WCW Monday Nitro (November 4, 1996)

Original Airdate: November 4, 1996

From Grand Rapids, Michigan; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko (hour one), with Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan then swapping in for Larry (hour two)

Marcus Alexander Bagwell v Brad Armstrong: Sting is in the rafters, and the nWo are in the crowd, so wasting no time this week. They measure each other to start, going to a few stalemates as they mirror each other’s offense, as Larry sounds more and more like a crotchety old man on commentary by the minute. The niceties finally break down when Bagwell slaps him across the face, and Brad gets fired up, sending Bagwell over the top with a dropkick. Baseball slide follows, so Bagwell uses a slingshot clothesline on the way back in, and DAMN this crowd is nice and hot. Bagwell with a side suplex, but Armstrong blocks, so Bagwell throws a dropkick instead. Clothesline sends Brad over the top for a plancha, and it looks like Brad took a bad landing there, but is okay enough to continue. Back in, Bagwell cross corner whips him, but misses a charge in after, and Brad capitalizes with a tornado DDT out of the corner for two. Bagwell fires back with a stomachbreaker and a clothesline, so Brad tries forcing a criss cross, but ends up eating a bodypress at 9:07. This was fine. This aired opposite the Goldust/Stalker match on RAW, and I'd call it a win for Nitro. * ¼

Diamond Dallas Page v Ice Train: The Outsiders are hanging out in the crowd for this, throwing up DDP's diamond hand gesture. Looks like we're getting into the thick of THAT angle now, and it's a good one! The crowd is totally distracted by the nWo stars, and completely ignores the match, like full-on turning their backs on it to cheer them instead. Train knocks Page around in the early going, until the Outsiders finally leave, allowing the crowd to focus on the ring again. Train works a wristlock, so Page tries forcing a criss cross, but walks into a backelbow. Dallas snaps Train's throat across the top rope to set up a flying shoulderblock that turns the tide, and he chokes Ice down on the ropes, as Teddy Long argues with referee Nick Patrick. Train manages a sunset flip for two, but runs into a clothesline as they both pop up for two, and Dallas pancake piledrives him for two. Swinging neckbreaker gets two, but the powerful kick out drops Page right on the already injured Patrick, giving us an absolutely hilarious oversell from the abused referee. That signals a comeback for Train, but a powerslam only gets two. Sit-down splash and a regular splash get two, so Train starts drilling him with clotheslines until Page goes over the top. Cue the Outsiders for a run-in, and they beat Train senseless with the tag title belts at center ring, but Patrick somehow misses all of it. Diamond Cutter, goodnight at 6:33. This aired opposite a Survivor Series report, Sultan/Porteau, and a Karate Fighters tournament over on RAW. And, oh yeah, also Brian Pillman PULLING A FUCKING GUN as Steve Austin arrives on the scene at his house. Point for RAW, strictly for the Austin/Pillman angle. ¾*

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Dean Malenko v Scotty Riggs: Psychosis observes from the aisle, while Syxx hangs out in the crowd. Feeling out process to start, loaded with reversal sequences. Moving on for criss crosses, and Riggs hits a shoulderblock for two, then another one for two. Backslide gets two, but Dean blocks a corner whip, and dodges a charge - as Syxx makes a spectacle of himself in the stands, and the crowd ignores the workers. Dean hits a cross corner clothesline, but misses a charge, and Riggs capitalizes with a backdrop. Dropkick sends the champ to the outside, so Scotty dives with a plancha, and hits a flying axehandle for two on the way back in. Up again, but Dean falls into the ropes this time, and Riggs takes a nasty bump to the outside. Buddy Marcus Bagwell rolls him right back in before giving Riggs a second to recover, and Malenko is all over the shit with an Oklahoma roll at 3:24. Short and effective, though the 'nWo guys hang in the crowd' stuff is getting old, fast. It's distracting, it takes away from the match, and it isn't fair to the workers. This aired opposite the most exciting part of the Austin/Pillman angle with Austin breaking into the house, and Pillman aiming the gun just as the feed cuts out. Plus a Michaels/Sid face-to-face segment. Win for RAW. I mean, I love a good reversal sequence as much as the next guy, but what's a hammerlock compared to a little home invasion and gun play? * ¾

