Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 10.28.96

-Written: 02.28.26
-Run Time: 1:39:36

-Plug: Survivor Series 1993

-This is the show after Halloween Havoc and Roddy Piper is now part of WCW. Hall and Nash are now the World Tag Team Champions as well.

-Announce Team: Tony and Larry (Hour One); Eric, The Brain, and Tenay (Hour Two)
-American West Arena, Phoenix, AZ

-Tony and Larry immediately get to last night’s show and we see still photos of Piper making his debut and confronting Hulk Hogan.

WCW World Television Championship: Lord Steven Regal (c) vs. Juventud Guerrera

-Regal won the Title at the end of August and hasn’t been on TV since. Tony notes he has been defending the Title over in Europe. Wonder if that is the real story or if something else was happening? Historic moment as Sting is sitting up in the rafters (well, luxury box) for the first time and the face paint looks better than last week’s debut of the gimmick. There is a match, but we don’t care as the camera goes to Syxx, and he declares we are watching nWo Nitro. He has his eyes set on the Cruiserweight Title and tells Sting to make the right choice. Syxx: “nWo for Life.” Regal and Juvie are just having a grappling match with all the craziness happening in the crowd. Juvie snaps off a rana to get the crowd into the match. Dropkick from Juvie followed by a slam. Another slam and Juvie heads up top. 450 misses as we cut back to Sting in the crowd. Regal Stretch gets the submission at 3:18.

Winner and Still WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal at 3:18
-The last 45 seconds were fun, but the focus was on Sting and Syxx. *

-Tony is set to interview Regal, but we see Sting get up and leave. Tony throws to a break as Regal either doesn’t know he has to do an interview or they timed things wrong.

-The Faces of Fear want us to buy a WCW shirt.

-Back and no Regal interview as we get still photos of Luger vs. Arn last night.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Mike Enos

-Tony brings up Nick Patrick and how no one single ref has ever made a difference in one single event. Well, I guess this was a year before Montreal. DDP with a slap to the face and then we get a lockup. Notice how Page is facing a heel as they are slowly realizing they need to capitalize on the crowd’s reaction to him changing. They battle to the floor and Page sends Enos into the railing. Back in Page hits a sit-out powerbomb for two. Page chokes on the top rope as he is still wrestling as a heel, which is fine. Page off the top with a clothesline and Hall and Nash are in the crowd. Page goes for the Cutter, but Enos pushes him off and gets a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Nasty looking reverse neckbreaker from Enos followed by a leg drop. Enos stares down Hall and Nash and I kind of like that as Enos was in the middle of a match when this all started and Hall first showed up on Nitro. Nash is subtly rooting for Page to start that story. Enos drops Page throat first on the top rope and gets a nice powerslam. Man, I am getting into a Mike Enos match. Another powerslam is attempted, but Page is able to hook his feet on the buckle to block and then slips out to hit a Diamond Cutter for the pin at 4:36.

Winner: Diamond Dallas Page via pin at 4:36
-This was a really fun match and credit to both men for making the most of the 4 plus minutes they were given. **3/4

-Still photos of Dean Malenko winning The CW Title back from Rey Mysterio last night.

Jim Powers (w/ Teddy Long) vs. Dean Malenko

-AC Green of the Phoenix Suns is in the front row and Tony plugs the NBA on TNT as the season starts this Friday. He doesn’t notice Green is wearing an nWo shirt and seems shocked when Larry points it out to him. Tony: “you take Charles Barkley away from them and that’s what happens.” Oh man, I feel old as Tony notes the arena is the home of the Suns and the new Phoenix Coyotes. I wanted a Coyotes Jersey when they debuted because that logo was awesome. I assume this is non-title, but make no mistake as Powers is no cruiserweight. Psychosis is watching from the aisle as he is back from injury. We get some mat wrestling as Larry notes, “muscles does not make the wrestler.” Dean chokes with his boot in the corner and gets a slam into a reverse chinlock. Oh, and Nick Patrick is the ref as always when Teddy Long is out there. Dean with a knee to the gut, but misses a charge in the corner. Powers fires back with right hands and hits an atomic drop. He runs Dean into the top buckle as the crowd counts along. He hits the tenth one on the opposite buckle (cute) and gets a two count off a clothesline. Dean nearly bites it on a leap frog, but stays on his feet. Powers with a right hand for a two count. Running knee by Powers followed by a scoop powerslam. No count though as Long and Patrick are arguing. Powers goes to check and Dean gets a roll-up for the pin at 5:08.

Winner: Dean Malenko via pin at 5:08
-This was solid and Powers put in some work here (like Enos the last match). Interesting choice to put Dean in this match a day after winning back the CW Title, but I guess they wanted to continue the Patrick/Long stuff. **

-WCW Magazine commercial!

