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February 1, 2007
Frank Koenen
WCW Monday Night Nitro
November 25, 1996
-Well, this will probably be the first in a line of reviews that I do for Nitro from WWE 24/7, on Graham’s new WCW site. If you want to know what’s happened on Raw this week, go to Graham’s WWE History site for a review. Unlike Raw, which still will occasionally feature what are essentially squash matches, I’m going to give a rating to every Nitro match.
-At this point in Nitro history, the nWo is dominant.
It consists of Hall, Nash, Hogan, Nick Patrick (kinda,
look at the WW3 recap), DiBiase, Giant, Vincent (aka
Virgil), Syxx, nWo Sting (on occasion), Miss Elizabeth
and the newest member, as of last week, Eric Bischoff.
Ric Flair is out with injury, the Horsemen are in
disarray as they don’t seem to be accepting Jarrett as
a new member (Mongo especially). Sting is in the
rafters, wearing black and white, the nWo has been
actively trying to get him to join, and the announcers
continue to speculate whether he’s nWo or not. Luger
is being Luger and feuding with Arn Anderson. The
Cruiserweights continue to put on exciting matches.
Benoit is feuding with Sullivan. I think that’s all
the main stuff, anything else will be explained in the
next few weeks.
LIVE from the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland
HOUR ONE
-Hosted by Tony Shiavone & Larry Zybysko
-Tony and Larry talk about the contract signing
between Hollywood Hogan and Roddy Piper at World War
III to open the show and they show some still photos.
They also say the entirety of the contract signing
will be shown later on Nitro. Well that sure shows you
should just watch Nitro and skip PPVs.
1) US Title Tournament Quarter Final Match: Lex Luger
vs. Arn Anderson -World War 3 highlights are shown.
-The nWo make their way out with Eric Bischoff leading
them. This time out we have Bischoff, Vincent, Syxx,
Giant, Nash, and Hall. The mic takes a while to kick
in. Bischoff talks about being jackknifed by Nash at
the Great American Bash that year. Bischoff says he
considered that he either could be consumed by the
power or be part of the force. Bischoff says they
consolidated power, and he’s the highest ranking
official in both WCW and the nWo.
Then in what many consider the turning point (for the
worse) for the nWo, Bischoff says everyone within WCW
must sign nWo contracts within thirty days. They’re
either with them or against them. Thus the aura of an
elite group is over. The American Males (essentially a
lower card jobber team at this point, so what a great
way to start watering down this previously elite
group) make their way down to the ring. Bagwell high
fives everyone, but Scotty Riggs is against it, so
Bagwell gives him a neckbreaker. The crowd chants nWo.
2) Diamond Dallas Page vs. Disco Inferno -Mean Gene comes in the ring to interview DDP. DDP
says that the nWo wants him now because he has the
Diamond Cutter. Mean Gene asks DDP if he’s nWo or not.
DDP managed Hall (as the Diamond Stud) when he came
in, tagged with Nash (as Vinnie Vegas), and Bischoff
was his neighbor, so it’s highly suspected he’s
affiliated with the nWo. Mean Gene brings up those
points. He stays very ambiguous about it, never giving
a clear cut answer.
3) WCW Television Champion Steven Regal vs. Tony Pena -Mean Gene interviews Rick Steiner after the match, he
talks about being in Japan. Rick says him and Scott
are 101% WCW. He doesn’t understand Sting’s motives,
although he says it, uh, in his retarded interview
style. He puts down the nWo during the interview as
well.
HOUR TWO
-Hosted by Tony Schivone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay
4) US Title Tournament Quarter Final Match: Konnan vs.
Eddie Guerrero -They show some more still photos from World War 3,
since the nWo interrupted them last time they were
recapping it.
5) Big Bubba (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Rick Steiner 6) Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis -Mean Gene interviews Chris Benoit with Woman. He’s
got a black eye from the brawl he had with Sullivan in
Baltimore the night before World War 3, which was a
house show they promoted for a few weeks on
Nitro. Benoit talks about Sullivan, and how the entire
Dungeon of Doom couldn’t beat him. Benoit also talks
about Sullivan having the corporate connections. Of
course, Sullivan was a booker at the time. Woman tells
Sullivan it’s over.
