WCW Tuesday Nitro (July 22, 1997)

Original Airdate: July 22, 1997

 

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

 

The Nitro Girls are dancin', yeah

 

WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff join us to start, accepting Lex Luger's challenge for the title at Road Wild. In their typical long winded fashion. Hogan's crucifix necklace seems to be getting bigger by the week

 

Konnan v Tsubasa: What the hell is a Tsubasa? I'm guessing it's Spanish for 'jobber,' because Konnan puts him in the Tequila Sunrise at a brisk 0:27. What's Spanish for DUD?

 

WCW Television Title Match: Lord Steven Regal v Ultimo Dragon: Wait, why is Regal doing the 'Lord' gimmick again? Either something happened on one of the weekend shows that they're not bothering to mention, or they just forgot about their own angles. Honestly, there's an equal chance of it being either. Dragon uses a series of strikes to take him down, and he gets a huge pop for it. Dragon tries a handstand in the corner, but Regal pulls him off with a front-powerslam for two. The champion tries a superplex, but Dragon counters with a sunsetbomb that sends Regal halfway across the ring. Dragon follows up with kicks, so Regal gives him an inverted vertical suplex to buy time. Regal stays on him, but Dragon comes back with more kicks, and the Dragon Sleeper puts it away at 3:24. Wow, Dragon is over pretty huge in Jacksonville. This was really short, and kind of directionless for the most part. ¾*

 

Gene Okerlund brings Ric Flair out to announce the newest member of the Four Horsemen, but Syxx interrupts before he can get to the point. Dude, Ric has enough trouble getting the point as it is, don't make it worse. Syxx notes that Flair is already coming off of an injury, but he needed to come back because he 'spent all his money.' That probably didn't resonate in 1997, but it sure feels like a shoot comment hearing it in 2021. So Ric beats him up, and Syxx runs away crying, promising to tell his nWo pals about it

 

The Nitro Girls are fucking horribly uncoordinated

 

Giant v Great Muta: Muta tries a pair of dropkicks, but Giant shrugs them off and tries the Chokeslam, so Muta blasts him with a hit of the mist for the DQ at 0:50. That was a hell of a misting though, perfectly timed and executed. So with Giant blinded, the nWo run in to do the beat down, but he manages to fight them off anyway. DUD

 

Dean Malenko v Steve McMichael: They feel each other out to start, dominated by McMichael. Mongo misses an elbowdrop to give Malenko control, and Dean unloads in the corner. Cross corner whip and a 2^nd rope sunset flip follow, but Steve blocks the cradle, and puts the boots to him. McMichael with a front-powerslam for two, and a slam follows. Another front-powerslam, but Dean counters with a German suplex. Backdrop, but McMichael blocks with a boot, and gives him a sloppy powerslam. That draws WCW United States Champion Jeff Jarrett and Debra McMichael out, and Steve goes after him like a moron, allowing Dean to throw a dropkick from behind, then cradle at 4:21. This was pretty rough around the edges, with McMichael looking totally out of his depth in there. Afterwards, Gene wants to understand why Dean would accept help from 'the likes' of Jeff Jarrett, and they tease forming a new stable to counter the Horsemen, though nothing ever came of it. ½*

 

Eddie Guerrero v Hector Guerrero: Hopefully this gets a bit of time. Hector with a few takedowns to start, so Eddie bails, but Hector makes the mistake of chasing, and loses the high ground. That allows Eddie to get control, but Hector reverses an abdominal stretch into a cradle for two, so Eddie starts biting him (complete with exaggerated yelling from Hector). Eddie with a cross corner whip, but a charge misses, and Hector unloads with uppercuts. Hector takes him up with a vertical superplex for two, and a twisting splash is worth two. Headscissors sends Eddie to the outside, so Hector dives after him, but takes a low blow on the way back in. That allows Eddie a powerbomb, and the Frogsplash finishes clean at 3:45. Hector looked pretty slow out there, but this was too short to go anywhere anyway. Afterwards, Dean Malenko shows up to beat the shit out of Eddie, but Hector steps in to save. That earns HIM the beating from Dean, but Eddie doesn't offer any help, walking away without looking back.  * ½

 

The Nitro Girls kick off hour two the only way they know how: more dancing!

 

Gene brings JJ Dillon out to announce that Raven will sign a WCW contract tonight, but Stevie Richards interrupts, since apparently he negotiated the whole deal without Raven even knowing about it. But not even the promise of a full size rental car with a tape deck is enough to entice him, and he refuses to sign, instead beating Stevie again

 

Lex Luger v Scott Norton: Buff Bagwell distracts Lex early, allowing Norton to get control before he has to sell anything, and Scott delivers a backbreaker. Norton tries an avalanche, but Lex sidesteps, and he makes a comeback. That gets Vincent to run in, and we have a DQ at 1:53. Did they get an edict from TNT about going over four minutes, or something? Well, at least Norton sold the jumping forearm smash. There's that. Afterwards, Lex cuts a promo on Hogan, drawing Hulk himself out to retort from the entrance. DUD

 

