Ryan' Dive into '95 - Part 36 (9/3 - 9/9)
A little show called "WCW Monday Nitro" debuts to kick off the Monday Night Wars. Plus, Joshi and other stuff.
If you haven’t read it already, please check out my introductory article that explains what this series is all about. As a reminder, footage is sourced from the Goodhelmet 1995 Yearbook, unless otherwise stated.
How ya now?
It’s WCW NITRO WEEK! We witness the first episode of the show that pretty much changed the entire business. No biggie. Aside from THAT, we have another killer match from AJW, Fonzie running amok in ECW, and vignettes and promos out the ass.
Well…
SEPTEMBER 3rd
AJW Japan Grand Prix 1995, Night 37 - Before we get to the BIG item this week, we have yet another round robin tournament from Japan. This time, we have the finals of the AJW Japan Grand Prix, the big annual singles tournament for AJW. This iteration consisted of two blocks of eight competitors each.
The final standings are as follows:
Red Zone:
Manami Toyota - 11
Bison Kimura - 9
Reggie Bennett - 8
Kaoru Ito - 8
Mima Shimoda - 8
Toshiyo Yamada - 8
Rie Tamada - 2
Chaparita ASARI - 0
Blue Zone:
Yumiko Hotta - 12
Takako Inoue - 11
Kyoko Inoue - 9
Mariko Yoshida - 8
Sakie Hasegawa - 6
Etsuko Mita - 6
Tomoko Watanabe - 4
Kumiko Maekawa - 0
In a match to determine the third-place finisher, Takako Inoue defeated Bison Kimura to claim the bronze position.
Japan Grand Prix Finals: Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta - This is actually a rematch of the 1990 finals where Toyota came out on top. Hotta won this tournament last year after faltering in three prior finals. Each competitor is looking for their second tournament win.
Yumiko is rocking some longer hair than usual for this time.
Toyota is one day removed from an absolute belter with Akira Hokuto. The Code of Honor is upheld, but Hotta charges in and starts kicking the crap out of Toyota to start. Toyota dumps Hotta and hits her missile dropkick to the floor! Back in, Toyota ties Hotta to the ropes and kicks her in the chest and head.
They continue wailing on each other with Hotta coming out on top with the kicks. More kicks abound until Hotta mounts Toyota and slaps her silly. Toyota comes back and lays on some brutal kicks to the head! Hotta catches Toyota with a forearm, however, and dumps her with a backdrop driver. Toyota comes back with a rebound forearm and a pair of missile dropkicks for two. Hotta backdrops out of a butterfly suplex and nails a piledriver, then REALLY cranks in a half-crab.
Toyota makes the ropes, so Hotta kicks her in the friggin’ head! Hotta reapplies the hold, then turns it into a standing ankle lock until she releases it. Hotta puts Toyota in a tree of woe and lands some kicks, then hits a FUCKING GANSO BOMB.
Good lord! Toyota barely rolls out at two. Hotta locks in the camel clutch and REALLY sinks it in until she lets it go. Toyota comes back with a dropkick…but Hotta immediately kicks Toyota while she's down to regain the advantage! Toyota fires back with some slaps, but Hotta returns fire with some NASTY palm strikes! Moments later, Toyota ducks a clothesline and gets the rolling cradle for two!
Moonsault…misses! Hotta hits a corner spinning heel kick, but another one is dodged. Toyota hits a missile dropkick to the back of the head for two! Manami Roll is stopped with a powerbomb, but Toyota gets a backslide for a ridiculously close two! Toyota comes off the top, but Hotta hits a kick on the way down, then lands a tiger driver for two! An even nastier one gets two!
Toyota blocks an avalanche back suplex with a crossbody for two, then boots Hotta to the floor. Somersault senton onto Hotta (and a ringside attendant), and it's TABLE TIME! Toyota tries a splash through it, but Hotta catches her with boots! Hotta has no need for tables and brings Toyota back in for an avalanche STRAIGHTJACKET GERMAN! Holy shit! Toyota barely kicks out! Hotta lays in some kicks and goes for a cover, but Toyota bridges out! ANOTHER STRAIGHTJACKET GERMAN OFF THE TOP ROPE! TOYOTA KICKS OUT!
