April 28, 2008
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
Lakeland Center, Lakeland, Florida
5/5/97

Nitro is on the air with footage from the end of last week’s episode. Hall, Nash and Syxx were triple teaming Ric Flair in the aisle way and it took Roddy Piper forever to come out to save his partner.

We cut live to the arena with Piper, Flair and Kevin Greene at the broadcast location and Piper grabs a mic. Before Piper can talk, a banner that says “Tradition Bites, nWo 4 Life” comes down behind the announcers, incensing Flair. Kevin Green rips it down then one comes down right in front of Piper and Flair! All right, that was pretty funny. Piper has had enough though. He drops the mic and takes off, so we go to the theme music and video. We return with Piper, Flair and Greene in the ring as the papers fall from the sky again, just like last week, with the same “Tradition Bites, nWo 4 Life” message on them. Piper says he’s not scared of paper. We scan the arena and the same banner that came down twice by the announce table has come down over all of the WCW signs. Piper says last week he saw Flair and thought to himself “It’s only three on one, he’s doing fine.” Piper says he’s always been there for Flair and he won’t stop now. Piper says the nWo wants 75% of the purse which is fine because he doesn’t carry a purse himself. All of a sudden, JJ Dillon makes his way to the ring and tells Piper we have a problem. There are people playing mind games and it all started last week. JJ implies Piper is angry that the nWo wants 75% of the gate which is why he wasn’t himself last week. Dillon says the nWo will get 75% of the purse and there is nothing he can do about it. He tells Piper he has to show up or he is in breach of contract and he needs to have his head on straight. Piper says he never had his head on straight and he will show up. Piper and Flair hug then Flair grabs the mic. He wants Syxx bad. He promises there won’t be one pot hole in the road when they drive out of Charlotte. Kevin Greene grabs the microphone but the Public Enemy’s music comes on and cuts him off. Flair, Piper and Greene finally leave as the PE makes their way to the ring. I guess someone missed a cue, or they were running late already, considering tonight’s episode is only one hour.

Public Enemy vs. Konnan and Hugh Morrus

The PE are accompanied by their table, as always. Jimmy Hart is with Konnan and Hugh, who have their own table! Before the match starts, we see footage from two weeks ago when Konnan and Hugh Morrus attacked the Steiners and the PE during their match. The Steiners and PE stopped fighting each other and fought off the two member of the Dungeon of Doom. Back live, all four men brawl to start with Johnny and Rocco throwing Hugh and Konnan into each other on the outside of the ring. Johnny then throws Hugh into the guardrail and they put Jimmy Hart on the table! Rocco was going to jump over the top rope onto Jimmy but Konnan made the save. All four men brawl on the floor, again. Hugh goes to charge Rocco against the ring post but he moves and Hugh goes in head first. The PE set Konnan up on a table then stacks another one on top of it. Grunge goes up top and goes for a dive, but Jimmy Hart pulled Konnan out and Johnny Grunge took a sick bump through both tables! In the ring, Hugh chokes Rocco in the corner while Konnan brings a table in and sets it up in the corner, with the legs sticking out. That can’t end well. They sent Rocco to the ropes and go for a double clothesline but he ducks out of the way and hits a moonsault on both men off the ropes which gets two on Hugh. Trainers are down to check on Johnny, as he hasn’t gotten up since he hit the tables. Konnan powerbombs Rocco in the ring then Hugh and Konnan go to opposite corners to taunt the crowd. They go to sandwich Rocco but he ducks and they hit each other and go down. Rocco takes the table out of the corner and puts Konnan on it and heads up top. Hugh Morrus gets up and suplexes Rocco off the top through the table that Konnan was on! Hugh pins Rocco while Rocco’s leg is on top of Konnan, but the referee awards the match to Hugh Morrus and Konnan while we see Johnny getting up slowly on the outside. Tony says Hugh and Konnan will go on to face the Steiners at Slamboree now. What a dumb move by Konnan to suplex Rocco onto his partner. We go to break.

We return as Tony gives us the normal opening where the lights go out and they tell us where they are tonight while the fireworks go off, 15 minutes into the show.

Cruiserweight Title Match: Syxx (Champion) vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr.

Before the match begins, we are shown footage from two weeks ago when these two men locked up. Kevin Nash interfered and dropped Rey with a huge jack knife powerbomb. Hall and Nash are with Syxx. Syxx is coming to the ring in an nWo shirt and jeans. Syxx hits a kick to the head of Rey while he wasn’t paying attention. Syxx works on Rey in the corner and goes for the bronco buster but Rey gets a foot up right where the sun doesn’t shine! Rey is a house of fire on Syxx when Nash gets up on the apron. Rey takes him down with a dropkick then Hall enters the ring. He gets taken down with a dropkick, too. Nash finally distracts the referee and Hall hits a SICK Outsider’s Edge on Rey. He’s out. Syxx applies the Buzzkiller but Rey’s out cold so the referee calls for the bell. Syxx won’t release the hold. JJ Dillon is on his way to the ring and Nick Patrick is with him, wearing a WCW Nitro shirt. Security is right behind Patrick then Eric Bischoff, Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, Vincent and Fake Sting come out behind him. Dillon tells Syxx that if he doesn’t release the hold, he will reverse the decision. Bischoff has a microphone and tells Dillon he has no stroke and needs to back off. Scott Hall gives him a crotch chop. Syxx still has the hold locked in. Larry wants to know where the WCW guys are. Syxx finally releases the hold and tells Dillon that if he thinks he is going to pull the same crap he pulled for McMahon down here, he’s got another thing coming. He says they’ve had enough out of Dillon and everyone gets in his face. Nash tells Dillon he’s got one coming from him for what he did in New York. Dillon doesn’t back down and we go to break.

