WCW Monday Nitro (June 30, 1997)

Original Airdate: June 30, 1997

 

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (hour one), and with Bobby Heenan (hour two)

 

Gene Okerlund brings Ric Flair out to open the show, and he's got some quality Vegas hookers with him this week. Gene, of course, is thrilled. He's also got a mannequin dressed up like Roddy Piper, who he and the hookers make fun of, even going so far as accusing him of the worst thing one person can accuse another of: that he can't HANG. Ooooh. And then they all try to undress Gene, who cries out that his 'mother-in-law is watching,' in a funny bit. This whole thing was over the top and fun as only Ric Flair could make it

 

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Juventud Guerrera: Jericho picked up the Cruiserweight title from Syxx at a live event over the weekend. That feels really out of nowhere to me, as he hasn't been getting much of a push on Nitro or pay per view, but it's still a pleasant surprise nonetheless. Especially since Syxx's cruiserweight Honky Tonk Man act was starting to annoy me anyway. Feeling out process to start, dominated by the champion. Jericho takes him down for a Mexican surfboard, but Guerrera escapes, so Chris grabs a headlock instead. Guerrera forces a criss cross and manages a headscissors takedown, but he botches a springboard, and Jericho side suplexes him. They did their best to cover that up, but it still looked bad. Jericho with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and a snapmare sets up a bow-and-arrow. Guerrera escapes, so Chris ties him in a tree of woe for some abuse, and he works a backbreaker submission. Guerrera escapes and tries another springboard, but wipes out in another botch, so Chris throws himself to the outside to try and help a brother out. Guerrera dives after him with a tope, and he manages to successfully execute a flying 450 splash for two on the way back inside. German suplex, but Jericho reverses, so Guerrera lands on his feet. Kinda, he messed that up, too. Chris with a two-alarm no-release powerbomb for two, and a rana off the top sets up the Liontamer at 6:48. This was not especially good, with a pretty slow pace, and Guerrera botching move after move. Afterwards, Syxx shows up to get in Jericho's face, and the two brawl, as Alex Wright (in his best Euro trash outfit) shows up to complain that he's getting held back because he's German. What a weird way to rip off the Nation of Domination angle. *

 

Dean Malenko v Eddie Guerrero: Eddie attacks him during the entrances, beating Dean all the way to the ring to officially start the match. Guerrero continues pounding him once they're in the ring, using a vertical suplex and a jumping backelbow to set up a slingshot somersault senton splash, but Dean dodges. Malenko tries a backdrop over the top, but Guerrero lands on the apron, and comes at Dean with a tornado DDT, but Malenko blocks. Malenko puts the boots to him in the corner, and a side suplex follows, as does a leg lariat for two. Pop-up flapjack and a well executed powerbomb follow, and Dean uses a wheelbarrow suplex, as Chavo Guerrero Jr shows up. That distracts Dean from hooking the Texas Cloverleaf, and Guerrero capitalizes with a brainbuster to set up the flying frogsplash at 4:02. The flow felt off, but the execution was solid throughout. * ¾

 

Gene brings Rey Mysterio Jr out, and apparently Las Vegas is the 'city that never sleeps' now? Good thing he doesn't work for the board of tourism. Anyway, Rey is all pissy that he's been getting beat up by Kevin Nash all the time, and he calls him out with a challenge for a match tonight. Yeah, I'm thinking that's not really the best idea. Nash, of course, gladly (and dismissively) accepts. Nash was great here

 

WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff come out, and Eric has his motorcycle, so take THAT Disciples of Apocalypse. It truly was a Monday night war. Hogan announces that Randy Savage and WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders will face Giant, Lex Luger, and DDP tonight. Kind of weird booking Hogan to announce other people's matches, but that 1997 Nitro for you

 

