Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #159 November 30th, 1998 The Opening Word: This week's "TV Guide" is the pro-wrestling special, sporting four different covers featuring Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, the Undertaker and Goldberg. Where I live you can only find the Hogan and Austin issues, so I bought Austin's. Inside there's an article on how big wrestling has become. They show what all four covers look like, and also have some brief interviews and bio material on the four cover stars. In case you're interested, here's descriptions of the four covers: * Hogan: looks bored, flexing his right bicep. * Goldberg: goofy face and "action pose". * Undertaker: "spooky", menacing pose. * Austin: intense stare into the camera. Austin's picture is easily the best. All four covers have replica signature autographs. The issue also includes a brief blurb about Jesse Ventura and a really lame "5 Reasons To Love Wrestling" list. The wrestling article itself is good. At $1.49 (wow, last time I bought a "TV Guide" it was under $1) I'd say pick it up. Up to you if you'd want to track down all four different versions, though. The Blue Meanie made his WWF debut on Sunday Night Heat. Somehow I think we'll all survive. He's funny to look at, but in the past wasn't much to watch wrestle. ECW fans swear he's gotten better in the ring, but I haven't paid enough attention to ECW this year (despite having every weekly installment on tape) to notice any improvement. I doubt that'll matter, since it seems the WWF picked him up as comic relief. Lots of rumors that his ECW partner Super Nova will be soon to follow. That being said, I have to admit I like what they're doing with the J.O.B. Squad. They're getting a strong push now as a stable, and their budding feud with the Brood has promise. Given the chance these guys could deliver some matches almost as good as WCW's better Cruiserweights. Whenever the New Age Outlaws lose the Tag Team Titles, the waists of one of these two groups is where they should end up. They also seem to be positioning Al Snow as a near-the-top level contender. That opens up some interesting possibilities. (For example, what happens if Snow won a title and became "too good" to be a member of the Squad?) Snow's a good wrestler, and as long as he gets the chance to show that in the ring I'll be happy. It'll be really nice if he can get to a point where, like Mankind, his "gimmick" is just a small part of his overall character. I've a few more things on my mind, especially about WCW, but let's get this sucker started. I'll bring things up as they become relevant. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours. Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko. - During the opening hype segment Tony Schiavone announces that Mike Tenay is under the weather and won't be on tonight. They then play clips from "Hollywood" Hogan's appearance on "The Tonight Show" of him announcing his retirement. Schiavone has nothing but nice things to say about Hogan, signaling that whatever this all is--angle or reality--Hogan will be going out as a babyface. - The NWO Black-and-White limo pulls up to the arena. Scott Steiner, the Giant, Eric Bischoff and others are followed by the camera all the way from the car to the ring. Once there they make the announcement that Scott Steiner will officially become the new leader of the New World Order. Steiner launches into a lengthy speech about how great Hulk Hogan used to be, and how great he (Steiner) now is. He also says the NWO's first order of business is to take care of Scott Hall. Steiner challenges Hall to a tag team match, choosing Horace Hogan as his own partner. (I just hope he can stay out of jail long enough to run the group. Long story.) - KONAN vs. CHRIS JERICHO (w/ Ralphus) Okay match, though not a memorable one--save for the finish, which sees Konan get the pin and win the Television Title. Jericho tries to hit Konan with the belt, but Konan ducks and hits him with the face-first slam to the mat. Fellow Wolfpac members Lex Luger and Kevin Nash come out to celebrate with him. To celebrate WCW plays Konan's music video. This sucks, but I'll wait a few days to see if the other shoe drops. Jericho was really buried here, only getting in some token offense and lip service on behalf of the announcers. Is it just a coincidence that just days after Kevin Nash takes control of the booking in WCW that his good buddy Konan wins the TV Title? Is Jericho on his way out? (He hasn't re-signed with WCW yet.) Will he win the belt back next week. Are they starting a new angle with him? Until we know more I'll be content to be merely annoyed at Konan's continued mega-push. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews Ric Flair. Flair talks about tradition and badmouths Eric Bischoff. I'll give Flair this: he's very skilled at saying things of little substance in a very entertaining manner. - Scott Hall comes out to accept the NWO's challenge, but says he has no partner, so he'll take on both Steiner and Horace by himself. Kevin Nash comes out and says he'll be Scott's "huckleberry", indicating that he'll team up with him. - RAVEN/KANYON vs. THE ARMSTRONG'S Raven says "what about me?" and refuses to fight. He walks out, leaving Kanyon to fight the whole match. Kanyon hits his finisher, looks to see where Raven went, and winds up getting rolled up for the pin. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone and Zbyszko. - "Mean" Gene interviews Bret Hart. Hart says he has a groin injury, and the doctors won't allow him to wrestle Diamond Dallas Page tonight. DDP comes out and words are exchanged. Hart says he'll wrestle only if the match is no DQ. DDP agrees. Sucker. - KIDMAN vs. EDDIE GUERRERO With no Latino World Order accompanying Eddie, this looked like it would be a good, straight-up match. Close, as Juventud Guerrera tries to interfere on Guerrero's behalf, but Kidman hits him with a kick off the top. Rey Mysterio, Jr. then tries to interfere, but "accidentally" (on purpose) kicks Eddie. Kidman rolls the recently bumped ref back into the ring and scores the pin. The rest of the LWO come out and chase after Kidman and Mysterio. - Bam Bam Bigelow is out in the crowd, having presumably "purchased a ticket" to the show. - Eric Bischoff and Barry Windham hit the ring. Bischoff calls out Dean Malenko (and believe me, that short phrase cuts through several minutes of grandstanding on the mic by Bischoff). Malenko and the Horsemen (minus Flair) come out. Bischoff makes the following offer: if Malenko wrestles Windham and wins, Bischoff will have to wrestle Ric Flair in a future match. Malenko, with his bad leg, agrees. Bischoff then pulls the ace out of his sleeve by announcing Dusty Rhodes as the special referee. Rhodes comes out and says he'll be impartial. Rhodes, of course, is a part time member of the NWO, a longtime foe of Ric Flair, and was once the mentor of Windham. Oh no, they'd NEVER do a swerve here. Uh-uh. Honest injun. Dusty's going to cheat and help Windham win. Yup. Oh yeah. No doubt about it. Bet the farm on it. Take it to the bank. Put it in a box, slap a ribbon on it and call it Mildred. Or something. - WRATH vs. BOBBY BLAZE Wrath with the Meltdown in under a minute. Bam Bam Bigelow is still in the crowd. - Ernest Miller (accompanied by Sonny Onoo) comes out and challenges anyone to fight him. Out comes Perry Saturn. Miller then changes his mind and says Saturn has to beat Onoo to get a match against him. - SATURN vs. SONNY ONOO Right away Saturn nearly kills Onoo. Miller distracts the ref, allowing Glacier to run in and attack. The ref has to pretend not to see all this ... and fails miserably. 1 ... 2 ... Saturn kicks out. Saturn then hits the Death Valley Driver and covers for the pin. The ref reverses the decision, though, when he spots a chain in the ring (supplied by Miller I guess), which he thinks Saturn used. - They show Goldberg arriving, and follow him to the ring. Kevin Nash comes out and the two sign the contract for their upcoming match at Starrcade. The proceedings, hosted by "Mean" Gene and WCW official Terry Taylor, are interrupted when Bam Bam Bigelow jumps the rail. Security hustles Bigelow out of the building. HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - BOOKER T. vs. "MEAN" MIKE ENOS Squash. Bigelow is outside leading the fans in a chant for Goldberg to come out. - Promo for "Houdini", airing a few hundred times over the next few months on TNT. - BRIAN ADAMS (w/ Vincent) vs. LEX LUGER Awful match. Everything these guys did looked slow, weak and sloppy. The ref goes down after barely being nudged. They then piledrive Luger on a chair, but he kicks out when the ref recovers. More shenanigans with the chair and Adams winds up in the Torture Rack. - DEAN MALENKO vs. BARRY WINDHAM For what it's worth Windham looked good, and Malenko worked well with the bigger man, but the match here is nothing to speak of. Windham works over Malenko's bad knee and, at about the three minute mark, special referee Dusty Rhodes calls for the bell, DQ'ing Windham (huh?) With Malenko's win Ric Flair now gets a match against Eric Bischoff (to take place at Starrcade, they tell us later). Bischoff comes out and tells Rhodes that he's fired. Flair and the other Horsemen then come out to beat up Windham in the aisle. None of this makes sense ... on the surface. When Rhodes turned heel and joined the NWO he said it was because Kevin Nash, recently departed from the NWO, didn't respect "tradition". Of course that made no sense then because Hogan, Bischoff, Hall, and everything else about the NWO meant even less to "tradition" than Nash did. If they stick with that same theme, though, this would make sense. Sort of. It would make sense for Rhodes to side with Flair to teach Bischoff a lesson. This of course ignores the fact that Flair and Rhodes are bitter rivals. There is some continuity, however, in Rhodes turning on Windham because Barry once turned on Rhodes, injuring him I think. Windham also turned on Dusty's son Dustin. The problem here is so there's so many past angles and such intertwined leading up to this point that it only makes sense if you ignore half of it. The key is picking the right half to ignore. Or, if you're cynical, you could say this was all just a surprise for the sake of surprise, done to set up the match we've all known would happen for more than three months now. I'll let you decide. - "BIG POPPA PUMP" SCOTT STEINER/HORACE HOGAN vs. SCOTT HALL/KEVIN NASH As part of the ongoing angle that most have forgotten and few cared about in the first place, no WCW referees will work when Scott Steiner is in the ring. So the NWO referee gets the honors, and of course is biased in favor of the NWO team. Hall wrestles the ENTIRE match himself. Nash, the lethargic sonuvabitch that he is, comes in after about seven minute to deliver a kick to Steiner, then Jackknife the NWO ref when he refuses to count Horace down (Hall having just given Horace the Outsider's Edge). The regular WCW ref runs in and makes the three count. Bigelow. Outside. Yelling. - Goldberg runs outside and brawls with Bigelow. Even though there's still a match on-deck to close out the show they spend several minutes with this. Security men pull the two apart. They break free and fight some more. This lasts just long enough to get boring (since nothing is happening besides swinging fists) and they break away to a commercial. Some trash cans or a zamboni would have spiced this up. - BRET "HITMAN" HART vs. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE DDP beat Hart to win the title--a move which made no sense because DDP then took a month off. The two then fought on PPV and DDP won again. Even though DDP seems to have some heavy booking influence, it was pretty clear what would happen here (just not how). The "how", in this case, turns out to be the Giant, who comes out, beats up DDP (no DQ remember) and allows Hart to get the win (Sharpshooter ... DDP unconscious ... ref calls for the bell). This pretty much rights what was a wrong in the first place, while giving DDP all that babyface heat he loves so well. Why would it now not surprise me to see DDP face the Giant in a "Loser Leaves WCW" match at Starrcade? Hmmm ... - This Thursday: Nothing announced, but the show will be live. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Let me just predict now that Bigelow will interfere and cost Goldberg the Title at Starrcade. That way Nash is champ, while Goldberg's reputation is protected. Goldberg will then go on to beat Bigelow early next year, avenging his one loss. Beyond that, the crystal ball gets a bit hazy. I'll also predict, as I alluded to above, DDP beating the Giant and "chasing" him out of WCW. An okay show this week, though I'd be lying if I said it interested me all that much. As is so often the case lately once RAW started I flipped away and never came back. Pulling an all-nighter working on the website I managed to watch the replay, and had a hard time being interested in it as it played out. The usual filler crap didn't seem as bad this week, though besides the two title changes and Rhodes appearance I'm having a hard time remembering what exactly happened. Guys like Ernest Miller and Wrath just aren't that interesting. Last week I said WCW needs to string the show together, telling a larger story between the smaller matches. They're doing that now, but those smaller matches are failing completely to captivate me in any way. The stuff over in the WWF appeals to and interests me to varying extents (with a few things being turn-offs). Most of it, though, I can say I look forward to seeing each week. I can't believe there are all that many people out there saying "oh god I hope Ernest Miller is on this week!" What has changed in the two weeks since Nash stepped into Hogan's boots is that they've eliminated most of the outright crap. The show overall is better for that, though I'd really just say Nitro now feels "different". Not really "better" (though it is, somewhat) just "different". Two weeks now without Buff Bagwell or the Warrior. I wonder what's up with that? (Though I'm not wondering too hard, for fear that it will cause them to come back!