Slamboree 1998 (2013 Redo): One Of The Loudest Pops Ever

Slamboree 1998
Date: May 17, 1998
Location: The Centrum, Worcester, Massachusetts
Attendance: 11,592
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone

Tonight is pretty much a filler show as Hogan is nowhere to be seen and we have a double main event. We have Hart vs. Savage in a grudge match and Sting/Giant vs. the Outsiders for the tag titles, with Sting in WCW and Giant in the NWO Black and White. There is however one moment on this show that ranks right up there with the biggest surprises and best received moments in WCW history. Let’s get to it.

The opening video has some words like controversy and power over shots of the people in the two main events.

The announcers talk about the main events tonight to convince us that buying this show was a good idea.

We get Bischoff’s challenge to Vince from Thunder, complete with him reading the letter from Vince’s attorney.

We go outside to see Doug Dillinger (head of WCW security) waiting for Vince to arrive with WCW fans (certainly not plants of any sort) shouting about how much they hate Vince. Tony tells us not to worry because the matches will indeed go on despite Vince not being here.

TV Title: Chris Benoit vs. Fit Finlay

Finlay is defending. The set here is simpler than most from 1998 with a big SLAMBOREE logo and a door in the middle. You don’t often see doors in sets so it’s a change of pace if nothing else. They shove each other around a lot and the crowd is really into this already. Benoit counters a headlock into a top wristlock as Tony confirms that the name Fit is due to Finlay being fit for any sport.

They fight into a test of strength and wrestle into a string of near falls either way until Finlay takes over with an armbar on the mat. Back up and they run the ropes with Benoit getting two off a hiptoss and we have a standoff. Benoit hits a chop so hard that it knocks Finlay’s strap down. A backbreaker has Finlay in trouble so Benoit pulls him from the ropes to the mat, slamming Finlay’s back onto the canvas again.

Finlay comes right back with a hard clothesline and Chris rolls to the floor. This has been very physical so far with both guys beating the tar out of each other. A hard slam on the floor has Benoit in even more trouble but Finlay actually goes inside to give Benoit a change to get up. Back in and Finlay stomps away before putting on a reverse chinlock. Benoit stands up with Finlay on his shoulders into an electric chair drop, hurting his own head in the process.

Some hard chops stagger the champion but he goes right to the eyes to stop Benoit’s comeback. We hit a chinlock for a good while before Finlay elbows and kicks at Benoit’s back. Back to the chinlock for a bit before he drives Benoit chest first into the apron. They head to the floor with Benoit cracking Finlay with a chair for a pop but not a DQ. Benoit goes in for a suicide dive but goes head first into the chair to give Finlay control again.

Back in again and Finlay slams him down for two before staying on the back with more elbow drops. A clothesline drops Benoit again and we’re into chinlock #3. Benoit fights up again and avoids a charge into the corner, followed by the rolling Germans. Finlay elbows him in the face to block a fourth but has to quickly get to a rope to break a Crossface attempt. The snap suplex sets up the Swan Dive but here’s Booker T before Benoit can jump. Finlay uses the distraction to kick Benoit in the back of the head to knock Chris out cold. Back in and the tombstone retains Finlay’s title.

Rating: C+. Nice opener here but again, is there any point to not giving Benoit a title yet? He’s over, he’s having solid matches, there’s a feud with Booker already written, but he can get two days total as champion without ever being on TV with the belt? Nothing against Finlay, but I don’t see the point in having him as champion here.

Brian Adams vs. Lex Luger

This is fallout from Scott Steiner and Adams injuring Rick Steiner’s shoulder. One punch sends Adams out to the floor and Luger follows him out so he can ram Adams’ and Vincent’s heads together. Luger rams Brian’s shoulder into the post twice in a row for some payback. The arm gets snapped across the top rope and there’s a powerslam to set up the Rack less than two and a half minutes in.

Vincent finally does something by distraction Luger so Adams can hit a quick piledriver to take over. They head outside again with Adams kicking away to protect his bad shoulder. Back in and Adams gets two off a backbreaker and a pair of legdrops gets the same. A double clothesline puts both guys down but Adams is quickly up. In a surprise ending, Luger ducks a clothesline and grabs the Rack for the submission.

Rating: D. As shocking as it was for Luger to win a match with anything other than his usual sequence, there wasn’t much to see here. This could have been on any given episode of Nitro and probably should have been. Luger was just so lost at this point, having nothing of note to do and just floating from one NWO match to another.

Saturn cancels the gauntlet match against Goldberg and says he’ll be going one on one with him. Why this was changed is beyond me but it’s probably better this way. If anyone in the Flock doesn’t like it, they know where to find him.

Cruiserweight Battle Royal

You can be eliminated by going to the floor or pinfall here and the winner gets a title shot at Jericho later in the night. The more entertaining part though is Jericho doing the introductions in Dave Penzer’s place.

Super Calo: This guy’s hat never comes off!

Chavo Guerrero Jr.: He used to be a great bartender but he’s the scourge of the Guerrero family.

Ciclope: From selling chimichangas to WCW!

Damien: He can’t afford a mask so he’s using paint!

El Dandy: The winner of the Lou Ferrigno look-a-like contest.

El Grio: The world light featherweight champion!

Juventud Guerrera: Pulled up in a rusted out 67 El Camino Chevy, the ugliest man in our business, Quasimodo Guerrera!

Marty Jannetty: He’ll rock rock until he drops drops.

Kidman: A lost and lonely soul and Jericho has calamine lotion with him.

Evan Karagias: 0/10.

Lenny Lane: I want my Loverboy tape back!

Psychosis: He has a lot of hubcaps in his collection and can get you one if you need it.

Silver King: If he wins 12 more matches he gets to be Gold King.

Johnny Swinger: Johnny Cinger!

Villano IV: Representing Villano I-LXII!

Everyone goes at it to start and if you go through the ropes to the floor it’s an elimination as well. Evan is out first but there are still too many people to be able to do much. Chavo backdrops Swinger out and hits a tornado DDT on someone I couldn’t see. Psychosis hits a springboard hurricanrana on Damien but doesn’t throw him out. Super Calo is dropkicked out by Juvy and King is out at someone’s hands. Lane and Dandy have a mini match in the middle of the ring as Juvy hits a gorgeous top rope hurricanrana to take Psychosis down.

Grio gets dumped and Lane misses a dive off the top. Jannetty and Villano both go out as we’re down to eight. Lane goes up but Kidman throws Juvy into him to knock Lane out. Juvy dropkicks Damien out and we’re down to six. Dandy is dropkicked off the apron and it’s five: Ciclope, Chavo, Kidman, Psychosis and Juvy. Kidman low bridges Chavo out as Heenan does his schtick of picking everyone in the match. Psychosis misses a charge and goes out as Juvy pulls Kidman out. Juvy sees he’s alone with Ciclope….and eliminates himself to give Ciclope the title shot?

Rating: C. It’s a battle royal so how good can it really be? The high spots were nice but at the same time they made a lot of the guys in the match look stupid for trying something like that. The ending was confusing but all will be explained in just a few seconds. Nothing outside of the ordinary here other than some high spots.

Jericho hits the ring immediately but Ciclope unmasks to reveal…..DEAN MALENKO! The place goes NUTS in one of the loudest pops WCW ever had.

Cruiserweight Title: Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho

Dean shows more emotion in a fifteen second burst than he did in his entire career, stomping Jericho down in the corner and a suplex puts him down again. A dropkick sends Jericho out to the floor and Dean follows him out with right hands to the head. Back in and Dean opts to fire off more punches instead of rolling Jericho up when he has the chance. A quick hot shot gives Jericho a breather and a backsplash gets two.

Jericho suplexes his down and gets another two off the arrogant cover. The Lionsault gets the same and we hit the chinlock. Dean fights up and tries the Liontamer on Jericho but Chris quickly makes the rope. A top rope back elbow to the jaw gets two on Malenko but the top rope hurricanrana is countered into the top rope gutbuster. The Cloverleaf gives Dean the title back.

Rating: A. The match was decent though nothing great, but the story here is the emotion. This whole story was built up on the emotion the fans felt for Malenko and wanting to see him make Jericho eat his words. It’s a classic story: hero falls, villain reigns and runs his mouth, hero returns to vanquish the villain. No unexplained turns, no politics, no swerves (ok maybe one with the disguise) and possibly the loudest reaction ever in WCW. Clearly there’s nothing to this storytelling idea though right?

We have a Vinnie Mac cam and a white limousine arrives. Tony: “If Jim Ross comes out and carries his bags you know it’s Vince.” They cut away before anyone gets out.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven

This is a Bowery Death Match, meaning last man standing inside a cage. There’s a roof on the cage too. Page pounds away to start but Raven sends him face first into a trashcan in the corner. An elbow to the face drops Raven but he sends Page into another can. Page is whipped face first into the cage several times and Raven empties the weapons from the cans. The breather lets Page get the bullrope around Raven’s neck to whip him into the cage a few times.

Page wraps the rope around the top of the cage to hang Raven but Bird Boy gets his legs on DDT to block the pressure. Raven falls to the mat for an eight count but a VCR shot to the head draws an ECW chant and a seven. Page gets kicked into another can in the corner and a shot to the back with said can gets another seven. Some cookie sheet shots have Page in trouble and Raven puts on a sleeper, only to have Page ram him into the corner, crushing the referee in the process.

Page hits a quick jawbreaker and sends Raven face first into the chair. Reese and the Flock easily overpower Raven’s riot squad and cut open the lock on the cage. Van Hammer comes out from under the ring with a stop sign to lay out the rest of the Flock and handcuff Reese to the guardrail. Page stomps Raven down in the corner but two members of the Riot Squad comes in to stomp DDP down.

They unmask as Kidman and Horace but Page fights them off with Diamond Cutters. Raven comes back with a fire extinguisher to the ribs and the Even Flow but Page is up at eight. They slug it out in fast motion before Raven Diamond Cuts Page. Page is up again, ducks a chair shot and Diamond Cuts Raven for the ten count.

Rating: C-. This was WAY overbooked but it’s not a horrible match. Hopefully it ends the feud though as there’s just nothing left for these guys to do to each other. Ending it inside of a cage is as good as they’re going to get, especially after Page had to fight off the Flock almost on his own. Decent match here but it needed more violence.

Post match the last riot squad guy starts handcuffing all the Flock members to the cage. He cuffs Raven as well, reveals himself to be Mortis, unmasks as Kanyon (yet to be named) and does the Tommy Dreamer chair shot heard round the world.

Thunder – May 14, 1998: As Worthless As A Kayak In The Gobi Desert

Thunder
Date: May 14, 1998
Location: Whittemore Center Arena, Durham, New Hampshire
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s the final show before Slamboree and we have even more drama in the NWO. This time it’s the Giant joining NWO Hollywood to help protect Hogan and get his hands on Kevin Nash at the same time. The latter makes little sense as Giant already has a match with Nash on Sunday but if you try to think too much about this stuff your head will explode. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk for a bit about the end of Nitro and give us a quick preview of tonight’s show, including Savage vs. Sting.

We get a new version of Bischoff’s challenge, this one themed like an NWO announcement. Basically Bischoff is a martial arts expert and invites Vince to come break Eric’s limbs and choke him to death, so come to Slamboree. Expect to see this about a dozen times tonight.

Mando Guerrero, Eddie’s older brother, is disappointed by Eddie’s recent actions. Chavo has it tough enough due to being a second generation wrestler without having to be Eddie’s nephew.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Reese

Reese is Eddie’s handpicked opponent, selected for how similar he is to Chavo. Reese lumbers at Chavo but the smaller guy speeds around and fires off chops for no effect. Reese throws Chavo around with ease but Guerrero comes back with a springboard kick to the chest to stagger the giant. Chavo goes up but an Eddie distraction allows Reese to catch Chavo in the chokebomb for the fast pin.

Post match Ultimo Dragon, Eddie’s opponent on Sunday, comes out to stop Eddie from berating Chavo. Chavo walks away while Eddie is caught in the Dragon Sleeper.

