WCW Monday Nitro (July 7, 1997)

Original Airdate: July 7, 1997

 

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

 

Gene Okerlund brings Curt Hennig out to open the show, and he's officially part of WCW now, and will be at Bash at the Beach - though he doesn't confirm himself as Diamond Dallas Page's mystery partner. This all draws out Ric Flair, and he offers Curt a spot in the Horsemen right away, trying to give him a random blonde to sweeten the deal. After everything he just went through with Jeff Jarrett, you'd think Ric would improve his vetting process a little bit

 

Harlem Heat v Public Enemy: Booker T and Johnny Grunge start, and he pounds him into the corner right away. I have to stop and mention how insanely 90s the Enemy's gear is here. Did anyone ever refer to themselves (or anyone else, for that matter) as a 'macdaddy' past 1999? The Enemy manage to double up to get control of Booker, but he manages to get a tag off to Stevie Ray. Rocco Rock tries pounding Stevie into the corner, but he hits boot on a charge, and Booker tags back in to deliver a sidewalk slam for two. Elbowdrop misses, allowing the tag back to Johnny, but he quickly gets shrugged off by the Heat. The Heat continue treating them like a couple of jobbers, until Vincent shows up, and Booker stupidly chases him to the back. That allows the Enemy to gang up, and even though Stevie pretty easily handles them both, a miscommunication with Sister Sherri allows Grunge the pin at 4:56. This sucked. Afterwards, the Heat fire Sherri as their manager, and this ended up being her last appearance for the promotion. DUD

 

Kevin Sullivan/Chris Benoit feud video review

 

Konnan v Joe Gomez: Did Konnan EVER have attractive wrestling gear? And somehow he turned his nose up at the Max Moon getup? Gomez fights off the initial flurry with a series of dropkicks for two, and he works a chinlock, as we spot Raven seated in the crowd again. Konnan escapes the hold and comes back with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and he cranks on the arm for a bit, but it goes nowhere. Rolling clothesline gets two, and an overhead suplex leads to the Tequila Sunrise at 3:11. Why was Konnan working like he's trying to be the third Steiner brother this week? ¼*

 

Juventud Guerrera and Hector Garza v Villano IV and Villano V: Tenay notes that all four men have something in common, and luckily Bobby Heenan or Jesse Ventura aren't in the booth with him, because I can only imagine what he'd have guessed. It's that they're all second generation wrestlers, by the way. I do appreciate how they actually take the time to explain the differences between Lucha and American style tag rules, because it's really disorienting if you're used to only American style. The Villanos cut the ring in half on Garza, but Juvi gets the tag, and dives in on both for two. Why did Garza break up his own partner's cover there? He's even more useless than that damn Larry Winters! Miscommunication sees the Villanos both spill over the top to the outside, and Garza dives with a flying corkscrew bodypress. Back in, Guerrera dives with a flying 450 splash at 6:12. Just kind of a lot of spots, but it was fast paced, and never boring. **

 

WCW World Tag Team Champion Scott Hall, Randy Savage, and Miss Elizabeth show up to commandeer the announce desk (scaring all but Larry away), and apparently Diamond Dallas Page is nothing but a midcard jabroni. I know both guys were known to enjoy their substances, but how much do you have to be on to think it's still 1994?

 

We get a video package on Lex Luger and Giant's relationship, treating us to Lex acting all humble and soft spoken. Give it to them, they are hard selling the fuck out of Bash at the Beach

 

A limousine is driving around outside of the arena

 

Bash at the Beach ad

 

Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr v Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton: Chavo and Bagwell start, and Buff hits a dropkick, then takes forever posing... with Chavo just kind of letting him. No wonder Eddie didn't take this punk seriously. Chavo with a takedown into an armdrag, but Bagwell quickly fights him off, and passes to Scott. Well, if you thought Bagwell was treating him like a jobber, get ready. And, yep, Norton totally no-sells literally everything both Guerreros throw at him, and then reverses a double suplex on them. Back to Bagwell for a frogsplash on Chavo, but Eddie attacks while he's doing the posing. Watch and learn, Chavo. Eddie gets ganged up on, so he throws Chavo to the wolves instead, and Bagwell bodyslams him. Buff goes to the middle with an elbowdrop, but Chavo dodges, though Eddie refuses a tag. Good! Kid needs toughening up. So with Eddie walking out, Norton hits a few suplexes to put the kid out of his misery, but Chavo has the gall to kick out. That just annoys the nWo, and they take turns working him over, pulling him up at two. Chavo is doing a great job of getting the plucky babyface thing over, though, with great timing. Bearhug/Blockbuster combo finishes at 8:01. The third act went on for a bit too long, but this was generally solid. That may be the only time I've ever seen the 'heel drops to his knees and flexes' cover actually work, and not get reversed into a cradle. * ½

