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

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

Oh and this is a three hour show.

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

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

Curt Hennig vs. Mortis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

High Voltage vs. Public Enemy

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

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

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

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

Scotty Riggs vs. Alex Wright

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

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

Hour #2 starts.

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

Chris Benoit vs. Syxx

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

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

More dancing.

Booker T vs. Vincent

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

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

Wrath vs. Barbarian

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

Meng comes out to stare down Wrath. Wrath bails.

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

More dancing.

Lee Marshall does his thing.

Konnan vs. Psychosis

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

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

Glacier/Ernest Miller vs. Damien/Silver King

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

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

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

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

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Ric Flair

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

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

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

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

Page clears the ring post match.

Hector Garza/Lizmark Jr. vs. Villanos

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

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

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

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

WCW World Title: Lex Luger vs. Hollywood Hogan

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

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

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

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

Hogan loses his mind in the other locker room.

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

Here’s Road Wild if you’re interested:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Curt Hennig vs. Lex Luger

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

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

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Hammer

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

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

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

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

Ultimo Dragon vs. Kaz Hayashi

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

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

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

Call the Hotline to hear an interview with Sting!

Nitro Girls.

Nitro Party winner.

Chris Benoit vs. Raven

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

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

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

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

Hour #2 begins.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Lenny Lane

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

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

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

Rick Steiner vs. Vincent

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

Yuji Nagata vs. Saturn

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

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

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

TV Title: Booker T vs. Renegade

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

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

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

Konnan vs. Lizmark Jr.

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

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

The Nitro Girls dance at the announcers’ desk.

Vicious and Delicious vs. High Voltage

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

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

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

Eddie Guerrero vs. Disco Inferno

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

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

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

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

Ric Flair vs. Brad Armstrong

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Scott Hall

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

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

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

Monday Nitro #122
Date: January 12, 1998
Location: Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida
Attendance: 8,718
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

A lot has changed in just a week as Sting is no longer the world champion. The title was stripped on Thursday and is being held up, pending action by the WCW board of directors. We’ll likely hear more on that tonight as we move closer to Souled Out. As for the wrestling on tonight’s show, the main event is the Steiner Brothers defending the tag titles against the Outsiders. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip from Thunder of Sting throwing the title down and telling Hogan that he’s a dead man.

The show is still two hours at this point. The three hour episodes begin after Souled Out.

Larry talks about history repeating itself and empires crumbling.

We look at the end of last week’s show with the NWO seemingly imploding, only to be perfectly fine on Thunder.

Gene is in the parking lot waiting for the NWO to arrive. The limo pulls up and Nash says that he was putting out a fire last week when he punched Savage. Nash says that Savage doesn’t want a part of them. Why did Gene have two microphones for that segment?

Goldberg vs. Jerry Flynn

Flynn fires off kicks to start but Goldberg easily takes him down into a leg lock. Jerry tries an armbreaker but is easily lifted up into a powerbomb to break the hold. Spear and Jackhammer and we’re done in like 80 seconds. BIG pop for Goldberg on the win.

Nitro Girls time, including a new one named Whisper. She would later be known as Mrs. Shawn Michaels.

Black Cat vs. Marty Jannetty

Jannetty has generic rock music which be used later for Van Hammer during his singles heel push. Black Cat is a Mexican wrestler apparently most famous for his time in Japan. Tenay claims he trained Great Muta, Masahiro Chono and Jushin Thunder Liger. I can’t find anything to back that up but it’s very impressive if true. Tony calls this a tag team match as Jannetty drops Cat with a single right hand.

A flapjack puts Marty down as Tony claims that Sting is still the world champion. Jannetty hits a superkick followed by some forearms, only to have his backdrop countered into an implant DDT for two. Marty comes right back with a spinebuster and the Rocker Dropper (called the Showstopper here) is good for the pin.

Rating: D. This didn’t work at all. There was no chemistry whatsoever and neither guy seemed interested in selling the others’ moves. You could call this a total contrast of styles for lack of a better term. At the same time though, this is WCW’s strong suit: having such a big roster that they could throw a random pairing out there like these guys to draw in a few extra fans. That’s smart business.

Hall, Savage, Liz and Tenzan arrive in another limo. Savage says there are no problems in the NWO and wants to know what Nash said.

Dean Malenko vs. Chris Benoit

Dean cranks on the wrist to start as the Flock is watching in the crowd. A rollup gets two for Dean and it’s a standoff. Benoit runs him over with a shoulder block and fires off some chops in the corner to take over. Dean comes back with a clothesline and a chinlock, only to have Benoit drop him with a jawbreaker. Benoit gets two off a clothesline and chinlock of his own in a nice mirroring sequence. Dean fights up and hiptosses Benoit down before hooking a short arm scissors.

Benoit fights up with the power counter ala Backlund or Davey Boy Smith depending on which generation you’re from and drops Dean down on his back for two. They trade reverse suplex attempts until Dean takes him down with a German suplex. Benoit counters the Cloverleaf into a small package for two and Dean escapes the Crossface. A sunset flip gets two for Dean and the counter rollup gets the same for Benoit. Dean tries a victory roll but gets dropped on his face, allowing Benoit to hook the Crossface for the tap out.

Rating: B+. This was one of the better TV matches WCW had in awhile. You had two guys in there working hard and moving very smoothly out there with both guys countering everything the other guy could throw at each other. Malenko was on Benoit’s level here and it’s clear that Benoit is ready for a war with Raven in a few weeks.

The Flock hits the ring before Malenko is even done tapping and lays out Benoit. Malenko and Raven have a staredown but Saturn jumps Dean to protect his leader.

Here’s JJ Dillon to look at Savage jumping Bischoff to end the show last week. JJ talks about enforcing the fine on Lex Luger on Thunder and fines Savage $5000 for attacking Bischoff, who is still a WCW official. Savage runs out and grabs JJ by the shirt. Bischoff comes out to play peacekeeper and offers to pay the money. Savage says it’s the principal of the thing and still wants to know what Nash said.

More Nitro Girls.

Here’s DDP for a chat. Page says he’s jacked in Jacksonville because this Thursday on Thunder, it’s Page/Luger vs. Nash/Savage. Apparently the NWO isn’t for life, but neither were Liz and Randy. Page’s words, not mine. Page says on Thursday, Savage and Nash will hear the crackle from the Rack and then feel the bang.

TV Title: Perry Saturn vs. Booker T

Tony screws up again by saying that Raven is challenging here instead of Saturn. Saturn pounds away on the champion to start but a side kick sends Perry out to the floor. Back in and Booker hits a forearm to the head for two followed by a superkick to send Saturn out to the floor. Booker counters a German suplex into a victory roll for two but Saturn ducks a spin kick and suplexes Booker down for two. Booker comes back with some forearms but charges into a boot in the corner. Saturn trips him down and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin and the title in a cheap win.

Rating: D+. Energetic match here but the ending stopped it cold. Booker is on a pretty good roll at this point too so I’m not sure why they would put the title on Saturn out of nowhere like this. You would think if they were going to put the title in the Flock they would have given it to Raven instead of his chief lackey. The match was decent but they didn’t have time to get anywhere.

Actually hang on a second as Rick Martel comes out to tell the referee about the cheating. The match is restarted and Booker hits a quick ax kick and the Harlem Hangover to retain the title.

Post match Booker says he owes Rick one for the help so Martel asks for a title shot. Booker says anytime.

Here are WCW executive Nick Lambros and the Giant with something to say. Nick hasn’t heard a good reason as to why Nash didn’t show up at Starrcade, so Nash is going to have to put up a $1.5 million performance bond for him to show up at Souled Out. If he doesn’t put up the money, Nash is suspended for one year. Also, Eric Bischoff is cut off from Turner money starting tonight. Giant yells about getting Nash to show up but here’s the NWO looking very smug.

Bischoff, Hogan and Nash show up with Hollywood attorney Henry Holmes. Holmes says that he’s spoken with his new client Kevin Nash and they’ll put up the $1.5 million for Souled Out. However, WCW has to put up the same amount and if Giant touches Nash before the PPV, Nash gets the money. Giant says he accepts and Nash gets right in his face to talk some trash. I still love that the sales pitch for this match is “Nash will actually show up this time!”

Video on Savage vs. Luger for Souled Out.

Hour #2 begins.

Hugh Morrus vs. Lex Luger

Tony talks about the Super Bowl as Hugh hits a spinwheel kick to take Lex down. Luger comes back with a powerslam while the announcers talk about Nash vs. Giant. Neither guy can hit a hiptoss and Morrus misses a charge into the buckle. Luger hits some forearms but Morrus runs up the corner for a spinning clothesline off the middle rope. Morrus misses a top rope splash and the Torture Rack ends this quick.

Post match Liz comes out to distract Luger for a surprise attack by Savage. DDP comes out to chase Savage off.

Nitro Girls Part III.

The announcers talk about the problems between the Steiners with Scott being selfish lately. We get a clip from Thunder where Scott left Rick hanging instead of hitting the Steiner Bulldog.

Chris Jericho vs. Steve McMichael

Jericho is looking very condescending as he waves to the fans on the way to the ring. Mongo shoves Jericho into the corner to start. Jericho fires off some forearms but runs into a shoulder block. Mongo pounds away in the corner but runs into a kick in the corner. A missile dropkick puts Mongo down but he pops up for a side slam. Mongo stops to pose on the ropes and gets caught in a middle rope Frankensteiner for two. Steve comes back with a chopblock and a belly to back suplex for no cover again. Jericho is whipped into the corner and tries to jump over Mongo, only to get caught in the tombstone for the pin.

Rating: D. This was angle advancement instead of a match as Jericho’s frustrations continue. Thankfully it seems that Mongo is officially just a guy now instead of having any kind of prominent storyline involvement. The match wasn’t much at all but Jericho is already nailing the heel mannerisms that would make him a bigger star.

Post break Jericho is ranting against the fans for booing him after a loss. He loves being a role model and even though he lost to an inferior opponent, he’s proven he can lose with class. There will never be another outburst like that again. Mysterio’s music cuts Jericho’s talking off.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Juventud Guerrera

Juvy won the title on Thursday at Thunder. Rey gets to the ring and Jericho wants to know why he’s here. Jericho yells at Mysterio for interrupting him but shakes Rey’s hand….before laying him out with a pair of backbreakers and the Liontamer. Juventud comes out to chase Jericho off but then dropkicks Rey to keep his advantage as the match starts. Rey gets a quick rana to buy himself some time but walks into a tombstone. The 450 retains the title in about a minute.

