The Winner Of UFC 264's Main Event: Nobody At All

 It was supposed to be a classic.

The fight nearly seven years in the making, the fight that would see who the better man truly was, the fight that would either give one man a second chance at immortality or give another some sort of legacy-saving vindication.

But when the dust settled on Saturday night in Las Vegas, there could only be feelings of disappointment.

On one side, Dustin Poirier was mocking his fallen foe's signature taunt and snapping at him to shut up even as staff were checking the man's broken ankle. On the other, Conor McGregor sat wounded yet uncharacteristically defiant even for him, insisting that he hadn't truly lost and repeating allegations that the victor's wife was cheating on him with the Irishman.

It was a display of poor sportsmanship that the UFC hadn't seen since a previous McGregor loss, when Khabib Nurmagomedov decided that the best way to celebrate was to attack the corner of the man who had taunted him for weeks prior to their bout. But something was different. And worse.

WHEN PRIDE MATTERS TOO MUCH

To truly understand how and why McGregor could lose any sense of decency or sanity after suffering a broken ankle, it is important to understand the man himself.

McGregor has always been a larger than life persona in the world of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It all started when he put down Marcus Brimage in Sweden in 2013, basking in the glow of a post-fight bonus and crowing that he'd tell the welfare authority in his native Ireland to, in his words, "fuck off." There was, and still is, an aura of unbridled ego around him that the UFC and company president Dana White latched onto almost instantly. There was the fight in Boston against fellow future champion Max Holloway, where he afterwards bragged about how many people supposedly died to make the expensive watch he was wearing. There was his declaration that he and his fellow Irishmen hadn't come to take part, they had come to take over. There was the swagger that he seemed to bring with him wherever he went, whether it was on the undercard of an event headlined by Demetrious Johnson that people barely seemed to have interest in or whether it was on a Fight Night event against lowly Dennis Siver.

It wasn't until 2016 when the cracks finally showed. On short notice, his quest to become a simultaneous two-division champion got sidelined when Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos suffered an injury and Nate Diaz stepped in. McGregor shone in the first round but suddenly his energy levels plummeted. Minutes later, he found himself on the wrong end of a submission for the first time in the UFC and the gloating from the detractors was on.

Then he won a hard-fought rematch a few months later.

What happened differently in the Diaz bouts compared to the two Poirier losses?

For starters, McGregor hadn't truly suffered a setback since arriving in Sweden for the Brimage match. Sure, he had a rough first round against Chad Mendes the year prior to the fateful Diaz series, but that was a mere blip on the screen. "The Notorious" had to come back down to Earth. He had to adjust his way of in-cage thinking. As a result, he edged out the win.

The Poirier fights were different. He had already had more than a few chunks of extra baggage to deal with: the failed boxing endeavor against Floyd Mayweather, the catastrophic Nurmagomedov feud, and all the legal headaches in between. But in the third fight at UFC 264, there was no sign of any real adjustments like with Nate Diaz. He was fighting much the same way he had in their second encounter and it wasn't exactly paying off.

Then the ankle decided to leave town early.

McGregor has always been a proud man. It's made his moments of introspection, however few they are, perhaps that much more meaningful. But on Saturday night, sitting on the ground in clear pain, he was also a frustrated man. Three losses in his last four fights. One loss kept him from reclaiming his Lightweight throne, the others seeming to slam the door shut on his chances possibly for good.

And in that moment, he boiled over.

THE OFF SWITCH (OR LACK THEREOF)

In professional wrestling, the bad guys, or "heels" as they are known, are not supposed to be liked. They are supposed to make you want to pay to see them get wrecked. That's not to say they aren't supposed to have great success, but they're supposed to be able to do so and soak in the disdain.

Since their early days, the UFC has had their heels, even when the company tried and still tries to distance itself from any of the showman elements of pro wrestling. Tito Ortiz wearing a "Gay Metzger Is My Bitch" shirt to rile up Ken Shamrock and then laughing at Ken when being threatened with being beaten to a living death (Shamrock's poorly chosen words, not mine)? There's a reason he was nicknamed the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy." Chael Sonnen goading Anderson Silva into two incredible Middleweight title defenses by mocking Silva's native Brazil? Taken from the playbook of any country-antagonistic heel. Brock Lesnar telling everyone upset with his mauling of Frank Mir that he was going to go home, drink a non-sponsoring beer, and have sex with his wife? Well, Lesnar was in WWE before his short MMA run so he knew how to play it.

