wrestling / Video Reviews
Raw History: Episodes 267 and 268 and Reliving Nitro: Episodes 147 and 148
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Raw History
Episode #267
July 6th, 1998 | Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania | Attendance: N/A
WWF Champion: Steve Austin (2) since 6/29/98
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (2) since 12/8/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws (2) since 3/30/98
WWF European Champion: Triple H (2) since 3/17/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97
LAST WEEK ~ Kane had the balls to put his newly won WWF Title on the line against Steve Austin. In front of a hot crowd, Austin regained his championship.
RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were on commentary.
A pissed off Undertaker headed to the ring to start the show. He cut straight to the point, telling Stone Cold that he wanted a WWF Title shot and he wanted it now. Cut backstage to Michael Cole, who looked for Austin. He finally found him, only for Austin to brush past and head out to answer Undertaker face to face. Before Austin could speak, Vince McMahon interrupted because the inmates aren’t allowed to run the asylum. Basically, Vince chastised them for acting like they run things. Vince then booked them in the same match for Fully Loaded, saying they could tear each other apart that night. HOWEVER, they would be in action as partners against Kane and Mankind. Also, Vince promised to announce a number one contender tonight. He ended by saluting Austin as champion again and flipping him the bird. A logical way to start the show and set things up going forward.
Brawl for All: Brakkus vs. Savio Vega
Like the debacles last year, this went all three rounds. Savio pretty much dominated and won easily. [NR]
Jeff Jarrett w/ Tennessee Lee vs. Ken Shamrock
It’s a KOTR rematch. Shamrock was in control for most of the early portions. Jarrett turned the tide thanks to a distraction from Tennessee Lee. Shamrock fought back with a back suplex but before anything else could happen, the returning Mabel hit the ring and attacked Shamrock. That gave us a DQ at 4:25. Commentary hyped Mabel as a former King. The match wasn’t much until that finish. No part of me has ever looked forward to Mabel. [*]
Backstage, Michael Cole tried to get a word with Shamrock. He wanted no “weak ass sympathies” and challenged Mabel to meet him tonight.
Bradshaw vs. Vader
HOSS FIGHT! It was announced that Kane and Mankind will get a Tag Team Title shot next week. I quite enjoyed these two beating the stuffing out of each other. Unfortunately, out came Kane and Mankind to jump them and give us a no contest in 2:07. We get no explanation for the attack. [NR]
The Disciples of Apocalypse w/ Paul Ellering vs. The Headbangers
Mosh apparently poured hot wax on himself and laughed during his entrance. At least that’s what Lawler said it was. Ellering joined commentary to put his team over. He said that he only had to program one mind because the twins are on the same wavelength. The action itself was boring. DOA stopped the Mosh Pit and won with a double slam in 3:44. Meh. [½*]
SLAM OF THE WEEK ~ Austin regains the WWF Title last week.
D-Lo Brown w/ The Godfather vs. Terry Funk
Apparently, Funk just turned 54. Wait. When did Kama become The Godfather? Did I miss something? Anyway, D-Lo had the chest protector here. That’s the best incarnation of D-Lo. Funk brought the goods here with a piledriver and Asai moonsault that saw his legs bang into the guardrail. Brown withstood it all, got an assist from Godfather, and won with the Lo Down in 3:49. The added power of the chest protector was a major help. Decent little TV match. [**]
The Undertaker decided to one up Kane and Mankind. He showed up and hit Brown and Godfather with Chokeslams. Not to be left out, Funk also got one.
WAR ZONE!
Mr. McMahon came out to make the big number one contender’s announcement. He said he would introduce several Superstars, staring with Mankind. Kane and Undertaker were also brought out. Vince thanked Mankind for the sacrifices he’s taken in matches but wondered if it was enough to be top contender. He called Kane stupid for giving Austin a rematch, but said he had still done enough to be in consideration. Vince called Undertaker evil, but put over his desire to win the title. Since Vince couldn’t decide, he booked them in a Triple Threat match tonight to determine the number one contender.
