January 15, 2009
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
FleetCenter, Boston, Massachusetts
6/9/97

This episode of Nitro was omitted from 24/7 as they claimed there were errors during the original recording of it, but some conspiracy theorists feel it might have been skipped due to Chris Benoit’s involvement in the post-main event activites, which probably couldn’t have been edited out. Either way, I got my hands on an original airing of it just for you, my loyal readers. Enjoy!

Nitro comes on the air with a video package focusing on Dennis Rodman and Hollywood Hogan. How cute, two peas in a pod. After the theme song plays, Tony welcomes us to Boston and announces Hogan and Rodman will team up at Bash at the Beach in July but their opponents have yet to be named. Tenay and Larry wonder who will step up to face them. Tony then informs us, that director Craig Leathers has informed him, the nWo has arrived backstage so we cut to Macho Man and Liz getting out of a limo. Liz exited but DDP, in a really long trench coat, attacks Savage as he gets out, so Savage gets back in and the limo drives away after Page kicked the window in!

Ultimo Dragon, Super Calo and Juventud Guerrera vs. La Parka, Silver King and Psychosis

Tenay reminds us this match will be contested under lucha libre rules meaning tags aren’t necessary, especially if your partner goes to the arena floor. Dragon starts out with Psychosis and they trade reversals. Dragon tries to hop up top but loses his balance and falls down. He grabs his knee to cover for it and Psychosis goes to work. Dragon dumps him and Parka comes in to face Super Calo. Calo backdrops Parka then dropkicks him out of the ring and follows up with a swanton over the top to the floor. Silver King and Juventud come in and King hits a thrust kick right to the chin of Juventud. Silver King misses a splash in the corner allowing Juventud to hit a top rope hurricanrana and follow up with a shoulder block. An elevated dropkick knocks Silver King to the floor so Psychosis comes in but Dragon stops him with a power move. Juventud tags in and hits an elbow drop for two. La Parka tags in as Juventud tags in Calo. Parka lands an arm drag takedown and a belly to belly suplex and tags Psychosis back in. The fans break into a “BORING” chant. Dragon comes in to work on La Parka and goes for the handspring elbow but it is reversed into a pinning combination for two. Psychosis gets elevated over the top then Dragon gets dumped. Silver King backflips over the top and now with everyone on the ground, Juventud springboards onto La Parka. Dragon runs in and hits the top rope hurricanrana on Psychosis and applies the Dragon Sleeper to get the win! After the match, La Parka attacks Calo with the chair.

In the aisle, Mean Gene brings out Lex Luger. Lex and Giant want to fight Hogan and Rodman at Bash at the Beach but Hogan hasn’t responded. They’ve signed the contract, but nothing from the nWo yet. Lex says JJ Dillon and the executive committee have realized Hogan hasn’t defended his title since February. Bunch of geniuses on the executive committee, I tell you. Lex announced Hogan has to defend the title tonight, against him!

Earlier today, Mike Tenay interviewed Ric Flair and Roddy Piper in the parking lot. Piper says there are no problems between him and Flair. Tonight, they will fight the Outsiders in a non-title match, in addition to the title match at the Great American Bash. Flair references the Celtics and gives us a WHOOOOO!

Alex Wright vs. Chris Jericho

They tie up and Alex applies a headlock which Jericho can’t seem to break. He finally does and takes Wright down with a clothesline and sends him to the floor with his middle turnbuckle springboard dropkick. Alex attacks Jericho as he goes back in and hits a few European uppercuts. Wright pounds away on Jericho in the corner. Tenay announces that tonight’s crowd is the largest in Monday night wrestling history (up until that point). Alex dances and gets booed. Jericho fights back and they trade fists. Wright hits a suplex and goes up top. He goes for a diving knee but Chris moves and goes for a kick but Alex reverses and chokes Jericho over the second rope. Alex Wright is in total control and slams Jericho then climbs the turnbuckles. A Vader splash gets two. After a sunset flip by Jericho gets two, Alex applies a chin lock. Another “BORING” chant breaks out. Jericho has had very little offense in this match and the crowd pops when he gets a quick school boy out of nowhere for two. Wright applies a camel clutch but releases it. Jericho gets his feet up as Alex charges him in the corner then hits a dropkick. Jericho hits his butterfly power bomb pinning combination for two then locks Alex into the tree of woe in the corner. He hits a baseball slide dropkick as Alex unlocks himself and begs off. Jericho lands a cross body block but Alex Wright rolls through and gets the win with his feet on the ropes!

