- Quick WWF In Your House "Revenge of the Taker" Recap (04/20/97):

  Free For All Countdown Show:
  * The Sultan defeated Flash Funk by pinfall after he reversed a top rope
    huracanrana into a powerbomb.

  WWF In Your House XIV: "Revenge of the Taker" Pay-Per-View:
  * The Legion of Doom defeated the Hart Foundation (Owen Hart & the British
    Bulldog) via disqualification. The LOD had scored a pinfall, but it was
    overruled by a second referee who pointed out that the illegal man had
    been pinned. Bret Hart then came out and attacked Hawk, causing the DQ.
    The Hart Foundation retain the World Tag Team Titles.
  * Savio Vega defeated Rocky Maivia via countout. Maivia was knocked to the
    floor, where Vega's partner Crush was waiting. Crush hit him Maivia with
    the Heart Punch, knocking him out. Crush and Vega argued, then the other
    members of the Nation of Domination entered the ring. All of them beat
    on Maivia until Ahmed Johnson came out with a 2X4 and chased them off.
    Faarooq challenged Ahmed to a match in which Ahmed must face each NOD
    member one at a time, all in succession. Ahmed accepted. Maivia retained
    the Intercontinental Title.
  * "Double J" Jesse Jammes defeated Rockabilly (Billy Gunn), the Honky Tonk
    Man's protege.
  * Steve Austin was apparently attacked by Owen Hart and the Bulldog with
    baseball bats. Austin refused medical attention and demanded his match
    with Hart take place. WWF President moved up the Undertaker/Mankind
    match to allow Austin time to recover.
  * The Undertaker defeated Mankind via Tombstone Piledriver to retain the
    WWF World Heavyweight Title. The match went in the crowd and outside the
    ring. Both men were slammed into the railings ... ring steps ... steel
    chairs were used. Mankind slammed a glass pitcher into Undertaker's
    head. The Undertaker wore a bandage, which came loose revealing a burn
    mark. Mankind's mask was torn off, and he was slammed through a table.
    After the match, Undertaker threw fire at Paul Bearer. Bearer was helped
    to the back by Mankind, then loaded into an ambulance by paramedics.
  * "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Bret "Hitman" Hart via DQ. Both men
    concentrated their attacks on their opponent's knees. Austin's knee
    brace was removed and used as a weapon by both men. Austin locked the
    Sharpshooter on Bret. The British Bulldog hit Austin with a chair
    (causing the DQ) before Hart could submit. After the match Hart tried to
    use the ring bell on Austin, but Austin reapplied the Sharpshooter,
    damaging Hart's knee. Bret had to be helped out by Owen and the Bulldog.


WWF RAW is WAR: Live.
HOUR ONE: Hosted by Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler.

 - The show starts off with slow-mo footage of the Undertaker throwing a
   fireball into Paul Bearer's face as he cowers in the corner. Then the
   intro and fireworks (which fill the arena with a good amount of smoke.
   The same thing happens again at the start of the second hour).

   Vince McMahon is already in the ring, awaiting the arrival of "Stone
   Cold" Steve Austin. McMahon immediately hypes the fact that Austin has
   recieved a title shot, to take place at the next IYH on May 11th. Austin
   tells him to shut up, then challenges Bret "Hitman" Hart to come out for
   a streetfight. Austin gives Hart a minute to come out. A countdown clock
   appears on the jumbo screen. The crowd counts along during the last ten
   seconds. Hart doesn't appear. Austin says he knew Hart was a coward, and
   that he'll go in the back to find him.

   Bret, Owen Hart and the Bulldog appear on the screen. He says he accepts
   the challenge, calls Austin (and the U.S. fans) "dirty, stinking hyenas,"
   and says Austin will be going "straight to HELL!" Austin replies "If I'm
   going 'straight to HELL!' you're damn sure coming with me!" Austin heads
   off to the back.

   Ross and Lawler hype tonight's other attractions, which include a Vader
   update and Ken Shamrock coming out to make a challenge to Mike Tyson.
   The Undertaker will alos face Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the main event.
   There's no mention of Sycho Sid who, over the weekend on WWF Superstars,
   it was said would appear.

 - AHMED JOHNSON vs. THE SULTAN (w/ the Iron Sheik)
   Ahmed pretty much dominates most of this match. The Sultan does get in a
   brief offensive turn with a reverse kick to the throat, then a big pile-
   driver, but the rest of the match is all Ahmed. Ahmed hits a face first
   DDT, which looks to have put the Sultan away for good. Ahmed covers, but
   only gets a two count. Ahmed then hits a Spinebuster off the ropes. He
   signals to the crowd for the Pearl River Plunge.

