WCW Nitro 12/14/1998

Written by: Kevin Kindelberger

WCW Monday Nitro 12/14/98

Again Nitro got pasted, 5.2 to 4.2 with a 4.8, 3.8 and 4.0. I got to thinking that when I recapped somemore of my readings, the Cruiserweights are still facing on another, the same feuds etc. Jericho has moved a bit as has Konnan. Eddie was supposed to, but for the most part it is the same thing. Rather disheartening. However, the WWF is much the same way, but RAW has a hipper look and feel and it seems that the glass ceiling is easier broken there….JJ and Goldust are still mired in the midcard. Godfather, Henry, Brown and Venis will never advance I am sure. HHH too is still stuck near the uppercard. Mankind off and on, and now on….the Rock is the big breakthrough, and that was smart thinking, but WCW has Goldberg…..both federations keep men down in a certain pecking order. I think WCW is more guilty of that but WWF is not wholly innocent either. Booker and Benoit get minor pushes then get hurt or just disappear and start at square one. The same for Raven, his gimmick was great and has grown really stale, and they had him hot going into April and allowed it to cool. Saturn is over, but then floats aimlessly but I admit his feud with the Cat is entertaining….honestly it is hard to dislike the guy. Okay, last week was dull they need to get this road to Starrcade rolling!

Match 1: Scott Putski v. Raven

I like Raven’s new music, nice 80s riffs combined with some Nirvana beats. He makes fun of Tampa Bay and continues with some terrible poem. His mommy was not there for him and no one cares. Everyone has easy lives as Kanyon strolls towards the ring and Raven screams. Kanyon tells Putski to leave. Everyone is sick of Raven and his whining. Raven complains that he had it hard. Kanyon blows the lid off of that and how he has a Pre-Med degree or some shit and he a 3 million dollar trust fund. Raven whines that his mommy did not love him. Kanyon retorts that Raven had it too easy and Raven leaves, with Kanyon yelling at him and pulling at him. Raven wants to be left alone and leaves.

Match 2: Villano V v. Eddie Guerrero

They go back and forth and Eddie is knocked to the floor and Villano launches into him with a suicide dive and Eddie hits the post. Back in the ring, Eddie grabs him and T-Bones him. Eddie chops him and punches him in the corner and off the whip Eddie nails him with a rolling kick. The fans chant that Eddie sucks as he mounts and pounds Villano in the corner. Tony claims he has a Latin temper; as opposed to a Caucasian one? What a dumbass, seriously Schiavone fucking ruins Nitro sometimes with some of the worst announcing this side of Cole and Mongo. Okay, enough of the rant, he is a dumbass though……Eddie slingshots into him and then pulls him down and works the arm and neck. Now Eddie bridges the knee back. Villano is up and powerslams him getting a near fall. Villano shows his temper according to Tony as he knocks him around and then applies a surfboard. Eddie is able to roll through. Villano goes up top and the bodyguard crotches him and Eddie superplexes him off and he goes up top and hits the Frog Splash. Eddie pulls up at two. He helps Villano up as the lWo members come down. They surround him in the ring as Eddie gives his sales pitch in Spanish and then translates for us. Villano joins.

**1/2 Angle advancement, fast paced match too.

Rey just leaves wearing his 6XL lWo shirt.

Match 3: Wrath v. Al Green

Really long squash….

* Needs to be quicker and he is going nowhere.

