Monday Nitro #166
Date: December 7, 1998
Location: Astrodome, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 32,067
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

We’re less than three weeks away from Starrcade and Nash vs. Goldberg hasn’t really started to heat up yet. If I didn’t know better I would think Goldberg would be squashing Bam Bam Bigelow at the PPV based on what we’ve seen in recent weeks. Other than that we’re getting ready for Flair vs. Bischoff which I’m sure will be a classic. Let’s get to it.

Goldberg vs. Bigelow in a non-title match tonight. The guy isn’t signed but he can wrestle in a match against the champion?

We look at a clip from earlier today of Scott Steiner attacking the Wildcat mascot due to reasons of insanity.

The Hogan retirement video from last week airs again to shot him beating up Ric Flair.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Steiner comes out to say the only things that come out of Texas are steers and something censored that rhymes with steers. He demands that we give Hogan a standing ovation before demanding another match with Scott Hall tonight.

Nitro Party winner.

Nitro Girls.

Kendall Windham vs. Diamond Dallas Page

We’re nearly half an hour into this show counting commercials at this point. Page gets slammed down to start but trips Kendall to the mat just as easily. A swinging neckbreaker does the same but Windham comes back with a low blow. Not that it matters as Page comes back with punches and a big clothesline followed by the Diamond Cutter for the pin. This wasn’t much but the fans are awake now.

Profile on a Nitro Girl.

Goldberg vs. Bigelow package.

Norman Smiley vs. Prince Iaukea

The dancing non-Islander takes over to start with a slap to the face and a nice shoulder block followed by that spinning slam of his. A delayed double underhook suplex gets two on the Prince and it’s time for more dancing. Iaukea’s kick to the ribs is caught but Smiley stops to dance some more, allowing Prince to kick him in the face. A Samoan drop and top rope splash get two for Prince but Norman calmly puts on a cross face chicken wing for the submission. This was a fairly packed match for under three minutes.

We see the interview from Thunder where Mysterio vs. Guerrera was announced for next week’s Thunder for a future shot at the Cruiserweight Title. Eddie Guerrero comes out to and says Silver King will deal with the selfish Mysterio tonight.

Silver King vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Rey takes him down with a headscissors to start and they trade what would evolve into the 619. They wind up on the apron and Rey snaps off a hurricanrana to send him to the floor. Back in and King counters the sitout bulldog before hitting what would become the Eye of the Storm for two. Rey sends him into the corner before going up himself and TOTALLY botching a hurricanrana. It wound up looking more like a spinebuster from Silver King than anything else. Mysterio sends him to the floor and hits a great looking flip dive to make up for it before a top rope bulldog is enough for the pin.

Rating: C-. This was Mysterio bouncing around the ring for about four minutes which is all you need most of the time. The botch in the middle really hurt it though as there was no way to cover up something like that. Thankfully they went home almost immediately after that so it wasn’t a crippling spot in the middle of the match.

Hour #2.

Goldberg and the championship committee arrive but Nash comes up to meet them. Nash says the match against Bigelow isn’t happening tonight because Goldberg isn’t supposed to fight before Starrcade. Goldberg says he dreams of taking Nash apart.

Wrath vs. Renegade

Renegade comes out to what would have been Marvelous Marc Mero’s music around this time. Must be public domain. Wrath takes him into the corner for some knees to the ribs as the announcers talk about Goldberg vs. Bigelow. A side slam puts Renegade down but he comes back with some kicks to the ribs. Wrath easily shrugs them off and drives in some elbows. Renegade’s handspring elbow is just shoved away and a clothesline to the back of his head leads to the Meltdown for the pin.

Rating: D. I hate to say it, but it’s over for Wrath. Yeah the Meltdown still looks cool, but it was clear that there was nothing more for him after he got beat in his one time moving up the ladder. Just a few weeks ago the announcers were making him out to be the hottest thing in the world and now he’s squashing jobbers again. This is Renegade’s final appearance with the company. How in the world did he survive this long?

Roger Clemens of baseball fame is here.

Chavo Guerrero Jr./Disco Inferno vs. Horace/Stevie Ray

Before the match, Disco asks Konnan com come out for a surprise. Apparently Kevin Nash has approved Disco as the newest member of the Wolfpack. Konnan just rolls his eyes and walks away so the squash can begin. Horace pounds on Chavo to start with the usual power brawling style of his, only to walk into a dropkick followed by a rope climbing bulldog for two. Disco and Stevie come in with Ray easily winning a slugout, only to walk into a swinging neckbreaker.

Disco gets two off a top rope ax handle but is easily thrown outside for a beating from Horace. The announcers at least changes things up a bit here by talking about Hogan’s retirement. Horace comes in legally and misses an elbow drop, allowing Chavo to come in and clean house. The tornado DDT gets two on Horace as everything breaks down. A spike piledriver catches Chavo out of nowhere and Stevie gets an easy pin.

Rating: D. Nothing match here for the most part and I’m not seeing a reason why Chavo and Disco were paired together. Disco wanting to join the Red and Black simply can’t end well but that’s the case for a lot of stuff involving the NWO. It’s also not a good sign that the yet to be christened B-Team is now getting squashes on Nitro.

Nash comes out and says that tonight it’s a three way between him, Goldberg and Bigelow.

Nitro Girls again.

Glacier vs. Saturn

This is supposed to be Miller vs. Saturn but he’s claiming an ankle injury. Glacier hits a quick Kryonic Kick to start and stomps away in the corner instead of covering. Another kick stops a Saturn comeback and a tilt-a-whirl slam sets up even more kicks. Aside from all the other reasons, it’s becoming clear why Glacier never went anywhere. Glacier tries to spice things up a bit with a legdrop but misses an ax handle.

Saturn grabs a quick atomic drop followed by a cross body. He hits his VERY high top rope elbow drop but Sonny Onoo distracts the referee because someone has to try and make this horrible angle interesting. The fact that Sonny is one of the reasons it’s awful doesn’t make things much better though. Anyway, Miller hits Glacier by mistake and of course the referee sees that because Saturn needs to lose to another horrible guy.

Rating: F. I think that’s my official rating for every time Saturn jobs to some waste like Glacier or Miller.

Saturn beats up Glacier and the referee.

Lex Luger vs. Emery Hale

Hale is a big muscular guy that ran around WCW forever but never got over due to not being very talented. They circle each other for awhile to start with no one going anywhere off a shoulder. A harder shoulder puts Hale down and he heads outside to yell at some fans. Back in and Hale takes over with a hard lariat and a big legdrop gets two. Hale pounds on Luger’s back for no effect but a suplex puts Lex on the mat. Hale misses a good looking top rope splash and it’s the forearm into the Rack to give Luger the submission.

Rating: D. Hale had a very good look and could have been a solid midcard monster with some more seasoning and a gimmick. The match was nothing terrible but it’s hard to get excited about Luger doing the same match we’ve seen him do with far more talented people. Not much to see here but Hale didn’t embarrass himself.

Ad for Starrcade.

Chris Jericho vs. Bobby Duncum Jr.

Here’s a match we’ve seen far too many times now. Before the match Jericho makes fun of cowboys, causing Duncum to jump him from behind to start. A hard shoulder and clothesline put Jericho down as Bobby is all ticked off about the cowboy stuff. For the life of me I will never understand so many grown men being obsessed with looking and acting like cowboys.

Anyway Jericho comes back with a quick belly to back but is thrown to the floor for his efforts. After a whip into the barricade, Duncum throws Jericho back inside but gets his throat snapped across the top rope. The missile dropkick has little effect as Bobby nails a bulldog and another lariat (as all good cowboys should do). Jericho crotches him on the top and scores with a superplex before grabbing a rollup and the rope for a cheating pin.

Rating: D+. Did I mention I’m not a fan of the generic cowboy characters? Jericho is another talent being wasted in meaningless feuds like this one after dropping the title to Konnan so it can be used in the endless NWO war. Nothing to see here for the most part, even though Duncum is another big guy with a good look that could be something in a better gimmick.

Hour #3 begins.

Giant vs. Scott Putski

Chokeslam, pin.

Post match Giant challenges Page for Starrcade because Page’s fans are all rednecks.

Konnan wants a piece of the NWO Referee.

Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Kanyon/Raven

And there’s no heel team as Kanyon is looking for Raven in the back. Raven refuses to go wrestle because Kanyon is a geek. Kanyon points out that Raven has driven away everyone that has tried to help him, including Piper, and blames his recent losing streak on Raven. In the arena, Kanyon refuses to wrestle because he has no partner. For some reason he pushes Arn Anderson and has to run away from a crowbar. Benoit dropkicks him to the floor and Kanyon runs off with no match.

