Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #118 February 16th-21st, 1998 WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours. Location: Tampa, Florida. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko. - The show opened with a still picture of Louie Mucciolo (Louie Spicolli), announcing his death to the non-Internet connected world. It was accompanied by a three bell salute. After the intro they played clips from last week's Thunder. - "Hollywood" Hogan leads an near-complete contingent of the NWO to the ring. Even Rick Rude and Curt Hennig are present. The only one missing is Randy Savage. Hogan picks up where he left off last week with his "ABC" hit list, rambling on about the "right wing" conspiracy of WCW against he and the NWO, Bret Hart and finally Randy Savage. Hogan essentially says that after he beats Luger and Sting tonight he'll also take care of Savage. Savage and Elizabeth appear by the entryway and the two banter back-and-forth a bit. The marriage is in trouble, but WCW still won't commit to the divorce. That metaphor gets even uglier when you factor in the "spouse abuse". Hogan also offers to financially support referee Nick Patrick's efforts to get reinstated. - Back from the first commercial break Tony Schiavone asks Larry Zbyszko to make a comment regarding Spicolli. Larry-staying in character-says he and Spicolli had some issues, but that out of respect for his family he'd let it rest. I hope no one out there takes this as just another shot at WCW, but they really did this poorly. The tribute at the top of the show-which was fine, don't get me wrong-and this brief mention are all that was said and done about Spicolli's passing. Now, I'm not saying that WCW had to go to great lengths to memorialize the man, but let's face it: if you missed the first 30 seconds of the show you'd still have no idea he was gone. Zbyszko, despite his skill at enunciation, has never been the most coherent and eloquent of speakers. He's also too "old school" to have dropped out of character for even a second to acknowledge Spicolli's death. Though his statement was brief, it came off as him sounding angry and was merely refusing to talk about him as part of the ongoing angle. All Schiavone had to do was say something to the affect of "fans, we here at WCW are saddened to announce the death of Louie Spicolli. Our condolences go out to his family and we will provide you with more details as they become available." I understand they were trying to quietly close the book on the angle involving Spicolli, but their first attempt was horribly understated. (I sincerely hope WCW is a bit more forthright and open about it this Thursday and on the weekend shows.) As I said above, if you missed the beginning of the show or weren't actually looking at the screen you wouldn't even know. The later statement by Zbyszko did nothing to clarify the matter. All I can figure is that maybe WCW didn't want to be accused of dwelling on his death, as the WWF was accused of the night of Brian Pillman's death. Anyway, in my final word on this subject, all I can say is that while I was no great fan of Spicolli's, it's a shame that this happened just as he seemed about to find his niche in the business. He was 27. I'm 27. That is what has struck me the most about this. - HUGH MORRUS vs. BILL GOLDBERG Jimmy Hart has some words for Morrus as he makes his way to the ring. More on this below. Another one minute squash. Goldberg ignored all of Morrus' offense, speared him in the gut and planted him with the Jackhammer. - Short video package featuring the Steiners is shown. - Hall and Nash come over to the announcer's desk to complain about WCW singling them out again. They then challenge the Steiners (who have an "open contract") to a title match later in the show. A possible scrap between Hall and Zbyszko is teased, but ultimately nothing comes of all this (other than kill three or four minutes). - They show a bit of the Bischoff and Hogan interview from Thunder where they laid out their "ABC" enemy list. - SICK BOY (w/ Lodi) vs. MARK STARR An okay match. Sick Boy has some potential, but is really being wasted in this whole "Flock" gimmick. They guy doesn't talk, doesn't emote, exudes no charisma ... nothing. He's just there. All the quality wrestling in the world isn't going to get me interested in a wrestler I know nothing about-other than the fact that he's worn the same clothes for the last four months. Sick Boy wins with something that looked a lot like the Pedigree. - Nitro Girls. - Hall, Nash and Dusty Rhodes head to the ring. Survey time. - PUBLIC ENEMY vs. THE OUTSIDERS (w/ Dusty Rhodes) Hall wrestles for most of this nothing, short match. Nash comes in and does a single clothesline into the corner. The end comes when the P.E. has Hall set up on the table. Rhodes distracts Grunge. Hall whacks him from behind and he and Dusty lay him on the