WCW Monday Night Nitro

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''This article is about the TV show. For the 1997 video game based on the show, see [[WCW Nitro (Video Game)|WCW Nitro (video game)]].''
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| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#D8CEF6" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray; font-size:150%;" | <span style="color: #000000;">'''''WCW Monday Nitro'''''</span><br>
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| align="center" colspan=3 bgcolor="#A9BCF5" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray; font-size:135%;" |<span style="color #A9BCF5;">'''''WCW Monday Nitro'''''</span><br />
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|-
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| bgcolor=#ffffff align="center" colspan="2" | http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fe/WCWNitrologo1999.png/220px-WCWNitrologo1999.png<br>WCW Monday Nitro logo used from April 5, 1999 to March 26, 2001
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| bgcolor=#ffffff align="center" colspan="3" |
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| bgcolor=#D8CEF6 align="center" colspan="2" | '''Details'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Genre'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |[[Professional Wrestling|Professional wrestling]]
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|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Format'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Created by'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | Sports entertainment<br>Professional wrestling
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |[[Ted Turner]]<br>[[Eric Bischoff]]
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|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Created by'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Directed by'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | [[Ted Turner]]<br>[[Eric Bischoff]]
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |[[Craig Leathers]] (1995–1999, January–March 2001)<br>Rick Fansher (1999–April 2000)<br>Mike Miller (April-December 2000)
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|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Directed by'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Starring'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | Craig Leathers (1995–1999, 2001)<br>Rick Fansher (1999–2000)<br>Mike Miller (2000)
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |See [[List of World Championship Wrestling Alumni|World Championship Wrestling alumni]]
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Starring'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Opening theme'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | See [[List of World Championship Wrestling Alumni|World Championship Wrestling alumni]]
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |"Monday Night Nitro Theme/Mean Streets" by [[Jonathan Elias]] (September 4, 1995 – March 29, 1999)<br>"Adrenaline V.1" by Purity (April 5, 1999 – March 26, 2001)
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|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Opening theme'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Country of origin'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | "Purity V.3" (September 4, 1995-March 29, 1999)<br>"Adrenaline V.1" by Purity (April 5, 1999-March 26, 2001)
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |United States
|- valign="top"
|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Country of origin'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''{{tooltip|No.|Number}} of seasons'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | United States
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |6
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|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''No. of episodes'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''{{tooltip|No.|Number}} of episodes'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | [[List of WCW Monday Nitro episodes|286]]
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |288
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|- valign="top"
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| bgcolor=#D8CEF6 align="center" colspan="2" | '''Productions'''
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| bgcolor="#A9BCF5" align="center" colspan="3" |'''Production'''
|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Camera setup'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Production location(s)'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | Multicamera setup
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |Various locations in North America
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|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Running time'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Camera setup'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | 1 hour (September 4, 1995–May 20, 1996, April 28-May 19, 1997)<br>2 hours (May 27, 1996–April 21, 1997, May 26, 1997-January 19, 1998, January 3, 2000–March 26, 2001)<br>3 hours (January 26, 1998–December 27, 1999)
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |[[Multiple-Camera Setup|Multicamera setup]]
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|- valign="top"
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| bgcolor=#D8CEF6 align="center" colspan="2" | '''Broadcast'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Running time'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |1 hour (September 4, 1995 – May 20, 1996, April 28 – May 19, 1997, April 27, April 28, May 18, 1998)<br>2 hours (May 27, 1996 – April 21, 1997, May 26 – July 28, 1997, August 11, 1997 – January 19, 1998, January 3 – March 27, 2000, April 10, 2000 – March 26, 2001)<br>3 hours (August 4, September 1, December 22, 1997, January 26 – April 20, May 4, May 11, May 25, 1998 – May 3, 1999, May 17 – December 27, 1999)
|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Original channel'''
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| bgcolor=#A9BCF5 align="center" colspan="3" |'''Broadcast'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | [[TNT (TV Channel)|TNT]]
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|- valign="top"
|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Picture format'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Original channel'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | 480i (SDTV)
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |[[TNT (U.S. TV Network)|TNT]]
|- valign="top"
|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Original run'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Picture format'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | September 4, 1995 – March 26, 2001
