Original Airdate: March 16, 1998
From Panama City, Florida; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
The nWo come out to gloat about their successes at Uncensored, but Hollywood Hulk Hogan is still giving Randy Savage backhanded compliments
Nitro Girls do a St Patrick's Day themed dance
Bill Goldberg v Lodi: Goldberg dismantles him with a press-drop right away, and a spear leads to the Jackhammer at 0:43. DUD
Gene Okerlund comes out to hype his hotline. I’m guessing the guy who ‘shocking retired’ is referring to Dean Malenko?
Ultimo Dragon v Fit Finlay: Dragon sticks and moves, but Fit gets control, and drops him across the top rope for two. Backdrop, but Dragon lands on his feet, and dropkicks him. Kick knocks Fit to the outside, but he dodges a plancha out there, and sends Dragon into the apron. Inside for a regal roll for two, and a double stomp finds the mark. Uppercuts, but Dragon blocks after a couple, so Fit just clotheslines him instead. Fit tries a suplex, but Dragon counters to the Dragon sleeper at 4:41. This was kind of a trainwreck. DUD
Nitro Girls
Chris Adams v Scott Norton: They measure each other to start, with Norton’s power getting the better of Adams. Norton with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, but Chris dodges. That allows Adams a dropkick, but a charge misses, and Chris wipes out in the ropes. Norton capitalizes with an avalanche, and he dumps Adams over the top for Buff Bagwell to abuse. Inside, Norton continues to work him over, but another avalanche misses, and Adams makes a brief comeback, before taking an inverted shoulderbreaker at 3:02. ½*
Earlier today, some WCW stars hosted a spring break party out on the beach
Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart v Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos: Jim and Mike start, and Anvil wins a criss cross with a shoulderblock, and delivers a facebuster. Anvil adds a matslam before passing to Bulldog, but Enos fights him off long enough to deliver a neckbreaker, and he tags out. Davey manages to hiptoss Bloom, and Bulldog delivers a hanging vertical suplex for two. Back to Jim, so Enos takes a cheap shot to turn the tide, and they deliver a spike piledriver on him for two. The heels go to work on Neidhart, until Mike misses a 2nd rope splash, and Smith gets the tag. Powerslam on Bloom gets two when Enos saves, so Jim comes back in, and Roseanne Barr the door! Bulldog manages to get Bloom up for the running powerslam to put it away at 5:48. Davey looked really bad and broken down by this point, but this was generally okay. He really fell apart fast after leaving the WWF, and while he wasn’t quite depressing to watch yet at this point, he was definitely on that path. *
Randy Savage, Eric Bischoff, and Miss Elizabeth come out to gloat about their scheme at Uncensored last night, but Savage clarifies that he isn’t Hogan’s pal. He did what he did for his own gain, and he plans to take control of the nWo from the inside. I appreciate the clarification there, as the turn didn’t really make any sense otherwise
Raven's Rules Match: Raven v Chris Benoit: Raven cuts a promo on both Benoit and Diamond Dallas Page before the match, hinting that Jake Roberts will be coming in (since he was both Raven and Page’s mentor), which ended up not coming to fruition. Thankfully. I mean, that could have been incredible considering how brilliant those three guys could be, but 1998 Jake was on a different planet, and it would have likely been a trainwreck more than anything else. Benoit pounds him down in the corner right away, and stomps a mudhole. German suplex follows, and a chop knocks Raven to the outside for a baseball slide. Great execution all around here. Benoit beats on him with chops out there, and a corner whip rattles Raven on the way back inside. Benoit with a backelbow for two, so Raven bails, but Chris is on him with a crippler crossface on the pool deck. Benoit whips him into the entrance set before dragging him back into the ring for a clothesline, and a bridging northern lights suplex gets him two. Chris with stiff chops in the corner, and a side suplex follows. Backdrop gets him two, and a three-alarm rolling vertical suplex sets up a flying headbutt drop, but Raven rolls out of the way. Raven grabs a chair to bulldog Benoit on, and he tries again, but Benoit counters to the crossface - only to knock himself silly on the chair in the process. That allows Raven the DDT at 10:47. This felt kind of slow, but the execution was top notch. * ¾
Nitro Girls
Ernest Miller v Yuji Nagata: You could always count on WCW for some out there pairings. Lots of striking, and Nagata gets control, but walks into a clothesline. That allows Miller a bodyslam to set up a flying roundhouse kick at 4:09. This was nyet good. DUD
Nitro Girls
