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

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

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

Announcers and Nitro Girls open things up.

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

La Parka vs. Super Calo

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

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

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

Calo blasts La Parka with the chair.

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

Disciple vs. Sick Boy

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

The announcers hype Hogan vs. Hart tonight.

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

Jericho has challenged Goldberg for a World Title shot tonight.

Nitro Party.

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

Lenny Lane/Nick Dinsmore vs. Scott Steiner

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

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

Hour #2 begins.

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

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

The Cat vs. Psychosis

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

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

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

Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

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

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

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

Cool Horsemen video.

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

Video on Goldberg vs. Page.

WCW World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg

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

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

Scott Hall vs. Billy Kidman

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

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

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

Hour #3.

British Bulldog vs. Alex Wright

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

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

Nitro Girls with the very cute Spice getting a solo.

Video on Kevin Nash.

Brian Adams vs. Kevin Nash

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

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

Lex Luger/Konnan vs. Hugh Morrus/Barry Darsow

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

Nitro Girls.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Bret Hart

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

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

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

Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rick Steiner vs. Hugh Morrus

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

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

Ernest Miller vs. Nick Dinsmore

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

Psychosis vs. Saturn

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

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

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

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

Video on the Horsemen.

Finlay vs. Barbarian

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

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

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

Video on Goldberg vs. Page.

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

Raven vs. Villano V

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

Even more Hogan vs. Warrior stuff.

Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

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

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

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

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

Norman Smiley vs. Alex Wright

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video on the Diamond Cutter.

WCW World Title: Kanyon vs. Goldberg

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

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

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

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A few months ago someone asked me to name something that I’m afraid people are going to forget as time passes.  My answer was how good Steve Austin was in the ring.I’ve been flipping through some old stuff and thinking about some shows I’ll want to check out when the Network arrives and I got to thinking about this again.  The more stuff I watch, the more I realize how amazing Steve Austin was as a performer.  Everyone remembers him on the mic and his promos and going from hilarious about anything (side note: listen to his podcast called Austin vs. The Fly.  It’s episode seven and when I first heard it I was literally laughing so hard that my headphones fell out) to dead serious about wanting the title or his war with Vince.

What people forget is how great he was with the in ring work.  I’ve been doing the Wrestler of the Day series and obviously Austin will be picked when we get to his birthday.  I try to keep those at about ten matches and I realized I’ve got probably 40-50 that I can pick from for Austin and it’ll take a veyr long time to get that list down to size.  There are just so many matches that were either big or important for him but at the same time he had so many matches that blew anything else that night away that people never remember.  I could rattle off about ten matches on TV that are a B+ or higher, which is getting up into Shawn Michaels territory.

Go watch some Steve Austin stuff when you get the chance.  There are times when Austin gets that look in his eyes and you know you’re in for something special.  Check it out, especially in 97/98.

Monday Nitro #155
Date: September 21, 1998
Location: Fleet Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 15,144
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

So the Horsemen returned a week ago and three days later they were outsmarted by Bischoff and Bagwell in an arm wrestling match on Thunder. Due to that loss, Flair is never allowed to wrestle again, which I’m sure will hold up. Other than that we’re coming up on Halloween Havoc and Nitro has turned into a bad horror movie with Warrior kidnapping Disciple last week. Let’s get to it.

Hall arrives and yells at Doug Dillinger about wrecking his car while holding a bag which sounds like it’s full of bottles.

Nitro Girls.

The announcers do their opening chat, mainly talking about Page vs. Goldberg.

The ring fills up with smoke and Disciple is unconscious on the mat. This brings out the Black and White but more smoke fills the ring and the NWO can’t just walk through it and grab his body for some reason. Warrior appears in the rafters under the Warrior Signal with the unconscious Disciple. Hogan says come and finish what you ran away from eight years ago and to tell the people that Warrior lives in fear.

Warrior says he’s been running to reappear and take away all of Hogan’s valuable possessions. Tonight he starts with the Disciple, who kneels beside him because he hasn’t been instilled with the Warrior powers. Warrior promises that the plot will thicken tonight. I know the blowoff match is horrible, but the build for it is somehow even less interesting.

Opening sequence.

Finlay vs. Barry Darsow

They circle each other until Darsow hammers him into the corner but Finlay uppercuts him back. We hit an early nerve hold on Barry followed by a simple pull of the face but Darsow comes back with choking and a chinlock. Finlay counters a piledriver attempt and the tombstone is enough to pin Barry.

Rating: D. Pretty boring brawl for the most part here with Darsow not being interesting at all. Finlay was a decent enough midcarder but he needed more to work with out there. I’ve never understood the mentality behind booking these meaningless matches in the first hour. You have an uncontested hour with no Raw and this is how you use it?

Clips of Flair returning last week.

Clips of Warrior’s speech from earlier because wrestling fans can’t remember something from fifteen minutes ago.

Nick Dinsmore vs. Wrath

Dinsmore is more famous as Eugene. Wrath throws him into the corner to start and sidesteps a dropkick. Meltdown ends this squash quick.

More Flair clips.

Video on Goldberg vs. Page which plays up a battle of the finishers. The match is for the WCW/NWO World Title, making me shake my head all over again.

Rick Fuller vs. Rick Steiner

It’s a brawl to start with Steiner pounding Fuller down to the mat. Steiner catches a jumping Fuller in a kind of belly to belly, setting up the bulldog for the pin in less than a minute. That was a dominant squash.

Steiner gets on the mic and says Goldberg is 146-0 but he’s 9000-0 against his brother.

The evil laughter starts up again.

Here’s the Black and White to continue the nonsense. Hogan wants to take it to the streets with Warrior so he says come to the ring and face him like a man. Warrior appears on the stage and says follow him if you have the courage. The Black and White goes after him and after pausing for the smoke, goes into Hogan’s locker room and finds a burning Warrior symbol and Disciple unconscious in the bathroom. Smoke fills the bathroom and Disciple disappears.

We look at Saturn telling the Flock to go their own ways last week.

Kanyon/Raven vs. Los Villanos

Raven says loyalty is dead and someone has to pay before blasting the Villanos in a fast start. Kanyon loads up a powerbomb on IV with Raven adding a neckbreaker, only to drop IV on the back of his head, causing the match to stop immediately. Raven was checking on IV and looked terrified so I can’t imagine this was fake.

The trainer comes out to check on IV and you can hear the fans gasp as replays are shown. Thankfully it looks like it was his shoulder that landed first. IV is able to sit up and very slowly walk away from the ring, getting a nice ovation from the crowd.

We see Disco Inferno trying to make weight for a Cruiserweight Title shot tonight.

Hour #2 begins.

Alex Wright comes out and shouts in German before saying we’re dumb Americans. He speaks very slowly for us, saying that he can’t stand America and Diamond Dallas Page is even worse.

Alex Wright vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Page is taping his hands up on the way to the ring. Alex stomps him down in the corner to start and knocks him back with a dropkick. A missile dropkick puts Page down again but Page counters a whip into the corner and loads up a belly to back suplex. Wright backflips out but walks into the Diamond Cutter for the pin. I think Page was supposed to catch him during the backflip but couldn’t get his hands up in time, which is hardly a criticism as that would have been very difficult and the way they did it looked fine.

Post match Page says he and Goldberg are different animals with Goldberg rocketing to the top while Page took forever to get there. He’s bringing everything he has at Halloween Havoc and will make Goldberg feel the BANG.

The Nitro Party winner of the week is from a bunch of guys who forgot to include their names.

More Nitro Girls.

Clip of Ernest Miller being arrested last week.

The Cat vs. Lenny Lane

Lane is given five seconds to leave without getting beaten up and actually takes Miller up on the offer. Cat stops him and kicks Lane in the chest before talking even more trash. Another kick to the face drops Lenny as Scott Hall staggers down the aisle. Miller has a chinlock on Lane as Hall says it’s party time Boston style. Dusty Rhodes returns from wherever he’s been for the last few months to yell at Scott, saying he’s throwing his career away. The Feliner ends Lane to wrap up the stuff in the background. We only saw about 45 seconds of the match.

Disco is exhausted and covered in sweat but has made weight. So Matt Hardy in 2003 was ripping off Disco Inferno?

Back from a break with more evil laughter.

We look at Jericho getting lost over and over again. Last week Jericho thinks Goldberg is scared of him and declares himself a unified world champion.

Jerry Flynn vs. Saturn

Saturn easily takes him down before hitting a Thesz Press and a quickly broken choke. Flynn tries a leg lock but Saturn is in the ropes before too much damage can be done. Saturn kicks him in the head a few times and loads up a table on the floor. Flynn hits a nice dive to take Saturn out but walks into a northern lights suplex, which Tony says is out of Curt Hennig’s playbook. More kicks from Flynn set up a cross armbreaker but Saturn rolls out. They head outside and Flynn accidentally kicks the post twice in a row, setting up a splash through the table and the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: D+. WAY too much offense from Flynn here, especially so soon after Saturn’s big win over Raven. It was nice to see Flynn do anything other than kicks, but at the end of the day he’s still the same stupid mullet wearing karate guy he’s always been. Why the table spot wasn’t a DQ is never explained.

Monday Night Jericho ad, featuring voiceovers talking about people becoming Jericholics. The lights come on to reveal that it’s Jericho himself in a funny bit.

Here are Bagwell and Scott Steiner to brag about their physiques and make fun of Boston for losing everything. They’ve been sent here to find out where Bret Hart stands and demand that he come out here right now, fake knee injury or not. Bret comes in for the showdown but the NWO guys beat him down until Sting makes the save. Rick Steiner sneaks up on Scott and gets in a few good shots as Bagwell runs.

Cruiserweight Title: Disco Inferno vs. Kidman

Disco is defending but is already tired coming in. Kidman has no sympathy and dropkicks him down for a fast two and a slingshot legdrop gets the same. A nice running clothesline gets two more but Disco grabs a headlock to get a breather. They run the ropes and Disco collapses from exhaustion. Kidman hooks a chinlock and drops another middle rope legdrop for his fourth two count before we take a break.

Back with Kidman still in control as Lodi comes to the ring with signs saying they need to reform the Flock. Disco uses the distraction to hit a quick jumping piledriver but takes too long to cover and only gets two. He slams Kidman down but stops to dance, wasting even more energy. A middle rope elbow misses and Kidman comes back with a middle rope bulldog for two. Disco comes back with a neckbreaker but stops to dance before trying a powerbomb, allowing Kidman to counter into a faceplant. Kidman scores with sitout spinebuster and the Shooting Star for the pin.

Rating: B-. Nice match here with a good one night angle to back it up. It wasn’t anything original or ground breaking but it gave the match an extra dimension and made Disco look a bit better. It also helps that Kidman was only in trouble once off that piledriver which only connected because of a distraction.

The evil laughter starts up again as Disco is still in the ring.

Nitro Girls with Tygress getting a solo.

More Flair stuff from last week.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Konnan

Konnan does his schtick and Chavo does the same thing, showing that he’s as loveable as Konnan is. Chavo thinks he should be in the Wolfpack too and wants to talk to Nash about it. Instead it’s Konnan taking him down with a pair of clotheslines and scoring with the low dropkick. Chavo bails to the floor for a meeting with Pepe before coming back with a very elaborate arm wringer before pulling on his trunks.

Konnan gets taken down by a dropkick and Chavo stops for a ride on Pepe. The delay lets K-Dawg come back with a gorilla press drop before sending him face first into the buckle. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Chavo fights back with a running forearm in the corner. Now it’s Chavo with a chinlock for a few seconds until we take a break.

