January 27, 2008
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
Convention Center, Duluth, Minnesota
3/24/97

Nitro comes on the air with highlights from last week’s confrontation between DDP (at the entranceway) and Randy Savage (in the stands with Liz). DDP wants to go at it now but Savage disagrees. So Page charges and Savage bails. Hit the theme song and video!

Tony welcomes us to Nitro and, as we scan the crowd, Tony points out Larry “The Axe” Hennig is sitting ringside tonight. Well, they are in Minnesota. Larry says he looks like Santa Claus.

United States Title Match: Champion Dean Malenko vs. Konnan

No Jimmy Hart with Konnan this week. Dean has a bandage over his left eye. They lock up and Dean throws Konnan into the corner. They break and Konnan takes Dean down with a Fujiwara arm bar. Tony tells us that the nWo will be taking advantage of the stipulations for winning at Uncensored for the first time tonight. They can go for any title they want at any time, and they will do so tonight. Tony tells us the nWo doesn’t have two titles – the US title that Dean currently holds and the TV title that Prince Iaukea holds. When you compare the importance of both of those titles, it’s no surprise that Randy Savage will be facing Prince Iaukea for the TV title later tonight. ::Sarcasm hat off:: Larry fears for the Prince’s life. Dean breaks the hold and kicks Konnan in the back a few times. He follows it up with a scoop slam and goes to work on the leg. K-Dawg throws an arm drag and they are at the neutral position again. They share reversals and Konnan takes the advantage with a knee. We are then shown pre-recorded comments from Cruiserweight champion Syxx, while Konnan works on Dean’s leg. Syxx blames Eddie for screwing everything up at Uncensored, saying everything was all set. Tony thinks it sounds like Syxx and Eddie are in cahoots, but in reality, it just sounded like Syxx was drunk and/or stoned. Konnan drops Dean with a power bomb out of nowhere and gets two. Dean ducks a clothesline and hits a running leg clothesline. He can’t capitalize, however, and Konnan nails a leg sweep and rolls through with a magistral cradle for two. Tony tells us that last week, after Arn Anderson discussed his possible career ending injury, he was attacked when he went backstage. No one knows who attacked him though. Konnan goes up top and kind of just falls towards Dean, who grabs the legs and locks on the Texas Clover Leaf for the submission win. After the match, Dean tells Eddie he isn’t done with him yet. Larry finally wonders where Jimmy Hart was.

After the match, Dean Malenko heads to the entrance ramp to talk to Gene. Dean says he thinks Eddie and Syxx are working together because it is too coincidental that they are always together. But right now, he has his attention focused on…… Chris Benoit. I’m sorry, who? Dean will be defending his US title against Chris at Spring Stampede, and tells him to show up and prove himself. Obviously, the editing crew at 24/7 made a big whoops there.

We now go to the booth with Tony and Larry. They again tell us the TV title is on the line later tonight and feel Prince is the underdog. They then talk about Sting being back with WCW. They finally show us footage from Uncensored where Mortis and a yet-to-be-named man attack Glacier after the match. Larry has no idea who the big guy is, so I guess he doesn’t watch WWF television because he looks a lot like Adam Bomb.

Mortis vs. Jerry Flynn

James Vandenberg is with Mortis, who is making his Nitro debut. Lightning Foot tries a spinning hook kick, but Mortis moves. Mortis hits some back leg front kicks himself and takes control. Flynn though, hits a back kick for two and follows it up with a full arm drag and twist. Mortis backs him into the corner and hits a mule kick and rolled through. He goes to work on the ribs of Flynn and just kicks and pounds away. Mortis climbs the ropes to taunt the crowd, which allows Flynn to come back and hit a spin wheel kick. He sends Mortis to the corner and gets nailed with a standing side kick. Mortis follows up with an elbow drop and a knee drop. Mortis then hits a nice spin kick and grabs Flynn by the throat and walks him over the corner. Mortis climbs up top and lands a rocker dropper from the top which only gets two. Mortis goes for his head on a stick thing, but the ref stops him. This distraction allows Vandenberg to choke Flynn out. Mortis goes for, what seems to be a top rope frankensteiner, but Flynn reverses it and hits a power bomb, followed by two clotheslines. When he goes for the third, Mortis hooks him and hits a low blow behind the ref’s back and gives a “flat liner” motion with his finger. Mortis picks him up for a Samoan drop, but he climbs to the second rope before he falls backwards. Don’t get too familiar with that move, as The Flatliner would become something different very soon. This gets the win. Who better than Mortis? Not Jerry Flynn.

