The Dissection: The Death Of WCW

Posted by Mike Campbell on 05.19.2009

World Championship Wrestling: 1988-2001

The Dissection
The Death Of WCW by R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez

For those of you who haven't read my first two editions of this column, or those who need a memory refresher: The Dissection breaks down wrestling books into four categories. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (not just bad, but damaging to credibility), and The Rest (doesn't fit into either of the other three).

If WCW's demise has shown the world of wrestling anything, it's exactly how horrible of a company they were in pretty much every aspect. You can read Mick Foley's sour grapes about the booking, specifically Ric Flair as the booker. Ric Flair and Jim Cornette have both talked at length about the nightmare of being on the WCW booking committee, and Eric Bischoff's book "Controversy Creates Cash" went on at length about how horribly run WCW was as a business. But despite the countless anecdotes in books, interviews, documentaries, etc. The definitive WCW story was never told . . . until 2004. Bryan Alvarez (writer of Figure 4 Weekly) and R.D. Reynolds (founder of WrestleCrap) came together and let the world know exactly how WCW was, in a way that only they could do.


The Good:

Humor. The best thing about this book is that it's not serious at all. We were supposed to feel bad for Mick for not being treated like a big star. We were supposed to feel bad for Flair for the way Bischoff and Herd treated him. We're supposed to feel angry like Cornette does at the huge mess that WCW was. But not here, the idea is to just sit back and laugh at the constant stupidity that ran amuck from 1988-2001. In a way, it makes perfect sense. The top stars, the various guys in charge, and the various suits within the Turner organization never took WCW seriously, so why should anyone else? There are so many quotes and passages that will crack the reader up. The story of Ernest Miller threatening to send anyone who interfered in his main event to jail, because if he sent them home then the office would pay them is a great example. As are the recounts of Sid's various promos: "See, there's only two things I care about, and I'm gonna see is the man who wins the title and the belt, and that man will be me!" "You are half the man that I am! And I have half the brain that you do!" Not to mention the Scott Steiner stories about him flipping out backstage and being sent home with pay for it. Or cutting unscripted shoot promos on wrestlers he wasn't in a program with, and being rewarded with a huge push for it. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some of Tony Schivone's great quotes.

The thing that seems like it would be a negative aspect actually is the best thing about it. Reynolds and Alvarez never wrestled for WCW. Therefore it's not like they've got personal axes to grind the way Mick did with Flair, Flair did with Bischoff, Heenan did with Schivone, etc. So you're left with a hilarious book about the downfall of WCW (showing exactly how stupid that the people in charge at various times were) without much reason to question too much of what's being said, because there's no reason to not accept what they say. They'll knock Vince Russo for his million stupid ideas and being full of excuses as to why it wasn't his fault that nothing he did turned them around. But they'll praise him for things like the great first chapter of the Millionaires Club vs. New Blood feud. Ric Flair is no different, they'll show him respect for his talents and promos, but they'll also criticize him for wanting to go heel in 1999, which was the last thing that anyone wanted to see.

Even better, is that the book also lists a bibliography, so you know exactly where their info came from. Unlike a certain Canadian author who's books about wrestling "history" are laughably inaccurate and list no sources at all for his (mis) information. Plus, they stick to the story they're trying to tell, and don't cloud the book up with all of their opinions and personal anecdotes.


The Bad:

The only thing that I didn't particularly care for was the layout of the book. Starting in 1997, each year is given their own chapter. 1988-1996 is covered in 23 pages. I can understand why, because 1996 was start of their huge rise and their failure to maintain the momentum and realize that it was going to end is what did them in. But there are literally tons of things from 1988-96 that aren't even mentioned in passing. How about Tully and Arn jumping to the WWF in late '88? No better evidence of a sinking ship than the top tag team, and two big stars, just up and leaving. Not to mention the entire year of 1989 isn't mentioned a single time. It's considered to be the best year of their entire existence, full of great matches and great booking, but there's not a word about it. It comes off as though aside from a few mentions of the guys in charge and a few of the angles mentioned, that there wasn't anything very important from 1988 until the nWo formed in 1996.

There are also times when the jokes get a bit old. There's a story in the early part of the chapter on the year 2000 concerning Sid's quest to the World Title and all the hoops that Nash made him jump through and various twists and turns. The picture is crystal clear, but they still feel the need to end with a comment about it only being the most confusing storyline in WCW that week. By that point everyone is well aware of how insane WCW was at that point in time. There's also the story of when Sid and Arn got into their famous fight in England and the comment that Arn wasn't happy about being compared to a Brontosaurus. It just seems like at times they were trying too hard to be funny, and the result is not funny at all.

I'm never a fan of reading in books about someone having "a good match" or something being bad. It's one thing for a wrestler to say he thought it was his best match or his favorite match, but I never like when the reader is being outright told that something is good. That also happens quite a few times throughout the book. I've never seen it myself, but having seen several Nitro episodes from 1996, it seems a bit harsh to say that aside from the Scott Hall cameo, that the Memorial Day episode of Nitro "totally blew." Why not at least mention some of the other things that happened on the show? They also say that Raven vs. Saturn at Fall Brawl ‘98 was the only good match, but they don't mention anything else, aside from the War Games main event. Maybe the rest of the Nitro did totally blow and maybe everything else aside form Raven/Saturn did suck, but it's best to let others judge for themselves.

Finally, there's my pet peeve for wrestling books, which is factual inaccuracy. This is a book that was clearly well-researched because I can only find one part. WCW Superbrawl IX, the Benoit/Malenko vs. Windham/Hennig match was spun as being a non-title match where if Benoit and Malenko won, they got a title shot. It sounded like Windham and Hennig were giving them a non-title match and then a title match if they won. In fact, it was actually a tournament final for the vacant tag titles. The tournament was double-elimination and Windham/Hennig were undefeated, and Benoit/Malenko had lost one match. Therefore, if the Horsemen won, then they'd wrestle again to determine the champions. So honestly, they weren't really "wrong" just a bit off the mark. The only thing they're wrong on is saying the second match they had was Windham hitting Malenko with a bit and pinning him. Barry actually choked him out with his leather belt and the KO'd him with a lariat for the pin. But that's still a pretty minor quibble, considering how good they are with everything else.


The Ugly:

Nothing!


The Rest:

Reynolds and Alvarez are simultaneously too in depth and not in depth enough. They make sure to at least mention every PPV that WCW put on, but they don't go much further than mentioning some of them. Others are given run downs of matches and happenings, but it's not terribly consistent. Slamboree '97 and Great American Bash '97 only get a quick mention and their buyrates. Bash at Beach '97 is more in depth, but only of the Dennis Rodman involvement, and Starrcade '97 gets a pretty good run down of the undercard and the main event. And again, it'd have been nice to read more about the early days, as there's no mention of anything from Dusty's 1988 firing until his return in '91 and the War Games match where Sid almost killed Brian Pillman.


Overall:

Reynolds and Alvarez absolutely knocked one out of the park with this book. If you're looking for a laugh (or 100) then this is the book for you. If you're interested in the history of the promotion, then this is the book for you. Given Dave Meltzer's recent report that the WCW DVD that WWE is putting out is being worked on by people who no knowledge of WCW other than "Scott Keith-level historical material" that they read on the internet, this looks it's going to be the definitive story of the promotion.