We open Nitro recapping the situation from last week as Randy Savage confronted Miss Elizabeth who was leaving the NWO's hotel room. This all looks to play into tonight's main event as Randy Savage takes on the man Elizabeth is still the valet of, Ric Flair.
-HARLEM HEAT VS. PUBLIC ENEMY-
Two nights prior on WCW Saturday Night, with the aid of Colonel Parker, Harlem Heat regained the WCW World Tag Team Titles from Public Enemy. So, naturally, instead of Public Enemy getting their rematch, this is a non-title grudge match because Hall and Nash have the next title shot. Johnny Grunge and Booker start. Basic work to begin with until Grunge gets the advantage. Tag to Rocco Rock as Public Enemy land a drop toe hold and elbow drop. Tag to Stevie Ray who clubs the back of Rocco Rock. Sherri berates Rocco Rock until he exits the ring to attack her before Harlem Heat make the save.
We see Elizabeth backstage knocking on Randy's locker room door. She enters, but there's no sign of him. Back to the ring, Harlem Heat are still in control. Tag to Booker who hits a Harlem side kick. Slow cover, but only a one. Stevie brings Rocco Rock outside for Sherri to land a slap. Booker covers, but Rocco Rock kicks out. Rocco Rock tries to tag Johnny Grunge, but Nick Patrick gets involved, allowing a Harlem Heat double team.
The NWO are spotted in the crowd, as Hall grabs the mic. He tells the Harlem Heat that if they want the Outsiders, they're gonna get it. Nash references Slim Jim by saying they're gonna snap into the tag belts, while Hall makes Friday the 13th sounds because Halloween Havoc is spooky. Nash understands why Harlem Heat wear tape over their nose because they can smell the fear. Dibiase says he can smell the money because it's gonna get real, real hot. Hall keeps saying "we're gonna getcha", but Harlem Heat continue to work in the ring.
Booker goes for an elbow, but Rocco Rock avoids. Grunge gets a cheap shot, which causes Booker to smack into Rocco Rock, which just looks silly. Quietest hot tag ever to Grunge as he works on Harlem Heat. Double bulldog on Stevie by Rocco. Sherri distracts Nick Patrick while Coloel Parker knocks Rocco Rock off the top rope and through the table. Stevie hits Grunge with a chair to the knee then Booker drops onto the bad leg. Cover and the three for Harlem Heat in a rather dull tag team match. Honestly, the NWO interference was a saving grace to a very cold grudge match.
A limousine is outside, and out emerges... Jeff Jarrett! So, now you understand why WWF has drudged up this whole "Real Double J" storyline. He mutters that he has something to say.
Another recap from WCW Saturday Night as Schiavone interviews Nick Patrick who promises law and order in WCW. He promises to fine the largest fine ever on to Randy Savage. A one million dollar fine for injuring his neck. He suggests WCW will back him up because an announcer has been stirring up bad information about him.
-DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE VS. JIM POWERS-
Speaking of Nick Patrick, he's here to officiate the next match. Arm drag by Powers gets a scream from a woman in the crowd, which leads to Page to respond with "Shut up, bimbo!" Headlock and shoulder block spot from Powers as we go to a video from earlier as Page berates "burrito boy" Eddie Guerrero. He promises a beating at Halloween Havoc. Roll up attempts by Powers leads to nothing substantial. Some shoves and slaps from both men. Powers lands a cross body for two. Page dodges another attack and hits a diamond cutter for three in a fast, but decent match. Page shoves Teddy Long and threatens to punch him before making his leave.
Mike Tenay interviews Randy Savage, who is accompanied by Jason Keller, the driver of the Slim Jim race car. He asks Jason how the NWO car handled at the race last week, but it literally hit the wall. Prophetic of the NWO angle a year from now. He drags this on to mention that the Slim Jim car finished in tenth. Savage promises that the NWO will crash and burn like their car. Elizabeth catches up to Savage, but he doesn't want to talk to her and leaves.