Brawl for All: Droz vs. Hawk
LOD 2000 EXPLODES. This went nowhere, lasted three rounds, and ended in a damn draw. [NR]
Marc Mero and Jacqueline hit the ring. She spoke and kept calling Marc “MY MAN.” Is she Lio Rush? She blamed herself for his loss last week because she wore him out the night before. That led to her running Sable down because she couldn’t fill his needs. That brought out Sable to say it was Mero who couldn’t keep up, saying he needed Viagra. After some banter about who is more woman, Jackie challenged Sable to a bikini contest at Fully Loaded. Sable accepted with her poorly scripted and poorly delivered, “MY BIKINI WILL BE FULLY LOADED AND READY TO DROP THE BOMB ON YOU.” Get it? Because Sable Bomb.
KABOOM OF THE WEEK ~ Mankind taking the chokeslam through the top of the cell.
Dustin Runnels vs. Val Venis
Val made a reference to scoring more in Beaver Stadium than Joe Paterno. Penn State jokes haven’t aged well, have they? The match didn’t go on long before stuff went down. Outside of Val pumping his junk in Dustin’s face, nothing happened until Kaientai hit the ring to attack Val. The DQ came at 2:38. [NR]
Yamaguchi-San cut a promo as Kaientai beat on Val. He was basically pissed about Val flirting with his wife, so Kaientai is going to hurt him.
They’ve hyped DX all night because nobody had seen them to this point. When they finally came out, they were dressed as the Nation of Domination. It’s THAT segment. Billy Gunn was dressed as the Godfather and did a short impression. Smart to not give him lots of promo time. Triple H as The Crock was a lot of fun. Road Dogg as B-Lo was hilarious. X-Pac in blackface is a really bad idea. Also, he wasn’t that funny. The highlight was Jason Sensation debuting and doing a SPOT ON Owen Hart impression. The “I am not a nugget, I’m a blackheart dammit!” is always incredible.
Ken Shamrock vs. King Mabel
Mabel seriously brought back the King gear for this. I’ll never understand why Vince kept hiring him. They played the David vs. Goliath angle. Shamrock kept doing whatever he could to chop Mabel down to size, but would get overpowered. Shamrock caught a leaping Mabel (yes, you read that right) into an armbar. He quickly transitioned into the Ankle Lock and Mabel tapped in 2:09. Not good, but at least they tried telling a story. [¾*]
Shamrock refused to break the hold. Officials and Sgt. Slaughter finally got him off.
Vince McMahon came out to do commentary for the main event. He was livid when Steve Austin did the same.
Number One Contender’s Match: Kane w/ Paul Bearer vs. Mankind vs. The Undertaker
Kane and Mankind made their entrances but Undertaker didn’t. Vince told Tony Chimel to announce that Undertaker was too much of a chicken shit to wrestle. Now, he made it a No Holds Barred one on one match. Mankind took a seat outside, saying he’s given too much already and refused to compete against his friend. Vince still rang the bell and demanded Kane attack Mankind. He whacked him with a chair and rolled him in the ring. Kane slowly pinned to win in 2:16. [NR]
Kane then removed his mask to reveal that it was really The Undertaker! He stared a hole through Austin to close the show.
Reliving Nitro
Episode #147
July 6th, 1998 | Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia | Attendance: 41,412
WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan (4) since 4/20/98
WCW United States Champion: Goldberg (1) since 4/20/98
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Sting (3) and Kevin Nash (6) since 6/14/98
WCW Television Champion: Booker T (5) since 6/14/98
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (4) since 6/14/98
THUNDER ~ This past week, JJ Dillon announced that Goldberg would be getting a World Title shot against Hulk Hogan on Nitro!
HOUR NUMBER ONE! Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko hosted.
NITRO GIRLS!
The nWo music hit as Team Hollywood came out. Hogan yammered on about good news and bad news. The good was that he and Dennis Rodman had a plan set to lead them to victory at Bash at the Beach. The bad news was that he wouldn’t face Goldberg tonight. In his opinion, Goldberg only beat jabronies, so he doesn’t deserve a title shot. However, if Goldberg could beat his hand picked nWo opponent tonight, he could have the title shot. How does Hogan have this power over WCW?
Mean Gene spoke about WCW giving away a racecar.
