Retro WCW Review Thread

[Attitudester]

Hello there,

So since I recently began the Retro TNA Review Thread, I've been thinking, and I've been watching a lot of retro weekly wrestling lately, and I think I'd like to do more retro reviews. What better way to continue than by celebrating the 30th anniversary of WCW Monday Nitro. Nitro began on September 4, 1995 and ran until March 2001. During this time, WCW Saturday Night was still a thing and I will even try to review that, as well as (and God help me) Thunder, once it debuts in 1997. This review will include every WCW pay-per-view.

Because I'm thinking about doing other weekly reviews, my plan is to stick with the weekly episodic format by watching each show once per week and following along with the actual timeline sequence. That means it will take me years to see this through. Of course, you never know what can happen or change within the next 5 1/2 years, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I know there's a Nitro watchalong thread with a Discord chat, and I'm going to look into joining that, as well as inviting everyone involved to watch these episodes along with me and take part in fun discussion.

I was born in 1994 and my dad was a WCW fan. I vividly remember watching Nitro and Thunder in the 1998/1999 era and I'm very nostalgic about it. However, I also think most of WCW absolutely sucks. That means I will have fun talking about the ridiculousness of it. It will be opinionated, I will shit on some things, and I will boast about the things I like. But with that being said, I will start preparing for this journey by watching the first Nitro and Saturday Night, will have both posted on Monday, and we will see how it goes!

 

[Attitudester]

WCW Monday Nitro Episode 1
09/04/1995
Bloomington, MN
Mall of America​

The first episode of WCW Monday Nitro was a landmark moment in wrestling history. We’ve heard every version of the story hundreds of times in the last 30 years. The common consensus is that Eric Bischoff was in a meeting with Ted Turner and Turner executives when Ted asked Eric what he needed in order to compete with the WWF. Bischoff has stated that his response was preposterous in his mind, and he never thought Ted would agree to it, but his answer was to go head-to-head with RAW on Monday nights. The decision was then made that not only would WCW compete with the WWF on Mondays, but WCW would do it live every week, to compete with WWF’s taped schedule. What this started was a dirty fight between two billionaires and the rest would be history.

The first WCW Monday Nitro took place at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. It was a packed house in the unique setting, with fans towering around the ring from every angle. It was a successful first episode that would start a 5 ½ year run on TNT that some people love and some people hate. In this journey of reviewing every WCW Monday Nitro, Saturday Night, pay-per-view, and Thunder, we will experience some really good stuff, and some of the all-time worst shit ever done in pro wrestling. The Retro WCW Review begins with WCW Monday Nitro Episode 1.

PART 1: THE INTRO

The show opens with the iconic WCW Monday Nitro open, complete with one of the best theme songs in wrestling history. To this day, I love Nitro and Thunder’s theme songs so much. The sweet video of WCW wrestlers hitting their signature moves shown in a gritty street with explosions. As the intro finishes, you’re taken to an aerial view of Bloomington, and then an aerial view inside the Mall of America, transitioning to Eric Bischoff and the debuting Steve “Mongo” McMichael on commentary, who are joined by the legendary Bobby “The Brain” Heenan shortly thereafter. Mongo is wearing a leather jacket that would make Jesse Ventura blush. Bischoff teases that Hulk Hogan will be in action tonight. And that’s all. Hogan’s opponent isn’t named, no other matches are announced… nothing. But then, Jushin “Thunder” Liger makes his entrance.

PART 2: JUSHIN “THUNDER” LIGER VS FLYIN’ BRIAN

Bischoff talks about WCW’s relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling and introduces the audience to Liger. I love Liger as much as anyone, but should the first talent you see on a brand new show be someone from another promotion? Brian Pillman is out next, who just recently returned from a broken leg 4 weeks before. This match was… not what I expected or remembered. Pillman and Liger had some classic matches and this was not one of them. The crowd was hot, however. Liger utilized a Romero Special to a huge reaction, deservedly so because it’s always a visually stunning move.