Back with Konnan still in the chinlock as Heenan is talking a mile a minute. Chavo cranks on Konnan’s arms before missing a charge into the post to change momentum. Konnan takes him outside and whips him into various metal objects before bulldogging him down for two. The usual stuff finishes for Konnan.

Rating: D+. This match died after the break with both guys laying around and resting far too much. That’s the problem with having a guy like Konnan go long when he mainly wrestles in squash matches. Not a terrible match due to the comedy at the start but it didn’t work for the most part.

We see Eddie being sent to Japan last week.

Here are Liz and Bischoff with the latter being way too happy given what was happening with Disciple. Bischoff brags about building an empire and being responsible for everyone being in their seats tonight. He built up everything you see here and none of the credit can go to Ric Flair. Eric talks about all the mistakes Flair made last week and reminds Flair that just because he has a contract, it doesn’t mean he has the right to wrestle. Flair and Anderson should never wrestle again since this is Bischoff’s company and he gets to make the decision.

This brings out the Horsemen in black (save for Arn in stripes) to the AWESOME galloping horse music. Security stops the Horsemen in the aisle but Flair has a quick chat with Doug Dillinger and the Horsemen get to come to the ring. Flair can’t talk due to the ovation at first which brings a smile to my face. Bischoff lied when he said Flair wasn’t here and lied again when he said the Horsemen were dead. Flair goes through every member of the Horsemen and why they’re all great but says Bischoff gets to live tonight.

Only Anderson wants to get his hands on Bischoff worse than Ric does, and on his worse day he could roll Bischoff up, smoke him, then stomp on him like a cockroach. Bischoff offers Flair a free shot. Ric: “Yeah I want it and she wants Space Mountain but she’s not getting it tonight.” Flair says the only reason he won’t hit Bischoff is he doesn’t have another two million bucks.

Ric brings up Reid’s wrestling tournament that caused the original suspension (never mentioned on TV before I don’t think) so Bischoff can suck it. Bischoff has said that the Horsemen are too old but Flair says he’s just too good. Flair says he didn’t save his money but he made it by being the best. The only reason Bischoff is living like he is now is because of people like Flair, Sting, Luger and Dusty Rhodes.

Ric keeps ranting about selling out arenas from coast to coast while Bischoff was in a bathroom buying his first condom. Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park but it still has the longest line. While Bischoff is puffing his chest, why doesn’t he tell the people who introduced him to Hulk Hogan.

Bischoff says it was just because Flair wanted to carry Hogan’s bag. Ric calls Hogan a guy that went on fourth every night to beat the crowd and says the Horsemen will be in Norfolk for Thunder but Bischoff warns them not to show up. The Horsemen back Bischoff into a corner and show him the fingers to end the segment. No one can rant like Ric Flair, period.

Giant/Stevie Ray vs. Kevin Nash/Lex Luger

The graphic says Stevie Ray/Scott Hall which is due to Giant subbing in for the drunk Hall. Stevie and Luger start us off and do very little before Hall comes up to the announcers’ desk and wants to know why so many people want to see him fight Nash. Scott says there’s no alcohol policy in WCW and his back hurts from carrying Nash this many years. Luger stomps Stevie down in the corner as Hall nearly falls down while talking.

Hall comes down and gets on the apron before throwing the referee to the floor. Nash gets the tag as Tenay plugs a boxing show tomorrow night. Hall tries a right hand and falls down, allowing Giant to come in and beat down Nash. Luger cleans house with a chair and the match is thrown out. No rating due to the lack of action as this was more storytelling than wrestling.

Hall wants to fight Nash but falls to the floor on a charge. Nash is disgusted by what he’s seeing and says that he’s lost his best friend because he doesn’t know who Hall is anymore. Scott yells that he’s lost everything and Nash wasn’t there but Nash says he won’t fight for free. A challenge is thrown out for Halloween Havoc and I guess Hall accepts.

Here’s the Black and White for the final Warrior showdown of the night. Hogan says get Warrior out here so he can send him back to the promised land. Warrior shows up in the entrance and Disciple is behind him. Hogan is thrilled but Disciple turns around to reveal an OWN vest, sending Hogan into a rage as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: D. This was pretty much a throwaway show with one good match out of ten. Even modern day Raw can give you a better ratio than that. The best part of the first hour were those right hands that Rick Steiner threw at Fuller. Let that sink in for a minute: some right hands, the most commonly used move in wrestling, were the best things in an hour of wrestling.

The Horsemen segment was good with Flair explaining his issues with Bischoff to the crowd who probably didn’t know most of the details. However, Bischoff didn’t come off as scared or intimidated in the slightest. He was defiant, bold and standing up to Flair, which makes the Horsemen look far less intimidating than they should. That’s the problem with Bischoff at the end of the day: he almost never got any punishment for what he did, save for the occasional moment like losing to Jay Leno or Larry Zbyszko about ten months earlier. Other than that, Bischoff gets to be this big macho guy who never gets what’s coming to him.

Finally there’s the big story of the week. Based on what we’ve seen since Fall Brawl, it’s very clear that the real main event of Halloween Havoc is Hogan vs. Warrior and Goldberg vs. Page is about five notches lower on the card. I understand the concept of a dream match being bigger than the world title once in awhile, but this is the fourth straight PPV (meaning every one since he won the title) where Goldberg isn’t in the featured match. The title is being treated like it’s an afterthought and that’s not good at any time. This company is on the verge of big trouble and the signs have been there for months.

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Thunder
Date: September 17, 1998
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Attendance: 10,620
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone

This was the second taping of the night and the interesting thing is how many people left. I’m not sure if the second taping wasn’t clear or what but probably half of the audience left before the second episode started. The main story coming into tonight is the return of Flair, whose in ring career rides on Arn Anderson beating Eric Bischoff in an arm wrestling match. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about the arm wrestling match tonight and of course don’t say a word about Flair returning as it hasn’t happened yet.

Wrath vs. Bobby Eaton

I think you can figure this one out. Wrath pounds away in the corner and hits a hard running clothesline as the announcers now talk about Nitro, meaning the commentary was done later. So do the commentators just leave during the second taping? Wrath kicks him to the floor and rams Eaton’s back into the post before taking it back inside. A top rope fist and a shoulder block set up the Meltdown to complete the squash as expected.

The announcers talk about Hogan vs. Warrior at Halloween Havoc and how amazing it will be. Man it must be hard to keep a straight face at times.

Mike Enos vs. Lenny Lane

Lane slaps him to start and is LAUNCHED across the ring for his efforts. A nice gorilla press and some elbows have Enos in control but Lane dropkicks him down to the floor. Lane dives down onto Mike to try and wake the crowd up before getting two off a bulldog. Enos powerslams him to counter a leap frog as the announcers talk about ANYTHING but this match. A neckbreaker and stun gun get two for Enos and he finally ends Lane with a spinning fireman’s carry slam (think an airplane spin with Lane facing up).

Rating: D+. There were some nice spots in there but who in the world thought this match needed to happen? I still want to know what the thinking process is to have this match. Is is just picking two names out of a hat full of names that haven’t been on TV in awhile? I can understand why most of the fans left at this point.

Buff and Scott Steiner come to the ring with Gene yelling at the two of them for what they did at Fall Brawl. Both guys laugh at Okerlund and Buff brags about the size of his arms. They fight again at Halloween Havoc and Buff will be barred from ringside. Buff has another idea.

We look at Jericho bringing out the fake Goldberg and beating him at Fall Brawl.

We get some classic Flair clips with him beating up some jobbers. This is the most entertaining part of ths show.

Vincent vs. Steve Armstrong

Oh they’re not even trying now. Steve starts with a quick dropkick and some right hands before running into a boot in the corner. Vincent goes after the arm over and over again and finally makes Armstrong tap to a Fujiwara Armbar.

Post match we get the evil laughter again. This is going to be a mess whenever it happens. I don’t know what’s coming, but it’s going to be a disaster.

Rick Fuller vs. Ernest Miller

Miller doesn’t mention being arrested on Monday, making the segment all the less interesting. He offers Fuller three seconds to leave but Rick doesn’t move. Miller knocks him to the floor and chokes with a camera cable but can’t get in a chair shot. Back in and Fuller slugs him down before showing off the power with a big slam. Miller avoids a cross body and the Feliner is good for the pin.

Rating: D-. This show is testing my sanity very severely. Fuller’s potential is being wasted for the sake of a guy who talks about how great he is at karate. The match was barely long enough to rate and the brawling on the floor went nowhere at all. Miller continues to be a waste of space that isn’t doing anything interesting.

More Flair clips, including him talking in the 80s and returning in 1993.

Curt Hennig vs. Norman Smiley

Feeling out process to start as they trade standing switches. Smiley takes over and outwrestles Curt to start as the fans chant Magic, which is half of Norman’s nickname of Black Magic. I remember standing in front of those guys and not getting the reference at all. Norman takes him down to the mat but Curt grabs his leg to take over. He stomps on the leg and Crunches it before taking Smiley into the corner for some kicks the bad leg. Smiley fights back with some right hands but ducks his head on an Irish whip attempt, setting up the PerfectPlex for the pin.

Rating: D+. Match of the night here which should tell you everything you need to know about this episode. Smiley at least got in some offense to start which is more than I was expecting. I feel like I’m watching an episode of Superstars from mid 1988 with all these worthless matches.

Hall and Stevie Ray come out for the main event and the survey with the NWO dominating the response.

Konnan/Kevin Nash vs. Stevie Ray/Scott Hall

Stevie and Konnan get things going as Hall can’t stand still on the apron. Big Kev talks trash from the apron which only seems to fire Ray up as he pounds away on Konnan in the corner. Hall still can’t stand still. Konnan comes back with a clothesline and the low dropkick but walks into another big right hand. The announcers ignore the match to talk about Hogan vs. Warrior, even mentioning that they’ve met before.

Off to Hall who is easily taken down by a drop toehold. It’s not that big of an accomplishment as he was almost down when he came through the ropes. No mention on Hall improving at all since the mess on Monday. Off to Stevie but Hall doesn’t leave the ring, further ticking off the sober Black and White member.

Hall stays in for some reason as the announcers talk about Disciple being kidnapped. Apparently he got time off for good behavior though as he worked a dark match before this taping. Again, you have a stable with like ten members and you send Disciple out a jobber. That’s poor thinking at least and incompetence at worst.

Anyway back to the angle disguised as a match. Konnan trips Hall down again and puts on a camel clutch which only seems to make Hall look ill. A few rollups get two each on Scott and it’s time for a drink. Konnan isn’t sure what to think but apparently the booze makes Hall a better wrestler as he takes over. We even get an Outsider’s Edge attempt but Konnan easily backdrops him down and rubs Scott’s face in the mat. Hall falls through the ropes and can’t stand up, which is too much for Stevie who walks out. Hall never makes it back in and it’s a countout.

Rating: F. Like I said, this was an angle disguised as a match. I’m not a fan of the story here when it’s this based on real life either. This wasn’t even a match as it was about two minutes of Stevie vs. Konnan then the Scott Hall Show. Also, nice to see Nash earning his paycheck out there tonight. He never even tagged in.

We look back at Flair returning on Monday. My goodness that was amazing.

It’s time for the arm wrestling between Bischoff and Anderson. Bagwell and Malenko are here as seconds. Anderson gets his right arm ready (naturally left handed) but Bischoff says make it left handed. Remember that Anderson had surgery a year or so prior to this and his arm isn’t what it used to be. Bischoff of course is up to his old tricks and swaps out for Buff because Bischoff was never specified. Buff says it’s fair because they both had neck injuries. Anderson threatens Bischoff and gets beaten in a second to end the show.

