Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #145 August 24th, 1998 WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours. Location: Chicago, Illinois. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko. - "Hollywood" Hogan, the Disciple and Eric Bischoff, after exiting a limo in the parking area, make the long walk to the ring to deliver comments. Bischoff produces a pen and says using this he chased Vader and Johnny B. Badd out of WCW, and will do the same to the Warrior. Right off the bat this angle is full of holes. If the Warrior isn't supposed to be there then get Doug Dellinger off his lazy ass and have him keep the Warrior out of the building. If he sneaks in then shoot his ass. Case closed. Next. - WRATH vs. "MEAN" MIKE ENOS Wrath, who I mistook for Rick Fuller for most of this match, is just coming back from a car accident. Or something. I'm glad he's okay, but can honestly say not once in his absence did I 1) wonder where he was, and 2) look forward to his coming back. Wrath scores the pin following a powerslam. Look for Wrath to join the Flock or the NWO sometime soon (what else is there to do in WCW?) - Commercial ... announcer hype ... clips ... Larry Zbyszko's bow to the crowd ... Nitro Girls ... just like that ten minutes are killed. - KAZ HAYASHI vs. DEAN MALENKO I might have given an Eff about this match had they not taken a commercial break in the middle--a break necessitated by them blowing ten minutes on shit before the match. Malenko with the Cloverleaf. - A Wolfpac video is shown, which is annoying and frustrating as hell because THE REAL WOLFPAC THEN COMES OUT TO THE RING ONE MINUTE LATER!!! Lex Luger says nothing of note. Konnan says his usual. Kevin Nash says things are okay between he and Goldberg, and to prove it challenges Hogan and the Giant to a tag team match for later in the show. They cut to Goldberg in the back, who takes a minute or so to come out and agree to the match, leaving three seconds later. The crowd boos his brief, uneventful appearance. I've given up explaining how illogical and pointless these supposed "surprise challenges" are. Anyone who thinks Hogan and the Giant won't accept this match is an idiot. - JIM "THE ANVIL" NIEDHART vs. KONNAN Konnan wins. - Tony Schiavone interviews Stevie Ray. Booker T. shows up, explaining he took some time off to rest and heal up. Even Booker doesn't know why Stevie had his TV Title belt, so he asks him. Stevie says he took the belt because it was coming between them. Schiavone passes on some bullshit that J.J. Dillon has made Booker the number one contender to the U.S. Title--never mind the fact that the guy, by his own admission, walked out of WCW--with the TV belt--intent upon ignoring his commitments to defend that belt. On top of that, he hasn't wrestled a match in at least two months. All that makes him the top contender, which I guess means I'm the top contender to the World Title. Anyone who thinks this is good booking or a good angle is an idiot. - Nitro Girls. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Zbyszko. - Schiavone interviews Diamond Dallas Page. DDP continues the whole "will he or won't he?" angle regarding the Warrior. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper then comes out and offers his service for the WCW team, and promises to do all he can to get the Warrior on their team as well. Anyone buying any of this crap is an idiot. - STEVE "MONGO" MCMICHAEL vs. RIGGS Mongo wins with the Tombstone, is attacked by the Flock, and saved by Dean Malenko. Mongo tries to get Dean to give the Horsemen sign but he won't do it because he's not in the group yet. Anyone fired up about a Horsemen reunion ... - Nitro Girls. - RICK FULLER vs. SCOTT NORTON (w/ Vincent) Norton wins with the powerbomb. - NWO video. - Scott Steiner and his "doctor" (the same moron as last week) hit the ring. Steiner trashes the Chicago crowd. Buff Bagwell then comes out imitating Rick Steiner. Hilarity ensues. Well, not really. - BRIAN ADAMS (w/ Vincent) vs. LEX LUGER Chicago is Luger's hometown, which tells you who was going to win this one. For some reason they take EIGHT MINUTES to achieve this foregone conclusion. Luger with the Torture Rack. - Warrior video. All through the show they have been annoying us with these tiny clips from the Warrior's debut, accompanied by stupid subtitles such as "WCW Is Shaken To Its Foundations" and "Will He Return?" HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - The Warrior runs to the ring and shakes the ropes. The fans eat it up. The Warrior is out of breath. He then takes almost TEN MINUTES to tell us that he's embarking on an merchandising endeavor called the "One Warrior Nation": a not-too-ingenious play on the New World Order. (NWO=OWN. Get it?) For all his talk, though, he manages to say nothing specific, other than making vague threats to "Hollywood" Hogan. (Why isn't security removing him from the ring if he'd not supposed to be here?) The crowd grows steadily restless, and there's a fair number of boos by the time it's all done. We had to wait a week to hear him confirm what fans at ringside wearing homemade t-shirts already new: that he's starting the OWN? Look for the official shirt, foam fingers, posters and keychains to be available in a matter of weeks. Anyone looking for a decent angle or match, however, ... - CURT HENNIG vs. CHRIS JERICHO Remember when Jericho was part of an ongoing angle? Remember when he was allowed to do interviews? If it wasn't for the fact that he was TV Champion and winning his matches, I'd assume he was being punished for something. This time out the ten minute time limit expires (at somewhere around the six minute mark). Hennig continues to stomp on Jericho after the bell. Out comes the Giant and he chokeslams Hennig. At this point I'm making the wrong (but seemingly obvious) assumption that the Giant is sexually attracted to Jericho and is protective of him. (What else can it be? If the NWO were interested in him then why would Hennig be fighting him in the first place. Did he miss a memo?) - Nitro Girls. - Stevie Ray and Booker T. are arguing in the back. - BRET "HITMAN" HART vs. BOOKER T. No match (from the company that "always delivers what they promise"). After Bret whines to the fans for a few minutes, and a commercial break, they cut to the back to show Booker laid out on the floor, giving the assumption that it was Stevie who did it. Stevie says he'll take Booker's place, then comes out and joins the NWO. All the other members of the NWO are on hand top present him with his t-shirt. Big whoop. Didn't the WCW hotline guys call us "Internet geeks" stupid for believing this rumor when it reared its ugly head a few months back? Screw you WCW--if for nothing else than for the fact that you broke up two of WCW's greatest tag teams ever (Steiners and Harlem Heat) just to swell the ranks of the NWO. - "HOLLYWOOD" HOGAN/THE GIANT (w/ the Disciple) vs. KEVIN NASH/GOLDBERG Nash starts off "wrestling" for a few minutes, doing about four moves. The Giant does one: a big boot. Both men wiped out they tag in Hogan and Goldberg. Hogan takes control, but Goldberg no-sells all of it. Curt Hennig and the Disciple then enter the match, which the ref allows to continue (who do they think they are, ECW?). Luger and Konnan come out to even up the odds. Then in a blatantly ridiculous bit of booking, everyone but Goldberg and Hennig end up out on the floor. This allows Goldberg to rip apart Hennig and pin him. (It works, though, as the fans eat it up.) This is followed by an even more contrived spot where Hogan hits Goldberg from behind, Goldberg turns, Nash tries to kick Hogan, Hogan moves away, and Nash kicks Goldberg instead. Even though the show should clearly be over, RAW is still on, so they tack on a bit with the Warrior, DDP and Roddy Piper running in to clear the ring. The show ends with Goldberg and Nash giving each other the stink-eye. "What about the kick?!" asks Goldberg. - This Thursday: Thunder is one Wednesday again. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: It's finally happened: I've OFFICIALLY lost all interest in WCW. Once RAW started I turned away and never turned back: not even during the commercials. I didn't even watch the replay. I waited a full 24 hours before watching the whole show on tape, and even then I had zero interest in watching it. They've so screwed up or ruined what I did like, and have overblown what I don't, that I simply can no longer call myself a fan of WCW--not even in the smallest, most abstract sense. If you're wondering why I still watch it, I don't know why. If you're wondering why I bother to write about it, I don't know why. If you suggest that I quit writing about them, I may just do that. The only reason I'm watching Nitro or Thunder anymore is to write up results. Depending on my mood in the next few weeks, one or both may come to an end. Let me be clear here: I'm not saying WCW is terrible. What I'm saying is that I've lost all interest in them. WCW may not give a damn about me being a critic of theirs, but they sure as hell want me as a viewer. They're damn close to losing me as both. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - In a pre-opener grabber we see the Undertaker stalk out of his dressing room ... followed by Kane! After the opening Jim Ross runs down the card, including pointing out that someone has brought the Hell in a Cell cage to tonight's shindig. - The two dead men hit the ring, followed soon thereafter by Mr. McMahon. McMahon crows about how his "cahoots" theory has been right all along, and that there's no doubt whatsoever in his mind that the Undertaker, with Kane's help, will go on to beat "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the World Title at SummerSlam. McMahon's interest now is in whether or not the Undertaker considers him a friend or foe. Paul Bearer comes out to bemoan the fact that his son has thrown in with the Undertaker. He orders him to destroy the Taker, but it is Bearer who is destroyed instead, while Kane turns his back and allows it to happen. Mankind then comes out and BOTH the Undertaker and Kane lay into him. Mankind refuses to fight back, accepting the punishment. He is eventually laid out by a spike piledriver from Kane, with the Undertaker coming off the top for the assist. To round things out Steve Austin comes out, only to be stopped on the stage by a wall of fire. Austin promises to fry the Undertaker's ass at SummerSlam, and take care of either him or Kane tonight to make sure the match at the PPV is one-on-one. After the commercial they show Mankind being wheeled into a waiting ambulance. "I'm not hurt!" the demented one exclaims. - KEN SHAMROCK vs. DAN SEVERN For almost three minutes these two put on a clinic, delivering a match much better than I expected. Speaking of expectations, though, Owen Hart runs out and puts Shamrock in the reverse sleeper, giving him the DQ win. Steve Blackman runs out for the save. Blackman and Hart leave celebrating the fact that they softened Shamrock up for the "Lion's Den" match at the PPV. Shamrock, meanwhile, snaps and drops Blackman with a suplex. Blackman, tired of being Shamrock's whipping boy, responds in kind. Interesting ... Cut to the back, where Mankind has "escaped" from the ambulance and is running free, wheeling the ambulance gurney ahead of him. - Mankind bodysurfs the gurney down the ramp, crashing into the ring. He goes on to state that he will be facing Kane in it tonight, though if he has his way they'll fight on top of the cage, with the loser being slammed on a pile of thumbtacks. Mankind produces said thumbtacks, in a sack from beneath the ring, and jams one into his cheek to illustrate his point. Mankind says he's prepared to get his ass kicked, something which has happened to him before in Philadelphia. They follow this with clips from the last Hell in a Cell match. - Sable comes out to intro the next match. - KURRGAN (w/ the Oddities) vs. "MARVELOUS" MARC MERO Mero challenges Kurrgan to send his friends to the back, which he does. The match that follows is awful, but only lasts about a minute. A "fan", quickly revealed to be Jacqueline, jumps Sable at ringside. The Oddities come back out to help Sable. This here was probably the only weak part of the entire show. Sable and a "mystery partner" will face Mero and Jacqueline at the PPV. I don't even wanna guess who it may be. - X-Pac corrals a cameraman and leads him to the back, promising a bit of DeGeneration X mayhem. He leads him to a dressing room, a pair of cowboy boot within revealing whose dressing room it is (Jeff Jarrett's). X-Pac takes the opportunity to "relieve himself" in the boots. I could have done without this as well. - LOD 2000 member Hawk ("in no condition ... ") shows up announced and joins the crew for "color disintery". In a funny line, Hawk asks Jerry Lawler if he remembers one time in Mid-South back in 1986 or so when Lawler asked him to "no-sell the piledriver". Jim Ross pleads for someone somewhere to cut off Hawk's mic. - SOUTHERN JUSTICE vs. THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS The Outlaws do their usual bits. Early in the match Jeff Jarrett comes out demanding to confront X-Pac for what he done to his boots. Jarrett gets p.o.'ed when the cameraman keeps filming his bootless feet, which earns him an ass whooping and a head shaving. Somewhere in all this the Outlaws win the match by pinfall. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. - KANE (w/ the Undertaker) vs. MANKIND Mankind tries climbing to the top but keeps getting pulled back down by the referees. He tries on the other side but there is pulled down by the Undertaker, smashing the Spanish announcers table. Things eventually move into the Cell, where the two combatants are padlocked in. After some okay brawling back-and-forth, which never really settles into a coherent match, a chair and the bag of thumbtacks come into play. Kane looks to have the upper hand. Suddenly Steve Austin emerges from underneath the ring. With Mankind pretty much out that just leaves Kane to suffer Austin's wrath. The Undertaker tries to get into the Cell but can't. He climbs to the top to enter by way of the weak spot he discovered at King of the Ring, but the Cell suddenly raises up into the air, making it unwise for the Undertaker to drop down through the top. With him completely trapped up there the beating of Kane continues. Vince McMahon is shown at the Cell controls, with Ross speculating that McMahon trapped the Undertaker so that he and Austin couldn't go at it and spoil the upcoming PPV match. Austin bust Kane open with a chairshot to the top of the head, and gives him a couple of Stone Cold Stunners for good measure. After the commercial the Undertaker, who has made it down from the top of the cage, warns Austin that he just made things personal. - Chyna has hit the ring, intent of "calling out" Rocky Maivia for what he did to Triple H last week (clips are shown). The Rock, carrying a ladder, leads the Nation to the ring. In a lengthy, condescending monologue he tells Chyna that she just needs to "get some", and that he's the man to give it to her. She goes for him, but is held back by Owen Hart and D-Lo Brown. The Rock then has a scene played on the Titan-Tron, showing that D-X has been trapped in a dressing room by parking a forklift in front of its doors. The Rock tells Chyna to pucker up, bows out of the honors himself and orders Mark Henry to do it. Henry starts licking his chops--a move no doubt already sparking protest marches in certain parts of this country. Enter Shawn Michaels with a steel chair! Everyone bails except for Henry, who is too intent on sampling the delights from the Chyna mainland to notice. Shawn waffles him with the chair, then hands it to Chyna, giving her a look which says "who's your 'Knight in Shining Armor' now?" Chyna gives him a look back which ... well, it's the same look she always has. Shawn dances to "Sexy Boy" on top of the announcers desk. I wonder how well Hunter Hearst Helmsley is going to take Shawn Michaels being the one who saved his main squeeze? I know a lot of people who are going to grumble about the above sequence, but I took it solely for what it was: the hottest damn heat segment in Rocky Maivia's career; and one which came off much better than a similar attempt by WCW involving Kimberly several weeks back. You know that somewhere down the road Chyna is going to get her revenge and kick the Rock's ass: maybe as soon as this Sunday on PPV. After the break the liberated D-X roam the parking lot in search of the Nation members, who has apparently done the wise thing and skedaddled. - VAL VENIS vs. TAKA MICHINOKU (w/ Mr. & Mrs. Yamaguchi) A very nice match ... for the minute or so it lasted. Hunter Hearst Helmsley come in with a chair and lays both men out. Over the house mic he warns the Rock that he's going to make him his bitch at SummerSlam. Did I mention that it will be a "Ladder Match"? Call your local cable or satellite company for more details. - Similar to the "Highway to Hell" promo they've run the last few weeks, they do a full length music video hyping the Austin/Undertaker match. This was pretty good (even without the repeated shots of the topless woman grinding herself against a pole which flashed throughout the video. You'll need a four head VCR with frame advance or slow-mo to see it, but it's there. *boi-oi-oi-oing!