August '96

Monday Night Wars August '96

Raw/Nitro August 5th

Monday Night Raw 5/8/96 (2.5 Stars)

Jerry Lawler kicked off Raw with a decisive victory over Aldo Montoya. Short but sweet match. Jerry was feuding with Jake Roberts around this time, taking shots at his very real drinking problems. Post-match he forced a bottle of "Jim Beam" down the throat of Montoya. The Bodydonnas defeat The New Rockers via DQ after a Smoking Gunns run in. Gunns and New Rockers teamed up to deliver a beat down until The Godwinns made the save. Individually, Skip and Zip (Bodydonnas) were talented, yet the team itself was extremely bland. I've probably watched a dozen of their matches by this point (10 to many) yet I couldn't tell you one distinguishable trait they possessed as a team. Shawn put himself over during a pre taped vignette, ahead of SummerSlam. The show was main-evented by a Battle Royale, which should tell you how much they were struggling from a creative standpoint. Yet while this may have been the case, it was still a fun match and well booked, earning the show my average rating of 2.5 Stars as a consequence. It was also an invitational match, meaning anyone could enter it presumably. So why the entire roster didn't participate was beyond me, as the winner received a WWF Title shot the night after SummerSlam! Undertaker and Mankind immediately took themselves out of the match, brawling towards the backstage area. Savio Vega accidentally eliminated himself during a great spot. He landed his Carribean kick finisher (spinning heel kick) on Goldust who was lying prone in the corner, with Savio's momentum taking him over the top rope, thus eliminating himself in the process. According to X-Pac, Savio either taught him how to do the move or gave him the inspiration to use it. Sid was eliminated after a distraction from Owen and Davey before Ahmed Johnson was left as the last man standing, eliminating Goldust. He got a nice pop and as I said, it was a respectable show.

WCW Nitro 5/8/96 (2 Stars)

Nitro's go home show for Hog Wild opened with Harlem Heat retaining against Rock 'n' Roll. Rock 'n' Roll Express are considered legends in the wrestling world, yet I'm assuming they weren't in their prime here. As such I won't get carried away, but for an opening tag match, it was enjoyable enough. Malia Hoska avenged her previous defeat to Madusa, and Alex Wright defeated Chris Beniot via count-out after Beniot and Dean Malenko brawled at ringside. For some reason, Hoska defeating Madusa was described as a massive upset. While I understand that Madusa is a former WWF women's champion, she still only had one Nitro win to this point as well as her overall WCW record being far from impressive, now standing at 2 wins and 4 losses. So it wasn't THAT shocking that she lost again here. Savage over Regal and this was easily the best match of the night so far. Although that's not saying much. Sting and Luger came out for some moral support midway through the contest. Post-match the duo walked to a limousine strangely parked nearby. They opened the doors to find a wreath, presumably left by the Outsiders, inscribed 'Condolences on the death of WCW' The message may have been delivered 5 years too early, but it would eventually prove to be accurate nonetheless. Mean Gene interviewed Savage, reminding the audience he gets the first title shot after Hog Wild. We see a throwaway Flair/Booty Man match, involving a Four Horseman beatdown on The Booty Man. Arn Anderson cuts a good promo on the Outsiders before 'Mongo' McMichael had a go at using the stick himself. I understand that AA had the natural ability to deliver lines convincingly, but seeing these guys speak back to back really highlighted how much Mongo was out of his depth. He seemed like an excited kid yelling to his mother about something, whereas AA seemed more in control and delivered his words with sincerity as a result. However, on a completely unrelated note, Scott Hall recounted stories of him and Mongo doing cocaine together. Allegedly, Mongo even had a contact bring him some to "every TV" So to summarise, a former Super Bowl winner with the Chicago Bears, was working with Ric Flair and doing coke with a member of one of the most popular stables in history, a mere 12 months into his Pro Wrestling tenure. AND GETTING PAID FOR IT! What a guy. Giant squashes Craig Pittman and Sting/Luger get back into the win column ahead of Hog Wild, with a victory over one of my least favourite tag teams...The Nasty Boys. Honestly, WCW lost me before the main-event even started. The entire episode has felt like a chore to watch. The limo returns with Luger & Sting approaching it for a second time, only for a bag inscribed with Ted Turner's name to be tossed out before driving away. Inside the bag was a piece of paper teasing a 4th member, with the possibility of a 5th! This wasn't the greatest advert for Hog Wild. Raw easily had the better show this week. Nitro's main-event was flat with none of the other action being particularly memorable.

