Watching nWo era WCW PPVs on the Network, I think I found a match with the most questions answered with "Because WCW" -- the triangle elimination match from Uncensored 1997.
You have:
Team WCW (Luger, Giant, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner); if they win, the nWo forfeits all championships held and can't compete for 3 years
Team NWO (Hogan, Savage, Nash, Hall); if they win they can challenge for any WCW title any place, any time (and nWo was smart enough not to put a time limit on this like WCW)
Team Piper (Piper, Benoit, Jarrett, McMichael); if they win Piper gets Hogan in a cage match
A sampling of questions to begin, and invariably, end with "Because WCW"…
- Rick Steiner was "attacked" by the nWo before the match, and couldn't compete; so does WCW, at a WCW event, get another WCW roster member to replace him? Nope. Why?
- Piper's Team and WCW's Team have a common enemy, but continue to fight one another as the nWo picks them apart. Babyfaces are morons. Why?
- Piper's original team, btw, consisted of Earthquake, a kick boxer, a regular boxer, and almost had an unknown Bill Goldberg. Instead, the Horsemen decide to help him instead of helping the company they work for eliminate it's worst threat. Why?
- Scott Hall breaks up a pin of the Giant on Benoit early in the match… Why?
- Piper gets a steel cage match with Hogan at Halloween Havoc that year anyway. Why?
- Dennis Rodman is with the nWo, and allowed to freely interfere in the match to help the nWo win; meanwhile, WCW is DOWN A MAN and doesn't have anyone come out to help them… Why?
- Lex Luger is down 4-1 to the nWo, then picks off the baddest dudes in wrestling in 30 seconds flat before being befuddled by a basketball player with a spray paint can. Why?
It goes on like that… What was the idea behind this match? Is there any answer beyond the obvious?
-Steve
Oh man, if we start analyzing WCW we will literally be here all week. Although Goldberg wasn't on Team Piper, that was Horshu. That whole main event was like the most WCW that ever WCW'd.
I remember being hyped as fuck for that match. Some concepts are so over the top, they work.
ReplyDeleteI really wish that Piper went into the match with his crew of losers.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, I watched the last Clash yesterday, and as the entire NWO stood there for what seemed like minutes on end just staring at a bird, with zero crowd reaction whatsoever, the screen goes black and apparently that was the awkward way they chose to close the show, and all I could think was "Because WCW".
ReplyDeleteAnd it made lex look better than he has done in years.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that the idea was that the nWo would win the match and seem unstoppable (being able to challenge for any belt, any time, anywhere). Until STING came down from the rafters after the match to show that there was one man left who would stand up to their bullshit and dismantle them.
ReplyDeleteThis match actually makes a lot of sense compared to, say, the Doomsday Cage from Uncensored '96.
ReplyDeleteIt would be awesome if "Because WCW" became a big internet meme for fucking up one's own success for stupid reasons. It won't though, as WCW is no longer remembered..... Because WCW.
ReplyDeleteThe match might have held a little more drama if the punishment the nWo would have received if WCW won wasn't so fucking ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteUncensored buyrate: .89 13 buyrate: .77 lololololololol
ReplyDeleteI remember when Eric Bischoff regained power in WCW he said on Meltzer's show that he didn't think WCW ever getting it's big win over the NWO, or "anything stupid like that," was that big of a deal. I mean, how could he not think that?
ReplyDeleteIf everyone here was taking a class in Storytelling 101, by the end of the first day, the instructor would mention something like, "The good guy(s) over come obstacles and tribulations to eventually emerge victorious over the bad guy(s)."
This is only 8 months into the nwo so i wont give them too much grief on the stips, The New World Order should have and did win the match, so that alone raises it out of the usual Because WCW muck.
ReplyDeleteDDP would have been the perfect Team WCW replacement as he headed into his career changing feud with the Macho Man. I do recall Team Piper's original team though and yeah it was awful but again at least WCW recognized it and made the switch before the PPV.
Bischoff didn't take that class. He took "Keeping Hogan Happy 101".
ReplyDeleteWhich he passed with flying colors, evidently.