Video on Bischoff/Flair.

After a break the Horsemen are still in the ring and here’s their leader. Ric tells Bischoff to get off his girlfriend and listen to what he has to say. He says the dictatorship is about to end and rants about the history of Texas wrestling while dropping his usual names. Flair is going to choke Bischoff and rip his throat out at Starrcade. He’s looking redder than usual here and runs around the ring looking for something to chop. At Starrcade, Flair promises to chop Bischoff until he says he respects Flair before taking his job, his girlfriend and his dignity. Totally insane Flair here but it worked for the most part.

Konnan video.

TV Title: Konnan vs. Booker T.

They shove each other to start with Booker taking over via some forearms and kicks. Konnan comes back with a rolling clothesline and dropkick of his own before they head outside. Back in and Konnan scores with a bulldog but gets caught by an ax kick. Stevie Ray comes strolling down as Booker dances to his feet. The side kick connects but Stevie comes in and jumps Konnan for the DQ.

Booker yells at Stevie post match but Stevie says Booker should be going after Konnan.

Scott Steiner vs. Scott Hall

There’s no referee and Steiner blames Hall for him missing. Hall hammers on Steiner and we see the NWO Referee wrapped up in tape (Konnan threatened to do that earlier). Mickie Jay runs down, shoves the NWO Referee down, and comes in to count two off Hall’s fall away slam. Steiner yells at the referee and Hall gets two off a rollup as the NWO runs in to end the match.

Luger and Konnan run in but Giant comes in to take them out. Page hits the ring and nails Giant with a chair to get rid of the NWO. Well the Black and White that is. In an amusing visual, the NWO Referee is still down at the entrance.

Bret Hart comes out and says Page is a coward. He’s proven himself and that’s about it. Gene says people should go see Wrestling with Shadows.

Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Bigelow comes out with no music. Nash hits the ring to go after him before Goldberg arrives. Here comes the champ and the brawl is on. All three guys slug it out until security comes out to break it up as the fans pelt the ring with garbage to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. This was one of the worst Nitros in a long time as almost nothing happened. We’ve got two episodes before Starrcade and Bigelow is still deeply involved in the main event scene. There are some matches set for the card, but the TV Title, US Title and Tag Team Titles aren’t being mentioned, guys like Luger, Jericho, Saturn, the Horsemen and Raven/Kanyon have no matches yet, and the main story has a third guy added who probably won’t be on the PPV either. Sadly enough, this is going to be their last coherent PPV for a very long time.

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Monday Nitro #165
Date: November 30, 1998
Location: UTC Arena, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone

We close out November here with a fairly big show. The main event for tonight is Page defending the US Title against Bret Hart despite being banged up as usual. Other than that we’re heading towards Starrcade so we’re likely to get more build between Goldberg and Nash, which hasn’t really set the world on fire yet. Let’s get to it.

No Tenay tonight due to illness so Tony and Larry talk run down the card, including a contract signing for Nash vs. Goldberg. This brings us to Hogan on the Tonight Show on Thanksgiving night where he officially announces he’s running for President. He likes a flat tax apparently.

We go to the back and see the NWO limo arriving with Scott Steiner leading the way. They come out to the ring where Bischoff declares Scott Steiner as the new leader of the Black and White. Steiner says Hogan made it official in LA and talks about his physique for a bit. Tonight the first order of business is taking care of Scott Hall, so it’s Hall/a parnter vs. Steiner/Horace.

Nitro Girls.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Konnan

Jericho is defending. Konnan sends him to the apron to start and Jericho immediately complains about a hair pull. Back in and we hit the armbar on the champion before Jericho comes back with a running clothesline. Konnan will have none of this being on defense stuff and hits a seated dropkick, only to be caught in a hot shot. A springboard dropkick puts Konnan on the floor and Chris follows him out with a great looking plancha.

Back in and Jericho dives into Konnan’s boot before a fisherman’s suplex gets two. The Lionsault gets two for the champion but the Liontamer is too close to the ropes. With nothing else working, Jericho tries to cheat by bringing in the belt. Ralphus’ distraction doesn’t work though and an X Factor onto the belt gives Konnan the title.

Rating: D+. Not much here but a title change is always a good way to fire up a crowd. It’s about time the Wolfpack got some gold. That being said, it’s a bad idea overall with the midcard scene picking up and now another title is locked into the NWO stories. Jericho didn’t do much here and unfortunately that’s likely to be a trend for him in the coming months.

The Wolfpack comes out to celebrate and we see Konnan’s music video.

Gene brings out Flair for a chat. Flair is in serious mode tonight and says that he’s talking like a man so Bischoff will hear it. Just because someone gets old doesn’t mean that they’re great. Flair lists off a bunch of names like Hogan, the Andersons, the Road Warriors and Wahoo McDaniel made Bischoff the man he is. Now Flair is mad at Windham for what he did last week, but he hates Bischoff. Flair wants a piece of Bischoff anytime anywhere.

Nitro Party winner.

Here’s Hall in an Outsiders shirt to say that he’ll fight the NWO on his own tonight. Kevin Nash comes out and says if Hall needs a partner, he’ll be Scott’s Huckleberry.

Raven/Kanyon vs. Scott Armstrong/Steve Armstrong

Raven is sitting in the corner to start against Scott and we appear to be in an angle instead of a match. Kanyon and Raven argue about Raven’s mom for some reason but Kanyon gets jumped from behind by Scott to really get things going. The brothers’ advantage is short lived though as Kanyon fights back with a nice faceplant but stops to argue with Raven. A Flatliner lays out Steve but goes to yell even more, allowing Scott to roll Kanyon up for the big upset.

Hour #2 begins.

Here’s Bret Hart for a chat with Gene. Bret says he’s badly hurt tonight and can’t face Page for the US Title tonight even though that’s what Bret wanted to do. This brings Page out through the crowd to say the word SCUM a lot and call Bret a liar because Bret issued the challenge in the first place. Hart doesn’t have his gear so he insists on it being a No DQ match tonight. Page agrees to what sounds like a ruse.

Cruiserweight Title: Billy Kidman vs. Eddie Guerrero

Kidman is defending. Feeling out process to start until Eddie makes the mistake of slapping the champion and gets dropkicked for his efforts. A headscissors puts Eddie down again and a dropkick sends him to the floor. Kidman is sent into the steps to give Guerrero his first advantage and crushes him between the steps and post for good measure. Back in and the slingshot hilo gets two as we take a break.

Back with Eddie cranking on the champ’s arm and wrapping it on the top. He gets crotched loading up the frog splash but blocks a top rope Frankensteiner. Back down and Eddie’s powerbomb is countered into a faceplant (duh) followed by the lifting powerbomb for two. Cruiserweights use a lot of powerbombs the more I think about it.

Guerrero comes back with a tornado DDT but ANOTHER powerbomb is countered into another faceplant. The champ drops Eddie with a superplex but the referee goes down at the same time. This brings out Juvy to help his boss but Mysterio comes out to dropkick Eddie (also his boss) in the back, setting up the Shooting Star to retain the title.

Rating: C. Good stuff as usual from these guys but I’m not sure where this story is going. We get that Mysterio hates being in the LWO and Eddie knows that Mysterio hates being in the LWO and will cost the LWO matches, so why does he insist on Rey being in the LWO and not use the LWO army to destroy Mysterio? At least the matches are good though.

Bam Bam Bigelow is here with a ticket.

Here are Eric Bischoff and Barry Windham with something to say. Eric talks about going to Cody, Wyoming where he heard a lot of people wanting Hogan to be President. We get a little campaign speech before Bischoff calls out Dean Malenko. He gets the Horsemen minus Flair on the stage and Malenko alone in the ring. Tonight it’s going to be Malenko vs. Windham and if Dean wins, Flair gets to face Bischoff. Dean says it’s on but Eric has one more idea: Dusty Rhodes is going to be guest referee. Big Dust comes out but Malenko won’t shake his hand.

Nitro Girls and Heenan at the booth.

Wrath vs. Bobby Blaze

Total squash with Wrath winning in less than a minute but the magic just isn’t there anymore.

Bigelow is still in the crowd.

Here’s Ernest Miller, flanked by Sonny Onoo, to issue his open challenge to the crowd. This brings out Perry Saturn who says that he’ll have a try. Miller says that Saturn is clearly weak due to losing to Sonny on Sunday, so he’ll have to beat Sonny to get a piece of the Cat.

