Monday
Nitro #139
Date:
June 1, 1998
Location:
MCI Center, Washington D.C.
Commentators:
Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
less than two weeks to go from the Great American Bash and we really
don't know much about the card so far. The main event will be
Hart/Hogan vs. Savage/Piper, but the interesting (by comparison)
question is what happens to Sting and the tag titles. Odds are Sting
is going to pick a side soon, but that doesn't really do much
overall. It's just more of the same faction wars which have
dominated the company for months now. Let's get to it.
We
open with a montage of Sting over the years and all of his different
looks.
Opening
sequence.
The
announcers talk about Sting for a few minutes and Tony is sure we'll
get the decision tonight.
A
white limo with a WCW logo pulls up and it's JJ Dillon, Diamond
Dallas Page, Booker T and Goldberg.
We
see Luger's recruitment speech to Sting from Thunder.
The
fireworks display kills even more time after a break.
Nitro
Girls.
Jerry
Flynn vs. Ernest Miller
Miller
starts with a backdrop but can't hit a few spin kicks to the face.
Off to an armbar on Jerry but Flynn comes back with some kicks in the
corner. Now it's Flynn with an armbar followed by some kicks to the
arm but Miller comes back with a fireman's carry powerslam. The
latest version of the Feliner (in this case Kofi Kingston's Trouble
in Paradise) misses by about eight inches but it's enough to pin
Jerry.
Rating:
D-. This is the same problem
you always have with the guys in these matches: just because they can
throw kicks doesn't make them interesting. Jerry Flynn is an
uninteresting of a wrestler as you'll ever see and Miller was only
starting to become competent in the ring at this point.
A
black limo pulls up, revealing NWO Wolfpack minus Hennig.
Here's
the Wolfpack with something to say. Hennig is with them on crutches
despite not being in the limo. Nash does a survey about which NWO
the fans are here to see with the red and black winning. Luger gives
another recruitment speech and offers a challenge to Giant and Hogan
to face himself and Nash.
We
see Bret recruiting Sting on Thunder.
Saturn/Raven
vs. Public Enemy
Saturn
pounds Grunge into the corner to start before it's quickly off to
Raven who walks around but makes no contact before tagging back out.
Public Enemy comes back with a double elbow to the jaw before Rocco
stays in to work over Saturn's back. Grunge comes in for some
shoulders in the corner before Public Enemy drops Saturn with a
double clothesline again. A modified top rope Demolition
Decapitation gets two for Grunge but Rocco misses a Lionsault press.
Raven makes a blind tag but accidentally blasts Saturn in the back of
the head.
He
and Saturn stare each other down but Grunge clotheslines both of
them. They fall to the floor for a dive from Rocco before going back
inside for a swinging neckbreaker from Grunge to Saturn. The Drive
By (the Quebecers' old Cannonball) crushes Saturn and Rocco hits a
flip dive over the top and onto Raven on a table but the wood doesn't
break. Rocco is fine with that and hits the same thing again to
break the table down. Grunge is sent into the chair that Rocco is
holding, sending it into Rock's face. Saturn hits a quick Death
Valley Driver on Grunge but Raven sneaks in for the pin.
Rating:
D+. This was mainly an angle
instead of a match and there's nothing wrong with that. What there
is something wrong with is this style of wrestling in front of all
audiences. The people here weren't digging the hardcore schtick
which is why it shouldn't be done all the time in a major company
like WCW. That kind of stuff is for a niche audience, not a national
one.
Post
match Raven says he won before throwing in Saturn's name too. He's
also rehired the Flock for protection against Kanyon. It's also
Saturn vs. Kanyon at the PPV.
More
of Luger recruiting Sting from Thunder.
More
Nitro Girls.
The
Nitro Party winner of the week has a sign saying “La Parka Chair
Club For Men.” Ok point for a cute line.
Chavo
Guerrero Jr. vs. Alex Wright
There's
no Eddie here this time. Alex easily takes Chavo around before
hitting a hiptoss and dancing a lot. Back up and Chavo gets caught
in a backbreaker so he can dance even more. Chavo gets ticked off
and grabs him by the throat for some choking and right hands. Wright
bails to the floor and gets caught by a suicide dive to put both guys
down. They whip each other into the barricade before heading back
inside for Chavo to miss a charge into the corner, allowing Alex to
get an STF for a very fast tap out.
Post
match Eddie comes out and tries to keep the guys from fighting. Alex
leaves so Eddie can tell Chavo he was talking to grandma who has
freed Chavo. Therefore there's no need for them to have a match at
the Great American Bash. Chavo says oh yes there is a need because
Eddie is trying to hide from him.
