[RESULTS/OPINION] WWF Monday Night RAW/WCW Monday Nitro (1/13) WWF Monday Night RAW: Taped 12/30/96. - Quick Shotgun Saturday Night Recap: * Diesel defeated "Wildman" Marc Mero via the Jacknife. The Honky Tonk Man got involved in the match, as well as Sable, Razor Ramon and Rocky Maivia. Maivia and Mero came to blows. * Faarooq defeated Savio Vega with help from the Nation of Domination. * They aired "Sunny's Sex Video:" a tape of her with someone dressed like a giant "Tickle Me Elmo." * Rocky Maivia defeated Razor Ramon. The Honky Tonk Man interfered. * Todd Pettengill discovered that Nikolai Volkoff was "homeless," living in a box on the streets of New York. * Philip LaFon & Doug Furnas wrestled the Headbangers. Show ran out of time before the match could end. Results will be given next week. LaFon & Furnas had been scheduled to face the Sisters of Love, but they were "arrested" in Times Square and couldn't appear. Hosted by Vince McMahon and The Honky Tonk Man. - Show kicks off with clips of Sycho Sid's attack on Pete Lothario, as well as an attack on Bret Hart by Steve Austin, from the previous day's edition of Superstars. The matches this week were pretaped, but the show was intercut with a live feed from San Antonio, where Shawn Michaels was holding court, awaiting an interview. - HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY/JERRY "THE KING" LAWLER vs. GOLDUST (w/ Marlena)/"WILDMAN" MARC MERO (w/ Sable) The Honky Tonk Man replaced Lawler this week, as Lawler was involved in this match. Honky insinuates that Sable had wanted to meet him and that was what started the altercation on Shotgun Saturday Night. Goldust quickly goes after Helmsley, delaying the start of the match. Once things settle down very little happens of not. Mero wrestles the majority of the match, going toe-to-toe when in with Helmsley, dominating when in with Lawler. Helmsley does manage to get the upper hand and tags in Lawler. Mero turns things around with a suplex and tags in Goldust. Goldust drives The King into the corner. Lawler tries to make a tag, but Helmsley refuses, pretending to argue with the fans out on the floor. Lawler does manage to get in some offense, causing Mero to get tagged back in. We then get a commercial break. Back from the break and Helmsley clearly has the momentum.Helmsley whips Mero into the corner, but Mero brings up a boot. He's then whipped into the ropes and takes Helmsley down with a flying headscissors. Goldust is tagged in and pummels Helmsley with a barrage of fists. Helmsley manages to get tied up into the ropes. Goldust fondles himself, then lays in a choke. The referee tries to pull him off to no avail. Lawler tries to pull him off and eats a fist for his troubles. The ref calls for the bell and Mero comes over to try and pull Goldust off. Goldust turns his attention to Mero and drives him towards the corner with a trio of chops. Mero gets a wild look in his eyes as Goldust turns back to Helmsley, who by now has managed to escape from the ropes and leave the ring. Marlena gives a puzzled look as Goldust exits the ring, then pounds on the apron in frustaration as he realizes he's been disqualified (as well as failed to get a bigger piece of Helmsley). As a match, this was pretty much a waste of time, except to lay more groundwork for Mero's upcoming heel turn. - Cut to San Antonio where Shawn awaits to be interviewed. However, instead of letting him talk, they cut to a clip of Sid in the Alamo Dome taped earlier in the day. Sid tells us (in case we hadn't heard) that he's the Master, and the Ruler of the World. Back to the bar, where Shawn's still waiting to speak. Oops... another commercial. Commercial's over and Shawn's itching to speak. Cut to a highlights package consisting of fooage from the Survivor Series, then last week's shenanigans. Finally Shawn gets to talk, but doesn't say much of anything that justified the cost of a live satellite feed. Shawn says he's going to kick Sid's teeth in. He also dumps on the other "WWF Superstars," saying he works harder than anyone else in the WWF. - Bret Hart comes out to watch the next match. Footage is shown of Steve Austin's attack. Hart recieved a chair shot to the ankle just like Brian Pillman recieved. - THE BRITISH BULLDOG (w/ Clarence Mason) vs. ROCKY MAIVIA Following a commercial (and a brief shot of the live San Antonio crowd) they show a clip of the Bulldog costing Steve Austin a match vs. a jobber a few weeks back. we then get footage of the events on Shotgun Saturday Night. The Honky Tonk Man had come out to confront Sable during Marc Mero's match against Diesel. Mero went after Honky, costing himself the match. Mero blamed his loss on Sable and verbally abused her, then left her sobbing in the ring. The Honky Tonk Man shows up again to pester Sable. Rocky Maivia comes out to defend Sable. This brings Mero back out, and he neither cared for Maivia's "interference," nor Sable's consorting with Rocky. Mero and Maivia come to blows. The match starts off with a series of basic holds traded back and forth. Rocky shows he is able to hold his own against the Bulldog. Bret speaks highly of Maiavia's dad, Rocky Johnson, and says Stu Hart can attest to the fact that "none come tougher than Peter Maivia," Rocky's grandfather. the