All language subtitles for WWEs.Greatest.Moments.S03E05.WCW.Monday.Nitro.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-Kitsune_track3_[eng]

Welcome to WCW
Monday Nitro.

Live,
cutting-edge, controversial.

This is where the
big boys play, huh?

The program that
fired the first shots

of the Monday night ratings war.

We've got a new
champion.

Monday Nitro was
the preeminent showcase for WCW

stars, who played host to many
of the most unpredictable,

chaotic moments in WCW history.

You want a war?

Today, we look
back on some of the wildest hits

from WCW Monday Nitro.

This is WWE's Greatest Moments.

If you smell--

Oh, my God, what

the hell are you doing?

Absolutely
unbelievable.

Hulkamania
is here.

Welcome, everyone,
to WWE's Greatest Moments.

I'm Michael Cole, and on this
edition,

we're taking a look at the show
that began a war.

The Monday night war that is.

For two years, WWE
dominated Mondays with their

barrier-breaking program, Monday
Night Raw.

The very first primetime
wrestling show ever.

But in the fall of 1995, their
unopposed reign

atop Monday nights
was threatened.

WCW announced plans for their
very own live wrestling show,

Monday Nitro.

Now, why I
wanted to go up

against the competition?

Because I like kicking butt.

With such a brash
announcement,

WCW knew that it had to hit a
home run with

the debut edition, and boy,
was that an understatement.

Minneapolis,
Minnesota,

the Mall of America,

the only building big enough

to hold the debut edition of
WCW Monday Nitro.

At that time, WWE was
live one week, taped the next.

So, I thought somebody needs to
do live every week.

That's going to be me.

So much going on here in
World Championship Wrestling,

WCW, where the big boys play.

The first time
I heard about Nitro going

head-to-head with us, I thought
they were crazy.

"We're going to compete, let's
go.

We're going to fight, let's go
fight."

The one thing
that I took away from all the

research we did across the
country

was that fans like surprises.

What in the hell is he
doing here?

I was the surprise
guy at the very end walking out.

I just wrestled that weekend in
WWE.

It really helped set us
up for great success because

there was already controversy.

Well, you said
things were going to happen

every Monday night, Bischoff,
and it's happening.

In the mid-1990s,
Alundra Blayze

was the premier female
talent in WWE.

What a
competitor, what an athlete,

and what a fine young lady.

But Alundra would
leave WWE to join the rival,

WCW, as her previous alias,
Madusa.

While she may have left behind
the Alundra Blayze moniker,

Madusa made sure not to leave
behind something else.

Alundra Blayze,
the WWF Women's Champion-

Something's
happened within the company.

Vince made a decision.

"Alundra, we've got to let you
go."

She let me know
that she was leaving WWE.

And she said, "Oh, by the way,

I still have the WWE Women's
Championship."

"Hmm," I said to myself.

"Bring it with.

We'll figure it out."

He's excited
about--

This is the WWF
Women's Championship belt.

Whoa.

Whoa.

Wait a minute, what?

Look.

That indeed it is.

Not in the trash
can.

When I made the
decision to drop the title in

the trash can, it was an iconic
moment.

It started the Monday night war.

Because this is where the big
boys play,

and now this is where the
big girls play.

It was very
personal to us, and it was

clearly a decision, you know, to
try to divide the audience,

and they were successful.

I tell you what,
I'm in shock.

"Oh, I can't bel-- You dropped
the Women's Champion

in the garbage?"

I said, "Sure did."

Wanted to make a statement.

It was a big moment.

Sting was one of
the most beloved superstars

in WCW history.

With his All-American nature,
Sting appealed to fans around

the globe, cementing himself as
WCW's main event hero.

One, two, three.

One- Oh, we got a
new champion.

But in 1996,
Sting ditched the bleached

blonde hair and signature scream
for a more dark, ominous look.

Among sold-out crowds for Nitro
each week, Sting would often be

seen hanging from the rafters,
quietly observing the actions of

his foes, the New World Order-

Somewhere here
in the arena--

There is Sting.

as week in and
week out, they threatened the

existence of WCW, the company
that Sting helped build.