   He is interrupted by the Nation of Domination's theme music. Faarooq,
   Crush, Savio and the rest stand at the top of the rampway. Ahmed slides
   to the floor and invites the group to come to ringside. Distracted, the
   Sultan is able to come up from behind and lay in some shots, even
   throwing him into a ringpost. Ahmed drops to the floor and starts groping
   under the ring apron. He comes up with a 2X4. The NOD, who had started
   making their way towards the ring, do an about face. Ahmed whacks the
   Sultan with the board, which gets him DQ'ed. He tosses him into the ring,
   then lays in a few more shots with the 2X4. The ring fills with several
   officials. McMahon says Ahmed has gotten "carried away." Ahmed will face
   three members of the NOD at the next IYH. He will face each man one at a
   time, and will only continue so long as he continues to win (i.e. if he
   beats Crush, he then faces Savio, then Faarooq). If he wins all the
   matches, the Nation will be disbanded.

   They cut to the back where Austin is roaming the halls in search of Hart.

   They seem about to cut to a commercial when Sunny comes out wearing
   "nothing" but the new Undertaker t-shirt. Dok Hendrix is somewhere on a
   mic and he gives the price and address to order.

 - Austin has found Bret's dressing room (marked "Hart Foundation"). He
   tries to bash in the door with a chair. Inside, Bret awaits, along with
   Pat Patterson, the evil Hebner, and other WWF official. Hart yells at
   them to send Austin to the ring.

 - Ken Shamrock is at ringside. They recap the Vader situation, showing
   footage of the altercation on Kuwait TV that got him into trouble.
   McMahon announces that Vader will go to court on Wednesday, then
   hopefull be back in time for the next PPV.

   Jerry Lawler holds up an excellent cartoon which he himslef drew (Lawler
   is a terrific caricature artist). It shows Vader scooping up camel
   droppings, dragging around a ball and chain. Lawler also holds up a Vader
   action figure, still in it's package. Prison bars have been drawn across
   the clear plastic.

   Shamrock then admits that he will be facing Vader at the May 11th IYH.
   He calls Vader a "bully." He goes on to challenge another bully: Mike
   Tyson. He says he's always been dogged by the question of "who's
   tougher?" Shamrock challenges Tyson to a no-holds-barred match in a WWF
   ring. I'll comment later on the likelihood of this happening.

   Suddenly Steve Austin comes to the ring. They show still from the IYH
   match. They go to break. Upon return they show a clip of Austin getting
   in the face of McMahon, which took place during the commercial. Austin
   waits in the ring. His music finally stops playing, and it looks like
   Bret isn't coming, until ...

 - "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN vs. BRET "HITMAN" HART
   Hart swaggers to the ring. Both men are in their street clothes. Austin
   taunts Hart from the ring, and Bret delays in entering.

   The Bulldog and Owen run in and attack Austin from behind, having slipped
   in unseen by the camera through the crowd. Since this match is a street
   fight, there is no disqualification. Bret enters the ring and all three
   pound on Austin. Bret is noticably limping. The crowd is on their feet as
   the three tear Austin's shirt off and pummel his ribs and kidneys.
   (Speaking of the crowd: it was hot for most of the show. Literally
   hundreds of signs could be seen, and all kinds of t-shirts from ECW and
   WCW). Who, oh who can save Steve Austin?

   Shawn Michaels.

   Through the crowd he comes swinging a steel chair. Bret ducks the chair,
   but Owen catches a brutal shot right to the forehead. The bulldog takes a
   shot on the shoulder. The crowd is going ape and flashbulbs are popping
   like mad. Shawn drops to the floor and chases Owen and Davey Boy into the
   crowd (the Bulldog catching a chairshot right on the tip of the elbow
   which looked like it may have really hurt).

   Back in the ring Bret begins dismantling Austin. He hits a standing
   legdrop. McMahon and Ross have to legitimately yell to be heard over the
   crowd. Hart goes to work on Austin's forehead (and I'm surprised that we
   didn't see some blood the way things have been going). Austin is limp as
   Hart hoists him up for a piledriver. Bret rolls out and grabs a chair. He
   places it around Austin's foot, just as Austin did to Hart several months
   ago. Bret goes to the top and leaps off. At the last possible moment
   Stone Cold swings his leg away (great camera work here). Hart hits the
   mat and clutches his own leg. He staggers to his feet, but Austin, having
   retrieved the chair, catches the injured leg with a stiff whack. Hart
   drops to the mat in agony. Austin drives the chair numerous times into
   Hart's injured knee. He adds a few stomps to Bret's chin. He throws in an
   elbow to the head for good measure. He drives the chair into Hart's
   wrist, which the Hitman then clutches in pain. Austin drags Bret to the
   center of the ring. He stomps Bret's right inner thigh. Bret crawls over
   to the corner. Austin follows, taking a moment to catch his breath. He
   then goes back to work with the chair on the leg. He finishes with a
   BRUTALLY stiff shot to Hart's left shoulder. Austin grabs the legs, drags
   him to the center of the mat, flips him off, then applies the Sharp-
   shooter. Bret refuses to submit. Austin refuses to relenquish the hold.
   Two more referees enter the ring and beg Austin to release it, but he
   refuses. This goes on for at least two minutes. During all this McMahon
   has been very pro-Austin. Lawler has been pro-Hart. Even Jim Ross, who's
   been playing it down the middle, calls for Austin to release the hold.
   The ring finally fills with enough referees that they are able to
   physically get Austin off Hart. They go to commercial.

