(NOTE: Ye olde flu bug has struck, so don't expect too much from me this week. I'll try my best to be thorough, but I'll have to skip any detailed, blow-by-blow match descriptions). - Quick In Your House XIII: "Final Four" Recap: Free For All Countdown Show: * "Wildman" Marc Mero defeated Leif Cassidy by pinfall. Sable interfered on Mero's behalf. WWF In Your House XIII: "Final Four" Pay-Per-View: * Faarooq/Savio Vega/Crush defeated Goldust/Flash Funk/Bart Gunn. Faarooq pinned Gunn. * Rocky Maivia defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley via pinfall. Goldust appeared at ringside and distracted Helmsley. Marlena was attacked by a woman in the crowd after this match. Marlena fainted and Goldust carried her back to the lockerroom. * Doug Furnas/Phil LaFon defeated Owen Hart/The British Bulldog via disqualification. Hart hit LaFon with his Slammy award. The Bulldog and Hart argued after the match. * Bret "Hitman" Hart won the Final Four Match. Hart threw "Stone Cold" Steve Austin out over the top rope, eliminating him. The Undertaker eliminated Vader. Hart eliminated the Undertaker. Vader was cut open during the match and bled profusely. Sycho Sid came out after the match and argued with Hart. Hart is the new World Wrestling Federation Champion for the fourth time. WWF Monday Night RAW: Live. 2 Hours. Hosted by Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - No opening this week, the actions kicks off almost immediately. Sycho Sid comes out for his match against new champ Bret Hart. Jim Ross announces that there will be an announcement later in the show regarding Shawn Michaels' knee. Also, the Undertaker is named as the challenger for the title at WrestleMania 13. I inform my brother that Sid will be winning the title tonight. Sid comes out. Bret comes out. Steve Austin comes out and attacks Bret. A horde of officials separate the two. Sid moves in and pounds on Austin. Those two are separated and Autin manages to clip Sid in the back of his left knee. Hart and Austin go at it again as Sid lays on the mat, screaming. Austin eventually leaves. Sid makes it back to his feet and he and Hart circle each other as the gathered officials decide what to do. - They run a clip of Shawn's speech from last Thursday, then still photos from Final Four. - The Slammy Awards will be on again this year, Friday March 21st, on the USA Network. - "WILDMAN" MARC MERO (w/ Sable) vs. SAVIO VEGA (w/ The NOD) Mero comes out and Ross and Lawler discuss Sable's new aggressive attitude. Savio is accompanied by the bulk of the Nation of Domination, but Faarooq is shown in the upper deck. Savio gives him the NOD salute. This was actually a pretty decent match. (Were my guts not bubbling, sending me to the crapper every ten minutes, this is a match I'd have been more detailed in covering). It was fast paced, with both men using a number of their signature moves. At one point, Mero gets tossed out of the ring. One of the PG-13 comes over to stomp on him. Sable runs over and chases the guy off with a few kicks to the tush. The end comes when Mero drops Savio in a fireman's carry. Before he can cover for the pin the NOD swarm the ring and the ref calls for the bell. Mero and Sable are trapped in the corner until Ahmed Johnson storms the ring, swinging his 2X4. One of them catches it square in the gut as Ahmed swings it like a baseball bat. - Bret Hart gives comments from the lockerroom. Hart and Lawler go at it a bit. - LEIF CASSIDY vs. ROCKY MAIVIA I tell ya, Rocky just don't get no respect! So what's wrong with him? He's quick, strong, has some good moves, gives an adequate interview; yet the reaction to him on the newsgroup has been largely negative. Just because he beat a lame-ass wrestler who the smarts are all ga-ga over. Hunter Hearst Helmsley is about as interesting as a slice of bread left out on the counter to dry. Sunny comes out wearing a dress made of less material than your average handkerchief. She tries to cozy up to Rocky, but he being an upstanding young man will have no part of it. Sunny will be the guest timekeeper- which got me thinking she'd be instrumental in his winning the match. Another solid match, though a bit on the slow side. Hunter delivers some comments via split screen. "Lucky punk" blah blah blah "can't beat me" yadda yadda yadda. Ooh Hunter, you're rich, which means you must be evil! Hunter admits that he has a score to settle with Goldust, and will in all