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

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

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

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Lodi

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

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

Jerry Flynn vs. Mike Enos

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

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

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

Kanyon vs. Scotty Riggs

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

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

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

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

Wrath vs. Ciclope

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

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

The creepy laughter is heard again.

Cruiserweight Title: Billy Kidman vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

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

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

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

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

Lenny Lane vs. Van Hammer

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

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

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

Damien vs. Disco Inferno

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

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

Konnan vs. Stevie Ray

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

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

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

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

WCW World Title: Raven vs. Goldberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rick Steiner vs. Hugh Morrus

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

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

Ernest Miller vs. Nick Dinsmore

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

Psychosis vs. Saturn

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

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

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

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

Video on the Horsemen.

Finlay vs. Barbarian

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

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

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

Video on Goldberg vs. Page.

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

Raven vs. Villano V

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

Even more Hogan vs. Warrior stuff.

Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

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

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

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

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

Norman Smiley vs. Alex Wright

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video on the Diamond Cutter.

WCW World Title: Kanyon vs. Goldberg

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

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

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Monday Nitro #152
Date: August 31, 1998
Location: Miami Arena, Miami, Florida
Attendance: 12,481
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay

We’re still getting ready for WarGames and even though Team WCW looked to be in place last Monday, DDP suggested that Piper wasn’t officially a part of the team this past week on Thunder. Other than that we get to find out more about the Warrior’s Revolution, which is likely to get very stupid in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff to get us going. Bischoff thanks the fans for their money tonight before talking about the pen being powerful. Because of the pen, Eddie Guerrero has to wrestle tonight and Ultimate Warrior won’t be in the ring. Hogan talks about how WarGames will be proof of the NWO’s power and adds Stevie Ray to the team along with himself and Bret. You have Giant on your side and you pick Stevie Ray? The fans chant for Goldberg as Hogan moves on to Warrior. He’ll get his revenge after eight years and then take the title back from Goldberg.

Actually Hogan doesn’t even want to wait for Warrior so get out here right now. The lights go out and Warrior appears to some middle of the road rock music before a song that sounds very similar to Warrior’s WWF theme. Hogan says the fire represents the fear in Warrior’s eyes because the NWO is at ringside. The lights go out again and the ring fills up with smoke. They come back on and Warrior is gone, leaving the NWO confused. We get the Warrior Symbol in the sky before going to the opening sequence.

Hogan/Hart vs. Sting/Luger tonight.

We get a video of Goldberg at the Florida Marlins’ stadium and hanging out with Mark McGwire. For those of you unfamiliar, McGwire was chasing the single season home run record in 1998 and was quite possibly the biggest thing in America at that point.

Wrath vs. Jim Powers

Wrath chops away in the corner and shrugs off forearms from Powers. Powerful shots to the chest have Jim in trouble and choking ensues. Jim comes back with some right hands in the corner with the fans trying to count along but Wrath keeps shoving him off to restart the count. An atomic drop by Wrath seems to blow out Powers’ knee so it’s the Meltdown for the pin.

Rating: D+. Wrath looked good out there as he ran over Powers like he wasn’t even there. The Meltdown is a good move for a guy that strong with the snap looking very impressive. This was Powers’ last match in WCW and I don’t think anyone missed him. Shame to go out with a knee injury like that if it was legit.

Nitro Girls at the announcers’ desk.

Okerlund and some Nitro Girls are at the Nitro Party grand prize winner in Ohio.

Norman Smiley vs. Scott Norton

Norton immediately headbutts him into the corner. A series of chops set up a powerslam for two as Norton pulls him up. He does the same off the shoulder breaker before powerbombing Norman in half for the pin.

The lights go out after the match and the Warrior is seen in the rafters.

Saturn carries Lodi’s bags into the arena due to losing a match on Thunder. The servitude lasts until Fall Brawl. Saturn says he has to do this because he lives by a code of honor as a former Army ranger.

Here’s the Wolfpack, again minus Sting, with something to say. Nash and Konnan do their catchphrases before Luger, with a goatee, says Sting is on his way to the arena for their tag match tonight. Nash says that unlike the Black and White, they have no leader. He announces the Wolfpack’s team for WarGames and to no surprise, it’s Sting, Luger and Nash.

That brings Nash to last week when DDP and Page got involved in Wolfpack business. Page has until next week to make a decision and Piper will be dealt with if he gets involved again. Nash also tells a story about a warrior sitting under a tree and waking up to see himself surrounded by wolves. The warrior tried to touch one of them and was eaten. The moral: if you don’t run with the pack, you’re being hunted. Not bad actually.

After a break, JJ Dillon is in the ring and asks Arn Anderson to come out for an off the record talk. Arn comes out to a WE WANT FLAIR chant as JJ talks about having to disassociate himself with the Horsemen when he joined the executive committee. However the other night he was watching an old tape and wants us to look at it.

We see an old promo of Arn Anderson talking about all the talent coming into the Mid-Atlantic area. Lots of people have wanted to come here and it’s been because of Gene and Ole Anderson. Well now the greatest Anderson of all time is here. He’s looking for guys like Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat and Magnum TA because he does it better than anyone else. That was probably from 1984.

Back live JJ talks about watching that promo many years ago and seeing something in Anderson. Arn became the heart and soul of the Horsemen. Over the years, JJ knew that WCW would be ok as long as the Horsemen were alive. However he’s seen the NWO factions take away a piece of the Horsemen at a time. Then he saw Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael ask Arn to restart the team, only to be told they don’t get it. Well JJ thinks Arn doesn’t get it and here are Mongo and Benoit to back him up.

They talk to Arn without microhones but Arn is shaking his head no. The fans chant WE WANT FLAIR as Arn starts to levae. JJ stops him and Arn is looking confused. JJ asks where Anderson is going and Arn asks why they’re doing this to him. Dillon never thought he would say this but he thinks Arn is afraid of all this. Anderson leaves to end this awesome segment. There’s something special here but since it’s WCW I’m just waiting for them to screw it up.

Hour #2 begins.

The announcers talk about what we just saw and Tony talks about Bischoff holding the Horsemen down. This transitions into a discussion of Eddie Guerrero asking to be released.

We look at Guerrero saying he wanted out of his contract and throwing coffee on himself. Bischoff is holding Eddie to his contract though.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Brian Adams

Before the match we get the Warrior signal again and Warrior is seen in the rafters. Eddie lounges on the top rope before the bell and then lays down on the mat. Adams won’t cover so Eddie gets on his knees and asks Adams to hit him. Brian towers over him even when Eddie is on his feet. Adams pulls back to hit him a few times but then throws him into the corner for some right hands. Guerrero isn’t fighting back at all. A hiptoss puts Eddie down and he lays there to be pinned. Adams puts his foot on Eddie’s chest for the easy pin. Storyline advancement.

Post match Eddie says Bischoff may have the power but he’s not going to be able to sue Eddie like he has other people.

We look at Ernest Miller turning heel on Thunder.

The Cat vs. Riggs

Riggs takes him into the corner to start and grabs a headlock before cranking on the arm. A dropkick, the only move Riggs is good at, sends Cat to the floor followed by a plancha. Back in and Cat pokes him in the eye and superkicks Riggs down. A big kick to the face puts Riggs down again and Cat talks a lot of trash. Two straight running spin kicks are enough to pin Riggs in a short match.

Post match Miller grabs the mic and says not to hate him because he’s beautiful. He’s the best wrestler and a three time world karate champion. No one can stop him, including all of the fans. Moving on.

Nitro Girls and it’s back to the Nitro Party.

Konnan vs. Marty Jannetty

Konnan takes him down to start and hits the rolling clothesline before pulling on his pants a lot. The low dropkick sets up a rolling armbar which isn’t broken even when Marty is in the ropes. Back up and Jannetty superkicks Konnan to take over but doesn’t immediately follow up. A jumping back elbow gets two and Marty stalls some more.

Marty puts on a chinlock and Russian legsweeps Konnan down for no cover. Jannetty stomps away and walks around a bit before putting on another chinlock. After that eats up some time, a clothesline gets two on Konnan. A neck snap across the top rope and a top rope cross body get the same and Marty is mad. Back up and Konnan grabs a quick X-Factor and the Tequila Sunrise is good for the submission out of nowhere.

Rating: C. Better match than you would have expected here, even though it needed to be about a minute shorter. Marty could still put on a decent match when he had the time and that’s what he got here. Konnan barely had any offense until the ending which is a WCW tradition that I’m getting tired of.

Here’s the Flock. Lodi makes Saturn carry a sign (“I’m With Lodi”) and they’re flanked by Kanyon and Raven. Before the match, Raven says Saturn isn’t allowed to touch himself or Kanyon tonight before telling Kanyon to break Saturn. Kanyon makes fun of Saturn’s military background and dares Saturn to hit him but Saturn stands him ground. Saturn doesn’t do it and is disgusted with himself.

Lodi/Saturn vs. High Voltage

Robbie starts with Lodi and the sign guy is easily shoved down. Saturn tells him to do something so Lodi bounces off of Rage. Now it’s Saturn’s turn but he’s clotheslined down as well. He’ll have none of that though and suplexes Rage down. Lodi immediately wants in but sees Kaos, sending Lodi right back to the corner for the tag to Saturn. Kaos gets kicked in the corner but a blind tag brings in Rage for an overhead belly to belly suplex. Back to Kaos for a hard clothesline but Saturn fights off both guys in lime green. The Death Valley Driver puts Rage down and Lodi tags himself in and steals the pin.

Rating: D+. This was angle advancement and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not wild on Kanyon joining the Flock but it’s nice to go somewhere in this story instead of just doing the same stuff over and over again. Lodi is entertaining too so having him on TV is another good thing.

Here’s DDP to open the third hour. He brags about Tom’s River, New Jersey winning the Little League World Series as a team. They took everyone’s talent and put them together into a team, just like Piper, Warrior and himself will do at Fall Brawl. They’ll take care of the NWO and Hollywood Scum Hogan in particular. Page brings out Piper who goes on a rant about Bret being a rookie and claiming to be Piper’s cousin.

Roddy says he has no family and rambles about Bret facing some guy named John in Toronto. Bret followed him around like a little puppy for years before becoming a Triple Crown Champion in the WWF. Hogan is conning Bret for everything he’s got and Bret is just as scared as he was before that match in Toronto. This brings out Giant but Page pounds away on him. Giant knocks both WCW guys down and chokes Page until security breaks it up. I still don’t get why Giant isn’t in WarGames.

Here’s Scott Steiner with his doctor. Steiner brags about his prowess with the ladies but is annoyed that JJ won’t believe him about the injuries. Apparently Steiner’s doctor has brought in another doctor named Juju Youbangee, which is Buff Bagwell dressed like a Jamacian. Buff’s accent comes and goes before he throws some powder on Scott. The fans think this is bull as Buff declares Steiner healed. Scott says he loves the voodoo that he do and promises to beat Rick up at Fall Brawl. Rick comes in from behind and clears the ring. Warrior and his signal pop up again to close the segment. This was so bizarre it was entertaining.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Evan Karagias

Juvy is defending. Feeling out process to start with a shoulder block sending Evan to the mat. The fans are paying attention to something off camera as Evan gorilla presses Juvy throat first onto the top rope. Juvy comes back with a springboard dropkick and some chops but charges into a powerslam for two. Now the fans are looking at something else as, Evan dropkicks him to the floor. Back in and Evan hooks a chinlock as the fans get distracted for the third time.

Juvy sends him to the floor to escape and comes back in with a guillotine legdrop but hurts his own back in the process. Evan is up at two and avoids a charge in the corner to put Juvy down again. Karagias goes after the knee as the fans chant Goldberg. Heenan yells at Evan for letting go of a half crab, allowing Juvy to put on a chinlock. The fans are AGAIN looking at something else and chanting what sounds like “take it off!”.

Evan slams Juvy down and goes up but gets crotched, allowing Juvy to hit a top rope hurricanrana. Now it’s Juvy getting crotched as the fans are booing something other than the match. Evan hits a top rope hurricanrana of his own for two but misses a top rope Lionsault. Guerrera hits the Juvy Driver to finally retain.

Rating: B-. I feel sorry for these guys as they were having a very good match and the fans were looking at about five other things instead. Karagias looked good out there and hung with Juvy every step of the way. Juvy continues to be as good of a high flier not named Mysterio as there is in the company.

Nitro Girls/Nitro Party. Jim Duggan is there too.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Disco Inferno

Jericho is defending. Disco now has a sweatband. Chris runs him over with a shoulder and does a little shuffle. Disco comes right back with a clothesline and sends Jericho into the corner for some stomping. Tony calls a slam a tilt-a-whirl slam for no apparent reason but Jericho avoids a fist drop.

The Lionsault hits knees and an atomic drop sends Chris face first into the corner. A clothesline and spinebuster get two each and Heenan is impressed with Jericho. Jericho comes back with a German suplex but walks into the Chartbuster for two as Jericho gets his foot on the ropes. Disco charges again but gets caught in the Liontamer for the win.

Rating: C. Much better match than I was expecting here with Disco using his basic offense very well. Jericho continues to be one of the most awesome things on the roster but for whatever political reasons, he’s stuck fighting guys in the lower card and stealing the show every time.

Kevin Nash sits in on commentary for the next match.

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Al Green

Nash mentions that Green was his original partner in WCW, which was in a tag team called the Master Blasters. He also wouldn’t mind a shot at the world title. Green looks like a bald Scott Norton and jumps Goldberg to start. The choking and forearms have almost no effect as Goldberg drives him down to the mat. A backdrop and slam put Green down and he bails to the floor as Goldberg loads up the spear. Smart guy. Goldberg sends him into the post and back inside it’s the two moves to retain the title.

Hollywood Hogan/Bret Hart vs. Sting/Lex Luger

Bret and Luger get things going with the American grabbing a headlock. Bret comes back with right hands and choking in the corner but Luge rams him into the buckle to take over. A tag brings in Sting and Bret immediately runs to Hogan for a tag. Hogan fires off right hands but Sting shrugs them off and sends Hollywood into the buckle before tagging Luger back in. Choking puts Lex down in the corner and it’s back to Bret for some Canadian choking. We even get an eye rake across the ropes for good measure.

Hogan holds Luger in the corner so Bret can choke even more before choking from the apron. You may be noticing a pattern in the offense here. The heels keep switching without tagging like good villains are supposed to do. Bret hooks a chinlock but gets suplexed down to give Luger a breath.

No hot tag yet though as Hart makes a save, only to have a double clothesline put both guys down again. Now we get the tag to Sting who cleans house on Hogan, only to have Disciple shove Hogan away from the Stinger Splash. Hogan starts whipping Sting with the weightlifting belt but Bret pulls it away. Hart leaves but Hogan goes after him for an argument in the aisle, leading to a countout.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing special but we get yet another twist in the storyline. It’s nice for Bret to FINALLY have something going on, even though it’s rather confusing. I’m not buying into the NWO tension because it’s happened roughly 847 times now in the last two years but never leads anywhere.

