October 12, 2007
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
2/3/97

Tony welcomes us to WCW Nitro, as we come on the air with the nWo music playing. And here comes Hollywood Hogan, Ted Dibiase and Vincent. Tony tells us that the fans were informed during the weekend shows on TBS that Roddy Piper will be here tonight with his answer. Hogan plays the title belt like a guitar. Larry wonders what Piper will say when he gets here and Tony hopes he says “yes.” Hogan puts the belt on Dibiase’s shoulder and flexes for the nWo-ites. He’s got a microphone and says they are on a mission from God. Hogan takes credit for putting together the Time Warner/Turner merger! So it was all his fault. He says that where ever he goes, he hears Piper’s been there. The fans start chanting “Rowdy!” He’s mad at WCW for giving Piper a shot at his belt. He calls Piper “One-Legged Pete” and “The Crippled Kid.” He says Piper will be here tonight and, since Hogan is a man of honor and a man of his word, he will confront Piper tonight, the moment he arrives, since Piper isn’t here yet. He wants Piper to admit Hogan’s the better man and that Hogan beat him at Starrcade. Hogan says he will put the title on the line tonight against Piper once he gets here. Hogan says Piper only has three fans.

At the broadcast location, Tony and Larry are happy to hear they might get a title shot tonight. Larry does his “L” thing with his hand. Tony still wants Piper to accept the Superbrawl match. Tony reminds us that, even though we still haven’t seen the footage (unless you saw the original pay per view), Piper beat Hogan at Starrcade.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Mendoza, Jr.

Sonny Ono is with Dragon. Dragon hits an arm drag but Rey rolls through. Dragon comes off the ropes with a handspring elbow. Mendoza comes out and Dragon fakes jumping out, but dives through on take two and Mendoza flies back into the barricade! Back in the ring and Dragon hits some kicks to the back, followed by a standing leg drop, which gets a two. Tony tells us that, on the weekend programs, because of, I think he said, Sammy Murray (I guess a planted fan), that the translation of the Gaelic rant Piper went on as they stretchered him out of the arena last time we saw him (after the nWo destroyed him the night after Starrcade) was “The battle is not over until you get home.” Tony thinks it means the battle isn’t over until Piper says it’s over. Larry doesn’t want to speculate. Mendoza takes control with a lariat and some kicks. Dragon tries to roll under a leap frog, put Mendoza caught him and got a two. Dragon hits a frankensteiner for two, and then hits his top rope spinning off the shoulder frankensteiner followed by a double chicken wing suplex for the three count! They call the Dragon the number one contender to Dean Malenko’s cruiserweight title.

Glacier vs. Billy Kidman

Tony announces that we found out on the weekend programs that new buddies Lex Luger and The Giant will fight The Outsiders for the tag titles at Superbrawl. Apparently, you don’t want to miss Saturday Night and Pro because they seem to be important. Tony feels that the momentum has swung to WCW. They shake hands before the match starts. Glacier goes down from a dropkick by Kidman, but Glacier takes him down with a leg sweep. Glacier hits a tilt a whirl slam and kicks Kidman. He pounds away with open hand palm thrusts. Kidman goes out but hits a head scissor takeover as he comes flying back in. Kidman goes up top but gets nailed with a standing side kick by Glacier as he landed. And that gets the three count. Tony calls Glacier confident now that he is comfortable in the ring.

