JT's Replay: WCW Nitro 10/20/97

Image result for wcw nitro curt hennig

WCW Nitro 10/20/97
Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Biloxi, MS

Hour 1

Announcers: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay & Larry Zbyszko

- We open with a shot of the locker room and various members of the NWO are all laid out on the floor...Bischoff, Hogan and Savage come in to check on every one...an Icon shirt and a baseball bat are on the ground and DDP's name is painted on the wall...Hogan and Bischoff are freaking out

- Hogan, Bischoff and Savage stomp out to the ring and are not happy...they have the evidence in their hands...they say it's obvious it was Page, Sting and Piper behind the attack...Hogan calls Piper out...they yell some more before finally giving up...we head up to the announce booth to reset and officially open the show...they talk about WCW finally fighting back and giving the NWO their own medicine......Halloween Havoc is this Sunday...clips of the end of last week's show before we head to the ring

- Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero (c) for the Cruiserweight Title...big match to open the show...Tony runs down tonight's card...stiff offense from both as always...Larry talks about the in ring respect with these two...Tony says the NWO is demanding answers and medical attention...Benoit on fire early...moving at a manic pace, including a wild dive to the floor...Eddie battles back and wins with the frog splash...short match, but fun and stiff as always...Eddie needed the win more here, so it made sense...Eddie moves on to face Rey Sunday

- Clips from last week highlighting the finish of the wild US title match between Page and Hennig...Tony announces that it is official that Hennig retained the US title and Page did not win due to interference from Ric Flair

- Bill Goldberg vs. Wrath...Goldberg is out first...Wrath has Mortis and Vandenberg with him...I really dig their creepy entrance...announcers putting Goldberg over big time already...Goldberg catches Wrath coming and drops him with the jackhammer to win in mere seconds...crazy squash there...you can see they are already prepping Goldberg for big things...Goldberg speaks for the first time, simply asking "Who's Next"...Mongo makes his way out for the next match and runs into Goldberg...they have a face to face showdown in the aisle and neither man backs down

- Steve McMichael vs. Mortis...Mortis just stays in the ring and Mongo is all over him immediately as well...Vandenberg is flipping out at ringside...talk about Mongo's personal issues driving him...discussion about who Debra's mystery representative will be...this match goes a bit long with Mortis getting some offense in...Mongo eventually wipes out Vandenberg and Mortis and gets the win with the Tombstone to a big pop

- Gene catches up with Mongo in the aisle and they talk about Havoc...Mongo doesn't care who his opponent is...Debra comes out to interject...says she is sick of Mongo stealing her TV time...Debra still won't spill the beans on her surprise

- Another Raven promo, set in a playground...talks about being teased, bullied and humiliated during recess...talks about the scarring of memories and his past...good stuff as usual

- Time for this week's Mike Tenay Lucha lesson...this week focuses on Rey Mysterio, Jr...spotlighting his upbringing and career

- Juventud Guerrera vs. Yuji Nagata...Tenay thinks Rey putting his mask on the line at Havoc is a mistake...Sonny Onoo is out with his new protege, Nagata...Nagata will face Ultimo Dragon at Havoc...more talk about the NWO...Tony wonders if they will be more dangerous now that they are on the defensive...Onoo runs some interference, allowing Nagata to get the submission win...Dragon comes out but Onoo and Nagata overwhelm him and beat Dragon down...Yuji hooks him in the Nagata-lock

- Raven, Saturn, Richards and Kidman are all sitting ringside once again as we transition to our next bout

- Villiano IV, Villiano V & Damien come out for their match...Tenay notes that we haven't heard from the NWO yet...Giant storms out and takes the mic...he calls out Kevin Nash, says he is home hiding, not recovering...Giant says he is the only giant in wrestling...Damien gets in Giant's face, so Giant wipes all three of them out...guess we won't get the match

Hour 2

Announcers: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay & Bobby Heenan

- The Nitro Girls dance us back from break as Tony talks about upcoming live events as well as a call for Nitro Party tapes

- Disco Inferno (c) vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr. for the Television Title...Rey's mask will be on the line Sunday for a shot to win the cruiser title, but he has a chance for additional gold here...talk about Eddie trying to rip off Rey's mask last week...Disco continues to look sharp out there...talk about his match with Jackie on Sunday...Tony says the NWO is still backstage making demands, which could be trouble for WCW...Eddie comes out and wipes out Rey, drawing the DQ...Jackie now comes down takes down Disco...Eddie keeps trying for Rey's mask...Disco tries to walk away, but Jackie keeps on him...Disco escapes, but Jackie keeps stalking him

