JUNE 14TH — WASHINGTON, DC — MCI CENTER
RANDY SAVAGE, SID & THE LADIES ARRIVE
CONTEXT: They arrive in a black hummer where Savage mentions they are going to be vicious. They are “going to do the deal.” They head off into the arena.
Bob’s Take: I’ve got to say, it kind of takes me out of it when I see Sid wearing a polo shirt that you’d see someone wearing at a country club. The guy is a lunatic and his clothing choice doesn’t match his personality. 0 for 1
MATCH #1: BARRY WINDHAM & CURT HENNIG VS. BRIAN ADAMS & VINCENT
NOTE: Hennig & Windham came out to the “I Hate Rap” song.
FINISH: Late in the match, Windham whacks Vincent with the cowbell while the referee is distracted and picks up the win.
Bob’s Take: I’m guessing that Adams and Vincent are positioned as the face team since I’m not sure it’s possible to hate a guy like Vincent at this point. Vincent got a surprisingly decent pop when he had any offense during the match. Vincent was the only guy to get a reaction during the match and I think a large part of his appeal is that the fans know he’s not good, but he’s the underdog even as a heel. Okay, Adams got a good pop for his power offense as well. Is there potential for Adams/Vincent as a babyface team? I doubt it. It’s more likely that Hennig and Windham are hated as much as they are by the audience in the Northeast area. There’s reason I’m mentioning where the show is taking place because the act is likely going to get over in a face role down South. Anyway, the crowd popped a couple of times and I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. 1 for 2
MASTER P PRESS CONFERENCE
CONTEXT: Earlier today, Mean Gene hosted the press conference to introduce Master P to the WCW audience. Master P has his music playing throughout the press conference. Konnan, Rey Mysterio Jr. and Eric Bischoff are at the podium, as well. Master P joins the press conference and says he’s glad to be in WCW. Master P thinks it is going to be a fun time. Master P thinks this is about life and grew up on wrestling. Rey Mysterio Jr. appreciates the message Master P puts out there with his music. Bischoff likes the positive things that Master P puts out in the world.
Bob’s Take: I’m not sure if this is going to be a great plan. Bringing celebrities into the company screams desperation and Master P is not going to be physically involved. If anything, the association could help Mysterio and Konnan, but I have no interest in Master P being involved in WCW. 1 for 3
RANDY SAVAGE PROMO
CONTEXT: Savage asks who the greatest wrestler in the world is today. Sid did not come to the ring with Savage. Savage says he was crowned the uncrowned WCW World Champion officially. Savage mentions how Nash made the illegal elbow a legal move. Savage says when he drops the elbow people get beat one, two, three. Savage thinks it was an obstruction of justice last night. Savage announces that Gorgeous George retired from wrestling and is undefeated now. George lays down and Savage covers her while Madusa counts the fall. Savage is delusional believing he won the title. Savage says he’s going to be unbelievably vicious towards Nash. Savage doesn’t consider Nash to be in his league. Savage continues to believe he’s the world champion. Savage finishes off saying the Wolfpac sucks. It’s not over until Nash’s career is over. Savage says his career is on fire and that’s why it’s so hot in there.
Bob’s Take: Not a great promo by Savage, and I’m not sure why Sid wouldn’t have been out there. I guess they must be saving his appearance for the live crowd for later on in the program for some reason. Savage didn’t have much substance here and repeated himself several times to fill the time. 1 for 4
MATCH #2: HUGH MORRUS VS. BILLY KIDMAN
FINISH: Late in the match, Kidman countered a powerbomb onto a chair by hitting a facebuster onto the chair and hit the Shooting Star Press to win the match.
Bob’s Take: Kind of a weird booking decision here. It’s a match that actually has a purpose and should have been on the GAB PPV the previous night. I’m not a fan of jobbing Morrus here even with the chair protecting him in the loss. I think these two are capable of a good match with proper time, but they weren’t given the chance to deliver in that manner here. 1 for 5
RIC FLAIR INTERVIEW; PIPER NEW VICE PRESIDENT, MALENKO INTERJECTS
CONTEXT: Flair says it is great to be the President of WCW. Flair insults a few fans in the crowd. Flair announces he’s going to have a major coup take place tonight. Flair is going to ask Roddy Piper to join him since they have fought for twenty years. Flair wants Piper to accept the position of Vice President with him. Flair wants two of the biggest names to become one.
Roddy Piper joins the segment. Piper makes a fart joke referencing Bam-Bam Bigelow and says that becoming a Vice President in Washington is the perfect place. Piper says all the whining wrestlers in the back who want main events will be happy. Piper swears on Bill Clinton’s honor. Piper accepts the role of Vice President and shakes Flair’s hand. Piper asks if he’d take over if Flair got hit by a tobacco truck. Flair says he could drop at any time due to his age and Piper would take over.
