From The Bowery: WCW Monday Nitro: March 26, 2001
Posted by Robert Leighty Jr. on 10.16.2008
The end of the Monday Night War!
WCW Monday Nitro
-March 26, 2001
-Panama City Beach, Fl
-Nitro debuted on Sept 4, 1995 (Labor Day) from the Mall of America in Minnesota. A lot of wrestling experts feared this would divide the audience of Monday Nights and spell disaster for WCW. Instead this bold move by Eric Bischoff helped usher in the most successful period of growth for WCW, and eventually for the WWF as Vince McMahon finally had some competition pushing (and for a while crushing) him. Unfortunately, WCW did what WCW usually does and that’s completely fall apart. This is the final episode of Nitro as it was billed as a Night of Champions. Just days before a deal between WCW and Bischoff had fallen through, so Vince McMahon swooped in and bought his competition. Even as WCW was bleeding money, and getting pounded in the ratings, I never thought the day would come where Nitro would open with….
-Vince McMahon, standing in front of a RAW is War backstage set, gets a boner by bragging about how he has bought his competition. The fate of WCW rests in his hands, and he promises to tell us all in a simulcast.
-The opening package shows that quite a few of the guys did get a shot in the WWE. Really, only Jarrett didn’t get a chance, and that prompted him to start his own show.
-Tony Schiavone and Scott Hudson welcome us to Panama City Beach, Fl as Spring Break rolls though Florida. Schiavone looks sick to his stomach, and Hudson just looks confused.
-Ric Flair walks to the ring as Hudson and Schiavone put over the fact that nobody represents WCW more than Flair. See, I would think it would be Sting, just for the fact that he never jumped ship, or was forced to jump ship like Flair did in 91. Great interview from Flair as he buries Vince McMahon and challenges his greatest opponent, Sting, to one final match. This interview becomes all the greater after reading Flair’s book, and he admits that he was happy to see WCW get sold to Vince. This just shows how Flair could even sell something he didn’t truly believe. He did admit he was worried about friends who wouldn’t have a job anymore. Nice sign from the crowd: Vince is Satan. I love how Flair asks when was Vince there bleeding, sweating, and paying the price. Truth is Vince has probably bled more than over half his roster.
Title vs. Title: Scott Steiner (WCW Champ) vs. Booker T (US Champ)
-Steiner’s monster heel run as WCW Champion was actually pretty strong as he went over everyone, and had WCW continued operating it would have been a good moment when a face eventually ended his reign on PPV. Steiner won the World Title from Booker T at Mayhem back in November. The crowd is pretty fired up for this match as the 2 men lock-up. Booker ducks a clothesline and hits a sidekick for a 2 count. Steiner gains the advantage and hammers away in the corner. A blind charge from Steiner catches an elbow, and another 2 count. Booker pounds away with the 10 count punches in the corner, but Steiner counter to a powerbomb for a 2 count. The action spills to the floor, and Steiner tries to kill Booker with his lead pipe, but misses. Back inside and Steiner drops the elbow, and does his trademark push-ups. It was funny in his WWF (re)debut against HHH, when Steiner was so gassed he couldn’t get through the push-ups. Hudson mentions that these 2 men have 31 title reigns total between them. That’s pretty damn impressive for 2 guys that started in the tag ranks. A drop kick from Booker evens things up, and he follows that with The Ghetto Blaster (ax kick). Huge pop for the spin-a-roney, and a Harlem Sidekick follows. Steiner reverses the Bookend to a northern lights suplex for 2. Steiner goes for another powerbomb, but Booker flips out and nails the Bookend for the pin and World Title.
Winner and New WCW World Champion: Booker T via Bookend for the pin at 5:08
-Very short match, but it had a great pace, and some good action crammed into the short time. Credit to Steiner for going out there and doing the J-O-B, and putting Booker over in such a strong manner. I’m sure there were no guarantees to Steiner, but as a true pro he did his job. **1/4
-Vince McMahon is his office on RAW makes fun of Nitro and Panama City Beach. Way to bury the company you just purchased Vince.