A funny note, Pillman hits a cross body to the floor and Bischoff mentions that WCW is “where the best live.”

The match proceeded to get pretty clunky and downright scary when Liger hit a top rope frankensteiner, but came down directly on his own head. A few minutes later one of my biggest pet peeves happened, courtesy of our esteemed referee Nick Patrick. I will never forgive my buddy for pointing this out to me, but watch a Nick Patrick match and you’ll never be able to not see this again – Nick Patrick has a habit of putting his hand under a wrestler’s shoulder mid-count, particularly if they’re supposed to kick out. He does this every single time, and almost always does it while laying completely on his side, like his just lounging about. It’s super annoying, and he did it in this match to no surprise from me.

Pillman picks up the win with a modified victory roll. I was glad it was over. Every botch or missed move kept getting called out on commentary in case I missed it, too. Thanks, Mongo and Brain. Pillman looked pretty frustrated a time or two, and I think Liger was shaken up after piledriving himself from the top rope.

WINNER: FLYIN’ BRIAN
GRADE: 1 *

PART 3: PASTAMANIA IS RUNNING WILD, BROTHER

Bischoff throws to a commercial after the match, but before we go, Sting has a few words in a pre-tape. He’s warning Ric Flair that “There’s nobody that can hook on the Scorpion Deathlock better than yours truly. YEAH!” LA Knight was apparently inspired by this exact promo.

Back from commercial, Bischoff interviews Hulk Hogan inside the PASTAMANIA restaurant in the Mall of America. Hogan says he’s eaten so many “Hulk-A-Roos” and “Hulk-A-Yous” that Big Bubba isn’t going to know what hit him. He will defend the WCW Heavyweight Title against Big Bubba in the main event.

PART 4: RIC FLAIR VS STING (WCW UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP)

Ric Flair is out first wearing a brown/orange robe that makes him look like your grandma’s couch from the 70s. You know the one. There’s no doubt Flair had his aura and the crowd was alive for this match. But then they really got loud for THE MAN CALLED STANG. WCW had the entrance themes figured out. I love Sting’s classic music, the flat top, the neon colors, this is PRIME WCW BABY.

After the bell rings, the fans stand and direct all their attention to the entrance because Lex Luger has arrived on Nitro. The first shot of the Monday Night War was this very moment. To put in perspective how shocking this was to not just fans, but the WWF, Luger teamed with Shawn Michaels to defeat Owen Hart and Yokozuna the night before. They had this man main eventing in their company the night before, and they had no idea he’d be going to Nitro. Commentary refused to say Luger’s name for a few minutes, with Bischoff calling for security to get Luger out of there. Heenan told Bischoff they’re at a public mall and Luger had a right to shop there, which was hilarious. Mongo said it was just “unabashed arrogance.”

Focusing on the match, it was super repetitive. The basic sequence of the match was press slam, press slam, no sell, press slam, no sell, press slam, no sell, press slam, no sell, Figure 4. I’m not joking. Sting press slammed Flair 5 times and did the “Sting no-sell” spot 4 times. But Sting gets a pass because he’s the MAN CALLED STANG!

Arn Anderson comes out to confront Ric Flair. I haven’t watched the previous pay-per-views or any editions of Saturday Night from 1995, so I don’t know when or why Arn and Flair broke up or why they have a rivalry. Arn attacks Flair, forcing Flair to cowardly retreat to a huge pop from the crowd.

WINNER: STING VIA DISQUALIFICATION
GRADE: 2 *

PART 5: WE CAN DO IT RIGHT NEEOOWWWWW, YEEEEAHHHHH

Scott Norton makes his way to the announce table for some reason during the skirmish. Norton is very mad and I have no idea why. He teases challenging Mongo to a fight, but is confronted by Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Norton says he’ll fight Savage, and Savage says “WHY WAIT, LET’S DO IT RIGHT NOW, YEAH!” The crowd goes nuts. They love their Macho Man. But, we don’t get the match. Instead, we get a Sabu hype video!