likelihood appear if Goldust does. Cassidy dominates the majority of the match with a variety of holds, physical blows off the ropes, and some bigger moves off the turnbuckles. Lawler is show glancing at a fan carrying an "ECW Rules" sign. Rocky turns things around by catching Cassidy on the top turnbuckle and slamming him to the mat. Jerry Lawler is shown arguing with the ECW fan. Ross says "are you even paying attention? I don't care about that sign!" Rocky lands a Superfly splash off the top turnbuckle, but decides not to cover for the pin. He scoops Cassidy up and gives him a shoulderbreaker, then covers for the three count. Sunny jubilantly rings the bell. Ross makes a comment about how the crowd is appreciative of Rocky's efforts. Sunny is show holding a "Sunny for President" sign she got from a fan. Here's where the fun begins. Lawler points out that there are a lot of signs in the crowd. He then yanks the ECW sing away from the fan behind him. "I've had about all I want to see of this crap here. You understand that? Do you think for one minute that anybody knows anything about these idiots-ECW?" The fan pulls out another sign which Lawler tries to grab, but misses. "I guarantee ya ... 99% of the people in the world have never heard of ECW! Let me tell ya-no, hang on a second. Did you ever see that movie 'Escape from New York'? Where Manhatten island was turned into, like a prison. A place for a bunch of thugs and misfits. Huh? Well that's what ECW is. It's just a place where a bunch of misfits, and a bunch of has-beens, who couldn't make it in the WWF, have migrated to. And it's up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and every week I'm sick of idiots, like this, coming and waving signs in my face, and waving them on this TV show. I'm sick of it!" "Well ... " replies Ross "Well, I'm not taking it out on you, I'm telling everybody. Hey, I had a friend of mine go to a WCW match down in my hometown of Memphis. He tried to take in a sign that said 'Jerry Lawler' on it-they took it away from him." "Well, we belive in freedom of speech here." says Ross. "Yeah, you believe in freedom of speech. Well I don't. I think this stuff is a bunch of crap!" "Well some people like it-some people like it." "I'm gonna tell you something. All you ECW-Extreme Championship Wrestling goofs, I'll tell you what I'll do: if you're so good-if you're so tough, if anybody at all in the country thinks that they're worth anything, why don't they come right over here, I'll make a personal invitation to you. Come right here on RAW. Next week. Come on down here, and let's show 'em what you got! New York City, Manhatten next week, right? ECW boys, come on down. Let's see if you got anything. I think you're a bunch of goofs!" The gauntlet has been thrown down. My brother and I giggled like little schoolgirls. - They show clips of the Godwinns on The Nashville Network. - Kevin Kelly interviews Goldust and Marlena. Marlena says Goldust, unlike Helmsley, is all man. Helmsley comes to ringside and taunts Goldust, luring him over to the ropes and tosses a cup of water (from the announcer's table) in his face. He then jumps Goldust in the ring, beating him from corner to corner, finally dropping him to the canvas with the Pedigree. Marlena comes up from behind, taps on Helmsley's arm, and slaps him in the face. Suddenly this huge woman (who looks like she belongs on the Russian women's swim team) grabs Marlena around the waist and shakes her like a rag doll. Arena staff members enter and try to pull her away. Marlena is flopped about, her dress hiking up to reveal that her taste in undergarments leans toward g-strings. The large, muscular woman drops her to the mat and is hustled away by security. Goldust crawls over to comfort her. Lawler says that this is a result of all those ECW fans who think they are a part of the event. Ross admits that they support fan participation, but not like this. Goldust eventually carries Marlena's limp body back to the dressing room. I've no idea who this woman is, but I've read that it may be the same as one who's been used in some kind of incident at the ECW arena. The parallels between this and the Miss Jacquelyn scenario in WCW are hard to ignore. - THE HEADBANGERS vs. THE HARDY BOYS Where's Nancy Drew? they split screen us to the back where Faarooq tells us what an Uncle Tom Ahmed Johnson is. Faarooq suggests that his match with Ahmed at WrestleMani be a "Chicago