Right around this time, WWF Livewire started, and one of the first episodes has Cornette, Russo, Michael Hayes, Sunny and Vince McMahon arguing with one another. What a bizzare show Livewire was.

Today I listened to Survivor Series 96 on TLF (for a second time) and that Austin promo . My god. That guy was unbelievable. The way he tied in Bret leaving to the "pretty boy" and then stepping in the ring with a "real man" was so so great. The gritty visual was great as well because as good was it was when they replayed it, it had nothing on the visuals.

edit: if you watch the first result for that promo, the auto next video is that Livewire that morro mentioned.

Was there heat between them or was this just kayfabe?

The only thing I remember from Livewire is the time they took a call from "Bruce from Connecticut" and it turned out to be Paul Heyman.

I don't know of any particular heat between them, but I didn't see it as that heated of an exchange. Perfect was still a heel at this point, so it wouldn't follow that he should join in the lovefest for the babyface champion. He was also seemingly unsure about ever returning to the ring, so I'm not sure I would expect much more of a reaction to Michaels doubling back for him at the end. I took Michaels's gesture as legitimately playful.

All of that said, I assume that when we're talking about 1996 Shawn Michaels and anyone in the WWF not named HHH, the answer is "yes, there was at least some level of heat."

Yeah 1996 HBK is why I asked. Easy to assume he had heat so I thought there might be some backstory.

September 23, 1996

RAW

Hershey, PA

Mr. Perfect's music is playing, and Perfect is in the ring to open the show. We're starting right off on the IC Tourney Final, and I guess Perfect is just sitting in as the fourth man due to his history with this title. Perfect says that he talked to Marc Mero and gave him some advice before this match. Perfect was doing a slow burn face turn at this time, related to the thing where he kept stealing women from HHH.

Intercontinental Title Tournament Final - Faarooq (w/ Sunny) vs. Marc Mero (w/ Sable): Faarooq attacks the moment that Mero hits the ring. Jim Ross: "One of these two men is going to be the Intercontinental Champion, and we're going to find out right here, tonight, LIVE on Raw, and we all know, anything can happen when it's live!" JR, uhh, you're sort of conceding the point on why people should defer to your competitor 75% of the time. As alluded to last week, Pat Patterson is in as the guest referee for the bout.

Faarooq connects on an enziguri. Misses on a corner charge, Mero with an armdrag and then a clothesline over the top. Somersault plancha. The Wildman continues, returning Faarooq to the ring then heading up top, where he does this odd thing where he faces forward, hops and does a 180 on the top rope, then moonsaults. Dude, why not just climb up facing backward? Maybe I'm just a killjoy, but the masturbatory acrobatics that don't enable or help a move in any way are just so stupid to me.



In any case, Mero's momentum is stopped when Faarooq backdrops him to the floor. Mero returns to the apron, but Faarooq connects on a running shoulderblock to violently knock him back off. They call Ahmed Johnson on the phone during the match. Look man, I know they wanted to keep putting Ahmed over, but ****ing PHONE CALLS are not exactly playing to his strengths. Powerslam by Faarooq gets two. He carries Mero up to the second rope on his back and executes a Samoan drop from there. His ensuing pin attempt gets a super slow count by Patterson, enough so, that Kevin Kelly comments on it, and Marc kicks out at two.



Sunny gets caught interfering on Faarooq's behalf and choking Marc Mero along the bottom rope, and gets ejected by Patterson as the match goes to break. Upon return, we get a lot of slow-moving offense from Faarooq with a couple of surprise pin attempts by Mero not quite getting the pinfalls. Faarooq slaps on a reverse chinlock as a front row fan holds up a "WE LOVE REST HOLDS" sign.



Mero gets out of the hold and connects on a running clothesline. Faarooq fights back, executing a front slam and heading up top, but Mero crotches him along the top rope. Super hurracanrana by Mero. Two-count. The back and forth continues, as the Wildman misses on a clothesline during a rope-running sequence and Faarooq connects on his own on the way back. As both men struggle to get up, Sunny returns to ringside, I guess un-ejecting herself. She and Sable get into a slapfight at ringside as Patterson jumps outside to step into the middle.

On the inside, Faarooq has gotten Sunny's pursue, tries to hit Mero with, Mero dodges, takes it, and uses the weapon himself. He drags Faarooq to the corner, goes up top, connects on the shooting star press, and we have a new Intercontinental Champion. Mero and the crowd go crazy. I can only sit back and long for the days that a wrestler winning the IC Title meant this much.



Result: "…and NEW World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Champion," Marc Mero via pinfall

Jim Ross and Mr. Perfect go into the ring to congratulate Mero. Mero thanks God, the fans, and Sable in that order. And then he says, "I have one more special thank you. For his wisdom, and for all the good advice he's given me. It has brought me the Intercontinental Title. Thank you, Mr. Perfect." Hugs and handshakes all around for Mero. It's an enjoyable feel-good celebration after the match. And I guess Mr. Perfect must officially be a face now.



Jim Ross says that Razor Ramon and Diesel are here tonight, and a dressing room with their names on it is shown.

We see a flashback to Shawn Michaels winning the IC Title off of Jeff Jarrett in July 1995 after The Roadie messed up and accidentally grabbed Jarrett's leg. They transition to talking about Jarrett's "With My Baby Tonight" song, and promise that "up next, we will expose Double J."

After commercial, Marc Mero is still celebrating in the babyface locker room as a bunch of jobbers gather around him and pat him on the back.

Now back to exposing Double J, they send it to a special report by Vince McMahon, who says that Jarrett was just lip-syncing his song, and shows footage from his live PPV performance where he didn't do it very well. Vince says, that very night, Jeff Jarrett walked out on the WWF, but that next week we would hear from the man who really did sing that song, "the real Double J."



Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (w/ Clarence Mason) vs. The Bodydonnas: Wat. The Bodydonnas are still around? Kevin Kelly says that Mason is Owen and Davey's new manager. The sheet of paper that Jim Cornette signed while in a state of shock last night was a contract signing these two wrestlers over to Mason. No chance that contract would be enforceable IMO. Kevin Kelly and Jim Ross actually thunder away at Mason for taking advantage of Cornette. As Owen battles Skip, the crowd gets distracted with something, and it turns out to be Taz coming down the aisle. He totes a "SABU FEARS TAZ" sign back and forth at ringside. Ross angrily says talks down to this local outfit "wrestling in a bingo hall, trying to get their 15 minutes of fame." The show goes to break.

After break, the ECW element is gone from ringside. Skip hits a flying headscissor on Owen. Owen forces him to his friendly corner and Bulldog tags in. Skip attempts a cross-body on Bulldog that misses. Here's Jim Cornette in a PIP interview from backstage, where he rants angrily at Mason and also about Jose Lothario. Mason is pretty damn funny in his responses to all of the heat that he's getting. The Bodydonnas execute a rocket launcher on Owen that gets two. As Skip attempts to follow up, he bounces off the ropes where the Bulldog knees him in the back, he staggers into a spinning wheel kick by Owen, and quickly gets locked in the Sharpshooter. Tap tap tap, the tag champs win.



Result: Owen Hart & The British Bulldog via submission

We get a recap in still photos of last night's classic between Mankind and Shawn Michaels.

We also get some dark footage of Undertaker stalking through a cemetery, shovel in hand, cutting a promo on Mankind regarding their upcoming Buried Alive match. They keep calling this an "unsanctioned" match. Except that it's the headline match of the coming PPV. Does that just mean that they're disclaiming liability in case of injury?

Dok Hendrix attempts to get a word with Razor and Diesel. He opens up the Razor and Diesel dressing room, where someone in a Razor Ramon jacket is facing away from the door, and slams the door behind him without turning around. Jim Ross angrily says, "That's MY interview anyway, Dok."

Next week on Raw, we will see Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario vs. Vader & Jim Cornette.

Steve Austin joins the commentary team for the next match and says, "I spit on the life, the career, and the family of Bret 'The Hitman' Hart." He vows that Bret Hart is going to answer to him even if he has to fly to Calgary and beat up his old man.

Hunter Hearst-Helmsley vs. The Stalker: Barry Windham with an armdrag and a couple of arm-wringers to start, as he focuses his attack on Helmsley's left arm. Hammerlock slam on the arm. Windham basically dominates all of the offense in this match, and the crowd rises as Mr. Perfect makes his way out to ringside. Commercial.

