"With the new millennium imminent, an array of cultural critics reflected on the unquestioned ascendance of video games, an entertainment medium that appeared – as evidenced by the technological evolutions of the prior decade – to be evolving rather rapidly. Despite still being discounted in some quarters, the gaming industry had quickly become a behemoth, easily surpassing the film industry in terms of total revenues. In the process, numerous video games emerged as defining cultural touchstones for an entire generation. “We were the first generation to grow up on video games,” notes the TNA wrestler @TheSamiCallihan. “Our generation is a completely different generation of human beings…we didn’t [think], ‘Oh, we want to be rock stars,’ or, ‘We want to be out every night of the week.’ We’re all nerds.” The proliferation of video games had several notable effects, including – among other things – the transmission of game-specific culture around the globe. In admittedly asymmetrical fashion (given the preeminence of a relatively small number of regional gaming powerhouses), the success of top titles transcended national boundaries – in a way that few other diversions approached. With no appreciable language barrier, and similarly aided by the promotion of universal storytelling themes, the video game business became a “homogeneous phenomenon,” according to a study published in the International Journal of Communication, “hovering weightlessly in a culturally undefined space, independent of local contexts.” Thus an intriguing scenario developed wherein a prominent video game, like WCW/nWo Revenge – designed in the United States and developed in Japan – appealed, on a simultaneous basis, to players all over the world. While one group of teenagers could be up and enjoying a multiplayer tournament in, say, Minneapolis one Friday night, a parallel group of gamers, perhaps based in London, could be winding down their own marathon event at five o’clock in the morning. Meanwhile, 1500 miles away in Athens, Greece, a solitary N64 user, his eyes half asleep at seven o’clock local time, could be about to start his own game – a pile of pesky homework going unnoticed on the floor. Connecting them all, of course, was a common language – not English – but that of video games." Listen to Beyond Nitro by @GuyEvansBooks on @audible_com and Apple Books for more! @DarkSideofRing @Ender1787 @wesbohn @BFEatPopCulture @AlexZed85 @Chadmoneymatter @TitoSanTanaChez @RCW273558 @Body_tha_Genius @BuckeyeShawn007 @akioutsiders @AJStylesOrg @VPW2Dojo USA: audible.com/pd/B0GT6C2N3H/?s… UK: audible.co.uk/pd/B0GT68FGDP/… Canada: audible.ca/pd/B0GT6YW6BC/?so… Australia: audible.com.au/pd/B0GT72S26X… APPLE BOOKS: books.apple.com/us/audiobook… AUDIBLE: audible.com/pd/B0GT6C2N3H/?s… #WCW #nWo #WCWnWoRevenge #AKIclub #THQ #wrestlinggames #audible #audiobook

The relationship between video games and professional wrestling is explored in a special chapter of BEYOND NITRO, the new book from @GuyEvansBooks. See below for an excerpt - and RT please! Get the book here: amazon.com/BEYOND-NITRO-Unto… CHAPTER 18: REVENGE (Excerpt) With the new millennium imminent, an array of cultural critics reflected on the unquestioned ascendance of video games, an entertainment medium that appeared – as evidenced by the technological evolutions of the prior decade – to be evolving rather rapidly. Despite still being discounted in some quarters, the gaming industry had quickly become a behemoth, easily surpassing the film industry in terms of total revenues. In the process, numerous video games emerged as defining cultural touchstones for an entire generation. “We were the first generation to grow up on video games,” notes the TNA wrestler @TheSamiCallihan. “Our generation is a completely different generation of human beings…we didn’t [think], ‘Oh, we want to be rock stars,’ or, ‘We want to be out every night of the week.’ We’re all nerds.” The proliferation of video games had several notable effects, including – among other things – the transmission of game-specific culture around the globe. In admittedly asymmetrical fashion (given the preeminence of a relatively small number of regional gaming powerhouses), the success of top titles transcended national boundaries – in a way that few other diversions approached. With no appreciable language barrier, and similarly aided by the promotion of universal storytelling themes, the video game business became a “homogeneous phenomenon,” according to a study published in the International Journal of Communication, “hovering weightlessly in a culturally undefined space, independent of local contexts.” Thus an intriguing scenario developed wherein a prominent video game, like WCW/nWo Revenge – designed in the United States and developed in Japan – appealed, on a simultaneous basis, to players all over the world. While one group of teenagers could be up and enjoying a multiplayer tournament in, say, Minneapolis one Friday night, a parallel group of gamers, perhaps based in London, could be winding down their own marathon event