WCW Monday Nitro - October 16, 1995
by Scrooge McSuck
- Last week on Monday Nitro, Hulk Hogan introduced us to the Dark Side of Hulkamania, Arn Anderson pinned Ric Flair under nefarious actions in a horribly rushed Cage Match, Road Warrior Hawk punked out Disco Inferno for liking Disco Music, Sting crushed the Shark (from Tsunami!) in under 90-seconds, and Sting the Peacemaker's idea of squashing beefs is for Savage and Luger to have another heated match at Halloween Havoc, but ONLY if they get past their respective opponents, Kamala and Meng.
- Over on Monday Night Raw, the WWF presented their own Cage Match to determine a #1 Contender between Bret Hart and the EVIL Dentist, Isaac Yankem. It was so-so, and very long, from what I remember. Elsewhere on the telecast, the Smoking Gunns successfully defended the Tag Team Titles against PG-13, Hunter Hearst Helmsley easily dispatched Doink (the Clown), and we found out that this past weekend, Shawn Michaels was viciously attacked by a group of Marines (allegedly) and his appearance at IYH is in doubt (not really: he was fucked up to the point it was well known he wouldn't be appear to wrestle).
- We're LIVE with Eric Bischoff, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and Steve "Mongo" McMichael on commentary, unless otherwise noted. They hype tonight's Main featuring Flair and STING taking on Double A and Flyin' Brian. Heenan immediately spouts false information about Sting and Flair not teaming up since 1990. They teamed up quite a few times on various TV shows from the Fall of 1993 through Spring of 1994, but I guess saying "1990" is more impressive than "last year."
WCW Television Championship Match:
Diamond Dallas Page © (w/ Diamond Doll) vs. Johnny B. Badd:
If you'll recall, Johnny B. Badd won a match at Fall Brawl to earn a U.S. Title shot on WCW Saturday Night. Badd ended up no showing, and was replaced by Brian Pillman. Badd appeared by the end of the show, claiming a flat tire, but then DDP and his hired muscle, the cleverly named Maxx Muscle, slipped up about him having "four" flat tires, and Badd didn't need any more information to know who was behind it (honestly, it made little sense, but it's something for them to do). Badd steals from the pages of Leapin' Lanny, tossing a frisbee into the crowd. DDP must've never been lucky enough to catch one back in the day (when he was... 25?), and attacks from behind, KO'ing Badd with the TV Championship Belt, so the match never officially happens. The Diamond Doll looks on disapprovingly as DDP runs around like a jerk with the Badd Blaster and counts his own pinfall.
Chris Benoit vs. Eddy Guerrero:
Benoit's official debut (more like return) in WCW, after spending some time in ECW over the last year getting over his Crippler gimmick thanks to accidentally breaking Sabu's neck. I'm pretty sure this match was featured on the Chris Benoit DVD set that we're not allowed to remember exists. Lockup, and Benoit snaps Eddy over with an arm drag. Guerrero grabs a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Criss-cross leads to a series of counters and Eddy taking Benoit down with a knucklelock for a pair of near falls. Benoit with leverage to pull himself up and take Eddy over with a head scissors. Eddy returns the favor, sending Benoit to the floor, and follows with a swank cross body from the top rope. Back in the ring, they do a series of counters until taking a nasty spill over the top, to the floor. Eddy wraps his arm around the post on a charge. Benoit with a hammerlock/back suplex. Eddy takes a chest first bump to the corner and Benoit follows up with a dropkick. Benoit with a modified Northern Lights Suplex. Boot to the face, followed by a snap suplex. Irish whip, and he lays Eddy out with a hard forearm. Eddy counters a tilt-o-whirl with an arm drag and springs off the ropes with a Tornado DDT! Benoit counters a whip attempt and connects with a stiff short-arm clothesline. Eddy counters another back suplex with a weight shift, landing on top for barely a one count. Benoit remains in control, putting the boots to him. They exchange chops, won by Benoit. He lands a headbutt and plants Eddy with a scoop slam. He works the arm while we hype tonight's Main Event. Eddy comes back with a hurricanrana, but it only gets two. Eddy with a twisting back suplex, followed by a brain buster. He goes to the top rope, but the Frog Splash meets knees. Benoit calls for the end and connects with a VICIOUS Powerbomb... for two! Eddy counters a second attempt, but hurts his hand throwing a punch (the hand that hit the post earlier), and Benoit finishes with a Full Nelson Suplex at 8:39. ***1/2 Hard hitting offense with everything looking fantastic. They worked what felt like a Jr. Heavyweight, Japanese style match with lots of near falls coming off increasing more high impact offense. Nice to hear the poor commentary actually put the match over, for the most part.- Eric Bischoff talks about the possibility of there being a Cruiserweight Division being established in WCW. That couldn't be anything but an awful idea.
