WCW Nitro Airdate: June 3rd, 1996 Arena/Location: Asheville Civic Center Asheville, NC Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan
Tony and Larry with a typical hype job for the start of Nitro. They run down the card, talk about the PPV, and general normal talking points, before we head over to Mean Gene. Gene is at the entranceway, and is ready to interview Shark. Shark comes out, and cuts a promo on why he didn’t cut the other half of his hair. He then says he’s no fish, he’s no avalanche, he’s John Tenta. He promises t beat up the guy that did it to him, then shave the Giant’s head. Honestly, did someone in WCW have a hair shaving feitsh? Regardless, this sets up our first match!
Match One: John Tenta vs. Big Bubba w/Jimmy Hart
Tenta dominating Big Bubba to start. Shark grabs the scissors and, like any normal person pissed off with another person and wielding a weapon, threatens to cut Bubba’s hair. Bubba escapes the ring, and is heading back to the locker room. Tenta stays in the ring, and gets the win?
Winner by count out: John Tenta
Less than two minutes for this ‘match’. N/R from me
Match Two: High Voltage (Kenny Kaos and Ruckus) vs. The Faces of Fear
I mentioned this a few shows back, but the name of High Voltage was stolen from Matt Hardy. I’m glad they didn’t go with the original name he used: Grape Eating Prima Donnas
Barbarian with another top rope belly to belly. I admit that is pretty impressive. Both Meng and Barbarian go for the double headbutt on Ruckus, and his partner just stands in his corner. He doesn’t come in until after the move’s been hit, despite the fact that he could’ve knocked Barbarian off. Meng wins this one with a Mafia kick on Ruckus
Winner by pinfall: Faces of Fear
Not a horrid match, despite being more squash that anything else. F.o.F. have been rather impressive. *¾
Mean Gene backstage with Sting and Luger. Luger talks about the match the week before between Sting and Scott Steiner. Before long, the Steiners are there with Luger and Sting, and they are debating on whether or not Luger kicking Scott in the gut is a cheap shot. No, really. It eventually degenerates into a shoving match. Sting and Luger vs. The Steiner Brothers later on in the show!
We get a quick video package of Hogan destroying the Giant. Good way to bury your Champion. Make him look weak against a guy who hasn’t competed in two months.
Match Three: Sgt. Craig Pittman w/Teddy Long vs. Disco Inferno
I finally found a demographic that Disco Inferno appeals to: fat middle aged women.
I really wish I could gif that.
Pittman with an irish whip into the ropes on Disco. He goes down, Disco jumps over him and… he stops, and slaps Pittman once he gets up. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone just stop after an irish whip.
Pittman in control of this match. He looks to be going for the code red armbar.. But before he even applies it Inferno taps out?
Winner by submission:Craig Pittman
Alright for a five minute match. *½
Postmatch, Disco tells the camera man he’s a genius, cause he if Pittman put that maneuver on him, he wouldn’t be able to do those silly Disco moves.
We get a quick video of Steven Regal slapping Sting. Turns out these two will have a match at the Great American Bash. Before that though, Regal’s got a match now!
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Match Four: ‘Lord’ Steven Regal w/Jeeves vs. ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan
A bit of stalling on Regal’s part to start off. Duggan in control for most of this matchup. Duggan looks to be going for the pin, when Squire Dave Taylor and Earl Robert Eaton pop up, steal the 2x4 and distract the ref respectively, and help Regal get the pin on Duggan.
Winner by pinfall: ‘Lord’ Steven Regal
Postmatch, Hacksaw chases Dave Taylor out of the arena.
Eh, Regal won, which is nice. He looks to be getting something resembling a push. Duggan though had most of the offense, which isn’t nice. *
Mean Gene again interviews Steven Regal. This is more to put over the match between Sting and Regal at the Great American Bash.
After the break, we get a video of what‘s been going on WCW Saturday Night between Benoit and Kevin Sullivan and the war of words feud between those two. They’re going to have a match at Great American Bash
Match Five: Kevin Sullivan w/Jimmy Hart vs. Prince Iaukea
Another squash, another two minute match. Sullivan wins with a double stomp.
Winner by pinfall: Kevin Sullivan
N/R
Mean Gene now in the ring interviewing Sullivan and Hart. Hart doesn’t know why the DoD are allied to the Four Horsemen. Sullivan says that he trusts Arn and Flair, and knows that once Hogan comes back, that there will be two wars, going on. One the WCW legal department can take care of, and the one between Hogan and DoD/Four Horsemen. Well, he’s partly right. Aside from that, he hypes up his match against Benoit at GAB.
Match Six: Rock ‘n Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. Arn Anderson and Ric Flair w/Woman and Miss Elizabeth
RnR Express were one of the biggest tag teams of the 80s, so much so that the wrestler that takes the most offense in a tag team match is said to be playing Ricky Morton (as I’ve used several times in this before.) Flair and Anderson out in a Kevin Greene and Mongo McMichael jersey, respectively. During the intro, the audio from Tony and Larry is barely audible.
At the beginning of the match, we have a little animation of a dynamite counting down to the start of the second hour. Man, they really hyped the hell out of the two hour show. We get a quick fireworks display to start hour two.
Morton plays himself relatively well during this match. Arn and Flair work over Morton relatively well during the match, though Morton and Gibson are able to hold their own relatively well. Near the end of the match, Heenan goes down to ringside. He says something to Woman and Elizabeth, then makes his way to the VIP section.
Gibson finally gets the hot tag from Morton, and Gibson is in clearing house. Double dropkick on Flair and Arn. Elizabeth distracts the ref as Woman has a thumb to the eye of Gibson. Arn hit’s a DDT, and Flair picks up the win.
Winner by pinfall: Arn and Flair
Good tag team match. RnR Express are vets in the ring and though they looked well past their prime here, they could still go. Arn and Flair easily held their own as well. ***
Mean Gene at the VIP section with Flair, Arn, Woman, Elizabeth, and Heenan. Arn says that Mongo’s jersey could barely fit him. Must’ve been a small. Flair cuts a typical promo on Greene and Mongo.
He then speaks to Heenan, and asks him directly if he’s managing. Heenan. Heenan states he’d never manage again. However, Heenan will coach Flair and Anderson.
Yet another Hogan package.
We get a new Blood Runs Cold promo. This time, it specifically names Glacier as coming to WCW. It’s still a few months for that.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
This looks like a nice encounter between two powerf- oh wait. Giant wins with a chokeslam.
Winner, and STILL WCW World Heavyweight Champion: The Giant
Less than thirty seconds. SQUASH.
Norton comes out, has a few words with Giant… and Giant chokeslams him twice. He then goes over Mean Gene, says he doesn’t understand why there are so many Hogan video packages. He wasn’t champion! He then cuts a quick promo on Luger
Match Eight: Scott Norton vs. Hugh Morrus
What you’d expect: Hugh Morrus comes down, get the quick pin, and that’s it.
What really happened: Hugh Morrus comes down, taunts Norton, hit’s a few elbows, goes for a sommersault, Norton blocks it, and gets the pin.
Winner by pinfall: Scott Norton
Man, who did Hugh Morrus piss off? N/R
We get another video package of Mongo and Kevin Greene. I guess they’re training in the ring now. After a few seconds of them in the ring, we go over to a dry erase board with a ring drawn on it. Greene’s munching on a Slim Jim as Mongo discusses how to beat Flair and Anderson. It basically boils down to the fact that they try to come up with a gameplan using football. Eventually, they realize they’ll need a coach. Who do they think of? Both stare at the Slim Jim and think of… THIS GUY!
Er.. Wait no. Not him. The other guy who promoted Slim Jims…
At the start of the match, we get a split screen of the action and Bischoff/Heenan on the phone with Macho Man. He says he can’t compete, but can coach, and will do it for Greene and McMichael.
These two teams compete for several minutes, however the Giant comes out, chokeslams Rick Steiner, goes into the ring, and dukes it out with Luger. Sting and Scott Steiner eventually get in the ring and help take down the Giant. They knock him out of the ring, and he retreats.
No Contest:
It was a good match while it lasted. They should‘ve gotten more time. **¾.
We go to the announce booth. Heenan pleads with Savage not to coach Greene and Mongo when all of a sudden we get a cut to that certain individual, and he’s making his way to the announce booth. Heenan bolts. He grabs a mic, and says that he had such a good time last week, that he came back for more. He says that Bischoff started a war, and that we are going to finish it. When Bischoff asks who is we, he just states that you know who.
Sting shows up now, and Bischoff tries to tell him not to worry about it, but Sting and this individual exchange some words. Sting says he wants to go at it ‘right here, right now.’ He only states they’ll go when he wants, then he throws a toothpick at Sting. Sting responds by slapping him. He promises that next week, he has a ‘little - no, BIG surprise.’ With that, we end Nitro.
Yet another average Nitro. Arguably the last five minutes of the show were the best part. Lots of squash matches, but one or two good matches as well. I’ll go with 6/10 here.
TV Rating: 3. Raw has scored a 2.3 three weeks running, too. I wonder what it is next week…
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: June 10th, 1996 Arena/Location: Wheeling Civic Center in Wheeling, West Virginia Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan
After the pyro goes off, Tony and Larry welcome us to Monday Nitro. They hype up hour two more than hour one. Actually, that’s pretty much what Tony and Larry talk about since the first two hour show. They show us video of what happened last week between the mysterious man and Sting, and Tony wonders what his big surprise is.
Match One:Booker T vs. Scott Steiner
Booker T controls Steiner for most of this contest, however Steiner starts to come back after an inverted DDT. Belly to Belly suplex from Steiner to Booker T, then Steiner goes for the Frankensteiner.. But Booker T holds onto the ropes! Scissors kick on Steiner for a two count.
Booker T goes to the top turnbuckle for a diving splash, but Steiner moves out of the way! Steiner hit’s another belly to belly suplex on Booker T for the win.
Winner by pinfall: Scott Steiner
Pretty decent 10 minute TV matchup between these two. Both men show a lot of promise as singles competitors. I wonder if that’ll ever happen though. **¾
After a commercial break, Mean Gene is interviewing Scott Steiner at the entranceway. He hypes up his tag team matchup between the Steiners and Fire & Ice. Before he gets too far in the interview, Debra McMichael shows up and is now being interviewed by Mean Gene. She’s worried for Mongo and Kevin Greene. She asks that they cancel the matchup. Doubtful, considering how much hype it’s gotten.
Match Two: Jim Powers vs. Diamond Dallas Page
The first time I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit, I immediately wondered when someone remade DDP’s theme music.
Powers gets a fair amount of offense in here, but like the previous matches DDP has had, he gets the win.
Winner by pinfall: DDP
Alright for a squash match. *½
Video package of the Benoit/Sullivan feud that’s practically been exclusive to Saturday Night. Not a bad video package of the feud.
We get another video package, this time of Konnan. You know, the guy who happens to be holding the 2nd most prestigious title in WCW. Never heard of him? I’m not surprised.
Konnan is now backstage with Mean Gene. Apparently he’s putting the title on the line against El Gato. And for those who know Spanish, no it’s not really Ernest Miller. He calls El Gato a legend in South America. I wonder if he’s from Rio De Janeiro.
