WCW Monday Nitro 1/15/1996

WCW Monday Nitro 1/15/1996

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/07/wcw-monday-nitro-181996.html

We are in Miami, Florida. Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Bobby Heenan and Eric Bischoff are on commentary. They hype up the show. Heenan says he wants to see what Sting can do to Flair tonight. Mongo says Sting is finally getting his chance at the title and may just take it tonight.

"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Lex Luger

Lex doesn't have Jimmy Hart with him here. Lex grabs a chair outside and the ref tries to take it away. Lex throws it in and Macho catches it. Lex then nails Macho and throws him out. Macho is sent into the steps and has his head banged off of it. Macho tries to get in and is knocked off the apron. Macho pulls Lex out and bangs his head off the rails.

Macho hits shots on Lex outside and bangs his head off the steps. Macho top rope double axe handles him for 2. Lex hits some shots in the corner. Macho back elbows him then chokes him.

Macho kicks Lex in the arm and Lex eye pokes him while the ref is between them. Lex snapmares him then elbow drops him. Macho drops Lex throat first on the ropes then misses a top rope elbow drop. Lex torture racks Macho and submits him.

Thoughts: It was a shorter match. I was really surprised we had a clean finish in this one as that's not the norm. It was the same match they've been having on this show with them just trading basic shots and brawling. It was average though it did feel like there was some beef between these two.

The Dungeon of Doom come out and grab Mean Geke Okerlund. The Four Horsemen then come out too. Gene asks what's going on here. Arn Anderson said him and Kevin Sullivan had a meeting of the minds. Arn said his main order of business is to protect Ric Flair's WCW Title.

Arn says any match between these two is a war that can't be won and he says the match (Arn and Pillman vs Sullivan and Hugh Morrus) is cancelled for tonight. Kevin Sullivan says Ric is the greatest champ of all time and has a legacy even The Celtics can't match. He says they can borrow the big man (the Giant) at Clash of the Champions.

Sullivan agrees no one wins in a match between them tonight. He says Brian Pillman has no respect and isn't Horsemen material. Arn says they aren't afraid of them and htey do respect them. Pillman shoves it in Sullivan's face, saying they do respect them and don't fear them. Arn then slaps him and says, "I told you to keep your mouth shut".

Arn says these emotional outbursts will stop. He says this is a business and will be run as one. He says he has his word on that. Sullivan asks if he knows that Hogan is wrestling a member of The Dungeon tonight.

Thoughts: It's rare that I'm okay with a match being cancelled, but I am. This segment was great. This was a cool mafia style segment with Arn going all Godfather on Pillman. Arn was awesome in this.

The commentators talk about that last segment. Heenan says he thinks there is trouble in The Horsemen now. Eric says he wouldn't want to be Hulk Hogan after what just happened.

The American Males vs Public Enemy

They say this is Public Enemy's debut. He said they were supposed to debut a few weeks ago but were snowed in. PE charge at The Males and get nailed. They take stereo back body drops and are lariated over the top. PE pull The Males out and they brawl. Bagwell is sent into the rails.

Riggs avoids a double team then Bagwell hits a top rope double crossbody. PE then take dropkicks out. Riggs hits forearms on Grunge then sunset flips him. Riggs hits a dropkick. Rock knees Riggs from the apron and Riggs goes down. Riggs takes down Grunge by the hair.

Bagwell hits forearms on Grunge and back body drops him. Rock gets one too then Bagwell dropkicks both. Bagwell then lariats both. Bagwell powerslams Grunge. Bagwell tries to roll up Grunge, takes a shot from rock and Grunge rolls up Bagwell by the tights to win.

Bagwel flying forearms Rock after. Bagwell's head is banged off the steps then he is sent into the rails. PE stack up two tables outside then send Bagwell into the camera man's stand. Bagwell is put on two tables then Rock flip dives him through both.

Thoughts: The match wasn't that great. PE didn't show a lot here and it's hard to buy them as tough guys when they are smaller than everyone else and pudgy. The finish wasn't that good and the crowd didn't get it at all, probably because they had no clue who PE was since they didn't do intros or vignettes for them. The table spot after was cool though and still is cool in 2024 because it's so rare.

WCW Title - Ric Flair (c) vs Sting

They lock up and Sting shoves him over hard twice. Ric woo's at him. Ric pulls Sting down by the hair several times and he kips up then yells in Ric's face. Ric knees him in the gut and throws him out. Sting gets back in quick and Ric begs off. Sting hits corner punches.