We recap the “fan” attacks (Kanyon) on Raven over the last few weeks.

The announcers talk about Raven’s challenge for a Bowery Death Match on Sunday.

We also get a clip of Raven beating Page for the US Title at Spring Stampede and the ensuing brawls over the next few weeks. They also air Page’s promos on Raven from Thunder two weeks ago, the fight with the bullrope, JJ giving Raven a riot squad and the challenge for the Bowery Death Match. Are they running REALLY short on time tonight? They aired about seven minutes straight of videos of the feud.

Since that’s not enough on these two, here are Raven and the riot squad. He’s tired of hearing about DDP. What about Raven? This isn’t Dodge City and Page can’t string him up like Josey Wales. If Page wants him, come get him right now. Here’s Page through the crowd because he was just waiting at the top of the arena. Page dives over the squad to get at Raven but the beatdown is on almost immediately. That looks a lot like Austin diving over the cops to get at Vince a few months after this aired. Page gets hung by the bullrope.

Goldberg has to defend the US Title by running a Flock gauntlet on Sunday.

The Outsiders will actually be here tonight.

TV Title: Kenny Kaos vs. Fit Finlay

In case you didn’t think the other High Voltage member getting a title shot was stupid enough. Finlay grabs a nerve hold to start but Kaos comes back with a hiptoss before pulling Finlay away from the ropes. Finlay drags him to the floor by the hair for a quick pounding before taking Kaos back inside, getting two off a splash. Kaos gets the knees up to block a Vader Bomb and gets two off an atomic drop. The champion pounds away but misses a charge into the post, only to take it to the floor where Rage helps out his partner. Back in and Finlay hits the rolling senton and the tombstone to retain.

Rating: D. Nothing match as Finlay didn’t sell anything Kaos did and easily beat him after getting double teamed. This wasn’t really even a squash with Kaos getting in some offense but to no effect. I still don’t get why Finlay was champion anyway as he hadn’t really done anything significant prior to winning the title.

We see Savage calling out Bret from a few weeks ago.

Here’s a live action person dressed as a character from the animated movie Quest For Camelot to hand out t-shirts. This doesn’t seem to be announced to anyone in the arena, but why would they need to know who this big viking looking guy is?

US Title: Sick Boy vs. Goldberg

Sick Boy goes right for the champ and actually takes him down with a snapmare. We get a nerve hold but Goldberg easily fights up. A pair of dropkicks stagger him but Goldberg comes back with a gorilla press, setting up a bad looking spear and the Jackhammer to retain the title.

The Flock swarms Goldberg but he takes down Riggs, scaring everyone else off.

Saturn says he uses a basic side kick like people have been using for thousands of years. He didn’t steal it from Glacier or any other reject from a video game.

Chris Adams vs. Saturn

Before the match Kidman asks Adams if he wants to lose to the Rings of Saturn or the Death Valley Driver. Adams doesn’t say anything so Kidman picks the Death Valley Driver, which will be set up by the Cryonic Kick and there’s nothing Glacier can do about it. Security holds Van Hammer back from getting in the ring. They trade hammerlocks to start as Tony rips apart the Flock for being a bunch of spoiled brats as children.

Saturn catches an incoming boot to the ribs but Adams takes him down with an enziguri for two. Adams misses a top rope knee drop and Kidman hands Saturn a chair. Saturn gets a springboard into the corner for a clothesline before sending Chris out to the floor. Adams comes back with some right hands but gets sent into the ropes, setting up the superkick and Death Valley Driver for Saturn’s pin.

Rating: C. Better match than expected here with Adams at least being game out there. I like the idea of Saturn calling his finish but it would be better if it was in a feud with ANYONE but Glacier. Was there no one else out there you could have use a superkick to set up a feud with Saturn at all? Not a bad match at all though.

This week in WCW Motorsports because all WCW fans care about car racing.

Robbie Rage vs. Chris Benoit

Apparently Nitro will be split in two on Monday with one hour from 7-8 and one hour from 11:30-12:30. Rage no sells some chops to start and gorilla presses Benoit down with ease. An overhead belly to belly has Benoit in even more trouble and it’s off to a half crab from Rage. Kaos is nowhere to be seen for some reason tonight. Rage loads up a powerslam but rams Benoit back first into the corner instead of slamming him down. Benoit avoids a top rope splash and there’s the Swan Dive followed by the Crossface for the submission.

Rating: D+. Nothing special to see here but Rage got in far more offense than he should have. This was out of the 1995 Randy Savage playbook: get destroyed for most of the match and then hit a big move for the win. It doesn’t do much for Benoit but at least he got the win going into his title match on Sunday.

Here’s Eric Bischoff with his fists up and something to say. The announcers talk about the challenge but aren’t sure if they should support Bischoff or not. Bischoff talks about Vince sending guys where Vince knows Eric won’t be, but he’s received a letter from Vince’s lawyers, saying that Vince will NOT be at the PPV and stop promoting him as such. Bischoff says ok but Doug Dillinger will still be there to guard the door and make sure Vince gets to the ring safely. The announcers still aren’t sure what to say.

Buy the Outsiders shirt!

Tag Titles: Outsiders vs. Public Enemy

And there’s no Hall. Nash complains about politics in the back with Bischoff and Hogan keeping Hall off live TV. However, they can’t stop him from being at the PPV for some reason so Hall WILL be at Slamboree. He stops to talk about how sexy he looks tonight and brings out his replacement partner for the night: Dusty Rhodes. Rocco starts for the challengers as Dusty chills on the floor.

Nash throws Rock into the corner and chokes him with the boot before firing in some elbows for two. More corner choking ensues before Public Enemy double suplexes Nash down. Rhodes pulls Grunge to the floor and the Jackknife to Rocco followed by the Bionic Elbow retains the titles. Heenan: “DUSTY IS 1-0!”

Rating: D. This was barely long enough to rate but it was basically a joke match. The fans popped for Dusty so I guess the Wolfpack is officially a face group. They’re definitely faces in the NWO but it wasn’t entirely clear if they were faces overall. It’s nice to see the belts defended at all though as I don’t think they’ve been on the line since February.

Sting vs. Randy Savage

We get a lot of pyro before the entrances. Savage jumps Sting in the aisle and I don’t think there was a bell. They head inside with Sting taking over and backdropping Savage down. Savage rakes the eyes and takes it back to the floor with Sting sending Randy into the barricade and actually hitting the Splash against the steel. That might be the only time I’ve ever seen that connect in WCW. Back in and the Stinger Splash misses but Sting comes back with an elbow to the jaw. Not that it matters as here’s Bret Hart with a chair for the fast DQ. Match was just over two minutes long.

Giant comes in to save Bret from Savage, only to have Nash come in to save Savage with a chair shot. Sting hits Nash with the chair, leaving just Sting and Giant standing. Giant gets a mic and says that once they win the tag titles, Sting has a decision to make. He throws Sting a black and white t-shirt and Sting doesn’t immediately say no. Giant leaves so Luger comes out to try to talk reason into Sting.

The Bischoff challenge to McMahon ends the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Well let’s see: we get no explanation from Giant, the only major story development is for what happens after the tag title match, we saw two High Voltage matches for some reason, and nothing new was added to the PPV. This show just didn’t need to happen, which is the case with almost all of the Thunder shows anymore.

Here’s Slamboree if you’re interested:

Slamboree 1998 (2013 Redo): One Of The Loudest Pops Ever

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Monday Nitro – May 11, 1998: Back To The Salt Mines Giant

Monday Nitro #136
Date: May 11, 1998
Location: Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

It’s the go home show for Slamboree and we’re back to the three hour shows again tonight because I haven’t suffered enough so far. The main story continues to be the NWO civil war since the new world champion is apparently too busy to defend his newly won title on the pay per view. The card is mostly set but we might get a few more minor matches announced tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap from the end of last week’s show when Bret held back Adams, telling him to let the Wolfpack and WCW fight.

Opening sequence.

Tony promises us more on the NWO tonight and shows us the end of last week’s show again.

Gene brings out Bret for the opening interview. Hart is still in street clothes and not NWO gear. He calls Savage a big chicken who has been ducking Bret for years. Bret accuses Savage of coming to WCW to hide from him but now Randy’s worst nightmare has come true because Bret is in WCW. We get a clip from last week with Bret putting Savage in the Sharpshooter, with promises of more to come at Slamboree.

Back from a break with Gene introducing the Nitro Girls who come out one by one.

Barry Horowitz vs. Disco Inferno

Barry hits a quick jawbreaker to take over followed by something resembling a Skull Crushing Finale for no cover. A backbreaker gets two on Disco but Inferno comes back with an atomic drop and a swinging neckbreaker…..for the pin? That came out of nowhere.

Here’s Randy Savage with something to say. He says if Bret thinks he’s running scared, just wait for Slamboree to see how far Savage runs away. Tonight though Savage wants to challenge Hogan for the world title so he can defend it against Bret on Sunday.

Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera

Security takes away a sign before the guys in the ring speed up to start. A pair of headscissors puts Kidman down to the floor. Juvy follows out with a BIG plancha to take Kidman down again before we head back inside. A slingshot legdrop gets two for Kidman but he pops up and tries a powerbomb but instead flips Juvy forward to land on his face. That was odd looking as Juvy appeared to counter into a faceplant but it was Kidman planting Juvy.

Kidman goes up but jumps into a dropkick to the ribs and gets taken down by a spinwheel kick. A springboard cross body gets the same for Guerrera and we get a pinfall reversal sequence with a string of near falls until Juventud hits the Juvy Driver for two. Not that it matters though as Reese sneaks in with the chokebomb, allowing Kidman to hit a quick Seven Year Itch for the pin.

Rating: C-. The flying wasn’t bad but the Flock vs. Juvy isn’t doing much for me. There’s no way Guerrera is going to face the top guys in the group so there’s almost no interest in these matches. Kidman is the best choice for Juvy to fight until he gets to have the big David vs. Goliath match with Reese, who I don’t think has had a match yet.

Reese carries Juvy out while carrying Kidman on his back.

Here’s Eric Bischoff on a motorcycle to prove how awesome he is. After assuring us of his love, he wants to know what Vince McMahon is thinking right now. For a few weeks now, Vince has been sending his cronies around but he knows Bischoff won’t be there. If Sean Waltman wants an apology from Eric Bischoff, he shouldn’t have shown up at WCW offices on a Monday afternoon. As for the apology, Waltman can bite him.

Bischoff talks about coming to Vince’s backyard for the PPV Sunday so why don’t they have a fight live on PPV? Eric guarantees that Vince won’t show up, which in wrestling is how you guarantee that someone WILL be there. If I remember right, this led to a big lawsuit between the two companies with WCW having to pay out a big settlement.

Nitro Girls with Alex Wright. You know the drill by now.

Yuji Nagata vs. Scott Norton

Norton runs him over in the corner and powerslams Nagata down with ease. Nagata comes back with some kicks and is loudly booed so Norton runs him over, drawing more boos. Scott no sells a belly to back suplex as we cut to Sonny Onoo and miss some stuff. Norton’s shoulder breaker ends this quick.

CALL THE HOTLINE!

We recap Hennig joining the Wolfpack.

Hugh Morrus vs. Jim Powers

Morrus hits a quick powerslam and No Laughing Matter ends this in about 20 seconds.

The Wolfpack comes to the ring as we take a break. Actually scratch the break as the NWO is more important. It’s just Nash and Konnan this week but maybe we’ll get a new member tonight. Nash talks about himself and Hall forming the NWO and Hogan jumping on the train as it was pulling away. The real NWO is wearing black and red and they’re scaring Hollywood. Hogan is supposed to be here tonight and he needs to say that Nash is the real big man. Also stop using their hand signals because they’re not using them right. The NWO music plays them off when Nash didn’t seem to be done.

