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Ch. 6 of NITRO: The Inside Story of WCW Monday Nitro's Debut - 31 Years Ago Today (9/4/95)! If Luger couldn’t keep quiet, word of his possible ‘jump’ would surely reach the WWF. Although Nitro would emanate as a live program, secretive plans leaked frequently in wrestling, spawning a humorous expression in the process: telephone, telegram, tell-a-wrestler… Such disclosures were often reported by the wrestling media, a collection of newsletters, magazines and radio shows that @EBischoff mostly loathed. “I had absolutely no respect for them,” he says, “nor did I value their opinions at all. There was no reason to, quite frankly.” On Monday, August 14th, 1995, WCW organized a press event for ‘legitimate’ media members - the formal launch of Monday Nitro. At a press conference held at the Harley Davidson Cafe in New York - for all intents and purposes, the WWF’s backyard - Brad Siegel valiantly professed that WCW was an ideal fit for his network. “We actually went to WCW and said, ‘we want a show that will be the best wrestling event on television, and we wanna put it on Monday nights’,” the network president claimed. Strategically, TNT selected a start date for Nitro to air unopposed; in other words, without competition, as in a fortuitous occurrence, Raw was set to be pre-empted by the U.S. Open, leaving the entire wrestling audience up for grabs (for one week, at least). “We’d like to make an announcement today that I’m very, very pleased to make,” continued Siegel. “Starting Labor Day night - Monday September 4th - TNT will once again live up to its name in a very explosive way. WCW wrestling comes to our network, live every week, in prime time and from a different city.” “WCW Monday Nitro Live! will be seen Monday nights live at 9pm Eastern, and will originate - as we said - from a different city, every single week. The one hour telecast will be replayed at midnight Eastern, nine o’clock Pacific, [and] WCW’s debut on TNT will be live from the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [It] will be called the ‘Brawl at the Mall’.” The choice of venue for the first show was, in the eyes of many wrestling purists, an unusual one. But located near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, the 4.2 million sq. ft. Mall would provide a glittering backdrop for the spectacle - and with over 30,000 daily visitors to the plaza, a curious and suitably large crowd for the show could be expected. Interestingly, the Mall became a viable idea only after initial discussions regarding a New York City debut were swiftly thwarted, the consequence of the WWF’s exclusivity agreement with Madison Square Garden. “There are a lot of interesting things in the business of booking arenas,” smirked Bischoff, standing confidently at the press podium. “We will come from New York [in the future],” he promised. “WCW wrestling will become the centerpiece of a brand new franchise on TNT called Monday Nitro,” continued Siegel. “Each week at eight o’clock - leading in to the telecast - we will present the action adventure television series Thunder in Paradise which stars Hulk Hogan. After both airings of WCW on TNT, we will present a very heavy duty action movie to make Monday Nitro a very action-driven night [of television]. “TNT is becoming known for a network that has the best of its kind. We’ve got the best sports franchises with the NFL and the NBA. We’re quickly becoming the best maker of original movies on TV....we have the best cartoons...the best movie library available. [And so] we thought it was about time to put the best wrestling on TNT.” “It’s a heck of an opportunity,” beamed Bischoff in support several minutes later. “Those of you who...have watched our growth over the last 12 months know that there’s a lot of momentum here. I wanna thank Brad. I wanna thank everybody at TNT. “There’s a lot of great people [working at TNT]. They’re creative. They’re driven. They’re aggressive...and that’s the kind of combination we felt we needed to take WCW to the next level. And that’s exactly what we intend to do.” As the press conference wore on, a stoic Siegel witnessed a buoyant Bischoff boldly predict a competitive ratings battle from the start. “Since the addition of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, [WCW] has really closed the gap [with the WWF],” argued Bischoff. “We’re coming on strong and we have a lot of momentum. We believe that we’ve got the biggest stars in our industry...and that’s what entertainment is all about. [People are] entertained by stars, and we’ve got ‘em in WCW. Now [fans are] going to have a choice. They can watch whatever else is going on...or they can flip on over and watch Monday Nitro on TNT. “This show is gonna be in your face...up to the edge...over the edge...