November 19, 2007
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia
3/3/97

We are on the air and Tony welcomes us to the show as the fireworks go off in the arena. We cut to the outside of the building as the nWo is arriving backstage in their hummer limo. The side is painted like a steel armored tank, has the old TNT logo on it, as well as the WCW Monday Nitro logo and the words “The Rules Have Changed.” Hollywood Hogan, Miss Elizabeth, Kevin Nash, Syxx, Ted Dibiase, Michael Wallstreet, Randy Savage, Vincent, Nick Patrick and Eric Bischoff exit the limo. Tony is disgusted when he sees the “highest ranking official in WCW”. As they enter the arena, a regular limo pulls up from behind. Three men in suits exit and head towards the arena. Tony informs us that the man in the middle is Dr. Harvey Schiller, the President of Turner Sports. Larry says Schiller is “way above Bischoff.” Back in the arena, we head to the ring.

Hugh Morrus and Konnan vs. Steve “Mongo” McMichael and Jeff Jarrett

No Jimmy Hart with the Dungeon, and of course, Debra is with the Horsemen. Tony and Larry remind us Mongo and Jarrett are the only two Horsemen who are healthy and they don’t get along very well. Tony has a follow-up on Lex Luger’s challenge to the nWo last week (to put all the titles on the line at Uncensored). Tony reminds us Lex isn’t a matchmaker, so WCW officials told us on the weekend programs that they are looking into making it happen. Tony says there are a lot of important people here tonight, such as members of the executive committee and Dr. Schiller, because we are in WCW’s backyard. Jarrett and Hugh lock up to start and they trade reversals. Jarrett hits an inverted atomic drop and chokes Hugh on the middle rope. Konnan moves Hugh out of the way when Jarrett goes to hit a running move and Hugh follows up with a huge clothesline then mocks the Flair strut. Konnan tags in and hits his rolling clothesline on Jarrett. Tony tells us the Steiners will be in action tonight for the first time since their car accident. Konnan spits at Mongo and tags back in Hugh. Hugh spits at Mongo now and he runs in and distracts the referee. Double clothesline on Jarrett. Konnan holds Jarrett and Hugh goes for a top rope move but Jarrett moves and Hugh hits Konnan. Mongo gets the tag and comes in and takes everyone down. Huge three point stance to Hugh and then one for Konnan. The Public Enemy has made their way to ringside and are bugging Debra. Jarrett comes to the rescue as Rocco Rock has stolen the briefcase from Debra. A tug of war ensues and Jarrett wins, but he pulls so hard that the edge of the briefcase ends up going HARD into Mongo’s head, who is standing behind Jarrett in the ring. Konnan makes the pin and gets the three count as Jarrett tries to make the save but the PE stop him. Tony and Larry agree that this time, it was an accident, but, regardless, these two are now 0-2 as a tag team. Jarrett hit him so hard that Mongo is bleeding. Mean Gene, Arn and Flair have come to the ring now and Mongo is back up. Arn is mad and accuses Jarrett of doing that on purpose. Jarrett says Flair has stood behind him and Flair says Jeff is making the Nature Boy look bad. Flair: “We gave you a chair – sit in it, quit falling off it!” Mongo is screaming at Jarrett. Jeff says it was an accident. Debra tries to calm everyone down and the crowd boo’s. She says it was a mistake and the Horsemen are trying too hard. She says that Mongo and Jarrett have to pull together because they have the Public Enemy at Uncensored. Mean Gene calls the incident, “intentional neglect.”

