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Monday Night War – Raw History: Episode 199 & Reliving Nitro: Episode 77

September 11, 2017 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
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Monday Night War – Raw History: Episode 199 & Reliving Nitro: Episode 77  


Raw History
Episode #199
March 3rd, 1997 | Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany

WWF Champion: Sycho Sid (2) since 2/17/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Rocky Maivia (1) since 2/13/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart and the British Bulldog (1) since 9/22/96


After a chaotic week with ECW invading, the WWF hosts another different episode. This one emanated from Germany. Vince McMahon did voiceover work for a video package hyping the European Title Tournament. Owen Hart meets British Bulldog in the finals tonight!

Honky Tonk Man made his entrance for commentary. He, Vince and Jim Ross were on commentary, though JR wasn’t in Germany and only added in during post-production.

Bret Hart vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
By year’s end, these two would be part of one of the most pivotal moments in wrestling history. Bret got a pre-match promo to say he was focused despite Steve Austin being on his radar at WrestleMania. German erupted for Bret. They love him. Austin was shown arriving at WWF Studios on a split screen. A lot of basic mat work got this started. Bret was working as if this was a house show and Hunter wasn’t quite enough to do much else yet. He took control, wearing Bret down through a commercial break. Bret began the comeback with some of the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM. He countered the Pedigree with a catapult and looked for the Sharpshooter. HHH raked the eyes, only to end up the tree of Joey Lawrence. Bret refused to stop stomping on HHH in the corner, resulting in the DQ at 8:44. Nothing match that felt like something you’d get on a house show. They just did stuff to fill time until the DQ, but none of it was bad. [**]

Chyna ran out to make the save. No matter how pissed Bret is, he won’t hit a woman.

ROYAL RUMBLE ~ Owen Hart eliminating British Bulldog was shown.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Rocky Maivia (c) vs. Vader w/ Paul Bearer
Vader’s incredible Final Four performance was recapped. During the European Title Tournament, Vader pinned Rocky to get this shot. Commentary treated this as a forgone conclusion, but Rocky showed no fear and got right in Vader’s face. Despite that, Vader mauled him in the early stages. Rocky came back with two suplexes for a near fall before a break. Returning, Vader squashed him with a splash. Rocky continued showing his power with a belly to belly before getting two on a big flying cross body. He dropkicked Vader to the outside, but out came Mankind to whack him with the urn, resulting in another DQ at 7:18. The match itself had some fun moments and was probably the best of Rocky’s career to this point. Vader was a beast, Rocky got to showcase his power and still play the underdog. [***]

Vader was pissed at Mankind, his partner at WrestleMania, but took it out on Rocky.

RECAP ~ Jerry Lawler issuing the challenge to ECW was shown. ECW’s acceptance and appearance on Raw last week was the next highlight.

Flash Funk vs. The Sultan
The managers for these two weren’t deemed worthy of the trip overseas. Jerry Lawler called in to run down ECW and sent another invitation to Paul E. Dangerously and ECW for next week. During a break, Sultan jumped Funk but Funk came back with high flying offense. To save us from this, Paul E. called in to say he’s tired of Lawler. He made cracks about Lawler’s employer not thinking enough of him to fly him to Berlin. He made sure to plug Barely Legal, while also saying ECW may eventually invade Madison Square Garden. Sultan won with a camel clutch at 4:06. This was mostly background noise for the phone calls. [¼*]

LAST OCTOBER ~ Steve Austin causing havoc at WWF Studios aired.

Backstage, Sycho Sid shouted a bunch about defending his title against Mankind tonight.

FINAL FOUR ~ Another miscommunication moment between Owen and Bulldog was shown.

Ahmed Johnson was brought out for an interview to answer Faarooq’s challenge for a Street Fight at WrestleMania. Ahmed accepted but said he wouldn’t come by himself. YOU’RE GOING DOWN!

LAST WEEK ~ We got clips of the Legion of Doom’s return. On Shotgun Saturday Night, they said they wanted to be part of WrestleMania in their home of Chicago.

