Beejus

<p>Sting</p><p> Steiner Brothers</p><p> Stasiak and Jindrak - <em>Go Marco go!</em></p><p> Chavo Guerrero</p><p> Ernest Miller</p><p> Sandman</p><p> Vampiro</p>

So many mystery opponents this week! I'm surprised your question mark key didn't outright revolt against you! Nash and Steiner - I'll be interested to see the in-game score for this match because this should be the easiest A that someone can achieve. Steve Austin Brian Pillman Southern Justice - I don't remember the last time they actually won a match, so I'll give them this one just to build up toward Survivor Series and to maybe push a little more of the dissension between Ken and Matt. Jeff Jarrett Jake Roberts Hogan and Savage Warrior TAT Goldberg - Ah, the only match the ToW don't win is against Goldberg... foreshadowing perhaps? Curt Hennig - Eddie gets himself DQ'd here, I'd say. Rock and Hardy - Rock can't be stopped just yet. JPL - Something I found out when writing War of the Thrones back in the day... there is just no way to make "Jean Paul Levesque" sound cool. Even shortening it, it still just doesn't have the same ring to it as "Triple H" did. Instead you're left with something just as awkward as "Tri".

<p>I thought this might be fun to share, or boring if you're not interested in the in-game mechanics that are going on, now that we are quite a few months into the game. A look at just how far we've come in terms of finances. I would almost swear something was wrong in the game for that first month, but I dealt with it. Keep in mind that WCW start the New Blood Rises mod with -$1,000,000, and hey, maybe I'm not doing so bad after all?</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="90f77d4a56db0813e433b5bc65143bd7.png" data-src="https://i.gyazo.com/90f77d4a56db0813e433b5bc65143bd7.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> As you can probably tell (and most of you would likely remember) it was at the beginning of May that I gave WCW a shot in the arm in the form of Shane McMahon's loan. Ever since May, I have gone into the editor and subtracted $5,000 from whatever I have on the first day of the month to allow for "repayment" of the loan. The month of April featured two events on PPV as well as two episodes of Nitro on PPV. The buyrate for Nitro has been pretty consistent ever since it went to PPV, typically about a 0.02 rating. I maybe would have more buyrate on those, but I could only land those deals in the USA and Mexico; other than those, Nitro is shown on commercial networks MTV Europe (UK and British Isles), tv asahi (Japan), and Ten Network Australia. I can't get any coverage in Canada at all, and as for looking into anything new, I'm limited by still being a Cult promotion at this time.</p><p> </p><p> I use a custom merchandise set up, which I feel has actually saved me some money by not producing merch for everyone in the company. Thanks to figurehead Goldberg, I sell 40% more merchandise compared to my output for it.</p><p> </p><p> So yeah, I try not to have Eric Bischoff complain about our debts during my weekly reports... but it is a little difficult to stay upbeat when I've been in the hole technically all year <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> As for how the contracts that are pre-set at the start of the game, I have four of them coming up in about five months. So give or take a few contracts here and there, the finances screen is going to look a lot like this until after Starrcade.</p>

The Week that Was: July 2001, Week 4 The next World Wrestling Federation PPV Extravaganza will be WWF SummerSlam 2001! Held on August 19th, 2001 at The Compaq Center in San Jose, California! Announced So Far WWF Championship – Elimination Chamber: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin © vs. “The Game” Triple H vs. “Y2J” Chris Jericho vs. “Olympic Hero” Kurt Angle vs. “Rabid Wolverine” Chris Benoit vs. The Big Show Trish Stratus vs. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley -------------------- From the desk of Eric Bischoff: “I still have yet to figure out what I’m going to do about this mole situation. Due to having to tell people what’s happening in their storylines, practically everyone has information that could be getting leaked to the WWF. And at this point, there’s nothing I can even do about it. The plans can’t change drastically, or else it’ll just lead to the same type of backstage confusion that plagued WCW over the past few years. At the same time that it’s eating me alive from inside, I also can’t let it bother me yet; there’s too much other work to do and things to be kept track of. I kind of ignored last week in my paranoia, but there was a lot of news to report about. Things such as the return of Bam Bam Bigelow from rehab last week. Bam Bam may be getting up there in years, but hopefully his newfound loyalty pledge to me for getting his life back on track will keep him working to the best of his (very high) abilities. I had considered trying to get in touch with Pro Wrestling NOAH to work out an agreement with them in order to bring in Vader for a few shows, but I think now I can be just as well off to just slot Bigelow into the plans that I had been making. He swears that he isn’t drinking or using recreational drugs anymore and that rehab has gotten him to drastically reduce the amount of pain killers he was taking, but The Wall swore much the same thing and now he’s on the unemployment line. I gave him dark matches to see where he was at the past two weeks to see how ready for prime time he is, and he didn’t disappoint; I guess it’s time to swim with the sharks and see how things go. I also gave out a pay raise last week, as Daffney felt she had earned more as her stock rose as the valet of Dark Eden. I haven’t used her very much, but I gave in and handed her 75% of what she wanted; her pay rises by $900 to creep her up to $2,270 a month. Jerry “The King” Lawler announced he was hanging up his boots (or perhaps his crown) in three months’ time. I considered the possibility of bringing him in for a big “last hurrah” angle, but in the end decided against it as I felt that he wouldn’t be a good fit for WCW, even in the short term. Also that he likely would have wanted to bring his wife in at his side, and I’m working on clearing away the dead weight, not hiring more. So he can just retire in peace; I’m sure he could book himself to win another Memphis title on his way out. Two of my oldest colleagues in Lance Russell and Verne Gagne have now fully left the business, and I attended the two’s small retirement party in Minneapolis last Wednesday. Scott Steiner told me during Nitro how “That slanty Jap boy with the hot bitch? He couldn’t get these fans to cheer for him if he ripped her shirt off in the middle of the ring! Get him outta here already, and hey, maybe you could set her up to accompany me to the ring.” I deduced that he was talking about Yang and mostly ignored him. Word broke that last Friday night, the WWF’s Edge married Alannah Morley, the sister of Val Venis. Apparently the marriage was meant to take place in November, but they decided they didn’t want to wait any longer and got it over with now instead. Pictures showed that Sean was very happy for the two. [Writer’s Note: It was kinda weird, I had looked up and saw that Edge got married in November, so I changed his outside relationship to “Engaged” and then almost immediately it came up that he married. In order to make it feel right to me, I added a friendship between he and Val.] In a huge move, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced on Sunday morning that they had bought out AJW. The joshi promotion had apparently fallen on harder times than anyone realized, and now their titles join OZ Academy’s on Inoki’s mantle. As for this past week, former JCP announcer Bob Caudle left wrestling, and Jimmy Snuka said he was hanging up his boots. I made sure that he would be alright if I wanted to use him in a match or two, as that was something that we’d agreed upon when he signed with us, and with that answered, I had no problems. I found out through some sources that The Warlord was hoping to make a comeback to pro wrestling, and hey, if he wants to come back and make some money, good for him. [Writer’s Note: Warlord apparently did try to make a comeback in 2001, but he only wrestled two or three matches before getting injured and bowing out again for another few years. I imported him into the game just in case I found something I would want him for anyways.] Backstage before Nitro, Goldberg claimed that he doesn’t think C.W. can connect with fans and that he has little upside. We will see. Paul Orndorff was seen giving Jindrak and O’Haire some psychology tips and teaching Yang some microphone work. So maybe one day he will be able to get the fans to respond, Scott! During the show, I noticed that “Big Bill” seems to really be growing into his gimmick quickly. Simon Diamond also looked to be improving at his portrayal. I also felt that Jamie Knoble was showing some better brawling, while Norman Smiley, Kaz Hayashi, Sean O’Haire, and Jeremy Borash were showing off some better performance skills. In the main event, I don’t know if Sting would have complained about dropping the match to best friend Lex Luger, but I still kept him protected. I don’t really think he should be losing to many people without some reason for the loss at this stage of his career; the aura of Sting is a big selling point in WCW still, and keeping that alive could be the difference between fans buying Sting merchandise or fans shilling out for the new Triple H t-shirt. Speaking of money (and of Triple H) now that it is August, it looks like Kevin Nash is officially gone from WCW. That is a gut punch all of its own. Not as if Kevin was lighting the ring on fire with matches everyone loved, and his days of carrying the company were long gone. But it’s all about the way he did it. He played me like a fiddle, taking advantage of how I wanted to save some money to keep WCW from going under, and he escaped his contract in order to head back to Vince. His disappearance was explained at the very end of the month by a note from his personal physician, claiming that he had suffered some injury. I definitely did not buy it. I think he just wanted to leave without giving a loss to Goldberg. I don’t even know what to think about Scott Hall, because the bitter taste of what Nash did is in my mouth. The star presence that The Outsiders would have given us would have been a shot in the arm. Instead, I am forced to write them off. The good thing is that losing Nash gives us more money back in our pocket at the end of next month. We lost $575,294 this past month, with my personal check to Shane McMahon for $5,000. We are left with $1,926,904 left in our corporate bank. We may be bleeding less, but we’re still bleeding. Here’s hoping that it won’t be long until we can finally patch those wounds.” ---------- Thanks! I was pretty fond of how the Dusty/Lance segment came out. I think that it would have played out really well in real life, but instead WCW had already left Storm to midcard hell by the time they brought Dusty back on screen in 2001. I look forward to playing this out, as things are definitely going to spring off of this next week when Dustin returns to Nitro.

Congratulations on the LDOTM win, but the car accident is bad news. Hopefully you'll be able to bounce back fairly easily, but those are two very nasty conditions to carry.

