Welcome to part 1 of a multi-part series chronically 5 consecutive months of WCW. To check out the prologue to this series, head over to my profile page.
Nitro 167 – 11/23/1998. Grand Rapids, MI.
Running time (sans commercials) 2 hours 21 minutes.
Initial announcers: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko
Number of Nitro girl dance routines: 4
Right off the bat we’re informed Kevin Nash won World War 3 (A 60 man, Royal Rumble-esque, battle royal), and will face Goldberg (the World Champion) at Starrcade (WCW’s Wrestlemania). Hogan was not at WW3, nor is he at Nitro. He’ll reveal the reason for his absence on the Jay Leno Show (no joke).
Segment 1: Mike Enos vs Lex Luger
Huge pop for the NWO Wolf Pack (Red and Black) theme and then for Luger himself (who is a member of that faction along with Konnan and Nash). Enos looks like a bigger/more in shape Tommy Dreamer.
Physical match where Enos – OH SHIT – gives Luger a piledriver. Insanity. Zbyskzo remarks “Luger has endurance like Rey Mysterio.” Luger hits a top rope clothesline, fires up, hits a superplex, powerslam, calls for The Rack, locks it in, and gets the submission win in 7 minutes. This was pretty great.
Seg 1A: Goldberg arrives at the arena. So do Hall and Konnan. Trash talk. Bleh.
Seg 2: Mean Gene introduces Billy Kidman (Cruiserweight champ).
Gene notes that Kidman is “WCW’s champion” and puts over his match from WW3 against Juventud Guerrera.
Kidman calls out Rey Mysterio. Gives Rey a title shot for helping him at WW3 and leaving the LWO (Latino World Order).
Out come Eddie Guerrero and some guy (not sure who). Eddie says Rey signed a contract, won’t let him leave the LWO. Says Rey acted like a “turd.” Eddie forces Rey to put on a 6X LWO shirt. Eddie was great.
Seg 3: Norman Smiley vs Chris Benoit…. Holy shit, this match-up.
Benoit is one of the 4 Horsemen with Flair, Malenko, and Mongo. He gets a good pop.
This match is the joyful/playful Smiley vs the angry Benoit. Good stuff with Smiley getting the heat to start (surprisingly). Benoit hits his x3 German suplexes, top rope headbutt, locks in the crossface, and gets the submission win in 3 min. Another good match. Two for two.
Seg 3A: WCW fan backyard wrestling footage. “Nitro Party.” Very 90s.
Seg 4: Wolf Pack in-ring promo. Crowd is super hot for this.
Nash and Konnan say nothing. Luger mentions being ok with not winning WW3. Nash says he’ll beat Goldberg. Big ol time waster segment.
Seg 4A: More Wolfpack! Nash and Luger backstage w/ Gene. It’s mentioned that Scott Hall was kicked out of NWO Hollywood (Black and White). Nash is open to taking him back as a friend but Hall has to prove himself first.
Goldberg walks past. Trash talk which Nash no sells.
Seg 5: Tokyo Magnum vs …. Kanyon
Some older, heavier woman in the crowd marks out. She’s great. There’s a long beat before Kanyon makes his entrance. At the guerrilla position, he tries to get Raven to come out. Doesn’t work. Kanyon, a bit distraught, skips his pre-match catch phrase.
Magnum is a Japanese cross between Buff Bagwell and Disco Inferno. Decent match. Kanyon wins with the Flatliner in 2 minutes.
Seg 6: Glacier (yay!) vs Bobby Duncum Jr.
Glacier’s entrance is Undertaker long. Duncum has an “I love Texas” gimmick complete with chaps and bull rope.
This match is terrible. Glacier is a guilty pleasure but he’s awful. Duncum takes 90% of the match. He goes for his bull rope for no reason, gets stopped by the ref, then just wins with his version of The Stroke in 4:30.
Seg 7: Gene invites the Giant (Big Show) out for a promo. He (Giant) looks a mess. Cuts a crap promo trash talking Nash and calling out Goldberg.
Seg 8: Perry Saturn vs Silver King
Pre-match, Saturn cuts a promo calling out Earnest Miller. Silver King looks like a smaller/chubbier Texano (AAA/Lucha Underground). Nothing match. Saturn dishes out some awful kicks.
At the top of the ramp, Earnest Miller and Sonny Onoo cut a trash talk promo with the match still in progress. Saturn gets distracted/pissed but still wins with the Death Valley Driver.
Pre seg 9: Post commercial break, the announcers inform us Goldberg has accepted the Giant’s challenge and they will have a match tonight.
Seg 9: Rey Mysterio (walking to the ring in his massive shirt) vs Kidman in a cruiserweight title match.
Too much action to call it all but here are some highlights: Fast/smooth action to start. A bunch of head-scissor spots. Rey takes a front facing powerbomb onto the apron (ouch). Lots of high risk, back and forth action. Kidman slows it down from time to time with a rest hold. Announcers mark out big for Rey countering an Alabama slam into an arm breaker variation (they ask for a replay that never comes).
Eddie and Juve sneak down to the ring. Kidman takes out Eddie outside the ring as Juve takes out Rey with a Juve Driver inside the ring. Kidman doesn’t see the in-ring interference and finishes off Rey with the Shooting Star Press at 9:30. Really good spot heavy match.
Seg 10: Gene in-ring interview with Eric Bischoff.
They discuss Flair and Bisch says that they’ll settle their issues. Notes that he’s the boss and runs the show.
Enter: Ric Flair dressed like a dad. Regarding Barry Windham, Bisch informs Flair he (Flair) doesn’t have the authority to hire talent. Bisch invites Windham out to the ring.
