OOOLD SCHOOOOL

[The Cum Doctor]

WCW Nitro 01/01/1996

 

Arn Anderson vs. Randy Savage

 

Randy Savage blames Arn Anderson for Ric Flair beating him for the World Title and therefore wants to take Arn Anderson and beat the living shit out of him. As you might expect, this is pretty physical stuff. I reckon that Randy Savage had a wee bit too long in control of their match at the start, as it's only really when Anderson took control that the match really kicked off. Oh, for anyone keeping score, Randy Savage curtain jerking Nitro again. Savage gets some nice payback for the PPV by winning with the knux. This was a pretty good opening match to settle a score.

 

Chris Benoit and Bryan Pillman run to the ring and Savage gets out of there !

 

Lord Steven Regal vs. Chris Benoit

 

Regal makes this instantly awesome by unloading on Benoit with big headbutts. This match is absolutely magnificent as they started exactly how they meant to go on. Everything these two guys did looked like it hurt. Even the simple stuff had that wee bit of extra snap. Regal was especially brutal, and the ending is absolutely great. An actual must-see match, but that should come as no surprise.

 

Bryan Pillman isn't happy that they're 0-2 for the night. Pillman has some harsh words for Benoit. Benoit says that Regal had sheer luck. He then gets into the face of Arn Anderson. Arn Anderson isn't happy that Bryan Pillman is starting wars, but here comes The Taskmaster and Zodiac, and The Giant doesn't want them to get involved. An interesting wee bit of stuff going on with Pillman.

 

During the next match, Sgt. Craig Pittman is with the commentators. He says he wants the guidance of Steve McMichael. Mongo says Pittman is good enough to go on his own.

 

The Super Assassins vs. Sting and Lex Luger

 

Who the fuck is this ? The stuff going on at the commentary booth is a bit of a distraction for a while, so we basically join the match with the Assassins in control of the match. The Assassins are as boring as sin, which is disappointing. We see the usual referee missing a tag thing which I'm seeing far too much of these days. A nothing tag match which did nothing other than put Sting and Luger over as a cohesive team, which I guess isn't a bad thing.

 

Mean Gene comes out and chats with The Giant and Jimmy Hart. Jimmy Hart says he's always going to be around Hogan. The Giant wasn't happy with Hogan chairing him all over the place on December 18th. "You're gonna get yours like you've never got it before !".

 

Ric Flair © vs. Hulk Hogan - WCW World Heavyweight Championship

 

The Immortal One is clearly wanting to get some revenge for the defeat that Savage had to Flair. This is just really bog standard Hogan stuff here with nothing of note going on. Maybe the one thing to note is just how popular Flair is with the crowd. Wouldn't say that it's even half for Flair, but certainly enough that it's very noticeable. Pretty poor main event.

 

Hulk Hogan now has The Horsemen, but in comes The Giant with a stool and Savage manages to stop that from coming to pass and The Giant is absolutely livid. Awesome ending to the show. Mean Gene is in the ring with Hogan and Savage. Hogan and Savage want a tag team main event with Flair and Anderson next week. I think these two guys just love the sounds of their own voices right now.

 

End of show.

 

WCW Nitro 08/01/1996

 

Chris Benoit vs. Alex Wright

 

Bryan Pillman is with Benoit. You don't normally see a Horseman with Benoit, but Pillman must just be out to make sure after the disaster last week. Benoit obviously feels the same way about that defeat as he came right out of the blocks with hard hitting and big moves. Bryan Pillman definately did his bit to give Benoit his win. The match was really boring with Alex Wright in charge which is a shame since he sort of excels in short matches and this certainly wasn't overly long.

