Great American Bash '97

Great American Bash '97 6/15/97

-From Moline, IL

-Hosts are Tony, Bobby, & Dusty

-Match 1: Psychosis (w/Sonny Onoo) VS Ultimo Dragon

-This is billed as a "Respect Match" as Onoo has hired Psychosis to teach Dragon some respect. Tenay joins the booth. Bit of a feeling out process to start. Things pick up when Psychosis counters a leapfrog with an overhand chop. Dragon fights back, and hits his kick combination to a big pop. Dragon misses a slingshot to the outside, and Onoo gets big heat for getting his cheap shots in. Dragon gets caught up in the ropes, and Psychosis hits a guillotine legdrop, then poses above the fallen Dragon. Dragon gets sent outside again and almost suplexes Onoo, but Psychosis breaks that up.

Dragon comes back, and hits an Asai moonsault followed by a brainbuster and a tombstone for near-falls. Psychosis again knocks Dragon outside, then hits an over-the-ropes suicide dive. Dragon counters a moonsault with a dropkick to the knees, then hits a rana off the top and looks to finish with the tiger suplex, but stops to go after Onoo, and takes a dropkick off the top for two. Dragon whips Psychosis into Onoo, who accidentally kicks his man, leading to the Dragon Sleeper for the tap out. Good opener. Really hot crowd so far.

-Match 2: Harlem Heat (w/Sherri) VS The Steiner Brothers [#1 Contender's Match]

-Scott is getting into "Big Papa Pump" territory. Steiners dominate the early going. Booker gets a full nelson on Scott, but he rather easily breaks out of it. Booker buries his knee in Scott's gut to keep control, but that doesn't last long. Scott slams Booker way too far away for a move off the top, and that results in a really awkward bump when Booker gets his foot up. Booker salvages things with a SPINAROONIE and a Harlem side kick. Rick gets in then gets sent outside by Booker, where he is mauled by Stevie. The Heat hit the Big Apple (Harlem side kick from the Hart Attack positiion), but Booker takes forever making the cover, so it only gets two.

Scott gets the hot tag and the match breaks down. Scott hits Booker with the Frankensteiner off the top. Vincent runs in, and drops on elbow on Booker, intentionally getting the Steiners DQ'd. Vincent pays for his actions in short order. Match was the usual Steiners/Harlem Heat affair before the weak sauce finish.

-Match 3: Konnan VS Hugh Morrus

-All of the graphics spell it "Konan". Hugh yells out "awwww shuckie duckie!" during his entrance for no apparent reason. Morrus hits a pretty impressive dropkick seconds in. Konnan goes on offense, and it's him who slows everything down. There's some awkwardness, then Morrus takes control and settles things down by grabbing a hold. Morrus is really lazy while "working" his holds. Konnan tries his own holds. They go back to stand up, and both are clearly blown up. Morrus goes for the No Laughing Matter moonsault, but Konnan shoves him, and his head hits the turnbuckle. Morrus is out, but Konnan applies the Tecquila Sunrise anyway. This sucked a dick.

-Match 4: Wrath (w/James Vandenberg & Mortis) VS Glacier

-Mortis is handcuffed to the ring post to prevent him from interfering. Glacier kicks the shit out of Wrath to start. Wrath fights back, but then takes a pretty dangerous head-first bump into the ringsteps. Glacier hits some kicks, but misses a splash in the corner. Wrath then, on instruction from Vandenberg, alley-oops Glacier throat-first onto the top rope. Wrath sends Glacier outside, and hits a somersault off the apron. Wrath hits a springboard clothesline, and takes time to toy with Glacier. Wrath almost lands on his feet after taking a backdrop. Wrath goes up top. Glacier falls into Nick Patrick who hits the ropes, crotching Wrath, and allowing Glacier to hit a superplex.

Mortis tries to throw  chain over to Wrath. The throw is too high, and Glacier gets it. Glacier KO's Wrath with the chain followed by the Chryonic Kick for the win. Yeah, this wasn't good. This would have fit better in early-90's WWF cartoon land, not the changing landscape of the mid-to-late 90's.

-Glacier gets handcuffed to the top rope for the post-match beatdown, which actually draws some heat. No Ernest Miller to make the save this time.

-Match 5 for the WCW Women's Championship: Akira Hokuto [c] (w/Sonny Onoo) VS Madusa [Title VS Career]

-THE GAS MASK IS BACK! Stagger Lee joins the booth. Hokuto dominates the first couple minutes. Madusa makes a brief comeback and gets a near-fall, but Hokuto quickly regains control. Madusa makes another comeback with some kicks, but injures her knee coming off the top with a double axe handle. Marshall actually adds something to the match for once, talking about how Wendi Richter dislocated Madusa's knee a decade ago, and it's never fully recovered. Hokuto immediately goes after the injury. Madusa manages to pull out a vicious powerbomb, but that further aggrivates the injury.

Madusa hits the German suplex, but Onoo pulls the bad leg to break up the pin. Hokuto works the leg, then when Madusa goes for a back suplex, then knee gives out, and Hokuto finishes with the Northern Lights Bomb. This was pretty decent. I don't get the booking, but IIRC, this was the swan song for the WCW Women's title.

-Heenan thinks it's hilarious as Madusa breaks down. In a pretty infamous moment, Mean Gene makes his way to ringside to pester Madusa about her career being over.

-Match 6: Chris Benoit VS Meng (w/Jimmy Hart) [Death Match]

-Same rules as last month. Benoit hits a suicide dive before the bell rings and chases Jimmy away. Benoit twice gets the Crippler Crossface, early on, but can't keep Meng down. Meng gets Benoit in the Tree of Woe, and lands several kicks and stomps. Meng absorbs some chops, then puts Benoit down before hitting a FROG SPLASH! Tremendous. They go outside, where Benoit makes a comeback, and hits a German suplex for a seven count. Meng gets the TONGAN DEATH GRIP, but then tries to hang Benoit from the position, and ends up having to let go of the hold.

After some more back-and-forth, Meng goes for another frog splash, but misses this time. Benoit again gets the crossface. Crowd is oddly not into this much. Meng taps/passes out in the hold, and Nick Patrick ends it without a ten count. This was decent, but not as good as last month.

-Both men get stretchered out. Not sure why in the case of Benoit.

-Bash at the Beach promo. Looking back, it's amazing WCW got away with having so many PPVs without a world title match. I'm guessing it was because Hogan negotiated a light schedule and/or everyone knew the money match was with Sting, so why bother with largely pointless title matches.

-Match 7: Steve McMichael (w/Debra) VS Kevin Greene

-Greene runs down the ramp to jump Mongo at the bell. Mongo goes after Greene's knee, but stops to taunt Greene's parents, and takes a big slap to the face from Mama Greene. Bit of a split crowd. After some back-and-forth, Mongo takes control, mostly working on the knee. Greene makes a comeback, and actually figures it out when Debra fakes a twisted ankle before Mongo is able to get a cheapshot in. Mongo avoids a charge in the corner and chokes Greene as Debra distracts the ref. Jeff Jarrett runs out with a briefcase, but accidentally KO's Mongo, allowing Greene to get the pin. The booking was right, with Greene getting a measure of revenge for the Mongo turn at last year's GAB, but it was rough getting there, especially with Greene teaming with one of his supposed rivals last months.

-Madusa gets looked at by the doctor.

-Match 8 for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Outsiders [c] (w/Syxx) VS Ric Flair & Roddy Piper

-Crowd perks up for this one. Hot start as Flair takes some punches from Hall, but responds with chops and punches of his own. Nash gets a cheapshot in to turn the tide. Flair makes a comeback, but Syxx trips him up to restore control to The Outsiders. Flair plays FIP for a bit, before hitting a low blow on Nash and making the hot tag to Piper. Piper gets the sleeper on Hall, but Syxx interferes. Flair batters Syxx down the aisle, leaivng Piper by himself. Piper fights the good fight, but is fucked without Flair. Hall finishes with the Outsider's Edge. More of an angle than a match, which would have pissed me off more than a little bit had I paid good money to watch it live.