The Young Dragons vs. 3 Count vs. Rey Misterio and Billy Kidman
-The winners get a cruiserweight tag title match later against Romeo and Skipper. The CW Tag titles were a neat idea and actually introduced a young AJ Styles as part of a team called Air Raid, but introducing new titles in the company’s dying days didn’t really help things. Still, we got a pretty awesome match at Greed between Misterio/Kidman and Romeo/Skipper to crown the 1st set of champions. This match here is balls to the wall action as they through as much as they can in a short amount of time. Seriously, this is just spot after spot after spot as the crowd pops for everything. Misterio does a somerset plance to the floor, and then each man tries to outdo Misterio. Kidman succeeds with the Shooting Star Press to the floor to take out everyone. Back inside Yang drops Misterio on the turnbuckle and heads to the top rope to hit Yang Time for a 2 count. Tags apparently don’t mean anything in this match as everyone seems to be legal. Reverse neckbreaker for Karagias and he hits a sick 450 from the top rope on Kaz. Kidman breaks up the count, and Rey attempts the Bronco Buster, but takes one in the nuts. Rey hits a springboard guillotine legdrop on Moore to get the pin.
Rey via guillotine legdrop on Moore for the pin at 3:38
-As stated before this was nothing but action for a little over 3 minutes. They knew they had a short time, and made sure to hit their signature spots. It made for a very exciting, and entertaining exhibition, but never really got on track as an actual match. **1/4
-Back to Vince who is celebrating with Trish Stratus. The two make out in a rather pointless segment.
-Hi-lights of the CW match between Chavo and Sugar Shane Helms are show from Sin.
-Helms actually got over very well in WCW by having kick ass matches, and using the Vertebreaker as his finisher. Chavo had found himself in WCW and was carrying a lot of CW to very good matches during his reign as champion. Shane catches Chavo with a neckbreaker, but then gets caught with a clothesline to the floor. A belly-to-belly keeps Chavo in control as Schiavone puts over the youth of WCW. A sunset flip from the top rope gets 2 for Shane. Chavo cuts off the comeback with a stiff clothesline. Shane blocks a suplex and gets a 2 count off a top rope crossbody. Chavo goes Human Suplex machine and drops Shane with a T-Bone suplex. Nice reversal sequence leads to a northern lights suplex from Chavo for 2. Shane fires back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Shane nails the Sugar Smack (sweet chin music) and finishes with Vertebreaker. That move is quite nasty, and it saddens me that the WWE wouldn’t let Gregory Helms use it. I mean, I can understand why they wouldn’t because of health reasons, but still.
Shane Helms via Vertebreaker for the pin @ 4:37
-This was given a little more time than the previous match and the results were a little better. I like how every match has had a fast pace, and it looks like everyone is doing their best to show off for the WWE. Helms was becoming a breakout star for WCW, and Chavo was getting quite awesome. It’s a shame the company folded before either man could reach their full potential. **1/2
-Booker gives a good, emotional, interview as he celebrates with both titles. He also hints that he is not done yet. His “Don’t hate the player, hate the game” catchphrase always had me wanting a HHH vs. Booker T match. Too bad HHH buried him at WM XIX and then again at SummerSlam 2007.
-Back to Vince and Trish as Cole wonders about the future of WCW. Vince threatens to fire Cole.
-Tony and Scott wonder about their futures. As well they should.
WCW Tag Titles: Team Canada vs. Palumbo and O’Haire
-All 4 of these men took a buy-out and became part of the new WWF run WCW. Storm was given an immediate push to the moon when he jumped to WCW. Awesome was give the Fat Chick Thriller gimmick, but started to recover some when he was put with Storm in Team Canada. Palumbo still holds a job in the WWE (as of this writing) and O’Haire could have been a huge star, but he apparently couldn’t cut a live promo to save his life if you ask some, or was buried with Piper if you ask others. It’s funny that Palumbo and O’Haire were originally with different partners, but WCW opted to drop the dead weight from each team, and put the two of them together. Storm and O’Haire start and Storm gets pounded by O’Haire. Palumbo tags in and catches Storm, but the heels gain the advantage. Awesome tags in and leaps to the top rope to deliver a back elbow in a nice spot. Back in comes Storm and he lights up Palumbo with some chops. A blind charge misses, and a roll-up gets 2 for Storm. Both men make a tag and O’Haire shows great power by manhandling Awesome. All 4 men brawl, and it ends with a super kick from Storm to Palumbo. Awesome tries an Awesome bomb, but Palumbo slides out and hits his own super kick. O’Haire finishes with a Sean-ton bomb to successfully defend the tag straps. The crowd was really digging O’Haire and Palumbo at this point (mostly O’Haire).
