The Year 2000: WCW Is On It's Death Bed

[SSJPhenom]

In my last thread, we discussed Vince Russo coming in and his numerous horrible ideas. A lot of those ideas and storylines occurred in the year 2000. Also, some things that didn't have to do with on screen activities occurred in the year 2000 as well. So I want to discuss the year 2000 as it pertains to WCW and how in that year what was already unbearably bad became infamously and intolerably bad.

At this point in time WCW had already experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Unfortunately for WCW, though, the lows would just continue to get lower. We're going to discuss a few key/major events that contributed to WCW's horrible product and eventual demise from the year 2000. Here we go.....

The Radicalz Walk

Not everybody in WCW was stupid enough the be the band that continued playing as the ship was going down. Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn could all see the writing on the wall and they left for much much greener pastures. Funny thing is, though, that this didn't happen on Vince Russo's watch. Russo had left the company briefly in early 2000 because he had been demoted over a stupid idea he had with Tank Abbott winning the Championship. While he was gone, the book was given to Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan, realizing that Benoit and the others weren't happy, tried to appease Benoit by giving him his first WCW Championship at Souled Out in January of 2000. It was too little too late though, because the next day the four of them were gone. So, technically speaking, Benoit was never defeated for the WCW Title. Of course we all know their story from that point on. They get to WWE, they have an immediate impact on the program working with major stars right away, and two of them would go on to become World Champions in the WWE. I'd say that they made the right decision. So WCW, who was already having roster problems with their old guys always being either assholes or injured, were in an even bigger issue because now 4 of their best young in ring performers were gone. What to do what to do? Oh, I know; let the old assholes continue to have all the spotlight.

The Rise of Jeff Jarrett

Russo was gone for a period of about 3 months and in that time, trust me, Sullivan wasn't doing any better than he did. When he comes back, though, he has the book but he also has a partner in Eric Bischoff. So in an epic move in April of 2000, Russo and Bischoff call themselves 'rebooting' WCW and they vacated all of the championships and promised that the show would now revolve around younger, hungrier stars. They made good on their promise as a new person was indeed about to win the coveted WCW Championship. The problem was that the new person couldn't sell out an arena if he paid people to attend and gave them free concessions. On April 16, 2000 at Spring Stampede, Jeff Jarrett defeated DDP to win the WCW Championship. Of course the title would change hands 8 days later as DDP would win it back. Don't get me wrong, it was a good thing for the company to start using new main event stars, however, you just can't use anyone. Jeff Jarrett was a horrible person to use. He wasn't really over and he couldn't draw worth shit. I'll never understand how he got so much shine in WCW. It's fitting, though. Here I am talking about title changes in April of 2000 which leads me to.....

David Arquette Wins the WCW Championship

On April 25, 2000 Russo basically slapped every former NWA/WCW Champion in the face when he allowed Arquette to win the WCW Championship. To Arquette's credit, he did not want to win the title. He knew how bad it was. Wrestling, at this point in time was already pretty much through the transition of everyone knowing that it was fake and just entertainment, however, the wrestlers were still legitimate athletes that deserved to be taken seriously. Well, when you let some goofy actor come in, who isn't athletic in the slightest and who doesn't do what your roster does and you let him win your biggest prize; what does that say to the rest of the world? That professional wrestling shouldn't be taken seriously. It also tells your roster who have been working for years to get to that point that this guy, who doesn't do what you do is more valuable then you are. It was ridiculous and it pretty much made their title worthless from then on.

Great American Bash

WCW was on a roll by the middle of 2000. Horrible ideas? Check. Horrible Champions? Check. Losing talent? Check. Worthless title? Double Check. How can we screw up even more? Oh, I know; let's have a horrible PPV and turn our biggest face into a heel. That's exactly what they did at the Great American Bash in 2000. They took Goldberg, who, while nowhere near as big as he was a few years earlier, was still one of their most over faces and turned him heel. As if they didn't have enough of those running around. Needless to say it didn't work and yet again, it set Goldberg back. Nevermind that, it set the whole company back.