Bret and Hogan shove each other in the ring as some smoke starts. It’s too early apparently as it cuts off, only to start up a few moments later. The lights go out as more smoke comes into the ring. They come back on and everyone is out cold with Warrior in the ring. So it’s sleeping gas, which doesn’t work on Warrior for some reason? Or Hogan apparently as he runs to the back to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t the worst show ever, but Warrior vs. Hogan is shaping up to be the stupidest feud in a long time. But hey, Hogan’s ego can be repaired so who cares if he stops WCW from being the top company in wrestling again? I’d love to hear some of the creative meetings. “So you see, Warrior has this Bat Signal and sleeping gas that doesn’t work on him and Hogan and then Hogan beats him in the blowoff match using the powers of Hollywood-A-Mania. Great idea right?” As usual the midcard helps bring the show through, but the main event guys drag it right back down.

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Thunder
Date: August 26, 1998
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Attendance: 7,128
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone

For once in a very long time we’re coming off a strong ending to a Nitro. We’re heading into Fall Brawl and WarGames with Team WCW fully in place and two members of the Black and White set. The Wolfpack hasn’t been announced yet but with only four members it’s not like they have a lot of options. Let’s get to it.

We open with a chat about WarGames with Lee Marshall saying Hogan has never pinned Piper or Page because Lee Marshall is bad at history.

Wrath vs. Scott Putski

Total squash with Wrath winning in less than a minute with a top rope clothesline and the Meltdown, though he didn’t turn Putski all the way and it was more of a Dominator. I was always kind of a Wrath fan as long as he didn’t talk.

Here’s Stevie Ray for his first interview since joining the NWO. He owes Hogan and Bischoff a debt of gratitude (for costing him the TV Title?) for standing up for him three years ago and will serve them up DDP tonight, as per Hogan’s orders.

Mike Enos vs. Bull Pain

Bull Pain has been kicking around the indies and smaller promotions for years now. Enos starts fast and pounds away before hitting a nice side slam. Lots of walking around and posing by Enos. Pain comes back with some right hands and kicks to the ribs but that’s about it for him. A middle rope fall away slam is enough to finish Pain and gets Enos the only pop of his WCW career.

Rating: D. The fall away slam was good but we’re seriously having Mike Enos squashes now? This is how far Thunder has fallen? Bull Pain is a good name for someone but when you get a jobber’s entrance to face Mike Enos, it might be time to look for a new line of work. Nothing to see here.

Disco Inferno vs. The Cat

Disco says everyone is here to see him dance but he turns around into a spinning kick to the face for the pin in 12 seconds.

Post match Miller complains about WCW trying to make him a wrestler because he’s a three time world karate champion and there’s nothing we can do about it. So he turns heel by attacking a heel?

Konnan vs. Silver King

Somehow this sounds better than anything we’ve seen all night. Konnan starts fast with the nicest hurricanrana I’ve ever seen him use to send Silver King out to the floor. Back in and Konnan works on the knee to set up the Tequila Sunrise before going to his signature stuff. After the rolling clothesline and X Factor, it’s the 187 and Tequila Sunrise for the win.

Rating: D. Just a squash but it’s nice to have something to rate tonight. Silver King is yet another name on the list of jobbers with more talent than they’re given credit for. Konnan got the crowd into the match which was his main job in the Wolfpack. It wasn’t anything to see but that hurricanrana was nice.

Post match Rude and Hennig come out to make fun of Konnan before asking who he’d rather get his beating from. Konnan calls out the rest of the Black and White but runs away and laughs on his way out. Nothing to see here again.

Here’s DDP to talk a bit about WarGames. After running down Bischoff, Page praises the Warrior for helping him take down Hollywood SCUM Hogan. Page says we’ll find out who the third man for Team WCW is on Nitro. Wasn’t that covered already? He’ll make Stevie Ray feel the Bang soon enough.

Hour #2 begins.

Kaz Hayashi vs. Evan Karagias

Hayashi starts fast with a cross body and kick to the jaw. Before we get very far, here’s Sonny Onoo to give advise to Kaz. The distraction lets Evan take over with a quick suplex followed by a slam. Not that it matters though as Karagias spends the time Hayashi is down yelling at Onoo instead of following up. He finally goes up for a top rope splash but hits Kaz’s knees. Hayashi yells at Onoo as well before going up top for a senton backsplash for the pin.

Rating: C-. Well I guess rehashing Sonno Onoo’s Japanese team is better than no story at all. The high spots here were decent but they didn’t do enough to carry the match into good territory. Karagais was a good example of someone with the right look but no substance to him for the most par.

Lodi comes to the ring and says that Saturn broke his fingers (it was Raven) so he wants a piece of Saturn right now. This brings out Saturn who points out that it was Raven, but Lodi says Raven would never hurt him because they’re friends. Raven even bought him a new rubber ducky. Lodi even sweetens the pot a bit: if Saturn beats him, he’ll leave the Flock, but if Lodi wins then Saturn has to be Lodi’s slave until Fall Brawl. Saturn jumps him and it’s on.

Lodi vs. Saturn

Saturn pounds away to start and destroys Lodi like the sign carrying goof that he is. A suplex and short arm clothesline have Lodi in big trouble but here are Sick Boy, Riggs and Raven for the save. It’s Raven’s Rules so the match keeps going with Saturn cleaning house. The Death Valley Driver looks to end Lodi but here’s Kanyon to hit the Flatliner on Saturn. Kanyon shakes Raven’s hand as Lodi is able to pin Saturn in a huge upset.

Rating: D+. This was all about the storyline instead of the match which is fine as this story is FINALLY going somewhere. Now to be fair it doesn’t make much sense and is taking out one of the most interesting characters on the roster but at least it’s something instead of what we’ve been seeing for months now.

Scott Norton vs. Jim Neidhart

Norton runs Jim over with a shoulder to send Neidhart out to the floor. Jim goes after Vincent instead of getting his head handed to him by Norton, but Scott just goes to the floor and lays him out. Back in and Jim tries a second rope shoulder but just bounces off of Norton. That was impressive. Norton powerbombs him half to death for the pin.

Rating: D. They’re doing a good job of making Norton look like a killer before he’s fed to Goldberg. They did the same thing with Meng a few weeks back and the result was far better than I was expecting. I can’t remember the last time he lost a singles match and that powerbomb is awesome.

The announcers talk a bit.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Alex Wright

This has to be good right? Jericho is defending of course. Both guys play to the crowd for a bit before we’re ready to go. They fight into the corner before being separated with Wright complaining of a hair pull. Alex bails to the ropes to get out of a wristlock and Jericho does the same to avoid a German suplex. Chris complains about a hair pull and Alex heads outside for a breather. Back in and Alex clotheslines him down before stomping Jericho out to the floor.

Chris is whipped into the barricade but comes back up with chops before sending Alex into the barricade as well. Back in with Wright hitting some European uppercuts. Heenan: “Tony do you know why that is called a European uppercut?” Tony: “I’m scared to ask this but why?” Heenan: “I was hoping you knew.” Alex hits a nice overhead belly to belly suplex for a near fall but Jericho kicks him in the chest to take over again. The champion gets two off a suplex as the announcers talk about the good Hennig vs. Jericho match from Monday.

Wright snapmares Jericho down before throwing him to the outside. An ax handle off the apron has Jericho staggering but he grabs a quick chinlock back inside. Jericho shifts over to a stump puller before rolling backwards so Wright is on Jericho’s stomach. It doesn’t last long and I think the hold would be more effective on the mat. The Lionsault connects but Jericho does the long walk around the ring instead of covering. Alex comes back with an elbow to the jaw and a backbreaker for two.

A spinwheel kick gets the same and there’s a chinlock on the champion. Jericho fights up with a jawbreaker to put both guys down but it’s Wright with another spinwheel kick to take over. They seem to botch a spot with both guys coming off the ropes but Jericho hits a butterfly backbreaker, only to have Wright come back with a backbreaker of his own. Wright misses a top rope ax handle but goes right back up for a sunset flip. It’s all for naught though as Jericho rolls through into the Liontamer to retain.

Rating: C+. This was good but it’s nowhere near enough to save the show at this point. Wright was trying here and Jericho has been on a roll as of late with the Hennig match being a high point. Alex continues to be a guy that could have been something special if he was treated seriously for a longer stretch.

Curt Hennig vs. Van Hammer

Haven’t seen Van Hammer in awhile. Hammer grabs a very quick rollup for two and Hennig is frustrated on the floor. He comes back in and just blasts Hammer in the face with a right hand to put him down. Rude gets in some choking from the floor like any good heel manager would. Hammer ducks a clothesline and fires off some sloppy right hands of his own but misses a knee in the corner. Curt kicks at the knee a bit before getting bored and hitting the PerfectPlex for the pin.

Rating: D. Hammer looked lost out there and could barely throw a decent right hand. It’s pretty clear why we hadn’t seen him in a few months. Rude was the highlight of the match as he punched Hammer in the face and then checked to make sure his nails were still clean. I miss managers that were actually effective.

Stevie Ray vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Tony calls this a bounty match, whatever that means. Ray shoves Page around to start and Page gives him a wry smile. Page comes back with right hands and the driving shoulder blocks to send Ray outside. DDP follows but Vincent grabs the leg to let Stevie take over. Back inside and Ray hits a nice backbreaker before choking a lot. We hit the nerve hold and bearhug for a bit but Page is quickly in the ropes. The Slapjack is countered with a backdrop and Page scores with a neckbreaker. He calls for the Diamond Cutter but hits it on an interfering Vincent, drawing the DQ.

Rating: D+. For a Stevie Ray match this wasn’t completely terrible. They backed themselves into a corner on the ending though as Page isn’t getting pinned and you don’t want Ray getting beaten clean in his first match wearing the Black and White. When all else fails, call for Vincent and the DQ.

Giant comes out to help Stevie with the beatdown but Konnan makes a save to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Another below average show as Thunder gets less and less important every week. The main story tonight was focused on Stevie Ray which isn’t something that is going to draw in an audience. There was a lot of talk about WarGames, but why say Piper isn’t confirmed as a member of the team when he and Page agreed to an alliance on Nitro? Bad show for the most part but there were a few bright spots sprinkled here and there.

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Road Wild 1998
Date: August 8, 1998
Location: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Sturgis, South Dakota
Attendance: 8,500
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenany, Bobby Heenan

The summer of celebrities continues with one of the worst ideas I can imagine: Jay Leno as a professional wrestler. I still don’t get who this is supposed to attract. Fans of the Tonight Show don’t seem like the kind of people that are going to drop $30 to see something they know is going to be a goofy comedy bit and wrestling fans aren’t going to buy it because it’s Jay Leno as a wrestler. On top of that there’s one match that has been pushed at all here and it’s a battle royal. Why they can’t just do NWO vs. NWO and Goldberg vs. Giant is beyond me but I’d bet politics were involved. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a collection of Tonight Show clips which still do nothing to change the fact that it’s Eric Bischoff and Jay Leno in the main event.

I’ll give Road Wild this much: no show comes close to having such a unique atmosphere.

The announcers don’t look as ridiculous this year. Tenay in a jean jacket is still ridiculous looking though.

Gene is sitting on a motorcycle to start and brags about 200,000 bikers being here in Sturgis. Not at the show mind you but I’m sure that’s what will be claimed.

The ring and mats are up on a platform instead of level ground.

Meng vs. Barbarian

This is going to be a long show. The fight starts at the bell with both guys pounding on each other and screaming a lot. They fight over a sumo lockup before trading some chops in the corner. Meng takes over with a hard clothesline even though it didn’t knock Barbarian down. Barbarian comes right back with a belly to belly superplex but Meng pops up and piledrives him.

Meng misses a middle rope splash, no sells it, and goes up top again. Barbarian catches him in a belly to belly superplex as Tenay talks about 350,000 people being at the biker rally this week. A powerslam puts Barbarian down but he gets right back up for some chopping. Meng staggers him with some headbutts but gets pulled to the floor. Barbarian sends him into the steps and heads back inside, only to have Meng put on the Tongan Death Grip for the pin.

Rating: D. It sucked as a match but this wasn’t the worst idea for an opening match. A crowd of bikers is going to respond to two monsters beating each other up for five minutes and they seemed interested here. It doesn’t do much for the wrestling fans, but this show was never for them in the first place.

Meng won’t let go of the hold so Jimmy Hart comes in for the save. That goes as well as you would expect so here’s Hugh Morrus for the second save. Meng gets triple teamed, including a top rope splash from Hart, so Jim Duggan makes the final save, drawing a big pop from the bikers that might have watched a few wrestling matches ten years ago.

Tenay’s estimates are now up to 360,000.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Public Enemy

Tokyo Magnum is here with the dancers. Wright rolls away from Rocco to start before hiptossing him down and dancing. They fight over a wristlock until Alex dropkicks him down and tags in Disco. He’s not quite ready to fight yet though and drops to the floor for a three way high five with the other dancers. Back in and Disco takes Grunge down with a clothesline before bringing Wright back in for a missile dropkick. Alex stops for some dancing and turns around into a Rocco clothesline.

A double flapjack puts Inferno down and Tokyo throws in a trashcan out of nowhere. Grunge gets cracked over the back as the referee is cool with all of this. Rocco brings in a ladder and that’s too much for the dancers who go for a walk. Tokyo doesn’t want to leave but his partners come back with a table. Disco grabs a mic and says let’s make this a street fight. Tony states the obvious: “Haven’t we already made it one already?”

The referee is fine with that so Public Enemy goes to the back to find a toilet seat and a kitchen sink. Grunge pounds on Disco on the floor as Tony hypes up a cookie sheet. Wright suplexes Rocco through a trashcan but Grunge blasts Alex with the sheet for the save. Rocco loads up the flip dive through the table but Disco makes a save to prevent Wright’s demise. The kitchen sink is brought in and nearly broken over Grunge’s back. The fans want to see the table but they get Tokyo Magnum thrown inside instead.

Public Enemy throws the dancers into each other and give them stereo atomic drops, only to have Wright come back with a leg lariat to Grunge. Tokyo hits Magnum by mistake as Grunge blasts Disco in the face with the ladder. Alex walks away as Rocco see-saws a ladder into Disco’s hair. Now Tokyo walks away, leaving Public Enemy to set up three tables on top of each other next to the platform. Grunge climbs a ladder to put Disco on the top table, allowing Rocco to climb the scaffolding for a huge elbow drop. Grunge has to throw Disco back inside, avoid a top rope splash from a returning Magnum, and get the pin.

