Original Airdate: March 23, 1998
From Louisville, Kentucky; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
Gene Okerlund brings Roddy Piper out, and apparently he’s some kind of ‘consultant’ tonight, whatever that means. Apparently it means booking power, as he books Giant v Kevin Nash for tonight, and himself against Randy Savage. Oh, and since we’re in Louisville, he’s got baseball bats on his mind, so at Spring Stampede, it’s him and Giant against Nash and Hollywood Hulk Hogan in the Bat Match
Nitro Girls
Ultimo Dragon v Chavo Guerrero Jr: Chavo wins a slugfest, so Dragon hits him with a handspring backelbow, and he tries a plancha, but Guerrero blocks. Chavo rolls him back in to hold in a chinlock, and he adds an uppercut, but a reversal sequence ends in Dragon hitting a springboard moonsault press for two. Chavo fires back with a bridging German suplex for two, but Dragon blocks another one, so Chavo turns it into a bridging northern lights suplex for two. Bodyslam sets up a dive, but Dragon crotches him on the top, and wins a reversal sequence with the Dragon Sleeper at 2:09. Criminally short. Afterwards, Gene comes out to rub it in Eddie Guerrero’s face that Chavo lost, so Eddie chews him out, and even makes him ‘apologize to grandma,’ in a funny bit. * ½
Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff join us to prove that Piper isn’t the only one who can do long, rambling promos with little to no point on this show
Wayne Bloom v Scott Steiner: Scott takes him down and schools him on the mat for a bit to start, and a clothesline sets up an elbowdrop for him. Cross corner whip works, but the charge in does not, and Bloom uses an inverted atomic drop ahead of some turnbuckle smashes. Bloom with mounted punches, and a vertical suplex gets him two. Backdrop, but Scott counters with a butterfly powerbomb, and adds a Samoan drop off the middle rope to set up the camel clutch at 3:05. Of all the stuff he could have picked for his new heel finisher, nothing was colder than a fucking camel clutch in 1998. Cool name notwithstanding. ½*
Nitro Girls dance with some kids
Psychosis v Lodi: Feeling out process to start, and a reversal sequence ends in Psychosis clobbering him with a clothesline for two. Psychosis pounds him into the corner, and a cross corner whip sets up a charge, but Lodi uses an elbow to block. Lodi gloats, resulting in Psychosis dropkicking him out of the ring, and Psychosis dives after him. Lodi actually legitimately broke his ankle on the landing there, and they wrap up quickly on the way in - Psychosis delivering a flying legdrop at 2:54. ¾*
WCW World Title Match: Sting v Diamond Dallas Page: Page's WCW United States title is not on the line. They scuffle over the initial lockup, ending in both guys spilling out of the ring in it. Inside, Sting gets a wristlock on, but Page reverses. He tries a wasitlock, but Sting reverses into a takedown for two, and he goes for the Scorpion deathlock early, but Dallas blocks. Sting tries again, but Dallas has the ropes this time, and Sting fails to get it applied. Criss cross ends in Page delivering a swinging neckbreaker, and he looks to follow up with the Diamond Cutter, but Sting blocks. Collar-and-elbow ends in DDP pounding him in the corner, and a pancake piledriver gets him a two count. Chinlock follows, but Sting fights to a vertical base, so Page take him into the corner for a ten-punch count. Sting fights it off with a hotshot, and a clothesline connects for two. Sting goes to a chinlock, but Page gets to his feet, so Sting clotheslines him back down. Cross corner whip, but Page reverses, and drops the world champion with a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Back to the piledriver, but Sting backdrops him to block this time, leading to a slugfest. Sting gets the better of it, and he capitalizes with a trio of one-handed bulldogs. That allows Sting a flying splash, but Page gets his knees up to block! Both guys fight to beat the count, and Page gets a jump on him in the corner. Cutter, but Sting counters with the inverted DDT at 10:57. This wasn’t a classic, but it was a good storytelling match, and Sting’s best in quite a while. I also liked the finish, and really liked that there was no interference or other angles at play. ***
Nitro Girls
Nitro Party video
