Nitro's 20th episode, taking place in Miami, is the first serious sign of how shallow the roster's rotation was before the Outsiders and the New World Order shook things up momentarily. A top-heavy match listing sees Randy Savage and Lex Luger randomly resume their old hostilities while Sting challenges Ric Flair for the World title in their third singles outing on the TNT show alone so far. But, of course, Hulk Hogan's predictable clash with Meng main events anyway. Come join us for all of that...
Feb 18, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 52
We're not quite sure how, but we've made it to 50 episodes of Because WCW! And to mark the occasion, we've arrived at perhaps the best episode of Monday Nitro yet as the January 8, 1996 edition provides four very entertaining and very different bouts. And in even more good news, the Sting/Lex Luger storyline has magically recommenced after being virtually ignored last week. Not only that, but Hulk Hogan is only mildly overbearing by his usual standards - though that doesn't stop him from having ...
Feb 03, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 51
If our Starrcade '95 episode just before Christmas didn't satisfy your craving for times WCW turned their biggest PPV of the year into a baffling concept pilot, you're in for a treat! Our first special guest podcast of 2020 relives Starrcade 1991, a showpiece overrun by the debut of Lethal Lottery and Battlebowl. Dean, Liam and British wrestling veteran Sam 'Berry' Gardiner - known between the ropes as Voodoo, eXodus, Mr. Puppet, Blok Busta and more - break down exactly what WCW did right and wr...
Jan 23, 2020•1 hr 44 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Our first episode of the new decade brings the Watchalong series into 1996, where the Nitro immediately following Starrcade proceeds to reset most of the intrigue offered in the Sting/Lex Luger storyline and have Hulk Hogan single-handedly make the Four Horsemen cower at his feet. Nonetheless, Randy Savage leaves the Macho Man Formula(tm) at home in order to settle the score with Arn Anderson while Chris Benoit and Lord Steven Regal beat the tar out of each other in a pair of matches that salvag...
Jan 16, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 49
Merry Christmas, fellow WCW masochists! As a special festive treat, Dean and Liam have followed through on their love of special content being pre-recorded for the holidays and put together a Q&A episode using questions about WCW posed via social media by you, our faithful listeners. So, what are our all-time favourite matches and shows? How should the New World Order have ended? And just why was the syndicated WCW Worldwide show so coveted over here in the UK? All this and more are our Chri...
Dec 24, 2019•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 48
For the very first time, Dean and Liam look back at a PPV in line with their chronological Nitro Watchalong series, as a pivotal 1995 for WCW is wrapped up with their annual showpiece event - or, in this case, another Starrcade wasted on experimental formats. Hooked On Wrestling's Paul Benson takes home the match ball in his third special guest appearance on the podcast, and it's well-earned as WCW manage to find ways to turn an intriguing interpromotional best-of-seven series and one of the fir...
Dec 05, 2019•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Dean and Liam wrap up the 1995 Monday Nitros with this festive Starrcade go-home, making them long for wrestling companies of today to make pre-taping shows to first-air on Christmas Day a regular thing, if only so they don't have to watch Gavin and Stacey after their turkey dinners. Will the PPV's cutting edge but confusing concepts, such as the World Cup of Wrestling and the Triangle match for a WCW World title bout, be made any easier to figure out? Well, no.Randy Savage defends the big gold ...
Nov 25, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 46
The penultimate Nitro of 1995 brings us the infamous visual of Madusa returning to the company to dump the WWF Women's title into a handily-located bin, immediately infuriating Vince McMahon and others at the Federation who were aghast that someone would treat the title in such a horrific fashion. Y'know, besides the rest of the championship's entire existence. This seminal angle does however overshadow another very easy to watch hour of television, capped by WCW Champion Randy Savage and The Gi...
Nov 15, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 45
Dean and Liam pull back onto the road to Starrcade 1995 with their 15th Nitro Watchalong, and what feels like the 15th straight episode of Hulk Hogan, Sting and Randy Savage proclaiming that they cannot trust one another. Nonetheless, the main eventers deliver a delightful old-school main event for the most part on an enjoyable episode also featuring decent action elsewhere and a bittersweet angle involving "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. He coulda been a Horseman, didn't you know... Hosted on Ac...
Nov 04, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 44
At the height of WCW's fame, the promotion cultivated a reputation for providing fantastic, exciting, fresh wrestling on its undercard before the main event crew arrived to stink up the joint. Those main eventers put WCW at the top, but as we learned, they couldn't keep them there forever without some fresh ideas. Slamboree could well be the perfect example of that template. It comes weeks after WWE ended the 83-week winning streak of Nitro over Raw. It comes shortly after DX made fun of WCW at ...
