The Final WCW Nitro Review | Wrestling With Wregret

It's time to look at the final, FINAL chapter in the history of WCW before the Invasion ruined everything ... the last-ever episode of WCW Nitro! Nominate other classic events by becoming a Patreon backer! / wrestlingwithwregret
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[@LadyAceGamer]

DDP: I'm gonna take it to a whole new level. WWE: I'm gonna end this man's entire career.

[@KegOfMeat]

While the Invasion ended up being an awful storyline, the moment when Shane announced that he bought WCW gives me goosebumps. Vinces face is priceless too.

[@Venemofthe888]

I do wonder what 2001 would of been like if WCW wasn't bought by the WWF

[@CooroSnowFox]

@@Venemofthe888 If Eric had brought it, would they had continued the young persons or would they have gone back to the older guys running the show? I think if it didn't happen WCW probably would have been dead by 2002-03

[@theghostofthomasjenkins9643]

i do wonder how it would've worked if WWF would've been able to secure a TV slot for WCW so the invasion angle never happened.

[@CooroSnowFox]

@@theghostofthomasjenkins9643 Given they had the match on Raw... I don't know if the plan was to kill it off there and then. It would have just morphed into Smackdown obviously

[@stonecold6521]

Vince has the bst facial expressions. Top all time heel for me.

[@KNDAWG74]

Booker T being a double champion at the end of WCW's existence is an interesting parallel to ECW being that when they went out of business Rhyno became both ECW World & TV champion at their last PPV.

[@JA-ev7om]

*I never thought of that.* 👍

[@Thechezbailey]

Maybe both companies were wrapping up their planned title change plotlines asap.

[@mrcold8966]

Well they were both kinda the work horses of their day. I mean if you wanted a good match in wcw or ecw then you got Booker T or Rhino. So maybe it was a token of appreciation for whatever it was worth

[@hia5235]

As a WCW og fan. Booker was barely a champion at this point. The Big Gold Belt had been fouled. Also he was only booked to beat Steiner for the "double belts" because thats what Vince wanted, and booked.

[@KHayes666]

@@hia5235 lol "had been fouled" Two free throws for the big gold belt

[@KingJaymo2k11]

15:35...Tony went Savage mode on his last day on the job 😅😅😅

[@jamessteel9016]

Loved Tony for doing that, staying in character and defending WCW right to the very end 👍

[@KingJaymo2k11]

@@jamessteel9016 right...Regal was front running when WCW gave him a chance...I don’t blame Tony

[@carolinadreaming4166]

May God or whatever deity you follow bless Tony for that

[@enigmaskull3495]

Think we’ll see Savage Tony again in AEW.

[@dn22pkkdd476]

@@enigmaskull3495 he's been savage the whole time since he returned. And even more savage on his "What Happened When" Podcast. This reminds me. I could be getting the story wrong, but the way Schiavone tells it, as soon as Flair vs Sting had ended, and before Vince appeared on the tron for the final segment, Schiavone just picked up his things and left. He never saw the Shane and Vince angle live. He was just done at that point. I always found that really sad. I'm just glad he's back now and in a better place. He's become my little sisters favorite commentator.

[@christiankallio8586]

What starts in a mall in Minnesota and ends on a beach in Florida? WCW Nitro

[@CamaroAmx]

What starts in a theater in New York and ends in an empty school gym with video screens for a crowd? Monday Night Raw.

[@TheRennes1997]

@@CamaroAmx What makes AEW Dynamite and Impact Wrestling then?

[@maxmeza4859]

@@TheRennes1997 lol the smark thought he did something xD

[@Nightwinghandsome204]

@@TheRennes1997 Starts in the impact zone and end with a quiet wearhouse

[@freakfoxvevo7915]

@@TheRennes1997 it Starts in Las Vegas and ends in an amphitheatre near Universal Orlando

[@monkeyman5866]

And the name on the contract does say Zane. However, the contract reads Brian Zane.

[@bradcarver8127]

A few months later it’s revealed Jbiggs owns ECW

[@monkeyman5866]

@@bradcarver8127 They are teaming up to take down Brian's Triple H impression.

[@shonenjumpmagneto]

*pulls gun out*

[@theunknownguy5775]

That’s right. I now own WWW.

[@chaospoet]

Cue Captain Lou Albano fresh from Hell making the same face Vince made.

[@MrNexor-cj8gs]

I remember various WCW wrestlers saying in shoots that they weren't sure that the WWF bought WCW until Shane Mcmahon walked in the back on the final Nitro.

[@KHayes666]

Thats because they had been lied to since day 1. Remember Bischoff was telling everyone for months he was buying WCW and when Kellner pulled the plug on their tv contract, the deal fell apart. Internet was still dial up in those days so its not like today where a hundred million sources can go "turner says NO to fusient media". By the time WCW guys were told WWF was buying them, there's Shane in the back.

[@MrGared22]

Yeah, I remember some guys saying that someone even proposed jumping on Shane like, legitimately, but that eventually cooler heads prevailed.

[@velleione]

Wow... F🤬k the McMahon's 👎🏾

[@daramazing13]

Well, it's still a Classic Review.

[@harveymcelroy4371]

Of course it is

[@timbartschwolfman]

Yes

[@mjk5406]

His latest classic reviews were all about the final days of WCW

[@tjfritz8722]

This year marks 20 years since WWE buying WCW, so I’m gonna assume that’s why he’s doing a lot of late WCW stuff

[@marcosalvarez4210]

Definitely a trip

[@mindyanosechamp2933]

That wrestlmania 17 jersey is sooooo dope

[@GamblerOfFate777]

I know I love it

[@zakkfps910]

They’re rather rare, I was able to get one for just under $150

[@apere431]

I'm guessing WWE loved jerseys during the early 2000s, they should bring them back.

