WCW Monday Nitro - Monday, 10/13/97
WCW Monday Nitro - Monday, 10/13/97
- The show opens with Eric Bischoff, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage coming out to the ring to make a few announcements.
- Wow, there are a million signs ringside tonight, reminds me of the WWF.
- Uncle Eric shows off a poster for TNT's movie "Assault on Devil's Island" starring Hogan. He tells us that he knows that there will be a lot of us trying to sneak these posters into the World Series, or to the competitor, because, "They might have a live show next week," and "they get mad easily". When he was talking about the competitor, he was nodding like he was saying "do it". For those who didn't hear, Jim Cornette did a speech last week on Raw that was word for word what he said for the Slam Sheet, that Bill has a link to.
- Crowd goes nuts when Bischoff points to Macho's neck, and explains that it was done by Diamond Dallas Page, and that Page will pay.
- The little speeches are over, and Tony Shiavone summed it all up when he said, "Well wah, wah, wah."
- Apparently Piper held the belt last week. Bischoff says that nobody is leaving the arena until Hogan gets his belt back.
- A replay of the Diamond Cutter on Macho Man last week.
- There are going to be four title matches tonight, the cruiserweight title will be between Eddie Guerrero and Psychosis, the tag team belts will be between the Outsiders and the Steiners, the TV title is between The Disco Inferno and Alex Wright, and the US title is between Curt Hennig and Diamond Dallas Page. Looks like a good show tonight.
- Eddie Guerrero pins Psychosis after a frog splash.
- For some reason, Sony Onoo is not walking out with Psychosis. No explanation was given, but it was noticed by the announcers.
- An announcement that the match between Jaquline and the Disco Inferno will be a non-title match due to Nevada state regulations. Yeah right. Given that statement, we all know who's going to win, huh?
- There is a new ref refereeing this match. Some blonde guy.
- Eddie is sporting some new tights tonight. They are mostly black, with red and gold mixed in the design. Even his boots are different.
- Eddie does a baseball slide to Psychosis when Psychosis was out on the floor. Larry Zbyszko asked, "Was he safe?"
- At one point, Psychosis did a senton (sp) plancha.
Larry Z.: "He got him on the centron!"
Mike Tenay: "Senton."
Larry Z.: "Whatever!"
- "Bischoff isn't a tenor, he's more of a soprano!" -- Larry Zbyszko
- After Eddie pinned Psychosis, he tried to pull his mask off, but didn't.
- Mike Tenay does his "History of the Mask" report.
- Tenay says the mask is, "A contemporary reminder of Indian rituals."
- A few quotes from some of the Luchadores, the funniest came from Silver King: "I don't like to follow tradition, besides, why would I want to cover up my beautiful face?"
- This was a good report, and explained that the mask is sacred, and that wrestlers fear losing their masks might mean the end of their career. They also value hair, and there was a clip of Eddie Guerrero losing his locks a few years back.
- Mean Gene Okerlund in the ring, interviews "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
- I swear, sometimes I hear those bagpipes in my sleep.
- Wow, there is a sign that says, "Hairless Hulk Hogan". That's nice.
- Piper says to Bischoff, "You asked who I think I am, I'm the boss. You asked what I call that to Savage, I call it justice."
- Piper then explains that he knows where the belt is, "I put it like Allstate, I put it in good hands where you can't find it."
- Then he screams, "They have been crying worst than Tammy Bakker!" Good one.
- In the 'please learn to speak proper English' category, Piper than says to the Outsiders, "You will defend the titles or I will strip them, and you will be 'nakeder' than the day you were born." Where did you come from, Roddy? Don't they speak English in Scotland, Roddy. How about in Pennsylvania?
- Nitro Girls!
- Steve "Mongo" McMichael pins "What was that I just stepped in?" Steve Regal after a Tombstone piledriver.
- Battle of the Steves with a Steve reporting.
- Mongo has his own entrance music now, and last week, Benoit came out to his own music.
- "Cornette fears Bischoff" -- a sign in the second row. That was very nice.
- Man, Regal still looks like lugging around a spare tire. What's up with that?