-Match 9: Randy Savage (w/Liz) VS DDP (w/Kim) [Falls Count Anywhere]

-Lots of pomp and circumstance for the main event, including Michael Buffer intros. DDP goes through the crowd and jumps Savage from behind. DDP has his soon-to-be-omnipresent rib tape on. DDP hits a dive, but then it's OW MY RIBS! and he can't follow up. After a brief interlude in the ring, they go through the crowd. They go back to the ring, where Savage blinds DDP with powder and breaks a sign over his head. Savage stomps the ribs, and the crowd chants for Sting. Savage gets tired of Mickie Jay, so he piledrives him. Mark Curtis runs out to ref, but he doesn't last long, also thanks to Savage. Savage goes after Kim, but Nick Patrick makes the save.

They go to a picnic set where some people are watching the show, and destroy it. Well that was a pretty crappy place to watch the show anyway. Savage tries to piledrive DDP on the floor. Nick Patrick blocks that, so he gets punched out. Savage takes a photographer out for shits and giggles. DDP counters a slam, and hits the Diamond Cutter. DDP is hurt, and it takes a while for Nick Patrick to start counting. Scott Hall runs out and stops the count at one. DDP fights Hall off, but takes a shot with the tag title belt from Savage, then Hall hits the Outsider's Edge. Savage finishes with the big elbow just in time too, since they hit the credits about ten seconds later.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was pretty much a two-match show, and one of them ended up being an angle more than a match. The opener was good, but most of the undercard sucked. The two street fights were good, but were done better on previous shows. No real reason to watch this show unless you're going through all the Savage-Page matches.

-NEXT EVENT: Bash at the Beach '97

The Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2

　

-DISC ONE

-Opening video features several Nitro moments, most of which have been covered ad nauseum.

-Like volume one, DDP is your host for volume 2. He plugs his DDP Yoga, and goes over some things that weren't covered in the first set before going over a brief history of Nitro. He notes that volume 1 ended with Flair/Sting from the last Nitro, so there's no better place to start volume 2 than Flair/Sting from the first Nitro.

-United States Championship: Sting [c] VS Ric Flair 9/4/95

-There's some really weird generic psychadelic rock music dubbed over "A Man Called Sting". Lex Luger walks out before the match starts, which really excites Sting (since Luger has only turned on him 3 or 4 times at this point). Quick start, with Sting hitting a couple leap frogs followed by a couple big press slams. Sting hits a hiptoss and a dropkick, so Flair takes a powder. Flair goes to the eyes to turn the tide, and lays in a few chops before Sting decides to start no-selling them. There's some awkwardness when Flair whips Sting into the ropes, but that becomes moot when Flair dives at Sting and sends them both tumbling out over the top. Sting sends Flair back inside. He misses a Stinger Splash, but no-sells that, and hits a bulldog. Flair scores with a back elbow, and we go to commercial.

Back from break, Flair goes up top, but gets caught and slammed. Sting hits another press slam for two, and Arn Anderson (who is actually feuding with Flair at this time) makes his way out to the ring. Flair hits a delayed vertical suplex, but Sting no-sells that, and goes back on offense. Sting hits a superplex, but stops to jaw at Arn, allowing Flair to hit a chop block and get the figure 4. Sting no-sells that too, and almost turns it before Flair grabs the ropes to block. Flair won't let go of the ropes, and he gets DQ'd. Arn goes after Flair after the bell. I remember thinking how weird it was watching Sting having completely zero interest in selling anything Flair was dishing out the first time I watched this match. The finish was weak sauce too.

Scott Norton comes through the crowd and wants competition from Mongo, but gets challenged by Macho. Their exchange is wonderfully cheesy.

-Bisch, Bobby, & Mongo open up the 12/18/95 Nitro, when they're interrupted by Madusa, who tosses the WWF Women's title belt in the trash. Her line delivery is pretty awful. It is nice not having "WWF" removed from footage anymore.

-DDP talks about seeing Madusa backstage moments before she trashed the belt, then ponders what effect it would have a couple years later on the "Montreal Screwjob".

-Arn Anderson (w/Woman) VS Hulk Hogan 2/12/96

-This is the night after SuperBrawl VI, and Hogan has an eye bandaged courtesy of a HIGH-HEELED SHOE OF DOOM. Hogan no-sells what little offense AA gets in early on, and dominates the early going. Arn desperately tries a piledriver on the floor, and Hogan counters that into a catapult into the ringpost. Hogan takes the eye bandage off and repeatedly rams Arn's shoulder into the post. Hogan continues to work AA over, and at one point has Arn begging for mercy. Arn gets a back-elbow, but goes up top and gets crotched by Hogan. Arn goes after the eye, and Flair (with the newly-turned Liz) makes his way out.

Arn hits a spinebuster, but Hogan throws him off the cover at two, and hulks up. Hogan hits the big boot, but opts to taunt Flair then lock in a figure 4 instead of dropping the leg. Flair gets pissed and tries to interfere, but Hogan gets him in a small package for a visual pin, while still having Arn in the figure 4. Woman throws powder in Hulk's face, then Arn gets a boot from Liz, and KO's Hogan for the pin. Hogan no-sells the loss and beats up the Horsemen, getting some help from Macho. Typical Hulk Hogan job, where he dominates the match, and it takes four people to beat him, followed by a no-sell of the loss.

The Horsemen run Bischoff and Mongo off the announce booth and gloat over the win. Hogan can't even let them have that, as he and Savage run them off and challenge them. Hogan says he wants Arn again, then tries to fire up Savage for his title match next week, referring to Flair as "Pee Wee Herman" in the process.

-The Steiner Brothers VS The Road Warriors 3/11/96

-The Steiners ride motorcycles to the ring, and are taking the place of The Nasty Boys, who were apparently jumped in the back. Scott slams Hawk a couple times, but goes up top, and gets head-butted down by Hawk, who follows with a flying clothesline. Scott comes back with a Tiger Driver, and tags Rick. Hawk tags Animal, who promptly takes control on Rick. Rick comes back with a couple stiff clotheslines and a release German suplex. Rick sets Animal on the second turnbuckle and belly-to-bellys him off. Scott gets in, and tosses Animal around too. Rick gets back in, and the crowd chants "LOD".

Scott gets back in and applies a rear chinlock, but gets kicked down by Hawk, so he tags Rick back in, and Rick applies the same hold. Back to Scott, who hits a dropkick for two. Animal makes the hot tag to Hawk, who cleans house. LOD hit the Doomsday Device on Rick, but Scott makes the save. Rick throws Hawk right on his shoulder with a release German. They set up for the Doomsday Device on Hawk, but the LOD break it up. Scott hits a flying clothesline on Hawk, but then turns right into a flying clothesline from Animal.

Scott gets the Frankensteiner on Animal, but Hawk makes the save. Steiners get the Steiner Bulldog on Hawk, but Animal KO's Rick with one of their spiked pads, and Hawk gets the pin. Good match, and I'm surprised there was a finish. Not surprised that the LOD won since there was one, since they had a big PPV match coming up, and the Steiners didn't.

Mean Gene interviews the Steiners. Scott is PISSED because they have been waiting four years to wrestle the LOD, and the match ended with the LOD cheating to win. Both Steiners promise that this isn't the end between them and the LOD. I don't remember if this was followed up on much.

-DDP puts over the Steiners & LOD before talking about the Cruiserweight division. A pretty nifty video highlights the bigger name cruiserweights.

-Dean Malenko VS Jushin Thunder Liger (w/Sonny Onoo) 5/6/96

-Bischoff mentions that Ohtani has won the Cruiserweight title in Japan, becoming the inaugural champion. I wonder why they had Ohtani win the title, only to take the title off him quick and never use him again. Quick start with a bunch of counters and reversals. Bischoff interrupts to note that Savage has been ejected from the building. This brings out Flair, Woman, & Liz who take a seat in the VIP section. Liger gets a banana split for a one count as we go to commercial.

Back from break, we're focused on Flair dining with Liz & Woman instead of the match. Back in the ring, Malenko gets a leg lock, but Liger reaches the ropes. Bischoff says to stay tuned because "in June, things are going to get very interesting in WCW". No shit. Liger gets a cartwheel into a back elbow for two, then a rolling Liger kick in the corner. Liger hits a dive to the outside, then once they get back in, they fight over a rollup. Malenko catches Liger in the turnbuckles, and hits that awesome flying gut buster, apparently for the first time judging by Bischoff's reaction.

Liger counters a powerbomb into a sitdown splash for two, but Malenko hits a double-underhook, sit-out powerbomb for the win shortly after that. Good introduction to the cruiserweights for this set.

-WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio Jr. [c] VS Juventud Guerrera 9/16/96

-Rey stretches Juvy to start, as Tony & Larry Zbyszko talk about everything but this match. Rey goes to work on the leg, but Juvy reverses a whip into the ropes and catches Rey with a back elbow was the announcers finally get around to talking about the match. Rey knocks Juvy for a loop with a spinning heel kick, then they trade chops, with Juvy winning that exchange. Juvy tries a springboard cross-body, but gets caught with a dropkick. Rey hits a springboard rana to the floor was we go to commercial.

Back from break, Juvy has taken control, and he hits a dropkick to the chest. Juvy knocks Rey outside, and hits an Asai moonsault. Juvy sends Rey back inside, then almost whiffs on a springboard 450 that gets two, Juvy sets Rey on the turnbuckles and hits a rana for two, as we cut to the parking lot with fans of the nWo celebrating their War Games win the previous night. Juvy tries a powerbomb off the top, but Rey counters that into a rana to retain. This was alright, but was hindered by the announcers' preoccupation with the nWo, which was sadly a trend in WCW.

-DDP has no idea how Rey is still going after doing what he's done for all these years. DDP talks about finishing second in 1996 for Dave Meltzer's (mentioned by name) "Rookie of the Year" voting to Rey. DDP dismisses the idea that WCW "stumbled" onto their successes, then puts the nWo as the best group in wrestling history, and Eric Bischoff as a "genius".

-Tony & Larry open up the 9/30/96 show talking about an upcoming statement from Eric Bischoff before going into recent actions by the nWo. Bischoff claims that WCW's lineage goes back to 1905 and talks about tradition that the nWo doesn't care about. Bischoff verbally attacks the nWo and says the biggest mistake he ever made was bringing Hogan into WCW. This would have been a lot more effective had he not been revealed as the head of the nWo a month or two later.

-WCW United States Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals: Diamond Dallas Page VS Jeff Jarrett 12/9/96

-Winner advances to the title match at Starrcade. Jarrett walks on DDP's back and struts. It's a stalemate as we go to commercial.

Back from break, Jarrett looks to be in control, but DDP reverses a whip and hits a belly-to-back suplex, then a tilt-a-whirl slam for two. The crowd is eerily silent for this. DDP catches Jarrett's foot, but takes an enziguiri. Jarrett hits a swinging neckbreaker, then stops to gloat about it. DDP gets a sunset flip, but Jarrett rolls out and hits a big clothesline. Jarrett hits a slingshot suplex followed by a fist drop off the second turnbuckle for two. DDP counters a slam into a small package for two. DDP slugs his way out of the corner, but lowers his head and gets his face slammed into the mat by Jarrett for two.

Jarrett gets a sleeper. DDP fights out and hits a spinning clothesline to finally draw a reaction out of the crowd. DDP slugs Jarrett down and goes up top for a flying clothesline for two. DDP misses a clothesline and flies outside over the top. The Outsiders run out to help DDP. Hall catches Jarrett with the Outsider's Edge, and DDP gets the pin. Not sure why this was included other than it's a DDP match. The work was alright, but it had zero heat. It was like watching your average RAW undercard match these days.

Mean Gene questions DDP about his association with Hall & Nash. DDP compares them to a one night stand that wants more, and says he doesn't want anything to do with them.

-DDP says having an invitation to join the nWo was like dealing with the mob, and that if you didn't accept, you had a target on your back. DDP says he felt it was more important to be a lone wolf than another nWo member. He also says that while Kevin Nash wasn't considered the "captain" of the nWo, he was the one steering the ship.

-From the 4/21/97 show, Kevin Nash comes to the ring with Syxx, Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, Vincent, and the fake Sting. Syxx says he got to thinking about Ric Flair said about the younger guys having no respcet. Syxx asks Flair what's so respectful about ripping off Buddy Rogers' act. Good question. Syxx says he doesn't sweat Piper or Flair. Nash gets on the mic, and, without a hint of irony, that when he got in the business in 1990, he saw the road that the likes of Piper paved, and saw nothing in it for him. Nash says at the time, the veterans strip-mined the business and left the next generation nothing. He says when he and Hall were in WCW before, Hall was ready to be a superstar, but instead got his salary cut. He says they went to "New York" (the WWF) and only saw punishment for the guys who trying to dig the business out of the hole it was in. Nash says he and his crew are going to kick back and try to clear the potholes the previous generation left behind. This was a pretty interesting promo that provided some very clear motivation for Nash when it came to helping form the nWo.

-From the 5/26/97 show, Hogan & Bischoff come to the ring to call out Sting. Hogan says the nWo belt is on the line right now, and says "the brothers" have Sting cornered, and calls for him to come out. Bischoff says Sting isn't here, because if he were, they would make Sting "worship the ground you spit on". An obviously fake Sting (which Tony takes for the real one) emerges from under the ring. It only occurs to Tony that this Sting isn't the real one when he drops to his knees on orders from Bischoff. Hogan spits on the mat, and while the fake Sting worships him, the real one repels from the ceiling. Sting takes out Bischoff, scares off Hogan, then takes down the fake Sting.

The nWo come out to back up Hogan and take Sting out. Sting tugs on his cable, and as the nWo finally advance, Sting goes back in the air to escape. Pretty cool segment.

-DDP talks about the Sting/Hogan feud, and how Sting masks were everywhere. He talks about, and they show, an angle where DDP & Piper don Sting outfits to attack the nWo. The group comes out to swarm them, and a cage lowers followed by the real Sting. DDP talks about talking Piper into going through the crowd with him, and Piper not believing that DDP did it every night.

-Scott Hall (w/Syxx) VS Ric Flair 6/2/97

-Flair responds to Hall's toothpick toss and taunt with punches and chops. Flair takes Syxx out when he tries to interfere. Hall lands some punches, but Flair turns that around and hits some chops. Flair flips off a whip in the corner, and dives off the apron onto Syxx, which allows Hall to take control. Hall slugs away in the corner, then pulls the ref back to allow Syxx to sneak in with the bronco buster. Hall hits a fall-away as the crowd chants for Sting. Hall hits a belly-to-back suplex for two, then slaps on an abdominal stretch. Flair takes some more punishment, but then wins a punch/chop exchange, before turning a sleeper into a shinbreaker. Hall hits a big desperation lariat for two.

Flair fires back, and takes Syxx out again. Flair hits a delayed vertical suplex and struts. Syxx runs in again and Flair fights them both off until Hall hits Flair with the cruiserweight title belt for the DQ. Hall & Syxx beat Flair down until Mongo makes the save with the loaded briefcase. Jarrett ran down too, but didn't do anything. Good TV main event to set up Flair/Piper VS The Outsiders at the Great American Bash.

-DISC TWO:

-DDP reminisces about how how WCW was in 1997. Talking about he was once asked in Minneapolis to take a picture to be hung on the arena wall as a memento of the fastest sell-out. He says they beat Prince's record for biggest attendance in Minneapolis. They show a clip of Rodman helping Hogan attack DDP, and DDP notes that Rodman skipped a practice for the NBA Finals to be on Nitro.

-A video highlighting athelete and celebrity involvement, for better or worse. Best clip is Kurt Russell laughing at David Arquette being WCW champion, and Arquette going to attack him with a chair while a mortified Courteney Cox yells "YOU'RE NOT A WRESTLER!".

-From the 6/16/97 show, Hogan & Rodman come to the ring. They get booed despite being in Chicago, shortly after the Bulls have beaten the Utah Jazz for an NBA title. They call out Lex Luger & The Giant for a tag match. They don't show for a few minutes, so after a commercial break, Hogan & Rodman go to leave, but are cut off by Luger & The Giant. Giant almost gets Rodman in the chokeslam, but Hogan low-blows Luger and breaks up the chokeslam. Giant goes after Hogan, but Rodman grabs the WCW title belt and KO's The Giant. nWo beatdown follows, which the crowd simultaneously pops for while throwing trash in the ring.