[@WaterborneCamper]

I have the X8 jersey that's very similar

[@zakkfps910]

@@WaterborneCamper the 18 jersey is awesome too. They’re harder to find too. The one that took me the longest was 24, I was there and they sold out. Couldn’t find one for 8 years and finally saw one pop up on eBay. It seems like the Shane McMahon Jerseys are also getting harder and harder to find

[@tokubrony9447]

Now I think it would've been better if Sting was revealed to be the mysterious attacker of the Magnificent Seven. If they just had that small detail and revealed it was Sting, his return on the Final Nitro would make more sense, especially with him fighting Ric Flair.

[@WhiskeyBrewer]

Yeah it would have made sense and they could have revealed it on the previous Thunder

[@Baconlara727]

Idk man, sounds a bit too logical for wrestling.

[@justinmartin1831]

Do you really expect WCW to do anything to do anything that makes sense?

[@TheRennes1997]

Maybe Vince should've revealed himself as the attacker ala Higher Power of Ministry "IT'S ME AUSTIN!" to specifically remind them he is in charge of WCW and to send a message to Flair, Jarrett, Luger, the Steiner Bros and Animal they are "FIRED"! "IT WAS ME FLAIR! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG!"

[@SuperAz1981]

If they would have borrowed the NWO storyline for the Invasion it would have done much better

[@jeremywilliams5141]

The WCW stars were supposed to get involved in Wrestlemania X-7 but that didn't happen. And they have one man to thank for that: Shawn Stasiak.

[@TheDLitch]

Why

[@jeremywilliams5141]

@@TheDLitch During an interview. He kind of spoiled the surprise that WCW was supposed to take part in the Vince and Shane match.

[@TheCamSays]

And this was the reason why he kept running into things during the InVasion. For punishment.

[@TheRennes1997]

I'm surprised he was even brought back after what he did that caused him to be let go.

[@youtubemember1115]

It's dumb to blame all that on Shawn Stasiak though, WWF ruined the angle anyway

[@ppdantaslima]

This video is for those of you who thought the perfect thumbnail didn't exist...

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

Shane wanted to buy the UFC and he got this shitty angle.

[@manbehindacameras1617]

And Vince wanted to buy the big wrestlers contract but couldn’t afford it due to him running his own football league

[@princealigorna7468]

I sometimes forget that Zuffa hadn't bought UFC at this time. And the UFC was in a really bad spot. There's a little wilderness period there that they were putting on some great bouts but were barely holding on by a thread with no TV deals.

[@ImpendingDisaster26]

Honestly looking back, they probably would’ve ran UFC into the ground and killed it if Shane bought it.

[@yolomasta6940]

@@ImpendingDisaster26 Vince would've ruined it

[@SuperPeterok]

Would have been dead by 2003

[@chumpandbump744]

Oh, so that's why Bischoff's podcast is called 83 Weeks.

[@jameswright672]

This episode of Nitro was accidentally the first I saw. I had only just got into wrestling and had no idea what WCW even was. For me it made me a massive fan of wrestling because it seemed like anything could happen, I even liked the Invasion, because I had no idea what I was missing.

[@reloadpsi]

I myself was relatively new to wrestling during the Invasion, so I had no idea I was watching the equivalent of the Centurion from Altered Beast, Alex Kidd, Ryo Hazuki*, and Alicia Dragoon show up in Super Mario World and attempt to fight Mario (and lose) before Luigi jumped sides to help. As in, I _thought_ I was watching the wrestling equivalent of Mario, Luigi, Link, Bowser, and King K. Rool vs Sonic, Axel Stone, Tyris Flare, Mr. X, Tails the Fox, and Dr. Robotnik, and had no idea we were _missing_ that all along :P *Ryo is the odd one out in the forgotten "literally who" list there as he was the rising star, the Booker T of the situation, who had no idea how buried he was gonna get until he just became a guy with a funny voice.

[@Ross_England]

I couldn't imagine this being my first episode and then discovering shows with macho, Bret, Shawn, and other real talents

[@rickyrosay33977]

​@ReloadPsi I would put knuckles in DDPs position an actual SEGA star

[@rickyrosay33977]

​@ReloadPsi and for ECW I would put characters synonymous with Atari

[@minoranza]

That electric chair spot looks like Manami Toyota’s ocean cyclone suplex.

[@MegaNomad27]

I think it is the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex

[@minoranza]

@@MegaNomad27 it is

[@glenndallas7171]

You nailed it.

[@THEKISSWARRIOR]

That's because it is the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex my friend. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

[@uainjansun]

Hey another Manami toyota!

[@MidnightJury]

"Spot, Spot, Spot, no time to sell..." That pretty much sums up wrestling in 2021.

[@DickyCox]

figure skating wrestling

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

“Hur dur! No Canadian destroyers!

[@Tormund_Giantsbrain]

I know we love to joke about that "a number we can only dream of today" stuff, but Nitro was really doing 1.8 in late 2000. A 1.8 rating in 2000 is like a .03 rating today.

[@mitchellima4736]

Yeah. I try to explain to people that considering how over wrestling was and the number the wwf was drawing, nitro getting less then a 2 is just kinda sad

[@JustinW06]

The last nitro got a 3.0 rating

[@RestingBeachFace721]

It was a shitshow

[@aztecwrrior1997]

So Impact Numbers (sorry i like the Impact but their numbers have been snowballing since 2010)

[@fc775]

Wwe today wish they got WCW number today

[@Cycopace]

the kiss of death of the wrestling golden age

[@wyattfrizzell6672]

In reference to the Pop Buff Bagwell gets when Vince says his name, Buff is unexplainable to the modern audience. He was prob the most popular non world champion they had and honestly had a ton of name recognition outside of wrestling at the time. In other words, Buff truly was the stuff (from about 1998 to 2001)

[@TheRennes1997]

I believe they should've given Buff another chance like in 2003-2004.

[@marvinbarnett3218]

Buff was the stuff!

