Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #137
June 29th, 1998
WCW Monday Nitro:
Live/Taped: Live.
Length: Three Hours.
Location: Tampa, Florida.
HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko.
- Aerial footage shows Karl Malone's semi tractor-trailer crawling its way
along the highway, escorted by several police cars. It will eventually
reach the arena at some point in the evening. As the Nitro Girls do a
number Tony Schiavone reminds us that Malone and Diamond Dallas Page
have a huge surprise for "Hollywood" Hogan and Dennis Rodman. Mike Tenay
mentions the surprise as Larry Zbyszko makes his usual bow to the crowd.
Schiavone says they supposedly have something in the back of the truck.
- "Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews "Mean" Kevin Greene. Greene talks about
his upcoming match with he and Goldberg against the Giant and Curt
Hennig.
- KANYON vs. HORACE (w/ Lodi)
Horace brings a stop sign with him again. Kanyon does some interesting
moves, but that's about the only thing of note in this match. They do a
few spots with the stop sign which didn't amount to much. Kanyon wins
with the Flatliner, only to suffer a post-match beating at the hands of
Raven and the rest of the Flock. Kanyon managed to nail to each Flock
member as they ran in, though Kidman was the only one who sold it more
than five seconds. Raven tells Kanyon that he's foolish to make a go of
it on his own, giving him a DDT for good measure.
Wait a minute ... didn't Kanyon, when he was Mortis, ask to join the
Flock? Didn't Raven then kick his ass, denying him a spot in the group?
So what is Raven now griping about? Does he or doesn't he want him in
the Flock? If not, isn't he then basically telling Kanyon to get some
help, outnumber the Flock and kick their asses? Does it make sense to
encourage your enemy to kick your own ass, not to mention telling him
the best way to go about doing it? They're playing this angle as if
Raven asked Kanyon to join the Flock and Kanyon refused. Am I missing
something here?
During the following commercial break TNT runs an ad hyping Rodman and
Malone, who will be on Nitro next week. I hope WCW wasn't planning that
as a surprise or something. The commercial would be repeated throughout
the evening.
- They replay the telephone interview with DDP from Thunder last
Wednesday. Quoting DDP: "We're bringing in something a little special."
DDP added that the eighteen wheeler "ain't got nothing but chairs in
it." Tenay asks Schiavone what he thinks DDP and Malone's surprise is?
Another aerial shot updates the trucks progress (although they never
actually bother to tell us how far away the truck is).
Cut to Hogan and the entire NWO (minus Dennis Rodman). Everyone is
wielding crowbars, tire irons, pipes, chains--all in preparation of
vandalizing Malone's truck when it arrives. This footage should make
good evidence in the upcoming trial, I would think.
- "Mean" Gene interviews Stevie Ray, who challenges Chris Benoit and Steve
"Mongo" McMichael to a tag team match later in the night against he and
his brother Booker T.
- LITTLE DRAGON vs. EDDIE GUERRERO
The Dragon looks like something midway between a Mexican mini and the
kid you'd hire to mow your lawn. He's apparently a student of the Ultimo
Dragon. Eddie controls most all of this match until, as has happened the
last few weeks, Chavo Guerrero comes out and distracts him. The Little
Dragon rolls Eddie up from behind for the upset win. Chavo really makes
a fool of himself this time out by talking to a toy horse head on a
stick. Does it make sense to rip off the WWF's lamest angle?
Backstage Chris Jericho can be seen making an offer to Ultimo Dragon: if
the Dragon beats Dean Malenko tonight he will get a Cruiserweight Title
shot on Thursday. The Dragon apparently agrees.
- Nitro Girls. Nitro Party Video.
- JUDO SUWA/SUMO FUJI vs. THE GIANT (w/ Curt Hennig & Rick Rude)
Squash. The Giant beats both men with a double chokeslam in this special
handicap match, which lasted all of 30 seconds. Baseball player Wade
Boggs is shown in the crowd before the match. Afterwards Hennig gets on
the mic and insults everyone in the crowd except Boggs, who they had
greeted on the way out. Hennig also badmouths Kevin Greene and Goldberg.
