November 12, 2007
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
Arco Arena, Sacramento, California
2/24/97

We are twenty-four hours removed from Superbrawl VII as Nitro comes on the air. We are live in the arena and Tony welcomes us to the show.

The Public Enemy vs. Steve “Mongo” McMichael and Jeff Jarrett

Debra is with the Horsemen and a table accompanies the PE to ringside. We are shown stills, courtesy of WCW Magazine, of Public Enemy winning the triangle match just last night against Harlem Heat and The Faces of Fear by taking advantage of the referee’s distraction. Tony then tells us that Jeff Jarrett is now a member of the Four Horsemen and we again see stills from the pay per view showing us Jarrett beating Mongo after Debra “accidentally” threw Jarrett the briefcase to use. As Jarrett and Mongo come out, they aren’t even paying attention to each other. Tony tells us that there are really five active horsemen now, which makes me shake my head. Rocco Rock, who is now bald, and Mongo start the match. They lock up and Mongo powers Rock back to the corner. Tony tells us that Hollywood Hogan retained his title last night with the help of, believe it or not, “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Larry says Savage shocked the world, and more specifically, Piper. Tony assumes Savage has signed with the nWo. Both guys make tags and Grunge hiptosses Jarrett as he comes in. Johnny maintains the advantage with a swinging neckbreaker. The crowd is way behind both teams. Johnny tags back in Rocco and he hits a back elbow on Jarrett. Jarrett misses an elbow in the corner but Mongo hits Rock from behind and the Horsemen take advantage. Mongo tags in and leg drops Rocco on the back on his head after Jarrett hits a drop toe hold. Tony, Larry and I are all shocked that there was teamwork there. Jarrett tags back in and chokes Rocco on the top rope. Another quick tag back to Mongo who hits a knee clip to the front of Rock then one to the back and tags Jarrett back in. Jarrett powerbombs Rocco out of a leap frog, but only gets two when Johnny breaks it up. As the referee tries to get Grunge out of the ring, Jarrett calls for the briefcase and Mongo obliges by blatantly nailing Jeff in the back with it! The crowd explodes and Rocco makes the cover for the three count! Debra is not happy, but Mongo doesn’t care. Ric Flair and Arn Anderson come to the ring and Mean Gene is right behind them.

Gene is confused. He asks Mongo what he was trying to prove. Mongo says everyone saw what Jarrett did to him last night. Jarrett’s up and he isn’t happy. Mongo says it’s basically an eye for an eye. Flair’s got the mic. He says Jeff won and the stipulation said that means he’s a Horsemen. They need team players. Arn says the Dungeon and the nWo are getting stronger, Giant and Lex are together, Flair’s not at 100% and Arn isn’t feeling well. Mongo and Jarrett are the only two healthy Horsemen, so they have to get along. Mongo says he can mess with Jarrett, but no one else can, so he wants to shake hands. They shake and everyone shows four fingers.

We go to Tony and Larry in the booth and Larry thinks Jeff and Mongo can’t get along no matter what and this may be the beginning of the end for the Horsemen. Tony promises many more stills from Superbrawl tonight.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Galaxy

Tony is still upset about Piper losing and Larry says there used to be professionalism in wrestling, but Savage proved professionalism is dead. Hacksaw goes to work on Galaxy in the corner and Tony tries to figure out why Savage did what he did. He thinks Savage knew, all the way back to Nitro in the United Center in Chicago when he returned, that he had no other choice because he was blackballed. Back drop by Duggan followed by a power slam and a clothesline. Galaxy bails. Larry says Savage sold his soul. Duggan follows him out and throws Galaxy into the guardrail then slams him on the concrete. Tony points out that Duggan is wearing the WCW colors of purple and gold now. Back in the ring and Galaxy tries to pound on Duggan to no avail. Duggan with a big forearm to the back and he puts Galaxy on the top rope and pounds away. Tony says Piper won again by putting Hogan to sleep, but his foot was under the ropes. Galaxy goes for a moonsault and Duggan hits the three point stance clothesline followed by the taped fist punch for the win. He yelled “HOGAN!” and he hit the guy.

