This was a special double shot of Nitro with one hour on Monday and two hours on Tuesday due to basketball.
Monday
Nitro #137
Date:
April 27, 1998
Location:
Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators:
Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
This
week is split into two episode instead of the usual three due to the
basketball games on TNT. Tonight is one hour followed by a two hour
edition tomorrow night. Tonight's focus will likely be on Bret Hart
explaining why he did what he did last week instead of fighting
against the NWO like he had talked about doing for weeks. Other than
that we're closing in on Slamboree which already has a pair of
matches (Hart vs. Savage and Sting/Giant vs. Outsiders) almost set.
Let's get to it.
The
Nitro Girls get us going. Alex Wright tries to sneak in and dance
with them but the girls walk away. Wright is taken away by security.
The
announcers talk about Sting's challenge to the Outsiders.
Here
are Nash and Savage to open things up. Nash does a Hall impression
for the survey, won by WCW. Big Kev says Hall was last seen with a
pina colada at Trader Vick's and his hair looked great. The
challenge is accepted for Slamboree. Nash talks about the Wolfpack,
which now consists of himself and Savage and their first target is
Bret Hart. Savage is ready for Bret because this right here is where
it's at. Nash says there are going to be more defectors, starting
with Konnan. Konnan comes out to do his schtick and says that Hogan
doesn't want any part of the Wolfpack. Nash and Konnan sing a bit to
end the segment.
Video
on Juventud Guerrera, emphasizing that he will never quit.
Cruiserweight
Title: Chris Jericho vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Jericho
comes out with the portrait of Malenko and says he'd love to beat up
Quasi-Juice Guerrera like he did when he took this mask, which is a
bad mama-jamma of a necklace. Jericho “interviews” the portrait
but Dean won't celebrate being the new fry cook at Harry's Burgers.
Instead Dean can live vicariously through Jericho who is dedicating
this match to Dean.
Chavo
ducks a right hand and pounds away to start. A belly to back suplex
puts and we hit a quick chinlock. Jericho comes back with a quick
hot shot and some kicks in the corner but Chavo dropkicks Jericho
into Eddie for two. Chavo jumps over Chris in the corner but gets
caught in a quick Liontamer for the submission in just over two
minutes.
Eddie
rips into Chavo for the loss post match and slaps him in the face.
Nitro
Party winner from a Gold's Gym in Indiana.
We
go back to Thunder to see the Buff Bagwell injury. Tony and Bobby
talk about their own neck surgeries and how scary they can be.
Bagwell can indeed move his limbs but had to undergo surgery today
and we'll get an update tomorrow night.
Video
of Savage's rant about Bret Hart on Thunder.
Here
are Hogan, Disciple and Bischoff with something to say. Bischoff
asks Hogan what's possibly left for him to do after winning the title
again. Hogan says all of his fans know he's done everything there is
to do and he'll be it all until the end of eternity. We've now seen
what a joke Nash is and now and there's no one left for him to beat.
If Konnan is the best Nash can find, he's got a major problem. Hogan
goes into a somewhat racist rant about how there are a dozen Konnan's
waiting to go pick fruit in Los Angeles. As for Bret, he knows the
power lies with Hollywood because Hogan is for life. Not much to say
here.
US
Title: Scott Norton vs. Goldberg
Now
this is a better idea. Norton jumps him to start, only to get taken
down by a spinning neckbreaker. They head to the floor with the
champion being sent into the post for almost no effect. Back inside
and Norton gets caught in an ankle lock but ropes are quickly
grabbed. Norton pounds away in the corner and hits the shoulder
breaker for two. A Fujiwara Armbar does nothing for Scott so the
spear and Jackhammer retain Goldberg's title in less than three
minutes.
We
see Bret beating up Piper to end last week's show.
The
announcers talk about how awesome Bret Hart is with Heenan saying
Bret has always been out for himself.
Here's
Bret for the first time since last week with less than four minutes
left in the show. Bret says it's nice to be in the house that
Hollywood Hogan built to get the fans against him. He talks about
suffering for your crimes, even though he's committed no crime.
