JT's Replay: WCW Nitro 2/3/97

WCW Nitro 2/3/97
Mid-South Coliseum
Memphis, TN

Hour 1
Announcers: Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko

- Professional wrestling’s number one program is on the air and is live from Memphis, TN! Tony and Larry are with us and we are kicking things off with our World champion Hollywood Hogan making his way to the ring. Hogan is flanked by DiBiase and Vincent. Tony says that Roddy Piper will be in the house tonight to either accept or turn down a World title shot at Superbrawl. Larry and Tony ponder what Piper will say, but we will hear from Hollywood first. Larry says that Hogan has defaced the “Holy Grail” as he plays air-guitar on the spray painted belt. Tony says Hogan is in great shape, but Larry reminds us that Piper put him to sleep. Hogan has the mike and says that all the NWO-ites know that the NWO is here on a mission from God. Everywhere he goes in Hollywood, he hears that Piper has been there and been dogging him. He takes credit for the AOL-Time Warner merger, which is funny.  It's even funnier in retrospect, since by doing that he also takes credit for destroying WCW in the end. Hollywood and his worshipers all know that WCW shot their mouth off by offering Piper a title shot. He says WCW also let the word out that Piper, who he refers to as “one leg Pete” and “the crippled kid”, would be here at Nitro tonight. He talked with Ted and Vince and, being a man of his word, he decided that he will confront Piper because he is tired of the lies and backlash and wants Piper to admit that Hogan is the better man. Hogan says he will put the NWO title on the line against Piper here tonight. Well, we all know that probably won’t happen. The crowd seems excited about it though. Hogan says he will embarrass Piper into the ring and then beat him in the middle of it, just like last time. No matter how you put it, Piper promised his three fans that he will be here, but he will put the title on the line, crucify him and beat him one more time. And with that, we get the posing from Hogan and the hype from our announcers as we go to break.

- We are back and at the booth as Tony and Larry recap our opening segment. Piper is not here yet, but he will be here later. Larry says Hogan has no choice because Piper will be here, and we will be getting a title match tonight. Tony hopes Piper says “yes” as we go to the ring.

1) Ultimo Dragon defeats Rey Mendoza, Jr. with a double chicken wing suplex at 3:11

I always found it odd that WCW never really amplified the ring announcer’s mike, as he is always so faint in the background during entrances. Dragon makes his way to the ring with Sonny Onoo for our opener. We get a trade off of armbars to start as Tony doesn’t think Hogan will show up once Piper arrives. We get some more quick reversals, followed by Dragon finally sending Mendoza to the floor with a handspring elbow. He follows with a tope, driving Mendoza into the railing. Dragon shoots Rey back in the ring and buries a stiff kick to the back. Larry believes Dragon is the number one contender to Dean Malenko’s Cruiserweight belt. Dragon gets a near fall and continues to work over Mendoza. Rey recovers and lands an armdrag takedown and a clothesline. He shoots Dragon in and takes him down with a double thrust. Dragon goes over a ducking Mendoza, but Rey catches his legs on a leapfrog attempt and gets a near fall. Dragon is back up and takes Mendoza over with a headscissors. He puts Rey on the top rope and then follows him up and takes him back over with a top rope Huracarrana. He scoops Mendoza up and takes him over with a double chickenwing suplex into a bridge for the win. Larry praises the finish, saying it is not an easy maneuver. This was just a basic match to put Dragon over and get the crowd going to kick off the show. Grade: *1/2

