Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #148 September 14th, 1998 WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours+. Location: Greenville, South Carolina. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko. - Right off the bat they hype Sting's World Title shot against Goldberg. (Fall Brawl buyers can be heard tossing large objects at their TV screens.) Mike Tenay is absent from the announcing desk. Schiavone says there's "rumors" that the Four Horsemen might reform tonight, and that Ric Flair may put in an appearance. A "we want FLAIR!" chant is so loud that Schiavone's hair whips in the breeze it causes. They cut to a remote report from Tenay, who is at a local airstrip. A white limo is shown pulling away from a small private jet. Tenay tries to get comments from someone in the limo, but it blows by him. Tenay runs up to the plane and asks if Flair was on board, but the attendant in the act of closing the door gives him a "no comment" and shuts it in Tenay's face. - They replay (in squish-o-vision) the Armstrong interview from Thunder where they were attacked by Ernest Miller. Someone, who turns out to have been Norman Smiley, is held back from fighting Miller. This explains why those two stunk up the WCW PPV on Sunday. (What it doesn't explain is why Miller wasn't facing one of the Armstrongs.) - VAN HAMMER vs. ALEX WRIGHT The crowd goes nuts for Wright, (so you know that they'll go absolutely berserk when Flair eventually comes out). Hammer has a new hippie gimmick. Schiavone says there's all kinds of security in the building. (HINT!) Schiavone announces an upcoming match between Juventud Guerrera and Kaz Hayashi. The match itself lasts about two minutes, with Van Hammer being knocked to the floor then knocked unconscious by Ernest Miller, who had come to ringside. Hammer is counted out (though it might be a DQ--who knows, who cares). Miller goes into his "I'm the greatest!" spiel and is handcuffed and escorted out by security. They even go so far as to show him being dragged all the way to the back and loaded into a waiting police car. I guess this now means that Ric Flair can't be arrested when he shows up (as Bischoff promised last week). - War Games still photos. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews Bret Hart. Bret, who was "injured" during the War Games match, makes a show of gamely limping all the way to the ring. The crowd doesn't bite and they boo him loudly. Hart then launches into an apology, saying he's been a jerk, has been listening to all the wrong people, etc. He says he doesn't deserve to be U.S. Champion. He calls "Hollywood" Hogan "scum!" Long story short: he's now a good guy, and we're supposed to cheer for him. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper even comes out and redoes his speech from a few weeks back where he tells Bret to be a man and prove himself to his family and the fans. (Why doesn't the Giant come out again and beat him up like he did last time?) Even in his apology Hart utters some cusswords that have to be bleeped out. What a foulmouth bastard he is! - More Fall Brawl stills. - SATURN vs. KENDELL WINDHAM The crowd pops big for Saturn. This match lasts two or three hours. It just goes on and on and on and on ... with neither doing much more than throwing punches. Saturn does a series of punches in the corner than don't even mess Windham's hair. Windham responds with a big boot that misses by three inches (Saturn drops anyway). He finally gets the win with the Death Valley Driver. The Flock then come out, but Raven and Kanyon pop up in the upper deck. Raven orders them to come to him. Saturn grabs a mic and tells them they're all free. This goes on for several minutes, until the Flock members all signal that they're refusing Raven and they just walk out. Lodi is the only one who looks to be conflicted. As feared WCW has no intention of ending any of this-- regardless of the stipulation at the PPV. - WRATH vs. RENEGADE I wonder if Bret Hart feels stupid for trashing the WWF about Renegade just a few weeks ago when Renegade is actually in WCW right this minute? Wrath gets the squash win. I guess Renegade was still tired from imitating the Warrior the night before at the PPV (if the rumors are true). - "Hollywood" Hogan, Eric Bischoff, the Disciple and Liz hit the ring. Standard Hogan interview, during which he challenges the Warrior to a match at Halloween Havoc. Fall Brawl purchasers throw more objects at their screen. The mystic smoke rises and the Disciple disappears. