MAY 3RD — CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA — CHARLOTTE COLISEUM
RIC FLAIR ARRIVING IN CHARLOTTE WITH HIS MENTAL PATIENT FRIENDS
CONTEXT: Flair is in a limo and tells Charles Robinson he’s out of the hospital and he’s got the whole gang with him heading to the arena. We see other patients having fun on a bus that is next to Flair in a limo. It is suggested that Scott Hall is driving the bus, but his face isn’t shown.
Bob’s Take: Flair is turning into a complete comedy character at this point. Such a far cry from a few months ago. 0 for 1
GORGEOUS TRAINING VIDEO MONTAGE
CONTEXT: Gorgeous George training with Madusa is shown along with some basic workouts.
Bob’s Take: Gorgeous George is a good looking woman and if she has any level of skill she could potentially be someone worth watching. However, WCW doesn’t have a women’s division so she’s quite limited. 1 for 2
MATCH #1: WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS BILLY KIDMAN & REY MYSTERIO VS. THE ARMSTRONGS — NON-TITLE
NOTE: Scott Armstrong cut a promo saying that they’re going to prove they are Nitro material despite the match being a non-title match.
FINISH: Mysterio pins Steve Armstrong after a top rope hurricanrana. After the match, Benoit & Malenko attack the champions until Raven and Saturn run the Horsemen off. Kidman and Mysterio reject help from Raven and Saturn. They are met with a DDT and Death Valley Driver for doing so.
Bob’s Take: I enjoyed the match. The Armstrong’s are a good team, but they certainly lack a star appearance or anything. They are a bland team visually, which likely limits their potential success. Armstrong’s would be a welcomed addition to the tag division on TV as a jobber team to prevent repetitive matches on TV. It was an enjoyable match to kickoff the action on Nitro this week. 2 for 3
MATCH #2: THE CAT VS. BUFF BAGWELL
NOTE: The Cat cuts a promo before the match. Cat decides to give Bagwell five seconds to leave the ring and not have the match with him. Bagwell doesn’t accept the offer.
FINISH: Late in the match, Sonny Ono accidentally kicks Cat and Bagwell hits the Blockbuster to win the match.
Bob’s Take: There’s something about The Cat that has made me take him a bit more serious. I feel as if he’s gotten a little bit more muscle mass in recent months. Cat has the ability to get some good heel heat and the crowd reactions seem to get better with each appearance. The action here wasn’t anything overly memorable, but I thought it was okay for what it was. 3 for 4
RIC FLAIR CONFRONTS RANDY SAVAGE, HELL BREAKS LOOSE
CONTEXT: Ric Flair arrives with his patient pals alongside Arn Anderson. Flair wants Randy Savage and Gorgeous to come out to the ring right now. Flair says that Savage isn’t reinstated and insists Savage is fired. Flair also says Charles Robinson will take care of Gorgeous George. Flair tells Gene that he’s going to become the WCW World Champion for the fifteenth time. Flair says he’ll be naked if he wants to be. He’ll be President if he wants. Flair will make love to Piper’s old lady if he wants to because he’s the President and Piper isn’t. Gene goes to commercial, but the segment continues after the break. Randy Savage is seen heading to the ring before the commercial. Savage joins the segment. Flair reminds Savage that he’s fired and has nothing now that Flair is back in control. Flair asks for the police to arrest Savage and his ladies. Savage calls Flair a punk and promises that George is going to be all over Flair’s girlfriend (Robinson). Savage tosses several security guys to the mat as Flair holds George in the corner. Savage is eventually removed from the ring and escorted backstage. Robinson gets in George’s face and says that a bimbo can’t chew gum and walk at the same time. George decks Robinson from behind. The muscular nurse chokes George on the mat. Flair turns his attention to WCW World Champion Diamond Dallas Page. Flair wants all the advertising changed because he’s going to beat DDP tonight for the title and will wrestle Kevin Nash at Slamboree for the title. Flair calls Sting a punk and Goldberg couldn’t beat him or Anderson on his best day. Sting comes out to join the segment. Sting simply decks Flair with a right hand. Flair calls out Goldberg. Goldberg joins the segment, as well. Goldberg also decks Flair and has a brawl with Sting briefly until security tries to get involved. Security gets tossed to the floor and the brawling continues with both men trading strikes.
