October '96 In memoriam for 'Beautiful' Bobby Eaton

Monday Night Wars October '96

With WCW attempting to sign Bret Hart in a deal that would have done untold damage to Vince McMahon and the WWF, Bret would eventually decide to resign to an unheard of 20 year deal! Allegedly Bret turned down a deal worth 8.4 million dollars over 3 years, 3 times the amount of his WWF salary at the time. Some of the major influences in his decision to accept Vince McMahon's offer with the WWF being; the job security and the promise of a front office role once he retired (penciled in for 3 years later in 1999) as well as more creative control in regards to the direction of his character. I will accompany a full in depth breakdown of the events that preceded this with next year's Survivor Series review (Survivor Series 1997)

Raw/Nitro October 7th

Monday Night Raw 7/10/96 (1.75 Stars)

What better way to kick off the month than with one of the most ridiculous angles in Pro Wrestling history, as Marc Mero defeats "Diesel" via DQ. The booking of this match tells you quite a lot actually. Clearly Vince wasn't 100 percent committed to the angle, otherwise he would have had "Diesel" or Kane/Isaac Yankem, whatever you want to call him, go over clean. But it also tells you that in the back of his mind, he was possibly holding out a glimmer of hope that it may have worked, hence the DQ work around. The most likely theory is that, along with Bruce Pritchard saying that Vince believed by creating the gimmicks he was solely responsible for the talent's success, in my opinion at least there's a much simpler explanation. He did it to pop himself, and because he could. In summary, an average match that was quite acceptable for the time period. But flat out nonsensical from an analytical point of view. My favourite WWF tag team at the time, New Rockers (I'm not kidding, they actually were) sadly lost to The Smoking Gunns. Not a great match, but it can only get better from here...right? Next we were reintroduced to the "Real Double J" as Jesse James claimed it was he who sung the hit song "With My Baby Tonight" and not Jeff Jarrett. Like seriously, who cared? The WWF really needed to stop focusing on talent who were no longer working for them, and instead invest more time into those who actually were! Brain "Jesse" James had been working with the WWF since 1994 with the gimmick of Jeff Jarrett's roadie. Hence the angle that Jarrett had been using him and ripping him off. Jim Ross makes the announcement that both Sycho Sid and Vader would face off at the upcoming IYH PPV, with the winner going on to meet Shawn at Survivor Series. The Sultan defeated Aldo Montoya before Sid pinned Goldust in the main-event. As a side note, The Sultan (Solofa Fatu Jr) looked MUCH leaner/slimmer then he would in later years working as Rikishi. I only mention this as my familiarity with Rikishi as a fan, is him weighing around 400lbs handing out stink faces. So it surprised me to see him in this condition. Additionally, after the Sid/Goldust match, Sid no-sold a Vader Bomb during the post match fracas, before Vader rolled out of the ring from a chokeslam as if nothing happened. These guys were supposed to be competing at IYH and they've both just popped out of eachothers biggest moves. This was such a dull show. As a rule, I try to avoid scoring shows anything lower than 2 stars, and I've only ever done it on four different occasions (IYH 4, Uncensored '96 and 2 Raw TV's) But when ALL of the wrestling is bad and nothing actually keeps my attention in terms of angle advancement (because there wasn't any) I've got to do it. Nitro would literally have had to have Hulk Hogan take a piss in the middle of the ring in order to lose the point this week...stick a fork in it, it's done!

WCW Nitro 7/10/96 (2.25 Stars)

