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Post by tg01 on Apr 8, 2023 19:45:29 GMT 1
April 1, 2001....it ended not with a bang, but with a whimper....WCW Worldwide aired in syndicated markets for the last time. The longest-running, uninterrupted weekly syndicated show of any kind on the air in the United States wrapped up a company that had brought the world the likes of Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen, Sting, the nWo, the Cruiserweights, DDP, Goldberg and so many more. At the time it was more like a mercy killing, although none of the fans of WCW would ever have believed that they would see Vince McMahon announce the death of the true WCW, as no one wants to talk about the InVasion WCW. It was a sad day, a day that wrestling lost it's only real competition until almost twenty years later with the birth of AEW. For a long time if you typed in www.wcw.com it would bring you to a subsection of the wwe.com website, one that was just a stinging reminder of what had been lost. That changed in the month of December, 2022. For anyone who went to that link, they would see a countdown clock. The clock had an expiry date that with some figuring could be determined to expire at midnight on January 01, 2023. As the buzz started to make its way through the internet, rumours picked up about what this could mean, although no one was sure. There had been some talk that perhaps WWE head booker HHH was thinking about bringing back WCW in some form, but those rumours were soon extinguished as it became known that Vince McMahon was on his way back into the company in a bit of a powerplay. And so everyone waited as the clock ticked down, until finally the website changed....revealing one simple image....
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Post by tg01 on Apr 8, 2023 20:50:57 GMT 1
 Headlines of Interest....
The Return of WCW Announced
Canadian Billionaire Andrew Hart, a hedge fund manager with a diverse portfolio, held a press conference in Centennial Olympic Park on January 29, 2023. With the wrestling word buzzing about the Royal Rumble victory of Cody Rhodes, Hart announces the purchase of some WCW properties from WWE. While there was not a lot of details provided, Andrew Hart used the homeplace of the former WCW to announce that WCW would live again, and that more details would be coming in the future. Mark Davis Says Aussie Open Currently Have No Contract or Tag Bookings
In surprising news, Mark Davis announces on twitter that himself and tag team partner Kyle Fletcher currently do not have contracts to compete. What this means for the future of this up and coming tag team is still unclear. Reelz Signs Deal With Peacock, MLW Underground Won’t Be Included
In another blow to MLW, and perhaps more fodder for their lawsuit against WWE, it is announced that Reelz will be joining the Peacock network without MLW content on it. What this means for the future of MLW Underground is still not confirmed. Questions about how many more financial hits MLW can take and still exist are also raised. Paramount Media Networks announces return to wrestling; return of WCW NitroIn a joint media presentation Andrew Hart, the CEO/Owner of WCW, and Rob O’Neill (SVP, Programming & Promotion Strategy of Paramount Network) announce the return of wrestling to the former TNN/Spike network. Andrew Hart announces that it will be WCW Nitro making its return on Saturday, April 8, 2023. Jay White Is Officially A Free Agent, Note on Where He Is Likely Headed
Few wrestlers made as big a difference with the pandemic ending as Jay White. The young prodigy is finishing up in NJPW and will be looking to make an impact in the United States. Expect a bidding war to erupt for his services, although all sources indicate that WWE has the edge in those negotiations. Goldberg’s WWE Contract Reportedly Expired, Now a Free Agent
As the wrestling world is still processing the return of WCW, one of the greatest legends to ever compete for WCW is now reportedly a free agent. With rumours of Goldberg looking to get back into the ring this news is sure to stoke the fire of what to expect for the debut of WCW Nitro on April 8. Alicia Atout Announces She’s Been Granted Release From MLW
Alicia announcers departure from MLW; hints at future plans. MLW purchased from WCW
In a shakeup of the wrestling world, Court Bauer has announced that the majority of MLW has been purchased by Andrew Hart the current owner of WCW. It is announced that Court Bauer will return a majority stake in the company and will continue his responsibilities of running and booking the company. All MLW contracts have been purchased by WCW and it will not be surprising to see a majority of MLW wrestlers making up the core of the new WCW. MLW will act as an official development company for WCW going forward. |
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Post by tg01 on Apr 8, 2023 22:17:11 GMT 1
 Alicia Atout Announces....
April 1, 2023
"Hello everyone, and what a big day it is in wrestling! And it's going to be another big day next Saturday with the return of WCW and WCW Nitro! Tune in each day this week for special announcements as we get ready for this exciting event. Today in a a tease, here is the cold open for next week's WCW Nitro...."
(Cold open will show clips from past WCW legends, before leading into a new, modified Nitro opening that is an updated version of the exploding buildings seen in the class Nitro opening)
April 2, 2023
"We are less then a week away from the return of WCW! And it is my pleasure to be able to announce today part of the announce crew you can expect to hear when you tune in for WCW programming. He recently made his return to the commentary table with an appearance for his former home promotion, but now he will be calling WCW home. Hailing from London, UK...
...he is Nigel McGuinness! While you will have to wait until Saturday to find out who will be joining Nigel at the table for WCW Nitro and our PPV events, I can promise you that it will not be a disappointment for longtime WCW fans. And now are you ready for a bonus announcement? Beginning next Sunday, and found across the world on YouTube and Twitch, I am very proud to announce the return of WCW Worldwide! The final WCW show to be on the air, it will be making it's return. And working with Nigel McGuinness to call these shows, I am ecstatic to introduce to the world...
...Larry Legend! I can't wait to be a part of this amazing crew as I am proud to announce that the "Interview Queen" will be a part of the show as well! Not only will I be in charge of interviewing wrestlers backstage for our shows, you will also see me and my camera crew backstage looking to catch all the scoops that will be available on wcw.com after and before every show! I will have one more amazing announcement later this week about another way that WCW will be letting the fans in on all the going on's in WCW. Stay tuned!"April 3, 2023"Is everyone ready to get some raw, hard hitting action? Today I am going to announce a match we will see this Saturday on WCW Nitro. Get ready for some hardcore action in a four way match when we see "The Bad Boy" Joey Janela step into the ring against "The Southern Psycho" Mance Warner, his Second Gear Crew tag team partner Matthew Justice, and RSP! Come back tomorrow for a very special announcement!"April 4, 2023(A video plays showing off some of the great cruiserweight action that WCW had been known for)"If that didn't get your heart pounding, then I don't know what will! And yes, the Cruiserweight Division is going to be a big part of the new WCW. And so I am here to announce the very first match for this week's WCW Nitro. It is going to be a battle of Cruiserweights as the master of 'strange style,' Arez steps up to face the "man of the hour," Lio Rush! You can bet that these are two men who will be wanting to get a shot at the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Oh wait, did I say too much? Tune in this Saturday to find out!"
April 5, 2023"One of the best parts of any good wrestling show is the tag teams, and you can expect that will continue here in WCW. This Saturday get ready to see Davey Boy Smith Jr and his tag team partner, the legendary Doug Williams, the Commonwealth Connection will be open! Rumour is that they may not be the only tag team looking to make a name for themselves here in WCW, as there may be a certain team from down under looking to explode onto the national scene here in North America after a great showing last week."
April 6, 2023"Today is my last day with big announcements leading up to WCW Nitro this Saturday. It is my pleasure to announce that WCW will be working with the "Podfather," Conrad Thompson! He will be launching WCW Live! beginning tomorrow night. Each week will feature Conrad talking with our Owner, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer Andrew Hart! They will review each week's WCW Nitro and give insights into the show like there has never been in the history of wrestling. Afterwards, Conrad will talk with one member of our team to learn a bit more about them and share some highlights of their career. Look forward to WCW Live! every Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, on YouTube, and on wcw.com. I have been told that there will be some big announcements tomorrow night on WCW Live! in regards to what you can expect to see on WCW Nitro, including the announcement for very first Main Event of the new WCW Nitro era. Speaking of era's, as I end this series I have one last announcement to make. This Saturday on WCW Nitro, get ready for the beginning of the...
..."Switchblade Era" as Jay White has joined WCW!" |
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Post by tg01 on Apr 9, 2023 2:49:48 GMT 1
(WCW Live! begins with footage from the Press Conference back on January 29, 2023 where Andrew Hart announced the return of WCW. “I am here to tell you that WCW lives,” with the clip of him saying “WCW lives” being repeated a few times in a dubstep sort of way before the video podcast opens with a split screen, with Conrad Thompson speaking first.)
“Hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson and you’re listening to WCW Live! with the owner, the CEO, the Chief Content Officer, and some even refer to him as the Saviour of WCW….Andrew Hart!” “Oh, I don’t know about going that far Conrad. But in the spirit of what time of year it is, I am very happy that we are here to talk about the resurrection of WCW.”
“We have so much to talk about, and as this drops we are less than 24 hours away from the return of WCW Nitro. We are going to make some announcements about what to expect tomorrow, but before we get there we are going to give the fans a sneak peak of what got us to this point if that’s alright.”
“Absolutely, and before we begin, can I just say how much I appreciate you doing this Conrad. I am not sure we would be here today if it wasn’t for the work you have done with your podcasts, and Starrcast, and just the enthusiasm that you have helped to create about wrestling after it was such a depressing place for so long with just one person in charge of so much of wrestling.”
“Well thank you, it is my pleasure to be doing this, especially as it is going to be very different from my other podcasts. On all my other podcasts we tend to stay away from current stuff, but you and I, we are going to be right in the thick of it, week in, and week out. And I think that is awesome that you are willing to find the time to give fans a peak behind the curtains into the ongoing events of the week.”
“Thank you, Conrad, and my aim is to be as forthright as I can be with yourself, and with our fans, because I really do want WCW to be for the fans. Of course, we can’t ignore the fact that there may be certain things we cannot discuss for legal reasons, which I know is something you and I have already talked about, but just wanted to get that out for the fans right from the start.”
