WCW Producer Explains What Went Wrong With NWO Souled Out

Neal Pruitt, former WCW Producer and host of Secrets Of WCW Nitro, participated in a Reddit AMA recently. You can check out a few submitted highlights below:

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.

Coming up with the nWo spraypaint 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.

You can see the full Reddit AMA at this link, and check out Neal Pruitt's Secrets Of WCW Nitro podcast at this link.