WCW Monday Nitro (September 8, 1997)

Original Airdate: September 8, 1997

 

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

 

Nitro Girls open with a dance

 

Eric Bischoff immediately comes out to host a replay of the nWo's Four Horsemen deal from last week, but the real Horsemen chase him away, and cut the tape off. Gene Okerlund joins them in the ring, and you can see the real emotion Ric Flair is still feeling about the segment, even a week later. So they want the nWo right here and right now, and they're not leaving until they get them. So they stage a sit-in, but the nWo don't come out, and finally they're sent away by security without incident. Strong

 

Eddie Guerrero v Rey Mysterio Jr: Eddie looks dismissive of him at the bell, but losing a few reversal sequence takes his smirk away. Guerrero manages a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and he grounds Rey in a fujiwara armbar, then drops him with a shoulderbreaker for two. Guerrero works on the arm, but Rey gets away from him with some speed, before Guerrero takes his head off with a clothesline. Great selling from referee Mark Curtis on that one. Rey dumps him to the outside and dives with a springboard somersault seated senton, and he uses a springboard moonsault press for two on the way back in. Rey with a flying bodypress, but Guerrero catches him in a front-powerslam for two, and a powerbomb is worth two. Backbreaker gets Eddie two, so he slaps on the gory special, but Rey armdrags out. Guerrero responds by dropkicking him, but Rey blocks another powerbomb, so Guerrero dumps him over the top. Rey springs back in with a flying rana, however, and he holds it into a cradle at 7:38. Good, crisp execution throughout, though nothing great overall. Watching the watch Rey jumped right back on the horse with complete abandon after his knee injury you really feel like you're looking at a guy who will have a tragically short career, but here he is twenty five years later in a tag team with a son who was born the year of that knee injury. ** ½

 

Nitro Girls aren't strippers. They just take their clothes off while dancing on a bunch of guys

 

Gene brings Diamond Dallas Page out to give his side of the story regarding the drama with Lex Luger in recent weeks, yet again, since it wouldn't be 1997 WCW if every single angle didn't need to tread water for six weeks before moving forward. So Page wants to settle this thing with Lex in the ring tonight, and Luger shows up to accept. How entitled... who's to say they don't already have a main event booked?

 

Disco Inferno v Hugh Morrus: Morrus nails him with a clothesline as Disco dances, and he adds a second one to really drill him. Whip into the ropes sets up a spinheel kick, but an avalanche misses, and Morrus ends up on the outside. Disco follows to knock him into the guardrail out there, and he delivers a corner clothesline on the way back in, but Morrus no-sells. Disco tries more of the same, but Morrus reverses a cross corner whip, and avalanches him a couple of times. Press-slam follows, and a 2^nd rope clothesline connects. Powerbomb sets up the flying moonsault, so WCW Cruiserweight Champion Alex Wright passes Disco the title belt to use as a weapon - only for Morrus to hit the move and pin him anyway at 3:05. The only way they could have made Disco look weaker here is to book him as a Horsemen. *

 

The nWo pop in to accept the challenge for the Horsemen, and we're gonna have a tag team match tonight, playa. You really can't argue with them when they say that they're making the Horsemen look stupid, considering that they staged a sit-in earlier that lasted all of three minutes, and then the nWo just stroll in and make whatever match they want on their own terms

 

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Brad Armstrong: Eddie Guerrero shows up before the bell to ask Armstrong to step aside and give him the title shot, but Brad tells him to get lost, then attacks Jericho before Chris can get focused on the match. Chris manages to block a hiptoss, and he lands a spinheel kick, before clotheslining his challenger over the top. Jericho dives with a springboard shoulderblock, and he rolls Armstrong back in to unload on in the corner. Charge hits boot, however, allowing Armstrong a tornado DDT for two. Jericho fires back with a springboard moonsault press for two, and a dropkick keeps it going. Jericho with a hanging vertical suplex and a missile dropkick, but Armstrong bails before Chris can cover. Jericho goes after him, but Guerrero is back - attacking Chris for the DQ at 2:37. This was going along fine, but it was just kind of killing time before the run-in, and it didn't have enough of that time to kill to make it into a good match. Afterwards, Jericho fights Guerrero off, but Armstrong comes in to help Eddie get control, and they team up to beat the champion down. *