WCW Hog Wild '96

Live from the world famous motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. WCW brought us, Hog Wild! Apparently this idea came to the fore, so Senior Vice President Eric Bischoff could attend the rally himself and ride his Harley-Davidson. Also, it was possibly an attempt to branch out in an attempt to get the biker crowd watching the product. A decision we will touch on a bit later. Rey Mysterio retained against Ultimate Dragon in an excellent match. I'm loving how the CW Title has been booked so far. The division had been showcased well and the title matches felt like they'd been earned, rather than dished out on a whim. There was a cool spot when Mysterio hit a springboard moonsault from the ELEVATED RING to the unpadded dirt outside. This was a crazy move and an extremely dangerous one to execute given the dimensions of a raised platform to what was essentially a blindspot approximately 12 feet below! 'Ultimate Dragon' was a mistranslation of his actual ring name 'Ultimo Dragon' WCW would realise this eventually. Scott Norton over Ice Train via referee stoppage and Madusa over Bull Nakano in a 'Loser gets their bike smashed' match. I was curious to see how the rabid bike enthusiasts would react to the first motorcycle themed gimmick match of the evening. While it wasn't the best contest, the fans in attendance seemed to enjoy it. Post-match Madusa smashes Nakano's bike to the best of her abilities. But all she could really do was slightly damage the exterior, as she was given a sledgehammer to destroy an alloy motorcycle of all things. A bat would have been easier to swing and a chainsaw would have done more noticeable damage. Chris Beniot pinned Dean Malenko in double overtime in what was also the second excellent match of the evening. Hopefully the winner of this one would be rewarded in some way down the line. Upon reflection, a stipulation of number one contender status would have really added to this already excellent contest. It may sound odd to say, but it was almost TOO GOOD to be as low stakes as it was. Although saying that, the fans in attendance actually booed at the prospect of double overtime, jeering the announcement, so they didn't deserve this masterpiece as it was. I also think the finish of a roll up on the back of a Nancy distraction was a bad choice. You've just made these people, most of whom aren't familiar with the sport to begin with, watch a relatively long match only to have it end in double overtime out of nowhere. At least if they signposted it slightly, it may have got them more into the rest of the show. Next we saw two successful title defences as Harlem Heat retained against The Steiners, and Ric Flair kept his U.S Title, pinning Eddie Guerrero of the figure four in the process. The fans hijacked a portion of the Harlem Heat/Stieners match by obnoxiously revving the engines of their bikes. But if you're holding the show at an actual motorcycle rally it was bound to happen at least once, so I'm fine with it. What I wasn't fine with however, was the so called "fans" response, to Harlem Heat (A black tag team) as they seemed to draw an unnecessary amount of heat, from the largely white crowd in attendance. In regards to the match, head booker Kevin Sullivan went on record saying "Sometimes people don't know history or Geography, and they mix them both up" alluding to the fact that booking Harlem Heat in the first place, was somewhat of an ignorant decision. Regardless, seeing Booker T and Stevie Ray get their hands raised at the end, was a delight! If I didn't like this crowd before, I certainly didn't now! Back to wrestling, and with far more hits than misses and some really solid matches being showcased, let's see if the quality holds up. It was a clean sweep for the NWO as The Outsiders defeated Luger and Sting, as well as Hogan capturing the World Title in the main-event. Nash and Hall both tried to help the Hulkster, but got laid out instead. Still, it was enough of a distraction for Hogan to nail The Giant with the World Title for the 1, 2, 3! The Booty Man delivered a birthday cake to Hogan whilst wearing NWO colours, before receiving a beat down from his real life best friend and the heel faction! Hogan then spray paints his newly won title with NWO lettering on its face! Most, if not all of this crowd showed up purely to see Hogan and The Outsiders, and as matches, neither delivered. I also agree with what someone else wrote, in that the Luger/Sting match would have been 10 times more effective had they still have been champions. The main-event was simply uninspired, yet the moment of Hogan spray painting the belt with NWO was such a cool moment and definitely boosted the show a little. This was another WCW PPV card with some excellent matches. Although with WCWs roster at the time, this should be somewhat unsurprising. Unfortunately it was let down by the main-event matches as well as the crowd. Personally, I put a lot of stock into finishing your show strong and in a similar way to the Great American Bash months before it, the strong undercard was hurt by a lack of action to close the show. As a result, but with a much stronger undercard then Bash at the Beach, it sits firmly between both shows to deliver a solid overall rating (3.25 Stars)

