WCW Monday Nitro (April 1, 1996)

Original Airdate: April 1, 1996

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

Sting v Giant: The broadcast opens with these two in the ring nose-to-nose, and apparently they were supposed to tag against Harlem Heat (with Giant subbing for Lex Luger), but Jimmy Hart paid the Heat to call it off, and now these two are at each others throat as a result. So, we get an impromptu match. Sting unloads on him, and manages to clip the knee, but Giant won't go down. Sting dives off the top with a flying clothesline to the knee to put Giant down on his knees, but Sting can't get him the rest of the way, and in fact, Giant's just mad now. Sting tries a bodypress, but literally bounces off the dude, and Giant tosses him to the outside for a trip into the guardrail. Giant press-slams him back in (OVER the top rope, damn), but an attempt at a Chokeslam from the apron is countered with a dropkick, and here's Lex Luger to break things up - the referee disqualifying Sting over it at 2:26. This was less a match than an angle, but it was fun either way, and made Nitro feel unpredictable. This aired opposite RAWs introduction and the first part of the Mankind/Holly match, and I'd give Nitro the definite edge since this was two big stars, and felt excitingly unpredictable. ¾*

We cut back to stuff that happened before the show went on the air, and indeed, Jimmy Hart ran out during the entrances, and paid Harlem Heat off to back out of the match right there in the aisle. By check, no less. Call this a push with the Mankind/Holly match on RAW

Triangle Match: The Nasty Boys v The Road Warriors v The Steiner Brothers: Brian Knobbs starts with Rick Steiner, and they get right into a slugfest, which Knobbs dominates, but runs into a powerslam as they criss cross. That brings Jerry Sags in, but Scott Steiner cuts him off with a dropkick, so Animal comes in to clothesline Knobbs, but misses a jumping shoulderblock. Dust settles on Hawk and Scott, with Steiner hitting a pumphandle-slam, but a criss cross ends in a double knockout, and Hawk misses a charge as both guys stagger up, falling out of the ring in the process. Scott dives after him with a flying axehandle off of the apron, but runs into a neckbreaker on the way back in, and Hawk adds a fistdrop for two. Tag to Animal for a jumping shoulderblock, but he runs into a clothesline from Rick from the apron during a criss cross, in a neat spot that really popped as a result of great camera positioning. Scott adds an overhead suplex, but Sags comes in to blitz him with elbowdrops before he can cover, and the Nasties double up in the corner. Rick responds with a Steinerline on Knobbs for two, and everyone spills to the outside for a brawl until things settle on Hawk and Rick. Hawk sends him spiraling with a shoulderblock before grounding him in a reverse chinlock, then snapmarring Steiner down for a bodyscissors/chinlock combo. Rick makes the ropes, and both guys tag to their respective partners, leading to Animal having a test-of-strength with Scott. Scott powers him into the corner, but that allows Knobbs to tag himself in, and he vertical suplexes Scott for two. Both guys pass to their respective partners, and Sags gives Rick a backbreaker for two. Knobbs with a clothesline and an elbowdrop for two, but the Warriors get involved, allowing Rick to German suplex Brian for two. Animal comes in to criss cross with Rick for a double knockout, and tags are made to Hawk and Sags. Sags unloads, but Hawk absorbs every blow, and powerslams him. Over to Knobbs with a clothesline and a splash for two, followed by a stinger splash and a bulldog for two. Rick comes in to German suplex him again though, but Knobbs fires back with a bodyslam, only to have a trip to the top rope blocked with a superplex - only for THAT to get stopped when the Warriors shoves them both off the top and out to the floor! This is awesome! And now here come the Public Enemy to beat on the Nasties out on the floor, and Johnny Grunge (dressed as Knobbs) sneaks in to steal his place, playing dead for Scott to pin at 15:34. This was really neat, with lots of stiff, hard hitting action, and no dull stuff because everyone made good use of the format with quick tags. Not a classic, but a damn good power match, despite the weird finish. It's astounding just how much Grunge looks like Knobbs, though. This aired opposite Marc Mero's debut against Isaac Yankem, a weird Ed Begley Jr bit, and the first half of the Bodydonnas title defense against Horowitz/Montoya, and I'd give Nitro the edge across the board - though not by a lot. ** ¾