Perry Saturn vs. Sonny Onoo

We get the karate poses from Onoo but Saturn plants him down with a powerbomb, only to have Miller break up the pin. The distraction lets Glacier run in with a Cryonic Kick to Saturn to give Sonny two. Miller throws in a chain to Onoo but Sonny takes the Death Valley Driver. Somehow he slips the chain into Saturn’s tights though and the referee sees it for a DQ, giving Sonny the win. Someone tell me why putting Saturn in this feud is a good idea. I’d love to hear this rationale.

We see Goldberg get out of a limo and come to the ring for the contract signing with Nash. Both guys sign with no issues and Goldberg doesn’t have to defend until Starrcade. Bigelow tries to jump the railing but it doesn’t go anywhere.

Mike Enos vs. Booker T

Booker easily takes him down to start and nails the forearm and a superkick. Enos catches him charging into a hot shot though before knocking Booker out to the floor with a clothesline. Another hot shot onto the barricade has Booker in trouble but he comes back inside with a spinwheel kick, the ax kick and the Harlem Sidekick, followed by a kind of spinebuster for the quick pin.

Bigelow is in the parking lot and wants Goldberg to come fight him.

Brian Adams vs. Lex Luger

Feeling out process to start as Tony talks about the Mark Curtis Benefit Show last night. Luger runs over Adams with ease a few times but gets his neck snapped across the top rope to give not-Crush the advantage. A clothesline puts Luger on the floor so Vincent can earn his paycheck for the night. Back in and Luger makes a quick comeback and nails the forearm but Adams’ feet take the referee down as he’s loaded into the Rack. The NWO nails Luger with a chair and spike piledriver for two before we get Lex’s real comeback. He knocks Adams into the chair despite Adams putting the brakes on, setting up the Rack to win.

Rating: D. Just a dull match here without anything of interest. This is the same as the LWO but slightly less confusing. What exactly are we heading to with this NWO war? They’ve been fighting for over six months now and there’s nothing changing about any of the fights. At least Luger is beating the guys he should be beating though.

Barry Windham vs. Dean Malenko

If Dean wins, Flair gets Bischoff at some point. NWO member Dusty Rhodes is referee, Barry is in jeans and Dean is coming in with a bad knee. Dean wins an early slugout and we head to the floor for a chase but Dusty yells at Dean for a distraction, allowing Barry to take over. A gutwrench suplex and elbow to the jaw drop Malenko and Dusty is right in his face to ask if he wants to give it up.

Dean avoids an elbow drop and heads up, only to be slammed right down onto the bad knee. Some elbows to the knee have Dean in even more trouble and Barry slams the leg down on the apron. Barry stays on the leg with kicks to the thigh as Dean is in the ropes…..AND THAT’S A DQ??? Dusty calls for the bell and raises Dean’s hand as the announcers are in shock.

Rating: D+. The match didn’t have time to go anywhere but was much more about the angle than the action. It’s nice to see someone finally changing over to WCW as at times it seems WCW doesn’t even exist anymore other than as a place for the NWOs to fight each other. Also Dusty being in the NWO just didn’t work.

Post match Bischoff runs out to fire Dusty as the Horsemen come out to beat the tar out of Windham. Eric gets out before Flair can get to him.

Horace Hogan/Scott Steiner vs. Outsiders

The Outsiders do the Rock Paper Scissors to determine who starts against Horace. The NWO referee is in there as well. Hall nails the driving shoulders and puts on an armbar, only to walk into a hard clothesline. A hiptoss is countered into a chokeslam from Hall but it’s off to Scott Steiner. It’s Steiner with a muscle clothesline and a fast count is good for two. A butterfly suplex gets the same for Steiner on the other Scott but Steiner charges into a boot in the corner.

The middle rope bulldog gets two for Hall but the referee counts VERY slowly. Steiner comes back with a low blow but Nash saves Hall from some Horace choking. Back in and Horace stomps away and gets two off a backbreaker and splash. We hit the front facelock for a bit until Hall fights up and makes the tag to Nash. The NWO referee doesn’t count it but Nash comes in anyway and cleans house until Hall hits the Edge on Horace. No count of course so Nash Jackknifes the referee and a WCW referee comes in for the pin. Nash walks out as soon as the pin goes down.

Rating: D+. Another angle instead of a match here and Nash running off was interesting. I’m not sure where Steiner went after the hot tag but it fits the idea of the NWO wanting to run away from a real fight. The fans were really excited about the idea of the Outsiders being back together again, which is why I doubt it’s going to keep happening.

Goldberg barrels through the doors and heads outside to fight Bigelow. They go at it in the parking lot until security breaks it up. That’s not good enough for Goldberg though as he fights away and spears Bigelow down.

US Title: Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Bret is challenging and this is No DQ. Hart is in street clothes and isn’t sure about locking up to start. Page takes him into the corner but lets him go, allowing Bret to get in a low blow to take over. Choking and eye raking ensues until Page sends him into the corner for a hard stomping. Bret gets caught in the Figure Four around the post until the Giant makes the save. A chokeslam puts Page down in the ring and a chokeslam from the top rope (pretty much the same as a regular chokeslam) sets up the Sharpshooter for the knock out win, giving Bret the title back.

Rating: D+. This is a hard one to rate as it was exciting while it lasted but the match isn’t even four and a half minutes long with Giant being out there for about a minute and a half of that. Not much to see here though as this feud just keeps going. Hopefully this wraps things up though.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a show about setting up matches for the future which is what matters as we head into the biggest show of the year. The contract signing was nothing though and it felt more like the Outsiders reunion was bigger than anything with Goldberg. Flair vs. Bischoff looks more like the main event for Starrcade, despite it not even being official yet. It’s not a bad show, but it sets up stuff for the future which is a rare thing in WCW.

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Monday Nitro #164
Date: November 23, 1998
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan

We’re on the road to Starrcade now with a main event of Kevin Nash challenging Goldberg for the World Title. The other main story coming out of last night was Hogan not appearing in the big battle royal for reasons that weren’t explained. Other than that we didn’t get the two big midcard matches we were promised because this is WCW and giving us angles instead of delivering advertised matches is a great idea. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about the battle royal last night and tell us to tune in to the Tonight Show on Thursday to see why Hogan wasn’t in the battle royal.

We get some stills of the battle royal as well.

Lex Luger vs. Mike Enos

They circle each other for a bit to start until Luger runs him over with a shoulder block. A headlock sends Enos to the floor as the announcers talk about everything other than the match. Back in and Mike drops him throat first across the top rope and nails a piledriver for two. We hit the chinlock on Luger followed by a nice powerslam for two more. Back up and Mike can’t hit a superplex, allowing Luger to hit a top rope clothesline and a superplex of his own. A powerslam sets up the Rack for the submission from Enos.

Rating: C-. Enos didn’t look all that bad here and Luger was actually doing more than just the usual for a change. It’s still not all that entertaining but it was better than a lot of the dull matches with guys like these two on Nitro. I’d still like the Wolfpack to actually do something of note instead of just having random matches of no consequence.

Goldberg shows up in a limo, followed by the Wolfpack in their limo. Konnan tells Nash that he’s next but Goldberg says that’s not a safe place to be. “Just ask your girlfriend.”

Gene brings out Kidman to talk about the situation last night where Rey Mysterio helped him win back the Cruiserweight Title. Rey comes out and Kidman offers him a title shot tonight due to Mysterio being back to his old style. Wasn’t he only away from his old style for six days and by force? They shake hands and say may the best man win but here are Eddie and his bodyguard to interrupt. Eddie says Rey is still a contracted member of the LWO so he needs to put the shirt back on. Guerrero pulls out a gigantic shirt that Rey is forced to put on, but he promises to make this right later.

Norman Smiley vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit is actually taken down pretty easily and kicked in the back, only to have him pop up and slap Norman in the face. They hit the mat for a bit until Benoit takes him into the corner and stomps away, only to charge into a knee to the ribs in the other corner. Smile does that spinning slam of his but Benoit comes right back with Rolling Germans, the Swan Dive and a Crossface for the fast submission. This was better than expected.

Nitro Party.

Stills of Hall vs. Nash which wasn’t a match.

Here’s the Wolfpack to celebrate their victory. Luger doesn’t like finishing second in anything but at least it was to another Wolfpack guy. Nash takes the mic and says he’s next and will be the 1 in 190-1. So Heyman stole his big promo from Kevin Nash? The Wolfpack leaves but Gene follows to ask about Hall. Nash can’t trust him because of what’s happened already, which makes sense. Goldberg comes by and says he’ll be the truck that runs Nash over. Nash: “Lay off the caffeine Bill.” Nice to see Big Kev so serious before his title shot.