“Absolutely, and one other thing we have discussed that I want to make clear for the fans who are listening who may have heard some of my other podcasts. This is not going to be quite the same as What Happened When for example, as we know that there may be parents and children who are listening to this.”
“Yes, and thank you for that. While I love What Happened When as a fan, you are right that we want to make sure that anyone can listen to these podcasts. But with that said, I want to make sure to say right from the start that Lois Rules!”
“Haha, I will make sure she knows that. So with that out of the way, are you ready to get started?’
“I think so, let’s get going, where do you want to start?”
“So we had fans send in some questions, and I wanted to save them for the end, but there is one question that I must admit that I have been wondering about myself. Is it true that your name isn’t actually Andrew Hart?”
“Oh yes, that is a good place to start. And the answer is yes and no. Yes, my name is Andrew Hart now, but it has not always been. People ask me if I am related to the Hart family out of Calgary, and while I wish that were true, it is not the case. But because I am such a big Hart fan, when I had the chance I did change my last name to Hart as a sign of how big a fan I am. Having had a chance to meet a few members of the Hart family through the years, I hope that they don’t hear this though as I am not sure I would be able to look them in the eyes again.”
“I think it’s great, but now the story is straight. And you can bet that they will run with it on the websites, so soon everyone will know the truth.”
“Oh boy…what a way to start….”
“Is it safe to say then, that you have been a lifelong fan of wrestling?’
“I can’t remember exactly when I started watching, but I sort of remember growing up with it, but it was actually KFC that got me into it. I’m not sure if this happened anywhere else, but I remember KFC had these….I think they were stamps, and I remember my parents got a couple of them for me and that led to me wanting to watch wrestling on TV. I think my parents quickly regretted that as I really got into it, and wanted to start watching PPV’s and collecting toys. My favourite was Bret Hart because he was a Canadian just like me, and I had an annoying younger brother just like him. Wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that Owen. You were nowhere as annoying as my younger brother.”
“Wait, if you were such a big fan of Bret Hart, how did you become such a big fan of WCW?”
“Well, I don’t think it should be such a surprise that when Bret left the WWF, I followed him along. And for that matter, that after how things went down in Montreal that I certainly had no reason to like that company. As for WCW, it’s important to realize that it was pretty difficult for us to get WCW until later in the Nitro era when it started to be aired on TSN in Canada. I do remember my Grandfather had one of those big satellite dishes, you know the ones that had to be on a pole outside a building? Well with that he could pick up some stuff from the States and he recorded some Clash of the Champions that I watched years later. It was the one where Ricky Steamboat was revealed as Dustin Rhodes partner when they defeated the Dangerous Alliance. I had never seen Steamboat before, but the big reveal, and the way Arn Anderson reacted has stuck with me all these years later. Sorry, I went on a bit of a ramble there.”
“It’s cool man, that’s what makes wrestling great, these memories and being a fan for our whole life. So you’re a fan of WCW, and then 2001 comes along and all of a sudden the enemy has purchased WCW. Can you walk us through that?”
“Oh yeah, that was heart breaking. I remember that video they had, while it wasn’t anywhere as great as some of the efforts that we have seen through the years, but just watching the video with the Night of Champions on that final Nitro and I was just bawling my eyes out. That’s how much that company meant to me. And while I can say I did watch some other stuff through the years, it really felt like something was missing. Yet I am thankful for people like Jeff Jarrett, Dixie Carter, Gabe Sapolsky, and Tony Khan who managed to keep me invested in wrestling by providing alternatives that spoke to me at least for some part during those years.”
“Well that brings me to where I wanted to go next. You speak about the alternatives, and right now there are so many great companies throughout not just the US, but also in the UK, and Japan. Some are saying that this may be one of the best era’s when it comes to in ring action that we have ever seen with more star’s being thrown out for matches then ever before. And it’s in this environment that you decided you wanted to bring another company? Tell us a bit about the thought process behind that?”
“I would be lying if I said my initial plan was to start another company, what this really began with was me wanting to gain ownership over the legacy of WCW. While the WWE Network does a great job of keeping the actual footage out there, it is disappointing to me that we never got something like a WCW One Night Stand, or something like that. There are so many wrestlers who became stars in WCW, and I just wanted something that would allow me to bring that legacy back to the mainstream. I had made several overtures to WWE through the years, and it never amounted to much. When there was a change in the leadership there last year I saw an opportunity that I had to jump on. I figured that with Hunter in charge that maybe, just maybe, he would understand what it meant to love a brand that was no longer around. I was very pleased that seemed to be the case, and as we went through November and December it looked like this was going to become a real thing. My lawyers and there lawyers had just drawn up the final paperwork when I heard that someone was trying to put a kibosh on the deal.”
“And I think we can all guess who that was?”
“Well I never heard for sure, but I think the timing probably says everything. The paperwork was all completed around the middle of December, with an actual possession date of January 1 in place, and the next thing you know it leaks that there is going to be a change in the director’s of the company.”
“Can you help us understand exactly what it is that you bought? There are a lot of questions, and maybe a lot of confusion around exactly what you own?”
“Absolutely, and while I may not give all the answers today, I can safely say that fans will know more as the year continues. But essentially you can think of it as they will continue to own all things related to WCW prior to January 1, 2023, and I will own and control everything going forward. We did set up a licensing agreement for me to purchase some video content which you have already seen in some of the video’s we have released on our website and through things like this podcast and Alicia’s announcements this week. With that said there are some trademark’s that I was able to purchase, hence the name of our show’s, and some PPV names. We have possession of all the trademark and designs of the WCW belts as you already know from your big unveil at our press conference.”
(A clip from the press conference is shown here where Conrad Thompson, a noted belt mark, unveiled the latest incarnation of the Big Gold Belt which will be represented as the WCW World Championship once more.)
“I know it’s not much of a secret anymore that I have in my possession the original Big Gold Bet, but this new one is just as beautiful and detailed as that one and it is a favourite of many belt fans.”
“It really is a beautiful belt, I would say it is the crown jewel of all Championship belts and I am so glad that it will be making its return. And as has already been announced, it is not the only belt make its return as the WCW Cruiserweight Championship will also be returning. As for what other belts will be making their return, fans are just going to have to wait and see!”
“So you teased some of the trademarks that you got on show names, and this is one of the questions asked most. With WCW returning tomorrow on a Saturday, why was the choice to go with WCW Nitro as opposed to the more familiar WCW Saturday Night?”
“That is a really good question, and I will admit that I went back and forth on that one. Finally there are two reasons I went with WCW Nitro. The first is that there is the chance that we may eventually switch nights, even if it’s only a temporary bump due to some other programming, so I figured the name WCW Nitro would be easy to move around and could happen on any days. I think this will really be helpful for people who have to set their PVR’s. And second, while there is a lot of history behind WCW Saturday Night, when we think about when WCW was really at it’s height in terms of cultural awareness and impact, it is hard to argue that it wasn’t WCW Nitro and the Monday Night Wars that really got it there. So this is a way of recognizing that, so thank you Eric Bischoff.”
“Alright, we have spent a lot of time talking about what got us to tomorrow, and there will be plenty of more time to do that. But it’s time, we promised some announcements for tomorrow’s show. And I believe we are beginning with the announcement of the Main Event?”
“That’s right, and I could not be happier about this. One of the things that the original WCW was known for was it’s desire to showcase international stars. Looking to continue that trend for tomorrow, I would like to introduce the man who will accompany the first of our Main Event competitors to the ring tomorrow. He is truly a legend in every sense of the word, both for what he has done in the ring, and maybe even more importantly, outside of the ring. He is a former WCW World Television Champion, a former WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, and a two time WCW World Tag Team Champion. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Konnan!”
“Yo yo yo let me speak on dis! Orale! Arriba la Raza! We are los vatos locos forever, man! We bout it bout it and rowdy rowdy! In the legacy of men like myself, Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera and Psichosis, comes the next generation of high flying, Luch Libre sesnsation. Recently he has appeared for AEW, GCW, and ROH, but going forward you will only be able to see him in the United States exclusively competing for WCW. He is maybe the greatest Lucha start of all time, and you need to see him to believe him, he is….
….EL HIJO DEL VIKINGO!"
“Woah, El Hijo del Vikingo exclusively here in WCW? What a coup!”
“Thank you, it just seems right that as WCW returns that we have the opportunity to help launch the career of the next Mexican superstar. We are grateful that he has been able to appear on a few shows here in America in the last month, an can’t wait to see what the future brings for him. And now for his opponent, I would like to introduce the man who will be the official match maker for WCW. As I will have many duties to keep me busy I needed someone who I thought would be able to work to put on the best matches, that fans from all around the world are going to want to see. I know he has a bit of a controversial history, but I believe in second chances, and can’t wait to give him this opportunity. Here to announce that man who will face off against El Hijo del Vikingo in the first Main Event of the new WCW Nitro, here he is….Cesar Duran!” “Thank you Mr. Hart, I promise to not let you down. And I think that begins with this big Main Event that I was able to make official. Facing off against El Hijo del Vikingo is a man who has Nitro in his name, he is….Johnny Nitro!”
(A brief video plays with clips from both El Hijo del Vikingo and Johnny Nitro(Fusion, 0=Mundo, etc.) before the image showing the two men as the official announcement of their match for tomorrow.)
“So, to recap what we know so far, tomorrow night we are going to have what should be an amazing match between El Hijo del Vikingo and Johnny Nitro, a hardcore four way featuring Ol’ Mancer, Joey Janela, RSP and Matt Justice, we have Lio Rush against Arez, the duo of Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Doug Williams in action, and the debut of Jay White. Anything else you want to make official tonight? Maybe a big piece of news you want to let slip out?”
“Hmmm, I think that was about it.”
“You sure?”
“Oh that’s right. How could I forget. Tomorrow night making his WCW return in the place he called home…..ladies and gentlemen……BILL GOLBERG!”
