Thoughts on the last WCW Nitro Night of Champions 10 yrs ago

[Xtreme_Animlas2314]

Final Roster of WCW between January and March 2001

Heavyweights 44

Alex Wright^ - Cruiserweight/Tag Team
Bam Bam Bigelow
Barbarian - Tag Team
Big Vito - Tag Team
Bill Goldberg - injury
Booker T
Brian Adams - Tag Team
Bryan Clark - Tag Team
Buff Bagwell
Chris Kanyon
Chuck Palumbo - Tag Team
Crowbar^ - Cruiserweight
DeWayne Bruce/The Sarge
Diamond Dallas Page
Disco Inferno^ - Cruiserweight/Tag Team
Don Harris - Tag Team
Dustin Rhodes
Ernest The Cat Miller
Hugh Morus/General Rection
Jeff Jarrett
Jim Duggan
Johnny The Bull - Tag Team
Kevin Nash - Retirement
Konnan
Lance Storm
Lex Luger
M.I. Smooth
Mark Jindrak - Tag Team
Meng - Tag Team/Left WCW and showed up at the January 21, 2001 Royal Rumble.
Mike Awesome
Mike Sanders^ - Cruiserweight
Norman Smiley
Reno
Ric Flair
Rick Steiner
Road Warrior Animal - Tag Team
Ron Harris - Tag Team
Scott Steiner
Sean O'Haire - Tag Team
Shane Douglas
Shawn Stasiak - Tag Team
Sid Vicious - Injury
Sting
Terry Funk
The Wall


Cruiserweight Division 19

A.J. Styles
Air Paris
Billy Kidman
Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Christopher Daniels
Elix Skipper
Evan Karagias
Jamie Knoble
Jason Jett/EZ Money/Jason B.
Jimmy Yang
Kaz Hayashi
Kid Kash
Kid Romeo
Kwee Wee/Alan Funk
Lash LeRoux
Michael Modest
Rey Mysterio
Shane Helms
Shannon Moore


Tag Teams 37

3 Count/Bad Street Boys (Shane Helms and Shannon Moore)
Big Vito and Kwee Wee
Bill Goldberg and DeWayne Bruce/The Sarge
Booker T. and Diamond Dallas Page
Buff Bagwell and Chris Kanyon
Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Road Warrior Animal
Chris Kanyon and Road Warrior Animal
Dancing Fools/Boogie Knights (Alex Wright and Disco Inferno)
Diamond Dallas Page and Dustin Rhodes
Diamond Dallas Page and Ernest Miller
Disco Inferno and Mike Sanders
Dungeon of Doom (97) (Konnan and Hugh Morrus)
Ernest Miller and M.I. Smooth
Faces of Fear (Barbarian and Meng)
Filthy Animals (Billy Kidman and Konnan)
Filthy Animals/Dare Devils (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio)
Harris Brothers (Don and Ron Harris)
Hugh Morrus and Rey Mysterio
Jaime Knoble and Evan Karagias
Jung Dragons (Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi)
Kevin Nash and Rick Steiner
KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke)
M.I.A. (Chavo Guerrero Jr. and The Wall)
M.I.A. (Hugh Morus and Lash LeRoux)
Magnificent Seven (Animal and Scott Steiner)
Magnificent Seven (Jeff Jarrett and Rick Steiner)
Magnificent Seven (Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner)
Magnificent Seven (Ric Flair and Jeff Jarrett)
Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire)
Natural Born Thrillers (Mark Jindrak and Shawn Stasiak)
Rhodes Family (Dusty and Dustin Rhodes)
Steiner Brothers (Scott and Rick Steiner)
Team Canada (Lance Storm and Elix Skipper)
Team Canada (Lance Storm and Mike Awesome)
The Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash)
The Mamalukes (Big Vito and Johnny the Bull)
Totally Buff (Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell)


Cruiserweight Tag Teams 10

3 Count (Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore)
3 Count/Bad Street Boys (Shane Helms and Shannon Moore)
Air Raid (Air Paris and A.J. Styles)
Dare Devils/Filthy Animals (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio)
Jaime Knoble and Evan Karagias
Jason B. and Scotty O
Johnny Swinger and Jason Lee
Jung Dragons (Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi)
Mike Sanders and Kwee-Wee
The Matrix (Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo)