Bash at the Beach 2000

As if the Great American Bash wasn't bad enough; here we are about a month later and WCW is really cooking ITSELF with gas now. Here's the story, Jarrett was set to face Hogan with the Championship on the line. Russo wanted Jarrett to go over, but that didn't work for Hogan brother. So they tried and tried to come up with a plan that had Jarrett leaving as the Champ but without Hogan losing face. We've seen this a million times before. It still didn't work for Hogan brother. So, legend goes that Russo tells Hogan that Jarrett will lose to him by lying down and that they'll make it look like it was real. Russo sells it to Jarrett as screw Hogan, if he wants the belt then you just get in the ring and lay down for the almighty asshole and stick it to him. Jarrett does as he's told and lays down. Hogan tells him not to do that and let's have a match. Jarrett lies there. Hogan puts a foot on him and get's the three count. Tells Russo that this stuff is the reason WCW is in such bad shape and leaves. Here's where the breakdown occurs. Everything up to this point is a work. Russo, who always has to win no matter what, comes out and cuts a deep and scathing promo on Hogan. Saying that Jarrett was supposed to win but Hogan played his creative control card and politics and as god is his witness you'll never see that piece of shit again. Now, all the marks will have you believe that Russo stood up to Hogan and good for him. Fact is, Russo and Hogan came up with that damn scenario and Russo, who's ego may very well be the biggest in the business, went out and stabbed Hogan in the back by cutting that promo. It is at this point, ladies and gentlemen, that I think Russo, Hogan, and Bischoff shot WCW in the head. It may have gone on for the better part of a year after this night, but it was dead on it's feet after this. Which brings us to....

AOL/Time Warner Merger

On December 14, 2000 the Federal Trade Commission cleared the deal for AOL to purchase Time Warner. A lot of people believe that this is what killed WCW, but if you've been paying attention then you know better. I will cover this part of WCW at length in my next thread.

What do you guys think of the year 2000 for WCW? Did I miss anything that as awful as the stuff pointed out? Do your disagree with the stuff pointed out? Let me know your opinions.

 

[AnthonyM4]

I was waiting for another one of these! I was hoping you were going to cover the period between Souled Out 2000 and April 10, 2000(when Kevin Sullivan replaced Russo). That's when the following stupidity happened- A wrestler with a gimmick in which he thinks he is a dog, James Brown appearing at a wcw ppv but wasn't advertised, the Nash vs Sid feud that devalued the wcw title even more, Hogan vs Flair in a Yapipai strap match, Tank Abbott threatening to kill someone with a knife, and the ******ed storyline where Booker T and Big T were fighting over the letter T lol.

Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn didn't fair much better in wwe, heck you can argue that Malenko's time in wcw was better. In wcw he won the US and tag team titles. In wwe he won that meaningless lightheavyweight title and that's it. Perhaps I'm digressing, but you mentioned the radicals leaving wcw and only two of them had any real success in wwf.

Not only did Bash at the Beach suck because of the Hogan/Russo stuff, but two of the stupidest things I've seen in wrestling were the Daffney vs Stacy Wedding Dress match and the Graveyard match! I don't know if you ever listen to Russo's podcast(it's good for a laugh), but you should listen to his review of this show. You'd think it was the best ppv ever! Lol right?

What about shaving Ric Flair's head? That's forgotten as a stupid Russo idea in 2000. Nobody in the 80s and 90s did that, but Russo does it in 2000? Oh and how can we forget Russo surving the figure 4 leg lock for an eternity while real wrestlers tapped in mere seconds in the past!

What about replacing Bobby Heenan with that fat buffoon Mark Madden? Need I go further saying why this was bad?

WCW in 2000 is the worst wresting product I've ever witnessed since I got into wrestling in 1991. Sadly though the ratings they got were better than what wwe has been getting in the last few years.

 

[Lowdown]

I'm going into this not remembering much from WCW in 2000. My interest waned in early '99 and there really was no going back. The Radicalz making their jump really hurt the company in the long run, and as the year went by, WCW was like a chicken whose head was just cut off. But what resonated with me that year was when they decided to put the belt on Jeff Jarrett. I know I may seem like I hate the guy, and I truly don't, but I can't stress enough that I feel it was a huge mistake to put the title on Jarrett. He's never been a money talent, and I don't think anyone bought him as a believable champ. Factoring all the other events that transpired certainly didn't help matters either.

 

[relentless1]

2000 was a car wreck; COULD have been something salvageable had Bret and Goldberg not been injured, nWo might've worked, also the rise of Scott Steiner could have been done a lot better; same with the NB vs Millionaires Club etc etc

 

[WWEIsLife2]

Two more awful PPVs from that year were Uncensored and New Blood Rising. I read the star Ratings again for each Match on NBR from Meltzer and he gave half that Show a DUD. Not to mention Goldberg walking out on the 3 Way with Kevin Nash & Scott Steiner with the announcers trying to sell it out as not part of the script BRO.

