WCW Nitro 8/16/1999

Written by: Kevin Kindelberger

WCW Monday Nitro 8/16/99

The Red and Yellow is back and in full force. The ratings briefly rose and then dipped down again. Clearly WCW is getting desperate as they changed up in April/May and now again in July by hotshotting the title onto Hogan. The musical connection has not worked either. I may laud the effort to bring in a younger audience with Master P, and to appeal to minorities as well. However, WCW is a Southern company and hip-hop does not really appeal to its audience and they unveiled in the wrong region. It was doomed to failure and wisely dropped. Now they have tried with Chad Brock and later Kiss, so they are trying to get a variation of people to watch, and so far it has not been that intrusive as Goldberg came out during the Megadeth video and Hennig fought with Brock. Still, there is no sugarcoating, it failed. Road Wild was decent, the faces were strong, and nearly all were victorious. Sid got a surprising win but it was nice to see Sting put him over, too bad Hogan or Nash would not do that. Clearly they are setting up a Sid/Goldberg showdown. Ratings got a slight boost to a 3.3 with a 3.8, 2.9 and 3.1. RAW got a 6.6 off of a 6.4 and 6.8.

Tony is gushing about the main event: Sid v. Hogan for the title, and how it is the greatest in some time. Listen you fat fuck, Shitvone, those two just fought! The match fucking sucked. Apparently Sid is also 55-0, and on a streak. I am not going to go back and check, but he has not won every match though I guess the Bash match does not count. Clearly, faulty math is at work here.

Match 1: Lash Leroux v. Juventud Guerrera

Juve is the heel, I think, but the fans are erupting for him and booing the shit out of Lash. Lash does not  appreciate that and decks him. They tussle, Juve attempts to slide under him but is caught. They exchange holds and Lash unloads a flurry of blows and turns him inside-out with a forearm. Juve takes him down and then mounts and pounds him in the corner with the fans counting along. Lash picks him up and carries him but is rolled up and nearly pinned. Now they both attempt backslides, here comes Sid! Poor Juve, he has been buried despite being popular. Sid chokeslams both….

** Angle advancement.

Sid powerbombs Lash. Sid rambles about Hogan and the title. He also calls out Goldberg explaining what he is going to do to him. Back to the title and it is his.

Match 2: Steven Regal v. Scotty Riggs

They pound each other. Riggs misses a dropkick….and he is choked out. Here comes Sid and they are chokeslammed too! I can’t feel sorry for Riggs or even Regal as he has severe drug issues. Both are powerbombed. Sid yells at the camera about Hogan and the people in WCW do not have to deal with this if he just gives him what he wants. No Hogan chant, but Goldberg chants!

Here comes the Cat. He calls Enos a chump and is going to beat him in less than four minutes.

Match 3: Cat v. Mike Enos

Enos bodyslams him and then the Cat bounces off of him and is powerslammed. Enos owns him for a minute or two. Sonny gets in the ring and is gorilla slammed, and the Cat blindsides him and gets the win. It was under four minutes.

*1/2

Two more guys are laid out in the back and Sid tells us that it will soon be over….

Match 4: Lenny Lane v. Rey Mysterio

Lenny is acting gay as he states he likes being touched as he wiggles. Lenny spikes him and gets a near fall but Rey counters back with a headscissors take over. Rey slingshots onto Lodi and Lenny goes up top and corkscrews into both. Now they are back in the ring and Rey is whipped into the corner and he misses in the corner. Bronco Buster time. Sid has come out tosses Rey off. Lodi tries to attack him but both Lenny and Lodi get chokeslammed. Rey is powerbombed.

*1/2 Not smart to bury everyone in your midcard. It happens in both WWF and WCW but this is a bit much. Rey should not be punked.

Sting runs out and they go back and forth and right when Sid gets the advantage Hogan hobbles down and Sid clears out. Hulk rips off his shirt and glares at Sid. The fans are going nuts. Sid tells Hogan that he does not want any of this. Sid wants his belt. Hogan is glad that Sting is here, and Sid is lucky to have escaped him because Hogan wants Sid at 100 percent. It is all Sting who has helped drive out Nash and that he deserves a title shot, and he will give him a title shot next week. Sting is all for it as Hogan does his annoying face thing but adds that he will kick Sting’s ass next week and they shake.

