10 Things You Didn't Know About WCW's Nitro Grill Restaurant

4. It Didn't Close Until September 2000

WCW Nitro Grill
wcwworldwide.com

In the intro, it was claimed that WCW wasn't quite off-the-rails in January 1999. This writer would stand by that any day of the week, but even this World Championship mark couldn't defend the horrors of late-2000. By then, the company was in a dreadful state, and the rudderless mess fans watched every week on Nitro and Thunder was only entertaining in a perverse way.

Get this: Nitro Grill was still open.

It didn't close doors until September 2000. One can only imagine what kind of person would want to visit a themed restaurant based around a product so horrible by that point; if WCW couldn't string together a cohesive, logical pro wrestling TV show, then how the hell were they going to make sure your eggs were properly cooked?

The Grill was a goner and last served up some 'Figure Four Fajitas' on 30 September that year. Any plans to expand the business into a franchise that'd grip other cities with WCW fever were cancelled. In truth, that hadn't been on the cards since early-1999.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.