- Hogan, Bischoff and Savage are back out again...they keep calling out Page, Sting and Piper...throwing all sorts of jabs out there, including some sort of insult at Vince McMahon for some reason...good angry stuff here though...no sign of the WCW guys, so another fruitless try by the NWO

- Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig (c) for the United States title...talk about the last segment...Tony thinks it's smart that Sting, Page and Piper didn't come out and give in...fans calling for Flair...recap of last week's title match once again...back and forth by both men with Malenko hanging in there...lots of near falls with Malenko picking up some steam...Tenay thinks the earlier attack is affecting Hennig...Malenko counters out of the Hennigplex...Malenko hooks the cloverleaf but Hennig gets the ropes...Hennig comes back and gets the Hennigplex for the hard fought win...very nice TV match there

- The Nitro Girls get down and then we get clips from last week when the NWO assaulted and humiliated Ray Traylor

- Ray Traylor vs. Scott Norton...Traylor looking for revenge from last week with this rematch...ah the sultry NWO B Team music...shots of Raven and his lackeys at ringside...Vincent is out to the ring with Norton...Traylor is hot off the bell but Norton catches him with a big powerslam...another stiff war between these two hosses...Traylor goes to the top and hits a cross body...he covers, but Vincent sprays him in the eyes with the paint and Norton gets the win...Traylor is in pain but gets to his feet and starts fighting off Norton and Vincent...Konnan, Hall and Hennig all come out to help and they all beat down the blinded Traylor...Tony thinks this is a sign of bad things to come

- We quickly cut to a video package highlighting the rise of DDP and the epic Page/Savage feud that will culminate this Sunday at Havoc

- Booker T. vs. Lex Luger...Jackie is out with Booker...Booker looking to keep his singles momentum going...hot entrance for Lex...Tony wants to know why nobody helped Traylor and wonders if Ray had alienated WCW athletes when he jumped to NWO last year...even matchup early...talk about how Luger is a prime NWO target...he will face Hall on Sunday with Larry as the referee...Booker gains control and continues to show his development with some solid offense...lots of NWO/WCW talk as the match wears on...crowd is hot for Lex...Booker avoids the rack but misses the top rope legdrop and Lex is able to rack him for the victory on the second attempt

- Gene catches Lex in the ring to chat about Sunday's show...Lex puts over Booker...talks about how great it was to see the NWO laid out for once...he will take out Hall at Havoc and Larry will call the match down the middle and won't be intimidated...Larry comes out now and vows he will call it down the middle...Larry says he has spent twenty years to earn the respect he has and he won't throw that away on Sunday...Lex says that is all he asked for

- We are back and the Nitro Girls are dancing us into our main event

- Scott Hall vs. Scott Steiner...Hall is out first and is all alone for a change...Hall does his usual on the mic...crowd is actually pro WCW this week...he calls WCW cowards, saying the Steiners challenged for the tag titles while Nash is home rehabbing a serious knee injury...Hall calls out Larry and Lex and the crowd is pretty bored here, a rarity during an NWO promo...Scott makes his way out, flanked by Ted DiBiase...Tony says WCW is dictating things and the NWO doesn't like it, which worries Bobby...Steiner controls early...Hall works his usual offense, but Steiner comes back with his suplex assault...Hall is on the ropes and wipes out the ref, asking for a DQ...Steiner hits an underhook powerbomb...Hall recovers and hits the Outsider Edge...a masked referee slides in the ring and counts three to give the match to Hall...Hall says there is more than one special ref and Bobby thinks they are regrouping now

- Voodoo Child fires up and Hogan, Savage and Bischoff come out again, this time with a bit more swagger...Bischoff takes another jab at McMahon, something must have pissed him off over the last week, perhaps the Jarrett signing...more calling out of Piper, Page and Sting...Hogan says he will be patient and just wait until Sunday to get revenge...good work as usual...Sting appears in the entrance way...two more Stings come in the ring from behind...they take out Hogan and Savage ...the two in the ring unmask to reveal Piper and Page...the troops storm out and wipe out the Sting that was in the aisle...they all brawl in the ring...the cage that was hanging above the ring lowers down as the NWO is stomping Piper and Page...now the real Sting comes down from the ceiling and scares Bischoff and then attacks the rest of the troops...the NWO starts to bail out as Piper, Page and Sting stand tall to end the show...that was a wild finish and the crowd was going nuts...good hype for the PPV.

Review Date: August 2011

Comments