[4] After initial success through utilization of established wrestling stars of the 1980s, the company appointed Eric Bischoff to executive producer of television in 1993.

Under Bischoff's leadership, the company enjoyed a period of mainstream success characterized by a shift to reality-based storylines, and notable hirings of former WWF talent.

[5] WCW also gained attention for developing a popular cruiserweight division, which showcased an acrobatic, fast-paced, lucha libre-inspired style of wrestling.

To achieve this, Bischoff increased WCW's production values, avoided unprofitable house shows, increased the number of WCW pay-per-views (PPVs, which were profitable), decreased the number of Southern accents on commentary, and began recruiting top stars away from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

[20] This led to marquee names such as Hulk Hogan and "The Macho Man" Randy Savage joining WCW's ranks and helping to supplement its business.

[23] The meeting led to Turner greenlighting the creation of WCW Monday Nitro, which would air on TNT on the same day and in the same time slot as Raw.

The struggle between the two promotions, each one attempting to produce the best television show possible each week, led to an explosion in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States and in hindsight is widely considered a golden era.

WCW Monday Nitro proved a success for the company, which was immediately able to create a television audience of an equivalent size to WWF Raw.

However, in June 1996, Nitro would begin a streak of 83 constructive victories over Raw, initially sparked by the start of the New World Order (nWo) storyline.

Nitro's live atmosphere enhanced segments such as the Hall and Nash debuts as it gave the show an unscripted, "anything can happen at any time" feeling to the television audience.

The start of the nWo angle, which immediately proved immensely popular and intriguing to wrestling fans,[26] was part of a wider shift in the WCW presentation still being pursued by Eric Bischoff.

The combination of a more adult-orientated presentation, live and unedited television, more reality-based storylines, new top-level talent, new and intriguing characters, and more varied in-ring action saw WCW's fortunes dramatically shift; the company went from struggling financially as late as 1995 to generating $55 million in profit in 1998.

[34] Nonetheless, the creation of new major headline babyface stars such as Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg were causes for optimism, making the company initially less dependent on the nWo storyline for ratings.

[35] By this point, many critics began to argue that WCW was now completely overreliant on the nWo storyline and unable to pivot to a new grand concept.

Additionally, beginning in the summer of 1998, Bischoff has claimed that Time Warner Entertainment management began to increasingly micromanage WCW and meddle in its presentation.

Executives at Time Warner Entertainment began to increasingly advocate that WCW should pivot to more a "family-friendly" orientation, and drop the reforms that turned around the company's fortunes.

The combined pressure of the WWF seizing back the ratings lead as well as WCW's own internal problem caused tension amongst both the on-screen talent and management.

[14][31][42] Almost immediately Schiller found a duo to replace Bischoff: former head writers for Raw Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera.

[14][43] Russo had just weeks prior walked off the job at the WWF after a dispute with Vince McMahon over work hours, and Ed Ferrera soon followed.

[43][44] Russo and Ferrera were heralded at the time as the main drivers in the turnaround at WWF over the previous two years with their writing philosophy of "Crash TV",[43] a presentation style that emphasized Soap opera style storylines, lengthier non-wrestling segments, frequent heel/face turns, an increased amount of female representation on the show, expanded storyline depth, frequent title changes, and a greater focus on developing mid-card talent.

[45] The tenure of Russo and Ferrera at the creative helm of WCW was short-lived; by March 2000 the pair had been suspended from their positions as their provocative and edgy angles caused constant protest from AOL Time Warner executives.

In April 2000, WCW attempted to resolve its creative issues by asking Eric Bischoff to return but work alongside Vince Russo as a duo.

[48] Events such as Goldberg forcing WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart into retirement following a botched move at Starrcade 1999,[49] followed just days later by Goldberg very seriously injuring himself during an angle on Thunder,[50][note 4] and Hollywood Hogan seemingly quitting the company live on PPV at Bash at the Beach 2000 only seemed to further a sense that the company was spiralling out of control.

In the spring of 1996, WCW introduced its "Cruiserweight division", a segmented portion of the roster featuring smaller, faster and more agile wrestlers that contrasted starkly, both visually and stylistically, with their heavyweight counterparts.

[65] Although weight categories were not a new concept in wrestling or even WCW, the WCW Cruiserweight Division was quickly able to form a unique and popular identity by integrating and mixing wrestlers from all around the world and from vastly different wrestling styles, particularly Mexican luchadores such as Rey Misterio Jr., Psicosis, and Juventud Guerrera, but also Japanese "Super Juniors" such as Último Dragón.

[65] The division as a whole became a showcase of a fast-paced, aerial and athletic style of wrestling which became highly influential in both the short and long term in the industry.

Simultaneously, the newly formed Total Nonstop Action wrestling promotion heavily featured their X Division, which did not limit participants by weight but rather by style.

Nonetheless, the X-Division was considered a direct spiritual successor to the style developed in the WCW Cruiserweight division and became influential in its own right.

The series was presented by Dwayne Johnson and featured former WCW personalities including Bill Goldberg, Eric Bischoff, Bret Hart, Booker T, Kevin Nash, amongst others.

In 1996, Kyle Petty's #49 car in the Busch Grand National series was sponsored by the nWo, and Greg Sacks briefly drove a WCW-sponsored for Galaxy Motorsports.