Greene and Goldberg come out, chasing Hennig, the Giant and Rude from
the ring.
Going to the break they play pretaped comments from a fan about DDP.
They had also done this before an earlier commercial, which I forgot to
mention above.
- Eric Bischoff and "Hollywood" Hogan come out. Hogan does an interview
which clocks in at almost five minutes of continuous talking (without
actually saying anything). Hogan, in essence, plays dumb by insisting
that Malone wants no part of he and Rodman and will never step into the
ring against them. Are we fans supposed to be dumb enough to have doubts
about the match taking place? Once again Hogan seems to be on a separate
page from everyone else, working on establishing plot points which are
already cast into stone in the minds of the fans.
Another look at the truck somewhere in America. Schiavone says it's
almost there and promises that Malone's entry into the building is mere
moments away.
HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Zbyszko.
- THE BRITISH BULLDOG/JIM "THE ANVIL" NEIDHART vs. STING/LEX LUGER
So what exactly is wrong with Kevin Nash right now that he can't
wrestle? WCW swerved all the "experts" (i.e. their loyal, diehard fans)
by having Sting chose Nash as his partner instead of Luger. Ever since
then Nash has dropped out of sight and Luger has been his partner. This
match is non-title, though.
Malone and DDP are just moments away, says Schiavone. Zbyszko mulls over
what could possibly be in the back of the semi.
Tons of stalling early in the match as Luger and the Bulldog compare
physiques.
Malone and DDP are inching their way towards the arena, according to
Schiavone. They are expected to arrive any second now.
Short, plodding match. Luger reacts to the first blow he takes like he's
been going at it for an hour. He takes a beating until he and the Anvil
do a double clothesline, which they botch. Somewhere in the crowd that
Nelson kid from "The Simpsons" can be heard yelling "Hah-hah!" Luger
tags Sting in and he manages to put the Bulldog away with a Death Drop a
few moments later.
DDP and Malone are now just "making their way to the arena".
Fan comments.
- SATURN vs. REESE (w/ Lodi)
Saturn gets the quick win with an impressive Death Valley Driver. He
then gets his ass kicked by Raven and the Flock. Almost identical to the
post-match beating of Kanyon above, down to the speech and DDT, only in
this speech he blames Saturn for ruining their relationship.
- They replay the beating Hennig, Rude and the Giant laid on Kevin Greene
last week. This is followed by more aerial footage of the DDP/Malone
convoy. They will arrive "in another few moments".
- Nitro Girls. Bobby Heenan replaces Larry Zbyszko.
- EL VAMPIRO vs. BRAD ARMSTRONG
AKA "Vampiro Canadiense" ("Canadian Vampire") in Mexico. He's another
one of those indy circuit legends like Sabu and Reckless Youth who's
just been waiting for their big break. I guess this is it for Vampiro,
who wins in quick and impressive fashion with a Michinoku Driver (dubbed
"look at that!" by Schiavone. Tenay says Vampiro calls it "The Nail in
the Coffin".)
- Special video promo hyping the big PPV match.
- For some reason there's a band playing in the open are by the entryway.
An on-screen graphic informs us that "NWO Late Hour still to come".
- TOKOYO MAGNUM/SHIIMA NOBUNAGA vs. ALEX WRIGHT/DISCO INFERNO
A fast-paced match which has the unfortunate distinction of featuring my
two least favorite WCW stars. I'll tag this one as a good match, but one
which I didn't care about in the least. Wright gets the pin. He and
Disco then argue over whose music should be played. The sound techs
compromise and play a mix of both.
More pretaped fan comments. It's during this that it strikes me how much
WCW has become geared towards children. I mean I guess I always knew
this, but this clip really drove it home.
- DEAN MALENKO vs. ULTIMO DRAGON
Good match, but again WCW failed to make me care. Just as the match hits
a fast stride and looks to be quite good, Jericho comes out and makes a
reference about Malenko's deceased father. Dean runs from the ring after
Jericho. The camera suddenly swings away as they begin to break to a
commercial! At the last split second the bell rings and Schiavone lets
us know that the Dragon wins by way of countout. How am I supposed to
care when the production people aren't even watching what's going on?
HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
- They play a clip of the talk between Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit last
week.
- CHRIS BENOIT/STEVE "MONGO" MCMICHAEL vs. HARLEM HEAT
This being a Benoit match they take a commercial, though at least they
do it during the ring introductions. As you'd expect this one was only
good when Benoit and Booker T. were in together. Late in the match
Benoit gets knocked to the floor. Bret Hart then runs out and nails
Booker T. with a chair. Mongo covers and gets the pin. I know there's an
angle here somewhere ... I just hope WCW lets us know when they find it.
- Jericho is arguing with Ultimo Dragon in the lockerroom. Looks like he's
trying to weasel out of the deal he made. Dean Malenko suddenly runs in
and beats the crap out of both of them.
- Malone's truck is wending its way through the streets of Tampa.
- The band has fired it up and are playing as Bischoff and Elizabeth come
out. Bischoff makes his way over to a TV talk show type set. He and the
band leader banter back-and-forth a bit. This is the debut edition of
"NWO Late Night". I really don't want to talk about this. Bischoff
interviews Scott Steiner. They talk about how perfect Steiner is. They
mention an upcoming movie project Steiner has. Steiner says he has a
co-star who is as genetically perfect as he is. Bischoff asks who it is,
but all Steiner will reveal is that he'll bring him to next week's
installment of this (horrible) new talk show. In the land of dumb,
Bischoff is the new king. Seriously, this was just as bad as the last
two week's worth of Steiner interviews done by Bischoff, only made worse
by the addition of a set and house band. It reminded me of those
infomercials which try to trick you into think you're watching a talk
show. I guess we're supposed to think that Steiner's co-star is the
Ultimate Warrior. I almost hope it is, as it would be among the
stupidest ways to ever introduce a wrestler into WCW. I'm actually
betting Steiner brings out a cardboard cut-out of himself. Or Hogan.
- "Mean" Gene interviews Booker T., who challenges Bret Hart to a match.
This cheeses off Stevie Ray. Hart comes out and just like that the PPV
has another match: Booker T. vs. Stevie Ray for the TV Title. Hart, who
is definitely not a racist (according to him), makes fun of the way
Booker T. talks.
- Hogan is in the back with Bischoff and he's pissed that Malone and DDP
haven't shown up yet. He then does a 180 and gets happy, having come up
with some kind of diabolical plan which doesn't involve Malone and DDP.
Or something.
- Nitro Girls.
- GOLDBERG vs. GLACIER.
Win #10-whatever. In the few minutes this match lasts Schiavone tells us
a dozen times that Malone's truck is almost there.
- Hogan and Bischoff come out. They begin ragging on Malone and DDP for
not showing up.
Cut to the parking lot, where the dozen or so members of the NWO have
assembled with their weapons. As the truck slows to a stop they suddenly
lose their nerve and run away! Out climbs DDP and Malone, each carrying
steel chairs. The two make their way into the building, eventually
reaching the ring. They come in behind Hogan and Bischoff, getting their
attention by smashing their two chairs together. Hogan hides behind
Bischoff, then pushes him into DDP. Page sends Bischoff to the floor.
The two then drop their chairs and Malone taunts Hogan, challenging him
to attack. Drink cups and other assorted garbage starts to fill the
ring, tossed there by the fans. Hogan charges, but is caught in a half
nelson sort of maneuver by Malone. Hogan stands there, paralyzed with
fear. Since he isn't trying to escape it's easy for Malone to bodyslam
him. He follows this up with a pair of clotheslines--the second of which
sends Hogan to the floor. The rest of the NWO finally shows up to
console Hogan. DDP and Malone close out the show on the mic, challenging
Hogan and Dennis Rodman to show up next week at the big Nitro Georgia
Dome show in Atlanta.
- This Thursday: Jericho vs. Ultimo Dragon.
- Next week: Malone & Rodman in the house.
