DHK1989 Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 Scott Steiner Harlem Heat Jacques Rougeau Diamond Dallas Page Big Bubba Rogers Sting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smw88 Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 Scott Steiner (c) Tag Team Titles: Harlem Heat (c) Brad Armstrong Diamond Dallas Page Big Bubba Rogers Sting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Byron Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 My picks: Scott Steiner (c), Harlem Heat (c), Jacques Rougeau, Diamond Dallas Page, Big Bubba Rogers, and Sting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 Week 3, August 1996 LIVE from Freedom Hall - Louisville, KY Attendance: 17,538 - Nitro kicks off for the 3rd week of August but instead of the usual fireworks and intro by the announce booth, Lex Luger and Sting are backstage, looking intense, and ready to cut a promo! - Sting: Lex, it feels SO good to be on Monday Nitro tonight, and despite all of the heartbreak, all of the emotions, all the betrayal, I've never been able to see so clearly! Hulk Hogan! What you did at Bash at the Beach will come back to bite ya! It may not come back to bite you tonight, or next week, or right now, but it will come back to bite you when you least expect it! You can do whatever to me, the Total Package, and the Macho Man, but you went out there and told all those fans, all those little kids, all those HULKAMANIACS, to "stick it?!?!?" No....YOU stick it, Hulk! YOU STICK IT! But onto tonight.....Lex, you've had the 4 Horsemen after you for what feels like forever...Well here in just a few minutes, I'm gonna take on Brian Pillman. That might not be the same as taking on Steve Austin, but maybe, just maybe I can have a little luck in shutting them up! The Horsemen can't seem to understand that there are some things going on that are bigger than the Horsemen! Luger: Ya know, Stinger, the things you and I have had to deal with in the last few months is bordering on the level of ridiculous! I came back in to WCW to be able to travel again with my best friend! I came back to reestablish a name for myself and compete for the greatest wrestling organization on the planet! I came back to have fun, win some titles, and prove that without a doubt, the Total Package Lex Luger is one of the greats! Well instead of most of those things happening, I've been thrust in a never-ending feud with the 4 Horsemen all while trying to defend WCW at the same time....Now call me crazy, but I hadn't been in WCW for a couple of years, but here I am immediately defending the honor of WCW right alongside you! You'd think that guys like Ric Flair and some others, names that are synonymous with WCW, would be quick to step up to the plate and defend it from the Outsiders! But no! They're all too worried about taking care of themselves. You know what?? I'd have it no other way, because I get to stand beside my best friend and defend WCW our way, and I've even gained another friend in the Macho Man! After what happened at Bash at the Beach, Steve Austin is going to severely regret barking up the wrong tree and wanting a match with me at Road Wild! Austin! I can promise you that it's not going to be a cake walk for you and at the end of the night, you're gonna be looking up at the lights and giving up to the Torture Rack! Rating: 72 Sting vs Brian Pillman vs The wrestlers make their entrances for this opening match of Monday Nitro this week while Tony Schiavone gives us the introduction to the show. During Sting's entrance, Tony tells us that we have a busy night planned and that Sting and Lex Luger appear to be ultra-focused on the New World Order while everything else seems to have taken a backseat. This non-title match starts off with Pillman attempting to taunt Sting, only he again seems in no mood tonight for messing around. The match resulted in Sting showing a more aggressive nature than is typical for him. What resulted was the United States champion spending a large portion of the match taking a beating. Pillman eventually had enough and exited to the floor where he grabbed his US title and made his way toward the back. The referee counted him out at 12:01. Winner by Countout: Sting Rating: 81 - Dean Malenko is backstage, ready to cut a promo. Malenko is standing all by himself with a dark backdrop. A sinister smile on his face and a brief laugh begins his promo. - Malenko: It seems that Diamond Dallas Page has gotten all worked up over nothing....See, just a couple weeks ago, I happened to have........Contact......With the Diamond Doll. Well Page, jealousy is just like all your stupid outfits, it doesn't look good on you! Maybe I touched a nerve and you're afraid I'm going to take the Diamond Doll away from you? Well I can assure you Page, that isn't happening. That isn't happening not because the Diamond Doll doesn't want me. Trust me, she does. She was begging for me to pick her up and carry her out of your dressing room....No, I'm not going to take her, because I already have my own valet, and it's someone so much better than yours....... - Dean looks off camera and someone new appears at the side of Dean Malenko. She gives a smile and a quick kiss on his cheek which causes Malenko to give a devilish smile to the camera. The woman begins to speak in her New York accent. - Francine: That's right, Dean! Who could ever possibly think the Diamond Doll would be better than me at anything! She's nothing more than a two-bit bimbo who can barely skate by on her looks. Me? I'm all woman, all the time, and I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. The Diamond Doll better think twice before ever getting involved, because I'll slap all 4 layers of makeup off her face and then I'll claw the eyes off that moron Diamond Dallas Page. There's a new bitch in town, Diamond Doll, and you're looking at her! Rating: 49 Big Bubba Rogers vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs Poor Chavo. He tried as best he could to use his quickness, but he was floored at every turn by the much larger Bubba. He mercifully put the match away at 7:08 after hitting the Bubba Slam. Winner: Big Bubba Rogers Rating: 58 - After a commercial break, Nitro returns to the backstage area where the Macho Man is going to cut a promo. Savage delivers a much needed shot in the arm of energy after the last two segments didn't exactly blow minds. Savage says that he's far from finished with Hulk Hogan, who's more concerned about spending time in Hollywood than he is a wrestling ring. Savage says he will get his hands on Hogan, it's not a question of if, but WHEN! - Rating: 93 Fit Finlay vs Diamond Dallas Page vs DDP left the Diamond Doll in the back and didn't bring her down to ringside, probably deciding after seeing the promo with Dean Malenko and his new manager Francine. While not a long match, this was a pretty close, good match as both Finlay and DDP matched well with each other. DDP secured the win at 8:47 after hitting the Diamond Cutter. Winner: DDP Rating: 72 - After a break, Nitro returns to its seeming night of lackluster segments. Larry Zbyszko is standing by with Mike Barton. God bless Mike Barton, as he tries, but he just doesn't seem to be charismatic enough to get the fans to care. He says that in his battle with Scott Norton, they've taken each other through hell and back in their attempts to self-crown the toughest wrestler in WCW. Barton thinks that the only way to settle it once and for all is by a Falls Count Anywhere match at Road Wild. He says he knows that being the tough guy Norton is, he won't turn down that challenge in 1,000 years. - Rating: 62 Brad Armstrong vs Jacques Rougeau vs In this match, most people would expect the skilled veteran Jacques Rougeau to easily handle the "lesser" viewed wrestler Brad Armstrong. It's no secret that the youngest Armstrong has somewhat of a cult following in WCW as he's been a mainstay in the promotion for years. People would be even more shocked that Armstrong actually performed better than Rougeau in this match. They were then more shocked again when Armstrong won the match over the skilled Canadian at 8:29 after hitting his Russian Legsweep! Winner: Brad Armstrong Rating: 54 - As the night progressed, some may have started to get nervous that Mean Gene wouldn't have his usual duties tonight on Nitro. Not to worry, as Mean Gene was standing by in the backstage interview position following another commercial break. Gene welcomed everyone back and claimed Nitro was now in the "shank of the evening" as he welcomed his next guests.. - - Harlem Heat step in with their manager Sensuous Sherri. Gene says that they've recently become targets of the NWO as the Outsiders have made it clear they want the tag team titles. Booker T handles most of the interview when he says that Harlem Heat have become the best tag team in WCW through hard work and not backing down from a fight. He says things won't be any different now that Hall and Nash are coming after them. Booker says if the Outsiders want a fight and want to come after their titles, the Road Wild is gonna be a fight and they'll have to pry the titles out of their hands. Stevie Ray finishes up the interview by saying that the Outsiders are real good when they're attacking people from behind, but we'll all see how good they are when they have to face two boys from the streets of Harlem face to face. - Rating: 77 Tag Team Titles: Blue Bloods (Eaton & Taylor) vs Harlem Heat (c) vs Booker T and Stevie Ray had pretty good performances in this match and they made it a point to make quick work of the Blue Bloods. As skilled and talented as the Earl and Squire are, they were no match for Harlem Heat, who were out to prove a point in this match. Booker got the crowd on their feet as he climbed the corner and hit the Harlem Hangover on Earl Eaton to win the match at 7:49. Winners: Harlem Heat Rating: 65 - Mean Gene's work continues tonight as following the match, he's backstage with Lord Steven Regal. Gene says that Regal's got a spot in the Television title match at Road Wild, however, his opponent might not be against the current champion Scott Steiner and he could instead be facing Steve Austin for the title, should Austin come out victorious in his match tonight. Regal says that it's no concern of his who he faces at Road Wild because he's going to take back the title that rightfully belongs to him. He also says that we'll see about him facing Austin instead of Steiner. Regal says he's allowed Steiner to hold the title this long because he simply wants him to be overconfident heading into Road Wild. Nitro fades out to take the final commercial break of the night. - Rating: 80 - Nitro returns from commercial to a backstage promo by the NWO. The camera is dark and the color is black and white and Hogan begins speaking after a few taunts by all. - Hogan: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the greatest professional wrestler to walk the Earth in the history of wrestling?!?! Hall: Why, you are, Hollywood! Hogan: That's right! There's no more of that Hulkster crap, brother! From now on, I'm gonna go by what I really am on top of being the greatest professional wrestler on the planet, I'm also the biggest movie star that Hollywood has today! From this point forward, brother, I'm Hollywood Hulk Hogan, because not only did I make professional wrestling what it is today, I've also made Hollywood successful with all of my movies I've made! All of that will be cemented at Road Wild when I take the world title away from that old washed-up loser Ric Flair! And you know what, brother?!?! Nash: What's that, Hollywood? Hogan: Something tells me that the New World Order might have not just three members, dude, but a little birdie tells me that there's a 4th person in the ranks! Hall: Say it ain't so, Hollywood! Another mystery man??? Hogan: Well the New World Order works in mysterious ways, my friend. We've made it clear that the New World Order is taking over and that this 4th member just can't wait to get in the middle of it, dude! But we're not gonna reveal our new member right away! We're gonna give it a little time to let the WCW locker room stew over yet another one of its members abandoning the sinking ship that is WCW! At Road Wild, not only am I going to bring the world title to the NWO, but maybe, just maybe the 4th person will be revealed! Nash: It's for sure riveting television, Hulk. I guess everyone's just going to have to tune in! Rating: 100 Television Title: Steve Austin vs Scott Steiner (c) vs Not only were the crowd hyped for the main event between these two, but there was also the buzz in the air regarding a potential 4th member of the NWO. During the match, the broadcast booth couldn't stop talking about the potential of another betrayal to WCW and how WCW could survive another loss so quickly after Hulk Hogan, now proclaiming to be Hollywood Hogan, had turned his back on everyone. Bobby Heenan thinks this again could all be a ruse by Hogan, Hall, and Nash to create division amongst the WCW backstage. Regardless, Steve Austin and Scott Steiner took the fight to one another and Austin didn't cower to the massive Scott Steiner. A long back and forth battle played about between the two with several near falls by both men. As the match progressed, the crowd began to boo as Lord Steven Regal made his presence known. Regal walked to the ringside area which caught the attention of Scott Steiner, who was in control of the match. The distraction was enough to cause Austin to mount a comeback of his own. As Austin prepared to launch his final attack, he whipped Steiner into the ropes. As Steiner hit the ropes, Regal jumped on the apron and clubbed Steiner from behind with a blow. This was done right in front of the referee, who called for the bell at 16:40, resulting in Scott Steiner retaining the TV title. Austin wasn't too please with this either, who quickly exited the ring and ran after Lord Regal, who hightailed it up the aisle and disappeared in the back. Nitro faded out as Steiner made it back to his feet and had his arm raised by the referee. Winner by DQ: Scott Steiner Rating: 77 Final Show Rating: 84 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 7, 2023 Author Share Posted April 7, 2023 Week 4, August 1996 LIVE from The Pit - Albuquerque, New Mexico Attendance: 17,764 - Monday Nitro kicks off this week with lots of excitement, as usual as WCW heads into their August PPV, Road Wild. Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes welcome everyone to tuning in and much of the intro talk surrounds last week's reveal by the NWO that they supposedly have a 4th person in the ranks. Heenan finds this extremely troubling as he says after Hogan shocked everyone and turned his back, it literally could be anyone out of the locker room to be the 4th member. Dusty Rhodes points out that it doesn't even have to be a person already in the WCW locker room! The NWO is literally capable of pulling anyone out of the hat and he see's this as likely to further devastate WCW to its foundation. The crowd excitement this week isn't wasted, as "The Man Called Sting" begins blaring through the arena speakers and Tony tells us we're starting Nitro off hot with the first match of the night! - Sting vs Meng vs Meng's no stranger to singles competition in WCW, though he's most usually seen teaming with his Faces of Fear partner, The Barbarian. Though this match wasn't very long, word going around backstage is that Meng has really impressed WCW officials with his recent performances, which he had another solid one in this match. Sting was completely on fire for this match as he fed off of the rowdy crowd and had his offense impactful and quick. Sting won the match following a pair of corner Stinger Splashes, a face smash, and then climbed to the top rope to deliver his Stinger Splash. The 3 was counted at 7:43. Winner: Sting Rating: 79 - Dean Malenko is walking backstage with his new manager revealed just last week, Francine. She walks clutching Malenko's arm and both have sick smiles on their faces. They both come to a stop when they see someone backstage and the camera pans to catch who it is... - The Diamond Doll is all by herself and Malenko and Francine see the opportunity. They close in on her before the Diamond Doll even see's them coming and when she finally does, it's too late. Doll cowers into the nearest corner as Francine gets within inches of her face. She begins berating the Doll and threatening her, all the while stating Diamond Dallas Page can't do anything about it. Francine again reiterates that a new bitch has arrived in WCW, and it's her. Malenko begins to close in, looking sadistic and predatory when there's suddenly commotion off camera.... - Diamond Dallas Page rushes in like a ball of fire, causing Francine and Malenko to desperately rush out of the line of fire. They manage to escape before Page can reach them and embraces the Diamond Doll. The villain's rush off while DDP yells out threats at them and claiming Malenko to be a dead man as the camera fades out. - Rating: 60 Mean Gene is starting his work early tonight as he's at the bottom of the ramp and ready to introduce his guest. Gene asks everyone to join him in welcoming the WCW Television Champion - Scott Steiner! "Steinerized" plays through the speakers and the TV champ walks out to a great ovation from the crowd. Gene gets down to business and says that over the last several weeks and PPV's, Lord Steven Regal and the Blue Bloods have been a royal thorn in his side and that he and Regal will once again battle at Road Wild for the TV title. Steiner corrects Gene and says Regal's been a royal pain in his ass, which gets a laugh from Mean Gene and a loud cheer from the crowd. Steiner says Regal's claimed for weeks that he can beat Steiner whenever he wants, he's just been choosing to toy with Steiner. Steiner says if Regal thinks he can take the TV title at any time, then he's going to really enjoy seeing his reaction after Steiner beats him down yet one more time at Road Wild. Steiner says after Road Wild, he's moving on to new challenges and new opponents and finished wasting his time on Steven Regal. Rating: 94 Fit Finlay vs Lex Luger vs Nitro continued to keep fans on their feet for the matches, this time featuring the Total Package. This was another pretty quick match featuring a member of Team WCW, though Luger's opponent wasn't up to the same level that Sting's was earlier. Luger got all of his offense and signature spots in, finishing the match at 7:57 with the Torture Rack. Winner: Lex Luger Rating: 79 Big Bubba Rogers vs Eddie Guerrero vs Bubba and Eddie had a difficult task ahead of them, having to follow the first two matches of the night by two of WCW's biggest names, but they did a pretty good job. In fairness, pretty much all of the success had to do with Eddie's ability in the ring, though Bubba knows how to put on a decent enough match. In what could be seen as a surprise to some, Eddie won the match at 11:08 with a Frog Splash Winner: Eddie Guerrero Rating: 71 - Mean Gene continues his Nitro duties as he's backstage with the Macho Man Randy Savage in the interview area. Mean Gene kick starts the questions which surround the NWO and Hulk Hogan claiming last week that they now reportedly have a 4th member. Gene wants to know what this means going forward, as it could be anyone! The Macho Man, intense as always, says he doesn't care who the 4th man is, or if they even have a 4th man. The Macho Man will continue to be very careful going forward though, and if the coward Hogan is saying they have a 4th man, then they probably do have a 4th man. Savage says a lot of people didn't believe the Outsiders had a 3rd man for Bash at the Beach and the reveal was just like a slap to the face. Regardless, Savage says he doesn't care who it is because that person will also have a target on their back, and the Macho Man's the one with the gun! - Rating: 100 Mike Barton vs John Tenta vs Mike Barton came into this match clearly favoring his injured arm, displayed with a cast. While this clearly limited his performance, it didn't prevent him from going toe to toe against the former sumo Tenta. Barton continued to prove he's tough as nails as he won the match with his diving headbutt at 7:41. Winner: Mike Barton Rating: 56 - Nitro continues from a commercial break with Mean Gene in the center of the ring and ready to introduce his next guests for an interview. Lights begin to flash and the sound of galloping horses bring the crowd to their feet as he introduces the 4 Horsemen and the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. - Mean Gene: Nature Boy Ric Flair, seeing as you're the world heavyweight champion, I'm going to kick it off with you, sir! We're less than a week away from Road Wild, where you will face Hulk Hogan for that title. You can expect that the Outsider's won't be far away during that match, Nature Boy.... Flair: Ohhh MEAAAAAAN!!!! WOOOOOOOOO! GENE! We are LIVE here tonight in Albuquerque, and I'm feeling - OH SO GOOD! Hulk Hogan and I are no stranger to one another! We've faced each other before, pal, but the roles seem to be a bit reversed! See, before, I was the bad guy, I was the one cheating, I was the one taunting the fans and pointing to a guy like that one in the front row and tellin' him to keep his mouth shut or I'd steal his girl and make a woman outta her!!! WOOO! Hulk Hogan was the one walking around, high fivin' the little kids, telling them to train, say their prayers, and eat their vitamins! Well while Hogan may now be walking around telling the fans to stick it, the Nature Boy hasn't changed! If you think just because I have some fans cheering me now that I'm gonna stop cheating and --- You keep your mouth shut, fat boy, or I'll take your mother home and make a woman outta her! You keep your mouth shut! ---You've got another thing comin!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO! Mean Gene: Oh my, Ric Flair!!! This crowd definitely is on your side! But you've got to factor in the Outsiders and now the New World Order is also claiming to have a 4th member! You've got to be looking over your shoulder! Flair: 3 members, 4 members, Gene, the New World Order can throw out as many members as they want! I've got my own group watching my back and providing my security! If you think for one second that I'm worried about anyone the NWO can toss my way when I have someone like Steve Austin watching my back, you're sadly mistaken, pal! As a matter of fact, if the NWO wants to take any lessons on how to be a ruthless and feared group, they might wanna go back and watch some tapes and take notes of the 4 Horsemen! Compared to the Horsemen, the NWO are nothing but a bunch of amateurs! Hogan! At Road Wild, pal, you're gonna have to stoop down a lot lower than the Nature Boy if you want this title, and that's fact! - The crowd loves it as a pause is taken in the interview. While Flair was speaking, specifically mentioning his name and taking care of the NWO, Steve Austin was visibly perturbed. Mean Gene: Steve Austin, I couldn't help but notice you don't seem to be on the same page as your fellow Horsemen. You have a long awaited date with destiny, and Lex Luger, at Road Wild, what are your thoughts? Austin: Well Gene Okerlund, I don't do very well at hiding my opinion, and if I don't like something, I'll flat out say it! But the fact of the matter is, I'm a member of the 4 Horsemen and that's where my loyalty lies first! Now, if I don't like something that one of the Horsemen say, I sure as hell aren't going to air it out right here in front of you and all these people! If you wanna know what my thoughts are about the NWO, I'll tell ya that I couldn't give a rats ass about the NWO! If you wanna know where my thoughts are about the placement of the Horsemen, I'll tell ya that the Horsemen are at the top, and everyone and everything else is at a distant second! I'm not gonna stand around and waste my time worrying about anyone else or any other group because the Horsemen are the number one group in WCW and the Horsemen don't take a backseat to nobody! If you wanna know where my focus is, it is, without a doubt, 100% focused toward Lex Luger this Sunday at Road Wild and taking him out! He's managed to dodge me long enough with excuses, well that all comes to an end on Sunday! There will be no excuses, he won't be able to find other matches against someone else, and he won't be able to avoid me anymore! After I'm done with Lex Luger and after Road Wild, I'm gonna move on to going after what we originally had in mind, and that's getting every title in WCW! Just because the NWO came along doesn't mean the Horsemen need to change any plans! My focus is where it always has been and that's never changed, and that's making sure the Horsemen stay atop WCW right where we belong, and that ain't playing second fiddle to anyone! Mean Gene: I think that says it pretty clear. Arn Anderson, you've heard what your fellow Horsemen have had to say, what final word do you want to add?? Anderson: Gene, I always consider my words and think before I speak, but Steve is right, the Horsemen are up here, and everyone else is down here.....As far as everything else is concerned, what you see out here are 4 Horsemen. We're all united and we're all on the same page, and Sunday is going to be another successful day of being a Horsemen. Rating: 100 Wrath vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs This was a pretty quick match that saw Wrath use his impressive strength. Nothing too fancy, just a ton of power moves by Wrath who picked up the win at 6:56 after hitting the Meltdown. Winner: Wrath Rating: 6:56 Bunkhouse Buck & Dirty Dick Slater vs American Males vs It's been some time since we've seen the team of Buck and Slater on Monday Nitro. As a matter of fact, after checking records, their last match on Nitro was in October 1995, where they also faced and won, against the American Males. Slater and Buck are mostly regulated to Saturday Night and Main Event broadcasts. Scotty Riggs and Marcus Bagwell were hoping to change the result from their prior Nitro encounter in this match. The Males were successful tonight and did it in short order with some nice double team moves. Bagwell got the win over Buck at 7:56 after hitting a Missile Dropkick. Winners: American Males Rating: 61 The tag team champions are walking backstage after Nitro return from a commercial break. They collectively thank the Harlem gods when they stumble upon another person backstage, which causes them to stop. Kevin Nash is all by himself and appearing to get a cup of coffee. Nash turns around to see the two brothers, who look less than pleased and ready for a fight. Nash holds up his hands to the champions and says he was just minding his own business and getting a refreshment as he's enjoying the exciting show tonight. Stevie Ray says if they wanted to stoop as low as the Outsiders, they would've jumped him before he even turned around. Booker says he knows his buddy Scott Hall is hiding around somewhere and they're more than happy to start the fight now rather than wait for Road Wild. Nash backs off saying he doesn't have his wrestling gear, he hasn't had the proper time to stretch, and Scott Hall isn't here tonight. Nash backs away and says that they will just have to wait for Sunday. Rating: 73 Ricky Steamboat vs Arn Anderson vs The Dragon is another guy who can't seem to escape the grasp of the Horsemen. The Nature Boy accompanied the Enforcer to the ring, which only added to the crazy hot crowd. Steamboat was not nearly as on his game tonight as he had been in other matches, but the skill of Arn Anderson caused most of that to subside. Despite being a fan favorite, Flair attempted several times to get involved in the match, only to have Steamboat thwart his attempt, causing the crowd to lose their minds even more. The back and forth continued until 15:48 when Double A hit the DDT for the victory. Winner: Arn Anderson Rating: 91 - Following the bell and as Anderson celebrates his victory with Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan makes his way out and slowly walks down the aisle toward the ring. Hogan stops just short of the ring and stays outside on the floor, who Anderson and Flair notice shortly after. This causes Flair to dive out to the floor where he rushes Hogan. Hogan attempted to turn and run up the aisle, but Flair was too quick. As soon as Flair got his hands on Hogan, the crowd exploded. The Nature Boy starts to pummel Hogan who tries to cover up and mount some sort of defense. Hogan manages to get a cheap shot in that slows Flair long enough to allow Hogan to start his own offense. The two men trade blows back and forth as officials start to get to them. The fight continues on with officials trying to break them up as Nitro's credits show on the screen and fades to black. - Rating: 100 Final Show Rating: 92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 7, 2023 Author Share Posted April 7, 2023 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the WCW Hotline Report and we have some information to go over as we near toward Road Wild! In some big news, Scott Hall was sent home from Monday Nitro this week after showing up clearly under the influence and in no condition to perform. As such, he was sent home and reportedly fined. I'm told that Scott Hall was said to be "furious" from this and Kevin Nash was extremely angry at how the incident was handled. As a result of suffering a lengthy injury and injuring a worker due to sloppy work just days before, Kevin Sullivan has been released from his WCW contract. Mike Barton, who was injured from an errant move from Sullivan, was said to be very happy from the result. Might there be dissention in the ranks of the 4 Horsemen? This was briefly touched upon this Monday on Nitro but seemed to be laid to rest by Arn Anderson. However, later in the week on WCW Saturday Night, Steve Austin in a more clear statement said that he's annoyed that the 4 Horsemen spend so much time on the NWO. The belief is that Austin thinks the Horsemen are becoming side tracked on the NWO, who he doesn't think is their problem. Just days after Smoky Mountain Wrestling declared war on