WCW Thunder
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | WCW Thunder |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English (AE) |
| Year (s) | 1998 to 2001 |
| length | 120 minutes |
| Episodes | 146 |
| genre | Wrestling |
| Theme music | Slayer - Here comes the pain |
| idea |
Ted Turner Eric Bischoff |
| First broadcast | January 8, 1998 on TBS |
WCW Thunder was a weekly TV show for the wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling . It was broadcast from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001, initially every Thursday, later every Wednesday evening at prime time on TBS .
history
Origin of the program
As the WCW became more and more popular in 1996 with the broadcast of Monday Nitro , Ted Turner , who at that time owned the WCW as well as several television channels (including TBS) , wanted to create a new television program for his promotion. This new show debuted on January 8, 1998 and was named WCW Thunder. Although Eric Bischoff , the then president of WCW, was skeptical, he had to give in due to pressure from Ted Turner. Thunder was then always recorded on Tuesdays and broadcast every following Thursday. Another reason for the establishment of this show was that the WCW roster was getting bigger and it wasn't possible to accommodate all the stars on Nitro.
First broadcast
In the first episode of WCW Thunder, which was recorded in Daytona Beach , Florida , there were eleven matches. In the first match, Chris Adams defeated the superstar "Macho Man" Randy Savage with the help of Lex Luger.
Moved from Thursday to Wednesday
On April 27, 1999, the first recording for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) B show took place. The show aired on UPN on Thursday, April 29, 1999 and was shown every Thursday from that day. Since the WCW had meanwhile lost its popularity and the WWF achieved better and better ratings, Thunder was moved from Thursday evening to Wednesday evening.
Last episode
Since Vince McMahon bought WCW in 2001, Thunder was last broadcast on March 23, 2001. In the last match, Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett defeated Dustin Rhodes in a handicap match .