[@stevebanning902]

ladies loved him

[@eastsidereviews727]

I look at the end of WCW a little differently than I did back then. Growing up, in my house, WWF was wrestling, we didn't have a bias against WCW or anything, it's just that we had easier access to watch WWF with the syndicated weekend shows (Shoutgun/Jakked/Metal) and then Smackdown, heck the only reason I knew anything about WCW was because of WCW/nwo: Revenge on N64. I didn't get a real appreciation for the company and what we as fans loss until years later and especially now because of the Network, Brian's reviews, and me doing my own wrestling reviews. But because of this past year with so many companies having to close down and a lot of folks, including some family, being laid off, I feel bad for the non-wrestling folks who weren't able to get another gig easily. The camera crew, lighting, make-up, marketing, the people who we don't see on tv or know their names, yet played a role in the success in the company and didn't have a fall back plan of going to WWF or starting up a wrestling company and had to go back into the rough job market. I know we always think of the wrestlers in these situations, but I think we all need to spare a thought for the unnamed and unsung folks who took an L when WCW closed down.

[@mrkipling2201]

What a great comment. 👍👍

[@chubbycatfish4573]

Man, I remember that night well. I watched RAW and only switched briefly to Nitro during the breaks. I remember feeling so triumphant that WCW was defeated since I was a total WWF mark at the time... little did I know it would be a long downward slide from there...

[@KHayes666]

I was a WWF guy too but I missed WCW and ECW as soon as the Invasion angle started

[@BiLLz66614]

I still wonder what an invasion could have been like without egos involved and bigger wcw names. Would’ve truly been cool seeing sting and taker at that time.. and goldberg/Austin and so on.

[@thedudewiththeface]

At least we have Adam Blampied's booking.

[@DevilChickenGokYourself]

It was revealed in an interview that Vince had Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg and flair on contract but didn't bring them in due to the fact he wanted all of the WCW and ecw to job to the WWFs " bigger and better" stars.

[@BoltonGaming]

@@DevilChickenGokYourself is that true? I always remember them saying they were gonna sit home and wait out there contracts, at least that’s what I remember I could be wrong.

[@SharkAlien66]

Sting vs Undertaker could never have lived up to fan's imaginations. Especially American Badass Biker Taker who was doing some of his worst work around the time.

[@NotsoseriousNick]

Ending with Sting and Flair is poetic, in a way. Almost prophetic

[@andysmyth1211]

Wasn't it just....

[@CooroSnowFox]

How many times did they bash into each other in TNA?

[@ghostfac3182]

@@CooroSnowFox i think only once for an actual match

[@Mecha82]

@@CooroSnowFox They had faced each other several times in WCW. When Sting got his big chance in WCW so long ago it was against Flair.

[@williamcronshaw5262]

@@CooroSnowFox Only once I think, they had some real classics in the 90's and were pretty much the two real faces of WCW.

[@petersiddorn1369]

Always amazing to me that the final Nitro segment was the true sign that Wrestling in the US would never be the same since the start of the segment is Vince standing on a rampway as Paul Heyman talks. I mean you have the main booker of ECW talking as the owner of WWF as it was then be on a WCW segment.

[@Venemofthe888]

It was a end of a era tbh and there hasn't been a rival company big enough to really take on wcw. Sure there were tna, roh, aew but it was never the same

[@CamaroAmx]

@@Venemofthe888 TNA tried but their own stupidity killed their shot. Oddly enough a lot of TNA people were WCW people.....

[@mrkipling2201]

It seems like AEW might be the competition that the WWE has needed for a long time.

[@CSC52698]

I remember seeing Vince McMahon on Nitro. I was shocked. Couldn't believe that WCW was gone.

[@TheMaskedheel]

I had just started watching wrestling again after a 10yr lay off. I preferred WCW because it was the under dog and as a kid I hated WWF. I quit watching wrestling again until NWA TNA launched the weekly PPV.

[@samuraibeastwarrior2886]

@@TheMaskedheel thought on AEW

[@CreightonChaney-io4xv]

TheMaskedheel me too!

[@michaelbreen7865]

I read about Vince buying WCW on the internet. I tuned into TNT first to see Vince McMahon on a Ted Turner network for the first time since 1984. Funny thing: I didn't start watching pro wrestling of ANY kind until 1991.

[@p.d.l7023]

Tbs in the 80s: Mama's Family reruns -wrestling-Moma's Family reruns.

[@chrisbreezy3048]

And don't forget Atlanta Braves baseball!

[@psychorabbitt]

And everything starting 5 minutes after the hour and half hour. Cuz Turner Time!

[@JMFabiano]

Fishing too! Leave it to Beaver! Gilligan! The Beverly Hillbillies!

[@superstarreviews9937]

You're all missing the greatest of turner programming!!! CAPTAIN PLANET!!!

[@psychorabbitt]

@@superstarreviews9937 CAPTAIN PLANET, HE'S OUR HERO! GONNA TAKE POLLUTION DOWN TO ZERO!

[@TheCheat420]

"The Play of the Day/Overdrive/Shit Move." Lol! That move sucks so bad.

[@enigmaskull3495]

16:52

[@patrickracer43]

I feel like it's perfect that the first and last Nitro were in a non-traditional venues as the first episode was in the Mall of America

[@gordonplemmons5631]

It's sad that I watched the final episode of Nitro, but the only things I remember from it was the Booker- Steiner, Sting and Flair and the Shane coming to the ring to announce he bought WCW

[@lworthy2518]

It took this review to remind me of all of the other stuff that happened on this show. And I actually saw the show(s) live when it aired (curse getting older 😢).

[@juansanchez209]

Honestly? As a WWF kid during the Attitude Era, watching Vince essentially wipe his ass with WCW during the final episode of Nitro was actually pretty badass. In retrospect we all know it was bad for the industry as a whole, but as a kid at the time I loved watching my preferred wrestling promotion kill their competition.

[@CappyDrake]

It was so good being on the winning team. After all the near fights with the WCW kids on the bus and grounds (me being a Mick Foley man made it even fucking sweeter) seeing Mr M gloating and playing up his evil rich guy angle while guys like Tony (again Foley is God so suck it Schivonie) had to eat crow was a highlight. The war was won WE had won! But even then I was thinking, who are we going to play off of? Who is DX going to go annoy for one of the greatest promos there? What’s going to keep that fire light under our asses to keep things going hot. And maybe even in that wonderful Attitude era glow that worry that stagnation would be the slow death of a beloved pastime was there.