Kanyon vs. Tokyo Magnum

Before the match we see Kanyon trying to get Raven to come out with him but Raven says Kanyon wouldn’t understand. Once in the arena, Kanyon yells at Raven to come out, allowing Tokyo to grab a rollup for two. A bulldog gets the same but Kanyon snaps off a Russian legsweep to take over. Tokyo gets two each off a sunset flip and small package, but a hiptoss is countered into the Flatliner to give Kanyon a fast pin.

Nitro Girls.

Glacier vs. Bobby Duncum Jr.

The cowboy takes him into the corner to start and shrugs off some kicks before nailing a headbutt to the ribs. More power shots such as a clothesline and shoulder drop drop Glacier and we head back outside for even more punishment, including a hard whip into the barricade. Back in and a top rope clothesline is good for two on Ice Dude but he comes back with his usual variety of kicks. A powerslam gets two for Glacier, only to have Duncum come right back with a running DDT. Duncum’s attempt to use his bullrope doesn’t work so he hits a Skull Crushing Finale for the pin. That’s not a good finisher for him.

Rating: D. Duncum is trying, but him going after the cowbell and bullrope shows how stupid WCW could be at the time. I know they’re a southern based promotion, but I got so sick of their OBSESSION with cowboys. Yeah we get it you have a bullrope and a big hat. DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

Giant comes out to talk about the battle royal last night. He wanted a piece of Nash but Nash needed an army to take him out since Big Kev won’t fight him one on one. Since that’s out of the question, Giant wants to know if Goldberg has the guts to face him tonight.

Hour #2 begins.

Saturn vs. Silver King

Before the match, Saturn tells Ernest Miller to jump him if he wants to. Why is this feud still a thing? A hard shoulder takes Silver King down to start followed by a drop toehold. Back up and a few kicks drop Saturn, setting up a slingshot splash for two. Saturn is bored by selling and nails a clothesline and superkick to send Silver King outside, only to draw out Sonny Onoo and Ernest Miller. After some lame trash talk, a German suplex and the Death Valley Driver end Silver King.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Kidman

Kidman is defending. Feeling out process to start with Rey sending him into the corner for an early Bronco Buster to a bit of a mixed reaction. Maybe the huge shirt is offputting. They trade headscissors takeovers with Rey’s taking both guys over to the floor. Back in and Rey hits a quick dropkick to the knee followed by something like a Fameasser for two.

Kidman is sent to the apron but comes in over the top with a top rope cross body for two of his own. The champion charges at Rey but Mysterio uses what would become the 619, sending Kidman flying out to the floor in a cool spot. A big springboard flip dive takes Kidman down but he’s able to dropkick Mysterio out of the air as they come back in. Kidman powerslams him for two before getting caught in the sitout bulldog for another near fall. That’s FINALLY enough to get the announcers to care about the guys in the ring instead of Nash vs. Goldberg.

Rey comes back again with a sunset bomb out of the corner but Kidman is right back as well with a running bulldog up the corner. The masked dude hits a superplex but West Coast Pop is countered into the short powerbomb in a great counter. Juvy and Eddie come out for a distraction with Kidman going after the latter, allowing Guerrera to hit the Juvy Driver on Rey, setting up the Shooting Star to retain the title.

Rating: C+. This was a nice back and forth match between these two but the LWO continues to go nowhere for the most part. It’s nice of them to have some kind of a story, but there’s only so much that they can do against each other. I’d love to see them get out of the division for a change, but this is WCW so that’s a very rare thing to see.

Here’s Bischoff for his weekly Horsemen address. He understands that Flair isn’t going away and asks for him to come out here right now for a showdown. Flair comes out for the staredown on his own and says he’s humbled by the reaction he’s getting here in Grand Rapids. Bischoff actually says Flair deserves this before saying they have to acknowledge that Bischoff runs the company. Flair will admit that Ted Turner is a great man but made a mistake in hiring Bischoff.

Eric brings up Flair bringing in Barry Windham but Flair has no authority to hire anyone. This brings out Barry who immediately hugs Flair. Bischoff thinks that Barry is going to turn on Windham, which might be an accurate prediction. Bischoff slaps Flair and gets jumped, only to have Barry hit Flair low. The NWO jumps the Horsemen as they try for a save and Horace works over Dean’s leg. Eric makes Bret vs. Malenko tonight.

Stills of Booker saving Stevie Ray from Konnan last night.

Booker T. vs. Konnan

Tony tells us that Horsemen have left the arena other than Dean. Nice teammates they are. Booker takes over to start with a wristlock but walks into the rolling clothesline. A clothesline and back elbow to the jaw drop Konnan and a pair of kicks but Stevie comes out and nails Konnan in the head with a slapjack for a DQ.

Stevie asks Booker where his head is but Booker says he doesn’t need his brother.

Gene brings out Bret Hart for a chat. Bret says that punk DDP stole a cheap win last night and wants a rematch. He’ll destroy Dean’s knee until Page accepts the challenge.

Nitro Girls.

Wrath vs. Kevin Nash

The idea here is simple: Nash is facing the ultimate streak at Starrcade so he’s challenging a smaller streak here. Wrath drives in knees in the corner and nails a bicycle kick to drop Nash with ease. A dropkick sends him over the top and out to the floor as it’s all Wrath to start. Nash comes back in with right hands and elbows in the corner but Wrath easily suplexes him down. Wrath gets two off a top rope clothesline but he charges into a boot in the corner. Side slam is good for two on Wrath and a shoulder gets the same on Nash. Kevin comes right back with a big boot and the Jackknife to end Wrath once and for all.

Rating: C-. The match actually wasn’t all that bad but the booking is pretty questionable. I fully understand the idea of having Nash beat a winning streak, but Wrath was a guy with potential and they just burned through it here. On top of that, Wrath dominated the match and Nash hit like two moves for the win in less than five minutes. This should have been a bigger deal than it was.

Gene brings out Chris Jericho for a chat. Jericho’s hair looks like he’s been subjected to static electricity experiments. However Jericho wants to be serious tonight. The Jericholics have disappointed him lately by not cheering loud enough. He’s their role model because he’s better than every single one of them. Gene brings up Bobby Duncum Jr. and Jericho can’t pronounce his last name. As Jericho makes fun of cowboys, Duncum walks out with a hogtied Ralphus. Jericho: “GET AWAY FROM HIM! HE’S A TRAINED KILLER!”

Scott Hall vs. Alex Wright

Jericho is still trying to untie Ralphus during Hall’s entrance. Hall says cut the NWO Black and White music. Tonight is going to be the final survey because the fans are all here to see the…..something I can’t make out. There are two factions in the NWO and Hall doesn’t care for either one of them right now, so send out Alex Wright so Hall can destroy him. After the toothpick throw, Alex flips out of a belly to back suplex but gets punched in the jaw and clotheslined out to the floor.

Alex actually pulls Hall outside for some right hands as the fans chant USA. Back in and a missile dropkick puts Hall down again but it’s time to dance. Heenan is LIVID over this as you can hear the manager in him trying to come back out. They slug it out a bit until Hall levels him with a clothesline and the Edge is good for the pin.

Rating: C. Far better match here than I was expecting as Wright got to show off here in a bit of a surprise. Hall being serious is a good thing though as I really didn’t care for the drunk angle. Hall is talented enough to put on entertaining matches with almost anyone so it was a waste of his talent to use that kind of a gimmick.

Nitro Girls.

Bret Hart vs. Dean Malenko

Dean is favoring his knee after the attack earlier. Bret goes right for the knee to take over and kicks away but Dean gets in a right hand and some stomps to take over. Dean tries a rolling cradle but the knee gives out and they roll to the floor. We take a break and come back with Tony telling us about a special bonus Nitro tomorrow with another hour. Oh freaking JOY.

Dean tries a suplex and the knee holds up for the most part but he can’t follow up. A small package is good for two on Hart as Tony actually gets a fact right: Windham wasn’t an original Horseman. Dean comes back with a sleeper which Heenan points out allows him to rest the leg. Bret fights out of it with a belly to back but Malenko keeps the hold on. They head outside for a few seconds before Dean chokes with the boot in the corner.

Bret goes right back to the knee to take over though and snaps the bad leg down. He grabs the leg again but gets enziguried down to give Dean a breather. Back up and Dean slams him into the buckle while hobbling across the ring. Nice touch. A superplex doesn’t work but Bret goes down to the apron to keep Malenko out of trouble. The leg lariat sets up the Texas Cloverleaf but Bret is right in the ropes.