A vignette is shown for the upcoming Nitro debut of Sabu. Highlights of him with various WCW enhancement talents (such as Barry Horowitz), climaxing with a botched table spot. The main event of his debut vignette is a moonsault through a table where the table and the jobber toppled over on top of him instead of breaking.

Back from commercial, and “Mean” Gene Okerlund is in the ring. He’s there to announce the winner of the HARLEY DAVIDSON SWEEPSTAKES, of course. Mike Hill from Cullman, AL, congrats to you. Back at the announce desk, Bischoff is hyping up WCW Saturday Night (coming up on September 9, which I will cover next) and the next big PPV, Fall Brawl.

PART 6: MICHAEL WALLSTREET IS A REAL PLAYER

We go now to a vignette for the new debuting superstar known as Michael Wallstreet. Wallstreet informs us that “the New Generation is nothing more than the few generation.” He claims the IRS will be watching him closely in WCW, but that’s fine because everyone will know Michael Wallstreet is a real player.

He did to himself in his promo what they did to Sabu in the view a few minutes ago. This sucked. And if we aren’t counting Lex Luger’s presence, this promo from Wallstreet was the only reference to WWF throughout the night. Interesting.

PART 7: BIG BUBBA VS HULK HOGAN (WCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
It was a smart move to book Hogan, the World Champion, in the main event with Big Bubba, who Hogan had a huge run with a few years prior in the WWF. It was safe booking and it worked every time. Hogan is out with Jimmy Hart to “American Made,” which was another fantastic theme song.
Bischoff’s one good commentary line of the night was, “Hogan spent a lot of time in Minneapolis and has a lot of fans there,” since Minneapolis was a short drive away. I love Bischoff referencing AWA, because it made him sound like he knew what he was talking about, for once. I love Eric, but he just wasn’t a good commentator.

The Dungeon of Doom is mentioned for the first time on the show by the announcers. Heenan says Big Bubba has the fastest hands in the sport, next to Johnny B. Badd. I love Heenan putting over Marc Mero for no other reason than Heenan just loved wrestling and knew when to do certain things.

As the action picked up, I noticed Hogan was completely wrestling as a heel in this match. Even to the point referee Randy Anderson pulled Hogan off of Bubba by his hair. Hogan threatened Randy Anderson with a punch, and went right back to cheating. Eye rakes, throat chops, closed fists, the 10 punch in the corner (Anderson climbed the ropes to physically pull Hogan down). I’m not sure if Hogan was wrestling Big Bubba or Randy Anderson.

Hogan kicked out of the Bossman slam, Hulked up, dropped the leg for the 3 count.

WINNER: HULK HOGAN
GRADE: 2 *

After the match, the Dungeon of Doom run in to attack Hogan, but Lex Luger makes the save. The heels retreat, and Luger is face to face with Hogan.

PART 8: THE BATTLE AGAINST MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

A hype video is shown for Fall Brawl. “THE BATTLE AGAINST MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY RAGES ON AS WCW PRESENTS FALL BRAWL!” Apparently, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sting, and Vader will join forces to fight muscular dystrophy. Sadly, Vader would not join the fight against muscular dystrophy. He would unfortunately not be in War Games either (which has not been mentioned at all).

Back in the ring, “Mean” Gene is standing with Hogan, Luger, Sting, and Savage. Luger says he’s in WCW to become the World Champion. He’s tired of playing with kids and wants to get it on with the big boys. Hogan promises he’ll be champion forever and a day and if Luger wants some, he can have a match next week on Nitro. Our main event for September 11, 1995 is set!

As we wrap up the debut of Nitro, Mongo is sitting ringside with his dog dressed as Satan and Bischoff says WE’RE OUT OF TIME!

END OF SHOW

And there you have it. The first Nitro is in the bag and honestly, after not having watched this for a long time, I was not a fan. I have some notes I’d like to go over.

