Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Monday Nitro Episode 1 (9.04.95)

-Level Up is gone and it seems there will no longer be a SmackDown LowDown and who knows about RAW Talk going forward? That is three of the four weekly shows I have been covering for years, seemingly gone. So, in search of something to fill the void, I decided to start going through WCW Nitro as the early episodes are under an hour. I will see what else I can find and perhaps they bring back the recap shows on Netflix or elsewhere. For now, we go back to the start of The Monday Night War. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Eric Bischoff, Steve “Mongo” McMichael, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-The Mall of America, Bloomington, MN
-Sept. 4, 1995

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Brian Pillman

-RAW’s first episode started with Koko B. Ware and Yokozuna. Advantage Nitro! The Mall setting is unique and grabs your attention, so it obviously did what they wanted. Pillman immediately goes to the arm, which lets Liger start flipping around to counter. Rolling Heel kick in the corner from Liger. He comes off the middle rope in the opposite corner with a moonsault for two and hooks a chinlock. Chops from Liger in the opposite corner, but he gets caught with a head scissors off a whip back to the corner. Liger charges and gets a boot to the face. Head scissors from Pillman gets two! He hooks a grounded abdominal stretch as we get an aerial shot of the Mall setting. Liger with a drop toe hold and he hooks a surfboard. Pillman with another head scissors, but gets dumped to the floor off a backdrop. Liger goes flying out with a kick to the head. Liger wants a suplex back into the ring, but Pillman kind of hits a suplex to put Liger out on the floor. Now Pillman comes off the top with a double axe to the floor. Pillman goes back up, but Liger crotches him and then brings Pillman down with a superplex for two. They just keep flying as Liger heads up again, but Pillman catches him coming down with a dropkick for two. They trade some chops but Pillman sets too early on a backdrop and Liger powerbombs him into a pin for two. Cool! Top Rope Rana gets two! This was mind blowing stuff for someone like me watching this live. TORNADO DDT from Pillman as they are just pulling out all stops. Liger with a standing switch, but Pillman blocks a pick-up and gets a roll-up for the pin at 6:52.

Winner: Brian Pillman via pin at 6:52
-They went out and threw everything they could in a 7 minute match knowing this was going to be a marquee spot. ***

-We throw to a video from earlier in the day where Eric Bischoff interviews Hulk Hogan in a crowd of kids outside of Pasta-Mania inside The Mall. I googled the menu online and I would have ate there, but I like cheap pasta.

WCW United Stated Championship: Sting (c) vs. Ric Flair

-LEX LUGER WALKS DOWN THE AISLE. Bischoff: “get the camera off him.” Flair and and Sting just stare as Doug Dillinger tries to get Luger to leave. This would be the first major shot in the Monday Night War as Luger was on a handshake deal with the WWF, but never put pen to paper and thus us here only hours after working a WWF house show. Having someone from WWF invade WCW seems like an idea worth exploring! To the match as Sting gets an early Gorilla Press Slam and then hits a dropkick as Flair bails to the floor. Flair wants a test of strength which seems silly, but this is Flair and it gives him a chance to throw thumb to the eyes. Cool! Chops from Flair and Sting just stares at him. Sting with a flex and then Flair goes up and down with another Gorilla Press. Flair tries a cross-body and both men spill over the top to the floor. Another chop and again, Sting just stares at him. Flair to the eyes again, but charges and gets caught with another Gorilla Press. Sting dumps Flair back through the ropes this time. Stinger Splash is missed and another attempt is blocked by a back elbow. We head to commercial at 4:42.

-60 seconds of Peacock commercials!

-Back at 5:46 with Flair heading up top and that goes as expected. Sting slams him from the top and Flair starts begging off. Another Gorilla Press Slam gets two! Arn Anderson is heading down next as he was having some issues with Flair at this time. Sting misses a splash and Flair gets a suplex. He struts, but Sting is up at the same time and runs Flair down with a clothesline. Flair Flip in the corner and Sting runs him down on the apron with a clothesline. They are playing the hits, but it’s fantastic. Flair goes to the eyes again as they fight on the top rope. Flair knocks Sting down and gets things to the mat. They fight up and Sting gets a backslide for two. Up top and Sting delivers a superplex! Sting is dumb though and focuses his attention on Arn. That lets Flair clip the knee and then hook in the figure four. Sting beats on his chest and starts to turn the hold, but Flair grabs the rope and refuses to break, so it’s a DQ at 9:45.