Good grief! The crowd is chanting for Hotta as she counters a Japanese Ocean Suplex with a kick to the head. Manami Roll gets an INCREDIBLY CLOSE two! Rebound sunset flip gets ANOTHER close two! Toyota tries a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but can't get it! German suplex gets two for Toyota! Toyota escapes a tilt-a-whirl and hits a (kind of) JOCS for two! Hotta catches Toyota with a straightjacket powerbomb for two! After some fighting in the corner, Toyota finally snags a proper JOCS for the three and the tournament!
****3/4 - Yet another incredible match from Manami Toyota. Both ladies hit hard, especially Hotta with those stiff kicks. This was a feast of big moves, with bombs being thrown throughout the match, and the near-falls at the end were genuinely exciting. I knew who won and I STILL bit on a few of them. I’d normally call out the blown JOCS attempts, but after the shit that Toyota endured, it’s understandable that she wasn’t able to fully hit her finish. While the match felt a tad one-sided, it still felt like Toyota had to earn that win.
I do wish that the Ganso Bomb wasn't used so early in the match. If you're gonna bust something like THAT out, have it be near the end. Nitpicks aside, exemplary stuff.
Post-match, the top three finishers are presented with their certificates and trophies.
SEPTEMBER 4th
WCW Monday Nitro - Well, kids, we made it. The inaugural episode of WCW's new weekly television show; one that would end up changing the wrestling business forever. This is the first salvo WCW fires in what will become known as the Monday Night Wars, a time about which has been written, podcasted, and documentary’d to death.
The show’s central hook was that, unlike the WWF who at the time used the “one live, three taped” schedule for Monday Night RAW, Nitro would be broadcast LIVE each and every week. This promotes an “anything can happen” feel that you can’t really capture with a pre-taped show. It also gives WCW the opportunity to uses some really provocative tactics against their competition, which we will get into.
So, how did the WWF counter-program against this declaration of war from their chief competition?
Well, they didn't.
You see, RAW was off the air for a couple of weeks after SummerSlam because of the USA Network's coverage of the 1995 US Open tennis tournament. Because I know you’re curious, Pete Sampras took home the men's singles title that year while Steffi Graf won the women's side.
It was quite the savvy move to broadcast your brand-spanking new live show while the competition was off that week. The actual first head-to-head encounter happens on September 11th as RAW puts up a taped show against a live Nitro. The first battle of live broadcasts happens September 25th.
This first episode takes place in the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota, giving this a much different look than a lot of other wrestling shows. Two thousand fans were reportedly in attendance here, and commentary is provided by Eric Bischoff, Steve “Mongo” McMichael, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. I love Mongo, I really do, but to say his commentary is atrocious would actually be doing it a kindness.
Mongo ZINGS Heenan with a joy buzzer. Yep.
“Flyin’” Brian Pillman vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger - This is a hell of a way to kick off off your new show. Junior heavyweights would end up being a cornerstone of WCW programming; one that would completely differentiate them from The Fed, so it's rather appropriate. You weren’t going to see this kind of stuff on the USA Network on Monday nights. On a related topic, I’ve heard of people suggesting that Brian Pillman JUNIOR should have wrestled Liger to open the first ever episode of AEW Dynamite.
These guys have had some history in Turnerville, most notably having one of the greatest opening matches ever at SuperBrawl II. Liger had just come back on August 11th after missing nearly a year of action due to a bad ankle/ACL injury. The cause of the injury? Running under a leapfrog. Terrible injuries can happen literally any time in wrestling, people. This injury did result in him toning down his style somewhat. That likely prolonged his career as he only just retired in 2020.
We get some rapid action to start with Liger immediately getting a corner koppu kick (called a “cartwheel kick” by Bischoff) and a moonsault press.
Things slow down a bit until Pillman hits an anklescissors and lays in some chops. A flying hurricanrana goes a bit awry, but they get it together as both guys exchange submissions, including a Rita Romero Special from Liger.
Liger works that for a bit until Pillman hits a headscissors. Liger dodges a charging Pillman, then hits him with a somersault senton off the apron! Pillman suplexes Liger out and follows with a plancha!
“That’s it, kid! Give it to him! Give it to him the way he wants it!” - Steve “Mongo” McMichael
Giggity. Liger intercepts a climbing Pillman and superplexes him down for a close two. Liger goes for a crossbody off the top, but Pillman catches him with a dropkick for two! Liger soon gets a powerbomb for two, then gets a top-rope Frankensteiner for another near-fall.
