WCW Monday Nitro (October 28, 1996)

Original Airdate: October 28, 1996

From Phoenix, Arizona; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko (hour one); Eric Bischoff, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan (hour two)

WCW Television Title Match: Lord Steven Regal v Juventud Guerrera: The camera's spot Sting hanging out in the rafters here, not doing much of anything other than looking creepy. I will say that this early version of his crow face paint was better/creepier than the more familiar one that came later. Feeling out process to start, as the crowd gets immediately distracted by Syxx hanging out in the crowd, and cutting a promo. It's funny, because he cuts a promo about taking the Cruiserweight title, despite this match being for the TV title. I guess we can add 'logic' to another thing the nWo is rebelling against. Okay, with all the bullshit out of the way, the match kicks into gear, with Guerrera peppering him with quick offense. Bodyslam sets up a flying 450 splash, but Regal dodges, and we stop to look at Sting again. No matter, the Regal Stretch finishes at 3:19. Sadly, the match was basically treated as background noise. ½*

WCW Monday Nitro t-shirt ad. One size fits all? Seriously? How could that possibly work?

Diamond Dallas Page v Mike Enos: Page gets cute with a slap across the chops at the bell, but pays the price, and ends up going over the top following a clothesline. Enos follows, but gets whipped into the guardrail out there, and Page hits a sitout powerbomb for two on the way back in. Pretty visually impressive move, given Enos' size. DDP with a flying clothesline, as the Outsiders show up in the crowd, showing off their newly won WCW World Tag Team Title belts. Diamond Cutter, but Enos shoves him into the corner to block, and hits an overhead suplex for two. Neckbreaker sets up a legdrop, and a drop across the top rope leads to a clothesline. Powerslam gets two, but a running version out of the corner gets blocked when Page hooks his feet under the top rope, and the Diamond Cutter finishes at 4:36 - with the Outsiders cheering him on. Went over my head at the time, but it's a nice little wink to those who remember Page's history with both Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in early 90s WCW. *

Dean Malenko v Jim Powers: Dean's newly won Cruiserweight Title is not on the line here, because duh. Dean is outmatched in size and power (again, duh - the man's NAME is Powers), but still manages a takedown early on to show Powers he means business. Jim works a headlock from there, but Dean wrestles out, only to walk into a hiptoss and a bodyslam. Malenko bails as Psychosis shows up at the entrance to observe, and the mask coupled with street clothes is an eccentric look, to say the least. Dean manages to get Powers down in the corner for a bootchoke, and that's enough to wear Jim down for Malenko to work a chinlock on. Powers powers out, but runs into a knee right away, and Dean corner whips him. Charge misses, however, allowing Powers an atomic drop, and he unloads with turnbuckle smashes. That dazes Dean for a clothesline for two, and a right hand during a criss cross is worth two. Running kneelift and a powerslam look to finish, but referee Nick Patrick is busy arguing with Teddy Long, and Powers has to let off the cover to go intervene. That allows Malenko to sneak up with a double-underhook cradle, and that's three at 5:07. ¾*

Jeff Jarrett v Ricky Morton: It's so weird to see Jarrett work babyface, after years of playing a heel in the WWF. And doing the same spots/taunts/etc while doing it. Jarrett wins the initial criss cross with a hiptoss, so Morton tries a 2^nd rope bodypress for two, and he armdrags Jeff over for an armbar. Jarrett tries his own armdrag to escape, but Morton hangs on. Bodyslam, but Morton hangs on again, so Jarrett drops him across the top rope to shake him off. Straddling ropechoke follows, and Jarrett uses a vertical suplex before unloading some turnbuckle smashes. Bodyslam sets up a flying bodypress, but Morton rolls through for two. He tries to keep it going with a backdrop, but Jeff counters with a swinging neckbreaker. Figure Four, but Morton counters with a cradle for two, and a sunset flip gets him another two. Unfortunately for Ricky that's all, as he runs into a kneebreaker, and the Figure Four finishes at 4:35. Too short to go anywhere, but generally solid. Afterwards, Giant shows up in the crowd to clarify that he blows. Man makes a strong case. Jarrett follows up with his own rambling interview, on a range of subjects from Giant, to Hogan, to Piper, to Flair, to his dad - and just about anything else that pops into his head. The dueling post-match interviews were longer than the match itself. **

The Amazing French Canadians v High Voltage: Voltage attack during the singing of the Canadian National Anthem before the bell - which is just poor sportsmanship, frankly. And it's not even like Canada is some enemy country, or something. We have no beef with you! In fact, your beef is delicious. Voltage double up on Carl Ouellet for a while, until Jacques Rougeau manages to trip Kenny Kaos up in the ropes, and the Canadians take control. They work Kenny over with their usual tandem stuff, drawing a thunderous 'USA' chant from the crowd in response. IT'S CANADA, YOU IDIOTS! Anyway, the Canadians go for the kill, but the Nasty Boys run in on Voltage for the DQ at 3:41. Just felt like they were biding time until the run-in here. Afterwards, the Nasties clarify that they didn't really want to join the nWo anyway, so whatever. Yeah, not buying it guys. What a terrible angle. Like, what are we supposed to think about them now? They basically turned heel, but were rejected by the other heels, and now we're supposed to cheer them? 'We may not be wanted, we may not be liked,' notes Brian Knobbs. No argument from me there, guys. This aired opposite the James/Sincere match on RAW, and I'd give the WWF a win there. ¼*

