January '96

Monday Night Wars January '96

Former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan gives additional insight into Nitro's year of 1996. I'll start with perhaps one of the biggest takeaways from his interview. He stated that The Dungeon of Doom was created especially for Hogan in order to ease him away from wrestling "cartoon characters" and instead become more involved with guys like The Horsemen and NWO. Sullivan saw the new direction things were headed with the tweener characters, noticing Hogan was getting boos and a switch was needed. He would also work a match with Adam Copeland (aka Edge) on an episode of WCW Pro during the month of January. In his words, he would have signed him in a heartbeat. But WCW felt like it didn't need younger unestablished talent and that their roster was set. Now that's cleared up...

Raw/Nitro Jan 1st

Monday Night Raw 1/1/96 (2.25 Stars)

-The year kicks off with none other than the RAW BOWL! Goldust tries to give Razor Ramon roses. It doesn't go down well. The opening match was four teams, elimination, last team standing. Smoking Gunns won and it was something different at least. Diesel defeats King Mabel in the main event. A widely known fact by this point, but a young Jeff Hardy was one of the men carrying Mabel to the ring. We saw the debut of the WCW skits which did a good job of making the rival show look like a retirement home, even if that was somewhat untrue with the likes of Beniot and Eddie on the roster. Eric Bischoff and Vince Mcmahon would trade letters back and forth, with Vince bemoaning "unethical and guttural practices such as blading" and Eric citing "While amusing, the vignettes have become defamatory and disparaging, accordingly we have referred the issue to our legal team" WWF announced the acquisition of Vader, set to debut at the Rumble! Overall, it was fun for what it was, even if it was a 1 match show with the main event ending in seconds.

WCW Nitro 1/1/96 (2.75 Stars)

Nitro opens with Randy Savage defeating AA with Lord Steve Regal handing Beniot the same fate. We then have a quick Brian Pillman promo where he laments the Horsemen for losing both of their matches. Ric Flair takes on Hogan in the main event for the strap. This was originally penned in as a "Wrestlemania 8" dream match that never happened. If treated with care, this could do big PPV numbers. After Hogan completely no sells a brass knuckle shot from Arn and clears the ring of the interfering Horsemen, the match is called off. The Giant runs down with a bar stool but Savage "rescues" Hogan. Hogan and Savage call out AA & Flair as the show ends. Simply, the more entertaining Nitro see's them take the first point of '96

Raw/Nitro Jan 8th

Monday Night Raw 8/1/96 (2.5 Stars)

Over on Raw, Jeff Jarrett and Ahamed Johnson both go over, ahead of their PPV match together. Ted Di Biase debuts the Million Dollar Champion, none other than...The Ringmaster! We see early shades of Austin's mic skills, even under his vanilla Ringmaster persona, he seemed badass and delivered his words with venom and authenticity. HBK announces his entry into the rumble, which may have been big news at the time as the injury angle seemed very realistic. We then see a replay of admittedly, a very good match between Bret and Davey from IYH 5, but a replay nonetheless. WCW Nitro 8/1/96 (3 Stars)

On Nitro, Beniot defeats Alex Wright with Pillman in his corner. The announcers play up Pillman's new "loose cannon" gimmick, mentioning it could get him fired if not careful. Eddie topples Lord Steve Regal in another good match. After Mean Gene takes a shot at WWF for signing Vader, Sting questions Luger over what went down at Starrcade. Lex persuades Sting to team with him at SuperBrawl VI. Hogan and Savage defeat Ric Flair & Arn Anderson in the main event. While the Horsemen and DoD brawl at ringside, The Giant attacks both Hogan & Savage. I can't fault the action from Nitro, yet while I realise that these reviews don't incorporate foresight, I simply can't ignore the fact that one of the biggest stars in wrestling made his WWF TV debut. Even so, WCW's excellent wrestling wins them the point

Raw/Nitro Jan 15th

Monday Night Raw 15/1/96 (2.5 Stars)

Raw opens with a viewer discretion warning for the first time followed by a clip of Sunny laying on a pool table. This was likely a move towards trying to seem "edgy" whilst in competition with WCW. After a solid technical wrestling match with Owen defeating Marty Jannetty, Sunny tells us she, along with everyone else, likes it RAW! The Ringmaster debuted going over Matt Hardy. It went over 4 minutes with Matt hardly getting in any offence (unintentional pun) What grabbed my attention to start with quickly faded as a result. Smoking Gunns squash The Spiders (Headbangers) Goldust explains to VKM he wants Razor badly in a very creepy segment and the most edgy thing WWF have presented so far. Vince's facial expressions were excellent as he seemed visibly uncomfortable. Main event time as Undertaker pins DDS Yankem. Razor attacks Goldust backstage, Sunny makes innuendos while sitting in a bathtub and Raw is off air.

