WCW Monday Nitro (November 6, 1995)

Original Airdate: November 6, 1995

From Jacksonville, Florida; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael, and Bobby Heenan – in front of a heavily papered crowd. The gimmick tonight is that fans can call the WCW Hotline to vote for the main event, with the announcers trying to sway the vote for Sting v Flair right away

WCW World Title Match: Giant v Cobra: It should be noted that the fans are pretty heavily cheering the supposedly heel monster Giant. That's kinda to be expected given how much paper there is in the building tonight. Cobra charges him, but immediately walks into the Chokeslam at 0:18. This was airing opposite the start of the Bulldog/Jannetty match over on RAW, and I'd give WCW the slight edge here. DUD

Gene Okerlund is backstage in the heel locker room, and Tony Schiavone is on the babyface side, giving us a look at who we can vote for tonight. It's so obviously going to be Sting v Flair. The only other choice that anyone would bother to vote for would be Johnny B. Badd v DDP, but that feud isn't nearly as hot, and Badd already beat him at Halloween Havoc anyway. This was opposite Bulldog/Jannetty on RAW, and I'd give the edge to WCW

Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage are out in Venice Beach (dressed exactly like their later nWo personas), hanging out with homeless people, and making threats at the Dungeon of Doom. The fact that they're still harping on Hogan having his mustache saved off is pretty hilarious. Like, let is go already, dude! I know it really tied your face together, any everything, but it's just facial hair. Re-grow it, if it means to damn much to you! Also, if you really want to get your hands on the Dungeon, they're clearly in the arena tonight. Why are you making threats from hundreds of miles away? Get your lazy asses to the building, and do something about it. This aired opposite Bulldog/Jannetty on RAW, and I'd give the WWF the advantage here, because I can hear crazy homeless people ranting any old time, and the WWF match was pretty decent, at least

Renegade v Kevin Sullivan: Renegade charges in and blitzes Sullivan, but gets dropped crotch-first across the guardrail as they spill to the outside, and Kevin rams him into the steps a couple of times. Speaking of the Dungeon of Doom, couldn't Sullivan at least find gear that wasn't yellow and red while he was supposed to be Hulk Hogan's arch nemesis? Back in, Sullivan dominates Renegade in the corner, and actually tries a slingshot somersault senton splash, but Renegade lifts his knees to block. He delivers a powerslam and a handspring backelbow, but a boot in the corner misses, and Renegade ends up in a tree of woe. Sullivan with a double-stomp from there at 2:44. Woof. Afterwards, that dastardly Jimmy Hart pours water on Renegade's face, and WIPES HIS FACE PAINT OFF! First Hogan's mustache, now this?! When will this parade of sheer terror end?!?!? This aired opposite the climax to the Bulldog/Jannetty match, and I'd definitely give RAW the advantage, since it was a better match, with more interesting characters ¼*

Gene is still in the heel locker room, where the lights die right in the middle of a Flair promo on Sting. Which sucks, because we almost miss Lord Steven Regal's utterly brilliant facial expressions in the background. Give WCW the edge over RAW here, because while this segment made them look totally bush league, at least they weren't trying to sell a pay per view by promising an appearance by a random Bill Clinton impersonator, like the WWF was opposite this

Eddie Guerrero v Chris Benoit: Benoit jumps him before the bell, and smacks Guerrero down with a knife-edge chop. A crisp snap suplex follows, and Chris adds a saito suplex in between blistering chops. Benoit with a whiplash into an elevated crab, as we get a look at Sonny Onoo and his group of Japanese wrestlers watching the action. Benoit goes for a powerbomb, but Eddie manages to armdrag his way out of it, and he adds a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to turn the tide. Jumping backelbow puts Chris on the floor, and Eddie dives after him with a flying bodypress into the aisle! Back in, Guerrero hits a vicious brainbuster, but Benoit vertical superplexes him for two before Eddie can capitalize with the frogsplash. Benoit tries and succeeds at the powerbomb, but it only gets two. Short-clothesline hits, but Guerrero counters the follow-up with a victory cradle for two. Benoit tries cutting him off with a knee, but Eddie counters that with a schoolboy for two, so Benoit uses a bridging German suplex for two. He tries another, but Guerrero blocks, so Benoit goes to a bridging northern lights suplex for two instead. Dragon suplex, but Eddie hides in the ropes to block, so Chris drops him front-first across them to soften Eddie up for a suplex - only to have Guerrero topple him for the pin at 6:29, the referee missing the fact that Benoit's feet were in the ropes! This was fast and furious stuff, and much better than the Henry Godwinn squash and Survivor Series report airing opposite on RAW. *** ¼

