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Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 1.20.97
Loading...-Written: 5.23.26
-Run Time: 1:38:25
-Plug: Halloween Havoc 94
-My Halloween Havoc review was the last one I was able to do before the main library left Peacock. I didn’t have a way to check out WCW shows anymore (unless I had them on VHS) so I decided to start going through the NXT PPV and those shows are up next. With that little bit of house cleaning out of the way, we get back to our weekly dose of Nitro.
-Announce Team: Hour One: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko
-United Center, Chicago, IL
-Randy Savage rushes the ring through the crowd dressed in all black with some white accents. This is the first we have seen of him since Halloween Havoc, where he lost to Hogan. He throws a chair in the ring and the crowd is jacked to have him back. He claims he has been blackballed and isn’t leaving until he talks to someone with major stroke. He plans on staying all night and tells Bischoff to kiss his ass. Tony tells us that Chavo vs. Maxx Muscle is supposed to be the first match. Savage grabs the mic and says, “I’m waiting.”
-Chavo’s music hits and we have a ref in the ring. Larry notes it will be hard to wrestle with Macho in the. Actually, would probably make it a better match. Chavo pleads with Savage and that’s not the smartest thing to do right now. The crowd is getting a little annoyed by this now as Chavo spends five minutes trying to convince Savage to leave. Macho finally gets up and punches Chavo in the face and pitches him over the top to a big reaction. Maxx is out next and Savage attacks him and sends him to the floor. Savage slaps the ref in the face and he is tossed to the floor. Doug Dillinger down and Savage shoves him on his ass. Here’s Alex Wright and good luck sir! Right hand and Savage kicks him out of the ring. The crowd is fully behind Savage as they are here of the chaos. The Steiners and Amazing French Canadians are watching from the aisle annoyed. STING RAPELS FROM THE CEILING FOR THE FIRST TIME! Larry is still harping about Sting being nWo. Sting points the bat at Savage and then enters the ring. He gets Savage up from his chair and pushes him back with the bat. He threatens to hit Savage and then hands him the bat. Sting turns his back and Savage throws the bat back to him and they leave together.
-We go back a few weeks as Chono turns on New Japan and goes nWo. He then gets disqualified beating the crap out of Jericho and will have a rematch at Souled Out.
Alex Wright vs. Chris Jericho
-Lockup and Wright sends Jericho across the ring. Another go and this time Jericho sends Wright flying across the ring. Suplex from Wright as he controls the arm. Jericho reverses but gets punched in the face. Wright beat him down and gets booed by the fans. Jericho back with an arm-drag and then a dropkick for two. Chop to the chest, but he misses a clothesline and Wright hits a side kick. Euro Uppercuts and we get a boring chant from a handful of annoyed fans in the crowd. They trade roll-ups and Jericho gets a victory roll for the pin at 2:25.
Winner: Chris Jericho via pin at 2:25
-That was brisk. Basically the early feeling out moments of a good match, but never got past the feeling out part. *
nWo Sting vs. Scotty Riggs
-This crowd sat through Taker vs. Faker so kind of fitting they get a bogus Sting match. Riggs lands a back elbow followed by a dropkick and another. Backdrop sends fake Sting flying. Riggs gets caught though and dropped with a stun-gun. Backbreaker gets a one count. Riggs gets a boot up to block a charge in the corner and comes off the middle ropes with a missile dropkick. Riggs pulls off the count as he sees Bagwell in the aisle and he debuts the Buff nickname. nWo runs in and it’s a non finish at 2:45.
Winner: Scotty Riggs via DQ at 2:45
-Wait, the nWo force Penzer to announce something else.
Winner: nWo Sting via count-out at 2:45
-Not sure who this was worse force: Riggs who they didn’t give a win over fake Sting or fake Sting who they didn’t get a win over the lost American Male. 1/2*
-This Saturday Night at 6:05 PM: Arn, Benoit and Mongo in Six Man Tag Action, Harlem Heat vs. Public Enemy and more! -Ric Flair was with Chicago Blackhawk, Bob Prebert, last week and they have words for the nWo. Just want to mention my Penguins swept Chicago in the 92 Cup Finals! Sorry, CM Punk as I know that’s a sore spot for you.
Arn Anderson and Mono (w/ Debra) vs. Eddie Guerrero and Jeff Jarrett
-Mongo is over huge being back in Chicago. Oh, and I know it can be “Eddy,” but WCW keeps putting “Eddie” on his graphic, so I am just rolling with that. Tony notes the crowd tonight is the biggest to see a wrestling show in 1997. He then adds Chicago as a qualifier. I was about to say because WWF had The Rumble at the Alamodome the previous night. Arn and Jeff start this one. Jarrett off the top with a cross-body for two and makes the tag to Eddie. He gets backed into the Horsemen corner and punches his was out. The crowd goes crazy as Mongo wants the tag. Arn obliges and Mongo looks pumped to be working in front of this crowd. Mongo with a shoulder tackle and Eddie sells it like a CHAMP. Gorilla Press Slam but wiggles down and gets an arm-drag. He lands a dropkick, but gets backdropped to the floor. Mongo sends Eddie into the railing and the crowd roars. Tag back to Arn and Jarrett is back in as well. Mongo rushes in and Jarrett gets a slam on him. Dropkick to Arn and one to Mongo. Eddie is gone as he has run to the back. Spinebuster to Jarrett as Tony notes Syxx was out on a ladder and Eddie took off after him. Probably should have showed that on camera. Arn hooks a Boston Crab and Mongo works over Jarrett, so Debra throws in her sash to end the match at 3:38.
