Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #127 April 20th, 1998 WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours. Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko. - We start things off with a look at some footage from just after the Spring Stampede PPV ended. Hogan and the Disciple attack Kevin Nash and new WCW Champion Randy Savage. Scott Norton then comes out, grabs the WCW Title belt away from Hogan and bellows that the belt is back where it belongs--indicating that the attack on Nash and Savage is unnecessary. As intriguing as this development is, WCW never really touches upon it again for the remainder of the show. - "Hollywood" Hogan and Eric Bischoff head to the ring. Hogan, in a lengthy interview, challenges Savage to a title match later in the show. They go to break showing Bill Goldberg in the back pumping himself up for his upcoming title match. I half expected to see Goldberg's son appear to try and talk him out of the match, only to have Terry Taylor and Kevin Sullivan tell the kid "he can do it!" - Randy Savage comes out to respond to Hogan's challenge. Savage, in one of his better interviews of late, accepts the match. He then brings out Kevin Nash, labeling him the new leader of the NWO. Nash officially stakes his claim to the leadership of the NWO, saying Savage's impending victory over Hogan will seal the deal. Nash also makes threats towards the Disciple and Eric Bischoff, reminding Bischoff of that table he powerbombed him through in Baltimore two years ago. New U.S. Champion Raven, sitting in a shower, babbles some of his meaningless prose: the gist of which being that there's no way Goldberg will beat him tonight. - Nitro Girls. "Mean" Gene Okerlund hypes the hotline. - CHRIS ADAMS vs. KONAN (w/ Vincent) A full thirty minutes has expired in the show by the time these two lock up. Don't get me wrong: I though the above two interviews were well delivered, but thirty minutes was still a bit long to establish one match. You all know what I think of Konan. It's hard to get fired up for a match in which the most exciting move was an armdrag. Konan wins with the Tequila Sunrise. I'm not sure what the announcers thought of the match because they spent every second of it talking about Goldberg vs. Raven and Hogan vs. Savage. Another look at Goldberg working himself up. - Nitro Girls. They then show video of what is billed as the "biggest Nitro Party ever!" from Clemson University--as if some students had sent the tape in themselves. I guess it's not hard to put one together when it's officially organized by WCW. I'm assuming this was the widely reported "Clemson Nitro Party" which Ric Flair no-showed last Monday, which is part of the reason why WCW is suing him for $2 million dollars. More on that later. In the video the Clemson mascot gives someone the Diamond Cutter. I'm really surprised WCW actually showed that. WCW will be holding another well organized "impromptu" Nitro Party next week at the campus of Clemson University's main rivals: the University of South Carolina. - WAYNE BLOOM vs. BARBARIAN (w/ Jimmy Hart) Didn't Jimmy Hart dump the Barbarian a month or two ago? Or was that Meng? I'd look it up, but I'm not that interested to know the answer. The Barbarian out muscles Bloom to win in under two minutes. More comments from Raven. - Chris Jericho comes to the ring wearing Prince Iaukea's skirt. He also has an easel and a big poster of Dean Malenko, which he sets up as a "shrine". Anyone who hasn't realized yet that Malenko will eventually return to kick Jericho's ass has to sit out the next match. - CHRIS JERICHO vs. JUVENTUD GUERRERA Very similar to the match the two had on Nitro two or three weeks ago. Last time out Guerrera refused to submit to the Lion Tamer, forcing Prince Iaukea to come out and throw in the towel. With no Iaukea on hand, WCW touches upon a nice bit of continuity by doing almost the exact same finish (standing huracanrana reversed into a Lion Tamer), except that this time Guerrera passes out before submitting. ("Never say die!" and all that.) Good match. Even more of Golberg working out. Anyone else find it hard to believe that he's actually been back there for 50 minutes pumping himself up? The guy's gonna have a stroke! HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Zbyszko. - Michael Buffer does the honors. Wow ... did DDP ever get a Buffer intro? - RAVEN vs. BILL GOLDBERG WCW lays off the "first title match!" thing, which is a good idea since people are starting to remember that Goldberg actually got a TV Title shot back in October. Wait a minute ... this being a Raven match, that means it's "no DQ", right? So if neither man can be DQ'ed, and neither can be counted out (because the WCW officials have lately refused to count guys out when they brawl outside the ring in "no DQ" matches), then the only possible finishes are