83 Weeks - Nitro 9.9.96 Watchalong [Show Notes] (Patreon)

We’re back on 83 Weeks with a big episode of Monday Night Nitro where we’re on September 9th, 1996.

Before we get started on this show we need to talk about what happened on the OTHER channel this week. Jim Ross turns heel and claims that Diesel & Razor Ramon are returning on Monday Night Raw live against Nitro. The rumor and innuendo...which is really just pushed by Kevin Nash & Scott Hall...is that both of them were on deal sheets which meant they had agreed but not really signed and you flew them into Atlanta to re-negotiate because of this. How true is this?

The WWF is really starting to lose the ratings battle and this is their attempt to regain some ground. What did you think of this attempt and were you proud you pushed Vince McMahon to do something like this?

Eric let’s get the Peacock machine fired up!

Season 2 Episode 35!

Columbus, Georgia is our home for this week and we’re live in front of 6,000 fans for a gate of $54,000.

As we open the show there’s some stuff going on with Hulk that almost stopped him from being at this show. From the Observer:

“Hogan himself had a major scare on 9/8, as he was on his jet ski riding around with his six-year-old son Nicholas Bollea tied to the back in an inner tube when there was a serious accident as Nicholas crashed into pilings. It could have been worse, but the extent of the injuries were that Nicholas suffered a concussion and needed stitches in his head and his arm was put in a sling but overall will be fine. Hogan still showed up for Nitro the next day because he felt it was important to be part of the last angle before the PPV show.”

What do you remember of this and how did you find out about it?

Super Calo debuts to open the show and he’s facing Pat Tanaka...which in a little trivia note...uses Bill Goldberg’s future music!

It’s announced during this match which Mike Tenay joins us for that Calo will be taking on Rey Mysterio Jr. at Fall Brawl for the Cruiserweight title.

There’s a shot during this match where cameras are outside showing teenage nWo fans with flyers. Who’s idea was this?

This is quite the styles clash but Calo gets the win. Is Konnan the one suggesting who to come in and who they should be put with?

Here’s Lex and Rick in the locker room who are facing off again in a pseudo rematch after what happened last week with Nick Patrick but their focus is on the War Games.

Buy the shirt! The nWo shirt! Nash, Hall & Giant. Did you guys shoot this before the show?

Alright Eric it’s time for the big reveal of Blood Runs Cold...ON WCW PRO????

How does this happen Eric?

The Quebecers debut...I mean the Amazing French Canadians...Jacques Rougeau & Carl Oulette...in Jacques return to the ring for the first time in 2 years. PCO is still going strong as evidenced in Ring of Honor but he’s about a 100 pounds heavier than his time in the WWF. Was bringing these two in to help push the Canadian market?

As we say all that they lose to the Nasty Boys in 3:25. Gene Okerlund even calls them the Rougeau boys after the fact. Was this a legal issue with the WWF or does no one care about them?

This is one of your less...innovative repackagings wouldn’t you say Eric?

Scott Norton vs. Craig Pittman is up next and we’re building to Norton vs. Ice Train in a submission match. Ice Train throws the towel in for the loss for Pittman which earns the Pep Boys Pin of the Week...WTF Eric?

In the back we got the Four Horsemen questioning Lex Luger where Sting is. That’s right Eric it’s this show. And man do we have a lot to talk about that. Who comes up with the show long storyline questioning where Sting is?

Juventud Guerrera vs. Joe Gomez and Eric...shockingly enough Dave Meltzer does not have the best things to say regarding this: “This match killed the show live. It was a horrible match to book because of the size difference, huge technical discrepancy not to mention style clash. Gomez really screwed the match up and was yelled at backstage, but the real problem was putting the match together in the first place.”

Who yelled at Joe Gomez do you know? How could anyone ever expect this match to work? Was the whole point of this because Juventud is replacing Psychosis to face the “Mexican Heavyweight Champion” Konnan at Fall Brawl?

Here’s Nick Patrick and Gene Okerlund to continue this as Patrick defends his call on Luger last week and threatens to sue Okerlund if he keeps talking about him. Each week Patrick gets better in this role does he not?

Eric...you got Hulk Hogan, the Giant, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash...legit 4 of the biggest wrestling stars in the last year...putting fliers on cars outside in the rain. Where was this going and how did you convince them to do this?

Our show long storyline continues as Rick Steiner and Lex Luger get in the ring with each other. Steiner grinds him to the mat until the second hour begins and you & Bobby join us. They wrestle until Nick Patrick comes out and calls Lex Luger to the back...and man does this change the course of WCW.

Ted DiBiase is in a limo and...supposedly he’s talking to Sting. Now there’s an interesting note in the Observer for this Eric. “The angle was made more believable because they used a tape of Sting's voice (Steve Borden himself wasn't in Columbus, GA that night) talking with Ted DiBiase about whether he could trust him as Luger came out.”

