WCW Nitro 7/27/1998

Written by: Kevin Kindelberger

WCW Monday Nitro 7/27/98
I am surprised WCW got pasted in the ratings like it did. I felt Nitro was great last week. There were issues such as no Goldberg and I am not too keen on keeping Buff heel. However, a lot was advanced last week. The Wolfpac is finally getting quality air time and so is Bret Hart. The fear is that it will be a one week thing as WCW has ADD and can forget about things for a bit. Also, the nWo had to be strong and now their feud with the Wolfpac will have more meaning. Nitro bounced up in the ratings with a 4.7 but RAW had a huge second hour to win with a 4.9.

Long ass recap of last week. But Goldberg will get his first chance to speak in an interview.

Here comes the nWo led by Hall and no Hogan. Hall hypes up the Black and White. He makes fun of Nash and wants the Wolfpac to bring it at Road Wild and the last one’s standing wins and he points at the Giant. They have the gold and there is only one piece missing and the fans chant Goldberg. Brian Adams tell the fans to have a cup of shut the hell up. He talks about being in Japan kicking butt and taking names. He calls Goldberg a flash in the pan and tells him to bring his best move as he will be beaten.

Raven is sitting in the corner of the ring whining that he is still hated and despised. He wants to know when it will be about him. Here comes Saturn wearing a gay biker’s shirt. Saturn gets in the ring and he is sick of hearing Raven cry. He wants to know how tought it was to be a spoiled rich kid and tells him to bring it. Kanyon runs in and gets destroyed by Saturn. Raven is grabbed but Kanyon runs in and Flatlines Saturn and Raven leaves untouched. Kanyon is booed.

Match 1: Barbarian v. Jim Duggan

Duggan demolishes him. Barbarian is knocked to the floor and Jimmy Hart encourages him and he gets back into the ring only to be run over. Duggan though telegraphs the back drop and now it is the Barbarian’s turn to unload on him. Jimmy Hart hits Duggan in the head too; I doubt that did much. Barbarian bodyslams him but misses the elbow drop. Jimmy grabs Duggan and Barbarian goes for the boot and of course Duggan ducks and down goes Hart and Barbarian is rolled up and it is over.

* Mercifully short.

Hugh Morrus comes down and the brawl is on. Meng gets in the ring and puts Morrus in the Deathgrip. Duggan clears the ring with the board and wants to shake Meng’s hand but instead gets the Deathgrip!

EB’s Leno time. Liz’s fake laugh is terrible. Some Monica jokes. A lot about her on her knees! Okay, those are a bit funny. Now some chin jokes and his claim to be a biker but Hogan is a real biker and EB has seen him naked. Leno wears an extra large helmet. Fans do not like this. I do not blame them. More chin jokes. Now they created extra bladders and you can have a beer and watch Nitro without getting off the couch. EB finally sits down and asks Liz about Randy and always thinks about him when it comes to Viagra jokes. He is actually doing headlines. FUCK! The fans are turning against this chanting boring. Second time they are in Texas and if they are not careful it will be their last. Now he finally calls out his mentor and lover (joking on the last, I think) Hogan and he actually gets cheered because the fans are glad the jokes are done. Hogan gives Liz a kiss. He wishes a happy birthday to some guy. Now they go to footage of the Tonight Show from last week. Eubanks is upset about what EB did last week. He and Leno play off it well as they make fun of wrestling and Leno acts like he does not know what diss means. They show clips from last week. Leno goes off on Hogan about his painted of beard and he sees better wrestling on Springer (true) and Hogan is all shiny and really old. Now back to Nitro and Hogan mentions lawyer and Leno has stepped way over the line. He knows Leno is going to Sturgis and that he is being egged on. As a professional courtesy he is giving Leno a chance to back off so he can live with a bit of integrity. If this does not happen he will kick his butt on his own show. EB is going to show Leno what happens to celebrites when they get in Hogan’s world and that is Malone later tonight.

DDP is just fine. Gene calls him out. Gene calls DDP courageous for last week. He wants to know who attacked him last week. And it was Hollywood Scum Hogan, and they actually bleep out “suck” and DDP states that Hogan got him last week but did not kill him and he cannot be killed either. DDP is huffing and puffing in anger. He has one thing on his mind and that is getting rid of the self-professed almighty God of professional wrestling and if he gets in the ring with him tonight he will feel the Bang!

