Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 6.02.97

-Written: 10.4.26
-Run Time: 1:34:30

-Column Plug: I ranked every WCW/WWF PPV Match from 1994!

-Book Plug: If you enjoyed that 1994 ranking column, consider buying my book on Amazon that covers 1996. Kindle and Paperback!

-Announce Team: Hour One: Eric Bischoff, Larry Zbyszko, and Mike Tenay
-Dayton, OH

-We start with the nWo music and have Syxx and Scott Hall in the ring. It seems fans are complaining they aren’t seeing enough of the nWo. They are the reason everyone is watching TNT. I mean, no lies. They take shots at Ric Flair and Hall wants a match with him. JJ Dillon is out and says Ric Flair is on a jet and on his way to Dayton. JJ notes that Hall talked himself into a verbal contract. He will face Ric Flair tonight and the crowd really likes that idea. JJ threatens to strip Hall (and Nash) of the Tag Titles if he doesn’t face Flair tonight. That’s a pretty big Main Event actually!

-Show opening!

Alex Wright vs. Glacier

-Someone just purchased my book (available on Amazon) from Germany. Perhaps they are a big Alex Wright fan. Wright comes flying off the top with a forearm before the bell. He throws a series of Euro uppercuts and hits a leg lariat. Wright kicks Glacier down in the corner and continues to stomp away. The crowd boos him out of the building as he dances. Cool! Glacier lands a punch to the gut and then gets a leg sweep. Now he throws kicks in the corner, but sets too early on a backdrop. Wright sends him into the corner and plays to the crowd again. Big mistake as he turns around and eats a Cryonic Kick. That gets the pin at 1:38.

Winner: Glacier via pin at 1:38
-I was digging Wright’s character and reaction here more than Glacier, but Glacier has the Mortal Kombat feud going, so he gets the win. *

-Vandenberg heads down the aisle and here’s Mortis and Wrath from the crowd. The numbers get to Glacier and he takes another beating. Alex Wright wants to help and gets in more kicks before accidentally getting kicked in the face by Mortis. Glacier makes his own comeback as the bell keeps ringing. Funny that it stops once Glacier gets the upper hand.

Joe Gomez vs. Buff Bagwell (w/ Scott Norton)

-Larry wonders if Gomez realizes how important this match is in the war between WCW and nWo. Yeah, it’s not that deep. If this was SEC vs. Big 10 in football this is Maryland vs. Vanderbilt. Buff with a clothesline and he poses. Gomez with a leap frog where only one foot leaves the mat. He gets the mounted punches in the corner, but Buff drops South and Gomez hits his face off the buckle. Gomez gets pitched to the floor and Norton runs him back first into a post. Back in the ring, Buff gets a slam and hits The Blockbuster for the pin at 3:07. That move was awesome back then and got a strong reaction here.

Winner: Buff Bagwell via pin at 3:07
-The midcard nWo guys needed wins like this and Buff had found something with this character, so this was what it needed to be. SQUASH

-Saturday Night: Public Enemy, Harlem Heat, DDP, Hector Garza and more!

Hugh Morrus vs. Prince Iaukea

-Hugh gets attacked by Konan as he makes his way through the entrance. The trainer checks on Hugh who is shaking his head, but he wants to fight. Morrus starts fast, but is selling the effects of the Konan attack. Prince gets a roll-up on a dizzy Morrus for the pin at 47 seconds.

Winner: Prince Iaukea via pin at 47 seconds
-This was more about advancing a story than having a match. I did like that Konan’s attack directly led to Morrus losing and it didn’t take long. 1/2*

-Gene is with JJ Dillon and he notes that Flair has made it and is in the building. The Steiner Brothers are named the #1 contender’s to the Tag Titles. Here’s Sherri and Harlem Heat and they aren’t happy. JJ says if the Steiners win their match tonight they will be cemented as the #1 contenders. Huh, I wonder what’s going to happen?

-DDP video package as see him taking loss after loss in the early days of his career. Nobody knew his work ethic and how bad he wanted it. We see him catch fire and then get the career making win over Randy Savage. Savage/Page II: Great American Bash. Feud of the year in WCW!

Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta vs. The Steiner Brothers

-Tony notes these four men know each other quite well. No kidding! Muta starts with Scott and both are a little timid. Lockup and Muta with an arm-drag. Another lockup and Scott gets his own arm-drag, but Muta tells the ref his hair was pulled. That gets the crowd fired up. Something small like that and it works. Muta gets thrown across the ring again and the crowd barks. Muta delivers a knee and starts throwing karate chops. Muta tries to run Scott over and that doesn’t work, so he changes course and lands a spin kick to the gut. That one worked! He sets too early for a backdrop and Scott hits a double under hook into a powerbomb. Gorilla Press Slam! Muta slides to the floor and the crowd starts barking. Scott brings Rick into the match which pops the crowd. Muta runs away and Chono comes over to give him some advice. Rick grabs an nWo shirt and stomps on it. Chono in as this one has slowed quite a bit. The crowd is hot for it though. Knuckle lock and Rick turns that into a suplex. Steiner-line sends Chono to the floor. Back in Chono goes to the eyes, but Rick runs him head first off the buckle. Chono tries a leap frog, but Rick catches him with a powerslam. Muta off the top, but Rick greets him with a clothesline in the way down. Muta and Chono bail to the floor as The Steiners hit their pose. Chono slows things down and once back in the ring he catches Scott. Brief offense from Chono before Scott clotheslines both Muta and Chono. Rick with the hot tag and he runs wild. Steiners with stereo suplexes! Chono with a Mafia Kick! Muta hits Rick with the handspring elbow. Chono misses another Mafia Kick and hits Muta. Here’s Harlem Heat as expected! They pull Rick off the apron and blast him with a chair. Scott eats another Mafia kick and that takes him out of the mat. Muta drops an elbow on Rick and hooks a leg hold, but Rick is out and gets counted by the ref at 8:54.

Winner: The Great Muta and Chono via pin at 8:54
-You could see that ending coming a mile away. Lots of stalling in this one as I wonder if jet lag was getting to Muta and Chono. The Steiners seemed game, but Team Japan kept this one in a lower gear. **

-JJ Dillon tells Harlem Heat the result of the match is up to review and he won’t name them the #1 contenders.

-Hour Two pyro!

-Announce Team: Hour Two: Tony Schiavone and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan

-Gene brings out Ric Flair and he is quite fired up. He screams in ALL CAPS about Nash bot being here. He dances as he promises he will stomp a “pothole in your tooth pick chomping, white honky ass.”

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Dean Malenko (c) vs. M. Wallstreet

-Reminder that Wallstreet is still with WCW but he doesn’t want to be there. Nick Patrick is the ref. They do some mat wrestling to start. Dean with a roll-up for two. Wallstreet complains about a pull of the tights, but Patrick shouts him down. Dean with shoulders in the corner and hooks a reverse chinlock. Wallstreet uses the hair and Patrick is all over his case. Wallstreet goes to the arm and pitches Dean to the floor. Patrick bitches at him again. I kind of feel for Wallstreet in this one. More chain wrestling as Dean ends up with a hammerlock. Wallstreet gets to the ropes and lands a blow to regain the advantage. He drops en elbow for a two count. Wallstreet goes to a reverse chinlock. Enthralling! Dean elbows out, but runs into a knee. Abdominal stretch and at least Wallstreet uses the ropes to cheat. Patrick catches Wallstreet and forces a break. Dean takes advantage and hits a leg lariat. Vertical suplex for two! Cloverleaf, but Wallstreet goes to the eyes. He hits a running lariat but misses a charge and spills over the top and to the floor. Suplex, but Jarrett sneaks down and trips Malenko. Wallstreet falls on top and gets a two count that looked like three. Wallstreet celebrates and that lets Dean get a trip and The Cloverleaf. Patrick stands in the way of Wallstreet getting to the ropes and has to quit at 6:25.

Winner and Still WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Dean Malenko via pin at 6:25
-Boring and then a weird ending. *1/2

-Gene is with JJ and Debra and JJ wants a rematch for the US Title. Dean gives him a shot next week on Nitro in Boston. Mongo is out and yells at JJ for not letting him know the plan. JJ storms off as he is only worried about himself. Mongo makes Debra stay in the ring, and then he takes shots at Kevin Greene.

Ciclope and Damien vs. Harlem Heat (w/ Sister Sherri)

-Here’s the Nitro random match pairing we love seeing! Stevie beats Ciclope down to start. Ciclope ducks a clothesline but gets caught with a World’s Strongest Slam. Booker in to hit a back kick, but he misses a charge in the corner. Damien in and springs off Cilcope to knock Booker to the floor. Suicide Dive by Damien! Booker reverses a whip and buries a knee to the gut. Stevie back in with clubbing blows. He stomps away and then hits another clothesline. Back to Booker and he throws Damien to the floor. Booker throws Damien into the railing and goes crazy with right hands. The Steiners are out and Booker gets blasted in the head with a chair shot. Damien off the top with a splash and we have an upset at 3:34.

Winner: Ciclope and Damien via pin at 3:34
-Nice to see an upset even if it took The Steiners helping. Heat controlled the match outside of a few moments, but the key was The Steiners getting even. Every now and then you need to give the fans an upset like this. **

-Lee Marshall is On The Road in Boston thanks to 1-800-Collect! Weasel jokes! Back at a time when Boston was still cursed.

