WCW Monday Nitro (February 10, 1997)

Original Airdate: February 10, 1997

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

Eddie Guerrero v Dean Malenko: Neither Eddie's WCW United States of Dean's WCW Cruiserweight titles are up for grabs here. Feeling out process to start, and these boys gots the moves! Really smooth reversal sequences, until Dean starts taking control, but Eddie blocks a pop-up with a rana. Cross corner whip, but Malenko reverses, and he hits a snap powerslam for two. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but Guerrero reverses for two, and he grounds Dean in a chinlock to wear him down. Malenko finds a side suplex to escape, and a reversal sequence ends in Dean hooking a weird cradle for two. That one left everyone confused, including the announcers, and even Guerrero. Another reversal sequence ends in Dean dropping him on his head with a release German suplex for two, as Syxx shows up, looking like he's auditioning to be Repo Man. He steals the US Title belt as Eddie and Dean reverse each other in the ring, but Guerrero sees him, and dives out to the floor to grab the belt before Syxx can get away. That's all well and good, but there's still an active match going on here, and the referee counts Eddie out at 4:56. Too short, and a lousy finish, but really good otherwise. *** ¼

Diamond Dallas Page shows up unannounced, saying he wants the Outsiders right now, and he's not leaving until he gets them. Well, he doesn't get them, instead getting Sting and Randy Savage, out to give him the baseball bat test - which Page passes. I like how Savage still keeps one eye on DDP, even while turning his back

Konnan v Bobby Eaton: For some reason, historyofwwe.com doesn't even list this match. Konnan charges with a dropkick right away, and then corner whips him to set up a corner dropkick. Corner clothesline, but Eaton dodges, and he pounds Konnan in the corner until the referee intervenes. That allows Konnan to get in a rolling clothesline, and a snapmare sets up a seated dropkick. Bobby tries fighting back in the corner again, but Konnan reverses a whip into the ropes, and hits a package DDT at 1:24. This was pretty bad (even at under two minutes) with both guys seemingly unable to get on the same page. DUD

Ron Powers v Giant: This is supposed to be Lex Luger against Powers, but Eric Bischoff won't give him medical clearance to wrestle (Lex is sporting a cast following the nWo attack last week), and so Luger brings out Giant to take his spot. And of course this is a total squash, as Giant just murders him, and finishes with the Chokeslam at 1:46. Afterwards, Mike Tenay comes in to talk, and Giant wants Luger to be his partner against the Outsiders at SuperBrawl. Man, everyone had beef with the Outsiders at this point, didn't they? Maybe because they actually seem like a threat, and not just an annoyance like Syxx. That draws Lex back out, and he's in. The match was mostly about the angle, which is fine. DUD

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The Outsiders show up in their limousine. Them wearing their ring gear while traveling is a rare coolness misstep from them

The Steiner Brothers v High Voltage: Scott Steiner starts with Robbie Rage, and chucks him across the ring with a hiptoss right away, as Harlem Heat observe from the entrance area. Rage comes back by clipping Scott's leg, but a flying axehandle gets blocked with an overhead suplex. Or, well, not 'blocked,' really. More like Rage just landed without ever trying to hit Scott, and Scott suplexed him. But, pretend, please. Tags all around, as now the Faces of Fear and Public Enemy are watching as well. Rick Steiner shrugs off Kenny Kaos with ease, and Scott puts him in a tree of woe for some abuse. Rage takes a cheap shot to allow them to try and get control, but Scott shrugs that off as well, and Rick comes in with a clothesline for two. Rage tries a springboard flying somersault senton, but Rick is so offended at the attempt at workrate, that he powerbombs him, and the Steiner's finish with an electric chair/flying bulldog combo at 4:00. ¼*

The nWo take over the commentary position, again chasing away 'tough guy' Larry Zbyszko without much effort. Bischoff announces that Randy Anderson (the referee he fired two weeks ago), has asked to speak to him, and so he brings Randy out to have their meeting right here. Randy brings his wife and kids with him to give a proper sob story (complete with Syxx miming a violin), and Bischoff looks like he feels bad. He calls Randy's young children over, but of course, dad's still fired, sorry. BUT, if he can beat Nick Patrick in a match next week, he can have his job back. And they say Eric's a prick

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders v The Extreme: Speaking of things that happened two weeks ago. This time the Outsiders don't even wait for the bell, attacking them in the aisle, and destroying them. Kevin Nash doesn't even bother taking off his sunglasses, so at least they get some of their cool points back. They set up a stereo Outsider's Edge/Powerbomb spot, but then decide to finish them off with Nash doing a torture rack, while Scott Hall does a chokeslam at 1:25. Afterwards, Syxx comes in to call it a 'four-star' match, which may be one of the first times I can remember a wrestler talking about star ratings on TV, even in that jokey way. DUD