WCW Women’s Champion Akira Hokuto vs. Malia Hosaka

Tony reminds us Madusa will put her career on the line against Akira and the title at the Great American Bash. Sonny Onoo is with Hokuto. Akira attacks Malia in the corner then throws her by the hair. She hits a suplex but Hosaka hits a spin kick and a few flying clotheslines. She follows up with a cross body off the top but Sonny Onoo jumps up and distracts Malia allowing Akira the chance to hit her brainbuster for the win. After the bell, she hits it a second time but Madusa comes out to make the save and hits three German suplexes on Akira! The crowd explodes and Onoo bails.

Tony quickly tells us the Luger/Hogan match will be non-title now. If that was the case all along, why even bring up the fact Hogan hasn’t defended the title since February?

Mean Gene is in the aisle again and brings out the Steiners. Rick says they have to prove they are the best and Scott says they will take on everyone. This brings out the Harlem Heat with Sister Sherri. Book says they are seven time champs and they want the shot. Stevie agrees. Rick wants to go right now and he gets his wish! They brawl all over the place until referees come out to break it up.

Steve “Mongo” McMichael vs. Konnan

Debra is with Mongo. On his way to the ring, Kevin Greene attacks Mongo from behind and Debra almost went flying in the process. Mongo drops Greene over the guardrail. Greene gets back up and AGAIN attacks Mongo from behind! Way to be a back fighter, dude. Security finally breaks it up. We go back to the ring and Konnan is out cold with a broken broomstick next to him. Nick Patrick calls it a no contest because it never got started. No one saw who hit Konan.

Non-Title Match: Champion “Hollywood” Hogan vs. Lex Luger

Easy E leads out Hollywood Hogan wearing a reverse nWo shirt - white with black lettering, and a Syxx ball on back. Huge cheers. A stable full of former WWF wrestlers is over in the Northeast? The hell you say! Fun fact: The title belt still has “The Giant” on the nameplate. It’s only been almost a year since the switch. Such a well-oiled machine that WCW was. Conversely, according to a recent WWE Magazine, the nameplates are changed right after the wrestlers come through the curtain now. Hogan calls Lex a wannabe and says he needs to work out before he can face Hollywood. Hogan says he puts the title on the line whenever he wants and he’s not putting it on the line tonight. Hogan poses to HUGE chants. Lex comes out and waits for Hogan to turn around. Hogan says Lex came out to see what a real body looks like. Then he says Lex will never beat him. Bischoff tells Luger he sucks, so Lex pushes him down and goes after Hogan with the forearm! Randy Anderson calls for the bell to start the match but the Wolfpac comes out to talk to Hogan. Tony sends it to commercial but Hogan gets in the ring so we stay with it. Hogan clotheslines Luger then drops an elbow. He rakes the back of Lex and we finally do go to commercial.

We return with Hogan still raking the back of Lex. Brain joins Tony in the booth for the conclusion of this match. Hogan hits a side suplex on Lex and it gets two. He then slams Lex and goes for an elbow but Luger moves! He slams Hogan then attacks the Wolfpac as they try to come in. Luger racks Hogan! Hogan gives up! Randy Anderson calls for the bell and the Wolfpac attacks. Hogan drops the leg as the second hour of Nitro official begins with pyro. Hogan continues to drop leg after leg after leg. If this was 1988, this would be grounds to declare Lex Luger legally dead. The crowd now chants big time for Sting after eight leg drops. Bischoff and Hogan lay on the mat now and conduct an interview. Hogan says Rodman was watching tonight and says that was for him.

JJ Dillon joins Mean Gene in the ring. JJ says he is fining Randy Savage $50,000 for attacking him last week. He would suspend him too, but that’s what Randy Savage wants so he won’t have to face DDP at the Bash. In addition, the match at the Bash between DDP and Savage is now lights out, non-sanctioned, no DQ and falls count anywhere. All of a sudden, Randy Savage and Liz appear in the crowd to call JJ’s bluff. Savage says he’s got $100,000 – half for last week, and the other half for this week when he does it again. DDP (still in his oversized trench coat) and Kimberly arrive and come to the ring. He wants Savage RIGHT NOW. After some persuasion, Savage agrees but the police forces break it up before it can get started. We’ll have to wait until Sunday night at the Bash.

United States Heavyweight Championship Match: Champion Dean Malenko vs. Jeff Jarrett

Before the match starts, Tony tells us Nitro will be in the United Center in Chicago next week, home of Dennis Rodman and the Bulls, and in three weeks, Nitro will be in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, and will feature the debut of an impact player in our sport. Jarrett does a lot of talking before we start. They lock up and Malenko pushes Jarrett into the corner then they trade reversals on the ground. Jarrett takes Dean down with a shoulder block then struts. Dead gets a two count with a surprise roll up and another two on a school boy. A third two count causes Jarrett to bail and slow down the match. Back in and Jarrett gets slammed as Queen Debra makes her way to the ring. We go to break.