We get the footage from Thunder of JJ stripping Sting of the title.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff with something to say. Bischoff quotes Hogan’s theme song and Hogan talks about Henry Holmes being here to cover the entire NWO. Hollywood brags about being the real champion because everyone says he is, and Holmes is going to prove that Hogan is champion in federal court. Well it’s better there than a wrestling ring I suppose.

Video on Bret Hart arriving in WCW and screwing over the NWO at Starrcade. He and Flair have a match at Starrcade to decide who the best is.

Gene brings out Jim Neidhart who can’t believe Flair’s statements about Bret Hart. This brings out Flair who respects Neidhart but won’t stand for Neidhart saying that Bret is a better wrestler than he is. Neidhart says it again and Flair says that he’s the Davy Crockett of this new wild frontier. Both guys take their jackets off but Flair goes to the back to get his gear while Neidhart goes to the ring.

Flair comes back and there’s a referee in the ring as well. Neidhart charges into a right hand which appears to have brass knuckles on it. The referee is decked as well and there’s a Figure Four around the post on Neidhart. Bret runs out for the save and a quick brawl with Flair. This wasn’t a match but the angle advancement is a good idea.

Souled Out ad.

Nitro Girls the fourth.

Video of a fan’s Nitro Party.

Tag Titles: Outsiders vs. Steiner Brothers

This is billed as a unification match but the NWO Tag Titles were never official, meaning the Steiners are the only champions coming in. As a side note: why are there so many people named Scott in this company? Scott Norton, Scott Steiner, Scott Hall, Scotty Riggs, and they’re always in tag matches against each other around this time. Hogan comes out with the Outsiders. The fans seem to be on WCW’s side in the survey.

The Scotts start things off as we hear that Flair has been fined for the attack on Neidhart a few moments ago. Scott Steiner throws Hall’s toothpick back at him and shoves Hall down with pure power. Hall drives some shoulders into the other Scott but gets shoved into the Steiner corner and ping ponged back and forth with right hands. Hall gets powerbombed down and Nash is caught in a double suplex to send the challengers retreating. Randy Savage is at ringside as well.

The fans want Sting but get an an intense talk between Savage and Hogan instead. Back in and it’s Rick vs. Hall with both guys pounding away in the corner. Off to Nash for the first time to drive knees into Rick’s ribs. Rick gets a boot up in the corner and a middle rope clothesline gets two. Back to Scott Steiner who gets clotheslined down before it’s back to Hall. A chokeslam puts Scott Steiner down but he comes back with a quick belly to belly suplex for two on Hall.

Back to Rick who cranks on a leg lock before shifting to a half crab. Hall fights up and brings Nash back in, only to have him caught in a leg crank of his own. Nash comes right back for Snake Eyes (not bad a mere three weeks after missing the biggest show of the year because of a knee injury) but Rick slips down his back. Rick loads up the Steiner Bulldog but Hogan crotches him before Rick can jump. Scott Steiner goes after Hogan as Hall hits the fallaway slam for two on Rick.

Things settle down and Nash gets two off the side slam. Rick fights back against Hall but Nash knees him in the back. Scott Steiner argues with the referee and Rick bumps into said referee as everything breaks down. Nash covers Rick but Savage goes up for the elbow on Kevin, but the big man moves and the elbow hits Rick, giving the Outsiders the pin and the titles back.

Rating: C. The match was decent enough, likely due to these teams fighting each other so many times over the years. With all the NWO big shots at ringside it was hard to imagine the Outsiders not taking the belts back but it’s nice to see Hogan slumming it with the tag titles. The fans make a good point though: where was Sting? Their big hero and savior can’t even come out for a save here or at least come out an even the odds a bit?

Hogan and Nash yell at Savage to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. In an unusual case for Nitro, the main event stuff was one of the better parts of the show. Souled Out is looking better and better on paper every week with Flair vs. Hart having one of the best builds I can remember in a long time. On top of that you get a very good match from Benoit and Malenko and you have a solid half of the show.

Unfortunately the other half had to be here too and it brought things down. The rest of the show was either too short to mean much or a lot of stupid talking. Do we really need to bring in some big name lawyer to decide Giant vs. Nash and spent ten minutes talking about performance bonds? Wait it’s WCW so of course we do, and we have to have real businessmen and attorneys doing the talking instead of actors/people that know how to talk. It’s a decent show for the most part and it went by very fast this week.

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Monday Nitro #37
Date: May 27, 1996
Location: Macon Coliseum, Macon, Georgia
Attendance: 4,309
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Eric Bischoff

 

We’re FINALLY here as we reach probably the most important TV show in wrestling history. First and foremost, tonight Scott Hall is going to debut by jumping the guardrail, more or less shattering the idea that things are predictable on wrestling. That’s the huge deal so I’ll go into detail on how awesome and shocking it was later. Also this is the first two hour Nitro and there’s a new announce team. Let’s get to it.

 

Theme song opens us up.

 

Tony and Larry are the first hour commentators while Heenan and Bischoff will come in later. NO MORE MONGO!!!!! This is a great show so far!

 

American Males vs. Arn Anderson/Ric Flair

 

Gee I wonder what’s going to happen. Larry calls the Males the young and the useless. That might be the only funny line he has all year so enjoy it while it lasts. Liz looks awesome in blue. Flair vs. Riggs to get us started here. Larry seems like the heel commentator here which wouldn’t last that long. The Horsemen get him on the floor and work him over like the Horsemen are known to do.

 

Yep Larry certainly is because he complains about how the football players that the Horsemen are facing at the next PPV are losers. Everything breaks down and the Males actually clean the ring for a bit. Flair runs over to his VIP table and grabs come champagne for a shot. Well that’s a new one. Things calm down again and it’s Arn vs. Bagwell at the moment.

 

Arn accidentally clotheslines the pole and we take a break. Back with Bagwell fighting out of the corner but he doesn’t tag. And never mind as he brings in Riggs for awhile as Flair chills in the corner. Tony and Larry have been given champagne by Flair. Shame Heenan isn’t there for this one. Flair works on the knee of Riggs as does Arn. Riggs manages to get an enziguri to send Anderson to the floor but as he goes for the tag, Flair and the referee get into a shoving match. Oh never mind as Bagwell gets the tag anyway.

 

Missile dropkick takes down Flair for two and they do the small package bit where the partners keep rolling them over. I love that as the guys don’t kick out for like twenty seconds and just lay there. Fisherman’s suplex hits Flair but Anderson makes the save. Woman saves another pin attempt and Anderson kills Bagwell with a DDT and Flair gets the pin. Quick ending.

 

Rating: C. This was kind of sloppy but for the most part it was fine. No one expected the Males to win here and that’s fine. They weren’t supposed to win anything here and they had a decent match out of it instead. This is what veterans are supposed to do: give the young guys experience and help bring them up slowly. For some reason that rarely happens in most companies and the young guys are seen as weaker when they come up. Either way, just an average match here but it was fine.

 

Anderson isn’t afraid of football players. Flair says his women are attractive and he’ll get Debra. Liz is the Sugar Mama using Savage’s money apparently.

 

Kevin Greene and Mongo are training for their match. This is a waste of time.

 

Steve Doll vs. The Mauler

 

And here it is. Why would this be on TV you ask? The same reason a guy named Steve Gatorwolf was on SNME once: to allow something else to happen. Mauler is Mike Enos and has Colonel Parker with him. Doll means nothing. Crowd is DEAD and the Mauler squashes him for awhile. They both go to the floor and Doll goes into the post. We take a break and come back and you can see him in the crowd.

 

Scott Hall comes over the railing and wants a mic. He says the famous line of you know who I am but you don’t know why I’m here. He calls out some of the big WCW names and has a challenge for Bischoff, Turner, Savage and anyone else that is here in WCW. “You want a war? You gonna get one.” The match of course just ends.

 

Ok so as you likely know, this completely changed wrestling forever for a lot of reasons.

 

1. No one, I mean NO ONE, saw this coming. Hall had literally wrestled less than two weeks prior on a WWF show. Today the 90 day no compete clauses exist because of this moment. If three months had gone by, first of all people would have noticed Hall was missing and there would be a good chance the word could have gotten out that he had signed with WCW. It made things seem like anything could happen on Nitro at the drop of a hat and that made you want to see the show. This was dabbled in with Luger on the debut episode but this blows Luger away.

 

2. Hall’s line about a war made people think that WWF was in on this which was unthinkable. People had jumped before but when they arrived there was fanfare to it and all that jazz. Hall came in through the crowd (by the way if I remember correctly he wouldn’t be named until Bash at the Beach) in street clothes, making it look totally unplanned. The idea of breaking the walls of kayfabe was also unthinkable coming up to this point, which shook everything up.

 

3. This would be the main story for the next three years minimum with all kinds of twists and turns in there. Everything was about Hall and eventually Nash and Hogan, but at this time everything was blown away by what the potential of this could be and it definitely had huge potential to be one of the biggest storylines of all time and it definitely was. It also set up the WWF because they had to respond to it. Granted they didn’t do that for almost 18 months but the idea was there.

 

4. I can’t emphasize this enough but this changed everything. The model before this had been to just go out there and do your thing week in and week out with the same structure every time. This made it look like the script had been thrown out the window and that there was this rogue guy and later this rogue group that didn’t care about the rules and were going to take things over whether you liked it or not. Having it look like the other company is involved in it is a brilliant idea as it looks like something is completely unprepared, which makes you want to see it at the same time. Brilliant.

 

5. Finally, this more or less marks the end of the athletics being the focus of the show. Everything became about drama from this point on. The matches got worse, the young guys got pushed to the back, the storylines and a lot of the face/heel dynamics were abandoned and everything was focused on drama. It wouldn’t really kick in until late July, but from this point on you could see the line of demarcation and how everything would change afterwards. It certainly worked for awhile, but eventually people got tired of it which is what brought the company down, along with about a thousand other things but we’ll get to that later.

 

Craig Pittman vs. Diamond Dallas Page

 

Guy that won a major PPV competition vs. a guy that hasn’t been on Nitro in months. Gee what do you think is going to happen here? No mention of the Hall incident post break. Teddy Long manages Pittman here. Page makes fun of him to start and imitates a soldier. Pittman does one armed pushups and Page thinks for once and tries to jump him. Pittman moved but the idea was nice at least.

 

There’s a slight reference to Hall but it’s not mentioned specifically at all. Page gets choked on the floor by a cord and then gets almost caught in the Code Red (Pittman’s cross armbreaker finisher). Teddy goes down and the distraction sets up the Diamond Cutter to end it. Barely even a match.