[@mattdunfee3527]

So the mystery attacker scenario. I think this would’ve been a perfect Segway to have Sting return

[@michaelrivera8360]

Awww yes the week that mainstream wrestling started to die😅😅😅

[@TheeKingRayzor]

I haven't seen you in awhile, what's up?!

[@MN_2003]

@@TheeKingRayzor He's busy

[@ShinRyojin]

Seeing Shane McMahon's name in a Nitro name card was so surreal!

[@emanuelespinoza9325]

Same with the Nitro name graphic used at Wrestlemania X-Seven.

[@b.ketchumfromhoustontx3215]

For real wow

[@dannyhipolito817]

If ROH’s first ever show is ever a suggestion, Brian should review it

[@primusvsunicron1]

And TNA

[@dantorkel7561]

Because of that show I became a Bryan Danielson fan for life

[@cheifguggletram]

I'd love to see Brian talk about the first match on the first ROH show. Christopher Street Connection vs. Da Hit Squad. One of the single most offensive things I've ever seen. Homophobia as the very first thing you show off on your show isn't a great look.

[@micahjohnsonboxing6409]

@@cheifguggletram Aww poor baby

[@aztecwrrior1997]

Boy you're in luck he did it(well first TV episodes)

[@dustinfreund5196]

BAGWELL!? That Flair promo is one of my favorites in wrestling history.

[@ryanporter2584]

I remember being a freshmen at college, watching the final Nitro in my dorm room, flipping channels in utter disbelief. As Brian said, I still get chills thinking about.

[@isaacpeachey8609]

Flair was probably just talking about NWA in his promo.

[@jackthompson8873]

I really loved this 2001 wcw Series Brian you did a excellent job of reviewing the shows and going though this saga

[@KHayes666]

I stopped watching WCW in 99, post Russo 2001 looks actually watchable. I missed out when I was 14

[@alexisdesmall95]

That moment with Shane still gives me goosebumps. Good memories.

[@mcj88]

4:11 - Compounding that was something I remember reading in _The Death Of WCW,_ that some of the boys had been worked so much over the years by the booking staff that they apparently thought rumors of the company's closure was likewise, just a big work - until they stopped getting paid.

[@redbigun]

And then the slow crawl of WWE becoming lazy began. It took nearly a decade to get there, but they did it. This is why monopolies or companies trying to buy everything is not a good thing.

[@williamcronshaw5262]

It didn't take that long IMO, i just couldn't watch anymore by the time they got to Triple H's reign of terror.

[@linkvagar2336]

@@williamcronshaw5262 What did you watch then? TNA and Jeff Jarrett's even worse reign of terror?

[@williamcronshaw5262]

@@linkvagar2336 I gave up on wrestling all together for about 7 years or so, than I tried watching both WWE and TNA for about a year after that but it only got worse. Now, when it comes to wrestling I only really watch youtube stuff. The only time I could even tell you what's going on in any wrestling promotion is wrestlemania time and even then I couldn't tell you much.

[@TheRennes1997]

4:50 I always thought the mystery attacker was Nash, DDP and Sting and that was what we were building up to when Bischoff invited all former champs to the Night of Champions and they were all gonna help Booker take down Steiner. Then again, there was the part you forgot to mention that Shane Douglas had incriminating footage of Rick that he was planning to reveal the following week, and they had a match on Night of Champions which was scrapped since Shane walked out. Back then I assumed it was WWF stars that did it to show they were in charge and they specifically attacked the members of Mag7 since they were once part of WWF and Vince instructed them to attack them to get back, and the part where he fires Double J and bad mouthed Luger, Animal and Goldust kinda made younger me believe that was so. Looking back they should've went along with it, like maybe Vince could reveal that he sent his goons to specifically remind them he is in charge of WCW and to send a message to Flair, Jarrett, Luger, the Steiner Bros and Animal they are "FIRED"! 5:55 Missing was the dark match which had Jason Jett take on Mark Jindrak. It was once posted on youtube after that it cut to Vince opening Nitro, looked like it was taken on a home camera. 10:55 I never understood why Jung Dragons never got an entrance. You also forgot to mention on the previous Thunder they had to beat AJ Styles and Air Paris to qualify to participate in this match. 19:37 I always thought he said TN-End. Like putting some salt into the wounds. 24:55 Another final blow to WCW was the racial discrimination lawsuit the previous year. That didn't help them and them putting the title on Booker, Stevie on commentary and Cat as commissioner wasn't good enough damage control. And say what you will about Mike Graham but he was right, Turner was terrified of lawsuits, and this was something Turner wanted to stay away from especially since they were rebranding in this period. 25:43 Can we at least blame him for the cancellation of Freakazoid? Or what happened to WB? Even if we shouldn't blame him entirely for WCW and WB, there's no denying he wasn't that good. And I believe the blame should also go to AOL because during the merger when AOL/Time Warner sold WCW due to the money they were losing which was $67 million in 2000, that is nothing compared to AOL/TW losing $98 billion in 2002. Turns out investing in dial-up wasn't the best idea. And will you review the 3/26/2001 edition of Raw? Saving it for the 20th anniversary?

[@KidGravityBeyond]

Ric’s body language says it all.

[@hectorrico8661]

He was recovering from surgeries still. He would go through the motions, but he wasn't giving it 100%. He said he wore that t-shirt because he was way too out of shape.

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

The streak is over the streak overzane finally does a tv show episode review

[@RatelHBadger]

As a regular TV episode, it is almost as historically significant as a pay per view.

[@snarferyasmr3739]

Schiavone looks freaking depressed in that opening.

[@JGD185]

He was for sure

[@CamaroAmx]

He knew he was unemployed after the show. In fact, 70% of the wcw (backstage and talent) were.

