WCW Monday Nitro - Monday, 12/22/97

• Trivia Question: Who was the first black female to hold a wrestling referee's license in Missouri? (Hint: It's not Jacqueline)
• The mailbag:
  
  
  • From Hastings:

    What's the deal with this Nitro Party prize? They say the Nitro Girls AND Mean Gene will come over to the house where the party is at. What's Mean Gene coming for? I'll tell ya something...if my video won and Mean Gene and the Nitro Girls came to my house, I would kick Gene out of the house in the freezing cold weather and would tell him he could come inside for $1.99 a minute.

• If you check any other wrestling web pages, you probably already know this, in addition to the WWF show that got cut short in Memphis, a day or two later there was a near-riot in Little Rock when Shawn Michaels called off the main event due to garbage being thrown. Some reports say Michaels did more to incite the riot than calm it down. I actually got a first hand report from Ron Feeser:

  I just returned from a WWF house show in Little Rock, AR. As you reported about the Memphis show, we did not see the main event. All through the evening the fans were warned about throwing stuff into the ring, but it really did no good. At one point, Shawn Michaels came out to make a presentation to Danny Hodge. He said, "Right now let's put aside DX and everything, because I come out as a fan of this man." I thought that was a very classy remark. Things seemed to stop flying as frequently as they had before.

  The main event was to be HHH vs. ???. We never found out, though, because as soon as Shawn (one of my fav wrestlers) stepped into to the ring occompaning HHH, everything began to assail the ring. Cokes, food, and programs. Shawn picked up the mike and said "Since you guys can't stop throwing s**t, you just lost your main event." DX then walked out. A few minutes later the ring announcer came out and confirmed this statement. The place then went nuts. People began to throw everything in the ring, including the chairs from the floor seats. The cops had to break out batons and tear gas.

  As a fan I was disappointed about not seeing the main event, but as an aspiring wrestler myself who has worked some small indy circuits, I was glad to see them call the show before someone got hurt. I do feel sorry for the small children who missed maybe their only chance to see the main eventers in person because some idiots drink too much and have no self control.

  On a side note, as we were leaving the arena I was driving and suddenly one of my friends with me told me to look to my left. In a white car with Florida license was "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn driving, Ken Shamrock riding shotgun and Road Dog Jesse James in the backseat. None of the three looked to be very chipper. Due to this, I assume that Shamrock was the other main eventer of the evening.

• After getting that, I got the following from Robert, R., Jr.:

  I've read all about problems at the WWF House shows in Memphis and in Little Rock. What a shame! Just for the fans info, I attended a WWF House show in Greensboro, NC (along with RAW in Fayetteville, NC two nights later). At the Greensboro show, the last match was HBK versus The Undertaker. HBK put the Undertaker over the entire match. At the end of the match (Undertaker won via DQ when HHH and Chyna interfered), The Undertaker chokeslammed HBK, HHH, and even Chyna (but very gently). All three were left lying in the ring. People would not leave the arena because they were waiting for them to get up. Finally HBK took the microphone and said,"Don't worry, we're OK." He didn't say it sarcastically, he was being honest. On their way back to the dressing room, HBK hugged a little girl that was being held up by her mom. That left a big impression on me.

  My point is that fans need to realize these folks provide quality entertainment with a sacrifice (a grueling travel schedule and time away from their families) and do not deserve the kind of treatment that we have seen lately.

