Remember the time WCW did 2 back to back episodes of Nitro in Australia?

[CaptainHowdy87]

Before WWE returned to Australia in 2002 for the Global Warning Tour event in Melbourne at Colonial Stadium in 2002, WCW were over here 2 years earlier for 2 back to back episodes of Monday Nitro on October 9th and October 16th in 2000.

I've been watching WCW from that year and just watched both episodes recently. They were your standard episodes of Nitro from the era. There were only a few times where anyone mentioned anything about Australia in their promos. Lance Storm makes reference to some mess-up with the gymnastics bar at the 2000 Olympics as he has Elix Skipper measure the height of the ring ropes. Scott Steiner does the "Aussie, Aussie Aussie" chant, but replaces the "oy oy oy" with "ass ass holes". It was pretty lame. Shane Douglas gloats about the Americans kicking our asses the last time they came down here. Just your usual amount of references to the town they're in that you'd get on a typical weekly episode of RAW or Nitro from the era. I was hoping for a little more.

This would've been the first time seeing Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Sting, Ric Flair, Booker T, Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett at a wrestling event in Australia. I think they've all been back, multiple times, for WWE tours except for Goldberg and Sting. The only big stars I can think of that didn't make this tour are Sid, Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell and DDP. I think Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Macho Man and Scott Hall had all either left the company earlier that year or they hadn't been on TV in a long time.

It sucks that Flair not only didn't have a match but didn't even get to do a promo. He only came out briefly to save David Flair from a beating by Mike Awesome at the Brisbane show and then to sit at the commentary table at ringside for a match not saying anything at the next show in Melbourne. The Aussie crowd loved Flair when he came out at both shows, so they must've been disappointed he didn't end up doing anything.

Anyone have any memories of these shows? Did any of you get to go to either of them or know anyone who did?

 

[CaptainHowdy87]

From Full Magazine Scans: WCW Australia Tour Program [2000] - WCW Worldwide

You cannot bring up the Australian WCW tour without mentioning the major incident that occurred the first night out that cast the company in a negative light through Australian media.

Wade Keller: “Juventud Guererra was fired by WCW during the Australian tour due to a drug-crazed outburst. The incident took place Oct. 7 at the Brisbane Marriott Hotel and ended with Juventud stripping naked, throwing chairs, and being arrested by 20 police officers. All the while he was shouting, “I’ll kill you” at various WCW employees whom he irrationally was blaming for something. Twenty police officers responded to the incident at about 11:30 a.m. and about six officers and capsicum spray were needed to subdue Guererra.” – ‘Pro Wrestling Torch’ #624 [October 21st, 2000]

The twenty-four-year-old Guerrera was arrested, deported from Australia and eventually fired from WCW because of his erratic behavior. Turns out that fighting the police in a drug-induced haze isn’t the best way to endear yourself to a foreign country (or to your employer).

Konnan and MSL from MLW.com discussed the entire incident in great detail a few years back on their podcast as Konnan was there the entire night alongside Juventud. He saw it all and explains what went down:

Konnan: “[T]hat night, I remember, that we were mad at Juvi. Me and Rey Mysterio, we were mad at him, and we were actually trying to hide from him. We were, I believe, in Melbourne, which is a HUGE city, so we left the show early so Juvi wouldn’t get a ride with us. We actually met up with Jeff Jarrett and one of the Harris Brothers ’cause one of them partied and the other one didn’t, if you know who they are.

So, we were in this club and out of the one million clubs there has to be in Australia, Juventud shows up in the club we’re at. And I’m like, ‘Can you believe this motherf***er?’

So, he’s in there and we’re like, ‘F*** it, dude. Let’s just hang out. He’s here.’

And so, we’re hanging out with him and then we went to this after-hours place. At the after-hours, I could smell–and I can’t believe that they were smoking this in L.A., do you know what ‘sherm’ is?”

MLS: “No.”

Konnan: “Sherm is like, f*ing, marijuana laced with PCP, and you smoke it. Usually, a lot of people here in–I’d never even seen sherm in Miami, I saw it in California for the first time, but basically, a lot of drug/gang-bangers will use it before they fight because they can’t feel s* or if they got to do something really crazy like a 187 or whatever, they’ll get sherm’d up. They’ll get really f***ed up. So, I know what it smells like, and you know PCP is angeldust, right?”

MLS: “Yeah.”

