Tony Schiavone Gives Insight Into How WCW Would Just “Throw Matches Away”

In a recent episode of his “What Happened When” podcast veteran wrestling announcer Tony Schiavone offered fascinating insights into WCW’s production challenges during the mid-1990s. Schiavone’s revelations shed light on how the advent of WCW Monday Nitro in 1995 dramatically altered the company’s approach to content creation and rendered their pre-taped shows at Disney increasingly irrelevant.

Schiavone recounted that WCW began filming marathon taping sessions at Disney in 1993, producing content that would air over the course of several weeks or even months. This approach, while efficient for scheduling purposes, soon clashed with the dynamic nature of live weekly programming introduced by WCW Nitro in 1995.

The success of Nitro, which quickly became WCW’s flagship show, created a rapidly evolving product that often outpaced the pre-recorded content.

I remember Eric [Bischoff] talking to me when WCW Monday Nitro got really hot, and that show drove the ship. Something like a guy would change his hair colour and you’d see it on Nitro. Then that weekend you would watch WCW Saturday Night or WCW Worldwide from Disney and he’d look completely different.

The situation was further complicated by WCW’s approach to storytelling. This led to a significant amount of unused footage from the Disney tapings, according to Schiavone.

They did angles and things on Nitro without even considering what was in the can already. So in effect we had to throw a lot of stuff away, there’s a lot of matches, and I mean a LOT of matches from Disney that never aired because no one would take the time to think about what was in the can.

Eric Bischoff, then the Executive Producer of WCW, recognised the need to prioritise the live content over pre-taped shows. Tony Schiavone recalled Bischoff’s directive.

We can’t let what we shot at Disney drive the train. If we’ve got a good idea for Nitro we need to go with it regardless of what is in the can for Disney.

This shift in strategy marked the beginning of the end for WCW’s Disney tapings. Tony Schiavone remembered Bischoff’s frank assessment of the situation.

I just remember him telling me ‘it’s not working for us anymore’ (in regards to filming at Disney).

Tony Schiavone Says These Two Hall Of Famers Did Not Get Along In WCW

In another edition of his podcast, Tony Schiavone discussed how Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura did not get along in WCW, with Ross in particularly upset at the amount of money Ventura was making compared to him. Then later when Ross left WCW to join WWE, Ventura would make snide remarks on the air referencing his former broadcast partner.

If you use any of the quotes from this article please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to TJR Wrestling.