Reliving Nitro: Episode 127 and Raw History: Episode 247

WWF No Way Out of Texas: In Your House Results
The Headbangers def. Marc Mero and the Artist Formerly Known as Goldust in 13:53
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: TAKA Michinoku [c] def. Pantera in 10:13
The Godwinns def. The Quebecers in 11:15
NWA North American Championship: Jeff Jarrett [c] def. Bradshaw in 8:59
War of Attrition Match: Ahmed Johnson, DOA, and Ken Shamrock def. The Nation of Domination in 13:47
Kane def. Vader in 11:00
No Disqualifications Match: Cactus Jack, Chainsaw Charlie, Owen Hart & Steve Austin def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, The New Age Outlaws, and Savio Vega in 17:41 [***½]

Reliving Nitro
Episode #127
February 16th, 1998 | Steinbrenner Events Center in Tampa, Florida | Attendance: N/A

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Vacant since 1/8/98
WCW United States Champion: Diamond Dallas Page (1) since 12/28/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (7) since 2/9/98
WCW Television Champion: Booker T (1) since 12/29/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (3) since 1/24/98

Nitro’s up first, as Raw was pushed back until Saturday due to the Westminster Dog Show.

We opened to an “In Memory of Louie Spicolli” image. Yes, after having just appeared on Nitro recently, Louie passed away. He was in recovery from drug abuse, but apparently the news of his mother being terminally ill caused a relapse. He overdosed on Soma and wine, mere days after turning 27.

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko hosted. They took us back to Thunder, where it was announced that tonight’s main event would be Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage against Sting and Lex Luger. Hogan demanded an apology from Savage, but instead got beat up.

Hogan and Eric Bischoff opened the program. The rest of the nWo, sans Savage, came out behind them, including the now rarely seen Rick Rude. Hogan threw out a random threat to Bret Hart before turning his attention to Savage. That brought out Savage by the stage, who said he’d win the match by himself tonight. Hogan told him that they have a shared objective tonight, but once that was over, all bets were over. Savage was fine with the idea.

Bill Goldberg vs. Hugh Morrus
During Morrus’ entrance, Jimmy Hart came out to try and convince to rejoin him. Morrus declined. I always remember Morrus being a Goldberg victim often. Here, he did almost nothing and fell to the Jackhammer in 0:56. [NR]

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ The Steiner Brothers, your new Tag Team Champions, were featured.

The nWo music hit again as the Outsiders came out to the commentary booth. They said that they want the Steiner Brothers tonight and not have to wait until SuperBrawl. They claimed they were tired of getting overlooked. Hall and Nash threw some threats at Zbyszko, who reminded them that he made Hall scream Uncle last time they met.

LAST THURSDAY ~ Hogan’s promo was recapped. Nothing special other than a focus on Bret Hart, who he blamed for Starrcade.

Mark Starr vs. Sick Boy w/ The Flock
This was an odd match. It felt like a squash for Sick Boy, but Starr got to hit a few moves. Even when Sick Boy won, via Pedigree in 3:28, Starr kicked out right after three. Strange. [NR]

NITRO GIRLS!

The Outsiders w/ Dusty Rhodes vs. Public Enemy
Dusty in the nWo still feels weird. Like, it’s not even a big deal. I’d say the nWo won the survey this week, but Zbyszko seemed to think otherwise. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Public Enemy. They started hot and had control of Hall until Nash made the save. Hall hit the Chokeslam and mocked the Giant following it. Dusty stopped PE from using a table. Nash then hit Rocco Rock with a dangerous looking Jackknife to the outside onto Johnny Grunge and through a table. That got us a DQ in 3:20. [NR]

Nash was handcuffed and shouted ATTICA on his way out.

Mean Gene got a word with Nick Patrick about his recent issues. He says he’s being wrongfully accused and accepted a Hogan offer to pay for his legal fees, so he can possibly be the referee come SuperBrawl.

Barry Horowitz vs. Mike Enos
Holy shit, it’s Barry Horowitz. It doesn’t last long, though. Enos wins with a body slam in 1:50. He told the camera he wanted competition after the match. [NR]

Backstage, Mongo and Davey Boy Smith brawled and had to be separated.

