Tweet
following...
-
-
July 2001
Plans and Demands
Patience is a virtue. It is a virtue because it is difficult, especially in trying times. Eric Bischoff is not known as a particularly patient man.
The simple reality facing World Championship Wrestling in mid-2001 was that it was no longer on an equal level to Vince McMahon and his World Wrestling Federation. It did not matter what measuring stick you used, WCW simply did not measure up any more. The war was lost and there were repercussions. As one insider put it, it left WCW as "pretty much America's biggest indy promotion". Recovery was not impossible but it would take time.
And that was the problem.
Bischoff wanted it fixed now. That was simply not possible.
Attendance was an area that Bischoff was concerned with. Through June and July, WCW was running weekly TV tapings in Atlanta. They were running very few regular house shows, and the simple reason was that attendances for those that they did run were weak to the point it was not worthwhile. Most of the talent liked that they only had to work about 6 to 8 dates per month, instead of 13-16 they would have to work if there was a regular house show tour. But it was hard not to notice that those 6 to 8 dates were drawing small crowds. Things hit a low point in the third week of July, when well under a thousand fans showed up for a Nitro taping. Given that tickets were cheap and being given away rather freely, it was an embarrassing number.
Eric Bischoff ranted on this and other problems on a frequent basis. However, there was little he could do to change it. In the past, he could have tried to spent money - whether it was signing a new talent, bringing in a celebrity, bringing in a band . At this point, there was no money to spend. "Fiscal responsibility" was the new watch-word in World Championship Wrestling. Although this "handicap" would grate on the WCW President for some time, it is unlikely that any such "quick fixes" would have been effective at restoring the reputation and popularity of WCW.
Another issue facing WCW at this time, and one that Bischoff and Schiavone may not have worried that much about, was morale. Prior to the sale, backstage morale had been awful. It was an issue that went back several years, based on a heavy dose of backstage politics, perceived lack of upward mobility for younger workers, and general discontent. As talent like Chris Jericho and Ric Flair would say of their time in WCW, "Talent just stopped caring." While the post-sale WCW was free of some of the worst offenders in terms of political maneuvering, the backstage environment was not completing changed either.
In an interview, Lance Storm had the following comments, "Most people in WCW during that time were realistic. We knew. You looked Nitro on TV and you knew it wasn't the same product. But you went out there and did your job every night. I'd like to think everyone was giving it their all." Some WCW have commented that there was a fatalistic undercurrent in the locker room - a belief that WCW was living on borrowed time. Perhaps more telling are comments from a number of workers that no one backstage trusted any information coming from the front office.
The production quality of Nitro did improve in July, though it was marginal improvement, given how severe the drop had been. With the roster settled down, the booking became a bit more "normal"... at least by WCW standards...
Even with the in-ring return of Diamond Dallas Page, world champion Booker T continued to be the most popular member of the roster. On the Nitro that was shown July 4th, he cut a great promo. He talked about growing up in Texas, idolizing the great wrestling stars. He waxed poetic about the great history of the WCW World Heavyweight championship belt, going back to greats like Lou Thesz, Harley Race, Terry Funk, and Jack Brisco, to WCW legends like Ricky Steamboat, Sting, and the immortal Ric Flair. Booker talked about wanting to bring glory and prestige back to the belt and he got a great pop for it. The promo actually generated some criticism, as WCW always seemed to – notably, the big gold belt was not the NWA World Heavyweight championship and could not trace its lineage back to 1948. Some also didn't like Booker admitting the belt had lost its importance and prestige. Despite these complaints, that particular promo was a high point in the first few months of WCW Nitro on Fox Sports Net.
Another highlight was the feud between Lance Storm and his former tag team partner and stable-mate, Mike Awesome. After turning on Storm at the Great American Bash, Awesome allied himself with the new US champion, Shane Douglas. Both men were former ECW World Heavyweight champions, a fact that was often hyped. With ECW now folded and gone, there were rumors that WCW would bring in some more notable ECW talent to form an “Extreme Horsemen”. For the moment, the feud was Storm seeking vengeance on his former friend, with an eye on the US title of Douglas. While Douglas was solid on the mic and Awesome continued his inane rambling stories, Storm hit a hot streak with his promos. He put himself over as a tenacious battler, who had fought uphill his entire career, wading through a “world of hurt” only to be wronged like that by his friend. It couldn't stand! Storm was to the point and intense in his promos, and it worked. The high point was a great black & white vignette that was filmed in the Calgary gym where Storm had completed his initial training alongside Chris Jericho, with the wrestler simply talking quietly about the hard work and dedication he had put into the business. Again, simple but powerful. Even more impressive was the fact that the vignette was not done by WCW, but by Storm and a friend with a camcorder when he was home visiting, and WCW simply edited it together. It was changed to black & white since the video quality was not fantastic (even by WCW standards).
On the July 4th episode of Nitro, it was announced that the WCW World Tag Team titles had been vacated. This was not announced by the WCW authority figure, as there was no authority figure - Ric Flair had been the final on-screen “president” and “The Nature Boy” had yet to return. It was instead announced by the commentary crew. There was talk of crowning new tag team champions, but nothing specific was announced or done until a four-way elimination tag match was announced for Bash at the Beach on the July 25th Nitro, immediately before the pay per view.
The build toward the Bash at the Beach 2K1 was better than the build toward The Great American Bash had been. But then again, WCW had set the bar rather low the month prior.
There was essentially no build at all for the match that would crown the new WCW World Tag Team champions... On the final Nitro of the month, it was announced that there would be a four-way tag team elimination match at Bash at the Beach. Two of the teams would be Kronik and the Jersey Duo of Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow. The other two teams were not even announced until the pay per view event itself. DDP had returned to the ring at the start of the month and while many felt he should be headlining for WCW, he was instead mostly working the midcard and teaming with Bigelow – this was out of necessity, as he was still nursing a back injury inflicted by Scott Steiner back at the Greed pay per view in March.
Sean O'Haire began to emerge as a star as he was built toward a chance at Booker's World Heavyweight Championship at Bash at the Beach at the end of July. Without the rest of the Natural Born Thrillers group, O'Haire had to develop a strong heel persona, combining arrogance and charisma. Dubbing himself “The Bad Boy”, the time and effort being given to build O'Haire began to pay off. Considered one of pro wrestling's top prospects from the moment he graduated from WCW's Power Plant training facility, that potential began to deliver. With the stunning Kiebler at his side, O'Haire strutted with supreme arrogance in his expensive clothes and made the small crowds of WCW faithful truly loathe him. O'Haire and his manager talked up his status as the new “shining star” of WCW and the riches that status was bringing him (a slightly ironic twist, given the money problems WCW was dealing with). Given the burgeoning generation of young athlete-celebrity-millionaires in pop culture, the gimmick resonated. In essence, it was really just an updated version of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair with a slight twist... though O'Haire was clearly no Flair.
At the same time as O'Haire was being pushed hard as the new top contender, Scott Steiner also remained in the world title scene. Playing the role of Steiner's sidekick, Jeff Jarrett also made it clear he coveted that belt. The intent by Schiavone was likely to try to add value back to the WCW World Heavyweight championship by showing how coveted it was. Not a bad thought, given how badly the belt had been devalued in the few years prior. O'Haire quickly developed a natural rivalry with WCW's other alpha heel, Scott Steiner, who felt he deserved another shot at the big gold belt. When O'Haire was put in a six-man tag match with alongside Steiner and his associate, Jarrett, it made for some interesting inter-heel tension. But the overall effect of the multiple “top heels” was that it took away from the Booker-O'Haire build and made things at the top muddy.
