Original Airdate: March 2, 1998
From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
The nWo’s limousine arrives
Scotty Riggs v Chris Benoit: Riggs slaps him at the bell, which earns him a clothesline for two. Chris adds a side suplex for one, so Riggs dumps him to the outside, and whips him into the guardrail out there. Lodi distracts Benoit, allowing Riggs to attack, and Chris eats the steps. Riggs with a fistdrop for two on the way back into the ring, and a suplex leads to a clothesline. Riggs adds an elbowdrop for two, and a corner clothesline connects. German suplex, but Benoit reverses into a three-alarm rolling version, and the crippler crossface puts it away at 3:18. ¾*
Recently, Randy Savage was named Harvard Lampoon’s Man of the Year. I remember that from back in the day, and still don’t really get how in the world Macho Man won that one. Not just because Harvard/wrestling feels like such a weird association, but because Savage was far, far from the most interesting wrestler in the world (or even in this promotion) at that point
Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff join us to rant about Randy Savage. Hogan’s ego was out of control at this point
Gene Okerlund is hanging out on a college campus, where a bunch of kids are losing their minds for WCW
Juventud Guerrera v Chavo Guerrero Jr: Reversal sequence ends in a stalemate, and a criss cross ends in Chavo nailing him with a clothesline. Chavo adds a side suplex for two, and he takes Guerrera into the corner for chops. Guerrera manages a springboard missile dropkick, and a second one follows. I never realized how much Chavo looks like Kevin Dillon. Guerrera with a series of chops, but Chavo fights him off, and tries a tornado DDT, but Guerrera blocks. Guerrera with a takedown for two, so Chavo goes to a grapevine, but Guerrera is in the ropes right away. Chavo responds with a turnbuckle smash, but Guerrera fights him off with a scoop brainbuster, and a flying 450 splash puts it away at 3:58. A bit sloppy at points, but solid enough overall. * ¼
Gene is still on campus, shilling his hotline. Hope those kids got credit for that marketing class
Prince Iaukea v Psychosis: Psychosis blasts him with a running dropkick to kick start the match, and a criss cross ends in Prince taking a baseball slide on the outside. Psychosis tries a dive from the apron, but ends up crashing into the guardrail, and Prince delivers a dive of his own on the floor. Inside for a backdrop, but Psychosis blocks, and clobbers him with a clothesline. Psychosis with a cross corner clothesline, but a dropkick misses, and Prince snapmares him to set up a seated dropkick for two. Psychosis with a ropechoke, but a corner dropkick also misses, and Prince cracks him with a chop. Criss cross allows Psychosis a spinheel kick for two, and another try at a dropkick finds the mark. Psychosis with a rana off the top for two, and a bodyslam sets up a flying legdrop, but Psychosis pulls him up at two. He uses a corner whip, but the charge in gets blocked. That allows Prince to climb, but Psychosis crotches him. Psychosis looks to bring him down with a victory roll off the top, but Prince reverses the cradle for three at 5:01. Fun action. ***
Raven’s Rules Match: Raven v Disco Inferno: Disco takes the fight to him at the bell, and a swinging neckbreaker gets him a two count. Disco dumps him to the outside for a whip into the rail, but a second one gets reversed on him, as Tony notes that demand was so high for tickets tonight that they’ve set up a giant screen in the building next door to accommodate the overflow. No idea if that was true, or not, but no doubting that this promotion was crazy hot, and it’s almost beyond belief that they’d be out of business just three years later. Raven tries to use a chair, but that backfires, and Disco covers for two. Raven comes back with a drop-toehold on the chair, and a DDT finishes at 2:46. Not enough to work with here. ½*
Public Enemy sign autographs on campus. Won’t someone please think of the children?!
