Monday, January 15th, 1996
Knight Center
Miami, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22
We are welcomed by Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and Steve McMichael as always.
Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage
They announce that Savage will get a title shot against the winner of tonight's main event. The crowd is very into this one, as you would expect for a pay per view quality match. It really is amazing that Raw was headlined with Undertaker vs. Isaac Yankem. I have to say that this arena is an odd set up and doesn't look that great on TV whenever they go away from the standard ring shot. I guess I should start talking about the match, huh? Savage misses with a top rope elbow drop and Luger puts Savage up in the Torture Rack. Savage actually gives up? These are the kinds of things about WCW that were really just not well thought out. You give away a headlining match on free TV and rush through a match and give away a clean finish? Look, I love a clean finish as much as anyone, but Savage submitting should be saved for major events. The match was spirited and the crowd loved it.
Match Rating: **
We're supposed to get Hugh Morrus and Kevin Sullivan vs. Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman but instead, they all walk out together along with Gene Okerlund and all the other members of their groups. Arn says that there is no financial gain with this match, so they are scrapping the match. Flair being the champion is the main order of business. Sullivan then says that Flair is the greatest champion of all time. Sullivan says that Flair can borrow the Giant at Clash of the Champions. Sullivan then says that he only has a problem with Pillman because he has no respect. Pillman chimes in and Anderson slaps him.
Public Enemy vs. American Males
Bischoff gets word that they have a standby match and it's the debut of Public Enemy. I remember Public Enemy being such a staple of Nitro when it went to 2 hours (or at least that's what my memory tells me). We get a pretty standard TV tag match to start things off, which feels like a mistake. Bagwell hits a big scoop slam and then a botched looking roll up. Johnny Grunge then rolls him up and holds onto the tights for a really ugly looking finish. After the match, they continue the attack and set up a table outside the ring. They stack a second one on top of it and put Bagwell on it. Rocco Rock does a somersault dive from the top rope and hits it through the two tables. Tables may be kind. They are just pieces of plywood on stands. The match was awful. The dive at the end was the only thing worthwhile.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WCW Championship Match
Sting vs. Ric Flair
Imagine having a title match not be a main event on your weekly free program. Sting dominates the early going, hitting a lot of the signature spots. Sting hits a big superplex but then Flair gets the knees up for the follow up splash. We get a commercial break and Sting tries to make a comeback but now both men are down. Sting misses with a dropkick and Flair goes for a Figure Four but Sting turns it into an inside cradle for a 2 count. Sting is back at it now with a big press slam but then runs into an elbow. Sting throws Flair off the top rope and then no sells a chop to the chest. He hits a less impressive second press slam. Jimmy Hart is on the apron now and Luger comes out to get him off. This leads to him accidentally pulling the megaphone away and hitting Sting with it. That's enough for Flair to win and Luger is mad at Jimmy. He goes after Flair but then Hulk Hogan and Savage are out to clear the ring and Mean Gene is in there to look at them checking on Sting. The match was going along pretty well until the ending.
Match Rating: **1/4
Hogan hopes that Sting finally got some good sense knocked into him. Savage tells him to wake up and Hogan tells Sting that Luger is the reason he lost. Sting can't remember and he goes to the back to hear it from the horses' mouth. Hogan then tells Savage that he has a problem with him. He should be getting the title shot and not Savage. Hogan is so annoying and Savage says he'll see him at the Clash of the Champions.
Meng vs. Hulk Hogan
In typical WCW fashion, Hogan goes to the back just to come back out for this match. I like Meng but it's hard for me to get excited about this match. Hogan is so terrible here and Meng never seems to win. Meng hits a body slam but misses with a second rope splash. Sullivan gets up on the apron but Savage is out there. He helps him there and Hogan hits a big boot for the win. This was the quality of match that you see after a live taping. Absolutely pointless.
Match Rating: 3/4*
This was a pretty good episode overall with a lot of action, even if it wasn't all good necessarily. They were still in full court press mode with putting huge matches on free TV every week here, so they also win the war on that since Vince McMahon usually lost interest in stuff like that after a few weeks.
Overall Rating: 56%
No comments:
Post a Comment