 

Video on Randy Savage and how he’s insane now.

 

Shark says he’s out of the Dungeon of Doom. Somehow he has a world title match tonight. They were a lot more liberal with those back then I guess.

 

Video on Hogan and how he’s been chilling with “celebrities” from Hollywood recently. He’s done some charity work too, which is always cool. He’s also been on Baywatch. It’s really funny seeing how big a deal they’re trying to make a guest appearance on Baywatch seem when Rock is a legit big star now.

 

Hour #2 starts. Bischoff says they’re not going to dignify the guy jumping the rail as he dignifies the guy jumping over the rail.

 

WCW World Title: Shark vs. Giant

 

That sounds like a bad Syfy channel movie. Shark is listed from Tsunami. No country or anything. He’s just from a tsunami apparently. Shark (Earthquake) hammers away on Giant. This is somehow fallout from Slamboree as Giant is replacing Shark or something. Shark keeps ramming into him and Giant eventually gets bored and clotheslines him down.

 

Giant chokes with the boot but Shark actually comes off the middle rope with a double axe. The future Big Show is like dude, you’re old and slams him with ease. He held him up there too which looked awesome. They exchange some more big man stuff and I wouldn’t look for this to last much longer at all. Eric says the second hour will start weekly at 8:50 or so. This bothered me back in the day. How can you start the second hour when the first hour isn’t even a complete hour? Jimmy gets up on the apron and the distraction lets Giant hit the chokeslam to end this.

 

Rating: C. Just a battle of the big men here so how much can you really complain? It’s not that bad but another win for Giant is never a bad thing. He needed all the ring time he could get and that’s what he did here. Shark would feud with the Dungeon briefly before just kind of leaving.

 

Post match Big Bubba comes in to cut half of Shark’s hair. This led to a bad match at the Bash.

 

Bischoff keeps talking about Hall without actually talking about him you know.

 

TV Title: Maxx vs. Lex Luger

 

Maxx used to be DDP’s bodyguard so he’s now #1 contender for the TV Title. Don’t you get the connection there? We talk about the Great American Bash where some guy named Rey Mysterio is going to debut. Maxx uses some very basic power stuff as we pad this out since there’s no point in even making fun of Maxx’s lack of a chance here. More babbling about Hall follows as he’s going to get a chance to talk at the end of the hour.

 

Maxx hammers away as Luger stumbles around a lot. Side slam gets two. Make that four which only in wrestling doesn’t get enough for three. Elbow drop gets two. Falls count anywhere between Sullivan and Benoit is mentioned. Awesome match there. Luger hits a powerslam and there’s the Rack out of almost nowhere to end this.

 

Rating: D+. Just kind of there for the most part as just like Giant did with Shark, Luger gets a workout here that doesn’t mean anything. Their title match went nowhere for the most part because the whole thing was about Bischoff getting jumped by the Outsiders. Anyway, nothing of note here but that was the point.

 

Luger says he earned the title shot even though it was taken from DDP and given to Luger. We get a clip of Giant chokeslaming Luger through the table a few weeks back. Luger wants all the big men WCW has before the title match.

 

Bobby Walker vs. Brad Armstrong

 

Just….why? Walker is a no name guy called Hard Work. See what I mean here? Bischoff still won’t say Hall’s name “due to legal reasons” and still won’t dignify him as he mentions him for the fourth time tonight. Walker takes him down with the arm and Armstrong does the same to Walker. Walker botches a few moves before hitting a cross body off the top for two.

 

We hit the mat for some more basic stuff. Headscissors goes on while they’re on the mat as this is pure filler. They didn’t have the whole two hour concept down yet I wouldn’t think. Walker gets a backslide for two. He goes up and slips again before hitting a top rope shoulder block for the pin.

 

Rating: D. So in a four minute match he noticeably botched three moves. Walker would later be part of a racial discrimination lawsuit against WCW, saying that they held him back because he was black. Based on this, I think it was more due to a high level of suck. Armstrong was always around but never really did anything. We did hear about the Cruiserweight Title being in America now, which is definitely a good thing overall.

 

Steven Regal vs. Alex Wright

 

Time to talk about Hulk! Or the Nasty Boys! Or Dennis Rodman! I never got this. It’s not like they’re talking about something major. They’re talking about random stuff that is there to avoid talking about the matches. That makes no sense but they always did it. Wright speeds things up a bit and takes him to the floor. He dives over the top to take out Regal as we take a break.

 

Back with Wright holding his arm as Regal takes over apparently. Headlock on the mat goes on which is a lot worse from Regal than most people. Belly to belly gets two for Wright. Bischoff actually calls Wright green. When do you ever hear that word being used? That’s another thing that started to be added around this time: random insider terms. European uppercut gives Wright some momentum and a rollup gets two. Pretty sweet pinfall reversal sequence ends with Wright hitting a nice dropkick to take over again. Monkey flip is countered and Regal gets a jackknife cover for the pin.

 

Rating: C+. Pretty nice match here as both guys worked rather hard to give us a nice crisp match. Unfortunately neither guy would really mean anything because they couldn’t talk that well but at the same time they were good backdrops for the amount of talking about WCW vs. NWO. Not much here but a decent little TV match.

 

Regal goes on a rant about Quasimodo and makes a semi-Hitler reference, calling Wright a mini-Adolf. Regal says WCW is nuts here and actually references Hall and says it’s time he has his say in what goes on in WCW. He challenges Sting who he would lose to at the Bash in a good match.

 

Scott Steiner vs. Sting

 

Odd main event here but whatever. They shake hands to start us off. Scott overpowers Sting to start as this is the always weird face vs. face match. Sting sends him to the floor with a dropkick and then dives over the top with a plancha. Back in and Scott gets a butterfly powerbomb for no cover. There’s the belly to belly for no cover again. Scott gets a double axe to the floor as he keeps control.

 

That gets two back in the ring as we make fun of WWF again because that’s just how we roll around here right? Sting gets a big boot up to block a charge in the corner as momentum balances out a bit. Scott hits another belly to belly for two. STF goes on. I guess that makes four moves for him right? He just lets it go and hits a cross armbreaker. Sting starts a comeback but the splash misses.

 

Scott gets a dragon suplex and here comes Luger as a second I guess. Rick comes out also and you might as well just paint a big sign that says DOUBLE DQ IS COMING in big letters on the screen. Samoan Drop from the middle rope gets no cover from Scott again. Sting avoids the Frankensteiner but can’t get the Scorpion. Scott tries a Tombstone which is reversed into one by Sting for two. Sting suplexes Scott to the floor and Luger interferes as does Rick and it’s a double DQ even though Luger hit first.

 

Rating: B-. Pretty good match here and the ending was there to protect Scott I think. They always wanted to push him hard but they couldn’t do it for another four years. The tag match that you would expect would happen next week in a show I missed because I was in a garage hiding from a severe thunderstorm. Anyway, pretty good stuff here with a predictable ending.

 

Hall comes up to the booth and says that “we” are tired of WCW’s big mouths. He tells Billionaire Ted to get three guys for a fight because they’re coming for a war. Hall wants to do it in the ring where it matters. Good line there.

 

Overall Rating: C. Industry changing moment aside, this was a pretty weak show. The matches seemed rather inconsequential for the most part but it’s clear they’re setting up for the Bash. On the other hand you have the 800 pound gorilla in the room known as Scott Hall. The show other than him means nothing as he was just the first step in a huge story that was coming. Anyway, from a historical standpoint this is huge and that’s the only one that really matters.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

 

Monday Nitro #36
Date: May 20, 1996
Location: Monroe Civic Center, Monroe, Louisiana
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Eric Bischoff

 

It’s the night after Slamboree and the final one hour show in the history of Nitro. It’s also the final show in the pre-NWO era. That being said, not a lot has changed at the previous show other than Great American Bash was set up with Mongo bringing out Kevin Greene to help him fight Anderson and Flair which shocked Flair for some reason despite Mongo talking about him on the previous Nitro. The Bash is only four weeks away so at least the build isn’t that long. Anyway let’s get to it.

 

We open with a clip of the same thing I just recapped.

 

Steiner Brothers vs. Fire and Ice

 

Scott Norton and Ice Train so for the sake of this I’ll go with Norton to call Scott Norton and Scott for Scott Steiner. Train and Scott start us off as I continue to try to figure out what I liked about Ice Train. I think these two had a match at the Bash also. Scott hits a belly to belly and it’s off to Norton and Rick. Norton adds a middle rope splash for no cover. Rick is like whatever and hits a German to bring in Scott.

 

To the floor and Scott drops a forearm off the top to Norton. Samoan Drop by Norton gets two as momentum shifts a bit. Rick and Train come in and it’s a double clothesline to put both guys down again. Everything breaks down as apparently this is a 90 minute long broadcast. Maybe this is a preview show for the two hour variety? Not that it matters for this match as the referee just throws it out.

 

Rating: C-. Not awful here as they did ok for a battle of power. Their match at the PPV had almost twice as long which helped them a bit but at the same time there wasn’t much to go on here. Fire and Ice wasn’t all that good and no one really cared when they split in the fall. Norton went to the NWO and Train went into obscurity. Not much to talk about here but not bad.

 

Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair

 

This should be good. Eddie grabs a headlock to start and takes Flair down with relative ease. They slug it out a bit as Eddie fires away with right hands and Flair of course chops away. Eddie speeds things up and sends Flair to the floor and Flair wisely gets away from any and all corners. Flair goes to his party table and grabs a chair which is taken away from him by the referee of course.

 

After a quick chase around the ring we come back for a staredown. BIG chops in the corner by Eddie and down goes Flair. We take a break with Flair firing a thumb into the eye. Back and they speed things up a bit with Eddie hitting clotheslines and a top rope sunset flip for two. Eddie actually grabs the Figure Four and Flair is in trouble. Eddie is no Jay Lethal apparently though and there’s the rope. Out to the floor and Flair takes over, landing a suplex as I think he wants to damage Guerrero.

 

Bobby talks about Flair being a 15 time champion and Bischoff says 13, because we’re not counting THOSE championships because they’re not WRESTLING championships. This guy is a walking comedy show. Flair hammers away but gets caught in an O’Connor Roll for two. Eddie gets a cross body but his knee gives out so he can’t cover. Flair Flip in the corner and Eddie dropkicks him off the apron to the floor.