[@TimmyTickle]

@@CamaroAmx And to add insult to injury according to Meltzer, when reps from WCW's HR department were reading out the list of terminations after the show, they pronounced his name wrong ("Tony Skee-a-voan")

[@sunshineholmes3487]

@@TimmyTickle They were actually reading from a prototype of the List of Jericho

[@mrassassinscreedfan1]

@@TimmyTickle or they heard jericho say it that way and thought that was the actual way to pronounce it

[@RC99_Productions]

2 things: 1 - The flyer for the Final Nitro had a neat little thing regarding its timeslot. It read "4pm - ?" .....6pm lol. 2 - If anyone hasn't already, check out Tri.Moon's WCW version of the WWF's Lonely Road Of Faith package, chronically the entire history of WCW spanning from its JCP and NWA days to what it became in 2001. We still miss you, Tri.Moon.

[@chrisbreezy3048]

Time stamps: - Mr. McMahon opens Nitro: 5:54 - Ric Flair promo: 7:01 - Title vs. Title Match for the WCW United States and World Heavyweight Titles: Booker T vs. Scott Steiner: 8:16 - Triple Threat Tag Team Match to determine the #1 contenders for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles: The Jung Dragons vs. 3 Count vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr. & Kidman: 10:52 - WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. 'Sugar' Shane Helms: 12:03 - WCW Tag Team Title Match: Team Canada vs. Chuck Palumbo & Sean O'Haire: 13:21 - Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Shawn Stasiak: 14:20 - WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Title Match: Rey Mysterio, Jr. & Kidman vs. 'Primetime' Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo: 16:08 - Final Nitro Match: Ric Flair vs. Sting: 17:41 - Nitro/RAW Simulcast: 19:29 - Shane buys WCW: 20:32 - Final Thoughts: 22:34 - Final Grade: 25:48

[@harshckuk]

Thanks chris

[@Brian00007]

I still remember this night, I only watched sting vs flair and then Shane came out and the rest was history

[@cameronshank9257]

I'd like to see a review of the Nitro/RAW featuring the Finger Poke of Doom and the Mankind title win.

[@jb888888888]

Wrestling Bios is doing a "reliving the war" series where he looks at Raw and Nitro from the first day of the war, he'll get to it eventually.

[@tylerdaviau4069]

I can't believe that this was 2 decades ago. It was quite a time to be a wrestling fan

[@MrWoodMan23]

It was the end of the greatest era of wrestling that fans will NEVER see again.

[@lfovah1287]

Man just seeing Vince and shane mcmahon on wcw television back then was so surreal.

[@krazykick]

Forward 18 years later in a executive board meeting. " I think we can use a wrestling program, right?! I mean we had one before" 😂😂

[@kevaninthe4135]

The thumbnail for this video is just perfection.

[@clicheguevara9917]

awesome. some weekly shows are more important than the ppvs, and this is def one of them.

[@alexanderarellano4887]

No one can deny that Shane announcing that he bought WCW is still one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history, despite the invasion storyline being disappointing.

[@Disneymagic24]

did anyone know wwe was buying wcw at the time? or was that a total surprise he came out?

[@Kas58223]

It was a mess be better if they could hold off and got the WCW top guys and I would have preferred if they did WWF vs WCW vs ECW

[@user-wu2oq1rj1o]

@@Kas58223 that would've been crazy

[@CooroSnowFox]

Although it would have had to be with the people Vince didn't want to splash out and then also at the time HHH and Benoit were out throughout the angle. And the rock was part-timing it.

[@Kas58223]

@@user-wu2oq1rj1o I honestly thought they go that route like ECW was anti establishment and had the middle finger to both WCW and the WWF so pissed me of the formation of the Alliance, it came out that the WCW top guys had another year on those contracts and Vince should have hold out I would have preferred Eric Bischoff the head guy of WCW and Paul Heyman for ECW not the McMahon children

[@Sparkledash1]

I remember when it happend, i was about 11 at the time and i was into Wrestling for over a year by that point. Me and my brother (who is 10 years older then me and who pretty much was on board since the late 80s) would watch both WCW Nitro and WWF Raw. In Germany, Nitro aired on Tuesday afternoon, while Raw aired on Thursday evening, so it was very easy for us to catchup on both shows. My parents didn't had any internet at that time, as Internet was still on the rise and was still a very unique item to have, especially here in Germany. So, i actually heard of the buy out by the time i saw Vince on that tuesday afternoon. And although i was much more into WWF at the time, i still knew how shocking this deal was, as my brother showed me alot of old tapes, not just from 96-97, but also older stuff from the late 80s and early 90s. It was really the end of an era and as my brother predicted, pro wrestling would never be the same afterwards.

[@theblackstone75]

Brian Zane, thank you for bringing back these final WCW PPVs and the last Nitro. It’s hard to believe that this happened over 20 years ago....man, do I feel old. Because of these classic PPV review vids, I’ve been watching all the WCW PPVs in 2000 on the Network in chronological order so that the last three reviews you did (Sin, SuperBrawl and Greed) makes a bit more sense. Thank you for what you do. I absolutely love your attention to detail to the wrestling aspects of the PPVs and the funny skits and add ins make me bust a gut laughing. Shout outs from the PNW and stay safe man! Peace

[@tonythepokemonguy751]

This is my favorite thumbnail ever

[@samhayden60]

Love everything you do Brian. Thank you for keeping me smiling.

[@arlopear7136]

Sadly I missed this historic moment. I wasn't a one brand zombie slave like so many today, I loved WWF, WCW & ECW. To me wrestling is best when there are multiple mainstream options. So when both WCW & ECW were on life support & it was becoming clear that WWF was going to be the only big league in town I began to sour on pro wrestling. Instead of hate watching I chose to stop watching it all around the Fall of 2000 & didn't start watching again until January 2002. The Monday Night Wars were truly one of the Golden Eras & when AEW came along to become another viable alternative it should be applauded because trust me, pro wrestling is better with mainstream competition

[@richardtheconquerer]

I've never been able to get back into it after I stopped for good in late 02 or early 03 Still love the shit from that era though

[@dadncaleb]

Brian, killing it lately man. Your content has gotten so much better over the past few years it’s remarkable. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy everything you do. Great job.

