September 29, 2007
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
United Center, Chicago, Illinois
1/20/97

No theme song this week. We start in the arena and Tony welcomes us to the home of the World Champion Chicago Bulls, the Chicago Blackhawks, and Summerslam 94! Ok, so he mentioned two out of the three. As Larry mentions he was born in Chicago, “Macho Man” Randy Savage makes his way through the crowd and enters the ring. Savage has been MIA since Halloween Havoc 96 and has been the butt of Bischoff’s jokes on commentary for the past few weeks. Tony and Larry don’t know what to make of this at all, concluding that Savage doesn’t work here anymore.

The crowd is going nuts as Savage throws a chair in the ring and grabs the mic. Tony thinks he was in the stands. “Here’s the deal. I’ve been blackballed! I’m not leaving here tonight until I talk to somebody that’s got some major stroke!” A man of his word, Savage isn’t going anywhere, and threatens to sit there for the next two hours if he has to. He also has a message for Bischoff: “You can kiss my ass!” Larry doesn’t think you can say that on TV, but Tony points out that he just did. Savage is just sitting and waiting. Tony says our first match is supposed to be Chavo Guerrero, Jr. taking on Maxx and it’s supposed to be happening right now. Tony doesn’t know what to do, so Larry says they can watch and the executives can worry about this. Chavo’s music hits and Tony says we are going to get this match started, according to director Craig Leathers. Ok, we’ll have a match…. with a man sitting in the middle of the ring. Chavo is confused and so is the referee. Larry is enjoying this whole scene. Chavo is asking Savage to leave because he has a match. Tony says that it’s a smart move to reason with Savage. Yeah, right. Larry says he thought Savage was in psychotherapy. We could only hope. Tony wonders if the Executive Committee is here this week, like last week in New Orleans. Savage gets up and Tony assumes this means Chavo convinced Savage to leave. Amazingly enough, Savage instead attacks Chavo and throws him out of the ring. The crowd enjoyed that. Back to his seat goes Savage. Here comes Maxx. I guess he really wants to have his match, too. Maxx is a little more animated in trying to get Savage to leave. Savage takes out Maxx too. Back to the seat. The ref tries his best, to no avail, and he gets thrown over the top! Head of security Doug Dillenger is next and down he goes. Here comes Alex Wright for some reason. He goes down too. In the aisle we see the Amazing French Canadians (the Quebecers for you WWF fans) and the Steiners, both teams unsure of what to do. They all stand in the aisle and Jacques says “get out of here.” Yeah, that’ll work.

All of a sudden, Sting repels from the ceiling and the crowd explodes. Really a cool visual, because Sting comes right down in front of the Bulls 92 Championship banner. Sting casually walks to the ring, through the guys in the aisle, as they part like the Red Sea. He’s got his bat. Larry says Sting is with the nWo no matter what anyone says. Sting points the bat at Savage. Savage sits back down. Sting hits the chair with the bat while Savage is in it. Sting puts the bat to Savage’s throat and shoves him. Savage looks angry and goes to fight back, but Sting hands Savage the bat, turns around and asks Savage to hit him. Savage throws the bat back and they leave together through the crowd. Tony and Larry assume this means Savage is with the nWo too, because they assume Sting is. They are confused. Very interesting.

We see clips from the December 16, 1996 Nitro when Masahiro Chono reveals to Sonny Ono that he has joined the nWo. They yell at each other in Japanese and Mean Gene asks Sonny what Chono said. Sonny repeats it, in Japanese. Mean Gene: “In English, you idiot!” Clips from his match with Chris Jericho later in the night are also shown. Chono and Jericho will have a return match this Saturday at Souled Out.

Chris Jericho vs. Alex Wright

Oh, so that’s why Alex Wright came out. They exchange arm drags to start. Alex goes to work on the arm. Jericho reverses and locks in an arm ringer. Tony mentions an interview that aired two days ago on Saturday Night where Eric Bischoff puts down Savage and all of a sudden everything becomes clear to Larry. Glad to know he watches the weekend shows. Tony says they will show that interview later tonight, in case you missed it (like Larry). Side kick by Jericho gets a two count. Standing jumping leg kick by Alex and he starts kicking Jericho. Forearm shots and European uppercuts follow. Alex Wright is getting very physical while the fans chant “Boring”. Jericho reverses a German suplex attempt into a forward roll pinning combination and get the three count.