-HIGH VOLTAGE VS. THE FACES OF FEAR-
Sneak attack by Meng and Barbarian. Schiavone mentions that Jarrett will wrestle later tonight on the second hour. Kenny Kaos tries for a clothesline, but gets nothing. Tag to Rage as the pair hit dropkicks. On the entrance ramp are Mongo, Debra, and Chris Benoit who are watching on. Double springboard attempt by High Voltage, though only Kaos gets anything. Tag to Barbarian who lands a clothesline. Pumphandle slam on Rage. Cover, but Barbarian picks him up and hits a powerslam in the corner. Sitout powerbomb by Meng. Tag back to Barbarian who hits another stiff powerbomb. Cover, but Kaos saves. Catapult and boot by the faces of fear. Cover and the win in a stiff squash.
-MIKE WENNER VS. GLACIER-
Mike Wenner looks like a frumpy Scott Steiner. I will say that Glacier's entrance is still neat, definitely feels as expensive as it was. However, the crowd is already jeering Glacier a bit. Sweeps and kicks keep Wenner grounded. Wenner takes Glacier in the corner and berates him, landing some knees. Glacier rolls out, slides behind the back and hits a jump kick to the face. Tilt-a-whirl slam as "boring" chants hit. Another dropkick sends Wenner to the outside. Glacier then lands a plancha over the ropes. Spin kick and a cover gets the three. This match felt really off, but Glacier looked fine. Too bad this gimmick is already dead in the water.
-HUGH MORRUS VS JEFF JARRETT-
We're in hour two of Nitro as Bischoff, Tenay and Heenan take the table. Jeff Jarrett makes his debut on Monday Nitro. Bischoff says that he offered Jarrett an opportunity in WCW, but Jarrett apparently now wants to impress the NWO. Morrus takes Jarrett to the corner, but Jarrett dodges, strutting for a second time in this match already. Headlock is eventually turned into an arm drag and yet another strut. Drop toe hold and a walk on the back and, yep, another strut, only for this one to lead to a clothesline and some mockery from Morrus.
Big charge into the corner and some more strutting by Morrus. Jarrett tries an enziguri but lands on his face. Atomic drop and clothesline begin Jarrett's regain of control. Drops some weight on the rope then struts again. Swinging neckbreaker and a cover, but only two. Dropkick and another slow cover, but Morrus gets his foot on the rope. Powerslam by Morrus who then tries for an elbow, but Jarrett dodges. Figure four gets the win for Jarrett in a decent match. Definitely the best thing so far on this show and a decent way to debut Jarrett, even if this whole NWO stuff feels oddly tacked on.
Schiavone interviews Jeff Jarrett post-match. Schiavone asks if Jarrett is with the NWO. He turns his attention to Hogan who said he was bigger than wrestling itself and made the wrestling business or how Verne Gagne or Jeff's father Jerry wouldn't exist. Jarrett says that Hogan started in Tennessee. Maybe Sting said it best, Hogan and the NWO can stick it. Gotta say, Jarrett makes a bad babyface.
-THE RENEGADE VS. ARN ANDERSON-
Bischoff pleads once more for Sting to return to WCW as the match gets underway. Arn mocks Renegade with some jumping jacks. Headlock and shoulder block spot by Arn. Arn tries for a piledriver, but gets back dropped and body slammed. Arn takes a time out with Woman before Renegade gives chase. T'was all a ruse as Arn chokes him with a boot when Renegade returns to the ring. Arn keeps on to Renegade with some ground moves, but Renegade manages a sunset flip which means...
Aloha Arn! Aloha Arn!
Arn breaks the roll up attempt and covers for two. Long chinlock by Arn is broken by renegade who lands a shoulder block. Arn gets in a shot to the ribs and lands an elbow to the neck. Cover only gets a two. After some more rest holds, Arn goes for a Vader Bomb, only for Renegade to get feet up. Big back body drop by Renegade who follows with clotheslines and corner punches. Nice handspring elbow from Renegade. He goes for a second, but Arn gets a shot in and a DDT for the three. Decent match. Slow in spots, but fine.
Post-match, Arn and Woman attack Renegade until Lex Luger makes the save.
-SQUIRE DAVE TAYLOR VS. LEX LUGER-
Dave Taylor beats the crap out of Jeeves as he heads to the ring, calling him a "stupid little person". Luger and Taylor battle in the corner as we cut to a Luger promo saying he wants Regal's TV title and is going full throttle on Arn Anderson. Back in the ring , headlock and backslide spot only gets two. Lex lands a pair of clotheslines. Taylor gets a boot in the corner and goes for a second rope elbow, but Luger avoids. Torture Rack ges a quick win in a decent squash.
