Written by: Kevin Kindelberger
WCW Monday Nitro 9/7/98
This week Nitro fell to a still solid 5.6. One thing that I have noticed is that WCW gets bashed in print during this era. They push the same stars and hold back others and of course the Ric Flair incident. Obviously a lot of this is well deserved. WCW has done some asinine things. They have buried strong performers and the Flair thing should not have happened but he was unhappy and purposely did not show. Now Nash and Hall and Hogan pull shit like that all the time. Hall and Nash are accused of making shoot comments. But I would argue they are not that bad and do not hurt the show. Hall and Nash for all their issues were being held back and Nash is quite over but it is too bad about Hall and his myriad of issues. Mike Mooneyham and others agree that the WWF has its problems but do not delve into them and instead focus on WCW. Now that Bret and Shawn are gone the WWF obviously has less issues. WCW is accused of not having enough wrestling, I think there could be more but do not act like RAW has more wrestling when it does not. There is no word about the juvenile antics about the show and in fact Val getting his penis chopped off was giggled at. Seriously? WCW has been a whipping boy for years, deservedly so but fuck, show some objectivity. If people think that the Oddities are cool or that the Outlaws are not annoying is drunk or lying. Now the WWF packages their midcarders better and make them seem bigger than WCW but to declare that Sting is being buried while has a modicum of truth he is still used, the WWF uses the same top guys but it is more flashy….also to claim that Bret Hart was exposed as a midcarder since leaving WWF is fucking stupid. The ratings took off after Shawn left. Bret was the top heel in the WWF and Vince is still bashing him for not being a team player. Unfortunately WCW is filled with rabid dogs but when Bret is on screen the show improves. I am baffled as to why the Giant was cuffed last week and where Goldberg was. Yes, WCW does odd things and even stupid things that will lead to its downfall but right now they are doing more good than bad. Okay on with the show!
Hogan and the nWo are in his locker room and oWn is painted there and no one saw him come in. Vincent thinks he is invisible. They are running in the back. A man is laid out and taken in the ambulance as Hogan and the rest panic. Here they come towards the ring. EB calls him a gutless piece of garbage and Hogan calls him out. He wants to know who Warrior thinks he is and he is sick of it and he is sick of Hart too. Bret is off the team and the Giant is on instead! There is no way Warrior can get through the Disciple or the Giant and he is going to sic them on him and they will hunt him down.
Match 1: Konnan v. Random
Konnan tosses him over his shoulder and then strikes with a clothesline. He follows up with a short dropkick. He works over the back but gets his eyes raked and pounded, Konnan is then tossed to the floor and the dude leaps out on him. They go back and forth until the Sunrise finishes it.
**
Gene is with Jo Jo and they are discussing Bret Hart being out. Jo Jo was at the contract signing and the nWo was unified and too bad about Hogan not being keen on using Hart because the contract is clear and the Giant will not take his place.
Here comes DDP! DDP does not like being told what to do. He does not like Nash giving him an ultimatum. He recalls what happened two years ago when the Black and White tried to recruit him and they felt the Bang. Now here in Pensacola there are two factions with big egos. He replays what Nash said last week and Gene calls what he said was a threat and DDP agrees. DDP will not be threatened and he does not trust Nash and with everything that has happened witih Goldberg and the fans erupt and out comes Nash. Nash thanks him for the history lesson, and DDP has an opportunity to join the most elite team in history and if he is not in his foxhole at the PPV then he is the enemy. He wonders why DDP cannot trust him and the response is history and he wonders how Sting and Luger can trust him. Here they come to the roar of the crowd and DDP spouts out a EMO teen “whatever.” Luger understands that he is frustrated right now but he should be flattered. Luger declares that he invited him and they were convinced by Nash too. They allowed Luger to hang out with Malone and Leno and now they just want an answer. DDP has a question and he knows what the War Games are about, and do they not think that Nash would powerbomb them in a heartbeat and they are exasperated. Sting will clear that up. Sting has been powerbombed before and they will have a match tonight. DDP will give an answer and he will bring in Piper. It is Wolfpac rules and he wants Nash to be there so he can get Banged!
Piper is in the ring. He is going to fill us in on the truth of the War Games; there are no teams it is armageddon and the last guy standing is the winner. Piper is screeching about the PPV and no teams and he wears black and gold. Piper will be his partner tonight but they will not be friends at the PPV. What about Team WCW? Of course having teams with the winner facing the champ is counterproductive. I am sure they were not thinking of that at the time in order to get as many big men as possible involved. Oh well it does not need to make sense as it really does not!
Match 2: Wrath v. Lenny Lane
Wrath is owning him. It is over.
*1/2 Squash.
Vincent calls for Hogan and the Disciple is hung upside down inside the locker room. Hogan screams Warrior, a la Khan!
