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The Rise and Fall of WCW Review Written by Mike Shannon on 10/02/09
The Rise and Fall of WCW
By: Mike Shannon (dlman91@hotmail.com)
-This release is probably the one that I have been anticipating and dreading the most. I was a huge fan of WCW during their rise and watched in horror at their fall. However, if there was ever going to be a biased hack-job, it was going to WWE's version of their biggest rival. They handled ECW's releases extremely well, but this is a whole different animal. Can WWE resist burying their competition one last time? Let's find out....
-Note: I'll be keeping the images to a minimum here since this DVD is longer than your mother's sexual partners list. The bad jokes, however, will remain.
Part I: Crockett Promotions
-This one is close to 2 hours, so grab something to drink or print this out and take it to the can with you.
-Jim Crockett Jr. talks about the beginnings of the Mid-Atlantic promotion and the variety of shows his dad, Big Jim, promoted. Everyone says nice things about Big Jim and, when he dies, Jim Jr. takes over. I wish I could get one of those territory maps somehow.
-We segue into a discussion of Ted Turner and his WTBS SuperStation, where he featured Georgia Championship Wrestling on Saturday evening.
-We get highlights of all the early stars, including a young man who was called “Ramblin” Ricky Rhodes. You may know him, however, as Ric Flair.
Unreal stache
-So the NWA Board of Directors decides to make Ric Flair World Champion because he drew everywhere he went by working with regional stars. Money grows due to the big stars being loaned out and Crockett really wants to do PPV.
-In November 1983, the first Starrcade airs from the Greensboro Coliseum and Crockett thinks this was the sign for the smaller promotions that their time was over. Speaking of over, Harley Race passes the torch to Ric Flair in the main event in front of a screaming sell out crowd. JR thinks they were so popular because they got over new stars (hear that, WWE?).
-We move to “Black Saturday” (July 14, 1984 for you history types) when Vince McMahon buys WCW for the first time...kinda. Vinnie uses his leverage to buy out stockholders in Georgia Championship Wrestling and take over the shows on WTBS. Hearing Vince saying “welcome to World Championship Wrestling” is extremely off-putting. Arn Anderson mentions that the fans went nuts, which would be an understatement because they FLOODED the TBS offices with phone calls and letters demanding the return of Gordon Solie and GCW. The southern fans despised the WWF's goofy, circus-like characters and matches and wanted to see the athletic product that Crockett was offering. So anyways, the ratings suck and Turner wants Vince off the air, beginning a war between the two that would go all the way till 2001. Still, Vince makes out by selling the shows to Crockett for a million dollars, which McMahon even admits made him a few bucks. (David Crockett: “We paid for WrestleMania.”)
-Back on the SuperStation, Crockett Promotions starts drawing ratings with the Rock 'n Roll Express, Four Horseman, and the rest. Everyone credits TBS for helping them get their name out there, allowing them to put on the first Great American Bash in 1985.
-We move to Magnum TA, who may have become one of the biggest stars in the business if a car crash hadn't paralyzed the left side of his body at the age of 29. I hope they cover more of this later because that was an extremely brief look at a major player in Crockett Promotions.
Stallion
-Ad revenues were skyrocketing and Crockett goes nuts with the money, buying two private jets and flying wrestlers all across the country, actually causing an accountant to have a nervous breakdown. The Crockett family actually splits over whether to sell to Ted Turner or not and David's mother finally convinces him to go along with it. Jim Crockett hates the politics that result, so he flips out on the company's first president and gets sent home for good.
-OK, my first problem with this stuff is they did not talk about all the things that led Crockett Promotions to have to sell: the overuse of the Dusty Finish, the botched UWF angle (a mistake WWF would later repeat with, ironically, WCW), the impact of Magnum TA's injury on the company, trying to run shows in the Northeast, RON F'N GARVIN becoming World Champion, losing Arn and Tully to WWF, etc. It wasn't just the overspending that caused the Crockett downfall, but a combination of many things.
Part II: Welcome to WCW!
-Everyone thought it was great because Turner had a boatload of cash and they had the in-ring product to succeed if it was used correctly. We run through the great workers they had: Flair, AA, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Rick Rude, the Rock 'n Roll Express, and the rest.
-BUT...(cue ominous music) Jim Herd, former suit at Pizza Hut, is hired to run WCW even though he knows nothing about the business or the product that is supposed to be on television. One of his ideas was the Ding-Dongs, a tag team dressed in all pink that had one partner constantly ringing a bell while the other wrestled. The crowd did not like them much...no sir. Another famous idea he had was wrestling hunchbacks because they would never lose due to their shoulders not being able to be put on the mat for the three count. And they tell me I'm stupid?
-Ole Anderson is introduced as booker, another colossal failure. (Teddy Long: “Ole Anderson was the worst booker in the history of America.”) Michael Hayes calls him an asshole. Pot...kettle on line one. No one works out so they reach out to Dusty Rhodes, who had been banished to the WWF and polka dots. Dusty talks about the creative control clauses in contracts that tied his hands until he's eventually forced out because, according to Mike Graham, they thought a wrestler was too stupid to run a company.
