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WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match Hulk Hogan (c) vs. A Mystery Member of the Dungeon of Doom
"The Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall
WCW United States Championship Match
Sting (c) vs. Meng
Brian Pillman vs. "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
WCW Tag Team Championship Match Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) (c) vs. The Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal & Earl Robert Eaton)
WCW Television Championship Match Diamond Dallas Page (c) (w/Diamond Doll, Maxx Muscle & Big Bubba) vs "Das Wunderkind" Alex Wright
Tag Team Grudge Match
Chris Benoit & Sabu vs. Dean Malenko & Eddy Guerrero
Johnny B. Badd vs. Masahiro Chono (w/Sony Oono)
BONUS:
1. Who is Hulk Hogan's traitor? -Randy Savage
2. Who will represent the Dungeon in the Main Event? - VADER
3. What is the opening match? - Benoit and Sabu vs. Malenko and Guerrero
4. What is the longest match? - Benoit and Sabu vs. Malenko and Guerrero
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Winner: Hulk Hogan (c)
"The Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall
Winner: Savage
WCW United States Championship Match
Sting (c) vs. Meng
Winner: Sting
Brian Pillman vs. "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
Winner: Pillman
WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) (c) vs. The Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal & Earl Robert Eaton)
Winners: Harlem Heat
WCW Television Championship Match
Diamond Dallas Page (c) (w/Diamond Doll, Maxx Muscle & Big Bubba) vs "Das Wunderkind" Alex Wright
Winner: DDP
Tag Team Grudge Match
Chris Benoit & Sabu vs. Dean Malenko & Eddy Guerrero
Winners: Malenko and Guerrero
Johnny B. Badd vs. Masahiro Chono (w/Sony Oono)
Winner; Chono BONUS:
1. Who is Hulk Hogan's traitor? Savage
2. Who will represent the Dungeon in the Main Event? The Giant
3. What is the opening match? Benoit and Sabu vs Malenko and Guerrero
4. What is the longest match? Pillman vs Anderson
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match Hulk Hogan (c) vs. A Mystery Member of the Dungeon of Doom
"The Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall
WCW United States Championship Match Sting (c) vs. Meng
Brian Pillman vs. "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
WCW Tag Team Championship Match Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) (c) vs. The Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal & Earl Robert Eaton)
WCW Television Championship Match Diamond Dallas Page (c) (w/Diamond Doll, Maxx Muscle & Big Bubba) vs "Das Wunderkind" Alex Wright
Tag Team Grudge Match
Chris Benoit & Sabu vs. Dean Malenko & Eddy Guerrero
Johnny B. Badd vs. Masahiro Chono (w/Sony Oono)
BONUS:
1. Who is Hulk Hogan's traitor? Savage
2. Who will represent the Dungeon in the Main Event? The Giant
3. What is the opening match? Tag team grudge match 4. What is the longest match? Savage vs Hall
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Hulk Hogan (c) vs. A Mystery Member of the Dungeon of Doom
"The Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall
WCW United States Championship Match
Sting (c) vs. Meng
Brian Pillman vs. "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) (c) vs. The Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal & Earl Robert Eaton)
WCW Television Championship Match
Diamond Dallas Page (c) (w/Diamond Doll, Maxx Muscle & Big Bubba) vs "Das Wunderkind" Alex Wright
Tag Team Grudge Match
Chris Benoit & Sabu vs. Dean Malenko & Eddy Guerrero
Johnny B. Badd vs. Masahiro Chono (w/Sony Oono)
BONUS:
1. Who is Hulk Hogan's traitor? The Renegade
2. Who will represent the Dungeon in the Main Event? I mean, it's going to be The Giant, right?
3. What is the opening match? TV Title Match
4. What is the longest match? Savage/Hall
On the one-hour PPV preshow Main Event hosted by Eric Bischoff and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes - we received word that both Sting and Alex Wright were in attendance and cleared to compete, though both still appeared pretty banged up. "Mean" Gene Okerlund was even able to get a quick word with the Stinger as he prepared to defend the US Title later in the night against Meng. Sting said it would take a lot more than a sneak attack from some coward who could only attack him with his back turned to keep him down. Sting assured us the US Title would stay around his waist.
Elsewhere, we saw Sister Sherri talking to someone (or multiple someones?) inside a dressing room - but she refused to let cameras into the dressing room. When asked if she had found herself some new client(s), she didn't come right out and say she did...but she also did not deny it.
In ring action, the newest tag team in the Dungeon of Doom - Affliction (Wrath & Fury) defeated Men at Work (Chris Kanyon & Mark Starr), Disco Inferno defeated Paul Orndorff and in the final match of the pre-show, The Renegade defeated The Zodiac.
The pre-show also featured several vignettes focusing on the World Title Match, Savage vs. Hall, Benoit & Sabu vs. Malenko & Guerrero, Badd/NJPW, and Page/Wright.
= = = = =
As the pre-show wrapped up, Schiavone and Rhodes kicked it to Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan who were both dressed in their formal best for the occasion. Schiavone said the crowd was "electric" for tonight's event as we all anxiously await to find out just WHOHulk Hogan will be defending the WCW World Heavyweight Title against.
Heenan gave credit to Kevin Sullivan for how he's played his cards...Hogan has no idea who he is facing tonight, and it has the man rattled, Heenan said. Heenan said he would bet the farm that Hogan does not walk out the champion tonight. Schiavone countered Heenan, stating that he has learned to never bet against Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania...but that would be much later tonight, as there was A LOT of action between now and then.
EDDY GUERRERO and DEAN MALENKO versus CHRIS BENOIT and SABU
The evening would be kicked off with some hard hitting back and forth tag team action between four men who simply do not like each other, to say the least. Heenan praised Guerrero and Malenko for their ability to put their differences behind them and work together to take out their common enemies. Schiavone didn't know if Sabu and Benoit would be able to do the same...but they did manage to pick up a big win last night on WCW Saturday night.
Benoit and Sabu seemed to have worked out some of their issues from Saturday Night, because there was no arguing this time as they entered the ring...while they definitely were not acting buddy-buddy mind you, they seemed to have a better plan. Benoit started the match against Malenko, the duo had an impressive grappling exchange that seemed to put the crowd on the edge of their seat to start the show. After taking a brief advantage over the heels, Benoit tagged in Sabu who used his explosive offense to take a firm control of the match. Sabu and Benoit continued to work surprisingly well together, which obviously both Malenko and Guerrero seemed taken aback by. But when Guerrero hit a desperation low blow to Benoit as Malenko had the referee distracted - the tables turned in their favor.
Maleno and Guerrero took turns working over Benoit and picking up nearfalls...but were unable to put their opponents away. The match began to fall apart as Sabu grew tired of the constant interferences from the heels, and attempted to even the odds. Sabu ignored the referee's warnings as he springboarded into the ring and took out both Guerrero and Malenko with a double clothesline! Sabu was much fresher than anyone in the ring, and was using that to his advantage despite not being the legal man. But Sabu got a bit too overzealous in his attacks, as one of his spinning leg lariats went astray and connected with a recovering Benoit!
Sabu tried to check on Benoit, but was attacked from behind by Malenko! Malenko sent Sabu to ringside - clearing the ring of any illegal men as Guerrero began to recover. At ringside, Malenko and Sabu continued their fight, which Sabu quickly got the upperhand on. Sabu sent Malenko crashing into the ringsteps before he went under the ring and pulled a table out! The crowd popped as Sabu set up the table, but before he could make use of the table...he noticed Guerrero climbing to the top turnbuckle.
Off the top, Eddy hit the Frog Splash to Benoit! Sabu climbed the turnbuckles himself as Guerrero was making the cover..
ONE!
TWO!
THRE.. - Sabu broke it up as he flew off the top turnbuckle with a flying legdrop that landed right on the back of Guerrero's head!
Guerrero rolled out of the ring to ringside as Sabu got back to his feet. He then headed back out to ringside as well, going back after Malenko as he started to recover. Sabu slammed Malenko head first into the table before rolling him back first onto the table. Sabu climbed into the ring and pointed to the top turnbuckle, which elicited another pop from the crowd. Sabu once again ignored the warnings from the referee as he climbed the turnbuckle nearest Malenko...Sabu came off the top with a flying legdrop to the outside...but Guerrero pulled Malenko off the table at the last second! Sabu went CRASHING through the table at ringside!
Guerrero had a big smile on his face as he climbed back into the ring. Eddy approached the recovering Benoit and took a swing at him...but Benoit ducked and with a go-behind hit a Release German Suplex to Guerrero!
Benoit made a cutthroat motion before climbing to the top turnbuckle himself, but Malenko was there to shove him off the top rope to the canvas!
The numbers were too much for Benoit with Sabu still struggling outside the ring in the wreckage of the broken table. Malenko lifted up Benoit into a fireman's carry before swinging him down onto Guerrero's knee! With Benoit laid out, Guerrero climbed the turnbuckles once again and hit a second Frog Splash to Benoit...
One, Two, Three!
WINNERS: Eddy Guerrero & Dean Malenko by pinfall in 19:03
As Guerrero and Malenko celebrated their victory - Sabu started to pull himself up with some assistance from the ring curtain. Sabu rolled back into the ring as Guerrero and Malenko headed up the ramp.
Both Sabu and Benoit started to get back to their feet at the same time, which lead to a stare-down between the enemies turned partners... "something tells me this will be a short-lived tag team," Heenan stated the obvious as Benoit shoved Sabu, putting the blame on him for the loss. S
abu shoved Benoit back, and suddenly these two were exchanging blows in the middle of the ring! Several WCW referees quickly hit the ring to help break the duo up before the brawl could get too intense.
= = = = =
Backstage, Johnny B. Badd was getting ready to head down to the ring for his match against NJPW's Masahiro Chono. Badd was looking for some redemption after losing to The Great Muta last month...but before he could head out, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan stopped him to thank him for having his back last night at WCW Saturday Night.
Duggan promised to do the same for Badd tonight. The two shook hands and shared some mutual respect for Badd headed towards the ring.
= = = = =
MASAHIRO CHONO (w/Sony Oono & Kensuke Sasaki) versus JOHNNY B. BADD
Not only was Johnny B. Badd going to have to deal with Oono at ringside after Oono played an instrumental role in Badd's loss to The Great Muta at Fall Brawl, but Chono's partner in crime - Kensuke Sasaki also joined the Team New Japan star in his corner.
Badd and Chono exchanged some stiff punches back and forth to start the match before the NJPW's Masahiro Chono began to get the upperhand on the WCW star. Chono's upperhand would only be brief, as Badd fought right back and took Chono to the mat with a swinging neckbreaker that earned Badd a two count.
As expected, Oono and Sasaki both played big roles in the match, especially when the match spilled to ringside. After Chono had Irish Whipped Badd into the ring post, Oono distracted the referee as Sasaki charged in with a stiff boot to Badd's midsection! He slammed Badd head first into the ring post before rolling him back into the ring where Chono was now waiting.
Back in the ring, Chono would go for the cover: One - Two - Kickout by Badd!
Chono continued on the attack, picking up another nearfall after dropping Badd with a Samoan Drop. But once again Badd kicked out and then continued to show his resiliency as he was locked in one of Chono's perfected STF submission holds... he was refusing to submit! It took most of the energy that Badd had left in the tank to fight his way to the ropes, but he did just that and forced Chono to break the hold.
Oono still appeared confident at ringside, smiling while his eyes were barely hidden by his tiny sunglasses. Chono looked to finish Badd off with the Kenka Kick....
But Badd DUCKED! Chono turned around and was hit with a stiff left-hand punches from Badd that had Chono staggering until Badd took him down with a dropkick. With the momentum in his favor, Badd seemed to be on his way to victory as he placed Chono up on the top turnbuckle. Badd was signaling for the Badd Day super frankensteiner, but Oono jumped onto the apron to distract the referee!
Kensuke Sasaki started to climb into the ring to interfere, but Jim Duggan rushed down to the ring and pulled Sasaki back to ringside! Duggan laid out Sasaki with a shot from the 2x4! Duggan pointed the 2x4 in Sony Oono's direction, which caused Oono to cautiously climb down off the apron.
Badd nodded to Duggan before hitting the Badd Day to Chono! Badd followed up with the pin - One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Johnny B. Badd by pinfall in 9:17
After the match, Chono rolled to ringside to regroup with his New Japan teammates, while Duggan climbed into the ring and celebrated with Badd - lifting up Badd's arm in victory to an approving crowd.
= = = = =
In the back, "Mean" Gene Okerlund was with a very nervous "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart.
Hart reminded us that Hulk Hogan didn't want him or anyone else at ringside. Hart said this made him very nervous because he didn't think Sullivan was bluffing when he said someone would be turning their back on Hogan tonight. Hart assured the world that he wasn't the traitor...but he wanted to be at ringside for Hogan to make sure he could do what he could to help Hogan when the traitor reveals himself.
But Hart promised to respect Hogan's wishes...and wished Hogan good luck tonight.
With such an entourage at ringside, the deck was certainly stacked in the favor of the champion Diamond Dallas Page. But the young Wright was determined to leave the Joe Louis Arena tonight with some gold. As Wright made his way down to the ring, we are reminded by Tony Schiavone that Wright has defeated Page TWICE already, but Heenan was quick to point out it was by DQ and countout - which barely count and means DDP is still the rightful Television Champion. Heenan was more concerned about some of the looks that have been shared between Wright and The Diamond Doll lately.
The German came out blazing with some fast pace offense that caught Page off guard. A head scissor takedown from Wright took the champion down and sent him rolling to the outside to regroup. Muscle came over to check on Page as Wright bounced off the ropes and went a for a baseball slide, but Page shoved Muscle in the way so that Muscle took the brunt of the attack! Page pulled Wright to ringside and tossed him into the ringsteps. The fight at ringside turned the tables in favor of the Television Champion and then back in the ring, Page would attempt a pinfall after dishing out the punishment on the outside, but Wright got his shoulder up at two.
Page kept on the attack, working over the challenger - getting another pair of nearfalls off a sidewalk slam and a gutwrench gutbuster. After failing to put Wright away early, DDP looked slowed things down as he locked Wright in a reverse chinlock - but Wright wasn't about to submit and Page finally breaks the hold to continue to dish out some more punishment.
DDP soon decided to show that he too could take some high risk, as he climbed to the top turnbuckle and went for a flying clothesline, but Wright surprised Page with a dropkick to the midsection as he flew through the air!
Wright was slow to recover from his desperation move, but he was up first and able to take Page back down with a spinning heel kick! As the match began to go towards Wright's favor - Page's entourage at ringside began to grow nervous. Well, Bubba and Muscle did anyway... a smile could be seen across Doll's face as she watched Wright slam Page to the mat with a spinning bodyslam. Wright glanced over to Doll and gave her a wink, which set off Muscle enough to climb the apron. But a dropkick from Wright sent Muscle falling back down to ringside!
Bubba stormed over to Doll and began barking orders to her...the smile quickly faded as Bubba walked away. Bubba shoved David Penzer out of his chair and picked it up, folding it and heading to the ring. Bubba entered the ring with the folded up chair, but was cut off by the referee. As the referee tried to get rid of Bubba - Diamond Doll climbed into the ring and began to approach Wright.
Wright noticed Doll and wanted to know what was going on... Doll could be seen telling Wright she was sorry....right before she delivered a hard slap right across his face! The stunned Wright did not even notice Page back on his feet, who immediately took Wright down with a Diamond Cutter!
Page ordered Doll out of the ring, who was near tears as she climbed out of the ring. With Bubba now gone, the referee returned to covering the action in the ring to see Page making the cover - One, Two, Three!
WINNER and STILL WCW Television Champion: Diamond Dallas Page by pinfall in 12:48
The referee handed DDP the Television Title, which he quickly snatched away and demanded for Doll to come into the ring and lift up his arm in victory.
Doll seemed very disgusted with herself, and refused to enter the ring. Instead, she turned her back from the ring and headed up the aisle. Page's victory celebration was ended as he appeared frustrated by Doll's disobedience. "DOLL! YOU GET BACK HERE!" He called out from the ring before leaving the ring with Muscle and Bubba bringing up the rear as they chased after the Diamond Doll.
= = = = =
We cut to backstage where V.K. Wallstreet was meeting in a conference room with his new client Scotty Riggs to discuss the "branding" of Riggs. Riggs seemed unsure, but Wallstreet promised that Riggs was on his way to the top of WCW...and as a star, his name is going to be its own "brand." "People are going to want to have the name Riggs on anything they can find....tennis shoes, cologne...you name it. Everyone's going to want a part of the cash cow that is RIGGS."
Scotty smiled and nodded, seemingly enjoying the idea of all the cash coming in...but their business brainstorming session was interrupted as Disco Inferno waltzed into the conference room with . Disco apologized, stating he didn't realize the room was booked... he stated he had planned to have a groove session. Wallstreet told Disco to "butt out" - that this was an important business meeting. "Keep it cool, man,"Disco said.
Disco then decided to invite himself into the meeting and began looking over his notes. "You know, if you really want a business to succeed...I have two words for you...Disco. Ball."
Riggs and Wallstreet both glared at Disco..."GET OUT" Wallstreet said with force.
"You guys are a real buzzkill, you know that, man." Disco said, "Well anyway, I don't have to take this - I'm gonna go." The camera followed Disco out of the conference room before he stated how uncool those two were.
The Tongan Barbarian Meng had the great deceiver The Taskmaster in his corner, as speculation continued to run rampant as to who Sullivan would name Hulk Hogan's opponent later tonight. If Meng were to defeat Sting and then be named the opponent for Hogan, Meng would have the rare opportunity to defeat two of the biggest names in the business in one night. Heenan thought that if there was anyone who could do it, it could be a real beast like Meng.
Sting's midsection was taped up following his attack on Nitro, but was ready for competition. However, that midsection quickly became a focal point of Meng's brutal offense. Even Schiavone and Heenan were amazed at the way Meng controlled the offense against the "Franchise" of WCW. Meng worked over Sting in the corner, hitting some stiff jabs to Sting's midsection before hitting multiple knee lifts.
As Meng continued to dominate the offense, Schiavone was all but ready to proclaim Meng the new United States champion, as the attack from Nitro looked to be his downfall tonight. But Sting has made a career out of battling adversity and making comebacks from being down...and he wasn't about to drop his title without a fight. A diving splash attempt from Meng hit nothing but canvas when Sting rolled out of the way at the last second!
With Meng slow to his feet after the miss, Sting was able to get back to his feet. Sting rocked the Tongan with some right hands that only staggered the massive beast. A dropkick from Sting still didn't take the Tongan off his feet! But Sting kept on the attack, sending Meng into the corner before charging in with a clothesline before grabbing a handful of Meng's hair, and hitting a running one-handed bulldog that finally had Meng down!
Sting was slow to continue his offensive attack, selling his injuries, but he managed to stay on the attack as Meng kept getting right back up from each one of Sting's attacks. Sting had Meng staggering after an inverted atomic drop as he climbed to the middle turnbuckle and leaped off, hitting a Diving DDT to Meng! Sting himself was very slow to take advantage, but finally rolled over and made a cover but was unable to even hook a leg...
One, Two, Thr....KICKOUT by Meng!
Sting slowly pulled himself up as Meng got to his feet. Sting whipped Meng into the turnbuckles and this time charged in with a STINGER SPLASH...but the move caused some trauma to his injured midsection...Sting staggered backward holding his side as Meng charged out of the corner with a savage scream as he nearly took Sting's off with a vicious clothesline. Suddenly the ball was back in Meng's court as he once again had complete control of the champion.
As Meng retook control, The Great Muta and Sony Oono suddenly walked out from the back and simply stood at the top of the entranceway, watching the match with great interest. Muta had his IWGP Championship around his waist as they watched with interest. Schiavone and Heenan could't help but wonder what the pair were doing out here tonight and why specifically they were scouting this match.
Back in the ring - A Samoan Drop from Meng laid out Sting and Meng made another cover:
ONE - TWO - THRE...KICKOUT by Sting!
Meng bounced off the ropes before falling head-first right into Sting's ribs, continuing to target his injury. Sting was clearly in a world of pain, but was refusing to stay down. With the crowd rallying behind him, Sting suddenly found some life as Meng was lighting up his chest with some stiff chops. Sting seemed to absorb the next chop from Meng, but Meng went for another...Sting ducked it and immediately hit an atomic drop to Meng! With Meng staggering, Sting ascended to the top turnbuckle and came off the top - taking Meng down with a flying clothesline!
Sting pulled himself up and immediately went for Meng's legs and turned him over in the Scorpion Deathlock! The crowd popped as the referee checked on Meng, but Meng shook his head furiously when asked if he wanted to submit. Meng began using his strength to pull himself up onto his arms and began to pull himself and Sting to the ropes. A yell from Sting tried to muster himself into keeping Meng from the ropes...and just as Meng was about to reach the ropes, Sting was able to summon the energy to pull Meng back to the center of the ring!
The referee once again checked on Meng, but he still wasn't submitting! With Meng locked in the center of the ring...Taskmaster called to the back and out came Wrath and Fury who together make up Affliction. The massive duo climbed into the ring and teamed up to level Sting from behind - quickly drawing a disqualification.
WINNER and STILL WCW US Champion: Sting by disqualifiction in 13:11
Sting picked up the DQ win and as a result, would still be US Champion...but he wasn't going to look like a winner at the end of this one.
WhileMuta and Oonodisappeared just as quickly as they had originally appeared, Wrath and Fury put the boots to Sting's back before pulling up the US Champion and each man clutched him by the throat....DOUBLE CHOKESLAM!
