Nitro-Glycerin - Monday Nitro recap for March 30, 1998

The show starts with a performance by The Nitro Girls.

Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom vs. High Voltage (Rage and Kaos) ends when The Giant shows up and choke slams all four men. The Giant then tells "Rowdy" Roddy Piper that if he wants mean, he's got mean.

"Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews WCW Commissioner "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who shows up with The Giant. Piper says he now has a mean giant for Spring Stampede, and says there will be no bats until then. He tells Kevin Nash that if he thinks he's a giant, then so did the Titanic. Piper then says he hates waiting for things, and talks Nash arguing with "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan on last week's Thunder. He then says Nash will get back in the ring with Sting and Lex Luger, but his partner cannot be Hogan. He then says we'll see who smashes Nash before Spring Stampede. Piper then addresses Hogan, saying that Hogan is the one stirring the pot all along, and also mentions that the mysterious bearded nWo member is E. Harrison Leslie, aka Brutus Beefcake, aka The Zodiac, aka The Booty Man. Piper says that he's taking Hogan on in the ring tonight, and says that it's going to be "fight for your life," not "nWo 4 life."

Saturn beats Fit Finley with the Rings of Saturn.

"Mean" Gene Okerlund plus the WCW Hotline with info on what's going with the nWo.

Scott Hudson reports from Tampa, Florida - the site for this Thursday's show - for the Starburst Fruit Chews Road Report.

Eric Bischoff and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, backed up by the New World Order. Bischoff says he feels nothing but love in "the house that Hollywood built," and Hogan says he was in the back with the nWo when "Rowdy" Roddy Piper was in the ring, and has three things for him. The first is that if Piper he wants to get in the ring with him tonight, he can come on down as he has a surprise in store for him. The second is that the crowd of people who worship him. The third is that the mysterious bearded man has followed him for years, and deems him "The Disciple" and the leader of all the people who follow him. He calls The Disciple the #1 man who worships the ground he walks on, then tells Piper he will bury him along with all his tricks, verbage and backstory tonight, and that all Piper needs to know is that The Disciple is here to cover his back when Piper, Sting and "Macho Man" Randy Savage want to "cheat and backstab people." and he needs an even playing field. Hogan then address Kevin Nash - who is not in the ring - and admits they have had a few disagreements. He hasn't forgotten Nash booting him in the face, and tells Nash to get a partner so the nWo can see what he's made of, as he's not getting him or the rest of the nWo members for a partner. It doesn't take long for Nash to show up. Nash tells Hogan to take heed to what Savage said, as there may be one - or there may be many - waiting to stick a knife is back. He tells Hogan not to worry about him, as he'll shoot him right between the eyes. Hogan tells Nash that at the pay-per-view, if he covers his back, he'll cover Nash's, and they'll take care of any problems between them afterwards. For now, though, Nash doesn't have a partner, and he won't be able to find one in the nWo. Nash says he has a partner already, and tells Hogan to spend the rest of the night figuring out who it is before mockingly calling him "brother."

It is announced that this week, Thunder is pre-empted, but there will be "Malice at the Palace" at the Ice Palace in Tampa, FLorida from 7-11 PM Eastern time Thursday night, streaming in real audio live only on the internet at WCWWrestling.com.

We see another performance by The Nitro Girls.

Irwin Mandel, CFO of the Chicago Bulls, is seen in the crowd.

Before the next match, Chris Jericho comes out with a cup of water and tears up a sign saying "I came here for Monday Night Jericho," then dedicates the next match to the memory of Dean Malenko, saying Malenko let a lot of people - including himself - down when he quit and went home after he beat him at Uncensored. Jericho says Malenko isn't the first or lost to submit to the Lion Tamer, but he was the first to take his ball and go home. He tells Malenko he claims he was trained by the best, and asks if Malenko has shamed his father's memory enough as his father wasn't a quitter like him. Jericho then kisses Malenko and his career goodbye, and quotes Hanson by saying "Mmmbop, it's gone."

Chris Jericho retains the WCW Cruiserweight Championship with the Lion Tamer. Jericho pulls out a large stack of paper consisting of 1,000 holds that he claims Dean Malenko really has, and reads off every single on them. This continues even after the break is over, and "arm bar" is mentioned on the list multiple times. Pyrotechnics signal the second hour, but Jericho is still in the ring reading off the list as this happens. When Prince Iaukea shows up for his match, Jericho refuses to leave the ring and continues to read from the list until Iaukea yanks the microphone from him, and tells Iaukea that Malenko's father trained him and that he will not let him dishonor his memory. Jericho runs away with his list of holds, and says "I still got 200 more!" as he leaves.

Prince Iaukea beats Glacier with a Northern Lights suplex pin after catching Glacier on his way down from the top rope.

We see a performance from The Nitro Girls from three points in the crowd.

This week's Nitro Party Pack winner is Scott Wilson and the students of Waupakaneto High School in Waupakaneto, Ohio. We see some footage of their Nitro party.

Juventud Guerrera beats El Dandy. Raven's Flock is briefly seen in the front row during the match.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. beats Kaz Hayashi. After the match, Chavo helps Hayashi up and shakes his hand before leaving.