The cruiserweight division continued to have frequent matches, which were often amongst the best on any given show, yet they were not really “featured” as had been promised so many times. There were no real storylines – just basic feuds, and almost no promo time was given to the division. To be fair, the division lacked great talkers like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho, but the likes of Shane Helms, Jamie Noble, and Billy Kidman were not really given a chance to show what they could do on a mic. It was apparently just assumed that fans would not find them entertaining. Given the lack of depth in the division, compared to the past, it was not surprising when the decision was made to retire the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team championships. But rather than have the commentators explain this, the belts were simply ignored and never mentioned, which was disappointing to many fans, given the time put into the tournament to crowd the first champions. Still holding the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, Shane Helms worked to channel his best Chris Jericho, emerging as one of the top cruiserweights in the world and fairly entertaining on the rare occasions that he was allowed to talk.
The cruiserweight division was seen as a bit thin on talent – there was talent but not enough of it. It wasn't the only place where the talent was a bit shallow. Many within WCW felt that roster reinforcements were required - whether that meant bringing back some departed talent, looking to former ECW workers, or even trying to bring in some young unproven talent. The response from Eric Bischoff was that it was “not financially prudent” at that point in time. Which was not to say that Bischoff and the front office were unaware of the problem or were without a way to address it.
In fact, Bischoff decided on a potential solution to not only the roster depth issue also the attendance concerns... and the idea was basically turning back time...Comment
-
The Great American Bash 2001
Sunday, July 1st, 2001
Throughout its history, World Championship Wrestling has put on events that have covered the whole spectrum, from awful to awesome. Some events, such as Bash at the Beach 1996, are looked up on as amongst the best events ever produced by an American wrestling promotion. Others, and probably too many to attempt to list, are abominations that are simply painful to think about, let alone re-watch. The Great American Bash from 2001 fall right in the middle. The easiest way to define the show is simply as 'forgettable'.
As seems typical for WCW, this show makes for some easy criticism. The show featured just six matches. If you think that just six matches is too little for a three hour event, you would be entirely correct. Which is why the pay per view ran just over two hours. Two hours and twenty-one minutes is the number typically given. There were also issues with the advertising, as some of the carriers were apparently given an incorrect start time for the event, but it was sorted out before the broadcast began. Probably the strongest complaint that people make against this pay per view is that WCW did a really weak job of building toward it. It is a valid compliant. Of the six matches, only two had any sort of build. That was the main event, which was sort of announced on the first Nitro of the month, but it wasn't until the the third that Scott Steiner was revealed as the challenger. The second was the semi main event, the final of a short four-man tournament for the vacated United States championship. The remaining matches on the card had only a little build or storyline in the lead-up to the pay per view.
The opener was the four-way match for the WCW Cruiserweight championship. Though still boasting some talent, the cruiser division was definitely not as talented or deep as it had been in the past. This was a decent match but quite simply went too long. A rather spotty and fast-paced affair, it would have been ideal at around ten minutes, but ran closer to twenty. The defending champion Helms pinned Jimmy Yang to retain.
The powerhouse tag team of Bryan Clark and Brian Adams went toe-to-toe in a brawl with the ad hoc tandem of Crowbar and Bam Bam Bigelow. This one was kept a bit shorter and it certainly helped, as trying to keep the wild brawl interesting for twenty minutes would have been difficult. Not surprisingly, the regular pairing went over.
The triangle match was unofficially billed as a #1 contenders match – one would assume for the WCW World Heavyweight championship, although thought was never really made clear. It saw Sean O'Haire triumph over Hugh Morrus and Jeff Jarrett. Not a bad match, but it went a bit heavy on the false finishes. An interesting note here is that O'Haire was still technically one half of the WCW World Tag Team champions – the belts had not been mentioned throughout June as his partner Chuck Palumbo's status was still unclear (he would officially sign with the WWE in late June). Until it was clear that Palumbo had indeed imped ship, WCW simply did not mention the tag team belts.
The match between Mike Awesome and Chris Kanyon was a battle between the other two men involved in the United States championship mini-tournament, as both had lost in semi finals. It was an overbooked mess, which is disappointing given the two could put on a decent match if given the chance. Instead, it was constant interference from the myriad of talent at ringside and several ref bumps to set up an Awesome victory.
Thought it likely surprised few, the battle between Lance Storm and Shane Douglas to determine the new WCW United States champion was easily the match of the night. It was no five star classic, but it was a very solid and entertaining match. It has the potential to be as messy as the previous match, with a number of people at ringside once again, but they played little role in the match until the very end. Two weeks prior, Storm had advanced to the final by defeating his tag team partner Mike Awesome on Nitro and that match had created some obvious tension between the two hated members of Team Canada. That came into play, as Awesome was ringside and, as many expected, interfered with Storm. This allowed Douglas to take control and score the win. Awesome then celebrated the 2nd US title win with Douglas. Storm was nominally turned babyface by the betrayal and the end of the Team Canada stable.
The main event was a bit all over the place. Parts of the match were quite good, but only parts. It was Steiner's first match since the sale, and he looked bigger than ever. The match started slow, with a stare down leading to exchanged strikes. After this slow start, the action picked up and moved quite well for about five minutes... and then slowed down to a near stand-still. This pattern would continue throughout the twenty-five minute match - spurts of action and then longer sequences of stalling and rest holds. Whether this approach was because Steiner lacked the necessary stamina or they were simply trying to stretch out the match, it effectively killed the momentum of the match and the excitement of the crowd. When Booker T scored the pinfall after a Book End, the crowd seemed more relieved than excited.
World Championship Wrestling's Great American Bash 2001 cannot really be called a success, yet it really was not a failure, either. Given the quality of the Nitro episodes throughout June, it was not an encouraging event nor did it really disappoint. The Bash happened and was promptly forgotten. While that can be claimed of many wrestling events, it is entirely true with this one. Perhaps the only memorable moment in the entire event was the intense death-glare that Lance Storm gave to Mike Awesome after losing his match against Shane Douglas. Nothing else – not the matches nor the few angles and promos that filled some time – will be or even should be remembered.Shane Helms © d. Chavo Guerrero, Billy Kidman, and Jimmy Yang to defend the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Kronik d. Crowbar & Bam Bam Bigelow
Sean O'Haire d. Jeff Jarrett and Hugh Morrus in Triangle Match
Mike Awesome d. Chris Kanyon
Shane Douglas d. Lance Storm to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
Booker T © d. Scott Steiner to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Comment
-
Any chance we can get a Scott Hall v. Jake Roberts feud? Maybe have it end on a Nitro with a 6-pack and pills on a pole ladder match? Would be fun.Comment
-
Sign Low Ki, Brian Danielson, and Christopher Daniels and effectively wipe ROH from existence.
We can watch it fade away and disappear 'Back to the Future' style.Comment
-
Comment
-
August 2001
Territorial Touring
Taping Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Facing a myriad of problems, highlighted by embarrassingly low attendances, World Championship Wrestling was looking for solutions. An ever-present hurdle in the way of many possible solutions was the necessity for "fiscal responsibility". For the first time since Ted Turner bought out Jim Crockett Promotions in the late 80s, the promotion truly had to rely on its own revenue streams, and those were all seriously reduced. A solution to some of the issues came from mind of Mike Tenay, and it would come to be called, both internally and externally, as "territorial touring".