After the break, Helmsley has finally managed to take over, dropping a knee and slapping on a reverse chinlock as Perfect continues to watch on. Jawbreaker by The Stalker, followed by a dropkick. This match is terribly boring. Stalker executes a delayed suplex as Perfect moves in for the kill on HHH's woman. As she starts to leave with him, Helmsley gets distracted yelling at them from the turnbuckle as they walk up the aisle. Windham hits him from behind, executes a superplex, 1-2-3.



Result: The Stalker via pinfall

Jim Ross excitedly enters the ring to introduce Razor and Diesel, but we get a taped cemetery spot with Mankind and Paul Bearer first. As they return to the arena, Ross impatiently says, "Can we do this interview now?" But as he starts talking, he gets interrupted as the show goes to break.

After the break, JR says that in a moment he's going to bring Razor Ramon and Diesel out here, but that first he wants to get something off his chest.



Razor Ramon's music plays, and here comes Rick Bognar in Razor Ramon gear. Jim Ross: "How do you like that, WWF? How do you like Razor Ramon? How do you like that, McMahon?" Kevin Kelly asks if Ross is just trying to embarrass the WWF. This new Razor starts to cut the same old Razor Ramon promo, but gets interrupted by Savio Vega attacking, and the show goes off the air. I guess we'll have to wait on Diesel 2.0 until next week.

Overall: I mean…the whole Razor/Diesel 2.0 thing was terrible, but I still consider this to be a good episode. Loved all of the IC Title stuff. Thought the Clarence Mason/Jim Cornette/Owen/Davey material was entertaining as well. And while the conclusion on the Razor/Diesel thing was stupid, and was just more of the WWF stamping its feet angrily because it was getting its ass kicked, it was still compelling to see Jim Ross haul off and deliver a worked shoot. That had to be one of the first times up to this point that Vince McMahon was explicitly acknowledged as the owner of the company. So yeah, I enjoyed this episode much more than most so far.

NITRO

Birmingham, AL

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko welcome us to a show that nWo has advertised as their own, since Randy Savage is the only WCW star really there for the night's episode. They show some fans tearing up nWo signs in the back. Quit showing anything involving the nWo logo on random sheets of computer paper, please.

The Taskmaster & Konnan (w/ Jimmy Hart and Big Bubba) vs. Juventud Guerrera & Brad Armstrong: Konnan with a release German on Juventud. Some mat chain wrestling into a Konnan pinning combo for two. Flying headscissor by Guerrera sends Konnan out, and Guerrera follows with an over-the-top plancha to the floor. Rolls Konnan back in and hits a slingshot somersault legdrop. Konnan catches Juventud's next move attempt and executes a fisherman buster. Konnan goes to tag Kevin Sullivan, but Sullivan just tells him to keep after it.

Konnan sets Juvi up on the top turnbuckle, then does another fisherman buster from there. He goes for a tag attempt again, and for some reason Sullivan still won't do it. This creates an opening for Guerrera to tag out, and here comes Brad Armstrong. Clothesline, snapmare, dropkick, armdrag by Armstrong, but Konnan connects on a targeted legdrop at Armstrong's kneecap and then follows with a powerbomb. He was going to go for a pin, but now Sullivan wants in. He tags, executes his stupid double stomp, and that's all she wrote. I seriously can't imagine how he justified continuing to pass that off as a finisher.



Result: Taskmaster & Konnan via pinfall

After the match Konnan takes umbrage with Sullivan's behavior during that match, shoves him, and Big Bubba is in to lay out Konnan from behind. They do a double clothesline and then continue to beat him down. Then Jimmy Hart looks into the camera and says that this was an initiation. Konnan accepts it as one, says he's Dungeon of Doom, and that's that.



Mike Tenay is backstage for an interview with Randy Savage. Seems like Mean Gene has been on vacation for a couple of weeks. Standard intense Savage promo.

Mike Enos vs. Chris Jericho: Jericho tentatively accepts a handshake, then gets slapped. Enos misses on a diving shoulderblock, Jericho hits a spinning wheel kick. Enos with a smart combo, as he escapes to the apron as if he's running away, then launches himself into the middle with a slingshot shoulderblock. From these matches I've sporadically seen of him, Enos was a decent hand in the ring. He throws a belly-to-belly as Jericho charges him. Jericho tries to take a break, but Enos does a war cry and sprints off the apron into a clothesline to the floor.



Enos strangles Jericho on the floor with some nearby electrical cord, then drops him along the guardrail. Runs him into the post, sort of. Sets up the steel steps on their side, then suplexes Jericho onto them.



Back in the ring, Enos slaps on a bearhug. I don't love the booking here. Working underdog against Benoit made sense, but working underdog against Enos? Enos is barely a Monday Nitro wrestler. Jericho breaks free from the hold, but promptly gets powerslammed for a two-count. Temporarily locks on a Boston crab, lets it go, then lifts Jericho up in an overhead backbreaker. Jericho escapes into a surprise pinning combo for two, connects on two superkicks, and hits a running clothesline for basically his first offensive outburst of the match. Butterfly suplex. Missile dropkick off the top.

Jericho goes for a super hurracanrana, but Enos counters into a powerbomb off the ropes. Still only gets two. Jericho sent off the ropes, jumps for a cross-body, Enos counters into a powerslam, Jericho reverses the momentum in mid-air to turn it into a pinning combo for him (this gets botched pretty hard), and gets the three-count. Good action here, but again I'm not a fan of Jericho getting less than 10% of the offense.

Result: Chris Jericho via pinfall

Pat Tanaka vs. Glacier: Tanaka came out here to what would later become Goldberg's music. Pretty goofy to see him walking out to that. Glacier gets the really elaborate entrance. Tanaka goes for a kick, throws his own feet out from under himself, and as Glacier drags his leg in that general direction Larry screams "WHAT A LEG SWEEP!" Tanaka hits a sit-out powerbomb, but Glacier no-sells and hits a roundhouse kick to win a quick match.



Result: Glacier via pinfall

Tag Team Titles - Harlem Heat (c) (w/ Col. Parker & Sister Sherri) vs. Public Enemy: I really never remember how this Tag Team Title picture went in WCW, so I don't remember if Public Enemy ever got a run with the belts…but I'm sure as hell rooting against it here. The Heat jump PE before the bell, multiple double-team moves, but Johnny Grunge recovers and hits a flying clothesline off the top on both as they're preoccupied with Rocco Rock. They get the early control over Booker T, but it doesn't last long, as he eye-gouges his way free and tags his inferior brother into the match. Stevie Ray actually tags back out to Booker quickly, but after taking a bit of a beating Booker again tags out.

Stevie comes in with a big legdrop. Referee Nick Patrick gets distracted by Booker and Rocco on one side of the ring while Stevie slams Grunge on a table outside. They go back inside, where Stevie slowly slams and attempts a hopeless pin before cinching in a chinlock. This match is very boring. Booker does come in and hit a dynamic Harlem sidekick. We get a PIP view of the nWo arriving at the arena, and everyone seems to be here.

Rocco Rock gets a hot tag and takes on the champs 1-on-2, but as he goes to knock their heads together, they block and double clothesline him. Booker goes for the Harlem Hangover, but Grunge moves Rocco out of the way. Rock goes for a cover, but Booker's foot is on the ropes. A moment later Booker goes for a small package, the momentum gets shifted, Nick Patrick counts to three, and both men celebrate like they just won. Seems obvious to me on first look that Booker's shoulders were down. Yep, Patrick awards the belts to Public Enemy. ****. I think the Nasty Boys just became the perpetual #1 contenders in the tag team division.



Result: Public Enemy via pinfall, new Tag Team Champions

After break, we reach hour #2, and Eric Bischoff takes over the broadcast duties along with Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan. Bischoff says that he's heard that there's definitely a surprise, a new member of the nWo here tonight.

Randy Savage vs. Greg Valentine: Man, this isn't 1988. This is not a worthy match to appear once on your flagship program, let alone twice. The nWo has basically promised an attack on Randy Savage tonight, so we can expect this match to feature either a non-ending or an immediate post-match attack after a formulaic flying elbow finish. Greg Valentine controls the early action, throwing Savage outside the ring and then chopping him on the floor. Can't you just let Savage outright dominate someone like this?

Macho Man picks up a steel chair and hits Valentine in the head with it as referee Mark Curtis just gives him a look and tries to ignore it. Macho keeps after it, bringing a chair into the ring with him, clobbers the Hammer with it there, and Mark Curtis is forced to call for the bell at this point. Savage flings Curtis out over the top rope. Now is that being nice, Savage? You basically forced him to disqualify you and now you're attacking him for doing what you forced him to do.



