20 Years Of Nitro

In the go home show for Slim Jim's Halloween Havoc WCW Heavyweight Champion "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan has one final surprise for the number one contender. Dean Malenko, Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, Harlem Heat, the Faces of Fear, Diamond Dallas Page, and Chris Jericho are all featured before their PPV matches, we meet newcomers Roadblock and Jimmy Graffiti, and OH YEAH, The Man Called Sting returns to WCW!!!

Tim and Dave recap and review the October 14th, 1996 episode of Monday Nitro! Miss Elizabeth has an impassioned plea for Randy Savage, Jeff Jarrett continues to make his presence felt, Jim Duggan and M. Wallstreet continue their unending feud, and much, much more!

As the build towards Halloween Havoc continues WCW puts forth a pretty lackluster edition of Nitro. Tim and Dave find joy where they can, be it a fun Rick Steiner/Chris Benoit match, some hilarious selling by Mongo, and a discussion of the flurry of activity that occurred this week in 1996 regarding Bret Hart's contract situation. We've also got DDP, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, and the debuting Jeff Jarrett!

Dave and Tim are joined by Minneapolis based pro wrestling referee Rob Page to dig into the 9/30/96 Nitro!! The nWo keep to themselves tonight though Eric Bischoff might be hot on their trail. Public Enemy defend their newly won WCW Tag Team Championships, Dean Malenko takes on Alex Wright, Eddie Guerrero returns to Nitro and Slim Jims wants to give you a "monster" truck as we continue the build for Halloween Havoc!

While many of the stars of WCW are in Japan the nWo takes the opportunity to strike! They debut a new member, a new race car, and essentially take over the entire second hour of the show. Glacier returns to the program, Juventud Guerrera and Brad Armstrong are a tag team for some reason and much, much more! We also tell the full story, cringeworthy moments and all, of our recent meet and greets with Hall, Nash, Waltman, Bischoff, and some additional legends! It's a pretty funny story, but if you want to skip straight to Nitro coverage you can find it at about 30 minutes in.

Tim sits down for a one on one interview with Guy Evans, the author of 'Nitro: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW' a riveting new book that explores WCW from 1995-2001. We talk about the writing process, what revelations surprised Guy, and how he built relationships with his sources. Be sure and check the book out at: www.wcwnitrobook.com

Tim reads the profile of WCW's hit new ninja, Glacier, straight from the October 1996 issue of WCW Magazine!

It's the fallout from Fall Brawl as Sting makes a stunning, if mysterious, announcement! Our blood also runs only mildly cold as the mysterious ninja known as Glacier turns out to be some dude named Ray. Elsewhere, Randy Savage looks to get into the zone as he begins to prepare for next month's WCW Championship match against Hulk Hogan. Plus we've got a couple of high-spot filled lucha matches, Chris Jericho, DDP, Ice Train, and more right here where the big boys play!

War Games has finally arrived! The nWo is feeling strong with the recent defection of the Giant as well as the apparent addition of the ultimate WCW guy, Sting, to their ranks. The Macho Man badly needs to build momentum going into his world title match next month, Harlem Heat defend their tag team titles against the Nasty Boys, Chris Jericho makes his PPV debut and much, much more!!

One week before Fall Brawl there's a dramatic and shocking defection from Team WCW to the nWo....or is there? Rey Mysterio is in action, The Nasties finally declare their allegiances, Rick Steiner is confused, and Tim debunks the story that Hall and Nash got extra money thanks to the Fake Razor and Fake Diesel storyline over in the WWF.

We close our celebration of Nitro's first year, and our examination of big league American wrestling of the period, by talking about WCW's standing in the market, our favorite stars, and what is working and what isn't. We also hand out awards for best match, promo, in ring performer, and more!

We continue our four day celebration of Nitro's first anniversary with a peek to the north as we review RAW Championship Friday! WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defends his title against the "flamboyant" Goldust, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Marc Mero square off as part of a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion, and Psycho Sid battles an elephant in tug of war. All that plus much much more on this fun bonus episode!

As we finish our coverage of the first year of Monday Nitro we take a detour to Philadelphia to check in with Paul E. Dangerously and his merry band of misfits in Extreme Championship Wrestling. World TV Champion Shane Douglas has words for the Pitbulls, Rob van Dam needs Sabu to set their differences aside and team with him against Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat, and the main event sees Tommy Dreamer take on Taz. Plus Louie Spicoli, Devon Storm, The Sandman, and much more!

As Nitro turns one year old WCW is under a cloud of paranoia as Ted DiBiase has promised a fifth member of the nWo will debut tonight. Suspicion also continues to cloud every move made by Senior Official Nick Patrick. A huge main event sees the Dungeon of Doom take on the Four Horsemen. Elsewhere DDP takes on Alex Wright, Greg Valentine finds a partner almost grosser than he is, Colonel Robert Parker has some gifts for Sheri and much much more! Plus we announce a whopping three bonus episodes that will be coming over the next three days to celebrate Nitro's first year!

With RAW off the air this week WCW pulled out all the stops with a memorable nWo run-in, the debuts of Chris Jericho, Juventud Guerrera, and Ted Dibiase, and Scott Steiner's incredible impression of a rooster. The cruiserweight title is on the line, the Blue Bloods are coming apart at the seams, and Mean Gene wants to interview absolutely everyone. Plus much, much more!!

With Fall Brawl in sight WCW looks for ways to conquer the so-far invincible nWo. Sting and Lex Luger have a plan, but can they get their mortal enemies, The Four Horsemen, onboard? Harlem Heat hope history does not repeat itself as they defend their titles against The American Males. Disco Inferno, The Giant, Macho Man and more are all in action and we even get an Ice Train promo!!

Hollywood Hulk Hogan defends his new WCW World's Heavyweight Championship for the very first time against The Nature Boy, Ric Flair but will the match be left uninterrupted by the nWo and the Horsemen? The Giant looks to rebound after his first loss as he takes on Chris Benoit! The WCW Tag Team titles are on the line in a huge triangle match, Eddie Guerrero tries to become Lord of the Ring, and Dean Malenko hits Rey Mysterio with the most impressive move of all time.

After a month at Disney MGM and a wild Saturday at the Sturgis biker rally, WCW and Monday Nitro are finally back on the road with this edition from Casper, Wyoming. Randy Savage and Ric Flair battle for the United States title but Hollywood Hogan makes his presence felt. Sting and Luger have a challenge for The Outsiders but will Nick Patrick once again embroil the finish in controversy? Plus Chris Benoit, The Dungeon of Doom, Konnan, Rey Mysterio Jr, and much much more!

Tim and Dave roll into Sturgis, South Dakota for Hog Wild 1996! Hulk Hogan tries to recapture the World Heavyweight Title now that he's gone Hollywood, Sting and Lex Luger try to defend WCW's honor against The Outsiders, Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit put on a clinic, Bobby Heenan gets shitfaced, Ultimo Dragon makes his WCW debut and much, much more!!

Tim is joined by longtime WCW Producer Neal Pruitt who shares stories on his start in the business, the role of a producer, and the craziness that was working for World Championship Wrestling. He talks about the creation of the nWo paid advertisements and his role as the voice of the new world order. He also shares stories on what it was like producing an outdoor PPV at the Sturgis Biker Rally, hanging out in Chicago with Hulk Hogan, and much much more! Be sure and check out Neal's podcast, Neal Pruitt's Secrets of WCW Nitro!!