*). - X-PAC vs. GANGREL Edge looks on from the crowd, having shown an interest in Gangrel over the last few weeks. Any doubts that Gangrel will get over in the WWF may have vanished with this match--even though it was, like the last one, really short. Both guys lay in some hot moves, non-stop, until the match is halted by the arrival of Jeff Jarrett, who lays out X-Pac with a guitar shot to the head. Gangrel is then attacked by Edge! Jim Ross notes that there just may be something in the past between these two. I only hope it doesn't involve summer camp and a girl named Beulah. - The Undertaker is in the back pushing a casket. - BART GUNN vs. BRADSHAW Brawl For All. Bart pulverizes the big Texan, knocking him down for an eight count halfway through the first round, then finishing him off moments later with a few more punches. Gunn will supposedly get $75,000 for the win, while Bradshaw will get $25,000. At least it's finished now. More on this below. - Michael Cole asks Mr. McMahon if he's going to get his answer from the Undertake tonight? Yes, replies McMahon, who then threatens to knock out Cole like everyone else does. Hah! - The lights dim, spooky chants rise, and the Undertaker's casket is wheeled out by a cadre of his Druids. The Man From the Darkside himself follows. In the ring he again says that Austin has made the match at SummerSlam between the two a personal affair. Out comes McMahon, wanting his answer as to whether the Undertaker will be his friend or foe when SummerSlam is over. The Undertaker answers with a chokeslam, planting McMahon into the canvas. Up pops the lid of the casket and out comes Steve Austin to rub it into the ailing McMahon. He then jumps to his feet to have it out with the Undertaker, only to be nailed from behind by Kane, who also was somehow stowed away in the same casket. Austin escapes from the ring before he can receive a beating like that which he dished out earlier in the evening. As he backs up the ramp a line of flames ignite, illuminating the Highway to Hell which beckons both men to PPV this Sunday. - Next week: RAW won't be on. RAW will instead air Saturday night, September 5th, at 11:30 PM (Eastern). Comments: A good show live, though one which is easy to pick apart in hindsight once it was over. Too many of the matches were cut off by angles, run-ins, etc. Live, though, it was one of the best RAW's in the last several weeks, and one which did a great job of hyping the PPV. The Brawl For All has come to an end and here's my assessment of it: bleah. I appreciate the idea, but in it's execution it failed in most aspects for which the WWF had to have hoped it would succeed. It's biggest legacy, unless Bart Gunn goes on to be a major star, will be the many injuries it brought about. Steve Williams ... Kama ... Steve Blackman ... all these and more suffered injuries of varying degrees. The men who the WWF hoped would advance didn't, which in the end necessitated some likely tinkering to make sure the one man who did get over--Bart Gunn--would walk away with the final win. The one memorable moment of the entire tournament has to be Bart Gunn's embarrassing knock out of Steve Williams, which may have ended his WWF career before it even started. The WWF simply can't be as pleased with the whole thing as they thought they would be when they dreamed it up. Could we have maybe seen the seeds planted for a Michaels/Helmsley feud somewhere down the road? Don't forget: Sunday Night Heat will be live this week, serving as the countdown show for the PPV. Then after the PPV the WWF will be the feature of a segment on the Home Shopping Network, which will take place live at Madison Square Garden. If you should decide to not get the PPV (what, are you nuts?) they may have some results and clips on there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Here's the lineup for SummerSlam: * Steve Austin vs. the Undertaker. World Title Match. * The Rock vs. Triple H. Intercontinental Title "Ladder Match". * Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart. "Lion's Den Match". * X-Pac vs. Jeff Jarrett. "Hair vs. Hair Match". * Kane & Mankind vs. the New Age Outlaws. World Tag Team Title Match. * Val Venis vs. D-Lo Brown. European Title Match. * Sable & Mystery Partner vs. Marc Mero & Jacqueline. "Mixed Tag Match". * The Oddities vs. Kaientai. "Handicap Match". Austin/Undertaker may wind up being "No Holds Barred" or "Falls Count Anywhere". The Tag Title Match was long rumored to be in a cage, but that rumor seems to have died. Butterbean is rumored to be Sable's partner, and he was supposedly in attendance at RAW (not on camera). Edge and Al Snow are other top contenders. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 145 of the "Monday Night Recap", August 24th, 1998.