Dean Malenko comes down to the ring to join the segment. Malenko says that someone waking up from a coma would think that nothing has changed over the past fifteen years ago. Malenko tells Flair that he’s sick and tired of being held down and he speaks on behalf of several other wrestlers. Malenko wants Flair to have some class step aside like several athletes have done in other sports. Flair dismisses the idea to pass the torch. Malenko says they are taking the torch whether they like it or not. Malenko asks Arn Anderson which side is he standing on. Anderson says a couple of years ago they wouldn’t have this discussion. Anderson says that greatness comes with excellence over time. Anderson says either you’re a horsemen or a casualty of the horsemen. Arn is staying where he’s been. Piper tries to tell Malenko to leave, but is push aside. That leads to Malenko being beaten down until Buff Bagwell runs into the ring and makes the save with strikes. Bagwell gets beaten down, as well. Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn try to run to the ring, but are beaten up by the Triad.
Bob’s Take: I enjoyed the segment, but Malenko being the seemingly de facto leader of the young group is a bit… odd. Especially since he’s the same age of some of the guys in the older group to begin with. Bagwell seems like he’d be the better choice to lead the charge. This segment screams to me as a setup for a War Games match at Fall Brawl as the endgame. I’d take it as Bagwell, Malenko, Saturn & Benoit vs. Flair, Piper, DDP & Bigelow at this moment. I don’t think that is a terrible approach. 2 for 6
MATCH #3: THE CAT VS. SCOTT NORTON
NOTE: Cat does a quick promo calling out Norton, and Norton answers the challenge.
FINISH: Late in the match, Norton accidentally clotheslines the referee. Sonny Ono hits Norton over the back with a crowbar. Cat ends up finishing Norton with a savant kick with his red shoe on.
Bob’s Take: Similar to Kidman/Morrus, this should have been on PPV since it has been a long running angle/bit and I’m not sure why Horace was put in the spot instead of Norton. With Cat winning the match there’s once again no reason to continue the bit. Norton is the kind of guy who could have gotten over as a babyface if given the proper opportunity to get over. 2 for 7
MATCH #4: DISCO INFERNO VS. VAN HAMMER
FINISH: Late in the match, the referee is knocked down and Hammer takes advantage with a back suplex and a handful of tights to win the match. After the match, Inferno hit the Chartbuster on the referee.
Bob’s Take: It looks like they are trying to push Hammer for real by giving him a major upset victory. However, they lost the crowd when Hammer fell wrong on a swinging neckbreaker attempt as by that point the crowd had chanted boring a few times. I’m not sure why Hammer didn’t use the cobra clutch slam. It’s also a bit interesting to see Inferno losing when he could have been a fixture in the young core group. Hammer shouldn’t be getting pushed and Inferno probably shouldn’t be in this spot losing to Hammer. This is bad booking overall. 2 for 8
MATCH #5: FIT FINLAY VS. BRIAN KNOBBS
FINISH: Late in the match, Hak whacks Knobbs with a kendo stick from the apron allowing Finlay to pin Knobbs.
Bob’s Take: It is safe to say that the fans didn’t care about this one, and I’m right there with them. For some reason we are continuing the Knobbs/Hak saga, and I’m not sure if anyone cares about the feud. Knobbs competing in a non-hardcore match is not something I wish to experience again. 2 for 9
HEY, THAT IS SABLE ON NITRO
CONTEXT: Cameras show Rena Mero (Sable in WWF) sitting in the front row. Bischoff has no idea what ‘she’ is doing here. There are several fans being annoying and trying to poke their head in there.
Bob’s Take: Ya know, anything can happen on Nitro. So, why not have someone suing the WWF on your program. It’s good for the unpredictable aspect, but there’s nothing long-term here to benefit WCW. 3 for 10
WCW WORLD CHAMPION KEVIN NASH WANTS SID TONIGHT
CONTEXT: Nash does his usual cheap heat antics at the start. Nash heard Savage run his mouth earlier about beating him last night for the belt. However, if that was case then Savage would be holding the title and not him. Nash suggests Savage see the people in the white coats after the show. Nash doesn’t care where Sid has been, but he wants Sid tonight for the strap. Nash is here to kick Sid’s ass. Nash calls out Sid to the ring even while wearing sandals. However, Sid appears on the big screen and say he knew what buttons to push. Sid says Nash made the biggest mistake of his life by inviting the devil to the ring. Sid will start with Nash tonight and asks if Nash can take it all the way. Nash promises to walk out tonight with the gold.
