Vote for why you think it jumped
David Arquette
Expansion of nWo
Fingerpoke of Doom
WWF ripoff
Special Guest Stars
Shark Bytes
Ahh WCW..so many jump moments:
*The Hogan/Sting Starrcade 97 finish
*The Fingerpoke Of Doom
*Vince Russo
*The 200 different versions of the NWO, some of which seemed to have 80 members
Plus, Tony Schiavone was incredibly unbearable during this time. Anybody who remembers the old NWA mid-atlantic era of the 80s remembers that Schiavone was a respectable broadcaster then (and the better half of the duo of him and the Bias symbol of nepotism, David Crockett), but it's like he did a 180 turn during the Nitro era. Still I miss the the 80s-90s eras of wrestling...NWA, UWF, World Class, ECW (the original..not that current WWE based crap)...they just don't make wrestling like that anymore.
*The Hogan/Sting Starrcade 97 finish
*The Fingerpoke Of Doom
*Vince Russo
*The 200 different versions of the NWO, some of which seemed to have 80 members
Plus, Tony Schiavone was incredibly unbearable during this time. Anybody who remembers the old NWA mid-atlantic era of the 80s remembers that Schiavone was a respectable broadcaster then (and the better half of the duo of him and the Bias symbol of nepotism, David Crockett), but it's like he did a 180 turn during the Nitro era. Still I miss the the 80s-90s eras of wrestling...NWA, UWF, World Class, ECW (the original..not that current WWE based crap)...they just don't make wrestling like that anymore.
The things that killed the WCW:
-Goldberg's ridiculously long undefeated streak.
-Hogan and the rest of the guys in the main event scene for too long.
-The NWO having 30 members.
-The NWO going on for too long (should have died in 1998)
-Eric Bischoff fired on September 10, 1999.
-Fingerpoke of Doom and the infamous comment from Tony Schivonie.
-Wolfpac vs. NWO Black and White.
-No pushes for Malenko, Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio, Kidman, Konnan, Booker T, Bagwell, etc...
-Starrcade 1997.
-David Arquette winning the World Heavyweight Championship.
-Vince Russo winning the title.
-Hogan laying down at Halloween Havoc 1999 and Jarrett laying down at Bash at the Beach 2000.
-Goldberg's ridiculously long undefeated streak.
-Hogan and the rest of the guys in the main event scene for too long.
-The NWO having 30 members.
-The NWO going on for too long (should have died in 1998)
-Eric Bischoff fired on September 10, 1999.
-Fingerpoke of Doom and the infamous comment from Tony Schivonie.
-Wolfpac vs. NWO Black and White.
-No pushes for Malenko, Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio, Kidman, Konnan, Booker T, Bagwell, etc...
-Starrcade 1997.
-David Arquette winning the World Heavyweight Championship.
-Vince Russo winning the title.
-Hogan laying down at Halloween Havoc 1999 and Jarrett laying down at Bash at the Beach 2000.
This show jumped when they bought in Bill Goldberg. It was obvious that this guy couldnt wrestle yet they insisted on bringing him out every week. I remember one night they bought him put and schiavone says "the fans are all on their feet screaming GOLDBERG as one" then they pan to the audience and everyone is seated and not saying anything. the guy refused to job, refused to be a heal and continued to just kill the show week after week.
There are other reasons:
1. when they announced that Mick Foley was going to win the belt on RAW and over 1000000 homes switched to RAW immediately.
2. NWO red, white, mauve, teal etc.
3. Nash as the booker and writer.
4. Alex Wright as Berlyn. Booker T as GI BRO
5. MAster P
6. Ill tell you all about it after I take a sip of my surge.
the list goes on and on.
There are other reasons:
1. when they announced that Mick Foley was going to win the belt on RAW and over 1000000 homes switched to RAW immediately.
2. NWO red, white, mauve, teal etc.
3. Nash as the booker and writer.
4. Alex Wright as Berlyn. Booker T as GI BRO
5. MAster P
6. Ill tell you all about it after I take a sip of my surge.
the list goes on and on.
I was never a big wrastlin' fan, but I had the time to watch this stuff b ack then. It was nuts, then they started having 10 different versions of the NWO. That was the begginning of the end.
Having David Arquette win the title was the final jumping point for me, but it started to jump long before then. The multiple NWO factions really was the beginning of the jumping point for me. Putting mid-card guys in the NWO, was beyond stupid.
It seemed like the reason Arquette got the belt in the first place was an attempt to draw in the non-wrestling fan. That is probably the same reason that Leno was involved. The whole concept backfired. Not only did they not draw in the non-wresting fan, but they also alienated the wrestling fan and they turned away from the product.