bulldog meanwhile has become frustrated that he cannot get the upper hand and contemplates walking out, but Clarence mason urges him to go back to the ring and continue the match. before things can pick up again, Owen Hart comes out and stands directly in front of Bret, making sure Bret won't try to insinuate himself in the match. Another commercial break ensues. We then see that the Bulldog has got Rocky reeling under an assault of punches and kicks. Owen meanwhile continues to stare Bret down. Rocky is kicked from the ring apron to the floor. Back up on the apron Rocky delivers a shot to Davy Boy Smith's gut, then goes up and over, Sunset Flipping the Bulldog into a two count. The Bulldog is back up quickly with a clothesline. After another sequence of the Bulldog dominating, Rocky comes back with a crossbody block off the ropes and another two count. Davy Boy lays in a shot to the stomach, then delivers his patented high vertical suplex. Smith then applies a headlock and the two combatants get a breather. Rocky then goes on the offensive, raining several blows which drive the Bulldog against the ropes. Rocky then comes in with a clothesline that takes both men over the top and to the floor. The Bulldog grabs Rocky and slams him into the rail. With Rocky down, the Bulldog decides to take a breather. It's at this opportune moment that Steve Austin flies in and clips the Bulldog from behind. Bret Hart tries to alert Owen as to what's occuring, but Owen has his back to the action and tangles with Bret. Austin grabs the Bulldog and applies the Stone Cold Stunner. Bret gets past Owen and heads after the fleeing Austin. Owen follows as well, as the ref continues to make a count (apparently having missed Austin's interference). Rocky makes it back into the ring at the nine count and wins the match. Bret displayed a noticeable limp as he tried to catch Austin. - The Nation of Domination deliver comments. Crush will square off against the Undertaker shortly. they show a quick shot of the San Antonio crowd. Hey... what the!? There's Rocky Maivia! How'd he get from the east coast to San Antonio so fast? - THE UNDERTAKER vs. CRUSH (w/ Faarooq & The Nation of Domination) Undertaker comes out to the aisle and takes a shot at Faarooq. He then tosses Crush into the ring steps then into the ring. He pauses to give a stare to Faarooq before following. Crush lays in the boots to the Undertaker as he enters. Crush pummels the Undertaker, then whips him into the ropes. Undertaker catches Crush with a DDT. He follows this up with a bodyslam, then a legdrop. He whips him from one turnbuckle, then the opposite one. Holding on to an arm, Undertaker goes up top to walk the ropes, but Faarooq shakes them, causing the Undertaker to drop and crotch himself. Crush tries to capitalize by charging at the Undertaker, but the 'Taker ducks and Crush goes over and down to the floor. The two recover at about the same time and the Undertaker strides over, grabs Crush by his hair and hauls him up onto the apron. Crush grasps the Undertaker's head and drops back to the floor, garroting the Undertaker's throat across the top rope. Crush reenters the ring and goes to work on the Undertaker. Crush batters him into the corner, then whips him into the opposite one. Charging after, he is met by an upraised boot. The Undertaker then nails a quick clothesline, dropping Crush to the mat. Undertaker grabs Crush and whips him into the ropes, but Crush catches the Undertaker and piledrives him. Faarooq nods his approval. Crush slides to the floor and drags the Undertaker over to the apron. Sending out a taunt to the crowd (they had been chanting "jailbird"), Crush nails the Undertaker in the throat with his elbow; then a second. Crush drags him to the floor, scoops him up and drops him throatfirst across the rail. The Undertaker is then slammed into the ring steps. Crush follows this up with some shots to the rib area, possibly softening him up for the Heart Punch. The Undertaker is whipped back into the ring. Crush then engages in the assorted chokes and eye gouges as we are show that Vader is looking on. The final commercial break expires and the Undertaker is mounting a comeback. Crush still has the upper hand though, keeping the Undertaker on his knees. After a brief resthold period, Crush misses a fistdrop off the second turnbuckle. The Undertaker takes over, dropping Crush to the mat with his patented high leaping clothesline. Undertaker scoops him up for the Tombstone Piledriver, but Crush slips out the back door and delivers a belly-to-belly suplex. Crush signals for the Heart Punch as the Undertaker does his situp. Crush sets up for the punch, but the Undertaker grabs Crush's throat and chokeslams him. The ring quickly fills with NOD members. Undertaker is able to fend most of them off until Vader enters the fray. The Undertaker is driven to the mat, then dragged over to the corner where Vader delivers not one, but two Vaderbombs. As the NOD survey the damage they have done, Ahmed Johnson rushes out bearing a 2X4. Ahmed bats Crush aside, but is jumped by the rest of the Nation (Faarooq, Wolfie D and J.C. Ice-at least I think that's their names: PG-13 anyway). Faarooq gets hold of the 2X4 and beats Ahmed across the back with it as the