According to WCW insiders, Tenay initially made a similar suggestion during the promotions shut down period in April and May of 2001. In mid July, Eric Bischoff and others in the WCW front office were panicked and looking for possible solutions to some of the promotions major problems. Tenay laid out his suggestion again, and with more detail. Whether it was desperation or Bischoff actually recognized it as a solid idea, the President of WCW jumped at it.
Back in 1993, the Disney-MGM Studio in Orlando, Florida, became “home” to World Championship Wrestling. Doing several months worth of TV tapings in one shot allowed Bischoff to reduce costs. The great challenge of that approach was ensuring that everything still played out in the proper order, given how quickly things could change. Tenay's suggestion was, in its basic form, a change back to this approach. A major difference was that rather than stick to one location, WCW would “tour” to a different city each month. At the start of the month, TV tapings over two or three nights would provide everything for the Nitro's for the rest of the month. WCW would then return at the end of the month for the live pay per view event. The approach would save significant money, especially in total travel costs. WCW would also be able to run some house shows in the region, something they had been neglecting due to the attendances.
A key aspect to the approach, and the particular detail which sold the front office, was the intent to use local talent on the shows. Many American cities had thriving independent scenes, at least in terms of talent. Many within the business attributed it to the renaissance that pro wrestling had enjoyed with the “Monday Night Wars” through the late 1990s. While a lot of new talent was blooming, regional promotions did not boom to match. Only a few major cities had local promotions running regular shows. When World Championship Wrestling visited a given city, they would bring in a number of the local talents for the TV tapings. The local talents worked cheap, worked hard, brought their own fans, and most importantly, many were seriously talented. Local workers who impressed in the TV tapings would be brought back for the pay per view, and those who significantly impressed could be offered full-time deals. It was effective way to expand the roster without necessarily expanding the roster.
The touring idea was internally dubbed “territorial touring”, a term which came to be used broadly to describe the approach. Some WCW insiders loved that the approach hearkened back to the heyday of the NWA territories, where the NWA World Heavyweight champion would travel from territory to territory, to defend the belt against the best that each region had to offer. Except it was now the entire promotion that would visit. Hence where the term “territorial touring” came from.
The process kicked off in August of 2001, and the first city to be visited was... Atlanta...
It is not hard to figure out why many consider the territorial touring only started in September. However, the August tapings in Atlanta were essentially a dry-run. While WCW had been taping for television there for the two months prior, they were doing one week of tapings a time. The tapings done at the start of August would become all four Nitro's throughout the month. They did bring in some “local” talent for the tapings, but it didn't help that many of those had worked with WCW before, both prior to and after the sale. Talent like Chris Harris, James Storm, AJ Styles, and Air Paris had been signed to full-time deals with WCW before it was sold, though they all appeared only a few times. All were released from their contracts when WCW was sold. This was another opportunity for each of them. Some of the other talents brought in for the tapings included Chris Parks, Joey Matthews, Christian York, Onyx, and BJ Whitmer. Some of them would impress in a major way.
Some fans felt that the heavy presence of relatively-unknown wrestlers on the shows took away from the August Nitro's. Most seemed to enjoy the change, especially since the “unknown” wrestlers managed to have some solid matches. Styles and Paris – still called Air Raid but minus the flight suits – had a really good tag team match against the Jung Dragons. Chris Harris looked really good against Jamie Noble. Hugh Morrus tossed Joey Matthews around in a match, with the smaller youngster taking some really good bumps. The local were jobbers, for the most part, but they were given enough time to try and look good in the process.
Though many eyes were intent on the little known names on the roster for the shows, the spotlight was still primarily on the “big names” of WCW. The union between Shane Douglas and Mike Awesome was formalized as they were dubbed The Extremists. The duo continued to feud with Lance Storm, who clearly had the fan support as he sought revenge on Awesome and pursued the United States belt held by Douglas. “The American Nightmare” Dustin Rhodes was involved as well, and he formed a solid team with Storm. Rhodes and Storm did some good work tagging together in several matches.
The Extremists were essentially responsible for the reunification of another group, the Jersey Triad. Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam continued to work together, with DDP continuing to recover from his back injury. On the August 8th Nitro, they were in a six-man tag match, teamed with Booker T against the two Extremists and their former stable-mate Kanyon. After Kanyon got pinned by the world champion, Douglas and Awesome attacked. DDP and Bigelow returned to the ring to make the save. Kanyon thanked his former friends and the reunion was teased, but it would not happen just yet.
Both Scott Steiner and Sean O'Haire continued to chase after Booker T's World Heavyweight Championship. The two hated heels could hardly get along themselves, though. Trying to assert himself as the clear top contender, Steiner interfered in a match between Lance Storm and O'Haire, then attacked “The Bad Boy” afterward. When Jarrett came out to help “Big Poppa Pump”, the numbers game was against O'Haire and he had to retreat, hiding behind his lovely manager to avoid further punishment. The following week, his manager Stacy Kiebler talked about the “insurance” she had bought against the same thing happening again – and out walked the WCW World Tag Team champions, Brian Adams and Bryan Clark. Despite being champions, Kronik were apparently mercenaries and O'Haire had money to throw around. With no clear choice between O'Haire or Steiner, it appeared that a triangle match was the only option, and on the August 22nd Nitro, that was what was announced as the main event of the New Blood Rising pay per view.
Although the tapings were primarily done in the evenings, WCW opened the doors in the late afternoon and allowed anyone who arrived early in. They actually started running matches well before the crowd arrived. Though taped, these matches were not meant for TV. They were mostly tag team matches of random pairings, looking for good combinations and giving the local wrestlers more of an opportunity to impress. One such “good combination” was discovered this way. “Cowboy” James Storm and “Wildcat” Chris Harris worked pretty well together against Onyx and Air Paris, but that possible tandem was eclipsed when Storm tagged with BJ Whitmer a bit later. Several observers noted that Storm and Whitmer “clicked” and they looked like a really experienced team in the ring. Whitmer had actually delayed a tour in Japan with Pro Wrestling NOAH to work the shows with WCW and it would turn out to be a very good decision.
Perhaps the most impressive “local” at the Atlanta tapings was AJ Styles. His Air Raid team with Air Paris was likely familiar to some WCW fans, as the team had taken part in the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team tournament. By the end of the tapings, it was clear that Styles was the standout of the pair and he was working singles matches rather than tags. He took some insane risks and the fans loved him. Styles was offered a full-time contract after the tapings, which he accepted. James Storm, BJ Whitmer, and Chris Harris also joined on similar deals.
World Championship Wrestling has developed many critics over the years. There are many, even within the company, who consistently expect the worst out of WCW – in their defense, it is a learned response. It should be no surprise, then, to realize that many did not expect the “touring” approach to work. Some concerns were legitimate, such as worries over the logistics of getting everything needed taped during the few days, then effectively editing it all into coherent episodes of Nitro. Especially considering the first Nitro of the month would air the same day the tapings wrapped up. Other concerns that were expressed seemed less legitimate, such as some assertions that the use of local talent would “dilute the quality” of WCW. For once, those expecting the worst out of the promotion were not given what they expected.
It cannot be claimed that the touring approach was a “monster success” of any sort from the very start. But it certainly didn't fail, either. The tapings managed to draw better attendance than the individual tapings the month prior. The Nitro episodes that resulted were at least as watchable as the month prior as well, and many viewers seem to consider them better. The overall production quality continued to increase, even if it was small and gradual improvements. Although not all of them were ready for the “big time” just yet, the use of the “local” talent certainly worked. To all but the most pessimistic observers, World Championship Wrestling had found a way forward... but the question was whether the inevitable speed bumps could derail that journey...