• Speaking of immature, if you haven't heard it elsewhere, it is being rumored that Curt Hennig was drunk on last week's Nitro as a result of a backstage party. His monologue had no focus, he fell down in the ring, and I remember seeing Scott Norton practically carrying Hennig to the ring at the end of the show (I thought Hennig's ankle must have been hurt). Bischoff has gone on record denying that Hennig was drunk. And the funny part is that he threatened to sue the page that originally reported it, and now all the scandal sheets are all pointing fingers at one another.
• In addition to that snafu, at the end of the show, loud and clear on live TV, either Bagwell, Konan or Bischoff said, "That's f***ed up man, that's f***ed up." or "He's f***ed up." or something to that effect. Immediately afterwards, you can then see Bischoff covering his head in an "Oh, no!" gesture. Supposedly, it has to do with the fact that Sting was supposed to be cleaning house of the nWo to close the show. However, possibly due to having to pitch the fan that rushed the ring, Sting was late and the show ended as he was walking to the ring.
  • Chris Nelson wrote to tell me that after the show went off the air, Sting came to the ring, cleaned house, SDDed Hall, and gave a couple crotch crops and then went to the back.
• If you haven't seen it already, check out the Vince McMahon, Jr. Hall of Shame at Xavier Doom's Slayground (click on the "Thanks, Vince!" icon in the left frame). It is an unforgettable highlight in an already cool site.
• On WCWSN, Disco Inferno showed the TV Belt to the camera, and said "Two times...not many people can say that". Hmm, let's see. Arn Anderson (4), Steve Regal (4), Johnny B. Badd (3), Lex Luger (2), Ricky Steamboat (2), Steve Austin (2) Ultimo Dragon (2), Tully Blanchard (2), Dusty Rhodes (2), Mike Rotundo (2). Does that qualify as 'not many'? I don't think so.
• Web page updates:
  • If you are a big Arn Anderson mark (like me), you'll probably want to check out the tribute page. The biographical section has been updated with current information directly from Arn. (I had gotten my information mostly from old magazines.) Also, if you are interested in bringing Arn to your organization for an autograph signing, personal appearance, etc., there is a link at the bottom of the tribute page with contact information.
  • I know I've been a real slacker updating the stats for Who's Goin' To The Pay Window. At this point, I'm just going to wait and do one more update for 1997 when the year's over.
  • Look for the DDT Digest Starrcade predictions late Tuesday or early Wednesday. As soon as I post this report, I'm sending out the e-mail to the team for their predictions. As soon as I get them back, I will post them.
  • Next week, I'm getting a guest reporter for WCWSN, Chan and Charlie are doing Starrcade, and Creed is doing Monday Nitro. I will be doing an arena report for both Starrcade and Monday Nitro from Baltimore as I will be at both events. Look for me waving a bunch of signs in one of the skyboxes at MCI Center and somewhere fairly near the ring at Nitro. (Before you ask, I won't know exactly where I'm sitting for either event until I get there.) Look for a guy around 5' 10" in a Horseman t-shirt (assuming they still sell them) and a La Parka mask. Creed will be proud, I've been practicing wobbling my knees although it's probably hard for the camera to pick up someone in the crowd doing that. Better that I do the strut, you'll be able to do that. :-)
• And, now, on to the show...

