JT's Replay: WCW Nitro 9/8/97

WCW Nitro 9/8/97
Bradley Center
Milwaukee, WI

Hour One
Announcers: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay & Larry Zbyszko

- We kick off the program with our opening animation before heading inside the Bradley Center where Tony Schiavone welcomes us to Milwaukee and Nitro, the uncontested number one wrestling show on television today. The Nitro Girls are getting jiggy in the ring and we are just six days away from Fall Brawl. Tony runs down tonight’s card as we visit the announce table to talk about Fall Brawl and War Games a bit. You can tell it is AWA country as Larry is getting a loud chant in his honor. Tony discusses the NWO Horsemen parody from last week and promises we won’t see it again but before they can discuss it further, Eric Bischoff charges to the announce table to interrupt. Eric says he has plenty of stroke and demands that the truck roll the tape of said parody. The tape rolls as requested but just a few minutes in it cuts off as the Horsemen have arrived at the announce table. Bischoff has apparently fled the scene. Mongo wants the NWO to come out and prove that they are real men. Mongo leads Flair, Benoit and Hennig to the ring as Tenay tells us security detained them last week during the parody. As they wait, Gene Okerlund hits the ring to chat with the Horsemen. Hennig says he always falls in the dog doo but doesn’t get any on him. Ok then. Hennig says he has been hired to be the Enforcer of the Horsemen and tells the NWO they can get it now or later. Mongo gets booed soundly by the Packer faithful as he rambles on, issuing a warning to the NWO as only he can. Gene says that he and Flair were embarrassed to tears last week. Flair says he has been wrestling for 25 years but last week was the first time he was embarrassed to admit he was a wrestler. They showed there is nothing sacred in life when it comes to wrestling. Whether you liked or didn’t like Arn Anderson, he is a legitimate legend, human being and a man. WCW did something huge in dedicating the night to his career and everyone in the sports world should have recognized that. He tells Nash, Syxx, Konnan and Bagwell that the day their livelihood ends, if there is someone standing by them with a tear in their eye, they would be lucky men. Arn is his friend for life and tonight, he isn’t going home until he gets all four of them. That was a great promo by Flair and you could feel his emotion seeping through. Gene wraps it up as we go to break.

- When we return, Gene is still with the Horsemen in the ring. Flair reiterates that they will not leave until they get a match. That plan is short lived as security head Doug Dellinger comes to clear the ring. Flair gives a final warning and request for a fight before they heed Dellinger’s request and leave the ring.

1) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr.

As the Horsemen take off, Eddie Guerrero makes his way to the ring for our opening contest. Rey Mysterio is out next, making his return to the ring after his major knee injury. It looks like we are kicking this show off with a hot match. Tenay breaks some big news and tells us that JJ Dillon is out of commission after last week and that WCW is looking for an interim commissioner until he is ready to return. Tony says that meetings were held all week and that the new commissioner may be unveiled tonight and questions if JJ will ever be back. Rey and Eddie trade holds to a stalemate off the bell. They lock up but Eddie boots him in the gut and slugs him down. He shoots Rey in and crushes him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Eddie hooks in a reverse armbreaker as we take a quick break. When we return, Eddie is planting Rey with a shoulderbreaker as he continues to work the arm. Rey fires back and he takes Eddie over with a springboard headscissors takeover but Eddie regains control with a stiff clothesline. Tenay tells us that this is the first ever singles match between these two men. Rey gets another headscissors takeover to send Eddie to the floor. He follows him with a somersault senton and both men are down. Both men get back in the ring and Rey hits a springboard moonsault for two. Rey heads up top but Eddie catches him and plants him with a backbreaker. Eddie picks him up and folds him with a powerbomb for two. Eddie follows with a pumphandle backbreaker for another near fall. He picks Rey up and locks him in the Gory Guerrero Special but Rey flips out of it. Eddie meets him with a seated dropkick and goes for another powerbomb but Rey blocks it with a headscissors. Eddie blocks a DDT and tosses Rey to the floor. Rey lands on his feet and hops back onto the apron. He leaps off the ropes with a springboard hurricanrana and picks up the win. The loss may kill some of Eddie’s momentum as he challenges for the Cruiserweight title this Sunday. The match was solid but not their best work as you could tell Rey was still working off the rust after his long layoff. Mysterio d. Guerrero with a springboard hurricanrana at 5:23; Grade: 2

