WCW Monday Nitro - Monday, 01/05/98

• This is our first Nitro report. Don't worry, Bill will be doing the Thursday Thunder reports from now on. One of our trademarks is our wrestling vittles section. It is definitely a must to get the appropriate vittles to watch wrestling. This week we ate Hershey's Nuggets in honor of the RAW when Shawn Michaels referred to Owen Hart as "that stinky stanky nugget you can't seem to get rid of."
• We got a response to our question, "Why are there two r's in Starrcade?" Mike Tyler informed us that when Starrcade was created in 1983, Starcade was a popular game show that centered around the knowledge of video games and one's ability in them. There is a Starcade site at http://www.cs.umi.edu/~nbarbaga/starcade.html.
• The ending of the big Starrcade match is still the talk of the wrestling world. Regardless of how many times WCW announcers claim the count was fast, it was not. On RSPW, biggieo@aol.com clocked the pin at 3.21 seconds. Tape replays clearly show that Patrick even had a snap with his elbow to insure accuracy. Most claim that WCW is using the wrong angle for the screwjob as Sting's right shoulder was up when Patrick's hand hit the mat a third time. Also, it has been claimed Hogan clearly had a handful of tights.
• The booking of the match was illogical from many standpoints as they played up for an entire year and then he was pinned by a simple legdrop. Bret Hart came out way too quickly. Carl Lewis could not have seen the ending of the match and then gotten to the ring in time to play his role. Still, they copied the ending of the Bret-Shawn match as they intend to keep that in fans mind with Bret's interviews. Some claim Hogan never submitted to the hold. It worked perfectly again, as ratings were impeccable with a 4.65 rating. The pay-per-view effect and the absence of Monday Night Football created the rating but the uncertainty behind Hogan also could have generated some of the ratings.
• There was an incredible amount of speculation that Sting would be stripped of the championship heading into the following Nitro given WCW's past record with title changes. Others figured that Piper beat Hogan numerous times in matches that were billed as championship matches that were later revealed to be nontitle bouts.
• The ending of Nitro annoyed many. The previous week, WCW went three hours and the only show they would have gone into was their own replay. WWF supporters who claim they would have never done this can recall the November 10th Shamrock-Helmsley match which was done the same way. The footage of the ending of this match will be shown on the first edition of Thursday Thunder to drum up ratings.
• Nick Patrick's role in the match astounds us. How could he not count fast? Why have they not disciplined him at all? He was involved in the ending of last night's Monday Nitro. He also refereed two matches at WCW Saturday Night this past weekend (Chris Jericho-Evan Courageous and Disco Inferno-Brad Armstrong).
  • Incidentally, it has been widely reported that WCW wanted Earl Hebner to referee the match, but last second efforts fell through.
• We made a few minor errors in our Starrcade report:
  • Reader mwunder@execpc.com relates that Reggie White actually lost to Steve McMichael. He is completely correct. White lost when Jarrett threw Mongo's haliburton to McMichael for the win. We had reported that McMichael lost to all three pro football players Reggie White (Slamboree-5/18), Kevin Greene (6/15-Great American Bash), and Bill Goldberg (12/28-Starrcade). It is still remarkable that WCW would put inexperienced talent like this together on high profile pay-per-view matches. They all occurred within a seven-month span. When Mongo and Greene debuted, that went against Arn Anderson and Ric Flair. Reggie White debuted against McMichael. At 6:01, the Mongo-Goldberg match was by far the shortest on the card. It is amazing with so much inexperience that no one was seriously injured. If Bruce Smith decides to enter WCW, I hope Mongo doesn't have to take one of his treacherous elbow drops.
  • Some have claimed that there was white tape on the table did anybody else see it?
  • Also, Ray Gracek tells us that Glacier's blue contact was in while he was in the stands and that the lighting was just bad. It is logical sense the Mexicans wore their masks, why not have Glacier put in the contact.
• One final thing about Starrcade that intrigued us was Sting's Spanish outburst at the end of the program. Nuke's Wrestling News reports he said, "I love you mom" Others have said that he just thought it would be a good joke with the cameras off to ramble in Spanish while standing next to the Luchadores. Some claim that his wife is Spanish but Sting's Death Drop (http://members.aol.com/NEWSTINGER/STING.html) lists his wife's name as Holly so we doubt this to be true. Others say his California heritage led to his knowledge of Spanish. If anyone knows for sure, e-mail us. This led us to our trivia: The Nitro after last year's Starrcade, which WCW superstar mumbled something in a language other than English.
• In response to our last contest, we received two similar e-mails for the worst feud of all- time. ladue@earthlink.net and bubba@gisco.net both responded that the bobby Heenan feud that culminated in a match where Terry "Red Rooster" Taylor beat Steve "Brooklyn Brawler" Lombardi at WrestleMania V was the worst feud of all time. We couldn't agree more.
• This week in researching the career of Rick Martel, we learned he and Tony Garea defeated the Samoans with a sunset flip. What is the worst finishing maneuver of all time?

• The show started with the nWo entering the Georgia Dome in separate limos. Hogan, Konan and Vincent got out of the first limo. Rude, Hall, Savage, Bischoff, Hennig, and Liz were in the other limo. We are uncertain which limo Big Kev got out of. E-mail us if you are sure.
• Then J.J. Dillon did an interview with Scheme Gene about the current court order restricting the viewing of the Hogan-Sting finish until Thursday Thunder debuts. Its amazing the coincidence of that timing isn't it? He also made the Thursday Thunder show official.
• How would you like J.J. negotiating for you? Just to see an enemy in a match, he bargained the company's main source of income (Nitro) in a match. Then his big bargaining chip was to allow submissions in a match. How many wrestling matches have you seen lately where submissions weren't legal? Then, to decide who would be given the opportunity to referee the "match of a century," he drew a name from a hat.
