This Week In The WCW
This Week In The WCW
WCW Monday Night Nitro - Monday, 02/17/97
- The nWo showed up via limo. All of a sudden, there was commotion and "Big" Bubba Rogers was out on the ground. Someone had attacked him from behind.
- Ray Misterio, Jr pinned Super Calo with a hurricarana.
- Misterio was really over with the crowd.
- It was announced that due to the car accident, the Steiners would not be at Superbrawl VII and that Hall and Nash were involved in the car accident. The Superbrawl VII four corners match would now be a triangle match and, since the Steiners would not be involved, would no longer determine who was number one.
- Bubba Rogers was taken away in an ambulance. As for what happened, Zbyszko commented, "Obviously, he didn't slip on a banana peel".
- Steve "Mongo" McMichael pinned "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus when Morrus bonked his head on the metal suitcase on a moonsault as Mongo was lying on the mat holding it. It had been handed to him by Debra.
- "The Man of 1,000 Holds" Dean Malenko made Robbie Brookside submit with the Texas Cloverleaf.
- Brookside looked like a grunge dude but was actually a really good worker. He either has some amateur background or went to some serious training.
- After the match, Syxx came out and told Malenko, "I got your respect and attitude right here!" The camera did not catch Syxx grabbing his crotch.
- Hall, Nash, & Syxx came to the announcers' booth and gave the announcers a tape that they said would prove their innocence in the car accident. Zbyszko and Hall had words and almost went to the ring to mix it up.
- Public Enemy def. The Amazing French-Canadians when Rocco Rock pinned Carl Ouellette after Rock put Ouellette through a table.
- Harlem Heat, Sister Sherri and the Faces of Fear (without shirts) were in the crowd.
- Just to be clear, I mean the Faces of Fear weren't wearing shirts. Thankfully, Sherri was.
- Okerlund interviewed "Diamond" Dallas Page and accused him of the attack on Bubba as Page is scheduled to wrestle Bubba at Superbrawl VII. Page denied it. Page said the only reason he was at the arena tonight was to see "Pee Wee Herman" wrestle.
- , Prince Iaukea pinned "Lord" Steven Regal to become the new WCW World Television Champion.
- Misterio came to ringside and was distracting Regal when Iaukea rolled Regal up for the pin.
- After the match, Public Enemy and Eddie Guerrero came out and congratulated Iaukea.
- Out of some ten matches I've seen Iaukea in, this is only the second one I've ever seen him win. This won't last long. I have NO idea where this angle is going. The only theory I have is that The Prince is getting a push because he is the son of King Curtis Iaukea.
- If they wanted to give it to someone as a good way to get it from Regal to Misterio believably, Disco Inferno would have been a MUCH better choice. He is so over with the crowds it would have been great to see him win a big one.
- Something's up here as they've been promoting the "no time limit" title match with Misterio and Regal at Superbrawl. This had to be a last minute decision. Mike of Mike-B's Pro Wrestling Page theorizes it's twofold. One is to find a plausible way to gt the belt from Regal to Misterio. The last match they worked looked ridiculously unbelievable as Misterio was so tiny in comparison. Also, WCW may be doing it to make fun of the WWF giving the IC Title to a rookie legacy, Rocky Maivia, who hasn't paid his dues but is the son of a great wrestler ("Soulman" Rocky Johnson).
- An announcement was made later in the broadcast that the famed "executive committee" had decided that Iaukea would face Misterio at Supebrawl VII for the TV Title.
- Before the match, Regal said Misterio should go home to the other six dwarfs.
- Randy "Pee Wee" Anderson pinned Nick Patrick in a five-second match after Anderson nailed him with a loaded fist.
- In the pre-match "international object" check, referee Jimmy Jett handed Randy Anderson the foreign object.
- After the match, Bischoff came out and re-fired Randy Anderson and fired Jimmy Jett. This seems to all be a set up for Ted Turner to come out and fire Eric Bischoff live at Superbrawl VII. Supposedly, Bischoff is legitimately uncomfortable in his role as a heel and doesn't like getting hit on the head with stuff while going to the ring. Supposedly, Turner will "fire" him and Bischoff will go back to a behind-the-scenes role. If this happens, it will be interesting to see if Bischoff's name is still in the credits as executive producer.
- "Crippler" Chris Benoit pinned Road Block after a flying headbutt.
- George Steinbrenner was in the crowd.
- The tape of the car accident was shown. Syxx had a video camera in the back seat. Basically, Hall, Nash (the driver), and Syxx saw The Steiner Brothers coming out of a convenience store. They followed the Steiners' car and eventually ran it off the road such that it flipped over. Right between the time you see Rick yelling out the car window and the scene of the car flipping, the film jumps a little bit. However, all things considered, they did a decent job of making it look real.