Gene calls out a cocky looking Bischoff and Gene wants to know if he has bitten off more than he can chew. EB states now way and then mocks the crowd calling them fat. He is looking forward to the millennium and he has been honing his craft for seven years. He has ruined careers and Ric tired and old and shows off his fists. Ric runs down and EB skedaddles with Flair giving chase. He almost gets him and EB scoots left as Flair heads to the back. EB is hiding somewhere and Flair comes back out with Gene introducing him. He drops elbows and screams really loudly about looking forward to his match. Tampa loves wrestling. He brings up Dusty, Brisco’s and Windham and how everyone who was anyone came through here. He calls EB an aristocrat and a pencil neck and talks about getting his hands on him and then runs around the ring again and screams about strangling him. He pauses, clutches his heart but continues and talks about EB having no heart. Flair backs off clutching his heart and then sits down in the corner. Gene calls it exhaustion and Flair goes down. Gene calls for someone, Arn runs down and the fans look concerned. They act like it is real as trainers are down, Gene wants the camera off and Tony is asking for instructions: Enter the gurney! Fans cheer as he is put on it and carted off. Schiavone informs us that Ric has his arm over the Pectoralis muscle….Gene is at the announce table. He is discussing the shoulder. Bigelow randomly walks by the chaos around the ambulance. Hall taunts Bigelow and gets his ass kicked for it! Classic. Bigelow is stomping the ever living shit out of hijm. He runs him into the soda machine and mauls the BeJesus out of him as Bigelow yells that he asked a simple question. Now security swarms and helps out a dead Hall. Nash comes down Bigelow is pissed at him and Nash challenges him due to the happenings with Goldberg. Now Goldberg has arrived. Now Goldberg and Nash are going at it as security struggles to maintain order.

Gene calls out Kidman and Rey. Gene wants them to conduct themselves cordially and so he signs an impromptu match with no interference.

Match 3: Rey Mysterio v. Kidman (c) for WCW Cruiserweight Title

There is a bit of tussling, some back and forth, neither can get the advantage. Kidman goes up top and shoves Rey down but is crotched. Rey goes for a Frankensteiner and Kidman powerbombs him getting two. He goes for another powerbomb, the non-super kind and he is scissored to the floor. Rey baseball slides into him, and then a cross body sends him into the first row. He rolls Kidman back into the ring and springboard’s right into a dropkick and Kidman gets two. Kidman stomps away, and Rey flips out of the corner and is caught and Rey escapes but runs right into a lariat and is nearly pinned. Rey is pushed into the corner, but Kidman misses and he is put up on the middle rope, Rey is on the apron and he leaps up and bulldogs him off getting a near fall. Rey stomps on him and it is Bronco Buster time.

Schiavone informs us now that it is mild chest pains for Flair…..

Rey takes down Kidman and Rey misses the senton backsplash. Kidman hits the Frog Splash, gets two and slows things down with a rear chinlock. Rey is up and knocked to the floor, Kidman leaps out on top of him. Rolls him back into the ring and after a slingshot legdrop gets two. Now Rey fights back and here comes the lWo and they beat up both men. However, both men are double dropkicked to the floor and then they leap out on top of both. More members come in and they too get destroyed. Now the numbers game takes over and Kidman and Rey are dismantled.

**** Sets up a hopefully great Starrcade match.

Here comes Jericho and Ralphus and they welcome the fans to Monday Night Jericho. He calls Konnan a baby Heuy lookalike. He calls him the greatest Latino rapper since Gerardo! He does not understand what he is saying and then calls himself 235 pounds of steel and sex appeal. He calls what happened a conspiracy and he has proof from the grassy knoll. He was hit with a foreign object. He calls out exhibit “A” and it is a fake Konnan. He demands a pen from Ralphus and starts drawing, and he claims he was hit by brass knuckles. He started to pass out but knew he did not want to let down the fans and now a chain hit him and again he stayed focused on his match, and do it for the fans. Now a steel shovel and now he was fading and finally with the TV belt on the canvas and he his head was run into it and even then he grabbed the ropes with both hands and his teeth. He is 2 Legit 2 Quit and at Starrcade he will show everyone who the real champ is. Jericho beats him and puts him in the Liontamer jawing the entire time!

Match 4: Jobber v. Barry Windham

Windham kills him….it was Emery Hale.

* Squash.

