WCW in 1994 and 1995 before the NWO

[Kool Aid Man]

Were you a fan of what WCW was doing during this brief time? I always thought this period was interesting because it was around the time when Nitro had just started after Hogan and before the NWO. WCW essentially had a talent overload that would have been difficult for most to manage effectively. Hogan, Savage, Luger, Flair, Sting, and the recent arrival of The Giant all saw a lot of circulation in and out of the main event scene.

It seemed as this was WCW's growing pain years with the heavy roster and the addition of Hogan, that they almost needed the NWO to help manage future story lines in a way.

Also guys like Benoit were able to capitalize on the faces feud with the Horsemen and you guy to see great matches with Benoit and the aforementioned wrestlers in main events that you wouldn't see for years later when he finally got a push.

It seemed on the other side that the WWF was struggling to put out anything besides cartoonish products. The WCW did the same with the Dungeon of Doom, but The Giant made the product more interesting.

Of course there was Hogan pulling foolishness like booking himself in the 94 Starrcade against his buddy The Butcher.

 

[justtxyank]

The original main event for Starrcade 94 was supposed to be Hogan vs Hennig. Hennig was supposed to the masked man that attacked Hogan, but things didn't work out due to Hennig's insurance policy.

As for the time period, I loved all of the wrestlers WCW was using in this time period even if they were being used in a crappy way.

Tenta, Kamala, Kevin Sullivan, all of the Dungeon of Doom guys were fun to watch. WCW could have been REALLY good in this time frame if they were booking a realistic product with this roster.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

A lot of stuff was questionable during this time in both WWF and WCW alike, WWF is a whole other story, and for another thread. But needless to say, it was some woefully underwhelming shite.

However, shifting the focus back to World Championship Wrestling, things started with some promise, Hulk Hogan's jumping ship to the enemy territory was a great move, all honesty. All seriousness, and there were some really good matches and moments with Hogan and Flair actually having the feud should have had in WWF. Regardless of that though, some rather shitty stuff did occur, for instance like justtxyank said, there were some rumblings about a Hogan vs Hennig match at Starrcade 1994. That would have been boss.

Instead, we got Beefcake vs Hogan for the strap, a very shitty idea to say the least. It's not a knock against the friendship of Brutus and Hogan but to me, Beefcake's best years were behind him. His near fatal parasailing accident took a lot of steam out of his career for obvious reasons. Plus, he couldn't legally call himself Brutus Beefcake anymore so that made things lame in that respect. Under other circumstances, it might have been a better match, but for the previously mentioned reasons in addition to it being rushed was just what made this a disaster. A shame that we couldn't have gotten Hennig there in time for the event, but at the same time I wouldn't have liked seeing Hennig fed to Hogan either because that's what would have happened.

Now let's go to the year 1995, what a pile of horeshit, for the most part. I was disappointed that Vader was no-sold with his devastating power bomb by Hogan, I have to admit disappointment even with my favorite wrestlers and Hogan doesn't avoid my criticism on this one. Hogan had in front of him what could have been his next GREAT rival, someone that we'd be talking about for years to come if business was done differently. Not to say that the Vader and Hogan matches didn't have watchability, but it was just disappointing to see them not do more with this. Although, I am going to say it right now, Vader's credibility suffered MORE in the WWF than in WCW, period.

I disliked The Dungeon Of Doom from day one, there were indeed great talent like justtxyank was saying. However, nothing was being utilized right, just HATED so many aspects of this, the monster truck challenge with The Giant was silly. Then of course passing him off as Andre's kayfabe son. I'm surprised that they somehow managed to miss the boat in poor taste by not having a vignette with the Giant at Andre's graveside. Oh well, it only took four years for the WWF to do it, although by this time they were referencing a different kayfabe father for The Giant/Big Show. But again, another story for another day. But by god how awful!

Kevin Sullivan should have had a one on one match with Hogan too, a shame that never happened. It only continued to get shitty into 1996 before the nWo angle happened. Let's not forget the Alliance To End Hulkamania nonsense.

Some of the bright spots though during that 1994-1996 period, since you mentioned 1995 OP, I might as well bring up the stuff going on prior to the nWo in 1996 as well since it's so tied to some of 1995's happenings. Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat rekindled their rivalry for a brief time, and Steamboat then warred with Steve Austin over the US Title. Sadly, Rick Rude retired due to an injury in a match. Randy Savage came to WCW and gave his career a shot in the arm. Chris Benoit returned to WCW on a full time basis, for those that remember he had wrestled for WCW on a part time basis in the earlier part of the decade.

Following Benoit you had talent like Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and a host of other great talent that made WCW a very distinctive product apart from the WWF.

