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WCW Friday Nitro - May 23, 2008
High octane tag team action started the night off with John Morrison and his protege Mike Mizanin taking on Paul London and Brian Kendrick. The bout deviated from the normal tag team match formula, as nobody needed to play Ricky Morton. Lots of quick tags on both sides and plenty of high flying action. Morrison and Mizanin whip Kendrick over the ropes, causing Kendrick to land hard on the floor. The ref checks up on him, enabling Mizanin to low blow London from behind. Morrison plants London with the Moonlight Drive and the heels pick up somewhat of an upset victory.
Morrison and Mizanin take the time to gloat on the microphones after the match. In a nutshell they say that they are officially in the hunt for the WCW Tag Team Championships, and their performance tonight showed why they will win the belts in due time. BE JEALOUS!
No break in the high-flying action as we have a cruiserweight match up next. Gregory Helms looks to pick up his second victory since returning with a victory from his major neck injury on last week's show. His opponent is the game feisty Italian Nunzio. Nunzio gets off to a red hot start, planting Helms with a spin kick and a hurracarana. Helms works his way back into it, getting several near falls following a standing splash from the top rope. Nunzio clotheslines Helms, but Helms gets right back up and returns the favor. As Nunzio gets back to his knees, he is met with a Shining Wizard to the jaw! Helms wins! Quite an impressive victory.
The ring is set up for WCW World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel. His guest this week...Colt Cabana. Cabana generates heat in his interview by insulting the fans and local sports teams. Jericho decides to stick up for the fans by mocking Cabana on his own. Colt gets fed up and jumps Jericho, security needs to break the brawl up.
From backstage, Eric Bischoff announces that based on what we just saw, Chris Jericho will take on Colt Cabana in tonight's main event!
"The Vampire Warrior" Kevin Thorn is up against "The Fighting Irishman" Finlay next. Certainly our stiffest match of the night, as Thorn and Finlay more or less slug the shit out of each other with brutal punches and forearm shots. A lot more false finishes before Thorn connects with a Big Boot. He picks Finlay back up and shows off his power by planting him with a Crucifix Powerbomb for the win.
John Cena is backstage. He says he doesn't need the fans and he can make it on his own. In fact, he plans on being the star player in this new WCW. And to make his point, he says he will defeat The Undertaker tonight.
Almost taking a page out of ECW's book, we see a golden tag team match next. United States Champion Ace Steel and Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio team up to go against WCW Tag Team Champions William Regal and Dave Taylor. Quite simply, this match ruled...got a 98% quality. Once again, the ending to this match happened when the damn ref couldn't keep his eye on the ball. Regal and Taylor both outside the ring, pounding on Ace Steel. As Rey Mysterio gets down on his knee, preparing to charge and dive onto his competitors, Gregory Helms runs in and connects with a Shining Wizard to the skull. Regal spots this and hops back into the ring to record the cheap pinfall victory.
And we back up that 98% quality match with another one...John Cena and Undertaker. However, this style of match was far different than the previous. A lot of serious brawling going on. Cena tried as he might, but he just couldn't seem to put Taker away. Cena was growing increasingly frustrated...so much so that he simply decided to grab a chair and take it to Taker's skull. Cena is disqualified but he continues to pummel the Deadman. This is a much more ruthless side of John Cena.
Booker T cuts an interview, hyping himself up. Not much to say here really, I just wanted to fit him on the show and I didn't have any matches for him. Now can you dig that, sucka?
Fuck me, yet ANOTHER classic. This one was slightly lower rated in terms of quality (97%)...but fuck, this might have wound but being the best three match sequence I've ever booked, and I totally didn't expect it. Anyway, Chris Jericho and Colt Cabana wrestle an absolute classic that has the fans on the edge of their seats, wondering how lucky they are to see three top quality matches like this.. Jericho wins with a Codebreaker out of nowhere. But much credit must be given to Colt for hanging in there like he did. We certainly hope this is not the last time these two face off.
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Is Gregory Helms trying to make his case to get a Cruiserweight Title match? Will Morrison and Mizanin continue their push towards tag team gold? Can next week in any way, shape, or form top this week? Join us for Friday Nitro next week!
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