They fall to the floor with Dean landing on the leg to keep him down. Bret tries to bring in a chair but the referee takes it away, allowing Malenko to nail a missile dropkick for a very close two. Malenko tries a leapfrog but can’t get the elevation and goes down again. Bret wraps the leg around the post a few times and nails a Diamond Cutter, causing the referee to stop it.

Rating: B. I was really liking this one and the ending actually makes it better. Malenko doesn’t have to do a clean or even dirty job here and goes down fighting the whole way. His comeback was great with the knee being sold the whole way through. But of course we couldn’t have Dean move up the card long term or anything like that as a result of a great performance like this.

DDP comes in to save Malenko’s knee but gets beaten down with a chair. Bret misses a chair shot to the knee but gets away from the Diamond Cutter. Page calls him Hitscum Hart as Bret walks away. We get a challenge for a rematch for the US Title next week.

WCW World Title: Giant vs. Goldberg

They fight into the corner to start and Giant kicks him in the side of the head. Chokeslam gets two and Goldberg hammers away with some kicks to the ribs. Spear and a delayed Jackhammer retain the title.

Bam Bam Bigelow runs in post match but Nash comes out for the save. Goldberg goes after Nash and security separates them to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was an entertaining enough show but I’m not interested in Starrcade so far. Goldberg vs. Nash just doesn’t feel like a big showdown main event but it’s what we’re getting no matter what. The Jackhammer to Giant was very impressive and Malenko’s match was good so it’s a watchable show but in a bad time for WCW.

Remember there’s the extra Nitro show Tuesday and no Thunder this week.

Remember there’s the extra Nitro show Tuesday and no Thunder this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Clash of the Champions at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Monday Nitro #163
Date: November 16, 1998
Location: Wichita Coliseum, Wichita, Kansas
Attendance: 13,981
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s the go home show for World War 3 and most of the card isn’t known yet. We’ll get the battle royal and Mysterio vs. Guerrera for the Cruiserweight Title…and that’s about it. My guess is we’ll get a bunch of rematches from Halloween Havoc, but thankfully Hogan vs. Warrior III isn’t going to be one of them. Let’s get to it.

The announcers welcome us to the show and run down the card.

We see a motorcade coming up, meaning it’s time for more Hogan For President stuff later on. I’ll give them this: it’s something different.

More from the announcers.

Cruiserweight Title: Billy Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera

Apparently Judy Bagwell is in the hospital and has sent in a tape which we’ll look at later. Juvy takes him down with some headscissors to start but Kidman nips up and grabs a headlock. Juvy counters into one of his own before rolling Kidman up for two. The short powerbomb (Sky High) puts Guerrera down for two and he rolls out to the floor for a breather. A suplex back inside sets up a slingshot legdrop to give the champion a near fall.

We hit the chinlock on Juvy for a few moments before Guerrera pops up and grabs a hurricanrana out of the corner. A nice looking headscissors puts Kidman down again and Juvy rains down right hands in the corner. The crowd is WAY behind Juvy here. Kidman sends him to the apron but gets caught with a Stunner across the top rope. A high cross body gets two for Guerrera but Kidman dropkicks him out to the floor to get a breather.

Kidman follows him out with a plancha and we hit the chinlock back inside. Juvy fights up and rolls Kidman to the floor, setting up a dive off the top. Back in and Juvy hits a springboard legdrop but hurts his back, allowing Kidman to kick out at two. A sitout bulldog gets two more for the challenger but he tries a powerbomb like a dolt.

The faceplant gets two for Kidman and he counters another sitout bulldog into a wheelbarrow slam for two more. Juvy nails the Juvy Driver out of nowhere for two and takes him up top but Kidman hits an uncharacteristic low blow. A sitout spinebuster off the top gets a VERY close two but Juvy breaks up the Shooting Star. The 450 (mostly hitting knees) is enough for the pin and the title.

Rating: B+. This was AWESOME with both guys doing everything they could with Kidman even cheating a bit near the end. Juvy has been tearing the house down lately so there’s nothing wrong with him getting the title here. If nothing else it sets up Mysterio vs. Guerrera again on Sunday and that’s never a bad thing.

Kidman teases hitting him with the belt post match but just hands it to Juvy and raises his hand.

Opening sequence.

We look back at Judy Bagwell in the Tag Team Title match last week.

Wrath vs. Raven

Before the match Raven says that WCW isn’t his mother and can’t tell him what to do so he’s not wrestling tonight. Kanyon begs him to change his mind and offers to take his spot. He does the usual stuff with the crowd, only to be laid out by Wrath. The Meltdown destroys Kanyon, whose scheduled match is next.

Kanyon vs. Glacier

Glacier comes out to go after a downed Kanyon but Wrath doesn’t think that’s fair. There’s a Meltdown for Glacier as well and we go to a commercial. Back with both guys down and the referee counting until Kanyon covers Glacier for two. They’re selling the heck out of those Meltdowns.

They head outside with Glacier nailing a suplex but takes too long to follow up, allowing Kanyon to hit a Fameasser onto the steps. Somehow that only gets two so Kanyon goes up, only to jump into the Cryonic Kick for another two count. This time it’s Kanyon kicking Glacier down but coming off the top into a northern lights suplex. Not that it matters as Glacier walks into the Flatliner for the pin. It wasn’t long enough to rate but it was more about Wrath than either guy.

Nitro Party winner.

We look at the Hogan For President stuff from last week.

Hogan, Bischoff and company were on Imus in the Morning for a charity thing.

Sonny Onoo vs. El Gringo

Let’s get this over with. It’s fairly obvious that Gringo is Kaz Hayashi under a mask. Gringo blocks a Sonny kick and Onoo says this isn’t what they planned. Sonny gets shoved down as Gringo unmasks as Kaz Hayashi. Not that it matters as Ernest Miller comes out to kick Hayashi in the head, giving Onoo a pin with his foot on Kaz’s chest. Amazingly enough, NO ONE CARES ABOUT THIS STORY.

Nitro Girls.

Horace/Stevie Ray vs. Dean Malenko/Steve McMichael

Horace takes Dean into the corner to start and chokes for a bit before being dropped by a belly to back suplex. After a bit of leg work it’s off to Mongo who tries to fight both guys at once with the results going as badly as you would expect. Ray comes in but charges into an elbow followed by a kind of suplex from McMichael.

Dean gets the tag but can’t hook the Cloverleaf. The NWO beats Malenko down until a hot tag brings in Mongo and everything breaks down. Vincent breaks up the tombstone on Horace and gets destroyed by Arn as a result. Stevie nails McMichael with the slapjack but Arn pulls out the trusty tire iron and knocks out every NWO member in sight for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Malenko tried but he can’t carry three other guys on his own. Horace wasn’t even terrible but he’s just so uninteresting that there’s nothing to him. McMichael really should be better by this point and Stevie Ray was Stevie Ray. I can always go for some old AA bludgeoning though.

Doug Dillinger comes out to take the tire iron but Arn says no.

Back from a break with Arn being taken away by security and Mongo going to the hospital.

Gene brings out Ric Flair for a chat. It’s true that Arn is going to jail and Mongo is hurt but Flair doesn’t seem too shaken up by these developments. He rants about tradition for a bit before saying he wants Bischoff in the ring, so he can “chop him so hard he’ll be on Ripley’s Believe It Or Not as the man with four nipples.”

As for tonight, Flair has a surprise for us so here’s Barry Windham of all people. Barry and Flair hug before Barry talks about how right it is to have the Horsemen back in WCW. Bischoff comes out to say Barry doesn’t have a job here and Flair has no authority. Flair says that’s true, but Barry can tear up Bischoff’s girlfriend tonight.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Again if Rey loses he has to join the LWO but Eddie will leave him alone if Rey wins. Eddie has an unnamed enforcer with him who has been seen in recent LWO attacks. A headscissors and hurricanrana put Guerrero down and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker send him crawling to the referee. Back up and a nice armdrag takedown puts Eddie on the mat and we hit the armbar. They go to a test of strength but Mysterio climbs the ropes and moonsaults into a DDT in an AWESOME counter.

Rey tries something resembling a Whisper in the Wind but complete misses and comes up favoring his knee. Not that it matters as he’s able to backdrop Eddie to the floor and hit an Asai Moonsault. A dropkick to the back of the head drops Eddie again but the bodyguard trips Rey down. Guerrero nails a powerbomb but Juventud runs out to even things up. His springboard legdrop hits Rey by mistake though and Eddie adds the Frog Splash for the pin.

