Monday
Nitro #159
Date:
October 19, 1998
Location:
Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance:
15,722
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
FINALLY up to the go home show for Halloween Havoc after what seems
like months of buildup. Tonight is likely going to focus on Flair
getting Bischoff thrown out of the United Center last year, which
likely means it's time for Bischoff to get one up on the Horsemen.
Other than that we're probably going further into the Hogan vs.
Warrior mess as it continues to not really have any business on a
wrestling show. Let's get to it.
We
open with a recap of Bischoff getting ejected by the owner of the
United Center last week in favor of the Horsemen.
Nitro
Girls.
The
announcers do their intro and former AWA star Larry Zbyszko gets a
bigger reaction than usual. We get another package on Bischoff and
the Horsemen from last week.
Kenny
Kaos vs. Saturn
Kaos
takes an early advantage with a hard clothesline but Saturn comes
right back with a quick swinging neckbreaker. A spinning springboard
forearm gets two on Kaos but he drops Saturn over the top and out to
the floor. Back in and Kaos hits a nice gutwrench suplex for two
followed by a gorilla press slam. Kaos isn't looking bad but he's
favoring his elbow after that press. Saturn is sent into the corner
and kicked in the back, only to come back with some roundhouse kicks
to the head. An overhead suplex puts Kaos down and a falcon's arrow
sets up the Death Valley Driver for the pin.
Rating:
C. This was much better than I
was expecting with Kaos putting in a nice performance. Apparently
some other people thought the same as we'll be hearing some more from
Kaos in the very near future. For the older fans out there, does
this victory over Kaos make Saturn a Control agent?
Tenay
polls fans about last week's show.
Halloween
Havoc ad.
Normal
intro.
Gene
brings out Ernest Miller for a chat. Miller
says he hates this town and its' kids in particular. He threatens
Gene until Okerlund gets out of the ring and invites anyone to get in
the ring for a challenge. A “fan” jumps the barricade and is
stopped by security but Miller says let him in. The fan gets
destroyed as you would expect and now security takes him away. We
get a better look at the fan and it's none other than future WCW Tag
Team Champion Chuck Palumbo.
We
recap Nash chasing Hall around for the last few weeks.
Nitro
Party video.
Nitro
Girls.
Scott
Steiner says he was the real success of the Steiner Brothers and he
had to overcome Rick's weaknesses.
Speaking
of Rick Steiner, we see his incident with Chuckie last week and the
announcers analyze it like it's a match.
Video
on Goldberg vs. DDP.
Damien/Psychosis/El
Dandy/Hector Garza vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./La Parka/Ciclope/La Parka
The
former team is LWO and they have their own music now. Damien goes
after La Parka's chair before the bell and gets kicked in the head.
Serves him right. This is under lucha rules so going to the floor
counts as a tag. Lizmark hammers on Damien in the corner to start
and gets two off a hurricanrana before it's off to La Parka vs. El
Dandy with La Parka chopping him in the chest and back. A big
enziguri puts Dandy down and it's off to Ciclope and Garza.
The
LWO comes in for a four on one beatdown until Damien snaps off a top
rope hurricanrana for two. Garza comes in with a missile dropkick to
the back and it's off to Chavo for the first big pop of the match.
Chavo quickly dropkicks him down but things quickly break down.
Psychosis
misses a charge into the post but Ciclope comes in with a missile
dropkick. Everyone misses something off the top before La Parka and
Chavo hit some dives. A Hart Attack with a springboard dropkick from
Lizmark gets two on Psychosis but La Parka comes in to clean house
with the chair but knocks out Ciclope, giving Psychosis the pin.
Rating:
C+. This was the usual fast
paced lucha match which was almost impossible to keep track of a the
end. La Parka's chair shot seems to turn him to the LWO which is
fine as the team needs some bigger names. The match was able to fire
the crowd up as well as advanced the LWO story so nice multitasking
WCW.
Post
match Eddie comes out and gives La Parka a shirt. So the way to
prove you're united with the other luchadores is to hit another with
a chair? Chavo seems happy but walks off, telling
Pepe he doesn't need a
shirt.
