WCW Nitro 12/8/1997

The road to Starrcade heats up. WCW has been in a funk since a great half of September and October. Not that the shows have been terrible just average. The WWF has not been good the past month either and hopefully now that Starrcade is nearing that will change. Nitro was three hours tonight with a 4.4, 3.9 and 4.1 total and RAW received a 2.7 off of a 2.6 and 2.8.They recap JJ and Bischoff from last week.

Match 1: Konnan v. Ray Traylor

Konnan retreats as Ray comes down. He punishes him and the fans do not really care. He slams him and then jumps on him. Konnan pokes the eye….how he is spelling it now. However a powerslam sends him retreating to the floor again. He grabs Ray and brings him out and they slug it out. Ray is thrust into the post and Konnan slowly gets back into the ring and belts Ray as he gets in. Konnan is placed up top or something there as it was odd looking and Konnan nails him with a DDT. Ray starts to get up first as Konnan sold something. Konnan whips him into the corner twice and the lights flicker and then go out. Now they flicker after nearly a minute…flashes of light. They are still out and the lights finally come back on and Konnan is out cold. Ray is a tad stunned and puts his boot on him for the win.

Nothing special. Angle advancement for Sting.

The fans start the weasel chant and they show Rude attacking the ref and DDP last week.

Match 2: Steve McMichael v. Barbarian

SInce the Horsemen has disbanded Mongo has lost quite a few pops. The bell rings and they square off and lock up, Barbarian is elbowed and put in a side headlock. Mongo runs him over with a flying shoulder block and then kicks him a few times in the gut. Mongo cracks him in the back of the head and they pan to the Flock in the crowd. Barbarian fires back with a standing clothesline, and a kicks sends Mongo to the floor. Barbarian goes out after him and runs him into the side of the ring and then the railing. Back in the ring, he pump handle slams him or at least a variation of it and gets two. Barbarian slams him and goes up top but leaps into an open palm. Barbarian though slams him again ony to be nailed and Tombstoned. After the match Jimmy Hart calls out Meng but he gets clobbered first. Meng comes down and he and Mongo out at it and Meng ducks and puts him in the Deathgrip.

Once again an okay match. Make Mongo legit and give Meng some props too….not going anywhere though.

Gene is with Disco and taunting him as the boys in the back do not respect him and that he lost to a girl. Disco claims that Jackie was a no win situation and that he better not hear about it anymore.

Now Buff Bagwell comes out. Buff has heard about the Total Package for years and did not show him anything last week. Everyone knows that Buff has been kept down and it is time for him to step up to the plate. Luger is in the building and if he is a man, which he is not, then he will accept Buff’s challenge. Buff is buff and in Buffalo….wow that was bad.

Match 3: Dean Malenko v. Prince Iaukea

Eddie Guerrero is at the announce table making fun of Dean Malenko. Dean and Prince exchange holds, and Dean drops him with a standing dropkick. Dean takes him to the mat and works over the knee. Prince comes back, whips him into the corner and then clotheslines him. Dean is sent to the apron, knocked off where he hits his head. Back in the ring Prince rolls him up for two and Dean counters and gets one. They get up and collide and both are down. Dean is up first, Prince is tossed over and stumbles rather than landing on his feet. Prince whips him but is grabbed and they exchange holds again but Dean powerbombs him and turns him over in the Cloverleaf.

Dean gets another win and Prince coming off a big win last week….loses. Eddie was hilarious on commentary.

Nash is doing an nWo promo about being the true giant of wrestling and the Giant is one dimensional….that is awesome as Nash is the epitome of one dimensional and the Giant is a better in ring performer. Nash is going to beat him at Starrcade.

Gene calls out the Giant. Giant discusses that he is the giant and is going to chokeslam him.

Match 4: Chris Benoit v. Lodi

Benoit goes after him right away, chopping him down and then runs him head first into the steps. Back in the ring he taunts the Flock and then stomps and chops some more. A headbutt drops him down and now he just unloads a flurry of stomps. He pulls him up and chops some skin off and the takes off his head with a big clothesline. Benoit whips him into the corner, shoves him and places him up top where he superplexes him off. He calls for his finisher, takes his time and goes up and hits the diving headbutt and puts him in the Crossface and it is over.

Now that was a squash. Raven is not there tonight so the Flock retreats.

Benoit tells Raven to get his wannabe rear end down here right now. Benoit will show him what abuse is really about and his childhood was essentially child’s play. Nice promo.

Gene calls out Flair. Flair is stoked to be in Buffalo. He is looking forward to Starrcade and he wants Hogan and then mocks Hall and Nash and the Steiners will take him down. He mentions Savage and then a cage with Hennig at Starrcade. Gene asks about Bret Hart and Flair would be remiss to take advantage of this opportunity. He knows Mr. Canada is watching. He has made the make the mistake of calling himself the greatest. He has a newspaper column in his own hometown, so he needs to come to Charlotte. He joined the nWo to avoid him. He calls himself the best and then disses Elway and praising Jim Kelly who is in the audience.

Match 5: Randy Savage v. Hugh Morrus

Hugh takes him down and pounds him in the corner. Savage is whipped into the corner and crushed with a clothesline. Savage had been taunting Kelly! Morrus misses in the corner and a knee sends him to the floor and Savage runs him into the steel steps. Savage chops him, but is caught off the whip and powerslammed. Hugh slowly heads up top and misses the elbow drop. Savage measures him and clobbers him from behind. He spits at Jim Kelly! Then he bodyslams Morrus and goes up top and drops the big elbow for the….nope pulled up the head. He goes up top again and points at Kelly again and drops another elbow. He pulls him up again! He shoves the ref down and the crowd loves it. He goes up top again and the lights flicker and go out and Savage gets down right before they go out. The lights finally come back on and Savage is laid out with a Sting mask on.