at five o’clock in the morning. Meanwhile, 1500 miles away in Athens, Greece, a solitary N64 user, his eyes half asleep at seven o’clock local time, could be about to start his own game – a pile of pesky homework going unnoticed on the floor. Connecting them all, of course, was a common language – not English – but that of video games. A similar effect played out as far as Australia, recalls the Perth-based wrestler and podcaster @KarliforniaNWO. "Something that was incredibly important was the video games,” he explains. “WCW/nWo World Tour, WCW/nWo Revenge, and [later] WrestleMania 2000. The video games were extremely important because you’d have sleepovers, where some of your friends might not even watch wrestling, but they would get familiar with the characters that people [chose and played with]…and then they’d end up watching! That’s how a lot of people became fans, because they would recognize the people they chose in the video game on the actual screen.” In one of the interesting (and now, rather quaint) quirks of the early Internet era, American cultural trends tended to ‘travel’, relative to their ability to resonate with people overseas, on a perceptible delay of sorts – often with a ‘gap’ of numerous months (or even years) at a time. “Because of the Monday Night Wars,” remembers Infirri, “wrestling had started to get hot [domestically] in ‘96 to early ‘97. It took us a couple of years to catch up… [in general], Australia was always far behind the United States with things. “For example, we would get Raw and Nitro on Foxtel, the provider that had the channels for wrestling. The shows that aired on Foxtel would usually be about six to eight weeks late, so we would always be one or two months behind what was actually happening. “That changed once it got popular enough to have the shows ‘fast tracked’ to Australia quicker. At that point, we got Raw the day that it happened, and Nitro the week that it happened. “[But] 1998 was the year when it really hit [in Australia]. I could go into my local Kmart, or Toys ‘R’ Us, or Target…and there wasn’t just a couple of shelves [devoted to wrestling], it was a whole row. A whole row dedicated to wrestling figurines, replica titles, T-shirts, merch… “The whole aisle would have WCW and WWF products – all the way down. Everywhere you went, there were ‘Austin 3:16’ shirts and nWo shirts – everywhere you went. And this is in an isolated city – Perth. “If it’s big in such an isolated city,” continues Infirri, “that means something. That means it’s huge – it’s pop culture. It was so popular that we all started doing backyard wrestling. It was massive. In our metropolitan area, there were four backyard wrestling groups at one time, and there might have been more that we just never discovered. I know it was quite prevalent over on the East Coast of Australia as well.” Infirri’s testimony speaks to an underrated phenomenon that occurred – both domestically and, as indicated, internationally – in concert with the ‘90s wrestling boom. Specifically, the impact of THQ’s wrestling titles was such that the games concurrently created two cooperative circumstances. Firstly, existing fans were provided with an outlet for their fandom that had existed previously, but not in the same realistic (and enjoyable) manner as now was possible. Secondly, potential fans – perhaps those possessing no previous affinity for (or awareness of) the wrestling business – were provided with a fun, accessible and highly social method of familiarizing themselves with the genre. To play as La Parka on WCW/nWo Revenge, for example, created a natural compulsion – on the part of the non-fan – to witness the real ‘Skull Captain’ on a subsequent episode of Nitro. “There was a ton of overlap,” confirms Dave Hoffman, a former THQ producer. “The demographics of those in attendance at the live wrestling events matched perfectly with our target market for the game.” “First off, I completely agree with the thesis,” begins Evan Husney, co-creator of the popular @DarkSideOfRing series, in reference to the notion that the THQ titles expanded the wrestling fanbase. “The launch of those games really coincided with the early years of the N64, and obviously, that was a revolutionary game system that came out and just took over everything. The popularity of the launch title Mario 64 and Goldeneye (007) was ubiquitous across households in North America…and beyond! Everybody was playing that stuff. “For me, personally…I was sort of that classic definition of a @TheLapsedFan. I was a young ‘Hulkamaniac’ in that 1990-sort of era in the WWF. I went to the events as a young kid, was a big fan of Sergeant Slaughter, Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and the Hasbro action figures…but by the mid ‘90s, I hadn’t really kept up with wrestling. A lot of people dipped out [at that point]. “But those games…I remember when WCW vs. nWo: World Tour came out. I picked up a copy, and I was instantly hooked. I vividly remember being in my parents’ basement and going through the roster of the different wrestlers you could choose. Obviously, I remembered Hulk Hogan and guys like Randy Savage from when I was a little kid, but I thought, ‘Wait. They’re in different colors and they’re in different uniforms. Why is that?’ “Then I started looking at all these other wrestlers that I [wasn’t] familiar with. I remember being like, ‘Who’s Chris Benoite?’ So in trying to figure it out, I played the game so much that eventually, it did lead to me checking out what was happening on television. 100% – that’s what led me to engage and watch wrestling again. “Then I started making the connections…figuring out who Scott Hall was, or who Kevin Nash was, just by the recognition of who they were in this game. Soon I was hooked on [the actual show]. Living in Minneapolis – a big wrestling hotspot – WCW came through very regularly. I ended up going to all the Nitros that were there, and I really became a WCW fan – first and foremost, because of the [THQ] games. “When Revenge came out, it was a total game-changer,” continues Husney. “It was ‘next level’ and [simply] amazing. I had sleepovers with friends where we would play the game all night. We would ‘book’ our own pay-per-views [during the sleepovers]. We would put together all the matches – who was going to play who – and while I don’t exactly remember the technology that I had…there was a way that I could record the matches on to the VCR, and then somehow do commentary [over it] with our voices! We would be like, ‘Okay – this is gonna be Uncensored ‘99,’ or whatever. We would put on all our matches with our little kid commentary, and I have very fond memories of doing that with my friends growing up.” “I’ve always believed,” opines @RealBryanB, owner and operator of @WCWWorldwide – a popular, WCW-themed retrospective website – “that the series of wrestling video games that came from AKI/THQ for the Nintendo 64 were essential in creating a whole new base of younger wrestling fans. “…When WCW vs nWo: World Tour was released in late 1997, it was seemingly something of an unexpected sleeper-hit. Reading reviews from that period, you can see a pattern of reviewers specifically trying to break through a certain message to the reader: Yes, wrestling is fake and hokey – but you have to play this game. “And they were right. There was a simplicity with World Tour that allowed anyone to step into the ring and enjoy it as a multiplayer action/sports game. The game was an absolute blast to play, filled with unique characters with various wrestling styles that was an inviting package to anyone who tried it out. Having a system with four-controller plugs built into the console itself was a godsend for easily creating late-night multiplayer mayhem with your friends. For the hardcore wrestling enthusiast, you finally had a game that recreated your obsession beautifully with its detailed move animations. [But] no previous knowledge of Sting or the nWo was needed to enjoy World Tour. “World Tour would get a Player’s Choice reissue and be placed on a pedestal by Nintendo themselves alongside other gaming giants like Super Smash Bros. and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. There was no better wrestling video game in America until the follow-up was released a year later: WCW/nWo Revenge. “Revenge improved the World Tour formula but also completely overhauled the presentation to fully represent the Nitro era of WCW, something lacking from its predecessor. You could now wrestle in several different PPV arenas or on a Monday Nitro stage that all attempted to faithfully recreate their real broadcast counterparts. The roster pared down the number of original characters found in World Tour in favor of actual WCW wrestlers you’d see on weekly television. A wrestler edit mode was added so that you could potentially keep up with the never-ending recruitment of new members of the New World Order. This was a game that was polished and set to become a major success right out the gate with Nintendo Power reviewing WCW/nWo Revenge higher than the original Pokémon Blue/Red for the Game Boy (8.1 vs. 7.2), [for example]. “Speaking from personal experience, I had several friends who would become temporary wrestling diehards through WCW vs nWo: World Tour. The nWo and D-Generation X shirts had already started to infiltrate my middle school, but World Tour was converting more non-believers around me and convincing them to watch wrestling. WCW was already in a ratings boom during its Monday Night War with Raw, but this N64 title was an interactive gateway drug for us into this [rather] bizarre subculture. Maybe parents were hesitant to allow their children to watch simulated gang warfare between one man in mime face-paint versus an entire squad of black-and-white attired goons, but a video game? What’s the harm in that?” “Before Revenge,” notes @briancagegmsi, a prominent wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), “there was obviously World Tour – which was great – but Revenge…that was the one. There were four of us…including my older brother, my best friend Stephen and my good friend, Jamie…that