83 Weeks - Buff Joins nWo: Nitro 11.25.96 Watchalong [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Eric today we’re going to be covering the Nitro from November 25th, 1996. We are one week removed from your heel turn and one night removed from World War 3 from the Norfolk Scope.

As we get the Peacock machine fired up we want to first send our condolences out to Marcus “Buff” Bagwell on the death of his mother Judy Bagwell. Eric, what can you tell us about this fine lady?

Open up the Peacock machine we’re going to Season 2 episode 46. 3-2-1!

As the iconic open starts, what was the feedback to you personally in the week following your heel turn? Anybody of note reach out to give you props?

World War 3 was last night as we said...and be sure to check out our recap of it in the archives but the most interesting thing of note for the show is the angle between Roddy Piper & Hulk Hogan to sign the match for Starrcade.

Besides that though really nothing of note happened although the Giant did win the World War 3 battle royal to earn a future shot at the WCW Title which would be sooner than probably anyone expected…

Live from Salisbury, MD at the Wicomico Civic Center in front of 3,278 paying fans.

Something to bring up as Tony & Larry are talking about the US title finally being vacated...the WWF announced 5 days earlier the Royal Rumble would be at the Alamo Dome and have a lot of AAA participation. Are you surprised that Vince was following you in terms of getting together with a lucha libre promotion to try and capture the hispanic audience?

From the Observer: “The news of the deal wasn't lost on Eric Bischoff, who immediately attempted to get all the former AAA wrestlers that were appearing with WCW for the World War III weekend to sign contracts. AAA promoter Antonio Pena had told WWF as part of original negotiations that the wrestlers in WCW such as Rey Misterio Jr., Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, Konnan, etc. were all under contract to him and there was definitely some talk about Pena being able to go to court and get the contracts enforced and then be able to direct those wrestlers into WWF.”

Walk me through this Eric. Were you really worried about losing some of these guys to the WWF?

The first round of the WCW United States Title Tournament begins with Lex Luger vs. Arn Anderson.

It’s kind of funny because here’s Arn with a massive bandage around his abdomen...and Luger works his arm.

Here’s Giant now to talk about how this whole tournament is a SHAM! Was this an attempt at making the Giant more relatable and have an actual character?

This match goes 15 minutes and ends in a double countout while Luger racks Arn on the floor and ignores the referee’s count...this really amounts to nothing here Eric. I don’t get it?

Meltzer didn’t either and he got one star.

Was eliminating both from the tournament to prevent them from losing to either Benoit, DDP or Guerrero?

Yup Chris Jericho was managed by Teddy Long in a match against Nick Patrick. I honestly didn’t even know that combination of words existed.

What a combination that is. Did you think Jericho wrestling Nick Patrick was a waste?

OK Eric here you come now for your explanation of your turn. Let’s hear from you.

So the backstory makes sense...but here’s the issue. You give this ultimatum that everyone in WCW has to join the nWo within 30 days. Why would you want all of these guys? I get that everyone is talking about “We’re taking over” and all this but I mean the cohesive-ness of the angle begins to come off the rails don’t you think?

Here it begins with Marcus Bagwell & Scotty Riggs...and Bagwell takes the gig and turns on Riggs after all the miscommunication in the last couple of weeks and joins the nWo.

Why Marcus here? Was the “Buff” gimmick being bounced around as a re-package at this point or was that something that just ended up happening?

Was there hope in a Bagwell vs. Riggs feud?

Now here’s a funny tweet that I saw come across the Twitter feed…

Tyler

@TylerfromNH

·Nov 11

Was there any thought of having @realscottyriggs join the nWo instead of Bagwell? #AskEric

1

1

RIGGS

@realscottyriggs

·Nov 11

doubt Eric will answer but I'll describe how he might answer and his answer itself.. "Who? *smirkish grin* Hell no, not a chance" ..I did pull rib on Eric during that segment, as Eric was kick'n me I was saying "stiff.. damn stiff.. lighten up stiff" just to fuck with the boss

Talk to me about this Eric!

Any heat with Riggs I mean he seems stiff in this comment?

Meltzer points out that you cut a similar promo at the house show in Baltimore...was the promo in Baltimore a dry run?

Were there any guys campaigning at any point during the nWo run to join the nWo that you knew you wouldn’t do?

DDP vs. Disco Inferno ends in the right amount of time for a Disco match in 2:15. You can literally see the lining up of talent in these matches back to back between Buff & DDP. Was this a point of focus for you at this time?

Meltzer gave this *¼.

All the shots you get of not building talent later on but you’re actively doing so here. Did you lose sight of that or do you think that criticism is unfair?

Here’s Gene with DDP afterwards and let’s cue it up…

Who’s idea was it to bring up DDP’s past relationship and the fact that you were his neighbor?

Steven Regal and Tony Pena is up next and man is there a story here that you probably don’t even remember. Tony Pena is Villano IV unmasked...and he doesn’t even change his tights to hide the fact that the IV is on there.