Comment
-
Onyx, lol. Wow.Comment
-
New Blood Rising 2001
August 26th, 2001After the “territorial touring” unofficially kicked off in August, World Championship Wrestling looked to wrap up the month with a successful pay per view. Though it was not intentional, the fact that New Blood Rising 2001 would be the first pay per view of this “new era” was rather appropriate. The pay per view was heavy on cruiserweights and heavy on the use of the “local” talent who had been brought in for the TV tapings. Of those who were brought in, only Onyx and Air Paris were left off the pay per view.
The event started off strong, with cruiserweight mainstay Billy Kidman facing Kaz Hayashi. Despite the presence of both manager Leia Meow and fellow Dragon Yang, Kidman managed to prevail after an entertaining back and forth match. It was another show-stealing match for the cruiserweights and a great way to get the pay per view moving. Though the crowd wasn't huge, the opener got them into the show.
The second match effectively killed any momentum the show had and completely quieted the crowd. The sloppy brawl between Chris Parks and Crowbar was short, but it lacked the kind of intensity that a brawl should have. It did not help that there was little build between the two, so the match also lacked any real context or meaning. The match never should have been put on pay per view, and it probably didn't even belong on an episode of Nitro. To make it just a little more illogical, the big unsigned Parks went over for the win.
A six-man was up and they had to contend with a fairly dead crowd. The fans got into the match before things even kicked off, when the “mystery” partner for DDP and Bigelow turned out to be Chris Kanyon. Now unified, the Jersey Triad went against the “local” trio of Storm, Whitmer, and Harris. The match worked because Page took a righteous beating and the inexperienced heel trio proved quite able to generate heat from the crowd. The babyfaces took the expected win after Kanyon delivered Kanyon Cutters to all three of the heels.
Next up was another cruiserweight battle. Elix Skipper scored a win over AJ Styles. The young Styles put on a great match, and if there was any question whether he should be offered a full-time contract, his performance on the pay per view put it to rest.
“Sugar” Shane Helms defended his WCW Cruiserweight Championship against Chavo Guerrero next. The duo put together a really entertaining match, with constant fast-paced action that lead up to a series of near finishes. The challenger claimed victory and the title after a Gory Bomb. The win made Chavo a three-time Cruiserweight champion. It was a bit of a surprise to many fans, given how well Helms had done as champion. Chavo was four years older than Helms and had been with WCW three years longer, so Helms represented the “new era” to many fans. Many fans disliked the title change, given that having a veteran worker win the title seemed contrary to the idea of the show.
The WCW World Tag Team champions made a cursory defense of their belts next. A match between Kronik and Boogie Knights was more of a throwaway TV match than a pay per view caliber match, but at least it was presented as a throwaway. After Lance Storm and Dustin Rhodes impressed as a tandem throughout the month, they were given the choice of facing Kronik for the tag belts or Storm's rivals Douglas and Awesome. While Rhodes pushed for them to accept the tag title shot, Storm won out. So Kronik were given a virtual squash match against Disco Inferno and Alex Wright. It was short, but it added little to the vent.
Another virtual throwaway match was next. Jeff Jarrett took on Jamie Noble. The result was as expected – a relatively straight-ahead win for Jarrett. The youngster Noble got a decent amount of offense in but it was always Jarrett's match. It was the second straight pay per view match against a cruiserweight for Jarrett. For a guy who was ostensibly one of the top heels in WCW, he was being used in a rather wasteful manner.
The semi main event was the tag match between Storm & Rhodes versus The Extremists. Despite the relative inexperience of both tandems as tag teams, the match was very good. The workers managed to have genuine intensity, especially Lance Storm. All four men were given their moments to shine, but Storm came out of it looking particularly impressive. After the match descended into a fierce brawl, it appeared that there would be no winner. The heels seemed content to take a double count-out, but Rhodes just managed to beat the count. A short time later, he got the hot tag to his partner. Storm came in with a fury, and after taking out his frustrations on his former friend Awesome for a time, he unleashed a Deep Impact spike pile-driver on Douglas after a Last Call superkick, then scored the pinfall. It was likely the best match that WCW had put together up the that point of 2001.
Two months prior, Booker T had a very forgettable main event match against Scott Steiner. A month prior, the champion put on a decent match against Sean O'Haire. Perhaps it should not be a surprise when mixing the two resulted in a match that was somewhere in the middle. The match went for just over twenty-five minutes, but it was mostly one-on-one action as after the first five minutes, with someone on the outside for almost the entire time. “Big Poppa Pump” turned out to be the relative weak-link in the match, as his lack of mobility in the ring was obvious and he lacked the intensity that the other two showed. O'Haire came agonizingly close to winning the world title with several near-falls, and even seemed to gain the support of some segments of the crowd, but it was Booker T triumphing once again.
New Blood Rising 2001 ended up being an event that enforced the growing belief that World Championship Wrestling was consistently inconsistent. It was another mixed-bag event that some good (the cruiserweight matches, the six-man tag and the main event), a bit of great (the Storm-Rhodes vs Extremists tag match) and some bad. If Bischoff and Schiavone could find a way to eliminate the “bad” from their pay per view events, the product would be well on the way to recovering... but that was apparently asking for a lot...Billy Kidman d. Kaz Hayashi
Chris Parks d. Crowbar
Diamond Dallas Page, Bam Bam Bigelow & Chris Kanyon d. James Storm, BJ Whitmer, & Chris Harris
Elix Skipper d. AJ Styles
Chavo Guerrero d. Shane Helms © for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Kronik © d. Boogie Knights for the WCW World Tag Team Championships
Jeff Jarrett d. Jamie Noble
Lance Storm & Dustin Rhodes d. The Extremists
Booker T © d. Scott Steiner + Sean O'Haire in a Threeway Dance for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipComment
-
September 2001
An Extreme Mistake
Taping Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Every journey is going to have bumps in the road. Some of those bumps will be a minor inconvenience and others can completely derail everything. September of 2001 was the first full month of the “territorial touring” utilized by World Championship Wrestling, but it created enough problems for the promotion that the approach was nearly abandoned. It is ironic that the problems for WCW coincided with one of the most traumatic events in American history, the September 11th terrorist attacks. As these attacks crated a period of turmoil and uncertainty for all Americans, the Philadelphia-based tapings would create issues for Eric Bischoff, Tony Schiavone, and the rest of WCW.
The decision to undertake tapings in Philadelphia is attributed to head booker Schiavone. He reportedly convinced President Eric Bischoff that Philly had a rabid group of wrestling fans who were desperate for something new to support. Bischoff had never been a fan of Extreme Championship Wrestling or its “extreme” style, and he outright hated Paul Heyman, so he was not eager to head to ECW territory and bring in a bunch of former ECW talent. Schiavone was somehow able to convince the President that it was going to work. Some say he went as far as to stake his job on the success of the tapings. With that on the line, World Championships Wrestling packed up after the New Blood Rising pay per view in Atlanta and headed up to Philly.
There was a huge amount of former ECW talent that could possibly be brought in. Rob Van Dam and Rhyno had been signed up by the WWE in the spring, but that still left plenty of options. Tajiri had actually signed with the WWF in April but he was released after just a few TV appearances. Amongst those who were with WCW for the tapings include Jerry Lynn, CW Anderson, Danny Doring, Tommy Dreamer, Justin Credible, Simon Diamond, Julio Dinero, Michal Shane, Mikey Whipwreck, Roadkill, Yoshihiro Tajiri , Balls Mahoney, and Sabu. The Sandman was invited but decided against returning - possibly due to his stint in WCW back in 1999.
