World Championship Wrestling: Empire

[Bigpapa42]

WCW Halloween Havoc 2001
Sunday, October 28th, 2001

After a pretty solid month of Nitro tapings, World Championship Wrestling ideally looked to follow that up with a strong Halloween Havoc pay per view... As any long-time WCW fan could tell you, things are rarely ideal. WCW has often been guilty of creating its own problems. Of taking “can't miss” situations and finding a way to fail. Its a legacy that, to some, goes back more than a decade. For the most part, WCW managed to avoid that with this event. And the primary negative that did occur was mostly outside of the control of the WCW front office.

Four workers were offered full-time contracts after the September tapings in Philadelphia – Tommy Dreamer, C.W. Anderson, Justin Credible, and Tajiri. Both Anderson and Tajiri signed their contracts at the tapings. Dreamer signed his at the pay per view. Credible, somehow, never put his signature to the contract. The front office was supposed to get the finalized deal signed at the Chicago tapings, but again, it didn't happen. The front office should have recognized that there were issues when Credible no-showed two house shows held just prior to the pay per view. Sure enough, he did not show up for the pay per view either. It left WCW scrambling, as his match against Lance Storm was a cage match and had been elevated to the semi main event. It fell to John Laurinaitis to deal with the situation. The solution was to put Mike Awesome in the cage match against Storm – this was a match intended to be used on the next pay per view, but it worked with the storylines. It did cause a bit of last second shuffling of the rest of the card, but it worked.

The reason Credible no-showed Halloween Havoc was that he had signed a deal with the WWF. There had been rumors floating around since just after the September Nitro tapings that the WWF also had some degree of interest in doing “an ECW thing”. It is very possible that Credible intentionally avoided putting his signature on the paperwork to finalize the contract with WCW as he waited to see what would play out with the WWF. The approach certainly burned his bridges with WCW and left a sour taste with a lot of the other talent.

The first match on the card was not a cruiserweight match for once. It was instead Hugh Morrus defending the WCW Television Championship against Colt Cabana. Those expecting another comedy match out of the challenger would in for something much different. The 280-pound champion laid into the youngster for the opening moments of the match, hitting him with some stiff-looking shots. Then Cabana came right back with equally heavy offense. For ten minute, the two men unloaded heavy shots on each other and neither back down at all. Morrus ended up with the win, but the Chicago fans absolutely loved the hard-hitting opener. After being handed his belt, Morrus emphatically shook the hand of Cabana after the match.

The following match did not quite maintain the same degree of intensity, but it was more than adequate in that regard. AJ Styles and Jamie Noble took on Ace Steel and CM Punk. The two WCW youngsters took the victory after another hard-fought match that many felt was too short.

After the ring was cleared following the tag match, the lights in the small arena suddenly went out. After a few moments of near total darkness, a single spotlight cut the gloom and found a single figure in the previously-empty ring. A figure in a long dark coat, with slicked back hair and face paint. A man who could be only Sting. The Windy City fans roared. The figure stalked back and forth across the ring, then let out a trademark yell. Climbing to the second rope, they leaned out toward the crowd and yelled out two words that the microphones at ringside just manged to pick up... “I'm back!” Then the spotlight snapped out, bringing back the darkness. When the arena lights lit the ring up again, it was empty and the figure was gone.

The crowd – nearly 2,000 strong – were still excited when the next match kicked off. It was “Sugar” Shane Helms taking on Tajiri. The pair put on a match that would have been really good if not for a couple of blown spots. It was still solid and the crowd enjoyed it.

That was followed by a stylistic mismatch between Crowbar and Adam Pearce. Crowbar was a limited brawler, while Pearce was a more old school mat wrestler. Stylistic mismatches can work, but this one really didn't. Crowbar was the last second replacement for Mike Awesome, who was originally slated to be facing Pearce in this match. The match quieted the crowd down a bit, but it was fairly short. Crowbar came out the winner but “Scrap Iron” looked pretty good.

“El Chavo” defended his WCW Cruiserweight Championship next against Billy Kidman. The two longest-serving WCW cruiserweights put on a classic cruiserweight match – crisp, fast-paced, innovative, and exciting. It was everything that had made the cruiserweights a beloved part of WCW in the first place. Guerrero retained his title after a fifteen minute battle wrought with near finishes.

The WCW World Tag Team champions Kronik faced the Jersey Triad duo of Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon. With Stacy Kiebler at ringside for the champions and Diamond Dallas Page there for the challengers, it seems likely to become a mess. A back and forth brawl that moved out of the ring constantly, it did devolve into a mess that nearly saw both teams disqualified. When the dust settled, Kanyon had delivered Kanyon Cutters to both Adams and Clark, letting Bam Bam pin the latter. WCW had new tag team champions.