WCW, they have reportedly "fallen" back to "small" size. This drop in size comes after they signed new broadcasting deals. It's possible some viewed their declaration of war against WCW to be too ambitious, which cost them significantly. The World Wrestling Federation held SummerSlam last weekend. This show went without their world champion, the British Bulldog, not defending his title or even having a match on the show. The Macho Man Randy Savage has reportedly renewed his WCW contract. The deal is said to be for 2 years at $258,000/month. It's unknown if the WWF tried to offer Savage a deal. Road Wild has shaped up to be a huge show! Here is the official card! WCW Heavyweight Title: Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair (c) American Males vs Amazing French Canadians Big Bubba Rogers vs Brad Armstrong Steve Austin vs Lex Luger Tag Team Titles: The Outsiders vs Harlem Heat (c) Falls Count Anywhere: Mike Barton vs Scott Norton Diamond Dallas Page vs Dean Malenko United States Title: Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman (c) Television Title: Lord Steven Regal vs Scott Steiner (c) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 39 minutes ago, Henderson said: Austin: Well Gene Okerlund, I don't do very well at hiding my opinion, and if I don't like something, I'll flat out say it! But the fact of the matter is, I'm a member of the 4 Horsemen and that's where my loyalty lies first! Now, if I don't like something that one of the Horsemen say, I sure as hell aren't going to air it out right here in front of you and all these people! If you wanna know what my thoughts are about the NWO, I'll tell ya that I couldn't give a rats ass about the NWO! If you wanna know where my thoughts are about the placement of the Horsemen, I'll tell ya that the Horsemen are at the top, and everyone and everything else is at a distant second! I'm not gonna stand around and waste my time worrying about anyone else or any other group because the Horsemen are the number one group in WCW and the Horsemen don't take a backseat to nobody! If you wanna know where my focus is, it is, without a doubt, 100% focused toward Lex Luger this Sunday at Road Wild and taking him out! He's managed to dodge me long enough with excuses, well that all comes to an end on Sunday! There will be no excuses, he won't be able to find other matches against someone else, and he won't be able to avoid me anymore! After I'm done with Lex Luger and after Road Wild, I'm gonna move on to going after what we originally had in mind, and that's getting every title in WCW! Just because the NWO came along doesn't mean the Horsemen need to change any plans! My focus is where it always has been and that's never changed, and that's making sure the Horsemen stay atop WCW right where we belong, and that ain't playing second fiddle to anyone! Now I'm starting to want to see Austin go "Stone Cold" on the NWO (and in doing so, give rise to his iconic breakout character in WCW instead of the WWF). 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 WCW Heavyweight Title: Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair (c) American Males vs Amazing French Canadians Big Bubba Rogers vs Brad Armstrong Steve Austin vs Lex Luger Tag Team Titles: The Outsiders vs Harlem Heat (c) Falls Count Anywhere: Mike Barton vs Scott Norton Diamond Dallas Page vs Dean Malenko United States Title: Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman (c) Television Title: Lord Steven Regal vs Scott Steiner (c) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHK1989 Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Hulk Hogan American Males Big Bubba Rogers Steve Austin The Outsiders Scott Norton Diamond Dallas Page Brian Pillman (c) Scott Steiner (c) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smw88 Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Hulk Hogan American Males Big Bubba Rogers Steve Austin The Outsiders Scott Norton Diamond Dallas Page Brian Pillman (c) Scott Steiner (c) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Byron Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 My picks: Scott Steiner (c), Ricky Steamboat, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Norton, The Outsiders, Steve Austin, Big Bubba Rogers, The American Males, and Hulk Hogan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 WCW Heavyweight Title: Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair (c) American Males vs Amazing French Canadians Big Bubba Rogers vs Brad Armstrong Steve Austin vs Lex Luger Tag Team Titles: The Outsiders vs Harlem Heat (c) Falls Count Anywhere: Mike Barton vs Scott Norton Diamond Dallas Page vs Dean Malenko United States Title: Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman (c) Television Title: Lord Steven Regal vs Scott Steiner (c) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 Week 4, August 1996 LIVE from Sturgis, North Dakota Attendance: 65,000 - WCW Road Wild opens up with a shot of the vast countryside, full of mountains, running horses, and then finally a shot of a large group of motorcyclists all heading to one place - Sturgis. The unique backdrop for the PPV is a complete WCW thing. Set out in the middle of an open field and the sun just on the verge of lowering behind the gorgeous mountains, Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby the Brain Heenan welcome everyone to the show. There is much talk of the main event tonight, the WCW World Heavyweight title match as champion Ric Flair defends against Hulk Hogan, who now is apparently to be referred to as "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan of the NWO. Bobby Heenan says there's much more tonight on the line than just the WCW world title, but the very foundation of WCW itself. Heenan is concerned that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are sure to be around during the main event and if Ric Flair and WCW fall to Hollywood Hogan and the NWO, things could look very very troubling for the future. Dusty Rhodes adds in the fact that the NWO have also been talking of another mystery man, a 4th member of the NWO and says they very well could show up tonight to play a part in the main event. Either way, things are looking very severe for WCW and this war and "Hostile Takeover" that the NWO have claimed. Tony tells us that Ric Flair is standing by with the Enforcer, Arn Anderson. - Flair: Hogan! It's you and me tonight for the largest prize in our sport! The Worlds Heavyweight Championship! Now I know that you and I have had battles in the past. We're no stranger to one another, but the fact is, while you were up in New York dodging a real challenge, I was up and down the roads, throughout the country, defending the championship against all challengers, not just my buddies night after night! See Hogan, I lived the life! I STILL live the life! I style and profile, looking only as I can look! I defend the most prestigious title in the history of professional wrestling, and then afterwards, I take a woman home and show her why they call me the Nature Boy! I'm a co-founding member of the greatest faction, not just in WCW history, but wrestling history! A think you're trying to emulate, but Hogan! I promise you, you and your little group will never even walk in the shadow of the 4 Horsemen! Live up the night, Hogan!!!! Because after I'm through with you tonight in the main event, you can go cry in the arms of the Outsiders! Bring a 4th man out if you want, but tonight the Nature Boy is in pristine condition, and I'll kick anyone's ass who wants to step up to the plate, big man! WOOOOOOOOO! Rating: 100 Television Title: Lord Steven Regal vs Scott Steiner (c) vs Road Wild kicks off the first match for the TV title. Scott Steiner has been on a mission to break out as a singles competitor following a severe injury to his brother, Rick. In true form, Scott has fulfilled much of that as he's held the TV title since May of this year. Much of that time has been filled with Lord Steven Regal trying to win his title back. Though he's failed along the way, he claims it to be just because he doesn't want to win it back just yet. The two men finally clash again here tonight and Regal began trying to toy with Steiner. This caused Steiner to have a short fuse and shortly later began pummeling on the Blue Blood. Through the match, both competitors were fairly evenly matched and it was a good opening match for the biker crowd. Regal got a ton of heat as he taunted the bikers and Regal constantly acted like there was a foul stench in the air. Surprisingly, Regal also kept this match fairly clean. While he cheated and used dirty tactics whenever the referee turned around, he didn't overly cheat or use illegal weapons to his advantage. What resulted was a nice technical encounter between to extremely capable wrestlers. Regal was able to catch Steiner in the Regal Stretch and forced the surprising submission at 14:11 to reclaim the TV title. Winner and NEW Champion: Lord Steven Regal Rating: 82 United States Title: Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman (c) vs The title matches continue for Road Wild as Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat comes out first. This match was put together at the last minute which originated after the Monday Nitro main event as Steamboat took on Arn Anderson. The US champion was accompanied by fellow Horsemen member Steve Austin and the two looked extremely confident going into the match. Austin and Pillman traded off distracting the referee repeatedly as they cheap shot the Dragon at every opportunity. Steamboat did his best to fight them off, but it was essentially a handicap match. Steamboat's performance again was pretty disappointing, but Pillman did a nice job at cleaning up any sloppy work. Pillman, with a ton of assistance from Austin, hit the Air Pillman at 13:46 and got the win. Winner: Brian Pillman Rating: 74 - Despite the bell sounding and the referee raising Pillman's arm, Austin entered the ring and the two immediately began attacking the already fallen Steamboat. Both men were hitting brutal shots on the Dragon and Pillman lifted him to his feet, holding him so Austin could begin pummeling him with his fists. Suddenly the crowd came to life as the beatdown continued and the camera panned to see someone run out. - - Eddie Guerrero sprints out and slides into the ring just as Austin is starting to hit Steamboat with his fists as he's held by Pillman. Eddie shoves Austin down to the mat and then rushes toward Pillman. Pillman was able to see it coming though and released his hold on Steamboat and quickly dove out of the ring. Austin and Pillman regrouped outside on the floor while Eddie challenged them to get back in the ring and fight. The crowd was loving it as Austin and Pillman refused any further confrontation and turned to walk back up the aisle. Eddie turned to see Steamboat still collapsed on the mat and lifted him to his feet to check on him. Steamboat motioned that he was ok and, holding his head, took a couple steps toward the ropes as Eddie remained in the center of the ring, looking out at the loud crowd. Suddenly... Tony: My God!!!! - Out of nowhere, Eddie kicked a vicious low blow to Ricky Steamboat!!! The Dragon never saw it coming as his back was to Eddie. The crowd all gasped at once as Steamboat again collapsed on the mat, this time for a very different reason. Eddie just looked down with a sinister smile as Steamboat groaned and writhed on the mat in pain. - Tony: He acted like he was helping Steamboat and then he brutally hit him with a low blow!!! Heenan: I know!!!! I love it! - Eddie wasn't done after the low blow, however. He grabbed Steamboats arm and dragged him to the center of the ring. Guerrero quickly exited at the corner and began climbing the turnbuckles, pausing halfway up to look out at the crowd who were now loudly booing the star. Eddie perched to the top and leapt off, hitting Steamboat with a hard Frog Splash. Guerrero got to his feet and again looked down at Steamboat before slowly exiting the ring and heading up the aisle. - Rating: 100 Diamond Dallas Page vs Dean Malenko vs The respect these two had for one another at the beginning of their feud had long since been thrown out the window. As the weeks progressed, Dean Malenko began preying on DDP's manager, the Diamond Doll. Just a couple of weeks ago, things progressed even further when Malenko introduced his own manager, Francine. The men were both accompanied by their managers tonight, and while Francine did her best to intimidate the Diamond Doll, she did her best to avoid any altercation, remaining in the corner of DDP. The two men started off trading rapid fire punches, as DDP clearly had a score to settle with Malenko. The brawl delved into some good offensive wrestling holds and moves. The crowd did liven up a bit when Francine got on the apron to interfere with DDP as he looked to be going for a Diamond Cutter. This brought the Diamond Doll to sprint around to that side of the ring and pull Francine down from the apron. After yelling at the Doll, Francine attempted to slap the Doll, who blocked it and hit a slap of her own. Francine dropped to the floor as DDP hit a Diamond Cutter on Malenko and scored the win at 11:37. Winner: Diamond Dallas Page Rating: 76 Following a short promotional break to hype next month's PPV - Fall Brawl, we return to the backstage interview area. Mean Gene Okerlund is looking dapper as usual in his tuxedo and standing with him is Lex Luger. Mean Gene: Lex Luger, after weeks and weeks of trying, Steve Austin has managed to get you one on one here tonight, which he says, is to finally settle the score between you and the 4 Horsemen. Meanwhile you seem to be extremely preoccupied in another battle that's been brewing with the New World Order. You seem to be getting stretched pretty thin, Mr. Luger.... Luger: Ya know, Gene, for weeks on end, Steve Austin's been running his mouth about how things aren't over between me and the 4 Horsemen. Now I'm not sure if Austin knows this, but I have a much longer history with the Horsemen and am no stranger to issues with Arn Anderson and Ric Flair. I don't know what Austin's problem is or why he thinks things aren't finished between us, but I can assure you that tonight will be the end of it! Steve Austin, I haven't had a problem with the 4 Horsemen since last year and I was perfectly fine with doing my own thing, and you guys doing yours. But for some reason, that just wasn't good enough and you just wanted to keep poking the bear. Now I'm fully aware that you've got your own blinders on, Austin, and can't see anything other than the Horsemen in your eyes, but the fact is, WCW's been at war for the last several months and there's only been a couple other guys to stand up against the NWO, and I'm one of them! It's no secret that two-front war's are never very successful for those fighting them, so the way I see it, I've got two choices. I can focus all my time and energy and completely steamroll through you and the rest of the Horsemen to shut your mouth for good, or I can stick with my best friend and the