Nitro gets right into action for this the October 23rd edition in Huntsville, Alabama. Opening tonight "Macho Man" Randy Savage taking on Kurosawa. Savage knocks the cigar out of the mouth of Colonel Robert Parker and shoves him down. This gives Kurosawa the time to attack, landing strikes and kicks, including some chops to the back of Savage's head. Hard roundhouse kicks by Kurosawa until Savage throws him out of the ring. Kurosawa no-sells and continues with the offense to the back of the head. Back drop by Kurosawa, who covers for two.
Kurosawa takes his focus to the injured arm of Savage, laying in some elbows and stomps. Savage rakes the eyes, but eats a chop to the throat, sending him outside. Kurosawa follows up with a baseball slide. He drops the arm over his shoulder as we go to commercial. When we return, Kurosawa is still in control, continuing focus on the arm of Savage. He takes Savage to the corner and lays in some chops, until Savage fights out with some kicks. However Kurosawa is quick to keep him back down. He kicks Savage to the outside and goes for another slide, only for Savage to avoid. He goes to kick Savage by the post, but gets a foot full of steel. Back in the ring, Savage avoids an arm bar by sending Kurosawa throat first into the ropes. He follows with the elbow drop for the win in a good match, although Savage's sudden win by the end felt a bit deflating. But it makes sense considering Savage's possible gauntlet at Halloween Havoc. Dealing with both Kamala and possibly Lex Luger.
The lights in the arena go out as we see The Master yell out to his son Kevin Sullivan that the insurance package has arrived. From the Himalayas, they have extracted 13 tons of ice. Cut to the ice block with something glowing inside. Lots of rambling about white bengal tigers and eyes of demons. Essentially this thing's gonna be freed at Halloween Havoc. Oh, we'll get to that at the show.
Taskmaster and the Giant talk about the Yeti, the beast within the ice. He also talks about the evil dwelling in Hogan's heart. Giant says that Hogan is running out of lives and he'll take both Hogan's last life and the WCW title. The Giant is the one true immortal, not Hogan.
Mean Gene follows up by interviewing "The star of Thunder in Paradise" and the WCW champion, Hogan-Senpai. Hogan, still decked in the black and lacking the pomp and circumstance that he's known for. Hogan says that while he walks through the valley of the Dungeon of Doom, he fears no evil. He fears no man because he carries all his Hulksters on his back. Holy crap, this is the most "Hogan is Jesus" analogy I've ever heard. He says that people know what a man with black gloves and black bandanas can do (this is pretty soon post-OJ). He talks about dragging the Giant at Halloween Havoc on a motorcycle. On to his Fall Brawl partners, he says that they're all trying to pick his carcass. He says that he'll easily beat Sting, Luger and Savage. A rambly, pseudo heel promo. Basic Hulkster.
Well, if you thought Chris Benoit vs Eddy Guerrero was spoogeworthy, then look what we got this week. Chris Benoit teaming with Dean Malenko against Eddy Guerrero and Mr. J.L. We also see Alex Wright, who is on crutches with what appears to be an injured knee. Eddy and Benoit start with Eddy taking him down by the leg. Leg lock from Eddy followed by a top wristlock. Tag to Malenk as Benoit takes down Eddy with a hiptoss which sends him to the outside. Plancha by Malenko to Eddy, who then grabs Guerrero to keep him held for Benoit to do a... *ahem*... 'suicide' dive.
The action in the ring is again interrupted as we see both Shark and Scott Norton brawling backstage. Thankfully we don't take too much time away from focusing on the in-ring action as J.L and Benoit exchange counters, until Malenko gets in a cheap shot. Tag to Malenko who lands a dropkick to J.L and covers for two. He follows with an abdominal stretch as we go to commercial. When we return, Malenko clotheslines J.L and follows with a belly to belly suplex, covering for two.