Monday Nitro along with Lex Luger's return to WCW in 1995 helped support all this due to the fact that you were now set to have two prime time wrestling programs on the same night. A lot of stuff was still rather ridiculous and shitty, but a lot of that stench WCW had on it from as far back to even the Jim Herd days was starting to wear off finally. We all know where things eventually ended up but considering how in its 60 plus year history Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW was always in a tough and go phase going back to when Ted Turner bought the promotion from the Crockett Family.

Overall though, WCW had a lot of good stuff to offer, and it wasn't all bad.

 

[LBGetBack]

No, I can't say I did. I liked WCW in like 91-93 with Big Van Vader, Sting, Ric Flair, Rick Rude, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, Arn Anderson, Ron Simmons, etc......those were good years for the most part. After that, it really wasn't good until 1996. The intitial years when all the old WWF guys came over were disappointing. Hogan and Savage just weren't the same in WCW. It wasn't until they added new dimensions to themselves in the NWO that they were great again.

 

[wrestler36]

The original main event for Starrcade 94 was supposed to be Hogan vs Hennig. Hennig was supposed to the masked man that attacked Hogan, but things didn't work out due to Hennig's insurance policy.

Oh wow. I never knew that. WCW main events at that time were kind of boring, as they were repeats of Hogan main events from WWF. I did enjoy seeing the undercard though, as it allowed me to see guys like Guerrero, Benoit, Malenko. At that time, I didn't see anything in Jericho until he turned heel. Hollywood Blondes were coming around and they had some awesome tag feuds. Bagwell gets a bad rep, but he was a workhorse at that time. I enjoyed seeing him grow from Marcus Alexander Bagwell, to Stars and Stripes, American Males and so forth. Granted, he took a lot of flak for that stupid dance, but I enjoyed watching Alex Wright wrestle. Dungeon of Doom was a lot of fun until it became bloated. One time acts like the Yeti as well as repackaged stars into stupid characters (Shark - Earthquake; Ying Yang Man - Beefcake) were kind of over the top. I like how WCW repackaged Haku and made him into a beast for awhile. They brought that Japanese contingent with Sonny Ono. He was a great heel manager, kind of like a young Fuji. I remember thinking Kurusawa and Masahiro Chono were some serious badasses.

Granted, it wouldn't have been at such a large scale without the nWo, but it still would have been a Monday Night War of some sorts. Who knows, WCW may still be around these days if they hadn't been spending so much

 

[FlairFan2003]

Well both companies were struggling, shells of what they had been 8-10 years earlier. WWE gave us the collective yawn known as New Generation, Giant Gonzales, Issac Yankem, etc.

Now WCW at the start of 94 had a solid roster. Flair, Sting, Vader, Rude, Anderson, Steamboat, plus some solid mid carders in Johnny B Badd (Marc Mero), Steven Regal, Steve Austin, Brian Pillman. The mid year addition of Hogan (which came shortly after the injury induced retirement of Rude, a pretty big hole in the roster) definately gave WCW a shot in the arm. However, almost from the beginning it was clear Hogan was steamrolling Flair and WCW fans revolted. Ratings and buyrates plummeted after Flair was forced off screen (ostensibly to let Hogan win over the audience without him around) and WWE fans werent interested after their initial feud, already tired of Hogan's schtick. Also, undercard development was poor with too much attention to Hogan and his feuds (part of the reason Hogan didnt spike the ratings like they hoped he would).

The return of Flair and the additions of Savage and Luger helped pick things up in 95 and WCW at least had enough star power to compete head to head with WWE, something they hadnt been able to do since it was the NWA run by Jim Crockett Jr in the 1980s. The advent of Monday Nitro in late 95 was a high light industry wide, easily the most exciting thing in either company. WCW was still top heavy, too much attention on the top of the card, too little on the under card, but while WWE was more balanced, they werent particulary good. An interesting dynamic ratings wise started where Raw would consistently lead, sometimes narrowly, in the early portions head to head vs Nitro but WCW would run even, often winning the ratings for the main event portions.

Pre NWO 1996 was actually some of the best product WCW ever produced. They kept Hogan out of the title picture (with Flair you had a champ who would wrestle every week on TV, something you needed to compete vs Raw) but more importantly WCW actively promoted and invested storline time to their undercard. Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Misterio, all products of a time in which WCW was a balanced wrestling company. Check the ratings, Jan-June 96 Nitro beat Raw numerous times, sometimes like in Feb during the run up to SuperBrawl by substantial margins, and the undercard matches were generating buzz (drawing well) as a nice compliment to the Main Event Roster. WCW produced it's first legit star (The Giant) in several years. Pre 96 in all was an entertaining time for WCW, better than WWE, and I feel was better as a whole than anything WCW did over a similar period of time in 94 or 95.