 

Flair takes over on the floor as this has been a really good match so far. Eddie gets pounded in the corner but grabs a tornado DDT. He grabs him by the hand, walks up the ropes, walks across the ropes and gets a rana for two. Slam sets up the Frog Splash but Eddie hurt his leg again.

 

Flair…..tries a nip up? What weird parallel universe have I slipped into? Now we go to school and it’s Figure Four time. Eddie blocked it for a bit but now he’s caught. He tries to turn it over but the women help Flair out and Eddie can’t get his shoulders up and he’s out for a pin. That was AWESOME.

 

Rating: A-. This might be the best Nitro match in the history of the show and I’ve never heard anyone mention it. It’s Flair vs. Eddie for nearly 20 minutes, making it one of the longest matches in the history of the show so far. Very good match and totally awesome as Eddie gave Flair all he wanted. I loved this.

 

Flair and the girls come up to Gene at his VIP table and Savage is mentioned to a big pop. That’s not an issue apparently so Flair talks about football players for awhile and it’s the same stuff he’s said for months now. Flair takes the champagne and leaves with it and the ladies.

 

Back from a break and there are candles, champagne and fruit at the announce table with Flair, Bischoff and Heenan.

 

Tag Titles: Faces of Fear vs. Sting/Lex Luger

 

During the challengers’ entrance Flair is ranting about how we need a waiter. Luger vs. Meng to start us off. Apparently Liz likes Luger’s pec dance. That won’t lead to her eventual death or anything right? Meng actually does a drop toehold as Flair praises him. Bischoff shows his lack of historical wrestling as he asks if Flair has even wrestled a football player, apparently never having heard of Wahoo McDaniel so Flair goes off on him a bit.

 

Flair is having a ball on commentary, singing and making jokes about Debra. Back with Barbarian vs. Sting and down goes the painted one. Bischoff shills the replay of the PPV which was absolutely terrible. Barbarian gets a BIG kick of fear for two. That looked great if nothing else. Belly to belly release suplex off the top which looked AWESOME also. Barbarian is looking great here.

 

Double top rope headbutt and I think Sting may be dead. Luger comes in for the delay so Sting somehow kicks out at two. Heenan and Flair are cracking me up here as they’re debating which party to go to and having sandwiches. Sting dives for a tag but still can’t reach it either. He finally avoids a top rope headbutt from Barbarian and dives at Luger for the hot tag and everything breaks down. Sting knocks Barbarian off the top and a top rope splash by Sting sets up Luger for the pin.

 

Rating: C+. Pretty good little tag match here as Sting sold like a master and it allowed for a decent match to come out of it. Luger’s sneakiness was dropped in favor of other stuff in about a week which is fine because I couldn’t handle another backstabbing angle. Anyway pretty good match here and fine for what it was.

 

Flair is told Savage is here and isn’t exactly happy.

 

Savage is still trying to get in so Flair laughs a bit. Apparently Savage’s future is being discussed by WCW officials. Savage says make the right decision and is thinking about running through the cops to get at Flair. They shove him back again with ease and that’s about it for this part.

 

Glacier is still coming.

 

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Brad Armstrong

 

Page has his normal music here now minus the Self High Five part. Oh and he’s Diamond Dallas at this point for some reason. He won Battlebowl the previous night and has a benefactor and a ring now apparently. Armstrong tries some basic stuff to start so Page bails into the corner. Considering there’s no way that Armstrong can win here we’re kind of wasting time at this point.

 

Nitro moves to two hours next week apparently. Page stomps away and we take a break. Back with Page holding onto a chinlock as I have a feeling this is going to be rather boring here. Backslide gets two for Armstrong and that’s about it at the moment. Page hits a spear in the corner but the second misses and the arm hits the post. Flair praises Armstrong actually as he rams Page into the buckles and then the mat. Top rope cross body by Armstrong gets two and there’s the Diamond Cutter to end this. He didn’t have it mastered yet though so he kind of ran with it at this point. He’d get better though.

 

Rating: D+. Pretty weak match here but at the same time Page was still getting better. That’s why they put him with Eddie later to give him some real experience like they did here but Eddie was an actual feud. Anyway, not much of a match here but they had to get him on the show, if nothing else for this next part.

 

Gene talks to Page who praises himself for a good while. His foot was on the floor at one point so they’re taking the title shot from him and giving it to Luger. Page keeps the ring though for no adequately explained reason. Page rants a bit and wouldn’t get the title shot for like two years.

 

WCW World Title: Arn Anderson vs. The Giant

 

I could listen to Anderson’s Horsemen music forever. Kevin Sullivan is with him for some reason. When do you ever see him getting world title shots anyway? Jimmy Hart and Sullivan argue a lot before the match. Anderson tries a go behind to start and Giant is just like dude, no.

 

Arn hammers away in the corner and that goes about as well as you would expect it to. Slam puts Arn down and Giant isn’t even sweating. Anderson is sent to the floor and this somehow goes even more slowly. Giant gets crotched on the rope as he comes back in and Anderson manages to take him down. DDT is attempted and Giant is again like dude, no. He lifts him up and the chokeslam ends this clean.

 

Rating: D+. I’d go with an N/A here if I used those anymore but that’s really all there is to say here. It ran about 3:40 and had about two minutes of action in it. Giant destroyed him here other than a few shots. The problem was Giant was a guy that was totally awesome in theory but he was green beyond belief. He was slowly getting better but it took a few more years before he could work a match longer than five minutes without someone great in there with him. He was trying though and he actually improved slowly though, which is what made him worth the time.

 

Heenan tries to steal all the stuff Flair brought him to end the show.

 

Overall Rating: B. This was a pretty good show overall but they didn’t know how to fill in an hour and a half show yet, which is why the NWO was absolutely required when they made the move to two hours the next week. This had a great match and another decent one on there as a lot of stuff started to shift. Anyway, next week is probably the most famous moment in WCW history so this doesn’t mean much in comparison.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

 

Monday Nitro #119
Date: December 22, 1997
Location: Macon Coliseum, Macon, Georgia
Attendance: 7,615
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

Amazingly enough, we’re actually at the go home show for Starrcade. This is yet another three hour show which would become the norm soon after this. The wrestling on this episode means nothing at all, due to a certain segment at the end of the first hour which overshadows everything else we would see in the ring on this show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a paid announcement from the NWO. Actually it’s just Bischoff, who talks for several minutes about what he’s going to do to Larry at Starrcade. In short, he’s going to humiliate Zbyszko and take Nitro as a result. Well he certainly did humiliate Larry but not for the reasons Eric is talking about here.

Fit Finlay vs. Eddie Guerrero

Apparently this is the arena where Hall jumped the guard rail over a year and a half ago. The fans are all over Eddie to start as he begs for mercy. Guerrero pops up and kicks at Finlay’s knee to take him down. A slingshot hilo onto the leg has Finlay in big trouble early on. Actually scratch that as Finlay pops back up and pounds on Eddie without so much as a shake of the leg. Finlay drops Eddie throat first on the top rope before hitting a hard kick to the back for no cover.

Eddie is catapulted into the ropes so he can crash down onto Finlay’s knees before the Irishman pounds away with forearms in the corner. A hard clothesline puts Eddie down and Finlay rams Guerrero’s face into the side of the ring a few times. Back in and a hard boot to Eddie’s face puts him down but Eddie goes back to the knee which suddenly hurts again. A dropkick to the knee puts Finlay down again but goes up top, only to be caught and superplexed back down. Finlay loads up the tombstone but Eddie bails to the floor…and walks out for the countout.

Rating: C. Surprising lack of selling from Finlay aside, this wasn’t a bad match at all. The ending makes sense in a way as Eddie has a title defense on Sunday and wouldn’t want to waste his energy before then. Finlay was an interesting character as he would disappear for months on end before returning and getting a pretty big match like this out of nowhere.

Steve McMichael vs. Meng

Please….make it short. This is as a result of the match that didn’t happen last week. Mongo wins an early slugout and hits a corner clothesline. The slugout was so interesting the first time so let’s do it again a few seconds later. Meng tries a charge into the corner but eats a boot. However since he’s a savage and obeying ethnic stereotypes, it has no effect. A powerslam gets two on Mongo and a piledriver gets the same.

Meng goes up top for a splash but picks McMichael up at two. Dude, I watched you for like fifteen years and THIS is what I get in return? Mongo bails to the floor and finds the dreaded wooden chair. As usual it gets destroyed over Meng’s head (not a DQ for no apparent reason) to no effect (also as usual), so Mongo instead tombstones him for the pin.

Rating: D. In a weird way, Mongo is fascinating to watch. He had been around for a year and a half at this point and is somehow getting worse over time. That’s really quite amazing given the talent he’s been in there against. I know Meng isn’t exactly Lou Thesz, but he’s a veteran who can get someone through a basic match. Mongo looked completely lost here though and it’s painful to sit through anymore.

Page talks about being ready for the title match with Hennig, where the champion will feel the bang.

La Parka/Silver King/Psychosis vs. Hector Garza/Rey Mysterio Jr./Juventud Guerrera

The four man version worked so well last week that we get the traditional six man version this week. This is under lucha libre rules again, meaning if you go to the floor it’s the same as a tag. La Parka is in the alternate white attire tonight which really stands out in the ring. Garza and Silver King get us going and they immediately bust out the flips with almost no contact being made at all. Garza hits a spinning wristlock off the top to take King down but it’s off to Juvy for a big springboard missile dropkick.

Psychosis comes in and pounds Guerrera down as the match slows way down. He wants Rey Mysterio but instead we get Raven’s Flock arriving. Juvy speeds things up with a headscissors and an attempted reverse rana, only to land on the back of his head in a scary looking semi-botch. Psychosis misses a charge and hits the post shoulder first, allowing Guerrera to make the hot tag to Rey. Mysterio takes Psychosis out to the floor and sends La Parka into Silver King. La Parka comes back but missses a backsplash as everyone starts going up.

Rey cross bodies Silver King to the floor and La Parka dropkicks Psychosis to the floor for some reason. Juvy uses Garza as a springboard for Air Juvy to take Psychosis out again and there’s a suicide dive by La Parka to take out Juvy and break the chair he was sitting in. Why he was sitting in a chair I’m not sure but it doesn’t matter as Garza hits the corkscrew plancha to take out Psychosis and La Parka. Back in the ring and Rey puts Silver King on top for a reverse rana followed by the yet to be named West Coast Pop for the pin.

Rating: B. It’s hard not to love these things as there’s no need for a story of any kind of psychology to them. They’re quick and exciting with six interchangeable guys going out there and doing all kinds of insane spots. WCW never tried to make these matches anything more than that and it would have been stupid to try. Fun stuff here, as always.