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Rick Fuller

Tony is amazed DDP can walk, let alone wrestle, tonight after the brutal attack by the nWo from last week. He reminds us Page left the arena on a stretcher, thanks mostly Randy Savage. DDP stops to show us some fans in the crowd that tore off their nWo shirts to reveal DDP shirts. Tony and Larry mention how legendary to this great sport the Omni has been. Larry mentions some of his battles in the arena with Mr. Wrestling II. They lock up and Page puts an arm bar on but Fuller backs him into the corner and pounds away. He sends Page to the corner but DDP reverses and hits a belly to back suplex, but Fuller regain control with a jawbreaker. Huge DDP chants as Fuller hits a slam and leg drop, which gets two. DDP hits a clothesline and reverses a power slam into the Diamond Cutter and it’s over! Tony reminds us Page can put the move on from anywhere. Mean Gene is getting a lot of face time tonight because he’s in the ring with DDP now. Gene shows us some footage from last week when Savage jumped Page from behind, spray painted him and hit the elbow drop. DDP says Savage snapped. DDP says, if he is that much of a Savage, then snap into this…. Bang!

Juventud Guerrera v. Ray Mendoza

They lock up and Tony accidentally calls him “Ray Madusa” so Larry calls him out on the Freudian slip. Rey MENDOZA takes Juvy over with a slam and tries a release German suplex, but Juvy lands on his feet. Rey gets the advantage again with a clothesline but Juvy hits a head scissor takeover to send Mendoza to the outside and hits a baseball slide dropkick to follow up. Rey grabs Juvy as he is going for an Asai moonsault and he goes face first to the apron. Mendoza then suplexes Juvy on the outside and sends him back in. He sends Juvy to the corner but Juvy gets the feet up and tries to charge but Rey hits a belly to belly suplex for two. Mendoza chops away and goes for a suplex but Juvy reverses it into a swinging neck breaker then hits a springboard leg drop off the top. This gets two. Juvy locks on a front face look to slow down the pace. Back up and Juvy chops away and pounds away with forearms. Juvy goes up on Rey’s shoulders and spins around to hit a Frankensteiner for two. He then backdrops Mendoza over the top and Tony wonders if that’s a DQ. I guess that rule was still around at this point. Juvy hits a running suicide dive from one apron, through the two sets of ropes in the corner! Back on the apron and Juvy jumps up top and hurricanrana’s Rey back in! Now they are both on the top rope in the corner. Mendoza gets dropped on the top rope and Juvy jumps in with a spinning heel kick off the top. Juvy goes up top and calls for the 450 splash. He lands on the knees, but still gets the three count.

We see Hank Aaron in the front row. Should I go with a Bill Watts or Barry Bonds joke? I’ll just keep my mouth shut and move on!

Dean Malenko vs. Mike Enos

Something must have just happened concerning Chris Benoit because Tony is talking about Jimmy Hart, Kevin Sullivan and Jacqueline running by him a minute ago and we didn’t see any of that. Plus, they keep muting his voice. Apparently, Jacqueline challenged the men of WCW, I got that much out of Tony. Dean comes right in and is fists of fire from the start. He takes Enos down and pounds away with more fists! It’s the new Dean Malenko. In the corner, he kicks away at Enos and chokes him and breaks at four. Back to a choke until Enos throws him off. Dean responds by dropkicking the leg out. Dean concentrates on the leg and kicks it across the bottom rope. Tony tells us to log onto WCWWrestling.com to chat with many of the wrestlers who are in attendance tonight right now. Enos goes out and Dean follows. He puts Mike’s leg over the guard rail and kicks it. Jeez. Tony tells us that on Saturday Night, Eddie Guerrero was distraught about this whole thing because he didn’t go out to cost Dean the match at Superbrawl and he feels bad. Dean thinks otherwise and Tony says that, obviously, Dean is wrong. Larry: “Tell Enos that.” Back in and Enos hits a release belly to belly suplex but can’t follow up. Dean goes back to the knee. Dean grapevines the leg and Enos screams in pain but gets to the ropes. Dean just continues to kick away and control the match. He sends Enos to the corner and goes for a top rope body block but Enos rolls through for two. Enos hits a standing lariat and hobbles to the ropes and misses a diving head butt. Enos goes for a slam but Dean rolls him up in a small package for the three count. Enos argues with the ref and Malenko has a microphone. He hopes Eddie was paying attention and says this was just a little bit of the new and improved Dean Malenko. He says he is going to beat Eddie and everyone else who gets in his way.

