[Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #100] WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Tampa, Florida. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko. - The "TVPG" advisory now has a little "V" added below it for violence. Bill Apter is at ringside with his camera, so you know big things are gonna happen tonight. - Eric Bischoff, "Hollywood" Hogan and Randy Savage immediately come out to kick off the show. Savage is wearing a neckbrace. Much is made of the fact that Hogan doesn't have the World Title belt. It seems Commissioner "Rowdy" Roddy Piper never gave it back following the end of last week's show. Right off the bat Bischoff hypes Hogan's new movie "Assault on Devil's Island". He says he's heard the NWO might try to sneak them into the World Series. (Awww ... too bad the Braves got bumped out by the Marlins. Tee-hee). He also takes a weak shot at RAW by saying "the competition- which may or may not be live next week ... " Oooh Eric, you're such a bad-ass. Bischoff criticizes Piper for allowing Savage to get injured last week (a clip of which is later shown). Hogan vows to get his belt back. - EDDIE GUERRERO vs. PSYCHOSIS Mike Tenay mentions that at Halloween Havoc Miss Jacquelyn will face Disco Inferno, but that it cannot be for Disco's TV Title due to "Nevada State Athletic Commission rules". What a load of cow flop! I hope none of you were suckered into pre-buying the PPV based on that match alone. Very early on Psychosis nails Guerrero with a butt-splash off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Both men sell it like a car accident. A few moves later and Eddie wins with the Frog Splash. An okay match, but the outcome never was in doubt. Eddie's heel persona is really starting to take shape, with the new look, ring attire and habit of trying to pull the masks off the Mexican wrestlers (which he tries here). This segueways into this week's installment of "Lucha Libre & the Mexican Luchadores". This time they discuss the importance of masks. Tenay says the masks are the modern equivalent of those worn into battle by Aztec warriors (which contradicts what they said last week about the first Mexican wrestling promoter introducing the masks as an element of mystery. I've no idea if this is WCW inspired malarkey or an actual accepted Mexican bit of historical reverse engineering). They show Rey Mysterio, Jr. and his uncle. Psychosis says his mask defines his persona. Mysterio says his career could be over if he ever lost his. Silver King says he's too pretty to wear one. La Parka says he scares himself. They even show Eddie Guerrero losing a "Mask vs. Hair" match to El Hijo de Santo. Guerrero says it meant nothing, and that he (Santo) would lose his mask if they ever met again. Is it just me, or does it seem like Mysterio is going to lose his mask soon? More on this later. - Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Commissioner Piper. Three quick points: 1. What does he call what happened to Savage? Justice. 2. Where is Hogan's belt? Somewhere safe. 3. Will he be fair and still make the Outsiders defend the belts (even though both Hall and Nash are injured)? Yes. This was the fastest Roddy Piper interview I've ever seen. - Nitro Girls. - STEVEN REGAL vs. STEVE "MONGO" MCMICHAEL The stuff with Debra McMichael and Jeff Jarrett from last week is shown. A complete, utter travesty, as Regal loses quickly and cleanly to Mongo. McMichael puts him away with a Tombstone Piledriver. Regal, who is probably only behind Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit in terms of mat wrestling ability, doesn't even get to claim an injury as the reason for his loss. After the match Mean Gene corrals Debra McMichael for comments. Debra confirms that Jeff Jarrett is no longer with WCW. Mongo enters the picture and calls Jarrett a "snake", "loser" and "quitter". Mean Gene says Mongo must win the Halloween Havoc match by default. Mongo tells her to go home "to the kitchen where you belong!" Debra says she has a surprise for Mongo, which Mean Gene clumsily gives away by asking "WHO is the Surprise?" instead of "WHAT is the surprise?" Before you all start wracking your brains, it's Alex Wright. Trust me. - YUJI NAGATA (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. CHRIS JERICHO Onoo has apparently split with all the Mexican wrestlers, so he's brought Nagata back to feud with Ultimo Dragon. Nagata is the one who wears an automobile floor mat to the ring. Onoo, in pre-taped comments, says he's signed a contract for Nagata to face Ultimo at Halloween Havoc. He says it's all about respect. I say it's all about filling out a card. A blah match, as Jericho loses when Onoo pushes him off the top rope. Nagata quickly applies what Schiavone and Tenay call a "Standing Reverse Figure Four". Jericho, who WCW wants us to think is a good wrestler, at least gets to blame his loss on interference by Onoo. - Raven delivers a soliloquy from a children's