After the match, Mean Gene interviews Duggan. Hacksaw says he’s sick over what Savage did last night. First it was Terry (who Mean Gene clarifies is Hogan) and now Savage. Don’t they remember the Make-A-Wish Foundation? They all have black hearts. He won’t quit and he won’t stop. Hogan knows Duggan can beat his “a….” but Gene stops him because we are on national television. When did he ever beat Hogan up? He also says he’ll beat up Savage and any other nWo goons. He says he didn’t beat up Bubba because Bubba looked too good for what Duggan would have done to him and he said he isn’t afraid to attack from the front door instead of the back. Hoooooo!

Hugh Morrus vs. Joe Gomez

Tony tells us to sign onto WCWwrestling.com and listen to tonight’s broadcast in Spanish and Japanese right now! (If you try going to that site now, you’ll just redirect to WWE.com). Tony then tries to sell the encore presentation of the pay per view and it’s pretty funny since he’s got to get you to buy the show while telling you Piper lost. They lock up and there’s a clean break in the corner. Hugh Morrus then backs Gomez into the corner and just pounds away. Gomez hits a surprise school boy pin for a one count. Hugh sends him to the ropes and tries a knee, but Gomez rolls him up for two this time. He then puts on an arm bar. Morrus is up and backs Gomez into the corner. He sends Hugh to the opposite turnbuckle, but Morrus comes back out with a clothesline and rakes the eyes of Joe. Gomez misses a boot but hits a dropkick and reapplies the arm bar. Hugh catches Joe trying a leap frog and spine busts him. He follows that up with the No Laughing Matter moonsault for the win.

Ice Train vs. La Parka

Teddy Long is with Ice Train. We see pre-recorded comments from Teddy saying he is not happy with Miss Jacqueline. He tells her that she scarified herself for Kevin Sullivan but he wouldn’t do the same for her. He tells her to get out before it’s too late. Tony is intrigued by Teddy Long’s interests. Tony says Teddy warned her on WCW Saturday Night and apparently Jacqueline should have listened as she was taken out at the pay per view. Larry says Teddy and Sullivan go way back, but Teddy better be careful. Train is in total control. He punches and kicks at La Parka, who tries to mount some offense, but it doesn’t work. Train chops away and sends Parka to the ropes and follows with a hiptoss for two. Back to the ropes and La Parka gets powerslammed. Again to the ropes and this time train hits a huge shoulderblock. To the ropes again, this time Parka ducks a clothesline and hits a spinning heel kick off the top rope on Train. This gets a two count but Ice Train sends Parka flying when he kicks out. Parka tries a cross body block but Train catches him and drops him down. Tony says Train’s career was going nowhere until Teddy Long helped him. Head butt in the corner on Parka, who gets sent to the other corner and hits with an avalanche splash. Parka goes to the eyes and follows with some spin kicks. Train rolls out and Teddy tells him to get focused, but La Parka hits a spinning plancha over the top and takes Ice Train down! He throws Train back in and tries to capitalize with running clotheslines, but Train responds by basically taking Parka’s head off with a huge lariat. He follows that up with a scoop slam and then catches La Parka coming off the top rope and drops him down again. The Train Wreck standing splash gets the win. After the match, Teddy tells us he and Train are happy to be on the West side.

Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero vs. The Faces of Fear

Jimmy Hart is with the Faces. Tony wants to send a special message to a man he hopes is watching – Roddy Piper. He says that Piper is the World champion, in his eyes. He also proved he was the icon by putting Hogan to sleep. Larry agrees. Tony shows us some still shots of Eddie Guerrero defending his US title against Chris Jericho at Superbrawl last night. Jericho took the fight to Eddie but Eddie used his veteran skills to retain his title. They shook hands after the match, which is why they are teaming here. Jericho and Barbarian start. They lock up and Barbarian uses his power against Jericho. Jericho uses his speed to fight back and gets Barbarian into the corner and hits a dropkick then makes a quick tag to Eddie. He sends Barbarian to the ropes but gets planted on his face for his troubles. Barbarian throws Eddie into his corner and tags in Meng who chops away on him. Big head butt stops an attempted Eddie comeback. Meng hits a HUGE power bomb but Eddie fights back with a flying head scissor and makes a tag to Jericho. The two of them hit a backdrop of Meng and Jericho gets a two count out of it. Jericho runs to the ropes and Barbarian hits him from behind allowing Meng to side suplex Jericho. Barbarian tags in and hits a top rope belly to belly suplex all the way across the ring! Eddie pulls Jericho’s foot under the rope to stop the pinfall attempt. Jericho tries to roll up Barbarian but only gets two. Meng tags back in and head butts Jericho again. He throws Jericho into the corner but Jericho reverses it with a cross body block, but it only gets two. Meng kicks away and chokes Jericho again. Eddie tries to get in but the distraction allows Barbarian to come in and beat up Jericho behind the referee’s back. Quick tag to Barbarian and Meng backdrops Jericho, Barbarian catches him and power bombs him. Good move. It would have gotten three if Eddie didn’t make the save. Barbarian pulls Jericho back to his corner and tags in Meng. Each Face goes to a different corner and they hit their top rope double head butts. Another two as Eddie makes the save. Barbarian locks in a head lock and follows it up with a slam. He tags back in Meng, who kicks Jericho and sends him to the ropes. Jericho hits a moonsault off the second ropes and almost makes the tag. Meng’s got his leg though, so Jericho hits an enzuiguri and finally makes the hot tag to Eddie. Eddie hits European uppercuts and tags Meng down with a dropkick. Jericho comes off the top with a cross body, but he isn’t the legal man. Double dropkick makes Meng fall back into Barbarian who tags in. Jericho and Eddie suplex Barbarian. Jericho goes for the Lionsault but Meng pulls the rope and Jericho slips outside the ring hard. Eddie goes up top but Dean Malenko comes out and throws Eddie off the top into a Barbarian big boot which gets the three count. That’s a receipt from last night, according to Tony, as Eddie inadvertently caused Dean to lose the Cruiserweight title belt to Syxx. However, this was anything but inadvertent.

Tony is now joined in the booth by Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan for hour two! Tony says Piper is the real champion, and Mike steals/paraphrases one of Piper’s lines, saying that, just when we think we have the answers, the New World Order changes the questions. Tony wants to know where Sting stands. Bobby, through the “Weasel” chants, says Hogan is a very lucky man. We see clips from earlier tonight, including the Horsemen issues.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr.

Tenay talks about Rey’s knee injury and says he is working through it but it will force him to alter his style. Tony says that some fans were shocked that Rey didn’t beat Prince Iaukea for the TV title last night. Tony tells us Regal got involved in the match and we will see stills later. Tony feels he did this because Regal thinks he can beat Iaukea and not Rey. Juvy pushes Rey into the corner and nails him with a huge chop. They lock up and Rey locks on an arm bar and turns it into the Gory special. Juvy reverses that into a DDT! He spring boards himself from the apron in with a dropkick and goes to work on Rey’s knee. Rey rolls out and goes back to work on Juvy’s arm. They chain wrestle and Juvy finally gains the advantage with a spin kick. Rey fights back with a kick of his own but Juvy takes him down with a forearm shot off the ropes. This gets two. Rey misses a moonsault from the top, but Juvy doesn’t and gets two. Juvy applies a headlock. Bobby and Tenay discuss the limitations of wearing a mask and performing high risk moves with it on. Rey hits a spinning head scissor to take Juvy out of the ring and goes for a baseball slide but catches Juvy with a head scissor again and slides out into it. Wow. Rey puts him back in and goes up top but Juvy reverses it into a power bomb and gets two. Rey goes out and Juvy hits a suicide dive through the second rope. Back in and Juvy springboards in with a summersault but Rey catches it into a power bomb. Rey goes to the apron and Tony says he is going to try something from the top. Bobby: “No kidding, Sherlock.” Rey then hits the West Coast Pop for the win! Tony says it’s the same move Juvy was going for. Rey says he wants the belt after the match.