• The opening:
  • Show opens with a replay of last week's nWo beating on Flair and DDP's challenge for Hennig.
  • We are live from Macon, GA.
  • Hey, it's the Nitro Girls as Santa's Little Helpers. Never seen Santa's Little Helpers in sport bras before!
  • Eric Bischoff and the nWo have some big announcement tonight.
  • Larry Z. claims Bischoff will be going to Larryland next Sunday and never coming back.
  • New black-and-white promo with Bischoff telling Zbyszko he will live in infamy as the man who lost Nitro.
• David Not-So-Fit Finley defeated WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero via countout when Eddie Guerrero got tired of being beaten up and left.
  • There's a guy at ringside with a huge Santa hat on his head a wreath around his neck.
  • Sign: "Bring back Missy Hyatt"
  • Some interesting moves in the match.
  • The rumor of Scott Dickinson being banned from WCW until he lost 15 pounds may have been true. He's back and a lot thinner...well, not as fat. And he's no longer wearing his toupee. Remember when Scott Hall pulled out Dickinson's shirt and was patting his belly? Ick! I read somewhere that during his hiatus he worked booking for Killer Kowalski's promotion in the Boston area. I'm not sure how true that is, though.
  • Nice superplex by Finley.
  • Finley tries for the tombstone, but Guerrero wiggles his way out, pokes Finley in the eyes and leaves.
  • And, oddly enough when Guerrero fakes leaving in the middle of the match, he wasn't faking.
  • Oh, no! They're promoting Kevin Greene again!! Please, not again!
• Promo with the Giant speaking calmly about ripping Kevin Nash's arms out with his teeth.
• Steve "Mongo" McMichael pinned Meng following a Tombstone Piledriver.
  • When kids wear that Sting mask, it makes them look like they have oversized heads. Kind of creepy.
  • Mongo's new music is pretty cool.
  • Nice pop whenever Mongo puts up the four fingers. Too bad he's a lousy wrestler.
  • Great crowd in Macon tonight.
  • Big splash off the top by Meng that connects. For the second time in the match, Meng pulls Mongo up at the two count.
  • That guy with the wreath around his neck is going to rush the ring before the night's out.
  • Hart attempts to nail Mongo with a metal chair outside the ring, but misses.
  • Hart then puts the balsa wood prop chair in the ring.
  • Mongo gets hold of the chair and smashes Meng over the head so that Meng is wearing it as a necklace. That just makes Meng angry.
  • Mongo then picks up a metal chair and clocks Meng with that. Meng's even angrier! My girlfriend and I, of course, are rolling on the floor laughing our two respective asses off. I was waiting for Duncan MacCleod to come out with a big sword and take Meng's head and still not have the referee disqualify Mongo.
  • Then, ruining a great match with a lousy ending, even though Meng is completely on fire, Mongo picks Meng up and tombstones him and gets the pinfall.
  • OH, NO!!!! A Reggie White promo! Even worse!!!!
  • After the Starrcade promo, the TNT feed cuts back to the arena by mistake for a second and you see the ref with a broom sweeping up the pieces of the chair. I love live TV.
• Nitro Girls again. Hey, there's no Kimberly tonight. Grand prize winner will be announced later tonight.
• Okerlund introduces DDP. DDP tosses t-shirts into the crowd on the way to the ring. DDP says how he loves Christmas, is going to beat Hennig for the U.S. Title at Starrcade, gives a big BANG! to a huge pop, and then leaves through the crowd.
• Rey Misterio, Jr., Juventud Guerrera, and Hector Garza defeated La Parka, Psychosis, and Silver King when Misterio pinned Silver King with a hurricarana in a Lucha Libre rules match.
  • I got my money's worth. On the way to the ring, La Parka did the air guitar on his chair, the strut, and the knee wobbling. We didn't get to see the hop on one leg, though.
  • I feel better now. Before the match, La Parka is standing on his chair strutting and wobbling his knees in the middle of the ring. Awesome! If you want a La Parka mask, check out my links page. Screw the Sting masks, buy one and wear a La Parka mask to the arena and show your support.
  • These guys are awesome!!! I can't even begin call the match.
  • Match highlight: La Parka catches Misterio coming off the rope and struts across the ring with him.
  • A subset of Raven's Flock make their way to ringside.
  • Big splash by just about everyone lands them on their face.
  • La Parka sits Juvy in a chair outside the ring and splashes him.
  • Lodi with sign: "If it is raining, make sure to bring your La Parka." Hah!
• Brandon Lowry of UT Chattanooga is your Grand Prize Nitro Party Winner.
• Tickets are still available for Starrcade and the Baltimore Nitro.
• "Crippler" Chris Benoit defeated Hammer via disqualification when the Flock interfered.