Overall Rating: F-. Three days. It took them three days after the best moment Nitro has ever had to make sure the NWO went over the Horsemen by outsmarting them. You want to get excited about something in this company? Well it better not be the Horsemen because we don’t care how many times the WE WANT FLAIR chants come up. This is the NWO company and screw you if you think anyone is going to get one up on them.

Also let’s look at this card. Who is the most entertaining guy on this show? Wrath? Miller maybe? I guess it’s Konnan but the fact that those two guys are as close to second and third as they are tells you everything you need to know about this show. Tonight took everything that was good on Monday and just wasted it on a boring episode.

Yeah this was taped in advance and they didn’t know how good Nitro was going to be, but how could anyone look at this card and think it would be an entertaining two hours? What here makes me want to watch the next show? This was as bad as Thunder has been, and that covers A LOT of ground.

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Monday Nitro #154
Date: September 14, 1998
Location: BI-LO Center, Greenville, South Carolina
Attendance: 12,236
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone

Fall Brawl has come and gone and it was little more than a pit stop for Halloween Havoc. The match disguised as WarGames did little more than set up the double main event for next month while offering one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. The main event tonight is Goldberg vs. Sting for the title because WCW cares more about TV than PPV. Something else of note happens tonight as well. Let’s get to it.

The Nitro Girls look great in stomach baring red tops and skin tight black pants.

The announcers talk about DDP earning the title shot at Halloween Havoc last night. Mike Tenay is off trying to find out about the Horsemen, including the return of Ric Flair. Nice job of keeping secrets Tony.

The fans alternate between WE WANT FLAIR and GOLDBERG as we go to the airport where Tenay talks about Flair possibly returning tonight. A limo pulls away from an airplane but Mike isn’t sure who was in it. He chases down a pilot and asks if Flair was on the flight but can’t get an answer. Some reporter.

Opening sequence.

We look at Ernest Miller attacking the Armstrongs for the third time in a week.

Alex Wright vs. Van Hammer

Van Hammer is now a hippie. He shoves Wright into the corner to start as Tony runs down tonight’s card. Alex grabs a headlock and stomps away in the corner before sending Hammer to the floor. Ernest Miller comes out and kicks Hammer in the head, drawing the DQ in a quick ending.

Miller runs his mouth and is arrested. We follow him all the way to the squad car and nothing happens.

We get some stills from the main event last night and Tony says Bret was injured.

Here’s a limping Bret with something to say. Bret says that he’s been a jerk lately and now he realizes that Hogan has been lying to him all along. After last night, he’s going to be out of action for awhile and he doesn’t deserve this US Title or know what he’s doing with it in the first place. This brings out Roddy Piper who says he called Bret a jerk weeks ago because Bret was hanging out with Hogan and ruining a lot of careers. Bret’s parents must be disappointed in him but they’re proud after what he said tonight. Piper leaves and Bret asks the fans for once more chance, which they seem willing to give.

Stills from Saturn beating Raven last night to break up the Flock.

Saturn vs. Kendall Windham

Kendall pounds Saturn down to start but a nice series of kicks knocks Windham out to the floor. Back in and Saturn snapmares his way out of an armbar but Windham goes after the injured fingers to take over. Kendall drives in more right hands to the side of the head and puts on a chinlock for a few moments. A knee to the ribs (Tony: “A great move!”) puts Saturn back down and a clothesline to the shoulder is good for two.

Back to the chinlock for a bit longer this time before a big boot clearly misses Saturn’s face by nine inches or more. Kendall cranks on the arm a bit more and chops away in the corner but misses a middle rope elbow drop. Saturn comes back with a quick t-bone suplex and shows him how to hit a the elbow from the middle rope. Kendall counters a suplex into a swinging neckbreaker but walks into the Death Valley Driver for the fast pin.

Rating: C. Better match than I was expecting here but it was almost entirely because of Saturn. Kendall was just a big guy in jeans with no charisma at all but he could do basic moves in a ring. Saturn should be ready for a rocket push at this point but since this is WCW, he’ll be lucky to be in the TV Title scene.

Post match the former Flock comes down as Raven and Kanyon are seen in the stands. Raven says the Flock had their day of freedom but now it’s time to join him again. Saturn tells the individual people that they can be a star. Horace is a natural athlete, Kidman is so talented that he could win the Cruiserweight Title, Lodi……”How’s your neck bro?” Everyone but Lodi walks out but Kidman won’t let Lodi go back to Raven.

Renegade vs. Wrath

This isn’t going to last long. Renegade tries to get a good start in the corner but Wrath comes back with one of the hardest chops I’ve ever heard. The handspring elbow has no effect on Wrath and the Meltdown is good for the pin.

Here are Hogan, Bischoff, Liz (good lord with those chaps and jeans) and Disciple with something to say. Eric loves that he’s here and Flair isn’t. Hogan can’t stand cowards like Bret Hart with his pathetic injury and Warrior for sneaking up on him and stealing his chance at beating up Goldberg. Hogan will be at Hollywood Havoc (his words) if Warrior wants to fight him man to man…..and there’s the smoke. Hollywood talks the entire way through but there’s no Disciple when the smoke clears. Eric and Liz aren’t asleep either. Hogan: “WARRRRRRRIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Hour #2 begins.

Apparently Kaz Hayashi is injured and can’t get his title shot tonight. Kidman will take his place.

Cruiserweight Title: Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera

The fans aren’t sure who to cheer for here as things start fast. Some chops take Kidman down and Juvy rains down right hands in the corner to take over early. A missile dropkick sends Kidman to the floor as the fans are way into this. Kidman comes back in with a slingshot headscissors followed by a powerslam for two. We hit the chinlock on the champion but he fights up and gets a headscissors of his own.

A cross body from Juvy sends both guys to the floor and we take a break. Back with Guerrera getting two off a rollup but getting crushed by a slingshot legdrop. We go back to the chinlock for a bit before a lifting powerbomb (Sky High) takes Guerrer down for two. A wheelbarrow suplex gets the same but Juvy counters a belly to back suplex into a German suplex for two.

Guerrera goes up for a not great looking hurricanrana for another near fall before the Juvy Driver is countered into a reverse suplex from Kidman. The Shooting Star is countered with another hurricanrana but Juvy dives into another powerbomb. Kidman hits the Shooting Star for the pin, the title, and a BIG pop from the crowd.

Rating: B+. Excellent match here with both guys just going nuts for about fifteen minutes and one upping each other all match long. Kidman was one of the few guys that could hang with Guerrera in a high flying match and he more than did that here. The fans were going nuts here and the match was as good as anything we’ve seen on Nitro in months.

Saturn comes out to applaud Kidman.

Gene flags down a tuxedo clad JJ Dillon and thinks he saw Ric Flair. JJ won’t reveal anything.

Jackie Chan introduces us to a clip of his new movie Rush Hour.

Eddie Guerrero asks Bischoff for a meeting but Eric says he made Eddie a star and sends him to Japan. “No burritos over there!”

Barbarian vs. British Bulldog

Smith eventually knocks Barbarian down with a series of shoulder blocks and sends him to the floor off a clothesline. He follows Barbarian outside but gets rammed back first into the post to stop any momentum Bulldog had going. Back in and shoulder and backbreakers get two each for Barbarian and he be clubberin in the corner. Smith loads up the powerslam but Jimmy Hart grabs Barbarian’s foot to break it up. Another shot to the back puts Smith down so Barbarian can load up the big boot but he walks into the powerslam (minus the power and slam parts) for the pin.

Rating: D. I feel sorry for Smith given how bad his back was messed up at Fall Brawl and all the back work he had to get through here. The match itself was pure filler which isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but at least it went on after a great match and let the fans come back down to earth a bit.

JJ is in the ring with Gene and says what Buff did last night was unacceptable. Unfortunately Scott Steiner went into the ring with his brother as he was ordered but the ending was a joke. Therefore, we’re getting the match again at Halloween Havoc. JJ gets ready to leave but the lights flicker and we get some maniacal laughing. I’m not a horror movie expert but that sounded like Chuckie from Child’s Play.

Nitro Girls in silver and the Nitro Party winner.

Jim Neidhart comes out for a match against a member of the NWO but the Warrior smoke fills the ring. The smoke clears and Warrior is in the ring with an unconscious Disciple. Neidhart leaves as the Black and White comes out. Warrior says we can live our lives as warriors or ordinary men. Hogan’s actions have only enhanced the OWN revolution and the actions of those men who will find the courage. The match is on for Halloween Havoc but Warrior warns Hogan that the graveyards are full of cowardly men. More smoke and Warrior and Disciple are gone.

Silver King/Norman Smiley vs. Scott Steiner

Norman starts for the team but Silver King comes in for his beating at the same time. Steiner casually beats up both guys with hard forearms and knees to the back. Silver King is powerbombed onto Norman and an awesome looking double Steiner Recliner gets the submission.

Nitro Girls again.

We look at Thunder with Eric Bischoff interfering in an Arn Anderson promo and issuing an arm wrestling challenge for Flair’s in ring future.

Hour #3 begins.

Giant vs. Meng

Meng slaps Giant back into the corner and kicks at the legs before they get into a brawl with neither guy going anywhere. Meng staggers Giant with a kick right to the face so the strap comes down. Giant hits him again and Meng is all FOREIGN SHOUTING. A headbutt has no effect on Meng and neither does a right hand to the head. Another kick to the face staggers Giant and Meng loads up the Death Grip, but Giant uses his reach advantage to grab the chokeslam as Meng can’t get to his throat. REALLY fun match for two minutes.

Scott Hall vs. Lex Luger

This is one of the most uncomfortable things I ever remember in wrestling. Hall comes out with a drink in his hand and is acting intoxicated. I get the idea of the character but when Hall has had so many issues in real life, it just never sat well with me. We get the survey and Hall is stumbling around. Hall tries to jump Luger at the bell but gets stared back down. No contact in the first minute.

Hall throws the toothpick in Lex’s face but backs away from a lockup attempt. They finally lock up but Hall can’t keep a hold on him. Hall walks around a bit more before going over for a drink. Vincent reluctantly gives him the cup and Hall falls on his way back inside. Luger tries a hiptoss and Hall stumbles some more, laughing all the way. A clothesline puts Hall down and he acts like he’s dead before rolling to the floor.

Scott comes back in and Luger takes him into the corner for a lecture. Here’s a ticked off Bischoff to ask Hall what he’s doing. Hall mocks him as Bischoff says he can’t save Hall from everything. Nash and Konnan come out as well and Scott gets upset, asking Nash where he was when his life was falling apart. Even Luger is on the floor around Hall now.

Scott has another drink but vomits all over Bischoff and the camera. Eric says go to a break. No rating of course as this was an angle but I’m not a fan of this at all. I get what they’re doing with it and everything, but I don’t like it being inspired by Hall’s real life troubles which weren’t under control at this point.

Here’s JJ in a tuxedo as you can feel the fans getting excited. Dillon has to talk over a WE WANT FLAIR chant and he asks Arn Andeson to come to the ring. Anderson comes out in a suit as well and the wildcat mascot is bowing. JJ apologizes to Arn for the things he said to him recently because that’s not what a friend is supposed to say to a friend. Anderson says you could smell the pop when these fifteen thousand people blew the roof off the building.

