wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 12.23.96
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 4.27.26
-Run Time: 1:40:40
-Plugs: Hogan Netflix: One, Two, Three, Four
-More Plugs: Von Erichs A&E Bio, LFG Episode One, King of The Ring 94
-Go home show for Starrcade!
-Announce Team: Hour One: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyskzo
-Announce Team: Hour Two: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mile Tenay
-Macon Coliseum, Macon, GA
WCW US Title Tournament Semi-Final: Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero
-Lockup and Benit shoves Eddie across the ring. They talk trash and trade slaps which pops Larry. Shoulder tackle from Benoit and he fires off chops in the corner and then slaps Eddie in the face again. Eddie reverse in the corner and goes to work with right hands and chops. Eddie with a slap to the face and he tells Benoit to kiss his ass. We get an inset promo from Sullivan who quotes Genghis Khan. Eddie with a side headlock and Benoit counters with a head scissors. DDP is out and joins the announce team. DDP is already in the US Title Tournament Finals, so he is out to scout. Eddie with a side headlock, but Benoit with a knee-breaker to counter. Eddie gets a roll-up for two, but Eddie back to the side headlock. Benoit fights out to a top wrist lock and pulls Eddie down by the hair. We head to a break at 4:44 with Eddie getting a roll-up for two.
-Right back to it as Eddie gets a shoulder block. He charges and Benoit alley-oops him into the sky and drops him throat first on the top rope. That looked amazing! Belly-to-back suplex gets two. Benoit slaps Eddie in the face, which fires Eddie up again. POWERBOMB from Benoit to a big reaction. That was perfect and some in the crowd give the execution of the move a standing ovation. Short arm clothesline gets two. Benoit buries a knee to the back and pulls back on the chin. Eddie reverses a whip and gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Eddie up top but Benoit meets him up there and gets a superplex to a big reaction. Benoit only gets two as he the move causes a delay in the cover. Eddie with a small package for two. Chops and kicks traded in the corner as they are just laying it in. Benoit with a shot to the gut and he hangs Eddie gut first on the top rope. Benoit gets two as the ref catches him trying to use the ropes for leverage. They are up top again and the ref tries to get Benoit down, so he shoves the ref off. Eddie uses that as a chance to land an elbow and then hits The Frog Splash while switching position in mid-air. That gets the pin at 9:53.
Winner: Eddie Guerrero via pin at 9:53
-Great match as one would expect with these two. Eddie and DDP have history so them facing off in the Finals makes sense. Benoit has other issues to deal with at this time. ***1/2
-Gene brings out The 4 Horsemen and Gene stirs the pot as far as Benoit losing and Arn fighting his battles. Arn: “a focused Chris Benoit would not have lost that match.” He talks about how dangerous Sullivan is right now and how he took the beating last week because they are all Horsemen. He wants to know why Woman is not here, but Debra interrupts and runs Nancy down again. She tells Benoit she has a lot of friends for her and he doesn’t deserve damaged goods. Benoit tells Mongo “talk to the hand because the man doesn’t understand.” He wants to address Debra, but Mongo is a man and stands up for his wife. Ric has to calm everyone down and remind them it is Christmas and they are here to party all night long. He notes Woman deserved a weekend with Benoit after living with Sullivan for 10 years. Ric being Ric to calm everyone down is pretty funny.
-Hollywood Hogan, Ted Dibiase, Vincent, and Miss Elizabeth are out. Hogan cuts a Hollywood promo as he runs down Piper. It seems Piper is afraid of Hollywood and then he makes Liz give him a kiss on the cheek. He name drops the head of Warner Brothers, which predates Punk doing it by 27 years. He cracks on Piper for wearing a skirt and tells us that he the man that made us watch wrestling. In my case, true! Hogan poses to entertain the fans. Liz plays being disgusted well in the background.
-Saturday Night: Year in Review show! I actually think I have that show somewhere on VHS. I always loved year in review shows because we didn’t have streaming where things we are our fingertips to watch.
Lex Luger vs. Tombstone
-Tombstone is ECW’s 911. It seems Tombstone has been calling Luger out and here we are. The crowd loves Luger! They were finding any big man for Luger to beat at this point as he was working his way up to The Giant. Shoulder from Luger, Tombstone doesn’t move. He hits another and then a clothesline sends Tombstone to the floor. Off the apron with a double axe to the back. Tony is sure Sting is nWo now after hitting WCW guys with a bat last week. Forgetting that WCW guys attacked Sting first. Tombstone with a slam for two back in the ring. He pounds away in the corner but Luger gets a boot up to block a charge. Tombstone just flops all over the place as Luger starts his comeback. Running forearm and Torture Rack finish at 3:37.
