WCW facts, tidbits, and stuff people forgot

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Johnny Ace was also the guy who was big on near falls right?

 

Since he was so good with WCW in 2000- why haven't we seen this stuff in WWE today given that he has JR's job.

 

What did other wrestlers think of DDP meticiously laying out his matches in advance? What would Page do in tag matches and the like

Yep.

 

Because he has to do what Vince wants.

 

They mocked him for it, behind his back. It was also a reason why Undertaker buried him to Vince.

[bob_barron 0]

I thought Page got buried because he was Bischoff's friend.

 

I still shake my head with how badly they fucked up Page in 2001. One of the reasons I hate Taker. I met DDP and he was a super nice cool guy- is that his rep?

[Guest Loss]

Johnny Ace was also the guy who was big on near falls right?

Yes. Ace was doing everything he could to make the bell-to-bell action as exciting as possible. He was hindered a little by Russo's short match times.

 

Since he was so good with WCW in 2000- why haven't we seen this stuff in WWE today given that he has JR's job.

 

Ace doesn't have autonomy. He's somewhere below the McMahons and HHH on the totem pole. Ace is really good at saying the right things too, though, and is not above telling people what he thinks they want to hear so he's held in higher regard, even if it's at the expense of the product. So he has a good side and a bad side. He's not really malicious, though.

 

What did other wrestlers think of DDP meticiously laying out his matches in advance? What would Page do in tag matches and the like

 

Hogan laid out his matches in advance as well, along with some of the other top guys, so I think it was less of an issue in WCW than it would be in WWE. I'm sure Page had to improv at least some of the time.

[Guest Loss]

I still shake my head with how badly they fucked up Page in 2001. One of the reasons I hate Taker. I met DDP and he was a super nice cool guy- is that his rep?

DDP polarizes people. No one doubts that he's nice, but his sincerity is often questioned. He gets a lot of flack from his critics for sucking up to get a push and not being able to work an improvised match while his friends take up for him very strongly, despite enjoying making fun of him at times too. He's basically a walking, talking cartoon character, as far as his demeanor, and some love him, and some can't stand him.

[bob_barron 0]

Did Hogan ever get the blame for the horrible Uncensored 2000 buyrate or any of the other 99-00 buyrates he popped?

 

I know Funk hates Nash for their Souled Out 2000 match. Was he upset that Nash made him look like a joke or was there something else?

 

Why did WCW go to a wide angle and make it hard to view matches when someone gigged?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I thought Page got buried because he was Bischoff's friend.

 

I still shake my head with how badly they fucked up Page in 2001. One of the reasons I hate Taker. I met DDP and he was a super nice cool guy- is that his rep?

He got buried because, like with so many other good to great workers, he couldn't work 'WWE style'. Basically, he didn't wrestle in the accepted WWE style, and that was it for him.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Did Hogan ever get the blame for the horrible Uncensored 2000 buyrate or any of the other 99-00 buyrates he popped?

 

I know Funk hates Nash for their Souled Out 2000 match. Was he upset that Nash made him look like a joke or was there something else?

 

Why did WCW go to a wide angle and make it hard to view matches when someone gigged?

No. He always escaped blame.

 

I don't think Funk really cares anymore.

 

Turner and TBS S&P.

[Guest Loss]

Did Hogan ever get the blame for the horrible Uncensored 2000 buyrate or any of the other 99-00 buyrates he popped?

Sometimes, he did, but Bischoff was a huge mark for him, and Turner higher-ups were adamant that Hogan always be pushed hard, so the naysayers weren't heard as much as they could be. It was always thought that the problem had to be someone besides Hogan, based on his track record of drawing money.

 

I know Funk hates Nash for their Souled Out 2000 match. Was he upset that Nash made him look like a joke or was there something else?

 

The first night in, Funk and Nash were supposed to be working from a script and Nash decided to break the script and hurl insults at him just to embarrass him and get over with the boys backstage for making the old fart look stupid.

 

Why did WCW go to a wide angle and make it hard to view matches when someone gigged?

 

Turner was very anti-blood. He didn't think blood had any place on a family show.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I thought Page got buried because he was Bischoff's friend.

 

It's hard to say really. I think Undertaker just decided he didn't like guys on a whim and just did everything he could to bury him. I mean he buried O'Haire for not saying hi to Droz or something stupid like that. Of course his reason was always they couldn't work the WWF style.

 

There was also some stink raised about the way DDP bumped as well.

[bob_barron 0]

HTQ-

 

I heard Funker wouldn't work Victory Road b/c of Nash's involvement- not sure if that's true though.