People have been asking him for a year for him to bring back the Horsemen. He has to start at the beginning because tonight is a new beginning for the Four Horsemen. Anderson always knew he wanted to be a wrestler and in 1986 he started coming to towns just like this as a member of the Horsemen. Then a year and a half ago he had a neck operation and his in ring career was over. Another Flair chant starts up. Anderson: “Trust me. You’ll get what you want tonight……Bischoff.”

Then Chris Benoit came to Arn and said this can all happen, so here are Benoit, Malenko and McMichael, all getting individual entrances. Anderson says there’s no finer wrestler than Chris Benoit in the world. McMichael is hard headed but all man and will mean to wrestling what he meant to football. Malenko has done his job while Anderson spent the last year talking about what it meant to be a Horseman. He told Malenko that he didn’t get it, but it was Anderson that didn’t get it.

People have told Anderson for years to bring back the Horsemen. Well the lesson is be careful what you ask for because they’re not nice guys that wear white hats. Mongo taps him on his shoulder and Anderson says he’s been accused of being hit in the head one too many times and having a touch of Alzheimer’s. “My God. I almost forgot the fourth Horseman. RIC FLAIR! GET ON DOWN HERE!”

The crowd doesn’t pop or explode. Instead they stand and applaud as Flair, with tears in his eyes, walks down the aisle, rocking a tuxedo as only he can. Arn: “Greenville, I give you the champ.” Flair can’t talk because of all the emotion. The ovation doesn’t stop and the Horsemen just drink it all in. Ric says this moment proves to him that the 25 years that he’s spent trying to entertain these people has been worth it. Someone told him that the most elite group that Eric Bischoff said was dead is alive and well.

Flair gets right to Bischoff, saying that this might be his only shot so he’s giving it his best. Is this what Bischoff means when he says he wants good TV? This is much more than that because it’s REAL. He goes back to a year ago when the Arn announced his retirement and says Sting was crying in the dressing room because it was so real. Bischoff crushed Anderson in one night with the NWO parody and then said disband the Horsemen because they’re dead. The next morning Flair looked himself in the mirror and saw a defeated man.

This brings out Bischoff but Flair calls him out for abusing power before Bischoff can even get to the ring and tells the technical guys to cut him off before he goes too far. Flair keeps ranting anyway with every insult he can think of for Bischoff and tells Eric to fire him because he’s already fired as we go to a break.

For those of you that remember WCW as being the clueless putz of a company that couldn’t do a thing right, this is as perfect of a moment as you’ll ever find in wrestling. I’m not the biggest Horsemen fan in the world and even knowing everything that was going to happen here, the hair on my neck was standing up for every word Flair was saying. It’s as good as WCW ever got and is one of the best moments I’ve ever seen in wrestling.

The announcers have no idea what to say and Heenan has the most genuine smile you’ll ever see on his face.

Here’s DDP, more commonly known as the unluckiest man ever for getting to follow that, with something to say. Actually he comes up to do commentary on the main event, but first welcomes Flair back. We get some stills of the cage match last night before we go to the title match.

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Sting

Goldberg immediately slams Sting down as the fans are behind the champion but not entirely. Sting picks Goldberg up in a powerslam position and rams him back first into the corner in a nice power display. A suplex puts Goldberg down but he’s on his feet before Sting, sending the challenger out to the floor. Back in and Sting’s slam attempt is knocked down. Sting dropkicks the champ for the same result as the suplex.

A headlock takes Goldberg down as Page says that’s what he would have done as well. Goldberg shoves him off and wins a test of strength before channeling Undertaker with a tombstone. Sting counters into one of his own and Goldberg is actually in trouble. A pair of Stinger Splashes have the champion staggered so there’s a third. Goldberg shrugs it off again but the spear hits the corner.

Sting chop blocks him down and puts on the Scorpion as the fans go nuts again. Goldberg pushes out of most of the hold and Sting can’t get it back on all the way. Hogan comes in and kicks Sting in the head which the referee somehow misses. Goldberg didn’t see Hogan either so the spear and Jackhammer retain the title.

Rating: C-. They had me going there for a bit even though the ending didn’t work. Goldberg vs. Sting is the kind of a match that should be headlining a major PPV but instead we get it on a Nitro after a single day of promotion. As usual, they care more about the single night of success rather than something that could have made millions on PPV.

Hogan goes after Goldberg until Hart comes out. The three heroes pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This is one of the best episodes Nitro has ever produced but it’s still not perfect. The Hall stuff doesn’t work for me and the lack of build for the main event gets on my nerves. On top of that you have a lot of filler here which didn’t build anything and just wasted time.

Then we get to perhaps the best segment Nitro ever had with the Horsemen. Since it’s WCW though the interesting question is how can they screw it up as we go forward, but at least the first night of the new Horsemen was as good as it could have been. Other than that there was an awesome Kidman vs. Juvy match to give us some excellent wrestling, meaning the good stuff more than outweighs the bad.

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Fall Brawl 1998
Date: September 13, 1998
Location: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Attendance: 11,528
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s WARGAMES! Well in name only at least as whatever they have tonight certainly isn’t the same idea that gave us the best team gimmick match of all time. Tonight there are three teams of three men each but only one individual can win, making the team concept completely pointless. The winner faces Goldberg, who isn’t on the card tonight, for the title at Halloween Havoc. Let’s get to it.

The opening video just shows all nine people in the main event.

The ring setup is different than any other show as there are two rings right next to each other. The matches will alternate between rings all night.

The announcers talk about the main event as a LOUD We Want Flair chant starts up. They go over the rules of the main event before going to the back where Ernest Miller is being restrained. There was a lottery earlier and it will be Bret Hart vs. DDP to start. Another new rule this year: the match can end at any time instead of waiting for everyone to get in.

Gene talks even more but Jericho interrupts and announces he’ll be in a champion vs. champion match tonight against Goldberg. The fans are very intrigued.

Davey Boy Smith/Jim Neidhart vs. Alex Wright/Disco Inferno

Alex and Davey get things going with Smith taking him into the corner and hitting some forearms to the head. A hiptoss and gorilla press slam send Wright into the corner to bring in Disco. He gets to face Neidhart as the match slow down a bit. Some shoulder blocks put Disco down and Anvil swivels his hips a bit. Disco fires back with some stomps to the chest and a running knee lift, only to have Neidhart drive him into the corner for the tag off to Bulldog.

Wright comes in as well and stomps a German mudhole in the corner. Bulldog cartwheels out of a monkey flip but Alex pops up and hits a spinwheel kick to take over again. Back to Disco who hits a nice shot to the jaw but Smith sidesteps him to send Disco outside. Jim gets in some stomps on the floor and whips Inferno hard into the barricade. Disco is thrown inside for a chinlock before fighting up and stepping on Smith’s foot. He runs into Davey to knock him down (no move or anything. Disco just collided with him) but Davey picks him up and throws him at the ropes in what I think was supposed to be a hot shot.

Neidhart gets another tag and slams Disco onto the mat as Heenan picks Piper to win WarGames. Jim bites Disco’s forehead as this boring match continues so the fans chant for Flair again. Smith comes back in to launch Neidhart in for a slingshot shoulder block but I think he leaves it short (Disco tried to move so it wasn’t clear which happened) and it’s back to Alex.

Bulldog comes in and gets backdropped, which I believe is the move that broke his back as he landed on Warrior’s trapdoor because WCW thought Ultimate Warrior should have magical powers. The match degenerates into a comedy match with the referee having to drop to the mat to avoid a charging Bulldog before the injured Davey Boy gets Disco up for the powerslam and the pin.

Rating: D. This could have been on any given episode of Saturday Night but instead it’s opening a pay per view. Keep that in mind when you remember that guys like Eddie Guerrero and the world champion couldn’t get on the card tonight. This was pretty much it for Neidhart and Smith would be gone about a month later after the back injury got infected and put him in the hospital for six months.

Gene is with Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell with Scott saying he’s injured and showing the Band-Aid to prove it. Steiner’s doctor has written him a note saying he can’t wrestle tonight but JJ Dillon just happens to be walking by and says the match is on anyway. Again, why bother making up these stories and having them resolved in the same segment? The match has been building for seven months now. Just have them fight.

TV Title/WCW World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg

We get the long entrance from the back, complete with the debut of RALPHUS as the Jericho Personal Security. Jericho finds the lunch room, the door to the parking lot (“Not falling for that again!”) and finally the arena. The pyro are just little puffs of smoke to anger Jericho even more but the fans love him. Of course it’s not the real Goldberg though as we get the all time favorite: the little impersonator. At least this guy is taller than the top rope. The fans are REALLY not pleased and can you blame them? We’re thirty minutes into this show and we’ve had the opening match and this. Jericho no sells the spear and wins with the Liontamer.

Rick Steiner is at the internet location and isn’t happy that he has to fight his brother. He knows his brother better than anyone does and he’ll teach him a lesson. As generic as this was, it’s the second best thing on the show tonight.

We see the entire segment with Ernest Miller interrupting the Armstrongs on Thunder, leading to Norman Smiley making a save.

Norman Smiley vs. Ernest Miller

Miller gives Smiley five seconds to get out of the ring before he takes him apart but Norman chops him to the floor. Smiley follows him outside but gets whipped into the barricade before we head back inside for a variety of kicks. A double chop to the throat puts Norman down again and Miller mixes up his offense with some knees to the chest. More choking ensues against the ropes before he throws Smiley down with a judo move. Off to a lame armbar before Norman comes back to no reaction from the bored crowd. A delayed suplex gets two on Miller but he breaks up a superplex attempt and hits two Feliners for the pin.

Rating: D. To clarify: WCW would rather push a one dimensional martial arts guy over an international submission/amateur style wrestler with years of experience wrestling all over the world. Smiley had a lot of tools but never got to showcase what he could do. But hey, at least we get to see ERNEST MILLER.

We recap Rick vs. Scott Steiner. Scott turned on his brother back in February and has avoided the match over and over again before they FINALLY go at it tonight.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

Scott stalls on the floor for a few minutes before coming back inside for a slugout with Rick getting the better of it. A right hand from Scott has no effect and he bails to the floor. Rick chases him into the crowd and drags him back into the ring but Scott hits him low to escape a belly to belly suplex.

After more stalling Rick blocks a butterfly suplex and hits a DDT before going up for the bulldog. Buff Bagwell interferes but gets rammed into the buckle, knocking him out cold and dropping him to the mat. Rick’s bad shoulder is sent into the post but he comes right back with right hands. The referee is with Bagwell and the match is stopped due to his injury, further ticking off the crowd.

Rating: D-. This was getting better but of course we have a false finish because waiting seven months for a full match just isn’t long enough. I can’t blame the crowd for getting even angrier after sitting through this as they were getting their first interesting match of the night but it didn’t even break six minutes.

Bagwell is awake and talking to Scott as the crowd shouts what they think of this nonsense. Trainers come out to check on Bagwell as the announcers talk about how serious this is. A stretcher is brought out as the show grinds to another halt. We go all the way to the back to see Bagwell loaded into a stretcher with Rick saying someone needs to call Buff’s mom. The ambulance doors are closed, Rick is distraught, and of course Scott and Buff come back out and beat him down. Nearly ten minutes were spent on this after the match ended.

Cruiserweight Title: Silver King vs. Juventud Guerrera

This is a rematch after Silver King got disqualified on Thunder. Juvy is defending of course. The announcers spend the opening part of the match talking about how they’re not going to talk about Bagwell. Juvy takes him down with an armbar to start but Silver flips out of it and sends the champion to the mat. The announcers mention the match they had on Thunder, referring to it as “recently on WCW TV”. They can’t even get the details of a match from three days ago?

