Nitro 5/1/2000
So we open the show with out new WCW Champion being told by his wife that he isn't a wrestler. Courtney Cox is not pleased with him being the champion to say the least. Actually I don't think anyone is happy with Arquette as the champion.
We go live and see DDP, Kanyon and Arquette arriving. They get into a big brawl with the New Blood and Hogan makes his way into the building and joins the fight.
Hardcore Match:
Crowbar vs. Norman Smiley and Mystery Partner
The mystery partner was a guy dressed up like a local team's mascot. Crowbar got his giant head stuck between the ropes. It was rather hilarious actually. The match itself wasn't very good but it was hilarious with the totally useless partner that Norman had.
*1/2
Stasiak is on the air and literally does the old Mr. Perfect segmentt where he shows how perfect he is by playing basketball...
David Arquette, DDP, and Kanyon come to the ring and Arquette says that he wants to vacate the title and make it DDP/Kanyon like it was supposed to be all along. The New Blood has a problem with this and they make their way to the ring. Bischoff decides that they are going to put Arquette in the Triple Cage and make it a Triple Threat along with Double J and DDP. Bischoff puts Arquette in a match against Tank Abbott. Abbott comes to the ring and everyone gets in a big fight. Also at some point during all of this Luger runs out and tries to take Elizabeth back from Russo. After the big fight that gets broken up Abbott challenges DDP under the condition that if he wins he gets a match right after it against Arquette. Solid segment that sets the PPV main event in stone and makes a big match for tonight (even though the match won't be very good).
We come back and Stasiak is still shooting free throws...
Bischoff puts Hugh Morris in a triple threat match against Jarrett and Steiner. He says if any of the other misfits get involved he's going to fire them all.
Tables Match:
The Wall vs. Horace Hogan
Horace is kicking ass until Kidman runs in and distracts him so the Wall can send him through a table. It was a pretty average brawl for a couple of minutes before Kidman got involved. Pretty unspectacular table spot as well.
3/4*
Hogan runs out to stop the beatdown on Horace, Mike Awesome comes out and makes it 3 on 1. Even Hogan can't overcome those odds and gets sent through a table.
Very odd promo from Vampiro in what appears to be a grave yard. He doesn't really say anything of value in it but it looks kind of creepy. He tells to Sting to meet him in the grave yard.
Russo comes out with Elizabeth. Him and two rather weak looking security guards call out Lex Luger and challenge him to a match? Did he seriously just do that?
Scott Steiner vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Hugh Morris
Steiner and Jarrett just beat the shit out Hugh Morris until they start to fight and argue about who's going to get the pinfall. Makes me wonder why Bischoff didn't just make this a handicap match since he would want Steiner and Jarrett to be on the same page. After a few minutes Jarrett hits Steiner with the guitar and leaves, allowing Morris to get the win. At least they made their point.
*
Bischoff is pissed at what happens and fires all of the Misfits in Action.
Grave Yard Match:
Sting vs. Vampiro
Really odd segment with them chasing each other around a graveyard in the dark. Vampiro jumps Sting from behind and hit him over and over with a shovel. He throws Sting into an open grave right after he tells Sting that he is the monster that Sting should have been. This was really dark and hard to see. Also it reminded me of a weird scene you would see in a horror movie.
No Rating
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Tank Abbott
They have a wild and crazy brawl for a minute before Jarrett comes through the crowd and hits Page with a bottle for a KO. So now Arquette has to wrestle Abbott. This was actually fun for the minute or two that it lasted.
1/2*
Hulk Hogan and Mike Awesome are brawling backstage. Hogan is still angry.
Billy Kidman comes out for a promo. I really want to just punch him in the face when he's talking. He's so annoying. I guess that's a good thing though. Kidman issues and open challenge and Kevin Nash accepts. Nash walks to the ring and just beats the hell out of Kidman until Rey Mysrerio and Konan make their return to WCW. But this is WCW so Nash beats the shit out of all of them and they all run away. Why the fuck would WCW have them debut just to get squashed by Nash? Stupid booking. Also :lmao at Mysterio playing a heel.
Vince Russo w/Elizabeth vs. Lex Luger
Luger and Flair get jumped by Bagwell and Douglas plus about 15 security guards. They mace Luger, handcuff him, and beat the shit out of him. Liz hits Russo with the belts and escapes from Russo.
No Rating
Kronix shows up and sloppily beats up all the security guards until the police show up and arrest them.
After the commercial break Nash is still beating up Rey and Konan. We also see Luger and Kronic getting arrested. Oh and David Arquette is really worried about his match with Tank Abbott.
Vampiro comes out and talks about how evil he is. Sting comes back from the graveyard and beats up Vampiro with a bat. I liked the segment. Vampiro is turning Sting into a monster and we have just seen Sting come closer and closer to totally losing it. Really looking forward to their PPV match. Just hoping they stay away from the weird graveyard brawl and make it more of a hate filled match.
Stasiak is still shooting free throws. Russo is mad at Elizabeth. Not really anything else to add to those segments in all honesty.
Tank Abbott vs. David Arquette w/Chris Kanyon
Kanyon is immediatley ejected for bringing brass knucks to the ring; Great plan he had there. Abbott toys with the World Champion for a little bit before hitting him with a suplex. DDP comes back from the hospital, hits Abbott with a Diamond Cutter and wins the match for Arquette. Not really a match at all.
No Rating
After the commercial Stasiak is still shooting free throws... Henig finally jumps him when according to Stasiak he was only one free throw away from the world record (which is like 5,200 according to the announce crew).
Hulk Hogan vs. Mike Awesome
Hogan might have had the best character in WCW at this time. He had gone away from the classic Hogan character as he was portraying himself in a much darker way. He was everything that the Millionaire's Club stood for and he was so furious with the New Blood. The match was a really old school brawl. Without all these crazy hardcore spots they still managed to convince me that they hated each other. It's really a shame that the Awesome/Hogan feud played second string to Hogan/Kidman because Awesome and Hogan have great chemistry. I think a lot of it has to do with Awesome's size. Hogan just isn't willing to sell for Kidman like he is for Awesome. Kidman obviously gets involved in the match as well as Bischoff. They use their numbers and weapons to get the win. For 6 or 7 minutes before the interference this was really good. For what it's worth this was the best match of the night...
**1/4
Hogan is up after the match and is still fighting, but the blood from the ceiling is poured on him and Nitro goes off the air with the New Blood standing over him.
This was not a good Nitro. The non-wrestling segments were anything all that great and the wrestling quality was just bad. It would be shockingly bad if it wasn't for Hogan and Awesome. WCW was building up some momentum but I really feel that they took a step backwards with this show.