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |[[480i]]
|- valign="top"
|- valign="top"
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| bgcolor=#D8CEF6 align="center" colspan="2" | '''Chronology'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Original run'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |September 4, 1995 –
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March 26, 2001
|- valign="top"
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''Related shows'''
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| bgcolor=#A9BCF5 align="center" colspan="3" |'''Chronology'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" | ''[[WCW Thunder]]''
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|- valign="top"
|- valign="top"
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| bgcolor=#D8CEF6 align="center" colspan="2" | '''External links'''
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| style="text-align: left;"|'''Related<br>shows'''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan= "2" |''[[WCW Thursday Night Thunder|WCW Thunder]]''
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| bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan="2" |
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| bgcolor=#A9BCF5 align="center" colspan="3" |'''Website'''
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'''''WCW Monday Nitro''''' was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by [[World Championship Wrestling (WCW)|World Championship Wrestling]], created by [[Ted Turner]] and [[Eric Bischoff]]. The show aired Monday nights on [[TNT (TV Channel)|TNT]], going head-to-head with the [[IWE|International Wrestling Federation]]'s (WWF) ''[[IWE Raw|Monday Night Raw]]'' from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001. Production ceased shortly after WCW was purchased by the IWF, now known as IWE.  
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'''''WCW Monday Nitro''''' (or simply '''''Nitro''''') is a [[Professional Wrestling|professional wrestling]] television program that was produced by [[World Championship Wrestling (WCW)|World Championship Wrestling]] and broadcast weekly every Monday night on [[TNT (U.S. TV Network)|TNT]] from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001, when WCW's assets were purchased by the WWF. For its entirety, the program went head-to-head with the [[IWE|International Wrestling Federation]]'s (IWF, now IWE) ''[[IWE Raw|Monday Night Raw]]''.
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The debut of ''Nitro'' began the [[Monday Night Wars]], a ratings battle between the IWF and WCW that lasted for almost six years and saw each company resort to cutthroat tactics to try to one-up the competition. In mid-1996, ''Nitro'' began to draw better ratings than ''Raw'' based on the strength of the [[New World Order|nWo]] storyline, a metafiction event built around the idea of former WWF wrestlers forming their own anarchist organization in order to take over WCW. ''Nitro'' continued to beat ''Raw'' for 84 consecutive weeks; as the nWo storyline grew stagnant, with wrestlers in the nWo consistently beating non-members, fan interest in the storyline waned, and Raw began to edge out ''Nitro'' in the ratings.  
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Created by [[Eric Bischoff]] and [[Ted Turner]], the debut of ''Nitro'' began the [[Monday Night Wars]], a television ratings battle between the IWF and WCW that saw each company resort to cutthroat tactics. Although comparable to ''Raw'' in popularity from the beginning, ''Nitro'' began to dominate its rival in television ratings, based largely on the strength of the [[New World Order (professional wrestling)|New World Order]] (nWo), a rebellious group of wrestlers that wanted to take over WCW. Beginning in June 1996, ''Nitro'' beat ''Raw'' in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks, forcing IWF owner [[Vince Matteson]] to usher in the more adult-oriented "[[Attitude Era]]".
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The turning point for the organizations came during the January 4, 1999 broadcast of ''Nitro'', during which lead commentator [[Tony Schiavone]] gave away the results of matches for that night's ''Raw'' broadcast, as it had been taped the night before; Bischoff believed that knowing the outcome would dissuade viewers from watching the program. Excited by the prospect of seeing perennial IWF underdog [[Mick Foley]] win the [[IWE Championship|IWF Championship]], a dramatic number of ''Nitro'' viewers changed channels to watch ''Raw''. From that week forward, Raw consistently beat out ''Nitro'' in the ratings by a significant amount, and ''Nitro'' was never able to regain the numbers it had once enjoyed.
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As the nWo storyline grew stagnant, fan interest waned and ''Raw'' began to close the ratings gap. In April 1998, a few weeks after [[Stone Cold Steve Johnson|Stone Cold Steve Austin]] won his first [[IWE Championship|IWF Championship]], ''Raw'' beat ''Nitro'' in the ratings for the first time in almost two years. The shows would continue to trade ratings wins back and forth until November 1998 when ''Raw'' pulled ahead of ''Nitro'' for good.
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Besides broadcasting from various arenas and locations across the country (such as the [[Mall of America]] in [[Bloomington, Minnesota]], from which the very first episode of ''Nitro'' was broadcast), ''Nitro'' also did special broadcasts from the Disney-MGM Studios in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] in 1996, and did annual ''Spring Break-Out'' episodes from [[Panama City Beach, Florida]] starting in March 1997. The rights to ''WCW Monday Nitro'' now belong to IWE.
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Besides broadcasting from various arenas and locations across the country (such as the [[Mall of America]] in suburban [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], from which the very first episode was broadcast), ''Nitro'' also did special broadcasts from the [[Disney's Hollywood Studios|Disney-MGM Studios]] in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] in 1996, and did annual ''Spring Break-Out'' episodes from [[Panama City Beach, Florida]] starting in March 1997. The rights to ''Nitro'' now belong to IWE.
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As of June 30, 2016, all episodes have been made available for streaming on the [[IWE Network]]. IWE has also released three ''Best of WCW Monday Nitro'' [[DVD]] sets.
==First episode==
==First episode==
==Monday Night Wars==
==Monday Night Wars==
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<blockquote>''Main article: [[Monday Night Wars]]''</blockquote>
 
