GSR

If Jerry Lawler wins he is to sign a managerial contract with Jimmy Hart, if Joe and The Angel lose they are to leave town. Clips of this air on 4/4 episode of TV.

'The King' says that his number one objective when he returned to wrestling was to get rid of Jimmy Hart, but with Hart has bringing in all these wrestlers to face him it means he has since shot up to number three in the associations rankings. Jimmy Valiant is out of here after he defeated him in a 'loser leaves town match', Wayne Ferris injured his neck and he's gone, while Tojo Yamamoto has turned to management so Hart wont be managing the Japanese like he initially thought. He now only has Gypsy Joe and The Angel left, and if he defeats them, then Jimmy Hart wont have any reason to stay around in Memphis any longer.

The Angel and Jimmy Hart interefere for the DQ and the three of them beat on Lawler until he makes a recovery and clears the ring.

At the start of the show Lance Russell announces that Tommy Rich isn’t here for his Southern Tag Title defense today as he has a long standing prior commitment in Georgia, and the Georgia officials had threatened him with a lawsuit if he no shows them. As a result of this, Bill Dundee has said he will defend the titles against Tojo Yamamoto & Wayne Farris on his own. The Superstar tried but couldn't overcome the two on one odds, asTojo picks up the pin after throwing salt in Dundee's eyes and we have new Southern tag team champions. The heels continues to beat on Dundee after the match until Dream Machine makes the save.

Just as he promised, Lawler throws Hart's Gold record off the bridge and into the Mississippi River.

First of all we get a recap of LeDuc's blood oath interview and then clips of him injuring Jerry Lawler from when he threw him over the top rope and out onto the timekeeper's table. From here we go to LeDuc's home in Atlanta where he talks about the upcoming match with 'the King'. Real good interview that also sees him break a glass container over his head cutting himself up.

After defeating Austin Idol 'the King' won Jimmy Hart’s Gold record which he is going to drop into the Mississippi river. Hart has Jos LeDuc scheduled to face Lawler this week and the stipulations are that if LeDuc loses then Hart will get ten lashes with a strap. Hart doesn’t have to take all ten as he can say "I give up" at any time, however if he does so, he is gone from wrestling (this also includes clips of LeDuc in an arm pulling contest to display his strength and of previous Lawler and LeDuc matches).

Highlights of Jerry Lawler’s last three matches from the Mid-South Coliseum against Jimmy Hart’s various henchmen (Dream Machine, Paul Ellering and Austin Idol).

Tony Charles is accompanied by Jerry Lawler for this handicap match while his opponents have the Dream Machine in their corner. Special stipulations are that it's Charles’ hair against the loser of the fall leaving town. This airs on the subsequent week's TV and I've only seen the Louisville version where all that is shown is the pre-match where Lawler and Machine start fighting before the match has even began, and Eddie Marlin ends up coming out and sending them both to the back.

Eddie Marlin says that they are going to fine Jimmy Valiant $500 (he destroyed the TV that was awarded to the winner of the Battle Royal, pissed at the way he was eliminated) and that money will be used to pay for a new TV. Marlin then brings out Peggy Rich (Tommy’s mother) who wants to say some things about her son who no longer feels that he is accepted by everyone. Jimmy Valiant and Tojo Yamamoto come out to say she has no right to be here, and as Valiant is having a go at her, Tommy runs out from the back and attacks the two of them. They end up overpowering him, busting him open bad and Valiant shoves down Peggy. Bill Dundee, Ken Lucas, Ricky Morton and Eddie Marlin come out to get Valiant away and they help Peggy to the back. Jimmy Hart and Bobby Eaton eventually show up to tend to Rich who isn’t happy that they weren’t there earlier. Hart ends up insulting Peggy at which point Rich tells him that he is through with him. Great angle to turn Rich