Macho Man and try to keep WCW from getting taken over! Well, Steve Austin, it's an easy decision because without WCW, there are no 4 Horsemen, there is now feud between Lex Luger and Steve Austin, and there is no Monday Nitro! So what I'm going to do tonight is write the last chapter in our book and finish you off, once and for all! After that, all my focus is going to be on taking out the NWO! You can join me, or you can just watch from the sidelines. Rating: 90 Falls Count Anywhere: Mike Barton vs Scott Norton vs The feud between Mike Barton and Scott Norton continues on. Both have been trying to prove to be the toughest wrestler in WCW while proving their worth at the same time. This falls count anywhere match was nothing but an unorganized train wreck as both competitors fought outside the ring, in the crowd, briefly backstage, and in the ring. Any kind of weapon that was within reach, was used. Barton was limited somewhat by the cast on his arm, which ended up being a target by Norton. After hitting a powerbomb outside the ring, Norton pinned Barton at 10:30 for the win. Winner: Scott Norton Rating: 60 Mean Gene is backstage again, this time with the tag team champions Harlem Heat and Sensuous Sherri. Gene asks if they're ready ahead of their big title defense against the Outsiders. Booker says that Harlem Heat, if they're ever ready for anything, is a fight. Tonight they're going to show the Outsiders that the two brothers from Harlem aren't to be messed with and they've got another thing coming if they think they're walking out of Sturgis with tag team gold. Stevie Ray says they're bigger, stronger, better athletes, and have run the tag team division in WCW for so long for good reason, and that's because they're the best tag team in WCW, and the Outsiders are gonna find out. Tag Team Titles: The Outsiders vs Harlem Heat (c) vs The Outsiders took their time getting to the ring and again took their time locking up with Harlem Heat. Scott Hall started off the match against Booker T who did his signature toothpick toss into the face of Booker. Hall was extremely amused and began laughing and slapping his leg while looking at Kevin Nash for approval. Booker was less than pleased and Hall's smile quickly vanished when Booker began wailing away on Hall. Things got serious after this point and the Outsiders knew there weren't going to be any games played tonight. Both teams worked skillfully and Harlem Heat showed great ability to hang with the seasoned Outsiders and didn't back down at all from dishing out heavy offense. Things took a turn, however, when the fight between Booker T and Kevin Nash spilled out to the floor after a pin breakup. Hall and Stevie Ray were the legal wrestlers and Stevie stood on the second rope to look down on the fight on the floor. This allowed Hall to grab Stevie in position for the Outsider's Edge, which he hit. The pin was counted at 14:34 and new tag team champions were crowned. Winners and NEW tag team champions: The Outsiders Rating: 83 Following the Outsider's victory with their newly won tag team titles, cameras return backstage in the interview area where Mean Gene is standing by with Sting. Mean Gene takes a breath and Sting has his hands on his hips, as they've both just witnessed the Outsiders capture the titles. Mean Gene: Ladies and gentlemen, the night goes on and I'm standing by with Sting. Sting, we all just saw what happened. I'd like to get your thoughts on everything going on with the NWO. Sting: Ya know, Gene, WCW is at a pivotal, crucial time right now! WCW is being attacked by an outside group of thugs and jerks, and their all-out mission is to destroy WCW! We all saw what just happened. Harlem Heat did the best they could, but they couldn't hold up against the Outsiders! Now they're holding the tag team titles! My only hope is that in tonight's main event, the Nature Boy Ric Flair is able to hold off the NWO and Hulk Hogan because Gene, if they get the tag team titles AND the world heavyweight title in their grasp, all in the same night, WCW is in deep, deep trouble! Mean Gene: Sting, you mentioned Hulk Hogan, who now is apparently going by "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. Sting: I don't care what name he wants to go by, Mean Gene, he's nothing but a turncoat, a coward, and someone who let fame and fortune go to his head! The fact of the matter is, I'm the one who stood up since day one that Scott Hall wanted to throw his weight around and start making threats to people. I put that WCW banner on my back and stood up for WCW because I AM WCW! Now it's no secret that me and the Nature Boy have had a long history with each other, and as much as I don't trust Ric Flair, I trust the NWO even less! So while I don't trust him, I'll do what I can to make sure tonight's main event remains a fair main event! Rating: 86 Steve Austin vs Lex Luger vs Austin went right after Luger as soon as the opening bell sounded. Luger, for his part, seemed to be equally focused and picked up his offense. Both men were equally matched as they went back and forth and struggled to get an advantage. Luger's superior strength eventually won him the favor over Austin and hit several high-impact moves like a powerslam, several clotheslines, and running corner attacks. Austin would manage to get an advantage when Luger would miss a charge. Austin would also go for several rapid cover attempts to end the match quickly, to no avail. Austin also tried using the ropes for leverage during a couple pin attempts, only for the referee to catch him in the act. As the match progressed, Luger had Austin reeling after hitting several more clotheslines. Luger went for his bionic forearm and hit it, then calling for the Torture Rack, which brought the crowd on their feet. Luger lifted Austin and he wildly submitted at 16:13. Luger didn't even celebrate his victory, just yelled at the downed Austin that things were now over and then exited the ring and walked to the back. Winner: Lex Luger Rating: 85 Big Bubba Rogers vs Brad Armstrong vs Normally this would be a decent opening match and Bubba actually performed quite well, but after so many high-profile matches already taking place before this one, this gave the crowd an ability to use the bathroom or visit the concession stands. The match itself didn't take long and didn't feature many big moves from either man. Bubba got the win at 7:40 with the Bubba Slam. Winner: Big Bubba Rogers Rating: 64 American Males vs Amazing French Canadians vs This was another match that would've probably benefited more to being earlier or put on the pre-show, but in any case, it allowed the crowd to take a breather from all of the action. Bagwell was the performer of the match while the Amazing French Canadians, no, not the Quebecers, did what they could to prove to be a contender in the tag team division. Carl Oulette ended up getting the pin fall win over Bagwell at 8:22 after hitting the Cannonball. Winners: Amazing French Canadians Rating: 56 - The World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair is backstage with Arn Anderson. Flair's dressed in his gear and has one of his elaborate robes on as he's warming up for the match. The Enforcer is hyping the Nature Boy up when Savage walks in the picture. This causes Flair to stop in his tracks and Anderson just merely postures up and stares at Savage. The Macho Man holds up his hands in submission and tells them he's not here for a fight. Savage says it's actually the opposite. While the Macho Man says he doesn't like Flair and Anderson, WCW is more important than all of the issues they have with one another. Savage says once they deal with the NWO, then they can go back to fighting each other, but until then, Savage has their back. - Rating: 100 World Heavyweight Title: Hollywood Hogan vs Ric Flair (c) vs Hollywood Hogan was the first to enter for this highly anticipated matchup. Strutting out in full confidence and dressed all in black with a new 5 o'clock shadow on his face, Hogan taunts the crowd all the way to the ring, but, as Heenan points out, he was all alone. The Nature Boy made his elaborate entrance next, full of fireworks and the classic Nature Boy confidence. It's also pointed out that the Enforcer, Arn Anderson accompanies the world champion to the ring. Heenan wonders if this match will turn out to be who can cheat the most and get away with it, and if that's the case, he's taking the Nature Boy. Hogan starts out trying to stall as much as possible, but this only causes Flair to become more irate, eventually going out to the floor to attack Hogan. As Hogan's beaten around the ringside area, Flair sends him back in the ring where the attack continues, despite Hogan trying to beg off the Nature Boy. The crowd is firmly on the side of Flair as he delivers chop after chop to Hogan. Flair knocks Hogan down and goes for an early Figure Four, only to have Hogan kick him off, which sends Flair through the ropes and crashing to the floor outside. Hogan gets up and meets Flair on the floor and now it's his turn to dish out punishment. Hogan kicks and punches Flair all around ringside and also grabs camera cables to choke the world champion with. The referee threatens to disqualify Hogan but he keeps at it. Flair rolls in the ring and Hogan follows behind. Flair gets to his knees and begs Hogan off, as the Nature Boy still can't help but stoop to some of his classic traits. Hogan closes and in taunts Flair with the punishment he's getting ready to dish out, but Hogan gets too close to Flair and as the Enforcer has the referee distracted, Flair delivers one hell of a low blow to Hogan. The crowd cheers loudly in delight as the dirtiest player in the game gets to his feet and begins to strut around the ring. The attack continues on until Flair rushes the corner and climbs to the top rope, which never works in his case. Hogan catches Flair and tosses him hard to the mat with a press slam. After taking a back body drop and a back suplex, Flair gets right up to his feet before doing his Flair flop to the mat. Hogan taunts out to the crowd but they just boo loudly back at Hogan, who seems to soak in the boo's. Hogan grabs Flair by the hair and begins to pull him up, just for the Nature Boy to again drop to his knees and hit a low blow on Hogan. With Hogan down, Flair exits the ring and grabs his world title, bringing it into the ring. Flair plans on hitting Hogan with the belt right in front of the referee and as he waits for Hogan to get up on his knees, Flair takes position. Hogan slowly gets up to his knees and Flair starts to rush in with the world title, but the referee gets in his way and grabs the title. Flair argues with the referee, who threatens to disqualify the Nature Boy. After a brief struggle, the referee takes possession of the title and drops it in the corner. Flair moves in to grab Hogan, who has made it in the corner, bracing himself. As Flair grabs Hogan from behind, Hogan mule kicks Flair, hitting him with his own low blow. About this time, the crowd's attention has turned toward the stage entrance... The Outsiders make their way toward the ring and once there, Kevin Nash immediate takes out Arn Anderson, who's standing on the floor outside the ring. The referee see's the attack taking place on the floor and is yelling for Nash to back off. This allows Hall to get in the ring and grab the world title in the process. Hall goes to hit Flair with it, but Flair dodges and when Hall turns around, he's met with a low blow of his own! The crowd is electric as Flair sends Scott Hall to the outside also but what he doesn't notice is Hollywood Hogan picking up the world title. Flair turns and is met with the gold belt hitting him square in the head. Flair's busted open as a result and Hogan tosses the belt to the side and covers Flair. The referee turns around to see the cover and counts, hitting the three count at 23:27 and trash immediately begins filling the ring. Winner and NEW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan Rating: 81 The bell sounds and Nash and Hall get in the ring. Nash grabs Flair before giving him a Jacknife Powerbomb and then shoves him out of the ring under the bottom rope. While Nash is handling Flair, Arn Anderson attempted to get in the ring and defend his friend, but Hall was able to cut him off, sending him through the ropes and to the floor as well. Hogan taunts the crowd as he high five's Hall and Nash. Nash has something in his hand and gives it to Hogan. Heenan is shocked as he says Hogan has a can of spray paint! Hall holds the title while Hogan spray paints the title belt with the letters N.W.O! Hollywood Hogan has just defaced the most prized possession in wrestling history! Road Wild fades out with the image of Hollywood Hogan holding the defaced WCW World Title spray painted NWO while Bobby Heenan yells out asking where Sting, Macho Man, and Lex Luger all are. Rating: 95 Final Show Rating: 85 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 15, 2023 Author Share Posted April 15, 2023 Week 1, September 1996 LIVE from the River Center - Des Moines, Iowa Attendance: 15,666 - WCW Monday Nitro kicks off the month of September 1996 with loud fireworks and shots of an excited crowd. As the cameras move over to the broadcast booth, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes welcome everyone to the show. In what's become an all-too common visual for WCW since Bash at the Beach, all announcers appear to be solemn and grief stricken. Tony Schiavone tells everyone that if they missed Road Wild last night, WCW has taken yet another blow as now "Hollywood" Hogan claimed the WCW world championship from the Nature Boy Ric Flair. He says WCW continues to get beaten down at every turn. Bobby Heenan says if it isn't bad enough that Hogan and the NWO now have the top prize in the sport, Hogan defaced the world title last night as he spray painted "NWO" on the belt. He thinks there are very, very dark days ahead for WCW now that the NWO seem to be firmly in control. Dusty Rhodes thoughts are wondering where Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Sting all were last night as the NWO viciously attacked Ric Flair and Arn Anderson before spray painting the title. This comes after all three men had claimed to be watching Flair's back earlier in the night. All the talk of the NWO having a 4th man all appeared to be a ruse to get everyone looking over their shoulders. It seems that it worked, because now the NWO has to the top title in WCW and the foundation of WCW seems to be slowly crumbling before our very eyes. Tony hopes that we're able to get answers to all of that here tonight, and Ric Flair will probably be asking them also. Schiavone does tell us that tonight's main event will be Scott Hall in his first singles match against Ric Flair. As of right now, we're going straight to the ring to begin Nitro! - Wrath vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs This opening match actually was given a decent amount of time, but don't mistake it for Chavo being much of a challenge for the heavyweight. Poor Chavito spent the majority of the match just taking