Your NEW tag team champs Harlem Heat (Won on 5/10/96 edition of WCW Saturday Night) defeated Public Enemy to kick off the show. I don't like being overly critical but I'm not a fan of Public Enemy at all. They moved slowly around the ring, as well as making at least one visible mistake in pretty much every match of theirs I watched. During the contest we saw backstage footage of Miss Elizabeth entering Randy Savage's dressing room, presumably in an effort to try and sort things out. Unfortunately for Liz, he wasn't there. Also in what was by far the most entertaining part of the entire match, NWO gatecrashed proceedings, holding up too sweet signs from the stands while Scott Hall talked trash to Booker T on the mic. The Outsiders would be challenging Harlem Heat for the straps at Halloween Havoc. Jeff Jarrett arrives in a limo before DDP pinned Jim Powers in one on one action. Faces of Fear over High Voltage and Glacier over Mike Wenner concluded a pretty sub standard first hour. I say sub standard, but this was the kind of low quality you would typically expect for Nitro's first hour. Around this time period at least. Hour two however kicked off with Jim Jarrett picking up a win on his Nitro debut, as he defeated Dungeon of Doom member, Hugh Morris. I'm a HUGE fan of double J. Perhaps more than I should be. But I've always enjoyed his moveset and he never really had bad matches. He was very reliable in that respect. Post-match, Jeff Jarrett goes old school, putting over his father Jerry Jarrett, as well as his former Memphis territory, as he called out Hulk Hogan. Jeff stated that Hogan's claims of being bigger than the sport were disrespectful and complete BS. Arn Anderson over The Renegade before Lex Luger squashes Dave Taylor. Arn Anderson attacks Lex Luger with a chair post-match, continuing Lex's feud with Arn and the Horsemen. So far the show has been pretty terrible, but all of that would change during the next match. As Chris Beniot and Rick Stiener delivered the kind of contest we hoped for during last week's main-event (30/8/96) This was a stiff back and forth match that was extremely fun to watch. Rick Stiener picked up the W, turning the Horseman's shenanigans against them, as he nailed Beniot in the head with Mongo's briefcase. Every kick, punch and slam looked believable. They simply don't make them like Beniot or the Stieners anymore. Randy Savage was slated to take on Ric Flair for The Nature Boy's US Title in the main-event. Now that would have probably been a good way to close the show, right. Well clearly WCW and Eric Bischoff didn't think so, as instead we saw the NWO beat up Flair backstage with The Giant stealing the U.S Title! Hogan snatches Liz and comes out to the main arena, only to be confronted by 'Macho Man' Randy Savage. The Giant then anilates Savage as Miss Elizabeth was forced to watch the beating. Giant picks up Macho Man, carrying him on his back before tripping on the steel steps leading to the ring and nearly killing them both in the process. After Hogan gets his shots in, he yells at Miss Elizabeth telling him he "owns her body, soul and heart" I'm guessing this was something to do with the contract we saw in last week's edition. Hogan then suggests that the NWO should destroy the broadcast booth as Syxx drives out in a bad ass looking monster truck and teases running it over before the show ends. Yet again, Nitro underwhelmed. Luckily Beniot and Rick Stiener delivered, and the NWO angle, while it was far from perfect and even confusing at times with all the Elizabeth stuff, at least gave us something unlike Raw. As a matter of fact, if I'm being totally honest, this was far and away one of the best NWO segments that Nitro had produced so far. In summary, WCW did a great job of building Hogan/Savage and I thoroughly enjoyed the chaotic finish to the show. As a result, Nitro takes the point.

Raw/Nitro October 14th

Monday Night Raw 14/10/96 (2 Stars)

This episode of Raw had a few things going for it. It marked the end of the horrible Jake Roberts/Jerry Lawler feud, as well as next week being the catalyst for much more entertaining television going forward. Finally, it was the go home show to a PPV. Vader kicked off the go home show with an easy and breezy win over Phineas (Godwinns) JR introduces Mr Perfect in an effort to hype his highly anticipated return match with Hunter (HHH) next week. A HUGE reason to tune in if you ask me and an actual dream match straight out of WWE 2K! Jake finally ended his feud with Jerry Lawler, as he pretended to stumble drunk to the ring (although being asked to play out this incredibly distasteful angle, I wouldn't blame him if he actually was) He won his match against Lawler in decisive fashion with a DDT. It ended as quickly as this whole feud should have...in 3 seconds! Apparently Jake found this entire angle just as distasteful as I did, saying "It was cheap, it was disrespectful, it didn’t prove a damn thing other than the fact that Vince McMahon’s an asshole, so there you go. Lawler, he’s in the same boat. Both assholes." Also, to add some irony to the entire fiasco, Jerry Lawler claims he was and still is teetotal, yet he was the one goading the real life alcoholic while also being the one who ended up with a bottle of 'Whiskey' being poured over him in the payoff. Only in wrestling folks! I would be remiss if I failed to mention that since then, Jake has deservedly been added into the WWE Hall of Fame, and is seemingly on much better terms with the WWE. Additionally, with the help of his long term friend Diamond Dallas Page, he is now sober. The pro wrestling industry is one of the hardest ways to make a living and if anyone deserves a happy ending after it all, it's Jake. Hunter Hearst Hemsley loses via count-out in his match with Freddie Joe Floyd. Blame Mr Perfect for that one. We also got a Crash Bandicoot advert for the PS1. Pure nostalgia right there. After a Faarooq squash match against Pug, we saw an interesting segment from WWF Livewire as Faarooq and Ahamed Johnson went back and forth via telephone. It would transpire that they had real life heat that would culminate in the ring. We finally saw the highly anticipated yet somewhat underwhelming main-event as Shawn Michaels defeated Steve Austin. WWF clearly didn't want to give too much away here, yet that seemed to be a running theme that they couldn't afford. An 8 minute match with a DQ finish following run-ins from Sid and Vader (set to face off at the upcoming IYH PPV) as well as Savio Vega who was set to face Steve Austin. Below average show, yet still a small improvement on last week's dross thanks to the main-event. Next week NEEDS to be better!