-Kevin Nash VS Rey Mysterio Jr. 6/30/97

-Rey sprints to the ring and hits a series of dropkicks, but can't get him down until he does a springboard front-flippy thing, which gets two. Rey stupidly tries a follup, and gets caught and slammed for it. Nash beals Rey, then carelessly jackknifes him for the win. Nash hits another careless powerbomb, then adds a third, more protected, powerbomb after decking the ref. Konnan walks out, makes eye contact with Nash, then after Nash leaves, Konnan applies a leglock, with injures Rey. I figured they were putting the upset win in here, but I don't remember when that happened. Not sure why this was put in.

-La Parka VS Randy Savage (w/Scott Hall & Liz) 7/7/97

-Pre-match video shows La Parka earning the "Chairman of WCW" name. Larry Zbyszko pretty much buries La Parka, saying Savage chose this match because he knows La Parka is no match for him, and that this is intented to be an "nWo joke". Savage wrestles circles around La Parka to start, save for a quick small package for a two count that La Parka gets in. Scott Hall leaves ringside to head to the announce booth and harrass Larry. Savage hits a slam and takes forever going up for the big elbow. La Parka counters by getting his feet up, then...hits a Diamond Cutter? "La Parka" unmasks as DDP, and he pins Savage. DDP runs off into the crowd to celebrate. I was wondering why this was included until the finish.

-Bill Goldberg VS Hugh Morrus 9/22/97

-This is Goldberg's debut. This is setup like a typical squash. The crew has no idea who Goldberg is. Goldberg gets a couple shots in, then they fight over a wristlock. Goldberg gets a rolling leg lock, but Morrus gets to the ropes. Goldberg tries a whip, but Morrus counters that into a flying clothesline. Morrus hits the No Laughing Matter, but Goldberg shocks everyone by kicking out at two. Goldberg no-sells a back elbow and does a backflip. Goldberg hits a powerslam, then the jackhammer (no spear) for the pin.

Mean Gene tries to get some words from Goldberg, who blows him off. Not much of a match, but it was such an important moment that I'm surprised it wasn't in volume one.

-DDP dismisses the notion that WCW did not make any of its stars. DDP talks about reading USA Today and seeing a cartoon where a Michael Jordan picture was in the garbage, and someone was nailing a picture of Goldberg on their wall. DDP then talks about Booker T rising through the ranks.

-Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) VS Booker T (w/Jacqueline) 10/6/97

-Big pop for Booker, who, judging by the commentary, is just starting his singles debut. Pretty fast-paced start. Jarrett hits a big hoptoss and celebrates, which pissed Booker off. Booker hits a dropkick, and Jarrett takes a powder. Jarrett goes back on offense. Booker gets a sunset flip for two, but walks into a clothesline. They both miss elbow drops, but Booker does a spinarooni and hits the Harlem side kick after his miss. We go to commercial with Booker working Jarrett over on the outside.

Back from break, Jarrett hits a cross-body off the top for two. Booker turns the tide, and hits a spinning kick to the face. Booker hits the scissors kick for two. Booker clotheslines Jarrett outside and NEVERMIND THAT SHIT, HERE COMES MONGO! He tries to take Debra away, and she slaps him for it. Mongo punches Jarrett, and Booker gets a rollup for the pin. OK match.

-WCW World Tag Team Championship: Steiner Brothers [c] (w/Ted DiBiase) VS Public Enemy [Philadelphia Street Fight] 11/3/97

-Big hometown reaction for PE. PE try to jump the Steiners as they get in the ring, but that doesn't work out for them. It's Falls Count Anywhere, so this could get interesting. Match breaks down right away, and this isn't a wrestling so much as it is four guys beating on each other. Scott takes Rocco to the announce booth, and Rocco hits a flying forearm from there before Scott takes over on him anyway. Grunge & Rick take turns choking each other with a camera cable, causing the camera that's on them to go on the fritz. Rocco dives off the set, but Scott has no interest in actually catching him clean.

Everyone gets back towards the ring. PE set Rick in between two stacked tables, but DiBiase pulls Rick out, and Grunge puts himself through a table. Scott gets the pin off that. Pretty much what you should expect, a TV version of the tag street fights that were a lot better on PPV.

-From the 11/10/97 show, the nWo come to the ring, carrying a bunch of Canadian flags. First, Bischoff brings out the returning Kevin Nash, who's been out for a month plus after knee surgery. Nash does his own version of the Lou Gehrig retirement speech, then says if Giant wants to face him, it'll have to be in the upcoming World War 3 battle royale. Bischoff then says the newest member of the nWo is...Bret Hart. Because he's such a "knockout kinda guy" (referring to Bret punching Vince the previous night after the screwjob), the nWo delivers a horrible rendition of "O' Canada".

-Booker T VS Randy Savage (w/Liz) 12/15/97

-Fast start for Booker, as he gets a quick couple near-falls and works the arm. Savahe fires back with some punches, but Booker knocks Savage outside and works him over. Back in, Booker hits the spinaroonie followed by a Harlem side kick. Savage rolls outside, and baits Booker into jumping towards him, only to move out of the way, then crack Booker across the back with a chair. Savage hits a double axe handle from the top to the floor, then sends Booker into the steps, getting a two count once they get back in the ring.

A fan tries to get in the ring, right in front of Savage, and naturally, that doesn't work out for him. Booker comes back with a spinwheel kick. Booker hits a dropkick, leading to an awkward and weak ref bump. Booker goes up top, but Liz grabs his leg, and Savage knocks him to the floor before adding another chairshot. Savage elbow gets the win. Decent enough TV match.

-DDP remembers Randy Savage. He gets emotional remembering Thanksgiving '97 and getting beeper messages from a lot of "the boys" thanking him. DDP says it made him think of who he was thankful for besides his family and Dusty (saying there was no DDP without Dusty), and leaving a message for Savage thanking him for what he had done for him. A couple weeks later, Randy says he asked his dad if anyone had done anything like that for him, and his dad said he had never heard of anyone doing something like that for anyone. Savage told DDP it meant a lot to him, and gave him a big hug. Great story.

-Psicosis, Silver King, & La Parka VS Rey Mysterio Jr., Juventud Guerrera, & Hector Garza [Lucha Rules] 12/22/97

-After a brief opening between King & Garza, Juvy and Psicosis go at it for a while. They botch a reverse rana from Juvy to Psicosis, then Psicosis rams shoulder-first into the post. Rey gets in (to a nice pop), and hits a couple highspots. There's a series of missed splashes, then people start going outside. Juvy uses Garza as a springboard for Air Juvy. La Parka gets Juvy in a chair, then hits a suicide dive, before Garza hits a corkscrew plancha to the floor. Back in the ring, Rey hits King with a reverse rana off the top, then finishes with the West Coast Pop. Not much to it, but at least it didn't go on for too long.

-WCW United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page [c] VS Chris Jericho 1/5/98

-Jericho is in the midst of his heel turn. He carrys a chair and a jacket to the ring, and presents them to Dave Penzer while apologizing for throwing Penzer down and slamming a chair against the ringpost the previous week. DDP is wearing torn jeans over his tights for some reason. The crew speculates over friction within the nWo after Starrcade, illustrated by two seperate limos carrying members to Nitro tonight. They go back-and-forth for a bit. Jericho suckers DDP into a handshake so he can lock on an armbar. Jericho goes for a kick, but DDP catches the leg, and pulls Jericho into the Diamond Cutter to retain. Good while it lasted. Jericho snaps again after the loss. It's nice to see a glimpse of Jericho during this time period.

-DDP says Jericho is a class act, and not only because he does DDP Yoga. DDP briefly talks about Spring Breakout, and says he'd tell some stories, but he can't remember them.

-A video highlights the Spring Break shows.

-Hollywood Hogan & The Outsiders (w/Eric Bischoff) VS WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting, Randy Savage (w/Liz), & The Giant 3/15/98

-Giant has a neck brace on, as he's still recovering from the fucked-up powerbomb at Souled Out. Big schmozz to start, and they settle into Sting pounding on Hogan. Hogan goes to the eyes, and ignores Hall & Nash reaching for the tag to work Sting over. Sting regains control and tags Giant. Hogan begs off, and accidentally touches Nash, which Charles Robinson rules is a tag. Giant backs Nash down, allowing Hall & Hogan to jump him from behind. Giant grabs them, and Nash clubs Giant on the neck. Giant plays face-in-peril, getting worked over by all three opponents in their corner.

