The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro – 10.09.95
Still no 09/25 episode on demand yet, but I’ll keep you updated!
Live from Chicago, IL
Your hosts are Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan & Mongo
Sting interrupts the opening banter between the announcers, and he’s gonna solve the problems between Luger and Savage.
US title: Sting v. The Shark
You know, if Kerry Von Erich hadn’t been dead at this point, WCW could have put him together with the Shark to form a team. That’s right…SHARKNADO! So I totally forgot about Sting being US champion at this point and I don’t even remember who he lost it to. Was this the point when we got the stupid Kensuke Sasaki – OMG – Konnan run? Because holy shit what a colossal waste of the title that whole period was. The Shark attacks and drops an elbow for two, but Sting quickly hits him with a Stinger splash and bodypress to finish at 1:15. Poor Tenta, falling down a slippery slope. DUD
Last week, Hulk Hogan faces the wrath of the STUNT GRANNY and gets beat down by the Giant.
Sabu v. The Mysterious Mr. JL
So yeah, Sabu in WCW was really a thing. I can’t even tell you how surreal that was at the time. Sabu attacks and slingshots in with a legdrop for two right away. JL puts him on the floor with a running enzuigiri and follows with a dive that the crack camera crew misses completely. Back in, Sabu with a sloppy leg lariat to put JL out again and he hits his own crazy flip dive. He follows with Air Sabu into the railing, but JL hits a german suplex for two in the ring. Sabu with a clothesline out of the corner and a moonsault into the camel clutch, but JL makes the ropes. DDT off the middle gets two for JL and they head up, where JL blocks a rana, but the missile dropkick misses and Sabu finishes with the camel clutch at 4:30. Crazy match, weak ending. ***1/2 I had tons of other matches between them from indy shows that blew this away, but this was crazy, anarchic stuff for national TV at the time.
Sting is out again to play peacemaker between Luger and Savage, and he wants them to have another match at Halloween Havoc if they can beat their Dungeon of Doom opponents. Luger balks at the idea, but Sting tells him to grow a set and quit being a baby, so he accepts. I don’t really get how this was supposed to solve things.
Meanwhile, Chris Benoit arrives. Good thing we had that warning at the beginning of the show.
Disco Inferno shows up to randomly dance again, and once again his buzz is harshed by someone making their entrance.
Big Bubba Rogers v. Road Warrior Hawk
Bubba slugs away in the corner, but runs into a powerslam while Disco again tries to get himself over by dancing on the apron. This earns him a beating from Hawk, and Bubba wins by countout at 1:38. Well, that’s the perfect length for this match. DUD
Hulk Hogan is out and he’s in BLACK, brother. Even his neckbrace is black! What a weird phase this was, when he was acting all heelish and burning copies of the WON and stuff. Hogan wants the Giant right now, but Gene keeps telling him that Giant is barred from the building. So Hulk keeps challenging him, even though he was clearly told that there’s a court order preventing him from being there. However, there’s one thing stronger than legal injunctions, and that’s MONSTER TRUCKS, as Giant tries to drive into the arena. Uh, could that truck even fit into the door? Hulk doesn’t care, and he goes out to confront the Dungeon of Doom, possibly in his own monster truck! Bischoff informs us that a bunch of Chicago police are out there making sure they’re keep apart. Don’t the cops have LITERALLY anything better to do with their time? Like, name any petty crime that needs attending to and it would be a more effective use of taxpayer dollars.
Cage match: Ric Flair v. Arn Anderson
Flair slugs him down in the corner, but Arn sends him into the cage as we take a break. Back with Flair throwing chops, but he walks into the spinebuster. Arn pounds away and goes all cheese grater on the cage, but Flair comes back with a suplex. Bischoff notes that they were so close that people thought they were literally brothers. Actually, they were cousins, but point taken. Pillman tries to get into the cage and Flair foils him and then goes for the figure-four, but Arn counters with an international object to the head for the pin at 6:42. **1/4 Flair cuts a crazed promo at the announce table, and challenges Anderson & Pillman to a handicap match next week, because if he can’t find a partner, he’ll take them on alone! And we must have gone short because the announcers pad out the running time by recapping everything.
This continues to be a really fun show to watch.
Next week: DDP v. Johnny B. Badd! Hacksaw Duggan v. Meng! Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero!