WCW Nitro 14/10/96 (2.5 Stars)

Dean Malenko kicked off Nitro with a victory against future WWE Producer Brad Armstrong. This was a good match and I had no idea of Brad's technical wrestling prowess before watching some of his work upon his return with WCW. He looked extremely athletic and also sold well. JR would go on to describe him as "one of the underrated all-time greats'' of the wrestling business. The show took a slight downward turn as Jim Duggan pinned Mr Wallstreet in a rematch from Saturday Night, and Hugh Morris quite literally moonsaulted his way past Jim Powers. A controversial Nick Patrick performance muddied the latter result, as Teddy Long complained on behalf of Jim Powers that the official slow counted him, yet did the opposite for Hugh Morris. My footage skipped during the finish of this one, but taking the angle into consideration, I'm inclined to take Teddy's word for it. Lex Luger runs over Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine in his Red, White and Blue bus (sorry if I've already made that joke) and in the finale segment of the first hour, Tony Schiavone showed footage of a masked "NWO referee" who was literally wearing a NWO shirt, as he officiated a match between The Outsiders and The Starbuck Twins during an Episode of WCW Saturday Night. Tony stated that it looked and sounded exactly like Nick Patrick. I'll have to concede I've been a bit slow on the uptake with this one, but it seemed as if Nick was on the NWO payroll, yet constantly denying it. Although to be fair to myself, this had been muddied with him generally playing favourite to all of the heels, most of whom had no allegiance to the NWO whatsoever. For example, why would they care if Hugh Morris beat Jim Powers or go as far as to give two shits about Jim Duggan's business? In short, they wouldn't. Hour 2 was upon us, as Eric Bischoff showed Randy Savage a video from Miss Elizabeth, as it was explained that she regretted signing a contract with Hulk Hogan as she begged for her former husband, Randy Savage's, forgiveness. Randy left the arena in tears, walking out before his scheduled match with Mike Enos. This was very well done and a nice change from portraying him as a screaming, unhinged lunatic. If this led to some kind of reunion, it would have to go down as one of the greatest feel good moments in all of wrestling. As they say, the best stories are always those rooted in reality. Eddie Guerrero pins Cheetah Kid from a frog splash. Supposedly Cheetah Kid was actually Prince Iaukea, a WCW Power Plant prospect. Double J over Big Bubba before Jeff announced that he would take on The Giant at Halloween Havoc. Al Snow would have hated this match. Allen Ray Sarven AKA Al Snow/Leif Cassiday, who was working for WWF at the time, has often spoken about how important realism is in wrestling. Towards the end of the match, Big Bubba, who in storyline terms at least, had 100 pounds of weight on Jarrett. Landed 3 clean, unanswered punches on Jeff as he laid prone on the floor. These shots looked so stiff they would have made MMA legend Mark Coleman, who was aptly dubbed "Godfather of Ground and Pound" wince. Yet he didn't mark him, he didn't cut him, and even went on to lose the match outright only moments later! Even I have to admit that specific spot was kind of ridiculous, and that's why Al himself says, punches shouldn't really be used. As a matter of fact, that's why closed fists are technically "illegal" within the parameters of a pro wrestling match. Because it kills any suspension of disbelief the audience is trying to hold. The main-event of Harlem Heat/Faces of Fear ended in a no contest, due to the NWO simply walking down through the fans and doing the spooky fingers. Hogan closed the show as he verbally berated Elizibeth while simultaneously turning on The Nasty Boys. NWO beats them up as Hogan proceeds to claim it was just a taste of what Randy Savage has in store for him at Halloween Havoc. In summary, not the best wrestling I've ever seen, but at the same time you couldn't really call any of the matches bad, as they mostly held their own. On top of that, the TV aspect of things was also entertaining. Randy's segment, as well as the NWO's, advanced their respective angles nicely without being too much to handle all at once. A solid show that wins WCW the point.

In Your House 11 (Buried Alive)

