Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (w/Arn Anderson) vs. The Armstrongs (Scott Armstrong & Steve Armstrong)
Great hot opening match to kick off Nitro. The Armstrongs channelled some of that 80s Southern Tag shine while Benoit and Malenko were no-nonsense, well oiled machines doing their job effectively. ***
DDP & Mean Gene
DDP cuts a decent promo explaining how his calmness gives him the advantage over the intense Goldberg, who is over as hell with the Florida crowd. Goldberg comes out to the ring, going face to face with DDP, challenging for the title which gets accepted. YEAH! They continue the interview backstage, confirming the title match and showing DDP injuring Hogan, because...
WCW World Cruiserweight Title Four Way Dance: Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs. Blitzkrieg vs. Psychosis vs. Juventud Guerrera
It’s an awkward moment when Psychosis and Blitzkrieg come out with the same theme song (the old Hollywood blondes theme song). Plus Alex Wright is back! DAS WUNDERKIND! The match was too long and a tad aimless but some of the spots were spectacular. Juvi hit an excellent die to the floor and Blitzkrieg hitting a phoenix splash in 1999 is pretty mind-blowing. The nearalls were all well done for me although the crowd wanted it to end by the time we got to that point. Considering Psychosis lost against Kidman last week, I’m surprised that he was in the match let alone the winner. Odd. ***1/2
Roddy Piper confronts Ric Flair
Let’s just get this out of the way. While the idea of Ric Flair being locked into the the Mental Institute due to his own competence is sorta entertaining on paper (and in reality as he’s great at it), the idea is also really offensive and harmful to Flair’s standing in the company and his legacy which should be celebrated at this point, not hurt.
Anyway, Flair sucks up to the Florida crowd, promising them presents, getting them riled up before Piper showed up - to boos - and ruins everything. Fuck Roddy Piper. Arn Anderson’s line about “I've seen him take his pants so many times” while rolling his eyes was the best part of this whole segment. We are given so much information in this segment. Piper wants Flair to get a grip on his life and sends him to the mental hospital, ousting him as President. Piper also reveals that he’s going to wrestle Kevin Nash tonight as well. Yay. And Flair challenges Piper to a match at Slamboree for the Presidency. SLOW DOWN. GEEZ. What a messy segment. Comedic at times but seriously, it was incoherent at times.
NWO
Stevie Ray says they are looking for Big Kev to Konnan and then they attack him. Okay
Garbage Can Vs. Kendo Stick Match: Hak (w/Chastity) vs. Brian Knobbs
This was an okay, inoffensive hardcore match.**
NWO Imploding
The Black and White side are unhappy with Nash who seems to be doing his own thing, as does Scott Steiner who’s not happy with Nash getting a title match. This is the end of the NWO? Wow, what a whimper.
Buff Bagwell vs. Disco Inferno
Buff Bagwell says he has a US title match at Slamboree against Scott Steiner just because everyone else is calling their own shots so he will too. Fair enough. Acknowledge how much of a mess everything is as far as match making is. The match is another decently done match. Neither men are world beaters, but they are solid enough with their own restrictions. Scott Steiner cuts a reply promo after the match accepting the challenge and ripping into Bagwell for stripping. Steiner’s promos are so absurd that they work. **1/2
Raven (w/Perry Saturn) vs. Kidman
A solid, short match to progress the story with the tag team titles. Kidman and Raven probably could be an awesome match if given a bigger chance. Benoit and Malenko interfere which brings out Rey Mysterio and they all fight and brawl to close out the match. The match is thrown out, naturally.
WCW United States Heavyweight Title Match: Scott Steiner (c) vs. Scott Norton
On the one hand, this being the NWO v NWO makes little sense but you could put it down as something that shows the wide cracks within the group which is volatile currently. Steiner and Norton have, again, a standard back and forward match. Steiner poses a lot while Norton shows off his power. It's a win-win. Norton gets distracted after hitting the referee with his arm, allowing Steiner to recover and get the win. **3/4
Kevin Nash vs. Ric Flair (w/Arn Anderson)
Kevin Nash is all but confirmed to be a babyface judging from his wrestling. The crowd was into Nash and he was playing into that heavily. Flair is Flair, pulling out his tricks and spots, including a cleverly delayed Flair flop. The finish interlink with the Macho Man and Gorgeous George feud well enough with Gorgeous George coming out, attacking Lil Naitch and replacing him as referee which gives Nash a fair chance at winning which he takes. Flair is out and ready for the doctors to take him to the hospital. Fun match if I must say. ***
WCW World Heavyweight Title Match: Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs. Goldberg
Main event time! Page is very tentative, looking to ground Goldberg with basic wear down holds while Goldberg tries to use trickier techniques and power. DDP plays the match straight, using Goldberg's rashness baiting Goldberg into hitting a spear into the post - a call back to the Halloween Havoc match but in a smart way rather than a desperate dive out of the way - before escalating and eventually cheating his way to a potential victory using the brass knuckles and then attacking the knee using a chair. This links into the finish where the match is thrown out as DDP is going on a rampage trying to destroy the knee but Nash is here to save the day (because Nash is the star of the show), saving Goldberg and putting DDP on notice for their upcoming title match. ***1/2
And that's it for Nitro. This was a fun match for the matches. No match was terrible, we had a great Cruiserweight Title match and main event with a series of solid in-between. The angles however were lacking in cohesive narrative. Flair's story is messy and while it's entertaining right now, it has the potential to get horrendous fast.
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