WCW Monday Nitro - October 2, 2000

By Aldo

Couple of mails for y'all this week pertaining to the "Who's The Father" angle. As usual, my comments are in italics.
- Here is Elliot E.'s take:
  I have a great theory about the Hancock baby that I need to tell. I am the only WCW fan among my friends, so I figured your site would be the next best thing to share it with. The answer to the question "Who is the father?" is fairly simple with some detective work.
  
  It started with a column from ScoopsWrestling. In the column it brought up three possible canidates about the father; two were far-fetched and the other was pretty reasonable. One of the two outlandish ones was Buff Bagwell, simply because of his character. But there are three important points that make Buff a likely canidate.
  1. The address: 977 Oglethorpe Street. Scott Hudson said it sounded familiar. Oglethorpe, as in James Oglethorpe, was the man that settled the colony of Georgia. Even though they didn't mention it on Nitro, David Flair probably wasn't in Uniondale, NY. Wouldn't Oglethorpe mean more to the residents of Georgia than New York? And what little wrestling company resides in Atlanta? Plus, guess who is one of the many WCW superstars that live in Atlanta. That's right, Buff. That neighbor of the house said whoever lived there was on vacation. The last time we saw Buff, he won a big match against Kanyon. Why would he disappear? (Actually he disappeared because he wants his release, but why did he disappear storyline-wise?) Also, the night of his last match was the same night the pregnancy angle began. Coincidence?
  2. The Kidcam. Smooth said the Kidcam caught Stacy doing something with the father. The last two angles with the Kidcam went like so.
    
    First, it caught Torrie flirting with Eddie Guererro,
  (Who's this Eddie Guerrero guy?) which led to the breakup of the first Filthy Animals.
  
  The second angle was that it was stolen, and whoever had it sure followed Buff around a lot. This was during the Sullivan era so not many people saw it,
  (Unlike the millions watching this current angle?) but here's how it went. Buff, after being shot down by Kimberly in his feud with Diamond Dallas Page, began to hit on every woman in WCW, failing miserably everytime. The angle was dropped with the formation of the New Blood.
  
  Part of my theory is that David stole the Kidcam to get back at Torrie for dumping him and to get back at the Animals for jumping his father and dumping him in a Nevada desert. Maybe when Buff started to hit on women who were seeing other wrestlers, David followed him to make sure he wouldn't hit on Daffney. Now when the Kidcam angle was dropped, both David, Kidman and Buff were in the New Blood. Smooth was the New Blood confidant. Maybe David gave him the camera so no tension would arise. However, when Smooth mentioned the Kidcam, David didn't figure it out that it had to be Buff. So, maybe Daffney stole the Kidcam for David (she was a rabid stalker fan of his remember?) and she followed Buff to make sure he would leave them alone. The only problem with this point in the theory is if Buff ever did actually hit on Daffney.
  (I recall a Thunder from months ago where Buff did make a move on Daffney during his "Johnny Bravo" stage and she shrieked him off.) For the sake of the theory, let's say he didn't.
- This is the most important and probably the most obscure point. When WCW does their superstar series tapes, they will show them on PPV. The most recent on I caught was something to the extent of WCW Diva Diaries. It followed Torrie, Daffney and Hancock around who broke out of character to their interviews. Well for Hancock's shoot she mentioned how she was a fan of WCW and her favorite wrestler Â— BUFF! To top it off, they show a Kidcam clip of Buff hitting on her! And she doesn't decline!
  
  The answer is right there. Plus, Russo likes to do shoot storylines, so Hancock really did like Buff! It fits so well. This only took like ten minutes of my time to figure out, but I doubt Russo will plan w/ this much detail.
- And here's AJM10's point-of-view:
  
  Hey yo, I doubt you care, but I think I have a pretty good theory at who the
  father of Ms. Hancock's baby could be. While this will probably end up something
  too complicated for Russo to actually use, and Russo will probably use
  himself as the father, here's a theory that could work.
  