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===Initial success===
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=== Initial success ===
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[[File:NWo WM31.jpg|thumb|The [[New World Order (professional wrestling)|nWo]] ([[Kevin Nash]], [[Hulk Hogan|Hollywood Hogan]] and [[Scott Cummins|Scott Hall]]) were responsible for ratings success]]
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====United Kingdom====
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=== ''Raw'' gains ground ===
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====Eric Bischoff's on-camera role====
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=== Changes ===
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===''Raw'' gains ground===
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====The D-X/Norfolk, Virginia incident====
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===Changes===
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====January 4, 1999 broadcast====
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====Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara====
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==Notable episodes==
==Notable episodes==
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|-
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! Episode Title
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!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Episode Title
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! Date
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!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Date
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! Rating
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!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Rating
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! Note
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!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Note
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|-
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|''[[WCW Monday Night Nitro (September 4, 1995)|WCW Monday Nitro]]''
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|''WCW Monday Nitro''
|September 4, 1995
|September 4, 1995
|2.5
|2.5
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|First episode of ''Nitro''. ''See above for more information.''
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|First episode of ''Nitro''. ''See above for more information.''|}
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|-
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|''[[NWO Monday Night Nitro (December 22, 1997)|nWo Monday Nitro]]''
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|December 22, 1997
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|3.5
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|The nWo organized a complete takeover of ''Nitro'' six days before [[WCW Starrcade (1997)|Starrcade]].
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|-
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|''[[WCW WarGames 2000|WarGames 2000]]''
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|September 4, 2000
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|3.6
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|On the fifth anniversary of the premiere, a [[WarGames match]] took place in a three-tiered cage between two teams for the world championship.  Kevin Nash retained the title.
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|-
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|''The [[WCW Night of Champions (2001)|Night of Champions]]''
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|March 26, 2001
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|3.0
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|Final episode of ''Nitro''. WCW is purchased by the [[IWE|IWF]]. ''See below for more information.''
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|}
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===The Night of Champions – Final broadcast===
===The Night of Champions – Final broadcast===
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==Other notable moments==
==Other notable moments==
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==IWE Classics On Demand / IWE Home Video==
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==IWE home media and streaming==
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==On-air personalities==
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== On-air personalities ==
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===Commentary teams===
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=== Commentary teams ===
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{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 200px; style="font-size: 95%; "
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[[File:Tony Schiavone with Paul Billet (cropped).jpg|thumb|Longtime ''Nitro'' commentator [[Tony Schiavone]]]]
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! Commentators || Dates
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{|border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #FCFDFF; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
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!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Commentators
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!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"| Dates
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|-
|Eric Bischoff, [[Bobby Heenan]] and [[Steve McMichael]]  
|Eric Bischoff, [[Bobby Heenan]] and [[Steve McMichael]]  
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|September 4, 1995 - May 13, 1996 (1st hour)
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|September 4, 1995&nbsp;– May 13, 1996 (1st hour)
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|-
|[[Tony Schiavone]] and [[Larry Zbyszko]]*
|[[Tony Schiavone]] and [[Larry Zbyszko]]*
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|May 27, 1996 – July 29, 1996 (1st hour)<br/>August 5, 1996 – August 18, 1997 (1st hour)
