Worst WCW signings during monday night wars.

[Guest [censored]]

I've been reliving some of the I guess anti glory days of WCW during the Monday night wars and one thing that stood out to me was the number of wrestlers WCW signed that really brought down the product and created some of the logjam for TV time.

 

For instances I didn't realize how much time Brian Adams spent of TV some of of it even in the ring, winning matches! Here was a guy who had somewhat limited talent to start with and was used all the time. I've been trying to think of ways he could have been better used but then I realize that at the time WCW had plenty of big, mean looking guys. How much better would it have been to instead replace him with Van Hammer, Al Green or Roadblock and save the cash. Or better yet have given that TV time and story lines to Saturn.

 

Infact here's list of big strong guys who worked just as well or better as Adams while already being on the WCW roster

 

The Barbarian

Meng

Hacksaw Jim Duggan (it's really close though)

Hugh Morris

Stevey ray

 

(add to as needed)

 

So my list starts as

 

Brian Adams

 

I'll comeback with somemore as I progress through the history.

 

Yours or arguements in favor or the Adams' signing

[Guest Fook]

Master P and his posse

 

Lanny Poffo (who they never used despite paying like $250,000 a year)

[Guest Edgehead]

Nailz was on the books for years

[tommytomlin 0]

The Maestro

John Nord's brief return in 1998

Tony Marmaluke

Tank Abbott's enemy whose name I forget, who Tank pulled a knife on

Bertha Faye in 2000 to feud with Madusa, had some kind of mud pit match with Piper as the ref (?!?@)

The Harris Brothers

[The Electrifyer 0]

Well, there's that one signing that Confidential told us put the nail in WCW's coffin... Bret Hart.

[JST 0]

Sam Greco.

 

Dude had big arms, y'know.

[tominator89 0]

Virgil

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

STEVE DOLL.

[Guest [censored]]

Added to my list of Brian Adams is Sandman who was called Hak w/chastity in WCW and Mikey Whipwreck.

 

Both wrestlers were pretty good in ECW but never added anything of value to WCW. Sure Hak did some harcore stuff when WCW was trying to push that but since he was able to actually be the Sandman (WCW was going for a G rated type show) he never took off due to his limitations in and out of the ring. I almost want to say that those running WCW may have never watched ECW before signing whipwreck because he was never over for being some studd wrestler or cruiserweight which what they tried to make him into.

 

Sandman and Whipwreck I think were both cases of the characters being over in a smaller loca/federation rather than the wrestlers themselves. Once removed from that environment they were unable to duplicate their previous success, especially in the mess that was WCW.

 

Again WCW had plenty of existing guys they could have plugged into that TV time that would been just as effective. Any of the luchadors could have filled in for whipwreck, along with a few other cruisers not getting anytime.

 

Even someone like Barry Darsow or Mike Enos could have filled the spot of Hak without much difference.

 

Or better yet that time and resources could have been used on something entirely different.

 

So Far my list is

Brian Adams

Hak (Sandman)

Mikey Whipwreck

[snuffbox 0]

Zeus

Loch Ness

That Kiss bullshit

[tommytomlin 0]

Ahmed Johnson/Tony Norris/Big T in Harlem Heat 2000

Asya

Midnight

 

 

Man, this is depressing.

[Guest Hadley]

Barry Darsow (i liked demolition and repo man, but he was past his prime by 98)

Wayne Bloom (mike enos was a good worker, so his signing was justified)

Bobby Blaze

Lizmark Jr

Ciclope

Damien

El Dandy (if you're going to have luchadors,,DO SOMETHING WITH THEM!!)

Van Hammer

Mikey Whipwreck

Ice Train

And last, but certainly not least,,,THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR!

[fisticuffs 0]

Glacier

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

And last, but certainly not least,,,THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

His new nickname should have been Fed-Ex.

 

"When you absolutely, positively have to blow $3 million overnight"

[Scroby 0]

David Arqutte....yeah I have no idea how to spell his last name, that's how important he is.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'm going to have to echo the Sandman and Whipwreck sentiments. There was no point of either of them being there, since Sandm...HAK was just The Sandman without the awesome entrance, the beer, the bloodshed, or the cigarettes (you know, The Sandman's entire character), and Whipwreck being some badass cruiser made NO sense since he's always been best portrayed as a sympathetic loser or a lunatic (ie. how Heyman portrayed him).