HOUR NUMBER TWO!

La Parka vs. Yuji Nagata w/ Sonny Oono
During entrances, we heard that Bret Hart had arrived. Our first competitive match of the evening. Nagata and Parka went back and forth, with a highlight being a Parka corkscrew body press. He went outside and got his chair, because he’s the chairman. Oono stopped him from using it. Disco Inferno ran in and hit the Chartbuster on Parka! Nagata Lock got Yuji the win in 3:34. Not great, but it was above a squash. [*]

NITRO GIRLS!

Kidman vs. Ultimo Dragon
Is this Smackdown 2003? Anyway, there was potential for a good match and these guys did well. Kidman pounced and used some generic heel tactics to his advantage. We’re talking choking, holding the ropes, etc. Like his name was Cesaro, Dragon pulled out a giant swing to stop Kidman’s momentum as the Flock watched from their comfortable seats in the front row. Dragon cut off the SSP with a kick and followed up. He hit the Dragonrana and the Dragon Sleeper to win in 6:52. It was solid, but nowhere near as fun as Dragon/Saturn last week. [**¼]

Mean Gene brought out Diamond Dallas Page for a word about his respectful rivalry with Chris Benoit. He said that he helps Benoit against the Flock because he wants Benoit at 100% at SuperBrawl. It was announced that DDP would team with Benoit against Raven and Saturn on Thunder. Raven got up from the front row and entered the ring to fight with DDP. The bell ran to start an impromptu match, but Saturn hopped in the ring. Benoit rushed out to even the score and the Flock exited the ring.

Bobby Heenan replaced Zbyszko on commentary.

The Barbarian w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Meng
THE FACES OF FEAR EXPLODE! On Thunder, Meng went crazy and put everyone, including Barbarian in the Tongan Death Grip. Interesting to note that Jimmy Hart chose Barbarian to accompany. As soon as the bell rang, they just wailed on one another. Jimmy got involved and hit Meng with a chair. Meng no sold it and for some reason, no DQ was called. It took Barbarian beating on him to finally get him down and win in 2:20. Barely a match. [NR]

NITRO GIRLS!

The Flock is everywhere tonight as we’re scheduled for Saturn vs. Disco Inferno. They’re like the new nWo. Anyway, Disco got jumped by La Parka with a chair during his entrance. Saturn wanted his hand raised, but Rick Martel ran out and randomly wanted a match.

Rick Martel vs. Saturn w/ Lodi
Apparently, Martel has a TV Title shot later tonight. This makes no sense. He came out hot, overwhelming the unsuspecting Saturn with offense in the opening minute. He hit a spinebuster and set up for the Quebec Crab. Flock members caused a distraction and interfered, setting up the Rings of Saturn for the finish in 3:16. I understand nothing about this. [*¼]

Bobby Eaton vs. Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude
I’ve missed Curt Hennig. He was all over late 1997 Nitro and was usually a safe bet for quality wrestling. Interestingly, Hennig was just in Japan and had wrestled Satoshi Kojima there a night earlier. He won in easy fashion with the Hennigplex in 2:46. [NR]

HOUR NUMBER THREE!

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers [c] w/ Ted Dibiase vs. Vicious and Delicious
Other nWo guys get a shot right before the Outsiders. Rick opened the match, which is different from the recent Steiner Brothers matches. They even did some back and forth tagging. However, Rick got stuck taking the heat as Norton wore him down. As soon as Rick began a comeback, the nWo hit the ring to jump him for a DQ at 5:21. Not much happened until the DQ. [*½]

Scott sent the nWo packing with a steel chair.

THREE WEEKS AGO ~ Ah, so the Rick Martel stuff makes sense because he got jumped by the Flock on Thunder a few weeks ago.

