April 12, 2009
Mike Abitabile

Monday Nitro
Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, Florida
9/1/97

Not only is Nitro not going up against Raw once again this week as the USA Network continues to air coverage of the US Open Tennis Championships instead, but it is also a special 3 hour episode to celebrate the start of its third season on the air. The show begins with an awesome video chronicling the career of Arn Anderson, who retired last week. The video documents Arn’s career from the beginning, to the end talking about many of his career highlights. Awesome stuff. This episode is dedicated to Arn Anderson and we will hear from his peers all throughout the night as they remember the Enforcer.

Tony welcomes us to the show and, as always, is with Iron Mike and Larry. The nWo music hits and Scott Hall, Randy Savage and Liz make their way to the announce booth. Tony and Mike want to bail, but Larry tells them not to go anywhere. They stand behind him. Hall wishes us a Happy Labor Day. The nWo is the working man’s champion. The little people get to live through the nWo, apparently. Larry gives Hall a tissue and says he must have been hanging out with Hogan because he’s got something on his nose. Savage grabs a mic as the announcers finally bail. Randy tells DDP and Luger that they have to deal with Hall and Savage tonight, if they can get on the same page that is.

Mortis vs. Silver King
The announcers return and Tony apologizes for the interruption. James Vandenberg and Wrath are with Mortis They lock up and Mortis gets the advantage. He pounds away on Silver King but gets kicked in the face after King ducks. Tony tells us three members of Team WCW have already been named for War Games – Lex Luger, Diamond Dallas Page and Ric Flair. Don’t get comfortable with that list or anything. Mortis fights back with a spin kick but misses another. Wrath distracts the referee which allows Mortis to hit a spinning leg drop and a modified jackhammer suplex for two. Mortis kicks continue to control the action but Silver King is able to throw Mortis to the floor then follow up with a springboard into a cross body block from the second rope to the floor. Back in and Silver King hits a hard clothesline. He goes for a second but Mortis grabs his arm and hits the Flatliner to get the win. After the match, Vandenberg calls out the Faces of Fear. They respond and it’s a pier sixer. Meng and the Barbarian clean house. These two teams will face off at Fall Brawl.

Nitro Girls dance on the ramp!

Footage is shown of Bash at the Beach 1994 when Arn Anderson turned on his partner Dustin Rhodes to join Terry Funk and Colonel Parker.

We recap JJ Dillon saying he will sign Sting versus Hollywood Hogan by the end of the year from last week and Sting attacking Eric Bischoff and smiling about it.

Dean Malenko vs. Yuji Nagata
Lock up and Dean twists the arm. Yuji flips out and applies his own arm bar. They trade amateur reversals until Yuji goes to work on Malenko’s leg. Dean spins out of it and applies a leg lock around Yuji’s leg. Nagata gets to the rope to break it. Both men are back up and Dean takes Yuji down then applies a front chancery. Yuji breaks it but Dean takes him back down with a dropkick. Dean sends Yuji to the corner but Nagata gets a foot up then hits a dragon screw leg whip on Malenko. Dean is back up though and hits a side suplex for a one count. Nagata unleashes a head and arm Tazz-plex out of nowhere for two. All of a sudden Jeff Jarrett and Queen Debra come out. Debra distracts the referee as Malenko applies the Texas Cloverleaf. Malenko sees Jeff Jarrett and releases the hold then gets dropped over the top rope by jarrett. Nagata makes the cover as Jarrett holds the foot of Malenko and Yuji gets the win.

We hear pre-taped comments from DDP concerning Arn Anderson. DDP says he thinks of respect when he thinks of Arn and says Anderson always gave it his all.

Hour number two is on the air! The fireworks explode and we get more Nitro Girls dancing! Tony tells us they want to see video of your Nitro Party and if you have the best one, you could win a contest in which Mean Gene and the Nitro Girls come to the winner’s house.

