Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #121 March 9th, 1998 WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours. Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko. - Randy Savage's comments from last Thursday's Thunder regarding the other NWO members not being behind "Hollywood" Hogan are played. After the intro and opening hype the comments are played again. - DAMIEN vs. THE CAT Ernest Miller returns, yet again with a slightly retooled image. Less a karate master as before, he's now made up to look like a kickboxer. His offense still consists mostly of punches and kicks (and a single bodyslam). Damien offers virtually no offense OR defense, with Miller getting the win with a spinning kick after running up the turnbuckles. Okay looking move, but really worth the effort (as one of these days he's going to flub it and he'll deserve all the laughs he gets). Acting as much like Bill Goldberg as possible earns him a good response from the crowd. - "Hollywood" Hogan and Eric Bischoff come out for the first of many appearances on the night. Hogan rags on Savage, saying all his success and his family's prosperity is due to him. Some of his shots are well below the belt, as he insinuates that Elizabeth has really "been around". I love it! - Mean Gene Okerlund is hanging out at Duke University with the Nitro Girls. I guess these college parties are going to become a regular feature. Well, they have to come up with some way to kill all three hours each week, don't they? - SICK BOY (w/ the Flock) vs. LENNY LANE Sick Boy continues to show that he's maybe the best wrestler in the Flock-or at least has the most potential (though he should probably do more than just imitate finishers used by top WWF stars). Lane is something of a mystery: one moment he looks like a good high flyer-the next he's as thick and immobile as Lex Luger. The high spot of the match is a running senton by Lane along the apron and over the turnbuckles, landing on Sick Boy and Lodi down on the floor). Lodi, this time out, holds up college basketball signs aimed at the North Carolina crowd (instead of his usual smart mark comments). Sick Boy wins with a Pedigree, which Schiavone says is called "the Cure". Okeedokee. Ron Studd came out with the Flock, in case you're interested. I finally figured out what it is about the Flock members that really bugs me. It seems that they're all a bunch of fanboy marks who wormed their way into the business and are content to amuse themselves and each other by putting together highlight tapes of their own moves. They don't care if they win or lose-just so long as they look good during their matches. They probably get together in their off time and watch compilation tapes, and are all probably huge Steve Austin and Al Snow fans. - Mike Tenay interviews the Giant, who says he and two of his friends were in the back listening to what Hogan said earlier. The Giant brings out his "friends", who-not too surprisingly-turn out to be Sting and Randy Savage. Very quickly a challenge is tossed out to Hogan and any two other guys he can dig up for what Savage calls a "six-man tag team match from Hell!" From this moment on, for the entire remainder of the show, any semblance of quality commentating goes out the window, as Schiavone goes into overdrive hyping the upcoming main event. Once again we're forced to endure a more than two hour build-up to what is sure to be "the greatest match ever!" - BILL GOLDBERG vs. BARRY DARSOW Goldberg actually takes his time this week, spending an extra minute or so landing punches, knees and delivering a gutwrench suplex. The rapidly aging Darsow is allowed to get in a little offense, but Goldberg pretty much no-sells it all. Darsow drives Goldberg into the corner after working on the shoulder. Goldberg hulks up, spears him in the gut and Jackhammers him for the win. Without any real attempt at a back-and-forth match, Darsow comes off without any credibility in front of the crowd, which actually led to them being a bit restless when Goldberg let him go on the offense. They began chanting his name, not so much to urge him to "come back", but mostly out of impatience for the already established usual Goldberg finisher. In short, WCW has pushed him so hard as a quick winner that the crowd gets restless if his matches last longer than a minute. Some of you may be thinking what's the big deal with that? I'd just point out that in the entire history of the sport, the only model for success for Goldberg to follow in that vein is the Ultimate Warrior. Enjoy him while you can, because someday Goldberg is going to be gone from the sport, living in a shack out in the desert talking to himself. - Kimberly hypes the WCW website. - Scott Hall comes out and instead of doing his survey he offers to team up with Hogan in the main event. - Kevin Nash comes out and he as well tosses his hat into Hogan's corner. Hogan, Hall and Nash vs. the Giant, Sting and Savage. Big match ... until the other NWO members run in, that is. WCW only has themselves to blame for making me this