Result: Greg Valentine via DQ

After Savage dumps Curtis, the nWo descends on the ring, with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Sean Waltman laying on the beatdown as Ted DiBiase shouts encouragement. Outsider's Edge by Hall. Miss Elizabeth is shown looking concerned at the top of the ramp, but she runs away this time. Powerbomb by Nash. The Giant, wearing a button-down and a vest, congratulates his allies and then picks up a mic to give an extended, glowing introduction of Hulk Hogan.



Hulk comes out to big heat, holding the world title belt high. The nWo holds Savage up to allow Hogan a free shot at him. A punch, and then the big legdrop. Nash whips Savage with a Slim Jim. Okay, that's not bad. Hogan, ever the paragon of self-awareness, makes fun of Savage for being bald and then spray-paints his bald spot.

Hall and Nash head to the announce table. Tenay and Heenan head for higher ground. They grab Bischoff and make him stay. Hall and Nash put on the other two headsets, as Hall announces that they're bringing out their newest member, Ted DiBiase's head of security, Vincent.



Bischoff gets permission from the nWo to send the show to commercial.

After break, they introduce the nWo race car. Perhaps this is all level one and they're just successfully trolling me as heels, but these guys are very obnoxious. As always, the correct answer is to hate the people who liked Kevin Nash so much. The Giant is ring announcer and brings out the next two competitors, Jim Powers and V.K. Wallstreet. Hall and Nash leave the broadcast table as Ted DiBiase takes over. They go to the ring and beat up Jim Powers. Wallstreet just leaves. Referee Randy Anderson says he isn't doing this, and takes off his earpiece and storms off. Nick Patrick shows up to sub in for him; he and Randy Anderson have some nasty words, but Patrick insists they have a job to do. The Giant just decides to take over and wrestle a match.

The Giant vs. Jim Powers: The Giant squashes Jim Powers in a minute while Hulk Hogan spray-paints walls in the back. This is absolute AIDS.



Result: The Giant via pinfall

Hogan has a buddy-buddy conversation with the Nasty Boys backstage. He gives them a key to his hotel suite.

After commercial, they have another scheduled match of Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Ron Studd. Hogan and the nWo jump Ron Studd and lay him out on his way to the ring. They introduce Sean Waltman, now going by Syxx, as Duggan's opponent instead.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Syxx: Duggan takes the fight to Syxx with his usual repertoire of clotheslines and punches. It's basically a total squash, with Duggan hitting his running clothesline off the three-point stance, but when he goes for a cover The Giant drags him outside the ring and chokeslams him on the floor as Nick Patrick conveniently ignores the whole thing and attends to Syxx. Giant rolls Duggan back in, Syxx makes the pin, and Nick Patrick proudly declares him the winner. Patrick's troll game is pretty strong.



Result: Syxx via pinfall

After commercial, we hear Sting's music, but of course it's nWo Sting coming out.

nWo Sting vs. unnamed local jobber: Bischoff despairingly says, "Guys…I don't know what the point of this is." That makes two of us. nWo Sting does real Sting's signature moves and wins with the Scorpion Deathlock.



Result: nWo Sting via submission

The next scheduled match is High Voltage vs. The Amazing French Canadians. I suspect it won't be happening. Sure enough, after both teams get entrances, Hall and Nash come to the ring and the Canadians bail.

The Outsiders vs. High Voltage: By the way, this is our main event. High Voltage are main eventing Nitro. Hall and Nash just take turns dominating in what amounts to another extended squash, as Hulk Hogan and Ted DiBiase troll from the announce booth. Just totally unentertaining, obnoxious, unwatchable crap. It's seriously a squash that goes on for about 10 minutes. Nash finally executes the powerbomb as they both pin whichever High Voltage member this is with a foot on his chest.



Result: The Outsiders via pinfall

The nWo continues to torture and troll Eric Bischoff at the announce desk. Bischoff sends it to recap footage of the attack on Savage earlier. The nWo trolls a bit longer and the show signs off.

Overall: This has to be the worst Nitro up to this point in series history. The first hour wasn't good, and then the second hour was the most aggressively terrible thing that you could possibly see. Seriously, **** every single person involved in the creation of this episode.

---

Ratings for 9/23/96: Nitro 3.4, Raw 2.0
Ratings Running Score: Nitro 30-17-2

Better Show: Raw wins the night by miles and miles and miles. I wonder if that's the first time I've said that in this thread.
Better Show Running Score: Nitro 40-9

Match of the Night: Marc Mero vs. Faarooq

1. kevin sullivan looks ridiculous ~ always. I don't really get him at all, but I know Foley always speaks really highly of him in his books. That double stomp is absurd as well.

2. that nitro ep sounds like garbage. its the first time ive ever really scrolled through things in a reveal. just a series of terrible squashes

3. lol at main event and right before the main event of the shows tonight were people pretending to be someone relevant

That's exactly how they explained it for WCW matches except they were called "lights out" matches.

Sullivan may have been a good booker. That I'm not sure. His ringwork has never looked good to me, and most of his promos were bad. But the result was that he had a prominent spot and a hot wife, at least until he didn't anymore.

This episode has left me agitated that I forced myself to watch the whole thing. At least after a root canal you get prescription pain meds.

If that is what the show is going to be like if the NWO is in charge, I don't want the NWO to take over.

Kevin Sullivan was one of the first well known supernatural evil characters in wrestling so really won over a fanbase with the kind of people that like that stuff. But that was 10-15 years before this, and before his oversized infant appearance came fully in. The boys liked him because he had clever one liners and ideas backstage that he would use on the corporate buffoons to defend wrestling; for example, when Herd wanted to change Ric Flair's gimmick and have him dye his hair black, he said "Why don't we change Mickey Mantle's number, too?"

Kevin Sullivan was so convincing as a devil worshiping heel in the 70's and 80's that there are still people today who believe he is an actual Satan worshiper. So much so, there is an actual conspiracy theory that he killed Benoit and family as part of a Satanic ritual. Well that and revenge for stealing his wife

I've never seen anybody mention this on here either and in addition on the GAB 96 TLF, they don't mention the full Sullivan/Benoit situation. They were at each others throats because with Sullivan as booker, he booked Nancy to stay in hotels with Benoit for kayfabe's sake. Everyone back then said he booked the end of his marriage which is pretty hilarious.

If you thought this show was bad, wait until we get to nWo Nitro. You'll be begging to rewatch this one.

Especially the January NWO PPV. Horrendous. Legitimately the worst ppv I've ever watched*. The 2000 ppvs that I've watched over the past few months were at least entertaining even if for the wrong reasons.

*Disclaimer: I've not seen December to Dismember, but I did just watch Fast Lane 2016!

Well I see that the next episode of Nitro features a thumbnail of Meng with a rest hold on Ricky Morton, so right away I'm pretty psyched.

September 30, 1996

NITRO

Cleveland, OH

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko kick things off. Tony: "We are one week removed from the brutal attack - the takeover, if you will - by the nWo. It had to be considered the lowest point in the history of this live television program." Wow, Schiavone managed to deliver a superlative that was actually correct. That would be a truly rare item in a wrestling scavenger hunt. Zbyszko drops a "New World Odor," so I guess we're immediately back to the norm. Tony sends it to Eric Bischoff at the main announce desk, saying that he has a statement to make about last week.

Bischoff gives an angry statement about the nWo, saying that it has to stop and that it WILL stop. "It's gotta stop, because it's not fun anymore. Nobody's entertained by it." They read my review! He gives a good impassioned speech here; I enjoyed it. He does start to leave the rails at the end: "And gentlemen, and I use that word very carefully, because…it really doesn't apply…but I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt, listen to me now. It's going to stop."



Tag Team Titles - Public Enemy (c) vs. Juventud Guerrera & El Technico: Zero idea who El Technico is. Also seems like it should be "Tecnico," but I'm just copying what was spelled on the screen. Anyway, thanks for this immediate reminder that the non-throwaway hour of Nitro last week featured ****ing Public Enemy winning the tag belts. These guys occasionally do good ringwork, but they're very annoying to me.

Juventud headscissors Rocco Rock out of the ring, but Rocco quickly drags him out and flings him into the guardrail. Upon return to the ring, Juvi tags Technico in. Straight into a double-team by PE, close to a Demolition Decapitation with Grunge throwing an elbow. Guerrera with the save on the pin, but PE finishes things a moment later after Rock somersaults onto Technico inside the ring and makes the pin. Match was nothing.

Result: Public Enemy via pinfall

Rock puts Technico through a table on the floor, as per usual.



Mike Tenay with Chris Benoit, Mongo McMichael, and Debra backstage. Mongo and Debra just say they're there to support Benoit. Benoit is facing Rick Steiner later. He cuts a meh promo, which makes it an elite promo by 1996 Benoit standards.