O’Haire pins Awesome w/ Sean-ton bomb @ 3:16
-Another criminally short match, but again it was exciting and featured all 4 men doing whatever they could to somehow stand out to the new bosses. All 4 would get there shot, and Storm seemed to get the most out of it. **
-A review of the Stasiak/Bigelow feud. If Stasiak loses he has to get a tattoo. The best part about Stasiak at this point was that he had Stacy Keibler with him. Good Lord I forget how incredibly hot she was in her Miss Hancock days.
Tattoo Match: BamBam Bigelow vs. Shawn Stasiak
-I guess they had to promised what was advertised from the Week before, but this match really has no place on a card being advertised as “The Night of Champions.” Still, it did get a dancing Stacy Keibler on my screen. So, it has that going for it. Stasiak jumps the bell, but gets dominated early by Bigelow. Bigelow hits a slam, and heads up top to drop the headbutt. Stacy distracts the ref (can’t blame him), and then keeps Bigelow from hitting Greetings from Asbury Park. Stasiak it’s the hangman’s noose (Rude Awakening) for the pin.
Stasiak via hangman’s noose for pin @ 1:26
-Well, can’t say they didn’t pay off what they promised the week before. Easily, the weakest match of the show, and the only real blemish on the night. Stasiak also went to the WWE during the Invasion, but was nothing more than a comedy figure. His biggest claim to fame was running into things backstage. 1/2*
-We quickly cut to William Regal hyping WM X-7 to Vince McMahon. Regal then buries WCW. Again, lets just bury the company we just purchased and want to make as an alternative.
-DDP gives an interview as he promises bigger and better things. He could have been used a lot better in WCW. The stalking Undertaker’s wife angle had promise and was a good way to debut DDP, but Taker had no intentions of doing anything but burying DDP. Even Taker’s wife got to pin DDP in the middle of the ring.
-A great video package is shown of all the former NWA/WCW World Champions. Very nicely done, and I wonder if any of the WWF production people helped with this. WCW was fine, but the WWF was in a class of their own when dealing with video packages.
-Once again we head to Vince as he lets us know it is just about that time.
-Kid Romeo kind of disappeared and really didn’t amount to much, but Skipper got a fresh start in TNA and had a great run as part of XXX. The AMW vs. XXX Six Sides of Steel cage match is either #1 or #2 on my list of Favorite TNA Matches. This would be the final times these titles would see the light of day (unless you count their brief appearance on Misterio’s 619 DVD where he tells the story of how he got to keep the title since the company was going out of business). Schiavone starts to shoot on “Steve Regal” as you can tell he is starting to get a little irritated and emotional. “We have had to do some crazy things, Steve Regal, include put your ass over on tv.” Awesome! I like bitter Tony. Rey and Kidman take the early advantage by double teaming Romeo. Elix turns the tide with a belly-to-belly suplex and an assisted senton bomb follows. Romeo tosses Kidman across the ring as the fans begin to cheer. Romeo misses from the top, and Kidman struggles to his corner to make the hot tag. Rey hits a springboard Thesz press, and nails Romeo with a tornado DDT. Rey takes Romeo outside with a rana, and that leaves Elix alone with the faces. Kidman baseball slides Elix in the nuts and Rey follows with the bronco-buster. Romeo drops Kidman with an x-factor, but Rey breaks the pin. A swandive headbutt from Rey gets a pin, but Elix makes the save. A Straightjacket suplex from Elix gets a cover, but Kidman breaks the count. Elix tries to hit the play of the day, but Kidman reverses to the Un-prettier for the win and the titles.
Winner and New CW Tag Champions: Billy Kidman and Rey Misterio Jr.(Kidman via Un-prettier for the pin at 4:46)
-This match had more structure and kept the insane pace as the previous CW tag match, and that equals a better match. Kidman and Rey each had various levels of success in the WWE, while the heels never got a shot. Elix probably could have done ok as a lower level guy in the WWF, but he did well for himself in TNA. Match itself was the best so far. **3/4
-Sting accepts the challenge of Flair and tells us all that it’s show time.
-It’s Vince and he’s WALKING!
