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Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 11.25.96
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 3.30.26
-Run Time: 1:35:42
-Plug: Royal Rumble 94
–World War 3 was the night before and we get the fall out. Piper/Hogan is also official for Starrcade so we are the road to the biggest financial match in WCW history to this point.
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko (Hour One); Tony, Tenay, The Brain (Hour Two)
-Live from Salisbury, MD
-Larry and Tony go over Piper and Hogan signing the contract for Starrcade last night. They will show us the contract signing later tonight.
-Also, Ric Flair has finally been stripped of The US Title due to his injury and a US Title Tournament begins tonight.
WCW US Title Tournament: 1st Round: Arn Anderson vs. Lex Luger
-This is a rematch from Halloween Havoc the previous month. The pop for Luger just keeps growing each week. Arn has bandaged ribs from the Havoc match where Luger held him in The Rack for well after the match. Luger chant from the crowd! Lockup and they start trading blows. Luger runs Arn over with a shoulder tackle and another and a third one sends Arn to the floor. Arn tries to slide in, but Luger boots him and then runs his arm against the post. You would think he would attack the ribs, but I guess he wants to injure another body part. He runs the arm off the top rope and goes to an arm wringer. Shoulder tackle to the arm and another one drops Arn. Leg Drop to the arm! Arn goes to the hair and gets a trip, but Luger counters into a hammerlock. Larry and Tony get into a little spat over Larry not helping Tony last week. Larry notes he was here and didn’t leave like Tony did. Tony promise to leave again, if the nWo come out and attack. Arn sets too early on a backdrop and Luger finally gets in a shot to the ribs. They trade blows and Arn gets a kick in as we take a break at 5:45.
-Back immediately as this feed cuts out the commercials, and Arn sends Luger head first into the top buckle. Arn drops a knee to the chest and comes off the middle ropes but Luger catches him with a back elbow. Arn back with a double axe and he stomps away. Arn drops an elbow on the apron and hits a catapult under the bottom rope. Arn gets a two count. Another one and he is frustrated. Arn pitches Luger to the floor as this one keeps grinding along. Arn nearly punches the post, but stops. Luger runs him back first into the post and that had to suck. He runs Arn into the apron as he finally goes to the back and ribs. Back inside the ring Luger hits a delayed vertical suplex and that wakes the crowd up. They want The Rack! Backbreaker and we hear The Giant, who is in the crowd with the US Championship. Luger hits a powerslam as The Giant rants about being The US Champion and how this Tournament is no different than ones people have in their backyards. SHOTS AT THE HARDY BOYZ! He tells the winner of The Tournament to come get some. Arn tries to go up, but Luger knocks him off balance and throws kicks to the ribs. Arn hooks the top rope to block The Rack. Clothesline sends Arn over the top to the floor, which should be a DQ, but never is when it’s a clothesline to the floor. They fight on the floor and Arn takes a backdrop on the concrete. Luger with The Rack on the floor even though the ref is counting and it’s a double count-out at 12:20. For some reason the bell rang early and then rang after the ref got to the 10 count.
Double Count-Out at 12:20 (shown)
-This was long and rather boring and especially for the non finish. The crowd loves Luger, but this match bored them for the most part. *
-Still photos from World War 3!
-Eric Bischoff, Syxx, Nash, Hall, The Giant and Vincent are out to represent the nWo. Tony is still stunned at seeing Eric Bischoff come out, leading, the nWo. Eric is in his glory as a heel and seems to be having a blast. Eric’s mic takes a few seconds to kick in and he just hams it up with the crowd and thanks the nWo fans. He brings up getting powerbombed off the stage by Nash back in June and the next day he realized he wanted to be part of the force. He had a meeting with Hall and Nash a few days later and decided to consolidate power. Eric is the highest ranking executive in the nWo and in WCW. He tells the WCW boys in the back they have 30 days to turn their WCW contracts into nWo contracts. “You are either with us or against us.” He tells Piper to watch himself as he can fine him if he gets out of hand. He mentions Giant has the US Title and possession is 9/10 of the law. Here come The American Males and Bagwell accepts the offer and joins the nWo. Hall whispers in his ear and Bagwell turns on Riggs with a neckbreaker. BUFF BAGWELL IS BORN! This turn ended up making Bagwell the star WCW always wanted him to be. Dude got so over that WWF crowds were popping for him and got him a RAW Main Event. Now, it didn’t go well, but he got there.
