Monday Nitro #131
Date: March 16, 1998
Location: Club La Vela, Panama City, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

We’re past Uncensored and not a lot has changed other than Savage turning on Sting while still hating Hogan, making him a loner. Tonight is a different kind of show as it’s the Spring Break Out, being held at a nightclub in Florida with pools all around and under the ring. We’ve got four weeks before Spring Stampede and we might get some matches announced tonight. Let’s get to it.

We get some stills from the cage match last night with Tony and Mike narrating what happened.

Here’s the NWO en masse (no Savage of course) to open the show. Bischoff praises Hogan for saving the NWO from a split. Hogan talks about how Nash proved he was the real giant last night and everyone bows to Nash. This brings Hogan to Macho Man, whom Hogan loves more than anyone he’s loved in his entire life. They like Savage being crazy and since Savage is NWO, he’s NWO for life. Therefore, tonight it’s Hogan/Savage vs. Sting/Luger. Bischoff thinks Sting won’t be here because there aren’t any rafters.

Nitro Girls in St. Patrick’s Day attire.

Goldberg vs. Lodi

Lodi has an RF Video sign. Press slam, spear, Jackhammer, moving on.

The Flock tries to come in post match but the destruction continues. Saturn starts to come in but we look at almost the entire match again instead.

Gene tells us that one of the all time greats has retired. CALL THE HOTLINE!

Ultimo Dragon vs. Fit Finlay

This should be interesting. Finlay shoves him into the corner to start but misses a charge, allowing Dragon to snap off his kicks. You know Finlay takes those kicks with a smile. A nerve hold puts the Dragon down and a simple rake of the eyes stops his comeback attempt. Finlay takes him to the apron and rams him face first into the side of the ring before they come back in for a slugout. A single chop stings Finlay so he casually pokes Dragon in the eye to stop him cold.

Dragon fires off a dropkick but misses a dropkick. A nipup fails and Finlay goes to the floor where he steps aside to avoid a dive. I love that counter but not many people do it other than Finlay and Samoa Joe. The rolling senton gets two for Finlay but Dragon ducks a European uppercut to put on the Dragon Sleeper. To my surprise Finlay actually gives up which I don’t remember seeing before.

Rating: C+. This is a good example of what WCW could do better than anyone else. They had these guys that had totally different styles but were both highly skilled in the ring, so why not throw them together and see what happens? It came out quite well with a fun little five minute match.

The Nitro Girls are in DX colors tonight.

Scott Norton vs. Chris Adams

Adams bounces off Norton when he tries some shoulder blocks before missing a charge and landing in the ropes. Norton throws him over the top to the floor before choking on the ropes. Back in and Norton chokes even more, only to miss a charge in the corner. Norton no sells a flying superkick and ends Adams with the shoulder breaker.

Rating: D. The same complaints as usual about Norton here: the guy just isn’t that good. He looked good but he was almost never allowed to lose, even to bigger stars. I’ve seen some of his Japan stuff and it’s still nothing special, but the guy apparently had enough connections to be protected in America. It was just a squash here.

Highlights of WCW at Spring Break in Florida. It’s a lot of women in swimsuits which isn’t a bad thing at all. There was Miss Nitro contest and the winner is here.

Mike Enos/Wayne Bloom vs. Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog

Neidhart stats out with Enos and it’s Anvil throwing him around by the hair. Off to Bulldog who gets caught in a neckbreaker and it’s off to Bloom. Bulldog comes right back with a suplex for two but Enos cheats from the apron on the now legal Neidhart. A spike piledriver crushes Anvil but only gets two.

Off to Enos again but another piledriver is countered with a backdrop. Bloom breaks up a tag to Bulldog and drops a leg on Neidhart. Enos comes in with a bearhug as the fans chant boring. Mike misses a middle rope splash and there’s the tag to Bulldog. House is cleaned and everything breaks down until Bulldog powerslams Bloom for the pin.

Rating: D. This had no business going six minutes. I have to feel sorry for Bulldog and Neidhart as they’re here because there’s nothing else for them to do and no one is interested in hem without Bret. The match was really dull and the fans weren’t pleased with having to sit through a long match like this.

Hour #2 begins with the Nitro Girls in bikini tops and shorts.

Larry compares Hogan to Julius Caesar.

Here are Savage with Bischoff and Liz, apparently reunited. Bischoff says there was iron in Hogan’s words because the NWO is united again. The important thing is that Savage saw the light and is back. Eric goes to hug him but Savage will have none of that. Savage says he isn’t back in the NWO because he never left. He didn’t do what he did last night for anyone but himself. The future is Savage controlling the NWO and the NWO controlling the world so that Hogan can feel what it’s like to be at the bottom. In other words, screw everything else, you’re getting WAY more NWO stuff in the coming weeks.

Raven gives the Flock some instructions before the next match.

Chris Benoit vs. Raven

Raven blames Benoit for costing him the US Title last night and the fans think he sucks. Benoit stabbed him in the back last night and now it’s time to feel the Even Flow. Benoit pounds him into the corner and catches him in a German suplex. Raven bails to the floor and gets caught by a baseball slide. They head away from the entrance and across a little bridge over the pool. We’re just waiting on someone to go into the water.

Back to the ring after doing nothing on the floor with Benoit stomping him in the corner. A back elbow to the face gets two and Benoit stomps him in the head as we take a break. Back with the fight up by the entrance and Raven being sent into the big metal WCW letters. They get back in the ring with Benoit firing off knees to the head to take Raven down again. Raven loses his shirt so Benoit can fire off some loud chops. Benoit pounds him down into the corner as this has been completely one sided so far.

Benoit stands over Raven and slaps him in the face while shouting COME ON. Another chop puts Raven down and a backdrop gets two. Benoit rolls some snap suplexes but takes forever to load up the flying headbutt, allowing Raven to roll away. Raven throws in a chair and bulldogs Benoit face first into the steel. Benoit tries the Crossface but rams his own head into the chair on the way down. The Even Flow onto the chair is good for the pin, apparently earning Raven a US Title shot at Spring Stampede.

Rating: C. This was nowhere near their Souled Out match but it certainly wasn’t bad. The booking of the match was a little weird though as Raven had nothing at all for the first six or seven minutes and then hit two or three things to win. These two have a solid chemistry together though and the match was pretty entertaining stuff.

The Nitro Girls are in the crowd dancing.

Heenan gives his take on the NWO issues.

Yuji Nagata vs. Ernest Miller

They lock up to start with Nagata getting in a shot to the head to take over. A nice jumping kick to the face puts Nagata down but a cross armbreaker is quickly escaped. Nagata catches a kick and suplexes Miller down for two before stomping away. We hit the chinlock and the fans think this is boring. Back up and Nagata fires off forearms in the corner but gets caught with a spinning kick to the face. They botch a leapfrog with Nagata landing on Miller to send him down but Ernest’s top rope roundhouse kick gets the pin.

Rating: D-. Can we please stop these martial arts matches already? They’re not interesting at all and I’ve yet to see a crowd that was actually impressed by one of them. Nagata continues to be a boring guy and putting him in there with a guy even more one dimensional than him isn’t the best idea in the world.

More Nitro Girls.

Scott Steiner vs. Ray Traylor

Steiner bails to the corner to start but pokes Traylor in the eye to take over. A suplex puts Traylor down and a kick to the head does the same. There’s a bearhug from Steiner but Traylor bites his way to freedom. Steiner literally kicks him to the floor and sends him into the steps as we take a break. Back with Traylor making a comeback and pounding away before crotching Steiner against the post.

A big clothesline sends Steiner over the barricade and we finally get someone in the pool. Back in and Traylor hits a big forearm to the jaw and pounds down right hands in the corner. Traylor actually goes up top and hits a decent clothesline for two, making Steiner call for time out. Ray goes up again but Buff comes out to crotch him, allowing the Frankensteiner from the top to set up the Recliner for the win.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t great but it was some entertaining stuff which is all you can ask for in a lot of matches. The pool spot was cute and Traylor’s top rope clothesline looked pretty devastating. I’m still not sure why Traylor wasn’t allowed to beat some low level NWO guys over the months. It wouldn’t have hurt to have a guy beating guys like Vincent and Adams but falling short against names like Steiner or Konnan.

We get stills of Giant vs. Nash with Nash still not doing the job.

Tony recaps the NWO drama.

Nitro Girls again.

Eddie Guerrero gives Chavo a “My Favorite Wrestler Is Eddie Guerrero” shirt (“Cheat To Win” on the back) and Chavo has to listen to Eddie, who says wear it.

TV Title: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Booker T

Chavo shoves him away for making fun of the shirt so Booker clotheslines his head off. A hook kick to the face puts Chavo down again and a powerslam puts him on the floor. Chavo is in first and gets in a cheap shot on Booker to take over. Guerrero stomps away a lot but keeps stopping to look at the shirt. Booker’s knee is kicked out and we hit the chinlock for a bit. Back to the chinlock for a bit but Booker quickly fights up and kicks Chavo down. The ax kick sets up a sidewalk slam for two and the missile dropkick retains the title.

Rating: D+. It was clear that Chavo wasn’t ready for a singles push like this. Now that being said, the angle with Eddie was a great way to get him noticed. The T-shirt was a good way to get on his nerves and keep the story going during the match. It’s amazing what can happen when you use an established guy to bring up younger guys rather than using the younger guys to give the veterans wins.

More spring break festivities.

Nitro Girls part 9 or so.

US Title: Reese vs. Diamond Dallas Page

The fans are WAY behind Page here. Reese lumbers around a lot and Page pounds away, only to be thrown into the corner for knees to the ribs. Something similar to Cena’s ProtoBomb puts Page down and a gorilla press drop does the same. Reese sends him into the ropes but Page spins around the shoulders into the Diamond Cutter to retain. Usual Page match here.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending. Juvy is now wearing cheesy looking sunglasses. Jericho has on sunglasses of his own but of a less cheesy variety. Before the match the champion goes over all the trophies he’s won recently, from Rey’s knee to Juvy’s mask to Malenko’s dignity. He’s wearing the sunglasses because his future is so bright. The Jericho Mapleleaf will be his 1005th hold daddy!

They run the ropes to start with Jericho having his head kicked off, sending him into the corner. Jericho backdrops him to the ropes but catches a springboard crossbody in a slam for two. Jericho pulls him back in off the apron and gets two off the arrogant cover. A belly to back suplex gets the same for the champion and Jericho bends Juvy’s back over his knee.

Chris has to tell the fans to cool it with the booing and Juvy backflips out of a German suplex. A standing hurricanrana gets two on Jericho and a modified Juvy Driver looks to set up the 450. Guerrera’s ribs are too banged up though, allowing Jericho to get to his feet. Instead it’s a top rope flying hip attack and a DDT for two. Jericho goes over to the corner and hits Juvy with the belt for the DQ.

Rating: C. This was getting good by the end but the ending hut it. Guerrera was solid in the ring and could keep up with anyone they threw at him. Taking the mask off was a good way to give him some more character and his push is working well here. Jericho’s trophy case gimmick is awesome as well and could easily be brought back by someone today.

Post match Jericho puts him in the Cloverleaf.

The Nitro Girls dance on some rocks.

Here are the Outsiders in hula shirts with something to say. Hall is BOMBED but still does the survey with the NWO winning. Nash says be nice to the fat girls over spring break. He talks about knocking Giant out with the ball bat last night and wants to know why Giant isn’t here tonight. Nash thinks Giant doesn’t have the guts to show up but here’s the other big man, sans neck brace. Giant stalks Nash so Kevin CANNONBALLS INTO THE POOL! Hall tries to get away but gets thrown in as well. That had to happen at some point tonight.

Sting/Lex Luger vs. Hollywood Hogan/Randy Savage

Savage on the mic: “OOOOH YEAH!” Hogan on the mic: “OOOOH NO!” Why did no one think of that before? Sting’s music hits but we only have Luger. Buffer does the entrance but there’s no Sting. Bischoff takes the mic and says Luger is on his own because there’s no Sting. The camera pans up to show a helicopter (blowing the ring skirts and mats around) with Sting REPELING INTO THE RING!

Hogan blames Savage for this so Savage goes to leave, only to be stopped by the Disciple. Hogan jumps Randy from behind as Hogan and Sting look on from the ring. Savage is thrown inside and gets beaten up by Sting with the fans trying to recover from the entrance. A top rope splash gets two for Sting and he shouts at Savage to get up. Sting pops Hogan with a right hand and brings in Luger to work on Savage even more.

Luger suplexes Savage down for no cover and drops him again with a gorilla press. Back to the world champion for an atomic drop before Luger comes in for the running forearm. Hogan isn’t even paying attention to the ring. Savage gets up and slaps Hogan on the back but Hogan says he doesn’t think so and bails.

Randy throws Hogan back inside before getting in a fight with Disciple. Hogan chokes Luger down but Lex avoids the legdrop and tags in Sting. There are a pair of Stinger Splashes for Hollywood and a right hand for Bischoff. Savage is rolled in by the Disciple and everything breaks down, drawing in the Disciple for the DQ.

Rating: D. This wasn’t a match as much as a massive angle. Hogan and Savage already had a bad match last night and it looks like we’re gearing up for another one in the future. Luger continues to be a man with no direction at all as he’s just thrown into random matches to fight for WCW because that’s all he does. Bad match here but the entrance was awesome.

The rest of the NWO comes in but Sting and Luger run them off to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. They were trying here but the show was running with an anchor. Yet again we’re all about the NWO because that’s what this company has become. The problem with that angle is Sting is an accessory to the real story of Hogan vs. Savage, which isn’t what people want to see. Every week that goes by makes Starrcade and SuperBrawl look like bumps in the road as we continue towards some ending that doesn’t seem to be coming. The NWO is coming up on two years old now and they’re still the dominant story in the company. People are going to start getting bored with it and it’s going to happen in a hurry.

The rest of the show was hit or miss throughout the night. Part of what’s so frustrating with the NWO is a lot of the other stories show promise. The three way feud with Raven vs. Benoit vs. Page is good stuff and Booker is making the TV Title mean something. Jericho is doing a great job with the Cruiserweight Title and the trophy case gimmick. Then you have the tag titles and I don’t remember the last time they Outsiders were even shown with the belts.

One last thing: the set being different here was a very nice touch. Instead of the same stuff over and over, WCW was good about mixing things up every now and then. Whether it was a show in a nightclub like this or Road Wild being outside or the cool themed sets at PPVs, the look was changed up just often enough to keep things from getting boring. WWE completely fails in this area outside of Wrestlemania anymore. Watchable show overall but the NWO brings it down, as usual.

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Monday Nitro #99
Date: August 4, 1997
Location: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan

This is an interesting episode as I’ve seen says this is the 100^th episode, but I’ve counted each one I’ve done and can only come up with 99. I haven’t missed any shows and there are only 99 counting this one so far. Two weeks in 1996 had no show at all so maybe they’re counting one of those to get to 100. Either way, the main event tonight is Luger vs. Hogan for the title, five days before their PPV title match. That clearly won’t go anywhere. Let’s get to it.

Oh and this is a three hour show.

Buffer welcomes us to this special show. This whole 99 or 100 thing is going to bother me but the best I can figure out is that WCW is just lying.