Paid announcement by the nWo. Not entertaining.

Dean Malenko vs. Alex Wright: Dean comes out holding a Rey Mysterio Jr. mask. Apparently the story is that Malenko pulled Rey's mask off during an interview segment and Tony Schiavone (who was conducting the interview) scrambled to help Rey cover up. Dean and Rey are scheduled for a Cruiserweight Title match at Halloween Havoc. Dean and Wright do some chain wrestling early, some decent hold-counterhold mat wrestling. Malenko counters a side headlock into a back suplex that gets two. Commercial.

Back from break, Wright hits a Japanese armdrag, then the two jostle for control of an abdominal stretch, leading Malenko to sort of incidentally hip-toss him out of the ring. Dean follows him out and sends him into the guardrail before returning inside. Wright tries to return in with a sunset flip, but Malenko holds up and punches down. Spinning leg whip into a grapevine by Malenko, but he releases quickly and the two return to their feet. They trade blows in the corner, then Wright sends him off the ropes and executes a cross-body. Heel kick by Wright, who does a corner whip but ends up empty on a corner charge. Malenko flies off the top but also just does a faceplant as Wright moves. Wright capitalizes quickly with something close to a magistral cradle and scores the three-count. I did not expect that, with Dean having a PPV title shot coming and this not being 2016 WWE. The announcers see it as a big upset too. My curiosity at the booking notwithstanding, I liked the ending sequence, though the rest of the match was nothing special.



Result: Alex Wright via pinfall

We see footage from WCW Saturday Night, where Randy Savage wrestled Big Bubba. Miss Elizabeth actually came out and watched from the aisle, and Savage's match culminating in him attacking referee Mark Curtis and then also attacking Nick Patrick when Patrick came running out.

Back to the live Nitro arena, where Mike Tenay calls Savage out for promo time. Savage's music hits, but he never comes out. Tenay throws the show to break.

After the break there's some lengthy non-canon Randy Savage Slim Jim Halloween Havoc sweepstakes promo that goes on for truly five minutes or so. Thanks for that.

Jim Powers (w/ Teddy Long) vs. Eddie Guerrero: Nick Patrick is the referee here, and he's wearing a neck brace, I guess in connection with Savage attacking him on WCW Saturday Night. Eddie locks on a full nelson, but Powers powers out of it and slaps on a side headlock, then hits Eddie with a hard shoulderblock. Eddie right back up with a back elbow, a slam, and the slingshot splash into the ring. Powers blocks a suplex, goes for his own, Eddie escapes behind, waistlock, Powers elbows his way free and then lays some hard rights in that knock Guerrero to the mat. Belly-to-belly by Powers gets two.

Whip to one corner and then another by Teddy Long's man. A clothesline gets two. Powers locks on a rest hold, releases long enough to hit a suplex for a one-count, and returns to the hold. The nWo's flunkies with signs are very visible on the hard camera side here, and they succeed in getting an nWo chant going. Powers keeps slowly dominating, alternating between hitting a basic move and locking on a reverse chinlock. Eddie finally gets a boot up on a corner charge, follows quickly with a back suplex, but gets caught heading up top. Superplex by Powers is only good for two.

Eddie botches a roll-up, then transitions into a German suplex that he holds onto, and Nick Patrick counts to three even though Powers gets a shoulder up at 2. Wasn't sure whether that ending was a legit botch or more Nick Patrick antics, but after the reactions on all sides I'm guessing it was planned.



Result: Eddie Guerrero via pinfall

Teddy Long and Nick Patrick get in a heated face-to-face exchange after the match, but it doesn't come to blows. Then Teddy goes and raises Jim Powers's hand as if he's the real winner. Hey Teddy: kicking out doesn't actually win a match.

Paid nWo announcement. The Nasty Boys are actually at the nWo party. By the way: nobody ****ing cares about the Nasty Boys, so quit having this stupid angle. Jerry Sags stands on a table and talks with his butt a la Ace Ventura as an imitation of Eric Bischoff. SO CLEVER.

Mike Tenay is with Arn Anderson, Woman, and Miss Elizabeth. Arn tells Liz that they all forgave her the moment of weakness she had at War Games (in stepping in on Randy Savage's behalf), but now they come to find out that there has been more of the same while they were away in Japan last week. Woman continues the promo, calling out Liz and asking her what she's doing. Liz just says that it's complicated and she doesn't know what to say. Arn tells her that she's either all the way in or all the way out, and that she'd better think long and hard about where she stands.



Hugh Morrus vs. Brad Armstrong: I guess this is our return match for that Brad Armstrong upset a couple of weeks ago that nobody cared about. Empty corner charge by Morrus, Armstrong throws a hiptoss and a couple of dropkicks, but the second dropkick misses as we enter the second hour of Nitro and get the standard pyro and announce team switch. Eric Bischoff, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan speculate about why Randy Savage didn't show up for his earlier interview, saying that something must have happened. Bischoff says "I don't want to take anything away from this match." Don't worry Eric, there's nothing happening.

Armstrong goes for a slow-motion small package that gets two, after the kickout Hugh Morrus gets up and throws a sloppy clothesline. Enthralling stuff. Morrus goes up for the No Laughing Matter moonsault off the top rope, connects, then goes to the episode corner and does it again. This time he pins him for real and gets the three-count. Morrus did know how to throw good moonsaults, but the rest of the match was worthless.



Result: Hugh Morrus via pinfall

They go backstage, where Arn and Woman are dialing up the pressure on Elizabeth and hollering at her to get her mind right. They're still working on her when the show goes to break.

After commercial, Bischoff says that with Randy Savage being missing, something going on with Elizabeth, and nWo apparently at a nearby hotel, he has to go take care of business and see what's going on. He says Tony Schiavone can take over if he wants, but that he's leaving. He removes his headset and exits stage left. For now, we're just rolling with Tenay and Heenan.

Chris Jericho vs. Arn Anderson (w/ Woman): Well, no Elizabeth here. Arn comes out looking pissed. Anderson gets a big enough pop that I figured that we were in Horseman country until I checked to see that it was Cleveland. Tony Schiavone comes and joins the broadcast crew as this match gets going. Fireman's carry takeover by Arn, counter into a headscissor by Jericho, and a reset. Dueling arm-wringers lead to Jericho tripping Arn in a drop toe hold and locking on a leg hold that Arn faces a rope break on.

They continue with the technical wrestling, Jericho actually getting the better of Arn early, now wrenching on his left arm. Liz is shown watching the match from the back. Inverted atomic drop by Jericho, and a superkick sends Arn sprawling out. Jericho launches himself over the rope to the apron, then connects on a diving shoulderblock from the apron to the floor. Woman slaps Jericho to create a distraction, then Arn sucker-punches him, turning the tide of the match. Liz gets up from watching the match and leaves quickly. Arn attempts a second rope axhandle and gets his face caved in by a Jericho dropkick on the way down.



Backdrop by Jericho. Arn rolls to the apron, but Jericho springboards from the buckle and throws a flying shoulderblock at Arn. Arn staggers inside, Jericho goes up top and hits a nice-looking flying back elbow. Arn moves out of the way of a Lionsault and promptly plants Jericho with a DDT. Beautiful. Fun match.



Result: Arn Anderson via pinfall

After commercial, Elizabeth is shown leaving the arena, carrying her bags.

M. Wallstreet vs. Lex Luger: So…I don't know what this "M. Wallstreet" thing is. He was V.K. Wallstreet before. "V.K." was certainly some sort of shot at Vince, but it's not like WWF could legally coerce them into stopping with that. Odd. Hammerlocks between the two wrestlers early. Wallstreet throws a back elbow that connects, but Luger goes full Norton. This match is very basic punch-kick stuff, as you would expect between these two. Tony: "You shouldn't underestimate Wallstreet. He's quite a competitor." Yes, except for that small consideration that he never ever wins.

Ludger dodges a corner charge and then executes a schoolboy for two. Wallstreet misses on a clothesline, eats a boot to the face, Luger continues with a flying forearm that gets a near-fall. Wallstreet goes for a suplex, Lex escapes behind, lifts him into the Torture Rack and that's that. Pure filler.



Result: Lex Luger via submission

After commercial, Tony Schiavone announces that, as a peace offering to Sting, the WCW race car has been repainted in purple and gold as a Sting race car. That announcement took just 15-20 seconds and I still feel slighted.

