wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 11.18.96
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 03.23.26
-Run Time: 1:38:22
-Plug: Clash of Champions: Jan 1994
-This is a big one that we have been building towards since the nWo angle started.
-Announce Team: Tony and Larry Z (Hour One); Eric, The Brain, and Tenay
-Myrtle Beach, SC
-We start with a cold opening of Hall and Nash standing over The Nasty Boys and High Voltage in the ring. They have chairs in their hands and then get in the face of Tony and Larry. They aren’t so funny now and ask Tony about his bad neck and if he wants to be able to pick up his kids. Tony asks Larry if he wants to step in and Larry throws Tony under the bus by noting Tony laughed at them last week. Nash continues to torment Tony, while Hall cuts a promo on The Faces of Fear. Garbage starts flying in the ring as Hall threatens to slap Larry. “Yeah, go ahead.” Hall continues that he knows the FOF are here and “if they won’t come to us. We will go to them.”
-The Faces of Fear rush The Outsiders in the back and we have a fantastic brawl between the two teams. Sure, The Nasty Boys look like chumps, but The FOF are at least shown to be a threat to The Outsiders.
-Tony tells us about this thing called a “dark match,” and how The Outsiders hit the ring and took out The Nasty Boys. We don’t see the footage, but get to hear the sound. Like radio! Tony is still pissed at Larry, who notes he isn’t Clint Eastwood. Tony is great as he says he doesn’t need this and slams down his headset. He tells Larry to handle this by himself. This is a great opening! There’s the edge and danger from the nWo that was missing at times. Hall and Nash are great when they can be funny, but they have that switch and can be scary when needed.
La Parka vs. Juventud Guerrera
-Juvie jumps off the top at the bell and clears Parka. They start trading chops and dip ups. La Parka with a kick to the face to settle things down. Mikey Tenay has joined Larry on commentary to take the place of Tony and also, give some expertise to this match. Parka with a trip and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Larry notes that Tony is okay and should “be a man.” I bet Randy Savage was watching from home and got an idea! Juvie gets dumped to the floor and Parka hits a sweet suicide dive that sends Juvie into the railing. Back in they fight up top and Parka gets crotched. Juvie springs in and brings Parka off the ropes with a rana for two. That woke up the crowd. Springboard moonsault gets two! Juvie out to the apron and another springboard, but Parka is waiting and hits a dropkick. That gets two. Another dropkick sends Juvie to the floor. Parka up top and FLIES with a cross-body to the floor. That looked great! Back in Parka gets a powerbomb for two. Romero Special but Juvie escapes and falls back for a cover and two count. Juvie off the top with a missile dropkick for two. Parka with a reverse of a whip, but misses a charge and goes shoulder first into the post. Juvie rams Parka’s head off the buckle ten times and gets a two count. Springboard rana off the top gets a two count. Basement dropkick gets two! Juvie with a shove to the corner and gets another rana for two. Slam by La Parka and he heads up, but misses a Senton. Juvie drops an elbow for a two count. Small package from Parka gets two. That looked a little wonky. They seem to be running out of gas. Juvie with a spin kick and a DDT for two. The crowd seems bored, but these two are just throwing out everything they can and I appreciate it. Tornado DDT from Juvie gets two! This is like the Nitro version of Steamboat/Savage with all the two counts. Parka blocks a top rope rana and Parka hits a springboard corkscrew splash for the pin at 9:22.
Winner: La Parka via pin at 9:22
-This was fun with a lot of high spots, but kind of clunky in spots and the crowd was kind of dead. Shame as they were rocking out there. ***1/2
-Ultimo Dragon video package!
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Dean Malenko (c) vs. Ultimo Dragon (w/ Sonny Onoo)
-Dragon has many belts as he is the holder of The J-Crown. I think only Dean’s belt is on the line here but WCW had a habit of muffling the sound of their ring announcers, so I couldn’t hear. Dragon works over the leg as the crowd starts a USA chant. If Dragon wins tonight he defends his new Title against Psychosis at WW3 on Sunday. Spin kick from Dragon and he hits the hand spring elbow in the corner. Dean kind of no sells it and hits a running clothesline. Standing switch and they counters holds until Dean gets a roll-up for two. Dragon reverses for two and then hits a German Suplex into a bridge for two. Tenay mentions the nWo wants Nitro and how they won a lot of perks at War Games. Tenay: “I hate to question Eric Bischoff, but why would he agree to a stipulation like that.” Yeah, I wonder why? Dragon misses a moonsault, so Dean hooks the Cloverleaf. Sonny gets involved, so Dean releases. Dragon charges and Dean accidentally sends him over the top with a backdrop and that’s a DQ at 4:01.
