WCW Nitro 24th June 1996

WCW Nitro 24th June 1996

Bluebloods (Steven Regal and Dave Taylor) vs Public Enemy
As you would expect, a huge clash of styles here, with Public Enemy trying to brawl while the Bluebloods wanted to wrestle on the mat. Regal was again, pretty damn awesome in this: his mannerisms add a lot to the match and his mocking of Public Enemy’s dance was hilarious. And while this match was decent, the differences between the two teams were such that they didn’t click, so the match was at times sloppy. Grunge used the cast from his broken arm to get three on Taylor- **

Kevin Sullivan vs ?
I didn’t catch the name of the jobber Sullivan was facing, but it didn’t matter anyway since he had no offense at all. Sullivan took this match around the arena to prove a point to Chris Benoit I suppose. There was no official finish, but I guess the jobber lost via countout, or maybe Sullivan got DQ’ed, I honestly don’t know- n/r

Cruiserweight Title Match- Dean Malenko (c) vs Bobby Walker
Decent match here, but Walker’s lack of experience once again told since he botched and mistimed a few moves here. But Malenko helped to drag a good match out of him the best he could with his usual solid mat wrestling. Malenko locked the Cloverleaf, but Disco Inferno distracted him, allowing Walker a brief fightback, before Disco started dancing for no real reason. Malenko Dropkicks him Walker into Disco, before getting three with a Northern Lights Suplex. Bizarre end to the match- *3/4

The Barbarian vs Eddie Guerrero
The Barbarian doesn’t even get ring music now, and I don’t really know why. It was a battle of the power of Barbarian against the speed of Guerrero, and this made for a good match. Plus it helped that the crowd were quite into it, especially with some of Barbarian’s power moves. Despite Barbarian’s size advantage, Guerrero was able to steal a win when he blocked a top rope move with a Cross Body for three- **1/2

Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit) vs Rock N’Roll Express
I enjoyed this match: again, it followed the similar formula of the Rock N’Roll Express matches, with Morton taking a nasty beating from Benoit and Anderson, before Gibson gets the hot tag and cleans house. And for the most part the wrestling was good, barring some sloppy spots involving Ricky Morton, caused by trying to do stuff he should have stayed away from at his age (like flips for example). It was also hurt by the NWO angle being discussed for much of this. Gibson got pinned following a briefcase shot- **1/2

Alex Wright vs DDP
A solid match, with good back and forth wrestling, where both looked good. Wright went for more technical and high flying style offense, while DDP focused on grounding Wright and setting up for the Diamond Cutter. My only problem is that some of the wrestling could have been crisper, but it was still good with lots of countering. DDP won with the Diamond Cutter- **1/4

VK Wallstreet vs Randy Savage
Decent, basic stuff here, with Savage firing away with punches for the most part, and Wallstreet trying to keep him grounded, and cheating at every opportunity. The unintended highlight ended up being the fans chanting “We Want Flair” despite Flair being the ‘bad guy’. The match was won by Savage obviously, when Greene threw Wallstreet into the ring post, and Savage hat the Elbow for three- *3/4

WCW Tag Team Title Match- Sting and Lex Lugar (c) vs Harlem Heat vs Steiner Brothers
Good main event tag match, especially when any combination of Sting, Booker T and Scott Steiner were in there. It was an energetic match, with a mixture of power moves and mat wrestling. Sting in particular took quite a beating from everyone else in the match (expect Lugar of course). My only problems with the match were a commercial right in the middle, and the commentators not always concentrating on the match but the NWO angle. When the match reached it’s peak, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash came out, and out of nowhere Harlem Heat won the match with a Schoolboy on Lugar- **3/4

Commentary Botch Of The Week- Tony Schiavone calls an Inverted Atomic Drop by Sting an “Inverted Powerbomb”.

An average show this week, with no real matches that stood out. The best match was the main event tag, although the Four Horsemen/Rock N’Roll Express and Guerrero/Barbarian match were also solid. So it’s a show that you can avoid unless your a completionist, but at the same time it’s worth watching if you have nothing else to watch.