Just focussing on 94-95, Flair's final run vs Steamboat, his 1st two bouts vs Hogan, Luger's surprise return and feud vs Savage, the break up and re formation of The Horsemen, the advent of Nitro, Steamboat vs Austin & Rude vs Vader (two feuds that had potential to be great but were cut short due to injury), all were high lights.

 

[justtxyank]

Oh wow. I never knew that.

Yep, there were even wrestling magazines that had Hennig on the cover at that time frame talking about his impending WCW arrival.

What really is said about the whole thing is that 94 was off to a really good start before Hogan got there and then he and Flair put on a really good match at Bash at the Beach. If you cut the year in half and look at JUST the first part of 94 and then couple that with the last 2 years of WCW you'd think...man, this company is about to be the #1 in the world. Unfortunately WCW spiraled out of control creatively after this (more so into 95 than 94.) They fully embraced the cartoon wackiness of the WWF and alienated the longtime traditional wrestling fans that had held WCW together for years.

Hogan in an NWA style WCW would have been awesome. He was embraced at first in 94 and putting on real title feuds with Flair (where Flair had a shot to win instead of being booked as significantly inferior) and then a hellacious feud with Vader...man. It could have been so good. So good.

That's why I said what I said. The talent in WCW was so good during this time frame and that's why I have a soft spot for it. I can even watch crappy Dungeon of Doom stuff and enjoy it because the workers are so entertaining.

 

[MrHashasheen]

WCW 1994 - 1996 was pretty much wasted opportunity for the company. Hogan's entry had pushed down a lot of budding stars for the company (including guys like Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Konnan, Rick Rude, Vader, etc...) who wound up stagnating for years before leaving for greener pastures. It's kind of sad if you think about it.

If you want to see that era done right, have a look at this:
http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=524029

It's a BTB thread, but it does that time period just right and everyone sounds and feels like they would. Entertains you so well and always has surprises right around the corner. Very fun read.

 

[Kool Aid Man]

The Dungeon of Doom had potential if the WCW could have kept Vader it would have legitimized them more.

I would have booked Sullivan, The Giant, Vader, and Meng against Hogan, Sting, Savage, and Luger at Fall Brawl it would have been much more interesting.

I like these years for WCW, even though they didn't get talked about much. Bischoff had overloaded the roster with so many seasoned main eventers and you had three baby faces (luger, hogan, and savage) on the same roster.

On a side note, I don't believe Sting got a world title during this era either. I think he had a gap in-between losing the unification title match to Flair, and then beating Hogan at Starrcade 97. Sting seems like a fairly gracious guy but I've always wondered what his opinion on Hogan is given that Hogan and Savage came in and put him on the back burner so to speak and didn't let him get a clean win at Starrcade despite Sting's loyalty to WCW.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The Dungeon of Doom had potential if the WCW could have kept Vader it would have legitimized them more.

I would have booked Sullivan, The Giant, Vader, and Meng against Hogan, Sting, Savage, and Luger at Fall Brawl it would have been much more interesting.

I like these years for WCW, even though they didn't get talked about much. Bischoff had overloaded the roster with so many seasoned main eventers and you had three baby faces (luger, hogan, and savage) on the same roster.

On a side note, I don't believe Sting got a world title during this era either. I think he had a gap in-between losing the unification title match to Flair, and then beating Hogan at Starrcade 97. Sting seems like a fairly gracious guy but I've always wondered what his opinion on Hogan is given that Hogan and Savage came in and put him on the back burner so to speak and didn't let him get a clean win at Starrcade despite Sting's loyalty to WCW.

There were stories that Rick Rude was in line for title run when he suffered his career ending back injury and that was why the company was trying him as a face vs Vader.

In Flair's book he said by the summer of 94 Sting was supposed to get the title after another long feud and build up but those plans were scrapped when Hogan finally signed, Sting not thrilled at the time (he was shoved out of the main event scene entirely at this point, really only being fed to Flair to beef up his resume and facilitate his heel turn before his run Vs Hogan) but Sting was a team player and went along.

One thing you have to give Flair & Sting credit for, they stayed loyal and followed through on some truly awful booking decisions at times, always giving their best. I think that's why guys like them and Undertaker command so much respect from their younger peers (it's also a credit to their charisma and ability that they remained so over with fans despite some of these decisions).

 

[TDFG]

I hated the Dungeon of Doom, the bear-hug from the Yeti, that horrible segment with Hogan gets dropped into the tomb or whatever it was. If they'd have kept the group with Vader, The Giant, Sullivan, Meng & Rogers then I might have enjoyed it more.

I think WCW could have brought the Cruiserweight Title back 12-18 months before they did, the roster would have had Pillman, Malenko, Guerrero, Alex Wright, Disco Inferno, Armstrong, Jerry Lynn & they could have maybe got away with the likes of Eaton, Scorpio & Maggs.

