Kamala's Random WCW Bullshit thread

[Big Papa Paegan]

On top of throwing cash around (without much income to balance it out, unlike Bischoff a few years later), Kip also came up with horrible gimmicks and advanced the cartoonish atmosphere that loyal JCP fans didn't much care for.

Of course, having somebody with a history in the business who could have had veto authority over his more outlandish ideas would've probably done wonders (especially since the cartoonishness was amplified exponentially once Hogan signed on), but this is WCW we're talking about. If it doesn't make millions in a few months then it isn't worth it.

In short, corporate wrestling is bad.

 

[BruiserBrody]

On top of throwing cash around (without much income to balance it out, unlike Bischoff a few years later), Kip also came up with horrible gimmicks and advanced the cartoonish atmosphere that loyal JCP fans didn't much care for.

Of course, having somebody with a history in the business who could have had veto authority over his more outlandish ideas would've probably done wonders (especially since the cartoonishness was amplified exponentially once Hogan signed on), but this is WCW we're talking about. If it doesn't make millions in a few months then it isn't worth it.

In short, corporate wrestling is bad.

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Glad I bought a copy back when it came out based on those prices.

 

[snuffbox]

Are you thinking of Herd? The 6ish months of Frye, roughly Jan-June 1992, aren't exactly teeming with bad/cartoony new gimmicks.

And, like I earlier mentioned, the money thing rings hollow to me. WCW wrestling wasn't often profitable, even during it's peaks, but that was never Ted Turner's intent. Erik Watts's daddy didn't increase the revenue side to match up with taking away such boondoggles as best match bonuses. He did his Dallas cosplay on TV a lot, pushed Cowboy Fredo, and got fired for being a racist. Yeah, I still prefer stuff like War Games '92 to any of that.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Watts may have been on the verge of really finding his footing when he quit/was fired. He was bringing in Corny and the Heavenly Bodies and the RnR Express, and set the stage for Flair coming back. More SMW crossovers probably had some fine southern wrasslin' potential in 93.
Watts also gave Vader the title first, although he was just a transitional guy from Sting to Simmons after 6 weeks or whatever.
After giving Pillman hell over money at first, he did ultimately put him with Austin and set up a star making team.
Doc and Gordy were hosses but didn't exactly have great matches from what I recall of there matches I reviewed.
I doubt Watts would have messed with the Steiners push had he not been instructed to cut payroll. Watching the Steiners dump people on their heads sounds like something that would cause Watts to mess his shorts. Plus he gave Rick his first real push in 86.
Erik Watts was bad, but I think Watts would have vetoed the Shockmaster.
Adding Bossman and Duggan to the mix in late 93 and into 1994 may play much differently with Watts still in charge.
Plus Watts probably doesn't even consider Flair's pleas to bring Hogan in.

 

[snuffbox]

Speculation is fun and all. But we kind of have a, you know, actual body of work to look at as well.

 

[Valeyard]

Just given the timing Frey would've been stuck with stupid shit he was either inheriting or was already in motion. He did the best to make the situation better for the workers, or so it would seem, compared to Herd and Watts. Just always funny to me how the clear transition guy who knew nothing about the business probably did more good for a lot of guys than the others.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Speculation is fun and all. But we kind of have a, you know, actual body of work to look at as well.

If we went strictly by business numbers then Dusty would/could have been fired by the end of 1984. So maybe Watts needed some time to get his shit together.

And if we compare booking patterns of WCW Watts to WWF at the time.... Vince had the Warrior puking, attempted Viking homicides, etc during the same time period.

What metrics are we going with? It's not like WCW 1993 was doing any sort of business or creative greatness with Watts gone.

Edit: I'm now cracking myself up thinking of Bill Watts: Lost in Cleveland airing in the summer of 1993. Watts wanders around bewildered, pissing on trash cans and making racial remarks.

 

[snuffbox]

I think John Ross Watts has gone on record saying he hadn't watched much/any wrestling from the mid-80s to his weird 1992 hiring in Atlanta.

 

[snuffbox]

I think I've been clear about comparing the actual product of Jan-June 1992 to the time before it (Herd) and the time after it (Watts).

 

[strummer]

Also note that during Frey's brief run it was mostly babyfaces standing tall at the end which was different from Crockett and even early wcw. Wasn't like that again till Hogan's babyface run 2 and 1/2 years later

 

[Fall of Epic]

Hey remember when WWE had that problematic gimmick where they dubbed over Kaientai's promos like a Japanese monster movie? Well WCW did their own spin on that with La Parka in their dying days. They even turned it into an angle where someone was trying to sabotage Parky.

 

[Valeyard]

That's too stupid to be offensive.

