Lord Byron Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 My picks: Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash, Wrath, The Amazing French Canadians, American Males, Alex Wright, and Dean Malenko... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted June 16, 2023 Author Share Posted June 16, 2023 Week 2, November 1996 LIVE from the Key Arena - Seattle, WA Attendance: 16,508 - It might be cold outside, but inside the arena is HOT tonight as the intro video for WCW Monday Nitro is played followed by several crowd shots before focusing on the stage to display a glorious accoutrement of fireworks. Eric Bischoff is once again at the head of the announce position tonight, joined by Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay. The lineup for tonight's show is given followed by a brief recap from last week when Lex Luger ran in to save Scott Steiner from yet another vicious NWO attack. Tonight in the main event, they will team up against Hollywood Hogan and Kevin Nash. World War 3 is rapidly approaching, despite feeling like we just passed Halloween Havoc, and two matches are now confirmed; a TV title match and the 60 man battle royal to determine the #1 contender to the World Heavyweight title. Bobby says if he were a betting man, more matches will be confirmed for WW3 tonight. Just then, trumpets begin to sound off inside the arena which causes the packed house to all look to the stage and get to their feet, screaming in anticipation. The Nature Boy struts out, looking only as he can look in his custom suit before stopping at the bottom of the ramp to give a WOOO! out to the fans who all yell back. Flair gets in the ring and is handed a microphone from the ring announcer. The music fades out and Flair takes a moment to look out to the crowd, which only causes them to get louder. - Flair: If anyone was mistaken to believe that only the East coast is Ric Flair and Horsemen country, then they've never been to Seattle!!!!! Just over a week ago, I faced Steve Austin at Halloween Havoc. Everyone saw that Austin couldn't beat the Nature Boy without some illegal assistance! But you know what?!?!? That's fine with me! You know why?!?! Because I'm RIC FLAIR, PAL! Steve Austin thinks he's so tough?!? Steve Austin's got nothing on me! I'm the Nature Boy!!!! A 14-time worlds heavyweight champion!!! You think I care if Austin uses a weapon?!?! Hell, I invented playing dirty! I'm the dirtiest player in the game!!!! Steve Austin, you can't out-do me, pal!!! Last week, it was clear that things between us aren't over, and you know what?!? That's perfectly fine with me, because Austin, I haven't beat the hell out of you enough just yet! You wanna use weapons?!?! You wanna make the Nature Boy bleed?!?! Then how about this; You, ME, World War 3, and we make it a FIRST BLOOD match?!?!? Then you can use all the weapons you want, Austin! I'll use all the weapons I want, I'll beat the living hell out of you again, and then, after it's all said and done, you'll say "You were right Nature Boy! You are the dirtiest player in the game!!" And then after that....After that!!! I'll take all the girls in my stretch limo and party the rest of the night out on the town because I am; A Kiss Stealin' WOOOOO! Wheelin', dealin' Limousine Ridin', Jet Flyin', SON OF A GUN!! And Austin! At World War 3, I'm gonna KICK YOUR ASS! WOOOOOOOOOOO! Rating: 100 Dean Malenko vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs Chavo is still looking for that elusive win, one he hasn't experienced since August. Once again though, the deck was stacked against him as not only did he have Dean Malenko to contend with, but also his manager, Francine. Every time Chavo started to mount some offense, Francine would either distract him or flat out interfere. The match did go on for quite awhile though, and Chavo did put up a fight, but it just wasn't enough. Malenko locked in the Texas Cloverleaf and it was all over at 14:48. Winner: Dean Malenko Rating: 66 Ooh, Ooh! The Space Needle isn't the only landmark worth seeing in Seattle. Alex Wright's bratwurst causes it's own Super Sonic boom! Alex Wright vs Lance Storm vs Alex Wright danced his way into the ring, which didn't impress Lance Storm quite so much. Storm actually had the better performance in the match but Alex Wright is the one who came away with the victory. Wright won with a top rope flying body splash at 8:23. Winner: Alex Wright Rating: 33 Mean Gene is backstage and welcomes his guest, following a commercial break. Arn Anderson steps into the picture and Gene welcomes him. Mean Gene asks about Anderson's ominous interview last week and says he's done quite a bit of digging, but is coming up blank with anything the Enforcer might be suggesting. Double A says for Gene not to worry, because he IS paying attention and he is continuing to get closer to some underlying issues within WCW. Anderson says he's lining up a few more things and when the time is right, he's going to reveal everything he's discovered. Anderson says that maybe next week he might have more to say. Something that just might shake WCW to its very foundation. Rating: 89 American Males vs Big Bubba & John Tenta vs The American Males were looking to continue their winning ways lately but tonight's task was much more massive. The Males were having a string of issues before managing to put together some consecutive wins. Bagwell and Riggs started out on fire and working fluidly as a team. They took advantage of their superior work as a team to isolate Big Bubba and kept him on the defensive with their speed. That all came to an end though when Bubba was able to make the tag to Tenta. Riggs went for a drop kick only for Tenta to swat him away like a fly. After some offense by Tenta, Riggs made the tag to bring in Bagwell who ended up having some success. With Tenta reeling, Bagwell ran to the ropes, looking for some kind of attack. Unfortunately, Scotty Riggs didn't see Bagwell running to the ropes and was taunting out to the crowd. Riggs was standing on the center of the apron and Bagwell crashed into him. Riggs fell to the floor while Bagwell staggered into a waiting John Tenta where he hit him with a huge Belly to Belly suplex. The referee counted the pin fall at 7:47. Winners: Big Bubba & John Tenta Rating: 64 The NWO music plays in the arena and all the fans get on their feet. Hollywood Hogan comes out first through the fog, playing the World Title like a guitar. Brian Pillman comes out alongside Hogan with his US title slung over his shoulder. Following him is the fake Sting and, finally, Kevin Nash emerges through the fog with his arms in the air and flashing the Wolfpac sign. The NWO is all smiles as they walk down the ramp, but they all stop in the aisle just off the base of the ramp. The camera moves in to Hollywood Hogan who says he has a surprise for everyone as all the NWO members point toward the stage entrance. The camera moves up the ramp and toward the entrance as a figure begins to emerge from the fog, which brings another roar from the crowd.... Heenan: No!!! They got her too!?!? - Miss Elizabeth walks out with a bashful smile on her face as she walks down the ramp to the NWO members. She stops short at Hollywood Hogan who gives her a hug before turning back to the camera and taunting. They all make their way to the ring where, once in, Hogan hands the world title over to Elizabeth who happily holds it while Hogan gets a microphone. - Hogan: Just so everybody's clear, allow me to introduce to all you pukes the newest member of the NWO.....The fabulous Miss Elizabeth!!! - Elizabeth unzips her black leather jacket to reveal an NWO shirt underneath. While a large majority of fans are cheering, there are plenty of boo's heard from the audience and the trash begins to get thrown in the ring as Hogan continues. - I want everyone to take a good look, because now that we've got an official manager on the books, we have someone to look out for all of the NWO interests and properties! This means that the rest of the members of the NWO can focus on the task at hand...At overtaking WCW and making every single member of WCW bend at the knee to the NWO!! So that Hollywood can continue to defend the NWO Heavyweight title! So Brian Pillman can continue to go down in history as the greatest United States champion that ever lived! So the Stinger can continue to be the top athlete!! So the big man, Kevin Nash, can continue to dominate!! And so Scott Hall, when he returns, will continue to strike fear and make every single wrestler shake in their boots!!! The NWO will continue our sheer dominance and complete the takeover of WCW!! And when it's all said and done, everyone will recognize Hollywood to be the true God of professional wrestling, and everyone will worship the ground that I spit on, brother! Rating: 82 Nitro returns from another commercial break and Mean Gene is inside the ring. He brings out Ricky Steamboat as his guest and says that ever since Eddie Guerrero turned his back on him at Road Wild, the two have had quite the battle. The battle turned up a notch at Halloween Havoc but things don't appear to have been settled there, with Eddie showing "proof" last week that Steamboat cheated to win. Ricky says that's an insult to his never-say-die attitude he has in the ring. He says he came back to prove to not just the fans that he still has some left in the tank, but also to prove to himself. Ricky says he'll take on Eddie Guerrero one more time at World War 3 and he says this time there will be no excuses for his losing. Steamboat challenges Eddie to an Iron Man match. Gene says that an Iron Man match would be grueling for them both to compete in and then fight in the battle royal. Steamboat says standing up for what's right and defending your honor is more important than any title. Ricky says he would skip the battle royal just to get Eddie in the match. Eddie's music hits and he walks out to the stage. He laughs and says that Steamboat truly doesn't know when to quit, so maybe at WW3 he'll collapse from exhaustion. Eddie continues to insult Steamboat by saying he's too old to last in an Iron Man match for 60 minutes, so he'll agree to a 30 minute Iron Man match and when he wins, he'll run Steamboat out of WCW for good! Rating: 94 The Amazing French Canadians vs Perry Saturn & Paul Roma vs The French Canadians were looking to change their recent fortunes in this match as they took on what could be considered a "lower" team of Saturn & Roma. The problem for the Canadians though, was that this is exactly how they entered the match and probably were a little too over confident. Roma used his veteran knowledge and paired with Saturn's young desire to win, they ended up picking up the shocking win at 9:54. Jacques Rougeau had the performance of the match. Winners: Perry Saturn & Paul Roma Rating: 55 - DDP is backstage doing some stretching, which is unknown why really, as he doesn't have a match tonight. In the middle of a leg stretch, the TV champions attention is diverted. The cameras pan back to see why. The NWO all stand together and Nash has a metal pipe in hand. Page looks around briefly but quickly realizes that he's cornered in. No words are exchanged before the attack begins, first by Brian Pillman. The rest soon follow with the attack as they all beat DDP down before walking off and leaving him on the floor. Bischoff wonders why the NWO would attack DDP unprovoked and Tenay just responds "Because they can and there's yet to be anyone to stop them!" - Rating: 95 Wrath vs Mike Barton vs Wrath looked to continue his dominating ways in WCW but had a tougher task at hand against Mike Barton, who's proven himself to be one of WCW's toughest on the roster. Barton managed to take most of what Wrath threw at him, but after a huge powerslam, followed by a bicycle kick and then the Meltdown, Wrath got the win at 8:02. Despite being a heel, Wrath's popularity has noticeably increased in the last month and he's getting louder crowd reactions. Winner: Wrath Rating: 64 In a different change of pace, Dusty Rhodes is standing by backstage with the Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart and the Faces of Fear. Dusty tells Jimmy that the Fearsters have established themselves as a top competitive team in WCW and, along with Harlem Heat, have battled for those belts and risen the competitive level within the tag team division. Jimmy Hart claims all of the praise should go to the Faces of Fear, as they've never backed down from a challenge and aren't afraid to face anyone, yet when in discussions of greatest teams in wrestling's history, you don't hear the Faces of Fear get brought up. Harlem Heat, the Steiners, and even the Outsiders get all the praise. Jimmy Hart says that will all change, and change very soon, because they're challenging Harlem Heat for those titles at World War 3. He says when they win the titles for a second time, maybe then people will give them their just due. Rating: 78 Backstage interviews continue, this time with Mean Gene at a different part of the backstage area. This time he's with Scott Norton and begins his leading question. Before he can even finish, there's a commotion off camera that gets both Gene and Norton's attention. Fit Finlay barges into camera view and steps right up to Scott Norton. He says a few challenging words to him and it doesn't take long before a full blown fight breaks out between the two. Mean Gene scampers off screen while the two brawl it out and the cameras switch back out to the arena for the main event. Rating: 76 Lex Luger & Scott Steiner vs Hollywood Hogan & Kevin Nash vs In a strong show of WCW unison, Luger and Steiner walked out together and to the ring. Bischoff called that a much needed show of solidarity between WCW members as the NWO have had their way with them and there doesn't seem to be anyone who can stop them. For their part, Nash and Hogan made fun of their opponents, mocking them holding hands and being best friends. Steiner didn't have any of the fun and games as the match began and took it straight to Nash. He used all kinds of power moves to overwhelm the co-founder of the NWO who clearly underestimated him. Nash eventually tagged out and Hogan tried his luck against his proverbial thorn in his side for the past couple of months. Steiner took advantage early on but Hogan managed to cheat his way back to control. From there, the NWO members did a good job of working together to cut off Steiner from his corner. The beatdown continued as Luger begged to be tagged in and he started to get the crowd heavily behind him. Steiner fought his way toward his corner but Hogan entered, getting the referee's attention. Steiner made the tag to the delight of the fans and Luger started the assault on Hogan, only the referee cut him off. Luger was ordered back to his corner because the referee was distracted and never saw the tag. Luger was furious but exited at the referees direction while Nash and Hogan swapped illegally without a tag. Hogan knocked Steiner down and went for his Leg Drop, but Steiner moved out of the way. Both men got to their feet and Steiner ducked a swing from Hogan and fired back with a Steinerline. Nash saw the trouble that was coming and ran in despite the referee's best attempt to stop him and hit Steiner from behind. Hogan and Nash then whipped Steiner to the opposite ropes but on return, Steiner ducked a double clothesline attempt and on return, hit his own double clothesline. All three men were down and Steiner began his slow crawl to his corner. Luger's hand was stretched as far as it would go, begging for the tag and the crowd on the edge of their seats, waiting for it. In what seemed an eternity, Steiner finally got close enough to make the