Rise and Fall of WCW ..............................
- Thread starter BoRiCuApOwEr
- Start date
Interesting take because it's arguable Sting was not a real draw like his counterpart Ultimate Warrior who himself was not a super draw compared to the likes of Hogan. Sting's biggest draw was against Ric Flair himself in 1988 when they went toe to toe with WrestleMania IV on Turner Superstation. Sting did draw in wcw, but it was during the NWO era much more than the pre-NWO era imo. It had a lot to do with the star power and heat the NWO generated damaging wcw for the "Franchise" to counter as the babyface.
Flair was only really in the wwf from September 1991-January/February 1993. He wasn't even gone for two years. Flair did the wwf's worse business in years at that time as champion. It was not his fault though because of all those steroid allegations and so on, but the fact still remains. Flair leaving wcw was a bigger dent on wcw than anything else.
NWA was really good. No doubting that at all. I actually wish they didn't have to turn into wcw(one reason for the name change was that business wise it SOUNDED less major than WORLD wrestling federation*even TNA took out the NWA name from its company's name) because that is when it went downhill imo.
Yeah, I agree Vince played dirty, but so did NWA. Like I said above they countered WrestleMania IV with a live broadcast on free television which actually turned out one of the biggest ratings in history(however wrestling was REAL HOT then as Hogan/Andre on tv a month earlier drew a record that still stands at over 33 million viewers).
TO be fair Vince was an ass for blocking Starrcade with Survivor Series the fall before, but it helped make the war and competition get tighter. Yes, I do use that logic with Vince too that he STOLE other people's ideas and wrestlers. Vince is a genius at taking something that works and blowing it up.
Vince stole Hogan from the AWA plain and simple when he was on the verge of superstardom through the Rocky movie(the same movie his father fired him for because he didn't like his wrestlers acting in movies). The NWA was gunning for Hogan too, but Vince promised Hogan a title match right upon his return and the rest is history. Hulkamania was already boiling in the AWA and Vince stole that.
Yes, Vince also did take Heyman's work too and blew it up. However, I have to say I think Shawn Michaels and Vince Russo were the ones to convince him to go that route fully. Vince was playing with the idea since 1995(Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith on ppv with all that blood was th start of it). Vince's hard head and out of touch personality(just like TODAY) almost caused him to become like those promoters he killed off in the 80's. WWE sucks now because Vince has no other promotions to steal ideas and top wrestlers from.
I hear you on what you're saying about Flair, but honestly I would take someone like Bret Hart over Ric Flair too. I don't rag on Hogan like others when he was in his prime because Hogan could work. Just not in the fashion of a traditional wrestler like Ric Flair. Flair has even admitted Hogan could work for the type of wrestler he is. Working also takes into account synergy with the audience and timing what you do in the ring.
I flipped to RAW last night to see Mayweather. Wrestling is really missing those flamboyant characters. Remember back when niggas was coming out w/ flashy robes & had style?
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Wrestlers back in the day had personality and wrestle very good.....You had great tag teams like Rock N Roll Express,Midnight Express,Road Warriors, The Steiner Brothers,the Four Horseman and etc...Now I couldnt name you great tag team cuz I havent watched wrestling in along time..
I like Mid South because Bill Watts was the only promoter who was putting over black talent consistently. Junkyard Dog, Ernie Ladd, Butch Reed, and Kamala were all big time stars in the territory. I was a fan of Crockett's mid 80s NWA as well. Some of the best tag teams ever were there. The Road Warriors, Rock N Roll Express, 4 Horsemen, The Koloffs, The Powers Of Pain(Barbarian and Warlord), and Midnight Express. Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A.(would have been great and big before tragic auto accident) was a great team also.
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Good shit. Props. 
THE man
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Wrestlers back in the day had personality and wrestle very good.....You had great tag teams like Rock N Roll Express,Midnight Express,Road Warriors, The Steiner Brothers,the Four Horseman and etc...Now I couldnt name you great tag team cuz I havent watched wrestling in along time..
I'm curious what the kids of this era think of the show?
It kills me all these dudes have the same cookie cutter look.
They should go back to 5 PPVs a year (RR, WM, KoR-tourney, SS, SS-with the tag format). Monthly PPVs are overkill & you can't build story lines like back in the day. They can do the other events like Clash of Champions/Saturday Night Main Event etc...
I used to love the buildup of the PPV back in the day when I was a kid. Plus we had the Saturday and Sunday morning shows (Superstars on Saturdays, Wrestling Challenge on Sundays).
I remember "Clash of the Champions" on TBS and "Saturday Nights Main Event" on NBC late night were like free PPV's on TV. We were all like
Title changes for free? They change titles too much nowadays. Remember hogan held the title down for years, then Macho man etc....I remember hearing about Bruno Sammartino holding his title for like 7 years straight! I was like GTFOH
Wrestling used to be so good. Maybe it was cause I was a kid, but the characters and the product was so much better back then. Nowadays, they are just throwaway characters and plots. It barely even registers on my viewing radar,
I always like WCW... I'm checking this out now..