Here comes Bret Hart and Hennig and Ray follow close behind. Sting jogs down to the ring and clears out a conferring nWo. Bret is thanking him and gets shoved with the bat, and Sting gives it to him and turns his back. Bret tosses it down and has his hand out but Sting departs.
In pre-recorded interviews Rick and Scott Steiner discuss their match.
Match 3: Scott Steiner v. Evan Karagias
Scotty is talking about the nWo being the best and how WCW is filled with losers. Come Fall Brawl he is going to take Rick to the edge of defeat and then push him over. He calls himself the bigger, stronger, faster brother. Evan’s opponent is laid out in the back and he is in the wrong place at the wrong time and kicks him in the gut and beats him up as he taunts him on the mic. Buff is on commentary. Steiner clotheslines him. Steiner presses him a couple of times and then drops him. He follows up with a underhook powerbomb. He puts him in the Recliner.
** Squash.
Match 4: Hector Garza v. Juventud Guerrera (c) for WCW Cruiserweight Title
Garza had knee surgery. Juve runs circles around him and then strikes with a headscissors takeover. Garza comes back with two spinning backbreakers. Juve drops him and then knocks him to the floor with a heel kick. Juve leaps and strikes with a plancha. Back in the ring Garza catches and powerslams Juve. After the two count he puts him in a rocking horse, swings him but Juve rolls him up for two. Garza recovers first and lays him out with a lariat and he gets a two count. Another one after a cradle. Garaza sends him for the ride and catches Juve on the slide under but Juve escapes the powerbomb only to be launched straight up and down. Juve is dropkicked in the lower back. Juve reverses the whip into the corner but is sent into the corner, Juve yanks him down by his head and gets two after a missile dropkick. Garza is placed up top and cannot scissor him off the top rope and he is kind of powerbombed. Garza gets a near fall, follows up with a slam but misses the moonsault from the middle rope. Juve Driver finishes it.
*** Another solid Juve match.
Gene is with Hennig and Rude and discussing the steel cage match. Hennig calls AA a coward for turning his back on the Horsemen. Rude agrees that AA has been set out to pasture.
Match 5: Cat v. Someone
Cat gets another quick victory.
Match 6: Chris Adams v. Stevie Ray
Ray is dominating. He snaps him over and sits on is shoulders. Adams tosses him and then follows up with an enzuguri. Adams clotheslines him from the middle rope. Vincent distracts him and Adams turns into a boot to the face and it is Slapjack time!
** Not bad.
Flock is out and Raven mocks Saturn for wanting to set them free. With age comes maturity and power follows. Saturn cannot beat him at Fall Brawl. He has to fight Riggs tonight and Lodi orders him to do it.
Match 7: Saturn v. Riggs
Riggs takes it to him from the get go, runs him into the corner as Raven taunts him on the mic. Lodi orders Saturn to fight back as he eats a running knee in the corner. Riggs runs him over with a running knee but Saturn comes back with a belly to back suplex and dropkicks him. Saturn chops Riggs in the corner and sprinkles in some kicks to the face. Saturn knocks him to the floor and beats on him for a bit, rolls him back into the ring and just sets him down. He goes over and talks to Raven or glares at him and then goes back to Riggs, has him up and it is Driver time and it is over.
**1/2 Saturn deserves a bigger push.
Lodi off of orders from Raven tells Saturn to break Riggs’ fingers. Saturn declines and Raven discusses honor and if he does not then Raven will break his fingers. Kanyon hits him from behind and Raven snaps his finger, and Kanyon holds him and they are broken some more. They leave and a trainer comes down and is shoved off by Saturn.
Match 8: Chris Jericho (c) v. Jim Neidhart for WCW TV Title
Jericho has the mic and calls himself the Walrus. He promises to never treat the Jericholics wrong just because he is better than them. They lock up and Jericho is shoved down. He retreats to the floor, gets back in and is put in headlock, shoves off but is run over. Jim pulls him up and drops him by his hair. Jericho sends him to the apron, kicks him down to the floor and then strikes with a baseball slide. He beats on him out on the floor, rolls him back into the ring but cannot bodyslam him but he comes back with a spinkick and a suplex then gets a two count. He misses the lionsault. He suckers Jim to the floor, slingshots into a pescado but is caught and driven into the post. Jericho is rolled back into the ring and Jim slams him and goes to the middle rope and misses and Jericho has him and tries to turn him over and struggles to and he finally steps through but cannot get him over and so Jim powers out. He tries again and finally Neidhart helps him out and the bell just rings and he looks pissed and the announcers are baffled.
**1/2 Nice to see Jim get a long match and Chris a key win but a shitty ending.
Eddie is out on the ramp. He calls EB Uncle Eric, and seeing as he cannot wrestle anywhere else and he loves it here so much but his back is hurt and needs an MRI. His contract stipulates that seeing as his back is hurt and WCW is responsible he will not wrestle, because he does not want to bring in lawyers et all. He loves it here so much that he will give himself the night off!