Meng was back up on his feet, and with Sting laid out - Meng bounced off the ropes and hit a diving splash to the fallen Sting. Despite Meng not picking up the title, The Taskmaster was clearly satisfied with the damage the Dungeon had caused...he led the trio to the back as Sting was laid out on the mat holding his midsection in pain.
= = = = =
As Sting was helped to the back, we cut to the backstage area where "Mean" Gene Okerlund was with Alex Wright after his loss to Diamond Dallas Page. Before Wright could answer Okerlund's question about the match, The Diamond Doll entered the shot. She was frantically apologizing to Wright, saying she didn't want to cause him to lose...but she had to.
Wright tried to calm her down, but Doll said she couldn't stay...she had to get away from Dallas. She scurried off as we could hear Page's voice in the background.
As DDP, Big Bubba, and Maxx Muscle entered the shot - Wright intercepted them, standing in their way from pursuing Diamond Doll. "Hey man, leave her alone. She's had enough of you," Wright said calmly. "Out of the way pipsqueak," Page grunted.
Wright defied Page, to which Page told Muscle and Bubba to"handle this."Bubba and Muscle attacked Wright - with Wright trying to fight off both men. Page headed off-screen, continuing his pursuit of Doll while Wright succumbed to the double team until WCW Officials broke up the brawl.
= = = = =
BRIAN PILLMAN versus "THE ENFORCER" ARN ANDERSON
As the match got underway, Schiavone brought up that there was a lot to prove here for Brian Pillman - who just last month took out two future legends in this sport - both Anderson as well as "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Schiavone brought up that we have not even seen Flair since that attack when Pillman showed he wanted nothing to do with either man who had both previously tried to take Pillman under their wing. Heenan said that there was obviously a loose fuse in Pillman's brain - because who could pass up having either Arn Anderson at your side? Heenan agreed with Anderson's previous points about The Enforcer having a lot to do with the success Flair has had in this business. But Pillman was trying to make a name for himself...and a win tonight over The Enforcer would certainly help his cause.
Pillman came out like a lightning bolt, going straight the Enforcer and using his size and agility to his advantage to quickly put Anderson against the ropes. After a few early near falls for Pillman, Anderson scored with an eye rake to Pillman to slow him down. Anderson then started going to work with a more methodical and calculated attack. With the match slowed down, Anderson had Pillman grounded and things were certainly much more in his favor. A back suplex from Anderson netted him a two count over the smaller Pillman before Anderson would literally have Pillman on the ropes as he went for a clothesline, but Pillman ducked and backdropped Anderson over the top rope! Anderson hit the apron and fell to ringside. Pillman then put on display his aerial skills as he used the ropes to slingshot himself out of the ring into a plancha onto Anderson at ringside!
The two men continued their fight around ringside which would head up the aisle and nearly end in a double countout before Pillman was able to run back to the ring, slide in to break the count, and then return to ringside only to have Anderson surprise him with a stiff laria! W
ith the match back in his favor, Anderson sent Pillman back into the ring where he would pick up another nearfall off of a snap suplex. Anderson locked in a hammerlock to Pillman, but Pillman was able to pretty quickly reach the ropes to break up that submission. The Enforcer looked to continue his offensive onslaught as he went to slam Pillman head first into the top turnbuckle, only to have Pillman block it with his boot! This caught Anderson off guard and allowed Pillman to return the favor, slamming Anderson head first into the turnbuckle!
Anderson was left staggering as Pillman darted out to the apron...Pillman springboarded into the ring looking for Air Pillman, but Anderson blocked it by driving his fist into the flying Pillman's chest as he came flying in! Anderson pointed to to the top of his head, indicating he had out smarted Pillman on that one.
Anderson pulled Brian back up and set him up for his DDT finish, but Pillman countered with a Northern Lights Suplex! Pillman had bridged!
One, Two, Thre....NO! Kickout by Anderson!
Anderson rolled back to his feet and caught a kick attempt by Pillman, only to have Pillman follow through with an enziguri! Anderson was down and Pillman pointed to the top turnbuckle...Pillman quickly ascended the ropes as Anderson stumbled to his feet....MISSLE DROPKICK was on target by Pillman!
Brian quickly hooked Anderson's leg - One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Brian Pillman by pinfall in 15:32
Schiavone called this a huge victory for Pillman as he had his arm lifted up by the referee to a warm reaction from the Detroit crowd. Pillman left the ring, satisfied with his victory as Anderson sat up on his knees in the ring; his face clearly showing the disappointment of his loss.
= = = = =
On their way to the ring for the WCW Tag Team Titles match, champions Harlem Heat were stopped by Gene Okerlund to get a quick word. Stevie Ray wasn't worried one bit about Sister Sherri - repeating a previous statement that no one would want to work for after her multiple screw ups with the Heat.
Booker agreed with his brother, and stated their minds weren't on Sherri...they were on their opponents tonight - Blue Bloods. But they weren't too worried..."We've beat these chumps once before and tonight, we're gonna do it again! No problem. These British fruit booties were going to wish they never messed with the Harlem Heat."
Neither one of these teams has endeared themselves to the fans much recently, and as a result...they didn't seem to be too invested in the match. But that being said, the four men still came out and put on a good, hard-hitting, back-and-forth tag team championship match. While Regal and Eaton managed to hang with the champions for a good portion of the match - the champions were a strong and cohesive unit and were still riding a high wave of momentum from the tag title victory a couple of weeks back.
While Regal managed to keep up with Booker T in the ring and grounded the champion with some stiff offense and submission holds...when Eaton got into the ring, he attempted to pick up where his partner left off, but Booker showed some impressive agility as he leapfrogged Eaton before taking Eaton down with an ax kick. Booker brought in Stevie Ray with a tag and he immediately overpowered Eaton. Regal watched with disgust on his face as his partner was man handled in the ring by Stevie Ray.
A powerslam from Ray would get a two count, but only because Regal was there to break up the pin. The crowd finally seemed interested when Sister Sherri emerged from the back and simply stood at the top of the aisle, watching the match. The crowd seemed eager to have her get involved...and her mere presence was enough to distract Stevie Ray long enough for Eaton to tag in Regal!
Regal attacked Ray from behind and showed off some strength of his own as he hit a double underhook powerbomb to Stevie Ray! Regal made the cover ...
One, Two, Thre...kickout by Ray!
Regal's offense would be short-lived as soon Ray battled back and took Regal down with a sidewalk slam. Stevie Ray tagged in Booker and the duo hit a double suplex to Regal. Eaton charged in, but was taken out with a double clothesline!
Eaton rolled out of the ring as Harlem Heat finished Regal off with the The Big Apple Blast! Booker made the cover: One, Two, Three!
WINNERS and STILL WCW Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat by pinfall in 7:56
Booker T and Stevie Ray gladly took their tag team titles from the referee and threw the belts up in the air to boos from the crowd.
Meanwhile, Sister Sherri took a microphone at the top of the aisle...
"Congratulations boys on another...HARD FOUGHT victory. I'm sure you're wonderin why I'm out here tonight and... no it's not to ask for my job back. I understand that my services were no longer wanted. But that's okay... because, you may have heard some of the rumors lately. That I was going out to find a new client. A new team that maybe DID want my services. Well...I'm here tonight to say... those rumors..."
"ARE TRUE!"
The crowd popped in growing anticipation for Sherri's reveal.
"So boys, enjoy those belts while you got 'em. Because it's only a matter of time... before my NEW clients take them from you!"
In the ring, Stevie Ray and Booker T did not seem amused and were demanding Sherri to get to the point.
"All I got to say about my new clients...is..."
Sherri paused and flashed a devious smile as she continued to build the moment up...
"OOOOOOH WHAT A RUSH!"
This brought the crowd to their feet as Booker T and Stevie Ray were both visibly upset in the ring as out came former WCW Tag Team Champions... legends in the industry...THE ROAD WARRIORS - Hawk and Animal, joining Sister Sherri at the top of the aisle.
Sherri had a huge grin on her face as Hawk and Animal, dressed in full paint and spikes stood tall at the top of the aisle, receiving a big ovation from the crowd. Schiavone pointed out that this could be HUGE trouble for Harlem Heat...and judging by their reaction in the ring, the tag champions knew it!
= = = = =
We cut to Eric Bischoff standing by in the back, who provided a bit of a recap of what has gone down so far tonight and also discussed what was left to come. Bischoff then segued into some hype for WCW Starrcade which was going to be the biggest Pay-Per-View event of the year in "all of wrestling." Bischoff made it out that headlining Starrcade meant you had made it to the top of the wrestling world...and this year's main event has the possibility to be the biggest one yet. But the question would remain not only who would be the champion heading into Starcade...but just WHO would be the number one contender?
Well, Bischoff promised that we would get the answer to the number one contender question NEXT MONTH at an all NEW Pay-Per-View event called World War 3! Bischoff revealed that the event would be headlined by a 60 man...that's right SIXTY MAN Battle Royal with the last man standing winning the right to challenge for the WCW Title at Starrcade!
The wrestling world has never seen anything like it...and Bischoff assured us that we will NOT want to miss it!
= = = = =
"THE BAD GUY" SCOTT HALL versus "THE MACHO MAN" RANDY SAVAGE
Scott Hall made his way down to the ring first, as Heenan and Schiavone discuss his recent issues with Savage ever since he made his debut on the first Nitro. Heenan said he didn't blame Savage for not trusting Hall...."Just look at him. Would you trust a guy with that much grease in his hair?"
As Hall entered the ring and removed his gold chains, "Pomp and Circumstance" hit the PA system to signal the entrance of the Macho Man. However, after a few moments - Savage had yet to emerge from backstage. Hall looked over to the referee and asked "what was goin' on" - but the referee shrugged his shoulders and we waited a little longer.
Schiavone couldn't believe Savage would miss such a huge match against the man he had been waiting to get his hands on...but as we waited, the referee began to meet with David Penzer on the apron. Penzer took the microphone and announced the match would be started and if Savage did not appear within a 10 count, the match would be awarded to Hall by countout.
The look on Hall's face suggested he was not happy with that decision, but the referee signaled for the bell and the match was "officially" under way. The referee began the ten count as Heenan wondered if Hall had something to do with this. 7...8...9...10....that's it, the referee called for the bell and awarded the match to Scott Hall.
WINNER: Scott Hall by countout
Hall refused to have his arm raised by the referee...and suddenly Schiavone said something was going on backstage. We cut backstage and found WCW officials checking on Randy Savage backstage where he had been laid out! Next to Savage was a familiar foreign object - that crowbar. Hall was livid in the ring, but Heenan seemed to think this was all Hall's doing, much like the Sting attack!
Suddenly, from the back, came "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan along with Meng, Wrath, Fury, The Shark, and The Zodiac. Hall kept his eyes locked towards the aisle as the Dungeon of Doom surrounded the ring. The Taskmaster climbed into the ring, joining Hall in the ring.
"Is this some kind of initiation?" Schiavone wondered.
"I knew it! I knew it all along Tony," Heenan said as he proclaimed Hall the newest member of the Dungeon of Doom.
The Taskmaster gave a sinister smile as he extended his hand to Hall. Hall seemed genuinely confused by everything going on, but as he looked at Sullivan's arm, he spotted a charging in Zodiac in his peripheral vision and immediately turned, laying out the Zodiac with a right hand! In came the Shark who also got hit with a few punches to send the big man stumbling. Hall was trying to hold his own as the rest of the Dungeon flooded the ring...but one man versus so many monsters was just too much and Hall quickly was taken to the mat.
Zodiac and Shark pulled Hall to his feet where he was promptly laid back out with a throat thrust from Meng. They pulled Hall back up again and Affliction set him up for their Double Chokeslam...when Hulk Hogan came sprinting down to the ring!
Hogan immediately took out Zodiac with a hard right hand, and then sent The Shark over the top rope with a clothesline! Hogan ducked a Double Big Boot attempt from Affliction before giving them each a boot to the midsection and then slammed their heads together! Wrath and Fury both fell out of the ring from the affects. Meng charged at Hogan, but Hogan ducked and backdropped Meng over the top rope to the floor!
Taskmaster grimaced as Hogan just cleared the ring of the Dungeon of Doom!
Hulk Hogan took the microphone. "Okay SULLIVAN! THE TIME HAS COME! WHO'S IT GONNA BE, BROTHER?!" and said the time had come...Hogan wants to know who is opponent was going to be!
The Taskmaster was quiet, but looked up the ramp as....THE GIANT made his slow walk down to the ring, cracking his knuckles as he approached the ring.
Hall was assisted out of the ring by WCW officials as The Giant climbed into the ring. Hogan's face was as serious as Tony Schiavone could remember ever seeing him, his eyes locked on The Giant...it would appear this would be our title match!
With the entire Dungeon of Doom remaining at ringside, this title match had the looks of a lumberjack match though it definitely was not. The referee reminded Taskmaster as such, and encouraged him to keep the Dungeon of Doom from being involved in the match or be disqualified.
Hogan wasted no time locking up with the big man, but quickly found himself outmatched by The Giant's size, strength, and power. In no time, The Giant had Hogan up in his arms and slammed him to the mat with a big body slam. The Giant laughed at the downed champion while Taskmaster was nodding and smirking at ringside.
The Giant seemed to literally be TOYING with Hogan...as Hogan would try to get to his feet, only to have The Giant give him a boot to the face to send him back down to the mat. The match was very slow and prodding...and it was completely a one-sided affair. Schiavone and Heenan could not believe how dominant the Giant was in the ring against the WCW World Champion. Giant continued to dish out punishment, lifting up Hogan with both hands by the throat in a chokelift - to which the referee gave Giant a five count before forcing Giant to release the hold or be disqualified.
With Hogan struggling on the mat - The Giant mocked Hogan by imitating his Hulkster poses before putting his huge boot on Hogan's chest and WALKING across his body. Giant looked to put Hogan out as he locked him in a bearhug submission....and it looked like Hogan was indeed on his way to passing out from the pain and giving us a new champion...as the referee checked Hogan's arm. The first two lifts saw Hogan's arm fall right back to the Giant's side...but the crowd grew louder and louder and on the third try...his arm STAYED UP! RIGHT HAND! RIGHT HAND! RIGHT HAND! Hogan broke the hold and was coming to life!
"This is more like it!" Schiavone exclaimed as Hogan was Hulking up! A few more right hands from Hogan had The Giant STAGGERING. Hogan bounced off the ropes...CLOTHESLINE from Hogan staggered The Giant some more! Hogan reached down and tried to set up Giant for a BODYSLAM..."shades of Hogan/Andre?" Schiavone wondered aloud...but Hogan strained and could not lift The Giant up! The Giant broke up the attempt with an ax handle to Hogan's back!
Hogan's momentum was effectively squashed as The Giant retook a firm control. Giant sent Hogan into the corner where he choked the life out of Hogan with his big boot before breaking the choke after a five count. Hogan stumbled out into a sidewalk slam from The Giant. Schiavone noticed that throughout The Giant's domination of most of the match - he had never once made a pinfall attempt. Schiavone found that to be quite odd for a man looking to walk out with Hogan's WCW Championship. Heenan said he had a feeling this was more about the destruction of Hulkamania. And it certainly looked like it in the ring.
After dropping Hogan to the mat with a Military Press Slam - The Giant looked like he might be trying to finish Hogan off. He pulled Hogan back up and sent him into the ropes...BIG BOOT! Giant lifted his right arm high into the air, signaling for the Chokeslam! Giant pulled Hogan up and grabbed him by the throat.
"This is it!" Heenan exclaimed, "The end of Hulkamania!"
But no! Hulk fought back with a boot to The Giants midsection! This atleast was able to double the big man over...and Hogan followed up by taking Giant by the head and dropping him with a DDT! The Giant was down! Standing elbowdrop by Hogan!
Hogan immediately tried a cover...One, KICKOUT by The Giant! Unbelievably the Giant kicks out with EASE after just a one count!
The Giant pulled himself back up and walked into an Atomic Drop from Hogan that once again staggered The Giant as Hogan bounced off the ropes and hit a Big Boot to Giant's chest...."TIIIMMMBERR" Heenan exclaimed as Giant fell straight down to the mat!
LEGDROP to the Giant!
Hogan with the cover.
ONE!
TWO!
THE GIANT KICKED OUT OF THE HOGAN LEGDROP AT TWO!
Hogan sat up on his knees in utter disbelief that The Giant had kicked out of his atomic Leg Drop. "Unbelievable!" was all Tony Schiavone could muster.
Hogan got back to his feet...and was hit out of nowhere by a SAVATE KICK from MENG!
Hogan hit the mat and the referee called for the bell.
WINNER and STILL WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan by disqualification in 16:11
The rest of the Dungeon of Doom flooded the ring, assaulting the now fallen Hogan. Taskmaster watched on from ringside as the Dungeon put the boots to Hogan. The Giant was back up to his feet and demanded to have Hogan. The rest of the Dungeon stepped aside as The Giant pulled Hogan to his feet and grabbed him by the throat...CHOKESLAM to Hogan!
"One more time!" Taskmaster ordered and The Giant had no problem following through with that order. He pulled Hogan back up and took Hogan by the throat again....
But out from the back came "The Macho Man" Randy Savage, stumbling and limping to the ring armed with the crowbar that he was assaulted with earlier in the evening! The crowd popped as the rest of the Dungeon also noticed, causing The Giant to drop Hogan.
"Don't just stand there!" Taskmaster declared, "GET HIM!"
The Zodiac charged at Savage, but he ran right into a crowbar to the gut! Zodiac hit the floor and Shark was the next to get a crowbar shot to the midsection. Savage rolled into the ring and the rest of the Dungeon scattered except for The Giant, who was still standing over Hogan's fallen body. Savage threatened Giant with the crowbar, which was enough to cause Giant to back down. Giant stepped over the top rope and hopped down to the floor to join The Taskmaster and the rest of the Dungeon in the aisle.
Savage tossed the crowbar down as The Taskmaster took a microphone. He then began to help Hogan back up to his feet.
"HOGAN. HOGAN. HOGAN" Taskmaster said as he began to laugh, "Did you really think this was all over? DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU WON?"
Hogan was struggling to stay on his feet as Savage helped support him.
"I'm still standing!" Hogan called out. "I told you... HULKAMANIA WILL NEVR DIE!"
"You see Hogan...remember what I said...I TOLD YOU I WOULD NAME YOUR OPPONENT! I WOULD NAME WHO YOU WOULD FACE TONIGHT."
Schiavone and Heenan didn't know where Taskmaster was going with this...and neither did Hogan and Savage in the ring. Hogan could be seen mouthing "I faced the Giant..."
"No Hogan, I NEVER announced The Giant as your opponent tonight! That match never was official!"
The Taskmaster laughed maniacally.
"Your opponent tonight.... is a NEW member of the Dungeon... he is a man you know all too well. A man who has spent YEARS in your shadow. A man who was willing to SIGN A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL to be ON TOP OF WCW BY HIMSELF...."
It looked like a spark went off in Hogan's head as he realized what Taskmaster was saying...Hogan's head slowly turned in disbelief to the man who was helping hold him up....
"THE MACHO MAN...RANDY...SAVAGE!"
"I knew it!" Heenan cried out, "I knew it all along! It had to be Randy Savage! I've never trusted that guy!"
An evil grin had come across Savage's fdaface and Hogan had no time to react as The Macho Man immediately gave him a boot to the midsection as Taskmaster ordered the referee to call for the bell to start the match. "IT WAS MY STIPULATION! MY RULES!" Taskmaster ordered, and the referee had no choice but to call for the bell.
Hogan was in no shape to compete after the "match" with Giant and the post match beatdown. Savage pulled Hogan to the middle of the ring...PILEDRIVER! The boos were pouring in from the crowd as Savage pulled Hogan's body to the middle of the ring before taking his time climbing to the top turnbuckle. Savage perched on the top turnbuckle, soaking up the loud boos from the crowd before he came flying off with the FLYING ELBOWDROP that hit Hogan perfectly in the chest.
Savage hooked Hogan's leg as the referee reluctantly made the three count...One....Two...Three!
WINNER and NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Savage by pinfall in 0:57
Savage snatched the WCW World Heavyweight Title from the referee and lifted it up high with a sinister grin on his face as he was joined in the ring by "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan and The Giant. Savage turned to them as Taskmaster could be heard saying, "IT'S TIME!"
The Giant pulled Hogan up and tossed Hogan over the top rope to the floor where the rest of the Dungeon of Doom engulfed Hogan's body with a barrage of stomps. Savage, Giant, and Sullivan climbed out of the ring and the Dungeon of Doom parted as The Giant pulled Hogan up by his hair and started walking with him up the aisle. They stopped at the top of the aisle where Sullivan pulled out a pair of handcuff and handcuffed Hogan to the side of the Halloween Havoc set.
Randy Savage walked up holding a steel chair in his hand...Savage leaned back and slammed the chair right across the top of Hogan's head! Sullivan and the rest of the Dungeon laughed as Savage leaned back and fired off another chairshot to the defenseless Hogan. The Giant wanted his turn, so Savage handed over the chair to the 7 foot monster who left loose a sickening chairshot that echoed through the arena. As the Giant brought the chair back, Hogan's face was now covered in blood. Giant lifted the chair up to reveal the huge dents Hogan's skull had put in the chair. Giant then lowered the chair across Hogan's throat and violently choked him while the rest of the Dungeon enjoyed every minute of it.
Savage wanted one more go at Hogan, so Giant handed him the chair...and Savage belted Hogan with one more huge chairshot.
