re: June 4th Dark Side of the Ring -Who Killed WCW?

There's so much revisionist history with the cruiserweight division. That's not why the eat Raw 83 weeks in a row.

What doesn't get talked about is WWF spoiled the Fingerpoke happening (Raw was taped but Cole and Lawler were doing live commentary as it aired). Bischoff had a monitor on a Raw in the back and was furious so that's why he told Schiavone say the thing about Foley and "butts in the seats."

quote:

---

There's so much revisionist history with the cruiserweight division. That's not why the eat Raw 83 weeks in a row.

---

No but it really filled out the shows. Those matches and storylines were sooo much better than like Glacier vs Mortis or the other goofy mid card stuff WCW did in this era.

WCW Monday Nitro around 1997-1999 was best

Page was their biggest working class hero. They should have rode him til the end. He was the modern Dusty.

Sprinkle in spats with Goldberg, Flair, Sting and the Outsiders and they could have lasted a few more years.

WCW's biggest problem is they did not any young developed talent that could sustain and did not have any great heels after Hogan's steam wore off.

Regardless the whole thing went to shite after the cattle prod and I never watched regularly again. By 2000, we were onto other things.

quote:

---

WCW's biggest problem is they did not any young developed talent

---

Rey, Eddie, Jericho, Booker T

DDP beats Goldberg and then use him, Flair, and Bret to get those guys over. Isolate the guys that didn’t want to assist in that effort (Hogan/outsiders/piper) by having them feud with each other over control of the nWo, which didn’t need a belt to go with it.

Use Sting as your undertaker, you’ve got him plus Goldberg plus big poppa pump that all could have been at the top of the card into the early to mid 2000’s.

Giver Jericho the US title for a year with a mandate to make it mean something again.

Hell, DDP and Raven had a good enough feud that could have carried a second tier PPV like Slamboree if it were for the belt. Bret vs Jericho could have headlined Starcade 2000, maybe even 99 if done right.

Hogan would have seen the writing on the wall and politicked to stay involved, there’s still a few dream matches you could get out of him.

There was plenty enough young talent on the WCW roster to keep them going, it wouldn’t have been as good as 97-98 WCW but it would have been way way way better than TNA was in the 00’s.

quote:

---

Outside the finish it’s still a huge missed opportunity because being the first person to beat Goldberg should have been saved to really elevate someone. Nash did not need that rub.

It should have been DDP at Halloween Havoc imo.

---

Agreed. Problem was, all the big names wanted to get the rub of being the first guy to hand him a loss. Originally Hogan was supposed to defeat him the night Goldberg won the title. Only a lot of convincing and reflection made Hogan change his mind to put Goldberg over.

The fingerpoke was the start of a good angle. NWO split and coming back together as a strong heel faction WITHOUT all the jobber members, and this time with stronger WCW guys to take them on.

They were on a perfectly good track with Goldberg first getting his revenge on Hall at Souled Out.

By the next month, The Outsiders were feuding with Rey Mysterio, Hogan back with Flair and Goldberg was sidetracked with Bam Bam, never to get back on the right track again.

That is why the fingerpoke is remembered so poorly. The act itself was a heat magnet. Follow up was Bischoff shitting himself creatively.

By May you already had Nash as a babyface win the title AGAIN.

Lex Luger was by far the most underrated wrestler in WCW.

Glacier could have been awesome, but they mismanaged the whole thing. Those "Blood Runs Cold" vignettes ran for over a year before they finally debuted and by that time nobody cared anymore.