Dateline: September 4th, 1995. The number one movie is still Mortal Kombat. Michael Jackson tells the billboard charts that "you are not alone". And in the world of wrestling, the WWF's biggest competition, World Championship Wrestling, has finally chosen their time to strike, And thus we enter the world of the Monday Night Wars. It's the first ever episode of WCW Monday Nitro.
Let's go back to June of 1994. Hulk Hogan joined WCW. The biggest star the WWF had ever created had jumped ship to the biggest competition. Despite this, the addition of Hogan would also include most of his baggage, and a focus away from the more wrestling focused era of WCW to the more cartoony 80's style of the Hulkamania era. Despite some initial success following Hogan's win of the WCW title at Bash at the Beach however, WCW still wasn't finding their way to truly compete with Vince McMahon. The suggestion to Ted Turner from WCW President Eric Bischoff: An hour long wrestling show on Monday Nights opposite of Monday Night Raw. And thus, WCW Monday Nitro was born on TNT, emanating from the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota and premiering on a Monday where Raw wasn't airing due to the US Open.
At least he looks more enthusiastic here than at Mania.
Speaking of old friends, it's Bobby "The Brain" Heenan on commentary as well. Bischoff runs down the card which includes Hulk Hogan in action, but opening action for Nitro is Flyin' Brian Pillman taking on Jushin "Thunder" Liger. This is a definite step up for a first match than Yokozuna vs Koko B. Ware . Liger is a wrestling legend from Japan, particularly for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Hometown boy Brian Pillman came in from football and found himself working with the likes of Stampede Wrestling and WCW, where his allegiance with one Stunning Steve Austin as the Hollywood Blondes would prove to be one of the most memorable teams of early WCW.
An exchange of holds between Pillman and Liger early on until Liger lands a spin kick in the corner on Pillman. Liger reverses a whip to the corner and lands a moonsault to Pillman, covering for two. He locks a headlock on PIllman and takes him to the corner with a kick and chop. Pillman comes back with a headscissor takedown. He hits some chops. Liger reverses a whip, but gets caught with a boot. Sloppy hurricanrana off the top by Pillman, covering for two.
Liger reverses a whip and lands a drop toe hold, immediately locking in a reverse surfboard hold. Pillman eventually gets in another headscissors, but Liger comes back by sending Pillman flying over the top rope, and coming back with a flipping senton off the apron to Pillman.
"USA" chants as Pillman reverses a suplex on the apron, dumping Liger on the outside. Pillman ascends the top turnbuckle and hits a cross body to Liger outside. He brings Liger back in and goes back on the top buckle, only for Liger to stop any attempted offense, hitting a superplex of his own. Cover only gets a two. Liger goes back up and dives, but gets hit with a dropkick by Pillman, who covers for two.
Chop by Pillman, who goes for a whip. He tries a back drop, but Liger turns it around into a powerbomb for two. He brings Pillman back up on the buckle and lands a frankensteiner. Cover only gets a two. He puts Pillman back up, but PIllman lands a tornado DDT. Cover gets only two. Liger goes for a suplex, but Pillman rolls him up for three.
What a great way to kick off Nitro. Both Liger and Pillman looked great with their high flying offense and fast paced action. A far greater difference than what you'd see on Raw which would mostly consist of the most basic of maneuvers and rest holds. If I had any issues, I will say Pillman looked a bit sloppy on some spots, and there may have been too many near falls on some of the bigger spots. But that aside, to energize you for a new wrestling show, it's hard to top a match like this.
VIdeo package with Sting who says that there's nobody who can put the scorpion death lock on better to Ric Flair. I'd hope so, you're like the only one who uses it here.
