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Howdy everyone, once again. I am Big Mike, sitting in for the legendary Aldo (or trying to sit in anyway), and welcome to the Nitro report.
First of all, I'll get this one out the way: BOOKER T IS THE CHAMP!!! BOOKER T IS THE FREAKING CHAMP!!!! KICK ASS!!!!
Wow, it's been a while. Almost three months, according to Bill. I'll try to keep up with it all. It seems though that what the WCW is lacking right now is some wrestlers the fans can get behind one way or the other. The WWF has the "bad asses," Stone Cold and Triple H. Who does WCW have? Jeff Jarrett?? No. Tank Abbott?? Maybe, but his matches suck. Goldberg? He's better as a face. The WWF has the babyfaces that the fans can get behind, like Jericho and the Rock. Who does WCW have? Goldberg? Whoops, not any more. Hogan? Get real. Flair? Misused. Bret Hart? Severely and inexcusably misused. Scott Steiner? Maybe with some work.
I'll say it again. WCW right now has no wrestlers the fans can get behind. There are a lot of wrestlers who have potential though: Booker T (definitely, now), Kronic (great music & some of the best pops in WCW in a long time!), Big Vito, along with some others.
I just read Xavier Doom's Bash at the Beach report, as I didn't get to watch it live. I loved the Hogan bit with the belt! That needed to happen for a looooooonnnnnnnng time. If Hogan was in on that, kudos to Hogan for swallowing his pride. If not, nice work by Russo and company. Nice report, by the way, Xavier. Hopefully, they do play up the fact that Booker won the belt tonight, and not the fact that Hogan got shot down.
Now, with a cold Shiner Blonde beer in hand, on to the show, if you wheel............
Recap of Booker T's win at Bash at the Beach by Mike Tenay. This is reminiscent of the way that they treated Benoit winning the belt. Great! They're playing up Booker T big time. Great historical promo by Tenay, with clips from Booker T's / Harlem Heat's history!
We are live from the Jacksonville Coliseum, in Jacksonville, Florida.
Tony "Lance Russell I ain't" Schiavone, Mark "the Un-Body" Madden, and Scott "Where is Lord Alfred Hayes When You Need Him" Hudson commentating.
Schiavone talks about Booker's win some more! Hudson and Madden also prop up Booker.
Booker T comes to a pretty big pop. Booker's on the mic Booker's got shades on, but he looks legitimately emotional. "Booker T" chant breaks out. Booker says he's come out to speak from his heart. He says he has one regret, that his mother is not here to see him, and he points to heaven. Booker says if there were no fans, there would be now him. Quiet crowd, must not be huge. The crowd is popping at odd times, something else must be going on. Booker says to all the "player haters" in the back. "Don't hate the player, hate the game." Booker then goes off on Goldberg. Booker does a nice takeoff on Goldberg. He calls Goldberg a mark for himself and a mark for the business. Booker calls for his wife, Lavestia (sp?) from the crowd. Doug Dillinger leads Mrs. Booker to the ring. Booker calls his wife "Mrs. Huffman," I guess his real name. Hold on, the Harlem Heat music comes on, and here comes Stevie Ray!
Stevie Ray has a mic and says to cut the music off. Schiavone and company are playing up the brother hate angle. Stevie Ray says he wants his brother to listen. Stevie Ray says he remembers when Booker T was born. Man, Stevie Ray looks like he's gained some weight. Stevie Ray says he's proud of his brother and he loves him. Siren music plays and Midasia (sp?) comes out.
She says that there's only one real man in WCW, Scott Steiner. Steiner comes in and clubs Booker and Stevie with a bat, and threatens Mrs. Booker.
Good spot, except the crowd was totally not into it. Pretty surreal. I guess it didn't have the "shock" value.
Back from commercial, and Booker is ranting and raving back stage. A blonde with a big rack is interviewing Jarrett. The girl (Pamela, I think) says that a match has already been booked tonight by Deputy Dog, I mean Commissioner Cat. Jarrett gets pissed. Scott Steiner comes in and attacks Jarrett. Pamela calls for security. I'm still focused on Pamela. Must have been cold in that interview room by just looking at her.
"The Franchise" Shane Douglas w/ Torrie Wilson vs. Crowbar w/ Daffney
Franchise smacks on Buff, and then Torrie does a good promo on Buff and "Little" Billy Kidman. Man, the crowd is deader than my di.....well never mind, they're dead tonight.
The Bar comes in and Franchise with a nice running lariat.
Schiavone reminds the fans that Nitro will air on Tuesday next week.
The Bar is outside the ring with a chair on Douglas. Douglas hides behind Torrie.