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Baltimore, Maryland. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - The Head Bangers, led by the Insane Clown Posse, hit the ring ... "Stone Cold" Steve Austin arrives ... Chaos ensues. Austin, carrying a shovel, hits the ring and lays out everyone there with Stone Cold Stunners. He then has a few choice words for the Undertaker. Jim Ross runs down tonight's proceedings, which will include Al Snow getting a shot at the Rock and the WWF Championship, and Mankind defending his Hardcore Title in a Ladder Match against the Big Bossman. Mark Henry is also off somewhere getting ready for his date with Chyna (D-Lo Brown offering moral support). The segment ends with Austin roughing up a referee in passing, as he searches the back halls for the Undertaker. No Vince McMahon? - They show the "TV Guide" covers featuring Austin and the Undertaker. Ross says if those are sold out you may be stuck buying the ones featuring "recent retiree Hulk Hogan" or "'Steve-Austin-wannabe' Goldberg". Har. - THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS vs. THE BROOD (w/ Christian) A quickie match, which sees the Outlaws win by DQ when Christian comes in and hits Billy Gunn with one of the Tag Title belts. Before all this comes down, though, Vince McMahon leads Team Corporate out onto the stage, continuing his "scouting" of the Outlaws, which began last week on RAW and was continued this week on Sunday Night Heat. After the DQ finish the Big Bossman and Ken Shamrock run in to pound on the Brood. Steve Austin is in the back looking for the Undertaker. Straying too far into a storage cooler he gets locked in when the Undertaker runs up from behind, shoves him in, and latches the door shut. Paul Bearer then says the two have some bigger fish to fry. On Heat they said if Kane showed up tonight, Paul Bearer was going to have him committed. Silly, but what angle isn't involving these guys? - Mark Henry, lodged at a fancy hotel somewhere in downtown Baltimore, heads out for his date with Chyna. He asks D-Lo to come along. D-Lo isn't happy about it, but he agrees. - The Undertaker, in the ring, calls out Kane. Kane comes out and the two brawl. The Taker, after nailing a Tombstone Piledriver, waves for Paul Bearer to come out. Bearer comes out leading a group of white coated orderlies, carrying a straight jacket, clubs and stun guns. Kane decks a couple of them, flips backwards out of the ring, and escapes through the crowd. (I'm surprised one of the orderlies wasn't carrying a big butterfly net.) D-Lo, seeing the big limo Henry rented, feels a bit underdressed for the occasion. Henry has that covered, though, and hands him a jacket, sunglasses ... and a chauffeurs cap. D-Lo nearly blows a gasket, but there's no turning back now. D-Lo gets in the drivers seat, then has to get back out so he can close the rear door behind Mark. (A pair of WWF trucks can be seen going through a nearby intersection. I wonder if McMahon knew someone was tooling around in his trucks?) - Mark picks up Chyna. She looks less than thrilled to be there, and is even more upset when she sees D-Lo is their driver. - X-Pac comes to the ring, where he challenges Commissioner Shawn Michaels to come out. Shawn does, and verbal fireworks ensue. Shawn says if he wants any crap out of X-Pac he'll pick it out of his teeth, and that there have been chunks of guys bigger than him in his (Shawn's) stool. X-Pac asks how wide his bunghole is? Shawn tells him if he doesn't shape up he'll send him "down to that money pit in Atlanta so fast it'll make your head spin!" Michaels announces that X-Pac will defend his European Title tonight against Ken Shamrock. Mark Henry's limo pulls up to the restaurant. Upon exiting Chyna isn't impressed with the $1.99 bouquet of flowers Mark bought her. They pass through a small gathering of fans and enter the eatery. The door to the storage cooler is open. Someone was nice