WCW Television Championship: Booker T [c] vs. Dean Malenko
Battle of 2018 WWE employees. As one would expect from these two, the action was solid. Good back and forth stuff. Dean used his technical skills, while Booker had the athleticism and size upper hand. Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho came out with a microphone and talked trash to Dean. It distracted him enough for Booker to retain with the Scissors Kick in 3:44. It was going fine but the finish was lame. [*¾]
Karl Malone sat in a room and cut a promo saying he was disappointed in Dennis Rodman for not showing up last week.
Kanyon vs. Raven w/ Lodi
Raven’s dubbed in WWE theme sounds so out of place here. For some reason, Kanyon still carries his old Mortis mask. After some fighting outside, a chair was brought into play. Commentary mentioned something about Raven’s Rules, though this was never announced to be that kind of match. Kanyon put the chair on Raven’s face and went up top, but Lodi crotched him. Raven hit a superplex, but before he could cover, Saturn hit the ring for a DQ at 3:12. Another match that had some fine moments before the cheap finish. [*¼]
Saturn went on a rampage, even hitting his partner Kanyon with a Death Valley Driver. He laid Raven on a table and delivered an impressive splash off the top, but the table didn’t break. As Saturn got back in the ring, Kanyon hit the Flatliner on him. ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE!
Outside, Buff Bagwell arrived. He was still wearing a neck brace and had his wheelchair pushed by his mother, Judy.
NITRO GIRLS!
LAST WEEK ~ Karl Malone and DDP showing up to beat on Hulk Hogan was shown.
DDP and Karl Malone came out for an interview with Mean Gene. Malone had on elbow pads like the match was tonight. DDP put over Goldberg, saying he’ll beat whoever Hogan puts in front of him and then beat Hogan. It’ll be the start of Hogan’s worst week ever, which will culminate with a loss on Sunday. Malone said at Bash at the Beach, he’ll beat Rodman the way Madonna should have. He’s a Rodzilla Killa.
Mongo cut a promo in a dark room about how he misses the good days of the Four Horsemen. He misses the lavish lifestyle that came with that group. Even Mike Ditka spoke to put him over.
Riggs vs. Scott Putski
Another example of why Nitro should have never been three hours. Like, Raw was about to come on the air and this was what they went with. Anyway, Putski was a bit more confident than his usually generic demeanor. He won with the Putski Bomb in 4:16 and nobody cared. Why give this the most time so far? [¾*]
9/22/97 ~ Goldberg’s first win was recapped.
HOUR NUMBER TWO!
Outside, the nWo greeted Scott Hall, who was apparently returning to face Goldberg.
Chris Jericho came out and said that Dean Malenko will not get a shot at his title on Sunday because he’s never beaten him. Instead, he feels that Rey Mysterio Jr. should get the shot because a fake Mysterio midget beat Jericho on Thunder last week. Out came JJ Dillon to protest and Dean Malenko followed. JJ announced that Dean would get his shot as long as he didn’t touch Jericho ahead of the match. Jericho took the opportunity to run down Dean, from saying his mother wears army boots to insinuating that Dean’s father was unfaithful. Following that, Dean attacked and pounded on Jericho, costing himself the match on Sunday. Jericho was hurt, but laughed.
Non-Title Match: WCW Cruiserweight Campion Chris Jericho vs. Ultimo Dragon
This was barely a match. That had some decent back and forth until Malenko showed up again and nailed Jericho, giving us a DQ at 2:14. Malenko even pulled out some of Jericho’s hair. [NR]
NITRO GIRLS! Bobby Heenan replaced Zbyszko.
Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Johnny Swinger
Surprisingly, Swinger got on the mic and introduced himself to no reaction. Chavo wore a hard hat to the ring because Eddie cut some of his hair on Thunder and he had a bald spot. Chavo won with the tornado DDT in 1:57. He cut a bit of Swinger’s hair and challenged Eddie to make their match Hair vs. Hair on Sunday. [NR]
12/29/97 ~ Goldberg won his 25th match, this time over Glacier.
