With Halloween Havoc on the horizon, WCW is riding high after its first ratings victory over WWE’s flagship program Monday Night Raw. Two weeks ago, WCW Monday Nitro’s Nielsen Rating of 1.9 was looking up at WWE’s 2.7. Last week, they flipped the script with WCW earning that 2.7 while Raw dropped to a 1.9. This was a massive deal for two reasons:
1. Monday Night Raw had been on the air for over two years at this point. They ran unopposed every week without a lick of competition in sight. Now, only four weeks after WCW Monday Nitro made its debut opposite Raw, they were no longer the highest-rated wrestling program on television. This poses a genuine threat.
2. Eric Bischoff and the higher-ups at World Championship Wrestling cared about television ratings above all else. Ratings drove their biggest revenue stream: advertising. It was the exact opposite of WWE’s business philosophy at the time. While WWE certainly cared about ratings, advertising dollars, and merchandise revenue; pay-per-view was where they sought to make the bulk of their money. It’s why their performers were paid the larger chunks of their annual income based on how the pay-per-views did – a practice still used today. WCW’s guys were paid a flat fee for a certain number of dates – which will eventually be expanded upon when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall make the jump to Atlanta in 1996. That being understood, you can see how huge this was for WCW.
With their first big win in their back pockets, it’s now up to WCW to follow up on that momentum. They are again going head-to-head with Raw, which is pre-taped this week. WCW promised a huuuuuge main event: Lex Luger putting his WCW career on the line against “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Its competition? Bret “The Hitman” Hart goes one-on-one with the man who stole his pink and black leather jacket: Jean-Pierre Lafiette. It’s your ratings battle to lose, WCW.
Detonating Nitro: Episode 5 – Off with his ‘Stache!
9:00 PM – Explosions, fire, and the usual. It’s followed by the RETURN of the helicopter shot of the city in which they are working: beautiful Denver, Colorado! The arenas seem to be getting bigger each and every week. They went from a mall, to a high school gymnasium, to a college sports auditorium, to a small concert venue, to a big boy arena. It’s like playing career mode in Fight Night: Round 3.
9:00:45 PM – Bischoff hypes the matches for tonight while pyro continues to go off dangerously close to the fans and WHOA! Bischoff just threw in that Ric Flair and Arn Anderson are going to wrestle TONIGHT!! Holy smokes! I guess I really do need to watch WCW: Saturday Night. That or they are just flying by the seat of their pants. This is more or less happening unadvertised. They didn’t have the luxury of a weekly YouTube sit-down with Nick Bockwinkel to make matches for the following week.
The camera pans down to the announce booth where we find Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Steve “Mongo” McMichael, and Pepe… who decided to wear those crazy glasses that make it look like his eyes are falling out of his head. What a crack up.
9:01 PM – Mongo says some things that aren’t worth noting. Bobby Heenan says “things are going to get hot and heavy” which could double as sexual innuendo. Speaking of “sexual innuendo,” Ric Flair shows up at the broadcast booth out of nowhere. He steals Bischoff’s headset and goes off on a rant. He yells “DOUBLE A!” a bunch of times, saying he’s going to meet him in the ring. WOO!!! That is the kind of unpredictability I am looking for. The past four weeks have been so uniform that this is a nice breath of fresh air, even if it only lasted a few seconds. GET HYPE!
9:01:50 PM – Bisch gets us ready for the first match of our double main event. Now naturally you would think the combination of Flair showing up to plug his match with Arn Anderson to start the show, the match not really being advertised the week before, it being a rematch, and Lex Luger putting his WCW career on the line would mean that Flair vs. Arn is up next. You would be 100% justified in thinking that, but you need to remember one important fact: This is WCW. Sometimes, they do things like it’s Opposite Day.
Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage is up next.
9:02 PM – We go to the highlights of the Savage/Luger promo from two weeks ago where they say “big boys” a bunch of times and Savage hits his “there’s no bigger boy than the Macho Man” line before slapping Luger in the face. That clip jumps to the Monday Night Massacre where The Giant chokeslammed everything in his path. I’m talking Savage, jobbers, Alex Wright, Lex Luger, MTV’s Dan Cortese, Spud Webb, two-year-old Ultimate Fighter Drooly Lips Jackson (who has fists like little empanadas and he’s my best friend), and all the Stefon jokes I can steal.