Backstage, the Outsiders arrive, and they're wearing those geeky shorts again

 

Lee Marshall is in Charleston West Virginia with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report. What, no lame 'weasel' joke this week? I feel robbed

 

Backstage, Ric Flair and Curt Hennig are deep in conversation. While neither wears pants

 

Mortis and Wrath v Psychosis and La Parka: Wrath and Parka start, and Parka outmoves him to get control. Parka puts the boots to him, but a flying splash hits boot, and Wrath backelbows him. Tag to Psychosis, but he gets grabbed by Wrath right away, and Mortis tags in to abuse him in the corner. Mortis with a cross corner whip, and Psychosis tries springboarding, but trips, and takes a spill to the outside. Ouch. Back in, Psychosis manages a cross corner dropkick to put Mortis on the outside, and Psychosis dives with a suicida. Wrath comes over to help, so Parka dives at him with a corkscrew suicida, but a plancha from Psychosis gets caught by Wrath, and he press-drops Psychosis on the floor. Mortis suplexes him back in for two, and a bodyslam sets up a flying senton splash, but Psychosis rolls out of the way. Mortis went for it with that bump, too. Psychosis with a rana into a cradle, but the referee is distracted, and Wrath breaks up the pin. That allows the heels a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo, and Psychosis is done at 4:33. This was okay. * ¼

 

Booker T v Buff Bagwell: I'm honestly surprised they didn't waste some Turner money on a custom 'Tuesday' Nitro sign, instead of just using the usual 'Monday' one. Bagwell gets an armdrag to start, so Booker forces a criss cross, but takes a hiptoss. Unfortunately for Bagwell, Booker spins right back to his feet, and the Harlem Sidekick puts Buff on his tuff. Booker hiptosses him over the top, and he follows for a clothesline on the floor. Buff grabs the high ground on the way back in to turn the tide, and he uses a bodyslam to set up a splash, but Booker lifts his knees to block. Booker with a backelbow, but Buff blocks a suplex by snapping his throat across the top rope. Bagwell with a ropechoke and a turnbuckle smash, followed by a big clothesline that sends Booker spiraling through the air. It only gets two, so Bagwell shoves the referee, but that backfires on him with Nick Patrick shoves him right back - allowing Booker a two count. Booker comes back with a jumping forearm, and both sides of the atomic drop lead to the axekick. Harlem Sidekick gets two, and a backdrop follows, so Scott Norton attacks. That allows Bagwell the Buff Blockbuster at 5:41. This was solid. * ¾

 

Gene brings Rey Mysterio Jr out, and he's on crutches following Konnan's attack, but he still loves wrestling, darn it! That draws Konnan out to break his other leg, so the other luchadores come out to back Rey up, but Konnan isn't sweating these 'refugees.' I actually like the idea of Konnan feuding with all the luchadores who feel betrayed by his nWo turn, and I hope they follow up on it

 

Curt Hennig v Michael Wallstreet: Curt gets a bodyslam right away, so Wallstreet forces a criss cross, but takes a hiptoss. Were they taking notes during the last match, or something? Wallstreet tries a suplex, but Curt reverses into the bridging fisherman's at 0:48. And then Diamond Dallas Page immediately hits the ring to attack, and Hennig eats a Diamond Cutter before officials can intervene. What a cold debut this was, with the crowd barely interested, and Hennig stumbling through a sub one minute match. DUD

 

Dennis Rodman nWo t-shirt ad

 

The Nitro Girls are still dancing. Well, maybe if they keep practicing they’ll eventually get good

 

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders v Ric Flair and Chris Benoit: Scott Hall starts with Flair, and Ric is a house of fire early, sending Scott to the outside, and knocking Kevin Nash off of the apron for good measure. Tag to Benoit, and he takes Hall down with a dragon corkscrew legwhip, and a bridging northern lights suplex is worth two. Chop sends Hall retreating for the tag, and Nash wants Flair. The Horsemen oblige, and Ric comes right at him with chops, but he runs into a fist shortly after. Nash unloads in the corner, so Flair starts targeting the leg, but Syxx trips him up, and Nash plants him with a sidewalk slam for two. Hall tags in with a fallaway slam for two, and the Outsiders cut the ring in half, as Heenan struggles to say something even remotely relevant on commentary. He was getting worse by the day at this point, and the other two had basically given up on him, ignoring him like he's Art Donovan most of the time. Like, he makes a good comment about Hall's height advantage giving him natural leverage while he has Flair in a sleeper, and Tony is so impressed that he's actually on point, that he can't help but gleefully go "nice comment, Brain!" It's just sad. Benoit gets the hot tag and runs wild, but gets overwhelmed fighting both champions while Flair is caught up with Syxx, and Nash big boots him down at 7:52. This was okay, but the heat segment dragged a bit. Afterwards, Steve McMichael runs out to backup his pals, and where was HE during this whole thing? No wonder Flair kept trying to find another guy. * ¾

 

BUExperience: This was mostly a watchable episode, but nothing especially important happened other than the TV title switch, and the matches were almost all ridiculously short.