July '96

Monday Night Wars July '96

With 10 TVs, 2 PPVs and the inception of the hottest angle in pro-wrestling's storied history, be forewarned. This is one of my longest reviews yet!

Raw/Nitro July 1st

Monday Night Raw 1/7/96 (2.25 Stars)

Shawn Micheals defeated his old tag partner and rival Marty Jannetty in non title action (take note WCW) This was possibly the best Raw match in over a month. Leif Cassiday (Allen Savern aka Al Snow) was in Marty's corner as the other half of the 'New Rockers' I would have liked to see this team receive more TV time, as both Marty and Al were great workers, and the idea may have had some legs if done properly. Given Al's propensity for working a multitude of characters and doing most of them well, they could have had something special. They couldn't have been much worse then some of the other tag teams at that time anyway. Sunny is shown slapping and verbally abusing one of the Godwinns on Superstars. The Godwinns then got into a brawl with the Smoking Gunns, before Sunny was slopped. Payoff of the year! Mankind goes over Duke Droese in a match that wasn't necessarily a squash but was certainly intended as a showcase for Mankind. Goldust pinned Marc Mero in the main-event. They should have thrown Austin in and made it a three way. It would have allowed him revenge on Goldust for interfering last week and he already had history with Mero. Although that would have been too fun though so I can understand why they didn't do it. Certainly a more palatable episode of Raw, but outside of the HBK match, it was skippable television.

WCW Nitro 1/7/96 (2.75 Stars)

Six days removed from the true inception of one of the hottest angles in the HISTORY OF WRESTLING! Nitro opens with DDP looking for his LOTR ring, as well as a hot tag match between two of the teams from last week's main event. Harlem Heat successfully defended their newly won titles against The Steiner Brothers after Col. Parker interfered on behalf of Heat. I love these two teams and they matched up perfectly. One of the common criticisms of today's tag teams is they simply don't LOOK like a team. But these men were the antithesis of the modern day, thrown together tag outfits. Add in the athleticism and sheer size of all four men, they delivered a really fun bout. The next few results are as follows. Disco Inferno over Kurasawa, DDP pins Scotty Riggs and Randy Savage goes over returning legend Greg Valentine. Greg looked good and technically the match was fine. Yet I had no idea why it was happening and it screamed of 80s WWF to me. Nitro needed to do something big to regain my attention. Nash and Hall did just that by coming down and sitting in the front row, popcorn in hand. Next was the match that everyone has been waiting for...John Tenta seeking the ultimate revenge as he finally gets his hands on THE GIANT. The Giant retained his World Title. It was a typical big man match, but I'd be remiss not to say that I'm particularly impressed with how well The Giant handled being laboured with the hokey and cartoonish DOD gimmick. He came out the other side looking like a legit monster and has delivered some great matches in WCW thus far (He would go on to win the 96' PWI Rookie of the Year award) Post-match Tenta gets half of his beard shaved at the hands of the DOD. The locker room spills out ahead of the main-event as The Outsiders (Hall and Nash) were a little too close to comfort for Luger, Savage and Sting. The Outsiders are then kicked out of the arena. Hacksaw has DDP's ring and gives him a chance to take it back at the PPV in a taped fist match. Oh joy. Finally its main-event time as all members of The Four Horsemen took on and defeated Rock N Roll Express, The Renegade and Joe Gomez. The finish was abrupt but it was still the best match Rock N Roll have been involved in on Nitro and a good match to end a strong episode ahead of the PPV. Nitro wins the point