Mysterio seemed to hurt his left knee on the reverse rana and is holding it post match.

Chris Benoit vs. Hammer

Benoit’s run through the Flock continues but there’s no Raven again. Chris asks the rest of the Flock to get in the ring because Hammer is going to need all the help he can get. A quick dropkick to Hammer’s knee takes him down and Benoit chops away in the corner. Hammer is kicked to the floor and Benoit takes him down with a dive through the ropes. Benoit goes over and smacks Saturn in the head, allowing Hammer to take over with some sledges to the back. Hammer knocks him back to the floor but gets whipped into the apron. Benoit gets a chair and here comes the Flock for the DQ.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but again this was about storytelling rather than the match. They’ve done a great job at setting up Benoit vs. Raven when it finally would happen, which for some reason wasn’t at Starrcade. Either way, this feud is making Benoit look like a star.

Post match Benoit is put in the Rings of Saturn again.

It’s time for the start of the infamous segment. Rude, Bagwell, Konnan and Vincent take over the announce table and run off the announcers. Bagwell then goes over to the cameramen and make them say they’re NWO and put on the shirts. The rest of the crew is made to put on the shirts too, including the guys in the back. Various WCW signs are taken down as Konnan goes into the production truck and makes everyone put on a shirt.

The big metal WCW letters on either side of the entrance are taken down, as is the WCW sign over the entrance. By the way, there is no resistance to this by any security or WCW wrestlers. To be fair though, I’d be terrified by a guy who can’t wrestle anymore, a career jobber, a low level tag team and Konnan. The commentary booth now has a sign that says NWO Monday Nitro. The fans are rapidly getting restless and it’s easy to see why. We’re at seven minutes of this already and now they’re heading to the ring.

Buff runs off the ring announcer and makes the WCW banners in the rafters NWO banners. We take a break and come back with the letters NWO spray painted on the mat. Rude demands and receives some lame fireworks as the NWO all stops to look at the NWO signs. A fairly big NWO sign is lowered from the ceiling as this has been going on nearly fifteen minutes now.

There’s an actual NWO Monday Nitro intro video and the graphic in the corner says NWO Monday Nitro. Good thing they had those graphics ready and loaded into the truck on a moment’s notice like that.

Here’s Bischoff on his motorcycle to FINALLY do something more than have the fans sit around and watch people do construction work. He brings out the entire NWO as this segment somehow keeps going. Even Nash and Hogan are here this week so you know it’s a big deal. Eric says tonight is Hogan’s night so he’s going to get some Christmas gifts.

First of all, Bischoff dedicates the show to Hogan and literally bows down to him. His first gift: NWO leaflets falling from the ceiling. Now he gets a motorcycle. Then he gets a second motorcycle. Then he gets a LONG open top limousine with built in hot tub and his own set of Nitro Girls. Bischoff promises even MORE gifts for him later because this hasn’t gone on long enough yet.

In total, all this stuff took about half an hour. Literally, it was half an hour of construction work and Hogan receiving gifts. No stories, no action, no matches, nothing. The viewers left in droves for this segment, to the point where Raw actually won the second hour because they were having ANYTHING but this going on.

JJ Dillon tells Rick Steiner he doesn’t have to go out there but Rick wants to.

The NWO sign is actually a big cube sitting in front of the entrance.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Norton

Bischoff, Nash and Rude have taken over commentary. Rick hits a quick Steiner Line but gets caught by a shoulder block to put him down. They quickly go to the floor with Steiner being rammed into the post and pounded down with CLUBBING, yes CLUBBING I SAY forearms to the back. Back in and they trade clotheslines with Steiner taking over and dropping an elbow. Rick puts him on top for a belly to belly superplex but they TOTALLY screw it up with Rick basically just falling down and Norton landing on top of him. Before they can screw anything else up, Konnan runs in for the DQ.

Rating: D. I’m not sure whose fault that botch was but when a Steiner is having trouble with a suplex, it’s time to throw in the towel on the match. Norton continues to be a guy that WCW protects like no other and I’m still not sure why. I know he’s a bigger deal in Japan, but Jericho beat Chono on Nitro and I’m sure Chono is a bigger deal than Norton. Anyway, terrible match.

Post match Scott Steiner and Ray Traylor run out for the save, setting up a six man on Sunday.

Nash thinks Giant is going to retire and become a Nitro Girl instead of facing him on Sunday.

US Title: Disco Inferno vs. Curt Hennig

Disco is challenging here but he’s TV Champion. Hogan’s limo and motorcycles are still in the aisle. The name graphics are now vertical on the side of the screen instead of horizontal on the bottom like they usually are. Curt runs him over a few times to start before hitting a pair of dropkicks to send Disco out to the floor. Hennig pounds away on the floor before throwing Disco back in to continue the beating. Disco fires off some right hands but charges into a boot in the corner. Hennig knees him in the head and rakes Disco’s eye and toys with him a bit more until the Hennigplex ends the torture.

Rating: D. Was there ANY need for this to be the TV Champion? Brad Armstrong wasn’t available tonight? Disco has been on a roll lately but instead of letting him continue that and make the TV Champion look good, we have to see Hennig pick him apart because Hennig is part of the NWO and therefore awesome.

Heenan comes out to being hour #3 by begging to be allowed back on the commentary booth. He sucks up to Nash and Bischoff and is allowed back in before Bischoff gets a headache.

Harlem Heat vs. Scotty Riggs/Lodi

Heenan is offering to buy Rude dinner to prevent pain and agony. They stand around for a long time to start until it’s Booker vs. Riggs. Mike Tenay joins in on commentary again to give us Bobby, Mike and Rick. Booker easily takes down Riggs and they trade wristlocks. Scotty takes him down with a dropkick to give the Flock its only advantage of the match, but Booker spin kicks him down with ease. Off to Stevie Ray who misses an elbow and it’s off to Lodi for the first time ever.

Ray immediately clotheslines him down as the punishment continues. A backbreaker keeps Lodi down and it’s off to Booker for the ax kick. The Heat hit a double suplex for two before Stevie chokes with his knee. A bicycle kick gets two on Lodi as the Heat are barely breaking a sweat here. Stevie hits what would become known as the AA as Riggs walks out on his partner. The Big Apple Blast (Hart Attack with a side kick from Booker instead of a clothesline) ends this massacre.

Rating: D. Unless you’re a big fan of Harlem Heat, there’s no need to see this match. It felt like they were intentionally filling in time with nothing special at all. Harlem Heat didn’t even have a match on the upcoming PPV yet they get a ten minute segment here to destroy a pair of jobbers? That doesn’t do much for me.

Buff Bagwell vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho immediately backdrops Bagwell to the apron and hits the springboard dropkick to knock Bagwell to the outside. A kick to the head has Buff in trouble but he manages to take down Jericho as the Canadian comes back in. Jericho is knocked to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Bagwell taking over after a brief slugout so he can choke away a bit more. Jericho charges into a boot in the corner and it’s time for the chinlock.

The announcers of course suck up to Bagwell because we have to make sure that every NWO guy on the team looks as amazing as they can. Jericho fights up and dropkicks Bagwell a few times before getting a near fall off a powerslam. Bagwell pounds him down again and goes up top, only to miss an elbow. Jericho tries a rana (I think) but they just collide and Jericho comes straight down instead of doing anything to Bagwell. After a double underhook backbreaker, Jericho looks for a superplex, only to be shoved down and hit with the Blockbuster for the pin.

Rating: D. ANOTHER lame match tonight with notable botches on moves that shouldn’t be that hard to pull off. Also another match here with a guy with nothing to do on Sunday and a guy in a match no one cares about on Sunday, but hey he’s in the NWO so we must be interested in him right?

Bagwell knocks out the referee for fun.

Here’s the NWO again because we need to give Hogan more presents. Bischoff gives him a ring (make your own jokes) shaped like the WCW Title and various posters to commemorate major moments in his career. That’s another six minutes I’ll never get back.

Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage

Savage comes in like a crazy man (perfect for the role) and gets beaten down as a result. A hard clothesline in the corner has Luger in control but he charges into Savage’s boot to put him down. Savage pounds away and chokes a lot before sending Luger to the floor. Luger goes face first into the steps but blocks a shot into the barricade.

Lex throws him into the crowd for a quick beating before we head back inside, where the referee is bumped by Luger’s steel forearm. Savage hides behind Liz as Luger makes his big comeback and of course here’s the NWO, led by Bagwell, for the big beatdown. The big elbow ends Luger in a worthless match.

Rating: D+. I’m trying to like some of these matches but they’re not making it easy on me. Luger and Savage fought on and over for years and the matches were only good once in awhile. The best I can make of this is they wanted Bagwell to cost Luger a match here to give Luger a reason to want to beat him on Sunday, again working on the assumption that anyone cares about Buff Bagwell.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff YET AGAIN to finally close things out. Hogan talks about how many people he’s beaten over the years and how Sting is going to be stung, but there’s another gift for Hollywood. Eric says this isn’t from him and here’s Bret Hart in the limo. Hogan opens the box to reveal….a Hogan head. Sting shows up on top of the NWO sign at the entrance and ziplines down to the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. I’ve seen a lot of dull go home shows before, but this one was absolutely horrible. This show barely promoted Starrcade at all and was all about the NWO taking over Nitro. I’ve read rumors before that the NWO was originally going to get Nitro but this show was such a ratings disaster that the plans were changed to WCW keeping it. That’s how big of a flop this show was, but I guess since so many people had already been sold on Starrcade that it didn’t make much of a difference.

Here’s Starrcade if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/02/03/starrcade-1997-the-death-of-wcw/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

Monday Nitro #117
Date: December 8, 1997
Location: First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay

We’re into the final three shows before Starrcade so the card really should start to fill out now. The main event tonight is Hall vs. Page which has a history from the early 90s which I doubt we’ll hear about. Other than that we’re hopefully going to get some new matches announced for the PPV as the card is pretty thin at the moment. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about Larry vs. Bischoff for a bit to open things up.

Konnan vs. Ray Traylor

Konnan immediately runs but gets punched down in the corner with ease. A powerslam sends Konnan to the floor but he pulls Traylor to the floor for a quick slugout. Ray is sent into the steps and Konnan pounds him down back inside. A DDT gets two for Konnan….and there go the lights. They come back up a few moments later and Konnan is out cold. Ray cautiously puts his boot on Konnan’s chest for the win. Not enough to rate here but it was dull while it lasted.

