WCW Monday Nitro 8/10/98
Malenko vs Hennig in a cage tonight.
TO THE BACK. Hogan's locker room had the Warrior's logo on the wall. He freaks out, along with the rest of the nWo. A member of nWo Hollywood is taken away in an ambulance, but we aren't shown who.
The nWo come to the ring with out music, pissed and nervous. Bischoff calls Warrior a piece of garbage. Hulk is pissed about Warrior leaving his stains on his wall. Hogan kicks Bret off of Team nWo and replaces him with Giant. Hogan rants and raves about Warrior and wants him out right now.
Konnan vs Bull Pain
Bull hit a shitty frog splash. Still better than Chavo's.
TO THE MEAN GENE. Gene asks JoJo if Giant replacing Bret is legit. They already signed the contract and neither Hogan nor Bischoff can replace Bret Hart with anyone.
TO THE MEAN GENE. Team WCW captain DDP comes to the ring. Gene asks about DDP joining the Wolfpac. DDP has mixed emotions. He doesn't like being told what to do. He gives a history lesson about DDP declining to join the nWo in 1997. He still doesn't trust Nash. This brings Nash out. Nash says that if DDP isn't in the Wolfpac, then he is in their sights. DDP doesn't know how Lex or Sting can trust Nash, either. This brings them out. Lex says that he endorsed DDP months ago. All he wants is an answer. They've been waiting for months now. DDP says that Nash would powerbomb either of them in a heart beat. Sting says Nash has already powerbombed him before and he doesn't care. Sting offers a tag match against DDP and Piper tonight.
TO THE MEAN GENE. Yes. 3 in a row. Piper this time. He is not happy that DDP booked him in a match without asking. Piper makes it clear that there really aren't teams in War Games and it really is every man for themselves. He doesn't understand why no one else gets it. Piper is on his own team.
Lenny Lane vs Wrath
Man, this shit is turning out to be like Thunder. This is the real go home show for Fall Brawl. Thunder doesn't even count for go home shows any more. Wrath dominates. He hits a huge shoulder block and Meltdown for the win. Of course Lenny was going to lose this. He couldn't even beat Kaz Hayashi.
TO THE BACK. We find Beefcake hanging upside in front of Warrior's logo in Hogan's locker room.
Bret Hart comes to the ring by himself with no music. Hennig, Virgil, and Stevie Ray come out moments later. Sting also runs out. The nWo scatter, leaving just Bret in the ring. Sting gives Bret his bat and turns his back. Bret throws the bat down. Sting still wouldn't shake Bret's hand.
A Rick Steiner package airs. It was him talking about his history with Scott and how he's going to put a hurting on Scotty at Fall Brawl.
Evan Karagias vs Scott Steiner
They spell Evan's name differently every time. Buff heads to the announce table. He takes Tenay's spot. I swear just a few weeks ago, it was announced that WCW wouldn't allow wrestlers to head to the announce booth any more. Before the match, Scotty shit talks his brother. His arms are disgusting. Scotty wasn't the scheduled opponent, but he laid Evan's opponent out after seeing the video package. "Hey Buff, do some really commentating!" Scott dominates and wins with the Steiner Recliner. I was hoping for a Screwdriver.
Juventud Guerrera vs Hector Garza WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Maybe I'll finally get a few gifs an hour into the show. One gif an hour into Nitro is not a good sign at all. An opening test of lucha skills ends in a head scissors from Juvi and a tiltawhirl backbreaker from Garza. And then another. A wheel kick sends Garza to the floor. Juvi hits a cross body to the floor. In the ring, he tries another one, but Garza hits a drop kick. Spinebuster from Garza. Mexican stretch. Garza doesn't try to break Juvi's neck like Konnan did, at least. Flapjack Norton. Juvi comes back with a missile dropkick. Juvi goes for a super rana, which is turned into a botched super bomb on accident. Garza then does a real powerbomb to recover. He misses a Lionsault. Juvi Driver for the win.
TO THE MEAN GENE. He brings Curt Hennig out to talk about his big cage match tonight. Gene claims that Arn Anderson has always been a coward. Rude calls Gene "divot head" and says the Horsemen have been put out to the pasture forever. It's really amazing to hear Curt do even half assed 30 second promos and then seeing Curtis Michael Axel McGillcutty try to talk. I can't believe how bad at promos he is compared to his dad. And I actually like Curtis Axel, and even liked him on NXT. Genesis and all. But fuck, he's a shell compared to his dad even when his dad was a shell of himself. I guess that isn't fair, but still.
The Cat vs Kaos
Cat continues his new cocky persona. He does a whole lot of posing after every move. He tosses Kaos to the floor and when he turns around, he is hit with a springboard clothesline. They trade some shoulder blocks and Kaos hits a cross body. Cat begs off, but then hits a cheap shot to the throat. Kaos attempts a springboard axe handle and gets caught with the Feliner. Cat is the greatest!