- After the Tombstone, Zbyszko says, "He got him right on the Royal noggin!"
- Mean Gene comes out to interview "Queen" Debra McMichael. Nothing big here, just confirmation of what we all knew for the past few weeks, that Jeff Jarrett no longer works for WCW, though Debra says she will have a surprise at Halloween Havoc. Whatever. Also, Debra tells Mongo that SHE'S the star in WCW, not Mongo. Uhhhhhhh, no.
- Yuji Nagata w/Sony Onoo makes "Lionheart" Chris Jericho submit with a Nagata Lock (standing figure-four).
- How come Onoo comes out with Nagata, but not with Psychosis?
- New match for Havoc: Nagata vs. the Ultimo Dragon.
- With the announcement of that match, I wonder who's gonna win this THIS one?
- Jericho does a giant swing while having Nagata in a half-nelson. Haven't seen that one before.
- It tickles me that after "nasty spills" that the wrestlers seem more concerned with pulling up their elbow pads, their knee pads, and adjusting their boots. Anyone ever notice that?
- Jericho drops Onoo outside the ring, which sets up for Nagata coming behind him, and winning the match.
- It's Raven Poetry time. Blah, blah, blah. He's actually in a nursery, sitting on the floor next to a crib. Whatever, just wrestle already!
- Bill Goldberg pins Scotty Riggs after a jackhammer (a suplex-slam).
- During the match, there was a shot of Raven, Perry Saturn, and someone else I couldn't recognize (anybody?).
- Goldberg blows a spot when he is supposed to get dropkicked by Riggs, and be sent over the top rope. Goldberg apparently did not know where he was in the ring, and when he went to try to jump over the rope, it wasn't there, so he had to physically, and without help, jump over the rope himself. Woops!
- Nitro Girls! Bounce, bounce, bounce! WOW!
- Promo for Slim Jims Halloween Havoc with the Macho Man. Pretty soon, wrestling pay-per-views are going to be like auto racing. All the events will have sponsor names in front of the event. Being close to Daytona, the July Nascar race used to be called the Firecracker 400, now it's the Pepsi 400. Corporations get too greedy at times.
- Scott Hall and Syxx walk out and do their "Who did you come to see?" speech. Actually, it sounded more pro-WCW. Also, Syxx must think he's tag team champ, because he's wearing the belt, and showing it off.
- During the interview, someone NAILED Hall in the smacker with a wadded cup. Big pop for that. Hall then acts like it hurt his feelings (sarcastically).
- Commercial, the Outsiders trying to sell their new shirt. Was it me, or did Syxx look like he was going to Ralph?
- The Steiners w/Ted DiBiase defeat Scott Hall and Syxx for the tag team titles!
- The Wolfpack tries to get the early start, but the Steiners clean the ring out in a matter of seconds.
- The new ref is calling the match. Wonder if that will come into play?
- Man, I REALLY can't stand Syxx.
- A reverse power bomb! Scott Steiner picks Syxx up by his ankles while he's on the mat face-first (Syxx on the mat), picks him up, and slams him back down. That was nice.
- Syxx goes for his bronco ride, and Rick Steiner puts his foot up before he lands it. Good pop for that.
- Scott Steiner does a HUGE backdrop on Syxx. I'm talking 7+ feet in the air he was thrown!
- The Steiners do a Steiner DDT (DDT from the top rope while on the shoulders of Rick). The ref does a two-count before being pulled out by Scott Hall. Hall then knocks the ref out.
- Larry Zbyszko comes out, and yells at Hall. Hall gets back into the ring, and gets a bulldog from Rick Steiner, and Larry comes in and does counts the pin! New champs!. Neat thing was, someone must have told Larry that his counting at Fall Brawl was a little fast, because he slowed it down a lot tonight.
- I wonder how long the Steiners will hold onto the belts.
- After the match, Tony Schiavone asks, "Also, what about the "Macho Man" Randy Savage?"
In unison, all three commentators reply, "Who cares?" and start laughing.
Tony Schiavone: "Next we have the Nitro Girls."
Bobby Heenan:"I care about them!"