• Some have claimed that Thunder will be more watered down that Nitro. Last week Glacier-Golberg (1:01), Benoit-Hammer (1:30), Ultimo Dragon-Eddy Guerrero (1:26), Page- Mortis (3:50), Booker-Disco (6:54), Hennig-Jericho (3:31), Luger-Bagwell (3:01), and Sting- Hogan (5:44) took a combined 26 minutes, 57 seconds. The show lasted more than two hours! Credit: Times were provided by G.P. Ryan on RSPW. We are uncertain of their accuracy, but the point is well taken.
• Scott Hall came out and took his survey. That may not sound interesting. But he did not wrestle. He was not interviewed. He just came out and took his survey. We had never seen that before.
• Diamond Dallas Page defeated Chris Jericho with a Diamond Cutter. BANG!
  • After last week's loss to Curt Hennig, Jericho screamed "I'm sick of this. I've had enough!" He then proceeded to beat a chair into the ringpost. That's the only thing he has beaten on Nitro since November 10th when he beat the Disco Inferno. Many claim that WCW is punishing him for a remarkably candid Prodigy chat that he had. As if there was any doubt, it is definitely a work as they re-played the footage on WCW Saturday Night. It is widely known that Jericho wants to work as a heel.
  • Chris Jericho tried to work the fans this week on his official web site (http://www.ChrisJericho.com). On his actions on last week's Nitro he says in the "Commentary" section, "Let me finish by apologizing to you for my actions on Nitro last week. It wasn't the real me and I just suffered a momentary lapse of reason. My actions were heat of the moment and I don't expect to behave like that again. Sorry!"
  • Our theory is that WCW is attempting to create the next Brian "F'n" Pillman when and if Bret Hart creates a Canadian faction in WCW. Chris Benoit is apparently headed to a re- formed Horseman group after last week's Nitro. The Calgary Sun confirmed on December 29th that the British Bulldog has indeed left the WWF in an article entitled, "British Bulldog Bolts from WWF (http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestling/dec29_bulldog.html). Bret Hart then revealed he most definitely will join WCW in his column on Saturday (http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestling.hitman_home.html). Jim Neidhart was backstage at both Nitro and Starrcade. All signs indicate a future Canadian faction in WCW. In early 1998 there are no Canadian dates set yet.
  • Speaking of Neidhart, he appeared on a CAWF show on December 30th. He teamed with Teddy "A" Hart to defeat Steve Wilde and Biff Wellington in the main event. Wellington was a longtime tag team partner of Chris Benoit.
  • We will now call Jericho the co-chairman of WCW as he came to the ring with a chair and suit a la La Parka. Ironically, those two have been paired in many Internet rumors as being dissatisfied with their current status.
  • Jericho got on the mic and apologized profusely for his antics last week. He then gave Dave Penzer the jacket and chair to replace the ones he destroyed last week. It was obvious that he was being insincere and playing the heel. Tony Schiavone replied, "that's good to hear." Tony is a LOOOOOOOOOSER!
  • DDP then arrived and kissed Kim. Prediction: short match because we know what he has to look forward to after his match.
  • Jericho played the heel as he pulled DDP's hair and then attacked when pretending to shake hands.
  • One minute fifty seconds into the match, DDP hit the Diamond Cutter.
  • Jericho went nuts again after the match, to which the Living Legend replied, "He's not apologizing to everyone again is he?"
• Gene then did an interview with WCW Executive Vice President Nick Lambrose. Bischoff's is now supposedly president of WCW in real life. He read part a piece of paper claiming that all WCW wrestlers would be fined and suspended for violating any WCW policies. They didn't do that before? This guy must be really close with J.J. Dillon.
• Bill Goldberg defeated Stevie Ray with a jackhammer.
  • Phil Schneider (pschneid@american.edu), who was in attendance at Starrcade, speculates that Booker's match with Disco was not the only Harlem Hangover on Monday. After the 6-man tag team match at Starrcade, Stevie Ray shoved Randy Savage and then screamed at Ray Traylor and pulled his shirt. He also through a soda at Scott Norton after he interfered in the Curt Hennig-DDP match. We forgive him. We had to endure Vincent wrestling as well. Besides, the purple velvet shirt he was wearing made his presence worthwhile.
  • Billy Silverman caused the ending as Stevie Ray was admonishing Silverman and Goldberg attacked him. 3:54. An epic match for Goldberg.
  • Also, Silverman was involved in an IRC chat. He is a twelve-year veteran and was previously employed by the World Wrestling Federation.
• Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and others will be on WCW Saturday Night this weekend.
• The Nitro Girls made their first appearance. There were six. Tayo, the African-American, was not there. Frye was the new one. In the opening sequence, she was on the left with a blue top.
• John Nord then defeated the Barbarian with a version of the camel clutch.
  • Nord wore all white. His shirt said: "If you don't like me (look at the back)" and on the back it said "There is something wrong with you." There is something wrong with us.
  • He also wore white tassles on his boots, a la Kerry von Erich. We have heard Kerry wore the boots to hide his missing foot. What's Nord's excuse?
  • This is Nord's Nitro debut, although he and Barry Darsow defeated Disorderly Conduct on WCW Saturday Night when Nord made DC submit.
  • Nord is a veteran. He wrestled as Nord the Barbarian and "Yukon" John Nord in the AWA (where his tag team partner in The Lumberjacks was Scott "Flapjack" Norton. He had unimpressive stints in the WWF as the Viking and the Berzerker.
  • This is a match made for {Pro}. These two have made careers out of acting like mindless idiots.
  • Nord had a nice spot where he plunged to the outside. He is a large man and this was somewhat impressive.
  • A trimmed down Scott Dickinson reffed the match. Either Dickinson lost weight or he is wearing a girdle.
  • Nord is a lot like Hogan. That was not a compliment.
  • Jimmy Hart took one of the biggest bumps of the match.
  • Dickinson had to show Nord repeatedly what camera to talk into after the match. It has been that long since Nord won a big time match.
• Gene was in the ring to interview Eric Bischoff. Three straight interviews about the court injunction. This is quality entertainment.