Juvy comes back with a quick hurricarana and a springboard into a headscissors for two. Another springboard move is caught by a dropkick from Silver King before he loads Juvy on his shoulder and spins him, tossing him into the buckle. A shoulder breaker gets two on the champion and a dropkick knocks him outside. Silver King hits a nice springboard plancha to take Juvy out again as the fans chant Taco Bell.

Back in and Juvy tries a quick sunset flip but overshoots it and crashes. Thankfully Silver King doesn’t walk over to him so Juvy can get the near fall. Instead Juvy gets up and hits a quick springboard hurricanrana for two and a missile dropkick gets the same. King misses a charge into the corner and an inversted Frankensteiner is good for two. Cool looking move, but of course it’s not enough for the pin because why have a big, new move get a victory? The Juvy Driver and 450 retain Guerrera’s title.

Rating: C. This was good almost due to how bad everything else has been. Silver King wasn’t the best choice for a challenger but Juvy is cleaning out the division before someone steps up to beat him. The Frankensteiner was a nice move but it doesn’t make up for the first hour being a waste of time.

Konnan is doing an interview on WCW.com when Scott Hall comes up and throws a drink in his face.

We recap Saturn vs. Raven. Lodi had won Saturn’s servitude due to interference and Saturn has been forced to comply due to his honor code as a former Army Ranger. Saturn believed in honor so much that he allowed his fingers to be broken instead of dishonorably breaking Riggs’ fingers. Tonight if Raven wins then Saturn is Raven’s servant forever but if Saturn wins, the Flock disbands.

Raven vs. Saturn

Kanyon is handcuffed to the ring to make it as far as possible. It’s also Raven’s Rules. Raven chills in the corner to start before getting in a cheap shot and sending Saturn across the ring and down to the mat. A running knee lift has Saturn in even more trouble but he comes back with some high kicks in the corner and a spinning springboard forearm for two. Saturn gets the same off a top rope splash and another kick sends Raven into the barricade. Lodi goes over to help but both guys are taken out by a nice suicide dive to wake up the crowd a little bit.

Lodi interferes a bit to give Raven control and get a two count off a pair of middle rope elbows. Saturn comes back with something resembling a powerbomb for two, only to be taken down by a quick clothesline. There’s a sleeper to Saturn but he comes out of it with a jawbreaker to put both guys down. Raven is up first with some rolling Russian legsweeps for two but Saturn hits him low to get a break.

We get our first chair brought in for the drop toehold from Raven and the Flock brings in a table. Kidman is on the other side of the ring and comes in to turn on Raven with a dropkick before sprinting to the back with the Flock chasing after him. Saturn’s Death Valley Driver gets a VERY close two before he snaps off three straight suplexes. Raven is out on his feet so Saturn slams him to the mat and gets two off a spinning springboard legdrop.

Something like a Juvy Driver gets two more for Saturn so he puts on the Rings of Saturn but Lodi makes the save. The referee gets bumped and Kanyon gets the key to the handcuffs out of his pocket to set himself free. He gives Saturn a Flatliner but Raven can only get two. Saturn drives Lodi through the table with the Death Valley Driver but walks into the EvenFlow. He kicks out again and the fans are WAY into this now. Another Death Valley Driver is enough to split up the Flock.

Rating: B. This was the only way to end the feud and it worked very well. As is almost always the case, the backstory makes the match much better as you have Saturn rising above everyone else and surviving everything Raven throws at him. Kidman turning makes sense as he had already been changing his look in the previous months, which is always a good addition to a feud.

Jim Duggan’s cancerous tumor was successfully removed and it was the size of a football.

We look at the end of the cage match from Monday with Arn Anderson coming out to save Dean and blow the roof off the place. That’s the problem with tonight being the double cage match: the Malenko vs. Hennig cage match would have made more sense on PPV but they had to do the whole thing backwards.

Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig

Dean goes right for Curt to start but Hennig bails to the floor. The fans want Flair but get Dean ramming Hennig’s leg into the barricade instead. Rude tries to interfere but gets stared down, allowing Malenko to wrap Curt’s leg around the post. Back in and Dean stays on the leg, leaving Curt unable to slam Dean. Tony declares this a Horsemen style attack as Curt gets in a shot to the ribs to slow Dean down and take over. He can’t keep up the attack due to the knee though and Dean goes right back to it with a knee crusher.

Hennig bails to the floor where Rude tries to help him to the back but Dean will have none of that. Back in and Dean cannonballs down on the knee before putting on a leg bar. Off to a different kind of leg lock as the fans are just waiting for Anderson and Flair to run in. Back up and Hennig forearms him down but the knee gives out on the HennigPlex attempt. Instead Dean HennigPlexes Curt but Rude comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. GAH this was irritating. Is it going to kill Curt Hennig to have him job to Malenko on PPV? Apparently so, because we couldn’t possibly let a cruiserweight like Malenko get a clean pin over a big star, even if that big star hasn’t meant much of anything in months. This was a very annoying ending.

Dean gets beaten down but Anderson runs out for the save. Hennig and Rude take him down with ease and stomp on his bad arm as no one runs out to help. The NWO stands tall because that’s how WCW works.

Halloween Havoc ad.

Scott Hall vs. Konnan

Hall does the survey and the NWO chant is barely audible. Feeling out process to start until Hall throws the toothpick in Konnan’s face. Scott cranks on Konnan’s arm and slaps him in the back of the head for a bit so Konnan just punches him in the face. The fans go nuts for Konnan all of a sudden before he takes Hall down with a shoulder block. Hall does the changing hands on a test of strength bit until Konnan punches him again. Scott tries to run but gets caught in the between the rings and is stomped down to the floor between the gap.

Stalling ensues on the floor as the crowd dies again. Back inside and Hall cranks on both arms and putting a knee between Konnan’s shoulders. Konnan spins his arms around to reverse the hold but doesn’t move his hands. In other words, the only thing keeping Hall in this hold is him grabbing Konnan’s wrists. He finally kicks Konnan low to escape and for a two count. The fallaway slam gets the same and we hit the abdominal stretch. Hall even has a drink while he has the hold applied.

Konnan counters into one of his own but Hall hiptosses him down, only to miss three straight elbow drops. Scott is rammed into the buckles a few times but he comes right back with a clothesline. A belly to back superplex drops Konnan again but he stops for a drink instead of covering. Konnan kicks the cup into his face and hits the X Factor to set up the Tequila Sunrise for the win.

Rating: C-. Not a bad match for the most part but it doesn’t mean anything. This was the same kind of match that you would see in the Alliance era in WWF: not terrible but doesn’t change anything for anyone. I’ll give them credit for pushing Konnan though as this was as close to a clean win as you’re going to get in an NWO match.

WarGames: Team WCW vs. Team NWO Wolfpack vs. Team NWO Hollywood

WCW: Diamond Dallas Page, Warrior, Roddy Piper

Wolfpack: Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Luger

Hollywood: Hollywood Hogan, Bret Hart, Stevie Ray

There are different rules this year. We’re going to start with Hart vs. Page for five minutes and every two minutes someone else will be added. The match can end at anytime and for the first time ever, by pinfall. The first person to get a fall faces Goldberg next month at Halloween Havoc. It’s a double cage so the ring is completely surrounded, including a top. There’s no wall or barricade between the two rings so people can change rings at will.

To further annoy me, Sting vs. Goldberg is announced for tomorrow night. That could have headlined Starrcade. This first period is five minutes. Page cranks on the arm to start and gets two off a shoulder block. An early Diamons Cutter attempt misses and Page is sent face first into the buckle. Hart DDTs him down and rams Page into another buckle. We have two minutes left in the match as the trade right hands in the corner.

A backbreaker keeps Page in trouble but he grabs the arm and drives it down into the mat to get a breather. Page comes back with his discus lariat to put both guys down as Stevie Ray comes in third. All remaining periods are just two minutes. Ray chokes on Page and slams him but opts to choke instead of cover. A clothesline keeps Page in trouble as Sting is in fourth. Stevie meets him coming in and we have action in both rings for the first time tonight.

Stevie is sent to the other ring so Sting dives over two sets of ropes with a clothesline (called the Stinger Splash by Tenay) as all four are in the same ring. They’re already slowing down with Sting the only one on his feet. Ray gets caught between the ropes and cage for a splash from Sting as Hart piledrives Page. A second splash from Sting hits the cage as Piper is in fifth. Piper bites various people and pokes a lot of eyes because this is WAR. He nails Page because the team concept means nothing. You might even be able to pin your team members but it’s not specified.

Stevie is stomped between the rings and Bret punches Page from one ring to the other. Luger strolls to the ring at number six and goes after Stevie while the other four guys are in the first ring. Lex jumps Hart to end whatever bond they made on Thunder before moving over to Piper. Roddy’s sleeper doesn’t last long on Luger and it’s Nash (with pyro) in seventh. Big Kev cleans house as Hogan comes out a minute and twenty seconds early.

Luger Racks Bret but Hogan is knocking everyone out with Stevie’s slap jack. Stevie and Hogan are the only people left standing as the match stops cold. Hogan’s time ends despite him being in the ring for a minute already. The match has completely died with Hogan dropping leg after leg on Nash. There’s the Warrior smoke and Warrior appears in the ring. Hogan jumps him from behind and lays him out but more smoke fills the ring.

It clears out and only Warrior’s coat is left. Warrior runs down the aisle as Hogan panics. Stevie takes Warrior down with relative ease as Disciple pulls Hogan out of the cage. Everyone else is still out cold by the way. Warrior comes back on Ray and walks around the ring looking at Hogan before kicking the cage wall apart and chasing Hogan to the back. In the ring, DDP pops up and hits a quick Diamond Cutter on Ray for the win.

Rating: Agoobwa. This match was so stupid that it’s beneath any letter grade. I’m not even sure where to start. First off, this isn’t WarGames. This is more like a regular match dressing up like WarGames for Halloween. There was never any drama or intrigue and the match never felt important at all. It was about fifteen minutes of lackluster punching and kicking before Hogan and Stevie Ray knocked everyone else out with a weapon so they wouldn’t have to fill in all that time with action.

On top of that, this wasn’t even violent. Other than Sting splashing Ray against the cage, no one was rammed into the steel until Warrior sent Stevie into it. The biggest flaw here is there was no hatred or personal animosity between these guys. They were just all assigned to teams and might have had some matches that ended in DQ’s a few weeks earlier. That doesn’t make for a match that is supposed to be the biggest, most violent fight of the year.

It’s very similar to the modern day Hell in a Cell matches. With so little time to build up to them, there’s no reason to care about what happens out there. Look back to let’s say 1992 with Sting’s Squadron against the Dangerous Alliance. There were probably five individual feuds in there and they had been built up for months. Or even look at 1995 with Hogan’s team against the Dungeon of Doom. The match sucked but at least there was a reason for them to be fighting other than “we need members of each organization.” This wasn’t WarGames. It was a multiple man match which happened to be in the double cage.

Page celebrates in the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: F-. If there was a rating lower than this, the show would get that. This was dreadful throughout with Raven vs. Saturn being the only match worth checking out and even that’s a stretch. They took all of the good potential that WCW had been building up for months and wasted it in one night. No Guerrero, no Goldberg (he couldn’t even show up and beat on Jericho?), no Flair, and Anderson gets beaten down because we need to keep Curt Hennig looking strong. This ranks up there with the worst shows of all time and I can easily see why it was named the worst show of the year for 1998.