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Zbyszko. - They announce that Kaz Hayashi has been "injured", and that Kidman will get the Cruiserweight match in his place. - JUVENTUD GUERRERA vs. KIDMAN A good match (though not the classic some might have you believe). The first few minutes of action see the two evenly paced, with Juvi having the slight upper hand. After a commercial break we see the usual high flying moves have been replaced by numerous close pin attempts. Juvi eventually goes for a move off the top, but Kidman gets up, catches him and turns it into a powerbomb. He then hits the Seven Year Itch and covers for the pin. The fans give a huge reaction, while Saturn comes out to applaud his accomplishment. WCW's rushing into this pretty much killed my enthusiasm for it. Kidman, who really hasn't done squat in the last several months, now suddenly finds himself inspired to win the Cruiserweight Title? Whatever. Instead of the fans cheering him on in his quest for the belt, WCW instead makes them cheer BECAUSE he won the belt. They cut to the back for another installment of "Don't Turn The Channel: Ric Flair's Coming Out Any Minute Now!" This time it's "Mean" Gene's stumbling across a secret meeting about to take place in a guarded room. J.J. Dillon refuses to tell Okerlund what's up, saying he'll have to find out like the rest of us. (I for one wish they say when it's going to happen, so I can go back to watching RAW in uninterrupted peace.) Back in the booth Larry Zbyszko tosses it over to Jackie Chan, who cuts a promo for a movie of his airing after Nitro. (I wonder if Jackie even knows who he was talking about when he had to say "thanks Larry!" For those interested, the movie shown was "Wheels on Meals", which is much better than "The Protector", which is what TNT originally had on their schedule.) - In the latest installment of "Don't Turn The Channel: Let's Work The Smarts!", they break in on an argument between Eddie Guerrero and Eric Bischoff in the back. Eddie wants out of his contract. Bischoff informs him that since he doesn't want to work here, he's sending him to Japan. So now this angle is supposed to get over by taking Eddie off TV? Why not just fire him outright and get the "huge pop" all at once? - BARBARIAN (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. THE BRITISH BULLDOG Just an awful match. Quitting the WWF must have been more traumatic than anyone thought, because he's now fat, slowed down, and has forgotten how to wrestle. The only thing hanging lower than his belly is the powerslam he does to get the win. The announcers spend most of the above match talking about Flair. In particular they talk about "rumors" and "scoops" (or should that be "SCOOPS"?) - "Mean" Gene is in the ring to interview J.J. Dillon. YES ... IT'S TIME ... HERE COMES RIC FLAIR! Sorry, false alarm. Actually Dillon instead talks about Scott Steiner, and what he and Buff Bagwell did at the PPV. A rematch between Scott and Rick Steiner has been scheduled for Halloween Havoc. (What about the $60 WCW owes fans who bought the last two PPV's to see that very match?) The segment ends with the lights flickering and someone laughing maniacally over the P.A. system. I don't even want to guess what the f*** this is all about. - Nitro Party Video. I think the Nitro Girls also do a number. It's gotten to the point where I don't even see them as people any more (which is sad, since they are hot chicks after all). - Bobby Heenan replaces Larry Zbyszko. - JIM "THE ANVIL" NIEDHART vs. ??? Before the match can start the Unearthly Smoke arises and the Warrior appears. At his feet is the unconscious body of the Disciple. Hogan and the NWO come out, a war of words ensues, the Warrior accepts the challenge Hogan laid down earlier, then the Warrior disappears in the smoke before he can be ganged up on. Thus concludes this week's installment of "Don't Turn The Channel: The Warrior MIGHT Do Something!" (By the way, if you're wondering why this is all the Warrior did this week, rumor has it that he injured himself at the PPV. I'm serious. He apparently injured a bicep muscle, as well as an ankle--all in the few minutes of "action" he put in the night before at the PPV.) - NORMAN SMILEY/SILVER KING vs. SCOTT STEINER (w/ Buff Bagwell) Handicap match, which Steiner wins easily by placing both men in the Steiner Recliner at once and forcing them to submit. Fall Brawl purchasers can be heard gathering in support groups, asking themselves why they had to pay to see Silver King and Smiley in PPV matches, and Steiner, who is so awesome that he can beat both men here, had to cheat his way out of a match against his brother? HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - In squish-o-vision they replay the confrontation between Arn Anderson and Eric Bischoff from Thunder last week. Schiavone mentions that the NWO stomped on Arn's left arm at the PPV: an action made necessary because the announcers last week forgot to mention that Arn's left arm is already useless due to nerve damage. FINALLY Bobby Heenan is the one to remember this and mention it, but only after Schiavone and Tenay talk repeatedly without mentioning it. - MENG vs. THE GIANT A PPV-caliber match, though only so because they advertised this one for Fall Brawl, then left it