Monday Nitro #132
Date: March 23, 1998
Location: Freedom Hall,
Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Mike
Tenay, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The main story for
tonight is the return of Roddy Piper, although I'm not sure how many
people were asking for him back. We're coming up on Spring Stampede
and the main event has been announced as Sting defending the title
against Randy Savage. In theory that's the main event at least as
Hogan might have some match that needs to go on last instead. Let's
get to it.
Here's Piper right off
the bat to get things going. He's been pontificating on a mountain
in Oregon (their words not mine) and is now back as a consultant.
I'll leave out the ridiculously lame Louisville Slugger puns for the
sake of my readers. In honor of being in Louisville, he announces
the first baseball bat match at Spring Stampede between himself and
Giant vs. Hogan/Nash.
As for tonight it's
Giant vs. Nash and Piper vs. Savage, which would have been awesome
ten years earlier. Apparently Giant is in the back eating bacon,
eggs and midgets so he can smash Nash. Piper talks about being a
psycho because he was in Alcatraz. Did we ever need to bring that up
again?
Nitro Girls.
Sting defends against
Page tonight. That's a pretty big match for free.
We see the DDP on MTV
clip from Thunder with Raven attacking him and stealing the US Title.
Chavo Guerrero Jr.
vs. Ultimo Dragon
Tony is already hyping
up the rest of the show and ignoring the match. Dragon hits a quick
handspring elbow to knock Chavo to the floor followed by a nice dive.
Back in and Chavo grabs a quick chinlock but Dragon elbows out and
hits a standing Lionsault for two. Chavo gets a near fall of his own
off a German suplex as this is going VERY fast so far. A northern
lights suplex gets two more for Chavo but he gets crotched on the top
to slow the momentum. Chavo gets down and tries to suplex Dragon in
from the apron, only to get caught in the Dragon Sleeper for the
submission. Short match but very fast paced stuff.
Post match Eddie rips
into Chavo for not winning like he told his nephew to do. Chavo
needs to apologize to Grandma RIGHT NOW.
Here are Hogan and
Bischoff with something to say. Hogan says he's not afraid of Piper
or Giant, bat or not. Larry: “I'm already bored.” Piper comes
out a few seconds later and asks Hogan about the bat match.
Hollywood agrees on behalf of himself and Nash because Rupert
Murdoch, a guy trying to buy the LA Dodgers, has been asking him for
tips on how to swing a bat.
Hogan says he's always
the champion but has to stop for a YOU SUCK chant. Hogan talks about
the fans liking Piper's legs in his sisters “itsy bitsy teeny weeny
yellow polka dot mini skirt.” He says he and Nash are going to
take out Giant tonight, apparently meaning it's a handicap match
tonight.
CALL THE HOTLINE!
Scott Steiner vs.
Wayne Bloom
Scott immediately drops
to the floor to talk about arm size with Buff. Back in and Steiner
easily takes Bloom to the mat with an amateur move. The bicep curl
into the elbow drop sets up the pushups as Steiner is dominating.
Bloom gets up a boot in the corner and he hits an atomic drop for his
jobber offense. A snap suplex gets two but Bloom ducks his head and
gets caught in the butterfly powerbomb. Steiner hits a middle rope
Samoan Drop and the Recliner is good for the submission. Squash.
Some Kentucky Wildcats
are here. It's the day after their historic comeback win over Duke
so they're the talk of the college basketball world. I remember the
theme for Midnight Madness (the first practice of the year which is
always televised) was WWF. The players all had ring introductions
and some came out with belts.
More Nitro Girls.
Lodi vs. Psychosis
Lodi grabs a headlock
to start, showing off something about Rush on his back. The fans are
all over Lodi and Psychosis takes his head off with a clothesline for
two. Lodi gets in some shots to take over but spends too much time
on the top, allowing Psychosis to dropkick him to the floor. A BIG
dive off the top, similar to a Whisper in the Wind, takes Lodi down
and the guillotine legdrop is good for the pin back inside. Another
short match but that dive looked good.
