It’s harder than you think to come up with a snappy intro to a Nitro review every week. We know the drill, Party Hard, Pyro, we are in California for Nitro this week with Joey Styles & Jerry “The King” Lawler as our voices in our heads!
Surprise, it’s Ric Flair! He’s on his way to the ring, and it’s set up for yet another contract signing. Flair isn’t alone this week, as he is followed to the ring by WCW Commissioner and Four Horsemen Enforcer, Arn Anderson! In the ring, Anderson has the mic. Anderson says last week, we saw Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page sign on the dotted line for their match at Starrcade for the WCW World Heavyweight title. It gave Arn the grand idea, to treat the World Tag Team titles with the same respect. So instead of signing this deal back in his office, we are going to do it live in front of the WCW fans. Anderson then calls out the challengers, BG James & Sean O’Haire!
As with their matches last week, James and O’Haire come out to O’Haire’s theme. As they enter the ring, Anderson then says “champs, you’re turn.” And here comes the music of The Foundation, as the WCW World Tag Team Champions, Kanyon & Mike Awesome stroll to the ring. Anderson invites the challengers to sign first. James grabs a mic and says he has something to say. He remind The Foundation just who he is. He’s the man who has come to WCW, rid himself of his demons, an is looking to bring some respect to his family. But, he’s also still the guy who is a 5-time World Tag Team champion. He’s a guy who has beat the very best in tag team wrestling. And he’s the guy who is now backed up by possibly the most unhinged, sadistic, dominating force in professional wrestling, “The Psycho Killer” Sean O’Haire. At Starrcade, James is going to remind everyone exactly who he is, when he and O’Haire beat the hell out of Kanyon and Awesome and take gold away from The Foundation.
With that, James grabs a pen and signs the contract on the table I the ring. O’Haire takes a slow step forward and does the same before tossing the contract across the table at Kanyon & Awesome. Kanyon flinches, but Awesome continues to stare a hole through O’Haire. Kanyon picks up the contract and quickly signs it, and holds it to Awesome who does the same. Kanyon puts the contract down, but picks up a mic.
He says he has one simple question for everyone. Who betta than Kanyon & Mike Awesome? As soon as he stops speaking, Awesome lunges forward and attacks Sean O’Haire, as James & Kanyon begin brawling as well. Anderson & Flair waste to time calling for security, as referees and security spill into the ring and rip the two teams apart. Ric Flair grabs a mic and is laughing. He says this is exactly the fire the WCW President likes to see, he says at Starrcade, The Foundation will need to put up, or shut up, Wooo!
Mysterio puts on an absolute clinic here, completely dictating the pace from the opening bell. Kwee Wee tries to slow him down with a few stiff forearms, but Rey just flies all over the place, hitting a gorgeous springboard arm drag before a dropkick sends Kwee Wee staggering into the ropes. Rey doesn't waste a second—he hits the ropes and hooks the 6-1-9 perfectly, leaving Kwee Wee totally out on his feet. Rey immediately springs right back up to the top turnbuckle, takes flight, and nails a West Coast Pop to get the definitive 3 count.
Kwee Wee can go, and I’ll continue to remind people of that because no matter how many times he impresses, everyone forgets. Mysterio looked great and is obviously better, but Kwee Wee has more to offer. Mysterio builds some momentum and continues his masked return.
We have a promo from Diamond Dallas Page somewhere backstage. He goes over his history in WCW, dating back to his time as a manager in a pink caddy, getting into the business and everyone telling him he was too old, then climbing the ranks to the pinnacle of this sport. He says DDP is not only The Foundation of the WCW, he’s the top of the mountain, and no one is going to knock him off the top.
Kidman dominates the bulk of this contest, using his veteran experience to ground the younger London with hard backbreakers and a deep chinlock. The Bakersfield crowd gets fully behind London as he starts a spirited comeback, ducking right under a Kidman clothesline to snap off a Dropsault. London goes for broke, scaling the ropes for a spectacular Slingshot Moonsault, but Kidman shifts out of the way at the last possible second, causing London to crash and burn hard. As London stumbles back up to his feet, Kidman hooks his arms from behind and hits a Kid Krusher for the pinfall.
Great cruiserweight action back-to-back and it’s a steady reminder just how fun flying around the ring is. London showed a lot here, more then I realized he had if I’m telling the truth. His selling has been great in his WCW run so far, but tonight he showed he’s no slouch on offense either. Kidman seemed fired up by the young blood too and reminded us how great he can be. Great match.
