Beyond Nitro Excerpt: Who designed the nWo logo?

The following is an excerpt from Beyond Nitro: Untold Stories from the WCW era by Guy Evans (release date: 4/25/25). 

The book can ONLY be pre-ordered from this website!
Link: https://guyevansbooks.com/products/guy-evans-beyond-nitro

About Guy Evans
Guy Evans is the author of five books, including the 2018 bestseller NITRO: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW. 

Weighing in at near-600 pages - and supported by over 120 expert interviews - NITRO is considered the definitive look at the '90s wrestling boom. 

In 2024, Guy appeared on the VICE TV docuseries 'Who Killed WCW?'. The series was heavily inspired by the NITRO book and ultimately became the #1 series launch in the history of the network.

On April 25th, 2025, Beyond Nitro: Untold Stories of the WCW era is scheduled for release. Below is an exclusive excerpt from the book: 

(Note: The following constitutes the first-ever published comments from the designer of the nWo logo. We ask that the appropriate credit be given in any dissemination of this information - 'Beyond Nitro: Untold Stories from the WCW era by Guy Evans').

Beyond Nitro Excerpt
"All In An Hour's Work"

A native of Winter Park, FL - the charming city of 'Old World' repute, home to some 30,000 residents north of Orlando - Jenni Sloan developed her artistic abilities from an early age. “I trained in fine arts my whole life,” she begins, “and my dad - knowing that I wanted to utilize my art [as a career] - really made an impact on me. He said to me at one point, ‘Okay, if you want to use your art...you need to learn a trade.’

Sloan started her career journey during the relative infancy of modern, computerized graphic design. "Today, you have Full Sail University which trains people in post-production [for instance]," she says, "but this was way prior to that…my high school graduation was in ‘87. Back then, the University of South Carolina had one of the first computer labs, and that’s where I picked up the skills of Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. I really liked the idea of where things were going with graphic design on computers, and during my junior year, I had the opportunity to get an internship at Channel 9 - the local ABC affiliate - where I did some ‘over the shoulder’ graphics that were used on the news. I kind of parlayed that into working at some of the other news stations, but once I got out of school, I decided to move back to [Central Florida]. 

“Once I was home, I talked my way into an internship at Century III at Universal [Studios - the exclusive vendor of post-production services on the lot]. They ended up offering me a job, and I worked my way up to become Art Director - running equipment which very few people had access to - although now, you could do that stuff on your phone!”

Subsequently, Sloan says, her diligence was rewarded further with a job opportunity at Disney i.d.e.a.s., an elite post-production facility located on the backlots of the Disney-MGM Studios (now known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios). “All manner of …visual effects are possible at the facility,” reported a contemporaneous article in the Orlando Sentinel. “The acronym stands for imagery, design, editorial, art and sound…Disney-MGM is [now seriously] emphasizing its expanded capabilities in graphics and visual effects.”  

During her time at Disney - and in addition to becoming one of the few female flame operators in the country - Sloan developed ad campaigns for brands such as Presidente Beer, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser. “We also did special effects for anything on the back lots,” she adds. “We did a lot of the episodic television series that were filmed there…and that’s sort of how things happened - in terms of wrestling being filmed there, too.”

Indeed, by the summer of 1996 - less than six months into Sloan’s new role - Disney-MGM was hosting live episodes of WCW Monday Nitro, a consequence of the ongoing logistical juggling act caused by the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. At first, the alliance between Mickey Mouse and wrestling (officially christened on July 7th, 1993, when the park began hosting tapings of WCW's syndicated programming) may have been perceived as somewhat ill-fitting, but in time, the benefits of the co-branding effort became more obvious. As the Nitro era began, the association received specific attention in a strategic planning document of the time. "During the last two years,” read the note, presented as part of a corporate exercise detailing WCW’s future plans, “WCW has established a mutually beneficial agreement with Disney World in Orlando. WCW Worldwide and portions of WCW Pro are produced at the Disney-MGM studios. A more permanent arrangement offers [a number of] advantages.”

