WCW Disney tapings
The WCW Disney tapings were a series of television tapings of professional wrestling matches conducted by the now defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) at the Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
History
In 1993, WCW began taping in-ring footage for their
Because the footage recorded would often be shown on television months later, the tapings often exposed bookings and storylines well in advance. WCW was usually forced to have wrestlers appear with title belts before they had won them in regards to the current storyline. This was regarded as a major breach of kayfabe at the time, and ultimately led to WCW's departure from the National Wrestling Alliance in September 1993.
Crowds
The crowds present for the tapings were most often tourists that were given free passes to the tapings, handed free souvenirs and merchandise, and coached to cheer and boo on cue. Much of the Hulk Hogan merchandise seen during the beginning of his tenure in WCW was handed out by WCW staffers, and wearing the merchandise was often a requirement to be allowed to occupy a seat within view of the cameras.
Many of the wrestling fans that got in reported what they saw to the dirt sheets and the burgeoning Internet discussion forums. The results of the tapings laid out most of WCW's booking plans months in advance, effectively removing the suspense in title matches for fans who were aware of the taping results.
1996 Monday Nitro broadcasts
In the summer of 1996,
Move to Universal Studios, end of era
WCW stopped recording its syndicated programming at Disney in 1997 and moved the Worldwide and Pro tapings to Universal Studios Florida, also located in Orlando. In 1998, WCW converted their syndicated programming into highlight shows recapping what had gone on on their other shows but still featured one or two matches as exclusives. These continued to be taped in Orlando as the company continued to lease space at Universal, but these were eventually moved to the set of WCW Saturday Night and then became part of the WCW Thunder tapings. The matches were scrapped altogether as part of companywide budget cuts in 2000.
Logistical errors
Also in 1993, several weeks of syndicated programming was taped with