- We check out the Valvoline replay before heading over to Gene in the aisle. He recaps the recent history between Diamond Dallas Page and Lex Luger before bringing DDP out to talk. Gene wants the story from DDP. Page says he has always looked for respect but nobody gives it to you, you have to earn it. Luger did it the same way as Page: busting your chops. When he and Lex got together, they butted heads and didn’t click how people wanted them to. Page says that when words don’t work, you have to do it the other way. Gene says now is the time to patch up differences as War Games in Sunday. Page says if they can’t do it with words, they need to do it in the ring. Luger now heads out and Gene gets in between them, as if that will help anything. Lex has to go on gut instinct, as he looks Page in the eye. He hopes they finally agree on something: that they need to do it in the ring. Lex says they need to do it the right way and hold nothing back. Gene sums things up as Lex heads off and we go to break.

- We are back and ready for action as Tony confirms that DDP and Luger will wrestle tonight.

2) Disco Inferno vs. Hugh Morrus

As Disco heads to the ring, Larry laments the announcement, as he doesn’t want animosity between Page and Lex. Tony takes us back to last week when Disco made his return and assisting Alex Wright in defeating Hugh Morrus. Hugh is looking for revenge as he makes his way down the aisle. Tenay is curious to see if Disco has learned to focus on the ring and not dancing. Disco plays to the crowd and eats a huge clothesline as he turns around. Hugh lands another one and then slugs away at Disco. Hugh mauls him against the ropes and drops him with a spin wheel kick. Hugh chops Disco in the corner but misses a splash and Disco kicks him to the floor. Disco comes from behind and shoves him into the guardrail. Disco tosses him back in the ring and lands a clothesline in the corner. He smacks Hugh in the face but that only wakes Hugh up and he drills Disco with a pair of charging clotheslines. Hugh drops Disco with a press slam as Alex Wright makes him way to ringside and dances. Hugh hits a flying clothesline off the middle rope and then slugs Wright to the floor. Hugh drills Disco with a powerbomb and heads to the top rope. As Mickey Jay is watching Hugh, Wright slides his TV title into Disco. Disco puts it across his waist, but Hugh drops the No Laughing Matter on him anyway and is not even fazed by the belt. Morrus covers and picks up the win despite the interference. That was a decent little affair with good energy. Morrus d. Inferno with the No Laughing Matter at 3:09; Grade: 1

- Alex hops in the ring and puts his belt back on before helping Disco up. Disco shoves Alex and they argue as we go to break.

- When we return, the NWO music is filling the arena as Syxx, Bagwell, Konnan and Nash head onto the entrance ramp. Syxx has the mic and mocks Flair and says Ric is really upset because last week Syxx showed everyone how stupid Flair looks every week. Nash says emotions are high in WCW and there is nothing he and the boys would like to do than take care of the Horsemen but they are big stars and they don’t just do whatever people tell them to do. The NWO makes the rules around here and they are way too busy to fight the Horsemen tonight. They mock the Arn “spot” stuff again before getting to the point. Buff says he has nothing to do and Konnan, still wearing Mongo’s jacket, is in agreement. Buff says it would be an honor to defend the NWO against the Horsemen and it looks like the challenge has been accepted. They head off as we head back to the ring. Chris Jericho makes his way out for his match. His opponent, Brad Armstrong, is already in the ring. Before the match can get underway, Eddie Guerrero hits the ring and grabs a mic. He says he couldn’t take care of things last week but asks Armstrong to step aside and let him wrestle Jericho now instead of Sunday. Brad tells him to take a hike or get whooped.