Live from Indianapolis Indiana, Steve Austin was set to face Savio Vega, yet HHH was called in to pinch hit as Savio was injured. Mr Perfect came out to distract Hunter, but wound up on the receiving end of a drink to his face, courtesy of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. Austin and Hunter fought on the ramp, with Austin rolling Hunter back in the ring and hitting the Stunner for the 1-2-3! Not as good as either of their PPV contests against Marc Mero, but a fun match nonetheless. It made Austin look dangerous and also put some more heat on Hunter's rivalry with Mr Perfect. Even as a heel the fans clearly favoured Austin, which would prove to be important for his push going forward. Finally, this event marked Austin's debut of his famous 'glass breaking' entrance music that he would go on to use for the bulk of his career, with WWE's in-house music composer Jim Johnson being responsible for the piece. Bulldog and Owen Hart retained their Tag Titles against The Smoking Gunns. Much better than the usual fanfare involving The Godwinns. Billy and Bart Gunn could obviously go and were exceptionally talented, but they needed fresh and mobile duos to face. A scarce commodity for the WWF in the mid 90s. JR cuts an in-ring promo. He promises Bret Hart will return tomorrow night. He claimed that he was the one who traveled to South Africa and negotiated the return. This wasn't true but again, we will get to that. He goes on to say Bret is coming with a shovel, because he's about to bury some fools. He didn't quite phrase it quite like that, but you get the point. He also blamed Vince for his headset cutting in and out and says he's going home. This actually happened (the headset issues) and I'm not sure if it was part of the story, a rib on JR or a genuine technical issue. That said, it was very annoying and I'm glad I didn't have to sit through 2 hours of it. A great segment nonetheless. Next we saw pre-show footage of Faarooq (Ron Simmons) being assaulted by Ahamed Johnson as revenge for injuring him, and thus being taken out of his planned title match. These two men would go on to share some real life heat. We now know that Ahamed Johnson suffered from legit kidney issues that led to him missing approximately 4 months of TV. The part I find confusing is that Mark Henry claims that Johnson injured Faarooq by kicking his liver, putting him on the shelf for 9 months. My timelines don't have Faarooq ever missing TV for that long, but according to Mark Henry, Ron Simmons (Faarooq) would go on to issue perhaps the final "receipt", effectively ending Ahamed Johnson's career in the process. Although I may be mistaken and accounts vary quite a bit. So I'll just state what we actually know to this point and summarize. Johnson was still off TV with legit Kidney issues, Faarooq was also 'hurt' ahead of his I-C match, with his replacement being none other than Goldust! No title change in this one either, as Marc Mero retained his Intercontinental Championship. It was an ok match, but mostly a showcase for Mero, with the Wildman hitting multiple flashy moves and getting in the majority of the meaningful offence. In the most 90s video package I've ever seen. Sid and Vader's match was billed as a battle of the powerbombs. "The debate rages on, who's powerbomb is best?" quipped Todd Pettengill. This was wrestling at its simplistic best and I absolutely loved it! Shawn Micheals was on commentary, rambling nonsensically while slurring his words for the most part. He must have been tired from carrying the WWF for the past 6 months. I enjoyed this match a fair bit, it was a typical big man match with high stakes. Typically I would have been rooting for Vader as I was a big fan of his work, but sadly we all know how his story in the WWF ended. He was politicked out of a World Title run, so Sid wound up winning this one. Ironically, in a match billed as a "Battle of the Powerbombs" it was won with a chokeslam and not one powerbomb was actually used throughout the entire match. Undertaker Vs Mankind in a buried alive match was the main-event. I'll explain the concept of this match for some of my readers perhaps unfamiliar with the stipulation. There was an open grave that you must throw your opponent into. In later years, a backhoe would be used with dirt pouring out and "filling" the grave. But here, you only had to use a shovel and dispense a few spadefuls of dirt, lightly covering your opponent, to be declared the winner. Still a pretty out there concept, especially for the WWF in the mid 90s. I can only imagine the intrigue of seeing this for the first time, with no idea of how it's going to pan out. According to Mick, this idea required a hidden oxygen tank as well as a hollowed out section below the graveside for the end of the match. He recalls that the feeling of being covered with earth and literally "buried alive'' regardless of how much dirt was used, was genuinely terrifying. Undertaker officially won the match, yet was attacked with a spade by a masked assailant dubbed as The Executioner (Terry Gordy) before being tossed into the grave and "buried alive" with some of the heels from the WWF locker room coming out and to assist Mankind in filling the grave to its entirety. After some spooky lightning and a Carrie-esque hand through the dirt scene later. The show was off air! Mick and Taker really showed their chemistry throughout the series of matches they have had so far, with all 3 being excellent (KOTR, SummerSlam, IYH 11) but the gimmick matches are where they excelled, with the Boiler Room Brawl and Buried Alive matches truly shining. I'd say this was their best thus far and currently holds my MOTM award. As a slight bonus, "He's going to be hip tossed into the grave" is one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've ever heard. In summary, a fun little PPV to watch. No WWF Title match or Shawn Michaels, but it goes to show that if you book an intriguing match between two solid rivals on top of your card. That's all you need. No bad matches but no amazing ones either, outside of the main-event of course. Overall grade (3.25 Stars)

Raw/Nitro October 21st

Monday Night Raw 21/10/96 (3.25 Stars)