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Thunder
Date: September 10, 1998
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Attendance: 10,620
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone

This is an interesting show for me as I was in the audience that night. I barely remember anything at all of the show but I know they taped two weeks worth of shows and there was an arm wrestling match at some point in here. If I remember correctly I was sitting opposite the cameras. I also vaguely remember Hogan making an appearance but I’m not sure. Let’s get to it.

The announcers promise that tonight is going to be an excellent show. I’m sure.

Here are Hogan, Bischoff and company to open things up. Bischoff says the most beautiful people in the world are right here in the ring with him. Hogan says his fans know he rules the wrestling world and know he’ll get the world title back very soon. All the plans are in place for WarGames with Roddy Piper and DDP concerned with each other and Warrior not having the guts to face Hollywood on his own. As for Bret Hart, Hogan has Stevie Ray watching his back (Jack) and he isn’t worried about the Wolfpack either.

Before the first match we cut to the back and see Jericho saying he’s the champion of all those with televisions. Since they’re a TV company, he’s the highest ranking champion in all of WCW. He has a cameraman following him around for tonight only.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Silver King

Silver King is challenging. They get in a shoving match to start until Silver King takes him into the corner. Juvy avoids a splash but is whipped into the corner, only to flip out of a belly to back suplex. Silver King throws him into the ropes and throws Juvy into the air for a dropkick to the ribs. He misses a Lionsault minus the running start and we get a chase on the floor, leading to Juvy picking up a chair, only to have Silver King dropkick it into his face. The bell rings once as Silver King hits an Eye of the Storm for two. The bell rings again and it’s finally announced as a DQ. Odd ending.

Juvy is laid out with a belt shot post match.

JJ Dillon makes Konnan vs. Scott Hall for Fall Brawl because Bischoff isn’t making Hall get into the ring enough.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Wrath

We go to the back with Jericho walking to the ring, flanked by Jericho Personal Security Guard and the Jericoholic Ninja. Jericho is all fired up but walks into a broom closet and a wall. This is so strange for me as I walked through those same halls when I was graduating high school and college. He walks outside as Wrath is getting angry in the ring. Jericho is locked out so Wrath goes up the entrance and kicks the door to outside open so he can chase Jericho through the parking lot. The match is a countout.

We go to a clip from WCW Saturday Night with Jim Duggan talking about how important his career has been over the last 20 years, but he was recently diagnosed with cancer. Duggan is scheduled for surgery later this week and says we should all hug our children closer because you never know when you might not see them anymore. He thanks us all for our support and tries not to cry.

Kanyon vs. Nick Dinsmore

Dinsmore is more famous as Eugene. Kanyon says that he’s too good to face a rookie like Dinsmore so Lodi can order Saturn to fight him in his place. Saturn comes out with a Lodi Rulz sign before swapping it out for a Lodi Is Not Here sign. Kanyon panics and eats a clothesline before Saturn takes his hand over to the buckle and breaks his thumb. Saturn goes for another finger, shouting that Kanyon has nine more to go. Raven comes out and sends the Flock after Saturn who easily dispatches them. Saturn says that on Sunday, he’s saving the Flock and his own career. More awesome.

Curt Hennig vs. Steve McMichael

Luger vs. Bulldog was scheduled for later but due to the attack it’s now a tag with Luger needing to find a partner against Bulldog and Neidhart. Mongo kicks away in the corner to start and follows up with a big running clothesline. A WE WANT FLAIR chant starts up as Mongo hits the buckle while trying a running knee. Hennig wraps the knee around the post before kicking at the leg back inside. Curt charges but walks into a belly to back suplex as Mongo makes a low speed comeback. Stevie Ray comes in and slips Hennig a slap jack which is good for the DQ.

Rating: D. Nothing of note here but thankfully these two wouldn’t fight each other anymore. I like that they’re following up on the NWO vs. Horsemen idea, though I was hoping they wouldn’t have waited as many months as they did in between. At least Mongo didn’t pop right back up after the knee work.

Post match Bagwell comes out with a chair to crush Mongo’s throat but Dean Malenko makes the save. The NWO is about to swarm him when Arn Anderson makes the save with a 2×4 to a big pop. I remember the fans going absolutely nuts for that and it was a great moment live.

After a break Mongo is being taken out on a stretcher and Arn is with Tony in the ring. Arn says Dean shouldn’t have asked for this because he’s about to get it. If it were up to Anderson, Dean Malenko would be a Horseman. This brings out Eric Bischoff who says the Horsemen are dead because of Anderson’s neck and the book he recently wrote.

Back when Bischoff took over the company, the Horsemen put 1,200 people in a 15,000 seat arena before Bischoff made WCW the #1 wrestling company in the world. Bischoff says to forget about Flair but Anderson grabs him by the throat before Eric can go on. Malenko pulls him off and Bischoff has an offer: If Anderson wants the Horsemen back, he’ll arm wrestle Bischoff next week. Another great segment in this story.

Lodi shows up at the announcers’ desk covered in moss and seaweed, complete with a fish in his hand. He says Saturn threw him in a river (there isn’t one near Lexington) but Tony cuts him off and says go ask Kanyon about his fingers.

Lex Luger vs. British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart

Luger goes it alone to start and cleans house before starting with Neidhart. A nice running elbow and slam put the Anvil down before it’s off to Bulldog for some right hands in the corner. There’s an atomic drop but Neidhart gets in a cheap shot from the apron. Cue Bret Hart in wrestling gear to make it 3-1 with Neidhart getting that evil grin on his face. Instead Bret goes after Bulldog and then Neidhart before getting on the apron for a tag. Luger isn’t sure what to do but he tags Luger in for a face pop to work over Anvil. Everything breaks down and the Torture Rack ends Neidhart.

Rating: D+. This was more of an angle than a match as a good chunk of it was spent with Bret looking at Neidhart and Bulldog. I don’t buy Bret turning face as this is WCW where face turns are measured in seconds, but I’m interested in where it’s going if nothing else. The fans were into the idea as well so it was a successto start at least.

We look at JJ ordering Hall vs. Konnan from earlier.

Konnan vs. Disco Inferno

After Konnan does his stuff, Disco takes the mic and says he and Wright are ready to join the Wolfpack tonight. Konnan tells them to go to a prison and toss salads so Disco jumps him to get things going. The dancers double team Konnan for a few moments before he fights back, hits his signature stuff on Disco and wins with the Tequila Sunrise in about a minute.

The Armstrong Brothers were being interviewed for WCW International Television (no show mentioned, just International Television) when Ernest Miller interrupts. He kicks both guys in the face but Norman Smiley interrupts. This was filmed at the same doors Jericho got locked out of earlier.

Here’s Roddy Piper with something to say. Piper talks about being a wildcat from birth and isn’t sure about WarGames. He isn’t crazy about being in the ring with the Wolfpack but loves the idea of being in there with Hogan. This brings him to Team WCW with its captain Diamond Dallas Page. Piper isn’t one to listen to a captain but he turns around when Page yells at him from the crowd. Page says he earned the captain’s spot and Piper volunteered to be on the team. Warrior is here to mess with Hogan’s head, but Page has no problem making Warrior or Piper feel the BANG inside the cage.

WCW World Title: Rick Fuller vs. Goldberg

Goldberg slugs him down to start but Fuller comes back with a few kicks. Not that they matter as the spear crushes Fuller but here are Disciple and Hogan for the DQ. Goldberg fights them both off and spears Disciple before Jackhammering Fuller…for the pin? Wait the referee didn’t see that? Disciple shoved Goldberg into the referee WHILE THE REFEREE WAS WITH FULLER. But we’re supposed to buy that he didn’t see that? That’s a stretch even for WCW.

Kevin Nash vs. Stevie Ray

After some catchphrases, Nash shoves Ray into the corner but gets his eyes raked to give Ray a breather. Some big right hands don’t get Stevie anywhere as Nash clotheslines him and does the usual stuff in the corner, only to run into an elbow in the corner. A superkick puts Nash down and we get to the slow, power offense from Stevie. Nash fights out of a chinlock and kicks Stevie in the face to set up the Jackknife, drawing in Vincent for the DQ.

Rating: D. Another match there to advance stories and set up Sunday which is fine. Stevie isn’t bad in the ring but he’s nothing the NWO didn’t have a ton of already. Nash was his usual lumbering self here but the fans were into him for the most part. Also it’s good that they kept this short instead of letting this drag down into oblivion.

Post match Nash stays on Stevie until Scott Hall returns to knock out Nash with the slap jack. The Black and White comes out to praise Hall as Nash keeps trying to get back up. Remember earlier when Mongo took the same shot and was taken out on a stretcher? Neither do I. Anyway, the NWO goes to the back and sees Warrior spraypaint on the wall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was good for a Thunder with some decent angle advancement and promos, even though the wrestling didn’t do much for me. The Horsemen, Flock and Jericho stuff continues to own the show and I dread what’s coming after Fall Brawl, but this is still an entertaining promotion at this point.

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Monday Nitro #153
Date: September 7, 1998
Location: Pensecola Civic Center, Pensecola, Florida
Attendance: 6,379
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s the go home show for Nitro and the main story is of course the Warrior taking out the NWO with his sleeping gas that doesn’t work on either himself or Hogan. The big story coming into tonight is Page giving his answer to the Wolfpack who gave him until tonight to decide about joining. The main event for tonight is Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig in a cage, which is a pretty smart idea actually. “You think this is awesome? This Sunday it’s twice as much carnage!” Let’s get to it.

As a side note: Nitro turns 3 years old with this show. It’s hard to believe it was only on that long at this point.

We open with the NWO freaking out in Hogan’s locker room due to Warrior graffiti everywhere. Vincent runs in to get Hogan and says someone has been taken away in an ambulance. There was a lot of confusion but it might have been Scott Norton and/or Brian Adams. Hogan and the NWO storm out to the ring to search for Warrior with Bischoff demanding that Warrior come out. Hollywood rants about Warrior staining his dressing room and injuring Norton and Adams. He’s as sick as Warrior as he is Hart, so Hart is off the WarGames team and Giant is on.

Opening sequence.

Konnan vs. Bull Pain

Feeling out process to start until Konnan sends him into the corner and takes Pain down with a rolling clothesline. Pain rakes the eyes to come back and sends Konnan outside for a clothesline off the apron. Back in and Pain hits something like a frog splash for two but misses a middle rope elbow. Konnan makes a very quick comeback with the X Factor to set up the Tequila Sunrise for the win. Pain didn’t look bad at all.

Announcers talk for a bit.

JJ Dillon says Hart is still in WarGames instead of Giant. Glad to see they resolved that story inside of fifteen minutes.

Nitro Girls.

Gene brings out DDP for a chat. He’s ready for WarGames, where he’ll take care of Hollywood SCUM Hogan. That brings him to the Wolfpack, which asked him to join last week. The Black and White offered him a spot a year ago and he made them feel the Bang. Now the Wolfpack seems like they’re threatening him and that’s not cool with Page. He doesn’t trust the Wolfpack so his answer is no.

This brings out Nash to thank Page for the history lesson. If Page isn’t part of his team at WarGames, he’s their target on Sunday. Page says he can’t trust Nash and can’t see how Luger or Sting can either. Those two hit the ring with Luger saying he and Sting were as close to WCW as anyone but they came on board.