Savage tossed the chair down to the ground and taunted the unconscious body of Hogan by holding his newly won World Title right infront of Hogan's bloodied face. Savage then turned to the crowd and held the title up once more.
"Is this truly the End of Hulkamania?" were the final words we heard from Tony Schiavone as the show came to a close. The camera zoomed in on Hogan's mangled body...getting a tight shot of the blood dripping off Hogan's face to the floor before fading out.
Firstly Dubb, just wanna say I really love your format!
Immediately intrigued as to who Sister Sherri could have aboard!
Pretty terrific tag team match to start off. Got no issue with Guerrero and Malenko winning and going over in this match. Don't think Benoit and Sabu have much longevity as a team as alluded to by Bobby Heenan.
Figured Badd would go over Chono since one works for WCW and the other does not. Don't really have an issue with the result especially since Duggan got involved also.
No issue with DDP getting the win. Not decisive, as there was plenty of interference before Page hit the Diamond Cutter. Think Wright will eventually beat DDP in this rivalry for the title but I could also be totally wrong.
Sting-Meng ending in a DQ makes a lot of sense for both sides. You protect Meng in this instance and probably prolong things a little bit. Intrigued to see where it goes but Sting will CLEARLY need some help.
BIG win for Pillman over Double A. Not sure what Pillman's ultimate trajectory will be here but that's a HUGE W for him especially since it came off the Missile Dropkick.
WOWOWOWOWOW! Okay, all my attention is on the aftermath here. The Blue Bloods had no chance against Harlem Heat... Sherri bringing in The Road Warriors? HELL. YES. Give me that mid-90s tag action on a silver platter. Totally here for this. Not sure something will pop me more o this show.
Ugh, wow... wow, there was a lot going on here from Scott Hall all the way down to the bitter end here.I don't know what to think about Savage turning heel, mostly because he's always been so popular that I love him as a babyface so much more than anything.I'll need some personal convincing here, but you pulled off a GREAT swerve at the end.
Halloween Havoc is in the books and of course, what everyone is talking about is the shocking conclusion. While many speculated that it would be Randy Savage who would turn on Hogan at Halloween Havoc, no one expected him to not only join the Dungeon of Doom but also be the one to take Hogan's title off of him. This has been in the works for some time and the title needed to come off Hogan as he prepares to take some time off to go film 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. In true Hogan fashion, he had to drop the belt in a way that protected him as much as possible, so the unofficial match with The Giant and post-match beatdown certainly did that to set up the Savage win. With Hogan out of the picture for the time being - there will be plenty of people coming for Savage and his title... perhaps most notably his other War Games partners - Sting and Scott Hall.
Expect more changes to the Dungeon of Doom with the Macho Man now at the top of the food chain
The next WCW PPV, as announced on Halloween Havoc, is World War 3. An event created to try and create their own version of Royal Rumble but instead, it's a 60-man Battle Royal across its different rings. Dave is not excited about this and feels like it's going to be a huge mess. But in any event, the winner will get a title shot at Starrcade.
Still no update on the Vader situation except that he's still suspended. He still may come back to WCW eventually but most likely WCW is just keeping him on contract to keep him from going to WWF as long as they can. He is also still saying he needs shoulder surgery, which WCW could be on the hook for. For now, he's working as a volunteer assistant coach for hte Colorado Buffaloes college football team.
WWF introduced a guy named Mark Henry at a house show last week. He's a weightlifter who has Olympic aspirations. WWF is sponsoring him so if he does well, you might expect them to try and bring him in as a wrestler.
The results are in from the WCW Magazine Halloween Havoc Prediction Contest. Here are the top performers:
WCW Monday Nitro October 16, 1995
LIVE in Albany, NY
The show opened without the standard Monday Nitro open that we've seen each week...instead, we immediately are brought in with a video of "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan standing alone inside the Dungeon of Doom.
"For so long... I have dreamt... I have DREAMT of...
A WORLD.
WITHOUT.
HULKAMANIA."
AND NOW... thanks to... our NEW SAVIOR... the DREAM HAS FINALLY COME TRUE! The Age of Hulkamania is OVER.
HULKAMANIA... IS... DEAD!
So you are now all invited tonight for a very special event. An event that no one will ever forget. Not only will we celebrate the crowning of our new savior as WCW World Heavyweight Champion... but also... we will have a funeral. A FUNERAL FOR HULKAMANIA!"
Taskmaster's sinister laughter faded us into the Civic Center in Albany, New York.
Eric Bischoff welcomed us to the program as we try and transition into a new night for WCW...Bischoff revealed that if we didn't see it happen live last night, we probably have heard by now that Hulk Hogan is no longer the WCW World Champion. He was betrayed by his closest friend of many years..."The Macho Man" Randy Savage - who literally signed a deal with the devil, "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan, to get his hands on the WCW World Title.
Bischoff seemed very disgusted about the situation...and following the heinous assault by the Dungeon of Doom after the match... Bischoff wondered if we would ever see Hulk Hogan in a wrestling ring ever again. Heenan commented that he had seen a lot in his days in wrestling, seen so many attacks and acts of violence... but he'd never seen a beating like Hogan received. Heenan seemed convinced Hogan's career was over.
As the announce team continued to discuss the events of Halloween Havoc - "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall emerged from the back without any intro music. Hall headed to the ring with a purpose, dressed to wrestle. Hall took the microphone in the ring.
"Hey yo...."
The crowd popped for Hall but he was much more serious than usual.
"I hate to say I told ya so... but mang, I told ya so. And I can't help... but be just a little bit ticked off. For weeks... and weeks... I've had a finger pointed in my direction by Randy Savage. Blaming The Bad Guy for all the 'bad things' happening to Hogan and his boys. Well, chico, when you point a finger at me... don't forget how many fingers are pointin' right back at ya. Because well, well, well... who turned out to be the REAL snake in the grass? The REAL man behind it all. THE MACHO MAN himself."
Hall paused as the crowd booed at the mention of Savage's name.
"Now where I come from... Randy Savage would be laying in a ditch somewhere for tryin' to do that to a man's name and reputation," Hall smirked, "but Mach... you're gonna be LUCKY if that ended up being your fate!"
Another pop from the crowd, eager to see Hall get his hands on Savage.
"Last night... Savage.. we were supposed to have a match. And I gotta admit mang, maybe you do deserve an Oscar... for that actin' job, you did. But you managed to not only weasel your way into getting the WCW title... but you also showed how much of a coward you really are by fakin' an injury to get out of OUR match. But don't you think for one second that you're gettin' off that easy, chico. I still want that match... that match you deprived me of last night. And since you got some gold 'round your waist now... let's make it a little more interesting... whattaya say... CHAMP?"
Someone emerged from the back to respond, but it was not Randy Savage. The crowd booed as it was "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan stepped out from the back to respond to Hall's challenge. "Oh, Scott... I can tell you are just a little upset about how things played out last night. But let me tell you this... not only will you NOT be getting a shot against our new savior... but you will NEVER get a title shot. You simply are not worthy!"
More BOOs from the crowd while Hall leaned against the ropes, inviting Sullivan to join him in the ring.
"I can tell you're wanting a fight tonight, though. And it just so happens there's a member of the Dungeon looking for a fight. Someone looking to vent from frustration. He may not have walked away from Halloween Havoc with the US title... but tonight he can settle for destroying you instead!"
Meng walked out to join Taskmaster at the top of the entranceway. Hall threw the microphone down and motioned for them to "bring it" and it looked like we had ourselves a big opening match.
= = = = = = = = =
"THE BAD GUY" SCOTT HALL versus MENG (w/"The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan)
Hall wasted no time going at Meng - hitting him with some hard right hands that managed to take Meng backward a bit, but when Hall attempted to Irish Whip the Tongan, Meng stood firm and instead pulled Hall into a short arm clothesline. Meng quickly overpowered Hall, taking control of the match.
Bischoff, Heenan, and Mongo switched gears from the Hogan talk to talk about how close Meng came last night to beating Sting for the WCW United States Championship, but ultimately Sting had Meng locked in the Scorpion Deathlock only to have the Dungeon of Doom attack Sting to draw the DQ. But Bischoff wasn't even sure Meng would've tapped out to the Deathlock. Mongo noted that he certainly had never seen Meng tap out to anything.
Back in the ring, Hall struggled to mount a comeback against Meng as the match wore on. Hall managed to slow the beast down by raking the Tongan's eyes. Hall ignored the referee, grabbed a handful of Meng's wild hair, and slammed him face-first into the top turnbuckle. Meng absorbed the shot and turned back to Hall, staring down The Bad Guy before letting out a fearsome yell!
Hall bounced off the ropes, ducked a big chop attempt from Meng, then bounced off the opposite ropes and attacked Meng's legs from behind with a chopblock. That was enough to take the Tongan off his feet finally. Hall immediately went to work on Meng's legs with him off the mat - stomping on the Dungeon of Doom member's knees. With the momentum in his favor, Hall would soon try to put Meng away - placing his head between his legs to set up for the Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy... but Meng countered with a backdrop!
Hall rolled out of the ring as The Taskmaster climbed onto the apron - distracting the referee. With the referee's back turned - The Giant made his way down to the ring and attacked Hall from behind as he was getting to his feet! The Giant laid out Hall with a big headbutt before tossing him like a rag-doll into the ringsteps! Taskmaster climbed back down and joined The Giant at ringside.
The referee found Hall back outside the ring and began to count him out... Hall struggled to grab the ring curtain to try and pull himself up...but the count was continuing... Hall was unable to get back to his feet in time as the referee reached 10... calling for the bell and awarding the match to Meng by count out.
WINNER: Meng by count out at 7:32
The Taskmaster lifted Meng's arm in victory after the match, as the announce team discussed how everything seems to really be going in the Dungeon's favor lately. "Who's going to be dumb enough to stand in their way?" Heenan questioned.
As Sullivan, Meng, and The Giant made their way back up the aisle - Scott Hall finally recovered at ringside and began to voice his frustration. He kicked the ring steps before finally heading up the aisle to return to the back to cheers from the fans.
= = = = = = = = =
Back from the break, "Mean" Gene Okerlund was standing in the center of the ring. Okerlund took us back to Halloween Havoc, where Harlem Heat defeated The Blue Bloods to retain the WCW World Tag Team Titles. But the real story was what happened after the match...where Sister Sherri revealed her new clients to the world...and they are about to join Mean Gene in the ring... Okerlund introduced Sister Sherri and The Road Warriors!
"OOOOHHH WHAT A RUSH!"
Out came Hawk and Animal - in full war paint and spikes - alongsideSister Sherriwho was also sporting her own set of spikes and war paint. They marched down to the ring to big cheers from the crowd. The trio climbed into the ring, where Sherri started out answering Gene's questions. Sherri talked about all the hard work she put into managing Harlem Heat and putting blood, sweat, and tears into helping them get the tag titles...and the way they just cast her aside...she felt betrayed. But Sherri said she knew how to get even... because if there's one tag team that's more decorated...more accomplished...and more talented than Harlem Heat - it was the two men standing in the ring now - Hawk and Animal!
And now, it was only a matter of time before the Road Warriors took the tag titles away from Harlem Heat.
"Not so fast, sister" was the voice of Eddy Guerrero as he and Dean Malenko walked out from the back. The new duo headed down to the ring and joined the four already in the ring. Guerrero did the talking for him and Malenko here.
"It's pretty insulting to think you guys can just walk right in here and ask for title shots. After all, we all know the REAL reason why everyone tuned into Halloween Havoc last night. It was to watch me and my amigo Dean bring down the house in an INSTANT CLASSIC match. And... since we were the only team besides the champs to come out on top in such a high profile Pay-Per-View... it only makes sense that if ANYONE should be demanding a title shot... it's US, ESSA!"
Sherri stopped Guerrero, "Now wait just a minute! No one is DEMANDING anything. The Road Warriors are living legends in this business but they don't ask for ANYTHING to be HANDED TO THEM! They are not afraid to EARN it!"
Hawk and Animal nodded in agreement as the crowd cheered at Sherri's feisty response. "But if you boys are itching to prove yourself against a couple of championship caliber opponents... how about you put your money where your mouth is... and they'll take you on.. TONIGHT!"
The crowd popped - suggesting they in fact, would like to see such a match. However, Guerrero hesitated. "What's the matter? You boys afraid of some real competition?"
Malenko took offense and started to rush the Warriors, but Guerrero held him back. "Not so fast, muchacho! Look, we're not afraid of anyone! So you gringos want a match.. YOU ARE ON!"
The Road Warriors started to take off their spikes...but Guerrero put a stop to that.... "Woah, woah... I didn't say right now! We gotta prepare! We had a grueling match last night... we'll see you later tonight."
The crowd booed as Guerrero and Malenko headed out of the ring, but Sister Sherri would get in the last word. "That's fine! No problem! Take all the time you need to 'prepare' - because the outcome is going to be the same. Later tonight - DOOMSDAY is coming for you both!"
= = = = = = = = = =
DEVON STORM versus JUSHIN "THUNDER" LIGER (w/Sony Oono)
As the match got underway, Bischoff and the announce team discussed Sony Oono's other NJPW clients Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki - who were bested by Johnny B Badd and Jim Duggan at Halloween Havoc as Duggan prevented Sasaki from interfering in the matcho between Chono and Badd, which allowed Badd to pick up the big victory for WCW.
But tonight, it was some "cruiserweight" action as Bischoff described it as the lightweights, Devon Storm, and decorated NJPW star Jushin Liger went to battle. Bischoff noted that Storm is more accustomed to tag team competition in WCW, but was able to put up a valiant effort against the more seasoned Jushin Liger.
The match itself was short and sweet, but still managed to be a fast paced, back and forth affair. Ultimately, however, it was Liger coming out on top as he put Devon Storm away with the Liger Bomb for the decisive three count victory.
WINNER: Jushin Liger by pinfall in 4:19
After the match, Sony Oono climbed into the ring and lifted up Liger's arm in victory as the crowd rewarded them both with boos. Oono took the microphone and admonished the fans for booing a "Japanese legend" in Jushin Liger. Oono then remarked that the next pay-per-view event was called "World War 3" - Oono said that was "fitting" - because NJPW is about to wage war on all of WCW.
Oono commented that the first victims would be Johnny B. Badd and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan - who would soon regret their actions. Oono lifted up Liger's arm in victory once more before they headed out of the ring.
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WCW Saturday Night Preview: We joined Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes in the WCW Studio for a quick rundown of what we could expect this week on WCW Saturday Night. We were promised more fallout from Halloween Havoc. After losing their match against Malenko and Guerrero, Sabu and Chris Benoit will square off one-on-one to once again try to settle some of their differences.
Also, the Television Title will be on the line as Diamond Dallas Page defends the belt! Plus - The Dungeon of Doom's Giant will be in action and much, much more!
Fresh off his impressive victory over Arn Anderson at Halloween Havoc, Pillman stepped into the ring against another old school wrestler in Kendall Windham. Not to mention Windham is the brother of former Four Horseman, Barry Windham.
Pillman started off strong, easily dodging the attack from Windham. But Windham managed to surprise Pillman with a drop-toe hold and then hit a kneedrop to Pillman's back. Kendall managed to pick up a nearfall after a Slingshot Powerbomb, but Pillman got out at two. Windham's short-lived advantage disappeared when Pillman ducked the "Lariat O'Doom" from Windham. Windham turned around right into an enziguri from Pillman!
Pillman would then lay out Windham with a snap DDT before climbing to the top turnbuckle. Windham slowly staggered up to his feet as Pillman came off the top with a Missle Dropkick! Pillman quickly crawled over and hooked Windham's leg - One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Brian Pillman by pinfall in 4:01
Pillman continued his hot streak with a victory tonight, but it was revealed after the match by Eric Bischoff - that next week on Nitro, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair would be returning for the first time since Pillman attacked both Flair and Anderson!
Mongo couldn't wait to hear what Flair had to say about Pillman's actions!
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We go backstage, where Diamond Dallas Page was meeting with his two bodyguards Maxx Muscle and Big Bubba Rogers.Page revealed that he hadn't seenThe Diamond Dollsince last night - but he didn't seem too worried about it. She showed where his true allegiance lies, as he revealed he was just glad that he still had his Television Title after Halloween Havoc.
As a champion, Page told Muscle and Rogers that he did not have "the time" to deal with Diamond Doll and Alex Wright...so he told him that it was THEIR responsibility to find her and keep Wright out of his hair while he defends the TV title.
Muscle and Rogers both assured Page that they could handle that task. Page grinned and stated that "they better" - if they want to stay employed, that is.
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World War 3: A promo aired to introduce those who missed Halloween Havoc last night to the newest event in the WCW Line Up. In four weeks, 60 men will enter 3 rings in an over-the-top-rope battle royal war - with the last man standing going on to receive a World Title shot at the biggest Pay-Per-View of the year - Starrcade. All of your favorite WCW stars will be involved...and ANYONE could walk out the winner!
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EDDY GUERRERO and DEAN MALENKO versus THE ROAD WARRIORS (w/Sister Sherri)
Making their return to WCW tag team action, The Road Warriors were accompanied by their new valet, Sister Sherri. While Hawk and Animal both had something to prove in their return - the young Malenko and Guerrero also had something to prove in their most high-profile match yet, taking on one of the most accomplished tag teams in professional wrestling. Bischoff noted a win here for either team would do a lot to move them in line for a future tag team titles shot.
Hawk and Animal showed no signs of ring rust as they took an early advantage over the heel tag team. Hawk and Animal definitely had the edge in terms of experience and cohesiveness - as while Malenko and Guerrero have a rich history outside of WCW, they have only been teaming together for a little over a month. Hawk and Animal's raw strength and power gave them a solid edge over the smaller duo - but this was not going to be a one-sided affair. Guerrero made sure of that as he hit a low blow to Hawk while Malenko had the referee distracted.
That great "equalizer" put the ball (no pun intended) in their court as they took turns tagging in and out while working over Hawk - keeping the fresh man in at all times. Sister Sherri did her part - being vocal at ringside and slapping the mat to try and not just motivate her team, but to rally the crowd behind the Warriors. While Malenko had Hawk locked in a Boston crab, Hawk began to rally...pulling himself up onto his arms and using the strength of his legs to flip Malenko head over heals to the mat!
Malenko was back up quickly as Hawk got up, but Hawk quickly leveled Malenko with a lariat and tagged in Animal! Guerrero charged in to meet the incoming Animal, but ran into a monster clothesline from Animal. Guerrero rolled back to his feet and walked right into a scoop slam from Animal before Animal dropped an elbow across Guerrero's chest. But when Animal pulled Guerrero back up and set him up for a Military Press, Malenko hit a dropkick to Animal's back!
Animal dropped Guerrero to the mat and fell to a knee. Hawk made the save, attacking Malenko with a dropkick of his own! Guerrero staggered back to his feet, only to get sent into the ropes by Hawk while Animal ran off the opposite ropes and hit a jumping shoulder block to Guerrero!
Guerrero hit the mat and rolled out of the ring - leaving Malenko alone in the ring. Hawk climbed to the top turnbuckle as the crowd got to their feet in anticipation. Animal lifted Malenko up into a shoulder lift... DOOMSDAY DEVICE! Animal made the cover - One, Two, Three!
WINNERS: The Road Warriors by pinfall in 8:47
An impressive victory for the returning Road Warriors, but they would not have long to celebrate - as Booker T and Stevie Ray came from the crowd to ambush Hawk and Animal in the ring from behind! But their sneak attack would not go according to plan, as Hawk and Animal battle right back against the champion!
Hawk and Animal backed Ray and Booker against the ropes and hit well-timed clotheslines that sent both Booker T and Stevie Ray over the top rope to the floor at the same time!
Harlem Heat regrouped in the aisle while Sister Sherri joined her new clients in the ring. Sherri lifted up their arms in victory while all three kept their eyes locked squarely on Booker T and Stevie Ray in the aisle.
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As we came back from commercial, the entranceway had been set up with a black runner while a casket was not set up to the right of the entranceway where several flowers had been placed. On the casket was a Hulkamania shirt and bandanna with a picture of Hulk Hogan on a stand next to the coffin.
The Funeral March began as "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan andThe Giantlead the rest of the Dungeon of Doom out from the back - all dressed in black. The group surrounded the casket while The Taskmaster walked up and stood right in front of the casket with a microphone.
"We are gathered here today..." The Taskmaster began, "to mourn the loss of a so-called 'great hero..."
"Now... usually during these types of ceremonies... we would take a look back at the person's life. Taking a look at the great moments. What good they had done in the world..."
"This is NOT going to be such a ceremony!"
BOOOOOOOO!
"Because you see... there's nothing about HULKAMANIA that is worth celebrating! All Hulk Hogan did was be a drain on society and brainwash the millions of fans across the world into believing the HYPE surrounding a truly selfish... arrogant... DESPICABLE man!"
"Tonight... we lay to rest Hulkamania once and for all. And unlike most funerals... this isn't going to be a somber event. This event... we tell Hulkamania... GOOD RIDDANCE!"
Sullivan reached over, grabbed the Hulkamania bandana off the coffin, and tossed it to the ground, stomping on it much to the disgust of the crowd.
"Instead of mourning the loss of the true villain of the story... we celebrate the end of an era. The end of the Age of Hulkamani and the emerging of the HERO of the story. Our NEW SAVIOR! The man who made it ALL possible! The NEW WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION...
RANDY. SAVAGE!"