-This Saturday Night: Rock N Roll Express vs. Faces of Fear (that match could have rocked in the 80s with the women losing their minds of Morton taking a beating from those two monsters), Benoit vs. Jericho, Jimmy Graffiti, Big Bubba, Kevin Sullivan, and more!

-Still photos of The Faces of Fear vs. The Horsemen. That was a fun match actually.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Ricky Morton

-Missed by the boat by now running this one in Memphis a few weeks back. Lockup and Jarrett gets a side headlock. He blocks a hip toss and hits one of his own, which leads to a strut and a point to the head to prove he is smart. Jarrett walks on Morton’s back and another strut. Morton with an arm-drag and drops a leg on the arm. Jarrett backs off in the corner to get a break. He calls time-out and then kicks Ricky in the stomach. Morton comes off the middle ropes with a cross-body for two. He grabs the arm and Jarrett tries a slam to break, but Morton rolls through. Jarrett drops him throat first on the top rope to break. Jarrett drops his weight on the back as Morton was stuck on the ropes and we get another strut. Vertical suplex as we hear Tony give us the details on how to get tickets to World War III. I wonder if any of those phone numbers are still in use? Jarrett with a slam, and heads up top. He hits a cross-body, but Morton rolls through and gets a two count. Backdrop is countered as Jarrett gets a swinging neckbreaker. Figure-Four, but Morton gets a small package for two. Sunset flip in the corner gets another two count for Morton. Jarrett goes to the knee with a knee-breaker and now the figure-four finishes at 4:35.

Winner: Jeff Jarrett via submission at 4:35
-This was another one that surpassed my expectations and delivered a solid 5 minute match. No shock they had chemistry. **1/2

-The Giant (w/ The US Title) cuts a promo from the nWo entrance in the crowd.

-Tony is with Jarrett and he wants to finish it right now. He wants WCW to unite and makes the mistake of taking a shot at Sting. Uh oh! Jarrett says Hogan will go down and that WCW has been around since 1905 and will be around a long, long time. About that!

High Voltage vs. The Amazing French Canadians

-The AFC sing the Canadian National Anthem, but High Voltage jump them mid-anthem. That’s rude, but so is being a poor sport when he lose a Gold Medal hockey game. We are under 40 seconds until Hour Two starts. Kaos off the top with a double ax to the arm of Pierre.

-Hour Two pyro and that means Eric, Bobby, and Tenay!

-Bichoff calls Tenay, “Mean Mike Tenay”, and that has to be a dig at Gene over the contract issues. Jacques take over on Kaos and The AFC hit a double team hot spot. Great height on that one. Loud USA chant from the crowd. Quick tags in and out by The AFC as they use their sweet tandem offense. The Nasty Boys hit the ring and it’s no contest at 3:43.

No Contest at 3:43
-The AFC have some sweet tandem offense, but this was here to continue the Nasty Boys story. 1/2*

-The AFC hit the floor and The Nasty Boys beat the tar out of Rage and Kaos. They cut a promo about not needing to belong anywhere. They reference Sting and Piper as others that have realized it’s best to be on their own. They want The Outsiders and quote Michael Buffer.

Jimmy Graffiti vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

-Rey poses on the ropes as the bell sounds, so Jimmy brings him down with an Electric Chair. Right hands from Jimmy in the corner. Rey reverses a whip and gets a monkey flip. Jimmy off the ropes with a cross-body, but Rey murders him with a dropkick on the way down. Senton from Rey and a head scissors off the ropes to take Jimmy to the floor. Jimmy reverses a whip on the floor and Rey goes crashing into the railing. Jimmy with a cannonball off the apron. Back in he just tosses Rey in the air and lets him splat on his face. Leg Drop gets a two count. Jimmy hooks a reverse chinlock, which disappoints me, as they were just rolling along. Jimmy misses a clothesline and Rey gets a trip. He hits a back dropkick and then gets the pin with The West Coast Pop at 3:25.

Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr via pin at 3:25
-Another short, but fun match. **1/2

-nWo commercial! BUT THE SHORT! Oh, now there is an nWo hat for $15.

-Lee Marshall is on The Road thanks to 1-800-Collect from Grand Rapids, MI.

-More of AC Green as they plug The Suns/Lakers opener on TNT.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit (w/ Woman)