 

"Lord" Steven Regal vs. Eddie Guerrero

 

No complaints about seeing this sort of quality on the shows. It's very evident right from the start of this match that it's not going to be anywhere near as aggressive as the Benoit match from the week before. This one is a lot more about the counter holds, but that's not to say Regal doesn't get some hard shots in. Wouldn't be a Regal match without some big shots. Not as good as the week before either, but I'm getting the impression that I'm not going to see many better matches on this collection than that beauty last week. This is a fairly good match.

 

Mean Gene is now with Sting and Lex Luger. Lex Luger is a bit apprehensive about answering Sting's questions. Lex Luger says he reached out to him and he was injured. Sting thinks Luger and he would make a good tag team and decides to trust him just a wee bit more.

 

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting

 

I don't think I've ever watched such an uneventful match involving Sting. Don't want to go and call it bad because there's nothing actually wrong with it. It's just far too long considering what they were going for. Could have stood to lose a couple of minutes especially with DDP deciding to go for all of the Chinlockery in mid-match. I guess they might have been going for making DDP look decent in this one, but all that happened was that he looked out of his depth. He would improve in time though. Tonight just wasn't his night.

 

Arn Anderson and Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan

 

Probably would have been better to keep this main event untill the big Clash of the Champions event that they keep pimping on this show as happening in January. Flair unleashes a HUGE chop on Hogan which doesn't even phase him during this match. That no-selling of Flair's chops is always something which annoys me every time I see it. This is decent enough formula fare. I reckon all four men were leaving something back for this match. Not something that I mind when watching a TV match. Plenty of effort there regardless.

 

The Dungeon of Doom hit the ring and attack The Horsemen, which allows The Giant to go in and do his business. Chokeslam for Hogan and then the same for Savage. The Taskmaster then gets into the ring and Zodiac is holding The Giant back. Probably to ensure that he isn't suspended again. And we're out.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

That no-selling of Flair's chops is always something which annoys me every time I see it.

You dont even like it when Flair chops Sting and then does his "muscular" pose. I always loved that spot.

[The Cum Doctor]

That no-selling of Flair's chops is always something which annoys me every time I see it.

You dont even like it when Flair chops Sting and then does his "muscular" pose. I always loved that spot.

 

I'm a much bigger fan of when he does it to Hogan, and Hulk gives him a look that says "really ?" before just unloading with right hands. The Luger and Sting "AAARRRGGGHHH !!!" comebacks just irritate me.

[Kenny McBride]

Haraga - why do you constantly mis-spell Pillman's first name? It's B-R-I-A-N. Always has been.

[The Cum Doctor]

I thought they always did it as Bryan to go with "Flyin' Bryan". Certainly got that impression from somewhere and it stuck.

[PowerButchi]

The Super Assassins vs. Sting and Lex Luger

 

Who the fuck is this ? The stuff going on at the commentary booth is a bit of a distraction for a while, so we basically join the match with the Assassins in control of the match.

 

Who? I'll tell you who! The Powers of Pain. Fucking tremend stuff.

[PowerButchi]

WCW {PRO} WRESTLING, MARCH 9 '96

 

It's the 9th of March 1996, and the greatest show in Wrestling is on the air. Not Worldwide, fuck that, it's WCW Pro. Actually thinking about it, it's the 2nd best show. The best would be WCW Prime. But I digress. ON WITH THE SHOW!

 

The opening credits are a bit mental...

 

CHRIS CRUISE, LARRY Z AND DUSTY COMMENTATE.

 

They apologise for Saturday Night running out of time during a World title match and they are going to show it today on pro. It's Ric Flair vs Sting. Fucksticks. I don't watch stuff like Pro to see stuff like that. Our Main Event is Sting vs

[Devon Malcolm]

He tags out to The Gambler, who pretends to not want to get in, even though we all know he could knock fuck out both of the roadies on his own at the same time and doesn't need that fat wanker in a stupid coat who's meant to be his tag team partner.

 

One day all wrestling show reviews will be like this.

