#WCW Monday Nitro

[mrthemovieman]

Who remembers this match?

Eddie Guerrero vs The Barbarian 6/24/96

[peteneems]

[vanityangel]

CUTIE SUZUKI & MAYUMI OZAKI WCW MONDAY NITRO (NOVEMBER 27, 1995)

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

Where The Big Boys Play: The Launch Of WCW Monday Nitro & The Return Of Lex Luger

Professional Wrestling has been on television for years. In the 1990s, the hottest wrestling program on television was WWF Monday Night RAW. However, a new Monday night wrestling program would be aired. This article will be about the launch of WCW Monday Nitro.

World Championship Wrestling was a part of Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s. Jim Crockett Promotions is a professional wrestling promotion based out of Charlotte , North Carolina and ran by the Crockett family . JCP is also well known for being associated with the National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA) . In 1988 , Entrepreneur , Ted Turner , acquired most of JCP and made it into a subsidiary company called the Universal Wrestling Corporation. Thus, in 1993, WCW became a solo promotion after a dispute with the NWA over authorization of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This happened in the late Summer and going into Fall of 1993. A few months earlier before becoming a solo promotion, WCW was financially struggling until Eric Bischoff , a former WCW commentator, took on the role of Executive Producer. In 1994, Ted Turner appointed Bischoff as the Senior Vice President of WCW. In this role , he had control over the creative direction and finances of WCW.

Eric Bischoff’s goal for WCW was to reform the promotion by taking it from the image of a ‘ Southern ‘ Rasslin Company ’ to a modernized wrestling promotion. He would increase production, avoid house shows that didn’t bring in revenue, increased the amount of Pay-Per-View shows , cut down on the number of commentators with a Southern accent, and scouted out top talent from the WWF in order to get them to join his company. Wrestlers such as ‘ Macho Man ’ Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan , WWF’s most popular wrestlers would accept Bischoff’s offer to join WCW and would leave the WWF. Nevertheless, Bischoff would take WCW to a new level in 1995.

Eric Bischoff’s idea for the company was to create a flagship wrestling program to go up against Vince McMahon’s WWF Monday Night RAW , which aired on rival TV network, USA Network. Bischoff would get the approval for his new idea from Ted Turner. Therefore , WCW Monday Nitro was launched on the TNT Network to go head to head with RAW. Nitro would have the same time a lot as RAW , giving viewers a choice to choose which program to watch.

The inaugural episode of WCW Monday Nitro would air on September 4,1995. The show would take place at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Eric Bischoff would be joined on commentary by former NFL star , Steve ‘ Mongo ’ McMichael as the Babyface Color Commentator and Bobby ‘ The Brain ’ Heenan as the Heel Color Commentator. David Penzer would be the in-ring announcer ‘ Mean’ Gene Okerlund would be the interviewer. The introduction video would feature wrestlers such as Sting , Big Van Vader, Macho Man Randy Savage, and Hulk Hogan. Savage would be released due to fight with Paul Orndorff in the locker room. Nitro would only be an hour long. The first match to kick off Nitro was Jushin Thunder Liger vs Flyin’ Brian ( Brian Pillman ). Also, fans would see a vignette of Mr. Wall Street ( FKA Mr.IRS ).

There would be a dark match before Nitro would go live on TV. It would be a tag team match consisting of The American Males , Marcus Alexander Bagwell and Scotty Riggs, vs Bunkhouse Buck and Duck Slater w/ Colonel Robert Parker. The American Males would win.

Other matches would include the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship match between Ric Flair and Sting. This match would end in a no contest due to an inference by Arn Anderson. The main event of the evening was for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Big Bubba Rogers ( FKA The Big Boss Man ) , would challenge Hulk Hogan. Hogan had a manager during this time , ‘ The Mouth of The South ’, Jimmy Hart. During the match , Bischoff would be doing play by play commentary as McMichael and Heenan would be cheering for Hogan and Rogers. Hogan would defeat Rogers and become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Nevertheless, a surprise return would happen as Hogan was being attacked by the Dungeon of Doom.

