Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro 6.9.97

-Written: 10.13.26
-Run Time: 1:35:51

-Plugs: Royal Rumble 1995

–My 1996 PPV Review Book can be purchased on Amazon.

-This is a big one as WCW sold a ton of tickets in WWE territory.  So many, this was their biggest show for the longest time.  The official attendance was over 18,000 with reports claiming 21,000-22,000.  I assume this one really got Vince’s attention.

-Announce Team: Hour One: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko
-Fleet Center, Boston, Mass

-Tony welcomes us to the show and announces that Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman have signed to be a team at Bash at The Beach, but their opponents haven’t been named yet.

-We cut to the back as a limo pulls up and Miss Elizabeth gets out, but here’s DDP and he kicks the window in trying to get to Savage.  He gets the door open, but Liz slams it on him and the limo pulls away.

Ultimo Dragon, Juventud Guerrera, and Super Calo vs. Silver King. Psychosis, and La Parka

-Ring the bell and let them go! Also, the wide shots work this week as it shows off how many people they jammed into this building. Larry has figured out the rules: “there ain’t none.” Calo and Psychosis start this one off for each side. Psychosis goes after Dragon on the apron, so everyone gets in the ring. The crowd is ready for this one. We settle on Dragon and Psychosis starting. They will meet at The Great American Bash this Sunday. This is also the WCW debut of Silver King. Psy with a clothesline and sends Dragon to the corner. Dragon goes for the head stand in the corner, but gets caught and hits his knee. To the other corner and Psychosis misses a charge and ends up on the floor. La Parka and Calo in and Calo gets a backdrop. Monkey Flip sends Parka to the floor. Calo with a dropkick through the ropes and gets a sling shot plancha to the floor. King and Juvie in next and King hits a superkick. He misses a splash in the corner and Juvie comes off the top with a head scissors. Running shoulder tackle and he sticks an elevated dropkick. Larry learns Silver King is the son of Dr Wagner and lets us know he beat Dr. Wagner. Dragon and Psychosis back in, but not for long as Juvie springs in and drops an elbow. Parka back in and Juvie lands a spinning kick. Here’s Calo and Parka gets a belly-to-belly. Psychosis springs in with a leg drop for two. The crowd actually starts a “boring” chant which is wild. Juvie gets tossed by Psychosis but lands on King and gets a rana. Dragon fires off his kicks to Parka. Psychosis and Dragon with a pin fall reversal sequence that ends with Psychosis getting a roll-up for two to counter a rana. Dragon sends Psychosis to the floor and everyone starts flying with dives to the floor which finally gets some kind of reaction from the crowd. Parka with a triple jump from a chair to the ropes to the floor with a dive. Juvie with a double springboard to the floor on everyone. Dragon gets a top rope rana on Psychosis and Dragon Sleeper gets the submission at 7:37.

Winner: Ultimo Dragon, Juventud Guerrera, and Super Calo via submission at 7:37
-Not sure what the deal was with the crowd as they didn’t care about this one at all. The Trios match a few weeks earlier was better, but this was still good. It just never got to great thanks to the crowd and it didn’t seem to flow as well. ***

-Gene, gets a big pop, brings out Lex Luger. He says Giant is in Europe, but they have signed to face Hogan and Rodman at Bash at The Beach. He also says Hogan hasn’t defended his World Title and has to defend it tonight against him. You’d think you would want to advertise that and also weird to have it six days before a PPV.

-Earlier today Tenay was backstage as Piper and Flair arrived. They have a match against The Outsiders on Sunday, but apparently we are getting that match tonight as well. I wonder if they just saw how big of a crowd they had and figured they needed to throw everything out there.