“The Franchise” Shane Douglas faced “The American Nightmare” Dustin Rhodes for WCW United States Championship in the following match. This was another messy, wild match. There was plenty of interference from Francine. Late in the match, Rhodes caught her on the ring apron trying to deliver a low blow and it looked like she might get nailed with some payback... but Douglas ended up flooring the challenger with a low blow of his own. Douglas retained and made himself just a little more hated with the fans.

Diamond Dallas Page was facing Sean O'Haire in the third-to-last match of the card. DDP had been used in a rather limited way by WCW since the sale in March, and the reason was a back injury suffered at the hands of Scott Steiner. Rather than sit out and heal for an extended period, DDP worked through much of it but he was limited in what he could. Finally feeling back to one hundred percent, DDP was tested in a match against the big O'Haire. The two men delivered. It was easily the best match of O'Haire's career and he played the heel bully to perfection while DDP worked every ounce of empathy out of the crowd as the babyface-in-danger. “The Bad Boy” ended up winning with some shenanigans from Stacy Kiebler, but the match proved two things – that Diamond Dallas Page was back to his best and Sean O'Haire gave WCW a star heel. If Steiner and Jarrett failed to return, it would leave the promotion very babyface-heavy at the top (especially with the return of Sting), but the emergence of O'Haire meant it could work.

Lance Storm had requested to face Justin Credible in a cage match, to keep the likes of Awesome, Douglas, and Francine from having any bearing on the outcome. Even though he was now facing Mike Awesome, the match remained in a cage for much the same reasons. The traditional WCW roofed cage was assembled and the war got underway. The match was kept simple, brutal, and intense. Storm played the fans almost as well as DDP did, fighting back several times and then dishing out serious punishment to his former partner. Both men ending up bleeding, though it was not a true bloodbath. Both Shane Douglas and Francine made their way down to ringside but they could do little to help Awesome. Douglas did slip his stable-mate a foreign object, which ended up being used to accidentally knock out the ref rather than Storm. When Storm got his hands on the object – metal knuckles – he waffled Awesome, then ended up punching Douglas in the hand when “The Franchise” tried to mess with the lock on the cage door. Douglas was left with a “broken” hand. As the ref recovered, Storm hit Awesome with a series of big offensive moves, culminating in a Power-Plex and gave Storm the win. The intensity of the match worked to perfection and it was another really solid match that was probably the best of the night.

Despite a strong semi main event, the crowd was still hyped for the main event. Still, the main event delivered and it was mostly due to the hot crowd. The match itself was okay but not that special. It started slow, with Booker basically trying to play keep away – his strategy seemed to be to drag out the match and test the challenger's stamina. So for the first five minutes, the match lacked the kind of intensity and action to match the crowd. When they did finally get going, Goldberg quickly overpowered the champion and began to dominate. An attempted Spear was avoided by Booker, sending Goldberg crashing into the corner. The champion worked to take advantage and he worked over the shoulder that had just hit the ring post. But Goldberg would not be denied. He battled back, took control again, and moved into the end sequence that was almost inevitable. He connected with his second Spear attempt and then delivered a ring-shaking Jackhammer and pinned Booker. In just under fifteen minutes, Goldberg was WCW World Heavyweight champion for just the second time.

In typical fashion, Halloween Havoc 2001 would still generate some criticism for World Championship Wrestling. Some of the common criticisms include the shock return of Sting being too understated, the main event being outdone by several of the undercard matches, and several of the early matches feeling “too short”. The most common issue brought up is Justin Credible and the amended card. Storm-Awesome was a match that many fans were anticipating, so to have it happen with no real direct build was a bit wasteful. But the match itself delivered. As did the whole event. It was, start to finish, the best pay per view event that WCW had put together to that point in 2001. Even with the criticisms, Halloween Havoc was exactly the kind of strong follow-up that WCW needed after their solid month of Nitro in October. Some stiff refuse to acknowledge the event as a success, with the hang-up being the rumored buy rate. WCW was not releasing the confirmed final buy rate numbers to the public at this point, but a number of industry insiders have pegged the final number for Halloween Havoc as falling below the low result achieved for Fall Brawl a month prior.

The old saying goes “Rome was not built in a day”, and it was becoming apparent that rebuilding the WCW empire would take more than just a few solid shows. It would take sustained quality over a period of time.

