Since it debuted in 1993, Raw had become a go-to for wrestling fans to see some of America's top stars. Sure, there was not always good material. Anyone who has read Retro's reviews so far on the Retro Oasis blog will be able to see that. But it could be argued that WWF was able to get away with having some degree of mediocrity because they had no real competition for fans on that night.
September 4, 1995 would change everything.
On that night, Ted Turner and WCW would strike, putting a new show on TNT. The show would feature some of the company's top talent, and the quality of their matches could and often did surpass some of what WWF featured at the time. That night, the Monday Night Wars began, and it would change the entire landscape of wrestling in America.
The very first Nitro opens up with the classic "fire runs through streets, buildings show video of WCW wrestlers, fire lights up giant Nitro sign" intro.
The debut is taking place in the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it makes for a very unusual visual:
We are then introduced to our commentators: Eric Bischoff and Steve McMichael, who are interrupted mid-introduction by....
Why, it's our dear friend, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan! (And yes, I will try to keep some consistency with the screenshot cropping.) And he starts getting his sports mixed up as he talks to Mongo. I have a feeling I am at least going to enjoy Mr. Heenan's commentary, no matter how bad some of these Nitros can (and will) be.
Bischoff announces that the WCW World Heavyweight Championship will be defended in the main event, but first....
We kick things off with the legendary Jushin "Thunder" Liger...
And his opponent, "Flyin'" Brian Pillman in a rematch from SuperBrawl II. I haven't even started watching the match and I already have a good feeling about this.
Liger starts by sending Pillman to the corner and then hitting a beautiful cartwheel dropkick, followed by some chops. An Asai moonsault gets a two before Liger headlocks Pillman to the corner. Mongo, meanwhile, calls Heenan "Bobby the Stain." Hoo boy. Pillman gets whipped to the opposite corner but catches Liger with a nice headscissors. He then pays back some of the corner punishment but Liger reverses a whip only to catch a boot to the face and a much less nice-looking headscissors. He's able to kick out of the cover at two but Pillman snapmares him before going to a seated abdominal stretch.
As Bischoff goes crazy telling everyone how awesome Nitro will be that night and every night afterwards, and as Mongo continues making insults around Heenan's name ("Bobby Hernia"? Oy vey), Liger is able to survive the stretch and a cover. Pillman whips him to the ropes, but he ducks under and catches Pillman on the rebound with a drop toehold followed by a reverse surfboard. Liger has to let go eventually but a whip gets countered into another Pillman headscissors, only for Liger to back body drop him over the top rope when he charges. He then goes out onto the apron...
And somersaults right off the apron, taking Pillman down!
The fans are chanting "USA" (despite Liger being a face at the time, if I recall correctly) as Pillman gingerly gets back on the apron. Liger tries to suplex him back in, but Pillman is able to pull him over and dump him on the apron and to the floor.
He then goes to the top turnbuckle and knocks Liger down with a crossbody. The fans are loving this, as am I.
He tosses Liger back in and goes back up, but Liger shakes the ropes, and Pillman gets crotched. Liger then climbs up and delivers a superplex, which only gets two. He goes up top and dives, but Pillman pops right up and dropkicks him in mid-air for a two of his own. He then whips the Japanese high-flyer to the ropes, but ducking his head turns out to be a mistake as Liger elbows him in the neck and then powerbombs him for a close two. He then sets Pillman up top and nails an amazing Frankensteiner, but again he only gets a two. He tries the top rope Frankensteiner again, but a punch allows Pillman to counter into a tornado DDT for another two. Bischoff, meanwhile has mentioned Ric Flair vs. Sting is also tonight. Comparing this debut to Raw's debut is like night and day. Pillman tries for a German suplex, only for Liger to counter into an attempt of his own, only for Pillman to roll him up for the three.
Amazing opener. Both men showed off the flying skills for which they became so famous, and none of the huge spots felt forced in any sort of way. Nitro is getting started on the right foot. Afterwards, Pillman and Liger shake hands and hug, with Pillman raising Liger's hand as the crowd applauds the efforts of both men.
We get a brief taped promo from Sting talking about his match with Flair, which is up next.
Or it would be, if we didn't have to go to a taped segment with Bischoff at a Pastamania restaurant at the Mall. And, of course, there is World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan himself, with Jimmy Hart alongside him. He's handing out posters or something to the kids as Bischoff tries to interview him. Hulk is going on and on about Pastamania and Hulkaroos and I am beginning to feel Retro's pain. Hulk is now talking about forcefeeding Big Bubba Hulkaroos after the match. Sigh....
Thankfully, it ends as we now get to our United States Heavyweight Championship match. We get one of my favorite commentary lines of all time, that this match could be a main event anywhere in the country. Well, when you stack a card this nicely, you don't feel as bad that it isn't the main event.