He wants to know where Page stands, but Page says the same thing he said earlier: Nash would turn on either of them at the drop of a hat. Sting says Nash has powerbombed him a few times now but he still trusts him. Sting has also bailed Page out time after time but if Page isn’t interested, go get Piper and we’ll have a tag match. The Wolfpack leaves and Page says he wants Nash on that team.

Back with even more talking as Gene brings out Roddy Piper. He says he isn’t Page’s midget, lapdog or wife. Piper doesn’t like ultimatums and the teams mean nothing on Sunday. If he and Page are the last two guys standing, of course they’re going to fight each other. He’ll team with Page tonight though.

Video on the Nitro Girls. Nothing wrong with that.

Lenny Lane vs. Wrath

Wrath throws him around with ease to start and fires off kicks in the corner. A HUGE beal sends Lane flying across the ring and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker puts him down again. Lane tries a sleeper but is thrown down and flipped upside down off a shoulder block. Meltdown ends this fast.

Disciple is found hanging upside down in the NWO locker room.

Here’s Bret with something of his own to say. Before he can get anything out though, we get NWO music and here are Vincent, Hennig and Stevie Ray. However Sting runs out to chase the three of them off before anything can be said. Sting hands Bret the bat and turns his back on him but Bret drops the bat.

Hour #2 begins.

We look at Scott Steiner turning on his brother from seven months ago, even though we haven’t seen them fight yet. There are some cool old school clips of the Steiners being the best tag team in the world back in the early 90s.

Evan Karagias vs. Scott Steiner

Have a good Cruiserweight Title match, get squashed by Steiner next week. Makes sense. Buff comes in to commentary before Scott grabs the mic and takes credit for all of the Steiner Brothers’ success. Steiner pounds him down to start and talks trash on the mic at the beginning. A gorilla pres drop puts Evan down and a double underhook powerbomb sets up the Steiner Recliner for the win. Another match too short to rate.

Nitro Girls and Nitro Party winner.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Hector Garza

This is Garza’s return after knee surgery and he’s challenging. Garza takes over with a quick backdrop and some chops against the ropes but Juvy avoids a splash in the corner. The announcers ignore the match to talk about the NWO parody of the Horsemen from a year ago in this building as Juvy dives to the floor and drives Garza into the barricade. They head back inside where Hector dropkicks Juvy out of the air for two.

A nice spinebuster gets the same before it’s off to a Boston Crab with Hector lifting Juvy off the mat by his arms and rocking him back and forth. La Majistral gets two for Hector and he grabs a double underhook but pulls back on Juvy’s arms for a submission attempt. That goes nowhere so he just throws Juvy into the air and lets him crash. A dropkick to the back puts Guerrera down but he jumps to the apron and hits a quick missile dropkick for two. Garza blocks the top rope hurricanrana and hits a wicked powerbomb for two. A Lionsault minus the running start only hits mat though and the Juvy Driver retains the title.

Rating: C. This was fine. Garza was wrestling a different style than most luchadors here but he looked decent in his first match back after a knee surgery. Juvy continues to look awesome and he’s well deserving of the title. I like him having these title defenses every week as it makes whoever beats him look even better.

Hennig and Rude come out to talk about the Horsemen. Curt says he slammed the door on the Horsemen a year ago and calls Arn Anderson a coward. Rude says the Horsemen were riding high fifteen years ago (not quite) but now they’ve been put out to pasture. As for Malenko tonight, Curt says Dean is just being a horse’s ask Rick Rude about it.

Kenny Kaos vs. The Cat

Miller is slapping hands now despite being a heel for weeks. He dances around to start before stomping on Kaos’ foot and sweeping the leg to take over. Kaos gets annoyed and kicks him in the ribs, only to have his eyes raked. Miller throws him to the floor but Kenny comes back in with a springboard clothesline and puts on something like an abdominal stretch on the mat. Miller fights back but gets caught in a barely swinging neckbreaker, only to come back with the Feliner (Trouble in Paradise) for the pin.

Rating: N/A. The match ran 3:03 and about 40 seconds of that were spent on Miller posing. The guy just isn’t interesting at all and it’s getting annoying having to sit through him every week. Kaos was another jobber of the week for him here but I have no idea who thinks Miller is going to get over doing the same stuff he’s always done.

Miller issues an open challenge and no one comes out.

Stevie Ray vs. Chris Adams

Adams has some awesome trumpet music now. Stevie’s eyes are bugging out and it’s rather bizarre looking. Chris goes right at him to start but Stevie shoves him out of the corner, allowing Vincent to get in some cheap shots of his own. The fans chant for Booker T as Stevie slowly pounds Adams and puts on a nerve hold.

A knee to the face puts Adams down again but he avoids a charge in the corner and scores with a belly to back suplex. An enziguri staggers Stevie for a bit and a middle rope clothesline looks to finish but a Vincent distraction stops Chris cold. Stevie superkicks him down and hits the Slap Jack (Pedigree) for the DX Special and the pin.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as usual. It’s a bad sign when the jobber’s music is the best part of a match. I still don’t get why Stevie Ray was given this spot but he’s not terrible in the role. It gives him something to do, but to go from the less interesting half of a tag team to a PPV main event in a few months is a jump for anyone, let alone Stevie Ray.

Another Nitro Girls video, this time with each Girl having her name listed.

Riggs vs. Kanyon

That’s a very strange pairing which is why something is up. Raven orders Lodi to make Saturn face Riggs instead of Kanyon, saying it’s about honor Army Boy. Riggs takes over early with a dropkick and a shoulder in the corner. Raven talks a lot of trash as Lodi tells Saturn to fight back. Saturn has had no offense yet. A standing clothesline puts Saturn down again and a running forearm does the same.

The fans think Lodi sucks as Saturn ducks a right hand and kicks Riggs in the face. Saturn keeps the momentum going with a t-bone suplex and some chops in the corner before throwing Riggs out to the floor. Riggs is thrown into the steps and barricade before the Death Valley Driver is good for the pin.

Rating: D+. More angle advancement here in the best story in WCW at this point. Riggs could have been any member of the Flock but it helped that he’s arguably the best known out of all the lackeys. Saturn is getting a great rub out of this and the story is helping make him a bigger deal. It never ceases to amaze me how simple that is yet it hardly ever happens.

Post match Raven wants to test Saturn’s honor, so he has Lodi order Saturn to break Riggs’ fingers. Saturn says there’s no honor in that so he’s given another option: break Riggs’ fingers or let Raven break Saturn’s. Saturn holds up his hand and Raven snaps at least two of them, leaving Saturn writhing around in pain though he refuses help from the trainer. The match is going to be awesome.

Hour #3 begins with more Nitro Girls.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Jim Neidhart

This isn’t even the strangest challenger of the night. Jericho says he definitely is the Walrus. “Goo goo ga choo.” Neidhart quickly sends him outside and shrugs off a shoulder block back inside. Jericho is thrown into the air and crashes back down to the mat as this is one sided so far. Chris comes back with a dropkick and its springboard cousin sends Neidhart to the floor. Neidhart is sent into the barricade and back inside for a kick to the face and a two count.

Jim comes back with some hard whips into the corner but is leveraged to the floor. Jericho’s plancha is caught in midair and Jim rams him back first into the post to take over again. Back in and Neidhart misses a middle rope splash, setting up a very strange finish. Jericho tries the Walls, but Neidhart won’t let the hold go on full. Jericho eventually gets him turned but Neidhart keeps fighting as the referee calls for the bell, saying Jim is out, even though he’s clearly crawling for the rope. The bell doesn’t ring the first two times the referee asks for the bell which makes it even stranger. Both guys look confused.

Rating: D+. The match was decent for a power vs. speed match despite the strange ending. There was either some miscommunication or they were running short on time but whatever they were trying didn’t work. I’m not sure if the two things are connected or not, but this was Neidhart’s last match on Nitro as he would be gone before the end of the month.

Here’s Eddie Guerrero to say there’s nothing he enjoys more than wrestling in WCW because Eric Bischoff won’t let him go wrestle anywhere else. Last week he hurt his back in the Brian Adams match, so he can’t wrestle until he has an MRI. Eddie’s contract says that if he gets hurt, it’s Bischoff who is responsible. Therefore, to keep lawyers out of the situation, he’s taking the night off. Eddie was in a shirt with a picture of a pencil crossed out to reference Eric bragging about how much power he has with his pen.

The cage is lowered.

Curt Hennig vs. Dean Malenko

There’s a top on the cage too. Hennig jumps Dean to start and fires off chops and kicks to Ice Man. There’s a referee in the ring and Tony implies you can’t win by escape. Dean comes back with a leg lariat but Hennig jumps up and grabs the roof, only to be pulled back down in a big crash. Hennig avoids a charge in the corner and Dean rams his shoulder and head into the steel to change control again.

Curt goes after the shoulder as Rude is seen trying to pick the lock. The shoulder is sent into the buckle for two and Hennig rams him head first into the cage. Malenko comes back with kicks out of the corner but Curt gets in a shot to the ribs to put him down again. Hennig wants Dean to give up and wave at his Horsemen buddies. Another ram into the cage gets two as Dean is in trouble.

Hennig keeps showing psychology by going to a cross armbreaker. Dean rolls on top of him to break the pressure, only to be sent into the cage again. Malenko finally gets a double leg and catapults Curt into the cage as the fans go NUTS. Dean sends him into the cage again but Hennig gets the rope to block the Cloverleaf. Curt tries a slam but the referee gets bumped, only to have Dean dropkick Hennig into the cage and grab the Cloverleaf. Hennig taps out but cue the NWO with Bischoff unlocking the cage and letting Rude and Stevie Ray lay out Malenko for a DQ. In a cage match?

Rating: B-. Let Malenko make a comeback and win with the Cloverleaf here and it’s a sleeper classic. I’ll give credit to WCW: they managed to book a DQ with an NWO run-in in a cage match. That takes talent. The thing to notice here though was the crowd’s reaction. They were behind Malenko here and wanted to see tradition win the war against the jerks that wants to kill it. WCW just didn’t want to believe that and never went with it.

Curt loads up the door slam on Malenko’s head as the fans chant for Goldberg. They get someone a little bit better though. ARN ANDERSON hits the ring and cleans house, throwing Stevie into the cage and daring the NWO to come inside the cage and fight him. Malenko and Anderson share a look of respect and saying Anderson has his back. Absolutely awesome moment here with Arn having a very intense look on his face for the first time in too long.

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Scott Putski

Thankfully the match is over before fans realize that SCOTT PUTSKI might be going into Fall Brawl as world champion. Yeah Fall Brawl: the second straight PPV where Goldberg isn’t defending the world title.

Nitro Girls again.

Lex Luger/Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page/Roddy Piper

I guess Nash was busy combing his hair. Piper and Page get in an argument over who is going to start until it’s Page vs. Luger. They circle each other for a bit until Piper tags himself in and goes off on Luger, stomping him down onto the ropes. They head outside for a whip into the barricade and more stompings by Piper. He shouts to Page that it’s war before tagging DDP in for a belly to back suplex and a two count.

Lex comes back with the running forearm and it’s off to Sting to speed things up. A jumping DDT puts Page down again but he comes right back with a running DDT of his own. Everything breaks down and a double clothesline puts Sting and Page down. Cue Nash to post Piper and Jackknife Page for the DQ.

Rating: D. This was barely a match and just a primer for the show on Sunday. Piper was energetic but it doesn’t help that it’s nearly 1999 and Roddy Piper is in a match for a future world title shot on PPV. He was right about the team stuff though and ruined the entire premise in one line earlier tonight. To be fair it wasn’t a good premise in the first place but he did indeed ruin it.