- The commentary is awful. Going from Mike Tenay and Don West in the Retro TNA Review to Bischoff, Mongo, and Heenan is like going from a tomahawk steak to a TV dinner Salisbury steak. I had it so good until I didn’t. Bischoff just was not the guy for the job here. It’s mind-boggling that Tony Schiavone was with the company but not on commentary. There had to be a legitimate reason that I’m just unaware of… right?

- Their build to Fall Brawl was almost non-existent on this show. I have no idea who is wrestling at Fall Brawl. I also have no idea what the beef is between Arn Anderson and Ric Flair. If I were a casual fan who hadn’t watched since 1990, I would’ve thought they were still best friends, kicking ass, in the 4 Horsemen. What happened? There was ONE hype video for Fall Brawl. If I’m on a new channel with a new audience and I have a PPV coming up in 3-4 weeks, I’m running that ad 3-4 times at a MINIMUM.

Overall, it’s a fun show, but definitely not the best. If I were watching in 1995, I would’ve said “Ehhhh I guess I’ll give it another shot next week.” A fun fact about this week was it was the ONLY time RAW took the night off. Ever. The two shows go head-to-head for the first time on Episode 2 of Nitro, on September 11, 1995. So when WWE brags about “no offseason,” remember they took a night off 30 years ago and they can suck on that.


Side note: I was going to do one episode per week from the start, but I've decided to speed through September and catch up so that each weekly review will be on the 30th anniversary of each episode. The next few reviews will not be as detailed.

 

[Attitudester]

WCW Saturday Night
09/09/2025
Atlanta, GA
Center Stage​

As we embark on the journey of Retro WCW Review starting with the debut of Monday Nitro on 09/04/2025, it is time for our first review of Saturday Night. A couple things before we get started:

- While watching this, I discovered WCW Pro, which was another Saturday show that took place on Saturday mornings. I will not be covering WCW Pro, because I feel like Saturday Night is more of a staple of the promotion and because honestly, I don’t want to.

- I had to find a website that has all episodes of Saturday Night, because Peacock only has the show through 1994. That means I’m watching taped versions from random people who have uploaded them onto the internet, which means bad quality. There were a couple times I just couldn’t hear what was going on. But honestly, I like that. That makes this feel more nostalgic and adds to the humor of it for me. If you care to watch these along with me, google TV Archive WCW Saturday Night and you should eventually find it.

- My reviews of Saturday Night won’t be as in-depth.

- This might actually be the first episode of Saturday Night I’ve ever seen in its entirety. I might’ve skimmed through a couple episodes from the earlier 90s, but I don’t remember. So I’m pumped for this.

PART 1: OHHHHHH CANADAAAAAAA

The show opens with a recap from last Monday’s debut edition of Nitro. Lex Luger and Hulk Hogan face off to end Nitro, setting the stage for their upcoming match on next Monday. Nitro is already being positioned as the A show of the promotion.

After the recap, you get a look at Center Stage. It’s unique and it’s beautiful. Tony Schiavone is on commentary with Bobby Heenan, and I’m even more upset that Schiavone wasn’t used on Nitro. I don’t know how long I’ll have to listen to Eric Bischoff on Nitro, but it’ll be too long.

After the quick introduction, Vader’s music hits and out comes the Mastadon (oops, not yet). During my extensive research (5 minutes), I believe I’ve learned that this is Vader’s final WCW appearance. This taping took place a whole month prior to the airing on September 9 and Vader was let go from the company around a month later, which coincides with the airing of this show. I could be wrong however, as Vader was still being promoted for Fall Brawl. We shall see.

Waiting on Vader in the ring are his opponents, Bobby Starr and SCOTT D’AMORE. Are you kidding me? A week after my first Retro TNA Review where I said it was hard to believe Scott D’Amore was ever a wrestler, I find my first ever Scott D’Amore match.

Vader, wearing his singlet backwards for no apparent reason, as he often did, makes quick work of Starr and the future Team Canada Coach. Vader squashes Starr with the Vader Bomb and D’Amore interrupts the pin for some reason, which earns him a moonsault from Vader for the win. Heenan says Vader’s moonsault is like watching a cow do acrobatics.