punishment all around the ring. Chavo did manage to get a few offensive moves in but one too many high-flying moves was his doom. As Chavo jumped from the top rope, Wrath caught him with a kick to the gut. As Chavo was doubled over, Wrath locked him in the prep for the Meltdown and hitting it to get the pinfall win at 9:56. Winner: Wrath Rating: 40 The match is over and some new music begins to play over the speakers in the arena. All are confused as the guitar screeches its riff until the words "New, New, New World Order" is heard. All three NWO members make their way out onto the stage. Hogan comes out last as Hall and Nash point toward the entrance. As he emerges from the fog, the spray painted world title belt is in his hands as he struts out, acting like he's playing the guitar with it. The NWO all head to the ring full of confidence and light-hearted behavior. Hall and Nash get in the ring and taunt out to the crowd followed by the world champion, who raises the title with both hands and jogs around the ring. The music dies off and Hogan has a microphone. Hogan: I'll allow all you people to soak in the greatness that's standing in front of you right now!! Between Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and now the NWO world champion in the ring, you all are witness to the greatest group to ever exist in the history of professional wrestling! Last night at Road Wild, I took that skinny, flabby, loud mouth idiot Ric Flair and made an example outta him! And that example I made was that when it comes to the NWO, you're either with us or against us!!! And if you decide to be against us, then you're going to be in a whole world of hurt, brother! I proved last night that Ric Flair was nothing more than a placeholder for my getting the title back, and it's a cold hard fact for the rest of that WCW locker room that this world title right here isn't gonna leave sight of the NWO! This is now the NWO's world title, and I don't care who wants to come after it, not only do they have to deal with me, but they also have to deal with the Outsiders! As a matter of fact, this world title is just as much Scott Hall's and Kevin Nash's as it is mine, brother! That's because the NWO is a family! We stick together, we watch each other's back, we're there for one another, dude!!! Unlike WCW, which is coming apart at the seams as we speak! Did you see last night where Sting, Lex Luger, and the Macho Man were all claiming to have Ric Flair's back!?!?! Well where were all of them when the NWO took over!?!? Where were all of them when Ric Flair and Arn Anderson were getting their butts kicked by us!?! They proved that they're nothing but all talk and no action!! Or maybe it's just because they're afraid of the three Gods of wrestling that are in this ring right now! Maybe they know they don't stand a chance against Hollywood Hogan and the NWO! Maybe the rest of the 4 Horsemen know that too and that's why they didn't want any part of the NWO! Well let this be a lesson to the rest of those wrestlers in the back; the NWO is taking over and you can either jump on the train as it steamrolls down the tracks, or you can just get run over, dude! Either way, there's a new sheriff in town, there's a new standard set, and it's by the three guys you see standing in the ring right now! Rating: 96 Fit Finlay & Brian Knobbs vs Hugh Morrus & Scott Norton vs This was an odd mash-up of talent in, what I guess, was an attempt to see if anyone had chemistry. All men were nearly equal as far as in-ring performance went. Hugh Morrus and Scott Norton picked up the win at 9:50 after Morrus hit the No Laughing Matter on Knobbs. Winners: Hugh Morrus & Scott Norton Rating: 60 - Following the match, cameras return to the announce booth where Tony Schiavone gives a recap from Road Wild. This one features Ricky Steamboat getting brutally attacked by Steve Austin and Brian Pillman after he lost. Eddie Guerrero ran out to make what looked like a save as he ran off Austin and Pillman, however, in a shocking twist, Guerrero turned at attacked Steamboat. As the clip finishes, Ricky Steamboat is in the ring and it looks like he has something to say. - Steamboat: Over the past few weeks, there's been quite a bit of disappointment going around. First, it was with Hulk Hogan turning his back on all the fans and wrestlers. Then last night, I was disappointed again when another person I thought was a friend, turned their back on me. Eddie Guerrero, over the past few weeks, I took you under my wing. I tried to help you forge your own path in WCW. I thought you were appreciative and receptive to that....But last night, you proved, not that you're strong, but that you're weak. You're a weak man, Eddie Guerrero! It takes a weak man to strike another from behind. It takes a weak man to turn his back on his friends. It takes a weak man to hit and run....I'm not mad at you, Eddie, I'm disappointed in what you've become. You just----- - Steamboat is blindsided once again, this time mid speech. Eddie ran in from the crowd, hopping the barrier and sliding in the ring behind Steamboat. Eddie clubs him on the back of the neck with a forearm before laying in the kicks as Steamboat's down. The crowd boo's loudly as Eddie takes a second from his attack to look out at the crowd. Eddie smiles before quickly leaving the ring and going over to the ring announcer before shoving him off his chair. Eddie grabs the chair and folds it before sliding back in the ring. Eddie hits Steamboat a few times with the chair, who yells out in pain on every strike. Seeing his work complete, Eddie slowly drops the chair and leaves the ring. He heads up the aisle as Nitro fades to a commercial break. - Rating: 88 TV Title: Perry Saturn vs Lord Steven Regal (c) vs Nitro returns from break for the next match. Regal makes his way out with his newly won TV title, defeating Scott Steiner just the night before. Saturn proved to be no small challenge for Regal's first defense of his new title reign and the match turned out to be excellent. Both men delivered hard strikes to the other. While Regal is the king of European uppercuts, Saturn showed that he's well-trained in them also. The two traded several of the strikes before Regal gained the advantage. The match came to an end though at 11:52 when Regal got the submission with the Regal Stretch. Winner: Lord Steven Regal Rating: 75 Following the match, Mean Gene meets Regal at the bottom of the entrance ramp. Drenched in sweat, the new TV champion claims that he's the best WCW Television champion in history and to prove it, he'll put his title on the line against anyone who wants to challenge for it. Mean Gene asks "anyone??" and Regal confidently repeats "Anyone!" Regal thinks there isn't one bloody person foolish enough to want to get in the ring with a premiere athlete like himself. About that time, Brad Armstrong comes out and marches right up to Mean Gene and Regal. The TV champ has a completely bewildered look on his face and can't grasp why someone like Brad Armstrong would come out to confront him. As a matter of fact, Regal asks "Just what in the bloody hell are you doing out here???" Armstrong says he's wanted to get the TV title for a long time now and he's got no issue taking on Regal. Armstrong says that not only is he going to take the TV title from him, but he'll also send him back across the pond where he belongs. This results in Armstrong getting slapped across the face by Regal before the champion exits back up the ramp. Rating: 83 American Males vs Amazing French Canadians vs More tag action on Nitro tonight as the Amazing French Canadians, no, not the Quebecers, have a return match from last night against the American Males. The Males look to change their luck from the previous night where they lost. Rougeau and Oulette again showed great teaming and made quick tags to isolate Scotty Riggs, who took a lot of punishment in this match. Bagwell ended up getting the hot tag and had the crowd into it as he battled both Canadians. With Oulette tossed out of the ring, the Males hit a double dropkick on Rougeau and looked to have the match in hand. Riggs told Bagwell to hold up Rougeau, to his confusion, but did anyway. Riggs exited the ring and grabbed the Quebec flag that the Canadians brought to the ring with him and Riggs aimed to hit Rougeau as he was held by Bagwell. The referee warned Riggs, but he rushed anyway to hit Rougeau. Jacques ducked out of the way and bashed Bagwell in the head with the flag instead. This allowed Oulette enough time to recover and took Riggs out as Rougeau made the pin on Bagwell, getting the win at 9:56. Winners: Amazing French Canadians Rating: 63 Mean Gene is in the ring for an interview and the crowd get on their feet as Horses neigh and gallop out of the speakers. The 4 Horsemen music plays and all 4 members walk out. The festivities are kept to a minimum tonight from Ric Flair, who looks focused and unhappy. Arn looks intense as ever while Steve Austin and the US champion Brian Pillman are more easy going and unaffected. They all get in the ring and the music begins to fade out and Flair takes the point for the interview. Mean Gene: Nature Boy, I can tell that you've got quite a few things to talk about here tonight, I'm sure, centered around last evenings events. Flair: Mean Gene Okerlund, I'm going to spare you all the usual talk and cutting up that you usually get from the Nature Boy and I'm going to cut to the chase! Last night at Road Wild, Hulk Hogan, Hollywood Hogan, whatever he wants to go by now, cemented his position he now has in the professional wrestling world....And that's that he's nothing more than a cheap, low-life, knock off Nature Boy wanna be! Hogan!!! I invented the bag guy playbook, pal, and the only thing you're doing is trying to emulate everything that Ric Flair originated! Not only that, but last night after you had to cheat your way to winning that title, you had the audacity...You had the NERVE to spray paint the most prestigious world title this earth has ever known, pal! So many greats that have come before us like Jack Briscoe, Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat, Dusty Rhodes, Dory Funk Jr.....Have all held that worlds title that you were low enough to spraypaint!!! All the blood, all the sweat, all the tears that all those men have put behind that world title! All that I've put behind that world title!!! You did nothing but spit in the face of tradition as soon as you sprayed that world title! What you did last night is on the same level as desecrating the Mona Lisa, the Statue of Liberty, or the Roman Coliseum!! Hogan, if you think you're finished with Ric Flair, you've got another thing coming, pal!!!! Not only am I going to come after you to take the title back, but I'm just going to be out to completely end you! You spit in the face of tradition, and tradition, pal, is gonna come back to kick you in the ass! Gene: Ric, last night you had Sting, Lex Luger, and the Macho Man all claim to have your back, but when you and Arn Anderson were getting attacked by the NWO, they were nowhere to be found. We haven't seen or heard from any of them yet tonight, what are your thoughts??? Flair: I'll get to all of them later, but the fact of the matter is, I don't look for anyone to have my back other than the Horsemen! I've got my best friend by my side, Steve Austin, and the loose cannon, the United States champion Brian Pillman! I don't need anyone else to watch my back! Now Hogan, Hall, and Nash were going around claiming to have a 4th member....Bogus or not, I don't care! I'm saying, right here, right now, I want the NWO at Fall Brawl in War Games!!! There's four of us, there's supposedly four NWO guys, and I want them in War Games! Hogan, I'm gonna make your life a living hell and inside War Games, there's no escape! You think you and the Outsiders are tough?!?! Pal, you haven't seen what tough is until you have the Horsemen staring you down inside that locked steel cage! The NWO belong to the Horsemen at War Games! - As Flair makes his announcement, the crowd goes wild but Austin and Pillman seem less than pleased. Mean Gene notices this and starts to get their opinion. - Mean Gene: Now wait a minute, Nature Boy...It appears that all of the Horsemen may not agree with your position...Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, you don't want to take on the NWO at Fall Brawl inside War Games?? Pillman: Mean Gene, as much as you'd love to get the dirt on the Horsemen, it's not your place to interfere. Anything I might have to say to the Nature Boy on the topic is none of your business. Mean Gene: I'm just noticing there may be some dissention in the ranks, that's all. Austin: There ain't no dissention, Gene Okerlund, and what you need to do is just stand there and hold that microphone while we conduct our interview, and if you can't do as simple a thing as that, then maybe we should just send you backstage and find another spot for you! Now Brian may not want to give his view on this, but the two of us have spoken enough to each other about it, so I've got no problem stating facts....And the facts are, Ric, that while you and Arn Anderson have been putting more effort and energy into the NWO, me and Brian have been working our tails off and trying to keep the Horsemen on the same path that we originally all wanted...And that's to make the Horsemen the most dominant, feared group within WCW! Instead, what you and Arn have done, is nothing but try to play catchup to the NWO. The truth is, I couldn't give a rats ass about Hulk Hogan or the NWO! As a matter of fact, I left WCW the first time because I couldn't stand Hogan! Now you're wanting to tie us down at Fall Brawl and put us in War Games against the NWO?? Ric, where your head should be at is reclaiming that world title at Fall Brawl against Hogan, not War Games! Running around and chasing the NWO's tail does nothing but make the Horsemen look weak and ridiculous! Brian should be defending his US title at Fall Brawl, and that leaves me and Arn Anderson to go after the tag team titles! Second place don't get no prize in this business, Ric, and quite frankly, I'm losing my patience as far as keeping the status of the 4 Horsemen alive! Arn Anderson: Now hold on just a minute. Let me remind the two of you that without the Nature Boy and without Arn Anderson, the 4 Horsemen don't exist! As good as you are, Austin, and you, Brian Pillman, make no mistake, you're a part of the Horsemen because me and the Nature Boy saw something in the two of you. Let me ask you, Steve, what kind of status do the Horsemen have if we just stand by and let the NWO run roughshod over WCW and do whatever they want? Where does our status lie if we let other guys like Sting, Luger, and Savage handle the NWO? And furthermore, where were those guys last night when they claimed to be watching and having our back? The time to stand by and do nothing is over, so you two can either get in line or we'll find two other guys who will! We clearly have a few things to go over, and we're not gonna do it out here in front of everybody, so Gene, you can consider this