  • Did Bischoff successfully use the phrase "Ga Ga?" Can you successfully use the phrase "Ga Ga?"
  • Bischoff needs to learn how to wear a hat backwards. The hat should not start at the hairline. We feel this is his attempt to show Jim Cornette that he does not spend all of his time around Hall and Nash because if he did, he could wear a hat properly. Just for the record, we don't really feel this way, we just wanted to say that.
  • Larry teases that he wants to fight Easy E again. If it means getting a wet one from the Nitro Girls, we'll fight him, too.
• Juventud Guerrera defeated Psicosis to become the #1 contender for the cruiserweight championship and earn a match with Ultimo Dragon on this Thursday Night's Thunder.
  • Mark Madden stated in his Hotline report that the cruiserweight championship would change 5-6 times in preparation for the cruiserweight tournament. This is news. The cruiserweight tile has changed hands in every month since June!
  • The reason WCW made such a big deal about Ultimo Dragon's match against Shinjiro Otani was because Great Sasuke was originally booked in the bout for the annual Tokyo Egg Dome Spectacular. Eric Bischoff used his political pull to get him removed due to his past connections with the WWF and ECW.
  • The rest of the Mexican group is being punished for Konan's actions, which we will discuss later. Juventud Guerrera appears to be the first in line to lose his mask as Bischoff is determined to unmask the Mexicans. On WCW Saturday Night Mortis defeated Juventud in what will be his new angle: to prove that he is the best masked wrestler in WCW. We are not sure if this will even get mentioned on Nitro or pay-per-view but the plan right now is for this feud to culminate in a mask vs. mask match which Juventud will lose. Dusty added a great deal to Juventud's credibility as several minutes into the match, he asked Schiavone, "Is this Juventud?" Dusty then alienated the size differential by claiming that Juventud would have to rely on quickness because he was outweighed by about "300 pounds." We are glad to see Mortis given an angle but not at Juvi's expense. By the way, Juvi is spelled J-U-V-I because on his tights it is spelled that way as it says Air Juvi.
  • Psicosis is not doing any better. He has not won on Nitro since he beat Super Calo on the June 30th Nitro from Las Vegas.
  • This is for the number 1 contender? What about Dean Malenko? Eddie Guerrero? Rey Mysterio, Jr.? In fact, Rey beat Juvi on the December 1st Nitro.
  • Speaking of Dean, Dean Malenko's daughter Larissa was born on Christmas day. He was not expected to be at Starrcade, but the card was changed so much anyway they did not want to alter it anymore, so they chartered a private flight just for him. Rey Mysterio, Jr. would have substituted.
  • After Guerrero and Malenko warmed up the crowd in the first match on Starrcade, WCW killed the heat by having Scott Hall announce that one of the main events was canceled. Then they had the horrendous six-man tag team match that has been described as five stiffs and Savage. They should have saved Dean and Eddie for later in the program.
  • In a side note, Mike Tenay said in their match that Dean and Eddie are longtime tag team partners and rivals. To our knowledge the only time they have ever teamed in WCW was on the November 3rd Nitro when they defeated the odd pairing of Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Lord Steven Regal. Sorry. We just like proving the "Professor" wrong. This is still better than Dusty Rhodes' claim on WCW Saturday Night that Barry Darsow and John Nord are longtime tag team partners.
  • They showed Chief Jay Strongbow in the stands.
  • They also showed highlights of Ultimo's win over Guerrero last week. Both this match and the taped match were in Mr. Robinson's neighborhood. Maybe Charles is the official referee of the cruiserweights.
  • It's hard to call this match. I guess that's why the announcers didn't try.
  • Juvi hit Psicosis with a dropkick to the chest. Psicosis sold his hamstring so he may have actually hurt it or he just want to limp to get the sympathy of women at the hotel.
  • Juvi hit a DDT and then a 450 Splash for the win.
• They then showed footage of the April 7th confrontation between Hogan and Nash. And you thought they wouldn't go anywhere with that angle? Eight months later... We just hope they bring back the human lawn dart footage soon. It was interesting to see V.K. Wallstreet.
• The Nitro Girls came out. As would be the case the rest of the night, there were only five. No, not nipples, there were ten of those undercover. There were only five girls. As long as Spice is there, it's all good from Diego to the Bay.
• Gene Okerlund then interviewed Booker T who then retained his championship over Prince Iaukea with a Harlem Hangover..
  • Booker was wearing white while Stevie wore red. Also, Booker has dropped the singlets and is now in just tights.
  • Booker won the TV championship for his son Brandon's birthday.
  • He closed by saying, "We gonna burn this sucka up? Can you dig it sucka?" It is nice to be called a sucka after viewing the Nitro Girls...
  • They showed highlights of the Disco-Booker match.
  • Bobby claimed that he felt it was Booker's first single's championship match when he defeated Disco. Booker actually wrestled Curt Hennig for the U.S. championship on the December 15th Nitro.
  • During his match with the Disco Inferno, Mike Tenay claimed that Booker received the match for the impressive winning streak he is on in the singles division. While we are not claiming that Booker is undeserved of a championship, the only Nitro wins he has claimed since October 6th are over Meng (November 24th ) and Jeff Jarrett (October 6th). In fact, he lost his last Nitro single's match to Randy Savage (December 15th). Sorry. We just like contradicting the "Professor."
  • Terry Taylor called Booker the Booker T-V champion on his Hotline report on Tuesday. Its hard to believe a man that clever once agreed to become the Red Rooster.
  • Booker T. recently did an interesting interview with GamePro (http://www.gamepro.com/exclusives/exclusives77.html). While the interview focused on his affinity for video games and his participation in creating the latest WCW game, he did endorse the cruiserweight division saying, "the smaller wrestlers are so much more entertaining to watch than the big guys." On the direction of his own career he noted, "I can't say exactly where it's heading, but I do know that I want to get into singles wrestling in the future." He also speculated on winning the television championship. The interview was done before last week's Nitro.
