WCW Thunder

''WCW Thunder'', or simply ''Thunder'', is an American professional wrestling show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001.

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 producer Eric Bischoff was very keen on its primary show ''WCW Monday Nitro'' being aired live every week.

The rights to ''WCW Thunder'' now belong to WWE, who purchased WCW properties in 2001. The trademark for "WCW Thunder" was renewed by WWE in 2018. As of November 2019, all 156 episodes of ''Thunder'' are available to stream on the WWE Network and Peacock.

History

Creation

The popularity of World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'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. According to the ''Wrestling Observer'', WCW originally named the program ''Thursday Thunder'', but dropped "Thursday" from the title to distinguish it from a similarly named program on ESPN and to provide TBS more programming flexibility if they were to move the broadcast to a different day of the week.

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''. ''WCW Thunder'' originally debuted as a live weekly show, but the schedule was changed by Bischoff in August 1998 due to complaints by wrestlers over travel demands. Tapings were expanded to four hours, with the first two hours being broadcast live and the last two hours taped to air the following week.

''WCW Thunder'' debuted on January 8, 1998 and drew a 4.02 Nielsen rating. The first match to take place in ''Thunder'' featured Chris Adams against Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth. Adams pinned Savage after a chairshot from Lex Luger. The match decision was reversed by WCW Commissioner/Chairman of Executive Committee J. J. Dillon.

''WCW Thunder'' debuted for viewers in England on October 3, 1998 on broadcast cable network TNT Europe.

TV commercials for ''Thunder'' featured top ring talents such as Hulk Hogan saying ''"Observe this, brother!"'' and The Giant with ''"This forecast definitely calls for pain!"''

In 1998, ''WCW Thunder'' consistently had one of the highest Nielsen ratings on cable, at one time rivaling the audience size of a Thursday night NFL broadcast on ESPN. The ''Wrestling Observer'' reported the December 3, 1998 ''WCW Thunder'' show had a 3.7 rating head-to-head against the NFL game, which drew a 4.5 rating. ''WCW Thunder's'' success in 1998 included ticket sales, as a number of live events sold out and grossed gates over $100,000. The ''WCW Thunder'' at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota on April 16, 1998 drew 15,362 people and grossed $274,393 in ticket sales, which were both records highs for that market.

2000–2001

''WCW Thunder'' switched from Thursday evenings to Wednesday evenings on January 12, 2000. Since '' WWF SmackDown!'' debuted on UPN (a broadcast television network) on August 26, 1999 in the same timeslot as ''Thunder'', WCW has been losing to the WWF in the ratings on Thursdays including on Mondays, as this was the time WCW's ratings began to steadily decline that would eventually lead to the company's demise.

On October 9, 2000, WCW moved the ''Thunder'' tapings to Monday nights, the same night as ''Nitro''. After the live ''Nitro'' broadcast ended, the ''Thunder'' taping would commence. This practice continued until March 19, 2001, when ''Thunder'' taped its last episode. Bryan Alvarez and R. D. Reynolds wrote in their book, ''The Death of WCW'', the reasoning behind the tapings was attendance at ''Thunder'' events had dropped considerably over the previous twenty-one months.

Towards the end of the show's run, ''WCW Thunder'' was the anchor of a TBS programming block known as "iWatch Wednesdays", which was tied to the website TBS Interactive. After installing a web browser plugin, users had access to forums, games and contests related to the TBS programs, including ''Thunder''.

Final broadcast

In an attempt to save WCW, Bischoff attempted to purchase the company with Fusient Media Ventures. However, although Bischoff's offer had been accepted, recently appointed Turner Broadcasting executive Jamie Kellner announced shortly after his arrival that ''Thunder'' and all WCW programming was immediately canceled on TBS. Bischoff's group then withdrew their offer, as it was contingent on keeping WCW programming on some outlet. WCW's trademarks and certain assets (such as its video library and the contracts of 24 wrestlers), though not the company itself (which still exists as a Time Warner-owned legal entity under the name Universal Wrestling Corporation), were bought by the WWF, its long-time competitor.

''Thunder'' was the antepenultimate WCW broadcast before the final episode of ''WCW WorldWide'' on March 31, 2001. ''WCW Thunder'' is the final wrestling broadcast to air on TBS until the debut of '' AEW Dynamite'' which premiered on January 5, 2022.

Reception

Veteran industry journalist Wade Keller said that the introduction of ''Thunder'' could be called "the beginning of the end" for the now-defunct WCW, adding that the program's debut "is probably as good of a turning point as you could pick out".

''Wrestling Observer'' subscribers voted ''WCW Thunder'' the worst weekly television show in 1999 and 2000.

On-air personalities

Commentators

*Tony Schiavone
*Bobby Heenan
* Lee Marshall
*Mike Tenay
*Larry Zbyszko
* Scott Hudson
*Mark Madden
*Jeremy Borash
*Stevie Ray

Ring announcers

*David Penzer
*Pamela Paulshock

References

External links

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The Importance Of… 06.19.09: Thunder

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wcw Thunder
Thunder
American sports television series
TBS (American TV channel) original programming
1998 American television series debuts
2001 American television series endings
Wrestling Observer Newsletter award winners