The crowd booed loudly as Savage, also dressed in all black - including his trademark hat decked completely in black. Around his waist was his newly won WCW World Title. The Dungeon of Doom parted as Savage approached the circle around the casket to allow him to join The Taskmaster in the middle. Savage pretended to be crying as he picked up the bandana off the mat and wiped away his "tears."
"Sorry... I'm a little choked up. It's an honor to be able to come out on such an occassion and offer a few words to the recently decently...."
The "choked up" Savage wiped his tears again and then blew his nose in the bandana.
"Hulk Hogan and I had a long history together," Savage began, "and if there were three words that I could use to describe the man...they would be............Selfish. Delusional. Egomaniac."
Savage paused as the crowd continued to boo the champion while a smirk crossed his face.
"It was always all about Hogan. He just HAAAAAAAAD to be the star of the show. I've spent... my ENTIRE CAREER... in the SHADOW OF A MAN... who didn't deserve the sun! And you people... you fans... you did nothing but add to his delusions! The only thing that has been runing wild the past 20 years... has been HULK HOGAN'S EGO!"
"So when people come to me and want to know... WHY... WHY MACH? Why in the world would I destroy not only a friendship but destroy HULKAMANIA ITSELF? I can't help... but LAUGH."
Savage laughed and was joined by Sullivan's usual cackle.
"HULKAMANIA had to end. For the good of professional wrestling. And I get it... you people are going to hate me for it. For now. But... you're all just too small minded to understand what's best for you... what's best for everyone! No longer are you going to be subjected to one OVER-HYPED... WASHED UP... MAN'S DELUSIONS! ANd in time... you will come to accept me as your NEW SAVIOR. OOOOOOOH YEAH!"
Savage paused as Sullivan bowed to Savage. Savage instructed Sullivan back up to his feet as the crowd continued to rain in the boos.
"The Taskmaster... presented me with the opportunity to do what I've always wanted to do. Not only could I... for the first time in my career... BEAT HULK HOGAN... not only could I take the TOP TITLE IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING... I could also put to death the one thing that always kept me from being on the top of the mountain. As long as Hogan had the title... I would never get a shot. Some may say I've sold my soul... but The Taskmaster has delivered on all his promises. I now have... EVERYTHING I HAVE DESERVED ALL ALONG!"
Savage pulled the belt from around his waist and lifted it up to the unwelcoming crowd. Savage laid the title down on the casket as he continued..."So tonight...we are able to say a final goodbye to Hulkamania," Savage stated as he looked at the shirt on the casket. "Good riddance," Savage said simply as the rest of the Dungeon nodded in agreement.
"The Era of Hogan is OVER..FOREVER! But a new era is just beginning for WCW. And soon....you all...WILL BOW DOWN - to your NEW SAVIOR! OOOOOOHHHH YEEEAAAHHHHH"
With that, Savage grabbed the title once again off the casket and lifted the belt up in the air while the crowd continued to show their disfavor. The funeral march began once again as the camera zoomed in on the casket as the show came to a close.
WCW Saturday Night began with still photos of a bloodied Hulk Hogan from Halloween Havoc intertwined between clips from the "funeral" promo at the end of WCW Monday Nitro delivered by Randy Savage. We then transitioned right into the standard WCW Saturday Night opening.
Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes were in the studio to deliver tonight's action to us - and promised a breathtaking main event between two bitter rivals - Chris Benoit and Sabu. Schiavone couldn't wait to see the show these two were going to put on for us tonight. But there was plenty of other action, including tag team action with Operation: Desert Storm and a match between Alex Wright and Scotty Riggs.
Plus, the Dungeon of Doom would be on hand tonight as well as they continue to dominate here in WCW and "Mean" Gene Okerlund would have a special interview with United States Champion STING!
But first, we're kicking things off with a Television Championship match!
Noticeably absent from Page's entrance was his entire entourage. Diamond Doll had stormed off after being forced to help DDP defeat Alex Wright - and his two "bodyguards" - Muscle and Rogers have been assigned by Page to find her and bring her back. So it was a rare solo appearance for Page - but would the challenger Ace Darling be able to capitalize on this opportunity?
The champion was as confident as ever even without his usual backup, and immediately took control of the smaller man. Darling mounted a comeback against Page, and picked up a near fall off of a superkick - but Page got his shoulder up. But despite his best efforts, Darling would come up short in this title match. The end would come when he locked Page from behind to attempt a German Suplex, but Page broke free with a pair of back elbows that staggered Darling enough for Page to hit the Diamond Cutter.
Page quickly took advantage and made the nonchalant cover to pick up the three and retain his title.
WINNER: Diamond Dallas Page by pinfall at 4:11
After the match, Page snatched his title from the referee and threw it up in the air only to be greeted by a warm round of boos from the crowd.
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We then cut to a pre-recorded video of a training session for Corporal Cobra that was being instructed by Sgt. Craig Pittman.
Pittman had set up several mannequins that had luchador masks on. Tonight's training session focused on the fact that we should not trust men wearing masks.
"What are they hiding?!" Pittman barked out. "The enemy uses these masks to hide their true identities! But WE ARE SMARTER THAN THAT! AREN'T WE?!"
Cobra nodded as he hit a superkick to one of the mannequin - knocking its head clean off. Pittman barked out "MORE!" as Cobra obliged, hitting another superkick to a second mannequin before spinning and hitting a clothesline to the third mannequin - also taking its head off.
"Good job Corporal" - telling Cobra that he was ready for tonight's challenge.
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MR. JL & SUPER CALO versus OPERATION: DESERT STORM
How fitting that Pittman's training session about the "enemy" wearing masks be before the duo took on a pair of masked "luchadores" in Mr. JL and Super Calo? The armed forces pairing of Pittman and Cobra had their hands full with the speedy pair of Calo and JL, whose arsenal of fast-paced offense got the crowd on their side.
After controlling the match early, JL and Calo found themselves in trouble as Cobra and Pittman managed to ground Calo into a more mat-based focused match as Pittman locked Calo in an abdominal stretch. As the referee checked on Calo, Cobra reached out and took Pittman's arm to add some more leverage to the submission. When Mr. JL came in to try and stop the blatant cheating - this only distracted the referee - allowing Cobra to enter and get some free kicks to the restrained Calo's ribs.
As the referee returned, Cobra had already left the ring. With Calo not giving up, Pittman decided to release the hold, but not before lifting up Calo and powerslamming him to the mat. Calo managed to sneak in a head scissor takedown to Cobra, allowing him to make the tag to Mr. JL. The fresh JL showed off some aerial moves as he springboarded into the ring with a dropkick to Cobra. He then took out Pittman with a spinning leg lariat.
After hitting Cobra with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker - JL went to the top turnbuckle and came off looking for a moonsault - but Pittman helped his partner by rolling him out of the way! Cobra staggered to his feet as JL was struggling to get off the mat. Cobra snuck up behind JL and locked him in the Cobra Clutch! Cobra Clutch Slam!
Cobra made the cover - One, Two, Three! Calo made the save but by then it was too late! Operation: Desert Storm picked up another tag team victory tonight.
WINNERS: Operation: Desert Storm by pinfall at 7:39
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WCW Nitro Preview: In the WCW Studio - Eric Bischoff and Steve "Mongo" McMichael discussed why we should tune into WCW Monday Nitro this week. They discussed the dominance of The Dungeon of Doom and wondered if anyone would step up to the plate to take them on...and how would Scott Hall respond to being told he could not have a title shot against Randy Savage? Bischoff also reminded us that "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair would be in attendance this week and should have a thing or two to say about what went down at Fall Brawl with Brian Pillman.
Bischoff promised we WON'T want to miss the most exciting hour of wrestling - WCW Monday Nitro!
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JOE POLACO versus "HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN (w/Johnny B. Badd)
Duggan and Badd continue to have each other's back in unity against Team New Japan - though tonight the opponent was not a member of the NJPW roster - Rhodes noted that you never know when one of Sony Oono's men might be sneaking around and try to attack from behind - so it never hurts to have someone in your corner.
Duggan no-sold a lot of Polaco's offense early before overpowering the young "Portuguese" star. Polaco continued to try and amount some offense against Duggan, but ultimately this proved to be a rather one-sided affair. Duggan would put the punctuation on this one with the Three Point Stance Clothesline followed by the Old Glory kneedrop for the three count victory.
WINNER: Jim Duggan by pinfall at 2:41
As Badd and Duggan celebrated in the ring with confetti guns - Schiavone and Rhodes noted there was no sign of Team NJPW tonight, but after Oono's declaration on Nitro, they were sure that the battle between WCW and Team New Japan is only beginning.
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Backstage, Scotty Riggs was warming up for his upcoming match against Alex Wright. As he was doing his streches, V.K. Wallstreet walked in and greeted Riggs.
"You got this in the bag tonight, my boy! Your STOCK is on the rise and it's going to continue to climb tonight when you beat the so-called WUNDERKIND of WCW." Wallstreet gave Riggs a pat on the back as Riggs gave a confident grin.
"You... you are the true Wunderkind of WCW! The true star on the rise! And you know what... that reminds me... as a star... you deserve the STAR TREATMENT. You should stand out from the crowd. Everyone should know that you are a big deal around here! That's why I got you a little something."
Wallstreet walked out of the shot and returned with a flashy bright green robe with his name "Riggs" in yellow glitter on the back. Riggs looked over the rube, and seemed unsure.
"Trust me... all the biggest stars need a little bit of flare. Come on - show some confidence. 75% of being a star is ACTING like a star."
Riggs gave in and began to put the robe on and then looked at himself in the mirror. He began to smile. "You know what... you're right. I am a star!"
"Thatta boy! Come on, let's go."
As the pair head out of the locker room, they bump into Disco Inferno. Disco staggered back and had to do a double take at the sight of Riggs in the flashy, sparkly robe. Disco couldn't help but chuckle as he reminded us of his run-in with Riggs and Wallstreet from the PPV. "So you didn't like my disco ball idea...but this - THIS you think is a good idea?!" Disco could no longer hold back his laughter, which caught the ire of both Wallstreet and Riggs.
"Ignore him. He's a nobody." They shoved their way past Disco, who continued to laugh as we headed to a commercial break.
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"DAS WUNDERKIND" ALEX WRIGHT versus SCOTTY RIGGS (w/V.K. Wallstreet)
Scotty Riggs did indeed make his way to the ring alongside V.K. Wallstreet, complete with flashy robe and all. On the opposite side of the ring tonight was the man who came up just short in a Television Title match - Alex Wright. What resulted was a back and forth match between two young competitors, both looking for a big win to keep them on track in WCW.
Wallstreet was vocal at ringside, trying to give instructions to his client as Wright began to get the upperhand. Wright would pick up a two count after a diving crossbody to Riggs. After kicking out, Riggs rolled to ringside to regroup with his mentor Wallstreet. But Wright wasn't about to sit around in the ring and wait, instead he bounced off the ropes and hit a baseball slide that connected with Riggs - sending him crashing into the guard rai!
At ringside, Wright continued on the offensive until Riggs reversed an Irish Whip and sent Wright crashing into the ring steps! This opened the door for Riggs, who sent Wright back into the ring and took control of the match. Riggs tried to wear down Wright with some restholds that slowed the match down considerably. Riggs was looking for a submission as he locked in a Boston Crab to Wright - but Wright refused to submit and managed to make his way to the bottom rope to break the hold. Riggs wasted no time going back on the assault - targeting Wright's back with a barrage of stomps. A stiff forearm smash off the ropes from Riggs managed to give him a close two count - but Wright got his shoulder up.
Riggs would climb to the top turnbuckle and attempt a diving crossbody of his own, but his own momentum reversed the move into Wright being ontop of a pinning predicament! One, Two, Kickout by Riggs!
Both men were back up at the same time and exchanged blows until Wright took the upperhand once again. However, when Wright would lock Riggs up from behind and attempt a German Suplex - Wallstreet climbed to the apron and distracted the referee long enough for Riggs to break the waistlock with a back kick right to Wright's groin!
With Wright doubled over, Riggs hit his Legdrop Bulldog to Wright! Riggs made the cover - One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Scotty Riggs by pinfall at 8:01
After the match, Wallstreet joined Riggs in the ring to lift up his hand in victory. Schiavone noted it was a strong victory for the newly retooled Riggs, even if there was a big assist from Wallstreet at ringside!
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After the break, "Mean" Gene Okerlund had caught up with Alex Wright after his loss to Scotty Riggs. Alex Wright was understandably frustrated and didn't seem to interested in talking to Okerlund - but as he tried to brush Okerlund off - Maxx Muscle and Big Bubba Rogers walked into the shot and stood on either side of Wright.
Bubba gave Wright a shove, sending him backwards into Muscle's massive chest. Rogers demanded to know where Diamond Doll was, because he had a pretty good feeling that Wright knew where she was hiding.
Wright assured them both that he in fact, had no idea where she was - and after what she did to him at Halloween Havoc - he doesn't really care where she is.
Bubba and Muscle exchanged a look before Rogers told Wright that they were going to let him go for now...but they BETTER NOT find out he's lying - or else they'll be back for him... and let's just say he doesn't want them coming back for him.
Wright seemed a bit nervous as he was shoved away by Muscle. Rogers and Muscle kept their eyes locked on him as he walked off screen.
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We cut to the ring where "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan walked down to the ring with the 7-foot monster The Giant. The duo climbed into the ring amidst loud boos from the crowd. Sullivan took the microphone..
"There's no more denying... the Dungeon of DOOOOOOOOOOOM has a CHOKEHOLD on the rest of WCW. We have DESTROYED HULKAMANIA. ENDED IT once and for all. WE HAVE CROWNED OUR NEW SAVIOR - RANDY SAVAGE who has captured the WCW Title. There is NO ONE. NO ONE. NO ONE THAT COULD STOP US! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
The Giant reached over and took the microphone. "It felt... oh so good... to play a part in ending Hulkamania. Something I've been wanting to do ever since I was a little kid watching him on TV every week... most people looked up to him... but I wanted to END him! But now... I'm ready for a new challenge."
"That's right! And I seriously doubt there's anyone in the locker room who would dare step into the ring with a SEVEN FOOT MONSTER like The Giant... but we are here with an OPEN CHALLENGE tonight. To anyone... anyone at all... who thinks they can match him SIZE FOR SIZE... POUND FOR POUND... The Giant will GLADLY DESTROY YOU! And Giant... I think you're in luck. You wanted a real challenge tonight... a giant amongst men... unfortunately... WCW just didn't have anyone I felt worthy. SOOOO... I SCOURED THE GLOBE looking for someone the best the world had to offer... and I found someone... he's an IRISH FIGHTING MACHINE... allow me to introduce you to... FERGUS O'GRADY!"
Confused silence was what happened next as some generic Irish music played and out came a man of small stature who couldn't be taller than 5'10" and perhaps weighed around 200 pounds.
Schiavone called this a "disgusting joke" as the young Irish lad climbed into the ring - the size difference between the 7 foot, 500 pound Giant staring down the 5'10" Irishman was definitely comical. But despite all this...we had a referee and this was apparently going to be a match.
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THE GIANT (w/"The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan) versus FERGUS O'GRADY
The Giant had a menacing scowl on his face as he stared down the much smaller O'Grady. To his credit, O'Grady seemed ready for a fight... but when he unleashed a barrage of right and left hands to The Giant's midsection... The Giant simply stood there, unphased by the attack as he began to laugh.
The Giant lifted O'Grady up and tossed him into the corner like a rag doll before charging in with a corner splash to O'Grady. O'Grady slumped over in the corner as The Giant and Sullivan both were laughing at his opponent's lack of competitiveness.
"IS THIS THE BEST YOU GOT?!" The Giant yelled out towards the locker room. The Giant toyed with O'Grady a bit more before finishing him by lifting him high into the air by his throat....Giant showed off his strength as he walked around the ring holding the smaller man up...before dropping him to the mat with a Choke Slam with huge force. The Giant made the pin with one foot across O'Grady's chest - this one was academic - One, Two, Three.
WINNER: The Giant by pinfall at 0:55
As The Giant and The Taskmaster stood tall in the ring, Rhodes questioned if anyone could stop the Dungeon of Doom. Schiavone proposed that there is one man who could stand up to the Dungeon...and he would be in the ring next with "Mean" Gene Okerlund - and that was the man they call STING! That was up next!
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WCW Hotline: This week on the tease for the WCW Hotline - Mean Gene told us that he had the early medical reports from the hospital after Hulk Hogan was transported after Halloween Havoc - find out what doctors are saying about if Hogan will ever be able to step into the wrestling ring again! ALSO - Okerlund has heard that not all the members of Dungeon of Doom are so excited by the agreement between Randy Savage and Kevin Sullivan - could a shake up be on the way inside the Dungeon? To find out this and more, just dial 1-900-909-9900, and kid's, don't forget to get your parent's permission before calling.
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As we came back from commercials, "Mean" Gene Okerlund was standing by in the WCW studio with WCW United States Champion - STING. Sting was looking a little better than he did at Halloween Havoc - where was we last saw him with taped up ribs and on the receiving end of a Dungeon of Doom beatdown. Sting still had some bandage around his midsection - but has had some time to heal since Sunday. Sting shook hands with Okerlund as he entered the shot.
"Gene... what happened at Halloween Havoc... was by far... the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in all my years in the business. Because of Randy Savage and the Dungeon of Doom... a true icon of the sports may have seen his last days in WCW. That is NOT how Hulk Hogan should go out! But you know something Gene... I know something that all of the Hulkamaniacs out there know... and that's this... ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY KILL HULKAMANIA! After all... HULKAMANIA IS IMMORTAL! So I gaurantee you this, Gene... if there's any ounce of life left in the Hulkster... he may be out for now... BUT HE WILL BE BACK! JUST YOU WAIT!"
Gene Okerlund agreed wholeheartedly with Sting.
"Now, be that as it may... in the meantime, the Stinger isn't just going to sit idly by on the wayside and let Randy Savage and the rest of the Dungeon of Doom run around WCW like they own the place. For the past decade.... I've BLED NWA and I've BLED WCW. Those colors run through my blood! WCW is NOT GONNA JUST ROLL OVER AND DIE for you Savage. And if there's someone who needs to step up and CARRY THAT BANNER for WCW with Hulk Hogan out... if someone needs to STEP UP AND TAKE THAT WCW WORLD TITLE away from the hands of the Dungeon... well... SIGN ME UP COACH!"
"Because Randy Savage wants to sit around and try to avoid challenges from Scott Hall... but guess what Macho Man... there's one thing you can't avoid. There's one challenge that you can't duck."
Sting pointed to his WCW US Championship. "This thing right here. The US Title. It makes me the default number one contender to your championship! So whensoever there's no other number one contender determined... the US Champion becomes the Number One Contender! So whether you like it or not... I plan on cashing in on that contendership... and Savage, I'm gonna take that title from you... because it's one you don't deserve and one you definitely didn't earn! BUT I WILL EARN IT! WOOOOOO!"
Sting headed off screen, leaving Gene Okerlund with his mouth ajar. "Well how about that!" Okerlund exclaimed, "He didn't tell us when or where...but by virtue of being the US Champion, the Stinger is in fact the number one contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Title! And it looks like there is nothing Randy Savage or the Dungeon of Doom will be able to do to keep him from getting a title shot!"
Before the match got underway, we saw a replay from Halloween Havoc when Sabu sacrificed himself unsuccessfully - putting himself through a table which ultimately lead to Malenko and Guerrero taking out Benoit to get the win. Schiavone did note that up until that point, Sabu and Benoit proved they could in fact work together reasonably well against their common enemies. But none of this changes the fact that these two have a lot of history with one another and a lot to work out.
Sabu and Benoit locked up to start the match and were immediately going back and forth to start the match out. Benoit was successfully early in grounding the more aerial based Sabu and putting the match more in his wheel house. Benoit showed he could be ruthless in the ring as he corned Sabu and let loose several stiff backhand chops before unleashing a pair of hard headbutts to Sabu. Benoit kept dishing out the punishment to Sabu with some stiff offense - but Sabu kept fighting back to his feet and coming back for more. Rhodes wondered if Sabu was some kind of "glutton for punishment" with the way he just kept taking what Benoit had to dish out.
A belly to back suplex from Benoit earned him a two count before Sabu kicked out. An attempt of a German Suplex by Benoit was blocked and reversed by Sabu who performed a go-behind on Benoit before hitting a dropkick to Benoit's back. The tables were turned into Sabu's favor and Sabu picked up a nearfall of his own off of a running DDT. After the nearfall, Benoit rolled to ringside to try and regain some compsure, but Sabu came diving out of the ring with a springboard moonsault that took both men down to the floor at ringside!
The ten count was on as both men were struggling to get to their feet. As they both got back up, they exchanged chops as the count reached 7...Sabu slammed Benoit's head into the apron before sliding in and out of the ring to break the count.
Sabu moved the ringsteps at ringside and would attempt to use them as a springboard into a DDT on Benoit to the hard floor, but Benoit held on and ran with Sabu, driving him back first into the ring post! Benoit dropped Sabu onto the apron and pushed him back into the ring. Benoit slowly climbed the apron and then up to the top turnbuckle. Benoit came off looking for his Swandive Headbutt, but Sabu rolled out of the way!
Both men were down and once again struggling to get up...Sabu was up first and hit Benoit with a leg lariat as he was getting to his feet. Sabu then pulled Benoit up into a scoop before turning into a sitout piledriver that Schiavone referred to as the Arabian Piledriver!
Sabu hooked Benoit's leg - One, Two, Thre....KICKOUT by Benoit!
Sabu got to his feet and pointed to the top turnbuckle before climbing up. Sabu came flying off the top turnbuckle looking for a somersault legdrop, but this time it was Benoit who rolled out of the way! Both men were down as the referee began to count....