Raw/Nitro August 12th

Monday Night Raw 12/8/96 (2.25 Stars)

With complete NWO domination last night, I'll be stunned if WCW can't produce a show that beats Raw in quality. With that said, let's see how the go home show for SummerSlam stacked up. A video package explains Ahamed Johnson's injury, claiming it was caused by the attack from Faarooq. It was even claimed he may need one of his kidneys removed, pretty serious stuff! In reality, WWF personnel noticed his genuine kidney problems after the Battle Royal was taped. As a result, commissioner Gorilla Monsoon vacated his I.C Title. Speaking of Faarooq, he defeated Skip in the opening matchup, followed by returning superstar Crush pinning Savio Vega. Crush was revealed as Clarence Mason's "new man" or latest client. The storyline being that Mason acquitted him from his real life criminal charges, bringing him back to the WWF as a "new man" In reality, Brain Adams (Crush) actually spent a short period of time in prison due to steroid purchases and possession of an illegal firearm. Oh, how I miss the good ole' days of 90's wrestling. Godwinns defeated TL Hopper & Who (Jim Neidhart) while Bob Backlund joined McMahon and Lawler on commentary. He yelled about the importance of abstinence and AIDS before storming off. Very bizzare indeed. Shawn Micheals pinned Owen Hart in a competent main event, saving the show from being a complete disaster in the process. Vader runs out to attack Shawn post-match, hitting him with multiple Vader bombs ahead of their title match at SummerSlam. Not the best episode of Raw, but luckily SummerSlam is right around the corner and I'm expecting a good show.

WCW Nitro 12/8/96 (3 Stars)

WCW ditch MGM and are in a new fancy indoor arena. The Dungeon of Doom got back into the win column against Rough & Ready with Hugh Morris, before Sting & Luger called out the Outsider's. Who sadly didn't answer...yet! DDP over Renegade and Konnan over Jim Powers. While all of this was going on, footage of the NWO was shown, sitting on a couch gloating, promising when they are ready, they will be there to fight. Hogan even quipped a brilliant line about melting the original WCW 'Big Gold' Title down, as it was hurting his shoulders as he carried it through various airports. A great way to get heat! Beniot over Big Ron Studd closed the 1st hour. While it wasn't the best first hour of wrestling, the intrigue to the fallout of Hog Wild, surely would have carried them through. The second hour however, was excellent. Harlem Heat retained via DQ in a rematch against The Steiner Brothers, as did Rey Mysterio when he took on Ultimate Dragon. A pair of excellent re-matches well served to TV. Unfortunately WCW didn't use this time to bring up the potential racism during Heat's match at Hog Wild. While it was technically unproven, so maybe it would have proved difficult to come out right and say it. It still would have been nice to hear them say something along the lines of "We noticed some of our fans heckle the live performers during last night's show, and be aware. This won't be tolerated and will result in ejection and future bans from live events" The problem with this of course, was Hulk Hogan received the same treatment, only for very different reasons! What I didn't agree with however, was Eric Bischoff thanking all of the "great people in Sturgis" and promising to come back next year. This was massively out of touch and a poor move if they genuinely planned to return to South Dakota. Flair kept a grip on his U.S Title during an intriguing match against Randy Savage due to Hogan nailing Savage with a chair. A Hogan promo explained his actions. He stated that he attacked Savage as he didn't want any excuses when he faced Flair at Clash of the Champions 33. A show not nearly promoted enough might I add. Not that I plan to watch it anyway. Sting & Luger got some measure of revenge on Hall and Nash, as they ran down before chasing them away to close the show. The referee, Nick Patrick, went as far as to pull Scott Hall out of the way of a stinger splash, perhaps prompting Flair and the other Horsemen to intervene. This was the highest rated episode of Nitro to this point, and watching it, I can see why. Luckily for WCW, it was also going against the lowest rated episode in Raw's history. Up next is Clash 33. I'm undecided as to whether I will watch the supershows, as that's a slippery road indeed. To be continued…

