[1997-11-17-WCW-Nitro] NWO and Rick Rude

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[flyonthewall2983]

This was just pure balls and a bit of class on Rick's part to do this. Bret praised him in the book for doing it and in a segment on Bret's first DVD with WWE about everyone no longer here, he gets a little emotional when talking about Rick.

 

Bischoff's shoot reaction behind him is fantastic.

[Loss]

Lots of anti-WWF signs in the crowd. No Hogan here. Strongly pro-WCW crowd on Scott Hall's weekly survey, and Hall and Nash have fake tag titles. Hall calls out Larry Zbyszko. He says they put old wrestling tapes of Zbyszko on fast forward and he still didn't move. He again says Hall couldn't even beat Bischoff. This match was really built up well. Nash calls Giant Quasimoto and calls out The Giant.

 

Bischoff then brings out his surprise -- Hulk Hogan. Hogan points at the entrance and brings out Rick Rude! This guy is everywhere! Embarrassing moment for the WWF, as he was also on a taped RAW the same night. Rude talks about the rights and wrongs in wrestling, getting in a few shots at Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon and putting over Bret Hart. He even quotes The Ramones. This is a great promo.

 

We close out with Hogan trolling Sting and getting the crowd even hotter. Good stuff.

[Strummer]

if I'm not mistaken Rude was legitimately upset at the WWF for what they did to Bret. Plus he didn't like the direction the company was going with the more adult shock themes. He looked embarrassed to be involved in some of those DX segments, especially the backstage one where Shawn shows his ass to the camera

[SteveJRogers]

Plus he didn't like the direction the company was going with the more adult shock themes. He looked embarrassed to be involved in some of those DX segments, especially the backstage one where Shawn shows his ass to the camera

Right, and his soft core antics from his WWF run fit right in as family friendly fare!

[Kevin Ridge]

Hall and Nash still have titles so I’m guessing that tag title switch didn’t hold up. Tenay is wearing the same jacket as Vince McMahon. Hall takes a dig at Larry’s stalling in matches. This is still waiting for a Bret Hart appearance. Rude makes major history showing up on both Raw (taped from previous week) and on live Nitro on same night. He talks up the wrongs happening against Bret Hart. Whoa. I’m now just remembering Sting versus Rude from the early 90’s.

[soup23]

Big time celebratory NWO promo that we havent seen in a while. Hall takes a go at Larry Z and says he couldnt even beat bischoff. Nash calls out Giant to have some sort of hype for the WW3 PPV on Sunday and then we get the big Hogan and Rude entrance. Rude's promo feels from the heart and you can see Bischoff's delight in the background.

[El-P]

I can't praise Rude enough here, and WCW did a masterful job with this segment (see, it's 1998, they suck two weeks in a row then deliver the good stuff), totally embarrassing WWF in the process. First Montreal reference on WCW TV, but unlike the upcoming ones, this was very effective because Rude was too smart and too good of a promo to fall in the usual trappings. He bashes Michaels (wonder what Nash & Hall thought of that; they were holding the fake tag team belts and Syxx is out injured at this point) and McMahon, but in a way that always comes back to put over Bret, who's supposed to join the nWo, then takes the attention to the nWo and then to the Stinger, which brings back memories of old. Great promo, and the work before and after (from Hall especially) were building up their respective feuds. Bischoff is in heaven listening to Rude. Really good segment.

[PeteF3]

This is probably the biggest WCW peak since the Hogan & Rodman show in Chicago--just completely leaving the WWF in the dust. This is a super-hot segment even though Hogan doesn't say much of anything, and Rude is absolutely tremendous--his best promo of the year, hands down. He rips Shawn Michaels, rips Vince, and does more to put Bret over than anyone else in WCW did the previous week. Bischoff is absolutely gushing and he's clearly not acting, and why shouldn't he be? With Rude falling into his lap, he's getting over on the WWF without even trying to now. The idea of WCW falling behind in the war seems just unthinkable now, with the WWF looking like a complete mess.