We
look at Bret's history with Sting and turning on him, leading to the
brawl two weeks ago.
Kanyon
vs. Scott Putski
We
get the Who Better Than Kanyon bit before the match. Kanyon: “You
guys just don't get it.” They fight over hammerlocks and headlocks
to start until Scott scores with a few slams. A belly to back suplex
gets two on Kanyon but he comes back by sending Putski into the
corner and hammering away. Kanyon hits a middle rope Fameasser to
send Putski outside and drops him face first onto the apron while
standing on the steps. Back in and Putski hits a release overhead
belly to belly but gets caught in a fireman's carry pancake. The
Flatliner is enough to get Kanyon the pin.
Rating:
C-. Kanyon was fun to watch as
always and Putski wasn't bad either. I still don't get his choice of
attire as he's an eye patch short of being a pirate from 1638. The
match wasn't bad though and it was a good way to keep Kanyon around.
Why can't we get stuff like this on Thunder?
Video
on Hogan vs. Warrior.
Buy
WCW Magazine!
Here's
Scott Steiner to start the second hour. He talks about being cold,
having freaks and being your hook up. Last week he beat up Buff
Bagwell and calls out any Minnesota Vikings here tonight. Instead he
gets Rick Steiner who is ready right now if Scott wants a fight. We
have a referee down here but Scott says Rick is too easy.
Scott
actually gets in and asks if this is going to be a fair fight. Rick
says no and decks Scott in the head before pounding him into the
corner. Scott charges into a boot as the announcers play up the idea
that they know each other so well. A low blow stops Rick and Scott
gets a chair as the bell rings. It never rang in the first place so
this wasn't a match. Buff runs out and takes the chair from Scott
before nearly killing him with a big swing.
Nitro
Girls video.
Nitro
Girls in the ring.
We
get a clip of a Goldberg autograph signing for charity.
Davey
Boy Smith vs. Fit Finlay
Finlay
takes him over with a headlock to start but walks into a slam for
two. We hit a chinlock from Smith for a few seconds before another
slam gets another two count. Finlay comes back with a clothesline
and rips at Smith's face before missing a charge into the buckle.
The referee gets poked in the eye, allowing Alex Wright to run in and
hit a quick missile dropkick to knock Bulldog into the tombstone from
Finlay for the pin.
Rating:
D. This was just a filler match
and it didn't do much to fire up the crowd. The King of Europe
storyline wasn't anything interesting when there were only a handful
of people involved and they were just trading wins. This was
Bulldog's last appearance on Nitro as he would go to the hospital for
a staph infection from breaking his back at Fall Brawl. Bischoff
would fire him via FedEx while he was laid up.
Here's
Jericho with Ralphus at his side to brag about beating Greenberg
three times in a row. Goldberg wants the sheet writers to think he's
the best but everyone knows that's nonsense. DDP comes in and calls
out “Jerkicho” for his lies and a match is made for later.
Hall
is shown at a bar wearing his title belt and wrestling gear. Nothing
else to the scene than that.
Wrath
vs. Tokyo Magnum
Clothesline,
chops and stomps, flying shoulder and the Meltdown are enough for the
squash by Wrath.
More
charity stuff from UNICEF.
We
look at Buff saving Rick and cut to the back to see him throwing away
his NWO shirt. Insert your own sarcastic response here.
Disco
Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Silver King/Super Calo
Silver
King and Calo say not so fast because they have replacements.
Disco
Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit
An
annoyed Bischoff comes out to commentary as Dean cranks on Wright's
wrist. Eric goes on a rant about how there are four people not
getting paid tonight: “Those two Mexicans, Arn Anderson
and.....make it five!” Dean hammers away on Wright's head but gets
pulled down to the mat. Disco comes in and walks into a suplex, only
to pop up with a clothesline to take over. Inferno dances a bit and
turns around to get chopped and stomped by Benoit. Everything breaks
down and the Crossface quickly ends Disco.