Also what about the David Flair/Stacy Kiebler Wedding angle on Nitro? Plus ole Vinny Ru not missing a chance to have Ric Flair embarrased on that night in his hometown of Charlotte by having Ric arrested. Then to top it all off Stacy saying her baby wasn't David's.

 

[brahuma_bull]

I have a different take as I like Vince Russo. Some of his ideas were awful no doubt. Judy Bagwell on a pole wasn't mentioned LOL. I think WCW never stuck to anything they were too focused on ratings and not focused on the long term future of the company. I'm ok with Jarrett being champ if you have a face good enough to chase and win the belt for the payoff. Bash at the Beach the promo itself was really attention grabbing had Russo and Hogan worked it out ahead of time and went down that path it could of been very successful maybe a new NWO could of came out of it. Losing the Radicalz did hurt. Arquette winning the belt again was one of those how can we spike the ratings cause around that time I remember Vince McMahon winning the WWF title which is just as crazy in theory but no one cries wolf over that because why it helped build the brand with Austin chasing. If WCW had rebuilt up Goldberg correctly no issue with Jarrett. They focused on ratings boosts not long term booking which is kind of what WWE does today

 

[MWRedskins]

In my last thread, we discussed Vince Russo coming in and his numerous horrible ideas.

yeah it was such a good discussion...loved it and he did have numerous horrible ideas and a few ideas that had potential.
The Radicalz Walk
This was a major rip in WCW's talent pool and really stung them. Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero in general. Benoit was putting on great matches and same with Eddie, Eddie wasnt being used well while Benoit was at times pushed hard, then at times pushed down (he shouldnt have lost to Sid for the US title and Rick Steiner beat him, sad).

Funny thing is, though, that this didn't happen on Vince Russo's watch. Russo had left the company briefly in early 2000 because he had been demoted over a stupid idea he had with Tank Abbott winning the Championship. While he was gone, the book was given to Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan, realizing that Benoit and the others weren't happy, tried to appease Benoit by giving him his first WCW Championship at Souled Out in January of 2000.

This is something that some dont seem to understand about Russo and his booking...some will likely think that Russo pushed Benoit, but when given the chance to give him the big gold belt, he thought about giving it to Tank Abbott (who was clearly not ready for that big push). Kevin Sullivan and Benoit did not get along at all, so his rise to power was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back for Benoit and the others felt they'd never get pushed and walked out with him. for Benoit and Guerrero, it was a great move.

The Rise of Jeff Jarrett
The rise of Jarrett....he was already getting booked too well at that point. i remember that when he first came back to WCW, my first thought was that he last lost to Chyna. i wasnt happy when he beat Benoit (who i felt wasnt getting pushed well) and then after Benoit left, it was Jarrett's turn to get a shot at the world title. he never screamed main event to me and i hated it...

David Arquette Wins the WCW Championship
speaking of hating....this one angered alot of fans. at the time (me being younger), i thought it was a good way to get publicity, but also felt that it looked silly to see that tiny little man hold the World Championship. if he held the Cruiserweight Championship, maybe it would've been better (since that title already lost prestige with the champion being Candido, who wasnt that good). he later turned heel and that was dumber than him winning the belt because his heel promo made him sound both drunk and high at the same time.

Great American Bash
This PPV was just complete garbage....from DDP being turned on for the 3rd ppv in a row to Nash wrestling Jarrett and beating him down as well as the Filthy Animals and The Cat...to Goldberg's stupid heel turn, to Vampiro setting Stin..oh, i mean a random Stunt Double Man, on fire. the best thing about this ppv was David Flair at least looked good in the ring for a change (thanks to his daddy carrying him).

Bash at the Beach 2000
This PPV had a better main event and had potential with Goldberg vs. Nash (though the stipulation was stupid as was the next stupid heel turn they did)...but the Hogan and Russo drama will always be the story for this pathetic ppv.

Fact is, Russo and Hogan came up with that damn scenario and Russo, who's ego may very well be the biggest in the business, went out and stabbed Hogan in the back by cutting that promo. It is at this point, ladies and gentlemen, that I think Russo, Hogan, and Bischoff shot WCW in the head.

