WCW Nitro is fresh off the heels of Bash At The Beach and the landscape has completely shifted now that The Foundation is reigning supreme. Tonight the show is live from Belton, Texas, and we are already promised a special appearance by the Hardcore Icon Terry Funk.
The show kicks off with the familiar Party Hard theme, plenty of pyro, and the announce team of Joey Styles and Jerry Lawler welcoming us to a packed house. Nitro is officially live and the energy is through the roof.
The show opens with the music for The Foundation. Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon make their way out, but they aren't alone. They motion to the entrance and the "Career Killer" Mike Awesome joins them. The trio hits the ring and DDP takes the mic to address the crowd.
Page says he does not understand why everyone is so shocked that there is more to The Foundation than meets the eye. According to DDP, holding up the entire world is more than a two man job, so they brought in a third man with the size and menace of Mike Awesome. Page rants about how Awesome has been waiting for a real opportunity since he showed up in WCW back in April 2000. He calls out the top brass for hampering a dominant force from day one, forcing him to wear stupid clothes, chase fat chicks, and burdening him with a foreign legion. DDP says that is over now and Awesome is finally free to do what he was born to do, which is destroy.
Kanyon takes over the mic next with his usual "Who betta than Kanyon" routine. He brags about being up 2-0 on Shane McMahon and 1-0 on Booker T. He claims The Foundation is at the top of the mountain now and nobody is going to stop them.
That brings out the owner, Shane McMahon, to his "Here Comes the Money" theme. Shane actually starts by congratulating them for their win at Bash At The Beach, but he quickly points out that everyone saw they couldn't beat him or Booker in a fair fight. Shane gives them some credit, calling DDP a legend, Kanyon the Innovator of Offense, and Awesome a killer, but then he drops the hammer. He calls them all cowards, cheaters, and bitches.
Shane then moves on to the big news for WCW Crowd Control on August 26. He says he isn't going to wait to announce the card.
First, he addresses Mike Awesome. Shane says while Awesome is a force, he hasn't actually won much lately, so he will have a match at Crowd Control to see if he can finally get a win for once.
Next is Kanyon. Shane acknowledges that Kanyon thinks he is better than everyone, and Shane even stirs the pot by suggesting Kanyon might be better than Diamond Dallas Page himself. That definitely caused some awkward looks between the Foundation members. Shane announces that at Crowd Control, Kanyon will face Curt Hennig, BG James, and Lance Storm in a four way match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Finally, Shane turns his attention to DDP. He says the two of them have been circling each other since he bought the company. To settle things once and for all, it will be Shane McMahon versus Diamond Dallas Page one on one. To make sure there is no interference or shenanigans from the rest of the Foundation, the match is going to be inside a Steel Cage!
And Shane says he has one more thing. He says he forgot to tell Awesome who his opponent for Crowd Control will be. Shane motions to the entrance and here comes Booker T! Booker & Shane charge the ring as The Foundation runs off through the crowd. Booker is on the mic and calls them all Sucka's. Booker is sick of people who think they are bigger then this business, at Crowd Control, he's going to show Mike Awesome what being a real man is like!
Badd is making his entrance as we head for commercial break. Back, and Corino is on his way to the ring. Commentery talks about his loss and Jerry Lawler mentions he wants to get a word with the supposed "King of Old School" after this match. Corino & Badd go back and forth and really have a quite standard match. Badd has Corino on his shoulders going for a TKO, but Corino slips out and nails the Old School Expulsion for the win.
It was a nice little match but nothing really worth writing about. It was fairly old school, basic moves, basic wrestling. The crowd has really began to hate Corino and he's really starting to garner a reaction.
After the match, Jerry "The King" Lawler enters the ring. Lawler mentions he is bringing back "The King's Court" interview segment, and he's starting tonight with The King of Old School. So Lawler want's to know, what exactly is Corino's problem with wrestlers from the past. That is apparently all Corino needed to hear because he snatches the mic from Lawler and goes OFF. I'll need to go back to the tape and recap the promo word-for-word because Corino was on fire and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. He bashes the new school, saying wrestlers are so concerned with being cool, they forgot they are supposed to be here to win matches. Lawler makes a comment saying Corino lost to Hennig at Bash at the Beach. That caused Corino to then go off on Lawler and "old perverts who chase little girls." Corino hates what the wrestlers he grew up loving, the wrestlers he grew up admiring have turned into. Shells. Shells of their former glory, trying to capture their last ounces of fame and spotlight while whoring their legacy and destroying the legacy of pro wrestling. Corino is "The King of Old School" because the old school has forgotten what wrestling was, and the new school will never respect it until someone makes them. Corino shoves the mic into Lawler, who looks pissed, before hoping out of the ring and heading up the ramp to nuclear heat.
