WCW Monday Nitro - September 11th, 1995
September 11th, 1995. WCW Monday Nitro. Miami, Florida.
I didn't really pay attention to the intro last time but holy shit it's so 90s it hurts. Explosions! Run down buildings! Danger! The ninja turtles could show up and nobody would bat an eyelid.
Commentators tell us we're about to see the MATCH OF THE CENTURY. Hulk Hogan has put his title on the line! Sabu is debuting!
Steve McMichael tells us this is "the biggest thing to hit TV since the little old lady said "Where's the beef?"" I don't know what that means but he's absolutely the worst part of the commentary team.
We cut back to Hogan and Lex Luger in the ring challenging each other last week. I didn't know who Luger was, I still don't, but it already doesn't matter. Plot lines are moving, let's go.
Before any matches start the commentators mention a PPV the following Sunday, the WCW Fall Brall. I might watch it as part of this whole thing. We'll see.
The main thing I noticed is that this broadcast was much slicker than the first one, and the attitude has shifted slightly already. Last week we saw wrestlers shaking hands and congratulating each other after their matches, very sportsmanlike. This week is not like that at all and much more like the wrestling I'm used to.
As with last time, here's some notes from the matches as I watched them.
Match 2: Sabu Vs Alex Wright "Das Wunderkind"
Sabu is apparently from "Bombay, India" and has been suspended in 17 countries. (He's American). This is his WCW debut. Alex Wright apparently won the chance for this match the previous night after a victory over Diamond Dallas Page which I obviously haven't seen. I didn't consider the fact that lots of plot stuff is going to happen in shows I'm not watching. I'm interested to see how well I'm able to keep up, and I'm curious to know when the video packages I'm used to from modern wrestling became a thing.
This is a really fun match. Sabu is a flyer. At one point he launches himself off a chair and ends up in the railing as Wright rolls out of the way and it's sold incredibly, the impact really hits. I assume we're setting Sabu up as a heel as he continues to whale on Wright after winning the match, pulling out a table and driving Wright through it from the top rope resulting in the referee reversing the decision and handing the match to Wright. Very fun, and a stark contrast to the very wholesome sportsmanship on display in last week's show.
Interlude: Ric Flair chatting shit
Ric Flair on the mic is a joy and watching Lex Luger completely lose his composure and crack into laughter in the ring is really funny.
Match 2: VK Wallstreet vs. Sting
VK Wallstreet was called Michael Wallstreet last week. The commentators mention it, which surprises me, and have no explanation for it. It feels a little like breaking kayfabe to acknowledge the change. I didn't care about him at all in his promo last week but the attitude of this entire show has changed and I'm a little more invested now.
Sting is green this week and feels less like a walking slur, so that's good.
Apparently if Wallstreet beats Sting here he'll get a title shot. I can already tell I'll never be able to keep track of all the plots, especially once I add RAW into the mix, but that's fine. 1
Sting is so much fun to watch. He's also very generous - he does his best to make Wallstreet look as good as possible. Sting absolutely carries this match, I'm not surprised I've never heard of VK Wallstreet because everything good happening in the ring comes from Sting and it's absolutely no surprise that he wins this one.
Match 3: Scott Norton vs. Macho Man Randy Savage
A match that came out of last week's Nitro, and Scott Norton's debut on WCW apparently? I'm missing context. The first broadcast was so shoddy that I didn't really follow what was happening then (also I watched it at 2am so that's on me really) but it doesn't matter that I don't fully understand the context.
I don't know if I've ever actually seen Randy Savage wrestle before today. Scott Norton throws him around the ring a lot early in this match and it's great fun. Savage sells it all amazingly and you can practically feel the impact every time he hits the mat.
The commentary is much better this week, when McMichael isn't talking.
I don't know who Dungeon Of Doom are but this is the second time in two weeks that they've interrupted a match. They all look absolutely ridiculous in the way that only 90s wrestlers can. This would have been more fun if they'd just let Savage and Norton wrestle tbh but plot has to plot.
Match 4: Lex Luger vs. Hulk Hogan
During the intro we're told that Lex Luger was "only nine days ago wrestling for the WWF" but the word "WWF" is censored out, which is absolutely hilarious. This is context I didn't pick up on in the in-ring promo spot last week - Luger has left the WWF because he "doesn't want to play with kids anymore" and switched over to the WCW. This is the shit I'm here for, the rivalry between the two promotions.
We're told by the commentators that Randy Savage is hurt back stage, something about his back and his ribs. We're setting stuff up for the War Games PPV next week, which isn't the same as the Fall Brawl, and I definitely am not going to be able to keep up with PPVs as well as Nitro and RAW. But Hogan's team is slowly being picked apart, and I think I'm going to have to watch this one at least.
Commentators tell us, "If you've never watched a wrestling match in your life, throw that remote control away, get on the edge of your seat and watch these two gargantuans go at it." I remember that as a kid I had at least one Hulk Hogan toy from this era but I actually don't think I've ever seen him wrestle until I started watching Nitro. It's wild how much of a cultural phenomenon he was in the 90s. There are a few moments in this match where you can see Hogan's ego on display, can see that he very much thinks (knows, I guess) he's the star of the show. Early on Luger gets up from a big hit really fast and there's a second where Hogan looks genuinely annoyed that he didn't sell it more.
The word "WWF" shows up again but isn't censored, as the commentary team talk about how Luger isn't used to this level of wrestling and that being the WWF Champion doesn't mean anything when you're in the ring with Hogan.
Hulkamania is really cringey isn't it? "I'm Hulk Hogan and after you've beaten me I'm going to shout a bit and shake my head and stop selling anything and then I get to win". The Dungeon of Doom jump in the ring to pummel Hogan after he's turned the tables on Luger, the bell rings, I assume Luger is disqualified due to the interference?
We get some mic action in the ring afterwards as Hogan asks Luger why the Dungeon Of Doom didn't attack him when they jumped Hogan. It's Hogan, Macho Man, Sting, Jimmy something or other, and Luger in the ring shouting down the mic and honestly it's a mess but it ends up with Lex Luger taking Vader's place at War Games with Macho Man warning that he doesn't trust Luger and Luger saying he wants a title shot in return for helping out.
Plots are happening and it didn't take any time at all to catch up. We love a soap opera.
This week was a lot stronger than last week and the wrestling itself continues to be great. Next up it's this week's episode of RAW, the first one to be broadcast opposite Nitro, and I'm very curious to see what WWF looked like at this point.
This has continued to be a problem for me over the past 18 months trying to keep current with both WWE and AEW and honestly I've given up at this point. Anything important will get covered in a video package at a PLE and if it isn't then it probably didn't matter. There simply isn't enough time in the week to keep up with everything.↩