Tony tells us not to miss WCW Saturday Night this week at 6:05pm eastern, on TBS. Wrestlers in action include Lex Luger, Diamond Dallas Page, Prince Iaukea and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Mean Gene is at the entrance way and, he isn’t happy about it, but he introduces Eric Bischoff. Tony calls him “Mr. Ego.” Larry says it’s been a long time since he’s heard this many boo’s in the Omni. Bisch thanks Lex Luger for coming up with a great idea last week. On behalf of the nWo, he accepts the challenge. Bisch says everyone in Atlanta knows that, if it wasn’t for Easy E and the nWo, no one would be here right now. We owe him. And all of a sudden, Dr. Harvey Schiller makes his way out behind Eric. He can’t see him yet, but Gene does and he takes a double take. The fans applaud and Bisch thinks that’s for him, so he thanks them. Bisch turns around, sees Schiller and has his own double take moment.

Harvey: “Hey Eric.” Bischoff: “Dr. Schiller… it’s good to see you, sir.” Harvey says they need to talk. Gene points out that this is Eric Bischoff’s boss and the crowd explodes. Harvey wants to know if Bischoff thinks, just because he has a contract, that he has total control of WCW. Bischoff says yes, that is what he thought. Schiller wants to know if Bischoff thinks, just because he has a contract, that he can fire referees any time he wants. Bisch doesn’t have an answer at first, but finally says “there were extenuating circumstances, Mr. Schiller.” Gene reminds him that it’s “Dr.” Schiller. Bisch says he is doing the best that he can. DR. Schiller wants to know if Bischoff thinks, just because he has a contract, he can break the rules of professional wrestling and take titles away from people at will. Bischoff cringes. Bisch says, his understanding is that, yes he can. He gets mad and calls him “Harvey.” Schiller: “You may have a contract, but as of now, you’re suspended.” The place explodes and, of all people, LARRY is going to need a new pair of underwear. Bisch says that can’t happen and Gene tells him, “It just did.”

Bischoff: “All kidding aside…..” Dr. Schiller: “We’re not kidding. You have no more financial responsibilities and you can sign no more contracts.” Bischoff weakly lets out a “…. but…..” and just wants to talk. Schiller: “I don’t even want to know that you are answering a telephone [in the CNN Center].” Tony laughs and Eric thinks Schiller is taking this a little bit too far. Schiller: “I don’t even want to know that there was a rumor that you were in the men’s room at a WCW event.” Schiller walks away and Bischoff says he has attorneys and chases him to the back! Larry: “Eric Bischoff is gone with the wind!”

US Title Match: Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon

Tony and Larry are still very pleased about what just happened to Bischoff. Tony calls it one of the biggest moments in WCW in 1997. Larry calls it a huge crack in the foundation of the nWo. Tony says things are turning for the better, for WCW. Sonny Onoo is with Ultimo. They show a sign in the crowd that says “Sting = nWo” which has nothing to do with anything happening right now, but thanks for trying cameraman. Larry calls Ultimo the number one contender but I am not sure how that happened. Tony wants to know if this means Nick Patrick and Jimmy Jett get their jobs back and if Lex and Giant get the tag titles back, or do the Steiners get them back? Larry isn’t sure about the legalities, but he does know this means you can punch Bisch in the mouth and not get fired. Dragon locks on a front chancery and Eddie reverses into a headlock but Dragon rolls through and it’s a stalemate. Big “USA” chant. Test of strength and Eddie gets the advantage. He locks on a headlock and hits a running shoulder block but Dragon lands a hurricanrana and chops away. Eddie hits his own hurricanrana and gets dumped out of the ring. Sonny Onoo tries to kick him but that doesn’t work. Eddie rolls back in and tries to backdrop Dragon but he lands on his feet and kicks Eddie down. Dragon hits a spin wheel kick and a cartwheel cross body block, which Eddie reverses and gets the three count! Eddie’s feet were in the ropes though, and Eddie looks upset about winning that way, because he technically cheated there. Sonny Onoo is mad and Tony tells him to take his complaints to Dr. Schiller. Mean Gene is again in the ring. I hope he’s getting paid by the appearance tonight. Eddie says his intentions were good but Dean doesn’t get that and won’t accept his apology. Dean makes his way to the ring. The two of them go back and forth and Gene reminds us these two will fight for the US title at Uncensored in a few weeks. Dean calls Eddie two-faced. Dean says Eddie lost his respect. Gene cuts them off and the two continue to yell at each other.