Savoy with a nice Judo throw off the opening lock up to drag Pistol to the mat. Cole escapes the headlock by grabbing the arm and Savoy backs her up against the ropes. The Irish whip is reversed and they go for a simple sunset flip spot, however Pistol loses her balance and falls on her opponent. Savoy scrambles to the ropes for the break whilst trapped in the cross armbar and when Cole says something to the referee, she clotheslines her in the back of the head. High bridging German suplex for a near fall. Savoy tries to lift Pistol up for something, but again Cole falls on her. Sliced Bread #2 by Pistol for a two count. Cole with another cross armbar and this time Savoy taps, even though she could’ve easily outstretched a leg to reach the ropes. Pistol ends up helping Savoy from the ring as it looks as though she might be legitimately hurt the way she’s limping and certainly would explain for that finish coming out of nowhere. Off the back of that Baszler/Schneider match that I really enjoyed I thought I would check out some more of the women’s matches from PREMIER and this one, from their fourth show between Nicole Savoy and Cole Pistol, is the very first in the promotion. I’m still not fully sure what PREMIER is going for, it’s certainly heavily ‘worked shoot’ based, but then you’ll get an Irish whip spot or a shiranui! I didn’t spot it initially, it was only when I re-watched the match did I notice that Savoy’s leg bent awkwardly when Pistol fell on her the second time and the finish had to be an audible (both in how early in the match it was and that Savoy could’ve reached the ropes if she really wanted). Due to the injury, bar Savoy’s throws and suplexes, there wasn’t really much to this. Cole Pistol was never invited back (understandable really blowing a sunset flip and then injuring her opponent) while Nicole Savoy goes on to be the backbone of the division.

‘Commissioner’ Sanders is at the commentary desk and he’s got a surprise in store for Kwee Wee, the man who will be challenging him for his Cruiserweight title at Mayhem. For not the first time a surprise ends up being Bill Goldberg and these wrestlers should really start wising up when an authority figure here in WCW tells them they have a surprise in store for them! Kwee Wee jumps Goldberg when he enters the ring stomping away on him. He goes for a springboard, but Goldberg spears him mid-air in an awesome looking spot. Jackhammer and the Kwee Wee goes down. Sanders is pretty smug with himself thinking that his plan has paid off and that it will be a weakened Kwee Wee who goes into Mayhem. Goldberg hears what Sanders has got to say and confronts him, telling him that he’s his own man and you never know who’s next. Tony Schiavone jokes that the Commissioner will be needing a new pair of pants, when out from the back walks CEO Ric Flair. They wonder what he’s doing but Sanders is adamant that he has no control here. Ric says that it’s a conflict of interests with Sanders being both the Commissioner and a wrestler and deep down everyone knows why he put Kwee Wee in the ring with Goldberg. As WCW is all about equal opportunities what he’s going to do is make everything equal and informs Sanders that “you’re a wrestler right now and you’re next!” Goldberg drags him into the ring, pump handle slam, he spears him out of his slip ons and picks up his second victory of the night after a jackhammer. Two matches, a total of five moves, but that spear on Kwee Wee was one of the damndest things you’ll ever see. Not a fan of the competitors in the Cruiserweight title being treated like this, even if it is Goldberg they’re both going down for.

A sit down interview between Mike Tenay and Buff Bagwell where Tenay notes it’s evident that Buff is one frustrated individual at the moment. He says that Sting and he are the two longest tenured wrestlers in WCW and he’s seen the company grow from where there were just 700 fans in attendance to 50,000 fans at the Georgia Dome. Now they’re trying to turn the ship back around and he knows if he’s given the opportunity he can help them do that. He compares his situation with Jeff Jarrett, who has only been back in WCW a little over a year, and wants the same chances that he, Scott Steiner and Sting have been given, before challenging Jarrett to a match at Mayhem. Another plug for Goldberg’s book as Gene Okerlund finds Lex Luger reading it in the back. Lex claims that it’s riveting and one of those books that you can’t put down once you’ve picked it up, although takes exception to the fact that there is no mention of him, what with him being the one who discovered Goldberg at his Main Event Fitness gym in Atlanta. He thinks it’s rather ironic that after starting Goldberg’s career, come Mayhem, he’ll be the one who ends it too. Goldberg is showing Bagwell some respect here and we have a much slower opening than usual as they circle each other around the ring. A few knees to the mid-section followed by a huge gorilla press slam with Goldberg dropping him chest first to the mat. Bagwell ducks a clothesline, knee to the gut and lands a double underhook DDT. That has no effect as Goldberg is straight back to his feet, although Buff dances and poses thinking he’s got this one in the bag. When he turns around he turns into a spear. Jackhammer and you know the rest! Goldberg is about to leave but returns to the ring to helps Bagwell up in another show of respect between the two.

