WCW's Highway to Hell

[Mando]

Match of the week : Terry Funk vs Chris Candido (Thunder). Candido is dressed like Terry Funk.

I was never into or crafty enough to make custom action figures but I do recall having an ECW Candido figure lying around and thinking it looked bland so I broke out the red, white, and black paint and made Funk's trademark stripped pants on the Candido toy. Also, great psychology by the horse.

[El-P]

WEEK 75 (June 5 to 10, 2000)

 

Stupid title changes of the week : Eric Bischoff wins the hardcore title from Terry Funk and pass the belt to the Mamalukes (Nitro / Thunder) : The only fun thing they had going was Terry Funk hanging on to the hardcore title so of course they had to ruin this with yet another non-wrestler winning a title. Then another "give the title to another guy" title switch. There's nothing left to watch on this godawful show.

 

Eye gouging match of the week : Vince Russo vs Ric Flair in a cage (Nitro) Yeah, because that's what we want. More non-wrestlers beating wrestlers. So David Flair coming from under the ring of course, since a cage is totally irrelevant anyway, and the all powerful red goo falling from the sky KOing Flair apparently (I guess since Flair had Russo in the figure four but released it after being hit by the allmighty red goo). This is garbage.

 

More stupid title change of the week : Lieutenant Loco winning the cruiserweight title in a Three-way mixed match (Thunder). A thousand interferences, Miss Hancock showing up to confront Daffney, Kim showing up to confront Miss Hancock, pushing her onto Daffney who gets KOed in the process, so meanwhile Loco can win the title from the other non-champ in the match despite being himself unconscious after having been beat up by the other Filthy Animals who then have been beat up by the other Misfits in Action. Ok ? Garbage.

 

Retarded spot of the week : Vampiro threatening to set Midajah on fire (Nitro). Vamp really *is* Kane. And he sucks even more in the ring *and* as a character. And he's a fucking jobber too, this time doing the honour to Scott Steiner after getting bitchslapped by Sting again.

 

Match (?) of the week : DDP & Miss Hancock vs Mike Awesome & Kimberly (Nitro). Yeah, this is the "best" stuff that could be seen on TV this week. Some stupid catfights. Some decent action from DDP & Awesome, which actually makes me rather positive about their upcoming match, at least.

 

Squash of the week : Shane Douglas vs Chris Harris (Worldwide) Douglas looks really excellent is this very old-school competitive squash, delivering a ton of super solid offense and giving some to Harris like he's Barry Horowitz. Douglas looks much better than Jarrett on every level at this point, yet he's buried in the undercard doing nothing and having an afterthought feud with The Wall.

 

This product is downright unwatchable, seriously. They had Goldie beat Tank Abbott on Monday and playing friends with Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner. Feel the swerve... Vampiro vs Sting and Russo vs Flair are probably two of the most godawful and stupid feud I've ever seen. Hogan vs Kidman has sunk to the pits of nothingness, with Hogan facing Horace in a cage as Hollywood, and Kidman having problems with Torrie now. Whoever wrote this shit (uh...) was just the most inept wrestling TV writer ever. I really have a hard time going through this, hopefully the PPV will give me something to hang onto like the last one did...

[El-P]

PPV 18 : Great American Bash 2000

 

Death of WCW Swerve of the night : Goldberg turns heel. The ONE thing the reminder of loyal WCW fans didn't want to see. Yep, that was their big idea. Goldie turned on Nash at the end of a totally overbooked match against Jarrett (which would become the actual model for Jeff Jarrett main event, a sorta fourth rate Raven dog & pony show filtered through WWF's Attitude era bullshit). Good job boy, you couldn't fuck this up much more, but you actually managed to.

 

Match of the night with a swerve : DDP vs Mike Awesome. So, this is a ambulance match, but infact there's a stretcher in the alley, so let's call it a stretcher match, which this basically is. Like I thought it would be, this is the sole good match of the night. At one point Mike Awesome puts DDP through a table, which prompts the announcer to remind us that we'll get an actual table match later. Ok, way to diminish the impact of your following gimmicks to come. Anyway, this flows pretty well, Awesome does his usual agile killer bit, DDP steals a spot from his matches with Tanaka (the elbow on the chair), all is well and good until Kim shows up followed by Miss Hancock, because we need some T&A. Forgot to tell that Kanyon in a halo and a wheelchair was sitting on the stage, leading to the first swerve of the night, as he would diamond cut DDP through the stage by surprise. Man, everyone is turning on DDP. Good little match otherwise.