Hour number two is under way as Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan have joined Tony at the booth. Tenay is ecstatic and says justice has been delivered. Through the “Weasel” chants, Bobby says you can go hang out with Bischoff on the unemployment line tomorrow if you want. We see clips from earlier when Schiller suspended Bisch.

Scotty Riggs vs. Michael Wallstreet

They lock up and Wallstreet pounds away. He hits a hip toss take over but Riggs nails a dropkick and gets a one count. Tenay says Riggs is trying to forge his own identity. Riggs hits a top rope double ax handle and gets two. Wallstreet throws Riggs through the ropes to the outside. Bobby says he always thought Riggs was riding off Buff’s coattails. Tenay mentions that Buff, Scott Norton and Masahiro Chono are representing the nWo in Japan right now. Wallstreet beats up Riggs on the outside and rolls back in. Wallstreet hits a modified version of his old “Write-Off” clothesline and gets two. He then puts on a headlock. Tony is receiving information from the back. He says Schiller and the executive committee are reviewing documents that Bischoff signed in the back. He also lets us know that the match for Uncensored, Team nWo vs. Team WCW is still on. Wallstreet gets another two count. Tony adds that Dr. Schiller is inviting the man affected by the nWo the most, Roddy Piper, to form his own team and join the fight at Uncensored. Tenay loves it. Wallstreet goes back to the headlock. Riggs breaks it with a jawbreaker but misses a running elbow. Wallstreet throws Riggs into the corner and kicks away. Riggs finally lands a kick and then a second rope missile drop kick. He goes all the way up now and goes for a top rope sunset flip, which connects and gets two. Wallstreet sends Riggs to the ropes and Buff comes in to cause the DQ as he attacks Riggs. Wallstreet and Buff try a double team move but Riggs bails. Riggs gets a chair and comes up from behind with it ….. but doesn’t hit Buff. He just stands there saying he’s going to hit him until Buff sees this and runs. Fool! Tony lets us know he just found out Piper has arrived. Well, that was fast.

We return from break with 1-800-Collect On the Road with Lee Marshall. Lee is in Panama City, Florida, home of next week’s Nitro Spring Break-Out at Club La Vela. He says fans are already getting their tickets. Lee says that there is a petition going around to make sure Bobby Heenan doesn’t wear a thong next week. Too much weasel, not enough material. Bobby says Lee works part-time at Club Big Mouth as bagpipes begin to blare over the loudspeakers. The place explodes again and Roddy Piper is on his way to the ring. Tony reminds us Dr. Schiller is inviting Piper to bring a team to Uncensored.

Piper says he put Hogan to sleep two times, through the huge “Roddy!” chants. He tells us the only problem Hogan doesn’t have is insomnia. Piper didn’t expect Savage to interfere. He calls Hall and Nash monkey clones. He says he has one family that lives on a mountain on Portland, Oregon. He also has another family – the fans that have raised him his entire life. He finally tells us what he was saying in Gaelic the night after Starrcade – “We’re not home till the battles over.” He says that the hair Hogan has left is falling out because the war is about to begin. He is going to make a third family tonight. There are six guys in the back right now and they are all going to fight Piper right now, one at a time, and the fans will decide who will be on Piper’s team for Uncensored. While he’s telling us things, he tells us the I.C.O.N on his shirt means “I Cower Over Nothing.” Piper says he must he an idiot for doing this.

