This Week In The WCW
This Week In The WCW
WCW Monday Night Nitro - Monday, 01/13/97
- I don't usually print rumors, but the word about the alleged shoot between Scott Hall and Jerry Saggs is too big a story and it's all over the Web. Supposedly, Hall's and Saggs' problems started a few weeks ago when Hall gave Saggs a bad chair shot to the head. Saggs got a minor concussion and later passed out. Saggs later tried to talk to Hall about it and there was a minor scuffle. On Jan. 4 at a house show in Shreveport, LA, there was a triangle match with Outsiders, Nasties, and Faces of Fear. The Outsiders won. Probably as a work, Saggs threw a chair in the ring afterwards in disgust. Hall took the chair and tossed it back at Saggs and nailed him in the back of the head. Saggs is a legit tough ass in real life with a short temper. He charged Hall and before anyone could break it up, he knocked out a couple teeth, shut Hall's eyes, and broke his jawline. This is why Hall was not at last week's Nitro. The political situation is tangled as, for all the money Hall and Nash make, they are not political heavyweights in WCW. Brian Knobbs is (legit) good friends with Hogan and is also Dusty Rhodes' son-in-law. For all intents and purposes, if you fire Saggs, you are firing Knobbs. It should be interesting.
- Chavo Guerrero Jr. pinned J.L. after nailing him with a backflip off the top turnbuckle.
- It was announced that Hogan was backing out of his match at nWo Souled Out with the Giant as a contract was never signed.
- "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan was coming to the ring for his match with Super Calo. On the way, he was interviewed by Okerlund. Duggan told Sting to "Be a man" and stand up for the WCW. Hmm, can anyone see what's coming here? When Duggan gets to the ring, surprise! In pops Sting and down goes Duggan after a Scorpion Death Drop.
- The match never happened (Awww!).
- As they were panning the crowd, there was some dude with a Masked Referee mask on wearing a neck brace. It was pretty cool.
- In the replacement for the Duggan/Super Calo match, "Lionheart" Chris Jericho pinned Sgt. Craig "Pit Bull" Pittmann following a missle drop kick right in the piehole.
- The highlight here was after the match, Jericho went out to shake hands with the crowd. Some guy handed Jericho his four-year old boy and Jericho held the kid up and raised the kid's arm in victory. Too bad the kid was wearing an nWo shirt.
- Harlem Heat def. High Voltage when Booker T. pinned Kaos after a Harlem Heatseeker.
- During this match, the Giant rushed the nWo locker room again. The camera would not stay on Hall. However, from what I could see, his face was swollen, he may have had a black eye, and he looked to have a small bandage.
- During the match, the announcers said the WCW Executive Committee was having an emergency meeting to decide what to do about Hogan's match with the Giant.
- Vince, Bischoff, and DiBiase took over the announcer's booth. As Zbyszko was leaving, he said to Bischoff: "If you keep messing up, you'll be mowing Verne Gagne's lawn". They showed the Sting montage.
- "Diamond" Dallas Page pinned Mark Starr following a Diamond Cutter delivered as Mark Starr was staggering out of the corner after being thrown into it.
- During the match, Bischoff reinforced the whole "Hall and Page having dinner last Monday" angle.
- During the match, someone held up a "Disco Inferno 4 Life Sign". Great crowd tonight. Hopefully, we'll once again see the bald guy with "Snap Into It!" written on his head.
- After the match, Hall and Nash came to the ring before Page left.. Whoa!! Hall was kind of staying in the background. He didn't look too bad although makeup may have been covering a bruised face. Nash gave Page an nWo shirt and they embraced. While Nash had his back turned, Page gives Hall a Diamond Cutter!!! Oh, my God! Nash charges Page and Page flips Nash over the top rope into a nice table spot that almost sent the table hurtling into the crowd. Page left through the crowd. The impromptu announcing team got very angry and left.
- "The Man of 1,000 Holds" Dean Malenko pinned WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion Eddie Guerrero in a non-title match following a powerbomb when Malenko plucked Guerrero off the ropes as he was distracted by Syxx sitting on a ladder.
- There were a few "boring" chants during this match.
