WCW Monday Nitro (September 11, 1995)

Original Airdate: September 11, 1995

From Miami, Florida; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael, and Bobby Heenan

We start with a look back at last week, where Lex Luger made his surprise return, and challenged WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan to a match - tonight

Alex Wright v Sabu: Sabu looks incredibly out of place here. Some ECW guys (like RVD or Raven), could make the transition, while others (Sabu, Sandman, even Tommy Dreamer to an extent) stick out like sore thumbs with actual production values. Sabu starts highspotting right away, and puts them both on the floor with a rana, then baseball slides Alex to setup a somersault plancha. He springboards off a chair with a leg lariat, but Alex gets out of the way, and Sabu hits the rail. Wright slams him out there, then rolls him in, and follows with a well executed missile dropkick that puts Sabu right back on the outside. Nice. Wright returns the favor with a baseball slide of his own, then dives after him with a tope suicida - that Sabu nearly botches by failing to properly catch him. Alex superplexes him on the way back in, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Sabu springboard leg lariats him. Another springboard, but Wright counters into a bridging German suplex for two. He goes up to finish him, but Sabu brings him down with a headscissors off the top for the pin at 3:58. However, Sabu isn't done there, and decides to put Wright through a table - causing the referee to reverse the decision, and award the bout to Wright. Okay. Really spotty match, but it was exciting, and if I were channel flipping between this and the Ramon/Bulldog match airing opposite on RAW, the WWF would have had me for star power, but this would certainly be a good hook. * ½

Gene Okerlund brings Ric Flair out for an in-ring interview, with Flair reviewing his sorta-feud with Arn Anderson ahead of their big showdown at Fall Brawl, until Lex Luger comes down - literally just to show his face, then disappear. RAW was airing the Ramon/Kid split opposite this, which was certainly more engrossing

WCW United States Title Match: Sting v VK Wallstreet: So now, apparently, he's 'VK' Wallstreet, not 'Michael' - though they actually acknowledge the change on commentary. 'VK' was, of course, a dig at Vince McMahon, whose middle name is Kennedy. Bischoff also takes the next major shot of the Monday Night Wars, giving away the finish to the Michaels/Sid match that would be headlining RAW. Wallstreet takes him down with a quick fireman’s carry, but gets caught in a side-headlock, and Sting hiptosses him to setup a pair of dropkicks. Criss cross ends with Sting getting tossed out, but he catches Wallstreet with a poorly executed slingshot clothesline on the way back in. Wallstreet no-sells that (and rightly so), then goes to work with elbowdrops, but gets caught in a sunset cradle for two, and Sting hits the Stinger Splash, then retains with a quick flying bodypress at 4:13. RAW was airing a Smoking Gunns squash and a Goldust vignette opposite this title match, with a WCW star against a recent WWF star. Definite Nitro advantage. ½*

Randy Savage v Scott Norton: Norton attacks him before the bell, and unloads a quick short-clothesline. Norton chokes him, but Randy manages a hiptoss, and a clothesline knocks Scott over the top. Randy goes after him with a flying axehandle on the outside, then rolls him back in for another clothesline - sold with zeal by Norton. Another flying ax, but this time Norton catches him in a bearhug, and executes a nice powerbomb for two. Two-alarm no-release backbreaker sets up a press-slam, as Norton keeps pounding on the lower back. Powerslam gets two, and a big shoulderblock puts Macho on the outside. Scott brings him back in with a brutal elevated DDT, but a flying shoulderblock misses, and Randy hits a high knee, followed by a quick series of jabs. Oh, but here come the Dungeon of Doom - only for Randy to whip Norton into Shark, then hit both of them with the Flying Elbowdrop for the pin at 5:39. Pretty decent match, with Norton just murdering the back, and Savage doing his usual nice sell job. Definitely better than what RAW was airing: an Isaac Yankem squash, and an In Your House Report. * ½

WCW World Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Lex Luger: Even after all these years, Hulk still looks weird with the WCW belt. Luger actually overpowers him during the initial lockup, but Hulk wins the second round. Oh boy. I see they're going for epic style booking, but they don't have near enough time left in the show to deliver that kind of match. Hulk takes him down with a drop-toehold into a front-facelock, then powers it up into a vertical suplex - no-sold by Luger. Criss cross ends in Lex hitting his own vertical suplex, but Hogan no-sells him right back, and they flex at each other. Another criss cross goes Hogan's way with a backdrop, and he quickly follows up with a cross corner clothesline. Second one misses, however, and Luger powerslams him to setup the Torture Rack. He slaps it on, but lets off too soon after mishearing the referees call, and we have a HULK UP!! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! Legdrop! - but here come the Dungeon of Doom to break up the pin for the DQ at 5:28. Afterwards, the Dungeon go for the beat down, but Sting and Randy Savage run-in for the save. Nothing wrong with the match, but it was like they booked the first few minutes of a twenty minute match, then skipped right to the ending. All this made me want is a face/face Hogan/Luger PPV match, which never happened. Kind of a toss up with RAW here, as the WWF was airing the big blowoff to the Michaels/Sid feud, while WCW had a showdown between two big stars that we'd never seen interact before. Call it a draw. *

After the commercial, Gene Okerlund comes down to interview Hogan, Luger, Sting, and Savage. Hogan and Savage are suspicious of Luger because the Dungeon didn't attack him, and Randy even takes his suspicions a step further: wondering why Jimmy Hart didn't get hit, either. Sting stands up for him, and eventually Hogan agrees to invite Luger onto their team for War Games (as a replacement for Vader) - though Savage still doesn't trust him. I like this angle, but honestly though, why would the Dungeon attack Luger? He just returned a week ago, and has had no interaction with them

BUExperience: I’d say WCW definitely had the advantage with bigger star power and better matches this week, but were unable to overtake RAWs built-in audience – though it was close. RAW also had the advantage of returning after two weeks off, and therefore packing their card with angles to setup the quickly approaching In Your House pay per view – plus the blowoff to the Michaels/Sid feud. Overall, both shows were fairly evenly matched this week, though it was clear WCW would be bringing the heat on Monday nights, and that they were not at all afraid to get their hands dirty doing so – with Bischoff giving away the finish to RAWs big match on the air.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	9/11/1995
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.5	2.4