played it almost every weekend. We’d have a whole slumber party deal where we’d play games and watch movies and stuff…but Revenge was the main game. We’d always do the 40-man battle royale, and we’d make it ‘pinfall elimination’ so it’d last all night long. We spent so many hours on that game.” For Cage, the game brings forth an additional wave of sentimentality, relative to his close friendship with Chris Klucsarits – aka WCW’s Chris Kanyon – who provided the inspiration for Cage’s subsequent career path. “Kanyon was the hidden character for the U.S. Title Tournament,” recalls the AEW star. “They made his character freaking awesome! Kanyon actually told me that the reason they put him there – and why they made his character extra cool – is because some of the creators were massive fans of his. His character had a bunch of cool moves – combo strikes and everything else – and they definitely made his character different. “All throughout junior high and high school, it was the game.” Even to this day, Cage enjoys assembling his squad for frequent Revenge tournaments. As a small part of the festivities accompanying his 40th birthday celebrations, for example, he held a special Revenge ‘invitational’ in a Las Vegas hotel suite. “The last few years,” he confirms, “we’ve had these giant parties at this giant suite here in Vegas…so it’s been a go-to staple for my entire life. We even made our own rankings which are all written down. Currently, I’m still the World Champion with Scott Norton! “But it was a great game, and I loved the fact that the masses played Revenge. Whether you liked wrestling or not, you played it – and it made those [other] people get more into wrestling. It was such an easy ‘pick-up-and-play’ game, where if you didn’t have an idea of how to play, you learned pretty damn quick.” “We ended up with games that had genuine crossover appeal,” agrees @Melonbread1979. “Wrestling fans who weren’t into video games would buy a Nintendo 64 just to play it…and video game fans who weren’t wrestling fans would buy it or play it, often becoming WCW fans in the process.” “THQ was responsible for bringing the first great wrestling games to the US,” adds Justin Leeper, who went on to work for THQ on its WWE games during a later era. “They crafted realistic yet fun experiences that were a far cry from 16-bit button-mashy wrestling titles or Acclaim’s janky, over-complicated early PSone WWF games. “WCW/nWo Revenge had such a unique style with smooth animations, fluid control and amazing four-player simultaneous action. The roster was extensive, and every wrestler had several outfits to pick. AKI’s engine allowed for unique gameplay in a variety of situations: on the apron, in the corner, when the opponent was sitting…I can still vividly picture the close-up angle as wrestlers ran to enter a Battle Royal!” Just as it had captured the public’s imagination, Revenge ended up being a hit with the stars of the game themselves. In addition to receiving a generous fee in exchange for their participation (with some wrestlers, including Marcus ‘Buff’ Bagwell, receiving payments of up to $80,000 for the game), the stars of WCW and the nWo – particularly ‘Diamond’ Dallas Page, Goldberg and Booker T, among many others – enjoyed picking up the joystick to control their own fictional (fictional) selves. “I’ll never forget sitting with [Page] to do a commercial shoot for the game,” remembers Brad Lanoue, an intern with WCW during the last four months of 1998. “When the shoot was over, he just sat down with me on the couch – ‘cos they had a little setup [there] – and we just played the game…at least for an hour! That was really hard to come by back then…that you had a wrestler who would actually talk to you.” Such was – and is – the power of Revenge. The above is an excerpt of BEYOND NITRO by @GuyEvansBooks, a collection of 23 (mostly) self-contained chapters on WCW, its historical significance, and continued nostalgic appeal. Get the book here: amazon.com/BEYOND-NITRO-Unto…

For fans of the THQ wrestling titles...BEYOND NITRO includes a 10,000+ word chapter all about the development of WCW/nWo Revenge!

FYI: 'BEYOND NITRO' - the second book in Guy Evans' NITRO series - is 23% off on Amazon! Link: amazon.com/.../B0F6VVGZBL/re…

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…

New USB Audiobook: The Expanded Edition of NITRO! This limited edition product includes: ✅The EXPANDED NITRO audiobook - available on USB audiobook for the first time - on a special edition USB drive with replica book cover! ✅A full studio re-record with new footnotes and bonus chapters, plus special 'People of WCW' interview segments ✅Narration by the author ✅Signed by the author Link: guyevansbooks.com/products/e…

Now available as a limited edition, SIGNED USB Audiobook: The EXPANDED edition of NITRO! Features a full studio re-record of the book, plus new footnotes and bonus chapters, and special 'People of WCW' interview segments! Note: Orders will be cut off soon! Get it ONLY at: 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!