[The Cum Doctor]

I watched the 15/01/1996 Nitro. Had a recap but the fucker crashed. Basically two really good matches ( Savage vs. Luger and Flair vs. Sting ), and a belting angle with Public Enemy after an unconvincing win in their debut. Another good segment was Hogan being a moany cunt when Savage got the title shot next week, saying he has the momentum. Savage basically gives Hogan a heartfelt "fuck you" and leaves. This also has the Dungeon of Doom and the Horsemen being pals. Right, that's the basics done.

 

WCW Nitro 22/01/1996

 

The main event for this show, which is probably the opening match, is Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair for the title.

 

Konnan turns up at the announcers table, and he says he'll face Psicosis at Clash of the Champions for the Mexican Heavyweight Championship.

 

Ric Flair © vs. Randy Savage - WCW World Heavyweight Championship

 

Randy Savage has a load of ladies with him, which is mind games from the challenger. Like a lot of big Savage Nitro matches, this one spends a LOT of time on the floor for the first few minutes. They get the match into the ring for after the break and the fans get right into things at that point. The match completely breaks down after a while, but the fans stay rabid for it anyways. Fair play to them. When the fans realise that Savage is going to take it, they go NUCLEAR. Love when that happens. Not a great match, but superb ending.

 

Hogan gets into the ring to celebrate. Savage isn't happy with Hogan celebrating his win and he challenges Hogan to go at it right now. Hogan says he wants Savage to watch his back when he faces One Man Gang and then both men seem to agree that when they sort things out they're gonna have a match.

 

Brian Pillman vs. Dean Malenko

 

Pillman attacks a cameraman before the match because he's MENTAL~~~!!! Super aggressive stuff for the most part which made it frustrating when Pillman completely changed mindset, but at the same time, he was mental, so he isn't really going to stick with a plan. This also includes the most dumbarse finish for a match ever, as the referee SEES the foot tied in the ropes and still count the three. All in all, this is easily the worst match I've watched on an episode of Nitro from this time.

 

Harlem Heat © vs. Sting and Lex Luger - WCW Tag Team Championships

 

Lex Luger does the blatant interference to help Harlem Heat when they were in trouble. That wasn't even subtle this time, and he even does it more than once, just incase you needed it put in your head with a hammer. Other than some of the Luger shenanigans, this match was your standard tag team fare, which almost seems out of place on this show. There's a reason the formula is there though. It works. The ending was as sudden as a heart attack though. Pretty good match, with Luger acting the prick from the opening bell to the last and then putting the exclamation point on it by using loads of coins to win. :lol: Luger rules.

 

One Man Gang vs. Hulk Hogan

 

Oh this really takes the biscuit. They have two title matches on the show, and then a title holder in a NON title match gets into the main event. Even more stupid is the fact that the titles changed hands in both of those earlier matches. Anyways, Hogan/Nitro/Big Dungeon guy. You do the math. Although One Man Gang was much better on offense than Meng was, so fair play to him.

 

The Horsemen and The Dungeon of Doom hit the ring and Savage comes out to help Hogan. The Giant comes to the ring too. I forgot he even existed. Everyone tries to hold The Giant back though. Pillman is doing some encouraging. Into the ring and Savage and Hogan have a microphone. Hogan says he'll take on anyone he has to and reach the #1 Contender spot for the title.

 

Commentators wrap up what was a hectic show.

 

I'll be recapping Clash of the Champions too since they're making such a big deal about it.

[The Cum Doctor]

Since the Clash of the Champions on that site is knackered, we're back to WCW Nitro. I can only hope some gaps are filled here.

 

WCW Nitro 29/01/1996

 

Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan

 

This is an incredible way to open a show. What's even more incredible is that Randy Savage is on the card and isn't opening the show, yet Hogan IS. Elizabeth is with Hogan. This was a belting match though. They didn't deviate from the formula of a Hogan match too much, but what they DID do was stretch things out and freshen things up a wee bit, and when you have the right guy in there, that normally works pretty well. As for the ending ... They don't do cheap endings like this anymore. Basically, Jimmy Hart holds Liz, Arn Anderson steals her high heel and Flair uses it. Superb.

