On this date in WCW history: Hulk Hogan beats up a dummy on Nitro

No, seriously, he beat up a dummy.

All throughout 1997, the New World Order (nWo) was running wild over World Championship Wrestling (WCW), terrorizing the promotion as part of the hostile takeover that started when Scott Hall showed up in May of the previous year.

The only real foil, aside from one fluke Lex Luger title win on Nitro, was Sting.

The top babyface in the promotion for the longest time, the Stinger had undergone a character change, switching from his California surfer with a blonde flattop style to a much darker gimmick. Essentially, he turned into Brandon Lee's character from The Crow, hanging out up in the rafters silently watching over everyone with scary black and white face paint and a long trench coat.

Periodically, Sting would drop in unannounced and clean house, the one man who could seemingly strike fear into the nWo. He did this so much, in fact, that it became a staple of the promotion's flagship program, Monday Nitro, with fans like myself eagerly watching each week to see what they would come up with next. What new way would Sting mess with the stable that wouldn't stop messing with WCW?

On this particular date in history (Sept. 8, 1997), he didn't mess with them at all. It was they who messed with him.

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff conducted an interview in the ring before Sting rappelled down from the rafters. He came a little too fast, though, and landed with a thud on the outside. At first, Hogan and Bischoff -- along with other members of the nWo -- feigned concern, going so far as to call for help. But once it got there, they waved it off and threw Sting in the ring.

It was at this point that it became clear "Sting" was just a dummy dressed up to look like him. And they played this up to the fullest, with the nWo holding the dummy up while Hogan smacked it around and talked shit to it while laughing. Then he gave it a leg drop and Bischoff counted the pin.

They even rang the bell!

This felt lame even at the time but doing stuff like this was necessary to make it special when the Stinger actually did rappel down to the ring and tear ass through the entire nWo.

Watch it all go down after the jump.

Also on this date in history: Ric Flair is stripped of the NWA title but not the belt