WCW facts, tidbits, and stuff people forgot

[JoeDirt 0]

You know that scummiest wrestling urban legends thread over at the DVDVR boards? Well this is like that, except not about scum, and about WCW instead. (Yeah, it won't get quite as much attention!)

 

Anyways, post stuff here that you think some/many/all of the readers here didn't know. You know, proposed angle ideas that never happened, backstage gossip, all that crap. Or reminisce about some Nitro main event that everyone forgot, or a Thunder angle that nobody remembers today. Stuff like that.

 

Go!

[Guest Loss]

Hmmm, I need something to work from. Pick a wrestler. That will open a can of worms.

[JoeDirt 0]

Damn, you simply know too much. Oh, okay, just off the top of my head here are a few random ones:

 

Blitzkrieg

Disco Inferno

Wrath

Chase Tatum

Bam Bam Bigelow

 

Oh, and Randy Savage...why did he TWICE job the title to Hogan the night after winning it? And why the hell did they give him the title at Spring Stampede 1998 when he was hurt?

[Guest Loss]

Blitzkrieg was a club DJ who wrestled part-time and was hired on the recommendation of Konnan and Rey-Rey. He's out of the business now.

 

My favorite Disco story involves him making fun of Hugh Morrus for giving a bad promo, to a point where he was annoying Arn Anderson so much that Arn slapped him in the face in front of everyone.

 

When I think of Wrath, I think of him having a winning streak in the fall of '98 and Kevin Nash getting a clean pin over him en route to Starrcade, making it obvious who was going to win that match and truly send WCW into a downward spiral from which they'd never escape.

 

Chase Tatum? Is that the guy with the insanely large arms?

 

Bammer had a hot debut and a good feud with Goldberg that Kevin Nash nixed when he became booker so he could have more spotlight on himself. Problem was, by February of 1999, they had done a lot to hurt Goldberg and he needed a clean win, so after teasing a face turn, they turned Bammer heel again so he could step in and do the clean job.

 

Savage feels Hogan is too good at manipulating him, and he doesn't trust himself around Hogan. He's afraid he's going to get talked into something he shouldn't do. The first time he dropped the title immediately was because Hogan knew the heat he'd get for going over Sting and was trying to avoid getting hated on THAT much. He only won the title so Sting wouldn't put over Hogan. The second time, Hogan promised Savage he'd drop the title to him in return a few months later, then backed out when the time came, infuriating Savage to a point where he quit the company.

[The Mandarin 0]

Ted Turner is a registered member of the NRA. The tip of the iceberg in the cancellation of WCW programming on Turner Television came when Charlton Heston told Turner he hated "that faggot shit".

 

The Positively Kanyon storyline was thought up by Midajah.

 

The Rock was originally contacted by WCW to become Rocky Melvin in summer of 1996. He was going to debut with the TV Title, regardless of the fact that Steven Regal was champion at the time. The deal was called off when Mr. Johnson found out he wouldn't be morally allowed to participate in sex orgies while off-tour. Vince McMahon was the one who agreed to these conditions. Lex Luger was furious but wouldn't go into details.

 

Bam Bam Bigelow ate one of the children he saved from a fire.

 

The Maestro was a hologram.

[JoeDirt 0]

Loss, I could literally ask you questions all night. I never really got into wrestling until March/April 1999, so I missed a lot of WCW during its "prime" and therefore don't know a lot of this stuff. Here are some more questions for you:

 

1) I believe Sting disappeared after his match with Bret at Havoc 98, right? He was hurt? How did he make his return prior to Stampede 99?

 

2) When did Sandman sign with WCW and how did he debut? Did they ever do anything interesting with him? How quickly did he leave WCW?

 

3) When did Bigelow debut and how many televised matches did he have with Goldberg?

 

4) Was Hogan/Russo at BATB 2000 a shoot?

 

5) Did Nash ever do the job to Giant that he skipped out on by faking the heart attack before Starrcade 97?

 

6) When/how did the Wolfpac first form?

 

7) What was the Boston Brawl?

 

8) I know most of the time there was a huge separation between the upper card and everybody else...but were there ever any big "upsets" match wise? I know Jericho pinned Scott Hall once. (With a fluke rollup, but still...)

