Original Airdate: June 29, 1998
From Tampa, Florida; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
We start with helicopter footage of an eighteen wheeler that is enroute to the arena, apparently being driven by Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone. I’m tempted to shake my head at the pointless waste of money (eighteen wheeler?), but apparently the truck actually belonged to Malone. He’s a wheeler enthusiast, Don Ciccio!
Nitro Girls
Gene Okerlund brings Kevin Greene out, and he’s fuming about the nWo attacking him last week, but he’ll be teaming with Bill Goldberg to get revenge on them at the Bash at the Beach. I honestly forgot Greene came back again here. I associate this period with Rodman, Malone, and Leno - Greene just kind of blends in
Kanyon v Horace: Kanyon charges in, and blitzes Horace. A cradle neckbreaker gets him two, so he unloads in the corner, and a snapmare leads to a modified rocker dropper for two. A distraction from Lodi allows Horace to recover with a clothesline over the top, and Horace dives with a tope. Okay, wasn’t expecting that from him. Horace throws him into the guardrail, and a bodyslam on the way back in sets up an elbowdrop for two. Horace takes him up with a vertical superplex for two, but a hiptoss gets countered with a swinging neckbreaker. Kanyon makes a comeback, and a firemans facebuster gets him two. Lodi with another distraction, allowing Horace a big boot, but he misses the follow up, and Kanyon drops him with a reverse STO at 4:08. Both guys were working hard here. I’ve never been a Kanyon fan, but I do appreciate how he comes up with all these unique variations on moves. Afterwards, the Flock run in to attack, and leave Kanyon looking up at the lights. *
The eighteen wheeler continue slowly trucking along
Backstage, the nWo pass around weapons, in anticipation of the eighteen wheeler’s arrival
Earlier today, fans outside of the building sounded off about the Page/Malone v Hogan/Rodman match for the Bash
Okerlund brings Stevie Ray out to make a challenge to Steve McMichael and Chris Benoit for a match tonight. And he speaks on Booker T’s behalf, don’t worry
Eddie Guerrero v Little Dragon: Eddie with a takedown into a bootrake to start, and he goes to a wristlock, but Dragon reverses, and manages a takedown. Dragon with a handspring backelbow in the corner, but Eddie reverses him into the ropes, and uses a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Guerrero unloads in the corner, and a side suplex leads to a slingshot somersault senton splash. Guerrero lands a leg lariat, and a brainbuster sets up the flying frog splash, but Chavo Guerrero Jr is on his way out, distracting him from executing the move. Chavo has ‘Pepe’ with him, which was one of the more silly fun things from this period. Chavo and Chris Jericho both had incredible talent for this sort of thing. Eddie gets annoyed and tries to break Pepe, but that allows Dragon to recover with a schoolboy at 4:15. The match was pretty scattered, and the finish was all angle (though that’s fine for TV). Afterwards, Eddie flips out, and chases Chavo away on his little hobby horse. ½*
Backstage, WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho promises Ultimo Dragon a title shot if he can beat Dean Malenko tonight - the more damage the better
Starburst Fruit Chews Road Report. Not the same without the dulcet tones of Lee Marshall
Nitro Girls
Nitro Party video. These guys went pretty all out here, actually building a ring and entrance stage, complete with lighting!