nWo Sting vs. Scotty Riggs

Riggs again does the “Smack, smack, smack” thing on his way to the ring. “Sting” doesn’t even get an entrance. “Sting” does a “wooooo!” and no one woooooo’s, so Riggs attacks from behind. Standing dropkick takes “Sting” down. Tony and Larry conclude they are going to call him “Stink” instead of Sting. Backdrop by Riggs takes “Stink” down. “Stink” then hits a stun gun on the top rope on Riggs and kicks away. “Stink” hits a backbreaker and gets a one count. Riggs fights back and hits a dropkick off the second rope. He gets up from covering “Stink” because of something in the aisle. In a great moment, the camera comes up from behind, and we see a guy with the word “Buff” on the back of his shirt and Tony is confused until the camera goes around to the front and Tony figures it all out. Wow. Riggs hits a forearm shot, but Bagwell and the rest of the nWo scrubs (Michael Wallstreet, Scott Norton, Bubba, Vincent and Nick Patrick) run in, so Riggs takes off. David Penzer tries to announce Riggs as the winner by DQ but the scrubs force him to say “Sting” is the winner by count-out.

Don’t forget, WCW Saturday Night is on at 6:05pm (right before Souled Out comes on) with a big six-man tag featuring Arn Anderson, Steve McMichael and Chris Benoit and the Harlem Heat will take on the Public Enemy in the main event. We then see clips of Ric Flair talking to Bob Probert of the Blackhawks. Bob has to be in Buffalo tonight, otherwise he’d be at Nitro taking on Hogan and the nWo. Flair gives us a “woooo!” Tony says he’d like Bob’s chances. Larry disagrees.

Arn Anderson and Steve “Mongo” McMichael vs. Jeff Jarrett and Eddie Guerrero

Tony says Mongo is returning to Chicago, as he played for the Bears, and the fans seem to be happy about it. Jarrett struts and they boo him. Tony says this is the biggest crowd to see a professional wrestling event so far in 1997. Quite a claim twenty days into the year. Arn and Jeff start the match. Shoulder block takes Arn down, but he comes back with a clothesline. Jarrett goes to the top rope and hits a high cross body block for two. Jeff tags in Eddie, who is sent into the Horsemen corner, but fights out. The crowd wants to see Arn tag in Mongo, so he does. Eddie gets a side headlock and Mongo powers him down with a shoulder block. Mongo gorilla press’s Eddie, but Eddie turns it into an arm drag. Mongo then back drops Eddie over the top and Mongo throws him into the safety rail, and back into the ring. Arn tags back in. Jarrett tags in and slams Arn. The camera shows Eddie Guerrero run out on the match, and Larry calls him a coward. Tony tells us Syxx was here and that’s why Eddie ran. Arn locks in a Boston crab on Jarrett while Mongo kicks Jeff in the back. Debra throws in her beauty queen sash and this constitutes an official decision. The Horsemen win, but Arn is mad about Debra throwing her sash in.

Mean Gene catches up with them at the entrance way and brings out Ric Flair! Flair’s going so nuts he almost tripped on his way out. The fans are loving it. Benoit and Woman come out and join the others. Flair has to tell it like it is – the Nature Boy is on the mend. And he’s not happy about the shenanigans going on between the Horsemen. He puts over Arn and says the old gang takes care of business before women get involved. He asks Chris and Mongo to be Horsemen first. Gene welcomes Mongo home. He says he is proud to be a Horsemen. Debra is Mrs. Illinois and says she knows what it’s like to be a winner and what they were doing to Jarrett wasn’t what winners do. Benoit says Mongo won a Super Bowl and Debra won a beauty pageant, but this is wrestling. Everyone leaves except Mongo and Debra. Mongo says they had Jarrett down, which Benoit couldn’t do himself recently. Debra puts down Woman.

It’s now time for the interview that aired on WCW Saturday Night in which Eric Bischoff blackballed Randy Savage. Easy E is lying on a motorcycle and says its not easy being him. He has to run two wrestling companies, the WCW and the nWo. He wouldn’t trade it for anything though. Liz is filming as he speaks. He puts over the Outsiders and says Hogan bought him the bike he is on. He calls Flair an old man, and says he tried to warn Piper. Everyone wants in his organizations, like the has-beens and misfits. He says The Giant fumbled at the goal line. He asks Liz what were the two things Randy Savage wanted most. She looks uncomfortable and not happy. Bischoff says the two things are Liz and his hair. He says he can manipulate people. “God I love being me.”