off the card. Ugly match. The two slap each other like bears fighting over a fish. Meng no-sells everything, teasing an upset victory. He then goes for the Tongan Death Grip, but the Giant simultaneously latches onto the throat for a chokeslam. Since the Giant's reach is longer, Meng can't apply his hold. One chokeslam and the invincible Meng is out of it. Pin. - SCOTT HALL (w/ Vincent) vs. LEX LUGER Hall comes out "drunk", staggering and carrying a drink. Vincent has a brown bag with a bottle in it. The announcers tell us how much they do not approve of this. Once the match starts Hall stalls for at least five minutes, laughing, refusing to lock up, and pausing to sip from his drink. Coming back into the ring he trips over the ropes. The match continues in this manner for several minutes, with Hall not cooperating with Luger, as Luger gets increasingly frustrated. Backing Hall into a corner, Luger tells him "you're messed up! What are you doing? Do you want to get fired? Someone's going to get hurt!" Eric Bischoff then comes out and the match ends, with no decision rendered. Bischoff asks Hall what he's doing. Hall says he does whatever he's told. Bischoff tells him he can't protect him if he acts this way. Kevin Nash and Konan then hit the scene. Nash tries to get Hall to go to the back, but Hall resists, asking where Nash was when his (Hall's) life started to fall apart. Hall points at everyone gathered, asking them if they don't drink too? He then takes a swig of his drink, hold it a bit, then spits it up all over Bischoff and the camera. The segment ends with Hall in the ring doing crotch chops. - J.J. Dillon, in a tuxedo, hits the ring. He calls out Arn Anderson, who comes out dressed in a dark suit. Dillon apologizes to Arn for the things he said to him last week. Arn then takes over and one by one brings out the other Horsemen, who are all dressed in their Sunday finest. After more lengthy comments Arn introduces Ric Flair. Flair comes to the ring, cries, and shoots on Bischoff. Too brief? Too bad, because that's all you're getting from me. For why see below. - Diamond Dallas Page comes out for color commentary. They talk briefly about DDP's win in the War Games match. - GOLDBERG vs. STING A Michael Buffer intro and lengthy Goldberg entrance precede the match. The match itself lasts several minutes, highlighted by lots of stalling, restholds and no-selling by Goldberg. Goldberg's only offense is a leg takedown early in the match. Later on Sting, after three or four Stinger Splashes fail to hurt the man, chops him in the back of the knee. Sting applies the Scorpion Deathlock. As the ref watches Goldberg for the tap-out, "Hollywood" Hogan enters the ring and, from a position no more than a foot away from the referee, kicks Sting in the back of the head. The ref misses it. Goldberg breaks loose from the hold, picks Sting up, Jackhammers him and covers for the pin. Hogan, hiding down below the ring apron, comes back in and goes to work on Goldberg. Out comes the one-legged Bret Hart for the save. The show ends with the crowd fiercely booing WCW for ending the show on this note, (with the announcers gamely trying to suggest that it's Hogan that the boo's are directed against). - This Thursday: Arn Anderson vs. Eric Bischoff in an arm wrestling contest, (but don't be surprised if there's a change). - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: I'm sure some of you are asking "John, why breeze over what is surely the greatest moment in the history of Monday night wrestling?" The answers to that are many. For starters, if you want to read a transcript of it, there were--when I last looked--at least a half-dozen sites with a complete transcripts of what was said and done (including WrestleManiacs, the Internet Wrestling Zone and the Wrestleboard). I realize this was a huge, emotional moment for fans of WCW, Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen. It was easily one of the biggest moments ever on Nitro. So why was I not moved? When Arn Anderson made his retirement speech I got misty eyed. When he made his surprise return last week I was shocked and marked out. On a similar note I was deeply moved at Jim Duggan's comments last week on Thunder. Yet this time around the moment generated not one emotion within me. I was not happy to see Flair again. I did not join in what is rapidly developing into a universal acclaim for the moment. I saw that Flair and the others were genuinely moved by the events, but I did not share in that emotion. Why is it all I could see was a tired, old man in the twilight of his career crying in the eyes of fans who have little regard for him or what he's meant to the business? Why is it what WCW portrayed as a "celebration" of the Four Horsemen ideal was, for me, a "wake" mourning the passing of an idea whose time has passed? I've watched it three times now and what fans seem content to gush about