Monday Night Nitro

''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the United States from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001.

Created by Eric Bischoff and Ted Turner, the show's premiere was notable for sparking a period of television known as the "Monday Night War". For the entirety of the show's run, ''Nitro'' went head-to-head in the ratings with the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF; now WWE) ''Monday Night Raw''. Although comparable to ''Raw'' in popularity from the beginning, ''Nitro'' began to dominate in ratings, based largely on the strength of the New World Order (nWo), a rebellious group of wrestlers that wanted to take over WCW. Beginning in June 1996, ''Nitro'' beat ''Raw'' in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks, forcing WWF owner Vince McMahon to usher in the more adult-oriented "Attitude Era". In April 1998, ''Raw'' beat ''Nitro'' in the ratings for the first time in almost two years. The shows would continue to trade ratings wins back and forth until November 1998 when ''Raw'' pulled ahead of ''Nitro'' for good.

Besides broadcasting from various arenas and locations across the United States and Canada, such as Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota (from which the first episode was broadcast), ''Nitro'' also organized special broadcasts from the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando in 1996; aired annual ''Spring Break-Out'' episodes from Panama City Beach, Florida or South Padre Island, Texas starting in March 1997; and filmed some episodes in Australia and the United Kingdom during the Fall of 2000.

As of June 30, 2023, all episodes are available for streaming on the WWE Network and Peacock. WWE has also released three ''Best of WCW Monday Nitro'' DVD sets.

History

Premiere

The first episode of ''Nitro'' was broadcast from the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota on September 4, 1995. The featured matches on the one-hour broadcast were Brian Pillman versus Jushin Thunder Liger, Ric Flair versus WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Sting, and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan taking on Big Bubba Rogers. The show was also highlighted by the return of Lex Luger to WCW after having spent the previous two plus years wrestling for the WWF, where he had been one of the promotion's top stars. Luger had just wrestled a match for the WWF the previous evening; the match was his final contractual obligation with the WWF, and Luger signed with WCW the morning of his appearance. The event prefigured the similar defections of WWF wrestlers Scott Hall and Kevin Nash the following year.

The title video for the debut episode of ''Nitro'' featured multiple shots of Big Van Vader (one of four wrestlers featured, along with Hulk Hogan, Sting and Macho Man Randy Savage), who parted ways with WCW following a backstage altercation with Paul Orndorff. Absent from the first episode, he had been scheduled to face Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on the September 11 edition, but was replaced by Lex Luger, who issued a challenge to Hogan on the debut show. Vader would never perform on ''Nitro'', and embarked on a WWF career in January 1996.

Monday Night War

The advent of ''Nitro'' brought with it a television ratings rivalry with the WWF's ''Monday Night Raw'', known to wrestling fans as the "Monday Night War". Throughout this period, ''Nitro'' would grow in popularity and eventually surpass ''Raw'' in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks.

Since ''Nitro'' was live, the show was seen as far less predictable than its WWF counterpart. Initially only sixty minutes in length (as was ''Raw'' at the time), ''Nitro'' was expanded to two hours following the 1996 NBA Playoffs (''Raw'' would later extend to two hours in February 1997). In January 1998, the show was extended to three hours. At its peak, the rivalry resulted in performers on either show trading verbal insults and challenges. In retaliation for a segment of ''Raw'' in which D-Generation X (DX) travelled to the Norfolk Scope arena in Norfolk where ''Nitro'' was being broadcast (WWF was nearby in Hampton, Virginia the same night), Eric Bischoff challenged Vince McMahon to face him in a match to be held at Slamboree 1998; McMahon never formally recognized the challenge and did not appear.

The July 6, 1998, episode of ''Nitro'' from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta saw Goldberg defeat Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

''Nitro'' is best remembered for the New World Order (nWo), with former WWF wrestlers Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan as rebellious heels plotting to take over WCW. Despite ratings success, both the angle and stable would later be criticized for the heel wrestlers almost never losing, and for what was seen as overexposure. As the nWo expanded, the stable would ultimately split into several warring factions within itself, while most WCW-branded wrestlers would eventually become neutral.

Changes

As ''Raw'' began to overtake ''Nitro'' in the ratings in 1998 thanks to the WWF's Attitude Era programming, WCW was frequently criticized for several faults, including an inability to create new stars while over-relying on established stars to support ratings.

On January 4, 1999 Mick Foley, who had wrestled for WCW during the early 1990s as Cactus Jack, won the WWF Championship as Mankind on a pre-taped episode of ''Raw''. ''Nitro'' announcer Tony Schiavone sarcastically commented on the match, which unexpectedly resulted in ''Nitro'' losing in the ratings battle when several hundred thousand viewers switched over to ''Raw'' to see the title change. That night's episode of ''Nitro'' would be notorious for the "Fingerpoke of Doom", in which a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match between Kevin Nash and Hollywood Hogan was quickly revealed to be a ruse that reunited the core members of the nWo as the "nWo Elite". The match was universally panned and was considered to have damaged WCW's credibility and begin their decline.

