Sorry for the lack of reviews over the past couple of days: I’ve been busy with a lot of stuff, but I do have some time to do some new reviews now. Look out for more over the next few days.
WCW Nitro – 10th June 1996
This is the show where the NWO angle really began to pick up steam, with the arrival of Kevin Nash alongside Scott Hall. I must admit, this angle is just as great as it was all of 13 years ago.
Booker T vs Scott Steiner
You’d have actually been quite surprised to see these two headlining WCW shows just four years later. It was a good match, as these two have good chemistry. There was some good back and forth mat wrestling, with counter holds exchanged again and again. Both wrestlers also put power moves to use, with Scott generally having the advantage in that area. Steiner would get the win with a belly To Belly after Booker T missed a Splash- ***
Jim Powers vs DDP
Not much of a match: it was pretty basic stuff just to get DDP out there and make him look good. In fact due to Powers complete lack of overness, the crowd were noticeably cheering for DDP. After a brief fightback by Powers, DDP got three with the Diamond Cutter- *1/4
Sting vs Meng
A short and solid enough, back and forth match here, with Sting going through his usual array of moves, while Meng try to keep him grounded by cheating and throwing a lot of strikes. His plan didn’t work, as Sting won this match without a whole lot of effort, getting the submission with the Scorpion Deathlock- *1/2
Dave Taylor vs Jim Duggan
I dislike Duggan, and this match did little to change my mind: other than some solid mat wrestling by Taylor, it was just the same old Jim Duggan match we’ve seen over and over. It was almost a squash match, with Duggan dominating the majority of it and getting three after a taped fist shot (I still don’t get why that isn’t a DQ)- 1/2*
The Giant vs Scott Norton
This match came about from The Giant attacking him the previous week. Norton could do little to stand in the way of The Giant, who dominated the match. After Norton missed a Splash on the outside, hitting the ringpost, The Giant gave him a Chokeslam on the floor, and got three in the ring- *
Billy Kidman vs Steven Regal
Kidman is very, very skinny indeed. It was a very short match, with Kidman going all out with his high flying moves, but missed a 450 Splash. Regal then made him tap with a nasty Elevated Crab- *
Public Enemy vs Nasty Boys
As with their match a few weeks earlier, this was a complete brawl, with very little structure to it, as these four just fought all around ringside. I will admit though, it wasn’t to the standard of their earlier match, since weapons were rarely put to use, and Grunge was limited due to a broken arm. But it did go back and forth, and there was some good stuff in here at times, although it simply went too long. Public Enemy won by DQ when Knobbs used a garbage can- *3/4
WCW Tag Team Titles- Sting and Lex Lugar (c) vs Ric Flair and Arn Anderson
Originally, The Renegade and Joe Gomez were supposed to be in this match, but Sting and Lugar replaced them, and I think that was a much better choice. A good tag team main event here, with the crowd red hot for everything, and the wrestling was entertaining and solid throughout. After Sting was worked over for most of the match, Lugar got the hot tag and cleaned house, but The Giant interfered for the DQ. Great stuff, these two teams can’t have a bad match- ***
After the match, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash cut an awesome promo running down WCW and it’s ageing stars. A shame that when the NWO was completely up and running, this was dropped, because if the focus had remained on pushing the young talents over the “dinosaurs”, WCW may have still been here today.
Overall, it’s a two match show to be honest. The main event tag and the opener are the only two matches you need to watch, as well as the NWO angle. The rest of the matches are awful to average.
6.75/10