After the Nitro Girls dance a bit, here are Hogan and Bischoff with something to say. Hogan runs down Luger and says that he’s going to have “500,000 of his friends” watching on Saturday. It was about 1% of that but what difference does it match? Anyway, Hogan doesn’t like having to defend tonight, but Luger is going to pay for the mistake tonight. Hogan says something about defending against Scott Hall instead but it didn’t make much sense.

Curt Hennig vs. Mortis

Feeling out process to start until Hennig takes Mortis down with a knee lift. Curt goes after Vandenberg though and the masked dude takes over. Mortis misses an elbow and there’s the Hennig neck snap. Mortis comes back with a spinwheel kick for two but Hennig goes after the knee. PerfectPlex ends this pretty quick.

Rating: C-. I don’t like matches like this one as it’s hard to rate due to how fast it was. A lot of it was them walking around, but it was so short that it was still decent. This is what WCW’s massive roster helps with: they have have a guy like Mortis lose, but he can go and beat up other people and get his spot back. Also since there’s no shame to losing to Hennig, everything is ok for him. Why WWE doesn’t use their roster like this is beyond me.

Video on Sting not talking for the last year or so.

Dean Malenko/Jeff Jarrett vs. Hector Guerrero/Chavo Guerrero

Malenko and Chavo start things off and we hit the mat very quickly. That doesn’t last long so they run the ropes a bit until Dean gets taken down by a pair of dropkicks. Hector comes in to face Jeff and we have a strut vs. dance battle. A headscissors puts Jarrett down and frustrates him so he pounds away a bit. Hector makes a brief comeback but stops to jaw with Dean, letting Jeff take over again.

There’s the running crotch attack to a 619’d Hector (I’m still looking for a better name for that) before it’s back to Malenko. Make that back to Jeff again and Hector gets two off a backslide. Chavo breaks up the Figure Four and Dean is rolled up for two. Hector won’t tag and is caught in an electric chair. Dean hooks the Cloverleaf and we’re done.

Rating: C. The idea here was that Hector wouldn’t tag, presumably due to stubbornness, but it doesn’t make Jeff any more interesting. The guy is just flat out not interesting no matter how you try to push or package him. Malenko was fine but he needs to get away from this stupid tag team thing.

Raven still won’t talk so here’s Stevie Richards instead. Richards has a contract for Raven but there’s a snag. He’s been in Atlanta renegotiating for Raven and everything seems to be cool now. Raven looks at the contract, spits at Richards and decks him. He pulls back to punch Richards again, but Stevie blocks it and says no more.

Giant vs. Joey Maggs/Lenny Lane/Scott D’Amore

Chokeslam, chokeslam, chokeslam, about 90 seconds, interview time.

Savage pops up on the stage and says bring it before running from a fast walking Giant.

We recap the roll Lex Luger is on. Basically it’s a Luger highlight video.

High Voltage vs. Public Enemy

Kaos vs. Grunge to start and Johnny wants to dance. A swinging neckbreaker puts Kaos down as does a clothesline before it’s off to Rocco. Rage interferes but Kaos takes the time to pose instead of following up. Larry: “HE’S WASTING TIME!” Remember, this is LARRY ZBYSZKO complaining about stalling. High Voltage is coming off as the heel team here and it doesn’t suit them that well.

Rage comes in and pounds away on Rocco a bit more but jumps off the top into Rocco’s boot. My goodness how I hate that spot. Grunge comes in and beats up both guys as everything breaks down. The Public Enemy loads up the table but Rage moves, sending Rocco crashing through the wood. Not that it matters as Rage runs into Kaos and is rolled up by Grunge for the pin.

Rating: D+. As lame as the match was, there was an actual story being told out there. The idea was that High Voltage didn’t have the experience to hang with the Public Enemy and the veterans used that to their advantage. This is probably the last match I would have expected something like that from but points to these guys for putting it in there.

Alex Wright cuts in on the Nitro Girls dancing. The Girls leave and Alex talks some trash about Jericho, who he faces on Saturday.

Scotty Riggs vs. Alex Wright

Non-title here. Wright sends Scotty to the floor almost immediately and hits a double ax off the apron. A suplex on the floor keeps Riggs down but he sends Wright into the barricade to get himself a breather. Back in and Alex takes over again before dancing a bit. They both hit cross bodies with Scotty falling on top for two. They head up top and Alex headbutts him down before hitting a missile dropkick for the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here to set up the title match at Road Wild. Wright using the dropkick was a nice touch as that’s one of Jericho’s finishing moves. Not much of a match here, but then again Riggs wasn’t much of a wrestler. At least he stopped using the American Males theme.

Hour #2 starts.

Here’s Luger to talk to Gene. Lex says that he was only focused on Saturday but now his focus has shifted to tonight. It’s his defining moment and tonight, he’s going to make history. Standard promo here but it did exactly what it needed to do. It’s such a simple science but no one can pull it off anymore.

Chris Benoit vs. Syxx

Syxx starts with that headlock of his but Benoit quickly elbows him down. A spinwheel kick puts Benoit down but Chris immediately legdraps Syxx out to the floor. There’s a suicide dive to take the NWO dude out. Back in and Benoit goes up, only to get caught in the Tree of Woe. Syxx hits a Bronco Buster to an upside down Benoit in a move I’ve never seen before. A top rope flipping legdrop misses Benoit though and Chris suplexes him down for two. Benoit loads up a belly to back superplex but here’s Jarrett to attack Benoit for the DQ.

Rating: C+. This was a nice fast paced match that had to be brought down by a stupid ending. This was done to further the tag match on Sunday which at least had a purpose. Not much to see here but Benoit was fast paced as usual and Syxx continues to be much better against smaller guys. Not bad at all here.

More dancing.

Booker T vs. Vincent

Nothing match as Booker beats up Vincent and side kicks him for the pin in maybe 45 seconds.

DDP talks about his match with Flair tonight, saying that while he and Flair have common enemies, Flair has his respect, but he has Flair’s number. I like that line.

Wrath vs. Barbarian

Now here’s an odd match. Barbarian knocks him back into the corner but gets clotheslined down for two. Wrath takes him down but can’t hit the Death Penalty (two arm Rock Bottom) as we head to the floor. Barbarian sends him into various metal objects before we head back inside. Back in and Barbarian goes up but jumps into the Death Penalty for the pin. Too short to rate but it wasn’t very good.

Meng comes out to stare down Wrath. Wrath bails.

The hometown Steiners come out and introduce Ted DiBiase as their surprise new manager. DiBiase was one of the original members of the NWO so this is a big deal. He starts off by saying that he’s seen the error of his ways before almost saying the World Wrestling Federation tag titles were on the line on Saturday. Cue the Outsiders to laugh this off and say that DiBiase is a dead man.

More dancing.

Lee Marshall does his thing.

Konnan vs. Psychosis

Konnan pounds him down to start before nearly clotheslining a horn off. A low dropkick hits the masked man and Konnan sends him to the apron. Psychosis comes back in with a top rope spinwheel kick for two. That’s about the extent of his offense as Konnan hits the 187 and Tequila Sunrise for the fast tap.

Rey, still on crutches, comes out to confront Konnan post match. Konnan kicks the crutches away but Rey is faking it and breaks a crutch over Konnan’s back.

Glacier/Ernest Miller vs. Damien/Silver King

King and Glacier get us going and the kicking begins. Glacier cranks on the arm a bit but King kicks out of it pretty quickly. Damien trips up Glacier but the ice enthusiast kicks Silver down anyway. Off to Miller but the luchadores pound him down pretty quickly. Miller comes back with a bunch of kicks and here’s Glacier again. A backdrop gets two on Damien but Glacier is double teamed a bit. Uninterested tag brings in Miller who uses his karate stuff, finishing Damien with a spinning kick off the top.

Rating: D. At the end of the day, Miller was so unbelievably boring in this role and it took a long time to get him to a level where anyone cared about him. Silver King and Damien actually got a win or two so they were only somewhat jobbers to the stars. Not much to see here though.

Here’s Bischoff with something to say. He’s here to complain about the attack by the Giant from last week and calls out JJ Dillon. The alleged boss of WCW comes out and Eric yells a lot, threatening legal actions against the Giant and violence against Larry Z. If there was a point to this getting six minutes of TV time, I have no idea what it was.

Hour #3 begins and the Nitro Girls dance on the announce table.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Ric Flair

Hennig comes out and shakes Flair’s hand to mess with Page’s mind. Page runs Flair down and slaps him in the face to tick him off. Hennig went to the back already so this is one on one. Page pounds away in the corner and Ric is in trouble early. Flair comes back with a poke to the eye but Page counters a backdrop attempt into a sweet sitout powerbomb for no cover. Hennig comes back out and we take a break.

Back with Flair in control and Page down in the corner. Page comes back with right hands and slams Flair off the top, but a Hennig distraction lets Flair get in a shot to the knee. There’s the knee drop and Flair is in Nature Boy mode. A quick Figure Four is broken up because Page is in the ropes.

Flair pounds away even more and tries to suplex Page over the top and out to the floor. DDP counters of course and puts Ric in the Figure Four instead. Flair pokes the referee in the eye, allowing Curt to come in. Page cradles him to slow him down, but it lets Flair escape the hold. There’s a Flair Flip in the corner and Ric goes up, only to dive into a clothesline. Page calls for the Cutter but Hennig comes in for the DQ.

Rating: C+. This was fine but they more or less had a big sign saying RUN-IN COMING. That’s fine though as you can’t have these guys losing five days before a PPV match. I mean, this is WCW, not some crazy company like WWE that has guys in prominent matches getting pinned on go home shows.

Page clears the ring post match.

Hector Garza/Lizmark Jr. vs. Villanos

This would be IV and V for you Villano enthusiasts. Garza and IV start things off and things speed up quickly. Hector moonsaults out of the corner and clotheslines IV down before hitting a superkick. Off to Lizmark for a dropkick but V comes in and ducks the same move. Some armdrags put V down but the Villanos double team Lizmark to take over. Back to Garza who gets caught in a double gutbuster.

We head to the floor where Garza is dropkicked into the barricade. That gets boring so it’s back inside where everything breaks down. Garza dives on I think IV before Lizmark and V go to the floor. IV is backdropped to the floor so Garza can hit the big corkscrew plancha. Back in and Lizmark dropkicks IV a few times, but the referee gets distracted and the switch from the brothers is enough for Lizmark to get rolled up for the pin.

Rating: C. This was fine but it was nothing more than a bridge between the big stuff later on in the show. Garza had the making of a big star and was getting over pretty well in the earlier days of TNA before getting busted for steroid possession. The other three guys never amounted to anything in the States.

Here’s JJ to offer Sting a contract. Basically “we’re sorry we thought you were lying because we were too stupid to use common sense and tell that it wasn’t you the whole time. Maybe we should hit Turner up for vision insurance. Anyway, wanna fight Curt Hennig?” Sting lowers from the rafters and rips up the contract. See, this is something that actually deserved the six and a half minutes it got.

WCW World Title: Lex Luger vs. Hollywood Hogan

Dang man how long has it been since Hogan wrestled on Nitro? They trade hammerlocks to start and Hulk heads to the ropes. More feeling out until Hogan pounds away in the corner to take over. The fans are WAY into this here. Hogan keeps beating on him and drops a bunch of elbows. A clothesline in the corner has Lex in trouble and Hulk chokes away. Luger comes back and rams the champ into the buckle a few times to get himself a breather. Hollywood takes his head off with another clothesline and we take a break.

Back with Hogan still in control and hitting a suplex for two. A belly to back suplex puts Luger down again and a big right hand gets two. The big boot and legdrop hit for two and the pop is really weak for some reason. Another legdrop misses and it’s comeback time. Luger decks the Outsiders and Savage as they try to run in. The forearm takes Hogan down and there’s the Torture Rack to give us a new world champion.

Rating: B. The match itself was as by the book as you could get, but that’s exactly what it should have been. The rating is almost entirely for the moment, which is WAY better here than I remember it being. Hindsight would say it was obviously only going to last until the PPV, but still man this worked really well. I’m actually surprised at how much I liked this.

The locker room empties out for the celebration. The fans go NUTS too. Everyone goes to the back and we see Giant and Luger polishing the belt to get the NWO paint off as champagne is flowing everywhere.

Hogan loses his mind in the other locker room.

Overall Rating: B. This was supposed to be a special show, and I don’t often get to say this about WCW, but they absolutely nailed it. The wrestling here is ok at best, but they did a good job of setting up the PPV, they had a good start to the new part of the Sting angle, and the ending is actually excellent. I know it doesn’t mean anything in the long run, but at the time this was a cool moment. Good show here which almost shocks me.

Here’s Road Wild if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/05/23/road-wild-1997-you-can-see-the-problems-mounting-up-already/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $5 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books as low as $4 at:

Thunder
Date: March 12, 1998
Location: Riverside Centroplex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

It’s the final show before Uncensored and we’re limping into the pay per view. The show on Monday did very little to make me want to see Sunday’s show but hopefully tonight can pick things up a bit. I don’t remember anything being announced for tonight on Monday but I’m guessing it’ll focus on Hogan vs. Savage. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Giant to open the show. He wants Hogan and Nash but he wants to fight the entire NWO on his own tonight. Instead he gets Savage and Liz with Randy saying he likes the idea of Giant taking out Nash because it leaves Hogan all alone. Once Hogan is done, Savage wants his chance at the title. Cue Sting to say he’s the champion and he’ll defend the title tonight if Savage wants the shot. You know Macho isn’t turning that chance down.

Brad Armstrong vs. Raven

Raven offers to let Armstrong get out of the match before the beating begins. In 1980, Armstrong was rookie of the year and in 1981 he was half of the world tag team champions. Since then his career has fallen apart due to the Armstrong Curse. Raven understands Armstrong’s admiration for his father but thinks the bookers (his word) were jealous of Bob and are taking it out on Brad. He feels Brad’s pain and lays him out with the DDT. There’s the bell, Raven covers him for the pin and we’re done in about four seconds.

Here’s Chris Jericho with something to say. He’s on such a roll as of late and is feeling so good that he’s going to give Malenko a title shot tonight instead of waiting for Sunday. Jericho brags about his trophies such as Mysterio’s mask and his trophy tonight will be beating Dean with the Cloverleaf, which will then be named the Jericholeaf. Also, he knows 1004 holds. Oh it’s coming.

Jim Duggan vs. Kendall Windham

Duggan wins a quick slugout and scores with an atomic drop before they head outside. Kendall sends him into the post and barricade before heading back inside for a boot to the head. They slug it out again with Kendall slamming him down and putting on a chinlock, because THIS MATCH needs to keep going. Duggan fights up but walks into a clothesline, only to come back with a slam and the three point clothesline for the win. You know, for all those die hard Jim Duggan fans in 1998.

Scott Steiner vs. Johnny Grunge

Grunge brings a table but gets suckered into a right hand during a handshake. Johnny comes back with a hiptoss but walks into a belly to back suplex. Scott puts him in the Tree of Woe and pulls on the throat before going after the back. A bearhug makes Grunge scream but Johnny bites his way out of it.

Scott easily clotheslines him back down but runs into an elbow in the corner. Grunge gets a surprisingly close two off a neckbreaker but stops to look at his table from the apron. Johnny comes back by ramming Scott’s head into the buckle a few times but gets crotched coming back in. Scott knocks him through the table and puts the unconscious body in the Recliner for the win.