Comments:
So ... what was DDP and Malone's surprise? Malone challenging Hogan?! Maybe
I'm just being overly cynical and nitpicky here, but I usually take a
"surprise" to mean something tangible: an object or person. I mean we all
knew they were coming, that they were in the semi, that they would have
steel chairs with them, and that they would come into the arena. Doesn't it
then follow that *something* of a physical nature might occur between the
two parties? This was like inviting your grandma to your birthday party,
getting a hug from her as she came in the door, then finding out that your
birthday present was the hug. Clearly the whole promise of a "surprise" was
just a ploy to get viewers to turn in, which is especially annoying given
that the confrontation between Hogan and Malone was, by default, a very
notable occurrence. All WCW had to do was outline that the two would be in
the building together, eventually in the ring together at the same time,
and that something could happen. Instead WCW hypes a big "surprise" which
never manifests itself. Here's a couple other questions which came to mind
as the whole saga played itself out:
* How is it that they timed their trip on the highway in such a way so
that they would pull up at the arena with just enough time left before
Nitro went off the air? One traffic jam--police escort not
withstanding--and they'd have shown up too late.
* Did DDP and Malone drive all the way from Utah with those steel chairs
on their laps? Why not keep them in the back, or, better yet, just grab
two chairs as they entered the arena?
* Why all the talk about a truck "full" of chairs when all they really had
was two?
* Why any chairs at all? Why not baseball bats? Was the chair attack on
DDP so brutal that it required their carrying chairs as a symbolic form
of retribution?
* Why didn't they hit Hogan with either of the chairs when they had the
chance?
* Did the NWO members trash the truck after DDP and Malone passed by? If
not, what were they doing then that it took them so long to get to the
ring?
* Where was Rodman?
* Where was WCW security?
* Why didn't the police come in, or at least do something about the
weapon-wielding gang of thugs who were assembled to greet the arrival of
the truck?
I could go on, but I think you all see my point. This was all just an empty
grandstand show to artificially hype the drama of the upcoming PPV match
without actually doing much of anything. For 2 hours and 50 minutes we were
treated to repeated progress reports on the semi. Aerial footage was shown.
In the end what did we see? A truck parking. No fight with the NWO, nothing
done with the truck ... just plain nothing. What followed was a commonplace
in-ring confrontation: one which was had nothing to do with the hype
generated by the lengthy arrival preceding it. As I noted above, it wasn't
enough for WCW to just hype the fact that the two sides would be squaring
off in the ring tonight. No, they had to tease it and draw it out, making
the obvious end confrontation seem secondary to all manner of things
promised, both through insinuation and outright announcement. WCW could
have said right from the start that the two were there, or would soon be
there. They could then come out late in the show, confront Hogan, etc. A
bit simple perhaps, but it's essentially what we ended up seeing here
anyway. In an era where everything we see is "about ratings", this was the
most blatant example of it.
Malone did not look good wrestling. The bodyslam was, well ... a bodyslam.
Hard to screw that up if the opponents assists, which Hogan did. The
clotheslines, though, were terrible. I haven't seen a clothesline thrown
that bad since Philadelphia Eagle Reggie White wrestled for WCW. Malone
employed the "stick-my-arm-straight-out-and-hit-them-in-the-chest" method.
Some good wrestling aside I'd be hesitant to actually call any of the
matches themselves that "good". This was one of those shows where the bad
stuff totally killed my enthusiasm, making it impossible for me to enjoy
what few good matches they did offer. Even though they squeezed in ten
matches the total wrestling time still seemed low, and there was again much
too much talking. What totally pushed this show over the edge, though, was
the non-stop, incessant hype over the pending arrival of DDP and Malone. By
the 90 minute mark I was flat-out sick of it and lost any objectivity I
might have about the show this week. Again I admit there was some good
matches, but I'd be lying to suggest they occupied me or entertained me in
the least. I can't think of any edition of Nitro in recent memory which
made me this hateful of WCW--or more specifically, Tony Schiavone, Eric
Bischoff, and the way WCW hypes its PPV's.
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WWF RAW is WAR:
Live/Taped: Live.
Length: Two Hours+.
Location: Cleveland, Ohio.
WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler.
- King of the Ring ... the Encore ... only on Pay-Per-View.
- Jerry Lawler will do color commentary for the entire show. No reason is
given why.
- Vince McMahon, Jerry Brisco and Commissioner Slaughter make their way to
the ring. Waiting in the ring is a red carpet and Plexiglas enclosed
case bearing the WWF Title belt. McMahon makes a speech about how a new
era has dawned in the WWF: how the days of "hand gestures", "foul
language" and "beer swilling" are over. McMahon says the new champion
has never sworn, never drank alcohol, and only raises his hand to salute
the American flag. McMahon introduces Kane, who then comes out with Paul
Bearer. Bearer retells the story of how Kane used to watch WWF
Superstars and wanted to be a wrestler. McMahon says that today Kane has
moved out of the shadow of the Undertaker, and that it would be his
honor to place the World Title belt around Kane's waist. As he's
strapping it on Steve's Austin's signature glass break is heard and out
he comes. Austin, in the ring, says that Kane never made him bleed--the
Undertaker did--and that Kane shouldn't be the champion. Austin demands
a rematch for the Title. McMahon says it's okay with him, but it's up to
Paul Bearer. Bearer, after much gulping and eye bugging, says it's okay
with him, so long as it's okay with Kane. Austin taunts Kane, telling
him the Undertaker won the belt for him. Kane finally signals his
agreement by shaking his head yes. The crowd goes wild.
- Darren Drosdov comes to the ring for the next match. Then Sable, who
looks to be a few breast sizes SMALLER than she was two weeks ago, hits
the ring as well. Sable introduces Drosdov's opponent: Steven Regal.
Sable sits in for guest commentary. Ross stands when she sits down.
Lawler says he can't stand ... up ... just ... yet.
- DARREN DROSDOV vs. STEVEN REGAL
Less-than-stellar WWF debut for Regal. His theme music stinks, and is a
complete mismatch to his character. The match itself is strictly down-
on-the-mat stuff. Regal gets the win with a half nelson/leg grapevine
move which probably has a name that I'm unaware of.
- Ken Shamrock delivers a speech about how important winning the King of
the Ring is to him. He credits Rocky Maivia with being a warrior that he
respects, though says the feud between the two is far from over. He's
interrupted by Owen Hart, who claims he's a better King of the Ring than
he and challenges him to a match. Hunter Hearst Helmsley then comes out
and says if there's to be a match between former King of the Ring
winners, then he has to be a part of it. Put 'em down for a "King of
Kings Triple Threat Match" for later in the show.
- Steve Blackman is shown warming up in the back for his match. He will
compete in a new tournament division in the WWF called the "Brawl for
All". Three one minute rounds ... five points for the fighter who
delivers the most hits in a round ... five points for a wrestling
takedown ... ten points for a knockdown ... a knockout scores an
automatic win. The ring is done up like a boxing ring, while the
fighters wear boxing gloves. Wrestling legend Danny Hodge is the
referee.
What a goofy idea.
The only real plus here is that at its worst the match will only be
three minutes long.
- STEVE BLACKMAN vs. "MARVELOUS" MARC MERO
The three rounds pretty much fly by, with Blackman doing several
wrestling takedowns. Mero apparently earns no points, and Blackman is
declared the winner when it's done. I might have been more interested if
they'd actually shown punch stats, point totals, etc. Not much crowd
noise, other than some boo-ing
- Kevin Kelly is in the back looking for Kane. After the break Kane, who
is in his dressing room with Paul Bearer and Mankind, tells Kelly that
he gave Austin the rematch because he's a better champion than the
Undertaker ever was. Kane lumbers off, with an upset Paul Bearer in tow.
Mankind gives Kelly a reassuring pat on the back, letting him know
everything's okay.
- VAL VENIS vs. DICK TOGO (w/ Yamaguchi-san)
Venis takes a long look as Yamaguchi's pretty wife, who is sitting at
ringside. In the ring he makes a joke about his bat and balls. Dustin
Runnels then shows up and talks to Ross and Lawler about spreading the
word of God. Dustin feels RAW is the perfect vehicle by which to spread
the gospel. Lawler bemoans the fact that he had all this great material
about Venis fighting a guy named "Dick" and that he wasn't able to use
it because of Dustin. Great, so he's not just religious, he's a
religious nut?
