That WCW Nitro retro show

[CM Steel]

The WWE has plans for a WCW Nitro retro show on monday night RAW in the near future. But in this era of pro wrestling what can the WWE do to bring that element that Nitro once had on a monday night?

When the E had a old school "WWF" night on RAW a couple of years ago. They had the top legends there in affect with the whole old school set up. When the WWE had through the ECW: One Night Stand pay per view they had those same ECW hardcore legends (except New Jack) in the house! But the old ECW TV show wasn't dubbed "One Night Stand", it was just ECW, the WWE dubbed it that on their own.

So if the E did through a WCW monday night Nitro show? Could it be worth watching? Nitro had the New World Order (NWO), Bill Goldberg (in his prime), Sting, Lex Luger, Diamond Dallas Page, the Nitro girls, Harlem Heat, the Cruseirweight division at the height of cruseirweight wrestling. How could the WWE duplicate all of that in one night?

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Any WCW show without Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Sting, DDP, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, Jeff Jarrett and the NWO (WCW version) won't be complete.

BTW WWE will do what they always do and show themselves superior over WCW like they do to every other company so its pointless.

 

[MrPreston]

Yeah.. while it is something that catches my attention because of the monday night wars the magic will never again be relived.... as said in another statement the WWE would just redicule it... They made the nWo a joke though a few segments were fun to watch and it was exciting...

 

[asiatic7]

It's pretty pointless at this....point. They should just do what they've been doing and put out the DVD's. I'm not interested in watching the old guys go thru the motions when theres guys like CM punk, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and others making names for themselves. In today's WWE and TNA for that matter, they are relying too much on nostalgia and past stars to make a good show. Let's just remember the past and WATCH the present athletes of today.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

Any WCW show without Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Sting, DDP, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, Jeff Jarrett and the NWO (WCW version) won't be complete.

BTW WWE will do what they always do and show themselves superior over WCW like they do to every other company so its pointless.

I agree with everything you said with the exception of Jeff Jarrett. When I think of Double J, aside from TNA obviously, I don't think of him as a former WCW star but rather, I think of him as a former WWF superstar.

 

[rokuma]

This is crazy, I was literally thinking about an old school WCW Nitro this morning. Obviously, this wouldn't be the time to do it, because how can you have "WCW" without Hogan, Bischoff, Sting, or Flair? Without them, though, there is potential. Already under legend contracts are Nash and DDP, plus Booker T. Steiner has been so anti-TNA and Hogan that I'm sure WWE would bring him in for one night. Goldberg has said he'd like one more match for his young son who never saw him wrestle. If offered the right money, wouldn't he come back? Plus, WWE has Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Kidman (who trains in FCW I think) under contract. Scott Hall would be a risk, but I'm sure he could be brought back, Sean Waltman just appeared at the Hall of Fame, Dean Malenko was working for them in the backstage. All of these guys were major staples in WCW. If they could lure in former cruiserweight stars like Juventud, Shane Helms (who may not have the best WWE relationship), Ultimo Dragon, Psychosis and his Peg Bundy hair, Buff Bagwell (if he's physically able), Lex Luger, who obviously cannot wrestle, but an appearance would be nice, Stevie Ray for a Harlem Heat reunion, Norman Smiley and the big wiggle, Raven, Saturn, Finlay, William "Lord Steven" Regal, Lance Storm, Hacksaw Duggan, Chavo Guerrero, Bill DeMott, Konnan (whom I despised), and PRIME TIME Elix Skipper....I mean, that's a pretty solid nostalgia card. In the future, if they could get Ric Flair, Sting, Hogan, and Bischoff...I mean I would be hyped. In fact, I could envision a card similar to this:

- Juvi vs Chris Jericho (old feud reunited)

- Raven vs Saturn (old feud reunited)

- Harlem Heat vs A) Outsiders (if Hall can compete) or B) The Steiner Brothers or both

- Sting vs Flair one more time

- Throw the rest of the guys in a nostalgia battle royal

- Goldberg vs DDP

Use the classic Nitro set, the smaller WCW ring, and bring back Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes (unfortunately since Heenan can't call a match anymore...maybe bring him back for the Flair/Sting battle), and have the show start at 7:57 and go until 11:00 PM...the old Nitro time slot. And have the show end with all of the WCW guys battling the reformed "NWO" as Tony Schiavone screams "We're out of time folks!" at 11:15. Classic WCW.