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Disco Inferno
-Page attacks before the bell and pulls Disco’s shirt over his head like a hockey fight. Whip to the corner and Page drops him balls first on the top rope. Disco gets a boot up in the corner and hits a swinging neckbreaker and another one. Page lands a punch to the gut. Disco fires back and they start trading blows. I like the aggression from both. Page wins the strike contest and hits a Diamond Cutter off a missed clothesline. That gets the pin at 2:14.
Winner: Diamond Dallas Page via pin at 2:14
-This went as needed as Page was still rolling his way up the card and getting the crowd behind him. SQUASH
-Gene is in the ring to interview DDP. Page brings up the nWo wanting him in the group. They are trying to build a dynasty and want the dude with the baddest finisher on the planet. Page notes he is friends with Hall and is former tag partners with Nash. Gene asks about Eric being his neighbor. Page says “yeah,” and Gene earmarks him as a future member of the nWo. Page says he never knew what Eric was doing and he wishes he didn’t know what he didn’t know then.
World Television Championship: Lord Steven Regal (c) vs. Tony Pena
-Pena is Villano IV with no mask. Unless he is just wearing the tights of VIllano IV. Regal controls with mat wrestling to start. Forearm across the bridge of the nose followed by Euro Uppercuts in the corner. Pena throws chops and gets a running shoulder, but Regal stays on his feet. He eats strikes from Pena and goes to the knee. Pena to the ropes and we start over again. Foerarms in the corner and hand slaps from Regal as he is a little annoyed tonight. Pena fires back and hits a sweet DDT for two. Regal with a double undertook suplex for two. I appreciate they are FIGHTING Here. They continues to trade strikes and Regal’s chest is turning red. Regal hooks The Regal Stretch and Pena gives up at 3:05.
Winner and Still WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal
-This was a solid three minute match where they just hit each other hard. Pena didn’t just sit back and take the beating. He fired back and it seemed to fire Regal up, but he likely appreciated it as well. **1/2
-Gene is in near the entrance ramp with Rick Steiner. Rick has been in Japan and notes he and his brother are 110% WCW. He questions what Sting’s doing and I assume that won’t work out well for him.
-nWo: BUY THE SHIRT! “If you buy a million, it’s only $20 million dollars.” I’m betting they sold at least a million of those shirts and continue to sell a bunch of them thirty years later (30 years? I’m old)!
WCW US Title Tournament: 1st Round Match: Konnan vs. Eddie Guerrero
-We are 60 seconds to Hour Two. Tony will stick around and be joined by The Brain and Tenay. Quick start as Eddie gets a head scissors and sends Konnan to the floor. Eddie off the top with a dive as this is already better than the opener.
-Hour Two Pyro as Eddie gets launched in the air and hits the mat. Nice timing as it was like the ball dropping.
-Konnan with a rolling clothesline followed by a shotgun dropkick. Fisherman’s Suplex gets two. Konnan hooks a submission and then hits a powerbomb for two. Another suplex gets two. Konnan continues to throw Eddie around the ring and gets another two as Eddie gets his foot on the bottom rope. Konnan goes to work on the knee and transitions into a STF. Back out of it and Konnan gets a slam. He heads up top, but Eddie catches him on the way down with a dropkick. Eddie runs Konnan into the corner and fires away with right hands. Uppercut from Eddie. Konnan floats over in the corner, but Eddie catches him with a clothesline. Eddie up top, but Konnan was waiting and meets him up there. Superplex but only two as Konnan pulls off the cover. Powerbomb, but Eddie counters and falls on top for the pin at 5:22.
Winner: Eddie Guerrero via pin at 5:22
-This was solid, but didn’t finish as strongly as it started. Konnan kind of gobbled Eddie up for most of the match and even gave up on a pin before losing like it was a fluke. **1/2
-More still photos from WW3.
Big Bubba (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Rick Steiner
-Rick is still talking smack on Sting as he makes his entrance. Rick runs into a big boot, but throws Bubba across the ring with a powerslam. He sends him to the floor and comes off the apron with a double ax. That knocks Bubba into the steps and he is rocked. He staggers back into the ring and Rick gets a slam for a two count. Bubba misses a charge in the corner and Rick throws him with a release German Suplex for two as Bubba gets his foot on the ropes. The crowd is standing and it’s Sting walking from the top of the arena into the fans. Rick with a bulldog off the middle ropes. He sends Bubba to the floor with a clothesline. Sting is in the ring and drops Rick with a Scorpion Death Drop to a big pop. Wonder if Rick learned his lesson? Bubba rolls in, drops an elbow and takes the pin at 3:20.
