WCW Monday Nitro (November 18, 1996)

Original Airdate: November 18, 1996

From Florence, South Carolina; Your Hosts are Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko (hour one); Eric Bischoff, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan (hour two)

We get a unique cold open, with WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders standing in the ring over a bunch of guys while holding chairs, in what I think is the first time Nitro has opened without the standard title sequence. The Outsiders then head down to the announce position, where they taunt and bully Schiavone, while supposed (and self professed) tough guy Zbyszko just kind of stands there meekly. They abuse poor Tony while hyping up their Triangle match at World War 3, before going off to the back, where the Faces of Fear pop out to brawl with them. Meanwhile, back at ringside, Tony actually calls Larry out for not stepping in and standing up for him, and Zbyszko's all 'hey, I'm not Clint Eastwood.' He has a point, but he's also talking about how tough he is every week, and how he'd handle the nWo... and then just stands there with his hands on his hips while they bully and abuse his partner. Tony's not pleased though, and in fact is so bothered that he won't even do the broadcast, and walks off, leaving Zbyszko to call the action by himself. Hey, no need to punish us, Tony. This was a really good segment, taking it back to the chaotic nWo, instead of the relatively calm and docile nWo of recent weeks

Juventud Guerrera v La Parka: This is Parka's TV debut, after wrestling a dark match the week before. Parka charges while Guerrera stands on the top rope at the bell, so Guerrera dives right over him, and they trade strikes. Parka takes control first, as Mike Tenay comes in to replace Schiavone, robbing us of the train wreck solo Larry surely would have been. Guerrera's tights look like they bled in the wash, and it's really annoying me as man who values quality laundry. Parka sends him over the top with a rana, and then dives at him with a tope, right into the guardrail. Back in, Parka takes him up, but Guerrera brings him down with a rana for two. They trade waistlocks, ending in Guerrera using a springboard moonsault press for two, but a springboard flying bodypress gets blocked with a dropkick for two. Another dropkick sends Guerrera to the outside, so Parka dives with a flying bodypress on the floor. Inside, Parka hits a powerbomb for two, and works a surfboard, but Guerrera topples him for two. Guerrera goes up with a missile dropkick for two, and he grounds Parka in a chinlock for a second. Parka escapes, so Guerrera dodges a charge in the corner, and rattles him with a series of turnbuckle smashes for two. Guerrera takes him up for a springboard rana off the top for two, and he works a quick chinlock again to set up a seated dropkick for two. Rana into a cradle gets two, but Parka counters the follow-up with a bodyslam - only to miss a dive off the top. That allows Guerrera an elbowdrop for two, but a slam gets countered with a cradle for two. Parka tries a pop-up, but Guerrera counters with a kick, and uses a DDT for two. Tornado DDT gets two, so he takes Parka back upstairs for another rana off, but Parka blocks it this time, and dives with a springboard flying corkscrew senton at 9:22. Lots of effort, but also super sloppy, and noticeably awkward. Generally entertaining, though. This aired opposite the Austin/Mankind match on RAW, and I have to give that the edge. ** ¼

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Dean Malenko v Ultimo Dragon: Dragon is the NJPW J-Crown champion at this point, but that isn't on the line. They trade wristlocks to start, and then it's down to the mat, where Dragon works a leglock to take control. Dean grabs the ropes to save himself, and they criss cross, with Dragon landing on his feet to block a backdrop, and then sweeping Malenko's leg. Dragon with a kick combo, and he fires off chops in the corner, ahead of a handspring backelbow. Malenko returns fire with a corner clothesline, and a reversal sequence ends in Dragon reversing a victory cradle for two, and then hitting a tiger suplex for two. Malenko shoots back with a clothesline for two, so Dragon fires off a spinheel kick to send the champion to the outside. Baseball slide, but Dean dodges. He tries a whip into the rail, but Dragon reverses. Back in, Dragon goes up with a flying moonsault, but it misses, Malenko goes for the kill with the Texas Cloverleaf, so Sonny Onoo tries a distraction. It works, allowing Dragon to charge, but Malenko backdrops him over the top to block, and the referee disqualifies the champion over it at 4:02. Fun, but really short, and a weak finish. This aired opposite Faarooq making his TV debut of the Nation gimmick, and Ahmed Johnson making a low-key return. Give the edge to Nitro. ** ½

