It’s the end of the road for the first month of WCW Monday Nitro! Let’s find out what the Atlanta-based promotion has in store for us for the September 25, 1995 episode.
Storylines On This Episode
All you need to know about the stories in this episode is that challenges were thrown around everywhere. WCW is laying the groundwork for Halloween Havoc 1995.
So, there’s Savage challenging Luger, Hogan and his broken neck challenging The Giant, and Arn responding to Ric Flair wanting to kick his ass.
On the note of Hogan’s broken neck, his promo was shot in a “locker room” with the mood lighting and a WCW logo projected on the wall. That would make for just a dope ass room in the house.
We still have Savage and Luger going at it. Right now, they’re in a cold war talking up a match. They would clash at Halloween Havoc 1995.
Another issue still boiling is between Flair and the mentor-protégé duo of Arn Anderson and Pillman. Flair really wants to fight Arn it seems.
Low-Tier
Kurasawa—Manabu Nakanishi of New Japan—beating Craig Pittman was boring. First, Pittman was just boring in the ring and would’ve better in a shoot-style company.
The Taskmaster vs. Randy Savage was a sub-mediocre bout that ended on a DQ for Savage. This was a brief match that was meant as more of an attack angle.
Ugh…Kurasawa–New Japan’s Manabu Nakanishi—took on Sgt. Craig “Pitbull” Pittman in a match that ran a little longer than necessary. You might say “You’re being dramatic, it was only 4 minutes and change.”
Apparently, you’ve never seen Nakanishi before he fully came into his “a more powerful version of Riki Choshu” style.
Even worse, you’ve never seen Pittman wrestle. If this was a shoot style company, Pittman would’ve looked good.
This is WCW—where the big boys play. It’s Monday Nitro! The action is expected to be faster and has some excitement in it while the promos are kept neat and tidy and don’t drag on.
Kurasawa and Pittman attempted to match that approach but didn’t have the arsenal or pacing to get it done.
Listen, Dean Malenko was never considered the most charismatic or interesting wrestler in WCW but his technical wrestling approach in WCW was flawless for TV.
I’m not saying “If Malenko could do it, these two have no excuse.” Malenko had been wrestling since the late 70s. However, our first mid-tier match between Alex Wright and Disco Inferno managed to do it and their in-ring experience is similar to Pittman and Kurasawa’s.
To put a button on this: it was a boring match.
The Macho Man losing to Kevin Sullivan wasn’t boring but it was barely a match. Actually, it was more of an angle where Savage got himself disqualified.
You know, to keep this front of the “Alliance to End Hulk Hogan” storyline going. After flinging the ref, Savage continues to go after The Zodiac (Brutus Beefcake).
The Giant comes out and attacks, chokeslamming The Macho Man—then chokeslamming babyfaces who came to the rescue. Luger comes in and attempts to take out The Giant but gets manhandled as well.
Mid-Tier
Disco Inferno’s WCW debut against Alex Wright was solid. This match right here started a WCW rivalry which would become a keen tag team years down the road.
There was nothing too flashy here. Not a ton of razzle-dazzle but Disco got to show a little bit of what he’s about in the ring.
Apparently, Alex Wright was the guy newcomers have to get through. It makes sense, Wright could have a solid-at-the-minimum with roughly anyone.
This one was much smoother and cleaner than Sabu’s WCW Monday Nitro debut from the week before.
So, Meng came out after The Giant destroyed Savage and Luger. He had a scheduled match against The Total Package and this was almost a sound beating but Luger had enough life in him to hang in there.
I liked this gutwrench backbreaker Meng did. It looked a little sloppy but he’s been targeting Luger’s back the whole time. Very nice.
It was a decent match that had just the right amount of time. This wasn’t the fast-paced Nitro match we usually get and if it was 10 or 15 minutes it would’ve been painful to watch.
There were lulls in the action but the comeback from Luger towards the end and Meng’s dominance over a wounded Total Package worked.
WCW Monday Nitro #4 Verdict: Mid-Tier (5.5/10)
This wasn’t the strongest of the Monday Nitro episodes we looked at but it continued WCW’s approach of presenting a fast, exciting show.
It just wasn’t a great idea to leave or flip the channel when Nitro had one hour! It was as if Bischoff took the pace of ECW Hardcore TV and slapped some nice production and a clear direction.
This wasn’t crash TV-pace but Nitro kept things going. The match of the night was Disco Inferno vs. Alex Wright but the way Savage vs. Sullivan and Luger vs. Meng played into the main storyline in the company was flawless.
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