Written by: Kevin Kindelberger
WCW Monday Nitro 8/23/99
I have said so much that I really do not know what to say. The direction is lifeless but there is still some entertaining aspects. At least some new people are getting pushes or semi-pushes. KISS is here tonight and the ratings barely hit a 3.0. The first hour was really weak with a 3.3 and then it fell to a 2.7 but rose to a 3.2. After SummerSlam RAW got a 5.65 off of a 5.6 and 5.7. Before the show, Bischoff had a meeting and asked if anyone wanted their release. Why? Who knows but clearly morale was down. Probably sick of Hogan! Well, Nash is gone for now. Raven accepted. Earlier Raven and Piper wanted to do an angle but it was kaboshed for some reason but it would have been decent. Then Raven was going to be a part of the KISS Demon angle and he was interested but he did not like the conclusion of it. He will go back to ECW and then the WWF next year. Damn shame too because he is talented. He was over and they dropped the ball. As much as I stick up for WCW, it is shit like this that is inexcusable. Sid is more interesting than he has ever been but Raven is more talented. WCW is in the midst of a dearth of talent due to injuries and departures but still manage to fuck up. Raven should have been US champ and feuded with top guys but he has done NOTHING in a year and so I do not blame him and I place the blame squarely on WCW. This is the stuff that helps lead to its fall. Savage was mentioned last week but no Savage….I am not sure if he is gone yet. KISS segment is one of the lowest in Nitro and Monday War history. What about the Hummer? Jesus.
Schiavone claims there are 18000 at the MGM Grand tonight. It seats 16800 you stupid fuck. There are maybe 8-10000 from the looks of the arena, which ain’t bad but Jesus stop lying.
Match 1: Chase Tatum v. Mikey Whipwreck
They are battling back and forth. Mikey is down. After another minute here comes Sid and he takes out both and he pins both! He is now 68-0. The fans count along too. Sid has the mic. He tells everyone it is now 68-0 and does some sort of dance! The fans chant Goldberg and Sid agrees. He can hear it. You will hear only one name and that is Sid Vicious.
Kidman is in the back and runs into Kim. He apologizes and she accepts it. She knows he likes another Nitro Girl and she will talk to Page.
Goldberg has arrived. DDP is beating up someone. Maybe Kidman. Goldberg tells him to back off and the Triad is there and the fight is on….it was Kidman. Security is there to break it up.
Here comes the Triad. DDP gives Kanyon the stick and he does his thing. DDP tries to correct the crowd and calls them nobodies. The Triad are the only winners in Vegas the rest are losers. They will never forget DDP. As far as Kidman goes, and Kanyon trained him and DDP brought him in, he now realizes that he does not breathe the same air as Kimberly. He tells Goldberg to get in his world and get in the ring. He will kick his teeth in. Last time in Vegas they blew the roof off and tonight DDP will blow him off…..Okay.
Here comes Sting. He is happy that Hogan is giving him a shot at the title tonight. But he tells Hulk to not override his mouth or something like that when Hulk told him that he was going to kick his butt. Here comes Luger! They hug and the fans chant Luger. Luger has been watching him real lose since rehabbing. He is here to show him support as Sting has been with him through thick and thin. Sting is the true Franchise but he has a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Hogan is now claiming to be best friends with Sting and Hogan. He does not trust him and the whole thing has a foul stench. He tells him not to trust Hogan. Sting asks if that is the case, and Hogan is being straight up because he is putting up the title. Lex wishes him the best and shakes his head as Sting leaves.
Tenay is outside and Bischoff has arrived inside a Hummer. Tenay asked if Bischoff is going to be president since Sting gave it back to WCW. EB begs off and Tenay thinks the rumors are true that Bischoff will become president again. Bischoff disagrees.
The Cat is here and he tells everyone to sit down and shut up. He calls out Buff!
Match 2: Cat v. Buff Bagwell
Cat runs him over. Buff comes back with some hiptosses and a dropkick sends the Cat to the floor. Cat jaws with some fans. He gets in the ring and kicks Buff in the nose. He scoop slams him and shimmies and jives before dropping the elbow. He gets two. Cat misses the elbow and Buff goes off and after a splash he gets two. Cat nuts him and pulls him to the floor. Sonny stomps on Buff and chokes him out with the briefcase. Lex is back out and tells Sonny no. Buff is up top and Cat hits the Blockbuster. Camera missed it. It is over.
*1/2 Why? Cat gets a lot of air time and gets squashed by Buff twice. If that is the case move Buff along….
DDP has the mic again and tells the bald-headed geek to get out here now so he can kick his teeth down his throat.
Match 3: DDP v. Goldberg
Bigelow hits Goldberg from behind. Goldberg sprints to the ring and is doubleteamed. Kanyon is fucking murdered with a spear. Bigelow eats one and DDP flees through the crowd. Goldberg tells DDP he is dead next week. Okay…..Goldberg heads after him but gets back in the ring and has a mic. He tells Page that he bit off more than he could chew and next week and he will take on all three.