Streetfight." The 'Bangers squash Jeff and Matt, putting Jeff away with their powerbomb legdrop finisher. - Sid is shown in the back pacing the walls. Following a commercial break Sid heads to the ring. they cut to the back and begin to follow Hart to the ring, but he is jumped again by Austin. Pat Patterson calls for help as Sid, who has apparently seen the attack on the big screen, shows up to join the melee. A number of officials (including Vince McMahon himself) try and separate Sid and Austin. McMahon is nearly mauled by Sid as the three combatants are pulled apart. - Kevin Kelly gets comments from President Gorilla Monsoon. Monsoon says they deliver what they promise, and that the title match will take place sometime tonight. - FLASH FUNK (w/ the Funkettes) vs. OWEN HART (w/ Clarence Mason) Oh, what I'd give for this match to have taken place about three years ago! Owen comes out with his Slammy and both Tag Title belts. Jim Ross announces that Marlena is coughing up blood and that she's being taken to a nearby hospital. Thanks Jimbo. Yet another good match which starts off with the two trading armdrags and escaping from armbars. Both wrestlers are evenly matched. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've just been informed ... King, you've got a phone call. Apparently there's a representative of the-of ECW on the phone that would like to speak to you." Ross announces. "You've got to be kidding me." replies Lawler. "I'm not kidding, I'm telling you the truth." "For what?" "Talk to him!" "Hello?" "Unlike Vince McMahon, I don't need to hide behind representatives. This IS the owner, operator, and executive producer of Extreme Championship Wrestling, King! Paul E., Paul Heyman, Dangerously, call me what you like, but see me next Monday at the Manhatten Center, along with all the atheletes of Extreme Championship Wrestling who, as uneducated as you may be, you claim you never to have heard of!" "Oh wait a minute Paul E. Are you telling me that, uh, you're going to accept my little challenge, huh? You're going to bring some of your 'big name stars' down and visit us Superstars next week at the Manhatten Center, is that what you're telling me? Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait a minute Paul E. You're going to bring some of the 'big boys' like, uh, the 'Blue Meanie?' Or maybe the 'Sandman'- you ever heard of that (he asks Ross), huh? Or 'Sabu'?" "(*unintelligable*) ... maybe, just maybe, you'll have a whole different respect for Extreme Championship Wrestling ... " Paul E. asserts. "I have absolutely zero respect for you, ECW, and all of the misfits, and has-beens, and no-talent bums that are in ECW. You understand that?!" "Lawler, if you'd let the police, and the security let us in next week, and as long as the neighborhood watch doesn't have to be informed that you're in the neighborhood, I'll see you, face-to-face, with the ECW stars along side of me next week, live, in the Manhatten Center ... " "Yeah, come on down-hey-come on down. You probably won't recognize the place because the Manhatten Center is an arena, not a bingo hall, where you're used to performing!" Ross cuts lawler off, indicating that the line is dead. Ross as much as says he's sick of the whole thing and that they should turn their attention back to the match. Speaking of which, Funk seems to have the upper hand. Owen gets into a brief argument with Clarence Mason and this allows Funk to land a plancha off the top to the floor, where Owen is. Out comes the British Bulldog. He sends Mason back to the lockerroom. They then split-screen us back to where Steve Austin awaits to deliver comments. Austin gives his RAWest interview in months, threatening this time to open an entire "keg of whoopass" instead of the usual can. Back to the match where Flash funk is solidly in control. He nails a big a big splash off the top, followed by a picture perfect moonsault. Owen kicks out of the cover. Funk then goes into the ropes, where the Bulldog is waiting to nail him with Owen's Slammy. Funk stumbles forward and Owen hits him with a spinning heel kick. The Bulldog pulls on one of Funk's legs, assisting Owen with the pin. This time it's the Bulldog who prances around with the Slammy and the belts, as Owen is the one asking "what happened?" - HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY vs. BART GUNN Helmsley denies having any connection to the woman who attacked Marlena. The