Lex Luger v Rick Fuller: Some measuring to start, and Lex manages to reverse a hiptoss, before delivering a bodyslam. Fuller powers him into the corner to turn it around, and a turnbuckle smash rattles Lex. Fuller pounds him in the corner next, and a clothesline puts Luger on the mat for a choke. Rick with a ropechoke next, but Lex makes a comeback, and connects with the forearm smash. Torture rack, and big Rick is done at 3:14. This wasn’t much, but it had a point, and made it in a timely fashion. That’s what TV is for, not everything needs to be a four-star classic. ¼*
Eddie Guerrero v Kaz Hayashi: Eddie suckers him into a handshake, and clobbers him. Eddie with a jumping backelbow, and a northern lights suplex gets him a two count. Turnbuckle smash leads to a superplex, but Hayashi blocks, and dives with a flying moonsault press - only for Guerrero to dodge. German suplex, but Hayashi blocks, and sends Guerrero over the top with a rana. Hayashi follows up with a wild dive on the floor, and Kaz delivers a missile dropkick for two on the way back into the ring. Hayashi with a side suplex, but a flying dropkick is countered with a backbreaker. Tremendous timing on that one. Eddie follows up with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and a fight over a vertical suplex goes Guerrero’s way. Eddie with a pumphandle-slam for two, and a vertical superplex sets up a flying frogsplash at 5:03. Some really brilliant execution throughout here. ***
Bret Hart video package
Konnan video package. None of these actually have a point (like, say, an angle to push), they’re just generic video packages
Prince Iaukea v Konnan: Prince dominates him to start, until Konnan bails. Inside, Konnan manages a clothesline to turn it around, and a snapmare sets up a seated dropkick for two. Konnan takes it to the mat in a toehold, and a DDT plants Prince. Konnan works a half-crab next, and a vertical suplex gets him two. Konnan snaps his throat across the middle rope, and he cracks him with chops in the corner, ahead of another suplex. Konnan with a standing figure four, followed by a German suplex, then an armbar. Prince botches a drop-toehold ahead of hooking a small package for two, so Konnan uses a rolling cradle for two. Konnan goes for the cradle DDT from there, but Prince counters with a bridging northern lights suplex at 5:42. Prince had no business pinning Konnan clean at this point, and I honestly wasn’t expecting to see it. ½*
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho is out to speak his mind, but Lenny Lane shows up (“what are you doing here, Larry?”), and he’s pissed that Jericho never paid him the $1,000 he promised him for double crossing Dean Malenko a few weeks ago. Chris, of course, denys it all, and in fact, claims that Lane owes him the money, since he still can’t get his stink out of the gear he wore. Plus the Loverboy tape that went missing from his bag that night. That leads to…
WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Lenny Lane: Lane with a backdrop after slapping Jericho across the chops, and an atomic drop follows. Powerslam gets him two, but a criss cross goes south when Jericho throws a spinheel kick. Jericho puts the boots to him ahead of a butterfly backbreaker, but Lane counters the Liontamer with a cradle for two. Lane adds a Russian facebuster for two, so Jericho tries bailing, but Lenny cuts him off. Unfortunately for Lane, he gets caught with a whiplash out of the corner, and the Liontamer finishes at 1:50. Man, that version of the move looks so much better than the lame Walls version that he switched to in the WWF. Jericho was insanely entertaining during this period. ½*
Handicap Match: Giant v Kevin Nash and Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Tony actually gives an explanation for how the nWo can randomly change booked matches, noting that their win back at Fall Brawl ‘96 gives them that power. I appreciate that kind of attention to detail, but then, why aren’t they just doing that with every match? Like, why didn’t they just make Starrcade Hogan and the entire nWo against Sting, or whatever? The problem with these bullshit stipulations is that they only remember them when it suits the booking, and conveniently forget otherwise. Anyway, Hogan starts, and Giant just destroys him at will - including some funny mocking of Scott Hall along the way. Tag to Nash, and Hulk is quick to assist with an eyerake, allowing Kevin to take control. Nash with a cross corner clothesline, but a second one gets reversed, and Giant headbutts him. He unloads in the corner, so Hulk comes in without a tag, and the nWo double team. Giant fights them off, however, so Disciple runs in for the DQ at 6:01. ¼*