Rating: C. This didn’t have time to reach their usual level but it’s still an entertaining match. Juvy adds a new wrinkle to the story and having Eddie get what he wants through these means is a smarter move than giving him a clean win. These two getting time in the ring together is never a bad thing.

The LWO puts a shirt on the unconscious Rey.

The announcers talk about Judy Bagwell for a bit before taking us to a video of her in the hospital. She can’t believe Buff would let this happen and makes it her mission to bring Marcus back where he belongs. Only in WCW people.

Scott Putski vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

They pose at each other to start until Putski takes over with a nice slam. He throws Chavo into the air and lets him crash down to the mat. Chavo comes back with some forearms in the corner but gets caught in a suplex. Now for something a bit more interesting as we go split screen to see Gene watching a Cadillac arrive. Bam Bam Bigelow of all people gets out and goes through security, screaming for Goldberg to come fight him. Gene tries to talk to him as we’re on a single screen now. Bigelow comes to the arena and destroys both guys with a powerbomb to Putski and a gorilla press to Guerrero.

Bigelow demands that Goldberg get out here right now but Eric Bischoff, JJ Dillion and an army of security come out instead. Bischoff and Dillon say get out of here but Bigelow doesn’t go. Instead here’s Goldberg and A LOT more security to try to keep them apart. Bischoff yells at JJ and wants to see him in the back.

After a break Eric yells at JJ and fires him. JJ says no way because he quits.

We look at the brawl again.

World War 3 ad.

Konnan vs. Saturn

This is due to Konnan coming out last week to save Saturn from an LWO attack. Saturn didn’t want the help and wants revenge. Konnan does his usual stuff but Saturn jumps him in what is becoming a tradition in WCW. Saturn fires off some kicks in the corner and hits a jumping clothesline. A rolling clothesline misses Saturn but he misses the superkick as well, allowing Konnan to nail a clothesline of his own. The LWO comes out as Konnan hits the seated dropkick and puts on a chickenwing.

We cut to the back and see Bischoff saying Bigelow will not be at World War 3. Goldberg comes up to Bischoff, grabs his face and demands Bigelow tonight. Back in the ring with Saturn nailing a superkick but walking into a spinebuster for two. The announcers have given up any pretense of talking about the match to hype Goldberg vs. Bigelow.

Splash Mountain (Razor’s Edge into a sitout powerbomb) gets two on Saturn but he comes back with a northern lights suplex. A double clothesline puts both guys down until La Parka gets up on the apron and holds Saturn. Konnan will have none of that and lays out La Parka instead. The LWO beats up Saturn as a result and that’s a DQ.

Rating: C+. I’m glad the backstage stuff only went on for a few moments as this was an entertaining match for the most part. It was always nice to see two different styles work together out there and the match worked fairly well. The LWO isn’t doing much for me but it’s nice to see them doing something.

Konnan goes to help Saturn but Saturn will have none of that. The LWO leaves them alone to fight.

Hour #3 begins.

Nitro Girls.

We look at Hall vs. Nash.

Here are Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell and their own referee. By referee, I mean a guy with a whistle and hat running all over the place. Buff talks about how WCW won’t give them a referee right now so the NWO has their own. He has the referee demonstrate how to do a very over the top three count before Scott insults the women here in Kansas. He talks about the NWO being stronger than blood, which is why it’s ok for Scott to go attack Buff’s mother.

Scott says Buff can return the favor, so here’s an old “lady” called Mrs. Steiner. Buff beats her up and the referee counts the pin until Rick Steiner runs in to clear the ring. He rips the wig off to reveal a man and says that’s not his mother. Thanks for that Rick. Scott Norton sneaks up on Rick and lays him out so Buff and Scott can come back in to beat Rick down. The referee counts a pin with all three guys covering Rick.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Bobby Duncum Jr.

Jericho is defending. Duncum is a tall guy who looks like a cowboy and is making his WCW debut. He’s wrestled for a few years elsewhere though. Jericho grabs something like a surfboard before letting it go for a senton backsplash. Heenan: “A senton?” Tenay: “Yes a senton.” Heenan: “Senton? SENTON? A senton? It’s a senton.” Jericho hits a nice belly to back (Heenan: “THE SUPER SENTON!”) but Duncum grabs the boot to block the Arrogant cover.

A hard clothesline puts Jericho on the floor and another one off the apron sends Chris into the barricade. Back in and Jericho nails a dropkick as Heenan says this match has been going for twenty minutes. I know Heenan can embellish time once in awhile but stretching a four minute match to twenty minute be a new record. Duncum grabs his bullrope and chases Jericho off for the countout.

Rating: C-. Duncum looked good and could move well for a bigger guy but much like Kaos, there’s not much interest there. The annoying thing is Jericho vs. Goldberg was built up for over a month now and it seems like Jericho getting speared last week is the end of their story. As Jericho has mentioned before, I see no reason why Jericho couldn’t get squashed on PPV or even Nitro.

Here comes the Secret Service and it’s time for Hogan. He comes out to Hail to the Chief and the announcers swear that Hogan is serious about this. Hogan is by himself here with the white feather boa around his neck. A huge American flag comes down in front of the entrance as red, white and blue balloons fall.

Hogan gets in the ring as confetti falls as well. He talks about what a great week this has been due to the fans embracing his vision for the country. Tonight he’s introducing his official intern and of course it’s a woman that looks like Monica Lewinsky complete with a blue dress and hat. She congratulates him and makes a cigar joke before giving her a long hug.

Hogan invites the NWO out here because the campaign trail is just as solid as the NWO. Eric comes out and looks ticked off but sucks up to Hogan a bit anyway. Hogan makes light of Eric being worried about Goldberg and the wrestlers’ safety due to Bigelow. Scott Hall comes out and says they’re NWO for life. He wants to know where Bischoff’s head is at though. Eric says that’s ironic coming from Hall and says they’ll take care of this later on. Hall decks Eric so Hogan goes after Hall until Nash makes the save. Scott leaves and Nash says he’ll see him in Detroit. There’s another match for the PPV.

Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit

Non-title. Benoit nails a hard elbow to start before firing off chops in the corner. A snap suplex gets two and Benoit stomps away in the corner. Bret comes back with a shot to the throat before stomping down on Benoit for good measure. The backbreaker and middle rope elbow are good for two and Bret catapults him throat first into the bottom rope.

Chris charges into a boot to the face but comes back with a great looking superplex. The Swan Dive connects for two and Benoit clotheslines him out to the floor. Bret grabs a chair but runs away for some reason, allowing Benoit to punch it into his face back in the ring. Hart hits him low and crushes Benoit’s arm with the chair for the DQ.

Rating: C. This was more about setting up the angle than the match itself and that’s fine. Heenan saying that Hart just didn’t care anymore is very accurate. It’s clear that there’s no fire in him anymore and he’s just out there because his contract says he has to be. Also did we really need another face to be taken out?

Post match Malenko makes the save but Bret sneaks up on him and hammers away. DDP makes the real save and taunts Bret with the US Title. He’ll keep getting back up and will defend the title against Hart at World War 3.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Goldberg

Bigelow jumps Goldberg in the aisle and they fight by the entrance way until security breaks it up to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was a better show as it felt like there was an actual effort being put into things this week. As stupid as it sounds, I can actually go with the Hogan For President stuff. Yeah it’s totally stupid, but I’d much rather watch something over the top and goofy than something deadly serious and horrible. The rest of the show was fine and bringing in Bigelow to put over Goldberg isn’t the worst idea in the world. It’s still not a good show but it was a nice change of pace.

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Monday Nitro #161
Date: November 2, 1998
Location: National Car Rental Center, Sunrise, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

Things actually aren’t that bad for WCW right now as we’re heading into World War 3 and then Starrcade. The main stories at the moment are of course more Warrior vs. Hogan and Bret vs. Page for the US Title. The execution of the stories last week wasn’t horrible and the episode was much easier to sit through than usual. Let’s get to it.

We open with a World War 3 ad, which I believe is the first mention of the show.

Alex Wright vs. Norman Smiley

Norman gets caught in a wristlock and something resembling a northern lights suplex for no cover. Smiley pops back up and gets one off a cross body followed by a wind-up slam. Back up and Wright hits a nice running forearm but stops to dance instead of following up. We get a Tree of Woe from Alex so he can stomp at Norman’s chest before missing a charge into another corner. The announcers talk about World War 3 as Norman hits a nice delayed butterfly suplex. A legdrop gets two on Wright and Norman goes up, only to get superplexed down. Wright adds a neckbreaker for the pin.