Hugh Morrus © d. Colt Cabana for the WCW World Television Championship

Styles & Noble d. Punk & Steel

Shane Helms d. Tajiri

Crowbar d. Adam Pearce

Chavo Guerrero © d. Billi Kidman for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship

The Jersey Triad (Chris Kanyon & Bam Bam Bigelow) d. Kronik © for the WCW World Tag Team Championships

Shane Douglas © d. Dustin Rhodes for the WCW United States Championship

Sean O'Haire d. Diamond Dallas Page

Lance Storm d. Mike Awesome in a Cage Match

Goldberg d. Booker T © for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

[Bigpapa42]

November 2001
Departures and Returns
Taping Location: Hackensack, New Jersey

Fans have a tendency to pick scapegoats. When things are not going well, they find someone to blame. This is true in sports and this is true in professional wrestling. With many fans and even wrestling insiders looking at the entirety of 2001 as one of the lowest points in the history of World Championship Wrestling, the three men who were given the brunt of the blame were Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, and Tony Schiavone. Russo had been released from his contract in March and had been out injured for the six months before that, but many still blamed him and Bischoff for their roles in creating the situation that saw the promotion sold in March of 2001. Bischoff, along with Schiavone, takes heat for happened through the remainder of 2001. As the President of WCW and part of the ownership group, it seemed that Bischoff was not going anywhere anytime soon. The same could not be said of Schiavone. He became the official WCW scapegoat when he was removed from his the Head Booker position prior to the November Nitro tapings.

After what happened with the ECW-heavy September tapings in September, most within the company believed it was only a matter of time before Schiavone was removed. Some were surprised the move was not made sooner. The change actually happened at the Halloween Havoc pay per view. Schiavone was called into a meeting with Eric Bischoff before the event began, and there was told that he would be removed from his position. He could stay on with the company if chose, in a role yet to be determined. The former lead announcer was not willing to take a reduced role, so he left the pay per view and would not return. That was why rearranging the pay per view card fell to John Laurinaitis, aka Johnny Ace. Bischoff officially offered the head booker position to Laurinaitis after the event. Though he had almost no time to prepare, the November tapings would be fully booked by Laurinaitis. Showing a lack of internal communication that seems "typically WCW", the talent were not informed of the official change at any point during the tapings - word just slowly leaked through like a rumor before it was eventually confirmed by management.

Considering that Tony Schiavone was given just five months in the role, it begets the question of why he was even given the booking role in the first place. Laurinaitis had the role from late 2000 up until WCW was sold, and he seemed to be doing a reasonable enough job given the circumstances. According to several WCW insiders, Bischoff chose Schiavone because he wanted someone who was not particularly strong-willed. As President, Bischoff wanted to be able to focus on the business side of running World Championship Wrestling, so he wanted someone who he believed was capable of running the creative side of things. At the same time, the President wanted someone who listen when they were told that things should be done in a certain way. Bischoff did not want someone who might resist being told what to do. Bischoff knew that Schiavone would follow any such orders but he was not as certain on Laurinaitis, which is why Schiavone got the nod. It has come to light that some of the big decisions - such as keeping the world title on Booker T up to the point he lost it to Goldberg and the decision make that title switch - were not decisions made by Schiavone but rather Bischoff. While this has subsequent led some to question just how much Schiavone failed in the role, especially considering how little he had to work with at times, the mess that resulted from the September tapings was enough to doom his tenure.

Laurinaitis' got a bit of a boost for the tapings as he was informed that both Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett would be returning. The new head booker had a "clear the air" meeting with both wrestlers and Eric Bischoff at the start of the November tapings. Both wrestlers were told, in direct terms, that future demonstrations of unprofessional behavior would result in termination of their contracts. It was also acknowledged that while their response was not appropriate, they should not have been asked to put over Dreamer and Mahoney at Fall Brawl. Both were allowed to air their grievances. Steiner wanted assurances he would remain near the top of the card and also explained that he was unhappy that his brother had not been retained when the sale was made. While not going so far as to state Rick would be brought back, Bischoff stated that it would definitely be considered when finances allowed for it. Jarrett expressed similar concern over his card position and also the lack of feuds he had been given since June. Bischoff reminded Jarrett that a number of possible feuds had been presented to him during that time but he had rejected all of the suggestions, so Jarrett himself had to take some responsibility there. Regardless, Bischoff assured them both that the were some big plans for early 2002 that both would be involved in.