Rating: D. This wasn’t very good as you would expect. Steiner’s push as a heel continues to suck without the NWO there to make people care about him. It’s not helping him that Johnny Grunge is getting in offense on him and it takes a cheap shot for Scott to get the win. Another bad match here as Thunder devolves before my eyes.

Eddie Guerrero comes out and says he’ll win the TV Title on Sunday. However he’d rather talk about his nephew Chavo disgracing the Guerrero name. This brings out Chavo who wants to know why Eddie is on him all the time. Didn’t he just explain that? Anyway Chavo wants a match and Eddie agrees, but if Eddie wins then Chavo has to start listening to him. That’s fine, but if Chavo wins then Eddie has to start honoring the Guerrero name. The match is right now.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Chavo hits a quick clothesline to start and backdrops Eddie down. They’re moving very fast out there with Eddie taking over via some uppercuts before throwing Chavo to the apron. Chavo hangs on and Eddie charges into a headscissors to take him outside. A BIG plancha takes Eddie down and the fans love it. Back in and Chavo goes up top, only to be crotched on the ropes. Eddie loads up a superplex but Chavo counters into a tornado DDT for two. Uncle Eddie gets his foot on the ropes at two and stops Chavo with a low blow. The brainbuster sets up the frog splash for the pin. Too short to rate but this was good stuff.

Here are Bischoff and Hall to introduce Hogan. Bischoff is WAY too excited over Hogan’s arms. He calls the Giant the highest level of dumb: mega dumb. Hogan likes the idea of Giant vs. the entire NWO and they’re all wanting a piece of the big man. Hall, looking “under the weather” here, says Sting will have his hands full on Sunday and he’ll be watching the title match tonight. Hogan says the NWO will win tonight and on Sunday. No one had much to say here.

Konnan vs. Lizmark Jr.

Lizmark spins out of a quick snapmare attempt and they hit the mat for some technical stuff. Konnan gets bored and forearms Lizmark in the face before pulling on his pants a lot. Lizmark comes back with a shot to the ribs and a quick missile dropkick for a botched (Lizmark pulled up before Konnan kicked out or even moved at all) cover. Now the camera goes wide for some reason. It wasn’t that bad of a botch. Konnan rams him into the corner and gets a quick German suplex for two before finishing him with the 187 and the Tequila Sunrise. Another short match.

Post match Konnan goes for the mask but Juventud comes out for the save and takes the beating himself.

Here are Hennig and Rude with something to say. Rude talks about collecting a bounty from some people in Connecticut for taking out Bret Hart but now he’ll do it for free. Hennig admits that Bret is good, but there’s a big difference between good and great. Rude says they’ll make Bret sweat on Sunday.

Perry Saturn vs. Disco Inferno

Good night how many times did these two fight? Saturn takes him into the corner and hits some hard right hands to take over. A dropkick sends Disco to the outside but he decks Lodi instead of getting back inside. Back in and Inferno gets two on a sunset flip but gets thrown down with a pumphandle suplex.

A Falcon’s Arrow puts Disco down but Saturn jumps into a boot to the face for two. Another boot to the face with feet on the ropes gets two more but Saturn takes him down with a superkick. Disco reverses a whip into the corner into a spinebuster followed by a swinging neckbreaker for two. Not that it matters though as a head and arms suplex sets up the Rings of Saturn for the submission.

Rating: C. These two are at the point where they can have a decent match by familiarity alone. Disco didn’t look as good as he had recently but his hot streak couldn’t last forever. Saturn continues to be his odd but still great self. He’s another guy that had potential but was wasted once he got hot.

The Giant vs. NWO

It’s Hogan, Adams, Hennig, Hall, Norton, Konnan, Vincent and Steiner. Hall starts by throwing the toothpick and gets a headbutt and gorilla press slam as a result. Hennig comes in and tries to stick and move but gets thrown to the floor. Konnan comes in and gets powerbombed, meaning Giant is arrested to end the match. Nothing to see here.

Nash pops up as Giant is being led away. He throws coffee on Giant, causing the bigger man to break the chains and chase Nah off.

Cruiserweight Title: Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is in the Juvy mask and jumps Dean before the bell. He pounds on Dean in the corner and hits a delayed vertical for the arrogant cover minus the COME ON BABY! Dean comes back with some right hands and a leg lariat for two. A belly to back suplex sets up the Texas Cloverleaf for the submission in less than three minutes.

Dean keeps pounding away and takes off the mask….and it’s Lenny Lane. Jericho comes in from behind and hits Dean with the belt before knocking out Lane as well. Malenko is put in the Liontamer for good measure.

Lex Luger vs. Scott Norton

Norton gets in a cheap shot on the way in and knocks Luger to the floor. Luger is sent into the barricade and the side of the ring before Norton takes him back inside for a flying shoulder block. A clothesline puts Luger down for two but here’s the comeback with the forearms and atomic drops. He loads up the Rack but Scott Steiner comes in for the fast DQ.

Rick Steiner makes the save and the WCW guys stand tall.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Randy Savage

Savage jumps him to start and they slug it out with Sting still in the trench coat. Sting hits a quick atomic drop and drops Savage across the top rope. There’s the Scorpion but Hall comes in for the quick DQ.

Hogan comes in as well but leaves a few seconds later to bring in the troops. The good guys fight off the goons and Sting calls for something. A cable comes down from the ceiling and they hook up to fly into the rafters to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was hit and miss all night long. The main matches combining to be about five minutes long didn’t help but we covered a lot of stuff for Sunday. It still comes off as a total filler pay per view but after all the big shows we’ve had lately they have to take a breather at some point. The NWO stuff was really dull though as it was like a teaser trailer instead of a full on preview for you movie people out there.

Here’s Uncensored if you’re interested:

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $5 at:

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Monday Nitro #130
Date: March 9, 1998
Location: Lawrence Joel Memorial Veterans Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

It’s the go home show for Uncensored and the card is almost entirely set. Tonight is going to be about finalizing everything for Sunday with the focus likely being on Savage vs. Hogan instead of Sting vs. Hall. Other than that there might be some time spent on Page vs. Benoit vs. Raven but it’s going to pale in comparison to Age in the Cage. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip from Thunder of Savage saying he’s the real man and Hogan’s wife knows it. Hogan freaking out over possibly being thrown out of the NWO is a nice bit of storytelling.

The announcers hype up the show and Larry gets a very nice response from the crowd.

Ernest Miller vs. Damien

Damien is unmasked here which I don’t think was always the case, although it might have been face paint. Miller is in shorts instead of his usual attire and it’s a striking contest to start things off. Damien puts him on the middle rope for a hurricanrana but dives into a kick to the chest. Miller runs up the ropes and hits a spin kick to the face for a quick pin. This was an odd choice for an opener but the kick to end it looked great.

Here are Bischoff and Hogan with something to say. Eric sucks up to Hogan, saying that no one will ever be half of what Hogan is now. However, Bischoff wants to talk about ingrates like Randy Savage. If it wasn’t for Hogan, Savage’s family would be out of a job and out on the street, so it’s now time for Savage to pay the price. Hogan talks about Savage dragging Liz into this business and implies she did everyone in the locker room. That draws a big gasp from the crowd. Hogan goes on about how great he is until it’s time to pose.

Gene is at Duke University with the Nitro Girls.

Lenny Lane vs. Sick Boy

Lane’s music starts when he’s halfway down the aisle. Lenny hits some basic stuff to start but the much taller Sick Boy comes back with some right hands. Lodi has the words Go Heels on his back. Lane dives over the top to take both Flock members down and gets two off a missile dropkick back inside. Sick Boy comes back with a layout F5 and some right hands to the head.

A running elbow in the corner puts Lane down but he avoids a top rope elbow. Lane gets a rolling cradle for two followed by something resembling a Skull Crushing Finale. Back up and Lane horribly botches a standing Lionsault, making it more like a springboard back clothesline. There was no rotation at all and they’re lucky Lane didn’t land on his head. Thankfully Sick Boy rolls over Lane’s back and hits a quick Pedigree (the Cure) for the pin.

Rating: D. Lane was trying but he was in over his head with the moves he was going for. Sick Boy’s size got in his way here as he wasn’t able to do much against the much smaller Lane. The match would have been better with a better pairing, but with the two guys we had it was bordering on a disaster.

Here’s Giant, still in a neck brace, with something to say. Giant has been looking for Kevin Nash to get a head start on Sunday’s match but he’s nowhere in sight. He mentions having buddies, which brings out Savage and Sting, FINALLY holding the belt. Savage says he doesn’t feel alone because Giant is about 8,000 feet tall and Sting is the world champion. Sting beats on the ropes with the bat as Savage challenges Hogan and any other two guys from the NWO to a six man tonight.

Goldberg vs. Barry Darsow

Darsow is more famous as Smash from Demolition or Repo Man. He’s just Barry Darsow, guy in trunks here though. Goldberg immediately takes him down by the leg before running Barry over with a shoulder block. A lariat sends Darsow to the floor and Goldberg rams him into the barricade and post. Goldberg misses a shoulder into the post though and Darsow goes after the arm. The arm is sent into the buckle but Goldberg snaps awake and hits the spear and Jackhammer for the quick pin.

Gene is still at Duke University.

Here’s Hall with something to say. There’s no survey tonight, because he needs to talk about Savage running down Hogan. If Hollywood needs him, Hall is in his corner tonight. As for Sting, Hall will prove he’s better on Sunday. Thanks for throwing in something about your first WCW World Title shot. Nash comes out and says he’ll have Hogan’s back as well and Giant will get what’s coming to him too.

Dean Malenko vs. Kidman

Dean quickly takes him down and tries the Cloverleaf but Kidman rolls to the ropes. A dropkick gets two for the itchy one and he kicks Malenko in the head a few times. Dean misses a dropkick and it’s off to a chinlock. Kidman shoves Malenko chest first into the buckle and stomps him down in the corner in a surprising show of aggression. A slingshot legdrop gets two on Dean and a middle rope bulldog gets the same. Here’s Jericho to watch Malenko as Kidman slams Dean down for two. Kidman goes up top but gets caught in the middle rope gutbuster. The Cloverleaf is good for the submission.

Rating: C. Not bad here and the gutbuster is always cool to see. Jericho didn’t really do anything here but his presence alone is usually entertaining. Dean is a great foil for Jericho with the serious vs. goofy natures battling each other. Kidman is good but he’s almost playing his gimmick too well as the lack of interest makes for less than thrilling matches.

Jericho and the Flock gets in to stare down Malenko but the Flock beats Jericho down instead. Chris and Dean escape separately.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff with something else to say. Bischoff says Hogan has had to draw straws to pick his partners. Hogan talks about Savage being cool with the NWO for a long time before everything fell apart. The NWO is better than ever without Savage though, which brings us to tonight. Hogan has picked Hall and Nash as his partners (shocking) because they would never stab him in the back. This didn’t need to be done in the arena.

More Gene and the Nitro Girls. Are these segments supposed to be interesting?

Bryan Adams vs. Kaos

From Bret Hart to this for Adams, which is much more appropriate for a guy of his caliber. Adams jumps Kaos to start and lays him out with a quick piledriver. A kick to the shoulder puts Kaos down again and a gutbuster gets two. I’m leaving out the walking around between each move to avoid redundancy. Kaos comes back with a jawbreaker and a clothesline for two before his partner Rage goes up top. Adams fights Kaos off with ease and kicks Rage down before hitting a tilt-a-whirl slam on Kaos for the pin.

Rating: D. WAY too long here with Adams showing how limited his offense is at this point. That flat out shouldn’t be the case for someone with the kind of experience that he has. Adams didn’t look good out there other than the tilt-a-whirl finisher, but at least it was against a jobber and not anyone of value. Also what was up with High Voltage trying to double team like that? It came off like Adams was the good guy fighting off cheaters here.

Post match Adams hits the tilt-a-whirl on Rage for a pin as well.

Here’s Konnan who talks a lot of trash about Juventud Guerrera and says he has an opponent for him of the same size and weight. If Juvy can beat this guy, he can have a match against Konnan.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Scott Norton

Juvy tries to dive on Norton and just bounces off. Chops have no effect either and we head inside. Norton launches him into the air for a great looking crash. Guerrera comes back with a missile dropkick but a springboard spinwheel kick is caught into a backbreaker. Off to a bearhug followed by a full nelson to make Juvy scream. Guerrera will not give up and Norton lets him go, only to hit the shoulder breaker for the pin.

Rating: D+. What in the world was the point of this? Juvy can’t beat a guy he shouldn’t be able to beat and Konnan gets to laugh a lot? Guerrera not giving up was a nice idea, but having him destroyed by a shoulder breaker a few seconds later doesn’t make him look that great. This didn’t do much for anyone.

Video on Raven vs. Page vs. Benoit.

Chris Benoit/Diamond Dallas Page vs. Perry Saturn/Raven

This should be good. Benoit and Saturn slug it out to start and Perry gets two off a northern lights suplex. Chris takes him into the corner and makes the tag off to Page for a swinging neckbreaker. Raven gets the tag but Benoit tags himself in before Page can get himself a piece. Benoit runs Raven over and Saturn is knocked to the floor as well as we take a break.

Back with Page being double teamed in the corner….which has switched for some reason. As in the teams have switched corners during the break. Raven snaps Page’s throat across the ropes for two but Page comes back with a sunset flip. No count though as Benoit is making a save, allowing Raven to put on a front facelock. Page fights his way over to Benoit but the referee is with Saturn so it’s no good. Saturn comes in for a bearhug on the bad ribs which lasts for a good long while.

Page finally breaks free but Saturn trips him up, allowing Raven to stop the tag. A great looking guillotine legdrop gets two for Saturn but an elbow drop misses, allowing for the hot tag off to Benoit. The Canadian cleans house but Raven breaks up the Rolling Germans with a low blow. The Evenflow is countered into the Crossface but Page Diamond Cuts Saturn onto Benoit to break the hold. Page and Benoit get in a fight and brawl to a countout.

Rating: B. For once this is the right ending as it builds up to the PPV match perfectly well. This was a really solid tag match which followed the formula to perfection and had the fans losing their minds for the hot tag. It’s another example of what should be the first rule of wrestling: when things start to go bad, have a good wrestling match and things will get better in a hurry.

Goldberg and Disco Inferno went to Duke University hospital earlier today.

Gene gets some Dominos Pizza as the Girls keep dancing.

Hour #3 begins.

Konnan vs. British Bulldog

Konnan starts a USA chant in a funny bit. The Bulldog rolls and spins out of a wristlock and hooks a chinlock a minute into the match. Konnan fights up and takes Bulldog down with a clothesline and a back elbow to the jaw for two. A low dropkick gets two on the Bulldog before he gets up and…..rolls himself up for two? Bulldog was the one doing the move but rolled onto his shoulders with his feet in the air before kicking out. Odd indeed. Anyway Konnan comes off the ropes but walks into a horrible powerslam for the pin by Bulldog. This was really, REALLY bad while it lasted.