Bob’s Take: If you ever needed evidence that WCW is trying hard to compete with the WWF with their style of segments this should pretty much seal the deal. It’s a lengthy segment, and I suppose it’s entertaining, but it also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. One week Savage is reinstated and then he’s fired. It feels as if they book themselves into a corner and then ignore aspects to suit their agenda on a week to week basis. The Sting/Goldberg part of the segment was entertaining and there’s no denying that there’s massive amount of crowd interest in their showdown. Their match being on a thrown together singles match at Slamboree is a bit baffling, but it’s a huge match. 4 for 5
RIC FLAIR MEETS WITH STEVIE RAY
CONTEXT: Flair tells Stevie Ray that he was always the man between Ray and Booker T. Flair says he’s the most powerful man in the world. Flair tries to recruit Ray to take care of Kevin Nash. Flair has $100,000 for Stevie Ray to take Nash out. Ray is there to break necks and cash checks. Ray is going to collect the cash tonight.
Bob’s Take: Flair putting a hit on Nash before even winning the title is a weird direction. Wouldn’t he want DDP taken out first to win the title and then deal with Nash? I doubt Stevie is going to accomplish much for Flair. 4 for 6
MATCH #3: HAK VS. BAM-BAM BIGELOW — HARDCORE MATCH
FINISH: Late in the match, Brian Knobbs makes his way out with a trash can and attacks Bigelow. Bigelow is double teamed by Knobbs and Hak, who then hit each other. Knobbs leaves both men laying and the match is thrown out.
Bob’s Take: At some point these matches get a bit repetitive and boring. Which, that may have become the case here for me. There’s no championship in the division so there’s two guys hitting each other with weapons for no apparent reason. Now, don’t make an ECW joke because the whole promotion wasn’t focused on hardcore wrestling despite popular belief. In the WCW universe the hardcore division brought a new life for a few wrestlers and provides a change of pace to the shows, but they’ve got maybe five guys in the division and the spots are quite repetitive from week to week. 4 for 7
STEVIE RAY HOLDS A TEAM MEETING
CONTEXT: Stevie Ray meets with the New World Order and tells them that Flair offered him $50k to take out Nash. They agree to go after Nash for $10k each. There ends up being one of Flair’s patients buddies in the bathroom and walks off.
Bob’s Take: Stevie short changing his pals is good writing and proves he’s not to be trusted. 5 for 8
KEVIN NASH IS INFORMED OF FLAIR’S PLAN
CONTEXT: Flair’s patient buddy meets up with Kevin Nash in the hallway and tells Nash what he heard was going to happen. The patient guy then runs off.
Bob’s Take: This isn’t the WCW I grew up loving. 5 for 9
MATCH #4: KONNAN VS. HORACE
NOTE: Konnan cut a promo before the match confirming he’s wrestling Stevie Ray at Slamboree.
FINISH: B&W run into the ring to attack Konnan giving the match to Konnan by disqualification. After the match, Stevie beats on Konnan as his friends hold Konnan. Kevin Nash runs into the ring and cleans house to make the save. Nash powerbombs Vincent. Stevie pummels Nash in the corner alongside Adams. Nash fights back, but Stevie escapes the ring and bails to the floor. Nash and Konnan fist pump. The crowd can be heard booing.
Bob’s Take: I have zero interest in this match and Konnan’s momentum from earlier in the year has evaporated. Horace isn’t a viable heel despite some decent outings throughout the year already. B&W need to win matches on Thunder or something to develop some kind of creditability otherwise they are JTTS and their matches on TV will be a drag, similar to what happened here. The Nash run-in got a good pop from the crowd, but the match sucked. 5 for 10
RIC FLAIR MEETS WITH HIS SON, DAVID FLAIR
CONTEXT: David and Ric shake hands with Ric saying he’s back. Ric knows that David did what he did for Ric’s best interest and appreciates David doing that for him. Ric believes he’s collected his thoughts and says he’s going to take care of David tonight. Ric says David is going to wrestle tonight on Nitro. Charles Robinson will be the referee and it’s a done deal. David walks off with Torrie. Ric books David into a match with Meng. Ric tells Robinson to tell Meng that David said he can’t wrestle anymore.
Bob’s Take: Ric punishing David for his actions not just for the mental hospital, but for also turning on him earlier in the year makes complete sense to me. 6 for 11
RODDY PIPER ARRIVES TO THE ARENA, ATTACKS RIC FLAIR
CONTEXT: Piper arrives to the arena and he’s on a mission. Piper is pissed saying he’s a blast from the past. Piper asks where the office is for Flair. Piper walks the hallways looking for Flair. Piper grabs a trash can and attacks Ric in his locker room. Piper stomps on Flair’s groin as the patients are going nuts. Piper pummels Flair on the ground and lays his t-shirt over Flair to market sales for it. Piper promises to put Flair in the ward.
