It's time to cover another two hours of Monday Nitro, emanating from the heart of Flair Country, Charlotte, North Carolina. We get another recap of the assault on Bischoff at the Great American Bash thanks to Hall and Nash.
Mean Gene is with Savage, Sting and Luger. Savage says they're united by the face paint of the Stinger. Divide and conquer as he goes to face V.K WallStreet later tonight. Sting takes shots at Hall and Nash by saying that a grown man doesn't make a statement on a commentator, pick on a wrestler! There's still only two of these invaders. Luger says WCCWCW stands tall (he stumbled on that one bad) because they're the very best. WCW will stand tall against the invaders.
They then get confronted by the Steiners who say they'll be there to watch their back against Hall and Nash, but tonight the title's on the line so they better worry about them. Harlem Heat then show up, saying they have a score to settle with the Steiners over the silver dollar incident. Not to mention leng stemming issues with Sting and Luger This is to build tonight's main event, a triangle match for the tag team titles.
-The Blue Bloods VS Public Enemy-
We learn that Kevin Greene is in the building tonight and is "Mongo Hunting" as Schiavone puts it. It's Lord Steven Regal and Squire Dave Taylor of the Blue Bloods facing off against Public Enemy in our opening contest. Regal and Rocco Rock start by mocking each other's mannerisms. Public Enemy working the faces as they get the crowd to clap along. An exchange of arm work with Regal getting the better. He pulls off some funky moves, only to eat a dropkick. Regal tags in Taylor who nails a nice uppercut. Rocco Rock somersaults over Taylor, but Taylor throws him in the corner and hits some stomps. Clothesline and dropkick by Rocco Rock sends him over the ropes.
Regal comes back in as both men exchange full nelson holds, only for Rocco Rock to power our and try a springboard moonsault, only to crash and burn. Regal stoms on Rocco as Dave Taylor gets the tag. He wears down on Rocco for a bit before tagging back in Regal. We learn of Hall and Nash's arrival to the building as both Regal and Rocco Rock collide into each other. Tag to Johnny Grunge and Dave Taylor. Grunge slams Taylor and tries to nail Regal. All four men enter the ring. However, Earle Robert Eaton trips Johnny Grunge face first into his own cast. Taylor foolishly taunts Grunge, only to be nailed by the cast. Cover and the three get the win in a fun opener. Not a technical work, but some great fun with Regal particularly.
-"Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan VS Kip Abee-
Sullivan rushes to the ring and throws Abee out of the ring. he throws Abee into the crowd and drags him up the stairs, making it to the concession stand. He tries to throw him into the ladies restroom, shades of the brawl with Benoit, but security blocks him. Instead he throws Abee into the Subway stand and leaves. He returns to the ring where Mean Gene is already in there with Jimmy Hart. He says that they came to the home of the four horsemen tonight. They walked in, and they'll walk out alive. When it comes to the tag match against Arn and Benoit, Sullivan says talks that it won't be very pretty.
Oh right. Glacier's coming, you guys. Nine weeks in and we're still a loooooong way away.
-WCW Cruiserweight Title: Dean Malenko VS "Hardwork" Bobby Walker-
The WCW Cruiserweight title is on the line next as the man of 1000 holds takes on Bobby Walker. Some back and forth early on with Walker succeeding with an arm drag. Malenko hits an elbow that knocks Walker loopy, then hits a stomp. Cover only gets a two. Malenko keeps on Walker with a chinlock, transitioning it into a snap suplex, then into a leg scissors on the shoulder, then right into a camel clutch. It's true, he is the man of a thousand holds.
Some guy tries to get a boring chant, but Malenko follows with a powerbomb and a Texas Cloverleaf. Disco Inferno shows up with his gold record for supposedly selling a million copies of "Disco Fever". This allows Walker to hit a back drop and a dropkick. Cover only gets a two. Disco then plays his music while Walker tries to cover. Disco gets in the ring as Malenko regains control. Malenko monkey flips Walker, then dropkicks him into Disco, sending Disco flopping over the ropes. Northern Lights Suplex gets the three for Malenko. Started as a good exhibition for Malenko that got bizarre fast.
Mean Gene interviews Malenko post match, but Disco tries to sneak up from behind. Disco says that this show is about ratings and everyone just wants to see him dance. He says that Malenko and Walker were stinking up the joint. Malenko may be the man of a thousand holds, but he's the man who sold a million CDs. Malenko promises that one hold will be enough to Disco Inferno out at Bash at the Beach.
