wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 08.12.96
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 12.13.25
-Source: Peacock
-Run-Time: 1:31:03
-Happy Birthday Geno!
–Hog Wild is in our rear view and Hulk Hogan is WCW World Champion once again. The second he turned heel, the World Title needed to be back with him and they made sure it happened the next PPV. Now we see how WCW responds. Away we go!
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko
-Casper, Wyoming
-Tony and Larry welcome us to the show and note it is a dark day in WCW as Hulk Hogan is World Champion again and desecrated the belt. They will have footage later in the show. Larry wants to know where The Horsemen, Dungeon, or Luger and Sting were to help The Giant. We do get photos of Hall and Nash beating Sting and Luger at the PPV and it kicks start the nWo ref, Nick Patrick, angle.
High Voltage and Rough and Ready vs. The Dungeon of Doom (w/ Jimmy Hart)
-Morrus starts fast, but gets doubled teamed by High Voltage as they hit a double shoulder tackle. Meng and Barbarian rush in and they hit a double backdrop. Rough and Ready in to turn the tide, but Barbarian catches Enos with a boot to the face for two. Rage in and Barbarian hangs him in The Tree of Woe. That brings Sullivan in and he buries a knee to the ribs. All four men in the ring and they do some weak brawling and separate. Meng hits Rage with a superkick for the pin at 2:30. Okay then!
Winners: The Dungeon of Doom via pin at 2:30
-You give an 8 Man Tag less than three minutes? Blah! DUD
-Peacock commercials!
-Sting and Lex Luger are out and they aren’t following any format as they throw out a challenge to The Outsiders. The crowd wants to see it, but no Hall or Nash.
-Glacier is still in a back lot doing martial arts, while I resist the urge to scream out Mortal Kombat!
-Peacock commercials!
Renegade vs. Diamond Dallas Page
-Page is already in the ring, but Renegade gets a proper entrance. Page offers a clean break in the corner, then throws a punch, but it misses. Renegade goes to work on the arm, so Page gets to the ropes to force a break. Page stalls a bit before Renegade gets a side headlock and then a shoulder tackle when Page shoves him off. Page misses one clothesline, but hits a second one. He gets a two count and goes to a reverse chinlock. Page puts his feet on the ropes for added leverage. Renegade finally gets to his feet. He hits a series of clotheslines and goes for a suplex, but Page counters into The Diamond Cutter for the pin at 5:42.
Winner: Diamond Dallas Page via pin at 5:42
-This seemed longer. Page was slowly getting that finisher over, but this match was tough to sit through. DUD
-The nWo is backstage in a dressing room. They say they do things on their own time and Hogan mentions WCW is too dumb and can’t even figure out who is the fourth and fifth guy. Hogan hates carrying around the ugly belt and thinks they need a new design. Nash quotes Hogan as he asks Luger and Sting “whatcha gonna do?” Hall wants more birthday cake and wants Booty Man to bring it and that gets a chuckle for Hogan. You could see Hogan was still working out the kinks with this character still.
-Peacock commercials!
-WCW Saturday Night: Horsemen in 8 Man Tag, Giant in action as well!
Jim Powers vs. Konnan
-Konnan misses a clothesline and Powers catches him with one. Hip-toss followed by a slam! Konnan was leaning towards the dark side around this time and was only weeks away from going to The Dungeon of Doom. It tied into Hogan’s turn, as Konnan saw what he did and felt it was the right move for him as well according to Tony. After stalling on the floor, Konnan gets Powers in a submission as the crowd starts a “USA” chant. Powers runs Konnan into the corner and bounces his head off the top buckle. Dropkick from Powers! Konnan gets the feet up in the corner and uses the ropes to get a pin at 3:17.
Winner: Konnan via pin at 3:17
-We are off to a fantastic start here with some short, bad matches. Konnan cheating to win is fine as he was getting over the new character. DUD
-Gene is in the ring to interview Konnan and he tells people to shut up. He takes a shot at the nWo and says he is sticking behind WCW, but has a plan.
-Peacock commercials!
