The Nitro Review 9/14 - 9/20

[Bored 0]

September 18, 1995

The American Males def. Harlem Heat to win the Tag Team Titles

Paul Orndorff def. Johnnie B. Badd

Ric Flair def. Brian Pillman

 

September 16, 1996

Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Juventud Guerrera; CW Title Match

Diamond Dallas Page def. Ice Train

Konnan def. Super Calo

Brad Armstrong def. Hugh Morrus

Scott Norton def. Randy Savage by DQ

Glacier def. Big Bubba

Ric Flair & Arn Anderson def. Chris Jericho & Marcus Bagwell

Lex Luger def. Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael by DQ in a handicap match

 

September 15, 1997

Dean Malenko def. Disco Inferno

The Faces of Fear def. Harlem Heat

Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Juventud Guerrera

Alex Wright def. Steven Regal; TV Title Match

The Giant def. Konnan

Diamond Dallas Page def. Stevie Richards

The Outsiders def. Wrath & Mortis; Tag Title Match

Eddy Guerrero def. Ultimo Dragon; CW Title Match

Curt Hennig def. Steve McMichael to win the United States Title

 

September 14, 1998

Van Hammer def. Alex Wright by DQ

Saturn def. Kendell Windham

Wrath def. Renegade

Kidman def. Juventud Guerrera to win the Cruiserweight Title

Davey Boy Smith def. The Barbarian

Scott Steiner def. Silver King & Norman Smiley in a handicap match

The Giant def. Meng

Scott Hall NC Lex Luger

Goldberg def. Sting; WCW Title Match

 

September 20, 1999

Rey Mysterio Jr. & Kidman def. Juventud Guerrera & Psychosis

Goldberg def. Brian Knobs

Sting def. Chris Benoit; WCW Title Match

Berlyn def. Scott Armstrong

Evan Karagias def. Blitzkrieg

Perry Saturn def. Eddy Guerrero

Lenny def. Shaggy 2 Dope; CW Title Match

Booker T def. Kanyon

Ric Flair def. Diamond Dallas Page by DQ

 

September 18, 2000

Rey Mysterio & Tygress def. Mark Jindrak, Sean O’Haire, Shawn Stasiak, & Mike Sanders in a Handicap Elimination Match

The Franchise & Torrie Wilson def. Kwee Wee & Paisley

The Cat def. Disqo

Booker T NC Sting; WCW Title Match

Team Canada def. Gen. Rection, Lt. Loco, & Cpl. Cajun

Jeff Jarrett & Scott Steiner def. Kronik

Mike Awesome def. Vampiro in a hardcore match

Sting & Vince Russo def. Jeff Jarrett & Scott Steiner

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Goldberg def. Sting; WCW Title Match

 

Argh, Sting had that match won! Fucking Hogan...

[Bored 0]

Goldberg def. Sting; WCW Title Match

 

Argh, Sting had that match won! Fucking Hogan...

CRZ recap:

 