Winner: Lex Luger via pin at 3:37
-Just Luger beating another big guy. Tombstone was stumbling around out there, but the crowd wanted to see Luger rack a giant and that’s what they got. *
-The Giant is out and misses a charge in the corner. Luger with clotheslines and right hands but The Giant falls into the corner instead of on the mat. Luger gets him up in The Rack, but Nash, Hall, and Waltman are out and Luger bails.
-Last week Sting dropped nWo Sting on his head. Later Sting comes down in the gang battle and Arn attacks. Mongo attacks and Rey jumps on his back. Larry and Tony are positive Sting is nWo now. Amazing they haven’t learned their lesson about trusting Sting. No wonder it took him so long to get back in the ring. It took forever for team WCW to finally trust him.
Mr. JL vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
-Props to the two kids rocking Niner jerseys in the front row. Hammerlock from Rey and he gives a clean break as JL gets to the ropes. JL yells at the fans so we know he is the bad guy here. Another go and Rey gets an armdrag. Backdrop sends Rey up into a headstand on the buckle and he comes back down and gets a head scissors. JL sends him to the floor and misses a slight shot plancha. Rey fakes him out by landing on the apron and then comes off with a rana on the floor. Rey with a leg drop as JL has to stay between the ropes. I hate every version of that spot. Rey gets caught with a sit-out powerbomb for two. Another powerbomb, but Rey counters and springs off the middle ropes with a moonsault press for two. JL with a belly-to-back suplex for two. JL hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but gets caught with a head scissors in the corner. Rey with a suicide dive to the floor between the corner ropes. Nice! Rey is hobbling around a bit. Rey misses off the top and JL gets a cradle for two. Slam and JL heads up top, but Rey springs up and gets a ran for the pin at 6:01.
Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr via pin at 6:01
-Solid, but kind of clunky and the crowd was subdued compared to the rest of the card at this point. They were still learning about the CW style. **1/2
-Rey Misterio hobbles to the desk and takes up for Sting. Rey notes that’s Sting’s reaction last week was normal. Sting didn’t hit him and he tells Sting he knows he won’t betray them like Hulk Hogan did. He wants Tony to replay the video and see that Sting wasn’t trying to hurt him. Larry and Tony aren’t buying it.
-Instead of the video from last week, we get a Sting hype video.
-Hour Two Pyro!
-Tony got word from the nWo that Piper is here tonight, but he doesn’t believe it.
-We show Hogan calling Piper a coward and posing again.
Glacier vs. Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
-Sarge is wearing military gear instead of a police uniform. Glacier with a knee in the corner and hits a kick to the face. Glacier goes after the arm and hits a karate chop to the shoulder. He sets Parker on top and kicks him in the face to the floor. Glacier with another head kick on the floor. Parker sets too early on a backdrop and hits a back kick. Enziguiri and then a leaping kick. Another head kick and Glacier plants Buddy on his face with a tilt-a-whirl slam. Cryonic Kick gets two? He hits it again for the pin at 2:28.
Winner: Glacier via pin at 2:28
-No clue why Parker kicked out of the first Cryonic Kick. Parker got nothing here. SQUASH
The Amazing French Canadians vs. The Public Enemy
-The AFC sing the Canadian National Anthem before the match and gets kind of far before The PE interrupt. In a funny spot they beat the PE down and go back to singing. I found that funny! PE back on them again and the match starts proper. Double punch sends Jacques to the floor. Grunge puts Jacques on the table but Pierre stops anything from happening. Parker stomps on Rock on the floor. Rougeau Bomb gets two. Jacques with a Boston Crab and Pierre comes off with a leg drop. Parker distracts the ref so the AFC can bring the table into the ring. They go for another Rougeau Bomb off the table and it breaks as this match has fallen apart. The PE use the table and it’s a DQ at 3:14.
Winner: The Amazing French Canadians via DQ at 3:14
-This really didn’t even qualify as a match. Then the dumb ending made things worse. DUD
-Last week Big Bubba went nWo as he turned on The Dungeon of Doom.