And Conor McGregor never shied away from that route. Except he pushed the envelope further. He painted himself as a conqueror who would turn the poor areas of Brazil into sweatshops to aggravate Jose Aldo, ignored any sort of racial basic decency in taunting Mayweather, took aim at Nurmagomedov's family and Islamic religion, and made "your wife" comments that either came from a Call Of Duty lobby or a shitposting board.

But the difference between the previous examples and McGregor is simple: the off switch.

Tito may have had his barbs for the Lion's Den but he knew when it was time to step back from the line. Chael admitted that his verbal attacks on Brazil were an act and was happy to set it aside after losing to Silva a second time. Lesnar was willing to be gracious after his losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem.

McGregor had that off switch at one point, but somewhere along the line it broke. Whether it was his rapid rise going to his head, whether it was frustration over the Mayweather debacle, or whether it was possibly UFC brass raking in the dough, suddenly the inhibitions were gone.

And with it went many of his fans. Many of whom were all too willing to join the detractors in celebrating his newest setback.

WHAT TWO WRONGS STILL DON'T MAKE

McGregor's antics have garnered him plenty of attention but it also has garnered him plenty of scorn from fans and fighters alike. No other MMA heel before him had dared to claim spousal infidelity or insult an entire religion, simply because even Chael Sonnen at his most vociferous had the common decency to not go that route. Added alongside McGregor's frequent run-ins with the law and his attack on a bus in a severely ill-advised attempt to avenge an insult to one of his teammates, and few would dare admit they were a fan of him at all.

But there is a very foul tendency among humans to celebrate the failures of people they don't like, whatever the reason may be. And fans were more than happy to pounce before McGregor could be taken out of the Octagon. By claiming that a possibly career-ending injury was karma for anything and everything McGregor did wrong, that tendency came through. And the fans were not the only ones. Poirier himself was all too happy to mock McGregor's signature strut while McGregor was still getting tended to on the canvas and showing little respect to his opponent.

It's hardly the first time, as fans and fighters were all too happy to gloat after McGregor got caught off-guard against Nate Diaz, or after his unsuccessful outing against Nurmagomedov. There were even people willing to insist that Khabib (who has his own skeletons in the closet, ones that McGregor was quick to try to drag out) did nothing wrong in inciting a brawl between their corners despite the fact that the Nevada State Athletic Commission made very clear that both were to blame.

NSAC's rulings made a strong point (rare for that body): after all this time that people have been on this planet, two wrongs still do not make a right. Yes, McGregor's comments have been out of line for some time. Yes, there should be consequences for those. No, those consequences do not come in the form of a knockout or a submission, or in the case of UFC 264, a shattered ankle. But that foul tendency keeps coming up over and over again, and it won't stop with McGregor retiring from the sport. It'll just find a new target.

And those should be rejected as much as McGregor's words, but they won't because there's one other toxic element to the whole sad mess.

ENABLING CONTROVERSY

In 2002, the UFC had its first big break under their new management when UFC 40 got 100,000 buys on pay-per-view. The big draw was Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock finally facing each other some time after the aforementioned "Gay Metzger" incident. Tito got eyeballs on the product thanks to his controversy.

Controversy that longtime UFC President Dana White has always been willing to exploit for a few extra dollars.

It's why Ortiz, Sonnen, and Lesnar were given as much as they were, because White seemingly understands how wrestling heels are supposed to work. And it's why McGregor and Jon Jones get as long a leash as White sees fit.

Except White's insistence on letting everything go with the latter two is why both have been problematic. McGregor's actions have led to nothing, while Jones' only setbacks have come from the legal system and drug test failures. The only reason White finally took and kept the Light Heavyweight belt from Jones was because "Bones" dared to do one of the many things that White hates. Which could be anything, given White's nature.