Seconds later, Pillman gets a tornado DDT for another two. Pillman then counters a German suplex attempt with a front roll-up for the three!
**1/2 - This was an absolute statement piece here from WCW; basically telling their viewers that they can expect some crazy-ass, cutting-edge wrestling on TNT. These two crammed a TON in the just-under 7 minutes they were allotted, and Pillman was really feeling it here. Liger did feel off at times here, but considering he only recently returned to action after just under a year on the shelf, this was completely understandable. He still busted out some sweet offense, though, and he’s an all-time favorite of mine, so it’s always nice to see him.
Post-match, as Pillman was still babyface at this point, we uphold the Code of Honor.
WCW MONDAY NITRO IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SLIM JIM!
We see a commercial for “Thunder in Paradise”, Hulk Hogan's short-lived television series. I see a lot of guns, Knightboat, and Hogan wrestling an alligator.
Watch Thunder in Paradise on September 11th!
We now see an ad for Slim Jim. This creepy-ass director is trying to get a high-school Romeo and Juliet production to not suck.
However, “Macho Man” Randy Savage busts through the set. “ART THOU BORED?!?”.
The kids are indeed bored, so the obvious cure for this ennui is to SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM! Macho and the actors bite into those spicy meat sticks and destroy the set.
We now catch up with Hulk Hogan in front of PASTAMANIA! The one and only location of Hulk Hogan’s take on Italian cuisine opened the day before in the Mall of America.
Hulk Hogan is ready for Big Bubba Rogers because the power of HULKAROOS is flowing through his brain, BROTHER! No, Hulk, that’s a food-borne parasite. He plans on giving Bubba a taste of his Hulkaroos. Oh, dear.
Unfortunately, Pastamania was not long for this world as it would close its doors a few months after its grand opening. No more side bread for you, dude.
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) vs. Ric Flair - Hey, these guys main-evented the first Clash of the Champions, so why not run it back for the first Nitro? This is an interesting contrast to the opener as you’ll get a more orthodox American-style wrestling match with established WCW stalwarts.
Before the bell rings, LEX LUGER comes out! Bischoff has a coronary on commentary, playing it up like he’s still with the WWF and asking the cameras to stop capturing him. The fans go apeshit chanting for Luger as Flair and Sting both look confused by this development. This was a HUGE shock at the time; not necessarily that Luger left The Fed, but because he showed up so soon. He was in Saint John, New Brunswick for a WWF house show literally the day before. It turns out that Luger was apparently working without a written contract in the WWF, but was on a verbal deal through October. So much for THAT.
So, yeah. Shots FIRED.
It’s funny because Bischoff apparently wasn’t interested in bringing Luger in at all. However, Sting and Lex are bros, so talks happened. From what I understand, the initial offer was $1,000 per night without a guarantee. However, Vader was suspended, then fired after his backstage scuffle with Paul Orndorff, thus shuttering a program that he was to have with Hulk Hogan during the early Nitro episodes. Hell, it was rumored that Vader would beat Hogan for the WCW title on the second Nitro to REALLY spike viewer interest.
Now that Vader was out of that program and out of WarGames, and his firing freed up a large chunk of salary room, Luger was signed to a much more lucrative two-year deal and inserted into Vader’s role.
Alright, to the match. We get a super-quick opening sequence that ends with a couple of Sting press slams on Flair.
Flair powders after getting his ass kicked, but gains an advantage with an eye poke and chops. Sting no-sells and Flair begs off, but he ends up taking another press slam! Flair hits a crossbody on Sting over the ropes and to the floor, then lays in some chops, but that doesn't work! Sting presses Flair into the ring but misses a Stinger Splash. However, Sting, much like Taylor Swift, shakes it off and immediately lands a facecrusher while Flair is still dazed. Another splash attempt meets a back elbow to the face. Flair gains the advantage as NITRO ROLLS ON.
…and we're back with Flair still on the offensive…until he heads upstairs and gets promptly tossed off by Sting. Another press slam gets two as Arn Anderson strolls out in his windbreaker.
Sting goes for a giant top-rope splash and misses! Vertical suplex from Flair that is no-sold by Sting. Clotheslines abound, then Flair takes his turnbuckle bump and runs into a clothesline. After corner punches from Sting, we get a pinfall reversal and bridge sequence, resulting in a backslide for two.
