Everybody loves a good rivalry. The Red Sox versus the Yankees. The Lakers versus the Celtics. WCW versus WWE (formerly WWF). Okay, so maybe that last one isn’t quite as iconic as the two biggest rivalries in the history of sports. But for those of us who were there the night WCW aired its final episode of Nitro, you can’t tell us that it wasn’t a night filled with very real emotions… even if the matches were scripted.
When Nitro first began airing in September of 1995, it instantly gave the American pro wrestling scene a much-needed shot in the arm. Nitro aired head-to-head with the WWE’s Raw, a programming choice that changed the wrestling business for the better almost immediately. By 1996, WCW already had the number one wrestling show on cable, and the WWE was scrambling to catch up. And while they would finally catch up to and surpass WCW in the ratings war in 1998, it’s safe to assume that the WWE’s iconic “Attitude Era” would have never happened if not for WCW’s Nitro.
Nitro really took off in the summer of 1996 thanks to one angle: the birth of the New World Order (nWo). The nWo angle gave WCW something fresh and edgy, which fit perfectly with the culture at the time. Combine that with a better in-ring product and a deeper roster, and it’s no surprise that WCW whooped the WWE’s butt for 83 consecutive weeks in the head-to-head television ratings battle.
Unfortunately for WCW, the nWo angle was both the beginning and the end for the Nitro era, as well as for the company as a whole. The inability to pivot to anything else or to establish new top stars eventually led to fans turning sour on WCW’s product. Combine that with the WWE’s ability to do what was working for WCW, but even better, and it’s almost shocking that it took so long for WCW to go out of business.
Remembering the Final Episode of ‘WCW Nitro’ 25 Years Later
By 2000, WCW was pretty much dead in the water. But it wasn’t until March of 2001 that things officially ended, with WWE purchasing the company for a rumored $4.2 million. That brings us to March 26, 2001, the final Nitro broadcast, that is, in all reality, a pretty beautiful sendoff for what is still my favorite weekly wrestling television show ever created.
Broadcasting live from Panama City Beach, Florida, and originally billed as a spring break-themed special, the show’s setting was, ironically, very WCW. The company aired its first-ever Nitro episode from the Mall of America and had done multiple spring break episodes at Club La Vela, where the ring was literally placed in the center of a pool. The non-traditional setting was a happy accident, but again, it was very WCW, making it the ideal place to close down shop.
As for the show itself, it was also a fitting sendoff for the company. Fans who tuned in live saw Booker T capture the WCW Heavyweight Championship from Scott Steiner. Multiple cruiserweight stars—a division that helped Nitro ascend past Raw during the ratings war—performed on the show, including Rey Mysterio Jr. and Billy Kidman. And in the main event, fans were treated to what is possibly the most iconic rivalry in WCW history, one last time: Sting versus Ric Flair.
Of course, the show also heavily featured a WWE storyline involving Vince and Shane McMahon, who were getting ready to face off at WrestleMania X-Seven 6 days later. And while that storyline, and the simulcast, is often what this show is remembered for most, it’s not what I think of when I think of the final episode of Nitro. Perhaps it’s because I was a kid from South Carolina who grew up in “WCW country,” but to me, the final episode of Nitro was a beautiful way to say goodbye to what was the greatest era in the history of American pro wrestling. Combine the final Nitro with WrestleMania X-Seven that weekend, and you have the 90s wrestling boom period’s funeral taking place over a one-week span.
And man, what a way to go out.
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