McGregor's actions may give people reasons to tune in but it also means that White is never going to do anything to curb him. Why would he when it means more money into UFC coffers? There's not exactly been a law of diminishing returns in effect and as much as many of McGregor's detractors insist they won't watch his fights and get upset when people do, this cycle is never going to end and White absolutely deserves plenty of blame for exploiting and encouraging it. And as long as he also suffers nothing from doing so, he's got no reason to stop.

THE SAD REALITY

So what exactly should happen? NSAC indicated in the aftermath of the McGregor/Nurmagomedov feud that hard limits have to be put in place. But considering it's been almost three years since then and they've done nothing it's clear that their priorities are elsewhere. The UFC isn't going to do anything. McGregor's camp, which has done enough damage by not doing anything to encourage any growth in his skillset, could clearly care less. And the fans and fighters could care less about glass houses.

In the end, the cycle is likely going to continue. McGregor will keep playing the heel without an off switch. Dana White will keep him from having an off switch so he can have a few bucks. Fighters and fans will be drooling for a chance to continue to celebrate his demise. And nothing is going to change. Even when McGregor finally does hang them up someone else will likely fill his place in the Circle Of Lunacy.

When McGregor's ankle gave out, we all lost.

Just not like how anyone could have thought.

Album Insanity: Elvis' Greatest S#!+

For many years, Elvis Presley was considered the undisputed King Of Rock 'N' Roll. Millions of albums sold, hit after hit after hit on the radio, and thousands of fans backing venues every night to see him perform, even towards the end of his career. OK, so maybe the movies were not very good, but surely he was nigh infallible, right?

Well, in 1982, a bootleg maker known merely as "Richard" decided to prove otherwise.

Thus was born a compilation called Elvis' Greatest Shit, an album full of the worst tracks from his movies and a couple of unfunny outtakes. One look at the cover (featuring the infamous photo of Presley in his coffin and a disgusting parody of the RCA Victor logo showing the dog throwing up) should be enough to warn any potential listener that they are for a painful trip. Considering the line of "50,000,000 Elvis Fan CAN Be Wrong," one may be convinced that "Richard" held Presley's fans in contempt. In reality, he wanted to show the people who worshipped the King to the point of ridiculousness that he was not perfect.

And sure enough, the songs are almost entirely rotten. "U.S. Male" is somewhat passable and the flubbed version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight," while not as famous as the better known flub, is entertaining. But other than that, it's cringe central. Such painful "gems" as "Confidence" (complete with an unlistenable children's choir) and "Yoga Is As Yoga Does" make one regret ever listening in the first place, and yet the disturbing fascination is enough to make some people, this idiot included, to keep going, hoping that it can't possibly get worse. Except it does: "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad" is a horrific song about the IRS (WHY?!), "Dominick The Impotent Bull" is so moronic that Elvis himself can be heard corpsing towards the end, and "Datin'" is another song so bad that Elvis starts laughing at the beginning of the song and has to do another take.

The problem with everything else is that it is so forgettable. Perhaps in his efforts to negate the supposed divinity of Elvis, "Richard" failed to see that "bad" doesn't always mean "memorable." True, this album is full of Elvis' worst, but it's also full of songs you won't remember the moment the next song starts. For being something considered one of the worst albums of all time, it doesn't feel remarkable enough to be such.

Due to some of the content on the cover, I will not be posting a video.

Liquid Nitro: Fall Brawl 1995

Due to writer's block issues, I decided to do a video review of Fall Brawl 1995. Title matches, bad blood, romance, and WarGames are all in the air!

Liquid Nitro: September 11, 1995

After the incredible debut the week before, WCW Monday Nitro would have a lot to live up to in the second episode. The week before had seen an stellar opening bout between Brian Pillman and Jushin "Thunder" Liger, the renewal of the legendary feud between Sting and Ric Flair, and the shocking return of Lex Luger to challenge Hulk Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship. With the bar set so high, the question becomes not so much, "Can we top this?" but rather, "Can we at least brush the underside of the bar?"