Hour #2 begins.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Johnny Swinger

Dragon easily leg sweeps Swinger down to start and there’s the headstand in the corner as Swinger dances. Johnny slams him down for two and adds a belly to back suplex for the same. Here’s Chavo Guerrero but before he can do anything Dragon hooks the top rope hurricanrana and the Dragon Sleeper ends this.

Chavo shakes Dragon’s hand but here’s Eddie to shove his nephew away. Chavo shoves Eddie down and Eddie says hit him in the jaw so Dragon puts Eddie in the Dragon Sleeper. Eddie goes after Dragon but Chavo pulls him off so Eddie leaves.

Before they’re even out of the ring, here’s Dusty Rhodes with something to say. He says before the night is over and before all the tickets are turned in and all the money has been countered, Kevin Nash is going to be in Hogan’s face. Dusty says that Hogan isn’t doing right by everyone in the NWO by doing stuff like firing Syxx and keeping Hall off TV. A long time ago Hall offered up his innocent to Dusty but Dusty didn’t pay him back in scorn. Instead he gave him shelter from the storm (Dusty said the same thing when Sapphire left him for Ted DiBiase at Summerslam 1990) and made him a cool guy.

Right now Scott Hall has a personal problem but he’ll beat that problem and be at Slamboree this Sunday. Randy Savage needs to stop complaining right now because the Wolfpack has no pecking order. Before tonight is over, Nash is going to be in Hogan’s ugly face and that’s that. I guess this was Dusty joining the Wolfpack?

US Title: Goldberg vs. Len Denton

Denton is more famous as the Grappler, which isn’t a name that most people are going to remember as a lot of his career was in the 70s and 80s. He was however the man that Jake Roberts had in a front facelock when Jake slipped and fell backwards, inventing the DDT. Denton hits a jawbreaker but gets speared and Jackhammered down to make Goldberg 83-0.

We get a clip from MTV over the weekend with Page jumping Raven in a wrestling ring MTV had set up for some reason.

Here’s JJ Dillon with Raven in toe. Apparently Raven has filed a grief against almost everyone in WCW over them causing an unsafe working environment. Therefore, JJ has ordered some riot control officers to take care of Raven while the rest of the company works to make the company safer.

Raven has three main grievances: an unnamed assailant, Diamond Dallas Page wanting another match which he’ll get in a Bowery Death Match (last man standing in a cage) and the strife between Hammer and Saturn. Saturn lost last week but if he has something to say, come out here and say it. Saturn comes out and…..is told to lay out Hammer at Raven’s orders. Jerry Flynn of all people comes out to beat up Saturn and this appears to be a match.

Saturn vs. Jerry Flynn

Saturn suplexes him down and gets a quick pin with the Death Valley Driver.

We see Bischoff’s challenge to Vince again.

We recap the TV Title change last week.

TV Title: Fit Finlay vs. Robbie Rage

Heenan is on commentary at the halfway point of the show. Rage takes over with a quick clothesline in the corner before pulling Finlay away from the ropes, slamming him down the to mat. Finlay grabs the leg to take Rage down and stays on the knee for a bit. They head to the floor with Finlay beating up Kaos as well, but the distraction allows Rage to slam him down in the ring. A top rope splash gets two, sending Rage after the referee. Booker T comes out to break up the interference from Kaos, allowing Finlay to tombstone Rage for the pin.

Rating: D. The match was ok, but it’s almost impossible to care about Finlay defending the title against a tag team jobber. Somehow we went from Benoit vs. Booker to this in the span of a few weeks without ever getting to see Benoit win the title. Much like Denton earlier, it always makes me wonder what the criteria is for a title shot. When was the last time Rage even had a singles match, let alone won it?

Benoit comes out and goes after Booker but security pulls them apart. JJ says their matches are cancelled and they’re fighting tonight for a shot against Finlay on Sunday. This would be more shocking if Tony hadn’t told us this on two different occasions already tonight, including during the TV Title match.

We see the challenge. Again.

More Nitro Girls.

Nitro Party winner.

Lenny Lane vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Feeling out process to start until Page fires off knees to the ribs and puts Lane down with a tilt-a-whirl side slam. Lane comes back with some choking and does the Diamond Cutter sign. He bulldogs Page down for two but Page fights up and puts Lane on the top rope for the Diamond Cutter to end it.

Page wants Raven to come out here right now so he can bang him tonight before he bangs Raven on Sunday.

Bischoff Challenge Part 4.

Hour #3 begins so here are Hogan and Bischoff, flanked by the rest of the B-Team (Adams, Disciple and Vincent) with something to say. First of all Hogan brags about how awesome he is and how we all need to go see 3 Ninjas and the new Assault on Devil’s Island movie. Hogan goes on some tangent about going to wrestling school before accepting Savage’s challenge for tonight. He calls Nash out here for the big showdown as this is somehow over five minutes long now.

After some gay jokes abound, Hogan demands an apology and for Nash to admit that he poached Hennig away from him. Also Nash has to admit that Mr. Hogan is the leader and champion and that Nash has to get back on his good side. Nash says that he won’t apologize and that he’ll go through all of Hogan’s goons to get to Hogan. Hogan promises a big gun that Nash can’t handle, so here’s Giant back in the Black and White. Nash gets destroyed and spray painted. Savage, Konnan and Dusty come out which gets rid of the NWO for some reason.

Tony and his goon squad ask about the tag match with Sting/Giant vs. the Outsiders on Sunday.

We recap Jericho mocking Malenko last week before beating Bore-Us Malenko.

Jericho is in the ring with something under a sheet. He demands to be called the Lionheart, the Man of 1004 Holds and the Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah. Jericho shows off his trophies, including a prosthetic leg to represent Rey’s knee. However, there’s no one left for Jericho to face so he’s going to retire the title. This brings out JJ Dillon to announce a cruiserweight battle royal for Sunday with the winner getting a title shot later in the night.

Jericho isn’t pleased and thinks JJ isn’t being fair to the winner by making him face 14 guys and then get beaten up by the champion. He then pulls the sheet off, revealing a defaced picture of Dean Malenko, holding a bunch of celery and saying he’s a Jericho-hollic. This brings out Dean’s brother Joe to say be nice to Dean, earning a prosthetic leg to the head.

Glacier claims someone has stolen the Cryonic Kick.

Glacier vs. Sick Boy

Sick Boy gets jumped coming back into the ring but Glacier has to stop to pose. A few punches slow Glacier down but Glacier hits a kick to the…..shoulder? Either way it knocks Sick Boy into the referee so the Cryonic Kick (superkick) gets no count. Cue Saturn to kick Glacier in the face, giving Sick Boy two, even though the bell rang. Glacier kicks him in the face again for the pin.

Post match Saturn lays Glacier out again, this time with a Death Valley Driver. They’re really trying to get their money out of Glacier.

We recap Scott Steiner pretending to give up on the NWO before turning on Rick again in a ruse as Adams attacked Rick.

Here’s Lex Luger to say Rick Steiner is out for 3-4 months due to shoulder surgery, so he wants either Adams or Scott Steiner at Slamboree.

Chris Benoit vs. Booker T

The winner gets a TV Title shot against Finlay on Sunday. Benoit jumps Booker as he comes into the ring and the attack is on fast. Booker comes back with a great looking hook kick to the jaw and some forearms to the back. A nice gorilla press puts Benoit down again but he comes back with right hands of his own. They slug it out until Benoit snaps off a German suplex to put both guys down.

A snap suplex gets two on Booker but he grabs a powerslam of his own to get a breather. Benoit ducks the side kick to send Booker into the ropes and a belly to back puts Booker down again. There’s the Swan Dive for two but Booker elbows him in the face and hits the ax kick. The spinebuster puts Benoit down but he ducks the side kick. Benoit grabs the Crossface out of nowhere for the submission and the title shot.

Rating: C+. These two have chemistry together and hopefully this sets up Benoit’s long overdue title win. Booker has been booked so well over the last few months that a win over him actually means something, even though this is his second loss in a row. Good stuff here which is what this show has needed.

WCW World Title: Hollywood Hogan vs. Randy Savage

Unfortunately there’s a lot of time left. Hogan looks a bit tipsy. Savage jumps Hogan from behind and takes over before pounding away in the corner. Hogan comes back with a right hand and chokes away in the corner as well. Savage has his shoulder sent into the post as we enter the garbage brawling period.

Back in and Hogan clotheslines Randy down before choking even more. Right hands have Savage in trouble in the corner again but the champion gets kicked low. Not that it matters as Hogan kicks him in the face but misses the legdrop. Disciple breaks up the elbow and here Hart with a belt shot on Savage, giving Hogan the pin.

Rating: D. Do I really need to explain this one? Really? Hogan was incapable of having a good match at this point if his life depended on it and Savage was basically nothing but punches, ax handles and the big elbow. It’s a bad sign when the best thing you can say about a match is that it was short but that’s all this one has.

Post match here are Nash and Piper for the save with Roddy saying he doesn’t want to fight Nash. Instead he names Savage as the winner by DQ which changes nothing. Piper yells at Hogan and Hart but names himself as referee for Hart vs. Savage. Giant comes to the ring and Sting is in the rafters to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. As usual here there’s some decent stuff but so much of the show is spent on worthless matches. Scott Norton vs. Yuji Nagata? Disco Inferno vs. Barry Horowitz? Glacier vs. Sick Boy? Can you blame people for going over to Raw in droves? On top of that we have Giant joining the NWO again as the story is now at two years old and showing no signs of stopping. Slamboree is in a few days and I can’t think of a single match on it I’m looking forward to. That’s a really bad sign.

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On This Day: September 27, 1998 – Breakdown: In Your House: Steve Austin vs. The World

This is another very old review which needs to be redone. Not a bad idea actually.

In Your House 24: Breakdown
Date: September 27, 1998
Location: Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 17,405
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross

Summerslam has passed and Austin, much to everyone’s surprise, kept the belt by beating Taker clean. If my memory is right, that was the only time that happened from 1991 to 1998 but I could be wrong on that. Other than that, HHH ended the DX vs. Nation war by beating the Rock for the IC title. The rest of the show is pretty weak as it was kind of meant to be the end of a lot of storylines and now create new ones.

The main idea was that Vince is completely fed up with Austin and wants the title off of him at any cost, so he’s made the main event for tonight of Kane vs. Taker vs. Austin in a triple threat for the title, knowing it would be a handicap match. Also on here we have a triple threat in a cage with mankind, Shamrock and the Rock for the #1 contenders spot. The rest of the card looks like Typical Attitude Era stuff, so let’s get to it.

The intro is all about Vince wanting to get the title off of Stone Cold at any cost, talking about his master plan which includes shots of John Kennedy and various other historic leaders. This is WAY over the top to say the least.

Owen Hart vs. Edge

This is really just a matchup of an upper midcarder and a rookie. I really like this match actually as both guys are solid in the ring. Edge is working a style that is very good for him with a mix of what he does now with technical stuff thrown in. He’s staying move for move with Owen which is no small task to say the least. We get a lot of near falls and since I don’t remember who wins this, it’s a very exciting match.

Edge was getting a cult following at the time and he was still a rookie, which really is an impressive feat. Both go for their finishers and Edge lands a decent DDT. They’re going back and forth here in a great pace that’s really showing Edge off well. Owen of course is as solid as ever but this is pretty even.

Eventually Edge has Owen in trouble but a long blonde haired fan jumps the railing and distracts Edge allowing Owen to roll him up for the win. Dang , that guy that jumped the rail must totally reek of awesomeness and charisma.

Yeah it’s Christian debuting.

Rating: B+. This match was very good and an excellent opener. Two Canadians so it’s almost face vs. face, meaning the crowd is way into it. Edge was showing off here as he proved he can go with anyone. Owen was his usual solid self on the mat and I really didn’t know who was going to win until the end. That’s the sign of a good match in my opinion.

Bad promo for the Superstar Line.

Too Much vs. Scorpio/Al Snow

This comes after Raw when Snow regained his contract by beating Slaughter in a boot camp match. Now in case you don’t remember that, Lawler will mention it 18 times in the next match. After that the Stooges ran down to beat him up but Scorpio made the save. Too much is here because we needed a heel tag team to job to the new faces I guess. This is an ok match but it’s nothing special.