Hogan gets the brace off, and as the nWo triple-team him, Giant throws all three men off. Giant tags Savage, and Hogan begs off. Nash rashes to the back to avoid Giant. The match breaks down, and as Savage works on Hogan, Sting takes care of Hall. Savage KO's Bischoff, but The Apocalypse/The Desciple (Ed Leslie) runs in, hits a Stunner on Savage, and Hogan gets the pin. Good tag formula TV main event.

-WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting [c] VS United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page 3/23/98

-DDP is rocking the jeans again, this time with a back brace. They lockup and spill outside with neither getting the advantage. Sting goes after the legs and twice goes for the Scorpion Deathlock. DDP hits a swinging neckbreaker for two, then tries the Diamond Cutter, but Sting throws him off. DDP hits a pancake for two, then slaps on a rear chinlock. DDP goes for corner punches, but Sting counters into snake eyes. DDP tries a spinning clothesline, but Sting ducks and hits a clothesline of his own for two before getting a chinlock. After a while, DDP fights out, but walks into a flying clothesline. DDP reverses a whip into the corner, and hits a belly-to-belly suplex for two.

Sting wins a slugfest, then hits a series of bulldogs. Sting tries a splash off the top, but DDP gets his knees up. DDP pounds away in the corner and tries the Diamond Cutter, but Sting counters into the Scorpion Death Drop to retain, a finish they would re-use about a year later. Best match of the set so far, by far. Sting celebrates, and salutes DDP by doing the Diamond Cutter signal. DDP raises Sting's hand and they hug.

-WCW United States Championship: Raven [c] VS Goldberg [Raven's Rules] 4/20/98

-Raven gets the early jump, but makes the mistake of taking Goldberg outside, and Goldberg sends him into the guardrail. Goldberg gets his rolling leglock, but Raven reaches the ropes. Goldberg hits the Bret Hart Killer superkick, and Raven rolls outside. Raven uses a chair to regain control, and hits the drop toe hold onto the chair for two. Raven gets a chinlock, and the crowd chants for Golberg, popping big as he fights out. Goldberg no-sells some shots in the corner and hits the spear, prompting the Flock to all run in. Goldberg hits the jackhammer on Reese, and Raven takes off through the crowd. Some plants throw Raven back to ringside. Back in the ring, Goldberg hits a second spear, and the jackhammer to win the title. Good, heated match that put Goldberg over in the biggest way possible.

-From the 5/4/98, a still-Flockified Kidman is wrestling someone who isn't named, while the crew spends the whole time talking about the new nWo Wolfpac VS nWo Hollywood war. Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, & Konnan break up the match, with Scott Putski finaly getting named as he takes a big boot and jackknife from Nash. Nash says the Wolfpac is running the show, and gives a shout-out to Hall, mocking Hogan & Bischoff for saying that Hall is "too dangerous to be on live TV". Nash then challenges Hogan to get a team together to fight the Wolfpac. Savage puts his career in jeopardy by calling Hogan "bald", and Savage badmouths Bret Hart for joining nWo Hollywood. Nash calls out the newest member of the Wolfpac, Curt Hennig. Brian Adams tries to talk him out of it, but it doesn't work. Konnan challenges Adams to a match, then Nash challenges Sting to send Lex Luger out for a match against Nash. Ignoring, then destroying cruiserweights to focus on nWo drama? It doesn't get anymore Nitro than that.

-DISC THREE:

-DDP talks about the decision to split the nWo.

-WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan & WCW World Tag Team Champion The Giant (w/Bret Hart & The Disciple) VS Kevin Nash & Lex Luger 6/1/98

-I don't even remember how Hogan got the title back. It takes a little bit to get going. Hogan tears his shirt and tosses it at Luger, who rubs it under his armpits then tosses it to Nash, who wipes his ass with it. Tony keeps mentioning that Sting's decision on which nWo faction to join may hinge on this match, completely discounting that he has the option to stay WCW. It wouldn't have made any sense for Sting to join nWo Hollywood, but then, it never made any sense when Giant joined the nWo, either time. Hogan & Luger trade power moves and holds, then Luger tags in Nash, who talks Hogan out of tagging Giant.

Nash works on Hogan in the corner, but Hogan responds in kind, and tags Giant. Giant works Nash over, including a huge kick to the face. Giant misses an elbowdrop, and Nash tags Luger. Luger gets a couple blows in, but Giant explodes out of a corner with a clothesline, and tags Hogan. Just when it looks like Luger is about to play FIP, Nash gets in and cleans house. Hogan grabs the world title belt and KO's Nash for the DQ. Pretty average WCW TV main event, complete with inconclusive finish.

Sting slowly repels from the ceiling and teases joining nWo Hollywood before clotheslining Hogan and slamming Giant. Sting follows slamming Giant by struggling to tear off the nWo Hollywood t-shirt to reveal the nWo Wolfpac shirt underneath. Ah the days when you could signal your alliance via a t-shirt. The Wolfpac celebrate as Giant has to be held back from attacking Sting.

-From the 9/28/98 show, TV Champion Chris Jericho comes to the ring, surrounded by his misfit security team, to face Goldberg. Jericho talks smack to Goldberg all the way to the ring. The real Goldberg comes out with the fake one over his shoulder. Jericho freaks, and sacrifices his security to Goldberg in order to escape.

-DDP talks about the Nitro parties, followed by clips of WCW-sponsored events.

-Eddie Guerrero VS Rey Mysterio Jr. 12/21/98

-Eddie is the leader of the Latino World Order at this point. IIRC, Rey has had membership forced on him after losing a match. I'm not sure who Eddie has with him. Nice touch as the lWo music has quotes from Eddie cut in like the nWo music. Eddie says it looks like he has to remind Rey that the lWo is about the group, not one man. Rey quickly sends Eddie outside, but he misses a dive to the floor, and Eddie takes advantage. Back in, Eddie hits a high-angle suplex for two, then a Gory Special. Tenay confirms that Rey is not a member because he chooses to be. Eddie gets a version of what would later be known as the Lasso from El Paso, but Rey gets to the ropes.

Rey blocks a suplex, and takes Eddie over the top, to the floor. Eddie recovers, and sends Rey into the guardrail. Back in, Eddie hits a super Frakensteiner for two. Eddie gets a camel clutch, and tears into Rey's mask. Eddie hits a German suplex and stomps on the back. Rey hits a head-scissors to send Eddie back outside. Eddie manages to clip Rey in Rey's injured knee, and applies a nasty leglock. Eddie switches up to an STF as we go to break.

Back from commercial, Eddie has Rey hanging backwards over Eddie's head. Rey counters that into a rollup for two, and Eddie counters back for two, then hits a brainbuster. Rey avoids a possible frog splash, but runs into a huge clothesline. Eddie gets Rey in the Tree of Woe, but Rey sits up to avoid a baseball slide, and Eddie crotches himself. Rey hits a dive, but then misses on a West Coast Pop. Rey alley-oops Eddie into the buckles, then hits a Rocker Dropper before flying off the top with a rana. Eddie goes outside, so Rey hits a baseball slide into a headscissors on the floor. Back in, Rey hits a springboard somersault splash for two. Eddie comes back with a sunset flip for two, then hits a flapjack.

Eddie hits a big powerbomb for two. Rey counters a second powerbomb with an armdrag, then gets another flying takedown for two. Charles Robinson gets bumped, and Eddie hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Eddie accidentally takes out his own bodyguard. Rey hits a slingshot X-Factor for a visual fall. Billy Kidman comes out, but accidentally forearms Rey, and Eddie gets a school boy for the pin. Great TV match, the best of the set so far.

-A pre-match video from Souled Out '99 shows Bam Bam Bigelow running out to attack Goldberg, only to end up getting tased by Scott Hall.

-Scott Hall (w/Disco Inferno) VS Bam Bam Bigelow [Ladder Match for the Taser] 1/25/99

-Tony explains that it's whoever zaps his opponent that will be the winner. Bigelow gets a big shot in, but Hall comes back with punches, and hits a flying bulldog off the top. Bigelow comes back, but Disco trips him up. Disco gets ejected by Billy Silverman. Bigelow goes for the ladder, but gets jumped by Hall. Hall drops the ladder on Bigelow, and crotch chops. Bigelow fights back, and hits Hall with the ladder. They get in the ring, where Bigelow no-sells a ladder shot and goes back on offense. Bigelow puts the ladder in between the ropes and uses it to bash Hall's face, but Hall drops down to teeter-totter the ladder into Bigelow. Hall drops the ladder on Bigelow, then wedges his knee in the ladder before stomping on it as we go to commercial.