Tag back in to Benoit who lands a back suplex. Cover, but Eddy makes the save, only for Benoit to shove him out of the ring. J.L counters a powerbomb with an arm drag, but Benoit blocks a dropkick attempt. Cover only gets a two. Tag to Malenko who uses the ropes to elevate a leg drop. Cover only gets a two count. Sunset flip by J.L, but he gets kicked in the face. Tag to Benoit who chops at J.L and follows by throwing him sternum first into the ropes. J.L tries to get momentum, but Malenko stops him, allowing for Benoit to land a superplex. Cover, but Eddy makes hte save again. Tag to Malenko, as J.L gets a backslide for two. Spinning elbow by J.L s both men crash to the mat.
Tag to Eddy, who lands dropkicks to both Malenko and Benoit. Enziguri to Malenko followed by a rope walk headscissors to both men. Tag back in to J.L as the faces try to whip the heels into each other, but Benoit whips J.L into the waiting clothesline of Malenko. Benoit and Eddy both flop over the ropes while in the ring, Alex Wright trips the leg of Malenko, allowing J.L to roll him up for the win. A good fast-paced tag match, but it does suffer from basic "face in peril" spots throughout. But even that isn't a fair complaint to what was a great match.
Post-match, Brian Pillman shows up and DDTs Eddy. He walks off, proud of his accomplishments.
Up next it's our main event. Harlem Heat taking on Sting and Lex Luger. Booker and Sting start as Booker lays in some strikes to begin. Shoulder block by Booker, but Sting comes back with a dropkick and a hiptoss that sends Booker over the ropes. Sting takes Booker back in and lands a back body drop. Tag to Luger who lands an ax handle as we go to commercial yet again. When we return, Luger and Stevie Ray are in the ring as Stevie puts in a nerve hold. Tag to Booker who lands a dropkick to the face of the Total Package. He peppers in some punches until Sting rakes at the eyes. Tag back in to Stevie Ray who chokes Luger in the corner.
Luger and Stevie brawl in the corner until Stevie rakes the eyes. Tag to Booker who chokes Luger in the corner. Kick ot the midsection of Luger followe by a cheap shot on Sting. Stevie chokes Luger in the corner while Sting's anger keeps the ref distracted. Ax kick by Booker while we see Sherri kiss a picture of her and Colonel Parker. Chinlock by Stevie Ray to Luger. He follows with a backbreaker as we put our focus again on the block of ice. Booker goes up top for the Houston Hangover, but Luger escapes.
Hot tag to Sting who lays elbows to both members of Harlem Heat. Stinger splashes on both men, followed by an elbow drop to Stevie. He tries to a Scorpion Deathlock, but Stevie gets in a kick to the ribs. Harlem Heat land a double suplex, but Sting lands a flying clothesline on Booker for the three count.
Taskmaster and Giant arrive again and chokeslam both Luger and Sting. Savage runs in and goes in for the attack, but most importantly it's Hogan coming into the ring. He confronts the Giant as the other Dungeon of Doom members arrive. His punches don't fase Giant, as the Giant lands a massive blow to the back of the neck. Hogan no-sells it, of course, as he gets in strong punches and a ram to the buckle. Savage and Hogan barawl with the Dungeon of Doom, cleaning house. He throws Giant in the buckle again. Security arrive to stop the brawl.
The floor is shaking as the ice block hatches and out comes... A mummy? Something tells me the people at WCW have no idea what a yeti is.
A solid edition of Nitro, but I can't quite say its quality was as good as previous weeks. While the in-ring for Benoit/Malenko vs J.L/Eddy was great, it did boil down to basic "face in peril" stuff, as did Harlem Heat vs Sting/Luger. The latter of which I expected to see either more focus on the falling out of both Sting and Luger, but we never really got that. Savage vs Kurosawa felt like the ending was extremely rushed, which was a shame. But where I think they went right was the booking of the build to Hogan vs Giant, even if bad neck Hogan no-selling Giant's offense and making him look like a geek didn't really help matters. Overall, for a show building to Halloween Havoc, it felt lacking in a lot of areas outside of the main event, but it's still worth a C+ rating.
WHO WON THE WAR WEEK #7: RAW
I can't quite call either show this week prize pig, but I do feel Raw's hour was better spent. A battle royal and a title change on free tv interested me more than a mummy in an ice block and Hogan being Hogan. So, Raw just ekes out a win this week.,