Philadelphia Street Fight: Public Enemy v Barbarian and Hugh Morrus: Big brawl to start, dominated by the Enemy. Jimmy Hart helps his guys turn it around, and Hugh superplexes Rocco Rock through a table for two. Hugh goes up with a flying bodypress, but ends up hitting Barbarian, and the Enemy dump Barbarian over the top. The Enemy put Morrus through a table, and that’s enough for the pin at 3:12, to a loud chorus of boos. I think they were booing the table breaking before the dive, but who knows. ¾*
Randy Savage comes out to talk about tagging with Sting tonight against Hogan and Scott Hall, which draws Sting himself out as well. Who knows if they’re actually friends, but they seem committed to fighting a common enemy. Meanwhile, after over a year of not saying a word, Sting is suddenly sounding like he’s auditioning for a live action version of South Park, and it’s really off putting
Bill Goldberg v Sick Boy: Boy tries a sneak attack, but that goes nowhere, and Goldberg press-drops him. Boy tries a springboard, but gets caught in a chokeslam, and a second try at a springboard sees him simply wipe out in a botch. Boy tries punches, but Goldberg no-sells it all, and drills him with a spear. Jackhammer finishes at 1:38. Goldberg was incredible at this point. ½*
Stuck Mojo’s music video for Rising, which featured several WCW stars. Why did they have the early 90s versions of the United States and Television title belts?
Mike Tenay brings WCW United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page out to announce that he will be defending the title against Raven on Thunder
Van Hammer jumps out of the crowd to challenge DDP for right now, but he’s so lame that Page doesn’t even wait for him to finish his challenge before simply coming back out to accept it
Diamond Dallas Page v Van Hammer: The US title is not on the line here. Page charges right in, but Hammer has the high ground, and puts the boots to him. Hammer with a powerslam, and he unloads in the corner, but Page turns the tables. Ten-punch count, but Hammer fights him off with a spinebuster, but DDP comes back with the Diamond Cutter, so Raven runs in for the DQ at 1:40. Afterwards, Raven beats on him to soften him up for Thunder, but Chris Benoit makes the save. He and Page go to work on Raven, but end up colliding, and all three guys trade blows. The match was total junk, but the segment was good. DUD
Back at the frat house, the Nitro Girls are basically just trying to avoid getting raped
Tenay brings Bret Hart out to cut a boring promo on Curt Hennig. I love Bret, he’s my favorite wrestler of all time, but he’s not like a Ric Flair, who could make anything work. If he doesn’t have something good to sink his teeth into, his promos are complete trash
Davey Boy Smith v Scott Norton: They measure each other to start, and Bulldog gets the first takedown with a bodyslam. Powerslam follows, but Norton clotheslines him over the top, and follows for a piledriver on the floor, but Smith counters with a backdrop. The referee gets in the way, so Norton hits him for the cheap DQ at 1:48. Three matches in a row that don’t total five minutes combined. It’s definitely 1998. ¼*
Super Calo v Konnan: Speaking of 1998, the announcers are in full hyperbole mode, repeatedly declaring this the biggest, most important night in the history of the promotion. Criss cross won by Calo with an overhead armdrag, and an armdrag leads to a corner dropkick. Konnan fires back with a rolling clothesline, but Calo manages a spinheel kick, and he adds a springboard dropkick for two. He tries a victory cradle, but Konnan counters with a wheelbarrow bulldog, and a cradle DDT sets up the tequila sunrise at 2:05. We broke the two minute mark! There’s no stopping us now! Afterwards, Konnan tries to unmask Calo, but Juventud Guerrera makes the save. ½*
Tenay brings Ric Flair out, and he does his usual spiel, with a great crowd reaction. He’s backing Bret Hart against Curt Hennig, which draws Hennig and Rick Rude out to respond, and wow, would that be an incredible tag match. Maybe not in 1998, but even by then it would have still been pretty good. So this leads to Flair and Hennig slugging it out, and Rude takes a cheap shot to allow Curt to get control, until Hart makes the save
Rick Steiner is excited about tonight’s main event
Gene is still on campus, where the poor Nitro Girls look completely miserable, only turning it on when the cameras are on them
