Original Airdate: August 4, 1997
From Auburn Hills, Michigan; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (hour one) and Bobby Heenan (hours two and three). Tonight, it's the 100th episode of Nitro, and so we're going three hours to celebrate
Nitro Girls kick us off with some dancing
WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff hit the ring to hype up Hulk's defense against Lex Luger tonight, and Hollywood is totally unconcerned about it. Well, given Luger's track record, can you blame him? Especially in this building
Mortis v Curt Hennig: I know it's his name, and I know he wrestled under it for years prior to his WWF run, but it feels weird calling him anything other than 'Mr. Perfect.' Not just weird, but he also instantly doesn't feel like he's at the same level anymore. They size each other up for a bit to start, and Curt wins a criss cross with a dropkick. That triggers a distraction from Mortis's manager, but Curt quickly fights it off, and sends Mortis to the outside with a kneelift. He follows, but another distraction allows Mortis to turn the tide again, and this time he delivers a turnbuckle smash on the way inside. Mortis with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, but Hennig dodges, and a somersault necksnap finds the mark. Mortis comes back with an inverted atomic drop and a spinheel kick for two, but Curt sweeps the leg, and the bridging fisherman suplex finishes at 3:45. This was watchable, but couldn't really settle into a groove. ¾*
Sting video package. He's dark and mysterious, ya'll
Jeff Jarrett and Dean Malenko v Hector Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr: Dean and Chavo start, and I'm honestly having a tough time telling them apart. Are we sure Chavo's not Malenko's nephew? Chavo gets some stick and move stuff in, and both guys tag out, and this should be an interesting style clash. They trade off on the mat for a bit, until Hector misses an elbowdrop, and Jeff hammers him with rights. Irish whip, but Hector reverses, and he hiptosses Jeff, then sticks a dropkick. Hector with uppercuts in the corner, but he stupidly stops to taunt Malenko, and Jarrett recovers with a suplex. He tags, and Dean uses a bodyslam, as they cut the ring in half on Hector. Jeff goes for the Figure Four, but Chavo breaks it up, and Hector comes back on Dean. Inside cradle gets two, but a rana attempt backfires when Malenko counters with an electric chair. Dean then slaps on the Texas Cloverleaf, and this time Jarrett cuts Chavo off at 4:51. Solid enough. * ¼
Gene Okerlund finds Raven in the crowd again, where Stevie Richards is trying to get him to sign a WCW contract, but Raven still wants nothing to do with it. Maybe he's trying to leverage it for a WWF deal? Get off his jock, jerks!
Handicap Match: Giant v Joey Maggs, Lenny Lane, and Scott D'Amore: That's quite a who's who of jobbers. Giant doesn't even bother making the referee enforce the tag rule, instead just casually destroying all three guys at once, and pinning them following a trio of chokeslams at 1:31. That was certainly a very effective squash. Randy Savage joins us right after the bell, hyping up his match with Giant at Road Wild. DUD
Lex Luger video package
Public Enemy v High Voltage: I see they're really firing the big guns for this special episode. Johnny Grunge starts with Kenny Kaos, and he dominates him. Over to Rocco Rock for a 2nd rope axehandle, but he runs into a distraction from Robbie Rage, and Kaos turns the tide. Kaos looks so jacked up that he can barely move. Rage dives in with a springboard flying bulldog, and Voltage cut the ring in half on Rock. Rage hits boot while trying a flying splash, allowing the tag to Grunge, and Roseanne Barr the door. The Enemy put Rage on a table to set up the Drive By, but Kaos pulls him off, and Rocco ends up going through it. That allows Kenny a backbreaker on Grunge, but instead of putting him away, Voltage want to play games. That backfires on them, and Grunge schoolboys Rage at 5:12. This was pretty cold. ¼*
Nitro Girls want to dance, but WCW Cruiserweight Champion Alex Wright interrupts, like some sort of extra from a Night at the Roxbury sketch, but Gene Okerlund tells him to "knock off the wiener schnitzel”
WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Alex Wright v Scotty Riggs: Wright attacks before the bell, and lands a leg lariat early on. Alex dumps him to the outside and dives with an axehandle from the apron, followed by a suplex on the floor, but a whip into the guardrail gets reversed. That allows Riggs a flying axehandle on the way back in, and he adds a backelbow, then a bodyslam. Riggs goes up for a dive, but Wright shakes the ropes to knock him off, and a bodyslam of his own sets up a flying stomp. Criss cross results in both guys trying a bodypress, and Riggs lands on top for two. Riggs makes a comeback, and a dropkick gets him two. Superplex, but Wright blocks, and a missile dropkick retains at 3:45. * ¼
