WCW Monday Nitro (December 30, 1996)

Original Airdate: December 30, 1996

From Knoxville, Tennessee; Your Host is Tony Schiavone with Larry Zbyszko (hour one) and with Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan (hour two)

The nWo arrive in their limousine, and give Hulk Hogan credit, the man knows how to keep every bit of his heat despite doing a clean job the night before. He had a real talent for it, especially as a heel. So Giant points out that the title belt may be on Hogan's shoulder, but it still has Giant's nameplate on it. And he wants a shot at it. Especially since he won World War 3, and everything. Hogan tries to cool him down by telling him that as long as the belt stays in the family, it's good enough, but Giant wants to be the lead dog. Off to a strong start here, as Hogan does a great job of playing this character, and he's especially engaging in this sort of setting, as opposed to the ranting and raving in-ring interviews. And good job to WCW for establishing a clear direction right at the top of the show. This aired opposite a bunch of ring entrances over on RAW, so point to WCW

The Amazing French Canadians v Public Enemy: Because last week's match was so good? The Canadians hold the high ground and hold the Enemy on the floor for a bit, before they manage to force their way in, and we have a brawl. Enemy manage to clean house, and I'm chuckling imagining Carl Ouellet flat out refusing to job to Kevin Nash at a house show about a year before this. Like, look at this goof! What balls! Enemy get Jacques Rougeau on a table for the Drive-By, but he rolls off, and they put themselves through it instead. That allows the Canadian's to isolate Rocco Rock, and they hit the Tower of Quebec at 3:30. Whoa, timekeeper was really overzealous with the bell there. Calm down, sparky. This aired opposite the opening tag on RAW, which was much better. DUD

Ultimo Dragon v Jushin Thunder Liger: Neither Dragon's WCW Cruiserweight title or his NJPW J-Crown are on the line. Dragon doesn't wait for the bell, and blitzes Liger with kicks. Criss cross ends in Liger hitting a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and he takes Dragon to school with a surfboard. Liger with a handspring backelbow for two, and a somersault senton splash gets two. Powerbomb works, but Dragon reverses another try at a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and Liger ends up on the outside. Dragon dives after him with a tope, and Jushin gets whipped into the guardrail out there. Back in, Dragon uses a slam to set up a flying splash, but Dragon lifts his boot to block. Give Dragon credit, he didn't telegraph the block like most guys do - he dived with gusto! Liger with a brainbuster for two, and a vertical superplex gets two. Chops in the corner, but Dragon reverses a cross corner whip, and he takes Liger off the top with a rana, before finishing up with a tiger suplex at 4:41. This was fine, though it never really got out of low gear. This aired opposite entrances for the Helmsley/Funk match on RAW, so point for Nitro. ** ¼

Strap Match: Konnan v Michael Wallstreet: This is scheduled to be Konnan against Big Bubba Rogers, but Wallstreet shows up to note that Bubba can't make it tonight, so he'll be taking his place. 'Couldn't make it tonight?' Could they not come up with an excuse that didn't make it sound like Bubba is stuck on the can with a case of the shits? "This should be a very interesting matchup," notes Tony. Should it? Wallstreet jumps him and unloads with the strap, but loses focus while going for the corners, and Konnan gives him a low blow. Konnan unloads with the strap, and hits a rolling clothesline, but then misses a regular one. That allows Wallstreet to choke him with the strap some, and he starts dragging him to the corners that way, but Konnan is hitting the same corners behind his back. They get to the forth, and of course Wallstreet decks him into it, unaware that he's giving Konnan the win at 2:41. This aired opposite the slow part of the HHH/Funk match, and I'd still give RAW the clear edge. Also, uh, DUD


WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff come out to rant, and they're flat out acting like they won against Roddy Piper at Starrcade. Alternative facts, brother. The announcers at least have a good sounding excuse for why the match was non-title, since Piper isn't technically a part of WCW, which they indeed did say over and over again during the build up to the PPV. Anyway, not much to this one, and I'd give RAW the edge with the finish of the HHH/Funk match