  DDP IS DADDY!
  
  Yeah you read that right. No, I didn't read this at any Pages, (no pun
  intended) but my opinion is it will be Dallas Page who ends up being the
  father. You're probably saying, "AJM, what kind of an idiot are you?" Well, I am
  the kind of idiot who knows this.
  
  DDP is supposedly from New Jersey. Nitro was in New York this week, not a
  long drive for Little Flair to go find Page's house.
  
  What was going on with DDP last time we saw him? His wife left him and went on
  to pursue her own career. Who was his wife feuding with the last time we saw
  her? None other then Ms. Hancock herself! It's true! It's true!
  
  So, DDP got with Stacy in order to piss [David] off and get back at Kim.
  
  But, does Russo have the ability to actually come up with an angle like
  that?

Here's one final note before we go into the report. I will not be covering Nitro next week, as I will be out-of-town that day. No word yet on a replacement, but I'm sure he (or she) will do a kickass job.

WCW Logo.

Clips from last week's show.

Earlier today, Goldberg pulls into the arena as Tony Schiavone says Vince Russo has the title. * sigh *

We're live from San Francisco, CA.

Match #1: Rey Mysterio, Jr and Konnan (w/ the Filthy Animals) vs. Boogie Knights in a Ladder Match
- The Animals join the contestants tonight for this match.
- Konnan disses Disqo and runs through the usual.
- Apparently, the Duck will be hung above the ring. Whoever grabs the duck wins this match.
- Their opponents: Disqo and Alex Wright, dubbed the Boogie Knights.
- Wright starts off with a dropkick on Konnan.
- Wright shoves the ladder into Konnan.
- Wright goes for the duck as Disqo pounds on Konnan in the corner.
- Rey tries to come in with a frankensteiner but gets powerbombed by Wright.
- With the ladder on Konnan, Wright dives on him and does the Nazi Dance.
- Rey uses the ladder to get a top turnbuckle Thesz Press on Disqo.
- With Wright in the corner, Rey does the Bronco Buster.
- Konnan chairs the ladder with Disqo under it.
- They put Wright inside the ladder and sandwich him.
- Rey goes up top and is given a chair by Konnan.
- Rey dives off with the chair and nails Wright.
- They set the ladder for a "double nutcracker suite" as termed by Madden.
- Konnan holds Disqo for a Rey roll-through from up top.
- Rey runs to the corner and dives off onto Wright.
- Disqo blocks a Konnan move with The Last Dance.
- Disqo sets up the ladder and goes for the climb.
- Rey heads up as Konnan holds onto the ladder.
- Rey nails Disqo with a sunset flip powerbomb!
- Rey goes up but Wright cuts him off.
- Wright heads up but Konnan piggybacks him and drops him on Disqo.
- Konnan goes up and grabs the duck as Rey headscissors Wright out of the ring!
- YOUR WINNERS: Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Konnan in 4:28.
- Post-match, the heels batter the Animals with a chair and the duck.
- Good opener. But you know what it needed? A monocle on Alex Wright.
  
  Â Â Â Â Â¼

David Flair pulls out the alledged father of the Keibler baby, wrapped under a black hood. It's Black Blood!

We go to the announcing team of Schiavone, Madden and Hudson.

