Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 10.09.95

-I look forward to my weekly dose of this show as it has been a blast going back nearly 30 years, wait, is that right? Man, I am getting old. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Eric Bischoff, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, and Mongo
-Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, IL

-Eric, Mongo, and Bobby are all rocking Chicago Bear jerseys. Eric mentions Chicago is about to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Bears winning Super Bowl XX. We are now about to hit 40 years since that one and only Super Bowl win for the Bears. Seth Rollins hating football somewhere!

-Sting shows up at the announce table and says he will fix things between Lex Luger and Randy Savage.

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) vs. Shark

-Shark attacks before the bell and delivers some clubbing blows. Powerslam followed by an elbow and then a leg drop. Damn! That only gets two for Shark! Splash missed in the corner and that lets Sting hits a Stinger Splash to the back and then another one. Sting off the top with a cross body for the pin at 1:16.

Winner and Still WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Sting via pin at 1:16
-This is what this needed to be. Shark threw what he had at Sting, but he survived and got the clean win in quick fashion. Crowd loved it! *

-Last week Hulk Hogan got attacked by Kevin Sullivan, who was dressed as a grandma in the crowd. Great heel beat down as Giant is out to help and for added measure, they shave off Hogan’s mustache.

-Halloween Havoc commercial!

Sabu vs. Mr. JL

-That rock music for Sabu doesn’t fit him at all. ECW! ECW! Oh wait, that would be a clue as to the mysterious identity of J Lynn. I mean, Jerry L! Sabu starts quickly with a springboard side kick as the crowd chants for him. We then get a “Hogan Sucks,” chant. JL back with a dropkick and a back kick that send Sabu to the floor. Suicide dive from JL. Back in the ring Sabu ducks a clothesline and gets a wheel kick. Somersault plancha to the floor! JL gets sent into the railing and we get Air Sabu off a chair! Cool! JL floats over on a suplex and gets a German Suplex into a bridge for two. Dropkick in the corner! Sabu back as he reverses a whip and gets a clothesline. Middle rope moonsault followed by a camel clutch. JL gets the ropes, so Sabu heads up top. JL lands a punch and hits a SWEET DRAPING DDT! Awesome! That only gets two, but got a groan from the crowd. They fight up top again and JL blocks a rana. He comes off though and gets caught with a powerbomb. Sabu hooks a camel clutch for the submission at 4:30.

Winner: Sabu via pin at 4:30
-This was all action and just wild stuff for the time. It’s still like a fever dream that Sabu was in WCW, but even with how short it was, he was memorable. ***1/4

-Sabu hits a sunset flip powerbomb on the floor after the match as we cut to Eric and friends. They talk about what’s still to come as the crowd reacts to Sabu continuing the beating on JL in a funny bit.

-Mean Gene is in the ring with Sting and Lex Luger and they invite Randy Savage out. Savage wants Lex, so Sting separates the two of them. Sting tells them The Giant is winning and Savage questions why Giant hasn’t hit Sting with the choke slam. Sting accuses him of being paranoid, but again, Savage was on to something here. Sting tells Savage to shut his mouth and listen. Sting plays booker as he says if Luger beats Meng at Havoc and Savage beats Kamala then later that night it’s Savage/Luger II. Savage is cool with it, but Lex has reservations. Sting questions his manhood and Lex agrees to it. Sting was kind of a dick here!

-A limo pulls up outside and it’s Chris Benoit, who is now part of WCW.

-Disco Inferno is out to dance once again and Big Bubba interrupts him this time. Nice tough with Disco having a boom box to play his music. Disco steals a hat from a fan and puts it on a spike on Hawk’s shoulder pads without him knowing. Cute!

Big Bubba vs. Hawk

-Makes sense to have Hawk out there on a show in the Chicago area. We immediately get LOD chants as Bubba attacks before the bell. He gets a splash in the corner and starts firing off right hands. Hawk blocks being sent into the buckle, so Bubba punches him in the gut. Whip reversed, but Bubba slides to the floor and comes back in. He runs into a powerslam and Disco is back out. Hawk rips his shirt off and follows with a clothesline. Hawk gets counted out at 1:39.

Winner: Big Bubba via pin at 1:39
-What was this? Not really even a match and then you have Hawk look like an idiot in Chicago? Blah! DUD

-Mean Gene is back in the ring and brings out WCW World Champion, Hulk Hogan and you can definitely hear the boos. Hogan is out dressed in all black and Gene blames the dark clothes for the reason the fans are booing him. Yeah! Hogan tells Gene to shut up and this is like a quasi Hollywood Hogan some 9 months before it really happened. We are still in the phase where Giant is Andre’s son and I am waiting for the point where they drop that whole gimmick. Hogan wants The Giant out here now, but Gene reminds him Giant has a restraining order. Hogan than goes on a rant cutting a promo on Vince McMahon and comparing the Hulk-a-maniacs to redwood trees. This is something as Hogan was clearly wanting to try something new, but didn’t want to go full heel at this point. He even talks about beating Gorgeous George in heaven.

-Giant shows up in The Dungeon of Doom Monster Truck in the parking lot as Hogan continues his promo. Hogan yells that he can head outside as we see police keeping The Giant from entering with his monster truck. This certainly isn’t boring!

-Halloween Havoc: Machine vs. Machine! Man vs. Man!

Steel Cage Match: Ric Flair vs. Anderson

-One thing WCW had on WWF was the fact they figured out having the cage built and lowered from the ceiling was a million times better than building it right before the match. Two years later WWF was still building the blue bar cage. Bischoff points out a match like this is usually saved for PPV, but we get it here. They quickly tear into each other and Flair gains the advantage with a series of chops and then a right hand that drops Arn. Another one and Arn staggers to the corner. Arn reverses a whip and gets a backdrop out of the corner. Flair gets tossed into the cage and Arn stomps him in the head. He goes to a choke and it’s kind of weird seeing these two wrestle each other. We head to a break at 1:18.

-15 seconds of Peacock commercials!

-Back with Arn hitting a spinebuster for two! We go split screen as they show Arn getting dropped on his balls during the break. Back to the match with Arn getting sent into the cage now and Flair grinds Arn’s face on the cage. Chicago: “We Want Blood.” Arn blocks a whip and sends Flair into the cage again. Now he grates Flair’s head on the cage. Flair shakes it off and hits a clothesline and then struts. AWESOME! Suplex from Flair and both men are out. Brian Pillman is here and he scales the cage! Flair rushes up and knocks him off and to the floor. Flair off the top with a double axe and then he goes after the knee. Figure-Four but Arn got his hands on a foreign object and decks Flair with it to block. That gets the pin at 4:50 as Arn gets another win over Flair.

Winner: Arn Anderson via pin at 4:50
-Short like everything else on this show, but still a fun match. ***

-Flair is pissed as he heads to the announce table. He screams that he will face Pillman and Arn by himself next week as he will continue to look for a partner. Woo!

-Next week: DDP vs. Badd; Eddie vs. Benoit; Duggan vs. Meng; Flair vs. Arn and Pillman!

-Thanks for reading!

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

-Another winner this time as there were two good matches and the two that weren't were at least short. Late 95 WCW continues to be a wild place as you have Sabu working shows while Hulk Hogan gives Hollywood Hogan a test run and Ric Flair is blood feud with Arn Anderson. Just a fascinating watch and I can't wait for the next show!