The Boogie Knights have been ordered to the ring by new CEO Ric Flair who has a surprise in store for them after they sold their spot in the ‘London Lethal Lottery’ to Kronik earlier in the evening. That surprise turns out to be one Bill Goldberg. Check out the British crowd, they’re electric when his music kicks in and as he makes his entrance. Alex Wright causes a distraction so that Disco can jump him from behind but he has about as much success as if he’s faced him head on! Awesome release overhead pumphandle with Goldberg making it look like Disco weighs next to nothing. He’s nailed by a Wright missile dropkick though and Alex then lays in some knife edge chops and an uppercut, although all that does is wake Goldberg up who screams back in his face. The Knights try a bit of double teaming and whip Goldberg into the turnbuckles. Wright whips Disco towards him for a splash in the corner but Goldberg cuts him off before he can get there with a spear. Attempted spin kick by Wright is caught and he’s slammed to the mat. A spear for him, a pair of jackhammers and Goldberg covers them both at the same time. My favourite of the Goldberg squashes so far with the way the Knights flew around for his offense, but can’t help feeling a little disappointed that they get this treatment after how much I’ve been enjoying them as a tag team recently. Even in a situation like this Alex Wright stands out and the guy’s a proper talent.

Luger looks older here than he did on Monday night. We join the footage with Lex making his entrance while the commentators talk about Bob Sapp who there has just been a video piece on. Big things are expected of him it seems now that he’s a part of WCW. Kronik head out after Bam Bam and as they’re not a part of this match, everyone is at a bit of a loss as to why. They give referee Scott Armstrong the ‘High Times’ (double chokeslam) and then just up and leave. It turns out that the Boogie Knights paid them off as they were angry with Armstrong for what they considered ‘fast counting’ them earlier in the evening. So Kronik are now doing the APA’s gimmick then. Goldberg vaults over the top rope, ducks a Luger clothesline before dropping Bam Bam and then Lex with one of his own. Luger blocks the double underhook suplex, grabbing hold of the ropes and Bigelow pulls him to the outside as the plan, even though this is a triple threat match, is clearly for them to work together. Lex with a running lariat in the corner followed by a Bam Bam ‘Avalanche splash’ as their double teaming slowly begins to pay off. The action spills to the floor where Bigelow holds Goldberg so Lex can get some more shots in. He blocks having his head slammed into the apron and starts to exact a bit of revenge, whipping Bam Bam into a seated chair at ringside. Luger gets the same treatment but is in no hurry to get up out of his making Stevie Ray wonder if he’s blown up already and taking a breather! Bigelow rams Goldberg’s head into the ring steps before they return inside. Suplex by Lex, diving head butt off the top and just like on Monday Goldberg kicks out of the cover. They whip him into the ropes for a double clothesline but Goldberg lands his first, felling them both. Spear to Bam Bam however Luger has had enough and bails rather than carry on the fight causing Schiavone to call him a coward. Again Goldberg gets Bigelow up for the jackhammer (which is impressive as considering his size) and the streak moves to 16-0. Not sure how we’re meant to think that Luger stands any chance whatsoever at Mayhem after what we saw here.