Cruiserweight Title Match: Dean Malenko vs. Ultimo Dragon (champion)

No entrances, and Tony is disgusted by Bischoff. The fans chant “ECW!” Malenko gets sent to the ropes and Dragon hits a nice dropkick. He follows up with front and back kicks. Malenko catches Dragon in mid-air and power slams him. This gets two. Malenko hits another power slam, for another two count. Malenko hits a brainbuster, and again gets two. Tony reminds us that tomorrow night at 8:05 Eastern on TBS, Clash of Champions 24 comes to you live from the Wisconsin Center (formerly the Mecca) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He tells us to expect Dean Malenko, Ultimo Dragon and Lex Luger vs. Scott Hall. Dean locks in a chin lock. Malenko goes to the ropes, but Dragon hits a handspring elbow in return and dumps Malenko outside. He throws Dean into the barricade and they go back in. They trade pinfall attempts and Dragon goes for his top rope hurricanrana. He hits it, but it only gets a two count! Malenko blocks a kick and turns it into an ankle lock, but Dragon gets to the ropes. Dragon rolls up Malenko in a Majistral cradle to get the three count and retain his title. Tony announces that they will have a rematch tomorrow night at the Clash. Tony thanks Larry and tells us hour two is next!

Tony welcomes us to hour two and brings in Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan. Tony is in a Blackhawks jersey. They discuss the Randy Savage situation as the fans chant “Weasel!” at Bobby. Tenay is confused. Brain calls Savage determined. We see highlights from earlier tonight. Brain says the nWo does whatever they want, whenever they want, so turnabout is fair play. Tenay remembers the 60s when sit-ins were popular, and Savage has decided 1997 is the time to bring them back.

WCW TV Title Match: Lord Steven Regal (champion) vs. Jacques Rougeau

Jacques would appreciate it if the Illinois hillbillies would stand up and join him in signing the Canadian national anthem. Brain: “Tony, sit down.” Jacques trails off after the first line because he doesn’t know the words. Colonel Robert Parker is with Jacques. Regal taunts the crowd. They trade arm bars while Tony says Eric tried to stop Piper, like he is trying to stop Savage, and he is doing all of it to protect Hogan. Regal gets sent outside and Parker hits him. Regal no sells it and Jacques comes up from behind to slam Regal’s head into the apron and throw him back in. Regal hits some European uppercuts and Parker grabs his foot when he goes to the ropes. Regal stomps on his fingers and Jacques wants Parker to come in and hit Regal. He holds Regal, but he ducks and Parker hits Jacque and the ref calls for the bell. Regal takes them both out of the ring and celebrates his DQ win.

They show the same nWo Souled Out commercial from last week highlighting Hogan/Giant, Outsiders/Steiners and Eddie/Syxx in the ladder match. Time for the 1-800-Collect Road Report with Lee Marshall, who is in Milwaukee, site of tomorrow’s Clash. Lee is cold, but the cheeseheads are keeping him warm. Tickets are still available. He sampled some of the local cuisine and wants to know if Tony or Mike ever tried sauerkraut and brat-weasel. He warns them not to. Heenan hopes Lee chokes on a kielbasa.

Kevin Sullivan vs. Chris Benoit

This is a preview of their “Pin Falls Count Anywhere” match signed for the Clash tomorrow night. Tenay says they can’t wait until tomorrow, and he’s right, as Benoit jumps Sullivan from behind during his entrance! They brawl in the aisle and head right for the stands. They head up into the concourse and brawl some more. Heenan says “Only on Nitro!” And they head for the men’s room. Jimmy Hart and Woman follow. Sullivan slams Benoit’s head in a stall door and throws him into a sign above a urinal. Woman is in the men’s room! Benoit pounds away as Doug Dillenger tries to break it up and get’s thrown on the ground for his troubles. Brain says the match has not officially started yet; there was no bell. They leave the men’s room and Tony hopes they don’t go to the ladies room. The cameraman can’t get through all the fans in the hallway. Woman is wielding her high heel! We pick the action back up in the arena as Sullivan has thrown Benoit down the arena steps, back onto the arena floor. If you want more of this, tune in the Clash tomorrow night. Sullivan stole someone’s beer and threw it at Benoit, which seems to have motivated him and he fights back, and throws a beer right back at Kevin! They finally make it in the ring and the bell sounds. Benoit puts Sullivan on the top rope and calls for a back suplex, Scott Hall style. Sullivan fights free and ties Benoit to the tree of woe, but he fights free of that and chops away at Sullivan. Low blow by Sullivan leads to an atomic drop on Benoit, who goes into the turnbuckle and bounces back into Sullivan. Their heads collided, so they are both down. Woman gets up on the apron to ask the ref to stop this. This gives Jimmy Hart the opportunity to hand Sullivan the ring bell, who holds it up when Benoit goes for his diving top rope headbutt. Well, that was nuts, you could hear the bell ring when Benoit hit it. Jimmy Hart puts Sullivan on top of Benoit and Kevin Sullivan gets the three count! Woman tends to Benoit, who is out cold. The announcers look for more of the same tomorrow night.

