The Monday Nitro Workrate Report
A weekly look at what did and didn't work on Monday Nitro by Dean Rasmussen
Monday, October 6th, 1997
What Worked
Benoit vs Hennig was freakin GREAT! If they wise up and make this a real
feud, it would really put Benoit deeply in with the Big Boys and would
continue to make Hennig look like he can still wrestle (or at least make it
look like he's capable of taking a beating at the hands of the amazing
Benoit and look good coming out of it). It would also position Benoit as a
legitimate World Title contender down the line once Hennig gets the world
belt and is looking for decent matches to solidify his reign. This was kinda
like those endless Benoit/Sullivan matches but with the major difference
being that Hennig oversold, as opposed to Sullivan's shitty no-selling of,
Benoit's matchless offence (HEY! He's Canadian so I spelled it wrong.:)).
If Hennig would have taken the Rolling German Suplexes on his head like he
did on WCWSN, this would have been perfect (tee-hee!). Benoit puts him over
clean and then the bullshit starts which is how you do these things. Match
first, then the angle. Benoit is GOD and they've lucked into a worthy
matchup that is gonna shred Hennig/Flair if Benoit/Hennig ever gets off the
ground. I was digging this the most.
Ultimo Dragon and Eddy Guerrerro tear it up again and blow a couple of
spots but hit a lot more in this real good match. This is the cool matchup
that WCW has delivered that New Japan never did, for some reason. Hopefully,
this feud will take centerstage once Eddy drops Rey like a punk at the
seemingly unwatchable dreck that will be Halloween Havok (HEY! HOWABOUT A
TRIANGLE MATCH BETWEEN EDDY/UD/and REY. BETTER YET! Four Corners
Elimination match between REY/EDDY/UD and Juventud!) Dragon did the whip
ass reversal into the Dragon Sleeper that he did in Fairfax, but didn't get
a chance to hit his running Ligerbomb (which the usually clueless Tony
Schiavonne actually picked up on, though he didn't get a chance to hit it.
Tony picks up on a nuance in a match! There is a God!) Eddie hits a boss
swinging DDT to rival the fab tope by UD. UD kicks real hard. This was
really good.
Alex Wright vs Billy Kidman was really a quality match. The Kidman push is
kicking in as they show his future Mentors, Raven and Perry Saturn, sitting
at ringside and they ramble a bit about it. Kidman hits lotsa cool stuff
that he couldn't hit earlier in his WCW tenure because of his whipping boy
status- including a neat lariat, which I didn't think was possible this side
of Kenta Kobashi. Alex was really great, hitting some nice moves, and the
split screen to Mongo was a little irritating, but at least it was a
split-screen (as opposed to the Malnko/Eddy debut debacle) and it was over
soon, as I guess they realize that no one gives a crap about the
Mongo/Jarrett angle. Wright hits a sweet German suplex that Kidman made
look real good. The Kidman Push! WOO-HOO!
The Lucha Libre documentary was tres neato. I have GOT to get the El Santo
film where he is shooting fire out of his hand. Now that was foreign. I'm
hoping that since they mentioned Luttheroth, Arena Mexico and EMLL that all
the EMLL guys will be flooding in already. I await next week when they
show the man responsible for Mano Negro Jr's travesty that is a mask.:)
What Didn't Work
The cosmetically enhance Unnatural Nature Boy chasing Hennig out of the
building looked a lot like an old man chasing his teenage son with a belt.
COOTER BENOIT: Hey, ya better look out Kurt, I think your dad saw you with
your pack of smokes.
SKEETER HENNIG: Ah crap, man! He's such a boner. I'll catch you at the pep
ralley then we'll go race Los Boriquas for pinks.
COOTER BENOIT: Kick Ass. Good Luck, dude. My old man's a cranky bastard
too, eh.
MR FLAIR: Get back here, you little punk! Don't you run from me! Me and
your Mother will be waiting!
Booker T needed a good win to start him on the way to a single career, so,
of course, shithead Jarrett didn't put him over clean. Jarrett did
everything else right in the match, actually wrestling and selling for once
in his useless WCW tenure and Booker T may finally get a chance to escape
the before-now-inescapable spectre of suck that is his brother.
DDP vs Disco Inferno did nothing for anybody except that during the
postmatch it peripherally set up a good main event. As I watched DDP dumb
down his attack for DI to a Scotty Riggs level offense, I wondered where all
the luchadores were? YEEKS! And just when you thought that nothing more
suckass than Mongo vs Jarrett could get on the PPV, Jacquelyn vs Disco
Inferno for the fucking TV title. Hey! This belt goes back to Nelson Royal
and Tully Blanchard and Steven Regal and Arn Anderson, so you gotta love
WCW's devout love of tradition.
I ENJOY WRESTLING!
DEAN!