Hour #2 begins.
WCW World Title:
Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page
Page is US Champion and
challenging but for the sake of clarity I'll only refer to Sting as
champion. The name plate on Sting's belt is still blank. Tony
thinks this is Page's biggest match ever. Careful out on that limb
Tony. They lock up to start and fall to the floor without breaking
contact. Back in and the champion cranks on the arm but Page comes
back with the driving shoulders. Sting gets two off a rollup and
tries an early Scorpion to no avail.
The champion tries the
hold again but Page quickly makes a rope and it's a standoff. Page
blocks a hiptoss and gets two off a swinging neckbreaker. The
Diamond Cutter is blocked and it's another standoff. Page fires off
elbows in the corner and gets two off the Pancake. We hit the
chinlock on the champion with Page cranking on it. Back up and Page
rains down right hands in the corner but gets dropped face first on
the buckle. A shot to Page's head gets two and the champion hooks a
chinlock of his own.
They're going for the
epic showdown style here and it's working as well as it can for a
Nitro in late March from Louisville to start the second hour. The
hold stays on for a good while and the crowd calms down a lot. After
over ninety seconds in the hold Page fights up but gets caught by a
jumping clothesline.
Page comes back with a
belly to belly suplex but Sting backdrops out of another Pancake
attempt. They slug it out with Sting taking over and hitting his
hair grab bulldog for two. Another bulldog sets up the top rope
splash but Page gets his knees up. Page throws Sting in the corner
and pounds away but Sting blocks a pair of Diamond Cutter attempt and
grabs Page's head for the Death Drop to retain.
Rating: B.
Cut the chinlocks down by a minute or so and this is bordering on a
classic. This is exactly what WCW was needing around this time (in
the short term at least): a good wrestling match with the champion
giving a rub to an upper midcard guy. At the end of the day, when
all else fails, have a good wrestling match and a lot of your
problems will fade away for a little bit.
Sting helps Page to his
feet and does the Diamond Cutter sign. Nice touch.
Nitro Girls.
Nitro Party winner.
Lex Luger vs. Rick
Fuller
Fuller is a big guy
with a good look but almost nothing to back it up. How did Vince let
a guy like that slip under his nose? They shove each other around to
start but stereo shoulder blocks send neither guy anywhere. Fuller
clubs Luger in the back to take over and follows up with a big
clothesline and some choking. An elbow drop gets two and here's
Luger's comeback. He fires off the clotheslines, atomic drops and
the forearm to set up the Rack for the submission.
Rating: D+.
I know there's such a thing as formulas for wrestlers and it's time
for Luger to change his. Every week that goes by drags him further
and further into a pit of dullness which looks to have no escape.
There's just nothing new to see here and the Racks on the big guys
are getting less and less interesting each time.
Heenan is on commentary
now.
Kaz Hayashi vs.
Eddie Guerrero
Chavo is here for
support. He holds the ropes open for Eddie so Eddie jumps over the
top. When Eddie is being a jerk no one can touch him. Fast paced
start with Eddie hitting a jumping back elbow and a high angle suplex
for two. In an impressive move, Kaz goes up top for a moonsault
press but Eddie dropkicks him out of the air.
Hayashi throws him to
the floor and hits a suicide dive to put Eddie down. A missile
dropkick gets two for Kaz so he goes up again, only to jump into a
backbreaker from Eddie. Guerrero rakes the eyes with his boot and
gets two off a pumphandle backbreaker. A superplex sets up the frog
splash for the pin on Kaz.
Rating: C.
Decent stuff here with Kaz doing the flips and Eddie supplying the
good wrestling and heelish actions. It's nice to see an interesting
story like this with two talented guys like the Guerreros. The story
works well and it lets Eddie show off a bit which he hasn't gotten to
do in far too long.
Post match Chavo checks
on Kaz and gets yelled at by Eddie.
Profile on Bret Hart.
The guy has been around for over four months and he's had what, three
matches? This company really was clueless.