WINNER: BIG VAN VADER

PART 2: THE BATTLE AGAINST MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY RAGES ON

Yes, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sting, and Vader are still set to battle muscular dystrophy in War Games at Fall Brawl.

PART 3: COBRA VS THE GRAPPLER

Cobra, a guy named Jeff Farmer, takes on The Grappler (not THE Grappler, but another version played by a guy named Joel Mero). This match happened, and apparently Cobra has issues with the other solider gimmick guy in WCW, Sgt. Craig Pittman. What are their issues? We don’t know, because the issues are “classified.” Heenan says he’s got a scoop though, so don’t worry. Heenan says Cobra was in Pittman’s platoon in Desert Storm, and Cobra got arrested. He added something else to his hypothesis, but I couldn’t make it out. Cobra hits a Cobra Clutch Slam for the win.

WINNER: COBRA

After the match, “Mean” Gene Okerlund attempts to get to the bottom of the beef between Cobra and Pittman. Cobra says Pittman “broke the code,” and will pay at Fall Brawl. He’s confronted by Pittman, who says COBRA broke the code. And then Cobra says PITTMAN broke the code.

I have no idea what’s happening, but I do know that so far, this is the most hyped-up match I’ve seen for Fall Brawl. After a whole episode of Nitro and the start of Saturday Night, this is the only match I’ve heard advertised, with the exception of the Hulkamaniacs vs. MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY.

PART 4: FALL BRAWL CONTROL CENTER

Ahhhhhh the Control Center. I used to do these for Pro Wrestling Mid South in Dyersburg, TN.

“Mean” Gene finally gives a full rundown of what’s to come at Fall Brawl:
- War Games: Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Sting, Randy Savage, Big Van Vader) vs Dungeon of Doom (Zodiac, Shark, Kamala, Meng) If the Hulkamaniacs win, Hogan will get Kevin Sullivan alone inside War Games.
- WCW Tag Team Championship: Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater w/ Col. Robert Parker vs Harlem Heat w/ Sister Sherri
- Arn Anderson vs Ric Flair
- WCW TV Title: The Renegade vs Diamond Dallas Page
- United States Title #1 Contender Match: Johnny B Badd vs Flyin’ Brian
- Cobra vs Sgt. Craig Pittman

PART 5: DDP VS EDDIE JACKIE

DDP is in action against Eddie Jackie. After a short offensive from Jackie, DDP side-steps a cross body attempt, hits a gutbuster, and then the Diamond Cutter for the win. Even Wildcat Willy put up more of a fight during DDP’s entrance than Jackie did in this match.

Conspicuous by her absence was the Diamond Doll, AKA Kimberly. After the match, Okerlund asks DDP where she was, and I have no clue what he said. The audio got pretty bad here until I started hearing him ramble on about how he’s ready for The Renegade at Fall Brawl.

PART 6: SHARK ATTACK

We go inside the Dungeon of Doom. I’ll admit, I’ve always thought the Dungeon of Doom was stupid, so I don’t know all the members and I don’t know the lore. By lore, I mean I don’t know who the dude is that Kevin Sullivan, Kamala, Zodiac, Meng, and Shark are all hanging out with. But I do know Shark screamed SHARK ATTACK over and over, which is tremendous.

Taskmaster says the difference between the Dungeon of Doom and the Hulkamaniacs is that Hogan can’t trust his team. Vader is only helping Hogan to get a title shot, and Savage has betrayed Hogan in the past. He says the perfect trap has been set for War Games.

PART 7: SHARK BITE

Zodiac, Shark, and Kamala are in trios action against three dudes whose names were never even mentioned. This was the greatest 6-man tag team match I’ve ever seen. Kamala is slapping his belly, Shark is just biting people, and Zodiac hit Shawn Michaels’ ladder spot from Wrestlemania 10 where he comes off the top rope with the ladder between his legs and falls on the other guy, but he did it with a jobber instead of a ladder. I honestly don’t know how else to describe this move.

