Monday
Nitro #141
Date:
June 15, 1998
Location:
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Laryr Zbyszko
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
past the Great American Bash and the main development is Sting holds
both tag team titles. Seriously, other than that not a ton has
changed. Hogan, Hart, Piper and Savage had their match which changed
absolutely nothing and Booker is the TV Champion again. There's not
much else to say about the show, which is a good indication of how
important that show was. We're now four weeks away from Bash at the
Beach so let's get to it.
Public
Enemy vs. Hugh Morrus/Barbarian
This
opens the show as Public Enemy is on their way to the ring as Tony
welcomes us to the show. It's a street fight meaning the weapons are
flying as soon as the Public Enemy hits the ring. As usual it's pure
insanity with everyone hitting everyone else in the head and Grunge
being sent head first into a garbage can. Even Jimmy Hart gets in a
cheap shot with a sheet of medal.
Hugh
backdrops Rocco into a powerbomb from Barbarian and a bunch of
garbage can shots keep Rocco down. Grunge comes back in with some
trashcan lid shots to Barbarian as Morrus loads up a table on the
floor. A frying pan to the crotch slows Morrus down but he's good
enough to bulldog Rocco. Jimmy tries some more shots to Rocco's
head, earning him a suplex into the ring. Rocco is eventually
suplexed over the top and through the table, but he lands on
Barbarian for the pin.
Rating:
D-. I can't stand these
matches. I get the idea of appealing to the ECW fanbase but couldn't
they come up with something more interesting than just hitting each
other in the head with metal? These matches don't add anything at
all and when it takes a few seconds to determine who won, there's
probably a problem.
We
get the opening pyro display and the announcers' usual recap of the
recent events around these parts.
Earlier
today Mike interviewed some fans to find out if they were ready for
Nitro.
We
recap the Wolfpack recruiting Page from last week.
Opening
sequence.
Nitro
Girls.
Here's
how to get a Nitro Party!
Here's
Savage for an interview. He has a message for Piper and that
is....that he wants DDP in the Wolfpack. Savage talks about Wyatt
Earp wanting to help the Wolfpack and goes into a sales pitch to Page
for a spot on the team. He wants Page in a cage match tonight and if
Page can beat him, Page can join the team with Savage's full
endorsement.
We
get some stills of the tag match last night.
Chris
Benoit vs. Fit Finlay
Tenay
suggests that this is a #1 contenders match for the TV Title but I
don't think that's official. Benoit takes him into the corner to
start and this is going to be a physical one. The fans are all over
Finlay from the bell and he seems a bit shaken by it. Finlay takes
him down with a headlock and cranks on the arm a bit before just
kicking Benoit in the face. We hit the chinlock on the Canadian
before Benoit fights up and hits a backbreaker to send Finlay to the
floor.
Finlay
sends him back first into the apron before taking him inside for a
reverse chinlock. Benoit stands up and drops Finlay down onto his
back for two. We come back from a break with Finlay dropping a knee
on Benoit's face for two. Chris fights up again with some hard boots
to the ribs but gets dropped throat first across the top rope.
Finlay misses a charge into the post and Benoit hits the Rolling
Germans to put both guys down.
Benoit
is up first but the Swan Dive only hits mat and Finlay drops another
knee to the head. These shots are making me cringe more and more
every time. The rolling senton puts Benoit down again but Benoit
goes into beast mode, countering the tombstone into the Crossface for
the win.
Rating:
C+. This took some time to get
going but everything after the break was awesome. These two beat the
crap out of each other, but the shots to the head are hard to sit
through. It's good to see Benoit get a win after losing the series
though, so maybe there's hope for him yet. Solid match here for the
most part though.
Post
match Gene comes into the ring to interview Benoit about the series
with Booker. Benoit invites Booker out here to see him face to face
for some business. Here's Harlem Heat and Benoit stares Booker down,
only to shake and raise his hand. Booker calls Benoit the best man
he's ever been in the ring with and Benoit says to say the word if
Booker ever needs a good man in his corner.