Both Benoit and Sabu were up around the 8 count. They began exchanging right hands before Benoit took Sabu by the arm and pulled him into a short-arm clothesline. Benoit made another cover, and got another two count on his rival. Benoit pulled Sabu up by his hair and set him up for a snap suplex, but Sabu fired back and hit a Northern Lights Suplex to Benoit. Sabu released without a bridge and rolled back to his feet.
Sabu went back on the attack and would soon have Benoit in the corner where he lifted Benoit up onto the top turnbuckle. Sabu began to climb to the top turnbuckle with Benoit, but Benoit began to fight back! They exchanged blows until it looked like Sabu was getting the upperhand.
Sabu leaped up and went for a super frankensteiner, but Benoit held on and turned it into an off the top rope powerbomb!
Benoit rolled over and managed to get his body ontop of Sabu's - One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Chris Benoit by pinfall at 16:22
Schiavone and Rhodes built up how great it was to see such a hard fought battle here in tonight's main event! Both men were very slow to recover even after the match. After having his arm raised in victory, Benoit looked to his rival Sabu as he staggered to his feet. Benoit walked to the middle of the ring and offered a handshake to Sabu!
Schaivone and Rhodes were amazed at Benoit's show of respect to the man he had just had such an intense match with...but would Sabu actually accept the handshake?
Sabu stared at Benoit's hand, but he chose not to accept the handshake. He instead dropped to the mat and rolled out of the ring before heading up the aisle. Benoit lowered his hand and shook his head as he watched Sabu walking to the back. The show came to a close as Sabu disappeared to the back.
WCW Monday Nitro October 23, 1995 LIVE from the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, AL
Previously on WCW Monday Nitro: After the assault on Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc, The Dungeon of Doom displayed their dominance over WCW as new World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage gave a "eulogy" for Hulkamania - elsewhere, Scott Hall's demand of a title match against Savage was denied by Kevin Sullivan, and Sister Sherri's newest clients, the legendary Road Warriors returned to in-ring action in WCW as they defeated the upstart Eddy Guerrero & Dean Malenko to help their attempt to earn a tag title shot against Harlem Heat.
The Nitro intro lead us to a panning shot of the crowd in Huntsville, AL. There's a large amount of Ric Flair related signs as we are back down South in what Bischoff called "Flair Country" - so it was certainly fitting that tonight, Flair would make his return to WCW since last being seen atFall Brawl where he was attacked by Brian Pillman. The commentators agreed that it would make for an interesting interview later tonight!
Also tonight, the WCW Television Championship would be on the line. Bischoff told us that in case we missed it, Sabu and Chris Benoit put on an amazing match in the main event of WCW Saturday Night - apparantly the championship committee was quite impressed with the match and since Benoit won, they have granted him a Television Championship match right here tonight!
But first, we kick things off tonight with tag team action!
TEAM NEW JAPAN (Masahiro Chono & Kensuke Sasaki) (w/Sonny Oono) versus "HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN and JOHNNY B. BADD
Representing NJPW for Sonny Oono tonight was Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki as they continue to face stiff challenge from the patriotic and loyal Jim Duggan and fan favorite Johnny B. Badd.
As the match got underway, we were reminded by Bischoff that this all got started when Johnny B. Badd accepted an open challenge from The Great Muta at Fall Brawl - but was defeated by Muta after a distraction from Oono and some green mist from Muta. Badd felt cheated and had been trying to get a rematch against the IWGP Heavyweight Champion ever since.
Muta's fellow NJPW stars in Chono and Sasaki have proved to be stiff competition for Badd in his attempt to get back to Muta, and tonight was another big hurdle as Chono and Sasaki were firing on all cylinders - while Badd and Duggan's lack of experience tagging together was evident. Badd became the "face in peril" for the match as Sasaki and Chono tagged in and out and worked over Badd, getting in cheapshots through distractions from Oono or when Duggan would attempt to help out his partner, only to have the referee interject.
Badd began to rally behind a loud "U-S-A" chant that was egged on by Duggan on the apron, fighting his way to his feet while locked in a sleeperhold from Chono. Badd broke the hold with a jawbreaker that allowed Badd to get the hot tag to Jim Duggan. Duggan charged in and hit a pair of clotheslines to both Chono and Sasaki. Chono rolled out of the ring as Sasaki became Duggan's focal point. Duggan would hit the Three Point Stance clothesline to Sasaki and then drop the Old Glory knee onto Sasaki!
Duggan with the cover - but the referee tried to explain to Duggan that Sasaki was not the legal man! Chono came back into the ring and dropped an elbow down onto the back of Duggan's head!
Chono went back on the attack, eventually going for the Kenka Kick - sending Duggan into the ropes. But as Duggan bounced off the ropes, Badd got the blind tag to Duggan! Duggan ducked the Kenka Kick before Badd spun Chono around and decked him with the Tutti Frutti left handed knockout punch!
Badd pulled Chono to the corner where he climbed to the top turnbuckle...and came off with the WILD THING shooting star press! Sasaki attempted to help out his partner, but Duggan was there to hold him off - One, Two, Three!
WINNERS: Jim Duggan & Johnny B. Badd by pinfall at 8:04
Post match, Duggan and Badd celebrated in the ring with Badd's "Badd Blaster" confetti gun - while Oono regrouped his men at ringside. Badd asked for the microphone.
"Hey! Hey! Look at me! Oono! Your lil' champion can't keep duckin' me forver! I've taken care of your little cronies enough - I'm ready for MUTA! BRING ME MUTA!"
However, there would be no response from Oono, who shook his head and lead Chono and Sasaki to the back.
= = = = = = = = = =
After the commercial break, we came back to a shot of our announce booth - who began discussing the upcoming World War 3 Pay-Per-View. Bischoff explained the rules, being that there will be three rings, with 20 men starting in each ring. Once there were 20 men left, they would consolidate to the one center ring and continue the over-the-top rules until just one man is left standing.
That one man left standing will receive a WCW World Title shot at the biggest pay-per-view of the year - Starrcade. Heenan commented that this will be pure chaos - never in his long career has he ever seen that many wrestlers in one place at one time...he said you're just asking for trouble.
But Bischoff proposed an interesting question - who would be the champion heading into Starrcade?
Because during the break, Bischoff was informed that NEXT WEEK on WCW Monday Nitro, there WILL BE a WCW World Heavyweight Title match! Heenan and Mongo both reacted with surprise as Bischoff explained that Sting, as the WCW United States Champion is the default number one contender and has requested to use that distinction to get himself a title shot! The WCW Championship Committee has agreed with Sting and signed the match for next week!
While the team was trying to discuss this, "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall stormed out from the locker room and headed straight for the announce booth. Hall tried to talk, but couldn't be heard well - Heenan graciously offered his headset to Hall.
"Now wait just a minute there, mang," Hall was obviously visibly upset. "No offense to the Stinger... and I don't really care if I offend him or not quite honestly... but if anyone should be gettin' a title shot - it's me, mang. That little rat Randy Savage... he ducked out on our match at Halloween Havoc... he OWES ME and I've been waitin' to get my hands on him since I got here... so how about Sting wait his turn..."
Bischoff tried to settle Hall down, explaining that Sting was US Champion which put him into the number contender's position.
"Well, chico - that makes it even easier. If that's all it takes to get a title shot... how about Stinger come out and put that title on the line... against... DA BAD GUY!"
This brought the Stinger himself out from the back to join the now crowded announce booth. Sting had his own microphone as he walked over.
"Now Scott... if there's one thing we can both relate on, it's wanting to get our hands on The Macho Man. The Hulkster's always been a good friend to the Stinger... and after what the Dungeon did to him at Halloween Havoc... I want nothing more than to be the one to get the WCW Title back as retribution. I think I want this JUST AS BAD AS YOU DO!"
"NOW - that being said... I have this slight little personality flaw... one that makes it pretty much impossible to back down from a challenge. So... if you want a shot at the US Title to get yourself a shot at Savage... FINE BY ME! We can do it right here, TONIGHT!"
The Alabama crowd reacted quite favorable to Sting's declaration.
"You know somethin' Stinger.... I'm down with that. But you just put the kiss of death on that US Title reign of yours, chico - because Da Bad Guy is walking out tonight with gold THIS WEEK... and then I'll walk out with the WCW Title... NEXT WEEK!"
= = = = = = = = =
We cut to backstage where"Mean" Gene Okerlundwho commented on the chaotic scene at the announce booth, and was excited about getting to see Sting and Scott Hall in action tonight for the US Title! But right now he was joined by the WCW Tag Team Champions - Harlem Heat - to get their thoughts on the return ofThe Road Warriorsand the fact that they have aligned themselves with their former manager, Sister Sherri. Both Booker T and Stevie Ray laughed off the concept of Sherri managing Road Warriors, "those suckas got NO IDEA what they gettin' themselves into, Gene!" Steve Ray mocked.
"Let's just say," Booker T added, "we can speak from experience. All she's gonna do for them is ruin their team chemistry... they might as well kiss any success goodbye! So as long as she's in their corner, we got NOTHIN' TO WORRY ABOUT! SUCKAAAA"
But not so fast Booker T - Sister Sherri walked into the shot, joined by the Road Warriors as well.
"Nothin' to worry about? NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT?!" Sherri shrieked, "if you don't have NOTHIN' to worry about... then why did the Championship Committee just grant our request... TO A TITLE MATCH... AT WORLD WAR 3?!"
"Whatchu talkin' bout?!" Stevie Ray said in diseblief while Booker's jaw dropped.
Sherri laughed, "what's the matter boys? Not looking so confident anymore!"
Hawk and Animal started to go nose to nose with the tag champions as Okerlund headed for higher ground, sensing trouble was coming - but cooler heads would prevail, "Let's go fellas... we'll settle this in the ring... at World War 3"
After she lead Hawk and Animal off screen, Booker T and Stevie Ray suddenly were more confident again as Booker T screamed out, "YEAH! You betta run away, suckas! You don't want none of this!"Stevie Ray nudged his overzealous brother to shut him up. The two shared a look that suggested they were in fact worried about the Road Warriors as we headed to a commercial break.
= = = = = = = = =
As we came back from break, we are backstage where we find Maxx Muscle and Big Bubba Rogers discussing where they need to focus their searching efforts for the elusive Diamond Doll this week. Muscle was discouraged because he was SURE that Alex Wright would've been "holding her up somewhere."
Bubba slapped Muscle across the back of the head, "Come on! Suck it up and start using that brain of yours for once! We need some new ideas and fast! The boss won't be happy unless we get his woman back to him!"
Muscle brought his fingers up to his chin and began to rub it as if in deep thought. "Oh brother," Rogers stated, "this is gonna be awhile."
Directly behind them and unseen to our hunting duo, Alex Wright tiptoed by and began to be followed by the camera. Wright ducked into a nearby dressing room and shut the door behind him. Conveniently, we cut to a camera inside the dressing room where The Diamond Doll nervously awaited him.
"Did they see you?"she wondered aloud.
"No-no," Wright said confidently, "I am too swift for them!"
"Thank you so much for helping me hide out from Dallas. The success has really gone to his head! He's IMPOSSIBLE to be around him anymore."
Wright smiled, "Oh, it is no problem at all. Such a beautiful and delicate flower like you... deserves so much better. Someone with... a little bit of... international flavor... perhaps?"
Doll appeared uncomfortable by Wright's "advances" and just smiled nervously. As he moved towards her, she stepped out of the way and asked if they could watch his match on the TV. Wright lowered his head with disappointment, "if you insist." Wright reluctantly turned on the monitor as we cut back to the ring for the Television Title match.
Page was once again without his henchmen - who were seen moments ago continuing their pursuit of Diamond Doll - and if there was any match he would probably need them in his corner - it was against the dangerous "Crippler" - Chris Benoit, who was looking to build on the momentum earned in the win against Sabu on Saturday Night.
Benoit was focused on bringing the fight to Page tonight as he immediately took control out of a collar and elbow tie up that started the match. Benoit came out of the gate hot, out wrestling the champion. Page tried to earn himself a breather as he tried to find things to complain about in Benoit's offense including closed fists and pulling of Page's long hair. The referee would give verbal warnings to Benoit - but that did not stop Benoit from lighting up DDP's exposed chest with some stiff knife edge chops.
Benoit continued to control the offense until he would begin to climb to the top turnbuckle, only to have a recovering Page stumble over and throw himself across the top ropes - which was enough to shake the turnbuckles and cause Benoit to lose his balance. Benoit ended up straddling the turnbuckle, in obvious pain as Page climbed up onto the turnbuckles with him...SUPERPLEX from DDP to Benoit! Page rolled over and made the cover, but Benoit got his shoulder up at two.
The momentum was now in the champion's favor as he dropped a pair of elbows across Benoit's lower back. DDP picked up another nearfall of a tiltawhirl backbreaker to Benoit - but Benoit once again managed to get a shoulder up after a two count! When Page had Benoit locked in a waistlock, Benoit countered with some back elbows and performed a go-behind to hit a Release German Suplex onto Page! Benoit was slow to recover, but immediately met a recovering Page with some more stiff chops before hooking Page for a snap suplex. Page fought off the hold and dropped to his knees...and hit a blatant low blow right in front of the referee! The referee called for the bell, disqualifying DDP.
WINNER: Chris Benoit by disqualification at 7:11
DDP rolled out of the ring, grabbing his TV Title from David Penzer. Page clutched it tightly as he stumbled up the aisle as Benoit was recovering int he ring. Bischoff called Page "lucky" to still be champion leaving Nitro tonight.
= = = = = = = = =
After the break, Diamond Dallas Page found his trusty henchmen backstage, still pondering their next move. Page smacked them both on the back of the head and wanted to know "where they were" because he can't expect to go into the ring with someone called "The Crippler" without his bodyguards in his corner.
"But...you had us finding Doll" Muscle muttered.
"Does it really take TWO of you to find some broad?" Page said, clearly annoyed with Muscle. "It wouldn't take two baboons to find her! But it takes two of you? Uh-uh - I DON'T THINK SO!"
"But, you were the..." Muscle started to say before Bubba smacked him on the back of the head again to shut him up.
"Listen boss," Bubba said, "I think Maxx can handle it by himself. I got your back, boss."
"Good to know," Page said as he walked off with Big Bubba walking behind him. Bubba turned back to Muscle as they exited the screen and told him sarcastically, "Good luck!" Muscle sneered as we headed back to the ring.
= = = = = = = = = =
"Mean" Gene Okerlund was standing in the middle of the ring and said it was an honor to welcome to the ring..."The Nature Boy" Ric Flair!
The crowd were up on their feet as Ric Flair "styled and profiled" his way down to the ring in what was no-doubt a very pricey suit. Flair climbed into the ring and soaked up the cheers from the crowd before approaching Mean Gene and the microphone. "MEAN..............BY GOD...WOOOOOOOOOOOO! GENE!"
"It feels DAMN good to be back here in WCW in HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA! WOOOOOOO!"
Big pop from the Hunstville crowd.
"For the past month I've been sittin' at home, my feet propped up in Charlotte, North Carolina in my mansion... and I've been watching my OLD FRIEND ARN ANDERSON deal with a young buck named Brian Pillman. The same man who attacked me after me and The Enforcer had finished tearing down the house at Fall Brawl. A young buck that THE NAITCHA BOY saw a lot of potential in! Going as far as to offer to take him under my wing... show him what it takes to be a LIMOSINE RIDIN', JET FLYIN', KISS STEALIN', WHEELIN' DEALIN', SON OF A GUN!"
"But what did he do? He took a knife and HE STABBED ME RIGHT IN THE BACK!"
"So needless to say, after a month of sittin' at home... I've got a lot to get off my chest and I'm not gonna hold it in any longer! But unlike Brian Pillman... I want to face him.. MAN TO MAN... so, I know you're back their boy - COME ON DOWN!"
Flair and Okerlund turned their attention to the entrance way to see if Pillman would accept the invite. After a brief wait, Brian Pillman slowly made his walk down to the ring in a blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Pillman ignored the fans on his walk down to the ring, keeping his eyes on Flair as he climbed into the ring.
"Boy... I've been waiting for a MONTH to do this..." as we waited for Flair to tell Pillman off for his attack, Flair instead began a "slow clap" for Pillman."I couldn't be more PROUD of you!" Okerlund was surprised and even Pillman seemed a little shocked as Flair went from serious to his over zealous self in the blink of an eye."WOOOOO! You just proved that I was RIGHT! Because you did EXACTLY WHAT THE NAITCHA BOY WOULD'VE DONE! That was right out of the playbook of the DIRTIEST PLAYER IN THE GAME! You're definitely going places, my boy! And you personally get the Naitcha Boy stamp of approval."
Pillman took the microphone. "That's all well and good... I suppose. But I don't need your stamp of approval and I certainly don't want to be compared to some... WASHED UP... HAS BEEN! I'm my OWN man and there is NO COMPARISON to me!" Flair watched Pillman lay into Flair with a smirk on his face, unphased by Pillman's negativity. The crowd however was starting to turn on Pillman as he unleashed the harsh words to Flair in his return. "Your time, Ric, is OVER in this business. Flair. Anderson. The Horsemen. It's all been done before... over and over and over AGAIN. It's old. It's played out. But now is MY TIME! It's out with the old and in with the new. It's like I told your boy, Arn, I'm only gettin' started! Because I'm building something... something that will be even BIGGER than the Horsemen ever were! And when I'm done... Flair and your old has been buddies will be out of the business... FOREVER!
Flair laughed Pillman off, "Haha, I gotta admire the spunk! But listen to me when I say this because I'm ONLY GONNA SAY IT ONCE! I will NEVR leave this business! I've put years of BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS into this sport! And as far as I'm concerned... I WILL TAKE MY LAST BREATH IN A WRESTLING RING before I retire! WOOO! WOOO! WOOO!"
Pillman smirked and calmly responded, "That could be arranged..." Pillman took a few steps backwards as Flair cocked his head in confusion...as Eddy Guerrero and Dean Malenko came from the crowd - sliding into the ring and attacking Flair from behind! Flair hit the mat as the boos rained in.
Guerrero, Malenko, and now Pillman joined in for a three on one stomping of the fallen Flair as Okerlund headed for the hills.
After delivering what they felt was sufficient punishment to Flair, Pillman picked the microphone back up... "AS I WAS SAYING... Ric Flair and the Horsemen are over the hill... IRRELEVENT to the sport! This... THIS is the wave of the future."
"The Triple Crown has arrived in WCW!"
= = = = = = = = = =
WCW Saturday Night: Tony Shiavone and Dusty Rhodes were in the WCW Studio to hype up this week's episode of WCW Saturday Night! After last week's amazing match between Chris Benoit and Sabu, what could we expect this week? Schiavone informed us that the Road Warriors would be in tag team action this week - taking on The Blue Bloods in what should be a hard hitting tag team matchup. One of the scariest members of the Dungeon of Doom will be in action this week as well - "The Face of Fear" Meng will be taking on former WCW Television Champion The Renegade! Plus, we'll hear from some of the competitors who will be taking part in the first ever WORLD WAR 3 60 man battle royal! Schiavone promises it's another show you just can't miss!
There was a lot on the line in this match - not just the prestigious United States Championship - but also a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Champion NEXT WEEK on Nitro. Both of these men had more than one reason to want to get their hands on Randy Savage - not only because he was the Heavyweight Champion... but Hall had his name drug through the mud for the past month by Savage before Savage pulled the rug over everyone's eyes to reveal himself as the man behind The Taskmaster's mind games. Hall was still looking to get a match with Savage after their Halloween Havoc match ending in shenanigans. Meanwhile, Sting was part of the Hulkamania team with Savage and Hogan - and was looking for some retribution for his friend after Hogan was brutally assaulted at the hands of Savage and the Dungeon of Doom at the end of Halloween Havoc.
This one was back and forth from the get-go, as the match started with a tie up that saw Sting surprise Hall with an arm drag takedown. Hall had a sly smirk on his face as he got back to his feet and went into another tie up with Sting, this time taking Sting down with an arm drag of his own. Sting echoed Hall's smirk and they went back at it again - this time with Sting getting the upperhand, and whipping Hall into the ropes - hitting a big jumping clothesline to Hall to take the challenger down.
As the match continued, the crowd seemed split on who to cheer for - their more conventional fan favorite Stinger or the fresh "edgey" Hall... either way, the fans were definitely enjoying every minute of watching them compete for the US Title and a shot at Randy Savage. Meanwhile, for the second time in two weeks in a match involving Sting, The Great Muta walked out from the back with Sonny Oono and proceeded to simply watch the match from the area between the entrance and the announce booth. After fighting back against the champion, Hall would try to set up Sting for his "Say Goodnight" finisher, but Sting countered with a backdrop! But Sting wasn't the only one with some counters up his sleeves. When Sting bounced off the ropes and leaped into the air for a cross body, Hall caught Sting in midair, then showed off some strength of his own as he walked with Sting before tossing him backwards in a Fallaway Slam.
Hall would hook a leg on the US Champion, but Sting kicked out at two. Hall went right back to work on Sting, but when he went for a bulldog - Sting blocked it and lifted Hall up instead into a back suplex! Both men were slow to recover - but it was Sting who was back up to his feet first. Sting would send Hall into the corner where he would follow him in with a leaping STINGER SPLASH! Sting then sent Hall into the opposite corner and charged in for the second splash, but Hall got his BOOT up!