In October 1999, former WWF writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara were hired by WCW. Both men attempted to bring their WWF-style writing to ''Nitro'', including edgier storylines, lengthier non-wrestling segments, and an increased amount of sexuality. Many WCW fans greatly resented Russo and Ferrara for changing their programming to be like the WWF, as they preferred the traditional method of wrestling over long skits, screwjobs, and risque innuendo that were widely popular among WWF audiences.

''Nitro'' would be reduced to two hours in January 2000, returning the program to an 8-10 p.m. timeslot, with the first hour running unopposed and the second hour competing with the first hour of ''Raw''. Eric Bischoff would be brought back to ''Nitro'' and was paired with Russo to "reboot" WCW on April 10, 2000. None of these changes were able to help recover ''Nitro''s ratings and Bischoff eventually left WCW in July 2000 after an incident involving Hogan and Russo at the Bash at the Beach event. Russo would later suffer a severe concussion after being speared through a cage by Goldberg, later leaving WCW on extended leave to recover. Further declines from late 2000 would see WCW search for new ownership beginning in early 2001.

Notable episodes

The Night of Champions – Final broadcast

In an attempt to save WCW and ''Nitro'', Bischoff attempted to purchase WCW with a group of investors. However, although Bischoff's offer had been accepted, recently appointed Turner Broadcasting executive Jamie Kellner announced shortly after his arrival that ''Nitro'' and all WCW programming was immediately canceled on both TNT and TBS. Bischoff's group then withdrew their deal, as it was contingent on keeping WCW programming on some outlet. Instead, WCW's trademarks and certain assets (such as its video library and the contracts of 24 wrestlers), though not the promotion itself (which continued to exist as a Time Warner-owned legal entity under the name Universal Wrestling Corporation until late 2017), were bought by Vince McMahon's WWF, its long-time competitor.

Around the time of the cancellation, WCW was preparing to make its yearly trip to Panama City, Florida for spring break. Since the premiere of ''Nitro'', WCW had gone to Club La Vela or South Padre Island every March to try to gain favor with adolescent and young adult viewers who might not otherwise be tuning into the program. It was announced that the upcoming March 26, 2001, episode of ''Nitro'' from Panama City (which was actually held at the nearby Boardwalk Beach Resort) was to be the finale and the show was dubbed "The Night of Champions." The show began with McMahon appearing via satellite from Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, the site of that Monday's ''Raw is War'' broadcast on TNN. McMahon announced his purchase of WCW to the crowd and appeared in vignettes throughout the show, including one where he terminated WCW's Jeff Jarrett on air due to bad blood the two had in the past.

The show was unique in that all five of WCW's major championships (excluding the WCW Hardcore Championship) were defended that night and in six of the seven matches contested on the show, the faces won. (Traditionally WCW was seen as the promotion where heels were often the top stars as opposed to the WWF, where faces were often the top stars. Shawn Stasiak was the only heel to emerge victorious on the final episode of ''Nitro''.) In addition, various WCW wrestlers were interviewed giving their honest, out-of-character responses to the selling of WCW. The co-main event of the evening was WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner taking on WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Booker T in a match with both belts on the line; Booker T defeated Steiner for his fourth WCW World Heavyweight Championship while retaining the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.

Just as it had been on the initial ''Nitro'', the final match of the final ''Nitro'' and the final match in WCW as a whole was between long-time WCW rivals Ric Flair and Sting, a match that was more informal than their usual encounters (Sting and Flair were seen smiling and nodding respectfully towards each other throughout the match). Sting won using his finishing move, the Scorpion Deathlock. After the match, the two competitors stood in the middle of the ring and embraced to show respect for one another.

In a closing segment, simulcast between both ''Nitro'' and ''Raw'', Vince addressed the audience in Cleveland and gloated about the purchase, stating that he wanted Turner to personally deliver the sale contract to him so he could sign it at WrestleMania X-Seven that weekend. However, the speech was interrupted by Vince's son Shane McMahon, who announced (in kayfabe) from ''Nitro'' that he had already signed the sale contract himself, and that WCW would continue to compete against the WWF. The twist came as part of the setup of their match at WrestleMania X-Seven, and of what would later become the WWF's "Invasion" storyline.