 

Oh, and keep bringing all the other info, this is great shit.

[strummer 0]

Nash faked a heart attack to avoid doing a job to the Giant at Starrcade 97.

 

savage refused to be involved in the new guard vs old guard feud in 99 unless he was part of the new guard, as he didn't want to be seen as old (even though he was in his late 40s)

[strummer 0]

2) When did Sandman sign with WCW and how did he debut? Did they ever do anything interesting with him? How quickly did he leave WCW?

 

He actually debuted in a throwaway vignette at raven's "House" He played a preppy type character by the name of Jim. Chastity also debuted in the vignette. He was completely repackaged as Hardcore Hak and this vignette was never mentioned again. I believe he left WCW because he was hurt severely in the Junkyard battle Royal at BATB 99.

[Guest Loss]

Loss, I could literally ask you questions all night.

I'll be up for a while and need something to do. Fire away.

 

 

1) I believe Sting disappeared after his match with Bret at Havoc 98, right? He was hurt? How did he make his return prior to Stampede 99?

 

It's a long story, and I don't know any of the details, if that makes any sense. Sting had to take time off to save his marriage after he had a "wake up call" in August of 1998. Dave Meltzer reported at the time that usually, these long absences were drug-related, but that it was something different with Sting. It was during this time that he became a born-again Christian and he did manage to save his marriage. He ended up ending the marriages of both Lex Luger and Rick Steiner though, as he admitted to his wife that they had both cheated on theirs, so she called him and filled them in and they both filed divorces. Circumstances would leave one to believe that Sting got caught with another woman, but that may not be true.

 

2) When did Sandman sign with WCW and how did he debut? Did they ever do anything interesting with him? How quickly did he leave WCW?

 

He debuted as "Jim", Raven's childhood friend, when they were doing these monotonous segments at Raven's house to show how down and depressed he was after the breakup of the Flock. They ignored that in terms of storylines and later debuted him as "Hardcore Hak", a name he picked himself on the fly based on a childhood nickname. He didn't really do anything of note in his time in the company. He had a few passable hardcore matches that were less plunder-based and a little more violent than what the WWF was doing in the hardcore division at the time, but WCW had a no blood policy, so they could only go so far.

 

It's worth noting that Hogan felt he was above that rule and violated it all the time.

 

3) When did Bigelow debut and how many televised matches did he have with Goldberg?

 

Fall of 1998. He had several inconclusive matches with Goldberg on Nitro through the rest of the year before the feud finally ended at SuperBrawl IX with Goldberg getting a clean victory. They teased three-way feuds with Hall and Nash that never really came to pass.

 

4) Was Hogan/Russo at BATB 2000 a shoot?

 

Yes and no. Hogan laying down and having Jarrett cover him was a shoot. Russo then took the opportunity to go into business for himself, though, and say many things about Hogan that he wasn't supposed to say. It started off as a work that was supposed to end up in a "brand extension" like angle with Bischoff taking Thunder and Russo taking Nitro, but it never came to pass, as Hogan was so upset over the comments Russo made about him that he quit the company and filed a lawsuit.

 

5) Did Nash ever do the job to Giant that he skipped out on by faking the heart attack before Starrcade 97?

 

No. He was asked to job several times and always refused.

 

6) When/how did the Wolfpac first form?

 

The Wolfpac was a group within the original NWO. Hall, Nash and Syxx started calling themselves that in 1997. They broke away from the main group in 1998 when Hogan and Nash started feuding, both on and off screen. Nash felt he deserved to be Hogan's true equal in storylines and Hogan was sabotaging him through the booking every chance he got. Nash mocked Hogan in a promo and was taken off of PPVs for three months. There were ugly problems I'll elaborate more on, depending on the questions you ask.

 

7) What was the Boston Brawl?

 

A "pay-per-listen", a concept I don't think WCW ever tried again, as it was a huge failure. It was supposed to be an internet-only thing, and all you were paying for was commentary on the event.

 

8) I know most of the time there was a huge separation between the upper card and everybody else...but were there ever any big "upsets" match wise? I know Jericho pinned Scott Hall once. (With a fluke rollup, but still...)