Here comes the first guy. He’s got black hair and is in jeans and has a ponytail. He kind of looks like if Reno (remember him from the final years of WCW?) and Petey Williams had a love child. (Yes, I know that’s impossible, just work with me here). The guy goes for Piper’s leg and Roddy locks him in a headlock and has a rear hold. Piper goes for an arm and ties him up. The guy taps. The fans give him a thumbs down. The guy shakes Piper’s hand and leaves. The next guy is in really short jean shorts and has a horse-shoe type hair cut. You might know him better as Luther Reigns. Tony said he was wondering why unfamiliar guys were walking around backstage before the show. Luther slaps Piper across the face and lays in some knees. Piper fights back but can’t stop him. He slides over a slam attempt and locks on the sleeper to put Luther to sleep. Thumbs down from the crowd. Piper rolls him out of the ring.

The next guy is also in jeans and looks like a younger Buff Bagwell. Tony calls this bizarre. As he is making his way down the aisle, another guy, in red shorts and boxing gloves comes up from behind and knocks number three out. He wants to box, and Piper pulls out boxing gloves from…. I don’t know where. The guy pounds away on Piper as Bobby reminds us he saw Piper knock Mr. T across the ring once in a boxing match. Piper fights back and the guy goes down but gets right back up and takes Piper down. Piper gets in some really good shots, but the guy keeps coming and takes Piper down and pounds away. Piper takes him down and he keeps fighting back. Piper calls him off and seems to like the guy’s spunk. They shake hands and Piper gives him a thumbs up. He tries to get the crowd behind him, but they are quickly turning on this segment and we still have two more to go. Piper has a mic and says they crowd is being too harsh. Piper and the man just start brawling in the ring again but they stop and the fans boo. So, we’ve got one partner for Piper.

Here comes the next guy. He’s pretty big and has a curly mullet and a beard. Looks like “Dr. Death” Steve Williams a little and Bobby points out the guy is barefoot and tattooed – like the winner of the Mrs. Kentucky pageant! He wants to shake hands but Piper only slaps his hand away. This guy is a martial artist and is using his feet a lot. He’s got some quick feet and Piper goes for a waist lock to take him down. The guy reverses it and chokes Roddy. The guy keeps kicking away and puts Piper on the top rope and kicks away again. Tony says new stars might come out of this…. I highly doubt that. Piper goes to the eyes and they slug it out. The crowd is dead at this point. Piper goes low but the guy fights back and Piper calls him off. He wants this guy on his team too. The crowd, again, disapproves. Tony doesn’t even know how many men will be on each team at the pay per view. Almost as if Bischoff was in his ear telling him they didn’t plan that far in advance, Tony tells us he is being told that is still to be determined.

Number six turns out to be John “Earthquake” Tenta. That got a little reaction from the crowd, because they know who he is. Piper goes to the eyes and punches him in the gut but Tenta overpowers the Hot Rod. Piper’s two new friends jump in to save Piper and Roddy just stays there laughing. The three guys are fighting each other and Piper’s happy, he’s got his team. Piper says this is his family then slaps all three guys and says “No Offense.” He says nWo stands for “No Way Out!” So two nobodies and John Tenta are going to main event a pay per view? Not really, but we’ll get to that next week. By the way, none of the guys were Bill Goldberg, which is a rumor that was started and many people believed.

Rey Mysterio, Jr. vs. Mr. JL

Jerry Lynn, I mean, JL, works on Rey’s arm and they trade reversals and both go for a dropkick at the same time. We hear pre-recorded comments from Prince Iaukea, the TV champion. He says that when he was growing up on “the island” (way to be generic) he never thought he’d get to WCW. But now that he is here, he’s going to make the most of it and he will give Rey one more shot because he deserves it. Rey and JL continue to mat wrestle. Rey hits a stringboard somersault moonsault for two. JL hits a face plant for two. A cradle gets two for JL. He follows up with a lariat on Rey. JL goes up top and is wasting too much time. He goes for a diving head butt but misses. Rey chops away in the corner and slides out when sent to the ropes. JL hits a baseball slide then a running somersault off the apron onto Rey. Back in, JL goes up top but Rey cuts him off and hopes up to hit a top rope frankensteiner. That gets two. JL hits an inverted atomic drop but Rey reverses it and hits the West Coast Pop off the apron for the win!