The Barbarian (w/ Kevin Sullivan) vs. Chris Benoit

-Benoit has to fight his way through The Dungeon to get his match with Kevin Sullivan. No Woman this week. Lockup and Barbarian misses a punch in the corner. Benoit with chops and stomps Barbarian down in the corner to pop the crowd. Northern Lights Suplex gets two! Benoit chases Hart and gets caught from behind by Barbarian. Suplex, but he releases and drops Benoit on the top rope. That looked brutal as Benoit’s landed on his knees and got folded in half. PILEDRIVER and it’s a SWANK one! That gets two! Barbarian with rapid fire punches in the corner. They head up top and Barbarian throws Benoit over his head with a suplex. Always enjoyed that spot from Barbarian! He goes for it again, but Benoit with a head-butt and shoves Barbarian to the mat. Flying head-butt and Crippler Crossface finish at 3:55.

Winner: Chris Benoit via pin at 3:55
-Match of the night as they hit each other hard for four minutes. **3/4

-Gene is with Benoit and he asks Jimmy where Sullivan is. Hart tells Benoit that he has to face Meng in a Death Match. Gene: “Are you crazy, he ripped his thyroid out last time.” That line made me laugh! Hart then tells Benoit to to show up next week and he will find out about Step Three.

Scott Hall (w/ Syxx) vs. Ric Flair

-Tony has been noting all night this is one of the bigger main events in Nitro’s history and he’s got a point. Hall throws his toothpick in Flair’s face and that doesn’t work out well as Flair start firing away with right hands and chops. Tony rightly questions why Flair is out by himself while Hall has Syxx. Speaking of Syxx he throws an elbow from the apron, but Flair no sells and knocks him off the apron. Flair with more chops in the corner. Hall reverses a whip and Flair goes up and over the corner, but runs the apron and dives on Syxx. Nice! That lets Hall attack from behind though and he fires away with right hands. Back in the ring he stomps Flair down in the corner as we get a loud chant for Flair. Syxx rushes in and gets a Bronco Buster as Hall has the ref. That was kind of funny the way the ref has to ignore Syxx running by him. SOS Slam gets a two count. The crowd wants Sting! Hall connects with a running clothesline in the corner and follows with a belly-to-back suplex for two. Abdominal stretch and Hall uses leverage from Syxx. Fair as Flair would do the same thing if he could. Anderson catches the cheating on the third go and that lets Flair break with a hip-toss. He can’t follow up though as Hall lands a discus punch. Flair back with chops as they exchange blows. Flair gets the upper hand, but Hall catches him with a sleeper. Flair counters with a knee breaker, but Hall lands a desperation lariat to get a two count. Flair back with more chops and right hands. Flair struts before hitting another chop. Atomic Drop from Flair and Syxx eats a right hand. Syxx up top, but Flair knocks him off balance. Mule kick to Hall’s balls and he sends him into the corner where he knocks Syxx to the floor. Flair gets a suplex and looks to put on The Figure Four, but Syxx is back in. Anderson lets it go for a few seconds, but Hall uses the belt and that’s a DQ at 7:48.

Winner: Ric Flair via DQ at 7:48
-This was fun as the crowd was into it and Hall seemed to be having a blast out there with Flair. Wish it had a better ending. ***

-Syxx and Hall attack after the match, but Mongo and Jarrett remember they are Horsemen and come out to save. About time!

-Randy Savage is out and drags Gene to the ring with him. Gene wants no part of this, but Savage forces him to the ring. Elizabth is out as well and I appreciate that. He threatens to drop Gene if he doesn’t get in the ring. We nearly get Savage beating up Gene, but JJ Dillon is out and Gene leaves. Savage tells JJ to be careful. Dillon tells Savage he owes Gene an apology. Savage is ready to fight JJ as well. JJ makes the mistake of saying Savage is hiding behind Liz and that’s enough. Savage lays him out and Eric Bischoff is out to pull him away as he knows Savage went too far. Bischoff tries to calm Savage down by telling him to think about the money. The crowd chants for DDP and that sets Savage off and he dives on JJ again. Security helps Bischoff get Savage away. JJ is doing some top notch selling as his eyes are rolling in the back of his head. Eric cuts a promo saying JJ brought this on and calls out DDP as well. Kind of wild segment to close the show and rumors are this was just thrown in because the Hall/Flair match went short.

-Thanks for reading!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Fun show this week with a hot crowd. Nice to see the last two matches be the best two and we had a strong Main Event for a change of pace. Also nice to see The Horsemen actually come to save Flair. The rest was the normal short matches we are used to getting on Nitro, but things are building towards The Great American Bash. It's refreshing to see a focus on the Tag Division. This show continues to be what my wrestling soul needs.