WCW Monday Nitro 10/9/1995

WCW Monday Nitro 10/9/1995

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/06/wcw-monday-nitro-1021995.html

We see clips of The Taskmaster and Giant shaving Hulk's mustache last week.

Eric, Mongo and Heenan are wearing Chicago Bears jerseys as they are in Chicago. Mongo lifts Eric up and turns him around. Heenan says there's a restraining order on Giant and says something big is going to happen.

Sting walks in. Eric says to give him a mic. Sting says something has to change between Lex Luger and Macho. He says he will solve the problems between them tonight.

WCW US Title - Sting vs Shark

Shark attacks him as he enters and poses with Sting's title. Shark powerslams him. Shark hits an elbow drop and a leg drop. Shark misses a corner splash and Sting hits splashes on Shark's back. Sting top rope crossbodies Shark and wins.

Thoughts: It was entertaining but way too short. This could easily have gone like 20 minutes and been a great match, but they just blew it off in seconds. They made Shark look weak here and killed his credibility. 

We see more clips of Hulk getting his beard shaved.

Sabu vs Mr. JL

Eric says all we know about Mr. JL is his name. Sabu hits shots on JL and totally misses a punch in front of the camera. Sabu slams him and slingshot flipping legdrops him. Sabu has "Sheik" written on his tape. Sabu springboard legdrops him.

Sabu chinlocks him then JL flying euros him. JL enzugiri's Sabu out of the ring then JL topes him. Sabu spinning heel kicks JL out. Sabu flip dives him outside, essentially powerbombing himself on the floor. JL is sent into the rails then Sabu jumps off a chair onto him against the rails.

JL germans him for 2. JL hits a corner dropkick then Sabu lariats him. Sabu seated moonsaults him then camel clutches him. Sabu is bridged from the top buckle and JL ddt's him for 2. JL blocks a top rope hurricanrana. JL jumps off the top and is powerbombed. Sabu then camel clutched him and submits him to win.

Thoughts: There was very little selling here and it just went from spot to spot. Sabu got some pops from the crowd here and really did get off to a nice start, but then it just kept going. The Mr. JL gimmick was really stupid and I can't believe they couldn't come up with a better name for ol' Jerry Lynn

Sabu sunset bombs him on the floor after and they cut away as the fight continues which sucked.

Heenan doesn't think Sting can solve Macho and Lex's issues. We see Sting, Lex and Gene get in the ring as the commentators talk.

Mean Gene Okerlund, Sting and Lex Luger are in the ring. Sting says he has the solution to the problem but needs Macho Man out here. Macho comes out in some nice black and gold tiger striped gear. Sting says The Giant is winning the game and has chokeslammed everyone. Macho says asks why he's doing this and why he hasn't done it to Sting yet?

Sting says Macho is paranoid and insecure. Sting says we all want to be champ. Sting says if Macho and Lex win their matches at the PPV, they should fight. Lex says they agreed to a rematch but didn't say anything about Halloween Havoc. Lex accuses Sting of putting words in his mouth. Sting says it's pathetic and says it's disgusting. He says Lex doesn't look like The Total Package. He says he's tired of being a babysitter to Lex and asks if he's up for the match. Lex agrees and says he'll see Macho in the ring. Macho says "we got a date, don't be late".

Thoughts: Sting was kind of hard on Lex here. I'm not sure Sting's going to be hosting his own daytime talk show anytime soon with these mediation skills. Lex and Macho is still a decent feud though and I'm interested to see who wins that one. The segment kind of buried Meng and Kamala though as Macho and Lex are fighting them and already planning second matches the same night. It feels like this is the beginning of WCW phasing out The Dungeon of Doom.

We see Chris Benoit arrive in a limo. They say he's made a name for himself all over the world. Benoit says, "WCW, where the big boys play".

Disco Inferno comes out and dances. The music stops and he picks up his jukebox. Big Bubba walks in and stares at him. Bubba then walks past him without nailing him in a shocker. Hawk follows and backs up Disco. Disco follows him down the ramp and puts a fan's hat on Hawk's spikes.

Big Bubba vs Hawk

Bubba hits boots and punches on Hawk. Bubba hits a corner splash then hits punches. The fans chant "LOD". Bubba is whipped into the corner and slides out. Bubba boots Hawk then takes a powerslam.

Disco Inferno gets on the apron and dances. Hawk rips Disco's shirt up then chases him up the aisle. Hawk bangs Disco's head off the rails and gets counted out.

Thoughts: The work was good but the finish was not. One would think this builds to Hawk/Disco, which should be total destruction. Disco's work was good here as the annoying heel.

Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart come out. Hulk is wearing all black and has no mustache. Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Hulk and Jimmy. Hulk tells Gene and Jimmy not to say anything. Hulk says the games are over and it's time to take care of family business. He says he will play Giant's and Taskmaster's game. He said just like he beat Andre The Giant, he will take his neckbrace off and beat Giant right now. Gene says The Giant has a restraining order on him and is banned from the building. Hulk says he should come out anyway.

Hulk says in the New York City area, the promoter's ego got bigger than the wrestling business. He says that promoter is dying and choking on his own ego. He says he came to WCW as a place to turn his little Hulkster's into redwoods. He says Taskmaster wants to chop all the tree's down. Hulk talks about the match with Giant at Halloween Havoc. He says Giant might as well have burned the American flag when they shaved his mustache.

We hear police sirens and see The Giant in his monster truck being chased by police. Zodiac's in the back of the truck and Taskmaster is riding shotgun. The police block them. Hulk says if Giant can't get in here to fight, he can go out there and fight him. 

Thoughts: I didn't really see the need for the shots at Vince. I liked Giant's arrival in the monster truck. That was pretty cool.

We see the cage lowered.

Mongo has Pepe in a Bears sweater and helmet. Police come talk to Eric and say they are keeping Hulk and Giant apart.

Steel Cage Match - Arn Anderson vs Ric Flair

This one wasn't even mentioned on this show yet. No entrance for Arn here. The cage is not very high.

Flair hurries in and hits chops and punches. Arn back body drops him then throws him into the cage. Arn stomps Flair and chokes him. We cut to break which sucks and then we return. Flair chops Arn down then Arn spinebusters him.

Flair's face is raked on the ropes. Flair drops Arn with a chop and sends him into the cage. Flair drops Arn with a punch then Flair is sent into the cage. Flair's head is raked on the cage. Flair drops Arn and struts. Flair suplexes Arn. Brian Pillman tries to get in the cage.

Brian gets near the top of the cage and is knocked down to the floor. Flair double axe handles Arn off the top rope then knee breakers him. Arn is on his back and has knucks on. He knocks Flair out with a punch and wins.

Thoughts: It was really rushed which is a shame. They got like maybe 6 minutes for this tops and they didn't have much time for anything than the basics.

Ric Flair comes up to commentary and takes Eric's headset. He says he'll wrestle Arn and Pillman next week 2v1. He says he looked the world over for a partner and couldn't find one. He says they will fight on Nitro. Flair breaks the headset on accident and Heenan says Flair needs help. The announcers talk about this show and next week's show.

Overall thoughts: It was an entertaining Crash TV style show, but Crash TV doesn't work that well when you only have an hour like this show did. Sting/Shark and Arn/Flair could have been 20+ minute matches and got reduced to being under 8 minutes. Neither ended up being as good as they could have been. They did too much in the Sabu vs Mr. JL match. The Giant/Hulk wasn't bad at all here and Giant arriving in a monster truck was cool. It also seems like they set up Disco Inferno vs Hawk which should be an entertaining death sentence for Disco. I liked the show and thought it was good, but it could have been better.