La Parka vs. Juventud Guerrera

Tony again tells us that Randy Savage will go for the TV title tonight against Prince Iaukea. He says that he hasn’t seen Scott Hall tonight, which he found weird because he saw Nash. He does mention there is seven inches of snow outside and feels that might have something to do with it. La Parka and Juvy trade reversals and Juvy hits a spinning back kick while Parka goes for a dropkick. Parka does his strutting dance and the crowd pops. Juvy goes for a cross body block, but Parka catches him and struts again. Juvy throws Parka out and hits a suicide plancha off the top rope, with huge air. Juvy throws La Parka back in and nails a springboard dropkick to get two. Parka hits a running lariat and goes up top for a spinning moonsault that didn’t really hit. Tony: “He completely missed the man that time.” Thanks Tony! Parka gets Juvy on his shoulders but puts him down, only to hit a spin wheel kick. After Juvy crawls out, Parka hits his own suicide dive over the top! Juvy hits a summersault flip back in and kicks La Parka in the face with it. He then puts Parka up top and goes for a top rope hurricanrana, but La Parka blocked it and nailed a power bomb. Parka goes back up and hits a “spinning body attack” as Tony dubbed it, to get the win!

We are taken back to Souled Out in January to see the Steiners “win” the tag titles from the Outsiders after Randy Anderson made the three count (even though he wasn’t an assigned referee for the night). Then, the next night on Nitro, Bischoff strips the Steiners and fires Randy Anderson. Next up, on March 3, Dr. Harvey Schiller suspended Eric Bischoff. Don’t forget the car wreck that the Steiners were in, which the Outsiders and Syxx caused (despite the fact that they tried to prove they didn’t by releasing a video of them causing it). At Uncensored, Rick Steiner was attacked backstage by the Outsiders and Syxx and sent to the hospital, taking him out of the main event. Finally, last week, the Outsiders challenged the Steiners saying they would put their tag titles on the line at at Spring Stampede, which will finally put an end to this feud (unless one of the Outsiders decides to no-show the pay per view or something). Nonetheless, Mean Gene is with the Steiners right now. Scott says the history is in their minds and they don’t forget. The Steiners will get their revenge at Spring Stampede (unless one of the Outsiders decides to no-show the pay per view or something). Scott says they can’t hide behind Eric Bischoff now (unless one of the Outsiders decides to no-show the pay per view or something). Rick says he is ready, despite the inner ear infection, and then stares blankly into space as we go to break.

Don’t miss WCW Saturday Night this weekend. Harlem Heat, the Steiners, DDP, Dean Malenko and Lex Luger and The Giant will be there. 6:05 PM Eastern, only on TBS!

High Voltage vs. Public Enemy

On his way to the ring, Rage yells “OOH-GA!!” which scares me a little bit. The PE is accompanied by a table. PE attacks and High Voltage get thrown into each other. Rage gets back dropped by both guys and Kaos gets dumped. Rocco and Rage will officially start. Rocco locks on a headlock and Rage sends him to the ropes. Kaos grabs a leg, and the distraction allows Rage to get the upper hand with a side suplex. Kaos is tagged in and hits a double ax handle off the top. Rock to the ropes and gets tilt-a-whirl slammed. Two count, after Johnny made the save. Rage tags back in and slams Rocco. Rage goes for a standing moonsault but Rock rolled out and tags in Johnny. Rage tags in Kaos, but Grunge takes them both down. Johnny slams Kaos and tags in Rocco, and they hit a double team move on Kaos. They put Rage on the table at ringside and Rocco jumps off Johnny’s back, over the top, through Rage and the table. From behind, Jeff Jarrett (who is with Debra) nails Johnny with the briefcase and puts Kaos on top of him. High Voltage gets the big win! Mongo is out and he doesn’t look happy about this. He’s yelling at Debra and Jarrett and thinks he is getting set up. Tony doesn’t know why he’s angry. Larry says it’s Mongo’s briefcase that they used. This makes Mongo/Jarrett vs. Public Enemy more interesting at Spring Stampede.

We return with Mean Gene talking to Lex Luger and the Giant. Giant has a sleeveless WCW Nitro shirt on that looks like a bib. They will be involved in a four corners match at Spring Stampede with Booker T and Stevie Ray, where the winner will get a title match at some undetermined point in the future. Giant says he might have to wrestle against Lex in the match. He says Lex stood up for him when no one else would. Lex says day by day, week by week, month by month, the balance of power is shifting towards WCW. Not if Hogan has anything to say about that Lex. He says they have Sting on their side now.

