Monday
Nitro #210
Date:
October 18, 1999
Location:
First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance:
7,413
Commentators:
Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It's
the go home show for Halloween Havoc but more importantly, Russo and
Ferrara are officially in charge tonight. That's going to lead to
some very rapid changes around here and that's not a good sign before
the pay per view. In theory it would make sense to do Halloween
Havoc and then let them take over, but this is WCW after all. Let's
get to it.
We
open with Sid arriving in a limo and wearing a suit, flanked by
attorneys. Oh yeah Russo is in charge.
Juventud
Guerrera vs. Evan Karagias
Evan
gets dropped by a quick shoulder but scores with a dropkick and
clothesline to send Guerrera to the floor. Back in and Evan shrugs
off some chops but charges into a boot in the corner. They're not
exactly cranking things up here. A headscissors and cross body get
two on Evan....and here's Bret to get in the ring and just start
talking. The match just stops because....well why not?
Bret
says that he wasn't allowed to have an interview tonight and he left
the WWF for two reasons. He's here to fight Hogan and win the World
Title but WCW won't let him do either of those things. This brings
out Sting to say Bret needs to join the real world. Juvy is just
walking around the ring as this goes on. They talk about being
screwed (censored) and Bret is offered a title shot tonight. Is
there a reason why Sting's paint is already chipped off at the top
despite not having any physicality so far?
The
announcers talk about Russo and Ferrara being hired as writers.
Tonight: an evening gown match. So this is why we've had a
“division?” As in the three girls that have matches once a
month?
Sid
is advised not to speak. Score one for Russo and Ferrara!
Goldberg
arrives. Why is wrestling so lenient about performers being late?
Back
to Sid, who now talks about Goldberg breaking the stipulation of not
touching him before the match. Nothing here other than acknowledging
what happened last week.
Vampiro
vs. Disco Inferno
Non-title
with Lash Leroux on commentary. Lash appearing offers a distraction
and Vampiro kicks him in the back of the head to take over. Another
kick to the chest drops Disco and it's off to a shot of the
commentators. Back in and Vampiro gets one off a suplex but the
Chartbuster connects for our second fast ending of the night.
Lash
comes in and gives Disco Whiplash. That's a very heelish move.
Goldberg
promises to Jackhammer Sid.
Dustin
Rhodes video with him talking like Yoda.
Madusa
refuses to perform in an evening gown match because it's beneath her.
Nitro
Girls search stuff and FINALLY Stacy Keibler shows up. However, Buff
Bagwell cuts them off and says the internet has been talking about
how he's taking WCW to the top. See, he heard that Russo and Ferrara
were high on him during an internet interview. This is the kind of
breaking the fourth wall stuff that I can't stand and Russo loves for
whatever reason, ignoring the fact that it's almost never drawn a
dime. But hey, I'm sure he'll have a 300 page book explaining why
this was SO hard on him.
Mona
has never had an evening gown match but she's wrestled several
matches wearing an evening gown.
Kimberly
is looking for David Flair. I think we're in the soap opera portion
of the show.
Goldberg
and Sid reiterate the same things they said earlier.
Tag
Team Titles: Harlem Heat vs. Rey Mysterio Jr./Kidman
Harlem
Heat is defending and Booker is now in trunks. Stevie elbows Rey in
the face and throws him way into the air on a backdrop. Rey comes
back with the not yet named 619 but gets clotheslined out to the
floor for his efforts. Cue Kidman and Eddie arm in arm with Torrie
Wilson as it's off to Konnan vs. Booker. Konnan scores with a quick
DDT and Mysterio adds a Lionsault. This is already the longest match
of the night at about two and a half minutes.
Stevie
fights out of the Tequila Sunrise and Booker plants Konnan with a
Rock Bottom. Eddie and Kidman join commentary and brag about how hot
Torrie is. Well you can't argue that. We see the First Family
watching in the back as Stevie bearhugs Konnan. Off to Booker for a
kick to the face and a double suplex for two, followed by an even
harder kick from Stevie. Well you can't say they're not thinking
along the same lines.
Rey
breaks up a cover off a powerslam and is promptly sent outside.
Everything breaks down and the commentators offer a distraction to
Booker, allowing Rey to hit the springboard seated senton on Stevie.
Konnan adds a trip and holds Ray's legs for the pin and the titles.
Rating:
D+. So we sat through weeks of
the First Family vs. Harlem Heat to give the Filthy Animals the
titles in an unannounced match that will probably be one of the
longest matches of the night? SWEET! It
may make have been several wasted weeks, but I'll take Konnan and
Mysterio as champions any day, as Harlem Heat has just outlived most
of their usefulness. They're still watchable and could be far worse,
but at least Konnan and Rey are some fresh blood.