  • Well, at least Hammer took his nipple ring out during the match. I still think that their body piercings cause wrestling to lose credibility. If the match were legit, other wrestlers would use them against the Flock.
  • In the beginning, Benoit invites the rest of the Flock in to help Hammer out.
  • Nice head first suicide dive by Benoit on Hammer outside the ring. Benoit slaps Saturn outside the ring and that gives Hammer an opening for his first offense of the match.
  • Unfortunately, this match is not a squash.
  • Benoit throws Hammer against the ring outside. That looked like it hurt.
  • The entire Flock attacks outside the ring. Benoit is handling them all until Saturn jumps him from the top turnbuckle. Benoit gets a Rings of Saturn for his trouble.
  • No Raven again tonight.
• Coming back from commerical, the nWo B-Team has stormed the announcers' booth and are ejecting the current team. Bagwell puts his face into the camera and asks the cameraman if he is nWo. You see the camera going up and down signifying the cameraman nodding 'yes'. The scene degenerates into complete chaos, as the nWo goons force all of the crew to put nWo shirts on and start replacing all of the WCW signs with nWo signs. Konnan storms the production truck. (The entire scene is very reminiscent of the summer of 1996.) They actually take electric saws and cut down everything WCW, including the big metal letters. Some seven minutes of chaos. Finally, Bagwell goes to the ring. Penzer is the only person who refuses to go nWo. Bagwell pushes Penzer to the ground and throws him out. By the time the entire sequence, which was relatively devoid of excitement, ends and we go back to commercial, the arena is completely nWo. Note that it is important to suspend your disbelief here that, totally unplanned, they could convert the entire arena in ten minutes.
  • As a marginally related side note, I watched Wrestlemania V over the weekend. When Vincent was Virgil, he was a lot bigger. His arms were huge. Now, he just looks like Scatman Crothers.
• Coming back, and Buff is spraypainting the ring nWo and has someone's really cool Buff sign from ringside. Rick Rude announces it is now nWo Monday Nitro. They lower a big new sign. Looks like, no matter what happens at Starrcade, the nWo owns Monday Nitro for a while since they invested in all the new signs.
  • OK, I'm trying reeeeally hard to suspend my disbelief here that everyone would let the nWo B-Team, of all people, take over like that.
  • They debut a new promo with a big guy with a sledgehammer busting up a WCW Monday Nitro sign.
  • And, just when I thought this couldn't get anymore boring, Bischoff comes riding out on a Harley.
  • I can just feel the excitement I had in my body building up to Starrcade leaving like a hissing balloon.
  • Finally, Bischoff introduces the entire nWo (well, except Syxx, Chono, Muta, and nWo Sting).
  • Sign: "Hogan Fears Guidry". Huh?
  • An hour and 25 minutes into the show, and we've seen four matches. *yawn*
  • Bischoff says they're going to give a gift to Hogan
  • You know, I'm feeling like I felt when I watched nWo Souled Out. Well, except that this didn't cost me $30.
  • Some guy comes out riding a Harley which looks just like the one Bischoff was riding. Interestingly enough, as he comes out, the guy bringing it out says "Wrong one! Goddamn!" Yep, more like Souled Out by the minute. Cut back to the ring and Bischoff does not look happy.
  • Finally, the guy brings out the right one, which has Hogan's face painted on it.
  • The second gift comes out. A Mercedes convertible stretch limo with waiters and a hot tub with two girls in it. At least they weren't the winners from the nWo beauty contest.
  • Mercifully, we go to commercial. Boy, this really sucks.
• Coming back, we're backstage. J.J. Dillon is telling Rick Steiner and Ted DiBiase that this is such a fiasco (hear, hear!) Rick does not have to wrestle if he does not want to. Rick is going to wrestle anyway.
• Rick Steiner defeated Scott "Flash" Norton via disqualification when Konnan shook Steiner off the top rope.
  • Kevin Nash wishes Barbara Billingsley, the mom from Leave It To Beaver a happy 71st birthday. What the...?
  • Nash, Bischoff, and Rude seem to be the nWo announcing team tonight.
  • Bischoff says they are going to take care of Lex Luger tonight.
  • Rude: "What's the problem with Steiner? Is he looking for a fire hydrant?"
  • Rude is claiming that Sting ended his career by breaking his neck in Japan. Is that true?
  • When it was all said and done, The Steiner Brothers and Ray Traylor wound up being kings of the hill over Konnan, Norton, and Vincent. Basically a teaser for their Starrcade match.
  • In case you didn't watch Nitro tonight, TNT is showing A Christmas Story twelve times in a row in one day. Obviously a movie that Scotty Riggs never watched as a child.
• WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion Curt Hennig pinned WCW World Television Champion Disco Inferno with a Fisherman's Suplex. Presumably, the TV Title was not on the line.
  • Rude: "Giant's brain is like a BB rolling around in a boxcar"
  • Nash: "My 18-month-old took his action figure of the Giant and flushed it down the commode. I think I'm going to do the same thing to the Giant."
  • Sign: "Disco Inferno Is A Fag"
    Nash: "There's one of Disco's fans with a sign."
  • Nash talks about what great sportsmen the nWo are and how they play by the rules.
  • Hennig puts a rubber band in and gives himself a ponytail in the middle of the match.
  • Hennig pulls Disco up after a two-count.
  • Disco gets a little offense during the match, but the outcome was never in doubt.
• Bobby Heenan comes out and begs for a position with the nWo, definitely playing the "Weasel". They let him join the broadcasting team.
• Harlem Heat defeated Scotty "Ahoy, matey!" Riggs and Lodi when Booker T. pinned Lodi after the Big Apple or Heat Seeker. Hell if I know.
  • No Jacqueline. I guess the rumors of her departure are true. The rumor is that she was fired when she refused to let Elizabeth beat her up during the Randy Savage/Booker T. match last week.
  • "Lodi sucks!" chant from the crowd.
  • The nWo announcing team, strangely enough, has a lot of praise for the Harlem Heat.
  • Mike Tenay is forced to join the nWo broadcasting team. Rude to Tenay: "As long as you call it like I see it, we won't have any problems."
  • Riggs is in for the beginning. When Lodi finally gets tagged in, crowd cheers when he gets beaten up.
  • The guy in the front row with the big hat is arguing with Flock. I'd love to see him get his ass kicked.
  • Harlem Heat is crushing Lodi, and Carl Ouellette, I mean Scotty Riggs, is hanging out on the apron, letting the beating occur.
  • As Lodi was getting finished off and pinned, Captain Bligh left the apron and went back to his seat.
• Oh, my God! The McDonalds McRib sandwich is back. What are they thinking?
• I guess nWo Nitro means that the Nitro Girls no longer appear.
• Buff Bagwell pinned "Lionheart" Chris Jericho following the Buff Blockbuster.
  • Buff: "I'm Buff. I'm tough. I'm the stuff. And the girls just can't get enough."
  • Buff took a legit shot in the face from Jericho during the match.
  • Commercial break. That nWo commercial with "International Male Model" Syxx has Syxx looking retarded and drunk. Check out next time how stupid he looks.
  • "Bagwell sucks!" chant.
  • Bagwell spits at the guy in the front row with the big hat.
  • Bagwell hits the Buff Blockbuster out of nowhere.
  • After the match, Bagwell decks referee Mickey J.
• Here comes the nWo en masse. *yawn*. The only exciting thing is the battery powered flashing Santa hat that Bischoff is wearing. This whole segment is so they can give Hogan a ring that's a solid gold replica of the Heavyweight belt. Then they honor him for being the only wrestler ever to be on Sports Illustrated, not that long ago, and they show the cover on the big screen. Not that long ago??!! It was April 29th, 1985! What a horrible segment!! Boy, no one is going to watch nWo Nitro after this show. Well, no one except Chan and Charlie.
• Randy "Macho Man" Savage pinned "The Total Package" Lex Luger following a flying elbowsmash from the top turnbuckle (with a little help from his friends).
  • Luger is house-a-fire early but Savage comes back.
  • Savage puts Luger head first into the steps outside the ring. Luger's head might have come to within a foot of the steps.
  • Luger then pitches Savage into the front row.
  • Back in the ring, Savage ducks the bionic elbow and Randy Anderson eats it and he's out.
  • Back outside the ring, Bagwell Pearl Harbors Luger outside the ring. Nash then comes in and jackknifes Luger. Then Macho Man delivers the big elbow from the top turnbuckle.
  • Bagwell revives Randy Anderson so he can make the three count.
• Hogan and Bischoff come to the ring and Hogan goes on about how the pressure is on Sting and he can't take it. A crew guy brings another present from Hogan, and Bischoff says it's not from him. Bret Hart comes in on the limo and stands in the aisle and smiles. Hogan opens the gift and it's a model of his severed head. Hogan looks at Bret and says "Did you do this?" Bret just stands and smiles. Sting appears above the entranceway, starts rappelling to the ring. Fade to black...
• Wow, that show really sucked ass. Multiple entire sequences of nothing with the only real highlight being the luchadore match (which is ironic given that it is rumored that Bischoff is tiring of the luchadores). I guess, for whatever reason, they couldn't fanagle the dismantling of the WCW set in Baltimore so they figured, screw the buildup to the big angle, we'll just do it a week early. No one will notice. Way to deflate everyone right before Starrcade, guys.