WWF Championship: Sycho Sid (c) vs. Mankind w/ Paul Bearer
Mankind got promo time before the match, and cut it in German. Sid jumped him to gain the early upper hand. While they clobbered one another, Austin got split screen promo time. He was pissed about his flight and food on his way to WWF Studios. He’s sick and it’s not from that, it’s from the whining of Bret Hart. Mankind took control and fired away on Sid into the commercial. Returning, Sid fought back and sent him outside. Mankind grounded Sid and applied the Mandible Claw. Sid became one of the first people to fight it off and get free. Sid got two on a chokeslam before winning cleanly with the powerbomb at 10:21. Better than I expected. It was slow at parts, but when they were going toe to toe, this worked. Sid’s odd because he’s the top heel, but also worked like a top face at the same time.[**¾]

NINE DAYS AGO ~ More dissension from the corner of Bulldog and Owen. Bulldog was so livid that he fired Clarence Mason.

WWF STUDIOS ~ More flashbacks, this time showing Bret winning the WWF Title only to lost it a night later because of Austin. Vince brought up Austin being a thorn in Bret’s side. Austin went into one of his best promos ever, which is saying something. He brought up HBK being sick and getting a video, but he was sick during Final Four and had a blown out knee, but he didn’t say a word. “How many one-legged wrestlers could go 25 minutes with three of the best wrestlers in the world?” He feels he’s the rightful champion. Austin said Ken Shamrock hit the nail on the head when he said Austin didn’t have an ounce of quit in him. He ended things by dropping, what I believe to be, the first ever “And that’s the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!” Excellent stuff.

WWF European Championship Tournament Finals: WWF Tag Team Champion British Bulldog vs. WWF Tag Team Champion Owen Hart
To get here, Bulldog beat Mankind and Vader, while Owen beat Flash Funk and Bret Hart. They started this with lots of quick paced mat work. They’ve had issues lately but are still friendly, so starting like that made sense. The work was crisp and energetic. It was so fast that Vince literally just called them “fancy maneuvers”. After a standoff, the partners slapped hands. They played into the speedy technician vs. powerhouse dynamic, with Vince dropping hints that he expected things to get chippy. Owen started getting in trouble, so he back dropped Bulldog outside. Both men took time to taunt and even had spots where they held the ropes open for the other. SPORTSMANSHIP! Owen was first to act slightly heel, playing possum for an advantage. Following a break, there was more back and forth, showcasing how evenly matched they were. Owen’s snap belly to belly was a highlight. Bulldog started in with a comeback that the fans ate up. Owen found a way to counter Bulldog’s powerslam for a near fall and Bulldog did the same on a cross body. He couldn’t block the kick that killed Shawn Michaels and got put in the Sharpshooter. Bulldog reached the ropes before countering a tombstone into the powerslam. Owen kicked out to a great reaction because that didn’t happen often. See what not overdoing finisher kickouts does? Owen pulled Bulldog into a victory roll, but Bulldog turned it over for his own pin to capture the title at 17:24. That very well could be the greatest TV match in history. You had the emotion and underlying story of family members competing and their recent issues. The action was great and filled with awesome counters and sequences. Tremendous story, no dead spots and a clean finish. Incredible. [****¾]

To add to this awesomeness, Owen Hart shook Bulldog’s hand, but still lingered close enough to seem like he might attack him. Instead, he shook his hand again.


Reliving Nitro
Episode #77
March 3rd, 1997 | The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan (2) 8/10/96
WCW United States Champion: Eddie Guerrero (1) since 12/29/96
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Giant and Lex Luger (1) since 2/23/97
WCW Television Champion: Prince Iaukea (1) since 2/17/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Syxx (1) since 2/23/97
WCW Women’s Championship: Akira Hokuto (1) since 12/29/96

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko hosted hour number one. The Omni hosted plenty of big WCW shows, but this would be the last show ever hosted there as it was demolished in July.

The nWo arrived in a stretch hummer. Behind them, a limo pulled up and it’s Harvey Schiller, who is Eric Bischoff’s boss. Things could get messy tonight.