Another vignette from earlier in the day, and there he is, in all his orange glory. It's Hogan-Senpai! One of the reasons Nitro was in the Mall of America was to hock Hogan's latest business venture, his restaurant Pastamania. No, not a burger joint, or a diner, but a place to eat terrible Pasta. Bischoff talks to Hogan about his match with Big Bubba (the former Big Boss Man), but Hogan's more focused on asking the kids if he's the greatest wrestler in the world. He's been spending all day eating his Hulkaroos and Hulk-U's Brother, that he feels sorry for Big Bubba. He's putting the title on the line, and with Pastamania running through his brain, he and his pastamaniacs are going to give him some Hulkaroos. I don't know what the hell a Hulkaroo is, but if it makes me look like a coked up sausage, I want no part of it.
Up next, it's another former name from the early days of the New Gen blog. It's "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair taking on current United States champion, the man called Sting. But never mind that, look who just appeared in the entrance way!
Lex Luger? But we just saw him at Summerslam. What's going on? Well, Luger had originally given his word to Vince McMahon that he would re-sign with the WWF following Summerslam. But he had become unhappy with the WWF and wanted to leave for WCW. Underthe suggestion of Sting, Luger's real longtime friend, Bischoff would sign Luger, literally one night after Luger had worked a WWF House Show in New Brunswick. And thus here we are with Luger appearing on the premiere episode of Monday Nitro.
Bischoff yells for the cameramen to cut away from Luger and calls for security as Sting and Flair look on perplexed. Eventually, Sting and Flair get to it with some back and forth. After some criss crossing, Sting grabs Flair, dropping him with a powerslam. He picks him up for a second and succeeds on the dump. Hiptoss by Sting followed by a dropkick to Flair, sending the Nature Boy in retreat.
Flair gets a thumb to the eye on Sting and lands some chops in the corner. Hard right to the jaw by Flair. He tries more offense, but Sting just no sells him and lands a third press slam. Afer a messy criss cross, both men collide into each other, falling over the top rope. More no-selling of the chops by Sting to Flair, and grabs Flair again, gingerly tossing him back inside. Flair begs off, but Sting takes him to the corner. Flair avoids a stinger splash, but not the bulldog that follows.
We return from break with Flair still in control with some chops. The sight of people ascending escalators as the action is going on is weird to see. Flair goes up to the top, but gets caught and thrown off by Sting, who follows with what has to be the fourth press slam spot. Cover only gets a two. Another person shows up at ringside, Arn Anderson, the former Horseman ally of Flair. Flair hits a vertical suplex on Sting, but Sting no-sells and hits some clotheslines and a whip that sends Flair tumbling over the buckle, ready to eat another clothesline.
Sting hits some fists in the corner and lands a hiptoss. He puts Flair on the buckle, but Flair comes back with some shots. He shoves Sting off the buckle and whips him, trying a hiptoss, eventually getting a headlock takedown and a cover, only for Sting to turn it into a backslide for two. Arn stalks around the ring as Sting lands a superplex this time. Sting looks over to Arn, as Flair lands a chop block and locks in a figure four leg lock. Sting continues to no-sell and tries to turn the lock, but Flair holds the ropes. Flair gets DQ'ed as Arn gets into the ring.
Arn starts to lay fists into Flair and sends him up the ramp way. Flair makes his escape as Arn returns to the ring. He grabs his jacket and exits.
This match kinda disappointed me. I don't know what I was expecting, but Sting's no-selling and constant going back to the well with press slams really annoyed me. It just felt like the most basic of stuff from both men. And in the end, the focus was more on building the storyline between Flair and Arn, and Luger's debut, and the match itself felt like it ultimately didn't matter as much as it should have. It was still okay, but a definite letdown.
Meanwhile, Scott Norton shows up with wanting some competition. He at first is ready to take out Mongo, but he's instead confronted with another of our old friends. It's "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who says why wait, let's have a match right now. Bischoff gets security to drag away Norton and we don't get this match.
We get a video package for Sabu, an ECW mainstay who has made his way over to WCW. Something I never felt fit with him with the company's style being a drastic difference from that of the land of extreme.
