GSR

Intercontinental title match after Chris Benoit won the triple threat match at Wrestlemania. Benoit gets the better of a shoulder tackle, however Tazz catches a kick and plants ‘the Crippler’ with a head and arm suplex. Benoit fires back with a forearm and a stiff knife edge chop before a snap suplex gets him a two. He tosses Tazz to the outside and he crashes head first on the arena floor but fortunately doesn’t seem to hurt himself. ‘The Crippler’ follows him out and whips him into the barricade. Back inside and Benoit with a ‘Scorpion deathlock’, however he gives up on the hold when it looks like Tazz isn’t going to submit from it. Drop toe hold and he unloads with punches to the back of the head. Benoit whips Tazz chest first into the corner, grabs him around the waist for a German suplex, but he escapes his grasp and slaps on the Tazzmission. Perry Saturn sprints down to the ring and climbs to the top turnbuckle to try and save his fellow Radicalz I-C title, but Tazz spots him and shoves Benoit into the ropes causing Saturn to crotch himself. Belly to belly off the top with Saturn just about avoiding landing on his head. A clothesline sends Saturn over the top rope to the floor, but Benoit then ducks under a swinging right and catches him with a German suplex for the win. Tazz puts the Tazzmission on Saturn as he and Benoit are leaving, and after ‘the Crippler’ saves him, chases the pair of them to the back. I had planned to stop watching WWF due to the time factor, but I’ll be digging into a few things that pique my interest. Surprisingly short match and Tazz also doing the job after a solitary German suplex; a clear case of one man’s stock who is on the rise and another’s who is on the decline.

Heel Rey continuing to slap the hands of the fans as he walks to ringside! The Filthy Animals are carrying a small step ladder to mock Evan Karagias who sprained his ankle falling off a bigger one on Nitro a couple of weeks ago. Konan runs through his catchphrases and tells Evan and his crew to come out and bow down to the originators of high flying wrestling. Evan (on crutches) and Tank Abbott join them and Tank challenges the Animals to a dance contest. As Konan and Disco bust some moves in the ring, Shannon Moore and Shane Helms hop the guardrail and dropkick the pair of them in the back sending them tumbling to the floor. Action continues inside as Tank is brandishing a crutch outside. Disco nails him with his own square mat and Tank chases him all the way to the back. With the official ‘s back turned and concentrating on Tank and Disco, the Jung Dragons appears out of nowhere and take out 3 Count with a pair of great looking spinning heel kicks. Springboard legdrop by Juvi on Helms. Shane with a boot to the mid-section and a release German suplex with ‘the Juice’ landing flush on the back of his head. Cross-armed German for two as Rey is in to break up the pin. Blind tag behind Shane’s back and Rey levels him with a springboard lariat. This time it’s Shannon making the save at two, and a quick 3 Count double team results in Rey being on the receiving end of a sit-out powerbomb. Slingshot senton from Shannon and a sleeper into a reverse DDT. Juvi’s in to help his partner and hits ‘the Dominator’ on Moore. Rey with a legdrop off the top to the groin, however Juvi then misses his rip off ‘People’s elbow’. Lionsault by Shannon connects with only canvas, but Shane is in with a quick fire superkick. He makes the cover and Rey is loitering in the corner, inside the ring, seemingly having forgotten that he doesn’t need to break this pin attempt as Juvi kicks out all by himself! Double team Samoan drop/swinging neckbreaker on Rey as the two counts continue. Juvi reverses an Irish whip, and Rey backdrops Shane over the top rope to the outside and follows that with a baseball slide into a headscissors on the floor. ‘Juvi Driver’ on Shannon and the 450 splash for the win. I had high expectations for this match but sadly they didn’t materialise, as for whatever reason the two teams were just off. Not terrible or anything, just not as fluid and smooth as you would expect. There are also way too many people at ringside to start with and there is so much going on everywhere, and that’s even before the Jung Dragons have interjected themselves into things. I’ll say the same again, but the sooner that Tank is away from 3 Count the better and I have no idea what Tygress adds to the Filthy Animals, bar giving Konan another lame catchphrase to his repertoire.

We get clips from Nitro and it turns out Muta did what everyone else does in WCW, and turned (heel) when he attacked ‘Commissioner Cat’ who was again guest officiating in a match. Vampiro makes an open challenge to anyone in the back (“with the grapefruits big enough”) and it’s answered by Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire. The teams immediately pair off, O’Haire ducks under a Vampiro spin kick and a ‘Cactus clothesline’ sends them both to the floor. Springboard lariat by Jindrak on Muta. Vampiro reverses a whip to the corner, O’Haire runs up the turnbuckles, sticks a backflip off the top and a spinning heel kick grazes and drops Vamp. Double leapfrog from Jindrak and O’Haire and the latter with that crappy looking clothesline. Muta cheap shots him in the back before hitting a powerdrive elbow that looks as though it barely connects. O’Haire with a scoop powerslam and he’s able to make the tag. Vampiro tags out at the same time and a flying clothesline by Jindrak on Muta gets a two. He goes for it again, howeve this time Muta ducks under and dropkicks Jindrak’s leg. Dragon screw leg whip and a kneebar for the submission win. The Demon comes out after the match and drags Jindrak and O’Haire back to the ring as they’re leaving. A pair of cobra clutch slams, or ‘loveguns’, on both until Kronik make the save. The Demon scarpers and Bryan Clark with a pumphandle into a powerslam on Vampiro, and Brian Adams with a full nelson slam to Muta. Another match with Muta half-assing it and looking completely unmotivated about working in WCW. The amount of turns we’re getting is beyond ridiculous at this point. Poor match and the same applies to Jindrak and O’Haire that I’ve said previously about them. With how they’d been pushed so far I was very surprised to see them do the job though. This Vampiro-Muta-Demon (and ICP when they’re there) faction is not the most inspiring of groups.