  • In some Harlem Heat news, they defeated High Voltage in the opening match in Columbia, SC on Saturday and in the third match last night in the Columbus (GA) Civic Center. Voltage recently returned from a successful tour of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Losing in the opening matches does not bode well from what many suspected would be a push when Voltage returned to the States. DDT Digest readers know that Cubs Fan has recently covered the career of High Voltage in his World Wide column.
  • Iaukea was recently selected Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year largely due to his reign as WCW's television championship reign (2/17-4/7).
  • After giving a complete face interview, Booker slapped Iaukea's hand away when he offered a handshake.
  • As they were closing for commercial, you could hear Bobby sarcastically say, "You're good, Schiavone."
• The Steiner Brothers and Ray Traylor defeated Konan, Scott Norton, and Buff Bagwell with Vincent. Konan did the job.
  • Within two weeks of Starrcade they have had virtually three identical matches to the ones that were on the pay-per-view. This was the match that was originally scheduled for Starrcade except Norton replaced Vincent.
  • Konan supposedly missed his match at Starrcade due to a family emergency. We were right in our assessment that WCW is not using him for anything right now. He has not won on Nitro since he defeated Psicosis on the 100th episode of Nitro (7/28/97). There have been 23 Nitros since then. Eric Bischoff is upset with him because of his arrangement with the WWF. His ire has grown recently with the signing of Aguila.
  • Our e-mail of the week was from Mike Gothreaux. He wrote in response to our noting that Vincent wears Guess jeans. He had good seats at a WCW house show recently and noted that the boots were Tommy Hilfiger. He is styling. Its a good thing because he can't wrestle.
  • We missed two Vincent milestones. It was the first time since he entered WCW that he appeared on two consecutive WCW pay-per-views. I was happy for him. It was also his first pay-per-view win since WrestleMania VIII when he teamed with ironically Big Boss Man, Sgt. Slaughter and Hacksaw Duggan to defeat the Nasty Boys, Repo Man and the Mountie (4/5/92). Ray Traylor just assists in all of Vincent's wins. That about says it all about Ray Traylor.
  • I still want to see Vincent say, "Can't we all just get along!"
  • Deli Boy of the WCW hotline is reporting the Steiners may turn heel. This is the first time that the team has been heel. Rick Steiner's first push came as a member of Eddie Gilbert's stable and then Kevin Sullivan's Varsity club in heel roles. Does anyone remember Scott having been a heel?
  • You know it has been a bad year for managers when Ted DiBiase is Pro Wrestling Illustrated's third runner up for Manager of the Year.
  • Super Sato is the WCW women's cruiserwight champion. If WCW can pretend someone cares about Ray Traylor, we can pretend somebody cares about WCW women's division.
  • It appears Buff's push may be over for the moment. He lost to Luger last week on Nitro. He lost to Ray Traylor on Saturday Night and Diamond Dallas Page last night. Ray Traylor?
  • Hopefully, Buff's luck will turn around by the time his birthday comes. Our favorite pretty boy redneck turns 28 on Saturday.
  • Buff said some interesting lines into the camera such as, "This is my hometown, this ain't Michigan." The announcers later revealed that Ray and the Steiners all live in the Atlanta suburbs. It would have been better if they had said that when buff made his comment.
  • Scott Steiner was not in a good mood. In addition to giving Bagwell the international symbol for "up yours", once again, live and in your living room, Scott Steiner later said "F*** you!". We purposely watched the replay to see if they'd take it out and, sure enough, they muffled it out on the replay. If nWo Souled Out was any indication, the Steiners may get stripped of their belts for that transgression. At Souled Out, he did the same thing, albeit a little more obviously, and the Steiners were stripped the next day. And that F'in incident wasn't on free public TV like this one.
  • Bobby also had a good one-liner about Bischoff buying a convertible and asking for more head room. Bobby also said that ten years ago that wrestlers claimed if Scott Hall beat Larry Zbyszko one more time he would own him. He remembers this, yet forgets three weeks ago when Booker wrestled Hennig. Go figure.
  • They teased dissension between the brothers as Scott finished Konan off with his Screwdriver as opposed to the bulldog. The brothers walked out on WCW years ago when they attempted to break up the team so it is hard for us to believe they would do it now.
• The Nitro Girls came out and danced with two kids from the stands. Charlie is willing to bet that one of the children is Randy Anderson's son from the segment where Randy was fired and brought his family out to plead for his job back.
• They showed clips of a Nitro Party. We won't go there. It looks like we traded This Week in WCW Motor Sports for clips of Nitro Parties. I guess its fair. Charlie, using his time wisely as always decided to apply moves to a Hulk Hogan wrestling buddy during this segment. Surprisingly, I even found that more entertaining that the damn Nitro party.
• Rick Martel then debuted against Brad Armstrong. He won with the Quebec Crab.
  • Booker T. won the television championship in a match that was slated to be the debut of Rick Martel. Even WCW's Official Website's Nitro Report (http://wcwwrestling.com/news/Nitro/971230n/) acknowledge that the match was originally slated for Martel. Disco revealed that on an Internet audio show prior to Nitro. Evidently, Martel forgot his ring gear and the match was given to Booker T. Martel was signed by WCW many months ago and his debut has been postponed. Many have speculated that he will make his debut this Thursday.
  • For those unfamiliar with Martel, he has quite an accomplished past. He is a former world champion as he held the American Wrestling Association championship for over a year (5/13/84-12/29/85) and gained a great deal of notoriety by participating in one of the last unification matches as he went to a double countout with NWA champion Ric Flair in Tokyo, Japan (10/2/85). He also held the WWF tag team championship with Tony Garea twice (11/8/80- 3/17/81, 7/21/81-10/13/81) and Tito Santana (10/27/87-3/27/88).