Gene Okerlund congratulates Goldberg about his streak still being in tact and confirms that a match has been signed between Lex Luger and him for the next PPV, Mayhem, later this month. Before Luger though there is a little problem by the name of Bam Bam Bigelow who showed up last week saying that he wants a part of him. Goldberg can’t believe that a talent like that has been sat at home for the past five months, but it’s a death wish him wanting him. He goes on to say that he’s heard enough about Lex Luger, when Lex joins him. As Luger runs down his previous championship credentials Goldberg is attacked from behind by Bam Bam and the two of them leave him lying. Goldberg jogs to the ring for a change but is immediately jumped by Bigelow the moment he slides in under the bottom rope. A rake of the eyes momentarily takes away his vision and as he tries to regain it in the corner, Bam Bam with a big Avalanche splash before kicking Goldberg to the outside. He’s still struggling with his eyesight, swinging aimlessly on punches that Bigelow easily avoids. The whip on the floor is reversed and Bam Bam goes crashing into the guard rail. That doesn’t take much out of him though and he fires back with a clothesline, Goldberg taking a bump on the ringside mats. As they return to the ring Lex Luger walks out to the top of the entrance way in order to get a better view of things. Goldberg blocks a shot and one mighty right hand drops Bigelow. He has some words for Luger but the distraction allows Bam Bam to catch him with a belly to back. Top rope diving head butt and Goldberg kicks out at two. Bigelow signals for the ‘Greetings from Asbury Park’ however Goldberg floats over, shoves him into the ropes and levels him with a spear. After some more words directed at Luger he gets Bam Bam up for the jackhammer and the streak continues. Another fun short Goldberg match. Lex looks pretty old here and I can’t say the thought of a feud between him and Goldberg does much for me at this time.

There looks to be some dissension brewing between 3 Count as Evan is more interested in posing, while Shane takes exception to him calling himself ‘the leader’ of the group and wishes he would concentrate on the upcoming match. There is zero reaction to any of this from the fans though who are deathly quiet throughout. We get a quick video package of Leah Meiow showing the impact that she’s had on the Dragons and the action is already underway when we return. Stereo Asai moonsaults to the floor by Yang and Kaz. Jamie-san is putting the boots to Helms when Leah gets up on the apron and instructs him to help out his partner. He follows her orders but has taken too long, as 3 Count move out the way and his springboard flip dive hits his fellow Dragons instead. Combination suplex/slingshot senton from Shannon and Shane. Yang blocks the hip toss and counters with a clothesline, Moore taking his customary spin bump in the process. Jamie goes for a springboard leg drop however there’s no-one home. Things go from bad to worse for the Dragons when Shannon reverses the Irish whip, leap frogs over Jamie and he crashes into Kaz. Nice ‘round the world’ arm drag by Shannon. Evan with a drop toe hold, but he’d rather dance than follow up on it and Kaz small packages him for a near fall. After a lariat and a powerslam he’s back dancing. His partners have had enough and want in, however he tells them to leave it to him. Quesadora into an ‘X-Factor’ and when Karagias once more dismisses them, Helms resorts to tagging himself in instead. He takes his frustrations out on Hayashi until Kaz flips over on the back suplex and tags in Yang. The Dragons have got things under control when Shane ducks under a lariat and Jamie accidentally clotheslines Yang in the back of the head. ‘Rocker dropper’ by Shannon. He and Helms hit their Samoan drop/neckbreaker double team and Evan sneaks in to steal the pin. Post-match they then hit their finisher on Karagias having had enough of him hogging the spotlight. Meanwhile Leah berates Jamie over his performance and when she grabs his mask he swipes her arm away leading to the other two dragons attacking him. Yang with a reverse tombstone before Leah pulls his mask off, presumably signalling the end of his time in the Jung Dragons. The action is always good when these teams face one another and this appears to be the start of freshening things up, moving away from two three-man teams, to three two-man ones.

Currently still plugging away on PWO2K after a bit of a break. My hope was that I'd finish 2000 by the end of the year although it will take a small miracle for that to happen now. if I can get two thirds of the way through everything I intend to watch though I'll be happy, which in theory should then mean I'll have the first year finished by the end of 2019. Jeez! Getting sidetracked by 2001 didn't help matters though. As a bit of an update I've watched 712 matches from 2000 (out of a scheduled 1,116) and 105 from 2001 (out of a scheduled 783), although both 'scheduled' numbers will increase a fair bit along the way.