NR-some sort of angle advancement.
West Texas Rednecks have a music video. Holy shit it is really terrible. They are Good Ol’ boys. They show them having a good time…..Jesus.
Some kids are wrestling acting like Lodi and it devolves into a food fight. Not sure what that was.
Match 3: Juventud Guerrera v. Lodi
Lenny, sorry, I was wrong. It is for the title. Lenny tries to dry hump him but is kicked in the nuts and scissored over. Lenny retreats the floor. He gets back in and rips into Juve and gets two. He gives him two shoulderbreakers and powerslams him for two. Juve fights back but it does not last and he is taken down. Lenny hammers him but his suplex is blocked and he is rolled up and nearly pinned. Now Lane comes back with some knees to the gut and a powerbomb as the fans call him Gay. Lenny gets two. Now the fans call him a faggot. Juve fights back and places him up top but Lenny has him hooked. Juve escapes and powerbombs him from the top getting two. Here comes Sid as Juve hits the Driver. He is heading up top as Sid comes down and stands there and Juve randomly leaps into a goozle and is powerbombed. Now Lodi is powerbombed. Lenny is grabbed and powerbombed. He pins all three for the win. He is now 70-0.
**1/2 Too bad the Cruiserweights keep getting buried.
Sid proclaims that no one can stop him and he repeats it. He brags about his record and he is marching higher. He pinned three….would not that make it 71? The fans chant Goldberg and he states he can barely hear it and continues to babble. He tries for a Sid chant but the fans continue to chant for Goldberg and he does not like that. He continues that all the faces will be gone….
West Texas Rednecks to sing their new single.
Match 4: First Family v. Revolution
Shane and Hugh beat each other. Shane is down and here comes the Barbarian to punish him. Shane is game and keeps after him but is shoved down each time. Malenko and Knobs are in and Knobs slams him and drops the elbow. He trips him up and Morrus drops two elbows after the tag getting two. Malenko is sent into the corner and two FF members squash but he dodges Morrus and rolls him up for two but he is clotheslined. Knobs is back in and he slams Dean and heads to the middle rope and leaps right into a boot. Saturn gets the hot tag and he unloads on all three. Morrus makes the save and now the match has broken down as all six are going at it. Barbarian misses the boot. Hart is waffled by Saturn and Knobs T-Boned. Rick runs down and hits his bulldog and this allows Knobs to win.
** Not a bad brawl.
Benoit runs down and asks Rick if he wants to taste his success. His bite is worse than his bark but the Crippler backs down from no one and so they need to hammer it out in the ring and Rick is game. Shane brags about a Revolution despite losing!
Match 5: ICP v. Rey Mysterio and Kidman
They are flying around the ring. Rey is and Shaggy are just going at it. Shaggy makes the tag and J is in but he is doubleteamed and hammered. Kidman is in and he gets clotheslined. He is given a brainbuster and Shaggy drops the elbow after the tag. Kidman reverses the whip into the corner and hauls off and wallops him. Rey springs into a kick and Shaggy is whipped into the corner and it is Bronco Buster time. The camera refused to pan on it! Rey is caught by J and press slammed and squashed. Shaggy hits a guillotine legdrop from the top. Kidman makes the save and now Rey slingshots into one of them. Kidman goes up top but is shoved off by Vampiro. But ICP are flung into each other and pinned. Vamp and crew hammer Rey and Kidman and Eddie make the save.
**1/2 Sudden ending but a good match. No Raven as he quit….
Gene calls out Hogan….damn. Hogan is baffled by Lex. He talks about his son and family. He tells Nick that he and Sting are friends and while they are friends in the locker room, in the ring Hogan is going to kick his ass and he gets his flex on. Fans are not that excited. It just depends where he is at. He has Gene cup his ear for the crowd.
Match 6: Rick Steiner (c) v. Chris Benoit (c) for WCW US Title
Rick starts strong by stomping a hole in him. Benoit is up and gets two after a bridged German and now he stomps a hole in Steiner. He whips him into the ropes and goes for a leapfrog but is caught and driven through the mat. Ouch. Rick drops the elbow and gets two. He rakes his face. Steiner keeps after him and uses the bottom rope to choke him out. Benoit is hung upside down in the corner and dismantled. He is dumped unceremoniously to the floor and driven into the railing. Steiner yells Schiavone each time he drives Benoit’s head into the railing. He breaks the count and goes back to work throwing Benoit into the steps. He yells at the announcers and tells the ref to shut up. He puts him in a clutch out on the floor and wallops him in the head. Back in the ring Steiner pushes him into the corner and whips him into the other one but runs into a boot and it is rolling German time and he hits the Trifecta! He calls for the headbutt and slowly heads upstairs and Rick pulls the ref down on top of him and he eats the headbutt! Both the ref and Benoit are down and Rick has the US belt and Saturn blindsides him and mounts and pounds him in the corner. Here comes Sid and he tosses him off like a child. Saturn is spike powerbombed. Benoit is up and he swings the belt at the heels who flee.