Gene brings Lex Luger out to promise that he's bringing the World title back to WCW tonight. Yeah, well, we've heard that sort of thing from him before
Chris Benoit v Syxx: It always amuses me when the Network censors actually bother to blur 'WWF' even on people's signs in the crowd. Benoit grabs a cravat and a wristlock early on, but Syxx manages to counter to a headlock. Benoit forces a criss cross to escape, and a clothesline puts Syxx on his tuchus. Syxx ducks a short-clothesline and lands a spinkick, but Benoit blocks a kick with a corkscrew legwhip, and he dumps him to the outside. Benoit dives with a beautiful tope, but a trip to the top on the way back in ends with him in a tree of woe. Syxx with a snapmare to set up a pair of lightning legdrops, and a michinoku driver sets up a flying somersault senton splash, but Chris dodges. Benoit makes a comeback, and a snap suplex gets him two. Side suplex for two, but he argues the count, allowing Syxx to recover. Syxx corner whips him, but a charge in misses, and Benoit goes for a superplex - only for Jeff Jarrett to attack him for the DQ at 4:01. Shame they couldn't give this more time and/or a finish, because it was a strong back-and-forth match while it lasted. Afterwards, Jeff beats him down, but Steve McMichael saves, so Dean Malenko runs out to back Jeff up, and we have a brawl. ** ¼
Nitro Girls are causing Bobby Heenan to have a Nitro Party in his pants
Booker T v Vincent: Despite being in the promotion for a year, this is only Vincent's third televised match, and first on Nitro. Vincent attacks from behind, but Booker quickly fights him off with the axekick, and he adds a jumping forearm. Vincent decides to walk out, but Stevie Ray forces him back in, and Booker is ready with the Harlem Sidekick at 0:47. Someone order the squash? DUD
Gene brings Diamond Dallas Page out to do some math
Barbarian v Wrath: Barbarian pounds him into the corner, but he misses a charge, and Wrath drops an elbow for two. Wrath unloads in the corner, and a side suplex leads to a flying clothesline. Death Penalty, but Barbarian counters with a vertical suplex, so Wrath bails to the outside to regroup. Barbarian follows for a weak whip into the steps, and he adds a shot into the post, but Wrath beats the count. Barbarian welcomes him with a powerslam, but a dive from the top lands him right in the Penalty at 2:56. ½*
Gene brings the Steiner Brothers out to introduce their surprise new manager: Ted DiBiase. I've wondered where he's been. So he's no longer with the nWo, and that doesn't sit well with WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders. Well, they do always say that when you're nWo, you're nWo 'for life.' DiBiase has a funny blooper here, blowing a line about the tag title by noting that they're coming for the 'World Wrestling...' before catching himself
Nitro Girls are back. It's good to see Kimberly has started taking space in the back of the group, she's way out of sync with the rest of them
Lee Marshall is in Denver Colorado with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report
Psychosis v Konnan: Psychosis gets actual pyro for his entrance! The announcers ignore this to talk about Ted DiBiase, acting like his defection from the nWo is some major turning point for WCW. Konnan pounds him down and hits a seated dropkick, but a criss cross ends in Psychosis hiptossing him (in sloppy fashion), and he dives with a flying spinheel kick for two. Bodyslam sets up a slingshot splash for two, but a criss cross ends in Konnan catching him in a package DDT, and the Tequila Sunrise ends it at 1:47. They were not clicking here, and a lot of the stuff looked really sloppy. Afterwards, Rey Mysterio Jr hobbles out on his crutches to get in Konnan's face, and then breaks one of them over his head after suckering Konnan into thinking he's in worse condition then he actually is. Ha, that's great! The announcers, of course, way oversell the moment, acting like the nWo is falling apart because DiBiase left, and now Konnan got knocked out. ¼*
Glacier and Ernest Miller v Silver King and Damien: Glacier schools King to start, and a series of kicks gets him two. Powerslam is worth two, but Miller gets double teamed after tagging in. Miller makes a comeback, and a flying roundhouse kick pins Damien at 3:23. Miller looked really terrible out there, like a total amateur. It's one thing to put a green guy out there before he's really ready, but at least pair him with a worker who can carry things, not a nothing guy like Glacier. DUD
Eric Bischoff is back out, threatening legal action against Giant and Larry Zbyszko for what happened last week. I get that it's a three hour show, but couldn't he have worked this into the opening segment? Did we really need to devote an entire second segment to this?