Honky Tonk Man comes out for color commentary. Since these guys are about the two I'm the least interested in, in the WWF, let's just skip ahead to the point where Goldust chases Helmsley out of the ring, causing him to lose by countout. - They run an interview with Shawn's doctor, Dr. James Andrews. (Isn't this the same guy that operated on Ric Flair?) he says Shawn's injury ocurred about five years ago, and was recently aggravated, that it had never healed properly. The doctor says surgery may not be necessary, that they may be able to rehab it without surgery. It'll be six weeks or so, then they'll know if he needs surgery. If not, then Shawn could be back a few months after that. Otherwise it could be much longer. - BRET "HITMAN" HART vs. SYCHO SID Sid starts off fast, looking more animated than most of his usual matches. He dominates with his strength and power, while Bret keeps in the match by occasionally getting in a move (like the Russian legsweep). Back-and-forth, back-and-forth it goes. Bret, at one point, drags Sid over to the corner, straddles his legs around the ringpost, then goes to the floor and applies a hanging figure four (with Sid's legs locked around the post). Cool maneuver. A quick commercial is taken. On the other side of it, they play the "Foot Action Rewind," which shows Vader charging the Undertaker with a chair (from In Your House). The Undertaker boots the chair and it hits Vader in the head. Down he goes, only to come up bleeding. There's been a lot of debate on the newsgroup as to whether he bladed or, it was a legit cut. Not having seen the PPV yet, I can't be certain, but from what they showed us here it looks like the standard setup for a blade job to me. After a brief period of offense from Hart, Sid resumes control. Sid slams Bret, then hits a legdrop off the turnbuckles (who says he can't do moves?) Bret reverses things by dumping Sid over the top rope. The crowd seems about evenly divided in support of the two. It's fortunate that Sid is on the floor, because Austin has come back out. Sid nails him as Ross calls for him to be shackled or handcuffed. Sid reenters the ring by way of a sunset flip!. Bret rolls through it and turns Sid over into the Sharpshooter. Sid seems to be perhaps on the verge of submitting when Austin jumps up on the apron and whacks Hart in the head with a chair. Bret slumps to the mat and Sid extricates himself from the hold. He then gets to his feet, picks up Bret and powerbombs him. A three count later and Sid is the World Heavyweight Champion for the second time! Before he can celebrate, though, the lights dim and the Undertaker's music starts. the Undertaker enters the ring and strides to the center of the ring, where he and Sid stand nose-to-nose over the belt. "There's your WrestleMania!" yells Ross. - Next week's main event: Jerry Lawler vs the ECW. Comments: A great show. Plenty of good wrestling, good interviews, the World Title changed hands, and the long awaited kickoff to the much anticipated WWF/ECW joint venture all made this one a classic. They also took a great leap towards solidifying the WrestleMania lineup. The Bottom Line: As far as WrestleMania goes, we now have two main event matches: Undertaker vs. Sid, and Austin vs. Hart. Also Faarooq vs. Ahmed in a "Chicago Street Fight." I suspect we'll also see Vader vs. Mankind and Bulldog & Owen Hart vs. Furnas & LaFon. The beginnings of a solid card. On the whole ECW issue: I'm not going to get as excited about it until after next Monday. This, and Sunday's In Your House, does spell a major change in direction for the WWF. The WWF has over the last several months been slowly altering their product to appeal to a more adult consumer. (They even admit in the WWF Magazine that this is where their target audience now lies). They've now taken a big step towards embracing that audience. I'm assuming the WWF/ECW thing will be little more than a mutual P.R. kind of thing ... at first. If the fan reaction is any good, and given the popularity of Sid and Steve Austin, no matter how unknown the ECW wrestlers may be to the regular WWF audience, they could very well get behind it. If all goes well, there's no reason not to think it could lead to a longer association. Unlike past cooperative efforts with the WWF (such as Smoky Mountain and the USWA) this is a situation where a limited relationship with the WWF shouldn't hurt ECW. SMW and the USWA have been hurt because