WCW Monday Nitro - Monday, 02/01/99

Minneapolis, Minnesota

By Jesse

Welcome to Nitro! Wade is off tonight.
The mailbag for last week's WCWSN was my largest ever:
- Aldo observes:
  A few ramblings: a.. Wasn't Prince Iaukea at one time pushed? I was always under the impression that Jerry Flynn was a bigger jobber than Iaukea was. Guess I'm wrong... b.. Something you missed, Tenay called Van Hammer's move a "throwback." Not that it mattered, but I just found that interesting. c.. That 6-man lucha was pretty good, probably could even pass for a Thunder or Nitro.
- Bill Fluty writes:
  This was a pretty good show, but I was disappointed to not see any tag matches. But since WCW has changed in mid-stream again with a new tournament, now double elimination, I guess they truly don't know what they're doing. A natural state, it seems, at WCW. Oh well, at least Disorderly Conduct is still in the tournament with only one loss! If the previous matches count, that is. Good to see the Luchadores back in action. I always like the trio matches they put on; great stuff. However, it appears as if they are back to square one. Wrestling against each other in great matches, and jobbing to everyone else. While I don't mind seeing Vincent win a match now and then, it's painful to see Damien have to come out and take the loss. Ditto with El Dandy. Some things never change. Kaos wrestling singles again? I thought he just teamed with Bobby Eaton for the tournament? Oh well, this is WCW.
- 'Morgguy' asks:
  Concerning last Saturday's "Main Event," did you catch, I believe it was Scott Hudson saying that the people in the crowd were "bowdy bowdy AND/OR rowdy rowdy?" Note the "and/or". Where do they get their announcers. Bring back "The Dean" Gordon Solie for all our sakes.
- Finally, Wil W. from Clemson University notes:
  I don't know if anyone noticed but Van Hammer was in full hippie character Saturday. He went so far as to "roll a cigarette" in the air after giving his peace signs. This is certainly in keeping with WCW's "high" moral standards.
We are live from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.
Pre-Show Dark match: Rob Kellum defeated Chris Adams.
We begin with a shot of Hennig and Windham discussing a possible shot at Hall and Nash in the tag tournament.
Tony, Mike, and Larry are in the booth.
- Tony takes us to footage from earlier in the day.
- The Nitro Girls are rehearsing.
- Big Poppa Pump comes out and starts talking to Kimberly.
- Kimberly backs up, then runs into another Nitro Girl and falls backwards on the ground.
- The Nitro Girls try to revive a knocked-out Kimberly while Steiner exits. One of the cameramen yells for "Coach", that being the trainer Danny Young.
Gene comes out to talk to Konnan and Rey Mysterio, Jr.
- Konnan does his usual bit, then Rey talks about Lex.
- Rey talks about the importance of his mask.
- Rey says he will take Lex out.
- Konnan says shooting a bank teller "ain't cool" and neither are Lex and Nash.
- Rey wants a match with Lex and Kev, with any stipulations.
- Konnan to Kev and Lex: "Too bad you have to sit down in the bathroom to take aim."
nWo Black and White segment
- Horace, Brian Adams, Stevie Ray, Scott Norton, and Vincent are at the airport, trying to get a rental car.
- Stevie Ray finds a limo man with an "nWo" sign.
- The gang wants Vincent to have the middle seat in the limo, but Vincent says he'd rather walk.
- After the limo leaves, Vincent calls Kevin Nash on his cell phone and asks for a ride.
- The Wolfpac limo shows up seconds later and Vince walks in.
The opener airs
Nitro Girls
Fireworks
Flair/Bischoff segment
- Flair and Bisch, along with Dillinger, walk to a dunking tank outside.
- Flair tells Bischoff to get on the board. For those of you unfamiliar, it's a little machine at carnivals that sends a person into a little water tank when it is triggered by a ball hitting its target.
- Bischoff agrees, saying he'll get Flair back.
Nitro highlights
Match 1: Curt Hennig and Barry Windham vs. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko
- Hennig does the Perfectplex on Benoit for the win, and his team advances in the tag tournament.
J.J. Dillion dunks Bischoff, as La Parka struts in delight. All of the luchadores are waiting in line behind Dillon for their chance to dunk Bischoff.
The Wolfpac limo arrives. Stevie Ray complains about Vince to Kevin, but Vince pops out of the limo.
The B-team is shown into their lockerrooms, where girls await them.