3) Chris Jericho vs. Brad Armstrong for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship

Eddie obliges and heads to the floor as Brad jumps Jericho and hammers away at him. Tony talks about Brad’s attitude change and increased aggressiveness as of late. Jericho takes Armstrong over with a monkey flip and sends him to the floor with a clothesline. Jericho follows with a springboard shoulderblock as Brad was climbing back on the apron. Jericho hammers away in the aisle as Tony thanks the fans for the Get Well cards for JJ. Back in the ring, Jericho chops Brad in the corner but he eats a boot on a charge. Armstrong takes him down with a swinging DDT and gets two. Jericho ducks a clothesline and lands an Asai moonsault for two. He takes Brad over with a suplex and heads up top as the crowd isn’t feeling this one at all. Jericho nails him with a missile dropkick but Brad rolls to the floor. That allows Eddie to come in from behind and take Jericho down to draw the DQ. The match was sloppy as Jericho botched a few spots throughout. Armstrong did look game though and maybe they could have gotten on track with more time. Jericho d. Armstrong by disqualification at 2:35; Grade: .5

- Eddie works over Jericho but Chris turns the tide and hooks the Liontamer. Armstrong comes in and clotheslines Jericho and he and Eddie put the boots to the champ as we head to break.

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

- We are back from break and Tony welcomes us to Hour Two. The Nitro Girls are dancing on the ramp as Tony runs down the remaining action for tonight. We head to the booth where Bobby has replaced Larry. They talk about the Page/Luger match as well as the attack on JJ. We get clips of Hogan assaulting Dillon last week as Bobby hopes they get a commissioner that can take charge and rule with an iron fist. Tony hopes the commissioner will be named tonight. He is again interrupted by the NWO music but this time we are joined by Eric Bischoff and Hollywood Hogan. They strut down to the ring, drawing some tremendous heat. Easy E introduces Hogan as he hits the poses. Hogan knows everyone is here to see the NWO. He wants no more crybabies around here and says that he is the man that made wrestling, not Flair. He is the only god in the ring. Bischoff sucks up and Hogan says is too big, too rich and too tan for anybody around here. No more games as all the family business will be taken care of. Nobody will ever touch another hair on Bischoff, the NWO brothers will take care of family business tonight and finally, he wants to put the title on the line against Sting. He is tired of the so-called hero and his two friends in the front row. He wants to trash Sting tonight and calls him out to the ring to fight. I love Hogan’s challenges when Sting isn’t around, classic stuff. Well, maybe I spoke too soon as the crowd starts to stir a bit. Hogan calls Sting a coward and begs him to come out so he can kill him. The crowd is calling for Sting as Hogan dances in the ring. The crowd erupts as Sting lowers from the sky, but he picks up speed and crashes to the floor. As Bagwell and Norton appear and pick Sting up, it is apparent it was only a dummy that fell. Norton and Bagwell hold it up as Hogan smacks it around and yells at it. Hogan pounds on the Sting dummy and he finishes him off with the legdrop. He covers it and Bischoff counts three and announces Hogan as the winner. They celebrate the win as we take a break.

 - We are back from commercial and hooking up with Lee Marshall in Charlotte, NC. He name drops Vlade Divac, which is pretty awesome. Charlotte fans are hoping for a confrontation between the NWO and the Horsemen next week. The fans are also glad the city was named after the King’s wife and not his sewer inspector, Lord Weaselton. Bobby barely acknowledges the lameness as we head to the ring.