(THIS IS) STING v. (bill "143-0") GOLDBERG for the WCW World Heavyweight Title - Apparently, Page brought Goldberg to the Power Plant. I don't think we needed Page on commentary to tell us that. Especially when he says things like "He's getting JACKED!" Lockup, Goldberg with a knee to the gut, repeat. Whip into the ropes, slam. To the corner, whip into the opposite corner, Sting ducks out of the way, Goldberg stops himself. Sting with a kick, picks him up, and tries to tie him to the tree of Woe! Suplex! Goldberg pops up like it's nothing. Sting goes outside to take a breather. "Goldberg" chant? We're in the fourth hour! Lockup, to the rope, knee by Goldberg, whip, Sting with a kick coming off. Punch by Sting, no. Punch by Goldberg, repeat, Sting is down. Elbow to the back of the head. Whip into the ropes, reverse, shoulderblock by Goldberg. Whip, leapfrog, dropkick by Sting, both men up quickly. Kick to the gut by Goldberg, leg scissors into an anklelock - Sting grabs the rope. Match is now longer than Goldberg's entrance. Lockup, headlock applied by Sting. Goldberg picks him up and drops him down - but Sting keeps it on! Wrenching it in, Goldberg can't get the elbow off. To the turnbuckle, Sting climbs the ropes but falls off and the hold is broken. Standoff. Test of strength and Goldberg wins. Knucklelock - to the corner. Goldberg breaks at 4. Ref is "Blind" Billy Silverman, by the way. To the centre of the ring, lockup again. To the corner, but Goldberg with the knees instead of a clean break. Piledriver attempt? Sting reverses it and lets a piledriver of his own! Goldberg gets up a little more slowly. Stinger splash to his back! Stinger splash as he turns around! Sting tries to take him out of the corner but he doesn't budge. Another Stinger splash! Stings backs up for a fourth time but Goldberg runs for Sting - but Sting sidesteps the spear attempt and Goldberg hits the post! Sting with the chopblock! Sting's attempting the Scorpion Deathlock! Still hasn't turned him - he's GOT IT! Goldberg powers out - wtf? No, Sting clamps it back on and sits down. Goldberg won't give up. Crowd is going ballistic. Aw, shit, YOU KNOW WHO is out to screw up this match. Kick to Sting's head. Ref missed it, of course. Here's a spear. Sigh. Page has let down his headset, I wonder if he's going to the ring. Jackhammer. 1, 2, 3. (entrance 3:10, match 8:08) Hogan takes it to Goldberg immediately - save is made by BRET HART of all people. On one leg! I don't know WHAT happened to Page. Hart tells Goldberg what happened. Goldberg's music plays as Hart and Goldberg try to roust Sting. Goldberg helps Sting to his feet and we're gone.

[Bored 0]

Just reminded me...that '98 show was when Ric Flair cut THE promo to end all promos. Arguably the best segment of Nitro ever. Here's the CRZ recap:

 

 