The tapings for November took place in New Jersey, at the Rothman Center in Hackensack. There were some internal concerns about being in the “WWF's backyard”, but Vince McMahon was enjoying an unprecedented period of success with the World Wrestling Federation and quite likely did not care. The more valid complaint was going from the pay per view in Chicago on October 28th to the first day of tapings in Jersey on October 30th. The proximity to both New York City and Philadelphia provided some options for "local" talent. Bringing in a few of the former ECW guys again from Philly may have been a possibility, except that almost all of them were unavailable at the time. WCW bought in Low Ki, Homicide, Dan Maff, Monsta Mack, Johnny Kashmere, Trent Acid, John Xavier, and Matt Striker. Christopher Daniels was also brought in, though he was not a "local". Rather, he was a indy star who had been close to signing with WCW early in 2001. They had been trying to bring him in for touring tapings since the first ones in August, but it was until November that his schedule and the taping locations worked out.

The two big talking points heading into the tapings were, of course, the return of Sting and Goldberg become WCW World Heavyweight champion for the second time. World Championship Wrestling wasted no time in merging these two. The tapings and the first Nitro kicked off with a promo by Sting. He began by saying he was a man of few words... then proceeded to cut a lengthy promo. He thanked the WCW fans for their loyalty, then apologized to them for not returning sooner. Sting said he never walked away from a fight, and since WCW was in a fight every bit as much as it had been against the New World Order, Sting was ready for it. He talked about the "new generation" of talent that WCW had, putting over the likes of Lance Storm, Sean O'Haire, and Booker T. Then he talked about new world champion Goldberg, saying that he and "Da Man" had a lot in common - pure determination and a love for World Championship Wrestling. Sting then commented he did not want to say too much about Goldberg, since the new champion had something that Sting still coveted. It wasn't an outright challenge, but the roar from the fans made it clear they approved of the statement. The promo made it clear that anyone who thought Sting might be coming back as a heel was mistaken.

Later on the October 31st Nitro, Arn Anderson came out to the ring as a representative of the WCW management. The promotion still did not have an on-screen authority figure. "The Enforcer" read a prepared statement. After thanking the WCW fans around the United States and around the globe, then remembering those who fell on September 11th, the statement celebrated the return of two of WCW's greatest-ever stars in Goldberg and Sting. It then stated in a celebration of the history of WCW, the two men would face each other in the headliner at the nineteenth annual Starrcade event at the end of December. The fans in attendance roared their approval at this as well. After the statement was read, the commentators noted to fans at home that the match would be a title match only if Goldberg still held the WCW World Heavy championship, as Booker T still had a rematch. Announcing the headliner for Starrcade nearly two months out was an interesting decision. It was a match that could generate some significant interest from fans. At the same time, it appeared to be another babyface versus babyface affair, which made it somewhat questionable. It also made for the expected title defense at the November pay per view, Mayhem, a cursory affair with a very predictable outcome.

On the November 7th Nitro, Booker T cut a promo where he showed respect to new champion Goldberg, then talked about getting his belt back. He had a rematch with the new champion, though he had yet to put the request into WCW management for the match to be set. The promo was interrupted by Sean O'Haire and his manager, Stacy Kiebler. "The Bad Boy" did a masterful job of throwing some mock-complimentary verbal jabs at the former champion, who eventually lost his cool. He challenged O'Haire to a match... who declined it. The heel laughed off being called a coward, saying he would be happy to agree to a match if there was something worthwhile on the line. After a bit more back and forth, the inevitable happened and Booker put his world title shot on the line, up against a month of "servitude" by Kiebler, who didn't seem too happy about the situation. On the November 14th Nitro, O'Haire received plenty of help from Kiebler to defeat Booker. He then announced that he would use his newly-won shot at the world title at the Mayhem pay per view. Some loved the way it happened, as it added another layer to the new star heel O'Haire, while others felt it did so at the expense of Booker, who had made an admirable and fine world champion. It also left little time before the pay per view to build toward the new main event.

New world champion Goldberg featured regularly for Nitro, though not much in the ring. One week, they had a rare vignette, showing the champion training hard in his personal gym. They had a couple attempted backstage interviews, where he would stare intensely at the camera for a minute and ignore the questions, then walk away. He finally got into the ring in the main event of the November 21st Nitro, tagging with Sting and Booker T against Sean O'Haire, Scott Steiner, and Jeff Jarrett. The big six-man tag featured plenty of action leading to a non-finish, and they teased some tension between Goldberg and Sting as well.

Conversely, Sting was used quite regularly in the ring. The 42-year old WCW legend had returned in great shape and that was immediately apparent. His first match back was on the November 7th Nitro, tagging with Lance Storm against the young team of James Storm and BJ Whitmer, newly christened as "Pure Southern Class". The two young heels put on a really solid match against the two veterans. Simply put, Sting seemed really motivated. It seemed unlikely that WCW would continue to use him in the ring on every Nitro, but from the re-debut match until the pay per view, he was.