 

Lemme add Air Paris and AJ Styles to the list, since both weren't pushed at ALL during their brief 2-month run in WCW, but were both under contract. And now Air Paris is nowhere, whereas Styles is the franchise player of TNA.

 

Also, throw Tylene "Major Gunns" Buck in. Why couldn't the Misfits In Action just, I dunno, be fine as themselves? Oh, right...Russo...

 

Some notable mentions that I would've added, but I enjoyed them nonetheless:

-KweeWee

-ICP

-Dusty Rhodes (in '01)

[Ravenbomb 0]

David Arqutte

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Carnival 0]

-ICP

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[tommytomlin 0]

Dusty's return in '01 actually led to some of the highest quarter hour ratings of the year for Nitro. I believe Dusty helped da muddership crack a 3.0 in his re-debut.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

The whole Master P thing was disasterous. Even the Mark Henry signing in WWF was a smarter decision than that.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Sam Greco.

 

Dude had big arms, y'know.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Was that the guy who had like 28" biceps, and they had like one segment about how good he looked?

 

I don't remember anything else about the guy, except he really wasn't in good shape, BUT MY GOD LOOK AT THOSE BICEPS!

[Guest karlitoapple]

Brian Adams, The Sandman, and Mikey Whipwreck are good choices.

 

Ofcourse Whipwreck and Sandman were only signed because Bischoff wanted to raid ECW. I recall that WCW didn't even debut them on TV until months after they signed. I remember hearing a story of Whipwreck being backstage at WCW event and nobody knew who he was. He almost got kicked because some people actually thought he was just some fan that was backstage.

 

Brian Adams getting a huge money deal and push was all because of people running WCW(including Bischoff) marking out for anybody from the WWF/E.

[Guest Desperate Housewife]

IIRC - Sam Greco wasn't the freak with the huge arms. That was a guy called Jake Strauss

 

I liked WCW 2000-2001. Sue me

[David Blazenwing 0]

I liked WCW 2000-2001. Sue me

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The Maria Kanellis of TSM indeed.

[The Mandarin 0]

Bret Hart.

 

Ruined his legacy (well, almost) and ended his career. Luckily he got paid well and didn't have to do much, though.

 

I'm reading Death of WCW right now though, and for every page I read I'll add another person to this list.

[Golgo 13 0]

Sam Greco.

 

Dude had big arms, y'know.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Was that the guy who had like 28" biceps, and they had like one segment about how good he looked?

 

I don't remember anything else about the guy, except he really wasn't in good shape, BUT MY GOD LOOK AT THOSE BICEPS!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think you guys may be confused.

 

Sam Greco was an Australian kickboxer who was hyped as such and led the crowd in an Aussie chant in one of his only appearances. I remember nothing about biceps. The only newcomers I remember being touted for their physique around the time were all No Limit Soldiers: Chase Tatum, who looked pumped to the gills with steroids, so you're probably not thinking of him, Swoll and 2x4.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Sam Greco.

 

Dude had big arms, y'know.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Was that the guy who had like 28" biceps, and they had like one segment about how good he looked?

 

I don't remember anything else about the guy, except he really wasn't in good shape, BUT MY GOD LOOK AT THOSE BICEPS!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe you're thinking of Jake Strauss(?), He was part of a piece where Paul Orndorff was at the Arnold Classic, and they showed this guy flexing his huge biceps. They were implants. Naturally, Orndorff was fawning all over him, and played him up like he had huge potential.

[JST 0]

Yeah, I meant Strauss. I messed up on the name, my mistake.

 

I think I was hearing about this Sam Greco being considered from a contract. Wouldn't remember for the life of me where I heard it.

[MDH257 0]

I remember Meltzer recaping Brian Adams' Nitro debut in the Observer. (It was during an in ring interview with Mean Gene)

 

Gene introduced Brian Adams as WCW's latest signing. The crowd didn't care since they didn't know who he was (and if they had known, they'd of cared even less).

[BUTT 0]

That Jake guy just looked ridiculous.

 

 

Didn't Sam Greco wrestle in NWA Wildside for a while? Was he any good?