WCW didn’t air Nitro or Thunder last week due to the NBA Playoffs, so WCW fans had to wait over a week to see the aftermath of Slamboree. Randy Savage has been reinstated and appears to have set his sights on the WCW World Championship considering his involvement at Slamboree.
Speaking of the WCW World Championship, Kevin Nash is the new champion having defeated Diamond Dallas Page. DDP had two title reigns in less than a months time. Nash is also the head booker of WCW at this point. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone.
We’ve got new WCW Tag Team and WCW Television Champions. Saturn & Raven walked out with the tag titles while Rick Steiner won the TV Championship. Steiner also reunited with his brother Scott Steiner after they both attacked Goldberg and Sting. I’d have to guess we’re going to get a Steiner Brothers vs. Goldberg & Sting tag match and it will be built as some kind of tag team dream match.
Bret Hart returned to WCW programming attacking Goldberg and Sting to likely continue his feud with Goldberg and potentially a secondary feud with the Stinger. Eric Bischoff also returned to television awarding Roddy Piper control of WCW, and restarted the main event to make sure there was a definitive winner. Bischoff in a babyface role is going to take some time to get use to.
They’ve have ample amount of time to figure out their direction heading into the summer. Lets see what WCW has in store for us.
MAY 17TH — CEDAR RAPIDS, IA — FIVE SEASONS CENTER
RIC FLAIR ARRIVES AND HAS AN IN-RING INTERVIEW WITH MEAN GENE
CONTEXT: Ric Flair arrives to the arena with Arn Anderson, Charles Robinson and Diamond Dallas Page. Robinson removes Piper’s name from the door of the WCW President and places Flair’s name plate in its place. Flair is going to make a statement tonight, but Arn Anderson has words of wisdom for Raven and Saturn. Anderson tells it like it is and has never made promises. Anderson says the Horsemen worked hard to win titles a short while ago. Anderson makes a guarantee that Benoit and Malenko are going to win the tag titles tonight on Nitro. Flair reminds everyone that he’s the President and takes his jacket off. Flair says Bischoff has no right to be in an arena he’s running and make decisions regarding a company he’s running. Flair demands Ted Turner to take care of Bischoff or he’ll have Jane Fonda take a ride on Space Mountain. Flair announces a mixed tag match where he’ll team with Robinson to wrestle Randy Savage and Gorgeous George on Nitro. Flair promises that Savage and George are going down. Flair also announces that WCW World Champion Kevin Nash will defend the title against Diamond Dallas Page. DDP joins the segment.
DDP thinks that Flair is proving why he should run the company by making decisions such as DDP getting a rematch. DDP believes he got screwed at Slamboree. DDP believes Nash has Bischoff in his pocket, DDP has decided to bring someone onto his side and brings out Bam-Bam Bigelow. Bigelow makes his way out to join the segment. Bigelow assures DDP that he has DDP’s back. DDP promises that he’ll be a three-time champion tonight. Flair thinks this could be one of the greatest Nitro episodes to ever take place.
Bob’s Take: I’m not sure if this is going to be a long lasting partnership, but a heel group of Flair, DDP, Bigelow, Anderson, Benoit and Malenko isn’t the worst route to go. It may be worth mentioning and focusing on the fact that Benoit and Malenko were not in the ring nor did they arrive to the arena with the group. I could see that being a sign that Benoit and Malenko are not supportive of the inclusion of DDP and Bigelow. They setup three matches to take place later on in the show, and they are all worthwhile matches. Thus, this is a productive segment. 1 for 1
SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH ERIC BISCHOFF — PART ONE
CONTEXT: Bischoff says he meant what he said at Slamboree regarding not messing things up in WCW. Bischoff talks about being number one for 88 weeks, but now it’s more competitive than he’d like it to be. Bischoff admits that he may have gotten a bit too full of himself and he’s learned from his mistakes. Bischoff is confident that they will be number once again. He’ll do everything in his power to reach number one again.