Psychosis vs. Super Calo

Before the match starts, we hear pre-recorded comments from Sonny Onoo. He’s got issues with Rey Mysterio, Jr. This is because Rey will be fighting his guy, Ultimo Dragon at Spring Stampede. They lock up and Psych pushes Calo back to the ropes and doesn’t break clean. He nails some chops and follows up by sending Calo to the ropes. Calo gets a stiff kick and goes up top for a spinning arm drag. Psych goes out and ducks when Calo goes for a baseball slide. Larry: “Good ducking.” Back in and Calo gets crotched on the top rope. Psych hits a spin wheel kick off the top to the back of Calo’s head. Calo gets a crucifix for two, and sends Psych out. While the announcers discuss the Sting situation, Calo slams Psycho on the floor and dives over the top onto him. Calo throws Psych in and goes for a dive off the top, but gets kicked in his gut. Psych goes up top and hits his patented guillotine leg drop for the win.

Hour number two is on the air! Tony is once again joined by Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan.

The Faces of Fear vs. Harlem Heat

This is a rematch from Saturday Night, when this match was thrown out as they brawled out of the arena. Jimmy Hart is not with the Faces either, but Sister Sherri is with the Heat. Book and Barbarian start off and lock up. Barbarian goes behind, but Book grabs an arm. Book goes to the ropes and gets caught going for a body block. Barbarian goes to drop Book throat first on the top rope and Meng decides to give it some extra leverage and that looked sick. Book is put on the top rope, but fights out and hits a spinning body press on Barbarian for two. Book tags in Stevie Ray and they hit a double clothesline. Stevie slams Barbarian and hits a leg drop. Meng gets tagged in and the crowd breaks out into a loud and long “Let’s Go Gophers!” chant until Meng takes down Booker T hard. Tony speculates that Jimmy doesn’t want to be at ringside when Sherri is there. Barbarian tags back in and the Faces pound away on Stevie. Barbarian goes to the ropes and Book kicks him in the back. Stevie tags in Book, who hits a scissor kick. Booker goes for a Harlem side kick, but Barbarian moves and Book crotches himself. Meng tags in and the Faces drop double headbutts off the second rope from opposite corners. This gets two. Meng kicks away at Book’s back and then gets a two after a back breaker when Stevie breaks up the fall. Book is sent to the ropes, but gets a kick to Meng and tries to slam him. It’s too much and Meng falls on Book to get a two count. Barbarian is tagged back in who hits a side slam for two with a lazy cover. Now they chant for Harlem Heat, which is weird. Meng is back in and applies an abdominal stretch. Sherri is on the ring apron, causing the ref to stop her. This allows Stevie to come in and break up the stretch and become the legal man, despite no tag being made. Book is tagged back in and Stevie launches him from the top rope to get a two count on Meng. Book nails a sick Harlem Side Kick but Meng again breaks the cover up. Out of nowhere, Meng hits a sit down power bomb for two and Stevie and Barbarian brawl out of the ring. Meng hits a huge clothesline on Book in the corner. Meng charges in, but Book moves and Sherri, who was standing in the corner, accidentally gets hit hard by Meng, which allows Book to roll up Meng for the win! The Heat carries Sherri out and they celebrate their victory.

Madusa vs. Malia Hosaka

Tony announces that Madusa in the number one contender to the WCW Women’s title and will face champion Akira Hokuto (who is backed by Sonny Onoo) for the title at Spring Stampede. Madusa shoves Malia, so Malia kicks her down. They trade reversals and Madusa nails some kicks in the corner. Mike reminds us that Malia was part of the Women’s Title tournament a couple of months back and is coming off a big win on Saturday Night against Lelani Kai. Malia locks on a Boston crab. Madusa pushes out of the hold and rolls up Malia for two. Malia gets some stiff kicks in then applies a chin lock. Madusa reverses it and hits multiple hair snap mares. Madusa then slaps her! Jeez. Malia hits a huge elbow to the mouth and tries to roll Madusa up, but only gets two. Out on nowhere, Madusa gets a German suplex for the win.

It’s time for 1-800-Collect On the Road with Less Marshall. Lee is in Roanoke, Virginia, the location of next week’s Monday Nitro. It’s soled out, but more tickets are on sale because the arena has been reconfigured. This summer, WCW heads to Lee’s home state of California. He already checked with his friends and is sorry to tell Bobby there is no such thing as the Tournament of Weasel’s Parade. Bobby says if Lee was there right now, he’d make a snowman out of him and take the coal and…. well, never mind.