   The Bulldog and Owen have come to the ring. Davey Boy yells at McMahon,
   calling for an ambulance. The EMT's come to the ring with a stretcher
   cart. Everyone in the ring is indicating that Hart's knee and wrist are
   broken. They begin loading Bret up on the stretcher.

   The camera cuts to the back where WWF President Gorilla Monsoon is
   reading Steve Austin the riot act. Monsoon says that there are rules in
   the WWF, and that Austin has broken just about all of them. "What are you
   gonna do about it!" yells Austin. "I want you to get your ASS out of this
   building right now!" Monsoon replies. Austin is nearly foaming at the
   mouth, but tells Monsoon he's cutting him a break and leaves through the
   open loading bay, where the ambulance is parked.

   Back at ringside they are strapping Bret in. Bret gives out a profanity
   laden howl, which is blanked out (showing that the USA had been running
   the show on a three or seven second delay). McMahon apologizes for "the
   language." They go to another break.

HOUR TWO: Hosted by Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler.

 - SALVATORE SINCERE vs. TIGER ALI SINGH
   Tiger makes his RAW debut, but it's completely overshadowed by other
   events. They go to split-screen and spend the next several minutes
   showing the stretcher being rolled back to the awaiting ambulance. The
   Bulldog shouts at the paramedics each time they hit a bump, cable, etc.
   An EMT tells Bulldog and Owen to calm down and they yell at him. Owen
   yells at referee Hebner that "this wasn't supposed to happen!"

   They concentrate solely on the match for a bit and what we see isn't too
   bad. Both men use some decent moves. Ali hits a nice suplex. A solid
   match, which is unfortunately a bit on the boring side. They go back to
   split-screen. They've removed Bret's shoe and are asking him if he can
   move his foot.

   Back to the match and Tiger bounces off the ropes, hits a spinning heel
   kick and gets the pin. Tiger, from Toronto, Canada, is named after his
   father Tiger Jeet Singh and Muhammad Ali.

   Bret is loaded into the ambulance. The rear doors are shut. The camera
   shot cuts to the cab of the ambulance, loooking into the back. The
   paramedic signals to the driver it's okay to pull away. The camera swings
   around and there's Steve Austin in the driver's seat! Austin has hold of
   the driver through the open door. " ... don't you say one word, I told
   you we're going straight to HELL!" He jumps into the back and begins
   pounding on Bret's midsection. The rear paramedic leaps out through the
   doors like a scared rabbit. Hart is strapped down and helpless, his head
   bouncing up and down in time with each blow. Austin drags the stretcher
   out of the ambulance, propping it up against the rear end, and continues
   to wail on Hart. Hart flops around like a rag doll. The crowd, obviously
   able to see the action on the big screen, erupts. Owen and the Bulldog
   move in and and beat on Austin, pushing him aside and into the arms of
   numerous WWF officials. Hart's stretcher is pushed back into the
   ambulance and it tears out of the arena. Owen and the Bulldog watch it
   go, then stalk back in through the loading bay, pledging to kill Austin
   later on tonight. "Let's do it!" growls the Bulldog.

   In my best Butt-head voice I utter "this is the greatest thing I have
   ever seen!"

 - Following the break they replay some of the last few minutes. Now Owen
   and the Bulldog are stalking the halls in search of Austin.

 - "DOUBLE J" JESSE JAMMES vs. ROCKABILLY (w/ the Honky Tonk Man)
   They show the footage of Billy Gunn hitting the Honky Tonk Man a few
   weeks ago, but still don't explain why he then joined Honkly as his
   protege. Not a terrible match, but one I was in no mood to see on RAW,
   and even less mood to write about here. Rockabilly wins with the old
   "Shake, Rattle & Roll" swinging neckbreaker. Double J attacks Gunn after
   the match, which brings Honky Tonk in with his guitar. Honky breaks it
   over Double J's head. Yay.