We see Rude helping in the beatdown of Page last week.

Steve McMichael vs. Barbarian

Mongo grabs a headlock to start and hits a quick shoulder block to take over. A hard shot to the back of Barbarian’s head actually hurts him and we cut to the Flock in the crowd. Barbie comes back with a big boot to send Mongo to the floor followed by some whips into the barricade and apron. Back in and a kind of pumphandle slam gets two on Mongo and Barbarian goes up top. His flying clothesline jumps into a shot to the face and Mongo grabs the tombstone out of nowhere for the pin.

Rating: D. After a year and a half, Mongo should be better than he is here. He’s been in the ring with some solid talent over this time and he’s just not getting any better. Barbarian is a generic heel but he’s not bad in the ring. Mongo dragged him WAY down here and the whole Mongo experiment is clearly not working.

Post match Meng runs in and puts Mongo in the Death Grip.

Gene suggests that no one respects Disco for losing to Jackie. Disco says he’s tired of hearing about it. I think everyone is tired of hearing about Jackie in general.

Buff Bagwell comes out and challenges Luger because he’s buff and we’re in Buffalo. Seriously, that’s what he said.

Prince Iaukea vs. Dean Malenko

Eddie comes out to do commentary again. After a quick feeling out process to start, Malenko snaps off a good dropkick and goes after the knee. Prince fights up and hits a quick clothesline to send Dean to the apron. Back in and they trade nearfalls as Eddie is ripping into Dean like there’s no tomorrow. A double clothesline puts both guys down but it’s Dean up first for the double underhook powerbomb and the Cloverleaf for the fast tap out. This was just a step above a squash.

Nitro Girls.

Nash says he’s the real giant of pro wrestling and that Giant is one dimensional.

Giant says he’s the real giant of pro wrestling and that he’s going to chokeslam Nash.

Nitro Girls.

Chris Benoit vs. Lodi

Again this is supposed to be Raven but he’s not here tonight so it’s the yet to be named Lodi instead. Tony has a name for him and calls him Load-Eye. Benoit knocks him off the apron to start and chops Lodi up against the barricade. They head inside with Benoit talking trash to the Flock and chopping the skin off of Lodi’s chest. Benoit hits his hard clothesline to take Lodi down and loads up a superplex. The Swan Dive and Crossface end this destruction as Benoit impresses again.

The Flock doesn’t run in because Raven isn’t here to lead them. Benoit grabs a mic and tells Raven to get out here and take a beating like a man. He promises to teach Raven what abuse is really about.

Here’s Ric Flair who says Hall, Nash and Hogan would get theirs at Starrcade. As for Hennig, Flair wants him in a cage at the PPV. Gene asks about Bret Hart and Flair calls him the real greatest of all time and invites Bret to come to Nitro. Oh wait actually Flair is the best ever and comparing Bret to Flair is like comparing John Elway to Jim Kelly. Hey look who is in the front row: Jim Kelly!

Randy Savage vs. Hugh Morrus

Savage knocks Jim Kelly’s hat off and Morrus jumps Macho to start. Kelly and teammate Bruce Smith get in some shots of their own and this is all before the bell. They head inside and I think we’re underway. Morrus hits a running clothesline in the corner and shouts insults about the NWO.

A second charge into the corner misses and Savage dumps him to the floor. Back in and Hugh hits a powerslam for two but Savage avoids a top rope elbow. Randy slams him down for his own elbow but pulls Morrus up at two. Another elbow hits but the lights go out again. About a minute later the lights come on and Savage is out with a Sting mask on. Morrus wins for no apparent reason.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here other than angle advancement at the end. Morrus was one of those guys who was always around but never really did anything of note. This was one of those things he was good for though as Savage got to beat him up until the stuff at the end of the match.

Rude and Bischoff head to the announce table and say they don’t buy Schiavone’s nonsense. Granted I don’t think anyone else did but I get their point. They threaten the announcers and make them do the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil poses. Ok then.

TV Title: Saturn vs. Disco Inferno

The announcers say we have to take a break because they’re scared for their lives. Back with Saturn throwing Disco around as Tony spends the first few minutes talking about how they need to not ignore the match. Saturn is knocked to the floor and Disco sends him into the steps, only to have Saturn drop him onto the top rope back inside. The champ cranks on Disco’s arms before hitting a high angle suplex for no cover.

A top rope elbow misses and we head back to the floor again with Saturn sending him into the barricade. Disco Stuns Lodi over the barricade before pounding away on Saturn in the corner. Saturn hits a neckbreaker to take over again, followed by a big suplex for two. Disco counters a powerbomb out of nowhere and Stuns Saturn for the pin and the title.

Rating: C. I have no idea what the point of this was. We spend two months making fun of Disco for losing to Jackie and then give him a clean pin over a killer like Saturn? That’s supposed to make us forget about everything he’s done for the last few months? The match wasn’t bad but the booking makes you wonder what WCW was thinking at this point. I guess the idea was that Raven wasn’t there to guide him, but……Disco Inferno?

We look at another Nitro Party winner.

Nitro Girls.

Buff Bagwell vs. Lex Luger

Bagwell immediately sends him to the floor and poses only to be run over with a clothesline. We get a pose off followed by Luger pounding him into the corner and hiptossing Buff down and flexing some more. Buff comes back with a clothesline and a belly to back suplex before pounding on Luger’s back. Off to a camel clutch but Luger fights up and slams him onto the mat as Norton comes out. Luger makes his comeback with his usual stuff (clotheslines, atomic drop, forearm) to send Buff to the floor and as he fights off the NWO, Buff gets counted out.

Rating: D. Bagwell just isn’t at this level yet and Lex Luger isn’t going to be the right guy to bring him up at all. This is the second week in a row where these two have done nothing of note and it’s not really bringing Bagwell up the card at all. Then again no one ever would despite the guy being around for like ten years.

Video on Sting.

Scott Hall vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Main event time. Hall does the survey as the announcers complain about being threatened too much. As the camera goes to the regular shot of the ring to open the match, someone holds up a HUGE Undertaker cutout which made my head snap around when I saw it. Hall starts with the driving shoulders and we actually hear about Page managing Hall back in the day. They fight over a top wristlock and Hall is sent down to the mat.

Page pounds away in the corner and gets two off a clothesline. Hall comes back with the middle rope bulldog for two of his own and stomps away a bit. The fallaway slam hits for two as the fans are lethargic at the moment. Off to the abdominal stretch as we hear that if Zbyszko beats Bischoff at Starrcade he gets a shot at Hall. As is the custom though, Page counters into a stretch of his own, only to be hiptossed over. The Outsider’s Edge is countered into a backdrop and some atomic drops have Hall in trouble. Page pancakes him down but here’s Hennig for the DQ.

Rating: C-. They were clearly going through the motions out there with a bunch of signature stuff from Hall and that’s about it. This is the problem with WCW anymore: everything is just filling time to get to the run in and the story advancement post match. Why would I get into a match and the near falls when there’s probably a 90% chance it’s going to end in a run-in?

The beatdown is on and Page is in big trouble. Even Hogan and Bischoff come out for this one. Another Sting dummy falls through the ring and even Hogan points it out this time. Hogan talks trash and has the NWO pull the Sting dummy out of the hole. Hollywood keeps talking trash to the dummy and the dummy stands up. It’s the real Sting cleaning house and Hogan is terrified to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Lame matches, little storyline advancement, questionable booking in what advancement we did get. Yep this is the WCW that I knew was coming and didn’t want to have to sit through. They’re clearly just coasting until Starrcade, which is in three weeks and has three matches announced if my math is correct. Not a good show here and you can see the cracks starting to come out here.

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Monday Nitro #32
Date: April 22, 1996
Location: Albany Civic Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Steve McMichael

Well after last week’s horrible show we’re back with a very similar card. However on this one we have Benoit vs. Guerrero so this should be better already. The main event is the same though with Flair/Giant challenging Sting/Luger for the tag titles. Apparently if Flair gets pinned tonight he loses the world title to the pinner and if Luger gets pinned he loses the tag and TV Titles. Interesting I guess. Let’s get to it.

 

McMichael’s dog has the glasses where the eyes are on springs. Oh my aching head.

 

Public Enemy vs. American Males

 

Bischoff gives away the results of Raw which is always an interesting thing to see. Also of course next week would be a taped Nitro but who cares? Public Enemy puts a table up at ringside pre-match. Bagwell is going to be in a movie apparently. I wonder if it’s hard or soft. We actually talk about Slamboree a bit which is a first I believe. The Males clear the ring and hits some decent dives to further their advantage.

 

We talk about Brian Pillman who has been in a car wreck, which is what kind of led to his death. Grunge vs. Riggs is the official starting match. Dropkick puts Grunge on the floor and a double dropkick puts Rocco down for no cover. Off to Bagwell for all of four seconds and a wristlock before Riggs comes back in. Grunge vs. Bagwell again with Grunge choking away.

 

Now Rocco in with a Lionsault for two. These teams are tagging in and out very quickly. After a brief beatdown, Bagwell gets a cross body out of the corner for two. This hasn’t been much of a match at all. Swanton Bomb (kind of) by Rocco misses and it’s time for Riggs to come in. He and Grunge come in at the same time and Riggs gets a forearm for two. Everything breaks down and Public Enemy throws Riggs over the top which is a DQ this week so that’s it. Egads.

 

Rating: F. The match was boring and then the ending made it even worse. This company changed the rules for over the top every week and here it happened to be a DQ. It’s a weak DQ and a cheap ending to give Public Enemy the loss. If you want a DQ then let the hardcore crazy people be hardcore and crazy. Not that hard.

 

Bagwell goes through a table post match.

 

We get the first round draw for Lethal Lottery at Slamboree. Hooters Girls help out here for some reason. This is “random” mind you.

 

Barbarian/Bobby Walker vs. Meng/Hugh Morrus

Big Bubba/Stevie Ray vs. Fire and Ice (yes a regular team was “randomly” drawn. That’s the second one drawn)

Ric Flair/Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson/Eddie Guerrero (awesome pairings there)

 

Slamboree sucked if you didn’t get that.

 

Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

 

Benoit charges him into the corner and taps him on the jaw like a little boy. Eddie, ever the showman, does exactly the same thing. Benoit hits the floor and Eddie teases a big dive so Benoit backs off. Smart psychopath. Back in the ring for some nice technical stuff as you would expect. Benoit hits a chinlock and we take a break. Back and we’re still in the chinlock which is always a weird thing to see. Bischoff swears it’s live so it’s hard to say.

