WCW Monday Nitro (August 12, 1996)

Original Airdate: August 12, 1996  

From Casper, Wyoming; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko (hour one); Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan (hour two)

Two nights ago at Hog Wild, the Outsiders defeated Lex Luger and Sting... with more than a little help from referee Nick Patrick. By accident though, of course

Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Kevin Sullivan, Hugh Morrus, and The Faces of Fear v Rough & Ready and High Voltage: Nice to be back indoors in an actual arena again. The outdoor thing was a nice change of pace, but enough already. What a weird combo. Adding to the general oddness, Sullivan is in street clothes, and Big Bubba is at ringside walking around with a drink. He throws the drink at Kenny Kaos to start us off, allowing Hugh to sneak attack, and he pounds Kenny in the corner, but misses an avalanche. That brings Robbie Rage in for a double team, but they quickly get pounded down by the Faces, and the whole thing breaks down into a brawl. The dust briefly settles on Barbarian getting worked over, but he kills Mike Enos with a big boot, and hangs Rage in a tree of woe. Over to Sullivan, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on. Rage tries flying bodypress on Meng, but misses, and Meng hits a superkick at 2:43. This was barely even a match. Afterwards, Rough & Ready react to the loss by beating their partners down, though the crowd doesn't give half a shit. This felt like a dark match that they accidentally aired. DUD

WCW Television Champion Lex Luger (still sans belt - did he misplace it, or something?) and Sting come out, and they're tired of following the rules! They're tired of sleepless nights! They want the Outsiders, right here, right now! The Outsiders don't even show up though, because fuck Sting and Luger. I mean, who do they think they are? They lost at Hog Wild, and now they think they can call the shots?

Glacier teaser

Diamond Dallas Page v Renegade: Hey, at least when Renegade was the TV champion, he actually bothered to acknowledge it. They trade wristlocks to start, with DDP giving this guy way too much. I love a competitive match, but Page should be squashing this dork. Renegade continues to dominate, with Page bouncing around the ring to sell for him, but Dallas manages to hit a clothesline as they criss cross, and he puts the boots to Renegade. Snapmare gets one, so Page uses a swinging neckbreaker for two, and a lengthy chinlock follows. Renegade fights free and hooks a schoolboy for two, as he starts making a comeback. He manages a few clotheslines, but Page counters a suplex into the Diamond Cutter at 5:47. Way too long for what should have been a quick win for DDP. DDU

Backstage, the nWo are lounging around on a sofa, and they'll accept Luger and Sting's challenge for tonight. Oh, and there's still a fourth guy. And a fifth. Oh, and the big gold belt is too heavy for Hulk to carry around the airports, so they're thinking of having their own nWo belt made. This felt like three frat buddies hanging around and ranting, and it came off as a really neat alternative to the usual shouty promo style that we're accustomed to

Konnan v Jim Powers: Konnan blitzes him at the bell, and quickly gets an abdominal stretch on. Konnan looks like the airline lost his gear this week, or something. Powers escapes the hold and beats on Konnan until he bails, but Konnan manages a matslam on the way back in, followed by a seated dropkick. Konnan grounds him in a leglock, but misses a charge in the corner, and Powers unloads turnbuckle smashes. Running kneelift sends Konnan crashing to the mat, and a dropkick follows, but his own corner charge misses, and Konnan hooks a leveraged pin at 3:21. Wait, when did Konnan turn heel? Or, is this the turn, because the announcers seem surprised by the behavior. That's a really weak heel turn, if so. Gene Okerlund comes out afterwards to talk about it, and he wants to know what's up with Konnan. And yeah, he's definitely going heel, but he also clarifies that he's backing WCW against the nWo. Quick, somebody tell Sting and Luger! Those sleepless nights should be over for them in a jiffy! ¼*