- You got some clear shots of Rick Steiner during the tape but no real clear shots of Scott.
- One of three things is going on here, I think.
- One, the Steiners were legitimately pissed about being stripped of the titles. The decision wasn't made until right before air time supposedly that it was going to happen. Scott may have walked off and this is WCW's way of explaining the Steiner's "disappearance" especially since all the smart marks are expecting The Steiners to join Sting's Army. That fact that it may not have really been Scott in the video lends weight to this.
- Oh, boy! Without the Steiners in the army, maybe there will be run for "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan! [sarcasm]
- Two, this is a real longshot, but the fact that Nash was distributing the video might mean the nWo will admit the accident was staged to throw everyone off the scent that the Steiners are really nWo. Like I said, a real longshot.
- Brad P. wrote in with the theory that really holds water. Have you noticed that none of Sting's Army are wrestling at Superbrawl? Think about it, Sting, Savage, and Duggan (if he is in the army) weren't scheduled. The Steiners are "injured". Dallas Page's match is called off due to Bubba's injury. Luger is out with his injured hand. The Giant is still wrestling but the latest his him not being part of the army. He'll still be a lone wolf. Coincidence? Brad thinks not. And neither do I.
- Even the announcers pointed out the whole thing is odd in that why would Nash offer up a videotape that shows him committing a serious crime?
- Hall must be the "member of the nWo that might be arrested" they were talking about on the hotline.
- Although the footage was, of course, doctored, it is a somewhat disturbing angle.
- Kevin Sullivan pinned Doc Dean after the Tree of Woe and a Reverse Heimlich.
- In the pre-match interview, Jacqueline said, "Nancy, you got a big fat butt!" This was her big line, which she forgot to say. After she was initially thought she was done with the interview, Mean Gene had to pull her back and ask, "Jacqueline, didn't you have something else to say?"
- Jacqueline cleaned Doc's clock outside the ring. She added a suplex to her repertoire tonight.
- Eddie Guerrero def. Konan via DQ when the Faces of Fear did a run-in. Guerrero retains the WCW U.S. Heavyweight championship.
- A run-in by the Faces of Fear is a REALLY lame screwjob ending. The FoF have nothing personal against Guerrero and have nothing to gain by putting him out since they don't fight as singles. Ironically, along with Arn Anderson and Brain Knobbs, they congratulated Eddie Guerrero when he got the U.S. Belt back at nWo Souled Out. [A reader (J.D.) wrote in to note that Konan and the Faces of Fear are all members of the Dungeon of Doom. This helps explain the run in.]
- Chris Jericho, who is fighting Eddie Guerrero at Superbrawl VII for the title, made the save.
- The Four Horsemen were interviewed. The interview was notable only for Benoit's inability to put a sentence together.
- The Giant pinned both Top Gun and Johnny Swinger after a pair of chokeslams in a 15-second match.
- The Giant spraypainted "Hall" on one of the jobbers and "Nash" on the other after the match.
- Luger showed up with a doctor's release but Bischoff said he was too late. Luger still can't wrestle at Superbrawl.
- I'm convinced the Luger injury is legit although, of course, it didn't happen during "the attack". Someone who went to a house show recently said they peeked backstage after Luger's match and he was hunched over as if in pain.
- Bischoff's "power mad" refusal to let Luger wrestle is more set up for his eventually firing, imho.
- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper was interviewed supposedly live from Alcatraz.
- Piper: "Not even Taz does Alcatraz"
- Piper made one VERY incorrect statement. He said, "Seven years with the artificial hip, not once did I complain, not once did I get beat". I saw Ric Flair pin Piper 10/19/91 in a WWF match in Maryland. Granted, Flair did use the ropes but it was a pinfall.
- "Lionheart" Chris Jericho pinned Jeff Jarrett after Steve "Mongo" McMichael nailed Jarrett with the metal suitcase when Jarrett had Jericho in the figure-four leglock.
- "Hollywood" (don't call him Hulk) Hogan came out and posed and jawed. Sting and Macho came out. Sting started to go to the ring but Macho held him back.
- Steve R. was live at Nitro and wrote in with his observations:
- There was a pre-TV match between Joe Gomez and some guy named something-Tron, or whatever. The dude looked like a Power-Ranger wannabe. Anyways, it was boring, and the crowd let the wrestlers know by chanting, "Boring! Boring!"
- The Steinbrenner Entertainment Hall was small. I must estimate around 4,000 people were there. There were no rafters, or places to come through the crowd, that's why you saw Macho and Sting come through the entrance area.