2) Glacier defeats Billy Kidman with the Cryonic Kick at 2:06

We are back from break and set for our next match. Tony is talking a bit more about Piper and discusses Superbrawl as well. He informs us that Lex Luger and the Giant will team up and challenge the Outsiders for the tag titles at Superbrawl. Larry says Bischoff and the NWO must be wracked with fear after that announcement. Tony says that ever since Piper put Hogan to sleep at Starrcade, WCW has been growing stronger and coming back. Larry thinks the NWO are losing control, and cites the Giant’s defection and Bischoff destroying the Starrcade footage as proof. We get a lockup and the “immensely popular” Glacier takes control early. Kidman lands a dropkick, but Glacier takes him down with a legsweep. Kidman pops back up and he gets a nice rollup off a go-behind. Glacier is back up and takes Kidman over with a tilt-a-whirl slam and then plants him with a clothesline. He lands some strikes in the corner and then kicks him in the back. Glacier lands a back elbow and Kidman bails to the floor. Kidman climbs back on the apron and shoots back in with a headscissors takeover. He heads up top, but eats the Cryonic Kick on the way down. Glacier poses and then covers for the win. Decent little match that I actually wished went a bit longer. Early Kidman is always good and Glacier looked game. Grade: **

3) Ice Train defeats La Parka with a big splash at 5:12

Ice Train’s music is pretty badass, I must say. Nothing says intimidating like a roided up black man coming out with a bloated manager to train whistles and a chugging beat. Tony says that Teddy Long has instilled a lot of confidence in Ice Train, but Larry says he shouldn’t instill too much sportsmanship. Parka is out next as Tony talks about how excited he was to announce Piper’s title opportunity last week. Tony says that the Championship Committee can name the number one contender because the belt is a WCW belt.  Larry adds that Piper earned that spot by beating Hogan at Starrcade. He thinks Hogan is afraid of Piper, and that Hogan will lie about it. Train shoves Parka down to start as Tony says Hogan losing the belt would leave him without something to brag about every week. Train keeps control with a hiptoss and lariat. We are informed that Ric Flair is in the house tonight as well. Train takes Parka down with a leaping shoulderblock and then goes to a reverse chinlock. Parka ducks a clothesline and hits a spinning wheel kick and a dropkick. Tony sends some thoughts out to Randy Anderson, who was fired by Eric Bischoff. Parka heads up top and comes off with a spin wheel kick. Train bails to the floor, but Parka comes right out at him with a corkscrew plancha. Train rolls back in as Parka limps a bit. Parka is back in and slugs away at Train. He shoots Train into the buckle but eats a boot on a charge. Train comes flying out with a leaping lariat and follows up with an axehandle. Train whips Parka across, but Parka leaps up and springboards off the middle rope with a cross body. He falls a bit short but Train impressively deadlifts him from an inch or so off the ground, grabs firm hold and plants him with a Powerslam. That was pretty damn impressive. Train pulls Parka up and drops him with a delayed vertical suplex. Train takes him down and goes to a legscissors across Parka’s head. Tony tells us that something is going down backstage. We cut back there and see the Outsiders brandishing metal pipes and standing over a prone Lex Luger. We cut back to the ring and see Train hit a nice belly to belly for a near fall. Tony and Larry lament Luger being laid out as he was supposed to battle Jeff Jarrett later tonight. Larry says that this proves the Outsiders are scared of Lex. Train goes back to the reverse chinlock and then scoops Parka up and plants him with another Powerslam. He charges and drops down with a big splash for the win. Teddy Long says 1997 is the year of Ice Train and the Godfather. Ok, whatever, I liked it. Train actually looked pretty good and Parka sold all his stuff well. That deadlift off the missed cross body was really impressive. Grade: **1/2