ReplyDeletenWo wasn't supposed to be a traditional storyline where the good guys win and everyone moves on to something else. It was meant to spin off as it's own brand.
ReplyDeleteat least sting made his allegiance known after the match
ReplyDeleteAmazing how Shawn Michaels walked out over fear of doing a J-O-B during such a critical time for the company. I wonder how close Vince was to just saying fuck it you're fired, go have fun in WCW.
ReplyDeleteI still say if in early 98, Mike Tyson got busted for a DUI and Stone Cold suffered a stinger at a house show match or something that the WWF would have gone outta business by the end of the year.
I sent the question in, thanks for answering Scott; it was just amazing to watch it now as the questions piled up. I watched TV then but not the PPV, so I just read the results; watching the match fold out was mind boggling. No problem with the nWo winning, but the tiniest bit of logic would have helped it tremendously.
ReplyDeleteThis match was one of those major red flags that what WCW was doing wasn't sustainable. Then the WWF had the gall to start getting really good, really fast. Only a couple of months after this the writing was on the wall. It's remarkable that it took so long for Vince and company to recapture the numbers advantage.
ReplyDeletedinner and movie guys turned nWo
ReplyDeleteDDP's music hitting for the 4th man spot could have saved the whole thing (and foreshadowed DDP-Malone VS Hogan-Rodman a year early).
ReplyDeleteWhen Hulk Hogan turned babyface in 1999 i was convinced he was going to be the one to end the nwo once and for all.
ReplyDeleteBecause Hogan!
The writing wasn't on the wall a couple months after this. Unless you consider December to be a couple months later than March.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Vince thought he was legit retired at the time.
ReplyDeleteI would have accepted that. At least it would have been... an ending!
ReplyDeleteThat original Piper team made no sense at all and that segment on Nitro where he had tryouts or whatever was just ridiculously dumb, even by WCW standards.
ReplyDeleteYawn, WCW bashing. If we're questioning stupid angles...
ReplyDelete1. What happened to Big Show's "iron clad" contract?
2. Why did Mike Tyson have his first pro wrestling match on a freakin' Raw?
3. Why didn't Cena get any comeuppance for kissing his crippled friend's (Zack Ryder) girlfriend?
4. My God, the Kane-Bryan horror movie shit
5. Katie Vick
6. Cena's speech after beating Lesnar about taking some time off.. then doesn't.
This was all just off the top of my head. WWE's been doing stupid shit for a long time, too.
The first time I, personally, ever considered that WCW could eventually go out of business some day, was during the run-up to this show, when Piper held his stupid, stupid "try-outs".
ReplyDeleteIt was just so clear at that point that "nobody's driving this car".
The nWo was still hot. As long as you have a hot angle/wrestler on top, it can cover up for a lot of deficincies.
ReplyDeleteThe problem was that once the nWo stopped being a hot angle/stable, WCW had nothing left except Goldberg and for as awesome as the streak was, the fact that Goldberg couldn't talk (in an era with some of the greatest talkers ever and a time which saw interviews get stretched out to 10, 15 and sometimes 20 minutes) and never had any great feuds, WCW was done.
BECAUSE WCW
ReplyDeleteYou must have felt like an idiot because still kept running strong for 2 years after that.
ReplyDeleteReally? WCW was killing the WWF in the ratings and despite how awful and stupid the angle was, you thought WCW could go out of business?
ReplyDeleteHey! He did beat Kevin Nash in a retirement match at Roadwild!
ReplyDeleteThat made my head hurt.
ReplyDeleteIt was just more like "they can't keep shit up like this forever" kind of thought.
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking that pretty much every year from 91-96.
ReplyDeleteCouple of things: first, pipers original team was his idea. After the segment bombed tremendously, they decided that Piper was insane and replaced them with the horsemen. Second, why wouldn't hall break up the pin of giant on Benoit? If giant gets the pin, the nwo forfeits their titles and can't compete for three years. Plus, hall probably wants the nwo to actually, you know, win the match.
ReplyDeleteSome of the other things are pretty hard to defend but those two aren't.