fans started staying away from the regular shows and waiting for the ones with the WWF stars. On the other hand the WWF availed themselves of valuable resources, essentially using the two feds as minor leagues. In this instance, ECW probably has more to gain than the WWF. I'm sure it'll be a delicate balancing act. There are basically two different philosophies at work here, and the key is for the WWF to not go too "hardcore," and ECW to not absorb too much of the WWF's "circus" atmosphere. Whatever's going to happen, most of it will be next week. the following week RAW will be from Germany, so I can't see any of the ECW stuff being featured then. That means whatever they do next week will have to make an impression that lasts long enough to carry over. On to the World Title change. I'm sure there's a few out there that will say "why is this any different than the TV Title change on Nitro?" My answer would be that this, in most likelihood, served a valuable purpose. My guess is that Shawn Michaels was originally going to lose the belt to Sid on Thursday RAW Thursday. I also have a feeling that Austin would have caused Bret Hart to lose the match at In Your House. Thus, we'd have the same scenario we do now. With Shawn out of action, there was no way for Sid to get the belt any sooner than RAW. Just a thought. Plus, I'd point out, the Hart/Sid match actually wasn't all that bad. Overall, I must say I'm pleased with the stuff that the WWF is trying. Some might call it "selling out," but I'd call it "investing in their future." WCW Monday Nitro: Live. 2 Hours. HOUR ONE: Hosted by Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko. - Members of the NWO are shown arriving via black limo. They saunter in until one of them is shown down on the ground. It's Big Bubba, but the camera didn't pick up what happened to him. the other NWO members gather around him. Syxx chases off the cameraman. I'm assuming he was attacked by Sting and Savage, but who knows? It's either that, or theyy pulled a Shawn Michaels. - REY MYSTERIO JR. vs. SUPER CALO Tony mentions that the Steiner Brothers were in a car accident following their match on WCW Saturday Night. (Does that mean the accident happened Saturday Night, or that it happened the night the matches were taped, which may have been weeks ago?) It also appears that the NWO is somehow involved. The Steiners will have to miss the four corner match at SuperBrawl (heaven forbid an interesting idea should actually live long enough to happen in WCW these days). Really good match here. They really mixed it up, avoiding the usual spots and replacing them with unusual variations. Mysterio wins in a familiar manner though, with his springboard huracanrana tucked into the pin. Tony Schiavone then drives a cold fist into my stomache by announcing that later in the show we will hear from Roddy Piper. Live. From Alcatraz. - HUGH MORRUS vs. STEVE MCMICHAEL (w/ Debra) Larry Zbyszko likens Piper sojourn to Alcatraz to Superman returning to his Fortress of Solitude. Mongo gets the early offense, but Morrus takes command. He sets up Steve for a moonsault. Debra slides the silver briefcase in to Mongo. Morrus lands the moonsault, but hits the case as well. Morrus goes out like a light and McMichael gets the easy pin. Broooooooootheeeeeeeer! - Clips of Piper agreeing to fight Hogan. - DEAN MALENKO vs. ROBBIE BROOKSIDE Malenko gets on the mic and tells Syxx he's going to get a lesson in respect. The match gets underway and this Brookside character seems to be well versed in mat techniques, but has taken the Ultimate Warrior as his visual look. Malenko puts him away with the Texas Cloverleaf. Syxx shows up in the aisle. He says that Malenko's dad is dead. (Malenko has claimed that Professor Boris Malenko was the one who trained Waltman). After a few more disparaging comments Malenko takes off after Syxx, who hightails it out of there. They show Bubba being hauled away in an ambulance. - Hall, Nash and Syxx come to the booth sans music. Tony asks if it's a sneak attack. Hall says Tony and Larry have been gossiping like "a couple of broads in a hair salon." He and Nash admit that they were in a car accident (along with Syxx) with the Steiners but that it wasn't their fault. They give Larry a camcorder tape which they claim is proof of their innocence. "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit!" Hall then taunts Larry, who gets real close to getting into the ring. Having seen Larry Zbyszko terrorize the AWA live and in person, I'd love to see him lace 'em up one more time and kick Hall's ass! Yeehaw ... I'm marking out! - THE AMAZING FRENCH CANADIANS (w/ Col. Parker) vs. THE PUBLIC ENEMY The Faces of Fear and the Harlem Heat (with Sister Sherri) are in the audience for the third or fourth week in a row. OKAY ... WE GET IT! After a boatload of cartoon mayhem Rocco Rock puts Carl Oulette through a table next to the ring and pins him. Yay. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews Diamond Dallas Page. Gene, in a heavy handed manner, accuses Page of knocking out Bubba. Way to go Okerlund! - PRINCE IAUKEA vs. LORD STEVEN REGAL "Mean" Gene corrals regal and asks him if he's going to make an example of Iaukea. *Bee-dee-dee-bee-dee* NEWSFLASH! THE TITLE WILL CHANGE HANDS! *Bee-dee-dee-bee-dee* Could they have made this ANY more obvious? The match lasts just a few minutes. Regal has Iaukea for a pin. Rey Mysterio runs to the ring, distracting Regal, who had been lazily leaning against the Prince. The kid siezes the opportunity to roll Regal up for the upset pin. Teddy Long runs to the ring area and embraces Iaukea. the Public Enemy come out and celebrate with him as well. New champ. Hooray. Looks like Rocky Maivia. Title change makes show seem more exciting. HOUR TWO: Hosted by Tony Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Mike Tenay. - REFEREE NICK PATRICK vs. EX-REFEREE RANDY "PEE WEE" ANDERSON WCW referee Jimmy Jett hands Randy an international object during the pat down. Patrick moves in and showboats, allowing Anderson to pop him. Randy covers for the three count, counting along with the biased ref. Out strides Eric Bischoff, who not only says Anderson is still fired, but Jimmy Jett as well. The refs walk out raising each others' hands while Bischoff proclaims the unconscious Patrick the winner. - Lee Marshall phones in from San Francisco, California. - ROAD BLOCK vs. CHRIS BENOIT (w/ Woman) Benoit quickly puts the big man down with the headbutt off the top turnbuckle. George Steinbrenner is shown in the crowd. I've no idea why. - They run the tape provided by the NWO. It's video shot by Syxx from the backseat of a car. Nash is driving, while Hall is riding shotgun. They are out looking for the Steiners and taking an opportunity to make fun of the southern yokel territory). They find the Steiners at a gas station and follow them as they leave. A minute or so later they decide to bump them from behind. On an isolated stretch of road they run into the back of the Steiners. Scott leans out the passenger window and tosses something back at them. The cars then swap lanes and we see Rick Steiner driving the car. Suddenly their car whips off into the ditch and rolls over. "Let's get out of here." Hall, Nash and Syxx decide. Now folks, I don't really have to get into how this tape was edited, do I? It's clear that the tape stops, and a car with presumably professional drivers are the one's who did the roll. The cut is real obvious if your VCR has slo-mo. Not to mention the fact that one second Hall and Nash's car is moving, yet is completely stopped when the rollover occurs. Plus the fact that the treeline changes. As far as a critical review of the tape, let me first ask ... what was the point? Did we not know Hall, Nash and Syxx were bad guys? Forgetting everything else, WCW just showed us footage of a CAR ACCIDENT! What's next week, a fire? Maybe some dead bodies covered by bed sheets? I just don't understand the rationale here. Let us play along for a moment and accept the tape as genuine. As Tony points out, these guys are going to jail! They just committed several criminal acts and provided a visual record of such. Reckless driving, hit-and-run, etc. I'm sorry, but this is worse than when Sting and Lex Luger stole that police car. Sure, it fuels fire to the Outsiders/ Steiners feud, but when will the next match happen: after parole? This was every bit as sleazy as the Pillman/Austin gun incident. What's different, and perhaps worse, is the fact that they didn't say "don't worry fans ... no one got hurt." Instead they tell us the Steiners are in the hospital, their condition unknown. - "Mean" Gene interviews Jimmy Hart, Miss Jacquelyn and Kevin Sullivan. - KEVIN SULLIVAN (w/ Jacquelyn & Jimmy Hart) vs. DOC DEAN Kevin squashes this jobber, with Jacquelyn beating up on him just like she did to Maverick Wild last