 

Nitro Girls do their thang

 

WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan comes out to accept Sting's challenge to a title match, and he'll put up the gold right here right now. That is, if Sting has the guts to show up. So then Sting shoots down from the ceiling to accept the challenge, but there's a malfunction with the harness, and he crashes hard into the rail on the way down. So Hogan and Bischoff immediately break character and run out to check on him, calling for help, and yelling at security that this "wasn't supposed to happen." But then it turns out that the dead body is actually just a mannequin, and Hulk brings it into the ring to beat up, and pin. This was a solid segment, though watching it in a post-Owen world makes it a little uncomfortable, especially the bits where they're acting like it wasn't part of the show. But then, there's no way that they could have predicted that tragedy at this point, so it's not like it was in bad taste

 

Lee Marshall is in Charlotte North Carolina with the 1-800-COLLECT Road Report

 

The Steiner Brothers v The Faces of Fear: It's weird that Rick Steiner's kid is now working in NXT, and Ted DiBiase is still hanging around there in essentially the same role he was in back in '97. Scott Steiner and Barbarian start, and Barbarian wins a criss cross with a powerslam for two. That draws Rick Steiner in, but Meng cuts him off, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Brothers initially clean house, but the Faces just aren't having it, and come back in to brawl again. Dust settles on Meng dropkicking Rick for two, and he passes back to Barbarian to double team him in their corner. Barbarian with a running powerslam for two, and they work Rick over. Barbarian goes up with a flying headbutt drop, but Rick rolls out of the way, and passes to Scott. Scott comes in hot on Barbarian, slamming him around, and delivering an overhead suplex for two. Superplex version of the same move looks to finish, but Harlem Heat, Mortis, and Wrath all run in for a no contest at 5:28. Weak finish to a surprisingly dull contest. And then everyone just brawls until we go to commercial, and no one ever mentions it again for the rest of the night. ½*

 

Scott Hall v Super Calo: Well, this is super random. Hall shoves him around to start, so Calo goes to the eyes, and unloads in the corner. Scott turns the tables, however, and a hiptoss leads to a clothesline to put Calo on the outside. Calo beats the count, so Hall starts working his arm, but Calo manages to springboard with a flying headbutt for two. Bodypress, but Hall catches him, and takes him to the middle for a fallaway slam. Outsider's Edge finishes at 2:33. Nothing to this one. Afterwards, Ray Traylor comes out to offer Hall a bigger challenge, and we have a slugfest! Ray hits him with an inverted atomic drop, so Vincent runs in, but gets dispatched via scrapbuster. That draws Hogan out, and the distraction allows Scott to put Ray away with the Edge. I'm surprised Hogan even participated in this segment. He usually doesn't bother unless it's the tippy top stuff, and Traylor certainly was not that. ½*

 

Nitro Girls are wearing white after Labor Day

 

Dean Malenko v Psychosis: Feeling out process to start. Dean lands a dropkick to knock him to the outside, and some idiot fan decides now would be a good time to run in, but promptly gets choked out by the referee. He wasn't taking any shit tonight. Dean and Psychosis kill time until security can intervene, and Psychosis knocks Malenko to the outside with a koppou kick once they get going again. Inside, Psychosis dropkicks him for two, and a corner clothesline connects, as the announcers already are promising an overrun tonight. Well, of course, what do you expect when you let guys just book their own main events without notice? Psychosis dumps him to the outside to set up a dive, and a victory roll gets him two on the way back in. Another dropkick misses, however, and Malenko sticks a leg lariat for two. Superplex, but Psychosis blocks, and dives with a flying legdrop for two. Sunset cradle, but Dean counters to the Texas Cloverleaf at 7:12. Felt like they couldn't get on the same page here, especially after the fan run-in. Afterwards, Jeff Jarrett shows up to challenge Malenko, since apparently he thinks Dean is the US champion for some reason. *

