[1995-11-06-WCW-Nitro] WCW World Title announcement

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The Giant is out with Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan with the WCW title. Jimmy Hart, who signed the contract for Havoc on Hogan's behalf, revealed that there was a clause that Hogan would lose the title if he was DQd, and Hart got him intentionally DQd, so therefore, Giant is champ. Give Jimmy Hart something to talk about -- no matter how convoluted -- and he shows just how underutilized he was for so many years.

 

Nick Lambrose interrupts to say that Giant is not the champ. Nick Bockwinkel and the Board of Directors (Why not the Championship Committee since this is a championship matter?) release a statement declaring the belt vacant, with a new champion to be crowned at World War 3. Then Gene Okerlund says "You heard that statement from the Championship Committee" ... I give up.

[Dooley]

You're surprised that even in kayfabe WCW has a convoluted and confusing bureaucracy?

[BackToBionic]

I thought Jimmy Hart, Sullivan and The Giant were all good here, given the material.

[El-P]

Yeah, Jimmy Hart is very good here. All those years playing Hogan's cheerleader really were a waste of his talents. Anyway, this was a way for Hogan to lose the belt without losing the belt and make WWIII a huge PPV. On paper that is.

[Zenjo]

At least the Giant here got to hang onto the World Title for a few more hours than his father.

[PeteF3]

Oh my God, the old Jimmy Hart is almost back! "While Hogan was makin' all those B-grade movies that wound up in a video store before they wound up on a silver screen..." Awesome. Hart, having power of attorney over Hogan's contract, inserted a waiver for the DQ rule into the Halloween Havoc contract. Okerlund brings out a member of WCW legal (and stunningly, does not refer to Lambrose as a "longtime personal friend").

 

Oh my God, Lambrose has the most hilarious voice of all-time. He sounds like someone doing a close but slightly overexaggerated impersonation of Kermit the Frog. Due to the "dubious nature" of the disqualification, the title has been held up to be determined at World War 3. Hart throws a fit. Okerlund: "Why don't you take this contract to the men's room? It won't do you any more good than that." This storyline doesn't make total sense and is a pretty shallow recreation of the Tuesday in Texas/Royal Rumble deal.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Jimmy Hart was certainly a wasted commodity in WCW and I think even in WWF too, but I am not as familiar with WWF TV in the 80s. He was really good in this segment. Holy shit, I thought the lawyer sounded like Kermit too! Definitely a recreation of Hogan/Taker with Hogan/Giant. It would have been funny if Flair won the title at WWIII too.

[Mrzfn]

Glad others noticed the distinctly Kermit-esque voice of the WCW exec.

 

I never noticed before just how slavishly this storyline follows the 'Mania IV storyline. Giant (Andre or otherwise) wins the title from longtime holder Hulk Hogan in a screwjob scenario. The title ends up vacant, then Randy Savage wins it in a big tournament style match where Hogan is never technically defeated. It's almost shot for shot at times.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Yes I think the better comp is Hogan/Andre than Hogan/Taker. Here is my review of the finish of Halloween Havoc:

GIANT CHOKESLAM~! HELL YEAH! 1-2-NO! HULK-UP~! DROPS THE LEG! JIMMY HART NAILS THE REF WITH THE BIG GOLD BELT! Hogan does not see that it is Jimmy Hart who does it. So Jimmy Hart is able to nail him too! Here comes Randy Savage and Lex Luger, but whose side is he on? Luger attacks Savage. Here is the YEH-TAY~! YEH-TAY humps Hogan in the ass and then Savage. Luger RACKS them both. Michael Buffer says twice the title cant change hands on a DQ. Giant is declared the winner by DQ. I assume it is because Jimmy Hart was aligned with Hogan and when he hit the ref that counted as being in favor for Hogan, but that is dumb. It turns out the Nov 6th Nitro that Jimmy Hart put a clause in the contract that Giant could win the title on DQ. I dont mind the shady contract fine print. I think thats good heel shit, but I think declaring Giant winner by DQ is a stretch. I think it would have been better if Jimmy Hart clearly hit Giant with the title and then it is revealed on Nitro the next night or the 6th of November that it was a double cross. 

It is strange they waited a whole week for the big Jimmy Hart reveal. During The Giant’s squash of Cobra (Morse code as entrance theme was bizarre who green lit that. Chokeslam 1-2-3), Bischoff kept saying he is not the real champion and he stole it. But why not beat us over the heads with the DQ finish. Which would only amp up the juice when Jimmy Hart reveals he put the “title can change hands on a DQ” clause in the contract. 
 

Furthermore I see the reason why they has Jimmy Hart hit the ref and call it a DQ victory for Giant it was because lawyer could strip The Giant due to “dubious nature” of DQ. Again why not come out and say it, we believe Jimmy Hart intentionally hit the ref to screw Hogan out of the title and ensure his new charge would be champion. It is also this weird implied shit. Just say it. 
 

Jimmy Hart is great here and it is his last run on top before being condemned to First Family WCW Thunder purgatory. He was awesome.

Dont feel like making a match review but I really thought the Taskmaster’s squash of Renegade was really effective. Renegade came out hor and then Sullivan took over on the floor thanks to Jimmy’s distraction. Good clubbing blows. The Tree of Woe and Double Stomp finishes it. What I really loved was all the character work. Jimmy taunting Renegade you could have been the next Hulk Hogan. Renegade was Hogan’s big surprised at Uncensored just 8 months prior with Jimmy Hart guiding him to WCW TV Title victory. Now Jimmy is taunting him. The cherry on top is after Sullivan beats the shit out of him he wipes off the makeup and Jimmy taunts him saying “You’re just Rick now. You’re just Rick”  that should be remembered as an all time angle. But they just move along so fast. I wish they actually started the promo gloating about how they humiliated the Renegade. That should have been a bigger deal. 
 

It is not always about execution it is also about promotion. Excellent execution but promotional follow through was not there for the Renegade angle.