WCW Nitro (Week 4, June 2001)
After the pyro, Tony Schiavonne and Jerry Lawler welcome us to Nitro and run down the lineup for tonight as Kanyon's music hits. He comes out to hype himself as the next US Champion.
WCW United States Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Kanyon vs Mike Sanders
Mike Sanders appears to injure his leg coming off the rope and Kanyon swarms, taking advantage. He takes a moment to taunt the crowd before reaching down to pick up Sanders and getting caught in an inside cradle for the three. Sanders slides out and Kanyon looks on shocked.
Winner: Mike Sanders in 8:48
Gene Okerlund is backstage with Totally Buffed to get their thoughts on their tag title match tonight. Luger tells Buff and Midajah that she was useful in helping them soften up the champs last week... but given what happened last time, he thinks it's best for them to finish the job without her at ringside tonight. She starts to yell at Luger but Buff stops her, looks at Luger for a second and then tells him he's gonna have a talk with Midajah as they leave Luger standing with a hopeful look on his face.
When we come back from commercial, we see a video of earlier today where DDP and Booker T sit at a table with Eric Bischoff between them. Bischoff hypes them as the last of a dying breed in wrestling. The two men who stayed loyal to WCW through it all. With that, he announces WCW will return to Pay-Per-View on Sunday, August 19th for The Great American Bash. The main event will pit Booker T and DDP for the World Heavyweight Title. Both men say a few words about how the title is the reason they are here and not sitting at home collecting a paycheck right now and they don't plan on leaving The Bash without it before signing the contract.
WCW United States Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Konnan vs Mike Awesome
A stiff, back and forth match ends when Lance Storm gets on the apron, distracting the referee. Mike Awesome gets a chair and prepares to powerbomb Konnan onto it only for Rick Steiner to run out and grab Awesome's leg, allowing Konnan to hit a hurricanrana on the chair, slide it out and get the pinfall.
Winner: Konnan in 9:14
Steiner laughs outside as Team Canada stand in the ring furious. They want Steiner to get in the ring. He gets a mic and tells them he's not stupid. They got Duggan two on one last week. He's found someone else to take on Team Canada though. And like him, he knows a thing or two about tag team wrestling. With that, Road Warrior Animal makes his entrance, standing next to Steiner as Team Canada suddenly looks a little concerned. Steiner and Animal rush the ring and trade fists with Storm and Awesome before sending them retreating.
Gene Okerlund is backstage with Konnan who is nursing his back still and tells Gene all that matters is that he's moving on in the tournament. Billy and Rey come to check on him and he tells them he's gonna get revenge on Helms for what he did last week. Rey and Billy look at him and try to explain to him it's alright but Konnan cuts them off telling them he's the leader of The Filthy Animals and he'll take care of the dirty work. He walks away leaving Rey and Billy to look at each other flustered and just shake their heads.
When we come back from commercial, Gene is with The Natural Born Thrillers who discuss tonights tag title defense. They make it clear that with or without Midajah at ringside, they're focused on retaining.
WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire) vs. Totally Buffed (Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell)
Midajah doesn't come out with Buff and Luger. The Thrillers do a good job of keeping Luger away from his corner for much of the match. After another failed tag, Buff suddenly steps down from the apron and grabs a seat to sit at ringside. Palumbo and O'Haire yell at him to get in the match every once in a while while still fighting Luger. Eventually they hit a double superkick and get the pin. They shake their head, take the titles and leave the ring.
Winners: Natural Born Thrillers in 10:08
After the match, Midajah comes out and gets in the ring with Buff. Luger starts to get up but Midajah orders an attack and he immediately gets hit with a blockbuster. A few more kicks and Bagwell spits on Luger before leaving with Midajah.
KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) vs The Mamalukes (Big Vito and Reno)
A virtual squash match that ends with Clark hitting a meltdown on Vito for the pin.
Winners: Kronik in 3:48
After the match, Mean Gene gets in the ring to interview KroniK and they make it clear that they want the next shot at the tag titles.
Shane Douglas comes out and rants about how he revolutionized pro wrestling 8 years ago when he won a tournament and forced a fledgling company to take notice. He condemns WCW for giving an old man like DDP another shot but he says just like 8 years ago, he's gonna win this US Title tournament and force WCW to recognize him as the franchise.
He then informs everyone that another old man, Jim Duggan, is in a hospital somewhere right now and cannot compete. He calls out Eric Bischoff and wants him to announce Douglas as the winner via forfeit. After some tension between the two, Bischoff tells Douglas that the "franchise" isn't a man who gloats over winning a match like this. He then begrudgingly declares that Douglas will be moving on in the tournament.
Gene Okerlund is with Dusty Rhodes backstage, asking him if he's reconsidered accepting Jarrett's challenge to a fight tonight. Dusty replies "hell no" as his son, Dustin comes into view. He tells his dad he's got a big match coming up but he wants to have his back tonight. Dusty tells Dustin not to help. He's gonna kick ass or get his ass kicked all on his own.
WCW United States Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Dustin Rhodes vs Shawn Stasiak w/ Stacy Keibler
A good back and forth match that ends with Stasiak's former partner Mark Jindrak coming out to help. He gets on the apron and distracts the ref long enough for Stacy to hand what appears to be a can of hairspray to Stasiak. Dusty runs out and pulls Jindrak off the apron which allows the ref to turn around just in time to catch Stasiak spraying Dustin in the eyes and he immediately calls for the bell.
Winner by DQ: Dustin Rhodes in 6:36
Dustin rolls outside to recover while Dusty hits some elbows on Jindrak before Stasiak comes out to help, attacking Dusty from behind. They throw him in the ring and take turns kicking him before Dustin slides back in to even the odds and send Stasiak and Jindrak outside.
Jeff Jarrett's music hits and he comes out, mic in hand, to tell Dustin to leav so he can go one on one with Dusty. Dusty tells him to get out of the ring and he reluctantly does. Jarrett steps into the ring and after a brief staredown, the two of them start trading blows. Dusty eventually goes out, reaches under the ring and gets a bullrope. He comes in and Jarrett begs off before hitting a low blow and taking control. He starts hitting Dusty over the head with the bell, busting him open. Dustin paces outside and starts to come in for the save but Dusty yells at him not to as he tries and fails to fight back. Eventually, Jindrak and Stasiak run back out, attacking Dustin from behind and then getting in the ring. They each old one of Dusty's arms while Jarrett goes for his guitar. Dusty curses Jarrett weakly through the crimson mask and pulls back the guitar when suddenly Diamond Dallas Page and Booker T run out to make the save! As Dustin recovers, he joins Page and Booker to clear Jarrett, Stasiak and Jindrak from the ring before they all check on a bloody Dusty as the show fades to black.