This Week In The WCW
This Week In The WCW
WCW Monday Night Nitro - Monday, 11/18/96
- Nitro started five minutes early with The Nasty Boys and High Voltage laid out in the ring with Hall and Nash standing over them with chairs apparently having just put them out. Hall and Nash then got in Shiavone's and Zbysko's faces threatening to reinjure Schiavone's neck and dared the Faces of Fear to come out. When they didn't, Hall and Nash went to the back looking for them. The Faces of Fear were waiting and ambushed The Outsiders and a knock down drag out ensued. It spilled outside and there was a commercial break. It was a great start for Nitro, assuming you tuned in early enough.
- After return from the commercial, Schiavone walked off on Zbysko as he was pissed Zbysko didn't come to his aid when taunted by Hall & Nash.
- La Parka pinned Juventud Guerrera after a corkscrew body splash off the top rope after Guerrera missed a rolling head scissors on La Parka when La Parka was perched up top.
- Mike Tenay came out to join Zbysko and replace Schiavone halfway through the match.
- Mike Tenay said Hogan was in the building and there were a lot of rumors that Piper was going to show up.
- Ultimo Dragon def. "The Man of 1,000 Holds" Dean Malenko via DQ when Malenko threw Ultimo Dragon over the top rope.
- Malenko had UD in the Texas Cloverleaf when Sonny Ono got on the apron. That distracted Malenko who went after him and would up tossing UD over the top.
- Bischoff seems destined to turn nWo. The announcers are throwing out a lot of comments like, "Why would Bischoff agree to give the nWo their own segment?" and "How does Hall get a wireless microphone at the right frequency before coming out here?"
- The Amazing French-Canadians def. The American Males when Jacques Rougeau pinned Marcus Alexander Bagwell after Riggs kicked Rougeau in the back, Rougeau noggin-knocked Bagwell, and Oulette rolled a semi-concious Rougeau on top of a semi-concious Bagwell.
- This match was another in a seemingly endless string of set ups for the coming split of the American Males.
- Colonel Robert Parker is now escorting the AFC to the ring wearing a Legionnaire's outfit. I didn't know they have Legionnaires in Canada.
- "The Total Package" Lex Luger made "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus submit with the Human Torture Rack.
- Luger never really got the Rack on Morrus but Morrus submitted anyway and the referee rang the bell. Luger seemed non-kayfabe pissed at Morrus and the ref that he didn't get to really finish the match his way.
- During Luger's interview with Okerlund after the match, The Man Called Sad Mime (Sting) came into the ring with a baseball bat. He shoved Luger with the bat, handed it to Luger, and then walked off. Luger then walked off rather than continue the interview.
- "Lionheart" Chris Jericho pinned Johnny Grunge after a dropkick off the top rope after Johnny Grunge went through a table that Jericho was playing possum on.
- Nick Patrick watched and scouted the match.
- In the post-match interview, Teddy Long came out to apologize to Jericho for getting him involved in the upcoming one-arm match. Jericho said no apologies were necessary as it was the only way for him to get a coward like Patrick in the ring.
- Hogan came out with DiBiase, Vincent and Elizabeth and intimidated Bischoff into saying how Hogan is a bigger icon and richer than Piper and that Piper is afraid of Hogan.
- Cut to an interview with "Diamond" Dallas Page. Hall, Nash, Syxx, and The Giant interrupt it with Hall & Nash saying Page just doesn't get it. The Giant asked, "Why don't we just punk him right now like we've done with everyone else?" Hall, Nash, and Syxx said they "get it" and seemed to be in on a joke that The Giant did not know. Nash said, "Like they said in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, 'Something wonderful is going to happen'. Just watch.". My guess is that the nWo is going to come out with Kimberly / The Booty Girl (Page's real-life wife).
- Jeff Jarrett made Bobby Eaton submit with a figure-four leglock in a very quick match.
- Flair came out at the end to endorse Jarrett.
- Flair told the other three Horsemen that "Jarrett's in because Flair says so".
- "Big" Bubba Rogers pinned Jim Powers after a Bubba Slam.
- Bubba threw a lot of punches into his own hand that weren't anywhere near Powers' face.
- Powers did the nouveau nine faces into the turnbuckle while the crowd counts and then taking Bubba to the opposite corner for the tenth.
- "The Crippler" Chris Benoit pinned Eddy Guerrero on a reversal of a roll-thorugh
- Eddy Guerrero's been working out harder, he's starting to get bigger and more solid.
- In talking about the upcoming Benoit-Sullivan match, referencing the fact that the last one wound up in the men's room, Heenan noted: "If you want a good seat for that match, get yourself one of those porcelain chairs in the men's room."
- Before the last commercial break, Bischoff said he had a statement for the fans and was going up to the ring. After the commercials, Bischoff apologized for what Hogan made him do and said WCW would do everything in its power to make the Piper-Hogan match happen. The bagpipes starting playing and Piper came out. The unhappy look on Bischoff's face gave you a hint at what was coming. Piper called Bischoff a liar and told the crowd Bischoff never came to see him. The nWo rushed the ring and grabbed Piper. The crowd started throwing garbage and cops flooded the ring. Bischoff hugged Hogan to confirm the heel turn. Hogan said Piper was too chicken to sign a contract. Doug Dillinger made the nWo and Bischoff go back to the dressing room and the cops restrained Piper. As the show closed, Piper said he'd bring a contract to sign to World War III.
