Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 3.11.96

-Nitro was pre-empted the previous week, so that’s why we have jumped ahead two weeks. We are still on the road to Uncensored. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Eric Bischoff, Mongo, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Winston-Salem, NC

-Eric welcomes us to the War Zone once again and that blows my mind every time I hear it.

”Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. The Giant (w/ Jimmy Hart)

-Duggan attacks from behind, but to be fair the bell did ring and Giant was too busy yelling at the crowd. Duggan punches away, but it doesn’t matter as Giant pushes him out of the ring. Duggan comes off the apron and Giant just casually catches him and runs him back first into the post. Bischoff runs off as he says Brian Pillman is in the crowd and I don’t remember any of this. Pillman gets pulled away by security as Bischoff jumps back on commentary. Man, for whatever reason I always assumed Pillman was gone after SuperBrawl, but I remember reading he was supposed to be part of the team against Hogan and Savage at Uncensored. Giant misses a splash in the corner and Duggan hits a clothesline that sends Giant over the top, but he lands on his feet. Duggan pulls tape out for his fist, but Giant cuts him off. Ugly kick from the Giant and then a rather weak bear-hug. The crowd is way into this one as they are begging Hacksaw to make the comeback. Duggan gets creative and removes tape from the mats on the floor and fires away with right hands. Giant gets knocked down to a big pop. Hart grabs the tape and gets pulled into the ring. Chokeslam from Giant ends this one at 6:28.

Winner: The Giant via pin at 6:28
-The match wasn’t much, but the crowd loved it and it gave Giant a name to beat on his way back to the World Title. This was a good spot for Duggan because the crowd always loved him and he had enough name value to give someone the rub. **

-The Nasty Boys are supposed to be out to face the Road Warriors, but instead we get the returning Steiner Brothers coming down on Harley Davidsons. Eric lets us know The Nasty Boys have been taken out backstage and isn’t sure if The Steiners or Road Warriors did it.

The Steiner Brothers vs. The Road Warriors

-This is quite the match to throw out there unadvertised, but I guess that was the point as Bischoff was still in the mode where he wanted surprises so people had to make sure they were watching. Hawk and Scott start and Hawk fires off chops. He goes for a hip toss, but Scott blocks and hits a belly-to-belly suplex and then a pump handle slam. Crowd is loving this! He sets Hawk up top, but he fires away with head-butts and then hits a clothesline off the top. Sweet! Big Boot that looked like it caved Scott’s face in. Again, sweet! Neckbreaker from Hawk as they are just trading heavy artillery. Hawk sets too early on a backdrop and a double under hook powerbomb. Rick in and Hawk just gets back to his feet and tags Animal. I don’t need selling in this match. Just continue hitting each other really hard. Powerslam from Animal followed by a dropkick and then a slam. Animal drops an elbow, but Rick is back with two heavy clothesline and then a release German Suplex. This is fantastic! Belly-to-belly from the middle ropes as the awesomeness continues! Scott in and sure, here’s an overhead belly-to-belly. This is making me so happy! Animal gets hung in the tree of woe and Scott pulls back on his beck from the floor as I guess that counts as our first wrestling hold. Rick back in and he runs into a boot to the face from Animal. Scott back in and he slows things down a bit with a reverse chinlock, so Hawk just casually comes in and boots him in the face to break. Amazing! Rick in and he goes to the reverse chinlock and rakes the eyes. Both teams just seem so salty tonight and I love it. Scott in with a dropkick for a two count. Rick in with forearms to the face and then Scott is back in and we get a double clothesline to leave both men down. Hawk gets the tag first, but Rick is in as well. Clotheslines from Hawk and he fires off right hands. A clothesline sends Scott to the floor and then a leaping shoulder tackle to Rick. Powerslam follows! Running clothesline from Animal and the Doomsday Device follows, but Scott makes the save. Scott and Animal brawl on the floor and Animal ends up getting tossed into the railing. Steiners end up going for their own Doomsday Device, but Animal saves. Hawk hits Rick with a suplex, but Scott off the top with a clothesline. Animal then comes off with his own clothesline to Scott. They all brawl in the ring and Scott gets a Frankensteiner on Animal, but Hawk makes the save. Top Rope Bulldog from The Steiners, but Rick walks into a shot from the spiked gauntlet from Animal and that gets the pin at 10:09.

Winners: The Road Warriors via pin at 10:09
-This was awesome and is the best match I have ever seen between the two teams. The Steiners losing their first match back seems like a choice, but The Road Warriors had a Tag Title shot at Uncensored, so it makes sense. I was thinking we may get a no decision, but credit to them for giving us a winner. This was great and one of the best matches in the early days of Nitro. ****

-Gene is out to interview The Steiners and they note they have been chasing The Road Warriors for four years and will see them again. Sadly, not really as this run for The Road Warriors didn’t last long. I’m sure there’s a couple people out there somewhere WCW can find and put together to have a bunch of matches against The Steiners in the year or so to come.