Back from break, Bigelow whips Hall into the ladder which is set up in the corner, but then misses an avalanches, crashing into the ladder. Hall rides the ladder down onto Bigelow, but then says he broke a rib. Hall almost gets the taser but Bigelow tips the ladder over. Bigelow climbs the ladder, then drops a diving headbutt. Hall gets up first, and drops a questionably low leg. Hall climbs, but then stops to kick Bigelow down, then drops an elbow from the fourth rung of the ladder. Hall climbs, but Bigelow catches him and hits a belly-to-back suplex off the ladder. Bigelow climbs, but Hall knocks him off the ladder.

Hall gets his hands on the taser, but can't pull it down before Bigelow pulls the ladder out from underneath him. Bigelow gets the taser, but Hall hits a low blow. Disco runs out to hand a taser to Hall. The two face off before Goldberg runs out and spears both Hall & Bigelow. Goldberg tases Bigelow, but gets nailed from behind by Scott Norton before Goldberg can tase Hall. Norton gets Hall out of dodge. Pretty good match, even if it is dumb to end a ladder match as a no-contest.

-WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart [c] VS Roddy Piper 2/8/99

-The generic music dubbed over Bret's is pretty awful. Ugh, Will Sasso is in the crowd, so I already remember how this ends. This Nitro was in Buffalo, so I might have actually watched more of it than usual. Piper gets the early offense, but Bret goes to the eyes. Bret limps as part of a faked (as opposed to worked) groin injury. They exchange punches, and Piper does his casual eye poke to win that exchange. Bret uses the ropes to choke Piper, then fakes like Piper back kicked him in the nuts. Bret gets looked at by a trainer. I appreciate the psychology attempt, but if Bret can't continue, doesn't he lose the title? Bret suddenly pops up and wails away on Piper as we go to commercial.

Back from commercial, Bret hits a Russian leg sweep, then drops a headbutt onto the midsection. Bret knocks Piper outside, and continue his assault there before deciding to attack Sasso. Back in the ring, Piper fires back and hits a suplex for two, followed by a belly-to-back suplex for two. Piper gets the slepper, but the ref is bumped, and they clothesline each other for a double KO. Piper gets a small package for a visual pin. Bret gets something out of his tights and KO's Piper. Bret and Sasso have a tug-of-war over the ref, allowing Piper to get a schoolboy for the pin. This was good for what it was, but WrestleMania VIII it was not.

-DDP talks about the split between fans who liked celebrity involvement and those who don't. He moves on to his "brothers" Bam Bam Bigelow and Perry Saturn. DDP talks about meeting Bam Bam when Bam Bam was sixteen. DDP says he was turning the channels after not hearing from Bam Bam for a while, and seeing him on Texas wrestling, then being proud as Bam Bam went into WWE.

-From the 5/31/99 show, Bam Bam Bigelow & DDP attack Raven and stuff him in a dumpster to take him out of the world tag title match that night.

-WCW World Tag Team Championship: Perry Saturn & ???? [c] VS Diamond Dallas Page & Bam Bam Bigelow 5/31/99

-Saturn says he'll go it alone after DDP & Bam Bam took out both Raven & Kanyon. Eric Bischoff is on commentary, and says his mistakes can be summed up in three words: "Diamond Dallas Page". Saturn holds his own for the first couple minutes, and Saturn cleans house as we go to commercial.

Back from break, Saturn and DDP are going at it. Saturn stops to drop Bigelow, and takes a cheap shot from DDP. DDP works Saturn over, including hitting a huge powerbomb for two. Bigelow gets in to continue the beatdown, then tags DDP back in. DDP hits a flying clothesline off the top for two, then applies a side headlock. Saturn fights out, but DDP quickly hits a swinging neckbreaker. Bigelow tries a diving headbutt, but Saturn moves. Saturn blocks a Diamond Cutter, and sends DDP into Bigelow. Saturn hits a Death Valley Driver on Bigelow as Kanyon runs out. Saturn makes the tag, but Kanyon walks right into a discus punch from DDP, who gets the pin to win the titles. Good match, and IIRC, the deal with Kanyon was a set-up as part of the formation of the Jersey Triad.

-WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Randy Savage [c] (w/Georgeous George, Madusa, & Miss Madness) VS Hollywood Hogan 7/12/99

-Hogan enters to the Wolfpac theme, and I officially have no idea what's going on with the nWo at this point. Savage has just beaten Nash for the title the previous night at Bash at the Beach. Savage gets the early jump, then hides behind the ladies when Hogan fights back. Hogan bashes Madusa and Miss Madness together, and they start fighting on the outside before getting taken away by security. Hogan pounds on Savage, including 10 punches in the corner. Hogan wrestles like a heel, despite being the babyface here.

Savage takes a powder, but Hogan catches up to him and goes back to work. Hogan blocks a chairshot and hits a couple of his own, somehow not getting DQ'd for it. Hogan takes Savage over to the announce table and beats on him there as Bischoff taunts Savage. Hogan takes his weight belt off and goes to whip Savage, who throws George in front then hits a cheapshot to take control. Savage sprawls Hogan on the announce table and hits a chairshot. Back in the ring, Savage whips Hogan with the weight belt. Hogan tries fighting back, but gets kicked in the nuts.

Savage signals for the big elbow, but he misses it. Hogan hulks up, and looks to finish with the usual, but Sid Vicious attacks Hogan before he can. Sid goes for a powerbomb as Bischoff finally explains that this is no DQ. Sting attacks Sid and runs him off. Savage KO's Hogan with a chain, but Kevin Nash pulls the ref out then jackknifes Savage, allowing Hogan to get the pin and the title. Nash cuts Hogan's celebration short, pointing out that he's twice handed Hogan the title. Nash challenges Hogan for a title match, and Hogan accepts. This was shockingly good, even when the over-booking kicked in. The hot crowd helped out a lot.

-DDP talks about the Nitro Girls, and Stacy Keibler winning a contest to become a new Nitro Girl. DDP tells a story of Stacy being really excited while seeing Goldberg for the first time.

-From the 12/13/99 show, Goldberg is hovering over a possibly injured Bret Hart. They are tag champions with a title match against The Outsiders on this show, and they face each other in six days at Starrcade, a match which dramatically alters Bret's life, to say the leaset.

-WCW World Tag Team Champions: Bret Hart & Goldberg [c] VS The Outsiders 12/13/99

-Nash demands that since they made it easier for Goldberg at Starrcade, that he return the favor and hand them the tag titles. Goldberg starts the match by himself, and immediately cleans house. Hall gets a couple shots in, but Goldberg quickly comes back with a pump handle slam for two. Nash gets the tag, and gets a kneelift in. Goldberg comes back with a flying shoulder tackle. Hall distracts Goldberg, and Nash gets a big boot. The Outsiders double team Goldberg. As Hall hits a chokeslam, Bret runs out to help his partner.

Bret gets Nash in the sharpshoot, but Hall clobbers him. As Goldberg looks to finish Hall, Bret blocks a belt shot from Nash and pounds on him. Goldberg hits the spear on Hall, but Nash clips Hart's bad knee, and gets the pin by using the ropes. Goldberg hits the jackhammer on Hall before he realizes what happened. This was alright.

-Vampiro VS Sting [House of Pain Match] 5/15/00

-The House of Pain is basically a regular cage with a roof on it, or a Hell in a Cell that just covers the ring and not the ringside area, depending on your preference. The cage has handcuffs on the sides as well. This is the opener to this Nitro, BTW. Can you guess who was booking WCW at this point? Vampiro locks the door, so Sting climbs to the roof and breaks a panel to get inside. You have to shackle your opponent to the side of the cage to win. Sting gets the early jump, but Vampiro turns the tide. REALLY hot crowd for this. Vampiro hits a suplex and a legdrop, then works Sting over with kicks and a low blow.

Vampiro tries a kick off the top, but Sting counters into a powerbomb to start his comeback. Sting quickly gets Vampiro shackled, and he goes to work on him. Sting hits a couple Stinger Splashes...and leaves. That's it? OK, if ridiculously short for a blood feud, and the finish and aftermath are total weak sauce. The lights go out and when they come back on, Vampiro is gone.