tag. The referee confirmed it and the roof blew off the arena as Luger rushed in and made a beeline straight for Hogan who was desperately begging him off. It was no use though as Luger began a flurry of punches followed by a clothesline, then another clothesline before tapping his forearm and motioning for the bionic forearm. The crowd got loud again as Hogan went down after the forearm and Luger popped up to his feet and looked to the crowd. They all knew what was next and the fans furiously began motioning for the Torture Rack before Luger did the same. Bobby Heenan said how he couldn't even hear his fellow commentators, the arena was that loud. Luger grabbed Hogan and just as he lifted him up in the Rack.... Brian Pillman and "Sting" slide in the ring and begin jumping Luger. Trash immediately begins to flood the ring as Nash has regained his composure and resumed attacking Steiner. The bell sounded and the referee declared a disqualification at 11:39. Winners by DQ: Lex Luger & Scott Steiner Rating: 90 In typical NWO fashion, things didn't stop there. The NWO continued their outnumbered attack on Lex Luger and Scott Steiner. Hogan tossed the referee out of the ring while the others went to their attacks. Pillman uses the US title to hit Scott Steiner while Hogan retrieves the World title to do the same on Luger. The ring has filled with trash as Pillman takes the opportunity to punt some of the trash back out to the crowd as Nitro fades to a close. Rating: 99 Final Show Rating: 92 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted June 29, 2023 Author Share Posted June 29, 2023 Week 3, November 1996 LIVE from the Pyramid - Memphis, TN Attendance: 17,279 In typical fashion, Monday Nitro kicks off with a bang this week. Tony Schiavone is back in the lead announcers chair as he's joined by Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay. Tony predicts a huge show tonight and there's lots of action packed in, action this crowd is sure to be ready for. Tonight's main event is Scott Steiner taking on Dean Malenko and the WCW Tag Team titles will be on the line tonight, but we're getting started right away with action in the ring! Steve Armstrong & The Amazing French Canadians vs Billy Kidman, Alex Wright, & Perry Saturn vs In all actuality, it seems that this match was meant to be booked as a pre-show dark match but the person in charge accidentally put it on the main show. Kidman, Wright, and Saturn have absolutely no history of teaming together, and it isn't real clear why Steve Armstrong was teaming with the French Canadians, but it was crystal clear that Saturn vastly outshone everyone else in this match. Unfortunately for his team, they did not come out the victors. Rougeau got the pinfall victory at 8:20 after hitting a neck breaker on Kidman. Winners: Armstrong & Amazing French Canadians Rating: 52 Steve Austin is backstage and ready to officially kick start Nitro now. The fans come to life when they see him appear on the main video screen, showcasing his huge rise in popularity over the last couple of months. Austin says he heard everything Ric Flair had to say last week and heard the challenge laid out for WW3 and the first blood stipulation. Austin says he ain't afraid of bleeding but he can guarantee one thing and that's at WW3 the both of them won't leave that arena without some red on their faces. Rating: 100 John Tenta vs Ricky Steamboat vs This is the first we've seen the Dragon in action since his stellar match against Eddie Guerrero at Halloween Havoc. He proved he didn't miss a step as his quickness was used to his advantage against the former Sumo champion. It wasn't a very long match, and Steamboat looked like he might be in a bit of trouble before he flipped his way out of a bodyslam attempt. Steamboat leapt off the top rope and hit his flying cross body for the win at 7:38. Winner: Ricky Steamboat Rating: 80 The NWO's music blares in the speakers and they all slowly make their way out to the stage. Hogan taunts on the ramp with the WCW World Heavyweight title as Elizabeth trails along. Brian Pillman laughs like a madman and Nash nonchalantly makes his way to the ring. Once inside, Hollywood puts the world title on Liz's shoulder and he grabs a mic. Hogan does all the talking during this promo and says even though they're two of the biggest idiots he's ever encountered, Lex Luger and Scott Steiner should have finally learned their lesson after what happened last week. Hogan says that the NWO is just too big, powerful, and mean for two cowards like Luger and Steiner to deal with them. Now that they have Elizabeth to manage all their financial needs, the rest of the NWO can focus on getting down to business inside the ring. He and Pillman hold the top positions as the World and US champions and says it's only a matter of time before Nash and "Sting" get the world tag titles back. Hogan says that the NWO might also have one more trick up their sleeve and grab the TV title in order to complete the full takeover of WCW. Once the NWO holds all of the gold, there will be no stopping them and then they can go on to take over Nitro and all of the Pay Per Views. Hogan lastly provides a final warning to WCW that you never quite know who the next member of the NWO will be and that they'll have to keep looking over their shoulder. Rating: 100 As the NWO file out of the ring and share high-fives and smiles all among them, the cameras take a moment to pan the arena. Off in the distance, the NWO can be seen walking up the aisle and approaching the stage before one camera settles on an....Interesting individual sitting in the crowd... Tony: That's STING!! Heenan: Look at how different he looks! He's just sitting there, and heard everything the NWO just had to say! Tenay: That blank look, blank expression. There's no doubt that's the real Sting but he looks like a completely different person than we're used to! Rating: 70 Disco Inferno vs Eddie Guerrero vs This was a good match and Eddie had a very good performance. He clearly wasn't in the mood for Disco's shenanigans and would promptly put down the Inferno hard every time he tried to start dancing. He was clearly on a mission tonight and put the match away at 8:02 with a Frog Splash. Winner: Eddie Guerrero Rating: 80 It's DDP's turn to cut a promo tonight and he sets his sights on Dean Malenko, his opponent for WW3. Page says he's had to overcome too many things to get the TV title back and he's not going to lose it to some jerk off like Dean Malenko. He doesn't care if he brings his tramp along or not, but if Francine does decide to stick her nose in his business, she'll feel the BANG just like Malenko will! Rating: 84 Wrath vs Scott Armstrong vs One Armstrong already had a victory tonight so Scott was looking to make it 2-0. Wrath has had quite the win streak lately, so it was no small task for Scotty but he shocked the world when he pinned Wrath at 6:06 and celebrated like he won the world title! Just kidding, I was just seeing if you were paying attention. Armstrong didn't have an icicle's chance in hell against Wrath. He won easily with the Meltdown. Winner: Wrath Rating: 63 Mean Gene is at the base of the stage ramp and preparing to introduce his guest. First, Gene tells us, he wants to replay a tape from this weekend's WCW Saturday Night. The camera fades out and into the tape from Saturday Night where Hacksaw Jim Duggan is cutting a promo and talking about Sting. Duggan says that he's 100% WCW and that he's still here fighting the battle, unlike Sting who took his baseball bat and went home. Duggan says there's no doubt where he stands and he'll never leave. With Sting acting the way he has, you can't for sure trust the Stinger, but ol' Hacksaw never waivers, just like Old Glory! Mean Gene introduces Hacksaw Jim Duggan and he comes marching out and waiving the American flag wildly before stopping at Gene's side and giving a big thumbs up to the crowd. Gene says that Duggan has a match coming up next but wanted to touch on the interview that was just played. Duggan says he's not afraid to step up and fight the NWO for the good of WCW. Sting was at first but ever since Hulk Hogan turned on them, something changed. Sting left and now he's not standing for WCW. Hacksaw says that's not how you prove to be a man and that Sting needs to get back in line and prove he's with WCW. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Hugh Morrus vs Morrus was already in the ring and Duggan marched his way to the ring following his interview with Mean Gene. Duggan climbs in and waives the American flag as the crowd stand on their feet. The only thing is, the crowd isn't looking in the ring at Hacksaw, they're looking off to the side where the cameras aren't focusing. Suddenly a figure is seen quickly climbing the steps and climbing in the ring behind Duggan.... Sting walks up behind Duggan while he's still waiving the flag and looks at him very briefly before grabbing Duggan by the hair. The shock causes Duggan to drop the flag as Sting bends him backward and hooks him under his arm. Sting drops with a vicious reverse DDT as everyone - the announce booth and the crowd, yell out as Sting drops Duggan. Just as quickly as he appeared, Sting gets up and leaves, the cameras catching him now exiting through the crowd. Hugh Morrus climbs in the ring and he, along with the referee are confused as to what to do now. It appears the match was just ruled a no contest as Duggan remains out cold on the mat. Winner: No Contest Rating: 26 Tag Team Titles: Earl Robert Eaton & Dave Taylor vs Harlem Heat (c) vs This was significantly better than the match they had back in August when the Blue Bloods tried then to win the tag team titles from Harlem Heat. Booker T had a stellar performance and Stevie Ray also had a very good performance in the ring. Harlem Heat showed just how dominant they are in the tag team division as they put away two very skilled workers. Stevie got the win at 9:54 with the Heat Seeker. Winners: Harlem Heat Rating: 74 The night of promo's continues, this time with Lex Luger. Luger is in the backstage area and focuses on Kevin Nash. Luger was totally on fire during this promo and showed a level of aggression and focus that hasn't been seen from the Total Package in a very long time, if ever. Luger threatened that the NWO will have to kill him before he ever stops crawling his way back to his feet to defend WCW. Luger says he realizes the mistake he made months ago by not putting his full trust in his best friend and he'll be damned if he makes a mistake like that again. Luger tells the NWO that he isn't backing down and he's not afraid to bring the fight straight to them. Rating: 100 Mean Gene is backstage with Scott Steiner. We just heard from Lex Luger, who appears ultra-focused. Gene wants to know where Scott Steiner stands after the brutal beating the NWO provided last week on Nitro. Steiner says that he and Luger have been hitting the gym all week long, fired up, and ready for a fight. The NWO's problem is that they attack from behind and when people are vulnerable. Steiner says he's fine with that because one of these days, it's gonna come back to bite the NWO in their ass and then they'll have to fight face to face. Steiner says that time is rapidly approaching for the NWO and Hollywood Hogan. Steiner makes it a guarantee that he WILL go on to win the WW3 battle royal and he WILL face Hollywood Hogan for the World Heavyweight title at Starrcade. No one will steal that match from him and then you'll be looking at a new champion! Rating: 98 Scott Steiner vs Dean Malenko vs w/ Steiner was relentless as soon as the bell rang and hit Malenko with a series of suplexes and power moves. Francine tried her best to protest outside on the floor but this instead got Steiner's attention. With Malenko clearly down and not a threat, Steiner took the opportunity to pose to Francine before yelling for her to "shut up!" She tried to protest but it could also be clearly seen that Francine liked what she saw. With that, Steiner went back to providing a beating to Malenko. It wasn't all dominance on the part of Steiner though. Malenko made a pretty good comeback late in the match and took control after cheating his way to an advantage. He tried one too many cheap shots though and Steiner caught him. Steiner wowed the crowd by hitting the Steiner Screwdriver for the win at 15:20 in a good match. Winner: Scott Steiner Rating: 81 Many thought the night was over before the sound of galloping horses echoed throughout the arena. The fans got on their feet as Double A walked out with both arms held high in the air, flashing the 4 fingers that display excellence. He walked to the ring in street clothes and a microphone as he climbed in. The music began to fade out and Double A looked out to the approving crowd. Enforcer: You know, not long ago I made mention that things were a little off....That things didn't seem right. See, over the last several months, I looked out at the situation that was going on around WCW and knew that things didn't quite add up. But I set this off to the back of my mind, cause see, I had other issues to deal with. I had my own problems going on within the 4 Horsemen and that was at the forefront of my priority. But still, every time I could see that it was there. As the Horsemen were slowly breaking apart, I knew that there was something else going on within WCW. Yeah, the NWO was there and causing problems, but for awhile, the Horsemen and the NWO didn't cross paths. That was, until we were stabbed in the back by our very own, just so he could go off and join his new friends! That was when I really started paying attention! Every single time WCW started to gain a little ground on the NWO, the rug was swept right out from under us. Every time WCW fought back, the NWO was always able to gain the upper hand.... I got to thinking, "My God! Something's going on here!" so I paid a little closer attention...Just how in the world could the NWO always seem to have the upper hand?? Are they that much smarter than everyone else in WCW? To me, the answer was simple. It's not that they were smarter than everyone else, it's that they had some help. While they were terrorizing WCW, while they were beating down the roster each week, while they were putting guys in ambulances on a regular basis, we had a supposed president sitting on his hands and playing announcer...He never found the need to stand up to these bullies. Why? Maybe because he's a coward??? It seems that might have struck a nerve with Eric Bischoff. As Anderson took the time to pause, Eric Bischoff came out at a brisk pace and headed toward the ring. At the announce booth, Tony said that everyone's nerves have been running high with the NWO and Anderson's frustrations, while understandable, might be mis-directed. Bischoff got in the ring and was talking to Anderson for a moment, off microphone. I'm glad you're out here, Eric!! Maybe you can help me understand these things??? You're the president, so the buck should stop with you, right? You ultimately were allowing these thugs to run rampant around WCW and did nothing but whine about it at the commentary booth! You ultimately were allowing this to go on! Why? Because you were afraid??? You, Eric Bischoff, hired these guys! The fault is yours! As a matter of fact, you allowed every bit of this to go on and you're STILL allowing it to go on! You know why?? Oh, of course, you know why, but you're not going to tell everyone. That's fine, Eric. I'll be the one to tell them!! The reason the NWO is able to get an upper hand all the time is because of YOU! Bischoff: Now hold on, just a minute, Arn! I know you're frustrated....I know you're upset because everything around you has