Match 9: Curth Hennig v. Dean Malenko
Curt greets him with blows to the head and back. He taunts him against the ropes as he smacks him around. Dean reverses a whip and rocks him with several shots but Curt rakes the eyes and bashes his head into the corner. Dean comes back with a back suplex and now a running knee to the face. He telegraphs the backdrop and is kicked. Curt leaps onto the ceiling of the cage he straddles the pole running across and stays there until he is pulled down. But Malenko misses in the corner and eats all post and cage. Curt hammers him and shoves him into in the corner and now kicks him in the head. Malenko sags against the ropes as he gets stomped some more and then drilled with a knee to the head. He works over the elbow and shoulder. Dean is up but gets knocked down and whipped into the corner where he topples. Curt drops a sledge and gets two. Dean gets his head shoved into the cage and popped with a series of rights. Dean is in the corner again but is able to get in a shot or two but Curt is relentless as Dean sells the injured shoulder and stands on Dean. Dean is able to get a break after a collision. He kicks him and uses his good arm to slug away and adds in some kicks. Curt kicks him in the gut and sledges the back. Malenko blocks going into the cage but Curt yells at him as he clobbers him. He tells Dean to give it up as he works over the bad shoulder. Curt shoves him down and gets a two count. For a cage match this is quite slow, now we have a cross armbreaker. Hennig uses his foot to kick Dean in the face and breaks the hold. Dean is tossed into the cage as the crowd gets restless. He batters him but Dean hits him and catapults him into the cage. The crowd erupts as Curt is flung into the cage and he goes for the Cloverleaf but Curt gets to the ropes. The ref is down as Dean picks up and slams Malenko. Dean pushes him into the cage and puts him in the Cloverleaf. The ref is still out and EB runs down and unlocks the cage and here comes Rude and he attacks Malenko and now the ref is up and calls for the bell. The ref gets tossed into the cage for his impertinence. Now Stevie Ray has joined in the fun beating Malenko. They are going to shut the door into his head! They take their time and the reason is because here comes Arn! The crowd roars as he decleats Curt and then Rude. Ray is waiting for him in the ring and Stevie gets plastered. Now AA and Dean stare at one another and then look at the nWo.
**1/2 The actual match was okay. But the ending was badass!
Match 10: Scott Putski v. Goldberg (c) for WCW Title
A way to keep Goldberg involved and give him a win as well as to introduce him to WWF fans. Goldberg takes him down but is suplexed. Goldberg pops right up and spears him. Jackhammer and over!
** Squash.
Match 11: Sting and Lex Luger v. DDP and Roddy Piper
DDP and Piper are arguing about who is going first. DDP gets to go first. Lex flexes at DDP who lounges in the corner so Piper tags himself in and tees off on Luger, stomping and punching away. After some chops DDP gets the tag and he slams and beats on Luger. He gets a two count but is run over by Luger. Here comes Sting, and he bulldogs DDP and strikes with an inverted atomic drop. Sting kicks him and then crushes him with a jumping DDT. He is caught and one armed slammed and he covers him but Luger makes the save and Piper gets tossed to the floor and he runs back in going after Luger and now all four are in the ring. Nash runs down and he posts Piper. He gets in the ring as DDP hammers Sting. Sting is knocked to the floor and Nash grabs and powerbombs Page!
** Short and not great but angle advancement.
Here comes Hulk and the Giant. Hogan claims that the Warrior does not have the guts to face them one at a time. So he offers up the Giant and if the Warrior can beat him then he is worthy of Hollywood. He wants the cage lowered so there can be no escape and the cage is lowered. He will also get his belt back at the PPV and he calls down the Warrior again and tells him to meet his maker. The steam again. Hogan is doubled over coughing. The Warrior is sitting in a chair grinning and the Giant is knocked out. Warrior has the chair as Hogan looks worried. EB runs down and he has a chair too. He did bring one down. Tony gushes as Warrior takes off his coat and shows off his body and Heenan talks about his body. Warrior misses the chair shot and Hogan hits him with his but Warrior does not feel it. Hogan runs out after EB unlocks the cage. The fans chant that Hogan sucks. Warrior motions the slam and does the King Kong chest hitting. The steam again and no Warrior and now EB and Hogan are stunned as he is gone again. They whine that they have no idea where he went.
**** An improvement over last week. They advanced the PPV, set it up quite well despite some confusion over teams. DDP and Piper were buddies and now they are not? Fuck WCW, make up your mind. Arn had a great cameo and the wrestling despite some wacky endings was solid. The Warrior and his vanishing act crap is annoying but so far nothing too fake and terrible has occurred. The Bret Hart situation needed to be discussed more. The promos were not overly long either, now we can hope that the PPV actually delivers.