Match 5: Norman Smiley v. Saturn

They lock up and Norman rolls him up for two. Saturn has him in a side headlock, and Saturn is dumped over his shoulder and nearly pinned. Smiley is taking it to him and hits him with a clothesline. Norman chops away at him. Saturn is getting angry as Norman dances. Saturn shoves him into the corner and just stomps a hole in him. Saturn warns the ref not to touch him and he goes back to work. Norman misses and it tossed back with a German suplex. Norman rolls to the floor and Saturn goes out after him, and after some punches rolls him back into the ring. Smiley slams him and then turns a waistlock into a front slam and he does some dancing. Cat and Onoo are down and Saturn takes out Norman who hits the ref. Cat and Sonny are hit. Norman is picked up in the DVD, but Cat kicks him in the head. Another ref runs in and sees it happen and counts fast and then runs off! Same fat ref who has been screwing Saturn!

** Angle advancement.

Gene calls out the Hitman. He brags about wiping out wrestlers again, such as Savage, Sting is in a convalescent home, Booker too. Bret was hurt but he is out here, not hiding as he is the US champ for the third time and therefore that makes him the best of all time. He continues that he is fair, and it takes a lot for him to suck up all that courage and make a challenge. He knows Page is in the building probably hiding behind Kim’s skirt and probably afraid. Hart is not going to be nice and is going to kick somebody’s ass and here comes DDP. Giant is right there and wallops him from behind with a garbage can and just beats his ass! Giant is ripping apart the WCW steel sign at the top and he chokeslams DDP right off! FUCK YEAH!! I think DDP may be dead. Hart grins and leaves.

Here comes Konnan with a couple of his rap brethren. He does his bowdy thing and the crowd eats it up.

Match 5: Konnan (c) v. Stevie Ray for WCW TV Title

Stevie Ray makes Booker T follow him out so he can watch his back.

Ray blindsides him right at the bell and stomps him over and over. He pushes Konnan into the corner and pounds him some more. He chokes him out. Konnan turns the tables and hammers him in return, rolling clothesline, the snap over and seated dropkick sends him to the floor. Stevie Ray gets in Wade Boggs’ face and calls him a sellout! Boggs just glares. Ray gets back in and bodyslams Konnan, sits up top and Konnan is up and taunts him so Ray gets two and clotheslines him. Konnan leapfrogs but is kicked and his face meets the knee of Ray. Stevie stomps on him and chokes him out. Booker wants Konnan to finish him and will not allow him to use the slapjack. Ray puts it back in his tights, Konnan slides under and faceplants and gets the win!

** A bit sudden but nice win for Konnan and now the plot thickens with Booker and Stevie….nothing is shown though.

Here comes a disturbed looking Bischoff and the crowd boos and jeers and he is told he sucks by the crowd. EB asks for calm despite the asshole chants. He goes on about the business and how real it is and injuries and that they occur. It is difficult to explain and injuries are real and hard to explain. Flair suffered a mild heart attack and he apologizes to Flair and asks for his forgiveness and for the forgiveness of his fans. He apologizes again and again.

Gene calls out Booker T and he hopes Flair gets better. Now to Stevie Ray and he is fine with him joining the nWo but he will not. Ray wants him to pray for himself, and Booker does not get it. Ray goes off on him and claims he got him into the business and gives him an nWo bandanna and leaves.

Raven’s mom has arrived and security is baffled, so Kanyon offers to take her to him as he is not here. He wants fifty bucks! She refuses….if that is his mom: MILF!

Match 6: Scott Hall v. Horace

Horace attacks but he is hammered, and then chopped and chokeslammed. Hall mocks the Giant. Horace grabs him and tosses him to the floor. Horace dives through the ropes, out of nowhere and girls in the front row squealed as he drove Hall into the railing. Horace rolls him back into the ring, and Horace slams him and then splashes him getting two. He slams him again for another two count. Hall is caught in the sleeper, and finally fights out and back suplexes Horace. Both men are down, and at seven Horace rolls over and gets the near fall. Both are up and Hall connects with some rights and knocks him down; fall away time. Here comes the nWo. Hall tries to fend them off but is overwhelmed.

