The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro DVD Review

The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro DVD Review

After the amazing success of my Clash of the Champions DVD Review , I am definitely going to go with your requests from now on and this was a request that someone asked for , as it brought good memories back . Obviously I was too young to remember any of this , but I still love experiencing new wrestling moments for myself .

As usual , I will only grade the matches , but obviously my overall rating for the set will include how good I thought the non-wrestling segments were . Ok lets get started !

DDP is the host and does a very good job of it .



Disc 1 Matches :



Brian Pillman vs Jushin Liger
The very first match in Nitro's history , and a great choice considering that it features two fantastic athletes . A very good match to debut a groundbreaking show for the 90s . Brian rolls up Jushin to win the match . ***1/4



Hulk Hogan vs Big Bubba
Big Bubba is , of course , also known as Big Boss Man . This was the main event of the first Nitro , so it's pretty historic . This is just the usual Hogan match that everyone is used to and has seen before . Boot , leg drop , match over . *1/4



Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson
This was a very entertaining tag team match , and the crowd was really into it . Hogan and Savage are able to win the match with Hogan hulking up , and pinning Anderson with the leg drop . Good tag action here . ***



Road Warriors vs Sting & Lex Luger
The tag titles are on the line in this one . Big LOD chant for the Road Warriors . Luger & Sting retain , after Luger hits Animal with a steel object . Sting isn't very happy with the result . Good match though . **3/4



Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay : Parking Lot Brawl
Strange to see Finlay with long hair . Stiff stuff , but why would you expect less from two old school-style grapplers ? The piledriver on the car was sick . Steven Regal picks up the victory . ***  for something a little different .



Eddie Guerrero vs Ric Flair
I always found it surprising that these two had as much chemistry as they did . They usually had good matches with each other and this is a good example . A nice , long battle here . Flair pins Eddie with the figure four . ***1/2


Scott Hall's debut shown .


Kevin Nash's debut shown .



Harlem Heat vs Steiner Brothers vs Sting & Lex Luger
I've said it before and I'll say it again : I love these multi-man types of matches . Tag titles are on the line . Entertaining tag match , that shows off the tag teams of WCW at the time . Booker T pins Luger to win the tag titles . **1/4



Sting & Lex Luger vs The Outsiders
At the start of the match , Sting didn't appear , but then suddenly came down to aid Luger about 20 seconds later . Not sure why . More of a brawl than a match as it ends in a no contest as the the locker room comes running out . *



Rey Mysterio vs Dean Malenko 
Two fantastic cruiserweights going at it . Unsurprisingly , this was a good match , it's just a shame it had a shitty crowd that didn't know good wrestling . Unfortunately the time limit for the match expires , very good stuff though . ***1/4



Other Segments included are :


nWo is Taking Over

nWo Awoke a Sleeping Giant

The Outsiders Attack WCW Superstars

nWo Takes Over

"Sting" Attacks Lex Luger

Sting Walks Out on Nitro

Roddy Piper Confronts Bischoff


Disc 1 Special Features :


Rey Mysterio vs Mr JL
Mr JL is also a luchador . I've never heard of him before . Nice to have another cruiserweight match here . Unfortunately , the nWo spraypainting a truck is more important . Mysterio pins JL to win . Match was about  **3/4



Disc 2 :



Diamond Dallas Page vs Mark Starr
This is basically just a squash match to show off DDP . He hits the diamond cutter for the win . After the match , The Outsiders try to get DDP to join them but instead he hits Hall with a diamond cutter . SQUASH



Rey Mysterio vs Syxx
Everyone knows Syxx as either the 123 Kid or X-Pac . Another entertaining cruiserweight match on this set . Kevin Nash interferes and gives Rey a jacknife and Syxx takes advantage to gain the win . **1/2



Lex Luger vs Hollywood Hogan
The World Heavyweight Championship is on the line in this bout . I think this was the 100th episode of Nitro and so they had this pretty big main event . The match itself wasn't too good though , but Luger winning the title was a cool moment . Luger puts Hogan in the torture rack to win . *1/4



Diamond Dallas Page vs Buff Bagwell 
Bagwell has Virgil .... sorry Vincent with him at ringside . The match was enjoyable while it lasted but it wasn't too good . DDP hits the diamond cutter for the victory . **



Randy Savage vs Sting
Two of the best from the 80s and 90s going at it . Sting's entrance is pretty damn long . The match wasn't as good as I thought it would have been . Hogan interferes to end the match in a DQ . *1/2




Goldberg vs Hulk Hogan
I still can't believe this wasn't a PPV match . You had the undefeated Goldberg going against Hogan for the championship in front of a hometown crowd of 40,000 . They could have made a lot of money out of this one . Goldberg hits the jackhammer to a huge pop from the crowd . Great moment . **1/2