-Shannon Moore (w/Evan Karagias) VS Shane Helms 2/26/01

-Helms immediately hits a facebuster and a neckbreaker. Moore pounds away in the corner but stops to pose, allowing Helms a chance to hit a running Liger bomb. Helms knocks Moore outside and chases him, allowing Evan the opportunity to cheapshot him on the outside. Moore hits a twisting dive off the top for two. Helms avoids an avalanche and hits a superkick, followed by a backdrop. Evan tries to get involved, but it doesn't go well. Helms hits a cross-body off the top and calls for the Vertabreaker. A distraction by Evan only delays the Vertabreaker for a moment,and Helms gets the pin. Chavo Guerrero attacks Helms, leading to a 3-on-1 beatdown in advance of a title match at the next PPV. Not sure why this was included.

-WCW World Heavyweight & United States Championship Unification Match: Scott Steiner [World Champion] (w/Madajah) VS Booker T [U.S. Champion] 3/26/01

-Booker avoids a clothesline, and hits a Harlem side kick for two. Booker hits a back elbow and a clothesline for another two count. Booker pounds away in the corner, but Steiner counters with a big powerbomb for two. They go outside, where Booker narrowly avoids a shot with a lead pipe. Steiner hits an elbowdrop, then does some push-ups. Steiner hits a belly-to-belly suplex for two, then stretches Booker while talking shit. Booker makes a comeback, and hits the scissors kick, followed by a flapjack and the spinaroonie.

Booker hits a leg lariat, but Steiner counters the Book End into a Northern Lights suplex for two. However, Booker counters a powerbomb, and hits the Book End to unify the titles. Not much considering it's the end of the true WCW title.

-DDP talks about the uneasiness surrounding the final Nitro, and can't believe it's been 12 years since the final one. DDP refrains from predicting there will be a Volume 3.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: Pretty disappointing set for the first two discs. The last disc is a lot better, but still has odd choices. A definite step down from Volume 1, but I'm sure there's enough good stuff for a Volume 3 (including Rey's first Cruiserweight title win over Malenko, which I can't believe wasn't on either set).

WWE Royal Rumble 2013

-From Phoenix, AZ

-Hosts are Michael Coley, Jerry Lawler, & JBL

-Match 1 for the World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio [c] VS Big Show [Last Man Standing]

-Before ADR makes his entrance, he bumps into Bret Hart, who wishes him luck, and says ADR reminds him of a "Mexican Bret Hart". Ricardo goes all fanboy on Bret, and gets a pair of Hitman shades for it.

Show dominates the first couple minutes, mainly with huge chops. ADR gets a really big "SI!" chant while he hits a couple superkicks. ADR counters a powerbomb with a rana, and the crowd wants tables. ADR goes for the cross-armbreaker 3 1/2 minutes in, but that doesn't go so well. Show grabs a chair, but ADR disarms him, and wears him out with it. ADR flies off the top, but gets caught and chokeslammed for a nine count. ADR falls to the floor, where Show slams him for a seven count. ADR goes low, then hits a superkick for a nine count. They fight towards the entrance, and show sends ADR into the set. Show grabs a light tube and cracks ADR across the back with it. Show climbs a piece of the set, pulls ADR up by his hair, and chokeslams him off through a table for a nine count.

They go back to the ring where Show loads up the WMD, but ADR takes a powder to avoid it. Show grabs the steps, and almost caves ADR's head in. Ricardo tries to help, and gets rag dolled for it. Show tries to spear ADR, but whiffs and crashes through the barricade for a nine count. ADR grabs another chair and goes to town, finishing by trapping Show's arm on the steps and smashing it. Show gets up, so ADR douses him with a fire extinguisher. WE'RE PARTYING LIKE IT'S 1999! Back in the ring, ADR gets the cross-armbreaker, and Ricardo duct tapes Show's ankles to the ropes, and Show is counted down at 16:57. Strong opener. I was skeptical when ADR turned face, since I didn't think his gimmick could translate as a babyface, plus I'm never happy when a wrestler wins a world title after decisively losing a feud, but they've picked the right time, whether it's intentional or not, to get ADR over as a face, as they've mostly been in cities with heavy Hispanic population since then. I do like the finish, even if it isn't a traditional babyface way to win, since it is in line with ADR's established character, and I hate it when someone does a complete 180 when they turn.

-Matt Striker interviews Dolph and crew. Dolph points out that #1 and #2 are the same in the Rumble, and picks #1. Striker tries to point out that only two people have won from the #1 spot (leaving out that Vince won at #2). AJ gets upset at the implication from Striker that Dolph can't win. AJ uses the implied threat of a Langston beatdown to chase Striker off. Langston uses his best "TV newscaster" voice to finish the interview. Dolph says he's going to win the Rumble, cash in his Money in the Bank to win the world title, then unify it with the WWE title at WrestleMania.

-We go old school Royal Rumble with short promos from some of the participants.

-EARLIER TONIGHT: Antonio Cesaro beats The Miz to retain the U.S. title on the pre-show.

-Match 2 for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Hell No [c] VS Rhodes Scholars

-Bryan almost immediately trips Rhodes up during a leapfrog and slaps on a surfboard. After Kane fights off both challengers, Bryan kicks the shit out of Sandow. Kane sends both challengers outside, and Bryan hits them with a suicide. The Scholars finally get some offense in after Rhodes low-bridges Bryan. Bryan plays face-in-peril for a couple minutes, then get the hot tag to Kane, who dominates Sandow. Sandow avoids a flying clothesline, and hits an ugly swinging neckbreaker. The challengers block a double chokeslam and hit a double suplex on Kane. They didn't see Bryan make a blind tag, and he hits Sandow with a missile dropkick. Kane chokeslams Rhodes, and Bryan makes Sandow tap to the No Lock at 9:25. Decent enough abbreviated tag formula match.

-The annual "numbers" Royal Rumble promo.

-A recap of the Rumble festivities, including a panel with Bret and Shawn, and Sheamus & Layla working with Make a Wish.

-Match 3: The Royal Rumble

-Ziggler cuts a promo before the match starts. Cole points out that two people have won from the #2 spot. I can't remember who the other person is. CHRIS JERICHO makes a surprise return as #2. Monster pop for that. Jericho almost dumps Ziggler, and gets a big "YOU STILL GOT IT" chant that is usually reserved for much older wrestlers. Cody Rhodes is #3, and he goes after Jericho. Jericho almost goes out, but fights back and gets the Liontamer on Rhodes before getting blind-sided by Ziggler. Kofi Kingston is #4 as the 90 second count is off by a bit early on. Kofi cleans out and almost dumps Ziggler. Rhodes goes after Kofi, so Jericho goes after Rhodes. Santino is #5. He celebrates after almost eliminating everyone else. They gang up on him, and Rhodes tosses him at 6:03.

Drew McIntyre is #6, and I don't anticipate him lasting long. Drew tries to toss Kofi, so Jericho takes the opportunity to try to dump him also. Dolph almost gets Jericho out as Titus O'Neill is lucky #7. O'Neill runs through Kofi & Cody, and DOES THE BARK. Jericho eliminates Drew at 9:26. GOLDUST is #8, and Cody isn't happy about it. The Rhodes' family slugs it out, stopping to take care of Ziggler when he tries to break it up. David Otunga is #9, and I can't remember the last time he was on TV. Otunga goes after Jericho, then the Rhodes' team up on Titus before Cody turns on Goldust and tries to toss him. Heath Slater is in at #10, and not much happens.

Sheamus is #11 and it should be time for some dead weight to be tossed. Sheamus cleans house, and throws Otunga into Titus to eliminate Titus at 15:57, then it's goodbye Otunga at 16:15. Tensai is #12 as Cole acknowledges that he's been in past Rumbles. The crew discuss alternative Rumble strategies and Brodus Clay enters at #13. Brodus goes after Jericho, then has to fight off Tensai. The Rhodes' fight it out on the apron. Goldust clotheslines Cody back in, and Cody makes him pay by whipping him into the ringpost for the elimination at 19:52. Rey Mysterio is in at #14, and he promptly hits both Ziggler & Jericho with 619s. Cole points out that Rey was #2 in 2006, so he was the other. I hated that Rumble, so I'm not surprised I forgot. Brodus gets ganged up on as Darren Young enters at #15, and Brodus is out at 21:58. Tensai tries to dump Kofi, but Kofi turns it around and eliminates him at 22:14. In this year's "crazy save from elimination" spot. Ziggler knocks Kofi off the apron, and he lands on Tensai's back. Tensai dumps him on the Spanish announce table and leaves. After giving this some thought, Kofi yells at JBL to give him his chair, which he does, if only to see what he's going to do.