6/10

WCW Nitro 17th June 1996

WCW Nitro 17th June 1996

Stevie Ray vs Rick Steiner
Personally, I feel this is a battle of the two weaker partners in their respective tag teams. It wasn’t a bad match to be honest: a little sloppy in places (most notably when Steiner messed up a Bulldog), but it had it’s fair share of hard hitting moves as well, and was kept short. Steiner won it with the Steiner Line- *1/2

Disco Inferno vs Joe Gomez
Gomez is making his Nitro debut after being beaten down the previous week by the Four Horsemen. He’s an OK wrestler, but nothing special, and this was a solid and short, if unspectacular match. Disco had the match won with a Neckbreaker, but took too much time to pin Gomez, then Gomez rolled him over for three- *1/4

Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson) vs American Males
The Horsemen have officially reformed with Steve McMichael joining the previous night. While a step down from the match the American Males had with Flair and Anderson a few weeks earlier, it was still pretty good in places, especially when Benoit was in there, who was as crisp as he ever was at this stage. Despite the best efforts of the American males, Benoit won the match by pinning Riggs following a Gutbuster on the ropes- **3/4

Big Bubba vs John Tenta
A grudge match here, with Tenta trying to get revenge for Bubba cutting his hair off a few weeks earlier. And it was an OK if not very exciting big man match. Bubba had to use his speed and cheat a bit to battle the sheer size of Tenta, who overpowered him with ease. Tenta got a good piece of revenge here, by attacking Jimmy Hart and hitting two big Slams for three (putting his feet on the ropes)- *3/4

Ric Flair vs Randy Savage
A big grudge match with all of the problems Flair has caused Savage over the past few months. It was at times wild, with the match going all around ringside, especially when Savage was in control, while Flair tried to keep the match in the ring for the most part, and cheated at every opportunity to keep Savage down. It was good stuff overall, and very entertaining due to the red hot crowd. The ref got bumped, and Savage went nuts by hitting Elbow after Elbow on Flair, then the Four Horsemen interfered with Mongo hitting Savage with a briefcase, allowing Flair to get three- ***

WCW Cruiserweight Title- Rey Mysterio vs Dean Malenko (c)
This is a rematch of their fantastic match the previous night. It was fantastic stuff as per usual, in a fantastic series of matches they had in 1996. Mysterio used his speed to take Malenko off his feet, while Malenko overpowered Mysterio and worked him over on the mat with submission holds. The crowd weren’t in to it to begin with, but they won the crowd over as the match went on. Mysterio came close with several different pinning combinations, but Malenko defended the title with a Reverse DDT- ***1/2

WCW World Title- The Giant (c) vs Scott Steiner
An enjoyable main event, with Steiner trying to use his power on The Giant, but not being able to get him off his feet, and The Giant could then use his power to control the match. Steiner had bad ribs coming into this match, so The Giant was able to work over those both inside and outside of the ring. When Steiner did manage to get The Giant off his feet, the crowd erupted. Steiner hat The Giant with a wooden chair, smashing it, and it had no effect, allowing The Giant to get three with the Chokeslam. I enjoyed that more than I thought I would- **3/4

Great episode overall. There were four good matches on this show, with the best match being the Cruiserweight Title match, and the other three were all good in their own way. There were no really bad matches on the show, and the matches that didn’t have a lot of potential were kept short. I can easily recommend this show.

8.25/10

WCW Nitro- 10th June 1996

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

WCW Nitro 3rd June 1996

WCW Nitro 3rd June 1996

John Tenta vs Big Bubba
This is as a result of Bubba shaving half of Tenta’s head last week. It wasn’t much of a match: Bubba got slammed by Tenta, then Bubba got counted out when he refused to get back in the ring because Tenta had scissors- n/a

High Voltage vs Faces Of Fear
According to Tony Schiavone, this is High Voltage’s first major WCW appearance. The Faces of Fear, other than a brief moment at the beginning of the match, completely destroyed High Voltage here, and they pulled off some impressive stuff I must admit. Meng won it with a Mafia Kick- SQ

Disco Inferno vs Craig Pittman
Not too good a match: the wrestling was sloppy and not very exciting, other than a brief moment of explosiveness from Pittman. Pittman had a Pounce like move, and went for the Code Red, but Disco gave up before he could even lock it in. Bizarre finish- 1/2*