Gene chats with Flair
- Flair says it's a beautiful night for Bischoff since he'll be wet all night from people lined up to dunk him.
- Flair says Hogan's not here tonight.
- Flair says the nWo is falling apart, calling Vincent his old WWF name, "Virgil."
- Flair makes fun of Big Sexy's name.
- Flair says Hogan will fight at the PPV.
- Flair says he's tired of Bret Hart's documentaries, and he'll fight Benoit at SuperBrawl.
- Wolfpac music plays, and Hall and Disco enter.
- Flair and Gene do the Wolfpac sign together.
- Hall says no one bosses him around, and that Benoit is the number one contender because he washes Flair's car.
- Hall says he could beat Flair.
- Flair says Hall lives in a fantasy.
- Hall says Benoit doesn't have the ... guts to fight him.
- Benoit comes out and accepts.
- Hall throws the toothpick, so Flair pounds on Disco and Benoit pounds on Hall.
- Flair gives Hall a few crotch chops as the segment ends.
Match 2: Kenny Kaos vs. Van Hammer
- Kaos and Hammer trade elbows to begin.
- Dickenson, still sitting in the crowd, gets up and leaves.
- Hammer boots Kaos, who counters with a shoulder.
- Hammer lands a boot and a slam off the top.
- Kaos lands an elbow and a missle drop kick from the top.
- Hammer wins with the Flashback.
- A man ECW fans know well makes his way down the aisle.
Match 3: Sandman vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
- Sandman walks in the ring post-match with a cane in his hand and barbed wire all around him.
- He grabs the mic, talking about how he's hardcore and various stunts he did in ECW.
- He challenges Bigelow to a match.
- Ads.
- Bam Bam comes out to accept.
- Tony and the rest never call Sandman by his name, but say they're clueless even though he's appeared multiple times in the Raven videos as "Jim".
- Sandman bashes Bam Bam with the cane.
- Outside, Bam Bam catchs Sandman and rams him into the post.
- Back in, Bam Bam delivers a chair shot to the head, headbutt, and another chair shot.
- Sandman counters with more shots with the cane and a bulldog.
- Sandman puts the barbed wire in the corner.
- Both men try to whip each other into the corner. Sandman leg drops Bam Bam.
- Bam Bam lands a DDT on a chair, then whips Sandman into the corner.
- Bam Bam lands a headbutt from the top, then lands Greetings from Asbury Park on the chair for the win.
A cameraman dunks Bischoff.
nWo promo
- Liz thanks Lex for re-forming the group.
- Lex is elated, talking about the plans behind the scheme.
Nitro Girls
Bischoff gets dunked again. They seem to be having camera problems.
DDP segment
- DDP and Kidman are seen talking.
- DDP goes to the Wolfpac room, but Steiner isn't there.
- DDP leaves, and Steiner is shown coming out of a dressing room.
- Steiner shows a black dress as hands guide him back inside the room.
- Kevin Nash tells Vince to tell Page to accept the challenge for Steiner, then slap Page in the mouth.
- Vince tells Disco to do it, only that the slap will be a cue for the Wolfpac.
- Page goes to the ring, then Disco. Disco says Steiner accepts, then slaps Page.
- Page lands the Diamond Cutter.
- Back in the dressing room, Nash calls Vince "smart."
Match 4: Lash LeRoux vs. WCW Cruiserweight Champ Kidman.
- It's about time Lash got a title shot.
- It's the halfway point, but Heenan still isn't out.
- Tenay mentions how impressed they have been with the 22-year-old Lash LeRoux on WCWSN, and Larry comments "This kid can eat more crawdads than anyone".
- Kidman begins with flying headscissors.
- LeRoux uses flying headscissors to send Kidman out, then he lands another pair of headscissors outside.
- LeRoux moves the steps, then catapults himself over Kidman and out into the crowd.
- Kidman lands a lariat over the rails onto Lash.
- Back in, Kidman lands a crossbody.
- Lash lands some sort of powerbomb variation, then chokes Kidman.
- Kidman fights back, but Lash drops, splits, then lariats Kidman. Lash gets a little pop from the crowd for the split.
- Lash goes to the headlock, seemingly the only man in WCW who still knows how to apply one.
- Kidman whips Lash to the corner then splashes him, but misses a frog splash.
- Lash lands a belly-to-belly suplex, then puts Kidman on the top turnbuckle, only to be powerbombed.
- Kidman with a quick whip and lariat.
- Lash lands a fireman's carry slam.
- Kidman lands a bulldog over the corner.
- Lash slams Kidman, then signals for a finisher and makes a piercing Cajun yell.