Winner: Big Bubba via pin at 3:20
-Steiner throwing around a big dude like Bubba is fun. Add in the Sting involvement and I enjoyed this. As for Rick talking about Sting, I will quote from The Phantom Musical: “those who speak of what they know, find too late, that prudent silence is wise.” **
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psychosis
-These two tore the house down at Bash at The Beach back in July. Psychosis works the arm as we see Dragon (w/ Sonny) and all his Championship Belts in the entrance way. Psychosis tosses Rey into the arm and lets him fall on his face. He dumps Rey over the top as that also should have been a DQ, but that only applies when needed I guess. Psychosis with a slam and comes off the top with a guillotine leg drop for two. Psychosis sets Rey up top for Splash Mountain, but Rey counters into a rana for the pin at 2:20.
Winner: Rey Mysterio via pin at 2:20
-Criminal to only give these two a tick over two minutes. Cut five minutes away from Arn/Luger and give it to these two. *1/2
-Gene is with Chris Benoit and Woman. Benoit’s face is bruised as he had the rematch with Sullivan in Baltimore this past Saturday. It seems the entire Dungeon of Doom got involved and Benoit says they all couldn’t get rid of him. Benoits says there are two ways out of this: “The man’s way and the coward’s way.” Yeah, that’s kind of icky to hear in this promo. Woman tells Sullivan it’s over as they start leaning into the worked shoot of Benoit taking Woman away from Sullivan and ending their relationship.
-We go to World War 3 and see the entire contract signing between Hogan and Piper that also involved the entire nWo. Piper telling Vincent, “I taught you how to fight,” was a wonderful little touch. Hogan exposes Piper’s bad hip and we see the scar from the hip replacement. The nWo beat down Piper and Hogan hits him in the hip with a chair. They then tag Piper’s leg with spray paint. Piper fights to his feet and knocks over a table as the nWo take their leave.
Alex Wright vs. Jeff Jarrett
-Jarrett works the arm, but Wright flips out and even does a cartwheel. He gets arm control, but Jarrett pulls him down by the hair. Jarrett fires away with right hands. Wright slides through and gets a head scissors and another one. Dropkick from Wright. He lands an uppercut but gets caught trying to float over and Jarrett hits Snake Eyes. Wright reverses a whip and hits a spin wheel kick. Wright slings in over the ropes with a splash. He misses a kick in the corner which damages the knee. Jarrett goes right to the figure four and uses the ropes as Wright’s gives up at 2:18.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett via submission at 2:18
-Lot of short matches tonight other than the opener. *
-Still photos from the 60 Man Battle Royal including The Giant’s impressive elimination of Rey Mysterio. Luger nearly takes the nWo out by himself, but The Giant ends up winning.
The Faces of Fear vs. Harlem Heat (w/ Sherri)
-This is our Main Event! Meng starts with Stevie Ray and Stevie starts throwing right hands. Running clothesline in the corner. Meng back with right hands and forearms and chokes Stevie on the middle rope. Big Boot from Meng and drops. Barbarian in and he drops Stevie with a big boot. Booker with a Harlem Sidekick to pop the crowd. Yeah, the crowd is just waiting for him to break out on his own. Double team by The Heat, but Barbarian breaks up the pin before a count can even be registered. Booker gets caught with a backdrop into a powerbomb for two. Everyone in the ring and they start throwing punches in the corner. Booker sets too early on a backdrop and Meng clubs him down. Backbreaker from Meng gets a two count. This crowd is just gone at this point. Piledriver, but Stevie breaks that up and everyone in the ring again. Here’s the nWo and we have a DQ at 4:08.
No Contest at 4:08
-Just an excuse to have the nWo close the show with a beat down. We have a lack of top faces on the WCW side with Sting doing his thing and Savage and Flair being gone. It’s basically Luger and Piper when he shows up, while DDP is moving up the card, so the nWo has to beat down the tag division at this point. No wonder they had to turn The Giant back. 1/2*
-Barbarian gets posted as does Stevie Ray. Bagwell is in his nWo shirt and gets to be on the other side of an nWo beating for the first time. Chokeslam to Booker T from The Giant. Meng gets one as well. Giant put him down a little easier than Booker and I don’t blame him. Garbage starts flying into the ring as we close the show with the nWo celebrating.
-Thanks for reading!