Raven getting the pin, or Goldberg winning the title! Anyone REALLY think Raven has a chance of getting the pin? Even with help from the Flock? The match starts out with Goldberg slamming Raven into the guard rails down on the floor. Schiavone confirms that this is "Raven's Rules" (no DQ), and that because of it there is no countout. How in the hell can Raven possibly win?! Back in the ring Goldberg does that leg roll-up which is similar to the one Hogan uses when he actually feels like wrestling. He then kicks Raven in the head with a reverse kick--which Tony and Larry hail as a tremendous new move. They move back to the floor, where Raven uses a chair on Goldberg. They go back in the ring and Raven trips Goldberg onto the chair (which I'll go on record as saying is the most impressive thing I saw Goldberg do in this match). Raven gets in a few more chair shots, then slaps of a sleeper. Goldberg powers his way out of it. Raven whips him into the corner and delivers a clothesline, which Goldberg shakes off. Raven tries again, but Goldberg catches him in the gut with the spear. The crowd goes wild. Suddenly the Flock comes in. Kidman does a drop-kick which Goldberg shrugs off. Sick Boy gets clotheslined out of the ring. The newest Flock member, who everyone says is Horace Boulder, nails Goldberg with a stop sign. Goldberg no-sells it and dumps the guy out. Reece comes in and hoists him up, but Goldberg breaks free and delivers a vertical suplex. Raven, realizing now that Flock interference--which hasn't worked the several other times they've come in on Goldberg--won't work here either. He tries to walk out of the match (no countout, remember), but is met beyond the rail by several security guards pretending to be fans. On a quick side note, this is the third week in a row that Raven has had an encounter with "fans". The first incident was apparently real, but it's being reported that the second incident was actually Mortis minus his mask who attacked Raven. This week it was a well coordinated group of "fans" who pop up out of nowhere, pick Raven up and throw him back over the rail for Goldberg to get 'em. Give me a break! The crowd eats it up, though. The Flock, having had their morale broken, retake their seats in a quiet and orderly fashion. From there it's just a formality to spear and Jackhammer Raven for the win. Goldberg gets his 75th victory and the U.S. Title. Two quick questions: 1. Where was Saturn? 2. Are we going to have to wait another 75 weeks while WCW pushes Goldberg to his first World Title match? This was an exciting segment, but not a "good" match by any stretch of the imagination. Goldberg actually displayed less offense than most of his other recent matches, and as I noted above, his face-first smash into the chair was his most impressive move (yes, even more impressive than suplexing Reece). Take out the spots on the floor and the Flock interference and this was the usual Golberg quickie win. All last week I figured Goldberg would win, but by DQ due to interference by Saturn. Once Nitro kicked off and it sunk in that "Raven's Rules" would be in effect, there simply wasn't any way that Goldberg wasn't walking out with the title. "No DQ" matches are always done to give the title challenger a tremendous advantage, and by the virtue of Raven having it in every one of his matches, there's very little chance he can ever hold onto a title (unless his future opponents are more susceptible to attacks from the Flock). I sure hope WCW thinks about this before they give him another title. By the way, who did Goldberg ever beat to get a U.S. Title shot in the first place? I realize he was 74-0, but do that many squashes really make up for actually beating proven wrestlers? Must have been that win he got over Steve McMichael six months ago. Now we have to sit through an hour-and-a-half of junk until Hogan vs. Savage. - Nitro Girls. - LA PARKA vs. ULTIMO DRAGON With Goldberg's match out of the way it's time to talk about Hogan and Savage, which the announcers do for much of this match. La Parka does a risky dive off the top to the floor, but all we hear is comments about Bischoff and the NWO. The match actually then starts to pick up, which is as good a time as any to insert a dumb angle. Eddie Guerrero drags Chavo Guerrero, Jr. to the ring--apparently in an effort to fire him up and talk him into attacking Ultimo Dragon. The brow-beating works and Chavo pushes the dragon off the top (as Eddie distracts the ref). La Parka lands a spinning corkscrew moonsault and covers for the pin. Eddie slaps Chavo's face all the way back down the aisle. Are we really going to have to sit through ANOTHER month of this crap before Chavo snaps and slugs Eddie? This angle could have been greatly speeded up by having Chavo win his match against the Dragon at the PPV. Eddie could have then attacked Chavo, kicking off