Bob’s Take: They have absolutely zero patience to be doing this on Nitro. Nobody will go into the main event thinking there’s a clean finish, so why even tune in. 3 for 11
MATCH #6: RIC FLAIR, RODDY PIPER & WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE & KANYON VS. BUFF BAGWELL, CHRIS BENOIT, DEAN MALENKO & PERRY SATURN
FINISH: Bagwell hits the Blockbuster on Flair picks up the clean pin.
Bob’s Take: There’s no denying that the crowd is interested in this angle. People may wonder why this isn’t the main event, and I think it’s all part of the story. The whole point is that the young core are not good enough to be in the main event. It’s a mostly average bout as there wasn’t much shine put on the young core aside from Bagwell, really. I guess it’s a bit hard to accomplish that with limited time. Anyway, Bagwell picking up a clean victory is a big moment for him and should be the beginning process of getting the young core elevated. Key phrasing.. should be. An enjoyable basic match with the crowd responding well. 4 for 12
MATCH #7: WCW TELEVISION CHAMPION RICK STEINER VS. HAK — NON-TITLE — HARDCORE
NOTE: Rick Steiner is wrestling the match wearing street clothes and is seemingly treating a hardcore match as a street fight.
FINISH: Late in the match, Sting ends up being hidden in the back of a hummer and attacks Steiner. Sting tosses Steiner through a trailer that is parked backstage. Sting attacks Steiner inside the arena and goes to the ring to cut a promo. Sting makes a joke about the dogs attacking him, and does his catchphrase. Sting whacks Steiner with another bat shot and carries Steiner backstage to end the segment.
Bob’s Take: It’s mindless brawling with some decent spots, but it’s not a memorable bout. The crowd erupted for Sting, which shows that Sting can be involved in a dumb angle, but the fans will still love him. The crowd couldn’t react to any of the spots since they were watching on the big screen. I’m not a fan of the match as its only purpose seemed to be for Sting to attack Steiner. 4 for 13
MATCH #8: KONNAN & REY MYSTERIO JR. VS. LA PARKA & PSYCHOSIS
NOTE: Brad Armstrong appears to have joined the No Limit Soldiers. Chase Tatum has also joined the group.
FINISH: Mysterio and Konnan pickup the win following a double pin. After the match, Curt Hennig, Barry Windham and Bobby Duncum Jr. hijacked DJ Ran’s station and they played their “I Hate Rap” song. Master P is fired up, but the crowd is booing Master P.
Bob’s Take: There was crowd interest in the match, but it came across as if the crowd grew tired of the action and it may have overstayed its welcome for the live audience. Konnan and Rey need to distance themselves from the Cruiserweight division. I thought it was an entertaining match despite the crowd dying out. The crowd is already turning on Master P, which is not a good sign. Decent action, bad aftermath. 5 for 14
RANDY SAVAGE WANTS THE TITLE
CONTEXT: Savage comes out before the main event and demands Nash to handover the WCW World Championship to him since he won last night. Nash says Savage is delusional, but Savage denies that and believes he’s the champion.
Bob’s Take: Okay, we get it. I think I’ve had enough of this. 5 for 15
MAIN EVENT: WCW WORLD CHAMPION KEVIN NASH VS. RANDY SAVAGE
NOTE: It was suppose to be Nash vs. Sid, but instead Savage comes out to challenge Nash for the title.
FINISH: Sid runs into the ring, but Nash delivers a few knee lifts. Nash fights off Savage with a side slam, but Sid decks Nash with a clothesline to cause a disqualification. Sting comes out with a baseball bat and cleans house to save Nash.
Bob’s Take: As a viewer, I’d be a little annoyed for the bait and switch. It’s got to be frustrating to watch a three hour show and the main event doesn’t happen. The whole point to the show tends to be the main event and we’ve been dealing with a lack of a finishes or even matches taking place to begin with. That has to be a major reason for viewership decline. Sting looks to have finished his feud with Rick Steiner and is going to be pivoted into a feud with Savage and/or Sid, which is a better spot for him to be in, I guess. 5 for 16
Well, that was a bit of a chore to get through. The only interesting aspect of the show is the young vs. old angle. Bagwell getting a clean pin fall on Flair is a memorable moment and should be a breakthrough moment for Bagwell to be elevated, well, the whole group should be getting elevated at some point.
Looks like they are setting the stage of a tag match with Sting & Nash vs. Savage & Sid, which could benefit Savage as a way to mask his inability to perform at this point. With how little patience WCW tends to have, this could be taking place next week on Nitro. I’m wondering if Sting hiding in the hummer earlier could be a used as a tease that he drove the hummer that hit Nash last week. Speaking of which, Nash hasn’t shown much injury from the attempted murder a week ago. If you’re going to do a major angle don’t insult the viewer intelligence.
Nitro 6/14 TV Rating: 3.2
Thanks for reading.