- Lash misses his powerbomb attempt.
- Kidman lands the Shooting Star Press for the win.
Heenan is at the dunking booth. He says he respects Bischoff, so he'll give him the balls. Instead, he slips and triggers the dunking booth, sending Bischoff into the water.
Hogan is shown in the limo hanging around one of his biker buddies.
Gene chats with Booker T, who will fight Disco at Superbrawl
Match 5: Scott Steiner (w/ Buff Bagwell) vs. Chris Jericho (w/ Ralphus)
- Steiner grabs the mic.
- He says Kimberly is in the back, flirting with the guys.
- He wants to take out Page so he can have Kimberly.
- Jericho tells Ralphus to leave as they walk down.
- Steiner begins with a shove and a takedown, followed by a gorilla press slam.
- Jericho kicks Steiner down, then lands a missile drop kick to the outside.
- Outside, Buff nails Jericho, then Steiner sends him to the rail and lands a chair shot.
- Buff: "I'm innocent! I'm innocent!" He pokes Jericho's eyes. "I must be guilty!"
- Back in, Jericho elbows Scott, but Steiner lands a lariat and sends Jericho into the corner.
- Jericho lands a knee and a dropkick on Buff.
- Steiner lands a suplex.
- Jericho lands a jawbreaker, then a Lionsault.
- Steiner with a lariat and a pumphandle slam.
- Jericho walks away after a kick.
- Saturn, in a dress, walks down and sends Jericho back in.
- Steiner lands a suplex, then applies the Steiner Recliner for the win.
On the set on Mad TV, Bret Hart attacks some guy with a chair, then puts on the Sharpshooter.
Fyre of the Nitro Girls has a solo.
Wolfpac segment.
- Lex, Kevin, and Liz enter.
- Lex rambles a bit then hands the mic to Kev.
- Kev says the match with Rey and Konnan will be Rey's mask vs. Kev's and Lex's hair, which they fluff around. Actually, they tease it's going to be their hair, and then that announce it will be Liz's hair on the line. What's Konnan got to lose?
Match 6: The Cat (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. Scott Norton
- The Cat and Sonny Onoo come out and grab a mic.
- The Cat challenges anyone in the arena.
- Back in the nWo lockerroom, the guys tells Scott Norton that he's being challenged.
- Sign: "Neuter the Cat."
- Norton comes out.
- Norton lands a lariat and a headbutt.
- Norton continues with a splash and a lariat.
- The Cat works on the legs, but Norton picks him up and drops him.
- Norton no-sells a low blow, then chops the Cat more.
- The Cat lands a kick and a jawbreaker.
- Norton with another lariat.
- The Cat tackles Norton.
- The Cat throws Onoo in the way of Norton, then nails him.
- Norton still no-sells.
- Norton lands another lariat, then powerbombs the Cat for the win and a big pop.
Nitro Girls
Goldberg interview
- Gene calls out Goldberg.
- Goldberg says the past is behind him.
- He says he doesn't fear Bam Bam.
- Bam Bam is next.
Flair and Malenko try to dunk Bischoff. Flair chair and runs up to the trigger.
Match 7: Scott Hall vs. Chris Benoit
- Buffer has intros. According to Buffer, Benoit's family tree is legendary in wrestling. Huh???
- The winner will face at Superbrawl, according to Buffer, "Bret 'The Hitman' Clark." Nice.
- Hall comes out with Disco.
- Benoit lands an armdrag, and guess who is at the table to do commentary? Mr. Clark himself.
- Benoit continues with a leg sweep and a couple of snot rockets.
- Bret talks about the Clark family, about how he and Owen Clark were trained by Stu Clark.
- Benoit lands a baseball slide outside, but back in he is tripped up by Disco.
- Clark says hello to Smokey, his cat.
- Benoit lands a dropkick as Mongo makes his way to ringside.
- Mongo beats on Disco as Benoit stomps Hall, suplexes him, and does a crotch chop.
- Mongo drags Disco to Arn and closes the doors as Arn pulls out the tire iron.
- Ads.
- Back, Hall has Benoit in a sleeper.
- Benoit applies his own sleeper, but Hall drops him across the ropes.
- Hall lands a fallaway slam and a lariat.
- Benoit lands a hip toss but misses an elbow.
- Hall decks Benoit, but Chris gets up and lands a lariat.
- Benoit suplexes Hall, executes a backbreaker, and headbutts him.
- Nash runs in, but Benoit nails him.
- Hall takes advantage, setting up Chris for the Razor's Edge and the win.
- It's Hall versus Clark at Superbrawl.
As we go, Hogan and his biker buddy plan an attack on David Flair as he exits his car back in Charlotte. Ric Flair watches in anger on a TV.
Dark match main event: Blitzkreig and Rasco defeated Goldenboy and Fido