WCW Television Championship: Booker T [c] vs. Rick Martel
Surprisingly, Martel came out mostly happy and not seemingly hurt. Booker attempted to tell Rick they didn’t have to do this if he wasn’t ready. Martel responded with a cheap shot to start. Lots of heel tactics from Martel following that, including calling timeout outside. Fans chanted, “Martel sucks,” so it worked. This new strategy put Martel in charge. He nearly won with the Quebec crab, but Booker was too close to the ropes. The champion rallied, but we got a ref bump. Saturn showed up and hit Martel, only to get taken out by a Booker kick. Booker’s kick saw him get hung up on the ropes, opening the door for Martel to apply the Quebec Crab and capture the title in 8:03. Surprising title change, but I rather enjoyed Martel’s change of character. It worked for the story they told. [**¾]

NITRO GIRLS!

Mean Gene introduced Bret Fart to discuss Hulk Hogan’s recent comments. Bret told Hogan that he didn’t need to look far to find him and that Hogan has been scared of him for years. Bret said if they faced off, everyone would see that he’s the best. He got interrupted by the arrival of Brian Adams, formerly known as Crush in the WWF. He said Bret still had friends in this business. As he offered his hand, he held on, allowing the nWo to hit the ring and jump Bret. Adams removed his trench coat to reveal an nWo shirt. Hogan came out last to get in licks after Bret was down. Ric Flair came to Bret’s aid and they sent the nWo packing. The guys who just met on PPV shook hands out of respect.

Following a commercial, Gene now stood by with JJ Dillon. He was now here to discuss the Television Title situation. Dillon brought out Booker, Martel, and Saturn. JJ announced that Martel would face Booker at SuperBrawl, which upset Saturn. However, the winner of that match would return later in the night to face Saturn.

Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko vs. WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero
Hot damn! Jericho wore a Montreal Canadians jersey to the ring. Lots of action in this one right from the opening bell. They were hitting each other hard and often, keeping a fast pace throughout. Eddie took a rough bump on his back, yet came back with a Brainbuster. He hit the Frog Splash, but the pin was broken up by the diving headbutt from Benoit. That was just one of many great spots in this. Eddie hit a plancha to the outside, leaving Jericho with Dean. They went through a great counter sequence that set up the Texas Cloverleaf, which made Jericho tap out in 6:19. Awesome match. A banger of a tag featuring four of the best at the time. Lots of action just like last week’s tag. [***¾]

Before our main event, Eric Bischoff came out. He didn’t say anything of note, noting that Hogan was a bit late as he was writing a $50,000 check for Kevin Nash’s Jackknife earlier. He said that the theories of the nWo not getting along are false.

Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth and Eric Bischoff vs. Lex Luger and Sting
Michael Buffer was our ring announcer for this. Yet, it turned out to be for nothing as Savage jumped Sting during his entrance, cutting off introductions. Hogan and Savage worked together to beat up Sting outside. Sting turned it around as Luger arrived and the match calmed down into something relatively normal. Hogan got tagged and didn’t want in, but that’s probably why Savage did it while he wasn’t looking. Hogan ended up in there with Sting and got put in the Scorpion Death Lock. Luger put Savage in the Torture Rack, bringing out the nWo for a DQ in 4:30. Kind of filler, but it had a lot of heat. [*¾]

Hogan and Savage began brawling, while the nWo battled with WCW guys. Flair and Hart joined the fray and the nWo guys were sent packing.

Raw History
Episode #247
February 21st, 1998 | Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas | Attendance: 13,296

WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels (3) since 11/9/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (2) since 12/8/97
WWF European Champion: Owen Hart (1) since 1/26/98
WWF Tag Team Champions: Billy Gunn (4) and Road Dogg (1) since 11/24/97
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

It’s Raw Saturday Night! The rare occurrence where the PPV fallout takes place nearly a week after it aired. Jim Ross, Kevin Kelly, and Michael Cole hosted things.

TONIGHT ~ Steve Austin is here; Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie meet Marc Mero and TAFKA Goldust; DX threatens Austin with a lawsuit for hitting Chyna with a Stunner at No Way Out.