   They cut to the lockerroom where Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels are
   yelling at each other. Michaels says he didn't come out to the ring to
   help Austin, but to hurt Hart. Austin says he doesn't need Shawn's help.
   Gorilla Monsoon is between them, trying to establish some order. Shawn
   pokes Austin, who yells "don't touch me!" More yelling and Austin strides
   away. Michaels then yells at Monsoon. Monsoon tells him to calm down.
   "Go to hell!" Shawn yells. Monsoon follows Austin, saying "I'll go talk
   to THIS maniac!"

 - They show the "Castrol Super Clean Slam of the Week," featuring Mankind
   going head-first through a table at IYH. The Undertaker knocks him off
   the ring apron with the ring steps into the table.

 - Mankind appears on the jumbo screen and describes how "Uncle" Paul
   Bearer's face melted. The Undertaker's theme music kicks in and he (the
   Undertaker) heads to the ring.

 - THE UNDERTAKER vs. HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (w/ Chyna)
   The Undertaker has a slightly new outfit, and is sporting a large bandage
   on the side of his face. Chyna is wearing a leather bodice, and her
   transformation into "Xena: Warrior Princess" is complete.

   The Undertaker charges Helmsley on the ramp before he can reach the ring.
   HHH is tossed into the ring, then the Undertaker stares at Chyna for a
   moment. The Undertaker goes to work, dominating early in this non-title
   match. A few minutes in and the bandage starts to come loose on the
   Undertaker's head. After briefly going outside the ring Helmsley takes
   control of the match. He concentrates his attack on the bandaged area.
   The Undertaker is whipped into the corner and comes out, nailing Helmsley
   with a standing guillotine legdrop, which turns the tide of the match.
   Undertaker slaps on a resthold. Helmsley then is able to whip the Taker
   to the floor. He shoves him into the ring steps. Back into the ring they
   go and Jim Ross takes a moment to wish Harley Race well, who's been
   recovering from a car accident. Ross says he expects Race to be in
   attendance at an upcoming WWF card in Kansas City.

   The camera swings over to ringside where a minor disturbance has arisen.
   A member of the arena security is asking a "fan" at ringside to put out
   a cigar she has lit. Jim Ross says "that's Dustin and Terry ... I mean
   Marlena. I said Marlena." It's Goldust, without his makeup, and Marlena.
   They are in street clothes and baseball caps. Helmsley and Chyna have
   apparently not noticed them. They go to commercial.

   Helmsley has dominated throughout the break. McMahon mentions that Steve
   Austin is scheduled for one more interview to discuss his upcoming title
   shot. Helmsley slams the Undertaker's head into a trunbuckle. The Under-
   taker no-sells it, which gets a huge rise out of the crowd. Undertaker
   takes over and wails on Helmsley in the corner, knocking him up and over
   the top rope to the floor. Helmsley climbs back up on the apron and the
   Undertaker suplexes him into the ring.

   The camera swings to the top of the ramp. Mankind has appeared ...
   "Oh my God he's got a blowtorch!" yells McMahon. The Undertaker warily
   eyes Mankind, staying towards the far side of the ring. There's the sound
   of a mic being dropped and Ross exclaims "where's the hell's Vince
   going?" Mankind has reached the ring. The blowtorch is an acetylene tank
   with a hose running to the nozzle, which is spouting a blue flame. The
   Undertyaker comes over to the ropes to grab Mankind, but gets hit in the
   head with the tank. Mankind enters the ring and hits him again. The ref
   calls for the bell as Mankind continues to hit the Undertaker with the
   tank. McMahon has by this time returned to the table (whatever he did,
   they never showed). The crowd, which had grown eerily silent, starts to
   chant "Rest in Peace!" Mankind rolls the Undertaker onto his back and
   tries to relight the torch, which draws some screams from the crowd.
   Vince and Ross are yelling "no!" as Mankind fumbles with the lighter (one
   of those spark makers used for such occasions. Mankind is unable to get a
   spark). He finally gets it lit and the Undertaker reaches up and grabs
   him by the throat. Mankind drops the torch nozzle and it goes out again.
   The Undertaker nails him with a few fists, which sends Mankind through
   the ropes to the floor. The Undertaker follows and chases him into the
   crowd. The camera pulls back from a shot of the departing duo and shows
   Chyna, standing by the rail and watching. She turns her back and a black
   leather purse strap drops around her throat. It's Marlena! (Gold)Dustin
   Rhodes jumps over the rail and attacks Helmsley. McMahon yells "it's
   Goldust ... I mean-" Ross adds "call him whatever you want, he's beating
   the hell out of Helmsley!" The ringside are fills with officials who pry
   Marlena off Chyna's back, and separate Goldust and Helmsley. They go to
   the final break, with Stone Cold yet to come!

   This was another great piece of camera work. Chyna's body was in the
   right position to block out Goldust and Marlena, and you didn't know they
   were there until the attack commenced.