crumbled, but just take a step back and take a deep breath.... Anderson: No Eric, you're not gonna weasel your way out of this one....You're tipping the NWO off, you're behind the NWO! You're allowing them to get the upper hand!!! You're the man behind the curtain, Eric!!! YOU ARE! - Anderson has Bischoff cornered and he desperately tries to shield himself from the Enforcer. Anderson leans in closer and is saying something to Bischoff, off microphone when Arn abruptly grabs Bischoff by the shirt and threatens to punch him. Just then, out of focus and behind, several subjects can be seen rushing into the ring. - - Pillman is the first to rush up behind Anderson and grab him as the rest of the NWO join him to pull him away from Bischoff. Hogan clubs Anderson with the world title and he drops hard to the mat. Bischoff makes his way out of the corner with a devilish grin on his face as the NWO commence their beatdown. Trash begins to flood into the ring from the crowd as Hogan hits a pair of Leg Drops to the back of Anderson's head. "Sting" and Pillman hold up Anderson so Eric Bischoff can move in and hit a few karate kicks on him before shoving him back down to the mat. Trash continues to rain in the ring as Hogan and Bischoff hug, to the disgust of the announce booth. The spray paint cans make their appearance as Hogan gets the dropped microphone. Brian Pillman begins the graffiti work on the back of Arn Anderson - Hogan: Now that everybody knows who's working for who, we can finally set the record straight, brother! Mr. Bischoff, I hope this idiot didn't harm one hair on your head because that right there is a million dollar haircut, my man! Now everyone can be real clear on the pecking order around here and where the real priority lies, brother! All the assets, all the money, all the limousine's, all the credit is given to this man right here!!! Without Hulk Hogan there would be no wrestling and without Eric Bischoff, there would be no NWO! So like I said before, you never know who the next member of the NWO is going to be and that's the last time I give any warning out to the rest of WCW! From here on out, dudes, you're all on your own, and without any top leadership left I can see that it's going to be easy pickings for the NWO from here on out!!!! Rating: 94 Final Show Rating: 87 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 2 hours ago, Henderson said: Hogan: Now that everybody knows who's working for who, we can finally set the record straight, brother! Mr. Bischoff, I hope this idiot didn't harm one hair on your head because that right there is a million dollar haircut, my man! Now everyone can be real clear on the pecking order around here and where the real priority lies, brother! All the assets, all the money, all the limousine's, all the credit is given to this man right here!!! Without Hulk Hogan there would be no wrestling and without Eric Bischoff, there would be no NWO! So like I said before, you never know who the next member of the NWO is going to be and that's the last time I give any warning out to the rest of WCW! From here on out, dudes, you're all on your own, and without any top leadership left I can see that it's going to be easy pickings for the NWO from here on out!!!! Paging Harvey Schiller and J.J. Dillon... 😶 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted June 29, 2023 Author Share Posted June 29, 2023 Hello ladies and gentlemen! I'm Mean Gene Okerlund bringing you this week's WCW Hotline Report! Jim Ross Leaves WWF! In shocking news, it has been reported that Jim Ross has declined renewing his WWF contract. In hearing news of an imminent departure from the WWF, Eric Bischoff and WCW reached out to the former WCW lead announcer to inquire if there was any interest in returning. Ross expressed extreme interest in returning to WCW and agreed to a reported 3 year, $105,000/month contract. Due to a non-compete clause in his WWF deal, Ross will be unable to appear for WCW for 30 days. Ross is the 1995 Announcer of the Year and looks to be on track to retain that title for 1996. We reached out to Eric Bischoff for comment and he stated "Jim Ross left WCW previously under unfortunate circumstances and I place myself for the blame of that. I thought it was important to mend bridges and bring Jim back where he belongs, and that's calling the action for WCW. WCW is the company of the future and it's only a matter of time before we take over the #1 spot not only in the country, but globally as well. He was the 1995 announcer of the year, so it only makes sense that he's working with the 1995 Color Commentator of the year - Dusty Rhodes. I'm extremely excited to have Jim back and calling all of the great action that the talent in this company provides." We also reached out to Jim Ross for comment on returning to WCW. While he wasn't able to go into specifics with his WWF deal, as he's still technically employed by them, Ross stated; "I'm very excited to return to WCW after leaving there in less than ideal terms. WCW has come a long way in presentation and connecting with audiences around the world and I can't wait to be a part of it. There are so many wrestler's I'm excited to call the action for. My heart's always been in the South and calling the action up North just never felt right. One company wants to focus on cartoon characters and boring storylines and another focuses on realism and embraces the world of professional wrestling being a sport." Rumors have swirled around that Ross became unhappy within the WWF and the direction they're taking with talent, which is why he declined to sign an extension. While none of that can be confirmed, it certainly makes a lot of sense. Right now, it is assumed that Jim Ross will be named the lead announcer for Monday Nitro and Tony Schiavone will primarily be used on Saturday Night. Nitro will split color commentating duties between Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes with Rhodes primarily being used in the first hour of Nitro. Pay Per View events will have the team of Schiavone, Ross, and Mike Tenay. These changes are expected to fully take place at the beginning of the new year. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHK1989 Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 Jim Ross on Nitro. What a timeline that would've been. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 1, 2023 Author Share Posted July 1, 2023 Week 4, November 1996 LIVE from the Arrowhead Pond - Anaheim, CA Attendance: 19,000 (SELLOUT!) - The final Monday Nitro of November 1996 kicks off with a huge display of fireworks, following the usual intro video. Camera shots of various locations in the arena are then done, showcasing the rowdy sold out California crowd here tonight, who are more than excited for this week's edition of Nitro. We're finally brought to the broadcast booth where Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay all look to be in a rather somber mood. Tony takes us back to the end of last week's Nitro, with still-pictures to go along with it, where Eric Bischoff was revealed to be an NWO member by Arn Anderson. Bobby Heenan, equally as upset, says that it's now gotten to where you can't trust anyone in WCW because they could be an NWO member. He says he can't even look at Tony and Mike without some suspicion that they may be next to join. Tensions then run a bit high when Mike Tenay, who is usually subdue, yells that for all we know, Heenan could be in the group and who's to say he isn't being set up? Tony, shockingly, is the voice of reason and gets both men to calm down. He says tensions are the highest he's ever seen them in WCW and the NWO have done exactly what they want to do; create division and suspicion in WCW against WCW to make their takeover even easier. Eric Bischoff, WCW's President, might be on the NWO side but the very fate of WCW never rested on his shoulders anyway. Tony says that until the whole of WCW can come together to fight against this invasive group, they're doomed. While there has been resistance, it's all one guy here, two guys here, fighting the NWO. Tony says everyone in WCW needs to band together and take a page out of the NWO book, you never see them off alone or attacking on their own. WCW needs to adopt the same gang mentality. Bobby agrees and says that WCW was never the same after Sting was accused of being in the NWO and since he declared being a free agent, things have only gotten worse. For all he knows, Sting now could be a part of the NWO, after attacking Jim Duggan last week. Even if he isn't with the NWO, it's crystal clear that he isn't with WCW. - As the announcers are finishing up, entrance music begins to play as Nitro gets to it's first match of the night. Lex Luger vs Big Bubba Rogers vs Luger wasn't messing around in this match. As soon as Bubba entered the ring, Luger went on the attack and being uncharacteristically aggressive. Heenan used the opportunity to validate his point that tensions are running high in WCW and everyone is feeling it as Luger sent Bubba into the ropes and hit a huge powerslam. Luger then hit two clotheslines in a row before hitting him with the bionic forearm. Luger jumped to his feet and motioned for the Torture Rack already, to the loud approving roar of the crowd. Luger easily lifted Bubba in the Rack and this one was over at 5:43. Winner: Lex Luger Rating: 70 Chavo is backstage with his uncle Eddie, doing the finishing touches on his boots as he's preparing for his match that's up next. Eddie slaps Chavo on the back as he's bent over and tells him he knows he's had a rough going the last few months but this next match is a perfect opportunity to turn things around, just like he's going to do to Steamboat this Sunday. He says it isn't about what's already happened, it's about the future and what lies ahead! Chavo doesn't seem as optimistic. Rating: 82 Hugh Morrus vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs From the sound of the bell, Chavo tried to match power with the much larger Hugh Morrus, which obviously was a mistake. Morrus absorbed the blows before completely flooring Chavo with a body block as Chavo rushed in on him, ala Vader. From there, it was just domination by Morrus, who won at 8:14 with the No Laughing Matter. Camera's split the screen to backstage during the pin to show Eddie shaking his head and burying his face in his hands in disappointment. Winner: Hugh Morrus Rating: 38 Following a commercial break, cameras are backstage where a long stretch limo is pulling to a stop. The camera gets closer to the rear door as the driver comes around to open the door. The crowd comes to life as Ric Flair is seen inside and stepping out, flashing his Nature Boy smile and giving a short "WOOO" to the crowd's delight. Flair steps out of the way of the door as driver slowly closes it. Flair: Keep the engine runnin', daddy, we've got a lotta partying to do tonight in Anaheim!!!!!! Driver: Yes sir, Mr. Flair, sir! The smile suddenly disappeared on Flairs face upon the driver's response. Flair, who had started to walk away, slowly turned around to look at the driver, as the camera did the same. As the picture came into focus, the driver slowly removed his hat.... Flair had no time to react as Austin threw the hat at Flair and then rushed in to attack. Austin got in a few shots but Flair came right back and the two started trading off with fists. The fight went around the backstage area with both men utilizing walls, boxes, tables, and whatever else they could send the other in to. Officials finally flooded in to try and separate the two as cameras transitioned back to the arena. Rating: 100 During the preparation for the next match and as the American Males theme song begins to play, rather than going to the stage, the cameras are aimed high to the very top of the arena in the catwalks where Sting is seen looking down to the arena below. Wearing gloves and a long black trench coat, Sting stands motionless while surveying the scene before cameras switch back to the stage. Rating: 71 American Males vs Faces of Fear vs The Males went on a losing streak of sorts a couple of months back and managed to turn things around near Halloween Havoc. They've since gone back to losing a few in a row again after being defeated again this past weekend on Saturday Night. The announcers point out that they haven't seemed to be on the same page lately and Heenan attributes that to how tag team wrestling goes. He says that every team has their ups and downs but the good teams find a way to stick through it. They were hoping to do so in this match, though had their work cut out for them against the Faces of Fear, who themselves are hoping to recapture the titles at WW3. The Males woes continue though, as in one double team attempt, Bagwell thought they were doing a double dropkick while Riggs thought it was a clothesline. The result was both being planted on the mat by Meng. The ending came at 10:28 when Bagwell had the Barbarian reeling so he went to run off the ropes. The problem was, Riggs was turned around and posing to the crowd, causing Bagwell to crash into Riggs. Scotty fell from the apron and Bagwell staggered into a brutal Kick of Fear from the Barbarian for the win. Winners: Faces of Fear Rating: 70 Following the match, the Faces of Fear exit but the American Males stand by as Mean Gene is entering the ring, almost as soon as the bell rang. Mean Gene motions for the Males to stick around as Bagwell is getting to his feet and Scotty Riggs is getting in the ring. Bagwell is clearly frustrated with his hands on his hips. Riggs also looks pretty displeased as Mean Gene gets down to business. Mean Gene: Gentlemen, if I may....The last couple of months haven't been too friendly to the both of you. It looked like fortune's may have been turning around, only for you both to find difficulties once again. The miscommunication has been more than visible. What's going on?! Bagwell: Mean Gene, I've been a tag team wrestler for a long time and without a doubt, my most successful team has been with this man right here, Scotty Riggs. If there's one thing I know about tag team wrestling, it's that every team goes through ruts every now and again, and this is no different. We need to take some time, get our heads screwed on straight, and we'll be fine challenging for the titles once again! Mean Gene: Well if you ask me, it looks like there might be a little trouble in paradise, Scotty Riggs? Riggs: It's a good thing no one asked you, Mean Gene! I'm only kidding! We know how to work as a team, we know what we need to work on, don't you worry about a thing, Gene! Rating: 67 Television Title: Earl Robert Eaton vs Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs You might be surprised to know this is DDP's first title defense since winning the belt back at Halloween Havoc and he'll go on to defend the title this coming Sunday. DDP looked extremely focused as he took the fight to the Blue Blood and rallied the crowd as he did so. It was a solid match but nothing fancy. DDP won with a Diamond Cutter at 10:08. Winner: DDP Rating: 71 Following the match, there's a lull in the action. Cameras return to the broadcast booth where Tony organizes his papers and begins talking about the nights events, hyping up this weekends World War 3 event, and saying it's only a matter of time before we hear from the NWO and the newest member - Eric Bischoff. While getting ready to transition to another talking point, the crowd stirs to life. The announcers look confusingly at each other and lights begin to flash on the stage entrance. No music plays but a person does unexpectedly walk out, which generates a loud roar from the crowd and pure shock from the announcers. Tony: Randy Savage is back