Ultimo Dragon vs. La Parka
Sonny Onoo is with La Parka as Tony tells us his neighborhood committee tells him there are routinely more than five Nitro Parties going on in his town. Oh, please. Dragon will get his TV title rematch with Alex Wright at Fall Brawl (that is if Alex can get past Hugh Morrus later tonight). La Parka pounds away on Dragon but Ultimo walks the top rope then hits a hurricanrana and kicks Parka through the ropes to the floor. Parka grabs Dragon and brings him out but gets sent into the guard rail himself. Dragon tries to follow in with a handspring elbow but Parka moves. Dragon tries to suplex Sonny Onoo but Parka makes the save then hits a suicide dive through the ropes onto Dragon and both men go hard into the rail. Back in the ring, La Parka hits a power bomb then struts and gets a two. Parka then gets a belly to belly suplex on Dragon for a long two count. The crowd starts chanting for the Dragon, which gets La Parka upset. He ties Ultimo the tree of woe then hits a stiff kick to the chest for another two. Dragon fights back with a clothesline then gets a two of his own with a moonsault off the second rope. Dragon charges in but gets powerslammed for two. He then reverses a back drop attempt and hits his rapid fire kicks then a bridging fall-away slam for two. Wow. Onoo distracts the referee, and La Parka goes to hit Dragon with a chair. He ducks though and dropkicks the chair back into La Parka’s face then gets the three count when referee Mickie Jay turns around! After the match, Ultimo puts the Dragon Sleeper on Sonny Onoo to the crowd’s enjoyment.

We see Arn Anderson from Starrcade 1985 when he tells the world that, much like Aamco, he gives a lifetime guarantee on injury for his opponents.

Buff Bagwell vs. Glacier
Vincent is with Buff but no Ernest Miller with Glacier. Buff mocks Glacier then poses for the crowd. Bagwell hits an arm drag then poses some more. Now Buff slaps Glacier then turns around into a spin kick but bails after getting hit by three open hand thrusts. Buff gets back in the ring and goes down with a drop toe hold. Glacier takes Buff down again and gets two. Buff is up though and sends Glacier to the ropes, but Vincent grabs his leg. Buff then clotheslines Glacier to the floor and Vincent works him over and sends him back in. Bagwell hits a beautiful dropkick then poses some more. Glacier fights back with a cross body block for two. Bagwell goes right back to posing then slams Glacier’s head into the turnbuckle. As Bagwell charges back in, Glacier gets the foot up. Glacier then hits a back body drop and goes up top. Buff ducks and Glacier rolls. He then screws up a cross body block off the second rope. Vincent is up but Glacier sends Bagwell into him. Glacier hits the Cryonic Kick but Buff gets up pretty quickly for a guy who just took a finisher. Glacier sets Buff up on the top rope for a suplex but Vincent holds Buff’s tights and Glacier goes down hard. He gets back up and Buff nails the Blockbuster for the win! This was Glacier’s first loss in singles competition.

Pre-taped comments from Larry putting over Arn Anderson and says his day came way too soon. This is followed by a video recapping Roddy Piper in WCW.

Lizmark Jr. vs. Villano IV
No entrances as they start as soon as the Piper video is over. Lizmark works on the arm but Villano reverses it and they trade reversals. Iron Mike mentions that Villano V is at ringside. Lizmark takes Villano over then hits an arm drag takedown then sends him to the floor with a dropkick. Lizmark follows up with a suicide dive over the top rope, sending Villano into the guard rail. He slams Lizmark as Raven makes his way to a ringside seat. Villano leg drops Lizmark’s head on the apron and then hits a back elbow. Lizmark hits a spin wheel kick then a hurricanrana for two. Villano gets hiptossed to the floor then Lizmark hits a huge dive off the top rope. Now, Lizmark goes back in the ring, as does Villano V, instead of IV, which no one seems to notice. I stand corrected, Iron Mike caught it. However, Lizmark hits a tilt-a-whirl slam and a moonsault to get the win! The switch backfired on them and Lizmark clears house after the Villanos try to double team him.

Mean Gene is in the aisle and brings out Lex Luger. Gene says Luger has to work together with DDP tonight because it is important for WCW even though they have had issues recently. Luger says he didn’t answer Page’s request to talk to him last week because he was ticked off. But now he sees that it’s possible to lose your head in the heat of battle and he apologizes for racking DDP last week. Luger asks Page to come out and bury the hatchet. No Page, and now Luger sees how it feels to be ignored.