did absolutely nothing for me. I laughed at the sight of the terribly mismatched Horsemen in the ring (Dean Malenko looking a good two feet shorter than everyone else). I listened to what Arn and Ric said and asked myself where is the rage these two should have over what WCW has done to them? I listened to Flair's "shoot" on Bischoff and didn't buy a single word of it. (How can I, knowing that every word coming from Flair's lips was approved by Bischoff and a team of lawyers beforehand?!) Why am I the only one on the planet not impressed at the sight of Eric Bischoff coming out at just the right moment ... Flair going "crazy" on cue ... his profanities at Bischoff neatly edited out of the "live" broadcast ... the "sudden" cut to commercial as Flair proclaimed Bischoff had already fired him? Is it the hard-edged cynic, WWF biased mark, or twenty year wrestling fan who's seen it all in me who simply looked at the entire situation, weighed the positives versus the minuses, and was simply unable to appreciate the moment in the same light as--apparently--every other wrestling fan on the planet? (Except for my brother, who--as no fan of Flair's whatsoever--also found himself unmoved by the moment.) So in light of my own reaction to this moment, I'm going to lay out a challenge to WCW: convince me! Convince me that you're really serious about this. Convince me that this is more than a cheap excuse to market a new batch of t-shirts. Convince me that this isn't going to just lead to more matches with NWO run-in finishes. Convince me that this is the beginning of something and not just "business as usual". Convince me that the Horsemen are going to be a force in WCW and not just a "paper tiger" faction like the NWO, Wolfpac or OWN. Convince me that this is really the start of Ric Flair's last glorious excursion into retirement. Convince me that this is going to be done with respect for the Horsemen, as well as the fans. Convince me ... it's all I ask. I'm not going to argue with the reactions of everyone else who felt differently than myself on this. A survey of several websites confirms my suspicion that they all feel this was the greatest moment ever in wrestling. If that's how they feel then I'm happy for them. I recognize that it was a good moment, but it was one which I personally didn't derive any joy, entertainment or interest from. It's just too bad that most of these same people allowed this moment to overshadow their opinions on what was a completely awful installment of Nitro. Let me rephrase that: an ALMOST completely awful installment of Nitro. Kidman and Guerrera put on a good match. Otherwise the show stunk. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: San Jose, California. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - No opening--"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is making his way to a ring already filled with Vince McMahon, the Undertaker and Kane. McMahon rehashes the details of his "master plan", reaffirming his confidence that Austin will not come away from the next PPV as WWF Champion. Then in a move which derails his own plans somewhat, he adds a stipulation to the Triple Threat match at "Breakdown": neither the Undertaker nor Kane can beat each other to win the match--they must beat Austin. (The idea being that since they can't beat each other they will focus both their attacks on Austin. In reality it assures the fans that there won't be a cheap pin finish with one of the brothers laying down for the other.) McMahon adds that since he is doing a favor for them, they will do one for him. Until the PPV, if Austin lays one finger on McMahon the two brothers will rip his head off. McMahon wraps up by telling Austin that when he's laid out on his back and looking up at the lights, hearing the announcement that he's no longer the WWF Champion, he should remember that it wasn't Vince McMahon that screwed him ... it was Steve Austin who screwed Steve Austin. Unable to take any more Austin takes a shot at McMahon, but is immediately set upon by the Undertaker and Kane, who punctuate their brief assault with a double chokeslam (with McMahon dropping to all fours and chewing out Austin in the very manner Stone Cold usually does). Heading up the ramp the Undertaker turns and tells Austin that there's nothing personal--it's just business. McMahon gets in a final shot by reminding Austin that he's scheduled to defend his title against Ken Shamrock later tonight. - Austin is in the back, pacing and tossing stuff around. - ROAD DOG (w/ X-Pac & Bad Ass) vs. JEFF JARRETT (w/ Southern Justice) Before the match they show old footage of Road Dog serving as Jarrett's Roadie. Road Dog is so over with this crowd that Jarrett gets a huge heel reaction (by default) when he comes out. The first of several good matches on the night (though it really goes by too quick to amount to much). The finish comes when Southern Justice