- We head to the entrance way where Gene Okerlund wants to prove Nitro is the biggest wrestling show in the world, so he brings out the Four Horsemen. Out walk Benoit, McMichael, Flair, Debra and Woman to chat with Gene. Gene says that over the past ten days or so, we have seen unity in the Horsemen and that Benoit is one of the reasons why. Chris says the Horsemen have gone through a difficult transitional period, as they have been plagued by injuries, miscommunication and internal disharmony. He says that the flip side is, that by going through all these trials, you find out who your friends are and who you can trust. The biggest accolade he has ever achieved was being named a Horseman and he has great pride in it. He says he wouldn’t want it any other way and the Horsemen have a new perspective. Woman says she likes the environment a whole lot. She then calls out Jackie, saying that she got her leftovers. Mongo grabs the mike and says that the Horsemen are tightly knit and tells Benoit and Woman that he has their backs whenever they need it. He says he is ashamed of what the NWO did and asks the fans what they think of him taking Luger’s place here tonight. The crowd seems indifferent, but Mongo plays it off nicely. Debra claims to have won 318 pageants and talks about how stunning she is. She also claims an IQ of 145 and to have scored highly in swimsuit portions of the competitions. She says that when God gave out faces, Jackie thought he said “cases” and she already had a leather one. She also says Jackie has a great face for radio. Natch is up next and says that familiarity breeds contempt, but the Horsemen have worked through it all and become reunited. He says that Arn is resting at home, but he is here to deal with Sullivan up close and personal. He says he was hurt and Benoit took care of business. He tells Jacky that no one with a boyfriend named “shorty” walks next to the Nature Boy. I literally have no clue what any of that meant. That may have been the most confusing Horsemen interview of all time.

- We are back and set for tag action, but before that we check out Eric Bischoff stripping the Steiners of the tag belts last week. The Steiners then battled the Faces of Fear as Harlem Heat looked on from the crowd.

4) Steiner Brothers battle Harlem Heat to a no contest when the Faces of Fear and Public Enemy interfere at 4:55

Harlem Heat and Sister Sherri make their way down as Larry and Tony talk about the NWO’s apparent fear of Lex Luger and Giant a bit more. The Steiners are out next as Larry says that animosity can make strange bedfellows and surmises that the Steiners may be willing to join up with Luger and Giant. We cut to the crowd to see Meng and Barbarian looking on and rocking white WCW t-shirts. The Public Enemy is also in the crowd to scout their competition as well. This was a neat little touch that started last week and continues here tonight. Larry is still upset about the Steiners being stripped of the belts and Tony talks about Piper more as we get the bell. Booker and Scott start things off and lock up. Scott pushes Booker to the ropes and we get a clean break. Another lockup, but this time Scott lands a knee and then grabs a top wristlock. Booker is able to break the hold by going to the eyes, nip up and hit a spin kick to take Steiner down. Scott reverses an Irish whip and catches Booker with a boot. He press slams Booker, sending him to the floor. Stevie charges in, but he eats a Rick clothesline and bails as well. The Steiners are pumped as the Heat regroup outside. Booker rolls back in, but quickly tags Stevie, who wants a piece of Rick. Scott obliges and tags his brother in. Stevie clubs away to gain control, knocking Rick’s headgear right off in the process. Rick reverses an Irish whip and takes Stevie over with a modified belly-to-belly for 2. Rick tags Scott back in and he goes to a reverse chinlock. Scott releases the hold and tags Rick back in. He buries a couple of knees, but Stevie reverses a whip and sends Rick into Booker’s knee. He follows with a big kick and tags Booker back in. Stevie shoots Rick into the ropes and Booker leaps in and nails a sidekick for 2. Rick is back up and hits Booker with a belly-to-belly. He tags Scott in and he takes down both Heat with clotheslines. Stevie is sent to the floor and Scott hits Booker with a double underhook suplex to a big pop. Stevie rolls back in and breaks up the pin, but as he does, the Faces of Fear and Public Enemy hop in the ring to draw the DQ and trigger a big brawl. All eight men are going at it and it ends with Harlem Heat and the Steiners standing in the ring while the Faces and PE battle to the back. That was a decent little tag match that never really slowed down and had a few stiff moves. I know they didn’t want to bury the Heat, but the Steiners needed a clean win pretty badly here. Grade: **

Hour 2
Announcers: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan & Mike Tenay

- We head to the table as we are welcomed to hour 2 of Nitro. We get some more chatter about Piper’s impending arrival. Tenay says nobody knows what is in Piper’s mind. Last time we heard from Roddy, he said he was done. Tony talks about Luger being beaten down and Heenan says WCW wrestlers are brain dead because they don’t arm themselves with weapons like the NWO does. We take another look back at Hogan’s promo from earlier tonight as well as the clip of the Outsiders standing over the unconscious Luger. Tony says this will be Piper’s first appearance since December 30.