  • He was last scene as a mainstream contender as the finalist for the WWF Intercontinental championship. He lost to Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) in New Haven, CT (9/27/93) and has not been a championship contender since. Joe Petrow (joepet@server.berkeley.edu) noted on RSPW recently that this was one of the fastest pushes/de-pushes of all time. Martel debuted on Monday Night Raw and went to a double countout with the then-undefeated Tatanka. Later in the evening, he was successful in a battle royal to determine the two finalists for the Intercontinental championship. He then lost to Ramon at the RAW tapings the next night and was never pushed again. He did help fill out the Royal Rumble roster in 1994 and 1995.
  • Martel was most recently scene pitching a tag team to both WCW and the WWF. His partner was Don Callis. Callis and Martel teamed in the Manitoba-based WFWA (West Four Wrestling Alliance) which was later re-named IWA (International Wrestling Alliance). Callis now wrestles and manages as the Jackal in the WWF. Neither promotion liked the idea of the tag team, but McMahon decided that he wanted the manager of the Truth Commission to be able to take bumps so he replaced the South African actor who had the part with Callis. Martel was signed by WCW to bolster the roster for the Thursday Thunder debut. Ironically, Callis was commentating opposite Martel's match as his Truth Commission faced D.O.A.
  • Incidentally, Martel's greatest IWA feud was with Bad News Brown (Allen Coage) who appears to be retiring soon during a tour of Japan.
  • Gene Okerlund reported on the WCW hotline that because he knows Martel well and he is definitely WCW. Martel has followed a similar career path as Okerlund. Both went from the AWA to the WWF to eventually WCW. Some have speculated that since Curt Hennig has often used Martel's tag line of "just too good to be true," during the past several months, a feud with the nWo's Hennig may be in Martel's future.
  • Lodi had a sign that said, "CHEETAH, GOOD, CLEAN, FUN." We're afraid to ask but we will anyway...What the heck?
  • The announcers responded that they were in Brad Armstrong's stomping grounds of Marietta, Georgia.
  • Bobby was ragging on Tony for not beating on a man when he was down. He said, "Did you ever kick a man when he's down? Mike get down." We wouldn't mind seeing that.
  • Rick was wearing some real shiny black attire. It didn't work for him.
  • Do the BA on Brad Armstrong's boots stand for "Bad Attitude?" Sorry. We mark for the A-Team.
  • Martel won with the Quebec Crab, which Mike Tenay astutely noted is similar to Chris Jericho's Lion Tamer. They both remind us of the Boston Crab...
• Saturn and Riggs defeated Chris Benoit and Mongo when Raven hit Benoit with a DDT giving Saturn the pin.
  • Terry Taylor assessed Raven's illness on Tuesday on the WCW Hotline: "Raven had pancreatis after years of not taking care of himself, and you have to in this business, and he didn't take care of himself in or out of the ring and he's in bad health. So he didn't wrestle last night..."
  • There was evidently incident where Billy Kidman was admonished for hitting a fan during one of the segments where Raven's Nest was sitting around the ring. Van Hammer ended the incident by intimidating the fan Kidman assaulted.
  • Lodi actually won a match! No, not a WCW match. Heaven forbid. Lodi won a match against The Grappler on December 12th for the Southern Wrestling Alliance. He also worked the corner of a wrestler called Toad who lost to Chilly Willy. Lodi is also booked for an appearance for All Star Wrestling on February 11th. The main event will be Mustafa vs. Rick Michaels.
  • WCW's allowing Lodi to work independent's clearly demonstrates his importance to the company. It has been 43 days since his debut at World War III and he has yet to show an offensive move other than a punch or a kick. He should be called The White Vincent.
  • In another note on Lodi's ring name, in addition to being Idol spelled backwards, it is also a pun for "loadie," which is a person who is always drunk or high. This also adds to the image of Raven's Nest. It would also explain his horrible repertoire and goggles that he wears.
  • Rumored to be the newest inductees into Raven's Job Squad are Debra McMichael, Glacier, and T-Rex. With Alex Wright injured, Debra's name has been mentioned in regard to many angles in WCW to get her back on camera. Speculation also has her joining Ric Flair again. Mark Madden had a column on the WCW website (http://www.wcwwrestling.com/) recently about Flair's need for a valet entitled "A New Valet For A New Flair" (http://wcwwrestling.com/news/madden/971222m/index.html).
  • T-Rex is Ron Reis who has already been the Yetti and Ron Studd. He played basketball at UC-Santa Barbara and was originally trained by the late John Studd and is about the same height as the Giant. In fact, he was slated to be the Giant before Paul Wight beat him for the role.
  • After losing to Goldberg in 61 seconds last week on Nitro, Glacier would be a nice fit for Raven's Flock.
  • Kidman smelled his armpits prior to the match. Judging from his hair, that is probably the most dangerous maneuver he has attempted in a long while.
  • Raven's crew walked to the ring like zombies. That must be in vogue in today's wrestling as Sting and the Undertaker both to it. It didn't seem to work as well for Scotty Riggs...
  • Lodi proudly displayed a "LODI RULZ" sign at ringside. Even the announcers crack on this guy. Tony even said, "Will someone slap Lodi?" Lodi vs. Schiavone? It could happen. Schiavone may be the only guy at WCW that Lodi could take. Schiavone outweighs him though.
  • In case we haven't mentioned it before, Raven is one ugly mug!
  • If Glacier does join Raven's Nest, he and Scotty can team to have two good eyes.
  • They mentioned that Saturn made 104 successful jumps out of a plane in the military. Guess who made that comment? Bobby responded that three were with parachutes.
  • Lodi holds up signs to hide his receipting hairline.
  • Come to think of it: Receipting hairline, blonde hair, black sideburns, no talent. LODI IS THE NEXT HULK HOGAN!
  • They had an extreme close-up of Riggs grabbing Mongo's butt for a body slam. Big no-no by the production staff. Hope no nuggets were looming.
  • Mongo worked most of the match before getting the hot tag. Another big mistake.
• Okerlund then interviewed the MAN, Ric Flair, who was interviewed by Ric Flair.