Steven Regal vs Jim Duggan
At this point, Regal’s being built up for his next Television Title run. And he deserved another title reign, since his cowardly heel antics were pure gold here: some of the facial expression here were hysterical. So while it wasn’t that great from a workrate standpoint, it was pretty entertaining. Duggan got the 3 Point Stance, but the ref was distracted by Robert Eaton, then Regal rolled him up for three- *1/2

Kevin Sullivan vs Prince Iaukea
Iaukea was little more than a jobber here, with Sullivan making a statement with the beating he gave here, to show Chris Benoit what he would dish out to him in the future. Sullivan won it with the Double Stomp- SQ

Unfortunately, my copy of this show starts to have major sound issues at this stage, making most of the next match unwatchable. The sound came back after the commercial break mid match, so that’s where I pick this one up from.

Rock N’Roll Express vs Ric Flair and Arn Anderson
What I saw of this match was pretty good: it’s clear the Rock N’Roll Express were over the hill, but they were still capable of good matches. It was pretty much following the usual tag formula of the team: Morton got the hell beaten out of him, then made the hot tag for Gibson to clean house. Following interference from Woman, Gibson was pinned following an Anderson DDT. Really good stuff, although the crowd was pretty much dead.- *** for what I saw, possibly ***1/4 for the whole match

WCW World Title- The Giant (c) vs Ice Train
The outcome could easily be predicted before the match begun: Ice Train didn’t stand a chance. Ice Train was pinned in seconds following a Chokeslam, after a distraction from Jimmy Hart- n/r

Scott Norton came out to help his partner, then The Giant destroyed him as well. This lead to the next match-

Hugh Morris vs Scott Norton
Norton was still out from the Chokeslam, so Morris came in and toyed with him for a while. Morrus took way too long to put him away, giving Norton time to recover, who pinned him after catching Morrus in mid No Laughing Matter, slammed him and covered for three- 1/4*

Steiner Brothers vs Sting and Lex Lugar
This match is as a result of the problems these two teams had in the Sting/Scott Steiner match last week. This match had a problem that stopped it from being great: the first few minutes saw the focus on a call with Randy Savage, angle. But when the focus was on this match, it was pretty good stuff as you would expect, with a hot crowd and solid wrestling. The Giant interfered, hitting a sloppy Chokeslam on Rick and making Scott go over the top for a DQ- **1/2

And then Scott Hall walked out to rip on WCW some more again, and almost got into a fight with Sting, before promising a “big surprise” next week, i.e. Kevin Nash.

Not that great a show to be honest. The only match you really need to go out of your way to see is the Rock N’Roll Express tag match, and even then, it might not exist without the sound problems. The main event tag was solid, but the rest of the show was just throwaway matches and squashes. As a result, I can’t recommend this very highly.

5.75/10

WCW Nitro 27th May 1996

WCW Nitro 27th May 1996

This is an infamous episode of Nitro for many reasons. Not only is this the first 2 hour Nitro, it’s also the beginning of the hottest angle in pro wrestling history: the NWO, with Scott Hall’s appearance.

Our commentators for the first hour are Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyzko, while Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan commentate on the second hour.

Arn Anderson and Ric Flair vs American Males
This is, other than the Tag Title win, the biggest match the American Males had in WCW (before Bagwell broke out on his own). And it was a pretty good tag team match, with the American Males holding their own here. Riggs had his leg worked over for much of the match by Anderson and Flair, and the Males had brief fire filled fightbacks. Despite coming close, Flair got the pin on Riggs after an Anderson DDT. Very enjoyable match- ***

Mike Enos vs Steve Doll
A complete throwaway match: the big thing here was Scott Hall walked out to the ring to cut an infamous interview about the Monday Night War, which would lead to the NWO. And personally, that was better than the match ever would be. It was a no contest- n/r

Craig Pittman vs DDP
Pretty average stuff, since Pittman is an average worker and DDP couldn’t really carry him. It was kept short, and DDP dominated the majority of it. Pittman got the Code Red late on, but DDP grabbed Teddy Long, and that distracted Pittman long enough to allow DDP to get the Diamond Cutter for three- 3/4*

