Halloween Havoc 99 question

[sek69]

The end of WCW all tends to run together in my brain, can anyone remind me what was the deal with the Hogan-Sting match here? They intro Hogan first, (who doesn't come out) then intro Sting, then try to bring Hulk out again who finally comes out in street clothes to do the whole "lay down for the pin" thing and leaving.

 

Was this an actual angle, or just backstage bullshit bubbling over to TV?

[kjh]

That PPV was the first one Vince Russo booked after jumping ship to WCW just a few weeks earlier.  It was one of his beloved worked shoot angles that was done to get Hogan off TV for at least 2 months.  The next day Ric Flair was similarly written out of the storylines when he was buried in the desert by the Filthy Animals.  Booking genius Russo didn't need those proven ratings draws to turn business around.  Of course, Russo was fired before either of those angles could be paid off, because his inept booking made business even worse.

[Loss]

Yeah, and of course Hogan sold it to everyone backstage in WCW because Russo and Bischoff were alike in that they liked to work the locker room. Hogan and Flair and everyone else off TV was supposed to come back on the Valentine's Day Nitro, which was going unopposed since RAW was pre-empted for the dog show. Russo was fired by the time that show took place though.

 

That was an odd Nitro anyway, as they needed new stars pretty desperately, but Flair and Hogan both got an unbelievable reaction, especially compared to everyone else on the show. I still don't understand this part to this day, but Meltzer has pointed it out as well. Hogan will get booed by the live audience any time he's shown on the Jumbotron before he comes out, but when he comes out, he gets cheered like crazy. That Nitro is the biggest example of that happening I know of.

[Mad Dog]

I found David Flair to be at his most entertaining during this period of time.  He was pretty good at playing a psycho.