Hugh Morrus v Kensuke Sasaki: They measure each other to start, until Hugh gets distracted by Sonny Onoo, and Sasaki hits a suplex for two. He throws chops, but Hugh no-sells, and uses a clothesline for two. Morrus with an avalanche, as Bischoff shows up at the announce position to steal the video tape of the finish from Starrcade last night, which the announcers had been promising to show as proof of Piper beating Hogan. Meanwhile, Sasaki hits a bodyslam, but a flying elbowdrop misses, and Morrus hits a bodyslam of his own to set up the No Laughing Matter, so Onoo runs in with the flagpole to break the pin (and draw the DQ) at 4:41. They badly telegraphed the finish there, with the referee making a ridiculously slow count to give an out of position Onoo time to find his mark. This aired opposite the Hart/Michaels face-to-face segment on RAW, which was amazing, and much better than this bullshit match with that bullshit finish. ¼*

Harlem Heat v The Faces of Fear: Stevie Ray starts with Meng, and hits a corner clothesline, as the announcers hype up Souled Out. Meng fights Stevie off during a criss cross, and it's over to Barbarian to pound him, but Booker T blind tags in, and hits both the axekick and the Harlem sidekick for two. To the top, but Barbarian crotches him, and sends him flying with an overhead superplex. And not even a pop for that one! Man, this crowd is a dick. Meng with a backbreaker for two, but the telegraphs a backdrop, and Stevie gets the tag. Meanwhile, Robert Parker shows up to spank Sister Sherri, and the Amazing French Canadians are with him to throw powder into Stevie's eyes. That allows Meng to make the cover, but Booker dives off the top to save, and the Heat score the pin at 3:33. Whole lotta nothing, complete with overbooking. This aired opposite the Goldust/Lawler match on RAW, which at least had better overbooking. Point for RAW. ¼*

Gene Okerlund brings Diamond Dallas Page out, and he wants to know what Page is going to do about how the nWo cost him the US title at Starrcade. Page does a great job of playing it both cool and menacing here

Glacier v Disco Inferno: Disco warns him that he's been practicing his new submission hold for the past two weeks, and offers him a chance to forfeit, which is fun heeling. So Glacier dominates him with quick strikes, and a few takedowns end in Glacier holding a wristlock. Disco reverses, but Glacier fights him off with a series of kicks, so Disco starts trying to sweep the leg, but that ends badly. Glacier with a gutwrench suplex, but Disco uses the referee as a shield to block the Cryonic Kick, and he takes a cheap shot. That allows him to go for his submission hold, but Disco forgets how to apply it, and Glacier fights him off. Disco uses a swinging neckbreaker instead, but wastes time gloating, and Glacier superkicks him at 4:19. Mix a glacier with an inferno and, yep, you get a puddle of water. DUD

Outsiders t-shirt ad

Chris Benoit v Chris Jericho: Jericho knocks him to the outside early, and hits a springboard dropkick on the apron, followed by a missile dropkick on the floor! Back in, Jericho uses a chop, but a criss cross ends badly when Benoit uses a hotshot. Benoit unloads with knees, and a spinebuster sets up an elbowdrop for two. Powerbomb, but Jericho slips free, and hooks a backslide for two. Benoit fires back with a clothesline for two, so they start trading chops, and Jericho sneaks a schoolboy for two. Reversal sequence ends in Jericho throwing a clothesline, and both guys are down. They stagger up for a slugfest, won by Benoit by sending Jericho hard into the corner. Benoit follows in to unload a ten-punch, but Jericho fights him off with an inverted atomic drop. He adds a superkick, but the Lionsault misses, so he goes up with a flying bodypress instead. Knee in the corner misses, allowing Benoit to take him upstairs with a side superplex for the pin at 3:57. Too short, but it was just a mile a minute while it lasted there. ** ¾

Okerlund brings out the Four Horsemen (sans Arn Anderson), but it quickly breaks down when Debra McMichael and Woman come close to a catfight. Luckily, Jeff Jarrett shows up, since nothing can cool two women in the throes of passion down quite like Jeff Jarrett. Anyway, Jeff wants to be a Horsemen, but no one seems to be interested, and Debra gets in more catty shots at Woman. I really love catty Debra, but the angle isn't really going anywhere, just treading the same water for weeks now

Lee Marshall calls in from Monroe Louisiana with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report

Octagoncito and Mascarita Sagrada v Jerrito Estrada and Piratita Morgan: Yeah, so this is a midget match, for whatever reason. Did a lot of guys have the night off this week? Estrada doesn't even really look like a midget. Maybe in the 90s, but he honestly doesn't look any smaller than Daniel Bryan or Rey Mysterio. Anyway, stuff happens, Sagrada pins Estrada with a victory cradle at 2:20. This was a combination of two of my least favorite things: midget wrestling and Lucha tag matches. ¼*