Bash at the Beach '96

This edition was live from Daytona Beach. According to Sullivan, the arena was surrounded by bars and he was banking on a somewhat rowdy 'juiced' crowd. As he put it "I knew the fans weren't going to church before coming to the arena" Bash at the Beach was responsible for 3 notable moments in the Hulkster's career. It was during the 1994 edition where he made his WCW debut. One would come tonight, and eventually, his final WCW appearance would also come at a Bash show. I'm excited for this one, so let's see how good this famous card really is. Mysterio and Psychosis open with an excellent match. Mike Tenay refers to a Hurricanrana as a "Frankensteiner style Hurricanrana '' alluding to the fact that the now common move was relatively new to the mainstream American audience and warranted an explanation. One of the best openers I've seen from this time period, alongside Mero/Pillman from Fall Brawl '95. Tenta defeats Big Bubba and I'm left wondering when all of this would be over. I can't see the payoff as Tenta was clearly not beating The Giant anytime soon. Now he has beaten Big Bubba convincingly, hopefully he can move on. DDP regains possession of his LOTR ring. I don't actually dislike Jim Duggan, but I couldn't stand this gimmick and will never understand the appeal. Especially in the mid 90s. Nasty Boys went over Public Enemy in a dog collar match. I'm left wondering whose idea it was to take four of the most immobile wrestlers on the roster, all of whom lacked technical ability, and chain them together. Well as it would turn out, they may have been onto something. Perhaps intentionally limiting what these guys could and couldn't do was in fact somewhat smart. Regardless, it was an absolute car crash. There was even a moment towards the end of the contest where a table was brought into the ring that refused to break, with both Saggs and Rocco (Public Enemy) painfully bouncing off it. Dean Malenko retained his Cruiserweight Title against Disco Inferno (Thank God) It was actually a very good match and put the show back on the right track at least. An excellent contest delivered by both men, with Inferno showing what he could do, despite being used in a comedy role at the time. Joe Gomez lost at the hands of the newest horseman Steve 'Mongo' McMichael. This was actually the right idea. It's just a shame neither man had the talent to pull it off. Bathroom break match at best. Ric Flair WINS the US Title from Konnan after a shot from Woman's high heeled shoe. The right decision that elevated the championship in the process. They already had the CW title and didn't need two lower tier titles. Heavy involvement from Woman and Miss Elizabeth as they did everything in their power to allow Flair the win, really increasing the "danger factor" of having these vixens at ringside. Something else that is painfully missed in the modern day product. Valets who actually influenced the match. The Giant and Sullivan gained revenge on AA and Beniot. Not the best contest, but you had to have your World Champion involved somehow. Beniot and Sullivan brawled post-match, keeping the feud alive, to the point of Woman pleading with Beniot to stop. Now, for one of the biggest moments in Pro Wrestling. And this isn't hyperbole. But first, allow me to break down the match itself. Hall and Nash enter the ring, seemingly to face Sting, Luger and Savage in a 3 on 2 situation. Mean Gene challenged this, but Hall and Nash said the mystery 3rd man was in fact in the building, but not needed right now. Lex Luger exited the match early due to injury, leaving it two on two. Towards the end of the contest. HULK HOGAN would return and walk down to the ring (no music, seriously?) Remember how I said this event marked 3 turning points in Hogan's career. Well one of them would happen on this night, when he would return...AS A HEEL! He dropped a leg on Savage as Mean Gene frantically entered the ring demanding answers. The match was officially deemed a no-contest. This was a HUGE deal at the time! Hogan had been conditioned into American culture as the ultimate apple pie eating, baby kissing patriot. But here he was, teaming with the Outsider's. But why? Well according to WCW booker Kevin Sullivan, it was because he saw the direction the popular wrestlers were headed. And it wasn't kissing babies and waving the U.S Flag. It was kicking ass and taking names. Yet Hogan still drew money, more so than ANYONE else at the time. So what to do? Turn Hogan into that cool ass kicking bad guy of course. The on screen character portraying Hulk Hogan had his own explanation of course, and the fans in attendance were PISSED. They littered the ring with beer cups and used balls of tissue. Hogan talked about how he practically created the WWF and became bigger than the sport of Pro Wrestling. He was promised movies and world calibre opposition when he signed with WCW, but he became bored. Even with everything he's done, to have the fans boo him, this was his payback. In his mind, the Outsiders were the future of pro wrestling, and as such, he would align himself with them. (That last part was probably a shoot, with Hogan wanting to work with Kevin and Scott anyway) Although according to Kevin Sullivan, Hogan's agent was against the idea of him joining the faction. This would mark the beginning of a new era, perhaps truly igniting the Monday Night wars. The drama was EPIC and the overall card was thoroughly enjoyable. Yet in direct comparison with the previous month's edition of GAB, the overall quality of the in-ring action just wasn't as good. Yes this show had a hotter finish and you could argue it was somewhat comparable as both cards had 3 standout matches. But it's my opinion at least that if Hogan didn't turn heel, this show wouldn't be raved about nearly as much (3 Stars)

Raw/Nitro July 8th

Monday Night Raw 8/7/96 (2 Stars)