Booker thanks all the fans for supporting him ever since he won the World title, before informing Jeff Jarrett he’s going to get taken to school at New Blood Rising. Goldberg interrupts proceedings and joins Booker in the ring. He tells him that he never had a problem with him until last Monday when he stuck his nose in his business and had the nerve to put his hands on him. Goldberg then reminds everyone how a couple of weeks back Booker promised that every Monday night he would put that belt up, “it’s Monday Book and you’re looking at your partner for this evening… because you’re next!” Booker accepts the challenge and the two of them are nose to nose when ‘Commissioner Cat’s’ music plays. ‘The Cat’ tells Goldberg that he’s the boss, and while Booker did say he’ll put the title on the line every Monday night, he (Goldberg) doesn’t get to choose the person he’s going to face. As Booker calls himself ‘the people’s champion’ (where have I heard that before?), then they’re going to let the fans decide who will get to face him. The crowd start a ‘Goldberg’ chant, but ‘the Cat’ ignores them and says that for the next hour they can vote on WCW.com for who they want that opponent to be. Since he’s the boss, ‘the Cat’ then gives Goldberg five seconds to get out of the ring, but this results in Goldberg snatching him around the neck and with Booker making the save before security are quickly out to separate them. Backstage interview between Goldberg and Mike Tenay where he promises that if the fans don’t choose him to be Booker’s opponent, the person they do will be leaving in a body bag. The World title match and Booker is out first as we await the result of the poll on WCW.com. A Sting video appears on the Nitrovision and he has seemingly won the vote. When ‘he’ walks out though it is clearly not the real Sting and he’s immediately jumped from behind by Goldberg. Booker goes out to confront him and the two are at it again, with security again trying to keep them apart. As Booker helps ‘Sting’ onto a stretcher and to the dressing room, Goldberg gets on the mic and challenges him to come back out so he can “beat his ass”. It doesn’t take Booker long to answer and he sprints back to the ring. Booker ducks under a swinging rights and peppers Goldberg with a series of jabs. Irish whip, however Goldberg just charges at him and takes him down. Awesome looking overhead press into a bodyslam. Booker rolls to the floor but Goldberg follows him out and whips him into the ring steps. Despite Tony Schiavone’s claims that Booker went shoulder first into them, he’s bleeding from the forehead! Fireman’s carry takedown into a cross armbar and Booker is just about able to reach the ropes. Stevie Ray is out and throws in the towel for his brother, however Goldberg just uses it to wipe off his sweat before throwing it back at him. ‘The Cat’s’ back and he tells Goldberg that it’s over; he will get the win, but because Booker didn’t submit or he didn’t pin him, he can’t give him the World title. That doesn’t go down too well with Goldberg who then takes his frustrations out on the security. Booker later confronts ‘The Cat’ in his office and he wants him to restart the match. It’s not about the belt anymore for him, and he threatens that if he doesn’t get it tonight he’s walking out of WCW. ‘The Cat’s’ not having a Benoit situation on his watch and acquiesces to his demands. Stevie Ray is concerned for his brother and goes to see Goldberg. He tells him that Booker needs medical help and asks him to let this one go. His response is to attack Stevie and throw him through a glass window. It’s been a busy night for those paramedics, as after an advert break we see Stevie being stretchered into an ambulance as Booker looks on. Onto the rematch, and this time it’s Booker who jumps Goldberg as he’s making his entrance. He goes to whip Goldberg into the guardrail, however reversal and it’s ‘the Book’ who goes crashing into it. The commentators are really trying to get over this ‘human cyborg’ moniker for Goldberg. He tosses Booker into the ring, but when he climbs through the ropes himself, Booker nails him with an axe kick. Whip to the turnbuckle, only to be met with a Goldberg boot when he charges in. Irish whip, Booker ducks the clothesline, crossbody, however Goldberg catches, puts him over his shoulder and powerslams him to the canvas. He starts to rain down punches on that cut from earlier in an attempt to reopen it, when out rushes Jeff Jarrett. ‘Double J’ sneaks into the ring and cracks Goldberg over the back with a steel chair. Apparently this is ‘anything goes’ so the official has to let it go. The chair shot has little affect anyway and Goldberg with a spear to Jarrett. ‘The bloody Cat’ is now in the ring and levels Goldberg with a ‘Feliner kick’ (what an awful name that is!). Goldie slugs him, Harlem side kick by Booker, ‘Book End’ AND BOOKER WITH A THREE COUNT ON GOLDBERG!!! He actually kicks out fractionally after the official has counted the fall and as Booker is celebrating, spears him. ‘Jackhammer’, but it looks like Goldberg may have hurt himself as he’s holding his arm. Security are out to try and calm the situation (you would’ve thought they would’ve learned by now!) but he takes them out one by one as the show goes off the air. Sadly the match couldn’t live up to the build up. This angle had ran for the duration of the episode of Nitro, built well and then we got this main event. Goldberg has got a real bad ass aura about him at the moment, and he and Booker could’ve had a competitive match. As it was we got Jeff Jarrett interjecting himself, and then to top that, ‘Commissioner Cat’ and this shitty looking ‘Feliner kick’ dropping ‘the human cyborg’. Okay, Goldberg gets back to his feet pretty quickly after both lots of interference but that interference just deflates you. There is an air of freshness about Booker vs Goldberg, there is no freshness about Jeff Jarrett being in the main event mix. I appreciate why ‘The Cat’ had to be involved in the majority of this, but he’s a character I’ve already tired of and his involvement in the match itself made no sense. A huge shock seeing Booker get a three count on Goldberg as that was something that I was completely unaware of. Liked the idea of him kicking out just after the three though and going on a rampage to get his heat back.

Terri Runnels joins ‘the King’ and JR for commentary and she’s practically falling out of her top. We miss the opening seconds as the cameras are concentrating on the announcers and JR speculating whether Terri is managing Edge and Christian, as opposed to the in ring action. Drop toehold/baseball slide dropkick double team by Saturn and Malenko. Edge reverses a whip to the corner, Saturn goes for the tip up, however Edge catches him on his shoulders and pancakes him to the canvas. Double hiptoss and Christian with a face first suplex. Spinning heel kick to Malenko followed by a double flapjack. As the official tries to get Christian out of the ring, Saturn is in and clips Edge’s knee from behind. Pump handle suplex and Saturn and Malenko then focus all their efforts on that knee. Desperation enziguiri and he’s able to make the tag to Christian. Reverse DDT on Saturn as he takes it to the Radicalz. All four men are in the ring and Terri leaves the announcer’s table to get a closer view at ringside. Malenko and Edge take a spill over the top rope to the floor, although we don’t see how as the camera is again concentrating on Terri. She goes to check on Edge, however Malenko clobbers him and he accidentally collides into her. Terri’s clutching her ankle, while in the ring Eddy Guerrero is up on the ropes distracting the official. As Edge is trying to apologize to Terri, the Radicalz with a ‘Total Elimination’ on Christian for the win. As soon as the bell rings Terri is up and skipping to the back as Edge realizes he’s been duped by her. This was more about Terri than the wrestlers who came across as though they were playing second fiddle to her. Work between the two teams was fine, but the commentators barely talked about the match, preferring to talk to Terri. Although it’s only six months since the ‘Terri Invitational Tournament’ when the Hardyz and Edge & Christian were battling for her services, she does seems passé and as though her time has been and gone.