Here’s Flair and remember we’re in North Carolina. Flair talks about how the last time he was in this city, Curt Hennig slammed a cage door on his head. This time though, it’s Hennig’s turn to take a beating. Tonight Hennig will be Carolina Dreaming. Flair didn’t have much to say here.

Cruiserweight Title: Disco Inferno vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho grabs a headlock to start but Disco takes him down with a hiptoss. Disco sends him over the top and out to the floor but Jericho blocks an ax handle from the apron with a dropkick to the ribs. Back in and Disco gets two off a sunset flip but the champ drops him throat first across the top rope. Disco catches a charging Jericho in something like a spinebuster for two. A swinging neckbreaker gets a VERY close two but Jericho comes right back with the double underhook backbreaker and the Liontamer retains the belt.

Rating: C. This was better than I was expecting with Disco continuing to impress in the ring. Jericho was playing it straight tonight and came up with a decent match as a result. The match with Malenko on Sunday is getting overlooked for some reason but it should be good as well. Nice match here.

Remember how Gene was at Duke University with the Nitro Girls? He’s still there.

TV Title: Booker T vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Eddie follows Chavo out and tries to talk some reason into him before the match. Booker yells at Eddie, allowing Chavo to get in a cheap shot before the bell. A dropkick to the leg takes Booker down but Eddie has the referee during the cover. Booker hits the spin kick to take Chavo down but the ax kick mostly misses. The missile dropkick is good for a quick pin for Booker in an abrupt ending.

Post match Eddie gives Chavo a brainbuster for losing.

Curt Hennig vs. Ric Flair

Before the match, Flair tells Hennig and Rude that he’s going to do this for every Horseman ever. Flair hits a quick hiptoss to send Curt to the floor and the fans freak out. Back in and Curt fires off some chops before sending Flair out to the floor for a beating from Rude. Ric gets back in and slugs it out with Flair knocking Hennig down to the mat. A low blow has Hennig in even more trouble and Flair brings in a chair. He puts Hennig in the Tree of Woe and picks up the chair but the NWO runs in for the DQ.

Rating: C. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere but Ric in North Carolina is always worth a look. Flair vs. Hennig had gone on for months and then just stopped cold for the sake of a DDP vs. Hennig match at Starrcade. It’s good to see them bring things up again but the fire was gone at this point.

Post match the NWO runs in for the beatdown but Bret makes the save.

Scott Steiner/Scott Norton vs. Rick Steiner/Lex Luger

For the sake of simplicity, Scott Steiner will only be called Scott, Scott Norton will only be called Norton and Rick Steiner will only be called Rick. Rick comes out with a bulldog (Heenan: “He brought his sister!”) and chases off the NWO before the bell. We start with Rick vs. Norton and the NWO member being thrown down with a belly to belly. Scott bails to the floor from a glare from his brother and it’s Luger coming in with an ax handle to Norton’s shoulder.

Off to Scott who is run over by a few clotheslines and it’s time for the brothers to fight but Scott bails to the corner. Norton runs over Rick and it’s finally time for Scott to come in and pound away. Rick gets in a single right hand to the ribs and Scott bails to the corner. A backdrop puts Norton down but Scott breaks up the Steiner Bulldog. Luger beats Scott up the aisle and apparently it’s a double countout despite not hearing the count at all.

Rating: D+. This was storyline development as we build towards the eventual Steiner showdown. Luger and Scott have a match on Sunday which was barely mentioned here but at least they fought to end things. Norton was the odd man out and I’m not sure why they had him work twice tonight.

Hollywood Hogan/Outsiders vs. Sting/Randy Savage/The Giant

Thankfully Sting actually wears the belt again. Giant is in a neck brace and street clothes but goes after Nash anyway. It’s a big brawl to start with the three pairs fighting all over the arena. Sting and Hogan get things going with the champion pounding away and getting two off a right hand. Hogan sends him into a few corners and hits Sting in the back but the champion blocks a ram into the corner to get control back. Hall and Nash have their arms stretched out but Hogan doesn’t seem interested in tagging.

Giant gets the tag and Hogan staggers away, falling right into Nash which counts as a tag. Hall and Hogan try to jump Giant from behind but he picks both of them up AT THE SAME TIME in a double bearhug. That guy is so strong it’s unreal. Nash breaks it up though and Giant is in trouble. The NWO goes after Giant’s bad neck and the beating goes on for a good while. Hogan puts on a front facelock but can’t get the brace off.

Sting finally comes in without a tag to give Giant a breather but the brace has been removed. A triple beatdown has Giant in trouble but he shoves all three guys down and makes the hot tag to Savage. Giant gets back up and Nash runs off as Savage pounds on Hogan. Sting and Hall finally have some contact with the champion hitting a few Stinger Splashes before they fight to the floor. In the melee the Disciple comes in with the Stunner on Savage to give Hogan the pin.

Rating: C-. Not a terrible match but it was much more hype than actual substance. I’ll let the shock of a Nitro main event fitting that description sink in for a minute. Anyway the Sting vs. Hall match continues to be given less attention than even the TV Title match but any other solution might take some of the spotlight of Hogan vs. Savage and we couldn’t have that.

Overall Rating: C. This is an interesting show as they covered most of if not all the matches for Sunday but I really don’t care to see the PPV. At the end of the day the card just isn’t all that good and the Hogan vs. Savage issue does nothing for me. A lot of the other matches sound ok but not good enough to want to watch the show. The wrestling on here was ok but the storylines that dominated things dragged it down.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews for just $5 from Amazon at:

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Thunder
Date: March 5, 1998
Location: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Lee Marshall

WCW is in an interesting little groove right now as they’re not taking their shows seriously at all other than the main event and it’s making things much easier to get through. We’re ten days from Uncensored and the show is shaping up pretty well which means the TV has been good lately. Tonight’s main event is Page defending the US Title against Raven, assuming we don’t get more NWO drama instead. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Randy Savage receiving the Harvard Lampoon’s Man of the Year award. It’s used as a promo for Hogan vs. Savage.

Here’s a lot of the NWO led by Hogan and Bischoff to get us going. Bischoff talks about how Savage doesn’t deserve the award because he isn’t a real man. A real man wouldn’t walk in Hollywood Hogan’s shadows all these years and Savage is the second most delusional man in the world. Hogan talks about having the NWO watching his back and taking care of Savage and Sting on Monday. Savage winning Man of the Year is a joke and if you want to know how much of a man Hollywood is, just look at Liz’s skinny legs. Uh….sure.

Anyway Hogan is going to need another opponent after the beating he gave Savage on Monday and if Savage is here tonight Hogan will beat him up again tonight. Brian Adams says everyone knows Hollywood is the real icon and Savage is scared of him. It would be an honor for Adams to take Hogan’s place against Savage tonight if he actually shows up. Hollywood is all cool with that and that’s that.

Bill Goldberg vs. Vincent

Heenan has assigned Tenay to find out how many matches Goldberg has won in a row. The spear and Jackhammer end this before I can finish typing that sentence.

We look at This Week in WCW Motorsports. I’ll leave you to figure out how pointless this is.

Prince Iaukea vs. Eddie Guerrero

Feeling out process to start with Prince snapmaring Eddie down, causing Guerrero to complain of a hair pull. Eddie tries to drop down but gets a headbutt in the back to send him to the floor. A dive over the top rope takes Eddie out but back inside, Prince has to put his springboard on hold because Eddie pulls the referee in his path. Eddie goes after the knee to take over and puts on a spinning toe hold. Iaukea rolls him up for a quick two and gets the same off a superkick. He loads up another springboard but Eddie dropkicks his leg out and the frog splash is good for the pin.

Rating: C. This was by far the most entertaining Prince Iaukea match I can remember seeing. Based on his track record though, I’m going to give Eddie about 97% of the credit for the match succeeding. This was an easy win for Guerrero to set up Guerrero’s title shot at the PPV and little more.

Juventud Guerrera vs. El Dandy

Dandy throws him down by the hair to start and fires off some kicks to the chest. The Flock arrives late as always. A pair of headscissors puts Dandy down and Juvy pounds away in the corner. Dandy is sent to the floor for a BIG Air Juvy dive to fire up the crowd. Guerrera can’t suplex him back in though and gets caught by a belly to back for two. Juvy comes right back with a quick DDT and counters what looked like a powerbomb attempt into a rollup. They speed things up a bit with some near falls each but Dandy goes up top, only to get slammed face first onto the mat. The 450 finishes this a few seconds later.

Rating: D+. Not bad here but Dandy never was anything more than a Bret Hart punchline. Juvy is gearing up for his showdown against Konnan which should be entertaining if they wrestle the kind of match they’re capable of having. The Air Juvy dive looked great here but there wasn’t much else to talk about.

Post match Konnan comes out to ramble on in broken Spanish and says Juvy has lost his identity. Juvy says he never surrenders, other than when he surrendered away his mask.

Here’s Randy Savage with something to say. He wants Hogan and Adams out here right now and gets his wish plus a bonus Easy E. Savage says the rest of the NWO wants to stab Hogan in the back the first chance they get. The NWO’s main goal is to get rid of Hogan because he’s like a horse with a broken leg. At Uncensored, Savage is going to send Hogan to the glue factory. Brian Adams is betting his career on Hulk Hogan, so Savage will raise the bet: after Savage takes care of Brian he wants Hogan TONIGHT. Hogan says Savage should be a comedian and he’ll be in Adams’ corner tonight.

Video on Steiner vs. Luger for Uncensored.

Chase Tatum vs. Scott Steiner

Chase is well built but you know what’s coming here: suplex, forearms to the back, whip into the steps, more pounding in the corner, butterfly powerbomb and the Recliner for the submission. Total squash.

Video on Nash vs. Giant including Giant’s powerbomb from Monday.

Curt Hennig vs. Jim Neidhart

You can see the dilemma of Neidhart at this point: he’s being used to put over the Bret vs. Hennig feud but that legal stipulation kept Neidhart and Bret from associating on TV. Hennig stalls on the apron to start, gets shoved into the corner, and stalls yet again. Back in and Neidhart runs him over before putting on a headlock.

Lee Marshall buries the Hart vs. Hennig feud, saying they sound like a couple of three year olds fighting on a playground. Curt bails to the floor for a chat with Rude before Neidhart pounds him down and puts on a chinlock. With Curt distracting the referee, Rude pulls out a 2×4 from under the ring and knocks Neidhart silly with it, setting up the HennigPlex for the pin.

Rating: F. So we have Marshall burying the feud, a stupid ending, and about a minute of “action” in a three and a half minute match. This was a disaster in just a few short minutes which is quite impressive. I’m guessing Curt was, ahem, under the weather for this one as he barely did anything at all.

Bulldog runs out for the save.

Raven comes to the ring to talk about labyrinths and corridors. He helped DDP back in the day but Page never thanked him. Raven spent three years in Barbed Wire City and was so scarred he no longer feels the pain. Tonight is Page’s Waterloo and when Raven wins the title, he isn’t defending it at Uncensored. The challengers will have to wait until his pain is gone.

Jericho talks about being loved by the fans and how they should put him on a pedestal for everything he’s done for them. He’s nailing this character to perfection.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Ciclope

Before the match, Jericho tells us all to Wang Chung tonight. Also he’s been counting and knows 1004 holds, meaning he’s better than Malenko. More on that in a few days. Jericho takes him into the corner to start and grabs the arm but Ciclope trips his leg. A kick to the ribs sets up a brainbuster from Ciclope and Jericho is sent to the floor. Ciclope tries a dive but Jericho casually sidesteps him and stomps away. Back in and Jericho counters a quick victory roll into the Liontamer for the submission. Not much to see here.

Jericho won’t let go of the hold until Malenko comes out for the save and puts Chris in the Cloverleaf.

Scott Norton vs. Renegade

I’ve sat through El Dandy and Prince Iaukea tonight and this is my reward. Norton shoves him into the corner and hits a LONG string of knees and forearms. As in he goes on for well over a minute doing nothing more than those two moves. Presumably out of boredom, here’s Giant to lay out both guys. Norton gets a Jackknife and Renegade is chokeslammed to the amusement of the crowd.

Giant is handcuffed but the cuffs don’t fit. Instead Doug Dillinger puts chains around Giant’s wrists.

US Title: Raven vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Raven insists on No DQ, which I thought was always the case for him. Page wants no referee, which is a great way to guarantee you keep the belt. He knocks Raven to the floor and hits a big plancha before sending Raven into the barricade. Raven comes back with a whip of his own and they head up to the stage. Benoit comes out and jumps both guys to make it a threeway fight. They fight in the aisle and then inside the ring with Benoit missing the Swan Dive on Raven. The 7’2 Reese debuts to distract Page and the Flock comes in for the double beatdown. Both guys get DDTs onto a piece of guardrail to end this non-match.

Randy Savage vs. Brian Adams

Hogan comes out with Adams so we’re guaranteed a run-in palooza to end the show. Before the match, Savage says it’s true that Liz managed the both of them, but Liz says Savage is clearly the real man between the two of them. Adams has to hold Hogan back but Savage says if Hogan wants to know who the real man is, ask Hogan’s wife. It’s a big brawl to start with Savage having to fight both guys.

Lee Marshall continues his brilliant commentary with this gem: “We’re going to find out who is the kahuna and who is the kahu-not.” Savage whips Hogan with the belt and gets in a shot on Adams as well. They head back in and Liz gets in a cheap shot on Adams. Savage saves her from Hogan but Disciple comes in for the DQ. This was a match?

The NWO destroys Savage and Sting makes the save to end the show (no belt of course).

Overall Rating: D. This didn’t do it for me. The matches were all either really short, really bad or not matches at all. Savage had some good lines, but the focus being entirely on Hogan vs. Savage and the NWO split is getting really tiresome. The world title was mentioned in a single throwaway line which led to another Hogan discussion. Also, did WCW really think we would care about Brian Adams this much? This was a bad show and one of the worst in the series so far.

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Monday Nitro #129
Date: March 2, 1998
Location: Corestates Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

The main story tonight is we have an NWO guy teaming with a WCW guy to face two more NWO guys in the main event of Hall/Hogan vs. Sting/Savage. We’re less than two weeks away from Uncensored and the card is already shaping up very nicely. Hopefully WCW can rebound after a weak showing on last week’s show. Let’s get to it.

After some clips from Savage’s beatdown last week, we see the NWO arriving. Nash is already here for some reason.

Chris Benoit vs. Scotty Riggs

Benoit sends him into the corner to start but can’t hit the German suplex. Instead he clotheslines Riggs in the back of the head and hits a belly to back for two before sending Riggs to the floor. Benoit follows him out and chops Lodi, only to have Riggs get in a shot from behind. Back in and Benoit counters a vertical suplex into a snap suplex, only to be clotheslined down for two. We hit the chinlock for a few seconds before Riggs sends Benoit into the corner. They seem to botch what was supposed to be Riggs going into the post before Benoit rolls the Germans and hooks the Crossface for the submission.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t bad but it didn’t have the time to get anywhere. We’ve been through Benoit fighting the Flock already so this wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before. Raven is gearing up to fight Page on Thunder but Benoit is still stuck in the same place he’s been for months, which sums up his run in WCW in a five minute segment.

Ric Flair hypes up the main event for some reason.