(A video played on Bill Goldberg and his streak in WCW)
“Woah, the man, Bill Goldberg, what a big announcement! What a show it is going to be tomorrow night.”
“Thank you, Conrad, I feel like a little kid just waiting for tomorrow to come. So please, if you are listening, tell your friends, tomorrow night, WCW is back!”
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Post by tg01 on May 28, 2023 21:40:20 GMT 1
(WCW Live! begins with bonus footage from the fans chanting WCW prior to the return of WCW Nitro last night)
“Hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson and you’re listening to WCW Live! with the owner, the CEO, the Chief Content Officer, the man who gave us back WCW….Andrew Hart!” 
“Thank you Conrad, and let me just begin with a big thank you to everyone who joined us last week for our debut, and of course, everyone who joined us last night for the return of WCW Nitro.”
“That’s right, it has been less than 24 hours since WCW Nitro made it’s return after over twenty years! And what a fun show it was, and we’re going to talk all about it tonight. And what a way to start, that video at the beginning, watching clips of all the legends from Mid-Atlantic, to JCP, WCW, the nWo, and then the transition from Goldberg of the 90s with a slick transition into images of him from the present and other stars of the new WCW. That was a great video, showing the past, and hyping up the present.”
“I wanted to make sure that any fan who tuned in would realize we are a company that respects the past, while looking towards building a future that fans of the old WCW can be proud of.”
“Well even the ending of the video did that, for those who watched last night, you would have noticed that the ending of the video was a pretty clear homage to the old WCW Nitro opening with the buildings, and the explosions. Great stuff!”
“I’m glad you liked it, because I can tell you that was only a sneak peak for what you can expect going forward beginning with next week. Technology has come a long way since Nitro first aired back in 1995, and I think it is pretty exciting what we can do now.”
“Speaking of exciting, after those great video’s, what an exciting surprise you pulled off with the commentary team. First with the announcement that former ROH World Champion Nigel McGuiness would be providing the colour commentary for all WCW programming forward. That was definitely a surprise as most expected he would be working full time with ROH after he appeared at Supercard of Honor, but there he was looking as dapper as only he can.”
“Conrad, you know I do not consider myself to be a foolish man, and there is no denying that last week was one of the biggest weekends on the wrestling calendar, and I had no intentions of getting in the way of anyone making a bit extra before they joined WCW. In fact, most contracts did not begin until April 3 so that everyone could maximize their time on screen, their time in the ring, and yes, their earnings.”
“If Nigel was a surprise, than I don’t even know what to say about your next doozy, as Nigel introduced the man who would be the play by play man for WCW Nitro and WCW Pay-Per-Views, and what an exciting moment to see the Professor of Wrestling….”
….Mike Tenay! I have been saying for years that someone needed to figure out a way to get Mike involved with wrestling again, and it seemed like nothing was going to make it happen, but there he was. How great to hear Mike Tenay calling wrestling again, especially for WCW. How did you pull it off?”
“Well as I think it may already be known by now, this is going to just be a short-lived return for the Professor. Unless something changes, and I really hope it does, Mike will be finishing up at the end of the year. Mike agreed to come back for a few reasons. First off to have a chance to finish on his own terms, and I think being able to return to WCW in particular was quite tempting for him. Secondly, he has agreed to work with Larry Legend to help get him ready to take over as the voice of WCW beginning in 2024.”
“You mentioned there was a few reasons, was there any more?”
“Ha, ha…yes, you got it…..a lot of money. He is making a lot of money.”
“Up next, another video package, this one focused on the WCW Cruiserweight Division. It was a great video, filled with some faces from the past like former champions Chavo Guerrero, and the Juice, with some new faces like Lio Rush and Myron Reed talking about how revolutionary the Cruiserweight Division was and will be. But I’ve got to ask, by this point we are closed to fifteen minutes in, and the video packages, and the surprises have been great, but that’s a long time to wait for ring action.”
“I will admit that I went back and forth on this quite a bit, and I guess only the ratings will tell us whether it was an okay decision or not. I really wanted to take some time to welcome fans back to WCW, remind them of the great days of the past, before getting to the ring with what I was really hoping would be a great match.”
“And what a great match it was, I think that was a great decision to start off with Lio Rush who always seems to find ways to steal the show. And with Mike Tenay announcing that we would be crowning the first WCW Cruiserweight Champion of the new era at WCW Slamboree in a six person ladder match, having Lio Rush be the first man to qualify for that match by defeating Arez was a great way to get things started.”
“I know that more fans may recognize Lio Rush, but I really think Arez put on a great showing last night, and I think by the time the match was over the fans really enjoyed the King of Strange Style and I think they will be looking forward to seeing more of him in the weeks to come.”
“The surprises kept coming, because after the commercial break it was the Buff Daddy himself. First a quick video on the history of one Marcus Alexander Bagwell, and then the man himself came out, still looking great after all these years. And he knew it as he made sure to get on the microphone and talk about how great his body looked before throwing out a challenge to anyone.”
“And we all know how well that goes in wrestling, because I don’t think Buff was ready for his opponent….the MLW World Heavyweight Champion….
….Alexander HAMMERSTONE!”
“Obviously this was not going to be a five star classic, but it was fun to see Bagwell out there one last time, and even more fun to see Hammerstone doing his own posing routine much to the excitement of many of the ladies in the crowd post-match.”
“Hey now Conrad, get with the times, I think it was far more than just the ladies who enjoyed watching Hammerstone flex those muscles of his.”
“Well, you’ve got me there. Up next we saw the four men making their way out for the Hardcore match, and what a great selection of hardcore workers there. Joey Janela, Ol’ Mance Warner, Rickey Shane Page and Matthew Justice, you know those men were going to bring the plunder. But before they could even begin, out walked one of wrestling’s guiltiest pleasures, the one and only Cesar Duran came out to loud boo’s as Mike Tenay explained that he is the official match maker for WCW.”
“Oh man, I think there are few people in the world of wrestling who can make you want to hit them, just with a smile, like Duran can. But somehow he is also one of it’s best smooth talkers, after all, how else would he get that powerful position otherwise.”
“Well he definitely showed he is not afraid to make big decisions as he announced that the winner of this match would get a WCW contract, while the other three men would be ‘sent back to that outlaw promotion, MLW.’ I know I was definitely pulling for the man from Bucksnort, Tennessee to go to the pay window, but it wasn’t to be as the Bad Boy from Jersey, Joey Janela pulled off the victory and got himself the contract.”
“In the industry, I think this would be called a tease right? Hopefully everyone enjoyed it, and while I won’t say it will be the last time we see the three other men, for now, if fans liked what they saw, they are going to have to make sure to tune in to MLW Fusion every week!”
“That certainly was not the most controversial moment of the evening, I think that has to go to what happened next. We knew Alicia Atout was going to be our backstage interviewer, but what a way to start her career…….
…..Konnan and El Hijo del Vikingo. You have to tell us, how did you pull this off? Most thought for sure that Vikingo was on his way to another company, but nope, he’s in the Main Event of your very first episode of WCW Nitro. And to have Mexican Legend, Konnan as his mouthpiece? Come on man, you’ve got to spill some secrets?”
“I’m not sure what you even mean Conrad. As far as I understand El Hijo del Vikingo was working for other companies on a per night basis….until April 3 when WCW became his exclusive homebase outside of the United States. To me this was just another reminder of how things were, with Konnan helping to bring the Luchadores to WCW in the 90s, and now he his helping bring the new generation of great Mexican Legends come to WCW.”
“That might be, but I think Konnan and Vikingo may have burnt some bridges by showing up here.”
“Well, that certainly would keep with Nitro tradition wouldn’t it? Someone showing up where they aren’t supposed to be? Much like Duran did when he walked into the interview on the way back from his announcement.”
“Longtime Lucha fans know that Duran and Konnan do not like each other, and it seems like that might continue with Duran going after yet another one of Konnan’s proteges after some veiled threats. Up next, the Commonwealth Connection, a team of Doug Williams and Davey Boy Smith Jr defeated the sons of another well-known wrestling legend, when they faced off against the Hughes brothers.”
“That’s right, the sons of one table grabbing brother Dudley, this was just intended to be a showcase of some legacy wrestlers. Williams and Smith have competed as a team before, and this was just an example of what they can do, although I think fans may be surprised by what comes next.”
“Getting a wrestler like Williams though, I know he is getting older, but what an asset he has to be right?”
“Williams is one of the player-coaches that we have yes, as not only will be active in the ring, but he is working with the wrestlers in the back, helping them to hone their skills, and to put on great matches for the fans. After almost thirty years of work in the ring, I think he has plenty to teach anyone who is willing to learn.”
“I think you are right about that. And up next, another surprise for long-time WCW fans as out came Diamond Dallas Page! And who better than the three time Champion to announce that there was going to be an eight man, single elimination tournament to conclude at WCW Slamboree to crown a new WCW World Champion!”
“And that Big Gold Belt sure does look beautiful still doesn’t it? Even if it isn’t exactly the original….”
“Speaking of looking good….we all know how great DDPY makes people look, but someone who I don’t think needs it, the man who interrupted DDP….
….”SWITCHBLADE” JAY WHITE! Okay, how did this happen? He is one of the biggest free agents in wrestling, and everyone has been talking about where he was going to end up, and the answer is right here in WCW. How in the world did you pull this one off?”
“I wish I could take all the credit for this, but the truth is, this one I think is mostly luck. The truth is Jay actually thought he was going elsewhere, but there seemed to be some confusion, and maybe a contract was not actually ever offered. I don’t know, but then it came down to us and another company, and I think the Switchblade just saw the opportunities. As he told DDP, I think he already thinks that WCW is his company, and frankly, I don’t think I want to be the one to doubt him.”