Here are Hogan and Giant to close the show. Hollywood, while grabbing a chair, says he knows the rules now and if Warrior still wants a piece he’ll have to go through the Giant. First though, let’s lower the cage to surround the NWO and let Warrior walk right through the door. Hogan goes on a rant about Goldberg as the smoke fills the ring. The smoke clears, Hogan is coughing, Giant is out, and Warrior is sitting in a chair inside the cage.

Ever the genius, Warrior circles Hogan, who has a chair in hand by the way, for a minute and a half before taking off his jacket. He misses his chair shot and Hogan gets in one of his own to no effect. Bischoff comes out and unlocks the cage to let Hogan out as Warrior gets to stand tall with the smoke filling the ring again. Warrior is gone and Hogan/Bischoff are terrified to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This show was so frustrating. There were so many good things on the show like the Horsemen, the Flock and Jericho, but then we get The Amazing Warrior and his magic act. It’s stupid when Undertaker does this stuff but at least he’s a character with a supernatural side to him. With Warrior, it comes off as Hogan and Bischoff looking like morons who are scared of their own shadows.

There are a lot of good things going on right now and almost all of them are completely isolated from the main event scene. Hogan seems to be running a circus in the main events anymore while Goldberg is stuck beating up guys like Al Green and Scott Putski. You couldn’t throw in a title match against Giant for Sunday?

A quick look at the card for Fall Brawl shows me that we have Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog vs. Disco Inferno/Alex Wright and Ernest Miller vs. Norman Smiley in matches that combine for over sixteen minutes. There’s room for that but not for the WORLD CHAMPION who is the hottest act in the company? It couldn’t be that Hogan was jealous and holding him off or anything so he could soothe his ego from a match that no one has thought of in years could it? This promotion is so frustrating and it’s only going to get worse as time goes on.

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Thunder
Date: September 3, 1998
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Attendance: 7,128
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s a taped show this week, meaning odds are there isn’t going to be much in the way of storyline advancement. Then again this is Thunder so it’s not like anything ever really happens here anyway. We’re closing in on Fall Brawl with just ten days to go, meaning we can start to fill in the rest of the card. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about WarGames for a bit. The main event tonight is Konnan/DDP vs. Stevie Ray/Giant.

Rick Fuller vs. Marty Jannetty

Fuller shoves him against the ropes to start but gets rolled up for a quick two. Marty takes him to the mat for a front chancery before dropkicking Fuller into the corner. Fuller comes back with some hard chops in the corner and a big beal sends Marty flying. A hard chop puts Marty down again but he avoids a charge to send Rick shoulder first into the post, setting up the Showstopper (Rocker Dropper) for the pin.

Rating: D+. Not much to this one but a basic power vs. speed match is almost always going to work. Jannetty hasn’t looked bad at all when he’s given the right kind of opponent to bounce off of and a monster like Fuller works well in that role. However, when you reach the point where Marty Jannetty is getting singles victories, you’re in for a long night.

We get some stills from the main event of Nitro.

We look back at Saturn saying he would work for Lodi because it was what he agreed to do. We also get a clip from their tag match on Monday.

Kaz Hayashi vs. Lenny Lane

Feeling out process to start as the announcers say Lane looks and acts more and more like Chris Jericho every week. Feeling out process to start until Kaz takes him down with a spinwheel kick. Lane comes right back by sending Kaz’s head into the buckle four times in a row and does the Hogan hand to his ear. The fans are all over Lenny here as he chops away on Hayashi.

Lane’s bulldog in the corner is countered but he still rolls through a high cross body for two of his own. Kaz sends him out to the floor and hits a nice Asai Moonsault to send Lane into the barricade, knocking the steel back a few feet. Back inside Lane grabs a powerslam for two and a suplex gets the same. A sunset flip gets two for Kaz but Lane elbows him in the face and puts Kaz up top. Hayashi comes back with a quick hurricanrana and a top rope senton backsplash is good for the pin.

Rating: C. Basic idea of taking two guys and letting them fly around the ring for six minutes. Hayashi was an entertaining guy and Lane as a Jericho clone was about as good as you could get for a midcard heel in the division. The fact that there are tiers to a midcard division is astounding when you look at the same kind of divisions in modern wrestling.

We look at Konnan saving DDP last week.

Disorderly Conduct vs. High Voltage

Tough Tom starts with Kaos as Heenan makes fun of the University of Kentucky, making him a true heel. Rage slingshots in with a legdrop before it’s back to Kaos for some arm cranking. Rage hits a nice spinning belly to belly suplex for two as Mean Mike comes in for the save. A double suplex gets two as the fans are completely uninterested in this. Disorderly Conduct puts Kaos down with double teaming as well with Mike getting two off an elbow drop. Kaos avoids a flying shoulder that hits Mike instead, allowing for the hot tag to Rage. Everything breaks down and a springboard Doomsday Device pins Tom.

Rating: D-. The good match streak ends at two. It wasn’t so much that the match was bad but it was totally uninteresting. Disorderly Conduct was as boring of a team as I’ve seen in a very long time. High Voltage wasn’t bad but it was clear that they were there for the size of their muscles and little more.

Wrath vs. Barry Horowitz

Wrath shoves him down to start and they head to the floor for chops. Horowitz is getting treated like the jobber that he is as Wrath throws him back inside for a slingshot elbow to the jaw. A rollup gets one for Barry but Wrath runs him over with a shoulder block and the Meltdown ends this quick.

We get a “sitdown interview” (read as Saturn sitting in the dark and talking) with Saturn where he talks about being tired of bullies like Raven and wanting to take the Flock apart.

Raven vs. Meng

This should be interesting, which is why it’s not happening. Raven says it’s Riggs and Sick Boy instead because Raven’s Rules means a handicap match. The goons are easily dispatched so Raven offers Horace his spot back in the Flock if he fights Meng. A stop sign shot has almost no effect and it’s a Death Grip for Meng. Sick Boy comes in again and gets a Grip of his own. Raven finally gives up and tells the referee to count Sick Boy out.

Raven tells Lodi to order Saturn to get in there and get some. Saturn has a bit of luck and even staggers Meng with a superkick but Kanyon kicks Saturn in the back of the head, allowing Meng to Death Grip him as well.

Kanyon vs. Saturn

This starts after a break with Saturn still feeling the effects of the Death Grip. Kanyon hits his quick electric chair faceplant but stops to hold up one of Lodi’s signs. Raven gets up on the apron and the distraction lets Saturn get two off a small package but he’s too weak to follow up. A spinning wheelbarrow suplex puts Saturn down again before Kanyon tosses him outside for trash talk from Raven. Back in and Kanyon gets a neckbreaker out of the corner but won’t cover. Instead he hooks a crucifix for two and frustration begins to set in.

A bridging Moss http://onhealthy.net/product-category/alcoholism/ Covered Three Handled Family Credenza gets two for Kanyon and a spinning northern lights suplex snapped forward into a spinebuster gets another two. Kanyon isn’t sure what to try now and the delay lets Saturn hit a quick overhead belly to belly. There’s a second one followed by a t-bone suplex but Lodi gets up on the apron and says he wants to see Saturn lose. Lodi wants to see the Flatliner and since Saturn has to do what Lodi says, he takes the Flatliner to give Kanyon the pin.

Rating: C+. Mainly storytelling here as the feud is finally leading up to something. There’s a good idea here and the matches being good are a bonus. Saturn finally getting his hands on Raven at the PPV is going to be something well worth seeing as this might be the best thing going in WCW at the moment.

Dean Malenko vs. Brian Adams

No match as Curt Hennig jumps Malenko from behind during his entrance. Rude, Adams and Hennig give Malenko a big beatdown including a Rude Awakening, complete with hip swivel, to stop a comeback attempt. Curt asks for a trainer to check on Malenko before referencing slamming a door on Ric Flair’s head a year ago. He talks about Malenko wanting a cage match with Hennig but says the Horsemen are finished and no one can beat him in a cage. Rude brings in a piece of a cage and lays it over Malenko’s body.

Norman Smiley vs. Riggs

Riggs is still banged up from the Tongan Death Grip from earlier but he still pounds away on Norman to start. The injuries seem to be an act which could be a new career path for Riggs since wrestling doesn’t seem to be his strong suit. Norman quickly escapes a sleeper and headbutts Riggs in the corner as Malenko vs. Hennig in a cage is announced for this coming Monday. A slam puts Riggs down and Norman drops a leg, backflips to his feet and drops an elbow for two.

Off to an armbar with a leg around Riggs’ neck for a bit in a nice looking hold. Riggs gets up and rams a charging Norman into the corner to take over. Smiley is sent outside and might have injured his knee on the landing. Back in and Riggs puts a knee in the back and cranks on the arms because an opponent holding his knee is a bit too complicated for him. Norman avoids a middle rope knee drop and grabs a leg bar for a surprising submission.

Rating: C+. Riggs not being able to use basic psychology aside, this was a rather entertaining match. Smiley is a guy who could always give a good performance if he wasn’t being over the top with his comedy. It’s always fun to see a relative unknown get an upset win over a name, even one as lowly as Riggs.

Armstrong Brothers vs. Disco Inferno/Alex Wright

The Armstrongs are Steve and Scott (referee in WWE). Alex takes Steve down with an armdrag to start and scores with a nice dropkick before bringing in Disco. Steve doesn’t notice though, allowing Disco to come in off the middle rope to break up a cover. Off to Scott who walks right into a slam as the announcers talk about the Armstrong Curse Inferno dances a bit and drops a fist on Scott for two but the Brothers both come in, allowing Scott to hit a nice clothesline for no cover.

Scott and Steve stomp away in the corner until the referee finally breaks it up, though it keeps him from seeing Disco backslide Steve. Disco and Steve collide and everything breaks down. Scott accidentally dropkicks Steve and a Disco facebuster into a Wright neckbreaker is enough for the pin.

Rating: D. Much like the other tag match, this was was much more uninteresting than it was bad. The Armstrongs are nothing without Brad and even then they’re nothing of note. Disco and Alex aren’t bad for a low level tag team but they’re nothing higher than that. Not much to see here.

Konnan/Diamond Dallas Page vs. Stevie Ray/Giant

It’s Konnan being kicked down by Ray to start before Stevie pulls on his pants. The most interesting part of the opening segment: Tony says WCW is different from the Wolfpack because WCW cares about tradition. That’s the first explanation I’ve heard from the announcers. Off to Page vs. Giant with the big man countering an Irish whip into a clothesline to take over.

A choke into a backbreaker works on Page’s bad ribs but DDP comes back with a running DDT to put both guys down. Page finally covers but the kickout launches him into the air and spins him around. Konnan and Stevie come in off tags with Ray taking over and knocking Page off the apron. An X Factor puts Ray down and the hot tag brings in Page to clean house. Ray walks into a Diamond Cutter but Giant breaks up the pin as the NWO comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. This was your usual main event tag match for WCW with nothing happening and the NWO running in before anyone has to do a job. To be fair though that’s probably the right idea with WarGames less than two weeks away. I’m still not sure why Stevie Ray of all people is getting this push.

The NWO beats up our heroes until Goldberg makes the save and stares down the Giant to set up the dark match main event.

Overall Rating: C-. Better than average Thunder here but that doesn’t make it a good show. There was some solid action here but all of the tag matches dragged things back down. It’s amazing how much easier this is when the main event stories get less than twelve minutes of screen time and no talking. Not a good show but it was far easier to sit through than most Thunders.

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