Chris Benoit v Ron Studd: Why is any wrestler with the surname 'Studd' always double-d? And speaking of double-d's, Elizabeth is still wearing her all leather outfit from Hog Wild, and it's fantastic. Benoit talks up at Studd at the bell, but makes the mistake of slapping him, and Ron unloads in the corner. Charge misses, allowing Benoit to dropkick the leg to put the big man down, and the Crippler hammers the part. Studd fights off a flurry of leg abuse with a bodyslam, but takes too long getting to the top rope, and Chris crotches him up there for a vertical superplex at 3:31. Quite the debut for Studd. Shitty match, but the finish was cool, and popped the crowd. Afterwards, Okerlund comes out to flirt with the valets, while Benoit rants about his upcoming match with Giant at Clash of the Champions. That gives his win against a big guy like Studd here a sense of purpose, good booking, WCW! ¼*

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Harlem Heat v The Steiner Brothers: Heenan wants to know where Bischoff was last week, but Eric is being coy, and won't say more than that he was "taking care of business." The Steiner’s attack from behind at the bell, and clean house on the tag champs to start. The dust settles on Booker T and Scott Steiner, and Scott is still feeling aggressive. He unloads on Booker with knees, and uses a powerslam, followed by some mounted punches. Scott with an overhead suplex, so Stevie Ray tries to run in on him, but Scott dispatches him with a clothesline. The Heat regroup on the outside, and the dust settles on Stevie and Rick Steiner next. Stevie distracts him to allow a cheap shot, but Rick reverses a whip into the ropes, and hits a powerslam for two. Over to Scott for a chinlock to wear Stevie down a bit, and a dropkick follows, so Booker tags back in. Scott traps him in a crossface before tagging back to Rick, so Booker goes to the eyes to buy time, but gets a vertical suplex reversed on him. He bails, but Rick stupidly chases after him, and walks right into a cheap shot from Stevie on the floor. Stevie bodyslams him out there before sending Steiner in, where Rick manages to fight Booker off with another powerslam for two. Huge pop for that one! Tag to Scott, and he comes in hot on Booker with a tigerbomb, but Stevie is there to break the cover, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Steiner's are over HUGE here! Scott tries to finish Booker with a suplex, but Sister Sherri sweeps the leg, and Booker topples him. It looks like a pin, but Colonel Robert Parker is in the ring for some reason, and the referee disqualifies the Heat over it at 7:23. Huh? Terrible finish to a fun little match. Afterwards, the Heat go after Parker, but Sherri steps in to cool things down. This aired opposite Faarooq's boring squash over Skip over on RAW, and that's a Nitro win. ** ½

At Hog Wild, Madusa smashed up Bull Nakano's bike following their Battle of the Bikes match

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Rey Mysterio Jr v Ultimo Dragon: Another rematch from Hog Wild here, as they put their best foot forward against the WWF. No wonder they destroyed them in the ratings by their widest margin ever to that point this week. Dragon scares him back with the threat of karate kicks, and then unloads with them on the champ when Rey doesn't get the message. Torture rack backbreaker gets two, and Dragon whips him into the corner for a handspring backelbow, followed by a thunderous running sitout powerbomb. Poor Rey is getting killed here. Dragon goes up with a dive, but takes too long getting there, and Mysterio lifts his boot to block. He sends Dragon to the outside with a springboard flying headscissors, and then quickly follows up with a somersault suicida! Back in, Rey tries a springboard flying bodypress, but Dragon dropkicks him out of the air, and Rey ends up on the floor again. Dragon hits him with a baseball slide and a tope out there, and a tiger suplex gets two on the way back in. Slam sets up a flying moonsault for two, and a springboard moonsault press leads to another powerbomb, but Rey is able to counter this one with a sunset flip at 4:35. Much better than the PPV match, as they weren't contending with dirty working surfaces, as well as a poorly designed stage that didn't allow them to do dives. Man, five more minutes and this could have been something truly special. This aired opposite the terrible Vega/Crush match on RAW, and it's an easy Nitro win. ***