Umm...nobody is denying that the WWF has a pretty large share of fuck ups. But we're talking about WCW here...who managed to discover how to fuck up spectacularly in new and comical ways.
ReplyDeleteWWF should have asked Bischoff before they made their brand extension...
ReplyDeleteSo you were wrong 95% of the time?
ReplyDeleteYes, I wasn't trying to bash WCW, just knowing what we know about how it ended, it was interesting to find all these flaws in one particular match.
ReplyDeleteI was a kid, how the fuck was I supposed to know how deep Ted Turner's pockets were?
ReplyDeleteNobody is denying the WWE fucks up, only difference is that their fuck ups never killed the company.
ReplyDeleteWhat Tyson match are you talking about? His angle with DX when he was gonna wrestle Shawn? That was the greatest thing ever.
ReplyDeleteWe had a dude on here last night screaming at us for being delusional for saying that WWE does anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn 1997??? 1998 was a legit back injury (4+ Years on the shelf was pushing it though)
ReplyDeleteBut early '97 HBK was just a piece of shit who left when things didn't go his way.
Think the whole thing was just an excuse for the end bit of Sting swinging down to destroy the NWO and push the showdown with Hogan, the rest didn't really matter much in the scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteAlso number 1: Because it adds drama. And because if WCW ever did get their shit together, nWo wouldn't stand a chance.
ReplyDeleteNah, WCW could still have been salvaged as late as Fall '99 when Eric Bischoff got the boot.
ReplyDeleteThen they went and hired Russo and it was all over but the crying.
Shawn had a legit knee injury in 97.
ReplyDeleteHe teamed up with someone during a tag match against someone else during the RAW guest host era.
ReplyDeleteThis was an elimination match, with pinfalls,submissions and Battle Royale rules.
ReplyDeleteSo Scott's breakup of a pin doesn't make any sense.
The most stupid thing is, that there was never a proper nWo vs WCW Wargames match.
ReplyDelete96 was with the stupid nWo Sting story
97 was the B-nWo with only Nash as a main eventer
98 was WCW vs the red/black and the red/white
IMO the final WCW vs nWo Match should have been something like
FaWar Games 98
Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & Syxx
vs
Sting, Luger, Flair & Giant
with Sting pinning Hogan for the end of the nWo...
Sure he did.
ReplyDelete96 was proper WCW vs nWo.
ReplyDelete"Second, why wouldn't hall break up the pin of giant on Benoit? If giant
ReplyDeletegets the pin, the nwo forfeits their titles and can't compete for three
years. Plus, hall probably wants the nwo to actually, you know, win the
match."
It was an elimination match. Benoit getting pinned would have put the Horsemen a man down and made life easier for the nWo at that point.
I still miss WCW.
ReplyDeleteOh right. Well you could argue that the more people there are in the match, the more likely it is that they could gang up on the giant who you would consider the biggest threat.
ReplyDeleteSo he had knee surgery for shits and giggles?
ReplyDeleteAddressed that down the page.
ReplyDeleteI remember being excited for Piper picking his team-- thinking they were going to use it to debut a new star/nWo threat. They didn't. Why?…
ReplyDeleteOK, you could argue "Because Piper" on this one...
At the very least, you could say that those 3 guys were recruited by Piper, so they are 100% loyal to him, no matter what, so they will fight for him and "Team Piper". But the f'n horsemen battling for "Piper vs Hogan in a cage" instead of "NWO disbanded for 3 years"? That was just beyond idiotic.
ReplyDeleteDid he actually have the knee surgery? A lot of the wrestlers believed he was full of shit and he was jumping around in the ring quite a bit a few weeks after surrendering the title when coming out for commentary.
ReplyDeleteI just saw as soon as I hit "post." Damn late updates.
ReplyDeleteGiant didn't even get tossed over the top rope, he eliminated himself when he missed a splash! No confirmation he slipped on a banana peel before doing so.
ReplyDeleteThe full of shit part was because he could have still dropped the title in a match, not the actually injury. Dr. James Andrews did the surgery.
ReplyDeleteI don't buy it. Hey Shawn, you're going to drop the strap to Bret at Mania 13, how's that sound?