Alex Wright vs. Chris Jericho

-Been a bit since we’ve seen Jericho. Tony notes he has been working a tour for New Japan with the Super Juniors Tournament. I have a tape of that show somewhere in storage. Jericho hits the springboard to knock Wright to the floor. Wright drops him throat first on the top rope and drops an elbow on the apron. Tenay notes this is the largest crowd for Monday Night Wrestling beating their own record Chicago earlier in the year. Wright stomps away in the corner and the crowd is all over him. So he dances and they boo more. Way to read the crowd and react! Vertical suplex but Wright releases the bridge, so no count. Wright up top and misses a knee drop. He lands a spin kick though and chokes on the middle ropes. Wright lands an elbow in the corner and gets a World’s Strongest Slam. He floats over the ropes and gets a splash for two count. Jericho counters a backdrop with a sunset flip for two, but Wright is back on him with a reverse chinlock. Jericho breaks with a belly-to-back suplex. Still doesn’t matter as Wright goes to a sleeper and takes it to the mat. He uses the ropes for extra leverage. He is eating Jericho up in this one and the crowd is getting restless. Another “boring” chant. Weird crowd! Jericho with a brief comeback and again, Wright cuts him off. He argues with the ref and Jericho gets a roll-up for two. Wright again slugs Jericho down and gets another submission hold. Another “boring” chant. Jericho awkwardly escapes and catches Wright with a boot in the corner. Dropkick from the middle ropes followed by a superkick. Butterfly powerbomb for two. He hangs Wright in the Tree of Woe and hits a baseball slide. Wright begs off in the corner and lands a right hand. Jericho counters a whip with a cross-body from the ropes, but Wright rolls though and gets the pin with his feet on the ropes at 8:46.

Winner: Alex Wright via pin at 8:46
-Another one hurt by the crowd. Wright dominated this one which annoyed the crowd and then they didn’t really care when when Jericho finally made a comeback. *1/2

-Saturday Night 6:05 PM: Chris Benoit, Glacier, Public Enemy, Dean Malenko, and DDP!

Malia Hosaka vs. Akira Hokuto (w/ Sonny Onoo)

-Akira is WCW Women’s Champion, but this is non-title as she faces Madusa on Sunday, with Madusa’s career on the line. Hosaka accepts a handshake and gets thrown down by her hair for it. Another hair toss followed by a suplex. Hokuto chokes on the ropes. Hosaka reverses a whip and lands a spin kick. She gets a series of clotheslines and comes off top with a cross-body. Onoo on the apron and that lets Hokuto catch Hosaka from behind and hits a Northern Lights Bomb for the pin at 1:47.

Winner: Akira Hokuto via pin at 1:47
-This was fine for a sub two minute match. *

-Hokuto hits another one after the match and it looked killer. Madusa out and she hits a trio of German Suplexes to big pop. Crowd was crazy here for Madusa.

-Gene is with The Steiners and they are annoyed they have to keep jumping through hoops to get a Title Match against The Outsiders. Harlem Heat are out and they feel they deserve the next shot and it leads to a fun brawl between the two teams. The crowd loved this!

Konan vs. Mongo McMichael (w/ Debra)

-Kevin Greene attacks Mongo from behind and that doesn’t go well as Mongo turns the tide and drops him throat first on the railing. Mongo tries to get to the ring, but Greene attacks from behind again. I am on Larry’s side in this one as Greene keeps attacking from behind. Also, it dawned on me that both of these men have passed and I am sad. Hey, in the ring Konan is out cold as someone apparently broke a broom handle over his head. The idea being it was Hugh Morrus. Nick Patrick calls the match a no contest.

No Contest

-Weird they don’t know who nailed him when they have cameras all over the building that are set to shoot the ring.

-Hulk Hogan is out (w/ Eric Bischoff) and that white nWo shirt is CLEAN. I need one of those! This is the alternate version with the six ball on the back. I don’t need the six ball on the back. Just give me the white alternate. Going to check Shop WWE right now. Hold please!

-I’m back and they don’t have one. All kinds of other nWo shirts, but not that one. Bummer!