5) Dean Malenko defeats Mike Enos with a small package at 7:06

Dean is out and sporting his Cruiserweight title, but I would have to surmise this is non-title. Tony puts over the WCW roster as the bell rings. Enos goes behind and takes Dean down for 1 as Bobby says Enos will be a big star in the future. Malenko takes Enos down and grabs a front facelock, but Mike gets to the ropes to force the break. Enos teases a test of strength, but kicks Dean in the gut and grabs a side headlock. Dean tries to break it, but Enos drags him back down with the hold. Enos is wrenching the hold as we get more Piper chat from our announcers. Dean slips loose, but gets leveled with a shoulderblock. He is back up again and charges, but Enos catches him and slams him hard to the mat. Mike misses an elbow drop and then misses a clothesline, which leads to a Malenko armbar. Heenan lays down the gauntlet to Piper and tells him he needs to get it done or else he is nothing more than a movie star in a skirt. Enos slams Malenko, but Dean keeps the hold and rolls through to stay in control. Dean wraps Enos’ arm over the top rope and kicks at it. Bobby is on a roll tonight as he says that not even John Wayne or any other major star has come out of the movies to win the World title. Malenko continues to work the arm as Tony says we know the NWO is here tonight and we are yet to receive a Luger update. Dean turns the hold into a hammerlock and drops a few knees into it. He pulls Enos up and rams him into the buckle. He shoots him across, but catches a boot to the face on the charge. Dean grabs a single leg takedown, but Enos dodges an elbow drop. Enos misses a charge in the corner and Dean heads up top, but he gets caught with an Enos Powerslam as he comes off. We pan over to the crowd to see Syxx making his way down to the ring. He hops the barrier and grabs Dean’s belt from the timekeeper. He absconds with the strap as Enos continues to work Dean over in the corner. Enos hits a running Powerslam, but misses a big splash. Dean mares Enos over and grabs the leg, but Enos kicks him off. Mike pulls Dean up and whips him in, but puts his head down and catches a boot. Enos blocks a suplex and goes for one of his own, but Dean blocks as well and pulls Enos into a small package for the win. Mark Curtis informs Malenko that Syxx stole the belt and Dean is not happy as we go to break. That was a pretty good back and forth match, and that is something I enjoy on Nitro. They stay away from the formula in a lot of these undercard matches and it keeps them flowing and moving along. Enos got a lot of offense and looked good as well. Grade: **

- Next week we will be in Jacksonville, FL, but Lee Marshall is already there partying at various locals. Tickets are still available as Lee tells us that yesterday was “Ground-Weasel” day in Jacksonville. He says that Punxsutawney Bobby popped his head out of his condo, saw he shadow and will now give us six more weeks of bad taste. Bobby declares his hate for Stagger Lee as we head to Gene Okerlund who is with Kevin Sullivan, Jimmy Hart, Konnan and Jackie. Gene says we are trying to put things in perspective one month into 1997. Gene verifies Jackie’s name and has heard that Sullivan and Jackie have been involved for ten years. Kevin says he hoped the Dungeon would overtake the Horsemen, but he is the leader and he let his life unravel in front of him. He says as he was whining and crying, he forgot where his strength lies. She was there ten years ago and just because it is hard on him, he will make it hard on everyone else. She has always been the light in Kevin’s tunnel. Jimmy says that women in wrestling are trouble and he hates them. He thinks Jackie is here for another reason and he will get to the bottom of it. Gene thinks Jimmy hates women altogether. Konnan says they need to forget about trivial matters and take out the Horsemen. Konnan asks Kevin to let him take care of Benoit so Kevin can take care of Jackie. She says that didn’t need plastic surgery to get her body, unlike Debra. Gene says we don’t know if that is true about Debra. Jackie says that Woman is jealous that she took Kevin away from her. Kevin tells Benoit that this won’t end tonight. Kevin says that all of Flair is either dead or doesn’t work. Jackie tells Nancy that if she sticks her nose in Jackie’s business, she will beat her like she stole something.

