WCW Monday Nitro 8/17/98
They make a big point about being the only live wrestling show that night.
Hogan, Bischoff, Beefcake, and Giant come to the ring. Does Warrior show up in the first segment? That'd be pretty great. Hogan is done with all the prelim guys like DDP and is calling out Goldberg. But then he says Giant will handle it. No Warrior sightings yet, but Hulk does say he's beaten everyone and has nothing to prove.
TO THE MEAN GENE. JoJo is the guest. Here it is announced that War Games will be 3 teams fighting each other this year. JoJo announces the team captains: DDP, Hogan, and Nash. This War Games really should be Hollywood vs Wolfpac, with the losers having to disband or something. Some kind of blow off or stakes of any kind to their feud. But instead, it's a 9 man, 3 team match with the person to win the match getting a title shot at Goldberg. So it might as well be every man for themselves.
Sick Boy vs Steve McMichael
Sick Boy gets the jobber entrance. He hits a drop toe hold and a rope stunner. Who knows why these guys need a rematch, but here we are. Sick Boy whiffs on a dropkick. Mongo goes flying anyway. Sick Boy hits some kind of suplex/slam something. No idea. Looked like shit. Mongo hits the tombstone for the win.
TO THE MEAN GENE. DDP is in the ring and is JACKED. DDP is talking about this guy that he had to fly out West for. DDP has this plan to screw with Hogan and this cat beat Hogan once upon a time. 0-1 against this guy. This guy is going to be on his team for War Games, but he won't reveal who it is. He starts talking about Bret Hart, who then comes out. Bret is tired of DDP making excuses and saying he slipped on a banana peel. Bret lists the people he's put out of action and DDP better think real hard about what he's getting himself into. DDP vs Bret will happen tonight! For real, Bret was doing really good promo work. Maybe even better than the USA vs Canada stuff.
TO THE MEAN GENE. Raven is the guest this time. Horace also comes out. He says that Raven makes him sick. He wants Raven one more time. Is this dude Christian? Raven agrees, but under Raven's rules, which means a tag match. Raven/Saturn vs Horace/Kanyon. Both men come out, along with JoJo. JoJo agrees to the match. But if anyone causes their partner to lose, they will be suspended for 90 days and pinfalls/submissions are the only way to win.
High Voltage vs Dancing Fools
Alex Wright is smooth as fuck. He's not even 40. WWE should bring him in on a Euro tour. Tony goes IN on Raw, saying that WCW won't put on a 10 second main event like the other taped show tonight and that they deliver on what they promote. I guess. Except the vast majority of WCW TV main events are 4 minutes long and end in a DQ and there have been a number of shows where the main event didn't happen at all. Meng comes out and lays everyone out. What are they building to here? He already lost to Goldberg, so it can't be to that. Is the idea that someone will be man enough to stop Meng? If that's the case, no one has that kind of build yet. Meng no sells pepper spray.
Eddie Guerrero comes out with his luggage and says this is an unscheduled interview and if the production truck cuts to a commercial, he'll go say what he needs to say on a different show. He's sick of the way that Bischoff treats him after all the hard work he does for WCW. "You've got a lot of young talent in WCW, and all you do is hold us down." Eddie dropping pipe bombs. "I come to work with my heart and all you do is step on it." That felt legit. He looked so sad when he said that. He wants other people who feels the same way as him to come out and say what they need to say. He has two reasons why he hasn't said this earlier or quit and that's Chavo and his family at home. He wants out of his contract and tells Bischoff he can take this job and shove it. The OG pipebomb.
Raven/Saturn vs Kanyon/Whoreass
Kanyon and Raven start out. Saturn quickly takes over and suplexes his opponents. He decks Kanyon on the apron and turns around into a big boot. Kanyon puts the boots to him in the corner and then hits a big back breaker. He goes up top and Raven crotches him. Raven tags himself in and hits a rolling Russian legsweep combo. Tony and Tenay said some insidery bullshit to which Tony actually said "Let's not get too inside". Saturn comes back in and chops the shit out of Kanyon. I think a fight happened somewhere in the crowd. Raven brings a chair in the ring. I think he tries to do an avalanche Kanyon Cutter, but Kanyon blocks his own patented move and does a flying facebuster instead. Horace gets tagged in and goes right after Raven. Kanyon and Horace work together fairly well and ram Raven and Saturn together. Saturn falls into Raven's giant dick. Saturn kicks out after a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo. Electric chair drop. Saturn hit hard. Whoreass accidentally hits Kanyon with the stop sign and then is hit with the DVD. Saturn and Raven win. Raven Evenflows Saturn after the match. He makes Riggs and Sick Boy pick Saturn back up. Kidman tries to stop him and gets Evenflowed. Horace then pulls Riggs/Sick Boy off to help Saturn up just to do a full nelson slam. Raven then Evenflows Horace. What the fuck. Maybe the Flock should just be in their own War Games so they can work out their shit.