interview over. Gene: Oh my! Tony, back to you! Rating: 100 - Nothing can improve the mood and invigorate a crowd like Alex Wright and his great German Bratwurst, yeah yeah baby! - Dean Malenko vs Alex Wright vs Das Wunderkind gets the crowd on their feet for this match as Dean Malenko and Francine look to be the bratwurst kryptonite. Alex spends a large portion of the match dancing for Francine, who amazingly appears to be immune. He put up a great fight but the more he danced, the more it appeared to infuriate Malenko. Dean was able to lock in the Texas Cloverleaf for the submission victory at 8:24 and, unfortunately, send the German bratwurst packing. Winner: Dean Malenko Rating: 68 Following a commercial break, cameras go backstage where the Macho Man Randy Savage is finally arriving to the arena. Savage gets no further than shutting the trunk lid from getting his bags before he's jumped from behind. Hall and Nash have metal bars that they beat Savage down with while Hogan lays in kicks. Once Savage is surely unable to put up any resistance, Hogan directs the Outsiders to hold Savage up. They grab him by each arm and bring up to his knees while Hogan starts laying in punches. Off in the distance, the NWO can hear a commotion from someone approaching. The drop their hold of Savage and run off while the camera zooms in on Savage who is clearly hurt. Rating: 99 Ric Flair vs Scott Hall vs Nitro returned from its last commercial to the entrances for both wrestlers. Flair was first and came out by himself while Scott Hall was flanked by both Nash and Hogan. As soon as Hall started to step through the ropes, Flair was on him. The crowd was lit from then on during the match. Hogan and Nash would do their best to distract and interfere, but Flair was completely on fire and handled them before they could make an impact. Hall was rocked and reeling as Flair went on like a man possessed. It continued like this until the referee was pulled in the corner by Hall as Flair rushed in. With the ref out of the picture, the NWO saw the opportunity to pounce. Nash and Hogan got in the ring as Flair was working on Hall and getting ready for the Figure Four. Nash hit a huge clubbing blow to the back of Flair before turning him around and hitting him with a Jacknife. Hogan then took the opportunity to hit the Leg Drop on Flair before they helped Scott Hall to his feet. They motioned for Hall to hit the Outsider's Edge as Hogan helped him with Flair. After crashing down to the mat, Kevin Nash slapped the referee across the face to wake him up just enough to be able to count the pin, officially ending the match at 19:42. Winner: Scott Hall Rating: 100 - The bell rings but Hogan tosses the referee through the ropes and out to the floor. Nash picks up Flair and again hits him with a Jacknife. As the NWO continue their assault, the crowd comes to life as Arn Anderson rushes down to the ring. The Enforcer slides under the rope into the ring but doesn't get very far before Hogan starts pummeling him also. The NWO are in clear control as they're beating down Flair and Anderson, with no end in sight. Hogan hits a series of Leg Drops on Flair as Hall hits the Outsider's Edge on Anderson. With the two down and out, Hogan takes the opportunity to pull a spray can from his tights. Nash also has a spray can and they flip both Anderson and Flair over and appear to be getting ready to spray paint them as the crowd comes to life again.. The US Champion Brian Pillman comes rushing out from the stage and sprints to the ring with a steel chair in hand. He dives in the ring and gets up to his feet before the NWO have a chance to pounce on him. Pillman rushes toward Hogan who was approaching him, but hit the brakes, trying like hell to back off from the loose cannon. Hogan escapes the ring as Pillman then rushes toward Hall and Nash, who also want nothing to do with the US champion. Flair is completely down but with the NWO bailed out of the ring, Pillman helps Anderson to his feet and checks to make sure he's ok. Arn, dazed but shaking the cobwebs loose, starts to challenge the NWO back in the ring. - Tony: OH MY GOD!!!!! - When things looked to be even, Arn Anderson again crashed down to the mat, only it wasn't from Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, or Kevin Nash. The crowd all gasp as a vicious chair shot hit Arn Anderson from behind, originating from the swing by Brian Pillman. Pillman drops the chair and then takes off his Horsemen t-shirt to reveal an NWO shirt underneath. - Dusty: Brian Pillman is the NWO's 4th man!!!!!! - Pillman laughs hysterically while the rest of the NWO re-enter the ring, all giving the new reveal a high five. Hogan hands the can of spray paint to Pillman who spray paints "NWO" on Anderson's back before doing the same to Ric Flair. The NWO continue to celebrate their latest swerve while the audience tries to grasp what they've just seen. Nitro's credits appear on the screen before fading to black. - Rating: 99 Final Show Rating: 97 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Byron Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 (edited) Brian Pillman as the 4th member of the NWO makes a lot of sense, IMO, but I wouldn't trust him too much if I were Hogan, Hall, and Nash... Good update, BTW... Edited April 15, 2023 by Lord Byron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 Unusual that Pillman ended up joining the NWO here, considering that he never wrestled in the WWF up to that point (either IRL or, I'm guessing, ITTL) and the NWO's members up to then were all WWF ex-pats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 15, 2023 Author Share Posted April 15, 2023 Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm Mean Gene Okerlund here with this week's WCW Hotline Report! What an up and down week we've had in the wrestling world! This past Monday Night on Nitro, everyone was shocked as the WCW United States champion Brian Pillman turned on his fellow Horsemen Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, revealing himself to be the 4th member of the NWO! Arn Anderson had something to say about it this weekend on WCW Saturday Night, which I'll get in to later during my Saturday Night recap. Tensions seemed on high with the Horsemen lately as Ric Flair and Arn Anderson were increasingly becoming more involved with the NWO, something fellow members Steve Austin and Brian Pillman did not appear to agree with. It's unknown for how long Brian Pillman was colluding with the NWO, but they had been mentioning a 4th man for quite some time. In WCW house show news during the week, there are reports that Hollywood Hogan sustained a strained patellar tendon. While this isn't expected to keep him out of action, I am told the recovery time for this particular injury can take more than a year. In the meantime, it's thought that Hogan will be severely limited in the ring until this injury fully heals. Lanny Poffo is no longer with World Championship Wrestling. His contract came to an end earlier this week and WCW didn't have any interest in renewing the deal. Poffo hasn't been used in quite a long time and WCW was just waiting for the deal to expire. Officials didn't want to release Poffo from his contract for fear that Randy Savage would become upset. The Undertaker has renewed his WWF contract. It is reportedly for 3 years at a lucrative $339,600 per month with a 20% take from events and a 55% merchandise cut as incentives. I have no information if WCW meddled in the contract negotiations, but I would bet they certainly did. Here are the results from WCW Saturday Night this weekend! Brad Armstrong def. Big Bubba Rogers The Amazing French Canadians (No, not the Quebecers) def. Paul Roma & Perry Saturn Dave Taylor def. Jim Duggan Hugh Morrus def. Brian Knobbs Dean Malenko def. Lenny Lane Lance Storm def. Charlie Haas During Saturday Night, WCW President Eric Bischoff gave an update on the Macho Man Randy Savage's condition stemming from the brutal attack he received from the NWO on Nitro. He reported that Savage has a "severe injury" though he did not disclose what that injury is or how long he might be out of action. Dean Malenko also suffered a dislocated shoulder in his match against Lenny Lane. He will be out of action, but he is expected to make it back in time for Fall Brawl. Steve Austin was interviewed on Saturday Night. He stated while he has no problem with Brian Pillman, he's not interested in joining the NWO but stated he also doesn't like the direction that the Horsemen are headed. It appears as though the Horsemen may be falling apart before our very eyes. Harlem Heat challenged the Outsiders to a tag team title rematch at Fall Brawl. We'll have to wait to see if the Outsiders will give a response. Arn Anderson gave a very intense interview, stating he hopes that Brian Pillman is aware of the huge mistake he's made. He vowed to get revenge on Pillman for turning his back on the Horsemen and joining a "group of thugs." Here is the lineup for this week's Monday Nitro! Arn Anderson & Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman & Scott Hall Scotty Riggs vs Wrath Earl Robert Eaton vs Diamond Dallas Page Hugh Morrus & John Tenta vs The James Boys Steve Austin vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 Arn Anderson & Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman & Scott Hall Scotty Riggs vs Wrath Earl Robert Eaton vs Diamond Dallas Page Hugh Morrus & John Tenta vs The James Boys Steve Austin vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHK1989 Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 Brian Pillman & Scott Hall Wrath Diamond Dallas Page Hugh Morrus & John Tenta Steve Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Byron Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 My picks: Brian Pillman and Scott Hall, Wrath, Diamond Dallas Page, the James Boys, and Steve Austin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smw88 Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Brian Pillman & Scott Hall Wrath Diamond Dallas Page Hugh Morrus & John Tenta Steve Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 22, 2023 Author Share Posted April 22, 2023 Week 2, September 1996 LIVE from the Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA Attendance: 19,000 (SELLOUT!) Monday Nitro opens with the usual intro video followed by various crowd shots of the arena. The sold out crowd is in a frenzy tonight and excited for WCW action. Following a series of fireworks explosions, cameras go to the announce booth where Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes welcome everyone. Tony starts off by saying that we are now a week removed from yet another blindside attack by the NWO, as United States Champion Brian Pillman turned his back on his fellow Horsemen and joined the NWO. Bobby remains concerned because the NWO now has the top two prizes in WCW, the world heavyweight title and the US title. The NWO have made it clear they're looking to hold every title WCW has to further tighten their grip on the destruction and death of WCW. The Horsemen group themselves seems to be up in the air not only with Pillman's defection, but also because there was already visible tension from Steve Austin, as he didn't agree with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson's focus turning toward battling the NWO. Heenan says that he wouldn't trust Austin as far as he could throw him. Austin said this weekend on WCW Saturday Night that while he has no interest in joining the NWO, he also has no problem with Pillman and can see why he wanted to get away from the Horsemen. Later that same night, Arn Anderson gave a grim warning to Pillman that he has no idea the Pandora's box he just opened. Speaking of Austin and the Horsemen, we're ready for our first match of the night! Steve Austin vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs Steve Austin came out by himself as the announce team mentioned that Ric Flair and Arn Anderson were not seen arriving to the arena just yet. The opening match was given a generous amount of time which the crowd were firmly in to. Steve Austin gave an excellent performance in the ring, only to be out shone by Ric Flair later on. Chavo did his best to remain competitive and put in some decent offense, but it wasn't enough in the end as Austin hit the Stunner at 14:10 for the victory. Winner: Steve Austin Rating: 81 - Immediately following the match, cameras go backstage to the parking area where a limousine is pulling up. The driver quickly gets out and walks to the back of the car to open the door. The crowd cheers with excitement as the Nature Boy first steps out followed by the Enforcer. Ric appears to be a man on a mission tonight, intense as ever as he heads toward the interior of the arena. Arn walks at his side, with his ever present intense look on his face. Some reporter attempts to get a word from both men but Flair quickly cuts him off, saying Brian Pillman is nothing short of a dead man and he painted a target on his own back. He says no one leaves the Horsemen without paying the price and bleeding, and Pillman better have checked with the local hospital to stock up on his blood type, because Pillman's going to bleed all over Anaheim tonight! Flair says he'll have more to say later on and right now he doesn't want to be bothered. - Rating: 95 Nitro returns from a short commercial break to Mean Gene Okerlund backstage in the interview area with the new WCW Tag Team Champions, the Outsiders. Gene says that the former champions - Harlem Heat - issued a challenge to the Outsiders for a rematch at Fall Brawl for the title belts. Kevin Nash took the question, cocky and confident as ever as he leans an arm on Mean Gene's shoulder. This generates a displeased look from Gene, who simply looks down at Nash's arm and the back up at him. Nash says that the Outsider's would love nothing more than to give Harlem Heat a rematch for the belts and have a night of fine displays of professional wrestling, however, it looks like the Outsider's plate may be just a little full for Fall Brawl. Scott Hall says that everyone wants a piece of the NWO and there's only so many of them to go around. As it looks, Fall Brawl just won't work out for their rematch demand. Rating: 83 Hugh Morrus & John Tenta vs The James Boys vs The Armstrongs put up a valiant fight, but were no match in the end for the pure size and strength of Hugh Morrus and John Tenta. The heavyweights just toyed with the pair as if there was any alternate outcome. John Tenta hit the Tenta Splash on Scott Armstrong followed by Morrus hitting the No Laughing Matter moonsault for the victory at 10:16. Winners: Hugh Morrus & John Tenta Rating: 46 We're backstage once again as Fit Finlay is backstage at a table. Scott Norton walks into the picture and shoulder bumps Finlay. Norton stops and stares at Finlay, who looks back at Norton in return before Norton just walks off down the hallway, leaving Finlay to wonder what that was all about. It appears there may be the beginnings of a feud... Rating: 65 Steamboat: Eddie Guerrero, I put my trust in you. I tried to take you