Stables/Alliance 7

Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, and Ernest Miller
Chavo Guerrero Jr., and The Matrix (Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo)
Filthy Animals (Konnan, Rey Misterio Jr, and Billy Kidman)
Hugh Morrus, Diamond Dallas Page, and Kevin Nash
Magnificent Seven (Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, and Buff Bagwell)
Natural Born Thrillers (Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, and Sean O'Haire)
Shane Douglas, and Natural Born Thrillers (Mark Jindrak and Shawn Stasiak)
Shane Helms, and Dare Devils (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio)
Team Canada (Lance Storm, Elix Skipper, and Mike Awesome)

First off I'm a huge wrestling fan for the past two decade and don't mind to watch any promotion as long as if its a good show. I can easily say I this company or this one but I just wanted to back and talk about the Nitro that happen about 10 years ago about four months ago. I know a little late to talk about this but I just felt like I needed and wanted to look.

I've been watching old WCW footage time to time and just realise that it's been ten years since the LAST Nitro was on TV.

Rewatching and rereading the results of the matches. I am kind of disappointing in WCW on how they actually decide who was going to be on the last card for WCW Nitro. I have to give credit to them to introducing new and young talents to us in the last few months of the company. Still the star power and storylines wasn't up to par in my eyes after reviewing everything.

Here is how WCW decided to lay the final card out for WCW Nitro.

Singles Match:
Sting vs Ric Flair

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Title Match:
Filthy Animals (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio) vs The Matrix (Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo) (c)

Loser Gets A Tattoo Match:
Shawn Stasiak (with Stacy Keibler) vs Bam Bam Bigelow

WCW World Tag Team Title Match:
Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire) (c) vs Team Canada (Lance Storm and Mike Awesome)

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match:
Shane Helms (c) vs Chavo Guerrero

Three Way Dance No.1 Contenders WCW Cruiserweight Tag team Match:
Dare Devils vs 3 Count (Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore) vs Jung Dragons (Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi)

WCW United States Heavyweight vs WCW World Heavyweight Title Match:
Booker T (c) vs Scott Steiner (with Midajah) (c)


Now this is how the last Nitro went down so bare with me. The time and everything may not be accurate but close.

The final announcers of Nitro is consist of Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson.

Backstage segment with Vince McMahon.

Hosts are Tony Schiavone & Scott Hudson introduce us the fans.

In ring promo by Ric Flair challenging Sting to the last match.

WCW United States Heavyweight vs WCW World Heavyweight Title Match: 5:08
Booker T (c) vs Scott Steiner (with Midajah) (c)

Another backstage segment with Vince McMahon.

Three Way Dance No.1 Contenders WCW Cruiserweight Tag team Match: 3:37
Dare Devils vs 3 Count (Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore) vs Jung Dragons (Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi)

Backstage segment with Vince McMahon and Trish Stratus.

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: 4:38
Shane Helms (c) vs Chavo Guerrero

Backstage segment with Booker T says he wants a challenge for his title.

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: 3:20
Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire) (c) vs Team Canada (Lance Storm and Mike Awesome)

Loser Gets A Tattoo Match: 1:24
Shawn Stasiak (with Stacy Keibler) vs Bam Bam Bigelow

Backstage segment with Vince McMahon and William Regal buries WCW some more.

Diamond Dallas Page makes a few comments and statements.

Backstage showing Vince McMahon heading to the ring to make his announcements.

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Title Match: 4:43
Filthy Animals (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio) vs The Matrix (Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo) (c)

Backstage segment with Sting cutting his final promo.

Backstage showing Vince McMahon heading to the ring to make his announcements.

Singles Match: 7:19
Sting vs Ric Flair

Post match with Sting and Ric showing each other respect.

In ring promo with Vince McMahon making his announcements and more buring WCW. Wait their is Shane in the WCW ring and he tells Vince that WCW is his now. More talk about WrestleMania 17.!


I guess the show wasn't that bad but having Vince burying WCW in every segment and talking about his own next PPV is bs to me. I get what he was trying to do for a bussiness since but when you know that their was going to be an InVasion going down in couple of weeks or even months you may want to help the other company out more then what he did. Heck not make sooo many appearance and just let WCW show case their stuff and let Vince have his moment at the end of the night.

With all of Vince backstage segments and his final segment on Raw in his ring; plus adding in commercial time WCW didn't give much time for their matches to be a long one thats for sure.

