Original Airdate: September 14, 1998
From Greenville, South Carolina; Your Host is Tony Schiavone, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
Nitro Girls
Mike Tenay is at the airport, where reports are that Ric Flair has flown in. You know this is pre-9/11 because Tenay is just running around on the tarmac, harassing various flight crews, and no one seems to care
Alex Wright v Van Hammer: Hammer is doing a hippie gimmick now, which they don’t really bother to explain. And by ‘really’ I mean ‘at all.’ Maybe it was covered on one of the weekend shows, or something. Posturing to start, and Alex gets control with a snap suplex to set up an elbowdrop. Wright takes him into the corner for chops, and a cross corner whip works, but the charge in does not. That allows Hammer a trio of bodyslams, and Alex wisely bails. Hammer chases, as Ernest Miller makes his way out. He catches Hammer with a kick on the outside, and the referee disqualifies Alex at 2:53. A pretty impressive kick, too, as he leapt high enough to hit the much taller Hammer right in the side of the head! Afterwards, Miller grabs the microphone, but security drags him away, and go so far as to have the police arrest him, and put him in the back of a cop car. I don’t recall that happening to any of the white wrestlers who interfere in matches. ¼*
Gene Okerlund brings Bret Hart out, and Hart is feeling horrible that he’s acted like an asshole over the last few months. He now sees that Hollywood Hulk Hogan and the nWo are all a scam, and he even goes so far as to consider vacating the WCW United States title since he didn’t really earn it. All this draws Roddy Piper out to give him an ‘I told you so,’ but he’s accepting Bret’s contrition, and thinks we all should too. This was a good segment. Bret could still deliver when he had his heart in it, but I remember enough about this period not to get too excited about this
Saturn v Kendall Windham: Windham looks like he needs to hit a gym in the worst way. He doesn’t look like a pro-wrestler, particularly one in the 90s. The outfit (no shirt, and loose fitting blue jeans) isn’t helping either. Kendall knocks him around early, but Saturn catches him with a suplex, and a cross corner whip rebounds Windham into a superkick. Windham manages a backelbow, and he bootrakes Saturn. Windham holds an armbar, but Saturn quickly escapes. Saturn goes up with a flying splash, but misses, and Kendall slugs him. Kendall dumps him to the outside, and delivers an elbowdrop from the apron, then back in with a legdrop for two. Windham goes to a chinlock, so Saturn slugs free, but gets caught with a knee. Windham with a jumping clothesline for two, but Saturn hooks a small package to block a bodyslam, though it’s in the ropes, so no count. Windham holds a chinlock, and a gutwrench suplex gets him two. Windham tags him with a big boot, but Saturn gets fired up with fists, so Kendall clips the leg. Windham with a side superplex, but he misses a 2nd rope elbowdrop, and Saturn schoolboys him for two. Saturn keeps coming with a suplex, and a clothesline follows. Saturn with a bodyslam to set up a 2nd rope elbowdrop for two, but Kendall counters a vertical suplex into a swinging neckbreaker. He tries a whip into the ropes, but Saturn blocks, and uses the counter momentum to hook him in a death valley driver at 9:07. This was much better and more complete than I expected it to be. I thought Saturn would just steamroll him here. Afterwards, the Flock is out, and Raven informs them that their 24 hours of freedom are over, and they need to rejoin him. Saturn reminds them that they are free elves, and reminds them of all the mistreatment they suffered at Raven’s hands. Raven tries to get them back into line, but they walk out on him, and Raven is just left with Kanyon as a flunky. Hey, I’m just happy to see some progress, as opposed to the endless wheel spinning that we’ve gotten with this angle for months on end. ** ¾
Renegade v Wrath: Renegade tries jump starting things, but gets fought off, and pounded in the corner. Wrath lands a big boot, and he does some stomping from there. Wrath with a cross corner whip, but Renegade reverses, and follows in with a handspring backelbow. Unfortunately for him, Wrath no sells, and clotheslines him. That allows Wrath the pumphandle-powerslam at 1:27. Quick and effective. DUD