From Meltzer: “WCW publicly showed either how shaken up they were of the turn of events of Pena making a deal with McMahon, or how mad they were, since on Nitro on 11/25, they took the mask off Villano IV, who had jumped from AAA to Promo Azteca just a few days earlier, and used him as Mexican TV jobber for Steve Regal under the name Tony Pena. Excellent transition wrestling back-and-forth. I guess the folks at WCW forgot that when you do this angle to humiliate the guy you make fun of, the jobber is supposed to look like a total piece of crap, not like a great mat technician.”

Regal gets the win in a match that Dave would give **. Was there an actual story behind unmasking Pena or is this just Dave speculating?

Here’s Rick Steiner. Let’s bring that up to listen to.

In a counterpoint to my earlier question...did anyone request staying on WCW?

Eddie Guerrero and Konnan are up next in the United States title tournament.

Was the Eddie dive into hour #2 a planned spot or did it just happen that way?

For the second hour Tony Schiavone … now with you with the nWo … has to walk his fat ass to the stage to start hour #2. Did he charge you more for that Eric?

Hot match here as these two are just super familiar with each other and Eddie gets the win in just over 5 minutes in a match Meltzer would give **¾.

Rick Steiner vs. Big Bubba is on the way to the ring up next and as he comes down Rick has a few choice words for Sting. Is this an attempt at having some internal logic to Sting not trusting WCW?

Sting...who I guess was watching Rick with a monitor and sound and heard what he said … enters through the crowd and gives Rick the reverse DDT to give Bubba the pin and the win. Meltzer would give it *.

A lot to unpack here...was there any consideration to putting Sting in the nWo at this time?

He attacks Jarrett the night before at World War 3, Rick Steiner here, both with what is later called the scorpion death drop. This was a move that wasn’t really seen done by Sting before this. Who’s idea was it to change it and do you think it had a lot more impact than the Stinger Splash or Deathlock would’ve?

Rey Misterio Jr vs. Psicosis is up next and what you think is about to be a hot match...is super short. 2:19. But I mean the finish...wow holy shit. What’s your reaction backstage then and seeing it now?

Meltzer would give this *...and have this to say about Psicosis. “Psicosis really needs to leave this promotion or he'll become the 1990s version of Terry Taylor. At the rate he's going, having his career go the way of Taylor would be a best-case, not a worst-case scenario.”

Psicosis and Terry Taylor in the same sentence. Only from Meltzer right?

Who do you think had the better career?

Now here’s some weird creepy programming even then and even more so now.

From Meltzer: “Chris Benoit & Nancy Sullivan did an interview doing that angle that only Kevin and Nancy understand. Benoit talked about what happened in Baltimore and how the entire Dungeon of Doom couldn't get the job done. Nancy said to Kevin that it's over now. Benoit and Nancy had really good charisma together. Benoit's interviews have never been thought of as his strong point but they are now. This was the best he's ever come across as a personality anywhere.”

There’s...so...much...to...unpack...here.

The idea of running this angle...when did you know about Chris & Nancy really falling for each other?

Do you think Kevin Sullivan booked his own divorce? Was Kevin the one pushing for them to spend the time together to keep kayfabe?

What did you think of Kevin using a house show match as a put over for a television angle?

The Meltzer comment about Benoit and Nancy having really good chemistry together...you think he knew something?

Do you think Chris was starting to hit his stride as a personality?

Now here’s the whole Roddy Piper - nWo angle from World War 3 again. Did you think it was important to replay this on television?

If it was so important to replay it on television...couldn’t you had just done it on Nitro? Did you think it was part of the draw for the pay-per-view?

Next up we got “My World’s” own J-E-DOUBLE F J-A-DOUBLE R-E-DOUBLE T...that’s Jeff Jarrett up against Alex Wright. Another victory for Jarrett and again this is under 3 minutes. Lots of short matches tonight so we can show that whole segment from World War 3 Eric…

Meltzer gave it ¾* and that Wright was another talent lost in the mix. You went from having not a lot of depth to a lot of depth pretty quickly. Do you think Alex was one that was lost in that shuffle?

Here’s the recap of the Giant winning the battle royal … which I guess makes sense when he gets the shot in January after only lasting 4 months in the nWo … but wasn’t Lex Luger the right person at this time to go over?

Meltzer certainly thinks so… “Conceptually, for pro wrestling to flourish, risks from time-to-time have to be taken. The idea of taking risks is that sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. A good promotion learns from both those that do work and those that don’t. Unless that promotion has a bottomless pit of money and doesn’t need to learn.”

Did you know you were turning the Giant when he wins the battle royal?

Meng & the Barbarian vs. Harlem Heat is our main event. Whoo Eric!

But seriously this goes for 4 minutes and then we get the Nitro ending we would all grow to hate over time...the nWo comes out and destroys everybody and it goes off the air with the nWo standing tall.

Did you find that ending to be redundant eventually as well?

Meltzer calls the match a DUD. Amazing to see what Booker is then compared to what he would be later on in his career.

Well Eric what a memorable Nitro this was. You literally made Marcus Alexander Bagwell an interesting character!