Overall I'd say in 94-95 WCW had a damn good roster, the booking was horrible though.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Coming from 8-9 year old deanerandterry I was not a fan of WCW from October '94 until the nWo showed up. I was watching WCW long before Hogan showed up and for the most part I enjoyed it. Guys like Cactus Jack, Sting and my personal favorite Big Van Vader really grabbed my attention in late '91. Every Saturday morning I watched WCW Power Hour, watched 2-3 hours of WWF in the afternoon and at 6:05 ET back to watching WCW Saturday Night, that was my Saturday for quite a few years not to mention I caught every Clash of The Champions and most WCW PPV's during this time as well. When I first heard Hogan was coming I was pretty excited and I was looking forward to him vs. Flair (even though back then I didn't fully understand what that match really meant). I think at Halloween Havoc Hogan put Flair into retirement with Hogan moving on to facing Brother Bruteye (now known as The Butcher) and that's when I started not liking where this show was going. In the span of 6 months from when I loved WCW I started to hate it. I like Hogan but his novelty had worn off for me by that time and I hated that no matter what the odds were he would overcome them every time. I know that's Hogans thing but WCW sometimes went WAY overboard with stacking the odds against him. I think what upset me more is Jim Duggan beating Stunning Steve for the US title in less than 10 seconds at Fall Brawl as I was just DONE with Duggan by that point and I really enjoyed Austin vs. Steamboat, that was one of the last times I remember seeing Austin in WCW.

Even at 8 years old I saw WCW as an alternative, a more realistic style of wrestling if you would have it and I loved it, when Hogan came in they be came "WWF 80's lite" and I didn't like it at all. It was obvious even at that age they were just trying to be the WWF and they were a million times worse at pulling it off, same reason I was so cold to TNA for so many years (still kind of am to be honest).

I'm a huge WWF fan but that doesn't mean I want to watch someone do a lesser version of WWF. I know turning more sports entertainment helped WCW out business wise, I get why they did it but for me I didn't care for it. Why watch a D-level college team when you can watch A-level college team?

 

[aholeisahole]

WCW was actually doing well creatively until Hogan arrived in '94. Almost overnight it became the Hogan & Friends show. It obviously put the then second-tier promotion on the map, but the wrestlers who ended up jumping to WWF (esp. Austin) ended up showing that the move was short-sighted.

 

[thebarber]

WCW in 1994-1995 I didnt ind at all. In Australia, this was the first time WCW was shown, and we got WCW worldwide tapings which were the rubbish matches at the spinning stage in Orlando, but they would show highlights of major stories or events from WCW Saturday Night. I used to really enjoy watching Brian Pillman, Ricky Steamboat and slowly but surely all of the familiar WWE gutys like Hogan, Duggan, Haku, Honkytonk Man, Iron Sheik Paul Orndorff and co. I never really viewed them as competition or anythnig, just an alternative to what WWE were doing, and doing poorly at the time.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I want to ask people if there's some truth to this. But during 1994 to 1995 in WCW it was apparent Hogan's stock was going down and dropping very faster than anyone would imagine (match quality, ratings, fan reaction). WCW at the time wasn't exactly doing gangbusters in the ratings and revenue during that period. The common belief is that when Nash and Hall came in they needed to bring Hogan in the NWO to make the stable work. However from what I heard elsewhere was that it was the other way around that Hogan wanted to join Nash and Hall. It seems that Nash and Hall jumping to WCW brought a ton of interest to WCW and brought a spike in ratings and that Hogan wanted to cling to their popularity to rejuvenate his career.

Any truth or legitimacy to this?

 

[FlairFan2003]

There is some truth. Hogan was showing a decline in popularity, although the industry in general had been in decline since 1990. Many of the older fans still watching in the mid 90s who started in the 80s, previously huge Hogan fans, now older, appreciated the far more outlandish and risque Ric Flair character for entertainment value and appreciated the superiore in ring work displayed by Brett Hart, the heir to Hogan's throne as super hero baby face main eventer in WWE. A bigger problem for Hogan was the fact the WCW fan base, while interested in him, was invested in Flair and wanted to see Flair triumph in their feud (at least not lose every match). Outside of Flair WCW struggled to find stars worthy of main eventing with Hogan. Shortly before Hogan joined Rick Rude was injured and had to retire. Up and comer Steve Austin was oft injured. Savage hadnt joined yet. Steamboat retired due to injury just before Hogan arrived. WCW was unwilling to feed Sting to Hogan as the only No. 1 baby face on the roster. After Vader, Flair-less pre Savage WCW offered little in the top tier worthy of main eventing vs Hogan.