go after Road Dog down on the floor. X-Pac and Bad Ass come over to brawl. Road Dog winds up back in the ring, only to receive a shot to the throat by Jarrett with his guitar. Jarrett gets the pin. Afterwards Road Dog has to be helped from the ring and later, after a commercial break, he's shown being loaded into an ambulance. - They replay Ken Shamrock's challenge to Steve Austin from Sunday Night Heat. - As Road Dog is being hauled off Bad Ass tells Commissioner Slaughter to mind his own business. - KANE (w/ the Undertaker) vs. THE ROCK This match was set up by recent run-ins between the Rock and Kane. In the back Michael Cole is on hand to see the Rock giving marching orders to the other Nation members. D-Lo and Owen Hart dispute what they should do, so the Rock tells them to just stay in the back and watch him go out and beat Kane's ass. The Rock starts off unable to mount much offense. The crowd is divided, pretty much equally cheering and booing both men. The Rock drops to the floor to catch a breather (avoiding a big boot in the process). He yanks Kane down with him and goes to work on the big man's legs, wrapping them around the steel post. The crowd is slowly turning in the Rock's favor. A few kicks to the leg back in the ring and the Rock is able to take him off his feet with a clothesline, raising the crowd noise up a notch. Coming off the ropes the Rock falls victim to a powerslam (the anti- Maivia fans in the crowd getting a chance to cheer). Kane launches into a series of offense, culminating in a shoulderblock off the top. He covers but the Rock kicks out. Rocky, tossed into the corner, blocks a charge by Kane with a boot to the face. He is dropped, though, by a short clothesline. Kane tries an elbowdrop, but Rocky moves. The Rock lands a kick off the ropes, then catches Kane with his head down, applying a swirling DDT (which brings the fans to their feet). The Rock lays in with a series of blows, driving Kane back into the corner, followed by a number of kicks. Off the ropes he catches Kane with a swinging neckbreaker. By now the crowd is solidly shifting behind Maivia. Rocky gets a two count. Both get back up and Kane manages to scoop Rocky up for a slam, the ref catching a shot from the Rock's boot as he's lifted. The Rock escapes from the hold and takes Kane down with a side Russian Legsweep. Signaling for the People's Elbow, the crowd explodes! Landing it, he covers for the pin, but no ref. In comes the Undertaker, who sends the Rock out of the ring to the floor. He follows to lay in some damage. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Mankind appears from nowhere carrying a sledgehammer! Kane, who has made it back to his feet, never sees Mankind coming. Mankind blasts him with the sledge, nailing him square in the back. He retreats and the Undertaker, having spotted Mankind finally, follows. The Rock rolls back into the ring and covers Kane. The ref, having missed everything, makes the three count, with the whole crowd counting along. A hot angle, finishing off a good match. The Undertaker grabs a mic and challenges Mankind to a match tonight, to settle things once and for all between them. "Bring your sledge- hammer!" he adds. (Shucks, looks like WWF matchmakers will have to dump an Oddities match, or something, to fit this one in.) - Mankind, in the back, accepts the Undertaker's challenge. - Dustin Runnels, in the ring, says the WWF has become Hell. He lists the things that have "stained" the WWF, including sex. Talking to Val Venis, he says that when "He" comes, Val will have to repent. Venis appears on the ramp to rebut Dustin. Val introduces his latest video, titled "The Preacher's Wife". Val, in a bed holding a cigar, says he needed some loving after Dustin's attack on Sunday Night Heat. The covers roll back and out pops Marlena--AKA Terry Runnels! "Hi Dustin," she says, and crawls back under the covers. Back in the ring Dustin collapses in anguish to his knees. Venis notes that getting on their knees runs in the Runnels family--(huge "oooh!" from the crowd). Looks like we'll now see that angle that Brian Pillman was unfortunately unable to finish. Venis, on the other hand, seems to have not learned his lesson from his affair with Mrs. Yamaguchi. - Out in the woods somewhere Steven Regal is shown chopping down trees. "Steven Regal: A Man's Man"--or so we are told. Everyone hum the Monty Python "Lumberjack" song. - HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (w/ Chyna) vs. OWEN HART (w/ Mark Henry) Is this free TV or a pay-per-view? The third straight good match in a row, with Owen stepping it up a notch from recent TV matches of his. Mark Henry and Chyna get into it at ringside. X-Pac jumps on Henry's back, and is slammed to the floor. Chyna then nails Henry with a right cross. Owen, having been distracted by all this, walks right into a Pedigree from Helmsley, who covers for the pin. During the celebration Triple H tries unsuccessfully tries to talk female fans into baring their goods. Henry then gets in the ring and challenges Chyna and X-Pac to a match, saying he can handle both of them. (Darn, I guess the DOA or Head Bangers are now bumped from the card.) Mankind, in the back, is singing "hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go!" as he loads foreign objects into a garbage dumpster. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. - Mankind begins setting up his implements of destruction around the ring, including a ladder and a table. (Someone has already wheeled the dumpster to ringside.) - MANKIND vs. THE UNDERTAKER (w/ Kane) The Undertaker comes out with a sledgehammer. Mankind, waiting in the ring with one of his own, tries to nail him with it, but is stopped by the ref. Almost immediately the two go to the floor. The Undertaker is slammed into the dumpster. Mankind tries unsuccessfully to use the ladder. Moving around the ring the Undertaker slams Mankind's hand into the ring steps (disabling his ability to apply the Mandible Claw). Moments later he slammed into a table leaded up against the ringpost. Back in, then out, of the ring they go. Mankind's mask comes off. The Undertaker kicks him into the side of the dumpster. Set up against the ring steps, Mankind moves just in time to avoid a shot from the sledgehammer. Circling the ring he runs into the waiting arms of Kane, who chokeslams him into the timekeeper's table. The Undertaker demolishes the table with another missed sledgehammer shot. Mankind grabs a steel chair and enters the ring. The Undertaker follows. Mankind catches him in the gut with the chair, then waffles him across the back with it. He then charges with it, but the Undertaker blocks it with a big boot, and the chair is knocked into Mankind's face. The Undertaker chokeslams Mankind, then hoists him into the Tombstone position and Piledrives him on the chair. he then eyes the sledgehammer, intent on finishing off Mankind once and for all. Suddenly the lid of the dumpster flies open and out comes the Rock! Maivia catches the Undertaker in the back of the knee with a flying tackle. Once on the floor he pulls Mankind out and dumps him in the safety of the crowd. Both the Undertaker and Kane stalk off in pursuit as Rocky leaves. - GANGREL vs. EDGE Short, but good match. In the three minutes or so it lasts we see a split-legged, facefirst powerbomb off the turnbuckles, a belly-to-belly suplex, a belly-to-back suplex, a running bulldog, a neckbreaker off the turnbuckles, an attempted headbutt off the top, and a back bodydrop to the floor. Edge tries a running suicide plancha, which is exactly what happens when Gangrel sidesteps the move and Edge lands facefirst on the floor. As both men are counted out Gangrel adds injury to insult by planting him with the suplex/DDT. Gangrel takes a quaff from his chalice full of blood and tells Edge "the blood of Gangrel runs through your veins!" Something to mull over as we anticipate the eventual rematch. - X-PAC/CHYNA vs. MARK HENRY The first match of the night which wasn't so hot, yet even it had its moments. At the start the ref prevents Chyna from being in the ring. Henry manhandles X-Pac as D-Lo Brown, Southern Justice and Triple H all begin assembling around the ring. X-Pac tries a suplex, calls in Chyna, and the two manage to take the big man over. X-Pac covers for the pin, but Henry kicks out, launching X-Pac halfway across the ring. He then splashes him in the corner. Henry then throws X-Pac into the ropes, catches him, and gorilla presses him about ten feet into the air. X-Pac manages to tag out to Chyna. Chyna spears Henry in the gut, then slugs him with a right. (These seem to be the only two moves she knows.) X-Pac tags in and he catches Henry with a spinning heel kick. The Bucking Bronco Ride in the corner follows. Chyna is tagged again, but D-Lo grabs her foot. X-Pac wipes him out with a baseball slide. Chyna then climbs to the second turnbuckle and comes off with a flying bodypress, but Henry catches her in mid-air and POWERSLAMS her! Holy sh*t! Henry gets the pin, heating up the feud between those two even more. Jacqueline is shown in the back getting ready for the next match. Actually the above match's only real problem is that it went right up against Ric Flair's return. Even though as I didn't go wild for that, I still watched it over this match. - To get us ready for the next match they show clips from the infamous "Tuxedo Match" between Howard Finkel and Harvey Whippelman. Ugh ... now I'm sterile. - SABLE vs. JACQUELINE (w/ Marc Mero) Evening Gown Match. Sable goes right after Jacqueline and tears her dress, rendering her topless for all of America to see. (Nippolanippola- nippolanippola!) As the match continues the cameras frantically switch away to angles which won't prematurely educate the youth of America. The latter moments of the "match" are filmed from a half mile away. Sable rips Jackie's gown completely off, winning the match. Mero enters the ring, covers Jackie with his ring robe and hustles her away. Sable then shows she's a good sport by taking her dress off too. Would I be kidding if I said this was THE GREATEST MATCH I'VE EVER SEEN? Not by much. The camera cuts away for a moment to show a mystery woman in the crowd watching all this with a stony expression. What's up wit dat?! - Michael Cole gets comments from Ken Shamrock. - "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN vs. KEN SHAMROCK Yet another good match to close out the show. For almost fifteen minutes these two go at it uninterrupted. Both are evenly matched, with the momentum switching back-and-forth throughout. At about the twelve minute mark Shamrock locks on a Boston Crab. Austin struggles, trying to crawl his way to the ropes. Austin makes it, and once the hold is broken he takes over--though only for a moment. The two wind up on their feet, trading blows, as the Undertaker and Kane run in. (Noooo!) Shamrock, exhausted from the match, is chokeslammed and taken out of action. Austin looks to be in a world of hurt when in runs the Rock and Mankind! Vince McMahon appears on the ramp, puzzled to see new combatants enter into the equations of his master plan. Austin, meanwhile, retrieves a steel chair and delivers shots to the Undertaker and Kane. McMahon backs his way up the ramp, with Austin--chair in hand--in slow pursuit as the show ends. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: The disappointing finish to the main event aside, this was probably the best RAW since a few months before SummerSlam. From top to bottom this show rocked, with either a good match or something surprising happening in every segment. Usual downers such as the DOA and the Oddities were saved for another day. Probably the biggest surprise of the show was the Rock being thrust into the spotlight as a babyface. Similar to Steve Austin, the Rock was able to capture the favor of the fans without compromising his character. We also saw the Undertaker clearly put into a heel role: yet one which isn't at odds with his established character or actions of the last several months. Perhaps even more surprising was how good this show was given what they DIDN'T do. Al Snow was left off, saved I assume for the next taped RAW. Shawn Michaels wasn't trotted in for a token appearance. Other than the shocking return of Marlena, the WWF didn't have to bring in any real "mystery guests". They didn't throw in a title change to "spice things up". Just great angles and good matches combined to make an exciting show for for the entire duration. And boobs. BIG ones. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Maybe sometime down the road I'll lighten up a bit and appreciate Ric Flair's return for what it was. That unfortunately doesn't do much for WCW or Nitro in my eyes this week. Against a weaker RAW I might be tempted to give Nitro this win based solely on the magnitude of the moment. (I try to be fair sometimes and give them their due, even when I wasn't the best audience to appreciate it.) Here though RAW was simply too strong a show to give Nitro the win based on the "importance" of one occurrence. Had Nitro been stronger throughout it might have had a shot, but as it is this was simply too strong a showing by the WWF to allow to go unrecognized by myself. It didn't win the ratings war this week, but it did put on a strong enough of a showing to keep Ric Flair's return from running away with the ratings and burying them. Moving on from Flair, and forgetting about my own tastes for a moment, just what is it WCW fans see in the Warrior? What exactly is the appeal? Are his past achievements so great as to overshadow the fact that he's a complete joke right now? As a whole his gimmick is becoming one of the silliest WCW's ever done. Are WCW fans ever going to realize that coming out in a cloud of smoke is ALL HE CAN DO? Do none of these fans feel stung by the fact that they had to pay $30 to see he and Hogan go at it at the PPV, only to be treated to about a minute of the Warrior in action as ran to the ring, then chased Hogan out of the cage? On a similar note, when are WCW fans going to demand that Kevin Nash get off his lazy ass and work more than two minutes or so in a match? Guys like Lex Luger, Konan, Jim Duggan and Steve McMichael may be lazy, sloppy wrestlers in their own right, but at least they go out there and perform. All Kevin Nash does is hang out and be "cool". Speaking of Jim Duggan, I'm pleased to pass along the news that he has apparently come through his kidney/cancer surgery with flying colors, and is now on the road to recovery. I think I'll end this Recap on that positive note we can all agree on. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 148 of the "Monday Night Recap", September 14th, 1998.