Sting hits a superplex but gets distracted by Arn, allowing Flair to clip the leg. FIGURE FOUR TIME! Flair gets caught using the ropes for leverage and keeps the hold on beyond the ref's count, earning him a disqualification. Sting wins!
Arn runs in and breaks up the figure four, slugs it out with Flair, and chases him to the locker room.
**1/2 - This is pretty much every Sting/Flair match ever, but condensed to about 11 minutes. That’s not a bad thing because these guys always have an entertaining dynamic. It did get a bit repetitive with the press slams, though, and it was more one-sided than usual as Flair’s offensive portion was swallowed up by the commercial break. The DQ ending is also pretty unsatisfying, though understandable as both guys had huge matches set for Fall Brawl.
Scott Norton now comes out to cause a scene and accosts the announcers. He's not happy that he has a contract with WCW but isn't booked for this show. Maybe he should complain on Twitter. Randy Savage comes out and challenges him to a fight RIGHT NOW. They don’t come to blows this week, but they’ll wrestle next week.
We now get a hype package for Sabu, who will be making his WCW TV debut next week. A lot of Sabu's trademark spots are shown, mostly against Chris Kanyon as a dark match was filmed between the two exclusively to get footage for this vignette. The video was effective in building anticipation for his upcoming appearance, though Sabu would be back in ECW by November. There's a lot of blur effects used, so it's hard to get a good screencap.
We now catch the end of Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Big Bubba Rogers for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan's got Jimmy Hart's jacket wrapped around Rogers’ head as he hits the corner punches.
Hogan continues beating Bubba down, but Bubba comes back with punches and knees. Hogan dodges a charge but runs into a Bossman Slam. Hogan HULKS UP. Punches, big boot, legdrop, Hogan retains, BROTHER. The full match is pretty much the usual Hogan fare, but not abysmal or anything.
The Dungeon of Doom runs out to attack The Hulkster. He starts fighting them off, and Lex Luger runs out to help! They clear the ring of the scrubs and bump into each other…and Hogan is SHOCKED at what he sees!
Sting and Macho Man come in to try to ease tensions as NITRO ROLLS ON.
…and we're back with Mean Gene in the ring to sort this shit out. Hogan asks what Luger is doing there. Luger is there to take the WCW World Heavyweight Championship!
Luger’s tired of working with fucking children playing with kids and wants to play with the BIG BOYS. Hogan says that if Luger sticks out his STINKING PALM and shakes his hand, Hogan will put the title on the line NEXT WEEK ON MONDAY NITRO! They shake on it, and the big title match is set for next week.
The announcers and Mongo's devil dog run down next week's show to take us home. Hogan vs. Luger! Sabu! Michael Wallstreet (the former IRS, who left a road agent gig with the WWF under the premise that he would get WCW tag gold with Bubba Rogers, which didn’t end up happening) will be here! WE'RE OUTTA TIME!
And that’s a wrap on the debut episode of WCW Monday Nitro, and WHAT a debut. Not everything hit, but they had a smart variety of matches, a HUGE debut of an ex-WWF talent, new characters, advancement of ongoing stories, and PASTAMANIA! They also set up some stuff for next week, including Sabu’s TV debut and a massive title match. They were going right after The Fed with guns blazing, and it’s going to be so much fun to revisit. People thought WCW was INSANE for trying to compete with Titan head-on, predicting that Nitro was going to be a colossal failure. Needless to say, WCW proved the doubters wrong. Well, at least for a few years.
This episode ended up doing a 2.9 rating, which was more than what the WWF would typically get in that timeslot.
People nowadays get upset online when talent leaves AEW to go to WWE or vice versa, or the companies take potshots at each other, or when they each stack their cards to the heavens when they end up broadcasting head-to-head (October 10th, 2023, for example). Those fans would have turned into pudding during the Monday Night Wars. All of that stuff was happening, AND there was a ton of hilariously petty bullshit that both companies would pull on each other.
SEPTEMBER 5th
ECW Hardcore Television - We start off with the *Sterling Archer voice* DAAAANGER ZONE, Paul E. Dangerously’s in-ring talk show. Paul E. puts over Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko for the show they put on before leaving ECW for WCW. Paul hypes up the crowd for the show and welcomes Bill Alfonso as his guest.
Paul E. wants to tell Bill something, but Fonzie snatches the mic and says that Heyman does NOT tell him anything, but he can ASK questions. They go back and forth a bit, with Dangerously insinuating that Alfonso does naughty things with the State Athletic Commission.
