Hog Wild is only a few days away and WCW is one week removed from the devastating attack from The NWO. We get a recap as Schiavone focuses on some empty chairs, supposedly reserved for the NWO, but instead we got the response from the NWO loud and clear in the middle of Nitro. Several members of WCW, including Scott Norton, Big Bubba, Meng and others surround ringside as security to keep the New World Order at bay.
-WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Rock 'N Roll Express VS Harlem Heat-
Headlock and shoulder block spot early with Booker hitting a massive shoulder to Ricky Morton. Another headlock and shoulder follow. A lot of stalling until Ricky tags in Robert as they hit a double elbow and double clothesline sending Booker over the rop rope. Lots more stalling as we go to commercial. When we return, Stevie Ray, gets a knee lift with an injured leg. Tag back to Booker, giving us another headlock, but this time Booker lays in a Harlem side kick. Big ax kick and a cover only gets two.
Tag to Stevie who gets an elbow to the face on Ricky then follows with a press slam and an elbow. Nonchalant cover only gets a two. Tag to Booker who locks in a choke until the break is forced. Roll up by Morton until Booker breaks free and lands a clothesline. Meanwhile, Colonel Parker and Sherri are causing a distraction, but Harlem Heat keep on Morton with a chinlock from Stevie. Morton breaks free, only for Stevie to hit a slam. Tag to Booker who goes for an elbow, but misses, only to Spinarooni out of it.
Mean Gene interviews The Nasty Boys. They'll face Luger and Sting later. He brings up the history of them and Hogan, which they say that Hogan does what he wants and the Nasties do what they want. It's a free country. Sting and Luger interrupt asking where they stand. Saggs says they stand in Nastyville, while Knobbs says that's none of their business. At the end, they remain neutral on the heel Hogan situation.
It's now fifteen weeks since the Glacier vignettes started and we're no further ahead than we were last week. Boy, it sure takes a long ass time to enter the realm, huh? So, why are we still in the middle of the neverending debut? Simply becuase there's a far more important angle going on right now than bootleg Sub-Zero and that's the NWO which also conveniently started when the vignettes were getting off the ground. Man, imagine if Glacier was the fourth man. That would have been... something that's for sure.
-Malia Hosaka VS Madusa-
Hosaka whips Madusa into the corner, but Madusa flips out over the ropes and gets a roll up for two. Hosaka keeps at her with some kicks and a hair pull. She follows up with a guillotine on the bottom rope. Loud "USA" chants as Madusa comes back with a spin kick. Hosaka recovers, locking in a leg lock transitioning into a figure four. She changes over into an Indian Death Lock until Madusa escapes. Hosaka keeps at her with a hair pull (Zybysko keeps saying that Madusa should shave her hair. Demi Moore reference or just Larry being Larry?). A limo is seen outside while Hosaka gets a sunset flip for two. Madusa throws Hosaka to to the top buckle and hits a superplex. Dropkick to Sonny Oono while Hosaka covers her. Oono grabs Madusa's feet to aid in the three count in a surprising upset.
-Chris Benoit VS Alex Wright-
Pre-match we get a recap of the past few weeks as Dean Malenk has gotten involved in Benoit's actions. As the match starts, Benoit keeps at Wright in the corner with stiff strikes. Wright comes back with boots and punches, following up with a hiptoss and a body slam. Cover for one. Big dropkick sends Benoit in retreat on the outside. We cut back to the limo as we still have no answer on the supposed fourth man. Back in the ring we get a headlock and shoulder block spot from Benoit. Another headlock, but Wright breaks free. Exchange of hammerlocks until we get a second headlock and shoulder block spot. Benoit gets monkey flipped and caught with a pair of ranas and arm drags.
Benoit returns to control with a knee strike to the midsection and an elbow to the face. Cover attempts, but Wright keeps kicking out. Back suplex and a cover only gets a two yet again. He brings Wright back into the corner with stiff chops and a choke on the ropes, following with a hard hairpull slam to the mat and a throw gut-first into the ropes. Cover, but Wright grabs the rope. Wright recovers with a roll up for two. But Benoit is fast enough to land a snap suplex and covers for two again. Benoit locks in an abdominal stretch, only for Wright to escape with an arm drag. Benoit stays on him with Camel Clutch.
Jimmy Hart shows up and jaw jacks with Woman and Elizabeth, saying that Benoit and Elizabeth are useless. He tells Woman that she's making Kevin Sullivan miserable. Back in the ring, Wright hits a leg drop off the top. Dean Malenko shows up and grabs Woman, prompting Benoit to dive over the ropes and start fighting with him. He rams Malenko into the post, then brawls with him up the entrance way. Malenko stomps at Benoit and tries to throw him into a palm tree, only for Benoit to reverse. They continue to brawl as we go to break.