Ok, about the story itself.....i always thought that Russo was more than half right here. my guess is that Bischoff had his idea, Russo had his...no one agreed, Hogan agreed with Bischoff...they came to a compromise eventually and the plan was for Hogan to leave with a belt and come back months later and claim he's the rightful champion....HOWEVER, i think that the plan fell apart after Russo cut the promo. i think Hogan knew the promo would happen, but didnt know it would be as harsh and didnt think that Russo would say that, "you'd never see Hogan again." and then (whoever was in charge of Russo) basically said, dont bring Hogan back and that likely angered Hogan which led to the legal issues.

AOL/Time Warner Merger
Now this is what i fully believed killed WCW, this bad merger (and it didnt last long as AOL/Time Warner wouldnt stick together long). Time Warner (who were in charge of WCW at the time) didnt understand or get WCW, but AOL came off (at least from what i heard about in shows and books) as being worse than Time Warner and basically didnt want any part of it and when a company doesnt want this product near them, then it'll be sold eventually and even Bischoff stated in a Legends with JBL segment that he told some guy who worked for WCW at the time that they need to sell it since they dont want it anyway and the guy said they'd never sell WCW and then low and behold, they sold it and sold it fairly cheap than what it could've been sold for if they gave it to the right person who actually wanted to use the company.

 

[MWRedskins]

Two more awful PPVs from that year were Uncensored and New Blood Rising. I read the star Ratings again for each Match on NBR from Meltzer and he gave half that Show a DUD. Not to mention Goldberg walking out on the 3 Way with Kevin Nash & Scott Steiner with the announcers trying to sell it out as not part of the script BRO.

pretty much every ppv in WCW from these periods were just bad. too much run ins, awful booking among other things. NBR was bad and it really hurts when they overbook a Lance Storm match...let Storm do what he does best, WRESTLE. he sold his match with awesome promos, now let the man do his job and work. as for Uncensored, just brutal.....by the way, WCW always had some mystery limo or mystery person behind door thing at ppvs. how dumb is that??

James Brown appearing at a wcw ppv but wasn't advertised, the Nash vs Sid feud that devalued the wcw title even more, Hogan vs Flair in a Yapipai strap match, Tank Abbott threatening to kill someone with a knife, and the ******ed storyline where Booker T and Big T were fighting over the letter T lol.

it's amazing that Sullivan was a creative booker. if James Brown is at your ppv, hype it up to the moon!! Nash vs. Sid was just the start of devauling the WCW title.....it got much worse when the title revolved from Jarrett to Flair to Jarrett to Nash to Flair then to Jarrett and all that in a freaking 3 week period (if i'm right, it maybe shorter than that!!). Tank Abbott was just awful no matter what and that story with the Harlem Heat had feud, but the feuding over the T. part was dumb. i understood the Heat and flames part, but T. come on.

Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn didn't fair much better in wwe, heck you can argue that Malenko's time in wcw was better. In wcw he won the US and tag team titles. In wwe he won that meaningless light heavyweight title and that's it.

Agree on Malenko and somewhat Saturn too. Saturn wasnt booked well anywhere (though he did get the European Championship)...Malenko, early on was booked very well. he won the US title, had a great feud with Jericho. in wwe, he stuck to the light-heavyweight title and that was it.

What about shaving Ric Flair's head? That's forgotten as a stupid Russo idea in 2000. Oh and how can we forget Russo surving the figure 4 leg lock for an eternity while real wrestlers tapped in mere seconds in the past!

Trust me, this is NOT forgotten by me. i bring this up every time someone says Russo is a great wrestling writer...i always say that at least McMahon gets beat up by the wrestler he's feuding with eventually....but Russo beat Flair and retired him and shaved his head on one WCW Nitro episode!! the episode before that Nitro, Russo kidnapped Flair's family and of course, didnt have any payback done to him.

What about replacing Bobby Heenan with that fat buffoon Mark Madden?

i wont make fun of him for his weight, but buffoon is what Madden was. he wasnt any John Madden, i'll tell you that. Mark Madden was the worst...he wasnt funny, he was WAY too loud and far more annoying and made you want to tell your tv to shut up. him on commentary should never happen again.