We find out that Tod Gordon has been reinstated as promoter of ECW, then Alfonso brags about getting ECW canceled on the Sunshine Network in Florida.
Dangerously predicts that 911 will soon chokeslam Alfonso. To counteract this, Fonzie BANS THE CHOKESLAM! What a fucking weasel.
If 911 chokeslams anyone, he will be fired and can crawl on down to WCW. Fonzie says they probably want to hire him anyway. Yeah, 911 in WCW? That’ll be the day.
Oh.
Anyway, they continue their verbal sparring until Fonzie decks Dangerously with a cellphone! Finisher theft! Tod Gordon comes in and gets into a brawl with Alfonso as the crowd erupts!
Fonzie ends up decking Gordon with the phone as well! Fonzie tries to goad 911 into coming out to chokeslam him. “Frankenstein” hits and the big dude comes out! Alfonso attacks, so 911 teases a chokeslam as the crowd goes further apeshit! Big Dick Dudley pops up (heh) and stares down the future Tombstone.
Stevie Richards and Dudley Dudley both hold back Big Dick as we now clip to Dangerously smashing Fonzie with HIS cellphone! Fonzie's stumbling sell is awesome.
We cut to the backstage area as Bill Alfonso declares that Paul E. Dangerously is BANNED from ECW.
That segment was MADNESS, guys. It probably lasted an eternity for the live fans because it was pretty long in clipped form, but damn, a LOT happened. I said it before, but this antagonistic ref stuff with Bill Alfonso is incredible.
As an aside, how much younger does Fonzie look nowadays with his new teeth? He's a whole new man!
We cut to the finish of Raven & Stevie Richards (c) vs. The Pitbulls for the ECW Tag Team Championship. Pitbull #2 hoists Richards up in an electric chair, and Pitbull #1 clotheslines Richards and himself to the floor! Holy shit!
Richards takes a chair to the head and eats a top rope powerbomb/neckbreaker combo! Good grief! Raven finally makes an appearance to break up the pin. Everyone pairs off and brawls for a bit until the Pibbles hit a slingshot clothesline on Raven. SUPERBOMB ON RAVEN, but Beulah interferes. The Pitbulls look to Superbomb HER, but Raven intervenes.
After a shoulderblock puts Stevie down for a visual pinfall, Dudley Dudley drops a big elbow on #2 and rolls Stevie on top of him…but #2 kicks out!
Stevie is caught with a powerbomb, but Raven breaks up the pin. Evenflow DDT…but #2 again kicks out! Corner spinning kick from #2 on Stevie results in #2 hitting the floor. However, Big Dick Dudley rams #2 into the guardrail and rolls him back in. Stevie covers for the win. That was more delightful insanity. They’re definitely making Big Dick look like a threat.
We catch up with Cactus Jack via satellite from Japan, fresh off his King of the Deathmatch tournament win. He talks about the victory over Terry Funk in the finals and about the burns and scars he endured. Funk's suffering was payback for the flaming branding iron that Jack was burned with earlier this year.
He talks about his Uncle Willy, a veteran of the Second World War II, and how he was killed when the USS Indianapolis was sunk. It starts off with how Jack thought him a hero until he walked through a Japanese war memorial, then this promo, to put it lightly, takes a turn.
Jack goes IN on his uncle, the ‘rah rah USA’ types, and the United States government. He says that he hoped his uncle died a painful death and rips into George Washington for owning slaves! Foley somehow ties this all into his turn on Tommy Dreamer, saying that him and Raven did it with a higher purpose in mind.
This was absolutely unhinged and way darker than the kind of stuff you would typically hear in wrestling. More brilliance from Mick Foley. Only someone like him could get away with going to these kinds of places for a wrestling promo. It probably was a bit over the top, but it sure is effective.
SEPTEMBER 9th
WWF Superstars - It’s Goldust time! He's in Hollywood!
He says a bunch of stuff, but iterates that no star will shine more brightly than Goldust. Not much to this one.
USWA Championship Wrestling - We’re walkin’ in Memphis this week again with Jesse James Armstrong. He comes out to harass Dave Brown and Corey Maclin, then throws it to a video tape.
Clips play of Armstrong (and Brian Lee) beating up Sid and Jerry Lawler in matches, including a pinfall on The King that didn't actually happen. Brown accuses Roadie of EDITING THE FOOTAGE. Armstrong denies this and begs Jerry “The Queen” Lawler (his insult) to come get some more.