under my wing because I saw potential in you. What'd you do? You betrayed that trust. You betrayed that friendly gesture I gave you. You slapped my hand away when I had it extended and outstretched to help you! Eddie, you may have caught me off guard at Road Wild, you may have succeeded then, but I promise you, you will not have that same luck twice. Once a traitor, always a traitor, Eddie Guerrero. I challenge you. I challenge you to a match at Fall Brawl and in that match, there will be no mercy, there will be no time outs, there will be no pleading! I will show you what happens when you betray a Dragon! Rating: 85 Earl Robert Eaton vs Diamond Dallas Page vs The former Beautiful Bobby showed everyone in this match that he can still pull out some good moves every once and awhile. Diamond Dallas Page proved that he's an up and comer in WCW and put on a solid performance. This was pretty much a straightforward wrestling match as Eaton didn't look to cheat too much. DDP got the victory at 10:03 with a Diamond Cutter. Winner: Diamond Dallas Page Rating: 76 Nitro returns from another commercial break to Mean Gene standing in the center of the ring. Horses begin to gallop in the arena which brings the crowd to their feet as the music of the 4 Horsemen play and Ric Flair and Arn Anderson emerge from the stage entrance and head to the ring. Mean Gene: Nature Boy, Arn Anderson, you undoubtedly want to touch on the events from last week, but I can't help notice there's another current member of the Horsemen missing. Flair: Gene Okerlund, I'll field that one. It's real simple with me and the Enforcer! You're either a Horseman and you run with the Horsemen, or you're not, and you don't! Steve Austin has his opinion on the direction of where the Horsemen are headed, well let me tell you this, Austin - The Horsemen were created by, and will always be run by, the two men you see standing in this ring right now! You fall in line and hop on, or you get off the train and get outta the way, pal! This isn't some kind of democracy where your vote counts! So if you want to piss and moan around and complain about the Horsemen, after last week's events pal, I have no interest in dealing with you too!! Now as to Pillman!!!!! Pillman!!!!!! You're a punk! A PUNK! The nerve you had last week to turn your back on the two people who made you in this sport?!?!!? Pillman, when I get my hands around your skinny little neck tonight, God as my witness, I'm never gonna let go!!! You, without a doubt, tonight, will pay the price for what you did! Not only that, Pillman, but you're gonna bleed all over this ring! You're going to wish you never turned your back on me and the Enforcer! But it won't end after tonight! After I make you suffer! Oh no! It doesn't end there because Fall Brawl is coming up and War Games needs a match! I'm gonna do, and the Enforcer's gonna do, what we should've done from the very beginning! We're going to end the NWO once and for all! We're going to make all of you scream and beg for mercy! The Horsemen are going to stand inside that steel cage and show the NWO why that match was created FOR the Horsemen! Mean Gene: Now wait a minute, Nature Boy! There's only two of you if you're saying Steve Austin is in limbo and there's 4 members, at least, of the NWO! You can't go into War Games at a disadvantage like that!!! Flair: The hell we can't, Gene! The hell we can't! If you think for one second that the Enforcer and I are intimidated by some punks and cowards like the NWO, then you've had the wool pulled over your eyes too! They woke up a beast last week, Gene, that they're going to regret they ever messed with! Not only tha---- - Flair's attention is moved to a couple of men who are now entering the ring. The crowd had started just a few moments earlier looking in the direction of the entrance, but cameras didn't follow. They back up to see who's entering the ring. - Mean Gene: Hold on just a minute; Harlem Heat?! What are you gentlemen doing out here?! Booker T: Now hold on just a damn minute, Mean Gene! Let's get one thing straight, right now. Nature Boy, I know you've got revenge to get on Brian Pillman and the NWO, but facts are this; the Horsemen aren't the only ones who are looking at getting some revenge on the NWO! What you're doing is holding the tag team titles hostage for Fall Brawl, meaning Harlem Heat can't get the titles back that we never shoulda lost in the first place! We just heard the Outsider's earlier say they're too busy to defend the tag titles against Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl, so I say this; We may not like each other, and that's fine and all, but that don't mean we can't team up with each other to take care of business! And facts are, there's nothing more WCW than the Horsemen and Harlem Heat! So the way I see it, Nature Boy, is the two Horsemen can team up with the two brother's from Harlem, and take out all those punk cowards in the NWO! - After a loud crowd reaction to the offer, yet one more person emerges from the stage entrance, which this time the camera catches. - Luger: Booker T, Stevie Ray, I appreciate the fact that the two of you come out here and want to stick up for WCW, but I can't help but come out here to correct you on a few things. Namely, if anyone's going to have a spot at War Games, it's going to be myself and the Stinger! From day one, me and the Stinger are the two guys who have been standing up for WCW against the Outsiders and the NWO! The fact of the matter is, the Outsiders turned you down for a title rematch at Fall Brawl, so now you want to get your hands on them inside War Games! I can appreciate that and everything, and Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, I know you both want to get back at Brian Pillman for what he did last week, but those facts also remain the same! Me and the Stinger are a sure lock for War Games, and anyone else, including the four of you, are going to have to battle it out yourselves! Sting begged anyone else to step up to the plate to defend WCW and it's not my fault or anyone else's fault that you all showed up late to the game! Now that the Macho Man is out for the foreseeable future, you all can decide amongst yourselves who's gonna be in! Mean Gene: Speaking of Sting, Lex Luger, where is he?! Luger: The Stinger's not here tonight, Gene, but I can promise you, I have his blessing in all of this! Me and the Stinger aren't asking anyone's permission to be in War Games or team with people; we're DEMANDING that we're two of the men in that match fighting for WCW! As far as I'm concerned, this is non-negotiable and if anyone of you or anyone else in the back has a problem with it, then they can take it up with me or the Stinger in this ring! Mean Gene: Oh my goodness!!! I wouldn't want to be any of the members of the NWO right now, as they clearly have people coming after them in all directions! Tony, Bobby, Dusty Rhodes, back to you all! Rating: 95 Scotty Riggs vs Wrath vs This was a quick match and Scotty Riggs' impressive dropkick wasn't enough to get him to overcome the shear power of Wrath. The match ended at 6:38 after Wrath hit the Meltdown. Winner: Wrath Rating: 53 Mean Gene continues to get his work in on tonight's Nitro as he's now backstage with the TV Champion. Gene asks Regal about the challenge he's received from Brad Armstrong. Regal laughs and says it isn't even a real challenge. Someone like Brad Armstrong has no business being in the same building as the lordship, much less the same wrestling ring. If Armstrong is really interested in receiving the beating of his life, then he'll give him one at Fall Brawl. Rating: 88 Arn Anderson & Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman & Scott Hall vs This match was pure chaos from the beginning. The NWO made their way to the ring first and Ric Flair and Arn Anderson sprinted to the ring and began fighting before the bell even sounded. The referee tried his best to gain control of the match and get both teams to their corners, but just when it looked like things were under control, the brawl would erupt again. Hollywood Hogan and Kevin Nash made their way to the ring during the wild fight and would get involved at every given opportunity. It was impossible for the referee to have eyes everywhere. At one moment he would be paying attention to the fight going on between Brian Pillman and Ric Flair and the other NWO members would beat on Arn Anderson. Things traded this way until the match was finally under some sort of control, getting the illegal man to his corner. Anderson took over the match and maliciously beat down Pillman, who mercifully tagged out to Scott Hall. Hall didn't fare any better though, as the Enforcer took the fight straight to one half of the tag team champions. Some double team moves and cheap shots allowed the NWO to take control, which they did for considerable time, cutting Anderson off from making a tag to the Nature Boy. Each time Anderson got close to tagging, the NWO would cut it off. This caused not only the crowd to build with tension and excitement, but Flair became a man possessed, determined to get tagged in the ring. Anderson was eventually able to dodge an attack from Brian Pillman and allowed him to make the hot tag to Flair. When I say "hot tag", I mean HOT. The roof blew off the arena when the tag was made and Flair entered on fire. Pillman quickly bailed out of the ring and Hall entered, but Flair stopped him in his tracks. After several chops and a low blow right in front of the referee, Hall dropped to the mat. Flair motioned for the Figure Four and grabbed Hall's leg, and that's when all hell broke loose. The NWO rushed the ring and Nash hit a clubbing blow to the back of Flair's neck. The referee immediately called for the bell at 18:08, but that didn't matter. Winners by DQ: Ric Flair & Arn Anderson Rating: 93 The bell rang but the NWO continued their assault. Nash floored the referee with a big right hand as Hollywood Hogan began laying the boots in on Flair. Pillman had now re-entered the ring and was joining in on the beatdown. Before long, cans of spraypaint were starting to be distributed among the NWO members before the crowd blew up again in excitement... The Total Package rushed to the ring while on commentary Bobby Heenan said he could be a new member of the NWO. This generated shocking denials from Dusty and Tony as Luger slid in the ring and rushed at every NWO member still in the ring. Pillman, Hall, and Nash all bailed from the ring before Luger could get his hands on them. Hogan had already bailed out while Luger was running to the ring. Nitro faded to an end as Luger was helping Flair and Anderson to their feet, while maintaining holding the NWO off from entering the ring again. Rating: 90 Final Show Rating: 92 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 Week 3, September 1996 LIVE from the Molson Centre - Montreal, Quebec Attendance: 15,000 (SELLOUT!) Monday Nitro kicks off this week with a crowd shot of the sold out arena as WCW visits Canada for the first time for the show! The crowd is amped up and ready for action this week as Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay welcome everyone to the weekly show. A recap video is played from last week's Nitro where Harlem Heat and Lex Luger confronted Ric Flair and Arn Anderson after claiming they wanted the NWO inside War Games at Fall Brawl. The video then transitioned into the main event where Lex Luger came in for the save to help Flair and Anderson. The video once again transitioned into this weekend on WCW Saturday Night where Lex Luger said he came out to help the two Horsemen and Sting would have if he were in the arena, signaling that it should be them that is inside the cage at Fall Brawl. Tony says there's a ton to unpack regarding that situation and we're just now under 2 weeks away from Fall Brawl. Tony says the main event tonight is a tag team match between the Outsiders and Ric Flair and Arn Anderson and it will be for the WCW tag team titles. In the meantime, we're kicking off the night with our first match! Eddie Guerrero vs Scott Steiner vs Eddie Guerrero comes out not as noticeably happy-go-lucky as fans were accustomed. Despite his change of attitude, the match was superb and highly competitive. Steiner utilized his superior mat-based wrestling skill to his advantage while Eddie used his flying skills. Steiner was still able to do some of his own high-flying offense to his advantage but Eddie was the better performer in the match, though just barely. The match ended in 14:45 when Steiner was able to connect with a top rope Frankensteiner for the win. Winner: Scott Steiner Rating: 74 Again this week, Mean Gene is starting his work early tonight. He welcomes out once again to Nitro Ric Flair and Arn Anderson who come out to a good reaction from the crowd. Flair's popularity has noticeably jumped since last month and the crowd has really taken to him since his battles with the NWO have begun. Gene wastes no time getting down to business as Flair and Anderson take their place. Mean Gene: Nature Boy, last week on this program, you and the Enforcer took on Brian Pillman and Scott Hall. Things broke down during the match and you and Arn Anderson found yourselves vastly outnumbered until Lex Luger ran off the NWO. This all happened after the Total Package and Harlem Heat made their case to be a part of War Games at Fall Brawl. Then, this past weekend on Saturday Night, Lex Luger said it was he, not Harlem Heat, that came down to help you and the Enforcer, adding in that Sting would also be there to help if he were in the building.... Flair: Mean Gene, if there's anyone who knows the history of Lex Luger and Sting better than myself and the Enforcer, I'm yet to meet them! I've had a lot to think about, and the Enforcer's had a lot to think about since last week and I'm humble enough to admit when someone has a point, and Lex Luger, you've got a point! So what I'm asking right now is for you, Lex Luger, and you, Sting, to come out here right now, because the Nature Boy and the Enforcer have something to say to the both of you! - There's a buzz in the air as Flair and Anderson turn toward the entrance to await the arrival of Sting and Lex Luger. Mean Gene is beside himself and asks if he should be worried about any kind of physical confrontation before he's assured by Arn Anderson with a pat on the shoulder. - - A moment goes by before Lex Luger comes walking out from the entrance and heads to the ring with no music, and, notably, no Sting. - Gene: Lex Luger, you've been asked out here along with Sting, so where is he??? Luger: Mean Gene, the Stinger's not here again tonight, but you could say I'm somewhat of an ambassador again for the Stinger here tonight. Nature Boy, I'm sure you've had a lot to think about over the last week, but you can't deny the fact that last week, I came out here to help you and the Enforcer where no one else did! Flair: Like I said, Luger, I'm not ashamed to admit you made one hell of a point last week. The fact is, while me and the Horsemen were just concerned about ourselves, you and Sting stepped up