[1997-04-07-WCW-Nitro] Diamond Dallas Page and the NWO

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Savage was on crutches earlier in the night (for reasons that I don't get considering that he didn't have a storyline leg injury in the match) and DDP is selling a shoulder injury and has black eye makeup. I didn't see the match at the time, but this was good at creating an aura about it, even though it wasn't really worked that way at all.

 

DDP points out that he's made it as a main eventer and makes clear that the feud with Savage isn't over. He calls Savage out. Macho limps out on his crutches until Hogan comes out to stop him. Hogan says he wants to handle DDP for Savage's sake. DDP is getting the major superstar rub now. Seeing a star on the rise is one of the coolest things about watching wrestling.

 

Just when it looks like DDP is about to be outnumbered, Sting descends from the rafters and joins his side. This segment did almost as much to legitimize Page as the Savage win did the night before and the best part is that it didn't feel the least bit forced.

[soup23]

It's amazing how good both Raw and Nitro were at this time. The way they built up the fight from last night again might have sold some replay buys.

 

Hogan taking the honors of whipping DDP for Savage is a good sign of solidarity and then we get Sting flying down in an awesome moment that looked pretty dangerous. He throws the bat to DDP and DDP is without a doubt a main event player in this company now.

[Kevin Ridge]

What I don’t like about this feud is them talking about killing each other so much. Sting joins up with Page. These latest segments have done a excellent job of giving rub to DDP. Even though NWO has the numbers advantage they aren’t willing to confront Sting.

[El-P]

Another strong closing segment. I have no idea why Savage is on crutches though, he sure was walking fine at the end of the PPV match.

[El Boricua]

Another strong closing segment. I have no idea why Savage is on crutches though, he sure was walking fine at the end of the PPV match.

 

According to the Observer at the time, it appears Savage hurt his ankle during the match and it was one of those cases where it really didn't start to hurt until the next morning (Savage woke up in a lot of pain). He was supposed to go get checked the day after Nitro to determine how bad the injury was.

[PeteF3]

Hogan declaring that he's going to take care of DDP himself feels like a huge leap forward for Page. Sting drops down to cut him off and has an extra bat for Page, as Schiavone hypes up how two loners have joined together. We end with the two factions facing off, back when that was still kind of new--it's amazing how molten these segments of people looking at each other can be. Both companies are doing a strong job of that.

[JKWebb]

What a great moment for DDP, and Sting is such a bad ass here.  I love how he - no look - tosses the Bat up in the air behind him into the ring where DDP catches it... then, when the camera comes back Sting already has another bat in hand pointed directly at Hogan.  Love this. Great camera shot of Sting too when he started his descent...