-So, we get introduced to “Cowboy” Bill Watts, which was ANOTHER terrible idea. He bans moves from the top rope and removes the mats from around the ring. Why? Because he's a freaking moron, that's why. Removing the mats, according to Watts, was to prove that his guys were “tough” but really it just increased injuries and made guys afraid to take bumps on the concrete floor. Everyone diplomatically calls him an asshole and says the product was boring as hell. Watts tries to defend himself here, but it's just not working. Watts was shown the door just like the rest.
Part III: WCW is freaking AWESOME!!
-Finally, Bill Shaw comes along and hires Eric Bischoff (pissing off JR in the process) who cuts costs and runs TV shows at MGM Studios in Disney World. They do not, however, mention the problems of taping 10 weeks worth of television at once and then having to come up with ridiculous explanations when a worker would get injured or get fired.
-Shaw allows Bischoff to pursue Hulk Hogan and pay for the planted fans that cheered wildly during his introductory parade. One mistake WCW didn't make: As soon as Hulk Hogan signs they immediately book him to face Ric Flair in 1994, finally giving fans the dream match they had waiting to see on PPV since 1984.
-Bischoff signs away many former WWF employees, although I would not call people like Gene Okerlund and Brutus Beefcake “superstars”. However, Lex Luger appears on the first episode of Nitro, screwing over Vince and getting the attention of wrestling fans everywhere. This is followed by Medusa also jumping ship and tossing the WWF Women's title in the garbage on live TV.
-By the way, they are using Bischoff interview footage from the “Monday Night War” DVD because he refused to be in this release.
-So Bischoff tosses Vince into a rage by giving away Raw's results on live television. However, he throws the wrestling world on it's head by bringing in Scott Hall and having him interrupt a live Nitro to ask: “You want a war? You got one.” This was EXTREMELY HEAVY stuff at the time. I mean seriously, if you weren't watching then, there's nothing I could say to make you understand how awesome this was. McMahon says he wasn't giving guaranteed contracts at the time, which caused Hall and Nash to leave.
-Kevin Sullivan, looking TOTALLY different from the last time I saw him, admits that Hall and Nash were supposed to be Razor Ramon and Diesel, because they wanted a WWF invasion, which was awesome. Vince, however, does not find this awesome and sues them.
-Finally, the move that sent the New World Order into the stratosphere: Hulk Hogan turns heel. To show that good ideas never die, Hogan completely ripped off “Superstar” Billy Graham and creating a cowardly heel character that people loved to hate. Thankfully, they include the Rey Mysterio “lawn dart” spot into the trailer that makes me giggle so much. The boys talk about creating nWo vs. WCW as the war and not WCW vs. WWF.
-Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho talk about the nWo actually being a “tribute” (ripoff) to an angle that they did in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but since both Malenko and Jericho are cruiserweights we go into...
-Hey those cruiserweights were pretty freaking great, weren't they? And the answer is yes...yes they were. But, if you're reading this that means you're a diehard wrestling fan and have already seen Malenko-Mysterio from Halloween Havoc a million times.
-We move to Bill Goldberg and a pair of the most ridiculous sunglasses I've ever seen...
-Goldberg was about to sign with the WWF, but Bischoff brings him to the Power Plant, the WCW's wrestling school, and he destroys Bill DeMott (Hugh Morris, one of the worst wrestling names ever) to kick off the streak that would bring WCW to the summit. Goldberg looking into the camera after the win and saying “That's one.” is still awesome. Bill's entrance with the police escort and walking through fire would get almost anyone over as a badass.
-So, once again, revenues are flying skyward with the nWo running roughshod, the cruiserweights flying around, and Goldberg destroying people. WCW beats Raw in the ratings for almost two full years, Starrcade 1997 does a HUGE buyrate with Sting vs. Hogan headlining, but Bischoff's head is starting to get awful big...
-Diamond Dallas Page talks about getting Karl Malone involved in WCW and Bischoff books them against Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach 1998. Big Show mentions how anytime someone new comes in, the main eventers salary all go up, including Rodman and Malone. Then, they bring in Jay Leno to team with Page against Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Yes, this match was freaking TERRIBLE. Jericho mentions how stupid it was to have Jay Leno beat up Hulk Hogan just so photographers could take pictures of it for the newspapers.
Part IV: WCW freaking SUCKS!!
-Back to Goldberg, who finds out he's going to be wrestling for the World title by watching Thunder on the Thursday night before. So July 1998, Bischoff gives away a guaranteed monster buyrate and sold-out PPV just to beat Raw in the ratings, which he does...and promptly gets beat again the next week. 40,000 people showed up for the Nitro, but they lost MILLIONS by not waiting to give fans that match.
