Monday Night Wars

[Diamonddust 0]

eh I enjoyed it ...for me and my friend who used to watch Nitro and Raw every Monday it was like a big party from 8-11

 

The major thing I miss about the Monday Night Wars.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Ahmed's Nation-mix theme is pretty cool.

[heyguesswhatidid 0]

It's cool to see the Nitro that's up now since it's the 100th episode and it was a 3 hour show.

[packwingfn 0]

Heel Shawn Michaels is awesome

 

And did Brakkus (The Germany guy thats had promos on Raw) ever have a match on Raw?

[Guest]

Unfortunately, he did.

[bob_barron 0]

One thing I love about Luger v. Hogan is the crowd is dead for it, because they're just waiting for the nWo run-ins, so when Luger actually wins, they really lose it

[cabbageboy 0]

I've made it through half of this show so far but I have to say Alex Wright interrupting the Nitro Girls by doing his silly dancing was brilliance.

[bob_barron 0]

Alex Wright is awesome, shame he never hit it big. His promos with Mean Gene are always classic.

 

Also, I know it never happens, but I would've loved if someone just up and beat the shit out of Mean Gene. Guy had it coming

[garfieldsnose 0]

This is without a doubt my favorite Nitro ever. I remember taping the replay of this and switching to Cinemax porn during the commercials without stopping the recording. Was good times. I remember everything about this show down to the commentary. I'm glad I have it on tape again since I recorded over my other tape. I love when they come back from the commercial break during the World Title match and Heenan says "you're right about that Shiavone" and Shiavone says "yeah, you're right." I always thought that was funny since we never know what they're talking about.

[Diamonddust 0]

Yeah, I remember really liking the end of this Nitro (Unfortunately, the visual that instantly comes to mind is the shot of Benoit swigging the champagne in Luger's lockeroom), but even back then I was kind of bummed knowing that Hogan only lost it because he wanted to win the belt back at the PPV that Sunday.

[TheSSNintendo 0]

Guess I wasn't the only one who saw Benoit in the background.. A yeah, I remember this show back during the summer of '97. I think that I was switching back and forth between Raw and Nitro to see what was going on. Pretty amazed to see Hogan submit back then.

[garfieldsnose 0]

I like how Luger ignores Malenko when he goes to shake his hand when they're celebrating in the ring.

[Darth Pipes 0]

I remember this Nitro very well. It was like the first big victory for WCW against the NWO. Say what you will about Hogan but he put over Luger here as strong as possible. First, he did a job to him in a non-title (though everyone thought it was a title) match by submission. He follows that up by submitting to him again in a tag team match. Finally, Hogan dominates most of the title match (I seem to recall Luger having only a few spots of offense) but proceeds to do another submission job to Luger, this time for the title. That's three clean jobs in a row and it put Luger over strong. Even though Luger lost the belt five days later, it was still only because of outside interference. That Nitro was really the high point in Luger's career. It was a slow decline downhill from there.

[cabbageboy 0]

I'll say this about Hogan: He at least put Luger over right there with a submission. Did Flair ever put Luger over? No. I think sometimes people equate Luger being a failure in wrestling to the lame way he was booked by various promotions. The NWA had him come up short time and time again against Flair due to the most absurd crap ever conceived (GAB 88 comes to mind). Then he finally won the belt by beating Windham and not Flair. Then the WWF pushed him hard for months only to not have him actually win the title against Yokozuna.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Outside of house shows, Flair never put over Luger.

[Aero 0]

Pelting garbage into the ring seems to be part of the live experience at a WCW show around this time. Granted, it was deserved as soon as the other nWo members started showing up during Hogan-Luger, but it's funny how it just continued well into Luger's celebration.

 

Watching Schiavone, Tenay, and Heenan with the Nitro Girls surrounding their announce table at the top of hour 3 is hilarious.

[Timmy8271 0]

He was in the Brawl for All and got his ass kicked by Savio Vega.