[there’s gonna be a] surprise every single Monday. It’s gonna be live and when I tell you it’s ‘in your face’, I mean it’s gonna be in your face...this is an incredibly different product. “I think the fact that we have the biggest stars in the industry already differentiates us from the WWF and Monday Night Raw. A lot of the people they have over there are kind of...WCW has-beens. We’re gonna be live every week - they’re not. We’re gonna take the show all over the country. “All I can say is tune in. September 4th, you’ll see the difference. I can stand up here and talk all afternoon long about creatively, all of the different things that we’re gonna do…but we’re gonna give the show an edge. This show is gonna be more like rock-and-roll than meat and potatoes. [It’s a] faster pace, more of an MTV-type of show. “[So] how long do I think it’s gonna take [to become number one]? Hey, I’m not gonna [instantly] overtake a company that’s done a pretty good job of branding themselves in this position for the last couple of years. This is a long-term project for us. We’re not doing this to just see if it’s gonna work for six months. This is a long-term project, and we’ve got a big commitment from the Turner organization, Brad Siegel, and some very aggressive creative people over at TNT. “The only thing I like better than competition is winning, and we look forward to [winning].” But it would not be Bischoff, however, who would deliver the most biting comment in the WWF’s direction. Mindful of the potential impact of a Lex Luger defection, Sting - representing the stars of WCW along with Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage - presciently foreshadowed what was about to come. “All I gotta say to sum it up,” Sting bellowed at the media, “[is] somebody is in for a Raw deal.” __________________________ Returning to the New York market in his red-and-yellow garb, Hulk Hogan generated significant attention at the press conference. Showcasing the affable charm that long endeared him to decision makers - both in and out of the industry - since the early 1980s, Hogan took to the podium with ease. “Now I’ve got Mr. Siegel right where I want him,” he joked, demonstrating a headlock before teasing an eventual match with Savage, almost in the very next breath. After a deft Harley Davidson plug, Hogan prepared to conclude his comments with a modification of a catch phrase he made famous in an earlier time. “What are you gonna do,” he asked rhetorically, “when Hulk Hogan and Monday Nitro run wild on you?” Curiously, the line was delivered, but devoid of reaction. Hogan’s eyes darted as he repeated himself, fighting back against an apparent glitch in the matrix. “What are you gonna do when Hulk Hogan and Monday Nitro run wild on you?” he demanded again, achieving some mild applause in response. For the first time in a long time - maybe forever - the usually willing media greeted the Hulkster routine with a collective yawn. Nevertheless, and despite WCW entering a new era, there appeared no sign of phasing out the Hulk Hogan character. Observers noted the intriguing coincidence of a Hogan-themed restaurant, Pastamania, situated conveniently inside the Mall of America doors. It stood as a telling reminder that despite the aging champion’s failure to connect with the hardcores, his sheer recognizability still created opportunities that no other wrestler could enjoy. To the casual mainstream audience, he remained the most famous performer of his genre, the Michael Jordan of wrestling, it could easily be argued. For that reason, Bischoff decreed that the inaugural Nitro feature a rare Hogan title defense, effectively giving away a pay-per-view match on television. Meanwhile, in the time since his summit with Bischoff, @GenuineLexLuger received a formal contract offer from Vince McMahon. In an unusual lapse of attention, McMahon was oblivious to the possibility of covert Atlanta talks, but regardless, his offer failed to address several (preexisting) points of contention. On Friday, September 1st, Lex called Sting to inquire about Bischoff’s earlier proposal. Two days later, on Sunday, September 3rd, 24 hours before the Minneapolis Nitro and incredibly, the same day as Luger was advertised to appear on a WWF card in New Brunswick, Canada, Bischoff reiterated the terms of the deal: $150,000 per year, no notice, and everything must be kept under wraps. I’m in, Lex confirmed, confident that eventually, his performance would warrant a commensurate raise. During the following morning, Luger boarded a plane headed for Minneapolis. At the airport, he was bundled into a van and driven to a hotel separate from the other wrestlers, minimizing the risk of being seen by fans camping out in the lobby for autographs and pictures. To ensure that no one - not even ‘the boys’ themselves - could potentially leak out word of his defection, he was instructed to wait in his room until just before show time. Upon arrival at the Mall, he was escorted to an isolated area away from detection, a towel covering his head for good measure. Bischoff then delivered the pertinent instructions - at the outset of a match involving Ric Flair and Sting, Luger would first appear, and then, at the very end of the show, “you’ll come out again and get nose-to-nose with Hulk,” Bischoff told him. At 8:00pm ET, the Nitro era was officially underway. Pat McNeely’s brilliantly designed opening sequence, featuring a hearty dose of explosions and pyro effects, preceded sweeping aerial shots of downtown Minneapolis. “From the land of ten thousand lakes...” narrated an exuberant Eric Bischoff, “...Minneapolis, Minnesota...the@mallofamerica...” he continued, as an