Rumors suggest that Paul Heyman was actually asked to attend, and would have been given a prominent on-screen role for those tapings. There were even hints that it could lead to something more with WCW. Given Bischoff's dislike for the former ECW owner, its difficult to know if there is much truth to that. If it was true, Heyman turned the opportunity down. The reasons would become clear in time. Joey Styles was also unavailable.
Former ECW talent was featured quite heavily in the tapings, and subsequently on the five episodes of Nitro created from those tapings. That was both positive and negative. It was positive in that the Philly crowd was outstanding - one of the bigger crowds WCW had managed of late and very enthusiastic. The downside was the emphasis on ECW guys meant less emphasis on the core WCW guys. While former ECW talent like Mike Awesome, Lance Storm, and Shane Douglas benefited from the increased exposure, it was a concern that WCW guys like Booker T, Sean O'Haire, Scott Steiner, and Jeff Jarrett were barely featured. Despite being WCW World Heavyweight champion, Booker T was absent from entire episodes of Nitro that month.
The primary feud was between Mike Awesome and Booker T over the WCW World Heavyweight championship. Schiavone wanted to give the ECW fans a former ECW World Heavyweight champion challenging for the WCW world title at the pay per view. While Shane Douglas was seen as the "safer" choice - more legitimate as a challenger - that idea was nixed because he was still the United States champion and a champion vs champion match was not something they wanted to do again. Awesome was instead picked, and since Bischoff and Schiavone were both concerned that he wouldn't be regarded by the "regular" WCW fans as a legit threat – especially since he had lost on PPV at the end of August – so a great deal of effort was put into building him up.
While the idea of that is fine, the result was quite muddled. Despite having been a heel for quite some time and continuing with his heel demeanor, Awesome and his Extremist partner Shane Douglas were both cheered as returning babyface heroes by the Philly fans. Thus, they were essentially presented as babyface. Awesome scored a signature win with a clean pinfall over Jeff Jarrett on Nitro. The Philly fans loved it. Unfortunately, it came across as unclear and confusing to viewers, as both Awesome and Jarrett were “bad guys”. To most fans watching at home, the dastardly bad guys were still dastardly bad guys, despite the cheers of those fans on those tapings.
Francine, who had been with Douglas through much of ECW success, made a return to his side. She acted as a manager for both Douglas and Awesome, doing whatever was necessary to help them win.
In regard to being muddled, it didn't help that the feud between the two Extremists and Lance Storm continued, even though it was temporarily pushed the background. Storm was reunited with his old ECW tag team partner Justin Credible. Though Storm didn't seem to quite trust his old partner, the matches they had together were solid. They were granted a shot at the WCW World Tag Team championships held by Kronik, apparently due to the win by Storm and Rhodes on the previous pay per view.
The ECW-centric focus continued even in the cruiserweights. After his performance during the August tapings, a number of fans were hoping that the young AJ Styles would be given a push and a title shot. The title shot instead went to veteran Jerry Lynn, who had worked in WCW back in the late 90s. While Lynn was certainly a solid hand, Styles had a fair amount of momentum, even with the Philly fans. It only helped when he had a really good match against Tajiri. Some felt that a new star could have been built if WCW had sustained their push of the youngster who was already dubbed "Phenomenal". Styles did tag with Lynn in a win over Helms and Noble, which did set up a pay per view match for Styles with Jamie Noble.
A major issue with the ECW workers being featured so heavily is that most of them weren't given real storylines or feuds of any depth to work with. They might be targeting a particular opponent, but they was little depth given to the feuds. As a result, most of the promos became self-promotion rather than targeted at their rivals. The five Nitro's through September felt similar to the June tapings in that regard, and that is not a good thing. That the calendar gave them five shows before the pay per view instead of the normal only made it worse.
A major on-air change that occurred during the tapings was in the commentary booth. Since June, World Championship Wrestling had continued with the use of a three-man commentary team. The three-man team was comprised of Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and a revolving door in the third seat - Diamond Dallas Page, Dusty Rhodes, Stan Lane, and a few others. During the first two months of the tapings, the third seat changed so frequently that it became a running joke amongst viewers. During those Nitro broadcasts, it seemed that the booth changed between every match - and that wasn't far from the truth. The reason that the third seat kept changing was that, quite simply, the commentary was poor. At times it descended into the territory of being awful. Trying to solve the problem by changing the third seat was like attempting to use a band-aid to stop an arterial bleed. As was obvious to anyone who listened to the commentary, the problem was Schiavone and Tenay.
The two commentators had a long-standing dislike for each other. It had apparently devolved into outright loathing. While they had once been able to work together in the announcer's booth, that was no longer the case. Both men tried to take over the lead position constantly. They would bicker and snipe at each other rather than discuss the match taking place. It seemed that the duo continually managed to set new lows in their levels of "professionalism". It could not continue and something had to change. Given Schiavone's booking position, everyone expected Tenay to be given a different position or perhaps be released. But partway through the Philadelphia tapings, Schiavone was removed from the booth. The explanation provided backstage was that he was needed backstage during tapings to ensure that everything required happened and to make last-second creative decisions - its doubtful whether any of the talent believed that explanation any more than the fans believed any of Schiavone's excited proclamations on the microphone. The three-man booth used for the remainder of the tapings was Mike Tenay, Dusty Rhodes, and Arn Anderson. Tenay was the clear lead commentator, and the inexperienced Anderson did a decent job. The make-up of the booth would change once again for the next set of tapings, but without Schiavone and Tenay sniping at each other, it was a major improvement.
WCW also re-introduced an old friend, as the WCW World Television Championship was brought back. It had been retired in early 2000. Once a respected and valued title in WCW, it had been devalued quite significantly, to the point that the final “champion” had simpy found the belt in the trash and claimed it. Many questioned whether another title was a good idea, especially considering the full-time roster of WCW still was not that big. Though it was not explained to fans, the belt was brought back for specific purposes which would become clear in October. The new champion would be decided in a 15-man battle royal at the Fall Brawl pay per view. In a typical bit of WCW ineptitude, no one seemed to know what had happened to the actual physical belt. Rather than use a cheap knock-off replica, Bischoff was left ordering a new belt to made on short notice.
September 11th of 2001 is a date that will live in infamy in world history, and it is impossible to look at this time period without the context of what effect that single day had. Despite the claims of some critics, World Championship Wrestling did not ignore the September 11th terrorist attacks. The September 12th Nitro had a short tribute video, while both the following episodes had longer tributes, including segments with talent candidly sharing their thoughts. These are indeed a stark contrast to the September 13th episode of Smackdown, which was built around tributes to the attacks and literally dripped with patriotism. While those critics might point to the vast difference between how each promotion chose to honor those affected, such a comparison has to be done with realistic context. Smackdown was live. All those Nitro episodes were taped in late August, long before the terrorist attacks. They were “in the can” and the main content of the shows could not be changed without another set of tapings. One could argue that this is what WCW should have done, but to try to assert that WCW was “uncaring and unpatriotic” because shows taped in late August did not focus enough on events that happened on September 11th seems asinine.
Despite the front office have serious issues with how the month had turned out, several of the ECW talents were offered full-time contracts after the tapings. They include CW Anderson, Tommy Dreamer, Justin Credible, and Yoshihiro Tajiri. They all accepted, though not all would sign those deals.