With Vince McMahon's WWF getting absolutely trounced in the ratings, as well as producing some all round terrible television on Monday Nights, something had to change. Some even point to this episode as the moment Vince McMahon finally decided to do something about it and take WCW more seriously. Sid defeats Owen Hart and The Godwinns also get back into the win column as they toppled The Smoking Gunns. Sid won Via DQ after Davey interfered, yet Owen still did a good job putting him over as surely Sid had the match won anyway. We would probably see Shawn and Sid take on Davey and Owen sometime before Survivor Series, hence the DQ run-in finish. As for the tag match, they were looking to split up Billy and Bart, hence their loss. Also it was probably the best Gunns/Godwinns match I had seen so far. Then again, the fact it finished in under 5 minutes helped out exponentially. After a very short VT showcasing the hall of fame inductees (Superfly Jimmy Snuka and Vincent J. McMahon) we see HHH ram a cart into Mr Perfect's knee. Next, the moment we've all been waiting for. Bret Hart's return! I promised a proper summary of the events leading up to the infamous 'Montreal Screwjob', and will still do that closer to the time. But it all began here. As OTD, Bret Hart signed an unprecedented 20 year contract with the WWF, allowing him both creative control as well as an office role once he retired. Allegedly, part of this deal also allowed Bret to go out on live TV, and explain his final decision, irrespective of what it was. Supposedly, Vince allowed Bret to cut this promo live on TV having no idea what he would say or if he did in fact agree to sign the deal. I do find it hard to believe that he had no inkling whatsoever, as the man was and still is a control freak, but let's run with it. Bret says it was never about money. It was about respect, and there's only one company he will work for. And that's the WWF DAMNIT! Vince breathes a sigh of relief on commentary, applauding Bret's decision to stay, before Bret puts himself over saying the WWF has missed him this past 6 months, and calls his Survivor Series opponent Steve Austin, the best wrestler in the WWF. Finally he tells a story about his nephew who passed away, before crediting his WWF return to him in a nice moment. A good promo overall that covered everything it needed too. New WWF contract, check. Bret Vs Autin at Survivor Series, check. Still heat between him and Shawn, big ole check! Main-event time as Gorilla Monsoon will not allow Mr Perfect to wrestle, so allows Marc Mero to have the match with Hunter instead. This was done well as Hunter would only accept the match if the title was on the line. Swerve alert. Mr Perfect TURNS on Marc Mero, nailing him with a chair, and Hunter Hearst Hemsley won his first, of what would turn out to be many, championship titles. Hunter and Mr Perfect embrace as it would transpire that they were working Mero all along. This was by far, top to bottom, the BEST episode of Raw I have seen produced from this mid 90s era so far! It felt punchy, had a great flow to it and never felt like they were just trying to kill time. A breath of fresh air! It's hard to achieve a perfect rating with only 50 minutes of TV time, but if this show had a solid Jericho/Malenko type match on the card, they may have done just that!

WCW Nitro 21/10/96 (2.5 stars)

Nitro has delivered in the clutch with the NWO stuff this past two weeks. Let's see if they can keep it up. Chris Jericho over 'Beautiful' Bobby Eaton before Dean Malenko defeats Jimmy Graffiti. Bobby Eaton worked a good match. You could argue Jericho would have been better served going over one of the younger talents, or even just a talent who was presented as more of a threat (no fault of Bobbies) but with Mr Eaton being a legend, this was still a pretty big scalp at the time for Jericho. In retrospect it wouldn't matter one lick anyway, as Jericho would still be an absolute superstar. The pair went on to deliver an entertaining match that would prove to be the best on the card. As for Jimmy Graffiti (Jimmy Del Ray) he actually replaced Stan Lane of the Heavenly Bodies, even working with the WWF and featuring on the undercard of WrestleMania X. His opponent Dean Malenko, would go on to face Rey Mysterio at Halloween Havoc in a grudge match for the Cruiserweight Title. DDP achieved a quick win over Sgt. Craig Pittman after more Nick Patrick shenanigans yet it was Jeff Jarrett who closed hour one with his victory over Ron Studd. As usual, I spent most of the first hour editing my notes and refilling my glass. Lex Luger over Roadblock. No story here. This was Roadblocks' first big break in the United States and unfortunately for him. Nothing was made of it. A subpar show so far, outside of the Eaton/Jericho match. Harlem Heat got a pre PPV pick me up victory over The American Males. The Faces of Fear defeated The Fantastics, and I've already mentioned the abundance of 80's talent that were being on Nitro for some reason. If you put these guys against Rock N Roll, you wouldn't be faulted for thinking you'd jumped into some kind of NWA time machine. nWo Sting faced Mr. J.L. before the real Sting came out, who was fronted with an offer from The NWO. Sting says you get what you pay for. He called nWo Sting a cheap imitation before saying the only thing that's sure about Sting "is nothing's for sure" basically alluding to the fact he hadn't decided which side he was on yet. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage and Eric Bischoff closed the show, as Eric played yet another video of Randy's former spouse for him. Was Eric stalking Liz at this point? Anyway, the video showed her being berated and coerced by Hogan, into saying she still loved the Macho Man, in an effort to try and get into his head. She refused and ran off in tears. Macho makes an innocuous comment about life being fragile. More of a soap opera than a wrestling show this week. And that's not always a bad thing. Although it does make it hard to grade. Luckily for me Raw blew them away, so that part doesn't matter too much. If I had to pick a match of the night for Nitro, I'd have to give it to Jericho/Eaton. Eaton worked well with Jericho, and while it was clear they were both going at very different paces, the brilliance of Bobby made it work. Heck, that speaks to just how great the man was. He was still delivering the best match of the night on the same card as guys like Savage and Malenko! He would actually be credited as one of the better all round workers in the locker room by various talents, for years to come. While writing this piece, I would sadly learn of Bobby Eaton's passing 14/8/58-4/8/21) Bobby was a highly accredited wrestler, as well as, according to everyone in the wrestling business, a wonderful human being. I highly recommend listening to Jim Cornette's tribute to Bobby, recorded on Jim's podcast. While the WWF didn't produce any 5 star classics themselves, the matches were still more entertaining as was the TV! 2 hours felt like far too much for Nitro at this stage, yet with their stacked roster it shouldn't have. WCW's first hour was typically weak anyway with Raw's punchy, flowing 50 minute episode showing WCW exactly how it should have been done. I feel like there was and still is some unwritten rule that TV Wrestling has to last 2 hours or longer. And that's clearly not the case. Raw left me wanting more! It made me crave the next episode without being overkill. A feeling I rarely get from WCW, or even modern day wrestling. Maybe WCW will make 2 hours work (apparently they do) yet I will always contend that's a lot of TV to expect people to watch weekly. In short, Nitro went full story mode without delivering any advancements in their actual stories. WCW are delivering far too many cliffhangers for my liking. That may have appealed in the 90's, but I wasn't a fan of it. At least. I wasn't a fan of how WCW were doing it! Admittedly I was still left feeling semi excited for Halloween Havoc as there were so many unanswered questions. But that doesn't always mean you've produced memorable or meaningful TV. Raw wins the point!