table. Nash then does his only other move of the match and weakly powerbombs Rocco, dropping him from inside the ring onto Grunge on the table. Nash is once again handcuffed and escorted from the ring, with another $50,000 fine assessed to "Hollywood" Hogan's checking account. If the above move sounds impressive, it wasn't. It wasn't so much a powerbomb as it was just picking a guy up and dropping him. - This week's Nitro Party Video. - Nick Patrick comes out and tells Mean Gene Okerlund that he is close to shutting down the right wing conspiracy against him. He accepts Hogan's offer at financial backing. Both this and the Hogan/Bischoff interviews made numerous references to the conspiracy against Bill Clinton, making the angle even more lame than it would have been on its own. - MIKE ENOS vs. BARRY HOROWITZ Why? Horowitz is in the whole match up until Enos nails a powerslam, then covers for the pin. It's like they flipped a coin to decide who'd do the job. - They then cut to the back where "something is going on". It's immediately clear that nothing is going on, except Davey Boy Smith is just standing there drinking a cup of coffee and waiting for something to happen. A moment later Steve "Mongo" McMichael roars his way into the arena, delivering dialogue which makes Pauly Shore sound like a Shakespearean actor. Mongo slaps the cup of coffee out of the Bulldog's hand and the two clinch into a dance loosely recognizable as a "brawl". Several people standing nearby waiting for the fight to happen step in to break it up. This was so bad it wasn't even worth laughing at. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - YUJI NAGATA (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. LA PARKA A mediocre match. La Parka seems to have the upper hand until Disco Inferno runs in and nails La Parka with the Stone Cold Chartbuster (Onoo had the ref occupied). Nagata slaps on the Nagatalock for the win. Going to the break they show more of Hogan's comments about Bret Hart making his "hit list". - Nitro Girls. By this time it's announced that Bret Hart and Ric Flair have both arrived in the building (separately). - BILLY KIDMAN vs. ULTIMO DRAGON Another good match between these two, though I think their last encounter may have been a bit better. The Dragon avenges his previous loss to Kidman by getting the win here with the Dragon Sleeper. Raven's Flock had been seated at ringside, though no one interfered. - Mean Gene interferes Diamond Dallas Page. Page speaks highly of Chris Benoit. He announces a tag match between he, Benoit, Raven and Saturn this week on Thunder. He then challenges Raven to a match right there and now. Raven hops the rail and the two tease a match, but Saturn quickly enters the ring as well. They surround DDP, but head for the hills when Chris Benoit comes in. - MENG vs. THE BARBARIAN (w/ Jimmy Hart) They replay Meng going off on the Barbarian at Thunder last week before the start of the match. Hart seems to have chosen the Barbarian over Meng. The Barbarian actually gets the win with a (drum roll) ... kick to the head. This is after Hart broke a fake wooden chair over Meng's head. Meng is left laying in the ring, having lost his invulnerability during the match because of the Barbarian's mighty kicks to his melon. I don't think I'd be jumping the gun in assuming that Hugh Morrus will take Meng's place. That, or he'll turn them down and end up feuding with the Barbarian. Either way I'm assured of plenty of future Nitro and Thunder opportunities to go make a sandwich, take a bathroom break, read a book or something other than watch those matches. - Nitro Girls. - SATURN (w/ Lodi) vs. DISCO INFERNO No match. La Parka attacks Disco with a chair. (I'll ignore the fact that the attack takes place exactly where a black "X" is placed on the ground in the aisle leading to the ring.) Rick Martel is quick to come out and offer to take Disco's place, even though he already has a match scheduled for later in the show. La Parka, even though he does his strut, doesn't seem to be as over with the fans as much as he was at one point a few months back (though maybe it was just this crowd). - SATURN (w/ Lodi) vs. RICK MARTEL Saturn gets the win with the help of Scotty Riggs, who nails Martel during a full Flock run-in. - CURT HENNIG (w/ Rick Rude) vs. BOBBY EATON Eaton is starting to regain some of his old form (i.e. flabby). Hennig puts him away quickly with the Hennig-Plex. They then show even more of Hogan's comments aimed at Bret Hart, Gee, you don't suppose they're going to get into it tonight, are they? HOUR THREE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan. - Wade Boggs is shown at ringside. Earlier George Steinbrenner had been shown in the crowd (sitting next to a large chested blonde which the cameraman makes a point of showing several times throughout the show). - VICIOUS & DELICIOUS (w/ Vincent) vs. THE STEINERS (w/ Ted