 

[neildittmar]

The availability and individual abilities of the former talents are certainly important for a WCW (or really any) reunion show to be successful. Likewise, it is equally important that the atmosphere of the original program be faithfully re-created as well. This is precisely where a stark difference exists between doing successful ECW reunion shows (One Night Stand) and pulling off the same feat with WCW Nitro.

Considering that a high majority of ECW's shows were taped for broadcast in smaller venues (The Arena, Hammerstein Ballroom, VFW's, Armories, etc.) and lacked modern pro-wrestling amenities like pyro, advanced lighting, and jumbo-trons, it was relatively simple (and most importantly, cheap) for WWE to recreate the ECW experience and atmosphere. It was low-budget to begin with, so WWE's production costs were fairly slim.

Contrast that to WCW which had it's own distinct and complex visual presentation, backed by Ted Turner money in it's heyday. Though the venue sizes were often the same as competing WWF events, the lighting, pyro, audio, and other setup elements were distinct and somewhat unique to WCW and Nitro specifically. To properly recreate these for one night would cost WWE quite a bit of money in building new set structures or heavily modifying existing ones. Unless WWE has bigger plans for WCW (a la the ECW rebirth), I just don't see how the company could justify that type of expenditure to get those things right.

So, either the WCW Nitro throwback show will be a shell of what the WCW presentation was actually all about (very likely), or WWE will invest lots of money (both in presentation and talent) to put out something fans of the old promotion will truly appreciate. The latter is unlikely if the retro Nitro is just a one-off show for WWE like the old-school RAW was awhile back. It becomes more likely if WWE has bigger plans for the WCW Nitro set and talent even after the retro show is in the can.

The tough question is, just how much does Vince and Company want to revisit their old rival and is it enough to justify the expense of doing Nitro justice? In my opinion, not enough to truly capture the essence and magic of that show and its participants.

 

[Workrate]

At best they could replicate the old stage and bring aboard some of the key guys that aren't currently under contract elsewhere -- DDP, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, I'm sure they could drag Stevie Ray out from wherever he is to team up with Booker T, Chavo Guerrero -- and then supplement those guys with those they already have on the roster, like Jericho, Mysterio, Big Show, maybe William Regal. I'm sure there's a bunch of other old guys out there who they could bring in, like Lex Luger or whoever, to appear backstage in non-wrestling roles. They certainly could put together a feasible "roster" if we're only talking one night.

The biggest problem with it, ultimately, would be that most of the key players are unavailable or too old. WCW without Sting, Flair, Hogan, and Goldberg? Regardless of how you feel about those guys, they would be missed if they weren't there. And they couldn't be. Goldberg would be a realistic possibility, but he'd probably want to be paid the stars and the sky.

The other thing is that the WWE would probably not allow the show to go off without most of their stars appearing, which to me ruins the point. If you want to sneak Cena and CM Punk in, that's fine (so long as they aren't wrestling, I think the intrigue of just putting them on the same screen as some of these other guys is enough). But if you're going to trot out Orton, Sheamus, Santino, and all these other guys, then you may as well not bother. Make it about Nitro's lineage, not about some weird alternate reality where the stars of today are meshed awkwardly against the aged stars of 15 years ago.

All that said, I do think it's a fairly cool idea. I think people would tune in. I just don't have a lot of faith that they could put together the necessary parts, show the appropriate restraints, and pull the thing off successfully.

 

[ECFNW]

i dont know why they are even entertaining the idea of this, yea nitro at one time for a while was a great show and did beat raw in the ratings for a long while.

But wcw's former top stars are signed with tna, eric, hogan, sting, etc i mean they were wcw they were what made people watch wcw, and do you think carter will ship her top talent to wwe for one night to do a reunion show, i dont see that happening at all. Without those guys i think a nitro show would just be a waste of two or three hours of a monday night.

Like ive seen in earleier posts wwe might be able to get guys like goldberg, stiener, they have booker already, but a reunion show cannot revolve around 4 or 5 guys from wcw in a three hour show. I really dont see this happening and if it does i dont seeing it being a success at all. Bad idea IMO

 

[ECFNW]

Something elese i wanted to add in there, i think its way to late to do a nitro show.

I mean they had a whole ppv for Ecw and that was in 05, imo wcw should have def gotten a ppv of their own they were much more popular than ecw television, and ratings wise.

Its just to late, just let wcw be a part of the past no point in digging up a dead body.

 

[mrfantastic111]

It's pretty pointless at this....point. They should just do what they've been doing and put out the DVD's. I'm not interested in watching the old guys go thru the motions when theres guys like CM punk, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and others making names for themselves. In today's WWE and TNA for that matter, they are relying too much on nostalgia and past stars to make a good show. Let's just remember the past and WATCH the present athletes of today.

