WCW Thunder
| WCW Thunder | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Eric Bischoff |
| Directed by | Craig Leathers |
| Starring | See World Championship Wrestling alumni |
| Opening theme | "Thunder" (January 8, 1998-February 9, 2000) "Here Comes the Pain" by Slayer (February 16, 2000-March 21, 2001) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 146 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multicamera setup |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | TBS |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original release | January 8, 1998 – March 21, 2001 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | WCW Monday Nitro |
| External links | |
| Website | |
WCW Thunder was a professional wrestling show produced by World Championship Wrestling which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001.
The popularity of World Championship Wrestling's primary show, WCW Monday Nitro on TNT, led Ted Turner to create a new show, which would eventually be named Thunder, that would air Thursdays on TBS.
WCW Executive Vice-President Eric Bischoff was originally reluctant to produce another two-hour weekly television show for a variety of reasons. First, Time Warner (WCW's parent company) was under a hiring freeze which prevented Bischoff from bringing in additional production people to run the show. Second, he felt WCW did not have enough talent to produce another show and risked overexposing them and making storylines less significant. Third, according to Bischoff, TBS refused to pay the cost of producing Thunder which was between $12 million and $15 million per year.
Bischoff eventually decided that he could make the new show work and help pay for it by expanding revenue from increased house show business. Bischoff was also given permission to sign Bret Hart, specifically as a high-profile talent to perform on Thunder.
The first match to take place in Thunder featured Chris Adams against Randy Savage. Adams pinned Savage after a chairshot from Lex Luger. The match decision was reversed by WCW Commissioner/Chairman of Executive Committee James J. Dillon.
TV commercials for Thunder featured top ring talents such as Hulk Hogan saying "I'll show you some thunder, brotha!" and The Giant with "This forecast definitely calls for pain!"
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