Sting was left staggering as Hall ran out of the corner and hit a bulldog to Sting! Hall would pull Sting up and signaled for the "Say Goodnight" but as Hall lifted Sting up into the crucifix, Sting wiggled himself free and slid down Hall's back! Both men spun around and it was Sting who struck first with a pair of right hands before giving Hall a boot to the midsection to double him over and then lay him out with a jumping DDT! Sting let out a WOO! to the crowd before taking Hall by the legs and turning him over into the Scorpion Deathlock! The referee checked on Hall, but he was refusing to submit. The Bad Guy had pulled himself up onto his arms and began to fight his way towards the ropes. Hall finally reached out and grabbed the bottom rope to break the hold!
Sting released the hold and began to pull Hall to his feet, but Hall surprised Sting with a jawbreaker! Sting stumbled backwards, allowing Hall to regain his composure. Hall grabbed Sting and whipped him into the ropes, but Sting ducked a clothesline from Hall to bounce off the ropes once again and this time both men collideded into each other - hitting each other with a clothesline at the same time!
Both men were down as Randy Savage himself began to make his way down to the ring with The Giant right behind him. They paid no mind to Muta and Oono on the other side of the entrance way, and once Savage and Giant had passed them, the NJPW duo had apparantly seen enough and returned to the back. Meanwhile, Savage sent The Giant into the ring while Sting and Hall were both trying to get to their feet!
The referee tried to stop The Giant, but the Giant quickly dismissed the referee by wrapping his palm around the referee's face and shoving him with amazing force to the mat. Savage watched from ringside as The Giant stalked Hall and Sting as they recovered... Sting was first to feel a massive clothesline from The Giant. As Hall got back up, it was a hard left hand punch to the side of the head that sent him back to the mat. The Giant looked to continue his destruction as Sting was pulling himself to his feet... The Giant grabbed Sting by the throat, but as he lifted Sting up for the Chokeslam.. .Hall crawled over and hit an uppercut right to The Giant's manhood. "The great equalizer!" Heenan called out, "that'll bring any many to his knees - I don't care how big you are!"
With The Giant doubled over from the low blow, Sting got back to his feet and the duo of Hall and Sting took turns hitting the big man with right hands to back the Giant up against the ropes before using a double clothesline to sent The Giant over the top rope to the floor! The Giant landed on his feet, but stumbled backwards up the aisle where Randy Savage was waiting for him.
Bischoff revealed that we were out of time... and with the match between Hall and Sting being deemed a "no contest" due to the Dungeon's interference.. .it would in fact be Savage vs. Sting next week for the title!
WINNER: Draw via interference at 10:04
The show came to a close as Sting motioned towards Savage that the belt was coming home with him next week!
WCW Saturday Night opened up this week with a video that highlighted clips of The Road Warriors in action as well as video of Harlem Heat in action. The promo package, voiced by the usual WCW promo voice - John Willyard, called the Warriors and Harlem Heat two of the most successful teams in the wrestling business... and with Sister Sherri now in their corner, the Road Warriors were on a collision course with Harlem Heat at World War 3!
From the video, Tony Schiavone and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes welcomed us to WCW Saturday Night. Schiavone immediately brought up the tag team title match for World War 3, and mentioned BOTH the champions AND the challengers would be in action tonight!
But there was also a lot tonight from the fallout from Nitro - after failing to win the US Title from Sting on Nitro, "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall will be with "Mean" Gene Okerlund later tonight to voice his opinion on what happened on Monday! Plus, we will hear from Brian Pillman as he has aligned himself with Eddy Guerrero and Dean Malenko after their attack on "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair on Monday night!
But first, Schiavone said the tag team champions of the world would be kicking things off!
= = = = = = = = = =
NON-TITLE MATCH HARLEM HEAT versus OPERATION: DESERT STORM
Up until now, Cobra and Sgt. Craig Pittman had been playing more of heels, but it seemed as though lately the crowd had been starting to enjoy their backstage vignettes and as such, they were getting more of a mixed reaction from the crowd during their entrance - but during the match, we had seen them play to the crowd as heels to earn back some heat. But tonight, there was less of that as they played more like faces up against our heel tag team champions.
Pittman could be overheard telling Cobra to keep his "eyes on the gold" despite it being a non-title match. The champions were clearly the heavy favorites in this match, but Cobra and Pittman hung tough with the champions. Cobra even locked Booker T into his Cobra Clutch - only to have Stevie Ray break up the submission from behind. This brought in Pittman, who was cut off by the referee! As the referee was getting Pittman out of the ring - Ray and Booker double teamed Cobra with a double back suplex and then stomped a mudhole into the Corporal.
After the double team, the advantage was firmly in the champions' hands - but Cobra did manage to get in a surprise clothesline to Booker T later that allowed him to tag in Pittman! Pittman came in, guns ablazin', - hitting Booker T with some hard punches before sending one half of the tag champions into the ropes and hitting a high back body drop. But his momentum was quickly haulted as he bounced off the ropes only to have Stevie Ray's knee in his back. This slowed Pittman enough for Booker to hit the Harlem Sidekick to Pittman!
Booker tagged in Ray, and the duo would soon finish off Pittman with the Big Apple Blast! Stevie Ray made the cover as Booker made sure Cobra couldn't break up the pin - One, Two, Three.
WINNERS: Harlem Heat by pinfall at 6:48
Strong victory by the champions tonight as they gear up for World War 3... Tony Schiavone said he was certainly looking forward to seeing how they can handle The Road Warriors!
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After the break, "Mean" Gene Okerlund was standing by with Brian Pillman, Eddy Guerrero, and Dean Malenko.
Okerlund wanted to get to the bottom of their new alliance - and Pillman explained to Mean Gene that they were a new "breed" of wrestling stars. "You've seen the Horsemen. You've seen the Freebirds. You've seen the Dangerous Alliance. But you haven't ever... EVER... seen anything like The Triple Crown! We are the true triple threat! We have the talent. We have the look. And even more importantly... we are WINNERS!"
Pillman continued as he said that there are some people here in WCW that are "over the hill" and "past their prime." Pillman has already taken out Arn Anderson - and the next target on his list was the subject of their attack last week - Ric Flair.
Guerrero got some mic time as well, explaining how he and Malenko have wrestled ALL over the world and have had success in each and every company and country they've been to. Guerrero called Pillman a world class athlete, worthy of their allegiance. Guerrero said that they had told us the alliance between Malenko and Guerrero was "only the beginning" - and this was exactly what he was talking about. WCW hasn't seen anything yet!
After losing an impressive match against Benoit in last week's Saturday Night main event, Sabu was back in action this week against Mexican luchalibra star Super Calo. It was during this match that we learned that after Benoit received a Television Shot this past Monday Nitro - Sabu apparently felt like he could do a better job against Diamond Dallas Page than Benoit did, so this coming week on Monday Nitro - SABU will challenge for the Television Title!
The silver masked Calo tried his best to hang with the Arabian, but ultimately this one was pretty one sided in favor of Sabu. Despite Calo's best efforts, Sabu would eventually lay him out with the Arabian Piledriver before locking in the Arabian Clutch to get the submission victory over Super Calo.
WINNER: Sabu by submission in 4:11
As Sabu had his hand raised up high after the match, we got some more hype for the Television Championship match this coming week on WCW Monday Nitro - could Sabu be the one to take the belt off Diamond Dallas Page?!
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We cut to the back again where now "Mean" Gene Okerlund was standing by with the dancing machine known as Disco Inferno. Inferno was about to head to the ring for a match tonight, but first he wanted to remind everyone that Halloween is next week - and to celebrate, Disco was going to be having a Disco Halloween Party this week on WCW Monday Nitro! Disco wanted to personally invite "Mean" Gene to attend - and reminded Disco it's a Disco theme - so dress appropriately. Gene made a comment that he could just dust off some of his outfits in his closet and fit right in.
The interview was interrupted as V.K. Wallstreet and Scotty Riggs entered the shot. Riggs was dressed in the same sparkling neon green robe that he was given last week by Wallstreet. Wallstreet did the talking here - once again slamming Disco Inferno for being "behind the times" and not having what it takes to be successful in this business. But Wallstreet couldn't help but overhear talks of a Halloween Party...and while Wallstreet himself was a HUGE fan of Halloween.
Disco seemed shocked, asking Wallstreet what he was going to dress up as. Wallstreet laughed sarcastically, and told Disco he did nothing so "juvenile." But he loved Halloween because of what it stands for. COMMERCIALISM! The candy companies love this time of year perhaps more than others. That's why...Wallstreet has announced a line of "Scotty Riggs" Halloween outfits!
Wallstreet was sure that all the kids in the arena tonight and at home watching on TV would love to dress as their favorite superstar for Halloween. So Wallstreet promised to have plenty of Scotty Riggs costumes available, this Monday night on Nitro!
Wallstreet lead Riggs off camera as Disco was left sharing a "are you kidding me" look with Okerlund.
The Disco Dancing Fool himself went up against the powerful DeMott with little regard for DeMott's size advantage. As the match went on, Schiavone expressed his excitement for Disco's Halloween Party this Monday on Nitro, but couldn't decide what he was going to dress as. Dusty Rhodes was apparently looking forward to breaking out a huge afro that he was going to get for the occasion.
Back in the ring, DeMott had overpowered Disco briefly before Disco began to battle his way back - targeting DeMott's legs to bring the stocky man down to size. After laying out DeMott with a swinging neckbreaker, Disco delighted the crowd with a Y-M-C-A dance before dropping an elbow down onto DeMott. With the momentum in his favor, Disco would soon put the victory in the bag with a spike piledriver.
WINNER: Disco Inferno by pinfall at 5:03
After the match, Disco brought a couple kids in from ringside to join him in some disco dancing. Fun was had by all involved.
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WCW Monday Nitro Preview: Eric Bischoff was in the WCW Studio to promote a very huge episode of WCW Monday Nitro this week - there would be two title matches...first, Diamond Dallas Page would be defending the Television Championship against Sabu! And in what promises to be a huge main event - the WCW World Heavyweight Title will be on the line as Randy Savage takes on the United States Champion STING! Bischoff reminded us that Nitro is the best hour of wrestling you can find on television and we don't want to miss all the action this week!
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Backstage, we find Maxx Muscle wandering around backstage holding a stack of flyers with photos of The Diamond Doll. Muscle was going around to multiple backstage workers, showing them the picture of the Diamond Doll and asking them if they had seen her anywhere. Most of the workers simply shook their head. Muscle kept repeating over and over again that he had to find her or he could lose his job with DDP.
Muscle started pin up flyers backstage...the camera zoomed in to reveal the flyer was a "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN" missing person type flyer. In walked Col. Robert Parker with a fat cigar sticking out of his mouth. He walked over and glanced at the flyer and the photo of Doll. "My, my, my," Parker said in his thick southern drawl,"if that ain't a gorgeous thing."
Muscle quickly inquired to Parker about her where-abouts and if he knew anything. Parker grinned and said "as a matter of fact, I believe I did see a little somethin' last Monday night."
Muscle demanded info - going as far to grab Parker by his fancy white jacket and press him up against the wall. "TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!" Muscle demanded.
"Now, I say, hold on just one second there, boy." Parker said, keeping his cool. "I do believe you should show a little respect and let me go, if you want to know what I know." Muscle didn't seem interested, but when Parker pointed out it would be in Muscle's best interest as Bunkhouse Bunk and Dick Slater entered the shot. Muscle gave a sheepish grin as he lowered Parker back to the floor. Parker dusted himself off - "Now, how much would this information...be worth to ya?" Parker said with a grin.
"Do what?!" Muscle said, frustrated.
"I said..." Parker repeated himself, "How much would it worth to ya. I imagine such information comes at a pretty substantial reward." Parker grinned and looked over at Buck and Slater who seemed to agree. Muscle reluctantly pulled out his wallet and grabbed a handful of money from it, handing it over to Parker. Parker flipped through the money... "That'll do real nice," Parker commented. "Now...what do you know? Oh yes... the little lady. I do believe I saw that young German fella leavin' the arena on Monday with that fine lil' peach. I can only imagine what they are up to right now!" Parker laughed as he walked off with the money and his boys.
"Why that little..." Muscle said with frustration as he took out his anger on one of the flyers - ripping it up before stomping off screen.
Meng was accompanied to the ring by his Dungeon of Doom teammates - the massive powerhouse tag team of Wrath and Fury - Affliction. Schiavone promised this was going to be one "heck of a brawl" between two hard hitting powerhouses.
At the opening bell, they began slugging it out with neither man selling the other's offense. Meng finally took control with a high knee to Renegade's bread basket to slow the energetic warrior down. Meng began to control off the offense - working over Renegade only to have Renegade continue to show his tenacity as he would battle his way back, only to have Meng slam him back down to the mat.
When Meng had Renegade in the corner, he began to repeatedly slam Renegade's head into the turnbuckle...but each time, Renegade seemed to come more and more alive until he finally blocked a last attempt by Meng with his hands! Renegade rocked the Tongan powerhouse with a back elbow before bouncing off the ropes and hitting a charging clothesline to Meng that once again staggered Meng. Renegade stomped around the ring and shook the ropes violently as Meng was teetering...Renegade charged in with a flying forearm that took Meng down!
Renegade was hyped up after taking the Tongan down. Renegade hit a bodyslam to Meng before bouncing off the ropes and attempting the Renegade Splash - but Meng got his knees up!
Back to his feet, Meng found a second wind of his own as he lit up Renegade's chest with some stiff chops with some Tongan theatrics worked in. A charging clothesline from Meng sent Renegade tumbling over the top rope to the floor! Just when Meng seemed to have things in hand and Renegade down on the outside...Renegade was stumbling to his feet and Fury charged in and LEVELED Renegade with a charging big boot!
The referee called for the bell - awarding the math to The Renegade!
WINNER: The Renegade by disqualification at 6:37
At ringside, Wrath and Fury pulled Renegade to his feet, and the duo tossed Renegade hard into the ring steps before rolling him back into the ring.
Meng didn't seem to happy with his teammates taking this match into their own hands as Schiavone commented it seemed like Meng had the match in hand. Rhodes commented this isn't the first time Meng has been disqualified thanks to the Dungeon when he didn't exactly need their help - pointing out Halloween Havoc where Meng showed no signs of submitting to Sting's Scorpion Deathlock when the Dungeon broke it up.
Wrath and Fury ignored Meng, laying out The Renegade with their Double Chokeslam before throwing their hands up to boos from the crowd while Meng stormed out of the ring without his teammates.
Schiavone wondered if not everything was going to well internally for the Dungeon of Doom after all!
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In the back, "Mean" Gene Okerlund was standing by with NJPW's Sonny Oono who was with The Great Muta, Masahiro Chono, Kensuke Sasaki, and Jushin Liger. Okerlund said that Oono had "the whole gang" with him tonight. Okerlund pointed out that both Oono and the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Muta had been spotted on two occassions recently - at Halloween Havoc and then Monday on Nitro - watching Sting in action.... Okerlund wanted to know what the interest in Sting was.
Oono said it should be obvious - Sting has been the "face of WCW" for years now. And not just that, but he is also the WCW's champion of the United States.... both of these things make him a natural target for NJPW. Oono once again claimed NJPW's superiority to WCW...and it only made sense that their war would begin with the "face" of the enemy.
The interview was interrupted as Johnny B. Badd entered the shot. Oono said that Badd was either brave or stupid to walk in on them with the NJPW represented so strongly.
"Baaaby I've been called BOTH in my life but just want what I deserve. Another shot at that title right there!"Oono laughed and repeated what he has said before - he was lucky to get one shot...he wasn't going to get another one. Badd scoffed, "For a group of people who pride themselves on ebing honorable... you guys sure seem to duck the competition a lot!"
Oono seemed to take offense, but as it looked like the NJPW fellowship was about to pounce on Badd, Oono stopped them in their tracks. Instead, Oono said he had an idea. He said that since Badd has put so much trust into his friend Jim Duggan...that it will be Jim Duggan who will determine his fate.This Monday on Nitro - Jim Duggan will face off against someone from the NJPW roster.. .and if Duggan can defeat him - THEN and only THEN - will Badd receive a shot at the IWGP title!
While it wasn't exactly what he was looking for, Badd said he knew Duggan could get it done and would have his back to make sure it happened!
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WCW Hotline: "Mean" Gene's voice once again promoted the WCW hotline - where this week we could call in and learn what other NJPW stars might be showing up on television soon. But that's not all! Okerlund said that stars from Japan aren't the only international superstars looking to get involved with the hottest wrestling company in the world - Okerlund said we could expect more big name foreign stars from Canada, Mexico, Japan, England and all over the world...and Okerlund had a few names in mind, but he wasn't sharing unless you're willing to call in!
That number is as always 1-900-909-9900! Kids get your parent's permission before calling.
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ACE DARLING versus JUSHIN "THUNDER LIGER (w/Sony Oono)
After the break, Sony Oono lead his NJPW lightweight star Jushin Liger to the ring after just announcing Johnny B. Badd could get another shot at Muta...if, and only IF - Badd's recent ally Jim Duggan could defeat a NJPW star chosen that we won't know until Monday Nitro. This was the main focus of discussion between Schiavone and Rhodes during this fast paced match up between these two cruiserweights. Schiavone pointed out it could be anyone - the man in the ring now - Liger...Chono...Sasaki...even Muta himself - or perhaps, as proposed by Rhodes, it could be someone else from NJPW that we haven't seen in WCW yet!
Meanwhile, in the ring - Darling and Liger were putting on a decent back and forth match. It was clear Darling was having a hard time hanging with Liger, but he still managed to pick up a fear nearfalls - including one off of a bridging German Suplex. However, when Darling went for his "Ace in the Hole" Tornado DDT, - Liger countered it and dropped Darling crotch first across the top ring ropes before hitting a springboard spinning sidekick to Darling - sending him fall off the ropes to the apron. F
rom here it was all Liger until he closed the match out with the Liger Bomb for the three count.
WINNER: Jushin Liger by pinfall in 5:11
After the match, Sony Oono climbed into the ring and celebrated with his NJPW star while we are left to wonder who will be facing Duggan this Monday on Nitro!
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We joined "Mean" Gene Okerlund once again backstage - this time with the man who attempted to defeat Sting on Monday Nitro, but lost out on that chance thanks to Randy Savage and the Dungeon of Doom - "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall. Okerlund wanted to get Hall's thoughts on losing out on the chance to face Savage this Monday night .
"Scheme Gene... that's a lot of really dumb questions, you know that? How does the Bad Guy feel? How do I feel, chico? I feel like it's pretty obvious... Randy Savage is gonna do whatever it takes to not step into the ring with me. So he has his pack of rats do his dirty work. But there's only so much running and hidding he can do, mang. Eventually he's gonna run out of room to run. 'Cuz I know there's a little event comin' up... right 'round the corner... World War 3. And the winner of that is GUARANTEED a title shot..."
Okerlunder interrupted to point out there were fifty-nine other men in that match... those aren't the best of odds. Hall briefly stared at Okerlund before responding nonchalantly, "So?" Hall shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care. I don't care if it's one man... a hundred men... or a thousand men.. no one is gonna stop me from getting that title shot."
On cue, in walked The Giant."NO ONE?" The Giant laughed as he approached Okerlund and the microphone. The Giant continued to cackle, "let me ask you this then! How are you... OR ANYONE ELSE for that matter... gonna get a SEVEN FOOT... FIVE HUNDRED POUND... GIANT OVER THE TOP ROPE! I'll tell ya - NO ONE. IT JUST CAN'T BE DONE!"
Hall smirked and responded, "Well you know big guy - you know what they say mang... the bigger they are... .the dumber they are... and the harder...they fall." Giant's face tightened up as he glared at Hall, "and I personally promise to be the one to send your big goofy butt over the top rope myself! The Dungeon can send whoever they want into the match to try and stop me. A seven foot Giant or a 4 foot leprechaun like the one you fought last week... it's notta gonna matter, chico. Nothin' is gonna stand between The Bad Guy and a title shot at Starrcade!"
Hall walked out of the shot as Giant continued to stare him down. "He can say what he wants," The Giant said calmly, "but there is no one in WCW who can get me over the top rope - and it will be The Giant standing tall at World War 3!"
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MAIN EVENT: THE BLUE BLOODS versus THE ROAD WARRIORS (w/Sister Sherri)
We close out the night similar to the way we started it - with tag team action, as this time the challengers for the tag titles at World War 3 take on the team who most recently received a tag title shot in the Blue Bloods. This was going to be no walk in the park for Hawk and Animal - but as always, they were up for the challenge.
The match got underway as a nervous Robert Eaton circled the ring across from the imposing Road Warrior Hawk. After some early feelers, they locked up to kick things off. After finding himself on the receiving end of an arm drag from Hawk - Eaton was down on the mat with a worried look on his face as Hawk stuck out his tongue with a growl. Eaton back peddled his way to the corner and wanted to tag in Regal - but a disgusted Regal urged Eaton to "be a man" and get back in there.
Eaton slowly got back up to his feet and walked into the waiting Hawk. Hawk quickly took control of Eaton and controlled the offense early until Eaton managed to get a thumb to Hawk's eye to slow him down. Eaton worked Hawk over in the corner and placed him on the top turnbuckle - but Hawk fought back with a barrage of headbutts that sent Eaton stumbling out of the corner as Hawk stood up on the second turnbuckle - FLYING CLOTHESLINE to Eaton! Hawk made the tag to Animal. Animal clobbered the recovering Eaton with some stiff elbows to the head before hitting an impressive dropkick for a big man. Eaton continued to be in bad shape against the Warriors as Animal hit a running powerslam to Eaton and went for the cover - One, Two, Thre....Regal with the save!