The Wolfpac comes to the ring. Sting's paint looks worse than usual tonight. They don't even really say anything in their promos. They just say how they're red and black forEVA and how cool that is. That's the majority of Wolfpac promos. Nash says the black and white will end at War Games. That should be a stipulation.
The announcers talk about DDP's big surprise. Tony says that it is a SHOCKER. Is it...THE SHOCKMASTER?!?! Please let it be The Shockmaster.
Scott Norton vs Scott Putski
Norton destroys Putski. I'm sure all of these powerbombs should be building to a match with Nash, but who knows.
Hogan, Bischoff, and Beefcake come to the ring. Oh man. Getting so excited. Hulk is totally cool with War Games. He sounds really subdued. Maybe his bump wore off. Or maybe he's pouty that The Shockmaster is going to steal his thunder. "There's not a war I can't win to get my belt back, there's not a WARRIOR I can't beat" *Cue the lights going out* It's THE ULLLLLLLTTTIIIMMMMAAAAATTTTEE WARRRRRIOOORRRRRRR *SNARL* Fans are loosing their shit. Hogan's lip is quivering. This is about as loud of a crowd as you'll ever hear. Hulk gives his shirt to Warrior out of fear.
"Who holds the absolute power now, Hollywood HoKAN? Unleash that raging voice, warriors! Seems as if no formal introduction is going to be necessary. Actually, it even seems as if there are those who anticipated my arrival. *Hogan gives Warrior his nWo shirt* What is that smell? You might want to use that to clean up the mess you just made all over yourself. You need to open your eyes and ears. Take control of the limited ability you have to understand the words I am about to say. For years, I have watched while this industry, with you as its figure head, has tried to recreate what is simply unrecreatable! I have heard, listened to all the innuendos and speculations that something ULTIMATE or WARRIOR may soon reappear. Welcome to the reappearance! Those things, Hogan, which are irreplaceable whether they be people, persons, or things may never be forgotten. You are witnessing that right now. History tells us, Hogan, that..*Crowd chants Hogan Sucks*..Let's talk about something he doesn't know. History tells us, Hogan, that a man's legacy is built from the premise that within his life, the moments lived, once lived, become a piece of his history. Somehow, you have conveniently, even eloquently, misplaced pieces of your history. In the one time epical battle between us, Hogan, you were the quintessential influence of what was good, great, and heroic. But different than you may remember, and albeit you may have beaten mists(?), legends, giants, and other great men, you never, never beat a warrior. And, certainly not THE ULTIMATE ONE! As the victor of that one time battle, I defeated what was until then undefeatable. I conquered what was then unconquerable. I dominated what was until then, indomitable. On that day, you were great. I was was ULTIMATE. Let me introduce myself. To those two fools who stand behind you. Let's see. This, dude, must be your barber. (LOL) And who are you, little man? Who are you? *Bischoff explains who he is and his position in WCW* HA HA HA HA HA. Different than you want to make people believe, I never received an invitation. I showed up on my own accord. And let me tell you, Mr. Eric Bischoff, if you stick your nose in my business, you only, very quickly, prepare for your own demise. Furthermore, when I get done with my business here, I'm gonna be sending you a bill. I suggest you pay it. I have waited patiently. The warriors have waited all too patiently. Now, now the virtue of justice unties my hands so that I can continue to fulfill a destiny set in motion upon that memorable day years ago. A destiny at the next level. A destiny beckoning the next SUPER HERO. There really is no sadder sight than when a grown man fears the challenges in his life so much that he rationalizes adolescent behavior to the point where he carries out heinous and self indulgent actions. Your evilness, the evilness you embody and portray, is intolerable. I am the one that has the power to destroy you. It soars, the truth, is inexhaustible. I come here not to beat you up tonight, Hogan. Beating you means nothing anymore. Everybody already has. No no no no no, that's too easy. Because you felt guilty for being who you were. Your mind became weak and Hulkamania became boring. I come here, Hogan, to tell you next week, I intend to launch a revolution not even you can control. I ask you to find the courage, check it out, next week. Same Warrior time, same Warrior place, same Warrior channel. *SNARL*
The ring then fills with smoke, the lights go out, and Warrior is gone. "The Warrior has literally vaporized before our eyes. Fucking lol, they even have a Batsignal for Warrior. This was so weird and crazy, but the fans were SO into it. The pop for Warrior rivals anything I've ever heard. As loud as Austin at his peak, HHH's return in MSG, Punk at MITB 2011, various YES chants, Goldberg beating Hogan. Hulkamania at its peak. Anything. Then it got weird.