This
isn't cool with Stevie who calls Benoit a pipsqueak. Benoit repeats
what he said and Booker offers another handshake but Stevie blasts
Benoit in the face. Cue Mongo (dang it) to pull Stevie off but
Booker breaks it up. Harlem Heat leaves and Benoit says he's here
for one thing, and he holds up the four fingers.
Post
breaks here's DDP to answer Savage's challenge. Well in theory at
least as Page would rather talk about Hogan and Rodman. They're both
somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates
at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty (direct quote
from the movie Con Air). Apparently there's a tag match at Bash at
the Beach with Page having a partner to be named. Oh and Savage is
on for the cage match tonight.
We
get a clip of Hogan and Rodman attacking Page with chairs last week.
Apparently there are rumors that NBA superstar Karl Malone might don
the tights and join WCW. I'm guessing that was the major
announcement that wasn't made on Thunder.
Nitro
Girls.
Gene
is in the ring again and it's time for Piper's weekly rambling.
Piper: “GOD BLESS FRANK SINATRA!” Sinatra died a month before
this, so I'm assuming it was a tribute, but that's a bit late isn't
it? Anyway, Piper talks about remembering the Statue of Liberty
wearing a kilt (I rescind my thought on it being a tribute and vote
for Piper is nuts) and says he's tough enough to make Rush Limbaugh
lose weight and put Howard Stern on the Disney Channel. The smark
crowd stops him with a loud RODDY chant but Piper confirms the cage
match for tonight, but with him as the referee for no apparent
reason.
Hiroshi
Tenzan/Masahiro Chono vs. High Voltage
The
Japanese guys are IWGP Tag Team Champions and are in the Black and
White. Robbie Rage gets jumped to start but Kaos comes in off the
top with a clothesline to take down Chono. High Voltage clears the
ring and we take a break. Yes, this match is getting a break. Back
with Rage stomping on Tenzan and putting on a reverse chinlock.
Tenzan fights up as the announcers talk about Goldberg being with his
sick mom tonight.
Chono
comes in off the tag and everything breaks down for a few moments.
Things settle back down with Kaos blocking a Chono suplex until High
Voltage comes in for a double team. Kaos' top rope clothesline hits
Rage by mistake, allowing Tenzan to drop a top rope headbutt for two.
Not that it matters as the Mafia Kick ends Kaos seconds later.
Rating:
F. I can't stand these matches
as we're just supposed to instantly care about people we haven't seen
in months because they're wearing NWO shirts. Yeah Chono and Tenzan
are awesome, but we need more than a few matches a year for the fans
to realize that. On top of that the match was horrible with everyone
looking sloppy and the match being a big mess. Given what I've seen
from both teams, I blame this pretty much entirely on High Voltage.
Still
shots of Giant vs. Sting last night.
Here's
the Wolfpack to a BIG reaction. Nash talks about how life is full of
ironies, such as the last man to join the Wolfpack is the first one
to bring home some gold. He brings out Sting for his pick of the
partners but Sting wants to suck up to the crowd first. Sting talks
about how everyone in the group has credentials, ranging from Konnan
coming from a bunch of tough barrios, Luger holding every title there
is to hold and Nash being a living, breathing monster. Savage isn't
listed as a possibility for some reason. However, he's going to wait
until the tag title defense tonight to make his announcement.
Kanyon
vs. Sick Boy
Kanyon
charges to the ring and the brawl is quickly on. Sick Boy is stomped
into the corner and punched a lot before Kanyon pulls him down with a
neckbreaker for two. Kanyon heads to the floor where a Lodi (in a
safari hat because he's odd like that) distraction lets Sick Boy take
over. Back in and Sick Boy goes up but hops down, allowing Kanyon to
hit a great looking forward electric chair for two. A faceplant out
of the corner puts Sick Boy down again before the Flatliner gets the
pin.
Rating:
C-. This didn't have time to go
anywhere but Kanyon continues to look awesome. His offense was so
different from anyone else and he had a solid look, but for some
reason he never reached that higher level. The feud with the Flock
is working though and I'm curious to see where it goes.