-Ric Flair vs. Sting
-Seriously, no other match could close out WCW. Hudson talks about how Sting never jumped, and was WCW to the bone. Tony brings the history as he recalls Sting winning the title for the first time against Flair at the 1990 Great American Bash, and he also brings up the famous draw at Clash I. Hudson rubs it in that the match went head to head with WrestleMania IV. Damn, they even bring up their history with the Horsemen kicking Sting out of the group. Flair brings the chops, and Sting no-sells to pop the crowd. Sting nails a dropkick and Flair bails to the floor. Flair is wearing a Nitro shirt as he says in his book he was embarrassed by his physique at this point. Sting and Flair are having a blast out there at this point. Gorilla Press Slam and Flair begs off like only he can. Sting mounts the corner and hits the ten punches. Flair does the Flair flop and Schiavone marks out. The Dirtiest Player in the Game delivers a ball shot to turn the momentum. Flair breaks out the chops again, and this time Sting doesn’t no sell. Flair drops a knee and gives us the Flair strut. Flair goes to the top and naturally gets tossed off by Sting. Flair avoids a dropkick and locks in the Figure 4. Some high quality cheating as Flair grabs the ropes for added advantage. Sting starts to fire up and turns the hold over, but Flair quickly breaks. More chops, and that just serves to piss Sting off at this point. An whip to the corner, but Flair can’t flip over the buckle. Sting adjusts nicely by hitting a superplex, and then locks in the Scorpion Death Lock. Flair quickly gives it up.
Sting via Scorpion for submission @ 7:06
-This match was a lot of fun, and while neither guy was in prime shape they were having a blast. Again, this was the perfect way to end Nitro. I still wait for the day that Sting takes a deal with Vince. I don’t need him to wrestle, but I want him to get the DVD treatment and a Hall of Fame induction. ***
-The 2 men embrace after the match in the perfect ending to Nitro. Sadly, things are cut off….
-The simulcast begins as Vince jumps the gun on RAW and has Lilian introduce him again. Vince says he has yet to sign the contract, but he will when Ted Turner himself walks the contract down to WrestleMania. I’m sure that thought of that very moment have gotten Vince more excited than his wife ever could. Vince takes full credit for winning the war, and says he was able to beat a billionaire by becoming one himself. More time is wasted as Vince continues to bury the company he just bought. The topic switches to his match with Shane at WM X-7. He threatens to choke the life out of Shane like he did WCW. Now we get the best part of the promo as Vince asks the fans what WCW Stars they want in the New WCW:
-Hulk Hogan: Decent pop from the crowd, but some boos also (of course he did return and got treated better than any of the younger WCW guys)
-Lex Luger: Booed out of the building, and didn’t get another shot.
-Buff Bagwell: Lots of screams from the women probably got him a job. A horrible in ring performance on RAW with Booker T got him fired pretty quickly.
-Booker T: Good response, and after several years was finally given a World Title run.
-Big Poppa Pump: Massive response from the crowd. He would stay at home and get paid before coming to the WWE.
Vince seems to be done, but in an awesome moment a Goldberg chant breaks out and Vince opts to name a few more.
-Sting: Sure, they crowd will take him. True to his guns Sting has never made the jump.
-Goldberg: The crowd goes absolutely insane, and Vince should have done all that he could to get Goldberg to sign and built towards Austin vs. Goldberg at SummerSlam that year. I’m sure Goldberg was happy staying at home collecting his money, but the buyrate from that match alone would have been enough to justify an insane salary from Goldberg.
Vince finishes by firing everyone associated with WCW and claiming WCW will stay buried. Shane’s music hits, and to the shock of everyone he appears live in Panama City Beach at Nitro. This was absolutely insane at the time, and I was jumping around my house like a kid. The audio is a little screwed up on the TNT part of the simulcast as Shane’s words come across a few seconds before his lips move. Shane says that a McMahon’s name is on the contract, but it is Shane McMahon on the contract. The crowd pops huge as Shane claims WCW will kick Vince’s ass again. Seriously, how the hell did they screw this up so badly? Well, besides Vince’s stubbornness and ego getting in the way.
-Well, that’s how the final Nitro ends. We don’t get a video package to close the show, or even final words from Scott and Tony. Instead we get JR hyping Rock/Austin vs. Taker/Kane and then a commercial for WM X-7.
The 411: This was a very fun show featuring all the young guys busting their asses to get a job with the WWE. All the faces went over (sans the Tattoo match), and the final match will be the last time you will see Flair vs Sting (unless TNA has signed Flair by the time this posts). It was a historic night, and a sad night for WCW fans. All these years later it becomes more depressing when you realize that Vince needed WCW more than even he thought. Thumbs up for this show though, and I'd say it's required viewing for any wrestling fan based on history alone.
