Andrew Lutzke
September 25th 1995
Nitro
Alex Wright vs. Disco Inferno
Wright’s theme is catchy. No Homo? The Boogie Knights Explode! If you would have guessed that Disco would end up with the better career between these two men, you’d probably be considered a goof. Disco grounds Wright for much of the match. Alex hits a springboard dropkick to Disco’s kidneys. Alex snags a pin via a backslide after slipping out of a neckbreaker.
Uhhhhh….
Hogan Promo. He desires to rip his neck brace off. Hulk wants to challenge The Giant to a monster truck vs. monster truck match and then they’ll clash in the ring in Detroit at Halloween Havoc so The Giant can be buried in the same place that Hogan buried “your father Andre”. Typical good Hogan promo.
Macho Man interview – Luger is called out and he sprints to the ring. Luger says that sometimes in order to be friends, you have to go to war first. He’s fought Sting and Hogan and now they have mutual respect. Next week on Nitro Macho Man vs. Lex Luger. Luger will quit WCW if he loses. Macho offers a handshake to seal the deal but Luger just gently shoves him and runs off.
Kurasawa vs. Craig “Pitbull” Pittman
Kurasawa had an impressive debut when he broke Road Warrior Hawk’s arm a few weeks prior to this. Both men are heels. Pittman uses flying headbutts until Kurasawa blasts him with kicks and sends him flopping to the floor. Kurasawa works over Pittman’s arm and Pittman works over his. More flying head butts lead to the “Code Red” armbar but Kurasawa escapes. Pittman is pinned with a German suplex. Pittman wasn’t as hilariously bad here as at Fall Brawl.
Pillman and Arn Anderson Promo – Pillman insults Flair in full heel mode. Arn warns Flair that messing with him in a tag match situation is a terrible idea since Arn is a tag team specialist. Arn reminds Ric that Flair attacked Macho Man’s father and tried crippling Sting, so asking those two men to help against Pillman and Anderson will probably fall on deaf ears and reeks of desperation. Flair’s past behavior assures his downfall in the current day.
This Saturday at 6:05! Johnny B. Badd vs. Sting! The American Males in action! And The Giant speaks! I may have to search around for that Badd vs. Sting match, sounds fun.
Kevin Sullivan vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage
Zodiac attacks Savage at the start to set up an extended Savage beatdown. Zodiac ends up in the ring and Savage tosses the ref. Savage drops the elbow on Zodiac and works over Sullivan until The Giant comes in and choke slams Savage. Frankie Lancaster and Mark Starr run in and eat chokeslams. Alex Wright runs in and is squashed. Savage eats another chokeslam. Lex Luger slowly walks down. He turns his back on the Giant and stands over Savage – he looks like he’s about to go after Macho Man (or help him up) but The Giant goes after Lex and chokeslams him as well. Luger’s true alliances remain murky.
We go to a commercial and Luger is still down when we get back. Meng runs in and attacks as we segue into…
Meng vs. Lex Luger
Meng thumps Luger with chops, kicks, forearms, chokes and a piledriver. Nerve pinch of extreme distress finally gives Luger a chance to get fired up. Meng stops the comeback quickly with a tilt-a-whirl suplex. Luger rallies briefly until Meng produces a spike and jabs Luger in the throat for the pin. Fairly big upset there.
These early episodes of Nitro have felt like they were crammed a little too tight with content and I couldn’t argue with a 2 hour window for WCW to work with at this stage. Then again, it can be argued that this method keeps guys fresh and not overexposed. Another argument for Nitro needing an extended time is that replays of angle development from the weekend shows (4 of them at this point I believe – Pro, Worldwide, Saturday Night and The Main Event) are non existent and some things are mentioned on commentary without reference points for someone stuck in the Nitro only chasm I am in. Good angle driven episode this week to build for bigger and better things down the road.
RAW (Finally Live – at least for a week)
Marty Jannetty vs. Skip
Skip is in the midst of a star making feud with Barry Horowitz, and Vince McMahon indicates on commentary that Marty is making yet another return to the WWF (after an absence due to the Charles Austin case going to trial –that was the jobber who took a bad bump in a match with the Rockers and ended up with spinal injuries.) Crowd is hot for Marty. Skip is flustered by several early Jannetty offensive moves and retreats to hug Sunny at ringside. Marty sneaks out and hugs Sunny, then ducks as she tries to slap him and she hits Skip instead. Cute spot. Marty takes an extended beatdown as a result. His ring rust is evident as it’s pretty obvious he’s sucking wind here. Vince plugs the Superstar line by saying you can call in and find out the PPV results. The Internet was still in its mainstream infancy at this point, but boy is that an odd thing to hear with a modern day perspective. Marty rallies and hits the “Rocker Dropper” and a flying fist from the top rope for the win. Marty was motivated and this was a fun little match.
Vince announces that the Dudes with Attitudes have been stripped of the tag team titles they won last night due to the fact that they pinned Owen Hart who was not a legal participant in the match. I’m pretty sure this is Clarence Mason’s debut as a heel lawyer. President Monsoon orders Yoko and Owen to defend the titles TONIGHT against the team they beat for the titles – The Smoking Gunns.
Owen Hart and Yokozuna vs. The Smoking Gunns
Billy has an ugly mullet and Bart has a pedo-stache. Billy has his way with Owen early on, so Hart tags in the heavy artillery. Yoko controls Billy – at one point Yoko is clearly breathing heavy and just stops his attack, instead of tagging in Owen Yoko flips Gunn into the middle of the ring and applies a nerve hold. Awkward segment there. Yoko’s exhaustion after relatively little in ring work is a sad sight. Owen is back in and Billy finally makes the hot tag. The Gunns toss Owen and Yoko together and nail Hart with the sidewinder. The ref tries to get Billy out while Bart covers Owen and that allows Yoko to try and splash Bart – Gunn moves and Owen is squashed instead! 123 New champs for a second straight night! Hot finishing sequence. Shawn and Diesel come out to celebrate with the Gunns.
Undertaker vs. British Bulldog
Bulldog is the number one contender to Diesel’s World title. Taker must have been thrilled to finally get a chance to wrestle an athlete after a year of tangling with the King Kong Bundy’s of the world. Taker hits his flying clothesline early but his ropewalk ends with him being flung through the air. Taker no sells that bump. Then no sells missing an elbow and he lands on his feet when Bulldog clotheslines him over. Cornette gets too close and is choked. That sets up a sneak attack by Bulldog and Taker is chop blocked and flung into the stairs. King Mabel waddles out as Bulldog works over Taker’s leg. Vince mentions Mabel has signed to face Taker at the next PPV. Taker rallies but his ropewalk forearm leap re-injures his knee. Piledriver by Bulldog. Zombie sit up. Vertical suplex. Zombie sit up. Jackhammer. Zombie sit up. Taker choke slams Bulldog and then hovers over him for an awkward amount of time. Mabel finally waddles down, having obviously missed his queue. Bulldog shoves Taker into Mabel and he is belly to belly suplexed. Bulldog powerslam. Mabel leg drop. Shawn and Diesel run in and scare off the heels. Owen Hart and Yokozuna come down and surround the ring. The Smoking Gunns run down barefoot and soapy and help make sure the situation does not escalate. Taker shakes Diesel’s hand and after some milling about that’s the end of the show.
I definitely recall marking out hard for that tag title switch on RAW when it first aired, so based on that and the WWF’s more overall solid show, I’m giving this weeks win to RAW.