Konnan: “Ok, so imagine marijuana and angeldust mixed. That’s what they f***ing smoked. So, we were at this after-hours house party or some shit and I could smell sherm, and I was like, ‘Jesus Christ…’

I remember telling Rey, ‘Dude, do not smoke that.’, and telling Juventud, ‘Do not smoke that.’

Well, Juventud like a dumbass went over there, and he smoked it.

By this time, it was nine o’clock in the morning that we were finally getting back to the hotel. So we’re getting back to the hotel and, you know, it’s breakfast, dude. We were about to pass the breakfast, we were just about to pass where the people eat breakfast and Juvi starts going off that he can see, f***ing, in the future and all this other shit. He starts taking his clothes off, and he throws it into the f***ing river, and he’s f***ing just going nuts, bro. Fit Finlay came down. Terry Taylor came down. Everybody was coming down.

Fit Finlay is a tough guy, and he wouldn’t even deal with Juvi, he knew Juvi was crazy. They were like, ‘Put him in the room’, and I go, ‘F***, I’m afraid he might jump out a window’ or some s**t, you know?

And the next thing you know, the cops came, and he f***ing tackled a cop. Speared a female cop and broke her ribs. They were trying to f***ing put the hand-cuffs on him, but he was sweaty, really sweaty, and he was really thin and light. He looked like a f***ing squeal–he looked ****ing like an oily pig that you’re trying to catch him and shit. They couldn’t grab a hold of him. They finally got him, hand-cuffed him, they had to mace his ass.

It was ***ing wild, dude.” – MLW Episode 52 [December 17th, 2012]

Wade Keller: “Among others who suffered minor injuries were several bystanders who were affected by the capsicum spray. Guererra was placed in a padded cell and charged with three counts of assault, disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, obstructing police, and possession of a drug. Police found two green pills in his possession deemed to be ecstasy. WCW spokeswoman Sharon Sidello said Juventud would be sent home. “It’s certainly unfortunate and unexpected,” she said. “The group is usually well behaved.” The incident received considerable coverage on Australia’s Ch. 7 evening news, which showed a naked Juventud being dragged away naked with only slight pixilation to distort his nudity.” – PW Torch #624 [October 21st, 2000]

 

[Cleavy]

not sure if the blog is still around on archive.org, but I remember Tony Schiavone being fascinated by our pedestrian crossings and the "beeping signals" to indicate "get going mf'er" (my words, not his)

 

[nobbyiscool]

Remember the time WCW did 2 back to back episodes of Nitro in Australia?​

Yes. Yes I do.

Anything else?

 

[Nugett]

From Full Magazine Scans: WCW Australia Tour Program [2000] - WCW Worldwide

You cannot bring up the Australian WCW tour without mentioning the major incident that occurred the first night out that cast the company in a negative light through Australian media.

Wade Keller: “Juventud Guererra was fired by WCW during the Australian tour due to a drug-crazed outburst. The incident took place Oct. 7 at the Brisbane Marriott Hotel and ended with Juventud stripping naked, throwing chairs, and being arrested by 20 police officers. All the while he was shouting, “I’ll kill you” at various WCW employees whom he irrationally was blaming for something. Twenty police officers responded to the incident at about 11:30 a.m. and about six officers and capsicum spray were needed to subdue Guererra.” – ‘Pro Wrestling Torch’ #624 [October 21st, 2000]

The twenty-four-year-old Guerrera was arrested, deported from Australia and eventually fired from WCW because of his erratic behavior. Turns out that fighting the police in a drug-induced haze isn’t the best way to endear yourself to a foreign country (or to your employer).

Konnan and MSL from MLW.com discussed the entire incident in great detail a few years back on their podcast as Konnan was there the entire night alongside Juventud. He saw it all and explains what went down:

Konnan: “[T]hat night, I remember, that we were mad at Juvi. Me and Rey Mysterio, we were mad at him, and we were actually trying to hide from him. We were, I believe, in Melbourne, which is a HUGE city, so we left the show early so Juvi wouldn’t get a ride with us. We actually met up with Jeff Jarrett and one of the Harris Brothers ’cause one of them partied and the other one didn’t, if you know who they are.

So, we were in this club and out of the one million clubs there has to be in Australia, Juventud shows up in the club we’re at. And I’m like, ‘Can you believe this motherf***er?’

So, he’s in there and we’re like, ‘F*** it, dude. Let’s just hang out. He’s here.’

And so, we’re hanging out with him and then we went to this after-hours place. At the after-hours, I could smell–and I can’t believe that they were smoking this in L.A., do you know what ‘sherm’ is?”