There are those will argue that the ECW-themed month of September was a success for World Championship Wrestling. They point to the strong attendances that the promotion drew in Philadelphia, at least in comparison to what they had been in drawing in Georgia. They point to the strong ratings for the first two Nitro's of the month, which were amongst the top ratings achieved to that point on Fox Sports Net. Some compelling facts... but they can be countered with fact like the last two Nitro episodes drawing record-low ratings for WCW on FSN. Was that WCW fans being so unhappy with the ECW-tint to the month that they were tuning out, or was it due to outside factors (such as reaction to the terrorist attacks)? Those Nitro episodes are not fondly regarded by many WCW fans, even if many ECW faithful quite enjoyed them. Perhaps most importantly, the Philadelphia tapings and the entire month of September were seen as a failure by the World Championship Wrestling front office. The strong attendances did not change that to Eric Bischoff. Some of the consequences to the month would only become apparent down the road... And some within the WCW organization would made to pay for those consequences.Comment
-
WCW Fall Brawl 2001
Sunday, September 30th, 2001
The 2001 edition of WCW's Fall Brawl was dubbed "WCW Goes Extreme". Which was fitting, given the heavy prominence of former ECW talent in the lead-up and on the pay per view card. Given that it was WCW's first live event since 9/11, there was also a heavy patriotic tinge to the event. If WCW had been able to effective merge those two themes into "extreme patriotism", it perhaps may have worked effectively. Instead, the pay per view ended up feeling as muddled and confused as some of the Nitro episodes that built toward it.
The show was peppered with short clips of the WCW talent sharing their feelings and emotions about the 9/11 attacks. They were candid, heart-felt, and emotional. It gave a rather somber, serious feel to the show. Unfortunately, the rest of the show really didn't entirely match that tone and it gave the entire pay per view an inconsistent overall feel. That was not a positive thing.
As had become standard, the show kicked off with a cruiserweight match. This one saw WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero defeat Jerry Lynn in a very solid match. The match stood out from most cruiserweight bouts as the men mostly kept it on the match. They still managed to keep it fast-moving and innovative, which the Philly fans definitely seemed to appreciate.
Another cruiserweight match followed. This one was a very short, as AJ Styles went over Jamie Noble. It was quick enough that it seemed more like a tease than anything, as the two seemed more than capable of putting a very good match. After Styles scored the win, he offered his hand to Noble. After some hesitation, Noble shook it. In retrospect, the post-match handshake is likely the only reason this match was put on pay per view at all.
Tajiri taking on Mark Jindrak was a bit of a head-scratcher. Like the previous match, it is unclear why this one was a pay per view match. It turned out to be a very solid match, as Jindrak showed off his impressive athleticism for a guy his size. Although he had been picked out as a “future star” along with O'Haire just a few months before, Jindrak's push had faltered and lost steam. There just wasn't enough being done with the impressive youngster. Against Tajiri, he showed he could probably work effectively as a cruiserweight, despite being over 250 pounds. Late in the match, he clipped his knee on the ring apron and left the match victorious but limping.
An ECW-themed event could not possibly be complete without at least one “extreme rules match”. Shane Helms and Sabu took care of that. They took insane risks and made liberal use of weapons of every kind – chairs, garbage cans, tables, even a broomstick. It is unclear why Helms was picked for the match, but he proved very willing to take and dish out punishment. Sabu ended up going over in a match that thrilled the hardcore fans in Philly but did not seem to resound with the WCW fans watching it on pay per view.
A tag team match was next, as Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner faced Tommy Dreamer and Balls Mahoney. What was not a particularly appealing match on paper became far worse, and it is generally considered one of the worst WCW pay per view matches in several years. The two full-time WCW wrestlers put in almost no effort, did no selling, and seemed to sandbag several attempted moves. Dreamer and Mahoney were visibly frustrated and Mahoney seemed ready to walk out on the match. Dreamer scored the win for his team after an aborted DDT and it seemed pretty obvious that Jarrett just let himself get pinned. That particular abomination of a match would have some long-term damage for World Championship Wrestling. According to insiders, the original plan had been for Jarrett and Steiner go over, as most fans expected. During the show, some of the ECW talent expressed their concerns that ht ECW guys were being asked to job in almost every match on the show. The decision was made to change the planned finish for the tag match. Steiner and Jarrett were livid when they were told. Trying to defuse the situation, Schiavone came up with an elaborate finish that would have given the win to the ECW pair without having either WCW guy get pinned. They were still not happy. Their display of unprofessionalism in the ring surprised no one except perhaps the powers that be in WCW. Some in the WCW locker room were actually surprised that Jarrett and Steiner went out there for the match, thinking they would walk out of the event instead. While most of the blame must go to the two WCW stars for the situation, one also has to question the wisdom – or lack of it – displayed by Tony Schiavone in choosing to make the change he did.
The match between Sean O'Haire and C.W. Anderson was straight-ahead, simple, and decent. The WCW star went over and the match still managed to draw the irate ECW crowd back into the show a bit after the previous match.
The WCW World Tag Team championships were on the line next and the match turned out to be the best on the card. The Impact Players did very well in their underdog role against the big, powerful champions. Storm and Credible still worked very well together. After a big comeback sequence, it appeared the Impact Players may indeed take the belts from Clark and Adams. But then Francine made her way down to ringside and things got tense. The inevitable happened – Credible tagged in Storm, then superkicked his partner, and left him in the ring alone. The champions spent several minutes destroying the popular Storm, who never stopped fighting, before he was eventually pinned. After the match, Francine and Credible were at the top of the ramp, laughing, along with Shane Douglas and Mike Awesome.
A new WCW World Television champion was crowned next. The battle royal for the belt was 15-men and included much of the WCW and ECW talent who were not involved in other matches on the card. Big Hugh Morrus ended up winning the battle and claiming the shiny new blue belt.
The semi main event was Shane Douglas versus Diamond Dallas Page, with the WCW United States Championship on the line. The match was kept relatively short, apparently due to the lingering injury that DDP still had. The match was likely intended to give Douglas further credibility as the US champion, thought that didn't really happen since the match was quite short and the champion had to cheat to get the victory.
Before the main event, WCW played its trump card. The World Championship Wrestling website had proclaimed a “big surprise” for the pay per view and this was it. Familiar music played. Ominous music. The crowd tittered in recognition. Then Bill Goldberg walked out onto the small stage at the top of the ramp. He was in street clothes but was clearly as big and powerful as ever. The Philly crowd popped huge for the return. They popped even bigger when Goldberg was handed a US flag from a fan seated just below the stage. He stood there, stoic and intense, with the American flag draped over a shoulder and stared out at the ring and the crowd.
“Da Man” was back.
The return did, truthfully, overshadow the main event. Booker T and Mike Awesome put together a pretty solid match that gets largely forgotten. It was a bit messy, given that they decided to use “ECW rules” - which essentially meant no disqualification. They brawled and they brawled all over. Weapons were not used much but both men ended up bleeding at least a bit. The Philly crowd loved it, loudly, and that seemed to spurn both wrestlers forward. Both men had the intensity expected of such a match and that perhaps is the simple reason that it worked. Francine got involved and got bumped twice late in the match, once by the ref and then by Awesome himself when he missed the champion instead ran into his manager, sending her flying from the ring apron. Booker T took over, put together a string of heavy offense, and got the win.
