Jump to content
TSM Forums
Sign in to follow this  
JoeDirt

WCW facts, tidbits, and stuff people forgot

Recommended Posts

To clarify the Mark Madden-Bill Watts deal, Madden didn't get Watts fired. Watts was demoted, and because he hated that, he gave notice, and it was after that that Madden faxed Watt's comments to Hank Aaron, who then took them to Turner. The funny part about that is that WCW knew about Watt's comments from when they hired him in the first place.

 

And another reason they used Madden was because they wanted, a 'more MTV look'. Quite how a 400lbs pile of crap looks MTV-ish, I don't know.

 

The Steiners left WCW in December of 1992 when their contracts expired, so while they were technically still with WCW at the time of HH they weren't being used.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What was up with Fit Finley being The Belfast Bruiser in 96 and then being off TV until late 97.

 

Did WCW ever have any plans to do an angle with the IWGP title while Scott Norton was champ?

 

Where was Randy Savage from October 96 until January 97?

 

What happened to the stable that Debra McMichael was forming in 97 involving Jeff Jarrett,Goldberg and Alex Wright.

 

Edit: How did New Japan feel about WCW running a Ultimo Dragon/Jushin Liger match on Nitro a few days before their Tokyo Dome match for the J Crown?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, they needed a clean-cut face gimmick for Ed Leslie.

 

His official ring-name in 1994, in WCW, after making WCW appearences, as well as a few appearences on Thunder in Paradise was:

 

Brother Bruti

 

That's pronounced BROO-TIE

 

After his failed heel romp, he turned face and joined Savage & Hogan in early 1996 for some matches against Flair, Arn, & Sullivan...

 

Including a Nitro where he pinned Anderson in a singles match with the dreaded Triple H/Harley Race, JUMPING KNEE TO THE FACE, which was his official finisher.

 

BRU-TI, was modified...

 

His official ring name was "The Buti Man", a dancing loveable character. He came to the ring to a song with a chorus of: "Shake shake shake ya booty! Shake-shake-shake-shake-shake-shake-shake! Shake shake shake ya booty!"

 

Kimberly began appearing after Marc Mero "mistreated her" on WCW SN (read: was fired-depushed) with flowers, as having a crush on The Booty Man. he was renamed "The Booty Man" his 2nd week, instead of Buti. She began proclaiming "I wish he'd be my boyfriend!" and then finally he was.

 

The Booty Man was atrocious.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Did WCW ever have any plans to do an angle with the IWGP title while Scott Norton was champ?

 

Where was Randy Savage from October 96 until January 97?

There were plans for Norton to defend against Van Hammer at Starrcade '98, but New Japan put the ixnay on that.

 

Negotiating a new contract.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What happened to the stable that Debra McMichael was forming in 97 involving Jeff Jarrett,Goldberg and Alex Wright.

 

Debra was written out of storylines. The original plan for Wright/Steve McMichael's big PPV match was "Debra leaves WCW if Wright loses!" She lost favor, and was fired anyway. Jarrett left, as well. They went to WWE.

 

Goldberg was seen as a face with attitude, and his program withg McMichael was poorly received. He was turned shortly afterwards.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Anyone remember when one of the NWO I think jumped out behind the Brain and he swore on air? Was this for real or part of the show?

That was Brian Pillman at the Clash in January of 1996. Pillman had left the ring to run from Eddie Guerrero, and pulled on Heenan's jacket. Heenan freaked out, because he didn't know who it was, and he had a bad neck. It was a shoot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
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.

Actually, one little thing. They beat the IWGP Tag Champs via DQ on TV. It was booked as a title defense at the time --- and nobody in WCW seemed to be aware that the IWGP Tag Titles change hands on a DQ.

 

I think NJPW had to show the match as a non-title match when it was aired on Japan. But, Russo nearly changed the IWGP Tag Titles, if memory serves.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
1.  I remember Vader squashing El Gigante in a match, I think from Japan, and Vader just destroyed him on the rampway. I think he may have used his mask contraption as a weapon Did this happen and when?

I don't recall anything like this.

2nd WCW Japan Supershow, most likely. Gigante's best match ever --- nearly hit one star.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
3.I vaguely remember that before a Rick Steamboat squash match, a super ninja or some master ninja came up on the video board and someone did a voice over in one of those synthesizers while the figure was shadowed.  He just threatened Steamboat and I think harley race was involved, but maybe not.  What was this?