<p>WCW Friday Nitro: 7/27/2001</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><iframe width="220" height="124" src="</p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HT89yLl-cOA?rel=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/HT89yLl-cOA?rel=0"</a> frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p> <img alt="RmYgPt1.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/RmYgPt1.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>WCW Friday Nitro</strong></p><p> <em><span style="font-size:8px;">Shown Live on July 27, 2001 (Week 4)</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> Held at: The Hard Rock Cafe Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (South West)</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> Announcers: Mike Tenay, Scott Hudson, and Arn Anderson</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> Attendance: 2,000 people (sold out!)</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> PPV Rating: 0.01</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> TV Rating: 2.29</span></em></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> The final Nitro of July opens with the sound of the sirens wailing as our World’s Heavyweight champion heads toward the ring with big brother Rick and head freak Midajah following closely behind, and Scott looks even more upset than usual. He roughly grabs the microphone from David Penzer before going on a tirade about how last week was <em>“the biggest injustice I’ve seen in a wrestling ring since bald ass Hulk Hogan and weak ass Kevin Nash decided to blow one another and handjob over this title in 1999.”</em> Scott says that some painted up whore like Sting is only good for one thing, and that thing is not winning matches; everyone already knows what he feels about that <em>“crooked toothed old horse’s ass Ric Flair”</em> and there ain’t no way that two young, green, Power Plant pukes are gonna beat the greatest tag team in the history of wrestling, the Steiner Brothers! So apparently, something went wrong last week. It wasn’t him or Rick, because anyone watching that match saw them dominating the so-called competition! He isn’t even saying that it was Buff or Lex, because even though they ain’t as good as the Steiner Brothers, and even though they’re arguing like a couple’a “Big Poppa Pump’s” hoes when they wanna be the first in line to have the “Genetic Freak” they are still good enough to make that fight. Steiner’s performance is just fantastic here tonight. So it looks like the fault lies… with Midajah! Scott points the finger at her, saying that she screwed up last week just like she’s been screwing up quite a bit over the past few months, and he’s just about had it with her! He tells her that one more screw up like that and it doesn’t matter how fine her ass is, because he can replace her with a new head freak in a heartbeat! Midajah’s acting isn’t very good as her performance of looking shocked is poor. He then changes tone back to the matter of hand, the Wrath match.</p><p> But thunder claps over the arena before he can discuss that, and “Seek and Destroy” brings out Sting! “The Franchise of WCW” stands at the top of the aisle and tells Steiner that he was already in good standing for the Wrath match, but that winning last week should put him at the top of the list now. He warns Steiner that he is coming for his eigth World championship win, so after he makes it through Wrath, it’s gonna be showtime! Steiner says that he thought Sting was gonna come out here and brag like the best bitch of the party after how last week ended, he’s just surprised that he took his tongue out of Flair’s ass long enough to do it! Steiner says that Sting hasn’t shown him a damn reason for why he would win the Wrath match, so he ain’t sweating about anyone who could be in it yet. But he suggests that tonight, maybe he can show them something by taking on Lex Luger tonight! Sting looks good here, not backing down an inch, as he howls to the crowd and says that he and Lex have been best friends and best enemies for the better part of ten years, so if “The Package” meets him in the ring, he’ll give Scott something to sweat about when he meets him across the ring at Wrath! This angle got the crowd incredibly hot for the rest of the show by starting us off very strong. (Rating: A)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="D0QZBAc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/D0QZBAc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <hr><details><summary><strong>Billy Kidman vs. “Sugar” Shane Helms</strong></summary></p><p> In this very fast paced, high spots based match up between two of WCW’s hottest young stars, Kidman retained the championship in 7:18 by hitting a low blow before drilling Helms to the mat with the Kid Krusher. (Rating: B-)<hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> Kidman is leaving the ring when Rey Mysterio Jr. hits the ring! He isn’t able to get his hands on Billy, as he escapes, but it appears “Rey-Rey” wasn’t as after him as Billy may have thought. Instead, Mysterio requests the microphone from David Penzer, and he instead calls out Vampiro! He says that while he wants to get his hands on Kidman and regain his X Division title, he also knows that you get nowhere by going after the tail of a snake, you have to cut off it’s head. He tells Vampiro that he almost accepts a match against him for Wrath, but he has something to add to it, and he wants Vampiro out here to see his face! Rey struggles off-script here, but the point is getting across well enough. Vampiro comes to the aisle and tells Mysterio that he shouldn’t be looking this gift horse in the mouth; he has been offered a chance at redemption and he wants to make stipulations upon it? Vampiro calls him ungrateful, but says that he will hear out Mysterio’s challenge. Rey says that both of them came up through Mexico, and they both have that tradition running through their veins. He says that the way Vampiro has screwed with him and his life for the past few months, he can only think of one way to honor that tradition and destroy Vampiro and his Dark Eden once and for all: he wants their match to be a Mexican Deathmatch! Vampiro improvises well in this segment, as he smiles – perhaps not the reaction Rey was expecting – telling Rey that if he wants to find death rather than redemption, Vampiro will make the proper arrangements for his funeral. It looks like we have a big match coming at Wrath! (Rating: B-)</p><p> </p><p> We head backstage to “Mean” Gene and Jeremy, with Gene first of all telling people to check out his article on WCW.com if you want to see find out who has retired from wrestling in the past week. Gene then brings in his guest at this time, Animal, who is set to face off with Booker T later for the WCW United States Heavyweight championship. Animal has few words here, the gist of the interview just him yelling that once he’s done beating Booker and taking home a piece of singles gold for the first time in his career, then Sting is becoming the top priority again! (Rating: C+)</p><p> </p><p> Backstage, we see Madusa watching a monitor. Commentary speculate that she is watching for the talent that she is planning to offer her managerial services to. (Rating: D-)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><hr><details><summary><strong>Big Bill vs. Jamie Knoble</strong></summary> </p><p> In a short squash match, Big Bill takes all the offense that Knoble can throw at him before polishing him off with a brutal powerbomb and the No Laughing Matter moonsault in 2:25. (Rating: C-) <hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Back again with Gene and Jeremy, this time they have the United States champion Booker T standing with them. They ask him for some thoughts about his match tonight against Animal and the challenge made last week by Shane Douglas. Booker says that Animal is tough and Douglas wants a shot. He plans on getting both of them, saying they can <em>“get in line, suckas; I got plenty’a spots on the dance card for what’ll be a long run with this title!”</em> Booker was a real star in this segment, hitting his catchphrases well and really playing the fighting champion’s role well. (Rating: C)</p><p> </p><p> We now head to the Hard Rock Skybox, where it appears the Problem Solvers are still holding the place down. Simon improvises a live promo well, taunting the Snukas that they keep trying to take this back, but since they’ve already shown that “Junior” just isn’t good enough to take it back, then it makes him wonder just how he was good enough to win it to begin with. Diamond told everyone that he and C.W. deserved this treatment from when they walked in the door, and that’s just hard proof that in all the newcomers who’ve come to WCW lately, they were always the ones who should have had the preferential treatment. Simon tells everyone that Disqo is heading to the ring for a match, and with his self-help words in Disqo’s mind, he’ll win this bout with no problem – because Simon says win! (Rating: D+)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><hr><details><summary><strong>Disqo vs. Screamin’ Norman Smiley</strong></summary> </p><p> In a solid comedy match that gives the crowd a nice moment to relax, Disqo defeats Norman Smiley in 4:18 with the Last Dance. (Rating: C-) <hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/JBl4mtV.jpg?1</span><p> <hr><details><summary><strong>Booker T vs. Animal</strong></summary> </p><p> This is a very brutal brawl all around the ring and ringside area as these two do all they can to come out as the prestigious United States champion. Animal grabs plenty of chances to win with big, powerful slams that rock Booker’s entire body, but the champion always manages to kick out. Finally one missed maneuver as Animal charged into the corner backfires as Booker moves, causing Animal to smash into the turnbuckles and stagger into the Book End, as the champion retains at 11:59. There wasn’t much selling during this match. (Rating: B-)</p><p> </p><p> Booker takes time to climb onto the titles and hold up his championship, celebrating with the cheering crowd, but those cheers quickly turn to jeers as “The Franchise” Shane Douglas appears and grabs Booker, slamming him onto the mat with an elevated belly to back suplex! Douglas pulls Booker back to his feet and hits him with the Franchiser, before placing his foot on Booker’s chest and holding up the US title himself! Commentary say that Douglas certainly looks dominant here, but if he were to meet Booker in the ring, he would have a lot more fight on his hands compared to attacking an already exhausted Booker from behind! Booker came across well during this angle. (Rating: B-)<hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> It’s time for The WCW Worldwide Panel! Tony Schiavone says that we have a special treat for you tonight fans, as on the line is the owner and operator of World Championship Wrestling, Eric Bischoff! Each of the Panel members welcome Eric, with Jeremy adding that he hopes Eric is doing well after the attack last week by Dustin Rhodes. Bischoff says that he is doing alright, but decided that discretion is the better part of valor for tonight so he stayed at home rather than appearing in the arena and risking he or anyone else losing their cool. He says that he is here to announce that he and Commissioner Ernest Miller have been talking over the past week in depth about how to determine who best to enter the Wrath match on August 12th. The solution they have arrived at will see a series of triple threat matches between the best and brightest of WCW – save for guys such as Curt Hennig and Jeff Jarrett, who already agreed to wrestle one another at Wrath. Eric says that this throws one monkey wrech into the works already, as Rey Mysterio Jr. was meant to take part in one of them, up next, but his agreeing to face Vampiro means he is out of the match he had planned. So this bout will only be a singles match between Ernest Miller and Buff Bagwell. He also points out that this does not apply to Goldberg, who he cannot give a title shot to, and to Dustin Rhodes, who is going to be punished for his actions by not being allowed into the Wrath match. Eric also says that he is considering tonight’s new main event featuring Sting and Lex Luger to be a qualifying match, but with the added stipulation that the winner will take the final slot of the entry order in Wrath while the loser will have to requalify! The crowd are hotter after hearing this added wrinkle of the match, as Eric also adds that there will be an additional triple threat match, because Scott Steiner isn’t getting away easily; there are two names who he wasn’t able to fit into any of the qualifying matches, and they will get a shot at the most prestigious title in wrestling, the WCW World Heavyweight championship itself! Eric tells everyone to enjoy the rest of the show! (Rating: C-) </p><p> </p><p> Elsewhere backstage, we see Scott Steiner watching a monitor, and he doesn’t look pleased – but then again, when does he? (Rating: B)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><hr><details><summary><strong>Wrath Qualifying Match</strong></p><p><strong> “The Cat” Ernest Miller vs. Buff Bagwell</strong></summary> </p><p> In a short match, Buff Bagwell gives Ernest Miller a good bout before placing his feet on the ropes during a pinfall at 3:57 to move into the Wrath match. (Rating: C-) <hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S445yWa45qs?controls=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/S445yWa45qs?controls=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> The 2,000 sold out members of the crowd are instantly on their feet as out of the back walks none other than “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes! Rhodes gets to the ring and waits for the crowd to silence before saying that he’s happy to be here in a WCW ring again, and he wishes that it was for better circumstances. However, he’s here not be on his own or to be here for the fans, he’s here to be a father. Dusty says that last week, he watched Dustin lose his cool and <em>“do what a bunch’a folk from the past ten years have wanted to do, and that’s kick Eric Bischoff where the sun don’t shine, daddy!”