But in January 1997, Sting
ditched the rafters for the ring

in a moment that shocked fans
around the world.

He's got a chair,
and he's daring anybody.

It's going to take either a
massed physical effort

to get this show going here.

What do we have here?

What the heck?

That's Sting
from the top

of the United Center.

When Sting
dropped down the very first time

on Nitro, it'd never been
attempted before.

Now, we had a stunt coordinator
that was working with us.

It's like The
Venom.

People went crazy
because they've been up there

for 15 weeks before that.

I focused on
being different than the WWE

in as many ways as possible.

To have him come down,
something new in the business.

Just kind of like this
lone wolf vigilante guy that

came out, and you never knew
what was going to happen.

Boy, talking about
a game of chess.

Sting kind of
repelling down from out

of nowhere was just really
consistent with the way

I saw that character.

That's when WCW
stopped thinking wrestling

and started thinking
entertainment.

20 stories up.

That was quite a
sight.

Dennis Rodman is
perhaps the most colorful,

enigmatic star in NBA history.

With his unique look and
unbridled charisma,

The Worm was right at home in
professional wrestling.

The newest
member of the nWo.

Known for marching
to the beat of his own drum,

Rodman's off-court activities
often took precedence

over basketball.

And in 1998, while firmly
entrenched with his Chicago

Bulls in the NBA finals--

Rodman found himself
wrestling

with something other
than basketball.

The World Champion,
"Hollywood" Hogan,

and would you--

Dennis Rodman is here at
the Palace of Auburn

Hills tonight for Nitro?

Dennis called me
and said,

"Hey, I can be at Nitro, Monday.

Do you want me to come?"

I didn't even think to ask him
if he had a game or not.

I'm feeling nothing but love for
Hollywood and Rodzilla.

You have no
choice but to love me, right?

With
Rodzilla in the house,

there won't be no stopping nWo
Hollywood-

Dennis Rodman
brought so many eyes to WCW.

He was fully invested.

This is 4-life, baby.

You know,
I got a bunch of calls

from Phil Jackson.

"Oh, we need him
here at practice."

"I can't make
him go back.

He doesn't
want to go.

He likes hanging out with the
wrestlers."

I love this.

This is life, right?

4-life forever, baby.

I knew that the
sports media followed his every

move, and I would get
advertising, quite frankly,

that I couldn't afford
to buy at that time.

Big news has been
Dennis Rodman.

On Monday, he didn't show up for
work.

Everything's
fine.

Did you
have a good time, sir?

Absolutely.

I always do.

And we did.

Boy, did we ever.

It worked out perfectly.

There are
some things worth missing

practice for, brother.

Oh.

By late 1997, the
Monday night war was in full

swing, and both WWE and WCW
pulled no punches in trying to

outdo the others for reigning
supremacy.

I have built the
most successful wrestling

organization on planet Earth.

Case in point,
Eric Bischoff, executive

producer of WCW, sought to use
the fact that Monday Night Raw

was a taped show to his
advantage.

WCW would often announce the
results of the taped Raw

episodes in an effort to
humiliate WWE.

Later tonight,
Mick Foley is going

to win their world title.

Ugh.

That's going to put some butts
in the seat.

Yeah.

With similar
intent, in November of 1997,

WCW had fans seeing double.

That's Rick
Rude.

It's time for
the Generation X.

Let's bring out
the man.

What's he
pointing at here.

Who's this?

I don't know.

I guess--

Oh, holy smokes,
Rick--

Rick Rude?

Because Monday
Night Raw was taped one week,

live the next week, Rick
happened to be on a taped

episode of Raw that went
head-to-head with my live show.

The audacity of
D-Generation X-

Coming out
of the woodwork, Rick Rude.

assaulting the
commissioner.

It's funny
because it was like, "He's going

to be on both shows because our
show is taped, where it is he's

going to show up live on our
show tonight."

Oh, what a
difference a day makes.

Sometimes in
war, you think nothing's

crossing the line, but I thought
that was a low one.

And it was obvious
to me to abandon the Titanic

and swim to the
refuge of the nWo.

It really
represented the peak

of competition between WCW
and WWE at that time.

It's what you
call taking

the bull by the horns.