Rating: D+. The match was fun and the spot at the end was good (though also odd looking with a delay before each table broke) but it took over fifteen minutes to get there. The wrestling stuff at the beginning was a waste of time and they should have just gone to the street fight stuff from the beginning. Not horrid though.

Dean Malenko says he’ll be a fair referee.

Raven vs. Kanyon vs. Saturn

Under Raven’s Rules, meaning hardcore. Raven’s music is so awesome that it doesn’t belong on a show like this. The question coming into this is whether Kanyon is under Raven’s control or not. Raven stands on the apron and tells Kanyon to get Saturn, only to have Perry take over with some kicks. Raven comes in with a chair to Saturn’s back and sends Kanyon into the post before Saturn falls to the floor as well.

Saturn and Kanyon get in a fight on the floor as Heenan tries to figure out the story of the match as only he can. Raven sits in the corner while the other two fight in the ring but they finally realize what’s going on. Kanyon dropkicks Raven low and Saturn belly to back suplexes Raven into a Kanyon neckbreaker. Kanyon throws Raven into Saturn and hits rolling Russian legsweeps on Raven for two in a nice move. Saturn breaks up the cover with a guillotine legdrop on Raven for two and the Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza gets the same on Raven.

Kanyon gets in another fight with Saturn so Raven blasts them both in the head with a chair, only to be sent to the floor. Saturn follows him out so Kanyon dives on both guys, giving us our first breather in awhile. They get off the platform where Kanyon whips Raven HARD into the barricade. Raven comes back with a suplex to put Kanyon down on the ramp (designed like a road) but Saturn clotheslines Raven down for two. Kanyon piledrives Saturn on the stage for two more before Raven dropkicks Kanyon down the stage.

They fight back to the ring where both guys drop down to avoid a charging Raven before Saturn catches him with a t-bone suplex. Saturn puts Raven in a sleeper but Kanyon puts one on Saturn as well before a jawbreaker puts everyone down. We get a Tower of Doom with Kanyon superplexing Saturn and Raven putting Kanyon in an electric chair.

Raven tries a double DDT on both guys but only puts Saturn down. Kanyon and Raven head outside with Raven getting suplexed onto the floor. Kanyon misses a splash off the scaffolding but Saturn catches Raven in the Death Valley Driver. Lodi makes the save but Horace comes in to lay out Saturn. Horace picks up the stop sign but gets blinded by Lodi’s powder. He caves Raven’s head in and a Death Valley Driver to Raven gives Saturn the pin.

Rating: C. This was a mess but it was supposed to be. I’m still not sure where they go with this story now but it would seem to still be Raven vs. Saturn. Kanyon was just there to keep spots going and he did a good job, but that doesn’t mean he helped the story or really changed anything.

Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Bonus match and the winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot at a date to be determined. Since that’s not important, the announcers talk about Leno being nervous. Psychosis takes him to the mat with a headlock followed by an armbar. Rey tries to get up but gets taken back down by the wrist. The crowd is dead for this which shouldn’t shock anyone. Back up again and Rey can’t hook a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker so Psychosis clotheslines him down for two.

A sitout front suplex gets two for Psychosis and he whips Rey from corner to corner. Rey’s arms are wrapped around the ropes in the corner as this somehow gets even slower. It’s not terrible mind you but it’s the completely wrong style for these two to be working. Psychosis suplexes Rey down and goes up top, only to do the most obvious “I’m going up here to jump into his raised boots because I’m jumping straight down instead of doing ANY kind of move at all” spot I can remember in a long time.

Rey FINALLY realizes that he’s the king of cruiserweights and cartwheels at Psychosis before jumping onto his shoulders for a spinning hurricanrana. Believe it or not, the crowd actually responds to the high spot. After nothing of note on the floor, Rey hits a big cross body for two but has his hurricanrana countered into a sitout powerbomb. That’s enough of the big spots though and it’s nerve hold time. Rey fights up onto Psychosis’ shoulders but gets dropped back into a suplex for two.

They head outside again where Psychosis….does nothing. Back inside with Psychosis putting on a half crab before going up top for a super Frankensteiner for two. Psychosis goes up again but turns his back to Rey, only to get dropkicked out to the floor. Rey follows him out with a nice dive before throwing him back inside for a springboard sunset flip for a close two.

Mysterio hits something like a Fameasser with both legs across Psychosis’ back followed by a slingshot moonsault for two. Psychosis comes back with something resembling a Fameasser of his own for two but Rey avoids a charge and West Coast Pops his way to the #1 contendership.

Rating: D+. This felt like a car that was low on gas. You could get it going for a few moments, but eventually it would sputter and die. These two are capable of having some awesome matches but instead they were happy with just laying around and doing nothing most of the time. Rey was trying but Psychosis looked horrible.

TV Title: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Stevie Ray

Before the match Chavo shows off another hand made and stamped document saying that he’s the TV Champion, so Stevie needs to come out here and give him his belt. Chavo tries to do the handshake bit again but Stevie runs away because he doesn’t want to win a match by submission for some reason. Instead Stevie just punches him in the head and blocks a sunset flip with a choke. Chavo bails to the floor as the announcers call this a version of the rope-a-dope. Guerrero tries to sneak in but gets caught in the Slap Jack (lifting Pedigree) for the quick pin. This was a nothing squash.

Eddie saves Chavo from a further beating post match.

Jericho promises to keep the title and warns Malenko to be good tonight.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

Rick is in jeans and a t-shirt…and here’s JJ to say hang on a second. Apparently Scott is too injured to wrestle and here he is on a stretcher with his arm and leg in casts, a neck brace, and on an oxygen tube. Rick’s chair shot to Scott was so bad that even Buff’s neck is reinjured. The match is rescheduled for Fall Brawl, and the fans are LIVID. If Scott doesn’t fight at Fall Brawl, he’s suspended for life. Scott jumps up but runs away from a charging Rick to end this stupid bait and switch.

Brian Adams vs. Steve McMichael

Another bonus match which is about as welcome as 847 angry yellowjackets pouring buckets of boiling tar on your back and injecting you with needles filled with herpes while a blind monk with a bad case of the shakes checks you for a hernia. They shove each other around to start before not having a test of strength. We get the ugliest mistimed sequence this side of Tough Enough as Adams misses a clothesline and they just kind of run into each other and McMichael putting on a front facelock.

Adams slams him down and drops a pair of legs for two. We hit the nerve hold for a LONG time before Adams hits a backbreaker and bends Mongo over his knee. Mongo avoids a middle rope knee drop and comes back with a belly to back suplex. A few three point shoulders take Adams down but he shrugs them off and loads up a piledriver, only to have the referee kicked in the face. Vincent tries to bring in a chair but cracks Adams by mistake, setting up the tombstone for the pin.

Rating: E. As in ebola, which sounds a lot better than sitting through this match ever again. On to ANYTHING else please.

The Nitro Girls are around Gene on the motorcycle.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera

Dean Malenko is refereeing and Jericho is defending. Jericho comes to the ring in a purple kimona because that’s the kind of guy he is. As always, he wants us to want him but opts to tease the bikers instead. I wonder if there are any Aces and 8’s in the crowd. Jericho takes him into the corner to start and Malenko tears him away as he’s supposed to do. Juvy takes out Jericho’s legs and chops away but Jericho elbows him in the face to take over again.

Juvy is sent to the floor and Jericho loads something up but Dean pulls him to the mat by the hair. Well at least according to Tenay, as the camera was on Juvy the entire time. Back in and Juvy slams Jericho onto the mat and a missile dropkick sends the champion outside. Guerrera chops him off the platform and into the barricade before going inside for a HUGE placha over the platform and into Jericho into the barricade.

Back in and Juvy gets two off a springboard cross body but Jericho catches another cross body attempt into something resembling a Juvy Driver for two. Dean’s count was noticeably slow and the count off a delayed vertical suplex is even slower. Juvy rolls out to the floor while Jericho yells at some fans before getting hit with a backsplash for two. We hit the chinlock on Guerrera before Chris stomps away and talks trash.

The Lionsault hits knees and Juvy comes back with chops and a hurricanrana. A top rope spinwheel kicks gets the same……slow……two……count from Dean but Jericho counters a running hurricanrana into a powerbomb. Jericho kicks him out to the apron instead of covering and kicks Juvy onto the floor. Back in and a clothesline gets two on Guerrera as the crowd is trying to care about this.

A Jericho powerbomb is countered into a DDT to wake the fans up a bit and the Juvy Driver gets a two count. Jericho is dazed but still manages to crotch Guerrera on the top and superplex him back down. Juvy rolls over for two but has another hurricanrana countered into the Liontamer. He’s right in front of the ropes though and Jericho is getting frustrated.

Juvy pounds away in the corner and Dean seems to have been poked in the eye. A belt shot lays out the challenger but Dean’s slow count means it’s only for two. Jericho is all ticked off and goes to the middle rope. He kicks Dean in the chest and that makes Malenko snap. Well snap as much as he’s capable of. Dean launches a charging Juvy into a middle rope Frankensteiner for the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. The match was good but it’s running with the anchor of this entire show. Maybe the heat of the day has something to do with it but these matches have all been incredibly sluggish. Juvy was trying here and Jericho was his usual great self but they could only get so far. Again though, why didn’t they just have Dean take the title himself?

Battle Royal

Goldberg, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, The Giant, Scott Norton, Sting, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Konnan

You can be eliminated either over the top or by pin/submission. Hall interrupts the ridiculously long entrances with the survey to keep this show going even longer. The NWO factions brawl while Goldberg hides in the corner. That lasts about fifteen seconds before Goldberg goes after Giant, which should have been a regular match tonight in the first place. Again that doesn’t last long and the match breaks down into a regular battle royal.

Hall loads up the Outsiders’ Edge on Goldberg but gets backdropped out. Nash eliminates himself (you can’t make up jokes like this) and goes after Hall as Goldberg spears Hennig down. Things get slow again with no one trying for an elimination. Goldberg finally pounds on Giant but gets headbutted back against the ropes. The fans chant for Goldberg as Giant takes him down with a Russian legsweep. Norton breaks up a Scorpion attempt on Hennig to keep the crowd bored.

Goldberg spears Konnan and throws him out before getting kicked in the corner by Giant. The NWO keeps fighting and Goldberg goes right back to the corner to wait for the next victim. It’s a short wait this time as he spears and eliminates Hennig before clotheslining Sting and Norton to the floor as well. We’re down to Luger, Giant and Goldberg but there’s a spear to Luger so Giant can dump him. A chokeslam puts Goldberg down but he does the Undertaker sit up and it’s a spear and Jackhammer for the win.

Rating: F. Holy sweet goodness how did WCW survive this long? There were eight eliminations in this match and Goldberg had six of them. The other two were a self elimination and someone Goldberg knocked out cold. There were, conservatively, five PPV title matches in there and Goldberg beat them all in less than eight minutes. You could have easily had someone throw Goldberg out and set them up as the challenger but instead let’s just have him destroy EVERYONE (except Nash of course because Nash losing would just be silly) and leave you with no challengers. But hey, a bunch of bikers cheered right?

Jay Leno/Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eric Bischoff/Hollywood Hogan

Thank goodness they don’t have another video package to set this up. The one good thing about this: Liz ROCKING some jeans and chaps. Leno is apparently here to defend his title as King of Late Night. Kevin Eubanks is at ringside. Leno throws water at Hogan and Bischoff on the floor to show how serious he is. Hogan and Page start (thank goodness) and we get the usual non-action headlined by a wristlock.

Page drives in the shoulders and hits a big right hand, knocking Hogan into a left hand from Leno. Hogan is sent to the floor and the ripped Kevin Eubanks sends him into the post. Leno leads a chant against Hogan and is at least into the match. Bischoff comes in and Jay tries to go after him but gets held back. Page shrugs off some kicks to the chest and it’s off to Leno. Bischoff runs away to Hogan and Jay stays in. He points at his chin and makes fun of Hogan’s baldness which is about what you would expect. Leno avoids a pair of right hands and tags in Page.

Hogan clotheslines Page down and it’s back to the driving shoulders. Leno comes back in to grab the wrist and in one of the most painful things I can remember seeing as a wrestling fan, Hogan sells it. He wouldn’t sell for Sting at Starrcade but he’s selling for Jay Leno. Hogan shoves him into the corner and drives in a knee but Leno grabs the wrist again. A double clothesline puts Hogan down and Leno gets two before nearly collapsing into a tag to Page. Ok to be fair to Leno, he did his job and was actually trying. Points for that.

The wrestlers head to the floor and Eubanks steals a chair from Hogan to keep Page in control. Back in and Bischoff gets in a kick to the back of Page’s head to change momentum. Bischoff gets in his shots to make himself feel important before Hogan gets in a shot with a foreign object to give Eric a two count. There’s the big boot but Page gets up before the legdrop and takes Hogan down with the discus lariat.

Leno gets the hot tag and we get the showdown with Bischoff…..who drops Leno with a poke to the eye. Jay comes back with a low blow and some right hands before sending Bischoff into some buckles. Leno is totally gassed and everything breaks down. Hogan hits Bischoff by mistake and Eubanks hits a very good looking Diamond Cutter on Bischoff to give Leno the pin.

Rating: D. Of course that’s on an adjusted scale. This match wasn’t horrible but it was incredibly stupid. Again I’d like to reiterate that Leno did his job to the best of his ability. He did his comedy stuff, took a few shots from Hogan and got the pin on Bischoff. He was bad, but you knew that was going to happen as soon as this was announced. As for the booking, there were a bunch of other ideas they could have gone with here and this was probably the worst possible outcome.

You could have gone with the Battle of the Billionaires idea with Leno backing Page against Hogan in a singles match and done the showdown with Bischoff that way. You could have swapped in Goldberg for Page and done Goldberg vs. Hogan II with the same Leno vs. Bischoff outside stuff. Do that and put Page in the battle royal to get Goldberg’s next challenger. You could have done any of those things and gotten a better result, but it wouldn’t be WCW if they had gone that way.

Hogan and Bischoff get in more cheap shots until Goldberg comes in for the save. The good guys pose to end the wrestling part of the show.

The announcers talk and we get a video on Fall Brawl.

Gene interviews some fans as Travis Tritt gets ready.

The announcers wrap things up as the concert starts to end the show.

Overall Rating: F. There’s no other way to put it: this show sucked. The ONLY good match is the Cruiserweight Title match and maybe you could argue the triple threat, which was done on Nitro just a few weeks earlier. WCW is in a creative tailspin here and it’s not looking any better. Depending on your tastes, things are about to get either a lot more fun or a lot worse as the product is going to go from dull to awful in a hurry.

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Thunder
Date: August 5, 1998
Location: Casper Events Center, Casper, Wyoming
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s the go home show for Road Wild which means we’re probably in line for about 174 Tonight Show clips in the next two hours. We might even get to hear some new matches announced for the show as I think we have three at the moment. I’m so glad Thunder came back for such a great occasion. Let’s get to it.

