WWE Hall Of Famer Eric Bischoff Names No. 1 WCW Monday Nitro Moment

Last week marked the 30th anniversary of "WCW Monday Nitro," a pro wrestling show that famously went on to rival the then-industry leader, "WWE Raw." To celebrate the occasion, former WCW President Eric Bischoff revealed his top five moments from the television program, with the "Nitro" debut of former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger taking his number one spot.

"People always say, 'Oh, it's going to change the wrestling business forever.' Very few things, very few moments, very few ideas, very few decisions actually change the industry. The rest of it is participation trophies to make people feel good about themselves or each other. This moment, the launch of Nitro, and because of the impact and the buzz that Lex Luger created, absolutely catapulted Nitro right out of the gate," Bischoff said on "83 Weeks."

"We came out of the gate competitive. We didn't have to work up to trying to be competitive with WWE. We went from a distant number two pretty much where [AEW CEO] Tony Khan is today and about the same relative position. We went from that to kicking [former WWE CEO Vince McMahon's] ass in less than 12 months. But that initial 12 months, we kick his ass one week, he'd kick ours the next. We were competitive right out of the shoot. It was, in many respects, because of that moment that we created, that the wrestling audience told me they wanted."

On September 3, 1995, Luger competed in a tag team match at a WWE live event in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. The following day, Luger was legally no longer under WWE contract, which opened the door for him to rejoin WCW during the inaugural "Nitro" broadcast in Minnesota. In his return, he cited interest in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, then held by Hulk Hogan. The two battled on "Nitro" one week later; Hogan retained by disqualification.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "83 Weeks" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.