This is Schneider’s debut in what is a rematch of sorts as they previously faced each other in a qualifying fight for the Team Tate vs Team Rousey season of TUF (Baszler winning by arm bar). Shayna grabs a single leg and they scramble on the mat as both try to gain control. Colleen manages to take her back, but Shayna blocks the German before a hammerlock take down forces the escape. Kicks are being pulled here or look like they have nothing behind them. Colleen grabs the arm, an axe kick to the head flips Shayna over and she looks for the cross arm bar. That was one cool little spot. She elbows Baszler in the chest trying to get her to release her grasp so she can lock it in and in the end Shayna goes to the ropes for the break. Baszler avoids a soccer kick, rolls Schneider up however she then counters with a triangle. Shayna frees herself from that one and looks for a Kimura but Colleen with a side headlock as they continue to fight and grapple on the mat. Ankle lock by Baszler and she’s really applying the pressure the way she’s bending her foot. Bodyslam in what is our first pure pro wrestling move of the match. Shayna moves her attention to the upper body bending Colleen’s fingers back, manipulating her joints before finally being her arm backwards and stomping on the elbow. They’re back throwing out kicks and I wish they wouldn’t. Colleen ducks out the way of one and catches Baszler with a German suplex for a two. Kick to the chest followed by one that takes her legs out from under her and these are much better. A great looking knee to the downed Baszler takes the wind out of her opponent. She persists with these knees which look brutal. A forearm backs Shayna into the corner and she’s trapped there as Schneider lays in another knee. Spinning high kick fails to connect and Colleen gets her foot caught over the top rope in the process. Stuck, Shayna powerbombs her to the mat and the tap comes soon after on the arm bar submission. Schneider is hesitant to accept Baszler’s hand but does so in the end as the two embrace and Colleen leaves to a hearty round of applause. Not only is this Schneider’s debut, but according to CageMatch it’s only the eighth match in Baszler’s career. I liked this one a ton and the fact that it’s a pair of rookies makes it even better. I’d say that Schneider was actually the more impressive of the two which makes it a shame that it appears this is the only pro wrestling match she’s done. There was so much to enjoy here with the grappling, that cool axe kick spot into the arm bar, the triangle counter, the upper body work, those knees and that powerbomb. My sole criticism is the kicks from the early portion of the match, although those Schneider threw before she moved onto knees looked much better. Highly recommended.

We’re informed that this is Riddle’s third match in the space of nine hours, having wrestled Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr already today. Riddle is forced to go for the ropes on an arm wringer and Deonna dismissively slaps him on the hand as she breaks. Purrazzo stuffs the attempted single leg, sitting down on it and then grabs the go-behind. Riddle looks for a Kimura and this time it’s Deonna who goes to the ropes for the break, Matt slapping her hand now like she did his. Drop toe hold into a Magistral cradle and when Riddle kicks out at two Deonna transitions to a Fujiwara armbar. He fights his way to his feet, lifts her onto his shoulders for the ‘Bro to Sleep’ but Purrazzo grabs his knee blocking it and then stomps on his bare foot. She fires away on him with forearms and gets a near fall after a crossbody off the middle. Satellite headscissors followed by a kick to the chops for another two count. Riddle counters the huracanrana attempt with a powerbomb, knee to the face and he gets the win. I’m afraid this didn’t work for me as it involved suspending my disbelief too much. Former UFC, MMA fighter Matt Riddle getting handled by little Deonna Purrazzo? As an exhibition, yes, but as this, sorry no. Deonna’s transition to the Fujiwara armbar was cool and Riddle slapping her on the hand got a rise from me but that’s about it. As mentioned on commentary Riddle has already wrestled twice today and it sort of felt that way.