Match Three: Meng vs. Sting
Relatively decent matchup here. Meng is able to control Sting for a while, but Sting gains control after Meng falls off the top turnbuckle and onto the ropes. Sting wins it with a Scorpion Deathlock
Winner by submission: Sting
Alright match, though nothing exceptional. *¾
Backstage, Mean Gene is talking with Debra and Bobby Heenan. Heenan promises to give an audience to Debra. They go into Flair’s locker room and.. We’re shut out. After a few seconds, we hear screaming and Debra comes running out. Flair and Arn then attack Joe Gomez and Renegade, whom were Flair and Anderson’s opponents later tonight.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Match Four: ‘Squire’ Dave Taylor w/Jeeves vs. ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan
Apparently, Sting and Luger have agreed to compete against Flair and Anderson.. For the World Tag Team titles. Wut. So, Flair/Anderson beat up their original opponents, then get a title shot?!
Quick matchup, with Duggan getting an easy pin after hitting Taylor with a taped fist.
Winner by pinfall: Jim Duggan
Three minute squash, basically. ½*
We get a hype video for the WCW Crusierweight Championship match at Great American Bash. The two opponents? Dean Malenko and Rey Mysterio Jr. That’ll be a great one to watch.
We go backstage where Mean Gene is interviewing Jimmy Hart and Big Bubba.
We again get a big fireworks display for hour two of Nitro.
Basic squash match for The Giant. He chokeslams Norton outside the ring, then gets the pin.
Winner, and STILL WCW World Heavyweight Champion: The Giant
SQUASH
Postmatch, Luger comes out, and is attacked by Giant. He then goes to the announce booth and hypes up his match against the Giant at GAB.
We get a video package of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags making Dennis Rodman an honorary Nasty Boys. That’s out there.
We then get a video package of Kevin Greene on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Leno says that Greene needs an awesome nickname when he wrestles. I got a good one for Leno if he ever thinks about stepping into the ring (which I highly doubt will never ever happen. Ever) is Jay “Spotlight Stealing” Leno.
Match Six: Billy Kidman vs. ‘Lord’ Steven Regal w/Jeeves
Pretty much another squash match that Regal wins via submission.
Winner by submission: Steven Regal
SQUASH
Postmatch, Sting comes out and slaps Regal.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
These two teams get nine minutes, and this match is basically brawl. They fight around the ring, in the ring, and just about everywhere else. Eventually, Rocco Rock gets a trashcan, but the Nasty Boys use it against him, causing a DQ.
Winners by DQ: Public Enemy
Eh. This wasn’t as good as their PPV match a months back. *
Apparently, there was a video package of Hogan, and of Mongo/Greene between these two match, but apparently the version I’m watching has neither. Ah well. I didn’t miss much.
Fairly good main event, that runs pretty damn long. However, the match ends when Giant shows up.
Winners by DQ: Sting and Lex Luger
**½
Giant in the ring now, and is being interviewed by Mean Gene. Basically hypes up the match between him and Luger at GAB, and promises Luger will leave on a stretcher.
We go to the announce booth as Heenan and Bischoff hype up the GAB some more. Heenan is yelling about Savage, Bischoff makes an.. Odd handgesture, and Heenan shuts up and runs off. Turns out, Heenan is running from him. Bischoff wants to know what the surprise is. He points behind Bischoff and his running buddy shows up. He yanks the mic from Bischoff hands and utters these now immortal words:
“You’re been sitting out here for six months running your mouth. This is where the big boys play, huh? Look at the adjective - play. We ain’t here to play. Now he said last week, that he was going to bring somebody out here. I’m here. You still don’t have your three people. You know why? Because nobody wants to face us. This show is about as interesting as Mark Shot reading excerpts from Mein Kampf… Yeah, no trouble because you know I’ll kick your teeth down your throat. Where’s your three guys? You couldn’t get a paleontologists to get a couple of these fossils cleared, you don’t have enough guys off a dialysis machine to get a team? … Where’s Hogan? Where’s Hogan? Out doing another episode of Blunder in Paradise? Where’s the Macho Man, huh? Doing some Slim Jim commercial? Hey, we’re here. You wanna say something?”
Bischoff then gets on the mic, says he’ll go to WCW Office, and then get the three guys. They’ll announce it this Sunday on the PPV. He says if they’ll show up, they’ll get a fight.
That ends Nitro for us again.
Grammatical errors aside, the newest outsider’s debut promo was really effective. The rest of the show.. Didn’t do it for me. Too many squashes for my liking. The few matches that got time were either meh, or pretty average. From a storyline standpoint, there were a few good things, but nothing to write home about. 5.5/10
TV Rating: 2.6, just .1 point lower than Raw. This however is the final Nitro for a good while that will do worse than Raw. Next week is the start of the 84 consecutive weeks of Nitro beating Raw.
Other Nitro Notes:
1. So, just wondering. I might try to hold another WCW PPV watch for the Great American Bash, but only if I know people are willing to watch with me. If so, then we can watch it Saturday night. Otherwise, I’ll probably watch it sometime tomorrow.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
I really couldn't hear the name real well, even after listening to it several times.
Good to hear you're up for watching it, though I figured you would at least be one of the people who'd want to watch it.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Anyone else interested? If not, I might not try if it'll be just me and Jakyl.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Great American Bash Airdate: June 16th, 1996 Arena/Location: Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland Commentators: Tony Schiavone and ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes
Nice opening video with all the wrestlers in the major feuds cutting a quick promo on their opponents.
Match One: Fire and Ice vs. The Steiner Brothers in a ’Must be a winner’ #1 Contendership mathc for the WCW World Tag Team Championships
Norton and Ice Train work over Scott Steiner’s shoulder for most of this matchup. At one point, Norton has Scott Steiner in a reverse armbar. Rick tries to break it up by repeatedly kicking Norton, but it takes about five kicks for Norton to let go. Scott Steiner immediately gets the hot tag, and Rick is clearing house.
The four men pair off, as Norton and Rick (the legal men) duke it out, as does Scott Steiner and Ice Train. Ice Train throws Scott Steiner out of the ring, and now Fire and Ice are double teaming Rick. Powerbomb (Norton) and body splash (Ice) on Rick Steiner for the two. Scott back in and tries to help his brother, but he’s again thrown back out.
Ice Train again on the top turnbuckle as Norton has Rick on his shoulders. Scott Steiner interferes, by attacking both men. Rick gets a tag in on Scott, and they have Norton up for a diving bulldog. Scott Steiner hits Norton with a Frankensteiner for the win.
Winners by pinfall: The Steiner Brothers
Good start for the PPV. The Steiners (at this point in their career) could have ***+ star matches with anyone, and this was no excpetion. ***¼
We go to the back where Mean Gene is interviewing Jimmy Hart and ‘Taskmaster’ Kevin Sullivan. Hart says that the DoD really don’t need the Four Horsemen. Sullivan hypes up his matchup against Chris Benoit later on, which’ll be Falls Count Anywhere. Looks like Sullivan is reading off cue cards. Sullivan says his match is for Arn Anderson.
El Gato has some of the worst entrance music I’ve ever heard. It’s as though they got one of those Sounds of the Rain Forest CDs and just started it from the beginning. El Gato, or Pat Tanaka, gets one of the worst reactions I’ve ever seen, though that’s not surprising considering he’s barely gotten any mention on Nitro.
Lots of restholds in this match. The crowd even starts a boring chant at one point, though they stop long enough after Konnan starts hitting a few aerial maneuvers. Gato tries to keep up, but he slips several time. Konnan wins with a bridge.
Winner, and STILL WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Konnan
Not a great match. Konnan I’ve noticed has been rather inconsistent. He’s good with Guerrero or other high flyers, poor with guys like One Man Gang. Here, it was rather mediocre. *½
Mean Gene out back now interviewing Sting. Mean Gene notes that while Regal may act like a bit of a sissy, he’s one of the toughest men in the ring. Sting, one of the top faces in professional wrestling history, and considered one of the nicest guys in the industry... Basically calls Steven Regal a homosexual. He doesn’t use the term, but he heavily implies it. It gets worse when he openly wonders if all the British men are that way, and then says that Americans aren’t bred that way. Sting then immediately says and I’ll quote word for word here. “If there is anyone that can ‘straighten’ you out in the course of ten, twenty, or thirty minutes, it’s the Stinger!” Considering what Sting is accusing Regal of, I seriously doubt that he can do what he’s planning on doing. Mean Gene all but apologizes for calling Regal a sissy.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Match Three: ‘Lord of the Ring’ Diamond Dallas Page vs. Marcus Bagwell (MARCUS BAGWELL) in a Lord of the Ring match
Bagwell comes running down to the ring, ready for this match. Bagwell in control of this contest, and there is even a Bagwell chant. DDP finally gains control of the match, however and is able to stay in control for the middle part of the match. After a few hope spots for Bagwell, DDP wins with a Diamond Cutter.
Winner, and STILL Lord of the Ring: Diamond Dallas Page
Alright matchup. DDP is really being put over as of late. **¼
We go back to Mean Gene, who’s now interviewing Jimmy Hart and The Giant. The Giant seems to be still applying the baby oil to his body. There’s an image for you. Giant hypes up his match later on tonight against Lex Luger.
Mike Tenay joins Tony and Dusty on commentary. Neither man can take advantage of the other in the early going of this bout. However, things begin to turn to the champion’s corner as Malenko works over Rey Mysterio’s arm and elbow. Mysterio tries to regain control, but Malenko never lets up and continues to work over Rey’s left arm.
Mysterio tries to come back after a dropkick on Malenko, however Malenko hit’s a overhead belly to belly hammerlock suplex for a two. Malenko has Mysterio in an STF, but lets it go after a few seconds. Malenko then applies a Mexican Surfboard, then goes into a bridge on Mysterio, but Rey’s out after two.
Rey finally catches a break as Malenko goes tumbling out of the ring. Dean on the apron, but Mysterio hit’s a baseball slide to knock him down. Mysterio the kicks Malenko through the ropes and.. Springboard Sommersault off the top rope! Malenko was a good seven or eight feet from the ring, and Mysterio connected easily with that move. The crowd is finally awake for this.
Mysterio throws Malenko in the ring, and dropkick off the top rope for a two. Mysterio now on the apron and springboard hurricarana (or as Tony calls it, frankensteiner) for a two. Malenko looks to be trying to regain control and is on the top rope. He looks to be going for the gutwrench off the top turnbuckle, but Mysterio counters into another hurricarana. Two count on Dean Malenko. Malenko with an irish whip, Mysterio counters into a tilt-a-whirl for another two count. Rey goes for a third hurricarana, but Malenko reverses it into a powerbomb. He’s got his feet on the ropes and wins!
Winner, and STILL WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko
The crowd, who not ten minutes earlier were chanting boring, are now on their feet giving each man a standing ovation, and it is well deserved.
Beautiful bout that told nice story. Malenko tried everything he could to make Mysterio either tap out, stay down for three, or otherwise win this match, and when that didn’t work, he used the ropes to keep him down. An excellent matchup, and I can’t wait to see the rematch. ****¼
Mean Gene now talking to ½ of the Tag Team and World Television champion Lex Luger. Luger says that his mind is in the ring, and he is ready for The Giant.
Match Five: Big Bubba w/Jimmy Hart vs. John Tenta
After the great match I just saw.. This was definitely a change of pace. Slow match, bunch of punches and scoop slams. John Tenta picks up the win after reversing Bubba’s top turnbuckle move.
