WCW Thunder
| WCW Thunder | |
|---|---|
| File:THNDRLOG-1-.jpg WCW Thunder logo | |
| Created by | Ted Turner |
| Starring | See World Championship Wrestling alumni |
| Opening theme | "Here Comes the Pain" by Slayer |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 146 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multicamera setup |
| Running time | approximately 2 hours per episode |
| Original release | |
| Network | TBS |
| Release | January 8, 1998 – March 21, 2001 |
WCW Thunder was a professional wrestling show produced by World Championship Wrestling which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 until March 21, 2001.
History
Creation
The popularity of WCW in 1996 and 1997 allowed for the creation of a new show, which became WCW Thunder. Thunder was taped on Tuesday nights and then aired on Thursday, a change for WCW as then-WCW President Eric Bischoff was very keen on its primary show WCW Monday Nitro being aired live every week (as opposed to rival WWF Raw is War, which, at the time, was live every other week).
With a rapidly growing roster, including the recent acquisition of Bret Hart, TNT and the Turner executives found the need to create a new show at its highest. WCW was reluctant and thought that it would hurt their popularity, but were forced to give in.
The first match to take place on Thunder featured former World Class Championship Wrestling star Chris Adams against "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Adams pinned Randy Savage after a chairshot from Lex Luger. The match decision was reversed by James J. Dillon.
Advertisements
TV commercials for Thunder featured top ring talents such as Hulk Hogan saying "I'll show you some thunder, brother!" and The Giant with "This forecast definitely calls for pain!" However, neither Hogan nor Giant would frequently appear on what was considered by fans to be a second rate show. Goldberg was originally brought in to be the top wrestler on Thunder. Furthermore, unlike TNT's Monday Nitro, TBS often featured commercials briefing the events of the latest edition of Thunder during its other programs.
2000-2001
Thunder switched from Thursday evenings to Wednesday evenings on September 29, 1999 when WWF SmackDown! debuted on UPN. By that time, the tables had turned and WCW was trailing behind the WWF in the ratings. WCW began taping both Nitro & Thunder (a live Nitro and after tape Thunder on the same event) on Mondays from October 9, 2000 until March 19, 2001.
Thunder remained on Wednesday nights until the purchase of WCW by WWF on March 23, 2001. In fact, the deal was announced two days after the last Thunder broadcast. The last ever match to take place on Thunder was Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett versus Dustin Rhodes. Steiner and Jarrett won the match.
Commentators
At the beginning, Thunder was broadcast by Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Lee Marshall. In Fall 1998, Mike Tenay from Nitro replaced Lee Marshall. During the April 1, 1999 broadcast of Thunder, Schiavone and Tenay had a worked argument, and starting with the following week, Tenay was moved to play-by-play, with Larry Zbyszko replacing Bobby Heenan on color commentary. In December 1999, Scott Hudson replaced Zbyszko and Schiavone returned as the second color man, the role that Tenay had in previous years.
Color scheme
Thunder utilized a primarily blue color scheme for its production graphics and ring designs, a design which was later emulated by SmackDown!, as compared to the primarily red designs of the Monday night shows, RAW and Nitro. This is still used for both WWE programs as a visual distinguisher.