- Thank you Sony Playstation for a replay of the finish following the match. TNT lost the satellite feed for the finish. Luckily, the feed came back in time for the replay.
- It was announced that the WCW Executive Committee decided the Giant and Hogan would meet tonight! Gee, I HOPE they brought their wrestling tights even though they weren't planning to wrestle. ;-)
- Konnan pinned Super Calo following a bear hug into a brain buster.
- Konnan practically took Super Calo's head off with a vicious clothesline during the match.
- The crowd was definitely behind Konnan.
- Jeff Jarrett pinned "The Crippler" Chris Benoit after Steve "Mongo" McMichael accidentally whacked Benoit in the back with the metal suitcase.
- A clip of Sullivan was shown where he said he was going to take care of Benoit on the next Nitro.
- It was announced the Hogan/Giant match would be a non-title match as WCW rules state the champ must have 48 hours to prepare for the match.
- There were some very clear "Jarrett sucks" chants from the crowd.
- The announcers mentioned rumors about the Saggs and Hall altercation in Shreveport. They said they were going to look into it. They may develop this into an angle after all.
- The finish came when Mongo went to nail Jarrett but couldn't get the case away from Debra. When he finally yanked it away and swung it, Benoit and Jarrett had switched places.
- In the post-match interview, Mongo, Debra, Benoit, Woman, and Arn exchanged nasty words but nothing was resolved.
- Scotty Riggs pinned Billy Kidman with a Perfectplex.
- Bagwell scouted the match from the entrance area.
- "The Total Package" Lex Luger racked Rick Fuller. Ho-hum.
- After the match, Luger and the Giant stared each other down as Giant came to the ring for the interview.
- In the interview, Okerlund referred to the Superdome as the Superbowl. Man, Okerlund really sucks.
- In the interview, the Giant said he was going to end Hulkmania forever. If only...
- "The Dog-Faced Gremlin" Rick Steiner def. "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson by count-out when Arn left the ring because the Horseman, who were supposed to be at ringside, didn't show.
- As Arn was leaving, the announcers said there was a screaming match going on in the Horseman locker room. However, we never got to see it.
- Okerlund cut Scott Steiner's interview off to go to commercial. Scott was not happy.
- The newest ads for nWo Souled Out have a little disclaimer saying "Listen Up: Card subject to change". Mr. Hall, I presume?
- The Giant def. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan via disqualification when the nWo rushed the ring as Giant was about to chokeslam Hogan.
- Vincent stumbled really bad coming through the entranceway during the nWo's entrance before the match.
- The way this match was shown was the biggest rip-off I've ever seen done by a wrestling promotion. Rather than really show the match they'd been hyping all night long ("It's going to make Nitro history!"), they started it at the end of Nitro when a really sucky new show, Robin Hood, started. They "showed us the match" by showing about thirty seconds of it during EVERY OTHER SET of commercials. It was a shameless ruse to keep you watching their crappy new show. We saw all of a total of three minutes of the match. I can't say enough bad things about this "bait and switch" tactic. Rather than listen to me prattle on, I'll stop now. Take the time you've now saved since I cut it short and please feel free to send WCW mail to tell them how you feel about this new programming gimmick.
- I'd find it very interesting how they can explain the fact that they announced beforehand that the last live clip would be the conclusion.
WCW {Pro} Wrestling - Sunday, 01/12/97
- The Nasty Boys def. PR Punisher and Buddy Valentine when Brain Knobbs pinned PR Punisher after a splash off the top turnbuckle.
- Chris Cruise commented during the match that Jerry Saggs has it in for Scott Hall. Comments like that lead me to believe the big shoot that everyone is talking about was really a work.
- Buddy Valentine was treated to a pit stop with Jerry Saggs. Cruise commented: "That ain't the sweet smell of success!"
- "Das Wunderkid" Alex Wright pinned Luscious Luther with a German suplex and a bridge.
- Wright got the Pep Boys Power Pin of the Week. Somewhat interesting, given that La Parka won that last night.
- It was announced Alex Wright will be jobbing to...whoops, I mean facing, Masa Hiro Chono at Clash of the Champions and Scott "Flash" Norton will be facing Eddie Guerrero in a non-title match.
