-Good topic this week as we count down 10 iconic moments in the history of WCW. I am intrigued to see how much they give to things pre nWo and post nWo. The nostalgia should be great. Let’s get to it!
-Michael Cole welcomes us to the show and is our narrator!
10. Nitro Begins
-Sept. 4, 1995: My review for that show is here! Should have guessed this would be in this spot. They love putting first episodes in the 10 spot. This obviously belongs in the Top 10 because it started The Monday Night Wars and changed wrestling forever. The key with Nitro is that it was live every week and to kick things off, Lex Luger walks out on Nitro the night after doing a WWF house show. That’s a hell of a first show and Nitro was off and running.
9. Flair Gets Stung
-July 7, 1990: Great American Bash: My review is here! This is in the weird era where it was still NWA, but they were phasing in WCW, so I guess it counts. Fun fact, this was the first NWA/WCW PPV I watched live as my next door neighbor ordered the show and invited me over to watch with her kids. Flair: “they are not going to hate Sting ever.” Yet, WCW turned him heel! Sting gets the win and is World Champion for the first time. Sting says it meant so much and was a great night and memory.
8. History is Made
-Aug. 2, 1992: Historically one of the most important moments in wrestling history as Ron Simmons fills in for an injured Sting and challenges WCW World Champion, Vader. Old interview from Vader as he says he and Ron didn’t speak about it, but they knew it was an historic night. Jim Ross says the match was rolling along and then Ron hits the powerslam and becomes World Champion. Listen to that pop and we all can recall the young kid in the front row nearly jumping over the railing in joy. Ron becomes the first African American World Champion in pro-wrestling history. They mention the young black kid in the front row that lost his mind. Ron says it was the top of the world and made up for all the hours on the road and in the gym. Great moment!
-Commercials!
7. A Diamond in The Rough
-April 6, 1997: Spring Stampede: I reviewed that show as well! This is the feud that made DDP a Main Event player in WCW. Savage/Page was epic and deserved winning Feud of the Year! They were both control freaks that planned everything so they meshed perfectly. Savage puts Page over in the Main Event and he was off and running.
6. Mask or Title
-Oct. 26, 1997: Halloween Havoc: Another one I reviewed and many will tell you this is the greatest match in WCW history. I wouldn’t argue too much against it. It’s mask vs. CW Title and Rey and Eddie tore the house down. This match was so good they tried a number of times in WCW and WWF to top it and it just couldn’t happen. Just a breathtaking and perfect match that will probably get put in WWE’s Hall of Fame now that they are adding matches. That bodysuit/mask combo Rey is sporting is iconic and has been used by his son and Seth Rollins to mock Rey.
-Commercials!
5. The Texas Death Match
-Oct. 24, 1993: Halloween Havoc: When the WWE Network launched this was the first show I watched because I wanted to see this match. This is another one that gets mentioned in greatest match ever in WCW. Just a brutal classic with one of the talking heads mentioning it was the first time he saw that kind of violence in wrestling. I remember in Foley’s book he was hoping Vader squashing him for the finish would do enough damage to put him out of action for awhile as he was done with WCW’s politics and what-not.
4. The Final Nitro
-March 26, 2001: I have a review of this show as well. Nitro debuted in a Mall and closed on a beach. The show is a lot of fun as every face went over to give happy endings with Booker winning The World Title and closing shop as a double champion. Sting and Flair were the Main Event which made all the sense in the world. It doesn’t end there though as we get the simulcast and the name of the contract reads, Shane McMahon.
3. A Dream Matchup
-July 17, 1994: The biggest show in WCW history to that point as Hulk Hogan made his in ring debut and they immediately give us a match against Ric Flair on PPV. It was a really good match and they had to put The World Title on Hogan immediately to pay off their investment. I rented that VHS tape so many times from Hollywood Video and when they closed, I ended up buying it from them.
-Commercials!
2. Out of The Rafters
-Dec. 28, 1997: Starrcade: Show review here! The biggest show in WCW history and also one of the most discussed and controversial of all time. This show did a monster buyrate and it needed to as Sting vs. Hogan and the nWo had been building for nearly 18 months. Fun fact, Sting is one of only two men to beat Hogan for a World Title twice. Taker is the other one! Another fun fact, Hogan has never beaten Sting in a one on one match. With that said, the ending of this show was all kinds of screwy and needed to be like what Goldberg did to Hogan. They bypass all that here though and just make it look like Sting won cleanly. Sting says it was a good moment. Hogan says Sting was the hero (anti-hero) they needed and it really, really worked.
1. Da Man!
-July 6, 1998: Nitro: I can see why this is viewed as the peak for WCW. Apparently, this was Hogan’s idea and they ran this match on Nitro in front of a massive crowd in The Georgia Dome. It was originally a dark match, but Hogan had the idea of letting Goldberg beat him for the World Title. Everything they did wrong at Starrcade 97, they did right here. Goldberg fought off the nWo and beat Hogan clean as a sheet in front of a crowd that was going crazy. Goldberg notes he was nervous as he had just gotten into the business. Hogan says Goldberg was green, but he picked things up fast. He is what WCW needed and calls Goldberg the real deal. Goldberg calls it the best night of his life. “To beat Hogan in front of 40,000 people. That was pretty damn cool.”
-I will say that Hogan turning at Bash 96 and forming the nWo is the greatest moment in WCW history, but they covered that in the nWo countdown a few weeks ago and perhaps they didn’t want to cover that again. With that said, the top 3 here is pretty darn perfect and funny enough they all involved Hulk Hogan. A couple of moments they could have included: Flair beating Vader at Starrcade, War Games 92, Luger beating Hogan on Nitro 100, and I am sure you can think of others.
-Here is my ranking of the 10 moments they included though:
10. Texas Death Match
09. A Diamond In The Rough
08. The Final Nitro
07. History is Made
06. Mask or Title
05. Flair Gets Stung
04. Nitro Begins
03. Out of The Rafters
02. The Dream Matchup
01. Da Man!
-Thanks for reading!
