Week #1 - Lane

WCW Monday Nitro

Mall of America

Minneapolis, MN

Attendance: 2,000 estimated

Rating: 2.5

Best Match: Ric Flair vs. Sting ended in a no contest (11:31). I felt that this match was a shade better than the lauded Pillman/Liger encounter, which was hurt by not much time. Part of it may be the absolute familiarity that Sting and Flair had even at this point. Run-in finishes don't tend to bother me, and this one was needed to save a conclusive finish for this angle. A midcard match was never going to end Flair and Sting's program, and the ongoing Arn Anderson issue with Flair was going to take precedence. 

Worst Match: Hulk Hogan beat Big Bugga Rogers (7:08). This match wasn't so much about the in-ring action, but was about the angle. Rogers was always a stand-out talent, one of the best big men in the business. He and Hogan meshed well, but all of the usual Hogan tropes played out until the run in from the Dungeon of Doom. 

Best Segment: Lex Luger walking out to get in Hulk Hogan's face. Huge shock to see Lex in the house. I will have more on the details behind the deal in my Observer notes post later in the week. He always felt more like a WCW guy anyway, and he and Hogan were immediately broken up by Macho Man and the Stinger. 

Worst Segment: Scott Norton facing down Steve McMichael before Savage makes the save. I know that we are in prime "monster heel gets beat down by babyface" era, but Norton could have been so much more. Mongo almost ruined the segment with his reaction to Norton's threats, and Savage's run in saved the day for both the viewer and the announcer. 

Hottest Feud: Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson. 

Coldest Feud: Scott Norton vs. Randy Savage.

Star of the Show: Lex Luger. He appeared in the middle portion of the show and then showed back up at the end. The shock of his appearance made him what everyone would have been talking about after the show. He has to be the star, based on that alone.

General Commentary: The first WCW Nitro is in the books, and it was a pretty decent show to me. Using the formula that WCW would use for many years to come, they started off with a hot match to get the crowd pumped up. Then they used the matches and angles featuring the talents that the traditional WCW fanbase wanted to see like Ric Flair and Sting. Then they capped off the show with whatever Hulk Hogan is doing. Hogan is Hogan, and I'm sure I'll be just as tired of him as the fans were by the time this project is deep into 1996. 

I'm a WCW guy, through and through, so I definitely feel like I may favor them in the head-to-head shows. That said, I feel like this was a perfectly serviceable first episode of Nitro. Once we get more into the weeks to come, we will see how well they do with the collection of talent that they have massed.

Next week, I'm excited to see what Raw comes forward with.