Alex Wright and Disco Inferno w/ Tokyo Magnum vs. Public Enemy
Magnum snuck out during Wright’s entrance to dance with the team in the ring. In the continuing trend of giving the wrong matches a lengthy run, this was the longest of the night to this point at 5:03. Even with Public Enemy wearing Braves jerseys, the crowd didn’t care. Rocco had a hot tag worked to him. They set up tables but the Dancing Fools duo got off and put Tokyo Magnum on instead. They walked away and Magnum took the double stack through two tables. Wright and Disco returned with trash cans and beat on PE for another DQ. Another waste of time. Commentary literally said, “I don’t know who won. It doesn’t matter.” [½*]
Mean Gene brought out hometown boy, Buff Bagwell. He was way over as a babyface. He spoke about loving the fans, the city of Atlanta, his mother, and wrestling. It seemed like he was moving away from being associated with Scott Steiner and the nWo.
2/26/98 ~ Goldberg bested Rick Fuller for his 50th win.
HOUR NUMBER THREE!
Non-Title Match: WCW United States Champion Goldberg vs. Scott Hall
He’s 106-0. No, not Hall. Early on, this match didn’t click. It was probably a combination of ring rust for Hall and Goldberg not being used to working a real match. He was pretty much just running through people. As soon as Hall got in trouble, he signaled for nWo Hollywood to save him. However, DDP and Karl Malone arrived to take them out with chairs. That left Hall all alone. He called for the Outsider’s Edge, but Goldberg countered with a big back body drop. Spear and Jackhammer to win in 5:57. A RABID crowd helped this from being dire. The in-ring was rough, but the atmosphere was unbelievable. [*]
NITRO GIRLS!
Juventud Guerrera vs. Psicosis
The cruiserweight cool down. Commentary barely mentioned anything about this. It was kind of the opposite of the last match. The wrestling wasn’t too bad, but the crowd basically sat on their hands. They were gearing up for more Goldberg later. Juvi Driver and 450 splash ended this in a solid little 3:12. [*½]
The Flock came down and beat on Juventud. He is scheduled to face Reese on Sunday.
4/20/98 ~ Goldberg wins number 75 and the US Title.
VIDEO PACKAGE ~ Time to hype the Bash at the Beach tag.
The Giant vs. Jim Duggan
Why is Jim Duggan still a thing in 1998? Of course, WCW would continue to use him for a few more years. Other than his three point stance spot, Duggan didn’t do much. Giant won with the Chokeslam in 2:09. [NR]
Giant called out Kevin Greene, who answered while wearing some terrible white shorts. He clotheslined Giant out of the ring.
Karl Malone cut a dark room promo saying Rodzilla Killa again.
Diamond Dallas Page w/ Karl Malone vs. Jim Neidhart
I’m tired of writing about these if you haven’t noticed. There’s not a lot to discuss. Neidhart clubbed away, but fell to a Diamond Cutter in 2:23. [NR]
GREAT AMERICAN BASH ~ Goldberg won his 100th match against Konnan.
Kidman and Sick Boy vs. Lex Luger and Sting w/ The Wolfpac
Why is the Flock all over this episode? They weren’t out for long this time, though. Sting kicked ass and Luger won with the Torture Rack in 0:28. [NR]
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hulk Hogan [c] vs. WCW United States Champion Goldberg
The crowd was molten hot for this. I appreciated how the early moments saw Goldberg turn the tide on most of Hogan’s career. He was the overpowering one and Hogan was left baffled. Hogan resorted to the eye rakes and the weight belt whipping. Goldberg simply threw the belt away. Hogan continued with the cheating tactics and hit three big Leg Drops. He covered but Goldberg kicked out. Hogan was stunned. Curt Hennig casually walked out for a closer look, followed by DDP and Karl Malone. Malone dropped Hennig with the Diamond Cutter. That led to Goldberg using the Spear and Jackhammer to win the title in 8:11. Not much of a match but again, the atmosphere meant the world. [**]
The crowd celebrated hard and Goldberg got pyro treatment.
Everyone has discussed it, so I won’t go too deep into it. I understand that WCW got a big gate from this show and I will commend them for striking while the iron is hot. But, there’s no question they blew this. They completely prided themselves on the ratings, so when WWF began to beat them, they panicked. This should’ve been done a MASSIVE buyrate on a PPV. Instead, it helped them beat WWF for one week. This company was all about the short term wins over the long term ones.