Chris Benoit v Hector Guerrero: We get a blistering criss cross to start, dominated by Guerrero to establish him as a threat for the crowd. Benoit bails, so Hector dives with a pump-press, and he sends Chris bad shoulder-first into the post. Back in, Hector stays on the arm with a pump-handle backbreaker, and he cranks on it until Benoit makes the ropes. Chris fights him off in the corner, so Guerrero yanks at the arm again, and takes him down for an armbar. Chris escapes with a pop-up flapjack, and he whips Guerrero into the ropes for a knee to retain control. He drops Hector front-first across the top rope before breaking him with a pop-up gutbuster for two, then throwing a headbutt to the midsection to keep it going. Abdominal stretch, but Guerrero armdrags his way out of it, so Chris punts him in the ribs. That allows Benoit a stomachbreaker for two, but Guerrero counters a suplex for a small package for two, so Chris kicks him in the gut to cut off a comeback. Short-clothesline gets two, and Hector eats a corner whip front-first, as we ignore the match to go watch fireworks that signal the start of the second hour. Oh, fuck you, WCW. Chris tries a backdrop, but Guerrero turns it into a cradle for two. Tombstone, but Guerrero turns THAT into a cradle for two as well, and he hangs with Chris for a slugfest. Benoit desperately drops him into the buckles to quiet him down, but Hector fights him off with a headscissors takedown, and starts making a comeback. Rolling abdominal cradle gets two when Woman saves, and as Hector goes after her, Benoit is ready with a leveraged pin at 11:44. Despite being hot all night, the crowd ignored this one, but it was a hell of a match, with 42 year old Hector hanging with Benoit throughout. This aired opposite the Mero/'Ramon' match on RAW, and that's an easy win for WCW. ***

Mike Tenay talks to Jeff Jarrett over at the entrance area, but Benoit and Steve McMichael stop by, because Jarrett is acting like he's a Horsemen, and no one ever initiated him into the group, as far as they're concerned. And then Sting pops up in the crowd to interrupt as well, since ain't nobody give a shit what Jeff Jarrett got to say

Lee Marshall calls in from St. Petersburg Florida with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report. Their touring schedule makes no sense. Over the last couple of weeks, we've went from Minnesota to Arizona to Michigan, and then next week to Florida. They were spending Turner's money on everything but maps at that point, I guess

WCW Women's Title Quarterfinal Match: Reina Jubuki v Madusa: Okay, so WCW is booking an eight-woman tournament to crown their first women's champion, and this is the first bout in the thing. Here's the thing though, they didn't even HAVE eight workers to fill the brackets, so Jubuki is actually Akira Hokuto (also in the tournament) under a mask. You'd think 'not even having enough workers to fill a tournament bracket' would be reason enough not to start an entirely new division, but you'd be wrong. Jubuki attacks before the bell, robbing Nick Patrick the opportunity to properly pat Madusa down. Jubuki slams her around by the hair before grounding her in a bootchoke, then taking her up with a two-handed choke toss. More choking from Jubuki, and she starts biting on the foot, as Zero observes from the aisle. Who's she, Syxx's girlfriend? Madusa makes the comeback, as we ignore the match to listen to Sonny Onoo cut a stupid promo on Zero's behalf. They were really terrible about focusing on their matches during this period, and it's getting really annoying. Madusa misses a middle rope dropkick to allow Jubuki to take control again, but a suplex gets countered with a bridging German by Madusa at 3:13. This felt endless. And, in another twist, the finals ended up with Hokuto (as Hokuto) going over Madusa, so I guess she got the last laugh. Oddly, Madusa (who, you'd think, this title was created just to put on) never ended up winning the belt at all, ever. DUD