Mostly every wrestling fan back then was going to tune into WCW that night and I think the had a few options to go with by making the last Nitro and more feel of a PPV type show. They didn't do that instead they let crappy match like Loser Gets A Tattoo Match happen. I believe their was tons of talents that didn't get show case either which is a shame. Other talents were injury or didn't show up probably.


Do you think the last nitro that the concept was the Night of Champions the best way to go out for WCW?
The main question from me is should WCW had the chance to do a three hour show or just the regular two hours?
Should Vince McMahon have all the air time that he gotten or let WCW talents to cut promo or video package on their last match or something that it consist of WCW talents?
How would you had booked the last Nitro if you had the chance?
How would you had booked the last Nitro if you had the chance by using any former WCW talent that wasn't apart of WWE/F or ECW at the time?
Who should had been the final champions of WCW Titles?

This is how would booked it by using the two hour format and trying to have a ppv feel to it.


Main Event - Singles Match:
Sting vs Ric Flair

[This match should be the final match no matter what.]

7 - Fatal Fourway WCW United States Heavyweight vs WCW World Heavyweight Title Match:
Booker T (c) vs Scott Steiner (with Midajah) (c) vs Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett or Shane Douglas (if possible)

[I wish their was other talents available at the time but I believe adding DDP and Jarrett would make a least a little bit better]

6 - Fatal FourWay WCW WCW World Tag Team Title Match:
Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire) (c) vs Team Canada (Lance Storm and Mike Awesome) vs Dungeon of Doom (97) (Konnan and Hugh Morrus) vs Totally Buff (Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell)

[Not sure how or why Team Canada got a title shot but I figure adding in Totally Buff and Konnan and Hugh Morrus would be a better match but the other way around was fine too.]

5 - WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Title Match:
Filthy Animals (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio) vs The Matrix (Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo) (c)

[After Kidman pinned Romeo on the last Thunder it should be given for one more match with these two teams.]

4 - WCW Cruiserweight Triple Threat Title Match:
Shane Helms (c) vs Chavo Guerrero vs Jaime Knoble

[I just think that Knoble should had gotten a better chance to show case his work.]

3 - Tag Team Match:
Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon vs Natural Born Thrillers (Mark Jindrak and Shawn Stasiak)

[Better then the single match that we gotten with Bigelow and Stasiak]

2 - Triple Threat Tag Team Match:
Magnificent Seven (Animal and Rick Steiner) vs KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke) vs Harris Brothers (Don and Ron Harris)

[Just to see which team has the power out of these three. Just a filler but it doesn't happen if doesn't need to.]

1 - Three Way Dance WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Match:
Air Raid (Air Paris and A.J. Styles) vs Jung Dragons (Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi) vs 3 Count (Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore)

[At least let the young stars shine one last time.]

Now their was a few other talents that I didn't pick but I figure it is a little too much of stars on one show but hey its the last show for WCW Nitro and why not use the talents you got.


How would you had booked the last Nitro if you had the chance by using any former WCW talent that wasn't apart of WWE/F or ECW at the time?

Main Event - Singles Match:
Sting vs Ric Flair

7 - Six way WCW United States Heavyweight vs WCW World Heavyweight Title Match:
Booker T (c) vs Scott Steiner (with Midajah) (c) vs Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett vs Bill Goldberg vs Sid Vicious

[If the United States Heavyweight and World Heavyweight was getting defending in the same match or Booker T wasn't the US champ then thing would change.]

6 - Fatal Fourway WCW WCW World Tag Team Title Match:
Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire) (c) vs Team Canada (Lance Storm and Mike Awesome) vs Dungeon of Doom (97) (Konnan and Hugh Morrus) vs Totally Buff (Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell)

5 - WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Title Triple Threat Ladder Match:
Filthy Animals (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio) vs The Matrix (Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo) (c) vs return team of Psychosis and La Parka

4 - WCW Cruiserweight Title Gaulant Match:
Shane Helms (c) vs Chavo Guerrero vs Jaime Knoble vs Christopher Daniels vs Kid Kash vs Jushin Liger (returns) vs Ultimo Dragon (returns) vs Disco Inferno

3 - Tag Team Match:
Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon vs Natural Born Thrillers (Mark Jindrak and Shawn Stasiak)

2 - Triple Threat Biggest and Powerful Tag Team Match:
Magnificent Seven (Animal and Rick Steiner) OR Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) vs KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke) vs Harris Brothers (Don and Ron Harris)

1 - Three Way Dance WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Match:
Air Raid (Air Paris and A.J. Styles) vs Jung Dragons (Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi) vs 3 Count (Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore)

Not much changes but really didn't have any other idea at the moment.