cynical. - DEAN MALENKO vs. KIDMAN Apparently the "Billy" has been dropped. Angst will do that to you. This is the first (and only) really good match of the show. Malenko wins with the Texas Cloverleaf. Late in the match Chris Jericho comes to the ring. After the finish, Jericho urges the other Flock members to go into the ring. Instead of attacking Malenko, they turn on Jericho. (It made no sense, but it was funny to watch.) HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Zbyszko. - Hogan and Bischoff come to the ring again: this time to crow over how easily they put together a team to face the Giant and his friends. - Some shots at the WCW events which took place on the Duke University campus earlier in the day are shown. Okerlund then makes a total ass of himself by killing the enthusiasm of some of the fans by him in the live shot of the college crowd. More on this later. - BRIAN ADAMS vs. KAOS (w/ Rage) ... better known as High Voltage. I guess this is supposed to show that Kaos can't compete as a singles wrestler, as he tries to get his partner Rage to come off the top rope on Adams. Adams foils the attempt and puts Kaos away with a tilt-a-whirl slam. - Bobby Heenan joins the announcing crew, replacing Zbyszko. - Konan comes to the ring to badmouth Juventud Guerrera (and in the process alleges that WCW doesn't respect any of the Mexican wrestlers). Konan says he has an NWO cruiserweight for Juventud to face if he wants to fight Konan. (Again WCW ignores the fact that Konan already agreed to face Juventud in a match this week. I should say that this is the angle, actually, as the two will obviously face off at the PPV, where Guerrera will undoubtedly get the win.) Guerrera comes to the ring, followed by Scott Norton, who is Konan's new "cruiserweight". - JUVENTUD GUERRERA vs. SCOTT NORTON Norton folds, spindles and mutilates Guerrera, pinning him after a shoulderbreaker over his knee. This is, of course, all designed to make the 8 and 80 year olds in the crowd think that Guerrera has no chance in hell of beating Konan at the PPV. - A video package showing the feud between Raven, Chris Benoit and Diamond Dallas Page is shown. - RAVEN/SATURN vs. CHRIS BENOIT/DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE The match starts of great. Of course, this being a Benoit match, WCW takes a commercial right in the middle. Once back they're in the middle of a lengthy rest hold sequence. DDP gets worked over for a while, eventually making the hot tag to Benoit. Benoit cleans house, putting Raven into the triple belly-to-back suplex (which Raven stops at two by mule kicking Benoit in the googlies). The finish then gets a bit silly, with Benoit slapping the Crippler Crossface on Raven. Page, meanwhile, nails Saturn with a Diamond Cutter out of the corner. Page accidentally lands on Benoit and those two start to go at it, brawling down the aisle and out of the ringside area. Raven and Saturn win via countout, even though both lie unconscious in the ring. Too bad WCW has to push Benoit and Page at each other in this manner in order to get the fans to accept the notion of the two fighting each other. (At least they didn't turn one of the heel ... I'll give them that much.) HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Mean Gene is still on campus. Dominos pizza has arrived for some well needed nourishment and product placement. Okerlund asks several kids questions, then pulls the mic away before they can finish answering. The Nitro Girls do a number. - KONAN (w/ Vincent) vs. DAVEY BOY SMITH Even though Schiavone talks up how great Konan is, the Bulldog has no problem with him, putting him away in almost no time with a powerslam. - Mike Tenay interviews Ric Flair. Flair works the Carolina crowd like a fiddle. - CHRIS JERICHO vs. DISCO INFERNO Jericho has only a small amount of trouble getting the win over Disco, making him submit to the Lion Tamer. - Okerlund again enters the fray, this time yelling at a fan for excitedly holding up a Nitro t-shirt. Another fan reaches over to rub Okerlund's bald head and Mean Gene almost snaps, calling the fans around him "clowns". Another guy leans into the shot and Mean Gene tells him he'd look good on a pool table. Huh?! Okerlund has lost all sense of reality! The Nitro Girls do their best to make us forget that ugly scene. - CHAVO GUERRERO, JR. vs. BOOKER T. Eddie Guerrero comes out to confront his nephew before the match starts. Eddie then gets into a shoving match with Booker T. Chavo lays in on Booker, with Eddie rooting him on. Booker then takes just over a minute to land a drop-kick off the top and score the pin. After the match Eddie adds a suplex to really teach Chavo a lesson. - CURT HENNIG (w/ Rick Rude) vs. RIC FLAIR I figured something out this week: Flair wrestles almost the same as Lex Luger! He gets beat up the entire match, then "hulks up" with a well placed low blow and a "whooo!" Flair then borrowed the silly ECW spot where you hang your opponent in the corner and lay a chair on his face. Before he can kick the chair, however, Konan, Vincent