cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 23, 2005 There's all sorts of theories on the main reasons WCW went under. Some cite the botched Starrcade 97 show with Sting/Hogan. Others say it was Nash ending Goldberg's streak and the subsequent Fingerpoke of Doom angle. While these were really horrible angles I don't think it put a vicious dent in WCW at the exact time those things occurred. There is one angle that in my opinion killed WCW: The Hummer Angle. It all started innocently enough on an episode of Nitro in June, 1999. Kevin Nash was lured into a limo by Madusa and Gorgeous George, only to have some maniac come crashing into the limo driving a Hummer. Everyone knew Randy Savage was behind it, but the mystery was "Who drove the Hummer?" At The Great American Bash Nash defended against Macho Man and out of nowhere Sid did a run in and attacked Nash. To anyone watching it was obvious: Sid was the Hummer driver. But wait! The next night on Nitro they explained that Sid did NOT drive the Hummer and that Macho still had that mysterious person waiting in the wings. At this point the angle started heading south, as it dragged on for months with no real developments aside from the announcers speculating that maybe it was a female driver. They didn't just forget the entire thing though, since Savage kept occasionally mentioning the Hummer Driver (even during a feud with Dennis Rodman!). Bear in mind that Nash--the VICTIM of the Hummer attack--actually did a heel turn during this period and lost the world title to Hogan in a "title vs. career" match. Did the angle end there? Of course not! Enter Lex Luger to stir some shit. Hogan had a title defense against Sting at Fall Brawl so Luger tried to convince Sting that Hogan was in fact the Hummer Driver (there were of course lots of fake Stings being seen in Hummers to make people think Sting did it). Surely the pictures of Hogan standing next to a wrong colored Hummer was conclusive evidence. Let's stop and think about this however. Nash was "retired" at this point. Savage, the initial mastermind, had nothing to do with it at this point. Yet this fucking angle was still going on! I have no idea what Luger had to do with the Hummer angle, or Sting for that matter. Or Hogan. Anyway, at Fall Brawl 99 Sting did a nonsensical heel (?) turn and beat Hogan down with a baseball bat....to the cheers of the crowd. Was the Hummer Driver revealed? Of course not. Soon after Vince Russo was hired from the WWF and this entire angle was simply forgotten. Until.... April 2000. Bischoff and Russo had both been on the outs with WCW and then miraculously came back. On the first New Nitro under the B and R regime Hogan of all people was hit by a Hummer and it turned out it was Bischoff driving. Personally I was never sure if Bisch was supposed to have been the original Hummer driver, or whether he was the guy doing the new Hummer attacks (was it ever fully explained?). Anyway, to me this is the single angle that killed all interest in WCW. If I recall, WCW's ratings went on a downward spiral during the Summer of 1999 that they never recovered from, and this angle was a main reason. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iggymcfly 0 Report post Posted July 23, 2005 Wow, and I thought that the "Who ran over Austin angle" was bad. This is reason 83.a. that I'm glad I didn't watch WCW back then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 23, 2005 Oh man, you have no idea. Actually I think the "Who hit Austin?" angle was a spoof in some ways of how horrible and contrived the Hummer angle was. I know it was the first thing I thought when I saw Austin get hit..."Oh God, now the WWF is doing their own Hummer angle!" The only reason the Austin angle lasted so long is due to his long injury. It was forgotten till he returned, then Foley went around investigating and revealed the "blonde driver" was Rikishi. At least the Austin angle had a payoff (even if it killed Rikishi's career). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Gary Busey Report post Posted July 24, 2005 The reason WCW did the angle was they wanted something similar to the Higher Power angle that the WWF was running at the time. Since the entire community was buzzing over the identity of the Higher Power, they wanted to duplicate the hype for themselves. Unfortunately for them, nobody cared about Nash like they did Austin. It wasn't actually that bad of angle and the payoff at the Russo/Bischoff regime change was neat, even if it didn't make total sense. I would say the antics of Hogan, Nash and eventually Kellner actually killed WCW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheex Incarnate 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 I seem to remember the "pay-off" (if you could call it that) was during the Hogan/Kidman fued, Bisch and Kidman rammed Hogan's limo in a white hummer and while running away Bisch screams out "never trust the guy in the white hummer". So Bischoff was the driver, i suppose -Cheex Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 Yeah but I always thought the whole Bischoff thing was a total joke. As in by that point even they realized how horrible the Hummer angle was and it was an ironic joke. I'm not 100% sure Bischoff was literally supposed to be the original driver, because that doesn't make a bit of sense. It wasn't a bad angle? Re-read my original post and tell me that isn't absolutely pathetic. It's the worst angle in history. Now if they'd just stopped at Sid being the driver (which is what anyone watching that PPV would assume) it would have been fine, but they kept stringing it out until the whole thing was so bogged down and made no sense that WCW's ratings went down the tubes. Anyone know of a website that has Nitro ratings from 1999? I'd like to see what the ratings were pre Hummer angle (May), and by the fall of 99 once Russo took over. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 Ok actually I just found Nitro ratings for 1999, so have a look: 1999 Date Rating January 4, 1999 5.0 January 11, 1999 5.0 January 18, 1999 4.4 January 25, 1999 5.0 February 1, 1999 4.7 February 8, 1999 5.7 February 15, 1999 3.9 February 22, 1999 4.8 February 29, 1999 4.3 March 8, 1999 4.4 March 15, 1999 4.3 March 22, 1999 4.0 March 29, 1999 3.5 April 5, 1999 4.3 April 12, 1999 4.4 April 19, 1999 4.1 April 26, 1999 3.9 May 3, 1999 3.4 May 17, 1999 3.3 May 24, 1999 3.8 May 31, 1999 3.1 June 7, 1999 3.2 June 14, 1999 3.3 June 21, 1999 3.1 June 28, 1999 3.6 July 5, 1999 3.3 July 12, 1999 3.45 July 19, 1999 3.3 July 26, 1999 3.4 August 2, 1999 3.1 August 9, 1999 3.1 August 16, 1999 3.3 August 23, 1999 2.9 August 30, 1999 4.0 September 6, 1999 4.1 September 13, 1999 3.3 September 20, 1999 3.1 September 27, 1999 3.0 October 4, 1999 2.9 October 11, 1999 2.6 October 18, 1999 3.3 October 25, 1999 3.5 November 1, 1999 3.2 November 8, 1999 3.4 November 15, 1999 3.1 November 22, 1999 3.4 November 29, 1999 3.1 December 6, 1999 3.0 December 13, 1999 2.8 December 20, 1999 3.2 December 27, 1999 2.9 By those numbers it actually looks like the bottom started falling out about 1 month before the Hummer Angle. Anyone who wants to cite the Fingerpoke of Doom as something that killed ratings should have a look. In Jan. and Feb. WCW was still drawing excellent ratings in the high 4s and into the 5s. I think the ratings decline really started when DDP won the title at Spring Stampede. I remember one truly offensive Nitro where DDP lost the title to Sting the first hour, then won the title back in a goofy 4 way to end the show (by pinning NASH, not Sting...after protesting in the crowd the entire match). I think that show was an unsung fiasco that really hurt WCW. If you note Nitro's ratings would only rise above 4.0 2 more times in August (was this when Hogan went back to the red and yellow?). Either way, the Hummer angle only further killed WCW's popularity after the silly DDP experiment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Arnold_OldSchool Report post Posted July 24, 2005 At some point Carmen Electra was to have been the Hummer driver Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheFranchise 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 Surely the pictures of Hogan standing next to a wrong colored Hummer was conclusive evidence Gold Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Decemberists 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 Ok actually I just found Nitro ratings for 1999, so have a look: 1999 Date Rating January 4, 1999 5.0 January 11, 1999 5.0 January 18, 1999 4.4 January 25, 1999 5.0 February 1, 1999 4.7 February 8, 1999 5.7 February 15, 1999 3.9 February 22, 1999 4.8 February 29, 1999 4.3 March 8, 1999 4.4 March 15, 1999 4.3 March 22, 1999 4.0 March 29, 1999 3.5 April 5, 1999 4.3 April 12, 1999 4.4 April 19, 1999 4.1 April 26, 1999 3.9 May 3, 1999 3.4 May 17, 1999 3.3 May 24, 1999 3.8 May 31, 1999 3.1 June 7, 1999 3.2 June 14, 1999 3.3 June 21, 1999 3.1 June 28, 1999 3.6 July 5, 1999 3.3 July 12, 1999 3.45 July 19, 1999 3.3 July 26, 1999 3.4 August 2, 1999 3.1 