Jim Duggan v Scott Steiner: Duggan somehow manages to get clobbered from behind despite holding the high ground, but Jim manages a series of clotheslines to send Scott over the top. Back in, Jim with a bodyslam, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Steiner delivers a butterfly powerbomb. I’m honestly surprised Duggan agreed to take that one at this point in his career. Steiner with a chinlock, but Jim fights to a vertical base, so Scott tries pounding, but Jim doesn’t give him much selling. Steiner responds with a low blow, and a 2nd rope sunset flip follows, but Duggan blocks. Jim takes him into the corner for a ten-punch, but a corner splash misses, and Duggan takes a bump to the outside. Steiner follows to pound him out there, and Scott delivers a belly-to-belly suplex on the way back in, setting up a camel clutch at 4:07. This wasn’t bad. *
Booker T and Dean Malenko v Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero: Booker and Jericho start, as the crowd chants ‘Eddie sucks.’ Criss cross is dominated by Booker, but a corner charge hits boot, and Chris dives off the middle with a dropkick. Tag to Eddie for a double team, but Booker dodges them in the corner, and Dean comes in with an assist to clean house. Dust settles on Booker and Eddie, and Eddie dropkicks the leg to win a criss cross. Back to Jericho for a double team, and the heels cut the ring in half on Booker. Booker manages to hit Eddie with a jumping forearm during a criss cross, allowing the tag to Malenko, and Roseanne Barr the door. The crowd is surprisingly dead for the finishing sequences here. Jericho tries a Lionsault on Booker, but Dean pulls the rope down to send him to the outside, and Malenko gets him in the Texas cloverleaf at 4:39. Solid, but nothing of note. * ¼
The nWo come out, and Scott Steiner wants brother Rick Steiner to come out and accept his spot in the ground. That draws Rick and Ted DiBiase out, and Rick happily accepts the offer. So he takes the t-shirt, but as Kevin Nash raises his arm, Rick throws the shirt in his face, and starts swinging! He’s a moron, however, and just stands there continuing to fight four guys by himself, instead of striking and running, and ends up getting killed. The nWo do their usual beatdown, until Giant makes the save. Giant gives Nash a pretty ferocious powerbomb here, a real ring shaker
Bret Hart v Brian Adams: Adams attacks before the bell, and delivers a press-gutbuster. Hart bails to catch a breather, but Adams is on him, feeding the Hitman the rail. He offers a helping of post, but Hart reverses, and sends Adams into the steps for good measure. Inside, Hart unloads in the corner, and a ten-punch count rattles Adams. Russian legsweep sets up a legdrop, and a criss cross allows Hart a hangman clothesline. Backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop, but Adams lifts his boot to block, so Hart reroutes to block that. Hart with a headbutt drop to the groin, but Adams counters a hiptoss with a short-clothesline. Tilt-a-whirl breaker connects, and Adams exposes a top turnbuckle, but gets reversed into it. That allows Hart the Sharpshooter, but Curt Hennig runs in for the DQ at 4:29. The match wasn’t anything special, but Adams looked a lot more motivated here than he did in his last WWF run. *
Sting and Randy Savage v Scott Hall and Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Big brawl to start, with Eric Bischoff taking part as well. The babyfaces take control as the brawl spills to the outside, and Sting nails Hogan with a chair. Inside, Sting unloads with the weight belt, and Macho does the same on Hall. The dust settles on Savage and Hall, and Randy delivers a backelbow. Over to Sting with a bodyslam to set up a pump-splash for two, and back to Savage for a flying axehandle. They continue working Hall over with quick tags, until Hulk takes a cheap shot on Savage, and that turns the tide. The heels cut the ring in half on Randy, but Hogan misses the legdrop, and Sting gets the tag! Stinger Splash on Hogan connects, as does a second. That draws Hall in, but Savage cuts him off, allowing Sting to go for the Scorpion Deathlock on Hulk. He nearly has it on, but the nWo run in for the DQ at 7:29. Basic, but energetic, though the cliche finish was annoying. ¾*
BUExperience: Nitro crosses 100 total wins in head to head ratings competition with this episode (to RAW’s paltry 17), but the quality gulf continues to shrink this week.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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