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The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro–11.27.95

The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro – 11.27.95

So it’s the night after World War III, and Randy Savage is the new World champion in a twist that not many were expecting at the time.

Live from Salem, VA

Your hosts are Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and Mongo.

World TV title: Johnny B. Badd v. Diamond Dallas Page

Kimberly is now with Badd, but Page is bearing flowers. Page attacks with the flowers and gets a tilt-a-whirl slam for two, but Kim finds a piece of chain hidden in her bouquet, which gives us some Dixie Carter level acting. See, he CHEATED. So the whole match is shot from the perspective of Kimberly for some reason, and she tosses Badd the chain, as he KO’s Page to retain at 2:04. Badd questions who the chain was for, but Kimberly covers up the confusion with a well-time victory celebration. *1/2 This was actually leading to the goofy bingo storyline for DDP and the “mysterious benefactor” angle that never paid off.

Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan get into an argument due to the events of the PPV and Sullivan is ready to go his own way with the Dungeon.

Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki v. Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano

Clearly WCW had more lenient cocaine policies than the WWF did. Hokuto clears the ring and chokes Ozaki out in the corner, allowing Bull to just wallop her and toss her around by the hair. Bull with a splash for two and it’s over to Suzuki, who hits Hokuto with a dragon suplex for two. Back to Bull, and the flying legdrop misses, allowing Suzuki to hit a victory roll and a double-team double stomp for two. That’s crazy. Bull suplexes both babyfaces and Hokuto flies in with a splash on both girls, then powerbombs Ozaki for two. Ozaki comes back with a rana for two, but the faces collide and Hokuto gets a northern lights suplex for two. Bull tries a powerbomb and Suzuki reverses to a sunset flip, but Bull sits down for two. They all fight to the floor and Hokuto gets a dive that accidentally hits Nakano. Back in, Nakano clotheslines both faces and Hokuto gets a missile dropkick on Suzuki and finishes with a SICK Fisherman’s Buster at 5:25. GET ALL THIS. ***3/4

Hugh Morrus v. Hulk Hogan

Hulk takes him down with a drop toehold and puts him down with a clothesline before slugging away in the corner. Morrus rebounds out of the corner with his own clothesline and the fans are CHEERING him. Moonsault gets two, and Hulk comes back and finishes with the usual at 3:32. DUD

Randy Savage comes out for his celebratory interview, but wouldn’t you know that Hulk Hogan comes out like a crybaby to complain about getting screwed out of the title. And then they lose their own tape of the evidence, because WCW. This prompts the big, nasty, stinky, wart-infested Giant to come out and chokeslam Savage on the concrete and then attacks Sting, before big man Hogan beats on him with a chair as the third man in a 3-on-1 fight. WHAT A SPORTSMAN. So after settling his own personal grudge and chasing Giant off, Hulk finally goes to help his supposed best friend, who is unconscious on the floor still. Thankfully Bobby still has the guts to call Hogan out for being the big orange coward he is.

Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman v. Sting & Lex Luger

Good thing Sting has a partner he can trust after the Flair fiasco! Um, yeah. Arn quickly hits the spinebuster on the injured Sting and pounds away, but Sting comes back with bulldogs on both Horsemen and we get some stereo press slams. The heels regroup, but Luger cleans house on them and hits Arn with the STAINLESS STEEL FOREARM OF DOOM. Sting with the Stinger splash and Scorpion, but Luger “accidentally” shoves Pillman into them to break it up. Luger goes after Pillman outside while Arn beats on Sting to get the heat, although there’s shockingly little heat here. Sting rolls up Pillman for the pin at 5:40 while Flair heads out for the ambush and the Horseman beatdown commences. Hogan makes the save and then goes to beat up Luger as well, but Sting calls him off. Not much to the match. *1/2

Next week: Nothing announced.

The whole Luger-Sting-Hogan deal continues to make no sense and really didn’t go anywhere in the long run, but that women’s match was the bee’s knees, as the kids say nowadays.

Comments

  1. Good thing General Rection was there to teach that youngster Hulk Hogan how to work.

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  2. I think the reason I like Nitro from this era is not so much the big name vs. big name matches that Raw lacked (which was certainly great), but the pace of the show. At 1 hour, there were no 15-minute Smackdown rematches between guys with a vague angle. Same reason NXT's good; sure you may get one lengthy match, but nothing wears out its welcome.

    I guess it's hard to forgive Nitro in hindsight for upping the ante by going to two hours.

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  3. so why wasn't hogan at starrcade?

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  4. WCW used up all their dates for the year.

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  5. Kimberly's hotness was just unreal in WCW. Up there with 2000 Trish and 2003 Torrie Wilson for my Top 3

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  6. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomerySeptember 30, 2014 at 11:37 PM

    I find the rough-edged production of Nitro as a welcome change of pace from the overproduced Dunn-ness going on right now. Guys talking over each other, the commentators doing a good job sounding confused when plot angles shift, the more intimate set designs, the quick-paced hour-long shows have an air of seat-of-the-pants energy that current WWE lacks.

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  7. Just be thankful they weren't.

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  8. Torrie Wilson from 2001 is tops for me.

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  9. Always an acceptable answer.

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  10. I don't recall them saying they "lost the tape", didn't they have Mean Gene play it off as not worth looking at because it was already over and done with?

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  11. CruelConnectionNumber2October 1, 2014 at 12:06 AM

    "Moonsault gets two" --- Hogan creating new stars.

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  12. CruelConnectionNumber2October 1, 2014 at 12:07 AM

    Hogan interrupts Savage's celebration to cry --- Fucking absurd. For those complaining Cena is a shit heel, watch these Nitros. Cena is Jushin Liger 1991 compared to Hogan. Bischoff deserves seven zillion dollars for convincing Hulk to go heel.

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  13. CruelConnectionNumber2October 1, 2014 at 12:09 AM

    Trish 2000 > all. Extra tan baby oil and skank outfits, please.

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  14. CruelConnectionNumber2October 1, 2014 at 12:12 AM

    Starrcade 95 was in Nashville and the crowd was already "treated" to Hogan/Beefcake the year before. That was the Hogan/Warrior of WCW. So doing a lesser match the year later wouldn't improve buyrates, just as Hogan/Slaughter dipped a year later in the WWF following WM 6. Hogan did The WCW a favor by vacationing. (I feel like this is what 1995 Hogan actually believed.)

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  15. I believe Hogan had the day off WAY in advance actually, with it being his scheduled vacation for the year.

    Also -- Starrcade 1995 was on a Wednesday night for some reason -- so it was getting the death slot for sure in 1995.

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  16. This was the brief period where Nakano wasn't stuck as EVIL~ Jap fodder for Madusa and put on awesome matches. Need to watch this show.

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  17. And yet the WWF was expecting people to believe that DDP was stalking Undertaker's wife.

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  18. Virgil's Gimmick TableOctober 1, 2014 at 12:36 AM

    What was Taker thinking with that chick?

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  19. Looking back, WCW women were much, much hotter than WWF divas (except for Sunny).

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  20. WCW had a thing going for a while where Starrcade was on December 27 every year, kinda like how WWF had traditional dates for the Rumble and Survivor Series. That might actually be the last major PPV not broadcast on a weeknight.

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  21. Hogan treating jobbers like jobbers.


    FTFY

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  22. I think the night of, Gene was saying the match was over and decided, but "losing the ending" on nitro was definitely a thing.

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  23. How does this happen so frequently in wrestling? Is there no one that keeps track of how often a guy's dates are used?

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