Written by: Kevin Kildenberger
They had a really good Nitro with a lot of wrestling, wisely putting the belt back on Booker, which they never should have taken off of. At the same time Thunder was bland. Too much going on. WCW needs to be letting their wrestlers wrestle; I don’t mind long matches but give them pizazz and make them interesting. I do like that they are trying to give new guys a shot but let’s get back to the Cruiserweights and give the Dragons and Three Count some time. End the MIA shit. I get they are trying to get guys over and give them something to do, but it is STUPID. Team Canada should be stronger and not stuck with nonsense like this. What happened to the Career Killer? He was great. Now it is a gimmick. Oh, I get it: Career Killer in WCW? Getting wins over a Nash or a Luger or a Sting or a Hogan is NEVER going to happen. I guess he could be the Midcard Career Killer! Then lose to Nash….oh wait. Still, if WCW sticks with some quality wrestling and not have so many different feuds and alliances and stables then good things could happen. One other thing: Another Russo era is coming to an end this month. See you in TNA, twice…..Oh, and we will know because the booking will make slightly more sense and we will not have stupid fucking shit in boxes stipulations. I should have lowered the score due to that atrocity. Not good on the ratings front: A solid 3.1 start but a collapse down to a 1.9. RAW also fell in the second hour to a 5.7 but the first was a 5.0 and stayed the same with a 5.4
Wow! A great crowd. Schiavone says 14000 fans and there are quite a few. Aussies love WCW apparently.
Match 1: Elix Skipper v. Rey Mysterio
They exchange holds and moves. Skipper flips and then kicks Rey in the skull. Rey flips onto the apron but Skipper dives over him and powerbombs him off the apron! Back in the ring, Rey takes him down and nails him with a guillotine legdrop to the back of the head. Skipper fights back but is nailed in the corner and crushed with a Famouser. After a snapmare, Rey gets two after a split-legged moonsault. Rey flies around for a moment but is caught and crotched on the ropes. Skipper climbs and then walks them and they both fall to the floor. Skipper actually hit the mat, not really sure what the move was. Rey is brought back into the ring and back suplexed with a authority. He uses his hands on the top rope and slams down leg first onto Rey’s head and gets two. He has Rey who walks up the ropes and scissors him over. Rey slams him and then strikes with a standing dropkick. Rey keeps after him and rock him with punches, knocking him to the floor and then slingshot kicks him. Now Rey springs into a somersault plancha. Rey places him onto the apron, but is knocked back as he dives at him. But he knocks him back and whips Skipper into the corner and the fans cheer as he hits the Buster! Torrie attacks Tygress who has been at the announce table (I have been misspelling her name). We miss a great move in the corner and Skipper then finishes him off.
***1/2 Rey cannot buy a win but the match was awesome.
Disco is with Alex Wright and Torrie and Franchise. Boy they got to the back fast. Torrie is getting her ass Franchised later and she giggles. Kind of gross.
David Flair arrives in a Give Blood vehicle.
Here comes the Thrillers. Sanders claims he is the new Commish. He is booking an Underwear Down Under Match…Or some shit like that between Tygress (why not spell something right) and Torrie. Sanders continues and the fans tell the truth when the chant that Russo sucks and he is not even here. Sanders does not like that and starts in on Goldberg and how his Streak will end. Here comes the Cat. He wants to know who the hell Sanders thinks he is. Sanders claims he was put in charge. Cat disagrees. Cat wants a piece of him and the Thrillers tell him to bring it. Cat agrees that Russo put him in charge and Cat wants them to put their powers together and put on a great show as they are both commissioners. Fucking two commissioners? Jesus. Cat wants to dance and celebrate their new alliance and someone else wants to celebrate with them: MIA. Crowd does not care. Gee, I wonder why. Cat is a great commissioner and a better dancer and he starts dancing as MIA shuffles and they attack the Thrillers and the fight is on. MIA clears the ring.