Bob’s Take: Are we saying that Bischoff still has power in WCW with this interview? Telling your audience you’re number two and noting that you’ve made mistakes but learned should mean they don’t see the same mistakes take place again. It’s safe to say that we’ll see those mistakes and fan loyalty will continue to evaporate. 1 for 2
SPECIAL LOOK AT BRET HART
CONTEXT: The video package focuses on Bret Hart and Goldberg feud from March and Hart returning at Slamboree to attack Goldberg with a chair. WCW World Champion Kevin Nash appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Nash challenged Bret Hart to a match on The Tonight Show for the title with $250k of his own money on the line. Nash will do it whenever Hart wants to do it.
Bob’s Take: In the edit there was a noticeable laugh from the Leno audience. Clearly they don’t take wrestling seriously. Nash vs. Hart on the Tonight Show is an interesting idea, so I give them kudos for doing that. 2 for 3
SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH ERIC BISCHOFF — PART TWO
CONTEXT: Bischoff did what he felt was right during the Flair vs. Piper match and believes that Piper deserved to win the match. Bischoff says Nash clearly had DDP defeated before Savage got involved, but notes that he didn’t think if he did anything in an official manner. Bischoff declares Nash is the champion and deserves to be the champion. Bischoff notes the referee decision is the only thing that matters. Bischoff says a lot of things are going to change. He’s made some good and bad decisions. Bischoff believes it is important to acknowledge making mistakes. Bischoff is sure he’s made lifelong enemies, but there’s not much he can do to change that. Bischoff is going to do everything in his power to rebuild WCW back to being number one. Bischoff will do anything he can to contribute for WCW even if he’s not President again. Bischoff understands if people can’t forgive him.
Bob’s Take: Okay, so Bischoff is not operating with official power? So, how did anything he did at Slamboree carry any weight? This is a bit confusing. Bischoff in kayfabe has zero power, but this shoot style interview makes it sound as if he’s got a bit of power and he’s going to correct his wrongdoings. I’m not sold on a face Bischoff. 2 for 4
ERIC BISCHOFF & RODDY PIPER ARRIVE
CONTEXT: Piper and Bischoff arrive to the arena together.
Bob’s Take: If I’m Piper, I would not be trusting Bischoff so quickly. I do have interest to see where Bischoff intentions are going to be revealed as being legit or a swerve. 2 for 5
MATCH #1: WCW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION REY MYSTERIO VS. EVAN KARAGIAS
FINISH: Mysterio wins the match following a top rope hurricanrana
Bob’s Take: Oh lord, they messed up a couple of spots at the start of the match and the crowd let out a noticeable groan. Karagias is inexperienced and being put in this spot is an interesting choice. I can’t hate it since WCW needs to have a fresher Cruiserweight division. However, Karagias is virtually unknown and this kind of match is better suited for Thunder at first. It is a quick match and a clean finish, which is fine for the first hour. However, it’s not memorable nor was it overly entertaining. 2 for 6
RIC FLAIR CHATS WITH BUDDY LEE PARKER
CONTEXT: The Horsemen bring Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker to Flair’s office. Flair asks if Parker is ready to work in the office and tells Parker he’s the most powerful man in WCW. Flair says he’s going to take Parker off the road and live life as one of the main men in pro wrestling. Flair tells Parker that he’s going to push his kid down everyone’s throat and people will learn to love his kid. Flair asks Parker to do him a favor and do the job for David when Anderson gives him the signal. Flair promises to take care of Parker and his family for doing the favor. Parker accepts the offer. Flair grabs David and Torrie from his locker room. Flair tells David that he’s proud of David after wrestling Meng two weeks ago. Flair tells David that he’s going to the top all the way to the WCW World Championship. David is relieved to be wrestling Parker. David says “great” about fifty times. Torrie tells Ric he better keep his promise.