Post-match, Arn attacks Luger with a chair. Referees put a stop to Arn and send him to the back.
-RICK STEINER VS. CHRIS BENOIT-
Scott Steiner is in Rick's corner despite having an injured neck. Benoit is flanked by Mongo and Debra. Benoit goes in with still strikes. Rick catches him with a really scary slam. Benoit tries for another attack, but Rick takes him back down. Belly to belly suplex by Rick who covers for two. After some ground work, Rick follows up with a German suplex on Benoit. Slow cover, but Benoit gets the ropes. After the break, Benoit is in control. Rick tries to fight out of the corner, but Benoit keeps on him. Elbow and a cover for two. Scott grabs at the neck of Nick Patrick, which is oddly not a DQ, even for the fact that Nick Patrick is a heel. Benoit avoids a clothesline in the corner and keeps a stomp.
We see a limo backstage with NWO on the license plate. This time, it's Hollywood Hogan and The Giant. Back in the ring, Benoit lands a slam and an elbow for two. Another hard slam followed by a back suplex. Cover, but still two. Rick recovers with a flying forearm. However, Benoit returns to the chinlock he's had on for the majority of the second half. Benoit slams Rick so hard that Rick's headgear falls off. Diving headbutt and a cover for two. Benoit returns to the top rope, but gets caught with a belly to belly.
DDT from Rick who covers for two. Body slam by Rick who heads to the second rope and hits a bulldog. Cover, but Benoit kicks out. Nick Patrick argues with Scott some more while both men crash to the floor. Debra distracts the ref while Mongo tries to use the briefcase. Instead, Rick grabs the briefcase and nails both Mongo and Benoit. Cover and the three in a fun match. Slow in spots, but hard hitting.
-"MACHO MAN" RANDY SAVAGE VS. RIC FLAIR-
Before the match, Hogan is backstage with Dibiase and the Nasty Boys. He tells them to watch his back as he promises to go to meet Savage face to face.
Giant, while carrying Savage, trips on the stairs, causing them to tip over and for Giant to dump Randy hard on the floor. He throws Savage over the ropes, but that also causes Savage to drop badly. Giant goes for a chokeslam, but Hogan stops him so that he can land a few fists to the face. Some strikes in the corner and a leg drop to the back of Savage's neck while Giant keeps his hands around Elizabeth's face. Someone throws a box of Slim Jims in the ring that his Savage in the side while Hogan hits another leg drop. Hogan spray paints an outline of Savage who is laid out. He hits a few more leg drops and signs "HH" over his back.
Hall, Nash and hte rest enter the ring as Hogan grabs the mic. By the power vested in Hogan and the brotherhood of the NWO, he deems this consummation of Elizabeth null and void because Hogan owns Elizabeth. Honestly, This ending feels disturbing for the wrong reasons when it comes to a final end segment. So, I guess it works?
And then we end with the NWO monster truck readying to destroy the Nitro broadcast booth, but we're out of time.
This was a mostly boring edition of Nitro. That first hour offered nothing of interest, while the second hour felt stronger in its second half with a decent Rick Steiner/Chris Benoit match and all the insanity at the end, which honestly I'm already getting tired of. The spray painting shtick is already losing the charm it had. If anything worked for that final segment, it was that it does feel genuinely disturbing with their treatment of Elizabeth in this angle, with Hogan calling her his property. The build for Halloween Havoc feels pretty middling so far, but hopefully it picks up next week. C+ rating.
WHO WON THE WAR WEEK #52: NITRO
That being said, it was still a slightly stronger show than Raw, which despite a couple decent matches still felt really cold going towards Buried Alive. Essentially, despite taking almost half a year to return to these blogs, it was a cold week to take time off from. Slight win for Nitro.
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
August 19th, 1996
September 30th, 1996
April 1st, 1996
April 15th, 1996
May 27th, 1996
June 23rd, 1996
July 15th, 1996
July 22nd, 1996
August 5th, 1996
August 19th, 1996
September 30th, 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
August 12th, 1996
September 2nd-September 6th, 1996
September 9th, 1996
September 16th, 1996
September 23rd, 1996
October 7th, 1996
July 29th, 1996
August 12th, 1996
September 2nd-September 6th, 1996
September 9th, 1996
September 16th, 1996
September 23rd, 1996
October 7th, 1996
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