The Faces of Fear (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Rock 'n Roll Express: Meng misses a clothesline, Ricky Morton jumps on his back in a sleeper hold, but Meng powers him out and throws him off with authority. Morton continues to slap on this hold and get shrugged off. Barbarian comes in, Morton attempts a cross-body, Robert Gibson comes in and dropkicks his partner in the back to force him down on Barbarian for a pin attempt that gets two. Gibson and Morton now take several turns in a row of jumping on top of Barbarian in attempted pins. For some reason the referee counts each time when they can't possibly both be legal.

We reset at Gibson vs. Barbarian. Barbarian throws some stiff elbows, a corner whip, and a clothesline in the corner. Gibson rolls him into a pinning combo after jumping over top of the next corner charge. Commercial. After commercial, Morton attempts a sunset flip for two and a schoolboy for two, but Barbarian puts an end to that nonsense with a superkick. Meng tags in and delivers a piledriver, and Morton is officially the face in peril.



Barbarian tags in and delivers a mafia kick to Morton's face. Powerbomb. Barbarian slow to cover, and only gets two. Backbreaker. Barbarian was still a good worker at this point; I assume that the three dudes he's sharing this match with were envious. He misses on a top rope headbutt, enabling the eventual lukewarm tag to Gibson. The Rock 'n Rolls hit a double dropkick, but Jimmy Hart jumps onto the apron, Gibson gets distracted by him, enabling Barbarian to kick him in the back of the head and make the pin. Mostly very boring.

Result: Faces of Fear via pinfall

Meng and the Barbarian keep beating Gibson down after the match. Public Enemy out for the save, but it backfires, as the Faces of Fear are able to isolate Johnny Grunge and attempt to crush one of his legs.

Another nWo paid announcement from the nearby hotel. We see Hulk's young son "Nasty Nick" here.

Chris Benoit (w/ Mongo & Debra McMichael) vs. Rick Steiner: Punches back and forth between the two men before Rick Steiner escalates things with a beautiful release German suplex on Benoit.



After a breather outside, Benoit returns and takes temporary control with a clothesline, but it remains a back-and-forth affair, nobody keeping control for long. Snap suplex by Benoit. Heenan: "Good suplex, but he didn't get the elevation he should have." Stick to witticisms, Bobby. After reversing a whip off the ropes, Benoit attempts a leapfrog, but Rick catches him in mid-air and converts it into a powerslam. Two-count.

Rick places the Crippler on the top rope and follows him up there for an apparent belly-to-belly superplex attempt, but as he does this Debra gets on the apron and distracts referee Nick Patrick and Mongo slips into the ring with the briefcase. He cracks Steiner across the back with the briefcase, causing Steiner to fall back off the ropes as Benoit falls on top of him at the same time. Nick Patrick turns around and counts to three.

Result: Chris Benoit via pinfall

Tony says that we're apparently going to hear from the New World Order before we go off the air, but he signs off from the arena.



We do go back to the nWo's hotel room, where Miss Elizabeth is inexplicably sitting in between The Giant and Hulk Hogan. She's holding some sort of contract (she was holding this as she left the arena, by the way), and Hogan and Giant try to pitch her on doing movies or something. As Vincent brings Hogan a present of some sort, Liz leaves the hotel room and goes out into the hallway. As she starts to walk off, Randy Savage comes sprinting into the shot. He gets in her face yelling "YOU GOTTA BE RIBBIN'" as he protests that it's not what he thinks. I don't exactly understand how Savage was within range to come confront her like 60 seconds after she started appearing on camera in this room, but okay. As he's still interrogating her, the show goes off the air. They really don't clarify what she was talking to the nWo about.



Overall: The whole show was…acceptable I guess, but certainly nothing great. Enjoyed the Jericho-Arn match, a few of the other matches were sort of watchable as well. Didn't love the Elizabeth angle, since her entire acting range involves "looking worried" and "never saying anything interesting."

RAW

Hershey, PA

I was annoyed enough by last week's Nitro that I had the rare feeling of coming into this week looking more forward to Raw than Nitro. We'll see how long into Raw that feeling remains reasonable.

We open on clips of Jim Ross shooting on Vince McMahon and the WWF last week, then bringing out some random dude acting as Razor Ramon. Kevin Kelly says, "With those words, Jim Ross tore apart the foundation of the World Wrestling Federation." Well that seems overdramatic. He says that Diesel is here tonight, and that Razor Ramon would face Savio Vega.

After the opening graphics, Kevin Kelly is hosting tonight, and it's Jerry Lawler and still Jim Ross on color duties after last week.

Steve Austin vs. Jake Roberts: Jake is wrestling shirtless tonight for the first time since returning. Lawler comments that he probably traded his vest for a shot. Ross notes that Austin will be facing Savio Vega at the In Your House PPV. Feels like we've seen that one enough, but okay. Jim Ross says that he talked to Bret Hart last night, and that Bret is upset about the things that Austin has been saying about him. Lawler: "Let me ask you something, JR…was it the real Bret Hart?" Austin whips Jake into the corner, but catches a knee coming in after him. Stone Cold goes for a breather, Jake gets preoccupied with Jerry Lawler, and once he returns to the ring Austin is right there for the attack.

Austin drops a second-rope elbow, then elbows Jake in the throat along the apron a couple of times. Austin works Jake over with repeated kicks to the ribs as there's a significant negative buzz from the crowd despite the hard camera crowd sitting on their hands. It's a funny thought, piping in fake crowd noise for Steve Austin. After a commercial, Jake fights his way out of a camel clutch by Austin, blocks a turnbuckle smash and executes his own on one corner and then another. Austin gouges the eyes and tries to head up top, but Jake recovers and crotches him. Signature short clothesline, attempted DDT, but Austin holds the rope and blocks it (this sequence was done really badly, as Jake just transparently set up the block of his move). Austin tries to capitalize with a pin with his feet on the ropes, but referee Mike Chioda catches him and stops counting at two.

Jake legitimately hits the DDT this time, but Austin gets a foot on the ropes to stop the pin short of a three-count. Roberts argues with Mike Chioda as Lawler comes up and spits what's supposed to be a bunch of Jack Daniels in Roberts' face. Once Roberts decides to return to working the match, Austin stuns him and records the pin. Stupid match. Every Jake Roberts singles match in 1996, without exception, was absolute crap.



Result: Steve Austin via pinfall

Austin continues the beatdown after the match, and Jerry Lawler joins in to make it a double-team. Savio Vega comes out wielding a strap and clears the ring to make the save.

Continuing from last week, we get more pre-recorded promo work from Mankind and Paul Bearer in a cemetery.

As Razor Ramon vs. Savio Vega is hyped for later, we get our first look at Diesel 2.0 in the back. I get an immediate sense that he's a very firm believer in free-market capitalism.



Hunter Hearst-Helmsley hits the ring, unscheduled, and challenges Mr. Perfect to summon the guts to get in the ring and face him in a match. Then he goes and joins the commentary table.

The Godwinns (w/ Hillbilly Jim) vs. The Grimms: The Grimms are the Harris Twins. They're Jacob and Eli Blu after a haircut. I'd forgotten about this "Grimms" thing, so I don't think it lasted very long. As these teams are announced I'm officially realizing that it was silly to look hopefully to Raw to provide the better episode. Henry Godwinn delivers a nice diving shoulderblock, then clotheslines Jared Grimm out over the top. Mr. Perfect appears via PIP to respond to HHH. Perfect says yes, he accepts the challenge, but that he's going to give HHH a couple of weeks to get into shape for the challenge. HHH scoffs and comments that "the only shape Mr. Perfect's in is round."



Phineas connects on a Slop Drop, and the Godwinns win.

Result: The Godwinns via pinfall

We go to a special report with Dok Hendrix, who says that Jeff Jarrett's entire music career was a hoax, and that when the scandal almost broke in July 1995, Jarrett left the WWF and left his partner, "the real Double J," high and dry. "The real Double J" is revealed to have gone by The Roadie, whose real name is Jesse James.



Razor Ramon vs. Savio Vega: Jim Ross immediately starts lawyering for how justifiable it is to have some other dude playing Razor Ramon. After a commercial break, Gorilla Monsoon joins in on commentary, and begins saying that he's concerned about Jim Ross's attitude. Ross fires back at him, asking him if he's ever been fired by Vince. Monsoon says to Ross, "It doesn't look like YOU'VE missed too many meals." That's…an interesting line coming from Monsoon. Gorilla continues ripping on Ross for perpetrating the fraud of making people believe that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were coming back.

As Ross and Monsoon snipe back and forth, Razor 2.0 executes the same signature moves that Scott Hall uses. Savio misses on an attempted cross-body. The crowd is 100% dead for this match, as they seem to be undecided between being apathetic and giving this X-Pac heat. Spinning heel kick by Savio, as Jim Ross calls out the WWF for embarrassingly having clown gimmicks wrestle for them. Wheel kick by Savio as well, as Diesel 2.0 comes out to the ring to run interference. He pulls down the top rope as Savio runs toward it, causing Savio to spill out over the top and causing the referee to call for the bell.

Result: Savio Vega via DQ



Razor executes a Razor's Edge and Diesel executes a Jackknife on Savio after the match as Ross yells that now the WWF knows what it's like to be embarrassed. Man, if they're only now discovering the concept of embarrassment, that's pretty bad.

Pre-recorded Undertaker promo in the cemetery.

They show clips of Marc Mero beating Faarooq for the IC Title last week, and mention that Sunny and Faarooq have amicably parted ways. Mero will defend his belt against Faarooq at the upcoming In Your House. By the way, who the hell came up with this notion of every single minor PPV being called "In Your House"? I've always found that weird.

Next week on Raw, we will see Sid vs. Goldust.

Vader & Jim Cornette vs. Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario: Cornette rocks the same ridiculous spandex outfit he did against Lothario at the last PPV. Side headlock by Michaels on Vader, runs the ropes and then runs into a shoulderblock by Vader. Vader follows with a corner whip and an avalanche. Short clothesline. Vader goes for the powerbomb, but Michaels counters into a hurracanrana, then drags Vader crotch-first into the post from outside the ring. Thesz press off the top by HBK, whose momentum is halted when he goes for a cross-body and ends up spilling out over the top rope after Vader ducks.



Vader with a hard knock-down once Michaels returns. Clubbing blows in the corner by the big monster, first forearms and then those awesome Vader punches. Cornette begs Vader to tag him in to deal with the fallen Michaels. He wastes time though, and Michaels makes the…hot tag…to Jose Lothario. Lothario takes the fight to him, but Cornette manages to gouge the eyes and tag out. Vader whips Lothario into the ropes, but Lothario manages to tag out and avoid getting destroyed.

Flying forearm by Michaels. Top rope elbow. He tunes up the band, giving Vader the scouting report to duck the impending superkick and obliterate him with a hard clothesline as the show goes to commercial. After returning from break, Vader has Michaels set up in the corner to take a Vaderbomb. Michaels gets a foot up and kicks Vader on the way down. Couple of clotheslines by the world champion, and then he actually bodyslams Vader. A moment later he attempts another slam, but his back gives out and Vader falls on top. Vader hits a powerbomb but doesn't go for a pin. He drags him back to the corner, hits the Vaderbomb, and pins the champion. I…was not expecting that result. I guess I forgot that they did anything at all with Vader after jobbing him out at SummerSlam.



Result: Vader & Jim Cornette via pinfall

Vader tries to continue the assault after the bell, but Sid comes out for the save. Goldust follows him out, and Sid finds himself cornered 2-on-1. Michaels finds his feet and comes to Sid's aid, and the four are headed for a brawl when the show goes off the air.

Overall: Not too bad of a main event, but the rest of the show was unwatchable. Thumbs down.

---

Ratings for 9/30/96: Nitro 3.3, Raw 2.3
Ratings Running Score: Nitro 31-17-2

Better Show: Nitro, with ease, despite not being all that good. Yeah, we're back to that.
Better Show Running Score: Nitro 41-9

Match of the Night: Arn Anderson vs. Chris Jericho

SEPTEMBER 1996 IN REVIEW

Arrivals:
WWF - Mark Henry (from Olympics)
WCW - Super Calo (from AAA), Glacier (from UWFI)

Match of the Month: Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind, IYH Mind Games

PPV of the Month: While Mind Games was a good show, Fall Brawl was a great one, and wins the month.

Ratings: The Nitro win streak is at 14, and they almost always won decisively.

Quality: WWF did a little better this month than normal, but they were still a fatally-flawed company who hadn't changed their approach. They would stumble into good matches occasionally, but most of their ideas for angles were stupid. WCW had their own problems at times, but they had more good workers and tended to have more inspired ideas for stories. At least WWF had officially kicked off the Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin feud, which would play a big part in turning the company around.

October 7, 1996

RAW

Hershey, PA

Kevin Kelly and Jerry Lawler are our commentators, as Kelly says that Jim Ross is supposed to be here but they don't know where he is.



Welp. There he is.

Marc Mero (w/ Sable) vs. Diesel: Diesel 2.0 comes out with Jim Ross. Kevin Kelly head-shakingly says, "I don't know what's going on here." Me neither. Diesel lays in the knees and hard shoulders on Mero in the corner, whips him into the opposite corner and then splashes him in the corner. He tries to do likewise in the original corner, but Mero gets his boots up. We see the boxing jabs from Mero, and a dropkick that sends Diesel outside. Over-the-top plancha by the IC Champion, who sends Diesel back in and executes a slingshot splash back into the ring.

Diesel drops Mero throat-first along the top rope, then chokes the Wildman across the second rope before dropping the leg on the back of his neck. Follows with a big boot, then works Mero over in the corner. We get a PIP promo from Razor 2.0. He's a poor imitator. He says he wants to get closer look, and leaves, so I guess we'll see him soon. After a commercial, Diesel hammers Mero with a hard running clothesline. He slams Mero, but misses on an elbow drop, and Mero fights back as Razor does walk out to ringside. Headscissor by Mero. This Glen Jacobs rendition of Diesel obviously worked better in the ring than Kevin Nash ever did, but that wasn't going to help salvage this gimmick.

Mero with a clothesline over the top rope. He executes a somersault plancha, but on Razor outside rather than on Diesel. Razor just comes into the ring and attacks for the obvious DQ, and the two retread gimmicks do as they did to Savio last week and conduct the post-DQ beatdown.



Result: Marc Mero via DQ

Another pre-taped cemetery promo from Undertaker. Did he and Mick Foley just skip the taping of the month of Raws that built up the PPV that they were main eventing? Because that's weird. Between that and Shawn Michaels not having a WWF Title match on that PPV, it was like they were just punting a month away for some reason while in the middle of getting their asses kicked in the Monday Night Wars.

Before the next match, Sid delivers a threatening promo on Goldust from backstage. Also we'll get a further report on "the real Double J."

Video promo hyping the imminent return of Mr. Perfect to the ring. Jim Ross says that Perfect vs. HHH is scheduled for the live Raw after the PPV. This company REALLY had no qualms about executing the bait-and-switch.

The New Rockers vs. The Smoking Gunns: They get a phone call from Sunny, who says that if the Gunns can win the Tag Team Titles back, she might just take them back. Leif Cassidy slams Billy Gunn down by the hair a couple of times, but Billy gets back up and shoulderblocks him. The two men punch each other simultaneously, and both tag out. Kevin Kelly apologizes for not calling the action while they had Sunny on the phone. With an attitude like that, you can see how he didn't last in the WWF.

Backslide by Marty Jannetty gets a two-count. Bart Gunn tags out, as they continue to tease dissension between Bart and Billy. Marty leads Bart on a chase outside the ring, and leads him into an ambush clothesline by Leif Cassidy. Leif continues the beatdown for a time before rolling a damaged Bart back in. New Rockers double-team Bart, and Cassidy takes over as the legal man. He throws a modified belly-to-belly, and tags Jannetty back in. Frequent tags between the New Rockers, who execute a double hip-toss. Incidentally, how would that hurt more than a single hip-toss? Bart is finally able to tag out after Billy cheap shots Marty as he comes off the near ropes.

After Marty gets worked over a bit he tags back out to Cassidy, who holds his own in assaulting both of the Gunns, but gets tripped from outside the ring by Billy and then quickly falls victim to the Sidewinder to wrap this thing up. Not the worst match, but tough to get into.



Result: The Smoking Gunns via pinfall

Here's footage of Jesse James with Jim Johnston, Johnston playing guitar and James singing "With My Baby Tonight." Todd Pettengill gives us this special report; my first instinct is that they didn't need to string this out over several weeks, but honestly this sort of plays out like the multi-part interviews with Mankind and Goldust that worked out great, so I retract my unspoken criticism. James: "I don't hate Jeff Jarrett. I don't. He took me further than I had gotten. But I took him further than he'll ever be." And then he spends a good chunk of the interview burying Jarrett. Apparently there's a fourth part to this coming next week.



Goldust cuts a promo on Sid.

Jim Ross brings out Vader. Vader vs. Sid is set for the PPV, and Ross says that the winner gets a title shot at Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. Cornette gripes about how Vader shouldn't have to beat anyone else to get a title shot at this point. He's right. Cornette continues on to cut a promo promising that Vader would beat Sid and go on to become WWF Champion.

Next week, we'll see Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels in a non-title match. Huh. Didn't remember them meeting so early in Austin's WWF career.

The Sultan (w/ Bob Backlund & The Iron Sheik) vs. Aldo Montoya: Backlund joins the commentary table again. Not only was the Sultan gimmick archaic and underwhelming, but Fatu seemed to do significantly worse ringwork in this gimmick than he did in any other. Just slow plodding every single match, or at least that's my memory, and it is being borne out in front of me during this match as well. Backlund tries to distract from it by ranting like a psycho at the commentary table. Montoya does bump hard for Sultan here and make for a couple of decent spots.



Sultan puts this away with a camel clutch.

Result: The Sultan via submission

Pre-recorded Mankind cemetery promo.

Sid vs. Goldust (w/ Marlena): Goldust with a clothesline to kick things off. Seems kind of rude; it's customary for him to spend these first 10 minutes walking around the ring making faces and stuff. Goldust with a corner mount, and in the middle of a 10-punch he goes into his usual histrionics until he actually reaches for Sid's head and is going to put it in his crotch. Sid takes that opportunity to lift him off and execute a bad inverted atomic drop. Teases a chokeslam, releases, kick in the gut, goes for the powerbomb but Goldust slips away. Sid gets distracted by Marlena, and Goldust takes the opening to go back on the attack. He slams Sid face-first into the mat, then wrenches his neck.

Jim Cornette strolls out to ringside and sits down at commentary. Powerslam by Goldust gets two as Raw goes to break. After break, Sid hits the chokeslam and then the patented powerbomb. 1-2-3, Sid wins.

Result: Sid via pinfall



Vader runs in after the bell and attacks Sid, slamming him near the corner and then executing a second rope splash. Sid no-sells. Gross.



Chokeslam by Sid, and Vader runs for the hills as Cornette joins him. Sid holds the ring as Raw signs off.

Overall: This episode can best be classified as "inoffensive, but utterly pointless."

NITRO

Savannah, GA

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko welcome us to the show. Tony wonders what's going on with Miss Elizabeth. Larry says, "She's obviously with the New World Odor." We see clips of Savage accosting her in the hotel hallway.

Public Enemy vs. Harlem Heat (w/ Sister Sherri & Col. Parker): This is a non-title match for some reason. Hey, wait a minute…Harlem Heat are the champions. They get the jobber entrance here, but once they finally get introduced, they hold the title belts up and are announced as champions. So I guess that happened on one of the weekend shows. Takes referee Nick Patrick a while to settle things down before the bell, but we eventually get going on Johnny Grunge vs. Booker T. Early advantage to Public Enemy, but Stevie Ray tags in and hammers away on Rocco Rock. Rock slips outside and threatens Sherri, drawing further attack as the match goes to break.

After commercial, before returning to the match, we see Miss Elizabeth trying to find Randy Savage and again pleading for him to let her explain. He isn't in his dressing room. Sidewalk slam by Stevie Ray, who tags in Booker for the Harlem side kick. Booker dumps Rocco outside, where Stevie holds him up and Sherri clocks him with a closed fist. The Heat continue to isolate Rocco, with Booker baiting Grunge into the ring and the two brothers beating Rock down. A chunk of the nWo shows up in the crowd, featuring 37-year-old Kevin Nash rocking the bandana Tupac-style like a douche. Nash and Scott Hall start cutting a promo on the Heat from the crowd in mid-match, as they're scheduled for a match for the Tag Team Titles at Halloween Havoc.

The Heat successfully ignore long enough to keep the heat segment going on Rocco, but after the nWo leaves, Booker and Rocco collide and allow Grunge to make the tag in for the functional hot tag sequence. Rocco rejoins the action and heads up top, but Col. Parker grabs the rope and causes Rocco to fall all the way from the top through a table on the floor. As Sherri runs distraction, Stevie whacks Johnny Grunge's bad knee, executes a sidewalk slam, and Booker jumps off the top on a chair on Grunge's knee. 1-2-3.



Result: Harlem Heat via pinfall

We see a limo arrive, and out comes…Jeff Jarrett. Obviously WWF must have had intel that he had signed with WCW in order to start running a smear campaign on him right before his debut. The announcers wonder if he's the latest member of the nWo.

Clips of Nick Patrick giving an interview on WCW Saturday Night, announcing that he is fining Randy Savage a record one million dollars for putting his hands on him. Since when do referees have that power? Patrick says that there was an announcer who spread a lot of rumors, a lot of bad info about him, and "if you notice…that man's not here anymore." He's referencing Gene Okerlund, and I'm starting to wonder if there was a period here where Gene had an actual fallout with WCW. He hasn't appeared in several weeks, and it happened without explanation.



Tony acknowledges that a referee can't issue that kind of fine, and that he doubts that WCW will go that high.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Jim Powers (w/ Teddy Long): I've gotta say again, the fact that Jim Powers was such a regular on Nitro during this era just messes with my head, because I did not even remember Jim Powers in WCW being a thing. Seems that I blocked out a LOT of matches. I thought his career in the big two began and ended with being half of a JTTS tag team in the WWF, and occasionally doing singles jobs on WWF Superstars. We get a pre-recorded PIP from DDP during this match, as DDP addresses Eddie Guerrero as "burrito boy" and cuts a promo on Eddie about their upcoming match at Havoc. Page and Powers go back and forth without clear advantage. Powers with a cross-body that gets two, Page hits a Diamond Cutter out of nowhere for a fairly quick win.



Result: DDP via pinfall

Mike Tenay, from the top of the aisle, brings out Randy Savage for an interview. Savage promptly shows up this time, and brings some random racecar driver with him. Poor Savage has to spend a bunch of time putting over the driver. What a great thing to have him focus on in the middle of an intense angle where he's been too crazed to focus on anything but his blinding hatred of the nWo. This promo is almost entirely a ****ing NASCAR promo. Miss Elizabeth interrupts and again asks for a chance to explain. Savage: "No way. What's done is done." With that, Savage flips the mic over to Tenay and walks off.



High Voltage vs. The Faces of Fear (w/ Jimmy Hart): Meng and the Barbarian jump these Power Plant jobbers before the bell. This is obviously just an enhancement match, as Meng no-sells the High Voltage offense. Chris Benoit, Mongo and Debra McMichael show up in the aisle to take a look from up close, as apparently Benoit and Mongo are facing the Faces of Fear at Halloween Havoc. Barbarian picks his man up before three after a pump-handle slam. Meng in for a sit-out powerbomb. Barbarian back in for his own powerbomb. The Faces of Fear finish this thing off when Meng catapults one of the HV guys into Barbarian, who kicks him in the face and records the pin.



Result: Faces of Fear via pinfall

Glacier vs. Mike Wenner: Zero idea who Mike Wenner is. It's like a straight-up enhancement jobber who gets a full televised entrance here. This match is in keeping with the other Glacier squashes so far, as Glacier connects on a few martial arts kicks. This time you can a hear loud "boring" chant from a few guys in the crowd. Glacier knocks Wenner outside, and executes a pescado to the floor. Back inside, he connects on a spinning back kick and records the pin.



Result: Glacier via pinfall

The show continues into hour #2, as Eric Bischoff, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan take over the call.

Hugh Morrus vs. Jeff Jarrett: Bischoff says that Jarrett called him and asked him for just one chance to prove himself in WCW. Bischoff says, "Apparently he's going to use that opportunity to display his wares for the nWo. To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement." Wait, what? Earlier, Tony and Larry didn't know who he was with, so I don't know what was missed in between then and now. Just that he arrived in a limo? Hip-toss by Jarrett, who does his usual strut even though he's now sharing a company with Ric Flair, who he ripped the strut off from. After further showboating from Jarrett, Morrus crushes him with a hard clothesline and goes on offense, whipping him to the corner and splashing him hard in the corner.

Jarrett attempts an enziguri that misses. He succeeds in hitting an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline though. Swinging neckbreaker gets two. Standing dropkick gets the same. Morrus reverses a whip and hits a powerslam. Morrus comes up empty on a legdrop attempt off the top rope, Jarrett locks in the figure-four, and Morrus quickly gives up. Bischoff remains upset about Jarrett joining the nWo, despite no particular evidence of that having happened.



Result: Jeff Jarrett via submission

Tony Schiavone joins Jarrett for an interview. Schiavone references "his World Championship Wrestling debut," then adds, "I say World Championship Wrestling, but we saw you arrive in the black limousine, and it's apparent to all of the announcers that you are part of the nWo." So it really was just about arriving by limo? He asks Jarrett to confirm if that's true. Jarrett immediately begins cutting a promo on Hogan, expressing offense at Hogan claiming that regional promoters like Verne Gagne wouldn't have existed without him. "You didn't put a single meal on my father's table, and you damn sure didn't put one on mine." Jeff says, "Maybe Sting said it best a couple of weeks ago. Hulk Hogan, you and the rest of the nWo can stick it." With that, he metaphorically drops the mic and walks off. Solid promo by Jarrett.



After commercial, the announce table turns their attention to talking about an apparent upcoming PPV match between Arn Anderson and Lex Luger, as they say that Arn has blamed Lex for submitting to end the War Games match and cost Team WCW the match.

Renegade vs. Arn Anderson (w/ Woman): Anderson controls early, goes for a piledriver, but Renegade blocks and backdrops him. He causes Arn to take a quick timeout, after which Arn goes straight back into controlling the matchup, putting the Renegade down and executing a kneedrop. He blocks a sunset flip attempt by Renegade, punching him to the mat. I'm a big fan of Arn Anderson, but this match is fairly boring, as he doesn't do much to carry a watchable match out of the Renegade. The crowd is hot for him though, loudly chanting "DDT" as he wrenches the Renegade's arm.

Arn goes for a…Vaderbomb (I don't know what the generic name of that move is), but Renegade gets his knees up. Backdrop and a couple of clotheslines by the Renegade. Handspring back elbow. He goes for a second handspring back elbow, but Arn clobbers him in the back of the neck with a forearm and follows with the DDT that the crowd has been begging for. Three-count, Double A wins. Watching a crowd go nuts for Arn is one of life's simple pleasures.



Result: Arn Anderson via pinfall

Anderson sets Renegade up in the tree of woe after the match and kicks away. Lex Luger makes a save that the crowd doesn't really want.

Squire Dave Taylor begins his entrance alongside his manservant Jeeves, but he gets mad at Jeeves and knocks him out with a European uppercut part of the way to the ring.

Dave Taylor vs. Lex Luger: We get a PIP promo from Lex Luger, who says that Steven Regal has his TV Title and he wants it back. He says that in the meantime he'll take it out on Dave Taylor. Apparently Regal won the TV Title off of Luger a number of weeks ago, but it didn't really get any attention on Nitro. Lots of quick squashes on this show, and this is another one. Taylor gets a moment of token offense, misses on an elbow drop off the ropes, Torture Rack, ding ding ding.



Result: Lex Luger via submission

On Luger's way back down the aisle after the match, Arn Anderson races out and blindsides him with a steel chair and beats on him several times with it, leaving him laid out on the floor.



Rick Steiner (w/ Scott Steiner) vs. Chris Benoit (w/ Mongo & Debra McMichael): Bischoff notes that Scott Steiner has two bulging discs in his back and doesn't have doctor's approval to be appearing at all, but that he insisted on being here for his brother. He's in street clothes. Benoit is the first aggressor, but in a repeat of last week's spot, Steiner counters a leapfrog into a powerslam. Benoit tries to come back with a clothesline, but ends up eating one from Steiner. Steiner also gets the better of an exchange of punches, and throws a belly-to-belly. It's all Steiner early, as he settles into a reverse chinlock. As has been the case with each time Benoit has fought back, Rick returns the fight stronger, throwing a release German.

After a commercial break, Benoit has finally taken control, throwing knife-edge chops into the chest of Steiner. Whip and a back elbow. Scott Steiner randomly roughs up Nick Patrick in mid-match, but the match continues, as the Crippler throws a snap suplex. The camera goes backstage and shows an nWo limo back into the arena. Hulk Hogan and The Giant emerge from the back.



We return to ongoing coverage of the match, as Benoit slams and elbowdrops Steiner. Back suplex. I've gotta say, while you have a great worker and a solid worker in this match, they just don't seem to be putting together a particularly interesting match, even after having last week as a launching point. There's not much of a story, and mostly it's a lot of disconnected spots, spots that we saw last week. It doesn't help the story aspect that we didn't get to see what turned the match around for Benoit.

Steiner loses the headgear as Benoit slams him to the mat. Benoit's swandive headbutt off the top connects, but doesn't get a three-count. Benoit tries to follow with more top-rope offense, but Steiner catches him in a bearhug and counters into an overhead belly-to-belly. That was nice. DDT gets 2. Top rope bulldog by Rick only gets two as well.



Scott Steiner throws a tantrum about Nick Patrick's slow count. Benoit and Steiner clothesline each other. Debra runs distraction, Mongo tries to slip his briefcase to Benoit, Scott Steiner comes to interrupt Mongo, Mongo threatens Scott, Rick pulls the briefcase away from Mongo inside the ring and hammers him with it, then pulls it up and clobbers Benoit with it as well. 1-2-3, Rick Steiner pins Benoit with the same dirty finish Benoit won with last week. By the end I would say I enjoyed the match after all.

Result: Rick Steiner via pinfall

Suddenly we're set to get a US Title match between Ric Flair and Randy Savage as our main event. Wat. What a random marquee match, given that they haven't even been advertising it during the show. After Savage's entrance, Hogan and Ted DiBiase are shown offering paperwork to the Nasty Boys backstage. Flair's music plays, but nobody comes out, and we find the nWo beating Flair down backstage. Now I see that there are two reasons that they haven't been advertising it: (1) it's not going to happen; and (2) they're not the WWF. Hall, Nash, Syxx, and The Giant beat Flair down as Nash yells "THUG LIFE BABY, THUG LIFE" into the camera. Taking a journey back through this just reminds me of why I ****ing hated this idiot so much.



Miss Elizabeth is in the periphery, and gets backed down by The Giant. Giant stalks her out near the announce table, where Savage steps in with a steel chair, ready to attack. Liz hides behind him. Hogan attacks Savage from behind and drops him across a nearby guardrail. He chokes Savage with the end of the steel chair. Liz steps in and tries to pull Hogan off, and he grabs her by the hair, saying, "Who do you think you are? I own you!" Giant carries Savage to the ring over his shoulder, then falls off the steel steps like a doofus, dropping poor Savage unprotected on part of the steps.



Giant flings the steps aside angrily and then just tosses Savage into the ring anyway. He beats Savage down as Hogan holds onto Liz and makes her watch the beating. Giant is going to chokeslam Savage, and has him up in the air, when Hogan goes full Hogan and tells Giant to put Savage back down so that Hogan can punch him instead. Giant holds Liz while Hogan legdrops and spits on Savage.



Hogan spray-paints the equivalent of a chalk outline around Savage in the ring. The rest of the nWo comes to the ring. Hulk picks up a mic and continues verbally bullying Liz as Giant continues holding her in his grip. Hogan says, "Let's destroy the announce booth," and the nWo heads in that direction. Suddenly an nWo monster truck emerges from the back with Syxx riding in it. It revs its engine as the show goes off the air. What a strange way to sign off.

Overall: Not bad. Not great, but not bad. Felt like it stayed reasonably interesting throughout. The Jeff Jarrett business and the Steiner-Benoit match were good.

---

Ratings for 10/7/96: Nitro 3.5, Raw 2.1
Ratings Running Score: Nitro 32-17-2

Better Show: Somewhat better wrestling and somewhat more interesting storytelling, Nitro wins again.
Better Show Running Score: Nitro 42-9

Match of the Night: Rick Steiner vs. Chris Benoit

Gene's contract expired and it was thought WWF didn't want him back so WCW waited it out to get a better deal instead of bidding against themselves. On a related note, this whole idea that appearance is more important than quality for ring announcers and especially interviewers is awful.

I was listening to a Jesse Ventura shoot the other day and he says he finds modern wrestling unwatchable largely because the interviews happen in the ring with the wrestlers face to face. For him it spoils the whole idea of building up to an epic confrontation, because they have already confronted each other.

Wake me up when we get to Survivor Series.

That's interesting about Gene. They were using him constantly during each broadcast, so pinching pennies with regard to him seems very un-WCW. They weren't exactly the company of fiscal responsibility.

You and me both. It will probably take me about a month to get there.

WCW's wallet was sometimes open and sometimes not. They lost Steamboat to a contract dispute in 89 not long after that legendary program with Flair. They didn't want to spend to reunite the original Horsemen. Watts was hired in 92 and told to cut costs immensely, shortly after they had brought in and removed Kip Frey. They had allowed Frey to spend liberally in his short time at the top.

idk why but I laughed at this. I'll have to check it out when I get the Network again.

It actually probably should have been made a gif for the writeup. Here:



The underlying Blueblood angle was that Bobby Eaton had left the group because of their ****ty treatment of Jeeves. Taylor always abused him.