Lex Luger rushed down the ring to help Hogan against the Dungeon of Doom before getting in his face and confronting him. Hogan would tell Luger to go back to where he came from. During the confrontation, Sting and Randy Savage would rush to the ring to help Jimmy Hart try to break up the confrontation. Gene Okerlund would come to ring to interview both men. Luger would wrestle for the WWF for two years as one of the top stars of the company. However , he had his final match for the company the evening before he came to WCW. He would sign with the company the morning before his surprise appearance. Luger would explain his reason for his return. He wanted to challenge Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and that he was tired of playing with ‘ kids’ , referring to his time in the WWF. Hogan granted Luger the match by shaking his hand and the match would be made official on the September 11 episode of Monday Nitro. The camera would cut to Bischoff, McMichael , and Heenan as they were talking about the match before signing off. Lex Luger’s return to the WCW would inspire two other WWF Wrestlers , Razor Ramon ( Scott Hall ) , and Diesel ( Kevin Nash ) to join the company in 1996 as The Outsiders.

Vader would never wrestle on Nitro and decided to sign with the WWF in 1996. Monday Nitro would find success due to the nWo and defeat RAW for 83 weeks. The final episode of Monday Nitro would take place on March 26,2001. Eric Bischoff would go on to be a General Manager of Monday Night RAW and be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. He is also the host of the podcast 83 Weeks.

My Final Thoughts:

The launch of WCW Monday Nitro changed the landscape of pro wrestling. If it wasn’t for Eric Bischoff changing WCW and giving viewers Nitro, there wouldn’t be a Monday Night War. The nWo wouldn’t exist if Nitro was never created. WCW Monday Nitro was a show that I would enjoy if I was born earlier. I was born in 1997. Nitro changed how we view wrestling on TV and showed how wrestling promotions fight for supremacy as WWE and AEW , the two most popular promotions on TV today do.

Love You All,

- Kay

[softer-ringmat]

second verse same as the first

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[adultswimooc]

Bill Goldberg Debuts Against Hugh Morrus (Nitro - 9/22/97)

The humble beginnings of the future WWE Hall of Famer with a spear that would soon be feared. A man who would soon walk into the ring with one question on his mind:

"WHO'S NEXT?"

[symbolicdecree]

Mood

[orangebapecamoprint]

The Fuckin ICEMAN 🥶

[mrthemovieman]

Who remembers this match?

Eddie Guerrero vs Ric Flair 5/20/96

[peteneems]

Friendly reminder.

[vanityangel]

AKIRA HOKUTO & BULL NAKANO WITH SONNY ONOO WCW MONDAY NITRO (NOVEMBER 27, 1995)

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

Lex Luger, Kevin Nash , and Miss Elizabeth, members of the nWo Wolfpack , 1998 .

May 25,1998 , after being in a longtime feud with the nWo , Lex Luger was revealed to be the newest member of the nWo Wolfpac. He played a key role in the group by going against Hollywood Hogan’s nWo Hollywood and even convinced longtime friend and nWo rival, Sting, to join the group. As a part of the group, he won his final United States Championship by defeating Bret Hart on an episode on Monday Nitro on August 10,1998. This would be his fifth and final run with the championship before losing it to Hart twenty four hours later in an episode of WCW Thunder. He also participated in the union of both factions of the nWo to go against the undefeated Goldberg in 1999. He remained a member of the group until he was out of the ring due to a bicep injury.

My Final Thoughts:

I think that it was pretty cool when Lex joined the group. I thought that he had amazing chemistry with all of his opponents in the ring and I still do every time I watch one of his matches. Being a fan of the entire nWo , I wouldn’t know which group I would’ve cheered for. I will probably have an article about the evolution of Lex Luger throughout his career coming soon!

Thanks For Reading and Love Ya All,

- Kay

[yerkaddict]

[astralbondpro]

WCW Monday Nitro // Debut Intro

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