War Times Revisited: 9/25/95

    Monday Nitro: Nitro comes to you from Florence, South Carolina tonight. We are going to hear from Hulk Hogan and possibly find out what's next with Lex Luger and Randy Savage. Before all that, though we are kicking it off with Alex Wright. 

Alex Wright vs Disco Inferno

    We haven't seen "Das Wunderkind" since the second Nitro where he faced off against Sabu. He was the victor there so he carries the momentum against Disco. Right as the bell rings, Disco gets the upper hand by attacking Wright in the corner. A back elbow followed by an elbow drop by Disco Inferno before dropping Alex to the outside. Alex Wright tries to get back into it as he launches off the ropes with a springboard dropkick. Wright employs a fast-paced offense and he's taking full advantage of it with a spinning wheel kick as all of a sudden the tides have turned. Football season must have kicked off. After all, Mongo wants you to watch Nitro because everyone knows San Francisco is gonna win. Man maybe Mongo ain't that bad after all. Anyways, Wright drops Disco to the outside and flies out with a crossbody to the outside. Alex tries a cartwheel escape but Disco grabs him and hits him with what I expected to be a belly to belly but just ended up being him dropping Wright's face on the middle rope. Running clothesline out of the corner by Disco as he starts to dance. High elevation on the dropkick by Wright as he sends Disco crashing to the mat from the top rope. Alex Wright begins to fire off some punches and European uppercuts to slow down Disco's momentum. Disco goes for a swinging neckbreaker but Alex Wright counters it into a backslide for the 1-2-3.

Match Rating: 3/10

    Hogan and Jimmy Hart are backstage as Hogan prepares to speak for the first time on Nitro since Fall Brawl. Hogan is sporting a neck brace from the injuries he sustained at the hands of the Giant. He says that he hasn't missed a workout since Fall Brawl. He even thought it wall all over once Giant snapped his neck but he's not done yet. Hogan says that he has built a bigger and stronger Monster Truck than The Giants and he wants to put them against each other. He also challenges The Giant for a match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. 

    Macho Man and Mean Gene in the ring to get some words from Savage about last week's confrontation with Luger. Savage asks where Luger is and almost on cue he comes running down to the ring in his wrestling gear. Luger says that Savage lacks respect for him and that maybe it will take more than going to war with each other, maybe they have to face each other. Luger challenges Savage to a match next week and puts up not only his WCW World title #1 Contendership on the line but if Luger loses he will leave WCW. The match is agreed on and we will see it next week. 

Kurasawa vs Sgt. Craig Pittman

    To anyone who doesn't know, Kurasawa is NJPW's, Manabu Nakanishi. At the time he is most known for breaking the arm of Road Warrior Hawk during a tag match at Clash of Champions. He looks like Hirooki Goto here and it's amazing. Pittman starts off the match with a headbutt to the gut and sends Kurasawa off the ropes and hits another one. Pittman launches Kurasawa over his shoulder as grips him with an armlock. Kurasawa tries to get back into the match as he fires off some kicks to the legs of Pittman and works his way to the chest until Pittman falls to the outside. Pulling the protective padding off, Kurasawa drops Pittman back first onto the hard concrete. Kurasawa begins to work over the arm of Pittman with a judo throw and a few stomps to the shoulder. Pittman works over the shoulder of Kurasawa as well, slamming him into the ring apron as they battle outside. Headbutts from Pittman followed up by a belly to belly suplex, after a headbutt he locks in an armbar. Kurasawa is able to get to the ropes rather quickly. He tries to lock in an armbar on Pittman but Pittman quickly reverses with a gut-wrench suplex. BRIDGING GERMAN SUPLEX FOR THE WIIIIIIN! Sorry got a little excited there but Kurasawa wins with a german pinning combo.

Match Rating: 3/10

    Pillman and Arn are in the ring with Mean Gene. Pillman says that ever since Arn beat Flair at Fall Brawl, Flair has been at the lowest of lows. Let's not talk about how Pillman lost to Flair though. Pillman says that while Flair looks for a partner, he and Arn will exercise their rights to bear arms, assemble (with a 4 Horsemen hand symbol), and to hospitalize anyone in their path. Arn says that the reason Flair can't find a partner is because he has spent years running over everyone and Arn was the only one who had his back and now he's not there now.