ReplyDeleteAny wrestler ever could go and get his knee scoped,HBK picked his spot, consequences be damned.
What was Ric Flair doing at the time?
ReplyDeleteWas the banana peel left there by Jim Cornette?
ReplyDeleteThat Uncensored match was only rivaled by the two "World War 3" events, especially the 1996 one where the NWO was outnumbered 56-4, yet ended up with a 4-1 advantage at the end of the match.
ReplyDeleteNot the 99-2001 version, but the 92 to 98 one...
ReplyDeleteThey said in commentary both he and Arn Anderson were injured (this was pre-retirement speech and mocking, I believe), but both "Would be at Nitro!"
ReplyDeleteProbably drinking or wooing a new ex-wife.
ReplyDeleteWooing or "WHOOOOOOOOOOO-ing"?
ReplyDeleteThat 2009-2010 year was so frighteningly forgettable, and I was actually following the product at the time. I find out new shit everyday about how JTG and Shad had a strap match on PPV or Eric fucking Escobar and my mind almost explodes because I don't remember ANY of that.
ReplyDeleteNo one is arguing that he didn't want to drop the title to Hart, but he was injured, he did have surgery, he was out for months.
ReplyDeleteProbably both.
ReplyDeleteCiclope,Joe Gomez & Villano IV really dropped the ball there. Way to let WCW down guys!
ReplyDeleteThat back injury always makes me wonder. He was off for such a long time because his back was so devastatingly damaged...but then he returned and went back to doing moonsaults off the top rope to the outside through announce tables.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he wasn't the same high-flyer he was before but he was still doing some risky spots and taking Batista Bombs.
Outnumbered 16-4.
ReplyDeleteThey had a 33 1/3rd chance to win that match!
ReplyDeleteWell you can never trust La Famillia. (I miss Hyatte)
ReplyDeleteThe success of one leads to the completion of the other.
ReplyDeleteThe minute they decided to scrap the second brand, though, plans should have been put in place to end the nWo. It went on way too long (and I even think dragging it out to Starrcade 1997 was too much).
ReplyDeleteThere were missed cues and technical gaffes all over that segment, yeah. Still, Nash threatening to hit the buzzard with his title belt always makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteI mean hindsight being 20/20, sending in 2 Villano's to get the job done was laughably underwhelming. Should have sent minimum 20 Villanos.
ReplyDeleteI agree. You can never have too many Villanos.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since no one knew which side Sting would be on leading up to that match.
ReplyDeleteHere's a WCW thing that bugs me when I'm reading all these Clash recaps: SUPER INVADER.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I get not calling him Hercules Hernandez. But Super Invader? That's the BEST name you can come up with? Seriously?!
3 months, i'm not saying the surgery didn't happen but he could have toughed it out till Mania.
ReplyDeleteHe chose not to. Unlike the following year.
And Tony shouted throughout the entire clusterfuck that we were watching the greatest match in the history of wrestling....Why?
ReplyDeleteSuper Invader is an awesome name.
ReplyDeleteIt was his job.
ReplyDeleteRealistically, though, you could question almost EVERY wrestling match. Yeah, I know some things go beyond the scope of reality, but most people can question the physics-busting theory of the Irish whip, for example.
ReplyDeleteAgain, not saying WCW didn't screw up, but wrestling always has its share of stuff that just doesn't make sense.
Still better than the current commentary team on Raw.
ReplyDeleteIt's better than Major Gunns.
ReplyDeleteAlthough SOMEONE needs to be named Scrappy McTavish.
The rest of the years main events were basically nwo members dressing up as Sting to attack the babyfaces to end the show.
ReplyDeleteIt's hilarious to read the old recaps.
A lot easier to fake your way through it with a back injury instead of a knee injury.
ReplyDeleteOK you fail.
ReplyDeleteAlmost everything you mentioned was done 6-8 years *after* WCW's dumb decisions killed their own company.
ReplyDeleteThe "multiple Stings" ending to Nitro is one of the best they've ever done.
ReplyDeleteSo... it wasn't his job? He was merely a passionate amateur? What are you trying to say?