WCW United States Title Match: Ric Flair v Randy Savage: Wait, wasn't Savage supposed to be getting a world title match tonight? Savage is all revved up, and charges in to get things started, blitzing the Nature Boy right away. It spills to the outside, where Savage continues savaging him, but Ric goes low to shake him off. Back in, Flair unloads with chops, and he puts Macho on the ropes so Liz can get her licks in from the outside. That just serves to fire Randy up again, however, and he unloads on Ric with rights. Cross corner whip sets up a backdrop, and Macho dives with a flying axehandle to set up mounted punches. Back up for another flying axehandle, but Ric blocks with a punch to the gut this time, and he clips the leg. Kneebreaker sets up the Figure Four, and Flair is using the ropes for leverage right away. Savage strains, but manages to force a reversal, but Flair escapes. Ric keeps control with a side suplex for two, and a snapmare sets up a trip to the top, but Macho slams him off. Damn, and Ric was hustling, too! I really thought he might get it! Savage makes a comeback, so Ric throws a clothesline, but accidentally ends up nailing the referee when Randy ducks. Things spill back to the outside, where Savage backdrops the champ on the floor, but as he's pulling up the mats, Hollywood Hulk Hogan comes out with a chair, and takes Savage out! He rolls Randy back inside, where a battered Flair makes a leveraged pin at 10:59. Solid match here, with an interesting angle, calling Flair's allegiance into question now, since Hogan didn't touch him during the attack. Even Heenan is openly writing Flair off now, so you know shit just got real. This aired opposite an Undertaker/Mankind hype video, and Sunny skit, an Ahmed Johnson interview, and a boring Godwinns squash. Advantage Nitro. ** ¼

Gene Okerlund brings WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan out, and you know he's a bad guy, because even his crucifix is black now! I like this early version of the nWo shirt he has on, which has the Terminator robot from the movie, with the nWo letters above it. They probably couldn't get away with selling those, but it's a cool look nonetheless. This aired opposite a Bret Hart segment over on RAW, and I'd give the WWF the edge, since there was some real drama there, while Hogan was just rambling on and on on this end

Lex Luger and Sting v The Outsiders: You know this crowd is hot because they're even popping for Wild Cat Willie (the WCW mascot) as we come back from commercial break. The Outsiders coming out through the crowd is a great touch, and they should have never stopped doing that. Sting is nowhere to be found as we get started, leaving Luger to go it alone. He dominates, and here comes Sting out of the crowd to get a leg up on the Outsiders - diving off the top rope with a flying clothesline on Kevin Nash, as they clean house! Why would they let Nick Patrick referee here after what happened at the PPV? Sting dives after Nash with a plancha as Luger sends Scott Hall into the post, and they all brawl back inside, where Nash manages to hit Sting with a big boot. He tosses him over the top to allow the Outsiders to gang up on Luger, and Nash hits him with a sidewalk slam, as Sting sneaks around the ring on the outside. He sneaks in to attack the Outsiders to turn things back around, and frankly I'm just shocked that Sting actually managed to outsmart someone not just once, but TWICE in the same match! The brawl continues, until the Horsemen decide to run out and chase the Outsiders away, the match getting thrown out at 3:49. This wasn't really a proper match, just a big brawl. And that's fine for what it is, and felt appropriately passionate. Replays after the match reveal that Nick Patrick pulled Hall out of the way while Sting was trying the Stinger Splash near the end of the match, so clearly there's something up with that guy. But yeah, let's let him keep refereeing. By all means. Afterwards, Okerlund comes out to let everyone wrap up and hype the Clash. This aired opposite the Michaels/Hart match over on RAW, and I'll call it a push overall. That was a good match, but this was a hot angle. ¼*

BUExperience: The first hour was a total write-off, but things really picked up once they were head-to-head against RAW, with three rematches from the PPV, and big angles. Overall an easy win over a poor RAW, though you can safely skip the entire first half.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	8/12/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.0	3.3
Total Wins	17	26
Win Streak		9
Better Show (as of 8/12)	11	31