Here
are Rude and Hennig with Curt now in the Black and White like he
should have been all along. Rude talks about how everyone has been
asking why they turned on the Wolfpack and it's the stereotypical
answer: money. If it had been Hennig in there with Goldberg, the
streak would be over. That's going to be the case one day because
Hennig has won over 3,000 matches. Hennig brags about swerving
Konnan and promises no swerves with the Black and White, even though
he's now swerved DDP, Flair and Konnan. He'd never swerve Rude
though.
JJ
Dillon is here to address the Cruiserweight Title issues from last
night. The referee was right to call the match last night so here's
Jericho, already in celebration mode. He sings about being the
champion and says there's dancing in the streets. JJ says Jericho is
the champion, but he has to defend against Malenko within 30 days.
Jericho rips into Dean's dad again, but thankfully Dean was about two
feet from Jericho to jump him immediately. Malenko beats him into
the back and throws Jericho into anything he can find, ranging from
what look to be portable bleachers to a cardboard box. Security
finally breaks it up.
Chris
Adams vs. The Giant
Giant
is smoking again. This actually lasts longer than I expected, going
a full 20 seconds before the chokeslam ends Adams.
We
look at Hogan and Rodman attacking Page again last week.
Here
are Hogan and Bischoff for their weekly (or hourly depending on the
show) chat. Hogan says that God created Hollywood on the seventh
day. Back in the day when he was selling out MSG, the slimy one
(Nash?) was wishing he could be like Hogan one day. As for Page, if
he wants a piece of himself and Rodman, come get some, even if it
means bringing in Karl Malone. Hogan and Rodman have already signed
for Bash at the Beach, so make sure to check the show out to see who
Page and his partner take a beating. This was short and actually
accomplished something. I'm as shocked as you are.
More
Nitro Girls and the Nitro Party video.
Hour
#3 begins.
Here's
Sting for his decision. He wastes no time and picks Nash. Tony
calls this a curveball, even though it was one of four possible
options. Nash does a survey of which NWO the fans are here to see,
which sums up this company in a nutshell. Lastly, he says Hennig is
the Pack's newest prey.
Tag
Titles: Sting/Kevin Nash vs. Harlem Heat
Tony
gets the continuity wrong before the bell, saying Sting has been a
tag champion for a long time, even though it was clearly stated the
titles were vacant coming into last night. Booker and Sting get us
going in the best possible pairing for this match. Things start fast
with Sting jumping over Booker before taking him down with a hiptoss.
Booker bails to the floor for a meeting with Stevie before coming
back in with the jumping forearm.
Stevie
yells at Booker so T brings him in to try his own luck. Ray stomps
Sting down but he comes back with some of those odd shots to the face
of his own, allowing for the tag off to Nash. Kev comes in but walks
into a slam, only to have Stevie miss an elbow drop. We take a break
and come back with Booker missing a dropkick on Sting. Back to Nash
for knees in the corner and the big boot to the jaw before the side
slam gets two.
Off
to Sting again who stomps a mudhole on Booker before actually hitting
his jumping elbow drop. A Vader Bomb of all things gets two but a
regular splash hits Booker's knees. Ash comes in before Booker can
make the tag though, meaning the match slows down again. Nash powers
Booker down but tags back out to Sting before he breaks a sweat. You
have to protect that hair at all costs you see.
The
Wolfpack keeps up the fast tags with Nash coming back in but Booker
escapes Snake Eyes and gets two off a rollup. Booker avoids the
Stinger Splash and finally makes the tag off to Stevie. Sting walks
into a powerslam but Stevie talks trash, only to get caught in the
Death Drop for the pin about 10 seconds after he was tagged in.
Rating:
D+. Not a terrible match here
and at least Stevie did the job instead of Booker. The match was
pretty dull though with Nash seeming to be as bored as you could
imagine him to be and Sting just going through the motions as well.
Harlem Heat was done as a top tag team but they were still good
enough for a spot like this.
The
announcers talk about the cage match.
Remember
that video of Scott Steiner on a movie set with Hogan where they met
Carl Weathers? Well here it is again.
The
cage is already set up but first we get Bischoff talking to Scott
Steiner in a sitdown interview. Scott says it's nice to be in New
York but it's nothing compared to Los Angeles. He name drops a bunch
of actors who congratulated him for the snow job he put on his
brother. Just establishing the new character for Steiner, which I
can't imagine lasts long.
