Original Airdate: November 2, 1998
From Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
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Alex Wright v Norman Smiley: Alex dominates some posturing early on, but a criss cross allows Smiley to get a bodypress. Smiley adds a bodyslam, then a swinging bodyslam. Alex goes to the eyes to buy time, and a criss cross allows him a jumping forearm, then a heel kick. Wright with a corner whip and a tree of woe, but Smiley fights him off, and makes a comeback. Smiley with a legdrop and an elbowdrop for two, and a slam sets up a dive, but Alex follows him up with a superplex. Wright adds a neckbreaker to finish at 4:37. ¼*
Nitro Girls
Disco Inferno v Kaz Hayashi: Kaz holds his own early, and hits a flying bodypress for two. Disco fights him off, and uses a vertical suplex to set up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, but a second dive misses. That allows Hayashi a chop, and a dropkick follows. Hayashi with a backbreaker to set up a flying moonsault for two, but Disco fights him off. Disco goes up, but Hayashi brings him down with a vertical superplex for two. Hayashi with a bodyslam to set up a dive of his own, but Kaz gets distracted by Sonny Onoo’s presence. That allows Disco to nail him, and a piledriver finishes for him at 4:37. No wonder Disco and Alex Wright were tag partners. ¾*
Gene Okerlund brings a returning Booker T out, and he wants to pick up right where he left off before the injury: challenging Scott Hall to a match tonight
Fit Finlay v Scott Putski: Posturing to start, with Putski getting more in than you’d expect. Putski with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, but Fit dodges. That allows Fit a bodyslam, and he goes to work on the youngster. Putski manages a powerslam, and a backdrop follows. Putski with a clothesline, but an axehandle smash misses, and Fit drills him with the tombstone at 3:55. ¼*
In the basement somewhere, Raven is feeling sorry for himself, so Kanyon tries to get him out of his funk
Ernest Miller v Scott Armstrong: Armstrong answers an open challenge here, and goes to town on Miller, but quickly gets caught with a roundhouse kick at 0:23. Afterwards, Miller keeps beating on him, so Steve Armstrong tries to make the save, but gets beat up as well. DUD
Wrath v Kendall Windham: Wrath feeds him a good helping of squash, finishing with the pumphandle-slam at 1:40. DUD
Bret Hart hype video
Gene brings Bret Hart out, and he’s got a groin pull, apparently. Gene doubts it, but Bret explains that he knows what his groin feels. That draws Lex Luger out to cast more doubt on Bret’s groin, and they get into a brawl, with Hart getting the worst of it
Clips of Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair from Halloween Havoc 1994 - another Eric Bischoff joke of allowing Flair to ‘wrestle’ on TV again
Okerlund brings the Four Horsemen out, and they still hate Bischoff
Nitro Girls hype video
Nitro Girls
Nitro Party video
Bill Goldberg hype video
Scott Norton v Van Hammer: The announcers talk about Hammer feeling confident, and being on a winning streak as he makes his entrance. Yeah, I’m thinking that ends now. Norton blitzes him, and Hammer ends up on the outside quickly. Scott vertical suplexes him back into the ring, but misses a clothesline, and Van delivers a cobra slam. Norton fires back with a Samoan drop, and a powerbomb finishes at 1:52. ¼*
Backstage, Bret gets taped up by the medics
Eddie Guerrero v Saturn: Saturn with a pop-up and a suplex right away, and he takes Eddie into the corner to unload on. Saturn with a wheelbarrow facebuster, but Eddie counters the death valley driver with a rana. That was a nice spot. Guerrero adds a vertical suplex to set up a dive, but Saturn superplexes him off. That allows Saturn a flying legdrop for two, and a falcon arrow follows, so the LWO runs in for the DQ at 2:12. This was good, but too short, and a bad finish. The LWO beat him down after the bell, but Konnan saves. He doesn’t allow Saturn to fight back, but he just pulls them apart, and asks Saturn to back off, because Eddie is a ‘user’ who is brainwashing these guys. Saturn walks away, leaving Eddie and Konnan to verbally spar, with each guy accusing the other of selling out the culture in different ways. Good angle. ½*
Scott Steiner hype video
Kenny Kaos v Scott Steiner: They make the entrances, but JJ Dillon is out, and wants to talk to Scott. Steiner chases him away, and so no match. Kaos standing there the whole time, holding his tag title belt and doing nothing, makes him seem like an even bigger nothing than he already was. This whole segment came off poorly
Rey Mysterio Jr v Psychosis: Rey dominates early, and a reversal sequence sees Rey dump him to the outside with a rana. Inside, Rey stomps him down to set up a bronco buster, but Psychosis fights off another rana with a sitout powerbomb. Psychosis with a slam on the floor to set up a slingshot legdrop out there, and he rolls Rey in to cover for two. Psychosis grounds him in a chinlock, and delivers a pop-up flapjack. Rey tries a springboard moonsault press, but Psychosis blocks. Psychosis tries a 2nd rope bodypress, but Rey ducks, and dives with a springboard flying seated senton for two. Backdrop, but Psychosis blocks, and delivers a sitout gourdbuster for two. Psychosis with a cross corner clothesline, and he brings Rey off the top with a rana for two. Dropkick, but Rey sidesteps, and Psychosis wipes out in the ropes. Rey with a slingshot moonsault for two, and a headscissor takedown follows, then a sitout facebuster. That draws the LWO out, and the distraction allows Psychosis to counter a rana off the top into a powerbomb at 8:34. Fun match. **
Okerlund brings WCW Television Champion Chris Jericho out, who claims to have a newfound respect for Bill Goldberg… in between talking about his (Jericho) history as a professional football player