-We are in the NE, so the crowd loves Hogan. He says no match with Luger because he needs to hit the gym. Gym for Luger. Tan for Sting. Who does the laundry? Someone has to be a Jersey Shore fan out there. Luger is out and Hogan tells him there is no way in this lifetime he could beat him in a wrestling ring. He tells him to hit the bricks and Eric calls Luger a Hollywood wannabe. Well, Vince was hoping that would happen. Luger shoves Bischoff and the fight is on and we have a ref and a bell. Hogan bails to the floor and Hall, Nash, and Syxx are out to support him. Hogan gets back in the ring and the crowd is hot for this. Hogan with a clothesline and drops a series of elbows before choking. Hogan rakes the back as Tony throws to a break.

-We are right back as Heenan is now on commentary as I guess this is the star of Hour Two. Hogan with a belly-to-back suplex for a two count. Slam by Hogan but he misses an elbow. Slam by Luger and the nWo hit the ring. Syxx takes a slam, and Hall and Nash get decked. The Rack and Hogan submits at 2:51 (shown).

Winner: Lex Luger via submission at 2:51 (shown)
-Short and energetic and kind of a test run for what was to come later in the summer. This obviously got the biggest reaction of the show. *1/2

-We get Hour Two pyro with the nWo beating down Luger. Hogan drops the leg over and over again. No wonder he needed so many back surgeries. Loud “We Want Sting” chant. No Sting, but Hogan drops the leg another five or so times. Hogan cuts a promo and shots out Rodman. You can tell they are having a blast out there with this large crowd.

-After a commercial we are back with Gene in the ring with JJ Dillon. He lets us know that Savage was fined $50,000 for attacking him last week. No suspension as it would have taken him out of the match with DDP. Instead the match is now Lights Out: No DQ, No Count-Out, Falls Count Anywhere. Randy Savage pops up in the crowd and as always, Liz is with him. Savage has $100,000 as he will pay for last week and also for this week. Somewhere Randy Orton was watching and taking notes. DDP is out and he wants the match now (like always) and Savage is down for it since he is no longer on crutches. Savage has a torn shirt as he gets to the ring because the fans were pulling at him. They start brawling as we go to a break. Sucks for us watching at home I guess.

-Lee Marshall is On The Road with 1-800-Collect in Chicago. Weasel jokes are made!

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Dean Malenko (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett

-Dean starts with a hammerlock, but JJ reverses into a side headlock. He shoves off and JJ gets a shoulder tackle and struts. Dean just ignores him the mind games and stays focused. JJ back with the headlock and Dean shoves off to get a roll-up for two. Small package for two. JJ with a sunset flip, but Dean drops forward like Bulldog at Wembley for a two count. JJ talks a way to slow things down. Back in he gets a waist lock, but Dean counters and gets a slam. Debra walks down and says we have been looking for her and she finally made it. We take a break at 2:45.

-Right back because we don’t do commercials on this stream. Dean is in control as he chokes with his boot in the corner. JJ ducks a clothesline and gets a sleeper. Dean runs him into the corner and gets his own sleeper. The crowd is more interested in whistling at Debra. JJ with a suplex to break and both men are down at 3:44. Debra on the apron to draw more whistling. JJ blocks a backdrop by sticking Dean with a DDT for two. Nice! JJ sets too early for a backdrop and Dean kicks him in the chest and gets a clothesline. Vertical suplex follows for two. Heenan notes that any place Hogan is, Sting said he would be. So, why didn’t he help Luger? Dean with a slam and fights to get a Half Crab, which is really like a Half Lion Tamer. Dean grabs the arm for extra leverage as he bends Jarrett like a pretzel. He transitions into an ankle lock for a bit. He hits a leg lariat for two as JJ gets his foot on the rope. JJ counters a move and hits a TOMBSTONE of all things, but can’t cover. JJ goes for the figure-four and gets it in the middle of the ring. Dean fights to turn it over, but JJ is near the ropes and forces a break. Dean lands a kick to the knee, but JJ spins back around and hits a lariat. Dean back to the knee and gets a double underhook into a powerbomb. Cloverleaf is blocked and JJ gets a small package for two. Dean with a backslide for two. JJ back with a swinging neckbreaker for two. Good stuff here! Dean avoids a charge in the corner and goes to come off top, but JJ blocks and lands a punch. Top Rope Superplex and sadly the crowd doesn’t react. Jerks! Eddie Guerrero (arm in a sling) comes through the crowd and comes off the top with a Frog Splash on Dean. He leaves the sling on Dean and JJ turns around and hooks the figure four. Dean gives it up at 11:10 and we have a new Champion.

