WCW Monday Nitro (October 30, 1995)

Original Airdate: October 30, 1995

From Dayton, Ohio; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael, and Bobby Heenan

Sgt. Craig Pittman v Eddie Guerrero: Eddie is filling in for Randy Savage, who is out after the beating he took at Halloween Havoc. They size each other up for a while to start, and Pittman takes control by going after the shoulder. Eddie fires back with a leg lariat for two, but Pittman clotheslines him before he can follow-up, as Bischoff notes that 'rumor has it' that Bill and Hillary Clinton were watching Halloween Havoc last night. It doesn't count as a rumor if you're the only one talking about it. Craig continues to work Guerrero's shoulder, and a suplex gets him two. Series of short-shoulderblocks, but Guerrero blocks the third, then blocks a rollup. Eddie dives with a springboard bodypress for two, but runs into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex, and Pittman gutwrench powerbombs him. Hiptoss, but Eddie counters with a victory cradle for the pin at 5:34. This was a total clash of styles. This was airing opposite the Goldust/Savio Vega match on RAW, and I'd give the WWF the advantage here. That match sucked too, but Goldust was a much hyped new character, and it was his first TV appearance ½*

Shark v Scott Norton: This is coming off the September 11 episode, when Shark accidentally cost Norton a match to Randy Savage. Shark manages to power him into the corner for some rights, and a belly-to-belly suplex sets up an elbowdrop for two. John Tenta was an imposing guy, who WCW decided to make look like a cosplaying dork with his Shark costume. Norton fights back with a flying clothesline and a bodyslam for two, but both guys go down from a double clothesline spot, as we spot Bobby Heenan off hanging out with (a still unnamed) Sonny Onoo. The action spills to the outside, where Shark rams him into the post, but takes a trip into the guardrail, ahead of a double countout at 2:47. Oh, come on! A couple of decent power spots, but nothing overall. I'd give this segment a very slight edge over RAW, which was airing the Survivor Series report and a Karate Fighters 'match' between Hakushi and Barry Horowitz opposite. ¼*

Bobby Heenan is still hanging out with Sonny Onoo, but fails to expand his horizons when it comes to trying sushi

Tony Schiavone reviews Ric Flair's turn on Sting last night at Halloween Havoc, ahead of bringing Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman out for an in-ring interview. It's a shame they didn't see the value in keeping Steve Austin around, because he would have made an excellent fourth. Not that the guy they eventually went with was bad, but Austin would have been a slam dunk. This is basically just an extended taunt at Sting, though it's better than the dull Marty Jannetty squash and British Bulldog interview over on RAW, especially coming off of the hot angle at Halloween Havoc

Sabu v Disco Inferno: Disco would have actually been an interesting character in ECW. Sabu blitzes him to start, and hits a flying dropkick for two. Funny bit, as Sabu keeps doing his 'point at the ceiling' taunt, and some poor confused kid in the crowd studies the ceiling for half the match, trying to figure out what he's pointing up at. Ha! Disco manages to take him down, and he ropechokes him for a bit, between dance moves. He misses a charge in the corner, allowing Sabu to hit a slingshot somersault legdrop at 2:26, in his last WCW appearance. He wasn't a good fit there anyway. Unintentionally funny bit after the bell, as Sabu tries diving out of the ring with a slingshot rana, but Disco has no idea what he's going for, and they just kind of collapse. The match was shit, and I'd call it a push with the Smoking Gunns squash over on RAW. DUD

The American Males v Lex Luger and Meng: Scotty Riggs starts with Meng, and gets dominated. In comes Luger, but he runs into a double team in the corner, and Riggs armbars him. Over to Marcus Alexander Bagwell to do the same, and whose bright idea was it to give Bagwell a goatee as a babyface? Riggs somehow blows a simple backdrop, so Meng comes in to bearhug his stupid ass, and Luger clotheslines him. That turns the tide, allowing the heels to cut the ring in half on Scotty. Unfortunately, the announcers fail to mention that Riggs used to play Luger's flag bearer in the WWF earlier in the year. Damn them, can you imagine the heat this would have had if they did? Anyway, Bagwell gets the tag, and comes in hot on Lex – I’m assuming to avenge his partner for the abuse he took while bearing the aforementioned flag. The Males do what they can, but one swift kick from Meng, and Bagwell is eating the Torture Rack at 8:48. Bad match, which aired opposite another bad match in Razor Ramon/Owen Hart over on RAW, but I'd give RAW the edge since that was at least a title match, and had some build to it from the week before. DUD

Last night at Halloween Havoc, Hulk Hogan was sexually assaulted. Randy Savage was regular assaulted. No word yet on Sting, but we will be checking his asshole before we go off the air TONIGHT! This segues into Tony Schiavone hosting an in-ring interview with Giant, Kevin Sullivan, Lex Luger, and Jimmy Hart. Where'd Meng go? Giant has the WCW World title belt in his possession, and is claiming to the be the champion, though they haven't revealed that Hart waived the DQ clause in the contract yet. Giant is so big that he looks like he could loop that title through his regular pants, and use it as a belt buckle. I'd give the edge to RAW, which was airing the conclusion of the Intercontinental title match, as well as Ahmed Johnson's surprise appearance

BUExperience: Wow, this was horrible. Especially coming off of a pay per view, where quite a few major happenings took place. RAW was taped, and pretty boring this week, and I thought for sure WCW would blow them out of the water with a much better quality show, but they actually fell on their faces. I’d call RAW the better episode, though the bar was really low here, and both sucked.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	10/30/1995
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.1	2.3
Total Wins	3	3
Win Streak		2
Better Show (as of 10/30)	2	5