Nitro Girls
WCW Television Title Match: Booker T v Chris Benoit: Feeling out process to start, and Benoit takes control by chopping him into the corner, and then stomping a mudhole. Cross corner whip, but Booker reverses, and powerslams the challenger. Chris looks to slow it down, and they trade hammerlocks next, only to get dominated by Booker. They fight over a test-of-strength, won by Booker with a savate kick, and a clothesline follows. Spinkick, but Benoit stops short to avoid it, and he drops the champion with a German suplex. Backelbow connects for two, and Chris grounds him in a chinlock from there. Booker fights to a vertical base, so Benoit throws more chops, but Booker fights him off with a flapjack. Harlem sidekick follows, and Booker heads upstairs - only to get crotched by the Crippler. Chris capitalizes with a vertical superplex, and a three-alarm rolling German suplex follows, but that takes a lot out of Benoit as well, so no cover. He tries recovering, but Booker manages a spinebuster before Chris can fire anything off. He’s battered, however, and a delayed pin attempt results in only a two count. Both guys stagger up, and Benoit dodges another Harlem sidekick, leaving Booker crotched on the top rope. That allows Chris a bridging northern lights suplex for two, and they get to their feet for a slugfest, just as time expires at 7:30. They couldn’t let these two go to an actual time limit? I mean, it’s not like they can’t. Some good hard hitting wrestling here, but I didn’t dig how they were selling like they were out there for an hour five minutes in. ** ¼
Davey Boy Smith v Curt Hennig: Rick Rude sits in on commentary for this one. Bulldog grabs a standing side-headlock to start, and then throws a shoulderblock when Curt tries to criss cross. Another criss cross is won by Bulldog, and he dominates a test-of-strength. Hennig fights free and chops him down, and he goes after the leg. but Davey quickly fights him off with a clothesline for two. Another clothesline gets another two, as Rude abandons the booth to go to ringside. Smith unloads in the corner ahead of the running powerslam, so Rude hops on the apron. Davey takes the bait, but Rude is ready with handcuffs, and locks Smith to the top rope for the DQ at 5:11. It was sad seeing two of my favorites so broken down and sleepwalking through a match. Afterwards, Hennig and Rude deliver a beatdown, until Bret Hart makes the save. More nWo guys run in for backup, but Bret fights them all off like he’s 1995 Hulk Hogan. DUD
Bill Goldberg v Renegade: Goldberg with the usual blitz, so Renegade tries a handspring backelbow, but Goldberg just ignores it, and steamrolls him with a spear. Jackhammer follows, and that’s all she wrote at 0:41. The reactions for Goldberg are getting scary, and he’s easily the most over guy in the promotion at this point. ¼*
Roddy Piper v Randy Savage: Savage attacks him before the bell, and Miss Elizabeth hooks Piper’s ankle to allow Randy to unload in the corner. Piper slugs back to turn it around, and he lays into Macho with his belt. Roddy dumps him to the outside, and Piper follows to pull the mats up. He sets up a piledriver on the concrete, so Liz comes over to distract him, which Roddy responds to with some light sexual assault. Savage saves, but Piper gets a sleeper on as they head back in. Randy manages a jawbreaker to escape, and both guys are left down. Cue Hollywood Hogan and Kevin Nash, and Hulk wants Nash to take Macho out with the bat, but he aims at Piper instead. That leads to a scuffle between them, just as Sting arrives to turn it into a big brawl. Giant joins in to save the WCW guys, and WCW stands tall to end the show. And I guess the match itself was a no contest at 3:55. ¼*
BUExperience: Though still too long for a weekly wrestling show, this was a very strong episode, with some huge matchups this week (both on paper, and in delivery).
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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