WCW Monday Nitro (March 18, 1996)

Original Airdate: March 18, 1996

From Chattanooga, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael, and Bobby Heenan

WCW Television Title Match: Lex Luger v Loch Ness: Giant is out and kicking Loch Ness' ass before the show even goes on the air, as we literally fade in to Giant beating him down in the aisle. Then, in a fantastic moment, Luger makes his entrance like this isn't even happening, doing his full routine (with pyro!) while happily ignoring the fight going on in the aisle! Just fantastic! Once in the ring, he tells the referee to start counting, and gets the countout win at 0:13. Seems like it should be a forfeit, really. Loch Ness never even made it to the ring. Not really a match, but a great little bit of character stuff. Lex then keeps it going by stopping by the announce position and gloating about how he just picked up the quickest win in WCW history. Is it true? Who knows, who cares! It was hilarious. This aired opposite the Bulldog/Roberts match on RAW, and it's a definite point for Nitro. DUD

Tony Schiavone brings Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan out for an interview, and holy shit, Macho's totally wearing the outfit some dude sold on Pawn Stars a while back! If I remember the episode, the guy claimed that he was Savage's wedding photographer, and Randy's widow allowed him to pick any outfit he wanted to take home after Randy died. Clearly the guy wasn't a huge fan, because if he got $5,000 for this random outfit, imagine what he could have pulled for, like, the WrestleMania VII gear that always gets used in all the videogames. Call this a push with the climax of the Bulldog/Roberts match

The Steiner Brothers v The Public Enemy: In a nice touch, this is presented as a 'stand-by match' because of what happened in the opener. Love details like that. And then there are details I can't stand, like how the Network modifies 'World Wrestling Federation' to 'World Wrestling Entertainment' in the closed captioning. That's one thing, I guess, but even any use of the word 'federation' gets changed. Like, Bischoff talks about the 'world whining federation' here, and you better believe the captions display it was the 'world whining entertainment.' Scott Steiner starts with Rocco Rock, as Bischoff tells us to 'put our notebooks away' because this isn't going to be a 'technical matchup.' Yeah, no shit. Rock counters a tilt-a-whirl with an armdrag, but Scotty gets him on the second try, and adds a press-slam. That sends Rock to the outside, so Scott dives off the apron with a flying axehandle, but Rocco avoids a Steinerline on the way back in, and both men tag out. Johnny Grunge pounds Rick Steiner down, but runs into a powerslam during a criss cross, so Rock runs in, but Rick cleans house with Steinerlines. The Enemy manage to dump Rick to the outside, where Grunge delivers a bulldog across the seat of a plastic chair, then inside for Rock to use a bodyslam to set up a 2^nd rope flying moonsault. Rocco adds a DDT, but a flying bodypress is caught with a powerslam for two, and Rick tags out. Scott fallaway slams Rocco off the top, but Grunge breaks up the cover, allowing Rock a springboard moonsault press for two. Johnny adds a swinging neckbreaker for two, but Scott counters a superplex with a gourdbuster off the top, and adds an overhead suplex before tagging - Roseanne Barr the door! Rock tries to put Rick through a table with a somersault plancha, but Steiner dodges, and with Rock out of the way, the Brothers finish Johnny off with the flying bulldog combo at 7:02. The Enemy were looking sloppy (as usual), but there was lots of hard work and effort here, and I'm a sucker for that. Give the edge to Nitro over RAWs Hart/Michaels training video, and a dull Goldust/Fatu match. ** ½

Arn Anderson v Booty Man: Booty dominates in the early going, with Arn overselling from him at every turn, before bailing. Booty gives chase, allowing Arn to ram him into the apron, and the Enforcer takes control with a ropechoke on the way back in. Anderson works him over, but a 2^nd rope flying axehandle is blocked with a gutpunch, and Booty hits a lazy powerslam. He didn't even bother going down with him! Backdrop follows, and Booty unloads in the corner as Kimberly bounces down to ringside to watch the comeback up close. She ends up getting into it with Woman, so Booty steps in, but that allows Anderson to attack. Unfortunately for Arn he runs into a high knee on the way back in, and Booty scores the fall at 5:43. Boy Arn, I sure hope that pinfall win over Hogan was worth it. Give RAW the edge with their Ultimate Warrior video, Camp Cornette interview, and footage of Diesel turning on Shawn Michaels the night before in Madison Square Garden. DUD

