It's December 19th and Starrcade is just over two weeks away! WCW Nitro is LIVE from the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey! It's time to Party Hard, big boom goes the pyro. Joey Styles & Jerry “The King” Lawler are on the call.
It’s déjà vu to open Nitro as we are greeted by the WCW President, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair! Flair is stylin’ and profilin’ to the ring. He gets in the ring and has a mic in hand.
Booker T’s music hits first, and the challenger for DDP’s World Heavyweight title is out first. He’s in the ring and shakes Flair’s hand. As he does so, BANG! Explodes into the arena, and here comes the Champion. DDP is in the ring and slouches into the corner.
Diamond Dallas Page begins to laugh and walks right up into Booker’s face. He holds the title up and starts taunting Booker to make a move.
DDP immediately looks angry and now Booker & DDP stand nose to nose. Booker makes a slight flinch, and DDP drops to his butt to dodge the imaginary shot. Booker laughs. And grabs the microphone from Flair. “I’ll see you at Starrcade… SUCKA!”
We cut backstage where Arn Anderson is in his office watching the announcement. Curt Hennig is standing next to the Commissioner. Hennig says he appreciates everything Arn is doing for the business, and he wants to thank him for the opportunity to have another match at Starrcade. Arn Anderson says it was his pleasure. He’s had nearly everyone barge into his office and demand a match at Starrcade, he just wants to thank Hennig for actually having an idea. The 25-Grand Gauntlet, where 25 wrestlers enter the ring, and the last man standing receives $25,000. Arn is just upset he didn’t come up with the idea himself. Anderson then reminds Hennig to get to the ring for the special preview 10-Man Gauntlet, next!
Participants: Buff Bagwell, Chuck Palumbo, Crowbar, Curt Hennig, D’Lo Brown, Evan Karagias, Guido Maritato, Jason Jett, Kaz Hayashi & Kwee Wee
The bell rings and the ring is absolutely packed with bodies flying everywhere. It’s an immediate cluster of punches, chops, and corner stomps as everyone tries to find breathing room. Early on, Kaz Hayashi is fighting off Evan Karagias near the ropes when suddenly, Akio, the former Yun Yang, dashes down the ramp! He slides into the ring unnoticed, sprints right across the canvas, and blasts his former partner and friend Hayashi from behind, dumping Kaz over the top rope to the floor! Hayashi is eliminated and looks completely stunned as Akio makes hasty retreat up the ramp. The bodies keep flying over the top as Kwee Wee, Karagias, Crowbar, Jett, and Bagwell are all sent packing over the next few minutes. We are down to our final four: Curt Hennig, D’Lo Brown, Chuck Palumbo, and Little Guido. Stamboli emerges from the back and hops onto the apron to cause a major distraction. D’Lo goes to swing at Stamboli, but Guido takes advantage and dumps D’Lo over the top! Hennig tries to fight off both FBI members, but Stamboli grabs his leg from the outside, allowing Palumbo to clothesline Hennig right over the ropes! With only Palumbo and Guido left, the FBI has won it. Palumbo looks at Guido, gives him a nod, and willingly steps over the top rope down to the floor, handing “Little” Guido Maritato the ultimate victory.
I like this gauntlet idea as it gets more guys on the Starrcade card. Surprise tonight was Guido Maritato winning and getting some momentum, but it was thanks to the numbers game with his FBI cohorts helping him win, which sets up a nice subplot of teamwork actually mattering which is always teased but seemingly never the case in these matches.
Backstage, we see Billy Kidman. He is with Scott Hudson. Hudson asks Kidman how he feels going into Starrcade. Kidman reiterates that he’s not only the champion of the cruiserweight division, but the cornerstone of it. Without him, it all crumbles to dust. Mysterio walks up and says they haven’t had a chance to catch up since he’s been back. Kidman scoffs and says he’s been busy with his champion’s schedule. Mysterio smiles and says maybe he could take that burden off Kidman’s shoulders and walks off.
