Potential PPV main events WCW gave away on Nitro

[Jindrak Mark]

I believe the following were all first time ever matches (TV/PPV wise anyway) when they took place on Nitro:


Hulk Hogan v Lex Luger - Sep 95
Randy Savage v Lex Luger - Oct 95
Hulk Hogan v Sting - Nov 95
The Giant v Randy Savage - Dec 95
Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage v Ric Flair & Arn Anderson - Jan 96
Sting & Lex Luger v Road Warriors - Feb 96
Ric Flair v The Giant - Mar 96
Sting v The Giant - Apr 96
The Giant v Lex Luger - May 96
Ric Flair v Scott Hall - Jun 97
Scott Hall v DDP - Jun 97
Kevin Nash v Rey Mysterio - Jun 97
Ric Flair v DDP - Aug 97
Randy Savage v Curt Hennig - Aug 97
Lex Luger v DDP - Sep 97
Hollywood Hogan v DDP - Oct 97
Sting v Randy Savage - Feb 98
Hollywood Hogan & Randy Savage v Sting & Lex Luger - Feb 98
Sting v Scott Hall - Feb 98
Randy Savage v Roddy Piper - Mar 98
Sting v Kevin Nash - Apr 98
Goldberg v Scott Hall - Jul 98
Hollywood Hogan v Goldberg - Jul 98
Hollywood Hogan v Scott Hall - Jul 98
Bret Hart v DDP - Jul 98
Bret Hart v Lex Luger - Aug 98
Goldberg v The Giant - Aug 98
Goldberg v Sting - Sep 98
Hollywood Hogan v Bret Hart - Sep 98
Bret Hart v Sting - Oct 98
Hollywood Hogan & Bret Hart v Sting & The Warrior - Oct 98
Kevin Nash v Hollywood Hogan - Jan 99
Goldberg v Scott Steiner - Feb 99
Goldberg v Ric Flair - Mar 99
Kevin Nash v Ric Flair - Apr 99
Goldberg v Lex Luger - Oct 99
Goldberg v Bret Hart - Oct 99
Scott Hall v Sid Vicious - Nov 99
Sid Vicious v DDP - Dec 99
Hulk Hogan v Mike Awesome - May 00
Jeff Jarrett v Hollywood Hogan - Jun 00
Booker T v Goldberg - Jul 00
Kevin Nash v Scott Steiner - Jul 00
Booker T v Sting - Jul 00
Booker T v Kevin Nash - Aug 00


There’s no getting away from the fact that WCW cared more about TV than PPV but if you had to save a couple of these (or any not mentioned) for PPV which ones would it be and what year/PPV would they take place on?

I think the face Hogan v face Sting match could've been a great attraction for Starrcade 95. Regardless of the result, you could then play into that history for their much bigger Starrcade match 2 years later.

Nash/Hogan is one where I think they waited too long. I think that should have been a big time PPV match in 1998 after the Wolfpack/Hollywood split.

[GuyOfOwnage]

Hogan/Goldberg, still in the Georgia Dome, but at a big name PPV like Starrcade, would seem like an absolute no-brainer at the time. That buyrate would've done gangbusters.

[Feyrhausen]

WCWs main problem was that it didnt matter if it made money. It was a Turner project and protected. So a big rating was more important than a big buyrate. It basically boosted the network average, like WWF does for USA now.

So then when the merger happened WCW was no longer protected and the new owners cared about the bottom line. If WCW had cared more about building healthy PPV, live event, and merchandise income streams they might have been ok.

But instead the PPV was sacrificed for rating boosts. The live events never did well because the big stars could avoid going. Merchandise did well at times, but then you had Hogan who had a deal that lost WCW money on every shirt sold.

[thegame415]

My first thought was Goldberg vs Hogan.

[XaviersSS2015hair]

Jun 13, 2022 20:46:02 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

WCWs main problem was that it didnt matter if it made money. It was a Turner project and protected. So a big rating was more important than a big buyrate. It basically boosted the network average, like WWF does for USA now.

So then when the merger happened WCW was no longer protected and the new owners cared about the bottom line. If WCW had cared more about building healthy PPV, live event, and merchandise income streams they might have been ok.

But instead the PPV was sacrificed for rating boosts. The live events never did well because the big stars could avoid going. Merchandise did well at times, but then you had Hogan who had a deal that lost WCW money on every shirt sold.

This. Every single word of this.

