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WCW Monday Nitro (September 4th, 1995):; The First Ever... and a BONUS Match!
Topic Started: May 14 2005, 12:33 PM (685 Views)
Scrooge McSuck
I'll get you next time, toilet!
[ *  *  * ]
WCW Monday Nitro (September 4th, 1995):
Yes, this would be the first ever episode of Nitro, which kicked off the Monday Night Wars. To make it worse, Nitro had no competition from the WWF thanks to them being preempted by either the U.S. Open (Tennis) or a Dog Show, so all wrestling viewers either watched Nitro or nothing. This edition of Nitro is being broadcasted live from that really really big mall in Minnesota that featured Hulk Hogans "awesome" restaurant that sold Hulk-a-roos and other stupid shit.

- The broadcast team for the first ever episode of Monday Nitro is Eric Bischoff, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and Steve "Mongo" McMichael. I like Bobby Heenan, but by 1995 he couldn't care less about delivering the goods on commentary, Bischoff couldn't call a move to save his life, and McMichael might be the leading candidate for Worst Commentator of All-Time, being rivaled only by Todd Pettengill, Todd Grisham, and Tony Schiavone post-1997.

- Flyin' Brian Pillman vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger:
What an awesome way to open the show and the history of Nitro with, compared to the first ever Monday Night Raw which had Yokozuna squashing Koko B. Ware to open it up. Pillman/Liger have had several awesome encounters in WCW, specifically, Superbrawl II where they put on a definite MOTY candidate. I've always had a problem with pronunciation, but Ligers name is "Joo-shin Lie-ger", not "Juh-shin" for the unfamiliar. Lockup to start, and Pillman applies a wristlock. Liger escapes with some tumbling, and applies a side headlock. Irish whip is reversed, and Liger with a cartwheel kick to the head of Pillman in the corner. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Pillman comes off the top rope with a moonsault for a two count, then applies a reverse chinlock. Liger hammers on Pillman in the corner, and sends him to the corner, but Pillman takes him over with a head scissors. Pillman with chops in the corner, followed by a boot to the head and a (botched) hurricanrana from the second rope for a two count. Snapmare by Pillman, and he applies a modified octopus hold and turns it into a pin for a two count. Irish whip is reversed, and a criss cross leads to a Liger drop toe hold followed by a reverse surfboard submission. Liger rolls back to a sitting position and applies a chinlock. Irish whip, and Pillman takes him over with a head scissors. He charges, but Liger ducks, and Pillman spills outside. Liger follows with a senton off the apron to the floor! Back inside the ring, but Pillman suplexes him over the top rope to the outside. Pillman goes to the top rope, and comes off with a cross body press! Back inside the ring, and Pillman goes to the top, only to be crotched. Liger follows up, and takes Pillman down with a super-plex for a two count. Liger goes up to the top rope now, but Pillman dropkicks him in midair for a two count. Irish whip, and Liger catches Pillman with the powerbomb for a two count! Liger sets up Pillman on the top turnbuckle, and takes him down with a hurricanrana for another two count. Liger tries for it again, but Pillman blocks, and connects with a second rope tornado DDT for a two count. Liger with a go behind waistlock, but Pillman counts with a modified victory roll for the victory at 6:53! ***1/4 A little on the short side (especially considering the show only has 3 matches scheduled) and sloppy, but still light years better than most of the crap WWF was putting on at the time. Afterwards, Pillman and Liger shake hands because they are both babyfaces. Pillman, of course, would go on to turn heel following Fall Brawl in a couple of weeks (where he put on a definite MOTY match).

- Eric Bischoff is among a bunch of idiot little kids, Hulk Hogan, and Jimmy Hart at Pastamania (oh God), where a bunch of signs are being handed out... I mean waved around. Hogan says Pastamania has his Hulkamaniacs running wild. He's apparently been eating Hulk-a-roos and Hulk-U's to get ready to beat Big Bubba Rogers (a.k.a Big Boss Man). Funny... I thought pasta was bad for you in these kinds of situtations, but how would I know? Hogan sure does hard-sell "Pastamania" and "Pastamaniacs."