Two matches had already been set up: "Macho Man" Randy Savage would take on an angry Scott Norton after their confrontation last week, while Hogan would defend his title against Luger. The stage was set for what would hopefully be a worthy follow-up. And with Fall Brawl the following Sunday, momentum would be the name of the game.

Tonight's Nitro comes to us live from the Knight Center in Miami, Florida. It's actually part of a larger hotel/convention center complex, and this part of the facilities had actually hosted a Clash Of The Champions broadcast, so WCW was familiar with the venue. We gets some awesome opening pyro and get our first look at the set that we will be seeing for nearly the entire run of this blog.

Eric Bischoff is on full hype duty tonight as he calls Hogan vs. Luger for the title the "match of the century." Not sure I'd go that far, Eric, but it is a match worth hyping. He also hypes Savage/Norton and Sabu's debut.

We also see the announcer's table for the first time, and, oh dear God, Mongo is on commentary with Bischoff and Heenan. I really hope we have no more awful name-calling from McMichael like the first show. He calls Nitro the biggest thing since the "Where's The Beef?" lady and Bischoff looks like he might punch him.

We get a recap of the Luger/Hogan confrontation that ended last week's debut. Bischoff then mentions that Vader has gone AWOL and will not be at Fall Brawl.  In reality, he had gotten fired after getting into a fight with Paul Orndorff, and after a brief return to NJPW, he would got to the WWF. He was actually supposed to be the one to face Hogan tonight, but his departure opened it up for Luger. Vader would never compete on Nitro despite being in the opening video for the first couple of weeks. Heenan starts crowing about Vader's absence meaning that Hogan's team at Fall Brawl for WarGames is now down a member.

Sabu's debut is first, as the announcer bills him from Bombay, Michigan while Heenan says it's Bombay, India. McMichael compares Sabu to a fullback (wat.), while Heenan sells how dangerous he is, being banned in seventeen countries. Bischoff brings up that Sabu's uncle was the original Sheik...

As we get the first of many appearances on this blog of "Das Wunderkind" himself, Alex Wright.

Sabu wins the initial lockup and brings Wright down, surprising Bischoff with the flash of a ground game before springboarding for a hip strike. He then takes both Wright and himself over the top rope with a headscissors. He then re-enters the ring, and as Wright tries to get back to the apron he gets knocked back down with a baseball slide. Sabu then launches himself back out and onto Wright with a tope, which Bischoff misidentifies as a moonsault. He then takes a chair at ringside, sets Wright against the barricade, but as he runs and jumps off the chair, Wright gets out of the way and Sabu crashes into the steel rails.

Wright, who has just turned twenty according to Bischoff, quickly takes advantages with stomps and uppercuts before landing a beauty of a dropkick, knocking Sabu back down. He adds in a scoop slam before sending him back in, and Wright goes up top and, as Sabu is doing his signature sky point, goes flying with an impressive missile dropkick. Sabu rolls outside the ring and suffers a baseball slide of his own, sending him into the barricade. Wright then runs the ropes and goes soaring over with a plancha, crashing right into Sabu. Sabu recovers enough to club him in the back as he tries to re-enter, but then Wright returns the favor as Sabu goes to the top rope, clubbing him before getting in a superplex. Wright tries to Irish whip him to the ropes, but Sabu catches him on the rebound with another hip attack as Mongo insults Heenan over his supposed lack of championships. Heenan promptly asks the same question I have:

HEENAN: How many weeks is he gonna be here with us?
BISCHOFF: He's gonna be here a long, long time.
MONGO: I love ya though, Weasel!
HEENAN: Ah, forget it.

While this is happening, Sabu whips Wright to the corner, only for "Das Wunderkind" to moonsault over Sabu's head and get a bridging German suplex for the first two-count of the night. He goes to the top again, but Sabu punches him in the midsection to sit him down before ascending himself and landing an Arabian Press for the three.