Venis gets the fairly quick and easy win, scoring the pin following the
Money Shot. Venis then confronts Yamaguchi's wife at ringside, swiveling
his hips in her face. Wally takes offense to this and slaps Venis. Venis
knocks him down, while being attacked from behind by the members of
Kaientai. Val waffles all tree with a chair. I have no idea what the
point off all this was. Tune in next week, I guess. Shades of Jake and
Cheryl Roberts.
The Edge is shown watching the card from the upper deck. They then show
Austin getting ready for his match. After the break Michael Cole gets a
few brief comments from him.
WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.
- HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (w/ Chyna) vs. OWEN HART vs. KEN SHAMROCK
All three men are in the ring at the same time. Helmsley seems to suffer
from that Benoit curse as many of his matches have commercial breaks in
them. This one is no exception. Good match, though a bit messy due to
the format. Non-stop action leading up to the break. During the break
they do a chain sleeperhold, with Owen--on the bottom--dropping to his
knees, causing the other two to smash their jaws. Late in the match
there are a number of close pin attempts and submissions applied, only
to have the third man break it to prevent the win. Late in the match the
ring bell is inadvertently rung. The match goes on, with everyone
ignoring it (Ross saying it must have been accidental). The crowd,
meanwhile, had been reacting as if something was happening over by the
time keeper. Fan run in? (My brother thought it was an Al Snow
appearance because some fans were waving their Styrofoam Heads).
Helmsley is eventually removed from the equation when Owen knocks him to
the floor. He then goes into the ropes, but Chyna yanks the top rope
down. Owen tumbles to the floor. Shamrock goes out after him. With the
ref watching this he misses Rocky Maivia running out to nail Helmsley
with his Intercontinental Title belt. Shamrock knocks Owen off the
apron, sees the unconscious Helmsley and covers for the pin. Rocky, up
on the stage, is jumped from behind by the rest of D-X. The other Nation
members come out as well. Owen, down in the ring, keeps working over
Shamrock's bad ankle. After the ring finally clears the lights dim,
signaling the impending arrival of the Undertaker.
- Michael Cole conducts the interview in the ring. The Undertaker explains
that he helped out Kane at the PPV because he could never stand to see
his little brother have to set himself on fire. He won't allow Kane to
destroy himself just to emulate him. When Cole points out that this
caused Steve Austin to lose the Title the Undertaker says he did what he
had to do.
Vince McMahon then comes out. He essentially accuses the Undertaker of
lying, saying he did what he did because he knows he can beat Kane,
while he's afraid he can't beat Austin. McMahon warns him not to
interfere in the title match tonight.
- Bradshaw is shown warming up for his "Brawl for All" division match.
- BRADSHAW vs. MARK CANTERBURY
AKA Henry Godwinn. As I noted above, at least these are short. You know
there's trouble when the fans start chanting "Goldberg!" A lot of sloppy
punches ... a few takedowns ... and in the end Bradshaw is declared the
winner.
Nine weeks to SummerSlam, according to a quick graphic. AC/DC's "Highway
to Hell" accompanies it, which is also the subtitle of the PPV.
- The Edge still looks on. Shouldn't he be in the ring?
- LOD 2000 make their way to the ring (minus Sunny, who is "under the
weather" according to Ross). Once there the LOD reveal the big surprise
that had been promised earlier in the day: their old manager, "Precious"
Paul Ellering. (My brother predicted this several hours earlier.) Hawk
gives Paul a big build-up. (I then predict what comes next.) Before
Ellering can speak, though, the DOA ride their motorcycles to ringside.
Ellering then introduces his new team: the DOA! he, Skull and Eight-Ball
take out the LOD, stomping them like dogs. My brother and I congratulate
each other on our prognostication skills (which completely abandoned us
the night before at the PPV. We both only got the same three matches
right: the KOTR tournament matches).