 

Stupid stunt match of the night : Sting vs Vampiro. Garbage. Vamp sucks. Sting doesn't care. All leads to Vamp putting Sting on fire on top of the giant screen, with "Sting" falling from the screen through the ramp. The fascination with people falling from high places was incredibly annoying and stupid, and Mick Foley has to be blamed for this trend. Of course it was obvious that it was a stuntman doing the whole deal, which make the entire match extremely worthless (I mean, more than it already was in itself).

 

Family feud match of the night : Ric Flair vs David Flair. Flair looks old, David looks green. There you go. I only mention this match because it involves seriously one of the most RETARDED spot I've ever seen. At some point Russo hits Flair with a baseball bat and cuffs his hands. All basically in front of the referee, but it doesn't matter because now everything is "relaxed rules". Then, in a pretty mind-blowing moment, while David had his father in the figure four, Russo helps him putting more pression and tries to HIDE FROM THE REFEREE despite the fact Ric Flair has already been put in HANDCUFFS !!! And the idiot referee plays along. Man, somethimes it gets way too stupid. The killer is the referee kicking David's hands from the ropes, because you see, that's cheating I guess. But handcuffs are OK. Anyway, this is garbage, Flair wins (the old one I mean), Russo challenges him for Nitro, because PPV are building to TV shows.

 

Overkill match of the night : Shane Douglas vs The Wall. So, Douglas decides he wants a 5 tables match now. I guess Mike Awesome using their gimmick pissed him off. The announcers don't get it and talk about a best of 9 tables match during the whole bout. Anyway, this ends when the Wall and Douglas climb a giant ladder very conveniently placed next to a three table construction. None of this makes sense (the fact that the Wall would climb a ladder opposed to Douglas' side to reach him instead of simply following him and get him down especially), but there you go, more people falling from high places. Yawn. At least Douglas won, and at least he said he had a plan in a solid pre-match promo, so that would somewhat explain why these three tables were set up next to a giant ladder. Even more conveniently, an isolated table was set up next to the site so the Wall could get up (yes, after getting put through three tables from a giant ladder) and chokeslam the referee through it. We never get enough table break.

 

There was also some really boring and bad stuff with GI Bro vs Stasiak, Kronik vs Mamalukes, Hogan vs Kidman (which had overstayed its welcome one month ago), Steiner vs Tank & Rick in the Asylum, a throwaway Disco vs Chavo match. Basically, the PPV was complete trash save for DDP vs Awesome. And the conclusion with Goldberg turning heel was yet another nail in the coffin. Brillant work by Russo and Bischoff.

[Johnny Guitar]

What a fucking mess!

 

This year makes me so angry. If you could keep the timeslots and then cherry pick the talent. There's a great wrestling company lurking underneath the bullshit.

[EricR]

You forgot to mention that the Goldberg heel turn was pushed on TV by Bischoff as a huge surprise at the PPV and it was "something that Vince MacMahon couldn't stop if he tried!" And everybody online guessed it was going to be Goldberg turning heel, so much that Bischoff even said that it was going to be Goldberg turning heel in a pre-PPV interview.

 

They actually pushed a guy turning heel as a reason to spend money on a PPV. "We're writing this good guy as a bad guy instead now! You should pay us money to watch our creative vision!"

[Ditch]

"something that Vince MacMahon couldn't stop if he tried!"

Oh man, I remember this so clearly, and it was exactly the sort of BS that if it works and you're trying to hook them, you're only screwing yourself. Because that line implies a big WWF guy jumping ship, and anything short of that becomes a screwjob, let alone a very standard storyline *with someone who has only ever been in WCW*. I mean, the line is literally true, but still.

[Smack2k]

This will get better, just another month of so of crap, and the Main Event's will get MUCH better and the mid-card as well..

 

Hang in there...April - July was bad bad bad...but after the BATB going forward, things do pick-up...that last 7 months of WCW was actually good, but it was soo far down teh shitter at that point, it didnt matter..

 

And honestly, even if they were still pulling 3's, from all accounts, Jamie Kellner would have pulled it....

 

Still amazes me to this day though that NO channel wanted to take a show doing 2's on cable....someone had to have wanted that.....unless the AOL TW people made sure it wouldnt make TV anywhere...I mean, there was much less to choose from in 2001 as well....

 

Today, with all teh channels available, someone would have saved WCW and given Bischoff and crew and chance...but as we've seen, it would have been TNA 2010-2013 in 2001..Before BIsch and Hulk took over TNA, I had always thought WCW could have gotten better based on where it was going in March...but not after the abomination of TNA over the last three years...

 

Has anyone ever fantasy booked WCW post March 2001? I'd love to read it.