  • The article the Ric Flair mentioned on Nitro last week was by Kevin Eck and was titled, "A long-lived flair for the spotlight: Performer Ric Flair has survived the poundings and politics of the pro wrestling world for 25 high-profile years and can be found at the Baltimore Sun's website at http://www.sunspot.net/. The comment about Meltzer being Hart's boy was referring to Meltzer's handling of the double-cross. The Hitman Fan Club even sent the document out on the Internet as Bret's side of the story.
  • Mark Madden reported that the feud between Flair and Hart will now be a triple feud of sorts adding Curt Hennig where triangle matches may be utilized. Many are excited due to the excellent match Hart and Hennig had at SummerSlam 1991 (8/26/91).
  • We have received e-mail regarding the ineffective use of Bret Hart. As we have stated in the past, it appears on the surface that Bret has creative control of his angles. In our December 21 {Pro} column, we noted that Hart appears to have creative control of his angles. We used the fact that the WWF has long used special referees in their angles. One notable instance that we omitted was Sid debuting at SummerSlam 1991 as the guest referee of the "Match Made in Hell" as Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior defeated Sgt. Slaughter, Col. Mustafa and General Adnan (8/26/91). This was the first time WCW had debuted a new talent by establish him as a guest referee for a match.
  • Another sign that Bret has a great deal of control over his own angles is the Hulk Hogan head that Hogan received on the December 22nd Nitro. Hakushi once carried a Hart head to add to a feud between the two during Hart's stay in the World Wrestling Federation.
  • Hart reportedly was harder on Zbyszko in the match, not only to tease dissension, but to hold him to a higher standard because of his experience.
  • Bret has reportedly been given clearance wrestle.
  • Dave the Rave reported that Bret Hart's music that we mentioned is called, "You start the Fire" and is from a Bret Hart video. We still disapprove verily.
  • You know its a classic when Flair dances before, during and after, "MEANNNNNNNNNN Whoo Gene!"
  • "How does Bret Hart call himself the best when the Nature Boy is on the ticket?"-a valid question from Ric Flair.
  • Bret's reception could be considered lukewarm at best.
  • Flair told Gene that the handshake between the two was a token gesture between two WCW combatants. Even with WCW giving Bret a completely face role, he can't rival Flair in popularity.
  • The interview revolved around Flair making Bret say that he was the best in front of Flair. This sure beats feuding over who the real Giant is. And it beats the hell out of whose blood runs colder, Mortis or Glacier.
  • Flair said that Hart could say he was better than Race, Brisco, Funk, Kiniski, but not him.
  • Hart added a "Whoo" to his tag line.
  • Hart claimed that he already beat the man. This was in reference to Hart's first WWF championship win in Saskatoon, SK (10/12/92). Flair said he would have to beat him again.
  • Flair concluded that he had won thirteen world championship to Hart's five and that Hart had a long way to go.
  • As always Flair got in the last word. We do not wanted to receive a lot of e-mail regarding our favoritism to Flair. Even Hart's biggest fan would admit that Hart doesn't hold a candle to Flair on the mic and he proved it tonight. Whoo!
• Michael Buffer broadcast the main event. Our favorite PA announcer also hit the AP Press wire on December 27th: LOS ANGELES-Michael Buffer is ready to rumble in a court of law.
  • Buffer whose "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" has been a staple at major wrestling and boxing matches, has filed a lawsuit claiming his opening is being used for profit without permission.
  • Buffer claims Aureus Records, Warlock Records, Inc., Clubhouse Records and others produced, distributed and are selling a CD titled: "Craziewhite Peckawoods 'Let's Get ready To Rumble'" without authorization.
  • U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Paez issued a temporary restraining order Friday prohibiting further manufacture, distribution or sale of the CDs pending a formal hearing on Buffer's application for a preliminary injunction. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Dec. 30.
  • In addition to asking that his "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" service mark no longer used, Buffer is asking for $1 million in damages.
  • Note: We did not make this up, For more on Buffer go to his Official Home Page .
• Lex Luger defeated Randy Savage with, ironically, a small package.
  • This is not the first confrontation between the two. Not by a long shot. Their first encounter on Nitro came in the same Nitro that we spoke of last week that debuted Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero. For the record, it was during the fifth Nitro from Denver, Colorado. When Savage won the world championship, they met again on the 19th edition of the show. Their last Nitro match up was two weeks ago when Savage defeated Lex in Macon, GA (12/22/97).
  • WCW is attempting to establish a new feud to match the DDP-Savage feud of last year. That feud incidentally was Pro Wrestling Illustrated's 1997 feud of the Year. While we're on the subject, Luger was Wrestler of the Year. The Page-Savage feud started predominantly over a woman when Savage showed Kimberly's edition of Playboy Celebrity nudes. This one has been speculated to lead to the same type of feud. Speculation has WCW replicating the 1991 involvement of Madusa and Sting as Elizabeth will seduce Luger and eventually turn on him.
  • WCW has been attempting to use Liz more lately. She was supposed to attack Miss Jacquelyn and gain the upperhand in a sneak attack. When Jacquelyn refused she was fired. WCW could not believe that she would not do this since she was given the advantage over men much larger than she. Some speculate that WCW is attempting to display her implants. Liz still claims they are real. Either way, we'll watch Liz's rack over Lex's any day of the week.
  • Speaking of Jackie and breast implants, Jacquelyn has apparently signed with the WWF and could appear as early as the Royal Rumble. Initial reports have her challenging Chyna because that was the threat she gave Bischoff in an attempt to stay on at WCW. A more likely angle has her joining Rocky Maivia and being the cause that breaks Farooq and Rocky that will lead to a match at WrestleMania XIV.
  • As for Savage's Starrcade match, he demanded to win because he was wrestling so low on the card and he demanded separate entrance music which was incredibly obvious. We don't blame him. Even when he was married on pay-per-view (SummerSlam 1991), it was better than second match on the card.
  • Savage came to the ring with Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton.
  • Nick Patrick was scheduled to referee but J.J. Dillon made sure that Randy Anderson reffed the match. What a save by J.J. Where would we be without him? I never thought I'd miss commissioner Piper.