The "broken hand" that Shane Douglas had received from Lance Storm became a centerpiece of their feud. The United States champion came out with a huge plaster cast on his hand and forearm, proclaiming that his scheduled title defense against Storm for the Mayhem pay per view would have to be canceled. Mike Awesome was angry and Francine looked distraught. When the response from management was that if "The Franchise" was unable to defend his title as scheduled, he would be stripped of it, Douglas was suddenly much more capable of defending the belt. Storm requested another cage match but the request was rejected by management this time, with Arn Anderson reading another short statement, to the effect that WCW officials should be capable of controlling any potential outside interference.

Storm's former temporary tag team partner Dustin Rhodes found his new partner, who he knew “would understand". It was another veteran second-generation star and a surprise return to World Championship Wrestling... Curt Hennig. The man dubbed "Mr. Perfect" had ended a five-year run in WCW in the summer of 2000. In the year since, he had apparently gotten himself "clean" and into great shape. He looked more like the Hennig who had done well in the WWF in early 90s than the guy who had been used in every way but properly through the latter half of the 90s. Hennig got a pretty got pop from the Jersey crowd when Rhodes called him down to the ring, but the pair made their intentions clear when they faced local team The Backseat Boyz the next week and not only decisively defeated them but added a post-match beatdown to point an emphasis point on it. Hennig was not in WCW to fool around and Rhodes was not going to be the nice guy anymore. Two veteran workers made a strong tag team and another quality addition to the tag ranks of WCW.

The November 14th Nitro saw Kronik win back the WCW World Tag Team titles that they had lost three weeks before at the Halloween Havoc pay per view. It was a rather confusing title switch. Not that the powerhouse duo made poor champions – with Stacy Kiebler acting as a mouthpiece, they did quite well. It just seemed odd to give Kanyon and Bigelow the tag belts, only to lose them right back a few weeks later. It gave skeptical fans reason to question the new head booker before most of them even realized there was a new head booker.

The promising cruiserweight tandem of AJ Styles and Jamie Noble was given a name – The Shooting Star Express. The name apparently came from Lacey, the sweet and innocent-looking brunette who had caught Noble's eye at the Chicago tapings. She was now at ringside with the team, and Noble introduced her in a short promo as his “new special friend”. She seemed shy when right in front of the camera, but she got plenty animated at ringside, cheering the new Express on in matches. The duo continued to battle the likes The Sweetness and the Jung Dragons. With Kidman and Tajiri randomly teaming up as well, the cruiserweight division suddenly had a strong tag division again. Moreso than perhaps any other “local” brought in thus far, Christopher Daniels looked like he belonged in the cruiserweight division. He had a solid matches with Tajiri and Elix Skipper, and he boasted a dark heel persona that worked. He seemed certain to be offered a full-time contract after the tapings.

None of the other “locals” really hit the mark during the tapings. There was talent, but it was a matter of whether the talent fit in. Low Ki and Homicide were both impressive young talents, but the feeling with WCW was that they just didn't fit at that point. They were the right size for cruiserweight, but their dynamic styles seemed like a mismatch to some. The “Hit Squad” combo of Dan Maff and Mosta Mack were a bit raw yet. Striker could certainly talk but his in-ring work left a lot to be desired, and that seemed to seriously annoy Hugh Morrus in a match. Low Ki managed the same with some of his stiff kicks agained the TV champion, and those in attendance were afraid Morrus and Low Ki might end up brawling. Professionalism won out, but it didn't make for a better match in the way that the Morrus-Cabana pay per view match had.

The lack remaining “Mamaluke” finally returned to the ring. Johnny the Bull had barely been featured on television for WCW since the move to FSN. He had worked a few matches, often with the “local” talents, but they rarely made the actual broadcasts. The ripped 250-pounder had a good look and was passable in the ring but he was in need of a defining character, which is what WCW management felt was holding him back. Near the start of the New Jersey tapings, he was showing some of the other talent a vibrant new forearm tattoo and that tattoo supposedly gave John Laurinaitis an idea. Given the new name Johnny Hate, the wrestler started out with a dominant win over Crowbar. Laurinaitis' idea was to end up teaming Hate with Tommy Dreamer as a pair of badass brawlers. When Dreamer departed prior to the end of the tapings, the idea was dropped. Hate would end up teaming with Crowbar, with that duo becoming WCW resident hardcore brawlers.