[El-P]

WEEK 76 (June 12 to 17, 2000)

 

Promo of the week : DDP is leaving WCW (Nitro) Good jadded interview from DDP, who tells his story and says it isn't worth it anymore, not in a depressed kinda way but in a way to flip off Bischoff, Kim and Kanyon who thought he was going to be pissed about everything he went through. DDP and Kim worked really well together during this whole angle, and this was no exception.

 

Eye gouging angle of the week : Vince Russo retires Ric Flair and shaves his head (Nitro). Not that I really care about Flair at this point, but this is so much utter garbage on every level, as Russo is such a terrible performer on top of everything.

 

New gimmick of the week : "Positively" Kanyon (Nitro). Now this is good. I feel bad for Kanyon, this guy was very underrated. He could work, he could cut decent funny promos, and he was excellent at goofy stuff like this. ON Thunder he would debut the wig and the overdone Page maneurisms, which were hilarious.

 

Turns of the week : Kidman and Buff Bagwell turn face again(Nitro). Kidman helping Hulk Hogan while being the special referee during his match with Jarrett (all because of the whole Horace debacle which ended up with Torri turning on Kidman, which means both are babyfaces now despite having turned on each other the previous week), and Buff after being jumped from behind by his former partner Shane Douglas who blames him for having letting him down.

 

Soap-opera angle of the week : David Flair is an item with Miss Hancock. (Thunder) So yeah, Miss Hancock who had been a popular face "feuding" with Kimberly is now aligned with David Flair for no good reason, essentially turning Daffney who was a heel (well, kinda, I guess, by association) babyface.

 

C-show debut of the week : Chris Daniels (WorldWide). Looking like the Fallen Angel, and by that I mean showing no character at all and not knowing if he's a heel or a face. Already mechanically very good though, and having a fun match with Candido.

 

Funniest match of the week : Scott Steiner vs The Cat (Thunder). Two favourite of mine, and probably the two best characters on the show. The Cat is the Commissionner now. How many authority figures can you have on the same show ? Fun little beatdown, with some good comedy spots from The Cat. Steiner is so good in his character that he can already be a babyface, and he knows how to work the right way so to not compromise his bad-ass heelish character. Midajah is now doing spots from the top rope, a la Mona. Shakira is not, which is why she would get fired (or quit) I believe (she didn't want to take any bump), which is too bad, Kim Kanner was the hottest girl on the show.

 

What can I say, this show is unbearable save for a few spots here and there. They are building toward Hogan vs Jarrett at the Bash, we know how well that will play out. They are reforming the Triple Threat, as Bam Bam and Candido came to Douglas's aid on Thunder. Sadly they are settled with Bagwell and the no-selling bozos Kronik, so I don't expect anything good. Apparently Tammy has been fired already at this point, she's not been around for a few weeks (blame Kimberly Page, or so said the very reliable Tammy Sytch in the past...). Also, I forgot to mention we are graced with the august talent of Pamela Paulshock backstage. Sure got there thanks to her broadcasting and interviewing ability, as well as her great charisma. Big Vito is the hardcore champ and betrayed Johnny the Bull on Thunder. I enjoy Vito, so his hardcore reign should be decent depending on his opponents. Vampiro is engaged in a new shitty feud with the KISS Demon, now referred as Dale Torborg in real life, along with her fiancée Asya. Damn, that girl was still getting a payday from WCW that late in 00 ? They are also teasing a Steiner reunion of sort. Again. After Scott was getting ganged up by Rick and Tank for weeks. Whatever. Year, whatever, this sums up the best that can be said about this product.

[Ditch]

Turns of the week : Kidman and Buff Bagwell turn face again(Nitro). Kidman helping Hulk Hogan while being the special referee during his match with Jarrett (all because of the whole Horace debacle which ended up with Torri turning on Kidman, which means both are babyfaces now despite having turned on each other the previous week), and Buff after being jumped from behind by his former partner Shane Douglas who blames him for having letting him down.

The reason why this paragraph makes no sense has nothing to do with English being your second language. It has everything to do with Logic being Vince Russo's second language.

[El-P]

Ok, so this will be put on hold until late August/early September at best, as I won't be able to watch much wrestling at all during the upcoming month. But I intend to finish this before the end of the year.

[rzombie1988]

TNA had somewhere between 5-7 authority figures at one time. There was Hogan, Bischoff, Tracy Brooks, Brooke Hogan, Dixie and others.

[s1rweeze]

Ok, so this will be put on hold until late August/early September at best, as I won't be able to watch much wrestling at all during the upcoming month. But I intend to finish this before the end of the year.

Godspeed. You've done great so far. Here's hoping you pull through.

[Sidebottom]

"something that Vince MacMahon couldn't stop if he tried!"