4) Faces of Fear vs. Steiner Brothers

The Faces of Fear head to the ring and they are followed out by the Steiners and their manager, Ted DiBiase. The bell sounds and Barbarian and Scott kick things off. Scott puts Barbarian down with a shoulderblock but Barbarian comes back with a big powerslam. All four men end up in the ring and Steiners hit stereo belly-to-belly suplexes to clear the ring. The Faces slide back in and take control, clubbing the Steiners down. Meng chokes away at Rick and then nails a dropkick for two. He tags in Barbarian and they clubber Rick in the corner. Barbarian hoists Rick up and drops him with another powerslam for a near fall. Barbarian hammers on Rick before tagging Meng back in. Rick goes for a sunset flip but Meng blocks it and drills Rick. He tags in Barbarian and they land a double headbutt. Barbarian grabs a chinlock as the announcers haven’t said a word about the match as they talk about the NWO some more. Tony apologizes for that as Rick hits a leaping clothesline. Barbarian recovers and slams Rick to the mat. He heads up top but Rick dodges a flying headbutt and both men are slow to their feet. Rick tags in Scott and he takes Barbarian down with a clothesline and pumphandle slam. He follows with a belly-to-belly for two. All four men are back in and slugging away at each other. Barbarian gets crotched on the top rope and Scott takes him over with a belly-to-belly superplex. Meng grabs Rick in the Tongan Death Grip but before the match can be decided, hell breaks loose as Harlem Heat, Mortis and Wrath all hop in the ring and trigger a huge brawl. Match was stiff and hard-hitting as you would expect. Steiners and Faces of Fear wrestle to a no contest at 5:28; Grade: 2

- The brawl rages on as these teams will be paired off at Fall Brawl. Bobby wants to know why WCW members fight each other as we hit a break.

5) Scott Hall vs. Super Calo

We are back live and Scott Hall is sauntering down to the ring. Calo is already in the ring as Hall takes his time prepping. The bell sounds and Hall flicks the toothpick. He shoves Calo down but Calo goes to the eyes and lands some shots in the corner. Hall turns him around and hammers away, He hiptosses Calo across the ring and then clotheslines him to the floor. Calo slides back in and Hall works him over. Calo fights free and hits a flying back elbow off the top for two. Calo ducks a clothesline, but Hall catches him and takes him over with a fallaway slam from the middle rope. The crowd is totally behind Hall here. He picks Calo up and drops him with the Outsider Edge for the win. That was a fun side of squash, I must say. Hall d. Calo with the Outsider Edge at 2:32; Grade: 1

- Hall celebrates as Ray Traylor stalks to the ring. He gets in Hall’s face but Hall tells him to take off. Traylor shoves him back but Hall lands a right hand. They trade blows until Traylor catches him and drops him with the sidewalk slam. Vincent comes in and Traylor crushes him with a sidewalk slam as well. The crowd is behind Traylor as Hogan makes his way out. Traylor is distracted and Hall jumps him from behind. Hall takes him down with the Outsider Edge. They stomp on him and tear his shirt off as Hogan spray paints his back. They mock him and Hogan says he looks like a “Big Lost Man” which made me laugh. Traylor was looking super strong there before they took him down.

- We are back from break and the Nitro Girls are dancing once again as we head down to the ring.

6) Psychosis vs. Dean Malenko

Psychosis and Sony Onoo make their way out as Psychosis is set to battle the Iceman. Dean will be facing Jeff Jarrett on Sunday to earn a US Championship match at Halloween Havoc. Dean and Psychosis trade holds as Dean gains control and works the arm. Psychosis slips free and grabs a half crab until dean forces the break. Dean blocks a hiptoss but Psychosis floats over and takes him down. Dean recovers with a leg lariat to knock Psychosis to the floor. Dean follows him out, slugs away and then rolls him back inside. A fan hops into the ring but Mark Curtis takes him down with a sweet front facelock. That was damn impressive. Security comes and drags him away as Dean and Psychosis keep the match going. Bobby and Mike mock the fan for getting taken down by tiny Mark Curtis, which is pretty funny. Psychosis slams Dean down and then knocks him to the floor. Sonny tries to attack but Dean blocks him. The distraction allows Psychosis the chance to knock him down from behind. Back inside, Psychosis lands a dropkick for a near fall. Tony tells us that we are spilling into a third hour tonight as we still have two more matches left. The crowd is gone here as Psychosis methodically works over Malenko. Dean pushes Psychosis off the top rope but Psychosis hooks him and they tumble to the apron. Dean hits the floor and Psychosis recovers and comes over the top rope with a suicide dive. Back inside, Psychosis gets a victory roll for a close near fall. He hammers on Dean but Malenko avoids a dropkick and takes him down with another leg lariat. Dean clotheslines Psychosis in the corner but Psychosis fends him off and goes up top. Dean blocks him but psychosis shoves him back to the mat. He comes off the top with a guillotine legdrop and gets two. Onoo hops up and argues with Curtis. Dean knocks Sonny to the floor and then rolls through another victory roll and hooks the Cloverleaf for the victory. The fan run in totally killed their flow and the match was just kind of there. Malenko d. Psychosis with the Texas Cloverleaf at 7:08; Grade: .5