It's another old friend, "Mean" Gene Okerlund who is only out to congratulate some guy who won a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Meanwhile Bischoff shills WCW Saturday Night. It's Johnny B. Badd vs Dirty Dick Slater and Macho Man and Sting taking on the Blue Bloods. Plus news on Fall Brawl.
We get yet another vignette for... HOLY FRIGGING TAXES!! It's IRS!! Yes, our buddy Irwin is another name that has since flown the coop of the WWF for the WCW, returning to the company as V.K Wallstreet (The V.K as shot at one Vincent Kennedy McMahon), or at this point just Michael Wallstreet. He says the New Generation is really just the "Few Generation". He brings up the big names of WCW and you can add him to the list. Then he ends on a not-so subtle reference to the IRS.
It's main event time on Nitro as Big Bubba Rogers takes on WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan, accompanied by Jimmy Hart. I personally love Hogan's "American Made". It's as much of a guilty pleasure theme as "Real American" was. Hogan shoves away Bubba early on and flexes. Bubba puts in a headlock to Hogan, who escapes and lands a weak looking shoulder block. "Hogan" chants can be heard at Bubba stops a test of strength, landing some body shots and a splash in the corner.
Bubba tries to ram Hogan into the buckle, but Hogan blocks it, ramming Bubba into the buckle instead. Bubba picks up Hogan and drops him with a rib breaker. Bubba tries another splash in the corner, but gets met with some boots and a shove from Hogan. Shout out to the "Hogan Sucks" and "Hogan is a Wimp" signs front and center in the crowd. I love it, Maggle!
Bubba turns his attention to Jimmy Hart on the outside, pulling off the jacket of the "Mouth of the South". Hogan attacks Bubba from behind and brings him back into the ring. And Hogan, like a babyface would, pulls the jacket over the face of Bubba and lays fists while Jimmy Hart distracts the referee. Hogan hits some strikes and a body slam, followed by some elbows and a stomp. Bubba comes back with some knees in the corner and an body slam. Bubba rams Hogan in the buckle and goes for a shoulder block, but Hogan escapes.
Hogan lands some more rights, but gets caught in a sidewalk slam. Cover, but Hogan begins his hulk up at two. Big boot and the leg drop gets the win for Hogan. This match was every basic Hogan match in a nutshell. Bland offense from Hogan, lots of no-selling and basic booking. Not that it was horrible mind you, but since I hate Hogan and his ring work, this is going to make this retrospective hell to sit through.
Post match, the Dungeon of Doom arrive. The Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan along with our old friend Kamala, Haku, and Zodiac (the latest gimmick for one Brutus Beefcake, Ed Leslie). Luger arrives to help Hogan clean house, and the two men confront each other. Sting and Savage show up to try to cool off the tension. Luger says that Hogan wears the belt around his waist, and he's the only world heavyweight champ, and Luger wants to take that belt. He's been where Hogan's been and beaten the same people he's been. He's sick of playing with kids, and he wants to be with the big boys. Hogan says that he's going to be champ forever and a day. He brings up the hulkamaniacs which gets a mediocre reaction. Hogan tells Luger to shake his hand and he'll put the title on line next Monday. The two men shake hands and have a shove off as we end the first Nitro.
Nitro's debut episode is a strong one. Much stronger than what we got with the first Raw by leaps and bounds. Where Raw featured matches like Max Moon vs Shawn Michaels and Undertaker vs Damien Demento, Nitro offered a great high flying affair between Jushin Liger and Brian Pillman, a match between Sting and Flair that, while underwhelming, still felt like it was important to watch. And finally there's Hulk Hogan still doing Hulk Hogan things, and even if his star was fading in 1995, he still feels like the most relevant name in wrestling. Add that with the shocker of Lex Luger jumping ship, and the general feel of freshness to the product with the debuts of Michael Wallstreet and Sabu on the way, Nitro already feels more like appointment TV than the malaise of 1995 Raw. So, while not a perfect show, this episode still gets a strong A rating.