But then after the match, Sabu kicks Wright in the head, sending him tumbling out to the floor. Wright then eats ring apron on a flapjack before Sabu walks off and finds a conveniently covered table nearby, which Mongo calls a buffet table (which, technically, having been to many church potlucks in my life, is a correct terminology). Wright gets propped on the table while Sabu goes back inside and climbs the ropes, leading to this:

MONGO: He's gonna make him the buffet!
HEENAN: No, he's not.

And Sabu proves Mongo right as he dives, putting himself and Wright through the table, prompting the referee to reverse the decision into a DQ win for Wright. The fans don't like it and neither does Heenan, but Mongo insists it's justice.

For the most part, this was a good match. Sabu didn't botch anything and showed a great deal of athleticism, while Wright was very, very impressive himself. But the decision reversal, while it makes sense, leaves me feeling like this match was for not quite nothing. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend in the future.

"Mean" Gene is in the ring to interview Ric Flair, mentioning that Flair would be facing Arn Anderson after the latter attacked Flair the week prior. He complains about Arn being in his hotel room to call his family while Flair was on the beach. He then compares the two of them to Joe Montana and Lawrence Taylor, saying that they used to rule the world. Pretty sure they were always on opposite teams, Ric. He continues by saying that there was no path Arn couldn't walk because of Flair and then says that the hand symbol of the Four Horsemen really stood for excellence.

This prompts Lex Luger to come out to very little reaction if anything. Flair immediately starts hyping up Luger, who is trying his hardest to ignore Naitch's fevered declarations of his measurements. He may be corpsing, too, I can't tell.

Wait, Luger corpsing?

Flair declares that Luger will beat Hogan tonight, and Luger simply says that Flair has not changed and is still too much and leaves.

OK, I won't lie, I laughed. A waste of time? Maybe not, as it does hype the main event as well as the Anderson/Flair match at Fall Brawl. Entertaining? Of course.

It's on to the next match, though, as Sting puts his United States Heavyweight Championship on the line against VK Wallstreet. So we go from Mr. Michael Wallstreet to VK Wallstreet? Those initials couldn't be a Take That at anyone, surely.

And we get the first instance of Bischoff spoiling WWF results, letting everyone know that the episode of Raw is two or three weeks old and that Shawn Michaels defeated "the big guy" (Diesel? Razor Ramon? Mantaur?) with Sweet Chin Music. Mongo makes a comment about Raw being named after uncooked eggs while Heenan eschews all of that in favor of talking about Sting's accomplishments.

Wallstreet starts things off with a fireman's carry takeover (the short, kneeling kind, not the John Cena finisher kind) but Sting shoves him into a corner, causing him to yell at the ref to get Sting off. The champ gets in a couple of punches but Wallstreet shoves off the headlock and avoids Sting's rope running, only for a hip toss to be blocked into one of the champ's own. Two dropkicks later, Wallstreet is on his knees in the corner as the referee tries to keep some distance between the two. Sting responds with a hard whip to the next corner, which VK hits and goes down, rolling outside. Bischoff and Mongo, meanwhile, continue to run down the WWF, with Mongo calling them the bush leagues and Bischoff saying that more would leave for WCW. Oh, how right he would end up being.

They do the headlock push into the ropes spot again, only this time, VK throws Sting through the ropes and to the floor. As Sting gets on the apron, Wallstreet clubs him in the chest, causing the referee to make him back off. VK shoves him aside and turns around to get leveled by a flying shoulder block over the top rope by the champ. Wallstreet recovers fast, though, and he knocks Sting back down with a back elbow. Two elbow drops later, he whips him to the ropes and gets him up for another fireman's carry, but Sting reverses into a sunset flip for two as Heenan talks about the Johnny B. Badd vs. Brian Pillman match at Fall Brawl, with the winner getting the winner of this match.

VK tries to ram Sting's head into the turnbuckle, but the champ blocks, and the challenger gets rammed into the corner several times instead. Sting follows with a couple of punches and a clothesline, then sends him into the corner with a knee strike to the back. Wallstreet turns and gets  Stinger Splash, and Sting follows it by coming off the top with a crossbody for the three to retain the title.

An OK match, but not anywhere nearly as good as last week. Wallstreet and Sting worked fine, but it really felt like there was not much special that I will remember about the match in a few reviews from now.