We’re back with Lee Marshall on the Road with 1-800-Collect. Lee is in Baltimore, where Nitro will be next week. Baltimore is world famous for its annual crab festival, so when someone offers to give Bobby their crabs next week, it’s a good thing. Heenan: “I’m gonna knock him out.”

The nWo music hits again and, look who is back – Hollywood Hogan makes his way to the ring with Eric Bischoff (in a “Bite Me” shirt). We haven’t seen Hogan in a few weeks, as he was off making his movie. Hogan rips off his shirt as Bischoff goes nuts. Bischoff says Hollywood has been busy making movies but everyone wants to know when Hogan will kick Sting around like an old shoe. Hogan says the Wolfpac will take care of all the dirty work in WCW while the fans chant for Sting. It’s hard to be Hogan. Everyone wants a piece of him. Hollywood wants the big dog. He wants Sting right now! They look up and there is no Sting. Tony begs Sting to come down. Brain says Hogan knew Sting wasn’t here, that’s why he made the challenge. Hogan calls himself a God to wrap up the segment.

Tony mentions that Lex Luger sustained an injury at the hands of the nWo this weekend in Japan, but he is still scheduled to be in the main event tonight. There is nothing else known about the injury at this time. We go to break and return with Gene interviewing DDP and Kimberly. Wow, Kim is smoking hot tonight. Gene wants to know DDP’s thoughts on Randy Savage. They said he couldn’t beat Savage at Spring Stampede, but he did. It was a fight, but he still won. That was his defining moment. Kim wants to address Savage’s claims that she is obsessed with him. She says it’s not true and we see Randy Savage in the crowd with Liz. He calls Kim a liar and says she keeps calling and writing him. DDP has two words for Savage – Diamond Cutter…. BANG! Savage says if he wasn’t hurt, he’d come down there right now and kick Page’s ass. DDP calls him out but Savage leaves.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Alex Wright

Queen Debra is with Jeff. Tony goes back to Hogan calling out Sting and says that Sting picks his moments and wonders when the moment will be where he takes on Hollywood Hogan. Jarrett takes Wright down with an arm drag out of a tie up then struts. Alex Wright applies a wrist lock then they trade reversals. Jarrett sends Wright to the ropes but Alex ducks through the legs and Jarrett takes him down with a dropkick then chokes him over the second rope. He sends Wright to the ropes but now Alex cartwheels out and hits a jumping kick to the face then goes to work on Jeff in the corner. Alex dances then flaunts it for Debra. Jarrett clips the knee out from behind and locks on the figure four for the win. Jarrett and Debra celebrate in the ring as Tony tells us Jeff Jarrett will face Dean Malenko for the US Title at Slamboree. We see footage of Mongo and Reggie White going at it a few weeks ago on Nitro as we go to break.

Glacier vs. Lizmark, Jr.

As Glacier made his way to the ring, the announcers reminded us that Mortis, his big friend and James Vandenburg were successful in their recent bid to steal Glacier’s helmet. They tie up and Lizmark gets Glacier in the corner then sends him to the opposite side. Glacier reverses it and Lizmark heads up top and flips backwards. Glacier turns around when Lizmark lands and hits the Cryonic Kick for the quick win! After the match, Mortis attacks Glacier while Vanderburg, who is holding the helmet, directs traffic. Glacier turns the tide using closed fists, which is not in his repertoire. The gigantic man makes his way out and waits for Glacier to turn around. Mortis throws Glacier into him and the big guy hits a Rock Bottom-type move then goes to work on Glacier in the corner. Mortis then lands the Flat Liner drop off the second rope. Mortis then takes his entrance prop and pounds away on Glacier. Larry says this happens every week and Glacier needs to find a friend.

Lex Luger and The Giant vs. Harlem Heat

Sherri is with the Heat. Giant comes out all by himself and tells us that the nWo hurt Lex in Japan so he is not here. But he does have a partner……DDP! Page and Kim make their way back into the arena. As they come down the ramp, Randy Savage and Liz are off to the side distracting them. Page grabs a crutch and wants to hit Savage but Randy puts Liz in front of him. All of a sudden, Hogan attacks Page from behind and Savage grabs Kim by the hair! Hogan beats on Page with a crutch and the entire nWo is out. They head to the ring and beat up the Giant with the other crutch and take out the Harlem Heat. Hogan is still beating Page by the booth. Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and Kevin Greene come running out! The numbers game gets to them though. Syxx puts the figure four on Ric Flair while Norton dumps Kevin Greene. Nash puts the sleeper on Piper while they continue to triple team Flair and Greene, respectively. Hollywood and Savage take over the booth and talk trash. Hogan mocks the carnage and says the nWo is in control. Savage says his leg feels a lot better. Hogan wants to know where Sting is. Hogan says you can’t stop them, as we fade to black.

According to the DDT Digest (here) a Meng vs. “Lord” Steven Regal match that went to a no-contest, probably due to Kevin Sullivan/Chris Benoit talk during the bout and a promo with NASCAR driver Mark Martin who promised a big announcement on Nitro in two weeks, were omitted.

Next week, we inch closer to Slamboree and everyone is wondering if Sting will make another appearance.