10 Things AEW Can Learn From WCW Nitro's Debut

4. Book A Surprise To Get People Talking

"What is he doing here?!", Bischoff cried out as Lex Luger shockingly showed up to take in a bit of Ric Flair vs. Sting on the first Nitro. 24 hours earlier, Lex had appeared on a WWF card, and nobody (especially Vince McMahon) predicted that he'd cause shockwaves by gatecrashing WCW.

The stunt, one McMahon knew nothing about, made Nitro exciting from the off and enhanced WCW's reputation all at once. They'd been able to cherry-pick one of the WWF's top stars and sneak him onto the debut showing of Nitro. It was massive, and it got people talking.

We know what you're thinking, and it's true that AEW aren't going to get someone like Roman Reigns to jump ship. Good news: they don't need to. There are loads of top indy names who could fill the Luger slot and get social media humming. Will Ospreay, for example, would set the place alight if he showed face.

It's all about that Twitter talk, just as it was word of mouth back in '95.