- As Malenko releases the hold, Jeff Jarrett and Debra come marching down the aisle. JJ doesn’t want until Sunday, he wants a chance to wrestle here tonight instead. Dean chases JJ and he keeps backing off, claiming Dean needs to sign a contract first. Debra grabs the mic and calls Dean a troll as he chases JJ backstage. Debra rambles on and then takes off as we go to Gene in the ring. He recaps the JJ Dillon injury and officially brings out the new Acting Chairman of the Executive Committee: Rowdy Roddy Piper! Bobby, Tony and Mike are pumped up as the bagpipes are blaring and Hot Rod saunters down to the ring as only he can. The crowd has finally woken up as well. Gene congratulates Roddy and Hot Rod says it is like putting John Belushi in charge of the frats. Piper says he was President of the WWF and now he is Chairman of the Board because he can’t be fooled. He ain’t putting up with no whining wrestlers. As long as JJ is out, he is in and he has three changes for tonight. First of all, it is his job to create Hogan vs. Sting because they both want each other. He will do his best to get them in the ring together before 1997 ends. Secondly, Hogan wants everybody and Piper is the only man that has an open contract from last year’s Halloween Havoc and Bischoff has forgotten about it. Piper announces that he will wrestle Hogan inside a twenty foot steel cage at this year’s Halloween Havoc. He will make Hogan look like he has E Coli and he will bring the hell back to Halloween Havoc. He watched the Brady Bunch mock the Horsemen last week and they couldn’t have been more obnoxious if they had Barney the Dinosaur with them. Piper officially takes Page and Luger out of War Games due to their issues and he puts the Horsemen and the NWO in it instead. Piper closes his speech and heads off as we take a break.

- As we return, the NWO music is playing and Tony is gloating about last segment. He reminds us again that we are on the air as long as it takes tonight. I will say this; I love the unpredictability of this show. It may come across as disjointed and messy but that is what made it fun. It felt chaotic and just flew along haphazardly, hooking you in along the way. It doesn’t feel set up or prepackaged at all…just fun.

