[RESULTS/OPINION] WCW Monday Nitro/WWF Monday Night RAW (9/9)

WCW Monday Nitro: Live.

HOUR ONE: Hosted by Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko & Mike Tenay.

 - Recap of last week's show.

 - PAT TANAKA vs. SUPER CALO
   Calo reverses a belly-to-belly suplex attempt off the top turnbuckle for
   the pin. Man, does Calo's outfit look dumb. He's not a bad wrestler
   though. I'm just a little tired of these guys coming in from Mexico and
   Japan the way they are. "Hello fans, this is Super Calo... he's the good
   guy, so cheer for him. His opponent is Ultimate Dragon and since he's
   from Japan and his manager acts really nasty, please boo and root against
   him. Thanks for you're cooperation - please buy a t-shirt on your way
   out!" It's getting harder to take the cruiserweight division seriously.
   They keep throwing these guys at us, telling us they're "international
   superstars," then they wonder why most of the audience is bored. The
   problem is not everyone is willing to like something simply because you
   tell them to. WCW in my opinion made the mistake of creating this
   division before they had the manpower to fill it. Many of them lose
   regularly to bigger men, filling the role of jobber. Some (like Psicosis)
   seem to only be there to lose to Misterio (putting them in the category
   of cruiserweight jobber.) It's hard to watch Billy Kidman get creamed by
   Big Bubba, then turn around and see him give Misterio or Jericho a good
   match, much less then think of this week's newest cruiserweight as
   anything special (if you get my meaning.) They need to start insulating
   the wrestlers, stop using them as jobbers for the heavyweights (i.e.
   Bobby Walker, Kidman, etc.) and focus on establishing the ones they
   already have. As it is, all we can really expect is an under five minute
   match with a few high spots (and damned if I'm too selfish to accept
   that.) Rant over.

   During the match we see a bunch of teens at an arena entrance wearing
   NWO t-shirts and carrying large bundles of NWO propaganda.

 - Mean Gene interviews Rick Steiner and Lex Luger. Steiner is pretty funny,
   trying to convince Okerlund that he had the match vs. Luger won last
   week. This is actually a fairly important interview, as it guarantees
   we'll make a point of watching his match later in the evening with Luger.
 
 - NWO promo featuring an ad for the NWO t-shirt. "All proceeds go to the
   Ric Flair retirement fund." Sez Nash. Hah!

 - Glacier. Take the number of weeks they hyped this guy and multiply it
   by the square root of lame and you'll get how dumb he looks.

 - NASTY BOYS vs. THE AMAZING FRENCH CANADIANS
   No, I'm not kidding. It's Jacques Rougeau &  Carl Oulette, formerly the
   Mountie and the guy who stole Bret Hart's jacket. Oulette has gotten a
   bit fatter, while Rougeau has goten balder (but covers it sooo well with
   that GLH hairspray - probably borrowed from the NWO.) Actually though,
   they wrestled well in what was probably the closest to an 80's style WWF
   match that you can get. The Canadians try to sing the Canadian anthen,
   but barely get past "O Canada... !" What followed was a bunch of
   clubberin' and some good teamwork by the Canadians. Finish comes when
   Nobbs knocks out Oulette with a flag that the Canadians had brought to
   ringside. Saggs covers for the pin. The Nasties do an interview after the
   match, saying they care about the tag belts, which are in WCW, not the
   NWO. (Mean Gene must have missed a memo, as he refers to the Canadians as
   "The Rougeau Brothers.")

   During the match we see the NWO teen brigade handing out the flyers to
   the crowd. Larry Zbyszko goes over and grabs one, which says something
   like "You think you've seen bad... you haven't seen nothing yet!"

 - SCOTT NORTON vs. CRAIG PITTMAN
   Ugh! In tonight's UFC installment, Norton slaps an armbar on Pittman, who
   refuses to give up. As his manager Teddy Long looks on, the Icetrain
   comes to ringside (saunters, actually) carrying a towel, which he throws
   into the ring. Norton gets the submission win and he and Icetrain stare
   each other down while Pittman complains that he didn't want to give up.

 - Mean Gene interviews Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Lex Luger. It seems that
   Sting has disappeared and is missing this interview. Luger stands up for
   his pal, as the other Horsemen come out and question Sting and Luger's
   reliability.

 - Recap of Diamond Dallas Page/Guerrero family dispute.

 - JUVENTAD GUERRERA vs. "DESPERADO" JOE GOMEZ
   Guerrera wins with his flying corkscrew splash that Tenay calls (something
   that sounds like) "hiroconplancha" or "huracanplancha."