"The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan vs "Macho Man" Randy Savage

    We get a replay of what happened last week when Sullivan attacked Savage on the set of Baywatch. Savage starts off by running out of the ring and chasing Sullivan around the ring. He catches The Taskmaster by the foot as he tries to slip into the ring but gets caught with a clothesline on the outside by The Zodiac. Taskmaster puts the boots and Mongolian chops to Savage in the ring now. Placing Savage on the guardrail crotch first, Sullivan hits him with a very weak clothesline. Taskmaster continues to batter on Savage before Savage finds a window of opportunity and is able to flip Sullivan around in the corner. Working to keep himself in this match, Savage hits a back body drop on Sullivan on the outside which buys him some time. Flying ax handle from the Macho Man onto Sullivan as he begins to fire up. Savage sends Taskmaster into the ropes and pulls Zodiac in as he goes to work on him. The ref tries to step in but Savage throws him aside which is cause for disqualification. This doesn't stop Savage though, he slams Sullivan ontop of Zodiac and goes for the elbow drop. Sullivan moves but Savage still hits The Zodiac. The Giant makes his way down to the ring, he hits Macho Man with a chokeslam. Many wrestlers come down to help but The Giant single-handedly destroys them until Lex Luger makes his way down. Luger gets in the ring and it looks like he was going to join the Dungeon of Doom before The Giant grabs him and Luger fires away with punches. He too gets a chokeslam and The Giant looks unbeatable.

Match Rating: 3/10

Lex Luger vs Meng

    We come back from commercial and it looks like we have a match? Meng comes running down and begins to attack a downed Luger. Working on the neck of Luger with chops and boots to the throat is Meng. A piledriver from Meng, dropping Luger right on his head and neck. Suplex from Meng and the cover but only a two. Luger fights out of a shoulder claw from Meng and begins to fire away punches. It didn't last long though as Meng sends him off the ropes and catches him with a gut-wrench backbreaker. Every time Luger looks to be getting some momentum, Meng shuts him down quickly. Luger gets a big reversal as Meng was looking for a flying headbutt but Luger smacks him down. Fighting off a rushing Meng with boots in the corner, Luger goes for a clothesline but bounces right off the sturdier Meng. While the ref pulls away Luger after some boots in the corner, Meng pulls out a spike and hits Luger in the head with it for the win. 

Match Rating: 2/10

Overall Rating: 2.75/10

     Monday Night RAW: We get some clearing up about the wonky finish at the end of In Your House as due to Cornette's pleading, it has been decided that Shawn and Diesel would be stripped of the titles and they would be returned back to Yokozuna and Owen. This did not come without something extra though, as Monsoon ordered that Shawn and Diesel will get a title match down the line, AND Yoko and Owen will have to defend the titles tonight on RAW. Grand Rapids, Michigan is the host for tonight's action and we are starting right away.

Marty Janetty vs Skip

    Skip is already in the ring as he awaits the entrance of Janetty. Vince says this is the return of Janetty which would be his second return to the company. Jannetty starts off hot with leapfrogs, hip tosses, and dropkicks. The crowd chants for Sunny as she embraces Skip on the outside. After some more nice escapism by Jannetty, he hits a back body drop on Skip who rolls outside. Jannetty hugs Sunny and then ducks when Sunny goes to slap him, causing Sunny to slap Skip. As Jannetty runs the ropes, Sunny trips his leg. This causes Skip to get some sense of control, hitting Jannetty with a gut-wrench powerbomb. Hammering away with punches is Skip as on the ring ramp, Dean Douglas is seen doing his grading for the match. After the commercial break, Skip turns Jannetty inside out with a lariat. I like how Skip started with two straps on his shoulders and as the match progresses they just seemingly slip off until I notice both straps are down. Everyone knows you only pull your singlet straps down when you're gonna do your finish, smh Skip. German suplex by Jannetty helps him regain control for a moment and allows him to catch his breath. Skip goes for a hurricanrana but Jannetty counters it into a powerbomb. Crossbody press from Jannetty but he gets up as Sunny finds her way on the apron. Skip tries to take advantage but as he runs up, Jannetty flips him over the top rope. Marty hits the Rocker Dropper and finishes the match with a flying fist drop.

