10 Times WCW Was The Most Insane Company In The World
6. Launching Nitro Opposite Raw
'Brash' and 'bold' are just two of the many words beginning with 'B' that can be used to describe Eric Bischoff (you can think of the rest yourself). A multitude of his WCW ideas fall under the umbrella of those two terms, not least the decision to run Nitro in direct competition to WWF's established Monday Night Raw.
Launching the new flagship programme opposite Raw wasn't just bold, it was quantifiably insane. So insane that it's hard to imagine Bischoff would have even pitched the idea had he any suspicion Turner would approve it. As the story goes, the media mogul asked his executive producer what the company needed to do to challenge Vince, and an entirely unprepared Eric immediately answered 'primetime TV', knowing it was an impossibility.
Bischoff was taken aback when Turner didn't just OK the proposal, but told head of programming Harvey Schiller to give him two hours on a Monday night - head-to-head with the WWF.
Eric's first reaction was one of panic; to put it bluntly, he sh** himself. The move was considered suicide in the industry. On any other night, Nitro would have been a guaranteed success, but against established competition the venture seemed doom to fail.
Knowing he had been thrown into the deepest of all deep ends, Bischoff reacted with his usual gumption, pulling out all the stops to guarantee Nitro could make an impact. Against the odds, it was a success, and many of the concepts he introduced for the show - competitive matches, an anything-can-happen feel, and meaningful angles - revolutionised the business.