"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair is out first as Mongo praises both Flair and Sting. He then tries to get a shot in on WWF, which Bischoff only partially blocks as Heenan quickly tries to turn the insult against the Weather Channel. Since the Monday Night Wars take place during basically the entire run of Nitro, I know we're going to be in for a lot of this.
The champion, Sting, enters next, and that is some jacket he's wearing.
Bischoff reminds everyone about the main event as Flair and Sting get ready-
Wait, LEX LUGER?!
Luger had been part of WCW in the 80s and early 90s, where he won the vacant Heavyweight title after Flair left WCW for WWF in 1991. Luger himself would leave for WWF, and it seemed like he was going to be their next big star, but plans fell through and by 1995, he was nowhere close to the level of stardom that had been envisioned. But nobody expected him to return this suddenly, when the night before, he had just wrestled for the WWF. In fact, that match was his last on his contract, and on the morning of the fourth of September, 1995, he signed to return to WCW.
Naturally, Bischoff is freaking out and he and Mongo are calling for him to be thrown out while Heenan points out that he's in a public mall. The fans are chanting his name as he is finally forced to slowly back away, and Sting looks as confused as the commentators.
The match finally starts with both men showboating before Flair shoves Sting into the ropes and knocks him down with a short shoulder block. Sting then does a lot of dodging Flair's rope runs before Gorilla press slamming him twice. A hip toss out of the corner followed by a dropkick convinces Flair to go outside for a breather. Bischoff is now reporting locker room chaos as apparently they are as confused about Luger's return as everyone else.
Heenan questions who Luger was smirking at and reminds everyone about the history between the two in the ring and the man in question as a Sting wristlock gets countered by an eye poke. Flair starts in with some chops in the corner but the Stinger starts to no-sell them before dropping him with a third Gorilla press. Flair kicks him in the gut while on the ropes, though, and after Sting ducks a clothesline, "The Nature Boy" crossbodies him over the top rope.
Flair tries to chop him again and Sting no-sells, at least until he gets poked in the eye again. Flair charges but he gets picked up and dumped through the ropes. Sting goes for a Stinger Splash but gets nothing but buckle as Flair evades, only for the champ to no-sell yet again and drop him with a bulldog.
Sting charges at Flair in the corner again but gets knocked down by a lovely spinning back elbow as we go to commercial.
When we come back, Flair has continued to beat up on Sting, but as he goes to the top rope, he very predictably gets Gorilla pressed off the turnbuckle. Sting then whips him into a fifth Gorilla press and a two count as Mongo continues insulting Heenan. These insults are not funny, and they got old midway through Liger vs. Pillman.
Trouble is brewing, however, as Arn Anderson makes his way to the ring. Heenan is speculating that Arn and Ric are on good terms again as Sting misses a top rope splash. Flair gets in a delayed suplex, but Sting gets right back up as he shows off. Sting clotheslines Ric and then whips him into the corner for the classic "Flairs flips over the corner and runs down the apron, only to get clotheslined" spot. Flair rolls in and starts begging Sting off, but the champ goes up to deliver the ten punches, followed by another hip toss from the corner. He sets the challenger on the top rope but Flair tries to fight him off with eye rakes and punches. He eventually is able to shove Sting off the top before trying to whip him again, which results in them trading hip toss blockings before Flair gets a headlock takeover and a modified jackknife for two. Sting bridges out and gets two off a backslide before setting Flair on the top again. Anderson starts walking around as Flair gets superplexed, and that catches Sting's notice as he dares him to enter the ring. The distraction allows Flair to chop block him and then put on the Figure Four, which Sting flexes and roars in as he tries to reverse into an Indian deathlock, but Flair avoids it and grabs the ropes, much to the ref's dismay....
And then Arn enters the ring and the referee just gives up and calls for the bell, DQing Flair.
But as they speculate who he's going to attack, he forcibly breaks up the Figure Four, takes off his jacket....
And goes right after Flair, laying into him with vicious punches as they spill out into the aisle, where security breaks them up. Arn then takes his jacket and leaves.
Overall, a good match, and while I normally do not like seeing big matches ended in DQs, the fact that we have a great storyline seemingly in the offing allows me to forgive it here. That and Sting and Flair work so well together.
But "Macho Man" Randy Savage puts a stop to that as he challenges Norton to a fight on the spot. Norton is more than happy to agree...
But Eric decides to be a major killjoy as he reminds Norton that nothing was signed and that if he attacks Macho Man, he'll never wrestle in WCW. Norton is not satisfied and Savage is still egging him on as Bischoff frantically send it to a preview of...
SABU?