Michael Wallstreet v Chris Jericho: Wallstreet's switched to a weird combo outfit, where he's sporting a singlet, but also wearing dress slacks over it - making him look like he's wrestling in an undershirt. It's like a casual version of his WWF gimmick, or something. Jericho dominates early on, but gets overzealous, and takes a bump to the outside after missing a charge. Chris beats the count, so Wallstreet pounds him with forearms on the apron, and knocks him back to the floor. Jericho responds with a slingshot schoolboy for two, but Wallstreet cuts him off with an abdominal stretch. Wallstreet's sweat glands must have been the inspiration for John Leguizamo's character in The Happening. Seriously, the dude looks like he's in the last five minutes of a sixty minute broadway here. Wallstreet works a chinlock, so Jericho uses a stunner to escape, and he unloads turnbuckle smashes. Ten-punch follows, but a charge in the corner gets him backdropped over the top - Chris able to land on the apron. That allows him to snap Wallstreet's throat across the top rope, and a missile dropkick sends Michael to the outside. Chris follows, but eats post out there. Back in, Wallstreet goes for the kill, but Jericho is ready with a small package at 6:47, thankfully before Wallstreet dies of dehydration. ½*

Tenay brings Nick Patrick and his lawyer out to talk about the progress of their case, but Jericho interrupts, again insisting that there's nothing wrong with Nick's neck. That brings Teddy Long out as well, and he's mad that Patrick misses the nWo's attack on Ice Train earlier, which allowed Dallas Page to 'touch' Train with the Diamond Cutter. Well, that's one way to put it

Lex Luger v Booker T: Again? What, because last week's match was so great? Oh, I guess it's because of the countout finish. But, really, if Luger can't care enough to stay in the ring, and would rather go out chasing frogs in the crowd, he doesn't deserve another chance. Lex pops up on split screen during the entrances, asking Sting to sit down with him face-to-face to resolve his issues. Booker tries to dominate with holds in the early going, so Luger uses a hanging vertical suplex, and dumps him to the outside. Back in, Booker tries his own suplex, but Lex blocks, and corner whips him into a running powerslam for two. Don't see that one out of Luger every day. Booker turns the tide with a hotshot, and he picks Luger up just to knock back down with the axekick. He dumps Lex to the outside for Sister Sherri to abuse, then follows to send him into the apron himself. Back in, all of that gets Booker a two count, as the announcers go into overkill hype mode about how awesome Nitro is. Booker with a savate kick, but the Harlem sidekick misses, and Lex starts throwing clotheslines. Powerslam follows, and it's Torture Rack time, but Booker holds the ropes to block. Lex responds by corner whipping him to soften Booker up, but runs into the Harlem sidekick, and Booker throws an enzuigiri. Booker goes upstairs, but Colonel Robert Parker shows up on the apron, and a distracted Booker gets schoolboyd at 7:57. Nothing special, but MUCH better than the boring match from last week. * ¾

Eric Bischoff calls in from Portland Oregon, where he's spent the last few days trying to sign Roddy Piper for the dream match with Hollywood Hulk Hogan, but hasn't been able to get through Piper's wall of lawyers and agents. But, he'll keep trying. Good segment. I like when they actually bother to acknowledge stuff like this, as opposed to the whole 'he doesn't work here' shock debuts that lead to that wrestler getting a match that same night, or whatever, like we'd see later on. Also, based on the on-screen graphic, apparently I was wrong... they have spent some of Turner's money on a map. Maybe spend less time photographing it, and more time looking at it, though?

To close, we're treated to the ENTIRE Roddy Piper appearance at Halloween Havoc again, segueing into Hogan and the nWo coming out in person to rant. For those following along at home, yep, it's just last week's Nitro all over again at this point. Nick Patrick and Attorney segment... Luger/Booker match... Hogan/Piper Halloween Havoc confrontation replay... Hogan interview - at least switch up the order, or something. I remember liking his heel promos a lot at the time, but they're almost unbearable to me now. Overlong, rambling, repetitive. They'll probably be a little more tolerable once they start doing them at the beginning or middle of the shows each week though, because at least then we're still fresh. Terrible way to close, though. Especially when he's just rambling

BUExperience: Tough call this week. RAW had a major, highly influential angle as their centerpiece, but then not much else, including horribly lame characters in bad matches up-and-down. On the flip side, Nitro had the best match of the week, but also felt extremely repetitive, and limped to a close with an overlong and boring final segment. Normally, I’d call it a toss-up and say goodnight, but let’s give RAW the win, since their big angle meant more in the long run than anything on Nitro this week.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	11/4/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.3	3.4
Total Wins	17	36
Win Streak		19
Better Show (as of 11/4)	17	34