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|May 27, 1996&nbsp;– July 29, 1996 (1st hour)<br>August 5, 1996&nbsp;– April 21, 1997 (1st hour)
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|-
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|Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Larry Zbyszko
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|April 28, 1997&nbsp;– May 19, 1997 (1st hour)
|-
|-
|Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan*
|Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan*
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|May 20, 1996 &nbsp;– June 10, 1996 (1st hour/2nd hour)<br/>July 1, 1996 - July 22, 1996 (2nd hour)<br/>August 5, 1996 – August 26, 1996 (2nd hour)
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|May 20, 1996 &nbsp;– June 10, 1996 (1st hour/2nd hour)<br/>July 1, 1996&nbsp;– July 22, 1996 (2nd hour)<br>August 5, 1996&nbsp;– August 26, 1996 (2nd hour)
|-
|-
|Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff
|Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff
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|Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and [[Mike Tenay]]*
|Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and [[Mike Tenay]]*
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|September 2, 1996&nbsp;– October 28, 1996 (2nd hour)<br/>November 11, 1996 - November 18, 1996 (2nd hour)
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|September 2, 1996&nbsp;– October 28, 1996 (2nd hour)<br>November 11, 1996&nbsp;– November 18, 1996 (2nd hour)
|-
|-
|Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko*  
|Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko*  
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|August 25, 1997&nbsp;– March 29, 1999 (1st hour/1st-2nd hour)
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|May 26, 1997&nbsp;– July 28, 1997 (1st hour)<br>August 11, 1997&nbsp;– March 29, 1999 (1st hour/1st-2nd hour)
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|Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay**
|Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay**
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|November 4, 1996 (2nd hour)<br/>November 25, 1996&nbsp;– March 29, 1999 (2nd hour/3rd hour)<br/>December 20, 1999&nbsp;– January 24, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
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|November 4, 1996 (2nd hour)<br>November 25, 1996&nbsp;– March 29, 1999 (2nd hour/3rd hour)<br>August 4, 1997 (2nd hour-3rd hour) <br>December 20, 1999&nbsp;– January 24, 2000 (1st/2nd hour-3rd hour)
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|Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan
|Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan
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|June 17, 1996&nbsp;– June 24, 1996 (2nd hour)<br/>April 5, 1999&nbsp;– July 12, 1999 (1st-3rd hour)<br/>August 9, 1999&nbsp;– December 13, 1999 (1st-3rd hour)
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|June 17, 1996&nbsp;– June 24, 1996 (2nd hour)<br>April 5, 1999&nbsp;– July 12, 1999 (1st-3rd hour)<br>August 9, 1999&nbsp;– December 13, 1999 (1st-3rd hour)
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|Scott Hudson and Bobby Heenan
|Scott Hudson and Bobby Heenan
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|-
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|Tony Schiavone and Mark Madden
|Tony Schiavone and Mark Madden
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|February 7, 2000&nbsp;– March 27, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br/> August 28, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
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|February 7, 2000&nbsp;– March 27, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br> August 28, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
|-
|-
|Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Mark Madden
|Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Mark Madden
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|April 10, 2000&nbsp;– July 10, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br/>July 24, 2000&nbsp;– August 21, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br/>September 18, 2000&nbsp;– October 2, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br/>October 30, 2000&nbsp;– November 6, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br/>November 20, 2000 - December 4, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br/>December 18, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
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|April 10, 2000&nbsp;– July 10, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br>July 24, 2000&nbsp;– August 21, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br>September 18, 2000&nbsp;– October 2, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br>October 30, 2000&nbsp;– November 6, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br>November 20, 2000&nbsp;– December 4, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br>December 18, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
|-
|-
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|Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and [[Lane Huffman|Stevie Ray]]
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|Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and [[Robert Layne|Stevie Ray]]
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|July 18, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br/>October 9, 2000 – October 23, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
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|July 18, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)<br>October 9, 2000&nbsp;– October 23, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
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|-
|Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and [[Jeremy Borash]]
|Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and [[Jeremy Borash]]
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|September 4, 2000 - September 11, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
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|September 4, 2000&nbsp;– September 11, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