a match between the two at the NEXT PPV. We all know this is what it's leading up to anyway. As it is now, it looks like the split will happen at the next PPV, then the match between the two at the PPV after that! Either that, or WCW will just sort of lose interest and the angle will be forgotten (which happens half the time anyway). This angle maybe wouldn't even be so bad if it didn't involve Eddie NOT wrestling any matches! When was the last time he wrestled on Nitro? On Thunder? On PPV? That's the only way Chavo would ever realistically win a match between these two: Eddie will be too rusty when the match finally happens! - Bobby Heenan joins the announcing crew, replacing Zbyszco. - CHRIS BENOIT vs. CURT HENNIG (w/ Rick Rude) Benoit simply is not a well-liked man by the WCW higher-ups. We get the usual intensity from Benoit, but what's the point when his opponents suck and Benoit never wins any more (title match or not)? Rude sits in for commentary for a minute, then heads to the ring when it looks like Hennig could use some help. Rude interferes by dropping Benoit across the ring rail. Hennig takes Benoit's limp body and starts to apply the Hennig- Plex, but Benoit reverses it into the Crippler Crossface. Rude then nails Benoit from behind, stopping the match with a DQ. (Benoit wins. Yay.) Benoit is doubleteamed until Booker T. comes out. Benoit lets Booker know that he doesn't appreciate his "interference" and the two eventually come to blows. Let me guess ... ANOTHER PPV match between these two? What's the point? If Benoit wins the belt, it'll only be "about friggin' time!" On the other hand, if Benoit loses yet again: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times--screw you WCW!!!" I wonder who Benoit hates more: Eric Bischoff, Terry Taylor or Kevin Sullivan? - After some clips from the PPV, "Mean" Gene interviews "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Piper admits he dropped the ball at the PPV. Because of that, he's going to do some tinkering with tonight's main event. First, Piper says the match is "no DQ". Second, he says no one will run in the ring because Hogan has no friends. (Is that a stipulation or an observation?) Third, Piper says he's posting soldiers so that Hogan can't run out of the building. Fourth, Piper says that they will stay with the match no matter how long it takes. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!?!?! First off, what did I just say above about "no DQ" matches favoring the challenger? This move on Piper's behalf all but assures that Savage will lose the title! Second, Hogan has his buddy the Disciple ... isn't that a friend who can run in to help him? Third, why would Hogan want to leave the arena? He wants to win the title, doesn't he? Fourth, how is committing to staying with the match anything new? Schiavone says this is what WCW always does to "please the fans" anyway. Add to that the fact that Savage is so busted up that the longer the match goes, the less chance he has to win. The only way Piper could have f***ed this match up any more for Savage would be to add "Savage is so tough that he'll fight with one hand tied behind his back!" - HAMMER vs. SATURN Again, where was Saturn during Raven's match. He shows up for a nothing match with Hammer, but is nowhere around when Raven's defending title? All these two do is punch, kick and choke each other. Both men are counted out while brawling on the floor. HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - They show stills from the PPV again: the same stills they showed earlier. - PUBLIC ENEMY vs. BUFF BAGWELL/SCOTT STEINER The P.E. bring a table to the ring which not only has tape covering the saw cut on the bottom, but also has a little "X" target to show where to throw the opponent onto it on top. After some uninspired brawling and the usual botched attempt to put someone through the table, Bagwell gets the win with the Buff Blockbuster. (Scott had wanted to apply his Steiner Recliner for the win, but Buff talked him into letting him do the Buff Blockbuster). Both before and after the match Buff and Scott have a contest to see which one can act the gayest. P.E. tried to put Bagwell through the table, but Johnny Grunge only put him halfway on the table. Had the move worked, they'd have killed Bagwell. As it was, Bagwell moved easily in time and the two hoodies crashed through the plunder. - Nitro Girls. - PSYCHOSIS vs. BOOKER T. So-so match. Early on neither man does all that much, with the bout moving equally back-and-forth. Psychosis has a stint on offense, but Booker comes back and does his usual string of moves to earn the pinfall victory. Booker is getting some huge reactions from the crowds these days: mostly, I think, because he's won so many matches. He's starting to get some of that Goldberg-type reaction. ("He wins all the time, so he must be good, so I