 

[strummer]

The other thread got me thinking. Hogan/Flair at HH 94 in the cage gets worse every time i see it. Hogan is actively bad in that match and .Flair isn't that much better. Mr. T was also a terrible ref. Sherri and Sting were the best workers in that match

 

[Valeyard]

It could be easily argued Sherri was the best worker in many matches she was involved in in WCW.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

OTD in WrestleCrap.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1448008464740016149

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1448032689232220162

Odd that WCW didn't just throw him out on a D show (C?).

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

...fucking WCW

 

[Hawk 34]

There was an opportunity to give us Hayabusa and Hacksaw and they BLEW IT.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Hacksaw was in Team Canada by September '00 IIRC but I think Russo is weird enough to have Hayabusa defend the honor of America. After all, you can't spell his name without "USA"!

 

[Hawk 34]

What they did instead


Worldwide - 9/23/00:
The Wall & Lash LeRoux defeated Marty Garner & Frog
Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Shannon Moore (w/ Shane Helms & Evan Karagias)
Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, & Reno (w/ Sean O'Haire) defeated Kevin Northcutt, Steven Sharpe, & Robbie Rage

not giving us Hayabusa and ROBBIE RAGE is a outrage.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Hayabusa Vs THE WALL.

Also I looked it up and Duggan's heel turn was five days after Hayabusa's WCW backstage cameo so we could have gotten Duggan and Hayabusa joining forces to defend our nation's honor!

 

[Hawk 34]

Better yet, he should done a dance routine with Three Count.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Galaxy brain thought...Hayabusa and Tank Abbott fighting for the right to be Three Count's manager.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Hayabusa would've revitalized the entire company. There. I said it.

EDIT: Also, September was Russo's last month in charge, right? I remember Fall Brawl being oddly good (including an underrated Booker/Nash match), and it was right when the Cruiserweight division started getting fixed. Hayabusa having a good go for a Worldwide taping could've made it so they'd continue working, and being robbed of a possible Hayabusa/Sugar Shane match makes me even sadder.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Nah. Vince Russo was still in charge through September. He won the World Title on the 9-25-00 Nitro. IIRC, his last Nitro was 10-2-00 when he made Goldberg restart the Streak and had the held up title fought for the in the SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS MATCH.

IIRC from Russo's book (and @BruiserBrody 's recap of Russo's WCW 2000 Kayfabe Commentaries DVD confirms this version of the story), Russo wanted to skip WCW's Australian tour from 10-7 through 10-13 so he could go to San Francisco Giants games during the '00 MLB Playoffs and WCW basically used that opportunity to fire him. He also cites that he was concussed by Goldberg ("what's new?") but he does openly state "NAH! BRO! I GOT TO WATCH BONDS TRY TO WIN A RING!" instead of going to the biggest WCW shows in a year and a half.

Idk if there's ever been a more appropriate match of (most minimal level of) famous fan and sports team than Russo loving the early '00s San Francisco Giants. Yeesh. "JEFF KENT IS GREAT AND YOU'RE JUST A WHINY LITTLE BITCH!"

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Also Vince Russo's Wikipedia entry cites aforementioned @BruiserBrody's shoot recap as a source. Probably the biggest honor of Brod's life tbh.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Also Vince Russo's Wikipedia entry cites aforementioned @BruiserBrody's shoot recap as a source. Probably the biggest honor of Brod's life tbh.

I just got an email this week that one of my crime articles was the top citation for some patreon crime thing.

-Also had a documentary film maker contact me after my Sodder Kids article made him think I was a serious journalist or some shit who could help him crack the case. That led to the guy getting booked on After Dark Radio, then no showing, leading Bryan Alverez to put me on air for however long to try and spit out the story. (Mostly me breathing nervously into the phone. Cringe.) Guy came back and said he had car issues and came on the air a week later or whatever. Then he vanished off FB a bit later.

- Another article wound up on a Rush Limbaugh fan page as it was a Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy the big government haters could get behind.

- Then there was Fred Ottman coming after me on FB for "lies" I wrote "like all the other dirt sheets" when I recapped his shoot.

- My name is also in the sources listings in a book on Portland Wrestling as someone took info from my Ken Patera shoot or something like that.
- I was also contacted by the father of a kid who went missing in the wilderness and was later found dead in a mysterious fashion. IIRC I wrote an article on the case at his behest, and a follow up a few months later when the dad posted an update on the case on FB.

-

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1448354760709578755

me and @Laz 's dream team?

Tbh Kidman hanging out with Sandman doesn't make that much less sense than Kidman being in the Filthy Animals IMO.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1448367458830716939

Damn. It looks like Hayabusa had multiple close brushes with WCW!