Original Airdate: March 1, 1999
From Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay, with Larry Zbyszko (first half) and Bobby Heenan (second half)
David Flair is riding around in his limousine with Torrie Wilson, laughing at Ric Flair’s needy voicemails
Nitrol Girls
WCW Television Champion Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell are out to mock Rick Steiner. This wasn’t as hot of a promo as last week from Scott
Ricky Rachtman is at a Nitro Party, pimping out Nitro Girls
Spring break hype video
The Wolfpac are out, and they want to welcome Rey Mysterio Jr into the group after the shit he pulled last week. But Rey doesn’t come out, so Kevin Nash calls him on his cell, and apparently Rey isn’t interested. This segment fell really flat
WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Billy Kidman v Psychosis: They feel each other out for a bit, and Kidman lands a rana, so Psychosis hides out in the ropes. A reversal sequence ends in Psychosis delivering a clothesline, and a headscissors follows. Psychosis clotheslines the champion over the top, and he adds a baseball slide out there. He tries a whip into the apron, but Kidman reverses, and inside, Kidman backdrops him over the top. Kidman dives after him with a flying bodyblock into the aisle, then rolls him in for another dive, but Psychosis crotches him before he can leap. That allows Psychosis an elevated DDT for two, but Kidman blocks a powerbomb. He looks to capitalize, but Psychosis catches him with a drop-toehold on the ropes, and then adds a flying guillotine legdrop to take things back to the outside. Inside, Psychosis with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and a rana off the top gets him two. Side suplex, but Kidman blocks, and bulldogs him. That allows Billy to go to the top, but a flying bodypress gets caught in a powerslam for two. Powerbomb, but Kidman counters to a facebuster, and a flying shooting star press finishes at 10:58. A little scattered, but good action overall. ** ¼
Backstage, Arn Anderson confronts David and Torrie, and Flair is a terrible actor, but Anderson is so incredible that he easily carries this to greatness
Backstage, WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan tells Vincent to get the nWo in order, and gives him a tip: knock Stevie Ray down a peg
Rachtman continues to Nitro Party
Rey Mysterio Jr v Bam Bam Bigelow: Bam Bam whips him around, but Rey dodges an avalanche, and lands a spinheel kick. Flying bodypress, but Bigelow catches him in a powerslam, then presses him out of the ring, into a bunch of security guys who just happen to be standing around in the aisle. Inside, Bigelow continues to hammer him, but a pop-up backfires when Rey dropkicks him. Rey adds a dropkick to the knee, but another one gets blocked with a big boot from Bam Bam for two. Bigelow with a leg-feed enzuigiri, and he works a chinlock from there. Bigelow with a dominator to set up a headbutt drop for two, and a bodyslam sets up a flying headbutt drop, but Rey gets out of the way. Rey with a flying dropkick, and a flying facebuster gets him two, before Bigelow cuts him off with a clothesline. We break for a pyro display to mark the start of the second hour, which isn’t something they’ve done in a while, and is randomly back. And distracting. It kills their flow, as Bigelow holds a chinlock, and the match feels immediately off track. They looked like they were kicking into gear for the last act, and now they’re just kind of stumbling around. The way Bigelow is ambling, I’m thinking he thought they went to commercial. He finally scoops Rey up, but Mysterio hooks him in a victory roll at 9:14. This was okay, but the pyro display hurt it significantly. ¾*
Backstage, Gene Okerlund catches up with Rey, and Gene thinks that losing the mask was a blessing in disguise. But before Rey can say much, Kevin Nash and Lex Luger attack him, in response to his ignoring their offer to join the Wolfpac
Backstage, Bigelow and Raven are brawling, and Hak shows up to attack them both with the kendo stick. Did they really have no imagination at all for these guys? I mean, immediately marrying all the former ECW guys is such a lazy move
Outside, Ric Flair arrives
Backside, Nash, Luger, and Disco Inferno tell Stevie Ray that he needs to put Vincent in his place
Nitro Girls
Backstage, Scott Norton gets Ernest Miller all wound up about Jerry Flynn. Of all things
Ernest Miller v Jerry Flynn: Miller is being pissy because his entrance routine doesn’t go as planned, and Flynn capitalizes, taking him to school. To the outside, Flynn whips him into the guardrail, but Miller manages to take him down on the way back in. Miller grounds him in a chinlock, and works Flynn over in dull fashion. Jerry makes a brief comeback, but both guys throw kicks at the same time, and knock each other out. The referee doesn’t want a draw, so he rules that the first man up wins. Flynn is ahead, but Sonny Onoo nails him while the referee isn’t looking, and Miller wins at 7:46. This was exceptionally boring, and based on the finish, I sense a rematch in our future. DUD