- WCW United States Championship Match:
Sting © vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair:

Damn... Sting and Flair sure have a lot of history in their careers. Let's see... they fought in the Main Event of the first ever Clash of the Champions, they unified the two "World" Titles on Clash of the Champions XXVII, they've teamed up on several occasions on PPV and Clash Specials, wrestled on countless PPV's, and would go on to wrestle the last ever WCW Nitro Match (and I believe, the last match ever unless Thunder aired that week). Sting and Flair have also traded the World Title on several occasions. Damn RD Reynolds, now I have Stings theme stuck in my head, along with the Midnight Express'. Out of nowhere, Lex Luger (fresh off his run with WWF) comes out to the ring area as Bischoff has a heart attack, and the crowd chants "Luger." Flair does his usual strutting to open the match. Lockup into the corner, and Flair with a clean break. Lockup #2, and Flair applies a standing side headlock, followed up by a shoulder block. Criss cross sequence, and Sting with a gorilla press slam. Irish whip, and Sting performs an encore for the crowd. Sting with a hip toss followed by a dropkick, sending Flair running to the outside. Flair rakes the eyes, followed by chops in the corner. Sting no sells the last one, backing off Flair, and takes him down with another press slam. Flair with a boot to the midsection, and a cross body press has both men go tumbling over the top rope! When did Flair ever do that move again? Sting absorbs the chops outside the ring, but a poke in the eyes works. Sting catches Flair catching with a press slam back into the ring, and Flair begs him off. Irish whip to the corner, but Sting fakes the Stinger Splash and takes down Flair with a bulldog. Irish whip to the corner, but Flair catches him coming in with a back elbow. [Commercial Break] Flair continues working over Sting and goes to the top rope. To no surprise, Sting catches him and throws Flair off. Irish whip, and Sting has really ran out of moves to do as he press slams Flair for a two count. Arn Anderson comes to ringside now as Sting misses a splash from the top rope. Flair with a delayed vertical suplex that puts Davey Boy Smith to shame, but Sting no sells and drops him with a series of clotheslines. Irish whip to the corner, and Flair goes tumbling over onto the apron, and Sting drops him with a clothesline. Sting with mounted punches in the corner, followed by a hip toss. Sting sets up Flair on the top turnbuckle, but Flair rakes the eyes. Irish whip, and Sting blocks a hip toss, but Flair takes him over with a side headlock. Sting bridges out of a pin attempt, and back slides Flair for a two count. Sting sets Flair up again, and takes him down with a super-plex. Sting takes some time to talk with Anderson, allowing Flair to drive an elbow into the back of his knee. Flair applies the Figure Four, but Sting no sells it with his Tarzan act, and tries reversing, but Flair grabs the ropes. Anderson runs in for the DQ at 8:43 and gets in Flairs face. Anderson beats the crap out of Flair around the ring and down the aisle. *3/4 I've seen much better out of these two, as Sting seemed to be stuck in a rut, and Flair wasn't on his A-Game. Out comes some guy that looks like Scott Norton, who gets in McMichaels face, but Savage comes out to get in his face.

- Hype video for the Genocidal, Homicidal, uh... Genocidal Madman from that country with a lot of sand, Sabu. Slow motion shots of him beating up on Alex Wright is never a problem with me. Sabu's run in WCW only lasted about 2 months before being sent back to ECW to be crazy like a Fox. The only PPV I remember him being on was Halloween Havoc that year, squashing Mr. J.L (a.k.a Jerry Lynn under a most "original" name).

- Saturday Night Hype has Johnny B. Badd facing Dirty Dick Slater, Sting and Randy Savage are in Action against the Blue Bloods, and an update/Report on Fall Brawl. I miss the weekly B/C-Shows from WCW, mainly because it had a lot of fresh stuff on it.

- We follow with a vignette from V.K. Wallstreet, fresh off his WWF run as Irwin R. Schyster, a.k.a Captain Mike, a.k.a Michael Wallstreet, a.k.a Mike Rotunda, a.k.a Mike Rotundo. Wallstreet actually makes an "I.R.S." reference, and is basically reprising his Million Dollar Man ripoff from 1990, minus Terri Runnels as his dorky assistant.