Hugh Morris and Konnan vs. Jeff Jarrett and Steve McMichael w/ Debra
Seeing Konnan and Morris come out together is funny. The crowd was crazy hot for this. Morris mocked Jarrett’s strut after taking him down. Jarrett took a beating until Mongo got the hot tag. When I say hot, I mean it because the fans erupted for it. Mongo hit his basic offense and took out both men with three point stance tackles. Public Enemy came to ringside and stole the briefcase from Debra. Jarrett fought them off, but accidentally whacked Mongo with it, allowing Konnan to steal it at 3:13. Jarrett and Mongo meet PE at Uncensored. Too short to be much of anything and it was just there to further the Mongo/Jarrett stuff. [*]

Arn Anderson and Ric Flair came out to enormous pops. Arn was displeased with Jarrett’s briefcase pop. Jarret tried pulling Flair into this for backup but Flair told him that he’s making him look bad. Mongo got up and yelled at Jarrett. The second Debra spoke, the crowd erupted in loud boos. At least they’re hyping the PPV.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Rick Fuller
Fuller was one of the more consistent WCW jobbers. Fuller got in a jawbreaker for his only true move. The crowd chanted for DDP and popped hard when he got in offense. DDP countered the slam into a Diamond Cutter to win at 2:08. Once they realized it was a Diamond Cutter, the fans came to their feet. Hot crowd for a squash. [NR]

Mean Gene jumped in the ring to discuss the nWo jumping DDP last week. DDP said that Randy Savage snapped and told him to snap into “this” as he did the Diamond Cutter sign. The DDP/Savage feud in 1997 ruled.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Ray Mendoza Jr.
Jobber entrances for the midget division tonight. After some quick exchanges, thing went outside where Mendoza hit a snap suplex. Juvi shook it off to hit some aerial stuff back inside, before slowing it down with a rest hold. He picked things back up with an interesting suicide dive from the apron, through two sets of ropes. I don’t recall ever seeing that. He eventually won with a 450 splash in 5:06. Fine little showcase for Juvi. It was competitive. [*¾]

Jimmy Hart, Kevin Sullivan and Jacqueline took over the commentary booth. They bragged about Benoit and Woman not being there, before Jackie said she could beat any man in WCW, including Hogan and Savage, but not Sullivan. They lost all credibility by ending the promo with “we’re too legit to quit.”

Dean Malenko vs. Mike Enos
They keep booking Enos against cruiserweights to bad results. The aggressive side of Malenko came out again. Despite a size disadvantage, Malenko was in control because he choked Enos and attacked his leg viciously. Enos got in a suplex but not much more. Dean countered a slam into an inside cradle for the three at 4:28. I liked how it started with aggressive Malenko, but then they went away from it near the end. His inside cradle looked like something you don’t get if you’re in control the way he was. [*½]

Dean got promo time afterwards and said this is the new and improved Malenko. He promised to kick Eddie Guerrero around the ring at Uncensored.

Mean Gene brought out Eric Bischoff for an interview. Bischoff thanked Lex Luger for the Uncensored match idea and he said the nWo would win. Bischoff’s boss came out and told Eric that he didn’t have total control of WCW. He announced that Bischoff was suspended and could sign no more contracts. This segment worked because it was short and finally saw the WCW fire back at the nWo. The crowd ate this up.

Non-Title: WCW United States Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon w/ Sonny Oono
There’s no announcement about the title being on the line, so I assume it’s non-title. They began with some mat wrestling that progressed to a bit more aerial stuff. Oono got in some cheap shots on Eddie, but it didn’t affect him too much. Eddie ends up winning with a pinning combination with his feet on the ropes at 2:49. HE LIES, HE CHEATS, HE STEALS! Though Eddie didn’t mean to cheat here and felt bad. This was an odd match that was way rushed. [NR]

Eddie got interviewed by Mean Gene. Eddie apologized to Dean, who refused to accept. Dean came out and they got in each other’s faces. They bickered until Gene left and things went nowhere.

HOUR TWO! Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan replaced Larry Zbyszko.

Michael Wallstreet vs. Scotty Riggs
STOP BOOKING ROTUNDA. He’s been dreadful at everything. Poor Riggs still has the American Males theme. Wallstreet dumped Riggs early and went to CHINLOCK CITY, BITCH! It’s like he only knows six moves and five are rest holds. Riggs came back with a missile dropkick and leveled Wallstreet with a flying forearm. Buff Bagwell showed up to cause the DQ at 4:27. Really? That needed a DQ finish? As usual, Wallstreet stinks up the joint. [DUD]

Riggs got out of dodge before an attack could occur. Buff took time to pose, so Riggs grabbed a chair. Buff also left before anything could go down. Did anyone care about this feud?

Tony Schiavone hyped that Roddy Piper arrived in the building.