Back to the action and Dean is working on Jarrett in the corner. Jarrett fights out then applies a sleeper hold. Dean breaks it and applies a sleeper hold of his own. Jarrett slides to the side and hits a side suplex. Debra gets on the apron then backs down. Jarrett works over Dean in the corner then hits a DDT. It gets two. Jarrett sends Dean to the ropes and puts his head down too soon allowing Dean to kick him. He follows up with a standing delayed vertical suplex, again getting a two count. Dean dumps Jarrett to the floor and comes out to throw Jarrett back in. He slams Jeff and goes for a half crab. Dean also drives his knee into Jeff’s back then twists the whole thing around into a modified ankle lock. Brain rightfully points out this will take away the figure four from Jarrett’s repertoire. Jarrett fights out then hits a tombstone on Malenko! He’s too tired to make a cover though. Jarrett grabs a leg instead and applies the figure four! Malenko turns it into the ropes and the hold is broken. Dean gets a butterfly power bomb and goes for the Texas clover leaf but Jarrett rolls him up for two instead. Malenko goes up top and goes for a double axe handle but Jarrett blocks it and sets Malenko on the top turnbuckle. Jarrett hits a super-plex from the top! Eddie Guerrero arrives through the crowd with a sling on and hits the frog splash on Dean while Debra distracts the referee. Eddie takes the sling off and puts it on Dean. Jarrett puts the figure four on again and Dean can’t fight out of it so he has to give up. We have a new US champion!

Mean Gene is with Jimmy Hart at the entranceway. The Faces of Fear also come out. Jimmy Hart had promised a surprise for Chris Benoit, so he brings out the returning Kevin Sullivan and Jacqueline. Kevin says he’s home and Benoit can’t beat him in his home. Sullivan wants Benoit right now and tells the Faces to stay back. Benoit arrives and here we go! Benoit gets the best of Sullivan causing Jacqueline to jump in. Meng pulls her off but then they all put the boots to him as we go to break.

Non-Title Match: Tag Team Champions The Outsiders vs. Ric Flair and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Syxx is with the Outsiders, as Piper and Flair come out separately. This is a warm up for the title match these same teams will take part in on Sunday. All four men start brawling with Flair and Piper getting the upper hand. The Outsiders eventually take down Flair and Piper though, and we go to break.

We return from break with a young child holding a “WWF Sucks!” sign up. You stay classy, Boston! It’s settled down in the ring and the legal men are Nash and Piper. Nash drives his knee into Piper in the corner. Piper tries to tag Flair but Nash stops it. Flair runs in enabling the double team from the Outsiders as Hall comes in without a tag. He works over Piper in the corner as well. Again Flair runs in, again allowing a double team as Nash comes back in without a tag. He goes for the power bomb but Piper hits a low blow! Nash quickly tags Hall back in who puts the sleeper on Piper, but he breaks it up. Syxx attacks Flair, so Ric chases him around the ringside area. Piper is finally over to make the tag now but Flair isn’t there! Now everyone ends up in the ring and it’s a Wolfpac beatdown causing the DQ.

Mongo, Jarrett and Benoit come in to make the save as the crowd explodes. Now the nWo arrive and it’s an even bigger brawl. Kevin Greene runs in just to get at Mongo and they brawl down the aisle. The Steiners and Harlem Heat now come out and get it on themselves. People are brawling all over the arena! For some reason Glacier, Mortis and Wrath are out battling as the Steiner and Harlem Heat fight over the announce table causing Tony and Brain to bail. “WE WANT STING! WE WANT STING!” Even the luchadors are fighting in the aisle as well.

Next up, Kevin Sullivan and the Faces of Fear enter the ring with the soul intent of getting at Benoit. They do and then all of them brawl out of the arena. “WE WANT STING! WE WANT STING!” Savage is out followed by DDP and the crowd explodes again! Hogan walks in and takes the opportunity to hit DDP and Flair with the title belt, knocking DDP to the arena floor. This is crazy. STING! Sting is here! Sting drops down from the ceiling, lands near DDP and threatens the nWo with his bat. The crowd is just off the charts now. Hogan strategizes with Savage and Sting attacks each nWo member with the bat as they come near him. Sting attaches a beat down DDP to his harness and repels to the roof with DDP just as the nWo closes in, and… WE’RE OUT OF TIME!

Well, that explains why DDP had on the huge trench coat all night… he had the body harness on under it. Next week, the fallout from the Great American Bash and this absolutely crazy Nitro.