Halloween Havoc '96

The PPV started off hot as Dean Malenko regained the WCW Cruiserweight Title in a fantastic match with Rey Mysterio. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love the idea of starting off the show's with the Cruiserweight division. More often than not they delivered, as well as being different to anything else on the show. The two men seemed more relaxed then in their first encounter at The Great American Bash. Both matches were excellent, but I'd give the nod to this one being slightly better/more enjoyable. The pacing was vastly improved here, as it seemed like more a struggle to capture the title, as opposed to trading flashy moves and going from spot to spot. That said, there was still plenty of high-flying. Dean Malenko reversed a top rope senton into a powerbomb, with the crowd popping hard. Regardless, this marked their 5th match together in WCW to this point, with every one of them being highly enjoyable to watch. Next, DDP defeats Eddie Guerrero. "And STILL...LORD OF THE RING'' This match was indeed contested for DDP's Battle Bowl ring. A trope WCW had used with Dallas before. First, he was repeatedly fighting for Kimberly's services as well as her bingo winnings. Now, he's supposedly getting his ring stolen from him (it had happened before but I forget who else was involved) being forced to compete to win it back. That said, I did like the idea of DDP going after the Guerreros, having previously defeated Eddie's nephew, Chavo. Also, it was a really good match. WCW has done everything right so far! The Giant, who was now sporting the U.S Title that he stole, took on Double J Jeff Jarrett in yet another good match. Some may even say perhaps surprisingly so. Although I'm not sure why, as The Giant was the recipient of PWI's Rookie of the Year award in '95, and Jeff is a third generation talent. Ric Flair was in Jarrett's corner, willing him against the NWO and the man who stole his U.S Title. Although Ric had presumably seen enough, as he hit The Giant with a low blow, causing his new ally a DQ loss in the process. Post-match, Jeff Jarrett stood with the Four Horsemen in the middle of the ring to a chorus of boos. Syxx makes his in-ring wrestling debut for WCW, as he took on Chris Jericho. On paper this match had me very excited. The reality however, would be a different story. Not a bad match by any means. But these two men could have been given 20 minutes or so, and told to go out and put on a clinic. However, what we received instead was a story heavy bout involving Nick Patrick and his "slow counting" shenanigans. It did make me chuckle when Tony Schiavone counted out loud, alongside the pinfalls to prove a point and got to around 7, seemingly counting intentionally quickly just to prove a point! Next up was Lex Luger Vs 'The Enforcer' Arn Anderson in a grudge match of sorts. Arn had supposedly taken exception to the fact that Lex was the one who quit, costing his team at Fall Brawl. As a result, at the beginning of the month (7/10 edition of Nitro) AA laid into Lex with a steel chair, and this was Lex's chance for some well earned retribution! He indeed achieved his revenge, submitting AA to the Torture Rack in a match that got better as it went on. Arn was winding his career up at this point. Jeff Jarrett, who was now some kind of honorary Horseman, came out to check on Arn with Ric Flair. Arn was then loaded onto a stretcher, as his friends looked on. Next up, The Horsemen (Beniot & Steve 'Mongo' McMichael) took on and defeated Faces of Fear (Barbarian & Meng) after McMichael used his briefcase on Meng. Not the most offensive match in the world, but WCW were starting to take their feet off the gas in regards to delivering quality in-ring action. Post-match, some Dungeon members invaded the ring with Konnan and Kevin Sullivan leading the charge. Sullivan laid out Mongo with the briefcase. Mongo's briefcase was initially given to him by Ric Flair the GAB PPV, filled with cash. Presumably his payoff for joining the Horsemen. So why he was still carrying it around with him was beyond me, but I can easily write it off as a case of "wrestling logic'' Woman (Nancy Beniot) shows concern for her future husband Chris, crying over him in the ring. Interestingly, she was actually married to the 'attacker' Kevin Sullivan at this time. They would divorce a year later in 1997, and she began dating Beniot. The Outsiders received their first taste of gold in WCW, as they saw off Harlem Heat in tag action, winning the titles in the process. After a skirmish between Nash and Col. Parker, Nash uses Parker's cane on Booker T. Scott Hall rolls on him, 1 2 3. OK, so the PPV hasn't dropped off dramatically, but we need a BIG MAIN-EVENT! This match is spoken off quite negatively, and now I can see why. Hogan Vs Savage for the WCW World Title. Perhaps more importantly, the Hulkster got a new haircut. And boy did it look terrible (I would later learn it's actually a wig from a movie he had just shot, entitled 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain) I learned this as part way through the match, the Macho Man took it off Hogan before wearing it himself, in an effort to mock him. This was starting to get very silly indeed for a supposed blood feud, involving severe emotional manipulation as well as threatening someone's ex-wife. After a ref bump, replacement ref Nick Patrick fails to count the three for Savage due to his 'hurt neck' Following a run-in by The Giant, Hogan pinned Savage to retain his WCW World Title. I understand this probably got a lot of heat for Hogan and Nick Patrick, but I hated this finish. But more importantly, I hated the entire match and am not looking forward to round 2. Not ideal as this was WCW's money feud at the time. However, Hogan started to cut a promo before...BAGPIPES. ROWDY RODDY PIPER WAS IN THE HOUSE! Piper supposedly had taken exception to Hogan's comments about how he "was wrestling" and the biggest star of them all etc. Piper incorrectly stated he was just as big a star as the Hulkster. All jokes aside, Roddy is an absolute legend who loved the business with all of his heart. He was famous for defending it with both venom and passion to its critics. To be quite truthful, shades of that slipped out during this promo. That's what made him so great, you believed every word he spoke, because on some level, so did he. Roddy will be remembered as one of the all time greats who put his body through absolute hell for the business he loved. Hogan tried to play nice, putting Piper over in the process. Roddy says he was the only man Hogan had never beaten. Hulk shakes his hand, before insulting him and telling him that his day is coming. The PPV cuts off as the two square off and as Roddy was mid-sentence. All in all, an enjoyable show. The first two matches were excellent, and what followed was good enough to maintain the goodwill they had built with the viewers to that point. Sadly the main-event was a let down, so I can't give it my usual "main-event rating boost" As a matter of fact, it bumped down the score if anything. Nonetheless, the action everywhere else was more than worthy of a solid rating (2.5 Stars)