[@pasta1169]

Couldn’t believe this show when it happened, one of biggest moments in wrestling ever

[@cftvnetwork]

I was a week away from turning 20 when this happened.

[@jesterr7133]

According to Buff Bagwell, they had no clue prior to arriving at the location. He said that he saw the WWE trucks when they first pulled up, and asked around until someone told him. He said that Shane pulled everyone in for a meeting right before the show began and told them all. Buff said that he told them that some of them would have jobs, and some wouldn't. He said that they were all ready to get it over with.

[@wstine79]

I remember watching both the WCW and the WWF broadcast of this night. It was like watching a funeral and a celebration at the same time.

[@hollywoodhiggins1576]

I don’t even follow wrestling anymore but Brian takes me back to when I did everyday!!! Thanks brother! U deserve everything you get out of this channel!

[@eastsidereviews727]

One last thing, I don't know if this is a shared opinion or not, but I honestly think if the roles were reversed, I think we'd be decrying how badly WCW botched the purchase of WWF and how guys like Austin and Rock were handled. I think it was inevitable that whoever won, WWF or WCW, would've gone on to piss of people with how an Invasion would've been booked. I also think a similar situation would've happened where the WWF guys would look and be booked a lot lower than the WCW guys, politics being what it is in wrestling. You think Hogan was going to put over Austin, Rock, HHH, or Angle (had things gone to 2000), no. Again, WWF deserves crap for how the Invasion was handled and how a lot of the WCW guys were booked after, but don't think WCW would've done any better had they came out on top.

[@bashamd96]

Honestly it'd be a lot worse with WCW booking things so much creative control on the top that the WWF guys would basically be midcarders for life at best

[@TheRennes1997]

@@bashamd96 Worse, if it was Vince Russo handling it

[@Aaroncarter95]

The WCW invasion was one of the biggest missed opportunities. Hey that would be a good list

[@cftvnetwork]

The ONE thing everyone wanted but didn't get: a WWF vs. WCW pay-per-view.

[@kevinpayton2664]

It wasn't a total flop but it certainly should've been done better.

[@stingrey1571]

in comparison to the wwf, wcw's rating were bad. however, nitro and thunder were still the highest rated shows on the respective stations and in the cable top 10 and 20 every week.

[@bashamd96]

Biggest problem is on a technical level they had the worst kind of ratings for a company ratings that don't apply to other shows people would watch them then peace out to a different network so it was basically not worth keeping it around not making money and not getting other shows higher ratings after the fact

[@stingrey1571]

@@bashamd96 true also add in the amount of money being spent to run nitro and thunder. then to get subpar, although still high, ratings. plenty of tv shows have been cancelled for having high ratings but not high enough considering their costs.

[@hakeemfullerton8645]

I'm genuinely surprised that Brian didn't even mention how Vince Fired Jeff Jarrett on this date (yes it was Raw not Nitro but it's still important) as Double J would go on to create one of the most influential and divisive promotions in modern Wrestling: TNA later Impact Wrestling

[@rickylyon3846]

Yes I remember. Vince was looking at Jeff Jarrett making his entrance and literally said on live TV something along the lines of "I'm definitely not hiring this guy, he's out".

[@bashamd96]

@@rickylyon3846 Then we had the segment of Vince getting crowd reactions to people and he did everything he could to bury Jarrett there also

[@the-NightStar]

​@@rickylyon3846 What he specifically said was "From now on, his name is spelled J-E-Double F Fired." Which SOUNDS like a clever soundbyte, but technically doesn't even make any goddamn sense.

[@jamessteel9016]

Thanks for finishing off the dying days of WCW Brian 😀 it’s quite a history lesson 👍

[@TravJam317]

I remember hearing the news. I was shocked that TBS wouldn't allow wrestling on their channel at all anymore, considering Nitro was still doing better ratings than most of the programming on the channel. The news made me depressed. I feared that Vince would waste WCW talent and that the overall wrestling product would get stale (both fears eventually came true). But I was still hopeful that we'd see a good invasion angle or that Vince would find WCW a home and keep the product around. I still remember watching the final Nitro and Raw at the same time and when they did the simulcast, Nitro was a couple of seconds ahead of Raw, so I watched it from the Nitro side. I grew up watching NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions and in those days thought that the WWF was a cartoony wrestling made for kids. I still watched both, but was pro-WCW for most of their existence. But I'd be lying if I told you that I watched much WCW during 2000 or 2001. WCW Mayhem 99 was the last WCW PPV that I bought and I still thought it was decent. It was nice seeing them finally let Bret be the main eventer he was supposed to be. Not long after the Radicalz jumped to the WWF, I had very little reason to watch WCW anymore. Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and the Crippler were my favorite reasons to watch for most of 1999 and they were now in the WWF.

[@MrLawyer711]

People often complain that none of the big names came over during the invasion…but if you really think about it, it was smart of their part to wait because none of them would have felt that special if they all came in at once. Because coming in separately gave the fans breathing room and time to be like OMG! It’s Ric Flair! It’s the nWo! It’s Eric Bischoff! Exc.

[@GTrawick]

This is a special moment in wrestling history no matter how it turned out. I will always remember that night, it's a feeling you can't put into words. Thank you for this review Brian I've been subscribed for years and love everything you do but this one is definitely in my top 5 favorites. W3 4 Life💯

[@timbartschwolfman]

Seeing the Notification for this Video Vince is looking at Brian and is like "Who the Hell is this Guy?"

[@TheRennes1997]

If he reviews the Raw that was airing the same time, will Zane be facing Shane?

[@Eviltwin531]

That ring and filming setup makes me miss WCW's willing to take chances and be creative. There were a lot of misses, but there were also some cool moments, too.

[@ninja_tony]

Absolutely. People seem to forget that even though WCW had some serious misses in the later days, when it was firing on all cylinders, it was awesome.