 

When did DDP start to get over? Was it Jan 97 when he first turned down the nWo?

 

Also....Reading match results it looked like Savage beat Page every time they faced. How did Page get so over from that feud if he was losing all the time?

[BUTT 0]

Does anybody know why, for the last few months, WCW had all of the guys cutting promos while not looking at the camera?

 

I think the idea behind it was to make it seem like they were talking to a reporter or something. Most sports interviews aren't done with the guy looking directly into the camera, so I think they were going for that look.

Actually, I believe it was because they had no one to do interviews. They were desperately trying to cut costs and they had released both Gene Okerlund and Pamela Paulshock. I guess they figured it wasn't necessary to have a backstage interviewer and just went with the "have them cut promos while looking off to the side" approach.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Also....Reading match results it looked like Savage beat Page every time they faced. How did Page get so over from that feud if he was losing all the time?

 

Page beat him twice during the feud. The first meeting on PPV and on an episode of Nitro where Page was disguised as La Parka.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

When did DDP start to get over? Was it Jan 97 when he first turned down the nWo?

 

Also....Reading match results it looked like Savage beat Page every time they faced. How did Page get so over from that feud if he was losing all the time?

Page started getting over with the nWo angle. And while the results seem to show Savage getting more wins, they pretty much traded wins on house shows. Plus, Page laid Savage out a number of times in angles on Nitro.

[Guest Loss]

When did DDP start to get over? Was it Jan 97 when he first turned down the nWo?

The diamond cutter started getting over as a finisher in the fall of 1996 when he was feuding with midcarders. His defining moment was in January of 1997, when he put Nash through a table and blindsided Hall with the diamond cutter. The feud with Savage put him over the top. He was a definite overachiever.

 

Also....Reading match results it looked like Savage beat Page every time they faced. How did Page get so over from that feud if he was losing all the time?

 

Page won their first match. Also, there's proof right there that there's a way to make the younger guy lose without burying him. DDP lost most of his matches, but he was a very sympathetic common man, which helped him. He also got plenty of mic time and good lines and Savage was good about really selling the brutality of their matches, coming out the next night on TV all bandaged up and limping.

 

He also was never portrayed as a coward, and always fought the odds straight ahead. Most didn't even notice that he lost so much because he was protected in other ways.

[bob_barron 0]

Some more questions (thank you guys):

 

Did Ron Simmons get the World Title so Bill Watts could show he wasn't a racist?

 

Did Booker get the belt so WCW would have a defence in the discrimination lawsuit?

 

Why did they have Disco job to Jumping Joey Maggs and other jobbers. Speaking of jobbers- did the angles where Teddy Long managed Joey Maggs and Jim Powers and tried to get them to win yet they never seemed to ever go anywhere

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Did Ron Simmons get the World Title so Bill Watts could show he wasn't a racist?

 

Watts thought the key to wrestling success was a young black guy being the champion.

 

Why did they have Disco job to Jumping Joey Maggs and other jobbers. Speaking of jobbers- did the angles where Teddy Long managed Joey Maggs and Jim Powers and tried to get them to win yet they never seemed to ever go anywhere

 

It was Disco, they were trying to make him look like a joke until he started wrestling Saturn. For some reason once he started using the Chart Buster as his finisher he was a threat in matches.

[Guest Loss]

Did Ron Simmons get the World Title so Bill Watts could show he wasn't a racist?

No. He got the belt because Watts wanted to recreate the magic of JYD in Mid South, and felt that a big, black, athletic wrestler who was a good interview would draw. Ron wasn't in the right state of mind to carry the company though.

 

Did Booker get the belt so WCW would have a defence in the discrimination lawsuit?

 

More than likely, yes, but the people involved would never come out and say that.

 

Why did they have Disco job to Jumping Joey Maggs and other jobbers.

 

Most likely as ribs. Disco was either loved or hated by everyone, but even the people who liked him enjoyed torturing him by embarrassing him on TV.

 

Speaking of jobbers- did the angles where Teddy Long managed Joey Maggs and Jim Powers and tried to get them to win yet they never seemed to ever go anywhere

 

It never went anywhere. WCW probably forgot about it.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Did Ron Simmons get the World Title so Bill Watts could show he wasn't a racist?

 

Did Booker get the belt so WCW would have a defence in the discrimination lawsuit?

Watts wanted a black World Champion, as he was trying to recreate JYD, who was super over in Mid-South.

 

Booker got the belt because he was felt to be the best choice. For the most part, anyway.

