The Monday Nitro Workrate Report
A weekly look at what did and didn't work on Monday Nitro by Dean Rasmussen
Monday, November 10th, 1997
What Worked
Rey Misterio Jr vs Eddy Guerrerro was GREAT! Eddy was the super-rudo,
doing the "I'll rip your heart out" gesture that all the great ones do.
Rey, despite the botched super high spot that he debuted last time these two
went at it, was totally on it tonight. I loved the twisted up flying space
tiger drop into a hurricanrana- regardless of how goofy it is if you think
about it too much. His Lionsault quebrada kicked Jericho's version's ass.
Eddy was the heat machine and the wrestling machine and instilled even more
legs to this feud. I was digging all the psychology they stuck in such a
compress time length (which was actually an epic by Nitro standards) and the
reversal of REY's finisher into the set-up of Eddy's finisher is consistent
with Rey beating Dean Malenko in the same manner. Dean at the end was a
good sign that this will go three way and get all beautiful.
Benoit beating the living hell out of Perry Saturn was choicer that CHOICE.
That was in no way to be confused with a wrestling match, it was simply a
wrestling angle carried out in the stiffest manner possible. The Finlay
run-in assures that I will be getting the PPV, it seems. If it's Falls
Count Anywhere, they can charge double and I would still get it. Saturn vs
Benoit also looks to be a great match waiting to happen after this
Finlay/Benoit rubber match is over. I'm digging the tough-man division idea
so far, as long as they don't put in a bunch of jackasses that suck, like
heard they were. Benoit is a freakin GOD! Saturn went up nine notches for
taking the ass-kicking like a man. I dig all this. Bring on the actual
wrestling matches between all these people now.
DDP vs Curt Hennig was pretty good. It was worlds better than that crappy
match they had on PPV. Hennig is feeling it these days and its a shame that
they are wasting him on the fossilized Flair. DDP is really hitting his
stride, which is strange for someone as ossified and past what should be his
prime as he is. They should put the world title on DDP already.
Alex Wright versus Yuji Nagata was pretty good. Yuji kicked him really
hard, Alex didn't go into total Memphis mode like it seems he would have-
being in Memphis and all, and didn't start stalling and putting chains in
his pants and stuff. Like he could actually hide anything in those tiny
pants anyway. Yuji hits a SWANK exploder on the way to selling a lot
Wright's better offensive stuff, including an almost non-Americanized
backdrop driver. Sonny Ono macks on Mongo's wife and sets up Yuji's comical
submission hold, and Yuji gets the win. I can't possibly hate this.
Jericho beat Disco Inferno in a lacklustre affair because HELL! DI can't
wrestle! Jericho looks to be turning evil on us, which is a good thing.
Pretty low impact, but the better worker went over, so I loved it. Scotty
Riggs is joining Raven and the world says, "Yeah, sure, why not."
What Didn't Work
The Bret Hart announcement would have been very fine if Hennig wasn't
allowed to sing. But he was, so he did, so it wasn't. There you have it.
Barbarian versus Glacier was terrible. It was such a bad approximation of
wrestling. I really think that Glacier would have had a chance to get over
if he didn't suck so often. Jimmy Hart came out and Barbarian still lost
and then Meng- the biggest cancer on the colon of wrestling- came out so we
could actually say it was a total turd.
What was up with the THREE stinking Hogan interviews? Why does WCW hate me
so much?
Hey! I'm as glad as the next guy that Taylor and Regal beat Harlem Heat
CLEAN. I love two of the guys in this match (Regal and Booker T), I dig
Taylor, and Stevie Ray sucks, but they dumbed it down to make Stevie Ray
look good I guess, because this match was so devoid of anything. The fact
that everyone looked totally lost at the end didn't help.
Luger is the worst technical wrestler in the ring today. Ric Flair should
have retired after beating Vader in 1993. It's 1997. Do the math.
To quote G.P.- Hey! It's just Ray Traylor!
THERE YOU HAVE IT.
DEAN~!