- "Mean" Gene Okerlund brings out the Taskmaster, Kevin Sullivan, and that big, nasty, stinky, Giant, to continue pushing the Main Event at Halloween Havoc: A clash of Monster Trucks at the top of Cobo Hall, followed by a World Championship Match. Kevin Sullivan gloats about shaving off Hogan's mustache and Hogan giving up on the red and yellow. Not the greatest promo in the world. Fairly flat. I love that the graphic hyping their match makes Hogan look to be bigger than the Giant. Egomania Running Wild!
- This Saturday Night at 6:05 on TBS, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan faces V.K. Wallstreet, The Disco Inferno faces Alex Wright, Randy Savage will be there, as well as Hulk Hogan, and a newcomer that doesn't even get his name mentioned, but it looks like Hugh Morrus, a.k.a Man of Mystery, or whatever goofy names he was given at the time.
- Disco Inferno's dance-off is interrupted by Meng's entrance. He wisely runs away.
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. Meng:
This couldn't possibly be worse than their negative-star anti-classic at Uncensored '95, just because of the law of averages. Meng attacks Duggan during his entrance, and it's a slugfest. Duggan with rights until Meng chops him in the throat, then chokes away. Whip to the corner, Meng misses a charge, then he misses an elbow drop. Duggan sends Meng to the corner and ducks under a blind body press. Duggan with rights, followed by a clothesline. He plants Meng with a slam, but it's no sold, and Meng lays him out with a crescent kick. Meng slaps on the Tongan Death Grip, and it's all over at 1:52. 1/4* Quick and harmless, the best you could've hoped for.- Hulk Hogan cuts a promo dressed in black gear, including a black neck brace. He's going to take out the Giant at Halloween Havoc.
Ric Flair & Sting vs. Arn Anderson & Flyin' Brian:
We've got a decent amount of time left, so maybe this will get a chance to shine. This is the third week in a row featuring some form of Flair vs. Anderson, and people complain today about running the same matches every week. Randy Anderson calls for the bell, and it looks like Ric Flair is going it alone. He trades blows with Pillman to kick things off. Flair gets caught in the wrong corner, but fights his way out. Did Flair do anything to turn face since Fall Brawl, or does the crowd love him that much? Flair gets thrown to the floor, but he lays Arn out with a chop and throws Pillman off the apron and onto the security rail. "We Want Sting" chant as Arn tags in for the first time. Flair blocks a knee lift, sweeps the legs and slaps on the Figure-Four. Pillman tries to splash him, but Flair rolls out of the way, and now it's Pillman's turn to feel the Figure-Four. Whip to the corner, Flair lands on the apron and chops Pillman down. He heads to the top and connects with the double axehandle. Whip is reversed, Pillman kicks Flair from behind, and Arn plants him with the Spinebuster. Sting finally shows up, and the crowd goes wild! Flair plays face-in-peril for a couple of minutes, and Sting gets the hot tag to end all hot tags. He unloads on everyone with rights. He presses Pillman in the air and drops Double A with a bulldog. Stinger Splash to Arn! Stinger Splash to Pillman! Stinger Splash to Arn! Stinger Splash to Pillman! He fights off a double team attempt with clotheslines. Atomic drop and a clothesline sends Arn to the floor, and Pillman crotches himself getting slammed off the top rope! Both are laid out on the floor and take the Count-Out loss at 7:03. ***1/4 That was an incredibly hot 7-minutes of wrestling, between Flair fighting like a Champion with his back against the wall against two elite opponents, and Sting's hot tag and cleaning house like a man possessed. The finish was cheap, but necessary to build towards Halloween Havoc.- Post-Match, Sting explains why he took his time coming to ringside, waiting to see if Ric Flair had the heart and passion that could convince him that everything was on the level and that he's a changed man. At Halloween Havoc, it will be Sting and Ric Flair teaming up, this time as the real deal, to take on Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman.
Final Thoughts: It's hard to say anything but Nitro was a much better show compared to what Monday Night Raw offered. You have a near 4-star match between Benoit and Guerrero, and a hot, 3-star effort in the Main Event involving Flair, Sting, Anderson, and Brian Pillman. Yeah, DDP/Badd was a waste of time to advertise as a match happening, and we didn't need 3-seconds worth of Meng/Duggan, let alone 2-minutes, but the negatives are absolutely insignificant compared to the positives. This is definitely an episode worth checking out if you have a half hour or so to spare and want to jump around to the two matches highlighted.
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