By: Brian Hoops, Nostalgia Specialist

This week’s look at nostalgia goes back to the first ever WCW Monday Nitro event, held on Labor Day, September 4, 1995. The first Monday Nitro was held in Bloomington, Minnesota at the Mall of America. I was actually at this show live and hope to provide a little insight into what I witnessed first hand at this event.

Monday Nitro aired on the TNT network, opposite WWF’s Monday Night Raw program with the intention of making a serious challenge to the WWF. Since WCW had recently hired Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in addition to their already loaded talent roster that included Sting, Ric Flair, Brian Pillman and others, WCW management decided the time was right for a challenge to the WWF. In the September 9, 1995 edition of the PW Torch, editor Wade Keller wrote “WCW's initial goals for the first week of Monday Nitro can be broken down into three simple areas: (1) appear major league; (2) keep the show moving at a fast pace; and (3) get people talking about WCW and the new program.” In my opinion, WCW easily accomplished all three of these goals with the debut of Monday Nitro. The initial ratings for Nitro drew a 2.5 rating, slightly above the WWF Raw which drew a 2.2 rating. This was the beginning of the Monday night wars, although the war didn’t peak until 1997.

On the Saturday prior to the Monday Nitro, Hulk Hogan attented the grand opening of his short lived “Hulk Hogan’s Pastamania” restaurant. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan had an autograph signing at the mall and Hulk was at his restaurant most of the afternoon. I was at the restaurant when Hulk was there and I actually took some publicity photos with Hogan during the grand opening. A scene from Hogan at the restaurant was shown during the Monday Nitro program.

The opening match of Monday Nitro was actually a dark match for the live crowd. Bunkhouse Buck and Dick Slater were the tag team champions during this time period for WCW, however they wrestled the dark match with no mention of them being tag champs and they did not have the belts. There opponents were Marcus Bagwell and Scotty Riggs, this may have been one of the earliest matches of the American Males tag team. Males went over in the match with Bagwell pinning Slater in ** match.

The TV show opened with aerial shots of downtown Minneapolis and then to the Mall of America in neighboring Bloomington. The Mall of American now sits on where the old Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the Vikings and Twins used to be. Then they went to the rotunda of the Mall where a ring had been setup. Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Steve McMichael and Gene Okerlund are introduced as the announcers. Heenan was greeted with loud “weasel” chants.

In the first match of the live Nitro, Brian Pillman pinned Jushin Thunder Liger. WCW wanted to have a strong opener, and on paper this was about a strong of a match as they could have presented. These two had incredible matches in 1991 and 1992, but were not given enough time to have a strong match. Wade Keller wrote, “They did about twice as much as they should have in the time allotted, which kept the match moving, but also didn't give the match a chance to have proper transitions and develop a comprehendible storyline.” Pillman pinned Liger after catching him with a dropkick as Liger dove off the top rope. Pillman rolled Liger up at 6:48 for the three count. (***)

I was standing along the fence by the walkway that the wrestlers took to get to the ring. Behind me Curt Hennig and Wayne Bloom walked up and motioned over to Nick Bockwinkel to come over. Bockwinkel was the acting WCW Commissioner at the time. There is a piece of nostalgia for you, Nick Bockwinkel and Curt Hennig hugging and laughing together in Minneapolis at a wrestling event. I asked Hennig how soon it would be before he joined WCW and he wouldn’t answer me. Nick was very nice but the crowd didn’t seem to recognize him when he came over. He eventually let Hennig and Bloom past the security railing and to the backstage area.

Next match is Sting vs. Ric Flair for the WCW U.S. title. Right after Sting and Flair's ring introductions, Lex Luger walked down the aisle. This was a huge surprise at the time as Luger had just wrestled for a WWF house show in Canada the night before. Luger had been working without a contract for WWF under a good faith agreement, but had been negotiating with both WCW and WWF for weeks. Luger’s surprise appearance was a huge move for WCW and it accomplished goal #3 that Wade Keller had outlined previously. The way Luger appeared was an embarrassment to McMahon and the WWF and had a direct result in how McMahon would handle Bret Hart leaving in 1997. Luger had little to do with the actual match, he simply walked down the aisle, put his hands on his hips for less than a minute and turned around a left. Sting vs. Flair was a good match, with them doing the same basic spots they have done for years. Finish came when Flair had Sting in the future-four leglock and Sting reached the ropes. When Flair wouldn’t break the hold, Arn Anderson ran in and pulled Flair off. (They were feuding in the fall until a Halloween Havoc tag match of that year). Anderson and Flair brawled down the aisle where Flair escaped to the back. Sting was the winner by DQ in 11:29. (** ½)

Scott Norton, then a well known wrestler in Japan but largely unknown in the U.S., interrupted the show at ringside. Norton shoved Heenan and Bischoff, said he signed a contract and said he wants an opponent. He and McMichael faced off, but then Randy Savage came to the ring and stared him down. Norton was held back as Savage challenged him to wrestle him immediately. This angle led to a match the following week.

Final match was for the WCW World Heavyweight title, featuring Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bubba Rogers. The match was largely disappointing with Hogan winning via the dreaded leg drop in 7:08. (*) After the match, Kamala, Zodiac, Kevin Sullivan, and Shark ran to the ring and attacked Hogan. Luger ran out to make the save with Sting and Savage also running down to the ring. Crowd was chanting “Luger, Luger.” Hogan offered Luger a shot at his title on the next Nitro card. Hogan posed for the crowd as the show went off the air.

Summary: It was a historic night for WCW with the premier of Monday Nitro and the debut of Lex Luger and Scott Norton. Curt Hennig and Wayne Bloom, although not shown on camera, was also a plus. Wrestling was decent with the Pillman/Liger match the best on the card, but quality wrestling and giving time to the wrestlers was not one of WCW’s goals this night. Overall, the show is well worth watching and even better in person.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s column. As always, your questions, comments and thoughts are always welcomed, and you can contact me at bhoops@iw.net. You can also check out my blog site at www.midwestmarketsolutions.com/blog.

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