</em> But he says that was part of the old WCW, the past, and maybe that’s where Dusty himself belongs, but he wants to see his son apologize for his actions and get a spot in the Wrath match. Dusty knows that Dustin isn’t here tonight, so he wants him to do so next week on Nitro. He would hope that Eric can accept that a little hot-headedness from a big, rough Texas boy can just happen sometimes, and let him take his shot just like anyone else. Dusty thanks the crowd for listening to <em>“an old, broken down horse”</em> like himself, and starts to leave when… </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hPkZnxGTuoQ?controls=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/hPkZnxGTuoQ?controls=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><p></p><p></p><p> Lance Storm comes out of the curtain and he walks right into the ring. He gets the microphone from Dusty and says that it looks like we’ve been having some fun out here; everyone give it up for Dusty Rhodes! After a smattering of applause, Storm says that now we can get serious for a moment. He tells Dusty that a few months ago, he won a match called Envy, where his son wagered a pair of cowboy boots that belonged to Dusty; precious heirlooms that Rhodes had worn while winning a World championship. Storm says that while he has no problem in winning something that someone held dear, he has yet to figure out what a pure blooded, classically trained, greatest wrestler in the world from Calgary… Alberta, Canada, would ever do with a pair of cowboy boots. He tells Dusty that he has always hoped to finally get to meet him because he wanted to look him dead in the eye and tell him… to leave! He says that Dusty and his prodigy have taken up so much of the fans’ time that could be used on proper role models such as himself, instead leaving the kids out there to emulate fat, lispy plumbers or freakish perverts rather than fountains of greatness like Lance Storm. Dusty starts to take the microphone back to respond, but Storm forces it back, this time yelling at him to leave! When Dusty looks like he may start to “get funky like a monkey” like it’s 1986 all over again, Storm tells him not to even try it; because whether he likes it or not, the American Dream is dead! With that, Storm tells Dusty to leave again, and with a dejected look on his face, Dusty does so. Lance Storm stands in the ring, looking smug, as commentary talk about how this was not the homecoming to WCW that Dusty was expecting. This got the crowd a lot hotter. (Rating: C+)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><hr><details><summary><strong>The Natural Born Thrillers vs. Air Paris, Caprice Coleman, and Cassidy O’Reilly</strong></summary></p><p> Stacy Kiebler cheers on the Thrillers from ringside as the Thrillers clinically dismantle their opponents. O’Haire drops the Seanton Bomb on Cassidy in 6:21 to score the pinfall. (Rating: C) </p><p> </p><p> After the match, the four of them enter the ring and get a microphone. Each of them get a chance to talk about how they have all entered into qualifying matches for Wrath, and the chances are strong that at least one of them will end up in the match and take on Scott Steiner! (Rating: B-)</p><p> <hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> “The Chosen One” enters the ring after the ring has cleared out, and he says that something’s pissing him off! He talks about how Curt Hennig has essentially walked back into WCW after being a jobber last summer and found himself as a major player just off the back of “The Chosen One” but he doesn’t buy it. Jarrett says that there’s no way Curt is going to just get a match against him after not having a major match on American soil in almost a year, and especially since Jeff has just finished coming off of months of defending the United States title week in and week out against the best slapnuts that WCW had to offer! (Mike Tenay points out that Jarrett only defended the title when he was forced to, but that’s neither here nor there.) Curt makes his way out of the back, and tells Jarrett that yeah, he’s right that Curt is remaking his name off of Jarrett’s back, but that’s because he feels like Jarrett needs to learn a lesson that he forgot a long time ago; just because you’re a talented second generation star, doesn’t mean the wrestling business hands everything to you! Jarrett laughs him off, saying that being “The Chosen One” is because he’s the best, not because anything gets handed to them. Jeff says that getting back to business; he will sit at home for Wrath unless Hennig shows up the next two weeks and has a match. He tells Curt that he doesn’t even care if he wins, just that he shows Jarrett that he can give him a challenge when they take one another on. Hennig agrees in an instant, saying that getting Jarrett in the ring is the first priority he has in WCW, but Jeff tells him that he will hand pick his opponents – and he may have just signed a contract that his slapnut ass can’t cash. (Rating: B)</p><p> </p><p> We now go to satellite footage where “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair is at his home. He acknowledges what Eric Bischoff said earlier about triple threat qualifying matches, saying that <em>“The Nature Boy has dealt with two at one time plenty of times in my life, so bring it on, wooo!”</em> Needless to say, Flair doesn’t do well without any scripting here, but his point is that he feels prepared to go into Wrath and walk out of the show holding his seventeenth World championship. (Rating: B-)</p><p> </p><p> The Future come to the ring, with Kaz Hayashi backing Chavo Guerrero Jr. as he prepares for one of perhaps the biggest matches of his career. Chavo takes the microphone and says that tonight, he retires Goldberg! The fans boo him for this bold statement, as Guerrero says that Curt Hennig and Jeff Jarrett were out here talking about being second generation stars earlier, but none of them can hold a candle to the Guerrero family tree! And that is why he intends on putting a huge feather in the cap of the family name by putting the so-called “man” out of pro wrestling tonight. Chavo really is not being seen as a threat here by the fans. The crowd come alive when “Da Man” comes out to the ring! Goldberg gets a microphone of his own and says that rather than just make Chavo into win #114 tonight, how about he goes double or nothing? He tells Chavo that his little Asian boy meat there may as well join in on the fun, and when he beats them, he’ll jump to 115 wins. Goldberg was fantastic here, really looking like the star that he is. Chavo is upset at being overlooked and Kaz is upset at his words, so they agree to the handicap match! Arn Anderson asks who is really at a handicap here? (Rating: C+)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><hr><details><summary><strong>The Future vs. “Da Man” Goldberg</strong></summary></p><p> Two on one is pretty big odds for normal people, but this is Goldberg here. He is able to take down two such talent athletes with little trouble, pinning both of them simultaneously in 3:19. Goldberg looked good here and left the crowd buzzing, despite the lack of psychology during this bout. (Rating: C)<hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Chris Lovey is backstage and he is talking to Madusa. He asks her what she is looking for in a new client, and she answers <em>“I'm scouting for talent, someone who lives up to those who I’ve taken to the top in the past; not just some musclehead who talks a big game.”</em> She says that she has a few people in mind, but nothing concrete yet. (Rating: D)</p><p> </p><p> The reason Lovey was talking to Madusa is because Gene and Jeremy are in the interview set, where Okerlund brings in Big Bill for a word. However, Bill isn’t very happy to give them any words, saying that he spoke his mind last week and he doesn’t plan to chew his cabbage twice. He tells them that everyone saw what he did earlier to Knoble, and that type of beating is coming for anyone in his way. He doesn’t seem to like that Borash asks him a question, suddenly grabbing the young interviewer by the shirt and putting him against the wall! He screams at him <em>“Get out of my face kid, or I’ll rip your’s off and beat you with it!”</em> Big Bill throws Jeremy aside, leaving the area, as Gene tries to straighten Jeremy out. He tells him that if Bill hadn’t thrown him down like that, Gene was about to jump in and save him, but it was over sooner than he could get to action. Jeremy thanks him, and Gene points out that he wrestled alongside Hulk Hogan once, but you can see him shake his head that he doesn’t believe Gene as soon as Gene turned his back. (Rating: C-)</p><p> </p><p> We go elsewhere backstage where Sting is walking! Our main event is next! (Rating: B-)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><hr><details><summary><strong>Wrath Qualifying Match – Winner Takes Final Entrance</strong></p><p><strong> Sting vs. “The Total Package” Lex Luger</strong></summary></p><p> Our main event is hotly contested between these two men who have been on the same side and opposite sides multiple times throughout their careers. Sting commands a lot of this match as he fights to prove that he is the top contender to Scott Steiner’s World championship, but Luger has a lot to prove as well. The match is basically like the greatest hits version of what you’ve seen from them in the past, and just as Sting starts making his big comeback, Nick Patrick gets pulled into the way during the Stinger Splash. Luger goes down in a heap right next to him, and Sting starts trying to wake Nick up. However this is when Animal makes his presence felt, and he charges into the ring carrying a thick chain wrapped around his fist. He nails Sting with it in the back of the head, causing him to fall against the ropes, looking unconscious! Animal gets Luger into the fight again, and “The Total Package” takes advantage by lifting Sting up into the Torture Rack! Nick Patrick comes to long before Sting does, and with no response from “The Stinger” he orders the match be stopped at 13:39. (Rating: B-) </p><p> </p><p> Animal is laughing at this turn of fortune as he leaves the ring, when Sting is revived by officials. Lex is celebrating his win, which Sting looks like he is taking offense to, but not as much as when he notices Animal. He leaves the ring and charges, heading right after his attacker! Doug Dillinger and WCW Security are trying to separate the two as this week’s episode of Friday Nitro goes off the air! (Rating: B-)</p><p> <hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><hr><details><summary><strong>The Worldwide Live Post Show</strong></summary> </p><p> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/242aiSKmG1Q?rel=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/242aiSKmG1Q?rel=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p> It’s time for the WCW Worldwide Live Post-Show! The Worldwide Panel start off talking about what we saw in our main event, and how it looks like we have two of the six names already set up for the Wrath match; both members of Totally Buff! With the two already seeming to have had some problems, what will this do for their team? (Rating: D+)</p><p> </p><p> The Panel then changes gears and talk about how Curt Hennig now has two mystery opponents to take on in the next two weeks so he can face Jeff Jarrett. They question who Jarrett may find to go after Hennig, and whether the opponents will be out to challenge Hennig or to hurt him ahead of the match at Wrath? (Rating: C-)</p><p> </p><p> The show closes with the Panel discussing the qualifying matches and how next week, we will see a WCW World Heavyweight championship bout in a series of triple threat matches! Tune in next week, fans! (Rating: C)<hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Show Rating: B</strong></p><p> <em>This show has improved our popularity in 28 regions.</em></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="qJk5JLG.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/qJk5JLG.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p>