 

Rey got an upset win over Nash once. Kidman got one over Hogan once. Hector Garza got one over Hall once. That's about the extent of it.

[JHawk 0]

7) What was the Boston Brawl?

 

A "pay-per-listen", a concept I don't think WCW ever tried again, as it was a huge failure. It was supposed to be an internet-only thing, and all you were paying for was commentary on the event.

It wasn't so much that the idea itself failed, but there was some sort of problem actually getting the show started on time and they had to give everybody a refund and have it be accessed for free a couple of days after the fact.

 

The concept was tried a few other times, with one of Chris Benoit TV Title victories airing on a pay-per-listen broadcast only to never be mentioned on television due to Booker regaining the title the next night. Yes, WCW actually decided that a title changed people paid to listen to on the internet wasn't important.

[Guest Sturgis]

1) I believe Sting disappeared after his match with Bret at Havoc 98, right? He was hurt? How did he make his return prior to Stampede 99?

 

6) When/how did the Wolfpac first form?

1) Sting's wife wasn't happy and he went to spend more time with. Geez you'd think sitting in rafters for a whole year he'd have time for casual sex with the wife.

 

6) Nash, Savage & Konnan were sick of Hogans bullshit and form the Wolfpac. Curt Hennig and Rick Rude would join the following week but turned 2 or 3 weeks later. Soon after they were joined by Lex Lugar and Sting.

[strummer 0]

One question I always wanted to know, was why was Madusa given an inexplicably huge push under Vince Russo? I mean, I know it's Russo and all, but she nad NO HEAT AT ALL . She even got a push during the Bischoff/Russo era and Russo brought her out of the mothballs in Oct. 99.

[Guest Loss]

One question I always wanted to know, was why was Madusa given an inexplicably huge push under Vince Russo? I mean, I know it's Russo and all, but she nad NO HEAT AT ALL . She even got a push during the Bischoff/Russo era and Russo brought her out of the mothballs in Oct. 99.

Madusa was friends with the right people. Nash loved her, I know, and I have my theories on the rest, but it's all unfounded speculation.

 

[BUTT 0]

Plus, Russo seemed to want to push her as WCW's version of Chyna.

[iliketurtles 0]

Ted Turner is a registered member of the NRA. The tip of the iceberg in the cancellation of WCW programming on Turner Television came when Charlton Heston told Turner he hated "that faggot shit".

 

The Positively Kanyon storyline was thought up by Midajah.

 

The Rock was originally contacted by WCW to become Rocky Melvin in summer of 1996. He was going to debut with the TV Title, regardless of the fact that Steven Regal was champion at the time. The deal was called off when Mr. Johnson found out he wouldn't be morally allowed to participate in sex orgies while off-tour. Vince McMahon was the one who agreed to these conditions. Lex Luger was furious but wouldn't go into details.

 

Bam Bam Bigelow ate one of the children he saved from a fire.

 

The Maestro was a hologram.

LOL

[JoeDirt 0]

Okay, so the Hogan/Jarrett stuff at BATB was a work, but Russo's comments were more than he was supposed to say so Hogan left? I see, so that's why they had Russo take the belt back. Hogan would have claimed to still be the champ and have been the champ on Thunder?

 

Sting got Luger and Steiner busted...wow. Was there any long term heat about that? Aren't Sting and Luger good friends still today?

 

When was the Nash promo were he ripped on Hogan and what did he say? What PPVs was he kept off of?

 

Why were people like Nash and others allowed to get away with refusing to do jobs?

 

The "fingerpoke of doom"...honestly, what the fuck? If Nash was upset about not getting to be Hogan's equal storyline wise, why book this shit? He also put Hogan over at Road Wild 1999 and went into "retirement", too.

 

What do you think WCW's long term angles would have been if Russo hadn't shown up? Or would they have just kept floundering from month to month with no real direction? (I suppose that's likely)

 

I remember a Nitro in 1999 where the main event was something like Hogan/Goldberg vs. Sid and a mystery partner (Might not be that exactly, but I know Sid had a mystery partner.) Then for the match, Sid's partner was Rick Steiner. The announcers acted all surprised, even when Steiner had been with Sid in his promo earlier in the night. Had someone else originaly been booked for that slot?