establishing shot of the Mall exterior filled the screen. “The only building big enough to hold the debut edition of WCW Monday Nitro!” The shot faded to an impressive overhead of the ring, surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd, sparkling lights, and the striking image of captivated patrons on board a huge ascending escalator. “We are coming to you live,” emphasized Bischoff, “here on TNT!” On the undercard, the show kicked off with a fast-paced clash between the colorful Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, and the unpredictable Brian Pillman. “I knew we were gonna do well with that,” says Kevin Sullivan, “because Liger was the darling of the [wrestling media] at the time. I also knew that I wanted [Ric] Flair to wrestle Sting.” Since fighting each other to a 45-minute draw in a legendary bout at Clash of the Champions in 1988, Flair and Sting had been inexorably linked in the minds of wrestling fans. They possessed a unique chemistry, with Flair’s methodical style contrasting perfectly with the upbeat, enthusiastic and highly athletic Sting. More importantly, in a time of great need, they could be relied on faithfully to attract an audience, a fact not lost on Sullivan. “Since the Clash of the Champions, you could just put them down [to wrestle] and they were gonna draw a number,” he shrugs. “It didn’t take any genius to figure that out.” The presentation looked major league, and the action lived up to the hype. The Pillman-Liger opener, conducted at a frantic pace with exciting high flying moves, could hardly be mistaken for the plodding style of a typical Raw match. Next, in a complete shock to viewers at home - not to mention Vince McMahon himself - Lex Luger emerged in the entrance aisle as Flair and Sting prepared to do battle. “What the hell is he doing here!?” exclaimed Bischoff coyly in his announcing role. “Get the camera off of him! Get the security and get him outta here!” “I think I’m the only person who can say that I attended every single Nitro,” says @davidpenzer, the long-time company ring announcer. “When Lex Luger walked down that aisle, it sent a message to everyone that ‘hey, we’re for real’.” In the main event, a predictable paint-by-numbers Hogan match ended with the Hulk-Luger confrontation, and in a clever move, director Craig Leathers cut to break shortly after the two stars collided. As the commercials rolled on TNT, however, the in-ring face off almost got real; a relaxed Luger broke character as the cameras turned away, smiling at WCW’s biggest star in a moment of satisfied tranquility. Wipe that grin off your face, or I’ll knock it off, threatened the Hulkster through gritted teeth. You’re stealing money from me and my family right now. Once the show resumed, the venerable ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund, a peerless on-screen interviewer beloved in wrestling circles, entered the fray to uncover some answers. “I am sick and tired of playing around with ‘kids’,” Luger announced over Okerlund’s microphone, alluding to the younger, less established roster of his most recent employer. “I’m here to get it on with the big boys, and that means you,” he directed at Hogan. A title match was announced for the following week - an intrepid move considering the bout’s perceived importance. After the show, a concerned Lex attempted to apologize for breaking character, but the old-school Hogan unceremoniously brushed him aside, bristling at the notion that someone would endanger kayfabe. Nonetheless, Luger’s dramatic entrance had given Bischoff the element of unpredictability that the pre-Nitro research study suggested he needed. To several confidants, Bischoff quietly predicted that a 2.5 rating - precisely 2,385,000 viewers, according to Nielsen’s ratings formula, could be within reach once the head-to-head competition began proper the following week. But no one quite knew what number to expect for the first (unopposed) show. In the hotel bar afterwards, Kevin Sullivan tempered expectations, telling @PWTorch reporter Wade Keller that it would take months for the TBS viewership to find Nitro on TNT. Across the bar, Eric Bischoff watched its replay on a television screen, digesting the finished product as a viewer for the first time. “He was glued to the screen like a parent watching their child perform in a high school play,” Keller wrote years later. “[But he was] surely critiquing it in his mind, too.” The above is an excerpt from the book, NITRO: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW. Get the book with extras, including rare WCW production formats/scripts here: guyevansbooks.com/products/g… Amazon USA: amazon.com/NITRO-Incredible-… Amazon UK: amazon.co.uk/NITRO-Incredibl… Amazon Canada: amazon.ca/NITRO-Incredible-I… Amazon Australia: amazon.com.au/NITRO-Incredib… 17+ Hour Audiobook Available at Audible and Apple Books Audible USA: audible.com/pd/B0876F243L/?s… Audible UK: audible.co.uk/pd/B0876FM417/… Audible Canada: audible.ca/pd/Nitro-Audioboo… Audible Australia: audible.com.au/pd/Nitro-Audi… Apple Books: books.apple.com/us/audiobook… BEYOND NITRO (SEQUEL BOOK) IS ALSO AVAILABLE NOW: guyevansbooks.com/products/g… #WCW #nWo #MondayNitro #WCWonTNT #WCWNitro #LexLuger #HulkHogan