Who should had been the final champions of WCW Titles?

WCW World Heavyweight Title - Booker T or Bill Goldberg or Diamond Dallas Page
WCW United States Heavyweight Title - Booker T or Diamond Dallas Page
WCW WCW World Tag Team Title - Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire)
WCW Cruiserweight Title - Jaime Knoble or Chavo Guerrero
WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Title - Dare Devils/Filthy Animals (Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio)
WCW World Television Title - Vacated or Retired
WCW Hardcore - Vacated or Retired


Please give thoughts and opinions and I know its a lot but please take your time and read it if possible. Thanks.!

 

[Kliq4Life]

Unlike the guy above, i will respond with an actual answer and not be a dbag. And you get props for the research and effort, as someone who watched WCW beginning to end, i think that last show was just thrown together and also a big fuck you from Vince. It was also the day Vince killed WRESTLING forever.

 

[kobrad]

I agree with Kliq4Life, I think Vince was a jerk on this show and he ruined it by screwing over the fans with a crap show! It should of been a WCW thing and not a Vince saying screw you to WCW! Seriously Vince's ego is so big and I agree the day he bought WCW is the day that Wrestling (thats right Vince I said wrestling) died because there is no competition. WCW was the bomb, and i dont care how many people say that it was crap at the end, you know what it might have been crap at the end but i would take that crap over this pathetic stuff we have today! WCW was the best!!!

 

[afark02]

I agree with Kliq4Life, I think Vince was a jerk on this show and he ruined it by screwing over the fans with a crap show! It should of been a WCW thing and not a Vince saying screw you to WCW! Seriously Vince's ego is so big and I agree the day he bought WCW is the day that Wrestling (thats right Vince I said wrestling) died because there is no competition. WCW was the bomb, and i dont care how many people say that it was crap at the end, you know what it might have been crap at the end but i would take that crap over this pathetic stuff we have today! WCW was the best!!!

Cant blame him. This was the same show who stole a lot of his top talent and gave away the results of his show. Vince was grateful enough for them to have one last show, he could have had said just fuck it and just pulled the plug before that last show.

 

[Karilas]

Cant blame him. This was the same show who stole a lot of his top talent and gave away the results of his show. Vince was grateful enough for them to have one last show, he could have had said just fuck it and just pulled the plug before that last show.

Not really, it made perfectly good business sense for him to use the last Nitro broadcast essentially as free marketing for the WWF. It's not like he gave them that Nitro episode out of the goodness of his heart or anything. I'm pretty sure that broadcast cost Vince almost nothing and helped increase his own brand's exposure.

 

[Eerix12]

He could of done anything he could of made wcw a Chris benoit if you get what I'm saying but noo he still puts out dvds and is mentioned from time to time he's a professional and knows how to run things and I mean honestly wcw was never better than wwe

 

[silk]

Wcw was much better then wwe/f.

Plain and simple Wcws matchs may not of always been the best but they showclassed some awesome talent.

Sadly half the roster never made it to wwe im sure if we had it our way wcw would still be alive and we'd be enjoying it. I know i would still be watching it.

Ive bought the best of wcw and the rise and fall of wcw just to relive some fun i experinced as a child.

 

[Da Truth]

Guys, Vince was acting an ass because that's was the role he had to play. Think about it, this is the company that nearly destroyed WWE, so why not gloat. WCW and Bischoff wouldn't done the same thing, trust me. I kepted up with WCW and I liked it pretty well, but be honest with yourselves; the last year or so of WCW was almost unbearable to watch. The storylines didn't make sense, backstage politics were too obvious, things were thrown together, etc. Remember the plan at first was to do the invasion angle and then run it as if it was a seperate company if they found a network. It wasn't economically feasible. As far as the last WCW episode goes, I see nothing too much wrong with the card. They could've something else with Bam Bam though. You guys are right about too much McMahon though; certain matches should have been given more time. It was said to see WCW go but they really did it to themselves by the way they ran the company.

 

[JSpaz]

Could the last Nitro been better? Absolutely. Did Vince ruin the last show. Hell no! I remember when Nitro came on that night and opened with Vince. We were all like "Holy S**T!" The "J E Double Gone" segment was classic. And..... of course Shane showing up was great.