August 9, 1999 3.1 August 16, 1999 3.3 August 23, 1999 2.9 August 30, 1999 4.0 September 6, 1999 4.1 September 13, 1999 3.3 September 20, 1999 3.1 September 27, 1999 3.0 October 4, 1999 2.9 October 11, 1999 2.6 October 18, 1999 3.3 October 25, 1999 3.5 November 1, 1999 3.2 November 8, 1999 3.4 November 15, 1999 3.1 November 22, 1999 3.4 November 29, 1999 3.1 December 6, 1999 3.0 December 13, 1999 2.8 December 20, 1999 3.2 December 27, 1999 2.9 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Vince Russo = God. Right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dobbs 3K 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 The worst thing about that angle was how it had basically died off and seemed like WCW had dropped it, but then suddenly on one Nitro they brought it back. I remember, this was also right after Hulk Hogan himself had done an interview on "WCW Live" (WCW's internet talk show) saying there was too much "mystery theater" garbage in WCW and that they needed to get back to basics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryankeast 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 I would love to read the Death of WCW it sounds very interesting - is there anywhere you can download the book in like a PDF format at all?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fartsauce 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 I still remember Eric Bischoff winning the hardcore title off of Terry Funk. Urgh, what a joke. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 I'd just suggest doing a search on Google for the Death of WCW and see what all is out there. This is a guilty secret of mine but I actually quite liked the initial Russo "Powers That Be" angle. In fact I dare say I enjoyed that stuff better than what the WWF was doing in the Oct-Nov. 99 months (what with the HHH push of doom starting...when he had zero heat). At least the PTB angle was leagues better than the horrible crap that came before it. WCW was for all intents dead in the water after some amazingly awful events in Dec. 99/Jan. 2000: --Bret Hart suffered a career ending injury vs. Goldberg and had to vacate the WCW title. --Jeff Jarrett suffered a concussion in a cage match with JIMMY SNUKA of all people and was temporarily stripped of the US title. --Russo, hero to millions, decided to have a Battle Royal at Souled Out 2000 for a new champ and wanted to put the strap on Tank Abbott!!!! This is what got him relieved of command. --Needing a new booker, Bill Busch appointed Kevin Sullivan. A bunch of guys in the back (Malenko, Douglas, Saturn, Kidman, Rey, Eddie) and in particular Chris Benoit protested the move and asked for their release. Benoit was now booked to win the title against Sid later that night, but had obvious heat with Sullivan and feared he'd get a token title run and then get jobbed out again. --This basically led to the Radicals joining the WWF, but Douglas, Kidman, and Rey all stayed in WCW. For the next 3 months WCW had quite possibly the worst wrestling shows this side of the dying AWA. By April they got so desperate that Bischoff and Russo were brought back, which actually did provide a short term boost but by the end of the summer things were fairly desperate again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jm29195 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 I think a good case can be made for Uncensored and Superbrawl 2000 being the worst 'serious' (not counting the Legends ppv) ppvs ever put on by WCW.... I mean I haven't seen GAB 91 but I'm sure Koloff/Sting and Windham/Luger are better than any of the matches on these cards..... Superbrawl:- The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea/Lash Leroux Bigelow/Brian Knobs 3 Count vs Norman Smiley Demon vs The Wall (!) Tank Abbott vs Big Al (Leather Jacket on a Pole??) Booker T vs Fat Ahmed Johnson Kidman vs Vampiro Mamalukes vs Flair/Crowbar (Stretcher Match) Almost half hour James Brown/Cat segment (why?) Terry Funk/Ric Flair (Deathmatch and MOTN but still not up to much) Hogan/Luger (overrun caused by Hogan's posing caused me to run very short) Sid/Jarrett/Hall (ran 7 minutes!!) Uncensored:- Psicosis (yay) vs The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea (why was he on tv?) Team XS vs Demon/Smiley Bigelow/Wall 3 Count/Brian Knobs Booker/Kidman vs Harlem Heat- (MOTN but still not over ** imo) Fit Finlay/Vampiro (Awful lighting as they brawled outside) Mamalukes/Harris Bros (Why did the Harris' go over here, the dullest team ever!) Dustin Rhodes/Terry Funk (awful comedy match) Sting/Luger Sid/Jarrett Hogan/Flair I can't see why they thought people would buy these events..