The departure of Tommy Dreamer happened for exactly the same reason that saw Justin Credible sneak away. However, Dreamer took the professional approach, speaking to Bischoff directly. The former ECW star admitted he had been approach by both Paul Heyman and Raven about becoming part of that “ECW thing” that the World Wrestling Federation was planning. Admitting that his heart was still in the defunct ECW and always would be, Dreamer directly asked if WCW had any specific plans for him. When he was told they didn't, Dreamer asked for his release. Whether the WCW President was feeling particularly agreeable that day or he saw a way to save a bit of money, he granted Dreamer his release and he would soon become part of that “ECW thing”.

The New Jersey tapings made for a solid month of Nitro, leading toward the WCW Mayhem pay per view. Most regard them as a slight step back from what the promotion produced in October – the excitement of Goldberg as world champion and both Sting and Hennig returning were all offset by a somewhat less impressive set of “locals”. The exception to that was the dynamic Daniels, who was indeed offered a full-time contract after the tapings. He actually turned down the exclusive contract, and ended up signing a non-exclusive deal. The “open” contract allowed him still take independent dates. He had several months worth of commitments already made to independent dates, and since WCW required only a few dates per month, he felt an open deal worked best. Initially resistant to the idea, Bischoff relented and would end up using this type of contract more frequently in the future.

The return of Goldberg, the return of Sting and subsequently of Curt Hennig as well, made some fans believe that World Championship Wrestling was again willing to spend money. This is not really accurate. The claim made by some was that Sting waited until Goldberg returned so he could demand a similar contract. This has been refuted by both Sting and WCW insiders. The timing was more coincidental than anything else. Sting has said in interviews that it was never really about the money. He knew that this version of WCW would never be able to pay him what it could when it was owned by a global media conglomerate. He claims his intent was to return in the summer, after being able to spend some time with his family, but ended up staying out longer than intended. The paperwork to finalize the buyout of the remaining months (roughly six months were left) of his AOL Time Warner contract took longer than expected and pushed his returned further yet. Although the legend refuses to discuss financial details, it is believed that the downside-guarantee contract he was given by WCW was similar in value to what Scott Steiner, Sean O'Haire, and Booker T had been given, all of whom were significantly below the large guaranteed contract of Goldberg. Sting has also stated that while he was contacted by Vince McMahon, moving to the WWF was never a possibility for him due to the product. As for Hennig, he returned for a far smaller contract. At 42 years old, he just wanted to work. Unable to gain the interest of the WWF, Hennig only had WCW, Japan, and perhaps Mexico as options. He came in determined and willing to work hard.

It seems that many World Championship Wrestling insiders are reluctant to say much negative about Tony Schiavone's spell in charge of the promotion, beyond the obvious. Something that has been mentioned by several sources, almost as a casual observation, was Schiavone's apparent reluctance to delegate authority. Even at its reduced size, a promotion the size of WCW was a challenge for one individual to handle in creative terms. Especially when that individual had an overt focus on trying to come up with a “big one”, a major storyline that would really grab the attention of the fans and bring new fans in... or at least old ones back. The lack of attention given to certain areas is why the cruiserweights took matters into their own hands. Laurinaitis recognized the need to focus on certain areas himself while allowing others to assist. He asked Chavo to continue having the group meetings with the cruiserweights and tried to meet with the talent frequently to obtain their input and ideas. It was simply a different approach from that of Schiavone and the talent seemed to appreciate it. The greater question was whether it would work with fans.

With Tony Schiavone gone, World Championship Wrestling was reaching a point where forward progress was a real necessity. With John Laurinaitis in charge and another major star back on board in Sting, a solid set of TV tapings in New Jersey had resulted in almost no change in TV ratings. Mayhem looked to be more a springboard toward Starrcade in December than an attempt for success on its own. The first rumblings of discontent within the WCW ownership group, Fusient Media Ventures, were beginning to bubble to the fore. With one scapegoat gone, how long could the status quo continue before Eric Bischoff became the sacrificial lamb?

[Bigpapa42]

WCW Mayhem 2K1
Sunday, November 25, 2001

After what many within the company thought was a solid month of Nitro tapings, the hope was to put together a strong pay per view to cap off November and head toward the biggest event of the year, Starrcade, in fine style. Yet in the immediate lead-up to Mayhem, there seemed to be overt indifference from the WCW fan base. Being held in the same location as the tapings, WCW reportedly did not expect to fill the 5,000 seat arena. But until the final days before the event, it appeared that the paying crowd might actually be smaller than that WCW drew for the tapings. The final attendance for the event would be just over 2,000, so it did not end up being lower than the tapings, but its possible that WCW had to dole out a significant number of free tickets to break the two thousand barrier. That is not a sound practice for a promotion that is struggling financially.