9:04 PM – Lex Luger is out first. Eric Bischoff refers to the match as “our opening main event” which is contradictory. The oiled-up Luger flexes his pecs and tags hands with the fans. Meanwhile, Easy E plugs the WCW Hotline where Mike Tenay will give you all of the Raw spoilers for this week. Mongo suggests to viewers that they “put it on the speaker phone and let the parents listen in.” I'm 90% sure Bischoff kicked him under the table.
9:05 PM – Savage is up next. As he makes his way to the ring, they cut to a shot of this “Macho Fan” who is, in a word, INCREDIBLE…
Three things: 1. That purple outfit. 2. That lady’s face on the left. 3. That guy has better seats than the classy-looking people who appear to be dressed for the fight-to-the-death tournament held in Best of the Best 2.
9:06 PM – Seriously, that’s the best thing to ever happen to that guy. Luger and Mach’ grill each other HARD in the ring. They’re getting all kinds of pumped up. The bell rings and here we go. They lock up, jockeying for position, each man doing all he can to out-muscle the other to gain control, but neither will let up as they ricochet off all four sides of the ring. They continue to hang onto the collar and elbow tie-up while falling through the ropes to the outside. I once saw a friend get knocked out cold doing the same thing at the ECW Arena. He clearly wasn’t as skilled as Mach’ and Luger. (There also weren’t protective mats on the floor.) They get to their feet, still not letting go of each other. The camera goes to commercial while they continue to work the opening lock-up on the outside. That’s pretty goddamn impressive, if you ask me.
9:10 PM – Before we return, WCW airs a commercial for Halloween Havoc. I’m all for a promotion running advertisements for upcoming shows and other ventures. I’ll never understand for the life of me why people get so angry with WWE for plugging Total Divas, the upcoming pay-per-view, the WWE Network, the WWE App, and all the other things they do. Raw is one big advertisement disguised as a wrestling show. Always has been. WCW is doing the same thing here, but what DOES bother me a little is when they air an ad for their own upcoming product when we’re in the middle of a match. If the show is live, there should be a sense of urgency to get back to the action. After the matches, between segments, advertise all you want, but so far we’ve only seen the opening lock-up. We want to know what’s happening in the ring. If you're going to disguise your infomercial as a wrestling show, at least do it in a way that makes sense. WWE and TNA both do it today, but no one has ever done it to the point that I want to show up at their headquarters with a torch and pitchfork. I’m just nitpicking.
9:11 PM – We come back to find Mach’ hopping over the top rope, back into the ring. He’s inviting Luger in there with him as he paces on the outside. Bischoff explains that most of the action has taken place at ringside. Luger hops over the top rope as well. They lock up again, but this time Lex shoves Mach’ hard into the corner. He flexes just to let you know he's there. Mongo calls it a “match made in heaven for anyone who is a fan of wrestling.” Wrong, Mongo. THIS is the “Match Made in Heaven…”
Savage comes back and shoves Luger, who returns the favor with a slap to the face. Payback from two weeks ago has clearly been on Lex’s mind and I like it. THAT is continuity. Not to come off like a chump, Mach’ kicks The Total Package in the gut, sends him into the corner, then drops him with a back elbow. That’s an appropriate response if I ever saw one.
9:12 PM – Luger powders to the outside, but Mach’ chases him, grabbing a handful of hair. Savage tries for a suplex out on the floor, but after some tug-of-war, Lex reverses it into a neckbreaker. He tosses Mach’ back into the ring and follows. As he tries to scrape him off the mat, Savage surprises him with a small package, but Luger quickly kicks out. Macho Man still hasn’t gotten rid of the cobwebs, so Luger retaliates by gorilla pressing him, then slamming him down hard on the canvas. The Lex Express is all gassed up and ready to go.
9:13 PM – See what I did there? Instead of going for a pin, Luger lets Savage get up, then tries to send him off for a back body drop. Savage counters with a kick to the shoulder. He tries to shoot Luger off himself, but is reversed. Lex tries a hip-toss, but Savage must have been watching tape from Alex Wright’s victory last week, because he turns it into a backslide.