- "Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan pinned Scott Armstrong following the Tree of Woe and a Reverse Heimlich in a quick squash.
- This match contained the highlight of the show when Scott Armstrong went around slapping hands with the humanoids before the match. He went to slap hands with a kid around the age of 7 and the kid gave Scott two thumbs down.
- Jim Powers pinned Leroy Howard following a powerslam.
- During the match, Jim Powers gave Howard nine heads to the turnbuckle with the crowd counting and then ran Howard across the ring for the tenth. That crowd pleasing combination became really popular a few months ago and then went away. We can only hope other wrestlers start emulating Jim Powers with that move.
- Jeff Jarrett pinned M. Wallstreet with a Sunset Flip on a reversal of the Wall Street Crash.
- Wallstreet mush have forgotten his trunks. He wore real pants and a real belt to the ring that he kept having to pull up. It got so bad that even when Jarrett was attempting the figure-four leglock, Wallstreet was more interested in pulling his pants back up than trying to block the hold.
WCW Saturday Night - Saturday, 01/11/97
- "Das Wunderkid" Alex Wright pinned Super Calo with a German suplex and a bridge.
- Far be it from me to question people who do this for a living, but if I was booking, I wouldn't have Super Calo jobbing a week and a half before he is in a headline match at Clash of the Champions.
- Ice Train pinned Tombstone with a reverse splash off the second rope in a very quick squash.
- Ice Train was talking about the WCW Power Plant in the post-match interview. Enrollment must be down.
- "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus pinned the Cheetah Kid following a No Laughing Matter.
- "Diamond" Dallas Page pinned "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton following a Diamond Cutter delivered as Eaton staggered out of the corner after being thrown into it.
- Page refused to give an interview after the match.
- Psychosis def. "Lord" Steven Regal via DQ. Regal retains the WCW World Television Title.
- Regal was disqualifed when he did a double coconuts on Psychosis and referee Mark Curtis while Psychosis had Regal in an abdominal stretch.
- They replayed the Anderson/Jarrett altercation on Nitro. Now, of course, I'm biased here but I'm thinking about Jarrett's statement about Arn playing "second fiddle". Hmm, four World Television Title reigns, one of which was the longest in history and lasted almost a year. Yeah, second fiddle my a**.
- "Mean" Mike Enos pinned Disco Inferno with a small package as, for the third time in as many matches, Disco Inferno couldn't figure out how to put his new leglock on.
- The high point of this match was when Enos had Disco Inferno semi-concious, sat him up, and pulled Disco Inferno's limp arm back and forth in the disco move.
- La Parka pinned Scott Armstrong after a reverse somersault kick off the top rope for the Pep Boys Power Pin of the Week.
- Jim Powers and "Hardwork" Bobby Walker def. Renegade and "Desperado" Joe Gomez when Walker pinned Gomez with a flying cross body block.
- If you were at the arena for this show, this match would have been a great time to go to the bathroom. Especially if Benoit and Sullivan are clubberin' each other in there.
- Second advertisement of the night for Okerlund's 900 line. Call the number and find out about a megastar whose whereabouts are unknown! Hmmm, if you don't already know it's Savage, you deserve to be suckered for $1.59/minute.
- Ray Misterio, Jr. pinned Chavo Guerrero, Jr. with a hurricarana after springing off the top rope.
- Okay, here's some deja vu. Far be it from me to question people who do this for a living, but if I was booking, I wouldn't have Chavo Guerrero, Jr. jobbing a week and a half before he is in a headline match at Clash of the Champions.
- The match was a total squash by Guerrero until the very end. Misterio didn't have any offense other than his finisher.
- Misterio was limping out of the ring after the match. I read on another page the knee injury was legit but not serious.
- Harlem Heat def. The Amazing French-Candaians when Booker T. pinned Rougeau after a Harlem Side Kick.
- Rougeau and Ouellette were tagging in and out laying a beating on Booker T. For good measure, Rougeau turned around to give Stevie Ray, who was on the apron, a shot for good measure. When Rougeau turned back around, Booker T. nailed him.