Clash of Champions 33

OK, as my reviews are long enough, this won't be overly detailed. No Title changes and Hogan retained against Flair via DQ. I didn't watch this card, but by all accounts. It wasn't very good anyway. Moving on… (NR)

SummerSlam '96

The 1996 edition of SummerSlam was live from Cleveland, Ohio. Owen Hart defeated Savio Vega in the opener. Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw attacked Savio post-match. This was a fun bout and while I'd like to say it set the pace for the rest of the show, sadly that wouldn't be the case. The rest of the show was pretty poor, up until the final two matches at least. Next was a four corners elimination tag match with the titles on the line. The New Rockers, Bodydonnas, Godwinns, as well as the champions Smoking Gunns, contested this one. So basically, all of the tag teams in the WWF at the time. Billy Gunn eliminated Zip of the Bodydonnas. Henry Godwinn eliminated Leif Cassiday of The New Rockers. And finally, Billy Gunn pinned Phineas to retain the Tag Titles. The pace of this one was much slower than it needed to be. Maybe it was booked this way intentionally, but I expected it to be much more entertaining than it was. Besides, as soon as The New Rockers were eliminated, I really didn't care anymore. A nice video package puts over the city of Cleveland. They show off a fancy new bullet train, speak with some of the city's MLB players and show kids painting walls with Mark Henry. How sweet. Sycho Sid defeats British Bulldog and Goldust keeps his feud alive with Marc Mero following a victory over him. Sadly neither of these matches were particularly good. Sunny promoted the I.C Title tournament set to start on Raw. Thankfully the end of this show was in sight, as Jerry Lawler pinned Jake Roberts after hitting him in the throat with a bottle and pouring alcohol on him. Newly signed olympian Mark Henry put an end to this god awful segment. All of that being said, THIS was a bad match. Possibly the worst I've seen to this point while reviewing shows. As I said earlier, luckily the last two matches were very good. Mankind defeated Undertaker during the Boiler Room Brawl after Paul Bearer turned his back on the Deadman! A shocking moment at the time, and one that was 6 years in the making! We also saw Undertaker's druids debut, carrying him out of the arena. The rules for the match were as follows; escape the boiler room and make your way to the ring to claim Undertaker's urn. The first to do so, wins the match. I believe this was the first "hardcore style" match the WWF produced. They had ladder matches and cage matches before. But never an outside of the ring brawl with such a focus on utilising weapons as well as the environment. A notable moment in this match came when Mick Foley (Mankind) took a dive of what looked like a 10/12 foot ladder with nothing but a single cardboard box to break the 250+ pounders fall onto the hard floor below! Obviously it didn't do a great job, decimating on impact. While this was far from a 5 star match. The storytelling was excellent and as a result, I became more enthralled as it went on. I'm honestly surprised the whole 'race from the back' concept isn't used more today. Because when it works, it works really well! Main-event time. Shawn Micheals eventually defeated Vader, losing the first time via count-out, and the second via DQ, before being coaxed back into the ring by Jim Cornette on both occasions. He eventually retained his WWF Title by pinfall. This was an EXCELLENT MATCH! Which makes it an even bigger shame they couldn't have worked together (in the WWF) longer. Vader himself said that people he was close to would have put money on him succeeding with the WWF and becoming world champion. Bruce Pritchard would back up this claim, stating on his podcast "Something to Wrestle with" that the original plan was for Leon (Vader) to win the title at Survivor Series, before losing it again at the 97' edition of the Royal Rumble. Unfortunately, he fell foul of politics. Before we talk about that, I'd like to point out that before the match began, J.R acknowledged the late time in the UK (2.30 AM to be precise) which, as a Brit, I popped for. Outside of the U.S, the UK is one of the most prominent consumers of WWF/E entertainment, so it was nice that they acknowledged the silly times we have to stay awake, to actually watch this stuff. In regards to the heat Vader and Shawn shared, it was apparently more a case of Shawn not wanting to work with Vader, rather than the other way around. Shawn believed Vader worked too rough (To be fair to Shawn, Leon stated this belief was held by a number of his colleagues at the time) so lobbied against his position with the WWF. Allegedly, Shawn even went as far as to outright threaten to get Vader fired if he worked "like that" again. You can visually see Shawn give Leon a verbal drubbing during their main-event match at SummerSlam as he yells "MOVE...MOVE" at him, lending credence to these stories. Unfortunately, these are the reasons why it wouldn't pan out for the talented big man during his tenure with the WWF. This is a shame as according to Leon/Vader, Vince McMahon loved the match he and Shawn had at SummerSlam. As he should have, with both he and Shawn delivering an excellent contest with a super hot crowd. Yes, I was left feeling disappointed with this event overall. Yes, it could have been much better. If you looked at this through cynical eyes, you could argue this was a terrible PPV. But I have seen shows with equally bad filler matches during the middle of the card. Yes it was SummerSlam, and yes the fans probably expected more! But you remember what opens and what closes. As a result, I refuse to grade it anything below average. Although I would agree, this show would have lended itself better to the IYH two hour format. The exclusion of one of the hottest stars at the time in Steve Austin, would also prove to be a perplexing choice (2.5 Stars)