Fallout time. We'll begin with Raw, but anyone who even heard about what went down during Bash at the Beach, was most likely tuning into Nitro. Gorilla Monsoon claims that the ULTIMATE WARRIOR is suspended indefinitely due to no showing, yet he will appear "tonight" against Owen Hart (If we didn't already know Raw was pre-taped, we certainly did now) Warrior defeats Owen Hart via DQ in what would be his final WWF match. Warrior is decimated by Camp Cornette (Bulldog, Owen and Vader) in a 3 on 1 post-match beatdown. Savio Vega defeats Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw. Jerry Lawler made a joke about John Travolta being Warrior's replacement at IYH, due to his ability to heal people. Likely a jab at Mr Travolta showing support to the controversial scientology movement. Bulldog and Vader defeat The Godwinns in what sounds like the most underwhelming Raw main-event of all time! On paper, it sounds like a match you would expect to see in the middle of a house show, not the main-event of a TV taping. Irrespective of that, it seemed like outright lazy booking. If you're going to have a tag match involving two top heels in the main-event, put them against, either people who are a believable threat or a face team who are at least moderately popular or 'over' with the crowd. The Godwinns did not fit either description. HBK and Ahamed Johnson revealed Sycho Sid as Warriors replacement. Corny nearly has a seizure upon hearing the news and Raw is off air. Another sub par episode, but luckily this particular batch of pre tapes soon will be over and they could start afresh

WCW Nitro 8/7/96 (2.5 Stars)

This highly anticipated episode of Nitro was being filmed in an outdoor setting from the MGM in Disney. I liked this move as it kept things feeling fresh. It opened with Rey Mysterio winning the Cruiserweight Title from Dean Malenko in a fantastic match. Rey misjudged a moonsault to the outside, landing mostly on the concrete and only partially catching Dean. When you work at the pace these two men did, mistakes can happen. Rey was ok thankfully and continued on. Excellent match I liked for 2 reasons. First and foremost the actual wrestling was top notch, but it was also explained that Rey was being rewarded for his victory against Psychosis, giving the title match some added meaning. Tenta runs in on Big Bubba who was teaming with Hugh Morris, costing them in the process, allowing The Blue Bloods a victory. At this point, book the pair of them in a loser leaves WCW match and be done with it. Following this, Psychosis made his Nitro debut as he lost to Eddie Guerrero by way of frog splash. Another good match and I now see why the Cruiserweight division was considered must see TV at the time. Outside of ECW, this was the only televised American promotion showing this kind of action, with WCW possibly being responsible for introducing it to an entirely new generation of mainstream wrestling fans. Following a confrontation earlier in the night, The Nasty Boys do a job for The Steiners, I'm genuinely torn as to who I disliked more. Nasty Boys or Public Enemy? The Steiners were rewarded with a title match at Hog Wild as a result. Flair successfully defended his U.S Title against Jim Powers before Beniot squashed Craig Pittman. Nothing to see here. Main-event time as Sting faces Arn Anderson. Will the newly formed NWO make an appearance? Sting locked in the Scorpion Deathlock for the win as Hall and Nash attempted to interfere but were kept away from the ring by security. Post-match Sting cuts an awesome promo on Hogan. Savage said some stuff too but I'm unsure as to what exactly. Mean Gene speaks with The Outsiders in the parking lot and they promise Hogan will be at Nitro next week, making reference to the 'New World Order' for the first time. A really good first half to the show, with the second half being much weaker. Still a hot finish that nicely sets up next week without giving too much away at once. A more enjoyable Nitro wins them the point

Raw/Nitro July 15th

Monday Night Raw 15/7/96 (2.25 Stars)

I'm at a crossroads. I almost expect WCW to produce a better show week to week and obviously that mindset can influence someone, so I will do my best to judge impartially. Sunny kicks off her evil campaign for world dominance. Already managing the tag champions, Smoking Gunns, she somehow managed to get both members individual title matches against Ahmed Johnson and HBK respectively. If successful, she will not only manage the tag champs, but also the I.C and World champion! A clever angle to be fair, albeit somewhat lazy. Only in the way that neither member of The Smoking Gunns had been presented as a threat to either Johnson or Michaels thus far. She gets off to a rough start anyway as Johnson defeats Bart Gunn, retaining his I.C Title in the process. This match was so dull I had to turn off the show and revisit the rest later. Marc Mero over TL Hopper (The wrestling plumber making his Raw debut) and HBK retained his World Title in the main-event against Billy Gunn. At one point, Shawn was even forced to plant a kiss on Sunny, in an effort to quell her antics. Around this time Shawn and Tammy Lee Sytch (Sunny) were allegedly having an affair. To the point of the pair of them even having relations at the various arenas they performed in! If you believe Sunny (I do) they couldn't keep their hands off each other. But this isn't a blog about gossip, and there is plenty of information online about the affair. Anyway, this was an entertaining main-event that really saved the show. Post-match Shawn and Ahmed Johnson were led into an ambush in the parking lot.