Yes, Sabu was in WCW for a short time, and I feel we will see him a lot in the early days of this blog, although not as blurry and hard to screencap as he is in the promo.
"Mean" Gene Okerlund is out next to announce the winner of a Harley Davidson motorcycle that they were giving away. Then Bischoff runs down a preview of Saturday Night.
We get another preview, and it's one of my personal favorites, Mike Rotunda AKA IRS. Here, he's Mr. Michael Wallstreet. He makes a comment about the "New Generation" being the "Few Generation," possibly as a shot on WWF's "New Generation" at the time. He also comments that he knows that the IRS is likely watching. Two shots in one promo? My guess is this will be tame compared to what comes later, but still.
It's main event time, and the challenger, Big Bubba Rogers (formerly the Big Boss Man in WWF) enters first. I must say, I admire that suit. Mostly because I know I couldn't pull that off. Hell, I look uncomfortable in suits anyway.
The champion and Jimmy Hart come out next as Heenan does his usual anti-Hogan ranting. As much as I don't like Hogan either, I must admit that the "American Made" theme is amazing.
Hogan's past with Bubba and his issues with the Dungeon of Doom (oh joy, I'm starting in the middle of that) are brought up as we begin. Bischoff is still talking about Luger's arrival and the near-brawl between Norton and Savage, adding that the two will face off next week. Should be a barn-burner, no doubt. And a great way to get people excited for the next week's episode.
Hogan, who has a strong past in Minneapolis thanks to his time in AWA, shoves Bubba into the ropes and flexes. Bubba gets him in a headlock, however Hogan shoves him to the ropes and shoulder blocks him down. He then attempts a test of strength, only to get a boot to the gut. Bubba punches away at him in one corner, then whips him to the next corner and follows it up with a Stinger splash, getting some very impressive height.
He then tries to ram Hogan's head into the turnbuckle, but the champion blocks and rams Bubba instead five times. He then starts clubbing away at him, but Bubba thumbs him in the eye and gets some shots in of his own before hitting a backbreaker. Heenan is talking at length about the Dungeon as Bubba assaults Hogan in the corner, but he turns his back to gloat and eats a boot when he turns around. He spins and gets booted again, and Hogan literally pushes the challenger down.
Evidently, not everyone likes Hogan in Minnesota.
Hogan starts mounted punches, but the referee pulls his hair to get him to stop. Hogan is clearly pissed, and Bubba takes advantage with an uppercut. With Hogan on the ropes, Bubba runs and splashes his back before sliding out to confront Hart. He rips the manager's jacket off, but Hogan is right behind him to get in some punches and shove Bubba back in the ring. Hart then distracts the ref as Hogan wraps the jacket around Bubba's head and gets the mounted ten punches. He whips the challenger to the opposite corner and gets in a clothesline and punches. And an eye rake because why not.
A scoop slam follows, as do two elbows and a boot grind on the forehead. He then grabs Bubba and starts punching him in the head but he punches Hogan right back, driving him to the corner with knee lifts. He scoops slams him before whipping him to the corner, but Hogan ducks another splash attempt and tries to fire off punches, only for Bubba to catches him coming off the ropes with a Boss Man Slam, which only gets two...
And of course, Hogan then Hulks up. Punches, big boot, leg drop, cover for three.
And that's when Taskmaster, Zodiac, and Kamala run out to the ring and go right after Hogan. Hogan is fighting them off as Shark and Meng come out, but Lex Luger arrives as well...
And starts cleaning house alongside Hogan, but then they back into each other, and Hogan is shocked to see Luger. They're about ready to fight, but Savage and Sting run out to try and separate the two. Hogan tells Luger to "go back where (he) came from" as we go to a commercial for Fall Brawl and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
When we come back, Okerlund is trying to interview Hogan and Luger.
Hogan is telling Luger that he doesn't belong in WCW, while Luger replies that he has come to WCW for one reason and one reason only, and that is to take the title from Hogan. He says he's sick of playing with "kids" and wants the big guys, and that means Hogan. Hogan retorts that Luger has only been playing games, and that while he knows when Luger started and how long he's been wrestling, he'll have his thousands of Hulkamaniacs behind him.
And then he says he'll defend the title next week against Luger, and they shake hands, but not before more shouting and Hogan shoving Luger, who almost strikes back before Sting and Savage break it up as we close.
The match itself was nothing to write home about, and I was left more impressed with Bubba than with Hogan. It was the segment afterwards with Hogan and Luger that resonated more. Like the Norton/Savage confrontation, this did so much to make me look forward to the next episode of Nitro.
So as we close this first review, I have to say that I very much thought this was a great episode. The main event was meh but everything else was strong, and much build towards the next episode and beyond was done and done in a good way.
SCORE: ***1/2 out of ****
GDR
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