The first episode of WCW's Monday Night Nitro was broadcasted from The Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota.An apropos venue to hold this event, according to Mongo McMichael, who adds, "that don't mean you're digging around in the dirt with farm implements, baby!"
Bobby Heenan breaks up the Bischoff-Mongo moment and will be joining the two for commentary. Heenan left the WWF in December 1993 because of a paycut, in his final appearance for the company, he was thrown out of the building by Gorilla Monsoon.
Jerking the curtain tonight will be Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger. Pillman would be fired next year and spend some time in ECW before coming back to WCW, or that's what Eric Bischoff and Pillman had planned, but Pillman would sign with the WWF in June of 1996.
Liger has been virtually everywhere in his career, finally having a match in the WWE back in July of 2015 for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
During Pillman's entrance, we got a slight look at Wild Cat Willie, WCW's ill-fated mascot.
Liger works a headlock and gets more chops in the corner, whips Pillman to the opposite corner and takes a headscissors.
Now it's Pillman's turn to deliver corner shops and botch. A hurra-can't-rana only gets a two on Liger.
Liger gets Pillman in a surfboard and Heenan tells Mongo that he doesn't have to surf as he pays someone to do it for him.
Pillman delivers another headscissors, a loose one that Bischoff evens comments on.
A spill outside later and Liger hits the Tommy Dreamer cannonball roll.
USA chant breaks out, giving Pillman the strength to fuckit-plex Liger outside the ring and follow it up with a crossbody.
Liger comes up short with a superplex, he goes up top for a jumping nothing and gets caught with a dropkick. He's able to regain control with a tiger bomb and a top rope frankensteiner, taking a note out of Scott Steiner's book and planting himself on top of his head.
Lame duck finish: Waist lock switcharoo and Pillman reserves into a rollup for the 3.
Cut to rhinestone cowboy Sting cutting a pretaped promo on Ric Flair for their match tonight, followed up with a voiceover for SlimJim, and Mean Gene shilling the WCW hotline, now with trivia and merchandise offers! Just a buck 49, so call now!
Commercial spot for the Batman Forever videogame, which I had the misfortune of playing on the Super Nintendo when I was a kid.
How convenient that the debut episode of Nitro is taking place in the same building that houses Hulk Hogan's Pastamania.
Second match of the night is US champion Sting vs. Ric Flair.
Mongo: I may just be an old punch-drunk jock, but even I know these two wrestlers are the purest in the world.
Mongo then brings up that Bobby Heenan never managed a world champion, which he did, for a short time at least, when Flair won the WWF World title in 1992's Royal Rumble.
Time for the history making spot, that's been featured on countless talking-head documentaries and countdown lists, Lex Luger sauntering to ringside in his 18-button dress shirt and just stands there.
Match finally gets underway and they both play to the crowd, two leapfrogs and two gorilla press slams later and it's all Sting. Flair takes a powder, building up his chickenshit gauge.
An eye poke and chops in the corner is vintage Ric Flair, Bischoff's words, not mine. Sting starts to no-sell the corner shots and gives Flair a third slam, awkwardly hitting the ropes and waiting for Flair to dump them both out the ring.
Sting press slams Flair through the middle rope, misses his Stinger splash, but immediately no-sells till an elbow to the face knocks him down.
Picking up back from the commercial break, Flair goes up top so Sting can slam him again.
Windbreaker Anderson shows up, but who's side is he on!
Flair is able to slap on the figure four and holds onto the rope. The ref can't get Flair to break the hold, despite counting to four twice, and justs calls the bell.
Anderson and Flair brawl to the back, further pushing Flair down the card and away from the US and World titles.
Scott Norton surprises the commentary team and gets in the face of Mongo, this is all to set up a match between him and Randy Savage, who saved Mongo. While security removes Norton from ringside, Bischoff throws to a hype video for Sabu.
Gene Mean announces the winner of a Harley Davidson, which begins a long period of killing time: WCW Saturday Night preview, commentary small talk, and lastly, a Michael Wallstreet promo.
Wallstreet calls the new generation, the few generation and that's why he's (back) here in the WCW. He also knows that the IRS will be watching him closely. Might as well just said, "hey Vince, screw you, they're paying me more."
Main event time. Big Bubba is out first in his finest fat guy business suit. Hogan hotdogs around and this match can be best summed up in the following picture
Loose headlock aside, Bubba does hit a good looking Stinger splash, but his offense doesn't last long, as Hogan starts his punch and kick comeback. For being the top babyface, Hogan does a lot of heel tactics: not breaking the five count, choking Bubba with Jimmy Hart's jacket, and even threatening to hit the ref.
You need CompuBox to keep up the number of punches thrown. A weak Bossman slam triggers the Hulk Up.
1.Punch
2.Punch
3.Big boot
4.Leg drop
5.1-2-3
The Dungeon of Doom come to break up the hotdogging and grandstanding, but get tossed by Hogan and Lex Luger, still in his fancy shirt. They nearly come to blows, but Randy Savage, Sting, and Jimmy Hart keep them separated.
Hogan and Luger go back and forth and back and it boils down to Luger wanting a shot at Hogan's title.
Hogan tells Luger that he doesn't have to prove himself to Hogan and that if he wants a match, he just needs to put out his stinky palm for Hogan to shake.
One stinky palm shake later and Luger v. Hogan is set for next week's Nitro.
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