Schiavone states that Booker will face Mike Awesome in a title defense tonight. Madden voices what everyone is thinking: "Why the hell is he not facing Steiner after that promo?"
Meanwhile, Douglas goes outside the ring, and gets a baseball slide from the Bar. Bar puts Douglas on the guard rail and is attacked by Torrie. Torrie gets attacked by Daffney. Franchise pulls Daffney off, and gets slapped for his effort.
Back in the ring, slingshot guillotine legdrop by Bar, two count. Now a moonsault. Another two count.
Franchise comes back with a Russian leg sweep for a two count. Now the "Franchiser." Sort of a jaw breaker variant for the three count. YOUR WINNER: "The Franchise" Shane Douglas via the "Franchiser."
Here comes Buff the Stuffing. He attacks Douglas.
Pamela interviews Kidman, who calls Torrie a skank, and he says Franchise is getting "sloppy seconds." Kidman says he doesn't care and is more focused on his career right now. Jarrett comes out and pushes Kidman away and says it's his time. Kidman jumps on Jarrett, and Pamela yells for security (for a second time) and we cut to....
Smooth coming of the car with a gold record. Now Tank Abbott comes out in a tux (with shorts), and Three Count gets out.
We come back from commercial and Cat gets interrupted by Jarrett who demands a title shot. The Cat says he has booked Jarrett against Kidman
The Awesome-Booker match will be at the top of the hour (9 EDT/8 CDT).
Three Count comes out with Tank Abbott and the gold record. Tank says we're going to celebrate tonight. He brings a ladder and says they're going to hang the record up tonight so they can celebrate.
Evan Karagias is on the ladder hanging the records. In come the Jung Dragons. Karagias is pushed off the ladder. As Three Count gets punked, Schiavone states "Here comes Colonel Abbott almost on cue." Nice. I don't think he meant it that way. Abbott punks all of the Jung Dragons. Wait, here comes the Great Muta! He spits the green mist in Tank's eyes. Nice pop from the dead crowd and even a short "Muta" chant. One of the Dragons takes the record down as Muta leads them to the back.
Pamela is in back with "Positively Kanyon" who does another crappy Page rip-off, using "Bro" liberally.
We cut to the parking lot where Goldberg is walking as we go to commercial.
As we come back, here comes Jeff Jarrett to the ring.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Billy Kidman
Kidman over onto the apron and back right away. Off the ropes, and Jarrett hip tosses him over the ropes. Outside now, Jarrett sends Kidman into the rail twice and into the stairs and finally back to the ring.
Loud "Jarrett sucks" chant, as Kidman comes back with a standing drop kick. Kidman with the standing head scissors into a forward roll. Two count.
Cross body off the top by Kidman into a rollover by Jarrett. Two count.
Kidman clotheslines Jarrett over the top.
Here comes Torrie to the ring. Kidman tells her to go to the back. Torrie tries to slap Kidman and is blocked by Kidman. Here comes the Franchise. While Billy is distracted by Douglas, Torrie gives Kidman a ball breaker. Douglas then DDTs Kidman on the floor and sends him into the ring.
Kidman kicks out in the ring at two
Kidman rolls up Jarrett, who kicks out at two.
Kidman goes for the face plant. Jarrett kicks out at two.
Jarrett hits the Stroke for the three count. YOUR WINNER: Jeff Jarrett with the Stroke.
Short, but pretty intense match.
Steiner is attacking Kanyon in the back.
Mike Awesome is talking with "Nitro Girl Beef" (Rhonda Singh) in the back. Yuck. The Cat comes by and tries to award the U.S. Title to Mike Awesome, who declines, saying he wants to earn any belt he gets.
Shot of Booker T as we go to commercial.
Local commercial here in Houston for "The Internet Villages at Walden" apartment complex. Hold on, that's exactly what I'm looking for in an apartment complex. Not really. What the hell is that?
Booker T vs. Mike Awesome for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Booker T goes around the crowd to slap hands before coming to the ring.
You know, I personally think Mike Awesome could be a great wrestler if given the chance. He is certainly talented.
Sign in the crowd: "The Mullet King."
"Booker T" chant begins. For the third time, the boys mention Booker T is from Houston. Yes! Harlem Heat always got loud pops here.
A few moves, and Booker T hits the spin kick, which knocks Awesome out of the ring.
Awesome is back in, and Booker misses (hits?) a Super Kick.
Awesome was much better in his first couple of matches in WCW.
Awesome almost takes Booker's head off with a running lariat. Two count by Awesome.
"ECW" chants go up as Awesome slams Booker with a chair outside the ring. Twice.