 

This was actually a Sting v Bobby Eaton match from November of 1990, and was part of the Black Scorpion angle. Harley Race wasn't involved.

Actually Loss, I remember the Black Scorpion angle and this was different. Steamboat was defintely there A mysterious figure appeared on the screen doing a voice synthesizer gimmick and taunted Steamboat. I'm pretty sure Harley was there. Could this have been Yoshi Kwan or something like that?

Was it the build-up for Steamboat v Rude at SB II, where Dangerously ended up being the ninja?

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1.  I remember Vader squashing El Gigante in a match, I think from Japan, and Vader just destroyed him on the rampway. I think he may have used his mask contraption as a weapon Did this happen and when?

I don't recall anything like this.

2nd WCW Japan Supershow, most likely.

It was shown over here a few months ago on WWE classics during the WCW magazine segment, there was a 6 man tag on Worldwide a few weeks later with Vader,Cactus Jack and The Taylor Made Man vs. El Gigante,Van Hammer and Ron Simmons but after that the feud was forgotten.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC

BTW, in discussing horrible angles --- no mention of the not-brief-enough WCW v Battle Dome program?

 

That was the nadir of 1999. Master P didn't hit the level of working a program with a show that was a WEAK American Gladiators rip-off.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
BTW, in discussing horrible angles --- no mention of the not-brief-enough WCW v Battle Dome program?

 

That was the nadir of 1999. Master P didn't hit the level of working a program with a show that was a WEAK American Gladiators rip-off.

-=Mike

And that angle got the most crowd heat of anything WCW did at that time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
BTW, in discussing horrible angles --- no mention of the not-brief-enough WCW v Battle Dome program?

 

That was the nadir of 1999. Master P didn't hit the level of working a program with a show that was a WEAK American Gladiators rip-off.

    -=Mike

And that angle got the most crowd heat of anything WCW did at that time.

That's because G-Money brought the heat. :)

 

But, wow, that was some incredibly bad TV --- and only WCW would try to work a program with a synidcated show.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Loss

WCW used to also do house show promos on national TV and then wonder why they were seen as bush league. Those were the types of interviews they needed to save for syndication, but they'd devote an entire episode of Saturday Night to hyping a show at the Omni.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
WCW used to also do house show promos on national TV and then wonder why they were seen as bush league. Those were the types of interviews they needed to save for syndication, but they'd devote an entire episode of Saturday Night to hyping a show at the Omni.

Oh, that would drive me nuts. I remember them hyping up a Pillman v Flair 2/3 falls match at the Omni during Saturday Night.

 

Of course, why WCW never released tapes of their house shows is beyond me. Their Omni shows always sounded amazing.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
WCW used to also do house show promos on national TV and then wonder why they were seen as bush league. Those were the types of interviews they needed to save for syndication, but they'd devote an entire episode of Saturday Night to hyping a show at the Omni.

I remember Watts doing that just after the GAB 1992, for the Omni show where the L-Hvy and Tag Titles changed hands. They pushed the house show like crazy for an hour, which was short sighted, because they were promoting a show that barely 1% of the audience could actually go and see.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
WCW used to also do house show promos on national TV and then wonder why they were seen as bush league. Those were the types of interviews they needed to save for syndication, but they'd devote an entire episode of Saturday Night to hyping a show at the Omni.

I remember Watts doing that just after the GAB 1992, for the Omni show where the L-Hvy and Tag Titles changed hands. They pushed the house show like crazy for an hour, which was short sighted, because they were promoting a show that barely 1% of the audience could actually go and see.

He was trying to copy the WWF with their MSG shows --- but he seemed to miss that WWF didn't hype up the MSG shows on anything but their syndicated programs.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I had just barely got on the net at the time, but did WCW and WCW fans really think the WWF was going to die when Bret signed with the company in 97? Was that a legit feeling at the time or just hyperbole?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I had just barely got on the net at the time, but did WCW and WCW fans really think the WWF was going to die when Bret signed with the company in 97? Was that a legit feeling at the time or just hyperbole?

I don't see how anyone could have rationally thought that. I think the only people who did were delusional WCW fans or staff, who were having fantasies about crushing Vince McMahon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
I had just barely got on the net at the time, but did WCW and WCW fans really think the WWF was going to die when Bret signed with the company in 97? Was that a legit feeling at the time or just hyperbole?