WCW Television Title Match: Lord Steven Regal v Rey Mysterio Jr: Lots of stalling from Regal to start, and they trade wristlocks from there, with the champion controlling. Rey tries a hammerlock, but Regal easily powers out into a backbreaker, and he works the wrist again. Rey manages to use his speed to throw a springboard flying dropkick, but instead of capitalizing, he just kind of waits around for Regal to recover. Steven goes to the eyes to take control back, and an uppercut floors the challenger. Regal with a bootrake and a brutal looking snapmare, working Mysterio over, and openly mocking him along the way. Straightjacket looks to get a submission, but Rey drops him into the corner to escape, and a dropkick sends Regal to the outside. Mysterio teases a dive, but ends up getting his throat snapped across the top rope instead, and Regal decks him on the way back inside. He works a cobra clutch, but Mysterio quickly escapes, and uses a rana. Cradle gets two, so Regal tries a schoolboy for two. Rey with a victory roll for two, and he springboards his way into a sunset flip, but time expires at 6:42. Wow, I know wrestling plays it fast and loose with time limits, but that wasn't even kinda close to ten minutes. *

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Kevin Sullivan v Maverick Wild: One thing I like about WCW jobbers is that they actually get entrances. As a kid, that always made me think they were more legit than WWF jobbers. Sullivan dumps him to the outside right away for Jacqueline to beat up on, and she rolls him back in for Kevin to put the boots to. Back to the outside for more abuse from Jacqueline, including a bodyslam on the floor, before Sullivan finally puts this loser out of his misery at 2:15. I remember Jackie's act being pretty crazy at the time, but then Chyna came along a mere few weeks after her, and suddenly she wasn't so interesting anymore. Afterwards, Sullivan has words for Chris Benoit, which sounds like he's giving an interview, but he specifically says that it isn't an interview, so I'm confused. Also, where the hell is Mean Gene this week? DUD

Replay of the Hollywood Hogan/Roddy Piper segment that closed last weeks Nitro. The whole thing. In full. Don't get me wrong, it was a great segment, but we didn't need to see the whole thing again. What is this, WWF Mania?

Alex Wright v Hugh Morrus: Wright doesn't even dance anymore, so clearly the nWo is having an impact on morale. Morrus pounds him into the corner at the bell, but Wright escapes with a schoolboy for two, and he pounds Hugh in the corner. Cross corner whip works, but Morrus rebounds with a clothesline. Criss cross ends in Alex knocking him to the outside with a spinheel kick, and he dives after with a flying bodypress to trigger mounted punches on the floor. Alex throws some uppercuts on the way back in, but Morrus dodges a dropkick attempt. He tries an avalanche, but Wright dodges that, and then botches a dive off the top. That did not look good. Morrus responds with a powerbomb, and the No Laughing Matter ends it at 2:28. Nothing of real note, but that's the second time in as many weeks that Wright is showing some real fire out there, trying to have a great match where one isn't expected of him. ¾*

Jeff Jarrett and Chavo Guerrero Jr v Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael: Chavo starts with Chris, and of course, Benoit is quick to maul him. Chavo uses speed to fight him off, and a tilt-a-whirl slam leads to a snapmare for two. Dropkick connects, and Chavo passes to Jeff for a drop-toehold/elbowdrop combo. Jarrett adds a side suplex, but Benoit reverses a whip into the ropes, allowing McMichael to take a cheap shot from the apron. That turns the tide, and the Horsemen go to work on Jarrett. Jeff fights Benoit off with a dropkick to allow the hot tag to Guerrero, and Roseanne Barr the door! Watching Chavo run wild is pretty funny, especially with a big dude like McMichael as his target. Guerrero gets overwhelmed fighting both guys (since Jeff is being distracted by Debra McMichael on the outside), and Steve kills Chavo with a tombstone at 4:00. There wasn't much to sink your teeth into here. Afterwards, the rest of the Horsemen come in to give their usual directionless promo. ½*

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Roddy Piper comes out to rant about Hogan, including lots of gay jokes, which are becoming something of a habit with him lately. Hogan responds via satellite from Hollywood California, and apparently this feud is about Roddy's ability as a father? Not sure, but seems that way so far. I kid, but the feud is actually pretty interesting. This segment, though, not so much

BUExperience: This episode started off well enough, but everything after the Randy Anderson segment got progressively less interesting, before finally coming to an end with the boring ‘main event’ interview.  

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	2/10/97
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	n/a	3.8
Total Wins	17	49
Win Streak		32
Better Show (as of 2/10)	22	42