better cheer for him!") - BRIAN ADAMS (w/ Vincent) vs. LEX LUGER A non-typical Luger match. No, it wasn't that it was any good, he just didn't get beat up for the whole match like usual. Vincent tries to interfere and Luger Racks him. Konan runs in and Luger Racks him. He then catches Adams with a forearm and pins him. - They come back from the commercial. Schiavone talks about how great the PPV was. they inexplicably then take another commercial. - Buffer introduces Hogan. Hogan then gets on the mic and works the crowd. They take another commercial--during which they run a brief promo for the next WCW PPV: Slamboree. Savage makes his entrance after the break. All told they kill more than ten minutes since the last match ended. - "HOLLYWOOD" HOGAN vs. RANDY "MACHO MAN" SAVAGE Hogan delivers his usual low-aerobic performance, while Savage can barely walk with that bad knee of his. Hogan dominates the first half of the match, whipping Savage with his belt, working on his knee and so on. Savage then rallies back, whips Hogan with the belt, them amazingly enough goes up top for an elbowdrop, which connects. (I'd like to see Hogan give half this effort with a bad leg. Savage may have lost a lot over the years, but he's still a hell of a guy to go through with a match like this.) The shock of the landing is too much for Savage and he can't make the cover. Hogan then takes over, slapping on a Figure Four. (Whoa ... an actual logical procession of moves!) Hogan works on the knee for a bit. Both men then get up and trade choke holds. The ref tries to break it up (why?) but Savage tosses him away. Referee Nick Patrick comes up holding his back. Moments later the Disciple comes in and lays out Patrick with a Stunner (why?) The Disciple attacks Savage. (Didn't Piper say no one would/could help Hogan?) For the next minute or two they beat on Savage, working his knee over by banging it against the ring post. In an interesting move, the Disciple take the title belt, drapes it over his shoulder, then gives Savage a Stunner with it under his chin. Savage looks ripe for the picking, though the ref is still unconscious on the mat. Enter Kevin Nash to a thunderous crowd response. Nash gives Hogan a "whuzzup?" gesture. Suddenly he's tackled at the knees from behind by Eric Bischoff. This slows him up long enough for Hogan and the Disciple to lay into him. The Disciple holds him while Hogan winds up with the belt. Nash dodges, and it's the Disciple who takes the belt to the face. (Clang!) Nash then sets Hogan up for the Jacknife (big crowd roar), but Bischoff lays in some of those weak-ass karate kicks. Nash turns and nails Bischoff with a punch which didn't even muss Eric's hair. Nash Jackknife Hogan, receiving one of the loudest responses ever heard in a WCW arena. He then lays Savage on top of Hogan and heads over to pick up the ref. Here comes Bret Hart. What? Why? Bret Hart slides in the ring. Stopping just long enough to scoop up the World Title belt, he nails Nash with it, sending him to the canvas! Hart then grabs Hogan, rolls him over on top of Savage and drags the ref over to make the count. Three seconds later "Hollywood" Hogan has won the WCW World Heavyweight Title for the fourth time! The crowd is stunned. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper quickly scurries to the ring. Bret raises Hogan's hand in victory just before spotting Piper. "Why?" Piper starts asking Hart. Hart backs away from him, refusing to look him in the face. Piper persists, demanding to know what Hart has done and why. Piper asks one too many times and receives a punch to the face from Hart for his troubles. Just before the cameras wink off Hart gives the crowd that sly grin of his. The Hitman has returned. - This Wednesday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Bret Hart is a heel. He's probably not NWO, but he's definitely not a "tweener" either. Don't try to convince me otherwise. Even if WCW says he isn't, he is. He's what the fans think he is and right now most fans hate him. How can you attack Nash, attack Piper, help Hogan win the title and still be considered anything but a heel? At best he's just trying to get the belt around Hogan's waist so that he can win it from him, in which case he's the biggest jerk in the world. After all his whining about how the WWF made him play a heel, what does he do? Turns heel. Either Hart or WCW finally realized that for all the bad feeling Hart had about it, he was very much over as a heel those final days in the WWF. Much like RAW last week, this was a fairly bad show which had a big finish. It's was filled with a lot of the usual stuff, though at least most of it was moving in new directions compared to the last month or so. (The Guerrero angle being the exception, as well as what's going on with Jericho.) Getting back to Hart, I'd say his turn is probably the second