The Road Warriors v The Nasty Boys: The Nasties charge in for a brawl, which quickly spills to the outside, where Jerry Sags takes a bump into the crowd. Brian Knobbs dives off the apron with a flying axehandle on Animal, as Hawk bashes Sags into the post, and follows up with a big boot. The Nasties manage to double up on Hawk in the ring, but Animal shoves Knobbs off the top rope as he climbs for a dive, and Brian gets shoved off the apron into the rail for good measure. In, Animal drills him with a shoulderblock, and Hawk comes in with a pair of splashes, as things settle down. The Warriors cut the ring in half on Knobbs, but Brian manages to block a splash from Animal by lifting his knees, and Sags gets the tag - Roseanne Barr the door. The Steiner's run out during the mess to brawl with both teams, and Animal whacks Knobbs with a weapon during the chaos for the pin at 8:53. Pretty weak match in general, but the Steiner's getting involved at the end added some intrigue. This aired opposite a Diesel squash and the start of the Hart/Tatanka main event, and I'd give the WWF a slight edge. ½*

Texas Tornado Match: Ric Flair and Kevin Sullivan v Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan: Big brawl to start, with Savage pairing off with Sullivan, while Flair pairs off with Hogan. Cute spot on the outside, as Hogan blinds Ric by putting a foam Macho Man hat over Flair's eyes (borrowed from a fan at ringside), and beats him up. That was great, and Ric played his part perfectly there. Inside, Hogan slams Flair off the top, and unloads a ten-punch. Cross corner whip flips Flair to the floor, and they trade dance partners. Flair quickly uses Woman's help to get control of Savage, as Hulk dominates Sullivan. I like how Hulk dominates no matter who he's matched up with, while Savage gets beat up no matter who he's matched up with. Hulk helps Savage out by coming over and dominating BOTH heels, but Ric manages to get Savage in the Figure Four, so Hulk responds by putting Sullivan in one as well. I don't get why we're, like, a year into this angle, and Sullivan still hasn't clued in that he probably shouldn't wear the same colors as the guy he's feuding with. Flair and Hogan slug it out (you guess who dominates), and everyone spills to the outside again, as this thing is just not really connecting at all. Like, there's a lot going on, but it all feels very unfocused. Ric grabs Woman's shoe to blast Hulk with, but it only gets two, and even triggers the HULK UP!! Big pop for that tonight, too. As Hogan runs through his routine, Arn Anderson joins us at ringside, and trips Hulk up to prevent the Legdrop. That gets him chased by Hulk, but now Brian Pillman pops out of the crowd to help the heels (despite being Sullivan's sworn enemy, no?) and the referee calls for the DQ at 10:11. Um, what? Since when are there countouts or DQs in Texas Tornado matches? But then, this is the same promotion that once ended a Strap match by having a guy who wasn't even in the match get dragged to the four corners, so what do you expect? The brawl continues after the bell, so Booty Man runs in to try and even the odds, but then Z-Gangsta and Final Solution walk out to back up the heels, and the babyfaces literally run away. Man, they're pulling EVERYONE out of the mothballs for this feud, aren't they? The match was shit, but the surprise at the end was an attention grabber, and I'd give this an edge over the rest of Hart/Tatanka and the terrible Billionaire Ted stuff airing opposite on RAW. ¼*

BUExperience: Some interesting stuff this week, as they hard sell Uncensored. This felt very focused compared to RAWs cruise control episode.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	3/18/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.9	3.6
Total Wins	10	13
Win Streak		3
Better Show (as of 3/18)	5	17