Snow as always is entertaining here as a very underrated worked and character. Scorpio is someone I’ve always enjoyed as well so this should be ok. For some reason they bring a chair in and after the faces distract the referee, both use it for running poetries in motion on Too Much, but Scorpio botches him and lands on his back.

Other than that it’s a pretty up tempo match here with both teams doing a good job at keeping the fans excited. At the end everything just breaks into a huge fight with there being no idea who the legal men were with there being all kinds of covers by all four men. Finish comes off of the Snowplow.

Rating: B. This was another fun match. There was no point to it at all but it was just fun. The characters were fun and wild with everyone all over the place. Snow was easily the star here which is an odd thin since he w treated as nothing but a comedy character for th majority of his career. This was very fun though and while not great, it was entertaining.

Droz vs. Marc Mero

Only thing of note is that Jackie won the Women’s Title on Monday night. We’re not told who the champion was, so I’m assuming it’s nothing of note at all. Droz is considered to be a freak with talk of him eating deer hearts after hunting and sleeping with boa constrictors. Great things to talk about wouldn’t you say?

Once again there’s no real point to this match other than having a face lower mid card guy against a heel lower mid card guy. Nothing at all of note happens here until Jackie hits Droz in the head with a shoe, leading to the Shooting Star Press, here called the Marvelocity.

Rating: D. No point, no good action, no drama, no good grade. There was just nothing here at all and it was clear that no one cared about it. Not much else to say.

Bradshaw vs. Vader

Again, no point to this match that I know of but it’s no holds barred. Oh and it’s falls count anywhere so it’s a hardcore match. Bradshaw has shaved the beard so we now have the traditional look that we’re used to of him. He says Vader is too far to beat him.

This was Vader’s last match with the company on PPV and his last televised match would be in about 3 weeks in the well known and used Edge vs. Vader match. We get some good news though; the Brawl For All is over. Ross says he doesn’t want Vader between him legs. Oh apparently they’re fighting because they failed as a tag team.

Glad I missed those pairings actually. Here comes the weapons as Bradshaw nails him with the bell. Bradshaw’s power moves here are very well done with all kinds of suplexes and slams that put him over really well. I’ll never understand how finishing moves lose their power as Bradshaw gets up from the Vader Bomb, which put HBK down several times, but can’t put a young Bradshaw down here? Then for a weird finish, the clothesline from JBL doesn’t pin Vader, but a neckbreaker does?

Rating: C+. This was fine for what it was. Putting the hardcore thing in there helped a bit as it kept the weaknesses they had from being exposed, but at the time neither really relied on them too much. The destruction of Vader on PPV is finally ended here which is nothing more than a shame. Bradshaw was given a mini push but eventually they got it right with him in the APA.

We see a thing on WWE.com with Jason Sensation doing various impressions of wrestlers. He was a comedian but some of his voices were dead on. His Taker voice is absolutely perfect.

D’Lo Brown vs. Gangrel

Brown lost the European title to X-Pac on Raw apparently. Yeah I don’t care either. Gangrel’s entrance and music is just awesome to put it mildly. As far as his in ring work goes, that’s another story entirely. He had this weird running elbow drop that I never liked as it was just odd looking. At the time everyone was trying to figure out what the deal with Edge and Gangrel was.

They never explained it but soon the Brood would form. You can feel Russo’s hands all over this as you have two over the top gimmicks as well as no real face or heel character but rather two guys that could be either or. Botched hot shot sends D’Lo face first into the top rope which isn’t something you see that often.

There’s really not much going on here as this whole card just feels like filler with this being the worst of that category so far. Henry comes out and attacks Gangrel, leading to the Sky High for the pin. After the match Gangrel drinks from his cup which lets him beat both of them up.

Rating: C-. There’s nothing here, but both guys have fairly cool gimmicks so I’ll say it just passes. That’s the issue with this so show far: everything just feels like pure filler and it’s not working well. Give me something with some meat to it if you want me to care. There’s no build here or anything and I feel like I’m watching a house show.

Recap for the triple threat for the contendership. This match already happened on Raw but Taker and Kane beat them all down. Promos from all three follow. Shamrock is far better than what he used to be, but he’s still pretty bad. Rock’s popularity has arrived as his pop gets bigger and bigger but he’s still far from what his peak would be. Now we get to Mankind. I have never seen a more off the wall promo.

He references Bill Clinton’s scandal with a girl that even he would have turned down in high school as the only thing that comes close to being as pointless as the people’s elbow. WOW. Also, Rock had referenced sugar coated testicles, which Foley thinks should be a new cereal. Mankind the face has arrived.

The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Mankind

Remember this is for the #1 contenders spot and it’s in a cage. Shamrock gets no reaction. He got no reaction in the Attitude Era. Let that sink in for a minute. Mankind’s is solid but Rock’s is just big. This is the older format of triple threats where it’s pretty much a bunch of one on one matches that rotate. I really like the feeling in this match as there’s a good amount of drama and it’s not the watered down variety of today which just absolutely sucks.

These guys beat the living tar out of each other and it’s really working well. They’re fighting hard and the fans are into it. Since we’re in Canada, the heel Rock is getting cheered. All kinds of big spots here as the cage isn’t the star like it is anymore. It’s also the big blue one which is a lot better in my eyes than the one they use now. Anyway, these guys are beating the living tar out of each other with everyone getting dangerously close to winning only to have it snatched away.

Rock lands a double People’s Elbow that has the people going INSANE. Pop of the night so far with ease which is odd as he was the heel coming into this. These guys work each other over very well here with all three being very close again. Both guys are down but Foley dives off the top of the cage with an elbow that crashes. Somehow a chair gets in and Rock just starts killing Shamrock with it.

Foley gets it and both guys are down, but as Foley goes up the cage Rock covers Shamrock for the pin. After it Foley thinks he’s won and raises his hand in victory but then sees Rock and is ticked, ripping out his hair. Rock heads to the back as Shamrock is beating on things with the chair and scaring your favorite Oklahoma representative.

Rating: B+. While I hate the pinfall ending in cage matches, this added a very nice psychology concept to it with Foley trying to be the hero and the heel Rock taking the easier way to get the win. Very subtle yet very key to making the match a bigger success.

You could see that Rock was the biggest star here but it was Foley that was carrying things in there. Vince continues to try to make something out of Shamrock and just epically fails at it. This was a slower paced match but it worked very well as they were all working hard and had the crowd into it as well.

We get a recap of Goldust vs. Venis which was during the time that Rhodes was in the preacher gimmick and Venis made a movie with Terri called the Preacher’s Wife of the two of them sleeping, or I guess not sleeping together.

Val Venis vs. Goldust

This is during the religious period for Dustin who would keep saying HE IS COMING BACK, meaning Goldust. Val brings Terri out who is very scantily clad. Val hits a spinebuster almost immediately but gets powerbombed shortly thereafter. This shouldn’t last that long.

Dustin tries to leave and gets his head taken off for his troubles. Very basic match to start here as Dustin is supposed to be just a man fighting for honor out there while Val is on a hot streak at the moment. Russian leg sweep sets up the grind for Val and then a camel clutch.

Dustin is called a youngster despite being around over 8 years at this point. Take it off chant at Terri. Terri looks at Val dreamily during a long chinlock. Almost all Val here as he goes up for a middle rope suplex but lifts Dustin up and just drops him to the floor in a pinful looking move.

Val goes to the floor and gets consoled by Terri. Bulldog by Dustin gets two which is probably the extent of his control here. Yep the powerslam sets up the Money Shot to end it.

Rating: D. All angle here as this just DRAGGED. It went on for nearly ten minutes here and just didn’t get interesting at all. We get the idea here and didn’t need to have it hammered into us. Nothing special at all and just an extended TV match. The angle was done here I think for all intents and purposes, at least the Dustin aspect.

Recap of DX vs. Jeff Jarrett. Yeah I don’t care either.

DX vs. Jeff Jarrett/Southern Justice

Southern Justice are the Godwinns for those of you that can’t get to sleep at night. This is as bland of a 6 man as you could possibly ask for. It’s a mini feud that no one remembers and fewer cared about. X-Pac gets beaten on, wild brawl, Pac takes a guitar to the head, Fameasser in the ring, match over.

Rating: F. I have no idea why but I hated this match deeply. I think it was just that it was a freaking waste of time. There’s filler that is good and filler that is bad. This was of the latter variety.

Promo and recap which you know the drill of by now. If you can’t tell I really just want this show to end.

WWF Title: Steve Austin vs. Undertaker vs. Kane

Kane can’t pin Taker and vine versa, making this a handicap match. We see a clip of Austin beating up Vince on Heat. If anyone helps Austin he’s stripped of the title. Austin jumps Taker with a chair as he’s on his way to the ring and beats the tar out of him. Austin was a lot of things but above all else he was smart.

Kane vs. Austin in the ring now as Taker is trying to get up. Top rope clothesline misses as Austin just steps aside. Taker comes back with a chair and Austin is in trouble. Total brawl the whole way so far but that’s what it’s supposed to be. Stunner out of nowhere on Kane but Taker saves.

The Big Red Machine is down forever from that as it’s Taker vs. Austin now. Jumping clothesline takes Austin down but Taker gets caught by a Thesz Press. Heel miscommunication occurs so Austin can get back up which lasts like 4 seconds. The Stooges and Slaughter come out to stand on the stage as it’s ALL Brothers of Destruction at this point.

Back near the stage and Austin makes a brief comeback but gets his Piledriver reversed by Taker. Austin charges at Brisco and half kills him but Slaughter kicks him in the head. Taker brings Austin back to the ring like he’s carrying him to the gallows. Where’s Luke when you need him?

And we replay the beginning of the match for no apparent reason. Back in the ring now and Austin is getting destroyed. He goes nuts and gets some shots in but Taker catches him. They’re doing really well here at making it look like Austin has a chance and then snatching it away. He’s never quite defeated though which is a nice touch.

Austin caves Kane’s head in with a chair but Taker saves. Taker covers but Kane breaks it up, giving Austin a glimmer of hope. Taker breaks up a Kane pin and then drills him to a ROAR. Kane and Austin send Taker to the floor and now it’s one on one.

After a brief reconciliation Taker and Kane need more counseling as they fight again. Austin gets to rest a bit here and fix his knee braces. Double clothesline and both guys are down, prompting Austin to sit up in a funny moment. Finally they get together and hit a double chokeslam and a double pin. Fink does the announcement but pauses before he announces the winner.

Vince comes out and takes the belt. They would have a one on one match at the next PPV where no one would win again, setting up the Deadly Game Tournament at Survivor Series where Rock turned heel to become McMahon’s star. Austin kills everyone in sight and gets flipped off by Vince to end the show.

Rating: C-. This is ok but it’s just a bit boring. Austin fighting insane odds is always fun but the good thing here is they didn’t have him overcome them. That would have been too much for anyone and I think they got that. Having this go over 20 minutes was WAY too long though as it took Kane and Taker all of 40 seconds to beat Austin once they got together. Decent and booked mostly right but too long.

It made the buildup for the rest of the feud great as Austin wouldn’t get the title back until Mania 15. Austin had a great run with the belt but taking it off of him for about 5 months made his next win all the greater. Kane and Taker would fight at the next PPV for the title with a certain redneck as the referee.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s an ok show but that’s it. There are certainly some good matches but the show just dies a painful death before the main event. The Venis match and the DX match are just flat out draining. That’s how I would describe this show: draining.

While there are more good matches than bad, those that are bad are very bad and come towards the end of the show which is what matters most because it’s what’s remembered most. It’s an ok show, but it could have been booked much better. Thumb squarely in the middle.