Rey Mysterio Jr v Jimmy Graffiti: Graffiti sneaks up with an electric chair before the bell, and quickly adds a sitout powerbomb for two, trying to steal this one. Cross corner whip, but Rey reverses, and uses a monkeyflip. Graffiti tries to return fire with a springboard, but Rey is ready with a dropkick, and a slingshot moonsault gets him two. Graffiti tries backdropping him over the top, but Rey lands on the apron, and takes Jimmy over the top with a rana instead. Whip into the rail out there, but Graffiti reverses, and then dives off the apron with a somersault senton. Back in, Jimmy uses a pop-up flapjack and a legdrop for two, followed by a snapmare into a chinlock. Clothesline, but Rey ducks, and he uses a drop-toehold to stun him. Mulekick and a springboard flying rana into a cradle finish at 3:24. Graffiti was sucking wind by the end of it, but he kept up. This aired opposite Dok Hendrix running down the Survivor Series card (complete with violent interruptions from Steve Austin), but I'll give Nitro the edge. * ¾

nWo merchandise ad

Lee Marshal calls in with his Road Report from Grand Rapids, Michigan

Eddie Guerrero v Chris Benoit: Feeling out process to start, with both guys nursing injuries, and thus cautious. Eddie ends up on the outside, but grabs a headlock on the way back in, as Kevin Sullivan pops up on split screen to make cryptic remarks about Benoit. Guerrero uses a shoulderblock to put Chris down, and a dropkick follows, but he gets dumped into the turnbuckles while trying to follow up. Chris uses a knee to send him to the outside, and Benoit forces him back in for abuse to the taped up ribs. Corner whip rattles Guerrero, so Chris drops an elbow for two, and grabs an abdominal stretch. Eddie escapes, so Chris takes another swipe at the ribs to put him back down, and it's stompin' time in Phoenix. Benoit corner whips him front-first, then starts unloading chops, but Guerrero turns the tables. Benoit fights him off and grabs another abdominal stretch, but misses a charge in the corner, and Eddie unloads a ten-punch. That's enough to trigger a comeback, but Eddie is so battered that he can't string much together. That leads to Steve McMichael whacking him with the briefcase, and Benoit covers at 8:21. Eh, not their best. They were basically selling the whole match, and not doing much else. Psychologically sound, but not especially entertaining. This aired opposite a stupid Karate Fighters bit and an AMAZING Steve Austin bit over on RAW, and that's enough to give the WWF the edge. ¾*

Tony Schiavone brings out Nick Patrick and his attorney to complain about WCWs treatment of Patrick, most notably the attack by Chris Jericho at Halloween Havoc last night. That brings out both Jericho and Teddy Long to insult the lawyer a bunch of times, and accuse Patrick of being nWo and faking all of his injuries. And then we have to go to commercial while they're still talking, since I guess they ran long, or didn't budget their time correctly. The Patrick angle continues to be a highlight, though it's got nothing on the Bret/Austin stuff over on RAW

Lex Luger v Booker T: They trade wristlocks to start, and Luger manages a hiptoss, but has to abandon a press-slam attempt, and settle for an inverted atomic drop instead. Nice save. Clothesline sends Booker over the top, but he manages to get control on the way back in, and he works Luger over. Booker gets distracted by AC Green (basketball player, in the crowd) arguing with Sherri, however, allowing Lex to fight him off, and send Booker to the outside. Back in, Lex hammers him with forearms, as Sherri continues to jaw with Green at ringside. Sherri was old school and really knew how to get her heat, every time, without fail. Lex works Booker over in dull fashion, but walks into an eyerake, and Booker sidewalk slams him. He tries a dive off the middle, but Luger dodges, and throws a backelbow for two. Booker grabs a chinlock, but Lex fights free, and a clothesline sends Booker flipping through the air. Lex adds a few elbowdrops, but walks into the axekick, and Booker gets two out of it. Booker with a pair of sidewalk slams to set up the Harlem Hangover, but Luger dodges, and the Torture Rack looks to finish - only for Lex to get distracted by Sting out in the crowd. He abandons the match to try and run over to talk to Sting, getting counted out as he does at 11:00. And then he doesn't even get to talk to Sting anyway. Boring match. ¼*

We finish with a replay of the Hollywood Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper confrontation from Halloween Havoc, with Bischoff introducing the clip by noting that Piper called and asked for five minutes to confront Hogan at the show, and that's the extent of his relationship with WCW at this point. Nice little touch to add to the realism. That leads to the nWo coming out to the ring so Hogan can cut a promo on Piper and Randy Savage, complete with talk of Savage's 'teeny-tiny Slim Jim,' and ending with a Hogan posing like it's the old days. This was fine, but nothing special as a promo, and a little flat because neither Savage or Piper showed up. Call it a push with the Michaels/Bulldog RAW main event, since Piper's jump had a lot of buzz

BUExperience: A decent, but largely forgettable episode – especially for one coming off of a major pay per view. RAW wasn’t exactly reinventing the wheel either, but they had the best match of the night, and the Steve Austin stuff was more entertaining than anything Nitro put out this week.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	10/28/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.0	3.6
Total Wins	17	35
Win Streak		18
Better Show (as of 10/28)	16	34