Handicap Match: Giant v Sumo Fuji and Judo Suwa: No cigarette for Giant this week, so clearly he’s taking this challenge seriously. Just a quick squash here, as Giant throws them around with ease, and delivers a double chokeslam for a double pin at 0:48. Afterwards, Curt Hennig and Rick Rude come in, and they cut a promo of Goldberg and Greene - which totally sounds like a law firm. That draws Greene out, but this time he’s got Goldberg with him for back up, and they run the nWo off. DUD
Earlier today, more fans had deep thoughts on the Bash main event
WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are out to laugh at Malone’s eighteen wheeler. Anyway, apparently Hogan almost became a mechanic before going into wrestling. Was that before or after he was playing bass with Metallica? Hulk’s promo style is better suited to short backstage bits instead of these extended in-ring sessions
The eighteen wheeler is still on its way. It’s close. Real close. I can smell it
Sting and Lex Luger v Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart: The WCW World Tag Team title is not on the line here, showing us where Smith and Neidhart are on the pecking order at this point. Lex and Jim start, and Luger grabs a standing side-headlock. Jim fights free, but fails at a bodyslam, and Lex clotheslines him out of the ring. Tags all around, and Sting and Bulldog posture. Davey tries a hiptoss, but Sting reverses, and Smith bails. Tag to Anvil, and Sting throws a shoulderblock. They go to a knuckelock, won by Sting as well, and he passes to Luger. Lex slugs him, but Jim railroads him into the home corner, where Bulldog is waiting with a choke. Jim hammers him with axehandles, but they collide on a criss cross, and both tag. Lex wasn’t even pretending to be in a hurry there. He looked legitimately annoyed, for whatever reason. Sting hits Bulldog with the Stinger Splash, and the inverted DDT finishes at 7:39. This would have been a minor dream match at a certain point, but not by mid-1998. This was all posturing. And that’s fine if it’s the first act of a complete story, but this was six minutes of posturing, before going into a token heat segment, and a quick finish. DUD
Earlier, the fans continued sounding off on the Bash main event. It’s like a tape of my friends and I at the lunch table in eighth grade. “But Malone knows the Diamond Cutter! He’s got the edge!”
Saturn v Reese: Saturn sticks and moves, but Reese gives him a kneeling press-slam (which seems like it defeats the entire purpose), and a two-alarm no-release backbreaker follows. Reese with a corner whip, and he hammers Saturn over there, but Saturn gets fired up. Saturn clips the leg, and a missile dropkick gets some serious height. Lodi tries interference, but Saturn superkicks him, and grabs a recovering Reese with a death valley driver at 2:22. Reese looked terrible, but Saturn looked good. Afterwards, the Flock run in on Saturn for their second beat down of the night. ¼*
Eighteen wheeler is moving along
Nitro Girls
Brad Armstrong v El Vampiro: This is Vampiro’s WCW debut. Brad dominates early on, but Vampiro catches him with a leg-feed corkscrew kick, and a spinheel kick follows. Brad throws axehandles to fight him off, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Vampiro delivers a scoop sitout brainbuster at 2:25. The crowd gave them nothing here. ¼*
Diamond Dallas Page/Karl Malone v Hollywood Hogan/Dennis Rodman feud review video
Disco Inferno and Alex Wright v Tokyo Magnum and Shimo Nobunaga: More randos this week. Were they trying to make sure no one crucial got hurt before the pay per view, or something? Tokyo tries dancing with Disco and Alex, but gets beats up, and dumped to kick start the match. The dust settles on Alex and Shimo, and Wright grabs a wristlock. Shimo reverses, but Wright uses a takedown for two. Shimo tries a front-facelock, but Wright quickly counters to a hammerlock, so Shimo uses a snapmare. Shimo plants a dropkick, but wastes time celebrating, and gets clobbered with an uppercut. Tag to Disco for a tandem flapjack, and Disco adds a fistdrop. Snake-eyes, but Shimo blocks, and dropkicks him, on his way to tag. Tokyo comes in hot on Disco, and a bulldog allows Tokyo his own dancing. Dropkick, but Disco dodges, and tags. They hit Tokyo with another combo, and Alex slams him to set up a slingshot splash, but Magnum gets his knees up. Both men tag, and Shimo hits Disco with a corkscrew. A bodyslam sets up a springboard flying somersault senton splash for two, and he passes back to Magnum to hammer away in the corner. Magnum with a cross corner clothesline, and a rana off the top follows, but Wright dives in with a missile dropkick before Tokyo can cover. Shimo tags in, but Disco quickly hits him with a kneeling facebuster, and Wright tags in with a neckbreaker at 4:28. Hard work here. Afterwards, Disco and Wright nearly get into a fight because each wants his music to play for the post-match dance session. * ½
