10 WCW Wrestlers With The Most Monday Nitro Matches Ever
Nitro really was built around workhorses wasn't it...
For over 18 months, World Championship Wrestling's Monday Nitro was on top of the wrestling world.
It was trouncing the World Wrestling Federation in the ratings, winning the Monday Night Wars at a canter, to the point where it seemed like there was no way back for the WWF. The New World Order had changed everything, and it really was where the big boys played.
We all know what inevitably happened, however, as the tide turned and WCW caved in on itself. After 286 episodes, Nitro aired for the last time on March 26th 2001. Fans from the time will have memories of the show, some of which are legendary for good and bad reasons.
Despite all the egos and 'superstars', the show did provide some of the best wrestling of the entire decade.
So who wrestled on the show the most times over those 286 episodes? Those with the most matches under their belt may surprise you. The New World Order pushed WCW ahead in the war, but the key names in that group didn't wrestle all that much. For instance, Scott Hall wrestled only a mere 70 times on Nitro.
WCW legends such as Ric Flair (92) didn't wrestle all that much, either. The ten men with the most matches show just how much of that show was carried by some of the best wrestlers of the 1990s. Well, them and Lex Luger anyway...
Here are the 10 men with the most matches on WCW Monday Nitro.
10. Dean Malenko - 108 Matches
I think I've said this on a number of occasions here, but Dean Malenko is my favourite professional wrestler of all time. When I was a kid I thought the guy was cool as heck, and the Texas Cloverleaf was my favourite move by a long way. The fact that he had 999 other holds up his sleeve certainly didn't lessen my adoration of the Iceman.
It is somewhat surprising to me that Dean Malenko didn't wrestle more than 108 matches on Monday Nitro, as every week seemed to include a Malenko match. His first match was a losing effort against another in-ring marvel, Eddy Guerrero, way back in October of 1995.
That card also included Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage and Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson, but was headlined by The Nasty Boys vs. The American Males. Go figure.
Malenko wrestled on just one Nitro in 2000, coming up short in a three-way tag where he partnered Perry Saturn against Billy Kidman & Konnan and David Flair & Crowbar. When you realise that Flair & Crowbar won that match, Malenko and Saturn leaving for the WWF makes a whole lot of sense.