We are backstage in Arn's Office. It looks like Terry Taylor is in there with him. He's talking to Taylor and Taylor mentions that Sean O'Haire is pissed he doesn't have a match tonight. Arn says thats perfect, because he's been thinking of a way to punish Mike Awesome for ruining the main event at Bash at the Beach, so O'Haire vs. Awesome, tonight.
Anderson & Gas are a new tag team and under uncle Arn's orders must prove themselves on their own. Disqo & Sanders, the former Tag Team champs are out as their first challenge. The match starts out with Pete Gas vs. Mike Sanders and Gas actually dominates the smaller Sanders with his size advantage. A big spinebuster, a suplex and a 2-count. Gas plays to the crowd a bit and Disqo gets the sneaky tag. Disqo with a thumb to the eye of Gas, and he takes over with some offense. Gas powers back after a bit and manages to get the tag to CW! CW enters and quickly takes out Disqo & Sanders one after the other with punches as they bump and feed. Sanders is the legal man and CW sends him into the ropes, he drills Sanders with a big Spinning Anderson Spinebuster and looks like he's going for the pin, but Pete Gas is despereate for a tag. CW seems reluctant but tags in "Mean Streets" Pete Gas. Gas in and he looks to be locking a reverse Full Nelson on Sanders, but Disqo is on the outside and grabs CW and rips him off the ropes. The referee gets distracted, and Sanders manages to wiggle out of whatever Gas was doing and nails him with a low blow. 3.0 from Sanders as the referee turns around. 1-2-3!
It wasn't good. It wasn't terrible. It was. Guys looked like they knew what they wanted to do and what they wanted to do seemed good, but they didn't really do it. Crowd was kind of asleep for this one too as it seems they haven't really warmed to Gas or Anderson yet.
Disqo & Sanders are celebrating like they won the super bowl as they hop and jump up the ramp. The music of Sean O'Haire hits and he comes out from the back in a fit of rage and intenstity. He pushes past Disqo & Sanders like they are nothing and heads to the ring as the tag team, now on their asses from being pushed by O'Haire, seem dejected.
The battle of two of the biggest and baddest stars in WCW is underway. O'Haire and Awesome slug it out. Really stiff stuff from the two as they basically just seem to have a real figth with strikes flying everywhere. The referee cant seem to control the action as the men spill to the outside and just keep beating on each other. O'Haire eventually takes control with a big spinning leg kick. That gets as 1-Count only as Awesome powers out. O'Haire going for a scoop slam, but Awesome powers out and sends O'Haire sternum first into the turnbuckles. O'Haire turns back into a big running leaping clothesline from Awesome, sending O'Haire spilling to the outside. Awesome setting him up and hits a huge Big Man Dive onto O'Haire to the outside. Awesome tosses O'Haire back into the ring and goes for the pin, O'Haire kicks out at 1! Awesome and O'Haire just start trading shots again as both mens chests and shoulders are turning bright red from the punishment. Awesome misses a wild right hand as O'Haire ducks, Awesome turns around and is hoisted onto the shoulders of O'Haire, Death Spiral! Something is happening at ringside, its Stacy Keibler! Keibler on the apron and the referee is yelling at her to get down. Shawn Stasiak has appeared now and slides into the ring with a steel chair and wallops O'Haire right in the head. O'Haire goes down. Stasiak sneaks away as Stacy finally gets down aswell. Awesome slowly up and heads to the top rope. He nails a huge Diving Splash onto O'Haire and gets the 3 count!
That was a brawl. Would love to see these two in a proper program and maybe given more time or a stipulation to really put this over the edge. Looks like Stasiak isn't done with O'Haire. Awesome gets a victory to help build him up a bit too which is nice.
We cut to a video of "earlier today" of the new WCW World Tag Team Champions, Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli along with Guido Maritato walking in downtown Belton, Texas. They see an Ice Cream shop and decide to head inside to celebrate. The Full Blooded Italians demand gelato from the staff, who just seem confused. Palumbo is distracted and Guido asks what his problem is when Chuck motions for his teammates to look. The group looks over and sees Torrie Wilson dressed in a way that would make you want to look at her. Guido gets all smarmy and approaches Torrie. He asks her if she has a "Little Italian" in her, she says no, he says would you like one. Gross. She says she's actually just waiting on some friends. The door chimes and in walks Corporal Cajun & General Rection the Misfits In Action! The FBI is pissed and ask if MIA could just leave them alone. They say they arn't here for the FBI, they are here for her, point to Torrie. Rection holds out a t-shirt he has in his hands and says they are glad to accept Torrie into their ranks. Torrie takes off her shirt, and is just down to her bra, as The FBI's mouths fall agape and Johnny Stamboli's ice cream cone falls out of his hand. Torrie puts on her new shirt, its an MIA shirt! General Rection says its a pleasure to welcome the newest MIA recruit, the Blonde Bombshell!