Winner: Ultimo Dragon via DQ at 4:01
-Too short to be anything, so okay for what we got. The finish made sense as Dean wasn’t losing clean and neither was Dragon. Just a taste of what was to come. **1/4
-Saturday Night: Faces of Fear vs. Ciclope and Galaxy, TV Title: Regal vs. Malenko, Anderson vs. Buck, Jarrett vs. Enos, Jericho in action. Sullivan as well and the nWo have their own segment.
-Last week things exploded between Parker and Sherri. We didn’t see it because we had a split screen with The Nasty Boys having issues getting into the building.
The Amazing French Canadians (w/ Colonel Parker) vs. The American Males
-Larry references Legionnaire’s Disease as he sees how Parker is dressed. Over 20 years of watching House, I know what that disease is. USA VS CANADA as Bagwell comes out with an American Flag. Thankfully for the AFC this is wrestling and not hockey. I kid. Or baseball. Again, I kid. The Males send The Canadians to the floor as this match already has more heat than the previous two matches. Jacques does a kip up and another as he shows off to the crowd. He wants to see Riggs do it and then kicks him in the gut. Funny! Shoulder tackle from Jacques but Riggs with a rough looking monkey flip. Jacques nearly landed on his head. Jacques goes for one of his own, but Riggs puts on the breaks and lands a punch to the head. Bagwell with a blind tag and ends up colliding with Riggs. The AFC take over from that mistake. Double boot from the AFC and Jacques slams Pierre onto Riggs. More double team offense from the AFC. Super Hot Shot to Riggs, but Bagwell buys him some time. The AFC hit each other and hot tag to Bagwell. He runs wild with dropkicks and the crowd is way into his comeback. Jacques with a somersault sell of a punch to the gut. The AFC get run into each other. Riggs knees Jacques in the back, but that sends him head first into Bagwell. Pierre throws Jacques on top for the pin at 5:23.
Winners: The Amazing French Canadians via pin at 5:23
-The AFC needed the win as they have Harlem Heat on Sunday. The Males are on their way to splitting and this was another step along the way. The crowd was into this one, but it was just an okay match. **
Hugh Morrus vs. Lex Luger
-Insert promo from Arn Anderson as he is still annoyed by Luger attacking him after their match at Halloween Havoc. They are still hyping the house show in Baltimore. Tenay informs us that it is this Saturday night. Morrus with a backdrop but Luger pops right up and flexes. Shoulder tackles from Luger and Morrus begs off in the corner. He suckers Lex in and runs him into the buckle. Running splash as we are told Flair will make an appearance in Baltimore. Man, the all out blitz for this house show is intriguing. Morrus lands a back elbow and then chokes Luger on the middle rope. Morrus misses another splash in the corner and Luger starts firing off clotheslines. Leaping back elbow which looked weird seeing Luger do it from some reason. It was like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do and just pulled something out. Morrus lands an elbow in the corner, but misses off the top. Torture Rack finishes at 4:09. That looked weird as well. Even Luger seems annoyed with the way that ended.
Winner: Lex Luger via submission at 4:46
-Crowd was into it, but some weird stuff was happening. Replay shows Luger never really got The Rack and Morrus gave up anyway. Larry and Tenay sell it as Morrus saving himself for the PPV. *
-Gene is in the ring to interview Luger, but here’s Sting! The crowd goes crazy as the gimmick is already super over. The red, wooden bat looks weird, so it was good he went to a black bat later. Though maybe he was hinting Lobster Sting was coming down the road. Sting hands Luger the bat and walks away.
-Hour Two Pyro!