Bob’s Take: It appears the tough love aspect of Ric punishing David is over with and now Ric is fully aligned with his son and going to shove David down our throats. The promo made sense and Ric acknowledged that people before him pushed their kids and since he’s the best he’s going to do the same. David is one of the worst wrestlers to ever compete, so this could either connect with a lot of heel heat or it will be awful because he’s truly not very good at all. 3 for 7
BOOKER T INTERVIEW WITH MEAN GENE
CONTEXT: Mean Gene interviews former WCW Television Champion Booker T on the aisle. Gene reminds Booker T what happened at Slamboree between himself and Rick Steiner. Booker believes everyone knows what happened, but he’s not crying over spilt milk. Booker challenges Rick Steiner to a match tonight. Gene brings up Booker’s brother Stevie Ray, but Booker tells Gene that he walks by himself and that Stevie has different motives than himself. Booker says they aren’t jiving and it is just business between himself and Rick Steiner. Booker mentions his title wins and promises he’ll win a seventh WCW Television Championship tonight.
Bob’s Take: I have almost zero interest in a rematch between Booker and Rick Steiner since their match at Slamboree was horrible. Booker needs to be elevated up the card anyway. 3 for 8
MATCH #2: DAVID FLAIR VS. BUDDY LEE PARKER
FINISH: Parker misses a top rope knee drop and David locked in the figure four leg lock to win the match by submission as Robinson called for the bell quickly.
Bob’s Take: Earlier in the show Bischoff talked about correcting the mistakes he’s made and yet here we are watching David Flair. David is not ready for any of this spotlight and it makes WCW look completely second-rate when David competes and looks horrible in the process. The storyline is fine, but David’s inability to work well in the ring is going to make it more of a cringe watching experience. 3 for 9
MATCH #3: RIC FLAIR & CHARLES ROBINSON VS. RANDY SAVAGE & MADUSA — MIXED TAG MATCH
NOTE: This is the first ever mixed tag team match in WCW history. Gorgeous George was originally advertised for the match, but she came out on crutches and Madusa replaced George.
FINISH: Savage hits the top rope elbow drop on Robinson and picks up the victory. Savage landed fully on Robinson’s chest causing Robinson to suffer a few cracked vertebrae and a collapsed lung.
Bob’s Take: The entire program George was promoted as being in the match and during the entrance it was revealed she would not be competing. This feels like a bait and switch situation and contradicts what Bischoff had said earlier in the program. The live crowd didn’t seem to care too much as they responded very well to the action and I think it is safe to say this angle is one of the only things the WCW audience has enjoyed on a consistent basis. Thus far in 1999, this whole match probably got a top five audience reaction. 4 for 10
RODDY PIPER INTERVIEW WITH MEAN GENE; TALKS WITH ERIC BISCHOFF
CONTEXT: Piper claims to be the President of WCW. Piper thinks Flair has gone way over the edge and has ten reasons why Flair shouldn’t run a gas station let alone WCW. Piper reveals that Flair is broke and can’t take care of himself let alone a company. Piper tells a story about Flair being in a bar dressed in drag at a Hilton. Piper talks about Charles Robinson being Flair’s sidekick, too. Piper makes a reference to Robinson have two KY jars. Piper talks about Flair being naked in his office and chasing himself. Piper wonders what would happened if Flair caught himself. Piper notes that Flair is Dennis Rodman’s best friend and advisor for his career and marriage. Rodman doesn’t have a job nor have a wife. Piper continues to list the reasons and claims that Space Mountain has been dead for fifteen years. Piper claims the Nitro Girls told him Flair went from the 60-minute man to the 60-minute scam. Piper calls out Eric Bischoff to join the segment.