WCW Nitro 15/7/96 (2.75 Stars)

On Nitro we saw the new number one contenders for the tag titles, The Steiner Brothers, as they defeated Fire and Ice.

Former CW champ Dean Malenko defeats Billy Kidman. In a short pre match video, Malenko explains this is the first step in reclaiming his title. A small detail but a nice touch nonetheless. The finish to this one was brilliant also, with Dean looking like an absolute monster hitting multiple "signature moves'' before finishing Kidman off with a Texas Cloverleaf. Harlem Heat retain their titles against WCW's newest tag team Rough N Ready (Mike Enos/Dick Slater) Madusa (remember her, the chick who dumped the WWF Women's title in a trash can on live TV, only to disappear for half a year) claimed her first victory on Nitro against Malia Hoska, so good for her. She had won a couple of dark matches up to that point, but I'm not counting them. All WCW needed now was an actual Woman's division of some description and they were good to go! Nitro's second hour began with the Outsider's covering the WCW logo with NWO lettering. Eddie Guerrero over Chris Beniot via count-out after Dean Malenko blindsided Beniot. This match requires little explanation, two great workers having a good match. This is where WCW shone, they had an incredible roster so never struggled to produce something special week to week. Last week it was Rey/Dean. This week it was Beniot/Eddie. Just to think, if they somehow managed to add Shawn Micheals to this line up. You could argue WCW would have boasted the most star studded and talented, of that or any era, making it one of the best rosters of all time. (HBK, Ric Flair, Hogan, Outsiders, Sting, Savage, Beniot, Eddie, Rey, Malenko, Booker T etc) Lex Luger retained his TV Title against Big Bubba via DQ, after outside interference from the newly formed NWO. Hogan cuts a promo to close the show. The live fans HATED him at this point, meaning the angle was working to perfection as they were supposed to be a heel outfit. He promised to reclaim the World Title at Hog Wild and make it the NWO Title. I must admit, I was somewhat distracted by a little kid wearing green shorts sitting in the front row, who started rummaging under other people's seats, just to find things to throw at the Hulkster! DOD and The Steiner's (for some reason) come out and surround the ring as Nitro goes off the air. Nitro with far more hits than misses this week, as well as the NWO stuff, producing an all round entertaining show that increases their lead. Sadly it was more of the same from team WWF. This had been a rough month for the company, both in terms of creativity as well as ratings. The main-event was entertaining but nothing else was.

In Your House 9 (International Incident)

The Smoking Gunns open the card as they lose to The Bodydonnas in non-title action. This match felt like it was just there to fill space. I've already spoken about how poor the tag division was around this period. They should have pushed The New Rockers and maybe signed The Road Warriors to add some much needed depth to the division. Mankind went over Henry O. Godwinn. Not a terrible match, but far from being good, and I would have liked to see Mankind booked with someone else. He defeated Undertaker at the previous PPV, so Henry O. Godwinn seemed like a step down. We saw a rematch from King of the Ring as Austin yet again defeats Marc Mero. Marlena (Goldust's valet) also came down mid-match to give Jerry Lawler a secret envelope. We would later learn that it was a note for Sable, from Goldust himself. It was a good match the first time round and it was good again here, so I don't have a huge problem with it. Except for the lazy booking of course. I was lucky enough to be able to skip Taker's long entrance as well as Goldust's stalling in the next match, as combined it took up over 5 minutes of the card! Undertaker wins via DQ after Mankind pulls him from under the ring, only for Taker to pop up from the other side and get in some shots of his own on his rival. They are shown fighting towards a boiler room. Boiler room brawl anyone? This wasn't a bad match by any means but I just wasn't interested in Taker/Goldust. Neither as a feud or stylistically as a wrestling match. The main-event has to be good to make up for the substandard showing so far. Luckily it was. It was excellent in fact as the heel team of Vader, Owen and Davey defeated HBK, Ahmed Johnson and Sycho Sid. In summary, the main-event is worth watching and the card as a whole wasn't terrible. In fact, as a standalone two hour episode of Raw, it would have been fairly decent. Although this was a PPV, and the card sadly just wasn't PPV quality. This was reflected with their lowest Buyrate IN HISTORY (up to that point anyway) with a disappointing 0.37. I was also let down with the lack of any gimmicks in the main-event. Did they really think THIS 6 man tag alone would pull respectable numbers? Maybe if they added a stipulation like; Whoever gets the pinfall receives a Title match at SummerSlam. I doubt it would have helped anyway, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt. The main-event helped ensure the show wasn't a total bust (2 Stars)