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dobbs 3K 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 I would love to read the Death of WCW it sounds very interesting - is there anywhere you can download the book in like a PDF format at all?? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Doubtful. Think you gotta buy it to read it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vampiro69 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 Sweet so some people believe that the Nitro in Fargo, North Dakota killed WCW! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2005 Why, is that where Nash was run over by the Hummer? In Fargo? I actually just watched that GAB 99 show where the Hummer angle initially happened (or rather it led to the Nash/Macho match). My God that show SUCKS. I mean bad enough to drive a man to drink. I have to admit though seeing Hennig tear up Master P's autographed CD at the beginning was funny, but of course they job the West TX Rednecks out to Rey and Konnan (this being the hideous No Limit angle). The show also has: --The Steiners and Tank Abbott unleashing trained dogs on Sting in the back. Ok that was actually pretty damn funny. --Benoit and Saturn jobbing to the Jersey Triad in a feud that made zero sense to me even AFTER the recap was shown! --Sid returning to attack Nash during the ME and the announcers all think he drove the Hummer. This would lead to a truly bizarre and convoluted main event at the next PPV where Nash and Sting went against Macho/Sid. Stips: Nash's title was on the line and his OWN PARTNER could pin him! So what did Sting do? Nothing, didn't even turn on Nash at all even though the stips insisted that he should! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 Yeah, I think GAB 99 was the start of WCW's big demise. Spring Stampede 99 was a kick ass little PPV and I thought Slamboree 99 had its moments (Shut up). Great American Bash 99 was just a god awful PPV with no match going above the **1/2 range. After that WCW went on a longass streak of sucky PPVs that didn't end until Fall Brawl 2000, by then it was too late. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTID 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 While the hummer angle was indeed stupid, its got nothing on Sid's winning streak! From The Death of WCW... "The next main event feud was to feature Sid versus Goldberg. In order to promote the eventual encounter, Sid came out on Nitro one week and claimed that he was 55-0. Never mind that he hadn't had fifty-five matches on WCW TV since coming back. Or, while we're at it, the fact that he'd lost several times on TV over the past few weeks alone. By midway through the show, he was at 59-0 despite not having won any matches. Bobby Heenan explained this by saying he'd already beaten up nine men. Nobody was sure how 55 plus 9 equalled 59. The next week, despite losing at every house show the company ran, he was suddenly up to 68-0. Then he pinned Juventud Guerrera, Lenny Lane and Lodi. This made him 70-0. Again, do not ask how 68 plus 3 equals 70. Three days later, on Thunder, Sid said he couldn't wait to get six more wins so he could break Goldberg's 176-0 streak. And, ummm...yeah. Once he did this, Sid explained, he was going to "shake all over." Sid, at 176-0, lost to Saturn via DQ when Rick Steiner ran in. On Nitro the following Monday, however, he was billed as being 177-0. So yes, losses were now counting as wins in this streak. Shockingly, the Sid winning streak didn't stop the downward spiral." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Placebo Effect 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 If I remember correctly, Mike Graham almost got fired for allowing Sid to lose by DQ. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 Sid's win streak was really rather harmless though. It was too rushed and he just attacked people and counted them as wins. Thing is, at least it led to a pretty solid PPV match with Goldberg where Sid did a sick bladejob. This wasn't anywhere near the level of crap of the Hummer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 I thought honestly, the Sid undefeated streak could have gone fairly well. It was just piss poor execution. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheFranchise 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 While the hummer angle was indeed stupid, its got nothing on Sid's winning streak! From The Death of WCW... "The next main event feud was to feature Sid versus Goldberg. In order to promote the eventual encounter, Sid came out on Nitro one week and claimed that he was 55-0. Never mind that he hadn't had fifty-five matches on WCW TV since coming back. Or, while we're at it, the fact that he'd lost several times on TV over the past few weeks alone. By midway through the show, he was at 59-0 despite not having won any matches. Bobby Heenan explained this by saying he'd already beaten up nine men. Nobody was sure how 55 plus 9 equalled 59. The next week, despite losing at every house show the company ran, he was suddenly up to 68-0. Then he pinned Juventud Guerrera, Lenny Lane and Lodi. This made him 70-0. Again, do not ask how 68 plus 3 equals 70. Three days later, on Thunder, Sid said he couldn't wait to get six more wins so he could break Goldberg's 176-0 streak. And, ummm...yeah. Once he did this, Sid explained, he was going to "shake all over." Sid, at 176-0, lost to Saturn via DQ when Rick Steiner ran in. On Nitro the following Monday, however, he was billed as being 177-0. So yes, losses were now counting as wins in this streak. Shockingly, the Sid winning streak didn't stop the downward spiral." <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ha.. that description alone has made me order this book. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Danville_Wrestling 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 While Spring Stampede 1999 was a decent show, I didn't buy for a second that DDP was the WCW World Champion in that four-way match with Flair, Sting, and Hogan. Hell, before the pay-per-view I told my friends DDP had the smallest chance of the four participants to win and boy, did I eat my words. However, those poor ratings from May-the end of the year show that DDP's reign didn't really do wonders for the company. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheFranchise 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 Christ, look at everything you just said, replace Chris Jericho with DDP, Replace Austin, Rock and Angle with Flair, Sting and Hogan, and replace SS 99 with Vengeance 01. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Gary Busey Report post Posted July 25, 2005 Bischoff as the driver was done tongue in cheek, your right. The Hummer as the worst angle ever, and the catalyst for the death of WCW? No way. No single angle killed WCW, it was the years of absolute crap that did it. People didn't go, "Oh man, this single storyline is silly, I'm going to quit watching this show altogether." WCW was pumping out bullshit from the lower card to the main event for so long, that people eventually left. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 Actually no, I thought Jericho would win since he was at that point the only guy who made sense. Austin didn't need the title again, ditto The Rock, and Angle was being jobbed out of the ME for a while. Jericho was the main guy who needed the win. DDP winning that 4 way was just really out of nowhere. He literally seemed like just a guy added to the 4 way, no one thought he had any sort of shot. And for good reason....I think his title run is what really started to tank WCW's ratings. in 1999 and then the Hummer killed their credibility for good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Danville_Wrestling 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 Yea, I don't think the DDP @ Spring Stampede matches up to Jericho at all. I thought going into that PPV that Jericho was winning the belt for the same reasons posted above. I also felt DDP was thrown in at the last second by the brass who were like "well we'll just make it a four-way so we don't have to do the ol' triangle match." I think after DDP won that whole thing I turned off my TV and was like "WTF?!?!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HurriShane 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2005 Uncensored:- Psicosis (yay) vs The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea (why was he on tv?) Team XS vs Demon/Smiley Bigelow/Wall 3 Count/Brian Knobs Booker/Kidman vs Harlem Heat- (MOTN but still not over ** imo) Fit Finlay/Vampiro (Awful lighting as they brawled outside) Mamalukes/Harris Bros (Why did the Harris' go over here, the dullest team ever!) Dustin Rhodes/Terry Funk (awful comedy match) Sting/Luger Sid/Jarrett Hogan/Flair Team XS? Was this Lenny & Lodi after the west hollywood blondes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