show slips off the air. - Next week's main event: The winner of the Royal Rumble vs. the loser of the Shawn/Sid match. Comments: I've gotta say, this was a fairly weak way to go into the Royal Rumble. They blew all their good ammo weeks ago. The Marc Mero situation only confuses things and detracts from the WWF's efforts to match up Goldust with Helmsley. To me this is a clear sign that Goldust will win the title, and the new heel Mero will be the number one challenger. Also puzzling is the sudden upswing in activity involving the Undertaker. they've managed to slip Vader into the mix, but mostly it has been others that he has battled recently (Executioner and Crush to name a few). Vader has come in on the tail end of a few beatings, but it hasn't had the same impact as, say, Steve Austin's activities. Undertaker vs. Vader seems like a throwaway match to pad a card that doesn't need any. This could all have signifigance in hindsight if the Undertaker manages to win the Rumble. I also think the heat for Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq peaked weeks ago. Popularity aside, Sid is being built up as a gen-u-ine ultramegaheel. I'm getting the strong impression that Shawn is being set up for a big fall. Also, the new ankle "injury" plaguing Bret could be used as an excuse for his not winning the Rumble. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live. HOUR ONE: Hosted by Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko. - Before the opening can even finish we see the Giant stalking the back halls of the New Orlens Superdome. He comes across the door to the dressing room of the New world Order and kicks it open. The Giant calls calls Hulk Hogan a coward as the room quickly fills with security guards and WCW officials. It would seem that Hogan and Eric Bischoff have rescinded the Giant's World Title shot at the NWO's "Souled Out" pay-per- view. They claimed that the Giant never signed a contract for any title match. The Giant is understandably upset, as are our hosts Schiavone and Zybszko. - J.L. vs. CHAVO GUERRERO JR. A fierce little match that I have to admit didn't really do anything for me. The usual assortment of cruiserweight high spots; the best of which was a plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor by J.L. J.L. also did a top turnbuckle huracanrana. Chavo gets the upset with a moonsault off the top turnbuckle. A decent enough match from two competitors I really wasn't in the mood to watch. (You know, better than anything else, that sums up my feeling about WCW lately: they've put on some decent matches which involve wrestlers that I frankly care little about. That is the main drawback to having to fill two hours plus every Monday). - "HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN vs. SUPER CALO "Mean" Gene Okerlund garners an interview with Duggan prior to his reaching the ring. Duggan fancies himself the saviour of WCW: the main flag bearer. He admits that he can't do it all himself however, and calls upon Sting to declare his allegiances and join his crusade against the NWO. Duggan enters the ring. Super Calo's music starts up. Out comes Sting, who slips up behind Duggan and gives him the reverse neckbreaker. Larry Zybyszko resoundingly declares Sting an NWO member, but Schiavone still isn't convinced. It's obvious that Sting won't join the NWO, and I'm starting to get the sneaking impression that guys like Duggan, Jeff Jarrett and Rick Steiner will say they were in on a scheme with Sting to throw off the NWO, thus showing WCW as the leader in the "mindgames" department. (At least we didn't have to watch Duggan wrestle this week. Now if only Sting would do this to Lex Luger... ) - SGT. CRAIG PITTMAN vs. CHRIS JERICHO Jericho squashes Pittman. Pittman tosses Jericho over the top rope, but Chris holds on, avoiding the disqualification call against Pittman. Chris scrambles to the top turnbuckle and nails a dropkick, then covers for the pin. Shiavone says this match was moved up, and a replacement match with Super Calo will take place later in the show. - HIGH VOLTAGE vs. HARLEM HEAT (w/ Sister Sherri) Gawd, the third scrub match in a row! This is the drawback to having half of WCW sign up with the NWO. It also goes to show how weak WCW's tag team division is. (Not as weak as the WWF's, but still quite lacking). This match is so mundane that they take the opportunity to cut to the back where the Giant is again invading the NWO dressing room. The Giant is hustled out by security as Bischoff and Hogan share a good laugh at the Giant's naivette. Bischoff says the Giant never signed a contract. Hogan says that from a psychological standpoint the NWO is supreme. Big Bubba, Scott Norton, M. Wallstreet and the fake Sting stand around and count themselves lucky to be getting a paycheck. Back to the ring where the Heat are manhandling the rookies. The blonde member of High Voltage suffers the pin following the Heatseeker: a drop- kick off the top turnbuckle by Booket T. while the victim is perched upon Stevie Ray's shoulders. Now that the Faces of Fear have been beaten by the NWO, the Harlem Heat are being built up again as the top tag team contenders to Hall and Nash. - Tony announces that the WCW Executive Committee is in town, and will be issuing a ruling later in the show regarding the Giant's title shot. Bischoff, Vincent and Ted DiBiase come out to replace Schiavone and Zbyszko. Larry tells Bischoff he better be careful, or he'll be "mowing Vern Gagne's lawn again." They runs clips of Sting, proudly declaring him an NWO member. They also claim Diamond Dallas Page as a member, following his being recruited by Scott Hall. - DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE vs. MARK STARR Page quickly takes out Starr with the Diamond Cutter. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash come out to congratulate him. Page embraces Nash and accepts an NWO t-shirt from Hall. Then, as both men have their backs to him, Page grabs Hall and Diamond Cutters him. Nash turns, sees what Page has done and charges him, Page ducks, sending Nash over the top rope, where he hits a table and tumbles to the floor, pulling the table over on top of himself. (The table legs smack into the railing, quite possibly striking a member of the crowd. The camera quickly swings away). Page then takes off through the crowd, earning threats of death and dismemberment from Bischoff and DiBiase. Page has finally officially spurned the advances of the NWO. This would have made a big moment at "Souled Out," so why they did it here is a mystery (unless they're saving that for Sting, in which case doing it earlier in the card would have lessened the impact when Sting did it). - They run a "Souled Out" promo in which Hall & Nash run down the Steiner Brothers. Nash says they have Scott Steiner's x-rays, and they know how and where to hurt him. - Tony and Larry, tickled pink by the actions of Dallas Page, announce that the WCW Executive Committee are on their way to the arena to reveal their decision re: Hogan/the Giant. - DEAN MALENKO vs. EDDIE GUERRERO Starting from a neutral position Guerrero assumes control early with an armbar. Dean powers out of it and locks onto Eddie's leg. Eddie slips his other leg over Dean's face, maneuvering Dean into an armbar. Eddie then slips his legs free and moves behind Dean into a waistlock. Dean escapes and the two face off, having reached an impasse. They circle and lock up again. Dean drives Eddie to the ropes, making the clean break. Another lockup and Eddie traps Dean in a headlock, then a snap mare, dropping him to the mat. Eddie holds onto the headlock as Dean gets back to his feet. Tony and Larry are busy talking about Hulk Hogan. Dean drives Eddie to the ropes. Eddie springs from one side of the ring and back, knocking Dean to the mat with a shoulderblock. Dean gets to his feet as Eddie bounces off the ropes and leapfrogs over him. Dean catches Eddie on the rebound with a dropkick to the chin. Dean then snap mares Eddie to the mat, holding on to the headlock. Tony and Larry are busy revealing that it wa Gaelic that Roddy Piper was speaking two weeks ago when he was carted out of the arena. Yeah, right. They also announce that the Executive Committee's decision is that Hogan will not only defend the title at "Souled Out," but he must also face the Giant later in the show in a non-title match. Dean moves from the headlock to a crossbow maneuver, folding Eddie's arms back. Eddie bridges up to his feet, then reverses the hold, getting behind Dean. Dean escapes from the hold, but Eddie grabs him about the waist and delivers a belly-to-back suplex. Eddie then scampers to the apron and vaults over the ropes, hitting Dean across the midsection with a forward senton roll. Eddie covers for the pin, but only gets a two count. Dean rolls over by the ropes. Eddie moves in to collect him, but Dean grabs the tights and tosses Eddie through the ropes to the floor. Both men take a moment to catch their breaths before Eddie rolls back into the ring. They resume circling each other. Tony repeats the Executive Committee's ruling. You'd hardly know a match was going on from the commentary. They move in again. Eddie ducks down and grabs Dean's left leg, dropping him to the mat. Eddie holds on to the leg. Dean twists Eddie's head. Eddie spins to his feet, maintaining his hold on the leg, twirling into a figure four leglock. Before he can lock it in, Dean blocks Eddie's free leg with his hands. Eddie eventually overpowers Dean's grip on the foot and locks the figure four in, flailing up and down to add pressure. Dean is able to roll over and grasp the nearby ropes, thus breaking the hold. Dean escapes to the floor. Eddie climbs to the top turnbuckle, but the ref gets in his way while Dean circles to the far side of the ring. Eddie sits on the middle rope, inviting Dean to come back in, but Dean circles the ring, taking a breather. Tony talks about the NWO. He hasn't called a move in minutes. Both men are now back in the ring, circling. They lock up in a test of strength, but Dean lays in a boot to the midsection, then a pair of elbow shots to the back of Eddie's head. Dean sets Eddie up for a powerbomb, but Eddie lets the momentum carry him up and over and rolls through it, holding on to one of Dean's arms and corkscrewing him towards the middle of the ring. Both men come upright. Eddie charges, but Dean sidesteps. Eddie bounces off the ropes and Dean leapfrogs over him. Both men come off the ropes and meet in the center of the ring. Dean