Original Airdate: September 28, 1998
From Rochester, New York; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
Nitro Girls
nWo Hollywood are out to start, and Hulk Hogan is in rare form this week, basically running down the entire roster and promotion, and calling himself ‘Wood’ about 200 times, between talking about his ‘brothers’ in ‘the hood.’ Oh boy. Anyway, this segment was terrible, serving no real purpose and doing nothing in terms of furthering any storylines
La Parka v Super Calo: They throw down to start, and Parka goes low to win that. Parka with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and he cross corner clotheslines Calo from there. Parka with a corner whip, but the charge in hits a boot, and Calo sends him into the middle turnbuckle with authority. Calo with a matslam, and a 2nd rope headscissor follows. Parka tries a charge, but Calo dodges, and Parka hits the post, ending up on the outside. Calo dives after him with a flying bodypress on the floor, but another on eon the way back in gets blocked with a dropkick for two. Parka uses a tree of woe for two, but a flying splash gets blocked, and Calo throws chops in the corner. He tries a rana off the top, but Parka dumps him to the outside to block. Parka tries a dive, but Calo snaps his leg across the top rope to prevent it, and then brings him off with a rana for two. Calo with a corner whip, and a headscissor takedown follows. Again, but Parka counters with a whiplash, and he dives with a flying corkscrew senton at 5:31. This didn’t always work, but it was good when it did. Afterwards, Calo beats him down with a chair in response to the loss. * ½
Gene Okerlund brings WCW United States Champion Bret Hart out, and the Hitman doesn’t care if he’s got a bad knee, he wants Hulk Hogan tonight
Sick Boy v Disciple: Boy attacks while Disciple is showing off his new OWN vest, but a vertical suplex gets no-sold. Boy with a snapmare to allow him a blatant choke, and a gutwrench powerbomb follows, but Disciple no sells that as well. Boy keeps going with a swinging neckbreaker, but Disciple pops up, and delivers a big boot. A reversal sequence follows, won by Disciple with a jawbreaker at 1:56. This was Brutus Beefcake doing an Ultimate Warrior impression. DUD
Nitro Girls
Handicap Match: Scott Steiner v Lenny Lane and Nick Dinsmore: Scott casually throws them both around, before finishing with a double camel clutch at 2:33. Afterwards, Scott suddenly starts having back trouble, and might be hurt, though everyone immediately assumes he’s just faking. DUD
Warrior is out, and he tries to top Hogan for rambling, useless promos. He doesn’t quite manage it, but it’s close
Gene brings Buff Bagwell out to talk about what happened with Scott Steiner earlier, and apparently Scott has been sent to the hospital. Okerlund casts doubt, but Buff gets all upset, and we hear that creepy laugh as the segment ends
Ernest Miller v Psychosis: Miller gives him the usual offer to forfeit, but Psychosis don’t speak no English, and can’t understand, so Miller delivers a superkick. Well, that translates. Psychosis manages a pair of dropkicks to the knee to shake him off, and he dumps Ernest to the outside for a flying bodypress on the floor. Psychosis delivers a missile dropkick for two on the way back in, and a snapmare sets up a headscissors hold. Weird transition there, as Psychosis set up a rana off the top, but then randomly abandoned it after Miller said something to the referee. Psychosis with a sunset flip, but Miller blocks - only to gloat, and get hooked for two. Psychosis with a bodyslam to set up a flying legdrop, but Miller rolls out of the way. That allows Ernest a corkscrew roundhouse kick at 3:21. This was actually not bad for Miller’s level. ¾*
Gene brings Alex Wright out, who throws a challenge out to Davey Boy Smith, between insulting Americans. Kind of weird that he’s being paired with the British Bulldog when his beef seems to be with Americans
Disco Inferno v Chavo Guerrero Jr: A reversal sequence starts, ending in Disco delivering a sidewalk slam. He wastes time teasing breaking Pepe, allowing Chavo to recover with a Thesz press into mounted punches until Disco bails. Chavo with a plancha, and he takes Disco in with an atomic drop and a clothesline for two. Guerrero with a cross corner whip, but the charge in gets blocked, and Disco bodyslams him a few times. Disco with a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, and he unloads on Guerrero in the corner, but wastes time again, and Chavo turns the tables. Chavo with a cross corner superman punch, and a springboard bulldog follows. Chavo hammers him with punches, so Disco pops him in the throat with Pepe, and hooks the leg at 4:11. Juventud Guerrera is immediately out to protest the injustice, and he chases Disco away. Juvi goes to check on Chavo, but that allows Disco to hustle back in, and he lays Juvi out with a piledriver. ¾*
Four Horsemen hype video
Okerlund brings the Horsemen out, but before they can say too much, Eric Bischoff and Stevie Ray lead a bunch of cops out, and Eric wants all of them arrested. The cops don’t really ‘arrest’ them, but they do kind of gently lead them away from the ring. This wasn’t much, basically just paying lip service to the angle, without really advancing anything
WCW Television Champion Chris Jericho is out, complete with his mock Goldberg entrance. But before he can do or say anything, the real Bill Goldberg is out, and he’s carrying the fake Goldberg from Fall Brawl on his shoulder. Jericho shits his pants, and shoves his security team at Bill, but he eats them alive with a double spear! It does allow Chris time to get out of dodge, however. Good segment, nice to see Goldberg and Jericho finally interact