Rating: D+. It’s the same story we’ve seen multiple times now and it’s still going nowhere. At the end of the day there are only about five European wrestlers on the WCW roster at this point so beating them over and over again doesn’t really do much for Wright. Not a terrible match but it doesn’t mean anything.

Opening sequence.

The Nitro Girls dance with WCW Revenge boxes. That game rocked.

Disco Inferno vs. Kaz Hayashi

Kaz doesn’t care for dancing and hammers away to start, only to have his head taken off by a hard clothesline. Disco misses a charge in the corner and gets taken outside by a nice headscissors followed by a great looking dive. Back in and Kaz gets two off a high cross body, only to walk into a suplex for two.

The dancing elbow gets the same but a second attempt misses, allowing Kaz to nail a dropkick followed by a moonsault for two. Sonny Onoo comes down the aisle. Disco goes up top, only to get caught in a nice superplex. Onoo distracts Kaz and gets chased, only to have Disco catch him coming back in with the piledriver for the pin.

Rating: C-. Far better match than I was expecting here though I’m not sure why we’re supposed to care about Sonny Onoo. He’s left Hayashi and is hanging out with Ernest Miller at the moment, which doesn’t exactly have me on the edge of my seat. Hayashi’s big dives looked good here though.

Gene brings out the returning Booker T to a nice ovation. Booker is glad to be back but needs to talk about Stevie Ray joining the NWO. He loves his brother and respects his decision, but it’s Stevie’s decision alone and Booker won’t be joining. Booker calls out Scott Hall for a match tonight, saying it was Hall that put him out of action a few months ago. Actual continuity. I’m stunned.

Scott Putski vs. Fit Finlay

Basic stuff to start with Putski taking Finlay down with a hiptoss. Finlay avoids an elbow and they head outside with the Irishman dropping Scott with a clothesline. A knee drop keeps him in trouble and they head back inside. Putski scores with some right hands and a powerslam but he misses the Polish Hammer (double ax handle to the chest). Finlay nails the rolling fireman’s carry and the tombstone is good for the pin on Putski.

Raven whines about his losing streak when Kanyon comes in. He asks if Raven is going to jump off a building but Raven sends him away.

We get clips of Jericho beating “Goldberg” over the last few weeks.

Ernest Miller, now with Sonny Onoo, comes out to make an open challenge to anyone in the back.

Ernest Miller vs. Scott Armstrong

Armstrong jumps the Cat two seconds into Miller’s five count and nails him with a dropkick. Not that it matters as Miller whips him into the corner and hits the Feliner for the pin at maybe 35 seconds.

Post match Miller chokes even more until Steve Armstrong comes out for the save, only to get kicked down as well.

Wrath vs. Kendall Windham

I don’t picture this lasting long. Wrath takes him into the corner and hammers away before no selling an elbow to the jaw. A side suplex drops Kendall and Wrath no sells a neckbreaker. Wrath drills Kendall with a shoulder block and the Meltdown is good for the pin.

Video on Bret injuring DDP and Sting recently.

Here’s a limping Bret for a chat with Gene. He’s had fun hurting people lately but he’s suffered a pulled groin and won’t be able to fight Luger tonight. Gene claims to have seen Bret moving around just fine in the back but Bret cuts him off and calls this a blessing for Luger. Lex himself comes out to the ring and calls Bret a liar before clotheslining him out of the ring. Gene gets taken out as well before Luger pulls Bret back in the ring for a Rack.

Tony complains about having to see Flair humiliated last week. However, Eric is making him show clips of Bash at the Beach 1994 with Hogan beating Flair in a title vs. career match.

Here are the Horsemen in the ring. Arn is tired of hearing Bischoff’s garbage and the NWO vs. Horsemen has to happen soon. Bischoff wouldn’t understand any of this because wrestling is a man’s game. Anderson wants to fight right now but first Ric has something to say. Bischoff can play all the tapes he wants but Flair will get every bit of the respect when he walks down that aisle. Malenko is in the back getting ready for a match so Benoit and Mongo get in their own jabs at Bischoff as well.

Hour #2 begins.

Nitro Girls video.

Nitro Girls.

Nitro Party winner.

Scott Norton vs. Van Hammer

Norton chops him into the corner and nails a splash before sending Van Hammer to the floor with a splash. Back in and Van Hammer grabs a quick Cobra Clutch slam, only to walk into a Samoan drop and a powerbomb to give Norton the pin.

We get a clip of JJ Dillon getting beaten up last week.

Bret Hart gets his ribs taped up.

Back in the arena with Saturn calling out Eddie Guerrero so he can prove he can beat Eddie after last week.

Saturn vs. Eddie Guerrero

Guerrero comes out but gets stomped down into the corner. Saturn hits a face first wheelbarrow slam as we have a referee in now. A quick brainbuster drops Saturn but he’s able to run up the ropes and suplex Guerrero down for two. Saturn nails a top rope legdrop and a falcon’s arrow but the LWO runs in for a fast DQ.

Konnan comes in to break up the fight but pulls Saturn back as well. He says Eddie is just like Raven with the Flock and not worth it. Eddie says he’s Raza and calls out Konnan for hanging out with the Anglo Wolfpack.

Scott Steiner vs. Kenny Kaos

No match as JJ comes out and says not so fast. Scott freaks out and shoves him, sending JJ running to the back.

JJ comes back out and says he has something to say…..and we immediately go to a break. What the heck was that?

We come back with a video on the Nitro Girls.

Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

The announcers talk about having to control Scott Steiner and make no mention of what JJ was going to say. They circle each other to start until Rey takes him down with a wristlock. Psychosis comes back with a wrist drag until they slug it out. Rey cartwheels onto Psychosis’ shoulders and sends him outside with a hurricanrana. Back in and Rey hammers on the horned masked man in the corner but gets countered into a sitout powerbomb to change control.

Rey is sent outside and a BIG slingshot legdrop crushes him even more. Back in and we hit the chinlock from Psychosis for a bit before he throws Mysterio in the air for a big crash. Rey avoids a charge in the corner and comes back with a springboard seated senton for two. Psychosis nails a sitout front suplex for two of his own followed by a top rope Frankensteiner for the same.

After avoiding a dropkick, Rey ties Psychosis’ legs into the ropes and bounces off the top rope into a moonsault onto the elevated Psychosis. Cool looking move. Psychosis tries to throw him into the air again but gets pulled down into an X Factor. The LWO is in the aisle for a distraction, allowing Psychosis to counter a middle rope Frankensteiner into a powerbomb for the surprise pin.

Rating: C+. This was your usual take two cruiserweights and let them fly around for a few minutes. Both guys were on their game out there and the match worked very well. It’s also nice to see the LWO get a pin over a big name instead of just running in for a DQ like they’ve been doing for the last few weeks.

Jericho comes out to rant about Goldberg a bit. He respects the champion and has a very successful football career of his own. Gene: “You do?” Jericho: “Details later.” Jericho makes fun of Goldberg’s football career and wishes him the best in the future. Funny as always.

Hour #3 begins.

Raven vs. Dean Malenko

The announcers talk about Raven’s losing streak as he allows Dean to hit him in the face. You don’t have to ask a Horsemen twice so Malenko hammers him down into the corner. A low blow slows Dean down but he drives Raven through the ropes to counter the Even Flow. Lodi comes out to ringside but Mongo runs out to beat him with a belt and chase him off. Back in and Raven hits the drop toehold into the chair for a delayed two.

Raven loads up the chair in the corner but Dean sends him into the corner instead. Dean recovers but Raven doesn’t seem interested in getting up. Some suplexes put Raven down and a spinebuster breaks up another Even Flow attempt. Kanyon comes out but Dean whips Raven into him for two. Benoit comes out to chop Kanyon but the “injured” Bret Hart comes out to beat up Benoit, allowing Kanyon to run in for the DQ……in a Raven’s Rules match where a low blow and chair were legal just a few minutes earlier.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t bad and Raven has some interesting stuff going on with the depression over losing the Flock. Bret running in didn’t help much but heels lying in WCW is what you expect anymore. I’ll give WCW credit for one thing though: they managed to have four people run in during a six minute match.

Bret put Benoit in a hammerlock until Luger comes out for the save. Hart immediately claims injured ribs but the Giant comes out to save Bret. Giant says he’ll fight Luger tonight.

TV Title: Billy Kidman vs. Chris Jericho

Only Jericho’s title is on the line here so I’ll only refer to Jericho as the champion. Jericho takes him into the corner to start and waves to the crowd before the trade wristlocks. That goes nowhere so Kidman dropkicks him out to the apron before cranking on the arm again. Jericho whips him out to the floor and Kidman lands hard on his back. A suplex gets an Arrogant two but Jericho is whipped hard into the corner and a clothesline puts him down.