WCW Television Title Match: Steve Regal v Hector Garza: Regal's finally gotten rid of the robe and changed his gear a little to match his new, non-Downton Abbey personality. That's kind of a shame, though... I, for one, will miss Wrestling Mr. Carson. They do some awkward reversals to start, with Garza getting the better of him, so Regal goes to the eyes. He pounds Garza into the corner, but a backelbow misses, and Hector hits a jumping forearm. Jumping clothesline, but Regal ducks, so Garza tries a dive, but misses. He STILL manages a dropkick anyway, putting Regal on the outside for a baseball slide. Garza dives after him with a moonsault press from the apron, but Steve dodges, and still somehow can't manage to get control of the match. Garza capitalizes on his ineptitude with a flying corkscrew on the floor, which Regal sells, despite only Garza's hair actually connecting. Garza with a missile dropkick on the way back inside, but a 2^nd rope moonsault hits the knees, and the Regal Stretch puts him away at 3:34. This was something of a style clash, and there were significant timing issues. *

 

Gene brings the Steiner Brothers out, and they definitely look like they're ready to have an interesting night here in Vegas. They won top contendership to the tag title, and they want that shot. That draws the nWo out, since apparently everyone in the promotion wants Kevin Nash tonight. Scott Hall actually brings the contract with him, which the Steiner’s sign without reading - failing to note that they have to wrestle other nWo guys to get to the shot. Boy, they walked right into that one

 

Earlier today, Gene and Mark Madden sat down with Chris Jericho for the WCW website

 

Psychosis v Super Calo: Calo dumps him to the outside to start, but doesn't follow up with a dive. Back in, Psychosis tries a wristlock, but gets dumped to the outside again, and this time Calo follows with a baseball slide - only to miss. That allows Sonny Onoo to unload some kicks, but Psychosis fucks it up on the way back in, and gets powerslammed. Psychosis manages a clothesline, and he backdrops Calo to the outside to successfully baseball slide. Psychosis tries a dive, but hits the guardrail. That allows Calo a suplex in from the apron, but Onoo trips him up, and Psychosis topples for the pin at 2:38. This didn't really go anywhere, and Calo looked off his game, following a legitimate injury against La Parka a few weeks prior. And, speaking of Parka, he shows up to break a wood chair over Calo's back after the match, so Juventud Guerrera runs out to make the save. I think we're gonna see a tag team match, playa! ¾*

 

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, and Steve McMichael v Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, and Masahiro Chono: Some guy has a sign reading 'Bobby Heenan for president,' which is a weird stance to take in 1997. Flair and Bagwell start, and Buff wastes no time with the taunts, but of course, Flair one ups him in that department. Bagwell uses a backdrop and a dropkick to send Ric to the outside, and Flair passes to McMichael on the way back in. Buff takes a cheap shot at him during a test-of-strength, allowing the tag to Norton, and Scott unloads in the corner. Over to Chono for much of the same, but McMichael wins a slugfest, and the Horsemen take turns pounding Chono in their corner. Chris with a nice snap suplex, and a clothesline sets up a flying headbutt drop, so Buff runs in, and Roseanne Barr the door. Norton lazily coming in like he's not really in the mood is pretty funny. So everyone brawls for all of five seconds, before Vincent runs into attack the Horsemen for the DQ at 3:06. This was a total waste of time. ½*

 

Kevin Sullivan/Chris Benoit feud review

 

High Voltage v Wrath and Mortis: The heels attack Voltage before the bell, and casually pound the shit out of them, with the referee not even attempting to settle things down. This goes on for a bit, until Glacier and Ernest Miller run in to attack, and Robbie Rage topples Mortis for the pin at 1:14. This wasn't really a match. DUD

 

A limousine is sitting outside of the building, though we don't know who is inside. I think this is one of the rare instances where they were using a Cadillac limousine instead of a Lincoln

 

Bash at the Beach ad

 

Lee Marshall is in Memphis Tennessee with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report. Fittingly, Jerry Lawler made a 1-800-COLLECT joke on the opposing RAW

 