The lack of enthusiasm for Mayhem from the fans seemed to come from a general perception that the pay per view was simply a "hold over" event, lacking any real importance. There was no expectation that Sean O'Haire would topple Goldberg in his very first title defense, and many fans disliked seeing the burgeoning star O'Haire used in this role. The thought was that more established stars could have been used in such an obvious no-win match without harming their momentum, but O'Haire was still just emerging as WCW's top heel and jobbing to Goldberg (which is what most expected to happen) could only hurt him. Even the addition of two "big" matches - Booker T versus Scott Steiner and Sting versus Jeff Jarrett - was seen as last-minute "damage control" (which is probably what it was) and both matches any real built or context. The Douglas-Storm match for the United States Championship was seen as the only real bright spot on what many saw as a very bland card.

The WCW World Television championship was on the line to start the show. This time Hugh Morrus was facing Homicide. The challenger was an interesting choice. Homicide had looked solid during the tapings, but not overtly impressive, at least compared the impressions made by Christopher Daniels and Low Ki. Daniels was already in a match and management recognized that putting Morrus and Low Ki in another match after their first was nearly a disaster was not a good plan. Stylistically this match worked but it ended up being a rather bland match that didn't have a large degree of intensity - it would have been alright for a Nitro but made for a pretty disappointing start to the pay per view.

The cruiserweights came next with their attempt to steal the show. It was a 4-way ladder match for the Cruiserweight title. Champion "El Chavo" had to face Billy Kidman, Tajiri, and the impressive Christopher Daniels. The match lived up to the events name as it was pure fun chaos. Daniels and Tajiri both took some insane risks, including a Daniels doing a flip dive off the top of a ladder. Despite being presented as a heel, the Jersey crowd really got behind Daniels. In the end, it was Kidman who managed to unhook the title belt hanging above the ring, becoming a 4-time Cruiserweight champion.

Diamond Dallas Page facing Mike Awesome looked to be an interesting match on paper, and possibly would have made a very solid feud. Yet the match was thrown onto the pay per view with no real build or reason. DDP triumphed in a mundane match that didn't even go ten minutes.

The match between Booker T and Scott Steiner was next. It seemed oddly placed, in the middle of the card, given that this was a pairing that had main evented Bash at the Beach. Of course, it made for a rather mundane match on that pay per view, so perhaps that was intentional. Booker and Steiner actually had a well-paced, solid match. It resulted in a Steiner victory. After the previous PPV match between them felt too long, this one felt too short at less than ten minutes. Many fans were not happy to see Booker put Steiner over after he didn't even get a world title rematch, but the intent seems to be to re-establish "Big Poppa Pump" as a top level heel.

There was a 4-way elimination match for the WCW World Tag team titles. This was another match that felt kind of random. The champions Kronik took on the Jersey Triad duo of Chris Kanyon and Bam Bam Bigelow, but also local team the Hit Squad and cruiserweights the Shooting Star Express in a 4-team elimination match. Having Kanyon and Bigelow in there obviously made sense, but the combination of Dan Maff and Monsta Mack had not particularly impressed during the Nitro tapings so it was odd to include them. They were eliminated quickly. The Styles and Noble team had been doing well but only against other cruiserweight opponents. The duo actually did very well in the match. The local pair were eliminated first early, and some heated exchanges between the current champions and previous champions led to a brawl outside the ring between those two teams, which almost got both counted out. When they got back in the ring, Noble managed a surprise roll-up in on Bam Bam and surprised everyone. Then it was down to the determined cruiserweights and the powerhouse champions. Using their quickness and some teamwork, the babyface duo made a fight of it. The two ladies at ringside - Stacy Kiebler and Noble's "special friend" - got involved, with Kiebler threatening the young brunette, which was enough to distract Noble. Adams and Clark took advantage, viciously double-teaming Styles and then pinning him before Noble could interrupt. The intent seems to be to build the Shoot Star Express toward being legitimate contenders for the tag titles, but again, it seemed an indirect way to do it.

The following match was between Jeff Jarrett and Sting. It was the first singles match Sting would be in since his return and it turned out to be very solid. Not quite the best match of the night, but not far off. It was probably the best match Jarrett had enjoyed in a long time, even if he did end up on the losing end. The win made Sting moved toward Starrcade with some decent momentum.