Well… he tries to anyway. Savage has the arms hooked and drops to a knee for leverage. This is some old school shit right here. Luger, being the jacked powerhouse, isn’t going over all that easy. He’s fighting his way out of it. He fights so hard that he reverses the momentum and now Savage is the one who might fall victim to the pinfall attempt. Mach’ has other ideas though. He adjusts his weight and arms slightly, which allows him to try to pull Luger over again only this time Lex is closer to the ropes, so he hooks his foot on the middle rope to keep Savage from forcing his shoulders to the mat. Genius.
That’s enough for Savage to wear himself out and for Luger to reverse the way their arms are hooked to pull Savage’s shoulders to the canvas for a two count. They just worked a backslide for over a minute. Take notes, young aspiring wrestlers. Dipping into this old bag of tricks can set you apart from every other spot monkey on the indies.
9:14 PM – Savage is up to his feet. He grabs a headlock, but Luger shoves him off before dropping down. Savage goes over, hits the ropes, and comes back to find Luger waiting for a shoulder tackle which sends both guys back to the mat. So far, I’m seeing that these two are more evenly matched than anyone thought.
9:15 PM – Mach’ is the first to his feet. He notices Luger is still down, so he rushes to the top rope to try to hit the flying elbow. Lex is up though, so Savage adjusts to look for his double ax handle. Luger was ready and met him with a punch to the breadbasket. Lex tries to follow up, but in an act of desperation to give himself a minute to recover, Mach’ grabs Lugers tights and sends him outside.
Because he’s a few different kinds of crazy, Savage is on the top rope again. He dives off with that double ax handle, crashing down onto Luger, who hits the barricade. Savage goes, “Oh, did that taste good? Here. Have another bite.” Then he slams Luger’s throat across the barricade.
Luger, with unbelievable resiliency, fends off an attempt from Savage to send him into the ring post. Mach’ eats it instead. In a confusing turn of events, they both crawl back into the ring. Luger turns his back to Mach’, who is now on his feet in the corner and fully recovered. Savage throws a high knee into Luger’s spine, sending him into the opposite corner. I say it’s “confusing” because Savage’s resiliency is more unbelievable than Luger’s.
9:16 PM – There’s a bit of a clusterf#$% in the corner, which results in some reversed Irish whips. This leads to Luger slamming into Pee-Wee in the corner, bumping the ref in solid fashion. The stunned Luger walks right into a scoop slam from Mach’. He heads to the top rope! Is this it?!?! Is Luger’s WCW return over as quickly as it started?!?! Savage raises the arms, leaps, flexes the big elbow, and DOWN he comes onto Lex Luger! He makes the cover! The referee could count to TEN if he wanted to, but he’s in Queersville.
Mongo chuckles after asking, “Where’s the ref?” as if saying, “Aw those phony pro wrestlers are trying to pull a fast one on us again.”
9:17 PM – Savage grabs the limp carcass of Pee-Wee, trying to revive him, but HERE COMES THE GIANT! He grabs Mach’ by the throat. MAN, he’s big. The chokeslam is delivered with nothing but sheer brute force. I guess this is his apology to Luger for what he did last week. The 7-foot, 400 lb. monster slides out of the ring, completely unnoticed by the referee, and heads to the locker room.
Instead of going for the pin, the dazed Luger intends to win it his way. He grabs Savage’s dead weight, throws him over his shoulders, and stretches him with the Torture Rack. Pee-Wee checks Savage’s vitals three times and calls for the bell. He’s out. Lex Luger can stay gainfully employed by WCW.
In a tremendous sell-job by Lex, he slumps to the canvas as soon as the bell rings, releasing the hold. That’s a pro move. He even struggled to get Savage into The Rack because he was still feeling the damage done by the elbow. Those are the little things I love about wrestling; the little things that allow the viewer to suspend disbelief. Pee-Wee even raises Lex’s hand while he’s still down on the mat. Both Savage and Luger look like they’ve been through a war, which is what this match was supposed to be based on the way the feud was set up.
Luger’s music hits as we go to commercial. Hot start to the show. That match was exactly what it needed to be. It keeps Luger in WCW while not taking any steam off Savage.