A lengthy sit down interview between Tony Schiavone and Goldberg and apparently this is a big moment for Tony. They put over the recent tour of Australia before talking about his new streak and how he’ll be out of WCW if he gets beaten before he breaks it. Goldberg goes a decent job in putting over the challenge he faces at Halloween Havoc in Kronik and they close by plugging his new book. This was overly long (about ten minutes in total) and I found myself losing interest the longer it went. Schiavone mentions that Scott Steiner is in the arena tonight, pretty much telegraphing his involvement here at some point. Booker tries to get the crowd to clap along with him but they’re more interested in chanting for Goldberg. He gets the better of a shoulder tackle, counters Jarrett’s hip toss with one of his own and drops him with a spin kick to the head. ‘The Book’ tags in the man the crowd want to see, Jarrett immediately backing away. Kronik have a quick chat amongst themselves and Brian Adams decides that he wants in. Neither flinches off a shoulder charge and with them nose to nose, he tells Goldberg to try it again. He makes out as if he’s about to, only to level Adams with a short clothesline instead. Double underhook Judo throw and Adams has had enough already. Clark’s a bit more tentative now after what he’s just seen but he needn’t worry as Goldberg tags out to Sting. ‘The Stinger’ straight away targets his legs with kicks and even locks in the ‘Scorpion Deathlock’ resulting in Adams pulling his partner to the ropes for the break. Flying forearm by Booker gets him a near fall. The Irish whip is reversed and Adams with a knee to the back, in a spot I swear I’ve seen so often recently. Clark with a DDT and a piledriver by Adams. Booker gets a two count off a roll up, ducks a swinging right and hits a neckbreaker. He tags both of his partners at the same time which brings in the opposition as it looks like the official is about to lose control of things. A great looking powerslam by Goldberg on Clark. He sets himself for the spear but Clark steps out the way and Goldberg goes flying shoulder first into the ring post. Double chokeslam and Sting with the save just in time as Schiavone was convinced that would’ve been the end of the streak. Scott Steiner, as expected, is out and he’s beating on Booker. ‘Stinger splash’ on Adams, he avoids the Jarrett guitar shot then gets the three on him after a ‘Scorpion Death Drop’. Steiner has pulled out a lead pipe that he uses as a weapon and the show goes off the air with Booker in the ‘recliner’, Sting in the figure four and Kronik doing a number on Goldberg. After that ‘Stinger splash’ I was convinced Brian Adams was taking the fall here, so glad I was wrong on that one as it would have been ridiculous decision just days away from Halloween Havoc. Strong post-match and show closing with the heels in control and looking dominant going into the PPV.

This match can be found on the the video release 'Best of the WWF vol. 6' and also the DVD 'Ricky Steamboat: The Life Story of the Dragon'.

Mike Sanders is confronted by Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner backstage and tells them that there’s been a bit of a power struggle between himself and the Cat, before informing them that they’ll be facing each other in a tag team match with Booker T and Sting as their respective partners, where the winning team will go on to face each other later in the night for the World title. Jarrett tells Booker that he wants Sting and to get out of the ring as he’s starting this. Maybe he should’ve let his partner begin after all as within the first sixty seconds he’s already been on the receiving end of a face jam and a ‘Stinger splash’. He goes for the ‘Scorpion Deathlock’ but Jarrett with a poke to the eyes puts a stop to that. Sting ducks a clothesline, lands one of his own and both men tag out. A big “Booker, Booker” chant erupts causing Steiner to leave the ring and get in the faces of some of the fans in the front row who’re chanting. ‘Big Poppa Pump’ backs Booker into the corner off a collar & elbow tie up and then hammers away with forearms to the jaw. Harlem side kick and Steiner tags in Sting forcing the two fan favourites to face each other. Booker gets the better of the shoulder tackle but they then botch a hip toss. There’s a lot of down time in this so far. Side headlock by ‘the Book’, now Sting is the one backing him into the corner, however there’s no clean break as Booker shows that he’s prepared to bend those rules when there’s a World title match on offer. Sting reverses the Irish whip and Steiner pulls down the top rope sending Booker sailing out over it. For some reason ‘the Stinger’ then slugs Steiner, his own partner, the only thing I can think of being that he wants to win this ‘clean’. Jarrett attacks Steiner and now they’re going at it. ‘Big Poppa Pump’ with a big press slam on ‘Double J’ and a clothesline for Booker, but he would rather do push ups than go for the pin. It looks like he’s going for an ‘Oklahoma Stampede’ however after slamming Booker into the turnbuckles he slides down his back to avoid it. Spinebuster by ‘the Book’, who makes the tag, although Jarrett’s caught with a belly to belly by ‘the Suplex King’ as Madden has taken to calling Steiner. A Sting clothesline sends him over the top rope to the outside, but ‘Double J’ reverses the whip on the floor sending ‘the Stinger’ crashing into the guard rail. Inside Booker and Steiner are battling it out, Booker lands the axe kick but as he goes for a second Harlem side kick of the night, Steiner pulls referee Billy Silverman in the way and he gets taken out. Jarrett breaks a guitar over Sting’s head and Steiner tackles Booker rather than breaking the cover up, meaning its Jarrett and Booker who advance to the title match. I know it’s to be expected in a match where enemies are forced to team together but, when there’s such big prize on offer for the winning team, I find it ridiculous that they can’t put their differences aside for the greater good. The work was okay, if a little slow and pedestrian at time, and I predicted the ref bump about thirty seconds before it happened. Steiner preferring to tackle Booker rather than break up the pin at the finish added to the non-sensical nature of things, unless of course he couldn’t care less about becoming World champion. Which went completely against the story the commentators were telling about how he was the only one of the four who had never been WCW champion and how this was such a great opportunity for him. Typical WCW then!