MLS: “No.”

Konnan: “Sherm is like, f*ing, marijuana laced with PCP, and you smoke it. Usually, a lot of people here in–I’d never even seen sherm in Miami, I saw it in California for the first time, but basically, a lot of drug/gang-bangers will use it before they fight because they can’t feel s* or if they got to do something really crazy like a 187 or whatever, they’ll get sherm’d up. They’ll get really f***ed up. So, I know what it smells like, and you know PCP is angeldust, right?”

MLS: “Yeah.”

Konnan: “Ok, so imagine marijuana and angeldust mixed. That’s what they f***ing smoked. So, we were at this after-hours house party or some s**t and I could smell sherm, and I was like, ‘Jesus Christ…’

I remember telling Rey, ‘Dude, do not smoke that.’, and telling Juventud, ‘Do not smoke that.’

Well, Juventud like a dumbass went over there, and he smoked it.

By this time, it was nine o’clock in the morning that we were finally getting back to the hotel. So we’re getting back to the hotel and, you know, it’s breakfast, dude. We were about to pass the breakfast, we were just about to pass where the people eat breakfast and Juvi starts going off that he can see, f***ing, in the future and all this other s**t. He starts taking his clothes off, and he throws it into the f***ing river, and he’s f***ing just going nuts, bro. Fit Finlay came down. Terry Taylor came down. Everybody was coming down.

Fit Finlay is a tough guy, and he wouldn’t even deal with Juvi, he knew Juvi was crazy. They were like, ‘Put him in the room’, and I go, ‘F***, I’m afraid he might jump out a window’ or some s**t, you know?

And the next thing you know, the cops came, and he f*ing tackled a cop. Speared a female cop and broke her ribs. They were trying to f*ing put the hand-cuffs on him, but he was sweaty, really sweaty, and he was really thin and light. He looked like a f*ing squeal–he looked * like an oily pig that you’re trying to catch him and s**t. They couldn’t grab a hold of him. They finally got him, hand-cuffed him, they had to mace his ass.

It was ***ing wild, dude.” – MLW Episode 52 [December 17th, 2012]

Wade Keller: “Among others who suffered minor injuries were several bystanders who were affected by the capsicum spray. Guererra was placed in a padded cell and charged with three counts of assault, disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, obstructing police, and possession of a drug. Police found two green pills in his possession deemed to be ecstasy. WCW spokeswoman Sharon Sidello said Juventud would be sent home. “It’s certainly unfortunate and unexpected,” she said. “The group is usually well behaved.” The incident received considerable coverage on Australia’s Ch. 7 evening news, which showed a naked Juventud being dragged away naked with only slight pixilation to distort his nudity.” – PW Torch #624 [October 21st, 2000]

View attachment 1723390

That doesn’t read well for Juvi

 

[Rusty Brookes]

I went to one night and I remember thinking this company blows. The show was terrible - amazingly they managed to lose money on the tour (According to the book Death of WCW - a great read) despite selling out every show. Just how incompetent was management.

Oh, and they debuted Australia's very own Sam Greco, a legit karate dude who cut quite possibly the worst promo of all time. That was it. He ever actually wrestled for the company (although he might have done some stuff in Japan).

 

[jabba5114]

From Full Magazine Scans: WCW Australia Tour Program [2000] - WCW Worldwide

You cannot bring up the Australian WCW tour without mentioning the major incident that occurred the first night out that cast the company in a negative light through Australian media.

Wade Keller: “Juventud Guererra was fired by WCW during the Australian tour due to a drug-crazed outburst. The incident took place Oct. 7 at the Brisbane Marriott Hotel and ended with Juventud stripping naked, throwing chairs, and being arrested by 20 police officers. All the while he was shouting, “I’ll kill you” at various WCW employees whom he irrationally was blaming for something. Twenty police officers responded to the incident at about 11:30 a.m. and about six officers and capsicum spray were needed to subdue Guererra.” – ‘Pro Wrestling Torch’ #624 [October 21st, 2000]

The twenty-four-year-old Guerrera was arrested, deported from Australia and eventually fired from WCW because of his erratic behavior. Turns out that fighting the police in a drug-induced haze isn’t the best way to endear yourself to a foreign country (or to your employer).