Saturn v Hugh Morrus: They brawl in the aisle to kickstart things, and Morrus gets control. Inside, Hugh clotheslines him, and a trio of elbowdrops follow. Morrus hammers away, but an avalanche gets blocked, and Saturn uses a belly-to-belly suplex. Saturn throws a superkick, then a sidekick into a rocker dropper. Morrus bails, so Saturn chases, but gets distracted by Jimmy Hart. That allows Morrus to recover with a clothesline, and he drops an elbow from the apron. Inside, Hugh uses a press-slam for two, and he holds in Saturn a chinlock from there. Saturn escapes, and schoolboys for two, but Morrus cuts him off with a clothesline for two. Back to the chinlock, but Saturn escapes, and makes a comeback. He goes for the kill, but Chris Jericho shows up, knocking Saturn out behind the referee’s back. That allows Hugh a flying moonsault at 9:26. This was too long for what it was, and that finish. ½*
The Nitro Party is still doing its thing
Bret Hart v Chris Benoit: They posture a little to start, and Bret takes control with an inverted atomic drop into a clothesline. Hart takes him into the corner, but Benoit starts slugging to avoid getting trapped. Chris lands a backelbow, so Bret bails, breaking the momentum. Back in, Bret dominates a test-of-strength, but Benoit bridges up into a straightjacket. Benoit with a short-clothesline for two, and a backbreaker is worth two. Benoit drops him into the corner for some abuse, but Bret fights him off, and delivers a headbutt drop to the groin. Hart with a DDT for two, and a matslam follows. I love Bobby Heenan, but I really wish that he would have cooled it with the goofy jokes during actual interesting matches. Hart with some ropechoking, and a piledriver gets him two. Suplex, but Chris counters with a small package for two, before Bret cuts him off. Hart with a side suplex for two, and he tries holding a chinlock, but Benoit side suplexes him before he can really wrench it on. That leaves both men looking up at the lights, and Benoit is up first. He goes to the top, but Hart crotches him. Hart tries a superplex, but Benoit blocks with a headbutt to knock him off. Benoit with a flying dropkick, but Hart dodges, and goes for the Sharpshooter - only for Chris to counter to the crippler crossface, but Bret is in the ropes right away. Hart gets a figure four on, but Benoit makes the ropes now, so Hart pumps him with punches. Hart with a snap suplex to set up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, and a Russian legsweep gets another two. Hart chokes him in the corner, and a backbreaker gets him two. Benoit starts fighting back, and tags him with a knee for two. Benoit drops him front-first across the top rope for two (in a nasty spot, where Chris dropped him too early, and Hart landed on his head), and Benoit throws a few cracking chops. Benoit uses a snap suplex to set up a flying headbutt drop, but it only gets two. Corner whip, but the charge in gets blocked, and Hart clotheslines him. A criss cross results in a double knockout spot, and Hart manages a sleeper as they stagger up - only for Benoit to reverse! Hart tries a side suplex to escape, so Benoit looks to topple him, but he ends up sending both men tumbling over the top! That was a great spot. Hart sends him into the rail out there, as Curt Hennig and Barry Windham show up at ringside. They beat up Benoit as Bret distracts the referee, and Hart puts on the Sharpshooter, but Benoit is in the ropes. Bret refuses to break, however, and the referee disqualifies him at 18:29. Oh man, everything about that finish was bad. Afterwards, Dean Malenko runs out to make the save, but they’re outnumbered, leaving Benoit and Malenko to take another beat down. The match itself was good, though not as good as you’d expect for Bret Hart and Chris Benoit going near twenty minutes. ** ½
Nitro Girls
The Wolfpac are out so Hollywood Hogan can cut a promo on Ric Flair’s impending retirement, but Stevie Ray and Vincent start brawling in the background, in a funny bit
Konnan music video
Okerlund brings Ric Flair out, but instead of announcing his retirement, he just threatens a bunch of people
Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell v Bill Goldberg and Rick Steiner: Buff and Rick start, and Buff dominates a bit to start, but gets outfought by the veteran. Tags all around, and Goldberg does some power stuff, but Scott manages to hammer him in the neutral corner. Scott wastes time posing, allowing Goldberg to recover, and deliver a press-drop for two - complete with multiple pumps. That’s something. Tag to Rick to hammer, so Buff trips him up, and Scott delivers a suplex. Buff tags in to hammer him, and he works a chinlock. The heels work Rick over, but he fights Bagwell over, and Goldberg gets the hot tag. He runs wild, and Roseanne Barr the door, we’ve got a kettle on! The heels manage to double up on Goldberg, but Rick comes back to save, which feels backwards. Goldberg whips Bagwell into an exposed turnbuckle to set up a spear, but Scott prevents the jackhammer. Unfortunately for the heels, Rick dives off the top on Bagwell to score the pin anyway at 10:47. ½*
BUExperience: RAW did a bigger rating, but this was a better show. Sadly it wasn’t a good show though, as most of the hyped angles were all kind of letdowns.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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