Konnan vs. Prince
Iaukea
Before the match we get
a video on Konnan which is a highlight package, mainly of him beating
up Norman Smiley. Prince speeds things up to start and knocks Konnan
out to the floor. Back in and Konnan hits his rolling lariat and a
basement dropkick as Heenan talks about Okerlund doing a luau. Off
to a leg pull from Konnan (think a half crab but with Konnan laying
on his back and pulling up) followed by a DDT for no cover. Konnan
pulls on his pants a lot and puts on a kneeling half crab. Is
sitting up really that hard for him?
A suplex gets two for
Konnan and he strikes on Iaukea in the corner. Konnan hooks up a
very interesting looking submission where he starts with a
Sharpshooter leg tie up but intertwines Prince's arm and bends the
legs back while standing instead of turning over. Even Tenay has no
idea what to call it. The hold doesn't last long and he opts for a
release German suplex for no cover.
Off to a lame Fujiwara
armbar before just ramming Prince's face into the mat over and over
again. They run the ropes and botch....something before trading some
awkward looking rollups for two each. Konnan's 187 is countered into
a northern lights suplex for the pin out of nowhere.
Rating: D+.
There were some interesting moves in there but the last minute or so
was really sloppy stuff. It was like the wheels were starting to
fall off the match so they just went home immediately. Iaukea
continues to be nothing special at all but for some reason he
continues to be pushed on television over and over.
Here's Jericho with
something to say. Jericho cheers for Stanford before they play
Kentucky in the basketball tournament. I'm surprised that didn't get
a face pop given the hatred between Louisville and Kentucky. He
keeps going until Lenny Lane comes out, saying Jericho owes him $1000
for the shenanigans with Dean Malenko a few weeks ago on Thunder.
Jericho says Lane stole all the stuff from his bag and his Loverboy
tape is missing too. Lane owes Jericho $1000 for the smell in his
gear. He says to let him have it and you know what's coming.
Cruiserweight Title:
Chris Jericho vs. Lenny Lane
Jericho is in trouble
after getting popped in the face and Lane gets a quick backdrop for
two. The champion comes right back with a shot to the face and is
still in the Monday Night Jericho shirt. Lane counters the Liontamer
into a rollup for two followed by a Skull Crushing Finale (which
Jericho would later use as the Breakdown) for the same. Lenny tries
to jump over Jericho in the corner but gets caught in an Alabama
Slam, setting up the Liontamer to retain the title.
Third hour begins.
The Giant vs. Kevin
Nash/Hollywood Hogan
Hogan is the shortest
guy in this match. He starts with Giant as Tony explains that this
is a handicap match because of the NWO winning at Fall Brawl a few
years ago. Wasn't it at Uncensored last year where they gained
power? Eh I can't complain as it's a miracle that they mentioned it
at all. Hogan can't slam Giant and is thrown around with ease.
Giant takes him into the corner for a hard chop and stomps him down
in another corner.
Hogan bails to the
floor for advice from Bischoff before coming back in with a knee to
the ribs. Giant is staggered and Hogan takes over, only to get
caught in a a backbreaker to send him to the floor. Back in and
Hogan makes the tag off to Nash who pounds on Giant like he's not
even there. You know, the guy that had Nash running away just eight
days ago. Giant reverses a whip and sends him into the corner for a
clothesline and a headbutt. Hogan comes in to help out but Giant
shrugs them off. Disciple comes in and it's a DQ.
Rating: D+.
This wasn't anything special and the ending isn't all that
surprising. I'm wondering when if ever Nash is going to do the job
for Giant. The heat is off the feud at this point and there's little
for Giant to gain by beating him now, which was probably Nash's idea
when the whole thing started. Match was nothing of note but Giant
throwing people around was fun to see as usual.
Disciple tries to Stun
Giant but the big man just stands there with a funny look on his
face. Bischoff tries to come in and gets chokeslammed to death.
More Nitro Girls.
