WCW Nitro 8/19/1996

Written By: Matt Peddycord

WCW Monday Nitro
August 19, 1996
Huntsville, AL
Von Braun Civic Center

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Ric Flair (7/7/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat (7/27/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lex Luger (3/6/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio (7/8/1996)

I wonder how much longer they are going to keep Hulk Hogan on the intro?

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko.

Jim Duggan vs. VK Wallstreet
Now they’re doing Clash of the Champions rematches? And of all matches too. Duggan is all over Wallstreet to start, but then he turns his back on him like an IDIOT. Wallstreet cheats a little with a chinlock, but Duggan elbows out. He counters a suplex and reaches into his tights for the tape, but ref Nick Patrick grabs it away from him. Wallstreet gets the tape away from Patrick and tries to wrap up his fist. Meanwhile, Duggan has ANOTHER roll of tape in his tights and wraps up for the TAPED FIST PUNCH OF DEATH for the 1-2-3. (5:28) So referees don’t tolerate you taping up your fists, but they will let you hit somebody in the face if you do manage to tape up your fist if he’s not within reach of you. WHAT. I understand no one would want to check Duggan’s tights before the match to make sure he’s not packing any tape, but maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea. ¾*

Gene Okerlund grabs Jim Duggan for a comment after the match. More nWo talk. Randy Savage interrupts and promises to tear Hogan apart. Tonight, Randy Savage battles the Giant! Why? Because Savage is mad Giant didn’t get the job done at Hog Wild and lost the WCW world title.

Chris Benoit (w/Woman & Elizabeth) vs. Earl Robert Eaton
Looks like a Blue Bloods split is imminent as Lord Steven Regal wants to chase some singles titles. After Benoit got squashed by the Giant last week at the Clash, Eaton better WATCH OUT. Benoit turns on the CANADIAN VIOLENCE as they go to the floor where Eaton gets run into the ringpost. I mean, DANG CHRIS. Woman gives Eaton a big punt to the ribs once Benoit heads back into the ring. Back in, Eaton fights out of the corner and hits a Swinging Neckbreaker to set up an ugly attempt at the ALABAMA JAM, but misses. Benoit runs him down and delivers the SWANDIVE HEADBUTT for the 1-2-3. (4:02) Benoit really did need an intense squash here. *

Flashback to the Clash where Nick Patrick “screwed” the Steiners out of regaining the WCW world tag belts.

In the locker room, Gene Okerlund has Sting and Lex Luger for a comment on tonight’s surprise. They explain the relationship between them and the Horsemen and say nothing about the surprise. Just keep watching – you’ll find out what it is when they want you to find out about it.

Scott Norton vs. Disco Inferno
Yeah, Disco has no chance. I see a “Where’s Glacier?” sign. Somebody several seats down lifts up a “I’m Glacier” sign. HA. I wish I could have gotten a screen capture of that, but they were never up at the same time, so it wouldn’t make sense. Norton has his way with Disco as you would imagine. He even stands on his chest and tells Disco to “dance for me!” AWESOME. SHOULDERBREAKER sets up the Flashback (Armbreaker DDT), which leads into the FUJIWARA ARMBAR for the very fast submission. (4:01) I love it. ¾*

Teddy Long is back! HOLLA! Gene Okerlund talks with Ice Train. For some reason, he can’t make eye contact with the camera. Train tells Norton to LOOK INTO HIS EYES! He can’t with you staring at the floor. Ya dummy.

WCW Saturday Night! Watch it IF YOU WEEL! 6:05PM eastern! TBS! Lex Luger defends his TV Title against Squire Dave Taylor. You didn’t know he still had that title, did you? Plus, the US champ Ric Flair battles Dean Malenko! It’s the MUTHASHIP! PAY WINDAHS AND PLUNDAH, BABY!

Dean Malenko vs. Lord Steven Regal
We see some neat mat wrestling to start until we go to break about a minute and a half into the match. More of the same when we come back. Regal nails Malenko with an enziguri and takes over with a headscissors. Once Malenko makes the ropes, Regal grinds him to the mat with a full nelson. Malenko comes back with a springboard enziguri and hits a pair of Germans for 1-2-NO! Regal counters with a butterfly suplex for two. He tries getting the pin off a couple single leg takedowns, but Malenko avoids one and Oklahoma rolls Regal for the surprise 1-2-3. (6:59 shown) Amazing what they could do with just seven minutes. Makes sense too when you know Malenko gets a US title shot on the weekend. Then again, Regal’s talk about going after titles becomes a moot point when he can’t even beat somebody without a title. ***

The Four Horsemen come out for a great interview concerning Sting and Luger, but they’re cut short by the fireworks of the second hour. LAME. As for Hulk Hogan, Flair’s got more playing time than he’s got shower time. WOOO.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Your hosts are Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan.