Ice Train vs. La Parka

Teddy Long accompanies Ice Train to the ring. Tony says that Ice Train has confidence too, thanks to Teddy Long. Tony tells us that La Parka pushed Lex Luger to his limit on Saturday Night this past weekend. Man, they really want you to watch those weekend shows. They lock up and Train throws La Parka down. Parka pounds away, but gets taken down with some arm drags and a huge running clothesline. Train just pounds away on La Parka. He then locks on a headlock, but decides to let go and both men get up. La Parka hits a spinning heel kick and Train barely flinches. Tony wants to send a shout out to one of the finest men he has ever known, who is sitting at home after getting fired on Nitro last week, Randy “Pee Wee” Anderson. Parka then hits a top rope spinning heel kick and Train finally goes down! Train rolls out, so La Parka hits a twisting suicide dive and takes Train down on the outside. La Parka is checking on his knee. Back in and Train hits another huge clothesline. He sends Parka to the turnbuckle, Parka climbs to the top and tries to hit a body block but Train catches him and slams him down. He almost dropped him, but still got him up. He follows that up with a suplex and a leg scissors headlock. Tony tells us to hold on a second. Craig Leathers, the director, has sent a cameraman to the back because something has happened. Not two seconds later we see the Outsiders, each holding a metal pipe, standing over Lex Luger. Tony wasn’t sure who it was laying on the ground, which means he’s an idiot. Nash (in a Giant shirt): “That which does not kill us, leaves us unconscious!” Hall is in a Lex Luger shirt. Back in the ring and Train turns a bear hug into a belly to belly suplex and another headlock. Train hits another slam, followed by his big splash. That, mercifully, gets the three count. Tony says Luger is supposed to fight Jeff Jarrett later tonight, but might not be able to. Teddy Long tells us 1997 is the year of Ice Train.

We go to Mean Gene at the entrance ramp and he asks us to welcome the Four Horsemen! Mongo and Debra, Benoit and Woman and Ric Flair make their way out. Tony doesn’t see Arn Anderson, and neither do I. Gene asks Benoit about the Horsemen unity. Benoit tells Mean Gene that the Horsemen were going through a transitional period. There were injuries and miscommunication. But the trials and tribulations made them stronger and showed them who they can trust. He takes pride in being a Horsemen. He knows he can trust all the people around him. Woman is not happy with Miss Jacqueline. She tells her that she got Woman’s leftovers and snaps her fingers. Mongo says the Horsemen are tight again. He says he’s got everybody’s back. He says he’ll take Luger’s place against Jarrett later. Debra isn’t the one to brag about herself, but she has won 318 pageants by scoring the highest in beauty. She also has an IQ of 145. She says Miss Jacqueline is out of her league. She says that when God gave out faces, Jackie though he said “cases” and said “I’ll take a leather one, please.” She also says Jackie has a big head and a great face, for radio. “MMMMMMMMEEEEEEEAN GENE!” Flair says that familiarity breeds contempt, but they have worked through it all and they are reunited. He tells us Double A is laid up in a king sized bed and is watching them right now. He calls Sullivan “The Devil” and says Woman wore him out, but now she’s with Benoit because he’s a better man. He calls Sullivan short and …. WOOOOOOO!

The Steiners vs. Harlem Heat

Tony tells us the Steiners should be the champs and we see clips from last week when Bischoff stripped them of the belts. Sister Sherri is with the Heat. Tony and Larry discuss how The Outsiders took out Luger. Last week, Harlem Heat sat in the crowd to watch The Steiners fight the Faces of Fear. This week, we see the Faces of Fear and Public Enemy sitting in the crowd watching this match. Tony says everyone wants the tag titles. Book and Scott start. They lock up and Scott starts to work on the arm. Tony proves he’s not as stupid as he looks because he figured out the name of Kevin Sullivan’s new friend is Jacqueline, thanks to the Horsemen. Stevie Ray tags in and Scott bench presses him out of the ring and the Heat regroup. We start again and Stevie Ray says he wants Rick Steiner, so Scott makes the tag. Stevie kicks him and pounds away. He hit him so hard, the head gear flew off Rick! Rick fights back with a suplex, tags in Scott and puts his headgear back on over in the corner. Scott locks on a head vice, and tags Rick back in. The Heat outsmarts Rick, not surprisingly, and Stevie hits a jumping kick and tags in Book. Tony goes off on a rant about WCW having the best talent in the world. He says he doesn’t like Hollywood Hogan but you can’t deny what he’s done in the past. Back to the match, Rick catches Stevie in mid air and slams him then makes the tag to Scott, who goes bonkers. He gets Book up in a double underhook suplex for a two, but Book isn’t the legal man. It doesn’t matter because all hell breaks loose and the Faces of Fear run in and attack the Steiners. Public Enemy isn’t far behind and the referee throws this one out. The Faces and Public Enemy brawl outside, leaving the Steiners and Heat in the ring and they want to finish it, but the ref won’t restart it.