Tony, Mike and Bobby start to run down the Souled Out card for Saturday night, only getting out the title match with Hogan and The Giant before the nWo music hits. Bischoff, Nash, Syxx, Buff, Vincent, Scott Norton, Michael Wallstreet, Bubba and Ted Dibiase chase off Tony, Mike and Bobby. Eric, Nash and Dibiase take over announcing duties. Bischoff says we have tag action coming up, so, of course, here’s a singles match.

Jim Duggan vs. Pierre Ouelette

Pierre screams something in French Canadian on his way out and Nash tells him to shut up and calls him fat. Like Jacques before, Pierre is going to sing the anthem and tells everyone to stand up. Nash tells him to lie down and do a couple of sit-ups. They cut Pierre’s mic and here comes Duggan with his WCW flag. The announcers don’t like that one bit. Duggan wants to fight Sting after what happened last week. Nash wants to go beat up Duggan right now and spray paint him. Bisch says, later. Bischoff says he is changing things. Masa Chono came all the way from Japan to wrestle, but he’s not booked tonight, so Easy E books him against Dave Taylor (who was supposed to wrestle Psychosis) because Chono needs a tune up for the PPV. Bisch also takes Rick Steiner out of his match with Booker T and puts Scott Hall in, citing the fact that “this is a horrible show…. the way they got it laid out here.” Well, he said it. According to Eric, it’s the first time Hall will wrestle a one-on-one match on Nitro. Duggan takes control and Pierre bails. Jacques is out to distract Duggan, which A) isn’t hard to do, and B) works. Pierre takes control and goes up top for a big leg drop while Nash discusses his thoughts on the Sullivan/Woman/Benoit problems. “If they take care of things the way I do, they just say, ‘Hey sweetheart, the money’s on the dresser, I’ll talk to you later,’ it’d be over with.” As that is going on, the Steiners make their way to ringside. They have a match with the Amazing French Canadians tomorrow night at the Clash, and they want to stop this illegal double-teaming. Rick takes out Jacques, and in the melee, Scott hits Pierre, which allows Duggan to tape his fist and nail Pierre, right in front of the ref. That’ll do it and Duggan is your winner. The nWo calls them all cheaters. Nash says Duggan is amazing – he somehow obtained a wrist injury and treated HIMSELF during the match then hit Pierre with it. Bischoff says Savage wants to be in the nWo since he left with Sting before.

Bischoff welcomes us back to nWo Monday Nitro and shows footage of The Outsiders attacking DDP at Starrcade. Hall puts him in the Edge and Dibiase calls it a wake up call. The following Nitro, Page has no comment on the proceedings. All he says he is going to fix things. While we watch the clips, Nash keeps making fun of Page in real time. Page: “Maybe I’m a little thick headed.” Nash: “No, you!?” Eric: “He had so much potential.” Nash: “He could have been a contenda! But now he’s gonna be a bum, and that’s what he’s gonna be. Stella!” We move to last week’s Nitro and Page hit Hall in a diamond cutter. Nash: “JUDAS!”

Masahiro Chono vs. Squire Dave Taylor

Taylor’s got some new attire. He looks like he’s a fox hunter. Nick Patrick runs down in his nWo shirt and hat and gets the WCW ref, Mark Curtis, out of the ring. He’ll be in charge of this match. Nash, on Taylor: “Is that Sherlock Holmes?” Chono attacks from behind. He locks in a sleeper and drops him down. Bischoff tells Jericho, he’s in for some of the same at Souled Out. Flying shoulder block off the top by Chono. Taylor hits a sunset flip and Nick Patrick gives a slow 1 count. Chono reverses and gets a fast two count. Was that so hard, Nick? European uppercuts by Taylor as Bischoff promises us nWo Souled Out will be one of the most unique and memorable PPVs ever. They all agree the Miss nWo contest will be sweeeeet. Taylor and Chono fight outside the ring and Chono gets sent into the barricade. Back in the ring, Chono hits an inverted atomic drop and a kick to the head. He then locks in the STF, which Nash calls “a leg maneuver” and Taylor submits. Bischoff calls him Masa “My Hiro” Chono. Scott Hall is in action next.