Winner by pinfall: John Tenta
DUD
Postmatch, Tenta looks to cut Hart's hair, but Bubba prevents that. Tenta cuts some of Bubba's goatee, and Bubba is freaking out. It's only a goatee man. Mine grows in after a month.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Backstage we go, where Mean Gene is interviewing Mongo McMichael, Kevin Greene, and their wives. They cut a promo on Flair and Anderson. Macho Man comes in and says that they are the winning team.
Match Six: Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan w/Jimmy Hart in a falls count anywhere match
Before Sullivan can even get in the ring, Benoit attacks him. Benoit and Sullivan go through the crowd and going up through the stands. They then fight backstage, and go into the men’s room. They are duking it out in the men’s room, and a crowd of people start coming in to watch the match up close. Eventually, security shows up to keep the people back.
Sullivan slams the bathroom door on Benoit’s head several times. Each time he does, I cringe just a bit. Sullivan tries to dunk Benoit’s head in the urinal, but to no avail. As they are starting to leave the bathroom, a woman appears in the crowd, much to Dusty Rhode’s amusement. Both men exchange blows by using a (plastic) trash can. There’s a huge crowd around them now.
Back in the arena itself, Sullivan throws Benoit down the row of steps. Sullivan throws Benoit over the guardrail now. After moving around the arena, Sullivan then gets thrown down on the guardrail. Benoit goes under the ring, and tries to pull out a table, to no avail. Benoit throws Sullivan over another guardrail, and gets the table out (which Tony thinks is a chair, for some reason.)
Benoit sets the table up in the corner, and starts punching at Sullivan again. Benoit thrown into the table, Sullivan goes for an elbow and… he misses! The table doesn’t break however. Benoit sets the table up on the top turnbuckle. Sullivan leaning on the table, Benoit tries an elbow, to no avail. Benoit now set up on top of the table. Hart and a referee are holding the table in place. Benoit on top of the table…. SUPERPLEX OFF THE TABLE on Kevin Sullivan! Benoit gets the three!
Winner by pinfall: Chris Benoit
Postmatch, Benoit is attacking Sulllivan. Arn Anderson comes out, and yanks Benoit off of Sullivan. Arn and Benoit stand off briefly.. And Arn kicks Sullivan right in the gut. The crowd explodes as Benoit and Anderson destroy Sullivan. The DoD come out, but Benoit and Arn escape.
Great brawl. It was fun to watch, without being too silly, yet there were some awesome spots in it. For a twelve minute match, it was definitely one to catch. ***½
Mean Gene with Miss Elizabeth and Woman. Arn, Benoit, Flair, and Heenan now there as well. Arn cuts a promo, stating that Benoit earned the right to be called a Horsemen. DoD and Horsemen are apparently at war now. They then cut a promo on Mongo and Greene, basically stating the are ready. Good promo.
Match Seven: Lord Steven Regal w/Jeeves vs. Sting
Sting with a massive pop. Sting starts off early on with the advantage over Regal. Regal is quick to take control of this match, with a few European Uppercuts. For some reason, Tony and Rhodes grow quiet for a minute or so. Regal goes out of the ring and jaws with one of the fa.. Wait. Is that ECW Straw Hat Guy? Sure as hell looks like him, save for the hat.
Regal with most of the offense now. He applies several holds onto Sting, but Sting never taps. Sting with some quick offense, and with an abdominal stretch, but Regal knocks him down. After some more submission holds, he applies the Regal stretch on Sting. He holds it on for a few seconds, but lets it go to attack Sting some more. Sting however finally comes back, and is beating down on Regal. Scorpion Deathlock on Regal, whom taps out almost immediately.
Winner by submission: Sting
Good matchup. Regal got a whole lot of offense in, but Sting was able to come out with the win. ***¾
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Match Eight: Arn Anderson and Ric Flair w/Miss Elizabeth, Woman, and Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan vs. Mongo McMichael and Kevin Greene w/Debra McMichael, Pepe, Tara Greene, and ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage
Damn. Someone’s dressed up just like Macho Man in the crowd. Complete with beard, outfit, and everything.
Arn and Mongo start this one off. Mongo gets the advantage early, and Green and Mongo are stomping at Arn. Savage even gets a punch in on Anderson. After a huddle, Flair is tagged in, along with Greene. Greene able to get the upperhand on Flair. Flair goes running down the ramp, but Savage subdues him. Greene hits about six or seven flying clotheslines on Flair before tagging in Mongo. Flair runs to tag in Arn, but Arn ducks off the apron.
Flair now with a few chops, but nevermind that ****, here comes Mongo! Some chops on Flair, then an armdrag. Then a back body drop on Flair. Mongo with the figure four on Flair. Arn in to stop him but Greene hits Arn with another flying clothesline. Greene even applies the figure four to Arn for a moment. Woman with a rake to the eyes of Mongo. Woman and Elizabeth chase Tara and Debra to the back now.
Flair is able to regain control and both Arn and Flair work over Greene briefly. Figure Four on Greene by Flair. Savage is trying to attack Arn, but Benoit is out now. Benoit and Arn now attacking Savage. As they are attacking Savage, Elizabeth, Woman, and Debra are walking down to ringside together. Debra has a briefcase. Mongo steps off the apron and opens it up. Inside is a Four Horsemen shirt, and lots of money. Greene is looking for a tag now. Mongo tags him.. WITH THE BRIEFCASE! Ric Flair pins Kevin Greene!
Winners by pinfall: Ric Flair and Arn Anderson
Mongo and Savage go at it, but Flair and Anderson destroy Savage. Flair hits Savage with the briefcase. Looks like Mongo is now a member of the Four Horsemen.
Believe it or not, this wasn’t a bad match. Mongo and Kevin Greene were worked over by Flair and Arn for most of this match, so it really helped. I’ll give this one ***.
Eric Bischoff at the entranceway now. He is talking about the ‘interruptions’ from The Outsiders. The two men come out to talk with Bischoff. They are told they’ll get their match. It’ll be Bash at the Beach, the next PPV. Bischoff asks if either man works for the WWF. Both men say no, they don’t. The first man asks who the three men are. Nacho Man? The Huckster? He says that they and their third man will carve them up. Bischoff says they’ll find out on the next Nitro.
They aren’t happy with that answer, however. They attack Bischoff! The first man hit’s a punch, and the big man hit’s a powerbomb on Bischoff, right through a table! The two men leave, as Bischoff is put on a stretcher. Tony mentions that Bischoff is Executive Producer of WCW. Tony goes down there to check on Bischoff. Dusty is shocked at what happened.
These two men duke it out for a few minutes. At one point Luger’s got a sleeper on the Giant. Hart is on the ring apron and appears to be ready to attack Luger, but Sting chases him away from ringside. Luger tries to gain the upperhand over Giant, and even tries to put the Giant in the torture rack, but that doesn‘t work. Giant wins with a chokeslam for the win.
Winner, and STILL WCW World Heavyweight Championship: The Giant
Tony signs off to end the PPV.
Lots of great matches on the card, some weak matches, but nothing so bad that it ruined the show. The whole Outsiders angle is definitely gaining steam now. Makes me wonder who their third man they keep referring to is. Great PPV, definitely one of the better ones thus far. 8.5/10
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: June 17th, 1996 Arena/Location: Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan
Larry and Tony are now at the announce booth that Eric and Bobby (and Mongo, when he announced) have been at since the 2nd episode now, instead of beside ringside. Tony will be doing both hours of Nitro, due to the ‘injuries’ Bischoff sustained at the PPV. They also mention that tonight we’ll learn what three wrestlers will go against these two Outsiders at Bash at the Beach. We then gets stills of various matches from last night. In fact, we’ll get Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio later on tonight. Yes, please!
We go to video of the Outsiders talking to Bischoff. It cuts off before Bischoff is thrown t’rew the tayble.
Match One: Stevie Ray vs. Rick Steiner
Relatively quick matchup, unlike the match between Scott and Booker T on the previous Nitro. Stevie Ray has control in the early going, but Rick Steiner is able to regain control and eventually pin Stevie Ray after a clothesline.
Winner by pinfall: Rick Steiner
Postmatch, Booker T is in and he scissors kick Rick Steiner. Stevie Ray with a powerbomb. Scott is out now, and is trying to protect his brother, but Booker T off the top rope with a knee to his back.
Not really enough given to this match to amount to anything. *½
After a break, Disco Inferno in the ring. He dances briefly, before grabbing a mic. He says everyone is there to see Inferno dance. He wants them to hit his music, instead we get the music of…
Match Two: Disco Inferno vs. Joe Gomez
… Who? Oh right. The guy that got beaten up by Arn and Flair a few shows back… Who?
Whoever he is, he is able to hold his own against Inferno. Looks like Disco is going to win after a swinging neckbreaker, but Inferno would rather dance. Gomez is able to get the quick pin here.
Winner by pinfall: Joe Gomez
Apparently Disco Inferno isn’t too worried about losing, just as long as his hair is still in place.
…. Who thought this guy could wrestle? ½*
Backstage we go with Mean Gene. He’s interviewing Flair, as well as Elizabeth, Debra, and Woman (whom’s flirting with Gene.) Debra says she did it for the money. Flair cuts a promo on Savage, since he’s got a match against him later tonight.
Match Three: Four Horsemen (Benoit and Anderson) vs. American Males (AMERICAN MALES)
Bagwell is worked over on by both Benoit and Anderson for most of the match. Benoit hit’s a diving headbutt on Bagwell he goes for the pin and Riggs breaks it up. Arn in and hits Bagwell. Bagwell however makes the hot tag and Riggs and Bagwell hit a double dropkick on Benoit. Anderson then makes the save. Benoit with a suplex into the ropes on Riggs for the win.
Winners by pinfall: Four Horsemen
**¼ for a fair seven minute tag contest.
Mean Gene in the ring with Benoit and Anderson. Anderson said that McMichael made the right choice in joining the Horsemen. He says that while him and Sullivan had a business deal, things were going south, and there is only room on top for Four Horsemen. Benoit says Sullivan’s quest to nullify the Horsemen has failed.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Tenta doesn’t come out to any music. A marginally better match between these two men, whom had the stinker of the night the night before. Hart hits Tenta with his microphone, but Tenta no sells it. He hits an atomic drop on Hart, power slam on Bubba, and he gets the pin.
Winner by pinfall: John Tenta
Tenta chases Hart around the ring. Hart goes into the ring and throws a loaded sock to Bubba. Bubba beats him down with a loaded sock of coins.
¾*.
Gene interviews Hart and Bubba. Typically heel promo with Bubba here.
Back from a break, we are backstage with Mean Gene interviewing Savage. Savage cuts a promo on Flair, and says he’ll destroy Flair.
Match Five: Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair w/Debra, Elizabeth, and Woman
As hour two starts, Savage chases Heenan around the arena briefly. That was kinda funny.
Flair comes out with a T-Shirt that says ‘Mean Greene sack machine in the ring.’ He asks where is Kevin Greene now. Flair makes his way to the ring. Instead of getting inside, he grabs a mic from the ring announcer and cuts yet another promo on Savage. Flair says that everyone must face the agony and pain of defeat. He says Savage is facing pain, agony, and defeat of divorce. Savage’s retort? “I’m gonna kick your ass!” Savage now chasing Flair around the arena. Flair and Savage finally in the ring… and Savage clotheslines Flair out.
Flair is able to control Savage after a commercial break, but Savage is able after they duke it out at Flair's VIP section and Savage pours champagne on Flair. After another break, Flair is chopping down at Savage, but Savage no sells the chops thrice. Flair hits Savage with brass knuckles instead.
