Written by: Kevin Kildenberger
Still in Australia, mate. Sorry. Thunder was great and hopefully Nitro improves on last week. Russo’s tenure is ending, again. He claims concussion and some claim he hwas pushed out. I would say it was both. Anyway,they need to keep building for Havoc. So far so good. Some of the feuds are not great. But JJ and Sting has been decent. Steiner and Booker is good. Goldberg is still just kind of floating around. Skipper and Kidman could be great. Storm is kind of rudderless as Duggan is taking on Rection at the PPV (I think). Nash is taking on a more laid back role, which fits his lazy personality (kind of kidding). What happened to Dark Carnival? Oh well, that was a random thought. So far this feud with Shane Douglas and Konnan is far better than his last and it is nice to see Konnan back in action. Nitro continues to slide in the ratings down to a 2.2, one of its lowest since 95 as the first hour fell to a 2.7 and the second stayed at a measly 1.9. RAW received a low 4.8 off a 4.5 and 5.1.
Match 1: Boogie Knights v. Jindrak and O’Haire (c) for WCW Tag Titles
Wright is getting booed as he speaks German about the Knights. Disco babbles and the champs attack but they get run over with knee shots. The offensive is short lived as the champs wail on Disco. Back and forth we go. Ref is down and Disco hits the Chart Buster. Ref is still down. Kronik comes down and takes out Disco and now Wright. Champs win.
**
Sanders is with Nash, Palumbo and Stasiak and he claims that they are taking over. Nash does not want to do anything tonight as he is hungover. Sanders assures him that he will not have to.
Goldberg has arrived.
Sanders enters the Cat’s office and is not happy about what Sting did to him. They make of Ms Jones hair. Nash was booked in a LumberJack match against Sting!
Here comes Team Canada. Storm would like to be serious for a moment and he is getting sick of this country and is tired of hearing mate. He will give Rection a preview of what will happen at the PPV. The fans chant something not nice and he demands the fans stand for the anthem. MIA interrupt.
Match 2:Team Canada v. MIA
Rection is facing Storm at the PPV. Rection has not come down and he comes through the crowd late. No response from them. He attacks Storm from behind and whips him into the railing and he is sent to the back. In the ring Loco and Skipper go at it. A-Wall is in and he goozles Skipper but Storm kicks him in the back of the knee. Loco gets the tag and hits a frog splash. He gets two. Skipper strikes with a belly to belly suplex. Storm is in and he stomps a hole in Loco but he runs into a boot and is nearly pinned. They tussle and Loco strikes with a DDT and gets another two. Match starts to breakdown. Duggan and Wall are fighting on the floor. Storm and Cajun go at it. Skipper is dropkicked through a table from the apron. Gunns tries to slide in a chair and Storm gets it and slams it into Cajun who kicks out and now a roll up and Storm kicks out. Maple Leaf! Match.
** Clearly Rection will win at the PPV. Damn.
Douglas comes out with Torrie and wants his damn music cut and he calls Australia Third World and then mocks them for losing on their home turf to America at the Olympics. Fans taunt him and now he is in a bad mood and he is going to kick Konnan’s ass and tells them to bring what is left of the Animals. He stops and is unsure of what to say and just says he will Franchise them all. He pauses again and tells them to come out. Here comes Konnan with Rey and Tygress. Konnan calls him handicapped mentally. He calls him some more names and here they come. Douglas gets mauled. Tygress Bronco Busts him and so does Rey. Douglas maces Konnan and then Rey. Ref calls for the bell and the Animals get beat up.
* Angle advancement.
Palumbo and Stasiak are bickering. Nash tells them to knock it off and make them shake hands. They were upset because of Goldberg kicking their ass.
Booker has arrived.
Match 4: Awesome and Crowbar v. Palumbo and Stasiak
Nash is at the announce table. The heels are just arguing. Awesome flies over the top rope nailing both. They brawl on the floor and Crowbar rolls Palumbo into the ring and goes up top but he is hooked and spiked. The match continues for another couple of minutes after the heels got the momentum Awesome and Crowbar come back and win.
**
Nash is pissed at his boys and gets in their faces but cannot keep the hair out of his own. He makes them hug.
I got distracted…Okay. Douglas brags to Paulshock about what he did to Konnan. Torrie calls her a bitch.
Match 5: Kwee Wee v. Johnny the Bull
Wee assaulted him but off the monkeyflip, Bull’s ankle twists and Kwee-Wee just pins him.
NR. Poor bastard. His fucking ankle just buckled.
They replay it a lot and cart him off.