[@theone9207]

Feel there could be more Classic Episode Reviews, for instance: - Nitro from 1998 where Goldberg beats Hogan - Jan 4th 1999 Raw and Nitro - the first WWE draft - the episode of Raw where Batista turns on Triple H - Raw 1000

[@TUFprofan]

What he says about WCW at the end could be said about TNA/Impact Wrestling. They had a few bad years where they lost stars and believed in Hulk Hogan and a million heel factions. Even though "the petals are off the rose" for a lot of people Impact Wrestling has been solid lately but, nobody gives it a chance due to the past.

[@speedwaynutt]

Question is Sting vs Ric Flair actually Stings best wwe match.

[@michaelwhite5641]

It is

[@tafua_a]

To be fair, until the finish, the Sting v Rollins match was really good

[@Captain_Yorkie1]

@LegendKiller529 technically yes

[@robertaitken4855]

The invasion had such a nice build to start. Two things ruined things outside of WWE’s control: the guaranteed deals allowing the biggest stars to just sit at home if they wanted and Shawn Stasiak blabbing to press about a Mania angle that ended up getting cancelled.

[@kylefunderburk4194]

Then again, WWE fired Buff Bagwell and Jeff Jarrett, and strapped DDP with the awful stalker gimmick. There were other guys like Billy Kidman and Shane Helms who were over at the time of WCW's demise and available for the Invasion. There should have been no need to have WWF guys join WCW in the Invasion. Ultimately, the angle should have been re-written to basically say Shane owning WCW allows WCW wrestlers to compete on WWF programming. Think of a partnership between two promotions, only this is purely a kayfabe partnership. Then, in 2002 when Ric Flair, Rey Mysterio, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan and others were available, sign them and begin the Invasion.

[@dennett316]

WWE left money on the table by not buying out those contracts and delivering at least a few of the bigger names. Vince was too consumed by the high of killing off his competition to make smart business decisions. He chose to bury WCW and it's talent, and while he did good business for less than a year, he could've had years and years of top drawing dream matches if he hadn't been such a dummy.

[@CamaroAmx]

@@dennett316 you have to remember, getting WCW and ECW also meant WWE also tripled their roster and few were the big stars (as they had guaranteed contracts that were liked to AOL/Turner not WCW and it would of cost WWE a fortune to buy out (if those wrestlers even wanted to sign with WWE in the first place). The hype would faded by the time the big stars’ contracts ended and became available. The WWE had no idea to do with all these new wrestlers. There was not enough tv time to feature them all properly. That’s why the Invasion angle came about. Lump all the WCW guys into a group (along with the ECW guys they inherited) to have them all on tv. Let them all do something (even if it’s for a minute or 2) and then see who does the best, keep them, and drop the rest when their contracts end.

[@bashamd96]

@@CamaroAmx It really was a story of necessity over practicality with how big the roster was

[@CamaroAmx]

@@bashamd96 exactly.

[@TheWinstonSlip]

I was hoping for this! Great work Z man

[@Thejimislim]

I was at this show and what a night it was! As a senior in high school and $10 unlimited beer (yellow mugs in the crowd) with no ID checks 🤣🤣

[@roanz84]

I laughed when he talked about turning back and forth between nitro and raw to make sure it was really happening cuz I remember doin the same thing.

[@ValStarwind]

You were on fire with the commentary this video Brian! xD

[@robertwilliamcurl1490]

IMO they should have waited until the Monday after Wrestlemania to officially announce on tv. It would have been able to possibly pack an arena with buzz of WWF guys showing up and made for a massive Wrestlemania Monday show. The invasion could have started and really given WCW a different future I think...

[@marin3933]

Its amazing to me that Nitro at its worst was drawing solidly more than RAW right now

[@mitchellima4736]

Doesn't surprise me. Wrestling was over at the time in the mainstream, so ofc no matter how bad it is it's going to draw more then any current wrestling product for the most part, esspashially raw in the last couple months. (Its amazing the same company that makes nxt, one if the best wrestling shows in the world, and SmackDown which has been really good for a while now and underrated in my oppion, also makes raw)

[@tonyphillips8726]

Because wrestling sucks now. It's been on a downward trend since 2000.

[@mitchellima4736]

@@tonyphillips8726 nxt, aew, smackdown are all definitely better then 2000 wcw in my oppion. It may be subjective but from almost all stand points many wrestling shows today are better then 2000s wcw from many fans perspectives

[@theghostofthomasjenkins9643]

this was also before DVR and streaming, so if you wanted to watch wrestling, you had to do it when it aired. nielson ratings don't count DVR and streams.

[@mitchellima4736]

@@theghostofthomasjenkins9643 yeah that's another reason. That along with the amount of people who illegally stream things online. Still not drawing in the same number but not because wrestling is objectively worse or better then it was

[@Albert-lj5jb]

The sad thing is, we were all laughing about how bad WCW was from '99 leading up to this point. Little did we know, at the time, that we needed WCW to exist to stop wrestling from degenerating into the state it's now in, and has been in for the past 15 years or so.

[@ThorMaximus]

Never was WCW fan but knew it was necessary for the business. The death of a good product was keeping Hogan around. Once they got big with him, cut him and his creative control to evolve the product.

[@hia5235]

I wasnt laughing. When WCW was bought: I started watching UFC, and never turned back.

[@maxmeza4859]

WWE in 2001 is nothing like it is now....WCW was dead by 1999.

[@maxmeza4859]

@@ThorMaximus Hulk Hogan MADE wrestling

[@ninja_tony]

Minus the WWE, wrestling is in a better position now than it's been since the attitude era. AEW is giving the fans what they want and making huge splashes in the wrestling world, and Billy Corgan's newly revamped NWA is poised to become something it hasn't been since it's heyday. Most importantly, the wrestlers themselves finally have options and can work different companies simultaneously, such as those that bounce from AEW to NJPW and back, because Tony Khan WANTS his wrestlers to have creative freedom.

[@nothingislogical]

I remember at the time WCW went out of business, I had actually tuned out of wrestling as a whole for a little bit and I happened to be flipping channels this night and caught the simulcast. It got me excited for wrestling again and I tuned back in for the Invasion angle. About half way through that, I tuned out completely and didn't start watching wrestling again until I started college in 2005 and I started hanging with a group of friends who were big into wrestling.

