RAW
Bret Hart vs Owen Hart with Clarence Mason
RAW kicks off with Bret Hart having his first match on RAW in over seven months. He takes his brother Owen Hart, giving us the pairing that put on the WWF's second-ever five-star match from Dave Meltzer. Before the match starts, we get a picture-in-picture shot showing Shawn Michaels at Jose Lothario's home. Unsurprisingly, this match is really good. It's not as fast-paced or exciting as the Stone Cold-Mankind match that opened RAW last week, but it's still a great back-and-forth, the technical match-up between two of the best wrestlers on the roster at the time. Also like last week, the match ends in a DQ due to interference. Bret rolls through on a sunset flip attempt and goes to lock in the Sharpshooter, only for Stone Cold Steve Austin to run down and smash Bret across the back with a chair. Austin sets up to Pillmanize Bret's ankle only for the British Bulldog of all people to run down and stop him. Bulldog argues with Owen before Austin hits Bulldog with the chair. Owen turns his attention to Austin, who leaves the ring and walks away.
The Executioner with Paul Bearer vs Freddie Joe Floyd
Just look at Terry Gordy's face under that mask.
He looks like he has no idea where he is at the moment. Before the match, Paul Bearer cuts a picture in picture promo saying that they aren't concerned with the Undertaker right now. The commentators also reveal that Taker will face the Executioner in an "Armageddon Rules" match at In Your House 12: It's Time (Yes, that's actually the name.) It's a Texas Death match. During the match, Dok Hendrix cuts a picture-in-picture promo saying that Owen Hart and the British Bulldog ran off yelling at each other and that Steve Austin refused an interview and left. He then says he's going to try to get an interview with Bret Hart. The match is mostly a squash match, ending with the Executioner locking in the Asian Spike for the submission win.
We get an interview with Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario via satellite from Lothario's home. Lothario starts by apologizing to Michaels for costing him the WWF Championship before saying he's going to stay home and recover from his injuries. Michaels says he lost his edge a while ago before Jerry Lawler chimes in and chastises Lothario for getting involved in the match at Survivor Series. Michaels fires back, saying Lothario's been around long enough to get involved before blasting Sycho Sid for attacking him. When asked about the Survivor Series crowd turning on Michaels and cheering Sid, he says the fans that don't like him can go somewhere else. He says he'll do what he wants when he wants and that he can play as dirty as he wants. He ends by saying that at the Royal Rumble, he will be the WWF Champion again and he hopes that Sid retains at In Your House 12 so he and his hometown crowd can tear him apart.
In the semi-finals of the Karate Fighters tournament, Sunny beat Sable...only for the referee to reverse the decision when he sees Sunny stuck her Karate Fighter down with gum.
Sunny responds by punching the referee.
Rocky Maivia vs Salvatore Sincere
Before this match, Salvatore Sincere cuts a promo telling the fans he loves all of them, all while barely trying to put on an Italian accent. Meanwhile, Sunny as taken a seat at commentary to get a look at Rocky Maivia. Rocky's entrance also shares time with new Hall of Famers Captain Lou Albano and the man who's nickname he'd steal Don Muraco putting him over, with Albano saying he has the potential to be bigger than his whole family history. I mean...he's not wrong. The match is a decent little back and forth, ending with Rocky getting the three and the win off a shoulder breaker.
Backstage, Marc Mero gets asked by Vince McMahon if Hunter Hearst Helmsley being on commentary for his match will upset him. He says that once he's done with Billy Gunn, he's going after Helmsley and he'll punch him in his big nose. After that, Dok Hendrix provides an update on Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. He says things calmed down between them and that Bulldog said he wants a piece of Steve Austin.
Billy Gunn vs Marc Mero with Sable
Jobber Marc Mero manages to somehow get a pre-match promo, but no entrance. How does that work? Anyway, Billy Gunn immediately attacks Mero before the bell while he's distracted with Helmsley on commentary. The match starts off pretty fast-paced and back and forth, but once Gunn takes control of the match, it dies a death. And to make it worse, it ends in another DQ. Mero makes his comeback while Helmsley leaves the commentary table to confront Sable. Mero sees this and leaves the ring, leading to a brawl with Helmsley. Gunn joins in and the heels beatdown Mero 2-on-1 for the DQ. Jake Roberts ends up running down to even the odds, prompting Jerry Lawler to repeatedly call him a drunk because we can't escape that terrible angle. The faces stand tall as the heels run to the back to close the show. Really ending on a low note
That's it for RAW. Onto Nitro...
But first! A quick recap of World War 3, which happened the night before this episode of Nitro.