TV Title: Booker T
vs. Chris Benoit
So Benoit loses to
Norton on Thunder and gets a title match as a result? Booker starts
with a headlock and runs Benoit over until Chris comes back with some
HARD chops. Back up and Booker snaps off a powerslam to get a
breather. They fight over a test of strength but Benoit bridges up,
only to be kicked in the head to put him back down. Booker hits a
big clothesline but has to block a German suplex attempt.
The second try is more
successful and Benoit stomps away at Booker before elbowing him down
for two. We hit the chinlock on the champion but he fights up and
hits a flapjack to put Benoit down. The Spinarooni sets up the side
kick but Benoit breaks up the missile dropkick. A superplex from the
Canadian puts both guys down and it's time to roll some Germans. It
takes awhile for both guys to get up and Booker scores first with a
spinebuster for a delayed two. Booker misses the side kick and hits
the ropes to give Benoit a breather. They chop it out and the time
limit runs out at about seven and a half minutes. Booker retains.
Rating: B-.
The match was great and at least benoit didn't lose. I'd assume this
sets up a rematch at Spring Stampede with no time limit so Benoit can
lose on a bigger stage. Again though, why have him lose to Scott
Norton when you have him go straight into a title program after
coming off another title program? It's almost like they have no idea
where they're going with this.
Curt Hennig vs. British Bulldog
Rick Rude takes over
Tenay's spot at the announce table for this match. Bulldog shoves
him off the ropes and runs him over. Hennig's monkey flip is avoided
via a cartwheel before he accepts a test of strength for some reason.
Heenan is sucking up to Rude as only the Brain can. A clothesline
takes Hennig down for two and Rude leaves. Heenan under his breath:
“What a jerk.” We take a break and come back with Bulldog
hitting the powerslam but having to go after Rude and getting
handcuffed for the DQ. Not long enough to rate but it was just there
to set up the post match stuff.
Bulldog is handcuffed
to the ropes until Bret Hart remembers he works here and comes out
for the save. Bret cleans house as Doug Dillinger gets the cuffs
unlocked. Hart talks about being screwed (yes, again) and says he
isn't going to allow that to happen to anyone here.
Goldberg vs.
Renegade
Interesting note:
Renegade comes out to Marc Mero's theme music from the WWF. It's not
a similar song. It's the EXACT same music. I don't think I've ever
seen a song go from company to company like that other than a few
commercial/public domain songs. Renegade hits a cartwheel elbow in
the corner and turns around for the spear and Jackhammer to make
Goldberg 60-0.
Randy Savage vs.
Roddy Piper
Piper charges into the
ring but Liz grabs him by the ankle. Roddy pounds away on Savage
anyway and whips him with the belt as Heenan mentions the cage match
that set this up five months ago. Savage is sent to the floor so
Piper can disrobe in peace. Piper whips him over the barricade for a
bit before ripping up the floor mats. Liz rakes Roddy's back to
break up the piledriver on the floor, earning her a kiss. Savage
gets in a single shot but gets caught in a sleeper back inside. Liz
is knocked off the apron as Randy breaks up the hold with a
jawbreaker. Here's the NWO as the match just kind of ends.
Rating: D+.
This wasn't a bad wild brawl but it wasn't anything more. I know
Piper was a huge deal about ten years before this, but is he really a
big enough deal in 1998 to have him come in cold and beat the tar out
of the #1 contender for a few minutes? Not much to see here, as is
the norm for Nitro main events.
Hogan yells at Nash for
not hitting Piper and takes the bat, only to miss Savage. Cue Sting
with a bat of his own but Savage jumps Sting from behind. Giant
comes in and takes both bats to run the NWO off. About a minute and
a half of replays take us out.
Overall Rating: B-.
You could tell they were starting to feel the heat from the WWF at
this point given how stacked they made this show. The wrestling on
here was better than Nitro has had in a long time and it made the
show a lot easier to get through. I don't get the lack of follow up
on Goldberg attacking the NWO, but I'd guess it was because they
needed to focus on Piper instead of Goldberg, because if one guy is
your future in 1998, it's Roddy Piper. Good show this week but again
it needed to be an hour shorter.
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