Kanyon has now dyed his hair blonde which is a huge improvement over the ridiculous hair piece he was wearing previously. We get clips from Nitro with Judy Bagwell doing the worse job imaginable of taking a ‘Diamond Cutter’, before we see her laid out in the parking lot, supposedly after receiving another cutter at the hands of Kanyon. Awesome and Bagwell don’t wait for the Canadian national anthem to finish (respected better by Kanyon than it was by Billy Kidman!) before making their entrance, and Kanyon hops out the ring the moment he sees Buff. Irish whip. Storm goes for the leapfrog over Awesome, however he catches him in a bear hug and a release overhead belly to belly. A clothesline sends Storm over the top rope to the floor, and a huge suicide dive by Awesome as Buff continues to chase Kanyon around ringside. The two of them finally enter the ring and Buff with a swinging neckbreaker. As he runs the ropes, Lance elbows him in the back and Kanyon with a face first Russian legsweep. Storm whips Buff to the corner but he gets his foot up on the charging Canadian national champion. A pair of tags and a slingshot shoulderblock by Awesome to Kanyon. Another overhead belly to belly and a big powerbomb on Storm for two as Kanyon breaks up the pin. Awesome blocks the ‘Kanyon cutter’ and a release German suplex. Frog splash off the top and this time it’s Lance saving his partner at the count of two. All four men are in the ring and Buff with a running crossbody sending both himself and Kanyon tumbling over the top rope and to the outside. Lance with the single leg crab on Awesome, but while he’s got it locked on, Buff is back to his feet and hits a Blockbuster on him. Kanyon pulls referee Billy Silverman out the ring at two, and when Bagwell goes for a baseball slide dropkick, Kanyon pulls Silverman in the way and he gets nailed instead. Kanyon clobbers Bagwell with his book, and as Awesome has Lance primed for the ‘Awesome Bomb’, he slugs him with it too. ‘Kanyon Cutter’ and Silverman slides back in to count the fall. So Awesome has turned faced somewhere along the line? He seemed very much a throwback to the old ‘ECW’ Mike Awesome here with a lot of those old staples such as the leafrog attempt/bear hug/overhead belly to belly spot and the big suicide dive. I’m not as enamoured with heel Lance Storm as I was with face Lance, so maybe that’s something that I’ll grow into over the coming months. Short match and nothing really worth going out of your way to watch either.

‘Commissioner Cat’ is the special official for this and he’s definitely a full on face now. ‘The Cat’ is followed by Booker T who’ll be providing guest commentary with Mark Madden and Tony Schiavone. Madden can’t believe this match is taking place on Monday Nitro, me neither! Lock up, Steiner reverses Goldberg into the corner and a couple of stiff forearms across the chops before unloading with knees to the mid-section. He telegraphs a backdrop and Goldberg with a clubbing forearm across his back. Butterfly suplex come Judo throw. Steiner sidesteps the spear, but while Goldberg puts the breaks on, ‘Big Poppa Pump’ with an overhead suplex/throw of his own. Irish whip, Goldberg ducks the clothesline and comes back with a big flying shoulder tackle. Huge overhead press, he drops then catches Steiner over his shoulder and powerslams him to the canvas. He whips him into the turnbuckles, charges, but Steiner gets a foot up. Belly to belly followed by a shoddily applied ‘Steiner recliner’. For some reason Scotty jut gives up on the hold to slug ‘the Cat’ who falls out the ring to the floor. Booker goes to check on him and Steiner invites ‘the Book’ into the ring. The two of them go at it until Goldberg with a spear that Booker leapfrogs over and takes out Steiner. Great looking Harlem sidekick to Goldberg. The Wolfpac’s music plays and here comes a cap wearing, beer swigging Kevin Nash or, ‘the Sexecutioner’ as Madden calls him. ‘Jackknife’ on Goldberg, another for Scott Steiner and he leaves as quickly as he came, making sure to pick up his bottle of beer on the way! Tony Schiavone says during commentary that this has a real PPV feel to it, THEN WHY WASN’T IT A PAY PER VIEW MAIN EVENT THEN TONY??? It boggles my mind that they gave this match away for free on Nitro when it was the biggest match that WCW had in their locker. There was a real physicality and intensity about things and it had great heat throughout. This was pretty darn good up until the final few minutes where it went very quickly down the pan the moment Steiner abandoned ‘the recliner’ to deck ‘the Cat’. There has been a noticeable increase in match quality this month compared to the previous three, so the last person I want to be seeing walking down the aisle is ‘the Sexecutioner’ himself doing a low rent Steve Austin gimmick manhanding Goldberg and Steiner back to back in a matter of seconds. Just do one Nash! The match ended too with no finish as it looks like ‘the Cat’ just wandered to the back after Steiner slugged him.

Final of the United States title tournament, although in his pre-match interview Lance kindly offers everyone one final chance to jump on his bandwagon before he becomes the Canadian Heavyweight champion. Awesome interrupts the playing of the Canadian national anthem, ordering the sound guy to “turn that shit off” otherwise he’ll turn it off himself. Storm charges out the ring to go and meet him, but Awesome gets in first with a boot to the mid-section. He drops Lance throat first across the guardrail before repeatedly whipping him into it from one side to the other. Chair shot to the back and he then throws Lance inside. He slides the chair into the ring ready to use again, however Lance snatches it and as Awesome climbs through the ropes, he jabs him with it. Legdrop across the back of the neck for two. Awesome blocks having his head rammed into the turnbuckles, a series of elbows to the bread basket and a huge sit-out powerbomb. Stiff looking lariat for a near fall. Running splash into the corner, big splash off the top, but he takes too long and Storm gets his knees up. Attempted tornado DDT, although something goes wrong; Lance is laid out, like he was the one on the receiving end of the move, and Schiavone claims Awesome hooked the rope to block it even though he clearly never did. Awesome heads upstairs for an ‘Awesome bomb’ off the top, but Lance fights it and reverses the situation, hitting a suicideplex instead. Storm with a springboard, however Awesome catches him mid-air and launches him with a belly to belly. Another ‘Awesome bomb’ attempt, but this time Storm counters into the single leg crab and he’s the new US Heavyweight champion. A couple of larger ladies enter the ring and help Awesome to his feet and he then leaves with one on either arm whilst grinning like the cat who just got the cream. Oh dear, no more ‘Career Killer’ and the start of the ‘Fat Chick Thriller’.