 - Nick Patrick interview. He and Mean Gene banter back and forth, with a
   threat of litigation humbling Okerlund.

 - Cut to the outside where we see the NWO (Hogan, Nash, Hall, The Giant and
   Ted DiBiase) sticking NWO flyers on cars. Rain is falling and all the
   guys are getting wet (except for Ted, who's watching and holding an
   umbrella. He is leaning into one of those long black limousines talking
   to someone.)

HOUR TWO: Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan & Mike Tenay.

 - RICK STEINER vs. LEX LUGER
   An interesting match (what little of it took place.) The two spend most
   of the time down on the mat, Rick attempting to apply various arm and
   leg locks. I'll be damned... they're wrestling! Nick Patrick has to ruin
   it though by coming to ringside and yelling something to Lex Luger. Luger
   follows (or chases) him away from the ringside area. Outside we see Ted
   DiBiase talking to someone in the limo. We can't see them, but we hear...
   
   "I'm sick of this 'D.T.A.' attitude - 'Don't Trust Anyone!' At some point
   you have to trust someone!"
   "Yes!" Says Ted.
   "I'm right here next to him and I say you can trust him!"
   "I know that, I'm looking you in the eye and him in the eye and I know I
   can trust him."
   (Or words to this effect - all paraphrased from memory.)

   Ted sees Luger approaching and slams the door shut. Luger asks what he's
   done with Sting. Ted asks "What would I be doing with Sting?" Another
   door on the limo opens and out steps Sting. Luger turns. Sting kicks
   him in the gut. Sting pounds him to the pavement. The rest of the NWO
   arrive and join in (even Ted lays in a few kicks as his driver holds onto
   Luger. Luger, in a rage, throws the driver aside. The NWO scatter and
   fill one of two black limos as most of WCW arrives on the scene. The limo
   leaves as Luger checks out the second one, finding it empty save for a
   few cans of yellow NWO spraypaint.

   Bischoff, Tenay and Heenan are in shock. Bischoff truly does manage to
   look ill and wounded. They collect their thoughts while they show another
   extensive recap of last week's Nitro, ending with a replay of Sting
   turning on Luger.

 - Shot of most of the WCW wrestlers searching the parking lot for any sign
   of the NWO.

 - REY MISTERIO JR. vs. BILLY KIDMAN
   A good match, but it only lasts about 3 minutes. Misterio wins with a
   springboard senton roll-up.

 - FACES OF FEAR (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. PUBLIC ENEMY
   Another okay match. Rocco seems to have a lot of trouble working with
   the bigger guys - his moves just don't come off right. At one point he
   goes out and over the top rope from a clothesline that barely connected,
   making it look like he got hit, stopped, turned, then jumped pover the
   rope. Things get interesting though when he Barbarian sets up Johnny
   Grunge on a table outside the ring. While Jimmy Hart holds him in place,
   Barbarian dives off the top turnbuckle. Grunge moves and the Barbarian
   goes through the table, shattering it. Back in the ring and the P.E. set
   up Meng on another table. Rocco climbs the corner and moonsaults Meng
   through it, selling the move more than Meng did. Heenan accidentally
   calls Meng "Haku" and is silent for some time thereafter. (Later
   Bischoff apologizes for the mistake, mentioning that it was in the WWF
   that he was "Haku," but that he is definitely under contract with WCW
   now and goes by the name of Meng. Ouch!) The Barbarian comes back in
   and holds off Rock while Meng chokes Grunge into submission. The whole
   Dungeon of Doom arrives for an interview. The Leprechaun runs around.
   Hart says the Dungeon will take care of the Giant. Bubba challenges
   Glacier. Konan (who now talks like a Mexican in a "Cheech & Chong" movie)
   praises Kevin Sullivan.

   During the match itself, they briefly cut away for an interview with the
   Horsemen, who are questioning Luger. Luger says he doesn't have any
   answers, but that he'll get some because who knows where Sting lives...
   where he works out... etc. Arn does a great segment where he puts Sting's
   turn in perspect, alluding to his and Flair's leaving for the WWF, coming
   back, people changing their "philosophies," etc. "Sting was always the
   constant... the one thing you could count on. And for the first time in
   my life I've got a sick feeling in my stomach!"

 - New World Order promo. This time it's Hogan, Hall, Nash and DiBiase in
   a steel cage. DiBiase lays out their master plan: The NWO will start
   their own tag team title tournament. They'll have their own segment on
   the WCW shows. And if they win at Wargames... WCW will pay the bills.