  • The match was relatively short as Lex got a surprise small package for the win. This was probably because Savage won the last match between the two. In Savage's defense, were surprised when Lex used a wrestling move too.
  • After the match Savage went ballistic. He attempted to hit Lex with a chair, but for some reason Bischoff would not let him and Randy shoved Eric down.
  • Then Hogan came to the ring and stopped Savage from finishing off Eric and pointed to the ring and said he's the bad guy. Funny. Isn't that what Randy was going after in the first place.
  • Savage slapped Hogan. It wasn't the first time.
  • Nash then came out and gave Savage a hard clothesline. Teasing the dissension of the nWo will definitely boost Thunder's ratings.
  • Sting hit the ring and Lex and Sting cleaned house as Nitro went off the air. Dare we say Fade to Black.
• There is still a great deal of controversy over Kevin Nash's absence on Starrcade. Dave Meltzer and Wade Keller both report that he suffered what was either a mild heart attack or a severe case of indigestion. WCW executives are incredibly skeptical because he was allegedly booked to lose the match to the Giant. A lot of speculation also has that we were to see the first Giantsault.
• We agree with Nash's precautions after the recent Brian Pillman tragedy. There are many similarities between the two. Both have heart problems in their families' past as Nash's father died when he was seven and brother died at a young age due to heart problems. Pillman's father died when he was an infant. Both were undergoing stress as Nash's stepfather is very ill and Pillman's marriage was breaking up. Nash was taking severe medication for his knee problems and Pillman was under similar medication for his automobile accident. As much concern was drawn within the wrestling community over Pillman's death, we understand Nash's precautions.
• Bob Ryder reported this week that Syxx will be back in 2-3 months.
• This leaves Scott Hall in a bad predicament. Scott was beaten twice badly at Starrcade. Many attribute this to WCW's lack of belief over his "back injury" in November. Without his political allies, he may take a beating in the next few weeks.
• In other nWo news, it has been reported that Hiroyoshi Tenzan of New Japan Pro Wrestling will be touring WCW in January. When no very little of him other than that he is a member of nWo Japan. For a short repertoire go to http://www.hc.keio.ac.jp/~fs951786/tenzanE.html.
• Speaking of nWo Japan, Muta and Masa Chono won the IWGP tag team championships (10/19/97) and spraypainted "nWo" on them and are calling themselves the nWo tag team champions. Sound familiar? Are question is with Hall and Nash calling themselves the nWo tag team champions, who is correct?
• Before we close, we would like to discuss one other Internet rumor about a WCW competitor that does not receive much attention. Many sites are reporting that Bobby Eaton has left WCW for the WWF. It is hard for us to believe because Eaton appeared on WCW television on Saturday Night getting squashed by Meng in a match that was taped before the holidays in Gainesville, GA. On Saturday night, he was squashed at a house show.
• These sites were reporting the reformation of the Midnight Express. Initially Flash Funk was speculated as Eaton's partner, but then Stan Lane made some interesting comments on a hotline claiming he was negotiating to return to the WWF in 1998. If the Express is reformed with Funk it would not be the first time a black man has been in the Express. The original combination was the trio of Norvell Austin, Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose.
• The rumor is that the Midnight Express will wrestle the Rock 'n' Roll Express on next week's RAW. Ever seen that match before?
• Regardless of whether this is true or not, we agree that Eaton is one of the most underutilized wrestlers in the world. He has held the WCW tag team championships with three partners, three U.S. tag team championship reigns with Lane, and the television championship (5/19/91-6/3/91). This was also at a time when the TV title meant more as Bobby beat Arn Anderson and lost to Steve Austin. Eaton last was pushed as a member of the Blue Bloods in 1995 as lord Steven Regal's tag team partner, Sir Robert Eaton. Lately, including at Starrcade he has been working security. Hey, Doug Dellinger was a wrestler once too.
• Also, Dusty Rhodes was reportedly upset by being worked out of the announcing team and was given the spot on Starrcade to appease him. There are now rumors surfacing that he is returning to the book. While noted for his horrible role in the demise of WCW with "Dusty finish," wrestling expert John McAdams re-iterates that he also had a very successful stint in which he got the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Magnum T.A., and Arn Anderson over as stars in 1985.
• WCW probably set a Monday night wrestling record for attendance tonight. The previous record was 25268 set by the WWF at Skydome in February. Despite last year's rousing failure, nWo Souled Out is also sold out. This has a great deal to do with the size of the Dayton, Ohio venue where it is being held. They sold all 4380 tickets in a matter of hours.
• Trivia answer: Roddy Piper screamed Gaelic as an ambulance took him from Knoxville's Civic Coliseum last December 30th. We were there, BABY!
• Well, last week, Bret Hart said ironically that the nWo reminded him of the scum he left behind. It is ironic because all of the wrestlers in the nWo were once WWF. We feel the same way tonight. Scotty Riggs. Brad Armstrong. John Nord. Barbarian. Psicosis. Juvi. This is {Pro}, not Nitro. Bill gets all the good stuff on Thursday. Ultimo-Juvi. The Bret-Flair announcement. How could we forget the Hogan-Sting footage that they just spent two hours and seventeen minutes hyping without paying any attention to anything else.
• As always, we appreciate any and all feedback. And in closing, to end some rumors, Charlie is not Chainsaw Charlie.
• Anybody else notice that we mentioned SummerSlam 1991 three times in this report. Who would have thought it?

Here is what happened after the cameras stopped rolling:
They cut off with Sting and Luger fending off the nWo team as you already know. Just your typical brawl with a few Stinger splashes highlighting it. They cleared them rather quickly and Hogan and company stood there exchanging words with Lex and Sting. Luger said something on the mic, but I can't remember what. Anyways, Hogan and Macho Man agree to take on Sting and Luger right then and there. Luger got beat around the whole time until he finally tagged in Sting while Hogan was in the ring. There was a Stinger Splash or two and finally he got Hogan in the Deathlock and he tapped out. Then Lex gets Macho into the rack while Hogan was still in the deathlock and the place was going crazy. I also remember Sting doing his yell and a bunch of crotch chops, but I don't remember if that was after this match or after they had fought off the nWo. Not quite the "greatest" Nitro of all time, but still an awesome show.