Match Rating: 4/10

Smoking Gunns vs Owen Hart & Yokozuna (c) WWF Tag Team Championship Match

    We get so many commercial breaks before this match finally starts but finally, we get to the in-ring action. Bart and Owen are running the opposite ropes, just missing each other until they cross paths when Bart ducks and Owen runs over him, Owen ducks a Bart clothesline and crossbody, Bart finally gets Owen down with a drop toe hold. Holding Owen in place, Bart tags into Billy as they demonstrate some nice tag work. Billy works over the arm of Owen for a bit, wrenching it before Owen is able to escape and fire off some punches in the corner. A drop toe hold from Owen allows him enough time to tag in Yokozuna. Yokozuna was the mystery partner for Owen when they beat The Smoking Gunns for the titles at Wrestlemania 11, pinning Billy Gunn. Dropping down under Yokozuna, Billy comes back up with a flurry of dropkicks as he tries to bring the big man down. He's finally able to drop him with a running bulldog and it gets a big pop. Billy Gunn tries to fight for a crucifix pin but Yokozuna uses his weight to reverse it into a Samoan Drop. Owen stomps out Billy as the ref is distracted by Bart trying to help his partner. The most reversed move in wrestling doesn't get reversed this time, Billy actually gets the sunset flip on Owen but only got a two. Off the top rope with a crossbody, Owen gets it reversed by Billy into a pin of his own for a two. Billy tries to tag in Bart but Owen is able to drag him to his corner and tag in Yokozuna instead. Yokozuna wears down Billy as he drives his claw into the shoulder and neck area. Billy is able to fight his way back and out of the hold, instead of going for a pin he goes off the ropes and is met with Yokozuna's elbow. Big splash from Yokozuna misses as now both men are down, Yokozuna crawls to tag Owen and Billy goes to tag Bart. Before Billy could tag out Owen grabbed him by the pants. Holding him with all his might before Billy jumps for the tag and gets it. Bart fires off some power moves and a clothesline before going for the pin, looked like Yokozuna was a bit late here, and almost fucked up the finish by not breaking up the pin. Billy and Bart launch Owen into Yokozuna and sends him down in the opposite corner. The Smoking Gunns hit their finish but the ref tries to get Billy out of the ring so he can't count the pin by Bart. Yokozuna goes to break up the pin but Bart rolls out of the way, causing Yoko to splash Owen. The Smoking Gunns get the win and are your new WWF Tag Team Champions. Diesel and Shawn come out to congratulate the new champs.

Match Rating: 5/10

    We get a preview of next week's RAW that will feature Jean-Pierre Lafitte vs Bret Hart and Razor Ramon vs 1-2-3 Kid. As The Smoking Gunns and Diesel & Shawn make their exit, Dok Hendrix comes out with Gorilla Monsoon in tow. Monsoon announces a few things, not only are we getting Taker/Mabel and Goldust's debut at the next In Your House but we will also get British Bulldog vs Diesel for the WWF Championship and Shawn Michaels vs Dean Douglas for the Intercontinental Championship. All of that and more as Shawn Michaels will face whoever the WWF Champion is at Survivor Series for the belt.

British Bulldog vs The Undertaker

    We start after a commercial break, Bulldog is outside as Taker begins the chase after him. Bulldog sends him off the ropes but Taker retaliates by throwing him down to the mat by the head. Signature jumping lariat by Taker keeps him in control early. Climbing on the rope and balancing, Taker looks for the Old School (shout out Jinsei Shinzaki) but Bulldog pulls him down arm first. Reverse Irish whip by Undertaker into a big boot. Bulldog drops Taker to the outside with a clothesline but Taker lands on his feet. Cornette tries to get involved but Taker grabs him by the neck until Bulldog comes outside and hits Undertaker with a chop block. Sending Taker into the steel steps, Bulldog allows himself some time to regroup as Taker nurses his knee from the chop block. Mo and Mabel are looking on at the top of the ramp as the show heads to commercial. Back in the ring now as Bulldog is working over the leg of Undertaker. Bulldog tries to Irish whip Taker out of the corner but Taker's knee doesn't let him get far. Locking in a single leg crab on the injured left leg of The Undertaker, Bulldog is in complete control at the moment. Bulldog looks for the running powerslam but Taker is able to just get away and hit a back suplex. Undertaker with the Old School but it takes its toll as he lands on he has put more pressure on the injured leg. Catching Undertaker off the ropes in a clutch and driving him down face first with a piledriver. Quick pins by Bulldog but each time Taker sits back up, almost unphased by all the attacks. Taker gets him goozled and sends him for a ride with the chokeslam, he does not go for the pin though. As Taker begins to get to his feet gingerly, Mabel comes back down to the ring. He climbs into the ring, Davey Boy knees Taker into the back which puts him in the arms of Mabel but not for long as he's driven to the canvas with force. The match is called off as DQ with Taker as the Victor. After the bell, Bulldog hits the running powerslam followed by a legdrop from Mabel. HBK and Diesel come running from the back to clear the ring. They stand tall for a moment before Yokozuna and Owen Hart come out and surround the ring. The Smoking Gunns come running to the ring to offer their support. The ring is a clusterfuck of competitors and managers alike. We come back from commercial as Taker is now to his feet, shaking the hands of those who came to his aid. The show ends with Diesel and Shawn posing as we get some more hype for next week's show.

Match Rating: 4/10

Overall Rating: 4/10

Final Thoughts: A particularly dull show from WCW this week helps WWF take the win here. Even a bridging german suplex finish could not get you the win here WCW, sorry. Although I do applaud both shows on their emphasis on stories tonight. Lots of interesting stuff ahead and it looks like WCW has its hands full trying to beat WWF next week. Let me know what you thought and who you think won in the comments below.