 

Gene introduces the new acting chairman of the WCW executive committee (replacing the injured JJ Dillon), Roddy Piper. Well, he did have experience replacing injured authority figures on his resume, so at least it makes sense. So he makes a bunch of announcements, first booking himself against Hogan at Halloween Havoc (despite not really having any issue with him anymore at this point), then announcing that the Horsemen will represent WCW against the nWo in the WarGames this Sunday. Oh, and Sting will get a title shot before the end of 1997. Why not just book that for Halloween Havoc, you selfish prick? This was an okay segment, and using Piper in this role is a good use of him, but booking another Hogan/Piper match some seven months after their feud ended feels completely random

 

nWo Rules & Bones t-shirt add

 

Ric Flair and Curt Hennig v Konnan and Buff Bagwell: We're already at the end of hour two, but there's still this plus Luger/DDP to come, so I guess TNT was just letting them call their own shots at his point. The Horsemen clean house to start, and the dust settles on Flair and Bagwell to start. Buff hammers him in the corner, but Ric turns the tables. Cross corner whip backfires when Buff rebounds out with a clothesline, and he adds a backdrop in between poses. The nWo take turns pounding the Nature Boy in the corner, and Buff lands a dropkick. Ric tries going to the top, but Bagwell superplexes him off for two, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope elbowdrop, but Ric rolls out of the way. That allows the tag to Hennig, and Curt comes in with a backdrop. Konnan tries running in, but Curt backdrops him as well, and lands a dropkick. Bodyslams send both heels running, and the crowd is having a surprisingly difficult time getting behind the Horsemen here. Cheap shot allows Buff to dump Curt over the top, and Konnan sends him into the steps out there. Inside, Buff with a stomachbreaker, and they cut the ring in half. Curt was looking good in the early going, but he's looked uncoordinated as hell out there now. He manages to dodge a dropkick from Konnan to allow the tag to Flair, and Roseanne Barr the door! Ric takes Buff to school in the corner, and it's figure four time, but Konnan saves. That allows Bagwell to dump him over the top, and the heels try to double up on Curt, but Hennig blocks a backdrop from Konnan with a fisherman suplex at 9:23. This was fine, though Hennig looked pretty rough out there at points. *

 

Nitro Party ad

 

Lex Luger v Diamond Dallas Page: So this was originally supposed to be a way to settle their differences before having to team against the nWo at Fall Brawl, but then Piper swapped the Horsemen in for WCW instead. As chaotic as the WWF product was during this period, it still felt less disorganized than WCWs. They feel each other out to start, as the announcers promises to stick with this match for 'as long as it takes' in a way that sounds disturbingly like a threat. Lex gets control with a clothesline as the nWo join us at ringside, and they attack Lex after DDP manages to dump him to the outside. They roll him back in for Page to hit with swinging neckbreaker for two, as Hall makes 'diamond cutter' gestures at him. Dallas with a pancake piledriver for two, but Luger blocks the Diamond Cutter, and delivers a side suplex. He starts making a comeback, but misses a big charge, and goes sailing over the top - where the nWo is ready with another attack. This time Page sees what's going on and dives out to make the save, and it's another no-contest at 4:31. Afterwards, the babyfaces team up to fight the nWo, and Giant comes out to back them up to end the show. ¼*

 

BUExperience: Not everything was good this week, but it felt a lot better than the shotgun blast that was the opposing RAW. 

 

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	9/8/97
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.2	4.3
Total Wins	17	76
Win Streak		59
Better Show (as of 9/8)	39	51