• Dark Match: I quess these were two Power Plants guys, we couldn't make out what the announcer said about their names but one guy had an Aussie outfit including Boomerang and the other guy was well built weight lifting type. Highlights of the three minute match was the Aussie doing a out-to-in ring leg drop flipping over the top rope and a moonsault that missed my a mile, but not bad for a pretty big guy.
  The muscle man won with an impressive new hold (at least to me), double underhook to a Sammartino Backbreaker position to a power drop. Looked good and painful. Fans were not into it but it was better than most dark matches.
• Usual ring announcements (No throwing items, Atlanta has the best fans, etc.), WCW guys were handing out posters to the crowd, couldn't read what they said but they did hand out ten or more. Nitro Girls were introduced and they did some stunts including one who did a backflip from a turnbuckle and landed on her feet. The WCW mascot came out and did his routine that was lackluster to say the best, he has did better at other Nitros.
• Good crowd on hand, not sure if there was 30,000 or not but it was a lot of people. The Dome was cut down to about 1/3 of the size for football. There was no one sitting behind the camera areas but the endzone to the fan side curtain was filled all the way to the top with a few small gaps, but not many. I would say 20-25 thousand but it could have been more.
• Nitro starts. JJ Dillion interview, he was a lot better back with the Horsemen, he killed the heat from the opening sequence, I looked forward to him on the mic when he joined the WCW but now? Maybe I just thought he had better mic skills way back when.
• Diamond Dallas Page - Chris Jericho, short and sweet. DDP got a huge pop on entering. Jericho, not much at all. The place exploded when he hit the Diamond Cutter. It was the biggest pop of the night until the very end.
• Bill Goldberg - Stevie Ray, Goldberg is over with the crowd, not DDP level but he has good support. Another good pop when he hits the Jackhammer.
• John Nord - Barbarian, can we say concession/bathroom match. The aisles were filled during this match. Not many people knew who Nord was, you couldn't hear the announcer again but I knew who he was from the boots and the way he moved (aka Beserker in the WWF). Some people behind me was convinced it was Dave Sullivan. Not the worse match of the night and Nord did some good things but a dead quiet match.
• Mean Gene - Eric Bischoff interview, I don't like Bischoff but I give him credit, he draws some good heat. The fans were hot and heavy against him.
• Juventud Guerrera - Psicosis, Another concession/bathroom match, but up to the very end, maybe the best match of the night. Some good highlight moves but the Mexican guys just were not over with the crowd. I hate to see Psicosis lose, I saw him in the ECW working with Rey Misterio, Jr. and he has a lot of talent. His match with Steven Regal in a Pensacola Nitro was the best match in four Nitros I have been at. Hopefully, he will get a push or at least show what he can do soon.
• Booker T - Prince Iaukea, Fans were fairly stong for Booker T, not a great response but good. The Prince came out to nothing.
• Steiners/Traylor - Konan/Norton/Bagwell, some good action and great response. I still like Bagwell and him and Scott Steiner were shooting some big spit wads at each other. The ending looked strange and I would like to hear what happened from someone in the know. It looked like a Steiner DDT/Bulldog was coming from off the shoulders but Konan called it off (?) and got dumped on his head hard by Scott Steiner and the corkscrew piledriver.
• Rick Martel - Brad Armstrong, you could have heard a pin drop, no one said a word, no one cared and if they think Rick Martel name carries in weight in Atlanta, GA, forget it. But I did like the spinebuster into the Boston (Quebec) Crab, nice move.
• Saturn/Riggs - Beniot/Mongo, good match with a good reaction from the crowd. Beniot chops could be heard throughout the Dome. Nice Taz-Plex from Saturn and a few ECW chants started but not many. According to my friend, there is no outlets for ECW in the Atlanta area, so I don't think many people knew what a Taz-Plex was and an older gentleman sitting near me said "What is ECW?". ECW has not made many inroads into the Atlanta area.
• Flair/Hart Interview, the biggest moment of the night for me (Yes, I'm a Flair mark), and his best interview in a long time. The whole Dome was up for this one, no one took a seat during the entire time Flair and Hart were out there. Flair is over big time in Atlanta like all other southern cities. Hart's reception was warm but not hot. But great mic work by Flair, this could be a great feud.
• Savage - Luger, people were up for this one but an extra long commerical break killed some of the heat. Typical match with a new twist ending. Here comes Bischoff, bang, here comes Hogan, here comes Nash, bang, here comes Sting, clears house and the tag match between Hogan/Savage - Sting/Luger takes place with Sting and Luger coming out on top.
• Overall views: Was not a bad Nitro live, not great but much better than the last Nitro in Atlanta. This was my fourth Nitro (two in Pensacola and two in Atlanta) and this was as good as the first one I saw in Pensacola. The card was not as good as I thought it would be with the show being in Atlanta and in the Dome but I guess the new Thursday Night show is going to get the major push this week. Many fans were disappointed in the matches but I'm now used to the format and know what to expect, short quick matches with big commerical breaks that killed heat from the crowd. A PPV is much better live than a Nitro because of the lack of commericals. You can build heat and anticipation but that is not possible with a Nitro.
• The Nitro Girls seem to be getting more and more time. I guess someone has figured out that they draw ratings better than the wrestling, but it would be nice it they gave the wrestling more time and cut the Nitro Girls down a bit. To start with, the Nitro Girls appeared two to three times a card, now 6-7 if I counted right. I love to see good looking women too, but it does take away from the wrestling after awhile. My view, I'm sure a lot of people would rather see good looking women more than wrestling.
• In closing, a good night but I was expecting a better card with it being the first Nitro of '98 but it was better than two other Nitros I have been to.