- In a dark match, La Parka defeated Villano IV
- Ultimate Dragon retained the J-Crown Championship against Rey Mysterio Jr. Dragon won after blocking the West Coast Pop and hitting a slingshot powerbomb for the three.
- Nick Patrick faced Chris Jericho in a match where Jericho had one arm tied behind his back. Despite the handicap, Jericho won after hitting a superkick for the three.
- Jeff Jarrett and the Giant faced off in a rematch from Halloween Havoc. During the match, Jarrett sent the Giant out of the ring, only for Sting to come out of the crowd and hit the Scorpion Death Drop on Jarrett. The Giant recovered and gave Jarrett a chokeslam and got the three for the win.
- Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper signed the contract, making their match at Starrcade official. After repeatedly mocking Piper's hip replacement surgery and calling him a "cripple" Piper attacked Hogan, leading to the nWo beating him down and hitting his hip with a chair. Hogan spray painted "nWo" on Piper's hip and leg before spitting in his face.
- Harlem Heat defeated the Amazing French Canadians. While the referee was down, the Canadians went for an insane assisted senton bomb, with Carl Ouelett standing on top of the ring steps on top of a table on the top rope while Jacques Rougeau stood on another set of ring steps in the ring.Stevie Ray avoided it before Booker T hit the Harlem Hangover for the three and the win. Because of that, Sister Sherri won the right to fight Col. Rob Parker for five minutes, only for Parker to run off with the Canadians after about 90 seconds.
- Dean Malenko retained the Cruiserweight Championship against Psicosis off a roll-up.
- In a triple threat tag team match, the Outsiders defended the WCW World Tag Team Championships against the Nasty Boys and the Faces of Fear. The finish saw Scott Hall hit Brian Knobbs in the back of the head with Jimmy Hart's megaphone, allowing Kevin Nash to hit the Jackknife powerbomb to get the three and the win to retain the titles.
- It's the 60-man, 3-ring battle royal, with the winner getting a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. A brawl breaks out outside the ring between the Four Horsemen and the Dungeon of Doom, fighting into the crowd as the match starts. During this, the Faces of Fear randomly decide to kick the sh*t out of Lee Marshall on commentary. Later in the match, Eddie Guerrero stupidly eliminates himself with a dive over the top rope onto Lord Steven Regal, but he just goes back in the ring because who the f*ck cares. This match is complete chaos and you can't keep track of anything that's happening until there are only 10 people left. When it comes down to the final five, it's Lex Luger vs the nWo. Luger manages to eliminate Scott Hall, Syxx and Kevin Nash but is thrown over the top rope by the Giant, giving him the win and a world title shot. The nWo stand tall to close out the show.
Nitro
Nitro kicks off with the usual rundown from Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko. During this, Schiavone announces that, due to Ric Flair's injury, the United States Championship has been vacated and a new champion will be crowned through an 8-man tournament, starting with tonight's opening match-up.
Arn Anderson vs Lex Luger-1st Round Match in the United States Championship Tournament
This match really doesn't have much to talk about. It's a pretty standard match that you'd expect from these two. It's not bad, but it's nothing special or really even giving a second watch. Midway through the match, the Giant appears in the crowd and calls the United States Championship "the most coveted belt in the world" because he has it. He says it doesn't matter who wins the tournament because he's not giving up the belt. The winner of this tournament isn't either Arn Anderson or Lex Luger thanks to a really dumb finish. The fight goes outside the ring, where Luger locks in the Torture Rack on Anderson. Despite the referee telling him to get back in the ring, Luger doesn't and both men get counted out. Luger then celebrates being eliminated from the tournament because inappropriate celebrations are Luger's thing. This is an alright match, but the finish is really dumb and makes Luger look even dumber.
Outcomes the nWo minus Hulk Hogan and Ted DiBiase, complete with their newest member Eric Bischoff. Bischoff reveals that after getting powerbombed by Kevin Nash at the Great American Bash, he decided that he'd want to be part of the force instead of being consumed by it. He says that he's the highest-ranking executive in WCW and offers an ultimatum to the rest of the WCW roster; they have 30 days to turn their WCW contracts into nWo contracts or else they are officially against them. Outcomes the American Males and Marcus Bagwell starts high fiving everyone in the group. Scotty Riggs, however, looks surprised. Bagwell then gives Riggs a neckbreaker, officially ending the American Males and giving us the birth of Buff Bagwell. Oh, and also:
nWo members: 11
Diamond Dallas Page vs Disco Inferno
DDP attacks Disco before the match actually starts. In a quick match. Disco gets more offense then you'd expect, but in the end, DDP catches him with a Diamond Cutter for the three and the win. Quick, decent little match, nothing to really complain about. After the match, Mean Gene Okerlund gets in the ring to interview Page. Page says the nWo wants him on their side because he's got the best finish in WCW and they want to build a dynasty. Okerlund questions him on his friendships with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Eric Bischoff and says that it's obvious that he's part of the nWo. Page says he knows Bischoff better than anyone, but that he didn't know about him and nWo and that he wishes he never knew. Okerlund still won't take this as an answer.