Bisch tells Flair that Windham, Flair’s friend, will knock him (Flair) on his ass (the implied idea being that if Windham wants a job, he’ll have to do what Bischoff asks). Flair responds by putting over Windham, The Horsemen, and tradition.
Bisch cheap shots Flair. Flair fires up but Windham blindsides him and beats him down. Bisch delivers some of the worst kicks of all time to a prone Flair.
Horsemen attempt a run-in but are cut off by the NWO Black and White in a cool spot. Overall, really liked this segment.
Pre seg 11: Footage from WW3. Tension between Booker T and his brother, Stevie Ray.
Seg 11: Konnan vs Booker T
Konnan cuts the exact same promo from earlier in the show. And it still sucks.
Announcers spend a chunk of the match putting over Nash and his dominate win at WW3.
Decent wrestling match. Stevie runs in and attacks Konnan for the DQ. Booker is displeased.
Stevie cuts a promo. Says Booker couldn’t put Konnan away after 10 minutes (the match only went about 3 minutes) and tells Booker to check the landscape and smarten up.
Seg 12: Gene invites out Bret Hart for a promo.
Announcers put over Bret being “violent.” Bret cuts a heel promo putting down DDP and saying he should be US champ/wants a rematch. He cockily calls out Malenko and his bad leg (from being jumped by the Horsemen earlier during the Flair segment). Good stuff. Nice to see Bret as a heel.
Seg 13 (the beginning of hour 3): Wrath vs Nash…. Hell yes.
Announcers talk about Hogan wanting to run for President in 2000. I want to laugh but I live in 2016 where crazier things have happened.
Nice pump kick and drop kick by Wrath. Nash bumps around for him. Wrath takes most of the match, hitting a back suplex and a top rope clothesline. Nash finally turns it around. Big boot, drops the straps, Jack Knife powerbomb, win in 4:45 (ending Wrath’s winning streak). Surprisingly good match. Well above expectations.
Seg 14: Gene invites out TV Champ Chris Jericho for a promo.
Jericho has a “There’s Something About Mary” hairstyle. Jericho puts down his Jerichoholics (fans), says they’re not doing good enough. Trash talks Bobby Duncum Jr. and cowboys.
Duncum walks out with a hog-tied Ralphus (Jericho’s lackey). Bobby Heenan exclaims, “Brand him.” Funny. Mild comedy segment that furthers the feud.
Seg 15: Scott Hall vs Alex Wright
Back from commercial and Ralphus is still tied up at the top of the ramp. Hall comes out and gives him a very light dig with his boot.
Hall cuts a promo. Tonight is the final survey. Talks about being booted from the Black and White and recalls starting the NWO. Says he’s fine with being a loner. He doesn’t have to prove anything to Nash or the people, just to himself.
Alex Wright comes to the ring and cuts a nothing heel promo.
The match starts and Wright takes a toothpick to the face. Wright gets the heat and hits a top rope dropkick. He goes for a cross body but gets caught. Fall away slam by Hall. Outsiders Edge. Win in 3:15. Pretty decent stuff.
Seg 16: Bret Hart vs Dean Malenko
Bret kind of looks like Mongo here. Announcers note this is the first ever encounter between these two men.
Malenko sells the leg and Bret goes right for it. Bret w/ a sarcastic apology to the ref after choking Dean in the corner. Malenko fires up while continuing to sell the leg. The announcers put over his plight.
The crowd distracts themselves with a “show your tits” chant directed at some woman off camera. They are not into this match.
Dean locks in a cloverleaf but Bret reaches the ropes. Dean goes for it again but Bret counters and both men tumble to the outside. Shenanigans ensue.
Back in the ring, the announcers question Malenko going for, and connecting with, a top rope drop kick. Bret goes back to working over Dean’s leg. He hits a cutter (a la DDP) onto a chair and gets DQ’d in 13:30. This match was pretty meh. It fell apart a bit as it went along and the crowd was dead for 90% of it. Dean was pretty good. Bret, not so much.
Post match we get a run in by DDP. Bret works him over with the chair but DDQ recovers and fires up. He goes for the Diamond Cutter but can’t connect. Bret bails.
Page mocks Hart but Bret won’t take the bail. DDP says he’ll take on Bret next week.
Seg 17: Goldberg vs The Giant
Goldberg is the world champ and 162-0 (kayfabe).
Goldberg bumps huge for an awful kick/shove. Chokeslam by the Giant. Kick out. Goldberg fires up. Spear. Jackhammer (really impressive). Goldberg wins and buries the Giant in 1:30.
Post match, we get a run in from Bam Bam Bigelow (continue his beef with Goldberg stemming from an encounter at WW3). The announcers inform us Bam Bam owes his allegiance to no one.
Bam Bam is escorted to the back but here comes Nash. He goes after Goldberg but the ring is filled with a legion of security guards and the two men are separated.
And that’s how we close the show.
Conclusion:
Overall, this was a fairly entertaining show that held my attention better than most modern episodes of RAW. I appreciated that a lot of the matches (Goldberg/Giant, Saturn/Silver King, Nash/Wrath, etc) were used as a means to get over characters and further programs. That being said, the third hour did take a toll on the crowd (and me) as the show began to lose steam down the stretch.
Pros: Luger/Enos, Mysterio/Kidman, Wrath/Nash, Smiley/Benoit and their styles clash, the Flair/Bischoff segment, Goldberg hitting the Jackhammer on The Giant, Mean Gene carrying a dozen interview segments, the crowd (for 90% of the show), Glacier’s entrance.
Cons: Konnan, The Giant being absolutely buried in 90 seconds, Malenko/Bret coming in below expectations, kicks, Bobby Duncum Jr., Glacier’s wrestling.
Hope you enjoyed the first entry in this series. Feel free to comment below.
Up next will be the following episode of Thunder.
