Revisiting The Opening Of The WCW Nitro Grill From 1999

How hot was wrestling in the late 90s? Hot enough that both WCW and WWF were able to launch competing Planet Hollywood-style theme restaurants. WCW Nitro Grill in Las Vegas & WWF New York in the middle of Times Square. Neither ended up being a long-term success. But just getting a restaurant of that scale off the ground is cause enough for celebration, no?

Recently, the WWE Vault channel released a clip of B-roll from the grand opening of the WCW Nitro Grill from May 22, 1999 at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Before we get to the grand opening, though. We need to go back to February of 1999 for the big “wall breaking ceremony.”

Yes, that’s NWO Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Macho Man, and DDP (whom the reporter erroneously calls “The Big Sexy”); all presiding over a fairly low-key wall breaking ceremony, considering this whole thing is giving off eleven in the morning vibes with Macho sipping some coffee by the refreshments table.

Smash cut to only four months later and the WCW Nitro Grill was a reality. Notable for its tagline of “Where The Big Boys Eat,” the Nitro Grill featured big boy entrees like the “Booker T Bone,” the “Goldberger,” and the unfortunate “Crippler Crossface Cheesesteak.”

While there are some great breakdowns of the ins and outs of the Nitro Grill proper out there. We’re here to do a vibe check on opening night.

How’s everybody feeling?

Yikes! Even Stinger is looking pretty glass eyed over the thought of spending another minute walking through this place. Mr. Perfect looks dressed like he just came from doing his ComicView set and just wants to go back to his hotel.

But what a place it is. Complete with walls adorned with wrestling history and WCW ephemera from years gone by. The WCW Nitro Grill is nothing if not exactly what it claims to be: Chili’s, but with 100% more Jimmy Hart jackets.

It’s also hard to convey with just images; but the entire restaurant has a strange cheap-o Medieval Times thing built into its bones, thanks to it being a part of the Excalibur hotel. But also, there’s a whole Bash At The Beach section that has a bunch of life preservers on the furnishing, as well as a Goldberg Stargate. So I really don’t know what they were going for.

Being as this is mid-1999 WCW, you can feel the tension pressing over everyone from Eric Bischoff to Mr. Perfect. I get the distinct sense that, while it’s cool to be so in-demand that you warrant your own restaurant, everyone involved had bigger fish to fry besides the “Superplex Salmon Filet.”

Mainly, the sharp upswing of competitor WWF around this same time, with Monday Night RAW now regularly drawing almost double the audience of Nitro. If I’m in charge, now I have to fly to Vegas and hype up a Wrestling Bennigan’s? I’m flying out, but you’re paying me double that night, brother.

The majority of the actual “action” involves Mean Gene Okerlund introducing Kevin Nash, Eric Bischoff, and Sting as they hype up the grand opening. Nash having the most fun; cracking a joke about wanting to try Sting’s “lima bean casserole” and then busting into an Elvis impersonation. You know what, though? If I was Kevin Nash in 1999, I’d treat this event like it was bullshit as well.

The most-baffling part of Mean Gene’s speech though is his “most important to me, close to my heart” shout out to the Nitro Girls Shay & Storm. An acknowledgement that immediately raises questions about what ol’ Mean Gene was getting up to when he wasn’t doing interviews.

Speaking of shouting out people in the crowd. This is supposed to be a party. Let’s see all those party people getting down and cutting loose!

Sadly, the Big Boys wouldn’t eat at the Nitro Grill for long, as the end would come a little over a year later on September 30, 2000. WCW itself would get bought by WWF soon after in March of 2001.

The WCW Nitro Grill is rightfully remembered as a relic from a very specific time in Pop Culture. A time when theme restaurants were big business and having one was seen as a stamp of popularity. The idea that your brand is so big that it could attach itself to completely different industries and have the results be another hit revenue stream.

It didn’t quite pan out for WCW, in wrestling or food. But at least we’ll always have the “Choke Hold Chili” & “Slammin’ Steak Salad.”