We are 4-days away from Halloween Havoc and WCW Nitro is LIVE from the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona! Lets “Party Hard” and here is Joey Styles & Jerry “The King” Lawler to welcome us all to another edition of Wednesday Night Nitro!
We open the show with Shane McMahon already standing in the center of the ring. The canvas has a red carpet, there’s a table and two chairs, we have a contract signing!
Shane welcomes everyone to Nitro and hypes Halloween Havoc, he then introduces the contract signing for the main event of Halloween Havoc as Sean O’Haire challenges Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship!
Without any further adieu, Diamond Dallas Page’s music hits and the World Heavyweight Champion is on his way to the ring he grabs a microphone and gets right in Shane McMahon’s face. He asks how Shane is doing? He asks how Shane feels seeing Diamond Dallas Page as the World Heavyweight Champion? DDP says he knows how Shane feels, he can see it in his eyes, he’s seething with rage, seething that DDP is here representing Shane’s WCW. He was never Shane’s first pick, but now he’s his Champion and he knows it eats him up. That’s why he’s putting him in a match with a monster. But DDP has slain monsters and defied odds his whole career. Shane has tried and can’t stop the inevitable, and Diamond Dallas Page IS inevitable!
DDP slams the mic down and signs the contract as Slayer fills the arena and here comes the “Psycho Killer” Sean O’Haire. O’Haire storms into the ring and immediately signs the contract. He looks at the World Heavyweight title on Diamond Dallas Page’s shoulder, taps it, then turns to leave. Out of nowhere, Diamond Dallas Page delivers a Diamond Cutter to Shane McMahon! As he pops up, O’Haire has already turned and scooped him up, Death Spiral to the champion! O’Haire picks the title up off the ground and raises it above his head as we head to commercial.
The match starts with D’Lo and BG James trading some basic standing chain wrestling, before firing each other off the ropes and trading shoulder tackles. D'Lo Brown eventually gains the upper hand with a big powerslam followed by a Head Shaking Leg Drop for a 2. Buff Bagwell remains uncharacteristically quiet on the outside, offering vocal encouragement but keeping his hands off. James eventually rallies with his signature Pop’n’Lock punches and a big clothesline. James then hits the Shaky Shaky Knee Drop for a 2 of his own. Seeing D'Lo in trouble, Bagwell begins to lurk near the apron. D’Lo and James begin exchanging punches on the inside, and Brown goes to whip James into the ropes, but James counters. Bagwell isn’t looking, but trips up the legs closest to him not realizing its D’Lo! D'Lo stumbles forward into a waiting BG James, who hooks him for the Pumphandle Drop and a victory!
That was a fine little match. Its WWF 1999! James picks up a win as he regroups momentum, and it looks like cracks are starting to show in the Real Stuff. I like it, good undercard stuff which WCW needs!
After the match, James celebrates and makes his way up the ramp. Bagwell & Brown are in the ring and arguing when Bagwell grabs a mic. We can hear D’Lo yelling at him saying that D’Lo is better than this. Bagwell tells D’Lo to calm down on the mic and says he knows they haven’t been lighting it up lately, but he has an idea. If D’Lo Brown can’t beat BG James, Buff Bagwell knows he can, and he will get this team back on track when he does beat BG James at Halloween Havoc on Sunday!
Backstage Scott Hudson is with Kanyon & Mike Awesome of the Foundation. Kanyon does his Betta schtick and promises to win tag team gold Sunday.
London uses his speed early on to evade Guido, connecting with a beautiful Dropsault. However, the veteran Maritato soon grounds the high-flyer with a stiff knee to the midsection. Guido begins a systematic breakdown of London’s left arm, using a variety of salt of the earth wrestling holds. Guido tosses London to the outside where Palumbo and Stamboli try to corner London, but Guido slides out of the ring and screams at his associates, demanding they stay out of the bosses business and watch how its done. Back in the ring, London misses a desperate Enzuigiri, allowing Guido to capitalize. Maritato hits a snapping Tornado Single Arm DDT off the second rope and immediately transitions into a deep Fujiwara armbar. With nowhere to go, London is forced to tap out.
It was an okay match, but weirdly the crowd didn’t seem to respond. Seems Arizona was not super familiar with ECW as it looked like most people didn’t realize Guido was a wrestler! Now that he is in the Cruiserweight division, I predict good things for Guido and WCW. London continued to look good in his enhancement role, might be time for an upgrade for him.
Backstage, Billy Kidman stands alone with his WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. He calls himself the Cornerstone of the Cruiserweight Division, and no one will ever take his title. At Hallowen Havoc, he will defeat Booker T and maybe become the Cornerstone of the heavyweights as well.
We get an interview/video package thing between Rob Van Dam and Lance Storm, showcasing both of their dominant recent months. Storm claims he will prove at Halloween Havoc he is the best wrestler in the world, and Rob Van Dam says he’ll prove again he’s the Whole Dam Show and Mr. Pay-Per-View!
