Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #257 October 16th, 2000 The Opening Word: Last week Mandalay Sports issued a denial that they were negotiating to buy World Championship Wrestling. Most see this as splitting hairs--that Mandalay is correct in saying that they're not buying WCW, but in truth they are closely involved in the negotiations, poised to be part of either a larger group of owners, or that Mandalay will be put in charge of managing the company. Eric Bischoff's role in all this is still something of a mystery. Either he's the one putting the deal together with other investors, securing the financing through bank loans and such; or he's serving as a consultant on the deal; or who knows what exactly. All we know now is that if and when the deal goes through Bischoff is expected to play a big part in running the company. With no sale announced yet some are wondering if perhaps negotiations have fallen apart. There have definitely been rumors to that effect. There continue to be rumors that Vince McMahon is looking into buying WCW, and WCW itself say there are several prospective buyers for the company. Some think all the press the story has received has perhaps scared buyers off. Shining the light of media scrutiny on the deal may driven the selling price up to the point where nobody wants to but the company any longer. It's also more than likely that whatever is really going on is so buried under layers of secrecy that we're all just guessing, nowhere close to the truth. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Taped 10/13. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Melbourne, Australia. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Stevie Ray & Mark Madden. HOUR ONE: - BOOGIE KNIGHTS vs. MARK JINDRAK/SEAN O'HAIRE Well-wrestled match, probably indicating a lot of rehearsal put into it earlier in the day. Disqo Inferno has a pin following a Chartbuster, but there's no ref (due to an errant kick from Alex Wright moments earlier). Kronik comes in and takes out Disqo with a chokeslam and Wright with the High Times. O'Haire then drops a Seanton Bomb for the win. Kevin Nash tells Mike Sanders he doesn't plan on doing anything tonight. And this is news because ... ? Goldberg arrives. - Sanders barges in on the Cat. Ten seconds later we have a "Lumberjack Match" booked between the Cat and Nash. Whatever. - TEAM CANADA vs. THE MISFITS IN ACTION Lance Storm heels the crowd before the match, but during it "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan plays babyface. Storm hooks the Canadian Cloverleaf on Corporal Cajun for the win. Okay, albeit lackluster action. Sting, sans makeup, arrives in a pretaped clip. - Goldberg will be featured in a news report this coming Sunday on CNN titled "Goldberg: The Man Behind The Muscle." - Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson come out to badmouth the crowd. I'm not sure if they did this live, but on the replay some middle fingers in the crowd are blurred out. A challenge is thrown out to ... SHANE DOUGLAS (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs. THE FILTHY ANIMALS Douglas fights Konnan, Rey Mysterio and Tygress. Right away he gets a Face Fulla Stuff from Tygress, Mark Madden acting like that's a bad thing. Stevie Ray: "Face Fulla Squack." The action spills to the floor, where Douglas hides behind Torrie, then pulls out a some Mace and sprays Konnan & Rey. The ref decides things have gotten out of hand and calls for the bell. Konnan is handcuffed to the ropes, while Douglas plants Mysterio with a corkscrew Tombstone Piledriver. Mace ... handcuffs ... there's a Juventud Guerrera joke to be made in there somewhere. Even the boisterous Melbourne crowd seemed to lose interest in this one. Shawn Stasiak & Chuck Palumbo squabble backstage. Coach Nash comes along and makes them shake hands. Booker T is in the building. - Mysterio is loaded into an ambulance. Billy Kidman gets brought up to speed on what's gone down. - MIKE AWESOME/CROWBAR vs. SHAWN STASIAK/CHUCK PALUMBO (w/ Coach Nash) Coach Nash joins the announce team. He badmouths his team's music, saying that's the last time we'll hear it. An "Awesome!" chant aside, and a few pops for highspots, the crowd is D-E-A-D. Nash buries his own guys on commentary. A miscue leads to Palumbo punching Stasiak. Awesome then hits a splash off the top and covers for the pin. Palumbo & Stasiak get into a shoving match. Nash goes in to cool them off, but isn't very successful. Shane Douglas challenges Booker T. Torrie then calls Pamela Paulshock a bitch. Pamela: "Takes one to know one!" - David Flair asks Mike Sanders to book a "DNA Match" between himself and Buff Bagwell at Halloween Havoc. It's embarrassing the way Sanders just *has to* squeeze in his "S.O.L." catchphrase every week. - Schiavone says that after house show action last week Goldberg's streak is up to 