WCW World Title- The Giant (c) vs Shark
A battle of two very big men, it was not that great. A bit sluggish and dull, the only real highlight was The Giant slamming Shark with ease, with the rest basically just being a whole load of punches. The Giant won with the Chokeslam- 3/4*

Maxx vs Lex Lugar
Again, a very average, sluggish match, because Maxx is not a very good wrestler and Lugar didn’t have the skill to carry him. Maxx should have just been a jobber here, as the crowd didn’t react that much to him and were massively behind Lugar, but he had too much offense. Lugar would eventually get the win with a Torture Rack- 1/2*

Bobby Walker vs Brad Armstrong
These two had a good match on an episode of WCW Pro if I remember correctly, but they didn’t match it here. While the action was solid at times, there was a lot of botches and sloppiness from the rookie, so this hurt the match quite a bit. Plus the crowd were dead and barely reacted to anything. Walker pinned him with some kind of Flipping Senton off the top rope (he slipped in mid move so I wasn’t sure what it was)- *

Steven Regal vs Alex Wright
Some good European style action here, with back and forth mat wrestling, as well as some high risk moves from Wright. Regal’s methodical strategy seemed to work better for him here, with Wright spending much of the match on the mat in submission holds. Wright was only limited to brief offensive spurts and quick near falls. Regal got the fall with a bridging pin, countering a Monkey Flip- **1/2

Scott Steiner vs Sting
A battle of two future Main Event Mafia members. And it was a good match between two great wrestlers. Steiner overpowered Sting with a series of big, high impact moves, while Sting used his agility and speed to take down Steiner. Overall a great match that went back and forth and had plenty of good wrestling, plus a hot crowd. The match would be a no contest when Lex Lugar and Rick Steiner interfered- ***1/4

A mixed big here. On the one hand, there were two great matches, and a solid one, but on the other hand the rest of the show was very average. The two good matches could probably be seen on any other show, so I probably have to rate this a little lower as a result. Try to find the two good matches, and don’t go out of your way to see the rest.

6.75/10

WCW Nitro 20th May 1996

Finally, there’s no more Steve McMichael on commentary. This is also an extended 90 minute edition of Nitro.

Fire and Ice vs The Steiners
Ice Train’s beginning to remind me of D’Lo Brown, only not quite as good in the ring. This was solid enough tag team action, and I was surprised by some of the stuff these two teams were able to pull out. The Steiners were on in this match, that was for sure. My only complaint would be that the match was a little formulatic at times, but the high impact moves made up for it. This ended in a double countout when the teams brawled around ringside- **3/4

Eddie Guerrero vs Ric Flair
Guerrero gets this match based on the beating he took from Flair and Arn Anderson the previous night. This was good stuff, with Guerrero taking the match to Flair, who tried to school his younger opponent by slowing the match down and cheating. In many ways, you could call this a new age Flair/Steamboat (due to the similarities Guerrero possessed to Steamboat in terms of ring style), although nowhere near the quality of those matches. Still, it was good stuff and was given lots of time, plus had a hot crowd (it was amazing to see how much more the crowd were behind Guerrero than a few months previous). Guerrero hat the Frog Splash, but hurt his knee, then Flair locked the Figure 4 for the win- ***1/4

Ric Flair joins the commentary team from here on in.

Faces Of Fear vs Sting and Lex Lugar
Not a bad match, but nothing special either: it was just your regular formula tag team match. Flair’s commentary was more entertaining than the match itself, although you could admit that his commentary would be more entertaining than a five star match. So an average match but entertaining enough. Sting hit The Barbarian with a Top Rope Splash, and Lugar covered for three- *3/4

Brad Armstrong vs DDP
The first time we’ve seen DDP for a while, due to being poor for a few months. And I enjoyed this match, it was well wrestled and Armstrong made DDP look very good, and Armstrong looking good when he was on offense. A short match in the end was won by DDP with the Diamond Cutter- **

WCW World Title- The Giant (c) vs Arn Anderson
A surprisingly short match, with Anderson trying everything in his arsenal to get the win, but The Giant barely broke a sweat in controlling and dominating this match, with Anderson’s offense having little effect. Anderson’s last ditch move was to go for the DDT, but The Giant just grabbed him by the throat and hat the Chokeslam for three- *