The American Males v The Amazing French Canadians: Marcus Alexander Bagwell starts with Carl Ouellet, and they start measuring each other. Bagwell gets the better of him with a dropkick, so Jacques Rougeau runs in, but Scotty Riggs cuts him off, and they clean house. The Canadians regroup on the outside, and the dist settles on Bagwell and Jacques. Bagwell grabs an armbar and passes to Riggs, but Jacques manages to get away, and taunts Scotty with kip-ups. He challenges Scotty to do one as well, but it's a setup for a cheap shot, and Jacques grabs a headlock. Scotty escapes with a monkeyflip before grabbing a headlock of his own, so Jacques tries a monkeyflip, but eats a fistdrop. The Males try a little double team combo, but Riggs misreads Bagwell's signal, and they end up colliding. That allows the heels to take control, and stupid Riggs is way out of position on a combo - forcing Jacques to slam Carl onto him while his dumbass is in a sitting position, instead of flat on the mat. That could have ended badly. The heels work him over with combos, but end up having a miscommunication of their own, and Bagwell gets the hot tag. He runs wild for a bit, but another miscommunication with Riggs results in him getting pinned by Jacques at 5:23. This was fine, but the Faarooq/Vega match and aftermath on RAW was more interesting, AND featured an even scarier botched move than this one did, to boot. *

WCW website ad. Holy shit, this could not get more 1996. Oddly, one of the screenshots advertises The Ross Report. Wasn't that Jim Ross' thing? You know, the WWF guy? Weird

Lex Luger v Hugh Morrus: Morrus gets a quick bodyslam off, as Arn Anderson pops up on split screen to bitch about the beating he took from Luger at Halloween Havoc. Morrus with a hiptoss, but Luger no-sells a vertical suplex, and gives Hugh one of his own. Lex adds a cross corner whip into a hiptoss and a shoulderblock, and this crowd is really into him tonight. Morrus fights him off in the corner (in a really phony looking spot where it was obvious Luger was doing all of the work), and Hugh hits an avalanche. A second one misses, allowing Luger to start making a comeback, but he misses a corner charge as well. Morrus goes up with a flying splash, but Lex dodges, and the Torture Rack finishes at 4:19. Afterwards, Gene Okerlund comes out to talk to Luger, and somehow the word 'tear' (as in, 'you are on a tear') is enough to break the Network's closed captioning system. Twice. And this is the system that regularly makes sense of AHMED JOHNSON promos! Whatever, Sting shows up with his baseball bat, but doesn't say a word - instead opting to shove Luger into the corner with it, and then hand him the bat before walking out. Not much to it, but it worked. This aired opposite the Furnas/LaFon/Cassidy/Holly tag match on RAW, and give Nitro the edge for having a bigger angle, and more recognizable stars. ½*

Over the weekend on Saturday Night, Nick Patrick and his lawyer continued to dodge questions from Chris Jericho and Teddy Long, in what remains probably the second most interesting angle in the whole promotion at this point. Anyway, this all sets up Jericho facing Patrick at World War 3, in a match where Chris has to wrestle with one arm tied behind his back

Chris Jericho v Johnny Grunge: Well, this should be interesting. Jericho dominates a criss cross early on, and puts Grunge down with strikes for two, as Nick Patrick comes out to observe from a distance. That allows Grunge to pull off a side suplex for two, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Jericho turnbuckle smashes him. He tries a flying moonsault press, but Johnny dodges, and puts Chris down with a clothesline. He uses a sitdown splash for two, but Jericho knocks him to the outside with a spinheel kick, and then throws a springboard dropkick when Grunge gets back to the apron. Johnny responds by grabbing a chair, but Jericho baseball slides between his legs and disarms him, then takes it back inside. Grunge manages a hotshot to shake him off, and he goes for the chair again - sitting Chris down in it, and clotheslining him off. That looked terrible. Grunge goes back to the outside to bring in a table, and he sets Jericho up on it for a dive off the top through, but Chris dodges. That allows Jericho to come off the top with a missile dropkick at 5:21. Grunge was totally exposed here throughout, and his ECW style offense looked especially terrible in this setting. Jericho kept it from becoming a total train wreck, and that's about as good as this could get. This aired opposite Sid's victory promo over on RAW, and I'd call it a push. Neither was particularly interesting. ¼*

WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan leads the nWo out to the announce desk, where they corner Bischoff for his dose of bullying, making him say all sorts of complimentary things to them under threat of violence. Not as good as the segment with the Outsiders earlier, but it worked

Okerlund brings Diamond Dallas Page out to talk about his turning down of the nWo's offer to join. That draws out the other half of the nWo, who offer a cryptic quote from 2001 A Space Odyssey, but nothing more. You'd think if they were quoting Kubrick films, this group would be more about A Clockwork Orange than 2001

