What the World Was Watching: WCW Monday Nitro – October 9, 1995

-We see the replay of the Dungeon of Doom’s attack on WCW Champion Hulk Hogan on last week’s show.

-Eric Bischoff, Steve “Mongo” McMichael, and Bobby “the Brain” Heenan are in the booth for this week’s show, which is live from Chicago, Illinois. All of the announcers are wearing custom Bears jerseys. Heenan’s just has a question mark instead of a number on the front. In what is becoming a common occurrence, United States Champion Sting enters the announce booth and says that he is going to solve the Lex Luger-Randy Savage problem. Yeah, I remember Neville Chamberlain saying that about the German-Czech problem too.

-Opening Contest for the United States Championship: Sting (Champion) vs. The Shark:

The Shark is from “tsunami” and how sharks and tsunamis go together is beyond me. Yes, I know they both involve the ocean, but I think that’s where the comparison ends. The Shark attacks Sting once he steps between the ropes and powerslams Sting. The Shark hits an elbow drop and a leg drop, but that only gets two. A blind charge eats buckle and Sting hits two Stinger splashes. Sting hits a flying body press off the top rope and that gets the pin to retain the title at 1:17. I guess the Shark’s bite isn’t very powerful. Grade: D

-Last week’s Dungeon of Doom attack on Hogan is replayed AGAIN. We get it already!

-Sabu vs. Mr. J.L.:

Mr. J.L. is Jerry Lynn. Sabu unloads on JL in the corner to start, slams him, and delivers a slingshot somersault leg drop from the apron. Sabu hits a springboard leg lariat for two and applies a brief chinlock. JL knocks Sabu to the floor with an enziguri as the crowd EXPLODES and chants “Hogan sucks.” JL gets a suicide dive, but Sabu flips back into the ring and delivers a spinning heel kick and JL falls to the floor. Sabu cannonballs onto JL and whips him into the guardrail. Air Sabu and the Chicago crowd smells blood. JL floats over a suplex inside the ring and hits a German suplex for two. Sabu comes back and hits a springboard moonsault and applies a weak variation of the camel clutch, but JL gets in the ropes to break. JL crotches Sabu on the top rope and DDT’s him from that position for two. Randy Orton eat your heart out. JL goes to the top rope, but Sabu crotches him and goes for a super hurricanrana, but JL grabs the ropes and Sabu crashes to the mat. JL tries to jump onto Sabu to give him a hurricanrana, but Sabu counters with a powerbomb and twists JL into a camel clutch for the submission at 4:27. After the match, Sabu powerbombs JL from the apron and gets a good pop from the crowd. It’s amazing what Sabu can do when he hits all of his spots. Grade: C+

-“Mean” Gene Okerlund is in the ring with Sting and Lex Luger. Sting says he needs Randy Savage out there so he can play peacemaker. Savage asks Sting why the Giant hasn’t chokeslammed him and Sting just says that Savage is paranoid. So much for Sting playing peacemaker. Sting gets befuddled when Savage presses him and then suggests that at Halloween Havoc that Luger face Meng and Savage face Kamala before they face off later in the show. When Luger expresses his reservations about that plan because he just wants to face Savage, Sting questions his manhood and Luger eventually accepts the proposal. Sting’s performance hampered this segment’s effectiveness because he ran over his words and wasn’t very convincing.

-The Disco Inferno dances in the entrance. When they cut off his music, Disco just starts it on a boom box and keeps dancing. Big Bubba Rogers comes out for the next match and just looks at him like he’s nuts. Hawk is less kind and pushes Disco. In response, Disco steals a hat from a fan and sneaks up behind Hawk and puts it on his spikes.

-Big Bubba Rogers vs. Hawk:

Rogers kicks away and avalanches Hawk against the buckles. Hawk bungles being taken to the buckle, but c’mon, what did you expect? Hawk delivers a powerslam and Disco randomly gets on the apron and dances. Hawk grabs him, tears his shirt, and then follows him down the aisle and destroys him to the delight of the crowd. However, it causes him to get counted out at 1:39. For Disco’s antics I’ll pull this match out of ‘F’ territory. Grade: D-

-Okerlund interviews WCW Champion Hulk Hogan, who gets booed heavily by the Chicago crowd. Instead of wearing his red and yellow gear, Hogan is dressed all in black and Okerlund says that’s why the crowd is booing him. Hogan says the games are over and he’s going to beat the Giant just like he beat his father in the Pontiac Silverdome. Hogan takes a veiled shot at Vince McMahon and the WWF by saying that he’s choking on his own ego. That’s kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. Hogan likens the shaving of his mustache to the burning of the American flag. Oh…my…god. Since the Giant is barred from the arena because of a restraining order the Giant tries to break into the arena with a monster truck. This is like a bad dream. Hogan leaves so he can engage the Giant outside of the arena.

-A few policemen come by and whisper something in Bischoff’s ear and he informs us that police are keeping Hogan and the Giant away from each other.

-Steel Cage Match: “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs. “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson:

I really hope this match is better than last week’s affair. Anderson gets the jobber treatment for the second week in a row. Anderson hammers away, but Flair blocks being thrown into the cage and he unloads on Anderson in the corner. Anderson throws Flair into the cage twice, but Flair no sells it and chops away as we go to a commercial break.

When we return Anderson catches Flair with a spinebuster and we have a brief double KO. Flair makes the comeback and rakes Anderson’s face across the cage as the crowd chants for blood. I feel like I’m in the ECW Arena. Now THAT would have been an interesting Nitro. Anderson reverses a take into the cage and we get a second double KO spot. Anderson rakes Flair’s face across the cage, but Flair no sells that and clotheslines him. Did Hulk Hogan let Flair drink his elixir backstage or something? Flair delivers a suplex and we have double KO #3. Brian Pillman comes to ringside and tries to get in the cage, but it’s locked so he tries to climb in. Flair intercepts him and knocks him off the cage and gives Anderson an axe handle off the top rope. Flair delivers a kneebreaker and goes for the figure-four, but Anderson blasts him with a foreign object to get the pin at 4:33 shown. I’ve resolved that Flair and Anderson don’t have a lot of chemistry in the ring. Grade: D+

-Flair comes into the announce area and destroys Bischoff’s headset as he says that he will face Anderson and Pillman in a handicap match next week. Bischoff doesn’t look happy about the destruction of the headset. The announcers go through the Halloween Havoc card to end the show.

Show Grade: D+