[bob_barron 0]

When did they start hinting Benoit was sleeping with Woman on TV and when did he start sleeping with her in real life?

[Guest Loss]

When did they start hinting Benoit was sleeping with Woman on TV and when did he start sleeping with her in real life?

They started hinting at it sometime in September of 1996 or so. It's unknown when they actually started sleeping together.

 

Speaking of, there's apparently far more to that story that we don't know that shows that Benoit isn't the "bad guy stealing the booker's wife" like many have been led to believe, but I don't know if that's ever been fully explained.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I don't think we'll ever know the whole story behind that.

[bob_barron 0]

Didn't Sullivan treat her like shit? That's what I remember reading at that long DVDR thread

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Didn't Sullivan treat her like shit? That's what I remember reading at that long DVDR thread

It's possible, I don't really know a whole lot about Sullivan as a person though.

[Guest Loss]

Didn't Sullivan treat her like shit? That's what I remember reading at that long DVDR thread

That's been rumored, and apparently, because they were traveling so much together, Woman eventually confided some serious issues in Benoit and they fell in love out of that. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what has been speculated.

[bob_barron 0]

Is Austin bitter at Flair for his lack of WCW push? Or Hogan?

 

Cause I've heard that Hogan seemed to keep him down but that Austin had heat with Flair.

 

Given that he got a pretty good push in 94 (wrestling the garbage matches, winning the tag belts)- why is Foley so upset with Flair?

 

When did Flair book? Why did Flair get the book? Did he piss anyone else off besides Foley?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Is Austin bitter at Flair for his lack of WCW push? Or Hogan?

 

Cause I've heard that Hogan seemed to keep him down but that Austin had heat with Flair.

 

Given that he got a pretty good push in 94 (wrestling the garbage matches, winning the tag belts)- why is Foley so upset with Flair?

 

When did Flair book? Why did Flair get the book? Did he piss anyone else off besides Foley?

Austin more hated Hogan than Flair, but he buried that hatchet with Hogan on the flight to Raw from NWO 2003

 

Foley's current problems with Flair stem from what Flair wrote in his back, but he also didn't like how Flair treated him back in 1990.

 

Flair had the book from late 89 to early 90. It was basically a power play, in regard to Jim Herd, who he hated. Flair certainly pissed off Shane Douglas, who loathed, and still does I think, Flair with incredible passion.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Given that he got a pretty good push in 94 (wrestling the garbage matches, winning the tag belts)- why is Foley so upset with Flair?

 

Foley overvalues himself early on in his career. It was mosting pouting on his part.

 

When did Flair book? Why did Flair get the book? Did he piss anyone else off besides Foley?

 

1989 was his first stint. And they basically had no one else to go with after the Dusty disaster. I don't know about his second stint.

[Guest Loss]

Is Austin bitter at Flair for his lack of WCW push? Or Hogan?

Neither. He blames Bischoff. Austin was interviewed by the Torch and badmouthed Flair right after he was fired, but the Torch has a tendency to get wrestlers who have just been released so they'll vent and give good interviews. Years later, Austin said bookers and management held him down in WCW, but never anyone who was an active wrestler.

 

Given that he got a pretty good push in 94 (wrestling the garbage matches, winning the tag belts)- why is Foley so upset with Flair?

 

Foley didn't think Flair was a nice person. The problems they had were less about the push Foley got and more about Flair yelling at him one night and telling him he'd end up in a wheelchair by the time he was 30 and that no one gave a shit about him. Flair also embarrassed him once in a room full of people by insinuating that he had major psychiatric problems.

 

When did Flair book?

 

1989 and 1994-1995.

 

Why did Flair get the book?

 

The first time, he started booking just to give it a shot and see what he could do. The second time, Bischoff was trying to appeal more to Ted Turner, who was a huge Flair mark, and gave Flair the book after a meeting with Turner where all he talked about the whole time was how great Flair was.

 

Did he piss anyone else off besides Foley?

 

Lots of wrestlers don't like Flair, not so much because he "held them down", but more because he was often two-faced and partied a little too hard for some.

[bob_barron 0]

I'm more referring to his second stint of booking (1994?) and I remember Foley whining about Flair in Have a Nice Day.

 

He mentions his ECW work and how if Flair had seen that he would've gotten a bigger push.

 

So is Foley just bitter?

 

Oh and being on that flight and seeing Hogan and Austin next to each other had to be awesome

[bob_barron 0]

How much control did Ted Turner have over WCW? I know he owned the company but how much did he have to do with the booking and day to day operations