 - They run the "Motel 6 Replay," which featured Austin playing bongo drums
   with the near lifeless Bret Hart. They also replay the Goldust/Marlena
   sneak attack.

 - Austin comes out to the ring. McMahon asks Stone Cold if he feel "pretty
   good about yorself?" Austin says he sent Bret back to Canada, then rips
   into the fans for cheering him on. He asks what they're cheering about,
   since he did all the work. He then rips into McMahon for trying to suck
   up to him. He asks McMahon to deny doing it. McMhaon doesn't deny it, and
   Austin threatens to knock him on his ass. McMahon asks if come May 11th
   there may not be hell to pay in the form of the Undertaker. Austin tells
   the Undertaker he can bring his little tombstones and whatever else he
   wants, but also to bring his "shiny little belt." Austin then says he's
   the "Ruler of the World!" giving a sly smile, which seems to be a shot at
   the absent Sycho Sid. Lawler says "uh-oh!" On the subject of Austin being
   champion, he says "if you think for one minute I'm going to be a good
   little role model, you've got another thing coming! That's all I got to
   say. That's the bottom-"

   Owen Hart and the Bulldog slide into the ring and attack Austin. McMahon
   tries to step in and pull Owen off. Owen shoves McMahon to the mat. After
   that Vince keeps his distance. Owen and the Bulldog meanwhile are
   dismantling Austin, stomping him into the canvas. Who, oh who can save
   Steve Austin?

   Shawn Michaels.

   Shawn runs to the ring with a chair. He chases the two back to the locker
   area. Austin, meanwhile, is out cold in the ring. McMahon calls for
   someone to get help for him. Austin starts to come to and staggers to his
   feet. He leans against the ropes, barely conscious. The crowd chants
   "Austin rules!" Vince has made it back to the table and he, in muted
   tones, says he thought we'd seen enough tonight. The show seems to be
   winding down and-

   Brian Pillman runs in through the crowd, climbing over the rail. He
   stomps Austin to the mat and this time there's no one to save him.
   Pillman goes to ringside and grabs a chair. Several referees have come to
   the ring. Austin staggers to his feet again and Pillman smacks him
   solidly in the back with a stiff chairshot. He then chases the refs out
   of the ring. Pillman wraps the chair around Austins ankle-just as Hart
   did earlier in the evening, and just as Austin did to Pillman last year.
   Who, oh who can ... you know.

   Shawn Michaels runs in yet again. Pillman heads for higher ground as
   Shawn pulls the chair off of Stone Cold's ankle and the show fades off
   the air.

 - Next week's main event: None announced.

Comments: An absolutely incredible show. Every few minutes something would
happen that would have been the highlight by itself on any other RAW. The
street fight ... Bret Hart hospitalized ... the ambulance attack ... Ahmed
getting medieval on the Sultan's ass ... Monsoon getting in Austin's face
.. Austin and Shawn squaring off ... the numerous Shawn run-ins ... Dustin
Rhodes shedding the Goldust persona ... the Mankind blowtorch attack ...
the three way brawl at the end ... the Pillman attack. Tiger Ali's debut
was overshadowed, but far from bad. The only low point was the Rockabilly
match, which I'll get back to.

Will Tyson accept Shamrock's challenge? No. But ... let us not forget that
Tyson, waaaaaaay back in 1989 or so had agreed to appear in an angle on "The
Main Event" on NBC. Tyson was supposed to be a special referee in a match
between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. This was just after Tyson lost his
title in an upset to James "Buster" Douglas. Douglas replaced Tyson as the
referee and the angle involved him "punching out" Savage. One can assume
that had Tyson took place in the event, it would have been he who knocked
out Savage. (This is assuming that Tyson really had any intention of going
through with it. The WWF had heavily hyped Tyson's appearance. I can't see
them planning to use Douglas all along since Douglas was a major underdog in
that fight and was never expected to win). Anyway, does this mean we could
see Tyson in a WWF match? Again, no. But I wouldn't rule out an appearance
by him, perhaps getting into a "verbal" exchange with Shamrock. Anything is
possible if the money is right. Is it a smart move? Why not? If WCW is
willing to sign three NFL players and Dennis Rodman, what's wrong with
bringing in the world's most notorious professional boxer? Tyson has nothing
to lose. If prison didn't end his career, neither will the WWF.

Remember what I said last week about the Honky Tonk Man's protege? This
angle is already dead on arrival. The fans were really hoping for something
special. Having it be Billy Gunn was a slap to their faces, and made what
was, in my opinion, a mediocre PPV even worse. That was the show's one shot
at a surprise and it did little more than anger the fans. (The wrestler
should be the one drawing the heat here, not the WWF itself).