Raw/Nitro August 19th

Monday Night Raw 19/8/96 (2.5 Stars)

This would actually be the final Raw for the month of August, as the next two scheduled tapings clashed with a tennis tournament. We learned at SummerSlam that a Battle Royal would take place to determine the new number one contender for Shawn's WWF Title, seeing as Ahmed Johnson was sidelined. As well as this, we would also be treated to a tournament. The winner being crowned as the new intercontinental champion! The opening match could have been better given the participants, as Owen Hart defeated British Bulldog in the first round of the aforementioned tournament. The victory was via count-out, concluding with Davey getting into a spat with Sunny who was at ringside. The manager for both men, Jim Cornette, came down to ringside and called Sunny "A little slut" for getting involved. Pop. Part way through the match, the broadcast was affected by static interference which JR attributed to The Undertaker having a "presence" in the arena. Vader gets back into the win column as he defeats Freddie Joe Floyd. Upon looking up some of Vader's earlier work, I came across an excellent match on WCW Saturday Night from 1993, between him and Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) With the right partner willing to work with him, he was excellent. Although that match demonstrated just how stiff he could be. Watch it and you'll understand what I mean. During this rivalry, Mick suffered from a broken nose, as well as many cuts and bruises. Next was a Paul Bearer promo. This served two purposes. The first, to explain why he turned his back on the Deadman. He says it was due to the fatigue of blindly following the Undertaker. The second, to promote Mankind's match with HBK at In Your House: Mind Games. The lights start to freak out, yet Paul Bearer says no, that's not the Undertaker, it's Mankind as HE now has the power. He claimed Undertaker was dead and gone forever! The druids brought out his "corpse" only for Taker to sit up, forcing Mankind and Paul Bearer to retreat. Goldust won the battle royal, outlasting Steve Austin, Savio Vega and Sycho Sid. His prize would come in 2 weeks on a special "championship Friday" edition of Raw. Yes, the fans were robbed of what would have been an excellent match between Austin and Michaels, but thankfully that would come in due time. Shawn Micheals defeated Yokozuna in the main-event. A more angle driven episode of Raw, but that's not always a bad thing. Between the Paul Bearer promo as well as the promise for future title matches, it was a slight improvement on last week's episode as shown in my grading.