WCW Nitro 15/1/96 (2.5 Stars)

Nitro starts with Lex Luger defeating Randy Savage, the commentary team made a big deal that's the 4th time he's done so. The Horsemen and DoD have an in-ring meeting to try and broker peace. AA slaps Pillman after he runs his mouth putting the sit-down in jeopardy. Public Enemy debuted with a victory against American Males and put Marcus Bagwell through two stacked tables. Johnny Grunge particularly looked bad in this one, his timing was off and everything seemed laboured. Public Enemy were suggested by Sullivan in an attempt to add variety to the show. Flair defeats Sting retaining his World Title, as Luger "inadvertently" slugged Sting with Jimmy's megaphone. Hogan tries to shit-stir yet again telling Sting that Luger is bad news, before yelling at Savage for accepting a World Title match next week. It made him come across as obnoxious and self-serving more than anything, and I doubt that's what they were trying to achieve with Hogan at this time. Hogan then defeats Meng in the main event. The WWFs attempt to portray a more edgy product, however slight, was ineffective as they suffered their biggest defeat in the ratings yet (2.5/1.1) Flair Vs Sting was excellent but I refuse to give Nitro another point of that alone. A draw this week

Royal Rumble 1996

The 96' edition of the Royal Rumble opens with Jim Cornette introducing the WWF fans to Vader. Duke Droese defeated HHH on the WWF's first attempt at a pre-show (free-for-all) to win the right to enter last over the dreaded #1 spot. I skipped this but by all accounts it was what you'd expect. Double J opens the main card with Ahamed Johnson. Jeff eventually loses via DQ when he smashes Johnson with his guitar around the 6 minute mark. This match was neither one thing nor the other. A clean win for Johnson would have made him look strong, or a quicker DQ would have made Jeff look more cowardly. Jeff would leave the WWF shortly after due to a contract dispute, perhaps playing a part in him not losing clean. Smoking Gunns retain against the Bodydonnas. Sunny, who was dating Skip (Chris Candido) at the time, played a big part in this one, perhaps too big. But my guess is this. As she was featured in the "edgy vignettes" on Raw, they used a PPV to expose her in a more credible role, while still doing the sexy valet stuff. We see a great Razor Ramon promo ahead of his match with Goldust. He really did play the cocky, Tony Montana character to a tee. This was a truly bizarre angle with Goldust, now using his actual wife 'Marlena' as a part of a homo-erotic storyline (only in Pro-Wrestling) This one was subpar truth be told with Goldust winning the IC Title due to a 1-2-3 Kid run in. Not a great match but one of the more interesting feuds at the time that would lead to a very good Mania match between the pair (more on that later) Next is the Rumble match itself. Kid enters at #10, chased by Ramon who in turn is chased out by officials. Vader made his WWF debut at #13. Savio Vega eliminates NWA and All Japan legend, Dory Funk Jr. Vader eliminates one member of the Squat Team, A.K.A, The Headhunters. The second member of the Squat Team enters (they are identical twins) but Vader tosses the pair of them over the top rope with relative ease. Shawn enters at #18 and the crowd doesn't pop for this nearly enough! Maybe because they've been told it's happening before the event? HBK eliminates Yokozuna, Vader and 1-2-3 Kid and the crowd finally shows signs of life. Vader comes back in, cleaning house, before being kicked out by commissioner Monsoon. HHH is the iron man at this point lasting 40 minutes. #22 Diesel enters and shows no love to HBK, nailing him in the mouth. #24 Ringmaster enters before Diesel eliminates Hunter, because it was never going to be Owen Hart or Steve Austin to gain that illustrious honor was it. #29 British Bulldog wastes no time going after HBK and ends up eliminating Marty Jannety. Duke Droese enters last as he defeated Hunter earlier in the night. The final 4 are Kama, Diesel, HBK and the Bulldog. HBK makes it 2 Rumble wins in a row eliminating Kama and his BFF Diesel. Big Daddy Cool gives him a high five post match. A nice finish to an otherwise predictable yet perfectly serviceable Rumble match. Undertaker defeats Bret Hart via DQ in the main event for the WWF Title after Diesel interferes. The pace of this one, again, was too slow to warrant a DQ finish. In summary, the Goldust match was an entertaining angle if not a good match, the Rumble was average yet predictable, but if the WWF was more confident about their business at this time, it could have been different. A surprise HBK return would have been hot and created more buzz going forward. I didn't pay for it so I'll be kind. Not the worst PPV I've seen so far (2.25 Stars)

Raw/Nitro Jan 22nd

Monday Night Raw 22/1/96 (2.25 Stars)

Vader kicks off Raw defeating Savio Vega with the Vader Bomb. He hits a second post-match and starts to assault WWF officials until Monsoon is forced to suspend him indefinitely. He also receives a Vader Bomb for his troubles. We have an in ring interview with HBK. Shawn asks the Kliq, a name used to describe his own fans at the time, how badly they want him to face Owen Hart. JC comes out and says Owen will only face him if he puts his WM title shot on the line. Shawn agrees before dumping Cornette out of the ring in a good segment. Goldust faced Bret in a match we only see about 25 percent of due to constant ad breaks. Razor throws Goldust back in the ring who succumbs to a sharpshooter. Bret cuts a promo on Diesel as Raw ends. A decent effort that started off hot with the Vader stuff. Although somewhat typical for Raw at the time, the segments were more entertaining than the actual matches.