 

Hogan's eye is knackered after the match as Savage and Elizabeth tend to him.

 

The Faces of Fear vs. The Road Warriors

 

This is the Nitro debut of The Road Warriors. Hawk no-selling the Piledriver is still one of the most infuriating sights you can see in wrestling, no matter how many times you see it. This match goes on far too long. I remember the days when I enjoyed watching The Barbarian. Maybe not so much Meng, but the guy could at least be good for a bit of brutality. Then again, they might have had the Faces tone down a bit to highlight the big hitting Road Warriors. I'm not sure why this match wasn't very good, but I can assure you that's how it turned out.

 

The Taskmaster is with Mean Gene. The Taskmaster thought that Arn Anderson was a man of his word, and then praises Flair's win over Hogan. Anderson and Pillman hit the ring, and Taskmaster tells Arn Anderson to discipline him. Anderson has a go at Pillman for not helping out with Ric Flair's win earlier in the show. Arn Anderson then says there's gonna be tough love and goes to take off his belt. The Taskmaster and Hugh Morrus take advantage and Pillman does a runner. Arn Anderson takes control though and he's not amused. He wants a match with Sullivan and a stooge. Pillman says he'll get them out of the mess. So ends the truce between the Horsemen and the Dungeon. Surely not.

 

Mean Gene in the ring after the break again and Sherri is in the ring. Medusa showed up at the wedding of Col. Parker and Sherri.

 

Medusa vs. Sherri

 

Medusa clearly didn't want to see or hear any promo, so this is ON ! Too short to be worth anything. Both ladies just mauled each other for a couple of minutes.

 

MEDUSA WITH THE RELEASE GERMAN SUPLEX AFTER THE MATCH DROPPING SHERRI ON HER HEAD !!! Medusa continues to maul Sherri.

 

Randy Savage © vs. The Giant - WCW World Heavyweight Championship

 

Except it isn't, because the ref stops the match for no reason whatsoever. WHAT ?!?!

 

Ric Flair attacks Randy Savage after the match. Flair throws the referee down, and then The Giant joins in the fun. Hogan hits the ring with a steel chair and Savage could have done with this about five minutes ago. Ric Flair goes to the commentary table. He rants about the cage match coming against Randy Savage, and then The Giant and he does the same about his match at Superbrawl with Hogan.

 

That is the end of what was, opening match aside, a pretty crappy show.

[The Cum Doctor]

We're approaching Superbrawl, which of course I'll be covering in all of it's glory. This is the last stop before the PPV though.

 

WCW Nitro 05/02/1996

 

Randy Savage © vs. Chris Benoit - WCW World Heavyweight Championship

 

Interestingly, Benoit doesn't have any Horsemen coming to the ring with him. I wonder how long that lasts. I think this is the first time I've seen a title match on Nitro where the result is a foregone conclusion. Bischoff calls the chops of Benoit "slaps", which irritates me quite a bit. Benoit dominates this match well and truly, with Benoit looking great against the top dog. Can't get fairer than that. Benoit takes a NASTY bump, hitting his forehead on the floor after missing a Suicide Dive. Really good match which ends when the Horsemen attack Savage.

 

Woman turned on Randy Savage during that attack. Hogan comes to the ring and makes sure that the attack is stopped. Savage gets taken away. FLAIR SHOWS UP AND SPIKES HOGAN IN THE EYE !!! He then rakes at the bad eye of Hogan. The Giant then heads for the ring and enters. The Giant hits Hogan with the chair. Savage gets back to the ring and everyone leaves Hogan. Savage then blames Elizabeth for Hogan getting attacked. Superb. A domestic. That was some belting build for Superbrawl though.