Lord Steven Regal (c) vs Tony Pena-World Television Championship
Tony Pena is actually Villano IV, who pulled double duty at World War 3, wrestling in a dark match against La Parka and in the 60-man battle royal. He also wrestled in one of the worst matches of all time. For some reason, he's dropped the mask for this match for the World Television Championship. He's even wearing the Villano IV singlet.
The match is fairly short but it's still a pretty enjoyable match. It's back and forth for the most part, but Regal's time controlling the match is pretty great. He's just so good at making it look like he's really trying to beat the sh*t out of whoever he's facing. Regal wins by submission with the Regal Stretch to retain the Television Championship.
On the entrance ramp, Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Rick Steiner. He says he and Scott Steiner are both 110% behind WCW questioning why Sting keeps attacking people. Okerlund asks him about Marcus Bagwell, only for Steiner to completely ignore him and talk about Lex Luger and Roddy Piper. I'm writing this a lot more clearly than he actually says it. Rick Steiner's promos have the clarity of Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner's with none of the memorable quotes or funny moments.
Konnan vs Eddie Guerrero-1st Round Match in the United States Championship Tournament
Oh, Konan, my bad. This is another first-round match-up in the tournament to crown a new United States Championship. Unlike the opener, this match is pretty enjoyable and exciting. It's not great like some of the Lucha matches WCW was known for, but it's still an enjoyable enough watch. The finish sees Konnan go for a powerbomb, only for Guerrero to counter it and land on Konnan for the three and the win to advance in the tournament. It's kind of wonky but I still think the match was pretty alright.
Big Bubba with Jimmy Hart vs Rick Steiner
Before the match, Steiner yells into the camera that he can't trust Sting. Naturally, that comes back to bite him. Also, for some reason, Jimmy Hart's jacket has the Misfits' logo on the back.
Foreshadowing? This is another fairly short match where Rick Steiner gets most of the offense. Unfortunately for him, Sting heard him talking sh*t and pops up out of the crowd. As Steiner clotheslines Bubba out of the ring and the referee argues with Jimmy Hart, Sting gets in the ring and gives Steiner a Scorpion Death Drop. Bubba crawls in the ring and makes the cover for the three and the win. Bubba then gets up and yells into the camera that Dungeon of Doom, not the nWo or the Four Horsemen, are taking over WCW. That's not even 5% true.
Psychosis vs Rey Mysterio Jr.
I know that's not how you spell Psicosis, but that's how they spell it in WCW apparently. During the match, Ultimo Dragon and Sonny Onoo appear on the stage and pose with the J-Crown Championship. This match is yet another fun one, but it's very quick, ending with Mysterio countering a top rope Splash Mountian with a hurricanrana for the three and the win. It's fun, but it definitely should've gone on longer.
Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Woman and a really rough looking Chris Benoit. He says Kevin Sullivan didn't get rid of his problem, he made it worse, and the Dungeon of Doom couldn't get rid of just one man. He says Sullivan sees his former self in Benoit and says the only ways out are the man's way and the coward's way. He brings up Sullivan's corporate ties in WCW and how he could get rid of him he wanted before Woman says that it's over.
Since something big involving Roddy Piper happened on a pay-per-view, it's only fitting that they replay what happened in its entirety the next night on Nitro.
Alex Wright vs Jeff Jarrett
It's another short, sort of enjoyable match where Jarrett wins with the figure four leg lock while using the ropes for leverage...that's about it.
The Faces of Fear vs Harlem Heat with Sister Sherri
Yeah...this match is nothing. It's yet another short match (this whole show was filled with them) but it's got absolutely nothing worth watching or even talking about. The match doesn't even have a finish, only ending when the nWo runs down to beat down all four men. Booker T and Meng both take chokeslams before the nWo stands tall to close the show.
And that's it. Neither of these shows were very good, but I'm going to have to give it to RAW this time. RAW might've had a dud of a main event and the Executioner, but it did have Bret vs Owen and that's always nice. Nitro, on the other hand, had nothing. Sure, some matches were enjoyable, but just about every one of them was five minutes long. The one that wasn't was lame. Also, the fact that RAW, even if it wasn't that good either, is only an hour compared to Nitro's two hours really helps, as it's a lot easier to watch an hour-long mediocre wrestling show instead of a two-hour one. Point to RAW.
RAW: 23
Nitro: 35
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and come back next work for the next edition of RAW vs Nitro.
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