Now by late 95 their was an upswing in WCW Popularity. The creation of The Giant and return of Lex Luger gave the top tier a much needed infusion of marketable talent alongside Flair & Savage (back in WCW by Summer of 95). The advent of Nitro gave weekly prime time air space to the cruiserweights and young up and coming stars in exciting matches, many times better than the Raw under card, complimenting the star heavy main event roster. Check the ratings and you will see Nitro beat Raw several times in 1996 and drew even almost every other week. Though numbers were not equal to the 98-99 time in both companies Nitro was doing solid numbers, better than Raw many times in the pre NwO 96 WCW.

So the idea that business was really bad in WCW before Hall & Nash arrived is false. Fact is, if WCW wasnt doing well there would have been no reason for The Outsiders to jump ship. Now there have been several reports over the years that the inspiration for the original NwO Invasion angle was a similar story Eric Bischoff saw in New Japan wrestling (WCW had a limited partnership witg New Japan in 95-96). Hall & Nash were tapped as The Outsiders more by the luck of the timing of their free agent aquisition and Bischoff's inspiration than anything else. Based on what others have said it was Hogan's idea to be the mystery partner, seeing the potential buzz of wrestlings best known hero turning heel, the one guy who seemingly never would turn character doing just that. Hall & Nash had little say at all in any of it.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Shooter_mcgavin - I was always led to believe that Hogan was a late inclusion, and the original aim was to sign Bret Hart and have him as the 3rd man. Not sure how true that is, either, though

 

[THTRobtaylor]

This period was basically Hogan and his buddies decimating the WCW originals. Hogan brought in every crony he could in those 2 years from useful workers like Savage and Meng to dross like Duggan and Beefcake and they were used at the expense of the true talent.

Austin famously referred to his US title loss/injury as "slipping on Duggan" and it about summed up the situation. Hogan used guys he knew in the Main Event, indeed it was almost the Florida connection between he, Brutus, Randy and Kevin Sullivan.

It was really, REALLY hard to like WCW in those days because it forced some really bad booking and decisions. It also didn't help that 2 of their best workers got retired hurt at pretty much the same time. Steamboat and Rude. In Rick Rude's case, had he not been hurt it's a safe bet he'd have headed back to the WWF and worked a programme with Bret for the title because Hogan had no intention of working with him.

Flair was almost an afterthought and that is perhaps the saddest thing and what led to his decline, after all he left the WWF cos Vince didn't see him as a top guy... then Bischoff clearly didn't either.

What WCW did do well in that time was give selected young talents a break, but nearly all had to leave to get their true deserts... Triple H, Regal, Booker T. Rob Van Dam and even Shane Douglas and Raven. Once Hogan was there they had no chance of getting that push unless they left and came back big as the ECW guys did or had to play the Hogan game like Booker... Trips and Regal didn't bother and did far better than they ever could...same for Austin.

The most telling product of the period was Big Show/Giant - and he left first chance he got... does anyone even remember the Giant anymore? or him falling off the roof? No cos Big Show has been the bulk of his career. This was Hogan's pick/find...

What stands out most for me in this period is it shows how crappy a booker and a self booker Hogan actually is. The Yetehhh? He didn't see that looking shite? Bringing in Giant Haystacks already riddled with Cancer? The Zodiac/Bootyman/No Name/Kermit whatever? Even Horace Hogan... just painful and all from the mind of Hulk.

 

[thebarber]

I want to ask people if there's some truth to this. But during 1994 to 1995 in WCW it was apparent Hogan's stock was going down and dropping very faster than anyone would imagine (match quality, ratings, fan reaction). WCW at the time wasn't exactly doing gangbusters in the ratings and revenue during that period. The common belief is that when Nash and Hall came in they needed to bring Hogan in the NWO to make the stable work. However from what I heard elsewhere was that it was the other way around that Hogan wanted to join Nash and Hall. It seems that Nash and Hall jumping to WCW brought a ton of interest to WCW and brought a spike in ratings and that Hogan wanted to cling to their popularity to rejuvenate his career.

Any truth or legitimacy to this?

depending who you believe I guess. Sting was meant to be the third guy, he had been growing his blonde hair out and taking the darker look approach for months leading up to this. Hogan himself decided it would be better if he was the third man,initially Bischoff sounded Hogan out about turning heel, Hogan shot him down quickly, but apparently as Hogan was being booed out of buildings all through 1995 into his dabble in the black and white in late 1995 early 1996, he changed his mind. Smart play by Hogan, but apparently up until the actial night, Hogan was no guarantee and Sting was on standby to be the "third guy" Bret Hart was never going to be the third guy, he was taking a sabbatical during the Summer of 1996, his brother in law davey Boy Smith was actually chased hard to come across, but he stayed with WWE

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It was why they had those "double pin" matches with Shawn and Davey. Vince promised him a title run if he stayed and then didn't deliver, so they gave him the Euro belt and Shawn fucked him over again.