Sting gorilla press slams him. Sting then lariats him on the apron. Sting suplexes him in. Ric hits some nice chops and punches. They go up top and Sting superplexes him down. Sting goes for a splash and Ric gets his knees up.

We go to break and return. We go to break and return. Sting flips out of a backdrop and splashes the ropes when Ric moves. Ric knee drops him and tries to pin him with his feet on the ropes. Sting is thrown out. Jimmy Hart kicks Sting outside. Ric chops him and Sting lariats him out of the corner.

Sting sleepers him and Ric backdrops him out of it. They trade chops for punches. Sting gets on a roll and Ric does his Flair flop. Sting misses a dropkick and Sting cradles him off of it. Sting backslides him then Ric throws him out again.

Sting slingshot sunset flips him. Ric blocks it but gets his pants pulled down in the process. Sting gyrates at Ric and gorilla press slams him. Sting throws him off the buckles. Ric begs off and tries to chop him. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron as Sting gorilla presses him.

Lex Luger comes down and threatens Jimmy Hart. Sting goes for the stinger splashes near Ric. We can't see it but Lex either hits Sting with the megaphone or takes it from Hart and accidentally puts it in Sting's way. Lex and Hart argue about what happened and Ric pins Sting with the figure four (yes, pins).

Lex goes after Ric after. Hulk Hogan and Macho Man come down and both Lex and Ric run off.

Thoughts: It was a solid match here with Ric being a good and cheap heel and Sting being a good face against him. Ric did some good bumping here. I liked the Lex involvement as it continues to push the storyline of whether or not Lex can be trusted and makes it easy to build off of.

Mean Gene interviews Sting, Hulk Hogan and Macho in the ring. Hulk says hopefully now sense has gotten knocked into Sting. Hulk says Lex held Sting out of the ring weeks ago and cost him the match tonight. Macho says he told Sting from day one he couldn't trust Lex and tells him to wake up. Sting is out of it and doesn't know what happened. Hulk says Lex knocked him out. Sting says he will go get Lex and hear from the horse's mouth as to what happened.

Hulk is interviewed about next week. He says Clash of the Champions is next week. He says they will take Giant and Flair apart. Hulk says him and Macho have a problem. Hulk says he's been on a roll lately and this is the fourth time Lex beat Macho. Hulk says he should get the title shot next week and said Macho pulled a fast one this week.

Macho says he has it wrong and says don't push him back against the wall as he will come back like an explosion. He says he was given a title shot because he deserves it. He says he has the shot and he will take it. Hulk says he is on a roll, has the better chance and says Macho's arm is injured. Hulk says he should get the title shot. Macho says he will see him at The Clash and Nitro and says he's out of here. Hulk says Macho can't do that.

Thoughts: It was a good segment as usual with these guys with them continuing to stir the pot and have problems. I really liked this storyline and think people have really slept on it.

Hulk Hogan vs Meng

Kevin Sullivan and Meng beat up a camera guy on the way to the ring.

Meng eye rakes him and hits various. Meng headbutts him out. Kevin Sullivan hits some shots on Hulk outside. Meng rubs Hulk's head in the mat. Meng hits chops and clubs on Hulk. Meng chokes Hulk. Sullivan hits another cheapshot on Hulk.

Meng traphezus holds Hulk. Meng chops Hulk in the throat then the neck. Meng slams him then misses a 2nd rope headbutt. Hulk hits punches then corner lariats him. Hulk pounds on him. Meng hits Hulk in the throat for 2. Hulk immediately hulks up and points his finger at Meng. Hulk hits punches and hits the big boot. Sullivan gets on the apron. Macho Man stops Sullivan. Hulk takes a spike from Sullivan and hits Meng in the chest with it. Hulk then wins.

Thoughts: It was the usual Hulk match here with him getting beaten up on and making a comeback to win. The finishing stretch fell apart here with us not being able to see Meng hitting Hulk in the throat, Hulk no selling Meng then hitting a weak spike shot to the throat/chest.

The commentators talk. Heenan wants to know what's going on with Hulk and Macho and Eric tells us to join the show next week.

Overall thoughts: They put out a good card on paper here with Sting vs Flair, Lex vs Macho and Hulk vs Meng. That's pretty good for a 1996 TV show. Lex/Macho was all brawling like their past encounters have been. I like Sting/Flair. Hulk/Meng was not one of their better matches and had a weak formula. I liked the Hulk/Macho/Sting segment and I liked the Horsemen/Dungeon of Doom segment. This was a good show overall.