- At one point, as Piper tried to kick Hogan, it was obvious Piper is not a true Scotsman as he was wearing something under his kilt.
WCW {Pro} Wrestling - Sunday, 11/17/96
- "Das Wunderkid" Alex Wright pinned Casey Thompson with a German suplex into a bridge.
- "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton pinned Billy Kidman after an Alabama Jammer.
- The match lasted about a minute.
- Eaton consoled Kidman after the match, thus completing his face turn.
- "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan, "Big" Bubba Rogers, and the Faces of Fear defeated J.L., Joe Gomez, Scott Armstrong, and Steve Armstrong when Meng pinned J.L. after a kick to the head.
- The Dungeon of Doom was there in force as "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus and Maxx Muscle came to ringside with the group.
- Super Calo pinned Chavo Guerrero, Jr. with a head scissors to a hurricarana.
- Konan def. Mike Wenner via submission with a hold I'd never seen before. One leg behind his head, one arm wrapped around, kind of hard to explain.
- "The Man of 1,000 Holds" Dean Malenko pinned Ray Misterio, Jr. with a modified hurricarana to retain the WCW World Cruiserweight Title.
WCW Saturday Night - Saturday, 11/16/96
- "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan pinned The Gambler with a running lariat after distracting The Gambler by throwing his tape at him.
- Duggan, of course, started the match with a "U.S.A, U.S.A." chant. I'm not sure why, since his opponent is from Biloxi, MS.
- "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus pinned Jim Powers after his No Laughing Matter.
- The Laughing Man seems to have lost his sense of humor. He kept looking into the camera all pissed off saying, "Let's see how funny you think this is".
- The new gimmick in WCW is to, instead of ten shots to the head, is to whack them nine times, and pause, and then deliver the tenth.
- In the post-match interview, Jimmy Hart announced there will be a triangle match between The Outsiders, The Nasty Boys, and The Faces of Fear at World War III. Sullivan again threatened Benoit as per their match in Baltimore.
- "The Crippler" Chris Benoit pinned Hector Guerrero after a
powerbomb.
- Schiavone passed along the rumor that Piper would be on Nitro as well as Hogan.
- After the match, Benoit ripped the tape off his shoulder and stormed back to the locker room and Pearl Harbored Hugh Morrus. He cracked two conveniently available broomsticks over Morrus' noggin, bopped a couple of ham-and-eggers on the head, and then kicked all of the doors off the bathroom stalls. It was a pretty good segment, especially considering they had to bleep out every other word. The only flaw was that the camera was already in the dressing room filming Hugh Morrus untying his shoes when Benoit stormed in. The camera should have been following Benoit so it wouldn't be so obvious that it was a set up.
- High Voltage vs. Hardbody Henderson and Jack Boot (Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker of The State Patrol) ended in a non-finish when The Nasty Boys rushed the ring and cleaned house.
- The Nasty Boys got on the mike again after the match desperately trying to generate some heat from the crowd to no avail.
- Jeff Jarrett was interviewed and trashed Sting. Jarrett was roundly booed. I'm having trouble figuring the Jarrett angle out. He's supposed to be a face, but he's going out of his way to annoy everyone.
- Dean Malenko pinned Juventud Guerrera after a gut buster from the top rope to retain the WCW World Cruiserweight Title.
- This match featured a couple of missed spots.
- After the match, they showed clips of Ultimo Dragon. UD may be getting a push and/or coming to WCW full time. UD jobbed to Ray Misterio, Jr. at Sturgis.
- Rumors abound on the WWW that WCW has already filmed clips of Syxx carrying the Cruiserwight belt so Malenko's reign may be very short-lived.
- An interview with Nick Patrick and his lawyer vs. Teddy Long and "Lionheart" Chris Jericho ended with Jericho challenging Nick Patrick to a match where Jericho has one arm tied behind his back.
- The announcers said the decision on whether it would happen would be made on Nitro and then, during the commercials, the match was included in the promos for World War III. Jumping the gun a little bit, wouldn't you say?
- Nick Patrick was actually a wrestler at one point but got out of it because of bad knees.
- "Diamond" Dallas Page pinned The Cheetah Kid following a Diamond Cutter.
- In the post-match interview, Page was interviewed and asked about his possible nWo membership. He said everyone should watch World War III to see.
- The Amazing French-Canadians def. Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton on a Nick Patrick screwjob when the guy with the eye patch flipped off Jacques Rougeau's shoulders onto Guerrero for the pin.
- In the nWo match, Hall & Nash def. Brian Costello and Jack Shane when Hall pinned Shane after a Razor's Edge.
- After Hall gave Shane a vicious reverse knife edge, Nash commented, "That's going to leave a mark, especially on that white skin."
- Hall fought the entire match with the toothpick in his mouth.
- Steve Regal retained the WCW World Television Title in a time-limit draw with Psychosis.