WCW Nitro 19/8/96 (2.25 stars)

Jim Duggan defeated VK Wallstreet in a rematch from a clash event I'm even happier I didn't watch, now armed with the knowledge this was on the show. Mean Gene interviews Duggan asking him about the New World Order, which must be the modern day equivalent of asking the mayor of Wigan what he plans to do in regards to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Thankfully Randy Savage came down and took over, vowing to gain revenge on Hogan. Although first on his agenda was the Giant, whom he would face later that evening. Chris Beniot over Robert Earl Eaton before Scott Norton pinned Disco Inferno. Nothing had managed to really grab my attention so far, although sadly that was often the case during the first hour of Nitro.

Dean Malenko defeated Lord Steve Regal in the first good match of the night. Ironically what followed to kick off hour two, would undoubtedly be the worst match of the week, across both shows! As Nasty Boys defeated Public Enemy. Thank you, next! Chavo Guerrero rolled up DDP with Dallas going bezerk on Chavo, unloading on him with the ref's belt post-match. Mean Gene questioned why Nick Patrick (The referee) didn't do more to stop DDP, furthering the whole "Is he on the NWO's payroll?" storyline. Harlem Heat retained against The American Males. This was billed as a rematch from the previous year in 1995, as footage was shown of American Males winning the titles from Heat. The funny thing is, I can genuinely claim to remember that match. This match wasn't bad, nor was the one in September of 1995. Yet by the same token, neither of them were particularly good either. Sting cuts a promo ahead of his scheduled match, calling for a truce between him and the Horsemen. He hoped this would enable him and Luger to team up with Flair and AA to take on the NWO at Wargames. I'm unsure why the FOUR Horsemen would replace two of their full time members for a 4 on 4 tag match. They reasoned it away by Sting saying only himself, Luger, Flair and Arn had experienced the match, so only they knew what it took to win. Ric Flair stated only if Beniot and Mongo agreed to step aside, they could be replaced. This was the part I didn't like as both men agreed far too easily, putting up little fight back and making them look weak in the process. Main-event time as Randy Savage beat the holy hell out of The Giant before their scheduled main-event match. The match would be called off as a result. All in all, an inoffensive episode of Nitro. Nor was it particularly exciting either. As much as I didn't follow the logic of Beniot and Steve McMichael stepping aside from the Wargames match, the segment was still the best part of the show. That said, neither Raw or Nitro blew me away this week, but WCW's failure to deliver either of their final two scheduled matches resulted in a narrow WWF victory in the final head to head of the month.

Nitro August 26th

WCW Nitro 26/8/96 (3 Stars)