DiBiase) This looked pretty much like every other match these two teams have fought over the past few months. (Well ... Konan was Bagwell's partner in most of those, I think.) Nearly two months worth of storyline have been thrown out the window now that the Steiners are again cooperating. In this one the Steiners are on the verge of winning when the rest of the NWO runs in. Rick is stomped into the mat, which the NWO members brag about as they leave the ring area. - RICK MARTEL vs. BOOKER T. Before the match they show Martel getting thrown through a glass door from a few weeks back. Martel is now suddenly a bad guy, though he goes just short of playing a full-blown heel. Neither man gets all that much crowd support (with Martel getting booed at times). The crowd was clearly behind Booker, though not as fervently as crowds were behind him a month ago. A "Martel sucks!" chant breaks out at one point. The finish included the ref being knocked down, as well as Saturn interfering. (So much for WCW's vaunted "clean" finishes of late.) Booker knocks Saturn off the apron, but gets hung up on the ropes in the process. The ref, knocked down by Martel's feet when Booker had picked him up a few moves earlier, misses the whole thing. Martel misses it as well, having been nailed by Saturn when he jumped onto the apron. Martel rolls Booker over into the Quebec Crab for the win, becoming the new WCW Television Champion. - Nitro Girls. - Mean Gene interviews Bret Hart in the ring. Hart comes in and tells "Hollywood" Hogan that he's not hard to find, and that he'll come to wherever Hogan wants to get it on at any time. Hart is interrupted by the arrival of Bryan Adams, who the announcers do the favor of identifying by name (though I'm sure most WCW fans have little idea who he is. We all know him as the WWF's Crush). Adams, wearing a black trenchcoat zipped all the way up to conceal his NWO t-shirt, says Hart still has some friends in the business and that he'd be proud to stand by his side. Quicker than you can hum a bar of "Summer of 69" Adams nails Hart. The unveiling of his NWO shirt is a mere formality as the rest of the NWO comes to the ring. Hart suffers a pounding from Hogan and crew until Ric Flair runs out to make the save. Hart shakes Flair's hand, then the two embrace. Barely any crowd reaction during the "ambush" as very few people recognized Adams-not to mention the fact that the attack was so obvious. The stuff after that was good, though. I almost marked out when Hogan started laying fists into Hart-something I never thought I'd see. I think the handshake with Flair and the subsequent hug did more to get Hart over with the WCW crowd than anything else he's done in his stint their thus far. This places Hogan in major feuds with Sting, Savage and now Hart. If Hogan's planning on leaving WCW he'd better do it soon, cuz he's about to be on the losing end of every match for the next year! (By the way, my brother was disappointed to learn that the tattoo on Crush's head was a fake.) - Mean Gene interviews J.J. Dillon. Dillon announces that Rick Martel will defend the TV Title against Booker T. at SuperBrawl. The winner will then defend the belt against Saturn later in the night on the PPV. All three wrestlers are on hand to hear the decision. Once again WCW shows they don't understand the simple concept of a "Triangle Match", which most fans had been predicting would take place between these three at the PPV. - EDDIE GUERRERO/CHRIS JERICHO vs. CHRIS BENOIT/DEAN MALENKO The usual great match you'd expect from these guys. (My only problem with it was all the dreck I had to sit through in the show to get to this one match.) Malenko gets the win for his team by forcing Jericho to submit in the Texas Cloverleaf. I assume the final hype to push the Chris Jericho/Juventud Guerrera "Mask vs. Title" match at SuperBrawl is being saved for Thunder. Guerrera, if he does lose the mask, has to really be upset with how little attention his "feud" with Jericho has been given. - Eric Bischoff comes to the ring to deliver comments-the sole purpose of which seem to be to kill about two or three minutes. - STING/LEX LUGER vs. "HOLLYWOOD" HOGAN/RANDY "MACHO MAN" SAVAGE Michael Buffer does the ring intros, but has to flee when the two teams begin to brawl before reaching the ring. After a couple of minutes of disorganized action the whole mess degenerates into the typical Nitro finish, with the rest of the NWO running in, followed by Flair and Hart. Hogan takes a few shots at Savage before all is said and done. The show ends with Hart, Flair, Sting and Luger all standing in the ring while the NWO runs away with their tails between their legs. - This Thursday: Benoit/DDP vs. Raven/Saturn. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Another three hour show and another poor first hour, fair second hour and generally okay third hour. I don't want to keep beating a dead horse here but three hours is just too long for a non-PPV telecast. It might even not be so terrible if so much time wasn't filled with outright jobber matches and time killers such as pointless interviews and highlights packages. Have all the luchadores gone back to Mexico? La Parka was the only one on the show this week (and Ultimo Dragon if you count his extensive time wrestling in Mexico. Guerrero as well, I suppose). Still, no Super Calo, Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Silver King, Los Villanos, El Dandy, Lizmark Jr., etc., etc. I'm not saying I like all these guys, but where have they all gone? Notice how all the top stars have been tied into the NWO angle? What's the number two storyline going on in WCW? Raven's Flock, apparently. It's starting to account for more screen time than the NWO, yet WCW still has yet to do much to explain the whole gimmick, explain Raven's motives, his reason for wrestling, why he needs the Flock, why they hang around him, and so on. All we got were his cryptic segments of poetry when he first appeared and they went over so bad that they stopped doing them. Now we're stuck with a crew of guys of varying levels of ability who do nothing but mope around and cheat to win in a few of their matches. Can you say "Dungeon of Doom"? That's maybe not an entirely fair assessment, but it's not too far off the mark. Stables of wrestlers just don't work if you don't put time into developing them. I really missed RAW this week, and spent lots of time channel surfing when the show got boring. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Not on. - RAW was preempted this week for the USA Network's annual coverage of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The show was taped in Dallas as Nitro was on. An hour of the broadcast was carried live to Canadian viewers via TSN. It will air in its full two hour entirety Saturday night at 8:00 PM Eastern on USA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: (02/21/98) Live/Taped: Taped 2/9. Length: Two Hours. Location: Dallas, Texas. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross, Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly. - I don't know if this was a technical problem (or merely a problem with my own ears) but right off the bat the audio really sounded canned. The WWF usually does a good job making it sound like the commentary was done live at the show, and we are several times shown the announcers actually at the desk at ringside. The commentary during the first match, however, sounded much more like the obvious voiceovers (like on Live Wire, when they say "let's take you back to RAW ... "). It just sounded off is what I'm trying to say, which took a little bit away from the viewing experience. Later segments in the show were obviously actually done at the event (because we see the announcers do the talking). - LEGION OF DOOM vs. THE QUEBECERS As more reference to the above statement, the announcers spent a LOT of time talking about how the LOD have "lost a step or two" and have "lost their edge". The actual commentary on the match was kept to a minimum, and it almost seemed like they were reading from a prepared script to carefully get across the points they wanted to make (which, frankly, is exactly what they do most every week: it's just usually not this noticeable). Anyway, the Quebecers win via countout when the New Age Outlaws come to the ring with a dumpster. Hawk is attacked and thrown in. Animal grabs a chair and chases them off, allowing the Canadians to get the countout win. Ross mentions that the LOD will face the Outlaws on Monday. - They show a LENGTHY video package of Chyna's "Greatest Hits". The big plot point for this week's show is that DeGeneration X is planning on suing Steve Austin for nailing Chyna with the Stone Cold Stunner at "No Way Out". D-X claims she's now suffering from "emotional distress". I didn't mind the package, but it was cheap to make us sit through the whole thing-then not show the actual Stunner delivered to Chyna! D-X is supposed to make some kind of statement about this on Monday, and they will be on hand live the following week. This looks like it may be a major component of the angle leading up to the main event at Wrestle- Mania (and frankly that worries me). - KEN SHAMROCK vs. SNIPER (w/ Recon & the Jackyl) The Jackyl sits in for color commentary. Shamrock wins with the ankle submission. The Jackyl slaps Sniper across the cheek (like he's done to the Kurrgan and Recon in recent weeks). Sniper doesn't take it well and actually shoves back. After the commercial we are treated to a look at Sniper and Recon arguing in the back. Recon seems to be on the side of the Jackyl, but Sniper wants to break away from him. Sniper gets a naughty word bleeped. Prior to the break they recount Sable's shoving Marc Mero down at the PPV. (Also during the break they run an ad for the new