January 21, 2009
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
United Center, Chicago, Illinois
6/16/97

Nitro is on the air the night after the Great American Bash with the nWo music playing and a black limo arriving in the back. The most important nWo members – Hogan, Bischoff, Savage, Hall, Nash and Syxx, exit the limo and they are joined by Dennis Rodman, who is holding the world title belt. At this point, Dennis was on the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls and the NBA playoffs were in full swing. Not only that, but they are in the arena Dennis plays in. What a PR dream come true for Eric Bischoff. Hogan, Rodman and Bischoff go right to the ring as the crowd goes crazy. As Tony reminds us Hogan and Rodman will team up at Bash at the Beach, Easy E grabs a microphone then bows down to both men, calling them two world champions.

Hollywood laughs at the prospect of Luger and the Giant wanting a piece of them. Hogan puts over the Wolfpac’s night at the Bash then says Giant and Luger are next. Hogan actually challenges them to come out tonight and let Rodman beat them up right now. Dennis is given a live microphone (something I would advise against happening) and mocks Lex “Luthor” and the Giant. Hogan gets the microphone back and reiterates the challenge for any time tonight.

We go to the announce booth with Tony wondering what happened to Ric Flair last night. He fought into the back with Syxx but wasn’t seen again. However, he is here tonight. He also informs us Madusa’s career is over and the Outsiders are still the tag champs.

Mortis vs. Glacier

James Vandenberg accompanies Mortis to the ring. Glacier defeated Wrath last night but was attacked by Mortis and Vandenberg after the match. Tonight, he looks for revenge. Mortis meets Glacier in the aisle and it’s on like Donkey Kong. Mortis throws Glacier into the barricade then sets up the steel steps. Glacier reverses Mortis and drops him crotch first over the steps! Glacier then throws Mortis in and gets sucker punched as Vandenberg holds his leg. Mortis goes to work with kicks in the corner as the announcers proclaim that Glacier needs someone watching his back. Wrath has now made his way to ringside and Mortis drops Glacier with a fame-asser off the top rope. Wrath is on the apron now but Glacier reverses it and hits Mortis with the Cryonic Kick to get the win! And once again, it’s Glacier versus the world after the bell rings. All of a sudden Ernest Miller arrives through the crowd and evens the sides. Glacier and Ernest Miller clean house as security tries to take Ernest Miller out of the arena but Glacier holds them back.

Madusa now joins Gene in the aisle to say goodbye. She’s in tears and tells us she is a woman of her word so she will in fact retire after losing last night. She thanks all the fans for their support.

Dean Malenko vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr.

Last week, Dean Malenko lost the US title to Jeff Jarrett thanks to Eddie Guerrero. Dean challenges “Guerrero” and out comes Chavo. Dean attacks and throws Chavo into the corner. Chavo nails a hiptoss out of nowhere and lands a nice dropkick. He follows up with a spinning headscissor but misses a second dropkick and Dean is back in control. On the floor, he goes after Chavo’s leg and dropkicks it against the steel guardrail. Back in the ring and Dean gets caught in a surprise sunset flip, which gets a two count for Chavo. Malenko gets to his feet and nails a sick clothesline then a suplex. This gets two because Dean took his attention off Chavo to see if Eddie was around. Dean hits a gordbuster then goes for the Texas Cloverleaf as Eddie Guerrero makes his way out onto the stage. He watches Chavo submit and doesn’t come to the ring. Larry calls him scared. Dean stalks Eddie and Eddie goes to the back.

Super Calo vs. La Parka

Parka tries to attack from behind but Calo moves. Parka recovers though with a running lariat from behind. La Parka kicks Calo in the head a few times and gets a two count. Parka takes Calo down with a shoulder tackle but Calo gets an arm drag then a flying arm drag which sends La Parka to the outside. Calo flies through the middle rope with a plancha and LANDS IN THE SECOND ROW. Wow. Someone check on the fans. They both go back in and La Parka hits him with a clothesline and a leg trip. More kicks gets a two count. La Parka then ties Calo to the tree of woe and hits an Alabama Slam which gets another two. Parka goes up top and misses a corkscrew moonsault. Calo goes to work and gets a somewhat surprising three count after a top rope headscissor. La Parka attacks Calo after the three count and breaks a wooden chair over his head. Referee Mark Curtis tries to restore order as we go to Mean Gene.