-Eddie Guerrero VS Barbarian-
Eddie avoids contact from Barbarian early on, but gets caught in the corner, taking a few body blows from Barbarian. Barbarian tries a press slam, but Eddie turns it into an attempted sunset flip. After Barbarian ends up punching the mat, Eddie hits a great high dropkick. He tries a springboard cross body, but gets caught and slammed. Barbarian goes for a stiff powerbomb and connects with ease. Nonchalant cover only gets a two.
Barbarian tries for a pumphandle slam and again hits hard. Another weak cover for two. Crowd starts to get behind Eddie, which pays off as he avoids a corner attack, then heads up the shoulders. He takes down Barbarian with a bad looking rolling maneuver. Back Suplex by Eddie who slowly goes up. Barbarian crotches him, then goes for a massive belly to belly overhead suplex off the ropes. Eddie rolls out of the ring. Barbarian grabs him and nails him with punches on the apron. He rams Eddie into the post, then sets him up for a superplex, but Eddie turns it into a cross body for three in a stiff match. Good underdog work from Eddie as usual.
Mean Gene is with Eddie Guerrero as he brings up Eddie injuring himself in the groin during his match with Konnan back at Uncensored. He asks for another shot against Konnan for the United States title. When asked about the invaders, he says that they show a lack of respect for WCW and he wishes he was in that name of three.
-Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson VS The Rock And Roll Express-
We enter the second hour of Nitro as the Rock and Roll Express take on one half of the Four Horsemen (With Mongo and Debra at ringside). Benoit's face is still a mess from the bathroom door attack a couple weeks ago. A lot of stalling going on until Benoit lays in a chop, only to be countered by Ricky Morton. So little is happening that we take an extended shot of Ric Flair's VIP table. Benoit tries a powerbomb, but gets countered into an arm drag by Morton. Moonsault out of the corner and a cover by Morton for two.
Tag to Robert Gibson who works the arm. Benoit gains control and tags in Arn. He goes up top, but Gibson stops him. Arn tries a sleeper, but gets pushed into the corner. Tag to Morton. Arn lures him into an attack from Benoit in the corner. Arn brings Morton back in and catapults him throat-first into the ropes. Tag to Benoit who lays in stomps. In comes Arn, but Morton lays in shots. Tag to Gibson who hits a body slam. He knocks Benoit off the ropes and continues assault on both men. While the ref is distracted, Mongo lays out Gibson with the briefcase. Cover and the three for the Horsemen in an okay at best match.
Joe Gomez tries to make the save, but the Horsemen continue their assault on him. Eventually Kevin Greene and Randy Savage make the save, sending the Horsemen in retreat. Mean Gene is backstage with Flair and all the ladies. Flair doesn't explain why Mongo has this briefcase. The other Horsemen arrive as Mongo shows off his Superbowl ring. Some rambling about Konnan from Flair as we go to break.
-Lord of the Ring: Diamond Dallas Page VS Alex Wright-
Wright tries some roll-ups early, then dropkicks Page out of the ring. Page spits his gum at Wright, but Wright swats it away. Page blocks a suplex and slams Wright face-first into the mat, then hits a gutbuster. We get a banana peel kick fail from Page as Wright comes back with an inverse atomic drop and a jumping side kick. Wright lays in some punches and tries to play to the apathetic crowd. Ax handle and a cover only gets a two. Nice springboard dropkick sends Page tumbling out. He follows with a tope over the ropes, nailing Page. He brings Page back in and goes for a dive over the ropes, only to eat some knees. Page catches Wright into a diamond cutter. Cover and the three in a decent match.
Mean Gene back in the ring to talk about Page's upcoming match against Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Page says that if he puts the diamond cutter on anyone, they have the life expectancy of a house fly. Everyone is trying to hold DDP down. He's quite upset about being put into a taped fist match. He tells Duggan to tape his whole body, it won't matter. He's the lord of the ring.
After another promo for Glacier, we have even more Mean Gene as he interviews Kevin Greene. He recaps the incident involving Mongo nailing him with the briefcase back at the Great American Bash. He says that he has a gameplan. He promises to kick some ass for the Carolina Panthers. He says that he'll remember Mongo's back stabbing face and promises to go on a Mongo Hunt after the season. He promises that Savage and two more WCW superpowers will face off with the Horsemen.