movie starring Carrot Top. I get the sick feeling that maybe this might somehow tie in to WrestleMania. Carrot Top says he's ready to take over the world of wrestling ... and that it'll be a real slobberknocker!) On a side note, it's mentioned that Ken Shamrock will face Rocky Maivia at WrestleMania for the Intercontinental Title. - Jerry "the King" Lawler interviews Marc Mero and Sable. Mero complains about how Sable stole the spotlight away from him when he was out with his injury. Mero tells the King that he tripped at the PPV (instead of Sable actually knocking him down). Someone then brings Sable flowers, which drives Mero even more nuts. Sable says that for a change someone is thinking about her and she walks out on him. I really hope they don't drag this "secret admirer" bit out too long. - Jim Cornette delivers a rant in which he gripes about the fans who wanted "old fashioned wrestling" brought back, then have gone on to boo the NWA. Cornette says the NWA's "real wrestling" will beat out "sports entertainment". He announces that legendary NWA referee Tommy Young will officiate tonight's NWA Tag Team Title match. - THE ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS (w/ Jim Cornette) vs. THE HEAD BANGERS Ross mentions several old NWA tag teams and feuds. He even mention "the Superstation", and how the Head Bangers grew up watching the R & R Express feud with the Midnight Express. The Express come to the ring to the old Rockers theme music (Michaels & Jannetty). The Rock & Roll Express win the match when just as Thrasher is about to pin Ricky Morton, Mosh throws Robert Gibson over the top rope. Since the match is contested under "NWA rules" referee Tommy Young is forced to DQ the Head Bangers. An okay match, and I actually like the finish (though they aren't going to be able to use this one too many times). That ended what was a fairly mediocre first hour. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "the King" Lawler. - Steve Austin makes his way to the ring. Austin says Chyna got what she deserved. Good interview, though it's all stuff we've heard before. A a cuss word which has to be bleeped out. - They hype Monday's RAW, as well as the live show the following week. A mystery sports star will be on RAW this week, while D-X, Austin and Mike Tyson are all expected on the live show next week. - OWEN HART vs. JEFF JARRETT (w/ the NWA) Owen is defending his European Title. It's announced that Owen will defend the belt against Hunter Hearst Helmsley at WrestleMania (assuming Owen wins here). The WWF referee forces the other NWA members (except for Cornette) to return to the lockerroom. A good match, with Owen earning the win via interference by Jim Cornette. Owen slaps Jarrett in the Sharpshooter, prompting Cornette to run in with his tennis racquet. Owen releases the hold and puts it on Cornette! Jarrett tries to sneak up for a shot from behind with the racquet, but Owen spots him first. Cornette sells the move to his leg, crawling away from the ring with Jarrett's NWA North American Title, crying in pain like a little girl. Owen wins via DQ. - They show a video package highlighting Dok Hendrix's past as Freebird Michael "P.S." Hayes, showing classic footage of him in World Class as the "Badstreet, U.S.A." song plays in the background. Hendrix then comes to the ring (looking pretty silly strutting the way he used to in the old days). Hendrix/Hayes says just a few words when the lights go out. Kane and Paul Bearer come to the ring. Hendrix removes his cowboy boot and whacks Kane a few time, but Kane shrugs them off and plants the aging announcer with a chokeslam. He then plants him with the Tombstone Piledriver. Hendrix sells it like a Von Erich discus punch and is presumably carried out during the following break. After some initial excitement my final opinion was "ehh" as this all played out. I hope this wasn't the Freebirds return everyone has been buzzing about over the last few months. - Sunny comes to the ring looking scrumpdillyicious as usual. She announces the participants of the next match - BRIAN CHRISTOPHER/PIRATA MORGAN vs. TAKA MICHINOKU/AGUILA Another good match. Aguila does a variation of the corkscrew dive to the floor which I may not have seen before. My favorite spot was after Brian had hit Taka with a Sunset Flip from the apron to the floor, he checks Taka's pulse at the wrist and neck and tells the camera "I think he's dead!" Ross kidding Lawler about Christopher being his son was fun too (even though it has been done nearly to death). Taka spiked Morgan with the Michinoku Driver for the win. - The members of the Nation of Domination assemble in the ring. Rocky Maivia says he wants to patch things up within the group with a few gifts. He gives D-Lo, Kama and Mark Henry each a $15,000 Rolex watch. He then tells Faarooq that he'll always be the leader of the NOD. He then offers him a special gift, which