Morgan is accompanied by some woman called McKenzie, whilst Modest has also got an entourage that includes a token female. The match hasn’t even begun and the crowd starts a “catfight, catfight” chant at the girls. Morgan gets the better of the opening grappling exchanges and as Modest is on the floor re-evaluating, we get a “we want puppies” chant! He makes out as if he’s heading back to the dressing room, but when Morgan calls him a “chicken” over the house mic, he does an about turn and returns to the ring. A cartwheel escape off a monkey flip by Modest and some super stiff knife edge chops. Morgan with the drop down after reversing an Irish whip, and Modest counters with a lovely pinfall attempt where he puts Morgan in a camel clutch, tucks his head and then rolls forward. As Morgan focuses his attention on Modest’s arm, there is a loud and prolonged “boring, boring” chant. That seems to affect him as he yells “you liked this before you bunch of marks!” Modest turns the tide and utilizes those cool looking arm whips into the canvas. Lariat to the back of the head, flipping Morgan over in the process. Whip to the turnbuckle and Modest distracts the official allowing his entourage to post Morgan. Awesome looking T-Bone suplex. Modest then tosses Morgan through the ropes and slams him on the gym floor. He gets back in the ring, however some sort of dive to the outside is completely missed because the cameraman would rather focus on McKenzie’s cleavage. A clothesline turns Morgan inside out, before again throwing him to the floor where one of his seconds can get in some more shots behind the referee’s back. Modest with a backdrop driver, although the camera work is appalling at this point. He misses a splash off the top as McKenzie tries to rally her man. Dropkick by Morgan and a Russian legsweep. Split legged moonsault gets a two and a Lionsault does the same. Modest does the Flair flip over the turnbuckles and onto the apron, but a Morgan back elbow sends him flying into his seconds. Somersault dive to the floor is actually caught by the camera this time! Back inside and Morgan with a side headlock. Modest shoots him off, shoulder tackle, drop down, however he then sidesteps Morgan and launches him over the top rope sending him crashing through a ringside table. That woke the crowd up! Modest rolls him back into the ring and a ‘Death Valley Driver’ for the win. Post-match Modest spits on Morgan and attacks the official. He goes to give Morgan a second ‘DVD’, but this time he escapes and hits a Michinoku Driver instead. Modest’s female slaps Morgan and his response is to kiss her??? He then hits a combination DDT/neckbreaker on Modest and one of his entourage before leaving with McKenzie and a couple of randoms who just showed up. I struggled with this, and as much as I hate “boring, boring” chants, I can kinda understand why this match got them. I found Morgan to be seriously bland, much more so than Modest, and wondered if the purpose of the women and the seconds at ringside was a way to add a bit of personality and character to things? Just like the Daniels match I really enjoyed Modest’s work (the arm whips, the T-Bone, that camel clutch into a pin) and everything is so smooth with him, but this was a far tougher watch than that by some way. In regards to the face/heel dynamic, to me it was clear Morgan was the face and the only time he moved into heel mode was when he seemed legit pissed at the prolonged boring chant early in the match. Also that bump he took through the table at the end, he caught his back on the edge of the apron as he landed which couldn’t have been comfortable for him. Camera work was really bad at points through this missing key parts of the match.

Booker T has joined them on commentary for this match where the winner will face him at New Blood Rising. So much for that four way then! Jarrett with a go behind into a side headlock. Kanyon shoots him off and an early backslide by ‘Double J’ for two. Kanyon reverses the Irish whip and a real cool looking Northern Lights suplex by him. ‘Sicilian slice’, but instead of making the cover he plays to the audience. He steps out the ring to confront Booker for some unknown reason, only to get levelled from behind by Jarrett. ‘Double J’ throws him into the front row, before suplexing him back over the guardrail and onto the arena floor. Chair shot to the back. Now Jarrett is having words with Booker, but this gives Kanyon the chance to waffle him with the chair. Back in the ring and that ‘Alabama slam’ into a sit-out powerbomb for two. Kanyon picks up his book and swings for ‘Double J’ but he ducks out the way. Boot to the mid-section, Kanyon drops the book and Jarrett with a DDT onto it, however the DDP impersonator is able to roll a shoulder at the last split second. ‘Double J’ grabs his guitar from ringside, but as he’s about to hit Kanyon over the head with it, referee Billy Silverman snatches hold and takes it off him. Distracted, Jarrett then gets KO’d by the book, but at two is able to get a foot over the bottom rope. The match returns to the floor and after Jarrett reverses a whip to the guardrail, he’s again over at the announcers table. He shoves Stevie Ray (who’s now a commentator), clocks Booker with a right and security are straight out and between them. In the meantime Buff Bagwell has jumped Kanyon (over what he did to his mother) and attacks him until another lot of security drag him off. Things look live they’ve calmed down, Jarrett with ‘the Stroke’ and he’s on his way to New Blood Rising…again. There was nothing wrong with the work here (and that Northern Lights was quality), but I just can’t get past this god awful ‘Positively’ Kanyon gimmick. As a result I couldn’t get into the match and found it all rather boring. Seriously, I find myself fixated with that ridiculous hair piece half the time! The guy doesn’t look like a champion, let alone a contender, and certainly not a threat. Some odd moment’s as well with Kanyon seemingly having the match won, only to pose to the crowd and then step out the ring to have words with Booker. Where’s your urgency? Don’t you want to challenge for the title? The pull apart between Harlem Heat and Jarrett had a bit of ‘heat’ about it, although I’m never happy to see Buff Bagwell involved with anything.

