Guest JMA Report post Posted March 14, 2003 Which moment in WCW history did the company first start to go downhill? By "downhill" I don't mean ratings either. I mean what started it on the path that would lead to its demise. I would have to say it was when Hogan joined the company. When he joined all his friends and old wrestlers joined up. This forced many of WCW's established stars to leave. When do you think the company starting going downhill? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest treble charged Report post Posted March 14, 2003 One word: Fingerpoke. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest WrestlingDeacon Report post Posted March 14, 2003 Who left when Hogan came in? Luger, Sting, Flair, Arn, Vader they all stayed they just got buried. The downfall came when they deluded the nWo into a watered down stable of dozens and let their biggest draw ever become a joke. This was also the period where the main eventers, because of Hall and Nash's influence, kind of started going downhill. Sure, none of them really put on great matches any more, but they just stopped caring. The real downfall of WCW and wrestling in general was the big money guarenteed contract. It took away all incentive to work and push yourself and cemented these lazy piles of flesh on top, because you had to justify the contract. Even atheletes in other sports who have guarenteed contracts also have certain clauses and incentives built into enchance and maintain performance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest razazteca Report post Posted March 14, 2003 The downfall came when they deluded the nWo into a watered down stable of dozens and let their biggest draw ever become a joke. Have to agree with this, as the nWo just had too many splinter groups the B Team, wolf pack, the rehash platinum group.........you know it bad when they let Disco Inferino into storylines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest geniusMoment Report post Posted March 14, 2003 Without question the very begining was Hogan-Sting at Starrcade 97. It was the peak, it drew the biggest buyrate in WCW history but it was a dissapointment. Fans began turning to WWF, with Austin, DX,Tyson and Vince. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cawthon777 0 Report post Posted March 14, 2003 It was fine until the day after Spring Stampede 98. Sting chases Hogan for a year ... finally wins the world title ... loses it to Savage due to the friction within the nWo ... the next freaking day, Hogan wins it back AND Bret Hart turns heel for no reason. Yes, the WWF had retaken the ratings war right after WrestleMania XIV but that moment right there is when WCW clearly dropped the ball and the blunders just continued from there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0 Report post Posted March 14, 2003 Starcade 97. Period. nWo should've ended that day. Next most important: Goldberg losing to Nash. The one marketable thing about WCW is killed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Your Olympic Hero Report post Posted March 14, 2003 Hulk Hogan defeating Ric Flair for the World title at BatB '94. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest bob_barron Report post Posted March 14, 2003 How did that send the company downhill? The event drew well and Hogan was a draw at first for WCW Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kahran Ramsus Report post Posted March 15, 2003 What did it for me was the fingerpoke of doom, so I will go with that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest tank_abbott Report post Posted March 15, 2003 Had Russo's plans in late 99 early 2000 not been ruined by injuries (Bret Hart/concussion Jarrett/concusssion,Nash/ Knee?, Rey/Knee, Goldburg/Stupidity, Hall/Enternally drunk) Russo would've been kept on as head booker perhaps, instead of Sullivan taking over, which lead to the midcard defecting(The Radicals) and a mere 3 months later when Russo was brought back all the new faces he was trying to push (other than Jarrett), had been buried in favor of a Sting vs Luger/ Hogan vs Sid/ The Wall in the upper card.... Russo was peeved that WCW had demoted him, so he went about making sure the company bombed... (Hello Mr. Arquette) Its my firm belief that WCW would still be alive today had Russo not been demoted and Bret not been injured, because Russo had the right idea the 1st time around (ignore Luger/Flair/Hogan...push Bret/Beniot/Sting/Jarrett) *Puts on Fire proof vest...prepares for flames* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest JMA Report post Posted March 15, 2003 All good theories. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mecha Mummy 0 Report post Posted March 15, 2003 If Russo was intending to kill WCW with shit like Arquette as champ... Vincent Russo, you ARE a super genius. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HurriShane 0 Report post Posted March 15, 2003 For me it was at Road Wild 98, where Jay Leno was in the main event. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wwF1587 Report post Posted March 16, 2003 i didnt watch much wcw back then (now i wish I had) but by the sound of it.. looks like the finger poke of doom was the beginning of the end... the only moment i saw that made me truly believe that the company was going to hell was David Arquette winning the WCW title... but i will say the finger poke of doom or the rehashing after rehashing of the NwO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest JMA Report post Posted March 16, 2003 If Russo was intending to kill WCW with shit like Arquette as champ... Vincent Russo, you ARE a super genius. Stranger things have happened in the world of wrestling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaYourCar 0 Report post Posted March 16, 2003 How did that send the company downhill? The event drew well and Hogan was a draw at first for WCW Personally I liked the stuff WCW was putting out in early '94 before Hogan got there better than the stuff after he got there. They were on a roll up to when Hogan arrived. Then Hogan got there and wins the WCW title in his first match. Flair had just had great matches with Vader, Steamboat, and Sting then loses to Hogan in Hogan's first match in WCW. Yeah it drew in some fans, but once '95 rolled around and all the stupid stuff like The Yetti and Dungeon of Doom came it just got really really bad. Of course come '96 things got really better. I really miss the glory days of the WCW/nWo storyline. That was some good TV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest KingOfOldSchool Report post Posted March 16, 2003 Another downfall moment - Giving away Hogan/Goldberg on free tv. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest treble charged Report post Posted March 16, 2003 I think also not having a PPV at the Georgia Dome also hurt them, since they drew a lot of people there for the Nitros they had there (as did the WWF), you'd have thought they would have put on a Starrcade there, or something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Karnage Report post Posted March 17, 2003 They could of done huge things with Bret Hart but then totally misused him making him turn heel for no reason and have him wrestling guys like Fit Finlay and Stevie Ray on Nitro. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Caliban Report post Posted March 17, 2003 Not having a decent payoff to the whole Hogan/Sting thing at Starrcade, and deciding to go with nWo vs Wolfpack instead of moving in a new direction was the sign of things to come. But the damage really began to happen when they made Nash booker. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest converge241 Report post Posted March 17, 2003 Starcade 97 easily too many heel wins NWO story should have ended at this show (with the break up the next night) Sting should have dominated (with Hogan cheating to try and survive ) the whole idea of NWO taking over should have died at that PPV with Sting winning the belt (and personally I wouldnt have had Luger get that quickie title run before road wild ) Hogan could have stayed a hell and even had a group of flunkies but the NWO idea should have been dead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest tank_abbott Report post Posted March 17, 2003 (and personally I wouldnt have had Luger get that quickie title run before road wild ) I believe Hogan was asked to job the belt to Lex at the PPV, and scoffed at the thought of it, but went the 6 day switch instead... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest converge241 Report post Posted March 17, 2003 interesting i dont think i would have done the road wild switch either but thats with the idea of buildong to a decisve sting win at Starcade 97 ona sidenot i saw a nitro in Boston with luger-hogan non title and the crowd went ape when Luger won in june/july of 97 before the title change in Chicago Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Czech Republic Report post Posted March 20, 2003 I would've liked Sting to go back to colorful Sting at Starrcade 97 and dissolve the nWo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Respect The 'Taker Report post Posted March 20, 2003 Another downfall moment - Giving away Hogan/Goldberg on free tv. This wasn't really a downfall moment. The show drew huge, but WCW was already on it's way down. The match was booked due to Bischoff being caught off-guard by the WWF's new ratings rise which saw them beating Nitro. Bischoff went into panic mode and threw that in the main event as an attempt to bring the fans back to WCW. Didn't work for long. UYI Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest deadbeater Report post Posted March 20, 2003 Releasing Nora Greenwald. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest snuffbox Report post Posted March 20, 2003 I think Starrcade 97 was the real start. It could have been the biggest event since WM3 but WCW failed so miserabley. Bad matches and heels going over killed the crowd. Then the highly anticipated Hogan-Sting match was one of the biggest disappointments ever, to use Schiavones hyperbole in correct context. Starrcade 98 and the proceeding Fingerpoke of Doom kicked the avalanche into high gear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted March 20, 2003 I actually think that WCW started to go downhill when Sting didn't beat Hogan cleanly the first PPV match that they had. WCW was always shorting the fans as far as big name/big matches go. The Hogan/Sting debacle was finally the straw that broke the horses back as far as most wrestling fans are concerned and a lot of people started to give up on their product. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest goodhelmet Report post Posted March 21, 2003 the trinity of holy suck shows... road wild 98 fall brawl 98 wrestlewar 98 after paying for these three shows, i swore never again for a wcw ppv. i stopped paying attention to the company also and started focusing on wwf, if at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