Kevin Nash & Sting vs Scott Hall & The Giant
This is for the tag team titles , and this is the first mention of the Wolfpac on the DVD . The crowd was really into this one . Hall is able to get the pinfall on Sting to win the tag titles . Nice match . **1/2



Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho
These two guys would go on to have some amazing matches about a decade later in the WWE . Jericho has Juventud's mask around his neck as he enters the ring . This was another awesome match between the two as Mysterio gets the win with a pin . ***3/4



Billy Kidman vs Juventud Guerrera
Good to have another cruiserweight match here , as the cruiserweight title is on the line . I prefer Juventud with the mask on to be honest . As the match went on , the fans really got into it . Great stuff here . Kidman hits the shooting star press to win the title . ***3/4



Bret Hart vs Diamond Dallas Page
Always glad to see Bret and the US title is on the line . Never seen these two go one-on-one before so it should be good . And yes this was a good match . Page hits the diamond cutter out of nowhere to win the title . ***



Ric Flair vs Eric Bischoff
This was for control of WCW . This was basically Eric getting his ass kicked by Flair . Flair locks in the figure four for the submission . Pretty fun . SQUASH


Other segments on the disc include :


Harvey Schiller Suspends Eric Bischoff

Sting Attacks nWo

nWo Mocks the Four Horsemen

Sting Saves DDP From nWo

Jericho's 1004 Holds

Ric Flair Returns to the Four Horsemen




Disc 3 Matches :



Kevin Nash vs Hollywood Hogan 
Ah yes , the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom . The same night that WWE had the highest ratings thanks to Mankind winning the title , WCW decided to show this shit . Perhaps the worst title change ever ? This easily gets the DUD rating .



Sting vs Diamond Dallas Page 
I've heard great things about this match and it usually gets a four star rating , so I'm definitely looking forward to this one . The workrate here was awesome and the fans were hot for Sting . Oh yeah this is a fantastic match . Back and forth these guys go when Sting hits the scorpion death drop to win the title . What a match !  ****1/4



Eddie Guerrero vs Juventud Guerrera
Some more cruiserweight action coming up . This was shortly after Eddie's near-fatal car accident . Another good cruiserweight match here . Eddie hits a big spinning neckbreaker and follows with a frog splash to win the bout . ***



Sting / Goldberg / Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash / Sid Vicious / Rick Steiner
A lot of star power in this tag match . Hogan has his red and yellow back on . I never knew he went back to that after he joined the nWo . This one was an absolute ton of fun , and the fans loved it . Nash passes out to give the good guys the win . **3/4



Billy Kidman vs Diamond Dallas Page
DDP wants to teach Kidman some respect here . Kidman gets the upset win with a roll through . This match was DDP kicking the crap out of Kidman and Kidman getting a lucky pin . 1/2*



Goldberg vs Bret Hart
The World Heavyweight Title is on the line . Goldberg would be the one that ended the Hitman's career with a kick to the head , but that was a different match . Lots of interference in this one . For some reason there was no DQ . Hart said he hated this bullshit in WCW . I'll give the match  *1/2



Kevin Nash vs Sid Vicious 
This is for the World Heavyweight Title . I have a feeling that this one's gonna suck . Lets see if my psychic powers work . Hey what do you know , I was right ! Sid hits Nash with a guitar to win the title . 1/2*



Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett
Jeff is accompanied by Vince Russo . Two guys who should have never been World champ . A five minute cage match ? Really ? Whatever . DDP hits the diamond cutter to become the new world champ . *



3 Count vs Jung Dragons : Ladder Match
For some reason a gold record is the prize . This lasted three minutes . Seriously ? Fuck that . Dragons win it . 1/4*




Booker T vs Lance Storm 
Not really sure why they put this in , since it's already in the Rise and Fall DVD . . The fans were really hot for this though and it was good while it lasted . Booker hits the bookend to retain . **1/2



Triple Cage War Games
The World Title is on the line here . Just not a very good match and I'll leave it at that . *


Sting vs Ric Flair 
Here we have the final match in WCW history . I think these two guys were the perfect pick for the final match . The same two guys that had a classic up against Wrestlemania IV . I'll give this match . **1/2


Other segments from the disc include :


Goldberg Spears the Hitman

The Bischoff & Russo Era Begins

Mr McMahon Buys WCW




8/10 . There are 33 (!) matches here . That alone makes the set worth a look . The post-match and non-match segments really add to the DVD as well . It's just a shame that the third disc had to suck , although ironically it did have the best match of the entire set . If you're a WCW fan and don't have this set , I think you should go and order it immediately .