The Day WCW Nitro Died
Is this Nitro worth your time, even for a bit of hate-watching, in 2021?
Perhaps. If you only watch one from the eternally boring 1999, make it this one. Foreshadowing how awful the three hour Raws would become, the long drawn out matches and rematches make for dire times when the characters aren't over.
Vince Russo addressed this problem for all of one week in how quickly this show moved, but it was unwatchable for entirely different reasons almost immediately afterwards.
WCW lost viewers and AOL/TimeWarner bosses lost patience, but this Nitro resulted in the company's core audience - the one that has proved so vital to WWE in the streaming age - losing faith. Russo wasn't the fix, the fix for the fix wasn't the fix, and the promise of a fresh start couldn't fix what was deemed too broken after shambolic telecasts like this one.
Cry for the death of WCW 20 years on from its passing if you must, but take care to remember the reasons it happened. Or for that matter, watch them on Peacock - Vince McMahon's already been paid for it, because capitalism - not McMahon, nor Russo, nor even Jeff Jarrett - will sadly always be king.
Watch Next
Quiz: Can You Name These WCW Mid Card Wrestlers?