Why did I consider this to be one of the most historical moments??
Because if you had that remote control in your hand on Monday night, for 6 years, like I did, you knew this was truly the end of an era.

I don't believe Vince ruined the last show. I watched The Rise and Fall of WCW about 4 times, and one part sticks out to me. When Vince says "There was no party or parade when WCW went down". If you tell me he was not happy, and there was no champagne popping, then... like Bully Ray said on Impact, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.


Wrestling has not been the same since. It was for about 10 minutes on 1/4/2010. When RAW went head to head with TNA on that Monday night.

 

[spinarooni]

The last nitro was a sad day in wrestling history. Monday nights too me were never the same. Seeing Shane McMahon on the show took the whole freight train of rivalry and dumped it right down the toilet. RIP WCW!!!!!

 

[FlairFan2003]

As far as booking the show was concerned, a lot of top stars chose not to appear. Nash, Hogan, Goldberg, Luger, Bagwell, all had chances to appear and declined. Nash even joked in interviews saying his money was guaranteed so why work when he could stay home and get paid.

The younger guys appeared to get noticed, this was their last chance to audition for WWE. Booker T & Scott Steiner appeared (and Steiner, notorious for being difficult to work with in the latter days of WCW, agreed to lose cleanly) because they were on the margins, not superstars like Luger, Hogan, Nash, etc but above the mid carders in newbies in status. This was their last chance to get noticed by Vince (Booker was signed almost immediately, WWE waited a long time before bringing in Steiner, who didn't last long).

Flair & Sting were a fitting close for the show, although Flair wasn't wrestling and was no where near in as good as shape as he was during his last WWE run afterwards.

As for the failure of the rivalry to translate into a bigger story on WWE TV after the Shane McMahon takeover, that was simple. WWE was only paying small percentages of the wrestler's contracts (all guaranteed by Time Warner at the time) to buy them out, allowing them to sign with WWE. Hogan, Nash, Luger, & Scott Hall were content to collect on their Time Warner contracts rather than take the buyout and negotiate a new, presumably smaller deal with WWE, plus WWE was wary of Hall's outisde issues. Sting & Flair wanted time away and initially were not interested in joining WWE (Sting never has). Goldberg the same. Luger also was injured and did not get along with Vince.

Due to this, the reconstructed WCW consisted almost exclusively of mid card talent. Booker T and DDP were the only close to star level guys who signed on early, basically creating an idea of the unknowns and second tier guys attempting to take down the top stars of WWE. No one bought it, kind of like asking the third string of the Pittsburgh Steelers to defeat the starters or The Green Bay Packers. Stars vs Stars it's a great game, but the WCW Invasion was hardly "the stars" of WCW.

If the Invasion angle was to work, team WCW needed Hogan, Flair, Sting, and Nash, Goldberg too, to make the team legit, then add your Booker T's, DDP's, etc as part of the team. Kinda like DX worked by heaving HBK & Triple H headline but Billy Gunn & Road Dog were valuable, Flair headlined the Horsemen but Blanchard, Anderson, etc were valuable.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Not really, it made perfectly good business sense for him to use the last Nitro broadcast essentially as free marketing for the WWF. It's not like he gave them that Nitro episode out of the goodness of his heart or anything. I'm pretty sure that broadcast cost Vince almost nothing and helped increase his own brand's exposure.

Vince was an ass during the broadcast but he was playing his evil owner role, plus the idea of the Shane McMahon Invasion was already brewing, Vince used the final Nitro to kick start the next big WWE story, can't blame him for that.

Vince has given some props to other wrestling companies, the DVD releases, documentaries, etc, plus making sure his Hall Of Fame honors wrestlers from all over the US promotions, not just WWE lifers. For all intents and purposes, Vince and WWE are the keepers of US wrestling history now, at least he has made attempts to pay homage in a respectful manner and recognize the accomplishments of wrestlers and promotions outside WWE, he could have bought the tape libraries and buried everything.

Of course, Vince is also a business man, and his attempts to honor wrestling history have made him a nice profit. The "Best Of Steel Cage Match" and Top SuperStars of the 80's & 90's DVD's made him a lot of money, not too mention the Ric Flair retrospective DVD's, and his abillity to re-do retrospective DVD's on HBK, Hogan, and others including non WWE footage for the first time.

 

[tidus21]

Vince wanted to rub it in their faces that he had won over everything that had happened, it was a boost in ego and just overall fun for him. Who can really blame him though, most of us given the chance would have done the same to a rival we have beaten. But really a lot of things had to go his way for that to happen and it was the Merger of time warner to aol that killed WCW.