The announcers talk about Randy Savage winning the Harvard Lampoon’s Man of the Year award.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff with something to say. Eric calls Savage a midget and says things can still be healed. Hogan is tired of hearing about Savage who isn’t even famous enough to get on Leno or Conan. The NWO is for life but Savage has gotten just enough rope to hang himself. He brags about being able to beat Sting and Savage and makes bald jokes in an eye rolling line. All his disciples know he’s too sweet, which is probably supposed to introduce Beefcake’s new name. Hogan rambled a bit but this was fine.

Gene and the Nitro Girls are at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

They trade arm work to start with Juvy doing Owen Hart’s spinning nip up counter but getting caught by a clothesline. They speed things up a bit and both guys flip around a bit before Chavo hits another clothesline for two. Juvy flips over the corner and hits a pair of springboard missile dropkicks for no cover. Chavo avoids a charge in the corner and jumps to the top to snap Juvy’s throat across the top. Back in and the tornado DDT is countered into a sloppy looking rollup before hitting the Juvy Driver and the 450 for the pin.

Rating: C. This was fine and followed the tried and true formula of letting two small guys fly around the ring for four minutes to fire up the crowd. Juvy was a few steps ahead of Chavo at this point but Guerrero would wind up being the better all around wrestler. Juvy looked good despite losing the mask, although I still don’t agree with the decision to take it off of him.

Psychosis vs. Prince Iaukea

During the entrances we’re told of a new music video from Stuck Mojo featuring Page and the Flock which will debut later tonight. Psychosis jumps him to start and hits a quick baseball slide to send the Prince into the barricade. Iaukea avoids a dive and sends Psychosis face first into the barricade to take over. Back in and Psychosis hits a pair of left arm lariats while shaking his right arm.

Iaukea gets two off a dropkick to the back of the head and they slug it out a bit. Psychosis gets two of his own off a spinwheel kick and hits a dropkick to the back of the head of his own. A top rope hurricanrana gets two on the Prince followed by the guillotine legdrop but Psychosis pulls Prince up at two. Psychosis crotches Iaukea on the top and tries a top rope victory roll but Iaukea falls on top of him for the pin.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad but it wasn’t a good idea to have it right after the Juvy vs. Guerrero match. Psychosis looked decent but Iaukea continues to be one of the most uninteresting guys I’ve ever seen. There’s nothing that separates him from any other generic wrestler out there and that’s not good for a show like Nitro.

Ad for Uncensored.

Raven vs. Disco Inferno

Disco wears the same kind of hat that HHH wore in 2000 which doesn’t suit him at all. Disco kicks him into the corner to start and hits a quick swinging neckbreaker for two before sending Raven to the outside. Raven sends him into the barricade and drops Disco onto the apron to take over. A chair is brought into the ring but Disco sends Raven face first into it instead to take over. Disco chokes away with some tape but Raven hits the drop toehold onto the chair and the Evenflow is good for the pin. Short but better than I expected.

More from the party with Gene talking to a bored cop and some guy from Cleveland.

Hugh Morrus/Barbarian vs. Public Enemy

Both teams bring tables with them but Public Enemy has a trashcan as well. The can is thrown into the ring and it’s a big brawl to start. Public Enemy is over huge with the Philly crowd and apparently this is a Philadelphia street fight. Jimmy Hart gets in some shots of his own on Rocco but Barbarian and Morrus clothesline each other.

Grunge puts Jimmy on the table but Barbarian makes the save so Morrus can superplex Rocco through the table. Morrus hits Barbarian with a high cross body by mistake and the other table is brought in. Rocco dives through Morrus (the table was breaking before he dove) for the fast pin. Another short match but Public Enemy was WAY over.

Here are Savage and Liz (looking GOOD tonight) with something to say. Savage says he’s tired of carrying Hogan for all these years and without the NWO, Hogan wouldn’t have a life. Savage calls Hall and Hogan cowards and says Sting will do business Savage’s way. Here’s Sting (still not carrying the belt which I haven’t seen on TV since SuperBrawl) with a mic for once. The survey says Hall is dead but he hasn’t forgotten what Savage has done over the years. Sting will only be doing things his way.

Goldberg vs. Sick Boy

Goldberg hits a quick gorilla press drop and a clothesline to stop a charging Sick Boy. Sick Boy slips off a springboard and the fans let him have it. Goldberg says hit me with your best shot but it’s the spear and Jackhammer for the pin.

We get the music video with the band (Stuck Mojo) playing in a ring as the Flock watches from ringside. They get inside and dive right back out onto the fans as the band plays. DDP finally gets in and cleans house with a wooden chair. Raven and Page stare each other down to end the video. The song is called Rising if you want to check it out.

Here’s DDP for an interview right after the video ends. He has a title defense against Raven on Thursday and since Raven likes quotes so much, Page’s quote is Raven is about to get BANGED. Page leaves, which seems rather silly considering what comes next.

Hammer vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Hammer jumps Page as he comes in and hits a quick powerslam for no cover. Page is stomped down in the corner but he comes back with rights and lefts while Hammer argues with the referee. He goes up onto the ropes to rain down right hands but Hammer hits him low to stop Page cold. DDP spins around Hammer’s shoulders and hits a Diamond Cutter but Raven runs in for the DQ before a cover.

Raven beats Page down but Benoit makes the save. All three guys brawl to a break.

More Nitro Party stuff.

Bret Hart is looking forward to facing Hennig because the NWO is a bunch of liars and bullies. He’s here to tear the NWO down brick by brick and at Uncensored, Hennig will learn that Bret is the best there is, was and ever will be. Also Stu Hart can beat up Larry Hennig any day.

British Bulldog vs. Scott Norton

Norton shoves Bulldog around in a rare occurrence for the Brit. Bulldog comes back with a regular slam followed by a powerslam (not the powerslam mind you) but Norton clotheslines him to the floor. Norton loads up a powerbomb on the floor but stops to shove the referee away for a DQ.

Bulldog and Norton brawl up the ramp. So Norton seems to have replaced Mongo, which is an upgrade…..I think?

The announcers talk about the main event some more.

Konnan vs. Super Calo

Before the match, Konnan says Juventud is a punk for losing his mask and is no longer raza. Konnan grabs the arm to start and they speed things up with Calo hitting a quick armdrag. An awkward looking shove puts Konnan down (looked like someone missed a cue) and a dropkick puts him into the corner. Konnan hits the rolling clothesline to take over but the announcers are talking about Raven vs. Page vs. Benoit being made official for the PPV. Calo hits a quick clothesline and dropkick for two but Konnan hits the cradle DDT and the Tequila Sunrise for a fast submission.

Juvy comes out to prevent Konnan from taking Calo’s mask. A match is made for next week.

Here’s Ric Flair with something to say. Flair wants to know why Gene is at the party but Flair is here. Actually he already knows: he wants to see the main event. Well he already promoted it earlier. Flair starts talking about Bret but here are Hennig and Rude to interrupt. Flair says he’s Eric Lindros (Philadelphia hockey star for those of you unfamiliar) and they’re the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Hennig says if Flair is a 14 time champion then he’s also a 14 time loser. Flair gets ready to fight and Hennig comes in for the brawl but Rude rakes Flair’s eyes to give Hennig the advantage. Ric comes back with a low blow and goes for the leg but Rude comes in again for a Hennigplex and a three count from Rude. Bret FINALLY comes out for the save.

More Nitro Party stuff.

Jim Duggan vs. Scott Steiner

Duggan spends too much time walking around the ring and gets decked by White Thunder. Two Duggan clotheslines have no effect but a third knocks him out to the floor. Back in and a big slam puts Steiner down but Steiner comes back with a butterfly powerbomb for no cover. Steiner hooks a chinlock but Duggan morons up and shrugs off the forearms to the back.

Right hands stagger Scott but he tries a middle rope sunset flip of all things for two. Duggan pounds away in the corner again but he misses a charge and goes face first into the post, sending him out to the floor. Back in and the spinning belly to belly sets up the Steiner Recliner for the submission.

Rating: C-. This was actually decent with Duggan playing the role of plucky fighter far better than I expected him to. That being said, Steiner shouldn’t have had this much trouble with a jobber to the stars like Duggan so soon after his major heel turn. It’s no wonder why it took so long for him to get over.

Booker T/Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero/Chris Jericho

This is a rematch from Thunder where Eddie/Jericho won. Before the match Jericho declares this Monday Jericho and says his first guest is Eddie Guerrero for this tag team. Booker starts with Jericho with the latter still wearing the Juvy mask around his neck. Some quick forearms knock Jericho into the corner but Chris comes back with a middle rope dropkick for two. Eddie comes in and everything breaks down with Dean and Booker clearing the ring.

Eddie and Jericho hug on the floor as the good guys beg for them to come back in. Eddie comes in again and drops to his knees to beg but Booker forearms him in the head. A dropkick to the leg puts Booker down and Jericho comes in for a double clothesline. Eddie’s slingshot hilo gets no cover but another forearm puts him right back down.

Off to Dean as things break down again and Booker superkicks Guerrero in the back of the head. Dean breaks up a Lionsault but Booker misses a side kick to Eddie. Booker and Eddie fall to the floor and it’s Dean and Jericho inside. A slow motion Attitude Adjustment puts Jericho down and the Cloverleaf gets the win for Malenko and Booker.

Rating: C+. This is another of those matches that’s an easy layup for two given the talent in there. It’s also an easy way to set up Jericho vs. Malenko at the PPV and give the fans reason to believe Malenko can win. Booker and Eddie already have a reason to face each other so this advanced two feuds at the same time. Good stuff.

Here’s the Nash and the NWO B-Team with something to say. Scott Steiner gets to the point by asking his brother Rick to join the NWO. Here are Rick and DiBiase with Rick immediately joining with the too sweet sign to all the members. Rick surprises them with right hands but Buff stops him before he gets to Scott. A big beatdown ensues but Nash pulls away from a powerbomb. He loads up another one but Rick backdrops out and here’s the Giant to get his hands on Nash. Giant headbutts Nash down and gives him a good powerbomb, only to hurt his own neck in the process.

During the break security try to handcuff the Giant but the cuffs don’t fit.

Brian Adams vs. Bret Hart

This is Bret’s Nitro debut. Adams jumps Bret as he comes in and hits a gorilla press gutbuster to send him to the floor. Bret sends him into the post to take over back inside and pounds away in the corner. The Russian legsweep looks to set up the Sharpshooter but Adams gets a rope. Brian hits a clothesline to take over and hits a slow motion tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. A turnbuckle comes off somewhere in there but it’s Adams going face first into it, setting up the Sharpshooter. Before he can tap out though here’s Hennig for the DQ.

Rating: D. Of all the opponents they could have picked for Bret’s debut match on Nitro they picked Adams? I don’t know why the guy was signed in the first place as he’s just a generic power guy who doesn’t do anything special in the ring at all. You can already see Bret being wasted from here, as he debuted as a referee, wrestled one very good PPV match and is now fighting Brian Adams. That’s not a good sign.

Sting/Randy Savage vs. Hollywood Hogan/Scott Hall

We’re finally to this match which Tony has hyped up like it was the original NWO match. The problem here is the match is going to have about ten minutes and odds are it ends in a run in. I get the idea of hyping up the main event, but when the match isn’t going to be anything special it makes you look bad. Schiavone is famous for this and tonight is the first time he’s really done it for a match that isn’t all that huge. To really pound it in, Buffer does the big intro and calls it the main event of the evening, but Tony corrects him by saying it’s the main event of all time. It’s a big match but it’s making Tony sound silly at this point.

This is a rare instance of Hall being treated as one of the top guys in the NWO. After the first few weeks of the team he was always a step below Hogan and at times below Nash. From what I can find, this is the only time Hogan and Hall teamed together without Nash there too. On the way to the ring, Bischoff holds up a sign saying “Raw fears ratings.” Sting STILL isn’t wearing the belt. What’s up with that? I don’t think I’ve seen it since he won the title and I’m almost forgetting he’s champion.

It’s a big brawl to start with Bischoff in there to help out too. Sting and Savage clean house with Sting fighting Hogan on the floor instead of the guy he’s defending the title against in two weeks. Hall and Savage are fighting off camera while Sting whips Hogan with the weightlifting belt. Savage and Hall get back to the ring with Randy whipping Scott with the belt. We officially get going with Savage elbowing Hall in the face before bringing in Sting for a Vader Bomb of all things for two.

Back to Savage for the double ax handle before Sting drops an elbow for two. Savage pulls Hogan off the apron and sends him into the barricade. Randy comes back in for elbows to the head but Hogan comes in with some kind of metal object to knock Savage silly and give the NWO control.

It’s Savage playing face in peril now with Hogan pounding him in the head and clotheslining him in the corner. Hall gets two off the fallaway slam and it’s back to Hogan for more punching. There’s the big boot but Savage avoids the leg drop. The hot tag brings in Sting for two quick Stinger Splashes as everything breaks down. Sting loads up the Scorpion on Hogan but the NWO runs in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. It was your standard main event tag with a somewhat faster pace. How this changed the wrestling world I’m not sure but one thing is very clear: Sting may be world champion but that doesn’t mean much. I don’t think his match with Hall was even mentioned here and they might have had 30 seconds of contact in a ten minute match. It’s clear that whatever Hogan is doing is the top story and the world champion is a distant second.

A bunch of WCW guys come out for the save and Hogan names the new guy Disciple to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Much like Thunder this was a very easy show to get through. Nothing on here was bad and the worst stuff was all short. That being said, a lot of this show is just there. It’s not very good, it’s not very bad and it just exists. It’s the kind of stuff that you watch and then forget about five minutes later, which is bad when there’s about an hour of it a week. On the good side though, Uncensored looks like a solid card and the television hasn’t been bad leading up to it. This was a show building to the PPV and there’s nothing wrong with that.

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Monday Nitro
Date: July 24, 2000
Location: CSU Convocation Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, Mark Madden

This is another request that was made so long ago that I don’t remember the reason behind it at all. We’re just after Bash at the Beach 2000 and Booker T is the new world champion. We’re on the way to New Blood Rising which was another Russo mess of a PPV. Tonight we have Booker vs. Goldberg in a match I vaguely remember. Let’s get to it.

There’s a cage over the ring.

Here’s US Champion Lance Storm to open the show. He asks for us to rise for the Canadian national anthem as Mark Madden can’t shut up. After the anthem, Storm says Americans need a hero. It’s not his fault that all great wrestling champions come from Canada. He has Mike Awesome at New Blood Rising so right now he wants a warmup match. Cue the Hardcore Champion Big Vito, who wants this to be title for title.

US Title/Hardcore Title: Big Vito vs. Lance Storm

Storm jumps him to start but gets slammed down as well as clotheslined. Vito pounds him into the corner but Storm comes back with a leg lariat to take over. That gets him nowhere as Vito pounds him into the corner and pulls out some weapons. A traffic cone is knocked into Storm’s testicles and it’s table time.

Vito takes too long though and Storm superplexes him down. An O’Connor Roll gets two for Storm as does a small package. Vito snaps off an overhead belly to belly suplex but the top rope elbow only gets two. An Impaler puts Storm down for another two and they trade superkicks. Storm throws on the Mapleleaf (half crab) and wins the Hardcore Title.