 - RANDY "MACHO MAN" SAVAGE vs. JOHN TENTA
   Another non-match as Teddy Long comes to ringside after a few minutes,
   yelling that the NWO is back. Savage checks outside as a black limo pulls
   away. He (along with the rest of WCW) check out the other limo, grab the
   yellow cans of paint, and spray "WCW" all over the outside.

   Bischoff closes out the show by apologizing for signing in Hogan in the
   first place. The Horsemen arrive (with Flair interrupting Bischoff much
   as Hogan did to the Giant the previous week.) Arn and Flair announce
   that it will be the Four Horsemen who will take on the NWO at Wargames.

   Show ends with another replay of Sting attacking Luger.
   
Next week's main event: Not announced.

Comments: Another classic. Sting's turn was a bombshell, but I have two
distinct thoughts one the subject.

1. Isn't this overkill? This leaves WCW seriously short in the top level
   Face department. Could someone else be coming in? (Not that I want to
   add fire to any Ultimate Warrior rumors.) Could he be replacing Hall or
   Nash? This whole thing seems to be almost too drastic.

2. ***Wild Theory Time*** What if that wasn't Sting? Something didn't look
   right about him. It was hard to tell from the angle, but he looked too
   short, at least a few inches shorter than Luger (in a later clip of Sting
   and Luger side by side you can see they are close to the same height.)
   The outfit and makeup were right, but the hair looked off (possibly due
   to the rain and darkness.) The oddest thing was what he "said" in the
   limo. It sounded like something he may have said in an interview a few
   months back. The "discussion" that we heard really made no sense, and
   they only let us hear what we are supposed to hear, so why have him say
   something that out of place? Could it have been a recording? The audio
   suggested at the very least that he had a microphone in there with him,
   but it could have been something recorded that DiBiase was just playing
   along with. I don't have to sit here and go through why it would be the
   the NWO's benefit to trick WCW into thinking they'd turned Sting, do I?
   (Wouldn't it be a kick in the pants if Sting was "in jail" for stealing
   the police car last week and the NWO siezed the opportunity to ruin him
   in his absence?) I'd swear what Sting said in the limo was taken from
   something he told Randy Savage last year when Lex first arrived (and
   replaced Vader in the Wargames.) Revealing that there are two Stings
   seems to be about the only surprise WCW has left for Wargames.

Whatever the case, it was glaringly obvious that WCW really didn't do
anything to squelch the rumors of Hall and Nash leaving. All signs point to
them being a part of Wargames, but what about beyond that?


WWF Monday Night RAW: Taped 8/19.

 - Quick recap of USA's Championship Friday:
   * Sid beat Hunter Hearst Helmsly via powerbomb. Mr. Perfect swiped HHH's
     escort.
   * Marc Mero beat Steve Austin via DQ.
   * Brian Pillman promised an interview with Bret Hart, insinuating that
     he'd worked out a reconciliation between Bret and Owen Hart.
   * Jerry Lawler interviewed Mark Henry and challenged him to a match.
   * Mankind beat Alex "The Pug" Poteau via mandible claw.
   * Jim Ross announced that according to his sources "Big Daddy Cool
     Diesel & The Bad Guy Razor Ramon" were "definitely on their way back"
     to the WWF.
   * Recap of the C.N.E. Experience in Canada. Sid played tug-of-war with
     an elephant and lost.
   * Bob Backlund announced an alliance with the Iron Sheik, who will manage
     a newcomer in an effort to win the "WWWF" title.
   * Shawn Michaels beat Goldust via moonsault. Mankind ran in and tried to
     attack Shawn, but Shawn escaped.

 - FAAROOQ ASAD (w/ Sunny) vs. SAVIO VEGA
   This was actually a decent match (I'm inclined to give it the overall
   nod as being the best of the night.) These aren't two guys that I'm
   generally too anxious to see, but they did well together in this one.
   The match went something like 12 minutes at least. Faarooq wins with a
   gutwrench face-forward powerbomb. Sunny gets in the ring and tells the
   crowd that her man Faarooq is going to easily beat Sid. Out comes Sid
   and he and Faarooq have a staredown.

 - Replay of the "Get Well Wishes" from the WWF Superstars to Ahmed Johnson
   that were shown on Action Zone. The best was Steve Austin saying "Get
   well soon son, because when you do I'm going to pound on the other
   kidney!" 

 - Spanish announcer Carlos Cabrera interviews Shawn Michaels and Jose
   Lethario. Shawn tells Mankind that "I ain't your momma and I ain't your
   friend... but I'm gonna be your big daddy! Don't hunt what you can't
   kill!" You go Boytoy!