Ron Studd vs. Chris Benoit (w/ Woman and Miss Elizabeth)
-Again. Liz is leather! This is Studd’s “debut” as they want us to forget he was The Yeti. I can understand why. Benoit talks trash and slaps Studd in the face. Studd chokes him in the corner and lays in chops. He charges, but Benoit gets the feet up and clips the knee. He stomps at the knee and drops his weight on it before flashing the 4 Horseman sign to the crowd. He continues to work the knee and wraps it around the post a couple times. Studd fires off elbows and gets a slam as he rallies in the match. He heads up top but Benoit dropkicks him to knock hi off balance and hits a superplex for the win at 3:35.
Winner: Chris Benoit via pin at 3:35
-The superplex makes it better than the three previous matches. *
-Gene in the ring with Benoit and the ladies. Woman makes advances towards Gene as always and I was always a fun of that running gag. Benoit has words for Dean about an agenda, but I stare at Liz. Benoit has The Giant this Thursday at The Clash and that is why he got to run through Studd here. Makes sense!
-Peacock commercials!
-Tony and Larry fill time to hype what’s still to come as we are under 30 seconds to the start of Hour Two.
-Hours Two Announce Team: Eric Bischoff and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
WCW World Tag Team Titles: Harlem Heat (c) (w/ Sister Sherri and Colonel Parker) vs. The Steiner Brothers
-Heenan immediately asks Bischoff where he was last week and Eric just says he was taking care of some business and moves on. Hmm! The Steiners attack at the ball. Booker takes a high backdrop. The Heat hit the floor and regroup with Parker and Sherri. This is a rematch from Hog Wild. Scott starts with Booker and Scott gets a powerslam. Overhead belly-to-belly and Booker rolls to the floor. Stevie Ray rushes in and he gets knocked to the floor as well. We start again with Rick getting a suplex on Rick and Scott on to hook a headlock as we head to a break at 3:02.
-60 seconds of Peacock commercials!
-Back at 4:06 with Booker going to the eyes of Rick. He tries a suplex, but it’s blocked and Rick gets his own suplex. Booker bails again, but Rick gives chase. Stevie Ray decks him and gets a slam on the floor. Back in the ring Booker tries a leap, but gets planted with a powerslam. Hot Tag to Scott and he runs wild with clotheslines. Butterfly suplex on Booker gets two. Rick in to sends Stevie to the floor. Scott sends Booker out with a clothesline. He tries to suplex Booker back in, but Sherri grabs the leg and trips. She holds on to the leg, but Parker is in the ring and trips over the pin to cause a DQ at 6:24.
Winners: The Steiner Brothers via pin at 6:24
-Okay match, but a dumb ending hurt things. **
-We get video from Hog Wild where Medusa gets to destroy a Japanese Bike with a sledgehammer. Somewhere HHH was watching and got an idea.
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio Jr (c) vs. Ultimo Dragon (w/ Sonny Onoo)
-Dragon throws kicks to back Rey up. Rey gets too close and Dragon unleashes a series of kicks and drops Rey. Airplane Spin into a backbreaker gets two. Dragon with a hand spring elbow in the corner as he is showing off. Running powerbomb! I love that move. Dragon up top, but Rey gets his feet up to block. Rey ends up on the apron and springs into a head scissors. That sends Dragon to the floor so Rey hits a flip dive over the top. This was the stuff that blew my mind watching live in 1996. Back in the ring Rey comes off the top again, but Dragon dropkicks him on the way down. Dragon fakes a dive in a move that Rey would use as the 6-1-9 and then hits a suicide dive that sends both men into the railing. Backdrop by Rey, but Dragon lands on his feet and gets a bridging suplex for two. Dragon up top and a moonsault gets a two count. Springboard moonsault press follows. Dragon sets for another powerbomb, but Rey rolls over and gets a sunset flip for the pin at 4:38.
Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio Jr at 4:38
-Heck of a 4 minute match here. Dragon dominated, but showed off one time too many and Rey caught him. ***
-Peacock commercials!