Kidman is celebrating in the ring as Chavo Guerrero Jr. comes out sarcastically clapping. He gets into the ring and Kidman seems weary. Chavo then grabs London and plants him with a Gory Bomb. Kidman smiles, climbs to the top rope and signals for a Shooting Star Press, but the music of Shane Helms hits! Helms is on his way to the ring and Kidman and Chavo are ready to meet him. The two bad guys lay boots to Helms and seem to have recommitted to some sort of alliance. Here comes Mysterio! Mysterio dodges an attack from Kidman and takes it to Guerrero. As Kidman goes to grab Mysterio, he ducks out of the way and Kidman instead lays Guerrero out with a Clothesline. Guerrero pops up furiously and attacks Kidman! So much for the alliance. Chavo and Kidman are brawling on the outside as Mysterio picks up the Cruiserweight title and looks at it. Helms is standing now and rips the title out of Mysterio’s hands and the two begin to argue in the ring. Mysterio grabs the belt back, and Helms throws a punch and we have a brawl between everyone as Styles throws us to a commercial.
We are back in Arn’s Office. Joanie Laurer is shaking Anderson’s hand and then we pan out further to show Ric Flair watching from the background. Joanie says she won’t be held responsible for what she does to Corino at Starrcade and leaves the office. Arn holds up what looks like a contract to Flair. Arn jokes he wouldn’t want to fight Joanie, and then there’s a knock on the door. Corino walks in and grabs the contract out of Anderson’s hand. He puts it down and signs it fast and then tosses it at Flair who steps out of the way as the contract bounces off the wall. Corino says this whole situation is ridiculous and he should be in a championship match at Starrcade, but he understands, Anderson & Flair see in him a guy who will overshadow their pathetic legacies, so they want to hold him back. Corino then says at Starrcade, the Era of The King of Old School officially begins and walks out.
We have another open challenge by Jazz, and it looks like Leia Meow is back for the night to answer the call. The bell rings, and the two lock up, and Jazz powers Meow to the ground. Jazz then grabs Meow and hoists her up before dropping her across her knee, bending her in half. Jazz quickly transitions into an STF and Meow taps.
Squash! Jazz needs a real dance partner.
Jazz immediately hops out of the ring and gets in Jerry Lawler’s face again, yelling at him calling him a creep and saying bimbos will never belong in the ring. Lawler stands up and has a mic. He tells Jazz he thought she might come confront him again, and while The King has done many things, hitting a woman isn’t something he’s prepared to do. “But she is” Lawler motions to the stage and a cat roars as some music hits. It’s The Kat! Or as the screen says, Kitti Carter! Carter is strutting out to the ring and Jazz slides back in to greet her. Kitti ducks a wild right hand from Jazz, then grabs the Women’s title and smashes Jazz in the head with it causing her to spill to the outside. Kitti poses with the title as Lawler enters the ring and raises her hand sending us to commercial.
Shark Boy starts things off by literally circling Corporal Cajun on the mat like a great white, while La Sharka busts out some goofy deep-sea dance in the middle of the ring. Not to be outdone, General Rection gathers the Misfits on the apron and orders them to drop and give him twenty, leading to the whole team doing military push-ups in perfect unison.
A wrestling match eventually does happen. Cajun snaps off a clean arm-drag on Shark Boy, but Shark Boy slides out of a headlock and catches him with a back suplex for a 2. La Sharka tags in as does the General. La sharka chops Rection into the corner, but the General shrugs it off, fires back with a big clothesline, and hits a running body avalanche that shakes the ring. Rection tags in Bombshell and Shark Girl meets her as the men take to the apron. Shark Girl & Bombshell tie it up, and Bombshell manages to snap off a quick bulldog on Shark Girl!
The Portraits of Poise suddenly march down the ramp to ringside. Rection is the only one who sees them coming and goes to intercept them on the ramp, but Stacy Keibler sprays something in his eyes! Hair spray according to Joey Styles! Corporal Cajun rushes over to help as the Portraits of Poise reteat up the ramp. Blonde Bombshell goes for a tag but finally sees her partners missing. Shark Girl capitalizes on the absolute chaos, sneaking up from behind to roll her up in a tight schoolgirl hook to steal the three-count.