 

When Hall turned on Nash at Slamboree 98, why did they not face each other one on one until Halloween Havoc? Or did they on Nitro or something?

 

Was the Jericho/Goldberg "feud" originally meant to happen and then Goldberg backed out?

 

Why was Roddy Piper always in and out of WCW? (At least it seemed that way to me) And why the hell did he get to beat Bret for the US title in Feb. of 99?

 

Were there any WWF or ECW stars who almost signed with WCW but for some reason it never quite worked out? I remember Sabu was announced as having signed with WCW in 99 or so, but then it never happened for some reason.

 

How long were Neidhart and Bulldog with WCW and did they do anything significant when they were there?

 

Sting vs. Goldberg given away on Nitro the night after Fall Brawl 98? Why?

[Guest Loss]

Okay, so the Hogan/Jarrett stuff at BATB was a work, but Russo's comments were more than he was supposed to say so Hogan left? I see, so that's why they had Russo take the belt back. Hogan would have claimed to still be the champ and have been the champ on Thunder?

Yes. I think Hogan v Booker in a unification match was the plan down the road.

 

Sting got Luger and Steiner busted...wow. Was there any long term heat about that? Aren't Sting and Luger good friends still today?

 

Sting and Luger have always had a volatile relationship, as his wife has never wanted him around Luger because she felt Lex was a bad influence. Luger was furious at Sting at the time, but I believe they ended up making amends later in the year.

 

When was the Nash promo were he ripped on Hogan and what did he say? What PPVs was he kept off of?

 

All Nash did was make fun of the way Hogan says "brother" actually, but Hogan was so insecure that he never wanted to be made fun of at all on TV. Nash didn't wrestle at the Great American Bash or Bash at the Beach. He wanted to skip Road Wild, but Hogan pushed for him to be in the battle royal, feeling Goldberg needed to overcome as many big names as possible to look strong. Nash finally agreed to do the match, but wouldn't let Goldberg eliminated him.

 

The problems between Hogan and Nash started long before that and reached a fever pitch earlier in the year when Bischoff fired Syxx to teach Hall and Nash a lesson about not being disruptive in the locker room.

 

Why were people like Nash and others allowed to get away with refusing to do jobs?

 

WCW let the inmates run the asylum, and actually put "creative control" clauses in the contracts of most of the big names. So if Nash refused to do a job, it was within his contractual rights to do so in most cases. Also, he had a rep as a bully, and supposedly, a lot of the higher-ups were intimidated by some of the larger top guys, since Scott Steiner had a habit of attacking office people when he didn't get his way.

 

The "fingerpoke of doom"...honestly, what the fuck? If Nash was upset about not getting to be Hogan's equal storyline wise, why book this shit? He also put Hogan over at Road Wild 1999 and went into "retirement", too.

 

LONG story, but the skinny of it is that Hogan and Nash called a truce where Hogan would get the title as long as Nash got a seat on the booking committee and got to end Goldberg's streak. They ended up working the entire locker room, all of whom thought Hogan retired, and Nash had pretty much everyone on his side by going on and on about how he was for the young guys and wanted to get the company back on track. He ended up making things worse by only pushing himself and his friends.

 

What do you think WCW's long term angles would have been if Russo hadn't shown up? Or would they have just kept floundering from month to month with no real direction? (I suppose that's likely)

 

I don't think they had a long term plan at all. It was a constant power struggle, and whoever would have won would have determined the direction of the company.

 

I remember a Nitro in 1999 where the main event was something like Hogan/Goldberg vs. Sid and a mystery partner (Might not be that exactly, but I know Sid had a mystery partner.) Then for the match, Sid's partner was Rick Steiner. The announcers acted all surprised, even when Steiner had been with Sid in his promo earlier in the night. Had someone else originaly been booked for that slot?

 

No one else was scheduled. Just total booking ineptitude that comes with booking the show while the show is going on.

 

When Hall turned on Nash at Slamboree 98, why did they not face each other one on one until Halloween Havoc? Or did they on Nitro or something?

 

Hall and Nash didn't want to do that feud, feeling that they were more effective as a tag team. They kept trying to find a way to get out of it, but Hall was being punished for being disruptive and getting arrested and publicly intoxicated and all the crap he was doing at the time, and was told he could start teaming with Nash again when he got his act together.