ReplyDelete"As long as you have a hot angle/wrestler on top, it can cover up for a lot of deficincies."
ReplyDeleteThe entire Attitude Era summed up in one sentence, bravo.
Sir, the fans are asking logical questions again..........
ReplyDeleteRelease the Big Bad Booty Daddy.
Major Gunns was the perfect name for a chick like that. Hey whatever happened to Big Poppa Pump's valet Midajah?
ReplyDeleteHey, it was more fun than Al Wilson's wedding!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I thought Miss Jones was underappreciated.
ReplyDeleteSUPER FUCKING INVADER.
ReplyDeleteHere's one that never makes sense: top rope finishers. Take the Macho Man, if you just hit a move that knocks the opponent down for long enough that you can fuck around for a bit, go up top, pose for the crowd, and hit the move (which takes a lot longer than 3 seconds), why not just pin him. See also: The People's Elbow.
ReplyDeleteJust one more WCW bash.
ReplyDeleteWho drove the hummer?
Whenever I hear that name I ALWAYS think of Buff Bagwell's "Big Bad Doodoo Daddy Big Poppa Dump" retort. Don't ask.
ReplyDeleteThat he overhyped the hell out of that clusterfuck match BECAUSE WCW. Because every time they had a big match, it was the "biggest in the history of our sport," and it devalued of those words to the point of hilarity.
ReplyDeleteI would've marked how hard if during Rock's 2003 run he destroyed a jobber, set up for the Elbow, and just pinned the guy instead of hitting it.
ReplyDeleteI always thought it'd be great if the guy rolled Rock up for the pin while he's doing his stupid dance.
ReplyDeleteStupid nwo sting story? Are you mental?
ReplyDeleteThere's a list for you-- all the matches hyped by Tony as the greatest in the history of our sport.
ReplyDeleteThis is always my point when people scream about the 619 being business exposing, at the VERY least the 619 doesn't involve the victim of the move staring the guy right in the freakin' face for 45 seconds while he prepares to do it.
ReplyDeleteAnd who are the red/white?
ReplyDeleteI think Savage should replace Giant...unless he was nWo at that point. I can't remember.
ReplyDeleteI have no recollection of this person.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a dance. He's honouring his Samoan heritage, you racist!
ReplyDeleteHe like literally did it on every Nitro, so that would take a few days to complete.
ReplyDeleteThe Cat's valet. Dressed very classy. Could also throw down a bit on the mic.
ReplyDeleteBecause WCW = Britta'd
ReplyDeleteHow about the fact that Hulk Hogan must have the heaviest leg in the world?
ReplyDeleteI think it 25%, brah,
ReplyDeleteYou'd think by now that people would know that when Rey hits the tiger pass kick to just go down, or at the very least haul ass to the other side of the ring.
ReplyDeleteRacist or not, the original point still stands.
ReplyDelete20% in that one ring, 6.7% overall.
ReplyDeleteWe could be here all night.
ReplyDelete- Macho Elbow
- People's Elbow
- The WORM
- Froggy splash
- Dusty Rhodes' elbow
(Really, ALL prone elbow finishers)
Joking aside, didn't Angle (or maybe Shamrock) once grab Rock during his theatrics and put them in the ankle-lock?
ReplyDeleteCrushing a dude's throat with your leg seems pretty effective to me.
ReplyDeleteI believe Cena put him in the STFU as he was setting it up.
ReplyDeleteYeah WWE fucks up a lot, but when they do something right, all the fuck-ups seem worth it whereas WCW is like that cheating spouse that keeps breaking your heart.
ReplyDelete...........................................................................................?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure nothing was more business-exposing than the Hulk-Up Routine after a heel hits his finisher and Hulk kicks out.
ReplyDeleteI'll see your "Hulk Up" and raise you a "Reviving Elbow".
ReplyDeleteBagwell and Steiner had a short program in late WCW, most famous for Steiner allegedly taking Bagwell's shots at him too seriously, and STIFFING THE FUCK out of Bagwell at the PPV blowoff.
ReplyDeleteNot that I can argue with Steiner's choice of targets...
Lance Storm's Team Canada?
