The End of an Era
by Mr. BIG

This week, XCW announced that it was going to stop producing it's 'Monday Nitro' show, and instead produce a show on Thursday, entitled 'Xcess'. To many people, stopping Monday Nitro is a sad moment. The history of the show since 2000 has been dramatic, and in this special column, Mr. BIG will reflect on his involvement in it all...

When the TWF was making it's first quiet footsteps in the wrestling world, it had 2 shows confirmed...Monday Raw is War and Wednesday Grit BasH. Many said it needed a third show, so along came Friday Nitro.
The first Friday Nitro already had it's place etched in history when on it's first broadcast, Mr. BIG became the TWF World Heavyweight Champion for the very first time, beginning his reign of dominance .
Nitro in the TWF had some incredible moments. In 2000, it was the scene of Blonde Man's only World Title defence, Marz and NJS's first spats and the formation of Darkness Rising. In 2001, it saw the beginning of a developmental turn from many TWF superstars.
In 2002, Nitro was moved from Friday to Monday, and rebranded Monday Nitro. RAW would occupy it's Friday slot. Many thought once this move took place, Nitro would lose it's magic. They couldn't have been more wrong. On September 16th, right in the middle of the TWF/TECW ratings war, Mr. BIG shocked the entire world when he hired New Jack & The Sandman, Jody Fleisch and signed Scott Hudson and Bobby Heenan. Of those signings made 2 years ago, Hudson and Heenan are still calling the TWF matches. At the end of 2002, the TWF decided that the superstars needed a break from wrestling 3 nights a week on TV, so one show was going to go. At this time, XCW was gaining further and further praise for it's programming, and it was at the end of 2002 that the plans for the xWa came about.
Monday Nitro's last TWF Broadcast was on December 9th 2002 from the Brynteg Arena.
After Xmas 2002, XCW fans were delighted to hear their promotion was going twice a week, and they would get the Nitro slot. They also kept it on the same channel, Sky Sports. However, a test by the TWF on 14/02/03 on it's own network proved a huge success, and in June 2003, the xWa Network was launched, and Nitro made the move over, as well as TWF RAW. The xWa Network's name has since been changed to xWn, but the quality of the program remains.
Nitro has seen it's fair share of controversy and great moments over the past 4 years, and it almost entered it's 5th year, before the axe fell so hurtfully on it all.

R.I.P. TWF/XCW Monday Nitro
2000 - 2004