Nitro had the honour of closing the month unopposed. Let's see if they made the most of it. The opener was entertaining as we saw Juventud Guerrera enjoy a successful debut as he pinned Billy Kidman. Post-match, Mean Gene attempted to interview Juvi, only for Gene and WCW to find out he didn't speak a word of English. Supposedly, no one had checked up on this fact beforehand. This had the opportunity to be one of the all time funniest and most creative ribs in the history of wrestling. Sadly it was unintentional! Regardless I loved it when the Cruiserweights opened the show, and for this time period it should have been legally enforced. Much better then Jim Duggan versus whoever he was feuding with at the time. 'Taskmaster' Kevin Sullivan teamed up with Big Bubba to take on Marcus Bagwell and Jim Powers. Jim Powers was standing in for an injured Scotty Riggs (American Males) Nick Patrick screwed over the babyfaces, restarting the match allowing a win for the Dungeon of Doom in a surprisingly watchable match. Chavo defeated Mike Enos and Rey Mysterio retained his CW Title against Mr JL. As all of this was going on, the NWO vandalised a production truck outside of the arena, branding it with "NWO 4 life" in spray paint. The latter match under-delivered slightly, given the talent involved but atleast the WCW matchmakers had the right idea in booking the contest in the first place. It wasn't a bad match, but it was missing something. It lacked a sense of urgency and excitement. It was still one of the strongest first hours I can recall seeing from Nitro so far. Hour two kicked off with Ted Di Biase walking down the aisle during The Giant's victory over Jim Duggan, as he would be the latest WWF superstar to defect to the rival promotion. Ted would sit among the fans as he held up four fingers and then five. Signifying perhaps he as well as another man would be joining the NWO. The even bigger news perhaps was the fan sitting next to Ted who excitedly screamed "This is five...this means five!" proving in the process, contrary to popular belief, that wrestling fans can indeed count to five! Ric Flair and Arn Anderson renewed their "rivalry" with Rock N Roll Express, with The Horsemen picking up a victory in the process. The debut of CHRIS JERICHO would be next. Before I discuss the match itself. Let me talk about the career this man had so far, and the impact he has had on the Pro Wrestling business in general. Jericho was born in New York yet grew up in Winnipeg Canada, thus holding dual citizenship. He is a proud Canadian and utilised this throughout his career, billing himself as being from Canada. He was trained by Ed Langley in the Hart Brothers school in the year of 1990. Before making his WCW debut some 6 years later, he had previously worked in Mexico, Japan as well as American promotions such as Paul Heyman's ECW and Jim Cornette's territory Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he worked alongside his good friend Lance Storm as one half of the thrill seekers. As Jim Cornette was partly in charge of hiring new talent over at the WWF, and already having worked with Chris, I do wonder how his career would have panned out if he signed with WWF earlier in his career. Irrespective of this, he will undoubtedly go down as one of the all time greats. He had or has (at time of writing at least) it all. He's one of the best promos in the industry, has had countless amazing rivalries with the likes of Shawn Micheals, Undertaker and Kurt Angle. Add in the fact he has a scary ability to constantly reinvent himself and get LITERALLY ANYTHING OVER! He got a clipboard over for goodness sake. He's highly intelligent and knows how to create good business. Anyway, enough gushing. He goes to a no contest with Alex Wright after he doesn't allow the ref to count out the German superstar. The Steiner Brothers defeated Blue Bloods (Dave Taylor and Robert Eaton) Post-match Dave Taylor turned on his tag partner before Sting and Lex Luger faced Beniot and Mongo in the main-event. This was billed as a "gut check" match, with Sting and Luger having to prove their worth over the men they would be replacing at Wargames. NWO shenanigans resulted in the match being called off as they ran in and destroyed everyone in sight, including Flair and Arn who attempted to make the save. Hogan spray paints NWO onto the ACTUAL SKIN of Mongo, Beniot and Sting as well as putting a black streak through Ric's blonde hair. Pro Wrestling fans had never seen anything like this before, and it was a super hot finish as a result! Admittedly a mixed bag in terms of in ring quality, but two strong debuts alongside a few decent matches and a super hot finish capped off an enjoyable show! Sod it, the show gets 3 Stars because of Chris Jeri-GOAT!

Summary and scores

Raw was far from fantastic but still somehow managed to take 2 out of 3 on the month. Yet Nitro delivered one of their best episodes yet (12/8/96) as well as the NWO closing out a TV taping for the first time. Hog Wild was also one of their stronger PPVs to date, in the Nitro era at least. Ahamed Johnson's injury came at a bad time for both him personally as well as the WWF, but the product would get stronger as the year went on amidst WCW dominating them in the ratings. The scores still see WCW lead with 28-13 WWF and 5 draws

Match of the Month: Shawn Michaels Vs Vader (SummerSlam)