The match was set up on the back of the tag team match they had against Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire earlier in the show when Storm thought that Kidman was disrespecting the Canadian national anthem. Lance isn’t even half way down the aisle when Kidman sprints out and nails him from behind. He whips him into the guardrail before tossing him inside. Storm is right up to his feet and dropkicks Kidman as he climbs through the ropes. Lariat in the corner and as Kidman crumples to the floor, baseball slide dropkick from ‘Calgary, Alberta, Canada’s’ finest. Storm wedges a chair between the turnbuckles and Kidman counters a scoop powerslam into a nice pinfall attempt for two. Lance with an uppercut and a legdrop to the back of the neck for a two of his own. Kidman ducks a clothesline and takes down Storm with a huracanrana. He charges at him, but Lance backdrops him over the top rope and onto the apron. Shoulder to the mid-section and Kidman goes for a sunset flip back into the ring, however Lance counters it with a lovely Northern Lights suplex. Dropkick from Kidman, he then heads upstairs but Storm swipes his legs crotching him on the top. Suicideplex for two. Kidman with a roll up, Storm kicks out and Kidman goes crashing into that chair Lance had wedged between the turnbuckles earlier. Still only enough for a two though. Storm lies the chair in the middle of the ring and goes for a powerbomb, however Kidman counters with a facebuster onto the chair for the win. This goes less than three and a half minutes, but its non-stop, balls to the wall action all the way. Loved that Northern Lights suplex counter off the sunset flip attempt. Was very surprised to see Storm take his first singles loss in WCW this way, although the involvement of a steel chair does give him an out. A hell of a short match.

Lance insists on having the Canadian national anthem played before their match, but while he remains stoic throughout, Kidman clowns about behind him: reading a paper, giving Storm ‘rabbit ears’ and dancing, before orchestrating the crowd in a ‘USA’ chant. Jindrak and O’Haire are on the apron and as soon as the anthem finishes, Storm levels them both with a double clothesline and they fall to the outside. The two of them sidestep the stereo baseball slides, then press Kidman and Storm overhead and throw them back over the top rope and into the ring. Dropkick by Jindrak to Storm for two. Kidman with a blind tag, and as Storm ducks out, a bulldog off the turnbuckles gets just the one a Jindrak kicks out early. Lance whips him to the corner, Jindrak with a foot up on the charge, but Storm catches him with a leg lariat. Both men make a tag and O’Haire takes it to Kidman with some pretty lame looking offence. Huge sky high double beel on him. O’Haire heads to the top and does a 360 landing on his feet before nailing Storm with a thrust kick. As he’s on the apron trying to recover, Jindrak reverses the Irish whip and Kidman crashes into him sending his partner flying to the arena floor. Tilt-a-whirl slam by Jindrak, ‘Seanton bomb’ and the Power Plant graduates win again. Storm helps Kidman to his feet, only to then instantly level him with a superkick as Schiavone speculates that it’s payback for Kidman’s antics during the national anthem. I have a feeling I’ll be saying impressive athleticism and power moves (and little else) for quite some time when it comes to Jindrak and O’Haire. The latter has a horrible looking clothesline as well. First poor match for Storm, although this was more about solidifying his position on the roster as a heel and setting Kidman up for his first feud (I think?).

A sombre Tony Schiavone announces that Mike Tenay was injured by Scott Steiner yesterday and his vocal chords were damaged so won’t be here today. ‘The Brain’ is not so compassionate and says that Tenay got what he deserved, Steiner is ready to explode and he shouldn’t have spoken to him the way he did. Tank leads 3 Count out and he’s not happy that they were jumped from behind on Monday robbing the fans, and he, of them performing. It’s not happening again though! He’s got his square mat, is going to face the stage and no-one is coming out to disrupt them! As 3 Count dance in the ring and Tank dances on his square watching the entrance way, the Jung Dragons enter through the crowd and attack 3 Count from behind. The camera focuses on Tank as opposed to what’s going on in the ring, and when he turns around and realises what’s happening, he gets jumped by the Great Muta. He rolls Tank inside and puts a couple of boots to him before tagging out to Yang. Awful looking clubbing blows to the back of the downed Tank by him. Abbott gets to his feet and just dumps Yang to the canvas. Triple team facebuster by 3 Count. Jamie-san breaks up the pin, but he’s quickly felled with a double team combination Samoan drop/neckbreaker. Kaz breaks up this pin and gets a triple team powerbomb for his troubles. Muta with a series of dragon screw leg whips, he goes to blow the mist at Tank, however he uses one of 3 Counts circular mats to block it. He wallops Muta with the mat, KO punch to Yang and Helms gets the pin. Tank is a dire promo. Another hugely disappointing match between these teams and the quicker they can get Tank away from 3 Count the better because he is killing them. This was a few double and triple team moves with nothing in between. Tank using the mat to block the mist was cute…I suppose, while Muta does little of note or to impress.

Four way match with the winner going on to face the World champion at New Blood Rising. Steiner and Kanyon get us underway and Steiner with some knees to the mid-section before tearing off Kanyon’s shirt and chopping his bare chest. Big gorilla press slam dropping him face first to the canvas. He tosses Kanyon over the top to the outside and whips him into the guard rail. Belly to belly, ‘Steiner recliner’ and Goldberg is in with a boot to the head to break up the submission. ‘Alabama slam’ into a sit-out powerbomb by Kanyon and Goldberg is back in again, this time to break up the pin attempt. He signals for the ‘Kanyon cutter’, but Jarrett slaps his outstretched arms and tags himself in. Irish whip is reversed and Steiner with a tilt-a-whirl slam. Kanyon tags himself back in, although Steiner’s not too pleased about it and gives him a lovely overhead suplex/throw on his way out. Jarrett makes the cover, but this time Goldberg is in too early and stands around like a lemon waiting for the official to count two before he breaks the pinfall. Kanyon counters the hiptoss into a swinging neckbreaker. He goes for the ‘Kanyon cutter’ again, Jarrett shoots him off, Kanyon ducks the clothesline, boot to the gut and this time he hits the cutter. Unbeknownst to him though, Goldberg had tagged himself in after ‘Double J’ missed the clothesline and nails Kanyon with an almighty spear. ‘Jackhammer’ and Steiner with the save. The two of them are nose to nose and trade a few bombs before falling out of the ring to the floor. Jarrett sneaks back in, covers Kanyon and will go on to face Booker T at New Blood Rising. Security are out to separate Goldberg and Steiner as the show goes off the air. Kanyon looks like a jobber here doing the parody gimmick, which makes it tough to take him seriously as a threat to the other three wrestlers. He works and bumps hard (and took the spear wonderfully) but needs to quit the gimmick sharpish. There are still signs in the crowd saying ‘$oldberg’, however he gets more cheers than anyone else. Match is well structured to keep him and Steiner apart bar the one brief altercation, and what we got of them trading forearms and bombs was superb. Crowd was primed and electric when they were nose to nose and that’s the match they should be looking at booking for the New Blood Rising PPV.