Raw/Nitro July 22nd

Monday Night Raw 22/7/96 (2.5 Stars)

HBK and Ahmed Johnson face off against The Smoking Gunns in a tag-title match. Sunny brings out a cake for the birthday boy Shawn Michaels, how kind. After Sunny gets pied, or caked rather. The match is thrown out and rebooked for later in the night. Marc Mero over the latest, erm, generic gimmick job guy? He beats a 'hockey player' in The Goon anyway. Last week it was a plumber, this week it was a hockey player. You get the idea. Mankind squashes Freddie Joe Floyd before Marc Mero cuts a promo calling out Goldust. He says whatever infatuation he has with Sable, it's sick and he's going to end it...at SummerSlam. Brian Pillman joins VKM and Lawler at ringside, threatening to say the 7 words you can't say on TV, as Goldust defeated Barry Horrowitz. Sadly, I doubt you'll find many of Pillman's promos unedited on Peacocks version of the WWE network. Brian Pillman was famous for his edgy and

Rated-R mic work, and he was damn good at it too! Vader was awarded a title match with Shawn at SummerSlam. More on that later. Round 2 of HBK/Ahmed Johnson ends via DQ as Ron Simmons or Faarooq as he would now be known, attacks Ahmed Johnson. This was the hottest finish to a Raw I can recall since God knows when. Although as I've already noted, what separated WCW and WWF during this time period was Nitro's ability to put 4 star matches in the middle of any card with relative ease. That's what this show was missing. Really solid midcard workers who gave fans a reason to tune in, opposed to only watching for the major angles or to see what Shawn was doing. It was still a much better show this week with a hot finish and a refreshingly creative main-event.

WCW Nitro 22/7/96 (2 Stars)

There wasn't much worth mentioning in the first hour. Dave Taylor over Scott Norton and Konnan over VK Wallstreet. We also saw a video package hyping 'Glacier' who was soon to be WCWs newest superstar. How exciting. Next was a HUGE 8 man tag as Joe Gomez, The Renegade, Alex Wright and Jim Powers took on Hugh Morris, Kevin Sullivan, The Barbarian and Leprechaun (Dungeon of Doom) In case you are wondering, the gimmick of the Leprechaun was; a guy in a green jacket who chased people around the ring and generally acted crazy, like a Leprechaun. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash sadly denied us of watching this absolute masterpiece in full, the way it was intended, when they hijacked the control room and panned to a very bored looking crowd instead of keeping the attention on what was going on in the ring. They eventually got kicked out and we saw The Giant chokeslam Renegade, ending the match in a DQ, before accepting Hogan's challenge for Hog Wild.

Things pick up slightly as we see Chavo make his Nitro debut, losing to Dean Malenko. We then FINALLY see a good match as Eddie defeats Psychosis. Remember what I said about WCW'S ability to book these kinds of matches week to week. This is exactly what I was talking about. Eddie would face Ric Flair at Hog Wild for the U.S Title. My only gripe about announcing this ahead of time is it denied the opportunity for Eddie to face Konnan in some kind of title eliminator on Nitro. Sting, Luger and Savage over Team Horsemen (AA, Beniot and Steve McMichael) after Savage nailed Beniot with a briefcase. Sting and Luger cut a face promo ahead of their match against The Outsiders at Hog Wild. In summary, Raw actually had the better show this week! Considering WCWs deeper roster and the advantage of having a whole extra hour, I was pleasantly surprised. But if you watched this episode of Nitro. You probably wouldn't be that. Raw wins the point

Raw/Nitro July 29th

Monday Night Raw 29/8/96 (2.5 Stars)