Ray Traylor v Scott Steiner: Scott takes a cheap shot to get control, and he rattles Ray with a turnbuckle smash. Steiner with a cross corner whip to rebound Ray into an overhead suplex, as the announcers blather on and on about the nWo. I get putting focus on the top angle, but that’s all they talk about in every single match. Steiner with a bearhug, but Ray fights free, so Scott clotheslines him. Cross corner whip, but Traylor reverses, and he crotches Steiner on the post. They spill to the outside, where Ray clotheslines him over the guardrail, right into the swimming pool! Traylor drags him back into the ring for a flying splash for two, and a well placed big boot follows. Ray goes upstairs a second time, but Buff Bagwell shows up to crotch him on the top turnbuckle, and Scott brings him off with a rana, before finishing with the Steiner Recliner at 7:52. ¾*
Nitro Girls. Boy, they were all in with the Nitro Girls this week
WCW Television Title Match: Booker T v Chavo Guerrero Jr: Eddie Guerrero makes Chavo wear a t-shirt that says ‘Eddie Guerrero is my favorite wrestler/cheat to win’ for the match. Booker knocks him around to start, and a snapmare gets him two. A savate kick finds the mark, and a powerslam ends in Guerrero bailing. Booker drags him back in, but wastes time playing to the crowd, and gets knocked back to the outside by a recovering Chavo. The challenger hammers him on the outside, and lands a dropkick on the way back into the ring. Backdrop, but Booker counters to a cradle for two, so Guerrero dropkicks his knee to slow the champion down. Chinlock, but Booker fights to a vertical base, so Guerrero cross corner whips him, and follows in with an elbow. Snapmare takes it back into the chinlock, but a whip into the ropes gets reversed, and Booker spinkicks him. Axekick follows, and a spinebuster connects. Booker with a missile dropkick to finish at 5:23. ¾*
Highlights of some partygoer winning $1,000 as part of the beach party earlier today
Nitro Girls
WCW United States Title Match: Diamond Dallas Page v Reese: Page uses Reese’s size against him in the opening moments, and the champ unloads in the corner, but Reese turns the tables. Reese with a side suplex slam, and he bootchokes the champion. Reese with a two-handed chokeslam, but Page counters a clothesline into the Diamond Cutter at 2:52. DDP walked so Randy Orton could fly. DUD
WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Juventud Guerrera: Guerrera peppers him with chops to start, and lands a spinheel kick. Guerrera unloads in the corner next, and a clothesline gets him two. Spinkick, but Jericho dodges, and a reversal sequence ends in Jericho drilling him with a cradle tombstone for two. Hanging vertical suplex gets the champion a two count, and an inverted vertical suplex is worth another two. Two-alarm no-release backbreaker is held into a backbreaker submission, but Guerrera refuses to submit. Guerrera tries fighting back with chops, but Chris cuts him off with a backelbow for two, and corner whips him. German suplex, but Guerrera lands on his feet, and uses a rana into a cradle for two. Guerrera with a tombstone of his own to set up the flying 450 splash, but Jericho crotches him on the top to block. Chris tries a superplex, but Guerrera blocks, and dives with a flying leg lariat for two. That was sloppy. Reversal sequence ends in Guerrera delivering a DDT for two, so Jericho nails him with the title belt for the DQ at 6:27. The flow felt off here, but it wasn’t a bad match. * ¾
Nitro Girls. “They’re the most gorgeous ladies on television in the 90s,” notes Tony. I like how he just kept adding more conditions
WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders show up to model their Tony Soprano shirts, but Giant comes out to go after them. He corners them, so Kevin Nash cannonballs into the pool to get away, but Scott Hall isn’t quick enough, and gets press-dropped into it instead. Those may be the most dangerous bumps of the night considering the pool was only four feet deep
Sting and Lex Luger v Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage: Sting arrives via helicopter, rappelling down to the ring, in a cool entrance. Hogan forces Randy to start with Sting, and the Stinger bodyslams him right away. Elbowdrop connects, and Sting uses another bodyslam to set up a flying splash. Sting with mounted punches, and he passes to Luger for a turnbuckle smash. A pair of cross corner whips follow, leading to a vertical suplex. Lex with a few straddling ropechokes, and he hammers on the lower back of the Macho Man. Press-slam drops Savage, and Sting tags back in to keep the beating going. They work Macho over, until Hogan catches a tag, and nearly comes to blows with Randy. Inside, Luger corner whips him, but gets into trouble, and Hollywood controls for a bit. Things break down into a big brawl, and Lex gets Hulk in the torture rack, but Disciple comes in for the DQ at 6:52. This had great marque value, but no workrate. ½*
BUExperience: This unopposed episode drew Nitro’s highest rating to that point (and what would end up being their third highest ever), but other than the cool venue, this was a really dull episode that felt like it was a chore to get through.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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