WCW Nitro 10/27/1997
Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling Nitro
Date: 10/27/1997
From: San Diego, CA
Matches:
1.) WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Dean Malenko to retain the title.
2.) Glacier defeated La Parka.
3.) Lex Luger defeated Stevie Ray.
4.) Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Jericho.
5.) Chris Benoit defeated Fit Finlay.
6.) Raven defeated Scotty Riggs in a no disqualification match.
7.) Diamond Dallas Page defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan by disqualification
8.) WCW Television Champion Disco Inferno fought Goldberg to a no contest.
9.) WCW World Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers defeated Public Enemy to retain the titles.
10.) WCW United States Champion Curt Hennig defeated Booker T by disqualification to retain the title.
11.) Ric Flair defeated Randy Savage by disqualification.
Angle Advancement/Notes:
1. The show opened up with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff saying that Roddy Piper is no longer an ICON after the pay per view last night. Hogan also issued an open challenge to anyone in the arena, but no one answers it during the segment. They also showed another preview for Hogan’s movie, Assault on Devil’s Island.
2. The opening bout saw WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. successfully defend the championship against Dean Malenko. It was a solid bout with Malenko nearly winning the title following a power bomb and locked in the Texas Cloverleaf, but Rey was able to roll Malenko up to retain the championship.
3. La Parka got in plenty of offense against Glacier, hitting a corkscrew plancha on the floor and hit Glacier with a chair. However, Glacier overcame the offense by dropping Parka face first onto a chair and hit the Cryonic Kick to continue his winning ways.
4. Diamond Dallas Page cut a promo on Hulk Hogan saying that he knows that it was Hogan who was dressed up as Sting when he was attacked during his match with Savage last night at Halloween Havoc. Page accepts Hogan’s open challenge for tonight and says it is time for Hogan to get whacked!
5. Larry Zbyszko comes out for an interview. Zbyszko notes that he did what he said he was going to do last night at Halloween Havoc and that Scott Hall couldn’t handle that fact. Zbyszko has a contract in hand to wrestle Hall. Hall doesn’t sign the contract, so Zbyszko says that he is going to haunt him until he signs!
6. Lex Luger continued his winning streak by forcing Stevie Ray to submit to the Torture Rack. As most Luger matches go, he was dominated for several minutes before hitting his usual comeback to win the bout.
7. A video of Raven sitting in a tree talking about darkness is aired.
8. During the Jericho/Guerrero match the announcers talked about Jericho injuring his neck last night against Gedo in a scary spot. They had a nice back and forth match really making both men look good with the announcers putting both men over. Guerrero was able to pick up the win following a top rope frog splash.
9. In a rather stiff brawl, Chris Benoit pins Fit Finlay following a diving head butt. It was a really good television match with two underappreciated talents.
10. Ric Flair came out for an interview where he said that it was hard to see Curt Hennig wear his robe, and that if he sees him here tonight he is a dead man. Flair hopes that Hogan gets hit with the Diamond Cutter tonight. He also talks about Randy Savage who he says will lose tonight to Flair and that Elizabeth will take a ride on Space Mountain!
11. Raven competed in his first Nitro match when he defeated Scotty Riggs. Well, not only did he beat Riggs but he also severely injured him. Prior to the match, Raven tried to have Riggs join him because he saw a lot in Riggs but his demons held him back. Riggs decided to turn down the offer. Raven drop toe holds Riggs face first into a chair and Riggs holds his eye in severe agony. Billy Kidman tried to check on Riggs, but Raven sent him back to his seat with the Flock.
12. Hogan works on Page’s ribs during the bout but Page scares him a few times with a few Diamond Cutter attempts. After being controlled for a good portion of the match, Page battles back after avoiding the leg drop and hits the Diamond Cutter when a Sting enters the ring causing the disqualification. The New World Order attack Page afterwards until the real Sting comes down to the ring through the crowd and makes the save for Page. A decent match between Hogan and Page, but the aftermath continues to be quite entertaining.
13. Not much of a match happened between Goldberg and WCW Television Champion Disco Inferno. Prior to the match, Alex Wright tried to attack Goldberg but that didn’t work out so well for him. Goldberg easily took care of Inferno with the Jackhammer but the match never officially began. Afterwards, Steve McMichael came down to the ring and brawled with Goldberg.
14. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan come out to the ring yet again. Bischoff believes that Sting is afraid of Hogan. Hogan tells Sting that he will have a contract for Sting to sign in Las Vegas at the premiere of his movie, Assault on Devil’s Island.
15. WCW World Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers cut a promo saying that they beat the New World Order at their own game and they thanked their fans for supporting them.
16. The Steiner Brothers battled Public Enemy for their WCW World Tag Team Championships. The match was rather poor as it was really basic and Public Enemy is only good in hardcore type of matches. Scott pinned Rock following a super bulldog off the top rope.
17. Booker T continues his singles push against WCW United States Champion Curt Hennig. Booker held his own until Elizabeth came out to distract him and allowed Randy Savage to attack Booker with an elbow drop off the top rope. Ric Flair came out as well and chased Hennig to the backstage area.
18. Most of the main event took place on the floor as it was pretty much a brawl. The match ends in a disqualification when Curt Hennig comes out and attacks Flair hitting him with the WCW United States Championship and Savage hits the top rope elbow drop to close the program.
Final Thoughts:
October has to have been one of the best months for WCW this year in 1997. The wrestling on this show was really solid all around. Rey/Dean, Guerrero/Jericho, Benoit/Finlay, Hogan/Page and Flair/Savage were all pretty enjoyable matches and helped the show greatly. Also, the hype around Hogan/Sting continues to heat up and the contract signing promotion was done nicely.
I felt that the Raven segment was a great way to introduce Raven on Nitro. Personally, I think having him brainwash people and now injuring people gives him a lot of creditability. I liked the Flock and feel that Raven could be a huge deal in WCW if given the chance to be.
Hennig/Flair looks to continue after Havoc, and that is perfectly fine with me. Ideally the feud would end at Starrcade since the angle at Fall Brawl was one of the better ones in the year, but that obviously wouldn’t the case as Hennig and Flair would later go in different directions.
Lastly, watching the buildup of Goldberg is a cool thing to watch. It’s hard to believe that the guy didn’t get much of a reaction but six months later he is rocking arenas all over the place.
Overall, this week’s Nitro was another good show. A lot of things continue to be put on Nitro and even though the show was three hours, there wasn’t really any lengthy amount of dull time.
Thanks for reading.