Flair and Sting - It'd be kind of pointless for them to lose at the first outing, right? Windham and Rhodes - I'm not sure if they will be taking home the gold, but they will at least get a nice win to cap this feud off. Diamond Exchange - By hook or by crook, they'll keep the titles here. Scott Steiner - As you said last PPV, you didn't want Randy losing the first bout between them. It makes sense. But this time, I can see Scott going way overboard with the offense and taking the win, leading to a blowoff next month. Bret Hart - Likely to be the best pure match on the card. Wendi Richter - Nobody else has been in Madusa's league, so Wendi picking up the win will be a breath of fresh air for the title. Vader - Vader has bigger, more ultimate fish to fry compared to Nikita. Ricky Steamboat - Yeah, that.

<p>Sting - <em>I can't see this one being in doubt at all. The best Crowbar can hope for is that he gives Sting a DQ win rather than getting beaten decisively.</em></p><p> Sean O'Haire - <em>Buff is down for a month, but does that month include SuperBrawl? O'Haire takes this one to sew up a title shot.</em></p><p> Filthy Animals - <em>Odds against them be damned, the Animals reunion takes a big win.</em></p><p> AJ Styles</p><p> Lance Storm</p><p> Bigelow and Sandman - <em>It feels so weird seeing Sandman in WCW, especially after what a lame duck run he had as Hak. But hey, it gives him a good paycheck to keep up the booze and smokes, so time to cane people!</em></p>

That was one hell of a Halloween! I can't wait to see where you go next in regards to Shawn, HPL, and Sting though; that's a wrinkle I definitely didn't see coming. But with Sting as such a loner, I don't know how long this little "alliance" would last, but at the very least it makes a good "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" set up. Bret Hart Brian Pillman Flair and Anderson - Now you just reminded me of the New Midnight Express and now I'm sad. Jeff Jarrett Jake Roberts - Unfortunately Raven has kinda seemed to be right, as his former Flock mates have sunk rather than swam once out of his care. Scorpio - A small Nation win to look dominant would be nice to see here. Lex Luger - I doubt that this match will be the lead-in to Starrcade, so Lex would make a good Nitro challenger for next week. Vader C&C Goldberg Lance Storm Tajiri - No matter where they go, Tajiri and Crazy will always fight one another.

<p>Juvi and Wagner</p><p> ???</p><p> Kronik</p><p> Raven</p><p> Kanyon and DDP</p><p> Sid</p><p> Buffy T</p><p> Goldberg</p><p> </p><p> 1. How about we bring in Stacy Kiebler for this one</p><p> 2. Regal and Storm</p><p> 3. None</p>

<p>I'm surprised to see Sting pull off another win, but it's a very pleasant surprise. It looks as though we will be heading into Sting vs. Nash for SuperBrawl, which should be a fun feud to watch. Good call to send Flair home for a little bit though, as if he's bad enough that he's tanking performances then he must be pretty angry. Some time away can help you build him something bigger upon his return too, which should help.</p><p> </p><p> Sting</p><p> DDP</p><p> Chavo</p><p> Booker T</p><p> Kanyon and Awesome - <em>While it looks like for now they weren't the ones to bring down the Thrillers, I still look to see these two with some gold in the near future.</em></p>

<p>I'm pretty excited to see how Havoc turns out! One thing I was thinking while reading this past Nitro is that while I'm sure in-game guys like Eddy and Rock are moving up the popularity tree nicely with awesome segments like that, real life WCW unfortunately would likely never have even cared about them and the two would have stayed mired in the midcard, with Rock likely even to lose his debut match soon and Eddy to just keep spinning those wheels. </p><p> </p><p> What can I say; as much as I love looking back on WCW, those rose tinted glasses can't protect it all the time.</p><p> </p><p> Hollywood Hogan - <em>While this has been built up very well, I can't see JPL being the man to topple "The Hulkster". However, I do think someone will be showing up post-match to assist JPL and make a big challenge...</em></p><p> Eddy Guerrero - <em>I love Curt, but man is Eddy just on fire here as the US champion. And since there's really nowhere upward for him to go due to a massive logjam at the peak of the summit, holding onto the title gives him a good purpose.</em></p><p> C&C (Music Factory) - <em>The Totally Awesome Trinity bring home some gold.</em></p><p> Warrior - <em>This could be Page's big coming-out into the main event, but I think Warrior escapes with a win so that we blow this off at Starrcade.</em></p><p> Chris Benoit - <em>Savage gets himself DQ'd maybe? I could see this one going to Starrcade as well.</em></p><p> No Contest - <em>If there's anywhere that Sting shows up at on this night, I think it'll be here, as he gets the two of them to hug it out and make up. Or maybe one of them heel turns, I could see Russo going that route also.</em></p><p> The Rock</p><p> Vader</p><p> Jeff Hardy</p><p> Goldberg - <em>If you're looking to make Goldberg look human against someone, it would have to be the Faces of Fear.</em></p>

<p>I don't share these much (like, ever) in this manner, but it just took me a little by surprise, so I had to share.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="756023765434b570dd9a001b232921d5.png" data-src="https://i.gyazo.com/756023765434b570dd9a001b232921d5.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> It looks to me like "The Lethal Weapon" may have let his gimmick get a little to his head to think that he could take down THE MONSTER MENG, but all he ended up with is his own "Haku story" for people to tell in shoot interviews ten years from now.</p><p> </p><p> I suspended him for it and Steve was happy about it. He must have wanted to get away from Haku now that his "tough guy" act has been destroyed.</p>

<p>Benoit, Eddie, and Rey</p><p> Psicosis</p><p> Madusa</p><p> Team 3D</p><p> ???</p><p> Steven Regal</p><p> Goldberg</p><p> Scott Steiner</p><p> </p><p> 1. Hogan</p><p> 2. Shamrock</p>

Yeah, as much as I don't like cutting people from the start of the game (without some type of story reason) at least you did it realistically by just dropping some people who are starting at the disadvantage of not being very over to start with. Playing as 2001 WCW, there isn't much of a viable midcard. You basically have your main eventers (Steiner, Booker, those guys), your TV main eventers (guys like Konnan, Douglas, and Morrus who you can count on for a good match but isn't over enough to sustain a storyline with the big boys), and the rest are basically just enhancement crew. Any of those names are ones who could go to a smaller fed and make a bit of a name and then be brought back, or could be brought in on a one night deal to do a quick job.