After the match, Shark is still biting everyone. Chaos reigns.

PART 8: 1-900-909-9900

“Mean” Gene is teasing the latest dirt for the WCW Hotline. He says he has all the information surrounding Lex Luger’s arrival on Nitro. I bet they made some good money from this.

PART 9: JOHNNY B BADD VS DICK SLATER

Johnny B. Badd was in his prime in 1995. He makes his way to the ring with a confetti gun and the crowd loves it. During the match, Sister Sheri comes to ringside on crutches, and I don’t know why. No back story was given, so we’re just going to deal with it. She’s yelling at Col. Robert Parker, who is managing Dick Slater. Slater goes for a pin with his feet on the ropes for leverage and Sheri knocks him over, which prompts Bunkhouse Buck to come to ringside and try to intimidate Sheri. Harlem Heat isn’t far behind though. Booker T and Stevie Ray hit a stereo punch to Dick Slater, which allows Johnny B. Badd to pick up a pinfall victory. Booker T snatches Sheri up and carries her out of the arena, and she’s not happy about it.
Again, I feel like I’m missing a lot of context here, but it was fun nonetheless.

WINNER: JOHNNY B. BADD

PART 10: ARN ANDERSON UNHINGED

After a brief tease for the main event, Sting and Randy Savage vs the Bluebloods, we go to the home of Arn Anderson for a sit-down interview with his wife Erin.

An off-screen interviewer is asking Erin Anderson about the issues between Arn and Ric Flair. Erin is upset, says Arn has changed and the fall of his friendship with Flair has caused issues in their personal life. While she tries to talk about the rift in her family, Arn comes into the room and apparently had no idea the TV crew were in his house. He’s telling his wife to shut up, demanding they turn the cameras off, and calls the TV crew “blood suckers.”
Afterwards, a clip from WCW Pro is shown from earlier in the morning, when Ric Flair was set to take on Flyin’ Brian. Flair never made it to the match because Chris Cruise discovered Arn Anderson had broken into Flair’s dressing room and ran Flair out of the building.

PART 11: DISCO FEVER

Get out your platform shoes, because Disco Inferno is coming next week! The debut of Disco Inferno on WCW Saturday Night next week. I can’t wait. This was a hilarious vignette. Shots of Disco dancing like he’s in Saturday Night Fever intertwined with him making several funny comments about different WCW talent, complete with his subtle Italian accent. Heenan put Disco over pretty strong on commentary.

PART 12: FLYIN’ BRIAN VS BARRY HOUSTON

Flyin’ Brian makes short work of Barry Houston to no surprise. After the match, “Mean” Gene catches up with Pillman to ask about his match with Johnny B. Badd coming up at Fall Brawl, to determine the #1 contender for the US Heavyweight title. Pillman says friendship goes out the window at Fall Brawl, and he’s ready for the challenge.

PART 13: STING & RANDY SAVAGE VS THE BLUEBLOODS

Before the main event, it’s time for a final commercial break, as Sting and Savage are on screen with a tease. Sting says, “I love WCW, I love the Bluebloods, and I love to kick YOU KNOW WHAT!”

Back from commercial, Lord Steven Regal and Earl Robert Eaton make their entrance. This is my first “Earl Robert Eaton” match and I’m excited. I love Bobby Eaton. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few different times years ago and he was one of the nicest people I’ve been around in the wrestling business. I’m looking at a picture of he and Jim Cornette I have hanging in my office right now. A funny, talented, sweetheart of a man that I miss.

And now for the MAN CALLED STANG! Sting makes his entrance first, wearing the Macho Man’s hat, jacket, and sunglasses. He’s copying Savage’s mannerisms and having fun with it. At times like this (and later the Joker Sting), you can really tell Sting was having a blast. Heenan makes a funny comment that if Savage comes out with a new blonde haircut, he’s leaving.