It is noted that Bischoff continues to hold an executive position in the company. Piper says he’s been putting up with Bischoff for three years and notes there were several times he had wanted to beat up Piper. Piper mentions Bischoff fired a referee with cancer a few years ago. Piper doesn’t buy into Bischoff apology. Bischoff admits he’s screwed up and made mistakes. Bischoff apologizes to Piper and fans. Bischoff doesn’t blame Piper or the fans if they don’t believe him. Bischoff asks to be judged by his actions and not by what he says. Piper asks that Bischoff is going to do a 180. Bischoff can’t promise anything, but is cutoff by Randy Savage. Savage comes out with Madusa and Gorgeous George, who is still using crutches.
Bischoff offers a handshake, but Savage ignores the attempt. Savage tells Bischoff that he wants a title shot with WCW World Champion Kevin Nash. Savage is pissed because Bischoff cost him and wants Bischoff to sign off on the title match. Piper tells Savage he needs to wait his turn. Savage disagrees and says he does whatever he wants when he does it. George hits Piper over the back with a crutch and Savage spikes Piper with a piledriver. Madusa kicked Bischoff at the same time. Savage slams Bischoff and goes to the top rope, but Kevin Nash comes out and Savage bails to the floor. Savage wants a title shot tonight. Savage wants Nash to handover the title to him just like he did in Atlanta. Nash says that Savage has used his American Express cards on his dates already. Nash tells Savage he’ll have to pry the title out of his dead hands. Savage would rather take the title that way anyway.
Bob’s Take: Alright. So, Piper is the commissioner/President? Flair is the President? Bischoff is a “high ranking executive”, but isn’t the President or commissioner. I can’t make sense of any of this. This has to be confusing to the audience. Authority figures are fine, but having three of them in some capacity is a bit overkill and nobody has true overriding power over the other by all accounts. If I had to guess and with WCW history of repeating their own history, I’m guessing the end game here is for Bischoff to screw around and swerve everyone along with Nash since he’s the champion. Or, Bischoff is screwing around and is actually associated with Savage. The timing of Bischoff’s return and Savage arriving could make that work. The segment was enjoyable, but the angle is confusing. We need clarification of roles. 5 for 11
HAK CLAIMS HE’S THE MOST HARDCORE; FIT FINLAY DISAGREES
CONTEXT: Hak takes some time to insult the crowd and says they smell horrible. Hak continues to claim that he’s the most hardcore wrestler on the planet and he’s been saying that since day one in WCW. Hak claims to have nearly ended the careers of Goldberg, Bigelow and Raven. Fit Finlay appears on the big screen and says he’s coming out to the ring to prove he’s extreme.
Bob’s Take: Hak is not a good talker. I’m a bit surprised this segment is on Nitro while they are trying to compete directly with RAW. This would have been better suited for the first hour. 5 for 12
MATCH #4: FIT FINLAY VS. HAK — HARDCORE MATCH
NOTE: Hak has music now and it was previously used for Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael.
FINISH: Brian Knobbs comes out and puts both Finlay and Hak through tables in the corner. The referee eventually calls for the bell and it is deemed a no contest
Bob’s Take: It wasn’t a comical hardcore match as the other ones have been presented. However, there’s still no purpose to these matches and there’s never a story attached to it. It gets a brief pop from the crowd, but it fizzles rather quickly. 5 for 13
BOOKER T ATTACKED; RICK STEINER PROMO
CONTEXT: Backstage, Booker T has been laid out moments before his scheduled match with WCW Television Champion Rick Steiner. Rick cuts a promo saying that Booker can’t beat anyone without his brothers help. Rick essentially offers an open challenge and is eventually greeted by Sting on the aisle. The crowd erupts.
Bob’s Take: I don’t hate this since the Steiner Brothers attacked Sting and Goldberg at Slamboree. I’m wondering if they knew Booker/Rick may have been another poor bout and made the pivot to Sting instead. Rick is also trying to remember his new catchphrase, which was a bit amusing. 6 for 14
MATCH #5: WCW TELEVISION CHAMPION RICK STEINER VS. STING
NOTE: To seemingly cement his heel turn, Rick Steiner is no longer wearing his headgear.