 

We hear about the Cruiserweight Title tournament which is mainly happening in Japan (allegedly) because WCW wasn’t that smart. Belly to back by Eddie gets him out of the hold, only for a suplex to hit him for two also. Apparently Savage is being restrained in the back by cops. They slug it out as we talk about Savage some more. Eddie is sent to the floor and comes back in with a top rope rana for two. In the corner Eddie tries a sunset flip but Benoit kneels down on it and grabs the ropes for the pin.

 

Rating: C+. Well they had better ones, that’s for sure. Not a bad match and the lack of time due to the commercial hurt it a lot. The only think I can say here isn’t Benoit vs. Guerrero. I don’t think they’re capable of having a bad match so what were you really expecting here?

 

Some WCW suit comes out and says Savage needs to play nice. Savage gets in his face and says something about blowing up city hall. The suit says get a therapist. This was, in a word, pointless.

 

Meng vs. Jim Duggan

 

Apparently in the main event partners can pin partners. Oh dear. After a break before the match, Meng is on the floor hiding a bit. Back in and Duggan hammers away, only to have Meng run away again. Dude, Meng used to be a monster and unstoppable and now he’s running from Jim Duggan who punches him in the head. I give up. Duggan hammers him down and Meng goes to the floor again.

 

Bischoff runs down the WWF results again as Heenan FREAKS over the idea of Flair having the world, tag and TV titles. Bischoff talks about Hogan for no apparent reason as they’re really trying not to talk about this all punches all the time match. Duggan starts no selling until Meng finally beats him down a bit. Now Meng’s head hardens about 10 times in the middle of the match and we hit the nerve hold.

 

Duggan fights up and we go right back to the nerve hold. This is basically turning into a match by who wants to sell less. Duggan hammers away as Meng gets back up. Three Point Clothesline misses and Meng pounds even more. Big boot gets two for the Tongan and Duggan hits the floor to wrap his hand up in tape. A shot with that is enough to get the pin.

 

Rating: D. I wanted to hate this but there’s something kind of fun about two big guys just hammering away on each other until one goes down. It’s a horrible match and the selling is laughable but there’s something kind of fun about it for some weird reason. I think you’d have to see it to get the appeal.

 

More Slamboree stuff.

 

Dick Slater/Robert Eaton vs. Disco Inferno/Alex Wright

Steven Regal/Belfast Bruiser vs. VK Wallstreet/Jim Duggan

 

Yes, there were two regular teams, two teams of people that hated each other, and other opposite pairings. And this was legitimately said to be random. I have no idea how to respond to that but it’s great.

 

TV Title/Tag Titles/World Title: Ric Flair/The Giant vs. Sting/Lex Luger

 

All titles on the line, whoever is pinned loses the title to whomever. Flair is world champion, Luger is TV champion, Sting/Luger are tag champions. Flair hits on Debra one more time. Savage pops up to chase after Flair but gets arrested of course. Sting and Giant start us off. Apparently Giant has been offered a tryout with the Detroit Lions. Not a bad idea actually.

 

Luger and Sting double up to clear the ring and the challengers take a breather. Back to Luger vs. Flair as Luger shows off his arms. Luger takes over with clotheslines and it’s Flair Flop time. Sting vs. Giant is announced in a grudge match which hasn’t really been a grudge. Off to Sting who has his usual good mini match with Flair.

 

Slam off the top sends Flair flying. Superplex sends Flair out to the floor again as a kid that is maybe 8 wants to punch him. Stinger Splash against the railing misses though (of course. You would think he’d learn after awhile) and it’s off to Sting vs. Giant again. Why in the world would Flair want to be in the room against Sting? Have Giant go in there to try to win the tag titles and don’t run the risk of losing the world title.

 

Mini-hot tag to Luger who cleans house. Giant grabs him for a chokeslam but Sting comes off the top with a chop block. Giant still has the grip on Luger so Sting hammers away which FINALLY breaks the grip. Woman slips hot coffee to Flair again and it goes into Giant’s eyes for the CHEAP DQ.

 

Rating: D+. I hate matches like these where the whole thing is set up and they use a back door to avoid having to do something major. Not a horrible match but I hate the ending which is going to drive me crazy in the coming year. Also having the same ending two weeks in a row is just lazy booking.

 

Flair begs off Giant as Gene comes in for a chat with the big man. Giant wants the title and Flair says apologize or else. The Giant goes after him and the champion bails.

 

The announcers say the title match is on for next week and talk a lot to wrap things up.

 

Overall Rating: F+. Other than Eddie vs. Benoit, this was awful. It was incredibly clear that they had no clue what they were doing from week to week. Thank goodness some things would change the next week and then about five weeks from here everything would change forever. Terrible show and quite possibly the worst in the entire series to date. That would of course get shattered later, but this was pretty bad.

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Monday Nitro #116
Date: December 1, 1997
Location: Knoxville Civic Auditorium, Knoxville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

We’re less than a month away from Starrcade and Hogan is running out of time. Last week the NWO got to beat up another Sting mannequin because they have nothing else to do anymore. As for tonight we’ve got DDP vs. Hennig again which will likely set up the US Title match for the PPV. Let’s get to it.

As the announcers talk about Larry checkmating Bischoff in the game of human chess, here’s Bischoff to open the show. He says that there’s no long term deal to fight Larry because that was a one night only deal. However, if Nitro is put on the line, maybe we can work something out. Since this is before WCW lost its mind though, Larry doesn’t have that power.

Rey Mysterio vs. Juventud Guerrera

Eddie Guerrero comes out to join the commentary booth. Feeling out process to start with both guys trying to gain wrist control. We get a pretty slick test of strength sequence with Rey flipping Guerrera all over the place and both guys bridging up at a two count. Rey tries a rana but gets dropped throat first onto the top rope to take over. Off to a leg lock by Juvi before he dropkicks the knee out.

Mysterio comes back with an enziguri as Eddie is really calm and collected on commentary here. Juvy crotches him on the top rope and ranas him out of the corner for two. Rey tries a German but Juvy backflips out and hits the Juvy Driver for two. Guerrera misses a charge in the corner and gets caught in an electric chair drop for two. West Coast Pop gets the pin for Rey a few seconds later.

Rating: B. Lack of knee selling from Rey aside, this was a very solid match. As is often the case, the best idea you can have is to let two talented guys have five minutes to show off for the crowd. Good, solid match here with both guys getting to show off their numerous skills, which is something WCW was excellent at when they let it happen.

Wrath vs. Hugh Morrus

Feeling out process to start with both guys trying to show off the power. Morrus takes over for a bit but Vandenberg trips him up, allowing Wrath to knock Hugh to the floor. Wrath hits a sweet flip dive off the apron to take Morrus down and we go back inside. A top rope clothesline gets two for Wrath as we see Mortis wrap a chain around his boot. I think you can see the rest of this coming: Wrath holds Morrus for a kick with said boot but gets blasted in the head himself, allowing Hugh to hit No Laughing Matter (moonsault) for the fast pin.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff to say they hate Sting and fans that wear Sting masks. Hollywood yells at an old lady and the old lady yells at him, sending Hogan back. Somehow this takes five minutes.

Yuji Nagata vs. Prince Iaukea

Oh joy. Prince takes him to the mat by the wrist but has to escape a bodyscissors and it’s a standoff. Off to a headlock on Yuji which transitions into a chinlock, only to have Nagata pick him up and drop Prince backwards. Prince is thrown to the floor for some kicks by Sonny Onoo before going back in for a rake of the eyes from Nagata. The announcers are ignoring this as they likely should. Nagata throws on a leg lock for a bit before Prince fights up, only to be dropped in a belly to back suplex for two. Yuji loads up a superplex but gets shoved off, allowing a high cross body to get the pin for the Prince.

Rating: D+. I actually stayed awake for that. The match was fine but as always with these two it’s really difficult to get any interest going for them. Prince is somehow even less interesting than Nagata as his entire character is that he’s from I think Samoa. That’s the entirety of his persona and when he’s just ok in the ring, that’s really not much to go on.

Nitro Girls.

Faces of Fear vs. Harlem Heat

Barbie and Stevie start things off with Ray pounding him down into the corner. A suplex puts Barbarian down and it’s off to Booker for the two count for some reason. It’s off to Meng for some clubberin on Booker in the corner, only to be caught by the side kick and the ax kick for no cover. Barbarian kicks Booker into the corner for a tag off to Ray and another brawl breaks out with both guys going down. Jimmy Hart and Jacqueline get into it a little bit as it’s hot tag to Booker. He cleans house with a bunch of kicks as everything breaks down. Meng puts the Death Grip on Stevie but Booker rolls up Barbarian for the fast pin.

Rating: D+. Not bad here and the ending was a nice surprise. These are two teams who fought so many times that it got boring watching them over and over again. Booker would be on the verge of splitting off into his singles career due to Stevie injuring his ankle so this was one of the last matches for the team for a long time.

Post match Meng still has the hold on so Booker gets a wooden chair. Meng sees him coming and shoves his hand through the chair to put the Grip on Booker. Nice visual there.

It’s hour #2 so here are the Outsiders with something to say. During their entrances, Tony talks about how awesome Sting masks are and since there are so many of them, clearly these are WCW fans and not NWO fans. Hall does the survey and Nash talks about paying the price for challenging the NWO. Big Kev says that if you’re WCW, you’re Lee Harvey Osweld (his word not mine) and the NWO is Jack Ruby with a bullet to your stomach.

Scott Hall vs. Disco Inferno

During Disco’s entrance we see the old lady from the Hogan entrance for some reason. Hall shoves him down to start and messes with Disco’s hair. Disco comes back with some hard right hands in the corner but Hall shrugs him off before hitting some of the loudest chops you’ll ever here to take over. Tony brings up the Sting masks for the third time in ten minutes as Hall hits a chokeslam for no cover. Nash gets in a clothesline as Hall does his Giant Frankenstein bit. Back in and the fallaway slam sets up the Outsider’s Edge for the easy pin. Total squash.

Hall and Nash celebrate like they just won the world title post match.

More Nitro Girls.

JJ Dillon comes out and says that although Zbyszko can’t put Nitro on the line, JJ himself can. Bischoff comes out and freaks out but the match is made for Starrcade.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Psychosis

This is what you call an excuse for the announcers to talk about Bischoff vs. Zbyszko and ignore the match. Dragon takes over to start by sending Psychosis into the corner and kicking him in the face for good measure. They seem to botch something as Dragon is awkwardly knocked to the floor where Psychosis hits a good looking guillotine legdrop. Back in and Dragon snaps off a rana before getting rolled up out of a powerbomb attempt for two. Psychosis goes up but gets crotched, allowing Dragon to hit a top rope rana and the Dragon Sleeper for the tap out. Short match.