Savage makes his entrance without a new blonde haircut, but his face is painted like the Stinger. Suddenly, the last 30 seconds have made WCW Saturday Night awesome. I’m sure Sting and Savage were happy to be working with Regal and Eaton, the smaller venue of Center Stage was probably a lot of fun, and I think they were having a good time here. I love to see it.

Regal might have the best facial expressions in the history of the business, but Bobby Eaton was hilarious here. He looked utterly disgusted by the display of Sting and Macho Man.

The match started with Randy Savage and Steven Regal and I was immediately invested. I don’t know how many times the two of them worked, but I’m sure it was rare. It ended up being a very fun match. Regal and Eaton are unsurprisingly a fun tag team to watch. When the babyfaces began winding down the match, there were some comedy spots where the heels would run into each other and such. Savage nails Eaton with the big elbow for the win.

WINNERS: STING AND RANDY SAVAGE

PART 14: DISSENTION WITHIN THE HULKAMANIACS

Immediately following the match, Gene Okerlund is backstage with the Taskmaster and calls him the “leader of the Legion of Doom.” Sting and Savage make their way into the area and Sullivan asks them if they think they can really trust Vader. Vader hears this and comes into the interview, confronting Sting and Savage. Savage demands an answer from Vader, “CAN I TRUST YOU, YES OR NO?” Unfortunately, before I could hear an answer, the video ended. Someone’s grandfather was a little premature on pulling the plug this week.

And that’s a wrap for my first WCW Saturday Night! Overall, I would say it was alright. Saturday Night isn’t going to be my favorite wrestling program, but it’s fun. I enjoy the good enhancement matches, I’m excited to see the debuts of people like Disco Inferno, Eddie Guerrero in a couple months, and Goldberg later on in 1997. I’m curious to see who else might make short stints on the show. I know Edge wrestled on Saturday Night at some point, but I’m not sure if it was before or after this episode. Either way, I’m glad I’m finally watching some of this program after all these years.

 

[Attitudester]

WCW Monday Nitro Episode 2
09/11/1995
Miami, FL
Knight Center

​

Results:

Alex Wright def Sabu (referee reversed decision after Sabu continued attacking Wright after match)

United States Championship Match: Sting (champion) def VK Wallstreet

Randy Savage def Scott Norton

WCW Heavyweight Championship Match: Hulk Hogan (champion) w/ Jimmy Hart def Lex Luger via DQ



Other notes:

It’s official – Vader is out of WCW. At the start of the show, Eric Bischoff says Vader has gone AWOL and Hulk Hogan’s War Games team is down a member going into Fall Brawl. At the end of the show, Lex Luger agrees to join the Hulkamaniacs to take on the Dungeon of Doom.

Episode 2 is the debut of everything you remember about Nitro - the entrance set, the ring aprons, the announce position, etc.

Sabu makes his debut on Nitro. They refer to it as his “debut,” but I’m not sure if that’s supposed to mean just for Nitro, or if he’s been on Saturday Night, Pro, Worldwide, or any of the other 30 shows they had at the time. They’ve shown footage of him in WCW rings, so this was a little confusing. Fun trivia fact for you though – Sabu was the first man to ever use a table as a weapon on Nitro, after a dive from the ring through Alex Wright on top of the table.

One week ago on Nitro, a vignette aired of “Michael Wallstreet.” Tonight on Nitro, he’s “VK Wallstreet.” No explanation was given.

Scott Norton wrestled like he was seven feet tall against Randy Savage. Savage wasn’t a little guy and Norton was tossing him around like a cruiserweight. Savage took a hell of a beating in this match, so I’ll be curious to see if that’s a factor at Fall Brawl.

After the main event, no one knows who they can trust. The Dungeon of Doom have only been attacking specific people, and not attacking others. Jimmy Hart and Lex Luger have not been attacked, forcing Hogan to question their allegiances. Either way, Lex Luger will join Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Randy Savage in THE BATTLE AGAINST MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY this weekend at Fall Brawl.