We go live to Vince Russo and Jeremy Borash.
- Vince Russo talks (without looking into the camera) about living his dream last week and how many said he doesn't deserve to be in the ring.
- Russo will vacate the title and hold a tournament. I'm all for it, but that's how many title vacanies now?
- Two of the participants will be Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett.
- Russo calls Goldberg a coward for beating him down.
- Russo says Goldberg could learn how to be a man from him.
- Russo makes a threat of kicking Goldberg's ass if he were a bigger man and the drums hit.
- Goldberg walks to the ring.
- Goldberg says Russo is beneath him.
- Russo says Goldberg's future is in his hands.
- Russo and Borash leave their office for the ring.
- Goldberg tells Russo to come out and take it like the woman he is.
- Not Iron Man brings out Russo, driven out to the ring in a Pope-mobile type vehicle commandeered by Borash.
- Security attacks Goldberg but they get nowhere.
- Russo tells Goldberg to listen to him.
- Russo: "Your fate is in my hand."
- Goldberg: "Your life is in my hand!"
- Russo says firing Goldberg is the easy way out.
- Goldberg says he doesn't sweat Russo.
- Russo brings up The Streak.
- Russo says The Streak begins again, but something's at stake.
- Russo: "One loss along the way and you'll be out of WCW once and for all!"
- If Goldberg breaks the 176-win Streak, that's the only way he'll get a WCW title shot.
- Russo says Goldberg is no longer a main-eventer.
- Goldberg says he'll think about his offer and sidekicks the window of the Russo-mobile.
- Borash hightails it, allowing Goldberg to get the keys.
- Russo yells for security and out comes...
- THEMONSTERMENG! Holy shit!
- Meng slams Goldberg into the glass and gives him the Tongan Death Grip!
- Meng and Goldberg will face off tonight!
- Effective segment.
- Does this mean Jerry Flynn will be re-hired to job to Goldberg?

Russo sends Meng out and talks to Mike Sanders.
- Russo says he has to leave the building and puts Sanders in charge.
- As Sanders leaves, Russo tells Borash to keep an eye on him.

Chuck Zito joins the commentary booth.

Match #2: The Wall vs. Reno for the vacant WCW Hardcore Belt
- Damnit. And we were doing so well, too.
- Reno hot-shots Wall on the top rope to start.
- Reno goes up top but Wall throws a trash can at him.
- Wall puts a trash can on Reno and kicks it.
- Wall brings a table into the ring.
- Sign: "WWF The Root of All Evil."
- The table gets set up, but Reno nails Wall with a kendo stick.
- Wall gets thrown outside.
- Reno goes outside and gets in Zito's face.
- Wall hammers Reno from behind.
- Back in, Reno with the kendo stick.
- Reno goes to the opposite corner, allowing Big Vito to run-in and nail him with a stickball bat.
- Wall then chokeslams Reno through the table for the win.
- Post-match, Vito and the rest of the Animals celebrate with Wall.
- Mike Sanders comes out with the Natural Born Jobbers.
- Sanders reverses the decision and gives the belt to Reno due to outside interference.
- So...
- THE WINNER OF THE MATCH: The Wall via chokeslam in 2:30.
- YOUR NEW HARDCORE CHAMPION: Reno via heel chicanery.
- Because of that, I'm going...
- Wall charges the Jobbers as we go to...

Pamela Paulshock. Apparently, Booker T exited the ring first, so The Cat says the title will be decided between him and Sting. How hard is it to keep Booker T as the champ if he is declared the first man out?

In the back, David Flair has the culprit hancuffed.

Match #3: Shane Douglas (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs. Mike Awesome
- Coming out Â— one dynamic dude.
- Douglas tells the crowd that their ticket just paid for itself.
- Douglas and Torrie are the first couple of "sports entertainment," he claims.
- Douglas mocks Konnan's catchphrases and challenges him to a match at Halloween Havoc.
- Douglas wants a warm-up match with Mike Awesome.
- Torrie Wilson cuts a Valley Girl promo.
- Awesome comes out and gets attacked before the bell.
- Awesome with some clotheslines.
- They both go outside and Awesome shoves Douglas into the rail.
- After Awesome slams Douglas on the rail, we see Lex Luger in the crowd.
- Awesome pulls out a table and brings it into the ring.
- The table gets set into the corner.
- Awesome goes for the Awesomebomb but Torrie flashes him.
- This allows Douglas to hit the Franchiser for the win.
- YOUR WINNER: Shane Douglas via Franchiser in 1:35.
- Post-match, Tygress hits the ring and gets into it with Torrie.
- Douglas goes for the Franchiser on her but Konnan makes the save.
- Man, Awesome went from the penthouse to the outhouse in almost six months flat.