and Rude run in. Flair is set up in the same position, but this time it's Bret Hart who runs in for the save. Hart and Hennig go at it and, interestingly enough, the fans seem almost as willing to watch Hennig beat on Hart as they are to see Hart beat on Hennig. Needless to say, Flair wins the match via DQ. - SCOTT STEINER/SCOTT NORTON vs. RICK STEINER/LEX LUGER The whole gist of this match is "will Scott and Rick go at it or not?" For a brief moment Scott gets a few shot in on Rick after Norton softens Rick up, but soon after the whole match is thrown out when all four men are counted out on the floor. Luger and Scott Steiner brawl out through the entryway, while Norton and Rick Steiner just seem to disappear. - STING/RANDY SAVAGE/THE GIANT vs. "HOLLYWOOD" HOGAN/SCOTT HALL/KEVIN NASH Bischoff accompanies his men to the ring. The bulk of the match is spent with the Giant being trapped in the NWO's corner, while the referee spends all his time keeping Savage and Sting out of the ring. After a week or two of this the Giant breaks free and tags in Savage. Nash runs to the back with the Giant in not-so-hot pursuit. Sting and Hall seem to disappear. Savage works over Hogan until Ed Leslie runs in, laying out Savage with a Stunner. Hogan covers and gets the pin (the referee somehow managing to miss the interference, yet see that Hogan has a pin cover, even though he's down on the floor trying to keep the Giant from chasing after Nash). Hogan yells something to the camera about "the Apocalypse", which I fear is what Leslie's new name is supposed to be. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: A faster paced show than usual, but one which was almost entirely uneventful. Nothing of note happened, nor anything which significantly furthered any angles, nor anything which made WCW any different than it was prior to the show taking place. Unless you happen to be addicted to wrestling and needed your favorite WCW star fix, there was really no need to catch this show at all-much less for it to have happened in the first place. (That may well be the perfect description of a house show: it's nice to see these guys when they come to your hometown, but there's no real reason to televise the card.) I guess I'm just not a big enough fan of wrestling in general and WCW in particular to be all that interested in matches which simply don't mean anything. For me a match possibly being "good" isn't enough of a reason to watch it in and of itself. Now, more than ever, the question of why I watch WCW at all is becoming harder and harder to answer. As it is now I can watch the Nitro the night after a PPV of theirs and that would pretty much fill my need for that month. The next three weeks or so is just the same show over again and again. Even the once present element of surprise has been replaced with "which wrestler of a small group of big names is going to challenge which other big name to a match as the main event?" Take this week for example: had the Giant and Savage not thrown out the big challenge, the Steiners/Norton/Luger match would have been the main event. Does that sound like a quality main event? Why hadn't WCW already scheduled a match involving Hogan, Sting or Savage already? Did they just happen to know that one of them was going to challenge one of the other, thus pulling their asses out of the fire ratings-wise? Lack of logic aside, we're stuck seeing a minor variation of the same match every week, with almost the identical finish each time out. I dunno ... I guess I just feel like I'm gonna puke if I have to watch one more NWO run-in. At least there was a pinfall this time out. That's a good thing ... right? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Length: Two Hours. Location: WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross, Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly. - Show starts out with a look back at Mike Tyson joining DeGeneration X. It's announced that Tyson will give an interview explaining his decision later in the show. - KEN SHAMROCK/STEVE BLACKMAN vs. ROCKY MAIVIA/FAAROOQ (w/ the NOD) Faarooq continues to look like he's been working to improve himself (no doubt for his upcoming feud with the Rock). Maivia is great, and still has much room left to improve. Shamrock is better in singles competition, while Blackman still has some ways to go. Overall this wasn't much of a match, as the NOD are quick to interfere. Shamrock and Blackman get the DQ win. Afterwards Shamrock slaps the ankle submission on Rocky, while Faarooq prevents the other NOD members from going to his aid. They're running a bit long with this NOD split-up, but at least there are a few possible scenarios, including the NOD dumping Rocky (or Faarooq, or perhaps the group splitting in half). During the match there were some technical glitches, which Ross and Kelly pointed out. Seems someone is doing some fiddling in the control truck. - Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna come out and introduce Shawn Michaels on the Titan-Tron. Michaels apparently couldn't make it to the arena. Shawn reminds Austin that he doesn't lay down for anybody. After this Hunter bumps Kelly from the table and takes his spot to deliver comments during the next match. - OWEN HART vs. BARRY WINDHAM (w/ Jim Cornette) This match too never really went anywhere, as the focus was repeatedly on Hunter and Chyna at ringside. As you'd expect, Chyna delivers a low blow to Owen on the apron. Windham wins by countout, but suffers an immediate attack from Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw. I'm not really into the whole Owen/Hunter feud, but that's mostly due to my longstanding dislike of Helmsley. - Marc Mero is in the back with Sable. He'll be facing Goldust-(anyone else tired of this "Artist Formerly Known As ... " crap?)