on Monday Nitro!!!! Heenan: THE MACHO MAN! Tenay: We haven't seen him in over two months!! Savage walks down the aisle and climbs into the ring where he extends his arms and spins around as the crowd lose their mind. Savage steps up on the second rope in the corner to taunt the crowd a bit more before stepping down and bringing a microphone to his mouth. Savage: Well, well, well!!!!! My, how many things have changed! YEAH! It's been a second or two since anyone's seen the Macho Man! As a matter of fact, the last time anybody saw me, I was being loaded up on a stretcher, courtesy of the New World Order..Uhhhh HUH!! Buuuut, if anyone hasn't learned by now that if you don't kill the Macho Man, I'm just gonna keep coming back! I've had the last couplea months to sit back and organize my thoughts, what thoughts can be organized by the Madness, that is! In all of that sitting around and getting down with the Madness, I've come to the conclusion that the Macho Man has a lotta things to consider! But first and at the top of the list is the fact that the Macho Man is back! YEAH! And there just so happens to be an event this coming weekend, so at World War 3, the next P. P. V, the Macho Man is officially declaring my eligibility for that match, and not only am I going to participate in that battle royal, I'm also gonna go on to win the entire thing just like I did last year!!! And after I win it, I'm gonna go on to Starrcade and take the world title away from Hollywood Hogan!! OH YEAH!!! After Savage tosses the microphone and begins to taunt the crowd, the camera returned to high atop the arena where Sting is once again standing. Sting was clearly very intently paying attention to what the Macho Man had to say....Nitro fades to a commercial. Rating: 100 Nitro returns to Jimmy Hart in the backstage area. He hypes up his team, the Faces of Fear, against Harlem Heat for the WCW Tag Team Titles this Sunday at World War 3. Hart says the better team will win and once again become champions. Rating: 80 A hype video plays featuring Steve Austin, from the time he returned to WCW, joining the Horsemen, up to his current vicious feud with Ric Flair. Rating: 74 Tag Team Titles: John Tenta & Wrath vs Harlem Heat (c) vs The unexpected team of John Tenta and Wrath hoped to spoil the card lineup for WW3 and enter the event as new champions. WCW has noticeably been paring different guys together lately in what looks to be attempts at finding new teams. This combination was no day off for the champions. Wrath has build an impressive win streak and Tenta has done well to rejuvenate his career. Harlem Heat used power offense and team work but that was almost perfectly, and surprisingly, equaled by the challengers. Booker T's great performance was the difference maker, as he was able to connect with a Missile Dropkick on Tenta for the win at 11:01. Winners: Harlem Heat Rating: 76 NE....NEW.......NEW WORLD ORDER! - The NWO music finally plays in the arena tonight and, despite the hatred, the crowd respond loudly. First out through the smoke is Kevin Nash, "Sting", and Brian Pillman. Liz follows shortly from the entrance and they make their way to the bottom of the ramp. The World Champion Hollywood Hogan then emerges from the smoke, generating a louder response from the crowd, playing the guitar on the world title. He stops on the rampway Nash side points to the entrance. Very slowly through the smoke, emerges Eric Bischoff, who points his fingers to each side of his mouth, displaying a huge grin. The crowd lose their minds, booing loudly as Bischoff embraces the group. They make their way to the ring as Heenan says their numbers get bigger by the week. Once in the ring, Hogan plants the world title snugly on Bischoff's shoulder. - Hogan: Ladies and gentlemen!!!! I present to you, the boss of the NWO, Mr. Eric Bischoff!!!!!! Ha Ha Ha! Bischoff: Thank you, Hollywood! Let me just say how good it feels to finally be a part of a winning team! We're a winning team right now and that's going to increase ten fold when Scott Hall comes back, and he will come back, don't you worry!!!! Ever since last week, I've gotten letters, I've received messages, I've had all kinds of people asking "Why, Eric? Why did you join the New World Order???" I've got just one answer for that; WHY THE HELL NOT?! The choice was simple; join the NWO and jump on that money train, or stick with the sinking ship that is WCW! The choice was simple. When I got Powerbombed back in July off of that very stage by Kevin Nash, I came to my senses real fast. No hard feelings, Kevin. You got me to realize what's important in life; doing the right thing and sticking with your morals, or joining the winning team and making money? I'm a businessman, and the choice is clear; I like making money. So Ted Turner's money is secure behind the NWO cash cow and WCW's going to have a very, very hard time keeping up. Hell, they've had a hard time keeping up ever since I made my decision back in July! Arn Anderson may be an idiot and a moron, but he at least got one thing right last week. The NWO's had the upper hand the last few months because of me! I knew everything that was going on behind the scenes with WCW and allowed the NWO to be put in a real nice position of power! So the power lies with with the man who holds the pen, and I'm the one who holds the pen! With my first official order of business, I have something special for all of you people, and for YOU, Brian Pillman!!!! What I have in my hand right here is your brand new, NWO contract!!! You've been our long-standing United States champion since May and, dare I say, the best United States champion in history!! So with a dominating title reign deserves a top dollar contract and that's something I can provide!!! So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege....No, it's my HONOR to present this new contract for you, Mr. Pillman!! Pillman: Mr. Bischoff, it would be MY honor to sign this contract!! I don't even need to read this contract because I know you'll take good care of me! - Pillman takes the contract and pen and uses Bischoff's back to sign his name. The crowd boo's and trash begins to rain in the ring. There are smiles and celebrations all around the ring as Bischoff takes the mic back. - And that's why I love all you people!! To show that kind of support is just amazing! To conclude tonight's celebration and because all you people are so great, I'm going to give you one hell of a main event tonight! Right now, tonight, is a return match from Fall Brawl! Brian Pillman, United States champion will defend his title against Scott Steiner!!! Scotty, c'mon out here!!! Rating: 100 United States Title: Scott Steiner vs Brian Pillman (c) vs The NWO exited the ring but they all stayed around the ringside area. Steiner made his way out but remained wary on entering the ring, looking out to all the members on the outside as Pillman taunted him. The bell rang and the two locked up but every time Steiner looked to gain momentum, someone from outside would distract him or hit him when Pillman had the referee distracted. This game of back and forth went on for a long time but Steiner continued to overcome the odds. Pillman was brilliant in his performance and toyed with Scott Steiner while igniting fury from the crowd. Pillman distracted the referee one of many times to allow "Sting" to rush in for a Stinger Splash, only Steiner caught him in the corner. In a massive display of strength, Steiner belly to belly suplexed "Sting" over the rope and to the floor. Nash jumped on the apron to try and attack but Steiner clubbed him down also. Pillman, seeing the game plan fail, shoved the referee aside and tried to ambush Steiner but he was ready for it. Steiner hit multiple Steinerlines on Pillman and had him reeling. The crowd was on their feet, sensing a possible new champion coming. Steiner sent Pillman into the corner and he closed in, perching him on the top rope. Steiner climbed and singled for a FrankenSteiner before hitting the move. With the crowd on their feet, Steiner rushed over and brought Pillman to his feet, signaling for the Steiner Screwdriver. Just as Steiner flipped Pillman's arm behind his head and lifting him in the suplex position, the NWO hit the ring and all attacked Steiner. The referee officially called the no contest at 21:05 but the damage was already done. Nitro faded to a close as the NWO exited the ring and retreated up the aisle. Winner: No Contest Rating: 83 Final Show Rating: 87 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 2, 2023 Author Share Posted July 2, 2023 Hello ladies and gentlemen and this is a special edition of this week's WCW Hotline Report! WCW is gearing towards the huge World War 3 pay per view and there's a lot of exciting matches. The 60 man battle royal will take place inside three rings and the winner will challenge for the WCW World Heavyweight title at Starrcade! There have been a number of short term contracts signed in order for WCW to fill out the battle royal. Several high fliers have been signed, such as Silver King, Super Calo, Villano 1, Billy Kidman, and Kaz Hayashi. Others such as Konnan, Jimmy Del Ray, Ice Train, Buddy Landell, and Hector Guerrero have also all been signed. These are all "handshake deals" I'm told so if some of these wrestlers have a good showing, you may see more of them appearing after WW3. Brian Pillman did indeed sign an exclusive contract extension. The new contract was extremely lucrative, I'm told 4 years, $310,000/month with a bonus of 10% per event and a 60% merchandise cut. I'm told part of the reason it was that expensive, in addition to his skyrocketing popularity in the last few months, was that there was quite the bidding war with the WWF. Eric Bischoff was determined to keep Pillman on the WCW roster as he see's him as a key player for WCW's future. Though if other WCW contracts end up similar to this one, WCW could find themselves in financial trouble eventually. Most everyone will be participating in the battle royal except for Hollywood Hogan (as he's champion), Ric Flair, and Steve Austin. It was decided that due to the Flair/Austin match stipulation to leave them out of the battle royal. Let's hear your predictions for the winner! You can also go to www.wcw.com where you can vote your guess for the final 4 competitors! First Blood: Steve Austin vs Ric Flair Battle Royal: 60 Man Over the Top Elimination Rules Tag Team Titles: Faces of Fear vs Harlem Heat (c) Television Title: Dean Malenko vs Diamond Dallas Page (c) Iron Man Match (30 Min): Ricky Steamboat vs Eddie Guerrero ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope everyone is enjoying this dynasty so far, I know I am! While some of the shows can get a bit tedious to write up, I'm really having a blast reliving all of this stuff, though I forgot just how many gimmick matches I had on my PPV's! Hopefully it doesn't seem overkill and take the enjoyment away. With 1996 nearing an end, I will do an end of the year recap, outlying all the awards and popularity. I'm also starting to get close enough in the game that I can see some old morale effects, so I'll be incorporating more of those into the Hotline Reports. I also really enjoy reading everyone's comments and participating in match predictions, even though there currently isn't any way for me to reward you guys on your accurate predictions. I have been thinking how I can go about giving you guys some reward and I think I've come up with a way to do it. I will go back to the start of this dynasty and tally up all of the predictions. Once I catch up in my gameplay, I will reach out to whoever has the most accurate guesses and they will be awarded a very secret and interactive prize for this dynasty! I remember back on the old forums when @TheBigBad1013 had his WCW Lives diary, he did something very similar and I won a few. It was so cool to be able to participate. I hope you guys also get as much enjoyment as I did. It's rapidly approaching, we just have to make it to May 1997! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHK1989 Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Ric Flair Randy Savage Harlem Heat Diamond Dallas Page Eddie Guerrero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonny912 Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Hey now that jim Ross is jumping ship, can we get an update on how wwf and ecw are doing around this time compared to wcw? Like what do their rosters look like? What storylines are being run? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Byron Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 My picks: Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Harlem Heat (c), Diamond Dallas Page, and Eddie Guerrero... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 First Blood: Steve Austin vs Ric Flair Battle Royal: 60 Man Over the Top Elimination Rules Tag Team Titles: Faces of Fear vs Harlem Heat (c) Television Title: Dean Malenko vs Diamond Dallas Page (c) Iron Man Match (30 Min): Ricky Steamboat vs Eddie Guerrero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 2, 2023 Author Share Posted July 2, 2023 7 hours ago, sonny912 said: Hey now that jim Ross is jumping ship, can we get an update on how wwf and ecw are doing around this time compared to wcw? Like what do their rosters look like? What storylines are being run? I will do a breakdown of all that and status of other companies with the year end review. You might be surprised, ECW really isn't doing much of anything noteworthy. There are some other companies who have put together some pretty stacked rosters and are doing surprisingly well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 6, 2023 Author Share Posted July 6, 2023 Week 4, November 1996 LIVE from Jack Murphy Stadium - San Diego, CA Attendance: 60,000 (SELLOUT!) - For the second event in a row, WCW has sold out a California venue. The first image we see when the cameras fade in are from high above the stadium. The packed crowd surrounds the three rings in the center, which look tiny from being so high in the air. At first you're led to believe it might be a helicopter but another shot shows a blimp circling high above. The outdoor venue gives a great look on screen with the sunset beginning to fade in the distance. We're then brought to the broadcasting booth where Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes, welcome everyone. Tony handles the introductions and then he introduces the alternate broadcasts that will be used throughout the show for this special event. As Tony introduces the other announcers, he says that they will trade off duties with matches and then all of them will join together to call the chaotic battle royal. Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan are a pairing and then lesser used Lee Marshall and Larry Zbyszko are the final pairing. Tony says tonight is a huge night as not only are there some marquee matches but we'll also find out who will challenge for the world heavyweight title at Starrcade next month. All the announcers take some time to go through all the matches for tonight and what they think of them before we go right into the first match of the night! - Iron Man Match (30 Min): Ricky Steamboat vs Eddie Guerrero vs The two men head into this match with each having high stakes. Eddie has been taunting Ricky Steamboat and hopes to back up his words after failing last month at Halloween Havoc. Steamboat looks to establish that he can still go in the ring and compete with the younger talent. He proved as much last month and when Eddie gave excuses for his loss, he wanted the ultimate challenge; an Iron Man match. To further taunt Steamboat, Eddie said he wasn't ready for a full 60 minute match at his age and instead said it would be 30 minutes. The bell rang and Eddie continued to taunt the Dragon. On Steamboat's side, he looked more than ready for the match and had an intensity about him that clearly took Guerrero off guard. Eddie had something to say to Steamboat that generated a stiff slap across Guerrero's face. At that point, Eddie knew the fun and games were over. Both men wildly fought each other and the crowd gave a loud applauding response as things kicked off on fire. Eddie tried rushing Steamboat only to get caught by his patented arm drags. Furious that he was out maneuvered, Eddie retreated to the floor. Once he was able to regroup, he got back in the ring and a poke to the eye started things in Eddie's favor. Eddie took his time working Steamboat over and also hitting any cheap shot that helped along the way. He took the time to work Steamboat's knee, indicating that Eddie wanted to make the Dragon submit for his first victory of the match, something Dusty said was clearly a signal from when Steamboat made him give up at Halloween Havoc. Ricky, always playing the role of the good guy in peril better than anyone, appeared to be in agony each time Eddie worked his leg. After picking him up and hitting a suplex, Eddie again retreated to the floor and grabbed a steel chair. He brought it in the ring and wanted to work over Steamboat's leg with it, but the referee stepped in his way. Though there's no DQ, the referee still wasn't going to allow such a blatant cheap shot. With the two arguing, Eddie didn't see Steamboat inching toward him on the mat. Ricky was able to quickly roll Eddie up and scored a pin off the school boy pin! Steamboat - 1 Guerrero - 0 The crowd was loving it as Eddie bounced back to his feet and was furious! He couldn't believe what happened and again started arguing with the referee. Steamboat was still in too much pain to make it to his feet though and Eddie quickly went on the assault, viciously stomping the Dragon. Eddie continued his assault, hitting a series of moves and not letting up. Eddie sent Steamboat into the corner where he lifted him up to the top rope. Eddie climbed up as well and hit a huge SuperPlex from the top. Both men crashed hard to the mat but Eddie had more strength of the two and slowly covered for the pin. The referee counted the pin for Eddie but it was clear the move took its toll on both men. Steamboat - 1 Guerrero - 1 By this point, David Penzer announced we were 20 minutes through the match and gave a 10 minute warning. Things reset a bit as both men now got to their feet and eyed the other. The crowd took the pause to give a loud ovation to both men's efforts though Eddie was less appreciative. He looked out to the crowd, kissed his hand and then slapped his rear out to the crowd. This naturally caused the ovation to change to loud boos. The two men locked up and things appeared more evenly matched this time. They were worn down from the physical toll from their efforts thus far. The battle continued and Eddie ran to the ropes. On return, he tried a diving dropkick to Steamboat's worked leg but the Dragon was able to dodge it. He grabbed Eddie by the legs and locked in a single leg Boston Crab, the same move he made Eddie submit to in their last encounter. The crowd roared to life, sensing a win as Eddie clawed at the mat, furiously trying to get to the ropes. The only problem was that Eddie forgot there was no disqualification. A clock appeared on the video screen, showing they were now under 5 minutes left. Eddie was moments away several times from tapping the mat and giving up but he continued on, feverishly trying to find a way out of the hold. Now knowing the ropes were of no help to him, Eddie looked for another way out of the hold. The steel chair he previously attempted to use was still on the mat apron, and it was within reach. He grabbed the chair and was able to turn just enough to swing it toward the already softened up leg of Steamboat. It wasn't a hard hit but it was enough to get Steamboat to drop the hold, as his leg was already weakened. Both men laid on the mat, each holding onto their hurt legs. Both men also crawled to opposite sides of the ring and used the ropes to help them get to their feet. They meet each other again in the middle of the ring, now both of them hopping on their sore leg. Eddie hit a European uppercut and Steamboat responded with a loud chop. The two then traded the blows before Ricky gained the advantage and had Eddie reeling. Eddie tried rushing Steamboat, as best he could on the hurt leg, but Steamboat hit a judo chop, causing him to crash to the mat. With Eddie down, and the time rapidly decreasing, the Dragon saw his opportunity to end things. He slowly climbed to the top rope and waited for Eddie to get back up. He did and Ricky leapt off, looking for his Flying Crossbody. Eddie was able to move out of the way though and Steamboat hit the mat. Now Eddie saw his own opportunity and climbed the ropes. He jumped off and was able to hit the Frog Splash, though he clearly was in pain and couldn't make the pin right away. The clock now had 10 seconds left and the crowd began counting along. Eddie slowly crawled to make the cover, draping an arm across Steamboat with 5 seconds left. The referee got down to make the count and just as he hit the mat with the 3, the buzzer sounded. Eddie had just enough time for the win! Winner: Eddie Guerrero Rating: 92 Television Title: Dean Malenko vs Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs Both men were evenly matched as they worked to find an advantage. Malenko was able to find one with the help of Francine, who was much more vocal from the outside than her counterpart Kimberly. The champion basically seemed to be in a handicap match because every time Malenko would assault DDP and then get the referee's attention, allowing Francine to get her cheap shots in. This continued for quite awhile until Kimberly had finally had enough after repeated interferences. The crowd roared loudly as after one too many attacks, Kimberly rushes over while Francine is clawing at the eye's of DDP. She grabs Francine from behind by the hair as the crowd cheers and pulls her off of DDP. Francine turns and Kimberly lays her out with a loud slap across her face. This has the referee's full attention on the fight that's brewing outside the ring. DDP, who also is by the ropes watching the fight, doesn't see Malenko sneaking up behind him. He grabs DDP but Page responds with a low blow, doubling the Man of 1,000 holds over. With the crowd loud, DDP signals for the Diamond Cutter. He grabs Malenko and begins to lift him up as another subject slides in the ring, running in from the crowd. The announcers are at a loss of words as he slides in the ring and rushes DDP. He turns DDP around and hits a double-underhook face crusher before diving back out of the ring and going through the crowd. Malenko covers DDP as the referee turns around. The pin is counted and Malenko wins the match at 13:08. Winner and NEW TV Champion: Dean Malenko Rating: 70 Tag Team Titles: Faces of Fear vs Harlem Heat (c) vs These teams go into this match knowing the other extremely well. Tony details the battles they've had over the years and in doing so, have established themselves as two of the top teams in WCW. The Barbarian struggled to keep up the intensity in this match and was clearly outshone by the other three involved. It was still a good match though, as they have continued to be between the two. The crowd remained engaged throughout and there was plenty of hard hitting action. There was no need for any outside interference or distraction from either manager and, aside from a couple instances where a brawl spilled onto the floor, the action remained in the ring. At the end of the match, Meng was able to counter a clothesline attempt from Stevie Ray and lock in the Tongan Death Grip. Booker T tried to make the save, but the Barbarian got to him first. Stevie's shoulders were counted to the mat at 12:02 and another title changed hands at WW3. Winners and NEW tag team champions: Faces of Fear Rating: 73 A much needed break in action takes place next as we're told this special announcement has been paid for by the New World Order. Kevin Nash is in a choppy black and white picture where he says that he's going to win the battle royal tonight so the title will stay within the NWO. Rating: 86 Next we're brought backstage, presumably, in the NWO's locker room. Eric Bischoff sits on a couch with his arm around Elizabeth. Both have smiles on their faces and Bischoff brags about pulling the wool over WCW's eyes for several months and then talks about the new debut we just saw earlier in the night. Bischoff also says that was "all him" and that it's good to have a new NWO member. Bischoff finally says that there's going to be a new announcer in the next few weeks and he also will be the personal announcer of the New World Order. According to Bischoff, life is good, the NWO's in charge, and WCW's a sinking ship. Liz just nods in agreement. Rating: 59 As everyone prepares for the battle royal and the announce teams all discuss their favorites, the crowd is heard coming to life once more and heads are beginning to look upward. Cameras finally catch what everyone is reacting to and Sting is seen standing on top of the lighting setup that is perched above the ring. Sting looks on from above and despite the stadium venue, has again found a way to observe events overhead. The announcers all speculate if Sting will be in the battle royal.... Rating: 72 World War 3 Battle Royal: Generic music plays as all the competitors walk out and climb into their already decided ring. Some wrestlers barely get any recognition but there are others, like Arn Anderson, Scott Steiner, Randy Savage, and Lex Luger all get loud ovations. Other's like Brian Pillman, and Kevin Nash generated loud boo's. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, as usual, got a loud "USA" chant going and others were surprised to see the Great Muta walk out to participate. Muta generated a good ovation from the crowd as Mike Tenay reminded viewers that Muta is on lease from New Japan Pro Wrestling. The camera moved to show Sting, still standing high above when the bell rang and the fighting started. All three rings were completely full and most were barely able to move and fight. There were some men who clearly were uninterested in winning and just went after each other. Examples of this are DDP, who went straight after Dean Malenko, resulting in the two toppling over the top rope for a quick elimination, and the Faces of Fear and Harlem Heat went right back to their brawling. Meng and the Barbarian were double teaming Stevie Ray and trying to eliminate him when Wrath came up from behind and tossed all three men over the rope for eliminations. There were several lesser known eliminations very quickly before things condensed down. Randy Savage seemed like a man possessed in this match. Rather than going straight for the NWO, as most of the announcers predicted before the start, Savage just went after everyone in his way. This included WCW and NWO members. Things got interesting when Savage was fighting the Disco Inferno and Lex Luger was battling Scott Norton. The two backed into each other and quickly turned around and were ready for a fight. Tension ran high as the two stared at one another, motives unknown, before Kevin Nash grabbed Lex Luger from behind while simultaneously Brian Pillman grabbed the Macho Man. Both men were whipped around and over the top rope, eliminated. The crowd boo'd loudly as Luger and Savage got to their feet, both furious. Nash and Pillman just hit each other with "Too Sweet" and looked to enjoy it immensely. Their celebration were short lived, however, as Pillman met a Ricky Steamboat dropkick as he turned, sending him over the top rope! Eliminations continued at a steady pace until Wrath, Scott Steiner, Booker T, Ricky Steamboat, Eddie Guerrero, and Kevin Nash were the final contestants. The announcers were in amazement as they reported Wrath had the most eliminations thus far with 8. Unfortunately for Wrath and Nash, the competitors seemed to focus on them as they were the biggest in the match. Booker T and Eddie got Wrath eliminated, with Eddie very nearly also losing his balance and tumbling over the top. The crowd cheered loudly as Steiner, Booker T, and Steamboat all worked together to get Nash eliminated. Eddie Guerrero just hung back and watched, who also seemed amused as they fought to toss Nash over the rope. Eddie used that to his advantage and eliminated both Booker and Steamboat. Things reset, and the crowd got to their feet as the unlikely finalists of Scott Steiner and Eddie Guerrero circled one another. Eddie already had a grueling match earlier and kicked his leg a few times to loosen it up before locking up with Steiner. Eddie was completely overpowered and caught with a press slam, with Eddie retreating to the corner and asking for a timeout. Steiner didn't hold back though as he met Eddie in the corner and continued the blows. With Eddie out on his feet, Steiner hoisted him on top and motioned, to the crowd's pleasure, for the FrankenSteiner. The announcers didn't think this was such a great idea but Steiner climbed up anyway and hit a picture perfect move. The fight continued and Eddie managed to turn things around, after some underhanded tactics, of course. Eddie backed Steiner into his own corner this time and wanted to return the favor with a Hurricanrana. He lifted Steiner up and then followed, but Steiner started fighting back. A headbutt sent Eddie backward and down to the mat. Steiner jumped off when Eddie got to his feet and went for a double axehandle, but Eddie managed a dropkick in mid air. Eddie looked again for a high-risk move off the top, but Steiner was able to catch him. In an impressive show of strength, Scott Steiner pressed Eddie up before dumping him to the outside floor, officially ending the match at 31:53. Winner: Scott Steiner Rating: 82 The bell sounds and the crowd drowns out "Steinerized" that's played over the speakers. He takes the time to climb the middle rope in each corner as the crowd responds back. Exhausted, sweaty, and with a smile on his face, Scott Steiner celebrates his victory to become the #1 contender to the world heavyweight title at Starrcade! Rating: 68 Camera's change to backstage where Mean Gene Okerlund is standing with the world heavyweight champion - Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Mean Gene: Ladies and gentlemen, what a night it's been and it's not over yet!! Hulk Hogan, we all just saw Scott Steiner win the battle royal and that means he'll be challenging you next month at Starrcade, unless someone else happens to come along before then to take that title. What are your thoughts? Hogan: Let me tell you something, Gene Okerlund. It's HOLLYWOOD Hogan, so get it straight! If I have to remind you again of that, I'll take this fist and shove it into your skull, my man! As for that wimpy little guy named Scott Steiner, I couldn't care less, dude, if it was King Kong that won the battle royal, much less Scott Steiner! He's nothing but an amateur, he's nothing but a joke, and he couldn't even lace up my boots, brother! I'm not concerned about someone like Scott Steiner taking the NWO world title off of me because Scott Steiner's nothing but a joke! Scott Steiner, you've been talking about me for the last few weeks, well brother, you're going to regret ever getting on the NWO's bad side! As a matter of fact, dude, when I'm finished with you at Starrcade, you might as well go ahead and reserve the other bed in your brother's hospital room, cause I'm gonna break your