- The Undertaker, when asked about McMahon's warning, tells Kevin Kelley
that no one tells him what to do.
- "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN vs. KANE (w/ Paul Bearer)
A fairly good match. Austin dominates at first, knocking Kane around in
and out of the ring. Austin tries to focus on Kane's leg, but that
doesn't seem to do much. Kane then takes control, wearing Austin down.
Partway through the match the Undertaker comes out and watches from
ringside. The action spills in and out of the ring. Everything
culminates in a nice finish sequence where Kane chokeslams Austin, tries
Tombstone him, Austin escapes, kicks Kane in the gut, goes for the
Stunner, Kane pushes him away, Austin ducks a big boot, hits another
kick and applies the Stone Cold Stunner. Austin covers for three,
regaining the World Heavyweight Title!
The Undertaker then enters the ring. He and Austin glare at each other.
The Undertaker is momentarily distracted by Paul Bearer, who grabs his
boot. This allows Austin an opening to deliver the gut kick and Stunner,
leaving both brothers laid out on the mat. He leaves the ring, stopping
long enough on the ramp to celebrate and flip the two brothers off after
they both do the zombie sit-up at the same time.
- Next week: Nothing announced.
Comments:
An okay show, though I was actually somewhat disappointed. Only two of the
matches were all that good. The WWF booked the easy way out, basically
putting things back the way they were before the PPV. The quickie title
swap hurts a little of the overall historical meaning of the PPV.
The rest of the show was something of a mess. Everything not involving
Austin and the Undertaker seemed to carom off in new directions. Change is
sometimes nice, but here it seemed like they were trying to do too much at
once. Regal's debut ... the "Brawl for All" division ... the Val Venis
match ... the return of Ellering ... none of these really packed the
"oomph" they should have. There were also some loose ties and things left
up in the air. The Edge, while being shown in the crowd, didn't wrestle.
They didn't focus on the absence of Mankind, even though he had been shown
in the lockerroom. The mystery bell wasn't really explained. No Al Snow.
Overall it was a very unpredictable show, which unfortunately took it away
from the comfortable pattern it had been in the last several weeks. I'll
have to see what they do next week to sort some of these new directions
out. There's some potentially interesting things lined up, but also some
things that could be huge flops (the "Brawl for All" and the "new" Dustin
Rhodes coming to mind). We're also presented with a situation where for the
first time in months there's nothing set up next week concerning Austin and
the Title. That interrupts a storyline which had been flowing along nicely
ever since WrestleMania. An unpredictable show next week might prove a
compelling alternative to Nitro if things are business as usual there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bottom Line:
Next week is the big Georgia Dome show for WCW. Next to nothing has been
officially announced by WCW, and very little has been leaked "off the
record". They should get a crowd of somewhere around 35,000, and do their
largest gate in WCW history, but that's about all we know for sure. Hogan
is supposed to face Goldberg, but that is, by all accounts, a dark match
which won't be televised. Malone and Rodman will be there, as was revealed
by the TNT promos. Anything else we've heard are strictly rumors: some
possibly invented by WCW, while many look to be simply fan speculation
blown out of proportion. Here's a quick checklist of what we're "supposed"
to see next week:
* The return of Rey Mysterio, Jr.
* The return of Scott Hall.
* The return of Buff Bagwell.
* The return of Ric Flair.
* The formation of the new 4 Horsemen.
* Hogan vs. Goldberg.
* The WCW debut of the Ultimate Warrior.
Needless to say the odds of all the above happening are next to zero, and
I myself would only give the first two rumors listed any serious chance of
happening at all. This is the show which the Internet fans have been
working themselves into a frenzy for three months now. We'll just have to
wait and see if WCW can possibly live up to that hype. This will also be
the first show following TNT's switching to a tape delayed feed on the West
Coast, which could affect the ratings. WCW should win the ratings next
week, though if they lose by a sizable margin this week then I'd have to
say that it should be pretty close next week.
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This Week's Winner: RAW.
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"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
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Volume One, Number 137 of the "Monday Night Recap", June 29th, 1998.