Vince Russo is in his office backstage along with Jeremy Borash and has a pre-prepared speech for everyone. He says that he’s not an athlete, never claimed to be one and is therefore relinquishing ‘his’ WCW World title, before announcing a match for later in the show to crown a new champion between the top two contenders, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner. Russo then turns his attention towards Goldberg and how he proved to everyone last week what a coward he was in the way he took advantage of an innocent, fallen and helpless victim. He talks about how he could have filed charges against him for assault but he’s not that kind of a person. That brings out the man himself and he tells Russo that he’s here and waiting. A confident Russo announces that his future is in his hands and he’s got no problem coming out there to tell him what those plans are face to face. He was confident because he is safe and out of harms way in a Perspex box that is being driven to the ring on the back of a pick up! Goldberg takes care of R&B security (including Ali from MPPW who made it to WCW after all) who are escorting the truck. Russo states that he can fire Goldberg right now but that’s the easy way out, he put his hands on him and now he wants him to feel his pain. He informs him that he will only get another World title match if he breaks his previous streak of 176 victories, however if he loses, just once, he’s gone from WCW. Goldberg kicks the driver’s window out of the truck and snatches the keys as Borash (who was driving) high tails it out of there. Before he can get his hands on Russo though he’s attacked from behind by Meng who puts him in the Tongan death grip. Madden says that there is no tougher foe than the monster Meng on the way to 177; so this streak should be a doddle then if he can get past him then! Meng gets the video package treatment and we even hear some words from him as he’s interviewed by Pamela Paulshock. This is his last chance and for him to stay in WCW he must destroy Goldberg. It’s his life and Goldberg must die so he can live! Meng attacks Goldberg the moment he steps through the ropes and they swing, exchange blows and hammer away on each other. A couple of hard knife edge chops and some shots to the mid-section by Meng as he mixes his strikes up. Irish whip, Goldberg ducks under the high kick and responds with a spear. A jackhammer and the new streak is off and running in double quick time. Kronik jump Goldberg after the match as it looks like Russo has some added insurance to make sure he gets nowhere near 177 after all. As fun of a thirty second match as you’re likely to see

The Natural Born Thrillers and ‘Coach’ Nash make their way to the ring as Mark Madden says that there have been accusations flying about that Stasiak isn’t really on the team and that Nash is going to show him ‘tough love’. ‘Coach’ name drops Scott Hall, saying how when the two of them arrived in WCW four and a half years ago they exemplified what a team was “both shoot and work”, before going onto claim that they were arguably the greatest tag team of all time. The three suck ups on commentary agree with that statement! Nash tells Stasiak that standing before him tonight is the elite, the future of this business and for some reason he doesn’t want to be a part of that. Seeing that he wants to be alone, tonight he stands alone. Cue Goldberg’s music with Madden now claiming that it was Mike Sanders’ decision to feed Stasiak to him. Stasiak jumps Goldberg as he slides into the ring, however his flying back elbow has no effect. He thinks he’s dropped him with it, when in reality Stasiak just bounced off him and Goldberg didn’t even go down. He plays to the crowd as he believes he’s got this under control, but when he turns around he walks right into a spear. Goldberg with the jackhammer and it’s over already. Post-match he grabs the microphone and warns Kronik that in six days at Halloween Havoc “they’re next”.