WCW Nitro 22/1/96 (3.25 Stars)

Nitro opens with Konnan challenging Psicosis at Clash XXXII and a World Title match between Flair and Savage. Savage is led to the ring by a line of women including Linda Hogan and "Woman" aka Nancy Sullivan. Woman slaps Flair and the match begins. Arn tried to interfere but ended up punching Flair instead. Hogan brawls with AA on the outside, Elbow Drop, 1...2...3….Savage wins the World Title! After some dick measuring and Hogan making the moment completely about him, they shake hands and move on. Pillman defeated Dean Malenko in another good match. Pillman's loose cannon gimmick was in full swing at this point, with apparently even some of his co-workers being unsure what was a work and what wasn't. Luger & Sting won the Tag Titles from Harlem Heat with Booker T hitting one of the best jumping axe kicks I've ever seen. Finally, Hogan defeated One Man Gang in the main event and then he and Savage promoted their tag match against The Giant and Flair for Clash XXXII. Nitro wins the point with 3 good matches and some fun moments sprinkled in between

Clash of the Champions XXXII

This was billed as a TV 'special' which is playing fast and loose with the word special if you ask me. As such I won't go over the whole card and will only cover any major events. During Pillman's match with Eddie, he grabbed Bobby Heenan and legitimately startled him, causing him to yell "What the fuck are you doing?" Heenan would apologise for the outburst on air. Heenan had a bad neck and Pillman wasn't made aware of this. Madusa would crash the wedding of Col. Parker and Sherri, claiming to have been seeing Parker on the side. Finally in the main event, The Mega Powers and a returning Miss Elizabeth, faced off against The Giant and Ric Flair. Ric Flair gets the pinfall after Savage was nailed with a foreign object. Supposedly, Flair threatened to quit if the original finish of the match wasn't changed (He was set to be pinned by Hogan) It was a poor show with underwhelming matches. Clash would eventually be scrapped as an idea altogether the following year after it's XXXVI iteration

Raw/Nitro Jan 29th

Monday Night Raw 29/1/96 (2.25 Stars)

Diesel defeats British Bulldog after Yokozuna accidentally drops a leg on his tag partner. After a Billionaire Ted skit and The Godwins notching a win against The Bodydonnas and Sunny, Roddy Piper is announced as Gorilla Monsoon's stand-in as WWF president. Roddy does a good job of acting convincingly and taking his role seriously. Although I'd let that Vince guy on commentary do it personally. I'd like to add it was refreshing to see the authority role treated with respect. Roddy actually explained why he was there and what his job was, unlike what we see in the modern day product. We see a Mankind vignette before HBK faced Yokozuna in the main event. The story here being Yoko wants to soften Shawn up before IYH for his tag partner. He fails, losing via Pinfall. I'm not sure of the actual numbers but Yoko looked huge here and I've read he tinkered with the 500 pound mark. So he may have been at the peak of his career weight wise in this one. The WWF would eventually tell him to lose weight. JC challenges HBK & Diesel to a tag match next week with Yoko & Davey. Not a great show, but like last week it had it's moments with the storytelling distracting from the lackluster wrestling. Also announced was a WWF Title match between Taker and Bret, which feels like a treat unlike WCW who give World Title matches away like jello-shots at a frat party.

WCW Nitro 29/1/96 (2.75 Stars)

Nitro opens with Ric Flair beating Hogan via eye poke. Road Warriors enjoy a successful Nitro debut defeating Barbarian and Meng (Faces of Fear) Kevin Sullivan and Hugh Morris (Bill Demott) cut a promo calling Pillman a liability, Arn Anderson says in return, he will show Brian Pillman some tough love as he takes off his belt. Sullivan then attacks AA who makes the recovery and hits him with a DDT. Arn is pissed and tells the WCW brass, if he doesn't get a match with Kevin Sullivan and his goons, blood will be split. Great segment. Sherri and Madusa have a brawl/match continuing their beef from last week. Sister Sherri gets revenge for not getting any D on what would have been her wedding night and beats Madusa. Finally, The Giant is scheduled to take on Randy Savage for his newly won World Title. It ends in insta DQ as Savage wrecks The Giant with the strap as soon as the bell rings. Giant and Flair work him over until a one eyed Hogan makes the save. Flair rants about his Cage match at SuperBrawl VI with Savage for the Title. A messy edition of Nitro with only one real match of quality 'Flair/Hogan' but still enough to see them win the final point of the month

Summary and scores

Nitro's reliance on putting the Title on the line EVERY WEEK got tiresome quickly although the more realistic and gritty direction Eric was leading the company towards became clear. Gone were the days of clear and obvious baby faces or heels, and more complex characters such as Luger and Pillman entered the scene. Even the relationship that Hogan and Savage shared was very much based upon reality. As for the WWF, hopefully now we

are on the "Road to Wrestlemania'' they will start upping their game in a similar manner. The scores going into February are WCW 13-3 WWF with 4 draws.

Match of the Month: Ric Flair Vs Sting (Nitro)