I love how Sting had nothing to do with the Horsemen at this point. It's like they were sitting in the back one night drinking High Lifes and randomly said "Hey, let's fuck with Sting". So then they concoct this needlessly elaborate plan like a bunch of pot heads trying to come up with the ultimate stoner microwave food.
ReplyDelete"And then...we'll add a CAGE MATCH!"
I love that you're doing these, Scott. I just started watching and I'm by Jan 96. Thanks for doing this.
ReplyDeleteAfter Vader vacated the us title, Sting defeated themechanicmeng in the finals of a tournament. He lost it to sasaki on njpw event
ReplyDeleteAwesome throwing Shaggy off the roof of a van?
ReplyDeleteQuiet, Kwang.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. I thought you were talking about the greatest powerbomb of all time.
ReplyDeleteMan, reading the Observer recap of this one and Meltzer just HATED these shows and the whole direction it was going. He thought they were rushed and burned off too much, but watching Nitro now is such a refreshing change of pace from the monotony of RAW and the endless dull squashes with failed Vince creations.
ReplyDeleteBischoff for Class of 2015 HoF!
ReplyDeletethe first appearance of the MDK (murder-death-kill) powerbomb?
ReplyDelete/Scott Keith ref. Demolition Man
Another thing that has gone by the wayside, hyping matches for next week's show. When was the last time a Raw match was hyped a week or more ahead of time, Punk/Cena?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree that is something they should do. Last time I can recall(and granted I have not watched a ton of Raw in between this time) was Punk/Ryback TLC hyped for a few weeks into the Raw against the National Championship game and then Punk/Cena as you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThis is the show where the crowd just boos Hogan like crazy too isn't it? Gene tries to pass it off as the crowd 'reacting to the black clothing'.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Meltzer, I get where he's coming from in a business sense, but obviously new rules were about to be written.
It's funny how much Nitro and by extension WCW ended up modelling what the WWE has become in essence -- as they shifted from a house-show based company with television exposure, to a hybrid syndication/PPV company, to basically a television show with side revenue streams such as PPV, house shows, and merchandise.
Didn't One Man Gang also get a run with the title? I remember them showing clips of him winning it from Sasaki I believe.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually kinda shocking that a company that is this obsessed with ratings doesn't do one of the most basics things you could do to improve them. But then again, 99% of the time they don't even know what is going to happen on next weeks show.
ReplyDeleteHow dare all these jive turkeys interrupt Disco Inferno!
ReplyDeleteHe's so funky, he's so cool, he's just a disco dancin' fool.
Yeah, and then the age of Konnan.
ReplyDeleteKwang, I told your ass once...
ReplyDeleteAt least in North America, sure.
ReplyDeleteAlthough if we're being technical, the true MDK powerbomb is a sunset flip out of the turnbuckle into a powerbomb. This one was right off the mat.
I don't know why, but I am kind of looking forward to the Nitro with the YE-TAY's
ReplyDeletebursting out of the giant ice block. I never did see that one live back
in the day and have only witnessed it in little clips -- it's such a wacky, over the top moment but in kind of a lovably goofy way leading into a Halloween show. The Halloween Havoc show is really fun too. Lame monster trucks aside, you've got an awesome Eaton/Regal vs Benoit/Malenko match on the pre-show, another solid JBB vs DDP match, surreal stuff like Sabu and The Shiek on a WCW PPV and the Giant dying and walking out anyway, a classic Horsemen angle/match, plus a severely retro crowd for the Hogan/Giant match which actually has a ton of heat compared to their other bouts.
You know, It's really kind of the last breath of the era where people were still kind of behind Hogan as the top babyface in a company. You could REALLY start to see the cracks showing after that -- especially at WWIII in Norfolk and then a much more apathetic reaction the rest of his face run.
Who would have guess it would end in the middle of a man sandwich between The Yeti and The Giant?
You'd think it's easier now too with Twitter, Social Media, and the WWE App to promote matches for the next week.
ReplyDeleteHell, it works too. They hyped that Ryback/Punk TLC match for a few weeks and I was actually really excited to see it because of that fact. That was the most I have looked forward to a Raw match in a very long time(note: there have been several way better Raw matches since that one including Cena/Punk, Bryan/Orton and Cesaro/Cena but I had no anticipation built up because I didn't know they were coming. Punk/Cena had a week build but I never thought their match would be that great.
Was he really that big a part of your life that you have to heal? I mean he's some guy you probably never met who you only watched on television and occasionally live. He didn't hurt you, your immediate family or anyone you remotely know. What he did is wrong but What is there to heal over?