“Another legend from WCW past was up next, as 2 Cold Scorpio was in the ring against Zenshi. This was fun to see the Tumbleweed from the top rope one more time, a real throwback to the 90s, as Scorpio was doing things from that top rope, long before anyone was expecting them. I still remember his debut match when he hit the 450 splash and the fans just came unglued even though Scorpio didn’t have a name in that match!”
“One of the things that I am most excited about is giving a chance to some of these legends from the past to have one last run on national TV. It is important to prepare for the future, but this is a business that sometimes forgets its roots, and doesn’t give the respect to those who paved the way for the rest of us. That is something I want to make sure we do differently.”
“We will talk more about that, but first, talking about the future, and a video about one of wrestling’s hidden treasures. And what a great way to introduce the Samoan Werewolf to the fans, first with another great video package, and then to see him show off his speed and size in a good match against Caleb Konley. This has to be one of the guys you are talking about when you talk about the future right?”
“How could you look at this guy and think otherwise? This guy clearly has something in his…ahem, bloodline, that elevates him above so many others. I don’t know how others have missed out with this guy, but I hope that we see Jacob Fatu in WCW for a long, long time.”
“The next match featured two favourites of mine, with “Cowboy” James Storm and ROH, TNA and MLW legend Low Ki. This one was not announced in advance so it was a great surprise, and they put on a heck of a match before Low Ki put Storm out with the Dragon Clutch. Will we be seeing more of these two going forward?”
“I can confirm that Low Ki is under contract with WCW, and you will be seeing a lot more of him in the future. James Storm was brought in under a one night only contract, but after how well he did, well, I think it will be up to him what happens next. But as far as I am concerned, if he wants it, he can have a new home in WCW.”
“Well ladies and gentlemen, up next, the big moment….the return to WCW of “The Man,” and boy did the fans go crazy for the one and only….
…GOLDBERG! Still looking like he could defeat another 173 opponents even if he was mostly out to talk about the ending of his career. Fans of mine know I don’t usually have a lot of nice things to say about him, but there is no doubting that there is a charisma that he still gives off. And to announce that he will be wrapping up is in ring career when WCW returns to Atlanta in December for the return of Starrcade…well that was pretty great stuff.”
“Well and I hope fans appreciated when he had Hammerstone join him in the ring, as I think there are a lot of similarities in the way the two men carry themselves.”
“Just to have it ruined when Real1 made his way out to run his mouth.”
“But it sure looked great when Goldberg hit him with that Spear though right? And then for Hammerstone to drop him with the Nightmare Pendulum and to have the two men celebrate over his laid out body….that was a lot of fun. And I can’t wait for December and the return of the true ‘Grand-daddy of them all.”
“Before the Main Event, one last surprise. The announcement that next week’s Main Event will see the eight men in the WCW World Championship tournament clash in an eight man tag team match….and that one of those men will be….
…KOTA IBUSHI! Seriously, you signed Kota Ibushi?”
“Another one that I can only take so much credit for. Kota has long spoken about his desire to run a wrestling school, and I think a nice little bonus provided just the cash infusion he needed. He also spoke about how he wants to spend as much time there as possible and was hesitant about being away too much. So he needs a creative schedule, but I think that he is worth the creativity and I look forward to him being in WCW, and for fans to get to see him next week as part of that tag team Main Event.”
“Speaking of Main Events, what a great one it was last night as El Hijo del Vikingo and the renamed Johnny Nitro went out there and tore the house down in an amazing display of athleticism. In fact that only disappointment has to be the fact that Nitro had to use a low blow and a handful of tights to get the victory. But for a way to kick off this new era of WCW, you couldn’t ask for a better match than that.”
“I could not agree more, it was everything I could have asked for, and I would like to take this moment to announce that both men will be in the Main Event again….next week, on opposing sides in that eight man tag team match, because both men will be competing in the tournament to crown our next World Champion. Before we close though, I just wanted to say, what a great crowd it was tonight as well.”
“I wanted to mention that, I know a lot of people complained that you weren’t in a bigger arena, but there was something about having the first show be at the old Center Stage theatre that felt right.”
“Absolutely, and as Goldberg announced, we will be back in December, and this time at the State Farm Arena for the return of WCW Starrcade!.”
“Well with that we come to the close of our very first post-Nitro, WCW Live. Is there anything you want to close on?”
“Just that I hope everyone enjoyed it, and please make sure to check out WCW Worldwide on YouTube! And join us next week, because I promise there are plenty of more surprises, great in ring action, and all the excitement that WCW Nitro was known for.”
“Before you go, thank you for your time, and a big thank you from all the fans for bringing WCW back, I think we all can’t wait to see what happens next! Now, after some words from our sponsor, stick around for more WCW Live with special guest Diamond Dallas Page! Find out what he really thinks about Jay White, the return of WCW, and who does he think will win the WCW World Championship.”
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Post by tg01 on May 30, 2023 2:59:22 GMT 1
(WCW Live! begins with footage of DDP celebrating with his tag team partners after WCW Nitro went off the air.)
“Hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson and you’re listening to WCW Live! with the owner, the CEO, the Chief Content Officer, the man who did what no one thought was possible as he made WCW Nitro destination TV once again….Andrew Hart!”
“Well I hope you are right Conrad, and from what I heard from the fans last week they seem to agree thus far. And hopefully we are just getting started!”
“Last week you promised that we could expect some modenr day magic with the opening video, and sure enough, you guys really delivered last night. To see part of the old Nitro opening spliced in with modern footage set with the same buildings, that was a very slick opening for the show last night.”
“Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed, and again, without giving too much away, make sure you tune in next week to see how things are going to evolve with the opening because I think this may be one of the favourite things we are going to be doing.”
“From there we got welcomed by the team of the Professor and Nigel, and can I just say again what a real treat it is to hear Mike Tenay on our TV’s.”
“I think so, and from what I have heard from the fans, they are also very excited about it. And I can add that Mike has also been hearing what the fans are saying about his work, and I think he has been really touched by it, so we will see how long we can keep him.”
“He started the show off by showing up photo’s of Goldberg’s return last night, and promised news on the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion later in the night. But then Lio Rush came out to join the commentary team, and I thought he did a really good job out there, just seemed like a natural.”
“Well with being the first man to earn a spot in the ladder match at WCW Slamboree to crown the WCW Cruiserweight Champion, it seemed to make sense for him to be out there to see Myron Reed take on Jack Evans.”
“Talk about two men who seemed destined to be a part of the Cruiserweight division, both Reed and Evans went out there and threw caution to the wind as they say.”
“Absolutely, and for those who don’t know Reed from MLW, I think after seeing him defeat Evans they know why he calls himself the ‘Young GOAT.”
“From those two high flyers, we went to another one….although one who was always a bit bigger in size when he was pulling off his awe inspiring moves. Former World Champion, former United States and Television Champion, and of course former World Tag Team Champion, the Big Booty Daddy himself…Scott Steiner!”
“I know we are only two episodes in, but let me tell you, having Scott out there on the microphone may have been the scariest moment yet.”
“I am definitely not going to say anything bad about Scott Steiner, he chased me out of a building once before, that man is still scary!”
“That’s right, I remember that, I never would have guessed you could run that fast!”
“Hey, I have a lot to live for, I wasn’t about to let him catch up to me!”
“Haha…well I think Scott did a good job announcing that we will be having four teams compete at WCW Slamboree in a four way match to determine new WCW World Tag Team Champions. And I think he did a great job connecting his own brother-based tag team, to promote the team that would be competing in a tag team showcase tonight when he spoke about the Von Erich’s.”
“Definitely a good set up for the great video on them that came next, before they managed to come out and defeat the team of Taylor Rust and Caleb Konley, in as you called it a showcase.”
“As it was announced on Nitro, we will find out over the next few weeks who the four teams are that will be competing in that match, and each team will be given a showcase match to show off what they can do to build up to that night.”
“And I don’t think it takes a rock scientist to guess that we found out after the match who one of those teams will be.”
“Absolutely, I will make it official right now. For those who were watching last night, Alicia Atout came out to interview the Von Erich’s, but it didn’t last long because Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis came out and mocked them with some slow claps. But when Ross and Marshall challenged them to get into the match, you could hear Aussie Open saying they would see them at the PPV. And that is because they are indeed the second team to be announced in that match, and next week it will be their turn to have a showcase match.”
“From the debut of Aussie Open we went to a return of sorts, as we saw a table in the pick with the WCW World Television Championship Belt, and then a man who knows all about being TV Champion showed up….
….ROB VAN DAM!”
“Definitely one of the greatest Television Champions of all time.”
“And to then announce that we are going to have a Round Robin tournament to crown two Block winners to face off at WCW Slamboree to determine the new WCW World Television Championship.”
“That’s right, and we will hear more about the rules and how points will be awarded beginning with WCW Worldwide. But for now I will reiterate what we found out on WCW Nitro, there will be two blocks with the winners of each block facing off at WCW Slamboree. Block A will feature Bobby Fish, Low Ki, Trent Seven and Willie Mack while Block B will have Chris Hero, Timothy Thatcher and The Commonwealth Connection duo of Davey Boy Smith Jr and Doug Williams.”
“We will talk about the competitors more in the coming weeks, but, I will admit I was a bit surprised that the Commonwealth Connection was not one of the teams in the four way match to determine the WCW World Tag Team Champions.”
“All I will say is stay tuned….there are two open slots!”
“Interesting, well we will definitely be watching. And hopefully the matches in the Round Robin tournament are as good as our preview was tonight, as that eight man tag team match was really fun, and of course, I’m always happy to see Low Ki getting a victory!”
“I think we can definitely look forward to some great action, and I look forward to finding out who will be representing WCW as our World Television Champion going forward.”
“Speaking of Champions, Diamond Dallas Page was out next to announce the eight men who would compete in the tournament to crown the WCW World Championship, and the same eight men who would be competing in the Main Event. He had just finished announcing that one team would be 2 Cold Scorpion, Johnny Nitro, Nick Aldis and Jay White when he was interrupted by Jay White who came out to once again get into a war of words with DDP Here is a clip of how it ended if you didn’t get to watch last night.”