Tony welcomes us to hour number two. The hour that set the standard. Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan join Tony and they recap what Hogan said earlier in the night. Tenay can’t wait to hear from Piper. Through the “Weasel” chants, Bobby says WCW men must be brain dead to allow the nWo to attack them with pipes. We see a quick clip of Hogan from earlier saying he’s going to fight Piper for the title tonight. We then see the clip of The Outsiders standing over an unconscious Luger, again.

Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Mike Enos

Tony reminds us Mongo wants to take Luger’s place tonight against Jeff Jarrett. We still can’t confirm if that change is official yet. Tony gets back on his high horse about the talent in WCW. Bobby says Mike Enos has come a long way and is going to be a big star in the future. Not exactly like his prediction that Shawn Michaels would be the wrestler of the 90s at Wrestlemania 8. They mention the weight difference here, as Enos is a lot bigger than Dean. Malenko takes Enos does and locks on a headlock. Enos gets to the ropes with his feet and Dean lets go. Enos kicks Dean and takes Malenko down with a side headlock takeover. Enos holds on to the headlock and grinds away. He takes Malenko down with a shoulderblock and catches Dean doing a leapfrog and slams him. He goes for an elbow but Dean moves. Heenan calls out Piper and says he has to accept the challenge, otherwise he’s just another movie star in a skirt. Malenko tries for a backslide, but Enos is too big, so he takes him down with an arm drag instead. Enos powers up and slams Dean but he continues to hold on to the arm. Dean puts the arm over the rope and kicks it! Malenko continues to work on the arm with a hammerlock. The announcers are still trying to convince Piper to accept the match at Superbrawl if he is listening. Still no update on Lex Luger’s condition. Enos powers out and fights back. Syxx is coming through the crowd to the ringside area. Enos powerslams Dean but gets a two and remains in control. Syxx grabs the Cruiserweight belt and takes off! They mention that he stole the US title a few months ago and now he’s taken this one! Heenan says you don’t want to make Malenko mad. Syxx is shown parading through the crowd with the belt. Enos hits a running powerslam for two. Malenko mounts a comeback, and reverses a suplex into a small package for the three count! Dean looks for his belt but referee Mark Curtis tells him what happened. He’s not happy.

It’s time for Lee Marshall On the Road with 1-800-Collect. He’s in Jacksonville, Florida, site of next week’s Monday Nitro. He invites everyone to get tickets, as they are still available. Yesterday in Florida, it was Ground-weasel Day. Puxatony Bobby stuck his head out, saw his shadow and we’re going to have six more weeks of bad taste! Heenan says “I hate him. What a miserable human being.”

Mean Gene is joined at the entrance way by Kevin Sullivan, Konnan, Jimmy Hart and Miss Jacqueline. Sullivan says his relationship with Jacqueline goes back ten years. He was happy that the Horsemen were unraveling. But he made a mistake and let his personal life get involved. Jimmy Hart says women in wrestling are nothing but trouble. He’s going to figure this all out. Konnan says Jacqueline is hot, but they have to destroy the Horsemen. He asks if he can fight Benoit tonight. Arriva Dungeon! Jackie says that she didn’t have to go through plastic surgery, unlike Debra. Also, Nancy is jealous because Jackie took Kevin from her. Sullivan says this isn’t over with Benoit. Jackie, who has a leather strap, tells Nancy not to stick her nose in her business.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Renegade