6) Diamond Dallas Page defeats Renegade with the Diamond Death Cutter at 2:00

Page’s pops are increasing as he heads down to the ring. Tony gives him props for standing up for himself and WCW in taking on the NWO. Tenay talks about how Page went against tradition and went from manager to wrestler instead of vice versa. We get a lockup and a clean break to start things off as Tony puts DDP over some more. Page misses a punch and gets taken down with an armdrag. We get another lockup, but Dallas clubs away on the break this time. Tony says Page was offended because he wasn’t the first recruit of the NWO and that is why he has now fought against them. Renegade hits a splash in the corner and follows with a handspring elbow. Renegade heads up top, but Page shakes the rope, crotching Renegade. Page sets up the Diamond Cutter and crushes Renegade with it, yanking him off the top in the process. Tenay says that Page calls that version the Diamond Death Cutter. We cut over to the entrance way, where the Outsiders are standing with their metal pipes. Page looks shaken up and Tony says this is the first time Page has shown fear. Nash has a Giant shirt on and Hall is rocking a Luger shirt, which is pretty funny. We now pan to the crowd, where Sting is observing. Hall and Nash are motioning for Sting to come down. We cut across the arena and see Randy Savage looking on as well. Page grabs a chair as Bobby points out that Savage is now wearing black and white as well. The Outsiders head to the back and Bobby wants to know why they didn’t attack, as he thinks something is up. Match was nothing, but it put Page over big and he debuted another Cutter variation. Grade: 1/2*

7) Alex Wright defeats Super Calo with a missile dropkick at 6:34

We are back and right into our next match. Calo gets a quick near fall and Wright reciprocates after a leg sweep. Wright grabs an armbar, but Calo flips out and the two reverse a few more times. Alex ends in control and is able to dodge a Calo dropkick off an Irish whip. Wright hits an uppercut as Tony puts over Nitro and WCW and runs down the rest of our night. Wright shoots Calo in and he slips trying to climb the buckles. Wright slams him down and drops an elbow. He grabs a side headlock, but Calo gets to the ropes. Wright pulls him away and drags him down, but Calo turns it into a back suplex. Calo is whipped into the buckle, but he leaps up this time and hits a cross body. He follows with a springboard armdrag and a leg lariat. Wright regains control and clubs away at Calo and then plants him with a belly-to-belly for 2. Calo lands a dropkick and kicks Wright to the floor. He heads up top and comes off with a cross body block down to the floor. Calo shoots Wright back in and heads back up top. He comes off, but Wright dropkicks him on the way down. Wright hits another uppercut and follows with a running back elbow in the corner. Wright kicks away some more as Tony puts over the International flavor of Nitro. Wright mares Calo over and then takes him down with a pair of headscissor takedowns. Calo rolls outside and Wright follows with a plancha. Wright pounds on Calo and then rolls him back inside. Alex heads up top, but Calo leaps up and catches him with some punches and then hits a top rope superplex for 2. Calo pushes Alex into the corner and puts him on the top buckle. He leaps up and takes Wright down with a headscissors. Calo heads up again but misses a somersault Senton. Bobby is marveling that Calo’s hat stays on. Wright goes up and hits a nice missile dropkick for the win and a good sized pop. Well, they started off quite sloppy but got into a bit of a groove as they went along. The pace was quite frantic and that led to the sloppiness throughout. There were a couple of good moves mixed in and Wright picks up a big win. Grade: *1/2

8) Konnan defeated Chris Benoit by disqualification at 4:15 when Benoit throws Konnan over the top rope