WCW United States Title Match: Jeff Jarrett v Konnan: We spot Raven seated in the crowd during the entrances, leading the announcers to wildly speculate whether he's Diamond Dallas Page's mystery partner for Bash at the Beach. Jeff wins a criss cross with a hiptoss to start, and he throws a clothesline. Konnan ducks a leg-feed enzuigiri and throws a seated dropkick to take control, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and eats a DDT. Konnan fights back with a facebuster, and he ties the champion up in a mat-based abdominal stretch, but it's in the ropes, so he turns it into a cradle for two. Clothesline leads to a figure four, but Jeff goes to the eyes to block, and he goes to work on Konnan's leg. Cue the Horsemen, which distracts Konnan, and Jarrett slaps on the Figure Four, but Konnan reverses. Ric Flair helps him roll it back over, however, and Jeff retains at 4:12. It felt like both guys were trying, but they didn't mesh well. Konnan, especially, looked off of his game. Afterwards, the Horsemen come in, and it looks like Jeff is off of probation in record time. He's really happy about it, but then Flair breaks it to him that he's actually no longer a Horsemen. "You can't tell me what I can and can't be," cries Jeff. Um, yeah, I'm pretty sure he can. This whole angle is so confusing, and worse yet, the story never seems to advance. The Horsemen throughout the Nitro era always felt like they were doing the same thing every week for literally years. ½*

 

Kevin Nash v Rey Mysterio Jr: Rey dives in with a missile dropkick to kick start the match, and a trio of regular dropkicks follow. Springboard somersault seated senton finally takes Nash off of his feet for two, but a sunset cradle attempt gets blocked with an inverted atomic drop. Kevin biels him across the ring, and the powerbomb finishes at 1:47 - Nash pinning him with one foot across the chest. Nash gives him a few more powerbombs after the bell, so Konnan shows up, and the announcers badly telegraph the turn by going really over the top with their glee. And, yep, Konnan promptly turns on Rey, though he doesn't join the nWo. This was a weird match, as it was fun watching Nash throw Rey around, sure, but this didn't really do anything for anyone. ¾*

 

Tenay heads into the crowd to try and get a word with Raven, but gets the silent treatment

 

Outsiders lapel pin set ad. Well, they can't all be winners

 

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Randy Savage and The Outsiders v Diamond Dallas Page, Lex Luger, and Giant: Nash is sporting a toupee here, in a weird gag that I'm sure had some sort of inside significance. The nWo hold the high ground, refusing to let the WCW guys into the ring to start the match. They finally break through, and everyone brawls. In pretty boring fashion, too, with guys pairing off in corners and casually punching each other like it's a battle royal. And the referee is doing literally nothing to try and restore order, to the point where even the announcers have to note it. If these idiots are calling you out in 1997, you really suck at your job. So that goes on for a few minutes, until Hollywood Hogan shows up, and whacks Giant with the world title belt on the outside. That draws Luger over, but he gets nailed with the belt as well. That leaves Page fighting three guys, and he gets pounded on, as the rest of the nWo show up. Forget Nick Patrick, are we sure this referee isn't on their payroll? Seriously, there's six guys out there beating up two of the wrestlers, and the referee isn't even so much as attempting to stop it. We see 'Sting' in the crowd, and though it's obviously not the real Sting, the announcers are totally fooled. And then the real Sting rappels from the ceiling to chase the nWo off, and I guess it's a no-contest at 6:26. So as the nWo retreats, Raven jumps the rail and stares at them, while Curt Hennig comes down in the aisle, in his surprise debut. And what an ineffective one, at that. He just walks out in the last few seconds before the show goes off the air, and does nothing. Way to make it count, guys. Also, what was even the point of the fake Sting? DUD

BUExperience: Apparently Mike Tyson (fresh off of biting Evander Holyfield’s ear) was backstage at this show, though it was never mentioned on the air. And they wanted to bring him out at some point, but Turner higher-ups wouldn't allow it. What an interesting 'what if,' as Tyson showing up here would have sort of poisoned the well with the huge Austin angle a few months later in the WWF.

If that had actually happened, then maybe they might have been something here, but as is, this episode was a kind of a mess, and RAW was better.

 

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	6/30/97
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.5	3.3
Total Wins	17	69
Win Streak		52
Better Show (as of 6/30)	36	47