Dean Malenko v Raven: Dean pounds him into the corner, and stomps a mudhole, though Raven makes no effort to fight back. Dean keeps hammering, until Raven throws a low blow, and he puts the boots to Malenko. DDT, but Dean railroads him into the ropes, and both guys fall out of the ring. Dean whips Raven into the guardrail out there, so Lodi comes out, but Steve McMichael chases him off. Inside, Raven uses a drop-toehold into a chair, and a suplex follows. Dean grabs a sleeper, but Raven quickly escapes with a side suplex. Raven with a cross corner whip into a chair, but Dean reverses, and hits him with a leg lariat. Dean with a vertical suplex for two, and a German suplex follows. Another, but Raven blocks. He tries the DDT, but Dean counters to a spinebuster. He shifts right to the Texas cloverleaf, but Kanyon is out to distract him. That allows Raven a rollup, but Dean kicks out at two - sending Raven crashing into Kanyon in the process. That allows Dean a schoolboy for two, as Chris Benoit shows up to attack Kanyon. Dean gets the cloverleaf on Raven, but Bret Hart shows up to attack Benoit, and Kanyon is able to break up the hold for the DQ at 6:11. Afterwards, Bret tries to break Benoit’s arm with a keylock, so Luger comes out to make the save, and suddenly Hart is too hurt to fight. Lex corners him, but Giant pulls Hart out before Luger can get anything in. *
WCW Television Title Match: Chris Jericho v Billy Kidman: Kidman's WCW Cruiserweight title is not on the line. Jericho is sporting some weird arm compression stockings this week. They feel each other out early, measuring one another. Kidman wins a criss cross with a hiptoss, and a dropkick follows, leaving Jericho hiding in the ropes. Kidman gets him in a wristlock, but an attempt at a tornado DDT gets blocked when Chris dumps him over the top. Jericho follows to feed Billy the steps, and he delivers a hanging vertical suplex for two on the way back in. Chris with chops in the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Kidman delivers a rebound clothesline. Kidman looks for a follow up, but Chris counters with a pop-up flapjack. Chris adds a backbreaker into a submission, then takes Kidman into the corner for a bootchoke. An avalanche misses, but Billy is too dazed to capitalize, and Jericho dropkicks him. Jericho adds a bodyslam to set up a flying splash, but Billy gets his boot up to block. That allows Kidman an atomic drop, and a bulldog gets the challenger two. Kidman with a sitout spinebuster for two, but Jericho counters a victory roll to the Liontamer. Kidman blocks, so Jericho uses a catapult into the corner instead, and a bridging German suplex gets him two from there. Jericho tries a powerbomb, but Billy counters with a facebuster. That allows him to go up with a flying shooting star press, but Jericho blocks it on the way down. That allows Chris an Oklahoma roll for two, and a spinebuster sets up the Liontamer again, but Kidman avoids it again, this time with a cradle for two. Jericho bails, but Billy is on him with a plancha. He rolls Chris in to finish with a flying bodypress, but time expires at 8:30. I really hope we get a rematch, because this was good stuff. ** ¾
Dillon is back out, revealing that Scott Steiner is being fined $100,000 for his actions last week, and Buff Bagwell is getting hit with a $50,000 fine. That draws an irate Scott out to destroy the announce set, and he calls Kaos out. Kenny answers the call, and looks like even more of a dork than earlier, when he comes out in slides. Scott gives him a camel clutch
Booker T v Scott Hall: This is Booker’s first TV match since August, though he’d worked a few house shows in the weeks leading up to this. Hall kick starts the match, but Booker hits him with a forearm as they criss cross, and he adds a leg lariat. Hall bails, but wins a slugfest as he comes back inside. A reversal sequence is won by Booker with a clothesline for two, and he pounds Scott into the corner from there. Booker with a backelbow, but Hall is in the ropes at one. Booker goes to an armbar, and a savate kick connects. Clothesline, but Hall ducks, so Booker tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a fallaway slam. Booker bails, but Hall follows, and sends him into the apron. Inside, Scott puts the boots to him, but loses another slugfest. Booker tries a dropkick, but Hall dodges, and drops an elbow for two. Hall grabs a sleeper, but Booker drops into a jawbreaker to break free. Hall tries a cross corner whip, but Booker reverses, only to hit a boot as he follows in. That allows Hall a clothesline for two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and eats an axekick. Booker adds a spinkick, and a side suplex follows. Missile dropkick, so Hall shoves the referee into the flightpath, and a second official runs out to disqualify him over it at 7:17. Well, that was some overzealous officiating. This was probably Hall’s best match in months, maybe longer. * ¼
Lex Luger v Giant: Lex slugs the big man into the corner, and rocks the ring with a turnbuckle smash, but a cross corner whip gets reversed. That allows Giant a big boot, and he adds an elbowdrop. Giant unloads in the corner, as Tony talks about how you ‘have to see Giant live’ to appreciate how big he is. So, I guess that’s been a thing for much longer than just with WWE. Giant with another elbowdrop, and he unloads in the corner again. Giant with a cross corner whip, and he dumps Lex to the outside, then presses him back in. Giant with a few shots in the corner, as he’s clearly on autopilot here, and the fans are bored out of their minds. Lex finally goes on the comeback trail, and he looks for the torture rack, but Bret comes in for the DQ at 8:01. So, so dull. Bret puts Luger in the Sharpshooter, but Goldberg makes the save - only to accidentally spear Luger in the process of doing so. DUD
BUExperience: Both shows weren’t great this week, but I’ll give Nitro the slight edge, since there were at least a few strong matches.
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