Earlier today, more kids said shit
Dean Malenko v Ultimo Dragon: They trade wristlocks to start, and a reversal sequence into a criss cross ends in a stalemate. Dean with a drop-toehold into a front-facelock, but Dragon immediately counters to a hammerlock. Dean fights to a vertical base, so Dragon shifts to a cravat, but Malenko counters to a hammerlock to take it back to the mat. Into a cradle for two, so Dragon sweeps the leg, and starts working it. Dragon with a leglock, but Dean dodges him in the corner, and uses a German suplex. Backdrop, but Dragon lands on his feet, and puts Dean down with a series of kicks. Springboard moonsault press, but Dean dodges. Dragon Sleeper, but Dean quickly escapes, and cradles for two. Dragon fires back with a modified magistral cradle for two, and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker follows. A cross corner whip sets up a handspring backelbow, and Dragon takes him up for a rana off the top, but Malenko counters with an exploding gutbuster. Texas cloverleaf, but Chris Jericho shows up, and a crack about Dean’s dad draws Malenko up the aisle - Dragon picking up the countout victory at 4:35. Good action, angle finish. But, again, that’s fine for TV, as they’re building several storylines. * ½
Harlem Heat v Steve McMichael and Chris Benoit: Booker T and Benoit start, but Stevie Ray wants it instead, and Booker obliges, though not happily. And then Stevie becomes unhappy himself, as Benoit destroys him in the corner, stomping a mud hole. Stevie charges out of the corner with a clothesline, and he puts a beating on Chris with forearms. Stevie with a bodyslam, and he passes to Booker for a backelbow for two. Savate kick, but Benoit ducks, and uses a corkscrew legwhip. Tag to Mongo, and Steve stays on the leg. Steve misses a charge in the corner to allow the tag back to Stevie, and a slugfest ends in Stevie raking the eyes. Stevie with a snapmare to set up an elbowdrop, and a slam follows. Tag back to Booker for a jumping forearm, and a spinebuster looks to finish, but Benoit saves. That draws everyone in, and Roseanne Barr the door. In the chaos, Bret Hart shows up to hit Booker with a chair, and Mongo pins him at 4:44. McMichael looked really bad this week. And I’m generally pretty forgiving of his limitations. ½*
Backstage, Ultimo Dragon tries to get his title shot from Jericho, but Malenko shows up, beating the living shit out of Chris
The eighteen wheeler is wheeling into downtown
Bash at the Beach ad
Eric Bischoff hosts his own version of the Tonight Show, complete with house band, and Miss Elizabeth as his sidekick. Eric brings Scott Steiner out as his guest, and they just make jokes about Karl Malone. He does Rogaine ads! Hey, that’s money. Unlike this segment
Okerlund brings Booker T out, and he’s fuming about Bret Hart attacking him. He challenges Hart to a match, but Stevie Ray storms out to protest, instead suggesting they just go find Bret and kick the shit out of him, why bother with a match? Man has a point. Bret comes out to respond, and immediately gets a little racial, telling Booker to ‘ax’ him a question. Anyway, he accepts the challenge. Yeah, why wouldn’t he? Free title shot
Backstage, Hogan and Bischoff plot
Nitro Girls
WCW United States Title Match: Bill Goldberg v Glacier: Getting a Michael Buffer intro has to be the height of Glacier’s career. Glacier tries outmoving the champ, but gets clobbered. Goldberg with a takedown into a cross-armbreaker, but Glacier reverses a cross corner whip, and manages to sweep the leg. Glacier unloads in the corner, but wastes time gloating, and Bill drills him with a spinebuster. The spear follows, and the jackhammer finishes at 2:15. Nothing to the match, but Goldberg was the hottest act in the promotion, and a joy to watch. DUD
Hogan and Bischoff storm out to call DDP and Malone out, since apparently the truck is here. As they rant, we cut to outside, where the truck is pulling up. The nWo are waiting with weapons, but disperse when Karl nearly runs them down, and he and Page pop out of the cab with chairs. They march into the arena to surprise Hulk and Eric, and quickly take Bischoff out. That leaves Hulk alone, and Karl wants him to make good on his promise of ‘dealing with’ him. After some posturing, Hulk goes in for a lockup, but Karl gets him in a clutch, and delivers a bodyslam. A clothesline follows, and Hogan bails, as the crowd goes wild. Even with Rodman no-showing tonight, they did a great job of getting the angle over
BUExperience: Both shows were really strong this week, and while I’d have to give RAW a very slight edge, this was a good night for wrestling fans across the board. This episode did a good job of developing the Bash pay per view, though the parade of new faces were kind of a crowd killer, and the Tonight Show thing nearly stopped the show in its tracks.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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