Animal stared down Regal who quickly exited the ring. Animal continued on the attack, but Eaton would once again try to get sneaky as he raked Animal's eyes as he lifted him up. With Animal temporarily blinded - Eaton ran in with a clothesline that only staggered the powerhouse. Eaton went for another clothesline - but Animal shook it off and fired back with a huge clothesline of his own to level Eaton!
Animal would tag back in Hawk and it continued to be a pretty one-sided affair as the Warriors were having their way with Eaton while Regal continued to just watch from the apron. However, Regal got the referee's attention as he tried to enter the ring - which allowed Eaton to hit a low blow to Hawk that gave Eaton the time to make the tag to Regal.
Regal entered the ring and immediately took Hawk down with a butterfly suplex. Regal would send Hawk into the Blue Blood corner and began to work him over. Animal noticed Eaton holding Hawk into the corner - and tried to enter the ring to break it up - but this only distracted the referee allowing Eaton to put Hawk in a chokehold from the apron as Regal wailed away at Hawk's face with right hands. Regal would slam Hawk to the mat with a back suplex before going for a knee drop - but Hawk rolled out of the way! Hawk crawled to the corner only to have Regal try to stop him, but Hawk fired back with a dropkick that sent Regal to the mat! Hawk made it to the corner and got the hot tag to Animal as Regal tagged in Eaton.
Eaton ran right into some "clubberin'" blows from Animal! Animal then lifted up Eaton into a Military Press...Regal tried to attack Animal from behind - but Hawk was there to cut him off! Hawk tossed Regal out of the ring head first through the middle ropes as Animal slammed Eaton to the mat. Hawk then climbed to the top turnbuckle as Animal lifted Eaton up in a shoulder lift... DOOMSDAY DEVICE!
Animal made the cover on Eaton - One, Two, Three!
WINNERS: The Road Warriors by pinfall at 9:29
The Road Warriors celebrating in the ring, but their celebration was short lived as Harlem Heat once again attacked their challengers from behind - both armed with their tag titles... Booker T hit Hawk across the back of the head with his title while Stevie Ray nailed Animal. This sent the challengers to the mat as Booker and Stevie Ray proceeded to put the boots to the Warriors!
Booker and Stevie Ray tossed each member of the Road Warriors to the outside before following them out of the ring. Tony Schiavone revealed we were out of time just as it looked like Hawk and Animal were beginning to battle back outside the ring! The show closed as the brawl was intensifying between the two tag teams.
WCW Monday Nitro October 30, 1995 LIVE from the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio
Previously on WCW Monday Nitro: It was announced that as United States Champion, Sting was the number one contender to Randy Savage's WCW World Heavyweight Title, and would be given a title shot this week on Nitro - however "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall took exception to Sting's automatic title shot and issued a challenge to Sting for the US Title. In their main event match for the US Title - Hall would not have the chance to win the belt when The Giant and Randy Savage inserted themselves into the match. As result, this week on Nitro - it WILL be Randy Savage defending his title against Sting!
Eric Bischoff's voice welcomed us to WCW Monday Nitro where he was joined by his usual cohorts - Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Steve "Mongo" McMichael. It's the night before Halloween, which could mean we could see some "unusual" things tonight. Heenan seemed especially superstitious, telling us that a black cat crossed his path on the way into the building.
Bischoff hyped up tonight's action with TWO title matches as Diamond Dallas Page put the TV Title on the line against the death-defying Sabu and in the main event of the evening, the world title will be on the line as Randy Savage takes on Sting! And Bischoff said that he has learned that the WCW Championship Committee has BANNEDthe Dungeon of Doom from ringside! And if anyone from the Dungeon of Doom gets involved in the match, not only will Savage be disqualified, but he will also have to give up the WCW World Title!
With the odds evened - either man could be walking out with the title right here tonight on WCW Monday Nitro!
WCW TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: SABU versus DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE (c) (w/Big Bubba Rogers)
After Diamond Dallas Page retained the TV Title last week against Benoit (albeit thanks to DDP getting himself disqualified), Benoit's rival Sabu thought he could one-up Benoit by actually taking the title off Page. Page looked nervous as he made his way to the ring to face a man who The Brain called "certifiably insane." Page even had a brief conference before the match started with the referee, trying to tell the referee to pay close attention to the match because of Sabu's tendency to incorporate certain foreign objects into his offense.
As the match got underway, Page looked to keep the match IN the ring, knowing Sabu would love to take the match to ringside. With the match staying more mat-focused, Page was able to control a majority of the match against the smaller Sabu. However, a discus clothesline attempt from Page was ducked and Sabu followed it up with a spinning leg lariat that took Page off his feet. Page made the mistake of rolling to ringside, which lead to Sabu taking to the air as he got a running start and leaped over the ropes with a somersault plancha that took out both Big Bubba and Page at ringside!
Sabu controlled the offense outside the ring before sending Page back into the ring before being counted out. Sabu springboarded into the ring with a legdrop to Page before hooking a leg and getting a two count. DDP looked to be in trouble as Sabu planted him with a tornado DDT before locking in the Arabian Clutch submission! Before Page could submit - Big Bubba entered the ring with chair in hand!
Sabu spotted Rogers on his way in and released Page. Sabu ducked a chairshot from Bubba and proceeded to hit a spinkick to the chair sending it into Bubba's face! Sabu picked up the air and lifted it in the air, earning a pop from the crowd. Page stumbled to his feet right into a big chairshot from Sabu!
Heenan called Sabu an "idiot" as this easily drew a disqualification from the referee much to the disgust of the fans, who promptly booed the referee's decision but Eric Bischoff, unfortunately, had to agree with the decision.
WINNER: Diamond Dallas Page by disqualification at 6:03
Sabu threatened the referee with the chair, which quickly sent the referee running for the hills. Sabu turned his attention back to the Television Champion - laying out DDP with the Arabian Piledriver before picking the chair back up and pointing to the top turnbuckle!
"What's he up to now?!" Bischoff exclaimed as Sabu climbed the ropes with the chair...before we could find out, Big Bubba put a stop to it as he recovered and shoved Sabu off the top rope to the mat!
Bubba picked the chair up and cracked it across Sabu's back as he was getting to his feet. As Sabu hit the mat, Page began to get back to his feet as well. Before it could become a two on one - Chris Benoit came sprinting down to the ring to even the odds!
DDP and Rogers decided to abandon the ring instead of facing off against an energized Benoit. Page clutched his Television Championship as he and Rogers headed up the ramp while Bischoff commented on how once again Benoit has come to the rescue of his rival!
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We cut to the back where Disco Inferno's Halloween Party was already in full swing. Disco Inferno himself, dressed as the cowboy from the Village People, was conversing with "Mean" Gene Okerlund who was wearing a flashy leisure suit. Also seen in the shot was a funky looking Dusty Rhodes with a rainbow-colored fake afro and two African American women by his side - one and each arm talking with Tony Schiavone who appeared to be dressed as Disco Stu from the Simpsons.
Johnny B. Badd and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan began to walk through the shot and were stopped by Disco, who wanted them to stick around and enjoy the party. Badd admitted that they would love to stick around, but they had some business to take care of first. It was going to be up to Duggan to earn Badd a shot at The Great Muta's IWGP Heavyweight Title...
Disco wished them both good luck and told them to come back and get their "groove on" after they get the win. That match was UP NEXT!
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"HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN (w/Johnny B. Badd) versus MASA SAITO (w/Sonny Oono)
Badd and Duggan had no idea who Duggan was going to be up against tonight, but seemed confident having been beaten Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki the previous week in tag action. But Sonny Oono brought in a new face this week, a man who Eric Bischoff claimed Jim Duggan has had some experience with in the past - Masa Saito - who Bischoff built up as a decorated veteran wrestler both here in the United States but also all over the world. Duggan himself a cagey veteran, welcomed the challenge as Saito climbed into the ring.
The two veterans went right at one another from the opening bell. Saito earned himself an advantage and nearly got a three count off a German Suplex to Duggan....but soon Duggan was battling right back as the crowd cheered "U-S-A" in his favor. As Duggan turned the tables on Saito, Sonny Oono climbed the apron to distract the referee as The Great Muta came down from the back!
But Muta's attempt to interfere was stopped as Johnny B Badd pulled out his "Badd Blaster" and shot confetti right in Muta's face! "It's no mist, but it's just as effective" Mongo declared.
With Muta taken out of the equation - a distraught Oono went to check on his champion while Duggan put Saito away with the three point stance clothesline and followed it up with the Old Glory kneedrop to pick up the three count victory!
WINNER: Jim Duggan by pinfall at 5:47
Johnny B. Badd joined Duggan in the ring, lifting up the patriot's arm in victory. Oono and Muta did not look pleased from the aisle - but whether they like it or not, Johnny B. Badd WILL be getting another shot at Muta and his IWGP Heavyweight Title!
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The camera cuts into a conference room where V.K. Wallstreet was with Scotty Riggs - apparently discussing the launch of the new "Scotty Riggs" costume for kids to wear tomorrow on Halloween."But... tomorrow is Halloween. Don't most kids already have costumes by now?"
"Ye of little faith, my boy! You see... kids are going to want these costumes SO BADLY those little brats will be FORCING their parents to buy it for them anyway!"
However, some loud music from the other side of the wall of the conference began to annoy Wallstreet, he knocked on the wall, "HEY! Cut it out over there!" But his requests went unheard so he and Riggs left the conference room and headed next door. Wallstreet banged on the door, only to have Disco Inferno answer it to reveal it was in fact his Halloween Party causing the ruckus. "I'm going to need you to turn down this awful music. We are trying to have a business meeting over here."
Disco was joined at the door by the rest of his "village people" which included - Chris Kanyon as a construction worker (which wasn't much of a stretch considering his Men at Work tag team), his tag team partner Mark Starr as the Biker, Kendall Windham as the sailor, and Joe Polaco as the Native American. "Who's the buzzkill?" Chris Kanyon asked Disco.
"Look, bud... we're just havin' a little fun. It's Halloween! Lighten up some and let loose, daddy-o!"
From outside the party, Ace Darling approached dressed as a cop. "Oh good, officer - I'm glad you're here," Wallstreet said to Darling. "These hooligans are disturbing the peace with this disgusting disco music. I demand you shut this party down."
Darling shared a look with Disco, who simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'm placing you BOTH under arrest," Darling said towards Wallstreet and Riggs as he pulled out a pair of plastic handcuffs and snapped them around both Wallstreet and Riggs' wrists - "For attempted murder... OF THE PARTY!"Darling laughed as he walked into the party to join the rest of his "Village People" crew.
"Good night fellas,"Disco said as he slammed the door on a disgruntled Riggs and Wallstreet.
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After the break, we cut to the Dungeon of Doom - where "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan was standing with both WCW World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage and The Giant.
"FIRST IT WAS HULKAMANIA... they said it could never be done... but the DUNGEON KILLED HULKAMANIA ONCE AND FOR ALL..."
"And the rest of WCW... IS NEXT."
"One by one... people are lining up to try and take up Hulk Hogan's mantle of hero. And one by one... the fans will watch as their heroes FALL by the wayside! Sting... you FOOL! You saw what happened to Hulk Hogan... TONIGHT YOU WILL SUFFER A SIMILAR FATE!"
Randy Savage added, "OOOOHHH YEAHHHHH... don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you, STINGER. Just because we used to be friends... we just because we both have a lot in common... we both have spent time living in the shadow of Hogan's massive ego... but unlike you, I wasn't AFRAID TO STEP OUT OF THE SHADOW! You don't have what it takes to be champion... to defeat the evil that I have unleashed on WCW! You live by a certain moral compass that I just don't have... AND THAT'S WHY YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP US! OOOHHHH NOOOOO! Hahaha! And I don't NEED the Dungeon tonight... I'm not the kind of leader that sits back and lets others do the work for him... I'm not afraid... to get a little... BLOOD ON MY HANDS."
"Sting... you are not the heir to the throne here in WCW. I've already taken my seat. I AM THE NEW SAVIOR OF WCW... and tonight... you will become just another victim... of THE DUNGEON. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YYYYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!"
The Dungeon trio began to laugh maniacally as the screen faded away.
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Elsewhere backstage, Maxx Muscle was once again backstage looking for both Alex Wright and The Diamond Doll. A stagehand informed Maxx that he thought he saw The Diamond Doll at Disco's Halloween Party. Muscle grinned and shoved the stagehand out of the way as he headed for the party room. He pounded on the door until the door was answered by Mr. JL.
"HEY YOU!" Muscle belted out. He asked Mr. JL if he had seen Alex Wright or the Diamond Doll. The masked Mr. JL simply shrugged his shoulders. "Do you even speak English?" Muscle demanded. Once again, Mr. JL simply shrugged his shoulders. "Look,"Muscle said with frustration as he pulled out his "missing person" flyer of the Diamond Doll. "HER. Have you seen HER at this party?" Mr. JL took the flyer and held it close to his masked face. He then handed it back to Muscle and shook his head "no." "UGH" Muscle exclaimed as he stormed off. Mr. JL watched Muscle storm off...but then.... another Mr. JL walked over to the one who was at the door.
Before we could get too confused, the Mr. JL that was with Muscle reached up and pulled off his mask...to reveal Alex Wright!"That was a close one,"Wright told Mr. JL who nodded his head in agreement.
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MEN AT WORK & KENDALL WINDHAM versus TRIPLE CROWN (Brian Pillman, Eddy Guerrero & Dean Maleko)
Before the match got underway, we got a recap from last Monday when Eddy Guerrero and Dean Malenko aligned themselves with Brian Pillman as they attacked "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Men at Work and Kendall Windham, still dressed in their respective Village People getups, joined forces to take on this new faction in six man tag team action. Unfortunately for Disco Inferno's new friends - this one did not last too long as Pillman, Guerrero, and Malenko were just too much for this trio.
hey made short work of their opponents...after Guerrero laid out Kanyon with a brainbuster - he tagged in Malenko who locked in the Texas Cloverleaf. Starr tried to make the save, but Guerrero cut him off and sent him over the top rope. Kendall Windham tried to help out as well, but Pillman came off the top with a Missle Dropkick to Kendall to take him out as well. With Kanyon tapping out to the Texas Cloverleaf, the victory was given to Triple Crown.
WINNERS: Triple Crown by submission at 2:02
As the trio celebrated their dominant victory - Ric Flair came running down to the ring looking to get some payback for his attack last week. However, he was running into a lion's den because despite being fired up and getting several shots in to all three men - not even the future Hall of Famer Flair could stand his own against all three members of the Triple Crown.
As Flair found himself in a triple team from his adversaries - he would get some "unlikely" help as "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson came down to the ring armed with a chair in hand! Given their differences recently, it was definitely surprising to see Anderson helping out his former friend...but a chair-wielding Anderson was enough to get Pillman and company to dart from the ring.
Anderson paced the ring with the chair as Pillman, Guerrero, and Malenko regrouped at the top of the aisle.
As Flair started to get back to his feet, he himself was startled to see Arn Anderson standing above him. Anderson offered his hand to the kneeling Flair.....
And Flair accepted it as Anderson pulled him to his feet! Pillman's face showed that he was none too pleased to see these two old friends reconciling in the ring...
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After the commercial break, the leisure-suited "Mean" Gene Okerlund had broken away from the party long enough to catch up with both"The Nature Boy" Ric Flairand "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson. Okerlund wanted the "scoop" on whether or not this meant the two friends had "buried the hatchet."
"MEAN....WOOOOOOOOOO GENE!" Flair said with exuberance, "Everybody knows how far back me and Arn go... we're like brothers. And Gene, what do brothers do? THEY FIGHT! That's just the way it is! We don't always see eye to eye... sometimes you just don't get along with your brother... but when push comes to shove... when someone else goes after your brother... AFTER YOUR FAMILY... BROTHERS HAVE EACH OTHER'S BACK! WOOOOOOO!"
"You see Gene...," Arn added, "I realize that the little dispute between me and Flair... ultimately it was just petty. But Brian Pillman... he made a huge mistake. He disrespected me. He disrespected Flair. He DISRESPECTED... THE HORSEMEN! And I'm not just gonna sit back and let that happen!"
"That's RIGHT! WOOOOO! SO FLYIN' BRIAN... YOU WANNA FIGHT? YOU WANNA MESS WITH THE NAITCHA BOY AND THE ENFORCER? OOOOOOH BOY YOU'RE GONNA GET ONE! WORLD WAR 3! IT'S GONNA BE A WAR, ALRIGHT! WE'LL SEE YOU THEN! WOOOOO!"
As the fired up Flair and Anderson headed off screen, an excited Gene Okerlund seemed to confirm we'll be seeing some combination of The Triple Crown taking on Ric Flair and Arn Anderson at the PPV!
The United States Champion Sting was fired up to be receiving the title shot tonight... and even more so knowing that the Dungeon of Doom couldn't get involved or else Savage would automatically lose the belt. Despite that, Savage still looked confident as he climbed into the ring to face off against Sting.
But it was the champion who found himself in trouble early as the eager Stinger was all over Savage from the opening bell. Sting even looked like he might completely dominate the champion as he went for the Stinger splash early - but perhaps a bit too overzealous on the US Champion's behalf, as Savage was able to move out of the way. Sting hit the turnbuckles hard with the splash and walked right into a clothesline from Savage. This allowed Savage to take control of the match and begin to wear down Sting. Savage would get a two count pinfall attempt after dropping Sting across the top turnbuckles with a Snake Eyes and then following it up with a hair pulling hangman neckbreaker. Despite the nearfall, Savage continued on the attack. After an Atomic Drop, Savage continued to take it to Sting with some alternating jabs before driving his elbow into Sting's head - sending Sting to the mat. Savage would drop a knee down onto Sting's head before going for another pin - but once again getting only two.
As Sting staggered to his feet, Savage climbed the turnbuckles and came off the top looking for an axehandle, but Sting countered with a fist to Savage's midsection as he came off the ropes! The door was once again opened for the challenger as Savage began to pull himself back up using the ropes. Sting charged in with a clothesline that sent both men over the top rope to the floor!
Sting stayed on the attack at ringside, much to the delight of the crowd seated in the first few rows. Sting backed Savage up against the guard rails and lit up his chest with some stiff chops before Sting backed up...and charged back in, leaping through the air and connected with a Stinger Splash to Savage up against the railing!
The champion was in trouble, and he knew it. Savage stumbled over to David Penzer and snatched his title from Penzer before climbing back into the ring. The referee tried to get the belt out of Savage's hands, but Savage held on to it. Sting rolled into the ring... and Savage took a shot at Sting's head with the belt...but Sting DUCKED! Sting spun Savage around and hit some furious right hands that caused Savage to drop the belt. The referee kicked the belt out of the way into the corner on the apron. Sting had the crowd in a frenzy as he sent Savage into the turnbuckles...STINGER SPLASH! Sting whipped Savage into the opposite corner.... STINGER SPLASH! Sting then brought Savage out of the corner with a bulldog!
Savage was laid out as Sting pulled him to the center of the ring and locked him in the Scorpion Deathlock! The referee checked in on Savage, who showed how much pain he was in by the expression on his face. But Savage didn't want to submit... he began to pull himself to the ropes.... Savage managed to fight his way to the ropes and grab onto the bottom one!
Sting released the hold, but began trying to pull Savage back to the middle of the ring... but Savage was trying to fight Sting off at the same time... Savage pushed Sting backwards with force with his feet... causing Sting to accidentally back-elbow the referee! The referee dropped to a knee, holding his face in pain as Savage crawled towards the corner.
Sting checked on the referee as Savage grabbed his title! When Sting turned away from the referee... he was laid out with a shot from the World Title belt to the face! Savage tossed the belt to ringside as the crowd rained on him with boos.
The referee started to get back to his feet as Savage climbed to the top turnbuckle... FLYING ELBOW to Sting! Savage made the cover...One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Randy Savage by pinfall at 11:58
Bischoff was disgusted the Savage was able to retain his belt and by the way he did it...but no matter the case, for now the title remains in the hands of the Dungeon of Doom!
Savage rolled out of the ring and headed up the aisle as the crowd continued to pour on the boos. Savage ignored them, and lifted up his belt at the top of the ramp as Sting started to come to in the ring. Sting stood in the middle of the ring, watching Savage celebrate with the belt and simply shook his head....
As Savage and Sting continued to stare each other down...from out of nowhere...
Sting was attacked from behind by a massive brickhouse of a man....
What's going on?!" Bischoff exclaimed as the man assaulted Sting from behind.
"We've seen this guy before!" Heenan pointed out. "
"You're right, Brain - that's Scott Norton! But what's he doing back in WCW...wasn't he with....oh you've got to be kidding me!"
Bischoff was right, it was in fact the powerhouse Scott Norton doing a number to the US Champion in the ring. Savage disappeared to the back, but it was Sony Oono and The Great Muta who appeared from the back now.... Bischoff pointed out that Norton used to work for WCW but has spent years in NJPW!
Oono and Muta watched with approval as Norton unleashed an impressive Release Powerbomb to Sting that laid the US champion out in the middle of the ring.
The Great Muta and Oono climbed into the ring and surveyed the damage.. .Oono handed Muta Sting's United States Title as Muta placed on foot on Sting's chest and lifted up both the IWGP and United States Championships in both hands.
"NJPW has fired a heck of an opening shot!" Heenan declared as Bischoff commented on how they have laid out the "face of WCW!" The show came to a close as Muta, Oono, and Norton were left standing tall in the ring as Sting was left laying on his back.