week (though she adds a snap suplex to the punishment menu). Sullivan finishes him off with the stomp to the belly, then Jacquelyn lands a few elbowdrops for good measure. - KONAN vs. EDDIE GUERRERO I can't really gripe about this match. It was fairly even, fast paced, both guys seemed to be in it. My main problem, though, was that by this time Nitro had really started to wear me out. The main problem with two hours is maintaining the momentum over that whole period of time. Tonight's approach was even more puzzling because they insist on showing us big things, then not talking about them. The TV Title change; the Randy Anderson match; the car crash; and so on. Anyway, Guerrero nails the Frog Splash and covers for the pin. In comes the Barbarian and Meng to save their fellow Dungeon of Doomer. The three are set to stomp Guerrero into the mat, but out comes Chris Jericho to make the save. - "Mean" Gene interviews the Horsemen. Arn Anderson gives a great speech about WCW finally standing up for itself. the rest of this is the same stuff they've shown us the last six weeks. - THE GIANT vs. JOHNNY SWINGER/TOP GUN Handicap match. The Giant beats both with the chokeslam in about a minute. He then sprays "Hall" and "Nash" on their backs. "Mean" Gene interviews him and Lex Luger. Luger has secured a medical release to wrestle. Out comes Eric Bischoff and he reminds Luger that his order was to get a release by the end of last week's show. Bischoff and Luger then get into a loud and almost convincing argument. Luger says he'll be at SuperBrawl. Bischoff says it won't be to wrestle, and if he threatens him, he'll never wrestle again. He then calls the Giant a 500 pound furball and gets chased out of the ringside area for his trouble. - They send us live, via satellite, to Alcatraz. In a nutshell, Piper is locking himself up for the next week. Why? He's nuts. - CHRIS JERICHO vs. JEFF JARRETT This match had great potential. What they showed was pretty good, but it was too short. By this time they were well over though, so they had to wrap it up. Steve and Debra McMichael come out. Debra begs Jericho not to hurt Jarrett. This brings the referee into the corner and he's tied up with debra while Mongo enters the other side of the ring and wallops Jarrett with the briefcase. jericho gets the pin. "I thought that's what you wanted!" Mongo tells Debra. - Ten minutes past the hour and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan comes out. Hogan and Bischoff go into their usual routine. Suddenly Sting and Randy "Macho Man" Savage appear in the aisle. Hogan says he put WCW on the map, which gets Sting started down the aisle. Savage holds him back though. They then turn and leave. Hogan quickly wraps up as his music starts playing. The show ends fifteen minutes over, with a total running time of two hours and twenty minutes. - Next week's main event: None announced. Comments: In some respects I really liked this week's installment of Nitro. There was some good wrestling, Arn Anderson's interview was top notch, and I actually got a laugh out of the Randy Anderson match. Unfortunately the car crash video and the whole Piper/Alcatraz deal were real downers. Nitro seemed, well, desperate this week. Like a small boy in the corner yelling "look at me, look at me!" They must have been really worried about RAW to have done some of the stuff they did. The TV Title change seemed to be done solely to keep people tuned in. The same with the Bubba attack/faint/ collapse. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I'm still not sold on SuperBrawl, which means, with only a few days to go, I'm almost certainly not getting it. I wonder if Scott Steiner needed some more time off, because otherwise it doesn't really make sense to pull such big draws voluntarily from the card (unless the idea of saving themself the money they'd have had to pay them is more important than the revenue that the Steiners could have generated). What it did do is make a pointless match even worse by removing the best team. As far as predictions go, I'm fairly certain about the following: * Piper will beat Hogan for the World Title. He would then either retire as champion (thus vacating it) or have it stripped from him by Bischoff. The second is the more likely, but the whole idea is pretty shaky, so I won't try to defend it-that's just my gut feeling. * Luger will turn on the Giant and join the NWO. * If Prince Iaukea defends