It looks like Konnan got his wish from earlier tonight as he heads down to the ring, flanked by Jimmy Hart. Benoit is out next and looking to take out another Dungeon member. Tony talks about Piper some more, mentioning how the beating he took was worse than most NWO beatings and says he has a week to think things over. Tenay and Tony both say that all of WCW is hoping Piper takes the match. Konnan attacks with a dropkick and then kicks away at Benoit as Tony says Piper may be in a no-win situation because of Bischoff’s allegiance to Hogan. Konnan lands some chops and mares Benoit over and then sends him down with a low dropkick. Bobby talks about the evolution of Konnan and says he may be in for a bonus from Kevin Sullivan tonight. Konnan remains in control as he is just pounding on Chris. He locks in a neck vice and clubs away at Benoit’s skull and then turns it into a modified stump puller. Benoit escapes and lands a few kicks and is able to lift Konnan onto the top rope and then slug away at him. Benoit heads up top and takes Konnan over with a stuff top rope superplex. Benoit shoots Konnan in, but Konnan is able to turn him into a splash mountain powerbomb for 2. Konnan goes for the move again, but Chris slips out and drills him with a release German suplex. Konnan isn’t moving as Benoit gets to his feet. Chris pulls him up, but we cut to the aisle to see Jacqueline stalking down to the ring. Benoit tosses Konnan over the top, drawing the weak DQ, as Jackie gets up on the apron. Benoit yanks away Jackie’s leather strap, so she reaches under the ring and brandishes a…water bottle. She keeps looking under there but is coming up empty as Benoit and Woman are just standing there looking. Jimmy Hart comes over and he and Konnan pull Jackie away. Well, the match was actually solid while it lasted and could have been really good if it was longer and had a better finish. That ending was a mess and I don’t know what Jackie was looking for, but it wasn’t there and made the whole thing awkward. Grade: **

9) Jeff Jarrett defeats Steve McMichael by count out at 2:18

Tony informs us that they learned during the break that lax Luger was officially out of tonight’s match with Jarrett due to the NWO beating and that the Championship Committee has accepted Mongo’s offer to step in. Debra is yelling at Mongo all the way to the ring as she doesn’t want to see these two go at it. Jarrett asks Mongo and Debra to step aside so he can strut, and Debra obliges so he can. Mongo is agitated and jumps JJ to start the match off. Tony runs down the recent goings-on between these three and how Debra has been pushing Mongo to aid Jarrett over the past few weeks. Mongo chokes Jarrett on the top rope and then levels him with a big clothesline. He follows with a back elbow as Heenan puts Mongo over. JJ ducks a clothesline, but Mongo catches him on a cross body attempt and plants him with a running Powerslam for 2. Mongo misses an elbow and Jarrett gains control with some uppercuts and an inverted atomic drop. He follows with a clothesline and heads up top. JJ hits a high cross body for 2 as Tony tells us Piper will be here next to give us an answer. JJ lands a nice dropkick to send Mongo over the top and to the floor. Debra is trying to keep Mongo on the floor and he ends up being counted out. He is not happy as Tony says this is the first time a man has been counted out because a woman held him outside the ring. Debra is mugging at Jarrett and says that she doesn’t know what happened. OK, call me crazy but I was digging that match and Mongo looked good on offense early on. Too bad they were tight on time, but maybe it was for the best. Grade: **1/2