 - THE STALKER vs. T.L. HOPPER
   Windham as The Stalker looks pretty dumb, but his wrestling may have
   improved. He wins with a suplex from the second turnbuckle. During the
   match we see Brian Pillman and Owen Hart, both of whom talk about the
   upcoming interview with Bret Hart at Mind Games. Jim Ross then makes a
   statement. he apologizes to the WWF for prematurely breaking the story
   about Diesel and Razor Ramon's return, and accepts responsibility for the
   fact that the announcement has caused a "snag" to develope in the
   negotiations for their return. He goes on to say that he still stands by
   his sources, and that while the negotiations with Ramon are affected,
   the talks with Diesel continue. He will continue to update us as the
   story developes.

 - Recap of the Lawler/Mark Henry interview.

 - CRUSH (w/ Clarence Mason) vs. FREDDIE JOE FLOYD
   A nothing match that dragged on with Crush employing the heart punch for
   the victory.

 - Recap of the Backlund/Iron Sheik alliance.

 - THE UNDERTAKER vs. SALVATORE SINCERE
   Sincere has talent, but I couldn't give a damn about him. Undertaker wins
   following a chokeslam and a tombstone piledriver. Sincere's one high
   point was a decent looking powerslam applied to the 'Taker. Comments from
   Goldust are aired during the match. An absolute dud of an ending to what
   had been up to that point a marginally interesting installment of RAW.
   Jim Ross once again reiterated his belief in the validity of the Diesel/
   Ramon story.

 - Next week's main event: Marc Mero vs. Owen Hart. Sid vs. Faarooq Asad.

Comments: RAW returns with a whimper. It's not so much that what was here
was lacking (as I said before, the Asad/Vega match was good) but far too
much of this show was just a rehash of last Friday, plus stuff shown on
Mania and Action Zone. Sunny was pretty incredible tonight though...
About the Ramon/Diesel thing: Are they coming back? I dunno. Is it another
"Billionaire Ted" sketch? No, because why go through all this to hype one
of those. If they wanted to make fun of them, they'd strike now and just do
it. Why have an announcer destroy his credibility (not to mention all the
sh*t the WWF will take) when it would be so easy to just do it? Why would
"representatives" be "in negotiation" to do a skit?

It may be an imposter/imposters, in which case Ross' humiliation would have
had to have been part of an angle, and I'd bet it involves Jim Cornette
getting even ("Destroying your reputation in return for all the bad things
you've said about me, Ross!") This could work, but only if the WWF doesn't
drag it out forever and they don't make any promises (such as "Diesel will
DEFINITELY return at In Your House!") 

For what it's worth, they didn't back off from the announcement. And since it
makes no sense for Ross to apologize to the WWF (since Championship Friday
was pretaped and the WWF would have known exactly what it was Ross was going
to say before it aired) then the "apology" could have to do with the tough
spot it put Hall and Nash in over the weekend. Some people outright
misunderstood the announcement and assumed that they were back, then others
cited the fact that they wrestled for WCW over the weekend as proof that
Ross was wrong. Ross never said that they were back, but that they were
definitely "on their way back." That could mean next week, next month, or
even next year. All that their appearing in WCW over the weekend proved is
that it isn't a done deal and that they still have obligations (and I don't
buy the notion that they'd no-show their last few appearances.)

Again I'll reiterate: The WWF didn't back off the story, and WCW did nothing
to refute it. Hall and Nash's presence on Nitro merely shows that they are
(or were) there right then. It probably also safe to assume they'll be at
Wargames. But something seems up, and the NWO picking up The Giant and Sting
in just over a week gives them two big pegs to fill any holes that Hall's
& Nash's departures may cause.

Something is up with the WWF's announcement, and I refuse to believe that
the WWF is so stupid as to overplay and damage themselves simply for the
sake of another Billionaire Ted skit. 

Bottom line: Wargames is coming up. Since the card changes every five
minutes, I'm not sure what to make of it.  EVERYTHING on this card seems
filler and second fiddle compared to the main event, which looks to be
fairly devoid of bang given the fact that they've already turned the Giant
and Sting. Even another member of the NWO showing up (say Bam Bam Bigelow)
would be too little (or too much - take your pick.) I'm curious to see what
happens, but not $29.95 curious.

Mind Games on the other hand... Shawn vs. Mankind in the home of hardcore,
Philadelphia? Pillman in an interview? Undertaker vs. Goldustin "will bleed
for food" Rhodes? This COULD be the WWF's most extreme PPV yet if they let
it. Wouldn't it be great if Mankind won the belt in front of what could be
considered his "home crowd?" This could seriously shake things up for the
fall, but alas it will probably just set up a Michaels/Undertaker vs.
Mankind/Goldust match at the next In Your House.

This week's winner: Nitro.


JRP