Jarrett and Steiner tell Sanders to fix the situation about the title shot. Kevin Nash appears on the scene and puts Sanders over.

Goldberg tapes up in the back.

Nash forces Sanders to go into The Cat's office and change the situation.

Back to the three-shot.

We get a promo for Meng. If you look closely at one of the shots, you can see a member of Public Enemy down in the ring.

Pamela interviews Meng. Meng puts his upcoming match over as his last chance at WCW greatness.
- Meng gives some parting words: "Goldberg... you must die!"
- How you say... where's the Barbarian?

Nitro will be in Australia next week.

Mike Sanders addresses the Jobbers.
- Sanders says Goldberg will be S. O. L.

Match #4: Meng vs. Goldberg in a "Loser Leaves Town" Match
- Note the quotes around the stipulation. Since when does anyone honor such stips?
- Anywho... the match.
- Already in the ring: Meng.
- Goldberg gets his customary escort to the ring.
- It's a clubbering to start, to paraphrase Dusty Rhodes.
- Goldberg ducks a front kick and spears Meng in less than 30 seconds.
- Jackhammer. Pin.
- YOUR WINNER: Goldberg via Jackhammer in 0:39.
- Post-match, Kronic (???) hits the ring and destroys Goldberg with a High Times.
- Apparently, Kronic "sold their soul" to Russo to get into the battle royal last week, or something like that.
- Despite the fact that Kronic actually got face pops when they wrestled.
- Whatever.

Mike Sanders addresses Jarrett and Steiner with the results of his summit.
- The match will be Jarrett and Booker vs. Steiner and Sting, with the winning team facing each other later in the night.

David Flair dumps a pail of water on his kidnapee. Bill notes that the hostage is wearing a short-sleeved shirt, but his left sleeve is lengthened to cover-up a tattoo. Hmm, I wonder who wears a tattoo on his left arm.

Match #5: Jeff Jarrett and Booker T vs. Scott Steiner (w/ Midajah) and Sting
- Jarrett enters first.
- Booker gets the next entrance.
- Steiner comes out third, with Midajah.
- Tony Schiavone alludes to a time when Scott Steiner and Sting were friendly towards each other.
- Steiner says he'll kick both Booker and Jarrett's asses.
- Sting gets the final entrance.
- Starting off will be Jarrett and Sting.
- Lockup, Sting with a headlock.
- Sting comes off the ropes with a shoulderblock.
- Sting nails Jarrett in the chest on the mat.
- Sting with a facejam.
- Sting whips Jarrett to the corner and lands a Stinger Splash.
- Sting goes for the Deathlock, but Jarrett gets an eye poke in.
- They go off the ropes and hit each other with clotheslines.
- Tags to Booker and Steiner.
- Sign: "Best Buy Sucks." I guess negative publicity is better than none at all.
- Steiner stalls for a while.
- Lockup, Steiner hammers away at the neutral corner.
- Steiner with a lariat to the back of Booker's neck.
- Off the ropes, Booker hits a sidekick.
- Steiner rolls out of the ring.
- Steiner tags to Sting.
- Lockup, Booker gets in a headlock.
- Sting whips Booker but runs into a shoulderblock.
- Sting blows an armdrag but gets a right cross in.
- Sting with a hip toss.
- Steiner spits on Booker.
- And then he stalls.
- Sting with a headlock on Booker.
- Booker with a right in the corner.
- Sting reverses a whip to corner but runs into nothing but elbow.
- Booker with a lariat.
- Sting reverses a whip and Steiner dumps Booker from the ring.
- Sting decks his own partner.
- Sting goes outside and sends Booker into the announcing booth.
- In the ring, Steiner hits a clothesline on Jarrett and press slams him.
- Booker T comes back in and suffers a backbreaker by Steiner.
- Steiner whips Booker into a clothesline.
- Steiner could cover, but he does push-ups instead.
- Steiner with a T-bone suplex.
- Steiner with a boot to the chest.
- Booker gets sent to the corner and tries a floatover but Steiner catches him and shoves him to the turnbuckle.
- Steiner tries it again but Booker counters.
- Booker with a spinebuster mid-ring.
- Tag to Jarrett.
- Jarrett with some punches in the corner.
- Jarrett whips Steiner to the corner but runs into a boot.
- Steiner with a belly-to-belly on Jarrett.
- Steiner tries a full-nelson but Jarrett gets in a mule kick.
- Tag to Sting.
- Sting clotheslines the hell out of Jarrett.
- They go outside and Sting batters Jarrett some more.
- Booker and Steiner get into it and go back into the ring.
- Booker with a running forearm.
- Booker with the axe kick on Steiner.
- Madden: "Damn that Spinerooni!" Heh.
- Booker goes for the sidekick but hits Billy Silverman.
- Jarrett grabs the guitar and takes a swing at Booker but hits Sting instead.
- Jarrett covers Sting and Steiner covers Booker. But, Silverman counts the pin for Jarrett.
- YOUR WINNERS: Jeff Jarrett and Booker T via pinfall in 10:37.
- A ten-minute match on Nitro? Works for me.
  