Footage of Arn Anderson taking on Bobby Eaton from Worldwide on April 12, 1993. He tells Eaton he isn’t going to hit him, then as Bobby turns to leave, Arn hits him and nails the spine buster!

More Nitro Girls! They are interrupted however by Disco Inferno who comes out to dance with them. He’s not the only one because here comes Alex Wright as well. The two push each other as Larry wonders if they are the Nitro Boys. Disco gets mad and leaves.

TV Title Match: Champion Alex Wright vs. Hugh Morrus
Hugh Morrus mocks Alex’s dance to a huge ovation. They lock up and Hugh takes the advantage with his strength but Alex nails him with a fist. It doesn’t faze Morrus though and Wright bails to the floor. Alex doesn’t want to go back in but Morrus pulls him in then head butts him. Wright moves out of the way of a Morrus charge then goes to work. He repeatedly kicks Hugh in the corner then dances. Wright then goes to work on the leg of Hugh Morrus and wraps his ankle across the steel ring post. Hugh fights back on one leg though and clotheslines Alex on the floor then sends him back in. As he’s coming in, Wright dropkicks the leg of Morrus and continues to work on it. Alex goes up top and drops a knee across Hugh’s lower leg. Alex goes back up but this time Hugh catches him and slams him. He takes Wright down with a few clotheslines then charges him in the corner. Now Disco Inferno has made his way down to ringside as Morrus slams Alex Wright. For some reason, Disco hits Hugh Morrus and brawls with him. The referee is letting it go and when Hugh turns around, Alex hits a spin wheel kick then pins Hugh with his feet on the ropes to retain the title. He’ll face Ultimo Dragon at Fall Brawl.

Bobby Heenan can’t tell us how great Arn Anderson was in 10 seconds, so he thanks Arn and tells us he wishes he had more time with him and so do the fans.

Bobby joins Tony and Iron Mike for the second half of the show. The Nitro Girls are with the announcers too,as Tony plugs the Nitro Party contest again. He then introduces a video of Sting’s recent activity with the same speech that played over the PA system at the end of the Clash of the Champions narrating it.

Stevie Richards vs. Damien
Stevie has a shirt on that says “Nitro + Stevie = Ratings.” Before Damien gets to the ring, Raven jumps the rail, DDT’s him in the aisle then throws him in the ring. Stevie doesn’t know what happened and decides to give Damien CPR. He then gets slapped by Raven, who tells him to make the cover, so he does and wins the match.

Dean Malenko calls it a privilege to face Arn and know him. He wishes him the best in the future.

Hour number three is on the air! The fireworks unexpectedly scare Tony and Bobby as the Nitro Girls dance in the ring.

Gene is in the aisle with Big Bubba, who doesn’t look happy. He says he’s used a lot of different names since coming to WCW, but he is Ray Traylor. He was attacked back in February with people telling him he’d never walk again and his wrestling career was over. The nWo wasn’t there for him and he knows the 4 Life thing is a bunch of crap. All he got was a Fed-Ex letter from Bischoff firing him from the nWo. He used this as motivation to get better and he’s going to get revenge on the nWo. He then heads to the ring.

Ray Traylor vs. Prince Iaukea
Traylor takes down Iaukea with a shoulder block then charges him in the corner. Iaukea hits a dropkick but it has no effect. Prince tries a sunset flip but Traylor falls on top of him with a sit-down splash and gets up at the count of two. He could have had the win, but he continues the onslaught instead. He hits a big boot then calls out the nWo. Prince tries to fight back with fists and a dropkick but Traylor just continues to destroy the Prince, hitting a spine buster. Traylor goes for a power bomb or piledriver but the Prince backdrops him then tries and Irish whip. It’s reversed and Traylor hits his finisher, which used to be called the Bubba Slam, for the win.

JJ Dillon says that Arn Anderson was a cornerstone of the original Four Horsemen and will now be an icon among the Horsemen.