Schiavone and Hudson are still propping Booker. It's getting old already. Describe the friggin' match already!
Back in the ring now, Awesome takes out Booker and taunts the fans.
Power bomb by Awesome, who goes up top. Frog Splash by Awesome, and Booker kicks out at two.
Awesome pulls a table out from under the ring and sets it up. Awesome is back in the ring with a standing clothesline. Awesome goes to powerbomb Booker, who reverses, and finally knocks Awesome down through the table. The crowd is still dead.
Awesome comes back in. Axe kick by Booker. Harlem sidekick. Booker whips Awesome in to the corner. Booker with a body slam.
Missile dropkick by Booker. Two count. Booker hits the Bookend for the win. YOUR WINNER AND STILL WCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: Booker T via the Bookend.
Here comes Scott Steiner, who puts Booker in a Steiner Recliner. Awesome pulls Steiner off and throws him out.
Put a fork in the Jacksonville crowd, they're done
As we go to commercial, the Cat is saying, "That Steiner has interfered in his last match. I'm gonna take care of him."
Turning it on RAW for a second reminds me, I finally saw "Man on the Moon" this weekend. Hey, Jerry Lawler is pretty good in that movie. He looks just like his old self.
We come back on Nitro and the Cat is in the ring telling Steiner not to ever interfere. He tells Big Poppa Pump to "get his ass out here." Steiner comes out with his bimbo. Steiner calls the Cat a "sorry son of b---h." Steiner tells the Cat if the Cat doesn't give him a title shot, he's going to shove that microphone up his ass. The Cat calls Steiner a "stupid b---h." The Cat says he's going to beat his ass himself. The Cat attacks and is getting choked out. Here comes Booker to attack Steiner. Now here comes Kanyon to attack Booker. Now here comes Jarrett to attack everyone. The Cat orders a three-way dance between Kanyon, Jarrett, and Steiner with the winner to face Booker at "New Blood Rising." Goldberg comes out and says he wants a four-way dance. The Cat agrees. So we have a four-way dance between Kanyon, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, and Goldberg.
We come back from commercial, and Goldberg is in the back preparing.
Highlights from Bash at the Beach (stills) showing Big Vito's victory over Ralphus and Norman Smiley.
Cut to Norman working out Ralphus on the stairs.
Big Vito vs. Screamin' Norman Smiley w/ Ralphus for the WCW Hardcore Title.
Norman is on the mic and says Ralphus actually did one push-up today. Smiley calls Big Vito out.
Big Vito attacks Smiley with the stick and takes Smiley to the back. Madden calls Vito "the Pavorotti of Shots to the Body." Ouch. That was terrible.
Smiley sends Vito into the steel door and sprays him with the fire extinguisher.
Ralphus is waiting behind a table in the ring.
Vito is attacking Smiley right outside the ring. Vito hits Smiley with a Mafia kick and sees Ralphus behind the table. Vito is punishing Ralphus with a crutch. Vito puts a road cone under Ralphus' ass as Ralphus is sitting. Vito hits it with the stick. Oooooh. Sick.
Vito puts Ralphus on the table and goes up top. Flying body press by Vito. Her comes Smiley with the chair who waffles Vito. Vito falls right onto Ralphus for the 1-2-3. YOUR WINNER AND STILL WCW HARDCORE CHAMPION: Big Vito with the assist by the Cat
The Cat is backstage, and he is attacked by the Jung Dragons. The Cat takes out all three of them.
Cut to Paisley, as she is looking for someone to iron the Artist's shirt before his match. We see a "man" (Allan Funk?) in all pink with sandals who says, "I am the Kiwi.....you don't ever talk to me that way again." Paisley is in love it looks like. Oh, so now we are ripping off horrible Saturday Night Live characters? I wonder what Double-A is thinking right now about this angle. Terrible.
Schiavone states that there were events at the Bash at the Beach that "they cannot legally talk about." Interesting. No mention of the Hogan event. Is it part of the work or a real life situation?
Cut to Lenny Lane, who has a "Use Me" sign in the crowd. Madden goes off about Lenny needing to be working.
Lance Storm vs. The Artist w/ Paisley
Storm comes up and says all he does is wrestle. He doesn't have "catchphrases" etc. He asks the crowd to rise for the playing of the Canadian National Anthem. This brings back memories of Nikolai Volkoff and the Russian National Anthem.
A sign in the crowd says "Blame Canada." Scott Hudson with a great line, "Yeah, blame Anne Murray, too." Nice. We need the Brain though.
The boys are joined by Paisley, and they talk about Kiwi. This is sick.
I need to mute it bad. OK, that was funny. Paisley calls Storm a "Power Ranger reject."