I always thought it appropriate that the last segment of Nitro featured technical snafus in synching up the live WCW and few-seconds-delayed WWE programs... both one last glitch to remember, and a sign of things to come in the problems getting the two sides to wrok together...
Posted By: Peers (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 01:06 PM
"All 4 of these men took a buy-out and became part of the new WWF run WCW"
Uh, no. All four of these guys were part of the group who had their contracts transferred to WWE with the purchase of WCW. Booker, Buff, Helms, Moore, Sanders, Jindrak, Stasiak, Torrie and Kiebler were the others, I believe. DDP is the only one who took a buy out.
Posted By: jeff (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 01:23 PM
You kinda forgot to mention that none of the WWF guys were willing to put over the WCW guys (Rock vs Booker T anyone?) and Stephanie being introduced as the new owner of ECW really killed The Invasion before it even started.
Posted By: Michael (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 02:23 PM
"Booker, Buff, Helms, Moore, Sanders, Jindrak, Stasiak, Torrie and Kiebler were the others"
Booker took a buy out, and Torrie had been released by WCW in December 2000 for budget reasons.
The 6 others did come as part of the purchas along with 18 more WCW mid-carders like Chavo Guerrero, Hugh Morrus, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, Kanyon, and Billy Kidman.
Posted By: Guest#7140 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 02:44 PM
"Seriously, how the hell did they screw this up so badly?"
To be fair, this thing was already handicapped from the start.
WWF asked TNN for another 2-hour timeslot for a WCW show. TNN refused, claming they showed enough wrestling.
WWF then asked TNN if they would accept Raw becoming a WCW-branded show. TNN refused, claiming they were paying for WWF-branded programming.
The first WCW match on WWF TV (with one participant being the WCW champion) was completely rejected by WWF fans.
Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Sting, Scott Steiner, and Ric Flair all wanted to collect every dime Time Warner owed them and stayed home while getting paid very well to do so. Why work when you can make a ton of money not working?
Posted By: Guest#4134 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 02:56 PM
"To be fair, this thing was already handicapped from the start.
WWF asked TNN for another 2-hour timeslot for a WCW show. TNN refused, claming they showed enough wrestling.
WWF then asked TNN if they would accept Raw becoming a WCW-branded show. TNN refused, claiming they were paying for WWF-branded programming.
The first WCW match on WWF TV (with one participant being the WCW champion) was completely rejected by WWF fans.
Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Sting, Scott Steiner, and Ric Flair all wanted to collect every dime Time Warner owed them and stayed home while getting paid very well to do so. Why work when you can make a ton of money not working?"
Finally someone gets it! Yes, the invasion storyline was a creative disaster, but how was WWE creative supposed to get WCW over as a threat, rival or equal to WWE when it was all midcarders, Booker T and DDP vs Stone Cold, the Rock, Angle, Jericho, etc.?
Posted By: jeff (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 03:35 PM
Austin vs Goldberg at Summerslam = many many many many MANY buys. I would've LOVED to see that in 2001, but we got Austin/Angle instead which I suppose wasn't bad ;)
Posted By: Guest24 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 03:46 PM
They could have bolstered the WCW side of things by having a few former WCWers defect back, like Jericho, Big Show, Benoit, etc
That would have been better than Austin and Test and whoever else that was an established WWF star joining.
Posted By: BrianC (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 04:53 PM
Good review, but you forgot to recap a memorable part of the show. Shortly after the McMahon/Regal skit, Tony Schiavone on commentary did a shoot on Regal. I'm paraphrasing here, but it went something like this:
"Yeah, [WCW] did alot of dumb things, Steve Regal-----Like putting your a** over on television!"
Posted By: Wesgr81 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 06:30 PM
"They could have bolstered the WCW side of things by having a few former WCWers defect back, like Jericho, Big Show, Benoit, etc"
Jericho and Big Show would have been possible, but Benoit missed the whole Invasion because of his neck.
Posted By: Guest#1210 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 06:53 PM
jeff: I don't know, maybe by NOT RUNNING THE DAMNED ANGLE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Simple.
Posted By: Guest#2593 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 06:58 PM
Guest#4134 basically summed things up nicely in regards to that Invasion storyline.
Posted By: Guest#0596 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 07:28 PM
My friend and I were there that night. Seeing Shane walk out from behind the curtain was nuts, but for me the best part came after they show ended and they were off the air: Somebody in the audio department started playing "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" through the sound system.
