WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff discussed how the launch of WCW Monday Nitro in 1995 reshaped the landscape of weekly wrestling television, influencing not only WWE’s programming but also AEW’s approach to live TV.
Speaking on his podcast, 83 Weeks, Bischoff highlighted his vision for Nitro, which debuted in March 1995 with the goal of delivering pay-per-view-level content on a weekly basis.
“When I launched Nitro in ‘95, I made up my mind that while there may be some enhancement matches, we’re bringing pay-per-view quality matches to television.”
This groundbreaking approach forced WWE to revamp Monday Night Raw to include more main-event-level matches, a trend that has since extended to all of WWE’s programming and AEW’s weekly shows.
“It worked so well that WWE started doing it. Now WWE does it for three hours on this night, two hours the next night, and AEW is trying to be something and they’re following suit.”
Bischoff acknowledged the challenges that arose from this format. Featuring top stars weekly meant promotions could no longer save marquee talent for exclusive pay-per-view appearances. Instead, companies needed to craft fresh, engaging storylines to retain viewers.
“Now you have to have star power on your show, you can’t save your stars, their stories, and their characters for a once-a-month appearance, or once every couple of months on a pay-per-view. You’ve got to advance those characters and stories on a weekly basis to keep the audience’s attention.”
Despite these challenges, Nitro was a massive success, dominating the Monday night ratings war for an unprecedented 83 consecutive weeks between June 1996 and April 1998.
What Did Eric Bischoff Say WCW Would Have Done If The NWO Storyline Didn’t Succeed?
Eric Bischoff spoke about what he would have done differently in WCW if the nWo storyline didn’t work out and said that he would have put more emphasis on the cruiserweight division as the cruiserweights had become increasingly popular, and that at one point they were the second most popular act on Nitro behind the nWo.
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