-VK Wallstreet VS "Macho Man" Randy Savage-
Savage wastes little time and starts ramming Irwin into the buckle. He throws Irwin out as the crowd is loud with the Flair chants. Greene chases Irwin back in, but distracts the ref allowing for Irwin to throw Savage over the ropes and into the guardrail. Irwin brings him back in and continues offense with an elbow drop. Cover only gets a two. Savage starts grinding the face and follows with a suplex. Cover, but only two. Savage misses an elbow, allowing Irwin to cone back with more strikes. Irwin follows with a suplex of his own. He then goes to the top rope, but Savage gets a boot to the face. Clotheslines follow. Savage goes up for an elbow, but Irwin exits the ring. Greene slams Irwin into the post and throws him back in. Elbow drop off the top by Savage gets the win in a basic Macho Man match.
-WCW World Tag Team Titles: Sting and Lex Luger VS Harlem Heat VS The Steiner Brothers-
Triangle rules for this match means that only two teams can be in at one time. This means that Sting and Luger's titles are in jeopardy as they may not be the legal men at any time. Steiners and Harlem Heat start. Particularly Scott and Booker. Booker tries a throw out of the corner, but Scott reverses. Stevie Ray gets a cheap shot to the back of Scott allowing Booker to hit a kick to the face. Scott breaks free of a headlock, ducks another kick and turns it around into an underhook suplex. Cover, but Luger breaks the count. Tags to Stevie and Rick. Stevie stomps down on Rick, then tries a corner attack, only to get caught with a waistlock suplex. Cover, but Booker breaks it.
Scott comes in and actually allows for Sting to make the tag. Harlem Heat beat down on Stin in the corner. Tag to Booker T who lays in some knees to the gut. He goes for a big jumping kick, but crotches himself on the ropes instead. Inverse atomic drop and a cover only gets two for Sting. He slams Booker and goes for a slingshot, but Booker blocks with his knees. Tag to Stevie Ray who beats down on Sting on the mat. We go to break with Sting working Booker with a headlock, only to eat a jawbreaker. Tag to Stevie who hits a body slam. Cover only gets two.
Harlem Heat continue their control on Sting as Booker gets a kick to the head in. Head-on collision leads to Sting falling into Stevie's crotch. Booker tries a dive off the ropes, but Sting avoids and tags in Luger. He wears down Harlem Heat. However, Hall and Nash begin to head down through the crowd with baseball bats. Security slide into the ring while amidst the confusion, the tag titles changed hands as Harlem Heat run off with the gold. We get a shot of security reaching for their guns as the standoff continues. Eventually Hall and Nash begin to back away.
Overall, this Nitro was okay at best. Nothing in-ring was all that amazing this week, with everything kind of feeling bland and bog standard. Made no better obviously with a somewhat apathetic crowd that were only interested in seeing Ric Flair, and were rewarded with no Ric Flair to be seen live. What makes this Nitro better than it should is the general feel of fear and panic as Hall and Nash's invasion is made to feel like a serious threat. And the end segment, right down to security being ready to shoot both invaders makes the build to Bash at the Beach and the third man all the more intriguing. In the end, Nitro this week gets a B+, boosted mainly for a strong final segment.
WHO WON THE WAR WEEK #38: RAW
While Nitro was better in terms of a big end angle, I think the in-ring for Raw was much stronger this week. Nothing on Nitro felt all that energetic, mostly feeling rushed and bland. Hell, even the main event tag title match didn't feel like it had the energy I was expecting considering the six men involved. Meanwhile, Raw had a pretty good Hunter/Ahmed match and gave us our first major encounter between Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin. For their post-King of the Ring edition, Raw proved the stronger wrestling show, earning them their sixteenth win.
RAW:
September 25th, 1995
October 2nd, 1995
October 23rd, 1995
November 13th, 1995
November 20th, 1995
December 4th, 1995
December 11th, 1995
January 1st, 1996
January 22nd, 1996
February 19th, 1996
February 26th, 1996
March 11th, 1996
April 1st, 1996
April 15th, 1996
May 27th, 1996
June 23rd, 1996
April 1st, 1996
April 15th, 1996
May 27th, 1996
June 23rd, 1996
NITRO:
September 11th, 1995
September 18th-21st, 1995
October 9th, 1995
October 16th, 1995
October 30th, 1995
November 6th, 1995
November 27th, 1995
December 18th, 1995
January 8th, 1996
January 15th, 1996
January 29th, 1996
February 5th, 1996
March 18th, 1996
March 25th, 1996
April 22nd, 1996
April 29th, 1996
May 6th, 1996
May 13th, 1996
May 20th, 1996
April 22nd, 1996
April 29th, 1996
May 6th, 1996
May 13th, 1996
May 20th, 1996
June 3rd, 1996
June 10th, 1996
June 17th, 1996
June 17th, 1996
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