Boogie Knights are dancing in front of mirrors.
Stacy Keibler has arrived.
Match 2: Jindrak and O’Haire (c) v. Boogie Knights for WCW Tag Titles
They go back and forth. Disco now is getting punished. But he holds the ropes and Jinndrak misses the dropkick. Wright hits a missile kick and gets two. Wright gets another near fall after a dropkick. Haire trips him up and now Wright is doubleteamed. Match continues and the Knights get a couple of near falls and Disco tries to cover both but is knocked off. Wright crossbodies into both champs and gets two. They tussle and Disco wins….What? Sanders reversed the decision and the Thrillers come down and maul the Knights and now the match is restarted. It is over.
** Fans cheered for the Knights. Not a bad match. Overbooked.
Keibler is walking in the back.
Goldberg has arrived on a motorcycle.
JJ is mocking Sting, wearing his old facepaint and shilling for the WCW credit card with a shit eating grin.
Mark Madden calls out Keibler. She was smiling and is now sad as Mark asks who the dad is. Stacy claims it is no one’s business. She would like to say something to someone she cares about and that is David. He needs to stop accusing people who have nothing to do with it. It is her fault and for her and her child he needs to stop. Madden thinks she cannot remember who the father is or was drunk when it happened. She keeps saying no. He asks if she has been with so many men that she cannot recall. She is about to storm off and here comes Flair. She is smiling….This angle SUCKS! She wants a hug and he ignores her. Flair asks about Bagwell and she assures him that it was innocent flirting. He wants a blood test from her to find out the father and Madden mocks him saying we know she is the mother and does not need the test. He then accuses Madden of being the dad and Madden tells him to get her! Crowbar comes down to try and talk some sense into him. Flair calls him jealous. Flair attacks but is knocked back and Awesome runs down….
Tygress is waking in the back.
Sting tells Paulshock that he is the real Sting and yells Woooo.
Match 3: Tygress v. Torrie
Terrible. But we get to see Torrie in her bra and panties.
*
Douglas comes down and yells at Tygress. Konnan makes the save. He has the mic and calls him a jackass and tells him to get ready and get Franchised.
Vito comes up to Sanders and calls him a hyenie wiper etc. Sanders states the obvious that his career has not taken off and Vito will face anyone at anytime and Sanders will book a match.
Jarrett comes down dressed as Sting. There are tables and pictures and stuff stet up in the ring. JJ wants to be introduced as Sting and Penzer obliges. Fans want Sting and he claims that he is the one and only, original Sting. Before he makes money by signing autographs he tells everyone that JJ is going to kick his butt at the PPV. He also has no heart and once I am gone these autographs will be worth money. Sting, the real one, rappels into the ring and he and JJ are jawing face to face. Sting decks him and beats him out to the floor where he continues to pummel him. JJ fires back and hits a Stinger Splash. He flexes but Sting comes back, runs him over and then mounts and pounds him in the corner. Stinger Splash. Deathlock! Refs finally pull him off.
In the back, Steiner calls JJ Sting and tells him that he will get revenge for him.
Sanders is in the ring and brings out Nash. Here comes the Cat. He has a partner too and it is Booker T!
Match 4: Mike Sanders and Kevin Nash v. Cat and Booker T (c)
Booker and Sanders lock up. Booker works him over and the Cat continues that. Nash decks him though and now Sanders takes the offensive. Cat fends him off but the tag was made and Nash does his thing. Punches. He decks Booker on the apron and then tags in Sanders who chokes out Cat and drills him with his knee as the fans chant for Hall. Nash and Booker are in the ring and Booker unloads on him and Sanders is in and he eats an axe kick and is Book Ended! Nope, kneed and Cat is tagged in. He kicks off his head and pins him as Nash looks in and Booker beats Nash some more.
** Okay.
Cat is taunting some Australian champ: Sam Grecco.