Couldn't of said it any better myself. Do 12 year old kids want to watch CM Punk and John Cena; or do they want to watch wrestlers that they've never heard of? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy going back to the old school stuff, but not many people want to see people out of their prime wrestling - they want to see people who are still in their prime. To be honest whenever I hear about old school RAW tapings I usually just read the results online.

I don't know about the 'extra' programming that they do in the USA or elsewhere, but in Australia they have a WCW show every week... It's called Vintage Collection. It's not actually a WCW show, but as of recent they've been focusing on old school WCW feuds. I think that they should just stick to this. If people want WCW they can seek it out - don't focus your biggest show of the week on WCW.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I think it would be worth it if they got WCW guys on the show. If they got NWO, DDP, Goldberg, Flair, Booker T. It would be worth it. But if they have old WWE legends like Sgt.Slaughter or the Iron Sheik and guys had nothing to do with the success of WCW Nitro, then it would not be worth it.

 

[D-Man]

Just like with ECW, this idea will not be as successful as many might think. If I were to give you a reason why, I'd say it's because... well... it's not really WCW Nitro... it's Raw with a Nitro theme. You know, just like how ECW was really WWE with an ECW theme.

Nothing will catch lightning in a bottle like the original. This show will be put together just to make fans happy and to stop them from asking for this over and over again, just like you all did with ECW. Once that idea didn't live up to expectations, you all stopped begging to "BRING BAK ECWZZZ". Once this show doesn't live up to the hype, you'll all stop saying "BRING BACK DA NITROZ".

 

[Mucho Macho]

The Only wrestlers active enough that are available that were associated with nitro would be Booker T, DDP, Scott Stiener?, Big Show vs. Jericho would be a good main, maybe bring in tony schivone to help announce, other possible wild card suprise's maybe a lucha battle royal juvi, la parka, konnan, psychosis, mysterio if avalible, throw Sin cara in there with them, possible segment apperance's by dean malenko and arn anderson, Hell you could evev do fake sting, if done right it could be a great show would defintily have to set up the vintage nitro set though or it just wouldnt have the same feel with a nitro logo floating up there on the titan tron

 

[Radical Canadian Goose]

I loved WCW in its heyday and I would have loved a retro style show 6 years ago. Now I don't see the point as guys like Hogan, Bischoff, and Flair will not be there as they are in TNA. Scott Hall and Buff Bagwell are in no capacity to be seen on TV. Lex Luger has long been forgotten. Nobody cares about Bill Goldberg anymore. Scott Steiner and his rants are quickly ruining his reputation. Same for Gregory Helms. However I would love to see a Cruiserweight reunion show. I would have 5 matches and incorporate most of WCWs cruiserweight division.

Jericho vs Juvy
Rey vs Malenko
Kidman vs Ultimo Dragon
Psychosis vs Chavo
Battle Royal (among the names, Lash Leroux, La Parka, any of the Villanos, Elix Skipper, Jimmy Wang, Shannon Moore, El Dandy, etc.)

In my opinion this could be a decent show, however, I'd likely have it replace Smackdown instead of Raw

 

[Mr_billy]

It could be pretty good, some of the best WCW guys do work for WWE, Arn Anderson, Jericho, Big Show, Taker can come out as Mean Mark, Dean MAlenko, P.S. Michael Hayes, and Stone Cold can be Stunning for a night. Flair can work with WWE, they probably have a weird agreement, have a horseman thing, remember all the Crockett guys still floating around. Nash and Booker are there, it won't be horrible as you guys expect. Also they could have a kick ass war games match. Get some Luchadores and that would be sweet, especially since characters do get the junior treatment. Lately the WWE has been more respectful of WCW lately.

 

[Ovaltine]

The only way it would work is if it were an honest to god tribute to WCW. Perhaps current wrestlers could dress up as past WCW performers and compete as that wrestler just for that night... unfortuantely, something like that would probably come off as a mockery to WCW and I m pretty sure that Vice Mcmahon (piece of crap that he is) would prefer it that way.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

Well the thing to keep in mind, when they did Old School Raw, they used the original Raw theme with current stars mixed into the video and incorporated the iconic entrance to the current one. My concern with that is what entrance would be used for this? WCW Nitro never had a "iconic" entrance, just a ramp. They could very easily incorporate Raw and WWE stars into the first Nitro "opening video". Keep in mind WWE Old School also opened with Mene Gene Okerlund who was in WCW when Raw first aired.