This is the first episode since mid-July if you’re trying to read these in order.

We open on the announcers talking about the big tag match. Also you get to see a Travis Tritt concert if you buy the show. There might even be some wrestling on the side.

Goldberg is officially in the battle royal.

We look at Sting in the white paint as he’s back to what he was in 1997.

We also look at the NWO shouting at Kimberly while Page got beaten up. That’s still a little disturbing.

Giant vs. Lizmark Jr.

The match is over before I finish writing the names via the chokeslam.

Giant thinks Goldberg is on a roll and has won the title but Giant is the real future of wrestling. He wants a piece of Goldberg at some point in the future.

Video package on Goldberg.

Here’s Luger, rocking that sweet wolf’s head shirt, with something to say. After some sucking up to the crowd, he says that Wolfpack is more than just for life; it’s forever. For the first time since probably 1993, we get a LUGER chant. We get the answer to the question that people were supposed to be asking since Monday: who attacked him in the back. The only face Luger saw before he went down was Scott Hall, so he’s not leaving until there’s an NWO battle tonight. Sting (in red and black like he was before Monday) and Konnan come out and stand beside their stablemate and it’s posing all around.

Dean Malenko comes out to referee the next match but Jericho cuts him off. He knows Dean must have sucked up to a lot of people to get the job on Sunday but Jericho knows Malenko doesn’t have the integrity to call a fair match at Road Wild. Dean better call the next match fair or else.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Psychosis

Juvy takes over early by going up top for a flying headscissors and a clothesline to drop the masked man for two. Psychosis comes back with a clothesline of his own and gets a boot up in the corner to drop Juvy. Guerrera grabs a Juvy Driver out of nowhere for a near fall as Dean hasn’t been a factor so far. Something resembling a powerbomb gets two for Psychosis but Juvy monkeyflips him out to the floor because selling isn’t allowed in most cruiserweight matches. While Dean checks on Psychosis on the floor, Jericho comes in to blast Juvy with the title belt. A guillotine legdrop forces Dean to count a reluctant pin.

Rating: C-. Some nice highspots aside, would anyone like to explain to me the logic of having your #1 contender for the Cruiserweight Title lose back to back TV matches the week before his title shot? If you want Dean to cost Jericho the title, why not just have him take the title himself?

And now…..oh good grief they’re doing NWO Nightcap on Thunder now. Let’s make this quick: Leno jokes, Eubanks jokes, Kimberly sleeps around…..and here’s DDP to DIVE at Bischoff and choke him until the set is destroyed. Cops pull Page off and Giant carries Bischoff’s carcass to the back. At least they kept it under ten minutes this time and that dive was great.

Let’s take a breather here and talk about something: how are these Nightcap segments supposed to make me want to buy a show? The idea is simple of course: Bischoff makes fun of Leno, Leno should want to get revenge. That’s where the good idea (a stretch on its own) stops. How many people are going to want to pay to see that and how many people are going to think that’s the dumbest idea they’ve ever heard? They might watch it for free on the Tonight Show, but asking them to pay $30 and pay for something they know will be goofy?

Hogan isn’t here but saw what happened and is coming. With his biker buddies. Oh dear. Just oh dear. Wait if he wasn’t at the show, why was he in Casper?

Meng vs. Jim Duggan

They slug it out with Duggan throwing his big overblown right hands and Meng looking like he’s having a seizure. A kick to the chest puts Duggan down but he pops back to his feet for a double clothesline. Not that it matters as Hugh Morrus and Barbarian come in for the no contest.

Duggan cleans house with the 2×4 and Meng chases Morrus and Barbarian to the back.

Here’s the NWO Black and White (read as Hall and goons) with something to say. Hall makes jokes about the Nitro Girls before turning his attention to the Wolfpack. Luger likes to get beaten up, Konnan is a jumping bean that will get squashed like a cockroach and Sting can’t decide what color to paint his face. The challenge for tonight is accepted.

TV Title: Steve McMichael vs. Stevie Ray

Ray is defending. Mongo is all ticked off and storms the ring, only to get choked down into the corner. A jumping kick to the chest puts McMichael down but he comes back with a belly to back suplex. Mongo hits a few three point charges to put Ray down again, only to charge into an elbow in the corner. Here’s Chavo with a piece of paper saying he’s made himself the champion just like Stevie. Ray goes after him for the countout. Mongo was basically squashed here but he still doesn’t get why Arn doesn’t want the Horsemen back.

Chavo clocks Stevie with the belt and Mongo gets in some cheap shots. Ray whips Mongo into the barricade to make sure McMichael doesn’t look good at all and chases after Guerrero.

Tony brings out Rick Steiner to talk about what happened on Monday. Rick wants to beat up Scott and Buff so badly that he yells until Tony has to bring him back to reality. This time it’s personal and Rick wants to fight Scott man to man on Saturday.

Raven talks about controlling Kanyon and how this Sunday will be a handicap match against Saturn. Instead of a triple threat tonight, Saturn gets a handicap match.

Saturn vs. Riggs/Sick Boy

Saturn beats both guys up like the jobbers they are and stomps on Lodi’s broken fingers. The Flock members finally get it together and double team Saturn down. Riggs hits a nice side slam and brings in Sick Boy, only to have Saturn superkick him in the jaw. Riggs is knocked off the apron and Saturn ends Sick Boy quick with the Death Valley Driver.

Buy some motorcycle!

Disco Inferno vs. Eddie Guerrero

Tokyo is with Disco and comes out to Alex Wright’s music. Eddie gets in a cheap shot to start and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two. Disco comes right back with an early piledriver and a spinning neckbreaker for two each. A middle rope fist drop misses Eddie though and he takes Disco’s head off with an elbow to the jaw. Guerrero botches something resembling a shoulder breaker but plants Disco with a brainbuster. In a nice ending, Eddie goes up for the Frog Splash but Tokyo shoves him off, only to have Eddie land right on Disco with the splash anyway. Too short to rate but it’s another nothing match in a series tonight.

Buff Bagwell calls in and says Rick Steiner is stupid until Rick comes to the announcers’ table. Apparently that chair shot on Monday injured Scott so badly that he can’t wrestle at Road Wild. Rick offers to fight both of them anyway.

Clip from the Tonight Show.

Here are Hogan, Disciple and Bischoff for their final rant before Sunday. This show has sapped every ounce of energy I have so we’ll make this quick: Hogan knows a bunch of bikers, Kimberly was on the back of his bike coming here, he’s going to break every bone in Leno and Page’s bodies, Bischoff is going to take over the late night scene and he’s ordered the caskets for Sunday. That somehow took over five minutes. Oh and Hogan had no bikers with him, unless Disciple counts.

NWO Wolfpack vs. NWO Black and White

It’s Hall/Adams/Hennig vs. Sting/Luger/Konnan. We come back from a break and the brawl is on quickly. Everyone fights on the floor with the Wolfpack taking over. Luger and Hall finally get in the ring to get things going with Lex hitting his array of atomic drops. Off to Hennig who gets shoved into the corner over and over so all three members of the Wolfpack can get in some cheap shots.

Konnan comes in to face Adams and walks into a backbreaker for two. The Black and White triple teams Konnan for a bit, resulting in a tag off to Hennig for some knee lifts. The fans chant for the Wolfpack and Sting gets the hot tag to clean house. Everything breaks down and Konnan gets a Tequila Sunrise on Adams but Hennig makes a save. Not that it matters though as Konnan rolls Adams up for the pin a second later.

Rating: D. Just a match here to set up the battle royal on Saturday, even though it leaves out the people of interest in the battle royal. They did a decent job about making the match feel like a melee but that doesn’t mean it’s an interesting match. This was your usual throw everybody else into the main event to close out the show match.

Overall Rating: D. This company is dreadful right now with the Hogan vs. Hollywood stuff dragging everything else down. Thankfully the story isn’t going to last much longer, but it’s made the last few weeks nearly unwatchable. The PPV is a two match show at best, even though one of the matches is a battle royal to combine two feuds into one. Why that’s needed on a PPV as empty as Road Wild is beyond me but I’m sure it somehow makes Hogan a bigger star or something like that.

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Monday Nitro #148
Date: August 3, 1998
Location: Denver Coliseum, Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 7,697
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s the go home show for Road Wild and up to this point there are only a few matches announced. One of the matches that hasn’t been officially announced yet is the main event, which presents even more problems for the mess that WCW is in at the moment. The Leno match will draw money, but you need a lot more than five days to promote a match like that. On top of that, we still don’t have a match for Goldberg and the potential battle royal between the NWO camps has only been mentioned. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Goldberg’s HUGE 20 second speech and run-in to close out the show last week, only to see him get chokeslammed by Giant.

Opening sequence.

Nitro Girls.

Heenan is on commentary to start things off for some reason. Apparently Larry is in a meeting with Time Warner executives.

We get a clip from the Tonight Show on Wednesday with Hogan and Bischoff taking over. Page and security chased them off a few seconds later and Leno/Page vs. Hogan/Bischoff is official for the PPV. Publicity on NBC is a great thing, but having it announced a week or so earlier would have helped a lot.

Here’s DDP with something to say. He had to twist Leno’s arm a little bit but Jay will be in the ring in Strugis. There won’t be anything left of Scum Hogan and Sleazy E after Road Wild because Leno will clean house with Bischoff.

Barbarian vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Apparently Barbarian came out here for a match with an unnamed opponent but Jimmy Hart issues a challenge. Page starts with a swinging neckbreaker and a hiptoss but Barbarian slips away from the Diamond Cutter. Jimmy distracts the referee and Barbarian gets in a low blow to take over. Page comes back from some choking in the corner with rights and lefts, only to have Barbarian pound him down again. A clothesline drops Barbie but he shoves the Cutter away again. He blocks it a third time but Page finally pulls him down for the pin.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing to see but the ending was a nice idea for a change. I kind of like someone just shoving Page off instead of going down, especially when it’s someone you would expect to get pinned in a few seconds. This actually wasn’t a glorified squash, much to my surprise.

More fake Hogan on the Tonight Show.

Larry has taken Heenan’s place and talks about the meeting with Time Warner. Short version: nothing has changed at all.

We look at every major match last week as this seems to be another recap heavy show.

Travis Tritt Road Wild promo.

Another Tonight Show clip with Hogan and Bischoff coming out to yell at Leno for his jokes.

And now…..NWO Nightcap. You get the idea here: band, stupid jokes, Leno impressions, threat to Kevin Eubanks, Monica Lewinsky jokes, Jay Leno jokes, Monica Lewinsky and Jay Leno jokes. The guest is Hogan of course and we look at more Tonight Show clips of Hogan and Bischoff storming the set to yell at Leno. Kevin Eubanks came to his rescue but the NWO took over the show anyway.

Hogan calls that the shove that changed history and threatens Page a bit. NBC wants Hogan and Bischoff to take over the Tonight Show after Road Wild. We get even more trash talk as this just keeps going. They kept it short this week and only ate up 13 minutes. Remember that when you see who isn’t on the show tonight.

We look at Hogan shoving Leno again before we go to break.

To keep the trend going, here’s a video on Bret Hart.

Tokyo Magnum vs. Psychosis

This is supposed to be Psychosis vs. Disco Inferno but he swaps out for Tokyo instead. Psychosis is cool with that and stomps on Magnum in the corner but Scott Norton comes in to beat them both up after about 15 seconds.

Norton issues an open challenge to anyone in WCW for a fight later this evening. Hugh Morrus comes out to answer the challenge and gets powerbombed about four seconds later.

Another video from last week with Bret talking about his respect for Sting and refusing to fight him later in the night. The promo confirmed that Bret is officially not part of the NWO.

Hour #2 begins as I feel sorry for the crowd for the second week in a row.

Nitro Girls in gold.

Nitro Party Pack winner. They showed what the Party Pack for once and it appears to be a bunch of plates and napkins with the Nitro logo. That would certainly make me want to film a big party let me tell you.

Time for more Goldberg talking. Goldberg says Saturday is payback time for the Giant because the champ is going to enter the NWO battle royal. He’ll fight anyone to get to Giant, including Sting. That brings out Sting himself for a showdown but Giant and the Black and White show up on the stage. Goldberg runs through the goons and chases Giant off as Bret Hart walks out. Some papers have fallen from the ceiling, saying “Goldberg, you’re next!”

Back from a break with Sting in the back, looking over an unconscious Lex Luger. Sting leaves as soon as medics show up.

Brian Adams vs. Jim Duggan

Duggan slugs away and hits some bad looking clotheslines to send Adams to the floor. Back in and an ax handle to the chest puts Adams down again but he forearms Duggan in the head. We hit the chinlock on Duggan before he makes his comeback and crotches Adams on the ropes. Vincent comes in with the board and the distraction lets Adams piledrive Duggan down for the pin.

Rating: D-. When Brian Adams is the better worker you have in a match, you’re not having the most interesting outing in the world. Was Jim Duggan really popular enough to warrant getting this many TV appearances? At least he’s only jobbing and not out there taking away anyone’s heat.

Bret Hart comes out of the trainer’s room. He denies having anything to do with Luger being attacked before offering his services to Sting as a replacement partner in Luger’s place tonight.

Gene is on a motorcycle and talks about riding to Sturgis.

Video on Raven, talking about a lack of joy.

Here’s the Flock to say Sick Boy vs. Kanyon isn’t happening tonight because Kanyon is nowhere to be fine. Raven suggests that Kanyon has joined the Flock. If that’s the case, Saturn is in big trouble on Sunday. Raven breaks Lodi’s fingers for fun until Saturn makes the save. He helps Lodi up but Lodi shoves him away, earning a Death Valley Driver.

Bret Hart is caught in the back with Scott Hall.

More of Hogan shoving Leno.

More Nitro Girls.

There’s even MORE talking as we’re halfway through the show. This time it’s JJ Dillon who asks to speak to Dean Malenko. Dean says the loss last week was last week and he’s not going to cry about it. Jericho was the better man last week and if he was here, Dean would tell him to his face. Now a good heel would be out there immediately to make Dean say that to his face.

Thankfully for us, Jericho is an awesome heel so here he is to gloat in person. Jericho goes on a rant about how he was unstoppable last week and says Malenko will never get to face him again. Dean says that’s not entirely true. JoJo says that since Jericho has a history of cheating, there will be a guest referee. Jericho somehow doesn’t see it coming and says he doesn’t care. The referee of course: Dean Malenko.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Juventud Guerrera

The announcers talk about Sting leaving the building at some point in the last half hour and Heenan sounds BOMBED. Juvy offers a handshake to start but gets slapped in the face instead. Guerrera doesn’t take kindly to that and dropkicks Eddie in the chest. Jericho vs. Guerrera for the Cruiserweight Title is official for Road Wild due to Eddie costing Juvy a title shot over the weekend. That took WCW about 10 seconds to explain and also gives us a reason for this match. Why is that so hard for modern wrestling companies to do?

