25 Years Ago Today - The Final Nitro

I was 15 years old when I learned about World Championship Wrestling being bought by the World Wrestling Federation.

I was devastated.

For me, especially in my formative years, wrestling was life. Every Monday night, I would sit down to watch the Monday Night Wars. If I missed Nitro, I would program my VCR to catch the replay at 2 AM the following Tuesday. In between Thunder, Saturday Night, and WorldWide, I would watch my old WCW tapes that my old man would archive from over the years.

Big Norm was sad too. An absolute fan of wrestling, he followed WCW from the 1970s onward. From the days of Mid-Atlantic and Georgia Championship Wrestling, to the peak of the National Wrestling Alliance and Jim Crockett Promotions, and all throughout the TBS and TNT years. He knew it all and loved it all.

A few months before he died in 2013, we actually discussed the death of WCW. He truly felt that WCW would never die. He just couldn’t fathom it. One wrestling company controlling the entire landscape was not beneficial to the industry. 

And in 2001, there was hope that it wouldn’t happen. Eric Bischoff and Fusient Media Ventures had a press conference with Brad Siegel to announce their intentions to purchase WCW on January 11, the day America Online and Time Warner completed the biggest corporate merger of all-time.

WCW 2001 was completely underrated. The Magnificent Seven formed to take on WCW’s remaining stars. The Cruiserweight division was reborn. Guys like Kanyon, Dustin and Dusty Rhodes, Mike Awesome, and DDP had new leases on life. More importantly, the Natural Born Thrillers, who were put together by Vince Russo, were beginning to shine outside of the faction.

All roads were leading to May 6 and the Big Bang, where WCW would truly be reborn under the Fusient era.

And then, just as quickly, WCW’s new era went from promise to FINALITY.

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On the night of March 26, 2001, the Harder household was very melancholy. With WrestleMania X-Seven mere days away, Raw would be in its last minute hype for the “Grandest Stage of Them All”. For them, the winners of the war, with the victor would go to the spoils.

For Nitro, it was the true end of an era.

The Boardwalk Beach Resort in Panama City Beach, FL played home to the Final Nitro. As a part of the “WCW Spring Breakout” series, there was more of a party crowd than a stereotypical wrestling crowd. It was “the Night of Champions” but it was outdoors, yet ill-fitting for the end of a major prominent wrestling company.

WCW “CEO” Ric Flair opened up with a legendary promo, talking about his legacy and times throughout the Jim Crockett Promotions, NWA, and WCW. It has to be seen to be believed. He ended it by challenging Sting, his long-term rival, to a match. Knowing that Sting & Flair had their first ever classic match at the inaugural Clash at the Champions in 1988, combined with their other battles over the years, I was pumped up for a legendary final showdown on the Turner Networks.

The first match of the night was Title for Title, as WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner faced WCW United States Championship Booker T.

Booker had just come off a serious knee injury a few weeks prior, while Steiner was dealing a serious injury with his drop-foot syndrome. However, both men gave it their all, fighting not just for the legacy of WCW, but for their futures in wrestling as well.

At the end, “Big Poppa Pump” went for a powerbomb, but Booker countered into a Book End for a three and the victory.

With winning his fourth WCW World Title, combined with the US Title, adding in his six WCW Television Championships and ten World Tag Team Championships, it’s safe to say that Booker T might very well be the most decorated WCW performer ever.

There were two matches dedicated to the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships. The belts, which debuted at Greed eight days earlier, would be fought over later on in the evening, as inaugural champions “Prime Time” Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo would face the winner of a Triple Threat Tag Team Match. Rey Mysterio Jr and Kidman defeated 3 Count of Evan Karagias & Shannon Moore and the Jung Dragons of Kaz Hayashi & Yang to get the opportunity.

The championship match was a complete sprint. All four guys laid it on the line. In the end, as Skipper went for his Play of the Day, Kidman countered into a Kid Krusher for the win. The Filthy Animals were the final WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions. To this day, I wonder how those titles would have ultimately ended up had WCW continued. It was a revolutionary concept.

The rest of the night went to the young guns. Sean O’Haire and Chuck Palumbo successfully defended their WCW World Tag Team Titles against Team Canada of Storm and Awesome. Shane Helms delivered a Vertebreaker to Chavo Guerrero to retain his Cruiserweight Championship. Shawn Stasiak survived getting a tattoo against Bam Bam Bigelow, thanks to help from his main squeeze Stacy Keibler.

The most chilling three minutes of the night went to Diamond Dallas Page. DDP, the guy who everyone said would never make it, a three-time former WCW World Champion, gave this very inspirational promo right near the water in Panama City Beach.

And then…the sixty-second video package of all the former WCW and NWA World Heavyweight Champions. Twenty-five years later, I still get teary eyed over it.

DDP & the best WCW video package back-to-back: MUST WATCH.

And then there was Sting and the “Nature Boy”.

The Franchise of World Championship Wrestling against WCW’s greatest World Heavyweight Champion doing battle on the Turner Networks one final time. Both men pulled out their greatest hits against one another. Flair, who hadn’t wrestled in a real serious match in over a year, and Sting, still recovering from serious surgery a few months prior, left it all on the line. Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson were at their very best calling this one.

Sting ended the final match on the final Nitro on the final WCW event with a Scorpion Deathlock submission win over Ric Flair. Both men then embraced and celebrated with one another in the middle of the ring. As Tony Schiavone, the long time voice of WCW, was laying out platitudes to the viewers at home and towards the legends in the ring, Nitro cut away from them to do the infamous simulcast between Raw & Nitro, with Vince McMahon announcing his purchase of WCW.

Mere moments later, Shane McMahon entered the WCW ring on Nitro, saying that HE was the one that bought WCW! The crowd in Panama City Beach was going ballistic! 

The final voice heard on WCW Monday Nitro was Jim Ross plugging the Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock facing the Undertaker and Kane main event on Raw, followed by a 30-second commercial for WrestleMania X-Seven.

And that was it. The end of World Championship Wrestling on the Turner Networks. The end of the Monday Night Wars. 

The end of an era.

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A couple of years ago in June 2024, prior to buying TheBigBangMay6.com, I took an Uber to the final Nitro venue. 

I had just learned that the domain, which had been owned by unknown sources for decades prior, was available. Knowing that there was a “Who Killed WCW?” documentary on Vice, as well as taking a business trip to Panama City Beach, FL, I knew it was a perfect storm of WCW related opportunities.

I knew I had to get there. Unbelievably, it was five minutes from my hotel.