The rest is scripted. In the last couple of years the WWF has skyrocketed in popularity on USA and this season on UPN Thursday nights, making characters such as the Rock, Chyna and Stone Cold Steve Austin household names, while the WCW has struggled. Tonight's show will be the start of a radical change in approach and story lines. There's lots of things that need to be fixed. Production issues need to be fixed.
Talent needs to be fixed.
We need to create a story line that they'll follow. Bischoff was head of the WCW until last year when he left the company. At the time the WCW hired Russo and his writing partner Ed Ferrara away from the WWF as an effort to juice up the WCW shows. The knock against the WCW among wrestling fans has been that its stars are older and perhaps tired. Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair, two of the WCW's highest-profile personalities, are both on the other side of 40.