WCW Nitro #43: July 8th, 1996. (Rewatched 19 April 2020).

I've been wanting to do this for a while, and I figured since we have been sheltering in place due to COVID-19/Coronavirus, it was a good time to do it! Back in the day, I was a huge WCW fan. Honestly, I didn't get into WWE until it was bought by WCW. That being said, I wanted to rewatch from the beginning of the Monday Night Wars, starting after Bash at the Beach 1996, with WCW Nitro #43: July 8th, 1996. This Nitro comes from the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, FL.  Hulk Hogan just turned heel, the nWo is about to take over professional wrestling, and WCW is about to reign supreme for the next 84 weeks.

The Show

WCW World Cruiserweight Title Match: Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Dean Malenko (c) (12:30)
- Man, these guys were good in their prime.  That was a heck of a match.

Tag Team Match: The Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal & Squire David Taylor) (w/ Jeeves) defeated Big Bubba & Hugh Morrus (w/ Jimmy Hart) (3:08)
- That was a quick and effective win.  Steven Regal looks young, and this Blue Bloods gimmick is legit.

Singles Match: Eddie Guerrero defeated Psychosis (8:33)
- These two are incredibly talented, wow.  I forgot how good early Eddie Guerrero was.

Kevin Sullivan, the Giant, and Jimmy Hart Interview
- Whoa, The Big Show, I mean, The Giant, is looking young.  Also, I sure do miss Mean Gene.

WCW World Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Match: The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) defeated The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) (6:08)
- The Steiner Brothers were tough in this match.  It's crazy seeing Scott Steiner not as "Big Poppa Pump".  After the match, the Nasty Boys cut a nice promo praising Hulk Hogan's turn, and the nWo doing whatever they want to do.

WCW United States Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair (c) defeated Jim Powers (5:41)
- Ric Flair is looking good.  And of course, he came out with an entourage of ladies and fireworks.  I have missed watching Ric Flair wrestle.  Solid match.  After the match - hey!  It's the Horsemen!  Arn Anderson is looking good, and boy oh boy can he cut a promo.

Singles Match: Chris Benoit defeated Sgt. Craig Pittman (w/ Teddy Long) (2:43)
- HA!  Look at young Teddy Long there.  Holla, holla!  Chris Benoit was quite dominant in this match.  I will note, I'm hesitant to talk about Chris Benoit because of what he did.  He was a horrible human being.

Singles Match: Sting defeated Arn Anderson (12:18)
- Hey look, it's old school Sting!  That was a solid match.  Arn sure could wrestle.

Post Main Event Promos - Sting and Macho Man
- The Outsiders showed up, and the Macho Man Randy Savage has come out to keep them from the ring.  Man, I miss the Macho Man.  Sting cut a killer promo after the match.  And Macho!  They don't cut promos like that nowadays.  He's one of the all time greats.

Macho Man had the promo of the night though: "I got a message for Hollywood Hogan. What I wanna tell ya, and what I wanna do to ya, I can't say here on television, especially here at Disney. But! You take the worst thing you can think about, and you multiply it by the number 9 million, and then you multiply it by infinity and beyond. It would be just like one grain of sand in the Sahara desert brother, because it really really scary what I'm thinking' I'm gonna do to you, YEAHHHHH!"

Post Main Event Promos - The Outsiders
- The Outsiders got their turn at cutting a promo after Macho.  And oh man, look at Kevin Nash with a fanny pack.  It doesn't get more metal than that. 

Random Thoughts

• I like the random promos mixed in of WCW stars, showing just how "upset" they were about Hulk Hogan being the third man to join the Outsiders and form the nWo.
• They ran two Glacier promos.  They were awful.  It was like Mortal Kombat mixed with Stargate mixed with Killer Instinct, including really, really bad CGI.
• I forgot Bischoff did announcing on Nitro, it's been that long since I've watched it.  Pretty neat seeing him without grey hair again.