back, just like him!!!! Rating: 99 After a quick promotional add, cameras return. Mean Gene is still in the backstage area as Steve Austin approaches and looks to be heading toward the stage. Gene stops him and asks his thought's going into tonight's final match. Austin: Mean Gene Okerlund, I ain't for one second worried about some measly battle royal! The fact is, I can challenge for the world title, or any other title, for that matter, whenever the hell I want! It's plain and simple, right now my focus isn't on the world title, it's on the Nature Boy Ric Flair! Make no mistake about it, if I wanted the world title right now, I'd go get it! Not Scott Steiner, not Ric Flair, and not Hulk Hogan could stop me from it! I'm not finished with Ric Flair and tonight's goal is to beat him to an inch of his life and turn that white hair of his crimson red! Now get outta my way, I need to go beat Flair's ass! Rating: 100 First Blood: Steve Austin vs Ric Flair vs The final match of the night has arrived and the anticipation is thick in the air like a heavy fog. The ring announcer does formal introductions as both men stare intensely at one another, waiting to get their hands on the other. Intro's are finished and the two stalk toward the center of the ring. Flair and Austin trade verbal jabs back and forth before Austin fakes turning to walk away and tries to punch Flair. Anticipating this, Flair blocks it and chops Austin. The two trade off punches and chops but Flair gets the better of Austin, backing him into the corner where he beats his chest red with even more chops. The fight spills outside where the two fight around the ringside area and make their way up the aisle. Dusty Rhodes proclaims that this isn't a wrestling match, but an all-out fight and the main goal is to make the other man bleed first. Heenan thinks that this will just result in both men bleeding at the same time. They fight around the stage before making their way toward the crowd. The frenzied fans start to crowd around as the fight spills into the seats and up the stairway. The two were as evenly matched as you can get and just as one looked to get the advantage, the other would come back and change the course. The fight eventually made it's long way back to the ring, though both were sweaty and tired, but neither bleeding just yet. The fight has been brutal, but both giving just as much as they were receiving. Austin whipped Flair into the ropes and hit a Thesz Press before laying in punches. Austin got up and exited the ring, grabbing a steel chair from the floor and tossing it inside the ring. Austin was stepping through the ropes when Flair grabbed the middle rope and hiked it into Austin's groin. The two were beaten and tired, but continued to exchange blows. Flair had Austin doubled over, but he grabbed the steel chair while bent over. He came back up and hit Flair with a loud chair shot right to the head. Flair collapsed on the mat and Austin was sure this did the job, but it didn't. Austin was stunned and looked on as Flair rolled to his side and brought himself up to his knees. Flair brought his fists up and motioned for Austin to hit him again. It didn't take much encouragement as Austin reared back and swung the chair again at Flair. It connected with a loud crash as Flair collapsed backward, with blood now trickling backward into his hair. The referee saw it and called for the bell, announcing Austin the winner at 17:01. The chair drops from Austin's hand as the referee raises his other arm in victory. Winner: Steve Austin Rating: 87 Final Show Rating: 89 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 11, 2023 Author Share Posted July 11, 2023 World War 3 Exclusive! Hello everyone, I'm Mean Gene Okerlund here to give you an exclusive look behind the scenes at World War 3!!! Eric Bischoff reportedly held a speech after the show, specifically pointing out Eddie Guerrero, Ric Flair, and Steve Austin. Flair and Austin were heavily praised by Bischoff for being awesome in their match while Eddie Guerrero was praised for his great performance. Eddie was said to be "very happy" with the compliment afterwards. Several wrestlers have commented recently about the backstage environment in WCW saying it's the best they've ever experienced. It's safe to say that morale within the WCW backstage is very high! Similarly, others have been outspoken about their recent bookings. Eddie Guerrero, Steve Austin, Scott Steiner, and Booker T have all been very vocal about being quite pleased with their recent bookings. Fans were shocked to see Paul Levesque at World War 3. Levesque previously wrestled with WCW as blue blood Jean Paul Levesque before joining the World Wrestling Federation as Hunter Hearst Helmsley. I've been told that he will wrestle under his own name and WCW became interested in signing him after he continued to remain on an open WWF contract. He went unused for the most part in the WWF with his win/loss record 4-21. He was mostly seen on USWA and the World Wrestling Council out of Puerto Rico, as his contracts were open. Levesque was said to be extremely displeased with his lack of use in the WWF and wanted more opportunity. He's sure to get that here in WCW! The Starrcade main event is all set as Scott Steiner was victorious in the battle royal! Scott Steiner will once again challenge Hollywood Hogan for the world heavyweight title! The two battled at Halloween Havoc and things ended less than cleanly. Steiner has had his sights set on Hogan and that world championship ever since. Jim Ross's WCW contract has completely been finalized. He's just waiting out the no-compete time which is up in just a couple of weeks. Brian Pillman was reportedly "very happy" at signing his new WCW contract. This new contract will ensure that he will be a part of the WCW roster for a few years. We're rapidly heading toward the end of 1996 and so many challenges still lay ahead! The NWO continue to run rampant, Sting is now brooding in the arena's, and WCW is having trouble remaining united. Scott Steiner hopes to change the course of that and defeat Hollywood Hogan and the NWO. Here's the lineup for Monday Nitro! Week 1, December 1996 LIVE from the Arrowhead Pond - Anaheim, CA Brian Pillman vs Scott Steiner Fit Finlay vs Konnan Tag Team Titles: Hostile Intent (Saturn & Paul Roma) vs Faces of Fear John Tenta vs Lex Luger Randy Savage vs Eddie Guerrero 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Brian Pillman vs Scott Steiner Fit Finlay vs Konnan Tag Team Titles: Hostile Intent (Saturn & Paul Roma) vs Faces of Fear John Tenta vs Lex Luger Randy Savage vs Eddie Guerrero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHK1989 Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Scott Steiner Konnan Faces of Fear Lex Luger Randy Savage "Brian Pillman was reportedly "very happy" at signing his new WCW contract. This new contract will ensure that he will be a part of the WCW roster for a few years." We can only hope... 😔 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Byron Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 My picks: Scott Steiner, Konnan, Faces of Fear, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigelow Cartwheel Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Steiner Konnan Faces of Fear Luger Savage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 12, 2023 Author Share Posted July 12, 2023 Week 1, December 1996 LIVE from the Arrowhead Pond - Anaheim, CA Attendance: 19,000 (SELLOUT!) Monday Nitro kicks off back in the Arrowhead Pond and the 3rd straight sellout in California. The final month of 1996 begins as the NWO music immediately blares through the arena. The NWO come out onto the stage and make their way out through the fog. As they get to the bottom of the ramp, Nash does his side point back toward the entrance, indicating the arrival of another member. The same subject who cost DDP his title last night walks out. Smiles go all around the NWO as he gets to the rest of the group and dishes out high fives and hugs Liz. Tony Schiavone finally confirms that it is Paul Levesque and he's apparently now a new member of the NWO. They all get in the ring and look out at the capacity crowd while Bischoff takes a microphone from inside his jacket. Bischoff: Oh you people!!!!!! You people deserve everything you're going to get here tonight!!! Not just that, but you people deserve to have a Monday Nitro start off right, and that's with this man right here, the Heavyweight Champion of the world and the BEST wrestler to ever exist; Hollywood Hulk Hogan!!! Now before we get down to business, I've gotta say, I can't wait to see the numbers from World War 3 come out because the severe lack of NWO presence on last night's show was an atrocity! The WCW championship committee made a huge mistake when they overruled me and took the NWO matches off the card and let me be clear, one way or another, you will pay dearly for it! Now what everyone is looking at in this ring is a collection of the most dominant athletes in professional wrestling today, minus, of course, Scott Hall....But he'll be back soon!! We have the heavyweight champion, the United States champion, we will get the tag titles back very shortly, and now with Paul right where he belongs, we're going to get the television title! Things couldn't be better for the NWO. As for WCW, now that's a different story. So what the NWO has decided to do, is give anyone in WCW a perfect opportunity to extend their career, make more money, and join the winning team!!! Tonight is free night for the WCW locker room and I can promise you, this is one night only! See, you're either with the NWO, or against us. There is no in between, there is no "thinking about it later," we're going to give the opportunity of a lifetime to anyone backstage who wants to join the winning team, RIGHT NOW! So whoever in the back is smart enough to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, come on down, no questions asked, and the NWO will welcome you with open arms!!! - The crowd get on their feet as they look to the stage. Bobby Heenan thinks this is a trap set up by the NWO, and it very well could be. After a few moments, some figures begin to emerge from the dormant stage. - - Dusty Rhodes thinks the American Males are coming out for a fight. The fans give a good round of cheers as the Males make their way toward the ring. Scotty Riggs is trying to get Bagwell to hold up as he clearly looks unsure about the approach. Bagwell is first in the ring and is quick to hand out high fives and smiles before shaking hands with Hollywood Hogan and then giving Bischoff a hug. Several members slap Bagwell on the back before Scotty Riggs grabs hold of his arm and spins him around. The two begin to argue and Riggs can be heard saying "This isn't a good idea, you don't need to join them!" Nash begins to look frustrated at the interruption of the celebration and Pillman quickly attacks Riggs from behind. He drops as the rest of the members, and Bagwell, join in on the attack. Following the attack, all the members look extremely pleased before someone produces an NWO t-shirt and hands it to Bagwell. He immediately puts it on and then motions toward the "NWO" lettering. The camera fades out as Nitro goes to its intro video. - Rating: 78 Randy Savage vs Eddie Guerrero vs This proved to be an exciting matchup as the fans were excited to see the Macho Man back in action on Monday Nights and the action that both men can bring to the table. Tony says this is the first encounter between the two as they lock up. The announcers also spent time talking about how yet another member of the WCW roster has now turned their back and joined the NWO, with Marcus Bagwell being the latest. The Macho Man was relentless in his assault and was very aggressive against Eddie, which nearly got him disqualified on several occasions. In the end, there was no question as the Macho Man hit the Flying Elbow for the win at 13:46. Winner: Randy Savage Rating: 80 A pre-taped promo airs next with Ricky Steamboat. He says after the battles he and Eddie have had, he thinks last night was the final chapter in that book. He says Eddie was a fierce competitor and his matches with him have proven that the Dragon still has some fire left in its breath. Steamboat said he's going to take some time to figure out what's next, but he's excited for the future! Rating: 89 John Tenta vs Lex Luger vs Luger had the crowd in the palm of his hand as soon as he stepped out onto the stage. Tenta might have had the size advantage but Luger clearly overpowered the big man. After initially taking control, Tenta was able to come back and mount some offense. A bodyslam quickly turned things around for Luger and got the crowd loud again. A series of clotheslines and a Bionic Forearm later, the crowd went deafening as Luger impressively lifted Tenta in the Torture Rack. A submission later at 9:51 gave this one to Luger. Winner: Lex Luger Rating: 81 Following the bell, Mean Gene climbs in the ring as Luger is celebrating his victory. The music fades out and Gene questions Luger about recent events, most notably the new NWO members, his increased aggressiveness in matches, and his continued feud with Kevin Nash. Luger: Mean Gene, the NWO has been running around here for months now, unchecked and unchallenged. Now we all can remember back to that dark day of Fall Brawl and all the mistakes I've made and I've been paying for them ever since! I've seen the Stinger up in the crowd, up at the top of arena's hanging around the last couple of weeks and I'll bet he's just as sick to his stomach with the things going on more recently as I am! The NWO can have any new member it wants but I'm still going to be fighting for WCW! If you've noticed here recently, I'm not alone, either! Scott Steiner's been standing up for WCW and now that the Macho Man's back, the NWO's going to be in for a rude awakening! As for Kevin Nash, it all starts with him, and he's the first one that's got to go! I don't care who he brings with him, it's only a matter of time before I get him in the Torture Rack and he's looking up at the lights! Rating: 84 Nitro had taken a quick commercial break and when it returned, Mean Gene is backstage this time. He's with the former Tag Team champions who, he said, lost the belts last night to the Faces of Fear. Booker T's clearly disappointed but he handles the question and says that Harlem Heat may have lost the belts, but it's not all said and done. Them and the Faces of Fear go way back and if one thing's for sure, Harlem Heat will get the titles back and will once again be at the top of the tag team food chain. Rating: 82 Tag Team Titles: Hostile Intent (Saturn & Paul Roma) vs Faces of Fear (c) vs We're given a bit of back story with Saturn and Roma as they make their entrance. After teaming for the last few months, they apparently worked well as a team and liked the group enough to give themselves a formal team name. Hostile Intent has now been born and they take their new name up against the new champions. It was an extremely physical match and Meng vastly out-performed everyone else. The crowd loved all the hard hitting moves that the Faces of Fear and Saturn provided, though there were some grumblings when Paul Roma came in and attempted some technical moves. Things were over at 10:15 when Meng hit the Kick of Fear. Winners: Faces of Fear Rating: 74 Fit Finlay vs Konnan vs Konnan was hired on a handshake deal for World War 3 and Tony tells us that he's going to be evaluated by WCW to potentially join the roster full time. We're given a brief background of his success in Mexico and all three think he has very high potential. His toughness was definitely challenged in this match. Finlay dished