Oh man, I remember this so clearly, and it was exactly the sort of BS that if it works and you're trying to hook them, you're only screwing yourself. Because that line implies a big WWF guy jumping ship, and anything short of that becomes a screwjob, let alone a very standard storyline *with someone who has only ever been in WCW*. I mean, the line is literally true, but still.

 

I always pictured Vince trying his best to stop it

[kjh]

[ajtroma]

"I know its not gonna work out. I know this is a bad idea".

 

I had the same thoughts when I clicked the link.

 

I made it 12 seconds. That's a personal record for me listening to this man.

[El-P]

I need to watch this. Well, I don't *need* to, but I need to. And I will. Vacations are over. Back to business of watching terrible pro-wrestling so you don't have to do it youselves. Soon.

[Marty]

So was this the project KC did with Vince Russo that pissed off Jim Cornette to the point of not wanting anything to do with them? Or was that something else?

[El-P]

So was this the project KC did with Vince Russo that pissed off Jim Cornette to the point of not wanting anything to do with them? Or was that something else?

 

Nope, it was the Youshoot with Vince Russo a few years ago that set Cornette off (rightly so, it was godawful and 100% bullshit). But they apparently patched things up now.

[thebrainfollower]

Seeing posts back on this thread brought a smile to my face.

 

And EL-P I agree with Shakira. She seemed to understand her role, looked great, and looked like she was enjoying herself. Midajah has exactly one facial expression by comparison.

[flyonthewall2983]

I need to watch this. Well, I don't *need* to, but I need to. And I will. Vacations are over. Back to business of watching terrible pro-wrestling so you don't have to do it youselves. Soon.

I don't blame you. If I subjected myself to all this, I'd want answers too.

[El-P]

And EL-P I agree with Shakira. She seemed to understand her role, looked great, and looked like she was enjoying herself. Midajah has exactly one facial expression by comparison.

Exactly my thoughts.

 

I don't blame you. If I subjected myself to all this, I'd want answers too.

I watched the thing. 2 hours and a half of the most glorious bullshit imaginable, to the point it was actually somewhat fun to watch.

 

Basically, Russo is the guy who saved the WWF, Russo is a guy who cared when no one did in WCW, butv everybody was out to get him since day one. He paints himself as the ultimate good guy, contradicts himself a thousand times, lies his ass off in a way thay Paul Heyman would be jealous off. Funniest part to me all the brutal talk about how wrestling is fake, then at one point hear him talk like some grizzled old WCCW veteran about how young wrestlers don't work hard (and stiff, apparently) enough to make it look real. The most interesting part is the whole Hulk Hogan debacle, which is rather fascinating no matter what percentage of it is true (in dealings with other world class bullshitters like Hogan and Flair, I would give anyone the benefit of the doubt on those matters).

 

So, this was his "last wrestling interview", and he would tell the whole truth here (as opposed to other interviews in which he had to lie because he didn't want to bury anyone, the good guy he is, or maybe it's the Tammy syndrome), and he does shoot on some people like Chris Daniels (basically an idiot who doesn't understand that having ***** matches is less important than showing character, a point I totally will concede to Russo), Hacksaw Duggan (an ungrateful guy who bashes Russo when he was the one who put him back on TV in a meaningfull feud, which, well, is actually true), Lance Storm (again, a guy who doesn't appreciate the fact that Russo pushed him more than anyone else in any major company and who bashes him regularly on his "little blog or something"), Meltzer and a few others. Oh, and *us* of course, the marks with the "biggest keyboards", the micro-minority who aren't entertained by Oklahoma or Judy Bagwell-on a pole matches, which are, by all acounts, hilarious.

 

So anyway, yeah this was pretty glorious and Russo is a rather likeable guy as a bullshiter, and the fact he actually goes off with a bit of venom (pun intended) at times makes the whole thing totally watchable. He's truly a pro-wrestling carny at heart when you thing about it.

[thebrainfollower]

I sort of want to watch this now.

 

As per Lance Storm, isn't Russo right there? Did anyone really give Lance a bigger push than Russo?

[Loss]

Yes, but that Lance is still willing to criticize him is good, not bad. Too many people in wrestling already make excuses for people who have treated them well.

[El-P]

WEEK 77 (June 19 to 24, 2000)

 

Match of the week : Jeff Jarrett & Mike Awesome vs Scott Steiner & Kevin Nash. (Thunder). Decent short match with Jarrett bumping well for his opposition and some nice little dynamic between the two teams, but really it says a lot when *this* ends up being the most watchable wrestling stuff on WCW TV. Steiner gets a clean pin on Jarrett the World champion, which should be a huge deal but wins and loss don't matter anymore. Steiner looks like he's totally ready for the top spot, while Jarrett stills looks awfully out of place with the big gold belt. Shakira is done, sadly. Post match has Goldie showing up with Scott Hall's contract in his hand, challenging Nash. Hall was nowhere near the shape to come back, but they were using him in storylines anyway.