to the plate against the Outsiders! You did it when nobody else was! So the way I see it, Luger, is you and Sting have more claiming rights to be in War Games than anyone else! But...BUT! The way I also see it, is War Games was a match created by the Horsemen, for the Horsemen, so it wouldn't seem right if a match that holds the very fate of WCW in its proverbial hands took place without the Horsemen! Everyone knows that Steve Austin has his own issues with the direction that the Horsemen are headed, so I'll say this right now to you, and believe me, pal, this is only gonna be a one time offer.....So Sting may not be here again tonight, but since you're out here to speak for him, I'm only gonna say this once! Me and the Enforcer are willing to step inside War Games with you and Sting to take on the NWO if that's what you want...But like I said, big man, this offer is only going to be extended once, so you better be able to decide right here tonight! You said you're able to speak for Sting on this topic, so I've gotta know, and the Enforcer has to know, right now! Luger: Nature Boy, we've had our own battles as recent as just a few weeks ago. Arn Anderson, the same goes for you. Neither one of you are strangers to me or the Stinger! But what that also means is that you both are very familiar with the kind of people we are! You know we hold up our end of the deal, and you both know that we're able and willing to set our own differences aside for the good of WCW! After we're done getting the NWO out of here, if you both want to go back to battling me and the Stinger, well then you have my full on blessing! But as far as War Games goes, I'll watch your backs, the Stinger will watch your backs, and together I don't think there's anyone the NWO can put forward to defeat us! Anderson: Hold on just a minute, Lex Luger. There's just one thing I've gotta say about this whole situation. Now me and the Nature Boy have spoken at length about this and we're both in agreement, cause there's nothing more precious in this business than a best friend and someone you can count on! That's what I have with the Nature Boy and that's what you have with Sting....But I've got to ask you, Lex Luger....You've got the body, for sure...You've chiseled yourself into perfection and, dare I say, no one's done it better! But, and that's a big but, War Games isn't for the faint of heart! War Games isn't for the weak! War Games is as vicious as it comes and you've got to be willing to dig deep down into the pits of yourself to maybe do things you wouldn't normally do! When you're being brutally attacked by several people all at one time, you've got to have the guts to be able to withstand it! You've got to be able to never give up and never surrender! You've got to be even nastier than the other men standing across that ring from you! Can you do it, Luger?!? Are you able to find that mean streak that's necessary for War Games??? Because if not, me and Ric Flair will find someone else who does! On the flip side, and since you're out here to speak for him cause he ain't here, what about Sting??? He's always been so concerned about being a role model for all those little Stingers. He's always been about being the good guy! He's always been about doing the right thing! Can Sting find that vicious streak deep down within himself? Can Sting, for one night, and one night only, not care about what all those little Stinger's think??? Can he take one night where he might have to NOT do the right thing???? Cause see, War Games isn't about doing the right thing! War Games is about being more violent than your opponents! War Games isn't about talent, War Games is about brutality! So my question, Lex Luger, is can you and Sting be all of those things??? If so, you've got a deal. Luger: Arn, Sting and I are no strangers to War Games and we've been in it just about as much as you and the Nature Boy. In all those times, in all those years of being in War Games, some of those times even against the both of you, have you ever asked those questions and not been able to say that me and the Stinger are more than capable of holding our own??? Sting and I have no problem being violent, and especially if it is in the name of WCW! Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, you both have a deal! Rating: 95 Scott Norton & Big Bubba Rogers vs Fit Finlay & Diamond Dallas Page vs This match mostly centered around the new feud between Scott Norton and Fit Finlay. Diamond Dallas Page vastly out performed all the other competitors in this match and the crowd took to him well. In a bit of a shock, Big Bubba got the pin fall victory over Diamond Dallas Page at 9:37, albeit after some dirty underhanded tactics. Winners: Norton & Bubba Rating: 68 Lex Luger vs Lord Steven Regal vs This was quite a good match and the crowd were solidly behind the Total Package, who had tons of momentum going for him in this match. It was a classic good guy vs bad guy match as Regal tried to cheat as much as possible but it was mostly thwarted by Luger. Lex used a ton of power moves to keep Regal rocking through most of the match. After a few clotheslines and the bionic forearm, it was time for the Torture Rack, which Luger locked in and got the submission at 11:46. Winner: Lex Luger Rating: 78 Following a commercial break, Steve Austin is in a backstage promo area and begins as soon as Nitro returns. Austin: After months of running through WCW, after months of proving dominance, after months of making a name for myself and after months of making the Four Horsemen a dominant faction once again, what happens??? The leaders of the Four Horsemen decide to run off track and start playing second fiddle to the NWO! I have done everything I could possibly do to make the Horsemen a feared group once again! Nobody was afraid of the Horsemen for a long time and all of that changed at the flip of a dime when Steve Austin joined the Horsemen! Well Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, if the two of you wanna go run in the shadow of the NWO and play right in their hands, be my guest! I sure as hell ain't gonna play second fiddle to no one and I'm not gonna waste my time with it! The sad reality is the decisions the two of you are making cost us the United States championship and it cost us Brian Pillman turning his back on the two of you and joining the NWO! All because of you both losing focus on what's really important; Dominance and titles! Well if that's what you want, that's what you want, but I sure as hell don't want to be a part of it! So the way I see it, you go off and play with the NWO. You go off and team up with people I've just spent months fighting against, all in the name of the Horsemen! You go and trash every ounce of legitimacy I've built back up for the Horsemen! You go do that, and I'll go and do my thing because if there's one thing Steve Austin can't stand is wasting my time! Rating: 100 Remaining backstage but this time in the interview position, Mean Gene is with Harlem Heat and Sensuous Sherri. Harlem Heat say their priority is getting back the tag team titles and they're not going to stop until they get them back. Booker T says that if the Outsiders are going to avoid them for Fall Brawl, then right here next week on Monday Nitro, they want a tag team title match. If Arn Anderson and Ric Flair end up winning the titles tonight, then next week they beat them for the belts. For Harlem Heat, it isn't about friendships, it's about dominating the tag team division and winning titles. Booker says that after they reclaim the tag belts, they want the gold...Hulk Hogan, they're coming for you......... SUCKA! Rating: 81 Earl Robert Eaton vs Brad Armstrong vs The Earl once again had himself a rough week as he tried to relive his glory days. Brad Armstrong continues to be considered a major player in WCW. Armstrong got one step closer to that goal after he was able to get the win at 7:30 following a Russian Legsweep. Winner: Brad Armstrong Rating: 54 The Dragon is backstage for a promo, talking about Eddie Guerrero. His promo is very similar to the one from last week, which is why it didn't come off nearly as well as the one a week before. Steamboat again mentions that he's going to show Eddie what happens when you turn on a Dragon. Rating: 66 The Amazing French Canadians vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Scott Armstrong vs The Amazing French Canadians (no, not the Quebecers) continued their climb up the WCW tag team ladder and Jacques was on fire tonight, most likely because he was in front of his hometown crowd. His performance, while very good, was also leaps ahead of all the other competitors. Rougeau picked up the win for his team at 9:32 after making Armstrong submit in the Boston Crab. Winners: The Amazing French Canadians Rating: 63 A hype video is played for Wrath. It's mostly a collection of several matches where he's dominating his opponents and hitting many high-impact moves along with a series of highlights of his Meltdown finisher. Rating: 38 Another backstage interview segment this time features Scott Steiner. Mean Gene says that despite a loss of the TV title, Scott Steiner has continued to be on the war path in WCW and in dominant fashion. Steiner says that years of hard work and determination are beginning to pay off and while his brother's out of action, he's going to try and have the greatest singles run that he possibly can. Steiner says there's no limit for his success and wants to go down as the best athlete, not just in WCW, but in the entire world. Steiner wants to be a champion that people can be proud of and mentions that Brian Pillman isn't that. Steiner gives warning to Brian Pillman that he might be in the NWO and the NWO might be in War Games, but Pillman is also obligated to defend that belt. Steiner says he's coming for Pillman and the US title one way or another. Rating: 96 Tag Team Titles: Arn Anderson & Ric Flair vs The Outsiders vs This tag team match started much like the one did last week, however, the Outsiders worked very well as a team and managed to cut Flair off early on. They took turns with quick tags and isolated Flair on their side of the ring before Flair was able to turn the tides after a low blow. Anderson had managed to distract the referee to allow Flair to hit the illegal move. Flair was able to make a tag and things continued to go back and forth for awhile for both teams. It was turning into an actual wrestling match until the Enforcer was able to hit a Spinebuster on Scott Hall. As it looked like the Horsemen were going to try and end the match, Hollywood Hogan and Brian Pillman made their way to the ring. Pillman, naturally, got in the ring first and wasted no time brawling with Ric Flair. Hogan got in the ring and both he and Nash went after Arn Anderson. Once Hall was able to recover, he joined in the beat down on Flair. Unable to gain control of the match and due to the interference, the referee officially declared this match a no contest at 17:24. Winners: No Contest Rating: 75 As the bell continued to sound, the NWO ignored that along with the referee trying to separate the men. Kevin Nash tossed the referee from the ring as the attack by the NWO on the remaining Horsemen continued. The crowd roared to life as Lex Luger emerged from the entrance and ran to the ring, all while Bobby Heenan again remained skeptical that Luger could be trusted. Luger slid in the ring and was immediately attacked by Hogan and the world title, along with Scott Hall. Luger never even had a chance to help as he was beaten down in the ring alongside Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. Hall hit the Outsider's Edge on Ric Flair while Hogan hit a series of Leg Drops on Luger. Once they were all satisfied with their attack and ensured that all the men were down, the spray paint made it's appearance. Luger, Flair, and Anderson all got "NWO" painted on their backs as the Nitro credits appeared on the screen. Nitro faded out as Hogan was yelling into the camera that no one was going to be able to stop the NWO. Rating: 88 Final Show Rating: 82 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted April 26, 2023 Author Share Posted April 26, 2023 Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm Mean Gene Okerlund bringing you this week's WCW Hotline Report! We are heading into the final Monday Nitro before Fall Brawl and War Games and things are definitely heating up! The World Wrestling Federation held their "In Your House" Pay Per View for the month of September. The main event of the night saw Psycho Sid Vicious defeat The British Bulldog for the WWF World Heavyweight title. Let's see if he can have a better reign than Davey Boy Smith. Sticking with WWF news; the apparent experiment with the Ultimate Warrior as their figurehead has ended. Vince McMahon was apparently not happy with how Warrior was performing as the company focus and, much to the fury of Warrior, was removed. In going in a totally different direction, they have selected Shawn Michaels to be the new figurehead. Michael's is said to be "extremely happy" at the change. ECW has fallen in size and are now considered "small." Jerry Sags and Teddy Long are no longer with WCW as their contracts expired. We wish them the best going forward. In some major news; Television Champion Lord Steven Regal suffered a significant injury at a house show earlier this week. Word is he sustained a complete ACL tear and is expected to be out of action for at least 6 months. Regal is set to meet with a doctor later this week to evaluate his options. I'm told that Eric Bischoff will address the TV title situation this week on Nitro. Some big events took place this weekend on WCW Saturday Night! Steve Austin said he is officially done with the Four Horsemen after their alliance with Lex Luger. Austin said that the Nature Boy and Enforcer are now in the center of his sights. Continuing with Horsemen business, Ric Flair was furious that Sting again was absent from Saturday Night this week and remains unseen since Road Wild last month. Flair told Lex Luger that he demands Sting make an appearance this week on Monday Nitro or else he will not be welcome on the team for War Games. Tune in to Nitro to see if Sting will respond to the Nature Boy. Here is the card for Monday Nitro! Week 4, September 1996 LIVE from the Lawrence Joel Coliseum - Winston-Salem, NC Tag Team Titles: Harlem Heat vs The Outsiders (c) Hugh Morrus vs Scott Steiner Brad Armstrong vs Big Bubba Rogers Alex Wright vs Sgt. Craig Pittman Steve Armstrong vs Fit Finlay Scott Armstrong vs Wrath Scotty Riggs vs Carl Oulette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falling_star Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 Just jumping into this as I love the era! Winners in italics. Tag Team Titles: Harlem Heat vs The Outsiders (c) Hugh Morrus vs Scott Steiner Brad Armstrong vs Big Bubba Rogers Alex Wright vs Sgt. Craig Pittman Steve Armstrong vs Fit Finlay Scott Armstrong vs Wrath Scotty Riggs vs Carl Oulette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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