Ric Flair (w/ Woman and Miss Elizabeth) vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage
-The nWo angle has pushed this feud to the back burner, but Savage is still quite pissed, so it’s on sight. Savage sprints to the ring and they start trading chops and punches. Savage gets the better of it. Backdrop sends Flair flying and Savage goes to a choke. He then stands on Flair’s face as the ref tries to pull him off. Flair begs off and catches Savage with a thumb to the eyes. Savage just ignores it and starts firing off right hands again. Flair Flop and he bails to the floor. He tries to hind behind the women, but Savage just runs through them. They brawl in the aisle and Flair turns the tide as we take a break at 2:16.
-45 seconds of Peacock commercials!
-Back at 3:04 and Liz lands a slap to the face. Savage lunges at her, but Flair pulls him back. They start trading punches in the corner again and once again, Savage wins the exchange. What they are doing is simple but there is so much anger and intensity. Savage up top, but gets caught with a punch to the gut on the way down. Flair sends Savage to the floor and Woman gets in a kick to the ribs this time. Flair goes to the knee and Bischoff notes that is the most vulnerable point on any athlete’s body. Yeah, we all noticed this past Sunday in the NFL where Mahomes and Parsons had their seasons ended. My 49ers felt the pain earlier in the year when it happened to Bosa. Flair with a knee-breaker and he hooks the Figure Four. Of course he grabs the ropes for extra leverage, but the ref catches him and Savage is able to toll to reverse the pressure. Flair hits a belly-to-back suplex for a two count. Once again Flair makes the mistake of trading punches. Speaking of mistakes, he heads up top and Savage slams him down. Flair Flip in the corner and he runs the apron right into a Savage clothesline. The ref gets decked as Flair missed Savage with a clothesline. Hulk Hogan wanders down with a chair and just PLASTERS Savage on the back of the head. Nick Patrick just happens to be in the ring helping the previous ref. Hogan rolls Savage into the ring and Flair covers for the pin (with his feet on the ropes of course) at 9:45.
Winner: Ric Flair via pin at 9:45
-As I have said countless times, these two could fight forever I would never complain. These two are just great together and this was no exception. ***1/4
-We go back to Hog Wild and get still pictures of Hogan beating The Giant for the World Title and tagging it with the nWo letters for the first time. Heavy stuff for the time!
-Now we get video from Hog Wild where Booty Man brings Hogan a birthday cake and then gets beaten down by the group. There’s the spray painting of The Big Gold Belt! Good stuff!
-Gene is in the aisle and Hogan heads out for an interview. Hogan notes he wanted Flair to be 100% when he faces him at The Clash of the Champions.
Sting and Lex Luger vs. The Outsiders
-This is the first time Hall and Nash have wrestled on Nitro and only their third match in the company (not counting all the older stuff). This is a rematch from Hog Wild where Patrick may or may not have cost Luger and Sting the win. Patrick is again the ref and there is no Sting to start. Luger attacks and runs The Outsiders into each other. Now Sting is here and he comes off the top with a cross-body. They clear the ring and The Outsiders regroup on the floor. Eric is still saying they are going to try to bring the advertised Giant vs. Arn Anderson match. Sting with a sling shot cross-body to the floor on Nash. He runs him into the railing, but Hall attacks from behind. Eric tells us that Savage is getting stitches in the back of his head. Not sure if that’s a shoot, but that chair shot caught him in the right spot. Nash hits a sidewalk slam on Luger. Eric wants to know why Patrick didn’t call a DQ when Sting was tossed over the top. Sting back with a double clothesline. Bulldog to Hall! Stinger Splash to Nash! Stinger Splash to Hall, but he moves and Sting cracks into the post and falls to the apron. Hall boots him to the floor and here comes The 4 Horsemen to end this one at 3:50.
No Contest at 3:50
-This was more angle than match, but it’s all good. I like that it was 4 minutes of chaos and we didn’t need a winner. **
-Replay shows Nick Patrick pulled Hall out of the way of the Stinger Splash.
-Gene is with The Horsemen. Flair says he doesn’t like Luger or Sting, but he will play ball with them since they are WCW. Flair explains to Hogan what it means to be a bad guy. He tells Nash he has Mongo waiting for him and Arn waiting for Hall. Whoever is the 4th man gets Benoit. He yells Hogan a lot as Gene rushes to the wrap the show.
-Thanks for reading!