-We are now to the point where Woman comes out with Benoit and yeah, that’s tough. Benoit is bandaged and taped up after the beating from The Faces of Fear last night. Eric notes that Hulk Hogan is demanding interview time to respond to Piper and they also want TNT to nominate the nWo for a Cable Ace Award. Well, that’s one way to plug the Award Show. Mongo and Debra are out to keep an eye on things. Eddie regroups on the floor as I am not sure if he got dinged somewhere. Back in Eddie with a side headlock as we get an insert promo from Sullivan and Jimmy Hart. Eddie with a shoulder tackle and he continues to sell the ribs. So, he is just really, really good at selling the match he had against DDP from last night and Benoit is selling the Faces of Fear Match. I can dig it! Benoit tears the straps down from Eddie to expose his bandaged ribs and goes to work on them. AC Green is getting a lot of camera time on this show. Hard whip into the corner and Eddie is nearly in tears selling the injury. Benoit with an abdominal stretch and this is kind of funny as both wrestlers are bandaged and selling and so is the ref (Patrick). Pretty weak medical staff in WCW that they cleared both these men for this match. Another hard whip into the corner as this is just a war of attrition. Eric keeps noting that Piper is not part of WCW and just wanted five minutes to confront Hogan. Benoit goes back to the abdominal stretch. Eric apologizes to the USA Today listing Randy Savage for the show as he will not be here tonight. I think there was rumblings he may be gone from WCW and could be heading back to WWF, but that didn’t happen. Randy Savage in 1997 WWF would be interesting. Both men get knocked down and Patrick starts a 10 count. Woman distracts Patrick and Mongo uses the briefcase and Benoit gets the pin at 8:18. Eddie understands cheat to win!

Winner: Chris Benoit via pin at 8:18
-This was way different than any other match between these two as they went out there sell the beating they took in their matches the previous night. It was just selling and two men trying to do what they could to get a win and in the end The Horsemen cheat. **3/4

-Tony is with Nick Patrick, who has his lawyer with him. The lawyer points out Chris Jericho attacked his client last night and that affected his ability to ref Hogan/Savage. Jericho is out and claims there is nothing wrong with Patrick’s neck and he is a paid employee of the nWo. Teddy Long is out and he insults the lawyer and calls Patrick out for sandbagging and trying to hold Jericho back. The lawyer accuses Long of slander and Eric is disgusted by lawyers, while Heenan says it is an honorable profession.

Booker T (w/ Sister Sherri) vs. Lex Luger

-Booker T is fresh of losing the Tag Titles with Stevie to The Outsiders last night thanks to Colonel Parker. We get an insert promo from Parker and he says The Heat don’t blame him and loves his “twinkle eyes.” Luger goes to work on the arm and hooks a side headlock. Shoulder tackle from Luger and he gets a hip-toss. Gorilla Press Slam from Luger, but he kind of drops Booker before catching him again and hitting an atomic drop. Clothesline sends Booker to the floor, where he regroups with Sherri. Tenay notes Luger should have the advantage because Booker is used to tag matches. Fair point! More screen time for AC Green as he gets into an argument with Sherri. Heenan: “If he’s not careful, Sherri will slam dunk him.” Probably true! Eric notes AC Green is getting close to being in the ring. Like NBA players would ever wrestle for WCW. Eric notes the last time we saw Piper, he was the acting President of the WWF and they wish him the best. Back in the ring finally and Luger stomps Booker down to a strong reaction. Booker finally goes to the eyes and hits a sidewalk slam. Booker misses a knee drop from the middle ropes and Luger hits a back elbow as we take a break.

-Again, no commercials on this feed, so just right back to the match. Clothesline from Luger has Booker doing a flip sell and it’s more camera time for AC Green. Luger sets too early on a backdrop and Booker hits an ax kick for a two count. Another sidewalk slam! And another! Booker heads all the way up, but The Harlem Hangover misses. Luger goes for The Rack, but sees Sting in the crowd and stops. Luger jumps the railing and chases after Sting and it’s a count-out at 9:12.

Winner: Booker T via count-out at 9:12
-Booker celebrating and talking trash after that win is pretty funny. Hated the ending though. *3/4

-Sting walks away before Luger can get to him.

-Eric sends us back to Halloween Havoc and we get the Piper/Hogan confrontation. Again, my review can be found here. Great moment and the crowd loved seeing Piper. You also can’t deny that they made a bunch of money from this pairing. Piper: “I am the only guy you have never been able to beat.” Warrior and Sting are two I can think of at this point. The Warrior one didn’t last, but Hogan never got a one on one win over Sting.

-Back to the arena and Hulk Hogan is out with Ted Dibiase. More AC Green as well! The crowd is way into Hogan here. Hogan buries Savage and promises to take real good care of Elizabeth. Hogan goes on about Piper being an admirer, who had fear in his eyes and ran away. Hogan being delusional and just straight lying works as the idea is that Piper’s not part of WCW and not coming back. Hogan poses and plays to the crowd as we close.

-Eric says he is going to do everything he can to see what Piper has to say about this. We are almost there!

-Thanks for reading!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Nitro was always fun when you would random, weird match-ups and we got a good number of those this week. Enos/Page was a pleasant surprise and Eddie/Benoit was something different from them. We are gearing up to Piper/Hogan now and we know where that is leading. Another fun show that doesn't need to be all about BANGERS. This show just had an energy about it and we are still in the wild west days of the nWo, so it's a show that makes me happy.