Chavo & Evan have a nice little match going here, exactly what you expect out of the cruiserweights. Some big moves and fast paced action. Evan gets a 2 count after a big Michinoku Driver II and that looked like it was it. Chavo eventually fights back and looks to nail a Brainbuster, but Karagias fights out and then hits a big springback clothesline onto Chavo. Chavo is down as Evan heads to the top rope. He nails Chavo with a 450 Splash and goes for the pin, but The Jung Dragons pull the referee out of hte ring. The referee is livid and gets in the Dragons face and ejects them. They refuse to leave and 3 Count has now jumped them! The 4-men battle into the ring as Chavo & Karagias now join in. The ref has seen enough and calls a double disqualifcation
This was a really great match going, that ended in the big blow up which is a bit of a shame, but it looks like its setting up something else. This feud has been not-so-secretly one of the best things on WCW since its return.
As all 6-Men Brawl, Arn Anderson is out on stage. Agents and referees spil into the ring and break up the fight. Chavo grabs a mic and says he's done with 3 Count. They've had their chance, he's still Champion. Arn cuts him off and says Chavo hasn't proven anything. He's only proven he needs to hide behind some "Asian guys" to hold onto that gold and that a Guerrero should know better. If Chavo wants new challenges, Arn is all to pleased to provide them, but 3 Count has earned the right to battle for the Cruiserweight gold too. At Crowd Control, Chavo will be defending his WCW World Cruiserweight Champion against some guys he has wrestled, and some guys he hasn't. It will be a Ladder Match with the title high above the ring. Chavo Guerrero Jr. versus Evan Karagias, Shane Helms & Shannon Moore! Chavo is losing it at the announcement. Arn says Chavo needs to calm down because there is more. There's some other guys who have been impressive too. Joining them in the ladder match will be, Kaz Hayashi & Yun Yang, "6-Men, 1 Title!"
We cut to a nice sunny day somewhere, and there's Lance Storm poolside with Dawn Marie tanning in the background. Storm says he isnt surprised to have to defend his title against 3 men at Crowd Control. WCW management knows he cannot be beaten, so now they have put him in a match where he doesn't even need to be pinned or submitted to lose his title. Storm says that he'd be more angry, but he's decided to take a week off and his enjoying the sun, home, in Calgary..... Alberta, Canada.
We cut backstage to BG James & Curt Hennig watching Storm's video on a monitor. Hennig says he can't believe James didn't "beat that prick" at Bash at the Beach. James says he's beaten Storm before, and he can beat him again. Hennig says James has never beaten him. James says, "Give me time." and walks off.
On commentary, Styles makes a big deal of Terry Funk being a "WCW Hall of Famer" as he enters the match in front of his home state crowd. On commentary, Styles makes a huge deal of Terry Funk being a WCW Hall of Famer as the Hardcore Icon enters the arena to a monster reaction from his fellow Texans. Buff Bagwell is out next, looking as arrogant as ever.
The match starts with Funk showing he still has it, rocking Bagwell with those trademark left hands and some stiff headbutts that send Buff scrambling to the outside to catch his breath. Bagwell eventually finds an opening when the action returns to the ring, slowing things down and working over Funk's back and neck. It is a bit of a rough watch as the chemistry is definitely off tonight, and the pace slows to a crawl. Funk starts a desperate comeback and goes for the spinning toe hold, but Bagwell kicks him away. In the confusion, the referee gets caught in the corner and takes a nasty bump that leaves him face down on the canvas.
With the official out, Bagwell doesn't hesitate. He slides out of the ring and pulls out a lead pipe from under the ring. He cracks Funk right across the forehead with it, busting the legend open instantly. As Funk is dazed, Bagwell hooks the pipe around Funk's neck and drops him with a brutal, pipe-assisted neckbreaker. The referee slowly crawls over and counts the pin as the crowd lets out a chorus of boos.
Well that wasn't great. Bagwell & Funk are just not main event talent in 2001 I think. Shame as Bagwell had been looking better and its a shame to see Funk have a bit of a stinker.
After the match, Bagwell wants to continue the assault, but here comes Rob Van Dam. Bagwell goes to hit RVD with the pipe, but RVD ducks. Big kick from Van Dam and Funk is slowly up. Bagwell stumbled back into a Piledriver from the Funkster! RVD up top, Five Star Frog Splash! Funk holds up RVD's hand as Nitro fades out.