Sting was always the next choice to Hogan but Davey would have been very interesting in the NWO, not so sure he'd have wanted to play 2nd fiddle to the others though as he had done for the previous couple of years... If he'd wanted to stick with Hogan he'd not have gone back to Vince in 94.

There are a lot of variables as to who the 3rd man could have been if one thing prior had been different... If DiBiase or Rude hadn't been hurt for example or indeed if Shawn had been let go as well. NWO wouldn't have been what it was without Hogan's turn, but would have still been significant with Shawn involved... but Shawn would have probably died doing it, the money, drugs and his attitude to life at the time pretty much would have guaranteed it.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

Coming from 8-9 year old deanerandterry I was not a fan of WCW from October '94 until the nWo showed up. I was watching WCW long before Hogan showed up and for the most part I enjoyed it. Guys like Cactus Jack, Sting and my personal favorite Big Van Vader really grabbed my attention in late '91. Every Saturday morning I watched WCW Power Hour, watched 2-3 hours of WWF in the afternoon and at 6:05 ET back to watching WCW Saturday Night, that was my Saturday for quite a few years not to mention I caught every Clash of The Champions and most WCW PPV's during this time as well. When I first heard Hogan was coming I was pretty excited and I was looking forward to him vs. Flair (even though back then I didn't fully understand what that match really meant). I think at Halloween Havoc Hogan put Flair into retirement with Hogan moving on to facing Brother Bruteye (now known as The Butcher) and that's when I started not liking where this show was going. In the span of 6 months from when I loved WCW I started to hate it. I like Hogan but his novelty had worn off for me by that time and I hated that no matter what the odds were he would overcome them every time. I know that's Hogans thing but WCW sometimes went WAY overboard with stacking the odds against him. I think what upset me more is Jim Duggan beating Stunning Steve for the US title in less than 10 seconds at Fall Brawl as I was just DONE with Duggan by that point and I really enjoyed Austin vs. Steamboat, that was one of the last times I remember seeing Austin in WCW.

No doubt about it, several aspects of the 1994 WCW left much to be desired, however I have to say this. Having been someone that had to suffer through a lot of the post-sale to Ted Turner stuff with JCP/WCW. A lot of what I saw in 1994/1995 WCW. The relationship with the NWA by this point was completely dissolved and it was tough to get through at times. But I'll take this period over the madness that ensued with gimmicks like The Juicer, Arachnaman, Oz, The York Foundation and The Ding Dongs to name just a few of the less than enjoyable stuff.

While I wish Hogan had quit while he was ahead on a lot of his ideas, I'd take a "WWF lite" over some of the nonsense WCW was doing in past years. Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means saying it was great by any means, but it was better than it had been in years. Although it was disappointing to see some of the solid hands like Austin lose their prominence. And while I was never a huge Big Show fan, I think it's unfair and closeminded to overlook that his angle with Hogan despite its flaws truly get him the legitimacy to be the name in wrestling that he's been for all these years. So for all the silliness that ensued, I truly feel that this period is the reason why The Giant's jump to the WWF was as successful as it was.

Getting back to the focus on this time period, let's also keep in mind the WWF was no better during this time; The Goon, Tekno Team 2000, Duke Droese, Mantaur all very ridiculous gimmicks that lasted quite some time. Don't get me wrong the Yeti and other members of The Dungeon Of Doom was beyond silly, but thankfully that stuff got yanked. Even though The Dungeon Of Doom still had a feud with Hogan until 1996, but at the same time it was leaps above "hockey players", plumbers and "garbage men" moonlighting as wrestlers.

I'm a huge WWF fan but that doesn't mean I want to watch someone do a lesser version of WWF. I know turning more sports entertainment helped WCW out business wise, I get why they did it but for me I didn't care for it. Why watch a D-level college team when you can watch A-level college team?

When WWF was looking for its new identity under Vincent K. McMahon and Titan Sports (after Vince bought Capital Wrestling Corporation from his father to form what we now know as WWE today) in the 80s, they had raided the talent rosters of JCP and the AWA as well, in many ways no different than what WCW was trying to do when Eric Bischoff was trying to find a new groove for it in the post JCP era.

Again I acquiesce that it was far from perfect, but while Bret and Shawn were tearing up the New Generation and you had great performers in support of that like Taker, Diesel and Razor. It still wasn't enough to make the WWF the product it was in yesteryear. Of course things would turn around but keep in mind, they had a helluva talent in Steve Austin and struggled to utilize him initially after he made a pit stop in ECW.