enough to let Austin out before he became Stone Dead. - Mark asks for a menu and some "pair-ee-air" water. Chyna corrects his pronunciation ("Perrier"). Mark then grooves to a Marvin Gaye tune playing in the background. God help me, but I think I'm getting to like him. - GOLDUST vs. JEFF JARRETT (w/ Debra McMichael) I think this is a bona fide feud, though it hasn't exactly gone anywhere. Owen Hart, it should be noted, is at ringside for color commentary. The match winds down with Goldust propping Jarrett up in the corner, intent on delivering the kick to the privates which would have drawn him a DQ. Debra comes in, though, and gives Goldust a good look at her package. Turned on, he turns around and wiggles his butt at her. (Trust me, actually describing it is much more provocative than it actually looked.) Owen Hart seizes the opportunity to come in and attack Goldust, for no real reason that I can fathom. The Blue Blazer then runs in. Owen starts to celebrate, but is quickly nailed by the Blazer, who removes his mask to reveal himself as (on this occasion) Steve Blackman. I generally like all these guys, but there's just nothing here to be all that interested in. A split-screen view shows us Steve Austin looking for the Undertaker, as the Taker, Bearer and the orderlies are searching for Kane. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. - THE BIG BOSSMAN vs. MANKIND Ladder Match. Commissioner Michaels sits in for color commentary, and to flash scores for the moves the two wrestlers do. An early move by Mankind draws a "-2". Bossman climbing the ladder earns a "10". A few good moves aside this match fell way short of expectations. With the no DQ rule in effect, the only way to win is to climb the ladder in the middle of the ring and grab the Hardcore Title belt, which is suspended from the ceiling. The match ends when the Rock comes in and lays out Mankind with the Rock Bottom, allowing the Bossman to climb his way to victory. The Rock, the Bossman and Michaels then all team up to beat on Mankind. The Taker and Bearer are still looking for Kane. Wouldn't it have been funny if they'd have found Bam Bam Bigelow instead? No, I guess not. - Kane has been found, and he and the Undertaker are brawling in a small table filled room. The Undertaker levels him with a chair, then tells Paul Bearer to go find the orderlies as he prepares to stuff Kane into a body bag. Moments after Bearer leaves a door on the other side of the room opens. Here comes Steve Austin, and he levels the Undertaker with that shovel he's been carrying around with him since the start of the show. - "MARVELOUS" MARC MERO vs. DUANE GILL Mero says if he can't beat Gill we'll never see him again. Gill comes out accompanied by the grade school football team he coaches, which is from a local Baltimore suburb. As one would expect from the setup, Mero loses when the J.O.B. Squad and the Blue Meanie interfere. The Meanie comes in through the crowd, pushes Mero off the top (as the Squad distracts the ref), and escapes the way he came in. So now Duane Gill has "retired" Marc Mero. I have no idea what this one's going. Bearer has found the orderlies, and is leading them back to what he assumes is a still unconscious Kane stuffed in a body bag. - Another look at the "TV Guide" covers. Mark, having finished his meal, reads a love poem to Chyna. He then proposes a toast, giving her the chance to chug down some wine to kill the pain. Mark then says it's time for them to go dancing. - X-PAC vs. KEN SHAMROCK (w/ Commissioner Michaels) Michaels explains that this isn't a "Title vs. Title" match because X-Pac already got a shot at the World Title last week--and lost. A pretty good match, which sees X-Pac get his ass kicked, only to rally back to the verge of victory. Commissioner Michaels then distracts the ref, at which point the Big Bossman runs in and lays out X-Pac. Shamrock slaps on an ankle submission, and looks to have the match won, but he in turn is attacked by Hunter Hearst Helmsley, whose arrival draws a huge pop from the crowd. Shamrock wins by DQ, but X-Pac escapes with his European Title. He and Triple H aim crotch chops at the livid Commissioner Michaels. Bearer comes across the filled body bag, unzips it, sees the Kane mask, and watches as it's loaded onto a gurney and rolled away by the orderlies. - Mark, having a few drinks with Chyna, starts to dance when the classic tune "Brick House" comes up. Chyna does all she can to keep from laughing, and does indeed dance with him for a few seconds. Mark then excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Who should happen along then but a trio of guys out cruising for chicks. Their leader asks Chyna if she'd like to dance? She asks him if he'd like to get lost? He then asks if he makes her horny? She tells him to beat it. He calls her a bitch, and promptly eats a knuckle sandwich from her. The other two step in, but are taken out by the returning Mark Henry, who tosses them around like toys. Chyna grabs Mark by the arm and drags him away. - VAL VENIS (w/ the Godfather & 3 Ho's) vs. TIGER ALI SINGH (w/ Babu) The in-ring action was completely forgettable. The Ho's tease Babu. Terri Runnels and Jacqueline then come out, and Terri enters the ring to give Venis a low blow. Tiger wins by DQ. Then as the good guys are leaving the bad guys are attacked by Faarooq and Bradshaw: the Acolytes. The Jackyl is even on hand to view his handiwork. They should really have done this an hour earlier. Or not at all. Paul Bearer is waving good-bye to the ambulance carrying "Kane". The scene then dissolves to a monitor screen, which is viewed by Austin and the real Kane. With the Undertaker now having been carted away, Paul Bearer has about five minutes left to live. - Shane McMahon comes out to the stage and hypes the new brand of cologne the WWF is marketing. His real purpose, actually, is to humiliate Sable, who is forced to do the spokesmodel bit with the bottle. Shane tells her to put some on. She does, and he takes a sniff. He also takes the opportunity to check out her cleavage. She spritzes him in the face, and he does his best to shrug it off. Oh yeah, this was worth turning him heel. - THE ROCK vs. AL SNOW (w/ the J.O.B. Squad) The Rock has a new entrance theme, and once again it sucks. When are they going to wise up and just leave things be? The one he's had has been just fine! (His post-match music, however, was his old theme.) Good match, with a couple of highlights. Snow tries a moonsault off the safety barrier, but the Rock moves out of the way. Later on the Rock lays Snow out with the Rock Bottom. He then drags him aside, grabs Head, lays it in the center of the ring, and delivers the Corporate Elbow! He then calls it a piece of sh*t, which gets bleeped. A bit more back-and- forth between the two and the Rock delivers another Rock Bottom and covers for the pin. Meanwhile the Big Bossman, Ken Shamrock and Mankind have all shown up at ringside. Mankind and Snow are beaten upon until the other J.O.B. Squad members come out to even things up. Paul Bearer, still looking for the Undertaker, runs into Austin. Austin opens the door of the cooler he'd been locked in earlier to show Bearer that Kane is there, and that it was the Undertaker who got hauled off to the mental institution. After the show's final commercial break they drag him to the ring. There they tease an ass-whooping, setting him on fire, and a stabbing with a pair of scissors. Instead they decide to drag him out of the building to a manhole cover. Kane pulls the cover off the hole, then sends Bearer into the sewer head-first! - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: WHAT ABOUT CHYNA AND MARK HENRY?! Did she kiss him goodnight? Did they ... do it? I gotta know! The only problem I had with this week's show was the way they blew off the guys like Goldust, Jarrett, Venis and Singh. They, along with Steve Blackman, Owen Hart, and the Acolytes were all just dumped into a pair of matches which really served no purpose, other than to kill time. I'd rather have seen two interference-free matches with somebody cleanly going over the other. The Brood, J.O.B. Squad, and Marc Mero got similar treatment in their matches. None of this stuff was bad, it just wasn't all that interesting. That left the marquee matches and two story arcs to hold the show together. It still worked, speaking for myself, but only barely. I was also disappointed by the Ladder Match, which was surely done as a gimmick for ratings more than anything else. I'd much rather have seen a simple "No Holds Barred" match here. At least the title did change hands, preserving somewhat the unique status of this type of gimmick match. The WWF would be smart to have D-Lo turn on Mark Henry, forcing a face turn for the big man. There were enough indicators here to think that maybe that's what the WWF is planning. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Let's put this puppy to bed and send it out. Until next week, adios. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 159 of the "Monday Night Recap", November 30th, 1998.