-We go back to Saturday Night with Tony grilling Nick Patrick and his lawyer. Jericho and Teddy Long are brought in and Jericho wants to punch Patrick in the face. The lawyer mentions Jericho’s dad was a hockey goon. We get awkward silence before Long says Jericho can beat Patrick with one arm tied behind his back. The lawyer calls it a verbal, binding agreement and that sets the stage for the match at WW3.
Johnny Grunge vs. Chris Jericho
-“Break The Walks Down,” being plastered over Jericho’s entrance sounds weird. Jericho with a spin kick for two. Nick Patrick is watching from the ramp. Belly-to-back suplex from Grunge gets two. Eric notes there is a rumor that Piper may appear, but says so far it is only a rumor. Jericho misses a moonsault but lands on his feet. Grunge runs him over with a clothesline. Jericho tries a sunset flip, but Grunge drops down for a two count. Jericho with a spinning heel kick that sends Grunge to the floor. Springboard dropkick knocks Grunge off the apron. Grunge looks annoyed as he walks around the ring and grabs a chair. Jericho slides out and trips Grunge. The chair gets brought into the ring and Grunge hits an inverted atomic drop. Jericho ends up sitting in the chair and Grunge clotheslines him out. Grunge to the floor where he finds a table. He sets that up in the ring and weakly rams Jericho off it. That should be a DQ and Heenan calls it out as well. Grunge lays Jericho on the table and heads up with a chair, but Jericho moves. Grunge crashes through the table and Jericho hits a missile dropkick for the pin at 5:20.
Winner: Chris Jericho via pin at 5:20
-Another weird one but it had a hot finish that got the crowd into the match. **
-Gene interview Jericho and out comes Teddy Long. He apologizes to Jericho for getting him into the one arm tied behind his back deal. Jericho says it’s a favor as it was the only way to get Patrick into the match. Young Jericho is so full of babyface fire. It’s kind of fun and has a charm to it.
-Eric and Bobby are at the desk and out comes Hulk Hogan, Dibiase, and Vincent. Heenan immediately bails, which is perfect. Hey Liz is there too, and sadly, no Santa outfit. Still looks great, even with an XL nWo shirt. Hogan “forces” Eric to admit Hogan is a bigger star than Piper and that Piper is scared of him. I like that they threw this in there to just make sure we weren’t suspecting Eric of anything.
-DDP is out to speak with Gene Okerlund. The Outsiders, The Giant and Syxx are out. Hall wants to know if DDP got his wake up call yet and if he figured it out. Page is still clueless and The Giant wants to know why they don’t just take him out like they did with all of Hogan’s friends. The Outsiders and Syxx know, but it seems The Giant doesn’t know. Nash quotes 2001: “Something very beautiful is going to happen tonight. Very beautiful.” Lot of layers to this and it makes more sense when you know what’s coming.
Bobby Eaton vs. Jeff Jarrett
-This match in Alabama or Tennessee would work better with that crowd than here. JJ with an atomic drop and Eaton jams his knee. JJ sends him to the floor. Eaton pulls him out and they brawl out there. Jarrett drops Eaton throat first on the railing and sends him into the ring post. He drops a leg across Eaton on the middle ropes and then hits a suplex. Figure-Four as Ric Flair shows up in the aisle, with his arm in a sling. Eaton quits at 2:16.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett via submission at 2:16
-Eaton got SMASHED here. SQUASH
-We get Gene interviewing Flair and Jarrett. Gene back with Flair just feels right! We see Sting drop Jarrett last week for talking crap. Jarrett brought that on himself. Gene seems happy to be in a ring with Flair again. We see Sting up in the rafters listening again. Flair says Jarrett is in because he said so.
-Lee Marshall is on The Road with 1-800-Collect in Norfolk, VA! More weasel jokes!
Big Bubba (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Jim Powers
-Bubba traps Powers in the corner, but he escapes. He avoids an elbow in the opposite corner and goes to work on the arm. Bubba goes to the eyes as Eric again shoots down rumors that Piper is in the building. Bubba misses a clothesline and Powers gets a cross-body for two. Right uppercut from Bubba followed by a running clothesline for two. Bubba with a reverse chinlock. Powers fights out, but Bubba hits an enziguiri and goes to the ground and pound. Back to the reverse chinlock. Eric is basically ignoring the match and hyping World War 3. Powers makes his comeback and catches Bubba with a knee-lift. No matter as BossMan slam gets the pin at 3:55.