A good show, with two good matches in the opener and the Flair/Guerrero match. It went downhill from there, but there wasn’t anything offensively bad, plus you got very entertaining commentary from Ric Flair. Solid show, so a solid recommendation.
7/10

WCW Nitro 6th-13th May 1996

WCW Nitro 6th May 1996

Hugh Morrus vs Randy Savage
Morrus jumps Savage before the bell, and was very aggressive here. The match turned out to be nothing special in the end, with Morrus doing what Bobby Eaton did in Savage’s last match by trying to anger him, then Savage snaps and tries to hang Morrus with his ring jacket. That obviously led to a DQ, and Savage goes crazy and destroys the ref after the match- *

Dean Malenko vs Jushin Liger
Quite a nice surprise to see this match, and it was great stuff as you would expect from them. Liger went for high flying and high impact moves here, while Malenko tried to ground him with submissions and technical wrestling. My only problem here was that the focus tended to be on Ric Flair who came out to watch, and a commercial break hurt it as well. Malenko got the fall with a Tiger Driver. Great action, although not as crisp as they usually would be, so that dropped a 1/4* off the match- ***1/2

Steven Regal vs Sting
Regal has tape all over him due to injuries sustained the previous week. This was a good match, with a red hot crowd for Sting, and Regal did a great job of playing the cowardly heel who wanted little to do with him. It was also good from a technical standpoint, with solid back and forth mat wrestling. Sting got the fall out of nowhere with a bridging pin. Solid, basic stuff- **1/2

WCW World Title- The Giant (c) vs Jim Duggan
It was originally supposed to be Lex Lugar in this match, but he didn’t show up so Duggan took his place. Personally, I’d have preferred Lugar, because this was a pretty poor match, much like their previous match from a few months earlier. Duggan basically did a load of punches (as usual) and The Giant used his power and size to overpower him. The Giant won it with a Chokeslam- 3/4*

13th May 1996

Public Enemy vs The Steiners
A clash of styles here, with Public Enemy looking to brawl while The Steiners overpowered them with considerable ease. The Steiners’ strategy seemed to be the more effective as they dominated the majority of the match, and Public Enemy had some miscommunication with each other. The match was enjoyable, and went back and forth outside of The Steiners periods of dominance. The Steiners won following a Scott Steiner Frankensteiner on Rock- **1/2

Dave Taylor vs Chris Benoit
On paper, this looked a brilliant match. This match ended up being a lot like a classic World Of Sport style match, with Taylor wrestling that style to perfection, and Benoit adapting his own style to that to make a good match. So we got a mix of solid technical wrestling and hard hitting strikes. My only problem with it was that both men were heels at this time, so the crowd didn’t know who to cheer. Benoit got the victory with a Dragon Suplex. It could have been longer, but it was good while it lasted- **3/4

VK Wallstreet vs Ric Flair
Another heel vs heel match which for me confuses the crowd as to who they should cheer and boo. Strangely enough, Wallstreet worked as the face, but the crowd were more behind Flair than him. However, from a technical standpoint, the match was pretty good, with lots of solid back and forth mat wrestling. Flair would win it with a Figure 4 with assistance from Woman who provided leverage on the hold- **1/4

WCW World Title- The Giant (c) vs Lex Lugar
Since the match couldn’t happen last week, it’s happening this week instead. Lugar wasn’t able to use his power against The Giant, because he was simply too big, so had to try and knock him off his feet with strikes. The Giant on the other hand could use all of his power to toss Lugar around. The match would end up in a no contest though after The Giant gave him a Chokeslam through a table- *

Overall, once again you have two very solid shows here. The Malenko/Liger match is the one you should go out of your way to see, since it’s excellent if lacking in crispness at times. There’s a few other good matches here too, and other than the Duggan/Giant match, the lesser matches all had a purpose. Solid recommendation for these shows.