<p>The Week that Was: July 2001, Week 3</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="mMuyMIf.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/mMuyMIf.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="N5QIZGQ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/N5QIZGQ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <hr><details><summary><strong>WWF RAW is WAR</strong></summary></p><p> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eQKcAQHeRSE?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/eQKcAQHeRSE?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p> </p><p> Providence, Rhode Island is being taken to war; RAW is WAR headed to the Providence Civic Center, just six days away from Fully Loaded!</p><p> </p><p> Triple H started the show, boasting that he had defeated the so-called number one contender last week on SmackDown!, and said that Chris Benoit would be next at Fully Loaded. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon joined him in the ring, but you could feel the tension in the air as Austin claimed he would springboard off of Triple H’s victory to keep the World title in the Power Trip. Jericho and Benoit came out following that, with the two saying that while Vince may have his blinders on, it’s pretty apparent that pretty soon Austin and Helmsley were likely to either kiss or kill one another, but one thing we will know soon is that they won’t have the World title soon. Benoit chimes in that Triple H is going to tap or snap yet again this Sunday, but Hunter tells him he won’t get the chance because “The Game” will break him first. Shane McMahon joins the segment, saying that he will personally be making sure that those matches are one on one. Vince isn’t happy about it, but it looks like things are heating up for this Sunday!</p><p> </p><p> Early on in the evening, Faarooq and Bradshaw were seen backstage. “The Coach” asked them what they were doing at the Civic Center tonight, with the only answer given being that someone had paid for their services. They were seen again later, but again there was no word given. Remember this for later.</p><p> </p><p> Shane McMahon and Diamond Dallas Page seem pretty upbeat about Fully Loaded, but talking to The Undertaker about it lowers the mood a lot. “The American Bad Ass” makes it clear that his help to them extends only until they’ve taken down X-Factor, and then he’s going his own path again, and they can do whatever they want as long as they stay out of “the big dog’s” yard.</p><p> </p><p> Michael Cole talks to Mr. McMahon, while he stands by with William Regal, who says that Shane gave him an idea by wanting things to be one on one. So tonight and on SmackDown!, he is going to set up tag team matches that will be suitable warm-ups for Jericho and Benoit and then for the Power Trip. Later, Regal finds Triple H and Stephanie in Mr. McMahon’s office, and Hunter appears to be looking over some documents. But before he can find out much about them, Vince enters the room and chases Regal, Hunter, and Stephanie away, refusing to answer any questions about this.</p><p> </p><p> During a backstage interview with Jonathan Coachman, Trish Stratus was attacked by Ivory. Later in the evening, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley took to the ring and proclaimed that she is once and for all the “Alpha Bitch” of the WWF, and that Trish needs to just stop what she’s thinking!</p><p> </p><p> “Latino Heat” Eddie Guerrero stirred the pot ahead of his match with Spike Dudley by telling Molly Holly that she needed to “Upgrade to some ‘Latino Heat’ before the Dudley Boyz destroy her little boyfriend” but it only incensed Spike to attack! With help from Molly, delivering the Molly-Go-Round to Eddie, Spike picks up the win. Bubba and D-Von appear afterwards and come to attack, but they are held off – the APA come to the rescue, apparently having been paid by Spike for their protection!</p><p> </p><p> The main event pitted Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit against the Dudley Boyz; however, it wasn’t long until Mr. McMahon’s grand plan came to fruition as he turned it into a four on two handicap match by adding Albert and Justin Credible to the bout. But Shane had another backup plan, by sending Diamond Dallas Page and The Undertaker! Undertaker finishes the bout by pinning D-Von after The Last Ride.</p><p> </p><p> Elsewhere on the show: The Big Show was attacked by Haku prior to his match against Rikishi; Rikishi d. The Big Show; The Godfather doesn’t even bother offering a girl to Raven, saying that he doesn’t have anything that whatever he is would be into; The Godfather d. Raven; Matt Hardy d. Perry Saturn; Terri teases the crowd at WWF New York; Billy Gunn d. Dean Malenko; Edge does a five second pose to mock both Rhode Island and Billy Gunn, with Billy saying he won’t be so obnoxious when he takes the European title from him at Fully Loaded; Rhyno and Test fight to a double count out.</p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Rating: B+</em><hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="wDSynh8.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wDSynh8.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <hr><details><summary><strong>WWF SmackDown!</strong></summary></p><p> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1KVxGNbkfSk?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/1KVxGNbkfSk?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p> </p><p> The FleetCenter is the place to be as WWF SmackDown! was held there, and it was a huge night only four nights away from Fully Loaded!</p><p> </p><p> The show opened with Triple H following up on something he saw on RAW is WAR, as he called Mr. McMahon out to force him to give details. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley got him to give up that it is a new match that he is creating, and he was going to save the announcement for Fully Loaded, but since everyone has no patience, he’ll reveal that it is a combination of Hell in a Cell and the Royal Rumble that he is calling the Elimination Chamber! Triple H says that he wants in, because a match like that has to have championship implications, but Mr. McMahon says that he isn’t handing out spots in the bout until this Sunday!</p><p> </p><p> Lilian Garcia spoke to Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, who say they’re a little banged up after their match on RAW, but there’s no way they’d miss Fully Loaded. They look forward to seeing who Mr. McMahon claims is a “suitable warm-up match” for the Power Trip tonight. But from there we see Vince McMahon, Stephanie, and William Regal in Vince’s office. Mr. McMahon says that “Stone Cold” needs to keep the title this Sunday no matter what; he implies to Regal that he wouldn’t be opposed to Jericho suffering some sort of “accident” later tonight that could put him off the show!</p><p> </p><p> “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon come to the ring, Austin saying that at WrestleMania, he gladly sold his soul to win the World Heavyweight championship, so what does Chris Jericho think he can do to reach the depths he requires to defeat him for the belt? Shane McMahon comes out and tells Austin that he hasn’t been the same since WrestleMania, and that Jericho is going to be the nail in the coffin of the Power Trip and Vince McMahon all in one fell swoop. He tells his dad that he is keeping an eye on things to make sure Jericho makes it to Fully Loaded at 100% so he can take that title home!</p><p> </p><p> “Y2J” gets his own time to come to the stage, and he recounts a career of not breaking through the glass ceiling. He says that this is his time, this Sunday is his place, and this time there won’t be some “phantom title reign” because he will lock Austin in the Walls of Jericho until he screams that Jericho is “The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n Rollah” and makes him the new WWF World Heavyweight champion!</p><p> </p><p> The Big Show has had enough of the Island Tribe, so he challenges them to a tag team street fight at Fully Loaded. Rikishi and Haku come to the stage and say that Show doesn’t have anyone to team with, so maybe they should just take him out right now. But when they start heading for the ring, they’re cut off by a BOOM of fire, and Kane comes out to the stage! They better reinforce the ring for this one!</p><p> </p><p> As the Power Trip enter the ring, Mr. McMahon comes to the stage and says that he searched long and hard for suitable opponents who have had the same level of success in their career as Jericho and Benoit… bringing out Too Cool! Triple H seems to be disappointed with this charade, but still cooperates with Austin during the match to handily defeat them. Afterwards, Jericho and Benoit hit the ring, and we ensue CANADIAN VIOLENCE as it becomes a brawl! But a miscalculation sees Benoit dodge out of the way and Austin hammers Triple H by accident with the World title belt!</p><p> </p><p> You would think that would end the show, but instead the cameras catch William Regal backstage, and as the Power Trip argue in the ring, he does what Mr. McMahon ordered earlier – by sending out Rhyno to attack Jericho on the ramp! We had seen Regal meeting with Rhyno earlier, but hadn’t known what was happening, but apparently he was making a deal with “The Man Beast”! Rhyno rings Jericho’s bell with a steel chair, before lining him up and delivering a Gore that puts Jericho right through the SmackDown! logo on the stage! They destroyed the entire arena! The show closes with Jericho needing medical attention, will he even make it to Fully Loaded?!</p><p> </p><p> Elsewhere in the show: Albert d. Hardcore Holly; in a No Count Out match, Test d. Rhyno by disqualification when Rhyno assaults Test with a steel chair; Justin Credible challenges Steve Blackman to make their bout a Kendo Stick match, which is accepted; Justin Credible d. Steve Blackman by using the stick to perform a low blow; Raven says that tonight, he plans on taking The Undertaker into “Raven’s world of pure darkness, a dark that he’s never seen”; Undertaker d. Raven by DQ when Albert runs in and attacks him; DDP is at WWF New York and says that X-Factor feeling the bang this Sunday will be a good thing; Jeff Hardy is interviewed by Coach, telling Rob Van Dam that he may know extreme, but Jeff Hardy is gonna show him Team X-Treme; Edge has a five second pose to mock Boston and says he will be the King of Europe forever; in a non-title match, The Godfather d. Edge when Billy Gunn causes a distraction; Jeff Hardy d. Perry Saturn; Coach talks to the Dudley Boyz who warn the Acolytes that getting in their business breaks the commandment of “Thou shalt not mess with the Dudley Boyz,” so they better either cancel the deal with Spike or make sure he’s paid up, because they’ll need the money for hospital beds.</p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Rating: B+</em><hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="ZvDPOGe.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ZvDPOGe.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <hr><details><summary><strong>WWF Heat</strong></summary></p><p> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YgkWkveCaOk?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/YgkWkveCaOk?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p> </p><p> Too Cool defeat Raven and Perry Saturn with Scotty pinning Saturn following The Worm; We see that “Stone Cold” and Debra arrive separately to the Gund Arena than when Triple H arrives; Jonathan Coachman talks to Shane McMahon, who says he is making sure Vince doesn’t get in the way of the World title match; We go to Jim Ross and Paul Heyman at ringside, who hype Fully Loaded and tell everyone to order the show; William Regal’s open challenge is answered by Crash Holly, who says that he won the European title from Regal back in December so now he’ll take the Intercontinental away too; William Regal defeats Crash Holly with the Regal Stretch.</p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Rating: B</em><hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="UhV58p8.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/UhV58p8.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <hr><details><summary><strong>WWF Fully Loaded</strong></summary></p><p> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sSpS5GDGu8c?rel=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/sSpS5GDGu8c?rel=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe> </p><p> </p><p> Roll the dice, it’s Fully Loaded! The Gund Arena is a sold out 15,000 strong for the hottest pay-per-view of July!</p><p> </p><p> The show opened with the European championship being defended, as Edge took on “The One” Billy Gunn. Gunn nearly regained the title using his strength advantage, but Edge fought back and retained his title with a well placed spear – picking up a rare clean victory, and one that he didn’t stick around to brag about.</p><p> </p><p> Backstage, the Power Trip were seen in their dressing room. Mr. McMahon was rallying the troops, saying that tonight was “all hands on deck” and that they are to watch one another’s backs tonight. Triple H took offense to this, saying that he didn’t need any damn backup to win tonight. He stormed out of the office, putting a damper on the evening, but Mr. McMahon said that by the end of the night, everything would be in order.</p><p> </p><p> Next out was the Tag Team champions, as the Dudley Boyz took on little brother Spike and his hired protection, Faarooq. Spike and Faarooq showed some nice teamwork with one another as they tried to take down the champions, but Spike is not Bradshaw; the lack of familiarity bit them and Spike took the 3D before getting covered for the successful title defense. After the bout, Bubba grabbed Molly and planned on putting her through a table, but Spike was able to interject and escape.</p><p> </p><p> X-Factor took on the team of The Undertaker and Diamond Dallas Page next, and while cohesion was an issue in the previous match, vengeance led to focus in this bout. Albert and Justin Credible were like a well oiled machine, but Justin took The Last Ride to close the match. Page had a celebration after the win, but Undertaker took off on his bike before the celebration could kick off.</p><p> </p><p> The Island Tribe are a vicious team, and in a street fight could be downright deadly. But through Hellfire and brimstone, Kane and The Big Show took them on. The two giants savagely brawled with the Tribe, and it ended when Big Show delivered a ring shaking Chokeslam to Rikishi, pinning him and finally moving on from this battle.</p><p> </p><p> We went to WWF New York briefly to see Matt Hardy there talking to fans and enjoying Fully Loaded. He said he was alone here, as Lita is at the Gund Arena to make sure her new friend Trish Stratus doesn’t get cheated in her match with Ivory. He also says that he can’t wait to watch Jeff take Rob Van Dam out and show what Team X-treme is all about. Back in the arena, Chris Jericho is shown getting ready. JR and Heyman note that while “Y2J” is generally laughing and joking around, tonight he looks all business.</p><p> </p><p> Our next match took place between Chris Benoit and “The Game” Triple H. These two masters of the sport broke one another down physically and mentally, each one working toward decimating the other. In the end, despite Triple H’s best efforts, he ended up locked in the Crossface, but even while referee Tim White was knocked out, he refused to tap again. Assistance arrived when Kurt Angle made his return, rushing in and pulling Benoit out of the hold and hitting him with the Angle Slam! Triple H took advantage, hitting the Pedigree and scoring the win, but the look on his face told a bigger story: that help was definitely unwanted!</p><p> </p><p> A quick segment backstage showed Lita talking to Trish Stratus, a show of solidarity between the two. But then it was right back to action, as the WWF Hardcore title was defended. Unlike other hardcore matches, which are about who can swing the most furniture at the other person, this bout was more about two of the top fliers in the World Wrestling Federation trying to top one another. The battle went all through the ringside area, and culminated in a one-two punch of RVD hitting Hardy with a Van Daminator that sent him off the stage – and then Van Dam leaped off the stage to hit a Five Star Frog Splash! That was enough for him to retain the title, but this one doesn’t seem over yet!</p><p> </p><p> Our penultimate match-up featured the women of the World Wrestling Federation as Ivory, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley’s chosen assassin, took on the thorn in her side, Trish Stratus. Ivory has a lot more experience than the former model, and she made sure to rub that in her face throughout the match. But youthful fire was the deciding factor, as Trish came back with the fans on her side to hit a bulldog after bouncing off the ropes to score a surprising win! The match over, Stratus takes a microphone and calls out Stephanie, saying that there’s only one thing left: taking on Stephanie herself! “Daddy’s Little Girl” came to the stage and told Stratus that she doesn’t deserve to face her in the ring, but if she has to stop Trish’s little crusade with her own hands, then she’ll do it at SummerSlam!</p><p> </p><p> The time had come for the WWF Championship match, and both challenger and champion looked ready as they made their way to the ring. About halfway through the bout, Mr. McMahon made his way to ringside and seemed to be a concerned bystander, but the first time he laid a finger on the apron, his son Shane was right there to keep him back! The power struggle between father and son continued at ringside until things were looking desperate – as Jericho blocked the kick that regularly precedes the Stunner and turned it into the Walls of Jericho! At this point, emotion took over and Vince grabbed a steel chair, laying Shane out with it! As Earl Hebner dealt with that, Triple H came to the ring with Stephanie at his side. Stephanie grabbed the attention of Hebner, as Vince entered the ring… but “The Game” stood in his way, poised with his sledgehammer! Another mental power struggle ensued, as Triple H seemed to be weighing his allegiances… before bringing the hammer down on the back of Jericho! This one was academic at that point, as Austin made a weak cover and retained the championship.</p><p> </p><p> After the bout, Mr. McMahon took to a microphone and congratulated “Stone Cold” on another successful title defense. He then announced that next month, we would see a radical new match type created by, for, and in house of the World Wrestling Federation, himself specifically. He said that this would combine the wonder of a Hell in the Cell, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble match, as two would start the match as four men would be locked in specially made and reinforced chambers around the ring and would enter every five minutes. This would continue until five men were eliminated – hence the name, the Elimination Chamber! He then began to announce competitors for in the match: the champion, obviously, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. “Your Olympic Hero” Kurt Angle; some guys who could use getting their faces rubbed into some steel, “Y2J” Chris Jericho and “Rabid Wolverine” Chris Benoit; The Big Show, who, apparently whether Vince liked it or not, earned himself a shot earlier; but before Vince can name the last person he had in mind (which was starting to begin with a W) Shane speaks up and announces the final person as Triple H! Shane says that Vince wasn’t going to name Triple H because he only wants people in the match that he thinks can either be taken out or would play ball, and it seems that “The Game” was neither of those things! Triple H re-enters the ring and starts accosting the Chairman of the WWF, asking him if he doesn’t think he deserves the match, or if he’s afraid he would defeat the golden goose? The rest of the Power Trip come to the ring to try and cool the situation, but when Mr. McMahon tells Helmsley that he needs to watch his damn tone or else be reminded of what family he’s married into, “The Cerebral Assassin” snaps! He grabs Vince by the shirt, and when the others try to grab him, he tears into everyone! The fans go crazy as Triple H starts nailing sledgehammer shots to everyone, leaving only he and Austin – and they go at it! After Austin misses a shot with the championship, Triple H hits him with the Pedigree! As the show goes off the air, Jim Ross loudly proclaims “Dear God, it’s time to play The Game!”</p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Rating: A</em><hr></details></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><img alt="39JOWqL.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/39JOWqL.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> The next World Wrestling Federation PPV Extravaganza will be WWF SummerSlam 2001!</p><p> Held on August 19th, 2001 at The Compaq Center in San Jose, California!</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Announced So Far</span></p><p> WWF Championship – Elimination Chamber: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin © vs. “The Game” Triple H vs. “Y2J” Chris Jericho vs. “Olympic Hero” Kurt Angle vs. “Rabid Wolverine” Chris Benoit vs. The Big Show</p><p> Trish Stratus vs. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley</p><p> </p><p> --------------------</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">From the desk of Eric Bischoff:</span></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Saturday morning, July 21</span><p> </p><p> Out of almost desperation, I try Scott Hall’s number again. Yet again, I start to get an answering machine.</p><p> </p><p> Only this time, the message is different.</p><p> </p><p> “Hey yo, you’ve reached Scott. I can’t come to the phone right now. If you’re a promoter, then I’m only clearing off my last few dates before heading to New York. So don’t bother leaving a message.”</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Monday morning, July 23</span><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> PWTorch.com</span></p><p> </p><p> “After a very good pay-per-view outing from the WWF, which is probably the best Fully Loaded we’ve ever seen, reports started coming in that Kevin Nash was seen backstage visiting with people. Rumors say that he was overheard telling Triple H that he sold Eric on a hurt knee, but that he can’t wait to get out of there and come make some real money.”</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> “You’ve gotta be kidding me. You’re ****ing kidding me.</p><p> </p><p> Okay, let’s take a step back. This is all going too far.</p><p> </p><p> The WWF have been somehow providing fans with ideas just one week or so before we premiere them. Nothing major; just things like six or eight man tag matches, a big time face turning heel to join with the owner at a big show, people I wanted to try and hire being snapped away to sit in development hell, and a romance storyline that should draw in some female crowd. Hey, those are all things that <em>could</em> simply be coincidental. Wrestling is wrestling, after all, and people can have similar ideas, right? Vince and I are both geniuses at heart, maybe we’ve somehow just been on the same wavelength since the start of the year.</p><p> </p><p> But apparently, that’s not so simple.</p><p> </p><p> Now, I’m being openly mocked.</p><p> </p><p> You cannot even begin to tell me that the WWF just ‘happened’ to know that I had Scott in my sights and so close to being brought in. You cannot even begin to tell me that they just ‘happened’ to know that Kevin’s deal, the short term one that he asked me to make sure I tried to sign Scott, was almost over. </p><p> </p><p> And the biggest one, you cannot even begin to tell me that they just ‘happened’ to invent the same exact match that I did and unveiled it one night before I did.</p><p> </p><p> All this year so far, I’ve felt like I was behind the eight ball when it comes to tracking the moves that Vince was making. But it looks as though there was a bigger reason for why it was that way.</p><p> </p><p> Because it looks as though World Championship Wrestling has a traitor in it’s midst.”</p></div></div></blockquote>