Steiner ambushes Booker with the pipe and Sanders knocks out the Cat. Steiner tells him that at the PPV he will win. He wants Sting and he is going to beat him up and then beat up a fan!
Match 5: Big Vito v. Goldberg
Poor Vito. They could have made this match decent.
* Squash.
Johnny the Bull comes in and attacks Vito. Goldberg comes back and tosses him via Pumphandle toss. He had to hook it twice. Spear and Jackhammer. Kronik come out and stare.
A car has arrived.
Match 6: Mike Awesome v. David Flair
This was fairly long. Flair has gotten in some offense but he is crushed by a Frog Splash and then an Awesome Bomb.
*1/2
Ric Flair was in the car.
David was holding onto Awesome’s leg and gets stomped. He grabs the table and is going to Bomb him through it. Ric stops him and begs him to not do it and Awesome obliges. Ric tries to talk to David who freaks out and leaves.
Gunns who cannot act worth shit is asking Kwee-Wee for fashion held due to the Canadian outfit she has on. Storm grabs her and leaves.
Match 7: Lance Storm (c) v. Konnan for WCW Canadian Title
Just because Aussie’s aren’t Americans does not mean they are competent or Canadian and he mocks them putting together something for the Olympics wrong or something. Anthem time. Filthy Animals interrupt and Duggan randomly bellows.
Team Canada leaves as do the Animals as they start off. They exchange holds. Storm takes him down and then ducks a blow, knees Konnan who returns the favor. Konnan rolls him over and gets two. But he is knocked into the corner and his arm is cracked into the post. Konnan is tossed and Storm gets two. Storm works him over and Konnan tries to fight back but is dropkicked. Storm runs his head into the corner and decks him. He follows up with a backbreaker. He delays the cover but gets two. Storm goes for a suplex but is rolled up and nearly pinned. Both hit clotheslines and are down. Storm is up first and he slams him. Storm heads up top and misses the diving headbutt. Rolling clotheslines from Konnan and he shoots him into the ropes and back kicks him and then bulldogs Storm. Storm backs into the corner and he reverses a whip. Konnan floats over and Douglas runs down clocking Konnan. The ref somehow missed it. Northern Lights suplex and Konnan kicks out but hte Maple Leaf finishes him off.
**1/2 Decent. Nice win for Storm. Not sure how the ref missed it.
They show both Steiner and Sting prepping.
Match 8: Scott Steiner v. Sting
Jarrett is the ref. Sting unloads on Steiner and does his usual offense. JJ gets in his way for using a closed fist and Sting beats his ass and then hammers Steiner some more. JJ whips him into a belly to belly suplex. Steiner is not happy that JJ did not count fast enough. Backbreaker from Steiner and he screams at some fans. He has him up again and hangs him upside down in the corner and then heads to the floor and pulls back on his head and JJ kicks him. Another ref comes down and Steiner kicks his ass. Steiner owns him for the next minute or more. Everytime Sting tries to fight back it does not last. Sting gets the boot up off the whip and it is Stinger Splash time! JJ blocks the second one and gets decked. Sting takes Steiner to the floor and goes after JJ only to get whacked by the pipe and now it is time to dismantle Sting. Cat and Booker come down and Booker has a striped shirt on. Steiner hits the belly to belly but Booker stops his count and Steiner glares, charges and is Book Ended. Sting finishes him off for the win!
** Angle advancement.
** A hot start that deteriorated quite quickly. The feuds are just lackluster. The Flair nonsense is just garbage. MIA sucks. The Thrillers lost to women and are now supposedly a force to be reckoned with but at least they are fresh faces. The whole two Commissioner shit is so fucking convoluted. WCW always does that….Knock it the fuck off. How can the writer be a Commissioner? Jesus. But, there were a couple of decent matches. Vito got inexplicably buried but the opener was great. Konnan and Storm was fun and the main event did the job in helping set up the PPV. The crowd as hot. While the bad outweighed the good there were some bright spots and it ended on a high note.