Original Airdate: July 28, 1997
From Charleston, West Virginia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (hour one) and Bobby Heenan (hour two)
The Nitro Girls start us off with, you guessed it: dancing!
Ric Flair and Curt Hennig v Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton: Hennig and Norton start, which is kind of a fun meeting of two polar opposites of selling. And, indeed, Hennig wastes no time overselling everything for Scott, while Norton ignores anything Curt throws at him. Too bad they never did an extended feud. Curt ends up on the outside after overselling a chop, and Scott drags him back in, swinging him around by the hair. Hennig passes to Ric, and even repeated (like four) eyerakes aren't enough to make Norton sell, and he press-slams the Nature Boy. Scott with a jumping shoulderblock, and he doesn't even go down with Ric, since I guess even selling for himself is a bridge too far for this guy. Over to Bagwell for a backdrop and a dropkick, so Curt nails him from behind, and Flair capitalizes with chops. Well, at least Buff isn't shy about selling for him. Figure Four is applied, so Bagwell goes to the eyes, and then bails to regroup with Norton on the outside. The heels cheat to take control of Flair, and Bagwell powerslams him for two. They cut the ring in half, until Flair slips away long enough, and it's hot tag to Curt - Roseanne Barr the door! And even Norton sells! A little. Syxx runs out to attack Flair, but Hennig still manages a fisherman's suplex on Bagwell at 11:08 before getting overwhelmed in a two front war! This was a much better use of Hennig than what we've seen thus far. **
Nitro Girls are back with more... yep, it's still just dancing
Gene Okerlund brings Lex Luger out (in a weird sleeveless flannel shirt that feels like it must have been a very specific 90s trend), and he announces that not only will he meet WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan at Road Wild, but he will actually get a title shot even sooner: next Monday night right here on Nitro!
WCW Television Title Match: Ultimo Dragon v Prince Iaukea: Criss cross to start, won by Iaukea with a pair of dropkicks, but Dragon out moves him in the corner, and puts the challenger down with a series of strikes. Dragon works a chinlock, and snapmare gets him two. Dropkick is worth two, so he grounds Iaukea in a headscissors. To the top for a rana, but Iaukea counters with a superplex, so Dragon side suplexes him when they get back to their feet. Dragon with a slam to set up a flying moonsault, but Iaukea dodges. Iaukea tries a piledriver, but Dragon counters with a rana, only for Iaukea to reverse the cradle for two. Dragon with his own cradle for two, so Iaukea throws a dropkick, then a superkick for two. Backdrop, but Dragon lands on his feet, and they do a reversal sequence that falls apart pretty badly. And then Dragon just puts him in the Dragon Sleeper at 4:45. This was going along fine, but it fell apart really badly in the last minute or so. Like, embarrassingly bad. *
Gene brings Ric Flair and Curt Hennig back out, and Flair boasts that Hennig is now officially a Horsemen, but Curt claims to be a free agent. Nonetheless, Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael join them to make it official, but Curt still refuses to agree. This was a weird angle, and making Flair into a pushy car salesman was a weird take
Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael v The Texas Hangmen: No idea who these Hangmen are, or how they managed to get booked on something other than Saturday Night. Benoit starts, and manhandles him a Hangmen, but the other Hangmen throws a cheap shots, and we actually get a Hangmen heat segment! Well, no wonder Hennig is having second thoughts about joining this group. Mongo tags in, and he has an easier time with these goofs, as WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders call in to talk shit, mostly about Zbyszko. Mongo hits a sloppy tombstone, leaving the guy so out of position that he's in the ropes as Benoit slaps on the Crippler Crossface, and the poor guy has to slide himself back in while in the hold at 4:19. Well, at least that tombstone spot didn't break anyone's neck, though. Imagine if it did, and everyone got skittish about using that spot for the next few years, and then Owen Hart doesn't break Steve Austin's neck six days after this. ¼*
The Nitro Girls are appropriating
WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Alex Wright: Jericho schools him a bit to start, but Wright digs in with a headlock. Jericho forces a criss cross and uses a spinheel kick, followed by a superkick to put the challenger on the outside. Wright regroups out there, so Chris dives after him with a springboard shoulderblock, but a suplex on the floor gets reversed. Wright with a flying stomp on the way back inside, and he adds a side suplex. Into the corner for a pounding, and a snap suplex sets up a flying kneedrop, but Chris dodges. Jericho makes a comeback, and an inside cradle is worth two, so Wright elbows him in the throat, and uses a bridging German suplex to grab the title at 6:25. This was a solid little match, though I really wasn't expecting them to put the belt on Wright, after weeks of treating him like a jobber. It was especially surprising given how the match was booked, with Wright dominating most of it, and still winning clean. **
Gene brings WCW United States Champion Jeff Jarrett, Dean Malenko, and Debra McMichael out, and what the hell is Jeff wearing here? Man, was he in some kind of bet with Luger that night, or something? So Dean accepts Jarrett's offer to join his new group, and then Wright is walking by on his way back to the dressing room, and Debra propositions him as well. Maybe they should ask Curt Hennig if he's busy. I heard he's a free agent
