Monday Nitro #115
Date: November 24, 1997
Location: Wendler
Arena, Saginaw, Michigan
Attendance: 5,879
Commentators: Mike
Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
With World War 3 out of
the way, we're down to five Nitros left before Starrcade. Scott Hall
won the battle royal last night after there was yet another fake
Sting sighting. That sets Hall up as #1 contender for Souled Out in
January, which would be like winning the Rumble for a shot at Extreme
Rules today. Anyway, all eyes are on Sting vs. Hogan now which means
the drama is going to be cranking up. Let's get to it.
Here's the NWO to open
things up. Bischoff does the usual gloating while smoking a cigar.
Hogan brags about how awesome the team is and offers anyone
interested a title shot tonight. This brings out Giant who accepts
the challenge but JJ Dillon comes out and says Giant has to sign a
waiver because of his bad hand. You know, because we need to bring
in the legal department to make sure an interesting match is ok.
Tag Titles: Steiners
vs. Disorderly Conduct
That would be Mean Mark
and Tough Tom who jump the Steiners before the bell. This goes about
as well as you would expect it to for them with the champions
clearing the ring and throwing I think Tom to the floor after a belly
to belly from Scott. Off to Rick who walks into a side slam from
Mark and a forearm drop gets two. Rick easily shrugs it off and
brings in Scott to clean house with forearms to the back and a belly
to belly to Tom. Everything breaks down and it's the Steiner Bulldog
(after about three tries by Scott to get the wide load up) to Mark
for the retaining pin.
Rating: D+.
Again, what did you expect here? Disorderly Conduct were your
standard brawling jobber tag team who were there to make the Steiners
look good. Granted that didn't really happen but at least the
Steiners get to defend the titles for once. These would be the WCW
Tag Titles mind you and not the NWO ones that the Outsiders have at
the moment.
Nitro Girls.
Booker T vs. Meng
Meng powers him down to
start but Booker speeds things up and hits a quick forearm. A
backdrop puts Meng on the floor, which only ticks the monster off.
The announcers ignore the match and talk about Giant vs. Hogan as
Booker is backdropped down, only to spin back up. That lasts about a
second as Meng catches the side kick in the air and slams Booker down
for two. Meng goes to clubberin in the corner and pounds Booker down
with a shot to the back. Booker dodges a charge and rolls through a
powerbomb for a very fast pin. This would be an upset still at this
point.
Post match Meng puts
Booker in the Tongan Death Grip but Stevie Ray blasts the monster
with a (wooden) chair. Barbarian comes out and it's a beatdown of
Harlem Heat.
Nitro is the official
spokesman for Alien Resurrection. Ok then.
We recap JJ Dillon
trying to sign Raven.
JJ and Gene go up to
Raven after delivering him an ultimatum last night. Apparently Raven
signed earlier today but with some clauses, including that every
match is under his rules and he only has to wrestle when and against
whom he wants. Riggs is officially with Raven and the Flock now.
Chris Benoit vs.
Raven
Actually scratch that
as Raven throws in Sick Boy to fight in his place.
Chris Benoit vs.
Sick Boy
Benoit is fine with
beating up Sick Boy instead but gets caught by a springboard back
elbow from Sick Boy. Benoit drops him over the top rope to take over
but Diseased Man comes back with a missile dropkick and some choking.
Benoit fires off some chops in the corner but stops to glare at
Raven, allowing Sick Boy to take it to the floor. Now the newly
debuted Lodi distracts Benoit and lets Sick Boy to get in some more
shots to take over again. A springboard guillotine legdrop misses
Benoit though and the Swan Dive connects, only to bring in the Flock.
Benoit fights them off and the Crossface gets the submission on Sick
Boy.
Rating: B-.
I don't remember much about Sick Boy but this was a VERY impressive
performance. He was flying all over the place and hitting some very
crisp moves which had Benoit in trouble. Why didn't we ever get to
see more of this guy? I don't think I ever remember a Sick Boy match
and apparently that's kind of a shame.
Post match Benoit gets
beaten down by the Flock and put in the Rings of Saturn.
We get a video from the
NWO about Hall tormenting Zbyszko. Larry is ticked off about it and
goes to the ring to call out Hall....again.....as papers fall from
the ceiling. They have a shot of Hall's foot on Larry's chest from I
think Halloween Havoc. Good thing they had these ready in case Larry
decided to storm the ring. Eric comes out and after babbling about
how Hall is too busy to fight Larry, he talks about how he's beaten
Larry twice now. A challenge is made for a third fight and Larry
accepts, or at least it seems like he does.
Prince Iaukea vs.
Alex Wright
Can Iaukea just fall in
a hole already? A quick headlock puts the Prince on the mat and it's
time to dance again. Wright misses a charge into the corner and gets
backdropped into a chinlock by the Prince. Alex fights up but has to
stop to argue with Debra. A shoulder puts Prince down and there's
more arguing with the blonde. Debra gets up on the apron and gets
her dress caught on the buckle so she can't get down. The
distraction lets Iaukea hit a top rope cross body for the pin.
Rating: D.
Nothing to see here as it was more of an angle than a match with the
focus being on Debra. I'm pretty sure this would be it for her
though as she would be in the WWF by January at the latest. Iaukea
continues to be one of the most bland guys in the history of the
company, yet he keeps winning matches like this.
Wright fires Debra post
match.
Video on Sting vs.
Hogan.
Disco Inferno vs.