*** I guess it is over but what I saw I liked.
Benoit has the mic and he is sick of the cliques that monopolize the business. It is not about evolution but revolution and they will get a taste of that on Thunder. Sid mocks that revolution stuff and Benoit is called small and Sid is the big man and they need to wear big boots. Benoit tries to get a Revolution chant started.
Match 6: West Texas Rednecks v. Harlem Heat (c) for WCW Tag Titles
Kendall and Booker work over the arm. Booker runs him down and armdrags him. Ray is tagged in and both kick Kendall down. Ray pulls him up and slams him. He misses the elbow drop and BW gets the tag and he hammers Ray in the corner but is powerslammed. It is back and forth and Booker hits Kendall with the axe kick and missile kick but the ref is distracted as Ray and BW fight. Curt has the cowbell and knocks out Booker and here comes the ref and the Rednecks are the champs.
** Well they got a short run. Better as singles wrestlers anyway.
Match 7: Vampiro v. Eddie Guerrero
Vamp puts the boots to him and then sandwiches him in the corner and tosses him with an exploder suplex. Eddie is just getting brutalized as Vampiro destroyes him. He misses in the corner and now Eddie chops the shit out of him. Now they beat each other on the floor. Back in the ring, Vampiro ducks and he misses but Vamp kicks him in the head and runs him face first into the buckle and he gets two after a spinkick to the head. After a two count he goes upstairs and Eddie is right there and superplexes him! Eddie heads up top but here comes ICP. Eddie goes to leap on ICP but loses his footing but he still crashes into them. He sells the knee and limps back into the ring and Vampiro goes after it. He gets a near fall. Eddie fights back but the ref is distracted and Eddie and Shaggy hit heads and Vampiro gets the win.
**1/2 Great start. Weak finish. Come on.
Kidman runs down to make sure he is not pummeled some more. Rey is there too.
Match 7: Sting v. Hulk Hogan (c) for WCW Title
The first two minutes or so have been holds, such as headlocks and armbars and each have rolled each other up. I forgot the test of strength. Hogan sandwiches him in the corner and gets two. He follows up with a clothesline and after a back suplex gets another near fall. Sting fires back and drops Hogan a couple of times. Sting though is dumped to the floor. Hogan thrusts him into the railing but Sting puts the brakes on and this time Hogan eats it and he is pushed on top of the announce table. Sting elbows him in the throat and does it again. Hogan is up and slams him on top, more like places him on top of the table and pounds him in the skull over and over. Sting is rolled back into the ring. Hogan bodyslams him and drops the elbow. He covers him and gets two. Sting is up and fires back and slams Hogan. Vader Bomb and he gets two. Sting has him in a chinlock and finally Hogan fights to his feet and hammers Sting and hits the big boot! He calls to the crowd and misses! Sting is up as Hogan wallows. Stinger Splash to the back and Hogan turns around and on the second attempt Hogan gets the boot up. Sting tries again but misses and here comes Sid and Rick as Hogan decks Sting. Sid and Rick are beating on Hogan and Sting and Goldberg runs out and the heels flee. Luger has arrived.
** Okay. Hogan did not get the vast majority of offense in but still a lot more than Sting. Sting should have had the upperhand when Rick and Sid arrived.
Hogan promises to give Sting another shot. Goldberg looks bitter. Poor bastard. Hogan is FUCKING annoying as champ he just acts far too nice as he kisses and hugs everyone and it is lame.
KISS! Lowest rated segment. What the fuck did WCW expect. I mean it is only three and a half minutes long but still. They would have played at Sun Devil Stadium on New Years Eve but EB will be gone. In 97-98 WCW could have filled at least 50 of the 70000 seats. By the end of 99 maybe 20 tops. I may be wrong but KISS is not going to sell more than 15-20 thousand anywhere. I see why WCW did this, I am trying to be positive but they spent way too much money. They will get eviscerate for this and I can hardly blame the dirtsheets but the WWF had plenty of BS too, but KISS should not have been on Nitro, or any wrestling program. Maybe as an added PPV attraction to try and get buyrates. That is it. Oh the song is God of Thunder and it sucks. Brian Adams comes out as the KISS Demon and we fade. The fans cheered.
***1/2 Minus the KISS segment I actually enjoyed the show. Call me a sadomasochist but I am not totally against the new direction. I am not for it but at the same time there are some entertaining aspects. Benoit is US champ, Rick and Saturn have potential. I actually like Sid, DDP is fun to watch as is Vampiro and even ICP. Here is what I do not like: Hogan, he is hogging the fucking camera, no Savage and Raven harm WCW badly. Flair is suddenly ousted as president and it should have been done on PPV. The Hummer angle seems to have been dropped. Since Hogan has come back I have enjoyed some of the matches. I am overrating the show but I just enjoy it despite all its growing warts.