Wrestling is a long money trench and a plastic hallway filled with
pimps and thieves.
If
Savage feels bad about last week, then Bret will meet the “half
troll and half lizard” in the ring. Gene again asks him why he
helped Hogan but he wants to say it to Hogan's face tomorrow night.
Gene asks why Bret screwed over Savage after complaining about being
screwed. Bret calls Gene judgmental and says he's tired of sitting
on the bench before leaving.
Overall
Rating: C+. This show is a good
example of what's wrong with three hour Nitros. In 45 minutes of air
time, we had two title matches, three promos, angle advancement in
multiple stories, two PPV matches confirmed and a new member added to
a stable. The other hours that we usually have to sit through don't
need to be there and really don't add anything significant to the
show. More wrestling would have been nice, but this did a solid job
of building to Slamboree without overstaying its welcome. That's a
very difficult balance to find but it's almost impossible to do in a
three hour show.
Monday
Nitro #138
Date:
April 28, 1998
Location:
Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators:
Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko
Back
with the second and third hours of this week's show, taped just after
the first hour and airing on Tuesday. The main story for tonight is
Bret explaining exactly why he helped Hogan win the world title.
Other than that nothing has been announced but after all the angle
advancement we had last night, odds are tonight will be wrestling
heavy. Let's get to it.
Opening
sequence.
The
announcers chat for a bit before looking at Bret giving Hogan the
title eight days ago.
Disco
Inferno vs. Chris Benoit
Benoit
stomps away to start and fires off chops and headbutts in the corner.
More chops and a hard suplex put Disco down and a hard elbow to the
face gets two. Benoit hits a pair of rolling suplexes but Disco
blocks the third into an atomic drop to take over. Inferno stomps
him down in the corner and gets two off a swinging neckbreaker.
Disco hits a middle rope forearm to the back of the head for another
near fall and we hit the chinlock. Benoit rolls away from an elbow
as the fans are surprisingly interested in this. A release German
suplex puts Disco down and the Swan Dive into the Crossface get the
submission.
Rating:
C-. Not a bad little match here
with Benoit looking good. The crowd responded really strong to
Benoit and the Crossface which continues to make you wonder why it
took so long to push him. Disco is much better in the ring than he's
given credit for as he looked perfectly fine out there.
Video
on Jericho's trophy case run and how the fans are becoming
Jericholics.
Cruiserweight
Title: Chris Jericho vs. Psychosis
Jericho
comes out to Dean Malenko's music and does a great caricature of
Dean, complete with slicked back hair tied in a bun to make it look
short and wringing his wrists. He even talks in a deep voice for a
second before whining that he wants to go home. Referee Scott
Dickinson yells at Jericho until Chris takes the belt off so the
match can begin. Jericho takes him down with a shoulder block to
start but Psychosis comes back with kicks and chops to take over.
A
quick Liontamer attempt is countered into a rollup for two but
Jericho elbows him in the face to take over. Some chops and kicks in
the corner have Psychosis in trouble and elbow drops are good for
two. Jericho's charge in the corner misses and he falls to the
floor, allowing Psychosis to hit a big flip dive to the floor. Back
in and Jericho comes right back with a release German suplex but
Psychosis breaks up the Lionsault. The guillotine legdrop with
Jericho in the ropes is good for two but a top rope Frankensteiner is
countered into the Liontamer to retain Chris' title.
Rating:
C-. The high spots were nice
here but the ending was a bit sloppy. Psychosis was a good choice as
the cruiserweight jobber to the stars as he had enough wins to be
viewed as a decent threat but he was never going to win anything of
note. Nice match here for the most part but it was nothing special.
Nitro
Girls.
Barbarian
vs. Rocco Rock
Barbarian
throws him into the corner to start and powerslams Rocco down for no
cover. Rocco slides through the legs but a middle rope ax handle has
no effect. Instead he goes after the legs but Rocco has to beat up
Jimmy Hart. Not that it matters as Hugh Morrus sneaks in and lays
out Rocco, only to have Johnny Grunge come in to beat up Morrus. The
match is made a tag match because the referee has that authority.
