Red's WCW Digest #2, a SUBSTACK EXCLUSIVE!

On the road to Starrcade 1995 Part 1 (Nitro 13-15 including select Saturday Night pulls)

We move past the bad taste that was the World War 3 battle royal and head straight into Nitro #13 on the road to Starrcade. For completionists, you can read the first installment HERE on Red’s Wrestling+ Blog.

Up first, Badd and Page had a rematch which saw a tease that Doll might be missing her Diamond. Short, but decent. Both dudes really were fun in their roles, despite the baggage they dealt with, during the year. NR

Next, another runback with joshi tag team action. A hair below their WW3 spot, this was still a very good sprint of joshi goddesses. I really wish WCW had done more with the promises being made by these women's matches. ***1/2

I didn't really watch Hogan's match against Morrus. A squash to give Hulk a win over a Dungeon member and nothing else. NR

Luger and Sting beat Arn and Pillman to close this one. They kept teasing Lex turning on Sting here but nothing came of it really. An okay main event. After, Flair came to help his horsefolk but Hogan ran in for the save. Sting stopped Hulk from going after Lex. **3/4

This was a decent post-PPV episode and the first half was good if nothing else.

The only non-wrestling segment really worth mentioning was Savage and Hogan having some heat and the replay cutting proof that Hogan was screwed. The Giant then came and killed the champ. Hogan then runs wild with chair shots for all until Sting stops him from committing a hate crime on large folk.

Episode rating: 65%

On Saturday Night, Sting beat Kurasawa in a match serving as a main event as well as a preview for the next PPV. I really dig the Saturday Night vibe. Too bad the closest thing to this right now is Powerrr. Dark, when taped from Florida, was a bit in the same realm, too. Oh well. Fun fluff. I love that this video features ads and I am greatly thankful to the dude that uploaded this. ***

Hey look, Macho Man cut a promo on Saturday Night. I mean, I couldn’t skip this. Savage plugged his match with Lex set for…

I admittedly zoned out a bit for the next episode of Nitro (no.14).

Harlem Heat beat American Males but Sherri left midmatch to go sloppy fuck the KFC dude backstage. I don’t remember anything else about this. NR

Sting and Lex were interviewed by M.G. backstage. Fun 90’s shit.

Sting beat Kurasawa in a short match that was meant to again plug Starrcade while also padding up the hot face, Sting. Good shit for what it was. NR

Parker was busy porking Sherri backstage and did not manage Manabu.

The Giant beat Norton in a battle of big ass dudes. Simple but decent. Short. NR

Flair and Charles Barkley came out to chat with Gene. Random entertainment.

Luger beat Savage in the main event with the strap on the line but it was via DQ. Hart, then Flair, then Hogan were all involved in the finish with Hulk costing Lex the strap. I enjoyed this more than I should have, I’m sure, but fuck it this was fun. ***

Hogan accidentally hits Sting after while he’s fucking up Lex and Hart. Savage, Sting, and Hogan have a messy chat to send us off. So many drugs were taken in the 90’s, people…

This one was a rollercoaster and I mostly mean that in a positive way.

Episode rating: 65%

Sting had some words to say on Saturday Night.

So did Lex.

Moving back to Monday, we have the fifteenth episode of Nitro on the menu.

Jerry and Eddie put in for a hot opener. It’s hard to complain about seeing these two in action, though it could’ve been a bit longer. ***

Lex and Hart spoke with Gene, plugging the triangle match and shitting on Flair along the way.

I didn’t really pay any attention to the Mr. Wonderful/Disco Inferno match (NR), to be honest. I did watch and enjoy the post match though, which saw the Horsemen break the neck of Orndorff. A smart way to give Paul time off while making Flair and crew look like legit threats again.

Lex quickly beat Hacksaw next. I didn’t really pay much attention to this, but I did look over a few times and enjoyed seeing Luger getting the W, at least. NR

Savage plugs his upcoming defense against Giant.

The main event this week saw Hogan and Sting beating Flair and Arn, kind of nerfing their previous rebound from the top of the episode a bit. Luger being a dick to Hulk set up a perfect way to actually give even more fire to the Horsemen but they fucked that idea right in the ass.

Still, this was yet another match best described as, “fun.” ***1/4

After, a whole lot of shit happened in a short period of time. Flair and his dudes fucked up Hulk. Luger stopped Sting from being victim to a horse hoofing, Sting ended up getting involved anyway, and Savage made an appearance. They plugged matches and shit to send us off.

I know that the booking choices here were a bit questionable, and I did zone out during two of the matches, but I also had a lot of enjoyment out of this program for the third week in a row so that deserves some mention.

Episode rating: 65%

The WCW TV Title was on the line as champion Badd took on and defended against Pillman on Saturday Night. Kim gave the fans what they wanted…frisbees! A Fall Brawl rematch, these two did well with their spot. Good TV content though a DQ finish kept this out of anywhere near recommendation territory. Arn ran out helped Brian do some damage to the champ, if you’re wondering what happened.

It was solid before the finish. I really like both of these characters, either way. **3/4

With that, I close this set looking at the first chunk of December content on the road to Starrcade. The second part will be added soon and will also be a Substack exclusive.

Thank you for reading.