9:20 PM – We’re back and it’s time for my favorite part of the show: The WCW: Saturday Night preview! Tell us what to expect, Eric!
“This Saturday night on TBS Flyin’ Brian and Arn Anderson take on Bunkhouse Buck and Dirty Dick Slater! We’re gonna find out more about Johnny B. Badd and why he missed his title shot last week with Sting. Plus Hacksaw Jim Duggan takes on Big Bubba! 6:05 eastern on TBS!”
Action f#$%ing packed!
9:21 PM – The announcers continue to put over The Giant’s reign of terror. Bischoff wonders why The Giant didn’t go after Luger this time. That’s a valid question. Before anyone can answer, Bischoff realizes music is playing that isn’t supposed to be playing. Heenan starts dancing as Bischoff explains that Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko was scheduled for now, but he’s hearing disco. Uh oh.
9:21:15 PM – The camera cuts to the entrance where Disco Inferno is putting on a dancing clinic. He’s enjoying the shit out of himself until generic Mexican music plays. It might as well have been “La Cucaracha.” Disco is bugging out as a young Eddie Guerrero walks up behind him. Disco begs off as Eddie yells, “THIS IS MY TIME!” Disco takes his party to the back, which allows Eddie to get his mullet into the game. Bischoff drops a TIWTBBP to push Eddie as the newest addition the WCW roster.
9:22 PM – His opponent, “The Man of 1,000 Holds” Dean Malenko, is out next. Malenko hits the ring with as much intensity and personality as… I dunno… a big bag of dirt… or something. That was always his biggest drawback – and I don’t want to hear, “Why does every wrestler need to have a personality?!?!” Lack of a personality is what keeps guys from breaking through the glass ceiling for a number of reasons.
9:23 PM – Bischoff sends it to a highlight of Guerrero’s victory from the night before on WCW’s Sunday night program Main Event. The clip shows Guerrero throwing a brainbuster on Jushin Liger because the young talent initiation process in WCW involves beating Jushin Liger. Dusty Rhodes and Tony Schiavone were on commentary for that one. The final part of the clip is Eddie delivering his signature Frog Splash, which Schiavone emphatically calls “THE JACKNIFE!” Apparently, Tony didn’t realize the competition’s World Champion had a finisher of the same name which looked nothing like a Frog Splash. I remember thinking people exaggerated the way Schiavone incorrectly identified moves. I clearly thought wrong.
9:24 PM – The opening bell rings and anyone watching should expect a session of pure technical wrestling. It’s a true catch-as-catch-can contest where they provide us with reversal after reversal. Mongo says, “These guys fly around more than a couple of vultures flying over some dead meat.” Not great, but it’s better than my “bag of dirt” analogy. Bisch announces that Hogan’s limo is about two or three minutes away, making this the first limo appearance of 1,412 in Nitro history.
In the ring, Eddie and Dean engage in Cirque du Soleil acrobatics to fend off a Greco-Roman knuckle-lock. Neither man has delivered an impactful move to the other yet. Again, this is a technical wrestling match. This and a Savage vs. Luger shouldn’t be graded on the same scale. Two completely different animals.
9:24:45 PM – More chain wrestling takes place – a term an announcer should never use, but Michael Cole did at WrestleMania 19 – as Mongo wonders aloud about how a man could know 1,000 holds. He says, “There’s a book out called 101 Sex Position. Where does he come up with 1,000 holds?”
Before Heenan can send the serve screaming back over the net at 98 miles an hour, there’s an awkward pause where Bischoff says, “Don’t touch it, Bobby. I will pull your mic. You are chomping at the bit.” It’s a hilarious exchange. Oh and in case you were wondering, Mongo eventually released his own book which you can find on Amazon if you look hard enough…
9:25 PM – A series of flips, kip-ups, and reversals ends with Malenko dropkicking Guerrero halfway across the ring. It’s the first time either guy has been down. Malenko is in control for a second until Guerrero reverses an Irish whip into the corner. Malenko hits the buckle, Guerrero almost gets back-dropped to the outside, but Malenko catches him, slams him down like an Alabama slam, flips over for a pin, Guerrero reverses into a pin of his own, Malenko reverses into another pin, but Guerrero quickly gets out only for Malenko to wrap his ankles around Eddie’s head in an attempt for a head-scissors, yet Guerrero cartwheels out. Malenko is up, but Eddie ends all the bullshit with a clothesline.