-Lord Steven Regal VS "Macho Man" Randy Savage-
Both men lock up until Savage gets Regal in the corner, forcing a break. Regal works the arm and hits a hiptoss, only for Savage to pop back up and do some arm work himself. Regal trips him and mocks Macho. Regal continues arm work as Schiavone mentions that things are crazy backstage currently. Savage rakes the face of Regal on the ropes then chokes and rakes the face, like a babyface would. Regal las in some uppercuts and continues the submission work as we go to hour two. We learn from Schiavone that there are no signs of Heenan and Bischoff as pyro goes off.
As hour two starts, Regal lays in fists as Savage fights back. Sting and Luger head to ringside and take a seat at ringside with the fans. Back in the ring, Regal gets back dropped by Savage and punched in the face. Savage throws Regal into Sting and Luger's seats (The pair take their seats again). Slam and an elbow drop follow. Cover and the three in a standard Savage match.
Immediately after the match, Sting and Luger get to the limo and check inside. But what they find is a wreath saying "condolences on the death of WCW". Mean Gene interviews Randy Savage, mentioning that Savage will get the first WCW title shot against either Hogan of Giant next week on Nitro. Savage says that if Giant saves a little bit, he'll finish the job on Hogan. Sting and Luger show Savage and Okerlund the wreath. Sting says that the Outsiders aren't bad guys. They're nice yellow flowers. But he hopes they can get their money back because WCW is alive and well. He sees a long and healthy life in WCW (awkward collar tug).
Savage drops the wreath and Sting sets it up for a good three point punt. The limo leaves as we go to break.
-"Nature Boy" Ric Flair VS The Booty Man-
Pre-match, we get a recap from the past weekend of Ric Flair putting the pressure on Chavo Guerrero with a figure four until Eddie made the save. Eddie says that he and Chavo came to WCW to make their mark. Ric wants to make a statement with his blood? He doesn't think so. He has the opportunity in Sturgis to take the gold from him. We also recap an injured Rey Mysterio Jr. still trying to mention something about a fourth man.
Yes, The Booty Man is still a thing. As Flair makes it to the ring, we see Arn Anderson, injured arm and all, join the WCW talent to keep watch in case of any NWO attacks. Sneak attack by Flair early on as he sends Booty on the outside with a chop. He brings him back in and peppers the head. We also see Mongo and Benoit watching from the palm tree at the entrance way. Exchange of chops and punches while we finally see Bobby Heenan at commentary. He says that he walked out last week when there was chaos. This week, there's no sign of Eric Bischoff again and Heenan is confused. Back in the ring, Flair gets a figure four using the ropes.
Mongo and Benoit beat down on Booty Man as we're reminded of his ties with Hogan in the past. They continue to work on his leg, with Arn bashing it in with a chair. Mean Gene returns to the ring while Flair reapplies the figure four.
Arn says that intense pain is a wonderful thing. Your life flashes before your eyes. Things most important to you become crystal clear. When they stuffed him in the ambulance and saw the many faces of WCW, he realized they were all brought together by necessity. He remembered the good book says the when the New World Order is placed it means the end of time. If Hogan and the Outsiders want to destroy it, finish the job. Because there's one rul to gang fighting. Send one of yours to the hospital, you send one of them to the morgue. Benoit says that people thought they saw the cripple broken down, but they really saw hatred, anger and vengeance unleashed. Mongo says that the Outsiders better get it together because he's been known to swing some metal as well. Flair screams that Hogan should watch as he continues to beat on Booty. Hogan wants their attention, they got it. Hogan thinks he's a bad man, he's so wrong. He crossed the line when he took out Arn and now he's gonna pay the price.
We get a recap of the assault last week, which leads us to another paid announcement by the New World Order. They mock Luger and Sting and then gloat at their batting practice last week. They promise Hogan's victory on August 10th with his birthday the next night. Fee Fi Fo Fum, Giant, how can you be so dumb? Hall says it's nothing personal. Should you make it personal, no problemo. Nash says it's no longer about taking over, it's about extermination.
Suddenly, the video cuts as we learn that Sting and Luger managed to get it taken off the air. They chastise the production crew and the two leave with Sting proclaiming free pot pie and Mountain Dew outside.