We come back from commercial to Bischoff shilling WCW Saturday Night, with the debut of Disco Inferno and matches of The Renegade vs. Maxx Muscle and Big Bubba Rogers vs. Dave Sullivan and his rabbit. Really. There is a mention of a Pillman vs. Wright match so thankfully there's that.

Scott Norton vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage is next and Norton doesn't even wait for Savage to get his jacket off. Punches and a short clothesline leave him floored as Norton taunts Mongo, saying Mongo's next. Dr. Evil, please?

The ref gets Savage's jacket off before Norton whips him to the ropes. "Macho Man" tries to catch him off guard with a sunset flip but it gets blocked and Norton picks him up with a two-handed choke toss. He tries for a clothesline but Savage counters with a hip toss, and two clotheslines send Norton outside. Savage goes up top and drops all the way to the outside with a double axe handle ("double sledge" in Bischoff's words) before rolling him back in. A clothesline turns Norton inside out, but Norton is back up in time to catch Savage coming off the top rope with a brief but powerful bear hug. He proceeds to focus on the lower back of Savage and gets two on a violent powerbomb while Mongo wonders if the popping sound that may have come from Savage was actually Heenan's gas. Make this stop.

Norton is clearly enjoying the beating he's handing out now as he scoops Savage for two backbreakers and a Gorilla press slam. He then whips him to the ropes and catches him with a snap powerslam that also only gets two. He whips him again and this time Savage ducks a clothesline, but a flying shoulder block sends him out of the ring. He tries to makes his way to a different side of the ring, but Norton reaches over and drags hip up to the apron by the throat. He then looks like he's going to suplex him back in, but instead he drops him with a top rope-hung DDT. Norton then goes to the top rope, but whatever he had in mind when he dove is wrecked when Savage catches him with a modified bulldog or face slam of sorts. I'm having difficulty trying to figure out exactly what it is.

Savage is fired up now, shoving Norton into one corner with a knee to the back before whipping him to the next corner and unloading with punches...

Only for Shark/Avalanche/whatever his name is and Kamala to run out to try to interfere, since Savage is on Hogan's team at Fall Brawl. Savage shoves Norton into them, though, and Shark/Avalanche falls through the ropes and pins Norton's legs down, leaving him a sitting duck for the flying elbow and the three. Savage bails as the rest of the Dungeon of Doom shows up and Shark and an upset Norton have a shoving match.

While I liked the simplicity of having Savage (the face) get hurt and Norton (the heel) take advantage, the ending fell flat. Yes, I realize that there is an angle going on here, but this match could have done without the interference. On the bright side, Norton is a very good powerhouse, and I am looking forward to seeing more of him.

Main event time as Hulk Hogan defends his World Heavyweight Championship against "The Total Package" Lex Luger. You can see throughout the crowd that there are quite a few who will be cheering for the challenger, just like in Minneapolis last week. And in fact, as the two circle to start off, there is a definite "LUGER! LUGER!" chant, and Hogan is noticing.

They finally lock up and Luger powers Hogan to the corner and slaps him on the chest, causing Hogan to be very much taken aback. He brushes himself off, though, and we go back to circling. Heenan points out that this is the first time the two have ever faced each other as it is now Hogan's turn to power Luger into a corner, and the ref has to physically get between the two to force Hogan to back off. Bischoff hypes Luger's football achievements, including how he was once with the Green Bay Packers. Heenan promptly states, "Anyone can play for Green Bay!" And Mongo, the Chicago Bears standout, takes offense, invoking Reggie White, who was playing for the Pack at the time. Very nice gesture in the eyes of this lifelong Packer fan.

As this series of quotes is taking place, Hogan and Luger lock up again, only this time, the champion quickly transitions a headlock into a hammerlock, following with a drop toehold into a half nelson armbar. Using the armbar, he turns it into a front facelock into a vertical suplex, which Luger promptly no-sells. Hogan turns around and is shocked to see the challenger flexing.