• Trivia Answer: Sapphire, aka the late Juanita Wright.
• I'll see you next with my arena report from Starrcade.

I just got back from the Monday Nitro held in the Macon Colisieum. I just wanted to let you know that after the show was over, Sting and Scott Hall fought an entire match complete with referee. Sting repelled down into the ring and Hogan started looking around in shock and talking to Bret Hart. It looked to me like Hart was in with WCW and not nWo because he just smiled and walked away with a smirk on his face while Sting was staring at Hogan. Then, Hall came out and stood a few minutes with Hogan. Hogan looked like he was going to go to the ring to fight Sting, but Hall was holding him back. Hall took Hogan aside and said something into Hogan's ear and then Hall took the ring. Sting took off his long coat and stood there with his gloves still on. They finally locked up and Sting threw him across the ring.
Finally the match began and Hall would get in a few good blows to Sting but then Sting would counter back and the crowd was about ten times louder than they had been all night. The match went back and forth like this for a good fifteen minutes with Sting slamming Hall once and getting in a few good blows to Hogan who was on the side the entire match. Sting let out a few yells to work the crowd up.
Finally at the end of the match, Sting threw Hall into the turnbuckle and got him with a Stinger splash. Then Hogan came in the ring, Sting threw both of them into a turnbuckle, and proceeded to splash both of them. They stumbled around a couple of seconds and fell. Sting then helped Hall to his feet and Scorpion Death Dropped him. The ref counted as Sting got the three count.
All said and done, Nitro was pretty sucky but this match really left the crowd fired up for Starrcade.