Posted By: Nick M. (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 08:32 PM
No, I made sure to mention Tony's shoot on Regal. It's covered in the review for the CW Tag Title match.
Posted By: Robert Leighty Jr. (Registered) on October 16, 2008 at 09:20 PM
I miss WCW
Posted By: Eric (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 10:12 PM
A sad day in wrestling, as my friends and I were still watching Nitro over Raw in 2000-2001, partly because we liked the unpredictability, and because we were huge Steiner marks. Triple Steiner Recliner, bitches!!!
I wish this last Nitro was availalbe on DVD in it's entirety. Same goes for their last few PPV's. I can't even find them on torrent sites.
Posted By: Steve307 (Guest) on October 16, 2008 at 11:28 PM
Finally someone gets it! Yes, the invasion storyline was a creative disaster, but how was WWE creative supposed to get WCW over as a threat, rival or equal to WWE when it was all midcarders, Booker T and DDP vs Stone Cold, the Rock, Angle, Jericho, etc.?
Simple. By having them win. Y'know, like the NWO did for years. Vince OWNED the company and could have made squillions if he'd have let the WCW guys go over. Then, when WWF began to fight back, Goldberg, Steiner et al would have been due to debut and whaddya know, you've got a 3 year-plus feud pulling in buy rates that stalkers, hot lesbian action and career burials could never achieve. And by the way, Shane's promo on the last Nitro is the single most stunning moment in the history of the wrestling wars. Vince's facials were priceless.
Posted By: APinOz (Guest) on October 17, 2008 at 08:59 AM
"Simple. By having them win. Y'know, like the NWO did for years. Vince OWNED the company and could have made squillions if he'd have let the WCW guys go over. Then, when WWF began to fight back, Goldberg, Steiner et al would have been due to debut and whaddya know, you've got a 3 year-plus feud pulling in buy rates that stalkers, hot lesbian action and career burials could never achieve."
Yes, but the NWO had huge stars from the start. They also won many times in matches where WCW guys should have won.
At the time WCW was bought, it was already a joke, and their midcarders coming to the WWF and getting wins over the WWF's big names would have just made the WWF guys look bad. Remember when WWF midcarder Jeff Jarrett came to WCW in 1999 and was main eventing? It made WCW look stupid.
Plus, it was a year after WCW closed that the NWO showed up and nearly 2 years before they got Steiner and Goldberg to sign. Having a WCW angle behind their arrivals would have been striking while the iron was ice cold.
Posted By: Guest#2280 (Guest) on October 17, 2008 at 11:13 AM
" I love how Flair asks when was Vince there bleeding, sweating, and paying the price. Truth is Vince has probably bled more than over half his roster."
Yup. Even back in 2001 Vince has already bled and sweat a good deal in the ring, certainly more than any other promoter that basically didn't have to get in the ring.
Posted By: Guest#6301 (Guest) on October 17, 2008 at 04:04 PM
"jeff: I don't know, maybe by NOT RUNNING THE DAMNED ANGLE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Simple."
Yeah, guest#2953 (if that is your real name) then, instead of reading people bitching about how bad the angle was, we'd be reading about how dumb WWE was for not doing an invasion angle and that it was a can't miss angle.
Please, guest#2953, explain to me why this angle and my reaction to a comment about said angle has you so mad that you are USING ALL CAPS to give me the most useless suggestion ever. By your logic, anything that didn't work should, in retrospect, never have been done. Because, after all, no one has ever learned anything from previous mistakes and missteps.
Posted By: jeff (Guest) on October 17, 2008 at 05:52 PM
After watching the Monday Night Wars religiously this was the most surreal moment in wrestling for me.
I can understand Vince spreading his ego all over this because he finally beat Ted Turner after over a decade of intense rivalry.
At this point I was most excited about the oncoming invasion as I pressumed WWE would sign everyone.. but of course it didnt happen like that... but eventually after the invasion they signed all the big stars (par sting).
Could you imagine if WWE bought all the big names contracts out?? As fans it still hurts that Vince bodged the biggest angle in wrestling history.
I always visualised a Sur Series decider Match of:
Sting, Goldberg, Hogan, Nash and Hall vs
Rock, Austin, Taker, Angle, Jericho
Man just typing this is making me upset of what potentially could of been!