We see the Nitro Party winner for the week.

Raven says he isn’t fighting tonight and sends Kidman in to face Benoit instead.

Chris Benoit vs. Billy Kidman

Lodi, who doesn’t have a name yet, comes over the barricade with Kidman. Benoit seems fine with fighting a replacement and chops Kidman down with ease before dropping him on his head with a belly to back suplex. A modified spinebuster sets up a Liontamer but Benoit lets go of it to yell at Raven. Benoit rips Kidman’s shirt off and chops away in the corner before stomping him down. While Benoit yells at Raven some more, Kidman comes back with a springboard dropkick to take over.

Benoit will have none of that and sends Kidman to the floor for more chops. Saturn interferes though, allowing Kidman to hit a Shooting Star Press off the apron to take over again. They head back inside and a slingshot legdrop gets one for Kidman and a lariat gets the same. Off to a chinlock but Chris easily counters with another suplex. Kidman blocks a German but Benoit easily puts him down with the Crossface for the tap out.

Rating: C+. Total and complete dominance by Benoit here as this was one of his most impressive performances to date. He looked like he was on a totally different level than the Flock which makes the imminent clash with Raven look all the more awesome. Based on this match alone you can see the pure potential in Benoit that people raved about for years.

Post match the Flock invades and the numbers game lets Raven hit the DDT on Benoit. Saturn puts the Rings of Saturn on Benoit for good measure.

Nitro Girls part 3.

Lex Luger vs. Buff Bagwell

They lock up to start but since neither guy can get an advantage, let’s have a posedown. Buff slaps him like an idiot and gets backdropped down for his efforts. After a gorilla press, Luger clotheslines Buff to the outside but Bagwell pulls Lex to the floor and rams him back first into the apron to take over. Back inside we go and Buff hits some basic stuff before putting on a chinlock.

After a quick Luger comeback, Buff clotheslines him down again and kicks him in the injured ribs to keep Luger in trouble. Buff argues with the referee and chokes Luger on the ropes. More pounding down ensues but Buff finally charges into some boots in the corner. Luger does his usual stuff (atomic drop, clothesline, powerslam) and loads up the Rack but Vincent runs in for the DQ.

Rating: D. Slow and plodding match here with Buff trying to get a rub off Luger. That didn’t quite work though as Bagwell’s offense was so basic that he couldn’t get anything going at all. Luger’s offense on the other hand has been the same set of stuff for years now yet he’s still very popular. Wrestling is funny like that sometimes.

Both NWO guys are Racked.

NWO announcement focusing on DDP getting beaten up.

US Title: Curt Hennig vs. Diamond Dallas Page

On his way to the ring, Hennig, the champion here, takes both a drink and a piece of paper to the face yet keeps talking trash to the camera the entire time. That’s some serious talent. This is apparently a rematch from Saturday Night. Page gets in a quick right hand and a slam to start which send Hennig bailing to the floor. Back in and Page hits a shoulder block and a swinging neckbreaker to take Hennig down but the champion comes back with a shot to the bad ribs of DDP.

Curt slowly works over the ribs and there’s the Hennig necksnap. We actually hear Page’s real full name as the referee is bumped off…..wait what did hit him? Neither guy was anywhere near him but he’s down anyway. He doesn’t see a cover by Hennig but is back up a few seconds later to look at a chinlock. The hold stays on for a good while as I guess Anderson is recovering. They finally get back up for the discus lariat from Page and here’s the comeback. There’s the Pancake on Hennig and cue Rick Rude as Page hits the Cutter. Rude pulls out the referee for the DQ and here’s the NWO.

Rating: C-. Not great here but since these shows are just killing time until Starrcade anyway, does it really make a difference? Besides did anyone believe the NWO wasn’t going to run in to end this match? There would be yet another match between these two for the title at Starrcade to finally blow off the feud so this wasn’t much of note.

Post match the NWO destroys Page with Hogan hitting a Diamond Cutter. They put a Sting mask on Page and give him another Cutter on the world title. Hogan talks trash to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Has anything other than the two top matches been announced for Starrcade? Usually that would be a problem but in this case it’s ok as the main event is the only thing people were interested in. The Bischoff vs. Zbyszko match being announced is a big deal as it’s the second biggest match on the PPV, but after we’ve heard Hall vs. Larry built up for months, it’s not the match we want to see. Anyway, the rest of this show wasn’t bad but it doesn’t feel like we’re four weeks away from Starrcade at all.

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Monday Nitro #24
Date: February 12, 1996
Location: Florida State Fair, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Steve McMichael

FINALLY we’re done with the build to Superbrawl. Now it’s time to start building to….oh no…..oh no……NO PLEASE NOT THIS!!! NOT UNCENSORED 1996!!!!! This would wind up being one of the worst shows that I have ever seen and easily one of the biggest jokes of all time. I guess we start talking about it tonight. Flair is champion and Hogan triumphed again last night so that’s what we’re building up with. Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up.

The announcers run down the card and talk about the two main events for the most part. Oh and Liz is evil now, meaning she’ll look much hotter now.

We look at the Strap Match where Pillman acted/quit/got released and Anderson had to take his place. Now it’s the title match. Oh and Hogan in a grudge match went on after the world title match of course.

Randy Savage vs. Hugh Morrus

Savage vs. Flair again next week. Macho is all reserved and ticked off as he comes to the ring. Morrus jumps him as he comes in but Savage fights him off. Uh make that Morrus beats on Savage. Hey let’s talk about Hogan! There’s a new member of the Dungeon called the Loch Ness who weighed like 700 pounds. He would be gone in like 2 months and never faced Hogan.

Randy gets a boot up in the corner to break up the momentum. There are going to be WCW guys on an episode of Baywatch. We hit the floor and Morrus eats post. Back in the laughing dude gets a suplex so he can choke. There’s the spinning finger from Savage after an elbow gets him out of trouble. Morrus’ moonsault misses, slam, elbow, another elbow, pin.

Rating: C. Just your basic hero vs. monster match here that was nothing special at all. Savage gets a bit of momentum for the rematch next week which is certainly a good thing. The match itself was nothing special. They wanted to push Morrus I think but they never had the chance to really do so.

Another elbow follows and Savage says he wants Flair.

Gene talks to some racecar driver and no one cares at all.

Scotty Riggs vs. Loch Ness

So it’s a new monster against a near jobbing tag team face. What do you think is going to happen here? Anderson vs. Hogan is the main event apparently. Riggs gets some dropkicks and goes up for a cross body. Loch Ness drops him and falls on Riggs’ knees. A pair of big elbows end Riggs. Yep this was what I expected here.

Liz and Woman wheel out a stretcher and yep Liz looks sexy in those black boots. Flair pops up off the stretcher for no apparent reason. You may not believe this, but Flair talks about styling and profiling and riding in jets and limos and Space Mountain. Liz says she has half of Randy’s money and implies she screwed Flair last night.

Konnan vs. Devon Storm

Storm is more famous (kind of) as Crowbar. Konnan is US Champion here but this is non-title I think. The bell rings after the commercial. Storm takes him down quickly with a dropkick and we hit the floor. Storm sets up a chair and hits a springboard tope con hilo. A dropkick from the apron is enough to put Konnan in the chair. Storm sets up the steps but when he tries a rana off them he gets powerbombed on the floor. Back in the ring now with Konnan hammering away. Konnan gets a sloppy rana for no cover as we speed things up a bit.

Things slow down a bit as Konnan gets a leg lock. George Steinbrenner is here. You know this math stuff and the leg locks are kind of boring. Storm tries a sunset bomb to the floor but is countered into a rana. Eric clarifies that last week when he implied WWF had something to do with a power outage that he wasn’t being serious at all. He sounds sincere when he says that too so I’ll take him at his word there. Back in the ring we get an ECW chant. Storm tries a top rope rana but Konnan counters into a powerbomb with a jackknife pin for the victory.

Rating: C+. This was like a tale of two matches. The first half was incredibly exciting with Storm showing off a lot. The second half was rather boring and sloppy. It’s a great example of a match that would be much better if you cut off maybe 90 seconds, even though it’s a 5 minute match. Fun stuff but too much boring in the end for it to be really fun.

Hulk Hogan vs. Arn Anderson

According to Bischoff, Anderson is tough but Hogan is REALLY tough. Let the Hogan worship begin! He still has a bad eye too. Anderson gets a shot to the head but can’t do much other than that as here comes Hogan. Hogan no sells a clothesline and gets a pair of his own. Out to the floor and Arn backpedals. He tries a Piledriver out ther ebut Hogan counters into a slingshot into the post. Hogan takes the eyepatch off and rams Anderson’s arm into the post.

Almost all Hulk so far here. Steinbrenner seems to like this. Arn gets a back elbow which puts Hogan down. And so much for that as Arn gets crotched on the top rope. Apparently he has balls of steel as he fights back and here are Liz and Flair. Spinebuster gets two as Hogan does the super kickout. Here’s the usual but Hogan struts and puts the Figure Four on. Flair comes in and while Anderson is in the Figure Four Hogan rolls up Flair at the same time. Woman throws powder in Hogan’s face and Flair slips Arn Liz’s high heel which goes into the eye of baldie for the pin.

Rating: C. This was just to give Anderson the fluke win because what happens next is another eye rolling moment regarding Hogan vs. Flair and company. The match itself was just ok as Hogan dominated and then Arn got in like two moves. If Hogan hadn’t been an idiot (I know just go with it) then he would have won in a squash, which says a lot.

Hogan’s eye is apparently fine as he pops up and beats both guys down. Savage comes in to help and they get a chair shot to Flair. Flair storms the broadcast booth and says nothing of note. Hogan and Savage chase them out of said booth. Hogan vs. Anderson II next week.

Overall Rating: C+. The show was pretty good considering it’s just a TV show. On the other hand, I’m about five and a half months into this show now and the problem is clear: we’re almost exactly where we were in September when this show started. Hogan is the ultimate force, Savage is his lackey, Flair is top heel, Giant is an X factor and it’s Hogan vs. two stables. While the details have changed, it’s the same thing we had almost six months ago. The NWO really was a huge deal as it changed everything. Now get us to that point! Weaker show here than usual and not good given what’s coming.

 

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