Raw/Nitro October 28th

Monday Night Raw 28/10/96 (2.75 Stars)

The show opened with footage of Steve Austin, as he savagely attacks Brian Pillman's ankle with a chair on Superstars. This particular method would later be dubbed as the "Pillminazier" The seeds had been planted last week with Steve giving Pillman the evils, while watching Bret Hart's announcement backstage with the rest of the roster. Around this time Brian Pillman was having his final ankle surgery, so needed to be written off TV for a while, hence the attack by Austin. Double J Jesse James gets a win against Salvatore Sincere. Not a terrible match, but Jesse James needed a new gimmick BADLY if he was ever going to get over (Thankfully he got just that) Austin interrupts Doc Hendricks twice as he goes over the Survivor Series card. Austin calls the Hall of Fame inductees "old farts" before coming back to complain at the news that Bret Hart was at home in Calgary for the interview, instead of being at the live taping like Austin. Austin says he was flown out all the way from Texas, and it's decisions like that, that get someone's ass kicked. He had a point to be fair, and I really enjoyed this quick segment. It had all the traits that would make Steve Austin a superstar for years to come. Quick wit, intensity, charisma as well as golden skills on the mic. The beginnings of the "Stone Cold" attitude era character were being formed. Crush pins Aldo Montoya before we see more Austin shenanigans. He promises to show at Brian Pillman's house next week! When asked why he is betraying Pillman, he says "DTA...don't trust anyone" Austin was carrying the show at this point, not that I'm not complaining. We also saw footage of Mr Perfect and P.I.G (Henry O. Godwinn) playing Karate Fighters. This is what 'real men' did before they played video games, huh? Billy Gunn faces Freddie Joe Floyd. Bart Gunn would come out mid match, distracting Billy by yelling at him. Although it wasn't enough for Freddie to pick up the win, as Billy went over in this one. We rejoin Steve Austin for his interview with Bret. Austin rages as time is called on his very short interview and throws a production assistant into a ladder as a result. Again, he had a point! (he was flown out all the way from Texas afterall) The main-event of HBK and Davey ends in a DQ. These two had multiple PPV classics in the year of 1996 and they didn't fail to deliver on this night either. Post-match, Sid runs down before Davey offers the pair a tag-title match next week. The closing scene was Austin being escorted towards a cop car. Will he still make it to Pillman's house next week? We'll have to tune in and find out! Monday Night Raw has been really strong these past two weeks, and I've thoroughly enjoyed what WWF had been putting out.