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Monday Nitro – May 4, 1998: One Of The Fatal Bullets To WCW

Monday Nitro #135
Date: May 4, 1998
Location: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s another two hour show this week instead of the usual three hours due to the NBA Playoffs. My response: God bless the NBA. We’re closing in on Slamboree and the main story is the NWO civil war. Nash, Savage and Konnan have officially formed the Wolfpack who will have their own everything very soon. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Konnan joining Nash and Savage.

Opening sequence.

Nitro Girls.

The announcers talk about the NWO’s troubles. Brian Adams has officially sided with Hogan.

Now for a change of pace, we get a recap of the Wolfpack forming and Nash wanting a piece of Hart. We also see Konnan joining the team for the second time in less than six minutes.

Here are Eddie and Chavo for a match. Before the match, Eddie says he’s going to be a good example for Chavo. The announcers go nuts on Eddie as he calls out Scott Norton.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Scott Norton

Surprisingly enough, Eddie doesn’t send Chavo in instead immediately. He actually waits about thirty seconds before “hurting his knee” and sending Chavo in to face Norton. Norton slugs away on Chavo in the corner and press slams him down before going after Eddie. Chavo uses the opening to dropkick Scott’s knee a few times. Norton comes right back with a powerslam and the shoulder breaker for the pin. Squash.

Ultimo Dragon comes in to check on Chavo but Eddie tells him to get away.

Scott Putski vs. Kidman

Tenay talks about how Putski’s dad, Ivan, was more of a power guy. Larry: “Let me put it another way. Ivan was stupid.” Putski slams Kidman down and drops an elbow for two but Kidman hits a running bulldog out of the corner to take over. Scott comes back with a sitout spinebuster as the Wolfpack comes through the crowd, complete with the red and black NWO logo shirts. They storm the ring to take out Putski for the fast DQ.

Nash says this is how things are going to be from now on. The Wolfpack is very hungry, so they’re going to pick Sting and Giant’s bones at Slamboree. Nash refers to the team as the red and black attack and says it’s about to be a war between them and Hogan’s crew. Savage says that Hogan’s new friend Bret Hart won’t get screwed unless that’s something he wants.

Nash brings out the newest member of the Wolfpack: Curt Hennig. Bryan Adams comes out to ask Hennig what he’s doing but Curt blows him off. Hennig takes off the black and white to reveal the Wolfpack colors. Konnan challenges Adams for later and Nash wants a piece of Sting, so why not have Nash vs. Luger to show Sting what he’s in for.

Video on Raven, talking about being alone. He wasn’t allowed to play ball with the other kids but they wouldn’t have let him play anyway.

Here’s Jericho with the picture of Malenko again. We also get a video featuring Malenko talking about his dad passing away. Jericho says Dean’s dad Boris must be rolling in his grave over how much of a failure Dean is. Jericho dedicates his career to someone who is much better than Dean and knows far more holds: Bore-Us Malenko.

Chris Jericho vs. Bore-Us Malenko

Malenko is a tiny guy in Dean’s gear and this is about what you would expect. Jericho pulls Bore-Us on top of him for two before making a comeback and taming the Bore-Us lion for the win.

More Nitro Girls with Alex Wright interrupting them again.

We get Hogan’s comments from last week which didn’t really say anything.

Hugh Morrus/Barbarian vs. Public Enemy

This is a street fight which is probably the best idea all around. Grunge whips Morrus with a big rope as Rocco blasts Barbarian in the head with a trashcan. Morrus comes back with a trashcan lid to Johnny’s head as Barbarian crotches Rocco on the top rope. It’s amazing how often one guy on a team making a comeback triggers the same comeback from his partner. Everyone gets inside for the first time, including Jimmy Hart to get in some stomps of his own. Barbarian misses a dive through a table but Morrus slams Rocco through one to make up for it. Hart hits Morrus by mistake and gets splashed by Grunge for the pin. Ok then.

Bryan Adams suggests that everyone here have a glass of shut up. Are you telling me that Rock was ripping off BRYAN FREAKING ADAMS??? After my mind is blown by that line, Adams tells us all that Hulk Hogan made wrestling and is the reason we’re here tonight. He’ll fight Konnan tonight too.

Video on Chris Benoit vs. Booker T, making it look like a big time rivalry. Benoit swears he made Booker tap out but Booker says he was reaching for the rope. The video isn’t conclusive enough to tell either way. Another match is set for Slamboree.

Heenan joins commentary.

We look at the end of last Tuesday’s show with Hart not explaining his actions.

Hour #2 begins.

Saturn vs. Hammer

Kidman says this is a loser leaves the Flock match. Hammer sends Saturn into the steps to take over and gets two off something like an airplane spin. Saturn comes back with a superkick and some chops in the corner followed by a Cactus Clothesline to take both guys to the outside. We look at Raven’s dressing room to see the Flock watching the match. Saturn dives into a powerslam for no cover and a delayed superplex gets the same lack of cover.

Hammer goes for the legs but gets kicked into the ropes, setting up a top rope legdrop from Saturn. Saturn brings in a chair which is legal here it seems. A springboard dropkick using the chair knocks Hammer into the corner but a second attempt hits the referee. Saturn hits something like a Van Daminator and loads up the Death Valley Driver, only to have Kanyon come in dressed as a beer vendor. One beer case to the head is enough to knock Saturn out of the Flock.

Rating: D+. This was better than I expected and it’s nice to see the Flock have a story outside of whatever Raven is doing at the moment. Saturn leaving the Flock is interesting, but he’s always been the rebel of the group. Nice match here though and it should set the stage for more interesting stuff in the future.

Raven is mad and comes to the ring, only to have Page storm into the locker room with a stop sign and a bullrope around his neck for no apparent reason. Page drags Raven around the back and into the ring. Pyro goes off as Page comes down the ramp and scares everyone to death. The guys are tied by the neck but Raven comes back with a low blow to drop Page. DDP counters the Even Flow and hangs Raven over the ropes, drawing in security as we take a break.

More Nitro Girls as Tony tells us there’s no Thunder again this week. Well if he insists.

Sick Boy vs. Juventud Guerrera

Is this Flock Night or something? Sick Boy jumps Juy in the corner to start and stomps him down in the corner. An elevated Pedigree gets two for Boy but Juvy comes back with a spinwheel kick for two. The ring is soaked from Kanyon’s drinks so they keep slipping out there. Juvy is sent to the apron for a springboard missile dropkick and there’s the Juvy Driver. Horace breaks up the 450 and that’s a quick DQ.

Juvy gets out of the double team but the seven foot Reese is too much for him. He isn’t however too much for Goldberg who makes the save and Jackhammers Reese.

Here’s Rick Steiner for a chat with Gene. Rick wants his brother to come out here right now and tell him whether the Steiner Brothers are getting back together or if one of them will be left laying. If Scott has any guts, he’ll be out here right now. Scott does come out, but on crutches.

Scott says he’s lost friends and their parents aren’t talking to him the same. Sometimes bad things happen like what happened to Bagwell, but Scott doesn’t want something like that to get between the Steiners. Rick says they either fight it out right now or walk to the back together. Scott denounces Hogan and the NWO, saying he wants to reform the tag team.

Rick, somehow the smartest guy in the room, says he can’t trust Scott, even as he appears to be on the verge of tears. The intelligence is short lived though as Rick says he’ll give Scotty another chance, but if Scott stabs him in the back, Rick will hunt him until he dies. They hug and here’s Adams with a ball bat. Scott is of course fine and cheers Adams on, confirming his loyalty to Hogan’s camp.

Bryan Adams vs. Konnan

Konnan goes right at Adams to start and clotheslines him down. Can we please get Konnan some fitted pants? All that tugging must get annoying. Adams comes back with a bad looking piledriver (Tony says it was the jumping variety despite the complete lack of jumping) and sends Konnan to the outside. Cue Bret Hart to get a cheap shot on Konnan and send him back inside. Adams gorilla presses Konnan down but Nash comes in for the DQ.

Adams gets jackknifed.

Nitro Girls again, this time in silver.

We look at the Nitro Party winner of the week.

TV Title: Fit Finlay vs. Booker T

Fit takes him into the corner to start and hits a hard kick to the champion’s back. Finlay cranks on the leg as Tony is thrilled to have Nitro back to three hours next week. Booker fights up with a good looking spin kick to the face before backdropping Finlay to the floor. Back in and Finlay hits a hard clothesline, only to be taken down by a running forearm. The ax kick puts Finlay down and the whip spinebuster does the same. There’s a flapjack from the champion as Benoit saunters down to the ring. The distraction lets Finlay tombstone Booker down for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. Nothing special here but it furthers the Booker vs. Benoit feud, which has already had developments since the last time we saw them. Over the last week, Booker and Benoit traded the TV Title at some house shows, but neither of Benoit’s two wins were acknowledged tonight. Instead we need Finlay to get the title. That’s not a knock on Finlay, but he hasn’t done anything of note in months and he gets a title?

Kevin Nash vs. Lex Luger

We have less than five minutes of air time left during Luger’s entrance. Luger pounds away in the corner to start but a Konnan distraction allows Nash to kick him in the face. Nash fires off elbows in the corner and does the foot choke to really expand the offense. A running clothesline hits Luger in the corner but a second one runs into Luger’s boot. Savage and Konnan get taken down but Nash gets in a cheap shot to take over again as the Wolfpack comes in for the fast DQ.

Sting and Giant come out to break up the Jackknife and start a fight. Adams comes out but Bret stops him from hitting the ring, wisely saying let them fight to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is an interesting case for Nitro. On one hand, this was a story driven show which did the last thing WCW needed: put even more focus on the NWO. The silver lining for this show though was the length. It’s amazing how much easier it is to sit through Nitro when it loses that third hour. There’s a lot of good stuff in WCW, but the extra time is always given to pad out the bad stuff, dragging the show down in the process. Not a bad show here, but the bad is going to take over in a hurry.

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Monday Nitro – April 28, 1998: More Is Awful

Monday Nitro #138
Date: April 28, 1998
Location: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

Back with the second and third hours of this week’s show, taped just after the first hour and airing on Tuesday. The main story for tonight is Bret explaining exactly why he helped Hogan win the world title. Other than that nothing has been announced but after all the angle advancement we had last night, odds are tonight will be wrestling heavy. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The announcers chat for a bit before looking at Bret giving Hogan the title eight days ago.

Disco Inferno vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit stomps away to start and fires off chops and headbutts in the corner. More chops and a hard suplex put Disco down and a hard elbow to the face gets two. Benoit hits a pair of rolling suplexes but Disco blocks the third into an atomic drop to take over. Inferno stomps him down in the corner and gets two off a swinging neckbreaker. Disco hits a middle rope forearm to the back of the head for another near fall and we hit the chinlock. Benoit rolls away from an elbow as the fans are surprisingly interested in this. A release German suplex puts Disco down and the Swan Dive into the Crossface get the submission.

Rating: C-. Not a bad little match here with Benoit looking good. The crowd responded really strong to Benoit and the Crossface which continues to make you wonder why it took so long to push him. Disco is much better in the ring than he’s given credit for as he looked perfectly fine out there.

Video on Jericho’s trophy case run and how the fans are becoming Jericholics.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Psychosis

Jericho comes out to Dean Malenko’s music and does a great caricature of Dean, complete with slicked back hair tied in a bun to make it look short and wringing his wrists. He even talks in a deep voice for a second before whining that he wants to go home. Referee Scott Dickinson yells at Jericho until Chris takes the belt off so the match can begin. Jericho takes him down with a shoulder block to start but Psychosis comes back with kicks and chops to take over.

A quick Liontamer attempt is countered into a rollup for two but Jericho elbows him in the face to take over. Some chops and kicks in the corner have Psychosis in trouble and elbow drops are good for two. Jericho’s charge in the corner misses and he falls to the floor, allowing Psychosis to hit a big flip dive to the floor. Back in and Jericho comes right back with a release German suplex but Psychosis breaks up the Lionsault. The guillotine legdrop with Jericho in the ropes is good for two but a top rope Frankensteiner is countered into the Liontamer to retain Chris’ title.

