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30 Years Ago Today, WCW Aired a ‘Nitro’ Episode That Changed Pro Wrestling Forever

Three decades ago, Scott Hall’s shocking debut kicked off the Outsiders storyline, the nWo, and WCW’s hottest run ever.

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There are certain pro wrestling shows that live on forever because of what happened on them. Then there are certain pro wrestling shows that live on forever because they were the starting point for something even bigger that followed. The May 27, 1996, episode of WCW Monday Nitro is somehow both.

If you’re a big wrestling fan (and you’re old enough), you might remember that episode was the first-ever two-hour episode of Nitro. And while that might not sound important on paper, it was that increase in TV time that led Eric Bischoff, then WCW executive producer, to go out and look for more top guys to build his show around. He found two names that were available: Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, and signing them would prove to be his smartest decision yet.

Of course, if you really are a big wrestling fan (which you most likely are if you’re reading this), you already know that Hall debuted on that May 27 episode of Nitro. You also know that his debut was the spark that ignited the New World Order storyline, which in turn sparked the wrestling boom of the late ’90s.

The way Hall’s debut was written, by having him come through the crowd and debut as an “invader” of WCW from WWE, as if the entire segment was real, started the emphasis on what is referred to as the “worked shoot” angle in professional wrestling. This creative........

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