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|-
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| Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Stevie Ray
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|Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Stevie Ray
|November 13, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
|November 13, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
|-
|-
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| Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Stevie Ray
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|Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Stevie Ray
|December 12, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
|December 12, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
|-
|-
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|Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and [[Glenn Gilberte|Disco Inferno]]
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|Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and [[Glenn <!--Johnny--> Gasperecz (wrestler)|Disqo]]
|January 8, 2001 (1st-2nd hour)
|January 8, 2001 (1st-2nd hour)
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|January 15, 2001&nbsp;– March 26, 2001 (1st-2nd hour)
|January 15, 2001&nbsp;– March 26, 2001 (1st-2nd hour)
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|}
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(*)&nbsp;– Starting with the May 27, 1996 edition of ''Nitro'', which came after a week off due to the [[NBA on TNT|NBA Playoffs on TNT]], ''Nitro'' started using two broadcast teams for the show. Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko would call the first hour of the ''Nitro'' from ringside, and Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan would take over from their booth near the set at the top of the second hour. Starting in September 1996, Mike Tenay became a color commentator for both hours of ''Nitro'', calling the first hour with Schiavone and Zbyszko and the second hour with Bischoff and Heenan. Usually Tenay would call the first hour from the broadcast booth separate from Schiavone and Zbyzsko's table at ringside, while he called the second hour with Bischoff and Heenan in the booth.
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(*)&nbsp;– Starting with the May 27, 1996 episode of ''Nitro'', which came after a week off due to the [[NBA on TNT|NBA Playoffs on TNT]], ''Nitro'' started using two broadcast teams for the show. Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko would call the first hour of ''Nitro'' from ringside, and Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan would take over from their booth near the set at the top of the second hour. Starting in September 1996, Mike Tenay became a color commentator for both hours of ''Nitro'', calling the first hour with Schiavone and Zbyszko and the second hour with Bischoff and Heenan. Usually Tenay would call the first hour from the broadcast booth separate from Schiavone and Zbyzsko's table at ringside, while he called the second hour with Bischoff and Heenan in the booth.
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(**) – After Eric Bischoff joined the nWo and took on a more prominent on-screen authority figure role, Schiavone replaced Bischoff in the second hour of ''Nitro'', thus making him the lone play-by-play commentator for the show. Unlike Tenay, Schiavone called the first hour from ringside and would call the second hour in the booth alongside Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay. Schiavone did that until the broadcast table at ringside was done away with on the December 9, 1996 edition of ''Nitro''. WCW, though, would eventually move the announcers back to ringside when the new ''Nitro'' set was debuted on April 5, 1999.
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(**) - After Eric Bischoff joined the nWo and took on a more prominent on-screen authority figure role, Schiavone replaced Bischoff in the second hour of ''Nitro'', thus making him the lone play-by-play commentator for the show. Unlike Tenay, Schiavone called the first hour from ringside and would call the second hour in the booth alongside Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay. Schiavone did that until the broadcast table at ringside was done away with on the December 9, 1996 edition of ''Nitro'' (WCW, though, would eventually move the announcers back to ringside when the new ''Nitro'' set was debuted on April 5, 1999)
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=== Ring announcers ===
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* [[David Penzer]] (September 4, 1995 – March 26, 2001)
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* [[Michael Buffer]] (select main events only, May 12, 1997 – March 26, 2001)
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===Ring announcers===
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== See also ==
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*[[David Penzer]] (September 4, 1995–March 26, 2001)
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* [[1996 in American television|1996 in American Television]]
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*[[Michael Buffer]] (Select main events only, May 12, 1997–March 26, 2001)
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* [[Nitro Girls]]
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* [[WCW Thursday Night Thunder|WCW Thunder]]
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==See also==
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== References ==
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*[[Nitro Girls]]
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*[[World Championship Wrestling (WCW)|World Championship Wrestling]]
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*[[WCW Thunder]]
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==References==
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== External links ==
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==External links==
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{{WCW programs}}
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{{TNTShows}}