It’s time for 1-800-Collect with Lee Marshall. He is at a Nitro Party in the CNN Center because Nitro returns to the Omni in Atlanta next week. He mentions Atlanta is the home of the Olympics, the Braves, the Blackhawks and WCW! He says he is reminded of that classic movie when Rhett Butler looks at Scarlett O'Hara and says “Actually Scarlett, weasels can’t build a dam.” Heenan says that in twenty minutes, they’ll prop Lee up against a wall and go through his wallet.

World TV Title Match: Champion Prince Iaukea vs. Pat Tanaka

We see stills from last night’s TV title match when Regal’s interference allowed Prince Iaukea to retain his belt. Iaukea didn’t want to win the belt like that, but Rey told him he won the match and it was over. Tanaka tries to intimidate Iaukea with his martial art skills, but Prince locks him in an arm bar. Tanaka reverses but Iaukea takes the leg out. Back at the neutral position and Tanaka goes to the eyes. Tanaka to the ropes but Iaukea gains the advantage. Tanaka hits a dragon screw leg whip in response and chops away at the Prince in the corner. Iaukea comes out with a huge clothesline and kicks away at Pat. He puts on a headlock and Tanaka sends him to the ropes and power bombs the Prince for two. Prince hits a Samoan drop and hits a springboard senton back splash from the apron and nails a high cross body block off the top to retain his title! Tenay puts over the Power Plant for training the Prince and making him a success story.

Dean Malenko vs. Ultimo Dragon

Sonny Onoo is with the Dragon. Tony runs down what happened last night, complete with stills. Syxx tried to use the Cruiserweight belt, and Eddie came out to try and stop this, and his interference accidentally allowed Syxx to win the belt by hitting Dean in the head with it. This is why Dean is mad and why he came out before to cost Eddie a match. You can actually still see the black and blue mark under Dean’s eye where the belt connected last night. They lock up and Dean puts Dragon in the corner. They break. Bobby says Eddie should have minded his own business. Tony says WCW needs to stick together when it comes to fighting the nWo. Dean and Dragon mat wrestle and Dean gains the upper hand with an arm bar but Dragon gets to the ropes. Tenay hopes Eddie and Dean are just having a misunderstanding. Shoulder block by Dragon sends Dean down but he doesn’t stay down for long. Back to the neutral position and Dean wants a hand shake. Dragon is not sure, and when he goes for it, Dean sucker punches him. Wow, I didn’t see that coming. Dean then kicks away at the back of Dragon. We are seeing some emotion from the Iceman. Dragon comes back with rapid fire kicks and a dropkick. That gets two. Malenko comes back with fists! Dragon goes out and Dean sends him into the apron. You can visibly see on the Dragon’s face how stunned he is by the type of match Dean is wrestling. Back in and Dean hits a suplex for a long two. Dean puts on a face lock while driving his knee into the back and turns it into a camel clutch but Dragon reverses it into a surfboard and then a bridging Indian death lock with a chin lock. Dragon releases the hold and sends Dean to the ropes. Malenko hits a sunset flip for a two count. Dragon goes for a power bomb but it’s blocked and Dean back drops Ultimo. He hits a double underhook suplex for a two count. Dean goes for an abdominal stretch but Dragon reverses it and sends Dean outside. Dragon goes up top and hits a huge plancha. Both men crawl to their feet and back into the ring. Dean goes for a power bomb but Dragon turns it into a Frankensteiner for two then Dean reverses it for two. Dragon goes for the handspring elbow but Dean caught him with a release German suplex and chokes Dragon instead of going for a cover! Wow. Bobby says Dean doesn’t care anymore and that he is frustrated. Sonny Onno tries to stop it and he gets knocked down. Malenko goes back to the choke and doesn’t break by the five count, so he gets DQ’d.