[XaviersSS2015hair]

Jun 13, 2022 20:14:37 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

I believe the following were all first time ever matches (TV/PPV wise anyway) when they took place on Nitro:


Hulk Hogan v Lex Luger - Sep 95
Randy Savage v Lex Luger - Oct 95
Hulk Hogan v Sting - Nov 95
The Giant v Randy Savage - Dec 95
Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage v Ric Flair & Arn Anderson - Jan 96
Sting & Lex Luger v Road Warriors - Feb 96
Ric Flair v The Giant - Mar 96
Sting v The Giant - Apr 96
The Giant v Lex Luger - May 96
Ric Flair v Scott Hall - Jun 97
Scott Hall v DDP - Jun 97
Kevin Nash v Rey Mysterio - Jun 97
Ric Flair v DDP - Aug 97
Randy Savage v Curt Hennig - Aug 97
Lex Luger v DDP - Sep 97
Hollywood Hogan v DDP - Oct 97
Sting v Randy Savage - Feb 98
Hollywood Hogan & Randy Savage v Sting & Lex Luger - Feb 98
Sting v Scott Hall - Feb 98
Randy Savage v Roddy Piper - Mar 98
Sting v Kevin Nash - Apr 98
Goldberg v Scott Hall - Jul 98
Hollywood Hogan v Goldberg - Jul 98
Hollywood Hogan v Scott Hall - Jul 98
Bret Hart v DDP - Jul 98
Bret Hart v Lex Luger - Aug 98
Goldberg v The Giant - Aug 98
Goldberg v Sting - Sep 98
Hollywood Hogan v Bret Hart - Sep 98
Bret Hart v Sting - Oct 98
Hollywood Hogan & Bret Hart v Sting & The Warrior - Oct 98
Kevin Nash v Hollywood Hogan - Jan 99
Goldberg v Scott Steiner - Feb 99
Goldberg v Ric Flair - Mar 99
Kevin Nash v Ric Flair - Apr 99
Goldberg v Lex Luger - Oct 99
Goldberg v Bret Hart - Oct 99
Scott Hall v Sid Vicious - Nov 99
Sid Vicious v DDP - Dec 99
Hulk Hogan v Mike Awesome - May 00
Jeff Jarrett v Hollywood Hogan - Jun 00
Booker T v Goldberg - Jul 00
Kevin Nash v Scott Steiner - Jul 00
Booker T v Sting - Jul 00
Booker T v Kevin Nash - Aug 00


There’s no getting away from the fact that WCW cared more about TV than PPV but if you had to save a couple of these (or any not mentioned) for PPV which ones would it be and what year/PPV would they take place on?

I think the face Hogan v face Sting match could've been a great attraction for Starrcade 95. Regardless of the result, you could then play into that history for their much bigger Starrcade match 2 years later.

Nash/Hogan is one where I think they waited too long. I think that should have been a big time PPV match in 1998 after the Wolfpack/Hollywood split.

Serious question. How many of these dream matches had a finish that didn't involve 100 guys storming the ring? Because that's the reason I stopped watching WCW in 98. For almost 3 years at the time we were promised some huge dream match on Nitro and THEY ALWAYS ENDED THE EXACT SAME WAY! No finish, 100 guys in the ring. How many times were people supposed to watch the same movie when they already knew the ending?

[Feyrhausen]

Jun 14, 2022 1:53:25 GMT -5 XaviersSS2015hair said:

Jun 13, 2022 20:46:02 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

WCWs main problem was that it didnt matter if it made money. It was a Turner project and protected. So a big rating was more important than a big buyrate. It basically boosted the network average, like WWF does for USA now.

So then when the merger happened WCW was no longer protected and the new owners cared about the bottom line. If WCW had cared more about building healthy PPV, live event, and merchandise income streams they might have been ok.

But instead the PPV was sacrificed for rating boosts. The live events never did well because the big stars could avoid going. Merchandise did well at times, but then you had Hogan who had a deal that lost WCW money on every shirt sold.

This. Every single word of this.

WCW towards the end still had decent ratings. But the company was a money pit because of major expenses and few income streams. If it had been profitable because of things like merch, ppv, live events, etc. AOL still might have cancelled them. Kellner would have had a harder time justifying it but he still could have made happen. But they would have been picked up in a heartbeat by another network. The ratings were desirable and the main stumbling block was no one being sure if the company would survive.

[tafkaga]

Babyface Hogan vs. Babyface Sting.... damn, this should have been a major PPV main event with weeks or even months of buildup.