[cabbageboy 0]

The Brawl For All may well have been the worst thing the WWF ever did, thus showing not everything they did in 1998 worked. Not only did it suck and offer nothing of quality in it, a bunch of guys got hurt in it, it derailed planned pushes for some guys (Dr. Death), and the eventual winner of it (Bart Gunn) got destroyed by Butterbean at WM XV.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I enjoyed Michaels getting a bit flustered with the gay chants and using the line about sisters and mothers. I also thought Shawn referencing watching Superstars was a bit odd in 1997 but I guess it still existed as a recap show on the USA network. That's also a pretty good match between him and Mankind - the spot where he practically leaps over the announce table to deliver an elbow drop on Mankind (while he's standing, oddly) was an oddly timed yet really neat spot.

[packwingfn 0]

I really enjoyed Heel Shawn, and you already see the makings of DX starting to form slowly before our eyes.

[cabbageboy 0]

Watching these shows in retrospect it's amazing how much more loathesome HBK is as a heel than the Harts. I don't think Bret wanted to go full blast with his heel turn and wanted the Canadian fans to still like him, while wanting Americans to boo him. I've always felt this created a sense of confusion amongst fans as to how they should truly feel about him. There was a lot more you could do with Michaels acting like a total asshole to everybody.

 

Let's say they had done Austin/Bret at WM XIV in a rematch. Would it have worked as well? I can tell you one major reason I wanted to see that PPV was to see Shawn finally get his ass kicked after months and months of ripping people off. He wanted everyone to hate his guts. Would Austin's title win have worked as well if it was against Bret, with Bret still the Canadian hero and not wanting to be 100% hated?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I really enjoyed Heel Shawn, and you already see the makings of DX starting to form slowly before our eyes.

 

It's weird because you never hear August 11, 1997 touted as a historic Raw or anything, and on the surface it's nothing out of the ordinary (though Michaels/Mankind is very good).

 

However, and I COULD be overstating this, the show is basically WWE's version of the Nitro where Scott Hall showed up. The difference is people KNEW from Hall's first promo it would be a big deal. This Raw essentially debuts the character of The Rock and the DX faction, which combined with Austin basically made the WWE millions and won the Monday Night War, but none of this is evident right away.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well, it was more of a planting the seeds for the future type show than anything. I couldn't remember off hand the EXACT show where Rocky did the heel turn, or the precise moment when DX became DX. In fact I recall a HHH/HBK beatdown of UT as being more of the actual moment where these guys became a team, which should be coming in the next week or two.

 

 

[10 Pounds 0]

I marked out for the Tongan Death Grip on Wrath for his first loss since it came out of nowhere. I could not stand Meng during the MNW but I kinda like him on 24/7. He's still an average mid-carder but he has an ace up his sleeve and, if he can nail it, the match is over.

 

Put it on Hogan !

[BUTT 0]

Jericho's first stock music is not owned by World Wrestling Entertainment.

Well since you're working there Sledgy, you should get them to buy it! That's the best stock music ever. Man, I remember when Tully came out to that theme at Slamboree '94. He sure got a big pop. My friend and I once remade that theme on FL Studio. Also, I can play it on bass. Have you ever heard the version with lyrics? I think it's called "The Days of My Life" or thereabouts.

[Guest]

Raven got a huge babyface reaction on the Nitro from 8-18...yeah, that was awesome.

[Diamonddust 0]

The 8-18 Nitro holds a special place in my heart as it was the first and only Nitro I ever attended. I remember the crowd in Birmingham being pretty jacked throughout the evening.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Here's something I didn't notice when I previously skimmed the Sunflower schedule:

 

The July 16th update is actually two Nitros and no Raw, effectively skipping the US Open Raw episodes. That's an interesting way to get around the non-compete week episodes.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Rick Rude's opening promo is awesome. Classic theme and lots of insurance company puns which made me laugh. Like a good neighbour, Rick Rude is there.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Why is the nWo having their birthday in August?