We
take a break and we're supposed to have Randy Savage for a chat but
Piper's music plays instead. Now it's the Wolfpack song and here are
Savage and Liz. Randy accuses Tony of wanting to date Piper before
calling out Roddy himself. Roddy thinks Savage needs a psychiatrist
but Savage wants a match with Piper one on one after the tag match.
Piper says it's on before asking Savage if his parents built him a
swing facing the wall as a kid. Piper doesn't believe Bret is in the
NWO until he sees him in an NWO shirt, which he somehow ties into
Savage being a Muppet and the Washington Capitals.
MORE
from Thunder with Bret asking where Sting stands.
Hour
#2 begins.
Here's
JJ with something to say. Tony is doing the interview again instead
of Gene for some reason. JJ says that he thinks Sting is going to
stay in WCW even though it's not cool and he had trouble when he
stayed with WCW last year.
NWO
Hollywood arrives in another limo.
After
a break here's the black and white for their interview time.
Bischoff brags about how awesome Hogan is before Hogan talks about
being in Hollywood to make a movie. Apparently Scott Steiner was in
the movie with him or at least was hanging around the set. On the
way to the arena tonight he was watching the show and heard the
challenge. He and Giant are glad to accept to show Sting how awesome
the black and white is. Bret opens his shirt to reveal a Hogan
shirt, proclaiming Hulk to be the greatest of all time. Hogan says a
t-shirt is worth 1000 words and promises to own Savage's soul.
Heenan
joins commentary as the Nitro Girls dance again.
Konnan
vs. Lenny Lane
Konnan
easily takes him down by the arm to start and gets two off a slick
rollup into a sunset flip. Off to a Boston Crab with Konnan lifting
up Lane by the arms and rocking him back and forth for extra torment.
Lane comes back with a bulldog and stomps away before getting two
off some side rolls. Konnan slams him out of the corner with an
Alabama Slam before the 187 and Tequila Sunrise are good for the pin.
Not terrible actually.
Here
are Hennig and Rude with something to say. Rude says he doesn't have
to brag about Hennig being a 3 time world champion or his 3000 wins
when Goldberg only has 89 wins in a row. Apparently Hennig has a bad
knee and has to take ten days off. Curt calls out Konnan and asks
him to face Goldberg in his upcoming matches around the country.
Konnan is cool with the idea.
TV
Title: Fit Finlay vs. Eddie Guerrero
Finlay
grabs a quick headlock and runs Eddie over with a shoulder block. A
snapmare puts Eddie down again and it's off to a chinlock. Eddie
counters into an armbar and rakes his boot over the champion's eye as
only he can get away with. A top rope hurricanrana attempt is broken
up and Finlay gets two off a belly to back suplex. Back to the
chinlock for a few moments before Finlay rams him face first into the
apron. Finlay counters a sleeper and dropkicks Fit down before
pounding away in the corner. Not that it matters as Chavo comes in
and the match is thrown out before he does anything.
Rating:
C. Not bad here but the ending
made it more of an angle than anything else. I like that Chavo cost
him the match without Eddie losing as it keeps both guys looking
strong at the same time. Finlay is fine as the TV Champion, but I'm
still not sure why he of all people got the belt. At least he isn't
horrible though.
Chris
Jericho is at the Capitol Building but is thrown out almost
immediately. After the Capitol police throw him out, Jericho claims
to have talked to Clarence Thomas and he's sure Jericho has a case.
Jericho talks to other people protesting some issue and tells them he
should be Cruiserweight Champion. He isn't allowed on the White
House lawn so it's off to the Library of Congress to look for a
section on WCW title belts.
Chris
Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera
Jericho
calls out JJ to give him the evidence he's acquired but gets Juvy.
They trade hammerlocks to start until Jericho flips Juvy down. Back
up and Guerrera chops away before going up top for a slightly botched
hurricanrana. Jericho comes right back with a butterfly backbreaker,
good for two. A standing hurricanrana gets two for Juvy and he
botches another move by rolling up Jericho's body and gently laying
him down instead of snapping off a DDT.
The
Juvy Driver looks to set up the 450 but Jericho crotches him on the
top. Guerrera fights back but another hurricanrana attempt is
countered into the Liontamer, only to have Juvy roll out and send
Jericho to the floor. A slingshot hurricanrana takes Jericho down
again but as the referee is with Chris, Reese comes in and chokebombs
Juvy down, giving Jericho an easy pin.
Rating:
D+. Juvy's botches really
brought this match down as it looked like half his moves were trying
to make sure Jericho wasn't hurt at all rather than trying to pin
him. On top of that they were nowhere near as fast as their matches
usually were which was often the highlight of their stuff. Bad match
here and mainly due to Juvy.
Hour
#3 begins.
We
recap the best of 7 series with Benoit leading 2-1 after winning on
Saturday Night.