The match continues as Bischoff sends it to a split-screen of Hogan’s limo arriving. It’s about time they figured this out. “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart is rushing up to Hogan’s door as the neck-braced champion exits the vehicle. Jimmy is advising him to stay in the limo because of what happened to Mach’ earlier. Then they cut away from the match completely for this segment.
9:26 PM – And you know what? I’m not mad because honestly, the WCW Champion is more important to the mass audience than the technically sound wrestling match taking place with nothing on the line. Hogan says he’s going to hunt The Giant down and put an end “to all his shenanigans.” That’s right. Hulk Hogan referred to The Giant breaking his neck and chokeslamming the entire locker room as “shenanigans” like he's a Scooby-Doo character. I knew there was a reason I loved this guy. Jimmy Hart continues to tell Hogan he wants no part of The Giant. That’s what happens when you employ a former chicken-shit heel as your manager.
9:27 PM – They cut back to the match as Hogan goes on his quest to look death in the eyes. Guerrero has Malenko in a standing headlock, but the hold is broken at the ropes. They go into another series of reversals that I can’t even attempt to keep up with that ends with Malenko trying a weak cover, which Eddie kicks out of at two by merely lifting his shoulder. As much as I love these guys, I hate that bullshit. I don’t feel like they are competing when they do things like that.
They end up in a corner, which results in Eddie using his legs to throw himself and Malenko over the top to the outside. Guerrero slams Dean on the floor as Bischoff and Heenan talk about Bisch’s recent dinner with George Steinbrenner – now-deceased owner of the New York Yankees. That's some baller shit. Guerrero makes his way to the top as Malenko gets to his feet. Eddie dives about ten feet from the ring onto Malenko, sending them both down to the ground in the aisle. The first comparison Mongo can make is to say Guerrero looked like “a Mexican cliff diver.” Different times, yo.
9:28 PM – Eddie tosses Malenko back into the squared circle. Guerrero grabs Malenko, then murders him with a brainbuster. That’s the set up for the Frog Splash! Eddie’s going up! He comes off for the Froggy Splashy, but Malenko gets his knees up! So close!
Apparently, there is commotion in the locker room involving Hogan. If they cut away again, THEN I’ll be pissed. Malenko grabs a waist-lock on Guerrero, but he switches, then Malenko switches, then Guerrero switches, so Malenko goes for an ankle-pick, but Guerrero sits down on his shoulders and hooks his legs a lot cleaner than Paul Orndorff did to Johnny B. Badd a few weeks ago. Nick Patrick, having learned ring positioning, drops to the mat and scores the three count for Guerrero. It’s all over!
(SBK Note: After my rant last week, I’m sure you’re thinking I’m hot. I’m not. The match was mostly reversals. It lasted four and a half minutes long with only four or five actual offensive maneuvers being delivered. Pittman/Kurasawa was ALL hard-hitting offense. The story in this one was essentially “the first guy to make a mistake will lose.” That’s exactly what happened. My only gripe was the overly-choreographed nature of the reversals and the weak kick-out earlier. Other than that it was fine. If you’re curious as to which match I think was better – this or their half-hour time-limit draw in ECW – then I’ll tell you their ECW match was easily better, but completely different. This was a quick, fast-paced TV match with nothing on the line, but a bump in the rankings of WCW. In ECW, they were competing for Guerrero’s Television Championship. It was a Match of the Year contender in 1995. It’s unfair to compare the two.)
9:29 PM – The Brain complains that there wasn’t enough hair pulling or eye gouging because he loves to make me laugh. As Guerrero’s offensively stereotypical music plays, Malenko approaches Eddie to challenge him to a rematch. Eddie says, “any time, any place.” They shake hands, but Heenan doesn’t like that either. That's what I call sportsmanship, sports fans! We'll be back after this!