Winners: The Horsemen via ref stoppage at 3:38
-Dumb ending as Debra wasn’t even in the corner of Jarrett and Eddie. The Mongo/Eddie section was the best part of the match. *
-Gene brings out Ric Flair and the rest of The Horsemen including the women are out as well. Flair wants them to be Horsemen first and then take care of the women. Arn says this a man’s game and the Horsemen will endure as long as the names Anderson and Flair are part of it. Mongo just wants to celebrate with his fans and is proud to be a Horsemen. It’s pretty great how much Mongo gets cheered and then Debra gets BOOED out of the building. Mongo and Benoit still have some issues.Debra gets in a dig at Woman for good measure.
-They replay a Bischoff nWo vignette that was show on Saturday Night. The important part is Eric notes that Savage will never work in a WCW ring again. That clears up why Savage noted he was being blackballed. I wonder if Savage can find someone to get him back in the game. Liz continues to be great at being disgusted as she is forced to get some handheld footage. Even in black and white, she is still a stunning woman.
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Ultimo Dragon (c) (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. Dean Malenko
-Lockup and Dragon gets a side headlock. ECW chant from a small group in the crowd. Perhaps the same group that was chanting boring earlier. Dragon with a dropkick and fires off kicks to the legs and then a spinning kick. Dragon charges and gets caught with a powerslam for two. Another powerslam from Dean for two. Brainbuster for two! Tony plugs tomorrow’s Clash of Champions. Clink the link for my old review. They battle to the floor and Dragon sends Dean into the railing. Back in he heads up, but Dean sets him on his shoulders and gets a roll-up for two. Dragon gets one for two. They fight up top again and Dragon gets a rana for a two count. More kicks from Dragon, but Dean catches the leg and gets a submission. Dragon gets to the ropes. Dragon escapes a suplex and gets a roll-up fort the pin at 4:15.
Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Ultimo Dragon via pin at 4:15
-Short, and really not even sure why they had this match as they were facing off the next night at The Clash. Fine for the time given. **1/4
-Hour Two Pyro!
-Announce Team: Hour Two: Tony Schiavone, Mike Teny, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Earlier in the show Sting confronted Randy Savage and they walked out together.
WCW World Television Title: Steven Rega (c)l vs. Jacques Rougeau (w/ Colonel Parker)
-ENGLAND vs. CANADA! One country is dying for a World Cup and the other a Stanley Cup. Parker gets a trip on Regal and Jaques stomps him down. Parker with a right hand and Jaques attacks from behind on the floor. Back in the ring Regal blocks a back drop with a kick to the chest. Parker grabs Regal’s leg again, so Regal stomps his hand. Parker in the ring and accidentally decks Jacques and I guess that’s a DQ at 1:53.
Winner and Still WCW World Television Champion: Steven Regal via DQ at 1:53
-Another super short “match.” Lot of bad finishes with this show. They have 1000 people on the roster so put someone in the ring that will do a job. 1/4*
-nWo Souled Out commercial!
-Lee Marshall is on The Road with 1-800-Collect in Milwaukee and makes another weasel joke. I enjoy the running gag!
Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Chris Benoit
-These two are facing off at The Clash tomorrow night as we get another preview per Tony. Benoit jumps Sullivan in the aisle and the brawl is on. They fight through the crowd and head into the bathroom. Benoit gets run into a bathroom stall door and then into the wall as Heenan notes “he looks flushed.” This really needs Dusty on commentary. Woman is in there screaming as she wants them to stop. Benoit breaks a sign over Sullivan’s head. Dillinger tries to separate them and gets shoved down. They fight back out to the concourse where a mob scene is there to greet them. We get the sweet visual of the cameraman trying to fight through the crowd. We can’t see the action, but it makes for a chaotic scene and you weren’t seeing anything like on RAW at this point. They fight back to the aisle and Sullivan smashes a cup of beer on Benoit. A fan start throws a beer on both of them. Benoit throws a soda at Sullivan and once they are back in the ring, we get a bell. Benoit preps for a top rope suplex, but Sullivan punches his way out. Sullivan tries for The Tree of Woe, but Benoit slips out and fires away with chops in the corner. Low blow from Sullivan. They end up cracking heads as the ref is with Woman. Hart slides the ring bell into the ring and Sullivan uses it to block the flying head-butt and Sullivan gets help from Hart to get the cover and pin at 1:55.