(The clip shows DDP announcing that the second team would be made up of the great Kota Ibushi, El Hijo del Vikingo, the MLW World Champion Alexander Hammerstone….
“….and Me!”
DDP nailed Jay White with the microphone dropping him to the mat. As White comes up, DDP sets up for the Diamond Cutter but White manages to drop down and escape out of the ring before the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion can hit it.)
“And there we have it, Jay White’s big mouth got shut, and DDP is going to get a chance to become a four time WCW World Champion.”
“For everything that he has done in and outside of the ring, I can’t think of many people more deserving, can you?”
“As someone who has spent time with DDP at his performance center, and who got to hear how passionate he still is about this business last week right here on this show, I couldn’t agree with you more. And what great news, Nick Aldis is in WCW! Of course, more on that later, because interestingly enough, there was one name I thought was missing when the tournament was announced. And that was the man who got another nice video package Jacob Fatu. And then he got to go out there and destroy WCW alum, Marty Janetty. And poor Marty, I think he looked better after getting sent through the glass, Fatu just demolished him out there!”
“You’d almost think that maybe Fatu was a bit annoyed about not being one of the men in the World Championship tournament eh? Yeah, that may have been an unfortunate oversight. Hopefully he will be able to forgive the Championship committee for not including him in the tournament.”
“Well backstage Alicia Atout got to interview Nick Aldis who made a great point, after bringing the NWA Worlds Championship back to relevancy, who better to do the same thing for the WCW World Championship. Aldis just looks like a Champion doesn’t he?”
“He sure does, he is all class, and I am looking forward to seeing him in the WCW World Championship tournament and to see what he can do.”
“We got our first Cesar Duran sighting of the night as he came out to introduce…..
…JEFF COBB! This was a really nice wink to the long time wrestling fans to have Duran introduce Jeff Cobb wasn’t it? But what does this mean for Cobb going forward because thus far it appears he has appeared in almost every major wrestling company in the world.”
“I won’t go into a lot of details, I’m sure people can find that sort of information out on the internet, but I will say that we do not intend to stop Jeff Cobb from competing in Japan, but perhaps he has finally found his home in the United States. And what a great match against James Storm eh? I mean that very well may be the best match we have seen on WCW Nitro yet!”
“It was as the kids are saying now a days…a real banger for sure. And then to go to the back to see Duran watching the match gleefully as he prepared to announce the tournament matches…just to have an angry Jacob Fatu come in and interrupt it and complain about not being in the World Championship tournament. Yeah, I’m not sure he will be so quick to forgive not being in the tournament.”
“And did you see how quickly Duran was to blame that on someone else? I mean, sure he didn’t actually pick the eight men in the World Championship tournament, but he didn’t need to blame the Championship Committee that quickly.”
“I am telling you, I think you are in trouble having him around, it will be interesting to see what opportunity he has for Fatu to try and make him happier though.”
“Only time will tell Conrad, but I think you might be right. Nothing but trouble.”
“Up next, Joey Janela defeated AJ Gray in a quick hardcore match. Dusty Rhodes had a saying that a good wrestling show was like a buffet, in that it has a little bit of something for everyone. That’s what this was correct?”
“Absolutely, just a little something different to whet the fan’s appetites. Nothing more to see here, time to move on.”
“Well, okay then, maybe it wasn’t just a throw away match.”
(Hart shrugs)
“Well before the Main Event we got a recap video of Goldberg’s return last week, and then as he was leaving the arena he stopped to talk with Alicia where he was attacked by a masked man with a pipe. Could this be another surprise wrestling in WCW? Maybe someone whose favourite wrestler is a certain Canadian?”
“Oh Conrad, not going to go there….I guess you and everyone else will just have to wait and see.”
“Well that brings us to the big Main Event with the team of 2 Cold Scorpio, Johnny Nitro, Nick Aldis and Jay White facing off against Diamond Dallas Page, Kota Ibushi, Alexander Hammerstone and El Hijo del Vikingo with DDP hitting the Diamond Cutter on Scorpio and getting the victory. But my understanding is there is some bad news that came out of this?”
“I don’t want to laugh at this, but how can you not appreciate the humour of this….during the match DDP appears to have sustained….broken ribs. I am being completely serious about this.”
“Any word yet on if this will affect the tournament?”
“My understanding is that DDP is going to tape those ribs up and he will be good to go next week as he faces Jay White in the Quarter Finals!”
“Big announcement, there you have it fans, the WCW World Championship tournament begins next week!”
“And not to stop there, one more match to announce in the tournament as Kota Ibushi will be making his singles debut against 2 Cold Scorpion in what should be quite the aerial match!”
“There you have it folks, two big matches next week! Well thank you again Andrew, and we all can’t wait for next week.”
“Thank you Conrad, and I look forward to speaking with you again next week.”
“And fans, stick around, because I can’t wait for this, up next our special guest this week…..the one and only, it’s the Professor….Mike Tenay!”
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Post by tg01 on Jun 3, 2023 5:15:06 GMT 1
(WCW Live! begins with an injured DDP standing tall in the ring as the fans give him a standing ovation.)
“Hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson and you’re listening to WCW Live! with the owner, the CEO, the Chief Content Officer, the man who brought WCW back from the grave….Andrew Hart! How are you ?”
“Oh boy, you went and made me sound like a grave digger, but thank you Conrad and it is great to see you again.”
“I can’t wait to get started tonight, but before we begin, I just wanted to say we had a great time talking with Mike Tenay last week. And just so you know, he may have let some secrets out about how you managed to convince Mike to return to wrestling.”
“Well I think Mike is great, but I would imagine that most of what he said was….how does your other podcaster say it….ummm….he a lie?”
“I doubt that very much, but I am sure you don’t want the world to know about the work you have done, and the charity support that you gave to convince Mike to return, and far be it from me to spill the beans. Fans, if you want to hear more about Mike Tenay and his return to wrestling I do strongly suggest that you check out last week’s WCW Live!, now in the archives. But today we are going to talk about last night’s WCW Nitro, and what a big night it was with the beginning of both the WCW World Championship Tournament, and the round robin tournament for the WCW World Television Championship.”
“It really was a big night with some great matches, and great moments.”
“I know I have brought this up every week, but once again, I was stunned by the entrance as for the third week in a row it was different, it was unique. At first I noticed the exploding buildings, but then I started to recognize some of the sights that were split into the opening with FSU being recognizable as a football fan for sure.”
“Well that was one of the buildings incorporated into the beginning, but there was also the Florida State Capitol building and the St. Mark’s Lighthouse all being included. This is what I am very excited about as going forward we will be showing off some of the sights of the different places Nitro is airing from, much as we did last night with Nitro airing from Tallahassee, Florida.”
“From there we got Tenay and McGuiness who did a great job hyping the big matches for the evening, acknowledging the broken ribs of DDP and wondering if he stood a chance against Switchblade in the Main Event.”
“The first match of the evening saw Paul London defeat AKIRA to become the third man who will compete for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in the ladder match at WCW Slamboree. I am going to be honest, back in 2002, 2003, in ROH I thought Paul London was one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. He was such a great underdog story in those matches. While he is clearly a very different sort of wrestler now, he still has a great Shooting Star Press and he hit it perfectly to put away the “Death Fighter.”
“I agree, I thought Paul looked pretty good out there and I think he will be a great addition to the ladder match. But at the same time I hope that fans don’t sleep on AKIRA, as I think after some more time in MLW, he may become quite the name in the world of wrestling. And not just as a deathmatch sort of wrestler, I think there is some real skill there as well.”
“Time will definitely show us what sort of wrestler is he is going to become. Two wrestlers that most fans do know a bit more about…Willie Mack and Bobby Fish. It was a great video before their match that showed how they have two very different personalities. Both men want to win, but Mack is a more fun-loving, all-round sort of worker, while Bobby Fish is a more serious, grounded martial arts sort of wrestler.”
“They say that styles make matches, and I think the fans definitely go to see that in the first match of the WCW World Television Round Robin tournament.”
“It was definitely a fight as they went the full fifteen minutes, however I thought that Fish was going to end it with that Fish Hook at the end. It will be interesting to see if Fish managed to damage Hook in a way that will maybe slow him down in the next few weeks.”
“Definitely, at the very least we know that his opponents are going to have a place to target.”
“Prior to the next match we got a great video on Aussie Open showing how they have been travelling the world, defeating opponents everywhere they went. I know that there was a lot of surprise when it was announced that Aussie Open signed to make WCW their new home, leaving other companies, and leaving the United Empire behind. Tell us a bit about how this happened?”
“I mean, there is no secret. Aussie Open made is known earlier this year that they were not signed to an official contract anywhere, and that was all I needed to see. As far as I am concerned I think these two men have all the tools they need to be a cornerstone in WCW for a long time to come.”
“They certainly riled the fans up prior to their showcase match as they talked about how they would be facing a famous brother tag team from an island….and then they brought out the Billington Bulldogs. No offense to them, but I think the fans were expecting a different set of brothers. Namely, the Von Erich’s.”
“Good news then…as both teams will be in the four way match at WCW Slamboree to crown new WCW World Tag Team Champions!”
“Come on, you know what I mean. But Aussie Open got the victory in their showcase match, and what a great showing for Mark Davis. And then like great heels, Aussie Open was quick to get out of the ring when the Von Erich’s came down after the match to confront them.”
“Absolutely, what a great moment. And two more teams to go, and I can’t wait until fans find out who is going to be in this match!”