FINISH: WCW United States Champion Scott Steiner comes out during the bout, but Lex Luger slides into the ring and stands next to Sting prepared to battle to end the segment.
Bob’s Take: Honestly, the brawling aspect wasn’t too bad between Steiner and Sting. The in-ring action where Rick controlled the bout could have been a lot better, though. I absolutely thought Luger was going to deck Sting because I don’t trust Luger whatsoever. Also, are we ignoring the press conference segment the other week? For what this was, it was an enjoyable segment. 7 for 15
MATCH #6: CURT HENNIG VS. KONNAN
FINISH: Late in the match, Randy Savage comes out and taunts Konnan after a referee bump. Savage says that Konnan is suffering his wrath because Nash is a coward to give him a title match. Hennig knocks Konnan to the floor where Savage sends Konnan into the ring steps. Hennig hits the Hennig Plex and wins the match.
Bob’s Take: We’re far past the era where Hennig is actively attempting to have good matches. It’s not that he’s checked out, but I think he’s coasting through the matches and working a house show style match on TV. Savage getting involved makes sense, but I was not thinking about Savage getting involved with Konnan. The match is mostly boring and forgettable. 7 for 16
MATCH #7: WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS PERRY SATURN & RAVEN VS. DEAN MALENKO & CHRIS BENOIT
FINISH: Late in the match, Arn Anderson hit Raven with a tire iron. However, Saturn hits Malenko with the Death Valley Driver after Kanyon shoved Malenko off the top rope to pickup the victory and the retain the titles.
Bob’s Take: I wish this match was on the show a little bit earlier to allow a greater crowd reaction. I’m glad they were given plenty of time to entertain the audience. It’s mostly a formula tag match, but they executed it very well and it was an entertaining bout. 8 for 17
BAM-BAM BIGELOW CONFRONTS SATURN & RAVEN
CONTEXT: Backstage, Bigelow tells the champs they wouldn’t have retained without the help of Kanyon. Saturn tells Bigelow to tell someone who cares. Kanyon suggests Bigelow find himself a partner and Bigelow says “maybe I’ll do just that.”
Bob’s Take: A new tag team challenging Saturn and Raven is a welcomed idea. I’d assume that Bigelow would recruit DDP if/when he loses in the main event. 9 for 18
MAIN EVENT: WCW WORLD CHAMPION KEVIN NASH VS. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE
FINISH: Late in the match, Randy Savage runs into the ring and attacks Nash causing a disqualification. After the match, Nash is beaten down by DDP, Bigelow and Savage. Bigelow splashes Nash on the mat. Savage is given lipstick from Gorgeous George and puts the lipstick all over Nash’s face. Savage taunts the camera as a fan tries to get into the ring, but is tackled by Savage and security grabs the fan. Savage leaps off the top to deliver an elbow drop.
Bob’s Take: The same old WCW main event where there’s not much substance to it and they likely banked on two names drawing a rating instead of putting on a good match. We’re going full into a Savage vs. Nash feud. I can’t imagine the match will be good, but the angle leading into their eventual Great American Bash match could be entertaining at the very least. The aftermath was more entertaining than the match itself here. 9 for 19
Considering they had a week to produce Nitro coming out of Slamboree I’d consider this a underwhelming effort. I would have expected a far stronger show, but they didn’t deliver. They gave us several matches that on paper would have looked strong, but the execution continues to lack for WCW.
The main feuds going into Great American Bash appear to be Nash/Savage, Piper/Flair and Sting/Rick Steiner to be the draw for the event. Obviously that could change in the coming weeks, but their going to need something more if Rick Steiner is working in a semi-main event spot. Piper and Flair continuing their feud is not something I’m overly interested in at this point.
Nitro 5/17 TV Rating: 3.3
Thanks for reading.