Heenan says Jacqueline’s arms are bigger than Okerlund’s head. They run down the history of DDP and the nWo. They are proud of him. Tenay says DDP has been working every day on more variations of the Diamond Cutter. Arm drag takedown by Renegade. Page goes to work on the Renegade in the corner, but Renegade reverses a corner whip into a handspring elbow. Wow. Renegade goes up top, Page crotches him and hits the Diamond Cutter off the top! Tenay calls it the Diamond Death Cutter and it gets the three count! The Outsiders are on the ramp with their pipes, daring Page to come get them. Page doesn’t know what to do. The crowd explodes and we see Sting on one side of the arena in the crowd and Randy Savage, now wearing black and white, on the other side. DDP goes to get a chair. No one knows who to trust, so everyone just backs off. Stalemate!

Alex Wright vs. Super Calo

Tony says Nitro is a sell out tonight and thousands of fans were turned away. Alex Wright with a takedown and gets a two count. He then works on the arm. Tony says this is an important match for Alex Wright. Tenay says it’s an important match for both men. Calo goes for a dropkick and Wright moves, and then Wright goes for a dropkick and Calo moves. Wright hits a side suplex and follows it up by sending Calo to the ropes. Calo tried to climb the ropes but slips and Alex Wright takes control. They re-do the spot and this time it works. They go back and forth and Wright takes control with fists and a belly to belly suplex. Calo hits a dropkick and Alex Wright bails. Calo hits a huge body block off the top to the floor. Heenan is still amazed Calo’s hat doesn’t come off. Calo comes back in and tries something off the top but Alex Wright hits a dropkick. Alex Wright hits a head scissors takeover and dropkicks Calo out of the ring and follows it up with a suicide dive of his own over the top! Calo goes back in, Wright goes up top, but Calo catches him with a superplex off the top! That only gets a two count though. Calo puts Wright back up top and goes a spinning head scissor take over. He then goes for a somersault off the top and Wright moves. Brain again mentions the hat stayed on! Tony explains that it is tucked into the mask. Only Tony would give an explanation to a Bobby Heenan joke. Alex goes up top and hits a huge missile dropkick! That gets the three!

Chris Benoit vs. Konnan

Woman is with Benoit and Jimmy Hart is with Konnan. Don’t forget, Piper will be here later with his answer. Konnan attacks from behind and kicks away at Benoit. He sends Benoit to the ropes, after chopping away at him, and hits his rolling clothesline. He follows this up with a dropkick to the face and then one to the midsection of Benoit, in the corner. He continues the onslaught with a head vice. Konnan then locks the legs in a standing figure four while he’s still got the head vice on. Tony again says we still don’t know if Luger can go tonight, but that match is scheduled. Benoit fights back and muscles Konnan to the top rope. He hits a superplex off the top. Benoit picks up Konnan and sends him to the ropes. Konnan reverses and hits an Outsiders Edge into a power bomb, for two. He tries it again, but Benoit slips out and hits a release German suplex. Benoit calls for his finisher, and here comes Miss Jacqueline and her leather strap. She’s going right for Woman, but Benoit takes the leather belt away and protects Woman. Jackie looks under the ring for something and finds nothing but a bottle of water. Also, there are lights under the ring…. that’s weird. Jimmy Hart and Konnan take Jackie to the back as Woman looks concerned.