No recap video/hype promo this week to kick off WCW Saturday Night - instead, we immediately cut in to the Dungeon of Doom - where "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan was standing in the dark and smoky dungeon with his seven-foot monster, The Giant. Sullivan reminded us that we were nearly one week away from an event like none other before in WCW - a 60-man over the top rope battle royal for a shot at the WCW World Title currently held by the Dungeon's own "New Savior" - Randy Savage.
Sullivan said that there were going to be 60 men in the battle royal...all wanting to get their hands on the World Title...but The Taskmaster assured us that no matter what the outcome was of World War 3 - the title would not be leaving the Dungeon of Doom. Sullivan looked up at the massive man standing next to him and pointed out that there was NO ONE in WCW who could possibly put this man over the top rope. After all, he's 7-foot, 500-pounds - The Taskmaster assured us it was impossible.
The Taskmaster figured there would be some doubters out there, but "seeing is believing" - so tonight, The Giant would hold an "over the top rope challenge" to any and all comers who thought they could get him over the top rope...but The Taskmaster said he would issue only one warning to those who dare to take the challenge....he would not be responsible for any damage caused by The Giant.
Sullivan let out some evil cackles as we faded out to the standard WCW Saturday Night opening video.
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Tony Schiavone and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes welcomed us to WCW Saturday Night before verifying that we would, in fact, see The Giant in action later tonight in an "over the top rope" challenge. Schiavone and Rhodes both agreed that they could not argue with the fact that getting The Giant over the top rope both tonight and at World War 3 would be a "Herculean" task.
Also tonight, WCW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat would be in action as they prepare for a huge tag team title match at World War 3 against the legendary Road Warriors. But first, we head to the ring for some other tag team action.
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JOE POLACO and ACE DARLING versus KENSUKE SASAKI and MASAHIRO CHONO (w/Sonny Oono and Scott Norton)
As the NJPW stars made their way to the ring, we were provided with a video recap of the ending of WCW Monday Nitro when United States Champion Sting was assaulted by the muscle of NJPW, the returning Scott Norton as IWGP Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta watched on.
As the match got underway, Schiavone and Rhodes discussed how the attack on Sting definitely sent a message to the rest of WCW - Sting is the "franchise" and face of WCW...and he was manhandled by Norton. Schiavone was quick to point out that this all came after Sting had been involved in a grueling match against World Champion Randy Savage that nearly saw Sting walk out as WCW Champion.
As for the in ring action, Polaco and Darling were still in their "Village People" get-up that we saw from the special Halloween themed Nitro, this time Polaco as the sailor and Darling as the cop. That seemed to earn them some praise from the crowd, especially against the NJPW duo of Chono and Sasaki - but ultimately this one was controlled by Oono's team. They look strong after taking some recent losses to Jim Duggan and Johnny B. Badd - as Sasaki locked Polaco in the Strangle Hold Gamma, Chono took out Darling with the Kenka Kick. Polaco had no choice but to tap out from the pain, awarding the victory to NJPW.
WINNERS: Kensuke Sasaki & Masahiro Chono by submission at 3:39
After the match, Oono and Norton climbed into the ring to join the victorious NJPW representatives. Norton showed off some more of his muscle as he took turns laying out both Polaco and Darling with release Power Bombs, adding insult to injury to the losing duo.
NJPW continues to look strong after the attack on Sting on Nitro, but The Great Muta has a title defense against Johnny B. Badd at World War 3 to look forward to.
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Backstage, "Mean" Gene Okerlund was standing by with former WCW Television Champion - The Renegade. The Renegade was his usual over-amplified self - shouting out with high intensity his plans to enter World War 3 and walk out VICTORIOUS! The Renegade commented on the challenge issued by The Giant earlier - saying that he was confident in his abilities to eliminate ANYONE - including a seven-foot Giant. The Renegade would prove it... not only tonight in his match against the Dungeon's Shark - but he hinted that he might be one to answer The Giant's challenge later tonight as well!
No Taskmaster with the Shark, but the newest tag team of the Dungeon - Wrath and Fury of Affliction did accompany the bulky Shark down to the ring for his match. This match was not easy to watch, as it was filled with slow and sloppy brawling from both men while Schiavone and Rhodes mostly talked about the upcoming "over the top challenge" and whether or not Renegade would be able to not only defeat the Shark tonight but also take part in the said challenge.
After Shark used his sheer size to control a lot of the match, the Renegade rallied behind what crowd reaction he was getting to battle back against the big man. Renegade rocked the Shark with several clotheslines before showing off his strength as he lifted up the Shark and laid him out with a front powerslam! While impressed by the Renegade's strength, they didn't know if he would be able to do the same versus The Giant. Nevertheless, The Renegade finished this match off with the Renegade Splash to pick up the three count over the Shark.
WINNER: The Renegade by pinfall at 5:03
Immediately after the bell, Wrath and Fury hit the ring, not giving The Renegade any time for celebration. The Renegade held his own against the massive tag team briefly, but two big men were just too much for The Renegade and he was soon placed flat on his back courtesy of a double chokeslam from Affliction. They stood tall in the ring as we headed out to break.
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We come back to find "Mean" Gene Okerlund standing by with Triple Crown - Brian Pillman, Dean Malenko, and Eddy Guerrero to get their thoughts on the fact that "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson had buried the hatchet and joined forces against them.
"I'm not surprised at all Gene," Pillman scoffed, "of course the old folks... the should be retired folks... are gonna stick together! But it doesn't matter how many relics from the past Flair pulls out of the closet... it doesn't matter who he tries to get to join forces with him... it won't matter! Their time has come and gone. Now is the time of THE TRIPLE CROWN! And soon... I'm going to force them BOTH where they belong... RETIREMENT!"
Guerrero walked over and added his two cents, "listen up vato, you guys wanna come at The Triple Crown? Bring it on, ese! You two have faced a lot of people in your long... storied... career... but you've never faced anyone like me and Dean! So we'll be the ones answering your challenge for World War Three! And we look forward to embarrassing you both so badly that you have no choice but to hang up your boots forever!"
With another match seemingly set for World War 3, we headed to break.
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LORD STEVEN REGAL (w/Earl Robert Eaton) versus DISCO INFERNO
Lord Steven Regal and his partner in crime Robert Eaton did not seem too impressed by the disco-dancing Disco Inferno who came to the ring sporting a leopard-skinned cowboy hat. Disco handed the hat off to a little girl at ringside, helping endear himself to the fans before getting the match underway.
After a back and forth start, Regal started to wear Inferno down with a methodical, mat-based attack. Regal tried on a couple of occasions to get Disco to tap out, but Disco managed to fight his way to the ropes each time to break the submission. Regal's frustration began to show, and he asked for the help of Eaton at ringside. Eaton climbed the apron, but when Regal went to Irish Whip Disco into Eaton, Disco reversed it and sent Regal crashing into his own partner!
Eaton fell off the apron and Disco found his second wind. A Russian Legsweep from Disco resulted in a two count, but Disco continued on the attack - laying out Regal with a hangman's neckbreaker before doing a "YMCA" Dance and dropping an elbow down across Regal's sternum. Disco hooked Regal's leg - One, Two, Thre...Regal got his shoulder up.
Just as momentum was going in Disco's favor - V.K. Wallstreet and Scotty Riggs made their way out from the back - handing out pink scarves that said "RIGGS" to fans at ringside.
This caught the attention of Disco, who watched as the duo made it to ringside. Disco had a few choice words for the pair - but apparently, they just wanted to share their latest marketing scheme with Disco as Wallstreet tossed one of the scarves to Disco. Disco caught it in his hand and tossed it back at Riggs in frustration...but as all this was going on, Regal had recovered! Regal rolled up Disco from behind with a handful of tights - One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Lord Steven Regal by pinfall at 8:05
Wallstreet and Riggs quickly headed back up the aisle, stopping at the entrance way to turn and watch Disco voice his frustration from the ring. Meanwhile, Regal had quickly exited the ring and was busy celebrating his victory at ringside with Earl Robert Eaton as if he had just won a championship. We headed to break as Disco complained to the referee about Riggs and Wallstreet's influence in the outcome.
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After the break, WCW Television Champion Diamond Dallas Page was with "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Joining DDP by his side was his newest bodyguard, Big Bubba Rogers. Okerlund made a smart comment about Page always looking "toughest" when he had Big Bubba by his side - but Page responded with a threat to show Okerlund why he felt that way. But Okerlund wanted to ask the "tough" questions - so he wanted to know how it felt to get lucky two weeks in a row in terms of defending his Television Title.
"LUCK has nothing do with it, JACK. So get that through that shiny chrome dome of yours, Okerlund. I mean that punk... what's his name.. Benoit? All he did all match long was try to break every rule in the book! I tried to play by the rules but somehow I AM THE ONE THAT GETS DISQUALIFIED? This is an outrage, Gene."
Okerlund seemed confused and wondered if he had been watching the same match as DDP.
"You must be gettin' blind in your old age, Gene. And don't even get me started on that LUNATIC... that FREAK SHOW... Sabu. That guy is a walking liability. A car crash waiting to happen. He doesn't belong here in WCW! Much less in a match with a respected champion like ME! He belongs in a cage at a circus... not in my wrestling ring!"
Okerlund's attention becomes diverted and the camera pans over slightly to the left to show Sabu standing directly behind DDP and Big Bubba. Okerlund tried to get DDP as he continues to lay in the insults to Sabu, without being aware of who was standing right behind him.
"Page... I really think you should..."
"WHAT IS IT GENE? JEEZ-US! What is SO important that you feel the need to KEEP INTERRUPTING ME?"
Okerlund simply pointed behind Page to where Sabu was standing. Page quickly backpedaled and called for Bubba's help. Bubba stepped in between Sabu and Page, but as Page stumbled backward... he walked right into the chest of Chris Benoit! Page almost tripped over his own feet as he turned around to find Benoit.
Caught between a rock and hard place... DDP needed to find a way out of this sticky situation. "What's that? You guys hear that?"
Okerlund shook his head, "I didn't hear a darn thing!"
"Bubba! You hear that?"
"Yeah boss?"
"It's Maxx! I think he may have found the Doll! C'mon let's go!"
Page rushed off screen as Bubba followed while Benoit gave a big grin as he rubbed his palms together. "I didn't hear anyone..." Okerlund commented as both Sabu and Benoit looked at one another - both hungry to get their hands on Page.
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NON-TITLE MATCH: THE ARMSTRONG BROTHERS versus HARLEM HEAT
The tag team champions Harlem Heat were not up against the stiffest of competition tonight as they took on the brothers Armstrong. This one-sided match was mainly used by our announce team of Schiavone and Rhodes to promote the World War 3 tag team title match between champions Harlem Heat and the challengers, The Road Warriors with the Heat's former valet Sister Sherri. The Big Apple Blast put away Brad Armstrong for the easy three count. While it was a cakewalk tonight for the champions - Schiavone assured us that the Road Warriors would be much more of a challenge.
WINNERS: Harlem Heat by pinfall at 1:47
After the match, Stevie Ray took the microphone and said that this was going to be a last and final warning to The Road Warriors. There was still time to back out of their match. There was still time to come to their senses and realize Sister Sherri is not going to lead them to anything but failure.
But if they are as stupid as he they look - Stevie Ray said he figured they wouldn't come to any kind of senses...but that at World War 3 - they'd be layin' on their backs just like these two suckas. Stevie Ray handed the microphone over to Booker who only added "NOW CAN YOU DIG THAT, SUCKAAA?!"
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"DAS WUNDERKIND" ALEX WRIGHT versus EDDY GUERRERO
This match proved to be a good showcase of two of WCW's younger stars with bright futures. Guerrero, of course, has already made a big impact in WCW with his alliance with Dean Malenko and Brian Pillman in Triple Crown - while Alex Wright has been impressive in his young WCW career, and had a few attempts to capture WCW gold, but has come up short each time. Most recently against Diamond Dallas Page for the Television Championship. And speaking of Page, Wright has still managed to elude the search of Page's "muscle" - Maxx Muscle in the search for the "missing" Diamond Doll.
But this match was more about the in-ring wrestling between these two than any storylines - and what resulted was a hard fought, competitive match. After some back and forth mat wrestling early, Guerrero used a rake of the eyes to slow Wright down and put the match to his advantage. As Guerrero controlled the offense, his confidence began to get the better of him as he could feel victory within his grasps. However, this confidence lead to him taking his time as he pulled Wright back to his feet and set him up for a belly to back suplex. As a result, Wright flipped over Guerrero and landed on his feet behind the Latino. Guerrero turned around right into a dropkick from the young German.
The crowd was solidly behind Das Wunderkind as he took over the control of the match. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Wright earned him a two count on one-third of the Triple Crown, but Wright did not let this frustrate him. He went right back to work - picking up another nearfall after a snap suplex. But once again Guerrero got his shoulder up after two. A head scissors takedown from Wright to Guerrero sent Guerrero rolling out of the ring to try and catch his breath. But Wright wasn't giving Guerrero that opportunity and instead dove through the ropes with a suicide dive that sent both men crashing to the floor! We headed to a commercial break as both men were down.
Back from the break, the match continued and we saw that during the commercials Guerrero had managed to take control on the outside. A quick video recap showed Guerrero was able to do this when he reversed an Irish Whip on the outside - sending Wright crashing into the ring post.
Guerrero finally sent Wright back into the ring and made a cover, but Wright kicked out at two. Unlike Wright, Guerrero was showing frustration the longer the match wore on and the more Wright kicked out of his pinfall attempts. Guerrero went back on the offensive - sending Wright into the turnbuckle with an Irish Whip. Guerrero followed in and hit a few stiff chops to Wright's chest before attempting a monkey flip, only to have Wright grab the top ropes to block Guerrero's momentum. Guerrero instead landed on his back on the mat, to which Wright quickly grabbed his legs and flipped onto Guerrero in a cradling pinfall attempt! One, Two, kickout by Guerrero!
Both men were slow to their feet, but Wright stuck first with a spinning heel kick. With both men showing signs of fatigue from a hard fought match - the end came as Wright placed Guerrero on the top turnbuckle before climbing to the middle rope himself. Wright hooked Guerrero in an attempt of a superplex, but Guerrero blocked it. Guerrero fired back with some right hands before shoving Wright off the turnbuckles to the mat! Guerrero took advantage of the opportunity, standing up on the top turnbuckle and flying off the top with his impressive Frog Splash! Guerrero stayed ontop of Wright, hooking both legs - One, Two, Three!
WINNER: Eddy Guerrero by pinfall at 14:02
Schiavone was impressed with both competitors tonight, but it was Guerrero who walked away the victor. Guerrero ignored the boos from the crowd as he exited the ring.
While Wright began to stagger to his feet... Maxx Muscle slowly walked down to the ring. Wright spotted him and we could hear Muscle yelling "I know you know where she is!" Muscle slid into the ring and went after Wright with a clothesline, but Wright ducked and hit Muscle with a spinning heel kick to take the body builder down!
Wright rolled out of the ring, exiting the ringside area through the crowd who gave him a pat on the back as he once again managed to elude the pursuing Muscle.
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MAIN EVENT: OVER-THE-TOP-ROPE CHALLENGE
THE GIANT (w/"The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan) versus ALL COMERS
As we came back from the commercial break, "The Taskmaster" was leading the 7-foot Giant down to the ring to loud boos from the crowd. Schiavone and Rhodes had been speculating all night about just who would be willing to step into the ring with this massive man and try to get him over the top rope. Kevin Sullivan took the microphone and he himself was wondering the same thing - but he asked for David Penzer to ring the bell to start the challenge. It was open to anyone in the locker room who wanted to try and get this man over the top rope.
First out to answer the call was the masked luchadore Mr. JL! The speedy masked man springboarded into the ring and went after The Giant with a clothesline. The Giant literally laughed at Mr. JL before headbutting him down to the mat. The Giant pulled JL back up with one hand before tossing him over the top rope head first! The Taskmaster mocked Mr. JL and asked if this was the best WCW had to offer.
Next out was the Men at Work duo of Mark Starr and Chris Kanyon - who decided to try to double-team The Giant in hopes of getting him over the top rope. The duo met The Giant with rapid fire punches from both sides, but The Giant seemed unphased by their attack. He shoved Starr to the mat with one hand before lifting his enormous knee into Kanyon's midsection. Giant grabbed both Kanyon and Starr by the head and headbutted the tag team's heads together in what Rhodes called a real "meeting of the minds." Both Starr and Kanyon tried to pull themselves up using the ropes, but Giant charged in with a double clothesline that sent both men over the top rope to the floor! That's three men down...how many more to go, The Taskmaster wondered aloud on the microphone.
Devon Storm came rushing down to the ring with a head of steam, hoping to fair better than the previous cruiserweight in the ring, Mr. JL. Storm charged in the ring and ducked a right hand from the giant. Storm unloaded a dropkick to the Giant's knee before bouncing back up to his feet and hitting a spinning side kick to the Giant's massive chest. The Giant staggered back slightly but immediately laid out Devon with a hard tomahawk chop to the head. The Giant lifted up Devon Storm into a Military Press. Giant walked with Devon Storm in the press to the ropes before literally dropping him to the ringside! Taskmaster laughed maniacally at The Giant's domination.
"HOOOOOOOOOOO!" The boos from the crowd turned to cheers as "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan marched down to the ring with Old Glory in one hand and his trusty 2x4 in the other. A U-S-A chant erupted in the crowd as Duggan climbed into the ring. Duggan managed to rock The Giant with some right hands before picking his 2x4 back up and lifting it up in the air to a pop from the crowd. Duggan went after The Giant with the 2x4...but Giant swung his massive right hand right into the 2x4, snapping it like it was a mere twig!
Duggan's jaw dropped briefly before Giant laid him out with a Big Boot. The Giant pulled Duggan back up by his hair before attempting to send him over the top rope, but Duggan blocked it! Duggan fought back with some more right hands that send The Giant stumbling backwards! Duggan marched around the ring and got down into a 3-point stance...Duggan charged in with his CLOTHESLINE! The Giant was only rocked, but Duggan decided to try another. He got down into his 3-point stance once again before charging in with a SECOND clothesline! HOOOOOO! The Giant still was only staggered, so Duggan decided to try one more...but this time he ran right into the waiting arm of Giant, who clutched him by the throat...CHOKESLAM! The Giant picked Duggan back up and tossed him over the top rope.
The Taskmaster once again took to the microphone, "HAVE YOU SEEN ENOUGH! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? Hahahahaha! Is there anyone left in the back DUMB ENOUGH to think they can get this man over the top rope???"
Apparently there was...as The Renegade stumbled through the ropes...still looking a little worse for wear from the attack from Affliction earlier in the night, but he had hinted earlier that he might answer the challenge and he wasn't going to let a little beatdown stop him. Renegade climbed into the ring and went after The Giant, but The Giant was able to take advantage of The Renegade's weakened state. Though a headbutt from the Giant only staggered the wild Renegade....a Big Boot sent Renegade to the mat. The Giant pulled Renegade back to his feet and clotheslined him over the top rope to the floor!
Schiavone and Rhodes were starting to question if anyone would be able to defeat The Giant inside the World War 3 Battle Royal. The Taskmaster seemed ready to wrap up the event, "I believe this impressive demonstration proves that it is not only improbable but IMPOSSIBLE that anyone will be eliminate my Giant from World War 3! THERE IS NO MAN IN THAT LOCKER ROOM... WHO CAN MATCH THE STRENGTH.. WHO CAN MATCH THE POWER... OF... THEEEEEEE GGGIIIIIIIAAAAANNNNNNT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
But as Sullivan finished speaking, one of his own surprisingly started to make his way down from the back -MENG!
The Giant turned to Sullivan, who was clueless as to why Meng would be making his way down to the ring. As the Tongan climbed into the ring, Sullivan could be heard off mic asking Meng what he was doing, but Meng had no response. He simply was staring a hole through the 7-foot Giant. Sullivan was demanding Meng to "stand down" - but Meng looked ready to do battle with his own teammate in this elimination challenge.
But as the two monsters were staring each other down - "The Bad Guy" Scott Hall slowly made his way down to the ring to join in on the fun.
Hall slid into the ring and went right after The Giant, paying no attention to Meng. Meng stood in the corner as Hall managed to double The Giant over with a knee to the groin. That great equalizer was enough to have Hall manage to get The Giant up against the ropes. Hall reached down and grabbed one of the Giant's tree-trunk-like legs and began attempting to lift him up over the ropes...but Meng put a stop to it as he attacked Hall from behind!
Meng leveled Hall with a stiff thrust right to the throat. Hall staggered back to feet and Meng sent him into the ropes where Meng decided he was going to throw Hall over the top rope...but Hall fired back with a thumb to Meng's eye before grabbing the Tongan by his hair and slamming him into the top turnbuckle!
While Meng and Hall were doing battle by the ropes - The Giant regained his composure. The Giant made his way over to Meng and Hall and proceeded to dump both men over the top rope to the floor!
With Hall and Meng both dumped to ringside, The Taskmaster told David Penzer to ring the bell and declared The Giant the winner!
WINNER: The Giant by elimination at 15:11
Schiavone and Rhodes questioned Meng's allegiance with the Dungeon based on the actions tonight... but in the end, The Giant still was the one standing tall in the ring! Is this a sign of things to come at World War 3?!
The show came to a close as The Taskmaster lifted up The Giant's arm in victory as Hall recovered at ringside - exchanging uneasy looks between both Meng and The Giant.
What is this late 90s Nitro?!