Rating: D+. This was part of the Storm super push where he won three titles in three weeks and just barely lost the world title match in the fourth week. Vito was a journeyman who did about the same thing no matter where he went. This was decent enough, but I’m not sure why you would open a show with it.

Booker T is coming to the ring.

Buy New Blood Rising! PLEASE!

Here’s Booker for a chat. He thanks the fans for their support because without them, there is no Booker T. Booker talks about Jarrett whining about how he lost the title to Booker at the PPV and the champ doesn’t really seem to care. He says he’ll retain at the PPV and that’s about it. Scratch that as here’s Goldberg (repeat x5).

Goldberg says that Booker guaranteed a title defense every week, so tonight he wants one. Booker says cool but here’s Cat who I think has some authority at this point to break up the staredown. Cat says the fans pick the opponent (since when?) and they can vote on WCW.com from a list of ten options. Goldberg chokes Cat out but Booker makes the save to give us another staredown.

Back from a break and the announcers talk about what we just saw.

Billy Kidman jumps in on commentary and says he has a sex tape of him and Torrie tonight. Oh dear.

David Flair/Ms. Hancock vs. Lieutenant Loco/Major Gunns

Hancock is Stacy Keibler and Loco is Chavo Guerrero, the latter of whom holds the Cruiserweight Title. This is due to Gunns trying to give mouth to mouth to David, Hancock’s man. They’re having a Rip Off The Camouflage match at the PPV. Flair wrestles in a dress shirt and pants while Hancock wrestles in a short dress. The guys start things off as Madden asks about the tape.

The girls come in without tags and it’s a chase on the floor. Flair gets pounded down into the corner and Stacy accidentally rams her head into David’s crotch. That doesn’t seem to hurt but Stacy misses a cross body and hits David by mistake. Gunns rolls her up for the pin. This is one of those comedy matches without the comedy.

Gunns tries to give mouth to mouth to Chavo, who was knocked down by something we missed. Stacy rips off Gunns’ top instead to reveal a camo bikini top. Chavo gets back up and helps beat David up to clear the ring. What was the point of this at all?

Jeff Jarrett wants a title match, so Cat gives him a handicap tag title match against Kronik. Ok then.

Pamela Paulshock, a big set of fake breasts with a blonde attached, talks to some guy in black who doesn’t say much. Apparently that was supposed to be Sting and it sounds like him. He says the mask comes off tonight.

Goldberg says he’ll win the poll and if he doesn’t, he’ll kill someone.

We go to Kronik’s locker room and Brian Clark is out cold.

Tag Titles: Jeff Jarrett vs. Brian Adams

I think this is a tag title match. Jarrett jumps Adams as he comes in but a clothesline misses and Adams hits his tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Back up and Jarrett whips Adams in but ducks his head like a schmuck, letting Adams hit a piledriver for another two. They head to the floor and Adams (more famous as Crush in the WWF) tries to ram Jeff into the post but Jeff escapes and sends Adams in instead.

In a move that makes me pine for Memphis, Jarrett piledrives Adams on the floor. Back in Memphis, that would be a months long angle. Here it’s good for a two count in the ring. A middle rope punch (MEMPHIS AGAIN) hits Adams but as Jeff goes up again, he gets caught in a bearhug. For no apparent reason, Adams lets him go and tries a sidewalk slam, only to get caught in a DDT from Jeff for two. Jarrett sends him into the corner but jumps into a cobra clutch slam. Adams hits a legdrop for two (Madden: “THAT MOVE NEVER WINS!”) and it looks like we’re getting to the end here.

Jarrett grabs the guitar and hits a shot to the throat when the referee isn’t looking. That only gets two and Adams is mad. He uses the power game for a gutbuster but a middle rope knee misses Jeff entirely. Clark finally comes out and hits Jeff with the guitar, followed by the Meltdown (pumphandle slam). It’s table time as Kronik wants High Times (double chokeslam) but the referee breaks it up. That’s cool with Kronik as they give him the chokeslam instead. The match ends with Jarrett running away.

Rating: D+. Not bad here but the ending was pretty stupid. WCW had a bad habit (WWF did as well to be fair) around this time of just letting the matches end with no real resolution, even in the form of a DQ or something. Why Johnson wanted to help Jarrett wasn’t really mentioned but maybe it was just because it was the right thing to do. Not bad here but nothing great.

Vampiro says he’ll take care of Great Muta for Cat. Why does cat need Muta taken care of you ask? I don’t know either. I was hoping you did.

Shane Douglas complains about Kidman’s sex tape.

Sting is leading in the fan voting poll.

Vampiro vs. Great Muta

This is a rematch from the US Title Tournament last week. Vampiro has the Insane Clown Posse with him for the sake of getting my blood pressure up. Cat (Ernest Miller) is guest referee for no apparent reason. Before any contact is made, Vampiro hits Cat and it’s a SWERVE!!! Cat fights off Vampiro but Muta kicks him down. This would be the start of a stable called the Dark Carnival. No match for the most part.

Never mind as Miller gets up and beats everyone down. Great way to debut a stable there.

Booker doesn’t care who he’s facing.

WCW World Title: Booker T vs. ???

It’s Sting. Apparently the mask is a bunch of bandages from Vampiro burning him. That makes more sense and it only took an hour to tell us that. Sting comes out but Goldberg jumps him. Hehe screw the fans. Goldberg superkicks Sting and Sting has to be taken out on a stretcher. Booker gets in anyway…and is immediately decapitated by a clothesline and a powerslam. Booker heads to the floor and gets in a shot or two, only to be sent into the steps to put him back down again. The champ is busted open so Goldberg gives him an FU and hooks a cross armbreaker.

Booker gets the rope and the hold is broken….but Stevie Ray (Booker’s brother and former tag partner) comes out and throws in the towel. Ernest Miller comes out and declares Goldberg the winner……but he’s not the champion because Booker didn’t quit. He made the rope and didn’t tap, so why is the match over? This didn’t even make it to three minutes, but hey, the world champ looks like a joke now so the point is made.

After a break, Booker wants the match to start again.

Buff Bagwell vs. Kanyon

Kanyon is doing the DDP imitation here….or at least he would if he was here. Judy Bagwell is here with her boy and she yells at Kanyon for being a coward. Buff declares himself the winner and it’s time to dance. A cameraman puts the camera down and beats up Buff, only to have Judy make the save. Buff takes the Kanyon Cutter and Kanyon chases Judy to the back, shoves her in a car and leaves.

Buff gives chase after a break.

Kidman still has a sex tape.

Shane Douglas vs. Mike Awesome

Shane says he’s winning fast so he and Torrie can get out of the town. Mike Awesome is now the Fat Chick Thriller, further proving that WCW had no idea what they were doing a lot of the time. Awesome shoves him away a few times before ramming Shane into all three buckles and then the mat to cap off the series of ten shots. Shane gets clotheslined to the floor and Awesome follows him out with a dive. How scary is it that he could do stuff like that with such ease?

Torrie tries to interfere but is kicked away. The distraction works though as Shane hot shots Awesome on the top rope to take over. A reverse Hennig Neck Snap keeps Awesome down and it’s off to a chinlock. Awesome taps but it doesn’t count for some reason, likely because you don’t tap to a chinlock. Awesome slams Shane off the top and starts his comeback.

A splash gets two and an Alabama Slam looks to set up the Awesome Splash but Torrie interferes again. Douglas gets in his signature chain shots to the ribs but the sex tape pops up on the screen. You can’t see anything of course but Awesome hits Shane in the head with a barbell that came from somewhere for the pin.

Rating: C-. We had two interferences, a chain, a barbell and a sex tape in this five and a half minute match. The tape went nowhere as it’s just the two of them in bed kissing and that’s about it. Kidman would feud with Shane for awhile in a feud that did nothing for no one and was more proof that Kidman feuding with Hogan did nothing for him. Decent match I guess but WAY overbooked.

Billy pops up on the stage with some underwear. Lance Storm tries to jump Awesome but gets Awesome Bombed.

Post break, Douglas beats up the guy that played the tape.

Kidman comes back out and says that he’s made a ton of copies of the tape, including one for Madden, drawing a hilarious response from the fat man. Some guys are shown in the back watching the tape and Douglas yells some more in the production truck.

Filthy Animals vs. Misfits in Action vs. Perfect Event vs. Natural Born Thrillers

The teams are Rey Mysterio/Juventud Guerrera, Hugh Morrus/Lash Leroux (Captain Rection and Corporal Cajun, which I won’t be calling them), Shawn Stasiak/Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire/Mark Jindrak respectfully. This is in the Caged Heat cage, which is WCW’s name for Hell in a Cell. It’s escape only and the last team in the cage is out of the four way title match at New Blood Rising. Palumbo immediately goes for the door but gets caught and beaten down just as fast. Konnan is on commentary here.

This is more like a battle royal than a cage match to start, as everyone is beating on everyone at once. O’Haire hits the first big spot of the match, firing off the Seanton (Swanton) Bomb on Morrus. There are no covers in this as it’s escape only remember. The fighting continues as we see Rey and Juvi hiding in the corner of the cage. That’s pretty smart when you think about it.

Palumbo hits a jumping back elbow on Morrus and in the chaos, the Thrillers both walk out and advance to the PPV. Rey goes up for a cross body onto Stasiak but Stasiak catches him in mid air. That’s more power than he usually shows. Juvy dropkicks Rey onto Stasiak, sending Shawn to the floor, where he and Palumbo make their escape. We’re down to the Filthy Animals vs. the Misfits.

Morrus loads up the No Laughing Matter moonsault but Juvy makes the save. The Bronco Buster keeps Morrus down….and then things stop making sense as the Perfect Event lock the cage. No explanation is given for this but I guess it makes sense in Russo’s mind. Mark Madden pulls out some bolt cutters for Konnan who doesn’t use them immediately. The match basically stops as Disco Inferno of the Animals goes up top and opens a door on top of the cage.

Back in the ring the Animals set up a ladder because this match isn’t overbooked enough yet. They beat down the Misfits so they can climb the ladder and dive on them again. You know, because going through the opening in the roof would make too much sense. Everyone is down after the dive and for a second we actually get a breather. Morrus is up first and climbs the ladder to escape, only to be stomped on by Disco who is still on top of the cage.

Rey climbs up and it’s Juvi vs. Lash, the latter of which has done next to nothing in this match. Konnan finally cuts the lock off the door as Morrus fights off Rey and Disco (Rey is a heel here, if that gives you any idea how stupid this company was) as the other two walk out the door. So now there’s no one in the cage but the match continues. Tony: “We’re completely lost.”

There’s a table set up on the floor and Morrus teases diving off the top through Juvi through said table, but Rey stops him from killing himself. Juvy gets up and stands the table against the cage before sending Lash through it. Morrus and Rey go back through the roof and down into the ring again because….well why not? It doesn’t last long though as Morrus counters a rana into a powerbomb to escape and…..win I guess?

Rating: W. As in WHAT? Where in the world do I begin? First of all, why would you have a big match like this to qualify for another match? Second, why would you have a match like this to eliminate someone? Third, why didn’t the match end when everyone was out of the cage? Fourth, if they could go through the door only, WHY WOULD THEY GO ON THE FREAKING ROOF?

Fifth, why would this match be on Nitro instead of on the PPV? Sixth, why did it take Konnan so long to open the door? Seventh, why did Madden have bolt cutters? Eighth, why were the first two teams in this in the first place? Ninth, who thought Rey as a heel was a good idea? Finally, WHAT DID I JUST WATCH???

Stevie Ray goes up to Goldberg in the back and yells at him, so Goldie throws him through a glass window.

WCW World Title: Booker T vs. Goldberg

Booker jumps him in the aisle but Goldberg knocks him right back down. As they head into the ring, Booker hits the ax kick and Goldberg is in trouble. Never mind as he clotheslines Booker down and into a 360. A powerslam puts Booker down and Goldberg pounds on the cut from earlier. Jeff Jarrett comes out for no reason and hits Goldberg with a chair as this is anything goes. SINCE FREAKING WHEN??? That makes Goldie mad so here’s the Cat to kick Goldberg in the face. That gets him nowhere either so Booker kicks him down for a second and the Book End (Rock Bottom) retains the title in less than three minutes.

Goldberg immediately pops up and spears Booker down and hits a Jackhammer to stand tall to end the show.

Ok before we get to the overall rating, let’s think about this main event for a second. In total, the world champion has been in the ring about six minutes tonight and has been destroyed twice in that span. Goldberg looks like a monster that can’t be hurt and Booker looks like a joke. It took an ax kick, a chair shot, a kick to the face, another kick to the face and a Rock Bottom to put Goldberg down for about five seconds before he destroyed Booker again to end the show.

Not to mention this all happened after the fans were told they could vote and then had their pick knocked out, making it completely meaningless. This would also be the sensible match after the even bigger mess that the cage match on free TV was. They were out of business how soon after this?

Overall Rating: D-. WOW. Between the matches having no endings, the ones that do ending screwy, the debuting faction looking stupid, the debacle that was the world title stuff and the INSANE cage match among all of the other stuff I’m forgetting, it’s no wonder why this company went out of business so soon. Booker would manage five world title reigns in less than a year, and it’s no wonder given how much they seemed to care about him as champion. Why was this show requested anyway? It didn’t seem to be anything special and it was certainly bad.

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Thunder
Date: February 26, 1998
Location: Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

After a weak Nitro we’re here in Iowa to hopefully get things back on the right track. Sting is the world champion again but Hogan and the NWO destroyed him on Monday like he was any other guy. WCW is finally starting to unite against the NWO though with Flair, Hart, Luger, Sting and maybe even Savage coming together to fight back. Let’s get to it.

Dean Malenko/Booker T. vs. Chris Jericho/Eddie Guerrero

The fans immediately go off on Guerrero and it’s Booker elbowing Jericho down to start. A spinebuster puts him down again and we take an early break. Back with Guerrero missing the slingshot hilo and being backdropped out to the floor. Tony tells us that these four will be in singles title matches at the PPV with Dean challenging Jericho and Eddie challenging Booker. Jericho pulls Dean to the floor for a snap suplex and now the fans are all over the Canadian.

Eddie and Chris hit a double shoulder for two on Malenko as this crowd is very hot. Tony tells us that the over the top DQ rule has been abolished. I never liked that rule so good for it being gone. Jericho hooks an abdominal stretch but Dean quickly hiptosses out of it. Malenko goes for the tag but Eddie dropkicks him into a Liontamer attempt to break it up. Dean kicks Chris away and makes the hot tag so Booker can clean house.

Guerrero slows him down with a dropkick but Booker hits the side kick for two. Everything breaks down and Booker hits the ax kick on Eddie but Jericho makes the save. Eddie hits a brainbuster on Booker, waits for Dean to have Jericho in the Cloverleaf, and hits the frog splash on Booker for the pin.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t quite up to the level of the matches with Benoit instead of Booker but it was fine. The thing I want to focus on is Eddie waiting those few seconds to hit the frog splash. If he had done it immediately it would have looked stupid that Dean wouldn’t break up the hold. By waiting for Malenko to put on the Cloverleaf and turn his back to the cover, Eddie made the whole sequence much more realistic. I love little things like that.

Tenay brings out DDP for a chat. Page praises Benoit for giving him the best match of his career and says they respect each other. They also agree that Raven is a piece of garbage, which brings out Raven and the Flock. Raven wants his US Title shot and Page says anytime, so Raven picks next week.

