Nitro-Glycerin - Monday Nitro recap for March 23, 1998

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper shows up to start tonight's show, and he is interviewed in the ring by "Mean" Gene Okerlund. He has been asked to come out as a consultant, as he has heard that the nWo and WCW are both getting out of control. He say the problem is with bats, and there will be no more bats until Spring Stampede, where there will be a bat placed above the ring "higher than Michael Jordan can jump." Piper then says he will get The Giant as a tag team partner, then says that "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash love to play with bats as well. He then says Spring Stampede will be host to the very first Bat Match. He says that The Giant has a kind heart, but he has to learn how to be nasty. He says he'll teach him how by giving him a bat so he can smash Nash, and that he'll give Hogan a new slogan. Piper then says that tonight will be a night of action as long as he is consultant. He starts by putting The Giant and Kevin Nash in a match tonight, then he announces that he will fight "Macho Man" Randy Savage, saying he doesn't care if Savage or Hogan run the nWo and that the last thing he remembers is Savage beating him in the head as he was handcuffed to a steel cage at Halloween Havoc. He tells Savage he doesn't need any more brain damage and that he has all the brain damage that he needs.

We see a performance by The Nitro Girls.

Ultimo Dragon beats Chavo Guerrero Jr. with the Dragon Sleeper. "Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews Eddie Guerrero after the match, who says that Chavo always brings embarrassment to the family, and apologize to their family for Chavo losing tonight, saying he's trying to do the best he can. He forces Chavo to apologize to his grandmother, and tells Chavo he's got a match against another Japanese wrestler "who's probably better than the one [Chavo] lost to" and that he'll show Chavo how it's done.

"Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff show up. Bischoff says that while Hogan has a soft spot for "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Hogan says he's not afraid of Piper or The Giant, with or without a bat. Hogan says that when he thinks of Piper wearing his kilt and barking out orders to the nWo-ites, he doesn't realize that they will live and die for Hogan as they love him for life. Hogan says he and Kevin Nash love the idea of a Bat Match, and says Rupert Murdoch has been begging for him to drop buy and give the Los Angeles Dodgers tips for batting practice. He then promises that he and Nash will beat Piper and The Giant, and he can't wait until Nash takes the bat and hands it to him so he can swing it out of the park. As for the match between Nash and The Giant, he believes in Nash so much that it was a pleasure to pay the fine for every Jackknife Power Bomb, and says The Giant will be wiped out.

"Mean" Gene Okerlund plus the WCW Hotline with an exclusive interview from Mike Tenay who has just gotten the okay to return to the ring after being out for a while.

Scott Steiner beats Wayne Bloom with the Steiner Recliner.

Cameron Mills and Scott Padgett of the University of Kentucky Wildcats' men's basketball team, fresh off a victory against the Duke University Blue Devils, are seen in the crowd.

We see another performance by The Nitro Girls, and this time the kids get involved.

Psychosis beats Lodi.

Pyrotechnics signal the start of the second hour.

Diamond Dallas Page shows up for his match without the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, as it was taken from him by force last Wednesday on MTV Live by Raven. (The footage is not shown on the WWE Network, even though commentary announces that the footage was played earlier in the show.)

Sting retains the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Diamond Dallas Page after reversing a Diamond Cutter into a Scorpion Death Drop after grabbing hold of the top rope. Sting helps Page to his feet after the match, then stands on the middle rope and flashes DDP's Diamond Cutter signal out of respect. Both men then embrace, and DDP lifts Sting's hand up in victory.

We see another performance by The Nitro Girls.

Michael Swigler from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma is the winner of this week's Nitro Party pack. We see some footage of his Nitro party.

Lex Luger beats Rick Fuller with the Torture Rack.

Eddie Guerrero beats Kaz Hayashi. Chavo Guerrero Jr. raises Eddie's hand, then Ultimo Dragon shows up to check on Kaz Hayashi. Chavo and Eddie leave after Eddie commands Chavo to open the ropes for him as Ultimo Dragon is about to confront them.

We see a video package of Bret "The Hit Man" Hart, which also features footage from a photo shoot.

We see a video package of Konnan.

Prince Iaukea gets an upset win against Konnan by blocking a cradle DDT and countering with a bridging Northern Lights suplex.

Before the next match, Chris Jericho angers the Louisville, Kentucky crowd by rooting for The University of Kentucky Wildcats' next opponent, Stanford University. As he continues to talk, Lenny Lane shows up and tells Jericho he owes him $1,000 for wearing Jericho's ring gear and double-crossing Dean Malenko, which worked. Jericho says Lenny went into his bag when he wasn't around and took his mask, belt and tights and also accuses him of stealing his Loverboy tape. He then says what happened to Malenko will never happen again and that Lenny owes him $1,000 because he can't get the smell out of his tights and demands the money now. Lenny Lane reaches for his tights, then slaps Jericho in the face, starting the match.

Chris Jericho retains the WCW Cruiserweight Championship against Lenny Lane with the Lion Tamer.

Pyrotechnics signal the start of the third hour.

The Giant beats Kevin Nash and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan by disqualification in a 2-on-1 handicap match when the mysterious bearded nWo member tries to attack The Giant. His attacks have no effect, and when Eric Bischoff tries to join in, The Giant pushes the mystery man out of the ring and choke slams Bischoff.

We see another performance by The Nitro Girls.

Booker T and "The Crippler" Chris Benoit wrestle to a time-limit draw, and Booker T retains the WCW World Television Championship.

Before the next match, Rick Rude kicks Mike Tenay off commentary and briefly guests on commentary for the next match.

The British Bulldog beats Curt Hennig by disqualification after Rick Rude gets on the apron and handcuffs Bulldog to the top rope. Rude and Hennig attack Bulldog as Mike Tenay returns to the commentary table, and as Rude chokes Bulldog with his tie, Bret "The Hit Man" Hart attacks Rude before attacking Hennig and putting him in the Sharpshooter. Brian Adams runs into the ring, forcing Hart to let go of the Sharpshooter and fight him off. The rest of the nWo runs in, but Hart cleans house and stands tall in the ring. WCW Head of Security Doug Dellinger frees Bulldog from the handcuffs. Bret says nobody knows better than him what it's like to be screwed over, and that from here on in, when he's in the building and sees a little injustice, he's going to make sure nobody has to go through what he did.

Goldberg quickly beats The Renegade, bringing the undefeated streak to 60 wins. (In reality, it is only win #53.)

"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper ends in no decision. During the match, Miss Elizabeth rakes Piper's back, and gets kissed on the lips by Piper in response. After Piper gets Savage in the sleeper, Savage backs him into the ropes and into Miss Elizabeth, who is knocked off the apron. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan shows up along with Kevin Nash and sends the referee into a guardrail. Kevin Nash is about to hit Piper with a baseball bat when Hogan stops him, starting an argument between Hogan and Nash. As Hogan swing his bat at Savage, who escapes from the ring, Sting comes out with a bat of his own. Piper stands with Sting, then Savage hits Sting with from behind with a high knee. Hogan and Nash gang up on Piper in the corner as Sting and Savage fight outside of the ring, then The Giant shows up and takes the baseball bats away from both Hogan and Savage. Savage is distracted, and Sting lays him out as the nWo retreats. Sting, The Giant and Piper stand tall in the ring as the show ends, and the nWo goes after Savage after Savage runs towards the back and points at Hogan.