-They then show footage from World War 3. Piper comes
out with his own contract and says let’s get it done
Hogan. The nWo then come out, it’s only Bischoff,
DiBiase, Vincent, and Giant. Tony has a smarkish
comment about “I never thought I’d see Eric and Vince
walking down the aisle together.” He says Hogan was
busy reading scripts. Piper tells Vincent “I taught
you how to fight, so get out of my way,” in reference
to the Virgil-DiBiase program. Piper verbally abuses
Bischoff, calling him a Eddie Munster lookalike. Piper
has still got it on the mic and continues to lay into
Eric. Piper says he wants to know how much he’ll be
fined for knocking out Bischoff. Bischoff tries to
look at the contract, but Piper slaps his hand like a
little child. This is some pretty good stuff. Piper
calls out Hogan, and he finally comes out with Giant,
Nash, Hall, Syxx, and Miss Elizabeth. Hogan says Piper
was his equal 10 years ago, but now he has had his hip
surgery. Wow, holy alliteration (on my part). Hogan
lifts up Piper’s kilt and shows the scar from the
surgery. Hogan calls Piper a “cripple” and “Pegleg
Pete.” Hogan signs the contract, and then Piper slaps
him. So the nWo beat him down. Hogan hits Piper’s hip
with a chair. They continue to attack Piper, and Hogan
spraypaints “nWo” on Piper’s leg. He then spits on
Piper.
7) Alex Wright vs. Jeff Jarrett -Still photos from the World War 3 battle royal
8) Faces of Fear vs. Harlem Heat (w/Sherri) Final Comments: Wow, what a dull show for the follow
up to a PPV and what should be the beginning of them
trying to sell the biggest show of the year. The only
interesting segment that night was Bischoff announcing
that everyone had to make their contracts nWo within
the month. Otherwise, nothing seemed to happen.
Raw vs. Nitro: Nitro (barely)
1) J Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon pinned Rey Mysterio
at 13:48. This was a decent match which I’ve seen
before, though it may be better than I judge it,
because I’m not in particular a fan of pure lucha.
2) Chris Jericho (with one arm tied behind his back)
pins Nick Patrick at 8:02. This stemmed from Patrick
being a supposed corrupt referee for the nWo, but by
this point he was just being a thorn in the babyfaces
side.
3) The Giant pinned Jeff Jarrett at 6:05 after Sting
attacked Jarrett. See Jarrett is trying to avenge Ric
Flair, who the Giant stole the US title belt from.
Jarrett has also been talking trash about Sting, so
that’s why he attacked him.
4) Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri) beat Jacques Rougeau
& Pierre Oulette (w/Col. Rob Parker) at 9:14 and
Sherri gets time with Rob Parker. This stemmed from
Parker not marrying Sherri.
5) Sherri beat Parker by countout at 1:30
6) WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko pinned
Psicosis at 14:33.
7) WCW Tag Team Champions The Outsiders beat The Faces
of Fear and the Nasty Boys at 16:08. At the time, the
Nasty Boys were on the outs in storyline with WCW,
because they tried to join the nWo, but they started
making demands before they joined. In reality, I think
they were suppose to join, but Sags got in trouble for
getting drunk and talking out of his ass (literally),
which he called his “Bischoff impression,” this was
all on Nitro (during the infamous hotel skits).
8) The Giant won World War 3 at 28:21. It came down to
Nash, Hall, Giant, and Syxx against Luger. Luger
tossed out Hall & Syxx, got Nash in the Torture Rack,
and this let the Giant throw both men out.