-and both Sable and Luna will be handcuffed to opposite ringposts. Mero takes great delight in slapping the cuffs on Sable's wrist. Funny, in a sad, white-trash sort of way. We then cut over to Kane, Paul Bearer and Jerry "The King" Lawler in another dressing room. Lawler tries to solicit comments from Bearer regarding the Undertaker, but they keep getting interrupted by a flapping bench seat-presumably imbued with supernatural power from the dark side, which has also been th cause of the screen getting fuzzy, lights dimming, etc. By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth ... this angle sucks! - BRIAN CRISTOPHER (w/ Jerry Lawler) vs. AGUILA (w/ Taka Michinoku) An okay match, which saw Aguila win by DQ when Lawler tried unsuccessfully to interfere. Christopher powerbombed Aguila after the match, but himself fell victim to a drop-kick from Taka, which knocked him off the apron and onto Lawler at ringside. Ross, during the match, says there'll be a big announcement this weekend regarding the WWF Light Heavyweight Title match at WrestleMania. I'm guessing that it's just to announce that Taka will defend against Christopher at the PPV. Again the lights flickered, and an unearthly thunder could be heard. - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin storms the ring. He immediately asks for a video clip to be played on the Titan-Tron. It's McMahon delivering his "Baddest Man on the Planet!" intro for Mike Tyson. Austin watches, then demands that it be played again. He then calls for McMahon to come to the ring, saying that the show will not continue and he'll sit in the ring until McMahon ("that yellow bastard!") himself comes out. Vince McMahon can be seen nervously pacing in the back as the first hour came to an end. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - Jerry Brisco and Blackjack Lanza (WWF officials) try to talk Austin into leaving the ring, but he won't have any of it. Sgt. Slaughter gives it a shot, but Austin just threatens to kick his ass. Pat Patterson and a group of security try as well, but Austin just invites them into the ring to try and remove him forcibly. Finally McMahon himself comes out, flanked by Slaughter and one of the Hebner twins. Austin essentially accuses McMahon of backing D-X and Tyson in an effort to keep him down- prevent him from winning the title. Austin gives him the opportunity to show his "loyalty" by saying some of the Austin catchphrases, but McMahon doesn't cooperate. Austin gets physical, tearing the breast pocket off McMahon's butt-ugly jacket (McMahon has the ugliest collect of sports coats in the Western Hemisphere). Austin gives McMahon ten seconds to leave before he gets his head handed to him on a plate. McMahon vows that Austin will pay for this, mouthing the words "son-of-a-bitch!" as he leaves the ring. This was great, with the definite impression being given that there's just no way Austin can win the title. Of course we all know he will, but even I'm beginning to doubt it. There has to be a rematch in the works, and one can't help but wonder if Austin's winning the title might not be saved until then. (SummerSlam? Survivor Series?) - CACTUS JACK/CHAINSAW CHARLIE vs. THE QUEBECERS An odd match, as Cactus and Charlie almost wrestle a straight-up, technical match. Cactus actually gets the win after delivering a DDT and scoring the pin! Afterwards Road Dog comes out with his arm in a sling. As he badmouths the "Hardcore Legends", Billy Gunn sneaks in with a chair and pastes Chainsaw Charlie from behind. - Kane and Paul Bearer come to the ring. As Bearer goes through the usual routine the lights go out. When they come back on the Undertaker stands in the ring (drawing a huge reaction from the crowd). Almost immediately they go back out. Once they come on again the Undertaker is gone. I like this much better than the "poltergeist" stuff, and it came off very well on TV (though I understand that when it was taped in front of the crowd, the whole thing actually took much longer, and that the WWF edited it so that it'd look better on the broadcast). - GOLDUST (w/ Luna) vs. MARC MERO (w/ Sable) Sable and Luna are handcuffed around the posts in opposing corners. The match itself isn't much, it's what comes after that counts. Mero goes down in a collision with the ref. Goldust