Juvy blocks a superplex attempt and hits a top rope spinwheel kick to send Eddie outside. A suicide dive sends Eddie into the barricade. The drunk Heenan gets in a good line about David Letterman betting against Leno at the PPV. Back in and Juvy’s charge in the corner sends him into the buckle but he counters a powerbomb into a DDT for two. Guerrera’s straps come down but Eddie counters the Juvy Driver into a shoulder breaker, setting up the Frog Splash for the win.

Rating: C. It was nice to see an actual wrestling match on this show but the booking makes me shake my head. Who in the world thought that Eddie, who isn’t even on the PPV this weekend, needed a clean win over a guy getting a title shot? That’s modern WWE style booking and it’s just stupid. Tenay pointing out that Guerrera’s momentum is all gone now doesn’t help.

MORE Tonight Show stuff.

Gene is on his motorcycle again.

TV Title: Stevie Ray vs. Lizmark Jr.

Lizmark comes out to what I believe became Norman Smiley’s music. This week Stevie has a notarized statement making him the official TV Champion. Gene sees nothing official on it but Stevie insists. In some comedy you couldn’t make up if you tried, Tony says you can’t fool WCW commentators.

Total squash here with Stevie knocking Lizmark around like the cruiserweight jobber he is. A kick to the chest sends Lizmark into the barricade and a World’s Strongest Slam puts him down again. Stevie loads up the Slap Jack but here’s Chavo with a fake notary stamp. Chavo thinks he can make his own marriage license now and Stevie chases him off for the countout. The fans spent most of the match shouting about how much this match sucked and how bored they were, which is a completely acceptable feeling at this point in the show.

Travis Tritt ad.

Hour #3 begins.

Curt Hennig vs. Konnan

There’s a new Wolfpack shirt with a red wolf’s head on the front. I wanted one of those so bad when I was a kid. Hennig tries to jump Konnan to start but Konnan hiptosses him and clotheslines Hennig to the floor. Scott Norton distracts the referee so Hennig can get in a cheap shot to take over but Konnan hits another hard clothesline to take over again. A basement dropkick and an X Factor set up the Tequila Sunrise but a Norton distraction breaks it up. Hennig chokes Konnan with his singlet straps and the PerfectPlex gets the pin. Another short match.

Nash comes out to chase off the Black and White post match.

More Tonight Show stuff.

Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Non-title. Jericho gets in a cheap shot to start but Rey comes back with a springboard missile dropkick to send him outside. A flipping seated senton takes Jericho down again and we take a break. Back with Mysterio hitting what looked like a moonsault press for two. Jericho catches a springboard cross body and puts Mysterio down with a shoulder breaker. Mysterio rolls to the floor and gets dropkicked into the barricade.

Back in and Rey suplexes Jericho down in the closest thing you’ll ever see to a power display from Mysterio. Chris comes right back with a bizarre looking submission hold which can best be described as an Octopus Hold but from his back. Rey makes the rope but gets clotheslined down yet again. Jericho launches him into the corner but Rey lands on the middle ropes and headscissors Jericho down for two. A springboard split legged moonsault gets the same but Jericho hits a quick bulldog to get a breather.

Jericho tries his springboard cross body to the apron but crashes to the floor instead. Rey hurricanranas Jericho back inside but gets caught in a butterfly backbreaker. Mysterio gets back up again and tries a springboard move, only to have Jericho pull the referee in the way. Rey can’t stop his momentum and hits something like a seated senton on Mark Curtis. Jericho powerbombs Rey down and loads up the Liontamer but Rey counters into a rollup. There’s no referee but Dean Malenko runs out to count the pin.

Rating: B. I really liked this match even though it was a different style than I was expecting. It’s an impressive feat when you can have two guys work a match the opposite way than they usually would and still get something this entertaining. The ending ties things in to Saturday’s match and gave us an entertaining match at the same time. You can’t ask for more than that.

Same Tonight Show package for I think the third time tonight.

Nitro Girls.

We look back at Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner talking about Buff’s injuries last week and JJ Dillon making the battle of the Steiners for Road Wild.

Here’s Scott Steiner with something to say. He talks about having black and white blood in his veins but something has changed his thinking. On Monday he got a phone call from his mom, telling him that the blood in his body is the same as his brother’s. Scott takes off the NWO shirt and says he quits. He asks Rick to come out here for an apology and the announcers think this is a nice moment. Instead here’s Buff Bagwell in a Rick Steiner costume and acting like a dog. But I thought you couldn’t fool WCW announcers. Anyway Scott makes fun of Rick until the real Rick comes out and WACKS Scott with a chair.

Tonight Show clip, literally for the tenth time tonight.

Road Wild ad.

Nitro Girls again.

Tony promises a bonus Travis Tritt concert if you buy the show, meaning the PPV will be longer than usual.

The Black and White corner Kimberly before she can get out of the ring and say she looks good for trailer trash. Kimberly slaps Eric and here’s DDP for the save but the numbers are too much for him. A long beatdown ensues with Bischoff talking trash and making sexual jokes about Kimberly. The Goldberg chants get no response as this just keeps going. A chokeslam leaves Page laying.

The announcers go into serious mode to talk about what we just saw before directly transitioning into plugging Travis Tritt’s new CD.

We look at Goldberg’s challenge for the battle royal again and him calling out Sting.

Tag Titles: Scott Hall/The Giant vs. Sting/Bret Hart

Hall and Giant are defending. For some reason Sting comes from the rafters to his old music with the white paint. Hart and Hall get us started in a Royal Rumble 1993 rematch. Feeling out process to start with Bret not really wanting to go after Hall. Eventually Bret cranks on the arm a bit before offering a tag to Sting but Sting’s arm doesn’t move from the ropes.

Sting tags himself in and hits a running clothesline and the bulldog but Hall bails to avoid the Scorpion. Back in and Hall scores with a clothesline to bring in Giant. A Russian legsweep drops Sting to give Hall a two count and a fallaway slam gets the same. Bret finally extends an arm for a tag as Sting shoves Hall into the corner, but the impact knocks Bret to the floor. Sting fights both champions off and ducks a bat shot from Hart which hits Hall, giving Sting the pin and the titles.

Rating: D. The match was your usual junk with no time to go anywhere for the most part. This would be another annoying example of two guys who don’t get along teaming together to win the titles even though it’s the same story almost every time. At least Hall and Giant lose the titles as they never quite fit as champions.

Bret takes the tag belts and leaves Sting to get destroyed. Goldberg comes out to end the show and there are no new champions due to the bat shot, even though the referee didn’t see it.

Overall Rating: D-. Literally the only reason this isn’t a failure is Jericho vs. Mysterio. This was another awful show and a good example of WCW’s biggest booking problem over the year: they kept putting the entire company on one match instead of spreading things around. If you don’t like the Leno match, there is no reason for you to buy the PPV at all. The battle royal was mentioned in the Goldberg promo and a one off line from Tony and that’s all.

It’s a stretch to call Road Wild a two match show but other than that there’s nothing there. The other problem: just like last month it’s for nothing but bragging rights. Hogan’s career doesn’t change at all either way and he still has showdowns with Page and Goldberg coming up, at least in theory. This was a horrible show as this all talk and almost no wrestling style gets harder and harder to sit through every week.

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Monday Nitro #144
Date: July 6, 1998
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 41,412
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone

This is the night that changes a lot of things in WCW, which is why it’s been built up for a full four days. The main event tonight is the undefeated Goldberg challenging Hollywood Hogan for the world title in Goldberg’s hometown of Atlanta. On top of that it’s the go home show for Bash at the Beach, meaning the basketball players are here tonight as well. Let’s get to it.

We open with JJ announcing the main event from Thunder.

The Georgia Dome looks amazing with one of the biggest American crowds ever up to that point. Off the top of my head the only shows with higher attendance would be Wrestlemania III, the 1997 Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania VIII.

The Nitro Girls dance to get us going.

Tony and company intro the show with Larry talking about people crawling out of the slime and Goldberg being the epitome of evolution.

Here’s the Black and White with something to say. Bischoff talks about how this is another town that worships Hogan. Hollywood brags about how much the fans love him here and literally rolled out the red carpet for him. As for the business at hand, this Sunday he’s going to destroy Malone so badly that he never plays basketball again. That’s not his best insult ever.

Hogan moves on to Goldberg, who might have a few fans here tonight. The match however isn’t going to happen because Goldberg has only beaten a bunch of jabronis. That’s a fair point actually. Hogan will give Goldberg a chance though. He’s got an NWO man coming in tonight and if Goldberg can beat him tonight, Goldberg can have his title match later in the evening. The Goldberg chant cuts Hogan off but he says a quick catchphrase to end things.

WCW is giving away a NASCAR.

TV Title: Dean Malenko vs. Booker T

Booker is defending. Feeling out process to start with both guys connecting with shoulder blocks and drop toeholds to give us a stalemate. Booker grabs a belly to back suplex and goes up for the missile dropkick but only hits mat. The Cloverleaf is countered into a small package and we have another standoff. Dean takes him dow again and goes up top but dives into a spinebuster for two. Booker starts his finishing sequence but misses the side kick, sending both guys to the floor. Booker gets back in quickly but here’s Jericho to distract Malenko, allowing Booker to hit a quick ax kick to retain.

Rating: C+. This was entertaining for a match that didn’t even run four minutes. Dean vs. Jericho is going to be a huge eruption when it actually happens, assuming Jericho gets his head kicked in like he’s supposed to. Booker getting another win over a former champion is only good for his career as well.

Goldberg can do pushups.

Karl Malone is upset that Dennis Rodman isn’t here tonight but he’ll be there on Sunday for sure. This was ten seconds long and better than half the roster’s promos.

Raven vs. Kanyon

Kanyon jumps him in the aisle and takes out Lodi to get things going. Back in and a hiptoss gets two for Kanyon before they trade sleepers. Raven is sent to the floor and into the barricade as the announcers talk about Goldberg’s two matches tonight. Kanyon gets two off a fireman’s carry flapjack but Lodi crotches Kanyon on the top. Raven superplexes Kanyon down onto an open chair but here’s Saturn to attack Raven for the no contest. Short but entertaining stuff.

Saturn beats up the Flock post match and sets up a table. This would be better if the security wasn’t telling everyone to sit down. Raven is laid on the table between the ring and the barricade but Saturn’s splash off the top doesn’t break the table. That landing sounded sick. Kanyon lays out Saturn with something we couldn’t see but he might not have known who he was hitting.

Buff and Judy Bagwell arrive.

The fans think Goldberg will win.

Nitro Girls.

We get a clip from last week with Malone and Page arriving and scaring off the well armed NWO by blowing a horn, followed by Malone’s standoff with Hogan.

Here are Page and Malone with something to say. Page talks about how bad a week this is going to be for Scum Hogan, as he’s losing the title tonight and getting banged on Sunday. Malone, calling himself the Rodzilla Killa (I’ve heard worse) promises to whip Rodman like Madonna should have. Short again but it got the point across.

We get the same video of Mongo from Thunder, talking about reforming the Horsemen with comments from Mike Ditka.

Riggs vs. Scott Putski

Putski gets a quick one off a snap suplex but Riggs comes back with a clothesline and dropkick to take over. A tilt-a-whirl slam gets two for Putski as Tony talks about all the Goldberg highlights we’ll get tonight. Riggs hits a running knee in the corner to send Putski to the floor as Larry talks about Ivan Putski. Back in and a double clothesline puts both guys down. Putski comes back with right hands and the Polish Hammer (running ax handle to the chest, his dad’s move) gets no cover. Instead a sitout spinebuster gets the pin on Riggs.

Rating: C-. This was much more entertaining than I was expecting. Putski had a good look and some decent skills but he never went anywhere at all. Riggs looked decent out there as well with more offense than you usually see from him. To call this a nice surprise would be the understatement of the day.

Goldberg can headbutt a locker.

We see Goldberg’s first win over Hugh Morrus. That’s an introduction you very rarely see: an unknown coming in and getting an upset win. Why not use that again at some point?

We go to the parking lot where the Black and White gets out of a limo, complete with Scott Hall who is Goldberg’s first opponent tonight.

Here’s Jericho before his match to say that Malenko doesn’t deserve a Cruiserweight Title shot on Sunday. He talks about “Rey Mysterio” beating him on Thunder (a small guy in Mysterio attire whom Jericho allowed to pin him), meaning that Mysterio should get the title shot. This brings out JJ who says the title match with Dean is on for Sunday and will be No DQ. Cue a ticked off Malenko but JJ says if they fight before Sunday, the title match is off.

You know that’s enough for Jericho, who goes into a tirade of insults against Dean’s family. Malenko holds off, until Jericho implies that Dean’s brother Joe is the result of an affair. Dean goes OFF on Jericho, pounding him in the face as much as he can. JJ says the title match is off and Jericho can’t stop laughing. Either something happens on Sunday or this story is taking a very strange turn.

Chris Jericho vs. Ultimo Dragon

Non-title. Dragon grabs a headlock to start but has to nip up to escape a headscissors. A shoulder puts Jericho down for a second before he flips out of a backdrop. Some kicks put Jericho down and Dragon walks up his back for some insult. Jericho comes right back with a dropkick to the back of the head and the arrogant cover for two. Dragon snaps off some more kicks but here’s Dean for the DQ.

Malenko literally rips Jericho’s hair out as security pulls Malenko off and handcuff him.

More Nitro Girls in different outfits.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Johnny Swinger

Swinger cuts about as bland of a heel promo as you could ever imagine, talking about how everyone will know his name after this. Chavo comes to the ring in a hard hat to hide the missing hair that Eddie cut off. Naturally he can’t wear it in the match which drives Chavo even crazier. He freaks out and screams a lot which scares Swinger back into the corner. Chavo pounds on him a bit and hits a nice headscissors to put Swinger down. Johnny gets in a few shots to the ribs to take over and shouts his name a lot. Chavo comes back with a dropkick and the tornado DDT ends this in less than two minutes.

Goldberg’s 25^th win was over Glacier.

Public Enemy vs. Alex Wright/Disco Inferno

What is with Public Enemy getting on every show lately? The dancers now have Tokyo Magnum as a dancer in training even though they don’t seem to want him around. Public Enemy brings two tables to the ring while wearing Braves jerseys to suck up to the crowd. The dancers are easily beaten down into the corners to start and Rocco powerslams Disco. Magnum distracts Grunge from the floor and after a stern lecture, Grunge gets kneed in the back by Wright to change momentum.

Alex gets two off a slingshot splash from the apron and it’s off to Disco for some dancing. He drops some elbows and a knee but the middle rope elbow misses completely. The not very hot tag brings in Rocco but his double noggin knocker is countered into a double hiptoss. That’s not exactly a house cleaning moment. Grunge comes back in with a double bulldog and it’s table time. The dancers leave the dancer in training to deal with this situation and Magnum is crushed between the tables, which is a DQ for some reason.