- The crowd was real happy (and real shocked) when Prince Iaukea won the Television strap. They really let Steven Regal have it.
- The Outsiders showed their faces before everything was getting started, but during the show, they were getting out the limo like they just got there.
- Everyone in that place hated Bischoff. People were really behind Randy Anderson. "Pee Wee" chants were heard, not to mention chants of "bulls#@t" towards Nick Patrick.
- Many people left before the Jericho/Jarrett match. It was THAT exciting. The announcer had to try to call some people back.
- On previous shows during the week, the commentators were saying that all you needed to get in the event was the general admission to the state fair, but when I got there, they were only allowing us with tickets...false advertsing?
- After the show was over, Hogan was going after Steinbrenner's family (it was a show). Doug Dillinger was holding him back.
- The ring announcer made an announcement that anyone throwing trash would be arrested.
- The nWo and WCW had their own individual souvenier stands.
- Like I said, the place was small, and not well designed to hold an event like that. It was very tough to see interviews. It wasn't like an arena which curves around. There were only 4 sides, no curves. The big screen in there was fuzzy, couldn't see much, like when Big Bubba got put in the ambulance, during interviews, or during the Steiner "accident".
- The Horseman interview was pretty cool, especially during Flair and Anderson (I loves when he told Pee-Wee that he had a hundred grand waiting around, and he was welcome to it, I think he means the candy bar). When Benoit was talking, it just dragged on WAY too long. Everyone in the crowd was standing during the interviews, but 3/4 of us sat down after Benoit kept rambling on and on. I found this to be a good time to look through the magazine I had bought at the concession stand.
WCW {Pro} Wrestling - Sunday, 02/16/97
- "Crippler" Chris Benoit made Billy Kidman submit with a chinlock on the mat.
- Kidman was really over with the crowd tonight.
- The broadcast team was still working the whole "Steiner car accident" angle. "All will be revealed" on Monday Nitro.
- High Voltage def. Eddie Jackie and Leroy Howard when Rage pinned Howard after a Voltmeter.
- High Voltage wrestled as heels in this match.
- La Parka pinned Juventud Guerrera following a corkscrew splash off the top rope.
- Ultimo Dragon pinned Steve Armstrong with a double chicken wing suplex into a bridge.
- Scott "Flash" Norton pinned Johnny Swinger following a shoulderbreaker.
- "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus pinned "The Man Who Will Take Hulkamania Into The 21st Century", The Renegade, following The Last Laugh.
- Chris Cruise actually mentioned that The Renegade is a former World Television Champion. That's the first time WCW has admitted that in a long time.
WCW Saturday Night - Saturday, 02/15/97
- The Steiner Brothers def. Bunkhouse Buck and "Mean" Mike Enos when Scott pinned Buck after a Steiner Bulldog.
- Bunkhouse Buck's big gimmick seems to be shoving the cameraman on the way to the ring.
- During the show they announced that the Steiner Brothers were in a car accident leaving the arena. At first I thought it was legit until they said they didn't have any details on injuries yet and they would have more on Sunday Pro or Monday Nitro.
Hmm, let's see. WCW Saturday Night is a taped show which means this accident would have really happened days ago. I truly hope I am correct in that it sounds like a work.
- Maxx made Chavo Guerrero, Jr. submit with a swinging neckbreaker.
- Roadblock pinned Sledgehammer following a powerslam.
- I think Sledgehammer used to be Tombstone. If so, I'm guessing there were some trademark infringement problems with the WWF's Undertaker's Tombstone (reverse piledriver) move.
- Super Calo pinned J.L. following a reverse splash.
- Dean Malenko was interviewed. It was notable in that he mentioned that Syxx (The Lightning Kid, 1-2-3 Kid, Sean Waltman) was trained for two years by Dean Malenko's late father.
- "Diamond" Dallas Page pinned Devon Storm (the guy in The Extreme who wears purple) following a Diamond Cutter off the bottom rope.
- "Crippler" Chris Benoit made Billy Pearl submit with a forward chinlock on the mat.
- Harlem Heat def. High Voltage when Booker T. pinned Kaos following a Harlem Side Kick.
- Jeff Jarrett made Villano 4 submit with a figure-four leglock.
- "The Laughing Man" pinned Prince Iaukea following The Last Laugh.
- At one point, Morrus clotheslined Iaukea in the corner and his big, sweaty fist smacked the camera lens. It left a big hand-shaped smudge.
- Eddie Guerrero def. Konan via DQ when Jimmy Hart interfered on Konan's behalf after accidentally clocking Konan with the megaphone.
- Dusty was very politically incorrect when he mocked Konan's accent by doing a Ricky Ricardo impression saying, "Lucy, I'm home!"