7) Konnan & Buff Bagwell vs. Ric Flair & Curt Hennig

Tenay and Tony like that Luger and Page are out of War Games now due to their mental state. Flair and Hennig hustle down the aisle and jump Bagwell and Konnan as the bell sounds. They beat them around and toss them out to the floor to a big pop. They climb back in and things settle down as Buff and Flair start things off. Buff poses a bit and mocks Flair. They finally lock up and Buff pushes Flair back to the corner and then hammers on him off the break. Flair turns him around and chops away as we hit hour three. Buff turns things around again and clotheslines Flair down. Flair is back up but Buff sends him over with a back body drop. Buff chokes away on Flair and then tags in Konnan. Konnan works Flair over with fists and chops before kicking him down into the corner. Buff tags back in and starts to work the leg a bit. Flair tries to chop his way back in it but Buff hammers him down to the mat. Buff follows with a dropkick and hits the poses again as Flair stumbles to the corner. Buff shoots him across and Flair flips up and over to the apron. He catches Buff with a clothesline and then runs to the top rope but Buff recovers and slugs him down. Buff follows him up and takes him down with a big superplex. Buff has been pretty impressive lately. Buff covers and gets two. He picks Flair up and slams him back down. Buff heads to the second rope but Flair dodges an elbow drop. Flair tags in Hennig and he takes both men down with a flurry. He hits Konnan with a dropkick and then slams both men down. Konnan and buff bail to the floor and talk some strategy. Buff sneaks in from behind as Konnan distracts Hennig and he is able to clip Hennig’s knee. Flair comes in and that allows Buff to dump Hennig over the top rope. Konnan drops down and works him over as Buff and Flair argue and distract Nick Patrick. He tosses Hennig back inside and Buff lands a shinbreaker. He tags in Konnan but Hennig starts to kick his way back into the match. Curt lands a chop but Konnan goes to the leg and boots him down. Konnan hooks in a standing Figure Four as Flair tries to rally Hennig. Hennig works free and puts Konnan on his shoulder but Konnan slides back and hits a reverse DDT. Tony runs down the War Games rules as Hennig avoids a dropkick and Konnan crashes to the mat. Both men crawl to their corner and are able to tag their partners in. Flair works over Buff in the corner and then chops Konnan down as well. Buff comes back with a powerslam but Hennig slugs him down from behind as he poses. Flair takes Buff down with a shinbreaker and hooks the Figure Four as Hennig is arguing with Nick Patrick. Konnan breaks the hold but Hennig takes him out. Buff dumps Flair to the floor and the NWO double teams Curt. Buff hits the ropes but Flair trips him up and that allows Hennig to hook Konnan with the Hennigplex for the win. That was a solid match that got a little messy towards the end but was still well worked and had some good heat. Hennig & Flair d. Konnan & Bagwell with the Hennigplex at 9:22; Grade: 2.5

- Flair and Hennig head off as Mongo and Benoit greet them in the aisle to celebrate. They go to the back as we take a break.

- We are back and it is Main Event time as DDP is heading to the ring along with Kimberly.

8) Diamond Dallas Page vs. Lex Luger

Page and Kim climb inside as Lex Luger’s music fires up and he makes his way out. The bell sounds and the slowly feel each other before locking up. Lex shoves Page to the corner and they lock up again. Page takes him over with an armdrag. Lex starts to work the arm off a third lock up and the crowd seems ready to burst, just waiting for something big to happen. Page grabs a headlock but Lex switches to one of his own. The crowd is starting to turn on this bout as it becomes a basic wrestling exhibition. Lex takes him over with a hiptoss and follows with a clothesline. The crowd finally wakes up as the NWO makes its way out. Lex gets dumped to the floor and Norton and Savage work him over. Tenay wonders if Page did it on purpose. They toss Lex back in as Page seems confused. Page picks him up and takes him over with a swinging neckbreaker. Hall gives the Diamond Cutter signal as Page gets two. Page hits a Pancake for another near fall. The announcers continue to wonder if Page is in cahoots with the NWO. Luger fights out of a Diamond Cutter and hits a back suplex. Lex follows with a pair of lariats but crashes to the floor as Page ducks a third one. Norton and Savage attack again but Page comes out and saves Lex, much to the relief of the announcers. The attack draws the bell to end the match. Page and Luger wrestle to a no contest at 4:39; Grade: .5

- Page and Luger roll into the ring and fight off the NWO but the numbers overwhelm them an a big brawl breaks out in the ring. The crowd starts cheering as Giant stalks to the ring to even things up. He starts to clean house with chokeslams and clotheslines. The NWO hits the deck and Giant fights Norton to the back as Page and Luger are left alone in the ring. They fight off Hall and Savage and it looks like Page and Luger are finally on the same page. Hall puts on a fan’s Cheesehead that Giant had used when he got in the ring and gets a pop for it. The stare down continues as Savage puts on a Cheesehead as well. Savage and Hall take off and Page and Lex shake hands and hug as we fade out. Enjoy Fall Brawl…see you next week!

Review Date: January 2010