Dusty Rhodes is still around! He with Hall and Norton head to the announce table. Hall does not want to take too much time because there has been too much whining already. Seeing as Nash does not want to face him so Red Rover, Red Rover send Stinger on over tonight. Dusty has the mic and goes off on Larry about interfering in nWo business. Dusty is pissed that Larry colluded to get rid of him and take his place while making fun of him and butchering the English order. The fans chant for Larry and Dusty has a rag and claims he is under a Texas Gag Order. Not sure what this means. Hall drops the rag in his lap and gives him a little push before leaving.

Match 2: Jim Neidhart v. Scott Norton

Larry is not allowed to get in the nWo’s face as he is an announcer. Match is over after a powerbomb!

DUD. WTF? Jim just left after being pinned and did not sell it.

They are waiting for Goldberg to come out and Doug Dillinger is knocking on his door and finally enters and the room is in shambles and nWo graffiti is everywhere.

Here comes Bret Hart. He starts off by saying a little congratulations are in order. The wrestling profession has become a place for pimps and dogs until now. Chalk one up for the good guys. He tells DDP to take his sorry ass excuses and to remember to show up and fight or not to show up at all. He promises to give everyone a shot at the title and to become the greatest US champ of all time. He tells Sting that he does not need to apologize as it was a misunderstanding. He has been invited to join the nWo and out of respect for Sting he stays on the outer fringe and they bleep out the word screw when he states that is what happened to Sting at Starrcade. Last week was Sting’s fault and it was his brash behavior that cost him the title. The only thing wrong are the fans, they are scum and will lead him down the wrong path and that he is his friend.

Match 3: Chris Jericho (c) v. Dean Malenko for WCW Cruiserweight Title

Dean struts down with a purpose and as he gets in the ring he is dropkicked right off the apron. He is flung into the railing. He is rolled back into the ring, and Chris goes up top and jumps right into a dropkick. They go back and forth. Dean is placed up top and Jericho is shoved off and Dean leaps and tries for a sunset flip but is nearly put in the Lion Tamer. Dean gets to the ropes and Jericho springboard kicks him to the floor and then strikes with a plancha.

Commercial.

Jericho chops him a couple of times. Dean ducks and spinkicks him, only to run into a boot but as Jericho grabs him he is back suplexed and nearly pinned…..release German that is. Jericho is sandwiched with a lariat in the corner but counters out of the suplex with an inverted one and then gets a near fall after a lionsault. Malenko floats over on the suplex attempt and then blocks another move and strikes with a butterfly powerbomb. Dean starts to turn him over into the Cloverleaf and does so but he is right by the ropes and Jericho grabs them. Dean bodyslams him and takes an hour to climb up top. Jericho crotches him and goes up top after him but is DDT’d off. Dean rolls on top of him and Jericho grabs the rope at the last second. Jericho rolls to the floor and grabs brass knuckles and the ref clearly saw them. He gets back into the ring and Malenko is right there and he stomps away. He shoves the ref away and then checks on him. Jericho goes for the big blow but misses and Jericho is dropped and he drops the knucks and he knocks out Jericho but he stupidly celebrates and is caught and DQ’d.

*** Overbooked but still fun. Dean takes it quite calmly and just leaves.

Gene is at the door of Goldberg’s with a cop there too. Goldberg is beside himself right now I guess but the interview will happen soon.

Match 4: Curt Hennig v. Steve McMichael

They bring back last Fall Brawl and how Curt is blamed for breaking up the Horsemen. Mongo goes off on him but is guillotined off the rope rope and then knocked to the floor. Rude runs his head into the side of the ring but Mongo bounces his throat off the top too. Mongo gets back into the ring and powerslams him. He goes over to Rude to yell at him and he gets his foot grabbed and Curt kicks him once and finishes him off with the Plex.

* Um, they talk about the Horsemen and Curt kills him.

Here comes Hogan with EB and the Disciple in tow. EB assures Hogan he will fire whoever showed that Leno footage but Hogan is not too worried about that as he has switched gears. He has the war bonnett. He mocks DDP for taking one of the best ass kicking’s in wrestling and he is tired of him spreading lies….way to bury his opponent by making him look like a chump. Tonight will be his last wrestling match….

I am not watching the Bash at the Beach match again. WCW is desperate showing it for free but then again it hypes up the upcoming PPV but then again the match sucked hard.