ReplyDeleteI sure hope the US title got wined and dined first before Bischoff decided to fuck it.
ReplyDeleteHe broke our hearts. He was suppose to be the chosen one.
ReplyDeleteThat might be the only match in history where Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were both put into submission due to rough sex so it definitely wasn't predictable.
ReplyDeletePretty sure this is sarcasm but I do not doubt that there is someone out there that feels just that way for just that reason.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I'm glad I have the Network for some low price that's on the tip of my tongue. I'v elong since checked out of the WWE weekly TV shows, so it's pretty much just PPVs and NXT, but being able to go through classic Nitro (or hopefully classic AE RAW soon) has been a fun trip down memory lane and feeds that itch for wrestling that the current shows do not provide.
ReplyDelete"You were supposed to be the chosen one" is the best line from any of the Star Wars movies. It's also 3 AM so I can't tell if I'm being glib or not.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it was probably Hogan's idea.
ReplyDeleteBut then Flair won it and then the infamous Konnnan winning it back, but the nWo and common sense kept that title run on the shelf. The let the giant steal it instead and do a tourney thAt I think Eddie won.
ReplyDeleteWhen does Hogan job to the woman's shoe? Jan 29, 1996 episode.
ReplyDeleteWhen is the episode of nitro with Hogan vs. Flair as the main event with Flair getting face pops and Hogan is booed out of fhs building?
ReplyDeleteJan 1, 1996 episode.
I haven't watched raw since summer slam. Still have the network though. There is some ppv this weekend?
ReplyDeleteI was at this show and the Sabu match just blew me away. I didn't know him at the time as a 12 year old and I thought he was the craziest thing I had ever seen. I also wasn't actively watching the product at the time so the Hogan in black thing was just crazy. Really fun show. Great memories.
ReplyDeleteHogan: "That really hurt! I'm going to have a lump there, you idiot. Who throws a shoe!? Honestly, you fight like a woman!"
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind watching on a computer, just search "Nitro 82" and 9/25/95 comes up in search. Otherwise just look for a livestream airing on the schedule of whatever device is hooked up to the TV (there is an airing listed at 6pm eastern on Monday) just click on that and it will start playing.
ReplyDeleteForgot about sting being us champ. Didn't he lose it to the Japanese guy on a non televised event? I thought I remember them mentioning it on tv but never seeing hh the match.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. Weird time for the us title but it was still prominently features at least. And didn't they mention that it was flair's 47th time holding it according to him?
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't just Sasaki to Konnan. How can you forget about the One Man Gang.
ReplyDeleteWhy did WCW cut Sabu, Im watching these matches and thinking this is one guy they should of kept for the midcard.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rspwfaq.net/2013/07/cucchs-book-review-chris-and-nancy-true.html
ReplyDeleteUmm... reread that. He wasn't saying 'OH MY GOD' :)
ReplyDeleteAre you having conversations with yourself? like asking a question and answering it yourself?
ReplyDeleteHe was probably a pain in the ass to deal with.
ReplyDeleteIn WWF, outside of WM6, it took twin referee screwjobs, getting tombstoned on a chair and a fireball in the face followed by a legdrop from a massive sumo wrestler to pin Hogan.
ReplyDeleteIn WCW...getting hit with a woman's shoe.
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ReplyDeleteyea he prob didnt carry hogans luggage or something...
ReplyDeletethis is night and day from Raw. Biggest differences being the production values and the crowd. 95 and 96 Raw look like something from prehistoric times. Any idea why it took so long to upgrade?
ReplyDeleteRelax. I'm being facetious
ReplyDeleteBasically he had a penchant for touching himself down there a lot...
ReplyDeleteEarthquake and Brutus had the problem where (especially in the case of Brutus) WWE held the rights to their well known personas and WCW just could not find ANYTHING to replace them that was remotely similar.
ReplyDeleteEarthquake managed to survive for the most part but in the case of Brutus, he failed miserably as so far as the fact that they could NEVER find a proper replacement gimmick for "Brutus The Barber Beefcake". They tried their damnest to repackage him but nothing, nothing could work and moreso, they were severely handicapped in being able to even eluding to why people should care for him in terms of not being able to say "hey! Ed Leslie is Brutus the Barber Beefcake and that is why it is a big deal that he was the guy who kneecapped Hogan at the Clash of the Champions!".....