Lawler unplugs his headset and leaves Styles alone on commentary to join his wife. The bell rings and the women start us off. Jazz immediately overpowers Kitti, shoving her into the corner and tossing her across the ring by her hair like a ragdoll. Jazz is flexing and talking trash, completely dominating the opening minute. But as Jazz bends over to pick her up again, Kitti sneaks around behind her, grabs the waistband of Jazz's trunks, and gives the Women's Champion a massive, running wedgie before slapping her butt! The crowd erupts as Jazz is absolutely enraged. Jazz loses her cool and starts swinging wild, missing wildly. Kitti ducks a clothesline, trips Jazz up by the ankles, and quickly rolls her up for a tight two-count! Jazz kicks out in a complete panic and immediately tags in Rodney Mack, forcing the King to step between the ropes. Lawler and Mack lock up, trading stiff right hands in the center of the ring. Mack catches Lawler with a big spinebuster and starts stomping away, clearly taking control of the match. Seeing her husband in trouble, Kitti begins blowing kisses at Mack. Mack completely stops, distracted by Kitti. That minor lapse is all Lawler needs to regroup. As Mack turns back around, Lawler kicks him square in the gut and drops him with a Piledriver! Lawler hooks the leg and pins him for the 3.
That wasn’t really wrestling. But it was modestly entertaining, but its very WWF-like to me and it just didn’t seem to click with the fans in attendance. Kitti gets a decent reaction which is her only saving grace.
Back from commercial and the “King of Old School” Steve Corino is coming to the ring. He isn’t dressed to compete so it looks like promo time. Corino has a mic and says at Starrcade, his talents are being wasted as he is being forced to wrestle a woman. Corino loves women though, and doesn’t know how he can bring himself to physically dismantle one. He loves how women look, how they move, and… how they cook and clean! Corino begins laughing. Corino says Joanie Laurer has spent a lifetime trying to achieve what only comes natural to a man, to a man like Steve Corino, and at Starrcade, Corino might just treat her like a man and send her back to the kitchen where she belongs. Corino begins laughing again, when out of nowhere, Joanie Laurer appears behind him in the ring. The crowd roars. Corino is oblivious and says, “So you all agree with me?” Just as Joanie delivers a massive low blow to Corino! Corino is hunched over and almost as fast, Joanie has set him up for a Powerbomb! Up and down! Corino is laid out. Laurer puts her foot on Corino’s chest and stands tall over her opponent.
We quickly are backstage and back in Arn’s Office. We see the Misfits In Action & Portraits of Poise are all there. We see Keibler signing a contract and Arn thanks all of them and is excited to see their match at Starrcade. Stacy says it won’t be a match, it will be a lesson… in Poise! She then turns and walks out, quickly followed by Stasiak & Jindrak. General Rection then says at Starrcade, the Misfits will shut up those pretty faced pricks, and shakes Arn’s hand before yelling “March!” and the Misfits In Action comically march out of Arn’s Office. Arn then turns his back and is looking at some stuff on his wall when we see a Shark Fin “swimming” by the contract on his desk. A hand reaches up and pulls the contract off the desk. Seconds later, the contract is thrown back onto the desk with the noise finally getting Arn’s attention. He turns and looks at the contract and holds it up, it's now signed by “The Shark Squad” and Arn looks confused. He looks up and is now eye-to-eye with La Sharka, Shark Boy & Shark Girl. Anderson looks perplexed as La Sharka randomly starts dancing and Shark Boy & Shark Girl begin “swimming” in circles around him as he does.
Rock’n’Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. The Foundation (Kanyon & Mike Awesome) (c)
The legendary Rock 'n' Roll Express are introduced and hyped as 2001 inductees into the WCW Hall of Fame, and the Trenton crowd gives them a massive standing ovation. Ricky Morton starts the match against Kanyon, showing that the old veterans haven't lost a step with a series of quick arm drags and a classic double dropkick with Robert Gibson that sends the champions scrambling to the outside. Back in the ring, the experience keeps the legends ahead for a few minutes, but Mike Awesome eventually catches Morton on a crossbody attempt and brutally slams him against the turnbuckle to turn the tide. The Foundation takes total control, punishing Morton with heavy strikes and isolating him from his partner. Awesome hits a massive running clothesline in the corner and tags Kanyon, who connects with a leg drop for a close two-count. Morton fights through the pain and finally makes the hot tag to Gibson! Gibson enters the ring firing lefts and rights, knocking Kanyon down and hitting a back body drop on Awesome. The match breaks down into a four-man brawl. Gibson throws Kanyon out of the ring, but as he turns back, Awesome blindsides him. Ricky Morton tags back in blindly, attempting a sunset flip on Awesome, but Awesome blocks it, pulls Morton up by his throat, and hoists him high into the air, Awesome Bomb! Awesome impacts him hard into the canvas, hooks both legs, and gets the pinfall to retain the titles.