Is that true Eric? You guys were so well prepared you taped his voice and didn’t have Sting there or is that fiction?

How was The Cobra...Jeff Farmer chosen to be the Fake Sting and was it something that came together quickly or something you knew you wanted to do when you saw Farmer?

From the Observer: “Luger came out and the fake Sting jumped him and punted him around. Surprisingly, the show went off the air leaving the fans with no hints that it wasn't actually Sting that turned basically so that the WCW executives could read internet posts all week and congratulate themselves on being con men par excellence, getting in the way of the fact that their jobs are to draw television ratings and PPV buys.

Bischoff apparently believes that fans going into a PPV not knowing who will appear in the main event will add buys to the mystery element. If you look at the history of wrestling and the biggest houses and PPV buy rates in history, there is no evidence in the past of this being the case and there have been plenty of mystery partner angles done over the years.”

Eric...Dave would go on to talk about the ratings drop directly after. “At that point the WCW rating had hit a 4.2 and seemed poised for its first opposed 4.0 total rating after breaking the 4.0 barrier the previous two weeks without wrestling opposition (the 9/2 rating of 4.3 being Nitro's most impressive mark to date since the second hour went against the first hour of the Cowboys-Bears Monday Night game that drew a whopping 19.5 rating). However one wishes to analyze what happened next or ignore the tale the rating tells is up to them, but the 4.2 fell to a 3.2 over a 15 minute period. While WWF showed decent growth during that quarter (2.1 to 2.5), 60% at minimum and probably more of the 700,000 plus homes that turned off Nitro during a 15 minute period simply turned off wrestling at that point. Whether the masses saw it was a fake Sting, or the Sting turn, which dominated the remainder of the show, following in the footsteps of The Giant turn was one hot-shot too many, or nobody wanted to see Public Enemy vs. Meng & Barbarian or one minute of Rey Misterio Jr. which were the matches taking place during that quarter, or whatever, it was a colossal ratings drop on a night when almost all the news for WCW was positive.”

OK Eric here is the FDM segment. We haven’t gotten to the PE vs. Meng & Barbarian or the Rey Mysterio match but...have fun talking about this!

We get about 10 minutes of recaps of things and then...

Rey beats Kidman in 1:49 to retain the Cruiserweight title. I understand there’s a lot going on but you have 10 minutes of recaps and give them 2 minutes and then this…

Public Enemy vs. The Faces of Fear...with the Leprechaun running around. Eric...you’re trying to sell a super serious Sting angle while you got a leprechaun running around…

From Meltzer…”Match was awful except for one amazing spot where Barbarian came off the top rope to the floor and crashed through a table when Grunge moved. Rocco also moonsaulted Meng through a table. The match fell apart at the end.”

I mean....Eric who’s formatting this show? You got a Four Horsemen promo during this I guess to distract from the match. In a moment of irony Ric Flair can’t believe Sting would turn on them. RIC FLAIR WHO’S TURNED TWICE ON STING IN THE LAST 6 YEARS IS SHOCKED!

The Barbarian crash through the table is insane. How tough is he to do this?

You and Bobby kind of point out in commentary how bad this match is.

It’s a double DQ and then Bobby Heenan calls Meng “Haku” in the replay and you have to go in damage control right after. What’s the conversation with Bobby like after this?

The Dungeon of Doom afterwards talk and now Konnan is a gang member. Strong.

Ted DiBiase talks about how when the nWo wins War Games they’re going to get their own segment on Nitro and their own tag team tournament? What happened to the tag team tournament and was the plan to make nWo tag team titles? It’s also the first time Scott Hall uses the 4 Life sign that I could find. Did you ever ask what the hand gestures meant?

Now our main event...John Tenta vs. Randy Savage. Yup. From Meltzer: “Bischoff was negotiating a new deal with Savage this past week.”

How important is Randy Savage to the product at this point?

3 minutes in and Teddy Long now runs out to tell Savage that there’s some shit going down backstage and then the WCW wrestlers surround the two nWo limos and they attempt to spray paint the cars but sadly it was raining and it didn’t quite work because of the rain. Something you can’t prevent but hurts the execution doesn’t it?

From Meltzer: “I thought the TV was good because of angles and intrigue, but it was horrible as a live show with the short matches and terrible finishes. The fans live were furious, booing heavily after the show because they didn't know about the angles in the parking lot and all the saw were guys walking out in the middle of matches. All this wasn't lost on WCW, as they are going to buy a video wall and bring it to all Nitros starting in January (currently they rent one for PPV shows). They are also going back to Columbus, GA for a show in December and going to only charge $5 a head for tickets as a way to make it up to the fans in the city.”

When do you make the decision for the video wall and to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again?

This is the go-home show obviously for Fall Brawl...what did you think of this to build the show?