Raw MVP: Jason Sensation
Raw LVP: Brawl for All
Nitro MVP: Goldberg
Nitro LVP: Public Enemy
Raw Rating: 4.0
Nitro Rating: 4.8
Raw History
Episode #268
July 13th, 1998 | Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey | Attendance: 17,569
WWF Champion: Steve Austin (2) since 6/29/98
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (2) since 12/8/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws (2) since 3/30/98
WWF European Champion: Triple H (2) since 3/17/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97
LAST WEEK ~ Undertaker became number one contender by dressing up as Kane and beating Mankind. Did he and Kane conspire for this setup?
RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were on commentary.
In a surprising start, Shawn Michaels’ music hit and the Heartbreak Kid made his return. It’s his first appearance since WrestleMania XIV. He cut his hair to shoulder length and shaved. He joined commentary and said he was happy to be back.
The Undertaker vs. Vader
I dug their Canadian Stampede match in 1997. Kane, Mankind, and Paul Bearer came out for a closer look. This was two guys just pounding away on one another. Lots of clubbing blows and the kind of hard hitting shots you’d expect from monsters like this. Undertaker came back from some weak leg work to win with the Tombstone in 4:37. A nothing match that felt like they were killing time. [*½]
Post-match, Mankind went to hit Undertaker with a chair. Kane stopped him and took the chair away. Taker went after his own chair while Kane took out Vader. THEY MUST BE IN CAHOOTS!
Edge was shown lurking in the crowd.
Brawl for All: Bart Gunn vs. Bob Holly
NO! NOT BODACIOUS BOB AND BOMBASTIC BART! Commentary threw digs at NBA players being on PPV last night for WCW. Like everything else in the Brawl for All so far, this went all three rounds. It was better than the previous matches but still not too interesting. Bart wins based off his score. Bart wanted a handshake but Bob shoved him and they had a pull apart brawl. [NR]
LAST WEEK ~ We got a recap of DX mocking the Nation.
Jason Sensation joined commentary to do more impressions. When he did his Bret Hart one, Shawn asked, “Who was that? Some midcarder?” Jason did Owen, Bret, Steve Austin, Undertaker, and HBK. They threw to the Nation for their reaction to DX last week. Each member threatened the DX member who made fun of them. Lawler made Jason mock Owen more, even with the threat. Jason obliged until Owen ran out and attacked the kid. He put Jason in the Sharpshooter and even the Nation guys tried to get him to chill. DX hit the ring and cleaned house.
Owen Hart and WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock vs. WWF European Champion Triple H and X-Pac w/ Chyna
JR announced that HHH and Rock will meet in a Title for Title 2 Out of 3 Falls match at Fully Loaded. While DX kicked ass in the early goings, Shawn said “shit” and the censors missed it. Edgy. X-Pac ended up as the isolated babyface in peril. Surprisingly, there was no hot tag. Instead, HHH and Chyna distracted the referee to allow Pac to low blow The Rock. From there, X-Pac hit the X-Factor from out of nowhere to score an upset over the IC Champion in 6:28. A good tag match that gave me a surprise or two. [**¾]
Marc Mero w/ Jacqueline vs. Steve Blackman
A Brawl for All rematch of sorts. Sable was on commentary to get hit on by HBK and Lawler, while teasing her bikini for Fully Loaded. Hard to rate this as nobody paid attention to it. The focus was on Sable and Jacqueline bickering. Jacqueline went to interfere off the top rope only for Sable to crotch her. Blackman won with the Bicycle Kick right after in 2:16. Nothing to see here. [NR]
WAR ZONE!
WWF Tag Team Championship: The New Age Outlaws [c] w/ Chyna vs. Kane and Mankind w/ Paul Bearer
Before the match began, The Undertaker strolled out to watch from ringside. This tag division is in shambles. These are the only two teams that really matter. Anyway, Mankind played the role of the guy who gets beat up. That included a low blow from Chyna. Kane eventually got involved, but the focus was on the Nation arriving for a big brawl. During the action, D-Lo hit Road Dogg with the Lo Down using the chest protector. Kane took advantage with the Tombstone to win the titles in 5:34. It had potential but with the attention elsewhere, this didn’t work as well as it should have. [**]
Backstage, DX pleaded their case for better referees to Vince McMahon.