9:33 PM – Mean Gene is in the center of the ring as we return. “American Made” hits as Hogan hits the ring. The camera cuts to the fans, going nuts for their champion. What’s even cooler is that TNA’s Joseph Park was in attendance…
9:34 PM – Hogan says there’s not a whole heck of a lot to talk about, which kind of defeats the purpose of the interview segment. Hogan tells a story about a little HulkaManiac named Jason Pittman – not related to Sgt. Craig. Little Jason is getting ready for a double lung transplant, brother. Apparently this child said, “Hulk Hogan… belly up to the bar, look The Giant in the eye, take him on, and put him down, brother!” Little Jason Pittman sounds a lot like Hulk Hogan or a kid who smokes half a pack of Marlboro Reds a day. The Hulkster says that’s why he’s here. This is basically his “Babe Ruth calling his shot for Johnny Sylvester” moment.
9:35 PM – Hogan tears his shirt off, saying he’s going to rip The Giant apart. Then he walks around the ring to greet the fans. As Hogan makes his way to the last section of ringside ticket-holders, a person dressed like a little old lady throws salt in his eyes, hops the guardrail, hits Jimmy Hart with a cane, then goes to town on The Hulkster! Mean Gene can’t figure it out. Bischoff doesn’t know what to make of it either. Mongo is masturbating now that his grandma fetish has come to life. And Bobby Heenan thinks it’s Norman Bates.
9:36 PM – The camera cuts to the aisle where The Giant and The Zodiac are heading toward the action. The announce team is finally putting two and two together to deduce that the “little old lady” is actual "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan… Master of Disguise.
This isn’t good for Hogan at all, who has been bludgeoned with the cane repeatedly. Now The Giant has his hands on him, tearing the neck brace off. This can’t be good for The Hulkster or Little Jimmy Pittman's hopes and dreams. The Taskmaster is calling for him to snap the neck again! You can’t, Giant! It’ll kill him! Don’t do it! Don’t d… aaand he did it again. I just threw up.
9:37 PM – Bobby Heenan laughs with glee at the horrifying sight because he's a sick bastard. Hogan’s career should be over. His arms and legs are limp. Wait… for the love of God… what is The Taskmaster doing?!?!
With an electric razor, he is SHAVING HULK HOGAN’S ICONIC MUSTACHE! THIS IS A TRAVESTY! HOW COULD ANYONE LET THIS HAPPEN?!?! HE’S HAD THAT THING SINCE BIRTH! HIS MOTHER GAVE IT TO HIM! WHY ISN’T ANYONE HELPING?!?! WHERE THE F@#$ IS SECURITY?!?! THE HUMANITY! TAKE HIS NECK, BUT NOT HIS ‘STACHE! HE LOOKS LIKE A BLONDE HITLER!
9:37:41 PM – The American Males try to make the save between making homemade Rohypnol and tanning, but The Giant fends them off with chokeslams. No title defense for them tonight. The Nasty Boys, their would-be opponents, come out to help. They too are chokeslammed for their efforts. To top it all off, The Taskmaster calls for The Zodiac to utilize his beauty school education to trim The Hulkster’s signature skullet. This is too much.
For some reason, The Zodiac refuses. He clears the ring of the bodies as a medical professional with a torn shirt and fanny pack slides into the ring to check on the fallen WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Now’s a good time to go to commercial so I can pick up the pieces of my shattered psyche. Little Jimmy Pittman is probably lying in his hospital bed crying, “No hope. No… hope…”
(SBK Note: Now we know why Luger/Savage went on first and, more importantly, why those people in the second row were dressed like they paid top dollar to see a man's life end.)
9:41 PM – WCW plugs Halloween Havoc again with the sinister commercial which has The Giant holding a crystal ball that shows himself morphing into a monster truck. It says, “card subject to change” in case somebody dies or falls off a building or something...
9:42 PM – Back in the arena, Arn Anderson is already in the ring. By the logic of some people, you would think he was a jobber. Instead, it allows more time for wrestling. Certain things have to happen during commercial on a live show. Flair’s music is ringing through the arena as he heads to the ring with a purpose.
Bischoff wants to know where Lex Luger was during the Hogan attack. I don’t know if he saw the match earlier, but Luger was probably receiving medical attention to his caved-in sternum.