The Legion of Doom vs. The Quebecers
Jacques showed a lot of confidence early, spending time taunting Hawk. He ate a neckbreaker for his troubles and scattered away. Crowd was way hot for LOD. We got to see why JR hyped Pierre as a top prospect, showing off some impressive athleticism for a man his size. As he hit a cannonball to the outside, the New Age Outlaws walked out to the stage with a dumpster. It feels like Vince Russo must’ve truly loved this angle. The Outlaws jumped Hawk and threw him in the dumpster. Though he was left all alone, Animal fared well for himself and survived everything the Quebecers threw at him. Animal got a chair and chased the Outlaws away, which allowed Hawk to escape the dumpster. That resulted in a countout win for the Quebecers in 6:13. The struggles of LOD continue. Strange angle since NAO seemed done with LOD. Match was okay. [*½]

VIGNETTE ~ Highlights of Chyna were shown. We see her throwing Marlena around, before clips of her beating up men aired. Last Sunday, she may have bitten off more than she could chew when she got in Stone Cold’s face.

Ken Shamrock vs. Sniper w/ The Jackyl and Recon
Jackyl joined commentary for this. He called Shamrock the most dangerous man, but that he was the most dangerous mind. Jackyl went on one of his usual rants, while Sniper used help from Recon to take control. Shamrock began the comeback and won with the Ankle Lock in 5:17. Way too long for Sniper at this point. Ken wasn’t ready to lead a guy like him yet. [¾*]

Post-match, Jackyl slapped Sniper, causing Recon to get in his face. Jackyl didn’t take this seriously, causing Recon to walk out. In the back, Recon told Sniper he had enough of this.

RECENTLY ~ Sable has been receiving gifts from a secret admirer.

Jerry Lawler brought out Marc Mero and Sable for an interview. Lawler called them the most popular couple in WWF history (Macho Man and Elizabeth have something to say about that). Mero ran down Sable for modeling an Austin shirt while he was hurt and dressing provocatively. He said Sable was his property. When Sable recently pushing Mero was brought up, Mero said he simply tripped. Another bouquet of flowers arrived for Sable. She poorly acted her way through a, “AT LEAST SOMEONE IS THINKING ABOUT ME,” line.

EARLIER TODAY ~ Jim Cornette cut a promo in the back about how people were happy he was bringing back traditional wrestling, yet they boo the NWA guys now. Tonight, the Rock n’ Roll Express will defend their NWA Tag Titles against the Headbangers and an official NWA referee will oversee it.

NWA Tag Team Championship: The Rock n’ Roll Express [c] w/ Jim Cornette vs. The Headbangers
RNR Express got the old Rockers theme. They feel so out of place in this era. The Headbangers basically played the role of the superior team. Even in 1998, that’s laughable. They hit the Stage Dive and seemed on the verge of victory. However, they got disqualified for throwing Gibson over the top at 4:04. Shitty match and shitty finish, though it got the angle and NWA rules over. [¼*]

WAR ZONE! Jerry Lawler replaced Cole and Kelly.

Jim Ross entered the ring to conduct an interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin. He got an enormous pop. JR asked why Austin hit Chyna with a Stunner. He said when you step through the ropes, your ass belongs to him. Austin noted that Shawn Michaels was at home and he wanted him to train to be 100% for an ass whopping at WrestleMania. Austin also threw some threats at Mike Tyson if he didn’t do his job properly on the big night. Not much from Austin, but the crowd ate it up. He took JR’s hat and flipped off the rabid fans before leaving.

IN TWO WEEKS ~ Mike Tyson will be on Raw in Cleveland, Ohio.

NEXT MONDAY ~ A huge surprise celebrity will be added to WrestleMania. LOD gets a WWF Tag Team Title shot even though they haven’t won in weeks. DX will be live!