Flair and the ref jaw at each other and get in a shoving match, but that just sets up the ref bump. Savage with a low blow on Flair. Savage hits an elbow drop. The women try to stop Savage, but Savage again with an elbow drop. Benoit in, but Savage hits him with a piledriver. Arn in now, but he’s thrown out of the ring. Nevermind that s***, here comes Mongo... With a briefcase! Mongo with a few shots with that briefcase on Savage. Mongo puts Flair over Savage, Arn throws the ref in.. and Flair wins!
Winner by pinfall: Ric Flair
Postmatch, the Horsemen destroy Savage.
Good, fun match. Though that’s expected from these two. Best match of the night thus far. ***¼
Out back again, we are with Hart, Sullivan ,and Giant. Sullivan says that there is war all over WCW. It has been declared. Giant cuts a promo on the Horsemen. He wonders how they can be the elite if he’s the champion. Sullivan says that he cares about WCW first, then the Horsemen.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
We get photos of what happened at GAB to Eric Bischoff. Wait. We got video earlier, but we don’t see the video of the powerbomb through the table? The hell. We get more stills from the tag team match between Mongo/Greene and Flair/Arn, and the Benoit/Sullivan match.
Down to the entranceway we go as Mean Gene interviews Rey Mysterio Jr. Man, it’s weird to see Rey Mysterio without all those tattoos. He cuts a promo on Malenko, then cuts a promo in Spanish. Since I don’t speak Spanish, I’m going to assume he said he liked cheese and bacon. Why? I dunno. I want to see if anyone catches this.
Huh. Mysterio has that half mask he wears now. I never knew that he wore that in WCW.
Malenko works over Mysterio's midsection for the majority of this eleven minute contest. Mysterio is able to hit a few springboard moves, including a moonsault and hurricarana (the latter with Malenko on the arena floor.) However, Malenko is able to stay in control and wins with a reverse DDT.
Winner, and STILL WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko
Excellent TV match that got eleven minutes. Not as good as their PPV match, but still a good watch. ***¾
Steiner with taped ribs after what happened to him earlier. Giant works over Steiner’s ribs. Steiner tries to pick up Giant and suplex him throughout the match but to no avail. Giant goes to the outside and gets a wooden chair to use, but Steiner is slowly gaining steam. Steiner hit’s a suplex on the Giant, and the crowd gives a massive pop for that move. Steiner grabs the wooden chair, Hart is in, but Steiner pushes him away. Steiner hit’s the Giant with the chair. It breaks and Giant no sells it. Chokeslam and Giant wins.
Winner, and STILL WCW World Heavyweight Champion: The Giant
Alright main event. The suplex spot was definitely amazing to see. **
We’re back from a commercial, and we have the drawing for who will fight the Outsiders and their partner at Bash at the Beach. The six men in consideration to go against the Outsiders are Hulk Hogan, Giant, Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Sting, and Savage. The three men drawn to face the Outsiders are none other than Lex Luger, Randy Savage, and Sting. Heenan and Tony hype up what they heard as Nitro ends.
A bit of a bag of mixed nuts for Nitro. Some good matches, some relatively poor matches, though the biggest storyline is definitely the Outsiders and what they did to Bischoff at Great American Bash. We know who’s going against them, but who’s their third man? Will we find out on Nitro next week? What was going out back as Nitro went off the air many shows back? Why haven’t we heard anything about that? Oh well. 7/10
TV Rating: 3.4. This is the start of the streak. 80+ weeks of WCW Nitro beating WWF Raw started with this show. It’s going to be a fun ride.
Other Nitro Notes
1. Quote of the Show: “We’re going to take you somewhere we have never been before on WCW PPV Televeion; to the bathroom!” - Tony Schiavone, on the Benoit/Sullivan brawl.
2. Despite being the heels, the fans really eat up what the Horsemen say. I guess in their feud against DoD, they are the faces.
3. It sucks to see Rey Mysterio now when he was arguably one of the best performers in the WCW at this point in time. He has definitely lost a lot of his ability to move around the ring. Guess that’s what happens when you have to get surgery on your knee five times.
4. Also, Bash at the Beach 1996. Who's interested? I might be holding it Wednesday night if people want to watch one of the biggest WCW PPVs ever... though I'm starting to wonder..
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: June 24th, 1996 Arena/Location: Independence Arena in Charlotte, NC Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan
Bischoff again will miss Nitro. At least Heenan is still there.
While Tony and Larry are discussing the Outsiders angle, the crowd is giving us a huge We Want Flair chant. We go to the video of Bischoff being powerbombed through the tables from Great American Bash. At least it’s video this time.
We go backstage with Sting, Lex Luger, and Macho Man Randy Savage. All three are wearing Sting‘s facepaint. ,Macho Man says that while Charlotte may be Flair country, WCW is their territory and they won’t be taken out by Outsiders. This is odd coming from a man who’s been in the company for less than two years. Sting wants to know who the third man is. Luger, says they will stand tall and are unified. Scott and Rick Steiner. Walk in on Luger and Sting, and say their title shot is tonight. Harlem Heat then show up and say that they got unfinished business with Luger and Sting. Guess we got a Triangle Match tonight.
Match One: Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal and Squire Dave Taylor) w/Earl Robert Eaton and Jeeves vs. Public Enemy
We’re told that Kevin Greene is in the arena tonight.
Both teams duke it out for a few minutes, but it eventually degenerates into a brawl. Regal and Rocco Rock are outside duking it out as Grunge (who’s got a cast) knocks Taylor out and gets the win.
Winners by pinfall: Public Enemy
Two weeks in a row we have a relatively weak first match. *¼
Match Two: ‘Taskmaster’ Kevin Sullivan w/Jimmy Hart vs. Chip Amie
Sullivan drags Chip all the way to the back and is looking to throw Chip into the ladie’s bathroom, but the road agents stop him. Sullivan then proceeds to slam Chip’s head into the Subway concession stand. Guess Sullivan was pissed they stop the $5 footlong deal.
Winner by DQ: Chip Amie
N/R
In ring, Mane Gene is talking to Jimmy Hart (and eventually Kevin Sullivan.) Hart says that they went into Flair Country, and are going to walk out alive. Sullivan says did you see what he did to someone in Horsemen territory? What will he do elsewhere? Another We Want Flair chant.
We get a new Blood Runs Cold promo. It basically says Glacier: Coming to WCW - July 1996. Glad we got a date down now.
Match Three: Hardwork Bobby Walker vs. Dean Malenko
Malenko dominates Walker, until Disco comes out with a Gold Record. Zbyszko mentions that Disco’s record sold a million albums. That’s good to know, but wouldn’t it be platinum now? Disco gets a mic and demands they play his music. For some reason, they do and Inferno is now in the ring dancing while the match continues. Malenko takes advantage of the distraction by knocking Walker into Inferno, goes tumbling out of the ring, and Malenko gets the win.
Winner by pinfall: Dean Malenko
It appears Inferno and Malenko will be going at it for the Cruiserweight Championship. So.. A guy who doesn’t care if he loses get a title shot? N/R for that.
Mean Gene interviewing Malenko now. As Malenko’s talking, Inferno looks to be considering knocking Dean in the head with his gold record. Malenko catches him and Disco decides otherwise. Inferno says that Walker and Malenko were stinking up the joint. Can’t disagree with him there. Disco says his record went to gold and that people want him to dance. Er… Okay. Disco isn’t bad on the mic, but that promo was just a bit too silly for me.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Eddie Guerrero, despite not being on Nitro the last few shows, gets a sizable chant from the audience. Barbarian control Eddie throughout this bout. Eddie looks to be coming back, but Barbarian knocks Eddie down from the top turnbuckle. This sets up Barbarian’s belly to belly off the top turnbuckle, which connects! Eddie rolls out of the ring. Barbarian pulls Eddie up on the apron, and sets him up on the turnbuckle. Looks like he’s going for a superplex… No, Eddie counters and Barbarian falls off the turnbuckle. Eddie is dragged along and.. Eddie wins!
Winner by pinfall: Eddie Guerrero
Eh, alright match for the time given. *¾
In ring, Eddie is being interviewed by Mean Gene. We get video of Uncensored when Konnan giving a ‘low blow’ to Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero wants another shot at the US Title.
Match Five: Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson w/Mongo McMichael) vs. Rock ‘n Roll Express
Hour two starts up, and Bobby Heenan is out now. This is an alright tag team match that ends with Morton pounding on Arn in the corner, and Gibson trying to put Benoit in a cradle pin. Mongo hits Gibson with the briefcase, and the Horsemen win.
Winner by pinfall: Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson
**¼
Joe Gomez is out and.. Gets his ass kicked. Savage and Greene out now, and they chase the Horsemen away.
Flair and his women are out back with Gene. Flair cuts about the Horsemen being reunited and then says he’s locked up and Savage and Green can’t get in.
Tony and Heenan talk about the extra security because of the Outsiders.
Match Six: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Alex Wright for the Lord of the Ring
DDP controls early on, but Wright is able to control DDP with his high flying maneuvers. DDP blocks a splash with his knees, hit’s the Diamond Cutter, and gets the pin.
Winner, and STILL Lord of the Ring: Diamond Dallas Page
**
Gene in the ring interviewing DDP. DDP cuts a promo on ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan. He goes against Dugan in a taped fist match. He isn’t happy about the match he’s got.
After a break, we get another interview, this time Gene is with Kevin Greene. Greene says Mongo sold him out. He said that he’s going to remember Mongo’s backstabbing face everytime he tackles a QB. He says he’ll get his payback after his season is over with.
Match Seven: VK Wallsteet vs. Randy Savage w/Kevin Greene
Savage still has the facepaint on. This match gets about five minutes, and is surprisingly back and forth, but Savage is able to win with an elbow drop.
Steiners won a #1 Contendership match, yet Harlem Heat get a shot as well?
Harlem Heat and the Steiners fight it out for most of the early going of this match. Sting is tagged in by Scott Steiner, and Sting works over Booker T for a bit. Booker T and Stevie Ray work over Sting however as they slowly begin to gain control. Sting finally gets a hot tag on Luger. However, The Outsiders make their way out to ringside, and are carrying baseball bats. As security enters the ring, One of Harlem Heat pins Luger!?
Winners, and NEW WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat
**½
Harlem Heat celebrate and leave the ring, but the Outsiders don’t attack. After a few tense moments, the Outsiders back off.
Tony and Bobby are watching all this, and Tony says he’s scared for his life. Heenan is freaking out over every little thing. Tony signs off Nitro by saying that the WCW will destroy these Outsiders.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
The main event was good, but everything else was either too short, or between guys no one cared about. It almost felt like WCW Saturday Night, with the match/interview with Mean Gene/match format. The last five or so minutes were very effective and really helped build up to Bash at the Beach. Discounting that, this was a slightly below average Nitro. The final few minutes brought this up to a 5.5/10 because of how effective it was.
TV Rating: 3.3
Other Nitro Notes
1. Quote of the Show: Usually, this is here for quotes that are silly, hilarious in hindsight, or just surreal. This one isn’t really a quote from a person, but rather a badly worded gaffe made by the WCW production crew:
2. At one point, it looked as though one of the ‘police officers’ was going for his gun once the Outsiders came out. I thought that was kind of overdoing it a bit.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: July 1st, 1996 Arena/Location: USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan
Tony and Larry are at ringside once again. They are hyping up the PPV, when Diamond Dallas Page shows up and complains about his Lord of the Ring ring being stolen. He wants the building closed and everyone strip searched. That was odd. We get a video of last week’s main event as The Outsiders come to ringside and have a bit confrontation. Let’s get to our first match!