WCW Monday Nitro 28/10/96 (2.25 Stars)

Juventud Guerrera faces Lord Steve Regal for Regal's TV Title. I haven't seen or heard of this championship since DDP dropped it to Johnny B. Badd at Havoc '95. I feel like I've missed the past two months of television, but it's explained that Regal was taking part of an extended tour of Europe and Asia, and was back for the first time since he won the title at the end of Summer. It was amazing to me how much you would have missed if you didn't watch the Saturday Night show. A shot of Sting was shown sitting alone in the rafters. According to Kevin Sullivan, this was an idea created by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Sullivan stated they also invented sliced bread at this point. As the match was going on, Syxx came out proclaiming the show was "NWO Nitro" as they held most of the titles, before promising to win the Cruiserweight strap also. Back to the actual wrestling match anyway. Regal retained in a DUD. Guerrera didn't land a single move, the match was too short and was completely overshadowed by Sting and Syxx. DDP continued his wave of momentum as he pinned Mike Enos. Thankfully the cameras were more focused on the action this time. New Cruiserweight champion Dean Malenko beats Jim Powers after another Nick Patrick screw job. Jeff Jarrett over Ricky Morton and High Voltage/The Amazing French Canadians ends via DQ after a Nasty Boys run in to wrap up hour one. The Giant cut a promo on Double J after his match, and it was definitely the highlight of the show thus far. I'm talking about Jarrett/Morton by the way, not The Giant's promo. Rey Mysterio defeats Jimmy Graffiti before Beniot picked up a victory against Eddie Guerrero in a really weird match. The two men were selling their ribs and working the entire match around it. Which, you know, kind of defeats the point of booking guys like Eddie and Chris Beniot in the first place. Either let them go out and be awesome, or don't bother! Mongo used his briefcase to aid a Beniot victory. The Nick Patrick saga continues, as during his interview with Tony Schiavone, he blames Jericho for his 'neck injury' Jericho in turn accuses Nick Patrick of being a paid employee of the NWO, leading Teddy Long to call Patrick a scam artist. Lex Luger faces Booker T. I am a huge Lex Luger mark and I love Booker T in the main-event. They worked a decent enough match, but with both men being faces, it was hard to root for one over the other. Add in the fact that the locker room was supposedly united against the NWO, it made little sense. Booker T won via count-out after Luger chased down "Sting" who was staring at him from the crowd. Although this being WCW, it wouldn't shock me if it transpired to be nWo Sting trying to get in Luger's head while the real Sting was tied up in a basement somewhere desperately trying to reach out the total package! A Hogan promo closed the show. Yay! He tells the Macho Man he respects him because all of the responsibility was put on Savage, and that he will take "good care" of Elizabeth. He also tells Piper he saw fear in his eyes before ripping off his shirt. I learned absolutely nothing except that it was 2 hours of my life I won't get back. Raw's better main-event as well as the Austin stuff, wins them the point as the WWF start to make a come-back.

Final thoughts/Summary

I can't personally speak to how exciting the NWO stuff was during its genesis, but I do know the angle eventually caught fire and made wrestling super hot, leading to record numbers for the wrestling business. That said, I am a fan of simpler punchier TV. I enjoy an immediate payoff to every episode, no matter how small. I'm unsure if cliffhangers work for TV Wrestling. At least the way WCW were doing them. As in EVERY SINGLE WEEK! On top of that, some of the in-ring pairings made me confused. They did have a good roster, but the matchmaking didn't make the most out of that fact. Raw's new direction was a big plus, as was the rise of Steve Austin. Both sides take two points a piece to close the month, leaving the final scores as WCW 31-19 WWF with 5 draws.

MOTM- (Mankind/Taker IYH 11)

In memoriam for 'Beautiful' Bobby Eaton

1- Bobby got his first licks when he used to assist in carrying the ring into the arena, in return for free admission. Once inside and before the show started, he would imitate what he had seen during the shows inside the wrestling ring he brought in, with his friend Arvil Hutto. They would quickly get noticed by some of the workers as well as management, who put them in a tag team 'The Brown Bombers'

2- Savage came up with a lot of his moveset working with Bobby. *Talk about the series and watch a match

3- People not wanting him to lose against them "Ric Flair"

4- Bobby's bag. Bobby would always turn up to the arenas with a bag full of extra items to share with the boys. Towels, extra socks etc. He even brought a sewing kit, and on occasion offered to fix other people's ring gear if he had time. As a result of this, The Stieners Brothers would often ask him for bizarre and outlandish items, just to see if Bobby had it.

5- Goldberg suggested that Bobby Eaton should be the one to end his famous 'Winning streak'