Nitro Girls are ready to take Bobby Heenan to the Champagne Room
Ric Flair v Diamond Dallas Page: They size each other up to start, and Flair gets him into the corner for chops, but Page fights him off with right hands. Page with a cross corner whip to rebound Ric into a backdrop, and a sitout powerbomb rattles the Nature Boy. That draws Curt Hennig out to stand in Ric's corner, and the distraction allows Flair to turn the tide. He unloads in the corner, but a trip to the top ends in him getting slammed off, and Dallas comes back with a sloppy swinging neckbreaker. Cue another distraction from Hennig, which allows Flair to clip the leg, and he adds a kneedrop. Figure Four, but Page is immediately in the ropes, so Ric tries a suplex over the top, but Page reverses inside. Page with his own figure four, so Hennig runs in on him, but Dallas shakes him off. Page keeps on him with a ten-punch, and a cross corner whip flips Flair. Page with a pancake piledriver, and it's Diamond Cutter time, but Curt runs in again for the DQ at 9:53. Well, this was pretty disappointing, and awkward. Though not surprising, given their different approaches as workers. ¾*
Villano IV and Villano V v Hector Garza and Lizmark Jr: The Villanos get control of Garza early on, but he out moves them, and it's over to Lizmark. He uses a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, but gets doubled up on in the corner, and lands in a sloppy hotshot for two. Back to Garza, but he misses a corner splash, and gets doubled up on as well. The Villanos settle in on cutting the ring in half on Hector, but he shakes them off long enough to get the tag off, and Roseanne Barr the door. The Villanos are in trouble, but they manage to switch off behind the referee's back, and Lizmark gets trapped in a cradle from the fresh man at 4:53. This felt really directionless. ¼*
Gene brings JJ Dillon out to offer a contract to Sting for a match with Curt Hennig, but shockingly, Sting is not interested. Why would he think THAT's what Sting's been wanting all this time? Hennig wasn't even part of the promotion yet when this angle started! At least offer an nWo guy. I heard Vincent is pretty easy to beat
Nitro Girls want you to throw your hands in the air. To waive them like you just don't care
WCW World Title Match: Hollywood Hulk Hogan v Lex Luger: Hogan dominates him to start, and he's getting the first true heel reaction of the night. This crowd has been largely dead during all of the matches, but they're all over Hogan. Hulk with a clothesline to set up a pair of elbowdrops, and he bootrakes his challenger. Turnbuckle smash, but Lex reverses into a series of them, and he unloads on the champion in the corner. Hulk comes back with a clothesline, but Luger escapes a bearhug, so Hulk headbutts him back down. Hulk with a vertical suplex for two, and a side suplex is worth two. Hogan works him over, and a bodyslam sets up the Legdrop, but it only gets two. Hulk responds with a second one, but Lex dodges this time, and he makes a comeback. That draws the Outsiders in, but Luger fights them off. Randy Savage, but Luger fights him off. He nails Hulk with the forearm smash, as the nWo try running in again, but Lex fights them off. Torture Rack, and Hogan submits at 10:57, in one of the biggest pops in wrestling history. I think people were losing their shit about this for a variety of reasons. No one actually expected them to change the title here, after months of run-in fuck finishes. And for LEX LUGER, of all people, to pull off the big one was even more shocking. I always thought this quickie title switch kind of hurt the overarching storyline with Sting being the one to topple the nWo, but it was still a great moment, and they went all in with it. The match itself was total dog shit, but man, was it memorable. ½*
Backstage, the celebration continues, with the babyface locker room giving Luger a champagne bath, and trying to clean the nWo logo off of the belt. Well, we knew someone was going to the champagne room tonight, but this wasn't what I expected
Meanwhile, in the nWo dressing room, Hogan is throwing a tantrum. The Outsiders just putting their head down and absorbing it feel right, they were probably used to that after years on the road with Shawn Michaels
BUExperience: This super-sized Nitro pulled out the highest head-to-head rating of the Monday Night Wars yet, and it was certainly a memorable one. Neither show was particularly good this week, but WCW had one of the most memorable moments of the entire War going for it, and that’s enough for the win.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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