Hollywood Hogan leads the nWo out, and Hogan is all about hating cowards this week - namely Bret Hart and Warrior. Hart is a coward for leaving the nWo, and Warrior is a coward for running away from him last night at Fall Brawl. Yeah, he should definitely run for office, this guy. So Hogan challenges Warrior to a match at Halloween Havoc, which feels like a weird thing to do after weeks of running away from him at every turn. So the ring fills with smoke, but when it clears, Warrior isn’t there… instead, Disciple has disappeared. The announcers interpret this to mean that Warrior has accepted the challenge
WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Juventud Guerrera v Billy Kidman: Kidman hammers on Guerrera during the opening exchange, and a criss cross ends in Guerrera throwing a few chops. Guerrera takes him into the corner for a ten-punch, so Kidman tries running away, but takes a matslam. Guerrera goes up with a missile dropkick, but Kidman gets to the outside before a cover can be made. Kidman manages a headscissor takedown on the way back in, and a powerslam gets him two. Kidman uses a snapmare into a chinlock, and he wears him down into a two count. Guerrera manages a headscissor takedown of his own, so Kidman shoves him into the corner to buy time. Kidman with a corner whip, but the charge in goes badly, and Guerrera throws a bodypress that sends both guys tumbling over the top. Inside, Kidman manages to get control with a chinlock, but Guerrera hooks a schoolboy for two. Kidman throws a dropkick to cut him off, as Mike Tenay arrives to join the commentary team, fresh from the airport. Kidman with a slingshot legdrop, and a snapmare allows him another chinlock. Guerrera throws chops to shake him off, but a rana gets countered with a sitout spinebuster for two. Kidman with a wheelbarrow suplex for two, and a cross corner clothesline leads to an elbowdrop for two. Suplex, but Guerrera counters to a German version for two, and Juvi goes up with a flying headscissors for two. Guerrera tries a corner whip, but Billy reverses, only to miss a corner splash. That allows Guerrera to try for the scoop brainbuster, but Kidman counters to an inverted vertical suplex for two. Great drama on the near fall there. Kidman with a slam to set up a dive, but Guerrera crotches him to block, and brings him down with a rana. Guerrera goes up with a dive, but Kidman catches him in a sitout spinebuster, and he goes up with a flying shooting star press at 12:43. This got a lot better in the final few minutes, but it was a pretty underwhelming match to kick off Kidman’s reign. * ¾
Backstage, Okerlund chases JJ Dillon down, thinking he just saw JJ lead Ric Flair into a dressing room, but Dillon won’t tell him anything
Jackie Chan promotes his appearance on TNT’s Meals on Wheels (airs after Nitro), where he will be promoting his new movie: Rush Hour. It’s like a nesting doll of promoting here
Backstage, Eric Bischoff banishes Eddie Guerrero to Japan
Davey Boy Smith v Barbarian: Posturing to start, and Bulldog manages to take him down with a jumping shoulderblock, and Smith knocks Barbarian over the top. Barbarian pulls him out to crack with chops, and he whips Davey into the steps out there, then rams him into the post. Inside, Barbarian pounds on the lower back, and a slam gets him two. An odd looking slam there, where it almost looked like Barbarian was the one taking the bump. Barbarian unloads in the corner, and a corner whip works, but the charge in misses. That allows Smith to try for the running powerslam, but Jimmy Hart hooks Barbarian’s leg to block it. That allows Barbarian to recover with a clothesline, but a big boot misses, and Davey drops him with a (sloppy) powerslam at 3:42. This was ugly, and Bulldog in particular looked horrible. Hard to believe he was only 35 years old at this point, he looks shot out. DUD
Okerlund brings Dillon out for JJ to announce that Scott Steiner will have to get back into the ring with brother Rick at Halloween Havoc. That leads to the lights suddenly going down, and a weird, creepy laughter playing over the audio system
Nitro Girls
Nitro Party video
Jim Neidhart comes out for a match, but the ring fills with smoke after his entrance, and Warrior appears in the ring with an unconscious Disciple. Neidhart just kind of walks away, but here comes nWo Hollywood in full force. But they don’t actually do anything, they just stand around as Warrior accepts Hogan’s challenge for Havoc
Handicap Match: Scott Steiner v Norman Smiley and Silver King: Scott knocks them both around, and stacks them up for a double camel clutch at 2:46. All this did was clarify where on the pecking order Smiley and Silver King were at this point. DUD
Nitro Girls