Here comes Goldberg! Hopefully they do not disappoint as this is his first interview. Gene states that Goldberg does not need to speak as he acts instead. Goldberg states that they were not thinking when they ransacked his locker room. He has been watching Hogan and his cronies and he is not going to stop as he has destroyed everyone in his path. Tonight he is going to make an example of Brian Adams and declares that he is next!

Here comes Arn and Gene meets him by the entrance. Gene knows that he has been injured and thinks that Arn leaned on Dean kind of hard. Arn gave everything in becoming a Horsemen and Dean made it personal. For Arn it is personal as his best friend is at home. Tonight both Dean and Mongo failed and lost to people they should not have. The Horsemen have gone down hill and Mongo should have been more motivated and now AA tells them to let it be.

Match 5: Scott Hall v. Sting

In a haze of smoke from the pyro Hall tosses his toothpick and Sting who promptly kicks his ass. A wobbly Hall is tossed to the floor. Hall gets in the ring and Sting falls for the test of strength and gets his eyes raked. Sting ducks after the whip and Hall catches him on the crossbody attempt and he gets two. Hall stomps away, adding insult to injury by paintbrushing him. Sting reverses a whip and Hall waits patiently for the Stinger Splash, now one to the back and another to the front. Deathdrop time and instead of pinning him he puts him in the Deathlock. Bret Hart comes down and Sting drops Hall and goes after him. Here comes Hennig and Vincent and they assault him. Now the ref calls for the bell. Luger comes out to help out Sting. Nash is out too and he demolishes Vincent. Bret Hart is just sitting in the corner watching it all. Nash goes to pull up Hall who nuts him. Now Hall stomps away on Nash. Bret picks up Sting and Sting back kicks him in the nuts. Sting goes for the Deathlock and Bret scrambles to safety.

*1/2 Angle advancement.

Buff is in the wheelchair is pushed down the ramp and he topples off. Scotty acts scared and tries to help him and they end up giggling like school girls. Gene calls him a con man. Buff shows off the scar and claims that it was a planned attack. Scotty giggles about how Buff brought his mother out and also managed to keep a straight face when Hulk pushed him out of the wheelchair. They fooled his brother. Scotty is flexing and the blood flowing through it is White and Black and it is for life. Scotty has talked about how he has beat him up for years and will do so again at Sturgis. Jo Jo comes down and he is livid about what Buff has done and how low he has gone. Jo Jo is going to make sure that Scotty’s match happens.

Match 7: Brian Adams v. Goldberg (c) for WCW Title

I think Brian is toast in quick fashion. Brian attacks him right at the bell and gets two after a flying shoulder block. Brian hammers him and suplexes Goldberg getting two more. Goldberg spikes him and then muffs the spear as Brian just toppled. Vincent gets in and he is speared. Now a real spear! Jackhammer time!

** Squash. The fans still love it.

Match 8: Hollywood Hogan v. DDP

The obvious occurs: Hogan beats on DDP from the get go. He uses his belt to choke him out. DDP’s ribs are taped and he has a brace too! DDP fires back and stomps on Hogan. He drills him with an elbow. Hogan rakes the eyes and then suplexes DDP. He punches the head over and over and then drives his knee into his back. Hogan chops away and sends him for the ride, and after a clothesline gets two. Hogan bodyslams him but misses the elbow drop. DDP gets his second wind and down goes Hogan after a discus clothesline and Hogan no sells the clothesline to send him over the top. He falls instead and so DDP stomps on him instead. Now on the floor and DDP keeps after him but Hogan rakes the eyes. The Disciple helps but DDP takes out both. Back in the ring, DDP is sent for the ride into the corner where he is clotheslined. Hogan hits the big boot but he delays and DDP hits the Diamond Cutter! But here comes Hennig and friends and now the Wolfpac and the brawl is on. Goldberg jogs down and decleats Hall and now the Disciple. Out goes Hennig and the Giant is in and he chokeslams Goldberg and we are out of time as the Wolfpac looks on.

**1/2 Nice to see DDP get in some offense and it worked for setting up the inevitable PPV match. And a great after match too.

***1/2 I am overrating this as there was the PPV match and the long ass Leno segment that practically ruined the show. However, the ending was great. The final hour was no nonsense and was one of the better hour’s in some time. I should not take away from the show as they showed the PPV match, which can smack of desperation but whatever. It reminds fans of the feud and gets people to change channels as the ratings remained solid. Overall, not as good as last week but I am still enjoying it and they did enough to keep my interest piqued.