- WCW World Championship Match:
Hulk Hogan © (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Big Bubba Rogers:

This is the Main Event of the first ever Monday Nitro, and is pretty much a WWF Match from the late 80's, except both men are past their primes. Lockup to start, and Hogan shoves off Rogers and poses, except he's not very built here. Rogers applies a standing side headlock, and jerks around a little. Irish whip, and a shoulder tackle knocks Rogers around despite being fat, as Bischoff brown noses McMichael. Boss Man with a boot to the midsection, followed by a rake of the eyes. Irish whip to the corner, and Rogers follows with an avalanche. Rogers hammers away on Hogan, but gets rammed into the turnbuckle for his troubles. Hogan with a series of rights in the corner, but Rogers pokes him in the eyes again. Rogers with a back breaker, followed by some working over in the corner. (takes a nap) Dammit, the match is still going on? Hogan catches Boss Man coming in with several big boots, and drops him like a sack of rotten potatoes. Hogan with more punching, but Rogers comes back with the same. Sit down splash across the second rope by Rogers, then he goes after Jimmy Hart, but Hogan makes the save. Hogan chokes Rogers with the coat of Jimmy Hart (who is wearing horrible red white and blue pants), then sends him to the corner for a big clothesline. Scoop slam by Hogan followed by several elbow drops and a rake of the eyes. Rogers comes back with the usual stuff, but misses a charge to the corner. Hogan with several rights, but Rogers catches him with the Sidewalk Slam for a two count, but it's Hulk Up time... to NO Reaction. Hogan does the usual, and finishes Rogers off with the big boot and leg drop at 7:08. DUD Horrible match, but not bad enough to go into the negative scale. After the match, the Dungeon of Doom (Kamala, Zodiac, Sullivan, Shark, Meng) come out to clean up on Hogan, but Luger makes the save to a big pop, and we get the face face-to-face between Luger and Hogan. Hulk Hogan vs. the WWF's Attempted (and Failed) Version of Hulk Hogan! The Real American vs. Made in the USA! Hollywood vs. The Total Package! The Incredible Hulk vs. The Narcissist! Luger and Hogan have a verbal confrontation, but short and sweet, Luger wants the World Title, and he wants it next week on Nitro! Hogan "Shoots" saying he's the Champion, and that's the way it will always be. Since I'm a nice guy, that leads into this BONUS Match...

- WCW World Championship Match:
Hulk Hogan © (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. "Total Package" Lex Luger:

From the September 11th, 1995 episode of Monday Nitro, and Lugers first WCW Match in nearly 4 years, and way to go WCW for giving away a big PPV Main Event for free (or as free as TNT is).. Lockup to start, and Luger with a somewhat clean break in the corner. Lockup #2, and Hogan returns the clean break, but Luger cocks back a punch just incase. Hogan with a side headlock, into a go behind wristlock, and drop toe hold into a half nelson... WHEN THE HELL DID HOGAN EVER DO THAT?!? Hogan with a front facelock followed by a suplex, but Luger no sells and poses. Luger with a side headlock now, followed by a suplex of his own, which Hogan no sells in retaliation and poses. Luger with a boot to the midsection, and applies another headlock. Irish whip, and Luger takes a hike before Hogan can do anything. Hogan follows though and sends Luger back in the ring. Criss cross, and Hogan with a back body drop. Irish whip to the corner as Bischoff makes fun of Diesel for being a mid-level superstar. Hogan with a clothesline in the corner, but misses a charge in the corner. Luger with a powerslam, followed by posing. Luger applies the Torture Rack (already)! Hogan won't give up, but Luger thinks he has won the match. The match isn't over, and now Hogan does his Hulking Up act after Luger covers for a two count (to a very mild reaction). The usual occurs, but the Dungeon of Doom runs in before the match can have a real finish, making this a No Contest at 5:28. 3/4* Only because of Hogan actually showing he CAN wrestle if he wants to, but he chooses not to since he doesn't have to. Sting and Randy Savage come in to make the save, but why didn't they attack Luger? FORSHADOWING! The WWF Misfits get sent packing (Brutus Beefcake, Haku, Earthquake, and Kamala), and we get a confrontation between Luger and Hogan... again. After a long, grueling argument to listen to, Lex Luger is adopted onto the Hulkamaniacs team to replace Big Van Vader for WarGames in six days at Fall Brawl '95.

Final Thoughts: For a First-Ever Episode, Nitro looked pretty good. The opening match was quite fun (but sloppy), Sting/Flair is never entirely bad, and a few surprises (although only one matters). Comparing to other first time shows done by WWF, this was very good, and gets an automatic thumbs up to see since it's the first one. If it weren't a special episode, I would still call it a pretty good show from a nostalgia point.
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