Raw left me eager to see what would happen after the shock debut of Ron Simmons last week, so let's see what they delivered. Sycho Sid made his Raw return with a DQ victory over Bradshaw. Sid got some revenge with a post-match beatdown on JBL and his manager, Dutch Mantel. Sunny gives a backstage promo with Faarooq, telling Johnson he's the new number one contender for his I.C Title. The SummerSlam card is starting to shape up nicely. This event used to be booked as a "Big 4 PPV" meaning hot matchups were saved and promoted especially for it. I'm not saying that Johnson/Faarooq was a marquee matchup, but they were clearly putting some extra effort into this card. The number one contender for the WWF Title, Vader, defeated Marc Mero. I'll discuss the issues shared between Vader and HBK in next month's write up. But put simply, allegedly Shawn wasn't happy about working with the big man. JC cuts a promo on Jose Lothario in a way only he can. Jim was an excellent orator with more cutting one liners than Jimmy Carr's joke book. HBK was shown being attacked backstage by Mankind shortly after. A lot was going on in this episode! (For a 1996 episode of Raw at least) Bulldog over Henry O. Godwinn before Steve Austin beats Taker by way of count-out in the main-event, thanks to Mankind shenanigans. These two men faced off for the first time at the end of June with Taker winning via DQ, so hopefully this result sets up a rubber match. Good show overall. That's two in a row now and a strong finish to the month

WCW Nitro 29/7/9 (2.5 Stars)

Nitro begins with footage from WCW Saturday Night as we see The Outsiders attack Sting in the parking lot. Sting, Luger and Savage face off against Flair, Beniot and McMichael in a sort of rematch from last week. The match was called off part way through as Jimmy Hart frantically begged Lex Luger for assistance. This was when the famous 'assault' took place in the MGM backstage area. The Outsiders laid waste to The American Males, belted Arn Anderson with a metal baseball bat before Rey Mysterio was launched head first into a trailer. Randy Savage jumped on top of their limousine as they made an escape. The heel Horsemen team as well as the face duo of Luger and Sting put their differences aside and tried to help out. A firetruck as well as an Ambulance arrived, with MGM/Disney workers even going as far as to call the police believing the attack was real. Rey Mysterio yelled about four guys, insinuating there was a fourth NWO member, before having his mask removed by paramedics. This as well as Chris Beniot looking on in tears, really added to the realism. Bobby Heenan even left the broadcast citing a history of neck injuries as well as having nerve damage, and not wanting to risk any long lasting effects from a potential attack from Scott and/or Kevin. Although the segment came at a cost to the fans in attendance, who started to chant "boring" as they were left sitting on their hands as all of this went on (There wasn't any screens to show the segment to the live crowd) Steiners over High Voltage as the action finally resumed as Big Bubba replaced Rey Mysterio in the second 'standby match' of the night. Eddie Guerrero pinned him to pick up the victory. We then saw the first black and white NWO promo. This was done in a unique style as it was attached to a message proclaiming "The following announcements have been paid for by the New World Order" It can be more difficult to stand in front of a camera and deliver a promo with the same level of pisaz and charisma that you would otherwise have with fans egging you on. They can sometimes come across as wooden yet Scott, Kevin and Hogan had no difficulties whatsoever. All three men oozed charisma and delivered an excellent segment. The Giant retained his World Title against Greg Valentine in the main-event. Not a stellar episode from WCW wrestling wise, but the NWO stuff went from zero to sixty real quick! From them making the odd appearance here and there to total domination and a much larger presence on this particular show. A historic episode yet not a particularly good one. Although the NWO stuff was fantastic and saved Nitro a draw to end the month

Summary and scores

A heady month indeed. While I was harsh in my rating for Bash at the Beach, it was still an enjoyable PPV with one of the best opening matches I can ever recall seeing. As such it wins my MOTM. The inception of NWO was one of the HOTTEST angles in the history of pro wrestling. Even Kendall Jenner was spotted wearing their merch after the fact *Disclaimer. She may not have known what she was wearing and just thought it looked cool, but she was right and it did. That's the point* This was a time period when it was cool to be a wrestling fan, and Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were responsible for that. The WWF struggled and had been doing so for a good portion of this year as well as the last. But the last two episodes of the month as well as the rise of Austin, steered them towards the right direction at least. WCW still led the way, with the scores being WCW 27-11 WWF with 5 draws.

Match of the Month: Rey Mysterio Vs Psychosis (Bash at the Beach)