biggest angle so far in wrestling this year behind Mike Tyson. Even if it didn't make much sense, it was huge, and takes WCW in a direction completely different from where they were going just 24 hours earlier. Hart can now feud with Hogan, Nash, Savage, Piper--even Sting, and the fans will accept it. Of course Hart is now a guy that everyone hates. Sounds like a good time for him to have a Hart Foundation backing him up, doesn't it? The Bulldog and Neidhart weren't very over with the fans, so turning them heel with Hart would be easy. Rounding out the group, one has to admit that Chris Benoit has had a pretty bad attitude lately. Throw in Jimmy Hart as their manager and you'd have a pretty tough group which could go at it with both WCW and the NWO. Not very original but, hey ... I can dig it! Forgetting Hart for a moment, did anyone not see Hogan winning the belt again? I think we all knew it would happen, the only question was how big a fight was he and Nash going to get in after the match. Who would have thought it would be Bret Hart to come in and steal all the thunder? Speaking of which, Thunder--which is on Wednesday this week--will be huge. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Taped 4/14. Length: Two Hours. Location: Long Island, New York. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross, Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly. - The show begins with a recap of what went down last week between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Vince McMahon and Dude Love. - Jim Ross throws it over to Kevin Kelly, who is at a remote location outside a cemetery. He and his camera crew are waiting the arrival of Kane, Paul Bearer and the Undertaker. They are expected to fight at the gravesite of Kane and the Undertaker's parents. - Dude Love is on the set of his new interview segment: "The Love Shack". Vince McMahon immediately comes out and tersely informs Dude Love that he's being fined $5000 for interfering in his business. After McMahon leaves, Dude Love goes into a lengthy monologue about ... well, frankly I have no idea what he's talking about. Chicks and housewives and such. Dude announces he'll be facing "Lethal Weapon" Steve Blackman later in the show, and that if Steve Austin would like to come out, the two of them can hook up. This whole segment didn't go off very well, (and frankly was well over- shadowed by the Bill Goldberg match going on over on Nitro). - FAAROOQ vs. KAMA (w/ the Nation of Domination) This is scheduled to be a "Street Fight". The Nation members enter first through the crowd, each carrying a foreign object of some sort. (Trash can, beer keg, etc.) They cut to a commercial before the match starts. Once back, we see Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman in the back, armed to the teeth, wanting to come out and watch Faarooq's back. A group of WWF suits are preventing them from coming to the ring, though. Early on match consists of Faarooq and Kama beating on each other with the various foreign objects they've brought to the ring. Kama then damages Faarooq's already injured ribs. From there Kama just works Faarooq over. Faarooq stages a dramatic rally, which elicits zero response from the crowd. Even though there are plenty of foreign object around neither man use them. Kama finally retrieves a hammer, but falls victim to a shot to the head from Faarooq's cowboy boot. Faarooq covers for the pin. Rocky and the NOD try to get to the ring, but several officials hold them back. They switch to the lockerroom, where DeGeneration X is watching video of them whizzing on the DOA's motorcycles. Long story short, the New Age Outlaws goad Helmsley into not only exposing himself in the middle of the ring, but also challenge him to urinate on the crowd. Helmsley accepts the challenge, to be performed later in the show. Maybe it's time I checked out that "Ally McBeal" show--see what all the fuss is about. - They play a taped segment hyping "Double J" Jeff Jarrett's scheduled musical performance with the country band "Sawyer Brown" at the PPV. I honestly have no idea what the point to all this is. - D-X make their way to the ring. Again, long story short, they use "ass", "turd" and "skanky" in their comments. They at least mention the LOD and Owen Hart, loosely tying the interview into their upcoming matches at "Unforgiven". Helmsley then fires liquid from under his rain coat. The other D-X members take turns pumping the slide on the ... squirtgun underneath. Making things better or worse (depending on your own view), the LOD and Owen come out on the stage. Hawk throws out a challenge for a six-man match. Helmsley accepts. Commissioner Slaughter pops up from nowhere and announces that the match will happen tonight. I think we all got that. D-X is just so meaningless now. Without Shawn Michaels it's just another stable. Playing pranks