Nitro
Girls.
Randy
Savage vs. Diamond Dallas Page
There's
a top on the cage and Piper is the referee. Page climbs on top of
the cage to pose before getting inside. We get the bell and Page
goes after Savage's bad arm, only to have Randy hit him in the bad
ribs. Page goes up top but gets crotched down, only to pop up and go
after Savage's own injured ribs. A ram into the cage gets two so
Savage sends him into the steel for the same. They ram each other
into the buckle before Savage goes head first into the cage.
Back
up and they hit heads to put both guys on the mat again. We take a
break and come back with Page pounding away and scoring with a
clothesline, only to be taken down by a low blow. Savage goes up for
the big elbow but hurts his knee on the way down, allowing Page to
kick out. Savage and Piper get in a fight over the speed of the
count with Savage laying him out via a piledriver. Page comes back
with the Diamond Cutter to put all three guys down.
The
fans (or the PA system) wants Goldberg as all three guys get back up.
Page punches Piper for trying to pull him off Savage, so Piper sends
Page into the cage three times in a row. Now Piper beats up Savage,
because Heaven forbid a match doesn't focus on Piper at least once.
Piper rams both of them into the cage....and the cage raises up. Cue
the Black and White to fill the cage which lowers after they get in.
The massive beatdown is on as the match is thrown out.
Rating:
D+. This was more about Piper
than either wrestler and that's a big problem in WCW at the moment.
Piper is playing WAY too big of a role and I have no idea why WCW
thinks he's the right man for this spot. The match itself was
nothing special as both guys were banged up and basically going
through the motions out there until Piper did his thing.
The
NWO destroys Savage with Bischoff kicking a chair into his knee. The
Wolfpack comes out to try for a save but they can't find a way in.
Nash runs (work with me here) to the back and finds the button to
raise the cage and we go off the air.
Overall
Rating: C-. While not great,
this was SO much better than last week as they kept things moving.
Rather than focusing on one story, the show focused on different
stories at different times which made things a lot easier to sit
through. Hogan only having one promo and a run-in at the end is a
great example of this as he had something like nine appearances last
week. The wrestling was passable and the stories were advanced as
well, which is all you can ask for a lot of the time.
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
Really liking these reviews. WCW was fun to watch during this period for the pure comedic aspect of it.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI was at this show, and when Benoit held up the four fingers, the roof nearly came off the place. Not only the biggest pop of the night, but the biggest I've ever heard at a wrestling event.
ReplyDeleteHey Tommy,
ReplyDeleteLet me second enjoying these reviews. I had stopped watching WCW by this time, as I was off to college without a TV. I know I was following along online, but I don't really remember all that much. These reviews are a great way to reminisce.
Anyway, had a question. Are you going into these reviews knowing what happened (having watched them when they aired live, 15 years ago) or are you seeing them fresh for the first time? Just curious, really. Either way, loving the reviews.
Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI know the big stuff but and I've seen all the PPVs again within the last few years but I haven't seen Nitro and Thunder since they aired live other than a one off show here or there. I remember flashes of stuff like the end of the cage match on this show but I didn't remember something like Rodman and Hogan attacking Page at all.
I think the shame when you see Hogan, Piper and Savage in 1998 is they were once very entertaining and for Piper and Savage very good to great wrestlers. Savage V Steamboat, Piper v. Hart and many other matches. But now they are physically so past their prime it is sad. Of course that they are the top of the card all the time is what makes it the worst. If each one was in a feud with a younger talent to help build that person up the card, it could have worked so well. Those three have so much pro-wrestling knowledge/experience it was such a waist for it not to be used on the younger wrestlers.
ReplyDeleteHell outside of Goldberg, the newest main eventer was DDP. I really like DDP the wrestler, but he was no spring chicken at this point in his career.
WWE gets a lot of flack, but Cena, Orton, Big Show, Undertaker even HHH as a group are no where near as old and physically uncapable to perform as the WCW main event crew during the final 4 or so years of their existence.