Lex Luger and The Giant make their way down the ramp to talk to Okerlund. Luger mocks Hogan and Rodman and points out that Hogan submitted to the Torture Rack last week. Giant wants Rodman and Hogan. Luger and Giant say they accept tonight’s challenge!

Harlem Heat vs. The Amazing French Canadians

Colonel Parker is with the Canadians and Sister Sherri is with the Heat. Before the match starts, the Canadians sucker in the Heat by starting to sing the Canadian National Anthem but then attack two lines in while they weren’t paying attention. Tony tells us Harlem Heat defeated the Steiners last night to become number one contenders. The Canadians double team Booker T until Carl leaves the ring making it Booker T versus Jacques. He dumps Book, allowing Parker and Oulette the chance to beat on him. Sherri comes over and Tony reminds us her and Col. Parker almost got married recently. Oulette comes in and slams Book then follows it up with a second rope axe handle blow. Jacques is back in with a clothesline and quick tags Carl back in. Booker takes him down with a forearm shiver and tags in his brother. Jacques also tags in. Stevie goes to work on both opponents and then sets up Oulette for the Heat Bomb but Parker distracts the referee, allowing Jacques the chance to hit Book with Parker’s boot, which gets two. Back up and the Heat get the win after Book hits a flying kick for the three count.

Back to Mean Gene who is with JJ Dillon who confirms Hogan and Rodman vs. Luger and Giant tonight. The Heat interrupts to say they want their tag title shot. Dillon calls the win last night tainted because Vincent came out and caused a DQ just so the Outsiders wouldn’t have to face the Steiners. Book isn’t happy and Gene insinuates that the Heat are working with Vincent. JJ books a rematch between the Steiners and Heat next week. Vincent walks out and tells them they got an early Christmas gift from the Outsiders which results in the Heat beat the living hell out of him.

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

The Outsiders are with Syxx so it looks like Rey will have to contend with three individuals. Bobby Heenan joins the booth for hour number two. Hall and Nash try to psych out Rey before the match starts. They finally leave the ring and the match begins with Syxx kicking Rey in the head. He then chops away on Rey in the corner then drops a pair of quick leg drops. Syxx sets Rey face down on the bottom turnbuckle and hits the broncobuster. Wow, that’s got t be painful. The Outsiders laugh at Rey as he lies in the corner then Nash blows cigar smoke in his face. Syxx hits a sit-down body slam then goes up top. He tries a somersault dive but Rey moves. He fights up and gets a spinning head scissor takedown on Syxx. Rey sends Syxx to the corner then throws him out of the ring and hits his own somersault flip plancha off the top rope on Syxx! The fans love it as the Outsiders distract Rey in the ring. Rey goes up top and hits the top rope hurricanrana but he has to let go at two because the Outsiders come in. Rey takes out both men but gets wiped out by Syxx, who was waiting for Rey to turn around. He locks on the Buzzkiller and Rey submits. After the bell rings, the Outsiders are back in to work over Rey. Nash drives Rey to the mat with a SICK jack knife power bomb. Wow. Referee Mark Curtis does the right thing and rolls Rey out of the ring so they can’t get at him anymore. Nash grabs a microphone and calls it survival of the fittest. He says that last night, they divided Flair and Piper. Hall says they beat the so called icons last night then brings out the real icon, Randy Savage. Savage comes out with Liz.

According to Savage, last night, the Madness rocked the arena. He then puts over the Wolfpac, Hogan and Rodman. Hall wants to know what happened with Page last night. Savage says he was on top of his game and he destroyed Page. All of a sudden, DDP interrupts from the upper deck. DDP says Savage can’t get the job done himself. He needed help from Hogan before and Hall last night. DDP says he knows Hall really well so he made a few calls to some key players and found himself a tag team partner and everyone knows who he is. DDP wants to face Hall and Savage with his partner at the Bash at the Beach.