Kimberly
sticks her chest out at David Flair and gives him her motel key
because Page is out of town
and she's lonely.
The
Filthy Animals celebrate the win but the First Family comes up and
demands their title shot on Sunday.
Hugh
Morrus vs. Meng
Time
for a guy getting a title shot on Sunday (in theory) to get squashed.
Morrus hammers away but
stupidly tries a headbutt. Meng
rakes the eyes and no sells a spinwheel kick of all things before
chopping Morrus around like he's nothing. A boxing match goes badly
for Morrus and here are the Outsiders through the crowd. Morrus
scores with a slam and hits a pair of top rope elbows but stops to
talk to Jimmy Hart, allowing Meng to no sell again and Death Grip
Morrus for the win. So long logic. It was nice knowing you. Well
at least it was years ago when WCW was actually logical but this is a
step down even for them.
Here
are Sid and the lawyers, complete with a piece of paper. It's the
contract for Halloween Havoc but Sid rips it to pieces after the
spear last week. Cue
Goldberg to clean house and spear an attorney, only to get kicked in
the head and powerbombed. The lawyer is up in about ten seconds as
Sid says he'll see Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Sid and company
leave so the Outsiders laugh at Goldberg, earning them punches to the
face. Just get them back in the ring already. The
Outsiders are ejected.
Bret
Hart promises to give Hogan a title shot if he wins tonight. Sting
comes in and jumps Bret but security breaks it up.
Hall
and Nash can't get back in the building.
Goldberg
is looking for Sid.
Berlyn
vs. Rick Steiner
So.....Rick
is a face here? Berlyn stomps away in the corner to start, already
with more offense than almost anyone else ever. A
big Steiner Line takes Berlyn down and Rick barks like a good dog.
Berlyn gets sent outside but
Brad Armstrong comes in for a distraction. The bodyguard swings a
chair and hits Rick (not clear who he was aiming for), giving Berlyn
the fluke pin.
Rick
beats up Armstrong post match and
takes him into the back.
The
Outsiders sneak in, high on cough syrup. Seriously.
Kimberly
is at the hotel and strips down to her lingerie, only to find Ric
instead of David. More hijinks later I'm sure.
Goldberg
runs into the Insane Clown Posse (dang it!) and beats them up for not
knowing where Sid is. Good Goldberg.
Luger
is worried about facing Goldberg.
Madusa
starts packing while Mona gets ready for their match.
David
Flair vs. Kidman
Torrie
is with Kidman and kisses him before the match. David charges right
at Kidman and is promptly beaten into the ground. A
HORRIBLE looking shoulder drops Kidman (imagine the way people would
bounce off Vader but with David running instead of someone running at
him) and a suplex gets two.
Kidman nails a dropkick and a middle rope legdrop. David fights up
but Torrie opens her rope to reveal some rather fetching lingerie of
her own, allowing Kidman to hit the BK Bomb and Shooting Star for the
pin.
The
Filthy Animals hit the ring and beat David up. They're good guys you
know.
The
Outsiders offer Gene cough syrup. If there's a point to this I'm not
seeing it.
Ric
is back (about fifteen minutes at most after we saw him) and looking
for the Filthy Animals.
Madusa
vs. Mona
Evening
gown match which Tony credits to the new creative team. This is a
New York evening gown match, whatever that means. Tony
tries to call this a Nitro moment, whatever that means. For some
reason I seem to be saying that far too often tonight. Mona
goes right for her to start and snaps off a suplex followed by a high
cross body.
Madusa
hooks a suplex of her own and hammers away in the corner. A kick to
the head takes out the referee because a freaking evening gown match
needs a ref bump. Madusa
blasts Mona in the back with a chair but
goes after the announcers for no apparent reason, only to have Mona
rip her dress off. We'll say that's a win, even though Mona walks to
the back before we have a
decision.
Madusa
yells about “everyone behind here” and tells them what they can
do. It's censored but I think you can put the idea together
yourself.
WCW
World Title: Sting vs. Bret Hart
Sting
is defending, six days before he defends against Hogan. For some
reason Bret comes from the side of the entrance instead of right down
the middle. During Sting's entrance, we see a sign saying “Owen we
miss you.” My goodness it makes me sad to think about that Bret
vs. Benoit match after this mess tonight. Bret hammers away to start
and pounds the champ down in the corner before they're quickly on the
floor. You expected a match to last long in the ring?
All
Bret as he takes Sting back inside and kicks him in the “lower
abdomen”. Sting avoids a charge in the corner and hits a Warrior
splash for two. Back to the floor for more brawling with Sting
choking with a cord. That's one of the first heel things he's done
since he turned over a month ago. Back in and another splash hits
Bret's knees before a DDT gets two on the champ. A swinging
neckbreaker and suplex get two each for Bret but Sting comes back
with the Stinger Splash for no cover.