 

Was the Jericho/Goldberg "feud" originally meant to happen and then Goldberg backed out?

 

Goldberg wasn't crazy about the feud, but was going to go along with it. Nash got in Goldberg's ear and told him working with a smaller guy would kill him and that he needed to turn it down. So Goldberg turned it down, and Jericho held a grudge over it, as he felt that doing a clean job to Goldberg at World War 3 would have drawn money. Goldberg ended up left off the PPV, and Jericho took it as a major insult that the company didn't even think he was good enough to get squashed by Goldberg.

 

Why was Roddy Piper always in and out of WCW? (At least it seemed that way to me) And why the hell did he get to beat Bret for the US title in Feb. of 99?

 

Piper only had to fulfill a certain number of dates. So he would leave and come back quite frequently.

 

Were there any WWF or ECW stars who almost signed with WCW but for some reason it never quite worked out? I remember Sabu was announced as having signed with WCW in 99 or so, but then it never happened for some reason.

 

HHH almost jumped to WCW when Nash got the book in late 1998. Had that happened, wrestling as we know it would be totally different today.

 

How long were Neidhart and Bulldog with WCW and did they do anything significant when they were there?

 

They acted as plot devices in some of Bret's aborted storylines, but besides that, no. I think they were both gone by early 1999. WCW ended up getting sued over the way they fired Smith, or a lawsuit was threatened, or something. I don't remember all the details at the moment.

 

Sting vs. Goldberg given away on Nitro the night after Fall Brawl 98? Why?

 

Sting was originally going to win the title and the idea was scrapped at the last minute.

[JoeDirt 0]

Goldberg wasn't crazy about the feud, but was going to go along with it. Nash got in Goldberg's ear and told him working with a smaller guy would kill him and that he needed to turn it down. So Goldberg turned it down, and Jericho held a grudge over it, as he felt that doing a clean job to Goldberg at World War 3 would have drawn money. Goldberg ended up left off the PPV, and Jericho took it as a major insult that the company didn't even think he was good enough to get squashed by Goldberg.

Don't you mean Fall Brawl? Because isn't that the card where Jericho brings out the Goldberg midget? Or were they going to continue the feud and blow it off at World War 3?

 

Also, they were going to have Sting beat Goldberg for the title on NITRO??? And Sting was facing Hart at Halloween Havoc, so would they have then given the title to Hart? This seems really weird, but I guess it was WCW!

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Where was Animal during Starrcade 93 and where was Hawk when Animal came in early 2001?

[Guest Loss]

Don't you mean Fall Brawl? Because isn't that the card where Jericho brings out the Goldberg midget? Or were they going to continue the feud and blow it off at World War 3?

No, World War 3. That's where Jericho wanted the match with Goldberg to take place.

 

You have to remember that WCW flew by the seat of their pants. To ask what their "plan" was is to give them too much credit, as most of the time, they operated without one.

 

Also, they were going to have Sting beat Goldberg for the title on NITRO??? And Sting was facing Hart at Halloween Havoc, so would they have then given the title to Hart? This seems really weird, but I guess it was WCW!

 

There was no long-term thought put into that idea at all. They wanted to do something cool on Nitro that people would remember on a night where they had Flair's return and a PPV the night before. They probably hadn't even thought about Halloween Havoc, nor would they until the week before the show.

[Guest Loss]

Where was Animal during Starrcade 93 and where was Hawk when Animal came in early 2001?

Don't know where Animal was in 1993. Don't know where Hawk was in 2001.

[JoeDirt 0]

With all the bad things we're talking about in this thread...what are everybody's favorite WCW moments?

 

I think I read before that the decision to give DDP the title at Spring Stampede 99 was a last second decision, is that true? Looking back on all the title changes in 99, you really see how it was just last second stuff with no real planning involved...

 

Why didn't the proposed "old vs. young" feud ever really go down in 99?

[iliketurtles 0]

What were some of the storylines that were planned if the company hadn't been sold?

 

I seem to remember a lot of things that were a mystery when the company was sold.