-Chinks in the armor start to show. At Halloween Havoc 1998, during the main event of DDP-Goldberg, PPV companies halted the feed at 11pm because WCW told them that was the end of the show. Of course, the match had just started so thousands who had paid money for the show demanded a refund, which the company had to do. They also aired the main event for free the next night on Nitro, angering the fans who DIDN'T get a refund for wasting money on something they could have seen for free.
-Now to the two events that possibly causes WCW to begin it's downfall: Starrcade 1998 and the Fingerpoke of Doom. At Starrcade, Scott Hall shocks Goldberg with a cattle prod, allowing Nash to pin him for the World title and end the undefeated streak. The next night on Nitro, Hulk Hogan comes out of “retirement” to wrestle Kevin Nash. Hulk places one finger on Nash, who flops to the mat like he was shot, and suddenly Hogan was World champion again and Bill Goldberg's momentum as a draw was totally killed.
-Big Show, then known as The Giant, was making 1/6th of what the rest of the New World Order was and, when he asked for a raise, he was told no way. Chris Jericho and Dean Malenko followed shortly thereafter, along with Perry Saturn and Eddie Guerrero.
-On we go to the infamous Vince Russo, which JR thinks was a desperate move. As has been said a million times before, Russo needed a filter like Vince McMahon to keep the ridiculous ideas out of the show like the KISS Demon, the KISS concert, and, of course...David Arquette (cue MORE ominous music).
-So David Arquette scores a fluke pinfall on Jeff Jarrett during a tag team match and becomes WCW World Champion (don't ask, it's Russo). While they got some mainstream press out of it, the wrestling fans HATED it and even David Arquette himself knew it would flop. He desperately tried to talk Russo out of it but Vince insisted, so he donated all his earnings to Owen Hart's family. You can find all this stuff on WrestleCrap by the way, they cover this MUCH more in-depth. He also turned HEEL later, just to make it more ridiculous. The WCW World Title was pretty much worthless at this point.
-At Bash at the Beach 2000, Jeff Jarrett “shoots” on Hulk Hogan, forces Hogan to pin him, and Vince Russo throws the World title belt at him. There have been discussions at length as to whether this was really a shoot or not, but a real lawsuit definitely resulted and Hogan's refusal to work for TNA was partly based on Vince Russo being there, so draw your own conclusions.
-People talk about “The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett not being able to draw money if you covered him in glue and dragged him through Fort Knox (my words, not theirs...but they should have been theirs). In Mike Graham's words, he broke a thousand guitars and his “tiny Tennessee brain” thought he was the man. Ouch. David Crockett thinks they weren't running it like a business, but a playground.
Part V: The Fall of WCW
-So AOL merges with Time-Warner and WCW loses it's billionaire backer that stuck with them through thick and thin. AOL wants nothing to do with professional wrestling, plus WCW was losing money at a ridiculous rate so Vince McMahon gets to buy his longtime rival for a mere $3 million dollars. The freaking TAPE LIBRARY is worth more than that by itself. They don't mention Bischoff's efforts to buy the company.
-No one believed that Vince was really buying WCW until Shane McMahon showed up at Nitro in Panama City Beach, FL. This night was probably the one time I can honestly say that only a death in the family could have pulled me away from my television screen. Of course, McMahon goes and ruins it right away by having Shane buy the promotion in the storyline...but that's a 10 page article for another time.
-Goldberg and Jericho talk about how bad it is that there is only one major company left in professional wrestling because talent doesn't have a place to go if WWE doesn't want them.
-We go back to the past as all the boys reminisce about how great things used to be. WCW gets credit for introducing new technology with old-school Good vs. Evil in order to make a new product that helped introduce wrestling to the next generation. They drew huge sell-out crowds for a period of time and you always have to thank WCW for being there.
Documentary Final Word
Well, this documentary was actually SHORTER than the ECW one, which is just unbelievable. What's more unbelievable is how much was actually left off of this release. Where was talk about the amazing tag team matches? The Four Horseman? WAR GAMES?!? They didn't mention the signing of Bret Hart, or the Hogan-Sting feud that carried the company for so long. They left out how watered down the New World Order became and how that contributed to the downfall of the company. They could have done SO much more with this DVD. Where I thought the ECW release covered the company's rise and fall in such a comprehensive manner, this barely scratched the surface about a company that was the number 1 promotion the world for two years.
They easily could have done a four-hour feature about the company and STILL left things out, but to try and squeeze everything into 1 hour and 40 minutes is almost criminal. With all the rare footage they have, they NEEDED to show how great War Games was and how the Rock 'n Roll Express used to have 16 year old girls trying to jump the rail to save Ricky Morton from the Andersons. I know some of this was covered on other sets, but this is supposed to be the definitive WCW biography and it wasn't close to that. Don't get me wrong, the documentary is extremely interesting and has lots of great stuff in it, but it's just disappointing that so much was left out. If you just buy this set for the documentary, you will be left asking where this was, or where that was. Unless you were a fan of WCW's in-ring product, you might want to wait until they just put the documentary on WWE 24/7 like they usually do after a few months.