Cat comes out and makes fun of Madden and then dances. He wants to finish off Sanders tonight. Sanders does not want to deal with him because one of his boys was just carted off but he will take him on at the PPV in a match called Snap and Whip. He is going to snap his neck and whip his ass. Cat is fine and his ass is grass at Havoc. Sanders calls Jones a Cheese Whiz hooch. Cat calls his mom fat….here comes KKronik and they head down. Cue Goldberg! He comes in from the crowd and into the ring. Sanders tells him that this is not happening tonight and it will happen at Kronik. Kronik tells Sanders that he does not control them. They yell at Goldberg who wants a piece. They are dragging this out….Security holds them back.
Match 6: Shane Douglas v. Booker T (c)
Steiner is at the announce table and going off about Torrie and all her make up and how long it takes for her to put it on! They lock up and Booker takes him down. They lock up again and Douglas pounds him but off the whip into the corner he runs into a boot and is then kicked in the head twice. Booker chops him up. Douglas reverses a whip and Torrie grabs Booker’s leg and Douglas knocks him to the floor. They go at it. Booker eats the railing and post. He is dumped throat first onto the railing and is then rolled back into the ring. Douglas hits a top rope lariat. He takes his time in following up. But pulls back on the arms for a bit. When Booker rises up he is dropped and nailed with a reverse neckbreaker. Douglas hammers him into the corner and then mounts and pounds him. He keeps after him and pulls down on the neck with a vise. Booker comes back as he rises up and strikes with a neckbreaker and both are down. They tussle and Booker Harlem kicks him and then slugs away. He knees him in the gut and it is axe kick time! Spinarooni and Harlem Kick but Booker showboats and Torrie gives Douglas some mace. This thing breaks down. Kidman comes down and gets nailed. Steiner attacks him and here comes JJ and Konnan. But Booker catches Douglas going off the top rope and Book Ends him for the win!
*** Good match. It was a title match.
Midajah speaks Spanish about how pissed she is at Torrie. Steiner is not happy either as Kidman touched his freak. JJ goes off on blondie, for some reason I guess it is Torrie and something about sticking a guitar up her or his ass.
Here comes Flair! He is at the announce table. David is in the ring and Goldberg is his opponent!
Match 7: David Flair v. Goldberg
Ric is proud of his son as he gets obliterated. Over.
*1/2 Squash and Goldberg is 10-0 as they counted a House Show match.
Kidman is with Konnan and he is fine with facing Steiner and he will out think him and is one tough dude. Konnan goes off on Douglas and is glad to have Kidman back in the fold.
Match 8: Scott Steiner v. Kidman
Boy did Kidman get wasted.
* Is it me or our the Filthy Animals always the whipping boys? Steiner like Savage and Sid are picking them apart.
Match 9: Jeff Jarrett v. Konnan
Konnan does his thing on the mic and gets ambushed and stomped by JJ. Konnan comes back and they battle out on the floor with JJ getting the upperhand. Back in the ring they roll each other up for two counts. JJ clotheslines him. Konnan whips him back into the corner and backs his ass into him. Tygress sets up for the Buster but Douglas has come down and Torrie has come down. Tygress eats the guitar and Konnan stands there and then is hit and Stroked and now put in the Deathlock.
*1/2 Really? The Animals should just disband. Konnan has not won a meaning match in two years. At least have a DQ or something.
Sting is pissed and tosses a chair in the back.
Nash got a beer named after him in Melbourne.
Match 10: Kevin Nash v. Sting
The Jacks come down. Booker is a Jack too. About four minutes of introductions. Fans are fired. Nash knees him and guess what: He drives Sting into the corner where he knees him over and over and uses his forearm and elbows and his boot to chokes him out. Never seen that! Sting comes back and takes out the legs and works over the leg and knee. Nash is put in the Deathlock but his boys pull him into the ropes. He rests by them and then comes in and is hung up in the ropes and knocked into the corner. Stinger Splash right into a boot. Sideslam and a two count. Nash hits snake eyes and Nash works over the neck. Steiner attacks Booker and they brawl and now the LumberJacks are all brawling on the floor. Sting is up and he nails Nash. Stinger Splash and Nash is wobbly and he is dropkicked in the back and he awkwardly falls into the ref in the corner. Stinger Splash to the back and the ref is crused too. JJ has a guitar and Sting goes for another Splash and right into the guitar! Nash falls on Sting and the ref wakes up and Nash wins.
** Angle advancement. Fans are littering the ring with well, litter.
**1/2 Better than last week and they made the heels strong and there is nothing wrong with that. My issue? And I am not really sure why I even harp on it but Konnan and Kidman deserve to look stronger and make a match out of it. JJ is fine but come on….Booker had another great match and the most of the rest were decent but could have been better. The Goldberg stuff was a bit drawn out, probably due to the Bull injury. I just think more could have been done in the ring. However the show was not terrible as it was fairly well paced. They have relaxed on the feuds withing feuds and lessened the back stage nonsense. The PPV while not looking all that great from a distance has been set up quite well and the crowd was great tonight…Now to just get rid of some gimmicks like MIA and 70s Guy.