Match 5: Dead Pool v. Public Enemy

ICP are the opponents. They clobber PE from behind but get taken down. Tables are stacked on the floor.The fans chant ICP as they retreat to the floor. Back in the ring Rocco and Shaggy brawl for a minute. Violent J gets the tag and he punishes Rock for a minute before getting nailed. Grunge gets the tag and a headbutt drops J. Raven grabs the leg of Grunge and he is knocked to the floor and flung into the steps. Grunge is whipped into the railing. Back in the ring both Grunge and J and both are down. Rock gets the hot tag and unloads on both and J is pancaked by both. Shaggy is on the top table and Rocco is flung on top of him! Grunge whips J into the corner and is squashed. The ref now is crushed too, on the second splash, and Vamp goes up top and spinkicks Grunge and then hits his finisher. He rolled on top of Grunge and gets the win.

** Not a bad brawl.

Gene is in the ring and calls out Harlem Heat. Booker does not like the Triad but gives them credit. Ray is reminded of his nWo tenure and Ray calls them fruit-booties. They will put up the titles against anybody. Booker agrees.

The nWo is still around! Horace tells the crowd to shut up. He is not happy with the Stevie Ray. They ramble about the Black and White. Norton is going to take out Stevie and Booker. Adams agrees and wants to tag up with Vincent tonight. Instead the other three stomp a hole in him and leave him lying.

Gene calls out Kidman. Gene calls him a ladies man. Kidman talks about cliques in the back, and he has formed a clique of friends. The Filthy Animals, as they like to party and chase the girls, with Konnan, Eddie and Rey. Gene and Kidman ramble about the Nitro Girl PPV. Kidman calls Kimberly gorgeous and here comes DDP! Kidman babbles that he respects DDP and his wife. DDP does not think he can spell respect and starts to and at “S” slaps him. Kidman tries to attack but is one-handed slammed. DDP demands a ref.

Match 6: Kidman v. DDP

DDP sideslams him and then uses his shirt to choke him out. DDP slams him and after an elbow drop gets two. He chokes him out on the middle rope. DDP sends him into the ropes but is scissored over. DDP is up and goes after Kidman who tries to use the ropes to bulldog DDP but is shoved off with ease. DDP powerbombs and he pullls up his head at two. He takes his time with kicks to the ribs and chokes him out with his boot. Kidman gets his boot up off the whip but is spinebusted and DDP pulls him up again. He calls for Cutter. He has Kidman hoisted over his shoulders and Kidman counters with a roll up and gets the win!

** Good but it would have been nice to see Kidman get in more offense.

DDP is stunned and so he DC’s the ref. Kidman leaps on him but is DC’d. DDP hangs him upside down in the corner and whips him with his belt. Kimberly comes down to calm him down as DDP chokes him out. She is finally able to and they leave.

Disco is in the aisle and declares himself an icon. The Filthy Animals have been calling him in order to get him to join their group. Disco babbles about how good he is and how he is climbing the ladder. Benoit comes out and tells him that he stepped into a revolution and challenges him. Disco is going to kick his tooshie.

Match 7: Chris Benoit (c) v. Disco Inferno for WCW US Title

Disco gets in the ring and is chopped twice, a back elbow sends him down and Benoit gets two. He back suplexes him two more. Benoit is stomping a hole in him, and Disco is up and tries to hit him but Benoit takes him down for the Crossface but he is by the ropes so he shoves Disco to the floor. Disco lures him over and bounces his neck off the top rope. Disco gives him a swinging neckbreaker and after a two count, bodyslams him and goes up to the middle rope and connects with his forearm. After another two count, he hits a Russian sweep and keeps him grounded with a chinlock. Disco dumps him to the floor and heads out after him, back in the ring, Benoit sunset flips him over but Disco kicks out and keeps after him. Benoit fires back and it is German suplex time! But he is slow to recover but he does so first and chops Disco, Disco tries to fight back but he is suplexed three times and calls for the flying headbutt! It connects and it is over.

**1/2 Decent sized match and it was fairly solid. Nice win for Benoit.

Match 8: Barry Windham v. Goldberg

Goldberg tosses him and spears Duncum, no the guy tossed was someone else. BW came in and tried to attack him and was speared and now it is Jackhammer time!

* A little quick. We will see if they do anything with Goldberg.

Match 9: nWo v. Harlem Heat (c) for WCW Tag Titles

Vincent and Stevie Ray start off and Ray knocks him into the corner. Vincent fires back but Ray muffs the gorilla slam and drops him instead. Norton is in and Ray knocks him down with a couple of clotheslines and Booker is tagged in. Norton knocks him down and tags in Horace who hammers Booker. Booker comes back with a knee shot and kick to the head. Horace is knocked around and here comes Ray who boots him in the head. Norton shoves Ray right into a DDT and Vincent is in and he punches him in the back and throat. Norton is in and he headbutts Ray a few times and puts him in a front facelock. Ray is able to make the tag but the ref did not see it. Booker runs in and cleans house but he is forced back out. Ray is doubleteamed and Norton goes for a powerbomb but Adams runs down and clears out Norton and then Vincent. Horace is press slammed and he goes out after Norton posting him. HH finish off Horace and get the win.