Randy Savage
Savage armdrags Disco
down and Liz Disco up for good measure. They head to the floor and
Liz shoves him into the post in the most physical move you'll ever
see from her. Back in and Savage slams him down before ending Disco
with a pair of elbows.
Post match Savage drops
a third elbow but the referee breaks up a fourth. Savage lays out
the referee and spray paints Disco. Now the fourth elbow hits.
Dean Malenko vs.
Brad Armstrong
Malenko takes it into
the corner to start before they head to the mat. Armstrong is one of
the few people who can actually hang with Dean down there so he goes
after Malenko's legs. That gets him nowhere so instead Brad suplexes
him down for no cover. Armstrong pounds away some more for a quick
two but Dean dropkicks him down and cranks on Brad's arms to take
over.
The fans chant boring
as this isn't your usual cruiserweight match with everyone flying all
over the place. They trade some quick near falls off backslides and
rollups until Brad slams him down for two. Back up and Dean sends
him into the corner, only to charge into a boot. Being the wrestler
that he is though, Dean pulls the leg down and locks on the
Cloverleaf for the win.
Rating: C.
Armstrong wasn't quite the same guy that he was back in the early 90s
but he could still move pretty well out there. Also he's the kind of
guy you can throw out there for a decent match and make Dean look
good in the process. I mean, you can't just have Malenko vs.
Guerrero and Mysterio every week without it getting boring.
Mongo brags about
knocking out Goldberg when Debra comes up to try to rekindle their
relationship. He thinks about it then yells at her to leave, thank
goodness.
The Nitro Girls do
their thing.
Buff Bagwell vs.
Chris Jericho
In an amusing bit,
Jericho fakes a heart attack ala Sanford and Son from his pyro going
off. We get Buff's usual start to a match as he takes Jericho down
with a pair of armdrags and poses a lot. Jericho comes right back
with a spinwheel kick and a clothesline to send Buff out to the
floor. A Canadian plancha takes Bagwell down again and Jericho sends
him into the steps for good measure. Back in and the Lionsault gets
two. Even back in the 90s that move was barely a finisher.
Buff sends him into the
corner and pounds Jericho down before hitting a forearm off the
ropes. A cover with a single knee and Buff posing gets two and
Jericho is mad. Bagwell puts him right back down with a clothesline
and it's off to a chinlock. After a quick argument with the referee
allows Jericho to get a two count, Buff loads up the Blockbuster but
gets crotched down. A top rope rana gets two for Jericho as does a
spinwheel kick, but he walks into a boot in the corner and the
Blockbuster ends our Canadian hero.
Rating: C+.
Not bad here as Jericho was really starting to come into his own in
the ring. Bagwell was Bagwell, which is to say he was almost all
character and next to nothing in the ring. The Blockbuster looked
good but other than that, Buff's offense is almost all slow paced and
basic, which doesn't make for an entertaining match.
US Title: Ray
Traylor vs. Curt Hennig
As Hennig comes to the
ring, we hear about Tenay making a documentary about the late Brian
Pillman with the profits going to Pillman's family. Cool idea.
Hennig immediately bails to the floor but Traylor goes to the floor
for an uppercut. Back in and Traylor pounds away in the corner and a
splash sends the champion to the floor. They go inside again where
Ray misses a charge and Heenan sounds like he wants to join the NWO.
Hennig hooks a reverse
chinlock but Traylor comes back and goes after Curt's knee. Curt
slams his other leg into Ray's head to escape and it's back to the
chinlock. Traylor powers out and rams Hennig's head into all three
of the buckles in a corner to take over again. The reverse crotch on
the post slows Hennig down again and there's the Boss Man Slam for
two, because Hall was late running in for the DQ.
Rating: C-.
Not bad but by this point it's obvious what's coming no matter how
the match goes. That's a problem that WCW needed to address but they
never found a way around it and the reactions eventually stopped
happening at all. Also, Traylor's character is done now as there's
no reason to buy him as a threat to anyone anymore.
The NWO beats and
paints Traylor post match.
WCW World Title: The
Giant vs. Hollywood Hogan
A Vincent distraction
lets Hogan get in a few shots from behind as Rude and Bischoff take
over the announcers' desk, complete with Eric slapping Tony across
the face. Back to the match as Hogan clotheslines Giant to the floor
and works on the broken hand for a bit. They head back inside for an
elbow drop from Hogan but Giant shrugs it off and pounds at Hogan's
ribs and head. There's a quick chokeslam but Giant hurts his hand in
the process. Cue Sting, who is now about 7' tall with long brown
hair, to blast Giant in the hand with the bat for the DQ.
Rating: D.
This was more of the same from the US Title match: we were just
waiting on the run-in to end the match which doesn't make for the
most interesting five minutes in the world. Thankfully the
announcers were NWO so we didn't have to listen to them thinking that
was really Sting. Anyway nothing to see here, as usual.
The rest of the NWO
comes in for a beatdown and here's Sting....who falls through the mat
and is another mannequin. Nash and Hogan beat on him with the bat as
the fans chant for Sting to end the show.
Overall Rating: C.
This wasn't bad. They furthered a lot of stories and we even had a
good match in Sick Boy vs. Benoit. On top of that we're inching
closer to Starrcade which means Bret should be here soon, along with
the final push towards Hogan vs. Sting. The wrestling continues to
be just ok at best for the most part and the constant DQ's are really
getting old, but at least we're getting to the good drama part.
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