Hey man, the Hogan/NWO question on your blog got me thinking about his heel turn. Was it well-known on the Internet that the turn was coming? What did people expect going into Bash At The Beach that year? I was a 12-year-old mark at the time, and I remember expecting the third man to be Bret Hart, but I think it was wishful thinking more than anything.
It was well known that they WANTED to do it, yes, but no one thought that either side would actually go through with it. I think most people thought it would be Sting or Luger or something along those lines.
I remember the Internet being very convinced it would be Luger, based on him just jumping from the WWF a few months prior. And I think WCW knew that, since they had Luger "injured" during the match as something of a red herring.
ReplyDeleteas a young'n i kept thinking bret hart. I was 11 and getting a little smarter to the biz, and with him mia since wm 12 and the outsiders showing up, I swore up and down it was going to be the hitman! glad it wasnt or else we would of missed his great 97 run on raw begore getting aggregiously misused by WCW.
ReplyDeleteLuger was the popular favorite: he had been going back forth between good and evil during this period with the frequency of a ham radio during this period and moreso, no one expected them to have Hogan turn evil. PERIOD.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, you had Randy Savage: IIRC, it was widely reported in the WON that Savage/Hogan had been carved in stone for Halloween Havoc that year and that WCW had signed up Miss Elizabeth to come back that fall. There was the notion that it might have been Savage and the NWO would tie into reigniting the Hogan/Savage feud as far as Hall and Nash becoming Savage's goon squad.
nWo 4 Life
ReplyDeleteBobby Heenan knew.
ReplyDeleteIf it was anybody but Hogan, it would've never been as big.
ReplyDeleteIIRC the iwc consensus was luger with people thinking maybe bret was going to jump. The hogan turn, while long awaited, was pretty fucking shocking to everyone
ReplyDeleteFunny thing I've noticed about replays of this moment: When it was live, Bobby Heenan said, "But which side is he on?!?!" When Hogan came out. Tony Schiavone replies: "Whaat are you talking about?!?!" In a manner almost like he wished Heenan hadn't said that.
ReplyDeleteThese lines have been edited out of present day replays.
According to Eric Bischoff's book. Eric originally pitched the idea to Hogan about turning heel and joining the nWo, but Hogan immediately shot him down, so they decided to go with Sting. Then, about a couple of weeks before the Bash, Hogan saw how over The Outsiders were getting, and called Eric over to his house to tell him that he wanted in. But Eric still wasn't sure that Hogan would actually show up to do it, so Sting was still on standby, and it was literally an hour before the match before Hogan showed up and said he would be the third man.
ReplyDeleteSo, right up until the very end, WCW didn't know who the third man would be either.
Curt Hennig's name was also tossed out, IIRC.
ReplyDeleteI remember being 17 years old, watching this at my parents house with my best friend and my dad. I was PWI smart at the time, not Internet smart, so when Hogan came out my friend and I looked at each other in disbelief. He and I marked out hard, and my dad was almost reduced to tears. It was shocking, especially after the Luger injury angle prepared us for a huge letdown.
ReplyDeleteOn a side to this, the whole "Heenan blew the surprise" is a bunch of crap. For 10 years the Brain was trying to discredit Hogan. If Heenan was suddenly on Hogan's side that would have been a huge giveaway that he was turning.
Geez, Sting would have made no sense storyline-wise, and couldn't possibly have held the interest that long. Can you imagine 18 months of Sting-Hogan build with the roles reversed? Bo-ring. Granted, it would have been a lot better than we got in '99.
ReplyDeleteHeenan knew nothing. He had to ask who's side he was on!
ReplyDeleteThey have? On what release?
ReplyDeleteMy only "smart" exposure was the old Prodigy wrestling BBs, and it was absolutely known that Hogan was in the running. Not confirmed, of course, because that's one of those "believe it when I see it" stories--but I blurted, "HOGAN'S THE THIRD GUY!" the instant I saw him, before Heenan said anything.
ReplyDeleteMy dad was "PWI smart" and only knew the insider stuff that I told him from reading Prodigy. I didn't tell him about the Hogan rumors, but as soon as he saw Hogan he knew it, too.
Rise and Fall of WCW DVD I believe has it muted out. Also anytime that it's replayed on TV present day. I can't recall hearing that call made since the ACTUAL live televising of the event actually.
ReplyDeleteSomeone correct me if I'm wrong.