WWF European Championship: Owen Hart [c] vs. NWA North American Champion Jeff Jarrett w/ Jim Cornette
If Owen retains, he faces Triple H in a title match at WrestleMania. Jarrett had the NWA with him, but Earl Hebner ejected them before things got started. Cornette stayed due to his manager’s license. With just these involved, we got a technically proficient match. The crowd liked Owen, but didn’t really seem to care much for whatever heat Jarrett tried garnering. Owen got in trouble when he chased Cornette, putting Jarrett in the driver’s seat. Owen came back with the missile dropkick and the enziguri that killed HBK. Owen went for the Sharpshooter and Cornette came in, so Owen put him in one instead, leading to a DQ in 5:29. Good little title match with the expected cheap finish. Owen chased them off afterwards. [**½]

SLAM OF THE WEEK ~ Pantera and TAKA Michinoku showed off some great high flying offense at No Way Out.

After a video package on Michael PS Hayes, Dok Hendrix came out to his old Freebirds theme. That got quite the reaction from the Dallas crowd. He was just supposed to do guest ring announcing, but out came Kane and Paul Bearer. Hayes didn’t back down, taking off his boot and attacking Kane. It didn’t matter, as he ended up eating a Tombstone. “THE FREEBIRD IS GROUNDED!” shouted Bearer.

Aguila and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku vs. Brian Christopher and Pirata Morgan
Sunny took over as the guest ring announcer. No Kane attack. Christopher to the camera, “I WENT OUT AND GOT ME A MEXICAN!” Big dive from Aguila in the opening moments. He’s just a teenager here and would go on to become Essa Rios in a couple of years. When things calmed down a bit, Christopher demanded facing TAKA and got his ass handed to him, complete with an Asai moonsault. Christopher responded by going all Hiromu Takahashi with a sunset flip bomb to the outside. Commentary spent the match bickering about Christopher being Lawler’s kid. Christopher got knocked outside, leaving Morgan to fall to the Michinoku Driver in 5:38. They got time and had a fun little match with it. [**½]

Before our next match, The Rock wanted to let everyone know that things were okay within the Nation of Domination. He bought gold Rolex watches for Mark Henry, D-Lo Brown, and Kama. He then put over Faarooq and said he was the only man capable of leading the Nation. Rock gave Faarooq the final gift, which was a giant post of the Rock. Amazing. Faarooq slammed it down as his opponent came out.

Faarooq w/ The Nation of Domination vs. Steve Blackman
The best part of this short match was seeing the Rock look at his own poster with such admiration. Faarooq hit the Dominator, but got annoyed at Rock posing with his poster. Faarooq went to use it as a weapon, but Rock took it back. Blackman rolled him up to steal this in 1:33. Not much of a match. The angle was awesome, though. Post-match, Faarooq ripped up the poster and left with the NOD, leaving Rock behind. [NR]

Michael Cole attempted to find out what was going on in the NOD locker room. Lots of arguing from behind the door. D-Lo came out to assure us that there’s nothing but love in the group.

Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie vs. Goldust and Marc Mero w/ Luna
Lawler announced that next week, Goldust was going to present us with “The American Dream.” Mero got more boos than usual since he left Sable in the back. Goldust was dressed mostly like his normal self instead of something super weird. Charlie started the match and took the heat segment. The fans erupted as Sable came out carrying her flowers. Mero’s facial expression was priceless. While the couple argued, Luna destroyed Sable’s flowers. The distraction allowed Cactus to clock Goldust with a chair and Charlie got the win in 4:15. Just a beating on Charlie until the finish. [½*]

Sable chased Luna down and they had to be separated as the show closed.

Raw MVP: Steve Austin
Raw LVP: The Jackyl
Nitro MVP: The Rock
Nitro LVP: The Rock n’ Roll Express

Raw Rating: N/A
Nitro Rating: 5.1

5.3

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Nitro: I’d consider this another above average episode of Nitro. It was long at some points, but hit on a lot of what it needed to. The stuff involving Bret and Flair was hot, while the main event had a roaring crowd. The Benoit/Jericho/Guerrero/Malenko tag ruled, while the Martel stuff was a nice change of pace. It would’ve been better at two hours, with some of the fluff cut out. 6.5

Raw: Nitro wins this week. This episode was missing a lot. There wasn’t any DX and we only had a few short minutes of Austin, meaning the Mania main event was put on the backburner. There were some solid matches in the light heavyweight tag and the European Title match, but not much else of real note. 4.0