Bret
gets crotched against the post a few times (as usual the referee is
fine with this) and we hit the chinlock. A knee to the ribs stops
his comeback and the big elbow actually hits. I'm not sure how to
respond to that as I'm in total shock. Has that EVER hit? The
chinlockery continues before Sting misses a dropkick. Heenan thinks
both guys could go for their leg locks but Bret opts for a piledriver
and two instead.
Now
the hold goes on but Sting gets over to the ropes. Back up and Sting
is limping, so Bret hammers on the lower back. What exactly does the
Sharpshooter hurt anyway? Sting gets in a shot to the face to get a
breather but the knee gives out on a suplex attempt. The champ
throws on a sleeper but Bret suplexes his way out.
It's
Sting up first but his top rope splash hits knees. Cue Elizabeth as
Bret starts in on the five moves of doom. Now we have Luger with the
bat but Bret nails him coming in. The distraction (plus Liz on the
apron) has Bret in trouble and Luger nails him in the knee with the
bat, setting up the Scorpion to retain the title.
Rating:
B. See,
this is called a wrestling match. You had two guys wrestling each
other (mostly) for about twelve minutes before the screwy shenanigans
began. Screwy shenanigan are fine, but let us have some wrestling to
get us there. Bret vs.
Sting could have been a major PPV headlining match, but instead let's
just throw it away here with an hour and a half build. Such is life
in 1999.
Ric
yells at David for some reason but David says Kidman beat him up.
Papa Flair doesn't buy it.
The
Outsiders have stolen the Villanos'
masks. Sure why not.
La
Parka vs. Buff Bagwell
This
is actually fallout from Thunder where these two teamed together for
no apparent reason. Literally, La Parka just ran out and helped
Bagwell and they teamed up in the main event that night. Buff walked
out on the match though and La Parka got beaten up instead. La
Parka now has chains on his outfit. You would think he would get a
push already, and somehow he's more likely to under the new regime.
Buff walks out instead of
dancing so I guess he's officially a heel. He
casually shoves La Parka away and they trade arm work.
They're
playing up the idea that Buff's heart isn't in this.
Buff hiptosses him down and
stands in the corner. La
Parka hammers away in the corner but misses a running dropkick.
Bagwell gets all fired up but stops to pose, telling La Parka to
kick him in the head. La Parka does what Buff asks and gets the pin.
Oh yay. We're SHOOTING again.
The
locker room celebrates Buff's loss for no apparent reason.
Buff
gets on the mic and asks if Russo did a good job for him and wants to
know who else is going to beat him. Ah
so that's what they were going with. I thought it might be something
a bit more interesting like Buff not needing to try because he was
the chosen one. Why do that when we can SHOOT though?
Anyway,
Jeff Jarrett runs out and
blasts Bagwell with the guitar in his big return after holding up
Vince McMahon for money (totally smart move at the time, but bad long
term) at last night's
No Mercy PPV. Jeff asks how
he could be on a pay per view last night and here now. He has the
stroke and it's right between his legs.
The
Outsiders can't get past security and Nash vomits.
Eddie
Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Perry Saturn
This
could be interesting and it's under elimination rules. No one
actually gets an entrance though and the interest is already dying
down. Shane Douglas is on commentary. The relatives shake hands but
Eddie goes after Saturn. Chavo grabs a quick rollup for two but
Saturn starts suplexing Guerreros. A Lionsault gets two on Eddie and
Chavo's cross body gets the same on Saturn.
Eddie
suplexes his nephew to the floor but turns around for a superkick.
As you would expect, the announcers ignore the match to talk about
the Revolution and how awesome Shane is. Chavo stays on the floor as
Saturn beats up Eddie, only to go after the younger Guerrero for a
change. Eddie hits a big dive to take them both out and they fight
on the floor to fulfill the Russo requirement.
They
head back inside and go up top for a Tower of Doom, but Chavo flips
backwards instead of falling flat, landing on his head instead of his
back for a SCARY botch. Cue the Animals to yell at Douglas but
Saturn dives onto Kidman, only to hit the chair in Kidman's hands.
Chavo throws Saturn back inside for a frog splash from Eddie for the
elimination, followed by a quick tornado DDT to give Chavo the win.
Rating:
C. This was entertaining enough
(terrifying botch aside) but it was more background noise while Shane
furthered the feud with the Filthy Animals. Is the Revolution even a
thing anymore though? They seem to have split several times now,
meaning I'm sure there will be an even bigger swerve on Sunday.
Also, make sure to have Chavo, who isn't even on the show Sunday, get
the win over the people in a story. Keep up that CRAZY booking
Vince.
Recap
of Sid vs. Goldberg tonight.