Scott Hall vs. Booker T

Sister Sherri brings Booker T out. Hey, someone actually did mention Summerslam 94. Nash: “Me and Scott actually had a match that opened this building. I don’t want to get into it.” Eric: “You and I were actually discussing that last night while we were watching that mess of a PPV (Royal Rumble).” Hey, you still watched it, apparently. Bischoff sarcastically begs the people not to wear the nWo colors to the competition because he feels really bad. Nash mocks the 900 lines saying that people are sleeping with people in the nWo but he can’t get into it, so you’d have to call his 900 number to find out more. Nick Patrick is ref for this match, too. Hall mocks Book, so Book slaps him. Nash calls it poor sportsmanship. Hall takes control, locks in an arm bar and paint brushes Book. This only annoys him and he nails Hall with a side hook kick. This is a warm-up for Scott Hall who will fight Lex Luger at the Clash tomorrow. They kind of screw up a jumping side kick and Bisch covers by saying Scott moved into it to avoid the full impact. Hall catches Booker T and hits the throw-a-slam. Hall puts Book up top for the back suplex but it is reversed into a spinning cross body block, which Nick Patrick VERY slowly counts. Nash says it was a quick count. Book attacks Nick and Buff comes down to yell at Sherri, as Hall hits the Outsider Edge on Book. That’ll do it. Bischoff says Hollywood Hogan is in the house. Nash puts him over.

Stevie Ray vs. Lex Luger

Bisch welcomes us back and says the nWo is going to make its presence known tomorrow night at the Clash. As Stevie Ray makes his way to the ring, Nash says “Didn’t this guy just get beat up by Scott? Oh wait, this is the other one.” Sherri is with Stevie. He looks at the camera and says they haven’t forgotten about the nWo and when he’s done with Luger, they’re coming for them, and “it’s gonna be on like neckbone.” Nash wonders what that means. Luger comes out to a big pop. Nash says Hall will beat him tomorrow night. Nash hates Luger a little more every week. Nick Patrick is still refereeing, so Luger turns to yell at him and Stevie Ray attacks from behind. He pounds on Luger in the corner. Now Stevie yells at the ref, so Luger takes control and pounds away on Stevie in the corner. Stevie dumps Luger to the outside and throws him into the guardrail. Easy E tells Ted and Vincent to go make sure everything is okay with Hollywood, who will be out next. Sherri attacks Luger while he’s down and chokes him with her scarf. Syxx joins the commentary now. Luger hits a powerslam and puts Stevie in the Torture Rack to get the win. Nash: “Lex Luger, we do not like you.” Syxx says they know Luger from way back and he’s a prim Donna. On his way out, Luger lets his hair down and Nash proclaims it’s “a little something for the ladies.” We see replays and Bisch is not happy, he doesn’t want to see Luger win, again.

And here comes Hollywood Hogan with Trillionaire Ted and Vincent. The crowd is cheering. Bischoff, Nash and Syxx are gushing. They conclude he’s going to beat The Giant at the PPV, again. They wonder why Giant and the others keep coming back for more. Nash: “It’s like the kid who keeps touching the stove. I tell you, it’s still hot.” Ted calls Hogan the only true icon. Hogan says they want to see his pythons, so he gives them a gun show. Hogan says they partied last night in the Windy City. But when the 747 was going down, he punched out the sides and used his arms as the wings. This is getting into Warrior promo territory. He calls Giant a pimple-infested crybaby. He’ll beat him at Souled Out. Now there are “Hogan Sucks!” chants. Hogan asks Ted if he should show Giant mercy if he begs for it. Ted says no. Hogan met Giant’s mom and told her he was a good boy. The lights are up and here comes The Giant. Bisch, Nash and Syxx scream for someone to stop him. Nash: “I have a gas bubble or I’d go down there.” Syxx: “I guess I gotta go help.” Once security holds him back, Hogan takes the opportunity to call Giant a coward. This annoys him, so Giant winds up and throws 6+ security guys off him. And….. we’re out of time!

Next week, the Souled Out fallout.