nursery. What the hell is this? Raven rambles on about how he is locked into a destiny, cannot change his fate, cannot alter his nature, etc. What does that mean? Was he abused as a child? Is WCW exploiting child abuse? Did Raven's father do run-ins at his kindergarten and attack his teacher? Why is WCW granting airtime to a sociopath who-by their own admission-"isn't under contract"? The only way this could have been more ECW-esque was if they had shaken the camera around. People, it was dumb in ECW and it's still dumb now. His vocal proficiency doesn't make the gimmick any more believable. At least Mankind has the scars to testify to his "tortured past". WCW, at a loss to logically explain the gimmick, resorts to comparing him to a cult leader. - BILL GOLDBERG vs. SCOTTY RIGGS Raven is shown at ringside with Perry Saturn and a Power Plant nobody punked up to look like a cult member. Stevie Richards is still missing. Riggs comes to the ring looking so sour that it's easy to think "yup ... he's doing the job tonight". Riggs does the job tonight, following a vertical suplex into a powerslam (dubbed the "Jackhammer"). - Nitro Girls. Before the break they show Savage in a Halloween Havoc promo, which I'm guessing cost all of 20 bucks to produce. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Scott Hall and Syxx come to the ring. Someone pointed out to me in an E-Mail that they're wearing the old WCW Tag Title belts, theorizing that Nash's new belt was too big for Syxx to wear. It's explained that since all three of these guys are "Outsiders", any combination can defend the belts. (Ahh ... the old "Russians/Demolition" Principle. Funny how Barry Darsow-AKA Krusher Kruschev AKA Demolition Smash-was involved in both those situations. How's that for obscure trivia?) Hall kills a few minutes spewing catchphrases. - THE OUTSIDERS vs. THE STEINER BROTHERS (w/ Ted DiBiase) I actually thought this was a pretty good match (considering how abhorrent it is to watch Syxx in action). Hall didn't show much sign of a back injury, while both Steiners looked well given the type of match called for. Once the match started it plowed on at a breakneck pace to the finish: Hall is knocked to the floor. Syxx is then hoisted up by Rick Steiner and nailed off the top by Scott in a DDT. Scott covers for the pin, but Hall pulls the referee out just before his hand can come down for the three count. Hall lays out the ref, which immediately brings out Larry Zbyszko. Scott Steiner throws Hall back in the ring, where he's nailed by Rick with a Bulldog off the top. Both Outsiders are covered and Larry slides in to administer the fast three count. The crowd explodes as the Steiners are declared the new Tag Team Champions. Now how in the hell are they going to justify this? - Nitro Girls. - Tony says Larry Zbyszko is an official referee in WCW. Oh yeah ... since when? - REY MYSTERIO, JR. vs. DEAN MALENKO Another good match, though I think they over-sold how "evenly matched" these two are. The first minute looked overly-choreographed. It then settled into Malenko being fairly dominant, with Mysterio rallying and hitting the springboard huracanrana. Suddenly Eddie Guerrero appears out of nowhere and plucks Mysterio's mask off. (Anyone with "slow-mo" or frame advance on their VCR now has a pretty good idea what Rey really looks like). Rey immediately covers his face, allowing Malenko to break from the pin cover and apply the Texas Cloverleaf. Mysterio quickly submits. This was well done. Too bad the crowd wasn't interested. Very little response whatsoever. Mysterio lost his mask, and I have a feeling that he may lose it for good soon. - Diamond Dallas Page delivers a "candid" interview from, of all places, the Power Plant gym. Page says he's still the same guy he always was, just more focused. My own interest in Page has really waned quite a bit over the last several months, since he really hasn't done anything. Rekindling his feud with Savage looks like little more than a one-shot for the PPV. - Piper comes to the ring again, this time to confirm that Zbyszko is indeed a legal referee. It seems that he had to be authorized for the upcoming Hall/Luger match at Havoc, and the procedure for that took place last week. Hmmm ... I guess they did manage to justify it. Out comes Bischoff and Savage. Eric points at Savage's "injured" neck and blames Piper. Quickly the ring is surrounded by the NWO second stringers. Things look pretty dire for Piper until ... Here comes Sting. At least ... it sort of looked like Sting, for the whole half second they showed him. Funny, but you'd think the hottest guy in wrestling would deserve more camera time. Anyway, Sting's entire walk from the ramp to the ring goes unshown. Once he steps into the ring it seems clear that Sting is now several inches too tall. A baseball bat shot to the gut and Piper drops, as this week's fake Sting is revealed to be none other than "Hollywood" Hogan himself. A