‘Double J’ opens the aggressor, Kidman ducks a clothesline and a headscissors takedown. Jarrett with a backdrop over the top rope, however Kidman lands on the apron. Somersault back inside, they then continually reverse each other’s hip toss attempts, ending when Jarrett launches Kidman over the top and to the arena floor (not a comfortable looking bump!). Whip to the guardrail before dropping Kidman throat first across it. He fires back with a couple of dropkicks and a forward roll off Jarrett’s shoulders into a cradle for two. Crossbody off the top, however Jarrett’s momentum takes him over and Kidman kicks out just in time. ‘Double J’ telegraphs a backdrop, Kidman with a kick and he then clotheslines Jarrett over the top rope to the outside. Torrie Wilson walks out (I thought they were through?) and Kidman forgets about his opponent to step outside and have words with her. He tells Torrie “it’s over” and she slaps him. Shane Douglas tries to jump Kidman from behind, but he blocks his shot and drops him with one of his own. Low blow by Torrie and ‘the Franchise’ with a DDT on the floor. Douglas throws him back in, Jarrett crawls over for the pin but Kidman kicks out. Powerbomb is just about reversed into a facebuster, and now it’s Jarrett barely getting a shoulder up. ‘Double J’ blocks a bulldog off the turnbuckle and counters with ‘the Stroke’ for the three.

Nitro opens with Mike Tenay narrating a nice video package of Booker T. The Book’s out and he thanks all of his fans for their support, calls Goldberg a ‘mark’ for himself and the business, and then asks security to escort his wife (who’s in the crowd and isn’t Sharmell) into the ring. He thanks her for allowing him to do what he does before telling her he loves her. Stevie Ray interrupts them and gives us a history lesson of their life together as Tony Schiavone hopes that this doesn’t get ugly. Even Scott Casey gets referenced as Stevie says how he told Booker that he’s got what it takes to get to the top! Stevie tells him that he’s proud of him and that he loves him, when the sirens to signify Scott Steiner start up. No Steiner though, its Midajah carrying a microphone as Scott Hudson wonders if she can talk! She tells Booker’s wife that she’s no idea what she’s doing here and there is only one real man in WCW, her ‘Big Poppa Pump’ Scott Steiner! She informs Booker that tonight he’s going to make him his personal bitch, when from behind Steiner lays out Stevie and then Booker with a baseball bat. His wife cowers in the corner (although surprisingly he doesn’t attack her) as he continues to assault Booker with the bat. On to the match itself and Awesome backs Booker against the ropes, but no clean break here. Irish whip is reversed, Booker with a leap frog followed by a spin kick and Awesome takes to the outside. A series of punches in the corner from ‘the Book’ and a whip to the turnbuckle is reversed. Booker avoids the charge, however Awesome ducks under the Harlem sidekick and levels him with a clothesline (which Booker takes a spin bump off). He throws Booker to the floor and cracks him over the back with a chair before whipping him into the guardrail. Slingshot splash back inside for two. ‘Alabama slam’ and a huge frog splash off the top that Booker only just about gets a shoulder up from. Awesome sets up a table on the outside, goes for the ‘Awesome bomb’ from inside the ring to the arena floor, however Booker manages to free himself in time. Backdrop over the top rope by Booker, but Awesome lands on the apron. A right staggers him and a flying forearm does the trick, sending Awesome crashing backwards through the table he’d previously set up. He just about beats the count back into the ring and Booker with an axe kick. Harlem sidekick connects, while a spinebuster and a missile dropkick both only bring him a two. Desperation short lariat from Awesome is avoided and Booker snatches, then plants him with ‘the Book End’ for the win. Steiner attacks Booker after the bell and puts him in the recliner, however Awesome with the save and Scotty is quickly out of there. There does feel a definite change in the air and about trying to improve the quality of the matches this month, and clean (or cleaner) finishes are certainly helping. Crowd are big time into Booker as the champion. The tease of the bump through the table was very nicely done and a great nearfall off the frog splash in here too.