“Up next, this is one of the matches I was most looking forward to. A battle of the past vs. the present as Kota Ibushi made his WCW debut and managed to end 2 Cold Scorpio to advance to the Semi-Finals of the WCW World Championship tournament. Nick Aldis was out on the commentary table to watch, and then after the match was over Alexander Hammerstone came out to stand on the stage as we were reminded that next week Aldi sans Hammerstone would face off to determine who would meet Ibushi in the next round. And really, you can’t go wrong no matter who wins that match, as that match is going to be a banger!”
“I think the fans have been pleasantly surprised by how good Scorpio has looked since WCW came back, but I think they were not prepared by how great Ibushi is, even after coming back from that serious injury. They were really buzzing out there, and I could not be happier to have Ibushi representing WCW.”
“Right after this we got Alicia Atout in the back talking to DDP, and wouldn’t you know, his ribs were all taped up.”
“I would like to stress one more time….this is a legitimate injury, I swear!”
“Well he was talking up his match against Jay White, when of course Jay White ran onto the scene and attacked DDP, leaving him lying and holding his ribs, while everyone was left wondering if DDP would even be able to make it for the Main Event.”
“What a sneaky ***** that Jay White eh? The fans sure did not sound happy with him!”
“No, they did not, but I don’t think White cares that much if we are being honest. And up next we got a great video on Jeff Cobb, and his opponent, “The Judge” EJ Nduka! And this was not a quick match either as both men went back and forth, but it was so impressive to see Cobb get Nduka up for the Tour of the Islands.”
“I am not sure that Cobb is a human to be honest, his strength seems to have no limit.”
“His, let’s say benefactor, seemed to enjoy it as we got Cesar Duran watching from the stage and applauding for Cobb.”
“Duran is supposed to be impartial, but it does seem like he may have some favourites. But given the history between these two men, I can’t say it is that surprising.”
“No, it’s almost like they have a sort of…brotherly bond between them. Speaking of families in wrestling, up next was a video on the next two competitors in the WCW World Television Round Robin. First off you have Davey Boy Smith Jr, competing for the company that has a lot of history with his father, and family, and truthfully, not all good.”
“It’s true that there is not a lot of great WCW memories for either Davey Boy Sr or the Hart family, but hopefully Davey Boy Smith Jr will be able to change that here in this WCW.”
“And his opponent, and again, a bit of a surprising face. Chris Hero, someone who has really been out o the wrestling spotlight since the pandemic. Many figured he was actually retired, but here he is competing for the WCW World Television Championship.”
“For those following the West Coast wrestling scene it might not be as much of a surprise to know that Hero is back, but yes, this is a bit different with him actually entering the ring. To be honest, Chris Hero will actually be working as a bit of a player-coach for us in WCW and it began last night in the match against Davey Boy Jr.”
“In the end this match went exactly the way you would expect with big strikes from both men, but it was Hero who got the final K.O and the big two points to lead Block B in the WCW World Television Tournament. After that match Atout caught up with Duran on his way to his office and asked about the Main Event, and if DDP would still be able to compete. Duran said that he had better be out there, or White would immediately advance to the Semi-Finals. This isn’t very fair is it?”
“I mean, if you can’t compete, you can’t compete…I can kind of see Duran’s point.”
“Okay, up next was one of my favourite segments as a trend continued from MLW. We got an injury update on Bill Goldberg as Dr. Nelson Sweglar let us know that there was no permanent damage, and that Goldberg should be back to WCW in just a couple of weeks.”
“The esteemed Dr. Sweglar!”
“Of course, the esteemed Dr. Sweglar, and what a miracle that Goldberg’s career isn’t over…”
“And what about those matches for next week’s WCW Nitro….Vikingo vs. Nitro II, and Nick Aldis vs. Hammerstone…I mean either of those matches could easily be the Finals…and they are the Quarter Finals!”
“Good change of topic, but you are right, those are both big matches and I can’t wait for next week. But that brought us to the Main Event…and what a fight DDP put up in this match! With all the fans behind him, I almost thought he was going to win when he hit the first Diamond Cutter, but unfortunately, he was too injured to capitalize. And when he went for a second Diamond Cutter, White hit the ribs and reversed to the Bladerunner to move into the Semi-Finals.”
"And while DDP may not have won, it was really great to see the fans reaction after the match."
"If this is indeed the last match for DDP, I will agree it was a great way to go out....especially with the ribs taped up."
"Definitely appropriate."
"Well that brings us to the end of another episode of WCW Nitro, and I must say it seems like it is only getting better every week."
"Thank you Conrad, and I must say I think that you are also getting better each week!"
"And fans, we are going to start taking your questions soon. So if you have any questions for this man here, hit us up on Twitter and we will do our best to get them answered. Up next, our special guest for this week's WCW Live! it's the man of the hour, the first man to make it to the ladder match at WCW Slamboree...Lio Rush! Join us after the break!"
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Post by tg01 on Jul 1, 2023 17:17:41 GMT 1
(WCW Live! begins with a close up shot of Joey Janela's face as he was yelling "it
was me Goldberg, it was me, it was me….all along!”).)
“Hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson and you’re listening to WCW Live! with the owner, the CEO, the Chief Content Officer, the man who brought WCW back here to my home state of Alabama….Andrew Hart! How are you?”
“And it’s great to be here with you live Conrad, thank you for making the trip, as I know just how busy you are!”
“Well, I definitely didn’t want to miss WCW’s return here to Alabama, and what a great night it was last night, with some great action and a big surprise that we will get to shortly.”
“I know you were in the crowd last night, but were you able to see the opening video last night?”
“I couldn’t hear it due to the crowd, but I did notice some exploding peanuts last night, really captured the Dothan area.”
“Glad you liked it!”
“We could hear Mike Tenay and Nigel McGuinness as they spoke about the final two quarter final matches with Hammerstone taking on Nick Aldis, and then the rematch between Johny Nitro and El Hijo del Vikingo. I know things are often hyped in this little world we love, but these matches are both PPV level matches…..these are matches that easily could have been the Finals match!”
“Well it was important to make sure that we only had the best wrestlers in the world competing for the WCW World Championship.”
“You mean, guys like Jacob Fatu?”
“Speaking of great wrestlers, did you like seeing Little Guido winning his match against Lince Dorado to get into the ladder match at WCW Slamboree for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship?”
“Still going to be like that eh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, yes, Little Guido joins Lio Rush, Myron Reed, and Paul London in that match, definitely a bit different to see someone like Guido in that match as he has traditionally been more of a technical, mat-based wrestler. Will be very interesting to see what happens at Slamboree. Speaking of high flyers, up next 2 Cold Scorpio seemed like he was about to announce his retirement when he was talking with Alicia Atout, just to have Cesar Duran show up to offer him an “opportunity” at redemption.”
“Yeah, I wonder what that was about, hopefully we will find out soon…”
“We didn’t find up next though as we got a nice video on Chris Hero and Doug Williams, speaking to their historic careers prior to their match in the WCW World Television Round Robin Tournament. And next Alicia was speaking with Williams and Davey Boy Smith Jr, with Davey showing his support for Doug Williams, pushing for him to win the match against Hero. Unfortunately, it was not enough, as Hero managed to get the victory in a nice little match between the two. Although, word is that there was an injury coming out of the match?”
“That’s right, and we are still waiting on some MRI results, but we believe that Chris Hero injured something in his arm during the match. Because of that we are looking at possibly delaying his next match in the Round Robin Tournament, but you will have to tune into next week’s WCW Nitro to find out for sure.”
“Speaking of injuries, we got a nice video on Diamond Dallas Page announcing that he would be making an appearance next week on WCW Nitro. It sounds like this might be a chance for him to say goodbye to the fans?’
“I can’t say I know for sure what he will be saying, but I did promise to give him some time on the microphone so that he can address the fans from his heart, as we both know, that is really all he knows how to do.”
“Hopefully you already have an overrun planned for next week.”
“You had better hope he doesn’t hear that Conrad, otherwise you might be the next one to feel the Bang!”
“That or he will try and get me to do DDPY, not sure what would hurt more.”
“You should try it Conrad, it really helps keep one limber!”
“Nah. Up next, we got a video on the third team that will be competing for the WCW World Tag Team Championship as Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews made their WCW debut as Subculture. First with a good video, and was that Mark Andrews band on the video?”
“Good catch Conrad, that was the song Saved Me Again, but Mark Andrews band, Junior. Just released a few months ago, and you can tell that there was a lot of feeling that went into that one!”
“From a great song, to a great debut as Subculture got the victory in their showcase match, and what a beautiful Shooting Star Press from Mark Andrews.”
“He definitely got a lot of air on that one.”
“From there we got Nick Aldis out in the ring waiting for his opponent Alexander Hammerstone…but as Hammerstone was making his way out to the ring he was suddenly attacked by 2 Cold Scorpio who pushed him off of the stage and seemed to result in an injury to Hammerstone’s knee. Hammerstone was given the opportunity to pull out of the match, but when he decided to fight, Aldis was all over that knee until eventually the referee called for the bell as he believed Hammerstone was too injured to continue.”
“Truly a disappointing result all around, I would not have expected something like that from 2 Cold Scorpio. The fans were incredibly disappointed, and now Aldis is on to the next round against Ibushi.”
“From disappointment there, we went backstage to see Alicia Atout interviewing Myron Reed when Lio Rush interrupted to introduce himself to Reed. It was a fun little interaction with Rush speaking about how Reed may end up being the GOAT, but he will need to beat him at Slamboree to prove it. From there we got to see Alexander Hammerstone making his way to the back, with people trying to support him as he was unable to stand on his leg, but he kept pushing them away and trying to do it on his own while the fans cheered him on. Is there any update on his injury?”
“Unfortunately, still waiting on his results as well, but hopefully we will have an update next week.”
“After a commercial break and an introduction video, Low-Ki managed to get his second victory and earn four points in the WCW World Television Round Robin Tournament with a victory over Bobby Fish. This was hard hitting, and had some good attempts at submission before Ki put it away with the Dragon Clutch.”
