WCW From the Beginning

MONDAY NITRO (June 30, 1997)

nWo in-ring promo

The whole nWo came to the ring to open the show bragging about Hogan and the Outsiders’ win last week. Hogan said it just proves that when he gets his rematch with Sting at Bash at the Beach, he’ll beat Sting one more time and bring back home the nWo title. 

Nash took the mic and called out Vader, saying if he’s supposed to be WCW’s giant, he’s just a pathetic pass-his-prime tub of lard that can’t match up to Big Sexy. 

After a Luger and Vader came out to address them and Vader challenged Nash to a match to settle who the best big man in the world is. 

Hogan though asked Luger where his best buddy Sting was or if he was too scared to face Hollywood. Luger said he’s sure Sting’s around her somewhere, but he had another friend who was eager to talk to the nWo. 

With the nWo’s attention diverted toward Luger and Vader, Diamond Dallas Page came out from under the ring behind the group, pulled Randy Savage outside under the bottom rope by his legs and hit him with a Diamond Cutter on the floor. Page jumped the guardrail and celebrated through the crowd. 

But again with the nWo looking the other way at Page, Sting came from under the ring on the other side, slid into the ring and smacked Hogan in the back with a bat. 

Harlem Heat (Stevie Ray and Booker T) defeated The Blue Bloods (Earl Robert Eaton and Lord Steven Regal) when S. Ray pinned Regal after a backbreaker in 14:54.
Rating: *** ½

Harlem Heat was reunited and successful in its first match against the newly dubbed Blue Bloods. Though they did get a hand when David Taylor went to hit Stevie Ray, but Stevie ducked and Taylor caught Regal. 

M. Wallstreet in-ring promo

M. Wallstreet came to the ring wearing a suit and holding a trash can. He said this thing, this Wallstreet thing wasn't working for him. Years ago he was one of the hottest up and coming stars in this business, but he took a wrong turn. He needs to get back to his roots. He then took off his suit and threw it in the trash can.

Carl Ouellet pinned Ice Train with the Cannonball in 9:06.
Rating: -1/4*

Ouellet was dominant in a win over the young powerhouse Ice Train. Toward the end of the match, Bam Bam Bigleow came out to watch from the top of the aisleway with Chris Kanyon right next to him. Kanyon made a move like he was ready to go attack Ouellet, but Bam Bam held him back saying, “Not yet.”

Rey Misterio Jr. pinned Billy Kidman after a Victory Roll in 14:46.
Rating: **** ¼

Misterio and Kidman were having a phenomenal match leading to Rey catching Kidman in a roll up. Kidman threw a tantrum after the match which brought out Prince Iaukea, who said Kidman can say all he wants about not getting opportunities, but when he does get them, he blows them. 

Raven in the audience

In the crowd, the WCW cameras caught former ECW champion Raven sitting in the front row.

Eddie Guerrero and Syxx battled to a draw in 20:00.
Rating: *** 3/4

Nothing was solved between Syxx and Eddie Guerrero as the two wrestled to a time limit draw.

Curt Hennig pinned Marcus Bagwell with the Hennig Plex in 0:15:30.
Rating: ** ¾

Curt Hennig came out and said with busy with Steve Austin at the moment, he asked Ric Flair if he's still taking offers for someone to come out and put the Horsemen out of their mistery, he'd gladly take up that fight. He went one on one with Bagwell and scored the victory after a low blow the ref couldn't see.

Big Van Vader defeated Kevin Nash by disqualification in 0:00:22.
Rating: DUD
[Scott Hall interfered against Big Van Vader.]

The night's main event never got going as pretty much as soon as the bell rang, Scott Hall ran in with a chair and attacked Vader. Lex Luger came down to help but also found himself on the wrong end of the numbers game until Harlem Heat rushed down to give WCW the edge. The show ended with a big nWo vs. WCW brawl going on in the ring.


Card rating: **


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MONDAY NITRO (July 7, 1997)

nWo in-ring promo

The nWo were making their way to the ring for the typical show-opening diatribe, but in the middle of their entrance, WCW members Sting, Luger, Vader, DDP and Harlem Heat blindsided them and began a huge brawl.

Security tried to separate the groups, but they were having little luck as the groups kept going at each other. 

Juventud Guerrera pinned Billy Kidman with the Dragon Suplex in 10:57.
Rating: *** ¾

Once everything got calmed down we finally had our first match of the night. The former Cruiserweight champion Juventud scored a victory over Kidman. 

During the match, the cameras again spotted Raven sitting in the front row watching the match.

Randy Savage comes to the ring

Savage came to the ring by himself and called out Diamond Dallas Page. He said it’s time to settle this once and for all. He made the mistake of letting Page walk out of the arena last time but that won’t happen again. 

Page was up in the crowd and responded to Savage saying if they’re going to do this, they need to do it right. One more match, Last Man Standing. 

Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon defeated Silver King and Lizmark Jr. when Bigelow pinned Lizmark Jr. with the Greetings from Asbury Park in 8:10.
Rating: ***

Bigelow and Kanyon had a dominant performance with Bam Bam easily tossing around some of the smaller luchadores. Carl Ouellet came out to keep an eye on the match from a distance, giving a mock clap to Bam Bam after he won it. 

Curt Hennig and Scott Norton defeated Ric Flair and Marcus Bagwell when Norton pinned Bagwell after a shoulderbreaker in 12:43.
Rating: 1/2*

Hennig enlisted his nWo stablemate Scott Norton to fight Flair and Bagwell. They got the best of the former Horsemen when Rick Rude gave Norton a hand in knocking out Bagwell when Hennig, Flair and the official was tied up outside.

Rey Misterio Jr. pinned Mr. J.L. with the Top-Rope Frankensteiner in 13:57.
Rating: ** ¼

Rey Misterio earned the win over JL, who has been on a losing streak lately. But after the match, after Rey went to the back and JL remained alone in the ring, Raven hopped over the guardrail and approached JL. He stood in front of him with his arms raised out before leaving.

Stone Cold Steve Austin attacked

Austin was shown in the back walking around making his way to the ring, but Jeff Jarrett ran up from behind and smashed his guitar over Austin’s head knocking him out. Jarrett then grabbed a beer from a nearby catering table and poured it all over Austin asking him how it feels. 

Earl Robert Eaton pinned David Taylor with the Alabama Jam in 11:13.
Earl Robert Eaton suffered a fractured back. He will be out for approximately 14 months
Rating: ** 1/4

After Regal and Eaton left David Taylor, Eaton had a match with Taylor tonight and got the win but was clearly in pain after the match was over. 

Hollywood Hogan pinned Rick Steiner after a clothesline in 4:26.
Rating: -** ¼

Hogan got the best of Rick Steiner pretty quickly thanks to Scott Steiner clubbing Rick with lead pipe while on the floor. Hogan got the win and him and Scott went to beat down Rick including Scott locking him in the Steiner Recliner but Sting came down and cleaned house.


Card rating: 1/2*