Kofi sets up his spot as Bo Dallas makes his debut at #16. Kofi uses JBL's chair as a pogo stick to make his way back to the apron. Why go through all that when you can simply hop on one foot? Darren Young's elimination at 24:34 distracts Kofi and allows Cody to hit the disaster kick to knock Kofi off the apron and eliminate him at 24:41. Cody's smile after doing that is awesome. Sheamus almost catches Cody celebrating and THE GODFATHER is #17. I didn't realize the Ho's were PG. Godfather gets in the ring, and is promptly dropkicked over the top and eliminated by Ziggler at 26:06. Wade Barrett is #18. Barrett teams with Jericho and they almost get Sheamus out. John Cena is in at #19, and it should be time for more house cleaning. Super Cena immediately fights off six guys and eliminates Slater at 29:14 and Cody at 29:19. He almost gets Jericho out, but Ziggler saves Jericho only to attack him. Bo Dallas goes after Cena, and is shockingly not promptly dumped for it. Damien Sandow enters at #20 and goes after Dallas. Rey and Barrett almost go out simultaneously, then Barrett kicks Rey off the apron at 30:49. Jericho fucks up putting the Walls on Cena, but he gets it the second time.

Daniel Bryan enters at #21, and kicks Sandow, Ziggler, and Barrett down, accompanied by "YES!" chants the whole time. Antonio Cesaro is #22, and he goes right after Sheamus. The Great Khali is #23. Khali cleans house and Ziggler hits a bareback on Cena. Kane is in at #24 as this match has slowed to a crawl, but the entrants are smartly coming pretty fast. Sandow almost gets Sheamus out. Zack Ryder is #25 as the ring is filling up for Ryback. Ryder hits the Rough Ryder on Ziggler as Hell No eliminate Khali at 37:49, then Bryan dumps Kane at 38:02. Bryan EMBRACES THE POWER OF YES but is then promptly knocked out of the ring...into the arms of Kane. Kane refuses to help Bryan back in the ring, and Bryan falls to the floor at 38:34.

Randy Orton enters at #26. He almost tosses Dallas, then hits both he and Ziggler with the draping DDT, then adds an RKO to Ryder before tossing him at 40:06. Ryder splats on his face during the elimination. Barrett & Cesaro work Orton over as Jinder Mahal enters at lucky #27. Cena blocks a gutwrench from Cesaro and backdrops him out at 41:00. Cena catapults Ziggler, who hangs on the ropes to save himself. The Miz is in at #28, and he goes after Cesaro as Cesaro leaves. Sheamus drapes Mahal across the top rope, and hits a kneelift to eliminate him at 42:44. Miz gets in the ring, and hits the Reality Check on Cena. Sin Cara enters at #29. Barrett tries to toss Dallas, but Dallas hangs on and pulls Barrett out at 44:31. Miz almost gets Jericho out as Barrett returns to pull Dallas out at 45:23, then KO's him with the Bull Hammer. Ryback is #30, and it's time to clean house.

Sandow is Ryback's first victim at 46:34. Sin Cara tries his luck and soon follows at 46:59. Miz is next at 47:12. Jericho catches Ryback with the Code Breaker, and Cena with a Lionsault before almost getting Sheamus out. Jericho hits a Code Breaker on Ziggler to knock Ziggler into the ropes. Ziggler backdrops Jericho to the apron, then superkicks him off at 47:53. The crowd doesn't like that one at all. Orton avoids a charging Ryback, then hits RKOs on Ziggler, Cena, & Sheamus. Orton follows that up with the draping DDT on Ryback, and calls for the RKO, but Ryback blocks that and dumps Orton at 49:25.

FINAL FOUR: Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, John Cena, & Ryback. Ziggler hits a leaping DDT on Cena, but Sheamus blocks it when Ziggler tries it on him. Sheamus put Ziggler on the apron, then Brogue Kicks him out at 49:46. Cena & Sheamus go after Ryback, and hit a double-team suplex before going after each other. Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but runs into a Meathook clothesline from Ryback. Sheamus blocks Shellshocked and hits Ryback with White Noise. Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick on Ryback, but he counters and dumps Sheamus at 52:31.

The crowd is solidly behind Ryback against Cena. Cena lands some punches, but runs into a spinebuster. Cena avoids the Meathook clothesline, and slaps on the STF, which puts Ryback out. Ryback comes back with a flying Thesz Press. Ryback tries to toss Cena, but Cena counters, and tosses Ryback to win his second Rumble at 55:06. Pretty good Rumble this year. A couple of cool spots and not a whole lot of down time. The final four was pretty tense, even though I knew who won. Maybe not one of the all-time great Rumbles, but good.

-Cena POINTS TO THE SIGN and celebrates his win.

-After the hype video for the main event, Josh Matthews attempts to get some words from The Rock, who quickly dismisses him. The Rock talks about the adversity of not getting drafted into the NFL and his mom being diagnosed with cancer, then sucks up to the fans.

-Match 4 for the WWE Championship: CM Punk [c] VS The Rock

-Really fast start. They trade shots, then Punk has to avoid a Rock Bottom a minute in. They go outside, where Rock preps the Spanish announce table. CM Punk sends Rock back in, and resets the the table. They go back outside, where Heyman gets involved, allowing Punk to take control and he preps the Spanish announce table before changing his mind and focusing on Rock's injured midsection. Back in the ring, Punk applies a bodyscissors and there's a big "BOOTS TO ASSES-KNEES TO FACES" dueling chant. Punk keeps the pressure on, continuing to work on the midsection.

Punk dropkicks Rock outside, then hits a flying axe handle off the top to the floor, tweaking his repaired knee in the process. Rock goes after the knee, but Punk sends him back to the floor and follows with a suicide dive. Back in, Punk misses the springboard clothesline, and Rock goes back to the knee. Rock hits a Russian Legsweep for a one count. Punk blocks the Rock Bottom, Rock blocks the GTS and goes for his shitty Sharpshooter, but Punk counters that into the Anaconda Vice. Rock turns that into a pin, forcing Punk to kick out and release the hold.

Rock hits a DDT, and both guys are out. Punk again counters the Rock Bottom into a crucifix, but Rock rolls through that and applies a slightly-improved version of his shitty Sharpshooter. Punk almost taps, but reaches the ropes. Back outside, Rock fully preps the Spanish announce table, then catches Punk before he can get away. They get on the table, and Punk catches Rock with a kick and calls for the GTS. Rock goes for the Rock Bottom, but the table gives out before he can lift Punk. I'm sure that felt GREAT. Rock rolls inside to break the count, then improvises with a Rock Bottom on the floor.

Rock gets Punk in the ring, and a cover gets two. Punk catches Rock with a huge roundhouse kick out of nowhere. Rock wins a strike exchange with a flying foerarm and just when he's about to hit the People's Elbow, the lights go out. The Shield (as noticed by Cole) attack Rock and put him through the announce table. Punk feigns ignorance, gets Rock back in the ring, and gets the pin to retain at 21:26.

-Punk sticks around to celebrate, and that brings out Mr. McMahon. McMahon, as promised, goes to strip Punk of the title because of the Shield's involvement, but Rock cuts him off, and asks for a restart instead. Vince thinks about it, then gives it to him.

-Match 5 for the WWE Championship: CM Punk [c] VS The Rock [Take Two]

-Punk goes right on the attack, looking to finish this quick. Punk hits the running high knee, a short-arm clothesline, and a Savage Elbow for two. Rock fights off the GTS, and hits a spinebuster and People's Elbow to win the title at 2:03. The whole thing was great until the end. I would have liked at least another Rock Bottom instead of just the People's Elbow to finish Punk's historic reign.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty good show, even if it falls short of being one of the most memorable shows. With only four matches, there couldn't be a bad one, and nothing was. The world title match was very good, the Rumble match was very good, and the main event was almost perfect except for the finish. I'm not excited for what's being set up as the main events for WrestleMania, but we'll see what happens.