7.5/10

WCW Nitro 22-29th April 1996

WCW Nitro 22nd April 1996

American Males vs Public Enemy
A pretty big cross of styles, with the American males basic tag team formula against the brawling of Public Enemy. This was around the time that the American Males began to be turned on by the fans, with some noticeable boos for the Males and cheering for Public Enemy. In the end, a pretty solid if generic tag match was won by the American Males by DQ following a throw over the top rope, followed by putting Riggs through a table- **1/4

Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero
This is their third Nitro match against each other. Once again it was their usual brilliance, with the match going back and forth, and all of the wrestling was crisp and well executed. However, it was short, and it felt like they were holding back at times. But what we got was good for the time given. Benoit won by using the ropes for leverage on a pinning combination for three- **3/4

Jim Duggan vs Meng
As dull a match as you would expect: just a lot of punching and rest holds for the majority of the match, and I can’t say a lot more about it than that. Following numerous attempts at cheating by both men, Duggan taped his fist and hit Meng with it, didn’t get DQ’ed despite it being right in front of the ref, and got three- 3/4*

Title vs Title- Ric Flair and The Giant vs Lex Lugar and Sting
If Sting and Lugar win, whoever gets the fall gets the World Title, but if Flair’s team wins then they win the Tag Team Titles. It was in my opinion, a better match than the previous week’s one, because there was more on the line, the crowd were even more electric, and there was more Flair/Sting interaction. After isolating Sting, Flair and The Giant worked him over, but he got the hot tag to Lugar who cleaned house. Then Flair tried to throw coffee into the eyes of Sting and Lugar, but The Giant ended up getting it in the eyes. This somehow gets a DQ so nobody wins. It was going great until the finish, so as a result I’ll rate it the same as last week- **3/4

29th April 1996

Harlem Heat vs Sting and Lex Lugar
Personally, I’ve never really enjoyed matches involving these two teams, because I feel they don’t click. It was a decent match, but it was pretty formulatic, although I appreciate Booker T’s brilliant selling that made Sting and Lugar look great. I also felt the match went slightly too long, but the crowd never got bored and were hot throughout. After a double team move on Lugar by Harlem Heat, Jimmy Hart threw in the towel, but this was only a distraction as Sting rolled up Booker T for three. Bizarre finish, but solid action- **1/4

Fire and Ice vs Steiner Brothers
Going in, I thought this could be a good power tag team match. And I have to admit, the match was pretty much a battle of power against power, but done at a quick pace. It was quite a surprise to see all four men getting man handled by their opponents: something you would usually never see. It was a short match though, won by Rick Steiner via a Steiner Line on Ice Train. Really good while it lasted- **1/2

Parking Lot Brawl- Belfast Bruiser vs Steven Regal
I’ve heard good things about this match, but haven’t seen it before. And it was a wild brawl, with Regal and Bruiser just destroying each other, using cars, parts from the cars, and even bricks during the match. At one point, Regal smashes Bruiser’s head through a window. Regal wins this via a Piledriver on top of a car. Great stuff I must admit- ***

WCW World Title- Ric Flair (c) vs The Giant
A grudge match based on the problems between these two in tag matches over the past few weeks. Much like the match they had previously, The Giant simply overpowered the much smaller Ric Flair here, while Flair had to resort to blatant cheating to get anything on him, and slowly wore him down. Flair got the Figure Four, but took too long to lock it in, and The Giant played possum. The Giant got the Chokeslam and got three. Solid stuff, but short- **1/4

Overall, there’s some solid wrestling here, but other than the parking Lot Brawl, nothing that you really need to go out of your way to see. However, other than the Duggan/Meng match, there was nothing awful either. So if you haven’t got anything better to watch, then you wouldn’t go wrong with these two shows.

7/10

WCW Nitro- 1st-15th April 1996

WCW Nitro – 1st April 1996

Sting vs The Giant
An impromptu match to begin the show, which was supposed to be a tag match of Sting and The Giant vs Harlem Heat. The Giant used his size and destructive power to dominate Sting, who had to use his quickness to get any kind of offense on him. But before Sting could make his fightback, Lex Lugar ran out to side with Sting, and for some reason the bell rung. Too short to be anything- *