This was pure Cruiserweight chaos, plus La Parka! Shark Boy and Elix Skipper started fast with a series of leapfrogs and armdrags. The crowd erupted when La Parka tagged in and leveled Kid Romeo with a spinning heel kick followed by his signature strut. Throughout the match, Kaz Hayashi desperately tried to get his hands on Chavo, but every time Kaz tagged in, Chavo immediately scurried to his corner to tag out to a confused Elix Skipper. Late in the match, Kaz finally caught Chavo alone in the as Fish Bones and the Primetime Players battled on the outside. Hayashi unloaded with stiff kicks, quickly overwhelming the Guerrero. Panicking, Chavo scrambled to the corner, slapped Kid Romeo’s chest for a tag, and hopped to the floor to throw a tantrum at the announcers' table. Romeo entered the ring looking back at Chavo and arguing, completely oblivious to Hayashi stalking him from behind. Kaz grabbed Romeo and drilled him with the Final Cut to take the win.
Fish Bones have won a match. I repeat. Fish Bones have won a match. And a fun cruiserweight battle at that. Hayashi looked great and Chavo played the role perfectly. This match goes to show you how good the WCW roster can be as the Primetime Players & Fish Bones both looked like they belonged and Hayashi has elevated his game. Looking forward to Chavo vs. Kaz at Halloween Havoc!
After the match, Chavo Guerrero Jr. continues to throw a fit at ringside as Hayashi & Fish Bones celebrate in the ring with La Parka dancing on chair as Shark Boy & Kaz Hayashi pose on the ropes.
Jason Jett showed incredible fire early on, taking Corino down with a standing hurricanrana and a big dive to the outside. Corino slowed the pace down by using the ring post to damage Jett's shoulder. The two traded near-falls in the closing minutes, with Jett nearly scoring the upset after a springboard clothesline. Jazz provided a constant distraction on the apron, drawing Jett’s attention just long enough for Corino to recover. Jett had Corino set up for the Crash Landing, but fought back, spinning out right into an Old School Expulsion to put Jett away for the count.
Another fine match! Everytime I see Jason Jett I wonder if this is the match that he’ll breakout from. Time will tell. Corino seems sucked into a Joanie Laurer vortex, and while putting him with Laurer is probably a smart move to give him some exposure, I selfishly wish he was in a program with Booker T or Rob Van Dam or even BG James instead.
After the match, Joanie Laurer appears in the ring behind Corino as he celebrates. She drops down and drills Corino with a Low Blow then quickly Powerbombs him! Jazz watches on from ringside and hops onto the apon, but as Joanie turns and the two lock eyes, Jazz simply slowly drops down back to the floor. Laurer then exits with her WCW Women’s Championship.
Backstage its Booker T’s turn for self reflection. He said that Billy Kidman is a man he once respected. Who came into the ring and battled to see who was best like a man. Now he’s fallen in line with the Suckas of the Foundation and needs to be taught some respect. Booker is going to take out Kidman, take out the Foundation, and win back the WCW World Heavyweight Championship!
The bell rings and we start with a literal clash of titans as Mike Awesome and General Rection meet in the center of the ring. The ring shakes as they trade stiff forearm smashes, neither man giving an inch until Rection catches Awesome with a thunderous clothesline that sends the "Career Killer" over the top rope to the floor. The match quickly descends into chaos as all eight men storm the ring, turning the squared circle into a war zone. Referee Nick Patrick loses total control as Booker T and DDP brawl up the aisle while the Misfits In Action utilize their superior teamwork to keep Kanyon and Kidman at bay.
After order is somewhat restored, The Foundation utilizes quick tags to isolate Corporal Cajun, cutting the ring in half and wearing him down with a series of power moves from Awesome and a awesome fall away slam to suplex move from Kanyon. Cajun finally finds an opening after dodging a corner splash from Awesome and makes the hot tag to Sean O’Haire. The "Psycho Killer" enters like a house on fire, leveling everyone in sight with high-impact strikes and a massive roundhouse kick on Kidman that nearly secures the win, only for DDP to break up the count at the last millisecond.
The climax begins when the action spills out to the floor yet again. In the confusion, Mike Awesome reaches under the ring and retrieves a steel chair. Inside the ring, Booker T is being ushered back to his corner by the referee after a heated exchange with DDP. With the official’s back turned, Awesome stalks O’Haire on the outside and delivers a sickening, unprotected chair shot to the skull that echoes throughout the Tucson Convention Center. Seeing his partner motionless on the concrete, General Rection frantically jumps off the apron to check on O'Haire, inadvertently leaving Corporal Cajun completely isolated in the ring. As Cajun stumbles to his feet and turns around, Diamond Dallas Page catches him with a blatant, heavy-handed low blow. With Cajun doubled over in agony, DDP smirkishly tags in a waiting Billy Kidman. Kidman hopes in the ring and takes down Cajun with a Kid Krusher. The referee turns back just in time to count the 1-2-3!
Another fine match, but I wish it was a bit more for the main event. Seems they spent too much time protecting each other and not allowing anyone to look to weak which hurt the match overall. The Foundation wins, which makes sense since they are a unified group, and it should take a similarly unified group to defeat them.