Winner and New WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Jarrett via submission at 11:10
-Good match even if the crowd wasn’t into it. No boring chant at least. They meshed well together and I dug this. ***1/4

-Gene is with Jimmy Hart and The Faces of Bear. The third step for Benoit is Kevin Sullivan and for some reason we get a mash up of the Dungeon of Doom theme with the nWo laugh. That was a weird production error. Sullivan says he is home at last, but this is like the 10th time I have heard him cut a promo about being home and each time it’s been a different place in Florida or the NE. Sullivan wants Benoit right now and tells Meng and Barbarian to let them go. Benoit is out and they start punching each other in the face. Jackie gets involved and finally Meng and Barbarian get involved. We take a break once again during a brawl.

-We come back with the camera focused on a RAW SUX sign and there’s a sign of someone pissing on a WWF logo. Kids today have Twitter for their tribalism. We had signs in the crowd!

The Outsiders (w/ Syxx) vs. Roddy Piper and Ric Flair

-This is non-title and they have a title match against each other on Sunday. Weird, but again, I think they saw the big crowd and wanted to throw everything they had at it. All four men brawl to start as they pair off with Piper/Nash and Flair/Hall. Piper is wobbly legs in the first few seconds as we head to a break at 1:20.

-Again, right back and we have a standard tag match now. The Outsiders work Piper over in the corner. Nash with a series of knees and forearms. He chokes with the boot and then nails Flair for fun. He tries to come in, but the ref puts him out and that lets Hall come in without a tag. Piper starts swinging to get out of the corner, but gets cut off. He lands a low blow on Nash’s pistons and Hall takes one to the bad guys. Piper crawls for the tag, but Flair isn’t there as he goes after Syxx. They all end up in the ring and we have a DQ at 3:37.

No Contest at 3:37
-They just wanted to get star power out there in front of a large crowd. *

-All the Horsemen are out to help Flair and Piper. Here’s the rest of the nWo and out comes Kevin Greene as well. He wants Mongo though which kind of helps the nWo. KEEP RINGING THE BELL! We need an episode of RAW to end with The Bloodline and The 946 brawling while a bell rings for 5 minutes. The Steiners and Harlem Heat brawl near the entrance way. Just total chaos and it’s great! Glacier is out and he is getting attacked by Wrath and Mortis. I need Savage and DDP brawling out here as well. WE WANT STING. The Steiners and Heat fight on the announce position to chase Tony off. Heenan remains on the headsets because he is a pro. There goes the bell again. Even the participants from the Trios match earlier are brawling in the aisle. Dungeon of Doom is out to go after Benoit and Heenan decides to bail. THIS IS FANTASTIC! WE WANT STING! KEEP RINGING THE BELL. We finally get DDP and Savage out to brawl. Thank you! STING IS HERE! The crowd loses it as you would expect. He holds everyone off with a bat and this is the famous spot where he hooks an out cold DDP and after landing a few bat shots to the nWo, he takes DDP to the rafters with him. Everyone goes back to brawling as we close the show.

-Thanks for reading!

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

If you like brawls, this is the show for you. What I loved though is they had these small teases of brawls all night and then it erupted into chaos to close the show, and they let everyone in on it. We had some good wrestling to go with all the crazy stuff plus real star power and teases of what was to come in the summer. Sure, the crowd was kind of out it for a few of the matches, but overall, this was a fantastic show in front a large crowd. WCW wanted to make a statement in the WWE's back yard and did so with this show. Just prepare to have the bell ringing stuck in your head after watching this one.