Wrestling as a whole was in a lull during this time, but it was an in-between point to tolerate while better things were to happen in the later part of the decade.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

No doubt about it, several aspects of the 1994 WCW left much to be desired, however I have to say this. Having been someone that had to suffer through a lot of the post-sale to Ted Turner stuff with JCP/WCW. A lot of what I saw in 1994/1995 WCW. The relationship with the NWA by this point was completely dissolved and it was tough to get through at times. But I'll take this period over the madness that ensued with gimmicks like The Juicer, Arachnaman, Oz, The York Foundation and The Ding Dongs to name just a few of the less than enjoyable stuff.

While I wish Hogan had quit while he was ahead on a lot of his ideas, I'd take a "WWF lite" over some of the nonsense WCW was doing in past years. Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means saying it was great by any means, but it was better than it had been in years. Although it was disappointing to see some of the solid hands like Austin lose their prominence. And while I was never a huge Big Show fan, I think it's unfair and closeminded to overlook that his angle with Hogan despite its flaws truly get him the legitimacy to be the name in wrestling that he's been for all these years. So for all the silliness that ensued, I truly feel that this period is the reason why The Giant's jump to the WWF was as successful as it was.

Getting back to the focus on this time period, let's also keep in mind the WWF was no better during this time; The Goon, Tekno Team 2000, Duke Droese, Mantaur all very ridiculous gimmicks that lasted quite some time. Don't get me wrong the Yeti and other members of The Dungeon Of Doom was beyond silly, but thankfully that stuff got yanked. Even though The Dungeon Of Doom still had a feud with Hogan until 1996, but at the same time it was leaps above "hockey players", plumbers and "garbage men" moonlighting as wrestlers.



When WWF was looking for its new identity under Vincent K. McMahon and Titan Sports (after Vince bought Capital Wrestling Corporation from his father to form what we now know as WWE today) in the 80s, they had raided the talent rosters of JCP and the AWA as well, in many ways no different than what WCW was trying to do when Eric Bischoff was trying to find a new groove for it in the post JCP era.

Again I acquiesce that it was far from perfect, but while Bret and Shawn were tearing up the New Generation and you had great performers in support of that like Taker, Diesel and Razor. It still wasn't enough to make the WWF the product it was in yesteryear. Of course things would turn around but keep in mind, they had a helluva talent in Steve Austin and struggled to utilize him initially after he made a pit stop in ECW.

Wrestling as a whole was in a lull during this time, but it was an in-between point to tolerate while better things were to happen in the later part of the decade.

Sure, late 94 and 95 were painful in the WWF as well but the will and effort to create new stars was there. Bret was their guy by 10 but the rest of the guys being pushed were all relatively young into their careers. Guys like Bam Bam, Tatanka, Taker, Razor, Owen and Shawn all still had less than 10 years in the biz total, only really Davey and Backlund were the "veterans" being pushed at that time and in Davey's case it's only cos he started so young.

WCW was the opposite and I think that's why it was so bad. Rather than Hogan doing as Bret was in the WWF, instead of working to bring up guys like Austin, Pillman, Booker and the like he wanted to work with the veterans he knew. Guys like Duggan and Honky Tonk had been around a LONG time by then it seemed either lazy or cronyism.Sure by the end of 95 the same thing was happening with the Kliq to an extent but they at least were admitting new, younger talents like Waltman, Trips and Walker to their ranks. Hogan was making his "club" about guys he knew from the past and there was no getting in there and at the expense of the guys who he could have drawn big with.

Steve Austin v Hogan in 94/95 would have been money if done right in the same way Hogan V Rude would have been in 1990/91 but Hogan never went for that kind of booking he knew what he did "well" in the past and wanted more of it just in a new setting.

Much is made of the awful gimmicks of 95 in the WWE, but the talents behind them were not always awful. Guys like Louie Spicoli, Darryl Peterson and Chris Candido were great up and comers. Radford, Man Mountain Rock and Skip sucked as gimmicks but at least they were young, hungry guys rather than older, used up guys clinging to glory on Hogan's coattails.

It's harsh for some of them, Meng for example was a very, very good hand even then. Same for Ray Traylor and even to a slightly lesser extent John Tenta. But guys like Brutus, Barbarian, Duggan shouldn't have been in the positions they were in when guys like Austin, Simmons, Pillman and the like were walking or being fired to make way for them.

 

[justtxyank]

To be fair, WCW never drew at a national level when it wasn't the Hogan variety show. At least not in the 90s after the collapse of the NWA. Austin went on to become a big deal (obviously) but if he had never been the rattlesnake there wouldn't have been much uproar about his usage in WCW.

Honky Tonk Man was barely in WCW for a minute in 94. The rest of the guys were brought in because WCW was trying to become a national brand. They wanted workers on their shows who the fans knew and would tune in to watch.