Konnan and MSL from MLW.com discussed the entire incident in great detail a few years back on their podcast as Konnan was there the entire night alongside Juventud. He saw it all and explains what went down:

Konnan: “[T]hat night, I remember, that we were mad at Juvi. Me and Rey Mysterio, we were mad at him, and we were actually trying to hide from him. We were, I believe, in Melbourne, which is a HUGE city, so we left the show early so Juvi wouldn’t get a ride with us. We actually met up with Jeff Jarrett and one of the Harris Brothers ’cause one of them partied and the other one didn’t, if you know who they are.

So, we were in this club and out of the one million clubs there has to be in Australia, Juventud shows up in the club we’re at. And I’m like, ‘Can you believe this motherf***er?’

So, he’s in there and we’re like, ‘F*** it, dude. Let’s just hang out. He’s here.’

And so, we’re hanging out with him and then we went to this after-hours place. At the after-hours, I could smell–and I can’t believe that they were smoking this in L.A., do you know what ‘sherm’ is?”

MLS: “No.”

Konnan: “Sherm is like, f*ing, marijuana laced with PCP, and you smoke it. Usually, a lot of people here in–I’d never even seen sherm in Miami, I saw it in California for the first time, but basically, a lot of drug/gang-bangers will use it before they fight because they can’t feel s* or if they got to do something really crazy like a 187 or whatever, they’ll get sherm’d up. They’ll get really f***ed up. So, I know what it smells like, and you know PCP is angeldust, right?”

MLS: “Yeah.”

Konnan: “Ok, so imagine marijuana and angeldust mixed. That’s what they f***ing smoked. So, we were at this after-hours house party or some s**t and I could smell sherm, and I was like, ‘Jesus Christ…’

I remember telling Rey, ‘Dude, do not smoke that.’, and telling Juventud, ‘Do not smoke that.’

Well, Juventud like a dumbass went over there, and he smoked it.

By this time, it was nine o’clock in the morning that we were finally getting back to the hotel. So we’re getting back to the hotel and, you know, it’s breakfast, dude. We were about to pass the breakfast, we were just about to pass where the people eat breakfast and Juvi starts going off that he can see, f***ing, in the future and all this other s**t. He starts taking his clothes off, and he throws it into the f***ing river, and he’s f***ing just going nuts, bro. Fit Finlay came down. Terry Taylor came down. Everybody was coming down.

Fit Finlay is a tough guy, and he wouldn’t even deal with Juvi, he knew Juvi was crazy. They were like, ‘Put him in the room’, and I go, ‘F***, I’m afraid he might jump out a window’ or some s**t, you know?

And the next thing you know, the cops came, and he f*ing tackled a cop. Speared a female cop and broke her ribs. They were trying to f*ing put the hand-cuffs on him, but he was sweaty, really sweaty, and he was really thin and light. He looked like a f*ing squeal–he looked * like an oily pig that you’re trying to catch him and s**t. They couldn’t grab a hold of him. They finally got him, hand-cuffed him, they had to mace his ass.

It was ***ing wild, dude.” – MLW Episode 52 [December 17th, 2012]

Wade Keller: “Among others who suffered minor injuries were several bystanders who were affected by the capsicum spray. Guererra was placed in a padded cell and charged with three counts of assault, disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, obstructing police, and possession of a drug. Police found two green pills in his possession deemed to be ecstasy. WCW spokeswoman Sharon Sidello said Juventud would be sent home. “It’s certainly unfortunate and unexpected,” she said. “The group is usually well behaved.” The incident received considerable coverage on Australia’s Ch. 7 evening news, which showed a naked Juventud being dragged away naked with only slight pixilation to distort his nudity.” – PW Torch #624 [October 21st, 2000]

View attachment 1723390

To be fair to juvi. It does sound like a normal night in Qld

Sent from my motorola edge 30 pro using Tapatalk

 

[BEEG]

From Full Magazine Scans: WCW Australia Tour Program [2000] - WCW Worldwide

You cannot bring up the Australian WCW tour without mentioning the major incident that occurred the first night out that cast the company in a negative light through Australian media.

Wade Keller: “Juventud Guererra was fired by WCW during the Australian tour due to a drug-crazed outburst. The incident took place Oct. 7 at the Brisbane Marriott Hotel and ended with Juventud stripping naked, throwing chairs, and being arrested by 20 police officers. All the while he was shouting, “I’ll kill you” at various WCW employees whom he irrationally was blaming for something. Twenty police officers responded to the incident at about 11:30 a.m. and about six officers and capsicum spray were needed to subdue Guererra.” – ‘Pro Wrestling Torch’ #624 [October 21st, 2000]

The twenty-four-year-old Guerrera was arrested, deported from Australia and eventually fired from WCW because of his erratic behavior. Turns out that fighting the police in a drug-induced haze isn’t the best way to endear yourself to a foreign country (or to your employer).