Triangle Match- Road Warriors vs Nasty Boys vs The Steiners
These three teams have been feuding since The Steiners returned a few weeks earlier. It was a solid tag team match, which was very much a mix of power and brawling, although the action was nonstop and quick. Much of the match was in the ring, but there was also a good deal of brawling on the outside, which the crowd enjoyed. This chaotic match was won by The Steiners when Public Enemy attacked The Nasty Boys with chairs, and Jerry Sags was pinned by Scott. Maybe a little too long, but it was an entertaining, energetic brawl- **3/4

Hulk Hogan and The Booty Man vs Arn Anderson and Kevin Sullivan
A pretty dull, formulatic tag team match which didn’t do a lot for me. Anderson was beaten up during the early part by Hogan and Booty Man, then Booty Man was isolated from his corner by Anderson and Sullivan before the hot tag to Hogan, who cleaned house. Hogan then use the shoe of the Booty Girl to hit Sullivan for three- 3/4*

WCW World Title- Ric Flair (c) vs Lex Lugar
Flair and Lugar have had good matches in the past, but both are past their primes so it’s foolish to think they could repeat that here, but they actually came pretty close to doing so. It was an interesting match with Lugar’s power battling Flair’s dogged technical style. And I did enjoy it, since the wrestling was solid and the crowd were into it. Lugar had the match won with the Torture Rack, but Woman threw coffee into his eyes, and Flair used the ropes to get three. Ended up being much better than I thought it would.- ***

No Nitro the next week so we move straight along to the 15th of April edition

15th April 1996

Hulk Hogan vs Arn Anderson and Kevin Sullivan
Booty Man was injured, so Hogan is wrestling them on their own. The winner of the match gets five minutes with the losers manager in the ring. It was not that exciting a match, although better than it would be with the Booty Man in there: it was back and forth with Hogan hulking up and getting his moves in, but Anderson and Sullivan double teaming him to keep him down. Hogan pinned Sullivan with the Legdrop for three- 3/4*

Hogan chooses Jimmy Hart eventually

Hulk Hogan vs Jimmy Hart
Jimmy Hart gets destroyed for a minute before The Giant interferes and it’s a no contest- n/r

Street Fight- Public Enemy vs Nasty Boys
This was a pure brawl of course, with lots of weapons being put to use. The Nasty Boys jumped Public Enemy before the match even begun. It was actually quite a lot like your typical WWF hardcore match a few years later, in tag team form, and the action went all around the ringside area. It maybe went a little too long, because both teams looked blown up by the end. Grunge missed a dive through a table, going through it himself, and Knobbs pinned him for three. Great brawl- ***

Earl Robert Eaton vs Randy Savage
Randy Savage is played up as being driven crazy due to his problems with Elizabeth and Ric Flair. Eaton tries to play into this by acting like Ric Flair, putting Savage in a Figure 4 and shoving a Four Horsemen t-shirt in his face. That wasn’t the best idea, as it mad Savage mad, and he’d soon fall to the Elbow- *3/4

Ric Flair and The Giant vs Sting and Lex Lugar
The big highlight of this match was the exchanges between Sting and Ric Flair, which were as entertaining as they always are. Flair became frustrated, and even started attacking his partner, which wasn’t a good idea and caused lots of miscommunication for the rest of the match. Much of the match saw Lugar get worked over by The Giant, with Flair occasionally getting involved. Sting got the hot tag, and cleaned house, getting the Scorpion Deathlock on Flair. Woman interfered, throwing coffee over Sting and that got Flair DQ’ed. Good match I must admit, with a red hot crowd.- **3/4

There was some good stuff on both these shows. The first show had a great tag team triangle match and a surprisingly good match with Ric Flair and Lex Lugar. And the second show had two good matches, one being the brawl with Public Enemy and the Nasty Boys, and the other being the main event tag. SO I can give this a good recommendation with ease, and it could have been higher if not for some bad matches.

7.5/10

WCW Nitro 17-24th March 1996

I hope all of my readers had a very Merry Christmas. Mine could have been better: my DVD player has stopped working and I’m in the process of getting a new one. Luckily I’ve got a PC with a DVD drive, so I can still watch and review shows.