Here comes Rude and Bischoff to the announce table. Rude calls them the three monkeys. The people may buy Schiavone’s crap but the nWo does not. He knows who pays the bills and he better pray that the lights better not go out again and if they do all three will be taken out and Rude wants them to emphatically understand what he is saying and he forces there hands in the speak, hear and see no evil poses that he started with calling them and makes them hold it for a minute after he leaves!

Match 7: Disco Inferno v. Saturn (c) for WCW TV Title

Disco is hammered but he gets in some offense and runs him into the steps. Back in the ring Saturn comes back and works over the arms by pulling them back and then dumps him him over. Saturn goes up and misses the guillotine legdrop. Discos whips him front first into the corner but some awkward moves Saturn is on the floor and Discos is whipped into the rail by the Flock and then back drops Saturn into them and gives Lodi the Chart Buster. He pulls Saturn back over and then hammers him after the get back in the ring. Saturn is whipped into the ropes, kicked but grabbed and hit with a neckbreaker and he tosses him back with a kind of Angle Slam and he gets two. Disco is able to roll him up and get two and he runs off….

Really….Saturn comes in and does well and loses to Disco Inferno? Fucking terrible. I know they are selling it as Raven not being there but come on.

Match 8: Buff Bagwell v. Lex Luger

Buff tosses him over twice and brags about it. Luger knocks runs him over but is dropkicked. Buff flexes but Luger is right up and looms over him and Buff turns into a flexing Lex and he gets hammered in the corner and then hiptossed. Luger bodyslams him and flexes thus upsetting Buff. Buff shoves him but run over with a clothesline but he back suplexes him and works over the back. Buff clotheslines him and then puts him in a clutch. Luger rises up and drops Buff down and out comes Norton. Luger hammers the head and then backdrops him; a series of lariats and the bionic forearm. Bagwell bails and Vincent gets run over and Norton wants a piece and Vincent is pasted again and he gets counted out.

Another Buff/Luger match where little wrestling occurs. I am sure it is setting up Starrcade.

Here comes a solo Hall and it is survey time! The fans are split and the nWo gets a big pop though and it is one for the good guys!

Match 9: Scott Hall v. DDP

After a long time getting started they exchange arm bars and drive each other’s shoulder into one another and then Hall pulls him down by his hair. Now DDP pulls him down by the hair but is driven into the corner and hit. DDP turns it and pounds him with rights and lefts, down goes Hall. They lock up again and both block hiptosses and miss clotheslines but DDP nails him with one getting two. Hall runs him over in the corner and goes to the middle rope and gets two after the bulldog. Hall pops him, hauls him up and it is fall away slam time and he gets two. Hall keeps after him and has him in an ab stretch. He still has the ab stretch applied and uses the ropes for leverage and the ref kicks his arm off. Now DDP has him in ab stretch but is immediately tossed over. Hall calls for the Edge. He grabs him but is back dropped instead. Hall is hit a few times and nailed with an inverted atomic drop. He spins him around and clotheslines him. He pancakes him and calls for the Diamond Cutter. Here comes Curt Hennig who is sent over the top and Vincent runs in and is Cutted but Norton is there and he and Buff nail him and as DDP gets the Edge EB and Hogan enter the ring. A Sting dummy rappels right through the ring! The ref acts concerned. EB has the mic and gives it to Hogan who tells the crowd that when you nWo you are for life time getting started they exchange arm bars and drive each other’s shoulder into one another and then Hall pulls him down by his hair. Now DDP pulls him down by the hair but is driven into the corner and hit. DDP turns it and pounds him with rights and lefts, down goes Hall. They lock up again and both block hiptosses and miss clotheslines but DDP nails him with one getting two. Hall runs him over in the corner and goes to the middle rope and gets two after the bulldog. Hall pops him, hauls him up and it is fall away slam time and he gets two. Hall keeps after him and has him in an ab stretch. He still has the ab stretch applied and uses the ropes for leverage and the ref kicks his arm off. Now DDP has him in ab stretch but is immediately tossed over. Hall calls for the Edge. He grabs him but is back dropped instead. Hall is hit a few times and nailed with an inverted atomic drop. He spins him around and clotheslines him. He pancakes him and calls for the Diamond Cutter. Here comes Curt Hennig who is sent over the top and Vincent runs in and is Cutted but Norton is there and he and Buff nail him and as DDP gets the Edge EB and Hogan enter the ring. A Sting dummy rappels right through the ring! The ref acts concerned. EB has the mic and gives it to Hogan who tells the crowd that when you nWo you are for life. Sting is a coward; his arms and triceps scared him off and he is wrestling. He points to Hennig and brags about him and talks to Hall about something. He tells them to slap around the Sting dummy. They hang it over the top rope as Hogan and EB brag out on the floor. Sting is not in the shape that Hulk is in. Hulk brags some more and goes up to the dummy and it is actually Sting….it did look a bit unstiff after being moved and Sting just lays an epic beatdown as EB and Hogan look on. Hall is given a Deathdrop as is Hennig and we fade.

Well I hope that was not Sting coming down that rapidly. I am sure it is a nice camera trick but he did not go down too hard. The show was by the numbers but Dean and Benoit looked strong. They are setting up the PPV by bringing back Sting, setting up Hennig and Flair and Nash and the Giant. Therefore for sheer angle advancement purposes it did the job. And Flair calling out Bret Hart was classic. Oh the replay shows it was clearly a dummy….duh I am gullible. As it disappeared under the ring for a couple of minutes. Also, the ratings system is fouled up as this was not a three hour show as TWNP showed me. According to Wikipedia got a 4.3 while RAW got a 3.