[4real]

Even watching WCW back that first Goldberg v Sting match on Nitro felt pretty massive. Just think what WCW could have done if built over a few weeks for PPV.

But I guess they just cared about ratings more.

[Celexa Bliss 54]

You know what's even worse about a lot of those examples? The matches then took place again, on PPV, often weeks, in a few cases, DAYS later. It's not in there, but the Nitro before the Great American Bash 1997 was headlined by Flair and Piper against the Outsiders. The same match was already scheduled for the PPV six days later!

Sting/Giant and Luger/Giant both happened in PPV not long after their Nitro matches. Savage/Luger happened on two PPVs and at least one more Nitro in the months after their first match.

Also, a few of those examples were cases of a match that would happen on the PPV if certain conditions were met. By giving them away on Nitro weeks or days earlier, you're killing interest in multiple PPV matches, since who cares about Savage/Zodiac or Luger/Meng (which had also happened weeks earlier for free!) when we already saw the potential Savage/Luger match on Nitro?

[Celexa Bliss 54]

Jun 14, 2022 2:00:29 GMT -5 XaviersSS2015hair said:

Jun 13, 2022 20:14:37 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

I believe the following were all first time ever matches (TV/PPV wise anyway) when they took place on Nitro:


Hulk Hogan v Lex Luger - Sep 95
Randy Savage v Lex Luger - Oct 95
Hulk Hogan v Sting - Nov 95
The Giant v Randy Savage - Dec 95
Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage v Ric Flair & Arn Anderson - Jan 96
Sting & Lex Luger v Road Warriors - Feb 96
Ric Flair v The Giant - Mar 96
Sting v The Giant - Apr 96
The Giant v Lex Luger - May 96
Ric Flair v Scott Hall - Jun 97
Scott Hall v DDP - Jun 97
Kevin Nash v Rey Mysterio - Jun 97
Ric Flair v DDP - Aug 97
Randy Savage v Curt Hennig - Aug 97
Lex Luger v DDP - Sep 97
Hollywood Hogan v DDP - Oct 97
Sting v Randy Savage - Feb 98
Hollywood Hogan & Randy Savage v Sting & Lex Luger - Feb 98
Sting v Scott Hall - Feb 98
Randy Savage v Roddy Piper - Mar 98
Sting v Kevin Nash - Apr 98
Goldberg v Scott Hall - Jul 98
Hollywood Hogan v Goldberg - Jul 98
Hollywood Hogan v Scott Hall - Jul 98
Bret Hart v DDP - Jul 98
Bret Hart v Lex Luger - Aug 98
Goldberg v The Giant - Aug 98
Goldberg v Sting - Sep 98
Hollywood Hogan v Bret Hart - Sep 98
Bret Hart v Sting - Oct 98
Hollywood Hogan & Bret Hart v Sting & The Warrior - Oct 98
Kevin Nash v Hollywood Hogan - Jan 99
Goldberg v Scott Steiner - Feb 99
Goldberg v Ric Flair - Mar 99
Kevin Nash v Ric Flair - Apr 99
Goldberg v Lex Luger - Oct 99
Goldberg v Bret Hart - Oct 99
Scott Hall v Sid Vicious - Nov 99
Sid Vicious v DDP - Dec 99
Hulk Hogan v Mike Awesome - May 00
Jeff Jarrett v Hollywood Hogan - Jun 00
Booker T v Goldberg - Jul 00
Kevin Nash v Scott Steiner - Jul 00
Booker T v Sting - Jul 00
Booker T v Kevin Nash - Aug 00


There’s no getting away from the fact that WCW cared more about TV than PPV but if you had to save a couple of these (or any not mentioned) for PPV which ones would it be and what year/PPV would they take place on?

I think the face Hogan v face Sting match could've been a great attraction for Starrcade 95. Regardless of the result, you could then play into that history for their much bigger Starrcade match 2 years later.

Nash/Hogan is one where I think they waited too long. I think that should have been a big time PPV match in 1998 after the Wolfpack/Hollywood split.

Serious question. How many of these dream matches had a finish that didn't involve 100 guys storming the ring? Because that's the reason I stopped watching WCW in 98. For almost 3 years at the time we were promised some huge dream match on Nitro and THEY ALWAYS ENDED THE EXACT SAME WAY! No finish, 100 guys in the ring. How many times were people supposed to watch the same movie when they already knew the ending?

Honestly, I'm pretty sure Flair/Giant is the only match on that list to end with no interference. Which, considering Bischoff and Flair's relationship, seems about right...