Oct 16, 2019•1 hr 58 min•Season 1Ep. 43
After 11 very good hour-long episodes of wrestling television and two not-so-good ones, episode 14 of Monday Nitro is perhaps the first to which Dean and Liam can truly say they don't have a bloody clue whether it was good or bad. This middle-of-the-road offering has a new record for Longest Nitro Match in the main event, as well as a tag title match ever-so-slightly sidetracked by a proposal and a big man clash that really should have been better. But at least Ric Flair is feeling energetic, th...
Oct 07, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 42
Last summer, Dean had the honour of hosting Bret Hart's spoken word UK tour staged by Kayfabe Events. At the tail end of the London leg, attended by his podcast co-host, Liam was one of the fans posing a question to the Hitman during the Q&A section. Liam asked about how WCW dealt with his Starrcade 1999 concussion. What followed was an emotional 40-minute answer detailing the rocky road Bret's health endured following that fateful night. Now, finally, after much effort and a slew of technic...
Sep 30, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 41
The first World War 3 pay-per-view has come and gone, and unfortunately so has Hulk Hogan's bewildering-yet-entertaining 'man in black' phase as well as any hope that World War 3 would be a remotely decent match concept. Fortunately, Monday Nitro continues to entertain in its fast and breezy format even when Hogan is splashed all over everything and Eric Bischoff sticks a random Japanese womens tag match on the show in a blatant counter-programming ploy. Join Dean and Liam as the Johnny B Badd/D...
Sep 17, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 40
The podcast's second year has been a challenging one, but Dean and Liam are finally back from a third laptop-related absence, hopeful that the sophomore jinx is behind them once and for all. And it's back to the Monday Nitro Watchalongs with a busy go-home show six days before the inaugural World War 3 PPV concept. If you assumed Sting and Hulk Hogan clashed for the very first time at Starrcade 97, think again: they're the main event tonight! Despite spending recent weeks having what appeared to...
Sep 06, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 39
Is the 11th edition of Monday Nitro the best so far? With four fun and very different TV matches plus plenty of storyline advancement, most probably. But who cares about all that when you've got the latest instalment of Hulk Hogan's desperate descent into career despair plus Lex Luger in pinstripe workout gear? Join Dean and Liam for the intriguing match-up of Sting vs Dean Malenko, a TV title clash that isn't quite as predictable as most and perhaps the most enjoyable sub-three minute bout you'...
Jul 08, 2019•57 min•Ep. 38
On the day the wrestling world plunged back to the 1990s with the news that Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman were returning to positions of power within WWE, Dean and Liam finally sat down for their promised look back at the revolution both Paul and Eric helped facilitate within the Stateside industry: the arrival of the luchadores and subsequent mainstream acceptance of smaller performers. And who better to join them as a special guest than the returning 'Lightning' Mike Quackenbush, renowned wres...
Jun 27, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Almost a decade before the WWE 'invented' fan-interactive events such as Taboo Tuesday, Nitro ran a hotline poll to decide the main event of its tenth episode and in no way shape or form ensured only one logical result. No sir. But despite the trademark shadiness of anything related to the WCW Hotline, Nitro 10 ended a two-episode crap streak and provided plenty of enjoyable action as well as seminal moments. Join Dean and Liam for the birth of the awesome Sting/Lex Luger storyline, the demise o...
Jun 13, 2019•57 min•Ep. 36
Back in the mid-1990s during the early stages of wrestling companies staging live weekly flagship TV shows and monthly PPVs, the continuity model was still very much rough around the edges. One thing was usually a constant, however: do not give away PPV footage on free TV when there are still replays to be bought. Of course, WCW would choose Halloween Havoc 1995 as the event to buck this trend, as their 'main event' on Nitro episode nine was a replay of the PPV's closing moments. Yes, the moment...
Jun 06, 2019•57 min•Ep. 35
How important are match finishes in wrestling? Of course, the climax of each piece of art constructed inside the squared circle is significant to an extent, but could a series of bad match finishes really spoil an otherwise good card of graps? Thanks to Halloween Havoc 93, the answer is a resounding yes. Join Dean, Liam and pro wrestling author/historian John Lister as they analyse eight creatively horrendous finishes to eight very different contests. Oh, and a truly under-appreciated WCW mini-m...
May 17, 2019•1 hr 47 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Remember when 'go-home' TV shows before a PPV used to make very little reference to the contents of said PPV? Well, the eighth edition of Monday Nitro, six days before Halloween Havoc 1995, would have you believe that the only wrestling match taking place was Hulk Hogan vs The Giant. Oh, and Hulk Hogan vs The Giant in a monster truck sumo showdown, obvs. But while this week's hour is agreed upon by Dean and Liam as being the first to miss the mark, at the same time you absolutely have to watch i...