- "PWI's #1 ranked wrestler" Dean Malenko defeats the "Flying Fury" Rey Misterio, Jr. with a Texas Cloverleaf.
- One of the funniest things I have ever seen: You know how Misterio takes his outer mask off before he gets in the ring? Well, he did that, and handed it to a baby in his father's arms. The baby then throws it back at Misterio. That certainly got a reaction from the announcers.
Tony Schiavone: "There's nothing like live TV."
Bobby Heenan: "Yeah there is, radio."
- This is a good match. Misterio is so fun to watch.
- Malenko has a bandage over his left eye. Did he blade this weekend?
- Uh, let's see, Misterio's lace on the back of his mask is loose. I wonder what will happen later.
- Misterio does his hurricanrana, and is about to pin Malenko, when Eddie Guerrero runs out, yanks the mask off of Misterio's head, and runs away, as Malenko gets Misterio in the Texas Cloverleaf. For those of you that care, you could see Misterio's face for a split second before he covered it with his hands.
- Eddie Guerrero to the camera: "Did you lose this?"
- DDP in the Power Plant discussing how he needs to stay focused for Halloween Havoc. Anybody agree with me when I say that I can't see Randy Savage losing his match in his "own" pay-per-view two years in a row?
- Mean Gene with Piper, again.
- Piper says the decision will stand for the Steiners, because Zbyszko has been sanctioned as a ref for WCW.
- Piper yells, "New champions! Hail the Steiners!" Not much reaction from the crowd.
- Earache Bischoff and "Crippled Man" Randy Savage come to the ring. Piper says to them, "They want to play." Bobby Heenan says, "Piper don't play like most kids!"
- Sign in the 3rd row, "Bears need Mongo". Another nice one.
- The fake Sting comes out, stands by Piper, points his bat towards Bischoff, and the rest of the nWo (who have all come out by now). He then clobbers Pipers, and takes the mask off, and it's Hogan. They then proceed to stomp a mudhole in Piper. Nobody comes out to make a save, and we go to commercial.
- A nice promo for the Flair/Hennig match at Havoc.
- Scott Norton w/Buff Bagwell and Vincent pins Ray Traylor after Traylor gets knocked out by a can of spray paint.
- As soon as I saw the spray paint, I knew who was going to win. I mean, have you ever seen them just bring out spray paint, and lose?
- At one point, Traylor was bouncing off the ropes, and Norton picked him up clean over his head, and held him for a second before dropping him on his face. Good power by Norton, that's about all he has.
- Buff Bagwell looks into the camera and says, "Big Bubba, no trubba!"
- Billy Kidman comes out during the match, and climbs the railing, and joins Raven's Nest. He had on Raven-type clothes and black eyeliner giving him dark circles, making it look like he hadn't slept for a week. Someone was wondering why WCW seemed to be pushing Kidman...here it is.
- Traylor does get some decent shots in on Norton.
- Bagwell distracts Traylor, and Traylor goes after him. When he does, Bagwell tosses the spray paint to Norton, who clocks Traylor and gets the pin.
- Disco Inferno pins Alex Wright to retain the TV title.
- Alex Wright goes right at Disco before the bell rings. Both still have on their jackets for the start of the match.
- Healthy chants of "Faggot" from the crowd to Wright.
- "Alex Wright is in the neon green tights. Someone needs to dress him." -- Tony Shiavone.
- Jacqueline comes out during the match. She distracts Disco, and Wright comes behind him, and rolls him to attempt the pin. Disco rolls him over, and sits on him and gets the screwed up looking pin.
- Three Nitro Girls on red carpet off to the side. I agree with Bill, I like both blondes, but that one with the shorter hair, and bigger teeth with the over-exageratted face is better than the other. I still like Kimberly best.
- Tony Schiavone: "It's amazing what I can say when I'm not focused on what I'm saying."
Bobby Heenan: "Oh shut up!"
Tony: "Gladly."
- Main Event time!
- There was no clear decision between Curt Hennig and Diamond Dallas Page.
- Wow, someone got a sign on TV that said, "Queef baby!" How did that get by Dillinger?
- Yeah, this will end in a clean finish.