and saying nasty words is no way to dominate the federation. Just a few months ago they were calling all the shots. Now it's just four guys playing juvenile delinquent and making fools of themselves. The fact that they're occasionally funny doesn't make up for the credibility they lost once Helmsley took over. A backstage shot of Vince McMahon receiving coffee from a nervous assistant provides some comic relief. - Kevin Kelly provides another update from the cemetery. - HEAD BANGER MOSH (w/ Thrasher) vs. DAN SEVERN (w/ Jim Cornette) Total squash. Severn manhandles Mosh, tossing him around with a number of suplexes. Thrasher popping Jim Cornette does little to derail Severn's quick win with an armbar submission. Back to the cemetery, where Kelly reports that things have gone awry. The Undertaker showed up, but then stormed off shortly after entering the cemetery. The Undertaker himself suddenly appears. Dressed in street clothes, he grabs Kelly by the neck and screams "where are they!" After the commercial a rumpled Kelly says he has no idea what the Undertaker was upset about and can only speculate that he's headed to the arena. - Luna and Goldust hit the ring. Luna makes comments about how she's going to strip Sable naked at the PPV. - GOLDUST (w/ Luna) vs. JUSTIN "HAWK" BRADSHAW Bradshaw dominates through most of this short match, but it ends in a "no contest" when Bradshaw is suddenly and inexplicably attacked by Klub Kamikaze. Even Jim Ross has no idea why Bradshaw was singled out by the Japanese trio. Bradshaw is left laying in the ring as the Klub escapes through the crowd. A shot of Steve Austin roaming the halls in search of Vince McMahon draws a huge reaction from the crowd. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - The opening plays about halfway before it cuts off for no apparent reason (other than the fact that Steve Austin is heading to the ring). I guess this was supposed to make the show seem more "live". Austin hits the ring and after recapping the events of last week, he accuses McMahon and Dude Love of being engaged in a conspiracy against him, and promises to get his hands on both Vince McMahon and Dude Love ("that psychadelic jack- ass!") before the night is over. Austin menaces the timekeeper and a cameraman before leaving the ringside area. - CACTUS JACK/2 COLD SCORPIO vs. MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (w/ Cornette & Severn) Before the match starts they cut to a quick shot of a black hearse backing into the arena. The first real decent match of the show, but that's maybe not really saying all that much. Non-stop action prevails, with a number of tags being made by both teams. At one point the Express is working over Funk on the floor, but 2 Cold breaks it up with a dive over the ropes. Back in the ring Scorpio goes for a high moonsault, but Bob Holly blocks it with his upraised knees. Moments later the momentum again shifts back 2 Cold's way and he nails the 450 Splash for the pin. Severn enters the ring and takes down Scorpio with a suplex, then applies a submission hold. Funk tosses a chair in the ring and chases Cornette's group off. Severn adjusts his tie before heading up the ramp. I don't know about the rest of you, but I like Dan Severn. He's got a great physical presence, and could be a big star given time for the audience to get familiar with him. His only weakness is his interview skills, which is why we haven't heard him speak much. Another shot of that hearse still backing up. What, did they start backing up in ANOTHER arena?! - Val Venis delivers his fourth--and hopefully last--video teaser. Sean Morley has to be digging this gig. He should make his TV debut on RAW next week. - Sable comes out for a few brief comments, basically planting in our minds the image of her being stripped totally naked by Luna. Mmmmmm. Back to the back again, where Paul Bearer and Kane are just now getting out of the hearse. What, have they been smoking cigs in the car up until now? Chugging a beer? - Michael Cole gets some comments from Vince McMahon, who refuses to comment on Austin's "conspracy" allegations. McMahon says he's ready for anything Austin has in mind tonight. - DEGENERATION X (w/ X-Pac) vs. LOD 2000/OWEN HART (w/ Sunny) As D-X make their way to the ring Jim Ross makes the offhand comment "we know that Greensboro, North Carolina is Ric Flair country, folks ... "? Huh? Say that again. I can already hear the wheels moving in the heads of many fans out there. Another okay match--even when the LOD was in the ring, surprisingly enough. Things are pretty even until Chyna grabs Sunny, hoist her on a shoulder and starts up the ramp with her. Hawk follows to gain her release. Now outnumbered, Animal falls victim to a chair shot from X-Pac. Billy Gunn adds a piledriver for good measure and D-X gets the win. Kane and Paul Bearer have been busy, though