I was in front of the TV every Saturday evening for two hours....back when the station was WTBS...back when a Braves game could run long and cut into the programming...
Me too. Channel 17 ATL was the shit on Saturday 5pm-7pm central time
. Infact I was watching about 4-5 different territories at a time. I miss the territories. The WWE should go a 4 territory/region format. North, South, East, and West. Each territory should reflect the culture of the region like it did back in the kayfabe days of the 80s.
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They have PPV 3 to 4 weeks apart these days.
Most times it's the same dudes that fought at the last PPV, just a different type of match. A couple years ago Edge fought the Undertaker for the title for like 6 straight PPV's .... WTF
The same thing they think of anything before their time.
This speaks volumes. Kids today are too lazy to research and learn about the things they love. They have no idea who pioneered shit.
I think this would explain how Soujla Boy, Gucci Man, [insert 90% of whoever else lil ninjas think is hot] ever became famous
yeap
Kids today are so hung up on whats the most popular thing and dont know the history behind shit...And when you try to tell them about the history they turn a deaf ear...
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/JbyGA3CN0Dk[/FLASH]
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/BcBXn-4gtOY[/FLASH]
this was my nigga
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/BcBXn-4gtOY[/FLASH]
this was my nigga
I used to love the buildup of the PPV back in the day when I was a kid. Plus we had the Saturday and Sunday morning shows (Superstars on Saturdays, Wrestling Challenge on Sundays).
I remember "Clash of the Champions" on TBS and "Saturday Nights Main Event" on NBC late night were like free PPV's on TV. We were all like
They change titles too much nowadays. Remember hogan held the title down for years, then Macho man etc....I remember hearing about Bruno Sammartino holding his title for like 7 years straight! I was like GTFOH
Wrestling used to be so good. Maybe it was cause I was a kid, but the characters and the product was so much better back then. Nowadays, they are just throwaway characters and plots. It barely even registers on my viewing radar,
c/s!
Man, Clash of the Champions changed the game. Those shows were groundbreaking in that, like you said, they were PPV quality on TV for free. Sting v Flair in the very first one had me like
Also with the NWA, you noticed that Flair and Dusty Rhodes almost NEVER wrestled on TV? It was a real treat to see them on the Saturday evening broadcast. If you wanted to see them, you usually had to go to a house event.
The product back then was so good. Those guys used to really work a match... almost to the point of boredom sometimes. It was all part of the build up. Having someone in a headlock for five minutes... to make you think they were "wearing" them down. Yeah it was staged, but they went about it as if it wasn't. That was the beauty of the art.
The Great American Bash, Skywalker matches, Starrcade... man those were the days.
Me too. Channel 17 ATL was the shit on Saturday 5pm-7pm central time
Channel 17...
Willam Turner Broadcasting Service...old school...
Good for Sanford and Son, Braves games, Carol Burnett, and the NWA.
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/JbyGA3CN0Dk[/FLASH]
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/BcBXn-4gtOY[/FLASH]
this was my nigga
Mine too. Him, Bret Hart, and Mr. Perfect got me into wrestling when I was younger. It wasn't until just before the Monday Night Wars that I started watching other federations.
The business was down for everyone then. Flair's coming in helped them pop attendance whenever he wrestled Hogan. Vince, foolishly, never gave the fans the Hogan-Flair big showdown and left a lot of money on the table.
WCW and the NWA are two different animals. WCW was wholely owned by TBS while the NWA had been around since 1948. The name change came because they weren't NWA anymore. TNA is similar. They were working with the NWA but once they were established nationally, they went their own way.
That wasn't dirty, that was fighting back a predator.
Hell yeah. I find it funny that he used to mock the old promoters that they used to put themselves over and keep the top titles and spots on themselves or their kids or friends. Now HHH and Michaels never do clean jobs except for other vets, like Taker. JBL, a good wrestler but a guy who should never have been a long term world champion, was a good friend of Vince's. He's become so much like those old guys he put out of business, he's even been the World champ (which he never lost, even Arquette did the job) and both of his kids have been champions.
I give Hogan more credit than a lot of people, too. He knew his weaknesses and, when in the ring with a Paul Orndorff or Randy Savage, could have really good matches.
But I couldn't pick Bret over Flair when starting a company. Interviews put asses in seats. Screwjobs and beatdowns get good heat but the guys that people remember and spend money to see are the talkers. Now take a talker and make his a top worker and you've got money. Bret was never more than a good talker and that's only when he plays heel (he was riveting as the leader of the New Hart Foundation). Flair could work either way. The guy had people charging the ring to kill him and to save him.
I was in front of the TV every Saturday evening for two hours....back when the station was WTBS...back when a Braves game could run long and cut into the programming...
That's why to this day, I hate baseball.
Never happen. They make too much money. ECW tried the quarterly ppvs but because the payoff are so slow they're about to go monthly too. I'm just tripping that WWE has like 5 in the 3 months after Mania. At least one of those can go.