It seemed like the reason Arquette got the belt in the first place was an attempt to draw in the non-wrestling fan. That is probably the same reason that Leno was involved. The whole concept backfired. Not only did they not draw in the non-wresting fan, but they also alienated the wrestling fan and they turned away from the product.
I agree with many of the comments about WCW: In addition; It didn't help that McMahon improved his product on RAW! In the mid 90s; The WWF was a joke; Remember Duke the Dumpster Drosse, Doink the Clown, TL Hooper and the Goon! Not to mention Fake Razor and Diesel; When Vince McMahon went hardcore and started the attitude era for the WWF with Stone Cold, DX and the Rock, it was only a matter of time before fans starting watching RAW and not Hogan and Company on WCW
Now! Vince is King! and he can have his product be lame without real competition; Sorry TNA! I miss the days of the Monday Night Wars!
Now! Vince is King! and he can have his product be lame without real competition; Sorry TNA! I miss the days of the Monday Night Wars!
I totally agree. Giving David Arquette was the ultimate example of jumping the shark. It was so horrible I never watched WCW again. I actually wanted to see Arquette get crippled in the ring.
I have to agree with the last couple of posters. The NWO started out as a really cool outlaw faction, but then they went and added so damn many guys that nobody gave a crap about (see Stevie Ray, Scott Norton, Horace Hogan, etc...). Text book example of trying to get guys over by association rather than just letting the fans choose.
The NWO was one of the greatest storylines ever, but then Hogan joined and f**ked it all up. First it was all about Hogan, then it became a circus act, with all the factions springing up, like LWO et al. Plus, they never finished a match except at PPVs. Monday Nitro was nothing more than a lot of matches that looked promising at the start, but finished with half the roster running into the ring.
The Fingerpoke of Doom. I don't care what people say about Arquette, it was already spiraling downhill when that mess happened.
I agree, vehemently, with WrestleCrap's assertion that this is what did it. With everything involved in that one night of disaster, you can't even begin to try to point out anything Russo did afterward. It was already over.
What's sad is that if people didn't know it was going downhill, and you still didn't after Vince Russo's shoot during a PPV event, then you weren't paying attention at all.
I agree, vehemently, with WrestleCrap's assertion that this is what did it. With everything involved in that one night of disaster, you can't even begin to try to point out anything Russo did afterward. It was already over.
What's sad is that if people didn't know it was going downhill, and you still didn't after Vince Russo's shoot during a PPV event, then you weren't paying attention at all.
I loved WCW, even before Nitro's gigantic success and drop off... WCW is missed, WWF is just not a good company anymore, it is very boring. I don't watch wrestling anymore.
For me, there wasn't one set thing that caused it. It was more gradual. the fact that the up and comers never got their fair share. Especially people like "Lionheart" Chris Jericho. The crowds despised him, and my friends and I would always bring him up first come Tuesday.
If you watch clips on YouTube, you can also hear/see huge ovations for Benoit, Malenko, and you always heard "Eddie Sucks" (R.I.P.) whenever Guerrero was wrestling.
In hindsight, WCW had too much talent for their own good, both showcasing wise and payment wise.
If you watch clips on YouTube, you can also hear/see huge ovations for Benoit, Malenko, and you always heard "Eddie Sucks" (R.I.P.) whenever Guerrero was wrestling.
In hindsight, WCW had too much talent for their own good, both showcasing wise and payment wise.
Like most of the comments on here, I agree that there were any number of reasons that wcw went pear shaped, but they all start from Starrcade 1997. At the time the NWO were at their peak, they had been dominating for 2 years and had taken on and destroyed everyone in their path...apart from the returning Sting, in his new guise, watching matches from the rafters. For all the criticism Bishoff he deserves for screwing up wcw, he did a superb job building up the Sting v Hogan feud, it was THE match every wrestling fan wanted to see, Hogan had to do the right thing for the business and do a clean job for Sting, putting him over and starting the downfall of the NWO. But as you know this didnt happen, the finish was a mess, the NWO continued to dominate until there was no one else left to feud with and fans turned over to the WWE because it WCW had become stale. The blame should be shouldered by Hogan - his refusal to lose clean is well known, and Bischoff who was too close to Hogan and should have had the balls to make him do the right thing for the business. It should have lead to Sting, Goldberg and the Four Horsemen destroying the NWO over the next few months until they split, giving the more talented younger guys - Benoit, Jerico, Kidman, Gurrero etc a push to replace them. Unfortunatley this didnt happen and the rest is history, so we are left with WWE and vince's obsession with massive muscular guys who cant wrestle and TNA employing vince russo, his ideas slowly destroying their product.
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