Many of the top tier talent decided to keep their contracts and not appear on the last episode of Nitro, others had to appear to hopefully earn a contract with WWE while others had a contract right away.

I think now, Vince would have probably done things differently with WCW. He probably would have kept it a separate brand, found a station to air it and only moved a few stars over to the WWE. Pretty much using WCW as a proving ground before a big jump to WWE. Thus continuing "competition" and having more abilities to have people get over. Pretty much a better version of the ECW/WWE brand.

 

[saw411]

If you have not noticed, many of the guys that won on the last nitro were guys whose contracts came over in the purchase of the company, or who had already decided to take their buy out and join wwe. Why would vince chance giving someone like jarrett air time to build momentumn to anything else but wwe. Its called business. Also a lot of guys were not at the last nitro because they weren't obligated too. What was gonna happen, get fired? Sad day yes, should have been a better sure. Absolutely. But business and fantasy don't always see eye to eye

 

[nwogiant33]

I just remember sitting down that Monday night, knowing that the WWF (at the time) had bought WCW, being astonished to see Vince McMahon on Monday Nitro on TNT. I was always a WCW guy, hell, I still am in that my interests have always been TNA/IW or ROH ever since. But, that night will always live in infamy in my heart for the night that wrestling as we knew it in the '90's+ died.

It all could've been handled better I'm sure, but if I recall, there was only a few days between the announcement and that Monday night. I remember it being odd seeing Sting vs Flair that night, because both guys were barely used during the end times, but it was probably the most apropos end to WCW.

The one thing I always recall afterwards was the stories that a group headed by Eric Bischoff wanted to buy WCW, shut it down for a month or so, and relaunch it with an improved roster lead by Rob Van Dam. What could have been...

 

[Mr Cold]

Yeah there coulda been a few things done differntly...Watched wrestling all my life 25years..I remember watching the first Monday Nitro and the last Monday Nitro..First one made my hart jump and the last one made my hart sink..Tony Schiavone did damn fine comentary..Sting vs Ric Flair being the last match..I wouldnt of had it any other way...Shane Mcmahon was on Nitro..Vince was on Raw..F************************************************* Both of them..If they were smart they would have ran both companys..But their not..WCW 4 LIFE..

 

[DeathClutch]

I'm not reading the response to see if this was already mentioned, and hind sight is a wonderful thing but that show was Invitation to champions, and going on what was going on with the product before it ceased THAT show was perfect, the right guys won (I was a Steiner guy back then) but it made sense that hole show. Some results I'd of rather have went the other way but due to them not getting a WWE contract the right people won the only bitch of the show was Vinces segments.

I actually have that last nitro on tape minus the Shane/Vince ending.

 

[DeathClutch]

Yeah there coulda been a few things done differntly...Watched wrestling all my life 25years..I remember watching the first Monday Nitro and the last Monday Nitro..First one made my hart jump and the last one made my hart sink..Tony Schiavone did damn fine comentary..Sting vs Ric Flair being the last match..I wouldnt of had it any other way...Shane Mcmahon was on Nitro..Vince was on Raw..F************************************************* Both of them..If they were smart they would have ran both companys..But their not..WCW 4 LIFE..

And at the time their was talk about doing it, and WCW pushing guys like Billy Gunn who'd failed in his latest WWE run, would you have bought a WCW ppv with Billy Gunn Vs Booker T Main event for the belt?

Not likely.

In fairness the invasion angle gets dicked on left, right and centre all the time but it wasn't bad considering. Problem was the big dollar guys were getting MILLIONS to sit around at home and collect paychecks, why come to work when you can sit in the house and not worry about WWE's bullshits (politics) keeping you down??

IF WWE had been smart in March 2003 they would have re-hashed the angle with Hogan, Nash, Steiner & Goldberg, Booker and the rest of the gang who was still under contract.

 

[dansaun77]

What was the point of the guy at the top posting all that rubbish?? I thought this would be a thread about Night of Champions in WCW. WCW could not have their bread and butter talent appear as they had contracts stating they could pretty much choose when they would come to work. Joke, thus why WCW went down the way it did. Watching Flair wrestle in a Nitro t shirt was a disgrace, Sting phoned it in as we.. Poor show, but better than anythnig they put out for their last 12-18 months