lengthy, uninterrupted beating follows. Schiavone pleads for someone to come out and help Piper, but no one shows. - They run a highlights package of Ric Flair and Curt Hennig. - SCOTT NORTON (w/ Vincent & Buff Bagwell) vs. RAY TRAYLOR I saw that Bagwell movie this week. Even by Andy Sidaris standards it's pretty bad. Traylor is seriously out of shape. I don't think I've ever seen him as big as he is now. The match mercifully comes to an end when Bagwell passes a can of NWO spraypaint to Norton, which he uses to knock out Traylor. - Nitro Party promo. - ALEX WRIGHT vs. DISCO INFERNO This match was about as good as we'll ever see from these two. If you like that, then this was a good match. Me? I went and made a sandwich. Jacquelyn comes out ... Disco is distracted ... Wright rolls him up from behind ... Disco rolls through it to get the pin, retaining his TV Title. Yay. All of this three-way feud is now meaningless. Jacquelyn can't win the TV Title (not in Las Vegas, anyway). Wright can't even beat him with a distraction on his side, and will now move on to fight Steve McMichael. We're now stuck watching Disco get humiliated by a woman until he either drops the title to her sometime after Halloween Havoc, or he loses it to a legitimate contender soon after the PPV. Sorry, but this whole angle, to me, is a major waste of time and deserving of a big "who cares!" I'll not spend any more of my time writing or thinking about it. By now they have run over into the start of their third hour. - Nitro Girls. - CURT HENNIG vs. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE An okay match but there's no real point of going into the particulars: Very late in the match-something like seven or eight minutes in-Ric Flair tries to get to the ring, but is held in the aisle by security. Hennig is apparently distracted, as Page is able to roll him up. The ref counts to three just as Flair slides into the ring (having broken free from Doug Dellinger). The crowd and announcers go wild, assuming they have just seen Page win the U.S. Title. Referee Randy Anderson starts looking all upset because he feels he should have called for the DQ when Flair came in the ring. (Speaking of whom, Flair had by this time chased Hennig out of the arena again). Anderson begins to explain to Page why he has to reverse his decision, then takes the belt and flees from Page as they go to break. Piper is on his way back out with Anderson, (the beating he took earlier having apparently worn off). He raises Page's hand, indicating that the ref's original decision will stand. No debate on the subject can be made as the NWO charges the ring. Piper and Page hold their own briefly, but the sheer numbers of the NWO wear them down. Savage shows he isn't injured by dropping elbows off the top onto Page. Sting appears up high in the crowd. As he gets about halfway to the ring another Sting appears in the crowd. And another. And another. Then two more. Here comes a tall Sting, followed by a short Sting. Three more come down the aisle. A multitude of Stings walk to the ring and each gets viciously mauled by the NWO. All of them, that is, until the last one in the ring. Bagwell pops him, but this Sting doesn't sell it. He grabs Bagwell and applies the Slop Drop, then removes his wig and mask to reveal the real Sting underneath. Hogan starts to do the pee-pee dance as the NWO bid a hasty retreat. The show ends with Sting standing alongside a dazed Piper, who is whipping the U.S. Title belt over his head and vowing to kill Hogan. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Oh yeah, I'd like to see the want ad Sting had to place to get all these guys: "Wanted ... men of medium height and build to dress as a sad clown and get the piss beat out of them by a large group of men. Must have the ability to unflinchingly take an ass-whipping. Call 555-CROW." How did this large army of Stings get in the building without anyone seeing them? A few good matches was about it this week. Anyone else think the only reason for the Tag Titles to switch hands was because WCW wanted to upstage the WWF's upcoming title change? Sure, pulling the belts off the Outsiders now that Nash is hurt is a good idea. Still, couldn't this have been done anytime in the last two months, or be saved for the PPV or the night after? With RAW being taped, there wasn't necessarily any great impetus to go all out. Suddenly WCW learns of a title change in the WWF and just has to match it. No, not match: outdo. Did the fans benefit from this? Not really, as the actual title change didn't mean anything to the match which it was a result of. We'd have seen the same level of action no matter what the planned finish. What's really annoying is that Kevin Nash's skyscraper sized ego remains unbruised, because it's Hall who did the job-not him. The only reason the Outsiders lost the belts is because it no longer suited them to have it. As far as Hennig losing the U.S. Title, I'm betting he wins it back next week in a rematch. The first hour is clearly the quality hour for Nitro now. Hour two (with its now regular twenty minute or so run over) is an endless stream of NWO crap whose sole purpose is to pull in the RAW viewers. It's just so sad that their goal in hour two isn't necessarily to entertain you-merely keep you from switching over to RAW for a few more minutes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Taped. Length: Two Hours. Location: Topeka, Kansas. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - The show kicks off with a candid look at the Legion of Doom. Lots of old and new footage of the Road Warriors in the WWF, as well as still photos from their pre-WWF days. Both deliver comments out of character regarding their past, present and future. This all hypes tonight's main event World Tag Title match with the Godwinns. If the LOD lose ... they retire. Okay, I'm pumped. - Bret Hart and crew come out for an interview with McMahon, but they're interrupted by Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley before they can say anything. On the Titan-Tron, Shawn and Hunter rag on Hart. The footage of Shawn picking his nose with the Canadian flag is shown, as well as the Superkick that laid Hart out. Hunter rattles off all the ways in which he's better than Hart. When he gets to "bigger" Shawn eyes HHH's groin and exclaims "Good God! You can put an eye out with that thing!" Bret responds with a challenge to a match later in the night. Hunter acts like he wants a piece of Hart and has to be "held back" by Michaels. Hunter then says he already beat up Hart last week. After being called "degenerates" by Hart, Michaels adopts that as his new Kliq's nickname: "Degeneration X". Cute. Shawn and Hunter vow to come out later in the show. Bret vows that Shawn and Hunter won't make it to Survivor Series. - OWEN HART (w/ the Hart Foundation) vs. KAMA (w/ the Nation of Domination) Shawn and his "Degeneration X" come to ringside to watch the match. Shawn takes away McMahon's headset, while Hunter takes Jim Ross'. Shawn and Hunter provide the running commentary, running down Bret in the process. (" ... boring S.O.B. ... "). Rick Rude provides bananas for the boys to snack on. Shawn gets into it with Lawler when the King tries to suck up to him. Shawn tells Chyna to slap him, then takes away his headset and gives it to Rude. They then joke about Stu Hart being dead (his brain and body just don't know it yet). The match? Not much happens (most of it being shown split-screen). The rest of the NOD eventually get involved and the match is thrown out (or a single or double countout was declared). The Nation and the Harts brawl on the floor as Shawn bounces around, rooting on the beating that Bret is receiving. You know ... on one hand much of this was amusing. On the other hand, we've now killed twenty minutes and nothing has happened. As funny as much of this was, it was essentially a twenty minute interview with a half hearted attempt at a match thrown in. I think Owen is officially the winner but, who cares. - An "LOD moment" with more still photos from the past, followed by comments from the Godwinns. - TARANTULA/MOSAIC vs. MAX MINI/NOVA The King had made a Marv Albert joke during the Owen Hart match. For much of this short match Lawler and McMahon engage in a lengthy banter- fest joking about Albert. A clip of Sunny as the special ref in a minis match from Shotgun Saturday Night is shown. An okay but short match, with Max Mini again getting the pin (which is starting to get annoying). Highlights include a nice dive through the ropes by Max onto his opponents on the floor. Nova does the same, but lands headfirst on the floor, and is down for the rest of his match. Jim Ross mentions that the Royal Rumble will be in San Jose, California. In other interesting upcoming dates, RAW will be live from Hershey Park, Pennsylvania, on November the 3rd. I believe they are in Philadelphia the night before. Perhaps in what is merely a coincidence, ECW is is doing a card in Stamford, Connecticut, on October 31st. Billed as "Fright Night '97", it will be in the very heart of the WWF's home, while the WWF will be on ECW's turf the following nights. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but you gotta admit it's one hell of a coincidence ... if that's all it is. BTW, Shane Douglas (if I remember right) is scheduled to face a "mystery opponent" at the card on the 31st. Hmm ... - They play a bit of the Shotgun footage of Rockabilly dumping the Honky Tonk Man to join Jesse Jammes-now billing himself as "Road Dog". Rockabilly will now be known as "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn (supposedly). - SHAWN MICHAELS (w/ Degeneration X) vs. FLASH FUNK Funk comes out first. Then the lights go out and Kane comes out. For some reason the bell is rung and Flash goes on offense, to no avail. Kane chokeslams him, then Tombstone Piledrives him. Instead of a cover, Paul Bearer gets on the mic and taunts the Undertaker. Flash is still out after Kane has left. Out comes Shawn, who covers Flash in the center of the ring. Helmsley makes the three count, with Chyna ringing the bell and Rude declaring Shawn the winner. (Rude, in a weak "Icon" joke, calls Shawn the "Pecan of the WWF". Chyna has to correct him). Shawn celebrates as if he'd won the title, then acts as if he's beat from the strain of the match. On the way out Shawn lays down on the ramp and does the NWO chop to his groin. Chyna stands over him and Hunter stands behind her, chopping toward her groin. Shawn chops upward from his position on the ramp. McMahon and Ross call them degenerates and generally act disgusted. Funny stuff. - Another quick "LOD moment". - SKULL/EIGHT BALL (w/ the DOA) vs. TWO GUYS FROM THE TRUTH COMMISSION I don't know which is which, and frankly I don't care. The TC shows off their new leader, the Jackal, who looks like Bob Holly and acts like Shawn Michaels. Lawler and McMahon joke at length about President Clinton, Paula Jones and Janet Reno. Is this the new WWF "attitude"? When Jim Ross tries to get them back on track Lawler switches to joking about the death of John Denver. The DOA win by DQ due to interference from the Jackal. Stuff like this (commentary included) doesn't belong on RAW. That's what Shotgun Saturday Night is for. Being this was the end of the first hour, I've really got to give it a thumbs down thus far. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - Bend over, grab yer socks and pull, cuz ... *KEE-RASH!* Austin demands that McMahon be the first one to sign. Vince puts on his specs, looks the paperwork over, and signs. Austin then tries to walk off, but Vince says it isn't official (that Austin faces Owen Hart at Survivor Series for the Intercontinental Title) until Austin signs the injury waiver (absolving the WWF of any liability in case he's crippled). Austin stalls, then climbs the corner turnbuckles and signs the form. That done Austin says there's one last thing ... a handshake. (The crowd "oohs", thinking he meant a Stunner for McMahon). They shake, with Austin letting McMahon know that he could have laid him out "with a snap of my fingers!" Things are interrupted by Faarooq and the Nation appearing on the ramp. Faarooq continues his rant from last week. After several comments (delivered with Faarooq's usual mouth full of marbles) Austin say "I basically didn't understand a damn word you said!" Austin challenges any one of the Nation to come to the ring and face him. Faarooq sends Rocky Maivia, who charges in and meets a Stone Cold Stunner. Austin makes his escape through the crowd. - Yet another "LOD moment". In one of these they talk about Paul Ellering. - They finally end the Sable "Lazer Tag" series of promos. - "LOD moment". Then to the back for comments. Animal, out of character, says they're finally ready to get the job done-that they're focused. Animal says they're not like Hulk Hogan or Randy Savage living off their past. Hawk, out of character, says it's time to see if they're at the top of the hill or over it. - BRIAN CHRISTOPHER vs. TAJIRI Vince mentions (for the second time) that Jim Cornette will rant tonight about N.Y. Post columnist Phil Mushnick. When Lawler asks McMahon what he thinks of Mushnick, Vince calls him a "miserable son-of-a-"*BLEEEP!*. Not too bad a match, actually. Several good matches from both men, with Christopher getting the not too unexpected pin with a handful of tights. The funny commentary continued in this one. First McMahon and Ross doubleteamed Lawler about his relationship to Christopher; then they joked about Vince losing money on his bodybuilding league and past Hulk Hogan movies. (Ross: "'No Holds Barred' ... should have been 'No Profit Allowed!'") - Jim Cornette tears into Phil Mushnick. The transcript for this is available at several of the news sites out there, including SCOOPS. Anything I could say about this was said by Cornette, and it's all pretty much self-explanatory. Do you WCW sheep still say he's jealous, not credible, etc.? - GOLDUST (w/ Marlena) vs. SAVIO VEGA (w/ Los Boricuas) McMahon mentions that Goldust and Marlena, scheduled to renew their wedding vows last week, canceled it out of respect to Brian Pillman's family. He then launches into Hulk Hogan. First off he says Hogan promised him that if "No Holds Barred" lost money then he (Hogan) would return his paycheck. "I guess the check is still in the mail." says Vince. He then says the only thing harder than watching Hogan act is watching Hogan still wrestle. Finally, he adds that he's heard that Hogan actually has hair in his new movie. All I'll say is Hogan started it. One of Goldust's best matches in recent memory, with Savio not looking all that bad either. About halfway through the match the ref throws out the other Boricuas from the ringside area. Goldust and Savio then really go back-and-forth, teasing various cheap