Kaientai w/ Yamaguchi-San vs. WWF Light Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku and Too Much
Weird to see Brian Christopher and TAKA as partners. As is always the case with these guys, they crammed a lot into a short time. Tempers flared within the Too Much/TAKA team, leading to their downfall. Kaientai won in 3:38 with a Dick Togo SENTON on TAKA. It happened. [*]
The real reason this was on the show was for another Val Venis segment. He came out after the match ready for revenge on Yamaguchi-San for getting slapped last week. Val showed a video of him hooking up with Yamaguchi-San’s wife. When she was blurred early on, Shawn said, “Why are they blurring out the Asians?” Wait, why is Val the babyface here? Because all foreigners are evil, right?
Mr. McMahon came out and introduced The Undertaker to get some answers. Vince found the longest way around asking Undertaker if he was in cahoots with Kane. Instead of answering, Undertaker told Vince to go to hell. He intimidated Vince into the corner but then out came Stone Cold Steve Austin. Since he’s teaming with Taker against Kane and Mankind at Fully Loaded, he wanted to get to the bottom of this. Taker simply told Austin to go to hell with Vince. Surprisingly, out came DX. BUSINESS IS PICKING UP! They wanted to know if they were getting a rematch for the titles tonight. Future booker Triple H had the idea to do the match, but have Austin and Taker as special enforcers to see where Taker’s loyalty lies. Not bad.
Brawl for All: Dan Severn vs. The Godfather
The fans chanted “boring” for most of this because Severn just kept going for takedowns. It was a smart strategy but one that led to some dull grappling. “We want wrestling” chants were loud. Dan won on points in three boring rounds. [NR]
WWF Tag Team Championship: Kane and Mankind [c] vs. The New Age Outlaws
As noted earlier, Austin and Taker were your special enforcers. I feel like this is a pretty creative way to do a match twice in one show. The fans were hot for it. This was a big brawl, with the challengers coming in angry after losing their titles about an hour ago. Road Dogg took the heat once things calmed down into a more traditional tag. The drama came following a ref bump. Austin attempted to count for a Road Dogg pin on Kane, but Taker pulled him out of the ring. Taker tried counting after a Kane Chokeslam, so Austin pulled him out. That led to a brawl between the Fully Loaded teams. Then, out came the Nation and DX for a huge brawl. Call this a no contest around 8:00. [**]
The show ended with Austin and Undertaker hitting everyone with Stunners and Chokeslams.
Bash at the Beach Results
Raven’s Rules: Raven def. Saturn in 10:41 [*½]
Juventud Guerrera def. Kidman in 9:55 [***]
Stevie Ray def. Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 1:36 [DUD]
Hair vs. Hair Match: Eddie Guerrero def. Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 11:54 [**]
Konnan def. Disco Inferno in 2:16 [*]
The Giant def. Kevin Greene in 6:58 [*¼]
WCW Cruiserweight Championship No DQ Match: Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Chris Jericho [c] in 6:01 [**]
WCW Television Championship: Booker T [c] def. Bret Hart via DQ in 8:58 [**¼]
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg [c] def. Curt Hennig in 3:50 [*]
Dennis Rodman and Hulk Hogan def. DDP and Karl Malone in 23:47 [DUD]
Reliving Nitro
Episode #148
July 13th, 1998 | MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada | Attendance: 10,765
WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Goldberg (1) since 7/6/98
WCW United States Champion: Goldberg (1) since 4/20/98
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Sting (3) and Kevin Nash (6) since 6/14/98
WCW Television Champion: Booker T (5) since 6/14/98
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (4) since 6/14/98
HOUR NUMBER ONE! Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko hosted.
NITRO GIRLS!
Commentary hyped WCW being “back on top” because they won the ratings war for a night again. They then threw to a recap of Goldberg’s title win.
nWo Hollywood hit the ring for some promo time. Hulk Hogan bragged about the tag win at Bash at the Beach for a bit before talking about nWo Hollywood being for eternity, not just for life. Then, he went against that by blaming Scott Hall for what happened last week. Supposedly, he heard that Hall wanted to run this stable, so he called him out tonight. Hall basically said, “Yea, I lost to Goldberg, but so did you.” He told Hogan to bring it and agreed to the match. Paranoid Hogan got on Eric Bischoff and demanded he be the referee for that match. The Disciple then got on the mic and yelled a bunch about DDP giving him 47 stitches a few weeks ago. His delivery and line choice was awful. Brutus was never any good at anything.