Here’s Mean Gene (again), and he’s with Madusa. She is in an evening gown and is not happy. Gene tells us she is the number one contender to the Women’s title. She says she threw a world class title in a garbage can to come here and she sits dormant. She is mad because the women get no television time. She blames Bischoff and Gene says you don’t have to worry about him anymore. She says the nWo should stand for the New Women’s Organization. She says she will beat Akira Hokato (the reigning WCW Women’s champion, who has been defending that title in Japan). She then says she say Luna Vachon backstage saying she is the number one contender. This brings Luna out to attack Madusa. Bobby (when he sees Luna): “Oh no!” Luna beats on Madusa in the aisle and Gene runs away. As we go to break, we see a banner sign that someone is holding up in the crowd that reminds us Robin Hood is up next.

Back from break and the nWo is on their way to the ring. Hollywood Hogan is out with Savage, Liz, Nash, Buff, Syxx, Scott Norton, Hall, Dibiase, Vincent and STING (and yes, it’s the real Sting). Bischoff is with them too. Bischoff wants to clear up a few things. He mocks Schiller and says he can’t fire Bisch because Hogan and Bischoff are friends with Ted Turner. Hogan says Schiller overstepped his limitations. And speaking of overstepping your limitations, Hogan isn’t impressed with Piper and his team. Savage says Piper is nuts because he’s not an Icon, Savage and Hogan are the only icons. Hogan even has tape around his fist and it says “Icon” on it. He says Piper couldn’t even beat Liz. To note, I believe I see Syxx in the back with his right arm in a cast or sling (hard to tell which because he has a leather jacket over it) and Sting is standing all by himself on the left side of the screen. Hogan says the nWo is 4 life. Bischoff wants to talk to Nash. Nash says they are “too sweet!” Bisch wants Hollywood to give them the guns and Hogan obliges. They all dance around.

Lex Luger and The Giant vs. The Steiners

The graphic incorrectly introduces Luger and Giant as the tag champs. Tony is happy to see the Steiners back after the car accident. Luger still has his cast on. Lex and Rick Steiner are going to start out. They lock up and they break. They lock up again and Luger backs Rick into the corner. Clean break but tempers appear to be flaring. Rick pounds away on Lex, who comes back with a huge running clothesline. Rick runs off the ropes and grabs Lex out of a leap frog and power slams him. He then tags in Scott who lands a standing belly to belly slam on Luger and tells the Giant to stick it. Double-underhook Steiner bomb on Lex. Scott charges in and gets power slammed and tags in the Giant. Big boot on Scott followed by an elbow drop. That gets two as Rick makes the save. Giant sends Scott to the ropes and Rick makes a blind tag. He jumps Giant from behind and the two Steiners hit a double suplex on Giant for two. All four men come in and just start looking at each other. All of a sudden, the nWo makes their way out through the crowd. Heenan: “See ya.” Tony: “You are such a big chicken.” Heenan: “How many eggs do ya need?” Sting and his bat come from a separate part of the arena. The four guys stay in the ring while the nWo and Sting stay outside. Tony says that this would make a great Team WCW – Lex, Giant and the Steiners. Piper and his crew come through the crowd and enter the ring. It seems Team WCW and Team Piper are working together right now. The nWo starts to get up on the apron and….. we’re out of time! Actually, we aren’t as they do get in the ring and they start brawling. And now, we really are out of time!

Next week, Nitro is live at Club La Vela for Spring Break-Out and Team Piper gets a makeover.