Konnan and MSL from MLW.com discussed the entire incident in great detail a few years back on their podcast as Konnan was there the entire night alongside Juventud. He saw it all and explains what went down:

Konnan: “[T]hat night, I remember, that we were mad at Juvi. Me and Rey Mysterio, we were mad at him, and we were actually trying to hide from him. We were, I believe, in Melbourne, which is a HUGE city, so we left the show early so Juvi wouldn’t get a ride with us. We actually met up with Jeff Jarrett and one of the Harris Brothers ’cause one of them partied and the other one didn’t, if you know who they are.

So, we were in this club and out of the one million clubs there has to be in Australia, Juventud shows up in the club we’re at. And I’m like, ‘Can you believe this motherf***er?’

So, he’s in there and we’re like, ‘F*** it, dude. Let’s just hang out. He’s here.’

And so, we’re hanging out with him and then we went to this after-hours place. At the after-hours, I could smell–and I can’t believe that they were smoking this in L.A., do you know what ‘sherm’ is?”

MLS: “No.”

Konnan: “Sherm is like, f*ing, marijuana laced with PCP, and you smoke it. Usually, a lot of people here in–I’d never even seen sherm in Miami, I saw it in California for the first time, but basically, a lot of drug/gang-bangers will use it before they fight because they can’t feel s* or if they got to do something really crazy like a 187 or whatever, they’ll get sherm’d up. They’ll get really f***ed up. So, I know what it smells like, and you know PCP is angeldust, right?”

MLS: “Yeah.”

Konnan: “Ok, so imagine marijuana and angeldust mixed. That’s what they f***ing smoked. So, we were at this after-hours house party or some s**t and I could smell sherm, and I was like, ‘Jesus Christ…’

I remember telling Rey, ‘Dude, do not smoke that.’, and telling Juventud, ‘Do not smoke that.’

Well, Juventud like a dumbass went over there, and he smoked it.

By this time, it was nine o’clock in the morning that we were finally getting back to the hotel. So we’re getting back to the hotel and, you know, it’s breakfast, dude. We were about to pass the breakfast, we were just about to pass where the people eat breakfast and Juvi starts going off that he can see, f***ing, in the future and all this other s**t. He starts taking his clothes off, and he throws it into the f***ing river, and he’s f***ing just going nuts, bro. Fit Finlay came down. Terry Taylor came down. Everybody was coming down.

Fit Finlay is a tough guy, and he wouldn’t even deal with Juvi, he knew Juvi was crazy. They were like, ‘Put him in the room’, and I go, ‘F***, I’m afraid he might jump out a window’ or some s**t, you know?

And the next thing you know, the cops came, and he f*ing tackled a cop. Speared a female cop and broke her ribs. They were trying to f*ing put the hand-cuffs on him, but he was sweaty, really sweaty, and he was really thin and light. He looked like a f*ing squeal–he looked * like an oily pig that you’re trying to catch him and s**t. They couldn’t grab a hold of him. They finally got him, hand-cuffed him, they had to mace his ass.

It was ***ing wild, dude.” – MLW Episode 52 [December 17th, 2012]

Wade Keller: “Among others who suffered minor injuries were several bystanders who were affected by the capsicum spray. Guererra was placed in a padded cell and charged with three counts of assault, disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, obstructing police, and possession of a drug. Police found two green pills in his possession deemed to be ecstasy. WCW spokeswoman Sharon Sidello said Juventud would be sent home. “It’s certainly unfortunate and unexpected,” she said. “The group is usually well behaved.” The incident received considerable coverage on Australia’s Ch. 7 evening news, which showed a naked Juventud being dragged away naked with only slight pixilation to distort his nudity.” – PW Torch #624 [October 21st, 2000]

View attachment 1723390

Haha that's wild.

 

[Stottzy]

I remember as a kid watching it. It somehow was broadcast FTA, I reckon on Seven (late slot like 10:30pm from memory). I can remember the crowd absolutely hating it. Was like watching a funeral.

 

[nobbyiscool]

I remember as a kid watching it. It somehow was broadcast FTA, I reckon on Seven (late slot like 10:30pm from memory). I can remember the crowd absolutely hating it. Was like watching a funeral.

In it's last year or 2 we used to get the one-hour international version of Nitro on Channel 9 late on Monday nights, a week after it was recorded.