-WCW World Heavyweight Title: SGT. Craig "Pitbull" Pittman VS The Giant-
Pittman tries to evade Giant early on. He locks in a waistlock, but Giant easily breaks free and thumps him. He follows with some boots and standing atop Pittman. He throws Pittman in the corner and chokes him with his boot. Pittman goes for a headbutt, but it met with a slap to the chest and a throw in the corner. Another big thump in the corner from Giant. Pittman hits some running headbutts, but gets caught with a Chokeslam. Cover and the three.
Post-match, he goes for another chokeslam, but Teddy Long pleads with him to reconsider. Giant does so, and chooses to chokeslam Teddy as well. Mean Gene returns to the ring again to interview with Giant and Jimmy Hart. Hart says that Hogan has always had people telling him what he wanted to hear, but he always told him the truth. Mid-promo, we see the limo returning. Jimmy finishes, saying Giant will be ready for Hogan at Hog Wild. Giant says that what he did was a message to the world. He has never tried to be a nice guy or a role model. His job is to be WCW Champ. He doesn't feel sorry for anyone that gets in his way. Hogan's had his couple of weeks to talk trash about how they're taking over WCW. But now their 15 minutes are up.
-Sting & Lex Luger VS The Nasty Boys-
We get a recap from WCW Saturday Night with the briefcase that Savage reclaimed being stolen yet again by Mongo and Debra as Sting and Savage faced The Nasty Boys. That gave us some heat leading into this main event as Sting and Luger face Knobbs and Saggs. The Steiner Brothers show up at ringside as security for this match. Saggs works on Luger until Luget house of fires on him. His momentum killed with a boot to the face. Tag to Knobbs as they hit a double shoulder block. Saggs keeps on him with elbows, covering for two. Luger avoids contact in the corner and manages to take out both Nasties and tag Sting. Bulldog to Knobbs. Cover, but Saggs breaks it. Saggs trips Sting, allowing Knobbs to hit an elbow. They then beat on Sting in the corner while Luger argues with the ref.
Saggs lays in a big clothesline in the corner. Tag to Knobbs who gets a splash in the corner. Cover only gets a two. Tag back to Saggs as they keep on Sting. Tag back to Knobbs who hits an elbow. Cover, but Sting kicks out at one. He folows with a reverse chinlock. Knobbs follows with a slam. Tag to Saggs who drops an elbow. Tag back to Knobbs who continues to pummel. He goes to the second buckle for a splash, but gets caught with boots to the jaw. Tag to Luger and tag to Saggs. Luger gets a dropkick on Saggs, then lays out both men with clotheslines. Powerslam followed by a torture rack, but Knobbs breaks it. Both men brawl, but Saggs accidentally hits Rick Steiner who responds in turn. Scorpion Death lock gets the win for the faces.
Mean Gene interviews Sting and Luger yet again as they pose with some kids in the ring. They mention the limo, thinking that there's no chance the Outsiders will actually be inside this time. They decide, what the hell, let's go check it out, regardless if it's just another gag gift. Sting opens the door, but gets handed a leather bag of some sort with the Turner logo on it. Oh my god...
The fourth man is Billionaire Ted!
Inside the bag is a note from the NWO saying that Rey is right. There are four men... or five? Regardless of how many, the numbers game seems to already be growing in the NWO's favor as we end this edition of Nitro and prepare for Hog Wild.
Nitro was fine this week. Definitely not as hot as last week's big angle with the NWO's backstage assault on the WCW roster. But what we got to progress the main angle still worked. Especially as everyone in WCW seems to be focusing on laying out anyone who considered Hogan a friend. Hence the Nasty Boys and especially Booty Beefcake. Overall, the in-ring was pretty standard stuff. Nothing really exciting, but considering we're more focused on getting to Hog Wild, it's definitely understandable. Overall, as good a go-home show as you could ask for. I give Nitro a B+
WHO WON THE WAR WEEK #44: RAW
Nitro was a solid go-home show with a lot of heavy focus going into Hog Wild, but I liked the more chaotic nature of Raw this week, especially in the battle royal as we got of time to build on the feuds going into Summerslam. Especially the chaos involving Undertaker and Mankind. A strong week for both shows, but Raw got my attention more, earning it win #19.
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
July 15th, 1996
July 22nd, 1996
August 5th, 1996
April 1st, 1996
April 15th, 1996
May 27th, 1996
June 23rd, 1996
July 15th, 1996
July 22nd, 1996
August 5th, 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
June 3rd, 1996
June 10th, 1996
June 17th, 1996
July 1st, 1996
July 8th, 1996
July 29th, 1996
July 29th, 1996
No comments:
Post a Comment