BASH AT THE BEACH ~ Still images from the main event.
The Barbarian w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Horace w/ Lodi
I miss Meng. Horace used a STOP sign as a weapon to take control in the early goings. Barbarian fought back and hit the Kick of Fear to win in 2:05. Meh. [NR]
The Flock jumped Barbarian until MENG RETURNED! Yes! Meng cleaned house and kicked the hell out of Lodi. However, no Faces of Fear reunion because Meng put Barbarian in the Tongan Death Grip. WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?
Mean Gene introduced Curt Hennig and Rick Rude following some still shots for Hennig’s loss to Goldberg last night. Rude said he wasn’t at the PPV because someone canceled his flight. They blame Goldberg. Hennig said he noticed the weakness in Goldberg’s game last night and challenged him to a rematch tonight. He wanted no Rude at ringside so Goldberg has no excuses.
More still shots, this time of Rey Mysterio Jr. winning the Cruiserweight Title from Chris Jericho. Mean Gene brought out JJ Dillon and Rey Mysterio Jr. Chris Jericho interrupted citing page 257 of the WCW Rule Book. It stated that if a wrestler was suspended and it affects the outcome of a match, that match is null and void. Technically, that’s what happened last night. JJ had no choice but to give the title back to Jericho. Dean Malenko came out pissed but Jericho had the idea to do Malenko vs. Rey tonight and the winner gets a title shot. Jericho continues to be great.
NITRO GIRLS!
Jim Duggan vs. Rick Fuller
Total squash even though Duggan is the smaller man. I don’t know why this was on TV. Duggan won with a knee drop in 1:48. [NR]
HOUR NUMBER TWO!
Buff Bagwell got wheeled out for another interview with Mean Gene. He got a big babyface reaction. Buff was hoping to get going again but said something is holding him back. He called out Rick Steiner, the man who injured him. Rick is also hurt, with his arm in a sling. Before anything could happen, Hogan and the Disciple arrived. Hogan called them both cripples and berated Buff for being a babyface. Yes, he used the word. Tired of it all, Hogan turned Buff’s wheelchair over in a despicable act.
Bret Hart vs. Fit Finley
There was potential here. These are two great wrestlers who are capable of putting on a banger. Unfortunately, this was unmotivated WCW Bret and a Finley who was way lower in the card. Finley threw in some of his usual hard shots and there were hints of a good match. Bret mostly shrugged this off and won with the Sharpshooter in 4:28. Not bad for a glorified squash. [*¾]
Rick Martel vs. Stevie Ray
Stevie carried Booker’s TV Title with him since Booker was injured at the PPV. The commentators couldn’t tell what title it was. Like, your job is to know these things. It’s visibly clear. The match went on with little happening through commercial break. Bless Rick, he tried. Stevie just wasn’t capable of having good matches, especially here. When Martel put on the Boston Crab, Bret Hart showed up and hit him with a chair. Stevie added the Slapjack and won in 5:42. Way too long for these two. Not good. [¾*]
Mean Gene got in to ask Stevie about a partnership with Bret Hart. He denied it and then when asked about the title, Stevie said Booker gave him power of attorney. He can defend it against anyone. Gene didn’t believe it, so Stevie said he might bring documented proof next week.
LAST NIGHT ~ Still shots of the Wolfpac beating up the Dancing Fools.
Barry Darsow vs. Konnan w/ Sting
Bobby Heenan replaced Zbyszko. Hearing Sting say, “BOWDY BOWDY,” was terrible. Barry attacked early, but was quickly dispatched. Konnan won with the Tequila Sunrise in 1:58. [NR]
Mean Gene brought out DDP for an interview. He basically told the Disciple to man up because he’s taken a beating from the nWo for over a year and didn’t complain. One thing happens to Disciple and he freaks out. DDP accepted the challenge.
Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Disciple
Commentary spoke about how the Wolfpac was together earlier, but Disciple was alone. DDP was back to wearing rib tape. They hammered on each other until Rick Rude strolled to ringside. He crotched DDP up top, but Disciple still sucked so much he couldn’t take advantage. DDP sent Disciple into Rude and the collision led to a DDP rollup win in 2:25. More of an angle than a match. [NR]
As DDP went to exit, Hogan and Vincent attacked. Hogan wailed on DDP with a steel chair and everything seemed okay with these nWo Hollywood guys for now
Kanyon vs. Raven vs. Saturn
A triangle match! Something different! The guys brawled instantly, showing the personal issues between them. Saturn and Kanyon are two guys with innovative offense, while Raven can tell a good story. Kanyon showed off some of his sweet moves on both men. Saturn brought a table into play to splash him through it. They continued to bring cool moves like a triple back suplex. Flatliner and DVD both nearly got wins but the pins were broken up. Saturn and Kanyon brawled and got counted out to give Raven the cheap win in 5:43. That was pretty fun. It had no substance behind hollow moves, but they were cool and I enjoyed most of it. [**¾]
HOUR NUMBER THREE!
Number One Contender’s Match: Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Commentary had a big argument over whether this should happen. Bobby and Mike rightfully admit that while they may not like it, Jericho used the rule book and that’s there for a reason. Tony claimed that didn’t matter. Good logic, Tony. Anyway, these guys know each other well. They reached a stalemate more than once and we saw several counters throughout. I loved the little things, like Rey being ready for the Texas Cloverleaf and pulling Dean into a small package. Dean hit the massive gut buster and while the referee checked on Rey, Chris Jericho came out and hit Dean with the title. Rey crawled over for the cover and win in 5:33. Another good match. This one had a lot more in terms of story, pace, and energy. [***¼]
Alex Wright and Disco Inferno vs. Kevin Nash and Lex Luger w/ Konnan and Sting
The Dancing Fools vs. nWo Wolfpac is a weird feud. Disco and Wright cut a promo bashing the Wolfpac. It wasn’t bad. The match itself wasn’t much. Wright jumped Konnan so Sting took him out with a Stinger Splash into the guardrail. Inside, Wright took the Torture Rack and Disco fell to the Jackknife at 2:37. [NR]
FOUR HORSEMEN ~ A video recap aired of Steve McMichael’s recent attempts to get Arn Anderson to bring back the Horsemen.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Steve McMichael
Eddie jumped Mongo before the bell. Another match that ultimately went nowhere. This time, it was because the newly bald Chavo Guerrero Jr. ran in when Eddie set up the Frog Splash. He rode Pepe and it led to a DQ at 2:11. Even though a low blow and attack from Sting didn’t cause DQs in earlier matches. Whatever. [NR]
Mongo dropped the annoying Chavo with a Tombstone.
Hulk Hogan w/ The Disciple vs. Scott Hall
Bischoff was special referee. Michael Buffer was handling the overpaid ring announcing duties. Instead of the typical Hogan cheap brawling, Hall got to do some basic arm work. They might have an actual match. Bischoff favored Hogan, allowing Disciple to interfere, but also stopped counting Hall’s shoulders down when he was on the ropes. Eventually, it all led to Hall arguing with Bischoff and getting hit with the low blow. Before Hogan could add the Leg Drop, DDP hit the ring for a DQ around 6:40. [*]
DDP brawled with the Disciple before dropping Bischoff with a Diamond Cutter. Kevin Nash ran out to hit Hogan with a Jackknife, but Hall decided to hit his former buddy and side with Hollywood. Crowd died with that because they didn’t want to see that. The Hollywood boys beat up DDP and Nash for a bit.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg [c] vs. Curt Hennig
We’re at 112-0. This was even shorter than the PPV match. Goldberg dominated and won via Jackhammer in 1:23. So, the entire thing about Hennig learning something last night went nowhere. [NR]
Raw MVP: Owen Hart
Raw LVP: Brawl for All
Nitro MVP: Dean Malenko
Nitro LVP: Hulk Hogan
Raw Rating: 4.7
Nitro Rating: 4.5
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