Barbarian/Hugh
Morrus vs. Public Enemy
It's
a big brawl on the floor with garbage can lids all over the place.
They head inside with the weapons brought in as well for good
measure. Public Enemy takes over but have to beat up Jimmy Hart
again. Morrus sacrifices himself to prevent Hart from being put
through a table, allowing Barbarian to kick the can into Grunge's
face for the pin. This was as blatant of an ECW ripoff as you'll
ever see.
We
see Savage's rant against Hart again.
Video
on Juventud Guerrera.
Juventud
Guerrera vs. Kidman
Kidman
gets taken down with a fast headscissors and a dropkick gets two.
Juvy loads up a top rope Frankensteiner but Kidman hits him low,
setting up a top rope sitout spinebuster for two. Why even use a
huge spot like that when it's not even going to end the match?
Kidman misses a slingshot legdrop and Juvy heads to the apron for a
springboard spinwheel kick to the face for two. A clothesline puts
Juvy down but gets crotched while trying a superplex. Juvy snaps off
a hurricanrana for two and the Juvy Driver and 450 are good for the
pin.
Rating:
C. Another nice match here with
Juvy getting to look good against someone that can hang in the ring
with him. They've done a good job of pushing Guerrera since he lost
his match and the Never Surrender idea works pretty well for him.
The wrestling has been consistent tonight which is a good sign.
Post
match the Flock comes in and lays out Juvy.
Alex
Wright talks about being on vacation in Germany but he had to come
back to this pigsty to show everyone how to dance. Dancing ensues
and security takes Alex away.
TV
Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Booker T
Feeling
out process to start with the fans all over Eddie. Guerrero
snapmares the champion down but runs into a shoulder block to put
Eddie on the mat. Back up and Booker kicks him in the head before
firing off forearms. Eddie comes back with a dropkick to the knee
and a suplex before hitting the chinlock. Guerrero switches over to
a camel clutch as the announcers actually talk about the match.
Booker gets up and hits the running forearm to the head but Eddie
counters the spinebuster into a hurricanrana for two. Eddie stops to
yell at Chavo and gets caught with the side kick and the missile
dropkick retains the title.
Rating:
D+. Nothing special to see here
but another win for Booker isn't going to hurt anyone. The Eddie vs.
Chavo story needs to take another step before it gets dull but it's
still doing well enough. I was expecting more out of Booker T vs.
Eddie Guerrero than I got here but it wasn't horrible.
Eddie
blames Chavo post match.
Hour
#2 begins.
The
announcers talk about Bret vs. Savage before showing us part of
Bret's promo from last night.
Marty
Jannetty vs. Perry Saturn
Saturn
pounds away in the corner and kicks Jannetty in the face. Marty is
sent out to the floor and comes back in to a superkick to take him
right back down. A belly to belly suplex gets two but Marty comes
back with a superkick of his own. The middle rope punch gets two but
Saturn hits a Death Valley Driver for the pin. Squash.
Here's
DDP with more to say about Raven. He wants Raven to experience the
Big Bang Theory but Raven walked away. Page hasn't seen Raven
tonight but thinks he's in the building, so come get your bang right
now. Instead he gets Kidman and Sick Boy who say don't kill the
messengers. They have a video from Raven with Raven asking about the
pain Page put his own family through. He talks about Page's mom
sending him to live with his father at a young age and how he'll get
Page later.
Back
in the arena Sick Boy takes a Diamond Cutter as Kidman bails. Page
heads into the crowd as Kidman gets back in. A “fan” (Kanyon)
comes in and clotheslines Kidman to the floor before being dragged
off by security.
Video
on Goldberg's streak.
US
Title: Goldberg vs. Jerry Flynn
Jerry
kicks him down, butterfly suplex, spear, Jackhammer, pin. That's
78-0.
Nitro
Girls.
Sting/Lex
Luger/The Giant vs. Konnan/Brian Adams/Scott Steiner
Konnan
jumped to the Wolfpack last night but there's no indication that
Adams and Steiner have joined him. Vincent now has two trophies for
Steiner, neither of which have actually been referenced by either
guy. Sting and Adams get us going and Konnan drops to the floor for
no apparent reason. Adams hits a quick atomic drop for two as Konnan
is already back on the apron. Sting escapes a suplex and bulldogs
Adams down but can't hook an early Scorpion.