The ECW-themed pay per view seems to be remembered fondly by a small segment of fans – predominantly ECW fans – and largely forgotten by most other WCW fans. Despite a couple good matches, there are really only two moments that stand out – the return of Goldberg and the horrific Steiner/Jarrett vs Dreamer/Mahoney match. Both would have a definite affect on WCW going forward. Once again, World Championship Wrestling was left looking like a stark contrast of good and bad...Chavo Guerrero © d. Jerry Lynn for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
AJ Styles d. Jamie Noble
Mark Jindrak d. Tajiri
Sabu d. Shane Helms in a Extreme Rules Match
Tommy Dreamer & Balls Mahoney d. Scott Steiner & Jeff Jarrett
Sean O'Haire d. CW Anderson
Kronik © d. Impact Players for the WCW World Tag Team Championships
Hugh Morrrus wins 15-man Extreme Battle Royal for the WCW World Television Championship
Shane Douglas © d. Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW United States Championship
Booker T © d. Mike Awesome for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipComment
-
So I stopped posting this here for some unknown reason. Apparently I"m lazy enough that copying & pasting seems like an effort. Fuck it. Gonna bring this one through the end of the project (mid 2003). Just so all you can revel in what a geek I am.Comment
-
October 2001
The Windy City Bounce
Taping Location: Chicago, Illinois
The first repercussions from the September tapings in Philadelphia were fairly immediate. Eric Bischoff was said to be unhappy with almost everything that happened that month, from the booking decisions to how the ECW talent did to how the Goldberg return was presented. The President of World Championship Wrestling made it clear that improvement was required. He was very close to ending the entire "territorial touring" approach over what had happened in Philadelphia. To the surprise of many, the expected removal of Tony Schiavone from his booking position did not happen... at least not yet...
The October tapings were set for Chicago. The Windy City was never really a WCW stronghold, but it provided a large market. Just as significantly, there was a strong base of talent in and around Chicago... Although WCW had Goldberg back for the tapings, they would be without two other "big" names. Angry at being forced to put over Tommy Dreamer and Balls Mahoney at Fall Brawl, both Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett informed the front office that they would both be absent from the next set of tapings. Both claimed injuries, but it was obvious that they were essentially walking out. Neither were willing to proclaim that, so would exactly they were expecting to accomplish is not very clear.
Steiner and Jarrett were not the only ones in the WCW locker room who unhappy, however. According to some insiders, much of the roster had been growing further discontent since the first Nitro tapings for June. The source of the discontent seems to be a series of issues, starting with the lack of perceived improvement in the quality of the product. Many had returned to WCW after the sale after being sold by Eric Bischoff on a "new era" and a "grand WCW empire that would be rebuilt", but those things were not really happening. While most of the talented are reported to have liked the touring idea, few were impressed by how prominent of a role the ECW talent had been given the month prior. Even Booker T, seen as a locker room leader and someone not prone to complaining, voiced his disgust over it. And, of course, there were money issues. The heyday of WCW proved that money won't keep talent happy... but it can certainly keep things tolerable a bit longer. The problem was that no one in WCW was really making money. Almost the entire roster had signed with new contracts after the sale, and they were "down-side guarantee" deals rather than guaranteed contracts. Nearly identical to the kind of contract that the WWF used, the worker was guaranteed a relatively small base salary (the downside) but this was supplemented by a small percentage from each show they worked. If business boomed, so did the take-home for each worker. Business was not booming for World Championship Wrestling. Thus, everyone was making less than they thought they should. When the talent suggested that a few more house show dates were added between the TV tapings at the start of the month and the pay per view at the end of the month, the front office simply said no.
"I have heard it claimed that WCW had locker room problems during this time," Lance Storm would comment later. "I don't feel that is accurate. There was frustration. It wasn't a negative place to be, for the most part. Just frustrated. It was just professionals who were giving their best but not seeing the results. You get frustrated. You wonder what you are doing wrong and what else you can be doing. No one had the answer."
The roster had plenty of reasons to complain. And while it should have been a huge morale boost, the return of Bill Goldberg really just gave them another reason to voice their discontent. To bring "Da Man" back to WCW, Bischoff had to give him a big money, guaranteed contract that included partial creative control. It was exactly the kind of contract that Bischoff had pledged he would never give to anyone. So while almost everyone else on the roster felt they were underpaid, in walked Goldberg making as much as anyone else in the wrestling business. He can't really be blamed for simply asking for what was, in many ways, market value, but it was just another issue for the locker room to stew on.
Amongst the names brought in for the tapings in Chicago were Ace Steel, Danny Dominion, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, and Adam Pearce. Although Pearce was based out of California, "Scrap Iron" had been working for IWA-Mid South along with the rest. Two more young workers, Matt Stryker and Chris Hero, were not local but were brought in for the tapings as well.
The first segment that was taped in front of the full Chicago audience, and the first segment of the first Nitro, was WCW World champion Booker coming down to the ring to challenge Goldberg. It was actually a solid promo for Booker, as he talked about working hard to prove himself as WCW World Heavyweight champion but always feeling like he wasn't respected as much as some WCW champions were. So he wanted to face Goldberg to prove himself. Within minutes of the first Nitro of the month kicking off, Halloween Havoc had its main event. There was some speculation that Booker would turn heel but it never happened. The match would be babyface versus babyface.
Given how much Goldberg was being paid, he was not used particularly well during the October tapings. Eric Bischoff wanted Goldberg to come in as the "ultimate badass" again, and that meant no talking. However, the WCW President also didn't think it was prudent to have the promotions prize asset to be working constant TV matches. So there was a definite limit to what Tony Schiavone could do with Goldberg. They twice did segments where someone tried to interview Goldberg - he just glared intensely into the camera before he stomped away. "Da Man" worked a match, his much-hyped in-ring return being the main event of the October 24th Nitro. Billy Kidman was randomly selected as the victim and it was a prototypically short Goldberg squash. The Windy Cindy crowd loved it.
Fans were beginning to question whether the Storm-Awesome-Douglas feud would ever end. Though it was consistently among the most entertaining feuds going on at any given time, poor Lance Storm had been seeking vengeance for some five months and instead of getting his payback, his list was just getting longer. Justin Credible had officially joined The Extremists. Storm was built toward a match with Credible for the pay per view. At the same time, his tag team with Dustin Rhodes fell apart. In a backstage segment, Rhodes was talking about how they should be asking for a shot at Kronik because they could definitely take the WCW Tag Team titles. After dropping several hints that "The American Nightmare" ignored, Storm lost his patience and simply told Rhodes that he had no interest in using their tag team to pursue the tag team titles. Rhodes asked if this meant they were done and Storm confirmed it. Rhodes walked away, muttering about finding "someone who will understand..."
The purpose of the Television title became clear throughout the tapings. "The S.O.B." Hugh Morrus defended the belt on every Nitro, against the "local" guys. It was essentially another way to highlight the talent being brought in. The idea was that someone who did well in the TV match would get another shot at Morrus and the belt at the pay per view, with the unstated inference being anyone able to take the belt from the big man would automatically get a contract from WCW. Morrus had been selected for the role because he was seen as reliable and safe. With strong basic fundamentals in the ring, the big man crowd draw a decent match out of anyone. He had a really good match with Adam Pearce and a goofy fun comedy match against Colt Cabana. Morrus seemed annoyed by Cabana's antics in the match, and cut a promo on him afterward, setting up a pay per view rematch between them.
The alliance between Sean O'Haire and Stacy Kiebler with the Kronik duo became a bit more formalized and they gave themselves a name... "The Filthy Few". They proclaimed themselves the "new elite of WCW" and willing to do whatever was necessary for glory. O'Haire expressed his anger over the title shot going to Goldberg instead of himself. Later the same Nitro, Diamond Dallas Page called out O'Haire on his arrogant attitude, thus kicking off a feud between the Jersey Triad and the Filthy Few.