Under the recommendation ‘Explore Deeper Strategic Alliance with the Disney Organization’, the document highlighted the merits of the partnership to WCW:

• Post Production strength and availability will be limited in Atlanta during 1996 because of the Olympics. Resources are readily available at Disney.

• An action based daily attraction at a major entertainment park complements our programming. 80% of people who view production in progress at a studio become viewers.

• Disney legitimizes our product. Database development and research opportunities become more significant. Potential savings from Disney production, post production, and theme park participation can yield net savings up to $500,000 per year.

• SUMMARY: A move to the Disney/ MGM Studios for post production strength offers a major strategic advantage as WCW moves to close the perceived gap in production quality.

Ironically, however, no amount of strategic planning could have predicted what happened next. “One of the things that I loved to do - at that time - was logo development,” reveals Sloan. "I really liked to dive into who a company was, what they were about…kind of problem solve, [in my head], the best way to do a logo.

“So I remember being called into a meeting and being told that we would be doing work for WCW," she continues. "I was really not familiar with it - I didn’t follow wrestling personally - [although] my younger brother watched some of it way back in the day…with Hulk Hogan and all those guys. So that resonated with me…[plus] the fact that there was this sort of 'breakaway group' [with the New World Order].”

Although in its infancy, the New World Order storyline, sparked by a group of invading wrestlers (many of whom, at least initially, possessed strong associations to WCW’s real-life competitor, the WWF) was already setting the industry ablaze. With a number of favorable preconditions acting as catalysts for the plot (including the long-held ambition of wrestling fans to witness ‘dream matches’ involving WCW and WWF talent, the decision to leverage Hulk Hogan’s equity as the ultimate ‘good guy’ in the direction of a shocking heel turn, and the fortuitous expiration of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall’s WWF contracts), Nitro featured the villainous group terrorizing WCW stars on a weekly basis, often in the manner of a street gang. 

"I actually brought in the spray paint idea...kinda going off how gangs would tag their territory.” - Neal Pruitt, former feature producer for World Championship Wrestling

Without warning, what had first been conceived as a “six-month program” (as per the contemporaneous comments of Eric Bischoff, WCW’s then-Executive Vice President) quickly evolved to become the overarching narrative informing every WCW broadcast. In one early Nitro episode, for example, the phrase 'New World Order' was uttered by various WCW/nWo characters over 60 times. So ubiquitous were the invaders, in fact, that together, they appeared to comprise more than just a wrestling group, or stable in industry vernacular. On the contrary, the purpose of the New World Order, it appeared, was to form an entirely new organization - one that threatened, in kayfabe, the very existence of WCW itself.

We originally figured the [New World Order] would be a six-month program. - Eric Bischoff, as quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times, 6/15/97

Quite naturally, the formation of this new organization or brand - as per Bischoff’s behind-the-scenes vision for the group - precipitated the need for a brand identity. Clearly, the unsanctioned group of wrestlers had to differentiate themselves from their WCW counterparts; however, in the aftermath of Bash at the Beach '96, a key element in the effort was missing. 

Enter Jenni Sloan.

“I remember the day well," she says. "Our scheduling department would often tell me in the morning who would be coming in, what I would be doing…that kind of thing. [On this particular day], they mentioned that [WCW] was asking for something on a 'shoestring budget'. They said, ‘They can’t afford much…only an hour of time - that’s all they’re going to pay for.’ [Evidently], they couldn’t afford some of the more expensive equipment in my suite. 

“I thought, ‘Great. This is not how I want to do things…but...alright.’ 

“They said to me, ‘This is going to have to be mass generated...but you’re going to have to do this logo in black-and-white.’

“I thought, ‘Alright. Well…I’ll figure it out...’”

“I only had an hour to do the whole thing."

As the basis for her remarkable creativity, Sloan recalls receiving little in the way of details. “I remember just being given the direction of, ‘We want it in a type-written face'," she says. [They said], 'We want it to be rough…something 'ragged edges’…and I mean…that’s sort of all I had to go on. I don’t recall being shown anything else, except maybe some rough designs…[and those] weren’t based on anything else [really].