I began with WWE
in 1997, right in the middle

of the famed 83 weeks, where the
revolutionary concepts

on Nitro were beating Raw in the
ratings on a weekly basis due

in no small part to when Eric
Bischoff created the nWo,

an outlaw group that was
attempting to take over WCW.

But one man refused the nWo's
advances at every turn,

the master of the Diamond
Cutter, Diamond Dallas Page.

nWo member "Macho Man" Randy
Savage took DDPs refusal

personally and sought to make
his life a living hell.

Spray
painting nWo on the back

of Diamond Dallas Page.

On July 7th, 1997,
the Macho Man took on the

luchador, La Parka-

From south of the border
in Mexico in La Parka.

in what was
supposed to be a tuneup match

but became anything but.

La Parka, he must face a
member of the nWo in

"The Macho Man"
Randy Savage.

We're all just under
the impression

that this is La Parka
doing his thing.

Wrestling the whole match.

One, two--

How about that roll up by La
Parka?

They take me and La
Parka.

I start talking like, "Teach me
how you do your gimmick."

It was so much fun just going
back and forth with him

and no one knew about this.

Did you see
that?

That's not in La
Parka's arsenal.

That's not something he does.

Incredible
maneuver.

He hit him with
the Diamond Cutter.

Did you see that?

That's not La Parka.

That's not La
Parka.

DDP.

He did such a
good job, and the audience

assumed it was La Parka.

I just know I loved it and it
paid off so well.

That is
incredible.

He pinned him, Diamond Dallas.

Throughout 1998,
Goldberg

was an unstoppable force in WCW.

The phenomenon
that is Bill Goldberg.

He piled up wins
with relative ease by utilizing

the most vicious move in his
arsenal.

There's the
Spear.

But new on the WCW
scene was former

five-time WWE Champion.

Bret "The
Hitman" Hart

has arrived to Nitro.

The Hitman no
doubt did his homework on the

menacing Goldberg.

I could beat
Goldberg in five minutes.

He was physically
outmatched, sure, but mentally?

I came to the
WCW to prove

that I can execute any

wrestler I want,
anytime I want.

During that time period when I
went to WCW,

it was a golden
opportunity for me.

William Goldberg, you big
chicken,

come out here and fight me.

And here's Goldberg, right?

I can take on a guy like that.

He was a beast.

Whoa.

Oh.

He nailed him.

Wait a minute.

Bret Hart us
down and out.

So is Goldberg.

Goldberg is not
moving either.

But it doesn't do the
damage that it should do.

What-what-- What's happening
here?

Bret Hart is the
only one moving here.

Goldberg was such a
monster.

He hit you with that Spear, you
was stunned.

You don't see Goldberg in that
position too often.

He's going to
try to pin.

One, two, three.

Oh.

Oh.

Ho, ho.

That's probably the best defense
for the Spear

that we've ever seen.

That's when I
realized that it was really

like the Wild Wild West.

Okay, go ahead and
respect that.

When Lex Luger
ignited the Money Night War on

the debut edition of Nitro in
1995,

he was looking for opportunity.

Unfortunately, several months
later, at Bash in the Beach, the

New World Order was formed, and
from that point on,

the nWo ran the industry, with
"Hollywood" Hogan

having a stranglehold on the WCW
World Championship.

Who is the
most powerful man

in professional wrestling?

I'm going to slap you
up in the rack and become

the new WCW World Heavyweight
Champion.

The Total Package
vowed to help put an end

to Hogan's tyrannical reign as
champion.

We are waiting
one of the biggest,

if not the biggest matchup
ever on Nitro.

Hogan was the
champ, but by the time we got to

to Auburn Hills,
Lex, he's red hot.

He will go after
the man who has set

the standard for world titles
in our sport, Hulk Hogan.

Here we go.

On the 100th program of Nitro.

What impact,
the running clothesline

in the corner.

nWo just ran
roughshod over everybody.

And no one thought they were
ever going to be stopped.

Think of the
attributes it takes

to become a champion.

Both of them have it right
there.

People come to me all
the time.

I was there that night, man.

It was unbelievable.

Hogan on the attack.