Curt Hennig vs Dean Malenko
Poor guys. They should have thrown cruiserweights out there after that. They go to a break as soon as the match starts. Probably because Warrior talked for about 25 minutes. After the break, this is on the floor where they're brawling. It goes back in the ring and Dean is beating the shit out of Curt. Leg lariat. Curt comes back with a hard lariattoo. Rude gets involved while the ref is distracted. Dean hits a back drop and goes back to beating the shit out of Curt. Not really any wrestling here. Perfect Plex is countered. Back suplex. Dean goes for the Cloverleaf, so it is probably about time for Rude to jump in. He does get on the apron, and Dean attacks him. Curt whips Dean into Rude's knee. Rude then does an axe handle from the apron to the floor and rolls Dean back in. Perfect Plex for the win.
Scott Steiner, Buff, and a doctor come out. Half of Scott's body is bandaged. Scotty sees a lot of sad faces knowing that he's hurt. He can't feel from his elbow to his knee because Rick hit him in the elbow. And every body knows your elbow is connected to your shoulder bone, which is connected to your neck bone, which is connected to your hip bone, and is why his knee hurts. He could beat Rick with half a body, but his doctor won't let him. Rick comes out and says he's sick of these two. Of course they zoom in on Scott mouthing Rick's promo instead of having the camera on the guy giving the promo.
Chris Jericho vs Stevie Ray vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. WCW TV Championship
Kind of a weird thing to see Chavo coming out doing the crazy/Pepe gimmick after Eddie came out and did the pipebomb basically saying their angle was stupid. Jericho tries to convince Chavo to double team Stevie, but then backs out last second. Chavo gets press slammed to the floor onto Jericho. Jericho tries to convince Chavo again to double team, but Chavo doesn't fall for it this time and hits a dropkick and a superman punch. Then a springboard bulldog. Jericho and Chavo take turns breaking up each other's pins. Stevie clotheslines both of them. He tries a double suplex, but is reversed. They then hit a double missile dropkick. Ref bump. Giant comes out and chokeslams Stevie Ray again. So, is he helping Jericho or fucking with Stevie? All 3 men are down. The ref starts a 10 count. Chavo actually stood up first, but Jericho pulled the ref on top of him, shoved Chavo out of the ring, and then Jericho got up. So Jericho wins via count out in the ring.
DDP vs Bret Hart WCW US Championship
This has the potential to be Bret's best match since the Benoit match. DDP comes out early with a neck breaker and belly to belly. Bret bails early. DDP follows him out, throws him in to stuff, then back into the ring. Bret begs off, but takes the corner bump and a suplex. DDP goes for the 10 count in the corner. Bret hits a low blow and stun gun. Bret goes on to work over the dick and eye regions. Russian leg sweep. Back breaker. Flying elbow. An Irish whip that shakes the ring. Piledriver. DDP fires up in the corner with a ton of punches. Discus lariattooo. Top rope lariatooo. DDP hits a Pancake Norton. Ref bump. Bret gets his international object out. He decks DDP with it. He pulls DDP on him just so he can kick out and not tip off the ref. Sharpshooter. DDP clearly taps out, but gets to the ropes. Kanyon Cutter! OUTTA NOWHERE. Bret's foot was under the ropes during the pin. Bret claims DDP hit him with something and tells the ref to check DDP's tights. Nick Patrick puts his hands down DDP's pants, pushes his dick aside, and finds the object. DDP is immediately disqualified.
Goldberg vs The Giant WCW Championship
There are only 4 minutes left even before Goldberg's entrance, so this will probably be something like "big boot, chokeslam, no sell, spear, jackhammer". Giant instead hits a body slam, which Goldberg no sells and then hits one of his own. Giant hits a Russian leg sweep. He throws Godlberg to the floor and...the file ends. I don't think the show ended, but all that was on the tape ended. I'll assume Goldberg won.
So, that Warrior promo. It was weird and crazy and confusing, but at least it was entertaining. The crowd was SO into it. Holy shit into it. I'll take complete nonsense and magic from Warrior over any of the Leno stuff.