Actually, SOME did (not people who followed the biz for years --- mainly newbies). I thought it was looking rough heading into Starrcade 1997. For me, that Nitro before Starrcade (where the nWo "took over", likely as a trial run for nWo running Nitro) showed that WCW was not going to do well in th future.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Loss

There were signs of WCW cracking around that time too, as they basically killed the Carolinas in September when Hennig turned on Flair at War Games, when the booking necessitated a decisive babyface win.

 

I actually had no problem with the parody, but the Horsemen needed to get revenge.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
For me, that Nitro before Starrcade (where the nWo "took over", likely as a trial run for nWo running Nitro)

It was a trail run for that idea. When it bombed in the ratings, the idea for an all-NWO show was canned.

 

Ironically, the basic idea was for WCW and the NWO to be promoted as two seperate companies, combining for joint super PPV's, much like the WWE brand split.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My favorite thing of the WCW Watts era? The Miracle Violence Connection. I have no idea what that name means, but I love it. :)

 

Still can't believe Nash booked Nitro to suck like shit for the first hour to show it wouldn't effect the ratings at all. Well it's Nash, so I guess I can believe it, but still...

 

You can really see the lack of long term planning in 1999. At least in 1997, for example, they had the long term plan of doing Hogan/Sting at Starrcade and built to it. Sure, the rest of the card was just done show to show, but not the main event. Well look at 1999. We have the Fingerpoke of Doom. Then Hogan feuds with Ric Flair and loses the belt to him at Uncensored. Flair turns heel and loses it a month later to DDP, who is kind of a heel at the time. DDP loses it to Sting and wins it back the same night on Nitro, and then loses it to Nash at Slamboree. Nash loses it to Savage at BATB, and Hogan wins it from Savage the next night. Now NASH turns heel and loses to Hogan at Road Wild. And then Hogan loses the belt to a heel turning Sting! I mean it's just ridiculous.

 

Speaking of that, how did Flair convince people to give him another run with the title in early 1999? I guess he had convince Nash, who was more willing that Bischoff? Or was Bischoff still booking then?

 

When did Mortis unmask to Kanyon? How long did he feud with Raven? How long did Saturn feud with Raven?

 

What was the deal with the "Scott Hall is an alcoholic" angle?

 

When did Lenny Lane start to get onto TV for WCW and how long did he and Lodi do the gay thing before being forced to stop?

 

How did the Scott Hall/Larry Zybysko feud end?

 

Any interesting Steiner Brothers/Konnan/Hugh Morrus/Billy Kidman/Ultimo Dragon stories?

 

Oh, and why did Rick Steiner pick Kenny Kaos as his new tag team title partner after Havoc 98? I don't think anyone ever answered that one.

 

Thanks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC
For me, that Nitro before Starrcade (where the nWo "took over", likely as a trial run for nWo running Nitro)

It was a trail run for that idea. When it bombed in the ratings, the idea for an all-NWO show was canned.

 

Ironically, the basic idea was for WCW and the NWO to be promoted as two seperate companies, combining for joint super PPV's, much like the WWE brand split.

I can't imagine why they'd think taking about an hour to do the whole "takeover" (nothing BUT them tearing down the WCW sign thing at the entrance) would possibly work.

 

If Starrcade delivered, they might have been able to do away with the WWF. They completely botched it.

-=Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest fanofcoils

Where was Jake Roberts from right after Wrestlemania VIII to before he debuted in WCW in August of 1992?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
There were signs of WCW cracking around that time too, as they basically killed the Carolinas in September when Hennig turned on Flair at War Games, when the booking necessitated a decisive babyface win.

 

I actually had no problem with the parody, but the Horsemen needed to get revenge.

I think that was the big problem with the nWo angle. They were great heels because they put themselves over so much. But in the end, the heels need to get payback from the babyfaces, and you have to send the fans home happy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest fanofcoils
There were signs of WCW cracking around that time too, as they basically killed the Carolinas in September when Hennig turned on Flair at War Games, when the booking necessitated a decisive babyface win.

 

I actually had no problem with the parody, but the Horsemen needed to get revenge.

I think that was the big problem with the nWo angle. They were great heels because they put themselves over so much. But in the end, the heels need to get payback from the babyfaces, and you have to send the fans home happy.

The nWo might have been bad guy faces (acting bad but being cheered) until they got stale and then became bad guy heels but then the good guy faces never really went over them I think.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×