After the lame Lee Marshall report, Roddy Piper made his way to the ring. It’s the debut of the ICON shirt. He threw some insults at Hogan before saying that he needs to find his third family (first is his legit family and second are the fans), who will join him at Uncensored. Piper dropped the “I Coward Over Nothing” line to explain his shirt. To pick his team, he’s hosting tryouts. The first guy came in and submitted to a hammerlock in about a minute. Combatant number two was the future Luther Reigns, except he’s in daisy dukes. He got in a few clubs before being put to sleep. Both guys got the thumbs down from the crowd, who are supposed to vote for Piper’s partners. Guy #3 got attacked by guy #4, who wore boxing gloves. Piper got gloves too and they traded shots. The crowd went from molten hot earlier to losing their patience with this. This interaction went for too long and “the guy” kept coming at Piper. Piper respects him and, though the crowd booed, accepted him for his team. Commentary openly admitted to not knowing exactly what was going on. A bigger guy entered. He was barefoot and threw some kicks, so they hyped him as a martial artist. He beat up Piper a bit, so Piper called for a timeout to get the crowd’s opinion. They booed, but he put him on the team. During their interaction, you could hear a pin drop. It was so quiet. The final entrant was John Tenta but Piper was beyond blown up. Tenta and the other two brawled, which Piper liked. He officially made them his team. Who the fuck thought this was a good idea? The fans wanted to see WCW come back at the nWo and this was the team they put together? Piper, has-been Tenta and two scrubs. The crowd absolutely died with this horrific segment. There aren’t words to explain how bad this was.

Mr. JL vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Why is he a “Mr.” on some weeks and not on others? Prince Iaukea got split screen promo time to say that he’s giving Rey another TV Title shot at Uncensored. They worked some quick back and forth, playing to their strength. JL got control but missed a headbutt off the top. He did connect on a somersault off the apron. Inside, Rey came back with the springboard rana to win at 4:06. A few nice spots in a decent little sprint. [**]

Gene interviewed Madusa about her recent whereabouts. She sounded absolutely blasted. Drunk or high off her ass. She shit on Bischoff for being too concerned with the nWo and ignoring her after she threw a title in the trash for him. She put over women’s wrestling before Luna Vachon debuted and jumped her.

Time for the nWo. Bischoff was with them, which is odd since he was suspended earlier. The real Sting made his way to the ring with the nWo as well. Hogan ran down Bischoff’s boss and then focused on Piper’s team. He dissed Piper for getting winded against the scrubs and said anyone with a brain would bet on the nWo. He’s not wrong. Sting didn’t get in on the “nWo 4-Life” stuff and kind of just stood around in the back. This segment didn’t do much, except add intrigue to the Sting angle.

The Giant and Lex Luger vs. The Steiner Brothers
It’s the return of the Steiners after their car accident. The graphic listed Luger and Giant as the Tag Team Champions, which is incorrect. Rick and Luger started, with Luger taking a beating. Luger did some loud selling as Scott got the tag and tossed him around. Scott threatened Giant to a pop. Giant got a mild tag and we eventually got a faceoff between the teams. The nWo ran in through the crowd, and the match just stopped. Sting didn’t hop the guardrail, coming down the aisle alone. The two babyface teams begged them to join the ring. Team Piper came out and entered the ring, barely getting a reaction. A brawl broke out (which Sting avoided). WE’RE OUT OF TIME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

Raw Rating: 1.9
Nitro Rating: 3.4

5.8
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
Raw: Quite possibly the best episode of Raw up to this point. Nearly everything clicked. The Hart/HHH match wasn’t much, but was a fine way to get both guys on TV. The IC and WWF Title matches were more fun than I expected and even the shitty Sultan/Funk match at least had Heyman being entertaining to save it. The main event is incredible and arguably the best match in Raw history. WWF was starting to best WCW in quality.9.5

Nitro: This is one of the most lopsided weeks in the Monday Night Wars. While Raw put together one of their best episodes ever, Nitro brought nothing to the table. The best match clocked in at two stars, they ran the same Four Horsemen dissension angle we’ve seen a ton and they didn’t provide a main event. Also, the Piper segment is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. It did nothing for anyone, wasted time and killed a hot crowd. Garbage. 2.0

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Monday Night War, Nitro, RAW, WCW, WWE, Kevin Pantoja