Booker T comes out yapping on a cell phone. In 1996, that was supposed to imply that they were loaded and important. In 2011, it implies that he’s just like everyone else. I guess the next time we see them, they’re going to have a brand new computer.. With WINDOWS 95! Ooo.
Also, I’m sure some are wondering ‘why aren’t Sting and Luger staking in their rematch clause?’ Two things: One, Sting and Luger are fighting for something more important than the tag titles: WCW. Two, Scott and Rick both have a singles win over Booker T and Stevie Ray, respectively. It makes sense that they get the shot.
Stevie Ray and Booker T work over Scott Steiner for most of this contest. Col Parker makes his way down to ringside early on, and he has a cell phone as well. Hmm.. A pivotal moment comes when Booker and Scott knock each other out with a clothesline. Scott makes it to his partner first! Rick’s in, hit’s a few slams on both Booker and Stevie. Scott is back up and hit’s a frankensteiner on Booker T. He goes for the pin, but he’s not the legal man. Rick is going for the bulldog off the top turnbuckle now, but Parker hits Rick with his cane! Booker T covers him for the win!
Winners, and STILL WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat
Both teams did alright, but it didn’t feel like either team was on their ’A’ game here. **½
Mean Gene in the VIP section interviewing the Four Horsemen. Basically, it’s hype for a big eight man tag team main event tonight. The Four Horsemn vs… Joe Gomez, The Renegade, and the Rock ‘n Roll Express. If I was a betting man, I’d put my money on the group that didn’t consist of a jobber, a failed expy, and has beens. Heheh. Arn said do do. This is basically hype for a match that we all know which team will win.
Another Blood Run Colds promo. It’s the same one that we saw last week.
Match Two: Disco Inferno vs. Kurasawa
Disco, before this match starts, dances. He tells them to stop his music, asks the audience if they want to see him dance. We just saw him dance. He wants them to hit his music but instead Kurasawa’s music is hit.
Kurasawa dominates the matchup, but Disco tries to intimidate Kurasawa by emulating the Karate Kid movies. That fails spectacularly. Disco on the outside now and, in frustration, kicks the steel steps. He grabs his foot and starts screaming. Kurasawa is looking to pin Inferno when Disco’s music starts playing. An Elvis? Impersonator comes out disco dancing. While this is going on, Disco is asking for the disco ball to be dropped. He throws it at Kurasawa.. And gets the win. The f***?
Winner by.. disco ball: Disco Inferno
Now that was just plain silly, but funny. *¾
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Match Three: Scotty Riggs (SCOTTY RIGGS!) vs. Diamond Dallas Page
DDP is searching everyone for the ring. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, whom goes against DDP at Bash at the Beach, claims he didn’t take it. He also says he doesn’t wear any sort of rings.
DDP in control for most of this matchup. Riggs is able to hit a few offense moves, but Page wins with reversal into a Diamond Cutter.
Winner by pinfall: Diamond Dallas Page
DDP sure has been getting more wins lately. **
Mean Gene interviewing DDP at the entranceway now. DDP cuts a promo on Duggan, and says he wants his ring right now.
Match Four: Greg Valentine vs. Randy Savage.
Holy s***. Where the hell did they dig Greg Valentine up from? And why the hell is he using the Hollywood Blonde’s theme? Savage is wearing Sting’s facepaint, though Tony thinks it’s warpaint. Red and white warpaint?
These two work for about seven minutes or so, and during the last few seconds, the timer comes on we are counting down to Hour two. The match ends as Valentine hit’s a back suplex on Savage that apparently knocks him out. Savage up on the top turnbuckle.. Flying elbow drop! Savage gets the win as Hour two starts.
Winner by pinfall: Randy Savage
Eh, passable match. *¾
We go to the announce booth with Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan. Bischoff calls out Nash and says he doesn’t know what he was thinking, but no one is scared of him. Heenan says he’s scared for his life, and as Bischoff hypes up Bash at the Beach, Heenan interrupts him. He’s looking off in the distance.. The Outsiders are in the crowd. They got popcorn and cokes, and are heading to I guess their seats. Security tries to stop them, but they produce tickets. I guess they can’t throw them out. Nash says they are here to see the big boys. They’re sitting down, and we go to a break.
We get another Blood Runs Cold video package. It’s the same we saw.. Not half an hour ago.
We cut over to the Outsiders, and there is an empty seat between them. Who’s suppose to be there? Hmm.
Typical Giant match that they’ve been booking lately. Opponent tries to take the Giant off his feet. They succeed, but Giant still wins. This time with interferences from the Dungeon of Doom.
Winner, and STILL WCW World Heavyweight Champion: The Giant
Postmatch, Big Bubba shaves John Tenta’s beard. Well, half of it. So, will Tenta go to all black and be on the dark side of Quakeamania? ¾*
Mean Gene interviews DoD. Apparently it will be Big Bubba vs. John Tenta in a Silver Dollars on a Pole match. I wonder if Vince Russo was frothing at the mouth when he heard that one.
Giant and cuts a promo on the Four Horsemen. Sullivan is apparently distracted by something. Either Tenta, or the Outsiders, or even the Horsemen.
We get a video package of Rey Mysterio Jr., but partway through Bischoff demands they stop it. Nash has a mic and says they’re taking over a little early! Nash and his friend keep throwing insults at Bischoff. As soon as they jump over the guardrail, security stop them, and the WCW lockeroom empties. Huge Diesel chant from the crowd. Nash and his friend are escorted out of the building as we go to commercial break.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
I'm looking around for a 6:00 PM CDT time start. Though I could start it earlier/later.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Gene back, this time in the lockeroom with Jim Duggan. Duggan, for whatever reason, says he was just in the bathroom ’relieving myself.’ That’s a mental image for everyone needs. Duggan found DDP’s ring, a ring Gene erroneously calls the King of the Ring ring. Hacksaw says he’ll give it to DDP if he wants it. Now Duggan says he found it in the toilet. DDP comes in, wants the ring back. Duggan gives it to him(?) and then hits him with a taped fist. He didn’t want the ring anyways.
Main Event: Joe Gomez/The Renegade/Rock n’ Roll Express vs. The Four Horsemen w/Elizabeth, Woman, and Debra
The Horsemen work over Joe Gomez for the majority of this match. I would’ve put my money on Morton. Renegade in and is beating up on everyone, but the tables turn when McMichael apparently throws a briefcase at Renegade, and Flair wins it for his team via submission.
Winners by submission: Four Horsemen
The briefcase looked as though it missed Renegade by a fair amount, yet he still sold it as though he got hit by it. Though Flair/Benoit/Arn were in this for the most part, it was still a rough main event. **
Eric and Heenan wrap up Nitro by hyping up Bash at the Beach. We go backstage where security and the cops are escorting The Outsiders out of the arena. They make a few donut/cop jokes, then get in their car and drive off. That ends this edition of Nitro.
Wrestling wise, the best match was the first match. Aside from that, everything was a real step down in quality, save for the Outsiders stuff. That angle is really over with the fans, and we don’t even know who the third man is! Who is it? Is it someone in WCW? Is it someone jumping ship? I guess we’ll find out at Bash at the Beach! 5/10
TV Rating: 3.3
Other Nitro Notes
1. Larry Zbyszko said at the top of the broadcast that a new world order in professional wrestling would start at Bash at the Beach several times while he was announcing. New world order? Isn’t that the group of people controlling the world? That’d never make a great name for a wrestling faction!
2. As I’m sure some of you noticed, I didn’t use the names of either of the Outsiders during these reviews. The point of that was because WCW didn’t either. Hall and Nash were working for WCW for over a month before they settled on using their real names.
3. Quote of the Show: “Never trust a horse!” - The Giant, on why Kevin Sullivan made the mistake of trusting Arn Anderson.
4. Now let me get this straight: DDP lost his ring. Duggan says he doesn’t want it. Duggan then ‘found’ it in the men’s bathroom (probably in the toilet,) but is going to give it back to DDP. DDP comes in, gets the ring back, and Duggan hits him with a taped fist, to sell the match at Bash at the Beach.. Which is for the ring. So, Duggan is fighting for a ring that he doesn’t want, in his specialty match? What the f***?!
5. I said it a few days back, but I’m still going to watch Bash at the Beach tomorrow. If you want me to IM you or whatever, I can, and we can watch it in AIM Chat. I’ll also put the link of it in this topic, just in case.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
^ I could hold it any day, really. I just would prefer to hold it on a day wrestling doesn't come on, which leaves me rather limited to Wednesdays, and the weekends that don't have PPVs.
And the first match being the best isn't unusual, but I think the reason I noted it was that lately there have been stronger matches later in the show.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
1. The Rey Mysterio Jr./Psicosis match was easily the match of the night. It was an excellent high flying matchup between two men who have probably went each other hundreds of times. The match ended with Rey Mysterio Jr. countering a powerbomb into a headscissors takedown off the top rope for the pin. ****1/4
2. The Tenta/Bubba silver dollars on a pole match was what you'd expect from a pole match. Lots of punching, lots of running for the pole. The Pole however was way too long though. Jimmy Hart had to shimmy up the pole to get the sock full of silver dollars, but Tenta got it from him, hit Bubba with it, and got the pin. 1/4*
3. The DDP/Duggan taped fist match was only slightly better than the previous match. DDP was able to get the win with the Diamond Cutter, but Duggan got the last laugh by knocking out DDP with a taped fist. Having someone knock his teeth down his throat isn't a bad idea, but having a vet like Duggan do it this early in DDP's push wasn't the smartest decision. *1/4
4. The PE/Nasty Boys Double Dog Collar Texas Tornado match was horrible. It's sad that the best part of this match was a table that refused to break, despite several heavy bodies colliding on it. The Nasty Boys won, but PE got the last laugh. -***
5. The Dean Malenko/Disco Inferno WCW Cruiserweight Title match was a competitive contest between two guys who knew what they were doing in the ring. Disco, despite never really getting a big push, was a hell of a talent both in the ring and on the mic. He and Dean had arguably the second best match of the night that saw Malenko win after a Tiger Bomb into a Texas Cloverleaf. ***1/2
6. Steve 'Mongo' McMichael defeated Joe Gomez. This wasn't advertised on Nitro, so it was a bit of a shock to me. You'd expect a squash here, but these guys got seven minutes. Mongo was green as hell, and Gomez shouldn't be on TV, much less a PPV. DUD
7. Ric Flair and Konnan(c) for the US Championship was a pretty good match, despite the fact that neither guy seemed to have given it all. Konnan's name was finally spelled correctly. Flair was able to get the win rather cheaply after using Woman's shoe on Konnan. The ref was happy to give Woman her shoe back after the match, which I found silly. **3/4
8. The Arn/Benoit vs. Sullivan/Giant match was alright, despite the fact the ending was incredibly awkward. Giant won the match for his team with a chokeslam. Postmatch, Benoit kept beating up on Sullivan. Woman came out, begged Benoit to stop hurting him, but Benoit didn't listen to her. The beatdown finally ended when Giant came running out, and carried Sullivan to the back. **1/4.