  Â Â Â Â

Kevin Nash and the Natural Born Jobbers are walking.

Match #6: WCW 100 KG And Under Champion "Primetime" Elix Skipper vs. "Above Average" Mike Sanders and Kevin Nash (w/ the Natural Born Jobbers)
- Skipper comes out first.
- Skipper says he's pissed off.
- Skipper says the commissioner booked a match against him.
- Skipper also points out Nash calling Beetlejuice "Elix" on the TurnerTron.
- Wow, they actually put that spot into a storyline. I'm impressed.
- Skipper tells Sanders to bring out the jolly green giant (Kevin Nash) and he'll kick both of their asses. Big mistake.
- I should point out that Nash DWARFS everyone in the ring.
- Nash says he spent 45 minutes in the back apologizing to Beetlejuice (the midget from Howard Stern's Whack Pack last week) for calling him Elix.
- Sanders has a stipulation that Team Canada cannot interfere in this match.
- Second stipulation: you have to powerbomb the opponent before the win.
- Third stipulation: It's now a handicap match with Nash.
- Random thought: Anyone placing bets on Skipper to walk out with the belt here?
- Nash bops Skipper with the mic.
- Sanders goes for a powerbomb but Elix bodydrops out of it.
- Skipper kicks Sanders ass and Nash just stands there.
- Skipper tries a 'rana and a cover but Charles Robinson points out the stips.
- Nash nails Skipper as he heads to the corner.
- Nash gets the mic and talks about how the youngsters do top rope moves.
- Meanwhile, Skipper is perched up top and hits him with a nice missile dropkick!
- That was cute.
- Nash sells somewhat for Skipper in the corner.
- Sanders comes up from behind but Skipper takes care of him.
- But, two men is too much to handle.
- Nash with a big clothesline.
- Nash speaks once more.
- Nash says he doesn't like that Elix claims he's a Canadian.
- Nash points out Skipper makes $30,000 a year, making him a millionaire in Canada.
- Nash powerbombs Skipper and Sanders covers for the title.
- YOUR WINNER AND NEW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION: "Above Average" Mike Sanders via pinfall in 3:10.
- Well, that sucked. So much for Team Canada's push.
- With three of WCW's titles, I guess I should stop calling the Natural Born Thrillers jobbers, eh?

Terry Taylor tells Goldberg he has another match tonight.