Stevie Ray vs Chris Adams
If this was actually Thunder, I wouldn't even be surprised. Stevie hits a slam. Adams does a 10 count punch in the corner, which is dropped into an atomic drop. Stevie puts the boots to that sucka and hits a lariatooo. High knee. Back drop driver that Stevie basically no sells. Adams then hits an enziguri. Vigirl distracts Adams, which leads to a super kick and Slapjack for the win.
Riggs vs Kanyon
Raven shit talks Saturn before the match and changes this match to Saturn vs Riggs via Lodi, just to torture Riggs. Riggs goes to work right away on Saturn. Raven is shit talking on the mic the whole time. Saturn doesn't really seem to want to fight much, but eventually gets tired of getting hit and starts fighting back. Suplexes and kicks and knees and chops and general ass kicking. He throws Riggs in front of Saturn and throws him into the steps. DVD for the easy win. Raven tells Lodi to tell Saturn to break Riggs' fingers or break his honor. Raven then offers to break Riggs' fingers or let Raven break Saturn's. Saturn offers his fingers. Kanyon attacks him anyway. Raven then breaks Saturn's fingers and spits on him. The trainer comes out to check on Saturn. Saturn won't let him help.
Chris Jericho vs Jim Neidhart WCW TV Championship
Man, WCW has to ruin my Jericho fix. Fuck. Anvil's all pink outfit is really unflattering. Jericho wins with the most awkward Liontamer. The ref actually called for the bell twice, but they kept going because it looked so shitty.
Eddie Guerrero comes out with an airbrushed anti-pen shirt. He claims he was injured last week and can't wrestle until he has an MRI on his back. But since he loves working for WCW sooooo much, he doesn't want to hurt himself further and is giving himself the night off.
Curt Hennig vs Dean Malenko Steel Cage Match
They said this would be the main event early, but it isn't. Liars. Hennig attacks as Dean enters the cage. Curt is wearing nWo shorts instead of his singlet. They do some uninspired brawling before Curt decided to jump up and hang from the top of the cage roof. Dean yanks him down. Shortly after, Dean runs into the ring post and Hennig starts working over Dean's shoulder, which was injured on Thunder. A lot of shoulder work. A lot. The cage had only been used once. They bonk heads, which gives Dean the chance to make a come back. Didn't last very long. Curt goes back to working the shoulder. Dean hasn't had much offense outside of the opening minutes. Dean goes shoulder first into the cage. Curt says something to Rude and Dean is up and pissed. He sends Hennig into the cage twice. He goes for the Cloverleaf. Perfect grabbed the ropes and Dean let go. Are there rope breaks in a cage match? Ref bump. Dean gets the Cloverleaf on in full and Bischoff runs out to unlock the cage. Rude jumps in and starts putting the boots to Dean. The ref comes to and disqualifies Hennig. A DQ in a cage match. Hennig and Rude are about to smash Dean's head when Arn Anderson runs down and drills Perfect. He decks Rude, then gets in the cage and lays Stevie Ray out. Fans LOSE THEIR SHIT. And it was awesome. Double A!
Goldberg vs Scott Putski WCW Championship
I wish he'd have another match like the one with Saturn. As he was celebrating his win, he slipped and fell backwards, but he rolled through like he meant to do it.
Sting/Lex Luger vs DDP/Roddy Piper
I thought Nash was going to be one of the Wolfpac members in the match, but I guess not. DDP didn't really want to fight Lex, so Piper tags himself in and beats Lex like he owes him money. Piper beating the shit out of Lex is a bit unbelievable, but whatever. So is knock out gas the works on everyone but Hogan. Piper tags DDP in and he continues the assault. Lex comes back with a flying forearm and tags in Sting. Facebuster. Sting hits a jumping DDT. DDP comes back with a jumping DDT of his own. Luger knocks Lex off the apron and it breaks down. DDP and Sting have a double clothesline. Nash comes out and throws Piper into the ring post. He gets in the ring and powerbombs DDP.
Giant and Hogan come to the ring with a chair. Hogan says if Warrior can take Giant out, he can get a shot at Hogan. They're going to use the cage. The cage lowers. Then the ring fills up with smoke. Warrior is now sitting on a chair in the cage. The Giant is down. Bischoff runs down with a chain. Warrior swings his chair at Hogan in the corner. He misses. Hogan hits him with a chair. Warrior didn't really mind. Hogan gets out of the cage and Warrior waits politely as Bischoff has trouble getting the door locked. Not sure why they thought this would do anything to Warrior. He's already shown he could teleport into the cage, so why couldn't he teleport out? Which is exactly what he does when the smoke fills the ring. How does his knock out gas not work on Hogan, Bischoff, or fans at ringside? Bischoff trips over the stairs on the way out. STAY TUNED FOR THUNDER!