“I think it’s the quickest logo I’ve ever done in my life! It was really just down-and-dirty, super quick. There was a version that I did first, but [WCW producer] Rob Wright and [another WCW staffer] were like, ‘Uh-uh. It’s gotta be rougher.’ I specifically remember that.

“They asked me to make it even more rough - really jagged - so I remember going in and hand-drawing some of the edges.”

In a particular masterstroke, Sloan then decided to stylize the group’s initials - N.W.O. - using a format that would become as famous as the group itself: nWo.

“I don’t remember the reason for that,” she shrugs, in reference to her creative decision, “other than I thought it looked cool! 

“In my head, when they were telling me what they wanted, I was thinking, ‘Okay, ‘80s…‘90s…’, I was thinking of going out in high school….when I was really attracted to things like new age…punk…things like that. 

“I was thinking of like a Sid and Nancy type of [feeling]. In my mind, that’s how things were translating to me when they were explaining the concept. 

“The reaction I got was like, ‘Cool - thanks. That was great.’

"It wasn’t like, ‘Woah - this is going to be amazing!’ 

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nWo Facts: Did You Know? 

• As the nWo often sauntered to the ring, a menacing, low-pitched voice would utter the group’s initials: 'n…W…o!' The audio clip was, in fact, derived from a recording of Eric Bischoff's voice, heavily transposed down in editing.

• Early versions of the nWo graphics were created using a primitive version of Photoshop, 120MB of hard disk space, and "a stack of floppy disks," according to former WCW editor Kemper Rogers.

• The nWo theme music, labeled as ‘FCD 115, Track 14’ in the Turner Production Music Library (and officially titled ‘Rockhouse’ by Frank Shelley), was in fact an amalgamation of five Jimi Hendrix records: ‘Highway Chile’, ‘Purple Haze’, ‘Hey Joe’, ‘Stone Free’ and ‘The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice’. 
  

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Taken from the Ancient Greek word logotype, the mass proliferation of logos have come to be viewed as essential tools in marketing. Almost without exception, many of the world’s most famous logos - Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Apple and the like - are widely considered as being synonymous with the associated brands themselves. 

In that sense, an appropriate investment in graphic design can clearly pay off, as it has - to enormous effect - in several notable instances. The value of Nike’s inescapable ‘Swoosh’ logo, for example (which in concert with its ‘Just Do It’ tagline, comprises the core of its brand identity) has been estimated at around $15 billion. The design of the ‘Swoosh’, incidentally, is credited as being the brainchild of Carolyn Davidson, then only a student at Portland State University. Famously, Davidson was said to have charged the upstart company - then known as 'Blue Ribbon Sports' - a total of $35 as compensation for the logo, the equivalent of around $274 today. “I don’t love it,” Nike co-founder Phil Knight is reported to have said of the design, “but [maybe] it will grow on me."

(At a company ceremony in 1983, Davidson was subsequently presented with a 'golden swoosh' and 500 shares of Nike stock, which after a number of stock splits, currently exceeds four million dollars in value).

In the world of professional wrestling, there is perhaps no imagery as iconic as the nWo logo. Nonetheless, Sloan reports receiving “nothing” in additional compensation for designing it - a typical arrangement, she highlights, relative to her status as a salaried employee. “I got zero,” she says, matter-of-factly. I think I have a T-shirt in the back of my closet…but it was just normal salary compensation [via] Disney-MGM. 

“Obviously, if I had done this as a freelancer, it would have been a totally different thing…but [WCW] paid MGM an hourly fee…and I didn’t get a piece of that at all. 

“It would have been nice though!”

The story continues in Beyond Nitro - pre-order now!

(Note: The preceding constitutes the first-ever published comments from the designer of the nWo logo. We ask that the appropriate credit be given in any dissemination of this information - 'Beyond Nitro: Untold Stories from the WCW era by Guy Evans').