[@colbypupgaming1962]

Jamie Kellner deserves all the ire he's gotten. He didn't just cancel WCW, he killed Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain too.

[@claymathewselevator8121]

That monster

[@NickInfante1992]

Not just Jamie Kellner but Brad Siegel too deserves the hate

[@brandontomblin8406]

This should have been a classic Who War It Better with you also reviewing that night's Raw.

[@assassssasa]

2001 was a hard year for wrestling fans

[@TheRennes1997]

2001 was a hard year period

[@youtubemember1115]

The first three months were still good, then Stone Cold's awful heel turn happened and the decline began

[@TheChibiGingi]

I remember this so vividly. I wasn't watching WCW as religiously as I used to (due to school, and, well, the state of the product itself) but I'd try to catch it from time to time. This episode started while I was at Catechism and my mom, who didn't care for wrestling but would have it on in the front room for us if we felt like watching it when we got back. She saw the opening segment with Vince McMahon; please note, my mom knows very little about wrestling but she knew enough to look at him and think 'He's the guy from the other wrestling show, isn't he?' So when she went to pick us up, she was the first one to break it to us. She was so proud of herself, too. Heck, I'm proud of her for knowing just enough to recognize which wrestling show we watched, despite not liking either one. I don't remember much of the wrestling itself, though. I remembered Rey and Kidman won the Cruiserweight Tag Titles, but not the rest of it.

[@forrestredd2706]

I was watching Nitro when this happened, because I was a WCW guy. and I really don't believe it is anything I will ever forget.

[@Daedalus8K]

Petition to get this series renamed to the Classic Wrestling Review. This review of the final nitro opens the doors for other historic episodes of wrestling

[@chayden153]

Yess

[@Larper64]

I would love to see him cover the rise of NWO in WCW, most of which happened between PPV. So yes I agree, it would be great if he covered more classic moments beyond PPV.

[@ClassicWrestlingReview]

Hold on a minute. Perhaps a different name. But I get your sentiment.

[@Aragorn7884]

Pour one out for ECW bruh 😟

[@MetaSynForYourSoul]

I remember watching live and missing parts of Vince's speech because I was flipping back and forth to Raw to make sure I was on the right network. After finally realizing I was NOT hallucinating I watched with my jaw on the floor. How could this be? WCW gone?! FOREVER!!? My mind couldn't process this was it. My entire life there was the NFL, NBA, NCAA (grew up in NC so, ya know...) WWF, and WCW. In the south, we also have a ton of smaller federations with local TV access. IWCCW, Smokey Mountain Wrestling, All Pro South (or something like that. It's fuzzy after 20 years. Dang, I'm old man...) but major league every week were those 2. And to see a final victory, an end to the battle of titans, was surreal. The only thing I can compare it to was watching Undertaker loose to Yokozuna and the video after where it looked like he "died". I was dejected for months. I couldn't believe it. It was like watching your superman fall, but right in front of you, not a comic. Like I said it's a surreal hard to describe feeling. Always was a WWF guy. In high school we had DX V. NWO fights between Nitro guys and Raw is War guys. Not realizing that it was basically the same kliq. We were total marks! Even today, I'm still basically a mark at heart.😁 I love wrestling, but when Vince killed his competition, he killed the business. No reason to innovate, no reason to try and outshine, and (this is also my theory of what happened to America after the cold War) with no enemies left to fight they had to make one of themselves. And any time you fight yourself, you're guaranteed to lose.

[@zacharythomason7359]

Awesome Story 😎😎😎

[@KingKrakenSports]

At home battling Covid. Been anticipating this all week. Thanks Brian!

[@zacharythomason7359]

Get Better soon my man😎😎😎

[@KingKrakenSports]

@@zacharythomason7359 appreciate it man

[@zacharythomason7359]

@@KingKrakenSports No problem

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

Give Vince credit he might hated WCW but at least he tried to make WCW a third brand show the day that WCW died he asked who do you wanna see in WWF the people cheered for Bagwell and Booker T but that backfired

[@michaelrivera8360]

But realistically they still would have been booked like ECW because WWE won the war and they would hammered that home and prob would have treated WCW like a third brand plus doubt that the big names would have signed immediately

[@bashamd96]

@@michaelrivera8360 I mean honestly booking WCW like WWECW would work out a lot better given it was booked as basically NXT today and that style of booking gels a lot better with WCW then ECW

[@TheRennes1997]

They should've waited till they got to Atlanta to make that match happen.

[@edog4153]

Can't wait for more tv show reviews. Also the fact that the 2010 royal rumble was over 11 years ago and I was only 11 at the time, is really disturbing

[@CamaroAmx]

I was 27 back then..... makes me feel old. I was 19 when WCW and ECW went belly up. I think I kept watching wrestling regularly until shortly after the end of the invasion angle and then I watched less and less. Now I haven’t watch an episode in its entirety since Raw 1000. A quick 5 minutes here and there is all I catch anymore. So my wrestling fandom days were from about 1987 to 2002. I miss those late 90s-early 2000s days. There was wrestling on most of the week. Monday had Nitro and Raw. Tuesday had Smackdown. Wednesday was an off night. Thursday had Thunder. Friday was ECW on TNN (also ECW hardcore tv on very late Friday night on a local access channel, in my case 48 out of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton). Saturday had WWF in the morning (weekend wrap up show and behind the scenes stuff) and WWF shotgun Saturday night along with a WCW Saturday night show. Sunday had WWE in the morning (week ahead preview and the latest wrestling news) and Sunday night had WWF Heat (jobbers and guys on their way up or down also PPV preshow matches if it was a PPV weekend).

[@edog4153]

@@CamaroAmx I started watching wrestling in 2001 but I was 3 and to me personally no other time period was better in wrestling in 2005-2006, with TNA and Wwe having characters I loved. 2007 was good until the Benoit Debacle. It was probably the first real shattering of wrestling to me. Cause Eddie's death I remember, but it didn't feel even close to the Benoit tragdey.