** Another long and okay match.

Adams is walking out to a waiting limo. The license plate says KISS.

Rick Steiner is the BFG and he rules the Dog Pound, and he does his catchphrase.

Match 10: Rick Steiner (c) v. Brian Knobs for WCW TV Title

Knobs enters right into a buzzsaw, a clothesline decleats him and Rick uses Knobs’ jacket to chokes him out. Knobs fires back and Rick runs into a boot and a punch sends him to the floor. They battle out on the floor and Rick is thrust into the railing….Schiavone has mentioned the main event 1400 times. Knobs is whipped into the steps and whipped with a leather belt and choked out with it. It is his dog collar actually. Back in the ring Brian manages to go on the offensive and crashes into him in the corner. Rick though explodes out and clotheslines him and chokes him out some more. Knobs counters with a slam but he misses from the middle rope. Rick whips him from pillar to post but misses the charge but Jimmy Hart hits his own man with the Dog Collar and Rick hits the bulldog and it is over.

**1/2 I actually enjoyd this. A nice brawl.

Match 11: Bam Bam Bigelow v. Saturn

Bigelow hammers him and a forearm drops him, so does a bodyslam. He misses the falling headbutt but Saturn runs right into a lariat. Bigelow is knocked to the floor and Saturn moonsaults on top of him. Saturn cannot follow up and so Bigelow shoves him back into the ring and uses the ropes to choke him out. Saturn goes for a sunset flip but cannot get him over, but Bigelow misses the butt stomp. Saturn rocks him with three clotheslines but he is picked up and thrown into the corner and placed up top and tossed. The falling headbutt connects and Bigelow gets two. Bigelow throws him around, and runs him over again. He snaps him over and keeps him down with a chinlock. Saturn fights to his feet but a standing dropkick sends him right back down. Bigelow lays on him but Saturn is on the ropes but Bigelow uses his weight to keep him down. Saturn is still game and rocks him with a few blows but the bodyslam attempt goes awry and Bigelow lands on him and he gets two. Saturn is run into the corner but Bigelow runs into a boot and now he is hammered in the corner. The ref is down. Saturn slams Bigelow and does it again. Kanyon comes down and is knocked off the apron. Saturn goes up top but Kanyon shoves him off and right into the Greetings but Shane is down and Saturn ends up on top for the win…..

*** Best match of the night. I rated it a bit higher because of that.

Saturn is powerbombed after but the rest of the Revolution runs down and the heels flee.

Match 12: Sid Vicious v. Hulk Hogan (c) for WCW Title

Hulk gets a solid pop. Sid takes him down right away and holds up Hulk’s belt. Sid stomps on him. He stomps on him some more. Sid slams him but Hogan hops up and Sid is just bragging to the fans and does not realize he is up. Hogan punches him a few times and winds up for the big one and Sid falls to the floor. Sid finally gets back in the ring and tears into Hogan again. He hammers him in the corner and slams him. He tries to ram his head into the corner but Hogan blocks it and does it to him and then stands on his throat. Sid rolls to the floor and pulls Hogan out. Hogan rakes his back and grabs a chair and Sid awaits and he is belted in the back with it and then run over the railing. Sid fires back and cracks Hogan with the chair and pushes him over the announce table. Back in the ring Sid has him in a nerve hold and Hogan tries to get up but cannot and slumps back down. Hogan battles to his feet and elbows free, Sid misses the lariat but not the second one and down goes Hogan. Sid gets two. He takes his time with heavy blows to the back of the head. Sid chokeslams him but refuses to cover a prone Hogan. He waits and then does so and it is Hulk up time. Hogan hits the big boot and the legdrop. Rick makes the save and Sid is up fairly quickly and they hammer Hogan. The fans pelt them with cups. Sting is in and Sid is clotheslined to the floor and Rick is given the big boot and pinned. Okay…..

** Not too bad and for a Hogan/Sid match this is clearly the best that can be expected. They had to keep Sid’s streak alive so had Rick Steiner pinned? Whatever works I guess, but it is clearly shenanigans. Sid at least did not lay there. I would have had Sid kick out. They need a strong heel and they are building him to be huge, so have him kick the fuck out.

*** The final hour was pretty good. I think I am overrating this a bit because it lacked soul. Too many short matches but Benoit and DDP and Saturn and HH with their respective matches saved the show and the main event was not too bad. Despite some positive moments I feel as if WCW is rudderless, like they do not know where to go. Hogan has the title and is in every main event for the past 6-7 weeks and will be again next week. This is 1999 and this is not good.