Winner: Sting via DQ at 9:45
-This was a condensed version of Flair/Sting with a crappy ending, but it’s Flair/Sting so it was still good. They can have a good match in their sleep unless one man is wearing a mask and wrestling like someone else, but how likely is that? **3/4

-Arn Anderson in to pull Flair off and they start brawling to the back.

-Scott Norton is here and starts yelling at Bischoff, Heenan, and Mongo. He gets in the face of Mongo and that brings out Randy Savage. He welcomes Norton to WCW and they want a match against each other right now. Bischoff brings out security to separate the two of them. This is the anarchy and unpredictability that Bischoff craved for this show and what helped separate it from RAW.

-Hype video for Sabu, which is so weird to see in WCW.

-Eric Bischoff runs down some of the matches for WCW Saturday Night! Much like RAW eventually killed off Superstars, the same happened with Saturday Night once Nitro got rolling, but lasted a bit longer.

-Mr. Wallstreet (the former IRS) is now part of WCW and is a real player!

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Big Bubba Rogers

-I think this is a Title Match, but it’s hard to hear as the mic for the ring announcer is lower than the commentary team and wrestler theme music. Bischoff notes these two have history! No kidding as they had one of the most famous cage matches of all time. Savage/Norton has been signed for next week, which is another nice touch as fans already know what to expect next week. Bubba grabs a side headlock and works that. Hogan shoves off and Bubba grabs the ropes to keeping from getting decked. Loud Hogant chant as these Minnesota fans remember him being screwed in the AWA. Probably not, but it sounded logical. Hogan blocks going into the corner. He bounces Bubba’s head off the top buckle, but Bubba is back with a shot to the eyes. Backbreaker from Bubba! He goes to the body with some punches, but charges in and eats a boot to the face and then another one. Hogan fires off right hands, but the ref pulls him by the hair off Bubba to avoid being disqualified. That lets Bubba get in another shot and he drops a leg across Hogan’s back on the ropes. Bubba goes after Jimmy Hart which lets Hogan get back into the match. Hogan goes to the eyes and lays in ten punches in the corner. Hogan with a running clothesline in the corner and then he fires off right hands. He gets Bubba up with a slam and drops a series of elbows before stomping the face. Bubba back with an uppercut and he works Hogan over with knee-lifts in the corner. Slam from Bubba, but he misses a splash in the corner. Hogan fires off right hands, but runs into a Boss (Man) Slam for two. HULK UP! THREE PUNCHES! BIG BOOT! LEG DROP! PIN AT 7:08.

Winner: Hulk Hogan via pin at 7:08
-Standard Hogan match that seemed longer than seven minutes. Bubba knew what to do here and the fans in The Mall were happy to see Hogan. *1/2

-The Dungeon of Doom hit the ring to attack Hogan, but Lex Luger is out for the save. The crowd loses it as Hogan and Luger go nose to nose! Sting and Savage are out to make peace as Hogan tells Lex to go back where he came from.

-We go to break as Mean Gene is heading down to get an interview!

-Fall Brawl: War Games commercial! Vader was still being advertised as part of Team Hogan, but that wasn’t happening and he would be in the WWF within four months.

-Back with Gene in the ring to make sense of what is happening. Hogan tells Luger he has no business in his back yard. Lex is here for one reason and that’s The WCW World Championship as it makes Hogan the only World Champion worth challenging. Lex is tired of playing around with kids and wants to get it on with the Big Boys! Hogan tells Luger he will be Champion for ever and a day, but he gives Luger his credit. He has thousands of Maniacs behind him, and offers Luger a Title Match next week if he shakes his hand. Wow! RAW was supposed to compete with this?

-Bischoff, Heenan, and Mongo hype next weeks show which is the best way to end this week’s show.

-Thanks for reading!

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

They hit a homerun with this show thanks to the unique setting, being live with a hot crowd, and the jaw dropping appearance of Lex Luger. You could see the vision Bischoff had and how this show was immediately able to compete with RAW. They had surprises and set things up for the following week. This was a fun with a unique setting and of course one that has historical importance. Every wrestling fan should watch this show at some point.