And, here we are.....

___________________

JJ Dillon is there..whoop-de-doo.

The first match is for the US Title, and it's Yuji Nagata vs. the champ, Dean Malenko.

Dean grabs onto an armbar, and Nagata reverses. Dean does the same and pins Nagata, and gets a two count. Dean gets a droptoehold, and goes to the chinlock. This early? Dean gives Nagata an armdrag, but a Nagata enziguri misses, and Dean sells it for a while. Dear Lord. Nagata grabs onto a chinlock, but Dean gives him a back suplex. A Dean suplex gets 2, and back to the chinlock. Nagata reverses, and once Dean gets out of it, Dean gets a leg lariat for 2. Dean gives him a dragon screw, then Nagata misses a charge to the corner, but gets a superkick and belly-to-belly suplex for 2. Nagata with another belly-to-belly for 2, and Nagata misses an enziguri, so Dean stomps on his knee and applies the Texas Cloverleaf, for the submission at 6:02. Match was a mess. 1/2*.

___________________

Back from the break, and it's Glacier vs. Ciclope. Glacier's entrance is wild, to say the least. His whole Sub Zero-ish getup is worse. The match starts, as Ciclope misses a charge to the corner. "Glacier sucks" chant gets going, so, Glacier gets rid of those thoughts, by giving Ciclope a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and Cryonic kick, for the victory at 0:32. DUD. OH MY GOD, IT'S THAT ADAM BOMB GUY FROM THE WWF. MORTIS comes out of the ring and gives Glacier a superkick, then Wrath gives him ROCK BOTTOM. Mortis and James Vandenburg steal Glacier's helmet, then Mortis starts trying to rip Glacier's eye out of his head. Seriously now, what the fuck. That was one of the worst segments I've ever watched.

___________________

From last week, which nobody was able to watch, Sting gave Giant and Luger bats to keep the NWO off their backs. Now, Nick Patrick comes to the announce table, and apologizes for his NWO allegiance.

And now, a TV Title match, with Bobby Eaton (how the mighty have fallen) vs. the Ultimate Dragon, the champion, who's accompanied by Sonny Onoo. I feel bad for Eaton, I really do. All he did was job in 97. Dragon's outfit is BRIGHT pink. Eaton gives Dragon a back elbow and a bodyslam, then gievs him 3 kneedrops. Eaton gives Dragon a clothesline, and now, Dragon starts to come back. He kicks Eaton a whole bunch, then gives him a dropkick to put Eaton out of the ring. Sonny Onoo starts kicking Eaton, then gets on the apron and gives Eaton a jumping kick. Dragon gives Eaton a rana off the top, and the Dragon Sleeper finishes at 2:47. 3/4*. Quickly afterward, Lord Steven Regal's in the aisleway, for an interview with Gene Okerlund. Regal talks about getting a TV Title shot at Slamboree, which he won. I like how Regal makes it sound like the TV Title means something. It's a really good interview, too.

___________________

Back from the commercial, it's Meng w/Jimmy Hart vs. Chris Jericho. There's a fight in the crowd, while Jericho gives Meng a dropkick. Meng misses a charge after a chop, and Jericho misses a missile dropkick. Meng gives him a back suplex and starts to choke, but Jericho gets a spinning heel kick. The two wrestlers fuck up Jericho's springboard moonsault block, and then fuck up a reversal sequence, so Jericho just gives him a german suplex for 2. Jericho jumps off the top rope, and Meng catches him, and drapes him over the top rope. Meng applies the TONGAN DEATH GRIP, and that's it for Jericho at 3:20. So much was screwed up, so DUD.

___________________

Back from another commercial, and we have the Public Enemy v. The Steiner Brothers. However, backstage, Konnan and Hugh Morrus attack the Steiners. I don't understand why they've been doing this, but this is WCW. Remember that. The Steiners get the better of the brawl, and make their way to the ring for their match. Rick and Grunge start the match off, as Rick gets a shoulderblock and powerslam, before barking. I used to, and still do love when he does the barking. Brings me back to my mark days, I tell you. Rocco Rock tags in, along with Scott, who rams Rocco into the turnbuckle. Scott misses a charge, but he press slams Rocco onto Grunge. He gives both a STEINERLINE, and after PE regroup, both Grunge and Rick wind up in the ring again. Rick misses a charge, and a "Michigan" chant gets going. You know, cause the Steiners went to Michigan, and that's where they are. The PE's give Rick a double back elbow, and Rocco Rock slams Rick and goes up top, but misses a rolling senton. Morrus and Konnan make their presence known at 3:13, and attack both teams. What the hell? Anyway, DQ, as both the Steiners and Public Enemy fend off the attack of Konnan and Morrus. That's twice those two guys have been made to look like jobbers. Oh, and *.

___________________

Hour #2

Gene's with JJ Dillon, the new chairman of the WCW Executive Commitee. Honestly, I can't stand the authority angles WCW always did. Nothing of note is said, until Eric Bischoff comes out. Apparently, Big Bubba Rogers and VK Wallstreet aren't allowed to be NWO. Bischoff says "bite me" a whole bunch, and that's basically it.

Last week, we see that Reggie White and Mongo came to blows in the ring. Rrrr.

___________________

We saw that, because Mongo's tag team partner, Jeff Jarrett w/Debra, is facing Scotty Riggs. They had a match on WCW Saturday Night or something, whatever. I hate the American Males theme, and it's funny, at least to me, that Riggs went from that, to Raven's Flock. Jarrett kicks Riggs, then gets a swinging neckbreaker and gutwrench suplex. Holy crap, it's the STROKE, SLAPNUTS, but it really doesn't mean anything then, so Jarrett does his little dance. Riggs comes back with an inverted atomic drop, and a back elbow. Debra's on the ring apron, to distract the referee while Jarrett backdrops Riggs over the top rope. That was a DQ in WCW, explaining the distraction. I CAN'T STAND how they have two of the Horsemen working as heels, and the other two working as faces. He rams Riggs into the steel steps, and drops him on the guardrail. Jarrett misses an enziguri, so Riggs backdrops him. Riggs goes up top after a clothesline, and gets a crossbody for 2. A flying forearm gets 2, only because Debra put Jarrett's foot on the bottom rope. Mongo comes to the ring, presumably because he gets mad when Jarrett cheats, but Reggie White comes out of the crowd and steals his briefcase. Riggs goes up top, and messes up a spot that he was supposed to get crotched in, completely missing the rope and landing funny on the canvas, so Jarrett applies the figure-four leglock for the submission at 3:54. *.

___________________

As we learn that Nitro will only be one hour next week, the intros for the Cruiserweight Title match begin. It's the challenger, Rey Mysterio vs. the champion, Syxx w/Kevin Nash. Whenever an NWO guy would wrestle on Nitro, it was like an event. Syxx applies a hammerlock, but Rey reverses it, with a headlock takeover. He gives Syxx a droptoehold, and reapplies the headlock. He then slaps Syxx once the hold is broken, and gives him a headscissor takeover. Syxx gives Rey a flapjack, and some kicks, before giving Rey the BRONCOBUSTER. No wonder people boo this guy, he still does the same shit, even in Mexico. Yeah, I saw him on TV a few weeks ago. Syxx applies an abdominal stretch, and cheats by holding the ropes, until the referee kicks Syxx's hand away. Nash distracts the referee while Syxx tosses Rey over the top rope, and back insie, Syxx misses a charge, and on a flapjack attempt, gets rana'd by Rey. Rey gives him another one, but from the top rope, and after Syxx bails, Rey comes to the floor with a tope con hilo. Love when he does that. On the inside, while Syxx distracts from the apron, Kevin Nash gives Mysterio a big boot, and the JACKKNIFE, to put him down for the count. Syxx applies a crossface-chickenwing, and that's it for Mysterio at 5:54. They did a good job of NOT making Mysterio look like a jobber, thankfully. **. Nash and Syxx beat Mysterio up, as Mysterio's knocked "unconscious." Then they beat up security, and when told to leave, Nash says "bite me." Also, Mysterio does a stretcher job. I enjoyed the match.

___________________

For some reason, we now see a Lex Luger video package. WCW is SO FAR behind on this sort of thing. Looks like something out of the early 90's.

___________________

On The Road in Norfolk, Virginia, the site of next week's Nitro. Don't like these segments very much.

NWO advertisment, with Hollywood Hogan on the set of some shitty movie. All the crew members, including the director, are wearing NWO shirts. Hogan's heel promo style doesn't fail to make me laugh. It's so sarcastic sounding.

The NWO makes their way to the ring, this time it's Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, Vincent, Fake Sting, Syxx and Kevin Nash. Nash says it's time for Flair and Piper to step aside, and that it's the New Generation's time to shine. I thought they already had their time, and nearly put a company out of business. But what do I know? It's not a bad interview or anything, but it drags. Nash says that WCW used to be guys pushing their sons (SHEWT COMMENT~!), and that Flair and Piper will have to beat respect out of him. Nash talks about how the NWO is regular guys, and that they don't need to ride first class and drive limos. They're NWO 4 LIFE, BRAH.

___________________

The last match on the show, is Psychosis vs. Diamond Dallas Page w/Kimberly. DDP gives Psychosis a kneelift, but Psychosis gets a dropkick. DDP crotches Psychosis on the top rope, then gives him a DIAMOND CUTTER from up there for the win at 0:50. 1/2*. Randy Savage and Elizabeth are in the crowd again, and Savage asks everyone if they can FEEL THE MADNESS, YEAH. He says Kimberly sure felt it, and DDP counters by saying, if Savage wants some, he can come down to the ring and get some. Savage won't, and it's time for a break.

___________________

Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Kevin Greene make their way to the ring, along with Gene Okerlund, and Flair just has one thing to say. He wants the NWO in the ring, NOW. There they are, with Ted DiBiase in tow this time. They get close to the ring, and point to the entrance way, with all members holding up the Kliq sign. Figures, it's SCOTT HALL! I've been wondering about him for the past few weeks. Back from the dead he is, and the NWO tries to get in the ring. Vincent, Fake Sting and Norton jump in, but Greene clotheslines Norton over the top, and all the others get dumped out. The heavy hitters, Hall, Nash and Syxx jump in the ring, and THEY BRAWL, but we're out of time!

___________________

Rating: Above-average. Not as good as RAW, and I'd be lying if I said so. That said, I enjoy WCW a little more, cause all my favorites from when I was a kid were there. The three things which dragged the show down were Dean's match, Meng's match, and the whole Glacier thing. Awful stuff.

Best Segment: End of show with Scott Hall. Yeah, changing the best match thing to best segment. Syxx vs. Rey was close, but getting the NWO to fight pretty much made this show worth watching.

Worst Segment: The Glacier garbage. Awful. I have a hard time believing I'll see worse for a few weeks.

Loudest Sound: Flair and Piper, NWO, and the Steiner Brothers.

No Sound: Glacier (X-Pac heat puts anyone over here), Ultimate Dragon, and Scotty Riggs. I try not to put jobbers over here, like Bobby Eaton.

___________________

ECW will be next, as I only have time to watch a 1 hour show today. Oh yeah, RAW wins. Better angles, better matchups.