ReplyDeleteHe perfected the move. He executes it better than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteHaving been passed over and being told to say that by the guy that passed you over, it's no wonder he didn't care.
ReplyDelete80s/early 90s Tony was awesome.
That had to be an Angle spot.
ReplyDeleteBrock MURDERED him with a clothesline from it, then F5'd him for the title. Awesome moment.
ReplyDeleteHe probably could have made an in-ring return in 1999 but he was so fucked up and clearly had also lost his "smile" legit this time.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't count the worm. I mean, I would, but I wouldn't call it a finisher, just a signature spot. Everyone kicked out of it.
ReplyDeleteThe real frightening thing about WCW was that even if Bischoff could see into the future and knew exactly what killed the company, he'd still make the same retarded decisions all over again.
ReplyDeleteBut that was years after the Hulk-Up Routine first showed up.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, when was Hulk's first Hulk-Up routine? The kick-out, finger wag, three punches, big boot, leg-drop, etc...
"Stiff", "Steiner", and "Bagwell" should not be used in the same sentence.
ReplyDeleteBecause those decisions didn't kill the company.
ReplyDeleteWhen it involves Bagwell's jewels being abused painfully, and no one else seeing anything graphic, I'll allow it.
ReplyDeleteI always really appreciated Rob's way of scrambling to the top to set up the five star. At least he made it seem like "Oh shit, if I want to do this I have to do it fast because he be down for long!"
ReplyDeleteA lot of Rob's offense was silly obviously but that small spot was great.
Oh god, tell me you're not one of those Jamie Kellner killed WCW and nothing/nobody else types.
ReplyDeleteJericho put him in the Walls during that, which was absolutely an awesome moment.
ReplyDeleteYou could argue the AOL merger was the straw that broke the camel's back, but if WCW was still a profitable company, no way they'd kill WCW.
ReplyDeleteOn their own? Absolutely not. But did they contribute? Absolutely.
ReplyDeleteMe neither. All I can say with confidence is that Orton or Cena were probably world champs at the time.
ReplyDeleteI did like his brief WWE run. He made me really excited for Summerslam 89, which featured Zeus in the main event.
ReplyDeleteOnce Ted was gone, there was literally nothing they could do. They didn't want wrestling on the network period.
ReplyDeleteNot sure. I WANT to say a title defense against Nikolai Koloff on SNME, but I'm guessing.
ReplyDeleteReally though, him breaking out of the Camel Clutch was the beginning (at least in the WWF).
Did Eric contribute to WCW bring less popular? Yes. Did he contribute to killing the company? No way.
ReplyDeleteAs TNA is now showing us, you can absolutely suck so badly that you create a low-pressure system everywhere you go, causing people to get hit by hail, but if you don't have a TV contract, you're toast.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what happened.
ReplyDeleteTurner execs added Thunder to Bischoff's "to-do" list. Bischoff wasn't thrilled by it, so he came up with an idea.
ReplyDeleteLet's have a battle for the Monday Nitro program at Starrcade and give the fans a preview of it the Monday prior to the event.
Well, as most people know, nWo Nitro BOMBED BIG TIME against RAW as it took 30 minutes to change the set in Macon that evening as the program was ON THE AIR!
After that disaster there was no way the nWo would have one program and WCW would have the other.
AWA had a TV deal and didn't survive.
ReplyDeleteKellner had nothing to do with WCW losing $60 million in one year.
ReplyDeletethey got the best heel heat of the night, but then again it proves nash's point he made on a legends of wrestling panel, the dinner and the movie guys needed to turn nwo?
ReplyDeleteExactly. When Spike decides to get rid of Impact, it won't be because of the 37th authority angle they run.
ReplyDeleteTeam Challenge Series killed the AWA!
ReplyDeleteYes, but other factors were in play. Because Verne.
ReplyDeleteThat shit was dead before that.
ReplyDeleteVince just lost 340 mil in one day.
ReplyDeleteAWA also lost their entire roster to Vince and the NWA. ROH will suffer the same fate eventually.
ReplyDeleteI know, but I wanted to take part in the ridiculous statement contest we were all having!
