83 Weeks - RAW & Nitro 06.10.96 Watchalong [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Welcome back to 83 Weeks!

Before we get started with the Watch Along it’s important to note that in the previous week the WWF had sent WCW a letter which they already posted online claiming that Razor & Diesel were no longer employees of the WWF and as much as they attempted to portray that they were they weren’t. What were your thoughts on the WWF going out of their way to do this and the legal threats that went along with it?

Going into these shows on June 7th Brian Pillman signed with the World Wrestling Federation. We’ve covered plenty of Brian in the archives...but remind us all again your feelings on Brian signing with the WWF at this time.

3-2-1-Monday Night Raw is the 3rd hour of a 4 hour show taped in Fayetteville, NC.

Owen Hart vs. Yokozuna

4:03 goes the match and Owen wins. This is really one of the last big spots Yokozuna is put into for a while. How good is Owen?

The Jake Roberts promo talks about his issues in the past. What do you think of this type of gimmick and how it portrays Jake? Any similarities you see here between Jake and Scott Hall later on?

Marc Mero vs. Skip goes 12:34. Wow. Jake is on commentary talking about his demons. Did you ever regret having MARCO MERO leave?

The reason why we’re all here and the bane of Bruce Prichard’s existence for a long time. Jerry Lawler does a promo to present the Ultimate Warrior with a photo and also obviously to hit him in the head with it and the Warrior WEARS A HAT. Eric...how dumb is all this?

Bulldog vs. Taker is to rebuild Bulldog back again to main event King of the Ring against Shawn Michaels again after the mess that was the Beware of Dog pay-per-view. As this match goes on...in the Observer it’s reported that Davey Boy Smith opted out of his contract exercising his 90 day period to negotiate with others. Did you negotiate with Davey during this time?

Taker loses by countout when Mankind helps. What an un-exciting show Eric.

This show gets a 2.7 rating...which we’ll get into later on.

Over to Nitro...and the big news going into the show is a house show you had on June 7th in Buffalo, NY drawing the biggest house in WCW history at this point. It was a tribute show to Ilio DiPaolo and also the last event ever in at the Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium draws 14,852 with 14,082 paid and a house of $193,456. Bruno Sammartino is on the show and the main event is Giant retaining his WCW Title over Sting. Were you at this show and do you remember anything about it?

Wheeling, West Virginia is tonight’s home for the show which drew 3,500 for $41,000. We open the show with a match between Booker T and Scott Steiner. So odd seeing this match and knowing 5 years later this would be the last singles match on Nitro for the WCW World Title. Meltzer says this is a ** ¾ match which Steiner wins with a belly to belly suplex.

Debra McMichael with a microphone around this time is...interesting.

Jim Powers debuts and loses to DDP in 4:00. Eric what’s your favorite Jim Powers match?

Konnan discusses El Gato...the legend from South America. No country...just the whole continent. El Gato is Pat Tanaka. This is...odd don’t you think Eric?

Sting wins in 3:00 over Meng. What is it about Meng that everyone in the business loves that just did not translate to the fans?

Debra, Bobby Heenan, Ric Flair & Arn Anderson in one weird promo segment. Somehow this leads to Flair & Anderson taking Joe Gomez & Renegade’s spot in the main event. Eric...what the fuck?

Jim Duggan beats David Taylor in 2:20. At least you kept it short Eric.

Big Bubba and Scott Norton both talk. Lots of talking so far.

Hour #2 kicks off with Giant vs. Scott Norton. Giant squashes Norton in 1:40. The talk was always that Scott was very protective of his spot and his finishes. Did you have any issues with Scott over this?

Billy Kidman makes his debut and loses in 1 minute to Steven Regal. Do you remember who recommended Kidman?

11 minutes for the Nasty Boys & Public Enemy. Why Eric...why? Meltzer gives this -1 star. Do you think he seemed he liked it more than you?

Meltzer called it…”it was like watching the worst of indie workers.”

Hulk Hogan still loves America.

Sting & Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson starts with you apologizing for not delivering the debut of Joe Gomez here. See Eric...you apologize sometimes!

This match is great and goes 17:37. The finish is almost a backdrop to the Giant at the end where he gets beat up with chairs and fights everyone off to make him look more like a monster.

Eric you go to wrap up the show and here comes Scott Hall and then KEVIN NASH returns and utters the classic line…”Look at the adjective...play.” Nash asks if WCW has 3 fossils cleared to face them and you invite them to the Great American Bash and Eric will give them a match. What did you think of Kevin’s debut and his micwork and was this segment everything you wanted?

In terms of comparing the two shows the Raw show was definitely the worst one. The Nitro rating though for the show is 2.6. This will be the LAST show before the 83 Week streak begins of Nitro beating Raw. Looking back...was it Nash jumping you think that jumpstarted the streak?