The champion doesn’t seem to mind as he throws Kidman into the air and slams him face first onto the mat in a big crash. Jericho bends Kidman’s back across his knee before nailing a running dropkick in the corner. Chris goes up but dives onto Kidman’s feet to give Billy control. A lifting powerbomb gets two on Jericho but Chris counters a victory roll into a Liontamer attempt.

That doesn’t work so Jericho catapults Kidman face first into the buckle. Jericho’s powerbomb is countered into a facebuster but the Shooting Star mostly hits mat. Kidman comes right back with a rollup for two before just pounding on Jericho’s back. Chris bails to the floor but gets caught with a plancha to put both guys down. Back in and Kidman hits a high cross body as the time limit runs out at about eight and a half minutes.

Rating: B-. Another good match here as you would expect from these two. Kidman is just awesome right now and Jericho is Jericho. I’m not sure why only the TV Title was on the line here but it let Kidman throw everything he had at Jericho because he had nothing to lose. Fun stuff here but it’s probably just a one off match.

Here are JJ Dillon and Kaos with something to say. JJ has fined Buff $50,000 and Scott $100,000, which brings out an angry Scott. So how can you tell if it affected him or not? Scott goes on a rant about how no one can stop him and demands Kaos get out here right now. Kaos comes down and Buff barely bothers with the sincerity nonsense before the NWO lays him out. More WCW people looking stupid here.

Scott Hall vs. Booker T.

This is Booker’s return after being out with a knee injury. Hall does the survey and attacks Booker as he gets into the ring. Booker shrugs it off and hits a quick forearm followed by a hot shot. A side kick sends Hall to the floor but his eyes are clear this week. Back in and Booker scores with a clothesline followed by a back elbow to the jaw. Booker hits his hook kick out of a wristlock but walks into a fall away slam.

They head outside with Hall in control. He rams Booker back first into the apron and they’re quickly back inside. Booker’s right hands stagger Hall for a bit but he misses a dropkick to put Scott right back in control. A sleeper goes nowhere so Hall clotheslines Booker down, only to duck his head and get caught by an ax kick. Back up and the side kick nails Hall again but he pulls the referee in the way of the missile dropkick. The Outsider’s Edge is countered but another referee runs in to call for the DQ, giving Booker the win.

Rating: C-. Not a horrible match and it’s nice to see Booker win, even if it’s not by pin. The fact that he came back and got a match with a big star like Hall instead of dropping down the card is a really good sign for his future. The match wasn’t great or anything but it gives me hope for the future.

Giant vs. Lex Luger

As mentioned, Giant is substituting for an “injured” Bret Hart. We open with a posedown before Giant takes him into the corner. Luger avoids a chop and hammers away but Giant shoves him down and drops a huge elbow. A Russian legsweep drops Luger, prompting Tony to talk about what wrestlers think of Russian legsweeps. Is that something wrestlers regularly talk about in the back?

Giant stands on Luger’s throat as the fans chant for Goldberg. Luger’s throat is snapped across the top rope as the match is in slow motion. Giant shoves him around but Luger starts getting fired up. The clotheslines stagger Giant and Luger slams him down. There’s the forearm but Bret runs in with a piece of barricade for the DQ.

Rating: D. I didn’t get into this one as it felt like they were just filling in time. Based on everything we’ve seen tonight it was obvious that Bret would be running in and it didn’t make for a good match to sit there waiting on the interference. Luger didn’t get to show off his power either which is the best thing about his matches.

Post match Bret puts Luger in the Sharpshooter but Goldberg comes out. He spears Giant and loads up one on Bret but hits Luger instead to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. There are some good matches on here but the show felt like a filler episode. That’s likely going to be the case for the next few weeks as a battle royal can only have so many stories during the buildup to the show. Hogan and Warrior being gone was a nice break though and one that has been needed for a long time.

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

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

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

Nitro Girls.

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

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

Alex Wright vs. Stevie Ray

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

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

Opening sequence.

Kanyon vs. Prince Iaukea

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

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

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

The Nitro Girls are at the announcers’ desk.

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

Nitro Party winner from Hampton, Virginia.

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

Alex Wright vs. Barry Horowitz

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

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

Wrath vs. Sick Boy

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

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

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page

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

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

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

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

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

The announcers praise the match.

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

Nitro Girls video.

Nitro Girls dance.

WCW likes UNICEF.

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

Eddie Guerrero vs. Saturn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hour #3 begins.

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

Cruiseriweght Title: Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera

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

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

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

Ad for Sting and Randy Savage tapes.

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

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

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

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

Lex Luger/Konnan vs. Scott Steiner/Scott Hall

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

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

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bret Hart

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nitro Girls.

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

Kenny Kaos vs. Saturn

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

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

Tenay polls fans about last week’s show.

Halloween Havoc ad.

Normal intro.

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

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

Nitro Party video.

Nitro Girls.

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

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

Video on Goldberg vs. DDP.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kanyon vs. Scott Putski

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

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

Video on Hogan vs. Warrior.

Buy WCW Magazine!

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

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

Nitro Girls video.

Nitro Girls in the ring.

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

Davey Boy Smith vs. Fit Finlay

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

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

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

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

Wrath vs. Tokyo Magnum

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

More charity stuff from UNICEF.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hall is still at the bar.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Jericho

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

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

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

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

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Billy Kidman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nitro Girls.

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

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

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

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

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

Hogan vs. Warrior promo.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Horace

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

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

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

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

Sting vs. Bret Hart

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nitro Girls in pink.

Halloween Havoc promo.

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

Bret vs. Sting for the US Title tonight.

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

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

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

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

Lizmark Jr. vs. Saturn

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

Videos on the main events at the PPV.

Nitro Girls in black.

Kaz Hayashi vs. The Cat

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

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

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

Another Page vs. Goldberg video.

Jerry Flynn vs. Juventud Guerrera

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

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

Third Page vs. Goldberg video.

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

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

Long Hogan vs. Warrior video.

Villano V vs. Wrath

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hector Garza vs. Damien

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

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

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

Another video on Sting vs. Hart.

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

Nitro Girls in white.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Kidman

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

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

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

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

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

Scott Steiner takes credit for the Steiner Brothers’ success.

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

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

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

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

Rick Steiner vs. Brian Adams

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

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

Hour #3 begins.

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

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

Video on the Horsemen.

Nitro Girls in black.

Kanyon vs. Diamond Dallas Page

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

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

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

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

Hall isn’t at the second bar either.

Lenny Lane vs. Disciple

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

US Title: Sting vs. Bret Hart

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Announcers and Nitro Girls open things up.

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

La Parka vs. Super Calo

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

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

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

Calo blasts La Parka with the chair.

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

Disciple vs. Sick Boy

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

The announcers hype Hogan vs. Hart tonight.

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

Jericho has challenged Goldberg for a World Title shot tonight.

Nitro Party.

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

Lenny Lane/Nick Dinsmore vs. Scott Steiner

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

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

Hour #2 begins.

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

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

The Cat vs. Psychosis

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

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

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

Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

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

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

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

Cool Horsemen video.

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

Video on Goldberg vs. Page.

WCW World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg

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

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

Scott Hall vs. Billy Kidman

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

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

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

Hour #3.

British Bulldog vs. Alex Wright

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

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

Nitro Girls with the very cute Spice getting a solo.

Video on Kevin Nash.

Brian Adams vs. Kevin Nash

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

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

Lex Luger/Konnan vs. Hugh Morrus/Barry Darsow

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

Nitro Girls.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Bret Hart

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

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

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

Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nitro Girls.

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

Finlay vs. Barry Darsow

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

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

Clips of Flair returning last week.

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

Nick Dinsmore vs. Wrath

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

More Flair clips.

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

Rick Fuller vs. Rick Steiner

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

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

The evil laughter starts up again.

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

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

Kanyon/Raven vs. Los Villanos

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

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

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

Hour #2 begins.

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

Alex Wright vs. Diamond Dallas Page

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

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

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

More Nitro Girls.

Clip of Ernest Miller being arrested last week.

The Cat vs. Lenny Lane

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

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

Back from a break with more evil laughter.

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

Jerry Flynn vs. Saturn

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

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

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

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

Cruiserweight Title: Disco Inferno vs. Kidman

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

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

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

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

Nitro Girls with Tygress getting a solo.

More Flair stuff from last week.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Konnan

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

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

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

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

We see Eddie being sent to Japan last week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Giant/Stevie Ray vs. Kevin Nash/Lex Luger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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