Dean Malenko v Rey Mysterio Jr: Both guys go for submissions right away, and Malenko dominates on the mat. Rey dumps him to the outside and baseball slides into a headscissors takedown on the floor, so Dean slows things down with a drop-toehold into a facelock on the way back inside. Malenko goes to a bow-and-arrow, but Rey escapes, and tries to hold a front-facelock. Dean forces him into the corner to escape, and pop-up flapjack connects, followed by a gutbuster for two. Despite the pair of flashy moves, the crowd isn't even responding, which is a bad sign. Dean goes to the mat with an elevated half-crab, but Rey springboards out of the corner to fight him off with a dropkick. Dean keeps control with a butterfly suplex for two, and even the announcers are bored with this now. Dean with a backbreaker into a backbreaker submission, then down into a pin attempt for two. Tilt-a-whirl, but Rey topples him for two, so Dean corner whips him to cut off any comeback. Malenko unloads, but Mysterio turns the tide, so Dean alley-oops him onto the top turnbuckle. Dean follows for a side superplex, but Rey topples him on the way down, and it's comeback time. Rana, but Dean counters with a powerbomb for two, so Rey tries a victory roll for two. Malenko with another powerbomb, but Rey counters with a sunset flip for two, so Dean throws a clothesline. Bodyslam sets up a trip to the top, but Rey knocks him to the floor with a spinheel kick, and he dives with a flying seated senton on the floor - finally waking this horrible crowd up a little bit. Rey with a springboard seated senton on the way back in, but Dean counters into a Boston crab, triggering a pinfall reversal sequence. Rey tries a headscissors, but Dean counters with a sidewalk slam. Rey goes up with a dive, but the bell sounds as the ten minute time limit expires at 9:19. Big disappointment here. * ¾

Lex Luger v Greg Valentine: Between the similar gear and hairstyles, these two look like the before/after of a weight loss ad. Greg throws knees during the initial lockup, and he pounds Luger with forearms. Snapmare sets up a chinlock, but Luger fights free, so Valentine goes back to simply hammering him. That goes on for a bit, until Luger just randomly starts making a comeback, so Greg dumps him to the outside. Greg hammers him with elbowsmashes, but Luger slaps on the Torture Rack on the way back inside at 2:42. This had so little flow that it barely felt like a match. DUD

Roddy Piper comes out to give a promo, and though he's usually pretty entertaining with his rambling stuff, it's boring as hell this week. So Hogan and Bischoff show up, and at least finally this crowd is engaged. So they cut promos on each other, and Hogan claims Piper's kid begged him to take it easy on dad last night, prompting Roddy to issue a challenge for right here and now. Cue the Outsiders, Syxx, and Scott Norton to sneak attack Piper, as the ring fills with garbage. So Hogan wants Giant to put the punctuation mark on it with a chokeslam, but Giant has a change of heart, and decides to stand guard over Piper instead. You know, after they already beat the shit out of him. So Hulk chews him out, but Giant responds by grabbing Hulk by the throat, and the crowd is into it! Funny background noise here, as Piper is getting stretchered out, and shrieking like a cross between Woman and Jimmy Hart. So Giant chokes Hogan down until the champ meekly agrees to give Giant a title shot, and once Hulk is out of the ring, he sics the nWo on him for the beat down. Giant holds them off, but eventually gets overwhelmed, and Hogan pounds Giant with the title belt to officially kick him out of the nWo. This wasn't a great segment, but at least it established a firm main event direction for the next pay per view to build towards

BUExperience: RAW wasn’t great, but this Nitro was outright boring. Lots of matches that looked good on paper but under delivered, bad matches, midgets, a dead crowd – this wasn’t a good episode, and surprisingly so considering they’re coming off of a hot pay per view. Though RAW was bad too, the hot Michaels/Hart segment is enough to give them the win from a quality standpoint this week, but even this terrible episode of Nitro managed to absolutely decimate RAW in the ratings, scoring Nitro’s widest ever margin of victory to that point.

And as the year comes to a close, WCW dominates the WWF. Nitro holds 44 head-to-head wins over RAW’s measly 17 (with 27 consecutive weeks at the close of 1996), and it’s generally the better show, too. But it’s clear things are starting to (ever so slowly) shift in the WWF, and 1997 would be a year of very big changes, while Nitro mostly stuck to running the same playbook they did in the second half of 1996.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	12/30/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	1.6	3.6
Total Wins	17	44
Win Streak		27
Better Show (as of 12/30)	20	39