In addition to the tape library and other intellectual properties, the WWF also purchased several contracts of WCW talent, keeping many of the younger stars. Four of WCW's championships found their way into the WWF; in addition to Booker T carrying both the WCW Championship (as it was renamed) and United States Championship with him into the WWF, McMahon also signed then-WCW Cruiserweight Champion Shane Helms and then-WCW Tag Team Champions Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire to contracts. Palumbo and O'Haire would defeat Team Canada (Mike Awesome and Lance Storm) on the final episode of ''Nitro''. (The WWF scrapped the WCW Hardcore Championship, as it was officially retired immediately following the final ''Nitro'' despite no one holding it since Meng departed for the WWF in early 2001, and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship for undisclosed reasons; Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio were the last champions and McMahon was only able to sign Kidman to a contract at the time.)

"The Night of Champions" was the penultimate WCW broadcast, prior to the final episode of '' WorldWide'' on the weekend of March 31–April 1, 2001. ''WCW Monday Nitro'' was the last professional wrestling program to air on TNT until the first episode of ''AEW Dynamite'' on October 2, 2019.

Results

Other notable moments

When then- WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze signed with WCW in 1995 (going back to her old name of "Madusa"), she brought the WWF Women's title belt with her and threw it in a trash can on the December 18, 1995 episode of ''Nitro'' (the third week that ''Nitro'' started before the top of the hour), and the title itself would become inactive for the next three years. Many cite this incident as one of the causes of the infamous Montreal Screwjob. This infamous event would be parodied by WCW on a 2000 episode of ''Nitro'', when Scott Hall threw the WCW World Television Championship in the trash and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan found and claimed the belt weeks later on an episode of ''Saturday Night''.

The only wrestler to appear on both ''Nitro'' and ''Raw'' on the same night was Rick Rude. Rude was able to appear on both shows because he was not under contract with the WWF at the time, appearing on a handshake deal with McMahon on ''Raw'' – which was still pre-recorded at the time while ''Nitro'' was broadcast live. To emphasize that only ''Nitro'' was live, Rude had a full beard on the ''Raw'' broadcast but only a mustache on ''Nitro''.

The January 13, 1997 episode of ''Nitro'' ended with the first two minutes of the Hollywood Hogan vs. The Giant main event. Before the show went off the air, commentator Tony Schiavone announced the match was to continue during the commercial breaks of ''The New Adventures of Robin Hood'', which premiered that night after ''Nitro''. This resulted in the premiere episode of ''Robin Hood'' receiving high ratings due to WCW fans being lured in to watch the show for the Hogan/Giant match.

The rock band KISS appeared in August 1999, and debuted a wrestler named The Demon while performing "God of Thunder". According to Dean Malenko, it was the lowest rated ''Nitro'' ever.

Throughout the late summer and early fall of 1999, in an attempt to boost the show's declining ratings, WCW organized a competition to find a new member of the Nitro Girls. Over the course of eight weeks, 300 women took part in the competition; two women who successfully passed the regional auditions were subject to Internet voting by home viewers. Eight women were selected to participate in the final round of the competition, which was held on the November 8, 1999 episode of ''Nitro''. Stacy Keibler was declared the winner of the competition after receiving the most internet votes among the eight finalists, and received a spot on the dance troupe along with a cash prize of $10,000.

WWE home media and streaming

Since buying the WCW video library, WWE Home Video has included many ''Nitro'' matches and segments on some of their Superstar biography DVD sets. Episodes were also streamed on WWE Classics on Demand, as part of ''The Monday Night War'' feature.

While the service did show episodes of ''Nitro'', they are often edited. Some WCW entrance theme music tracks are replaced with stock WWE music. A lot of the crowd noise is also removed on most episodes and pay-per-views. Beginning in July 2007, WWE Classics on Demand began deleting content from episodes of ''Nitro'', as matches and some references to Chris Benoit are removed. Benoit is sometimes shown in segments where he is not the main issue of the segment. This was in light of the controversy surrounding the deaths of Benoit and his family on June 24 of that year.

In April 2009, WWE Classics went back to the first episodes that aired in September 1995. These shows alternate with the current ''Nitro'' airings (December 1997 and onwards).

A 3-disc DVD entitled ''The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro'' was produced and released by WWE on June 7, 2011. The set is narrated by former three time WCW champion Diamond Dallas Page and highlights some of the biggest matches and moments in the history of ''WCW Monday Nitro''. The sequel, ''The Best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 2'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray February 12, 2013. Followed by the final set titled, ''The Very best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 3'', which was released on August 11, 2015.

As of 2016, all 288 episodes of ''Nitro'' (September 4, 1995 – March 26, 2001) are available on demand on the WWE Network.

See also

* 1995 in American television

References

External links

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{{Professional wrestling in the United States

1995 American television series debuts
2001 American television series endings
American live television series
American English-language television shows
TNT (American TV network) original programming
Nitro