leaps and catches Eddie in a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, flipping Eddie forward to the mat. Eddie gets to his feet. Dean closes in and monkeyflips him over, but Eddie lands on his feet. Dean charges in and is caught by Eddie, tilt-a- whirled into a backbreaker across Eddie's knee. Eddie covers for the pin and gets a two count. Eddie backs Dean into the corner and Irish Whips him out. Dean reverses it, sending Eddie into the turnbuckles. Dean charges in, but collides with Eddie's upraised knee. Tony acknowledges that the crowd is enjoying the action. He seems a bit hazy on just what that action may be though. Eddie hops up to the second turnbuckle. Dean stumbles back into the corner and is grabbed by Eddie. Eddie attempts a corkscrew DDT, but Dean lifts him up and launches him towards the center of the ring, where Eddie lands hard stomache first. Both guys take a breather. Tony talks about the new "Robin Hood" series. Dean picks up Eddie and whips him into the ropes, follows and lays in a knee to the midsection. Eddie flops to the mat. Both guys are moving a bit slower as Dean applies an abdominal stretch. Both Tony and Larry start calling the match, correctly identifying the abdominal stretch. Dean maintains the hold for some time, allowing both men to get a good bit of rest. Dean takes the stretch low to the mat, forcing Eddie into a seated position, compacting him and (in theory) making it more difficult for him to breath. Dean uses this position of advantage to roll Eddie back onto his shoulders into a pinning predicament, but Eddie rolls out of it at the two count. Dean releases the hold and whips Eddie into the ropes. Eddie leaps up and over, trying a Sunset Flip. Dean flails his arms, maintaining his balance, then punches Eddie in the head to break the hold. Cut to a shot of Syxx climbing a ladder behind the crowd in an open area at it's fringe. Syxx is wearing Eddie's U.S. Title belt. Dean takes Eddie to the mat with a belly-to-back suplex. Dean covers for a one count. Dean applies a reverse chinlock, then brings Eddie back to his feet. Dean muscles Eddie into the corner and starts to lay in shots to the head. Eddie returns them, getting the upper hand as the two trade blows. Eddie sends Dean to the mat with a European uppercut. Syxx, perched on the ladder, looks on as Eddie whips Dean up into a surfboard- type submission maneuver. (Or crossbow-I'm not sure how should be described. It's like a Razor's Edge except Dean's feet are tucked in around Eddie's waist, locking him into place. Some kind of crucifix maybe). Dean backslides down, his shoulders dropping to the mat. Eddie gets a two count. Dean sits up and tucks Eddie into a roll, dropping him into pinning position and getting a two count. Eddie kicks up and rolls over Dean, folding him up underneath him and rolling him into pinning position. The ref counts two. Dean rolls sideways, dropping Eddie's shoulders to the mat. Another two count and Eddie kicks Dean off. The two separate. Dean takes a swing, but Eddie ducks, crucifixing Dean's shoulders to the the mat. Yet another two count. Eddie backs Dean to the ropes and whips him out, only to be reversed. Eddie bounces off the opposite ropes and catches Dean in a body scissors around the waist, rolls forward and down, hooking Dean's shoulders with his feet, and tucks Dean into an attempted pinning position. Dean counters this by dropping straight down, avoiding the forward roll and thus trapping Eddie with his shoulders to the mat underneath him. Another two count and Eddie escapes by kicking Dean off of him. Dean catches Eddie with a short clothesline and covers for another two count. They lock hands and Dean tries to force Eddie's shoulders to the mat again. Eddie rolls laterally and both men are on their feet, engaged in a test of strength. Tony and Larry are, surprisingly enough, calling the match by now. Eddie breaks the lockup with a kick to the gut, maintaining a hold on one of Dean's hands. He then leaps to the tope rope and springboards into a huracanrana, hooking the legs at the end for a two count. Dean kicks free. Eddie backs Dean into the corner and whips him to the opposite. Dean leaps and slides over the top turnbuckle, landing on the apron. Eddie, who had been running behind, smashes into the now empty corner. Dean scrambles to the top and leaps off with a double axehandle. Eddie blocks this and whips Dean around, trying to waistlock him from behind. Dean reverses it and tries the same. Eddie reverses it again. Dean breaks free and whips around Eddie, cinching him into a vertical suplex, pausing at the apex and nearly dropping it straight down into a Brainbuster. Eddie kicks out after a cover and two count. Dean applies another vertical suplex, but Eddie drops down mid-arc and schoolboys Dean from behind. Dean kicks out after the two count. Now it's Eddie's turn for a vertical suplex and he dumps Dean into a Brainbuster. Dean is nearly out on the mat and Eddie signals for the Frog Splash. Over on his ladder Syxx stands up to taunt Eddie. Eddie straddles the second turnbuckle, indicating that it could just as well be Syxx lying there on the mat. Thoroughly distracted, Dean slips up from behind and grabs Eddie as the satellite feed goes out... Now on