Ben from Mankato, MN sends the following arena report:

I was gonna submit this last night, but it was quite a ride back home from the Target Center and I need my beauty sleep.
I now know what to do with your signs if they don't make it on television. You fold them into a paper airplane and chuck them at the ring. Don't know how many people caught the shot of Chris Benoit getting pinged by an orange airplane, but what you didn't see is that it looked like LaGuardia airport before that with paper/tagboard airplanes everywhere during the Hall/Benoit match. I think the biggest cheer of the night was for the airplane that made it to the ring. :)
For the huge "Green Bay Sucks" chant, you can thank Michael Buffer for that. During the commercial break he commented that Elway thinks he's gonna make another super bowl, but Buffer would love to see the Vikes kick his ass! (He said "kick his ass"...it was great) Loved Buffer's slip of "Clark", instead of Hart.
Damn, the Nitro Girls were great, they dance a heck of a lot more then you see on television. Plus, they do all their "best" dances off camera. Lots of pelvic thrusts and jammblies. Fyre's dance got a rise out of every man, woman, and child in the arena... WOW!!!!
The crowd wanted to get into it, but, three hours is a long time to stand on your feet. I went to a previous Nitro where it was two hours, and people were on their feet the majority of the night. There were some big pops for Steiner and Jericho. Norton got some big pops, too. What you didn't see during the commercial break before Steiner and Jericho was that Steiner jumped the rail and took off after a fan. It looked pretty realistic to me, Steiner looked pissed.
The dark match afterwards featured some awesome no-namer luchadors. Blitzkreig/Mosco de la Merced vs. Felino/Superboy. But don't let the names fool you, these guys were AWESOME! Blitzkreig is an a'la Mysterio on caffeine. This guy was doing more flips and wild things. His off-the-turnbuckle move looked more like a freestyle snowboard jump. Fido is a 200-pounder at least, and he was doing moonsaults all over the place. Blitzkreig and Rasco won the match.
I always thought Nitro did some good things in Minneapolis. We couldn't hear any audio from the backstage or outside scenes, but I think we got the jist of what was going on. Shouts out to the boyz at ddt... I held up a www.ddtdigest.com sign all night... but I didn't get on the air :( Oh well, it made a great airplane...

WCW Monday Nitro - Monday, 02/01/99

By Jesse

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