- We are back and it is finally time to hear from Roddy Piper. Gene Okerlund is in the ring and calls out the “Icon”, who is accompanied by his young son, who is bedecked in a shirt and tie. Bobby says that the kid is either his son or his attorney, which cracked me up. Piper says he is also known as “Rubik’s Cube” and he in the home of the King, Memphis, TN. He says he will never be an Elvis Presley and that Hulk Hogan will never be a Roddy Piper. He says it was a beautiful day until Hogan’s plane came and brought rain and washed all the crops away. We get a nice “Roddy” chant to break things up. Piper said he had a nice offer by Ted Turner and WCW for a title shot, but says he already beat Hogan. He asks if the Green Bay Packers would give the New England Patriots another chance at the Super Bowl. He introduces his son, Colt, and has him say it is an honor to be in Memphis. Piper says he has been on the road his whole life and says that any jerk can have a baby, but it takes a man to be a father. He says it is time for him to grow up and become a man. He says thanks, but he is not accepting the Title shot as he has nothing to prove. As he is explaining himself, the NWO music fires up and we are joined by Hollywood Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Ted DiBiase and Vincent. Bobby and Tony implore Roddy to get out of the ring and take his kid with him. Gene apologizes to Roddy and Piper asks “Terry” not to do this to him and to just let him go home. Hogan says this is kind of weak and tells Piper to get on his knees and beg for mercy. Hogan says that Piper, who claims to be an icon, had a chance to go after the NWO Heavyweight title, but he has never been a World’s Heavyweight Champion. Hogan says that Piper knows what he is doing by bringing his son out here. The crowd is chanting for Roddy, but Hogan tells them to shut up or something bad will happen. Gene says this is not the time or place, and Hogan agrees that it wasn’t the place for Piper to bring his son, but he did it anyway.  Hogan says it is a ploy by Piper and it is very obvious that Piper doesn’t want to get beat again. Bischoff asks Piper to tell him the truth: that Hogan beat him like a drum. Piper says that Hulk Hogan beat him like a drum, but Bischoff makes him say it again, clarifying that Hollywood Hogan. Piper says it and asks to be left alone. Hogan asks Piper who all the fans talk about when he goes in public and asks who the true icon is. Piper says that Hogan is the icon and Hogan says it feels good to tell the truth. Hogan says he is the Green Bay Packers and that he is done with Piper. He says Roddy is a coward, is yellow but that he doesn’t deserve to be called a coward because he is hiding behind a kid and that makes him sick. Man, Hogan is just killing him here. Piper hangs his heads and starts to walk off as Gene apologizes some more and says this is reprehensible. Piper drops to his knees and kisses his son on the head. He then hands Colt to a ring attendant and turns around and removes his jacket. Hogan and Bischoff are facing the other way, and Piper comes from behind and rams their heads together to a big pop. Piper pulls his belt off and whips and chokes Hogan with it. Eric grabs a chair as the crowd is going wild. Bischoff is standing on the apron with the chair, but Piper grabs the title and swings it at Eric. The NWO bails and Piper grabs the belt and holds it high. He officially accepts the offer and tells San Francisco to be ready. He says to let the games begin and tells San Francisco to watch his fists go. He raises up Colt and the belt as the crowd is going nuts and we are out.

Final Analysis

A pretty exciting show this week that only lacked that one killer match we usually get. I will say that we did have a lot of matches and they were all pretty solid, with only one or two dogs. This show was all about the hype for Roddy Piper’s announcement, and they hyped big time all show long. They did pay it off though, as the final segment was really good and filled with emotion and a hot crowd. Piper played his part well and Hogan was just tearing him apart before the big payoff and announcement. The build up to this rematch has been really good. The secondary angle that ran throughout the night was the injury to Lex Luger. We know that he is teaming with the Giant at Superbrawl, but his status was still unknown as we went off the air. The Horsemen and Dungeon continue to war with each other and a new component has been added in Jackie. DDP, Ice Train and Alex Wright all picked up nice wins and were put over strongly. The tag division picture continues to be chaotic as we saw a big brawl break out between all of the major teams. Malenko and Dragon continue to roll on, and it looks like Malenko has a burgeoning feud with Syxx, who stole his belt. The commentary was pretty focused throughout as they just hyped Piper all night long. The crowd stayed hot all show as well, which added a lot to the bigger matches and the final segment. All in all, this was an enjoyable show as the march to Superbrawl continues. Final Grade: B+

MVP: Roddy Piper & Hollywood Hogan
Runner Up: Dungeon of Doom
Non MVP: Steve McMichael
Runner Up: Steiner Brothers

Review Date: March 2008