Rating: C-. The high spots were nice here but the ending was a bit sloppy. Psychosis was a good choice as the cruiserweight jobber to the stars as he had enough wins to be viewed as a decent threat but he was never going to win anything of note. Nice match here for the most part but it was nothing special.

Nitro Girls.

Barbarian vs. Rocco Rock

Barbarian throws him into the corner to start and powerslams Rocco down for no cover. Rocco slides through the legs but a middle rope ax handle has no effect. Instead he goes after the legs but Rocco has to beat up Jimmy Hart. Not that it matters as Hugh Morrus sneaks in and lays out Rocco, only to have Johnny Grunge come in to beat up Morrus. The match is made a tag match because the referee has that authority.

Barbarian/Hugh Morrus vs. Public Enemy

It’s a big brawl on the floor with garbage can lids all over the place. They head inside with the weapons brought in as well for good measure. Public Enemy takes over but have to beat up Jimmy Hart again. Morrus sacrifices himself to prevent Hart from being put through a table, allowing Barbarian to kick the can into Grunge’s face for the pin. This was as blatant of an ECW ripoff as you’ll ever see.

We see Savage’s rant against Hart again.

Video on Juventud Guerrera.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Kidman

Kidman gets taken down with a fast headscissors and a dropkick gets two. Juvy loads up a top rope Frankensteiner but Kidman hits him low, setting up a top rope sitout spinebuster for two. Why even use a huge spot like that when it’s not even going to end the match? Kidman misses a slingshot legdrop and Juvy heads to the apron for a springboard spinwheel kick to the face for two. A clothesline puts Juvy down but gets crotched while trying a superplex. Juvy snaps off a hurricanrana for two and the Juvy Driver and 450 are good for the pin.

Rating: C. Another nice match here with Juvy getting to look good against someone that can hang in the ring with him. They’ve done a good job of pushing Guerrera since he lost his match and the Never Surrender idea works pretty well for him. The wrestling has been consistent tonight which is a good sign.

Post match the Flock comes in and lays out Juvy.

Alex Wright talks about being on vacation in Germany but he had to come back to this pigsty to show everyone how to dance. Dancing ensues and security takes Alex away.

TV Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Booker T

Feeling out process to start with the fans all over Eddie. Guerrero snapmares the champion down but runs into a shoulder block to put Eddie on the mat. Back up and Booker kicks him in the head before firing off forearms. Eddie comes back with a dropkick to the knee and a suplex before hitting the chinlock. Guerrero switches over to a camel clutch as the announcers actually talk about the match. Booker gets up and hits the running forearm to the head but Eddie counters the spinebuster into a hurricanrana for two. Eddie stops to yell at Chavo and gets caught with the side kick and the missile dropkick retains the title.

Rating: D+. Nothing special to see here but another win for Booker isn’t going to hurt anyone. The Eddie vs. Chavo story needs to take another step before it gets dull but it’s still doing well enough. I was expecting more out of Booker T vs. Eddie Guerrero than I got here but it wasn’t horrible.

Eddie blames Chavo post match.

Hour #2 begins.

The announcers talk about Bret vs. Savage before showing us part of Bret’s promo from last night.

Marty Jannetty vs. Perry Saturn

Saturn pounds away in the corner and kicks Jannetty in the face. Marty is sent out to the floor and comes back in to a superkick to take him right back down. A belly to belly suplex gets two but Marty comes back with a superkick of his own. The middle rope punch gets two but Saturn hits a Death Valley Driver for the pin. Squash.

Here’s DDP with more to say about Raven. He wants Raven to experience the Big Bang Theory but Raven walked away. Page hasn’t seen Raven tonight but thinks he’s in the building, so come get your bang right now. Instead he gets Kidman and Sick Boy who say don’t kill the messengers. They have a video from Raven with Raven asking about the pain Page put his own family through. He talks about Page’s mom sending him to live with his father at a young age and how he’ll get Page later.

Back in the arena Sick Boy takes a Diamond Cutter as Kidman bails. Page heads into the crowd as Kidman gets back in. A “fan” (Kanyon) comes in and clotheslines Kidman to the floor before being dragged off by security.

Video on Goldberg’s streak.

US Title: Goldberg vs. Jerry Flynn

Jerry kicks him down, butterfly suplex, spear, Jackhammer, pin. That’s 78-0.

Nitro Girls.

Sting/Lex Luger/The Giant vs. Konnan/Brian Adams/Scott Steiner

Konnan jumped to the Wolfpack last night but there’s no indication that Adams and Steiner have joined him. Vincent now has two trophies for Steiner, neither of which have actually been referenced by either guy. Sting and Adams get us going and Konnan drops to the floor for no apparent reason. Adams hits a quick atomic drop for two as Konnan is already back on the apron. Sting escapes a suplex and bulldogs Adams down but can’t hook an early Scorpion.

Adams bails to the floor to kill some time so Sting tags in Giant. Konnan comes in, only to be shoved to the mat with ease. Giant lifts him up in a bearhug before bringing in Luger to get some of this easy prey. Luger wants Steiner and the fans are way into the matchup. Scott wants a posedown but settles for trading shoulder blocks with Luger taking over. A Konnan distraction lets Steiner suplex Luger down and pound away with right hands. Off to Konnan but Luger explodes with a double clothesline to put Steiner and Konnan down. Adams walks out on the match and his partners soon join him for the countout.

Rating: F. This was a waste of time and that’s almost all there is to say about it. The only good thing here was Steiner acting like the crazy man that would finally get him over. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to know who is on which side in the NWO civil war here but it certainly wasn’t clear if we were.

Vincent gets chokeslammed.

Gene calls on Bret for the big explanation. Gene asks Bret why he did what he did and is told to shut up. Bret wants Hogan here in person so Gene invites Hollywood out here now. We’re rapidly running out of time and you can smell the TUNE IN NEXT WEEK finish coming from here. Hogan, Bischoff and Disciple take their sweet time getting to the ring to milk this even further.

Eric insists that Bret address Hogan as Hollywood. Bret says he’s looked up to Hogan for a long time and that Hogan is the highest paid and most recognized wrestler ever. Hogan appreciates Bret for setting the record straight….whatever that means. Bret opens up his jacket to reveal a Hogan shirt but here’s Savage as he’s about to explain. Savage is destroyed to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. Decent wrestling in the first hour aside, this fits the WCW profile to the letter: the lower card stuff is entertaining but the stars are boring and you get next to nothing out of them. The big reveal at the end never happened so we still have no idea why Bret did what he did. The longer they wait, the less likely it is that we get an actual explanation. The one hour version, as in the version without the stars, blew this show away and it wasn’t even anything great.

Remember no Thunder this week.

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Monday Nitro – April 27, 1998: Less Is More

Monday Nitro #137
Date: April 27, 1998
Location: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

This week is split into two episode instead of the usual three due to the basketball games on TNT. Tonight is one hour followed by a two hour edition tomorrow night. Tonight’s focus will likely be on Bret Hart explaining why he did what he did last week instead of fighting against the NWO like he had talked about doing for weeks. Other than that we’re closing in on Slamboree which already has a pair of matches (Hart vs. Savage and Sting/Giant vs. Outsiders) almost set. Let’s get to it.

The Nitro Girls get us going. Alex Wright tries to sneak in and dance with them but the girls walk away. Wright is taken away by security.

The announcers talk about Sting’s challenge to the Outsiders.

Here are Nash and Savage to open things up. Nash does a Hall impression for the survey, won by WCW. Big Kev says Hall was last seen with a pina colada at Trader Vick’s and his hair looked great. The challenge is accepted for Slamboree. Nash talks about the Wolfpack, which now consists of himself and Savage and their first target is Bret Hart. Savage is ready for Bret because this right here is where it’s at. Nash says there are going to be more defectors, starting with Konnan. Konnan comes out to do his schtick and says that Hogan doesn’t want any part of the Wolfpack. Nash and Konnan sing a bit to end the segment.

Video on Juventud Guerrera, emphasizing that he will never quit.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Jericho comes out with the portrait of Malenko and says he’d love to beat up Quasi-Juice Guerrera like he did when he took this mask, which is a bad mama-jamma of a necklace. Jericho “interviews” the portrait but Dean won’t celebrate being the new fry cook at Harry’s Burgers. Instead Dean can live vicariously through Jericho who is dedicating this match to Dean.

Chavo ducks a right hand and pounds away to start. A belly to back suplex puts and we hit a quick chinlock. Jericho comes back with a quick hot shot and some kicks in the corner but Chavo dropkicks Jericho into Eddie for two. Chavo jumps over Chris in the corner but gets caught in a quick Liontamer for the submission in just over two minutes.

Eddie rips into Chavo for the loss post match and slaps him in the face.

Nitro Party winner from a Gold’s Gym in Indiana.

We go back to Thunder to see the Buff Bagwell injury. Tony and Bobby talk about their own neck surgeries and how scary they can be. Bagwell can indeed move his limbs but had to undergo surgery today and we’ll get an update tomorrow night.

Video of Savage’s rant about Bret Hart on Thunder.

Here are Hogan, Disciple and Bischoff with something to say. Bischoff asks Hogan what’s possibly left for him to do after winning the title again. Hogan says all of his fans know he’s done everything there is to do and he’ll be it all until the end of eternity. We’ve now seen what a joke Nash is and now and there’s no one left for him to beat. If Konnan is the best Nash can find, he’s got a major problem. Hogan goes into a somewhat racist rant about how there are a dozen Konnan’s waiting to go pick fruit in Los Angeles. As for Bret, he knows the power lies with Hollywood because Hogan is for life. Not much to say here.

US Title: Scott Norton vs. Goldberg

Now this is a better idea. Norton jumps him to start, only to get taken down by a spinning neckbreaker. They head to the floor with the champion being sent into the post for almost no effect. Back inside and Norton gets caught in an ankle lock but ropes are quickly grabbed. Norton pounds away in the corner and hits the shoulder breaker for two. A Fujiwara Armbar does nothing for Scott so the spear and Jackhammer retain Goldberg’s title in less than three minutes.

We see Bret beating up Piper to end last week’s show.

The announcers talk about how awesome Bret Hart is with Heenan saying Bret has always been out for himself.

Here’s Bret for the first time since last week with less than four minutes left in the show. Bret says it’s nice to be in the house that Hollywood Hogan built to get the fans against him. He talks about suffering for your crimes, even though he’s committed no crime. Wrestling is a long money trench and a plastic hallway filled with pimps and thieves.

If Savage feels bad about last week, then Bret will meet the “half troll and half lizard” in the ring. Gene again asks him why he helped Hogan but he wants to say it to Hogan’s face tomorrow night. Gene asks why Bret screwed over Savage after complaining about being screwed. Bret calls Gene judgmental and says he’s tired of sitting on the bench before leaving.

Overall Rating: C+. This show is a good example of what’s wrong with three hour Nitros. In 45 minutes of air time, we had two title matches, three promos, angle advancement in multiple stories, two PPV matches confirmed and a new member added to a stable. The other hours that we usually have to sit through don’t need to be there and really don’t add anything significant to the show. More wrestling would have been nice, but this did a solid job of building to Slamboree without overstaying its welcome. That’s a very difficult balance to find but it’s almost impossible to do in a three hour show.

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Thought of the Day: Just Win Baby

As much as it hurts me to quote the Raiders.I’ve been watching Nitro and Thunder from 1998 lately and one of the major stories has been the rise of Booker T. He’s gone from being a tag team mainstay to the TV Champion, defending his title at least once and often twice a week. Every week he gets more and more popular with his matches getting better and better. There’s a very simple explanation for why he’s getting over: he’s winning. There’s no trick gimmick to it, there’s no secret surprise, there’s no way to trap the audience. The fans simply respond to a guy who wins his matches. In other words, WCW wasn’t cutting Booker’s legs off in case he got hot when the company didn’t want him to but rather embraced it. Imagine that concept.