out some abuse but Konnan was able to respond and get the crowd into it when he fired up. It wasn't enough though and Finlay was able to put him away with a Tombstone at 8:23. Winner: Fit Finlay Rating: 66 Mean Gene is in the ring once again and the crowd really get on their feet with excitement when he announces his next guest; The Nature Boy Ric Flair! Flair comes out and struts his way to the ring. Despite the large bandage on his forehead due to last night's battle, Flair is all smiles and dances as he takes time to taunt several fans along the aisle. Dressed in his designer suit, Flair climbs the steps and enters the ring. He bounces off the ropes before meeting Gene in the middle and shaking hands. Mean Gene: Nature Boy, you sure are in good spirits tonight, despite the brutal battle you were in last night with Steve Austin! Flair: Oh MEAAAAAAAN! WOOOOO!! BY GOD, GENE! We are liiiiiiiiive tonight, in Anaheim!!!! Let me touch on last night! Last night, two men went in, and two men came out, battered, bloodied, sweating, and as strong as they went in before! While Austin may not have been the one with blood dripping down his face by the end of the night, make no mistake, he's hurting today just as much as the Nature Boy! Austin!!!! There's two things that are true. The first being, as much as we don't like each other, I can be a man and admit that you're one tough son of a bitch and have to give credit where credit is due! With that being said, your brutal, take no prisoner approach last night was the exact reason you were a Horsemen, pal! But!!! BUT!!!! Don't think I'm just gonna stand out here and blow smoke up Austin's ass!!! I'm not finished with you just yet, Austin! Last night you may have won the battle, but the war is far from over!! Last night, Eddie Guerrero and Ricky Steamboat went 30 minutes in an Iron Man match. Austin!!! If you ask me, I think the two of us can top it!! Austin!!! I'm gonna issue you another challenge, pal! It's you and me, one final time! Winner takes all, clear bragging rights! I want you at Starrcade, 60 minute Iron Man match! I know for a fact that you can't turn down a challenge, my man and let me remind you that I made the 60 minute match! I can go all night and go a little longer!!! I've issued the challenge, and I'm not leaving this ring until you come out here and accept!! It doesn't take long before Austin's music hits and he comes walking out to the stage. The crowd still boo's but there can be plenty of cheering heard as well as Austin takes a moment to look out at the capacity crowd before giving Flair a look inside the ring, where he's looking like he's about to go crazy. Austin: Ric Flair, you have got to be the most desperate, insane, psychotic son of a bitch I have ever known! Halloween Havoc wasn't enough for you, then World War 3 wasn't enough for you, and now you want a 60 minute Iron Man match against me at Starrcade??? Hell son, I don't mind whipping your ass one more time, this time for 60 minutes straight!!!! But don't make any mistake about it, Ric Flair...I ain't gonna stand out here and sing your praises like you were doing to me just a minute ago!! If you thought I was a snake last night in our match, you ain't seen nothing yet! I am going to have you bleeding like a stuck pig at Starrcade, so all the WCW sensors better get their buttons ready, because I will, without a doubt, beat the living hell outta you from one ring post to the other, and that's the bottom line! Flair: Austin!!! Austin!!!! That's where you're wrong, pal!!!! I am the dirtiest player in the game and 60 minutes to me is child's play!!! You're not gonna get one up on me because I am the limousine riding, jet flying, kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin' son of a gun and at Starrcade, YOUR ASS IS MINE! WOOOOOOOO!!!! Rating: 99 Brian Pillman vs Scott Steiner vs The title wasn't on the line and Pillman was accompanied by his NWO members. While that may give you an idea of how this match went down, it didn't prevent it from being a fantastic match that went on for quite some time. Both competitors were on the top of their game tonight and despite being outnumbered, Steiner was able to hold the NWO at bay for most of the match. Things broke down after Steiner gained control and knocked "Sting" off the apron when he tried to interfere. This distraction allowed Levesque to toss in the US title to Pillman, who used it to blast Steiner in the head as he turned. The match resulted in a DQ victory for Steiner at 16:55. Winner by DQ: Scott Steiner Rating: 96 The bell rang but, you guessed it, the NWO all climbed in and began beating Steiner down. A scene that's become all too familiar in recent weeks, the NWO again looked unstoppable as they attacked the alread-downed Steiner. New members Paul Levesque and Marcus Bagwell took turns beating Steiner before they held him up on his knees by both arms. Hogan took the opportunity to slap Steiner before kicking him, causing him to fall again to the mat. Hogan hit a couple of leg drops as the spray cans again made an appearance. The new members got their first tag as they painted "NWO" on Steiner's back as Nitro faded to a close. Rating: 93 Final Show Rating: 96 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 Week 2, December 1996 LIVE from the Rosemont Horizon - Rosemont, IL Attendance: 17,667 Monday Nitro kicks off this week with the opening Nitro video followed by a pan of the arena and fireworks display, the typical beginning to a Monday Nitro. The fans are packed in this week as Tony welcomes everyone to tuning in. He reminds us that the NWO became two members stronger last week as Marcus Alexander Bagwell joined and newcomer Paul Levesque was revealed as a member. Another Nitro episode came to an end last week showing Scott Steiner being viciously attacked by the NWO. As excited as they are for Steiner challenging Hollywood Hogan later this month at Starrcade for the world title, they're extremely nervous as the NWO has seemed unstoppable. The picture changes from the announce booth to the promo position backstage. Steiner: Hollywood Hogan and the rest of the New World Order idiots, I got news for all of ya! I'm still here and I'm still standing despite your best efforts last week and all those other times you attacked me from behind! I'm still here because none of you idiots have what it takes to put Scott Steiner away! I'm a genetic specimen that all of you wish you had half of my looks and ability! It don't matter one bit how many times you try and beat me up, I'm still comin'! There ain't no way in hell I'm gonna miss Starrcade and facing you, Hollywood Hogan, one more time for the world title and this time, things are gonna be drastically different! Hollywood Hogan, whether you like it or not, you will face me at Starrcade and I'll be leaving that show as the new world champion! Rating: 100 Television Title: Perry Saturn vs Dean Malenko vs As usual, the TV champion is accompanied by his manager Francine. She uses any openings she can find during the match to cause Saturn some trouble. Despite a good showing from Saturn, it wasn't enough to be able to take the title away from Malenko. He picked up the submission with the Texas Cloverleaf at 15:44. Winner: Dean Malenko Rating: 71 Mean Gene is backstage with a very annoyed looking Diamond Dallas Page. Mean Gene prompts that Paul Levesque appeared at World War 3 and cost him the TV title. DDP says that all Levesque managed to do is paint a target on his back; a target that DDP is going to take out by any means. DDP doesn't care if he has the rest of the NWO on his side, he'll go through anyone that stands in his way. One thing's for sure, Levesque will feel the BANG! Rating: 88 Eddie Guerrero vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs Tony informs those watching at home that Eddie had requested this match after his growing frustration with his nephew, who can't seem to win a match. Eddie thought that providing a beating to Chavo would change his fortune. Eddie was in rare form tonight and didn't allow Chavo any kind of offense. He finished the match at 9:53 with the Frog Splash but he immediately went back to the assault after the bell rang. Winner: Eddie Guerrero Rating: 77 As the assault continues, the crowd comes to life as Arn Anderson, oddly enough, comes running out and sliding in the ring. He shoves Eddie off from the attack who looks on in confused shock as he see's the Enforcer. Eddie doesn't try to attack and instead exits the ring where he begins to backtrack up the aisle. Arn grabs Chavo by his arm to bring him to his feet before stepping to the ropes and challenging Eddie back in. Eddie doesn't accept and exits the stage. Rating: 71 Nitro's back from commercial break and the familiar music of the NWO begins to play. Out walk the ever-growing stable who, as usual, are all smiles and good moods as they make their way out. All members head to the ring where they get in. Hogan does a jog around the ring as he raises the world title up. Bischoff gets a microphone out of his inside jacket pocket and says that the formal introduction to the New World Order for Marcus Bagwell and Paul Levesque is tonight. Bischoff says that he's no longer "Marcus," as that's too pretty-boy American Maleish. He says from this point forward, he'll be known as Buff Bagwell. Bagwell receives his NWO shirt and puts it on before high-fiving all the others in the ring. Bischoff then says that Levesque is a bit of another story and gives him the mic. Levesque: I want everyone to take a good, long look at what you've got right here!! This isn't my first time in WCW, no way..See, before, I was always made to play some uppity blue blood. I had to prance around, curtseying to everyone, putting my hair in a ponytail, talking with a fake accent....For some reason, that's what stuck on me like a bad habit. Well that's not the person you see standing before you now! What I really am, is a student of the game. I'm a tough, take no prisoners, cerebral assassin and I finally get to be my self! I get to be surrounded by people like me! I no longer have to play some stupid character! I couldn't be taken seriously before in WCW. I couldn't be taken seriously in the WWF, hell, I couldn't even get used in the WWF! So then I thought I'd try the USWA or World Wrestling Council....Nope. They wanted me to play the same old character. Well I've got this to say about all those companies! SCREW THEM! I'm gonna be nothing other than me! I'm gonna do what I wanna do, when I wanna do it! I'm done playing characters. I'm going to make all those places regret using me like that! Luckily for Eric Bischoff, he sees the errors of his ways. I won't blame you for before, Eric. That was then, and this is now, and what everyone's looking at, is the future! The NWO is where it's at and I see a lot of pain in the future for guys like Diamond Dallas Page! Levesque handed the mic back to Bischoff and in the delay, cameras were able to spot Sting standing high above the arena, looking on as the NWO conduct their business. Levesque is then given his own NWO shirt as he puts it on and embraces the other members. Bischoff then says he noticed the Macho Man is back in WCW and see's a side of him that he loves. Bischoff says if that's the Macho Man he got two years ago, he could've been bigger than ever. The NWO want to give Savage an offer he can't refuse as he points to Elizabeth, who smiles. Bischoff also says that despite all the fighting and bad blood between Savage and the NWO, they need to admit when business comes before feelings. Eric says that Savage knows where to find them and that their door will remain open. Bischoff ends the promo with "Think about what the right thing to do is." Rating: 100 Big Bubba Rogers & John Tenta vs Harlem Heat vs Harlem Heat were two men on a mission in this match and both Booker T and Stevie Ray had top notch performances. Despite the larger size of their opponents, Harlem Heat made the work look easy as they demonstrated their underestimated strength with big power moves. Booker got the pin at 11:40 with a Missile Dropkick. Winners: Harlem Heat Rating: 76 Mean Gene is backstage now with Scott Norton. He talks about his feud with Fit Finlay and how they're going to lay it all out at Starrcade. Norton says this will prove that he's the toughest man in WCW and might look ahead to a title afterwards. Rating: 69 Earl Robert Eaton vs Ric Flair vs The Earl showed he can still go pretty well in the ring but the Nature Boy was on fire. Flair was in rare form during this match, hitting all of his classic Nature Boy moves, even the dirty ones, and the crowd loved every second of it. Flair put Eaton away at 10:22 with the Figure Four. Winner: Ric Flair Rating: 88 - With a break in action, cameras return to the commentary desk where Tony is shuffling his papers and they begin to discuss the night's events. Before Tony can even get started, the sounds of drumming, similar to a marching band, begin to play over the arena speakers. Tony gets a confused look on his face and all three turn to look at the stage. The crowd begins to come to life as someone emerges from the fog. Jim Ross comes walking out and the crowd give a warm reception. Tony exclaims that everyone knew Ross was returning to WCW but he had no idea it was going to be tonight! Ross heads to the ring where he climbs in, waiving at the crowd, before he grabs a microphone. - Jim Ross: I won't take up a whole lot of time because I know there's other people you all want to see and hear from rather than me! What I do want to say is how good it feels to be back in WCW! In many ways, I've always felt WCW to be my home! The South is and always has been the heart of professional wrestling and the place I came from drifted further and further away from what I love dearly! This is the place of hard hitting action and I can't wait to call the action for all the wrestlers on the roster! That's right; WRESTLERS! Not superstars. All I've ever wanted to do is call wrestling action. Where I previously was, I couldn't do it the way I thought it should be done. I had to use certain words, I wasn't allowed to say other words, I had to push main events and other stars during a match I was more interested in calling. I'm finally back home where I can be myself, and that's just an ol' redneck from Oklahoma that loves to wear a cowboy hat! And I can't wait to be sitting at that table up there next week calling the action! Rating: 86 Cameras happen to be backstage where Kevin Nash is conveniently walking the halls with a cup of coffee. He stops when Lex Luger steps into the picture, who looks angry and ready to fight. Nash simply holds up a hand to keep Luger at bay and asks why he's in such a foul mood. Luger says that he wants Nash one on one at Starrcade and to bring whatever friends he wants because he's beyond the point of caring. Luger says he just wants to get his hands on him one way or another. Nash looks at Luger for a moment before simply saying "You're on." and walking off. Rating: 88 Kevin Nash vs Wrath vs Wrath's recent win streak is put to the test in this match. Nash went in taunting and toying with Wrath but once the bell rang, Nash seemed a different person. He immediately went at Wrath and rocked him back into the corner. Nash continued using heavy hitting offense before Wrath caught him off guard with a bicycle kick, which also got the crowd on their feet. After some brief offense, Nash was able to turn things around after a mistake by Wrath. Nash was able to hit the Jacknife Powerbomb at 10:11 for the win. Winner: Kevin Nash Rating: 65 Final show rating: 80 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHK1989 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I was worried at first if you were gonna do heel J.R. in WCW. 