The Nasty Boys vs. Public Enemy
And this feud continues on for now the seventh month. Have the Public Enemy ever beaten the Nasties? Bischoff mentions the lawsuit put on them by the WWF. He says WCW will not change the way they do business. Oh boy. This was just short and mindless brawling. Perfect example to prove that the Public Enemy can’t work, yet seem more than happy to take a beating. Public Enemy hits the DRIVE-BY on Sags and then try to put him through the table with that Public Enemy Sandwich move, but Sags gets out of the way of that and both Grunge and Rocco go through the table. Sags tosses Rocco into the ring for an elbow drop from Knobbs. Cover, 1-2-3. (4:26) THE NASTIES WANT A TAG TITLES SHOT! ½*

Gene Okerlund talks with the Nasty Boys afterwards. More of the same stuff. Despite being friends with Hogan, he can do whatever he wants to do. THEY WANT A SHOT AT THE TAG TITLES!

Bischoff and Heenan are convinced the nWo wouldn’t show tonight because they’re loaded for war with all the stars of WCW here in one place.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Flashback to the Clash where Chavo saved his uncle Eddie from anymore Diamond Cutters. Chavo takes Page to the floor to start with dropkicks and then follows up with a ridiculous pescado that nearly lands him head-first on the guardrail. Back in, Chavo turns up that LATINO HEAT, but runs shoulder-first into the ringpost. Chavo does what Eddie does best – sell and get as many hopeful nearfalls as he can. DDP hits a sitout powerbomb for 1-2-NO! Hammerlock belly-to-belly suplex gets 1-2-NO! Page lifts him up at the count of two. DDP sets up for the DIAMOND CUTTER, but Chavo counters into a backslide for the 1-2-3. (4:30) Chavo gets the win, but he takes a DIAMOND CUTTER for realz after the match. But that’s not enough – Page walks over and pulls Nick Patrick’s belt from around his waist and starts to whip the crap out of Chavo. Ref Randy Anderson runs in and grabs the belt away as Page clears out. WHAT. *½

Gene Okerlund interrogates Nick Patrick on the way to the dressing room. WTF WAS THAT, M8? Ever the thinking man, Patrick had enough time from walking to the ring half way up the aisle to think out an analogy about how policemen never approach a crime alone – they wait for backup, which is what he did when DDP grabbed him for his belt. He let the crime happen and then had Randy Anderson come in to take the belt away from Page all by himself. That’s right – he was waiting for backup to keep someone from taking off his BELT. Nick Patrick blames Gene for blowing everything out of proportion. Well, Gene mentions a new $500,000 house Nick Patrick just bought. Heenan seems convinced Nick Patrick is honest.

WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri & Col. Robert Parker) vs. The American Males
Last September on the third episode of Nitro, the American Males upset Harlem Heat for the tag titles. Can they do it again? And just after getting a tough lashing from ref Randy Anderson and Gene Okerlund, Nick Patrick is back refereeing another match. Riggs plays *your* face in peril for this match until Booker flies down into a dropkick. VINTAGE PILLMAN~! HOT TAG TO BAGWELL! Booker delivers the pumphandle slam spot that won the American Males the tag belts last year, but it only gets two here. They brawl to the floor. Meanwhile, Riggs levels Stevie Ray with a missile dropkick. Bagwell tries to do the same to Stevie Ray, but Booker shoves him off into a powerslam from his bro for the 1-2-3. (4:10) Not long enough to mean anything, but it got pretty dramatic there at the end. **

There was supposed to be a Flair/AA vs. Sting/Luger match here, but Sting and Luger think better of it since they’ve wrestled hundreds of times over the last ten years and nothing is or ever will be solved with one more match. So here’s the surprise. Sting and Lex call out Benoit and Mongo from the back as we go to commercial. We come back and Sting explains how the biggest problem in WCW is now the nWo. He also knows that while they will never sit down to Christmas dinner, everybody in that ring bleeds WCW. Therefore, Sting and Luger are suggesting that Benoit and Mongo forget Wargames and let them be part of the team because at least they’ve had experience in this type of match. It does seem like quite the improbable team, but Benoit and Mongo say they will leave the decision up to Flair & Arn. Looks like we’ve got a team – Sting, Flair, Lex, Arn vs. The nWo. Now where’s their fourth man? Hmm.

The following announcement has been paid for by the new World order. It’s just Hall and Nash hanging out somewhere in Denver making fun of WCW and the Booty Man. Nash ~ “I gotta know – what’s going to happen to the Booty Babe?”

The Giant (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Randy Savage
No match. Savage beats the crap out of the Giant with a steel chair until the Dungeon of Doom come out and chase him off. Looks like Randy Savage has lost it again. Giant runs off after him as we head over to Bischoff and Heenan to close out the show.

Looks like some of Fall Brawl’s matches on September 15 are already set.

– WARGAMES: Sting, Luger, Flair & Arn vs. The nWo
– The Giant vs. Randy Savage
– Scott Norton vs. Ice Train
– Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.