If they treated it like a generic old school WCW show, personally I would love to see the elevated ramp that was level with the ring. For those of you wondering about their lack of WCW "main stars", they don't really need them. The focus, much like old school raw, would still be on current stars. They could just have a few cameos with well known WCW guys currently in WWEs good graces": Ron Simmons, Teddy Long, Cactus Jack, Stunning Steve Austin, Chris Jericho (maybe bring back Ralphus for one night only if he's still alive), Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, and others. Maybe bring back some others (How about Butch Reed joining Teddy Long and Ron Simmons in a doom reunion) or Missy Hyatt in a divas segment. It can still be done and be done right.

 

[avi01]

may have been a good idea some years back. Not sure about now. For a wcw retro show to work, they must actually have some of the big wcw names on the show. Some I can think of right now are Nash, Hall, Hogan, Sting, Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, Booker T, Goldberg, Steiner, DDP. Out of these, I can see them getting Nash and Booker T for sure, maybe DDP too. But the rest? Hall no way. Sting, Hogan,Bischoff and Flair are under contract with TNA. Not sure if Goldberg would be open for a one time thing. And Steiner, don`t think he is much appreciated by the WWE officials. Should they get most of these names, it is actually a pretty good idea IF in front of the right audience (some audience may have little or knowledge of wcw). Else, fans will hate them.

 

[slice_of_life]

LIVE! ONE NIGHT ONLY! WATCH THE BIG SHOW AS "THE GIANT" AND YOUR OTHER FAVORITE WCW SUPERSTARS SUCH AS BOOKER T AND . . . NEVERMIND IT TURNS OUT THAT THERE AREN'T ANY OTHER WCW SUPERSTARS!

Yeah. I loved Nitro. But there isn't anything they could do to recreate it.

On a some what related note: Speaking of WCW nostalgia, does anyone else think Cody Rhodes would have been a GREAT WCW superstar? His promos and performance just remind me of the good old days.

 

[Wald]

No Bischoff, Sting, Hogan or the nWo means no point really.

Sure they could Nash, Syxx, DDP, Harlem Heat, Rey, Giant, Raven, maybe even the Steiner Brothers on the show. But without the main players of the era what's the point?

Would be like having an attitude era version of Raw without Austin, Rock, Mankind and DX

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Wouldn't really be that hard to have a one night only retro Nitro show. Lots of people on the roster are former WCW guys. Bring in some old dudes, plug a new WCW dvd. As someone who grew up on WCW I wouldn't be upset if Sting and Steiner and Flair and Bischoff weren't there. Although I could have swore I saw a wrestling show with those 4 on TV not too long ago and it wasn't very good....

 

[IT Factor]

To be honest, I like the idea in theory of a WCW retro Nitro show. The problem is, WWE has a very bad execution of these great ideas. When they brought back ECW in the begining, it was awesome to see. By the end of ECW it was a bastardization of the ECW name and they winded up turning it into the colossial failure known as NXT.

There are too many big WCW names that are either dead or not able to return for such a retro show. Would I like to see a Nitro show? Yes. Do I have faith in WWE to do right by it? Hell no.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think its too late to have a WCW Nitro retro show, as the amount of decent talent available is very, very small.

Look at the biggest stars:

Sting- In TNA
Ric Flair- TNA
Hulk Hogan- TNA
Scott Steiner- hates Vince McMahon
Randy Savage- R.I.P
Lex Luger- Physical wreck
Scott Hall- Physical wreck
Eddie Guerrero- R.I.P
Chris Benoit- R.I.P
Eric Bischoff- TNA

Who is there who can play a part?

Booker T, Chris Jericho, Big Show, Rey Mysterio, William Regal are still on the WWE roster, I am sure they could bring back Sean Waltman (Syxx) for one night, and maybe Kevin Nash. DDP and Arn Anderson are on good terms with WWE, so they would be involved somehow I am guessing. They could look at getting Raven for one night, but he is well out of shape these days. There is the possbility of bringing back some Cruiserweights also.

But apart from that, who is there? I would think there are a few more, but enough talent to get the fans interested? I am not sure. I think if they wanted to do one of these shows, then one should have happened in 2004-5, it's too late now. So many of the main stars that you would need are either dead or unavailable. I can't see this being a success.

 

[Equimanthorn]

Cards on the table here: The thing I really love about WCW was the plotholes, the "shootz", the mispelt stationary, the nWo never dying, David Arquette being World champion. WCW was great, but when it was terrible, it was even better and there's no way anyone could recreate that for a 3-hour Raw.

I'll mark for the Intro though, no doubt.