The Ultimo Dragon vs. Chris Jericho

The graphic still refers to him as “The Ultimate Dragon.” According to Tony, these two men have a big feud in Japan. As Jericho makes his way to the ring, Sonny Onoo runs up to him with an envelope. Jericho pushes him away and heads to the ring. They lock up and trade reversals. Jericho takes Dragon down with a shoulder block and drops a leg for two. He follows up with a suplex which gets another two. He works over the back of Dragon with a surfboard but Dragon hits some rapid fire kicks to gain control. He nails a perfect dropkick to the mouth but Jericho reverses momentum and hits a dropkick off the second rope then another one from the top while Dragon was on the outside. Jericho tries to suplex Dragon back in but Dragon lands on his feet. Jericho hits a huge clothesline though. Dragon is then able to put Jericho on the top turnbuckle and go for his top rope hurricanrana but Jericho turns around and tries to suplex him. Dragon stops it though and sends Jericho face first to the mat. Dragon hits a sick hurricanrana and gets two. He goes for another one and Jericho debuts his double power bomb move and gets two. They trade pinfall attempts until Dragon hits a tiger suplex for the three count!

Mean Gene brings Roddy Piper out to a huge ovation. Gene wants to know if there is a misunderstanding between Flair and Piper. Piper says Rodman can’t borrow his kilt tonight and gets booed big time for that. Piper says someone told him Flair went to get his hair done halfway through the match, but he doesn’t believe it. He wants to hear it from the horse’s mouth, which brings out the Nature Boy. Flair bows to Piper. Piper says this is the first time he saw Flair since last night and wants to know how the champ is. Flair says they are friends for life and apologizes for leaving him high and dry last night. Piper accepts and they shake hands.

Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton vs. US Champion Jeff Jarrett and Steve “Mongo” McMichael

Debra joins Jeff and Mongo. Buff and Norton are not yet vicious or delicious. Tony informs us that last night, Jeff Jarrett accidentally hit Mongo with the briefcase when aiming for Kevin Greene and wonders if there are any hard feelings. Mongo and Norton start out. They tie up and no one moves. Norton kicks Mongo in the stomach then throws him to the corner and charges in hard. He chops Mongo across the chest then drives the knee in a few times. Mongo hits a bulldog out of nowhere then a clothesline out of a three point stance! Jarrett tags in but gets taken down with a huge shoulder block. They now double team Jarrett behind the referee but Jarrett hits a dropkick to the back of Norton’s head and follows up with a side suplex. He jumps off the top rope but gets caught as Buff tags in. Bagwell hits a standing dropkick and puts himself over to the crowd. Bagwell sends Jarrett to the ropes but it is reverses and Jarrett lands an inverted atomic drop and follows up with a dropkick. As he struts, Mongo asked for a tag but Jarrett doesn’t oblige. Bagwell hits him from behind but gets a boot to the face for his troubles. Jarrett slams Buff then drops a fist off the second rope. Buff hits a clothesline on a reversal then tags in Norton. He slams Jarrett and drops him back first across his knee. Quick tag back to the Buff and he hits a running splash for two. Bagwell puts his head down too soon so Jarrett uppercuts him and Buff goes over to Mongo and slaps him for some unknown reason! I wouldn’t have done that. Mongo comes in and they double back drop Buff. Jarrett wants to strut with Mongo but he’ll have none of it and turns Jarrett around then tombstones him! He’s finally had enough of him! Mongo tells the camera he watched the tape last night and it’s time to suffer the consequences so he led Jarrett to the wolves. Wow, Tony was right. Buff pins Jarrett and its just academic now. Buff and Norton get the win. And Debra is leaving with Mongo! Buff is very proud of himself.

Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman vs. Lex Luger and The Giant

Hogan and Rodman come out alone. Hogan grabs a microphone and puts over Rodman and says he will beat the Utah Jazz by himself. He also says Savage is the man and Flexy Lexy and the big stinky Giant are going to go down. Rodman grabs the microphone and says he is ready. We take a break.

We return with Luger and the Giant still not in the ring. Rodman says he isn’t wasting his time anymore, so he decides they are leaving. On their way back up the aisle, Luger and the Giant arrive. Hogan and Rodman head back to the ring to wait for Luger and the Giant. Hogan and Rodman strategize then go right after them! Giant grabs Rodman by the throat but Hogan attacks from behind before he can drop him with the choke slam! Now Giant goes for Hogan but Rodman hits him from behind with the world title belt! The place explodes and Hogan celebrates. He then takes Luger out with the belt as Rodman drops an elbow on Giant leading the fans to litter the ring with trash! The Wolfpac arrives and hands Hogan and Rodman spray paint. They spray paint nWo on the backs of Luger and Giant. Savage arrives to celebrate as Tony is disgusted. And, we’re out of time!

Next week, we inch closer to the huge Nitro from Vegas and continue on the road to the Bash at the Beach.