Hey, even if it did take crackerjack to get you in action again, I'll take it! I hope you can stick around until Starrcade like you planned to!

<p>WCW Friday Nitro: 7/20/2001</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><iframe width="220" height="124" src="</p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HT89yLl-cOA?rel=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/HT89yLl-cOA?rel=0"</a> frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p> <img alt="RmYgPt1.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/RmYgPt1.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>WCW Friday Nitro</strong></p><p> <em><span style="font-size:8px;">Shown Live on July 20, 2001 (Week 3)</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> Held at: The Hard Rock Cafe Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (South West)</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> Announcers: Mike Tenay, Scott Hudson, and Arn Anderson</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> Attendance: 2,000 people (sold out!)</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> PPV Rating: 0.02</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:8px;"> TV Rating: 2.46</span></em></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> After some still shots with sound clips from last Sunday’s Bash at the Beach: Lust for the Gold, commentary welcome us to Friday Nitro with “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair’s theme beginning to play over the Hard Rock Cafe. Flair struts his way down to the ring, a big smile on his face as he enters the ring and gives the crowd a loud <em>“Wooooooo!”</em> Flair says that last Sunday, he made it clear that no matter how great the competition, “The Nature Boy” always finds a way to come out on top of them all! He welcomes Eric Bischoff to come to the ring and tell him when he will be receiving his World’s Heavyweight title match, because seventeen is about to be his lucky number! But before Flair can continue, thunder crackles over the arena…</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-eD68J7kK0Y?rel=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/-eD68J7kK0Y?rel=0"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><p></p><p></p><p> … and the sound of Metallica brings out Sting! He gets the microphone from Ric and tells him that with all due respect to “Naitch” and what he did last Sunday, let’s go back one more month to the Great American Bash and it was Sting winning a four way match to win what was to be the number one contendership – and so despite what Eric said about the Iron Man match, that still puts him as first in line for the title shot! “The Stinger” says that he is ready to cash in that shot on August 12th at WCW Wrath or any other time until then, and then he and Flair can add one more time to the round and round they’ve gone through over the years!</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong></p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_dv4RFHa3Q?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_dv4RFHa3Q?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> Before Flair can respond, “The Prodigal Son” comes to the ring. He tells them both that “with all due respect” he would have had just as many wins in the Iron Man match as Flair did if it wasn’t for the referee taking them away from him. Rhodes says that he would be happy to admit his mistake and just let it go and put his nose back to the grindstone, but Nick Patrick cost him two falls after not doing that earlier in the match to Scott Steiner! There was no rule in place that the official could do that, so by his reckoning, that should mean that he is just as in line as Flair is for a championship match!</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong></p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y9AHejQQjSE?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/y9AHejQQjSE?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> Animal comes out to the top of the aisle and says that all the men in the ring right now were losers at Bash at the Beach, so why are they out here bitching about getting a shot? Instead, as someone who was on the winning team and someone who has been overlooked constantly all this year unlike most of them, he should be getting a title shot before any of them, and he’ll come down there and beat all of them down to get it! But before any of those fireworks get set off…</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><strong>“Don’t hate the playa; hate ‘da game!”</strong></strong></p><p><strong> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z4ckmZjzboY?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z4ckmZjzboY?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> Someone else who has a claim to a title match comes out, Booker T! He brushes past Animal, further angering the former Road Warrior, to enter the ring. He gets the microphone from Sting and says that while he’s very proud to win the United States title last Sunday, he knows damn well that the place he belongs is fighting for the World title. Booker says that not only has he not received a rematch from the bout he had with Steiner at SuperBrawl, but now that he is the US champion that automatically renders him as the number one contender to the World title, and he wants to cash in that opportunity! Everyone begins to argue their positions, when the sirens start blaring… </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong></p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uZITiFfFlPM?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/uZITiFfFlPM?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> The Steiner Brothers come to the stage, and Scott leans to Rick </strong><strong><em>“Wouldja just look at this, Rick? See Rick and I went to a movie theater the other night, and we saw this new Jurassic Park 3 movie. And after seeing it, we know two things. Nummer one, is that ain’t no prehistorical lizard who can stand up in the face of ‘Freakzilla.’ And nummer two, each one of you in the ring right now, if you try to stand up to ‘Freakzilla’ are gonna go down like that T-Rex did in the movie – like a cryin’, whinin’, little bitch!”</em></strong><strong> “Big Poppa Pump” says that he’s the champion, not any of them, and so he doesn’t care what they want, he doesn’t care what Eric Bischoff says, he will decide when, where, and who he defends the title against – and as far as he says, none of them should get a title shot anytime soon!</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Scott is cut off when Eric Bischoff comes out with his own microphone, telling everyone that for once, he’s almost agreeing with Scott Steiner; he’s getting such a headache from listening to everyone come out here and whine and complain like little girls who want to play with their favorite toys! He says that if they all want to fight, then he will find them all something to do later tonight! But until then, he tells everyone that we have a show to get to, so get the hell out of the ring so that we can get to the action. Because this is WCW, where we start shows with the best wrestling action – not people coming out here to complain about their spot! He says that he has a match he is building that combines War Games with a World War 3 battle royal that will see people get their fair chances, and he will reveal all later tonight.</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> We head over to commentary to discuss things as everyone leaves the ringside area. Our final tally of this big segment where everyone came out and have live microphones saw Sting and Dustin enjoy the freedom of making their own dialogue, Animal was terrible at it and looked dreadful, Booker’s improvising was very poor, and Eric struggled with hitting all his points after Scott, who improvised well, but took longer than his allotted time to get to his point. Flair’s performance was fantastic and Scott came across well, but Eric’s final say was underwhelming. (Rating: A)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>“Primetime” Elix Skipper vs. AJ Styles</strong></strong><strong></summary></strong></p><p><strong> In a very decent X Division matchup, AJ Styles defeats Elix Skipper with the Styles Clash in 7:09. Elix was really off his game here, and Mike Tenay’s knowledge of the intricate high flying maneuvers used during the bout really lifted it. (Rating: C)<hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong></p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/siCWf_CKt1s?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/siCWf_CKt1s?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> The crowd comes alive with cheers as Curt Hennig makes his return to Nitro! He walks to the ring and gets a microphone, saying that he stepped away from WCW for a few months to re-evaluate his career, but now he’s back and ready to do whatever it takes to get to the top of the company. He says that started last Sunday at Bash at the Beach, where he made a big impact by interjecting himself into the US title match. Curt looks to be settling into his gimmick nicely. But before he can continue…</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><strong>“The Chosen One”</strong></strong></p><p><strong> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xzRtcWj4IGc?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/xzRtcWj4IGc?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> “The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett comes to the ring with his own microphone. He tells Hennig that while some of these slapass fans might be pleased and cheer on Curt coming back to WCW, one person who is not happy to see him back in WCW is “The Chosen One” and that’s because Curt decided to make his grand entrance by costing him the United States title. Jarrett tells Hennig that he hopes the moment was worth it, because now that he’s stuck his nose into “The Chosen One’s” business again, he’ll smack that gum out of his mouth with an Acoustic Equalizer and show him just who has the stroke around here if Hennig doesn’t get the hell out of here right now!</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> But as Jarrett looks ready to attack Hennig if his back were to turn, “The Cat” Ernest Miller appears! Miller says that he would like to welcome Hennig back to WCW by giving him a match at WCW Wrath: against Jeff Jarrett! Jarrett tells Miller that he can’t do that, but “The Cat” says that he’s still the commissioner and can do whatever the hell he wants, whether Jeff likes it or if he damn well don’t! It looks like we have a big match added to WCW Wrath! (Rating: B-)</strong></p><p><strong> [Fun fact: Apparently Hennig used this theme in Jimmy Hart’s short-lived XWF promotion.]</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> After hearing from the commentators briefly, the ringside area is cleared and “Mean” Gene Okerlund comes to the aisle along with Jeremy Borash. Gene says that those who may have missed out on Bash at the Beach: Lust for the Gold this past Sunday should look into ordering a replay of the show as a lot of huge changes were made to the status quo here in WCW. Borash agrees, saying that their guest at this time made a huge change himself, before bringing out Hugh Morrus. Morrus comes out with a scowl on his face, and he gets into Jeremy’s face, telling him that people have been asking him why he did what he did. He says that what Borash just said is one of the reasons why. He explains that back at Envy, he threw the Misfits in Action under the bus – claiming that he purposely lost the match that finally got him out from under “Russo’s gimmick.” But then, he was never given a chance to be himself because everyone immediately assumed that he was going back under “Bischoff’s gimmick” when in reality he wanted neither of those! He says that he isn’t Hugh Morrus, because there’s nothing funny about him. And he isn’t some hard on, even though everyone is soon gonna find out just how big of a dick he can be. He says that he doesn’t care who gets in his way, whether it be guys like Kronik who think they’re big and bad, little guys like Lash Leroux who aren’t worth the dirt on his boots, legends like Sting, or the champions like Booker T and Scott Steiner; he’s Big Bill, and he’s not a joke anymore. Bill is looking like he’s really easing into his Bully gimmick. Jeremy’s reactions seemed to underperform, and Gene looked lost, not having much to do here. (Rating: B-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> We head up to the skybox of the Hard Rock Cafe where we should find Jimmy Snuka Jr., but instead it looks as though The Problem Solvers are still inhabiting it. I don’t know how that works out either since they took it over at a different arena, but it’s wrestling logic. Simon announces that for once, Simon doesn’t have a problem, as this is the good life that they should have been given as soon as they set foot in WCW. A commotion is heard outside the door and in bursts Snuka Jr., and he looks ready to take back his spoils! However it’s three on one, and he gets thrown back out of the room after the Solvers take him out swiftly. (Rating: C-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>Chuck Palumbo vs. Kaz Hayashi</strong></strong><strong></summary> </strong></p><p><strong> Palumbo looks to get back into the swing of things after the loss he suffered to Vampiro last Sunday by taking on Hayashi. Stacy Kiebler does some good work keeping the crowd invested as Kaz does what he can to try and put down the much larger Thriller. However, that size advantage keeps Palumbo ahead during the bout, and he cleans up Hayashi with the Jungle Kick in 5:07. Palumbo seems to be improving his performance skills, and the two calmed the crowd as planned. (Rating: C)<hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> “Mean” Gene and Jeremy are back out in the aisle, this time introducing someone else who seemed to make a change last Sunday, Madusa. She comes to their side and says that she has decided to make a change. She explains how back in January, she joined forced with Totally Buff because they looked primed to retire Goldberg and become a huge deal, and that would increase her stock as a manager exponentially. However, not only did they lose every time they took on Goldberg, now the two couldn’t even take the Tag titles from two wet-behind-the-ears rookie kids! She says that Madusa doesn’t deal with losers, she only deals with winners, and so she is on the lookout for clients who can benefit from her and will benefit her; not albatrosses to carry around. She leaves, with Gene saying that Madusa is a dangerous woman, and it looks as though she is open for business. Jeremy gives Okerlund a look like he doesn’t know if Gene realizes how what he said could be taken, but lets it go. (Rating: C-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> “The Franchise” Shane Douglas comes out to the ring with a microphone, telling them to cut his damn music so he can be heard. He tells everyone that last Sunday, he dealt with a punk kid, picking up an easy win that should catapult him out of where he has been miring the past few months. Shane is struggling off-script tonight, but he holds it together well enough to say that he once brought honor and prestige to a company and a title that stood for hardcore, a nothing concept that only meant something when he had something to do about it. And now, he’s going to turn that attention toward the United States championship when he takes it away from Booker T! Booker comes to the stage and says that when he was the World champion, he didn’t back down from any challengers, and now that he has the US title, he intends on doing things the same way. If Douglas wants a shot, </strong><strong><em>“you’d better check yo’self, ‘fore you wreck yo’self”</em></strong><strong> but when it’s all said and done just remember one thing; don’t hate the playa, just hate the game! (Rating: B)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> “Mean” Gene is in the interview area with Jeremy bringing up his rear as Eric Bischoff is standing next to them. Bischoff says that he has dealt with the headache he had earlier by putting people into some matches. He says that since apparently the match that was supposed to solve the WCW World Heavyweight title rankings seems to have solved nothing, everyone just wants to fight one another, then they can have an eight man tag team match tonight; Ric and Sting can find two partners and the Steiner Brothers can find two partners and they can go at it. But those partners cannot be Booker T or Animal, as those two will go at it next week on Nitro as Booker has his first United States title defense. With that, Eric leaves… but even Gene asks what that leaves for Dustin Rhodes? (Rating: B-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> After that announcement is made, it looks as though the word was heard and taken to heart quickly as we see Totally Buff looking for Scott Steiner. They find “Big Poppa Pump” and volunteer to be his partners tonight. Bagwell says that he shouldn’t listen to Madusa, they aren’t losers and just need a break to get back on top. Steiner shrugs and says fine, just don’t get in the way, turning and heading back into his dressing room. (Rating: B-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>“The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett vs. “Screamin’” Norman Smiley</strong></strong><strong></summary> </strong></p><p><strong> In a quick match that was meant to calm the crowd, Jeff Jarrett weathered Norman Smiley’s brief offense to defeat him with The Stroke in 2:44. Norman seems to have improved his performance skills. (Rating: C-)<hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong></p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/242aiSKmG1Q?