Kevin Nash leaves the Thrillers to take a quick shower. This allows Team Canada to rush the Thrillers. Road agents (one of them looking like Silver King, but not really him) separate the factions.

Match #7: The Harris Brothers vs. Goldberg
- Goldberg's next challenge is the mighty D. O. A.
- The Harrises pound on Goldberg but eats a clothesline.
- Goldberg spears Big Ron for the pin?
- Goldberg spears and Jackhammers Heavy D for another pin.
- YOUR WINNER: Goldberg via Jackhammer.
- David Penzer announces Goldberg as 3-0 during his spiel, so both pins count, a la Sid's ridiculous "streak" from the summer of 1999.
- Well, at least they picked guys with no heat to kill as punching bags for Goldberg.

The Thrillers call for Kevin Nash.

David Flair leads his victim to the ring.

Apparently, the Jarrett/Booker title match will be a 49er's Match thanks to Sanders. Four boxes are laid in the corners, one of these has the title. Find the title and you are the new champion. I have nothing further to say about this.

David Flair leads out his kidnappee.
- David asks his hostage if he thought he'd get away.
- Again, note the hostage's left sleeve covering up a tattoo.
- David says he'll take the handcuffs off if the hostage promises to tell all.
- David unlocks the cuffs.
- David turns around and the hostage reveals himself as...
- Buff Bagwell!
- Buff clotheslines David and beats the shit out of him.
- Buff goes up top and nails the Blockbuster!
- Buff walks away as David lies around in the ring.
- For David Flair, I guess this is what we call paying your dues.
- Good segment, although I would have given Buff a long sleeved shirt to keep the surprise better.
- Go ahead and take your bow, Bill.

Buff is walking.

Match #8: Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T. in a San Francisco 49'ers Match for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Title
- There are poles at each turnbuckle, each of which holding up a box over ten feet in the air.
- One of thoses boxes has the world title.
- Bill: It would be funny if one box had a piÃ±ata.
- Jarrett enters first.
- From last week, Jeff Jarrett becomes by favorite wrestler that week for bashing Beetlejuice with his guitar.
- Booker comes out next.
- Booker takes off his shirt and hands it to an old lady.
- Jarrett attacks Booker outside the ring, signaling the bell.
- Jarrett jabs Booker with a chair.
- Back inside, Booker reverses a whip to the corner, but Jarrett gets in a clothesline afterward.
- Jarrett grabs a box, kicks it open and finds...
- A blow-up doll. What'd you expect from Russo booking?
- Booker whips Jarrett into a back elbow.
- Booker with a side slam.
- Booker grabs a second box, opens it and finds...
- A picture of Scott Hall.
- Jarrett charges but Booker nails him with the framed picture.
- Jarrett rolls outside next to the blow up doll.
- Booker goes for the third box, but Jarrett cuts him off.
- Jarrett dumps Booker and goes outside.
- Jarrett nails Booker with an empty box.
- Jarrett slams Booker on the rail.
- Jarrett breaks a box over Booker's head.
- Jarrett sends Booker into the announcer's booth.
- Jarrett stomps away as Madden screams for Jarrett to go for the box.
- Jarrett tries a piledriver but Booker counters with his own.
- And the table doesn't break. Ouch.
- Booker enters the ring as Jarrett takes a swig of some water laying at ringside.
- Booker goes for a box and finds the Coal Miners Glove from the "Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal" match from 1992.
- Jarrett trips Booker and crotches him on the ringpost, though.
- Jarrett steals the glove from Booker.
- Jarrett signals for Booker to get up, hits the ropes and nails his opponent in the chest.
- Jarrett celebrates instead of going for the win.
- Another shot to the midsection.
- Jarrett grabs a used box, goes to the middle rope and breaks it over Booker's head.
- Jarrett climbs up for the last box, but Booker cuts him off.
- Booker whips Jarrett, who avoids a dropkick by hanging on the ropes.
- Jarrett loads up the glove for another punch to the face.
- Both men are down and Mark Johnson counts to ten.
- Jarrett picks Booker up at eight.
- Jarrett with a whip and a sleeperhold after missing two clotheslines.
- Crowd chants for Booker T during the resthold, which Madden says is for Jarrett.
- Johnson raises the arm three times to usual results.
- Booker makes the comeback and does his own sleeperhold.
- But, since Booker is a face, he suffers a backdrop suplex.
- Johnson counts again, with Jarrett getting up at eight.
- Jarrett loads up the glove and goes to the corner with the box.
- Hey, just open the box! Duh!
- Booker blocks the top rope punch with a urinage.
- Booker goes for the box but Jarrett grabs his leg.
- Punches by Jarrett.
- Booker blocks The Stroke, gets the axe kick and Harlem Sidekick.
- Through this, Schiavone did the "Spinerooni!" chant, with Madden telling him to shut up. Heh.
- Jarrett counters Booker's attempt to win with a punch to the nuts.
- Booker tries a sidekick but gets crotched on the ropes.
- Outside, Jarrett looks for something under the ring but is unsuccessful.
- Jarrett piggybacks Booker and backdrops him.
- Jarrett goes for a guitar under the ring and he can't get it out for some reason.
- Jarrett goes up top UNDER THE LAST BOX.
- Beetlejuice comes out from nowhere and gives Jarrett some ballshots.
- Beetlejuice beats on Jarrett out of the ring.
- Booker opens the last box and gets the belt for the win!
- YOUR WINNER AND NEW/STILL WCW WORLD CHAMPION: Booker T in 13:02.
- Post-match, Scott Steiner comes in from behind with a lead pipe to the back.
- Jarrett throws Beetlejuice into the ring.
- Steiner puts the Recliner on Beetlejuice as we fade out...
- Damnit!
- Despite the blown ending, this was MUCH better than I thought it would be.
  
