10 WCW Ideas Eric Bischoff Can Use To Boost SmackDown

It may have been dead for 18 years, but WCW can still offer up ways to improve the SmackDown brand.

by Andrew Pollard
eric bischoff
WWE.com

It’s absolutely crazy to think that World Championship Wrestling has been dead and buried for a whopping 18 years now, yet fans still look back at Ted Turner’s rasslin’ promotion with misty eyes over all the great memories. Well, great memories and Buff Bagwell’s mom on a pole. Oh, and David Arquette as World Champion.

The promotion may have had some utterly bizarre and ludicrous moments at times, but when it was really in its stride, WCW delivered some of the most all-out entertaining wrestling television fans have ever seen. Moments such as the formation of the nWo, Sting’s transformation, the unstoppable rise of Bill Goldberg, and even the 1995 return of Lex Luger all live long in the memory.

With former WCW head Eric Bischoff recently announced as the new Executive Director of SmackDown, many are hoping that the addition of Eazy E to the blue brand will help facilitate a major creative overhaul of the WWE’s weekly Tuesday night offering.

Looking back at his days in WCW, here are ten ideas and concepts that Bischoff could turn to as he looks to put his own stamp on SmackDown Live.

10. Make Each Event Look Different

eric bischoff
WWE.com

When WCW was in its heyday and dominating the famed Monday Night Wars, Bischoff managed to make each and every WCW event look unique and stand out from what fans had become accustomed to over on Monday Night Raw and the In Your House shows.

Nitro underwent several image changes over the years, and the Monday night staple always looked fresh and vibrant. Likewise, when WCW Thunder was introduced, it had a completely different look to its Monday night counterpart. And, of course, we can’t forget some of the brilliant PPV sets used for offerings such as Bash at the Beach, Halloween Havoc, and Road Wild.

By giving audiences something different, WCW always looked fresh - even during those years when the storylines became absolute garbage, aka The Russo Years.

Nowadays, Raw, SmackDown, and each and every PPV feel visually monotonous, stale, and uninspired. Across the board, WWE needs a major facelift. For Eric Bischoff, that should be one of the very first things he’s looking to address in his new role heading up the blue brand.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.