The debut episode of Monday Night Nitro was broadcast from the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 4, 1995. The show was launched as a response to the ongoing success of WCW rival, the WWF’s Monday Night Raw show.
Nitro featured matches between Ric Flair and Sting, Justin Liger and Brian Pillman and Hulk Hogan and Big Bubba Rogers. The most noteworthy part of the program saw Lex Lugar, a former WCW wrestler appear on the show after wrestling a match for the WWF the night before.