Gene is in the aisle and introduces the Four Horsemen to a huge ovation. However, we get Syxx dressed as Ric Flair and K-Dawg dressed as Mongo (with a football). Syxx gives us a “MEEEEEEEEAN GENE!” Okerlund won’t be a part of any of this. He drops the microphone and takes off. Syxx: “Yeah, whatever Gene, beat it. WHOOOOOO!” “Flair” then calls out Curt Hennig, which is Buff dressed up as Hennig. Tony is disgusted and wants to just go to a commercial. “Flair” doesn’t mean to put Curt on the spot but everyone is dying to know if he’s in or out. WHOOOOO! “Curt” says he’s got a dog named spot then throws his towel over his back and catches it. He tells us he can’t give us an answer as “Flair” just keeps WHOOOOO-ing. Tony says last week was one of the greatest moments in the history of our sport and the nWo is walking all over it. “Flair” says he figured “Curt” would have that answer, so he asked his best friend Arn Anderson to come out. It’s Kevin Nash dressed as Arn with a cooler of beer and a big fat gut.

Tony wants the production truck to do something about this and even Bobby is disgusted. “Arn” says he was taking care of Horsemen business. He tells everyone the beer is on ice and “Flair” does a riverdance-like strut. “Arn” finds it ironic that WCW would honor him on Labor Day because everyone always wondered when he was going to go into labor. He says he’s a guy of average size, average speed, average quickness, average looks, average intelligence and average carpentry skills but he parlayed that into an excellent wrestling career. Four months ago, he had a neck injury and he lost the feeling in his left hand. The significance of that is that is the hand he opens beer with. He willed himself back and got back to the gym. He didn’t do anything at the gym, but he did get there. About a week ago, he went to the bar and a fat chick smacked him in the back and sent a chill down his spine. And as he looked at the longneck, laying on the cheap industrial grade carpentry, he realized it was ironic – not the fact that he was out $3.75, but because it was sand ticking down through the hourglass, and as everyone knows, so are the days of our lives. “Flair” is crying his eyes out (with the help of a hidden bottle) so Arn consoles him. Besides the fact that he left a lot of unpaid bar taps, when Arn Anderson came to town, you know he’d give you everything he had. And the eight people that bought those tickets got one heck of a show.

He asks the people not to remember him how he used to be, but how he looks right now. Tony: “We’ve reached the lowest point ever on this program.” “Arn” then turns to “Curt” and challenges him. He says he doesn’t want to fight him because he hasn’t won one in twenty years. As “Flair” continues to cry, “Arn” challenges “Curt” to take his spot in the Horsemen. And it’s not just any spot, not a liver spot, not a spot like your dog spot, no not just any spot, but his spot. He wants to know if “Curt” accepts the spot – not the liver spot, the dog spot, anybody’s spot, but his spot. “Curt” says it would be an honor and they shake hands mockingly as “Flair” rolls around on the ground crying. Tony says it’s not funny and security is in the back trying to hold back the Horsemen. All four of them take their costumes off to reveal shirts with four horses on them with the “IV” symbol on the asses. They give the Four Horsemen sign as Tony tells us he has a hand in the WCW television programs and promises we will never see this segment again, ever. I remember when I was younger, as soon as Tony said that, I threw a tape in and set the timer to record the Nitro replay while I was sleeping. I should also point out that a video of Eric Bischoff, present day, is inserted here where he tells us that if he had a chance to do it all over again, he wouldn’t have done this segment.

As we return from break, Tony is extremely sick and pissed off. Bobby agrees. Brain: “I’ve done some bad things, but this is a disgrace.”

Cruiserweight Title Match: Champion Chris Jericho vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Before the match can start, Eddie Guerrero makes his way down to the ring and tells Chavo he gave him a title shot nine months ago so instead of disgracing the Guerrero family, Chavo should step aside and let Eddie take the title shot right now. Now Scotty Riggs comes out and says he deserves a title shot. Eddie tells him to hit the bricks. And now Prince Iaukea and Damien come in. Billy Kidman enters as well and is followed by Ciclope. Super Astro is there too. I have no idea who that is either. They all start brawling with each other as even more guys come out - I see Super Calo, the Villanos, Silver King, Alex Wright and the Ultimo Dragon. All of these guys are just brawling all over the place. It’s almost a battle royal as the ring continues to clear out. Ultimo has the Dragon Sleeper on Alex Wight in the aisle as Eddie attacks Jericho with the cruiserweight title belt then hits the Frog Splash on Jericho with the belt placed across his face! Tony says he feels bad for Chavo as he seemingly lost his title shot. Eddie will face Chris Jericho for the belt at Fall Brawl and this mess kind of just ends.