not too busy, as it's taken the entire time spent during the above match just to unload two caskets from the hearse. Two worm-covered pine boxes, undoubtedly holding the mortal remains of the Undertaker's parents. - The caskets have been set up on a tarp on the stage. As Paul Bearer taunts the Undertaker, Kane pours gasoline on one of the caskets. The lights go out and the Undertaker appears from the crowd. He warns Bearer not to set fire to the casket, but Paul does. The Undertaker charges toward him, but is intercepted by a hand to the throat by Kane. Kane chokeslams the Undertaker into the other casket as the first one burns nearby. The Undertaker has the presence of mind to adjust his shirt so that his belly isn't showing, just before lapsing into unconsciousness. We're treated to several grisly shots of bones within the remains of the shattered casket. - Vince McMahon comes out to watch the main event. - STEVE BLACKMAN vs. DUDE LOVE Blackman does his lightsaber routine before the match. McMahon, when asked about the conspiracy between he and Dude Love, turns it around by accusing Dude and Austin being part of a conspiracy (they being former tag team partners and all). McMahon then says he'll be at ringside for some of the matches at "Unforgiven", and further promises that the fans will see a "catastrophe", or their money back. A catastrophe? Like an EARTHQUAKE? The match just sort of ambles on until Dude Love applies an Abdominal Stretch. Suddenly the bell rings. Jim Ross asks what's going on. McMahon offers the opinion that Blackman must have submitted. Blackman yells at the referee, then goes to the floor to confront the time keeper. Not coming up with an answer for him, Blackman tosses the time keeper to the floor. McMahon gets up to check on the time keeper, chastising Blackman for losing his cool. In comes Steve Austin. Austin catches Dude Love in the ring with a clothesline, passes on through to the other side, grabs McMahon and throws him to the ground. He adds a few stomps for good measure. He grabs a chair, but is tackled by Dude Love. McMahon, meanwhile, has entered the ring. Taking off his coat he throws it to the canvas and generally indicates he wants a piece of Austin. Jerry Brisco and Pat Patterson enter the ring at about the same time as Austin. Austin lays both men out with Stunners. McMahon drops to the floor, throws a final disparaging comment at Austin (who had just been taken down from behind by Dude Love), and begins to walk out of the arena. Jim Ross exclaims "is Vince McMahon gonnna screw Steve Austin out of the title at 'Unforgiven'?!" Austin heads up the ramp after McMahon as the show ends. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: A lot like last week's show, minus the big finish. They again seemed to promise a lot, but paid off on very little of it. Here's the line-up for the PPV: * Steve Austin vs. Dude Love. World Title Match. * Kane vs. Undertaker. "Inferno Match". * Helmsley vs. Owen Hart. Chyna locked in a suspended cage. * LOD 200 vs. the New Age Outlaws. Tag Title Match. * Faarooq, Shamrock & Blackman vs. the Nation of Domination. * Sable vs. Luna. "Evening Gown Match". * Jeff Jarrett to sing with Sawyer Brown. I'm guessing there'll be at least one more match, though I'm not necessarily assuming so. This is really a mixed PPV on paper. I myself will probably only see it because it's my birthday on Friday and my brother says he's getting the PPV as my present. I'm going to forego mentioning the usual slate of rumors which have popped up regarding surprises on the show. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Ratings ... WCW Monday Nitro: Hour One: 5.2 Hour Two: 5.0 Hour Three: 5.1 Composite Score: 5.1 Final Quarter Hour: 6.5 (New Record) WWF RAW is WAR: Hour One: 4.3 Hour Two: 4.4 Composite: 4.4 Final Quarter Hour: 3.6 Combined rating for last fifteen minutes of both shows: 10.1 (New Record) As expected, the live Nitro versus the taped RAW won the ratings this week. Nitro, having hyped the show for the entire week before, as well as throughout the PPV the night before, managed to improve their ratings by eight-tenths of a full ratings point. RAW, delivering a sub-par taped show only dropped two-tenths of a point from last week. This is a huge win for WCW, but one that comes at a tremendous cost in certain respects. After all, they can't keep having the World Title change hands, Bill Goldberg win his "first" title, or have Bret Hart turn heel every week now, can they? They did literally everything they could and while it got them the win (something they were able to do easily for 83 straight head-to-head encounters before this), they only lowered RAW's ratings by two-tenths of a point. With Nitro now going on something of a ratings killing hiatus for the next four weeks, I doubt the WWF is all that upset about not winning this week. [Ratings