Big Bubba vs. Konan (w/ Jimmy Hart)
-As we know, Konan ended up going nWo and he became a bigger star because of it. Bubba attacks before the bell and drops an elbow to the back. Bubba goes after Jimmy Hart on the floor, but Konan flies through the ropes with a dive. Off the apron with a dropkick. He sends Bubba into the steps and hits a shotgun dropkick that sends Bubba into them. Cool! Nick Patrick is our ref and Konan is not happy with the slow count. Bubba rakes the eyes as Tony notes this can happen because of Eric Bischoff. Bubba chokes Konan with a bandana as Patrick is with Jimmy Hart. Heenan wants to give Patrick some slack. Bobby notes unless there is proof he doesn’t want to judge a man. Tony, Tenay, and Bobby all stand with WCW, but Heenan does says “things are negotiable.” Tony is annoyed and Heenan asks if he would join the nWo for $50 million and Tony is silenced. Yeah, that’s right. Everyone has a price! Jimmy “trips” Bubba so Patrick throws him out. Konnan with a dropkick and he throws Bubba over the top and it’s a DQ at 5:35.
Winner: Big Bubba via pin at 5:35
-It started okay and then tanked. Another dumb ending and Konan had nobody to blame as he threw Bubba over the top in front of the ref. 1/4*
-Lee Marshall is On The Road with 1-800-Collect in Knoxville, TN. More weasel jokes!
WCW World TV Title: Lord Steven Regal (c) vs. Dean Malenko
-Weird to book Dean in a Title Match here when he has one at the PPV for all the CW Titles. Regal gets wrist control to start. He takes Dean down with an armdrag. Two count for Regal as Malenko has to fight off his back. Dean tries to break Regal down, but he bridges. Regal with a cartwheel away from Dean and then hits an enziguiri. Sweet! Hip-toss from Regal and he hooks a front facelock. Sonny Onoo is out to scout Dean, but gets too close to the ring and Mark Curtis throws him out. Dean with a takedown and drops Regal right on his shoulder. Regal seems annoyed so he beats Dean down and grabs a submission. We get some small joint manipulation. Dean uses his neck to keep his shoulders off the mat. The crowd doesn’t know what to do with this matchup so we eventually get a weak USA chant. Euro Uppercut from Regal. Dean back with a knee to the gut and a side suplex. That leaves both men down! Regal with double knees to the face and another uppercut. Regal breaks Dean down and gets another submission. Dean reverses a whip and catches Regal with a dropkick on the way out. Regal stays in control though and grabs a full nelson. This is a weird match! Regal goes for a Boston Crab, but Dean powers out and goes for the Texas Cloverleaf. Regals gets to the ropes before Dean can turn it over. Dropkick to the back of the head by Regal. Butterfly suplex gets two. Dean reverses a whip and gets a release German Suplex but we have a bell at 9:28.
Time Limit Draw at 9:28
-That’s a quick timer! Regal dominated this one as Dean didn’t get much traction. The crowd didn’t but into this one and it wasn’t near as good as you would think. Weird to have three straight matches end without a definitive winner. **1/4
-Starrcade commercial!
Scott Steiner (w/ Rick Steiner) vs. Jeff Jarrett
-Lockup to start and Jarrett gets the advantage, so he struts. Steiner gets a double leg and transitions to a reverse chinlock. Jarrett to his feet and hides in the corner to make sure the ref forces a break. The crowd really wants Sting to show up! Steiner runs Jarrett upside down into the corner and lands a boot to the face. Jarrett gets his feet up to block a charge and comes off the middle ropes with a clothesline. Steiner back with a belly-to-belly and here comes nWo Sting. He goes to drop Jarrett, but Steiner hits him with a clothesline. For some reason Jarrett covers the nWo Sting and the ref counts the pin at 2:26. What?
No Clue at 2:26
-This was dumb! DUD
-Hollywood Hogan is out to brag some more and Piper’s music hits. Heenan is too hip as he says the nWo is playing mind games. Eric Bischoff comes out dressed in a kilt and leather jacket with a red and yellow Hulk Hogan shirt. Eric mocks Piper and Hogan pins him with one foot on his chest as Nick Patrick runs down to make the count. Tony: “Our sport has reached a new low.” New low so far! Hogan saying “who feed your kids?” is a great heel line.
-A real bagpipe band comes out and Piper is here! The start trading blows and the crowd is going crazy with each shot. The nWo us out and Piper gets beat down as Sting watches from the rafters. Hogan whips Piper with his belt as security runs down to separate them. We go off the air again with bodies all in the ring and fans throwing garbage.
-Thanks for reading!