Jeff Jarrett v Bobby Eaton: Eaton railroads him into the corner at the bell, but Jeff reverses a hiptoss, and uses a takedown. Bobby responds with rights, so Jarrett uses an inverted atomic drop, and he dumps Bobby to the outside. Eaton looks like he banged up his knee taking the atomic drop, but he manages to sweep Jarrett to the outside anyway. That goes badly when Jeff makes him eat rail and post, and they head in for a straddling ropechoke. Jeff adds a vertical suplex, and the Figure Four finishes at 2:15. Jarrett as a babyface is just too weird for me. Afterwards, Ric Flair shows up to personally endorse Jarrett, continuing this off-putting angle. I don't think 'Jeff Jarrett wants to be a Horsemen' is a bad angle in general, but 'Ric Flair trips over himself to publicly blow Jeff Jarrett at every turn' is. Sting watches from the rafters, and no wonder he attacked Jarrett last week. He spent years getting messed with and told he isn't good enough for their ranks by Flair and his pals, but JEFF freakin' JARRETT is?! And that's not a knock on Jeff. I always enjoyed his midcard act in the WWF. But, in no way did I buy him as a guy Ric Flair would back with this much fervor. ¼*

Lee Marshall calls in from Norfolk Virginia with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report. I seriously hope they made Lee take that same goofy photo before each taping

Big Bubba Rogers v Jim Powers: Bubba corners him right away, but Powers slips out of trouble, and cranks on a wristlock. Bubba goes to the eyes to escape, so Jim uses a drop-toehold into an armbar, but Bubba escapes that one quickly. Powers responds by spamming him with kicks, and a bodypress gets two. Bubba slugs him down for a straddling ropechoke, and it's chinlock time. Leg-feed enzuigiri connects, and Bubba unloads a flurry of fists before going back to the chinlock. Charge in the corner misses, allowing Powers to unloads a series of turnbuckle smashes, and a kneelift. It's funny watching him get into his comeback, but getting ZERO crowd response. No matter, he runs into a scrapbuster second later at 3:55. Really dull. DUD

Eddie Guerrero v Chris Benoit: Guerrero's all fired up, and comes in hot on Benoit. They have a few quick exchanges and criss crosses, until Eddie starts chopping him on the ropes. Chris tries a monkeyflip, but Eddie lands on his feet, so Benoit latches on with the Crippler Crossface. Guerrero quickly makes the ropes, so Chris starts hitting him with chops, and a turnbuckle smash. He tries cornering him from there, but Guerrero is too feisty, and he throws a jumping backelbow to set up a slingshot somersault senton splash. Great execution here, with both guys thinking on their feet, and staying in position even at a million miles an hour. Chris fights back with a side suplex, and that finally slows Guerrero down a bit. Chris slaps him around before using an armdrag into a mat-based side-headlock, and a hammerlock suplex gets two. Chris keeps cranking on the arm after the kick out, and then works an abdominal stretch. A little too many holds back-to-back here. Chris finally tries a powerbomb, but Eddie counters with a sunset flip for two (unbelievably fluid execution), so Chris starts pounding him again. Knife-edge chop gets two, allowing Chris to ground him in a bow-and-arrow, and another armdrag gets two. Eddie shakes him off with a headscissors takedown, but gets caught in a press-drop for two while looking for a follow-up. Chris drops him front-first across the top rope, but Eddie reverses a turnbuckle smash, and goes upstairs. Benoit follows for a vertical superplex, however, and both guys are down. Chris recovers first, covering for two. Chops rattle Guerrero, but he still manages to take Benoit over the top with a rana to block a powerbomb, and they slug it out on the floor. Woman steps in to allow Benoit to get the better of it, but Eddie flashes a quick cradle for two on the way back in. He adds a saito suplex to set up a flying somersault senton splash, but Chris dodges. Eddie manages to roll through to avoid the full impact, and he tries a rana into a cradle, but Benoit is able to reverse at 11:25. A little slow at points, but the execution was unbelievable throughout. ***

Eric Bischoff heads over to the ring to give an update on his attempts to bring Roddy Piper into WCW. Apparently, he's even been e-mailing him, and everything. Before he can give a full update, Piper himself shows up, and calls Bischoff a liar. Apparently, Eric hasn't been trying to get in touch with Piper at all. You know, I believe Roddy. I mean, e-mail? Really? Like Piper knew what (let alone used and maintained) e-mail was in 1996. I think he was still working on getting the hang of telegrams at that point, honestly. So Roddy starts grilling him, but before it gets too far, here's the nWo to attack. They all gang up and grab Piper, and despite them storming the ring, Bischoff doesn't run. In fact, he seems calm. And with Piper held by the goons, Hogan grabs Eric in a hug, and apparently #2 works from the nWo! They taunt Piper while garbage fills the ring, but a ton of uniformed cops come out to break it all up, and it takes literally a dozen of them to hold Roddy back once the nWo is out of the ring. He does manage to get a microphone though, and he tells 'baldy' that he'll be at World War 3, and they'll sign a contract for a match

BUExperience: Pretty good episode this week. It would have been better with the fat trimmed off at an hour long, but the top angle was a big deal, and it was more noteworthy than the surprisingly low-key post-PPV RAW.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	11/18/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.4	3.2
Total Wins	17	38
Win Streak		21
Better Show (as of 11/18)	18	35