Steve “Mongo” McMichael (substitute for Lex Luger) vs. Jeff Jarrett

We just found out during the break that Mongo will officially be taking Luger’s place. The announcers worry about Luger’s condition and how it will affect his participation at Superbrawl. Debra is with Mongo and she doesn’t look very happy about this match. Jarrett wants Mongo to move over so he can strut. Mongo decides to attack from behind. He hits a clothesline on Jarrett and follows it up with a back elbow. Jarrett goes for a body block but Mongo catches him and hits a powerslam for a two count. Tony again references the weekend shows and says they asked Jarrett why Debra likes him so much on Saturday Night and he said she recognizes talent. Mongo missed an elbow drop. They discuss Mongo’s football background and from Brain, we get: “Like I once told Vince Lombardi, ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing’.” Tenay: “And we thought Hogan and Bischoff were specialists at rewriting history.” Jarrett hits an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline. Jarrett goes up top and hits a high cross body block for a two count. Tony informs us that Piper is here and he’ll be out next. Jarrett hits a dropkick and Mongo goes over the top. Debra tells him to stop and won’t let him get back in the ring. Tony tells him to be a man. Mongo gets counted out and Debra is smiling! Mongo goes back in but Jarrett takes off and Debra tells the camera she doesn’t know how that could have happened.

Mean Gene is in the ring and asks us to please welcome “The Icon,” “Rowdy” Roddy Piper! The Hot Rod is joined by his youngest son, who is in a little suit and tie. “My name is Roddy Piper, aka Rubik’s cube.” He says they may be in Memphis, but he will never be an Elvis Presley, and Hulk Hogan will never be a Roddy Piper. “Rowdy” chants. He says WCW and Ted Tuner offered him a shot at the WCW title. He says he already beat Hogan. Do you think the Packers would play the Super Bowl again and give the Pats another shot at it? He introduces his son Colt, and tells him to say it’s an honor to be in Memphis, Tennessee, which he does. Piper’s been on the road his whole life. You need a license to hunt and fish, but any jerk can have a baby. It takes a man to be a father, so its time for him to grow up and be a man. He appreciates the title shot, but says no thanks, he has nothing to prove. The nWo music hits and here comes Hogan, Bischoff, Dibiase and Vincent. Tony sounds like he is about to cry because Piper said no thanks to the match, while, of all people, Heenan says Piper’s son is in the ring and this could be bad.

The announcers then say Piper needs to get his son out of the ring. Piper protects his son while the nWo enters the ring. Piper: “Terry, don’t do this to me, man. Just let me go home.” Hogan says that is weak. He wants Piper to drop to his knees and beg for mercy. Hogan says “The Icon” had a chance at the nWo title but he doesn’t want it. He says Piper has never been the world champion. He mocks Piper for bringing his son out and fans chant “Rowdy” again. Gene says this is not the time or the place. Hogan says that he wanted to defend the title tonight, but Piper doesn’t want to get beat again. Bischoff wants to know the truth from Piper. He wants Piper to admit that Hogan beat him like a drum. Piper says it, half-heartedly, just so he can leave. Bischoff wants him to say it again because Piper called him “Hulk” instead of “Hollywood” the first time. So he does, again, half-heartedly.

Piper says he just wants to get out of here. Hogan wants more. He wants Piper to tell the people that Hollywood Hogan is the real icon. Gene says Piper doesn’t have to do this. Piper calls Hogan the icon. Hogan says he is done with Piper. He says Piper makes him sick and doesn’t even deserve to be called a coward because he’s sunk to the depths of humanity by bringing his son out with him. He tells Piper to pack it up and get out of his sport. Piper takes his son and starts to leave. Hogan smacks Piper on the back of the head twice as he walks away. Piper helps his son from the ring. Hogan and Bischoff aren’t paying attention, and Piper takes his jacket off. Piper grabs both of them from behind and slams their heads together! He takes his belt off and nails Hogan with it as Bischoff bails! Bischoff tries hiding behind a chair but that doesn’t work. Piper grabs the title belt and Hogan bails with Bischoff. Piper holds the belt up high! He looks at the camera and says “Let the games begin…. OK… San Francisco, watch my fists go!” He’s in for Superbrawl! Tony is going to need a new pair of underwear again. Colt is back in the ring by his dad’s side. Piper takes the mic and says the exact same thing for the crowd as they explode. Piper picks his son up and puts the belt around his waist as the boy gives us the peace sign. And we’re out of time!