Revision as of 08:19, 5 March 2019

This article is about the TV show. For the 1997 video game based on the show, see WCW Nitro (video game).

WCW Monday Nitro
Genre Professional wrestling
Created by Ted Turner
Eric Bischoff
Directed by Craig Leathers (1995–1999, January–March 2001)
Rick Fansher (1999–April 2000)
Mike Miller (April-December 2000)
Starring See World Championship Wrestling alumni
Opening theme "Monday Night Nitro Theme/Mean Streets" by Jonathan Elias (September 4, 1995 – March 29, 1999)
"Adrenaline V.1" by Purity (April 5, 1999 – March 26, 2001)
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 288
Production
Production location(s) Various locations in North America
Camera setup Multicamera setup
Running time 1 hour (September 4, 1995 – May 20, 1996, April 28 – May 19, 1997, April 27, April 28, May 18, 1998)
2 hours (May 27, 1996 – April 21, 1997, May 26 – July 28, 1997, August 11, 1997 – January 19, 1998, January 3 – March 27, 2000, April 10, 2000 – March 26, 2001)
3 hours (August 4, September 1, December 22, 1997, January 26 – April 20, May 4, May 11, May 25, 1998 – May 3, 1999, May 17 – December 27, 1999)
Broadcast
Original channel TNT
Picture format 480i
Original run September 4, 1995 –

March 26, 2001

Chronology
Related
shows 		WCW Thunder
Website

WCW Monday Nitro (or simply Nitro) is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001, when WCW's assets were purchased by the WWF. For its entirety, the program went head-to-head with the International Wrestling Federation's (IWF, now IWE) Monday Night Raw.

Created by Eric Bischoff and Ted Turner, the debut of Nitro began the Monday Night Wars, a television ratings battle between the IWF and WCW that saw each company resort to cutthroat tactics. Although comparable to Raw in popularity from the beginning, Nitro began to dominate its rival in television ratings, based largely on the strength of the New World Order (nWo), a rebellious group of wrestlers that wanted to take over WCW. Beginning in June 1996, Nitro beat Raw in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks, forcing IWF owner Vince Matteson to usher in the more adult-oriented "Attitude Era".

As the nWo storyline grew stagnant, fan interest waned and Raw began to close the ratings gap. In April 1998, a few weeks after Stone Cold Steve Austin won his first IWF Championship, Raw beat Nitro in the ratings for the first time in almost two years. The shows would continue to trade ratings wins back and forth until November 1998 when Raw pulled ahead of Nitro for good.

Besides broadcasting from various arenas and locations across the country (such as the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, from which the very first episode was broadcast), Nitro also did special broadcasts from the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando in 1996, and did annual Spring Break-Out episodes from Panama City Beach, Florida starting in March 1997. The rights to Nitro now belong to IWE.