ReplyDeleteSalmon-colored walls. WE NEED THAT
ReplyDeleteI'd take 99-2001 WCW over 2005-present WWE any damn day of the week.
ReplyDeleteA profitable WCW could have gotten a "Godfather" deal from someone NOT named Vince, and moved to another channel.
ReplyDeleteAnd probably gotten Kellner fired when said channel started thumping TNT and TBS on a weekly basis.
I've really enjoyed WWE since the SummerSlam.
ReplyDeleteSo if WCW was a success and was making money you know like the WWE has been the past 10 years they'd still be dead?
ReplyDeleteWorst case scenario,Nitro/Thunder cancelled. They keep their weekend shows and are allowed to shop their former 2 shows to other networks.
WCW Monday Nitro on USA?
Well we are. I just wish I knew how to stop worrying and love the WWE.
ReplyDeleteVince couldn't even get WCW on the air after he bought them.
ReplyDeleteRight now it's Vince McMahon's fuckup that could potential kill his company.
ReplyDeleteAs a one-time thing, and an easy pop for DDP Cutting them... that wasn't a bad idea by any stretch. It's not like they ever showed their faces in WCW again after the bad night...
ReplyDeleteNot really. Unless he was planning to sell all his shares and retire last monday and then blammo! Kick to the guts on a wednesday and he had to keep those shares for another day.
ReplyDeleteThat's because XFL.
ReplyDeleteBut in an alternative universe where WCW was a successful company, anyone that didn't give WCW a deal would've been retarded.
Not even close to the same thing, and Vince is still well in the black, WCW was never really profitable.
ReplyDeleteVince couldn't get a "damaged, incomplete" WCW on the air. I'm talking an intact WCW that hadn't been so busy scorching the earth behind it on a weekly/monthly basis.
ReplyDeleteThose of us sitting in the Omni that night gave the biggest WTF reaction to that segment imaginable.
ReplyDeleteAmazing to think the almost exact same scenario occured a few years later except this time it was Nitro taking over Raw in Tacoma.
ReplyDeleteIt bombed just as badly and threw all their WCW plans up in the air.
Yes, they were already doing things like cutting their budget when they were hot.
ReplyDeletethey did not want wrestling on their networks. This is a fact, this is why the Eric/Fusient deal fell through, and this is why Vince was able to buy them for a dollar.
No doubt, the segment got the best reaction from the live crowd during the night, but in reality it was two scrawny geeky dudes aligning themselves with the top heel act and ripping on WCW, DDP got his heat back immediately, but just the type of cross promotion that WCW always took a step too far.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Eric's decisions made the company less popular, but they still had people coming to the matches, still had advertising, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's cray-cray b/c TNA is laughably averaging 75 fans (roughly) for house shows and they still keep going. WCW still had an audience, but once they lost Turner's backing, hasta la vista.
TNA would KILL for WCW's #s in 2001.
I wouldn't consider a WCW backed by Vince damaged or incomplete. The fact is that networks don't like wrestling. We just saw this with the recent WWE deal.
ReplyDeleteActually, no, they couldn't, Vince won the rights to be the first one to buy WCW in the Hall/Nash lawsuit. So Eric did kind of of kill the company, though how the hell could he have known that one angle would have caused so much damage? Blame WCW's lawyers, really.
ReplyDeleteThey're making 150 million a year off their new tv deal. Less than they hoped for? Yes! Investors angry? Yes!
ReplyDeleteBut you don't give out that kind of dough if you don't want that product on your air.
That, by the way, was ridiculously good foresight on VKM's part.
ReplyDeleteIt's because USA likes their product, god help them if they ever decide to dump them like AOL/Time Warner did.
ReplyDeleteStock market money isn't even close to the kind WCW lost.
ReplyDeleteAt least they didn't make the Dinner & a Movie guys the tag team champions.
ReplyDeleteAnd TERRIBLE work by WCW's legal team. Of course, didn't they get soundly thrashed in every lawsuit they were ever involved in?
ReplyDeleteThe segment where he was trying them out on Nitro is one of the most boring things ever.
ReplyDeleteThe end to the very last Clash ever
ReplyDelete