On the most recent episode of Neil Pruitt’s Secrets of WCW Nitro, he talked about coming up with the nWo spray paint idea, working with Hulk Hogan, and more. Here are the highlights they sent along:
On coming up with the nWo spray paint idea:
I started giving my input right away and had a vision in mind when I first got the nWo project. I had a lot of ideas that they used, like when Hogan talked about how Atlanta used to be Ted Turner’s place and now they’re taking over. He spray painted on a beach ball like ‘globe’ and then kicked it off the set, if you remember. I actually brought in the spray paint idea, kinda going off how gangs would tag their territory. For some reason, Hogan could never write the small ‘n’ in nWo!
I gave Kevin Nash a paintbrush and canvas to paint on, and he painted the world being taken over by the nWo. There’s an interview that will air next week on my podcast – Neal Pruitt’s Secrets of WCW Nitro – where Kemper Rogers (WCW Senior Editor) will talk about how he did the film scratches and clicks that you saw on the nWo videos. He was instrumental in helping with the branding of the group.
On working with the WWF after the WCW sale:
I actually did not have a desire to go to WWF at the time. I was kinda burned out, and I was tired of getting a cattle prod to get wrestlers to do simple interviews. However, about three months later, Ric Flair asked me why I wasn’t at WWF. I told him my reasoning, and he said ‘it’s not like that up here. the wrestlers are waiting and ready for you to work’.
On the infamous nWo Souled Out pay-per-view:
On Souled Out, it started off with a bang. When Kemper Rogers and I wrote the open to look something like Citizen Kane, I thought it fit well with what we were trying to accomplish. We were able to get all the nWo faces into the open. The garbage truck parade was pretty entertaining as well. Mike Miller and I cut that open the day of the pay-per-view in a freezing cold Turner truck. It felt like 10 degrees in there.
Unfortunately, the pay-per-view went downhill just as the nWo walked in the door. Segment 1 took way too long. I’m not sure who came up with the idea of having the ‘Miss nWo’ contest, but that was a disaster. I did however like the ‘lipstick’ camera on a pole shots. That was kind of cool.
It was fun to get to hear my voice make fun of people when they came down the aisle. Writing those lines brought a smile to my face.
On his influence on Luke Gallows:
Hopefully I had some influence on the Bullet Club. At Deep South, I got to work quite a bit with Luke Gallows who is a friend of mine to this day. He always enjoyed the nWo, so I’m glad they passed the torch to him. AJ Styles is one of my favorite wrestlers, for sure. He’s a great guy and was very kind to my son Alec. AJ sat in the first row next to him at a Monster truck event. My son still talks about it!
On working with Hulk Hogan:
I remember doing an interview at Hulk’s house in St. Petersburg with Gene Okerlund. After the interview was over, Hogan asked how it was. Gene said it was just fine. I didn’t agree however because I knew he could do it better. So we did it again, without hesitation.
I’m grateful for Hulk and the times I worked with him. One of my best memories is him in Chicago when he signed autographs for what seemed like hundreds of people. He was even willing to stay overtime and miss his flight back home so he could sign those autographs. I thanked him in our limo ride back to the hotel. He said he hadn’t passed up an autograph in 15 years, and wasn’t about to do it now. I said, ‘that’s why you’re on top’.
For some reason, Hulk always felt comfortable around me. I guess it was because I didn’t bulls**t him, and treated him just like anyone else.
My father said ‘there’s no-one better than you, and you’re no better than anyone else’. That’s something I’ve tried to live by, and it’s worked for me so far.
For more, check out Neil Pruitt’s Secrets of WCW Nitro.
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