the live broadcast there was a black staticky picture, yet the audio could still be heard. On the replay the screen displays the Nitro logo with no audio. After about 12 seconds we see Dean getting his hand raised, the victor of the match. The replay shows Dean slip up underneath Eddie and grab him about the waist, dropping him to the mat in a powerbomb and the three count. The match lasted over twelve minutes. It was good. HOUR TWO: Hosted by Tony Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Mike Tenay. - SUPER CALO vs. KONAN (w/ Jimmy Hart) Since I'm sick of typing blow-by-blow action, let me just say that this was maybe the best match I'd seen Konan in. The match featured some really decent moves, and the finisher was a doozy. Calo (whom Tenay tells us is named after a music group in Mexico) comes off the ropes. Konan catches him, hooks Calo's head, then bodily hoists him up, flipping him as in a suplex, but then catching him and dropping him straight down in a Brainbuster. Quite impressive looking and the crowd "oooh'ed." Heenan says he'll need an "MRI." Tony identifies the move as resembling a French Suplex. Whatever. - CHRIS BENOIT (w/ Woman) vs. JEFF JARRETT Comments from Kevin Sullivan are played. He and Benoit are scheduled for a "Fall Count Anywhere" match at the upcoming Clash of the Champions. The match starts off with a flurry of switches and reversals. Jarrett shows he can keep up with Benoit. The crowd chants "Jarrett sucks!" Steve "Mongo" McMichael and wife Debra come to the ring. Benoit meanwhile is wrestling a stiff, brutal match. Jarrett sells everything well, but comes back to stand toe-to-toe. Things are cut short however when Arn Anderson, who has also come to ringside, distracts the referee. Benoit gets Jarrett pinned against the ropes nearest Mongo and Debra. Mongo makes like he's going to use his silver briefcase on Jarrett and takes it from Debra, but Debra won't let go. Mongo turns to deal with her and Jarrett reverses positions with Benoit, placing him against the ropes. Mongo finally gets the case and swings at Benoit, assuming Jarrett is still there. The case hits the ropes, coming nowhere near Benoit, yet Benoit drops like he's been shot (Oops!) Jarrett covers and the ref counts the pin. "Mean" Gene rounds up the Horsemen for an interview. Benoit accuses Mongo of fumbling the ball. He says they are no longer an elite team. He says he was handpicked, whereas Mongo was brought in due to "unfortunate circumstances." He then takes it to Debra, saying she can talk all she wants about he and the Horsemen, but has no business talking about Woman. "Woman is 100% woman from head to toe. And I talk from experience. There's no plastic... no axe(?)... zero silicone-she is allllll woman!" Mongo admits he screwed up, but if Benoit has a problem beyond that let them settle it in the ring. Benoit wants to know where Ric Flair is. Arn says he's not going to step on any toes until he gets things figured out. They need to put all this personal stuff aside and resolve it. Benoit tells Mongo to "shape up or ship out!" Debra gets on the mic and prissily denies talking about Woman behind her back. Benoit looks skeptical and this gets Mongo a bit heated, going short of outright challenging Benoit to a match. Arn steps between them, playing peacemaker. Mongo and Debra walk off. Benoit delivers an ultimatum to Arn to get things resolved and walks off as well. "Of all nights for this to happen," says Arn, "why do they have to set in on me tonight? I've got a lot on me-I've still gotta wrestle Rick Steiner in a few minutes!" - SCOTTY RIGGS vs. BILLY KIDMAN Marcus Bagwell comes out to the aisle to watch the match. He calls Riggs fat, while admiring his own physique. Kidman meanwhile tries the move that Flash Funk usually does, the 450 degree forward somersault splash off the top, but misses (Mike Tenay incorrectly called it the Shooting Star Press, Kidman's usual finisher). Riggs nails a Perfectplex for the pin. (Is that also the Northern Lights Suplex, or the Fisherman Suplex? It's not the Fishermanbuster because that's more sideways and you drop them more on their head than shoulders... but I digress). - Lee Marshall phones in from Chicago, Illinois. - LEX LUGER vs. RICK FULLER Time for Luger's weekly cakewalk victory. This week's victim is Rick Fuller, most likely the latest rookie turnip to fall off the Power Plant produce truck. Fuller beats Luger up. Luger comes back. Luger puts Fuller in the Torture Rack. Luger wins and the crowd, inexplicably, goes nuts. On his way out of the ring Luger comes face to face with the Giant, who has come out for an interview. The two stare down, then warily pass. The Giant fee-fi-fo-fum's for a minute or so. - ARN ANDERSON vs. RICK STEINER (w/ Scott Steiner) Scott leads Rick to the ring on a leash and, miracle of miracles, Scott is wearing new clothes! Arn slips Rick into an headlock, then armdrags him toward the ropes. Arn then whips him into the corner. Rick reverses it. Arn then nails Rick with an elbow. Rick then ducks a punch and belly-to-belly suplexes him. Arn slides outside the ring, frustrated. He then heads over towards the aisle and calls for the other Horsemen, ANY Horsemen to come out and assist. Back in the ring Arn briefly has an armbar, but