Ric Flair was the last United States Heavyweight
Champion, but got he got injured sometime in
September. The Giant stole the US title belt from him,
as they were going to wrestle at Halloween Havoc, but
it never happened. So this is the beginning of a
tournament to crown a new US Champion. Luger and
Anderson had been feuding over the past few months,
because of Luger tapping at Wargames after begging
Anderson to join his team. So they fought at Halloween
Havoc, and Anderson “injured” his back. This was after
Anderson got the injury that eventually ended his
career. Anderson has his lower back taped up. They
lock up after a minute. Anderson gets a couple shots
on Luger out of the corner, but Luger does some elbows
followed by several shoulder blocks. Anderson bails to
the outside. Luger goes out and brings Anderson over
to the corner post, and wraps Anderson’s left arm
around it. Then he continues working the arm over by
the ropes. Luger starts to kick at the shoulder.
Dumbass, his back is taped up, maybe you should focus
on that instead. Kind of think he’d know that, since
he was the person who gave him that very injury, but
this is WCW, babyfaces have an IQ of 2 or less. Luger
with double sledge shots on Anderson in the corner.
Luger locks on an arm ringer, then gets him to the
mat, and drops a leg on the arm. Anderson with a drop
toe hold, but Luger locks on a hammerlock, driving the
knee in a few times. Anderson gets into the ropes, and
then starts going after Luger’s midsection. Anderson
telegraphs a move and Luger takes advantage. Luger is
continuing to work over the arm. We then go to a
break. Back from the break, Anderson has a headlock,
but Luger fights out of it. Anderson delivers a knee
to the face of Luger. Anderson comes off the second
rope, but Luger catches him with an elbow. Luger
messes up a whip by following Anderson with it, and
Anderson hits him for fucking up. GO ARN! Anderson
chokes Luger on the apron and follows with an elbow to
the throat. Anderson catapults Luger’s throat into the
bottom rope. He gets a couple of two counts. Anderson
throws Luger outside and follows. Luger pushes
Anderson into the ringpost and then the apron to
finally work over the back. If WCW didn’t have so many
retarded babyfaces everything would get done so much
quicker. Back inside, Luger gets a vertical suplex.
The Giant then starts bitching from the audience with
a microphone saying that he owns the US title. Luger
is working over Anderson in the corner as Giant keeps
talking. Anderson DDTs Luger, but Luger puts his foot
on the bottom rope. Another knee to the face of Luger
by Anderson. Anderson goes up top, but Luger knocks
him down. Luger clotheslines Anderson over the top
rope. Luger tries a double axehandle from the apron,
but Anderson catches him. Anderson attempts a
piledriver, but Luger reverses into a back body drop.
Luger puts Arn in the torture rack outside of the
ring. The referee tells him to get back in the ring,
but this is Lex Luger, a babyface in WCW, we’re
talking about, so he ignores it. The bell rings
prematurely, which means that there is gonna be a
double countout. Low and behold, the referee counts
both men out. You think Luger would have learned about
count-outs after Summerslam ‘93, but apparently not.
Match was okay, but amazing considering Anderson’s
condition at the time. I’m guessing Anderson was
calling it. **½
WINNER: Double Count-Out at 12:30 (without
commercials)
Tony says the back is in disorder and that he has no
idea what may go down in the next few weeks. Gotta
admit, they do a good job of creating a feeling of
unpredictability. DDP attacks Inferno to start, not
even letting him get his jacket off. The bell is a
little late to start, that is the second bell snafu of
the night. DDP drops Inferno on the top rope, crotch
first. DDP keeps beating on Inferno. Disco gets a
couple of swinging neckbreakers though. Some
showboating, let’s Page get a shot in, but Disco goes
right back at him. They trade fists with one another,
with Page finally knocking Disco down. DDP gets a
Diamond Cutter out of nowhere for the win. Essentially
a squash. At this point, Page was being built up as a
guy who could get the Diamond Cutter out of nowhere.
*1/2
WINNER: Diamond Dallas Page at 2:14
Regal right away with a headlock, followed by an
arm-ringer, but Pena gets out of it. Pena tries a take
down, but Regal gets him to the ground and locks on a
headlock. Regal stomps at Pena. Pena then comes back
with chops, and tries a shoulder block. Regal delivers
a kick then an uppercut. Regal gets some shots on Pena
in the corner. Pena DDTs Regal, but doesn’t get the
pin. Regal maneuvers into a nice butterfly suplex.