May 07, 2019•58 min•Ep. 33
Early Monday Nitro continues to entertain in 45 minute squirts, despite Hulk Hogan's desperate attempts to come across as edgy and contemporary by... dressing in black. Whilst cutting the same 80s promos alongside the same 80s manager in front of the same 80s green screen. Oh, but they changed his custom backdrop to black, too. Find out who gives the fledgling show its longest match to date, who gives it the shortest match to date and who makes us wish Ric Flair would have stayed babyface for ju...
Apr 01, 2019•58 min•Ep. 32
It's been over a year since Dean and Liam put a PPV episode down to a vote on Twitter and, after this, it may be at least five before they do it again. In defence of the final WCW Superbrawl ever made, it continues the 2001 trend of providing shockingly watchable professional wrestling as the company entered a sensible creative holding pattern in anticipation of the Fusient bailout that never came. Join us to find out why Mike Awesome actually made a decent Bryan Clarke impersonator, why Chavo G...
Mar 20, 2019•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 31
The honeymoon period is over for Monday Nitro. After five weeks of feeling fresh and fun by default, episode six would decide whether or not the trademark WCW productive gaffes, Macho Man/Lex Luger fashion disasters and deeply uncomfortable Hulk Hogan interviews would be tolerable as a week-in, week-out attraction. Join Dean and Liam as they dissect how WCW managed to screw up Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson in a cage, how Disco Inferno should have been made heavyweight champion (but kept off Twitter)...
Mar 05, 2019•56 min•Ep. 30
Nitro continues its streak of immense watchability five weeks into the series, as Eric Bischoff steps up his Taped Raw Results Giveaway game and Kevin Sullivan becomes the master of the oddball run-in attack. Oh, and there's plenty of great stuff taking place that night in Denver, too. Lex Luger vs Randy Savage, Dean Malenko vs Eddie Guerrero and Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson make the most of the television sprint format. Join Dean and Liam for another rapid 45 minute journey on the road to Hallowee...
Feb 14, 2019•52 min•Ep. 29
After a two-month laptop-repair-induced absence, Because WCW is back with a bang: attempting to see how much of the first three episodes of Monday Nitro they can recall just from the fourth show's recaps. Dean and Liam are back from what appears to be an annual tradition of failing to publish new content over the festive period, and they're ready for the run-up to Halloween Havoc 1995 - even if that means constant reminders of the monster truck showdown between Hulk Hogan and The Giant. Join the...
Feb 07, 2019•53 min•Ep. 28
Can WCW Monday Nitro make it three enjoyable episodes from three, or is the honeymoon period already over? Will they be able to cram all of the fallout from Fall Brawl 1995 into just 45 minutes? And who wore the most nauseating ring gear on the evening: 'Macho Man' Randy Savage or the American Males? Dean and Liam continue their unplanned, unedited, perhaps unbearable live review of the weekly TV show that forever changed pro wrestling. And this time, they do it without making a single reference...
Dec 04, 2018•51 min•Ep. 27
Some things are best viewed in isolation. Bereft of context, hindsight and any other asides. BATB 1997 not only one of those things, but perhaps the perfect WCW example of such. Joining Dean and Liam to look back at the show is a man who was there in attendance at Daytona Beach that evening. A man who was directly responsible for so many British wrestling fans falling in love with the industry in the first place. The editor of Power Slam Magazine from 1994-2014, Fin Martin. And if you want to le...
Nov 23, 2018•2 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 26
It's easy to assume that the Monday Night Wars began with the debut of Nitro, but in fact it was episode two that first went head-to-head against WWE Raw after a US Open tennis pre-emption that Eric Bischoff used to his advantage. It was also Nitro's first 'go-home' edition, ahead of Fall Brawl and War Games. So, join Dean and Liam in the second of the Nitro Watchalong series and listen to them try to count how many blatant shots are fired at the opposition by the WCW commentary team, who makes ...
Nov 13, 2018•52 min•Ep. 25
World Championship Wrestling had its fair share of memorable MCs, whether it be the distinct voice of early WCW era compere Gary Michael Capetta, voice of six years of weekly live television David Penzer or the legendary part-time contributor Michael Buffer. And after 22 episodes of sidebars talking about such a vital aspect of a wrestling company, Dean and Liam have finally taken the time to put the unheralded microphone maestros under the microscope. Not only that, but Mr. Penzer himself very ...
Oct 30, 2018•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 24
It's only taken us four Halloween Havocs to actually publish an episode looking at one in the actual build-up to Halloween, but here we are - and what a Havoc it is. For some twisted reason, 'Dominator' Stu Allen of British promotion EWW thought it would be a laugh to rewatch the PPV featuring the infamous Chamber of Horrors match in celebration of his company's upcoming 20th anniversary. But as Dean and Liam explain, some of the things taking place behind the scenes at WCW around this time made...
Oct 15, 2018•1 hr 46 min•Season 1Ep. 23
