9 WCW Monday Nitro Episodes You Must Watch On WWE Network

6. The nWo Takeover - December 22, 1997

The December 22nd edition of Monday Nitro was a historic episode in the show€™s history. It was to be the beginning of a whole new era for the program, as the New World Order had taken over the show. The original idea was that the nWo would run Nitro while Thunder became the main show for WCW stars. The three hour edition of Nitro started normally, but would slower morph into an nWo run program. Midway through the show, various New World Order members show up -- Rick Rude, Buff Bagwell, and Konnan, among others. The nWo runs off the commentary team and begins to tear apart the Nitro stage. Any and all WCW signage is removed and replaced with nWo lettering. After a commercial break, Eric Bischoff rides to the ring on his motorcycle and introduces the entire nWo. After some in-ring rambling between Hogan and Bischoff, the show continues with regular ole WCW guys wrestling. Nearly every match for the rest of the night ends in a disqualification or some other non-finish, often thanks to various members of the New World Order. To close the show, the nWo again fills the ring. Bischoff and Hogan go through more of their uninteresting schtick before Sting suddenly appears on top of the entranceway. The Stinger zip-lines toward the ring and the show goes dark. The premiere of nWo Monday Nitro is over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0keslql2jWk Ultimately, the experiment failed and Nitro quickly returned to its original format. The idea was a solid one -- as Vince McMahon would prove years later with his warring Raw and Smackdown brands. However, WCW€™s execution of the nWo takeover was horrid. Still, the show represents a significant moment in Nitro€™s history and is worth a look for that fact alone.