9:43 PM – Flair wants at Arn BAD. They get into it almost as soon as the bell rings. Flair takes a headlock, but Arn slams him down. Flair pops up, then floors him with a chop. Double A is up, but Flair connects with a punch to the jaw, followed by a chop which sends him back to the mat because a slap to the chest does more damage to the human body than a punch to the jaw…
I wish there was a font called “sarcasm.”
9:43:41 PM – Flair tries to shoot The Enforcer to the corner, but is reversed. He staggers out and is back body dropped for good measure. Arn wants a pin, but Naitch kicks out at two. He’s not getting paid by the hour. Arn wrenches the arm, which gets Flair to the canvas. He follows it up with a few boots, which leads to a hammerlock. Flair fights up, gets Anderson into a corner, then lights him up with punches and chops. It’s all Nature Boy now.
9:44 PM – Wait, no it’s not. Double A cuts him off with a rake to the eyes. My how the tables have turned. Flair is sent into the corner, flipping head over heels to the apron. Arn charges, but Flair drops down with a handful of top rope, sending The Enforcer flying to the outside. Flair whips him into the guardrail. Nick Patrick continues his run as the worst referee in the sport by standing on the outside, admonishing Naitch instead of counting to ten inside the ring.
Arn eventually uses another rake to the eyes to regain control. Flair recovers and charges, but is back body dropped onto the arena floor. Ouch. The padding ain’t that thick. The action spills back into the ring.
9:46 PM – Inside, they trade shots, which leads to Flair poking Anderson in the eye, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Flair tries to shoot Anderson off, but is reversed. As he comes back, Arn catches him with a SPINEBUSTER! That was his big signature move, but he can’t make the cover! Not a single announcer reacts. Flair is OUT. Arn crawls over, drapes his arm across Naitch’s chest, but comes up JUST short of the three. Flair used his shoulder to kick out twice. Arn just found a new target.
9:47 PM – Anderson slaps on an arm-bar with emphasis on putting stress on Flair’s left shoulder. He’s trying to ensure that Flair can’t kick out next time. The Nature Boy works his way up, so Anderson shoots him off. Flair reverses, then slaps on a sleeper hold! Anderson gets free, shoves Flair off, then grabs a sleeper of his own! Flair shoves him off into the turnbuckle. Anderson staggers backward. Flair throws a reverse suplex! Great sequence!
9:48 PM – Flair helps Arn to his feet, then drops him with a punch. I’ve always hated that. He had him down already. Would you ever do that to a guy in a fight? Exactly.
After a brief attempt at a comeback by Anderson, Flair takes him down, then slaps on the Figure Four! Also, THIS DAY IN HISTORY: The “not guilty” verdict for the OJ Simpson murder trial was turned in, which would be read the next day. The only reason I’m mentioning this at this specific time is because Eric Bischoff mentioned it mid-match. Oh yeah, Arn got to the ropes.
9:49 PM – Arn rolls to the outside to get away from Flair, who is now tempting fate on the top rope. Flair dives off to the outside, but Arn counters with a punch to the rib cage.
Successful Career Top Rope Attacks for Ric Flair: 7
Unsuccessful Career Top Ropes Attacks for Ric Flair: 8,955
9:49:36 PM – In an attempt to give fans the second neck injury of the evening, Arn calls for a piledriver on the outside. Flair, realizing he’s not in there with Meng so he can do something about it, back body drops him to literally save his own neck. This knockdown drag-out works its way back into the confines of the ring where Arn regains control with strikes. He tries to end it with the DDT, but Flair was able to hang on to the ropes! Arn hit the mat hard! Flair grabs him, then throws several unanswered punches to the nose before strutting to the fans delight.
9:50 PM – Flair looks for the twelfth back body drop of the match, but Double A answers with a headbutt to the shoulder. He heads to the second turnbuckle, looking for a double ax-handle – the third most popular move in WCW behind the gorilla press and back body drop, but not too far ahead of the missed splash. Flair counters with a chop. Capitalizing on his downed opponent, Flair locks in the Figure Four in the center of the ring! That’s gotta be it, but Arn is hanging on!
9:51 PM – The shot widens as we see Flyin’ Brian, Double A’s new protégé, perched on the top rope! Arn sees Pillman, then – in a bonehead move – gives up! Flair wins the match by submission, bringing the rivalry to a score of 1-1! No sooner does the bell ring, than Pillman comes sailing off the top rope to splash the life out of The Nature Boy! It’s the FIRST EVER successful splash in WCW Monday Nitro history, folks! Chalk it up!