Adams
bails to the floor to kill some time so Sting tags in Giant. Konnan
comes in, only to be shoved to the mat with ease. Giant lifts him up
in a bearhug before bringing in Luger to get some of this easy prey.
Luger wants Steiner and the fans are way into the matchup. Scott
wants a posedown but settles for trading shoulder blocks with Luger
taking over. A Konnan distraction lets Steiner suplex Luger down and
pound away with right hands. Off to Konnan but Luger explodes with a
double clothesline to put Steiner and Konnan down. Adams walks out
on the match and his partners soon join him for the countout.
Rating:
F. This was a waste of time and
that's almost all there is to say about it. The only good thing here
was Steiner acting like the crazy man that would finally get him
over. I'm not sure if we're supposed to know who is on which side in
the NWO civil war here but it certainly wasn't clear if we were.
Vincent
gets chokeslammed.
Gene
calls on Bret for the big explanation. Gene asks Bret why he did
what he did and is told to shut up. Bret wants Hogan here in person
so Gene invites Hollywood out here now. We're rapidly running out of
time and you can smell the TUNE IN NEXT WEEK finish coming from here.
Hogan, Bischoff and Disciple take their sweet time getting to the
ring to milk this even further.
Eric
insists that Bret address Hogan as Hollywood. Bret says he's looked
up to Hogan for a long time and that Hogan is the highest paid and
most recognized wrestler ever. Hogan appreciates Bret for setting
the record straight....whatever that means. Bret opens up his jacket
to reveal a Hogan shirt but here's Savage as he's about to explain.
Savage is destroyed to end the show.
Overall
Rating: D. Decent wrestling in
the first hour aside, this fits the WCW profile to the letter: the
lower card stuff is entertaining but the stars are boring and you get
next to nothing out of them. The big reveal at the end never
happened so we still have no idea why Bret did what he did. The
longer they wait, the less likely it is that we get an actual
explanation. The one hour version, as in the version without the
stars, blew this show away and it wasn't even anything great.
Remember
no Thunder this week.
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
If anyone cares, the basketball game pre-empting this was either game 3 of the Indiana/Cleveland series. Cleveland won to avoid the sweep, led by 31 points from Shawn fucking Kemp. Highlights of game 4:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGXj8sIpTlU
I love placing wrestling in context of other sports.
Did Bret ever end up explaining? I don't remember a real explanation.
ReplyDeleteNot that I recall. He was in the midcard title hunt in a few months anyway.
ReplyDeleteReading these almost makes me sad about how badly WcW fucked up. Just reading the match listing and seeing the fucking talent on this page is mind numbing.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching months of Norton beat more worth contenders all over the place with his shitty workrate and non-existant personality, seeing Goldberg beat him in three minutes flat was like the greatest orgasm ever.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the WWF and WCW TV logs are a great insight into the rise of one company and the implosion of another.
ReplyDeleteRaven needed the accountability crib.
ReplyDeleteI would nominate Bret Hart's 1998 as one of the, if not worst ever years for a top name in wrestling. He was all over the shows, but his storyline made little sense and he ended up injured quite a bit if I recall.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I'd agree that he was "all over the shows" because when it mattered (when he first came into WCW), he wasn't all over the shows. He really should have debuted on Nitro the day after Survivor Series. But instead it took a few weeks and he ended up reffing the Bischoff/Larry Z match at Starrcade. Then, instead of going up against new opponents like Sting or Hogan, he was stuck with meaningless feuds against Flair and Henning (Hey WCW, 1992 called, they want their feuds back). I never cared much for WCW to begin with but gave it another try when Bret came in. By time this Nitro being reviewed here, I had already cashed in my WCW chips. Bret was going nowhere and everything else was a clusterfuck,
ReplyDeleteI don't think Bret could've come in the night after Nitro due to some kind of no compete clause or some other contractual hang-up. I could be wrong on that but I remember reading that somewhere.
ReplyDelete