Winner: Kevin Sullivan via pin at 1:55
-The match wasn’t much, but the whole thing was fun fight and I assume it was put here as a way to hard sell tomorrow’s Clash. Benoit loses another match which proves Mongo’s point from earlier. *** for everything.
-The entire nWo is out and they run Tony, Mike, and Heenan away from the commentary desk. I always enjoy Heenan’s terrified sprint away from trouble. In this case he is gone even before the camera can cut back to them. Bischoff, Dibiase, and Nash take over commentary duties.
Pierre Oulette (w/ Colonel Parker) vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (w/ WCW Flag)
-Nash wants to rush the ring and tag Duggan, but Bischoff tells him to wait as they have other business. Bischoff is changing things on the show as Chono will be having a match and he is also putting Hall in a match. Duggan sends Pierre to the floor with a clothesline. Jacques is out and keeps Duggan from grabbing the 2×4. That lets Pierre take advantage and he drops a leg off the middle ropes. The Steiners are out and take Jacques out. Scott decks Pierre and Duggan hits the taped fist right hand for the pin at 1:59.
Winner: Jim Duggan via pin at 1:59
-Just a run of very short matches and yet, the hot crowd is eating it up. DUD
-We flashback and see the issues with DDP and The Outsiders and how it culminated last week with Page hitting Hall with a Cutter to a big pop.
Squire Dave Taylor vs. Masa Chono
-Bischoff sends Patrick down to be the ref for this one. Chono offers a handshake and Taylor doesn’t accept, so Chono attacks him from behind at the bell. Shoulder tackle off the middle ropes. Taylor with a sunset flip but Chono rolls back and neither man can get the pin, so it’s a stalemate. Another go as Ted and Eric do the hard sell for the nWo PPV. Double axe from Taylor sends Chono to the floor. Taylor follows and sends Chono into the railing, which he no sells. This is kind of a clash of styles. Back in the ring Chono gets an inverted atomic drop and hits a running boot. STF finishes at 2:36.
Winner: Masa Chono via submission at 2:36
-Weird one and another very short match. The crowd was kind of checked out on this one. A rather clean match considering the nWo and their ref were involved. 1/2*
Booker T (w/ Sherri) vs. Scott Hall
-This was supposed to be Rick Steiner vs Booker, but as noted, Bischoff changed things and Hall gets the match. Nash mentions that he and Hall fought in the first PPV in this building. He and Bischoff take shots at the Rumble and Eric tells the fans to stop wearing nWo merch at the competition’s shows because they feel bad. Hall gets a big reaction as outside of Sting and Savage, he looks like the biggest star on the show. Booker slaps Hall in the face to start. Hall goes to work on the arm and shoulder and gets a backdrop, but keeps arm control. He slaps Booker in the back of the head, but Booker responds with a hook kick that pop Bischoff. He always had a thing for kicks. Booker with another take down and hits the spin-a-roni to a strong reaction. He hits another side kick but dives at Hall and gets caught with the SOS Slam, and I smile because Dibiase even says “SOS.” Booker with an elbow to knock Hall off the ropes. Booker comes off with a cross-body and it only gets a slow two count. Booker goes after the ref which lets Hall attack and hit The Outsider’s Edge for the pin at 2:50. Oh, and Buff was out to distract Sherri.
Winner: Scott Hall via pin at 2:50
-This is like a precursor of crash TV as it’s just short match after short match and people running down to get involved. Again, the crowd is enjoying it, but has been a different type of show. *1/2
-nWo have their own hotline now. I wonder if all the money for that one went to Hogan?
Stevie Ray (w/ Sherri) vs. Lex Luger
-Nash wants to know what “neckbone” is and if there is anything on it you can eat. Luger gets Hall tomorrow at The Clash of Champions. Patrick is still the ref and Luger has issues with him. Stevie attacks from behind and beats Luger down in the corner. Stevie turns his attention to Patrick and now Luger takes control. Ted leaves commentary to make sure things are good with Hogan. Nash claims WCW is giving the Horsemen merch out for free. Syxx is on commentary now as he is the 8th person to wear a headset tonight. Luger gets a powerslam and Torture Rack for the submission at 2:21.
Winner: Lex Luger via submission at 2:21
-Hey, another short match. *
-Hulk Hogan is out with Ted and Vincent and that leads to Syxx and Nash singing The Bloodhound Gang. You know Nash wanted to drop the MF bomb, but this is TNT. Hogan gets a massive reaction and gives the fans a posing display while Eric and Nash put him over on commentary. Hogan talks shots at The Giant while hyping the PPV and we get Hogan Sucks chants. Hogan talks about Giant’s mother and notes he met Giant in Chicago at a basketball game. Giant is on his way down and security is there to stop him. Nash says he has a gas bubble and can’t help. Ha! Giant fights through security, but the B members of the nWo swarm him as we go off the air.
-Thanks for reading!