courtesy 1Wrestling.com.] WCW has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Ric Flair for his no-showing upwards of five straight events he was scheduled to appear at. Rumors still persist that this may all be some kind of elaborate work. If so, I don't see what purpose it serves. How will WCW get any money out of it? How will they generate any fan interest since they haven't mentioned it on TV? The only fans who are even aware of this is that still small portion of fans who get "inside" information via the Internet or hotlines. Just as a generous estimate, there's maybe 100,000 wrestling fans who actually have such access and use it on a regular basis. That's only about half as many fans as there are those who buy wrestling PPV's, and is less than a 20th or 30th of the total number of fans who watch it on TV. This week from 10:45 PM Eastern to 11:00 PM there were over SEVEN MILLION viewers combined for both RAW and Nitro. Even if we went way overboard and suggested that there were a million wrestling fans who have regular access to "inside" info, that would still only constitute one seventh of all the people who watched wrestling at its peak this week. Does it make sense to run an angle which only serves to make you look bad and make the WWF look good: all to fool--generous estimate here--less than ten percent of all the fans? Many fans who are aware of this situation--perhaps most of these fans--are fairly upset with WCW. The fans who just watch on TV, on the other hand, have to be wondering where Flair is and if he will show up on RAW soon. And how do they come up with "$2 million" in regards to their lawsuit. They can't possibly be claiming Flair's absence cost them that much money, can they? $2 million is almost exactly what Flair was supposed to be paid by WCW over the next three years. Could a lawsuit for this amount essentially be a sign that Flair's affiliation with WCW has all but officially come to an end? I just can't see them winning a lawsuit for that amount AND still have Flair locked up under contract. Then the WWF comes along and complicates the story by mentioning Flair in relation to their PPV this Sunday. Obviously in all likelihood the WWF is just using this Flair situation to generate a few extra buys by dropping his name, thus starting the rumor that he's on the verge of making the jump: possibly at the PPV itself. I give it zero chance of happening myself, but the rumor is now out there and is making the rounds. The WWF shouldn't be commended for fueling the rumor, but WCW also deserves a lot of blame for stupidly allowing the situation to exist in the first place. Wouldn't it be interesting, though, if Flair and the WWF have come to some kind of clandestine agreement, and that the WWF feels they may be able to bring him in--regardless of any lawsuits floating around out there. If one accepts the notion that WCW winning the lawsuit would mean Flair was gone from the company, then the WWF agreeing to pay Flair a couple of million to pay off the lawsuit, as well as a few more million for his services over the next few years, well ... lets just say the WWF might be getting Flair relatively cheap. Of course this opens up a whole can of worms in terms of future litigation battles with WCW, not the least of which would be an accusation of collusion and/or tampering with a contract. Please don't take any of this as any kind of serious speculation: merely hypothetical musing. What makes all this so difficult to speculate on is what exactly is contained in the "letter of intent" Flair signed with WCW. No one besides Flair, his agent and WCW have any idea what this document says. It's wholly possible that Flair is locked up in WCW until 2001 under ironclad terms. It's also a possibility that the wording is such that Flair might have some kind of an out--or at least a set of terms not as explicitly lined out as would be in a standard contract of employment. Without knowing what Flair's obligations to WCW are/were, and what WCW's obligations to Flair are/were, as outlined by this letter, there's simply no speculation which can be either accurate--or out of the bounds of reason. We're all in the dark on this one. All that's known for sure is that Flair no-showed some events and WCW filed the lawsuit in court last Friday. No matter what the outcome, this whole situation is shaping up to deliver WCW one big black eye from a public relations standpoint. Barring a reconciliation between the two sides (which still doesn't seem to be out of the question), it looks like we won't be seeing Ric Flair for a long time. In laying the blame for this situation, most fingers are pointing squarely at one person: Eric Bischoff. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Winner: Nitro. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 127 of the "Monday Night Recap", April 20th, 1998.