Booker
T vs. Chris Benoit
Feeling
out process to start with Booker elbowing Benoit down for two as
Finlay watches from the ramp. A powerslam gets two more on the
Canadian and we hit an armbar. Booker goes up for a spinning cross
body to send Benoit out to the floor. That goes nowhere so we head
back inside for a mudhole stomping by Benoit. A snap suplex puts
Booker down and it's back to Finlay for some trash talk.
Booker
hits a quick elbow to the jaw and it's off to a chinlock. Back up
and the forearm to the head gets two on Chris and more chinlockery
abounds. Benoit fights up again and hooks a German suplex but can't
follow up. Some right hands have Booker in trouble but he comes back
with the ax kick for no cover. Benoit is all screw this getting
kicked in the head thing and counters a suplex into the Crossface for
the win and a 3-1 lead.
Rating:
C+. The matches are good but
it's getting a bit repetitive at this point, given that these guys
have been feuding for weeks beforehand. That being said though, I
could watch Benoit drive people down into the Crossface all day.
Booker isn't going to be hurt by feuding with Benoit either, but a
match with someone else would be a nice breather.
The
announcers discuss Sting for I think the fifth time, not counting
talking about him during matches of course.
We
get the same video on Sting that opened the show.
Diamond
Dallas Page vs. Riggs
Riggs
sends Page into the corner so DDP shoves him down with ease. Page
stomps him down in the corner before taking out Sick Boy. An over
the shoulder gutbuster sets up a fireman's carry Diamond Cutter for
the fast win.
Sick
Boy gets a Cutter as well.
US
Title: La Parka vs. Goldberg
La
Parka cracks him in the head with a chair before the bell but
Goldberg no sells it. A spear and Jackhammer are the only moves of
the match.
The
Giant/Hollywood Hogan vs. Lex Luger/Kevin Nash
Bret
is with the black and white again. Luger now wrestles in long black
pants instead of trunks. Hogan and Luger pose at each other to start
before Luger shoves him into the corner and flexes a bit. A cheap
shot gets Hogan out of a test of strength and he goes to the throat
to take over. Off to Nash who fires off knees to the ribs and
follows up with the corner elbows. They trade clotheslines and Hogan
slugs away, only to tag in Giant for the real battle of the big men.
Big
Kev pounds away on Giant in the corner but Giant superkicks him down
in a nice display of athleticism. Giant misses an elbow drop and
it's off to Luger to pound away. Another clothesline puts Luger down
and it's back to Hogan again as the slow heel offense begins. Nash
walks into the ring anyway and kicks Giant in the face as everything
breaks down. Hogan hits Nash in the back with a tag title belt for
the DQ.
Rating:
D. There's not much to say
about this one. This was exactly what you would expect it to be. It
was mainly kicking and punching which is what you expect but that
doesn't make this any better to sit through. At least it was short,
but that's not really a plus most of the time.
Post
match here's Sting from the ceiling with a buttoned up trench coat.
He takes it off to reveal....the black and the white. Hogan and
Giant celebrate but Sting decks Hogan and slams Giant (with ease) and
rips off the shirt, revealing the red and black. Tony sounds
THRILLED with this development to end the show after about three
minutes of Wolfpack celebrating.
Overall
Rating: D. This is a hard one
to grade as it's all about one idea. They did a decent job of
getting that idea across, but three hours is a LONG time to get to
push one single thing. I did like the false finish as it was obvious
Sting was going to the Wolfpack but at least they teased a swerve.
Just too much focus on the NWO here though, and who does this leave
as WCW's main guys? Piper and Page? Goldberg is a rising star but
he hasn't proven himself against big names yet. Wait why am I even
asking? WCW has nothing to do with this show.
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
Still one of my least favorite angle payoffs. Sting in the Wolfpac was so absurd and just outright bad. Granted, in hindsight, they probably needed the star power with Savage going on injury leave, but it was still so lame.
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking that Bret Hart was going to turn on Hogan and being disappointed that it never happened.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you're tiring of the Benoit/Booker stuff, because that's what MADE Booker to most wrestling fans- it's such a popular angle that they tried to copy it again in WWE years later. It helps that it's a concrete push for Benoit, who spent most of his WCW run either feuding with Kevin Sullivan (who was doing nothing else) or jobbing to Upper Midcarders.
ReplyDeleteSaturn & Raven pairing up seems weird, because weren't they feuding just before this? I might be misremembering your prior reviews, though. The endless nWo talking combined with episodes full of Jobber (vs) Jobber matches pretty much seems like classic WCW.
Not exactly feuding. Saturn stood up to Raven because Raven treated him like an employee. Raven fired the Flock to appease Saturn and Saturn was willing to team with him as a result.
ReplyDelete