The
Horsemen yell at Bischoff who shouts about breach of contract.
Hall
is still at the bar.
Diamond
Dallas Page vs. Chris Jericho
Non-title
of course. A shoulder puts Jericho down and he claims a hair pull.
Page drives in his shoulders before they fight over hiptosses. That
goes nowhere so DDP takes his head off with a left arm clothesline.
Page tries to hammer away in the corner but gets dropped down onto
the top turnbuckle to change control.
Jericho
throws him outside and whips Page into the barricade for two. Page
comes back with right hands and the discus lariat followed by a belly
to back suplex for a near fall. Jericho grabs a quick jawbreaker and
the Lionsault almost gets the upset. A low blow breaks up the
Diamond Cutter but Page counters the Liontamer. Page calls for the
Diamond Cutter but Goldberg comes in to spear Jericho for the DQ.
Rating:
C+. Better match than I was
expecting here as Jericho got in a lot of offense and wasn't entirely
beat at the end. They had to do something to give Page and Goldberg
a real issue and this was as good as anything else they could have
done. It's always nice to see a champion not do a clean job too.
Page
is ticked and the brawl is almost on until referees make the save.
Cruiserweight
Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Billy Kidman
Rey
is returning from an injury to challenge for the title here. They
feel each other out to start until Kidman takes him down to the mat
in a front facelock. Back up and Rey snaps off a standing
hurricanrana before backdropping the champion to the apron. Kidman
comes back in with a slingshot headscissors and a hard dropkick gets
two. We hit the chinlock for a bit on Mysterio before Kidman sends
him into the corner for a running forearm which looked like a blown
spot.
Mysterio
takes his head off with a spinwheel kick and a high cross body for a
very close two. Rey tries his sitout bulldog but gets countered into
a wheelbarrow slam, sending Rey to the apron, only to get suplexed
out to the floor by the masked man. Back in and Kidman shrugs it off
and hits the lifting powerbomb for two. We hit the chinlock on Rey
but he fights up and takes Kidman to the floor with a hurricanrana.
Rey is favoring his knee but hits a nice flip dive to take Kidman
down.
Rey
takes too much time going up top and Kidman gets up, only to be
dropped stomach first onto the ropes. A legdrop to the back of the
head gets two but Rey is too banged up to cover. Kidman slams him
down and misses a frog splash, allowing Rey to go up for a top rope
seated senton and two.
Tony
calls it a Thesz Press and Tenay doesn't correct him. Mysterio hits
a double leg Fameasser for two but gets caught in a powerbomb from
the champion for two more. Mysterio crotches Kidman to break up the
Shooting Star before taking Kidman to the mat with a hurricanrana for
two. A jumping Killswitch gets two for Mysterio and he goes up top,
only to dive into a dropkick as the bell rings for the time limit at
about thirteen and a half minutes.
Rating:
B+. This was one of the best
matches we've had on Nitro in weeks with both guys countering a lot
of stuff but still getting in their own big moves. Mysterio's knee
messing up was fine for a story and Kidman more than held up with the
cruiserweight legend. I'm not sure how you can have a legend for a
division about two years old but Tony kept using that term.
The
Minneapolis mayor comes out holding a proclomation to huge booing and
a Jesse chant. She brings out future Baseball Hall of Fame member
Kirby Puckett and future NFL Hall of Famer John Randle but the fans
still aren't impressed with her. Maybe it's the very loud and
grating voice? Anyway she brings out Ric Flair and declares it Ric
Flair Day in Minneapolis.
Flair
is thrilled but here's Bischoff to complain. He doesn't need some
three named mayor to ruin his show but the mayor says this is her
town. Randle and Puckett get between them and cops tell Bischoff to
stay back. Apparently Bischoff has some unpaid warrants and has 20
minutes to get out of the arena. Eric promises to be back and walks
out but sees his car being towed away.
Nitro
Girls.