The Giant sends his well wishes out to Arn Anderson on his retirement and calls him a future Hall of Famer.

Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff make their way to the ring. Tony actually wants to hear from them this week to see what they have to say concerning the JJ Dillon and Sting situation. Bischoff calls Hogan the heavyweight champion of the universe and says he single handedly chased Sting to the rafters. Hogan wants to know who Sting is without the bat. He also wants to know who Sting has beaten to get a title shot. Nobody, that’s who. Hogan says Sting looks like Columbo with his trench coat. Did he really just reference Columbo? The crowd chants “We Want Sting!” and Hogan says he wants Sting, too. Hogan says he’ll put the title on the line right now. Tony, who isn’t hiding his distain since the Horsemen mockery, says they will both need new underwear if Sting comes out right now. No Sting.

Plan B. They want JJ to come out since this was his idea. He makes his way to the ring. Hogan says he has an answer for Sting. He then punches Dillon and hits the leg drop on him multiple times. Tony is so disgusted that he refuses to call the action and slams his headset down. Bischoff spray paints “Bite Me” on JJ’s back. Hogan poses with his foot on top of JJ as we go to break.

Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Hall and “Macho Man” Randy Savage
Liz is with Hall and Savage and Kimberly brings out Page then heads to the back. Lex Luger comes out separately. Tony says he tells people he has the greatest job on Earth because he has fun doing it, but he hasn’t had any fun tonight. He says he has so many questions to ask so many people after the show is over. Luger and DDP stand in separate corners without even acknowledging each other and it’s obvious that the two are not on the same page. The announcers don’t know what to think because they need them to be on the same page now more than ever. Hall and Luger look to start, but DDP won’t leave the ring. Luger decides to give in and it starts with Page and Hall. Hall works over DDP in the corner but Page reverses it and hits an inverted atomic drop. Savage tags in. Page kicks him in the gut then clotheslines Savage down and spits at him as we take a break!

We’re back with Hall working on DDP. Tony tells us Savage and Hall have tagged in and out during the break, but Page will not tag in Luger – he won’t even look at him. Hall pokes Page in the eye and puts him in the nWo corner then tags in Savage who drops Page throat first across the top rope then kicks him while he’s down. Hall tags back in and nails his fall-away slam for a two on Page. Quick tag back to Savage who pounds away on Page and hits him with a back elbow. Another quick tag back to Hall who continues the beat down. Page is too stubborn to admit he can’t do this by himself. Savage comes back in behind the referee’s back, without a tag, then does tag Hall back in. He clotheslines Page in the corner then mocks Luger. Savage is tagged again and comes in with a double axe handle off the top rope. This gets a long two count and it’s Savage’s turn to mock Luger. Savage chokes Page and gets another two count. Brain wonders if we have an update on JJ Dillon’s condition. Tony disgustingly says that no one came out to help him, so who would give them any information? Hall again tags back in and Page finally has some life in him with a clothesline. They are both down and Tony begs Page to make a tag. He crawls over to his corner and finally makes the tag but the referee didn’t see it because Savage distracted him. Luger is a house of fire though and Nick Patrick apparently lets the tag stand! Luger hits Savage with the bionic forearm then hits Hall with five inverted atomic drops. Page, who was still in the ring, trying to get himself up, accidentally gets hit by Luger’s bionic forearm when Hall ducked. Page is motionless as Luger racks Savage. Meanwhile, Hall crawls over and covers Page to get the win. Turns out Nick Patrick didn’t let the tag stand and Page was still the legal man, so the pin counts. Tony is still disgusted.

To note, the first match on the show saw Steve McMichael and Chris Benoit beat Eddie Guerrero and Jeff Jarrett but, as always, it was removed from WWE Classics on Demand.

Next week, we’ll see the new direction Fall Brawl takes because of the nWo’s actions during this week’s show.