WCW Nitro 17th March 1996

TV Title match- Lex Lugar (c) vs Loch Ness
This match never got started, as The Giant attacked Loch Ness before the match even begun. Lugar then simply had to walk into the ring, wait for the countout, and get the easiest victory of his career- n/a

Public Enemy vs The Steiners
The match was billed as a brawl between two tough teams, but to be honest, there was a lot of wrestling here as opposed to it being an all out brawl. And the match was enjoyable: it had a hot crowd who loved the Steiners, and all of the wrestling was vey solid and hard hitting, if not especially crisp. Rocco Rock accidentally puts himself through a table, and the Steiners hat Grunge with a Doomsday Bulldog for three- **1/2

Arn Anderson vs The Booty Man
I love how the fans were booing Booty Man and cheering Anderson, the complete opposite of what it should have been. The story of this match saw Anderson use stalling heel tactics a lot and pick his shots, while Booty Man made firey (and ineffective) comebacks. Following some outside stuff with Kimberly and Woman, Anderson was distracted long enough for Booty Man to knee him in the face for three. Pretty dull match- *

Road Warriors vs Nasty Boys
This was, unlike the first tag match, an all out brawl. They threw lots of hard punches and headbutts, and brawled all around the ring area. The match settled down a little later on, turning into a battle of LOD’s power vs Nasty Boys’ strikes. The Steiners interfered, attacking the Nasty Boys, and Animal used part of his entrance armour as a weapon to knock out Knobbs for three. A solid tag match- **3/4

Texas Tornado Match- Ric Flair and Kevin Sullivan vs Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage
Again, this match for me was just a little too long: as before, too much time is put into the main events and not enough onto the undercard, but in this case I feel it was justified since the undercard matches all felt about right time wise. It wasn’t too much different from the tag matches of previous weeks involving Hogan and Flair, and this formula is annoying me somewhat. It was decent enough though, if only for Flair’s exchanges with Hogan in the ring and with Savage. Brian Pillman interfered, even though I thought he quit WCW, and the match is a no contest- **

WCW Nitro 24th March 1996

Belfast Bruiser vs Randy Savage
A very intriguing match on paper, with the bruiser fresh off smashing Steven Regal’s face apart at Uncensored. Bruiser aimed to do pretty much the same to Savage, using hard hitting strikes and throwing him all around the ringside area. it followed the usual Savage formula, but the style of the Belfast Bruiser made this work very well. Savage made his usual end of match comeback, getting the Elbow for three. Good, enjoyable opening match- ***

US Title Match- Konnan (c) vs Mr JL
JL is receiving another mini push following a victory over Dean Malenko in the Cruiserweight title tournament. The match was decent, but I often get the feeling with Konnan that he’s unnecessarily flashy, and it meant this match didn’t have a lot of structure or flow. Konnan got three with a Powerbomb assisted by the ropes into a pinning combination. Despite it’s structural issues, a decent match- **

Disco Inferno vs Booty Man
It’s clear this match was setup for comedy purposes as opposed to wrestling one’s (because Disco Inferno has been on like two Nitro’s until now). And the match was pretty much a squash, with Disco getting no offense and Booty Man using that Running Knee Strike to get three- SQ

Tag Team Title Match- Sting and Lex Lugar (c) vs American Males
Eric Bischoff was right in his analogy about this match having Dropkicks: there was plenty of them. There was nothing wrong with this match at all, although it was hardly anything special: just your average, formula tag team match. It was played up as student vs teacher with Sting apparently bringing Bagwell into the business a few years earlier (kayfabe wise I believe). Sting got the fall with a Cross Body on Riggs- **1/4

WCW Title Match- Ric Flair (c) vs The Giant
A battle of heel vs heel again, but the fans started to favour The Giant, if only for his sheer destructive power which Flair seemed to be able to do little about early on. The Giant misses a Top Rope Splash and a Corner Splash, allowing Flair into it, and he had to blatantly cheat to get any kind of control. Arn Anderson and Kevin Sullivan interfered, and The Giant gave Chokeslam’s to both, before a DQ was called because of their interference. Very solid match though- **1/2

Overall, I thought there was nothing wrong with either of the two shows. The Road Warriors/Nasty Boys and Savage/Bruiser matches are the two you should watch, but the rest are nothing special, although not awful either (other than perhaps the Anderson/Booty Man match). A solid recommendation for these.

7/10