“I don’t know about you, but watching that match I felt like I could feel the kicks they were hitting each other with, wow that looked like it hurt!”
“Yeah, those two men were not holding back. And up next, the moment that had all the fans talking about. I was talking with one of my friends when all of a suddenly familiar music started to play and it took me a moment to realize it was Chase playing….and out walked….
…CASH WHEELER AND DAX HARWOOD! FTR was in the building! What a get for WCW this was, and a big surprise as I think most figured after they recently lost their loser leaves town match that they were New York bound.”
“I believe that the news is already out there, but I am very proud to announce that both men have signed what they believe will be their final full time contracts, and I can’t wait to have them as a big part of the tag team division here in WCW. And for those wondering, yes, I can confirm that we have licensed that classic theme to accompany FTR to the ring as a tribute to a team that they have spoken very highly of.”
“You speak about them being a big part of the tag team division, but they were quick to make it clear that Duran said that they will not be a part of the match to determine the WCW World Tag Team Champions because Duran said the four spots were already spoken for. What’s up with that?”
“To be fair, that match was signed before FTR was in WCW, so I can’t disagree with Duran too much. Now it will be just a matter of finding the right match for FTR at Slamboree, because I do think that they will be a big part of our tag team division going forward.”
“From the high point of the night to….well, a video interview with Bill Golberg who announced that he will be at next week’s WCW Nitro to find out who injured him, and promised to make him pay. And from there we went to the ring where Joey Janela defeated Josef Samael in a hardcore match. But now, what I really want to talk about, what happened next as Janela got on a microphone. Here is a little clip from what he said:
(“Hey…hey….we’re not going to make any of you wait a week….because I’m not afraid…..hey Goldberg, read my lips…..it was me Goldberg, it was me, it was me….all along!”)
“What a bad guy that Joey Janela is, trying to take out a legend like Bill Goldberg! If he shows up next week I am going to be shocked, because I certainly wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when Goldberg gets his hands on him!”
“Yeah, he might have his career ended.”
“What was that?”
“And in our final match of the night, El Hijo del Vikingo got his revenge on Johnny Nitro and will be moving on to face Jay White in next week’s Main Event again Jay White. Maybe not quite as good as their first match on the first WCW Nitro, but it was nice to see the clean finish this week, and I will gladly watch these two men show off their stuff at any opportunity.”
“You know that Vikingo has a bright future, after all, if Konnan is trying to leach off of him, that has to say something?”
“That’s not nice.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I will be sure to bring that up with Konnan as he is today’s guest, coming up after the commercial break. But before we go, we wanted to let fans know, get your questions in, please go to our twitter page and leave your questions, and we are going to start to ask them next week, right here, on WCW Live!”
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Post by tg01 on Jul 29, 2023 5:26:22 GMT 1
(WCW Live! begins with footage of Jay White mocking the fans to celebrate after WCW Nitro ended.)
“Hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson and you’re listening to WCW Live! with the owner, the CEO, the Chief Content Officer, he is our sunshine, he is, Andrew Hart! How are you?”
“Thank you Conrad, and thank you for not comparing me to a meat pie! But how exciting, we are now just a little over a week away from WCW Slamboree as WCW returns to PPV for the first time in over 22 years!”
“And we now know one half of the main event, but before we get there, I once again just want to point out the great opening video package with the historic main street buildings from Downtown Natchitoches. Absolutely stunning backdrop for the opening, and the video that hyped the Main Event Semi-Final match between El Hijo del Vikingo and Jay White. From there we got Mike Tenay and Nigel explaining that Goldberg was supposed to be here tonight, but was having some automobile problems, and then they discussed how it appeared someone might have slashed his tires or something. First Bill got attacked on his way to his car, and now this, maybe he should use some of the money you are paying him to just get a driver service to the shows?”
“Clearly someone has been doing their research, because you’ve seen how much security there is usually around Goldberg! But they just keep figuring out a way to get to him!”
“Well things picked up, as we shall see in the follow clip as we were joined by a member of the legendary Guerrero family…..CHAVO GUERRERO!”
{Did you seriously expect that there was going to be a WCW Cruiserweight division without some involvement from the Guerrero family? Three different members of my family have held that belt, and while I will not be competing for the belt, I am here to announce the man who is going to win his qualifying match tonight, and then win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in the ladder match at WCW Slamboree, he is my client….he is….
DRALISTICO!}
“Alright so chat me up, how did this one come together? You’ve got Chavo Guerrero Jr, someone who I think is incredibly underrated because of who is Uncle was, and Dralistico joining the roster when I thought he was signed elsewhere?”
“Well as you know Chavo Guerrero has been doing a fair amount of work outside of the wrestling industry lately with a certain wrestling adjacent TV show, but with his time on that project ending, all of a sudden, he had a bit more time so it was a no brainer to bring him in. And as for Dralistico, while he may have been at a different company, the tier of his contract was not one that prevented him from giving his notice if a better offer came along. And with that out of the way now he is here and I expect we shall see a lot of him in the Cruiserweight division going forward!”
“He suddenly made an impact in the opening match defeating Fred Yehi in a match that got the show off to a hot start as these two went out there and had a lot of great high flying action, before Dralistico got the victory and earned the fifth spot in the ladder match at WCW Slamboree.”
“I know this match was all about the Dralistico victory, but don’t be surprised if we see more of Fred Yehi in the future as well.”
“Just from watching some of his stuff in MLW, I would agree the future should be bright for Yehi. Speaking of a bright future, up next Alicia Atout interviewed Aussie Open who promised that it didn’t matter who the final team was in the Four Way match, that they would be winning the tag team belts at WCW Slamboree.”
“I know that Fletcher and Davis are still getting the hang of talking in front of fans, but I thought they did a decent job of showing off just how confident and cocky they are, but I wonder if they will feel the same way when that final team is announced?"
“Up next, Caribbean wrestling legend Savio Vega made his WCW debut in a hardcore match against Joey Janela. Before the match began it was announced that this match was turned into a hardcore Cesar Duran, which definitely seemed to suit both these men. In the end Janela beat the legend and got on the microphone to calling out Goldberg.”
“A very brave thing to do when he knew that Goldberg was not in the arena I might add.”
“Of course, that changed as we got to see him come speeding into the arena, and then slam his car door shut as he started to storm towards the arena.”
“Something that Nigel and Mike were quick to fill the fans in on as well, which for the record was because that information was only being shared with the fans who were watching on the television, the fans inside the arena were not aware that he was on his way.”
“The fans in the arena definitely gave him a very loud ovation when his music started to play, but when he didn’t come out right away Janela got cocky again and started to mock Goldberg some more.”
“And how quickly did that turn to a frown when “Da Man” started to make his way out, without his security, without the fireworks, he was on a mission to get to the ring and get his hands on Janela.”
“Smartly Janela tried to get the heck out of there before Goldberg could end his career, but Savio Vega forced him back in with a threat of a Singapore Cane beating.”
“Instead he was standing in the middle of the ring and was ran over by one of the hardest hitting Spear’s I have ever seen.”
“And then he was standing over him with a microphone saying that they were going to have a match at Slamboree…”
{“I don’t care if it’s a regular match, a hardcore match, you pick the stipulation, because at Slamboree…you’re next!”}
“…and then threw the microphone in his downed face before walking off.”
“That was one of the most intense versions of Goldberg we have seen in a long time, and I would not want to be Joey Janela at Slamboree!”
“I wouldn’t want to be Ariel Dominguez at Nitro either, because Jacob Fatu mopped the floor with him last night. And then as he was walking towards the back after the match, he was met by Cesar Duran who asked to speak with him.”
“Going to go out on a limb and guess that nothing good could possibly come from that.”
“I will tell you something good though, and that was the video that we saw next and the announcement of who the final tag team was in the four way match at WCW Slamboree….
….ALEX SHELLEY, CHRIS SABIN, THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS!”
“Not bad for a final team eh?’
“How!? How did you pull this one off?”
“Again, it was just a matter of signed contracts vs. non-signed contracts. But we were asked to save their debut until after they were able to celebrate Chris Sabin’s 20 year anniversary with Impact in April, so we made sure to do that, which is why they came after FTR made their debut as we wanted to make sure they both had time to shine.”
“Well the Guns definitely shined when they defeated the team of Josef Samael and their old foe, James Storm in a good preview of what is to come.”
“And with the four teams all announced for Slamboree, out walked Aussie Open, Subculture, and the Von Erich’s to make eye contact with the Guns. Just in time for the announcement that there will be an eight-man tag team match next week on Nitro with these four teams as one final preview before the WCW World Tag Team Championship match at Slamboree.”
“After that out came the legend DDP, and he was thanking the fans, but we don’t know what else he was going to say as suddenly he was interrupted by Jeff Cobb who came out for a fight. Just to have Jacob Fatu come out….and TURN ON DDP! Including hitting his Moonsault right on DDP’s injured ribs.”
“It was a good thing that FTR was in the arena as they managed to come out and chase Fatu and Cobb away, but I’m not sure if it was quick enough as I am still waiting to hear what damage was done.”
“Speaking of injuries, Bobby Fish joined the commentary table for the next match to talk about how he had injured Willie Mack so badly that he had absolutely not shot against Low Ki.”
“He really didn’t sound very happy when Mack ended up getting the victory after Low Ki tried to pick him up on his shoulders, just to have Mack drop down and roll him up, earning the top spot in their Block, and the match at WCW Slamboree for the WCW World Television Championship.”
“And from there we got a video from Cesar Duran announcing a ‘second chance’ match at WCW Slamboree. Since DDP and Alexander Hammerstone are injured, 2 Cold Scorpio and Johnny Nitro would face the losers of the two Semi-Final matches in an elimination match at WCW Slamboree with the winner getting the first shot at the WCW World Champion after WCW Slamboree. How convenient that this announcement came after DDP was injured…”
“Now you are starting to sound like a bit of a conspiracy theorist!”