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/242aiSKmG1Q?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> We head to The WCW Worldwide Panel where Tony Schiavone, Gene Okerlund, Jeremy Borash, Chris Lovey, and Stevie Ray discuss Nitro thus far. They talk about how it sounds like Eric Bischoff has some pretty big plans in store for Wrath, but tonight we have some big eight man tag team action to look forward to. (Rating: C+)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>Kid Kash vs. Lance Storm</strong></strong><strong></summary> </strong></p><p><strong> Kid Kash seemed off his game tonight but this match got the crowd buzzing. The two former ECW alumni went out of their way to steal the show here, but in the end Storm dodges a plancha and capitalizes with the Canadian Maple Leaf to score the victory at 8:38. (Rating: B-)<hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> “Mean” Gene is standing by with Jeremy at his side as they bring in Rey Mysterio Jr. to the backstage interview area. “Rey-Rey” says that he hopes that Vampiro was paying attention when he beat on Kanyon so much last Sunday that he abandoned the match against him, and he should be watching tonight when he does it all over again. (Rating: C-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> We get a look elsewhere backstage where Chuck Palumbo and Stacy Kiebler are seated on a couch together as Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire are talking with them about Chuck’s win earlier. Jindrak looks like he’s learning to show some more charisma. A knock comes to their door and when Jindrak opens it, all of them are shocked to see Sting standing there! “The Stinger” enters the room and tells them that he trusts they have been watching the show, so they should know why he’s here. He tells them that the three of them are some of the hottest rising stars in WCW, and last Sunday they cemented that by defeating Buffy and </strong><strong><em>“my old buddy”</em></strong><strong> Lex in the center of the ring. Sting says that it looks like Totally Buff are trying to stand back up after the loss, so he’s here to try and get O’Haire and Jindrak on his team tonight to knock them right back down. Chuck says that he’s had his match, so go get your own, guys. The WCW World Tag Team champions look at one another, with Sean stepping forward and telling Sting that they are the dominant tag team in WCW right now and they’ll be happy to show it again. Palumbo underperformed but this was a very good segment given the Thrillers were all given speaking lines instead of just standing back and looking mean. (Rating: B)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong></p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M9udAirjw3U?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/M9udAirjw3U?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></div><p></p><p></p><p><strong> The crowd come alive with chants of “GOLD-BERG, GOLD-BERG” as the camera follows Goldberg from his dressing room until he enters the ring for his match tonight. Will he score win #113 right here tonight? (Rating: B)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>“Da Man” Goldberg vs. Air Paris</strong></strong><strong></summary> Match took 2:01 for Goldberg to send Paris back to Wildside with a loss under his belt. They set out to calm the crowd and did so, but there was a definite lack of psychology in that two minutes. Goldberg’s performance stood out as being good. (Rating: C-)<hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Goldberg gets a microphone afterwards (he might as well talk since he broke more of a sweat during his entrance than during the match) and says that he doesn’t know or care what’s happening with Kevin Nash because Nash has shown that while he can talk big, he’s afraid of stepping in the ring with Goldberg again. He tells Nash that any time he wants to come and put on his big boy pants and fight, Goldberg will be here; but until then, who’s next?! (Rating: B-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Kanyon</strong></strong><strong></summary> This match was just as good as their bout last Sunday, but this time Kanyon seemed more prepared for what was coming at him. As they got the crowd buzzing, Mysterio seemed to have things all done and finished and was ready to springboard onto Kanyon with one final maneuver when the lights went out… </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jxlGtcW1Qg8?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/jxlGtcW1Qg8?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> The lights are cut as the music blares over the arena. The lights come back on to see Mysterio down on the mat, a victim of a blood bath! Kanyon lifts Rey and drills him to the mat with a Flatliner before making the cover and scoring a win in 5:48. (Rating: C+) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Mike Tenay says that this is just like Dark Eden, for Vampiro to play mind games like this without appearing. But no sooner has he said that, the lights flicker out again, and when they come back on Vampiro is in the ring! He kneels down at Rey’s head and says that he was indeed watching last Sunday, and tonight as well… and he has seen little growth in Rey over the past few months. He says that he’s disappointed; so it appears that he must stop letting his followers take Mysterio on and will deal with this himself at Wrath! Vampiro says that Rey will be given his redemption arc yet; by Vampiro’s own hand. It looks like another match has been added for Wrath! With that, the lights go out again, and when they come back on, all members of the Dark Eden have left the ring – and Mysterio starts waking up and kicks the ropes in frustration at his loss tonight. (Rating: B-) <hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Eric Bischoff comes on screen for the third time tonight, and he says that he has a brand new match type in mind for WCW Wrath. He says that despite what some </strong><strong><em>other</em></strong><strong> wrestling promotions may try to make you think, this is an Eric Bischoff original. He says that the Wrath match will feature six men locked inside Caged Heat. However it will start with only two men in the ring, and every five minutes, one will be let into the cage. In a Wrath match, it will be one fall to a finish once everyone has entered the ring, meaning those who start the match are at a huge disadvantage. And the man who wins that match will go on to face the World Heavyweight champion – after only a short break! So that should get everyone out in the open and clear each of the claims to the number one contendership, as in order to win the title, a challenger will have to go through six other men in order to stand tall at the end of Wrath!</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Before Eric can continue, “The Prodigal Son” Dustin Rhodes comes to the ring. Dustin says that he hopes Eric won’t keep everyone in stitches about who is going to be in the match; because if someone needs to take on six men in one night, they need to know as soon as possible. Bischoff says that he will not be waiting long to reveal the list, but one thing he can definitely let everyone know is that Dustin will </strong><strong><em>not</em></strong><strong> be one of them! Rhodes says that he had better either explain himself or take back what he just said. Bischoff tells him that while he would love to say it’s nothing personal, the reason is because out of the six men who competed in the Iron Man match last Sunday, Dustin was a complete idiot! </strong><strong><em>“You know damn well that your big low blow kick is a disqualification, and you blatantly tried to break the rules in order to come out on top. And earlier, when you were trying to rationalize your actions, instead of taking responsibility for it, you blamed Nick Patrick for screwing you?”</em></strong><strong> Eric tells Dustin that he needs to grow the hell up, and show that he is worth giving a title match to, or else Eric is gonna have him spinning his wheels for as long as it takes for him to leave! It looks like Dustin has a lot to think about, and he puts his hands on his hips to think about it.</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> But then he punches Eric! He starts beating on the owner of World Championship Wrestling, slamming him back into the turnbuckle and kicking him in the stomach until Eric is limply hanging onto the ropes. Dustin then puts Eric’s legs up over the ropes and backs off… before charging in and hitting the Dust Buster! Eric drops to the mat as Doug Dilinger and the WCW Security Teamfinally reach the ring and start getting Dustin to leave. With the adrenaline starting to come down, it looks like now he’s starting to realize what he just did… but it’s too late for regrets as the damage has already been done. Commentary wonder what could happen from here, as “The Prodigal Son” leaves the ring and heads backstage. This segment got the crowd a lot hotter. (Rating: B) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><em>[Writer’s Note: I looked up a clip and yeah, Dustin actually called the Shattered Dreams low blow kick that in 2001 WCW.]</em></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> From that scene, we go backstage to see that Sting is gearing up, putting on his Mechanix gloves and grabbing his black baseball bat as he heads out of the dressing room. Our main event is up next! (Rating: B-)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>The Steiner Brothers and Totally Buff vs. “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, Sting, Mark Jindrak, and Sean O’Haire</strong></strong><strong></summary> </strong></p><p><strong> Arn Anderson talks about how this sort of big time match can only be found on Friday Nitro, which is why people pay for their show while “the other guys” put their talking segments on for free. He comes off pretty weak during this match (I swear that by the numbers, he has gotten a little better over the months) but the match survives this well as everyone does a great job here. Jindrak’s inexperience is taken advantage of as he gets held in the heel corner through this bout, but he finally gets the hot tag to Sting to bring him in and clear house. As the match breaks down into chaos, a miscommunication sees Midajah climbing onto the ring apron just as Bagwell is about to jump off the ropes to hit a Blockbuster, but the commotion causes him to crotch himself on the top turnbuckle! As Scott and Rick take time out of the match to yell at Midajah, Sting drags a hurt Buff to the center of the ring and hits the Scorpion Death Drop to score a hard earned victory in 17:34 to end this episode of Nitro with the good guys coming out on top! (Rating: B) <hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43111" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><hr><details><summary></strong><strong><strong>The Worldwide Live Post Show</strong></strong><strong></summary> </strong></p><p><strong> <iframe width="220" height="180" src="</strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/242aiSKmG1Q?rel=0" rel="external nofollow"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/embed/242aiSKmG1Q?rel=0"</strong></a><strong> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Tony Schiavone welcomes everyone to The Worldwide Live Post Show, where the Worldwide Panel talk about the goings-on in World Championship Wrestling! They immediately go into what a match we just saw in our main event, saying that you can’t get action like that on free TV! (Rating: C+)</strong></p><p><strong> The Worldwide Panel then change directions to talking about Dustin Rhodes attacking Eric Bischoff. Despite most of them agreeing that most anyone has wanted to do that to Bischoff at one time or another, “The Prodigal Son” really didn’t have the right to do that to the owner, and word has it that someone special will be on hand to make him answer for it next week! (Rating: C-) </strong></p><p><strong> The Worldwide Panel then start talking about Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell. It’s very clear that Madusa has abandoned them, and they are looking for any way they can to get back on the winning side of life, but this loss in the eight man tag wasn’t what they were after. Stevie Ray drops pearls of wisdom: </strong><strong><em>“Sometimes ya gotta see when a team ain’t workin’ for ya no mo’, and decide if you gonna work it out or punch it out.”</em></strong><strong> They wonder how many more setbacks it will take for these two overinflated egos to make it to that point. (Rating: C-)</strong></p><p><strong> The Panel close the evening by informing everyone that next week on Friday Nitro, the United States and X-Division titles will both be defended, and that we will find out more about the Wrath match coming up at WCW Wrath! For tonight, have a good weekend, fans, and we will see you on Friday! (Rating: C-) <hr></details></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><strong>Show Rating: B</strong></strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><em>This show has improved our popularity in 29 regions.</em></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><img alt="qJk5JLG.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/qJk5JLG.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p>