Bob’s Take: Honestly, one of the funniest visuals I’ve seen on WCW TV is Flair getting hit by a trash can with a group of mental patients freaking out. I was not expecting that. 7 for 12
RIC FLAIR MEETS WITH SCOTT STEINER
CONTEXT: Flair wants Scott Steiner to take out Nash. Steiner tells Flair that he has his own motives to beat up Nash and he’s going to take him out tonight.
Bob’s Take: I’m not entirely sure why Steiner is pissed with Nash other than the championship shot that Nash has over him. 7 for 13
LEX LUGER PRESS CONFERENCE
CONTEXT: Luger is standing at a podium with Elizabeth, but the picture of the feed is static and the segment isn’t shown.
Bob’s Take: This is completely by design and who knows why they’re doing it. I’m intrigued for now. 8 for 14
SCOTT STEINER ON THE HUNT FOR KEVIN NASH
CONTEXT: Rey Mysterio Jr. tells Steiner that Nash is in a locker room. Steiner turns the corner and there’s Buff Bagwell. Steiner attacks Bagwell with a table. Steiner leaves Bagwell laying.
Bob’s Take: Well, if you can’t find Nash then I guess Bagwell is a good second choice. 9 for 15
MATCH #5: MENG VS. DAVID FLAIR
FINISH: Meng wins the match with the Tongan Death Grip. After the match, Ric Flair walks down to the ring and checks on David. Ric taunts Torrie as David does a stretcher job. Ric keeps saying “send me away again.”
Bob’s Take: There was one point early in the match where David flinched on a chop by Meng and that alone should make it obvious that David shouldn’t be wrestling on national television. Meng beating up David was enjoyable, but not a good match by any means. 9 for 16
WCW WORLD CHAMPION DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE INTERVIEW
CONTEXT: DDP talks to Gene about his career from being a manager, color commentator and now the champion. DDP notes that nobody has accomplished that feat. DDP asks if anyone has defended the title as much as him. Gene admits that DDP is the working man champion. DDP asks if anyone has been a two-time champion faster than him (which means he’s lost it quicker, too). DDP thinks people will look at him similar to how people look at Elway for football or Michael Jordan for basketball. Gene doesn’t think DDP is a legend yet. DDP says he’s in his prime and turns his attention to Flair. DDP understands why Flair wants to grab the gold belt one more time. DDP understands why Flair wants to be DDP. DDP sees a little bit of himself in Flair, but the only difference is that DDP is in his prime. DDP uses Flair’s the line about being the man you’ve got to beat the man.
Bob’s Take: That was a weak promo by DDP as he seemed to be stumbling over his word and didn’t have confidence in himself. That’s how it came across. 9 for 17
MATCH #6: WCW TELEVISION CHAMPION BOOKER T VS. CURT HENNIG
FINISH: Stevie Ray runs into the ring and attacks Hennig causing a DQ very quickly. Rick Steiner runs into the ring and attacks Booker T. Steiner and Booker brawl to the floor.
Bob’s Take: I’m not even sure why they’d bother putting this out there for less than three minutes of action. They could have accomplished the same angle by simply having Rick and Booker brawl backstage similar to what they did on Thunder. 9 for 18
MAIN EVENT: WCW WORLD CHAMPION DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE VS. RIC FLAIR
FINISH: Late in the match, Gorgeous George attacks Flair. Savage tosses brass knuckles into DDP and DDP hit Flair leading to the three count.
Bob’s Take: They kept a good pace as the action went along much faster than I anticipated. However, I found myself disconnected from the action. I can’t take Flair seriously when he’s been presented as a comedic, delusional, power hungry tyrant. It’s a far cry from the Flair that was a good draw as the NWA World Champion less than ten years earlier. I’d say the action was good throughout and the crowd seemed to be digging the action. The finish was a bit of a downer, but at least there was a finish and not a DQ. DDP is not having a good run as the top champion, though. 10 for 19
I’d consider this a weak show for heading into Slamboree. The best segment was the extended segment involving Flair, Savage, Sting and Goldberg. The only disappointing aspect for the segment is that there’s not much hype behind the Sting/Goldberg match to make it a much bigger deal on PPV.
Nash vs. DDP is a weak main event for Slamboree. Sting vs. DDP should have been the match and considering their great match last week made that even more obvious. There has been minimal interaction between Nash and DDP to begin with and thus there’s no steam for the PPV match. Why would I be invested in a Nash vs. DDP match?
The Flair vs. Piper and Robinson vs. George matches are the top matches to get any attention in recent weeks to even justify a match on PPV, in my opinion. On some level, it should be a bit alarming that a match between a referee and a non-wrestler girlfriend of Randy Savage is arguably the most interesting match to garner buys for the PPV.
I don’t have high hopes for Slamboree.
5/3 Nitro TV Rating: 3.4
Thanks for reading.