“Speaking of conspiracy, up next Konnan was hyping up El Hijo del Vikingo with Alicia Atout when Johnny Nitro interrupted to wish Vikingo luck and promised to see him later.”
“Well of course, because the Main Event was next!”
“And what a great Main Event this was, with Jay White managing to ground Vikingo to start things off, but that only lasted so long before he managed to get the speed back up. I think the fans might have been a little worried that Johnny Nitro was going to interfere after the earlier confrontation, but this was all about two men going out there and giving their best. Until the very end when Jay White feigned being injured, long enough to hit a Blade Runner out of nowhere, and get the victory and earn a match at WCW Slamboree to crown the new WCW World Champion.”
“I know we are only a little over a month in to this new era in WCW, but I think that this is the best match we have seen thus far, and whomever wins the match next week between Nick Aldis and Kota Ibushi is going to be in for the challenge of their lifetime at Slamboree.”
“It really was a great show, and now there is only one Nitro left before we get to Slamboree which is sure to be a big night! And now as we have been promising, it’s time for some fan questions, are you ready?”
“Absolutely, there was some great questions asked this week.”
“I am going to start with the question that was probably asked the most, and that is, with all the great action we have seen, when are we going to see some women competing in WCW?”
“I am really glad to start off with this question, as I absolutely believe that representation is important here in the world of wrestling. To this point we have been working to establish our singles, tag team, and cruiserweight divisions, and I want to make sure we take time to do the same sort of work when it comes to our women’s division. And with that I am very proud to say that there is going to be some movement on this front very, very soon.”
“There you go fans, you heard it here first, there will be a women’s division here in WCW. Another question that came up frequently is whether we could expect to see new additions in the cruiserweight division?”
“I can tell you that we are scouting the world wide to try and find the best wrestlers in every division, and that includes the cruiserweight division. I suspect that we shall soon see some new additions to the cruiserweight division in the near future as well.”
“Final question for today, and that is when can we expect to see AC Mack make his WCW Nitro debut?”
“AC Mack is certainly getting some attention, isn’t he? It is very exciting, and all I will say is….stay tuned!”
“You are being a bit tight lipped today aren’t you?”
“I don’t want to spoil all the surprises!”
“Well, it’s not surprise this was another great versions of WCW Live, and it is not over yet! After our commercial break, we are going to be joined by the “man of the hour,” Lio Rush!”
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Post by tg01 on Jul 31, 2023 4:56:26 GMT 1
(WCW Live! begins with footage of Jay White from after the camera went off the air, with Jay White standing in the ring face to face with Kota Ibushi)
“Hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson and you’re listening to WCW Live! with the owner, the CEO, the Chief Content Officer, the mayor of Smashville, he is, Andrew Hart! How are you?”
“Well Conrad I am excited, I am nervous, and I can’t wait until a few hours when WCW Slamboree begins and we get to have the first PPV of the new era here in WCW!”
“And because I know how busy you are, we are going to kick it off quick, but once again I must point out the opening video with the old Nitro fire and explosions really looked great when set in Nashville.”
“With amazing architecture like the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium and so on, there was a lot of great choices, and I think it might have been my favourite opening yet.”
“Speaking of great openings, I am really liking the sports feel to the hype packages that start each show, and tonight’s was no different with footage of Kota training students in Japan, and Nick in the gym, and then dining out on fine dining, definitely gave a good snapshot on these two men prior to their match.”
“I really can’t take the credit, it goes all to our video crew who manage to put these together each week, always trying to find some unique way of presenting the excitement each week.”
“Well, they are great, and so are Mike Tenay and Nigel McGuiness who did a great job of putting over the match between Chris Hero and Timothy Thatcher, and whether Hero will be healed enough to go up against someone who isn’t afraid to hurt you like Thatcher.”
“And just as importantly, to set up that the winner of that match then has to turn around and face Willie Mack at WCW Slamboree to determine our WCW World Television Champion.”
“From there we kicked things off with a great Cruiserweight match to determine the final competitor in the ladder match at Slamboree. I enjoyed the idea of having the five men who had lost their qualifying matches having one last chance to put it all on the line to get into the match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, and it sort of makes sense that it was a veteran like Jack Evans who waited for everyone else to wear each other out, before sneaking in and stealing the victory with the 630° Senton.”
“With Evans joining a match that features Lio Rush, Myron Reed, Dralistico, and Paul London, I think we are going to be in for a high-flying affair.”
“It is going to be a miracle to see if Little Guido is able to find some way to ground them long enough to climb the ladder and become WCW Cruiserweight Champion.”
“He really is going to be the ‘x-factor’ I think when it comes to that match.”
“Well speaking of flips, we move to Alicia Atout talking to FTR, who were not pleased about Cobb and Faut attacking a legend like DDP, and since they won’t be in the match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship, they were looking for a fight, throwing out a challenge for Faut and Cobb to face them at WCW Slamboree.”
“You have to give it to Dax and Cash, there may be no wrestlers out there who manage to show as much respect for those who have paved the way for what they do, and this was another example of that as they were there to save DDP from that beatdown, and now look to get a little revenge in the ring.”
“Speaking of the tag team titles, we gout our eight man preview for that match next in a bit of a wild affair with the Motor City Machine Guns and the Von Erich Brothers defeating Aussie Open and Subculture. But I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed like there may have been a little bit of friction between the Guns and the Von Erich’s, what say you?”
“I think all four of these teams really want to be the first WCW World Tag Team Champions of the new era, but of course, only one team is going to be able to walk away with that honour.”
“After a great recap video of the situation between Goldberg and Joey Janela we got to the match I was looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. Somehow Chris Hero managed to persevere, just getting the pin fall before the 15-minute time limit expired, setting up Willie Mack and Chris Hero at WCW Slamboree to crown the new WCW World Television Champion.”
“And I think that Chris Hero really looked great out there, and I know both Hero and Mack are a little beat up going into Slamboree, but I expect them to give there all and give us a great match on the way to determining who will be wearing that belt going forward.”
“Next we got a video of Cesar Duran introducing us to his “Island Monsters” and accepting the match for WCW Slamboree with FTR against Fatu and Cobb in what should be a battle.”
“So you’ve got the Samoan Werewolf, and a former Monster in Jeff Cobb, you’ve got to admit that “Island Monsters” might make for a pretty decent tag team name for them eh?”
“Well Duran has always been a great promoter, so that makes sense that he would come up with a decent name for them. Speaking of teams, Alicia Atout was standing with Lio Rush and Myron Reed, with Rush once again putting over Reed as “the future” in the Cruiserweight division, but saying he might just need a little direction to get him there, and to just follow his lead.”
“That sure didn’t age well did it, considering that Rush distracted Reed allowing Dralistico to get the victory for his team just a few minutes later. Lio might want to work on his leadership skills if he is planning on taking Reed anywhere.”
“I can’t disagree with you there, but Rush looked great in that match. But poor Guido, it looked like he might have sustained an injury out there?”
“From the sounds of it, it might have been a broken nose, but as we all know, Guido is one tough veteran and he will be in the match at Slamboree.”
“Speaking of tough, Joey Janela got to announce his match, and it’s going to be a Jersey Street Fight at WCW Slamboree. I don’t think I can remember Goldberg being in a lot of hardcore matches in the past.”
“To be fair, I think Goldberg’s is a walking weapon, so it’s almost like every match with him is a hardcore match.”
“Yeah, you can ask Bret Hart about that.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Unfortunately, the next match did put a bit of a pall over the evening. In the final match in the Round Robin Tournament for the WCW World Television Championship, we saw teacher and student, with Doug Williams facing off against Davey Both Smith Jr. And Jr. got the victory after he channeled his father, and connected with the Running Powerslam. After the match Davey Both was celebrating, when he noticed that Doug wasn’t getting up. It appeared as medical staff came out, things became quite somber. Do you have any sort of update?”
“Well as most fans speculated based on what they saw, it looks like it had something to do with his back, but we are going to be extra cautious and wait for the experts to let us know what is going on with Doug, but we of course wish him all the best.”
“Absolutely, while he might not have the name recognition of some of the other wrestlers, I think anyone who has followed the wrestling scene for the last twenty years know how great Doug Williams is in the ring. And one of those wrestlers who definitely knows that is his former tag team partner, and the man who we got to see next, Nick Aldis. Unsurprisingly he was a bit distracted, but he managed to keep it together long enough to hype his match against Kota Ibushi, pointing out that he had been the man to bring the Ten Pounds of Gold back to relevance, and it was only fitting that he was the man who would do the same for the “Big Gold.”
“It was a great line, on a way to a great match, as we got to see Kota Ibushi and Nick Aldis give it their all on the way to determining who would be facing off against Jay White at WCW Slamboree to determine who would be WCW World Champion.”
“But not without controversy it would appear, as it looked like Nick Aldis may have had his foot under the bottom rope when the pin fall went down.”
“Yeah, that was a bit unfortunate, but at least Nick Aldis will have a second chance, in the second chance four way elimination match at Slamboree to determine who will get the first shot at the WCW World Champion.”
“Well White or Ibushi, Nitro ended with Jay White coming out to stare down his opponent, and with that we are all ready for Slamboree! And for those who are wondering, no, we will not be having a podcast directly to deal with WCW Slamboree, as this man has a lot to do to put this event on, and we will give him a break, but we will take a few moments next week to go through the highlights and to get to fan questions. For now, I am going to let you go to get ready for tonight, thank you for your time today!”
“No, thank you Conrad this has been a great journey to get to Slamboree, and I hope everyone enjoys it!”
“And now get ready for a commercial break, but when we gomt back, I will be joined by Alicia Atout so that we can do a preview for WCW Slamboree...”
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