[hbkhhhmark4life 0]

well a relative in my family showed me an old tape, and on wcw worldwide in early 1994, there was a match between Jean-Paul Levesque and Jesse James Armstrong, boy if we only could see into the future lol. and for those who might not know these 2 people, its HHH -vs- BG James (Road Dogg)

[strummer 0]

Have to add that WCW really missed the boat on Kim Page during this time period. Not that she was a great talent or anything, but she could have been a HUGE HUGE star if marketed properly. She could have been as big as Sable or Debra at the least. They could have done the whole Playboy thing before the WWF did, but I guess Standards and Practices would have put an end to that. In fact in 2001, Vince wanted to sign Kimberly more than he did DDP, but she wanted to become an actor instead. If she would have signed instead of moving to LA, she probably would have ended up the top female star in the WWF.

[Guest Loss]

With all the bad things we're talking about in this thread...what are everybody's favorite WCW moments?

So many.

 

I cut my teeth as a wrestling fan on Saturday night wrestling on TBS, so I will always have a soft spot for WCW, despite their ineptitude. My favorite memories are probably things like the pop Ron Simmons got for winning the World title, or the '92 War Games, or the All Nighter specials on TBS, or the really early NWO stuff and Flair's promos. I really miss the "Mean, WHOO!, By GAWD, Gene" line.

 

I think I read before that the decision to give DDP the title at Spring Stampede 99 was a last second decision, is that true? Looking back on all the title changes in 99, you really see how it was just last second stuff with no real planning involved...

 

Yes, that's true. Lots of title changes took place in Spring of '99 when Bischoff took his daughter to France because she made the honor roll and left Nash in charge. Benoit and Malenko were supposed to drop a tag title rematch to Windham and Hennig, but went to Nash and begged him to win the match, so he changed the booking. Of all the weird things that happened while Bischoff was gone, that was strangely the only thing he was upset about.

 

Why didn't the proposed "old vs. young" feud ever really go down in 99?

 

Because all the old guys kept fighting it and didn't want to be called old. Savage and Nash both wanted to be part of the "young" team, and the only new guy they were going to push out of the situation was Bagwell, who they would team with Benoit and Malenko and let them do all the work and let him get the fall. It wouldn't have accomplished anything.

[Guest Loss]

What were some of the storylines that were planned if the company hadn't been sold?

 

I seem to remember a lot of things that were a mystery when the company was sold.

The plan was for a shutdown to take place after the Greed PPV until that May. They would return with Hulk Hogan as the new commissioner occasionally wrestling, and him and Flair involved in a dual for power on an almost constant basis. They would also return with a new name, don't know what it was going to be, and many new stars. Greed was going to end with the wrestlers all coming out of the dressing room and rioting, tearing down all the WCW banners and declaring the company dead, basically making for total anarchy on PPV, which is always fun. They would then do an angle where TBS and TNT kicked them off the air for a few months, allowing them time to plan feuds for the next 6-12 months, only to fight to get back on. It was a good plan.

[bob_barron 0]

Why did all the old guys suddenly agree to play ball in 2000 with the Russo and Bischoff stuff?

 

Why didn't Lex or DDP ever put up a stink about being made to look like complete bitches every week by the nWo?

 

What was the deal with Hogan's injury at Spring Stampede?

[The Niggardly King 0]

How did Jaime Knoble break away from the Yung Dragons again?

 

Why did Goldberg leave again?

[Guest Loss]

Why did all the old guys suddenly agree to play ball in 2000 with the Russo and Bischoff stuff?

They didn't have much choice. That's what Russo wanted and Bischoff was solidly on Russo's side at that point. Hogan agreed because he knew he had a lot of heat for the comments he made about Kidman. Doing that storyline was an attempt to salvage his rep among the other wrestlers.

 

Why didn't Lex or DDP ever put up a stink about being made to look like complete bitches every week by the nWo?

 

Why would they? DDP getting punked out constantly made him a star, as the audience was sympathetic toward him. Luger was more over than he had ever been in 1997.

 

What was the deal with Hogan's injury at Spring Stampede?

 

It was a recurring knee injury, prompted by WCW's ratings falling. Hogan's game around that time was to leave for a few months when ratings were going down and come back and pop a one-night rating. That way, no one in power would ever think he was part of the problem.