10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (May 5)

9. Nitro's Multi-Announce Team Format Was Due To Bischoff's Fear

The very first episode of Eric Bischoff's "83 Weeks" podcast focused specifically on the formation of the nWo, but it also included some other little nuggets of wisdom from the ex-WCW boss. One of the most notable was Eric's admission that Nitro's multi-announcer team idea was due to his own fears fans would lose interest.

Bischoff's belief, partly influenced by Verne Gagne in the AWA, was that people listening to commentary would start to zone out if they heard the same voices for two solid hours.

That's why, when the show extended its run time from 60 minutes to 120, Nitro would be hosted by a different announce team in hour two than it was in hour one. Bobby Heenan was originally Bischoff's partner (they'd also be joined by Steve "Mongo" McMichael on and off) and the Tony Schiavone/Larry Zbyszko combo would pin down the other part of the show.

Anyone wondering why the announce changes happened now knows it was down to Eric's paranoia people would tune out.