Hall of Famers or not, it really doesn’t look like the R’n’R’s careers are over! A great little match here. A nice showcase for the Hall of Fame which has largely been not much more than a footnote thus far. Foundation wins and we get a title defense which seems like we haven’t had it a while.
The Foundation isn’t done. Kanyon quickly grabs Gibson and drops him with a Flatliner after the match. Kanyon then slides outside and grabs a table and brings it into the ring as Awesome lays boots to Morton & Gibson. Kanyon sets it up and seemingly tells Awesome to destroy Ricky Morton with it. Awesome looks like he’s going for an Awesome Bomb again, but BG James & Sean O’Haire are running out! They take the fight to The Foundation. O’Haire is quick to get the advantage and has Kanyon on his shoulders, looking for a Death Spiral through the table! Awesome grabs Kanyon’s feet and pulls him down, and the champions quickly escape to the outside and up the ramp, yelling at their challengers. James helps up the Rock’n’Roll Express as O’Haire shouts back at The Foundation.
We are, somewhere, and familiar music is playing and the camera is panning past a bunch of sunglasses, now cowboy hats and tasseled jackets all on display. The camera pans back further and it looks like we are in the WCW Hall of Fame & Museum and standing there looking over a display of the “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s WCW career is the Macho Man himself!
Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Lance Storm w/Dawn Marie
The tension is palpable as the referee displays the United States Championship belt before the opening bell, with the raucous Trenton crowd completely split down the middle. Just like their previous encounters, both men waste absolutely no time, immediately locking up and trading lightning-fast technical counters. Storm goes for a side headlock, but RVD pushes him off, drops down, and leapfrogs a returning Storm. As Storm hits the opposite ropes, RVD goes for a spinning wheel kick, but Storm ducks it, grabs RVD's leg, and attempts a snap drop-toe hold. RVD instantly counters by flipping out onto his feet, only for Storm to narrowly duck a follow-up step-over heel kick. They finish the sequence in a mirror-image standoff, bringing the fans to their feet just like their classic first bout in Philly.
Storm quickly shifts gears to slow the pace down. He catches a charging Van Dam with a snap powerslam and immediately goes back to the well, executing a brutal dragon screw and a series of targeted dropkicks to systematically work over RVD's lower back and left knee. Storm locks in a butterfly lock, forcing the crowd to rally behind the champion as he screams in pain. RVD eventually battles back to his feet, slips out of the hold, and hits a desperate enzuigiri that dazes the challenger. Van Dam mounts a comeback, hitting a springboard side kick, a split-legged moonsault, and a thunderous Rolling Thunder for a two-count.
RVD rolls immediately to the apron and scales the turnbuckle for the Five Star Frog Splash, looking to end the series right here. However, Dawn Marie runs down and jumps onto the apron to screech at the official. RVD hesitates, and that slight delay is all Storm needs to find his feet. Storm kicks the referee into the ropes, causing RVD to lose his balance and crotch himself hard on the top turnbuckle. Storm springs to the top rope, looking for the same top-rope superplex that won him the gold in Tyler, but this time RVD punches his way out of it. RVD blocks the superplex and goes for a leverage roll-through, the same move that won him Match 4, but Storm shifts his weight and counters it into a Canadian Maple Leaf attempt!
RVD frantically kicks his way out of the hold with his free leg, and both men stand up, completely blind with rage. They start trading absolute bombs in the middle of the ring. The referee steps between them, trying to break up the wild punches, but RVD shoves him out of the way to get back at Storm. The referee tries to restore order a second time, but this time Storm shoves the official hard into the corner. Refusing to yield an inch in this grueling war of attrition, both men completely ignore the rules, swinging wildly and spilling out to the floor. The referee has completely lost control of the situation; he gets back to his feet, calls for the bell, and disqualifies both men, throwing the ultimate tiebreaker out as a no contest!
What do you need to say about WCW Cruiserweight matches? They are always so fun, but there is always something holding them slightly back from that next level most of the time. I enjoyed the idea of Mysterio & Helms getting along going into Starrcade contrasting with the heels not being able to get along.
After the match, Storm & RVD continue brawling all around the ringside area. Eventually officials and referees spill out to pull them apart, but they won’t stop. Here comes the big guns! Ric Flair and Arn Anderson! The two pinnacles of power in WCW are enough to eventually calm things down with Anderson and several officials holding RVD back while Flair has more dragging Storm up the ramp as WCW Nitro fades to black!