Speaking of the PPV, as I said, I thought it was pretty mediocre. The first
two matches had screwy endings and did nothing more than the average RAW to
further their respectrive angles. The middle match was an insult. The last
two were good, but only balanced the card back to average overall. This was
another occasion where the following night's RAW was better than the PPV.

This was a great RAW. I don't expect them to be able to pull off another one
this good for quite some time (but we can hope, can't we?).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

WCW Monday Nitro: Live.
HOUR ONE: Hosted by Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko.

 - The show starts a minute earlier than usual with a shot of James J.
   Dillon arriving via limousine. Dillon was the founding manager of the
   Four Horsemen, and has only recently returned to WCW after working
   several years for the WWF in their front office.

 - DEAN MALENKO vs. YUJI NAGATA
   Nagata is a complete unknown to me, but Schiavone says's he's a former
   partner of Malenko, and has wrestled him before. The two deliver a nice,
   solid match. Nagata hits a fisherman suplex, and a good looking belly-to-
   belly overhead suplex. Majority of the match is down on the mat, trading
   holds and pin attempts. Malenko eventually drops an elbow on one of
   Nagata's legs then rolls him into the Texas Cloverleaf for the submission
   win. The crowd is, strangely enough, really behind Malenko, which is
   actually nice to see. Their reaction to his win is almost equal to stuff
   by the headliners later in the show.

   A pretty good opener, and the show goes steadily downhill from here.

 - GLACIER vs. CICLOPE
   Squash. Glacier's intro takes far longer than the match does. As Glacier
   celebrates his win, a large, masked figure comes to the ring. Glacier
   challenges him to come into the ring. From the opposite side Mortis runs
   in and attacks Glacier. The new figure removes his mask and it's Brian
   Clarke (formerly Adam Bomb) which they introduced back at Uncensored and
   promptly forgot about. He, Mortis and their manager James Vandenberg
   steal Glacier's helmet. Why? See, it's like this: Mortis needs Glacier's
   helmet to open the portal into Castle Skullfire. Within lies the gateway
   to the Nth Dimension, where Mortis' banished army of mutant Ani-Men
   await. Gaining the helmet will allow him to open the portal to the
   gateway and allow the invasion of Icelandia at the hands of the Savage
   Ani-Men. Their only hope is Glacier and his band of Frost Warriors,
   who reside upon the peak of Mount Kragstorm, and ... and ...

   You know ... maybe I'd be more interested in this storyline if they
   showed us these guys more than once every three months.

 - They replay the finale of last week's show. Nick Patrick comes out and
   explains how he was misled by the NWO, and would like to be reinstated
   as a regular WCW referee. He says he joined the NWO because he thought
   he'd be able to speak out against certain people in WCW. Now those
   people he disliked are a part of the NWO (including Randy Savage and Eric
   Bischoff). Larry Zbyszko questions why anyone should trust him as they go
   to break.

 - ULTIMATE DRAGON (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. BOBBY EATON
   Another squash, but Eaton isn't made to look as bad as he usually is.
   Sonny Onoo interferes, hitting Eaton while on the floor then climbing
   onto the apron and jumping off, delivering a goofy looking kung fu kick.
   Dragon finishes him off with a spinning huracanrana off the top, then a
   reverse sleeperhold.

 - Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Lord Steven Regal.

 - MENG (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. CHRIS JERICHO
   Squash number three. Jericho only gets in a bit of offense. They blow a
   spot (I think) where jericho does an Asai moonsault. It looked like Meng
   was supposed to catch him and powerbomb him, but Meng doesn't catch him.
   Jericho hits the mat. Meng looks at him for a second, then drops down on
   top of him. Jericho gets free applies a German suplex in the corner. He
   then goes up to the top. Off he comes and Meng catches him and slaps him
   to the mat. He forces Jericho to submit with a nerve hold to the neck.

   After the match Mean Gene interviews Meng and Jimmy Hart. Neither say
   much before Kevin Sullivan and Miss Jacquelyn come out. Sullivan says his
   feud with Chris Benoit isn't over, and he talks about how his various
   family members leaving him didn't hurt until it was his daughter who
   left. Meng then, for some reason, goes for Sullivan. Jacquelyn stands
   between the two and holds Meng off. Meng garbles something about if it
   weren't for her and Sullivan, he'd beat the two of them up. Huh?
   Jacquelyn's dress had to be seen to be believed. Wow!

 - They run a package of Chris Benoit clips.

 - THE PUBLIC ENEMY vs. THE STEINER BROTHERS
   The P.E. bring out a table. The Steiners don't come out. They cut to the
   back where they are brawling with Konan and Hugh Morrus. Doug Dellinger's
   crack security team quickly moves in to break it up. The Steiners make
   their way to the ring. This is Steiner territory and their parents are
   in the crowd (way down the aisle ... what terrible seats!).