They tie up again, and now Luger gets an advantage, putting Hogan in a headlock, but the champ shoves him off and ducks a clothesline. He ducks down to avoid another Luger attack but the challenger is able to catch him getting back up and gets a vertical suplex of his own. Hogan no-sells it, though, and he returns the favor from earlier by doing some of his own flexing.

More circling now as there are simultaneous chants for both men. Luger finally stops walking and kicks Hogan in the gut, followed by putting him in a headlock. Hogan shoves him off and is looking to strike but Luger quickly bails out of the ring. The amount of stalling in this match is growing quite tiresome. Hogan goes out as well and throws him back in, and Luger's rope running gets countered into a back body drop. The champ whips him to a corner and follows it up with a clothesline as Bischoff decides to diss Diesel as only having been "mid-level" in WCW, which was true at the time. Hogan whips Luger to a different corner but the challenger gets out of the way of another clothesline and gets in a scoop powerslam. He then starts signaling for the Torture Rack as there may be a 60/40 split with the fans primarily in Hogan's favor.

And sure enough, he gets Hogan in the Rack, but Hogan's arm does not drop a third time and the unknowing challenger drops him and starts celebrating. The referee is quick to point out to him that the match is not over, so he covers the champ, gets two, and then has to watch him Hulk Up. Hogan gets the punches, the big boot, and the leg drop...

And the Dungeon shows up for the second time in the night, attacking Hogan for the DQ. Savage and Sting come out to make the save while Luger is still down. The Dungeon retreats as the ref raises Hogan's hand, but Luger ain't happy and neither is the champ, and Hogan demands to know where Luger was as a shoving match begins despite Savage and Sting's best efforts as we go to break.

Okerlund is in the ring when we come back, declaring that with Fall Brawl and WarGames just six days away, there is a lot of sorting out to be done. Hogan is clearly not happy that Vader is gone, leaving his team at a disadvantage, but he wants to know why the Dungeon didn't attack Luger. Savage demands to know the same thing as Sting desperately tries to play peacemaker. He tries to convince the other two that Luger would be the perfect replacement, but Savage refuses, saying he'd rather be down 4-3 than be stabbed in the back. Sting insists, saying that he has nothing against "Macho Man" and that they both want to win WarGames. Savage immediately adds Sting and Jimmy Hart to the accusation of Luger, much to the outrage of Hart. Hogan finally decides to ask Luger if he wants in, and he accepts, but only if he gets a future rematch. Hogan isn't happy but seemingly accepts, much to the anger of Savage, and that is how we close.

Like the main event last week, the match was nowhere near as good as the angle that followed. In fact, there was far too much stalling, and what action there was turned out to be quite uneven. And honestly, while it would make sense for Hogan to have momentum going into Fall Brawl, I think it would have made for a much bigger moment early in Nitro's history if Luger beat Hogan clean and won the belt. That would have gone a long way, in my opinion.

Well, actually, we close with Mongo's Chihuahua getting insulted and the reveals of next week's matches: Paul Orndorff vs. Johnny B. Badd and the Blue Bloods against either the Nasty Boys or the American Males. Sounds... whelming.

Remember what I said about the bar being raised high with the first episode? This one passed well under the bar. Wright vs. Sabu was good but suffered from the decision reversal, and the other matches felt just... there. Nothing stands out, and nothing is memorable. Hopefully next week, with the fallout from Fall Brawl, things will get better.

And next time, that will be what I review: Fall Brawl 1995, with WarGames and what is sure to be a volatile match between Arn Anderson and Ric Flair.

As for this show:

SCORE: ** out of ****

GDR

Liquid Nitro: September 9, 1995

In 1995, WWF, for the most part, was the dominating (if not always good) force in professional wrestling in North America. With such stars as Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Diesel, and The Undertaker, they had enjoyed the past few years with not as much competition from WCW as in the past. WCW made a huge stride forward with the signing of former WWF superstar Hulk Hogan in 1994, but WWF was the top of the food chain, especially on one night: Monday.

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 before they can talk further about the brawl, Scott Norton storms over and immediately confronts the commentary crew about a contract he apparently had saying he was supposed to get a match tonight. He is screaming at Heenan and Bischoff and he gets in Mongo's face...

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