As of June 30, 2016, all episodes have been made available for streaming on the IWE Network. IWE has also released three Best of WCW Monday Nitro DVD sets.

Contents

First episode

Monday Night Wars

Initial success

File:NWo WM31.jpg
The nWo (Kevin Nash, Hollywood Hogan and Scott Hall) were responsible for ratings success

Raw gains ground

Changes

Notable episodes

Episode Title Date Rating Note
WCW Monday Nitro September 4, 1995 2.5 }

The Night of Champions – Final broadcast

Results

Other notable moments

IWE home media and streaming

On-air personalities

Commentary teams

File:Tony Schiavone with Paul Billet (cropped).jpg
Longtime Nitro commentator Tony Schiavone
Commentators Dates
Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and Steve McMichael September 4, 1995 – May 13, 1996 (1st hour)
Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko* May 27, 1996 – July 29, 1996 (1st hour)
August 5, 1996 – April 21, 1997 (1st hour)
Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Larry Zbyszko April 28, 1997 – May 19, 1997 (1st hour)
Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan* May 20, 1996  – June 10, 1996 (1st hour/2nd hour)
July 1, 1996 – July 22, 1996 (2nd hour)
August 5, 1996 – August 26, 1996 (2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff July 29, 1996 (2nd hour)
Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay* September 2, 1996 – October 28, 1996 (2nd hour)
November 11, 1996 – November 18, 1996 (2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko* May 26, 1997 – July 28, 1997 (1st hour)
August 11, 1997 – March 29, 1999 (1st hour/1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay** November 4, 1996 (2nd hour)
November 25, 1996 – March 29, 1999 (2nd hour/3rd hour)
August 4, 1997 (2nd hour-3rd hour)
December 20, 1999 – January 24, 2000 (1st/2nd hour-3rd hour)
Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan June 17, 1996 – June 24, 1996 (2nd hour)
April 5, 1999 – July 12, 1999 (1st-3rd hour)
August 9, 1999 – December 13, 1999 (1st-3rd hour)
Scott Hudson and Bobby Heenan July 19, 1999 – August 2, 1999 (1st-3rd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Mark Madden January 31, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone and Mark Madden February 7, 2000 – March 27, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
August 28, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Mark Madden April 10, 2000 – July 10, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
July 24, 2000 – August 21, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
September 18, 2000 – October 2, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
October 30, 2000 – November 6, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
November 20, 2000 – December 4, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
December 18, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and Stevie Ray July 18, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
October 9, 2000 – October 23, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and Jeremy Borash September 4, 2000 – September 11, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Stevie Ray November 13, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Stevie Ray December 12, 2000 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and Disqo January 8, 2001 (1st-2nd hour)
Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson January 15, 2001 – March 26, 2001 (1st-2nd hour)

(*) – Starting with the May 27, 1996 episode of Nitro, which came after a week off due to the NBA Playoffs on TNT, Nitro started using two broadcast teams for the show. Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko would call the first hour of Nitro from ringside, and Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan would take over from their booth near the set at the top of the second hour. Starting in September 1996, Mike Tenay became a color commentator for both hours of Nitro, calling the first hour with Schiavone and Zbyszko and the second hour with Bischoff and Heenan. Usually Tenay would call the first hour from the broadcast booth separate from Schiavone and Zbyzsko's table at ringside, while he called the second hour with Bischoff and Heenan in the booth.

(**) – After Eric Bischoff joined the nWo and took on a more prominent on-screen authority figure role, Schiavone replaced Bischoff in the second hour of Nitro, thus making him the lone play-by-play commentator for the show. Unlike Tenay, Schiavone called the first hour from ringside and would call the second hour in the booth alongside Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay. Schiavone did that until the broadcast table at ringside was done away with on the December 9, 1996 edition of Nitro. WCW, though, would eventually move the announcers back to ringside when the new Nitro set was debuted on April 5, 1999.

Ring announcers

See also

References

External links

Template:WCW programs Template:TNTShows

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