9. The Hostile Takeover match between the Outsiders of Hall/Nash/??? and Luger/Sting/Savage delievered. The Outsider's partner didn't show up, but WCW wasn't able to take advantage due to the fact that Luger was taken out early by Sting. Hall and Nash worked over Sting for the majority of the match, until Savage got the hot tag in and cleaned house. Everyone was down, Hogan came out and seemed to be on the WCW side of things, until he hit the legdrop on Savage. The crowd was shocked, and the announcers were in disbelief at Hogan's heel turn. Hogan then cut a promo on how the fans could stick it, and that we were looking at the 'new world order' of professional wrestling. ***1/4
Overall, the PPV had several ups and downs, but the heavily hyped Hostile Takeover match was the reason people bought this, and boy did it deliver. It is one of the biggest moments in wrestling history, and arguably the biggest moment in Hulk Hogan's career. Overall, this PPV would get a 7.5/10 from me. Even though there was terrible stuff on the card, the Main Event helped turn this into a must watch for any wrestling fan.
The next Nitro will be up shortly.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: July 8th, 1996 Arena/Location: Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, FL Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan
Tony and Larry welcome us to WCW Nitro, and immediately talk about what happened at Bash at the Beach. They also hype up the other two good matches on the show, specifically the Rey Mysterio/Psicosis and Malenko/Inferno matches. This leads into our first contest.
Rey Mysterio controls Dean Malenko for the early going on this matchup. However, Dean is able to regain control after a tilt-a-whirl back breaker. Dean works over Rey’s back and neck area for several minutes, before throwing Mysterio out of the ring. Outside the ring, Malenko hit’s a painful looking brainbuster on Mysterio. Dean with a scoop slam, and surprisingly a two count. Dean has Rey up, and Rey counters into a pin, but gets a two count. Mysterio sends Dean over the top rope, and Mysterio goes for a springboard splash, but just barely misses Malenko. Dean, a second too late, sells it as though he was hit. Dean back in the ring now, and Mysterio up. He’s up on the top turnbuckle and hit’s a beautiful hurricarana, but again only gets a two.
Mysterio back up on the top turnbuckle, but Dean hits him with the fireman‘s carry gutbuster. He throws Mysterio up a bit, and Mysterio comes crashing down on Malenko’s knee. Dean goes for the pin, but pulls Mysterio up after a two count. Belly to belly overhead suplex on Rey this time, but again Dean pulls him up. Dean with an irish whipe, Rey comes off the ropes and.. Hurricarana into a rollup! Rey wins and is the new Cruiserweight Champion!
Winner, and NEW WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio
Yet another excellent TV match between these two. I’d put it over their previous encounter, and was almost as good as their first match. A botch hurts this match, but they were able to cover it up pretty well to the untrained eye. **** from me.
We go to the lockerroom where Mean Gene is interviewing the Nasty Boys (ugh) and Steiner Brothers. The winners of the contest gets a title shot against Harlem Heat. Scott Steiner calls Brian Knobbs a fatso, then they hype up their match tonight.
We get a Blood Runs Cold video hyping up Glacier. It’s sort of like the ones that had been shown lately, but doesn’t say when he’ll debut now. Damn.
Match Two: Dungeon of Doom (Big Bubba and Hugh Morrus) w/Jimmy Hart vs. Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal and Squire Dave Taylor) w/Earl Robert Eaton and Jeeves
I guess the DoD are faces here, since there’s a big USA chant from the crowd. Bubba and Hugh Morrus are able to use their power to control the Blue Bloods, but the Blue Bloods are able to come back once John Tenta comes out and starts fighting with Bubba. The Blue Bloods hit a double reverse suplex for the win.
Winners by pinfall: The Blue Bloods
Too short to be anything worthwhile , yet too long for a NR. ½*
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
We cut to a promo with Rey Mysterio as this match is going on, and instead of talking about his title win, he talks about Hogan’s heel turn. Not a terrible idea, since it helps put over the major feud going on, but they could have at least waited until before/after this match was over.
Neither man has control in the early going, but that changes as Eddie is able to toss Psicosis out of the ring, and Psicosis accidentally goes crotch first in the ropes. Big Eddie chant from the crowd. He’s been there less than a year, hasn’t had a major feud, yet is more over than half the roster. Psicosis back in the ring now. They struggle to gain dominance, but Eddie is the one out of the ring now. Psicosis off the top turnbuckle with a big senton, but both men are down.
Psicosis throws Eddie back in the ring, and is now working over Eddie’s arm and shoulder. Eddie, despite his weakened arm, is able to control Psicosis for briefly, but Psicosis comes back after Eddie misses a running shoulder block in the corner and into the ringpost. Psicosis hit’s a top rope hurricarana for a two. Psicosis back on the top rope, but Eddie counters it into a superplex, followed by a frog splash for the win.
Winner by pinfall: Eddie Guerrero
Another excellent TV match, this time between two guys I’m sure have gone at it dozens of times. Not as good as the Cruiserweight match, but very very close. ***¾
We go to the entranceway as Mean Gene interviews Sullivan, Giant, and Jimmy Hart. Hart is shocked at what he saw with Hulk Hogan. Sullivan says he lived for the destruction of Hulkamania, but Hogan took it out himself. He then talks about Benoit, and calls him.. A mad man. No comment from me. Giant tells them not to lose their composure. He’s still the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Nothing in WCW can go wrong as long as he’s champ. He reminds us that he ‘beat’ Hogan for the belt.
Match Four: Nasty Boys vs. The Steiner Brothers for the #1 Contendership for the WCW Tag Team Titles
Steiners with the edge in the early going, but both teams duke it out and struggle to get an upperhand hand on the opposing team. Partway through the match, Saggs attacks Rick Steiner with a chair, but isn’t DQ’ed. I hate when that happens. We also enter hour two of Nitro, and we now have Bobby and Bischoff announcing. Col. Rob Parker and Sherri make their way down to ringside. Sherri distracts the ref as Parker is aiming to hit Scott Steiner, but he moves and instead hits Saggs with a cane. Scott goes for the pin, but only gets a two count. Uh.. Wait. Steiners win?
Winners by pinfall: The Steiner Brothers.
Hold on. Saggs kicks out at two, Bischoff calls it a two count.. But Referee Nick Patrick says it’s three? I think someone screwed up there. *½
Mean Gene now interviewing Saggs and Knobbs. Saggs says stinking three times in less than two minutes. Huh, I see he’s been watching the Hogan promos, too. Knobbs was shocked at what Hogan did, but wasn’t unhappy about what they did. They do what they want, when they want to, just like the Nasty Boys. Mean Gene cuts the interview short, thankfully, and we go to a break.
Powers actually controls Flair for part of this match, but Flair is able to regain control and eventually make Powers tap out with the figure four leglock.
Winner, and STILL WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair
Should have been more of a squash, but Flair was able to make this into a **¼ match.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Postmatch, Gene interviews the Horsemen minus Chris Benoit. Arn cuts a promo on Hogan, saying that he was a role model to kids, but what he saw last night disgusted him and made him want to puke. Mongo says the apocalypse is upon them. Flair cuts his typical crazy promo on the Outsiders and the Giant.
Back from commercial, we go to the announce desk with Bischoff and Heenan. They discuss what happened last night, before we get to our next match.
Match Six: Sgt. Craig Pittman w/Teddy Long vs. Chris Benoit
Both men duke it out for a few minutes, but Benoit picks up the win when Long throws the towel in for Pittman. That was odd.
Winner by forfeit: Chris Benoit
** from me.
Main Event: Arn Anderson vs. Sting
Sting and Arn duke it out, yet neither man is able to gain an advantage. We’re told that Hall and Nash are in the area, but we cut to a commercial.
We get another Blood Runs Cold video. It’s the same one as earlier in the broadcast.
Back from a break, Sting is in control of Anderson… until Anderson hit’s a spinebuster on Sting. Sting is able to come back, but both men are still fighting for control. Arn Anderson with a Boston Crab on Sting.
We cut to a camera focusing on a black limo at the front gate of the Studio. Bischoff and Heenan wonder what that’s all about.
Arn on the top rope now, goes for a move, but Sting counters with a clothesline. They duke it out, but Hall and Nash exit the limo and are heading to the ring. Arn and Sting stop fighting and are watching these two. Savage is out now. Arn attacks Sting, but Sting reverses it into the deathlock, and he gets the win.
Winner by submission: Sting
Security stops Savage from attacking Hall and Nash.
Alright match, though this was less about the match than anything else. **¼
Mean Gene in the ring interviewing Sting. Sting talks about what happened at Bash at the Beach. Sting cuts one of the best promos I’ve ever heard from him, basically saying he should’ve known something was up with Hogan when he wasn’t hanging with Luger, Savage, and himself, when he referred to those three as dogs, when he was flirting with the dark side.
Savage is interviewed now. He calls him Hollywood Hogan now. He says what he wants to do to Hogan he can’t say it on TV, much less at Disney. But it’s really scary about what he’s thinking and going to do to Hogan.
Back from a break, we got Mean Gene talking to Hall and Nash. Nash says that he fans didn’t appreciate Hogan, but he and Hall can. Next week, Hogan will be there next week. Hall says that this portion of WCW is brought to you by the Outsiders and Hogan. He says that they did as they said they would. That the nWo is taking over.
Back to the announce booth, Bischoff and Heenan are shocked and disgusted by what happened. We finally get photos of what happened last night on Bash at the Beach. They talk about that briefly, before ending the show.
The good news is that there was nothing absolutely terrible on this Nitro. Some matches were below par, but watchable. The ending of the Nasty Boys/Steiners match was head scratching, though. 7.5/10
TV Rating: 3.5
Other Nitro Notes:
1. All the Nitros between Bash at the Beach and Hog Wild (the next PPV) will be in the same location, so don’t think I forgot to change to Arenea/Location description.
2.Tony actually apologized for telling Hulk Hogan to go to hell the night before. Dude, you’re pissed man. You actually sold something real well, don’t take it back!
3. It appears that my next opportunity to have another PPV watchfest will be Tuesday. How does everyone feel about doing it on a Tuesday?
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
What about Thursday? I kind of want to get everyone who wants to join up involved and not do it on a day someone might miss this time.
And I know Impact is on Thursday, but who honestly watches that <_<.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Alright. Thursday it is. I'll probably start at 7:00 PM CDT, just to be safe.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: July 15th, 1996 Arena/Location: Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, FL Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan
Tony and Larry welcome us to Nitro. They say that the nWo is there. Larry wonders if there will be a fourth man recruited into this group. We go back to the footage of Hulk Hogan’s heel turn, before we go to the first match!
Match One: Fire and Ice vs. The Steiner Brothers
The two Scotts work most of the early going on of this matchup. Neither man can get an advantage for long, but Scott Steiner seems to gain control before the break by throwing Scott Norton out of the ring. Teddy Long makes his way down to the ring, before we go to the commercial. After the break, Ice Train is now in control of Rick Steiner. Rick however begins to come back as he uses the suplexs and slams the Steiners are famous for on Train Rick tries to put Ice Train away, but to no avail.
After a few more minutes of action, Rick is the legal man on his team, Norton on his, and Scott Steiner on the floor. Ice Train and Norton double team Rick Steiner for a few seconds, before Ice Train goes for a splash on Rick, Rick dodges, and instead hits his partner. Rick hit’s a German Suplex into a cradle pin on Ice Train, and wins. Too bad it was against the illegal partner.
Winners by pinfall: The Steiner Brothers
It’s bad when you botch and Tony Schiavone catches it as well. The screw up at the end does hurt the match, which was otherwise relatively an average bout. **¼
Mean Gene at the entranceway interviewing Big Bubba, Kevin Sullivan, and Jimmy Hart. Meng and Barbarian show up about halfway through the interview. Guess they miss their cue. Bubba, Sullivan, and Hart all cut promos on various people in WCW.