If you loved the original NITRO audiobook, this is definitely worth picking up! A cool keepsake too: guyevansbooks.com/products/e…

A reminder: @GuyEvansBooks is working on a highly ambitious, very expansive trilogy of books on Hulk Hogan's life, career and cultural impact. If you'd like to support that project - and pre-order the books in the process - check out the campaign page on Kickstarter: kickstarter.com/projects/hul… Thank you to everyone who has supported the project thus far!

Over the years, MANY listeners have asked if the Expanded NITRO book could be released in audio format. Therefore - for a very limited run - we are releasing the expanded book as a USB audiobook! This special, limited edition product includes a full studio re-record of the original story, plus new footnotes, bonus chapters, and special 'People of WCW' interview segments. Each unit will also be signed by author @GuyEvansBooks! Check it out here! guyevansbooks.com/products/e… Note: This USB audiobook is a limited edition product and will be discontinued shortly. Estimated shipping date: late October.

DMS open for collectors: The original screenplay for Ready to Rumble, then known as 'Untitled Wrestling Movie', featuring a signature attributed to David Arquette. This full (122 page) script features revisions made on 9/27/99, 9/29/99 and 10/11/99.

Behold! The original screenplay for Ready to Rumble, then known as 'Untitled Wrestling Movie', featuring a signature attributed to David Arquette. This full (122 page) script features revisions made on 9/27/99, 9/29/99 and 10/11/99. DMs are open for interested collectors...

TONS of questions re: BEYOND NITRO since this TNA/Spike TV clip was posted earlier in the week. As such, for new followers - and anyone else, for that matter (!) - we have re-opened the $20 special at GuyEvansBooks for a limited time! So pick up any Guy Evans book - including the groundbreaking NITRO series - for just $20 (or the equivalent in your local currency). Ships worldwide! Link: guyevansbooks.com/products/2…

A previously unseen look at the creative plans for TNA/Impact Wrestling, circa mid-2012, with specific reference to a 'story bible' presented to Spike TV executives (Taken from a special section of the new Audible and Apple Books release, 'BEYOND NITRO' by @GuyEvansBooks) Listen on Audible for more: USA: audible.com/pd/B0GT6C2N3H/?s… UK: audible.co.uk/pd/B0GT68FGDP/… Canada: audible.ca/pd/B0GT6YW6BC/?so… Australia: audible.com.au/pd/B0GT72S26X…

FYI: readers looking to purchase more than one book at GuyEvansBooks.com can often get a great discount...whether you're in the U.S. or not! Simply use the contact form at GuyEvansBooks.com and let us know what you have in mind. Signed books, expanded editions and more are available to bundle, often with discounted shipping + more!

Why Spike TV canceled TNA...according to Spike TV 's own executives (An excerpt from 'Beyond Nitro' by @GuyEvansBooks): Despite conjecture proposing that Vince Russo’s secret TNA involvement had been a proverbial ‘last straw’ – relative to the company’s working relationship with Spike TV – the matter did not, as a matter of fact, influence the matter in the least bit. In the final analysis, states Kevin Kay, formerly the President of the network, the decision was informed by the age-old issues: “ratings and money.” “It had reached a point where the ratings were just not improving,” he says, “and after being in business for a bunch of years, the license fee – while not anywhere near the WWE or the UFC – was [cost prohibitive]. At some point, we ran the math and it was like, ‘The ratings don’t match the price.’ “[Furthermore], we still didn’t have any kind of robust advertising revenue. The sales people didn’t really feel like they could break that wall down about wrestling – so the deal was up, and we were like, ‘Sorry, unfortunately, we’ve had a good run.’ “Dixie tried to come back with a plan to reduce the budget, but my sense was – at the time – that reducing the budget wasn’t the problem. It wasn’t like it was all that much money anyway. It was a good amount of money, but…cutting the budget wasn’t going to increase the ratings. It was probably going to do the opposite, so we just made the decision to let it go.” Reporting by Mike Johnson later revealed that as part of the negotiations, TNA had solicited a rights fee of $26 million, whereas Spike – in what represented quite the differential – countered with an offer between $14-16 million. “That seems true,” posits Kay. “I’m going to [estimate] that [$26 million] would have been almost double the rights fee that we were paying them at the time…somewhere in that ballpark. “And that was never going to happen. If we were going to renew it, it probably would have been at the same price – no more – or [even] less. [Again], my decision…and our decision as a company was like, ‘The ratings aren’t going up. Cutting money isn’t going to help. So it’s time to move on.’” For further comments from other Spike TV executives, read the special TNA section in the book by @GuyEvansBooks: BEYOND NITRO: Untold Stories from the WCW era, available on Amazon, Audible and Apple Books. Amazon: amazon.com/dp/B0F6S2PJNF Audible: audible.com/pd/Beyond-Nitro-…