As I sit here flabbergasted by the decision to have “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson submit on free TV merely SECONDS before Pillman could have caused the disqualification, Flyin’ Brian heads after Flair, who I guess felt none of that splash. Naitch has him in the corner and is turning his chest purple with chops. Brian fights back long enough for Arn to make the assist. Bischoff says, “(Flair) is getting TRASHED!” which is exactly what he’ll be doing at the hotel bar later on. Thank you. I'll be here all week.
9:53 PM – They lay the boots to The Nature Boy before throwing up the four fingers. Looks like Flair and Hogan are going to be laid up next to each other in the hospital. Pillman and Anderson celebrate their way to the locker room as we head to commercial.
9:58 PM – We’re back at the announce booth. The main point tonight, Bischoff explains, is that if you’re an island, you’re alone. That’s some deep shit for a wrestling show, but it’s true. Savage severed ties with people. Hogan had the worst of the worst come out to defend him. Flair was left all alone to fight off two guys. And where has Sting been? That’s some solid storytelling, if you ask me.
No man is an island… except this guy… he was literally an island…
Bischoff jumps from that to some major news: Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel booked a STEEL CAGE MATCH for NEXT WEEK between RIC FLAIR and ARN ANDERSON on NITRO! The rubber match is serious, kids! Age in the Cage I is on deck!
(SBK Note: Anytime the combined age of two Steel Cage Match participants is over 80, it’s automatically an Age in the Cage Match, in my book.)
9:59 PM – So there you have it! Next week, live from Chicago, Flair will meet Anderson inside a Steel Cage! Also, Sting will face The Shark! Sabu returns to Nitro to take on Mr. JL and Road Warrior Hawk will take on the man who main evented the first Nitro… Big Bubba! Goodnight, everybody!
WCW changed up a few things this week. The rigid format they stuck to in the first four episodes has been modified to cater to the double main event, which delivered on both ends of the show. They were coming off their first ever ratings win, and while they didn’t know it when they booked the main events, they were definitely putting themselves in a position to win again. As I said earlier, Savage and Luger was EXACTLY what it needed to be, as was the Flair/Anderson rematch. While I didn’t necessarily agree with the finish of the latter match, it entertained the fans and evened the score of their series. That wasn’t the exclamation point, though.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan had his neck turned 180 degrees for a second time. We’re only a few weeks out from Halloween Havoc and he is in BAD shape. One of my favorite things about wrestling is when a new guy shows up and appears to be unstoppable. The Giant was THAT guy in 1995. I remember being a kid and worrying about whether or not anyone could ever beat him. He was DOMINATING Hulk f#$%ing Hogan! To top it all off, The Dungeon of Doom shaved Hogan’s handlebar mustache.
While that particular moment is panned in the grand scheme of things by jaded smarks who forget that they watch a show where guys with shaved bodies pretend to beat each other up in their underwear, at the time it took this feud to the next level. Hogan’s mustache had been a part of his signature look since forever. You want to talk about OWNING someone? The Dungeon of Doom was his daddy. The feud is personal and frankly, watching it over again, I’m appreciating everything about what they’re doing – as campy as it may be.
Nitro also introduced the Monday night audience to future WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero and current WWE road agent and future PWI 500 leading man Dean Malenko. In episodes to come, they’ll be the cornerstones of the WCW Cruiserweight Division, which has yet to crown an inaugural champion. I’m already excited for next week.
Nitro Results (10/2/95):
Lex Luger def. “Macho Man” Randy Savage via submission
Eddie Guerrero def. Dean Malenko via pinfall
Ric Flair def. Arn Anderson via submission
Raw Results (10/2/95):
Razor Ramon def. The 1-2-3 Kid via pinfall… three times in a row.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Barry Horowitz via pinfall
PG-13 def. Al Brown & Sonny Rogers via pinfall
Bret Hart def. Jean-Pierre Lafitte via submission… then Bret attacked Jerry Lawler who was saved by his demented dentist Isaac Yankem, DDS.
Final Ratings
Nitro: 2.5
Raw: 2.5
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