  Â Â Â Â ³/₄

The Good: Three matches over ** on a televised show is an automatic thumbs-up in my book. Not everything worked, but the matches that counted did. The gimmick match to close the show surprised me because I honestly thought it would suck. Boy, was I wrong. Booker and Jarrett kept a great pace, and they were allowed time to tell a story with a combination of good brawling and wrestling. A perfect example of what a main event should be.

The Bad: I realize that the Natural Born Thrillers need titles to get over, but they're not getting heat with the methods they obtain the belt. Heels cheat, yes, but they need to go over cleanly in the big matches to gain credibility. And why turn Kronic? I'll admit that I'm not terribly fond of the team, but they did get good reactions from the crowd. Makes no sense to me.

The Ugly: You know, Elix Skipper and Beetlejuice DO look a lot alike...

Well, if I'm going to take a week off, this week's show was a good way to go on hiatus. Great job, Russo, keep doing shows like this and you'll gain some happy fans. If you send me e-mail during the next few weeks, don't be surprised if it takes me a while to get back to you. See you on the 16^th!

Mark Halling sends the following arena report:

There was a huge line outside of the arena, but nowhere near a huge crowd. The Cow Palace, which is already a small arena, was less than half-full; 5,000 people max. It was good that so few people were there, though, because it allowed me to move up into row four right in line with the ring and the entryway. If you look, I'm on TV waving my JJ foam guitar quite a few times. Towards the end of the show a cameraman zoomed in on me with guitar and two fingers in the air but some drunk guy hopped in front of me and the cameraman moved on. Eh, what can ya' do? The crowd was VERY dead all night. Only Steiner, Pamela, Nash and the little guy in the Superman suit garnished any heat.

New merchandise was a sweet looking Kronik shirt and a new Booker T-shirt. Both sold pretty poorly. The biggest merchandise seller was the JJ guitar.