Gene brings Diamond Dallas Page out to flap his gums a little. Nothing of note here
Billy Kidman v Scott Hall: Kidman is the WCW Cruiserweight champion here, but this is non-title. Hall smacks him around to start, and Scott biels him, but gets hooked in a schoolboy for two. Kidman adds a dropkick, and a sunset cradle gets him two, before Hall blasts him with a clothesline. Hall with a ropechoke, and Vincent adds some abuse from the outside. Hall with a corner clothesline, and a chokeslam follows, but he gets distracted by stopping for a drink. That allows Kidman to attack, and he lands a missile dropkick, followed by a bulldog. Kidman keeps coming with a flying bodypress for two, but a bodypress gets caught in a fallaway slam. Hall looks for the crucifix powerbomb, but Kidman counters with a facebuster for two, so Vincent gets onto the apron for a distraction. That allows Hall to nail Billy, and the powerbomb finishes at 6:13. At least this one wasn’t all about Hall’s drinking problems, like most of his matches from this period. *
Alex Wright v Davey Boy Smith: Bulldog grabs the mic and calls Wright a ‘pussy licker’ before the bell, and we all just kind of pretend it didn’t happen. How did this not become a huge meme? What are we even doing here? Posturing to start, and Wright misses a leg-feed enzuigiri, allowing Davey to go to a surfboard. Smith shifts it into a cradle for two, but wastes time arguing the count, and Alex attacks. He pounds Bulldog into the corner, and a snapmare follows. Wright with an axehandle drop from the apron, and a slam sets up slingshot splash for two. Wright with a vertical suplex, and he goes upstairs, but Davey slams him off. That allows Bulldog a ten-punch count, but Wright drops him across the turnbuckle with a hotshot. Bulldog manages to recover with the running powerslam, but the referee gets bumped in the process, and there’s no one to count. Smith goes to revive him, allowing Alex to recover with a bridging side suplex. A second referee runs in to make the count, but the original referee is recovering at the same time, and each official counts a different mans shoulders down at 4:26. ½*
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Halloween Havoc ad
Kevin Nash v Brian Adams: Nash beats him into the corner right away, but a charge hits a boot, and Adams puts him down. Adams sends Nash over the top, and he follows to feed Kevin the steps, but Nash reverses. Inside, Nash delivers a big boot, then another one, as Stevie Ray and Vincent rush in for the DQ at 2:41. Afterwards, they beat Nash down, and Scott Hall is out to join that party - until Lex Luger and Konnan make the save. Was Sting busy taking a shit? Or, did he just not give one? DUD
Hugh Morrus and Barry Darsow v Lex Luger and Konnan: Barry and Lex start, and Luger knocks him around. Tag to Konnan to do more of the same, so Barry goes to the eyes, and tags out. The heels try a combo, but Konnan gets the better of them, and nails Morrus with a rolling clothesline. Konnan adds a seated dropkick, and he hooks the tequila sunrise, but Barry saves. Darsow looks to keep it going, but Konnan drops him with a sitout facebuster, and Lex finishes with the torture rack at 2:12. ¼*
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Bret Hart v Hollywood Hulk Hogan: The WCW United States title is not on the line here. Some posturing to start, and they feel each other out - complete with Hulk doing his ‘I know holds, ya know’ routine. Hogan tries a cross-armbreaker, but Hart is in the ropes, so Hulk catches him with a clothesline. Hogan adds a bodyslam, but Hart dodges a trio of elbowdrops, and he clotheslines Hollywood out of the ring. Hogan pulls Bret out with him, but Hart reverses him into the post, and rolls him back in. Hogan begs off, but manages to dump Hart out of the ring, and he drops Bret knee-first across the guardrail out there to aggravate the injury Hart suffered at Fall Brawl. Hogan wraps the knee around the post next, and he stomps on the part as they head back inside. Hulk works a spinning toehold, and Bret is in the ropes, but Hogan won’t break. That draws Sting out to get in Hulk’s face, forcing a break. The referee is just kind of chilling through all of this. Bret can’t even stand, and the Wolfpac is out, trying to get him to walk away. The EMTs come out to take care of him, but Hart is fighting and refusing, trying to get back in. So as that’s going on, Sting gets into a slugfest with Hogan! Hulk manages a cross corner clothesline, and a side suplex follows, as Hart is rolled out of the arena. Sting fires off a clothesline, as we see Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell attack Lex Luger and Konnan backstage as they’re trying to load Bret into an ambulance. That allows Bret to get off of the stretcher, and he hobbles back toward the arena, as Sting dodges a legdrop. Sting delivers a corner splash, and he goes for the Scorpion deathlock, but Hart drills him with a DDT for the DQ at 9:57. How the hell can he get disqualified for interfering in his own match? So it quickly becomes obvious that Hart’s knee is fine, and the whole thing was a ruse all along. So they beat down Sting, as the crowd deflates. This was all about gaga, which is a shame, since it was a dream match, and I wish we got a proper version of it. ½*
BUExperience: This was generally fine, and Hart/Hogan was certainly a major marquee match, but this didn’t compare to the opposing RAW, and it wasn’t even close, really. It didn’t help that the big main event was a swerve that just served to piss everyone off, and flush a lot of goodwill.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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