Over in the babyface locker room, Tony Schiavone wants to remind you not to forget to blow your parents' hard earned money on vote for Sting v Flair. Call this a win for RAW with Barry Didinsky's pog shilling, since both were a waste of your parents' hard earned money, but at least you actually got something tangible for your buck on the WWF side

Sting v Ric Flair: Yeah, I'm shocked too. They only spent literally the entire broadcast basically telling you to vote for this match. Sting's WCW United States title is not on the line here. Sting absolutely blitzes Flair the second the Nature Boy is within reach, and quickly hits a press-slam. Ten-punch count follows, and Flair flips to the outside following a cross corner whip. Sting follows to ram him into the rail out there, so Ric tries chops, but gets totally no-sold. Ric goes low to allow himself a vertical suplex on the floor, but Sting no-sells that as well, and charges him with a Stinger Splash against the rail - missing. Flair hits a kneedrop on the way back in, and he works Sting over with chops in the corner. Side suplex leads to the Figure Four, with Ric using the ropes for leverage. Seeing the middle aged women in the crowd trying to alert the referee to it is great. I love to see passion like that from the fans. Sting reverses the hold, but Ric quickly escapes, and pounds on the knee. It goes nowhere, however, as Sting is in no-sell mode again. Press-slam time for the Nature Boy, and a hiptoss leads to a dropkick, so Ric pokes him in the eyes to buy time. Flair lost a kneepad somewhere along the way here. Ric dumps Sting to the outside for a flying axehandle off of the apron, and more chops are thrown. Ric grabs a chair, but the referee stops him from using it, and forces them back inside. Flair is still firmly in control of the match though, and continues to work the Stinger over, including trying several leveraged pins. Reversal sequence ends in Sting bridging into a backslide for two, so Flair goes up, but gets slammed off. Sting unloads in the corner, so Ric blasts him with a pair of knux, and struts his way into adding an elbowdrop for two. Ric is shocked, and Sting pops up to press-slam him again. Vertical superplex follows, and the Scorpion Deathlock finishes up at 12:48. I kinda thought Flair would go over here, to set up the title match for World War 3, but nope. Afterwards, Sting won't let Flair out of the hold, ignoring several officials and other babyfaces, before Lex Luger is able to convince him to release. The whole Sting/Luger friendship taking precedence over all heel/face alliances was great stuff, but unfortunately you had this very nuanced, adult angle surrounded by all the cartoonish Dungeon of Doom silliness. This was every Sting/Flair match you've ever seen. Still better than the Kama squash, Smoking Gunns Karate Fighters battle, and first part of the Hart/Hakushi v Lawler/Yankem match over on RAW. ** ½

Gene Okerlund brings Giant, Kevin Sullivan, and Jimmy Hart back out for an in-ring interview, where Hart clarifies that Giant is indeed the WCW World champion since he stuck a clause in the contract waiving the DQ rule without Hulk Hogan's knowledge! That's great, but I'm pretty sure if you're openly admitting that you were committing fraud, that contract could be contested. And indeed, some nameless lackey for WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel (who looks like a knockoff Steve Carell) comes out to declare that the title is vacant, and will be decided in the World War 3 battle royal instead. This aired opposite the conclusion of RAWs tag main event, and I'd give WCW the edge here, since this was a big announcement, and the RAW match was pretty much paint-by-numbers

BUExperience: They may have lost in the ratings, but I’d call it a victory for Nitro this week. It wasn’t an outstanding show, but they had the two top quality matches of the week, and there were some notable angle developments. It’s worth noting though that basically the entire episode was focused on the Dungeon of Doom, while RAW did a better job of spreading things around, and going in several different directions.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	11/6/95
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.6	2.0
Total Wins	4	3
Win Streak	1
Better Show (as of 11/6)	2	6