We cut back to Corey doing a telemaphone interview with Lawler, who is apparently in Cleveland. Armstrong comes back out and rants about Lawler some more, accusing everyone in the USWA of lying to protect Lawler. Lawler chimes in and refutes Armstrong's points, so Armstrong snaps and physically accosts Maclin until some babyfaces chase him off. Lawler threatens to kick Armstrong's ass.
Repetitive childish insults aside, Armstrong did well being an insufferable jackass.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling - Chip Kessler is chilling with Buddy Landel.
We get a lengthy history of Landel's issues with Jim Cornette's Militia, including his brilliant promo before SuperBowl of Wrestling and clips of the match with Shawn Michaels set to Bill Conti's “Going the Distance” to REALLY play up the Rocky story. Landel has production replay the last couple minutes of the match to demonstrate that Budro did have Shawn beat on his own. We'll get more on this issue AS SMOKY MOUNTAIN WRESTLING ROLLS ON.
…and we're back with footage from Fire on the Mountain as Cornette costs Budro the SMW Heavyweight Championship against Brad Armstrong. We see an interview with Cornette’s Militia as Corndog continues to blame Buddy for his results, demoting him to Buck Private behind his back. Tommy Rich is Cornette’s new Top Lieutenant.
Next, we'll have the straw that broke the camel's back AS SMOKY MOUNTAIN WRESTLING ROLLS ON.
…and we're back as we get footage of Cornette again costing Landel a match, this time a tag match with Landel and Tommy Rich vs. Brad & Bob Armstrong. Brad knocks an ether-soaked towel out of Corny's hand and uses it on Buddy to win. Cornette has a tantrum in the ring, as if someone just showed him a Kenny Omega clip, and court-martials him.
Buddy shoves Cornette down and fights off Rich and Terry Gordy himself. He puts a figure-four on Cornette, but The Punisher comes in and SLAPJACKS Budro. Buddy is busted wide open as the Militia beats him (and Mark Curtis) down. Landel takes an absolute shellacking here.
Backstage, Rich rants at Landel, accusing him of being jealous of him being a former world champion, then Cornette calls him a drunk and a junkie.
Landel responds, saying the beating from the Militia was nothing compared to what drugs and alcohol did to him, and he overcame THAT. He tells Tommy Rich that, “You're going through hell with gasoline britches on if you're coming my way”. What a line. He will be a ONE MAN MILITIA and will kick Rich’s ass in Johnson City!
That was certainly exhaustive, but the promos were great, especially from Buddy, and the beatdown was awesome. This did a terrific job setting Buddy up to be the babyface.
WCW Saturday Night - On The Mothership this week, we catch up with the Dungeon of Doom. Meng was gifted with THE GOLDEN SPIKE on his thumb.
Kamala, Shark, and Zodiac enter the Dungeon as Sullivan cuts a promo on Hulk Hogan's team ahead of War Games.
We now get a video package for…sigh, Disco Inferno. He quotes a bunch of song titles while dancing to what would be his WCW theme music.
As much as Disco is an absolute putz that grossly overestimates his value to the business, it was an effective lower-card gimmick that somehow lasted until WCW died in 2001. The theme music is kind of a guilty pleasure, too.
We now cut to Macho Man (in facepaint!) and Sting confronting The Taskmaster.
Kevin Sullivan sows the seeds of distrust in their WarGames teammate, Vader. The big man comes out and the faces ask where Vader stands.
Vader defends his position and gives them his word that he’s a team player. Sullivan brings out The Giant…but that doesn't go anywhere.
Of course, the Vader thing went nowhere for the reasons detailed in the Nitro portion.
Holy hell, this week was a LOT. ECW gave us some fun mayhem, Buddy and Mick gave us more great promo work, and the AJW ladies killed it as usual. Oh, and the first Nitro. Can’t forget that. This series is likely going to feature a lot more Monday Night War stuff, but it won’t be as exhaustive as other works about it. Plus, there will be a LOT of other stuff to break that up.
NEXT TIME: It's another super-loaded week. The first head-to-head battle in the Monday Night Wars! Plus, ECW Gangsta's Paradise, featuring some major debuts and one of the best ECW matches ever! Misawa and Taue lock horns! And much more!
Smell ya later!