Before the break, we get a quick video of Dean Malenko hyping up his match against Billy Kidman. That should be good.
We get another Blood Runs Cold video. It’s the same one from last week.
Mean Gene welcomes us back to WCW, as he interviews Fire and Ice. Norton says Ice Train has been screwing things up, Ice Train says there are things they can do in the rules. Teddy Long interrupts their interivew segment to tell them they make a great tag team. Norton responds by pushing Long down. Dissention in the ranks!
Match Two: Billy Kidman vs. Dean Malenko
Damn, Kidman doesn’t even look old enough to be wrestling. Jimmy Hart comes out during Malenko’s entrance and talks to him briefly, but Dean just brushes him aside.
This felt like the typical High flyer vs. Dean Malenko match that has been normal as of late, but condensed into six minutes. Dean was able to make Billy Kidman tap after three powerbombs and the Texas Cloverleaf.
Winner by submission: Dean Malenko
Great match for the time it had. Dean Malenko I would like to see what these could do with twice or three times the amount of time. ***.
Mean Gene interviewing Kevin Greene. He’s upset at what Hulk Hogan has done. He then cuts a promo on Mongo McMichael. There may or may not be a confrontation between Greene and Mongo. Does anyone care?
We get a quick promo of Harlem Heat cutting a promo on Col. Rob Parker and the tag team of Rough and Ready. I guess they’re next!
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
That’s right, Col. Rob Parker is managing both teams. Why? I have no idea. Sort of like why I don’t know how two jobbers get a tag team title shot. This isn’t WWE 2011!
Typical tag team matchup here that ended with Harlem Heat getting the win. With Booker T pinning Dick Slater. That was predictable.
Winner, and STILL WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat
Below average bout. Why give jobbers tag team title shots? *¾
We get a video package highlighting Rey Mysterio.
Kevin Greene again is out, he pulls his shirt off and demands Mongo. Er.. I hope he just wants to fight him.
Match Four: Madusa Mecelli vs. Malia Hosaka
A decent five minute women’s match that Madusa was able to win with a cradle pin.
Winner by pinfall: Madusa Mecelli
** from me.
We kick off hour two, and now have Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan announcing. However, we are directed to a WCW logo, that Hall and Nash are covering up with bedsheets that are spray painted N, W, and O.
Match Five: Meng w/Jimmy Hart vs. Arn Anderson
Meng is able to get the upperhand on the Enforcer in the early going. As he does this, his partner Barbarian shows up at ringside. We cut to Hall and Nash, who are watching the action way above the ring. Arn thrown out of the ring, and Jimmy Hart gets a few sucker kicks on him. Arn thrown back in, and Meng is able to put him away?!
Winner by pinfall: Meng
Weird as hell. I did not expect Meng to get the win here. Hell, I think the crowd was watching what the Outsiders were doing more than the match itself. **¼ since it was pretty decent.
We get a pan of the nWo logo, and Hall and Nash are no longer there. Hmm…
Mean Gene interviewing Mongo and Debra McMichael now. Mongo and Debra cut a promo on Kevin Greene, who apparently is no longer there. It’s bad when Mongo is the better promo cutter of the two.
Match Six: Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero
Benoit dominates Guerrero for half of this contest. Guerrero begins to come back after a superplex off the top rope. Both men are chopping and throwing punches at each other in the ring. Benoit irish whips Guerrero, goes for a powerbomb, but Guerrero is able to flip both men over the top rope. Both men up now, and Benoit sends Guerrero’s head crashing into the steel steps. Wait a minute, Dean Malenko is running out now! Dean Malenko sends Benoit’s head into the ringpost! Ref didn’t see it, and is still counting both men out. Guerrero makes it into the ring, the ref counts ten, and this match is over.
Winner by countout: Eddie Guerrero
Good TV match that got ten minutes. The ending isn’t what I wanted, but it does leave you wanting more. A triple threat between these three would be a hell of a match. ***¼
Hey, the graffiti has been taken off the WCW logo.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Bubba able to use his size to control Luger for most of the match. Partway through the match, we cut to Hall and Nash leaving a limo and sitting on the trunk. Bubba continues to dominant Luger, until Big Bubba eat’s Luger’s boot. Luger with a couple of ‘loaded’ forearm shots. Remember that gimmick where Luger had a metal plate in his arm, and used it to it’s full advantage?
Hall and Nash now coming to the ring. They enter and destroy Lex Luger.
No Contest:
Eh match. *½
Hulk Hogan out now, wearing all black. They slap around and destroy Luger. Hogan however helps Big Bubba up. Hogan shakes hands with Bubba, and Hall and Nash destroy him too! Mean Gene in the ring, and Hogan cuts a promo saying that he’s bigger than the sport of pro wrestling. Hogan tells the fans to stick it, an that he’s not worried about Sting, or Macho Man, that he’s going for the Giant, and is going to take the belt from him, and make it the nWo World Heavyweight championship. He then challenges the entire WCW roster. They start to pour of the lockerroom as the show goes off the air.
A step down for Nitro this week. The lack of major star power did hurt the show, and Hogan’s appearance wasn’t quite as what I thought it would be. It was shocking to see a heel Hogan, but he basically just said what he did at Bash at the Beach, plus wanting a shot at WCW World Title. Two good matches, though. 6.5/10.
TV Rating: 3.4
Other Nitro Notes:
1. For some reason or another, there was a blonde headed woman at the announce booth with Tony and Larry. Who was she? Who knows.
2. It’s crazy how over Hall, Nash, and Hogan are with the crowd, this early into the storyline. Once Hall and Nash showed up, the only thing the audience did was chant Diesel, Razor, and Hogan.
3. Most of the talent was actually in Japan at this time. Most notably Sting, Ric Flair, Giant and Randy Savage.
4. It should be noted that Hogan’s first appearance after his heel turn, he was wearing the exact same attire as his first appearance during his Dark side of Hulkamania phase. Here’s the photos as proof.
5. I read somewhere that Bischoff wanted to turn Hogan heel in 1995, but Hogan nixed the idea. Regardless, I think the whole Dark Side of Hulkamania bit was just a test run to see how the fans would react to a heel Hogan.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
That’s right, Col. Rob Parker is managing both teams. Why? I have no idea. Sort of like why I don’t know how two jobbers get a tag team title shot. This isn’t WWE 2011!
I think you answered your own questions there. The jobbers got a shot cause Parker somehow managed to get them a freebie defense against another of his teams.
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All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol. [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~ (Maniac64 at work)
I guess the answer could be that Col Parker greedily thought that sharing the profits of the tag team champs with Sister Sherri wasn't enough, so recruited a new team to get the belts off of them, and he would have more money coming his way? Hell, I dunno. It just made little sense to me when i was writing it up.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: July 22nd, 1996 Arena/Location: Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, FL Commentators: Hour One: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone. Hour Two: Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan
Tony and Larry talk about what happened the week before with the nWo, before we go to our first match.
Match One: Squire Dave Taylor w/Jeeves vs. Scott Norton
We’re told that Norton turned on his partner Ice Train on WCW Saturday Night. They were a team all of four months.
This match barely got two minutes, and ended when Norton threw Taylor over the top rope, causing a DQ.
Winner by DQ: Scott Norton
Norton continues to beat up on Taylor.
N/R for this short bit of nothing.
We get a quick promo from VK Wallstreet, he hypes up his match against Konnan.
Mean Gene with the Four Horsemen (minus Ric Flair,) as they hype up their match tonight against Luger, Sting, and Savage tonight. Each man got a few seconds to speak. That was nice.
Match Two: V.K. Wallstreet vs. Konnan
Konnan is still being referred to as Konan. This, despite the fact that at Bash at the Beach his name was spelled correctly.
VK controls Konnan for 90% of this matchup, working over Konnan’s leg for a good part of that. However, after Wallstreet hit his finisher (Wallstreet Crash) Konnan is able to reverse a pin into a rollup for the win.
Winner by pinfall: Konnan
*½ from me. It could have been much better.
Mean Gene at the entranceway talking to Sting, Luger, and Randy Savage. They hype up their match against Flair, Benoit, and Mongo tonight.
We get a video of Glacier. He’s in some random place doing all sorts of martial arts maneuvers. He looks like one cool guy.
We get another video package, this time of Alex Wright, Joe Gomez, The Renegade, and Jim Powers. The entire video consists of the four men walking down a beach, and taking off their WCW Monday Nitro shirt. They have a match next, but why the hell do we get such a pointless video? Are they a stable of jobbers? I just wish this was the most headscratching bit of this next match.
Match Three: Stable of Jobbers vs. Dungeon of Doom
The Dungeon of Doom consists of Barbarian, Kevin Sullivan, Hugh Morrus, and... Braun the Leprechaun. Two things though: One. Braun the Leprechaun isn’t a dwarf, or midget, or whatever. He’s an average sized persib that just squats down to look shorter. Two, the person behind the gimmick is Dwayne Bruce aka Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker/Jack Boot/The Sarge, a trainer in the WCW Power Plant.
Five seconds into the match, Tony says that something’s going on in the production truck. A cameraman runs to the back, and it turns out Hall/Nash are in the production truck screwing around with various buttons. They then go over to the guys in control of the camera men, and have them pan the crowd. Apparently they were looking for someone. This goes on for several minutes, before security wanders in and has them escorted out of the truck.
Oh, right the match. Jim Powers is out of the ring, Teddy Long comes from nowhere, gives him a pep talk, and the ‘match’ degenerates into a brawl. Giant is out, and he destroys all four of the jobbers.
Winners by DQ: Stable of Jobbers
N/R since we really didn’t see much at all of this match.
Mean Gene in the ring now, interviewing Giant and Jimmy Hart. Gene asks if Giant accepts Hogan’s demand of a title match. Giant basically says yes, much to the crowd’s approval.
Match Four: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Prince Iaukea
Basically a squash match that DDP won in less than two minutes with a Diamond Cutter.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
We get a quick promo from Chavo Guerrero Jr.. He’s going against Dean Malenko next.
Match Five: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Dean Malenko
Partway through the match, we hit hour #2 of Nitro. No on screen graphics though to tell us, just Tony blurting out the time left.
Malenko able to control Chavo for the majority of this match. After the 2nd hour starts, Jimmy Hart shows up. Dean and Jimmy have a few words. Dean, distracted, is nearly pinned by Chavo, but he only gets a two. Dean gets the last laugh as he is able to apply the Texas Cloverleaf on Chavo for the win.
Winner by submission: Dean Malenko
**½ match. Pretty average, but so far I welcome it.
We get a promo with Meng and Hart. Meng’s got a match against Ice Train later tonight.
After a break, we go to the announce booth with Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan. They talk about what the Outsiders did earlier.
Match Six: Ice Train vs. Meng w/Jimmy Hart
Bischoff believes that Ice Train will be a top star in the years to come. I.. Doubt that.
Ice Train surprisingly with an early lead. Teddy Long is looking on, and nods approvingly. Meng and Ice Train fight it out for seven minutes, but that ends when Scott Norton runs out and attacks Meng from behind, causing a DQ.
Winner by DQ: Meng
*¾
Norton yells into the camera that at Hog Wild, Ice Train isn’t going to have any excuses. Norton’s got Ice Train’s back till then. That’s nice.