- DDP must have gotten a good chunk of dinner in Hennig's mouth when he spit in his face the way Hennig reacted. While DDP was spitting, Hennig did his gum spitting thing, and stopped right before he was going to swing at the gum.
- There was talk of Wade Boggs talking with the wrestlers before the show. Bobby then say, "Hey, if you're not going to the World Series or in the playoffs, what else are you going to do?"
- Not a whole lot of interesting things in this match, though it was a good match, but no surprises quite yet.
- Ric Flair comes out after DDP is about to pin Hennig. Hennig then leaves the ring, and DDP thinks he won the belt. Randy Anderson says he didn't pin him, and takes the belt away from DDP. The two are arguing as we go to commercial.
- Back from commercial, Piper finishes his miraculous recovery, and comes to the ring unscathed, and tells Pee-Wee that DDP won the belt, then all of the nWo comes out and start beating the crap out of Piper and DDP. Then, Sting shows up in the crowd, and stands there for a minute or so, then finally comes down, and it is a fake Sting. Another fake Sting comes out, and the nWo keeps clearing them out. About ten fake Stings come out, and all get beat up, and then Bagwell hits Sting, disguised as a fake Sting, who
no-sells, and Scorpion Deathdrops him, and the nWo turns around, and sees him, and all start running away.
With that, the show is over.
The Dog of War sends in the following arena report:
- As promised, I'm presenting you with my onsite Monday Nitro report. First off, I have to start by once again bragging about Tampa, Florida, my hometown and certifiable pro wrestling mecca. As the hometown of Hulk Hogan and Dean Malenko (PWI #1 Wrestler!), it seemed that WCW pulled out the stops tonight and gave us one of the best Nitros in a long time.
- Before the matches started Raven, Perry Saturn, and Stevie Richards walked right by our row. Raven and Richards are MUCH bigger in person than they look on TV. This doesn't change the fact that Raven has done virtually nothing since entering the league besides recite poetry and slap Richards around.
- During the Steve Regal/Mongo McMichaels match there were exactly two people cheering for Regal: me and my friend Rob. We tried to start a Regal chant and were very promptly booed down.
- Hundreds of signs tonight; my personal favorite: Hogan Fears Rogaine.
- The Goldberg/Riggs match gets my worst match of the night award. The Goldberg "let me throw myself over the top rope" move looked really bad, even from a hundred feet away.
- I was sitting right behind the red stage where the Nitro Girls were dancing. Hot damn! I think I got on TV: I was the big guy in the gray fedora giving the Four Horseman symbol. My friend Albert screamed "I love you Kimberly!" and she smiled at him. He could have died a happy man right there.
- Malenko/Misterio gets my best match of the night vote. I'm a big Mexican wrestling fan, and was genuinely shocked by Misterio losing his mask. Eddie Guerrero really makes a great heel.
- Don't know how it looked on TV, but Hogan as Sting fooled just abouteveryone in the arena, at least where I was sitting. Something occurred to me: when they did the Sting mannequin bit, Hogan sold it amazingly well. Why is he never that good an actor in his movies?
- Norton versus Ray Traylor. I think this might have been a last minute substitution, because a reliable source told me that the Giant was supposed to be there tonight. Either way it was a boring match.
- Don't know how they looked on TV, but Disco Inferno's tights were almost painfully bright. Alex Wright's weren't exactly a subtle shade either. During the confrontation between Disco and Jacqueline the audience started shouting "Slap the Ho".
- I wish Flair had played a bigger role tonight. I noticed that when the nWo came out after the match, Hennig wasn't with him. Are we supposed to believe that Flair was just chasing him around the parking lot all that time or what?
- The army of Stings coming to the ring was one of the strangest things I've ever seen. They were just popping up everywhere. Several of them got jostled by the crowd, and were adjusting their wigs as they walked down the aisles. Also, after the real Sting is revealed, he reached under his shirt and produced the Heavyweight belt, and handed it to Piper, who proceeded to swing it around his head.
- Four title matches, two title changes, and a match featuring Malenko and Misterio, my two favorite wrestlers to watch. All in all a hell of a show.