 

[Lowdown]

The Rise of Jeff Jarrett
The rise of Jarrett....he was already getting booked too well at that point. i remember that when he first came back to WCW, my first thought was that he last lost to Chyna. i wasnt happy when he beat Benoit (who i felt wasnt getting pushed well) and then after Benoit left, it was Jarrett's turn to get a shot at the world title. he never screamed main event to me and i hated it...

This right here irked the hell out of me. I get that at times both players in a storyline have to trade wins, but I recall that Jarrett always seemed to come out on top when him and Benoit were feuding ove the US title. There's no way in the universe that Jeff Jarrett should've been put over Benoit.

 

[therockiswwf]

I have a different take as I like Vince Russo.

Um, what? While that is an opinion, you are wrong.

Some of his ideas were awful no doubt. Judy Bagwell on a pole wasn't mentioned LOL. I think WCW never stuck to anything they were too focused on ratings and not focused on the long term future of the company. I'm ok with Jarrett being champ if you have a face good enough to chase and win the belt for the payoff. Bash at the Beach the promo itself was really attention grabbing had Russo and Hogan worked it out ahead of time and went down that path it could of been very successful maybe a new NWO could of came out of it.

Attention grabbing for how embarrassing it was. Not to mention it probably confused and pissed off a lot of people. There is no way anything they did at Bash at the Beach 2000 could've been turned into something good.

Losing the Radicalz did hurt. Arquette winning the belt again was one of those how can we spike the ratings cause around that time I remember Vince McMahon winning the WWF title which is just as crazy in theory but no one cries wolf over that because why it helped build the brand with Austin chasing. If WCW had rebuilt up Goldberg correctly no issue with Jarrett. They focused on ratings boosts not long term booking which is kind of what WWE does today

Vince McMahon winning the WWE title is nothing like David Arquette winning the WCW title. Don't get me wrong, both are bad ideas. Vince at least had a sculpted body. David Arquette was a scrawny little nothing. Vince won the title as a face. It had nothing to do with Austin. Vince was feuding with Triple H at the time.

AOL/Time Warner Merger
Now this is what i fully believed killed WCW, this bad merger (and it didnt last long as AOL/Time Warner wouldnt stick together long). Time Warner (who were in charge of WCW at the time) didnt understand or get WCW, but AOL came off (at least from what i heard about in shows and books) as being worse than Time Warner and basically didnt want any part of it and when a company doesnt want this product near them, then it'll be sold eventually and even Bischoff stated in a Legends with JBL segment that he told some guy who worked for WCW at the time that they need to sell it since they dont want it anyway and the guy said they'd never sell WCW and then low and behold, they sold it and sold it fairly cheap than what it could've been sold for if they gave it to the right person who actually wanted to use the company.

WCW was losing millions and millions of dollars. If WCW was not, they would not have been canceled. When WCW lost their TV timeslot, they essentially became worthless. That's why it was sold for cheap. It honestly would have made no sense to keep WCW. Pro wrestling has a hard time attracting big ad revenue. So there was little chance of them ever really making a profit with WCW again. WCW already put the gun up to their own head. AOL/TW put them out of their misery.

The Time Warner AOL merger did not kill WCW. WCW killed WCW.

 

[MWRedskins]

This right here irked the hell out of me. I get that at times both players in a storyline have to trade wins, but I recall that Jarrett always seemed to come out on top when him and Benoit were feuding ove the US title. There's no way in the universe that Jeff Jarrett should've been put over Benoit.

yeah that also irked me too....Benoit is so much better in the ring than Jarrett.

Vince McMahon winning the WWE title is nothing like David Arquette winning the WCW title. David Arquette was a scrawny little nothing.

really that's all that needs to be said....Arquette is a scrawny little man while Vince McMahon was built like a wrestler. if Arquette had some in ring skills then he could get away with looking like he did, but he couldnt wrestle either.

WCW was losing millions and millions of dollars. AOL/TW put them out of their misery.
Time Warner AOL merger did not kill WCW. WCW killed WCW.

True that WCW was losing money, BUT if it was sold to a guy (who also had a tv channel spot prepared for WCW) then there's always a chance it could've survived, just not being the same company that it was. it's not easy booking a wrestling show and making money when there's people who dont know or get wrestling holding you back and that's a big reason why i blame AOL/Time Warner. they never put the company in the hands of a guy who knew wrestling and how to book it.