then applies the Curtain Call. Instead of going for the cover, however, he drops a leg on the referee! He fishes the handcuff key out of the ref's pocket and, after teasing Sable with it, releases Luna. Goldust and Luna then lay into Sable, smearing makeup all over her face and dumping water on her. Mero recovers after it's all done and looks legitimately pained that this has happened to Sable. Face turn? Moments later we get comments from Luna in the back. - After a video package highlighting the events involving Mike Tyson, Tyson answers a few questions for Jim Ross. After starting out soft spoken, he switches to an overtly heel persona and essentially says that he joined D-X because he wanted to be with winners. - HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (w/ Chyna) vs. SAVIO VEGA Before the match can even get underway, Steve Austin heads to the ring. Security and officials slow Austin down enough so that by the time he hits the ring, he's laid upon by Shawn Michaels, who pastes him with another Superkick. Michaels recovers a steel chair and threatens to nail Austin with it as the show fades out. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: A few things. First, I may have missed a few bits of this week's show in recapping it because I'm going on memory and some notes I jotted down as the show aired. I didn't have the chance to throw in the tape and review it like I usually do. Second, I'm a bit annoyed that yet another advertised main event never took place. The matches this week weren't all that stellar either. All that aside, this was an okay show. Not great, but entertaining for the most part. The Austin/McMahon sequence was memorable, and adds a whole new complexion to the main event at WrestleMania. There wasn't really anything that was "must see" (other than the McMahon incident), but some of it did legitimately build to the PPV coming up. My only problem now is that I'm really ready for WrestleMania now. Unfortunately we still have two more weeks of RAW to go-both of which will be taped. Next week won't be bad because it'll only be a day old and few will have had time to learn the results. (I myself plan on not even getting on the Internet until after RAW airs.) The following week's show, though, will be a week old, and carries the burden of being the last big push for the PPV. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: RAW will be on Tuesday next week, and is being billed as a special "St. Patrick's Day" show. They didn't say it'll be live, so I assume it will have been taped the night before, while the card the WWF has scheduled next Tuesday will be taped for broadcast on Monday the 23rd. Nitro next week will be their big "Spring Break-Out" special, and is looking to pull in a lot of RAW's usual viewers. After WrestleMania things will go back to normal for the WWF in terms of their schedule, while it will become WCW's turn to suffer some preemptions. The NBA playoffs on TNT are coming up, and Nitro will move to 7:00 or 8:00 PM Eastern, and will only be an hour long. Thunder as well will be moved to Wednesdays to accommodate the return of Atlanta Braves baseball on TBS. There's talk that Thunder may even be taped some weeks. It was this period last year which the WWF used to regain some of the ground lost to WCW. Uncensored is this weekend and other than the Hogan/Savage match, not much of it interests me. Benoit and Guerrero will probably win their respective title shots for political reasons. Hall and Malenko, on the other hand, won't. This looks like the typical WCW PPV these days: a few good matches low on the card, a meaningless mid-card, and some poor-but-notable main events. Still, there are four legitimate main event matches at the top of the card, which is sure to attract a lot of buyers. It's this that makes Uncensored perhaps the strongest card in ages for WCW. For all its big matches, though, WCW hasn't done anything to dispell the notion that this is "just another PPV". I think most fans already recognize that the next "big thing" will be Hogan vs. Bret Hart, and that probably won't happen until Starrcade. WrestleMania will be big, but really only has two main event caliber matches. The rest of the card does, though, serve as a showcase for almost the entire WWF roster, which is a good thing for them when one considers this will probably be the WWF's biggest PPV this year (and maybe the biggest in a long time). New WWF viewers, attracted by the oddity of Tyson's appearance, will get to see everything the WWF offers. Guys like Maivia, Helmsley, Owen Hart and Cactus Jack (among several others) stand a chance of earning a whole new group of fans. This may also be the night Steve Austin enters the footsteps of Hulk Hogan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Winner: RAW. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1998 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of "Internet Access, Inc". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week. Volume One, Number 121 of the "Monday Night Recap", March 9th, 1998.