[1997-10-06-WCW-Nitro] Curt Hennig vs Chris Benoit

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes of a really good match that will on the Errata in full. It might be Hennig's only really good match in WCW. Post-match, Hennig attacks Beniot and the rest of the NWO runs in to help him finish the job. RIC FLAIR makes his triumphant return, fighting through the NWO guys that came out, and chases Hennig away from the ring. Hennig runs out of the building into the street! Flair returns to the ring to cut the only real promo he's had the chance to give us all year, and it's a doozy. Flair cuts what has to be a therapeutic promo about how no matter what anyone tries to do to him, he's still here and he's still The Man. Cool to see him get one segment set up properly and where he's given time and focus. There's no way they weren't planning a Hogan vs Flair match at this point. They had to be, but I guess plans changed. I really want to see WONs around this time.

[BlueGuy]

Right around this time, I remember hearing that Hogan was trying to get out of the Starrcade Sting match. Hogan supposedly was harping on the fact that Sting didn't look to be in shape and he was trying to get his Starrcade opponent changed to Flair. When you consider that Hogan had already cut the sleeves from one of Flair's robes and proceeded to wear it during a promo, I have to imagine they had plans for a Flair vs. Hogan match sometime after World War 3. Of course, Flair suffered a broken bone in his foot in the World War 3 match against Hennig, so that probably derailed the plans.

[Loss]

Interesting. I knew Hogan didn't think Sting was in shape, but I didn't think that talk started until the day of the show.

[Kevin Ridge]

Why isn’t the security more involved like that for NWO interferences? They try to tackle Flair in the aisle way when he chases after Hennig. Flair takes the mic from Okerlund which is an immediate good start. Nice to see Flair finally get the better of the NWO.

[Zenjo]

Hot final moments in the match. Then Flair chasing off Hennig and cutting his best promo in ages. He was legit fired up and pissed off, and unlike most guys could turn that into a positive.

[soup23]

The match looked good and Hennig getting a clean win looks impressive and is put over well by the announcers. We even get Bobby resulting back to the old days and saying Yeah when Hennig wins.

Flair chases Hennig away and then cuts a promo for the ages. It is striking to think about who in current WWE could cut this promo now. No script, no lip service, just pure emotion. Does it ramble a little bit? Yes. Could things have been read through and tightened up? Yes. Would that had erased some of the raw emotion? Absolutely. This felt like a great toast at a wedding where the best man is a little buzzed but hits the emotional points at the exact moment he should and the crowd is right along with him for the ride. Flair shows vulnerability here but also talks about being the Man. It is incredible and layered.

[El-P]

The match saw Hennig look more motivated than ever, probablt because of Benoit. He's totally worked up, bumps like a madman including hitting his head on the stairs outside after a single chop and generally works harder than he would during his entire WCW tenure. Then Flair proves me wrong by cutting a great, from the heart promo. Yeah it's obvious they were going for a Hogan vs Flair match at some point (which would happen in early 99 after all). The guy from the security falling down trying to catch up Flair was funny. With those three strong angle (Savage injured, Hogan vs Piper and this one), they sure did a hell of a job building to Havoc on this one Nitro.

[PeteF3]

They had to be, but I guess plans changed. I really want to see WONs around this time.

 

One of the most fascinating elements that I had no knowledge of at the time was Hogan and Flair becoming unlikely political allies. A few weeks (in 1997 time) ago Loss complained about Hogan ripping into Flair during the robe segment, but Dave actually saw it as a positive for Ric because he believed that it meant that Hollywood was in Ric's corner, at least to some degree. The eventual endgame was even more intriguing: Hogan & Flair as babyfaces feuding with Hall & Nash.

 

Anyway, with Raw being a depressing mess of a show, WCW goes out of their way to give us one of the more overall feelgood episodes of Nitro of the year. Hennig pins Benoit clean after some decent and gritty enough action, and Heenan seemingly momentarily forgets that he's supposed to be anti-NWO. The B-teamers are out to put a beating on Benoit but Ric Flair stuns everybody by making the save and running Hennig all the way out of the Target Center. He cuts a big hometown promo promising to destroy Hennig at Havoc whether he gets a match signed or not, then moves on to Hogan. This is almost a precursor to Flair's return in Greenville in a year--it's not quite that transcendent and emotional, but it honestly doesn't feel that far off.