Before the next match, Raven says there have been some complains over the last eight months that what he's been saying has not been easy to understand because of his excessively large vocabulary and his high level of diction. Tonight, he will put what he has to say in terms so clear that everyone, even those of limited intelligence, will know exactly what he means. He tells Diamond Dallas Page to listen especially close, as he should understand his problems as he knows them better than anyone. He was voted "Most Unpopular" in high school, and his father never spent time with him. He says Page picked him up from the hospital the first time the first time he got out of rehab, and says Page should know his pain but does not. Four years ago, when WCW let Page go, they said they'd never be anybody, much less a superstar, and that he was the one to lend him a shoulder to cry on. When Page had a problem of any nature, he was the one to listen to him on the telephone. HE then tells Page, "What about Raven? What about me?" Raven says he spent three years in "barbed wire city," being torn apart, put through tables and hit with frying pans and chairs, and says Page could have prevented it by calling him into WCW as a favor but didn't because he was jealous and scared of Raven being a bigger star than him. Raven then says he should have listened to "the Snake," as he says that Page would turn his back on him when he became a star. He says times are different, as he felt Page's pain and says Page will feel his. He ends by saying "Quoth the Raven, United States Champion, forevermore" despite not being the official United States champ.

Buff Bagwell beats Raven by count-out when Raven runs out through the crowd as Diamond Dallas Page goes after him, security in tow. Page then briefly joins the commentary table, and says he's here to straighten a few things out and "air some of this Raven-Page saga in its proper context." Page says he and Raven both helped each other, and the only problem that emphasizes everything is that Raven has a selective memory that goes back to his childhood. After calling Raven "Poor little Scotty," he says Raven was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and that he had an upper-class upbringing, and that his father didn't look out for him and Raven is starving for attention. He then says that after airing Raven's dirty laundry, he'll talk about his, and says his mom had three kids before she was 20 and divorced, and had to live with his father, which led to him being bounced from family to family. Page says he doesn't even remember the first eight years of his life, but he's okay with that as he learned how to turn negatives into positives while Raven turns positives into negatives. He tells Raven he doesn't even know what hardship is after all he's been through, and says hardship is that guy who works at the nine-to-five job he absolutely hates and goes to the job he hates even more to make it all work. He says it's the mom whose husband walked out on her and her kids and is forced to restructure her life. He tells Raven his "hardships" are nothing but crap, and tells him to weight it out before leaving the table.

Disco Inferno beats Kidman.

Pyrotechnics signal the start of the third hour.

Rick Rude boots Mike Tenay to guest on commentary for the next match.

Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart beats Curt Hennig by disqualification. Rick Rude gets in the ring, shoves referee Scott Dickinson down, and after Hennig helps him escape a bear hug, handcuffs Neidhart to the middle rope before the two of them beat him down. The British Bulldog rushes in and goes after Hennig, but Brian Adams runs into the ring and hits Bulldog with a piledriver. Roode chokes out Neidhart with is belt, and Scott Dickinson finally comes to and calls for a bell before Brian Adams punches him out. Bret "The Hit Man" Hart gts in the ring and fights off Adams, Hennig and Roode. After Adams, Hennig and Rude retreat, WCW Head of Security frees Neidhart from the handcuffs, and Bret says taht stuff like what just happened is coming to an end. As far as the nWo goes, he will tear them down brick by brick until he gets to the very end, and says that "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan's time is coming sooner than later.

In a rematch from last week, Booker T and "The Crippler" Chris Benoit wrestle to a time limit draw for a second time, and Booker T retains the WCW World Television Championship. The crowd chants "Bullshit!" almost immediately after the bell rings. During the match, it is announced that Prince Iaukea will face Chris Jericho for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship at Spring Stampede, and that Curt Hennig will face The British Bulldog at the event.

We see another performance by The Nitro Girls.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Psychosis is thrown out after Psychosis is attacked by Raven's Flock. Both Ultimo Dragon and Psychosis work together to keep Raven's Flock out of the ring.

Goldberg beats Ray Traylor. After the match, Hammer and Reese have to hold Saturn back when he jumps the guardrail to get a piece of Goldberg.

Before the next match, Kevin Nash shows up alone. As Sting and Lex Luger show up while waiting for Kevin Nash's partner, Sting is attacked from behind by "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Kevin Nash confirms that Savage is his partner as soon as he and Savage are in the ring at the same time.

Kevin Nash and "Macho Man" Randy Savage beat Sting and Lex Luger. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan goes after Sting, but Sting fights back. As Luger gets Nash in the Torture Rack, The Disciple shows up and lays Luger out with a jawbreaker before putting Nash's hand on top of Luger as the referee is preoccupied with Hogan. After the match, Piper goes after Hogan with a belt, but Hogan gets the belt around Piper's neck thanks to The Disciple, as the two of them double-team Piper on their way to the back.

"Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper take their backstage fight back to the ring, and The Disciple also joins in.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper beats "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan by disqualification after The Disciple attacks Piper during the sleeper. The Disciple then lays Piper out with the same jawbreaker that he used to lay out Lex Luger earlier (which is known as The Apocalypse), then Kevin Nash shows up and holds Piper up so that Hogan can hit him. Piper ducks and Hogan accidentally hits Nash, and The Giant shows up with only one kneepad on to clear the ring and save Piper. Hogan and The Disciple confront Nash outside of the ring, and Hogan tells Piper and The Giant he'll deal with them at the pay-per-view.