Now with that said, it isn't like the card was littered with Hogan guys. Duggan is really the only example of a guy getting a push that made no sense. He had basically been a WWF jobber to the stars and he comes to WCW and gets a title!!! Insanity.

The Nasty Boys were already in WCW and were over. Today it's popular to say the Nastys were a bad team or were only pushed because of Hogan and stuff like that, but it isn't true. The Nastys were a really fun team in the 90s that the fans got behind.

Anyway, the biggest mistake WCW made in my mind was letting Dustin Rhodes go. The guy was over with the crowds and was an outstanding worker. He could have easily been one of the top faces in the company for the foreseeable future and during the nWo run with Sting in the rafters he would have been a perfect babyface to feud with the invaders. His father returning to team with him against the Outsiders would have been epic.

 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

The original main event for Starrcade 94 was supposed to be Hogan vs Hennig. Hennig was supposed to the masked man that attacked Hogan, but things didn't work out due to Hennig's insurance policy.

As for the time period, I loved all of the wrestlers WCW was using in this time period even if they were being used in a crappy way.

Tenta, Kamala, Kevin Sullivan, all of the Dungeon of Doom guys were fun to watch. WCW could have been REALLY good in this time frame if they were booking a realistic product with this roster.

I became a fan later as I didn't really have access to WCW from that era in 97-98 when I first got into WCW (although I had many WCW VHS tapes from when I was a kid including. Great American Bash 1990 which is still one of my favourite events ever). I am pretty obsessed with the 94 to early 96 era as I'm a Hulkamaniac and whilst even I can see the mistakes that were made in that era, there was still plenty of good stuff that I love.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

As a child, I became regularly acquainted with WCW, more so than WWF, as they had a regular tv slot in the UK. For those that don't know, the UK television system (at the time) offered 4 'terrestrial' channels which were free for anyone with a TV set to access. We also had the option of cable or satellite tv, at a premium price. WCW Worldwide, from 1991-95, was on a prime slot on Saturday afternoons, taking the place that the British wrestling programme had in the 1970s and 80s. WWF on the other hand was only available on the subscription satellite channel Sky Sports (although WWF VHS' were available in every video store, particularly a large section in Blockbusters.) So we British viewers could watch WCW for free every Saturday.

1991-93 was very good for WCW, with some of my favourite matches and moments, like when Vader and Sid powerbombed a series of jobbers for 5 minutes (one of whom reportedly suffered a broken back) and the excellent tag title switch when Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat beat the Hollywood Blondes, Austin and Pillman. Of course, there was a lot wrong in this period too - The search for Cactus Jack; the entire career of Eric Watts, but not least his TV title tournament victory.

It was a good time to be a wrestling fan, and they'd built up their roster sufficiently enough that there was genuine excitement when the likes of Lex Luger and (especially) the Steiner Brothers appeared at WWF pay per views.

In 1994, I still watched WCW Worldwide. Yet by the end of the year, I didn't count it as a 'must-see' anymore. Hogan stifled my interest. His signing was done impressively - a 'breaking news' scrolling banner appearing at the bottom of the screen one edition of Worldwide - but the Disney press conference, combined with the move to MGM Studios, took some shine off the event. It may have just been me, but the ring seemed smaller as well, and the MGM soundstage was quite obviously not the arena setting WWF (and earlier WCW) were used to being filmed in. It just made the promotion look small-scale to me.

What finally put me off was the influx of WWF guys. As much as I liked some of them, they looked old in 1991 - WCW was traditionally the promotion of younger stars (in my mind - Sting, the Steiners, Big Van Vader etc) and now the Big Boss Man, Jim Duggan, Earthquake, Honky Tonk Man and Savage were appearing on Worldwide in their place. It seemed like a new WWF aquisition debuted on the programme every week, always in the main event slot!

The final straw for me, which someone mentioned earlier, was Duggan's jobbing of Austin in 20 seconds at Fall Brawl. A match they showed in it's entirety on Worldwide. It was even more annoying as they'd built up the title match between Austin and champion Steamboat very well, it was a match people wanted to see. But Steamboat was injured so Austin won the title by default and then lost to his replacement opponent, Duggan, in seconds. Not happy!

I rarely watched WCW after that, until my dad got cable in 1997 and I discovered Nitro was aired on Bravo. I have since, through YouTube, revisited plenty of 1995's angles and I have to say in my 3 years away, I didn't miss anything until the nWo. People can slag off WWF's creations in 1995 all they like, but nothing comes close to the shocking Dungeon of Doom. And at least WWF had the sense to keep their comic characters at the bottom of the card, and largely off ppv (unfortunately the lack of depth in this respect is why the 1995 Royal Rumble match was only 60 seconds between entrants and 40 minutes long in total, the worst match).

The nWo changed the industry, but 1995 was WCW's annus horribilis in my opinion.