 

Randy Savage v La Parka: They measure each other some to start, with Savage dominating. Parka gets a small package in for two, so Macho quickly cuts him off with a clothesline, as Scott Hall continues messing with Zbyszko. Randy with a bodyslam to set up the Flying Elbowdrop, but Parka lifts his boots to block, and hits a cutter - unmasking as DDP before making the pin at 2:59! That gets a huge pop, and rightly so, it's a great angle. Also great: Hall walking around with his arms in the air thinking the bell meant Randy won the match, only to look back over at the ring from the announce position to see Macho flat on his back. DUD

 

Backstage, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero are brawling

 

Glacier and Ernest Miller v Psychosis and Silver King: Glacier and Miller fend off a sneak attack and clean house to start, and the dust settles on Ernest and Psychosis. Miller tries a suplex, but King dives in with a flying dropkick to prevent it, so Glacier comes in without a tag as well. Apparently this is Lucha rules as well, since the referee is doing fuck-all about it. And then Wrath and Mortis run in on both teams for a no-contest at 2:35. This was a weak match with a weak finish, but points for building their programs. DUD

 

Lee Marshall is in Orlando Florida with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report

 

Gene brings Ric Flair back out, and he still has his random blonde with him, so I guess Curt didn't take the deal. Or Flair just knows that sharing is caring. He's also got the Roddy Piper mannequin with him again, and I honestly can't tell if he's supposed to be a heel or babyface. He's entertaining either way. And then the real Piper shows up behind him while he's ranting and raving, and we have a brawl, with Piper tearing off his suit like Ricky Steamboat in 1989. Shame, it's a quality suit, too. This draws the Horsemen out, and Piper holds his own for a while, but eventually gets overwhelmed, and beat down. This was a strong segment to set up their match

 

Mike Tenay heads into the crowd to try and get something out of Raven, but fuck that, I'm pretty sure Frank the Clown is out there. But before Mike can get anything out of him, Stevie Richards shows up, and wants to do the interview himself. So Stevie tries to get Raven to confirm whether or not he's signed a contract as part of WCW, but he ends up getting smacked around by Raven instead. Funny bit, as Stevie call the fans 'Memphis morons,' and it takes them a good five seconds to understand that they've been insulted, and react

 

The Steiner Brothers v Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael: Scott Steiner starts with McMichael, as the announcers go into overdrive mode to hype the Bash. WCW is finally going to stand up for itself, don't you know?! Mongo gets control and uses a running powerslam, as this is just not working, and Steve needs to tag Benoit in. Scott blocks a corner charge and uses a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and he tags out to Rick Steiner, as Tenay hypes up a WCW appearance at a Payless Drugs somewhere. Well, I think we know how they got those wrestlers to agree to that date. Benoit gets a tag and brutalizes Rick in the corner, but Steiner holds his own, and suplexes him for two. Back to Mongo, as the announcers are STILL hyping the pay per view. The match has been going five minutes, and I don't think they've actually talked about it at all. McMichael ends up on the outside for Scott to abuse, as we cut to the back, where Randy Savage is beating up referee Nick Patrick in response to the DDP thing earlier (Patrick was the official in that contest). Scott press-drops Benoit, and ties him up in an STF, which pops the announcers like it's some crazy unique move. Chris fights Rick off with a corkscrew legwhip to allow the tag back to McMichael, but the Brothers quickly pull him into their corner for a double team. I'm confused, are the Steiner's heels here? Steve tries going upstairs, but Scott overhead superplexes him off, so Benoit comes in to nail him before a cover can be made. Both men tag, and Rick manages to shoot first with a Steinerline. Suplex gets two when McMichael saves, so Scott clotheslines him over the top, as Benoit backdrops Rick over the top. That draws WCW United States Champion Jeff Jarrett out to attack McMichael, and Kevin Sullivan runs in to break a chair over Benoit's head. That allows Rick to cover at 9:15. This didn't click at all. ¾*

 

Bash at the Beach ad

 

Eric Bischoff and WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan come out to give us the final hard sell for the Bash, but Giant and Lex Luger show up, and we've got a brawl to end the show. Dennis Rodman wasn't actually, you know, here, but close enough. I mean, Bischoff is the next best thing, I suppose

 

BUExperience: This was the hardest of hard sells, and it was generally pretty good too, but RAW was still a step ahead.

 

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	7/7/97
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.5	3.4
Total Wins	17	70
Win Streak		53
Better Show (as of 7/7)	37	47