Steiner escapes and takes control of the match, sending Arn reeling under a physical assault. Arn tries a DDT and gets backflipped. Rick then clotheslines Arn over the top rope and to the floor. The ref doesn't call for the disqualification. Arn heads up the aisle, upset that none of the Horsemen have come out to watch his back. Fed up, he walks out, losing the match by countout. "Mean" Gene interviews both Steiners after the match. Scott says he's going to rip someone's "doozle" out. - "HOLLYWOOD" HULK HOGAN (w/ The NWO) vs. THE GIANT Schiavone announces that there are about six minutes left for the match. They will then cut away to the new "Robin Hood" show. The remainder of the match will be shown during the commercial breaks. Yes, this means we are all forced to watch "Robin Hood," whether we want to or not. Hogan wastes about half the time alloted for the match walking to the ring. Hogan kills a few more minutes ranting about not having to fight the Giant. The NWO claim that the Giant never signed a contract. They forget, as Tony points out during the show, that the Giant did sign a contract to wrestle in the battle royale at World War 3, which he won, thus earning his title shot. Hogan exits the ring, saying he's not going to fight. Unfortunately he gets too close and the Giant is able to reach down and pull him in. Once up on the apron he slams Hogan into the ring. Hogan begs like a baby. The Giant slams Hogan headfirst into a turnbuckle. Then a second. He whips Hogan into the opposite corner and hits him with a big boot coming out. Hogan goes to the floor, indicating that he's bailing out. Hogan starts down the aisle, but the Giant catches him from behind and leads him back to the ring. Hoagn is pleading in the ring as the Giant steps over the top rope and Nitro goes off the air. HOUR THREE: Hosted by Tony Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Mike Tenay and Friar Tuck. - ROBIN HOOD (w/ Merry Men) vs. THE MONGOLS Why are there Mongols in England? Why are they using machine forged steel weapons? Why do all the English women in this show look so unattractive, except for Maid Marion, who has become a sword swinging warrior? Why do all the characters speak California English? Why was it filmed in Europe and not England or New Zealand, like "Xena" and "Hercules?" Why is Robin Hood played by an Italian (or is he Spanish?) This show is a joke: a poor excuse to show T&A while throwing plot, history, realism, the laws of physics, common sense and good taste out ye olde window. It's a very poor attempt to jump on the bandwagon started by "Hercules" and "Xena" (and most recently "The Voyages of Sinbad," which has already disappeared). The main difference here is that "Hercules" and "Xena" aren't all that bad. "Robin Hood" is a poor imitation. Robin Hood and the main Mongol (apparently the brother of Genghis Khan) do square off. Except for a huracanrana the Mongol uses (I'm not kidding) Robin wins easily. Back to the Hogan/Giant match. Things pick up where we left off during the second "Robin Hood" commercial. Although they'd like us to believe it's live, it's pretty clear that little time has passed. We get about a minute and a half of the Giant chasing Hogan around, then they throw it back to the show. (Actually they then showed the usual two minutes of commercial. No way TNT is sacrificing those ad dollars). After several more minutes they have another commercial in which they run a message saying stick around for the next break for the match (they did this at the first break of the show also). At the fourth commercial break, nearly forty minutes after the match has started, they show the finish. Heenan says Hogan has had no offense. Mike Tenay says it's one of the most memorable matches ever. In reality it was about seven minutes of the Giant chasing Hogan around. The Giant finally sets Hogan up for the chokeslam, but the ring fills with the NWO. Hogan yells "I quit!" and the NWO flees as the show fades from the air. Unfortunately "Robin Hood" continued. Fortunately I didn't to watch anymore. Unfortunately I was by then hooked by how bad it was and watched the rest anyway. I hope to God they never do this again. For the replay they ran "The Lost Boys" and finished the match in the same manner. - Next week's main event: None announced. Comments: I don't rate matches, but Malenko/Guerrero had to be four stars out of five. It wasn't close to what they did in ECW, but it's as close as they'll get in WCW. I'll be interested in seeing how TNT did ratingswise, as this stunt ensured a large portion of Nitro's audience sticking around to watch "Robin Hood." The show also started five minutes early again, nearly three minutes before RAW. In total, Nitro was a presence on WCW for almost two hours and forty-five minutes. Had the Hogan/Giant match been live, that would have given the live audience a PPV length card. (It may have anyway, depending on how early it started with dark matches). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I'm still anxious to see the Royal Rumble, but I think the WWF fumbled in their buildup to it. As I said above, they peaked too soon. With an extra two weeks they decided to put a live RAW in the middle and that just confused matters. They made that show too big, presumably fearing that anything less would be too big a concession to Nitro. Sycho Sid's powerbombing Pete Lothario should have happened this week. Instead they did it last week, then followed that up with a pair of weak interviews. The Austin attack on Bret Hart was wasted on Superstars. It should have been done on RAW, probably last week. The biggest goof though has been Shotgun Saturday Night, in my opinion. Right now hardly anyone is seeing it, and those who are aren't seeing much. The first week was mostly forgettable. This past weekend the major point of the show was the start of the Marc Mero heel turn (assuming it does happen). This is another thing that should have happened on RAW, or even Superstars. I personally don't think it should have been done at all until after the Rumble. Am I the only one who thinks everything the Nation of Domination has done lately has been a not so veiled attempt to copy the New World Order? Not the rhetoric mind you, but the run-ins at the end of RAW. Big, chaotic brawls where the bad guys come out on top. I don't know if they plan on doing the Rumble first, or the title match. If it's the title match, history usually dictates that the title will change hands. If that happens, then Bret is a shoo-in to win the Rumble. If the Rumble happens first, then it should be a giveaway to the title match. Again, if Bret wins, Shawn will probably win the belt. If someone else wins the Rumble, then I'd bet Sid holds on to it. Don't rule out the possibility of the title changing hands at a house show though at a later date, in which case all bets are off and most any outcome is likely. At this point, I think I'd be disappointed if the outcome most people predicted months ago came about (Shawn wins title/Bret wins rumble). Rumors on the 'Net are saying Marty Jannetty and perhaps Leif Cassidy are the last two Rumble entrants. I think the very last entrant is going to be a big surprise. It absolutely will not be the Ultimate Warrior. Randy Savage is highly unlikely. The Honky Tonk Man said on RAW that it wasn't him. After the Jimmy Snuka fiasco at Survivor Series, McMahon should shell out some money and make this someone the fans will actually be excited to see. (Tito Santana... Tito Santana... Tito Santana). "Souled Out" still doesn't look all that promising. It's an all NWO PPV. Most of the NWO are now guys we didn't like to watch on Nitro. Why would we want to pay to see the likes of Marcus Bagwell, Big Bubba, etc? The Steiners might be able to carry Hall & Nash to a fair match, but that's only if Rick and Scott can perforn near their old standards, while Nash gets off his lazy ass. I betcha Hall takes the brunt of the damage, undoubtedly doing the job if the Steiners managed to win the belts. Syxx, as I said last week, is just plain terrible now, and will be completely outclassed by Guerrero. That's not to say it won't do well. It could be a huge PPV, moneywise. I'm just saying why I personally have found little to get excited about. WCW's fans right now only care about one thing: names that have been around for years. Ex-WWF'ers and old time WCW/NWA stars are what's drawing them in right now. Even Hall & Nash aren't drawing the heat Hogan gets. Sting is huge. The Horsemen are huge. Lex Luger is way over. The crowd went nuts over Jim Duggan last week for God's sake! When Mr. Perfect shows up, they're going to go as ape over him as they did over Piper. I also suspect that they're going to bring Randy Savage back in a few months as a surprise. His embarrasing defeats will be mostly forgotten, and he'll be an immediate challenger to Hogan (assuming Hogan's still on top). This is about the only strategy the WWF could employ to try and draw WCW fans away. Unfortunately their recent efforts have included Jimmy Snuka, Barry Windham, the Ultimate Warrior and the Honky Tonk Man. The WWF's fans don't seem to be as "reverential" of the legends. They also want to see performance in the ring. Mr. Perfect was only moderately recieved because he didn't get back into the ring. I think most interest in the Honky Tonk Man (if there ever was any) died when we learned the same about him. Most everyone recognizes that Windham is washed up, and the only real coup, the Warrior, was lost due to infighting. If the Warrior manages to show up in WCW, say in the next year, it will be as big a deal to their fans as it was to sign Hogan. I think the next few months are going to be interesting for both feds. WCW seems to have a clear plan, and are doing their best to keep what happens when a secret (and most fans do have an idea what will happen, just not when). The WWF on the other hand seems on the verge of just maybe blowing it all due to anxiety. They've become so worried about appearing boring that they're shaking things up just for the sake of shaking them up. WCW has one "tweener" character in Sting and the fans there are loving it: the WWF has about a half dozen, and I think many WWF fans are just scratching their heads. There's a fine line between keeping us in suspense, and confusing us to the point where it's easier to tune it all out than to figure it all out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Winner: Nitro. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- JRP