Vince Russo is in the ring and Mark Madden thinks that we’re going to hear the truth now. He claims he left WCW three weeks ago and didn’t know if he was coming back or not. The reason he didn’t know was because ever since day one when he arrived in WCW, he’s done nothing but deal with the bullshit of the politics behind the curtain. He came back though for every one of the guys in the locker room that busts their ass for WCW “for the guys that give a shit about this company”. Russo says that Hulk Hogan doesn’t give a shit about WCW and all day he’s been in the back playing politics because Hulk Hogan wants to exercise his ‘creative control’ card. That meant, when he knew it was bullshit, he beats Jeff Jarrett. Hogan got his wish, he got his belt and he’s gone home and Russo promises that “you’ll never see that piece of shit again”. He calls the belt that Hulk has ‘the Hulk Hogan Memorial belt’ and says there will be a new WCW title belt, and that still belongs to Jeff Jarrett who’ll defend it tonight against Booker T. New main event time! A couple of side headlock takedowns that Booker escapes from, and Scott Hudson talks about how Jarrett may have the advantage as Booker has already had one match tonight while he hasn’t “unless you count laying down with the foot pin for Hollywood ‘Scum’ Hogan earlier” What’s eating ol’ Scotty Boy? The start is very similar to the match they had on Thunder, just a bit more fleshed out. Booker throws ‘Double J’ over the guard rail into the front row and they have one of those Tommy Dreamer ECW walk-around-the-building ‘brawls’. Jarrett with a piledriver on an unbreakable announce table. Sleeperhold, Book’s arm drops twice but not for the third time. He fights back to his feet and a series of elbows to the mid-section breaks the hold. Booker with a sleeper, however just like on Thunder, ‘Double J’ escapes via a shinbreaker. Figure Four, but Booker counters with a small package for two. He’s right back at the Figure Four and this time has got it fully locked in. Booker manages to turn the hold over to reverse the pressure and Jarrett is forced to grab the ropes. Axe kick followed by a spinebuster for a near fall. Harlem side kick again fails to connect and ‘the Book’ crotches himself over the top rope. Jarrett whips him into the official and collects the World title belt from the outside. He goes to clock Booker with it, however he sees him coming, ducks under the shot and a boot to the mid-section. ‘Double J’ drops the belt and Booker wallops him with it. Cover, Billy Silverman has come back around and Jarrett get a shoulder up at the last split second. Low blow and now ‘Double J’s’ wedging a steel chair between the turnbuckles. That backfires though and Booker rams his head into with Jarrett kicking out again just in time. ‘The Stroke’ on Silverman, Jarrett grabs his guitar and comes off the top; however Booker catches and plants him with ‘the Book End’. Slick Johnson slides into the ring and we have a new World champion. First time I’d ever seen that Vince Russo, and whilst I’m not certain how truthful all of it was (claims he came back for the guys in the locker room), it was both a captivating and fascinating listen nonetheless. The guy clearly had his problems with Hogan, but he really shouldn’t have been talking about Hulk ‘exercising his creative control’ out there in front of everyone. The match itself was an expanded version of the one they did on Thunder. Booker especially looked a bit nervous at first in what was probably the biggest match of his life at this point. Solid work again, however a much better crowd here and they, along with me, got into it as the match built. I thought we might have a completely clean match, but we still had ref bumps, weapon shots and blatant attacking of the official. Some cracking near falls towards the end and a great finish, especially as you don’t see Slick Johnson and think that Silverman is still down and out. Booker was pretty emotional at the end and the crowd popped big for the title change.

Jeff Jarrett tells ‘Jurassic Slapass’ Gene Okerlund that Hulk Hogan may be here, but that means ‘Plan A’ now goes into effect. Over the years he’s made plenty of enemies so allies aren’t hard to find. Video history package before Michael Buffer makes the introductions. Jarrett’s music plays, however there’s no sign of him and the commentators wonder where he is as this isn’t like him. Eventually Vince Russo walks out with ‘Double J’ following, and Russo looks all serious knowing what is about to go down. Hogan makes his entrance and now Jarrett is back at the top of the aisle. He slowly returns to the ring and when the bell sounds, lies down on the canvas. Hogan is perplexed at what’s happening and Russo tosses the World title to him. Mark Madden says how he thinks things are deviating from the script as Russo heads to the back. Hulk grabs a mic and says “is this your doing Russo? That’s why this company is in the damn shape it is because of bullshit like this!”. He pins ‘Double J’ with one foot on his chest and an uncomfortable looking Jarrett gets right up and leaves. Hogan is the new World champion, although not for long... Russo’s ego has already led him to pinning, retiring and shaving the head of Ric Flair, so now he moves onto another legend of the sport. This was an embarrassing situation that should never have happened, and certainly not in front of the public and on a live PPV. Jarrett, to his credit, looks like he’d rather be anywhere but there at this point and was just a pawn in the Russo and Hogan battle.

Scott Hall’s WCW contract is on the line, and as Nash makes his way from his dressing room to the ring he spots Scott Steiner and asks him to watch his back. Steiner blows him off “I’m busy man!” and it looks like we might be getting a(nother) Steiner turn. Goldberg overpowers Nash on the lock up, backs him against the turnbuckles and cheap shots him on the break. Nash fires back and shows some aggression. Boot to the throat as Goldberg is backed in the corner, however he just grabs his foot, walks out and trips his standing leg out from under him. Suplex/Judo throw that ‘Big Sexy’ actually goes up for. Nice punches to the ribs followed by a superkick. Nash blocks a right and a chokeslam for a two. Steiner is out and on his way to ringside with Midajah to “watch Nash’s back”. Goldberg with a rear chinlock and Steiner grabs Hall’s contract and waves it under Nash’s face for him to use as motivation. Whip to the corner, Nash gets the foot up on a charging Goldberg and just about manages to sideslam him. ‘Big Sexy’ avoids the spear and Goldberg crashes into the turnbuckles. Nash sets him for the ‘jackknife’ when he’s attacked from behind by Steiner. Big boot to ‘Big Poppa Pump’, but pre-occupied by him, he gets walleyed by a spear. ‘Jackhammer’ for the three and no more Scott Hall in WCW. I didn’t think this was bad at all, certainly better than the non-match they had on Nitro around a month ago. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not great or anything, just that expectations are very low when it comes to anything involving Kevin Nash. He had some nice intensity and aggression for a change, whilst Goldberg’s strikes looked good. Scott Steiner turned for the second time since April because well, that’s what you do in WCW (although it was plain something was up from the way he responded when Nash asked him to watch his back).

Booker is already out of the M.I.A. gear so that didn’t last for long! Side headlock from ‘the Book’, Jarrett shoots him off and Booker gets the better of the shoulder tackle. Dropkick followed by a clothesline sends ‘Double J’ over the top rope to the outside. Double axe handle off the apron and he then throws Jarrett into the announcer’s table. Back inside, Jarrett reverses the Irish whip and slaps on a sleeper. Booker fires him into the ropes and responds with one of his own, only for Jarrett to counter with a shinbreaker. Figure Four but Booker is able to reach the ropes for the break and a double clothesline sees both men go down. Spinebuster and an axe kick for two. Harlem sidekick, however Jarrett ducks out the way and Booker crotches himself on the top rope before falling to the outside. Chris Kanyon (now doing the DDP knock off ‘Positively’ Kanyon gimmick) with a ‘Diamond Cutter’ on the floor and he rolls Booker back in the ring. Jarrett with the pin to retain the World title, when out comes ‘Commissioner Cat’. He says how he wanted no interference, so orders the official to restart the match. Jarrett confronts him on the rampway, Booker nails him from behind and ‘the Cat’ tosses him back in the ring so the match can continue. As ‘Double J’ continues to remonstrate at ‘the Cat’, Booker with a schoolboy for two. Scoop powerslam, missile dropkick, but Jarrett is able to get his foot over the ropes. Booker ducks out the way of a clothesline and Jarrett accidentally takes out Charles Robinson. ‘Book End’, no official although Booker gets the visual three count. ‘The Cat’ strips Robinson of his shirt and puts it on himself, but by now ‘Double J’ has had time to recover and kicks out of the pin. Jarrett grabs his guitar and backdrops Booker over the top rope to the outside. When ‘The Cat’ tries to take it off him, he clobbers him over the head with it and then just walks back to the dressing room. A couple more officials are out to help and Booker wins by DQ. Solid work here but they were hampered by a dead crowd who didn’t react to hardly anything. The interference, the near falls, nothing, it was only when ‘The Cat’ restarted the match did they come alive a bit. Agree with the comments on ‘The Cat’, is he a heel or a face? He was supposedly made Commissioner by Eric Bischoff (I think) and he’s been quite heelish in his actions up to this point, but here he is being a full on face Commissioner. Strange?