Winner: Big Bubba via pin at 3:55
-Well, it was short. 1/2*
Chris Benoit (w/ Woman) vs. Eddie Guerrero
-This combination is always weird/difficult to watch and that’s not even mentioning Woman being at ringside. Eddie escapes a tilt-a-whirl and lands on his feet off a monkey flip. Benoit goes for a cross-face, but Eddie escapes. Insert promo from Sullivan to hype the Baltimore house show. Eddie with a heavy chop and lands a jumping knee. Slingshot Senton gets two. Benoit reverses a whip and sends Eddie chest first into the corner. Belly-to-back suplex gets two. Benoit grounds Eddie with an armbar while focusing on the neck as well. Hammerlock overhead suplex gets two. Benoit continues to crank on the arm. He works a submission on both arms and then switches to a standing abdominal stretch. Benoit releases again and goes for a powerbomb but Eddie counters into a roll-up for two. We head to a break at 6:20.
-Back with Benoit dropping Eddie face first off a press slam for two. This is a rather subdued crowd tonight. Eddie runs Benoit into the corner and heads up top. Benoit meets him up there and brings Eddie down with a superplex. That leaves both men down! Benoit crawls to get a cover for two. Chops from Benoit. Eddie blocks another powerbomb and takes Benoit to the floor with a head scissors. They start trading blows out there and Eddie wins the exchange. Benoit hides behind Woman and lands a punch over her shoulder. They battle back into the ring and Eddie gets a suplex. He heads up top, but Benoit moves, so Eddie rolls to his feet. Eddie goes to snap off a rana, but Benout rolls through and gets a sunset flip for the pin at 9:22.
Winner: Chris Benoit via pin at 9:22
-Kind of boring, but technically good as you would expect between these two. The crowd hasn’t really helped tonight. ***
-We come back from a break and Eric Bischoff is in the ring. He thanks the fans and wants to apologize for what Hulk Hogan made him do earlier. He promises to do everything he can to get Piper vs. Hogan. He says it has been tough with Piper’s management and then we hear bagpipe music. Eric: “what the hell?” Should have been a tip there. It’s kind of wild how easily Eric switches out of his announcer character and into one that looks like he stepped into some deep crap. The crowd is really excited to see Piper. He is here to tell some truth. TELL ME WHEN I’M TELLING LIES! Piper cuts a fired up promo about being King of the Frat House and Eric is just pacing back and forth. Piper is pissed that someone is calling him a coward. He then quotes LL Cool J and calls Bischoff a liar. He offers a handshake and Eric accepts, though he is rather nervous. Piper starts grilling Bischoff on how he flew to Portland and if the road to his ranch was crooked or straight. “Tell me something, you, you piece of shit…” Here’s the nWo and it’s all making sense now. Hogan and Bischoff hug and garbage immediately starts pelting the ring. Amazing! Bischoff immediately becomes the jerk with the face you want to punch and it makes him so much more interesting. The Giant holds Piper back as Hogan cuts a promo and we have police in the ring as well. In a cool visual, the nWo clear the ring as Piper tries to fight through security and the police. Garbage continues to pelt the ring! Tenay and Heenan pop back up on commentary and Heenan wants to throw up. Tenay says they have to go and calls it sickening. Piper tells Hogan he has a fight and he will be at World War 3 with a contract. He calls Hogan bald for good measure as we close. Great stuff there!
-The Bischoff turn was brilliant and made all the sense in the world. Eric kind of took Ted’s spot in the group, but Ted got a little more run before his time ended. As has been noted many times over the years, nWo Eric was a year before Mr. McMahon (I do know Vince was a heel in Memphis against Lawler’s crew a few years before this). A big difference is Vince was a cartoon super villain and was so entertaining at times, he became a face. Eric never had that as he was just a total dick, drunk on power, with Ted Turner’s money and he was amazing at playing the role. We also have the nWo, backing off on taking out Piper here, though I guess you could say they backed away due to the police in the ring. Either way, it was a super hot angle to close the show before Sunday’s PPV.
-Thanks for reading!
