Rewatching The Last Wrestling Show To Beat WWE Raw In The Ratings
2. The Cracks Were Starting To Show
As a whole, this episode of WCW Nitro was a good one, but you could likewise see the cracks starting to show for what would be the company's eventual demise.
Two years after its creation, the nWo concept was starting to wear a smidge thin by October 1998. This was the time that the bloom had begun to fall off the rose, with the vast majority of the roster being in some variation of the New World Order. In fact, this episode even sees Horace Hogan inducted as the latest member of nWo Hollywood.
Away from the nWo, there was the curious case of Kenny Kaos. Having been with the company since 1996 as one half of the High Voltage jobber tag team, Kaos found himself being given a Tag Team Championship on this Nitro. The previous night saw Rick Steiner defeat the Giant and Scott Steiner in a handicap match to become the new Tag Team Champions, and he decided here to make Kaos his new partner. Most bizarrely, this came after Kaos had been decimated by Stevie Ray in barely two minutes.
Added to this, this Nitro was one full of run-ins and bullsh*t finishes - which we all know that WCW would become famous for overdoing such things during the company's final years.
For a WWE that's just seen Raw hit its lowest ever ratings, you'd think they should heed the warning signs offered up by a rewatch of an old Nitro. In doing so, you can see how small issues become big issues, and eventually you find yourself just throwing any old sh*t at the wall to see what sticks.