September 4, 1995

Lex Luger Returns To WCW After A 4 Year Hiatus In The Defunct WBF and the WWF. He had been with the WWF just the month before teaming with Davey Boy Smith

Live from the Mall of America in Minnesota:

Your first-ever set of Nitro hosts are Eric Bishoff, Bobby "The Brain Heenan, and Steve "Mongo" McMichal.

1. Brian Pillman pinned Jushin Liger. COMMENTS: Nitro's very first match was decent. Liger landed a somersault splash from the ring apron at one point. RATING: ** TIME: 8:00

2. Sting fought Ric Flair to a double-DQ so Sting retains the US Heavyweight Title. HIGHLIGHTS: Lex Luger decided to make an appearance at ringside, fans started to chant "Luger." At 9:00, Arn appeared at ringside. At 11:00, Flair went after Sting's leg. Afterwards, Flair and Arn Anderson brawled with each other. RATING: **1/4 TIME: 11:00

CLASH: Scott Norton clashes first with announcer Steve McMichael and then with Randy Savage. The WCW Boys in Blue break up the situation.

CLIPS: Sabu's first appearance in WCW is an excellent video with Sabu beating up several jobbers.

CONTEST WINNER: Mike Hill of Cullman, Alabama wins the Harley Davidson that WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan was giving away.

WCWSN PROMO: Johnny B. Badd is set to face Dick Slater and the Blue Bloods to face Sting & Randy Savage on WCWSN this weekend.

INTERVIEW: Michael Wallstreet gives a prerecorded interview dissing the WWF "New Generation" slogan. Wallstreet concluded, "This is the generation of the few."

3. Hulk Hogan pinned Big Bubba Rodgers (The Big Boss Man) to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title. HIGHLIGHTS: Bubba dominated until the traditional Hulk-Up at 6:30. Hogan wins with the Legdrop of Doom. POSTMATCH: The Dungeon of Doom attacks Hogan with Luger making the save. Finally, Luger and Hogan agree to a WCW World Title match for next week's Nitro. RATING: 1/2* TIME: 7:00

OVERALL: An OK show with plenty of surprises, especially Lex Luger's appearance. Look for a screwjob on next week's Nitro.

1995 WCW FallBrawl: Vader Goes AWOL

September 10, 1995

Vader was to have teamed up with these legends at Fall Brawl, but left WCW after an altercation with Paul Orndoff

By Scott Keith (WrestleLine/WrestleManiacs)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Main Event pre-game show that WCW used before the PPV. Much like Heat these days, WCW used to use their Sunday afternoon show as a lead-in, and in this case we got a "classic" angle, as Hogan (with 10 or 12 planted actors posing as fans) was doing an interview with Mean Gene outside, sitting on his Harley. However, that mean, nasty, stinking, wart-infested Giant drove up in his monster truck and (with the help of about 5 different camera angles) crushed the innocent motorcycle. Then he leaned out of the window and made faces at Hogan like a crack junkie coming off a particularly bad batch. Anyway, later on the show is somewhat redeemed by a pretty good debut for Eddy Guerrero as he faces Alex Wright.

Live from Asheville, North Carolina.

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan.

Opening match: Brian Pillman v. Johnny B. Badd

Badd's character seems have to gotten all the gay out of his system by this point,