9-0. - KWEE WEE vs. JOHNNY THE BULL Johnny breaks his foot off a monkeyflip about ten seconds into the match, giving Kwee Wee the quick win. I think God is trying to tell this company something. - The Cat comes out, getting me really anxious for the start of RAW. "Mark Madden, I hate your fat ass!" I take back every bad thing I've ever said about the Cat. Miss Jones dances. The Cat then calls out Mike Sanders. Sanders challenges the Cat to a match at Havoc, with the commissionership of WCW in the line. Barbs are exchanged, then Kronik comes out. Sanders is just about to sic them on the Cat when Goldberg's music fires up. They wait for him to come out on the stage. Goldberg comes in through the crowd instead. Sanders says this fight will have to wait for Havoc. Things are dragged out a bit longer with Brian Adams & Bryan Clark cutting a promo on Goldberg, then security coming out to keep the two groups apart. Booker T is ... NEXT! HOUR TWO: - Sanders asks David Flair if he's ready for whatever match he's put him in tonight. - SHANE DOUGLAS (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs. BOOKER T Scott Steiner sits in on commentary and early in the match swears so much as to be unintelligible (because of being muted). Konnan is shown in the back telling Tygress he has to do something. Back and forth action, with Douglas getting a long stint on the offensive. Steiner and Stevie Ray engage in a battle of the minds: Steiner equipped with a peashooter, Stevie Ray, sadly, completely unarmed. Booker T rallies back. Douglas gets a chain from Torrie and is about to use it, but Billy Kidman comes out to stop him. Douglas knocks Kidman off the apron. Kidman smashes into Midajah, who had come out with Steiner. Steiner goes after Kidman. Konnan comes out and attacks Steiner. Jeff Jarrett then attacks Konnan. Uh, the match? Booker catches Douglas coming off the top and gives him the Book End, followed by the pin. - Steiner delivers an interview in which about 35% of the words are bleeped out. Jeff Jarrett then says slapnutz and some other stuff. - DAVID FLAIR vs. GOLDBERG Ric Flair comes out to take one last look at his son. Goldberg no-sells David's chops. Spear. Jackhammer. Pin. 10-0. WCW is able to indulge in a rare shot: Goldberg stands on the corner ropes to celebrate his win. The camera pulls back to show an arena full of fans, up even into the cheap seats. Ric goes in to check on David as they cut to-- Pamela interviews Kidman & Konnan. - SCOTT STEINER (w/ Midajah) vs. BILLY KIDMAN Steiner, pre-match: "[*mute*]" Total squash. Kidman gets in maybe on move. The Steiner Recliner puts him away. Kidman hasn't done a job this one-sided since the days he had short hair and wore red tights. - Another look at the Goldberg interview from CNN. - JEFF JARRETT vs. KONNAN (w/ Tygress) Konnan seems to have the match in hand when Douglas and Torrie come out. The ref is distracted. Jarrett comes up with a guitar and nails Tygress. He then gives Konnan the Stroke and covers for the pin. Afterwards he puts Konnan in the Scorpion Deathlock. Sting, watching the match in the back, is pissed that Jarrett used his move. - In a pretaped bit Kevin Nash tours an Australian brewery. Bottle labels with Nash's "Big Sexy" nickname are printed up. - Most everyone on tonight's card come out to serve as lumberjacks for the main event, minus Goldberg and a few others. KEVIN NASH vs. STING A few minutes into the match Nash takes a bump (holy crap!), getting knocked over the top rope out to the floor. The lumberjacks pound on him. Back in Sting slaps on the Scorpion Deathlock, but Nash reaches the ropes. Later he takes a couple of clotheslines, and a Stinger Splash, making this the hardest Nash has worked in a match this year. Then the overbooking kicks in. Steiner runs out to attack Booker T. He's followed by Konnan, and in moments everyone is pairing off and fighting their next PPV opponents. For some reason they all brawl completely away from the ring area. That leaves Nash and Sting all alone with the ref. Speaking of whom, referee Charles Robinson is knocked out when Sting kicks Nash into him. A Stinger Splash with Robinson sandwiched between Nash and the turnbuckles does further damage. Nash ends up in another corner. Here comes Jeff Jarrett out of the crowd, carrying a guitar. He waits for Sting to come in with another Stinger Splash. Jarrett catches him with it in midair. Nash then rolls on top of Sting. Robinson ignores the pieces of guitar all over and counts the pin. The Aussie fans show their appreciation by pelting the ring with garbage. This finish was like EVERY NITRO in the summer of '99. You know ... the summer Nash was the booker and he killed the company ... - This Wednesday: Show taped several days ago in Melbourne. - Next week: Nitro returns live from Little Rock, Arkansas. Comments: A show about on par with last week's Nitro. The wrestling was maybe not as good, but Mark Madden was kept much more in check this week, which made the show more bearable to watch. I have to credit Shane Douglas with losing some weight and doing his best to work hard. Obviously he's taking the initiative and trying to impress whoever the company's owner ends up being. The crowd made a lot of noise at points, but for a lot of the show (mostly in the first hour) it was pretty dead. At least some of WCW's guys who are supposed to be over were, and the heels drew heat. Things are going to look bad for Nitro next week when they have to go back in front of a small crowd. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Detroit, Michigan. Hosted By: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler. WWF RAW: - Eddie Guerrero comes out to a ton of heat. MONSTROUS "Eddie sucks!" chant. Eddie rips on the crowd, Chyna, Billy Gunn--everyone. Out comes Chris Jericho. Jericho says this is the first RAW in a month to not start with a 20 minute interview, and tells Eddie to shut the hell up. EDDIE GUERRERO vs. CHRIS JERICHO You can feel a buzz, like this is going to be an awesome match. Then Eddie, off a monkeyflip, lands wrong and seems to have been injured. He drops to the floor, and pretty quickly it's clear he's pulled a hamstring or something. Jericho sends him back in, but the ref calls for the bell. Maybe God's trying to tell *this* company something too. JR questions whether Eddie is really hurt, or just faking to get a cheap win. X-Pac runs in to attack Jericho, then Billy Gunn comes in to take care of X-Pac. A limo pulls up bearing Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Kurt Angle opens the door for her, and fetches her luggage from the trunk too. Rikishi will be interviewed by the Coach ... NEXT! - Jonathan Coachman interviews Rikishi. The high points: Rikishi has gotten tremendous feedback from his family ... commissioner Foley has banned Rikishi from the building tonight ... his accusations against the WWF aren't just stories he's making up ... he'd do it all again ... he believes that deep down the Rock is behind what he did ... he'd slap Stone Cold like a dog if Austin got in his face. Okay interview, but I liked the one the Rock did last Thursday more. The Rock incorporated some of the shortcoming of the storyline into his interview, while Rikishi largely ducked them. Rikishi faces Steve Austin this Sunday at No Mercy, "No Holds Barred." - Clips of the poker game on Sunday Night Heat. T&A lost all their money to the Acolytes, so all they had to wager was Trish's clothes. Of course she's stripped naked, Bradshaw looking like he's undergone a religious experience seeing Trish bare all. T&A then attack, leaving the Acolytes laying. - THE ACOLYTES vs. T&A (w/ Trish Stratus) Ross is right in calling this one a slobberknocker. The match lumbers along until Trish tries to help her team by distracting Bradshaw, jumping on the apron and removing her coat. It works too well--Bradshaw grabs her and steals a big ol' kiss. He then walks into a powerbomb from Albert, but Faarooq breaks up the pin. Bradshaw then hits the Clothesline From Hell for the win. This one was bowling shoe ugly. Stephanie tells Triple H that the WWF is her business and her life, and that she's going to accompany Kurt Angle to the ring for his matches because Triple H won't let her accompany him. Triple H asks what'll happen if she gets hurt? She says that's a chance they'll both have to take. - Stephanie is talking with Angle when Triple H bursts in. He orders Stephanie to leave, and we cut away to-- - AL SNOW vs. WILLIAM REGAL Snow is dressed to represent England this week. Total *wrestling* match, which the crowd mostly loses interest in. The Regal Stretch secures the win, as well as the European Title. Angle and Triple H, who I guess just sat there quietly watching the match, resume their encounter. Triple H warns Angle that if Stephanie gets hurt out there it's his ass; and if Angle makes their relationship anything more than business, it'll be the last thing he does. Angle flashes a smirk after Triple H leaves. Kane is on the move. - KANE vs. TRIPLE H Chris Benoit joins the announce team. In the match, Kane is like this immovable monster that Triple H slowly chips away at. Stephanie, in the back, thinks Benoit is going to interfere and wants to go out to help. Angle says he's responsible for her safety and can't let her go. Besides, Triple H can take care of himself. Finally having him worn down, Triple H drops off the apron, snapping Kane's neck across the top rope. Helmsley then turns and nonchalantly LEAPS OVER THE ANNOUNCE TABLE to pound on Benoit! Cool. Triple H then plants Kane with a Pedigree on the floor. Benoit waffles Triple H with a chair, drawing a lame DQ call from the ref. In the ring Benoit continues to beat on Triple H, suplexing him, then slapping on the Crippler Crossface. Triple