WCW Monday Nitro (January 22, 1996)

Original Airdate: January 22, 1996

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael, and Bobby Heenan. I remember getting really excited when I heard they were running a show at Caesars Palace, hoping we’d get a cool outdoor venue like at WrestleMania IX, but instead it’s a dinky looking indoor arena

Konnan comes over to the announce position at the top of the broadcast (as the announcers are still running through their intros), and randomly hypes up his match with Psychosis for Clash of the Champions the following night. I guess they don't have format sheets in Mexico?

WCW World Title Match: Ric Flair v Randy Savage: Savage takes a page out of Flair's book, being led to the ring by a bunch of unnamed women, including Hulk Hogan's wife, Steve McMichael's wife, and Woman. And speaking of Hogan, he comes out before the bell, telling Randy he wants the first shot if he wins. What a pal. Flair, of course, is more interested in flirting with the harem than anything else. He tries to get Woman onto his side (with the announcers thankfully acknowledging the history between them), but she slaps the taste out of his mouth. That leads to a brawl with Macho on the outside, and Randy hits a clothesline for two as they head in. Savage cross corner whips him, but runs into an elbow as he charges, and Flair starts unloading them chops. He tosses Randy over the top for Jimmy Hart to abuse, then follows to whip him into the guardrail out there. Savage goes to the eyes to buy time, and manages to backdrop the champion on the floor, then dives at him with a flying axehandle, but he hits the rail. Back in, Flair keeps unloading with chops, but Savage starts slugging, and corners the Nature Boy for a ten-punch. Cross corner whip flips Flair to the floor, and Macho follows to knock the champion into the rail. Back in, Savage keeps unloading with right hands for two, and a backslide is worth two. Flair fires back with a kneebreaker to set up the Figure Four, but he gets caught using the ropes, and the referee pulls him off of the challenger. Ric is still in control though, and delivers a kneedrop. He heads up, but Savage slams him off, and dives with a flying axehandle. Another one hits, so Hart starts distracting the referee, and here comes Arn Anderson. He swings with the knux, but hits Flair by accident, and Macho uses the Flying Elbowdrop to win the title back at 10:56! The referee totally saw Arn whack him, too. It was exciting enough, but not really a great match. And, as usual, Hogan immediately runs in to hog the spotlight, celebrating with Savage like it's 1988 again. However, for once, Macho calls him out on it, telling him in no uncertain terms that HE won the match, and HE'S the WCW World champion. Hulk's, like, 'yeah congratulations and everything, but when do I get my title shot?' Poor guy hasn't even caught his breath yet, dude. This segment aired opposite the excellent Vader segment over on RAW, and I'd call it a push, since both sides were delivering 'can't miss' style television. * ¼

Brian Pillman v Dean Malenko: Pillman had such a star presence during this period. It's really too bad his body broke down right as he was really catching fire, and right as the wrestling business was heading in a direction where he could have capitalized on his gimmick. Malenko quickly takes him down and tries for the Texas Cloverleaf, but Brian bails to the floor, and keeps busy by threatening fans instead. He pops Dean with a closed fist on the way back in, and drops him with a facebuster - rubbing Malenko's face in the mat to add insult to injury. Pillman with a vertical suplex for two, but Malenko corner clotheslines him, and drills Brian with a brainbuster. Neckbreaker gets two, but he hits knee as he charges in the corner, and Brian tornado DDTs him. Pillman uses chops, but runs into a butterfly powerbomb for two, and Malenko dropkicks him - Brian failing to take a proper bump over the top. Dean tries a baseball slide, but misses, and gets sent into the rail - nearly taking out some poor dudes snack in the process. That would have been pretty funny. Honestly, I'm half surprised Pillman didn't take a bite, or something. Back in, Brian tries another tornado DDT, but Malenko blocks. Dean hits a gutbuster, and ties Pillman up in a kneebar, but Brian has the ropes, and he slips onto the apron to escape. Malenko tries dragging him back in, but gets his foot tangled between the middle and bottom ropes, and Pillman pins him like that at 6:17. It was engaging, though Pillman generally couldn't keep up with Malenko's work, and the finish was silly. Like, in what world would the referee not notice that? World Championship Wrestling, I suppose. This aired opposite a boring Razor Ramon/Hunter Hearst Helmsley match on RAW, as well a flat Billionaire Ted segment. Give the advantage to WCW. **

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Harlem Heat v Sting and Lex Luger: Sting's hair keeps getting darker with each passing week. He's not dressed for Halloween for the first time in forever, though. Stevie Ray starts with Lex, and unloads on him early on, but eats a jumping forearm smash during a criss cross. That triggers a cheap shot from Booker T to keep the Heat in control, and Stevie big boots Luger for two. The champs try a tandem move, but Luger double clotheslines them, and passes to Sting. Multiple Stinger Splashes for both champions, and the Scorpion Deathlock looks to finish Stevie, but Booker saves with the axekick. Stevie clobbers Sting with a clothesline for two, and Booker throws a leg lariat, as the champs cut the ring in half. Sting dodges the Harlem Hangover from Booker (duh) to allow the hot tag to Luger, but the referee misses it. Jimmy Hart responds by passing Lex a weapon, and when Sting finally does get the tag, Luger pops Booker with a leaded fist for the quick pin at 9:33. Kind of a boring match, but I liked the dynamic of Sting and Luger's friendship. This aired opposite the Shawn Michaels interview, as well as the bulk of the Hart/Goldust main event over on RAW, and I'll give WCW the advantage, since there match was better (even if only slightly), and featured a title change. ¾*

One Man Gang v Hulk Hogan: Gang is the WCW United States champion, but this is non-title. Hogan tries the big boot right away, but Gang bails to the apron to avoid him, so Hulk knocks him to the floor with a right hand. They brawl out there, with Hulk dominating, allowing Gang to channel Akeem as he sells. Inside, Hulk hits a clothesline, but telegraphs a backdrop, and gets bodyslammed. Gang capitalizes with the 747 Splash, but Hulk no-sells, and starts making a comeback. Gang actually screws up taking Hulk's comeback routine, which should say a lot about where he was as a worker by 1996. Also worth noting that the crowd is dead silent as Hogan runs through his usual routine, not even giving up some polite applause for the bodyslam and the Legdrop that finish at 3:03. This aired opposite the tail end of the Hart/Goldust match, and I'd give that the edge. That match was as bad as this one, but it was a much hotter pairing. As soon as the bell sounds, the Dungeon of Doom and the Horsemen run in, but Hulk casually fights them all off. Savage comes out to help, but honestly, Hogan wasn't even breaking a sweat fighting off both STABLES by himself. It's one thing to fight off a heel or two, but this is literally Hogan fighting off, like, ECW's entire locker room all alone, and we're supposed to buy it? Also, how is that supposed to get my hyped to see the Clash the next night if Hulk can't even be bothered to make the heels look tough when he's facing off two entire STABLES of guys?! No wonder the crowd was rejecting this clown. DUD

BUExperience: Both shows were pretty good this week, and WCW brought a lot of fire on their side with two title changes and better matches than the WWF had – though RAW had the best segment of the week with the Vader stuff. Even still, Nitro had enough that it should have amounted to a win for them, but everything Hogan was involved in went over so badly that I’d actually call it a tie overall. He was a big get for WCW, but what a cancer he was on the product at this point. His narcissism and insecurities dominated the booking, and dragged everything he touched down – like King Midas in reverse.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	1/22/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.9	2.7
Total Wins	9	8
Win Streak	1
Better Show (as of 1/22)	3	13