We get a video package summing up what has happened between the nWo and WCW. Not bad.
Eddie Guerrero gets a quick promo, he’s hyping up his match against Psychosis. That match is NEXT!
Match Seven: Eddie Guerrero vs. Psychosis
Both men in control at several points in this match. Psychosis has Eddie beaten, but he decides to taunt to crowd. This comes back to bite him though, as Eddie is able to knock Psychosis down and win with a frog splash.
Winner by pinfall: Eddie Guerrero.
Great TV match between these two. They are really building Eddie up as a guy that could beat Ric Flair for that US Championship. They’ve gone at it before, but Flair came up with the win. Can things change at Hog Wild? ***½
Main Event: Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit, Mongo McMichael, and Ric Flair) w/the Women vs. Sting/Luger/Savage
Wait, where’s Ric Flair? After a break, Arn is looking into a white limo, but he apparently doesn’t see anything, and is now going to the ring. There is a huddle between the group.. And apparently it’s going to be Arn Anderson in place of Flair.
This match is little more than a brawl. Savage is out of the ring chasing guys around, Arn is choking whoever he can get his hands on. However, this match actually ends in a pinfall when Savage gets the briefcase, hits Benoit across the back with it, and Luger gets the win.
Winners by pinfall: Luger/Savage/Sting
Postmatch, Savage feigns ignorance about the briefcase. Benoit, on the other side of the ring, is screaming at.. Woman. Yeah.. That’s only mostly awkward. **¼
After a break, Mean Gene is interviewing the winning team. Sting, whom is going against the Outsiders with Lex Luger at Hog Wild, is interviewed first. He cuts a promo basically saying it’ll be a bad day for them at the PPV. Luger says that they’ve been pushing all of his buttons. Savage is going to kick Hogan’s head in. Mean Gene signs Nitro off for us.
Some good stuff here, but also some bad as well. Too many DQ/Squash matches for my taste. The Outsiders stuff was pretty good, though. Still, only a slightly above average Nitro. 5.5/10
TV Rating: 2.6
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
I think squash matches are fine if you make it clear what you are building to for your audience. Now, a show full of nothing but squash matches wouldn't work today because of programming like WCW Nitro.
WCW Nitro Airdate: July 29th, 1996 Arena/Location: Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, FL Hour One Commentators: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone.
Tony and Larry do the usual shilling of WCW Nitro Arn vs. Giant, Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie, and American Males vs. Steiner Brothers.
Tony and Larry then talk more about the nWo and what they did last week. We go to a video of what happened on WCW Saturday Night. Hall and Nash have a camera and are talking about something, then Luger and Sting are shown going to their car. Luger is called back into the arena, and the Outsiders beat up on Sting. I like how they thought that through and actually had Hall and Nash with their own camera, instead of a cameraguy just happening to be to out there while Sting was.
Match One: Mike Enos vs. ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan
This bout got eight minutes, which was about six minutes way too long. Duggan isn’t known for his technical finesse, and Enos was hardly any better. Duggan won this one with a taped fist.
Winner by pinfall: Jim Duggan
* from me.
Mean Gene in the ring with Duggan now. Duggan says he’s upset at Hogan for turning his back on his the kids that looked up to him. He even says that his daughter’s first word was Hulkster. Man, you know Duggan and his wife were pissed about that one.
Match Two: Four Horsemen (Benoit, Mongo, and Flair) w/the Women vs. Sting/Luger/Savage
This match was set up for the previous Nitro, but Flair never made it. Why? We’re not sure.
All six men brawl on the outside of the ring before the match even starts.
Nitro is going for a break, but before the break happens, we get a video package for Glacier. It’s the same one we got the week before.
Back from the break, and this match is officially started. Sting and Flair work the majority of this contest, but all six men get a few minutes in the ring. It looks as though Luger is about to win this for his team, when Hart runs out, and is screaming at a camera guy. He says something about the Outsiders, and the camera guy goes to the back. Hart is now on the ring apron, and gets the attention of Luger. He tells Luger the Outsiders are here.
To the back we go, and we see Bagwell and Arn Anderson down. The Outsiders are standing above both me with a baseball bat. Riggs comes over to check his partner, but he goes down. Rey Mysterio tries to take Nash down with a springboard crossbody, but that fells spectacularly when Nash grabs him, and throws him like a dart into the side of the building! Holy **** that was awesome.
We hear a bell ring, and are told that all six men are now running to the back.
No Contest via double count out
**½
Hall and Nash get in a limousine, and Savage is the first one on the scene! He jumps on top of the limo and is trying to crawl into the sunroof as it drives off. Back at the scene of the attack, wrestlers, security, and medics are checking on those assaulted. After a break, they are still checking on those attacked. We hear sirens going off, but it’s a fire truck. That’s.. different. Rey Mysterio Jr. says that there were four of them. They then take Rey’s mask off to put a neck brace on him. He keeps saying there are four of them.
Back from another break, Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan are at ringside with Tony and Larry. Before anything can happen, Heenan says that he’s suffered neck damage and has nerve damage in his arm, and that he’s not doing this show unless he knows his safety is guaranteed. Bischoff says it’s not, and Heenan says that he just can’t do the show now. He takes his headset off and goes to the back.
--
The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
Hour Two Commentators: Eric Bischoff, Larry Zbyszko, and Tony Schiavone
The entire Outsider’s angle was well done. It literally stopped the show for half an hour, and the rest of the show had to be 'improvised'.
Match Three: High Voltage vs. The Steiner Brothers
Rick Steiner is mostly distracted during this match. He's pacing around the ring, and keeping his eyes on the entranceway. Despite being tagged in, Rick still isn't his usual self, and is being manhandled by High Voltage. He does get the hot tag on his brother Scott, who comes in like a man on fire. He hit’s a piledriver on Rage and gets the win.
Winners by pinfall The Steiner Brothers
*½ for a squash
Larry, Eric, and Tony try to hype up the rest of the show.
Match Four: Big Bubba w/Jimmy Hart vs. Eddie Guerrero
Eddie has the advantage in the early going, but Bubba is able to use his size and weight to control Guerrero. Despite Bubba working over Guerrero’s body for several moments, Eddie was able to get a quick pin on Bubba!
Winner by pinfall: Eddie Guerrero
** Eddie got in some nice offense, and Bubba wasn’t all bad.
THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN PAID FOR BY THE NEW WORLD ORDER
It’ll be a bit difficult to run down their first announcement, so I’ll just link to a video of it (the only one I could find, strangely enough.)
For a basic synopsis of what was stated, Hall, Nash, and Hogan put over the nWo talked about their matches at Hog Wild, and said that there may be a fourth or fifth man, but ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you.’
For those that want to see the entire thing, since I really can‘t give this justice:
THE PRECEDING ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN PAID FOR BY THE NEW WORLD ORDER
Eric Bischoff is no long announcing with Larry and Tony, so it’s just those two men again.
Valentine puts up a valiant effort, but he is destroyed in minutes by The Giant.
Winner, and STILL WCW World Heavyweight Champion: The Giant
Squash match.
Giant cuts a promo, sounding very Hogan-like. I knew he did that in the WWE, but I didn’t know he was doing it four years earlier in WCW! Giant says he’ll destroy Hogan. Hart says Hogan will pay. We end Nitro with footage from the attack, specifically when Nash threw Mysterio like a dart into the building.
Wrestling wise, this wasn’t the show to watch, but angle wise, very effective. The nWo is put over as the monster heel group that’s destroying everyone in their sight, while WCW is trying to band together to go against them. The Mysterio spot was insane, as I’ve stated earlier. Very good Nitro, despite the lack of wrestling. 8.5/10
TV Rating: 3.1
Other Nitro Notes:
1. The entire bit with the nWo attacking people to the next match on the card took twenty minutes of airtime, plus three commercial breaks, or about thirty minutes. This may not seem bad for the people at home, but the people in the crowd didn’t see any of the attack. There was no tron that would show everything. Of course, WCW at the time didn’t have a tron even for regular TV shows. PPVs were a different story, though.
2. For some reason or another, Rick Steiner was wearing two different colored boots. One white, one red. Scott’s boots were both white. I’m not entirely sure what was going on there.
3. It should be noted that the paid advertisement was the debut of several nWo related material, including the theme song, the logo, and Hogan’s now famous ’spray painted’ black beard. The shirts and catchphrase have yet to be seen.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
WCW Nitro Airdate: August 5th, 1996 Arena/Location: Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, FL Hour One Commentators: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone
We start off Nitro with Tony and Larry talking about what happened the week before. Turns out we’re going to have Scott Norton, Meng, Barbarian, and Big Bubba watching over the ringside as security tonight. Personally, I think all they would need is Meng.
Back and forth matchup here. Gibson looks like he’s going to win it, until Sherri interferes and tries to kiss him, Parker gets the taste knocked out of his mouth, and Stevie Ray hits an Axe Kick on him. Booker T gets the win.
Winners, and STILL WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat
**½
Mean Gene interviewing the Nasty Boys. Saggs and Knobbs say they’re friends with Hogan, but don’t do everything he does, and vice versa. Sting and Luger come out, they banter for a few seconds, before going to the back. Hype up for the main event tonight!
We get a video of Glacier. It’s the same one from the week before.
Match Two: Malia Hosaka w/Sonny Onoo vs. Madusa
Decent women’s match. You don’t see that sentence typed out much anymore. Hosaka wins with help from Sonny Onoo.
Winner by pinfall: Malia Hosaka
**¼
There is a limo parked just several feet from the ring. No one has entered or exited it, though Tony theorizes that it’s got something to do with the nWo.
We get a video of what happened a few weeks earlier when Dean cost Benoit a match via countout. Turns out Malenko is helping out Hart so he can get a shot at the Cruiserweight championship. No rematch clause? Regardless, they’ll have a match at Hog Wild!
Match Three: Chris Benoit w/ Elizabeth and Woman vs. Alex Wright
Another relatively decent match. Hart runs out and talks to Woman for a second. Something about her with the Horsemen when she is supposed to be with DoD? I dunno. Malenko makes his way down to ringside. Benoit and Malenko duke it out, and Alex Wright wins?!
Winner by countout: Alex Wright
Another fair match, though I think it would’ve been better with more time and a better ending. At least Malenko/Benoit will be good. **½
Match Four: Lord Steven Regal w/Jeeves vs. Randy Savage
Yet another back and forth contest. As hour two grows closer, we learn that neither Heenan nor Bischoff will be doing commentary for hour two. I guess we’re stuck with Larry and Tony.
Hour Two Commentators: Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone
Shortly after the start of Hour Two, Sting and Luger come out and sit in some vacant seats, presumably nWo’s section. Savage is able to win this bout with a flying elbow drop.
Winner by pinfall: Randy Savaage.
**¼
After the end of the match, Sting and Luger go to the limo parked near ringside. Sting opens up the door and.. Pulls out a bouquet of flowers. They go into the ring, where Mean Gene is interviewing Savage. Savage is going to get a title shot against the winner of the WCW World Heavyweight championship match. Sting says the flowers have a ‘Condolences to the death of WCW’ on it. They’re about four and a half years early for that. Savage punts the bouquet out of the ring. Guess it’s going back to the Power Plant.
Tony and Larry discuss why Eric and Bobby aren’t at ringside. Larry theorizes it’s foul play.
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The Miz: Well, the Green Bay Packers aren't going to the Superbowl! The Miz's attempt to gain cheap heat from the Green Bay crowd. Three months later...