H taps out like mad. Benoit's getting a great buildup for the match this Sunday. I figure Triple H will win, though. - Footage is shown of that Undertaker haunted house attraction, which will be covered further on Superstars this Sunday. WWF WAR ZONE: - Michael Cole introduces Stone Cold Steve Austin. This is Joe Louis Arena, where Austin was run over at Survivor Series last year. Austin talks about being put on the shelf for ten months, saying he doesn't want sympathy, he just wants to paint a picture of what's going to go into his beating of Rikishi. He says Rikishi said he'd slap him ... Austin laughs, asking if that's the best he can come up with. Austin says he's got pictures of Rikishi all over his house. When asked what he'd do to Rikishi he grabs the mic from Cole and says he's not going to do armbars and lucha libre-type crap, he's going to stomp a mudhole in Rikishi and walk it dry, and if there's anyone who can do it to an ass as big as Rikishi's it's Stone Cold. Rikishi appears on the Titan-Tron. Standing on the very spot Austin was run over, he says he's been banned from the arena by Foley, but Foley said nothing about Austin coming out to the parking lot. So Austin goes looking for Rikishi. There's no sign of him, until a car comes screeching from behind a stack of boxes! Austin jumps out of the way onto the back of a truck. Rikishi leans out the car window and says "Austin ... this Sunday ... No Mercy." - X-Pac comes out to yell about Chris Jericho and Billy Gunn. Gunn comes out, only to be jumped from behind by a limping Eddie Guerrero. X-Pac then goes to work on Gunn--is this a match?--but Jericho then comes out. Referees come out of the woodwork to break it up. - Billy Gunn tracks down commissioner Foley and demands a match against Guerrero. Foley books it for No Mercy. - THE DUDLEY BOYZ vs. LOS CONQUISTADORS Good match, with the best part being the commentary. Ross calls them Edge & Christian, but Lawler insists they're really luchadors. The two bicker through the whole match. A heat segment on D-Von leads to a hot tag to Buh-Buh Ray, who cleans house. D-Von hits the headbutt to the nuts, then is dispatched to retrieve a table. One of the Conquistadors hits him with a plancha, while Buh-Buh does a sitdown powerbomb to the other. He then goes after the mask. The other Conquistador comes in and rolls Buh-Buh up for the pin. Replay of the car incident from earlier. The Rock is shown watching the replay on a monitor. - Clip of Chyna on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." - ROAD DOGG vs. VAL VENIS (w/ Steven Richards) Naked Man Mideon runs out and punches Richards. Venis still gets the pin with a small package (following a low blow). Stephanie finds Angle in his dressing room. - Clips of Lawler at the XFL cheerleader tryouts. - Mandy & Victoria are at WWF New York. - Stephanie and Angle comes out. Stephanie says Angle is going to interview the Rock before the PPV, then beat him for the WWF Championship. Angle talks about the Rock, insinuating that the Rock knew all about Rikishi running over Austin. The Rock is on the move. - KURT ANGLE/EDGE/CHRISTIAN vs. THE ROCK/THE HARDY BOYZ Triple H is shown watching the match, an icepack on his shoulder to sell Benoit's Crossface. When Jeff Hardy first tags in he gets a pop nearly as loud as the Rock, driven by the squealing women in the crowd. Zooming to the finish, the Rock has Christian down and waiting for the People's Elbow, but Edge breaks it up. He punches Edge to the floor and follows. Jeff then goes up top, only to be knocked off when Stephanie hits him in the leg with a tire iron! Where'd that come from?! Angle follows with the Olympic Slam and the pin. Postmatch the Rock gives Christian a Rock Bottom, and Edge a Rock Bottom (catching Edge as he comes off the top). Up on the stage Angle can smell what he's cooking, as the show ends. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: I loved RAW last week, and thought SmackDown! was excellent as well. This show was a slight step down from both of those. Not bad, but more focused on hyping the PPV as opposed to being a great show in and of itself. No Tazz or Raven tonight? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Here's the lineup for No Mercy: * The Rock vs. Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship. * Steve Austin vs. Rikishi. * Triple H vs. Chris Benoit. * Eddie Guerrero vs. Billy Gunn for the Intercontinental Title. * The Hardy Boyz vs. Los Conquistadors for the Tag Team Titles. A few more matches should be confirmed later this week. X-Pac & Chris Jericho will probably have another match, perhaps in a Steel Cage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 2000 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of "USLink". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week. Volume One, Number 257 of the "Monday Night Recap", October 16th, 2000.