Posted By: Andrew Barbarash (Guest) on October 17, 2008 at 09:20 PM
"Could you imagine if WWE bought all the big names contracts out?? As fans it still hurts that Vince bodged the biggest angle in wrestling history."
If the wrestlers involved didn't have a choice in the matter, he just might have.
However, Kevin Nash said there was no chance of him accepting a buy out when he could make $30,000 a WEEK by not working. Sting, Steiner, Flair, and Goldberg likely felt the same way. Flair actually went to the WWF just days after his deal expired.
Posted By: Guest#0566 (Guest) on October 17, 2008 at 10:39 PM
Guest 2280, I'd have to disagree with your assessment of the NWO. Scott Hall was a midcarder. Kevin Nash was the least successfull WWF champion in history. Hogan was the turn that really got the ball rolling. But Nash and Hall were booked as unbeatable, and it wouldn't have taken much for WWF to do the same thing, if they'd had the patience, with Booker, Mike Awesome, Bagwell and DDP. I remember Jim Ross saying that there was NO WAY they would make the same booking mistakes as the NWA made with Bill Watt's UWF when they purchased it. Yet they did. Step for step. Wanna get someone over? Don't job them. the rest will catch on.
Posted By: APinOz (Guest) on October 18, 2008 at 11:15 PM
"Guest 2280, I'd have to disagree with your assessment of the NWO. Scott Hall was a midcarder. Kevin Nash was the least successfull WWF champion in history. Hogan was the turn that really got the ball rolling. But Nash and Hall were booked as unbeatable, and it wouldn't have taken much for WWF to do the same thing, if they'd had the patience, with Booker, Mike Awesome, Bagwell and DDP. I remember Jim Ross saying that there was NO WAY they would make the same booking mistakes as the NWA made with Bill Watt's UWF when they purchased it. Yet they did. Step for step. Wanna get someone over? Don't job them. the rest will catch on."
Those three were popular names. Nash was even WWE champion less than a year earlier, and all three had already had credibility. Most of the WCW guys were considered jokes just because WCW itself was considered a joke before WWE bought it.
And the NWA/UWF didn't do ANY invasion angle. They kept the shows seperate with minimal interaction between the two, and the UWF eventually disappeared. There was no NWA vs. UWF conflict at all until the very end and didn't even involve the Horsemen, Dusty, the Road Warriors, Midnight Express, Rock & Roll Express, etc.
Posted By: Guest#0134 (Guest) on October 19, 2008 at 01:02 AM
nice review, one problem get the names right, it's jung dragons not young dragons
Posted By: nick (Guest) on October 23, 2008 at 01:07 PM
Great review of one of the most historic shows in pro wrasslin'/sports entertainment history.
There was so much potential with the accquistion that this show seems even more bitersweet in retrospect.
Not only was the InVasion angle a flop that tarnished the image/legacy of both the WCW (and by proxy the NWA) and ECW...but there was so much talent squandered in this takeover.
Sure, make WCW vs. WWE/Vince Vs. Shane the big deal for the remainder of the year. Take the few "name" guys that WCW had at the time (Booker,Jarrett, Konnan, etc.) and pair them up with some WWF "traitors" that make sense (Y2J, Big Show, The Radicalz). Build them up by giving them credible wins against credible opponents. Remember, these guys are supposed to be faces (since they're alligned with Shane)...they should act like faces. No sneak attacks, no hatin' on the WWF fans...get them over. Don't give me that "WCW was a joke" Mularkey...Vince McMahon has made a ton of money by getting people to care about workers who are worse than a joke in the ring. He's gotten a freakin' midget leprechaun over with the fans...You tellin' me he could't get WCW over? They may have been failing in the ratings, but they had an undeniable built-in fan base who would've been ready to slurp up anything competent that WWE creative could have given them.
Then after that fued is resolved (with both sides agreeing to disagree), you re-launch WCW as it's "own" promotion. Even if you can't secure a TV deal at first (take it to the web, or include it as a segment of your main WWE broadfcast). Imagine a show featuring guys like Mysterio & Y2J & Eddy & Benoit & Malenko. Your main fued would be Booker vs. Big Show for the WCW Championship and when other guys contracts expire, you add them to the mix.
This is something that should have worked. There's plenty of blame to go around, but this show proved that there was still a lot of worth in the WCW brand.
Posted By: N8 The Gr8 (Guest) on November 17, 2008 at 11:43 PM