Regal beats Pena with a Regal Stretch. Regal is always
good, and this was a decent squash. *1/2
WINNER: Lord Steven Regal at 3:05
The second hour begins only a minute after the match
starts. They start quickly with Guerrero hitting an
armdrag, hurricanrana, and plancha within the first
thirty seconds among other things. Konnan has Guerrero
in some sort of submission hold, that I can’t see
well. Konnan clotheslines Guerrero. In the corner,
Konnan stomps on Guerrero. Konnan with a suplex on
Guerrero. Konnan hammerlocks Guerrero. Konnan suplexes
Guerrero again. The announcers are barely focusing on
the match. Konnan with a powerbomb. Konnan gets a leg
lock on Guerrero. Konnan releases it then slams
Guerrero, he goes up top, but Eddie catches him with a
drop kick. Guerrero is making his comeback, giving
Konnan ten shots in the corner. Eddie goes up top, but
Konnan catches him and gives him a superplex. He
covers him, but then gets off of him. Konnan goes for
a powerbomb, but I think Eddie fucks up a hurricanrana
and gets the win. A decent match. **
WINNER: Eddie Guerrero at 5:24
Rick yells to the camera he can’t trust Sting. Bubba
starts right away pounding on Steiner. Steiner however
catches Bubba coming out of the corner and gives him a
suplex/back body drop. Bubba goes outside and Steiner
delivers an elbow from the apron. Back in the ring,
Steiner gives Bubba a body slam for a two count.
Steiner gives a nice German suplex to Bubba which gets
two. Sting is in the audience, going towards the ring.
Steiner delivers a bulldog from the second rope on
Bubba. Steiner clotheslines Bubba to the outside, as
Sting makes his descent to the ring. Sting jumps in
the ring and gives Steiner a Scorpion Death Drop.
Bubba rolls back in the ring and covers Steiner for
the win. They started out quickly, and it had
potential, but the match ended too quickly. *
WINNER: Big Bubba at 3:16
Funny thing as Heenan uses a Dennis Rodman reference,
only months later he’d be in the promotion. Mysterio
starts with an arm-ringer, but Psicosis reverses it
into one of his own. Ultimo Dragon (at the time J
Crown Champion) and Sonny Onno come out. Mysterio does
his non offensive 619. Mysterio goes over the top
rope, and the announcers wonder if that’s a DQ. When
was the last time anyone was disqualified for throwing
someone over the top rope? In fact I’m pretty sure
someone else got thrown over the top rope in the last
few weeks (maybe it was even earlier on the show) on
Nitro. Psicosis delivers a guillotine leg drop for a
two count. Psicosis brings Mysterio up top, he tries a
splash mountain, but Mysterio reverses it into a
hurricanrana for the win. It was a bleh short lucha
match. ½*
WINNER: Rey Mysterio Jr. at 2:20
They start with trading arm ringers and arm locks.
Jarrett takes control of the match. Wright hits a
couple of sloppy hurricanranas followed by a dropkick.
Jarrett then takes back control of the match. A
spinning back kick by Wright. Wright gets a splash
from the top. Wright goes to kick in the corner, but
catches himself on the top rope. Jarrett gets a figure
four leg lock. Nothing match. DUD
WINNER: Jeff Jarrett at 2:19
Tony mentions that The Giant is in Jingle All the Way,
coming out that week. Stevie begins with Meng, and
trades shots. Meng chokes Stevie on the ropes. Stevie
Ray gets a big boot. Booker gets a Harlem sidekick.
Barbarian powerbombs Booker. All four men begin
brawling in the ring. Meng hits a back breaker on
Booker. Stevie enters the ring as Meng tries a
powerbomb. They begin brawling, but the nWo comes out
calling for a no contest, I guess. Typical nWo
beatdown begins, Giant chokeslams a bunch of guys.
Fans throw trash into the ring, and that’s the end of
the show. The match turned out to be nothing. DUD
WINNER: No Contest at 4:10