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 Week 3, December 1996 LIVE from the Kiel Center - St. Louis, MO Attendance: 15,840 There's a special intro to Nitro tonight after the usual opening video package. The cameras go to the announce booth where Jim Ross is now sitting in the middle between Mike Tenay and Dusty Rhodes. Ross: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to WCW Monday Nitro! I can't express how excited I am to be back here in WCW and once again calling the wrestling action! I'm joined by the American Dream Dusty Rhodes and the Professor Mike Tenay. Gentlemen, I haven't had the opportunity until now to get to share announcing time with you both, and I'm extremely excited! Dusty, I've called a number of your matches during your in-ring career, and I'm certainly looking forward to calling the action with you in the announce booth. Halfway through tonight's show, we're going to switch out color commentators as Dusty will go to backstage interview positions and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan will join us out here, and I've got to say, I'm equally as excited to work with him! It's safe to say that WCW has the best announce team in the industry and it has the hottest in-ring action to go along with it! WCW is on fire as of late and the NWO continue to get more powerful by the week, it seems. Dusty: That's right, daddeh! Jimbo Ross, I'm so glad you're back where you belong in WCW, where the Big Boys Play, if you weil! One thing you've got to be careful of, Jim Ross, as we all here in WCW have found out the hard way over the last several months, is to look out for the New World Order! They don't care who they go after and attack, and if you see em' coming out here, you best run off! Tenay: That's right, Dusty. Jim, I'm also very excited to work with you. As to the NWO - their numbers seem to grow each and every week and it's left us all wondering - Who's it going to be this week? It seems they always have the upper hand which has left us all confused for months. Things became much more clear when Eric Bischoff was revealed to be a secret member. As it stands now, they keep bringing out new members. I can only hope WCW finds a way to start fighting back at the NWO, or else we all may be in trouble. Ross: Well folks, the first news of the night, the main event is the Total Package Lex Luger against Steve Austin, but first, Mean Gene Okerlund is backstage with the man who will challenge Hollywood Hogan for the world heavyweight title at Starrcade, Scott Steiner! Mean Gene: Jim Ross, I welcome you to WCW! With me now is Scott Steiner! Mr. Steiner, you challenge Hollywood Hogan at Starrcade for the world title, a man you faced back at Halloween Havoc and came up short, though not all due to Hogan himself.... Steiner: Mean Gene! It's all coming back around! Hollywood Hogan couldn't beat me by himself at Halloween Havoc, and now he's gotta try to do it again at Starrcade! The NWO have tried week after week to put me down and keep me from going to Starrcade, but that ain't gonna happen! They're gonna have to kill me, Gene, to keep me from that match! I don't care who they bring out, I don't care what new member they get, I don't care what they throw at me between now and two weeks when Hogan's gotta stand across that ring from me and defend his title! There ain't nowhere for Hogan to run, and there ain't nowhere for Hogan to hide! At Starrcade, I'm gonna make him cry like the baby he is and I'm gonna beat him from one end of that ring to the other! And Gene, to top it all off, when the night's over and that referee raises the hand of the winner, he's gonna be raising this arm and with my other arm, I'm gonna be holding up the world belt! Rating: 100 Perry Saturn vs Paul Levesque vs Paul Levesque has his first match back in WCW and during the opening moments, Mike Tenay provides viewers with his usual trivia, stating Saturn and Leveque actually trained at the same wrestling school and know each other quite well. This translated into a decent match between the two where Levesque maintained control. Interestingly enough, he ended the match at 10:06 with a Diamond Cutter before tauntingly flashing the Diamond Cutter symbol. Winner: Paul Levesque Rating: 66 Following the match, Mean Gene is at the base of the rampway where he says he's bringing out his next guest for an interview. The crowd get on their feet as he introduces the Macho Man Randy Savage! Savage walks out to a good ovation and meets Gene at the end of the ramp. Savage has his hands on his hips and doesn't appear to be in a very good mood as Gene starts asking him about his absence and his cryptic claim that he needs to make some changes. Gene puts the microphone up to Savage for a response but he just stands and looks at Gene, not answering. Mean Gene gives a perplexed look before trying another question, saying that the NWO have also made comments lately of trying to get him to join the group. Mean Gene says that for months, the Macho Man valiantly stood up to the NWO in the defense of WCW and asks that he can't seriously be considering joining the NWO, could he?? Again, Savage refuses to answer Mean Gene, instead shaking his head slightly. Mean Gene now is starting to get annoyed that Savage won't answer anything and says he's going to have to answer these questions eventually. The crowd again begin to come to life as something else has gotten their attention, something that Mean Gene and Savage also notice... The cameras again catch Sting, watching from high atop the arena, which gives Gene his next question. He says that Sting has been paying an awful lot of attention to Randy Savage lately and whenever we see Savage, we usually see Sting. He asks if Savage is working with Sting and if he's also a free agent, like him. Savage again refuses to answer anything before turning and walking back up the ramp, leaving Mean Gene alone before dropping the mic and looking into the camera and shrugging his shoulders. It looks like we're not going to get anything from the Macho Man tonight. Rating: 100 Wrath vs Scotty Riggs vs Neither man in this matchup had a very good last couple of weeks. Wrath looked to have the extra motivation after losing his match last week and came out with heavy-handed offense and punishing the former American Male. Wrath decisively ended this at 8:06 with the Meltdown. Winner: Wrath Rating: 66 The match ended and Scotty Riggs exited the ring and began making his way toward the back when "Buff" Bagwell ran in from off camera and knocked Riggs to the floor. Bagwell then put the boots to the fallen Riggs before picking him up to his feet and whipping him into the guardrail. He beat Riggs down before looking satisfied with his work. He laughed into the camera before flexing as Nitro faded to its next segment. Rating: 46 Arn Anderson vs Dean Malenko w/Francine vs This non-title match proved to be a lot of fun. Francine tried her best to get in the way of the Enforcer, but he was one step ahead of her each time, which threw Malenko and his manager off their game. The crowd were into this match as Double A punished the Television Champion with all of his signature moves. Sensing defeat, Francine did her best to distract the referee on any pin attempts. The Enforcer hit the Spinebuster and looked to end things, but Francine was able to distract the referee again to avoid a pin fall attempt. Malenko was able to roll out of the ring where he joined up with Francine and together the pair made their way up the aisle, with Malenko apparently walking out of the match. The referee counted Malenko out at 11:31 and awarded the victory to Anderson. Winner by count out: Arn Anderson Rating: 77 We come back from commercial break to DDP walking the backstage hallway where out of nowhere a steel chair comes swinging in the picture. It connects with DDP's back as he collapses to the ground in agony. Paul Levesque then steps in the picture and begins hitting him repeatedly with the chair. Seeing his work done, Levesque drops the chair and then tells DDP to "Feel the bang!" and giving a crotch chop before walking off. Rating: 73 Big Bubba Rogers vs Fit Finlay vs In a not too exciting match and with nothing much to report, Finlay won this match at 8:07, though it was impressive to see Finlay hit the Tombstone on the large Bubba. Winner: Fit Finlay Rating: 68 Mean Gene is a busy man tonight, as he's backstage with the new tag team champions, the Faces of Fear. Gene asks them generic questions about their on-going battle and feud with Harlem Heat and confirming that they will battle one more time at Starrcade. Jimmy Hart is more than confident that they will walk out of that match still champions. Rating: 84 Earl Robert Eaton & Squire Dave Taylor vs Harlem Heat vs Harlem Heat were once again in pretty good form for this match. Their work as a team was flawless and took to the Blue Bloods with a fury. They didn't let up on them and kept them on their toes the entire match. Stevie Ray got this pin fall at 10:11 with a Heat Seeker. Winners: Harlem Heat Rating: 75 tHe FolLoWInG AnnOunCEmENT hAs BeEn PAiD fOr BY tHe NEW WORLD ORDER: Hogan: You know something, Big Sexy!?! Kev: What's that, Hollywood??? Hogan: Scott Steiner, that man with the tiny arms, brother, he doesn't stand a snowcone's chance in hell against me at Starrcade, dude!! And I'll go one even further, he doesn't deserve a shot at the NWO heavyweight title either, brother!!! Add in that I've got the entire NWO watching my back, and Starrcade's just gonna be an easy pay day, my man!!! I'm gonna wipe the floor with Steiner and afterwards he's going to worship the ground I spit on, brother, and be begging us for a spot in the NWO! Kev: For sure, Hollywood! It's like Flexy Lexy Luger. He really wants a piece of the big man?? A million dollar body but a $2 brain. Luger's gonna be broken in half with the Jacknife and like his buddy Steiner, he's going to beg the NWO to welcome him in with open arms.... Hogan: That's right dude! We'll beat em into submitting to the NWO, the greatest organization in the history of professional wrestling! Rating: 88 Lex Luger vs Steve Austin vs Anticipation was thick in the air for this main event. Jim Ross called the atmosphere electric as the bell sounded and the two paced around the ring before locking up. What was pure hatred between the two just a few months ago, has visibly turned into a mutual respect for the other. Bobby Heenan said that it seems like the top stars in WCW may all be finally coming together as they all have a mutual enemy - the NWO. Austin's distanced himself the most from the wrath of the group but there isn't anyone in WCW that's gone untouched by their stranglehold. Both competitors were on their game tonight and their performances were top tier. Every time Luger gained an advantage, Austin found a way to fight back. It was the same whenever Austin gained an advantage and Luger, with the crowd firmly behind him, managed a successful comeback. As Luger had Austin reeling from clothesline attacks, he geared up for the Torture Rack. That's when things broke down. Kevin Nash made his way to ringside, which immediately caused Luger's attention to turn toward him. Nash acted like he was an innocent viewer and told Luger to go back to his match. Luger turned to grab Austin from the mat, but that's when Nash jumped in the ring behind Luger and clubbed him from behind. The result was the referee calling for the DQ at 12:28. Winner by DQ: Lex Luger Rating: 79 In usual Nitro fashion, the show didn't end there. Austin rolled out of the ring and began walking up the aisle as Nash continued the assault on Luger. Austin stopped at the bottom of the ramp and turned to look back in the ring, Kevin Nash still beating on the downed Lex Luger. The crowd then came to life as Austin began his walk back toward the ring. Jim Ross: By God, Austin's coming back to the ring!!! Austin stopped short at the apron and continued to look on as Nash's back was to him, continuing the beat down. The crowd became even more electric when Austin rolled under the rope and into the ring and getting up to his feet. He stood there again, watching Nash's continued attack. Ross: What the hell's he doing?!? Time stood still when Austin finally approached Nash and grabbed him by the arm, spinning him around. Nash's eyes grew wide in shock as the two men stood face to face in a staredown. When nothing happened, Nash got a smirk on his face before turning back around and starting the assault again on Luger. It only lasted a couple strikes before Austin spun Nash around again and said a few words. Ross: What's going on?!? Are they working together now too?! That question was answered with deafening cheers from the crowd when Nash, who had enough, went to punch Austin. Austin promptly blocked it and began rocking Nash backward with punches. He had him reeling back to the ropes where Austin took a couple steps back and with forward momentum, sent Nash over the top rope and to the outside with a huge clothesline. Nash landed on his feet but stumbled back into the guardrail as Austin flipped Nash off which caused the crowd to blow up even louder with cheers. Ross: Austin attacked Nash!! Austin attacked the NWO! Finally WCW's started working together!! Nitro began to fade out from there with the image of Steve Austin in the ring, daring Nash to enter who remained outside on the floor, checking his lip from the flurry of punches he received. Nash remained outside looking into the ring with a death glare at Austin as the show faded out. Rating: 95 Final Show Rating: 86 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old School Fan Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 3 hours ago, Henderson said: That question was answered with deafening cheers from the crowd when Nash, who had enough, went to punch Austin. Austin promptly blocked it and began rocking Nash backward with punches. He had him reeling back to the ropes where Austin took a couple steps back and with forward momentum, sent Nash over the top rope and to the outside with a huge clothesline. Nash landed on his feet but stumbled back into the guardrail as Austin flipped Nash off which caused the crowd to blow up even louder with cheers. Ross: Austin attacked Nash!! Austin attacked the NWO! Finally WCW's started working together!! Nitro began to fade out from there with the image of Steve Austin in the ring, daring Nash to enter who remained outside on the floor, checking his lip from the flurry of punches he received. Nash remained outside looking into the ring with a death glare at Austin as the show faded out. After this, I get a sense that it won't be much longer before we see the familiar "Stone Cold" look take shape (shaved head and goatee) to go with the attitude as we see Austin throw in against the NWO (basically a WCW version of the Austin-McMahon feud in the WWF IRL). 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 14 hours ago, Old School Fan said: After this, I get a sense that it won't be much longer before we see the familiar "Stone Cold" look take shape (shaved head and goatee) to go with the attitude as we see Austin throw in against the NWO (basically a WCW version of the Austin-McMahon feud in the WWF IRL). 😎 That's an interesting observation! Considering Austin grew his goatee to cover up his busted lip he received from Jake Roberts and that never happened in this universe, it'll be interesting to see what happens! I also was always wondering if people picked up on Sting's transition to his different look in this dynasty. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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