Mean Gene is at the entrance way with Dean. Gene says Eddie came to help but Dean is having none of it. Dean is sick, tired and fed up that there is no respect for him. He says he hasn’t forgotten about Syxx and what he said about his late father. Right now, however, the last person he would have ever though would cause him a match was Eddie Guerrero. He wants him and he just doesn’t care anymore.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Squire Dave Taylor

Tony reminds us the next pay per view spectacular is Uncensored in just under three weeks. We see stills of DDP vs. Buff Bagwell at Superbrawl last night and Page got the win when the nWo troops came in. Page was smart enough to bail. Page was supposed to wrestle Bubba at the pay per view, but we remember how he was mysteriously taken out recently. Dave Taylor is in a new outfit this week, looking like Inspector Clouseau. Taylor jumps Page from behind and hits some European uppercuts. He follows that up with a suplex but Page fights back and hits an atomic drop. The Outsiders come out to watch and Page hits the Diamond Cutter out of a shoulder carry.

Hall and Nash are headed to the ring. They go to the opposite side of the ring and Nash takes off his watch. With his back to the entrance way, Savage makes his way out and attacks DDP from behind with a spray paint can. Hall and Savage exchange a hug and a fan jumps in the ring. The nWo kicks the hell out of him and security swarms. Savage spray paints “nWo” on Page’s back and puts an nWo shirt on. He’s officially a member. He heads up top and hits his elbow drop for good measure. Tenay mentions he hit repeated elbow drops on Piper last night after the match.

Hall has a mic and welcomes us to nWo Monday Nitro. He wants to hear a welcome for Savage. The crowd boos. Hall wants us to welcome the undisputed and undefeated World champion, Hollywood Hogan. Hogan comes to the ring and puts the belt across the shoulder of Scott Hall. Hall congratulates Hogan on his successful title defense. Hogan says the nWo is on a roll. Hogan says, from one icon to the other, Savage should be rewarded for what he did last night. Eric Bischoff and Ted Dibiase bring out Miss Elizabeth who is smiling for the first time in months. Nash helps her into the ring and Savage and Liz reunite with a hug. Savage calls it “sweet”. Hall calls Sacramento nWo territory.

World Tag Team Title Match: Champions Lex Luger and The Giant vs. Harlem Heat

Sister Sherri is with Harlem Heat. Tony again tells us Roddy Piper should be the World champion. Tenay is concerned about the condition of DDP because Savage hit another elbow drop on him during the commercial. Page was then put in a neck brace and carried from the Arco Arena on a stretcher. The bell rings and Lex and Stevie Ray are going to start the match. However, before the match can start, Easy E returns to the ring. Tony says he has a feeling that he knows what is going to happen.

Bisch has a mic and the entire nWo is out behind him. He says the tag belts belong to The Outsiders because Lex didn’t have a doctor’s release and wasn’t authorized to wrestle. Interestingly enough, Harlem Heat are standing with Lex and the Giant. Bisch wants the belts back. Lex says they will have to carry him out of the arena on a stretcher before he gives him his belt. Lex has a proposition though. He says he will give his belt back if they put every title on the line at Uncensored in WCW vs. now matches. Bisch says they have a deal and the belts go back to The Outsiders. Sting walks out from behind the entrance stage with his bat. He heads to the ring and the sea splits. He looks at Hogan, face-to-face, and Hogan hugs him. Tony is sick. Sting turns and kind of stands with the nWo. And we are out of time!

No Benoit match this week, as he had a tough San Francisco Death Match at Superbrawl with Kevin Sullivan. A few references to the match were edited out though.

Next week, Nitro returns to the Omni in Atlanta, for what turned out to be the last WCW event held there and maybe, just maybe, somebody will do something about Eric Bischoff’s abuse of power.