-Eric talks about Uncensored and how Hogan is going alone in The Doomsday Cage, and I do remember that it was supposed to be Hogan vs. The World at first.

WCW World Television Title: Lex Luger (c) vs. Alex Wright

-This was supposed to be Wright against Jonny B. Badd, but Eric says Johnny did not feel up to it and buries Badd on air. Lex is now the TV Champion as he beat Badd two nights earlier. As we know, Badd would be popping up at WrestleMania less than three weeks later. Eric notes Badd is blaming his issues on a woman. Not Woman, but a woman. Luger misses a clothesline and Wright gets a dropkick. Bischoff continues to bury Badd on commentary as he notes he couldn’t cut it where The Big Boys Play. Wright with a shoulder tackle to the future and then snap off a head scissors. Dropkick sends Luger to the floor. Eric notes Luger accepted a Street Fight against The Road Warriors, but has left Sting without a partner as Jimmy Hart has power of attorney and put Lex in the Doomsday Cage. I mean, at least that’s an explanation. Luger uses the trunks to pull Wright into the middle buckle and then sends him to the floor. He sends Wright into the apron and then hits a Gorilla Press Slam. Lex poses and makes the pecs pop which pops the crowd. Wright comes off the top off to counter a whip to the corner and gets a cross-body for two. He tries another, but Lex catches him and hits Snake Eyes. Luger seems pissed and starts talking trash to Wright and questions why he would test him like this. He slaps Wright in the face but then charges into a boot in the corner. Wright fires off right hands and uppercuts to drop Lex. Jumping back elbow and a backdrop follow. Wheel kick gets a two count! Wright up top and hits a missile dropkick. Cool! Jimmy Hart (my heart goes out to him right now) is out and he pushes Wright off the top. Lex hits a stun-gun for the pin at 6:34.

Winner and Still WCW World TV Champion: Lex Luger via pin at 6:34
-This match was solid with Wright getting a nice run before taking the loss. **1/4

-Jimmy tries to celebrate with Lex, but Sting may be watching so Lex acts like he didn’t want the help. The man just wants to pose and Jimmy keep trying to hug him.

Double Strap Lumberjack Match: Ric Flair (w/ Woman and Miss Elizabeth), Arn Anderson, and Kevin Sullivan vs. Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and The Booty Man

-Oh man, and I mean this respectfully, Liz in leopard print is something else! Just jaw dropping! The brawl is on to start and this isn’t a strap match as much as the lumberjacks have straps so they can beat on anyone that ends up on the floor. Loch Ness accidentally whips Giant and they brawl to the back to set up their match at Uncensored. The guys on the floor are all wearing flannel shirts in a nice touch. We need more of that in lumberjack matches. Hogan has a strap and beats on Flair. This is just all six men brawling in the ring and using straps whenever they can get hold of one. Some of the people on the floor starting strapping each other as well. We also have The Diamond Doll on the floor with flowers which lets Eric get in another dig at Badd. Flair runs away, but Animal carries him back to the ring. This is just chaos, but the fans love it and it may not be your cup of tea, but it’s a spectacle and certainly not boring. Arn gets pitched to the floor as does Hogan. That lets the guys on the floor start whipping both men. Hogan gets dumped to floor again and six men start whipping him, so he fights them all off. DDP sells the heck out of it as I am sure he is just happy to be getting any kind of screen time with Hogan. Flair poses in the ring, but doesn’t realize Hogan is standing behind. Hogan whips at Flair and chokes in the corner. Sullivan is whipping Savage. Hogan drops a boot on Flair and hits the leg drop for the pin at 6:30. It gets a bigger pop than I figured since this was North Carolina.

Winners: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and The Booty Man via pin at 6:30
-Was this a good wrestling match? No! However, the crowd was into it and it was all action and spectacle with everyone in the match and on the floor fighting each other. Flair taking the pin was the only weird decision as you had Arn and Sullivan in the match. **

-Gene is back in the ring to interview the losers and as of now it’s Flair, Sullivan, Arn, and Luger against Hogan in the Doomsday Cage. Flair is pacing around the ring and it takes Woman and Liz to call him down. Arn says what we saw tonight has nothing to do with wrestling. This won’t be over until death do them part. Flair starts racing and hitting the ropes as he yells for Hogan. He hugs Liz and tells Savage to look at what he’s got. Ric starts singing about having the whole world in his hand. Oh, RIP Bray! Again, just chaos here and it’s just fun to watch.

-Mongo isn’t sure why they are bragging as they just lost. Yeah, that’s kind of the issue, but I guess it’s why they had to add more to their team. Flair takes over the broadcast table again as the crowd goes crazy for him and then we go off the air.

-Thanks for reading!

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

I love this show! Call it nostalgia, but this hour of wrestling has been a joy every week and that includes the weeks we don't get a "good" show. This one here was wonderful with a great Steiners/Warriors tag match and everything else was benefited by a hot crowd. I know this period gets a bad rap because it because Hulk Hogan vs. The World, but it continues to be a fun watch.