J.J. DILLON is making his way to the ring, dressed in a tuxedo, Tony is about to burst. "We want Flair" chant. Dillon: "I would like to ask the Enforcer, Arn Anderson to come to the ring!" The Horsemen theme plays, and here's ARN ANDERSON, nattily attired in a black suit with black shirt. Actually, that's almost a priest outfit there. Dammit, if they don't give me Flair in this segment, I'll quit right now, I mean it. I'll never watch another episode of this show. "I had a private conversation with you since you and I last appeared publicly in a ring such as this, and I feel that I owe it - I owe it to you, I owe it to all these great fans, and I owe it to myself to share with them publicly what I said to you privately, and that is the fact that I owe you an apology for the things that I said to you, though my intentions were good, I meant well, quite frankly a friend doesn't say to another friend the things that I said to you, or put you in the position that I put you into, and for that I owe you an apology and hope that you will accept my forgiveness." So YOU forgive HIM? I'll let that go. Arn: "Can you smell it, JJ? Take a breath - can you smell it? When fifteen thousand people blow the roof off a place, that's what a pop smells like. Take a bow. What you said to me is what all those people have been saying to me for a year and a half, and only a true friend would say that. They said 'Arn Anderson, stand up and be a man, like you've always been!' And I couldn't hear those words, 'cause something was in the way and I'm gonna start at the beginning, because you have to start at the beginning because tonight IS a new beginning, for the four Horsemen. Now when I was a kid, like all kids, people ask you 'what do you wanna be when you grow up?' There was no grey area for me, I always knew I wanted to be a wrestler. And when that finally happened for me, it was the proudest day of me life, and in 1986 I started coming to these towns, just like Greenville, South Carolina, as a Horseman. And my life changed forever, and the doors it opened for me I had never dreamed of, and wrestling the greatest wrestlers in the world in a town like this and all across this country showed me who I was, and every day that I woke up since them I tried to uphold the standards that we, you and I and the rest of us set for ourselves. And about a year and a half ago, I laid down on an operating table and when I woke up, Arn Anderson the wrestler was dead, and I thought to myself how could I be a horseman if I couldn't be a wrestler. Well, the fact is I couldn't in my mind..." ["We want Flair" chant it loud and strong] "Trust me, everybody's gonna get what they want tonight, Bischoff. Eric Bischoff. So when I thought I could no longer be a Horsemen, Chris Benoit came to me first and said 'this can all happen' and with that prelude, I would like to bring the other three Horsemen out right now. Steve 'Mongo' McMichael, come on down." His music plays, and STEVE "MONGO" McMICHAEL, formally attired, walks to the ring. "Chris Benoit, come on down!" His music plays, and CHRIS BENOIT, similarly dressed, walks to the ring. "Dean Malenko, come on down!" DEAN MALENKO, also in a tuxedo, joins them in the ring. Everyone's embracing. "Now, before we go any further. Chris Benoit, you got this thing rolling, and I'm gonna go on record as saying, if there's a finer wrestler in all the land than you I don't know who it is. Your intensity, the first time I saw you wrestle, made you something special. You are something special in my eyes, you knew what it meant to be a Horsemen. You will carry that tradition way past the year 2000. Mongo McMichael, you're a hard-headed, lotta times you're hard to be around, but the fact is in my eyes, you're all man, you're certainly All-Pro, and when this is all said and done, if I've got anything to say about it, you will mean to this sport what you've meant to the sport of pro football. Now Dean Malenko, I've been out hear yakking for the last ten years about what it meant to be a Horseman: work ethic, respect for the business, respect for each other, respect for the people that came before us, and while I was yakking the last year, and the last couple of months, you were out there fighting the fights for the Horsmen. You exemplify what a Horseman has always meant: overachievement. Being the very best you could be, each and every day of your life whether you were sick, or hurt, or whatever the case may be, and it makes me proud, now I'm gonna say one more time, I've said that you didn't get it; well, *I* didn't get it, because if there was ever a Horseman it makes me a little misty-eyed and real proud to call on this day the finest thing you can be in this sport of professional wrestling, that's a Horseman. Ladies and gentlemen, through the year 2000, we're gonna do exactly what all of you across this nation have asked: 'Arn Anderson, bring back the Horsemen!' But I feel it fair to tell ya, I'm not gonna be responsible for what happens next. 'Cause we don't wear white hats, we're not nice guys, and I can tell you this: heads are gonna roll! So, I've said it: Be careful what you wish for, because now you have it! Ah, whatagoof! Whatagoof! You know, I get accused of gettin' racked in the head a few times and having a little touch of Alzheimer's...my God! I almost forgot the fourth Horseman, Ric Flair! Get on down here!" "Thus Spake Zarathustra" plays over the PA - a cry erupts in the crowd - and gets louder - and louder - and it is the Man - RIC FLAIR is in the building. As he walks to the ring, you can't help but feel that for this day, for this moment, everything really IS okay, and everything CAN be all right. Flair hugs each person in the ring - first Dillon, then McMichael, Benoit, Malenko. When he hugs Arn the cheers continue and there can't be a dry eye in the house - there CAN'T. "Greenville, I give you the Champ." Another wave of cheering engulfs the house. Fifteen thousand people, and I guarantee you not one of them is sitting. I'm getting chills right now. "My God...thank you...thank you very much...I'm almost embarrassed by the response, but when I see this, I know that the twenty - five years that I've spent trying to make you happy every night of your life was worth every damn minute of it. Now, somebody told me that the Horsemen were having a party tonight in Greenville! Could that be true that the most elite group that Eric Bischoff said was dead is alive and well? Bischoff, this might be my only shot, and I gotta tell ya, I'm gonna make it my best. Is this what you call a great moment in TV? It's wrong, because this is REAL! This is not bought and paid for! It's a REAL - LIFE - SITUATION! Just like the night in Columbia, South Carolina, when you looked at me - tears in my eyes - and said 'God, that's good TV' - it was real! Arn Anderson passed the torch - it was real, dammit! You think Sting was crying in the dressing room like I was on TV if it wasn't real? This guy, my best friend, is one of the greatest performers who ever lived, and YOU - you squashed him, in one night. Then you get on the phone and tell me, 'disband the Horsemen, they're dead.' Disband the Horsemen, me. You know what, I looked at myself in the mirror the next day and I saw a pathetic figure that gave up and quit! And for that, I owe you, the wrestling fans, I owe these guys an apology. Because it won't happen again! [bischoff is coming out.] Bischoff, whatever you think...no, you're an overbearing asshole! That's right! You're an obnoxious, you're an obnoxious, overbearing ass! Abuse of power! You! Abuse of power! Cut me off! Come on! It's called abuse of power! You suck! You, I hate your guts. I hate your guts. You are a liar, you're a cheat, you're a scam, you are a no good son of a (mute). Fire me! I'm already fired! Fire me! I'm already fired!" Flair's coat is off but Bischoff has already walked back. Cut to black.

 

It will never get better than this. Never.