 

Whatever debut of the week : Lance Storm (Nitro / Thunder). Showed up from the crowd, in street clothes, to attack 3-Count on Nitro, do some highspots, then jumps on The Artist on Thunder. Usual "he doesn't even work in WCW, what is he doing here ?" deal that's totally overdone and bland at this time. Notice Storm is introduced as a babyface, when of course his entire run will consist of being a heel.

 

Funny spot of the week : Tank Abott is a 3-Count fan (Thunder). He's grooving to 3-Count new song, which is even worse than the previous one. Kinda funny but not ah-ah funny either.

 

Awful angle of the week : Vampiro has kidnapped Asya and drives Dale Torborg to a graveyard. (Thunder). Vampiro is the worst wrestling freak ever, his 5th rate Raven wannabe act is eye gounging and his angles are up there with the worse Kane stuff. He's been fast forward material for months now, essentially since he turned heel, he was at least semi-watchable as a fiery babyface.

 

Things are moving slow. Russo and Bischoff not on TV this week was a nice break, as The Cat is a fun commissionner character at least. Buff Bagwell is feuding with Shane Douglas. Poor Shane. Rick Steiner apparently turned babyface again and got a clean pin on his former partner Tank Abbott. Lots of nothingness and boring stuff involving Kronik, Booker T abandonning the MIA and his brand new GI Bro identity, David Flair and Daffney soap opera... Hogan is scheduled to face Jarrett at the PPV, yet they don't build toward that at all, as he doesn't even appear on TV anymore. The cruiserweight title scene is marred with useless mixed tag matches involving Major Gunns, Tygress and Paisley. Poor Rey Jr... Poor WCW.

[El-P]

WEEK 78 (June 26 to July 01, 2000)

 

Match of the week : Goldberg vs Jim Duggan (Nitro). More an angle than much of a match, but this was good in establishing Goldberg as an evil killer. Duggan ended up in a match with Goldberg and then play up teh afct that he's not in good shape enough to sustain the challenge, with his wife trying to convince him not to do the match. Match itself got a lot of heat, as Duggan still is very over, especially in special attractions like these, and the face off he has with Goldie is quite good. Short, intense match ending up with Goldberg attacking Duggan's kidney. Stretcher job, sadistic grin on Goldie, good stuff.

 

In-ring debut of the week : Lance Storm vs Disco Inferno (Nitro). Disco is rather funny as the Filthy Animals dork. Man, I forgot how wooden Lance Storm was, this guy really had no presence at all, especially as a babyface. Where is Dawn Marie anyway, her boobs, legs and ass were 90% of why you'd pay attention to this guy's entrance. They manage to fumble a spot, which rarely happens in a Disco match (hum...). Post-match has Kidman showing up to save Lance from a gang attack from the animals. Why would Kidman feud with his former partners which he never turned on, I have no idea. Why would he align with stone face Lance Storm I have no idea either. This is so random.

 

Funny spots of the week : Kanyon Diamond Cuttering random people backstage (Thunder). BANG !

 

A-show debut of the week : Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Hare (Nitro). Cookie cutter big guys with short hair, short trunks and big muscles, some athletic ability, green as fuck, unable to properly work and with bad names. Wait is this the 00's WWE already ? I couldn'g care less about those two guys, but they are already getting pushed right down the throats of the audience. At least they put them against Rey & Juvy who make them look "good" (and against 3-Count on Thunder)

 

Tease return of the week : Sting is coming back, assaulting Vampiro (Nitro). Gawwwd. This angle refuse to die.

 

Promo of the week : Daffney (Nitro). She cut a rather decent one on Miss Hancock. They are going toward a Wedding Gown match at the PPV.

 

No Russo or Bischoff either this week. Again, this made the TV that much easier to watch, and it seems the absence of Russo also means more wrestling matches. The problem is that 90% of the product is either deadly boring or stupid or involves bad workers. The two funny bits are Tank Abbott 3-Count fanboy and Kanyon. Kanyon is feuding with Booker T, and there is zero clue that this guy is gonna be pushed at the top of the card at the PPV. Horace has been doing Hulk's deeds for weeks now, it's both predictable and totally dull. Lance Storm was I believe the last "big" signee off another promotion, and his debut has been unimpressive. This promotion is so dead already.