We’re getting into more first month WCW Monday Nitro as we look at the second episode from September 11, 1995. It’s on the road to WCW Fall Brawl 1995.
Last week, we had Hogan taking on Big Bubba and the return of Lex Luger. At the end of that show, Hogan accepted Luger’s challenge for the World Championship—which will be on this episode.
We also have Sabu’s WCW debut against Alex Wright and Sting defending the U.S title against VK Wallstreet (formerly IRS from WWE).
Hogan’s team is down a man since Vader bounced on WCW. Sting and Jimmy Hart are pushing for Luger to join the team but everyone and their mama know Luger can’t be trusted.
Except for Sting, that is. Savage doesn’t trust Lex at all even though he was excited as hell when the guy slammed Yokozuna two years earlier.
Let’s dive into this show!
Low-Tier
Sabu vs. Alex Wright was a brief match that you’d miss if you blinked or sneezed. It wasn’t bad or super botchy, just super short.
Sabu picked up the win with a head scissors take over from the top turnbuckle in a sloppy finish.
Oddly enough, the decision was overturned after the homicidal, suicidal, genocidal Sabu put Wright through a table in an anti-climactic fashion.
I don’t know if it needed a little more time or to be slowed down—probably both—because Sabu and Wright moved through this match quickly. Ultimately, they looked awkward against each other here.
Mid-Tier
For a television match, the U.S title match between Sting and VK Wallstreet was good. It was basic as hell but very well-paced.
The action was constant, things were more stand up and brisk, I enjoyed this match. There was really nothing else to this match, it was just clean with no razzle-dazzle but it works.
Scott Norton had no stakes in who won the War Games match at WCW Fall Brawl 1995 but he did his best to break Randy Savage’s back in this match.
Savage eventually had to deal with the Dungeon of Doom which came out to attack but still managed to eek out a win thanks to botched interference.
It wasn’t a syrupy slow match but it wasn’t the most interesting bout either. I’d mark this down as another clean match with no razzle-dazzle outside of that Flying Elbow Drop.
That said, it worked in building up War Games as Hogan’s team was still on the short side.
I’m not gonna lie, if the World title match between champion Hulk Hogan and Lex Luger went the remainder of the show with a conclusion, it would’ve been exotic tier.
This bout was good with Hogan and Luger being evenly matched and the action being well-paced. Then the Dungeon attacked again and the match was thrown out.
Luger is added to Team Hogan on a 2-1 vote—3-1 if you include Hart.
WCW Monday Nitro #2 Verdict: Mid-Tier (6/10)
What really made this show a solid mid-tier show was the story development. It pushed everything just a little further as we head into Fall Brawl.
All of the matches with the exception of the opener were rock solid. The title bouts were the strongest of three mid-tier matches.
These matches were all really short but the guys involved were all experienced and could do a lot with the four and five minutes they had to work with.
Everything was geared towards storytelling for the PPV and these matches did their jobs well while being enjoyable.
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