Hulk Hogan and Booty Man v Arn Anderson and Kevin Sullivan: The heels have Liz and Woman with them, even without Ric Flair. Nice of him to loan them out like that, especially in Liz's hot little leather outfit. Booty starts with Anderson, and gets taken down for a figure four, but manages to block, and hit an atomic drop. That brings Sullivan in, but Booty sends him out with another atomic drop, so Arn pulls Booty to the outside for a trip into the rail. Hulk saves, and they hit stereo big boots on the way back in, but Booty misses a corner charge at Sullivan. Kevin goes up, but Booty manages to slam him off, and hit a kneelift on both heels to clean house again. Man, they're really going all in on this Booty push. Hogan tags in, as Heenan talks bout how he will be retiring from broadcasting following tonight’s show. I guess he's as sick of the Hogan Booty show as we all are. Hulk hits Arn with a hotshot, then brings Booty in for a tandem clothesline so he can get the cover for two. The heels try doubling up, but Booty easily fights them off, and hits Arn with a slingshot sunset flip. The heels finally manage to get control of Booty so they can cut the ring in half a little, but he fights Kevin off long enough to tag, and Hogan comes in hot - Roseanne Barr the door! Big boots all around, so Liz passes Kevin her shoe - only for the Hulkster to counter it with Booty Babe's shoe, and that's a three count at 7:45. Afterwards, Woman gets revenge by hitting Booty with her shoe, but Hogan chases everyone away while flapping his arms like a demented duck to save. Gene Okerlund joins us to inquire the reasoning for Hogan's recent avian behavior, but'cha know somethin' Mean Gene, Hulk's just sick and tired of all the damn shoes in world of professional wrestling, man. Booty is also not so pleased about them either. So they want a special match to settle the score, but they won't tell us what it is until next week. I don't know about ya'll, but I'm really hoping for a high heel on a pole match. Also, didn't they just do the special gimmick match to end all gimmick matches at Uncensored? This aired opposite the conclusion of the Bodydonnas match, an in-ring interview with new WWF Champion Shawn Michaels, and a WWF Store commercial, and I'd have to give RAW a slight edge, since these characters and this feud were all really tired. ½*

WCW World Title Match: Ric Flair v Lex Luger: Luger's WCW Television Title is not on the line here. Luger knocks him around in the early going, stopping to pose for Ric's chicks between moves. Press-slam sends the champ bailing for warm bosoms of his female accompaniment, but they send him back in, so Lex just does it again. Ric suckers him in the corner to get control, but makes the mistake of going to the top, and Lex slams him off. You'd think he'd have learned by now. Luger with a pair of clotheslines to send Flair over the top, and Ric's done with this shit, but Woman talks him into going back in. He goes to the eyes to force Luger into the corner for chops, but Lex returns fire with rights, ad press-drops the champ across the top rope. Series of clotheslines follow, but Lex gets distracted by the girlies at ringside, and Flair high knees him off the apron and into the rail. Back in, Flair slaps on the Figure Four, but the challenger reverses, so Ric tosses him to the outside to buy time. Flair follows to whip him into the rail, but Luger rebounds with a clothesline, and uses a slingshot sunset flip for two on the way back in. Backslide gets two, and a corner whip flips Flair to the top turnbuckle, where Luger vertical superplexes him down from. Powerslam sets up the Torture Rack, so Woman comes in with a cup of hot coffee while Liz distracts the referee, and she throws it in Lex's face to allow Ric a leveraged pin at 10:57. This was a paint-by-numbers Flair/Luger match, but that's hardly a bad thing. This aired opposite the Undertaker/Bradshaw main event on RAW, which was a better match, and featured a huge angle with Mankind attacking 'Taker afterwards. Call it a win for RAW. *

Heenan bids everyone farewell since it's his last night and all, but then announces it was all an April Fools joke. Yeah, not his best work here

BUExperience: I’d say the real winners this week were the fans, as both shows fired their big guns, and delivered two entertaining hours of wrestling. I’d give RAW the overall win this week since a lot of major stuff happened over there, but Nitro went down swinging – which is a nice change from a lot of weeks where I’m literally trying to decide which show sucked less in order to pick a winner.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	4/1/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.9	2.8
Total Wins	11	14
Win Streak	1
Better Show (as of 4/1)	7	17