 

[therockiswwf]

True that WCW was losing money, BUT if it was sold to a guy (who also had a tv channel spot prepared for WCW) then there's always a chance it could've survived, just not being the same company that it was. it's not easy booking a wrestling show and making money when there's people who dont know or get wrestling holding you back and that's a big reason why i blame AOL/Time Warner. they never put the company in the hands of a guy who knew wrestling and how to book it.

Eric Bischoff tried to find another channel for WCW but was unable to. WWE tried to do the same thing when they bought WCW and they were unable to. WCW was tarnished at the end. No one wanted it. However I can see your point now.

They never put a Vince McMahon type guy in charge of WCW. Lance Storm even said that he still does not know who exactly his boss was. A large portion of the roster had no reason to care. No one really ever got punished. They pretty much let the inmates run the asylum. While some can say it's not always a good thing that Vince micromanages everything, at least it's clear that he is the boss. He is able to keep WWE on a clear course. WCW never really had that.

 

[harrythem]

I still don't understand people saying Saturn was a good wrestler as, due to injuries etc, he'd lost most of the stuff that made him look great in ECW and when he first joined WCW.
Benoit and Guerrero I get, as they could go. Malenko's biggest plus was that he managed to get an agents job in WWE but, really, he was always better suited to the old school WCW where wrestling mattered.

Still, I loved three count and still think that gimmick could work today.

 

[MWRedskins]

Eric Bischoff tried to find another channel for WCW but was unable to. WWE tried to do the same thing when they bought WCW and they were unable to. WCW was tarnished at the end. No one wanted it. However I can see your point now.

They never put a Vince McMahon type guy in charge of WCW. Lance Storm even said that he still does not know who exactly his boss was. A large portion of the roster had no reason to care. No one really ever got punished. They pretty much let the inmates run the asylum. While some can say it's not always a good thing that Vince micromanages everything, at least it's clear that he is the boss. He is able to keep WWE on a clear course. WCW never really had that.

i dont know if Bischoff had enough time to try to find another channel at that point....from what i read, tnt agreed to some deal with having WCW on their station, but backed out at the last minute or something and that blew the deal up. as for WWE, i think if WWE wanted to seriously try to put WCW on tv, they could've tried it with UPN (and call it WCW Smackdown), but my guess is that Vince basically gave up on it when Buff Bagwell had his match with Booker T.
As for the lack of a boss, yeah, that's exactly why i think WCW died. the lack of a "this guy is in charge" is what really hurt WCW. you didnt know who ran the company and that occured mainly when Bischoff started losing his power that he had in the company and then it just got worse....WCW had Russo and Bischoff work together, but the issue there was if they disagreed on ideas, who wins with their idea??? WCW had a major lack of a boss and like you said, people may not like Vince having "the" power, but at least they know who is in charge.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

David Arquette I can forgive a little because he ended up giving his earnings from WCW to the Hart Family and Droz plus he had only had the WCW Title for 2 weeks anyway.

I think Vince Russo winning it from Booker T who they were at least trying to establish was far worse. No idea what the end game was with that.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

Well, WCW lost Bret Hart in early 2000. That was a big issue. Bret should not have been booked with a concussion - it ended his career. Moreover, the Millionaires Club vs New Blood was a bomb. They had 2 factions; 1 nobody cared about anymore, and the other nobody was going to ever care about as the whole thing was poorly booked. Don't forget, the stupidity of Goldberg being booked to punch a window through - so this meant Goldberg was gone for the first half of 2000. Look at how Nash was booked in 2000- and many of you would have not remembered because he had not been over for about 2 years. As alluded to here by the original poster, the BATB 2000 was tragic and disgustingly booked. No matter what anyone thought of Hogan in WCW at the time, he was the only one who was remotely over that was on the roster. The jobbing him out to that no talent loser Jeff Jarrett was the final nail in WCW. Scott Hall got effectively sacked by WCW in February 2000 for a disagreement with the President of TNT's niece or something - so he was out of there too.

But the reality really is - Bischoff only ever had 2 achievements in WCW, the NWO which was NJPW vs. UWFi rehashed, but it was huge. Then there was the epic rise of Goldberg whose streak was the hottest thing in WCW between 1998 and its demise. And Russo was never going to do much for WCW. When you mix all of the above, the lawyers in WCW and other Execs at TNT wanting WCW to fail, and consider how on fire WWF was at the time- no wonder WCW died a death.