   The Steiners dominate nearly the entire match. Just as the P.E. start to
   come back, Morrus and Konan run in. The ref throws out the match and all
   six men brawl, with the P.E. aiding the Steiners. The brawl makes it's
   way down the aisle. Scott Steiner drags Morrus over to his dad and Mr.
   Steiner gets in a shot.

HOUR TWO: Hosted by Tony Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Mike Tenay.

 - They recap the "high" points of hour one.

 - Mean Gene interviews James J. Dillon. Dillon has been named, get this,
   the Commissioner of the Executive Committee. Dillon, mistaking Okerlund
   for Gordon Solie, calls him "the Dean of broadcast journalists." Dillon
   says the reinstatement of Nick Patrick is being taken under advisement.
   He goes on to say that he's studied the Eric Bischoff situation. The
   good news is that Bischoff has absolutely no authority. The bad news is
   that Bischoff's contract is iron-clad, and most everything he's done for
   the NWO is valid. The exceptions are that Big Bubba's and M. Wallstreet's
   contracts with the NWO are not valid, and that they are still under
   contract with WCW.

   Bischoff comes out. He tells Dillon to "bite me!" Bischoff says to cut to
   the chase and admit that not only can't they fire him, but that he's also
   the man that made WCW number one. Dillon agrees, and says that two years
   ago the standard of excellence was set in Stanford, Connecticut, and now
   it's set by WCW. He accuses Bischoff of trying to destroy the heritage of
   WCW. Dillon says Bishoff could never have done it without help. "Bite
   me!" responds Bischoff. Bischoff says Dillon can never fill his shoes.
   Dillon says he wouldn't want to, because what's in Bischoff's shoes
   stinks!

 - They show clips of Steve McMichael and Reggie White from last week. White
   is again in attendance this week.

 - JEFF JARRETT (w/ Debra McMichael) vs. SCOTTY RIGGS
   This is a rematch from a match shown on WCW Saturday Night, in which
   Jarrett went nuts and was disqualified for refusing to relenquish a
   Figure Four. Jarrett dominates early, but Riggs makes a comeback.

   Out comes Steve McMichael with the Haliburton. Reggie White comes out of
   the crowd and takes the briefcase away from Mongo, chasing him back to
   the back. Jarrett meanwhile has knocked Riggs off the top. Riggs hurts
   his leg. Jarrett ties him up in the Figure Four for the win.

 - SYXX (w/ Kevin Nash) vs. REY MYSTERIO JR.
   Syxx is the first NWO guy to wrestle two weeks in a row on Nitro in ...
   maybe ever. A long time, at least. They put on a good match here. Syxx
   looked much improved over last week, hitting several of his signature
   moves. Syxx tosses him in the corner and rides him like a donkey (which
   looks slightly perverted). They do a nice spot where he slaps on an
   abdominal stretch, reaching back to the ropes for leverage. They do the
   usual bit with the ref trying to catch him. When he does, he kicks Syxx's
   hand off the ropes. This brings Kevin Nash onto the ring apron. As the
   ref goes over to calm him down Mysterio reverses the stretch. Syxx breaks
   it by hiptossing Mysterio over the top rope (which would have been DQ had
   the ref seen).

   Mysterio reenters the ring and goes off the offensive. He hits his
   finisher, the huracanrana roll-up, but can't hook the legs. Syxx kicks
   out. Mysterio then hits a headscissors takedown off the top. Syxx rolls
   out of the ring. Mysterio hits a nice suicide plancha somersault over the
   top to the floor which flattens Syxx. The ref is keeping an eye on Syxx,
   so he just happens to miss Nash entering the ring and pancaking Mysterio
   with a Jacknife powerbomb. Syxx rolld back in and applies the Buzzkiller
   (chickenwing crossface chinlock with body scissors).

   James J. Dillon runs out and demands that Syxx relenquish the hold. He
   then calls for security and paramedics. They put Mysterio on a stretcher
   and carry him out. Syxx and Nash get into a scuffle with the security.
   Dillon tells the two that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.
   "Bite me!" they reply in unison.

 - They run a package of Lex Luger clips.

 - Lee Marshall phones in from Norfolk, Virginia. Next week's show (and for
   the next few weeks) will start an hour later, and only be an hour long.
   (Because of the NBA playoffs on TNT). Remember, tune in an hour earlier,
   or you will miss Nitro completely.

 - They run an NWO paid for promo featuring "Hollywood" Hogan on the set of
   his latest movie. Hogan brushes elbows with such big stars as Robert
   Vaughn (who starred in that big hit "Witch Academy") and Grace Jones (who
   hasn't made a movie of note in half a decade).

