WCW Nitro 1/8/2001

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Nitro
Date: 1/8/2001
From: St. Paul, MN

Matches:
1.)WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Shannon Moore
2.)Ron Harris defeated The Cat
3.)Billy Kidman defeated Lance Storm
4.)Sid Vicious defeated Shane Douglas
5.)Goldberg & Dewayne Bruce defeated Kronik
6.)Diamond Dallas Page & Kevin Nash defeated the Natural Born Thrillers in a Minnesota Massacre match
7.)WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner wrestled Jeff Jarrett to a no contest

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.The program starts off with CEO Ric Flair making his way out to the ring. He wants to know how Mike Sanders got the job as the commissioner job in WCW. So, Flair books Sanders in a match against the Cat at WCW Sin for the job. Jeff Jarrett comes out and says he is already in line for a championship shot at Sin. Jarrett assures Flair that he is only protecting Scott Steiner’s championship. Flair says there will not be a three way dance at Sin. This brings out WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner who says himself and Jarrett are taking on Flair’s mystery guy. Flair reveals it will be a four way match at Sin with Sid Vicious being added to the match. Flair shows us footage from Starrcade when Jarrett accidentally hit Steiner with a guitar. That is to obviously set up some tension between them. By the way, they will be competing in the main event tonight!

2.Backstage, Goldberg demands to know where Kronik is. We also see Mike Sanders books Ron Harris into a match against the Cat. We aren’t done yet. Ric Flair is talking to Shane Douglas and decides to put him in a match against Sid Vicious tonight as well!

3.Moore knocks Chavo off the apron as he cuts a promo on Shane Helms who was on commentary. Moore hits the Poetry in Motion in the corner early on, but Chavo fights back with a back suplex. Moore nails the champ with a spinning heel kick later on and gets a near fall with a roll up. Late in the match, Moore nails Chavo with a guillotine leg drop for a near fall. However, Chavo is able to recover and hits the brain buster to win the match. After the match, Shane Helms saves his partner from a beating and backdrops Chavo over the top to the floor.

4.Backstage, Mike Sanders attacks Kwee-Wee until Big Vito makes the save. We also see Ric Flair having a conversation with Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell.

5.The next match is rather short and Ron Harris controls most of it. He and his brother Don hit the H-Bomb to beat Cat in under three minutes.

6.Backstage, Hugh Morrus is talking to Sid Vicious about his match with Shane Douglas later on. We also hear from Mike Sanders who books a Minnesota Massacre match where Vito and Kwee-Wee will wrestle randomly selected opponents. And, we see Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell talking to Kronik about taking out Goldberg and Sarge. They don’t give them money because it is a match booked by WCW officials.

7.Lance Storm is pissed that the Filthy Animals ruined their new bus. So, he wants them in a Canadian Penalty Box match. He is wrestling Kidman this week. Kidman opened the match with a head scissors but Storm drops him with a front suplex. Storm delivers a back breaker for a near fall. Storm drops Kidman throat first across the top rope. Storm blocks a running bulldog attempt but Kidman hits a sit out slam. Kidman kicks Storm into a chair set up in the corner and soon plants Storm with the Kid Krusher to win the match.

8.Douglas believes once he beats Sid he will be in the four way match at Sin. As you can imagine, he has really big dreams. Sid controls Douglas early on with a clothesline and sends him into the guard railing. Douglas manages to hit a swinging neck breaker for a two count. Douglas tries to use a chain but is kicked by Sid. Douglas counters the choke slam and goes for the Franchiser but Sid blocks it. Sid drives Douglas down to the mat with a choke slam and wins after hitting a power bomb. After the match, Sid is attacked by Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett.

9.Backstage, Ric Flair announces that Jim Duggan will be the special referee for the Team Canada vs. Filthy Animals match at WCW Sin.

10.WCW Hardcore Champion Terry Funk comes out to the ring to cut a promo. Funk considers himself to be the king of hardcore. He doesn’t like the lack of opponents he has had and wants WCW to give him the best they have. Crowbar comes out to say that he was able to hang with Funk at Starrcade. Crowbar thinks he is everything that threatens Funk. Crowbar wants to lead the nest hardcore revolution in WCW. Meng comes out and attacks Crowbar in the ring and puts the Tongan Death Grip on Funk while hitting Daffney with a sidekick. Meng no sells a chair shot from Crowbar and grabs the championship. He actually speaks and suggests that both men try to take the strap away from him.

11.Backstage, a mystery man is holding an envelope.

12.Goldberg is able to get the win over Kronik after hitting the spear and jackhammer on Clarke. Meanwhile, Bruce was getting destroyed by Totally Buff. After the match, Lex Luger attacks Goldberg with Bruce’s cast. They just beat down Goldberg and Bruce to end the segment.

13.The Minnesota Massacre actually ends up seeing Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page taking on the Natural Born Thrillers. They spoil Mike Sanders attempt at fun as they take care of Sanders and Thrillers to win the handicap match.

14.Scott Steiner talks about how he and Jarrett have the same bond in hating Flair and they will not be wrestling tonight. Jarrett comes out and agrees with Steiner. Flair decides that if Steiner doesn’t wrestle, he will be stripped of the title and Jarrett will lose his spot at Sin. Steiner stops Jarrett from hitting him with a guitar and goes to work. Jarrett boots Steiner in the corner and begins to choke the champ. Jarrett is stopped with a clothesline but delivers a jaw breaker soon after. Jarrett dropkicks Steiner and hits a top rope cross body for a near fall. Steiner drives Jarrett down to the mat with a tilt a whirl side slam. Steiner power slams Jarrett in the corner. Late in the match, Sid Vicious comes out and brawls with both men. Here comes the mystery man to get it on the action. That’s it.

Final Thoughts:
Wrestling wise only the opener and main event were watchable, really. The match between Storm/Kidman was okay, but I’d like to see them given more time to really get it going. Anyway, the stuff with Flair forcing Steiner and Jarrett into a match was fine and I like that the heel is in peril. Though, it works a lot better when a heel authority figure is screwing over a babyface champion. I wouldn’t consider this an all around bad show, though. I’d say it was rather average, which is good for WCW. So, this edition gets a thumbs in a middle.

Thanks for reading.