The sad thing is that I only figured out who the "attackers" were during this show <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

<p>Really good job with Badd Blood, man! Pillman is really looking like a big time contender after that, and I wonder if and when the trigger will get pulled on him. Perhaps instead of the Austin Era starting at this WrestleMania, we will see the Loose Cannon Era instead? Hmmm... Not surprised at Ahmed hurting himself too, that guy really did have some of the worst luck in the business when it came to staying healthy. And oh yeah don't think I won't mention my boy Hall! Huge win for him that hopefully lets him get some shine in the Wolfpac. Finally, I have to give a big shout out to the Raven and Roberts match. Though with Raven being involved, and since the priest has actually come into play, I'm waiting on him to have been played by Stevie Richards all along and he's gonna turn on Jake at the Survivor Series. Hopefully I haven't given something away that you'd planned for, but if not, feel free to use that one!</p><p> </p><p> Until you get back, have fun on vacation with the to4sts!</p><p> </p><p> Scott Steiner</p><p> British Bulldog - <em>Davey Boy has been fairly absent lately, this could be a nice win to put some spotlight back on him.</em></p><p> Rich Steiner</p><p> New Age Outlaws - <em>The Cinderella Story ends just as abruptly as it began.</em></p><p> Jake Roberts</p><p> Ken Shamrock</p><p> </p><p> JPL</p><p> Hennig and Hardy</p><p> Road Warriors</p><p> Goldberg</p><p> SST</p><p> Lance Storm</p><p> Kevin Sullivan</p>

<p>Booker T - <em>I have loved Sting's run, but I feel like maybe you would be ready for a change. I don't see Jarrett or Steiner picking up the belt, so Booker can get a turn.</em></p><p> DDP - <em>Page has been doing quite well for himself after the heel turn, he keeps doing so here.</em></p><p> Kevin Nash - <em>Whether Sting or Booker walk away with the title, Nash winning here gives them a great first challenger to overcome.</em></p><p> O'Haire and Palumbo - <em>Future wins.</em></p><p> Lance Storm - <em>Love me some Dustin, but with Eric in his corner, Storm is going straight to the top.</em></p><p> Chavo Guerrero - <em>Juvi shows up again and costs Kidman the match.</em></p><p> Kanyon and Awesome - <em>I'm sticking with them as the ones who will stop the NBT.</em></p><p> Konnan - <em>Mike's strength isn't in his great wrestling acumen, he drops the match likely by DQ when Stasiak and Jindrak attack.</em></p><p> </p><p> MOTN: Nash vs. Flair</p><p> WOTN: Hardcore match</p><p> LOTN: World title</p><p> Titles: 0</p><p> Loser: Jarrett</p>

<p>Jarrett and Steiner - <em>Can't really see anyone beating Steiner if they aren't already a big time main eventer right now.</em></p><p> Rey Mysterio</p><p> Animal</p><p> DDP - <em>Booker just had a shot, so let's give Page his match.</em></p><p> </p><p> Attackers: Terry Funk, RVD, Sabu, Sandman, and Tommy Dreamer</p><p> I'm in line with Crossface in thinking that we are going to have a big "Extreme invasion" go on, and having them be the ones who were attacking the M7 would be a big way to debut them onto the big screen.</p>

<p>Sting - <em>Losing this will make Arn rethink the Alliance.</em></p><p> Steve Austin</p><p> Randy Savage - <em>Big win here should put Savage back up into contention for Rude.</em></p><p> Bret Hart</p><p> Owen Hart</p><p> Wendi and Misty</p><p> Diamond Mine - <em>They may as well keep these titles until other titles are made ready for them to wear.</em></p>

<p>Jarrett/Steiner/Nash</p><p> O'Haire and Palumbo</p><p> Rey and Konnan</p><p> Rick Steiner</p><p> Bam Bam</p><p> Shannon Moore</p>

<p>Looks like a heck of a card, excited to see how it plays out!</p><p> </p><p> Chavo Guerrero</p><p> NBT</p><p> DDP</p><p> ???</p><p> Sting</p><p> Kanyon</p><p> Team Duthty</p><p> Scott Steiner</p>