turns out to be a large framed poster of Rocky. Faarooq is less than moved and tosses the picture on the mat. Maivia retrieves the picture and shows it to the fans at ringside throughout the following match. - FAAROOQ (w/ the NOD) vs. STEVE BLACKMAN Faarooq has Blackman destroyed, and is on the verge of pinning him when he sees Rocky waving that picture of himself around. Faarooq takes it away from him and prepares to use it to hit Blackman. Rocky jumps up on the apron and takes it away before Faarooq can use it. Faarooq turns to confront Rocky, which allows the recovered Blackman to roll up Faarooq for the upset pin (keeping his unbeaten streak alive). Afterwards the NOD engage in a bunch of shouting and finger pointing, resulting in Faarooq trashing the picture of Rocky. Faarooq and the others leave Rocky in the ring to gather up the pieces of his portrait. Back from the break Michael Cole gets outside-the-door comments from D-Lo, who says the NOD is just packing for their flight home (though they can clearly be heard arguing behind the door. D-Lo looks at his Rolex and announces the interview is over. - GOLDUST/MARC MERO (w/ Luna) vs. CACTUS JACK/CHAINSAW CHARLIE Lawler reveals that Goldust has promised to bring the "American Dream" back to the WWF on Monday. Goldust has his gold outfit back, but wears black boots and gloves. Okay match, though it's the finish everyone was interested in: Sable comes out to ringside. As Mero is telling her to leave Luna picks up Sable bouquet of flowers and begins tearing it apart. Sable goes after Luna, with Mero struggling to hold her back. While all this is going on Cactus Jack knocks out Goldust with a chair, allowing Chainsaw Charlie to cover for the pin. MEANWHILE, down on the floor at ringside, Sable has started to, shall we say, escape from the confines of her black leather garment! As she rounds the corner of the ring her "assets" become fully exposed (though the camera shot is taken from somewhat long distance). For the remainder of the show-as Jerry Lawler howls "look at that!"-Sable chases Luna across the ring. Everything she has up top in full view of the live crowd-though not to the home audience, as the WWF uses an intricate assortment of long shots, alternate camera angles and quick cuts to assure that only those with the finest VCR's with slow-mo and frame advance will be able to get a clear look at what was exposed. I suppose you'd have to be pretty sick to be interested in stuff like that, Well ... CALL ME "KING OF THE SICKOS"! Back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... back, and to the left ... - Monday: The Legion of Doom vs. the New Age Outlaws. The return of the "American Dream". Comments: I LOVE THE WWF! Yeah, it was a touch sleazy, but ... who cares! I LOVE THE WWF! I missed Live Wire, so I didn't see if they mentioned Louie Spicolli in any way or not. I understand Jim Ross had several nice things to say about him on the WWF hotline. I'd like to have seen something about Spicolli mentioned on RAW. Not a stellar installment of RAW, but it was good enough to kill a Saturday night in front of the TV. I'm not sure how good I've had rated it directly against Nitro this week, but separately I give the nod to RAW (though I'd easily give the win this week to Thunder if that were in the running. Maybe it should be. Yeah ... just more work for me every week!) Did I mention? ... I LOVE THE WWF! WOO HOO!!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: SuperBrawl looks interesting, but there's just too much WCW on TV right now for me to get all that excited about the idea of actually paying to see a WCW card-no matter how good it may be. Reaction to "No Way Out" seems mixed, though most of it in the last day-and-a-half is much more positive than the early reviews. Disappointment over the card stems from the lack of surprises, the absence of Michaels and the needless hype and build-up to the anticlimactic naming of Savio Vega as Michaels' replacement. Many fans also hoped the Undertaker or Mike Tyson would be in attendance. On the other hand, the quality of the matches themselves are getting solid reviews. No "Match of the Year" candidates, but the Godwinns/Quebecers match is the only one being signaled out as being poor. Having not seen the show I really can't make a call one way or the other, though spending the three hours it was on getting results via numerous websites I was myself disappointed at the lack of "oomph" to the show. Nonetheless, were I to give the show a positive review unseen readers would just chalk it up to my bias. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Winner: RAW. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1998 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of "Internet Access, Inc". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week. Volume One, Number 118 of the "Monday Night Recap", February 16th-21st, 1998.