*1/2 Angle advancement.

Disco in a Wolfpac shirt runs down and Norton powerbombs him! Classic. Um, Hall did recover quite quickly from his ass whooping from Bigelow earlier tonight.

Match 7: Hammer v. Scott Steiner

Steiner is murdering him. Recliner time…..Steiner ref is there and he calls for the bell.

* Squash.

Scotty wants the crowd to pay homage to the new leader of the nWo. The nWo is taking on his personality and attitude, and every attack has been calculated and there is a reason. He know the Wolfpac is in the house. He wants to talk to the man who should have won WWIII and got a title shot. He assures Lex it is all about business. Buff reminds him that it is all on the up and up. Lex was the first person out when he was injured, and Lex gives so much and gets nothing in return. Konnan had a video, and Lex did not. Nash did allow him in his ads for shirts. Sting left him to go to Hollywood (I thought he was hurt) and it was Nash who knocked him over the top at the PPV. Scotty will make sure he gets title shots and he needs to drop the Black and Red and join them. Scotty wants him to think about it and Lex slowly walks off but with a grin on his face.

Match 8: Bam Bam Bigelow v. Kevin Nash v. Goldberg (c)

Nash stands aside as Bigelow hammers Goldberg, running him pillar to post. Goldberg knocks him back and a boot sends him down. He covers him and Nash breaks it up and he goes after Goldberg and it is three move Nash time in the corner! Now Bigelow helps out and Goldberg fights out of the corner until Bigelow headbutts him and sends him to his knees, but Goldberg has fight left in him. He is poked in the eye, and they whip him into the ropes and he runs through both and clotheslines both men. Nash and Bigelow retreat to the floor. Nash is back in first and Bigelow is in and they both deck him, and Nash short clotheslines Goldberg for a two count. Now he gets two more after the side slam. Bigelow takes down Goldberg and gets a two count, and Nash breaks it up and shoves Bam Bam aside. Goldberg has Nash in a legbreaker. But Bigelow ends that with a diving headbutt on Goldberg. He hammers him for a bit but his suplex is blocked and he eats one. Spear time! He sets up the Jackhammer but is sledged in the back by Nash who pounds him. Goldberg turns and takes him down and mounts and pounds him on the canvas. Nash pokes the eyes, and Nash misses the boot though and is speared. Bigelow is barely up and he gets his head punched off. Hall gets in the ring and attacks Goldberg as he went for the Jackhammer on Nash. Now Bigelow goes after Hall, and the bell rings for the DQ. Hall fights back and clotheslines Bigelow to the floor. Now it is just Goldberg and Nash and they go at it exchanging punches and forearms with Nash starting to connect. Hall and Bigelow are going at it on the floor…..we are outta time!

*** Nice brawl to end the show. Finally the match got some air time after nearly a month of teasing.

****1/2 I have to give it this high…..I enjoyed the show. From Jericho’s kick ass promo, to Bret’s decent one and the Giant chokeslamming DDP. The wrestling took a back seat but there were some decent matches such as Kidman and Rey and the main event. The Flair heart attack angle: No I do not really agree with it. Does it make me want to watch. Yes. Look it is wrestling, I bitch about the “realism” wrestling tries to portray, and how it fails. Bischoff “breaking” character added a realistic touch but I did not really agree with that. I just do not see the point of it as a whole, but I will take a wait and see attitude. I know the dirtsheets skewered this angle, which is to be expected but UT has a Satan cult going…..and that is really fucking stupid. It is not real, and adds to the PPV if that indeed happens. I am doubtful they will do it correctly but willing to see what happens (as if I have a choice). Now where was Luger’s Wolfpac brothers when Steiner called him out….oh well. I just enjoyed the show, Flair’s promo was great and the crowd was hot….oh and like I said at the begginning, Jericho is a guy that needs to be pushed to the US level and beyond.