Monday, November 20th, 1995
Macon Coliseum
Macon, Georgia
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The announcers are going way over the top here, calling this episode the Super Bowl of wrestling with the main event of Sting vs. Hulk Hogan. It definitely is about as big of a match that they could give away on TV at this time, but we'll see what they deliver here.
Scott Norton vs. Shark
Shark attacks Norton from behind during his entrance. They haven't really given us any reason to care about Norton. I obviously don't get to watch Saturday Night, so maybe he's been getting some action in on there. They get in the ring and the bell sounds. Shark hits a belly-to-belly suplex and McMichael is loving this. Shark hits a splash in the corner and continues to dominate. Norton hits a powerslam out of nowhere and that's enough for the win? They start shoving after the match and that's all. They really booked Tenta poorly during his WCW run.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Mean Gene is with Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart. This is probably the most heel Hart has ever been in this storyline. Gene calls them two of the biggest pieces of human garbage, which made me smile.
We're supposed to be getting our next match, but Disco Inferno interrupts to dance.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair Brian Pillman
Flair is out in his dress clothes and accompanied by Pillman. Flair grabs a mic and he says that people actually thought he would come out tonight and wrestle Guerrero. He says that Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit are on the jet and Flair says he'll hold it for him while Pillman takes care of business. I would rather this be the main event than Sting vs. Hogan, but that's me. Eddie gets the early offense in, but Pillman hits a dropkick on Guerrero while jumping off the top rope. Pillman goes off the top rope, but Guerrero side steps him and Pillman crashes into the guardrail. Guerrero then leaps off the top and hits a dive over the steps. Guerrero goes up top again, but Pilllman crotches him. Pillman goes for a superplex, but Guerrero shoves him off and hits the Frog Splash for a surprising victory. Eddie is probably the biggest success story of the early Nitro episodes so far.
Match Rating: **1/2
They show highlights of Randy Savage getting attacked after his match with Meng.
Big Bubba Rogers vs. Road Warrior Hawk
It's amazing how a match that would have felt like a big deal about 4 years ago, feels like it couldn't matter any less here. We get an awkward spot in the corner and eventually Bubba hits a spinebuster. Hawk gets thrown into the turnbuckle and bounces back, colliding with Bubba. Hawk's up first and misses with a clothesline from the top rope. Bubba pulls out tape and wraps up his fist. Duggan comes out and trips up Bubba and Hawk pulls off the win. This was kind of sad to watch, as these two just don't look like the guys we knew.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Sting vs. Hulk Hogan
Sting is in red and yellow tonight. Randy Savage comes out to Hogan's music and Hogan enters from behind. He's wearing an ugly mask for some reason. He doesn't attack him and taps him on the back instead. The crowd is chanting "Hogan sucks", which to me is more showing why it wasn't such a genius move to turn Hogan. It's that they had no other choice. Any time face Hogan gets booed, it just makes me happy. We do get some good intensity here thanks to Sting and a hot crowd. Sting gets the Scorpion Death Lock in the center of the ring. Hogan of course gets out of it and starts Hulking up. Hogan misses with the leg drop though and Sting puts on the Scorpion Death Lock again. The Dungeon of Doom is out and attacks for the non-finish. Giant is out and destroys everyone. Sting and Hogan team up with a chair to clothesline Giant over the top. I'm not sure I like the way the run in happened, but the chaos was well done after the fact.
Match Rating: **1/4
After the commercial, Sullivan and Hart are at the announce table harassing them. Even Heenan seems annoyed and has a broken headset.
It didn't deliver on being the Super Bowl of wrestling, but that's pro wrestling for you. This was a good show though that gave us two good matches that ate up most of the run time. The other two matches were a little rough, but this was an easy watch otherwise.
Overall Rating: 61%
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