Things were getting interesting in the cruiserweight division. The post-match handshake between Jamie Noble and AJ Styles lead to the two tagging together, and they made quite the impressive tandem. The babyface duo were presented with immediate natural rivals when Chavo - proclaiming himself "El Chavo" - convinced Shane Helms to team up. The heels called themselves "The Sweetness" and they managed to almost ooze arrogance in the ring. It looked to be the start of what could be a very good long-term feud for the four wrestlers.
There was also a secondary storyline for Noble that kicked off during the October tapings. It was relatively subtle start, as there was an attractive young brunette who sat in the front row, near the ramp. She was seated in the same spot throughout the tapings and she watched all the wrestlers with a particular twinkle in her eye, but Noble got special attention as she managed to catch his eye. Nothing more happened with it yet but it was clear they were setting something up. Fans would later identify the young lady as a young wrestler who was just starting her career in the midwest. The basic idea for the storyline would be credited to Chavo, thought it apparently expanded significantly from his original thought. When the genesis of the storyline would later be revealed, it would include the startling revelation that the cruiserweight division was basically booking itself. Tony Schiavone was apparently so focused on the "more important" aspects of WCW that he gave almost no time or thought to what the cruisers should be doing. Deciding who went over in a given match fell to the road agents, which is how Chavo ended up winning the Cruiserweight championship back. When the group of cruiserweights got frustrated at getting no real direction from creative, they began to decide things on their own. They had small meetings, apparently headed by Chavo as the most senior and respected worker in the group. Things such as The Sweetness tag team and the young lady were ideas of the wrestlers themselves, then "approved" by the road agents.
Tajiri proved a strong addition to the cruiserweights, as he put together good matches with Billy Kidman and local CM Punk. It was teased that Tajiri might join the Jung Dragons but nothing came of it during the October tapings. Punk was one of the more promising locals, a touch skinny but with a good overall look. Reportedly Schiavone hated his name and pushed the young man to change it but Punk would not budge.
Any possible plans that World Championship Wrestling had for Mark Jindrak - whether it was joining the cruiserweight division as an "oversized cruiser" or that much-delayed push he was supposed to get - were put on hold. After working one match on the tapings, against Ace Steel, Jindrak was deactivated. His knee was clearly bothering him after the pay per view match, though he was trying to gut it out and keep working. The road agents decided it was not worth the risk and he was taken off the active roster. There is a rumor that after that one match, his knee swelled up significantly.
The tag team of BJ Whitmer and James Storm continued to impress. They were not getting a push yet, but they managed to feature regularly. They had a Nitro match against Punk and Cabana that was one of the better undercard matches of the month for WCW. Several insiders felt that the duo just needed a catchy name and maybe a mouthpiece manager and they would absolutely catch fire.
The Nitro commentary crew underwent another makeover for the October tapings. This time, it was Arn Anderson who departed. This was reportedly at Arn's request – while he had done a solid job, he was not that comfortable with the role. In his place, Stan Lane was brought in. The combo of Mike Tenay, Dusty Rhodes, and Lane gave WCW its strongest commentary booth in a long time. Rhodes took a relatively minor role, throwing in his “nuggets of wisdom” here and there. It was mostly Tenay and Lane, with the newcomer “Sweet Stan” taking taking a subtle heel approach. They avoided the typical face-heel confrontational commentary, instead working off of each other with slightly different points of view. It was closer to prototypical sports commentary than what was typically seen in professional wrestling.
The Chicago tapings were seen as a success all the way around. The local talent all did well. Attendances were relatively strong – all three days of taping had crowds of at least sixteen hundred fans... although how many of those were paid tickets is unclear. The four Nitro episodes building toward Halloween Havoc were generally considered as strong as any that WCW had put together since the March sale. There was not real bump in ratings from what WCW Nitro had averaged since debuting on Fox Sports Net, but at least there was immediate recovery from the low generated by the ECW-heavy shows in late September. It was not a perfect month, but it was the kind of bounce-back that WCW needed to ensure that Eric Bischoff did not abandon the “territorial touring” method.
The Chicago tapings had an unexpected benefit as well. The group of talent brought in for the tapings came in with a very positive overall attitude and approach. According to several WCW insiders, they were all hard workers who were just happy to be getting an opportunity. A positive approach from a few “low level” guys was not going to completely change the texture of the WCW locker room, but it was enough to force a few people to have a bit of perspective on their situation. A few insiders have noted that by the end of the Chicago tapings, things were a bit more positive amongst the talent, which was also helped by the perceived success of the tapings.
Eric Bischoff was responsible for more than one puzzling decision made in October. Since the sale, the WCW Home Video division was a tiny part of the condensed company. Just a few full-time staff who worked to release the pay per view events on DVD as quickly as possible after the events were held. There were apparently always plans to put together compilation DVD releases but they never came together, simply due to lack of staff. In the second week of October, those few Home Video staff were quietly reassigned and the division was closed. Production would still continue on all previous releases, but the just-released New Blood Rising 2001 DVD would be the last new one they produced. While this was internally explained as a cost-cutting measure, the explanation does not really make sense. Sales of the new releases were poor, which probably should not surprise when one considers the quality of the events, but they were also very inexpensive to produce. These were not loaded DVD sets, with tons of special features, but bare-bones releases with just the given show. The overall quality was no better than what many independent promotions put out. Given that many smaller promotions have essentially managed to survive due to Internet sales of DVD releases, its highly questionable as to why WCW could not manage the same.
Many in the wrestling business have questioned the justification that WCW provided for this decision. Chris Jericho explained his opinion on it once during an interview. “Eric Bischoff is a smart guy,” Jericho said. “A really smart guy. People don't always get that. But he has a really unique way of looking at things. He is a guy who will argue with forever about what is “better” when it comes to something like movies. He will argue with you – and compoetely believe it – that a typical summer blockbuster is better than the “Best Picture” winner. The blockbuster might have nothing more than action and explosions. The “Best Picture” probably has better story, acting, directing, and the critics love it. But which one makes more money? The blockbuster has the Hollywood polish and it makes big money. That's how Bischoff is going to measure it. That's what matters. I think he pulled the video division back then because he was embarrassed. He wanted to produce a good-looking product and they couldn't. WCW could have been putting on 5-star matches every week – and they weren't – but he would have felt the same. It didn't look like he wanted it to look so it was a way to distance himself from it.”
Whatever Bischoff's motivation in that particular decision, it was not the only decision made in October that some would question. Not all of the local talent in Chicago had impressed. Both Chris Hero and Ken Anderson were only used for a few matches as they were considered pretty green and sloppy in the ring. But the likes of Colt Cabana, CM Punk, Ace Steel, and Adam Pearce had all impressed. It was expected that at least a couple would be offered contracts. They weren't. It was not clear why, but as the Halloween Havoc pay per view approached near the end of the month, none of them had been offered extended deals of any sort with World Championship Wrestling.
October of 2001 has to be seen as a “bounce back” month for WCW. Had it not been for the damage done in September in Philadelphia, it may have been an actual growth month for the promotion. It was growth that the promotion needed, as many seemed convinced that WCW could not survive long-term at it current level, especially with the heavy new contract Goldberg had been given. World Championship Wrestling needed real forward progress and that was not happening. Based on that need and still as a consequence of what had occurred in September, there would be further changes coming...Comment
Comment