Horace
Hogan vs. Norman Smiley
Hardcore,
because that was big in the WWF at the time. Horace
jumps him in the aisle and makes Norman scream with the threat of a
trashcan shot. They get
inside where Norman stops a charge by kicking the can into Horace's
face. More screaming ensues. Horace
hammers away a bit more but gets sent into the steps. That
goes nowhere as he hot shots Norman onto the barricade and takes him
back inside for a superplex. Now
Norman is crying. It's
table time but Norman collapses, sending Horace charging through the
table instead, giving Norman
the pin.
Rating:
D. Well that happened, and
unfortunately this is going to be what Norman is best remembered for.
Yeah he's a talented wrestler and a solid trainer, but the thing
he's most well known for is screaming and crying. Unfortunately this
is going to get even worse for him in coming months, but to be fair
it's funny at times.
Here's
Ric Flair to yell about Eric Lindros and the Filthy Animals. He's
been in this sport for a long time now and knows David can be great
if the Animals will just leave him alone. Cue
the Animals to beat up Ric, as well as David on a save attempt. The
Animals rip Ric's clothes off and steal his jewelery because they're
heroes.
Elizabeth
is out back with a guitar next to her head. I bet she did it.
Total
Package vs. Goldberg
Goldberg's
trunks say Team Obake on the back, which is apparently an MMA thing.
It's a brawl in the aisle to start with Goldberg getting the better
of it, as you would expect. They head inside with Luger scoring with
some ax handles to the back but Goldberg no sells a suplex. A big
superkick drops Luger as this is starting to resemble a match.
Goldberg throws him over with a half butterfly suplex but misses the
spear in the corner. Luger keeps the offense going with a running
clothesline as I'm amazed that some of his matches with Flair were
only eleven years earlier.
An
elbow drop gets two but Goldberg nails a flying shoulder to take over
again. More heavy forearms have Luger in trouble but the referee
gets bumped because what would a wrestling match be without that?
Here are the high Outsiders again to keep up an unfunny angle
(security around here sucks) but Sting runs down with the bat to lay
out Goldberg. Cue a limping Bret to nail Sting with the bat but he
breaks it over the ring post. Bret and Sting get inside with Hart
putting on the Sharpshooter as I feel like I'm watching Raw.
Everything breaks down and it's the spear and Jackhammer to end
Luger.
Rating:
D-. Luger is the definition of
a wrestler who has his position because he used to be good at this.
At least Hogan was easy to
hate. Luger on the other hand is just a guy with big muscles who
hits people in the back and occasionally uses a torture rack. The
cough syrup thing continues to be a waste of time but that's the case
with a lot of Russo ideas. The
match was your usual bad brawling before we got to the angle for
another Russo signature.
Tony
promises that this is just the beginning to end the show.
Overall
Rating: D. Oh
sweet goodness we're in for a long ride. You
can see Raw here but minus people like Rock, Austin, HHH, Edge and
Christian and the Hardys and with shorter matches and less logic than
the Corporate Ministry. I didn't even mention the shots of people
walking in the back, which is a trend that continues to this day.
Why do I need to see someone walking through the back? Just say
what's coming next and save some time.
This
is still in the transition phase between booking plans, but instead
of letting the transition happen naturally, the old stuff was ripped
up and put in its new pot. That makes for a very awkward show and
you can see the fans dying from exhaustion about an hour into the
show. I'll give them this though: it was NOT boring. It didn't make
sense half the time and felt like a parody of a bad wrestling company
than a show trying to compete, but it was not boring.
On
top of that, the pay per view was barely mentioned outside of Hogan
vs. Sid. I have almost no idea what the card is for Sunday, but I
have a feeling that's universal in WCW. Finally,
WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE OUTSIDERS BEING HIGH ON COUGH SYRUP???
What a bizarre show, but
it's going to get much, much worse.
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
If this occurred in 2015 it would get 9.0 in the ratings and change the face of wrestling as we know it!
ReplyDeleteUgh, the beginning of Russo's tenure in WCW. Prepare for some of the worst television in history. Not just wrestling television, television in general.
ReplyDeleteAny positives I took from this show at a time were totally outweighed by that awful shoot stuff. Exposed the business so terribly. During this whole first Russo era, everyone was just portrayed as actors playing roles. I couldn't stand it. If he'd done just a fast paced crash TV Nitro it could have worked a bit better, but the shoot stuff killed it for me. Terrible.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere (possibly in "Death of WCW") that Juvi and EK had no idea Bret was going interrupt their match. If that's the case, what they were told the finish would be?
ReplyDeleteKimberly in lingerie is never bad
ReplyDeleteDrunk Hall: We looking for Senior Goldberg?
ReplyDeleteReally Drunk Nash, in a almost puking tone: Ole.