Eric Bischoff still points to the creation of Thunder in 1998 as a negative. At the time of the program's inception, Nitro was already 3 hours in length. Adding another show to the weekly lineup was unnecessary, and only diluted focus on the flagship broadcast. In 2000, ratings were already sagging terribly for Nitro, so there was no real reason for Thunder to stick around. WCW management really should have had a good look at things here, and decided they needed to cut something loose. As the lesser program, Thunder had to go. By the turn of millennium, it was more a nuisance than anything else to the company, and had no genuine benefits. Rarely did anything of note happen on the show anyway, especially by 2000. Nitro reverted back to 120 minutes in length in late-1999, which was a shrewd move. At that exact moment, those in charge should have also discontinued Thunder. Being honest, even the long-running WCW Saturday Night and unwanted Worldwide shows were useless at this point. All focus should have went on making Nitro a better, more streamlined show which could help WCW rebuild the audience.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.