Brad Armstrong vs. Fit Finlay

Finlay quickly takes him to the mat to work on the ankle for a bit. Back up and Brad grabs Finlay’s leg, only to get caught by an enziguri. After doing nothing of note on the floor we head back inside for a beating from Finlay with uppercuts and right hands. Armstrong grabs an arm but Finlay whips him into the corner for an easy escape. Finlay looks like he’s toying with Brad here. Finlay charges into a boot in the corner and gets caught by a middle rope crossbody for two. Brad gets two more off a belly to back suplex but Finlay gets bored of being beaten on and tombstones him for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was an odd pairing but they would actually five three times on this show before the end of the summer. I don’t know where they’re going with this Armstrong Curse idea but I’m surprised they’re giving Brad Armstrong of all people a continued story like this. It’s not a major story but Armstrong is one of the last people you would expect to get a story at all.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Dave Taylor

Bulldog hits a quick shoulder and a clothesline to send Taylor out to the floor. Back in and the crowd is already booing Taylor despite Bulldog not being the nicest guy in the world in his WCW run. Tony tells us (he’s a chatterbox tonight) that Mongo will be out for a few weeks because of his broken arm. A suplex gets two on Smith but he pops up, hits the real vertical suplex and powerslams Taylor down for the pin.

Tenay brings out Hennig to talk about his match with Bret at Uncensored. Mike talks about Bret turning the NWO down, which Hennig says makes Bret stupid. Hennig is the man Hogan picked to deal with Bret and actually uses the my dad beat up his dad line. He’s got Neidhart tonight but isn’t worried at all. I can’t say I blame him on that.

Goldberg vs. Rick Fuller

Fuller is a big guy with a decent look. The NWO music comes on for a few seconds during Fuller’s entrance in a production error. The place goes NUTS for Goldberg who is definitely a big deal now. Heenan wants to know how many matches Goldberg has won in a row. Tony: “All of them.” Goldberg takes him to the mat with ease and no sells a big boot before hitting the two moves for the pin. This was about a minute long.

The Flock comes to ringside.

Yuji Nagata vs. La Parka

Parka swings the chair and does the Karate Kid crane kick to start. Nagata will have none of this foolishness and kicks Parka in the leg and side to take over. A sidekick puts La Parka down but he kicks Nagata in the back of the head to stagger him. Nagata is out in the Tree of Woe for a running spin kick to send him to the floor.

The masked man brings the chair into the ring as a launchpad to jump to the top rope and dive down onto Nagata in a nice move. Yuji is sent into the chair (no DQ on that for some reason) and then back inside for a corkscrew dive from the top. Cue Disco Inferno to give Sonny Onoo the Chartbuster for no apparent reason, allowing Yuji to kick the chair into La Parka’s face and get the win via the Nagata Lock.

Rating: C-. It wasn’t dull but I’m not sure what was going on here. Wasn’t Disco fighting with La Parka as recently as the last PPV? The match was one of Nagata’s more interesting ones but that might have been due to La Parka showing off a lot. Also it would have been better for Nagata to pin him off the chair kick instead of a leg lock which hadn’t been set up at all but that’s nitpicking.

Hall comes out for the survey with the boys in black taking another one. He gets his shot at Sting in two weeks and is clearly the favorite. He’s been in the ring every night for two years and all Sting has is a cool entrance. Sting has to prove how good he is at Uncensored so bring it on. Nice and simple promo to build up the title match.

Buff Bagwell does Scott Steiner’s entrance ala Michael Buffer. Scott is now known as White Thunder which never got over as a nickname. Scott talks about having breakfast with Luger, Sting and Rick on Sunday morning but the next night Luger was challenging him to a fight. Steiner accepts but doesn’t get why Luger thinks he’s the Total Package. Luger went to college and is an educated man, but he didn’t go to Michigan. Michigan wanted Scott Steiner because he’s a better athlete, so Scott sings part of Michigan’s fight song. And they wonder why it took so long for him to get over.

Scott Steiner vs. Marty Jannetty

Steiner destroys him as Tony talks about Sting/Savage vs. Hogan/Hall on Monday. The announcers think it’s a trap and Sting would have to be crazy to agree to that match. Well Sting may be the dumbest man in the history of wrestling so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s being trapped. The match is a total squash with Scott hitting a gorilla press, belly to belly and the top rope Frankensteiner for the pin in about 90 seconds.

Curt Hennig vs. Jim Neidhart

Neidhart easily shoves him across the ring and Hennig bails to the floor. He’s pulled back in by the hair (“OWWWWWWW!”) as Scott Steiner comes in to the announcers’ desk. He says the door is still open for Rick to join the team and it’s the best decision he’ll ever make. Neidhart puts on a bearhug but here are Vincent and Adams for the DQ.

Davey Boy makes the save for his brother in law.

Raven vs. Kevin Nash

Now that’s an interesting pairing. Before the match, Raven says this is going to be a battle royal with the rest of the Flock being the other participants. Raven sits down in the corner as the Flock charges at Nash (one at a time of course) and is easily elimination. Nash powerbombs Lodi twice to a big pop, sending Nash to prison and costing him $100,000. Raven wins by default.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Page is defending. They trade wristlocks to start with Page taking him down in an armbar. Benoit reverses into a chinlock as we hear what sounds like a canned DDP chant. Page rolls out of the chinlock into a stalemate which turns into a fight. They lock up and fall out to the floor before going into the crowd. Page hits a hard right hand to knock Benoit back to ringside and gets two off a swinging neckbreaker.

Benoit goes after the big bandages on the ribs with a kick to the stomach and a front suplex onto the ropes to put Page down. Page is whipped hard into the corner and Benoit grabs him for a northern lights suplex but just drops him on the ribs for two. Benoit stomps him down in the corner but Page comes back with right hands. We’re on a wide shot now as it appears Page is busted open. Raven comes in for the DQ a few seconds later.

Rating: C. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere but it set up the main event next week a bit better. Three way feuds like this are almost always interesting because there are so many different ways they can go. Benoit is getting a solid rub out of this as he can hang with higher level talent, but a title win would be nice.

Benoit and Raven fight to the floor and Page dives on them to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a really light show and I mean that in a good way. We got some good wrestling and angle advancement but there wasn’t any heavy lifting to make the show hard to sit through. That’s a really nice thing to have as an alternative to the story heavy Nitro. Uncensored is looking good other than the main event, which could sum up almost any WCW PPV from this era.

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Monday Nitro #128
Date: February 23, 1998
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

We’re finally past SuperBrawl and Sting is the undisputed world champion. We also have a new member of the NWO in the form of Scott Steiner who finally turned on his brother last night to give the Outsiders the tag titles. Things are interesting in WCW at this point as we’re heading into Uncensored in a few weeks. Let’s get to it.

We open with DDP, Booker T, Flair and Hart all talking about Scott Steiner turning.

Gene Okerlund asks Rick Steiner about his brother turning but Rick has nothing to say.

Here’s Luger with a mic in hand. He congratulates Sting for winning the title but says there’s a black cloud over WCW in the form of the NWO. Rick Steiner must be hurting because he lost a brother last night. Luger wants to beat some sense into Scott but gets Curt Hennig instead, starting a match.

Curt Hennig vs. Lex Luger

Luger throws him around a bit and armdrags Hennig down to the floor. Luger pulls him back in but here’s the now blonde Scott Steiner for the DQ.

Steiner lays out Luger with a belly to belly and chokes him a bit while posing. Luger comes back with the forearm but Buff runs in while Hennig is just watching. Rick Steiner runs out and beats up Buff which sends Scott running away. The NWO B team comes in to beat down the good guys until Sting repels down to make the real save. A bunch of WCW jobbers plus Booker and Benoit come out to check on Rick and Lex.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Hammer

I’m assuming this is non-title. Page is taken down by a quick headlock takeover as the fans are all over Lodi. Back up and Page hits his knee lift/swinging neckbreaker combo for two but a Diamond Cutter is easily countered. A middle rope clothesline puts Page down but Hammer stops to pose. Page fires off rights and lefts in the corner but gets thrown off the middle rope. The discus lariat takes Hammer down again and a middle rope Diamond Cutter is good for the pin.

Rating: D+. There wasn’t much to this one but the fans are white hot tonight. Page is one of the few people that figured out you only need one big move to get over and he milked that idea for years on end. Hammer is the perfect kind of guy for Page to beat in a quick match and is yet another example of a random opponent being better than being repetitive.

Hogan and Bischoff talk to someone in a limo before coming out to the arena. Hollywood yells about how he had Sting beat last night and how he paid off Nick Patrick but Patrick did his job anyway. Sting is nothing special and Hogan will prove that tonight by letting Hall have a shot at the title so Hall can give it back to Hogan where it belongs.

Now on to Savage who knocked Hogan out with “a ten pound crowbar” last night, so Hollywood wants a cage match at Uncensored so he can kick Savage out of the NWO once and for all. Savage pops up in the crowd and a few catchphrases later we have a match, but it’s going to be Hogan kicked out of the NWO once and for all.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Kaz Hayashi

This is Hayashi’s debut. Feeling out process with Kaz taking over via a quick headscissors and an armdrag to send Dragon to the corner. The Dragon headstand sets up a dropkick out of the corner and Dragon fires off the kicks to the back and chest. Kaz dropkicks him to the floor and hits a corkscrew dive to take Dragon out again.

Back in and a good looking moonsault gets two on Dragon and a standing rana gets the same. Dragon can’t hook a German suplex so he goes with La Majistral into a leg bar but Kaz is in the ropes. A dragon suplex gets two for Kaz but he gets crotched on the top. Dragon’s super hurricanrana and the Dragon Sleeper are good for the submission.

Rating: C+. I love going back through these old shows and seeing fun random matches like this one. Hayashi looked very good here and gave Dragon a run for his money. Kaz would eventually fall through the cracks in the cruiserweight division and become pretty worthless but at least he had a good debut.

Call the Hotline to hear an interview with Sting!

Nitro Girls.

Nitro Party winner.

Chris Benoit vs. Raven

Benoit stalks him to the ring in a callback to their match on Thunder a few weeks ago and the brawl starts in the aisle. Chris takes over and whips Raven so hard into the barricade that you can see it bend. Benoit chokes him with Raven’s own jacket and whips him across the ring but Raven avoids the Swan Dive, giving Raven two. Raven bulldogs Benoit onto a chair for two before baseball sliding the chair into Benoit’s head.

The fans are all over Raven here and he takes too much time going up, allowing Benoit to smack the chair back into Raven’s face. Raven is tied up in the corner after being whipped into the chair so Benoit rolls some Germans for two as Kidman runs in for the bell. I say bell because it can’t be a DQ under Raven’s Rules and the chair was used for over half the match. Then again I doube WCW thought it that far through.

Rating: C. The usual physical brawl here with an ending that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Questionable DQ aside though, the chair shots were good here as yet again the weapons don’t overshadow the intensity between the two guys which makes for a much better match. The problem these two have is their first match is never going to be topped so even the decent matches like this one look a little weaker.

The whole Flock comes in but Page comes out, leading to a threeway brawl. Raven is sent to the floor and the other two want to fight but keep having to take out the Flock.

Hour #2 begins.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Lenny Lane

Jericho comes to the ring in Juvy’s mask but has to take it off for the fans to see his gorgeous face. He knows the people want this to be Monday Jericho and JJ is 84% of the way to making the change. The fans are all over Jericho from the bell and the champion isn’t pleased with it. Lane dropkicks him into the ropes and kicks him in the back for good measure, freaking Jericho out even more.

A quick suplex gets two for Jericho but Lenny is right back with a clothesline to send him to the floor. Jericho gets back in and celebrates, only to be clotheslined out again. Lane dives on him this time before pounding away back in the corner. A Downward Spiral gets two on Jericho but Chris throws him right into the Liontamer to retain. Short and not much to see but Lane looked good.

The announcers recap the night and we get a clip of Scott Steiner from earlier.

Rick Steiner vs. Vincent

Rick is all over him from the bell, pounding away with kicks and punches. He throws Vincent to the corner and bites him a bit before finishing him off with the Steiner Bulldog. This barely lasted a minute, as should have been the case.

Yuji Nagata vs. Saturn

Feeling out process to start with both guys taking it to the mat. Nagata takes over with his kicks but Saturn comes back with a release dragon suplex. Yuji goes after the leg to set up the Nagata Lock but starting with a spinning toehold. Back up and Nagata is clotheslined down while looking at the crowd but he kicks Saturn’s bad leg from the mat.

Off to a leg lock from Yuji as this has been one sided so far. A quick overhead belly to belly gets two on Saturn but he comes back with a head and arm suplex of his own. Nagata hits a Saito suplex but Saturn gets a rope to escape the Nagata Lock. Saturn easily takes him down and the Rings of Saturn are good for the submission.

Rating: C-. This was an odd match with Nagata dominating for over five minutes before Saturn just tripped him down and made him submit. It’s like Saturn wasn’t even trying and then turned it on for the win. Nagata was similar to Alberto Del Rio here as he only focused on one body part to set up his finisher. It makes sense but it doesn’t make the match very interesting.

TV Title: Booker T vs. Renegade

Renegade still has a job? He hasn’t been on Nitro in nearly a year and I can’t believe I’m seeing him in 1998. Renegade shoves him into the corner but the champion comes back with some forearms and a spin kick to take Renegade down. A spinebuster gets two for Booker but Renegade clotheslines him into the ropes and chokes a lot.

Renegade puts Booker on his knee after a pumphandle backbreaker before throwing him to the mat like trash. Booker blocks a superplex and comes back with a missile dropkick and the ax kick for two each. Booker is crushed in the corner but blocks a handspring elbow with a Harlem sidekick (missed by about four inches) for two. Another side kick is good for the pin to retain.

Rating: D+. Renegade is just not very good and there’s no other way to put it. At least they aren’t trying to make him into the Warrior and having him beat far more talented people anymore. The match was nothing to see but given that it’s Booker’s third match in 24 hours it’s easy to excuse him being sluggish.

Konnan vs. Lizmark Jr.

They trade quick rollups to start until Konnan stomps Lizmark down in the corner to a big pop. The referee drags Konnan off of Lizmark, allowing Lizmark to get up top, only to jump into a kick to the ribs. Konnan spends too much time shouting though and Lizmark is able to kick him to the floor. A springboard missile dropkick to the floor takes Konnan down again and the fans are into Lizmark. He gets two off a few rollups but gets caught in the cradle DDT and the Tequila Sunrise gives Konnan the win.

Rating: D+. This was the same formula as the Nagata match with the underdog dominating but losing to a big move in the end. Konnan continues to be over with the crowd but these squash matches tonight are getting a little tiresome. We’re at 9 matches and it’s not even the third hour yet.

The Nitro Girls dance at the announcers’ desk.

Vicious and Delicious vs. High Voltage

Bagwell starts with Rage (High Voltage is Robbie Rage and Kenny Kaos) and takes him to the mat with a wristlock. A hip toss puts Rage down again and it’s time to strike a pose. Rage comes back with a shoulder and a dropkick before gorilla pressing Bagwell down. Buff slaps him in the face and it’s off to Kaos vs. Norton. Norton runs over Kaos for a bit but gets caught in some double teaming by the electric guys.