Heel Rey slapping the hands of the fans as he makes his entrance! Four corners match and the Filthy Animals attack Lance as soon as he enters the ring. Drop toe hold, legdrop to the back of the neck combination. Kidman sprints to help Storm and the Animals jump to the outside, however with Kidman and Storm in the ring, the bell now sounds to start the match. Huracanrana by Kidman. Back elbow to the jaw from Storm and a big press slam. Kidman slides down his back though for a sunset flip and they run through a series of Guerrero/Malenko pinfall attempts and reversals. The Animals with a pair of cheap shots from behind and Rey tags himself in. Russian legsweep by Disco and he holds Storm’s legs as Rey hits a legdrop off the top to the groin. ‘Broncobuster’, but Lance gets his foot up and it’s not a pleasant landing for Rey! He tags Disco who checks on his Filthy Animals teammate, however Rey small packages him for two. Disco’s not happy though thinking they should work together. Rey looks like he now agrees, but when they shake hands he boots him in the mid-section and drops him with a DDT (which he’s rather amused by). He heads out onto the apron for a springboard, when Storm tags himself in and nails Disco with a springboard clothesline. Rey breaks up the subsequent pin, springboard legdrop to Lance with him draped over the middle rope, and this time it’s Kidman who breaks it up. He counters a Misterio headscissors off the middle into a powerbomb and Disco breaks this pin up. Great Paul Orndorff-esque piledriver on Kidman and Storm completes the sequence. He whips Disco to the corner, charges, but is met with a back elbow. When Disco charges at Storm, Lance grabs the right leg and rolls through into the single crab for the win. Another impressive outing from Lance Storm here and I really liked that roll through into the single legged crab for the submission. Disco stands out like a sore thumb in this company, but the other three more than compensated. Cool piledriver from him though, and a nice bit of dissension between the Filthy Animals teammates with Rey attempting to get the pin on Disco and more interested in getting the win for himself. Fun match.

Konan and Disco Inferno have a special interview and would like to bring out the two hottest stars in WCW, Lance Storm and Billy Kidman. It’s not them though, it’s Rey Misterio Jr and Juventud Guerrera dressed up as them. Mark Madden jokes how Storm grew a little! Konan asks ‘Kidman’ how it feels to team up with “the ultra-charismatic Lance Storm”, but all he wants to know is “where’s Torrie?” The real Kidman and Storm put an end to this just as it was starting to get tiresome. Kidman backdrops Juvi over the top rope to the floor, and a dropkick to Rey as Lance is holding him. Assisted moonsault off the middle and Juvi is in to break up the pin. ‘Dominator’ by ‘the Juice’. Blind tag to Storm, Kidman ducks under the lariat and grabs Guerrera around the waist. Release German sees Juvi land on his feet only to get nailed by a Storm superkick. Big press slam, but Rey is in and dropkicks Lance in the chest causing Juvi to fall down on top of him. Legdrop to the groin by Rey for two. Nice huracanrana off a wheelbarrow suplex from ‘the Juice’. ‘Hotshot’ by Lance and he’s able to tag his partner. Sit-out short powerbomb on Rey followed by a belly to back suplex on Juvi. Storm with a guillotine legdrop off the top and Rey breaks up the pin just in time. Double team facebuster on Kidman, and this time Lance is there to break it up. Kidman reverses a powerbomb into a facebuster of his own, whilst Lance with a sit-out powerbomb to Rey. Juvi takes Storm over the top to the outside with a huracanrana and Konan is up on the apron distracting the official. Disco slides a chair into the ring and Rey with a bulldog off the top onto it for the win. Enjoyed this one a lot; all action, ridiculously fast paced match with everyone keeping up with each other. Both teams had some nice double team manoeuvres, and considering they’ve been just thrown together, was very impressed by the Storm and Kidman team. Agree with Chad’s comments on Kidman’s face turn and I’ve mentioned it previously that it’s been rushed through. Disappointed we got interference for the finish though.

Tank Abbott is out and he’s wearing a 3 Count T-shirt. He commandeers DJ Ran’s turntable (it’s now DJ Tank!) and introduces the greatest Rock & Roll band in the history of the world, 3 Count! As 3 Count dance in the ring, Tanks busts a few moves from behind the turntables. Nice drop toe hold/senton double team by Jamie and Kaz on Evan. Helms and Moore are on the outside and Shannon is calling for help as it looks as though Shane is ‘injured’. As the trainer helps him to the back, Tank decides to leave his DJ position and replace him in the match. Karagias reverses a wheelbarrow suplex into a facebuster on Yang and tags out. Face first suplex by Moore for two. Yang with a spinning facebuster, and a great leg lariat from Hayashi drops Evan. As he backs up in the corner, Kaz charges, but Karagias moves and he goes shooting through the ropes to the floor. Dive train sequence and as Yang goes to finish the train he’s cut off by Tank. Rapid fire punches to the gut have no effect so he assumes the ‘crane position’, however Tank KO’s him with one shot and Yang starts convulsing like he’s John Matua. Shannon makes the cover for the win and Tank tells them all to sing so he can dance again. In March these teams had an awesome short sprint, but this was nothing of the sort. Adding Tank to 3 Count ‘could’ have worked if he was treated seriously as their security (almost like a modern day Meng for Col. Robert Parker), but as a dancing fool who likes their music, he, and they, automatically become a comedy act. Crazy to think that a month ago he was being groomed for Goldberg and now look where he is? Disappointing match that doesn’t do anything for the Dragons either.

You can multi quote you know!