Thunder – April 22, 1998: Sting Shoots

Thunder
Date: April 22, 1998
Location: Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone

We’re just past Spring Stampede but the more interesting show was Monday Nitro, where two major title changes occurred. Goldberg won the US Title, but the more interesting change at the moment is Hollywood Hogan taking the world title from transitional champion Randy Savage thanks to interference from Bret Hart. This would be the same Bret Hart who had talked about how much he couldn’t stand Hogan for months now. Let’s get to it.

This show is airing on a Wednesday for reasons that haven’t been explained.

The announcers can barely talk over the Goldberg chants.

Here are Hogan, Bischoff and Disciple to open the show. Bischoff says Hogan is back and Disciple spray paints NWO on the belt again. Eric goes on a rant about how WCW is trying to keep Hogan out of the NWO as the fans think Hogan sucks. Hogan talks about all the people in the back that don’t want him to be world champion.

Everyone is jealous of him because he’s the man, just like the back of his shirt says. Now that the NWO is back together, everything is right again and the ratings prove it. That’s not a joke. Hogan actually said it. Hollywood says he’s retired Savage because Randy dissed him. Nothing special here.

We get more Hogan from Monday for some reason.

We see Savage accusing Hogan of driving the Viper that ran him over from Monday.

TV Title: Disco Inferno vs. Booker T

Booker is defending of course and takes over with some knees to the ribs and chops to the chest. A backdrop to Disco is enough to get the announcers to focus on the match instead of talking about Bret. Booker kicks Disco down and there’s the ax kick for good measure. Inferno is sent over the top and an ax handle off the apron keeps him down. Booker sends him into the steps as this has been one sided so far.

Back in and it’s time to talk about Bret some more. Disco hurts his leg on a leapfrog attempt but he’s goldbricking to take over. An atomic drop puts Booker down but it’s time to dance before the cover. We hit the chinlock but Booker counters into a rollup for two. The big spinebuster puts Disco down again and the Harlem Side Kick sets up the missile dropkick to retain Booker’s title.

Rating: C. This was fine. Booker T was using the most basic formula known to man to get over: he won a bunch of matches. I don’t get why wrestling companies over think this today. Booker has won nearly every match he’s had for four months and the fans are buying into him. It really is that simple but it so rarely happens.

Clip of the title match from Nitro.

Prince Iaukea vs. Barbarian

Did they pull these names out of a fishbowl or something? Barbarian jumps Iaukea to start but the Prince comes back with a dropkick. The fans want Flair but they get a chop block from Barbarian instead. Iaukes comes back by biting but Barbarian kicks the leg out to keep control. The Kick of Fear is good for the pin on Prince out of nowhere. Squash.

Clips from DDP vs. Raven at the PPV.

Another Savage vs. Hogan clip. I think we have a theme tonight.

Vicious and Delicious vs. Rick Steiner/Lex Luger

Rick and Buff get us going with Rick shoving the posing Bagwell into the corner. Buff comes back with right hands and a dropkick for the strutting pose. Rick no sells a suplex and punches Buff down before a big Steiner Line sets up a belly to belly superplex. Off to Luger for a middle rope ax handle but Buff comes right back and tags in Norton. Luger throws Norton around with ease and clotheslines him down but Bagwell breaks up a Rack attempt.

A clothesline puts Luger down and it’s back to Buff for some choking. Norton hits a backbreaker but Luger comes back with a Russian legsweep to make the tag to Rick. Everything breaks down and Rick cleans house with backdrops. It’s down to Rick vs. Buff with Rick going up for the bulldog. The camera misses most of the move as Scott Steiner is taking a chair from Vincent. After the bulldog hits, Scott blasts Rick with the chair, giving Buff the “pin”.

Rating: D. This was a really lame match with everyone going in first gear the entire time. I lost track of the amount of clotheslines being used and Buff wouldn’t sell anything done to him. The Steiner Brothers feud needs to go somewhere already as they split two months ago and nothing of note has happened since.

Now for the serious story: that bulldog severely injured Buff’s neck. I put pin in quotation marks as Buff wasn’t really on top of Rick but the referee counted anyway. Vincent and Norton try to pull Buff to the floor but realize something is wrong. Even Rick and Lex check on him as we go to clips of Nash powerbombing Hogan.

We come back from the break with Buff being checked on by the trainers. Buff is moving his left arm as we look at how the injury occurred: Buff’s head slipped out of the bulldog and it went straight onto Rick’s back and jacked his neck back. It looks much worse on replays. Heenan goes to find out what he can as Tony apologizes for Chris Benoit vs. Psychosis being postponed.

The announcers talk about the NWO war but it’s clear their minds are elsewhere so we go to another break.

Back with Bagwell on the stretcher but still in the ring. The announcers throw it to more Hogan vs. Savage clips. This goes on for about ten minutes as they air almost the entire match. They’re filling in time which is the only thing they can do here. During the clips we’re told Bagwell can move his legs and looks to be ok long term. There isn’t much to say here as it’s just the Nitro main event airing again. Hogan works on the knee a lot, Disciple interferes, Nash and Hart runs in, Hogan wins the title with Bret’s help.

We get clips from Raven taking Page’s US Title at Spring Stampede with shots of Horace as a grip earlier in the match before he cost Page the belt.

Horace Boulder vs. Evan Karagis

Tenay tells us that Horace’s career parallels Raven’s but in Japan instead of America. Horace pounds away and the fans are immediately chanting boring. You guys haven’t had a match in about twenty five minutes and this is your reaction? Karagis gets two off a springboard cross body. Bagwell is going to be fine but is at a hospital just in case. After maybe a minute here’s DDP with a Diamond Cutter on Horace for the DQ.

Karagis and the referee get Cutters of their own. Page says he’s here to get his hands on Raven and he wants it right here in the ring. Cue Raven to the ring but he walks away instead. Page says Raven is walking away just like he did from his sister when she needed Raven the most. That turns Raven around but he keeps leaving. Page invokes a mention of Raven’s mother but that’s still not enough. Page says he isn’t leaving the ring until Raven gets banged…..right before leaving through the crowd.

Here’s Randy Savage with something to say. Savage says he’s not finished but rather just getting started. The worst kept secret that everyone knows is that Hogan is scum. If Hogan is scum though, Bret Hart is nuclear scum. Bret should just join the NWO already because Savage is sick of listening to him complain about getting screwed. Hart is the best con man to ever walk the earth and he’s totally overpaid and unproven.

Video on Goldberg winning the title.

US Title: Goldberg vs. Mike Enos

Enos jumps him from behind and pounds away but Goldberg no sells it and takes Enos down by the leg. A belly to belly suplex puts Mike down and a hard clothesline does the same. Enos comes back with a powerslam for one and it’s time for Heenan to freak out. Spear and Jackhammer make it 76-0.

Sting vs. Scott Steiner

Apparently there won’t be a Thunder until the 14^th of May due to baseball. Steiner jumps Sting to start and ties him up in the coat. Sting comes back with a pair of clotheslines and a third sends Steiner out to the floor. Sting throws Scott into the steps as we’re told Bagwell is moving around which is always good to hear.

Steiner hits a low blow to put Sting down before tying Sting up in the Tree of Woe for a choke. A butterfly powrbomb puts Sting down and Scott goes to pose, only to jump into Sting’s boot. Another boot in the corner puts Scott down and Sting pounds away. The Stinger Splash and Deathlock connect but Konnan comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D. Egads this show has been awful from a wrestling standpoint. This was just there to set up the post match stuff which is almost never a good way to run a wrestling match. Scott continues to not be over at all because they’ve changed everything that got him over in the first place. Nothing to see here, again.

The NWO comes in but Rick Steiner and the Giant make the save. Post match Sting gets the mic and says it’s the same old thing every week: he has to fight off all the bad guys in a bar room brawl. He thinks all the jokes have been made with Nash being the best. Big Kev should be a stand up comedian because he’s just too sweet. The problem is every single joke has a punch line. Sting makes fun of Nash’s Arn Anderson imitation and asks for a tag title shot against the Outsiders at Slamboree with Giant as his partner.

Overall Rating: D. I’m completely ignoring the injury stuff as you can’t hold that against WCW. That left roughly an hour of original TV time (not counting commercials) and what we got in that time was really dull. It was a night of squashes and boring matches which isn’t what they needed to do after the huge Nitro. I guess we’re supposed to wait until Nitro for the explanation from Bret, even though Nitro is on at 12:30AM this coming Monday night due to basketball. Horrible show here but Sting’s stuff at the end was kind of funny.

Remember Nitro is two shows this coming week and there’s no Thunder for two weeks.

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Monday Nitro – April 20, 1998: I Don’t Care If You’ve Heard This One Before

Monday Nitro #136
Date: April 20, 1998
Location: World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

It’s the night after Spring Stampede and some things have changed. To begin with Savage is the new world champion having defeated Sting with the help of Kevin Nash. This of course turned into yet another Hogan story as Hogan tried to keep the title on Sting but Nash helped take it off of him to screw over Hogan who hit Nash with a baseball bat earlier in the night. Other than that Raven won the US Title last night and gets Goldberg as a reward tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with exclusive footage from after the PPV where Hogan and Disciple jumped Savage and Nash but the NWO B Team came out to prevent Hogan from taking the belt.

Opening sequence.

The announcers talk about the title picture.

Here are Hogan, Disciple and Bischoff to open the show because it’s not like there’s a new world champion who should be opening things up. Bischoff ensures us that he loves Hogan who loves all of you. Hogan says the NWO is for life and thinks Nash and Savage are caught in the river Styx. There’s no escape for Savage tonight because the NWO is watching all the exits.

The fans are all over Hogan to the point where I can barely understand him. Hogan wants to call out Savage tonight and he’ll take care of Nash too. The NWO has split and it’s time to find out who is going to follow whom and if Nash tries to get involved, Hogan will take him apart too.

Goldberg is getting ready.

The announcers talk about what Hogan said while adding nothing new at all.

Here’s Savage for the rebuttal. He’s wants to fight instead of gloat because the only coward here tonight is Hollywood Hogan. The worst kept secret in the world is that he hates Hogan in life and death. See, Hogan has everyone snowed. Hogan’s main goal was to keep Savage from taking over but now his world is crashing down around him.

It was Hogan behind the wheel of the Viper a few weeks ago but now there’s nothing preventing Savage from fighting Hogan tonight. No one can stop him on live TV, including Bischoff, Turner or the big Macho Man in the sky. Savage brings out Nash, calling him the new leader of the NWO. Shouldn’t the new WORLD CHAMPION be the leader?

Here’s Nash, not even in an NWO shirt. He says that this is the end of Hogan’s career because the NWO is no longer his, brother. Tonight Savage is going to be the end of Hogan when he beats him for the title. Nash is coming for Disciple and Bischoff too, because he’s powerbombed Eric before and he’ll do it again.

The announcers talk even more.

Raven says he won’t be #75 for Goldberg because he’s been through pain before.

Nitro Girls. We’re only half an hour into the show before the first match so why not have even more filler?

Gene tells us to call the Hotline for the latest rumors about nothing in particular.

Konnan vs. Chris Adams

Yep, this is what we waited thirty minutes to get to. Adams takes over with some quick suplexes and armdrags Konnan down to counter Konnan’s technical attempts. Another armdrag sends Konnan to the floor for a conference with Vincent. Back in and Konnan hits the low dropkick and a hard clothesline before cranking on the arm. Adams fights up and tries Kofi Kingston’s SOS for two but crashes into the ropes on a cross body attempt. The Tequila Sunrise gets the submission for Konnan.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as neither guy is anything of note at this point. Konnan is nothing more than a lackey with an accent and Adams is a jobber that most of WCW’s fans likely haven’t heard of. The announcers didn’t help things either by spending the entire match talking about Goldberg. If they want to get back on top in the ratings, this is a strange way of going about it.

Nitro Party video.

Barbarian vs. Wayne Bloom

Barbarian pounds him into the corner to start but Wayne comes back with a clothesline. Jimmy Hart distracts Bloom, allowing Barbie to get the pin off a big boot. Match might have lasted a minute.