methods of victory (roll-up from behind, pin cover with feet on the ropes, etc.) Eventually Marlena tosses her cigar into the ring. As the ref is giving her a mouthful, Goldust grabs Marlena's purse and lays out Savio. Goldust gets the pin. After the match Lawler goes over to check what's in the purse, indicating by its weight that it probably has a brick in it. McMahon then mentions Eric Bischoff out of the blue. Jim Ross says he has a response to Bischoff's "Internet tirade" on the WWF hotline. This match did a good job of answering all the questions about Goldust and Marlena going all the way back to Ground Zero. Heading into the break they show a commercial with Steve Austin pitching for some of the new WWF action figures. Austin takes his new figure, clad in jeans and "Austin 3:16" t-shirt, lays out the Vince McMahon figure, presumably with a Stone Cold Stunner. (They show the Austin figure menacing McMahon's, cut to a shot of several other figures, then back to McMahon laid out and the Austin figure straddling the corner ropes. All of this was accompanied by real audio snippets). Funny stuff. - HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (w/ Chyna) vs. THE PATRIOT No match. Helmsley and Chyna come out first. The Patriot stops at the top of the ramp to wave the flag. Rick Rude pops out of the curtain behind him, kicks him in the butt and throws a cup of coffee in his face. Rude then uses his briefcase to knock the Patriot through the curtain. Michaels grabs a mic and declares Helmsley the winner. Out comes Commissioner Slaughter. He begins reading Shawn and Hunter the riot act, spitting so much that the two have to hide behind the European Title belt. Slaughter demands the two show a little respect. Shawn says okay, then points to his groin and says something that is bleeped. Hunter gives him a military salute, then the NWO salute. Rick Rude is shown heading up the ramp and out of the ring area. Slaughter says he's gotten a volunteer to replace the Patriot: Ahmed Johnson! Shawn and Hunter, something obviously up their sleeve, make mock cowardly faces. - HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (w/ Chyna) vs. AHMED JOHNSON Again, no match. Just as Ahmed reaches the ring he is jumped from behind by the whole Nation of Domination (presumably summoned by Rude). Shawn and his Degeneration X take a seat at the top of the ramp and watch the beating while eating popcorn. The camera catches a shot of Ahmed's hand- the bandage having been ripped off. A nasty, swollen gash can be seen. Enter Ken Shamrock and the Legion of Doom to make the save. Animal gets on the mic and calls the Godwinns out. - LEGION OF DOOM vs. THE GODWINNS (w/ Uncle Cletus) I think the WWF was half successful in really hyping this as a big match. The problem is that the Godwinns are a big nothing of a team. No matter how important the match is from the viewpoint of the LOD, the Godwinns cannot be used in anyway to generate excitement for this match (other than to those fans who REALLY want to see them lose). And of course we've already seen this feud deliver several terrible matches, with the best being the ones that only lasted a minute or so. So anyway, to cut ahead to the terribly obvious (and not so secret, given it was taped a week earlier) finish: Hawk has been in the ring for a few minutes taking a real beating. Animal tags in, but the ref misses it. As Animal goes back out he's knocked to the floor by Henry Godwinn. Henry and Uncle Cletus then toss him into the ring steps. Several WWF refs come out to help Animal from the ring area. The beating on Hawk continues, along with Henry Slop Dropping the ref (who had tried to break it up). Animal, seeing this on the Titan-Tron, ignores his pain and runs back to the ring. Looking 100% recovered Animal nails both Godwinns and signals for the Doomsday Device. Henry attacks Hawk before he can get up top, and nails Animal as well. He then grabs Animal and calls in Uncle Cletus. Cletus pulls out a horseshoe, winds up ... and nails Henry with it when Animal breaks loose. Phineas grabs Animal and tries to hoist him up in a piledriver or powerbomb, but Hawk comes off the top and catches him with a clothesline. A cover and a three count from a second referee and the Legion of Doom are once again World Tag Team Champions. On the way out Animal remembers his arm is supposed to be injured and starts crying like a big baby. Phineas and henry take out their frustrations on Cletus, beating him to within an inch of his life. Cletus is left with a bloody nose as the show ends. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: The second hour made up quite a bit for the first, but overall the show was only mildly entertaining. I'm mostly disappointed that the LOD wasn't allowed to get a clean, decisive win in what was supposed to be such a pivotal point in their careers. What's worse, comments by McMahon (as well as the obvious circumstances of the match) made it seem as if this situation could be reversed. I wouldn't rule out the belts being held up for a rematch. In any case, a rematch of some kind seems a given: probably at Survivor Series. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Man, I can't wait until Survivor Series has come and gone so we will be rid of all these "factions" squabbling. The NOD is a joke, serving as little more than the racist angle that lies at its heart. The DOA has a cool look, but nothing has been made of it recently. (They'd be great if they were the only "gang" in the WWF). Los Boricuas are probably the best wrestlers, and I don't really mind Savio Vega or Miguel Perez. The other two guys, though, continue to be nobodies, and never show any great level of talent when in the spotlight. Finally we have the Truth Commission, which is a dumb gimmick, meaningless name, antiquated look, and suffers from a total lack of talent. I simply cannot understand what the WWF sees in these guys. The Harts and Degeneration X cannot be considered true factions due to a lack of members (given that Bret, Owen and Shawn will all be involved in singles matches at Survivor Series). The Harts will have to bring in two more guys (rumored to be either Greg Kulka-former Canadian CFL'er, Tiger Ali Singh and/or Bruce Hart. Yokozuna is also high on the rumor list). There's also Team USA, which will probably include Ken Shamrock, the Patriot, Vader and Goldust or Dude Love. The Kliq/Degeneration X/NWO North-whatever you call them-would have to bring in three more guys to put together a team for the Survivor Series. I bring all this up because the WWF is supposed to be doing the Survivor Series matches in such a way that each winning team advances until there is only on "faction" left, proving once and for all who is the toughest gang in the WWF. Numerous wrestling websites are driving themselves nuts trying to figure out what all the teams are gonna be. I'm simply not going to bother worrying about it. When the WWF finally gets around to naming some teams, then I'll mull the possibilities over. Add in Shawn vs. Bret, Austin vs. Owen, possibly a Light Heavyweight match and a potential LOD/Godwinns rematch and you have a PPV which WILL offer everything: good to bad. On another topic, Nitro dropped in the ratings this week compared to last week. So much for Bischoff's theory that the WWF gave them "free advertising" last week. RAW didn't do so hot either, but at least they didn't lose the viewers to Nitro. Nitro dropped to 3.8, RAW dropped to 2.3. Nitro really started to lose viewers around the time Monday Night Football came on, while the USA Network saw a near half rating point drop from "Walker Texas Ranger" going into RAW at that same time. RAW finally picked up in their second hour, preventing what could have been a truly miserable- though not entirely unexpected-rating for this taped show. Credit to the usual for the ratings numbers. Halloween Havoc still hasn't really shaped up: not even on paper. It's all Hogan/Piper, Luger/Hall/Zbyszko and Savage/Page. Disco/Jacquelyn has been changed from a notable comedy match into simply a comedy match. With Jarrett gone we now get another of those "wait until the PPV" lame "surprises". Ultimo Dragon vs. Yuji Nagata is filler. Guerrero/Mysterio should be a great match, but it-despite what we've seen in the ring-has gotten less mouth service than most of the other stuff listed above. If one has paid attention to their recent matches, added in the brushes outside the ring, then yes ... this has the makings of a great feud. The problem is that the announcers have spent very little time hyping it. Eddie just comes off as a jerk scrambling to maintain his title, while Mysterio is just the little guy afraid of losing his mask. This feud could be carried on ability alone, but WCW seems to be going the more gimmicky "title vs. mask" route. WCW is really counting on the fact that they've mixed and matched these Cruiser- weights all together so much that they can take any combination of any two and the fans will readily accept them as a viable feud. Enough about Halloween Havoc ... This week marks the 100th installment of the "Monday Night Recap". I'm not sure of any way to really celebrate that, or make it seem like a special occasion, so I'll mull over the next 100 installments of the "Recap" (instead of mulling over the first 100). Actually I won't look that far ahead: just the next twenty or so. WCW's future over the next few months is starting to look really strange. What once seemed like a nice, safe, linear booking path involving Hogan eventually meeting Sting now doesn't seem so sure. Yes, they continue to have Hogan cower from Sting, but when is a match going to come of it? Hogan already has Piper for Halloween Havoc. It's now starting to look like Hogan will either sit out World War 3 in November, or will face Ric Flair. That leaves Starrcade somewhat up in the air. Next to this, everything in