Rating: D. The fans stayed in the match for the most part but it was just a backdrop to set up the big table spot at the end. Magnum isn’t the worst choice in the world for a fall guy for the dancers because fans like seeing annoying characters get beaten up. That’s more reason than we have to care about most of the other Dragon Gate guys at least.

Post match the dancers come back with trashcans to beat up Public Enemy.

Here’s Buff Bagwell in a wheelchair, pushed by his mom. He comes out to the NWO music but asks to have the music cut off. Buff talks about how much he loves Atlanta and talks about how much the fans mean to him before saying he and Scott Steiner need to go their separate ways. You can feel the heel turning coming from here.

Goldberg’s 50^th win was over Rick Fuller, another guy who had potential on his look alone.

Hour #3 begins.

US Title: Goldberg vs. Scott Hall

This is Goldberg’s qualifying match for the main event already set by JJ because Hogan can just make matches like that. This is Hall’s first match on Nitro in about three months. Goldberg shoves him down to start and Hall isn’t sure what to make of him. Hall drives in the shoulder blocks but Goldberg shrugs them off and takes Hall down with ease. Goldberg casually puts his hands on his hips and waits for Hall to bring it. Scott hits some HARD chops but they botch an Irish whip as Goldberg was too close to Hall for whatever they were supposed to do, causing them to collide in an ugly crash.

Back up and Goldberg blocks a slam and throws Hall down again. The crowd is losing their minds over this stuff and Goldberg has barely broken a sweat so far. Hall spits at him and avoids a charge in the corner before getting two off a belly to back suplex. Goldberg is actually in trouble here as Hall kicks him in the head a few times. Goldberg no sells some punches and armdrags Scott down a few times.

Hall calls out the Black and White B-Team plus Hennig but Page and Malone take them down with chairs in the aisle. The distraction lets Hall snap Goldberg’s throat across the top rope and score with a solid clothesline. The Outsider’s Edge is easily countered with a backdrop and a spear and the Jackhammer set up the main event.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t anything to see from a technical standpoint but the idea was good. Hogan made a good point earlier about Goldberg never beating anyone of note so a win over a big name like Hall was a good boost heading into later tonight. On top of that it makes the main event look even better for Goldberg as he’s coming in less than 100%. Imagine that: thinking in a WCW story.

More Nitro Girls, this time on the announcers’ desk.

Psychosis vs. Juventud Guerrera

Juvy misses a dropkick in the corner but still gets his feet up to stop a charging Psychosis. Some elbows to the face get Psychosis nowhere and Juvy chops away to set up a hurricanrana. A top rope hurricanrana sends Psychosis to the floor and Air Juvy takes him down again. Back in and Psychosis catapults Juvy over the top rope and out to the floor, allowing Psychosis to hit a nice dive of his own. Back in and Juvy kicks out at two before putting on the Juvy Driver, followed by a 450 for the pin on Psychosis.

Rating: C. This was fun but they didn’t have time to go anywhere with it. It didn’t help that they were in the death slot after Goldberg and the fans were all drooling over the upcoming main event. Still though, some nice dives and hurricanranas made this a very nice breather and a fun match.

Post match the Flock runs in to beat up Juvy, setting up Guerrera vs. Reese II on Sunday.

Goldberg’s 75^th win got him the US Title from Raven. I still feel bad for Raven for getting 24 hours with the belt. I understand wanting to get it on Goldberg but I would have liked Raven to have it longer.

LONG video hyping up the NBA match. Thankfully they’ve toned the hype for that way down in the last two weeks. That one show was unbearable.

The Giant vs. Jim Duggan

If you’ve seen this match once, you’ve seen it a dozen times. Duggan pounds away in the corner to some effect but tries a slam because he’s not that bright. Giant slams him down but misses his big elbow. Duggan’s three point clothesline actually connects but Giant just raises his fist to block the knee drop. Chokeslam and we’re done in a hurry.

Post match Giant calls Kevin Greene a coward. Luckily Greene is here and clotheslines Giant out of the ring, showing more fire than almost anyone else tonight.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Jim Neidhart

Malone and his incredibly long arms are in Page’s corner. Neidhart powers him into the corner to start and chokes away on the mat. Page comes back and throws him in as well for some knees to the ribs. Jim goes right for the bad ribs and slams Page’s back onto the mat by his hair. Neidhart hooks a full nelson but gets kicked low, setting up the Diamond Cutter for the win.

Goldberg’s 100^th win was over Konnan a few weeks earlier.

Sting/Lex Luger vs. Kidman/Sick Boy

Nash and Konnan are in Sting and Luger’s corner, which again makes me ask why Nash is Sting’s partner in the first place. They’ve teamed together once since becoming champions while Sting and Luger have partnered up three times now. The Wolfpack does their catchphrases before the Flock comes out. Match: Sting beats both guys up for ten seconds, double Stinger Splash, Death Drop to Kidman and the Rack to Sick Boy, done in less than thirty seconds.

And now it’s time.

WCW World Title: Hollywood Hogan vs. Goldberg

Goldberg’s pop is still big but it’s a slight step behind what it was earlier tonight. They loudly pop for the bell though and Heenan is already losing his mind for the match. Goldberg grabs a headlock to start and Hogan screams NO NO NO. A shoulder puts the champion down and the fans are making up for the slightly quieter pop on the entrance. Goldberg takes him down on a test of strength and the place is coming unglued.

Hogan comes back with some solid right hands and the weightlifting belt to the back but Goldberg easily takes it out of Hogan’s hands. He throws it to the mat and says bring it. A low blow slows Goldberg down and a clothesline drops him again. Hogan chokes a lot but misses some elbows, allowing Goldberg to hit a clothesline, knocking Hollywood outside. With the weightlifting belt back on, Hogan gets back in and shoves Goldberg outside one more time. Some chairs to the back have Goldberg in trouble and we hit the ring again.

A slam sets up a pair of legdrops (literally not mentioned at all by the announcers) as Curt Hennig comes to the ring. Tenay finally mentions the legdrops as Hogan hits what sounds like a third (camera was on Hennig) for two. Malone comes out and Diamond Cuts Hennig on the floor, allowing Goldberg to spear Hogan down. The fans literally rise up as Goldberg Jackhammers Hogan for the pin and the title. Heenan goes NUTS in the most passionate speech you’ll hear him give this side of a Flair promo.

Rating: B. This is a hard one to grade because the match wasn’t anything special from a wrestling perspective. What it was though was exactly what it should have been. Goldberg took a beating but came back and destroyed Hogan for the 100% clean pin. Hogan put him over completely clean here and it felt like a new star was made. That’s exactly what was supposed to happen here and the fans got what they were hoping for with no shenanigans. This is what Sting vs. Hogan should have been at Starrcade.

Goldberg celebrates by holding up both titles for several minutes to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Shows like these are what frustrate me more than anything about WCW. This was proof that if they were trying, they could put on some very entertaining shows that accomplished everything they were supposed to accomplish. The focus was entirely on Goldberg tonight and that part worked to perfection. On top of that however this was a solid go home show which built up Bash at the Beach rather well.

Another thing to note here is this show kept moving. They didn’t let anything stay on too long (other than Goldberg the longest match was Public Enemy at just over 5:00) and the show felt fun throughout. That’s what’s so frustrating about this show. Imagine if this had been on pay per view with some other major matches and time to build. It would have been one of WCW’s best shows ever and a real comeback against the WWF. As it is it’s just a really fun TV show, meaning it doesn’t have the long term impact it needed to. That’s one of the major reasons WCW lost the war: being so short sighted. Still though, great fun here.

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World War 3 1997
Date: November 23, 1998
Location: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 17,128
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

Last show in this series here but not the last chronologically. It’s the final show before Starrcade 97 and the bullet that killed WCW. Anyway, the feature match here is of course the battle royal with the winner getting a shot at SuperBrawl which would later be changed to Uncensored (why Souled Out wasn’t an option is anyone’s guess). This is from when this was the hottest company in the world so I’d expect a lot more energy here than the next year. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is of a pilot/soldier in a decimated war zone with a destroyed ring in it. This is interspersed with clips of the show from the previous two years. Bet that cost more than some wrestlers’ salaries.

After the announcers talk for awhile we’re ready to go.

Glacier/Ernest Miller vs. Faces of Fear

Miller and Glacier aren’t total jokes yet and the Faces of Fear (Meng/Haku and Barbarian) are monsters at this point of course. We brawl to start and Meng vs. Glacier opens us up officially. Glacier moves around as much as he can but his shots don’t mean much at all. Standing armbar goes on and it’s off to Miller. It’s so weird to see Miller all serious like this instead of the James Brown thing.

Miller hammers on Barbarian but the three time world karate champion can’t put down the Tongan. Back off to Glacier as we’re up to speed vs. power here, making this mostly awesome. Miller dives on Barbarian on the floor, using Meng as a springboard. That looked rather awesome indeed. Jimmy Hart distracts Glacier and Barbarian runs him over.

Back in the ring Meng backdrops Glacier into a powerbomb by Barbarian for two in a sweet spot. We get into a basic face in peril sequence with Glacier getting beaten down. Powerslam by Meng gets two. Off to Barbarian in the corner and since Dusty isn’t here, I’ll say it: THEY BE CLUBBERIN TONY!!! THEY BE CLUBBERIN!!!

Apparently Barbarian used to play rugby on the Isle of Tonga. Why in the world would Tenay know that? I get that he’s the Professor but dude, does Barbarian even speak English? Another powerslam by Meng gets two. Time for the nerve hold which is an old Tongan/Samoan/Savage standard. We hear a cool story about Meng being a bodyguard for the Emperor of Japan as this needs to end rather soon.

Elbow drop misses and Miller still can’t get tagged in. We finally get to the hot tag and Miller cleans house. He kind of reminds me of Tajiri actually but a bit taller. Kicks all around, including one to Jimmy Hart. It’s not like it matters though as the Tongan Death Grip ends Miller cold.

Rating: C-. I’ve seen far worse actually. Not particularly good but it was light years better than the 10 minute squash that we got the next year with Glacier in there. This wasn’t anything I’ll remember in about five minutes but it was still decent enough for an opener and that double powerbomb spot was cool. Not terrible.

TV Title: Disco Inferno vs. Perry Saturn

Saturn had won the title in his debut off of Disco so this is his rematch. There’s your backstory. Oh and Saturn is in the Flock. Disco is being serious at the moment and he got the TV Title because of it. Raven comes to the ring with Saturn despite sitting in the front row pre match. Raven says let the stretching begin. Saturn immediately takes Disco down and the Inferno is frustrated.

Tenay vaguely references ECW by calling it an other organization. Saturn runs over Disco with power. So he can’t hang with him on the mat or power and Tenay said Saturn can fly. What chance does Disco have here exactly? Disco sends him to the floor as we hear about how during his six week reign with the title he never got a clean pin. Wait are we supposed to buy him as a credible guy or not?

Heenan might have picked Saturn for the battle royal but it’s not entirely clear. Disco makes Saturn take a break and then gets his head knocked off by a boot and clothesline. Atomic drop puts Saturn back down as this is a weird kind of back and forth. Disco hammers away with a back elbow and fist drop for two.

You may not believe this, but Disco does something incredibly intelligent here. You know that spot where a guy comes off the middle rope and jumps into a boot with no possible move they could have had other than jumping into the boot? Disco does it here but avoids the boot. Granted the elbow he attempted missed but I like what I saw there. T-Bone suplex to Disco has Saturn in control again.

Saturn covers him time after time but can’t get the pin. Second rope moonsault misses and Disco, who doesn’t have a finisher, tries a bunch of stuff for two. Saturn gets a backslide but sits down with it so that it’s like a sunset flip/backslide hybrid. Never seen that before. Disco is crotched on the top rope and Saturn hits a middle rope clothesline to send both guys to the floor.

They more or less fell onto the apron with that so it wasn’t the best looking move in the world. Disco yells at the Flock and hits Chartbusters (Stunners) on various members over the railing, including one on the debuting Lodi. He can’t hit one on Van Hammer and Saturn uses his chance to drill Disco and take over. Back to the middle ring and Disco gets a neckbreaker for two. Top rope cross body hits but Saturn rolls though into the Rings of Saturn (double arm hook submission) for the submission to retain.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but there were some bad spots. Also I still don’t know if we’re supposed to take Disco seriously even in his more serious persona or not. They didn’t seem to have much of a plan out there but that was somewhat typical of a Saturn match. Not bad though.

Yuji Nagata vs. Ultimo Dragon

Nagata has Sonny Onoo with him and if Dragaon, Onoo’s former protégé, loses then he gets five minutes with Sonny. Dragon has a bad arm thanks to Nagata. Dragon is fresh off one of the least interesting feuds over a title you’ll ever see, trading it twice with Alex Wright. Nagata is a much bigger star in Japan and takes over early by going after the arm, but Dragon fights his way out of it.

Nagata heads to the floor and Dragon follows. Sonny fires in some kicks so Dragon tries a suplex which Nagata breaks up to take over. Dragon grabs a headlock and gets suplexed. Nagata is one of the least interesting guys I’ve ever seen. Whenever his matches are on I can’t get interested in him at all. Piledriver gets two for Nagata. He grabs a chinlock and shifts it into a sleeper. Then he makes it even more interesting by going BACK to the chinlock! WOW!!!

Another Piledriver gets two. So is the BIG FREAKING BANDAGE on his arm not a big enough target that you should work on the arm? Nagata kicks him and heads to the camel clutch, shifting over to the back now. After that gets broken up he FINALLY works on the arm with a Fujiwara Armbar. Let’s hit that chinlock/sleeper again because that arm work can’t last that long.

Belly to belly overhead suplex gets two. Dragon avoids a backdrop and kicks the tar out of Nagata. Some Facewashes in the corner have Nagata in big trouble. Pescado is almost caught by a kick but Dragon catches the kick and hits a Dragon Screw Leg Whip to take Nagata down on the floor. Top rope cross body to the floor puts Nagata down again.

Back in and Dragon goes up again. Suplex off the top by Nagata is blocked and Dragon adds a moonsault for two. Dragon tries a suplex but Nagata reverses. That reversal is reversed into the Dragon Sleeper but Sonny distracts. Dragon Rana gets two but Sonny puts Nagata’s foot on the rope. We then get one of the sloppiest finishes I’ve EVER seen. Dragon tries a belly to back suplex but seems to fall towards the ropes. Nagata’s foot hits Sonny and Nagata falls on top. Dragon’s shoulder was up and he was in the ropes but the referee counted to four (yes four) anyway. That had to be at least one botch.