The Renegade vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

Duggan offers a handshake to start. Renegade accepts. Duggan throws his tape into the crowd to show it’s going to be fair. They lock up and trade reversals. Duggan pushes Renegade into the ropes and it’s a clean break. They lock up again and Renegade works on the arm. Duggan takes him down and Renegade looks like he’s going to use a closed fist but instead goes for the ropes to break the hold. When Duggan turns around, Renegade attacks from behind. Heel turn! Renegade gets physical but Duggan fights back with 10 fists in the corner. Duggan locks on a front face lock and pounds away on Renegades back. Renegade goes for a bulldog but just throws him over instead and puts on a headlock. Duggan fights back but Renegade throws him to the corner and hits a handspring elbow to Hacksaw’s back. Duggan is now angry and goes into his trunks. I guess he had a back up roll. He tapes up his fist, nails him and gets the three count! After the match, Duggan tells Hogan he can beat him. HOOOOOO!

The Steiner Brothers vs. The Amazing French Canadians

Col. Parker is with the Canadians. Jacques wants this bunch of hillbillies to stand up and sing their national anthem with them. They get through “Oh Canada” and start mumbling until the bell sounds. Carl and Scott start out. They lock up and Carl pounds away at Scott’s back. He sends Scott to the ropes and puts his head down, but Scott decides to hits a double underhook suplex instead. Jacques runs in and Scott benches him and throws him into Carl. Carl throws Scott into the safety rail on the outside and sends him back in. Jacques is tagged in and the Canadians double team him. Jacques sends Scott to the ropes and makes a quick tag to Carl, and they double stun gun Scott on the top rope. They isolate Scott in the Canadian corner and Carl goes for his second rope leg drop, however Scott gets a foot up and finally makes the hot tag to Rick, while Jacques gets tagged in. Tony thinks Rick is not 100%. Col. Parker distracted Scott, who gets dumped. Parker tries to hit Scott with the flag, but he ducks and Scott takes out Parker. While this is happening, the Canadians hit Le Cannonball off the top on Rick but the ref is trying to get Scott out of the ring, so he can’t make the count. Jacques tries to hit Rick with Col. Parker’s boot, but he ducks so Carl gets nailed instead and Rick makes the pin to get the three count and they are on their way to Spring Stampede (unless one of the Outsiders decides to no-show the pay per view or something).

TV Title Match: Champion Prince Iaukea vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Savage comes out with Liz, Syxx, Vincent, Nash, Nick Patrick, Eric Bischoff (in a Dennis Rodman shirt) and Ted Dibiase. As Tony mentioned, no Scott Hall. On his way to the ring, Nash looks directly into the camera, gives the Wolfpac/Clique sign and loudly says “Right back at ya, HBK!” The announcers ignore it. Prince Iaukea comes out and he looks very intimidated. Mark Curtis won’t call for the bell until the nWo vacates. They finally do and we are underway. They lock up and Macho takes the Prince over with an arm drag. Prince locks on a side headlock and takes Savage down for a quick two count. Savage rolls out. Dibiase tries to calm him down. Savage goes back in. Iaukea gets a quick kick and a cross body block off the ropes for a two. He follows up with an elbow to Savage. He sends Randy to the ropes and takes him down with a quick chop. He heads up top for a cross body block but Macho moves and drops him throat first over the top rope. Savage slams the kid and goes up top himself. He hits the elbow drop and pulls the kid up at two! We see DDP (wearing a Minnesota Gophers shirt) coming through the crowd and he’s going after the nWo all on his own! He absolutely levels Vincent then Nash and Syxx attack. They throw him into Savage but DDP isn’t incapacitated enough, so he’s fighting with Savage until the nWo comes in. The bell rings and the match has been thrown out. They pick DDP up and Nash hits a Jack Knife power bomb on him. Savage goes up top and hits an elbow drop on Page. Nash decides to Jack Knife Iaukea for no reason. Bischoff wants to get in on the act. They hold Page up for Bisch, who measures and hits a back leg side kick to him. Savage spray paints nWo on the Prince and dedicates it to Dennis Rodman. He then rips the Gophers shirt off Page, throws it into the crowd and says that this is what he and the nWo think of DDP, and paints a big zero on him. Nash keeps looking up, as if to dare Sting to show up. And we are out of time!

Other than the somewhat Freudian slip by Dean Malenko that got passed the censors, there was a Chris Benoit/Hugh Morrus match, in which Hugh Morrus won, that took place right before the Harlem Heat/Faces of Fear match, according to the Wrestling Information Archive (here) which was removed.