Meng v Giant: They slug it out to start, and Meng starts kicking at the leg, but can’t knock him down. Meng throws a superkick, but Giant stays on his feet, and starts pounding Meng - but he doesn’t go down either. They keep trying to knock each other down to no avail, but Giant counters the Tongan death grip with a chokeslam at 2:32. They did a good job structuring this for maximum impact, and avoided overstaying their welcome with it. ¼*
Scott Hall v Lex Luger: Endless posturing to start, until Hall stops to go get a drink, and ends up tripping over the ropes on the way back in. That allows Lex a headlock, but Hall fights it into a reversal sequence that goes nowhere. And then Hall just kind of passes out, before rolling out of the ring to refresh himself with another beverage. Inside, Luger gets in his face, and runs him down for working under the influence. That draws Eric Bischoff out, and he wants to walk Hall away, but Scott is refusing. Enter Kevin Nash and Konnan, and they partner up with Lex to try and talk Hall down, as the match gets thrown out at 6:30. Hall gets in Nash’s face, yelling about how Kevin wasn’t there for him when his ‘life was falling apart,’ and then Scott vomits on Bischoff to put a disgusting cap on a disgusting segment. -½*
Dillon brings Arn Anderson out, and he walks us through his last few years, and through his retirement, and how that’s led him to a crisis of not knowing who he is without the Horsemen. He calls Steve McMichael, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit out, and takes the time to sing each of their praises, and talk about why they each are credible Horsemen. But there’s one more man who makes the Horsemen the Horsemen, and Arn brings Ric Flair out, in his first appearance since the spring. And it’s a massive ovation. Flair, of course, is in tears before he even makes it down the aisle. Ric rants and raves about Bischoff, until Eric himself comes out, so Flair starts swearing at him, and this is the source of the famous ‘fire me, I’m already fired’ quote. This was a really good segment, but honestly, it’s not as good as its reputation suggests. Incredible heat, though
Halloween Havoc ad
WCW World Title Match: Bill Goldberg v Sting: So, after losing the huge nine-man cage main event for a world title shot one night earlier… Sting just gets a title shot here anyway. And it’s even stupider than that, as they were hyping this match at Fall Brawl. Meanwhile, the guy who did win that match (Diamond Dallas Page) is out to do commentary here. Goldberg with a press-slam right away, but that fires Sting up, and he hits Bill with an Oklahoma stampede. Sting adds a vertical suplex, but Goldberg pops right up, so Sting wisely bails to avoid a flurry from the champion. Inside, Sting wins a criss cross by throwing a boot, and they slug it out, won by Bill. Another criss cross allows Sting a dropkick, but Goldberg pops up, and takes him down into a grapevine, but Sting is in the ropes. Sting tries a headlock, so Goldberg uses a side suplex, but Sting keeps the hold on. He grinds it, but Bill fights to a vertical base, and manages to shake him off as Sting tries to take it to the ground. Goldberg grabs a knucklelock, but Sting is in the ropes again. Goldberg tries a tombstone, but Sting reverses, and while Goldberg gets up, he’s not popping up anymore. Sting stays on him with a pair of Stinger Splashes, but Bill refuses to go down. Sting responds with a third splash, so Goldberg tries a spear to block a fourth, but Sting dodges. That allows Sting to clip the leg, and he gets the Scorpion Deathlock on, as Hollywood Hogan wanders down. He nails Sting to break the hold, but the referee doesn’t see it, so the match continues. That allows Goldberg to get up with a spear, and the crowd is rightfully shitting on this. Bill adds the jackhammer to get the first hollow victory of his run at 8:06. Hulk attacks as soon as the bell sounds, but Bret Hart runs out to chase him off. The crowd continues shitting on the finish, which the announcers try to pass off as them booing Hogan. That was a really bad, poorly executed finish, which tainted what was easily Goldberg’s most complete match to that point. I get what they were going for with the finish, but the execution was horrible. **
BUExperience: This was more of a pay per view caliber show than the actual pay per view show that took place the night before it. It wasn’t enough to top a really great RAW on the other side of the fence, but it was an extremely strong episode in its own right.
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