   (Yes, I know Vaughn used to be "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.")

 - Nash and Syxx, and some other New World Order members come back out for
   an interview. Syxx dumps on Ric Flair, calling him "banana nose" and
   accuses him of being a rip off of "Nature Boy" Buddy Rodgers. Nash then
   gets on the mic and says that when he started seven years ago he looked
   down the road the older generation left for them and saw nothing but
   potholes. He says WCW was nothing but a bunch of old guys pushing their
   sons. He says Scott Hall was on the verge of superstardom and WCW cut his
   salary. He says the two then went to "New York" and worked their way to
   the top, rebuilding the sport in the process. He says there are a lot of
   young lions in WCW and they're ready to do more than nibble on the
   carcass that the older generation left behind. "It's time to start
   filling in the potholes you guys left behind."

   Good interview, as the behind the scenes squabbling is either heating up,
   or has been, by mutual assent, worked into the angle.

 - DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE (w/ Kimberly) vs. PSYCHOSIS
   Squash four, as Page wins quickly with the Diamond Cutter. Randy Savage
   again shows up in the crowd to taunt Page. Page this time refuses to
   chase after him, saying he didn't bring his running shoes.

 - Ric Flair, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Kevin Greene come out. Flair refuses
   to say anything, and instead challenges the NWO to come out and start
   "paving the highway!" The group comes out partway, then turns back to
   watch Scott Hall come out. They come to the ring and Nash orders the
   first wave in. Flair, Piper and Greene quickly dump them out. Nash, Syxx
   and Hall then charge. Flair grabs Syxx's hair and Greene clotheslines
   Nash over the top rope as the show fades off the air.

 - Next week's main event: None announced.

Comments: Highlights? Two good cruiserweight matches, one good interview and
the return of Scott Hall. That's about it. Better than last week.

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The Bottom Line: Nitro won the ratings again this week, but only by a small
margin. Nitro had a 3.4 (which is about their average), but RAW pulled in an
above average 2.8. The shows started almost neck-and-neck (RAW with a 2.4,
Nitro with a 2.6). The Austin/Hart streetfight scored a 3.4 for that fifteen
minute period, actually pulling in more viewers than Nitro. (Nitro scored a
2.8 during that period). Nitro was able to bring up their average by scoring
a 4.0, 4.1 and 3.9 during the first three quarter hours of the second hour.
RAW ended strong, closing to within 0.3 points of Nitro as both shows ended
(which is unusual, since Nitro usually continues to build at the end. RAW
scored a 3.2 while Nitro had a 3.5). What does this all mean? Not much,
really, except that the possibility exists for RAW to actually beat Nitro
for the next few weeks. Sure, Nitro will be on an hour earlier, and only
last an hour long. However, RAW was only an hour long, and started an hour
after Nitro did for most of the 40+ weeks that Nitro has won the Monday
Night Wars. To belittle any upcoming RAW victories (should there be any)
would only invalidate those that Nitro scored for all of last year and the
first few weeks of this year.

I was going to go on a lengthy rant this week about what exactly attracts
people to the NWO. Unfortunately, Nash and Syxx kind of answered that
question this week, so I'll save the rant for a later date (probably next
week).

The security company I work for also runs a telephone answering service as
a sideline. One of the companies we answer for is a cable company. They
recently faxed us a list of PPV's for the rest of the year. They are:

WWF In Your House - Sunday, May 11th. $19.95
WCW Slamboree - Sunday, May 18th. $27.95
WWF King of the Ring - Sunday, June 8th. (price not yet set)
WCW Summer Stampede - Sunday, June 15th. (price not yet set)
WWF In Your House - Sunday, July 6th. (price not yet set)
WCW Bash at the Beach - Sunday, July 13th. (price not yet set)
WWF SummerSlam - Sunday, August 3rd. (price not yet set)
WCW Hog Wild - Saturday, August 9th (price not yet set)
WWF In Your House - Sunday, September 7th. (price not yet set)
WCW Fall Brawl - Sunday, September 14th. (price not yet set)
WWF In Your House - Sunday, October 5th. (price not yet set)
WCW Halloween Havoc - Sunday, October 26th. (price not yet set)
WWF Surviver Series - Sunday, November 9th. (price not yet set)
WCW World War 3 - Sunday, November 23rd. (price not yet set)
WWF In Your House - Sunday, December 7th. (price not yet set)
WCW Starrcade - Sunday, December 28th. (price not yet set)

These dates confirm the PPV calendar which I have on my web site. The June
15th "Summer Stampede" was referred to as the "Great American Bash" recently
by Mike Tenay. We'll have to wait and see which name it goes under.

This was a pretty good week for both shows.

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This Week's Winner: RAW.

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