T-Bo sends in the following arena report:

• My cousin Nathan and I decided to go to Nitro in Macon. He hadn't seen a card since before Slamboree 1996 and I hadn't seen a card since a month after Ric Flair's "retirement" (11/94). We have the cheap seats, opposite the camera, so I even though we ordered the day after tickets went on sale, we got some of the last seats.
• We're at the Coliseum at 7:00 and the line to get in was a mile long. Seems some bonehead only opened one door to enter. While there we start noticing some signs (Tenay is a pimp, etc.). We both want to see Flair, but know that the chances are next to nil. Interesting, we pass by the area with all the trucks and notice a white limo and we hope it's Flair.
• We get in the building at 7:20 and want to try and find merchandise, mainly one of those Flair signature series t-shirts. There's about 50 people in line at the souveneir stand and only two people taking up money. No Flair t-shirt to be found. Darn!
• The dark match is a couple of guys I don't recognize -- Nathan says the one that looked like Renegade was Horace Boulder and the other guy that got the win was named Jerry something (not Flynn), maybe J.W. Storm.
• Penzer goes through his entire announcements and is subsequently booed. He says we're 3 hours tonight. Darn! I set the VCR to record 2 and a half hours. We see a hanging rope. (Note: This comes into play later) About 5 minutes before the show, Tony, Larry, and Tenay come out. Nice ovation for the Living Legend.
• Here's all the signs we saw that were good. I don't know how many made it on the air.
  • "Bring back Missy Hyatt"
  • "Bischoff molests Syxx"
  • "Hogan fears my granny"
  • "Check Eddy for lice"
  • "Sting fears Santa Claus"
  • "Nitro Girls, Space Mountain... Think about it"
  • "Greazy Guerrero"
  • "WWF fears live TV"
  • (Lodi's sign of the day) "If it's raining, bring your La Parka"
  • "2 Pac ain't dead, he lives in Vienna (GA)"
  • "My name is Hogan I dress in drag"
  • "Bischoff is a woman"
  • "Hennig, this Bud's for you"
  • "Free sausage for Vincent down there"
  • "Savage fears Rogaine"
• Match 1: Finley versus Guerrero
  • The fans had no clue who going to wrestle, so Findlay was initially booed until Eddy came out.
  • Loud "Eddy sucks" chant.
  • Guerrero left the ring pretty quickly, we weren't orginally sure of the verdict until Penzer told us it was a countout.
• Match 2: Mongo versus Meng
  • You could really hear the chops all night long.
  • Pretty loud "Mongo" chant.
  • That chair that Meng used was brought out before the show.
  • Meng got up right after the tombstone.
• DDP interview. Not much to say here.
• Match 4: La Parka, Psicosis, & Silver King versus Misterio, Juventud, & Garza
  • Incredible high spots.
  • That backwards huracanrana (sp?) looked even more incredible live.
• Match 5: Benoit versus Hammer
  • I was checking my video of Nitro and they cut a little speech Benoit made before the match. Something about wanting Raven, who was absent again.
  • The turnbuckle shot was blown and you could tell it.
  • We couldn't tell what Benoit did to rile up Saturn.
  • Benoit is second only to Luger to playing injured.
• Hour 2 starts. When the "Weasel" chants started Heenan looked to crowd and took a bow.
• Oh boy, here comes the nWo. During their takeover, a full 30 minutes was wasted. Nice to see Penzer get dumped. The audio was working as clearly for that and we couldn't hear Buff ask Penzer to join the nWo. Hogan came out for the first time and let me tell you this: The nWo limo was big. Bigger than on TV. Nathan correctly points out Hogan's wife is one of those in the limo. The women are later found to have nWo painted on their rears. Konnan is seen hanging with one of the women for almost the rest of the show.
• Match 6: Steiners versus somebody...
  • I used this match as an excuse to look for a Flair t-shirt more intensely.
  • No luck whatsoever. I do notice however, that there is a two beer limit. Don't want any idiots rushing to the ring.
• They unleash the strobe light so it must be...
• Match 7: Disco Inferno versus Curt Hennig
  • We both mark for Hennig, even though I also mark for Flair.
  • ATTENTION GRABBER #1. A fight in the stands. I haven't been there, but I wouldn't think that the Macon cooler is a great place.
  • Wait a minute, what's Bobby doing at the announcing area? Is he going nWo? No audio for the people in the stands to hear.
• Match 8: Harlem Heat versus Lodi/Scotty Riggs
  • Those breathe-right strips are clearly visable in the cheap seats.
  • What's Tenay doing? Two in one night? [I know now only Bobby turned nWo]
• Match 9: Chris Jericho versus Buff Bagwell
  • Nathan is a big Buff fan. Uh-oh, Bagwell ain't too popular here.
  • ATTENTION GRABBER #2: A second fight breaks out. (Nathan, don't mark for Buff that badly!...)
• Hogan/nWo come out again.
  • When the Stallone shot was brought out, a "Rocky" chant started.
• Match 10: Lex Luger versus Randy Savage
  • That's an ugly shade of pink.
  • Big cheers for Lex.
  • Randy Anderson and Luger rolled out of the ring at about the same time.
• We see a crew working on that hanging rope. They add handlebars to it. Oh, so that's how Sting's coming down.
• Sure enough, in the middle of the rant, here he comes. The rope was lower than you think.
• Hall challenges Sting. Sting accepts. We can't really see how much Sting's been working out; he kept his shirt on.
• Sting DOMINATED. Two or three Stinger splashes, one being a double to Hall and Hogan. Scorpion Death Drop -- it's over.
• We leave and I get home at about 2:00 a.m. I remember seeing Valdosta and Bainbridge signs. In that case, they got home at 3 and about 4, respectively.