Rating: D+. I’m not a fan of Nagata at all and this didn’t help my opinion of him. Terribly boring match with a bad finish and a total lack of psychology. Once Dragon got going in there towards the end it was an improvement but it didn’t make up for the previous eight minutes or so. Nagata continues to bore me.

Tag Titles: Blue Bloods vs. Steiner Brothers

The Blue Bloods are Dave Taylor (old English dude) and Steve Regal (yes that Regal). This was when the Steiners were tag champions but the Outsiders had their own belts. This would result in the temporary “Unified” tag titles. Ted DiBiase is managing them here. Scott vs. Taylor to start us off here. Scott isn’t that far away from turning heel and breaking up the team.

We hear about how awesome the Steiners are, including their two tag title reigns from another promotion (WWF) and how dominant they are. The Dudleys would more or less destroy every record they had but until they came along it was all Steiners. The British dudes get thrown around with ease and are sent to the floor to hide a bit. Rick vs. Regal now and it’s a USA chant.

Regal tries to use his technical stuff so Rick grabs his hand and cranks on it to take over. Well no one ever accused Rick of being a mental giant. Regal takes over for a bit but gets cocky and Rick gets a Fujiwara Armbar of all things to take him down. Off to Scott who gets that sweet belly to belly for two. STF goes on for all of two seconds and it’s back off to Rick.

He goes for the arm of Regal again but as Dave has the referee, Regal gets a finger to the eye to take over. And never mind as Rick gets a shoulder block and powerslam to take over again. Regal gets a knee to the back of Scott and pulls the rope down to send Scott outside. Taylor goes for the arm and it’s back to Regal. He hooks Scott in a leg lock and brings Taylor back in.

The Brits have used a lot of European uppercuts and every time they’ve put the Steiners down. Regal tries to speed things up and walks into a belly to belly by Scott, allowing for a tag to Rick. Down goes everyone and it all breaks down. Scott backdrops Taylor onto Regal and the Steiner Bulldog ends Regal to retain.

Rating: C-. Just an extended squash here. I don’t get why the vast majority of these matches have been on this show so far. I guess because we can’t have a battle royal go on for three hours. Either way this was more or less exactly what you would expect here. The Blue Bloods were more or less tag team jobbers so this didn’t have any heat on it at all.

JJ Dillon says Raven has 24 hours to sign a contract or he’s gone.

Raven vs. Scotty Riggs

Riggs is in an eyepatch due to Raven hurting him. Kidman, a member of the Flock, insists on Raven’s Rules, meaning No DQ. Raven has been trying to get Riggs to join the Flock, so what do you think is coming at the end here? Riggs jumps him and beats on Raven for awhile in the kind of offense you would expect from a guy that has no chance at all. Riggs gets a rollup for two as Raven can’t get much going.

Heenan makes blind jokes which are kind of funny. First of all he suggests moving the patch to the other eye. That’s actually rather smart when you think about it. Raven uses the shirt around his waist to choke away and we head to the floor. Riggs reverses and sends him into the steps and chokes with a cord. Tony says Raven is helpless, just as he pops up with a jawbreaker. I love it when Tony looks like an idiot, which means I love a lot in WCW.

The announcers say Scotty has done nothing since Bagwell and he broke up which makes me laugh for some reason. Raven gets a chair and hits him in the back with it a few times for some weak shots. Riggs gets the drop toehold into the chair as a reversal to break Raven’s momentum. Modified Van Daminator by Riggs gets two.

Riggs manages a bulldog onto the chair which looked either awesome or awful and I’m not sure which. Either way it gets two. And never mind as there’s the Evenflow DDT to kill Riggs dead. Raven wants a microphone instead though. There’s a second DDT as he says he feels Riggs’ pain and that it hurts Raven more than Riggs. Heenan: I don’t think so. Raven shouts about feeling the pain again and a third DDT has Riggs unconscious. The referee counts him out and it’s over.

Rating: D+. What was the point of this being on PPV again? For the big blowoff for Raven vs. Riggs? Weak match all around and Raven looked completely dominant even though he got beaten up. I think he would sign the next night but I’m not sure. Either way he would have Riggs in the Flock then and that’s about it.

Steve McMichael vs. Bill Goldberg

This is over Mongo’s Super Bowl ring that Goldberg stole at the previous PPV. Mongo comes out with a pipe Goldberg’s music hits and there’s no Goldberg. Mongo says this isn’t happening and says he can sneak up on people too. We go to the back and Goldberg is out cold. So no one noticed the big man in his underwear out cold on the concrete just behind the entry way? Mongo more or less gives an open challenge, resulting in this.

Steve McMichael vs. Alex Wright

Wright isn’t here because he wants to be but because Debra, Mongo’s estranged wife, brings him out and more or less makes his fight. Wright whips him with his jacket to start. Wright is from Germany so wouldn’t that be a foreign object? Mongo is like screw this and hammers away, sending Wright to the floor. He tries to leave but Debra more or less makes him come back.

Alex tries to fight and gets slammed down to the mat with ease. Mongo is barely breaking a sweat in this. Was there a reason they didn’t have Goldberg in this that I’m not getting? Debra’s voice is irritating to put it mildly. Wright takes over for a very little bit with chops but McMichael takes out the knee. Side slam sets up the Tombstone to end it. Total and complete squash squash and no rating here. Heenan asks Who’s Next for Mongo. Nah that’ll never catch on.

Cruiserweight Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

They’re coming off an absolute classic the previous month at Halloween Havoc. Eddie (not Eddy blast it!) is champion here. Also what is with the total lack of promos here? I think JJ had the only one so far. They start off with speed stuff to the shock of no one. Eddie is in gold tights and they’re really not working on him here. Rey gets that elevated snap mare to take Eddie down and it’s a stalemate.

The fans are all over Eddie here and his reaction is quite funny. Eddie ripped the mask off partially last time so we talk about that a bit here. Guerrero hits a German suplex and busts out some suplexes to take over. The problem here seems that they’re trying to have the match of the year rather than having a great match.

They fight towards the ropes and neither guy can take over. Hilo misses and Rey hits the floor. Both guys try dives but neither can hit them. Rey can’t get a sunset bomb so Eddie hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Back in and Eddie goes up, only to get blocked by Rey. Superplex by Eddie takes Rey down but the Frog Splash misses. Eddie rolls through and Rey gets a rana for two.

Flapjack puts Rey down but Eddie can’t get up either. After some shots by Eddie he drops Rey over the top rope and spanks himself a bit. Eddie tries a sunset bomb which is reversed into a rana by Rey. Rey adds a front flip over the ropes to end Eddie. That and a moonsault gets in the ring. Eddie charges and is sent into the post but powerbombs Rey out of a rana to take over again.

Gory Special goes on by Eddie and Rey is in trouble. Rey counters that into a sunset flip for two. Leg lariat puts Eddie down again but Rey doesn’t cover for no apparent reason. They try something from the top and Rey falls off in what looked like a mild botch. Moonsault press gets two for the guy in the mask. Dropping the Dime gets no cover as Rey wants to go up again. West Coast Pop with a flip gets two as Eddie grabs the rope. Awesome looking move. Rey tries to run at Eddie who is on the corner but Eddie gets a hot shot to block it. Frog Splash ends it.

Rating: B. Good match but their match the previous month gave them WAY too much to live up to. Naturally this was still great as their matches always would be. Not a classic but worth watching if you like these two. There were some botches in there and they were trying to live up to the previous month which never works at all.

Ad for Starrcade. Remarkable that they managed to screw that up, it truly is.

US Title: Ric Flair vs. Curt Hennig

Hennig had turned on Flair and the Horsemen at Fall Brawl, slamming Flair’s head in the door. He won the US Title soon thereafter and more or less hasn’t looked back since. This is Flair’s revenge match rather than for the title. It’s also No DQ and Hennig brings a chair with him. The referee gets rid of the chair which is kind of pointless but whatever. Hennig is wearing a Syxx shirt for no apparent reason.

Curt stalls like a Memphis man but gets caught on the floor and Ric hammers away. This is the last match before the battle royal too. We hit the crowd with Flair dominating. This is your usual brawl in the crowd with various punches and eye rakes along with people being rammed into objects. Flair is rammed into the railing as Curt dominates for awhile.

Back into the ring and Hennig chokes away with a cord and we go back to the floor. We hear about Flair playing football at the University of Minnesota which isn’t something you often hear about. Flair goes up top and drops a double axe onto Hennig into the railing by the throat but he might have hurt his ankle. Flair chops away as we talk about the battle royal with the various countries etc that are going to be here for the match. Good to know that a bunch of people we don’t know will be competing here.

Back into the ring (again) and the referee got poked in the eye by Hennig apparently instead of letting him count three. Hennig was covering Flair which means it was even stupider. He works on the leg with Flair losing his mind as usual of course. Heenan says you can forget the Figure Four now. Why do I not believe that in the slightest?

He drops a leg between Flair’s legs as Flair’s ankle is still hurt. Modified Indian Deathlock goes on by Hennig and he gets two on it as Flair is laying there. Ric fights out of it and gets a chopblock as the crowd is way into him, or at least his wooing. Snap mare puts Hennig down and drops the knee. After some right hands Flair goes up. Take a guess as to how this goes. Just take a guess.

They chop it out with Hennig easily getting the best of it, resulting in a Flair Flop for two. We slug it out in the corner a bit more with Flair tossing Hennig into the corner where Curt is crotched on the post as is his custom. Hennig drops low to avoid a chop as it’s Flair in control again. They ram heads though and both go down for a bit. Belly to back gets two for Flair.

To change the pace a bit, Hennig chops away in the corner. They’re in a different ring now also. Flair Flip in the corner and we go outside again. Scratch that as just Flair does as Hennig chills in the ring a bit which is probably pretty smart. They fight a bit on the floor with Hennig in control again. Flair sends him into the railing and both guys are down again.

Flair suplexes him back into the ring but that also only gets two. This is at about 15 minutes now and probably needs to end very soon. Flair gets a chair as I had forgotten this was a No DQ match. It gets set up in the ring and Flair crotches him on it and kicks the chair into the knee. Flair rams the knee with the chair and brings the belt into the ring. Figure Four goes on but the belt that is RIGHT NEXT TO HENNIG goes into Flair’s head and it’s over. Weak ending to say the least.

Rating: D+. This was WAY too long. This is nearly 18 minutes long and I legitimately forgot about the No DQ aspect of it for a very long time. I’m not sure what they were going for here as Flair is made to look like a guy that can’t get revenge in a match where he’s supposed to be dirty. Not a great match at all and very boring and repetitive as can be here.

World War 3

Chris Adams, Brad Armstrong, Marcus Bagwell, The Barbarian, Chris Benoit, Bobby Blaze, Booker T, Ciclope, Damien, El Dandy, Barry Darsow, Disco Inferno, Jim Duggan, Fit Finlay, Héctor Garza, The Giant, Glacier, Johnny Grunge, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero, Jr., Eddy Guerrero, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, Prince Iaukea, Chris Jericho, Lizmark, Jr., Lex Luger

Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Meng, Ernest Miller, Rey Misterio, Jr., Hugh Morrus, Mortis, Yuji Nagata, John Nord, Diamond Dallas Page, La Parka, Stevie Ray, Lord Steve Regal, The Renegade, Rocco Rock, Randy Savage, Silver King, Norman Smiley, Louie Spicolli, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Super Calo, Squire David Taylor, Ray Traylor, Último Dragón, Greg Valentine, Villaño IV, Villaño V, Vincent, Kendall Windham, Wrath and Alex Wright

What you might notice is that there are only 59 names there, so yes it’s time for shenanigans. As far as people you might not know, the only one that pops off the page to me is John Nord, who is more famous as the Berzerker. The introductions are odd as they say the wrestlers can go from ring to ring. What sense does that make?? Also once we get down to five people per ring we go to the middle. So if they get down to five in a ring and the other rings aren’t yet we just stop? See why this match tended to suck? The rules rarely made sense. Just have a freaking battle royal. How hard is that to accomplish?

As usual the entrances take about 5 minutes. They seem to be a bit faster this year though, mainly due to some people coming out in groups. The Giant is the defending champion and has a broken hand here. There’s an NWO member missing let the confusion begin. The missing one is apparently Kevin Nash who might be out with a knee injury.

The bell rings and we immediately go split screen, meaning YOU CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!!! WCW didn’t get this through their heads until the final year when they just didn’t film everything in every ring, like the intelligent people would suggest. Let’s get this over with. Lizmark Jr. and Disco Inferno plus anyone else Giant touches are gone. He must have gotten four people at a time. Louie Spicolli and a Villano are out.

La Parka is out. Expect a lot of “so and so” is out, just like Norman Smiley. Public Enemy goes after Meng and Grunge is put out. Ring 2, the Giant’s ring, is emptying quickly. DDP just walks into another ring. Scott Hall puts out El Dandy. I guess Hall didn’t doubt him. The NWO is in ring 1. Bobby Blaze is gone. Ring 2 has like 30 people in it. Or is that 3? The announcers say 2 and the graphic says 3. Whatever man. It’s in the middle.

Graphic now says 2. Flair isn’t here either apparently. Who replaced him I wonder since they made it clear he was an entrant during his match. Stevie Ray hangs on with a rake to the eyes. We’ve more or less stopped checking the other rings. Brad Armstrong is gone. Silver King is gone. Damien, a luchador, is thrown out. DDP and Wrath go at it but Wrath hangs on.

DDP tosses Prince Iaukea. Nagata is out so the match is less boring now. Wrath and Renegade are gone and fight up the aisle. No idea how many people are left at the moment. Ring 1 is rather empty now with maybe 7 people left and all of the NWO in still. Jericho is out. Hall winds up hanging on by one hand but the NWO runs in for the save to keep him in.

Greg Valentine is gone. Giant’s hand is killing him so Mortis and Duggan double team him. The people keep switching rings so you can’t tell who is where and who is left as you think they’re eliminated but they’re in a different ring. Most annoying indeed. Ring 3 is mostly empty now while ring 1 is a lot more full now. Harlem Heat beats on Chris Adams. Adams is gone but tries to sneak back in ala his most famous student: Steve Austin.

Ray Traylor (Big Boss Man) chokes Savage as Finlay is gone. Page and Benoit fight to the apron but both get back in. We’re roughly halfway done here as Dave Taylor is gone. Page and Malenko put I think Benoit out. Yep that was him. Miller puts Malenko out. Ring 3 seems to have Meng, Giant, Alex Wright and Mortis. Duggan is out to some booing. Miller is gone.

Leave it to the WCW cameras to focus on Giant’s hand. That’s all you see in the entire ring. Barbarian goes out and McMichael is also in ring 3. Rey puts Eddie out and gets ganged up on by the NWO who finally gets him out. Traylor is gone as is Darsow. Wait Mysterio pulled a John Morrison/Shawn Michaels and is hanging on to the apron! Mongo is out as are Wright and Mortis. Giant and Meng are the only ones left in that ring. Luger, Harlem Heat, DDP and Rick Steiner are in another ring and the NWO remain in the other.