Oh.

Oh, there's his
Leg Drop.

That's it.

That's it.

Cover.

One, two and-- He kicked out.

The audience
liked the idea of surprises.

Got him now.

They're standing in Detroit.

Yes.

He's got him in
the Rack.

He's got him in the Rack.

Hogan says--

Hogan says yes.

Look at him tap out.

Luger won the
title.

Luger won the title.

The roof came off
that place 'cause they never

expected to see Hogan who's in a
title match on live TV.

It is celebration
time in the Motor City.

The guys were really
truly excited.

We got left laying for over a
year or so finally

had a night to celebrate.

It was all based
on keeping the audience

off balance and-and surprising
them as often as we could.

WCW is at its
strongest point.

During the New
Generation Era of WWE, one of

the most popular superstars was
"The Bad Guy" Razor Ramon.

Say hello to
Razor Ramon.

Oozing machismo,
Razor was a major WWE Superstar

in the mid-90s, capturing the
Intercontinental Championship

a then record four times.

Nobody beats The
Bad Guy.

But in May 1996,
Ramon suddenly disappeared

from WWE TV.

What happened next sent
shockwaves throughout the

professional wrestling business.

Welcome back
live to the first hour of this

edition of WCW Monday Night
Nitro on TNT.

Wait a minute.

What-what--

What the
hell is going on here?

What, what?

Scott Hall became
available.

Now the idea is starting to
frame in my head.

He comes down through the crowd.

Hmm?

Audiences aren't used to seeing
that.

When you present them with
things that they haven't seen

before, they automatically
assume it must be real.

I'm a little
skeptical.

I mean, I just left 'WWE.

You people, you know who I am-

but you don't know
why I'm here.

Scott was a real
lynchpin to taking that moment I

had with Nitro to a whole new
level.

You want a war,
you're going to get one.

People thought Vince sent me
there.

That's the only reason it
worked.

Everybody's in shock
and, um,

things had just
gotten bigger.

I can't believe
I'm seeing this.

It's now time for
our number one moment.

From the moment that Goldberg
burst onto the scene in WCW,

he displayed a hard-hitting
style that immediately

grabbed your attention.

Who's next?

As months wore on,
it became apparent

that Goldberg was destined
to be on a collision

course with the leader of the
nWo and WCW World Champion,

"Hollywood"
Hulk Hogan.

Goldberg
ain't nobody.

He's not in the same league as
Hollywood.

On the July 6th,
1998, edition of Nitro, in front

of a sold-out Georgia Dome,
Goldberg finally got his crack

at Hogan and the championship.

Nitro is on
the air

where over 40,000
fans are jammed

in the Georgia Dome in
what will go down as the

biggest night in the history
of this grand sport.

What I remember most
is how big

and how pivotal of a moment
that was for WCW.

There was a
little bit of discussion whether

or not we wanted to do it on a
pay-per-view, but we're in the

television business, we're not
in the pay-per-view business,

so it was just a perfect seller.

And it could be
the night where Goldberg

walks away with the gold from
arguably the greatest champion

our sport has ever had in
"Hollywood" Hogan.

If I'm going
to be the bad guy,

we need another
Hulk Hogan.

The-the spear
here.

Now, finish him off.

Finish him off.

It's about being in
the right place

at the right time.

Oh, hell, yeah.

One--

One, two, three.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

We've got a new heavyweight
champion of the world.

Hulk passing the
torch was huge.

Hogan put me over in
front of 45,000 people

and what a cool deal that was.

That match helped
re-establish us.

It was magic.

It's been a
night that we will never forget.

That win was a
true passing-of-the-torch moment

and signaled to the professional
wrestling world that Goldberg

was an unstoppable force and
ready

to be its number one entity.

In 2001, the final Nitro aired
as WCW closed

its doors for good.

But in six short years, Nitro
packed a lifetime of memorable

moments that will never be
forgotten.

Revolutionary, transformative.

Nitro tore down the status quo
and dared to challenge the

mighty WWE and did just that.

That'll do it for this edition
of WWE's Greatest Moments.

I hope you've enjoyed this look
back at the very best

of WCW Monday Nitro.