Category: WCW Monday Nitro (1995-2001)

So it’s worth noting – at the risk of breaking the kayfabe of these musings – that I’m wrote most of these earlier in the year when WCW’s YouTube channel… think about how awkward it is to say that about an official channel…. anyway, they’re uploading the first few episodes in aired order until the Oct. 2nd episode, which is later followed by the Nov. 27th, 1995 episode that takes place a month later. Obviously, Nitros not being uploaded in order kinda hurts this whole project that’s supposed to be about following this show in episodic order.

Fortunately, a buddy of mine had recorded a whole bunch of Nitros off the WWE Network when that was still an on-air TV channel as part of the Rogers package on to a bunch of DVD-Rs and kindly gave me his batch as a sort of “get well” gift as a result of my earlier health scare. And so whenever I need to fill holes in the Youtube playlist, this will be my go to.

And just as well to because I’m actually enjoying these more than I thought I would.

Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Oct. 9th, 1995) – Eh…”

Five episodes into Nitro… and we’re still watching this somehow… honestly, this hasn’t been that bad of a show. Sure, a couple times have been slow, but it hasn’t gotten to the point where I want to quit. The promos, if nothing else, have been fun.

This, however, was a good show and it begins with…

Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Oct. 2nd, 1995) – A Clean Shave”

Someone had asked if there was any chance of me doing Thunder since those are also on the WCW Youtube channel… the answer is kinda, sorta no.

No, seriously, the answer is no.

And now, on with Nitro… but before we do, allow me to extend congratulations to Stephanie McMahon, future WWE Hall Of Famer and champion of VPN services everywhere! I expect many ear plugs to sell out in preparation for the oral violation that is to occur with that acceptance speech.

But enough about that! On with Nitro!

Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Sept. 25th, 1995) – Yep.”

The show opens with Gene Okerlund interviewing Kevin Sullivan and the Giant… and yes, there was a time where they tried to pass off Giant as the son of Andre The Giant – hence the similar looking singlet… except Paul Wight is obviously not French. Harlem Heat somehow lose the tag titles to the American Males (Bagwell fell on top of Booker for the win)… don’t worry, the Heat would get them back eventually. After another Ric Flair promo taunting Arn Anderson, Paul Orndorff, somehow looking 80 years old despite being half that age, defeated Johnny B. Badd in a nothing match.

Randy Savage refuses Flair’s help with Lex Luger, which draws out Lex Luger so they can go at it verbally. This is followed by a replay of some WCW show where Hulk Hogan’s motorcycle is run over by the Giant’s monster truck… see, because they’re gonna have a monster truck battle at Halloween Havoc. And finally, Ric Flair defeated Brian Pillman via submission in the main event that lasted a little over five minutes, but it was fun while it lasted, I guess.

Three shows in and the matches are starting to feel less big time than the did initially. For what it’s worth, it wasn’t a bad show… but it also wasn’t all that important unless you really want your American Male fix.

For anyone wondering… I do plan on eventually making a nicer banner for these Nitro musings rather than reusing the old banner that I made for the final Nitro episode musings that I wrote ages ago. Sure would be nice to have something a little more lively for these things.

In any event, this is episode 2 of WCW Monday Nitro and the first episode to go head-to-head with Monday Night RAW. Unlike last episode, which took place at the Mall Of America, this takes place in a proper arena and so we have the classic WCW Nitro set.

Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Sept. 11th, 1995) – Sabu Debuts”

On this day – thirty years ago, to be precise – the very first episode of WCW Monday Nitro took place at the Mall Of America in Minesota. It was a sixty minute episode where, among other things, a former WCW champion made his return to the company shortly after his run in WWF, another Ric Flair vs. Sting match took place, and Hulk Hogan sold Hulkaroos to the few Hulkamaniacs who weren’t booing his ass at WCW shows.

WWE launched a WCW Youtube channel earlier this year, which featured uploads of WCW Monday Nitro. So we’re gonna watch these as they go up and for the rest, I was provided with some recordings thanks to a buddy of mine. These aren’t full-blow reviews or anything like that – you can get those anywhere – just some mild observations. If you’ve read my 21 Years Ago In TNA project that I did a while back, you’ll have an idea of what this will be about… although unlike those early NWA-TNA runs, I don’t anticipate hating these. In fact, a lot of these I never got to see, so it’ll be a genuinely fresh experience.

Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Sept. 4th, 1995) – Lighting The Fuse”

The show opens with the WCW signature with the flying logo and thing. And right after, the first person on screen is Vince McMahon in the backstage area of RAW IS WAR.

“Imagine that,” he says with a smug look on his face, “Me. Vince McMahon, on WCW television. How did that happen? Well, I’ll tell you how . See, it was only a matter of time before I bought my competition. That’s right. I own WCW.”

This is the segment that opened up the final episode of WCW Nitro, eminating from a beer hall in Panama City, Florida. Coincidentally enough, this is the first episode of WCW Nitro that I’ve watched in months since making the decision to stick with RAW for my wrestling viewings, as Nitro had become such an unbearably unwatchable show that it wasn’t worth the headaches. This is the only episode of Nitro that I still have on tape in its entirety.

So it’s one of those Spring Break specials where a bunch of drunk kids show up and enjoy the show… or the booze. From the segment with McMahon, we open up with a somewhat impassioned promo from Ric Flair, who talks about the company in a positive light. Seems almost funny looking back at this after having heard Flair on numerous occasions say that he was happy to see the company put out of its misery. Going back to the promo, he challenges Sting to one last match… in TNA.

Okay, perhaps not.

Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (March 26th, 2001): The Final Episode Of Monday Nitro”