Diamond Dallas Page v Syxx: Page slugs him down at the bell, and slaps on a hammerlock, so Syxx hides out in the ropes. Page stays on the arm, but Syxx escapes a wristlock, and hides in the ropes again. Page responds with a pumphandle backbreaker for two, and a swinging neckbreaker leads to an inverted atomic drop. Backelbow puts Syxx on the outside, but he manages to snap DDP's throat across the top rope when Page goes to pull him back in. Syxx unloads in the corner to set up the bronco buster, but Page makes a comeback on him. Pancake piledriver looks to set up the Diamond Cutter, so Vincent distracts him, allowing Syxx to recover with the Buzz Killer. Page escapes with the Cutter anyway, so now Hennig runs in to knock Dallas silly, and Syxx scores the pin at 3:40. This was energetic. * ½
Dean Malenko v Hector Guerrero: Feeling out process to start, dominated by Dean. Malenko with a leg lariat for two, and he grounds him in a chinlock, but Guerrero fights to a vertical base. Dean responds with a kneedrop for two, and a side suplex is worth two. He grounds Guerrero again, this time with a headscissors, but Hector counters to an STF. Guerrero with a backdrop to set up a twisting splash for two, so Dean tries a rollup for two, but Guerrero comes back with a schoolboy for two. Sunset cradle gets two, reversed by Malenko for two. Another reversal sequence ends in Guerrero using a headscissors takedown, but he gets distracted by Jarrett and Debra at ringside, and Dean puts him in the Texas Cloverleaf at 4:34. Boy, Hector sure took his time tapping there, didn't he? Fun match, though the finish was shit. * ¾
Konnan drags Okerlund out to demand interview time, and he's all pissy that Rey Mysterio Jr and the other luchadores got in his face, because they would all be nothing without him
Lee Marshall is in Detroit Michigan with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report
Giant v Great Muta: Randy Savage appears in the crowd during the entrances, hyping up a match with Giant for Road Wild, which I think is the first we've heard of that at all. Wasn't Giant's beef with Kevin Nash? Eric Bischoff shows up as they square off, deciding he wants to sit in on commentary. He punts Tenay and Heenan so he can mess with Schiavone, as Giant powers Muta around. Poor Muta must have worked so hard on that face paint, and here's asshole Giant just messing it all up. Muta hides out under the ring and sneaks back in on the other side to attack with dropkicks, managing to put Giant down by dropkicking the leg. Elbowdrop gets him two, so he starts diving. Flying tomahawk chop and a flying dropkick won't put Giant down, so Muta tries a third dive, but Giant catches him in the Chokeslam. Muta responds by trying to blind him with the mist again, but Giant has figured out the counter (closing his eyes), and Muta is done at 5:53. This was really rough, but the finish was cute. Afterwards, Giant spits out a challenge to anyone in the nWo, so Zbyszko shows back up, dragging Eric to the ring to answer! And you can guess how that one goes for him. DUD
The Nitro Girls are chairs
La Parka v Konnan: Konnan with a rolling clothesline right away, and a snapmare sets up a seated dropkick for two. Konnan with a bodyslam to set up a dive, but Parka uses a dropkick to block, and a bodyslam sets up a flying corkscrew senton for two. Would have been cooler if it actually connected, but whatever. Parka grabs his chair, but a swing misses, and Konnan dropkicks him. That allows Konnan the cradle DDT, and the Tequila Sunrise finishes at 1:44. There was nothing to this one. Afterwards, Psychosis runs out to back Parka up, but Konnan leaves without incident. ¼*
Outsiders lapel pin set ad. There’s no way they sold more than ten of those
JJ Dillon calls in, I'm guessing since the Outsiders did it, and he's not to be one upped when it comes to dialing buttons, God damn it. Anyway, he's hot on the case of Sting, and feels he can get him back in the ring soon. Well, thanks for that update, JJ. Why don't you go fuck off back to your hole now?
Scott Steiner v Randy Savage: Some sizing up to start, with Scott overpowering him, so Macho shoves the referee at him for a distraction, then tackles him down. That was great! Unfortunately for Savage, Scott quickly comes back with a press-drop, and Macho bails. Savage responds to his frustration by throwing chairs around, but Steiner still belly-to-belly suplexes him on the way back in, and Macho bails again. This time Scott chases, so Randy uses Miss Elizabeth as a shield, allowing him a cheap shot. He capitalize by chucking Steiner into the steps, and they spill into the crowd, where Macho keeps unloading. Scott gets a helping of ring post next, and Savage uses a bodyslam on the way back in, but Rick Steiner is sick of all the abuse, and distracts him. That allows Scott to counter a flying axehandle with an overhead suplex, and a backdrop sends Randy over the top. Scott whips him into the rail out there, then dumps him into the crowd to get some payback from earlier, so Macho goes to the eyes, but Scott is raging, and he no-sells it. Back in, Savage is begging off, but Steiner shows no mercy, so Randy goes low. That allows Randy to try for a suplex, but Steiner counters with a cradle for two, and a clothesline follows. Tigerbomb hits, so he decides to take Macho upstairs for a Frankensteiner off, and holy shit, Macho is actually taking all these moves! But then the Outsiders run out to attack Scott, and it's a DQ at 10:36. This was unique, and I liked it. Afterwards, we get an nWo beat down, but Giant runs out to make the save, and that would actually make a pretty hot six-man. ** ¼
BUExperience: A fun episode that just flew by. Definitely gets the edge over RAW this week.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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