WCW is secondary and disposable. The company will continue to be booked from week- to-week based on the ratings and will look entirely different, yet overall completely the same, after every PPV. Complicating things is the start of the new show on TBS. WCW is bringing in dozens of old and new wrestlers to fill up the cards for that show: very few of them possessing any appreciable level of talent. The NWO, which desperately needs to be slapped down, trashed and disbanded, will now be the almost sole focus of their own show every week (probably Nitro). With WCW's already big and mostly useless roster getting even bigger and more mediocre, the regularity of decent matches appearing on TV may drop greatly. I admit this is a somewhat pessimistic view, but it's hard to see much promise when things such as the return of "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan will now be heralded as "great moments". Whatever WCW offers on however many shows, we're still stuck seeing a product dominated half by a small group of over- inflated egos (NWO, Hogan, etc.) and the other half with easily interchangeable mid-card talent. I really think this will make for two major WCW shows every week: each at a quality level slightly below where Nitro is right now. I'm not saying the new show will flop, nor that it'll kill Nitro or vice versa. What I think will happen is that it will debut well, then both will get moderate ratings while delivering mediocre products. They'll both probably beat RAW in the ratings, but I'll be damned if that means either will necessarily be better. The new show isn't in the same situation Nitro was when it started. Many thought Nitro would be a flop. What turned it around was right off the bat they delivered Lex Luger, along with stocking the show every week with PPV caliber match-ups. This all happened on a new network. Nitro was able to bring in their regular WCW audience, steal some fans from RAW and even draw in some new ones. TBS already is only seeing a little of that audience coming back for their weekend shows (recent ratings have been as bad as pre- Nitro days). The new show, apparently targeted for Thursday nights, will see some fairly stiff competition from the networks. RAW tried it and did poorly. If this show doesn't have the marquee names, then how can it expect to do all that much better than WCW Saturday Night currently does? If it does have the big names, then where does it leave Nitro? No matter how you slice it, oversaturation is bound to happen. Moving on to the WWF, their main events look really healthy for the next six months or so. The level just below looks strong as well. Once you hit the mid-card, though, it all goes to hell. Once you figure out where the likes of Crush, Savio Vega and Rocky Maivia are in the food chain, then everyone below them has almost no talent and absolutely no drawing ability. If you figure the LOD in with the likes of Shamrock, Goldust and Ahmed Johnson, then there is no tag team scene in the WWF. The Light Heavyweights are little more than a lot of talk, two "stars" and a slim pool of one-shot jobbers. If WCW may go all to hell in the next three or four months, the WWF is only safer for a few months beyond that. Without some new blood, we'll be stuck seeing all the same guys doing face and heel turns next summer to keep thing going. That ain't good! Bringing the ECW in may be good for the short term, but long term they won't have much of an impact. (At least involving themselves with the WWF shouldn't hurt them like it did Smoky Mountain). I really think the entire sport of professional wrestling is about nine months away from a crisis-unless something big happens soon. What must that be? I'm not really sure, but going more global-bringing in talent from Japan and Mexico may be a positive step (and one which WCW currently has the lead in). I think it may also be vital for the "Big Two" to swap some of their higher profile talent. Not any kind of a "trade", mind you, but a natural migration of wrestlers such as we saw in late 1995 and early 1996. It may not ensure the success of wrestling in the next five or ten years, but it will help over, say, the next two or three. In that time the likes of Benoit, Mysterio, Jericho, Malenko, Christopher and Michinoku need to be groomed into the top stars of the sport going into the next decade. I hate to keep pounding on WCW, but none of that is going to happen so long as they are hogging most of these wrestlers: ignoring them in favor of a group who refuses to acknowledge that their time in the limelight is over (or very close to it). No matter what happens, I'll be there to watch. And piss and moan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Winner: RAW. Yes, I'm biased. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1997 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of Internet Access, Inc. Volume One, Number 100 of the "Monday Night Recap", October 13th, 1997.