Raven says he’s next.

Here’s Chris Jericho, wearing Iaukea’s skirt thing, with a portrait of Dean Malenko. Jericho has some good news and bad news. The bad news is that Malenko is retired, but the good news is he has a job interview at Harry’s Burgers in Tampa. Jericho will give us updates on how the interview goes.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera

Juvy pounds away in the corner and snaps off a top rope hurricanrana. Off to a quick chinlock but Jericho comes back with a jawbreaker and does his long strut. Juvy avoids a charge to send Jericho to the floor and a big plancha takes Chris down again. Back in and a springboard spinwheel kick gets two. Juvy rolls up Jericho’s body into a DDT for two more as this is incredibly fast paced for the most part. Juvy tries another hurricanrana but gets caught in the Liontamer, eventually passing out from the pain, playing up the Never Surrender idea.

Rating: C+. They packed a lot of action into a three and a half minute match. Juvy continues to be one of the best fliers around and Jericho is more than capable of hanging in there with him when he tries to. It says a lot when you can have a crowd going nuts in the first minute and a half of a match which is exactly what Juvy had them doing here on those near falls.

Jericho: “MY GOD I KILLED JUVY!”

Goldberg is still getting ready.

Hour #2 begins.

US Title: Goldberg vs. Raven

Raven is defending and this is under his rules. He lays the belt out in front of Goldberg and they talk trash, only to have Raven dropkick him down. We head to the floor with Raven being whipped into the barricade to give Goldberg control. Back inside and Goldie puts on a leg lock before superkicking Raven right back to the floor.

Raven grabs a chair and smashes Goldberg in the back to slow him down. There’s the drop toehold onto the chair followed by a reverse chinlock on Goldberg. The big man powers up and no sells a bunch of right hands. There’s the spear but Goldberg has to destroy the Flock. Raven tries to leave but the fans throw him back to ringside. Another spear and a Jackhammer onto a stop sign (brought in by Horace) make Goldberg US Champion.

Rating: C+. Total destruction here by Goldberg which is a good idea, but I don’t know why it had to be at Raven’s expense just one day after he won the title. The guy did some great work with Page and Benoit earlier in the year but now he gets to keep the US Title for a single day? Still though, good, hard hitting match here.

More Nitro Girls.

La Parka vs. Ultimo Dragon

La Parka does his dance to start but Dragon takes him by the arm and sends him down with a flying mare. Dragon avoids a charge into the corner but a spinwheel kick sends him to the floor. La Parka hits a big dive to the floor before throwing on a chinlock back in the ring. A clothesline gets two on Dragon but La Parka goes up top and dives into some boots from Dragon. Eddie Guerrero is dragging Chavo to the ring by the neck as Dragon fires off the kicks. Chavo is forced to shove Dragon off the top, allowing La Parka to hit a twisting body attack off the top for the pin.

Rating: C. This was fine with both guys looking good for the most part and tying it into the Guerrero story could be interesting. It’s a good sign thing to have so many talented guys you can throw out there to have solid matches and giving them a story makes things even better. Nice little match here.

We look at some stills from the main event last night.

Chris Benoit vs. Curt Hennig

Rude jumps in on commentary as is customary anymore. Benoit jumps Hennig as he comes to the ring and goes after Curt’s banged up knee. Hennig tries to take it to the mat which goes about as well as you would expect against Chris Benoit. Rude comes down to ringside as Benoit kicks Hennig’s leg out. Hennig sends Benoit to the floor for a beating from Rude, leaving Benoit out cold. Back in and Hennig loads up the HennigPlex, only to have Benoit counter into the Crossface. Rude comes in for the DQ because the NWO isn’t allowed to lose.

Rude beats up Benoit some more but Booker T makes the save. Benoit yells at Booker for helping him, triggering a fight on the stage.

Come to the Power Plant! You can be told you have no future in the business like Dave Batista!

More stills from the main event.

Here’s Roddy Piper with something to say. Piper sucks up to the University of Colorado a bit while talking about something starting at Spring Stampede tonight. The main event is now No DQ, no one allowed at ringside and they’ll fight until there’s a winner.

More stills from the main event. They’ve pretty much given up on the practice of not saying who wins the PPV matches until the replay was over.

Hammer vs. Perry Saturn

The brawl starts in the aisle with Saturn taking over. Hammer is sent into the steps and we finally head inside. A top rope clothesline puts Hammer down again but he pops up to catch Saturn in a powerslam. Saturn suplexes him down a few times but a Thesz Press is countered into something resembling an Alabama Slam from Hammer. Saturn gets a breather though as Hammer seems to have hurt his knee so a Cactus Clothesline puts both guys on the floor. Instead of going after the knee, Saturn crushes Hammer’s arm between the steps and the post. They fight up the aisle for a countout.

Rating: D. This was more of an angle than a match which barely lasted long enough to be rated. Saturn continues to be awesome with his unique style but he needs something better than Hammer to make this work. They did the right thing by keeping it short though as Saturn’s rebellion against Raven begins.

More stills from the main event. Just show the match already if you’re going to show this many shots from the match.

Hour #3 begins.

The announcers talk even more.

Public Enemy vs. Scott Steiner/Buff Bagwell

Bagwell starts with Grunge and it’s already time to pose. A quick armdrag takes Grunge down and it’s time for the posing strut. Grunge comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before it’s off to Rocco vs. Steiner. Scott easily throws Rock around but gets caught in a sleeper. A belly to belly suplex gets Scott out of trouble as the slow power offense continues. Rocco comes back with a swinging neckbreaker before it’s back to Buff for some choking.

Back to Grunge who gets caught in a Tree of Woe for choking by Steiner as the offense continues to expand. Buff heads to the floor but gets caught by some double teaming to give Grunge a breather. Everything breaks down with Grunge hitting a double bulldog on the NWO. Buff is laid out on the table but gets up before Rocco can drive him through. Back in and Scott gets up the Recliner but Buff wants the Blockbuster instead for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was pretty dull stuff. At the end of the day Public Enemy wasn’t a very interesting team because they didn’t have much to offer in WCW besides the table stuff. Scott continues to seem tentative at best on offense instead of being a killing machine like he was in the early days of the Steiner Brothers which made him a star.

Nitro Girls.

TV Title: Psychosis vs. Booker T

Booker takes him down with a back elbow and it’s off to an early armbar. A clothesline and some chops have Psychosis in trouble but he comes back with a dropkick to the chest and one to the leg for good measure. Psychosis gets two off a top rope spinning body attack and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Booker hits a knee to the ribs to stop Psychosis cold. Booker’s knee drop misses so Psychosis wraps the knee around the post to keep him down. Not that it matters as Booker pops up and hits the snap spinebuster. The flapjack sets up a sidekick and the missile dropkick retains the title.

Rating: D+. This felt like they were trying to fill in nine minutes instead of having an entertaining and competitive match. I didn’t leave much out of the match and it somehow ran over nine minutes. There was nothing to see here and they didn’t even let Psychosis fly around the ring all that much. Also Booker completely ignored the knee work near the end which made it even worse.

Bryan Adams vs. Lex Luger

Feeling out process to start with Luger ducking right hands and scoring with an atomic drop. Lex pounds away in the corner and clotheslines Adams down a few times. A third clothesline puts Bryan on the floor and Luger suplexes him back in, only to have a splash (from Luger?) hit knees. Adams gets two off a gorilla press but Luger comes back with a neckbreaker, expanding his moveset yet again. A powerslam puts Adams down, drawing in Vincent for a torture rack. Konnan comes in and gets a rack of his own but there’s still no DQ. Luger drops Konnan and hits a running clothesline on Adams for the pin.

Rating: D-. This was even less interesting than the previous match with Adams and Luger doing nothing of note for the entire match. I have no idea why Adams is getting this prominent of a role but he’s not showing he deserves it. This show is really dragging before the main event and I doubt Hogan vs. Savage is going to raise the bar very much.

The announcers talk about how great the main event will be.

WCW World Title: Hollywood Hogan vs. Randy Savage

No DQ. Hogan threatens to use his Viper to make Savage a speed bump after winning the title. We get the required stalling to start as Hogan hides behind Disciple, ignoring Piper’s statement that no one would be allowed at ringside. Hogan slowly gets in and is taken down by an early shoulder block. After even more stalling Hogan comes back with right hands and some rakes to various body parts. Savage gets choked in the corner by both Hogan and Disciple and a belly to back suplex gets two for the challenger.

We head to the floor for some chair shots to Savage’s….knee I think but it also grazed the shoulder. Hogan pounds away against the barricade before head head back inside. Savage gets in some right hands of his own but injures his knee while kicking Hogan in the ribs. Take notes Booker. Hogan goes after the leg for a few moments but Savage gets in a low blow. He’s too beaten down to follow up so we head to the floor again.

Nothing happens there so it’s back inside for some choking with the weightlifting belt. Savage is reeling and there’s the slam to set up the leg drop but the champion rolls away. Now Savage gets the weightlifting belt and whips Hogan to the biggest reaction of the last hour and a half. Savage slams him down and drops the elbow but the knee prevents him from covering.

Off to a spinning toe hold into a figure four by Hogan to make Savage scream. The fans immediately turn to the entrance to look for the interference a funny moment. Savage makes the rope pretty easily as Dusty Rhodes would have laughed at how badly Hogan had the hold on.

Randy gets up and throws the referee down so he can choke Hogan even more. Disciple comes in for the Stunner on Nick Patrick and goes after Savage’s knee. The fans look to the entrance again but no one is coming yet. Savage’s knee is wrapped around the post and there’s a Stunner with the belt on Disciple’s shoulder.

Now we get Kevin Nash but Bischoff follows him and grabs his leg, allowing Hogan and Disciple to beat Nash down. Hogan’s belt shot hits Nash in the head and Nash jackknifes Hollywood. He drapes Savage on Hogan but here’s Bret Hart to hit Nash with the belt and put Hogan on top of Savage for the pin and the title.

Rating: D-. Where do I even start? We’ll go with the obvious: the match wasn’t all that good. It went on longer than it should have, though to be fair Hogan going after the knee made sense so there was a basic story being told out there. Other than that though, there wasn’t anything good going on.

To begin with, we had three interferences after Piper guaranteed none. Obviously Piper was watching the match but he didn’t do anything about his rules being broken, making him look like an inept figurehead. Granted that might be better than being a crazy rambling psycho who made no sense whatsoever.

Then after all that there’s the booking. We have two stupid points here. Bret’s turn is the easier one to deal with. No it makes no sense, but there’s still a chance to fix things later on with an explanation. At the end of the day though, there was no build to the turn, no teasing of anything, it goes against everything Bret and Hogan have been saying for weeks and it’s not like Bret has been doing anything of note leading up to the match anyway which takes away from the turn a bit.

Then there’s the bigger problem: Hogan as champion AGAIN. He’s held the title for nearly last year and a half save for five days. The idea has been done, but we get to see it yet again for no apparent reason whatsoever. The fans were going nuts for Savage and then just died for the title change. WCW’s fans were tired of Hogan because it’s the same thing they’ve seen for nearly four years now. Is it any wonder why the people changed the channel over to Raw to see something fresh like Austin on top?

The show isn’t quite over.

Piper finally comes out to yell at Bret as there are four bodies piled up on the mat. Bret decks Piper to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Nitro continues on the same track as always: some decent stuff but the NWO nonsense drags it down. At the end of the day, people are sick of Hogan and whatever he has going on at the moment. Nash vs. Hogan could be interesting, but we’re almost two years into the NWO era now and while they’re splitting up, it’s just putting even more focus onto them. Now on the other side we have Goldberg who is finally pushed up to a higher level and given something of note. There’s good stuff hidden under all the nonsense here but there’s way more nonsense than good.

The next week of shows are kind of weird. Thunder is on Wednesday this week and next week Nitro will be split in two. Monday will have an hour long show and Tuesday will have two hours, I believe due to basketball. I’ll be reviewing both Nitros at once.

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