I wandered backstage towards catering (there was a window looking in) and saw some interesting stuff. I saw Major Gunns (even though she wasn't on TV). I ran into Disco who ignored me. Tony Shiavone walked by and told us he hoped we would enjoy the show. I saw Meng (kinda' ruined that surprise), Fit Finlay, and Norman Smiley as well.

Kronik signed autographs (it had been announced that it would be Rey Mysterio and Konnan).

~~~~~~~~~~~

Commercial breaks were long and plentiful. DJ Ran (to the joy of all, I'm sure) played some "jams" during the breaks and three (the blonde, the red head, and the black girl) Nitro Girls danced every now and then. This was my first TV taping and the commercial breaks get SOOOOO boring.

The ladder match got no heat (like all matches). I think it was very underdeveloped and could have been good if given time. Nothing special in the arena; the live show started with the TV one.

Everyone around me bet that the masked man was Buff just from looking at his arms. Another great swerve by Russo.

The Goldberg/Russo segment was long and boring. Though it didn't seem like it (cause of all the breaks), it was the only real meaty interview segment of the night (which is good). G-berg was pretty hard to understand. Not like much was missed. Goldberg taunted on the entryway after his sports entertaining for the first of three times tonight. Russo said something about how the Mets were gonna kill the Giants (whatever) in a few days while they were trying to drive the truck backstage.

Chuck Zito came out to do commentary and probably would have been booed execpet that there were at least 25 Hell's Angels there so everyone thought it wise to keep quite.

Vito vs. Reno was confusing and got no heat. I had to get up (I was sitting in someone else's seat) and practically missed the whole match. The cane shots looked mighty stiff.

Pamela Paulshook was over, even before she made her announcement.

Shanme Douglas talked about Konnan or something and then went to work on Awesome. I tried an E-C-dub chant; nothing doing. Another dull match in the first hour. People were pretty pissed that the table wasn't used. Torrie wasn't over and, boy, how bad is she on the mic? Stick to an Elizabethan role.

Meng didn't get an intro. After he lost, he looked pretty pissed (like frustrated pissed) and then hopped the railing and walked out through the crowd. Whatever. Nobody understood what Kronik was doing and why.

They screwed up the audio so we didn't hear the above average top of the hour match. Penzer had to relate it to us. Only in WCW...

Sting's intro is tremendous live. The tag match was OK; a little slow. Midajah looks a lot older in person.

Elix Skipper was relatively ignored 'till he let a "shiznit" slip. Charles Robinson and Penzer both made a look like "What the hell did that rookie just say on live TV"? Nash was over like rover. I thought the match was as good as could have been expected and Nash keeping with the interview was hilarious. I was the only one in the arena who cared that Sanders won the Cruiser strap. Well, me and Sanders, I guess. The guy next to me threw something that hit Johnny the Bull at ringside; Johnny told security who then escorted them out. Good thing, they were booing JJ.

Ron and Don Harris came out without music. I called Don an overrated jobber and recieved some SCSA sign language. =). Both Harris Boys looked pissed about jobbing as well.

Like I said earlier, everyone knew it was Buff. No heat, no cry.

Penzer announced that the title match would be a 49er match to a chorus of boos. He then tried each Bay Area sports team to see which would get the best cheap heat. Giants won, followed by the A's, and then the Forty-Whiners.

Booker giving the shirt to the old lady (who was not a plant, she was with her grandkids) was over huge. The main event was very good and got the best heat of the night. People went crazy for the Scott Hall pic and the table spot. A very loud Booker T chant was started. The only thing that sucked was the finish (a midget?) but the (probably drunk) crowd seemed to enjoy it. Like I said earlier, Scott Steiner is over big in the Bay Area (remember when he stretched DDP at a couple SuperBrawl's ago and got the big chant?). After the show, Booker slapped some hands and that was it.

Overall, the show wasn't great but I thought the main event was good enough to bring it to an average rating. Little heat and little attendance. Now is that SF's fault or WCW's? Me thinks Russo. Alright, later.