Fun little midcard thing there. Nothing great, nothing bad, entertaining either way. The MIA vs. PoP feud continues, but the Shark Squad is now not so secretly on a little winning streak and gaining momentum and crowd reactions as the weeks go on.
The Portraits of Poise retreat up the ramp as the Misfits In Action regroup at ringside and the Shark Squad celebrate in the ring. Stacy Keibler as a mic and says the Portraits of Poise will show the Misfits in Action just who the dominant group in this company is at Starrcade, and tonight was just a taste of what they can expect.
Amos Hersch flattens Marc Mero right from the opening bell with a big running cross body that crushes Mero. Amos begins jawing with the fans, and turns back into a visious right hook from Mero, staggering the big man! Mero continues unloading with a series of quick punches that stagger the big man into the corner. Mero looks to hoist him up for the TKO, but the size of Amos causes him to collapse flat onto the canvas under the big man's weight. Hersch lands a massive running body splash onto the downed Mero, then drags his limp body over to the corner. Hersch climbs to the middle rope and comes crashing down with a devastating Deadweight Elbow to secure the win in his Nitro debut!
Amos has arrived on Nitro. It was a squash. I never know really what to say. Mero has fallen to enhancement talent level, which really doesn’t surprise me, but I thought maybe he had something more to offer. Now its Amos’ time to really show what he can do.
We are back in the ring with Ric Flair! He’s everywhere tonight! RVD’s music hits before Flair can do anything and RVD is on his way to the ring. We now have the music of Lance Storm and Storm is out with Dawn Marie, but stops at the top of the ramp. Flair has a mic in hand. He says last week, Rob Van Dam evened up the best 5 series with Lance Storm and won back the WCW United States championship, so Ric Flair is here to announce the time and place of the fifth and final match. Starrcade is only 3 weeks away, so Flair has the honor… of seeing the fifth and final match between RVD and Lance Storm happen… NEXT WEEK ON NITRO! LIVE FROM TRENTON, NEW JERSEY! WOO! Flair shakes Rob Van Dam’s hand then motions to the center of the ring. RVD takes it and does his thumb taunt along with the fans as Lance Storm stares on from the top of the ramp. I mean, seriously stares on from the top of the ramp.
We are backstage with Booker T in a nondescript space. He cuts a promo similar to Page’s early in the show. He goes over his history, reforming from a life of crime and finding his purpose alongside his brother Stevie Ray in wrestling as Harlem Heat. He then rose up, became the People’s Champion and defied the odds to become a 4-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. At Starrcade, Booker T will become the 5-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion! Sucka!
They lock up right at the bell, and you can tell the respect is there, but D'Lo isn't holding anything back tonight. He goes right to work, catching Booker with a shoulder block, hitting the ropes, and dropping a heavy leg drop right across the chest. Booker tries to leapfrog him on the next sequence, but D'Lo catches him mid-air and plants him with a massive Sky High! The ref slides in for a quick two-count, but Booker kicks out.
Booker gets to his feet, fires up the Bakersfield crowd, and starts trading stiff right hands with D'Lo in the middle of the ring. Booker gains the upper hand, whips D'Lo across the squared circle, and unloads with that beautiful, textbook crescent kick that sends D'Lo staggering back into the turnbuckles. Booker goes for the Harlem Sidekick, but D'Lo ducks it, hits a quick dropkick to the back of the knee, and climbs up to the top turnbuckle. He positions himself and flies off with a huge Lo Down frog splash, but Booker rolls out of the way at the absolute last split-second! D'Lo hits the canvas and crashes hard. As a dazed D'Lo slowly stumbles back up to his feet, Booker hooks him under the arm, hoists him up, and drives him straight down with a heavy Book End to secure the three-count.
Booker wasn’t going to lose here. D’Lo secretly becoming the victim of the main event is kind of sad, but he also got some great time to shine.
After the match, Booker and D’Lo shake hands as D’Lo walks up the ramp and gives Booker a thumbs up and leaves. Booker celebrates when he eats a Diamond Cutter out of nowhere! DDP is here! DDP is laying the boots to Booker T, and he’s not alone, the rest of The Foundation has come out of the audience and are in the ring attacking Booker as well. Calvary time! Here comes James & O’Haire to take the battle to The Foundation! They are not alone! Helms, Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero Jr. have all appeared out of nowhere and join in the massive brawl. The faces eventually clean house sending The Foundation, and Chavo, to the outside. Booker, James, O’Haire, Helms & Mysterio all stand tall as Nitro fades to black.