 

The Taskmaster and Hugh Morrus vs. Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman

 

This seems a bit odd considering what just happened, but I guess the issues need to be resolved one way or the other. Love when Taskmaster and Pillman get into the ring and start beating the ever loving crap out of each other. The match breaks down and heads around the arena. Someone belts Arn Anderson with a broom while all of this is going on. Anyways, the match is thrown off.

 

The Taskmaster and Hugh Morrus work over Pillman after the match but he manages to escape the ring. Is it wrong that I'm looking forward to a strap match between Brian Pillman and The Taskmaster ?

 

Paul Orndorff is at the commentary booth and basically owns up to the broom attack on Arn Anderson. That Piledriver came back and bit him on the arse ! Quality.

 

Marcus Bagwell vs. Ric Flair

 

The commentators say that Savage has taken Hogan to the hospital. I suppose that means that Flair avoids the obligatory interference. Bagwell is super over here. Absolutely ridiculous spot here. I think Flair was supposed to throw Bagwell over the top rope. He didn't, but Bagwell went and leaped over anyways. Was quite refreshing to see Ric Flair actually get the submission win with the Figure Four Leglock. The match was pretty good as well.

 

Randy Savage hits the ring and then he runs after Ric Flair who decides to get the fuck out of there.

 

Sting and Lex Luger © vs. The Road Warriors - WCW Tag Team Championships

 

Apparently the power goes out at the arena, causing the show to momentarily go off and on. I'd wish that the power stayed off for the rest of the hour, because it would have meant that I didn't have to sit through what remained of what was a really boring match from these four guys. We didn't even have Lex Luger doing his hilarious "I'm a prick" routine all the way through the match which helped the title change match along. Poor stuff. Luger wins with a weapon shot.

 

Sting seen the weapon shot this time around, and he isn't happy. Mean Gene is in the ring with Hawk and Animal. Hawk demands a match against the winner of the tag title match at Superbrawl. Animal basically wants the same thing.

 

Commentary wrap things up. Decent show, with some cracking build to the PPV.

[Kenny McBride]

That Pillman/Sullivan thing is hilarious. The bit where they just start throwing wild "shoot" punches at each other, then Sullivan going for Pillman's eye, OLD SKOOL STYLE. I still can't work out if Arn was clued in on the angle or not, because when he runs in and starts shouting "not the eye, Kevin!" it just all seems a bit too real for him.

[PowerButchi]

You'll never know with Arn Anderson. He'll keep Kayfabe till he's dead. Just look at his shoot.

[The Cum Doctor]

WCW Superbrawl VI

 

It took me ages to get this done because of just how tedious and mediocre a lot of the show actually is.

 

Public Enemy vs. The Nasty Boys, Street Fight

 

This is actually a falls count anywhere match. Not a great one either. They definately had a good sense of chaos in the match, but it was so watered down that it didn't really matter anyway. Towards the end, the match just seems to die on it's arse before a big impressive final spot with Rocco Rock missing a Senton Bomb through a table. It was a good way to open the show as the fans "ooh" and "aah" their way through the big moves.

 

Johnny B. Badd © vs. Diamond Dallas Page - WCW Television Championship

 

I don't see why they even bothered with the Diamond Dall interaction after she went to Badd, because the fans clearly don't care like they did before. When she gave DDP a "0", the reaction was one which basically said "so fuck ?". The fans DO seem to care about what happens in the ring though, and they remain pretty hot for what is actually a really good match. DDP still seems to be really green and everything he does is as slow as a week in the jail, but I can live with that if the matches are good. This one is.

 

Sting and Lex Luger © vs. Harlem Heat - WCW Tag Team Championships

 

It's recently occured to me that Harlem Heat weren't actually that good a team. Every single match I've seen from them, and I have seen a lot of matches with a lot of different teams with different stipulations, has been really boring. This match wasn't much better I'm afraid. It didn't even feature the "Lex Luger being a cunt" thing which has been amusing me recently. The Road Warriors turn up and make sure they get their hands on Luger and Sting by giving them the win.

 

Konan © vs. One Man Gang - WCW United States Championship

 

I have to admit, it was kinda funny watching Konan jump and move around the ring like a cruiserweight and fail at most of the stuff that he tried. This match also features one of the spots that I hate. Pulling the opponent up before the three count to administer a bigger beating. It does make sense for big fueds, but a match with nothing simmering and a title on the line ? Come on. Anyways, this match wasn't very good.

 

Brian Pillman vs. The Taskmaster, Respect Strap Match

 

I should have realised that this was the show that this happened on. Brian Pillman and his "I respect you, booker man." thing. It prompted me to go and find out what the deal was, and it actually sounded like a good idea gone wrong from WCW's viewpoint. Anyways, because Pillman is a goner, Anderson decides to take his place ...

 

Arn Anderson vs. The Taskmaster, Respect Strap Match

 

I tend to hate strap matches, and this one is an amazing example of exactly why I hate them. I don't mind matches that don't have any wrestling in them so long as I'm not watching them do all of the same shit all of the time through the match, and all these two guys do is whip and punch, in the exact same way, and make a match which isn't even five minutes long feel like a 20 minute horror short. Ric Flair cuts it short mercifully by arranging a truce between the Dungeon of Doom and the Horsemen.

 

Sting and Lex Luger © vs. The Road Warriors - WCW Tag Team Championships

 

Oddly entertaining stuff here. It's all over the place and has a couple of botches, but the key factor here is the brutality of it all. No wonder Lex Luger didn't want to get in there with them, because they were in the business of beating the shit out of morons. Lex Luger was definately at his "who's side am I on ?" best here with mistimed interferences. This develops into a match which really feels like a battle between the two teams with an issue, and I can accept the cheap ending as it means we get more of this at some point in the future. Better than I expected it to be.

 

Randy Savage © vs. Ric Flair, Steel Cage Match - WCW World Heavyweight Championship

 

First thing I notice in this match is the perv of a photographer who basically has his camera on Elizabeth for the entire match. Much like the last match, this is some physical stuff. Especially from Randy Savage, who clearly has a bee in his bonnet and beats the shit out of Ric Flair as if he abused his dad. Oh yeah, he did. Something which the commentators remind me of. I didn't need that reminding as I seen their decent "Lifeguard Match" on the Macho Madness DVD not long ago. I love the ending of this as well, as I genuinely didn't see it coming. Elizabeth turning on Savage is not something I signed up for, but I knew she had to eventually. Another decent match here.

 

The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan, Unsanctioned Steel Cage

 

Pretty boring match here which is almost the exact opposite of the previous cage match. A small band of fans chant "Hogan Sucks". Blame them for the Hogan turn ! I wasn't best pleased with the lack of work on the eye from The Giant. There's a little, but he dominated so much of the match and didn't go after the eye most of the time. Makes no sense whatsoever. That's not the only thing that didn't make sense. Oh, Hogan wins by going over the top of the cage and into the waiting Taskmaster chair shot. This is where things get a bit ridiculous ...

 

Hogan takes Taskmaster's chair, and then proceeds to fight off the entire Dungeon of Doom. They actually run away. Loch Ness heads down to the ring, but since WCW don't want to bury him on his first night on the job, they have the DoD hold him back before he can get in the ring. That's how we end.

 

Getting through this show was a chore. I'm glad I did because the tag and world title matches were really good. That ending was ridiculous though.

[Kenny McBride]

Given that the Anderson/Sullivan deal was supposed to be completely improvised (to make the boys think it was a shoot, brother) I think the uneasiness and lack of creativity is kind of the point.

 

Pillman would have been the biggest heel in history if Kim Wood hadn't chickened out of getting him in to the Superbowl. Naked Pillman handcuffed to the posts would have been big news EVERYWHERE.