericho. Saturn vs. Bret would be a very interesting match but it would mean putting someone new near the top of the card and that’s just not going to happen in WCW. To be fair though, that would be quite a jump for anyone to make.

Tony brings out Alex Wright for an interview but Alex only speaks German. Schiavone doesn’t understand him so Alex throws out “the pig of a man” and insults the crowd. Europeans are far better than Americans but Alex puts all of them to shame. He lists off the other European wrestlers on the roster and rips them apart, particularly focusing on British Bulldog, who is old and lazy after living with Americans for so long.

Video on the Horsemen.

Finlay vs. Barbarian

The bell rings and Scott Hall stumbles out of the entrance and heads over to the announce table. The camera stays on him so there’s no match to talk about right now. We switch back to the ring to see the guys pounding on each other with forearms as Hall rants about Nash not being his boss and being mean when he drinks.

Barbarian slams him down and puts on a chinlock as Hall vomits on the announcers’ desk. Back in the ring Finlay comes back with some knees to the ribs but walks into a spinebuster followed by a gutbuster for two. Barbarian takes way too much time walking around though and charges into a boot, setting up the tombstone for the pin.

Rating: D-. As you could probably tell, the match was just there for background noise while Hall did his thing. They’re making his issues seem very real which is what bothers me the most about the story. At least we didn’t have to see what he was doing for the most part. The match was bad even for a power brawling match.

Video on Goldberg vs. Page.

Page comes out for a chat about Halloween Havoc. There’s no hatred between he and Goldberg but there is the World Title. Page has been chasing his dream for years and now he has to beat a phenom to achieve that dream. Goldberg may be the odds on favorite and Page wouldn’t want it any other way. Goldberg may be unbeatable, but maybe he’ll feel the BANG. Very simple but it got the point across.

Raven vs. Villano V

Raven says he’s going to hurt Villano (pronounced Villain-O) just like he hurt his brother on Monday. V tries to get in some early offense but Raven shrugs it off and hits a knee lift to put him down. An early attempt to get a chair is stopped by Villano but his bulldog and atomic drop are shrugged off. Raven sets up the chair, hits the drop toehold and the Evenflow is good for the pin.

Even more Hogan vs. Warrior stuff.

Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Chavo hammers away to start and sends Disco to the floor before playing with Pepe. Disco fires back with his usual stuff including a running knee and a neckbreaker. The announcers ignore the match to talk about Scott Norton winning the IWGP Championship as Chavo hooks a chinlodk. Inferno comes back with a hot shot and we take a break.

Back with Disco coming off the top but only hitting mat. Chavo comes back with a nice springboard bulldog for two but takes too much time playing with Pepe, allowing Disco to come back with a slam. Chavo dropkicks him in the back and gets two off a rollup, only to have Disco score a quick piledriver for the pin. Apparently this was for the #1 contendership to the Cruiserweight Title, which the announcers forgot to mention until now.

Rating: C-. The ending was really abrupt but it was good enough while it lasted. Both guys got to get in the air and jump around which actually works for Disco. Chavo’s Pepe thing is getting a bit repetitive but at least he isn’t acting as crazy as he was before. Knowing WCW, he’ll be even more insane on Nitro.

Post match Juventud Guerrera comes out with a piece of paper, followed by Nick Patrick with a scale. It seems that Disco was over the Cruiserweight limit of 230lbs. He has to weigh in again right now and comes in at 231, meaning he’s ineligible, making Chavo the winner by DQ and the #1 contender. Disco blasts Guerrera out of frustration and is the only one standing tall (in boots, which probably weigh more than two pounds). In other words: heavyweights are better than cruiserweights but Chavo is the best loser we can find to challenge Juvy.

Norman Smiley vs. Alex Wright

Norman gets in Alex’s face over what was said earlier. Alex gets on one knee and begs for mercy with an offer of a handshake, only to take a swing. Norman will have none of that and clotheslines him, followed by a nice swinging slam. Wright bails to the floor before coming in to crank on the arm, drawing a USA chant.

The fans chant boring so Alex monkey flips Smiley down and nips up into a nice dropkick to calm them down. A backbreaker gets two on Norman and Wright sends him outside. They chop it out for a bit until Wright throws him back in for a stomping. Alex misses a charge and Norman comes back with right hands and an elbow drop for two, only to get caught in a neckbreaker for the pin.

Rating: D+. Pretty dull and slow match here but Norman was smooth in the ring and fun to watch. Alex fighting against the rest of the European wrestlers on the roster is at least something for him to do for awhile that isn’t dancing with Disco Inferno. The match was better than some of the drek we’ve seen on this show lately at least.

Here’s Stevie Ray for a talk. The people here can scream for the Horsemen all night long, but Eric Bischoff has called him up and said to keep the Horsemen out of the building tonight. Stevie is officially the NWO enforcer and the Horsemen won’t be here tonight. Flair and the Horsemen are in the back and Doug Dillinger lets them walk past. They come through the entrance and Stevie steps to the side, still talking trash as he leaves. Stevie goes through a curtain and is knocked down to the floor. Arn Anderson walks through the curtain with a tire iron, bringing a smile to the fans’ faces.

Anderson gets in the ring and says unless there are 15,000 people missing a thumb, this is a Horsemen town. The Horsemen don’t care what Bischoff has to say and last Thursday was his lone free day. They’re a thinking man’s organization and they pick their spots after calculating. Despite what Bischoff thinks, this company belongs to the Horsemen.

Malenko says he hasn’t had the chance to thank Anderson for his faith in him. Anderson put his faith in another man by the name in Curt Hennig but unlike him, Dean is a real Horseman. Benoit says Eric needs to change the first half of his last name. As for Liz, the invitation to ride Space Mountain comes with an invitation to all the other E rides. Just let Benoit be the strong and silent one from now on. Mongo threatens to beat up Bischoff’s entire family.

Flair calls Schiavone Antonio and says it’s his turn to talk in Norfolk. The Horsemen are reunited and it feels so good. Flair hasn’t saved his money over the years and Norfolk is one reason why. The Horsemen are going to play while Bischoff is away and own Norfolk all night long. Liz is back at their hotel, and tonight Malenko is going to get to prove that he’s the man of 1000 positions. “I mean holds!”

Video on the Diamond Cutter.

WCW World Title: Kanyon vs. Goldberg

Raven sits in on commentary and asks what about him during the long entrance. Kanyon does his catchphrase and Goldberg spears him down before the bell. The Jackhammer is the only move of the match.

Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t a good show but it was miles better than the mess we had to sit through last week. Tonight took the focus away from Hogan and his nonsense and put it on everything else, which is what we’ve been needing for a long time now. The wrestling was tolerable tonight and at least some of the bigger names were on the card. I can live with a night of squashes if the winners are guys I actually care about. Far better show this week but it still wasn’t great.

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