Hudson says, "Schiavone, get off the Kiwi kick already, there's a sunset flip." Thank you.
Storm and Artist going toe to toe.
Hudson commences to talking about Kiwi again. Please. We don't want to hear this s-t.
Release suplex by Artist who goes to the second rope. Northern Lights suplex by Storm, who gets a two. Storm with a standing dropkick.
Sit up powerbomb by Storm. Two count. Missile Dropkick by Storm. Two count.
Lance Storm with a rollover Boston Crab. The Artist submits. YOUR WINNER: Lance Storm via the rollover Boston Crab.
Storm looked pretty good, but you would never know listening to the freaking announcers! If I wasn't reporting this, I would turn to RAW right now, never to return tonight.
Cut to a hearse outside with Vampiro setting out and revealing a coffin in the back
Kronic vs. MIA (Hugh Morrus and Lash LeRoux) w/ Major Guns for the WCW World Tag Team Titles
Hudson states that MIA is supposed to get the title shots as the Filthy Animals come out.
The MIA come out as the Filthy Animals go to the broadcast table.
Kronic comes out to a pretty big pop.
We start with Adams and Morrus. Release powerbomb by Adams.
Rey and Juvi are spouting off about how awful the match is.
Rey and Juvi go to the ring. Here come two jabrones (Jindrak and O'Hare) to take out the Filthy Animals
LeRoux with a missile dropkick. Morrus is in and goes to the top for the elbow, but Adams moves and tags in Clarke.
A version of the chokeslam (Rock Bottom) by Clarke. Morrus comes in and nails the moonsault. Adams comes in and breaks it up.
Corporal Cajun is in and dropkicks Clarke. Clarke reverses and hits a backbreaker. Adams comes in and knocks out Captain Rection. Clarke with a bodypress backbreaker. High Times by Kronic, but Morrus makes the save.
Morrus is knocked out of the ring, and Kronic hits a poor version of the Road Warriors finishing move for the win. YOUR WINNERS AND STILL WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: Kronic via their new finishing move.
The Perfect Event come in and send Kanyon to the floor with the Lex Flexors. Kronic knocks MIA to the floor.
To the back and Vampiro as we go to commercial.
We're back, and Vampiro is coming to the ring. Schiavone says that Bam Bam Bigelow saved some kids from a brush fire this week and got second-degree burns over 40% of his body in the process. Ouch.
Vampiro brings a casket to the ring, and as he was talking, the Demon comes out of the casket.
Vampiro says the Demon's soul is his. Demon's fianceé is in the ring, and Vampiro is telling the Demon to attack her. He is choking her out as the lights go out. The lighting is going as a mystery figure comes to the ring with a mask. Sting's music is playing as the mystery man is giving Stinger Splashes and baseball bat shots to the Demon and Vampiro. Scorpion Death Drop on Vampiro. There are goggles around his eyes. The mystery man goes to the back as we cut to commercial.
Goldberg vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Scott Steiner w/ Midasia vs. Kanyon for the right to face Booker T at New Blood Rising
Madden states that it will be a tag team four corners match with the man getting the pin getting the title shot. There will be only two men in the ring at a time.
Goldberg enters last to a huge pop.
Steiner and Kanyon will begin the match.
Steiner with the lariat and elbow drop on Kanyon, and now the gorilla press and drop.
Steiner throws Kanyon outside and works on him before throwing him back into the ring.
Goldberg comes in as Steiner tries to apply the Steiner Recliner and Goldberg kicks Steiner in the head.
Kanyon with a snap powerbomb on Steiner, but Goldberg breaks up the pin. Kanyon puts him the sign for the Kanyon Cutter, and Jarrett takes advantage and tags himself in.
Kanyon tags himself in and Steiner goes out after a release side suplex.
Now it's Kanyon and Jarrett. Goldberg tags in on Jeff Jarrett. Meanwhile, Kanyon hits the Cutter on Jarrett. Spear and Jackhammer by Goldberg on Kanyon, but Steiner breaks up the pin.
Jarrett and Kanyon are down as Goldberg and Steiner fight to the outside. Meanwhile, Jarrett (not the legal man, I don't think) pins Kanyon. YOUR WINNER AND #1 CONTENDER FOR THE WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Jeff Jarrett.
And we are out with that, as Roddy Piper's "epic" They Live begins.
OK show. The Kiwi thing has got to go. That was horrible. None of the matches were really stellar, and no heat was built. Nothing about the Hogan incident last night. Very interesting.
Well, adios everyone, I am Big Mike, and remember, as Robert Earl Keen says, "The road goes on forever, and the party never ends."