A backbreaker/legdrop combo gets one on Norton so it’s off to Kaos to pound away in the corner. Norton misses a charge into the post but Buff shoves Kaos off the top. Kaos gets double teamed in the corner and Norton sends him into the barricade. Back in and Kaos gets two off a sunset flip and makes the tag to Robbie. He cleans house for a bit and gets two off a belly to belly on Bagwell, but Norton counters a double suplex into an ugly looking botch, nearly breaking Kaos in half. A Doomsday Blockbuster is enough to pin Robbie.

Rating: D+. These matches haven’t been that bad but there’s nothing to them at all. It’s like watching a long Superstars from the 80s but without the promos to carry the show in between. High Voltage didn’t look terrible but it’s not easy to get into a Norton/Bagwell match. Nothing to see here other than some decent high spots from the losers.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Disco Inferno

Disco dances to start so Eddie lays on the top rope ala Shawn Michaels. Eddie mocks the dancing and the fans are all over him already. Say what you want about his gimmick but Disco is getting over through a lot of hard work. Eddie takes him down by the arm and dances a bit more before atomic dropping his way out of a full nelson.

They slug it out with Disco taking over and getting two off a suplex. Eddie takes out the knee and works it over a bit before heading up for the Frog Splash. Disco pops up and slams him down before getting two each off a front suplex and a swinging neckbreaker. Eddie goes right back to the knee and crushes it even more with a slingshot hilo. A missile dropkick sets up the Frog Splash for the pin.

Rating: C-. This was an improvement because of the dancing stuff but it still wasn’t much of a match. Disco continues to impress despite having one of the most ridiculous gimmicks of all time. Eddie didn’t seem all that interested out there but Disco was working hard enough to make it watchable.

JJ Dillon brings out Nick Patrick to congratulate him on a well officiated title match. Was he not listening when he said Patrick took Hogan’s money? The guy is on the take but gets approval from the boss?

Ric Flair vs. Brad Armstrong

Friday is going to be Ric Flair Day in Minnesota which is a pretty big honor. Brad takes over with a quick headlock and shoulder block before trying a figure four. Flair easily kicks off but gets caught in another headlock. Flair takes him into the corner and unleashes the chops followed by the strut. Armstrong can’t get an O’Connor Roll but takes Flair down with his Russian legsweep finisher. A missile dropkick puts Flair down again but Brad misses a high cross body. Ric asks the referee for the time, kicks Brad low and NOW we go to school for the submission.

Rating: C. This is the same thing we’ve seen all night but Flair’s charisma makes it work. Armstrong didn’t need Flair to make him look good and the match was a decent way to spend four minutes. It’s also nice to see Flair in the ring again in his first match on Nitro since Souled Out.

We see Nash’s powerbomb on Giant from Souled Out.

Here’s Giant for the first time in over a month in a neck brace. He says that he’s always thinking about Nash every time his neck hurts. Giant is going to be back in the ring someday and the ban on the powerbomb doesn’t mean a thing to him. Nash will pay and that’s all there is to it. Good solid revenge promo here.

After a break Gene calls out Brian Adams. Tony is already talking about what an historic moment the opening segment was. Adams cuts Gene off and talks about being here to join the most elite group in wrestling today. Bret Hart isn’t worth getting out of your chair for but the fans get out of their chairs as he comes walking down the aisle, unbuttoning his shirt as he comes.

Hart doesn’t know what Adams’ problem is but there’s no need to jump him from behind. Instead Adams jumps Bret from the front and a fight breaks out with Bret getting the better of it. He puts on the Sharpshooter but Hennig comes in for the save. Bret takes him down as well but here’s Rick Rude to make it 3-1.

Flair comes out and the NWO is chased away to a ROAR. Flair says that he respects Bret after Bret respected him and he’s tired of Hogan and Nash running this place. If Bret ever needs his help, Flair is there for him just like he was Arn Anderson. Bret wants to take out the NWO and is starting with Hennig at Uncensored. Flair thrusts his hips at some NWO fan in the front row as only he could do.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Scott Hall

We get the entire NWO but there’s no Scott Hall. Eric says that they’ll leave if Sting will come out on his own and show that he has no backup. Sting walks out (no belt) and the NWO leaves Hogan alone in the ring. Sting is still in the aisle as another Sting comes up behind him. The NWO jumps Sting and lays him out with fake Sting being revealed as Scott Hall. Sting gets the spray paint as Savage runs out, only to be beaten down as well. The debuting Disciple is in the ring with the NWO. To this day I still have to look close at him to realize it’s Beefcake. Luger makes the save with a chair to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a pretty bad show coming off last night’s good PPV. I don’t even know where to begin with that ending segment. Not only does Sting not bring the belt with him, but the new champion gets destroyed yet again? The wrestling was nothing special either with a bunch of midcard guys vs. lower card guys which is hard to sit through for this many hours. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come because WCW had been on a roll for weeks now and this stopped it hard.

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Thunder
Date: February 19, 1998
Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s the go home show for SuperBrawl and things are really taking shape around here. We have the NWO falling apart and Sting vs. Hogan on a collision course for the world title. The midcard is on fire as well with a three way feud for the TV Title between Martel, Saturn and Booker T and Page and Benoit feuding with each other over the US Title as well as with Raven and the Flock. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip of the end of Nitro with WCW clearing the ring of the NWO.

Sting vs. Savage is the main event.

Earlier today we were about to hear from Chris Jericho but instead the NWO runs by and jumps Savage who was talking to Luger. Don’t they hate each other? Both guys are beaten down and Randy is dragged away while Luger is left on the curb.

Goldberg vs. Fit Finley

The announcers think Savage isn’t into the NWO at the moment. You can’t buy crack reporting like that. Finley jumps him with that metal shoulder pad of his but Goldberg kicks him in the chest and hits a gorilla press slam like Finley isn’t even there. The rolling leg lock takes Finley down again and the Irishman backs into the corner. Goldberg easily breaks a sleeper with something resembling a snapmare and it’s the spear and Jackhammer for another win. He has to be pushing 40 now.

Psychosis vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Feeling out process to start as the announcers talk about the Savage/Luger segment. Chavo hits a flying forearm to take over and avoids a hard charge, sending Psychosis into the post and out to the floor. Guerrero hits a big flip dive over the top to take him out again and pop the crowd.

Back in and Psychosis takes Chavo’s head off with a lariat before dropkicking Chavo to the floor. Psychosis dives into a dropkick to the chest and Chavo starts his comeback with chops and a springboard bulldog for two. A missile dropkick to the back puts Psychosis down but Guerrero charges into a knee, setting up the guillotine legdrop for the pin.

Rating: C-. Pretty basic cruiserweight match here with both guys looking fine. Psychosis wasn’t a guy who got the spotlight all that often but he could shine rather well when he had the chance. Chavo was rising up the card but was still several months away from reaching his potential. This was fine for a quick match.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff with something to say. Hogan says that Savage has seen the NWO light and is for life again, everything is cool once again. He just hopes that Savage doesn’t destroy Sting tonight because he wants a little piece of Sting at SuperBrawl. There won’t be any controversy on Sunday because Hogan will defeat Sting once and for all. He still wants Nick Patrick to be the referee and prays to God that it will happen.

Riggs vs. Booker T

Booker is debuting a new move tonight called the 110^th Street Slam. That’s likely the only good reporting Lee Marshall will do tonight. Riggs jumps Booker which is Tony’s cue to talk about Savage and Luger some more. Booker kicks Riggs in the face and hits a big spinebuster for no cover.

They head to the floor where Riggs is sent into the barricade and Lodi gets dropped with a clothesline. The distraction lets Riggs hit a plancha to take T out and we head back inside. A running knee to the chest takes Booker down again but Riggs misses a middle rope elbow. Booker hits his kicks….and gets the win with an ax kick, thereby making Marshall look like an idiot again.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but it keeps Booker looking strong going into the title match on Sunday. Booker looks so smooth in the ring and is getting better every time he’s out there. Riggs wasn’t much to see but he was far better in this role than he was as the American Male.

Mike Teny tries to talk to Luger as his ribs are being taped but Mike gets run off. Tony and Heenan think Luger is hiding something.

Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera

These two had a great match a few weeks ago so there’s good potential here. Kidman charges into two boots in the corner and Juvy hooks a headscissors to take over. Guerrera hits a top rope hurricanrana for two but his victory roll is countered into a wheelbarrow suplex to change control. Heenan wants Juvy to lose his mask on Sunday to see his ugly mug. Heenan the insensitive jerk is always great stuff. Juvy sends him to the floor but Lodi breaks up a dive attempt, only to be taken out by a missed Kidman dive. Guerrera escapes a German suplex and hits the Juvy Driver followed by the 450 for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was the cruiserweight version of Booker T vs. Riggs with the Flock member being the jobber in both instances. Juvy was one of the better cruiserweights around and Kidman was no slouch either so this was quite an action packed three minute match. The 450 was a great finisher with the high impact and the fans always went nuts for it.

Post match Jericho comes in to beat up Juvy and actually gets the mask off…..revealing another mask underneath. Smart man that Guerrera, who comes back with a missile dropkick to send Jericho running.

WCW/NASCAR stuff.

Outsiders vs. Mike Enos/Wayne Bloom

WCW wins the survey in a landslide. Nash says Giant needs to be at the PPV and does a shout out to Syxx about being some rubber thing. Hall pounds on Enos to start and hits a quick chokeslam to work in his Giant pose. Enos comes back with a powerslam for two and it’s off to Bloom but Nash gets in a cheap shot to take over. Nash comes in and destroys Wayne, decks the referee and powerbombs Bloom for a $50,000 fine and a DQ loss.

Nash is arrested again.

We see the Bret Hart attack from Nitro.

Here are Hennig, Brian Adams and Rick Rude with something to say. Rude makes fun of Bret’s catchphrase and says Hennig proved that wrong on Nitro. Hart is a quitter and Hennig is the best, but here are Neidhart and Bulldog to argue. Anvil yells a lot and we get a bell.

Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog vs. Curt Hennig/Brian Adams

This is a wild brawl and has no semblance of rules at all. Rude interferes early to give the NWO the advantage but Bulldog hits an atomic drop to send Hennig into the corner. Adams clotheslines Smith to the floor where Rude can send him into the steps. Anvil gets double teamed for a few moments and Rude throws in some choking as the referee throws the match out. It was entertaining while it lasted.

Back from a break and the fight is just now being broken up.

The Steiners say they’ll keep the titles on Sunday. Heenan yells at Tenay for interviewing them instead of finding out what’s going on with Savage and Luger.

Super Calo vs. La Parka

They shove each other around to start until Calo hits a quick backbreaker and a slam to send La Parka into the corner. La Parka misses a charge into the other corner but comes back with a clothesline to take over. Calo is put in the Tree of Woe for a spin kick to the chest but eventually gets a boot up to stop a charging skeleton man. Calo lifts him into a powerbomb position but sits him on the top for the ankle scissors back to the mat. La Parka rolls to the floor and gets caught by a dive as Disco Inferno comes out. He crotches Calo for no apparent reason before running across the ring. La Parka hits a corkscrew splash for the pin.

Rating: D. The ending was a mess and I have no idea why Disco was running across the ring after the interference or why he helped Calo. Either it was botched or it’s going to be explained later, but everyone seemed a bit confused and the match ended abruptly. Again, at least the crowd favorite is getting some featured time.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko

Jericho quotes Cheap Trick before the match (“I want you to want me”) before talking about how ugly Juventud Guerrera is, claiming he looks like Quasimodo. He might even let Juvy keep the mask after the match to save us from his ugliness. The champion refuses to take the belt off so Malenko attacks him in the corner. He whips Jericho across the ring and stomps away in the corner with the belt falling off in the process. A Jericho monkey flip is blocked and Dean goes to town on him even more with Jericho barely covering up.

Dean tries a suplex but gets countered into a reverse suplex followed by a regular suplex for two. After a quick chinlock, Jericho clotheslines Dean down for the arrogant cover. The fans get on Jericho and he’s nearly hopping mad in shock. Jericho fires off chops in the corner and hooks a backbreaker, bending Dean’s back over his knee for a few seconds. The Lionsault misses and Dean sends him out to the floor.

Back in and Malenko fires off forearms to the head before going for the Cloverleaf but Jericho is right next to the ropes. A rollup gets two for Dean and he loads up the tiger bomb, only to have Jericho backdrop him out. The Liontamer goes on and Malenko taps out in a completely clean submission.

Rating: C+. This was your usual good match between these two and it was interesting to see Jericho get the clean win. The overall story is rather interesting as Malenko would seem to be the big fish for Jericho but the PPV match is against Juventud Guerrera instead of Dean. Still though, nice match here as you would expect from these two.

Chris Benoit/Diamond Dallas Page vs. Perry Saturn/Raven

Raven starts with Page but it’s off to Saturn before any contact is made. Page takes him down with a quick belly to belly as everything breaks down with Benoit and Page clearing the ring. We settle down with Benoit clotheslining Raven down but walking into a superkick from Saturn as we take a break. Back with Saturn ramming forearms into Benoit’s head before getting two off an overhead belly to belly.

Benoit counters a suplex into the Crossface but Raven makes a quick save. The hot tag brings in Page who comes in off the top with a clothesline to Saturn. Page cleans house but Riggs hits him in the ribs with a chair to break up the Diamond Cutter. Saturn can only get two so he brings in Raven who gets two more off a clothesline. Saturn comes back in with a springboard legdrop and puts on a front facelock.

Kidman gets on the apron so the referee misses the tag to Benoit and Raven comes in to stomp on the bad ribs even more. Raven brings in a chair and hits the drop toehold into the chair but Saturn’s top rope moonsault misses Page completely. Now the hot tag brings in Benoit who punches the chair into Saturn’s face. A snap suplex onto the chair gets two on Raven and it’s time for Rolling Germans on Saturn. Everything breaks down and Benoit is sent into Raven. Saturn kicks Page low but Benoit’s swan dive breaks up the Rings of Saturn on Page. The Diamond Cutter takes out Raven and Benoit Crossfaces Saturn for the win.

Rating: B. This was short but they all looked great out there with Benoit being a highlight. It’s also a great example of how weapons can be used to make a match better. This match had a chair involved but the focus was on the action instead of the weapons. The chair enhanced the match and made things all the more entertaining.

It’s time for Savage vs. Sting but the NWO carries out an unconscious Savage who is covered in spraypaint and wearing a Sting mask. Hogan says Savage is NWO for life and since Hogan wants all of Sting on Sunday, Savage doesn’t get to face him tonight. Hollywood knows Sting isn’t coming out here tonight and you know what that means. Sting runs out and fights off the NWO but they finally get the better of him. Luger comes out to even the odds a bit and stand over the fallen Savage to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This is probably the best show they’ve had in the series so far with good action and a solid build towards Sunday. The main event was great and we have a genuine mystery as to the Savage/Luger relationship heading into their match on Sunday. WCW is rolling right now and things should be capped off by Sting winning the world title on Sunday and sending the NWO into their fatal tailspin.

Here’s SuperBrawl if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/07/13/superbrawl-1998-redo-a-tale-of-two-wcws/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at: