UseTheSledgehammerUh

During Piper's confrontation with Bischoff at World War 3 1996: "You think I'm gonna trust a lyin' little flake, gay, wonderful human being like yourself? Tell me somethin'. How'd you get that crack in your lip?" "Easy Piper. I can fine you for that." "Tell me something. How much would it cost me by a fine just to knock your ass out." Piper (to Vincent/Virgil) "Back off, 'cause I taught you how to fight."

WCW Monday Nitro (Live) - February 19, 1996 Live from Salisbury, Maryland Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael Recap of Steve Grissom winning a race with the WCW #29 Car in Daytona. Arn Anderson (with Woman) Vs. Hulk Hogan Rematch from the previous week. Hogan paces to the ring, the crowd is really hot for him, and Hulk immediately attacks before Arn can get his jacket off. Hogan gets the jacket off and chokes him with it on the floor. Arn gets thrown shoulder-first into the post. Hulk hits a big running clothesline then pounds away. Hogan catches Arn coming off the top after “laying possum”, then chokes him. Bischoff, while plugging the Baywatch episode featuring WCW stars, calls out Vader by name and mentions he ran out of WCW like a coward from Paul Orndorff. Hogan continues to destroy Arn with clotheslines. Hulk scolds Woman, takes a “Hulkster” bandana from a fan, and chokes Arn with it. Arn hasn’t gotten a single move in. Arn gets slammed head-first into the mat repeatedly. Some relatively loud “Hogan Sucks!” chants for a few seconds. A Hogan punch sends Arn over the top rope. Arn fakes a punch, goes for the DDT, but Hogan escapes it. Hulk hits the Big Boot and poses. Hulk locks on the figure-four. Kevin Sullivan runs into the ring, but Randy Savage cuts him off. Referee Nick Patrick only sees Savage in the ring and immediately disqualifies Hogan at 7:17. We’ll go *, as this was a glorified squash with a BS ending, giving Arn two wins in a row. Arn got not a single offensive maneuever in. Gene Oklerlund Interview with WCW Motorsports Steve Grissom Grissom briefly talks about his race victory and having Sting & Lex Luger in the “pit”. Alex Wright Vs. Loch Ness (with Jimmy Hart) Commercial before the match. Wristlock, go-behind, and two dropkicks have no effect on Loch Ness. Wright gets a sleeper on him but is ultimately tossed off. Wright leaps into a Loch Ness bearhug. More dropkicks and kicks from Wright. Running elbow strike. Wright runs into a boot and the Loch Ness elbowdrop finishes Alex at 2:21. * for Wright using his speed. Post-match, Loch Ness yells something about Hogan. There’s no way in hell that Hogan could’ve ever slammed this guy. The Belfast Bruiser Vs. Brad Armstrong Bruiser is in WCW to beat up Lord Steven Regal and Brad Armstrong is looking forward to the upcoming “WCW Cruiserweight Title Tournament”. Commercial before the match. “USA!” chants. Finley with a smooth wristlock and arm-bar keeps Armstrong grounded. Bruiser is sporting a gray/black mullet haircut. Bruiser with a surfboard submission. Armstrong keeps getting to a vertical base but Bruiser is too strong. Brad finally gets the advantage with a headlock. This isn’t particularly interesting. Brad kicks the Bruiser over the top rope, but he is on his feet and starts attacking Armstrong’s knee. Single leg crab by the Bruiser. Bruiser puts on a modified STF. Brad fights back and hits a backdrop, then a crossbody which sends both men to the floor. Back in, a backslide gets Bruiser two. Armstrong nails a bulldog for two. A back suplex follows. Armstrong runs into a gutwrench suplex, which gets the Bruiser the win at 6:47. **, as it wasn’t super interesting but the selling and action was solid enough. WCW World Heavyweight Champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair (with Woman & Elizabeth) Vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage This is the return bout from SuperBrawl VI. Apparently Savage has lost a ton of money to Elizabeth recently, although they’ve been divorced for quite some time. Savage is back in his flashy gear. Flair’s keeping cool outside the ring in no rush. Apparently Flair purposely left Savage’s nameplate on the title belt to taunt him. Savage starts hot with punches and a backdrop. Flair comes back with a knee to the groin, then throws Savage into the crowd. Savage chases Woman, then gets blindsided by a Flair elbow. Flair beats up Savage in the aisleway, then Woman rakes the challenger’s eyes. Flair up top, by Savage throws him to the ground and locks on the Figure Four leglock! Two count on Flair, who’s hurting. And another. One more before Flair gets to the ropes. Savage puts a sleeper on but Flair counters with a back suplex. They criss-cross, and Savage runs full speed into Flair’s elbow again. Vertical suplex by Flair. They trade shots, but Flair hits the shinbreaker. Figure Four Leglock applied by Flair! Savage finally reverses it and Flair breaks. Savage sneaks in a backslide for two. Big chop puts Savage down. They trade chops and punches. Savage spits at him and Flair begs off. This is a pretty decent bout. Savage throws more punches and hits a backdrop. Flair gets flipped over the ropes and clotheslined. Flying axehandle by Savage. Elizabeth on the apron. Woman throws in a shoe, Savage intercepts it, and nails Flair! Savage makes a cover but Flair is in the ropes. Kevin Sullivan is out, and Hulk Hogan comes down to keep him out of the match. Arn Anderson sneaks in with the referee distracted and gives Savage the DDT. Flair crawls on top for the pin at 11:22. ** ½, a pretty energetic bout that while basic never really got boring. Post-match, Kevin Sullivan, Arn Anderson, & Ric Flair brutalize Hogan until The Booty Man (formerly The Zodiac/Brutus Beefcake) runs in and clears house. Booty Man chases Sullivan to the backstage area as Hogan checks on Savage. Ric Flair takes over the broadcast booth ranting about Hogan. The Booty Man then runs the group off by himself and dances. Hulk Hogan commandeers the broadcast booth, demanding a six-man tag match for the next show. Savage sees Flair’s title belt at the broadcast booth and flips out, almost attacking Bischoff. Hogan says “Booty Man” about 30 times.

He's a rare two-time transitional champion.

WCW Monday Nitro (Live) – February 12, 1996 Live from Tampa, Florida Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael Extended look at SuperBrawl VI still photos for 3 minutes. Hugh Morrus Vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage No flashy ring attire for Savage, who they’re pushing as focused and really crazy for what Elizabeth & Flair did to him at SuperBrawl. Brawl to start, which Morrus wins with clotheslines, but Savage fights back. Punches and chokes for the next minute. Savage takes Morrus down with chokes and axehandles. Morrus blocks a suplex and hits one of his own. Savage easily rebounds. More ground and pound, and not very exciting. Slam by Hugh, and he misses the No Laughing Matter. Slam by Savage and he hits the Flying Elbowdrop. He goes back up and delivers a second for the pin at 4:51. * ½ for this, as it wasn’t very good, but was short. Gene Okerlund Interviews WCW Motor Sports #29 Car Driver Steve Grissom He’s excited about qualifying the next day for a big race, which Sting will be in the “pit” for. Scotty Riggs Vs. Loch Ness (with Jimmy Hart) “American Males, American Males, American Males…”. We go to commercial before the big Nitro debut of Loch Ness. Loch Ness is your basic 500 pound, yellow-toothed fat guy who can’t wrestle. A perfect fit for Hogan’s rogues gallery! Stupid referee Nick Patrick forgets to ring the opening bell. Riggs punches and second-rope dropkick have no effect. Super Blown Spot Alert! Riggs leaps off the top rope into the arms of ol’ Nessy, who accidently drops him and looks lost. Ness then attempts a big elbowdrop spot, and mis-times it, so he goes back to the corner and waits as the crowd sleeps. Ness finally remembers a move and drops an elbow. A second elbowdrop wins it at 1:10. DUD. Horrible. Ness was originally going to be brought in as Hogan’s next big opponent, but luckily that idea was aborted. Gene Okerlund Interviews Ric Flair (with Woman & Elizabeth) Woman & Elizabeth roll Flair out on a gurney, under the sheets. Elizabeth insinuates that she & Woman slept with Flair all night long, then he pops up from under the sheets with the WCW World Title and cuts a glorious promo, old-school sunglasses and all! Elizabeth in a black leather dress works for me. Elizabeth explains that Savage kept her in the shadows, and that now she had his alimony money and his pride. “Dangerous” Devon Storm Vs. WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Konan Storm has quite a hideous wardrobe and a “suicidal” style. Konan actually tops Storm by wearing a hideous pink & blue puffy coat to the ring. Commercial before the bout. Storm attacks early with a dropkick and baseball slide to the floor. Storm grabs a chair and sets it up in the ring, giving him more leverage to hit a somersault over the ropes. Dropkick off the apron to the floor by Storm. Storm sets up the ringsteps and attempts a rana on the floor off of it, but Konan catches him and delivers a sloppy powerbomb on the floor. Back in, Konan hits a big lariat. Konan flips into the ring and catches Storm with a hurancanrana. He then hits a lucha armdrag and a slow headscissors. The moves aren’t crisp, but they’re somewhat good for this time period. Konan picks up Storm with one arm and powerbombs him, as George Steinbrenner looks on from the crowd. Konan works on the ankle with two different submission holds. Crowd’s not very alive. Storm springboards off the second rope with a leg lariat. Storm tries to go over the top rope and powerbomb Konan onto the floor, but Konan reverses it into a hurancanrana. Slow and sloppy, maybe a little too innovative. The powerbomb would’ve sufficed. Bischoff apologizes for last week when the announcer’s insinuated that the WWF caused the power outage on Nitro. Storm has Konan up top and tries a “Frankensteiner”, but Konan powerbombs him and flips over with a cradle of the legs for the pinfall at 5:20. That last move looked sloppy and dangerous. I’ll give this ** ½, if only for the fact that the guys tries to cram a TON of moves into their 5 minute window, they were pretty innovative, and although the executions were sloppy at times, they kept you watching. No restholds and a reason to watch next time, if only to see Konan kill Storm with a powerbomb again. Arn Anderson (with Woman) Vs. Hulk Hogan Hulk has the left eye patched up. Hulk overpowers Arn and works him over in the corner with 10 punches and a bite to the face. Hulk no-sells a clothesline and hits two of his own. To the floor, Arn tries to piledrive Hogan – it gets blocked, of course, and Hulk slingshots Arn into the ringpost. Then rams him shoulder-first into it and works on his left arm. Hogan chokes Arn with his wrist tape in the ring. Hulk hits an atomic drop and back suplex. Arn’s getting killed out there. Big running clothesline by Hulk. Arn finally gets an elbow up which Hogan runs into. Arn to the top rope, but Hulk is up and straddles him. Arn recovers and delivers punches, then goes for the injured eye. Here come Ric Flair & Miss Elizabeth. Arn hits the spinebuster rather nicely for two, but Hogan “Hulks Up”. Three punches, Big Boot, and a Flair Strut by Hulk. Hogan locks Anderson in the Figure Four Leglock. Flair gets in the ring, but Hulk, with Arn still in the figure four, pulls Flair into a cradle and embarrasses him. Woman up on the apron, and she throws powder into Hogan’s eyes. Anderson has Elizabeth’s high-heel shoe, and hits Hogan in the eye with it! Arn scores the shocking pinfall at 9:16! We’ll go **, as it was a basic match that saw Hogan dominate, get hit with a finisher, and Hulk Up. But this time Hogan plays Arn’s role and loses! Nice scene for long-time fans of Arn. Post-match, Arn, Flair, Woman, and Elizabeth celebrate. Hogan’s back up and rams Arn & Flair’s heads together, then hits the Big Boot on each. Randy Savage hits the ring and they all brawl, with Savage hitting Flair with a chair. The Horsemen hit the announcer’s table and bash Savage & Hogan, with Bobby Heenan sucking up to them. Arn Anderson gloats about his victory. Hogan & Savage chase them away and threaten Heenan, claiming “No More Mr. Nice Guy!”

According to WCW and WWE, The Giant's first World Title win was officially at Halloween Havoc 1995. The whole "screwjob" did officially count as a title win, but was of course stripped of the title. Giant won his second title on a taped Nitro in the late Spring of 1996. I have every Nitro from '95-'97 and '00-01, and I'm getting there. The crowd popped huge for Giant no-selling the Figure Four and chokeslamming Flair for a rather quick & easy win.

The problem I've noticed is that the good workers get short matches together, or matches with workers who can't hang or wrestle high-impact matches. Flair's matches are so basic and essentially the same match. Hogan no-sells everything and has awful matches. Savage gets no offense, was basically squashed by Benoit, then has a run-in or Flying Elbow at the end.

WCW Monday Nitro (Live) - February 05, 1996 Live from Lakeland, Florida Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael Chris Benoit Vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage (with Woman and Miss Elizabeth) Wow, interesting match...and this IS for the title. Benoit would have to wait about 43 months for his next shot, so he better make it good! No Linda or Debra with Savage tonight. Crowd solidly behind Savage. Benoit on offense to start early, and tosses Savage outside, where he tastes the guardrail. Back in, Benoit hits his trademark clothesline. They blow the slingshot under the ropes "guillotine" move, so Savage attacks him in the corner. Benoit back in control and gets him in a chinlock. Snap suplex. Woman looks on at her World Champion being beaten up by her future husband. Benoit up top and he hits the Swandive Headbutt! Benoit is dominating. "Back-leg roundkick by the Macho Man", claims Bischoff, as if "kick" wouldn't suffice. High impact elbow smash by Benoit. So why is Benoit getting a World Title match when Flair has one a week later, exactly? Benoit continues with stomps and chokes. Benoit throws Savage shoulder-first into the ringpost. Savage pretty much no-sells it and clotheslines Benoit in the ring. Savage runs at him, but Benoit backdrops him to the floor. Benoit with a Suicide Dive through the ropes, but Savage moves and BENOIT KILLS HIMSELF ON THE FLOOR. Splat! Flying Elbowdrop to the unconscious Benoit. But Ric Flair is out and accosting Miss Elizabeth. Woman turns on Savage, choking him by the neck with television cables from behind, and Flair attacks him. Thus, Benoit is disqualified at 8:19. We'll go * 1/2, this wasn't very good. Arn Anderson is out stomping Savage. Woman laughs. Hogan in with a chair and lays out Anderson and Benoit. The Horsemen and Woman retreat as Hogan & Elizabeth tend to Savage. Post-match, Gene Okerlund interviews Hogan. Hulk can see and they need to stop Flair & The Giant. Flair sneaks in behind Hogan and punches Hogan in the eye, then rips at it as The Giant and The Zodiac come to the ring. Giant cracks Hulk with the chair as Zodiac tells him to stop. Savage comes back to the ring, steals the chair, and chases them away. Savage logically questions Elizabeth about why she didn't warn Hogan about Flair's sneak attack. Hogan's bleeding. Pretty damn good segment after the slow, boring match. Kevin Sullivan & Hugh Morrus Vs. Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman This got setup the previous week on Nitro. Commercial and WCW Saturday Night preview follows the entrances. Back, and Pillman starts with Morrus. Chops don't phase Hugh. Morrus with a gorilla press on both Pillman and Anderson. Horsemen regroup. Pillman and Sullivan no-sell each other's offense and tag out. Horsemen double-team Morrus and Anderson hits a slow spinebuster. Arn keeps Hugh down with a chinlock. This is really dull. More disjointed double-teams. Pillman and Sullivan are tagged in and have a slugfest. Pillman in the Tree of Woe, but he no-sells it and goes right for Pillman! Sullivan bites Pillman then tries to pull his face off. ANderson and Sullivan brawl to the back. Anderson tries to piledrive Sullivan on the floor, but alledgely Arn gets a broom broken over his head. Couldn't see anything but the announcers described it. Back to the ring, Sullivan has a strap to whip Pillman, and the Dungeon of Doom is disqualified at 7:19. I give it a *. This was AWFUL. No flow, no selling, and sloppiness everywhere. Morrus goes up and barely hits the No Laughing Matter moonsault. Sullivan whips Pillman with the strap. Marcus Bagwell Vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (with Woman) Before the match, Paul Orndorff interrupts the announcers to vaguely claim he hit Anderson with the broom, in case anyone cares. No one does. Commercial break before the bout. Back, and Flair struts as the crowd "Whooo!"s. Flair in control early with chops and punches in the corner. Bagwell comes back with a backdrop and clothesline, then clotheslines Flair over the top. Flair has basically had the same match beginning on every Nitro this year. The two trade shots in the ring with Bagwell winning. Another backdrop by Bagwell. Standing dropkick gets him two. He misses a second one. Bagwell counters the figure-four into a small package for two. Flair dodges either a clothesline or cross-body and Bagwell falls to the floor. Back in, Flair hits the kneedrop. Bagwell fights back, eventually getting some punches and a clothesline. Up to the top rope, Bagwell hits a superplex for two and a half. Bagwell tries a slingshot splash into the ring but Flair gets the knees up. Figure Four is locked on by Flair and Bagwell submits at 7:00. We'll go **, really standard stuff here, but Bagwell brought some excitement at times. Flair doesn't release the hold and punches referee Jimmy Jett. Randy Savage runs to the ring and chases Flair to the back. The Road Warriors Vs. WCW World Tag Team Champions Sting & Lex Luger Why this is being given away I have no idea, especially since there was a World Title match earlier. "LOD!" chants to start. Sting & Animal start, and Animal's much too strong for him. Big elbow misses and Sting hits the bulldog, then a flying clothesline off the top. Luger and Hawk tagged in. Luger hits the piledriver and Hawk no-sells it. Running shoulderblock by Hawk, then a fist drop. Hawk then pummels Sting. Sting fights back and goes for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Animal saves. Luger low bridges Animal and he falls to the floor. Sting's not happy with Lex's tactics. Punches, bodyslams, and elbowdrops from Lex. TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, as the building lost power. Bischoff & McMichael blame the "competition" for the power loss! Sting with a long facelock weardown on Animal. Luger in and he powerslams Animal. Animal avoids the "Rack" and back suplexes Lex. Hawk and Sting brawl at ringside. Animal powerslams Luger. Jimmy Hart runs to the ring with a weighlifiting plate. Luger grabs it, hits Animal in the back with it, and gets the pin at 7:56. * 1/2 for this, as it was a rather important bout, but not that good. Post-match, The Road Warriors demand a match with the winners of Sting & Luger Vs. Harlem Heat.

WCW Monday Nitro (Live) - January 29, 1996 Live from Canton, Ohio Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (with Jimmy Hart) Vs. Hulk Hogan (with Miss Elizabeth, Woman, Linda Bolea, and Debra McMichael) Wow, those young guns Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair are curtain jerking! Hulk overpowers Flair to start, no-sells the chops, then hits a backdrop and clotheslines Flair around the ring. Flair has little luck outside the ring, as well. Flair clips the knee twice as the show goes to commercial. Back, and Flair is in control with chops in the corner. Flair goes up top but gets slammed off, and Hogan goes back in control. Flair, however, quickly targets the knee again. As Flair poses, Hulk no-sells Flair's attacks and goes back on the offensive, eventually clotheslining Flair to the floor. Hulk kicks away Jimmy Hart, who sticks his nose in the match. Later, Hart chokes Hogan on the floor when Flair tosses the former champion to the floor. Very faint "Hogan!" chants. This isn't that good. Flair with a shinbreaker, then slaps on the Figure Four Leglock as Hogan screams in pain. Hulk of course eventually reverses it, then blocks a Flair suplex and hits one of his own. Hogan no-sells Flair's chops, punches, and forearms, but runs into an elbow and goes down. It's like the same slow-motion moves every 3 minutes. Flair gets a two count and Hogan "Hulks Up". Flair's punches & chops have no effect. Three punches, Big Boot, and Legdrop, but Jimmy Hart has the referee distracted. Arn Anderson runs in and Hogan easily fights him off. Anderson steals Miss Elizabeth's shoe and gives it to Flair. Hogan got a two count on his delayed pinfall attempt. During Flair's kickout, he hits Hogan in the eye with the shoe heel. Flair covers Hogan and gets the three count at 11:05! We'll go ** with this one, as it was slow and repetitive, unclean, and rather insulting to have Flair repeatedly hit Hogan with multiple moves to no effect, then a second later easily take him down with a weak reverse elbow. One of Flair's few pinfalls over Hogan, for sure. Postmatch, Hart, Flair, and Anderson celebrate as Elizabeth tends to a blinded Hogan. Randy Savage comes down to check on Hulk, too. For God's sake...this has to be mentioned. On the screen shots for WCW Saturday Night, there is a Lex Luger Vs. Eddie Guerrero match hyped. Guerrero, at this time, is about 175 pounds. And Luger just cleanly beat the World Champion. Jeez. The Faces of Fear Vs. The Road Warriors Nitro debut of The Road Warriors. First-time Meng & The Barbarian teamed together on Nitro, I believe. Goes to commercial immediately before the bell. Animal & Barbarian start. Animal overpowers him. Kick to the face by Barbarian. Road Warriors have their WWF-ish tights on, only blue trim instead of red. Irish whip reversal and powerslam by Animal. Meng and Hawk in. Meng really beats the crap out of him, then hits an AWESOME piledriver, which Hawk bounces up from and no-sells. Hawk powerslams him and hits the fist-drop! Pretty good so far. Animal in, and the Faces of Fear cheat to get the advantage. Bischoff claims WCW has "more new faces in 90 days than the other guys have had in 2 years, and we're not talkin' about Rupaul wannabes!" Barbarian works over Animal, targeting his back, which Luger claimed is still injured. Animal is slow. He gets his back rammed into the ringpost by Barbarian. Meng hits a nice dropkick! Meng has his thumb taped up, ala WWE star Umaga, who stole his finisher. Barbarian powerbombs Animal! Not a great debut for The Road Warriors. Barbarian on second rope, hits the flying clothesline, and Animal sells it strangely. They botched that up. Barbarian goes to do it again and now Animal weakly clotheslines him. Hawk tagged in. Clotheslines for both Faces. Big boots for both. Double-clothesline on them. Signals for the Doomsday Device. Barbarian puts Hawk on the top rope, but Animal electric chairs him, setting up the finisher. Meng pushes Hawk off the top, though. Barbarian piledrives Animal. He goes for a second one, but Hawk hits the top-rope clothesline for the pin at 8:57. Really, really close match, probably not what the Road Warriors needed, but put the Faces of Fear over nicely, too. We'll go ** for some good power action. Gene Okerlund Interviews Kevin Sullivan (with Hugh Morrus) Sullivan's pissed at Arn Anderson for not controlling Brian Pillman. Either control him or pay! Arn & Pillman hit the ring and gloat about Flair beating Hogan, but Arn says Pillman needs to stop being a child and be a team player. Arn promises Pillman tough love and takes his belt off. Sullivan and Morrus attack Anderson, as Pillman runs away and hides at ringside. Sullivan then whips Pillman with Anderson's belt. Anderson fights back and DDTs Morrus before running Sullivan away. Arn gets on the mic and threatens Sullivan, then tells the executive committee to get him a match with Sullivan and Morrus. Pillman promises to get them out of this. Sister Sherri Vs. Madusa Madusa interrupts Gene Okerlund's in-ring interview with Sherri with a flying top-rope crossbody and the match begins. They fight to the outside, and Madusa sends Sherri into the steps. Snap suplex by Madusa on the floor. They brawl on the floor, and this isn't bad. Bischoff reminds us that Madusa trashed the WWF Women's Title on Nitro. Double-leg takedown and legs to the stomach by Sherri. Up to the top, but Madusa throws her off, which Sherri counters mid-air into a small package for the pin at 1:53. Madusa then kills her with a German suplex, slaps her around and rams her head into the mat as referees break it up. Bischoff claims Madusa could take on many of the WWF men, including, as Steve McMichael calls him, "Goldfart". WCW World Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage (with Woman, Terry Bolea, Debra McMichael, and Miss Elizabeth) Vs. The Giant Giant's introduction is very cool looking. Savage sneaks into ring from the crowd with the title and uses it to attack Giant. The match is instantly thrown out and never begins. NO MATCH. Ric Flair comes out and beats down Savage with a chair. Giant suplexes Savage and Flair takes out the referee. Savage is destroyed and finally chokeslammed. Hulk Hogan, with his eye and head bandaged, hits Giant three times with a chair to clear the ring. Chairshots for Hugh Morrus, Kevin Sullivan, Meng, and The Barbarian. Ric Flair is at the announcer's table berating Hogan and ranting about the two cage matches at SuperBrawl VI. The Giant claims he'll destroy Hogan. Flair seems to want to fight Steve McMichael.

The purpose of this is to post reviews of old episodes of WCW television, to point out things that older fans may have missed, or drop knowledge to newer fans about WCW's history. So if you have old episodes, review 'em and discuss! I write my reviews in Scott-Keith fashion, but I feel they're a pretty accurate assessment of the product, though I'm a much harsher critic than he is. __ WCW Monday Nitro (Live) - January 1, 1996 Live from Atlanta, GA Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael Arn Anderson Vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage Anderson helped Ric Flair win the World Title from Savage at Starrcade. Slugfest to start, then Savage absolutely dominates Anderson outside of the ring. Bischoff congratulates college football teams for winning Bowl games, then calls the WWF's taped "Raw Bowl" which is running opposite of Nitro the "toilet bowl" and says The Smokin' Gunns won it. Some basic brawling back in the ring, with Savage then hitting a flying axehandle off the top for two. Bischoff, very cockily,claims WCW is "often imitated but never duplicated, hahahaha", as the others ignore him. Anderson targets Savage's injured arm. Out to the floor for a quick second, then Anderson continues to destroy Savage's injured arm. Bischoff claims 1995 was WCW's most successful year in history. Arn uses the ropes for leverage to further wear down Savage's arm. I feel like Savage wrestled the same match for like 6 months in 95-96: start hot, get arm destroyed, flying elbow, win. Clever spot sees Arn fake a punch, Savage duck, and Arn drill Savage with the DDT as the crowd erupts. Rope break saves Savage. Ref gets bumped, Arn pulls out a foreign object, but Savage clocks him, then punches Arn with the object as the ref wakes up and counts the three at 7:55. Pretty boring. * 1/2 for effort. Horsemen members Brian Pillman and Chris Benoit hit the ring and chase Savage away. Lord Steven Regal (with Geeves) Vs. Chris Benoit Matwork to start and then a headbutt battle! Regal gains the advantage with a cravate, as a faint "Horsemen!" chant starts. Regal with a nice counter, and palm strikes Benoit repeatedly on the mat and then in the corner. Benoit ducks a clothesline and drops Regal on his neck with a release German suplex. Regal with a butterfly suplex, and gets 3 two-counts before Benoit hits him with a clothesline. Electric chair drop by Benoit, but he misses the Swandive Headbutt from up top. Benoit counters a Regal tombstone piledriver into one of his own! Benoit with a slingshot plancha to the floor, but Regal moves and Benoit hits hard and knocks himself out. Regal scores the easy pinfall at 5:41. ** 1/2, could've used much more time, but what they had was quite good. Afterwards, Gene Okerlund has the Horsemen (minus Flair) in the ring for an interview. Brian Pillman viciously berates Benoit & Anderson for losing and spending too much time partying. Benoit says Regal got lucky. Anderson tells Pillman to stop picking unnecessary fights with Paul Orndorff and The Dungeon of Doom. Kevin Sullivan and The Zodiac run to the ring to attack but are pulled off by The Giant. The Super Assassins (with Col. Rob Parker) Vs. Sting & Lex Luger The masked Assassins are The Warlord & The Barbarian, wearing hideous black & yellow attire with yellow masks and a big yellow "S" on their chests. A split-screen shows Sgt. Craig Pittman interrupting the announcers, discussing his credentials, and asking Steve McMichael to manage him. McMichael declines his offer and says he doesn't need a manager. In the ring, Sting rather easily avoids the Assassin double-teams, with #1 (Barbarian) accidently clotheslining #2 (Warlord). #2 gets clotheslined to the floor, but Luger's arguing with the referee allows them to get an advantage on Sting. Sting gets trapped in a lengthy Canadian backbreaker submission hold. #2 uses a deadly headlock forever, keeping Sting fromm making the tag. The Assassins hit a sloppy suplex/top-rope clothesline combo on Sting as Luger continues to argue with the referee and cost his partner. Powerbomb by #1, who heads up top and jmisses a splash. Luger gets the hot tag FINALLY, and manhandles the big guys, finishing off one of them with the "Torture Rack" for the win as Sting applies the "Scorpion Deathlock" to the other at 5:48. Absolutely dreadful - heatless power moves and restholds. * Interview with The Giant and Jimmy Hart Hart says he'll go back and forth between managing Ric Flair and The Dungeon of Doom. The Giant says tonight is his night to destroy Hogan, who has a WCW World Title match later. WCW World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair Vs. Hulk Hogan Hogan repeatedly shoulderblocks Flair off his feet. Flair tries to mat wrestle, and then comes back with chops and punches, but Hogan is not affected by them. Five rights from Hulk, but he runs into Flair's elbow and the "red & yellow crowd fully in support of Hogan" (so says Bischoff) lets out a huge "WHOOO!" Flair gets slammed off the top rope and clotheslined over the top to the floor. Flair gets pummeled on the floor, but then targets the knee of Hogan back inside the ring. Kneedrop on Hulk's left knee. Flair works on it some more then locks on the Figure Four Leglock. Hogan reverses the hold, but gets distracted by Jimmy Hart at ringside, who proclaims Flair as the greatest of all time. Flair goes back to the knee, but Hogan "Hulks Up" and Flair's in trouble. Hogan hits the Big Boot and Legdrop, but doesn't cover and instead decks Jimmy Hart. Arn Anderson sneaks into the ring and hits Hogan with a foreign object behind the referee's back, but Hogan gets up totally unaffected by it. Hogan decks Anderson and retrieves the foreign object from him, shows the referee, and Flair is disqualified at . Let me repeat. Hogan, who has been seeking a World Title shot forever, and who knows he can't win the title by disqualification, purposely got Flair disqualified at 7:52. OK. Next, in one of the worst WCW moments of all-time, Pillman and Benoit hit the ring and get decked. The Four Horsemen, all on their knees, beg Hogan to show mercy on them. The Giant hits the ring, wielding a wooden bar stool, but Savage intercepts it and Hogan fights him off. This was quite a bad Hogan/Flair match, the most basic and standard one I've seen, so we'll go * 1/2 for a whole lot of nothing. Postmatch, Hogan & Savage claim they want to tear Flair & The Giant apart. Should be easy, since they just handled 5 of them with ease. ____ WCW Monday Nitro (Live) - January 8, 1996 Live from Charleston, South Carolina Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael Chris Benoit (with Brian Pillman) Vs. Alex Wright Benoit attacks before Wright can take off his jacket. Benoit hits a snap suplex, elbow to the face, and bodyslam to quickly take control. Wright gets tossed to the floor where Pillman chokes him with a Horsemen shirt. Benoit keeps on Wright with chops, but Wright moonsaults off the top rope to evade a charging Benoit and hits him with a jumping kick to the face. Wright then hits a high cross body from the top rope and a slingshot sends Benoit over the top rope and to the floor! Wright slides and kicks Benoit into the guard rail, then connects with a cross body from the top rope to Benoit on the arena floor! Back inside, Wright gets a dropkick and bodyslam for 2. As Wright gets a Boston Crab locked on Benoit, Eric Bischoff announces that "Titanic Sports" (the WWF) is raising their Pay-Per-View prices, unlike WCW who will be delivering a free "Clash of the Champions" from Las Vegas in January. Wright wears down Benoit with the crab, then turns it into a STF submission. Suplex by Wright gets 2. Wright turns his attention to Brian Pillman, who tried to trip him, and delivers a slingshot plancha from the ring to the floor to take him out! Wright tries a splash, but Benoit gets the knees up. Wright counters Benoit's dragon suplex attempt, and Benoit counters Wright's German suplex attempt. Wright then counters Benoit's Northern lights suplex attempt, and Benoit counters Wright's attempt at a double-underhook suplex. Finally, benoit slugs Wright in the mouth and delivers the Dragon Suplex for the win at 6:39. Wright pretty much dominated this one, since Bischoff was trying to make people think he was a, quote, "new international star debuting here in WCW", despite Wright being in the company for quite some time. Still, some pretty good action here. ** 1/2 Lord Steven Regal (with Geeves) Vs. Eddie Guerrero Quick mat exchanges get this started, with Eddie out-quicking Regal, and Regal using his power to escape from Guerrero's holds. Bischoff says to forget about the WWF's "Royal Fumble". Regal keeps Eddie grounded and palms him to the face repeatedly. Knee to the stomach slows down Eddie. Eddie escapes a double-underhook suplex with a nifty armdrag, then headscissors Regal to the mat. A little sloppy on the "multiple nearfall counters" spot, and Regal thumbs Eddie in the eyes. Eddie fights back and gets a sloppy transition into a standing O'Connor roll for two. Kicks & European uppercuts continue to keep Eddie at bay. Eddie keeps trying, but Regal has a submission or palm strike for every attempt. Regal hits five brutal palm strikes and Eddie is done. Regal gloats, attempts a European uppercut, but its countered into a backslide for three and Eddie wins at 8:09. * 1/2, definately lacking for these two, and way too one-sided. Regal strikes him again and uppercuts Eddie to the floor. Gene Okerlund Interview with Lex Luger & Sting Okerlund takes a shot at two "social security collecting" new members of the WWF's "new generation". Luger doesn't want to air their business out on TV, but Sting wants answers about Luger stopping him from getting back in the ring at Starrcade. Oklerlund stirs up trouble between the two. Luger says he hurt his knee and simply grabbed Sting for help. Luger suggests they form an actual tag team together. "Diamond" Dallas Page Vs. Sting This would be a nice WCW Saturday Night squash in 1992. Page uses his cigar on Sting before the bell and works over Sting. Sting comes back and dropkicks Page to the floor. Sting with a plancha to the floor on Page. Sting tries to leapfrog Page, and barely gets over, so they play it as he crotched himself and Page takes over. Swinging neckbreaker by Page. Cue the chinlock. Page drops Sting throat-first across the top and hits him with a Russian legsweep. Bischoff acts surprised at Page's offensive attack being so strong. Sting escapes an attempted back suplex, catches Page by the leg, trips him, and locks on the Scorpion Deathlock for the submission win at 6:18. * 1/2. The theme of this show continues to be "The winner steals a victory after being dominated all match" and it's getting old. WCW World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair & Arn Anderon Vs. Hulk Hogan & "Macho Man" Randy Savage Hogan and Flair start, with Hogan mat-wrestling Flair down, then no-selling a chop. Hogan hits Flair with the Big Boot, then drills Anderson & Flair with four clotheslines and they scamper to the floor. Anderson & Savage now go at it, with Savage running Arn's head into Hogan's boot, then delivering a flying axe-handle from the top to the floor. Hogan and the referee are tied up, allowing Flair & Anderson to get an advantage over Savage. Flair gets tossed off the top rope, but as Hogan and the referee jaw-jack again Anderson sneaks in and DDTs Savage. Anderson tosses Savage over the top rope behind the referee's back. We go to commercial. Back, and it's Arn with an abdominal stretch on Savage, using Flair to give him extra leverage. Flair then chops away at Savage. The Horsemen work over Savage forever, but Savage gets a few counters, blocking a punch and backsliding Flair, then countering the Figure Four into a small package for two. Hogan finally gets the tag. Backdrop on Flair. Clotheslines on Arn & Flair. Hogan clotheslines Arn & Flair over the top rope. Savage sends Anderson back in. Anderson reverses an Irish whip and hits the Spinebuster on Hogan! And Hogan no-sells it and "Hulks Up" as Arn celebrates. Punches, Big Boot, and Legdrop win it for Hogan over Arn at 12:19. * 1/2, quite boring. Benoit & Pillman hit the ring, but so do Kevin Sullivan & The Zodiac, and they start fighting each other outside the ring. The Giant hits the ring and chokeslams both Hogan and Savage. For the second straight week, The Zodiac yells at The Giant to stop, screaming "No! Friend!" as the show ends. ____ WCW Monday Nitro (Live) - January 15, 1996 Live from Miami, Florida Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael "The Total Package" Lex Luger Vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage These two have been enemies since Luger's arrival in WCW back in September of '95. Luger pearl harbors him, and then tosses Savage over the top to the floor as the referee removes Luger's chair from the ring. Savage gets a World Title match next week regardless of the outcome here. Luger has Savage's number in big matches. Luger throws Savage into the steps. Savage recovers, pulls Luger to the floor, and does the same to him. Flying axehandle off the top gets Savage a two-count. Luger cowers in the corner but Savage stays on him. Luger gets a cheapshot and stays on the offensive. Savage fights back, drops Luger throat-first on the top rope, then comes goes up top for the Flying Elbow. He gets great height, but Luger moves. Luger puts Savage in the Torture Rack, and Savage's arm drops 3 times, giving Lex his 4th straight win over Savage at 5:11. This wasn't bad at all, I actually wish they had more time. ** for actually having some energy. Gene Okerlund Interview with The Four Horsemen and The Dungeon of Doom It's a business meeting, and Arn Anderson yells at Brian Pillman for not dressing appropriately. Also, the goal needs to be simple: protect Flair's World Title and stop having silly fights with the Dungeon. Kevin Sullivan puts over Flair's legacy and will let The Giant team with Ric Flair at Clash of the Champions. Sullivan respects Arn, but he has a big problem with Brian Pillman. Arn says the Horsemen respect the Dungeon, but don't fear them. Pillman then grabs the mic and begins screaming about the Horsemen not fearing anyone, which leads to Anderson slapping him and telling him to shut up. Benoit looks pissed at Arn. Sullivan reminds the Horsemen that Hulk Hogan is facing Meng tonight. Really good segment. The Public Enemy Vs. The American Males This is the WCW debut of The Public Enemy, Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge. American Males have such laughably bad theme music. If only this could've taken place in an ECW ring back then. Double clotheslines from the Males send TPE to the floor. Some tame brawling on the floor, then back in, with Marcus Bagwell hitting a flying bodypress off the top onto Rock & Grunge. Double-dropkicks send TPE back to the floor. Not a great start for them. Riggs & Grunge start, with Riggs in control. Bagwell in, hits Grunge with a backdrop. Backdrop on Rocco. Dropkicks for both TPE members. Powerslam on Grunge. Rocco hits Bagwell as he is executing a super-sloppy O'Connor Roll. And after a delay, the punch to the head leads to Grunge rolling up Bagwell for three at 3:28. One of the worst debuts I have ever seen. 1/2* They got one offensive move in, an illegal punch, and got the win. Post-match, Public Enemy beats up Bagwell outside the ring. They stack up two of the thinnest wooden tables you'll ever see, then put Bagwell on top of the stack. Rocco Rock climbs up to the top rope and executes a somersault from the top rope to Bagwell, absolutely destroying both of them and sending them onto the floor! AWESOME visual there! So they looked horrible in the ring, but the last moment was pretty memorable. WCW World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (with Jimmy Hart) Vs. Sting Of course, Hogan squashing Meng gets to be the main event. Flair pulls the hair three times, and Sting kips up three times. Sting dominates early. 10 punches in the corner. Standing dropkick. Gorilla press slam. Flair flips over the ropes to the apron, and gets clotheslined. Flair rakes the eyes and hits some chops. Sting blocks a suplex, then puts Flair up top and hits a superplex! Big splash, but Flair gets the knees up. Commercial break. Sting escapes a back suplex attempt, and comes FLYING at Flair, who moves, sending Sting throat first across the top rope. Refreshing to see Flair in there with an energetic opponent. Sting gets tossed, and eventually fights back, but Flair hits the back suplex finally and both men are spent. Sting with right hands, but Flair avoids a dropkick. Sting counters a Figure Four attempt into a small package for two! Backslide gets Sting 2. Gorilla press, but Sting runs into Flair's elbow in the corner. None of Flair's offense will work now. Chops no-sold. Sting flexes. Crowd goes wild. Gorilla press on Flair. Jimmy Hart is on the ring apron, and Lex Luger comes to argue with him. Sting whips Flair into their corner. Luger steals Hart's megaphone and falls into the corner, where Sting, executing the Stinger Splash, goes head-first into it. Allegedly. Luger and Hart argue, with Luger yelling "He's my friend! You're not hitting him with that megaphone!" Sting is out cold. Flair puts on the figure-four and Sting, shoulders down, is pinned at 11:06. Fun match, bad ending. Gets *** from me, and Nitro's best match of '96 so far. Afterwards, Luger tries to pull Flair off Sting, but Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage run Luger away. Gene Okerlund enters the ring to interview them. Hogan says Luger cost Sting the match. Savage yells at Sting and tells him to "Wake up!" and get away from Luger. Sting acts clueness and says he needs to find Lex and find out for sure what happened. Hogan's also pissed that Savage gets a World Title shot and Hulk doesn't. They're on a roll, and Hulk says he should get the shot since Savage is hurt. Meng (with Kevin Sullivan) Vs. Hulk Hogan Meng works the back and send Hogan to the floor. Back in, Meng keeps chopping and forearming Hulk in the corner, as a "Hogan!" chant starts and ends rather quickly. Meng now chokes Hogan on the mat. Sullivan gets a cheapshot on his mortal enemy. Meng with a nerve hold on the neck. Hogan eventually fights back with some clotheslines, but Meng illegally uses his "golden spike" to hit Hogan in the throat. Hogan no-sells it during a pin attempt, and "Hulks Up", with the crowd not really caring. Big Boot, but Sullivan is on the ring apron. Randy Savage comes out to stop his interference, Hogan decks Sullivan, takes the "golden spike", and hits Meng in the chest with it to get the pin at 4:40. This gets a * because I'm feeling generous, although I don't know why the most heatless match on the show was the main event. ___ WCW Monday Nitro (Live) - January 22, 1996 Live from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada Hosted by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael "Mexican Heavyweight Champion" Konnan interrupts the announcers to declare that at the Clash of Champions, he'll defend his title against Psicosis and defeat him. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (with Woman, Debra McMichael, Linda Bolea, and other women) Vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (with Jimmy Hart) Savage brings a ton of women, usually Flair's deal, including his ex-manager Woman, to psyche him out. Flair tries to kiss Woman and gets slapped. Eric Bischoff announces Miss Elizabeth will be in Savage & Hogan's corner at Clash of the Champions. Savage attacks Flair on the outside and beats him up., but Flair sends the challenger into the guardrail. Back in, Savage gets a clothesline, but Flair eventually cheats and works him over in the corner with chops. Bischoff announces Kevin Greene and The reunited Road Warriors will be at the Clash. Savage gets thrown outside, where Jimmy Hart attacks. Savage gets sent into the guardrail and flips into the crowd. Slugfest ensues on the floor and Flair rakes the eyes. Savage backdrops the champion, and heads up top for a flying axehandle, but Flair moves and Savage lands on the guardrail. Commercial break. We're back, and in the ring, with Savage gaining momentum. Punches, and then 10 punches in the corner. Flair gets flipped to the floor. Flair low-blows Savage, and this match really doesn't have a flow. Savage gets a miracle backslide for two, but Flair goes after the knee. Flair locks on the Figure Four leglock and uses the ropes. Flair eventually has to release it, but keeps Savage grounded with chops. Flair up top, but he gets caught and thrown to the mat. Flying double-axehandle from Savage. And a second one. Jimmy Hart gets on the ring apron and distracts the referee as Arn Anderson comes to the ring with a foreign object. He accidently hits Flair, which referee Randy Anderson sees, but the match continues anyway. The bell rings, eroneously, but the referee never signalled for it. Hulk Hogan comes out and fights off Anderson, and Savage climbs up top, delivers the Flying Elbowdrop, and pins Flair to win his 2nd WCW World Heavyweight Championship at 8:03. By the way, the bell rang again right as Anderson was counting the third second, so whoever was on timekeeping duty really sucked that night. Match gets ** 1/2, if only for the return of Woman to WCW and some decent effort from Savage. Hogan comes in and celebrates with Savage like Hulk just won the lottery. Gene Okerlund enters the ring for an interview. Savage says cut the music, and Hulk needs to stop celebrating like he won the title. Hulk congratulates Savage and asks for a WCW Title shot. Savage says he doesn't make matches, but if Hulk becomes the #1 contender he'll give him a shot. Savage also says that he and Hulk need to have their match in Caesar's Palace. Ironically, it would end up being Hogan giving Savage a title shot in Caesar's Palace some 9 months later at Halloween Havoc...and boy, things sure were different in WCW. Dean Malenko Vs. Brian Pillman Malenko scores early with a hiptoss & dropkick, but Pillman rolls outside as Dean tries the Texas Cloverleaf. Pillman cheapshots Malenko, rubs his face in the mat, and psychotically yells at the camera. "I'm the Shooter...Because I've got a Full Metal Jacket!" Malenko comes back with a clothesline into the corner and a brainbuster. Pillman's an effective heel, because Malenko, a heel, had yet to really get over with the fans, yet they cheer him when pounding on Pillman, who was just quite unpredictable at this time. Neckbreaker gets 2 for Malenko. Pillman begs off in the corner, then gets in a shot and a Tornado DDT from the top. Now the crowd is really dead. Double-underhook powerbomb gets Dean 2, and a dropkick sends Pillman halfway over the ropes, then under them to the floor. Pillman looks sluggish. Malenko's baseball slides misses and he is sent into the guardrail. Back in, Malenko blocks a second Tornado DDT attempt. Overhead stomach breaker on Pillman. Malenko gets an anklelock submission on, but Brian's in the ropes. Pillman decks Malenko, who has his ankle tied up in the ropes. Pilman falls off the apron, then gets back in, blowing the whole finish, and covers Malenko as the "ref didn't see Malenko's ankle tied up", for the pin at 6:16. Crowd hurt the match, which was already hurt by the blown finish and sluggish Pillman effort. Call it * 1/2. WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat Vs. Sting & Lex Luger Stevie Ray and Luger start, with Ray pummeling him until Luger hits a big clothesline. Booker T. distracts Lex and Stevie hits a kick to the head. Lex evetually double-clotheslines the Heat and tags Sting in. 2 Stinger Splashes for Booker and Stevie, and Sting locks on the Scorpion Deathlock to Ray. Booker T. delivers the "jump axe kick", however, as the referee is tied up with Luger. Beautiful leaping sidekick by Booker. The announcers are all ga-ga about the return of The Road Warriors as Sting makes a comeback, but Booker slams his face to the mat. Stevie Ray applies his deadly "choke and chinlock" combo. And then a nerve hold. Booker in, another headlock wear-down, then he goes to the top. Sting moves out of the way of the Harlem Hangover. Luger gets the hot tag and Jimmy Hart is at ringside, but Lex's tag doesn't count. Sting brawls with Stevie at ringside, then Sting and Booker collide in the ring with a crossbody attempt from each. Luger gets the tag, comes in, and decks Booker with a roll of silver dollars given to him by Hart. He gets the pin and the titles at 9:33. *, this was really boring. Luger picks Sting up to celebrate the victory, and clueless Sting celebrates with the cheater. WCW U.S. Champion The One Man Gang Vs. Hulk Hogan Yes, you read that right. This is non-title of course. Hogan's too good for that title, but that doesn't stop him from burying the champion. Did I just stick up for the Gang? What a main event! Gang avoids the Big Boot early. Hogan throws Gang into the steps. Hogan bites the Gang. Gang comes back, delivers the Big Splash. Hogan no-sells it. Clothesline in the corner from Hogan. Big Boot. Bodyslam. Legdrop gets the pin for Hulk at 2:59. DUD. Awfully insulting. Post-match, Hogan & Savage beat up The Four Horsemen and The Dungeon of Doom. The two factions retreat. Zodiac tries to hold Giant back again. Pillman is being a trouble-maker and egging on The Giant. Giant threatens Hulk & Savage, and Anderson yells at Pillman for causing trouble again. Gene Okerlund interviews Hogan & Savage, who promise to do bad things to Flair & Giant at Clash of the Champions.

Test coming down the altar to his THEME MUSIC. TEST TEST THIS IS A TEST! :::STILL no one knows the lyrics to the song:::

The new onside kick rule is ass.

I'm told the gore was there but the movie was horrible and worse than the 2nd one. Could I get some spoiler-free advice on whether to go see this or wait for the illegal download/DVD?

When you're wrong you're wrong about the outlook of a team. The Philadelphia Eagles are a .500 team this year, if they're lucky. They should be ashamed at their performance in the last 2 weeks, as well as clock management/crappy penalities against New Orleans, choking against the Giants, looking bad against Green Bay, etc. Donovan refuses to run this week, keeps getting sacked, and the game is over. Plus no one can get open and the Eagles can't stop the run.

I didn't know Austin had "major feuds" with Scott Hall and Eddie Guerrero. Didn't he have "a month of bad booking where he embarassed Hall repeatedly" and then "3 weeks of bad booking where he quit before having the match with Eddie". Odd to see those two on there with Taker, Bret, etc. as his big feuds.

"Legacy Reborn" is a very unintelligent title for a column and makes no sense, IMO. Do you think they'll alter Harry Smith's name? It's very plain sounding. A lot moreso than "John Cena". As long as we don't get: Jim Ross: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to welcome...The New British Bulldog!"

Worst episode of the new batch easily. Wasn't awful, just not good.

Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get some RAW SUPERSTARS on the ECW show!

Well since this gets a thread after being in the "Comments" thread, then so shall my post from that thread be re-posted! Don't take this the wrong way. But Taylor going down with an injury, while a horrible thing to go through, is 100% great news for Smackdown! fans. Taylor's a very good grappler and trainer. This is not a "AWESOME, HE IS INJURED!" post. I would not condone such a thing. But the facts are the facts. Taylor's cosmetic and physical apeparence on his Smackdown! debut left MUCH to be desired. His in-ring work was okay, his crowd heat was non-existant, and personally, as someone who has seen nearly every WCW Sat. Night, Worldwide, Pro, Nitro, and Thunder...while Taylor's ethic was there, crowd interest never was. He'll always be seen by the American fans, if at all, as Regal's henchmen or a "second-rate Regal, snobby Brit". The plus side? Regal can work singles instead of with a heatless partner in a division that is more suited for younger, quicker wrestlers. Not only did Regal get one of the biggest pops are No Mercy for decking King Booker (because he is a BELIAVBLE character that the fans know is a tough man who will fight anyone), but he also had the best match on the show with Chris Benoit. Uh, Benoit/Regal extended feud, please. I like Taylor. But I like Regal much more and this can only mean good things for him.

Don't take this the wrong way. But Taylor going down with an injury, while a horrible thing to go through, is 100% great news for Smackdown! fans. Taylor's a very good grappler and trainer. This is not a "AWESOME, HE IS INJURED!" post. I would not condone such a thing. But the facts are the facts. Taylor's cosmetic and physical apeparence on his Smackdown! debut left MUCH to be desired. His in-ring work was okay, his crowd heat was non-existant, and personally, as someone who has seen nearly every WCW Sat. Night, Worldwide, Pro, Nitro, and Thunder...while Taylor's ethic was there, crowd interest never was. He'll always be seen by the American fans, if at all, as Regal's henchmen or a "second-rate Regal, snobby Brit". The plus side? Regal can work singles instead of with a heatless partner in a division that is more suited for younger, quicker wrestlers. Not only did Regal get one of the biggest pops are No Mercy for decking King Booker (because he is a BELIAVBLE character that the fans know is a tough man who will fight anyone), but he also had the best match on the show with Chris Benoit. Uh, Benoit/Regal extended feud, please. I like Taylor. But I like Regal much more and this can only mean good things for him.

UNDERTAKER WON BY DQ!

RVD no sells the biggest bump in the match.

Big Show's "Vader Bomb" just set the business back 3 years.

No he didn't.

Doesn't Batista have a wife...who he was roller skating with and got hit by a kite in 2003, re-aggrivating an injury?

Logically (not that this show has EVER had any logic): Why would Heyman book RVD in HIS ELEMENT, in a ladder match with a contract hanging over it, against a FAT GUY WHO CAN'T CLIMB? It's not like RVD has already won one ladder match this year with a title contract hanging above it and subsequently won the belt.