 

[brahuma_bull]

Yo RockisWWF an opinion is an opinion so if it's my opinion don't tell me I'm wrong! Vince winning the title at the RR was to screw Austin may want to go rewatch that. I stand by if Russo had time to develop storylines and not having to fast track everything for ratings that WCW would of had a chance to recover. Currently WWE fast tracks things i.e Joe vs Lesnar was a fast track as was AJ vs Owens and the belt swapping. Russo had some bad stories no doubt but all companies have..Katie Vick where you at? My point is Russo was only in charge for 3 MONTHS! The ratings when he started was 2.6 when he left it was 3.5 so for the job he was paid to come do he did it which was increase the ratings. When he came back with Bischoff he wasn't in charge and if not hot shotted the New Blood storyline could of worked out well as all wrestling fans love invasion style angles it's well known. NWO was the greatest storyline ever and payoff of Sting winning the belt the lead up was outstanding the match was awful and that moment IMO started the downfall of WCW.

 

[therockiswwf]

Yo RockisWWF an opinion is an opinion so if it's my opinion don't tell me I'm wrong!

Twas a joke. Though seriously, Russo was awful.

Vince winning the title at the RR was to screw Austin may want to go rewatch that.

Well that is wrong. Vince didn't win the title at RR. He won it on a SD against HHH.

I stand by if Russo had time to develop storylines and not having to fast track everything for ratings that WCW would of had a chance to recover. Currently WWE fast tracks things i.e Joe vs Lesnar was a fast track as was AJ vs Owens and the belt swapping. Russo had some bad stories no doubt but all companies have..Katie Vick where you at? My point is Russo was only in charge for 3 MONTHS! The ratings when he started was 2.6 when he left it was 3.5 so for the job he was paid to come do he did it which was increase the ratings.

This ignores A LOT of things. Mainly, a drop from 3 hours to 2. Also ignores only one episode had ratings go up after the first hour of the show in his first run. All others had huge drops in ratings. That is a problem.

Russo doesn't get a pass because he didn't do Katie Vick. He did bury people in deserts. Miscarriage angles (twice for some reason). Incest angles. Domestic abuse angles (on shows where women got beat up constantly and for some reason, only cared if a Headbanger did it). Insider shit. Goldberg vs Nash vs Steiner (good lord).

When he came back with Bischoff he wasn't in charge and if not hot shotted the New Blood storyline could of worked out well as all wrestling fans love invasion style angles it's well known. NWO was the greatest storyline ever and payoff of Sting winning the belt the lead up was outstanding the match was awful and that moment IMO started the downfall of WCW.

Austin vs McMahon would like a talk about the greatest storyline ever. Russo loves stable wars. He made THE ENTIRE FREAKING SHOW about that stupid NB/MC storyline. Way too much. He also made the young guys the heels. That was backwards. Russo never lets moments land. Swerves everywhere. He also booked himself as a super MANLY MAN.

 

[GhettoV1]

Also in June 2000 WCW aired the last episode of Saturday Night and moved it to Saturday Mornings where by the end of August it was cancelled.

 

[AnthonyM4]

I think most of us can agree that wcw in 2000 sucked, but since wwe bought wcw in 2001, they've had some bad years that were just as bad if not worse than wcw was in 2000(ie 2003, 2006, and 2009). WWE was just luckier.

 

[V/CV/]

While the year 2000 was not the best of WCW years it was by far light years away from the putridness of 2001.In 2001 they started to change pay-per-view names change logos of pay-per-views that already existed change the whole scheme of things in a way that just lost all flavor,2000 was not that bad.
What I remember most vividly about 2000 WCW concentrated a little less on the dignifying of wrestlers by holding the belt it was a lot of storylines a lot of soap opera a lot of more high octane High throttle presentation.
But to sit here and say that it was bad is wrong it was not bad yes there was many many many bad matches but there was a lot of good ones there's a lot of good storylines and WCW had just fully entered into a new era a space age,the futuristic arrival of WCW.
I think one major factor in the reason why WWF had accumulated ratings was because of the mass desire for racy stuff.
This was not wcw's Forte that is not really wrestling and that this is why w w f was where it's at. Since then how many times have ones said they want WCW back.If 2000 was that bad would people be saying they want back perhaps one of the most popular times despite the ratings. ****ADVERTISEMENT REMOVED**** WWE is the most lowest form wrestling has ever reached it is not wrestling is it is entertainment gone wrong.