Scott
Norton/Scott Hall/Stevie Ray vs. Konnan/Kevin Nash/Lex Luger
Norton
comes out wearing the IWGP Title. Hall
staggers out after them and his partners aren't pleased. That's
actually better than Nash who is nowhere in sight. Luger is back in
trunks instead of pants. Konnan does his thing and we cut to the
back where Nash is staggering around and dropping a cup.
The
bell rings and Kevin slowly comes into the arena. Konnan and Stevie
get things going but the Wolfpack asks Nash what's going on. Kevin
tries to get in but Luger and Konnan won't let that happen. Nash
keeps drinking until Luger takes the cup away. Stevie and Konnan get
things going with Ray in control until Konnan comes back with the
rolling clothesline.
Off
to Luger and Norton with Lex throwing him around like he's nothing.
The running forearm puts Norton down but Stevie offers a distraction
and the Black and White takes over. Nash is kneeling on the apron,
cup in hand. Hall is asking for a tag but Ray and Norton just ignore
him. Luger and Norton clothesline each other down and crawl to the
corners where Hall and Nash tag themselves in. They make a drunken
toast to each other but Nash has an empty cup. The fight is on and
Hall gets his clock cleaned until the match is thrown out.
Rating:
D. This was an angle instead of
a match and that's fine. The
Hall vs. Nash idea is fine but I was hoping for it to be an actual
match rather than the whole drunken Hall thing. I'm also not sure
why it's on a stacked Halloween Havoc card when it could have
headlined a lower PPV card if treated well.
Hogan
vs. Warrior promo.
Hollywood
Hogan vs. Horace
Raise
your hand if you think this is actually happening. Hollywood comes
out to the wrong music at first and tells Michael Buffer that this
isn't happening. Horace comes out and admits that he's Hollywood's
nephew which I thought was public knowledge before this. Hollywood
says they're blood so he calls the NWO out here to see what blood
means to him. He's proud of Horace and loves him before taking his
shirt off.
Hollywood
talks about the sacrifices you have to make to be in the NWO and says
this is his sacrifice. He blasts Horace with a right hand and goes
off on him, saying imagine what he'd do to Warrior if he'd do this to
family. A chair shot puts Horace down and everyone but Norton leaves
Hollywood alone.
Hogan
rants about how Warrior is going to admit Hollywood rules the
universe and tells him to say his prayers and take his vitamins. The
NWO gets back in the ring and here's Warrior with a ball bat. He
cleans house as Hogan bails to the floor. Giant shrugs off a bat
shot and chokeslams Warrior down. Hogan spray paints Warrior's chest
and drops some legs. The crowd has almost no response to this at
all. They're not booing or cheering and just kind of sit there for
the whole thing.
Here's
Bret Hart to make a challenge. He runs his mouth about how he has no
fans but his cat and calls Sting the worst there is, was and ever
will be until Sting comes out for a fight.
Sting
vs. Bret Hart
It's
a brawl to start with Sting in full control and hammering away. They
head outside with Bret being sent into the barricade. All Sting so
far as they head back inside with the big jumping elbow actually
connecting for two. Bret gets in a kick to the ribs and drops a
headbutt to the abdomen. He rakes Sting's eyes across the top rope
and hits the backbreaker but Sting blocks the middle rope elbow.
There's the Scorpion but Bret makes the rope. Sting doesn't let go
and it's a DQ. “You might as well go get help because I'm not
letting go.”
Rating:
D. Again there was nothing to
the match but that wasn't the point. I'm not sure why you would have
an actual match between them before Sunday, especially with Sting
dominating the whole thing with ease. At least it wasn't a clean
finish or anything so there's a reason to watch the match Sunday.
Referees
can't get the hold off so Stevie Ray and Vincent come out to pound on
Sting. He still won't leg to as he no sells everything before
letting it go on his own. Bret limps away to end the show.
Overall
Rating: C+. This was better
than most Nitros lately and actually has me wanting to see the show
on Sunday. There was entertaining wrestling and all of the major
matches for Sunday got screen time. What else can you ask for from a
go home show? Also Warrior finally got beaten up and the crowd just
didn't care at all. Good show actually.
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
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