the TV belt against Mysterio, Regal will interfere, causing Iaukea to lose the match but retain the title. Regal will then win the belt back himself in a rematch next Monday. * Jarrett won't become a Horseman. * Sullivan vs. Benoit will be a big, confusing mess, and nowhere near as good as it's potential. * Guerrero vs. Jericho should be the best match on the card. * Malenko vs. Syxx will be a short, boring, uneventful match. * Sting, Luger and Diamond Dallas Page will only put in minor appearances. Nothing signifigant will be furthered in that angle. I don't even know what else is on the card, that's how poorly they've hyped it. As far as WrestleMania goes, we now have two main event matches: Undertaker vs. Sid, and Austin vs. Hart. Also Faarooq vs. Ahmed in a "Chicago Street Fight." I suspect we'll also see Vader vs. Mankind and Bulldog & Owen Hart vs. Furnas & LaFon. The beginnings of a solid card. On the whole ECW issue: I'm not going to get as excited about it until after next Monday. This, and Sunday's In Your House, does spell a major change in direction for the WWF. The WWF has over the last several months been slowly altering their product to appeal to a more adult consumer. (They even admit in the WWF Magazine that this is where their target audience now lies). They've now taken a big step towards embracing that audience. I'm assuming the WWF/ECW thing will be little more than a mutual P.R. kind of thing ... at first. If the fan reaction is any good, and given the popularity of Sid and Steve Austin, no matter how unknown the ECW wrestlers may be to the regular WWF audience, they could very well get behind it. If all goes well, there's no reason not to think it could lead to a longer association. Unlike past cooperative efforts with the WWF (such as Smoky Mountain and the USWA) this is a situation where a limited relationship with the WWF shouldn't hurt ECW. SMW and the USWA have been hurt because fans started staying away from the regular shows and waiting for the ones with the WWF stars. On the other hand the WWF availed themselves of valuable resources, essentially using the two feds as minor leagues. In this instance, ECW probably has more to gain than the WWF. I'm sure it'll be a delicate balancing act. There are basically two different philosophies at work here, and the key is for the WWF to not go too "hardcore," and ECW to not absorb too much of the WWF's "circus" atmosphere. Whatever's going to happen, most of it will be next week. the following week RAW will be from Germany, so I can't see any of the ECW stuff being featured then. That means whatever they do next week will have to make an impression that lasts long enough to carry over. On to the World Title change. I'm sure there's a few out there that will say "why is this any different than the TV Title change on Nitro?" My answer would be that this, in most likelihood, served a valuable purpose. My guess is that Shawn Michaels was originally going to lose the belt to Sid on Thursday RAW Thursday. I also have a feeling that Austin would have caused Bret Hart to lose the match at In Your House. Thus, we'd have the same scenario we do now. With Shawn out of action, there was no way for Sid to get the belt any sooner than RAW. Just a thought. Plus, I'd point out, the Hart/Sid match actually wasn't all that bad. Overall, I must say I'm pleased with the stuff that the WWF is trying. Some might call it "selling out," but I'd call it "investing in their future." WCW still has this problem of stretching things out too long. I can't shake this impression that next week's Nitro will be more important than SuperBrawl itself, and hyping Uncensored after that will be nearly as big. There's never any sense of closure. As always, they're trying to cover too many bases: "We're the cruiserweight federation." "We're the home of the Four Horsemen." "We're the place to see the New World Order." "We have the best Mexican and Japanese wrestlers." "We are where the legends are." And so on. They're all over the map. Next week will be huge: perhaps the biggest Monday ever. Get your VCR's ready. (One last thing: I mistakenly mentioned last week that this week's Nitro would feature the in-ring return of Ric Flair. I don't know where I picked that up, but I'd swear Tony said it at one point or another. Sorry). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Winner: RAW. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------