Stevie Ray is out so we have ten left I think. Giant DROPKICKS Meng out. That was incredible and he wins the ring. Ok so it’s Vincent, Hall, Savage, Bagwell, Hennig, DDP, Rick Steiner, Luger and Booker T. The NWO won’t change rings and say come over here. They beat up the referee who says go to the other ring. Giant chills in the ring while the other four change to the NWO ring.

Ah there’s Giant so they’re all in the ring closest to the entrance because clearly the most fans can see them there right? Diamond Cutter to Vincent and a HUGE pop. Giant rolls Vincent out to get our first NWO guy out. Booker is out via someone we didn’t see as is Rick Steiner. Bagwell talks to the camera so Giant rams Bagwell and Savage’s heads together.

Luger hammers on Hennig on the second rope and doesn’t get tossed. Luger wakes up and hammers on people but gets jumped by the NWO. Giant comes over and puts out Bagwell, Hennig and Luger, leaving us with Savage, Giant, Hall and DDP. There’s a decent midcard tag match in there somewhere. Savage fights Page while Hall gets beaten up by the Giant. Giant slams Hall instead of throwing him out.

Savage wants an elbow to DDP but Giant stands in front of him. Savage, the crazy man that he is, jumps anyway and gets caught. He doesn’t get tossed though but takes a Diamond Cutter. Giant won’t let him get tossed though because he wants to chokeslam him. Savage is more or less dead and is tossed with ease to get us to three. The next year it would be the same three but with Nash instead of Giant.

More or less it’s a handicap match with Hall vs. Giant/DDP. Hall heads to another ring which is pretty smart actually. He does the point and here comes….no one as the NWO music starts and ends. Hogan’s music kicks on and is here now instead. So apparently Hogan, the WORLD CHAMPION, is #60, being allowed to skip 25 minutes of the match to potentially win a title shot against….himself? There are 7 minutes left so let’s just go with it.

We get a tag match now with Hogan fighting Giant and Hall vs. DDP. Ok so during Hogan’s two minute or so long intro, did Giant and DDP just stand there instead of going after Hall? Six minutes left so I don’t particularly care here. The fans want Sting as the NWO starts dominating. Hogan slams Giant to a big pop. Hall is sat on the top rope by Giant as DDP is crotched on the top rope.

Bear hug to Hall as Sting rappels from the ceiling, somehow about 10 inches taller and with darker hair. Hogan eliminates himself to run from Not-Sting and Not-Sting hits Giant with the bat to eliminate him as I guess DDP went out somewhere. Not-Sting points the bat at Hall as the fans chant Nash, having basic intelligence. The NWO celebrates to end this stupid, stupid match. Hogan gives DDP a Diamond Cutter to take us to the credits. Yes WCW had credits.

Rating: F+. Where do I even begin? Awful in every sense of the word with nothing making sense and the whole thing being a disaster. The switching of the rings thing made it virtually impossible to know who was where. The ending was just idiotic as Hogan apparently can just walk into a match he’s not a part of and has no business being involved in as he’s competing for a shot at something he already has. Nash made things look stupid and the whole thing was just a mess from start to finish. Also the triple camera didn’t help either.

Overall Rating: D-. Just a terribly dull show with nothing going on at all that was worth seeing. Rey vs. Eddie is good but it’s got nothing on the previous match they had at the last show. This was a very boring show overall as it was clear that Starrcade was all set in stone already. Not a good show in any sense of the word and boring beyond belief. BIG pass here.

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Monday Nitro #142
Date: June 22, 1998
Location: Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida
Attendance: 8,749
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

The main story we’ve got tonight is the signing of Karl Malone for a match at Bash at the Beach. WCW’s obsession with celebrities got annoying after awhile but to be fair, they had far bigger problems than wrestling basketball players. Other than that we’ll likely get a lot more about the NWO civil war, which hasn’t been so much of a war as much as it’s been a lot of talking. Let’s get to it.

We open with promises of clips from the Karl Malone press conference later.

Opening sequence.

The announcers talk about the tag match for a bit.

We look at Hogan and Rodman attacking Page with chairs a few weeks ago.

We get a clip from the Tonight Show with Hogan and Rodman as guests making fun of Malone for losing in the NBA Finals.

Here’s DDP with something to say. This is going to be one of those shows with one topic of discussion all night isn’t it? Page says he’s jacked to be in Jacksonville. He talks about how he’s looking forward to the match at the Bash because it’s personal between him and Hogan. Page wants a piece of Hogan but not as much as Malone wants a piece of Rodman.

Disco Inferno vs. Len Denton

Denton is most famous for his work in Portland Wrestling as the Grappler. Disco pounds him down to start and hits his swinging neckbreaker for two. We even get something resembling a People’s Elbow for a nice reaction from the crowd. Denton makes a jobber style comeback but gets caught by some clotheslines and a piledriver gets the pin for Disco.

Here’s NFL player Kevin Greene to no reaction at all. He talks about the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers for several minutes with the fans dying more and more every second. This brings out Rude and Hennig to tell him to get out of their ring but Kevin wants a fight. Giant jumps Greene from behind to finally get a reaction from the crowd.

Post break JJ makes Giant vs. Greene for tonight. Great, more sports stars dominating the show.

Tokyo Magnum vs. Yuji Nagata

The name graphic says “Tokoyo”. Tokyo dances a lot so Nagata pounds him in the face and claps a lot. The announcers mention Tokyo being an Ultimo Dragon student as he comes back with a forearm. Yuji sends him to the floor so Sonny can get in some kicks to take over. Back in and we get…..wait for it……wait for it……more kicking!

A leg lock has Tokyo in trouble as the announcers talk about a bunch of sports stars instead of wrestling. Various leg locks abound and a standing ax kick puts Magnum down. Nagata misses a running knee in the corner and Tokyo scores with a dropkick for two. Not that it matters as a spinwheel kick to the face sets up the Nagata Lock to make Magnum tap.

Rating: D-. I’m thoroughly over these kicking matches. They wind up being nothing but kicking various body parts and leg locks before a big kick and a big leg lock ends it. Nagata isn’t terrible in the ring but he has the personality of the tree in my front yard. Nothing to see here at all.

Raven talks about Saturn betraying him in his usual style.

We cut to the back where Stevie Ray has attacked Benoit.

Public Enemy vs. Sick Boy/Horace

This match actually has rules for a change. Public Enemy runs them over, knocking the Flock members to the floor. Back in and it’s Rocco working on Sick Boy’s arm to start things off. Off to Grunge for a shot to the chest and a double flapjack before Horace comes in, only to be taken down for a double elbow drop. The Flock finally gets their act together and snaps Rocco’s neck across the top rope to take over.

Sick Boy whips him into the corners a few times, only to get caught in a sunset flip for two. The bad guys take turns stomping mudholes in Rocco before Horace gets two off a side slam. Rocco gets clotheslined out to the floor before coming back inside to avoid a charge in the corner. The announcers ignore the match to talk about football and basketball players as Horace accidentally hits Sick Boy with a stop sign. Rocco comes off the top and drives the sign into Horace for the pin.

Rating: D. So to clarify it was a match with rules but two shots with a stop sign are perfectly legal? The match was nothing to see for the most part but the commentators ruined anything it had going for it by talking about the sports guys for the majority of the match. Flock wasn’t terrible here actually.

The Nitro Girls are now in NWO shirts and no one seems to notice.

Here’s Bret Hart with something to say. Bret shushes Gene and hopes WCW is happy for turning one Canadian against another. He remembers Benoit (his opponent tonight) being a little kid running around in Calgary and now the Americans have turned him into another punk kid. Nothing special here but there’s nothing wrong with hyping a match for later in the show.

We get even more Tonight Show footage with Page and Malone coming out to face Rodman and Hogan. A fight nearly broke out and this goes on way too long. This was before the match was officially announced but the news had leaked weeks earlier anyway.

Hour #2 begins.

US Title: Goldberg vs. Rick Fuller

Goldberg takes him down and grabs the ankle before hitting a botched spear (it looked more like a tackle/spinebuster with Full taking a few steps back before going down) and the Jackhammer to retain.

Annoying fans talked about Rodman earlier today.

The announcers talk about Kevin Greene again.

More kids talking about the celebrity match. Good grief we get it already.

Here’s the Wolfpack with something to say. Everyone hits their catchphrases before Sting talks to a mannequin which apparently proves that this is Wolfpack country. Being Nash’s partner makes him a medium sized giant killer and promises to defend the titles anywhere anytime. Nash says too sweet….and that’s it. Short promos tonight.

Fans talking about basketball players again.

Nitro Girls in silver.

Alex Wright vs. Eddie Guerrero

The announcers are talking about the basketball players before the bell even rings. Alex takes him down to start and stomps away before dancing a bit. Eddie comes back with a jumping back elbow and some chops in the corner but Alex pokes him in the eye. A backbreaker allows Alex to dance a bit more and get a delayed two. Eddie dropkicks him down so Alex bails to the floor for a breather. Back in and a quick suplex gets two for Wright but he misses a top rope knee drop. Eddie comes back with the brainbuster as Chavo comes out to cheer. The distraction lets Wright grab a suplex for the pin.

Rating: D. This was mainly about waiting on Chavo to show up which is fine for a story but the match hasn’t been anything to see so far. Wright continues to be fun to watch and talented in the ring and Eddie is Eddie, but this match had nothing to it at all. It gets rather dull waiting thirty seconds between moves you know?

Chavo grabs a mic and talks about playing Monopoly the night before and landing on Park Place with three hotels even though he owned the place. Eddie: “YOU’RE WACKO!” Chavo: “No that’s Chavo. C-h-a-v-o, C-h-a-v-o, C-h-a-v-o and Chavo is my name-o.” He keeps talking about Monopoly as we go to a break.

More fans, more Rodman, more aspirin for me.

Back from a break and we get MORE fans talking about the tag match.

Konnan vs. Scotty Riggs

Konnan grabs the arm and hits the rolling clothesline before pulling on his pants. Riggs trips him up and scores with a dropkick. After some quick choking he sends Konnan out to the floor for a decent looking plancha. Back in and they botch a leapfrog with Konnan landing on Riggs’ back before a clothesline gets two on Scotty. A rollup gets the same result but a Lodi distraction lets Riggs get in a cheap shot to take over. Riggs powerslams him down for two but misses a missile dropkick. The Tequila Sunrise gets the submission a second later.

Rating: D+. Riggs is another good example of a guy who was just there. He didn’t have anything unique or special in his offense and was little more than a warm body that wouldn’t screw anything up horribly. Konnan continues to be charismatic but not the best in ring worker to put it mildly.

The announcers talk about the basketball match again.

Now we get to see the freaking press conference announcing the match where the ball players cut promos on each other.

Hour #3 begins.

Steve McMichael vs. Stevie Ray

Are they actively trying to tick the fans off? That’s a serious question. They can’t think this is the most entertaining thing they could put on right now. Stevie wins a quick slugout to start and kicks Mongo down as the announcers talk about how tough Mongo was because of his football career. Mongo comes back with right hands and some choking as we take a break. Yes, in THIS match.

Back with Ray kicking Mongo down again before calling someone in the crowd a sucka. An elbow drop gets two and Stevie is getting frustrated. We hit the chinlock to keep the match at its dull pace until Mongo fights up and kicks to the ribs. The “fight” heads out to the floor with Ray being sent into the barricade before grabbing a chair. Benoit comes out and takes it away but Booker takes the chair from Chris. It’s a four way staredown and the match just ends.

Rating: F. Let this show end soon before I injure myself.

Here’s the Black and White with something to say. Bischoff talks about how amazing Hogan is and makes jokes about breaking Savage’s leg. Hogan says Liz only stayed with Savage because of the money because Savage clearly wasn’t much of a man. He talks about the basketball match (it had been a full five minutes after all) for several minutes while saying nothing at all. Tony: “What have they done to our sport?” That should be the title of this episode. Hogan actually gets up close to the camera and says he’ll be a sixty minute man at Bash at the Beach. I’ve heard that was actually the plan until sanity sat in.

We look back at Benoit turning down the win over Booker due to Bret’s interference.

Chris Benoit vs. Bret Hart

If this is anything less than perfect, this is in the running for most worthless Nitro ever. Benoit snaps off a quick armdrag to start before Bret drives him into the corner for a surprisingly clean break. Benoit takes him down by the arm again and hooks an armbar as we’re still in first gear here. Bret fights up and scores with a hard DDT for no cover. Benoit comes back with some hard forearms to the head but Hart rocks him with European uppercuts. A middle rope elbow (not the middle rope elbow) misses Benoit and Chris chops him down.

Benoit is sent out to the floor and rammed back first into the post. Bret pounds away at Benoit’s head before heading back inside to pose a bit. A piledriver (not a tombstone Tony) gets two on Benoit and Bret is getting frustrated. We take a break with Heenan talking about Kevin Greene and come back with Bret getting two off something we didn’t see. The Russian legsweep gets another near fall on Benoit and Bret’s counter to an O’Connor Roll gets the same.

Bret takes too much time yelling at the referee and gets caught in two rolling Germans and a dragon suplex for no cover. A snap suplex looks to set up the Swan Dive but Bret rolls away. Bret goes up top very slowly and gets superplexed down for a close two. The fans are finally into something tonight. A short arm clothesline gets two more for Benoit so he slaps on the Crossface. Bret can’t make the rope but here’s Stevie Ray for a distraction, allowing Bret to knock Benoit out cold with a foreign object. Bret puts on the Sharpshooter for the win since Benoit is out cold.

Rating: B-. The match was getting good by the ending but we just needed a worthless guy with limited talent to screw up the ending. Benoit got a good rub here and I get why they can’t have Bret do a job, but can we please get Benoit a win? It doesn’t even have to be anything big. Just let him submit say….El Dandy. I’d take that at this point.

The announcers recap the Kevin Greene stuff in case you’ve only been watching for 85 seconds.

Kevin Greene vs. Giant

Greene is in street clothes which at least helps with some realism. He pounds away on Giant in the corner but gets caught by a single elbow to the face. A low blow slows Giant down and here’s Hennig for the DQ after maybe 75 seconds.

The rest of the Black and White comes in for the group beatdown until Goldberg (Green’s old teammate) makes the save. Greene throws out a challenge for a tag match at Bash at the Beach against Giant/Hennig to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. Only Benoit vs. Hart kept this from being a failure but it’s by a hair. This was TERRIBLE with the basketball and Kevin Greene talk killing this show right out of the box. I was a huge NBA fan in the 90s but even I was getting sick of hearing about it back then. The commentary and lack of anything (save for the Canadians) else being good crippled this show for three very long hours.

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