WCW Monday Nitro 11/20/1995

WCW Monday Nitro 11/20/1995

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/07/wcw-monday-nitro-11131995.html

Mongo McMichael, Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan are our commentators as usual. Pepe is dressed up like a cowboy. Sting vs Hulk is the big match tonight. Eric says tonight is the superbowl of wrestling. Heenan says Hulk/Sting is a match people thought they would never see. He says he wants to see Sting beat Hulk then fall down stairs and crack his head, eliminating both guys.

Scott Norton vs Shark

Shark nails Scott as he walks down the aisle and they fight. Scott is thrown into the post and they get in. Shark hits a belly to belly suplex then elbow drops him. Shark knees him in the gut and hits a corner splash.

Scott takes shots and stares down Shark. Shark misses a corner splash and Scott powerslams him and wins.

Thoughts: It was sadly too short though the work was good. Shark stuck to the splashes and elbow drops here and Scott really didn't get much in but a very nice powerslam.

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Jimmy Hart and The Taskmaster. Gene says Hart is stirring the pot. Hart says tonight is the night for Sting. He says he can beat Hulk. Hart says Hulk has a new best friend and that's Macho Man and not Sting. He says Hulk called Macho to be on Baywatch and not Sting. Task says World War III is for the title. He asks if Gene is gonna bet against The Dungeon in it.

Heenan says Hulk doesn't have a friend in the world and says everyone is out to get him. He says he has to come off the tree and beat 59 people to become champ or the world. He says he can't do it. Mongo says Heenan's opinions have a lot in common with his feet - they both stink.

The Disco Inferno comes out to dance on the stage when he's not supposed to. He then shows off his CD and Eddie Guerrero scares him off.

Ric is out in street clothes with Brian Pillman, who is in his wrestling gear. Ric says someone made a mistake thinking he would wrestle Eddie Guerrero. Ric says he's so focused on Sting that he will let Brian Pillman have the honors.

Eddie Guerrero vs Brian Pillman

BP shakes his red jacket at Eddie like he's a bull. BP hits chops. Eddie back elbows him out of the corner, headscissors takeovers him off the ropes, dropkicks him and slaps him. Eddie backdrops him. Eddie comes off the top and BP dropkicks him in the air.

BP rakes Eddie's eyes on the ropes then bangs his head off the buckles. Eddie rolls him up then BP bangs Eddie's head off the mat. BP back body drops Eddie then punches him in the face. BP suplexes him for 2.

They trade chops and BP eye pokes him. BP snapmares him and chinlocks him. BP powerslams him. Eddie takes him down and hits punches. BP suplexes him off the apron to the floor. BP misses a 2nd rope dive and goes into the rails when Eddie moves. Eddie walks up the buckles and plancha's BP outside.

Eddie brainbusters him then is crotched on the top rope. BP is pushed off the top and Eddie frogsplashes him for the win.

Thoughts: It was a good match here with the two match up well. They didn't overdo it here and Eddie racked up yet another win in his silent push. Eddie's dive over the post to the outside on BP was nice. I don't get the reasoning for replacing Ric with Brian here though.

We see Macho Man getting his arm injured.

Big Bubba vs Hawk

They tried this on 10/9 but Hawk got counted out. Maybe the second time is the charm. Hawk nails Bubba outside to start. Hawk sunset flips Bubba inside then running lariats him. Bubba hangs off the ropes and is pulled off. Hawk hits mounted punches then misses a rare top rope splash.

Bubba hits some punches and Hawk blocks a corner splash. Bubba lariats him and spinebusters him. Bubba leg lariats him on the ropes. Bubba slides out, gets hit then gets a shot in. Hawk does a backwards running back elbow. Hawk comes off the top and is thrown down. Bubba tapes his fist up with a weapon. He goes to hit Hawk but Hacksaw Jim Duggan trips him. Bubba lands on the weapon and Hawk gets pined.

Thoughts: This was unusual here as they kept just running into each other. It happened at least twice here as they collided out of nowhere. That made it a bit sloppy but these two do work well together otherwise. I just wish we could get a long match between these two because I think it would be good. The finish wasn't that great here and was kind of hard to buy if you think about it.

Sting vs Hulk Hogan

Sting has red and yellow on with a gold, yellow and red jacket. Macho Man comes out for Hulk's entrance with his arm in a sling. Hulk then comes out through the crowd with his Zorro mask on. Hulk then taps Sting from behind.

They go face to face and Hulk pushes him. Sting boots him and hits various strikes. Hulk trips but corner lariats Sting. Hulk hits punches on Sting. Sting ducks a clothesline and hits two dropkicks. Hulk goes over the top and is dazed.

Hulk pulls Sting out and bangs his head off the apron and rails. Hulk suplexes Sting on the floor then Sting flying crossbodies him. Mongo says him and his brother solved issues like this and Heenan says, "but he's 9". Hogan trips him and gets his back. Macho tells Hulk to find out what Sting's all about. Hulk rolls into an armbar on Sting.

Sting yanks on Hulk's arm and armlocks him. Hulk side headlocks Sting then headlock takeovers him. Hulk side headlocks him. Sting hits kicks to the leg. Hulk catches his corner splash and bearhugs him. Hulk then throws hims down.

Hulk boots him in the gut then running elbows him. Hulk backdrops Sting then suplexes him. Sting hits kicks to the leg then scorpion deathlocks him. Sting hits shots and Hulk hulks up. Hulk hits punches then boots him. Hulk misses a legdrop and Sting scorpion deathlocks him. Hulk tells the ref to help him then The Dungeon of Doom strike.

Sting and Hulk get beat up at first but start to fight them off. The Giant then comes out. Giant grabs Sting and Hulk by the throat then Macho chairs Giant in the back. Giant chokeslams Macho then Sting and Hulk clothesline Giant over the top with a chair.

Thoughts: The match was interesting as Hulk worked completely different up until he made his comeback. He was doing armbars and just not doing the usual heavy selling match he did. Sting did his usual offense and I think was more over than Hulk here. I wasn't surprised The Dungeon of Doom interfered and legit expected it about 10 seconds before it happened.

We go to break and return. Jimmy Hart and The Taskmaster are at commentary. Task tries to grab Heenan's headset and threatens Hulk.

They hype up World War III and Heenan is all fired up. Eric says anyone who thinks they can predict what goes on in WCW is twisted. Eric asks who will be the new champ Sunday. Mongo says it's just a taste of what you will get at WW3. Heenan says he needs insurance.

Overall thoughts: I thought it was a fun episode of Nitro here. They hyped up World War III well and with so many people in the mix right now, you could make the case for several people walking away with the title in the battle royale. Hulk and Giant would be the big favorites though. I liked Norton/Shark but it was too short as most Shark matches seemed to be. Eddie/Pillman was our workrate match of the night and it was a good one with the two providing some nice cruiserweight action. Bubba/Hawk wasn't the cleanest match ever but it's clear that if they just let them have a normal 10 minute match, it would be really good. Sting/Hulk was a hotshot of a match and it didn't have a clean finish as expected. It was interesting to see Hulk work outside of his usual formula and I know he didn't like Sting getting bigger reactions than he did. It's on to World War III, though I couldn't tell you a single match on the show outside of the battle royale.