The best match of the night was, predictably, the US title match between Shane Douglas and Lance Storm. It was not the absolute best WCW match of the year (to that point) or Lance Storm's best match of the year (again, to that point)... but it was close on both counts. The match was plenty intense, going back and forth for more than twenty minutes. Douglas made effective use of the heavy arm cast he had for his “broken” hand, using it as a weapon repeatedly. The heart of the match was a great sequence of dominance in the middle of the match by the challenger where he showcased his strong technical skills, continually out-maneuvering Douglas and frustrating the champion. Predictably, both Mike Awesome and Francine tried to insert their presence into the match from ringside, but referee Mickie Jay spotted the attempt and tossed both from ringside. The tension in the ring and amongst the fans built through a series of near-falls, culminating in Storm forcing the champion to tap out to the Canadian Maple Leaf. The crowd loudly approved of the new US champion.

Whether they were burned out by the previous match or a had a lack of interest, the crowd had quieted down for the main event. Goldberg had a way to wake them up, coming out waving a big American flag, which drew a massive reaction from the patriot Jersey fans. From that point on, the crowd was up and down throughout the match. Coming into the match, many fans were concerned that O'Haire would basically get squashed, and Goldberg did indeed end up being overpowering in most exchanges, but "The Bad Boy" had a pretty effective equalizer - cheating. And plenty of it. O'Haire played the heel role to the hilt, inciting both the crowd and the champion by stalling, complaining, and using every cheap tactic possible. He had never been afraid to win using a dirty trick or two, but for this match, it was like O'Haire had been tutored by Ric Flair himself. The cheating evened the playing field a bit and O'Haire managed to get in some offense before "Da Man" would inevitably battle back. The challenger used a distraction by Stacy Kiebler to floor the champion with a wicked low blow, immediately going for a pin and getting close. Goldberg came steaming back and began to anticipate the cheap shots, which lead into the closing sequence of dominance before the champion closed out the win. The three-count for Goldberg earned a pretty good pop from the crowd, and he got a bigger one when he symbolically took the American flag back before he took the WCW World Heavyweight championship.

The concerns over O'Haire losing to a dominant champion turned out to be misplaced, though it was only through some clever match planning. "The Bad Boy" lost and yet came out looking as strong or even stronger for it. Its not that match which the pay per view is remembered for, though. Its remembered mostly for the Storm-Douglas match that was the culmination of some six months of build and yet proved worth it. It was a storyline that did a great deal to resurrect the prestige of the United States championship. It is generally accepted that this particular match was where the now-common comparisons between Lance Storm and Chris Benoit began. The former WCW and current WWF star Benoit was still regarded as the premier technical and overall wrestler in the world (though a couple wrestlers in Japan also had a good shout for that title) and while Storm was not on that level at this point, some fans began to believe he could achieve that level in the ring.

The indifference that fans seemed to have toward the Mayhem pay per view showed through in a mediocre crowd being drawn, but perhaps moreso due to reports that the buy rates were very low. *This was never confirmed by WCW but industry insiders suggest it was amongst the lowest buy rates that WCW had yet seen. If accurate, that has to be a real blow to the promotion. Even when things feel like they were getting better, that growth still just seems out of reach. Many consider the John Laurinaitis era of WCW to have kicked off in a rather disappointing manner, but some World Championship Wrestling insiders have indicated that blame for the situation was not really being directed at the new Head Booker.

Hugh Morrus © d. Homicide for the WCW World Television championship

Billy Kidman d. Christopher Daniels, Tajiri + Chavo Guerrero © in a 4-way Ladder Match for the WCW Cruiserweight championship

Diamond Dallas Page d. Mike Awesome

Scott Steiner d. Booker T

Kronik © d. The Jersey Triad, The Hit Squad + The Shooting Star Express for the WCW World Tag Team championships

Sting d. Jeff Jarrett

Lance Storm d. Shane Douglas © for the WCW United States championship

Goldberg © d. Sean O'Haire for the WCW World Heavyweight championship

[Bigpapa42]

December 2001
The Road to Starrcade
Taping Location: Houston, Texas

When World Championship Wrestling visited Texas for the Nitro tapings for December 2001, it marked a real victory for the promotion. The victory was quite simply that WCW reached that point at all. The entirety of 2001 was a major low point in the history of the promotion. Even its pre-WCW history when it was still Jim Crockett Promotions, things were never as bad as they were in 2001. Ironically, the money troubles that lead to Ted Turner buying JCP in 1988 were somewhat hidden by a strong period for JCP in other ways - talent, product quality, good events, etc. There was no hiding most of the problems that WCW was facing through 2001.

Although WCW never a strong presence in the state, Texas was selected for the December tapings and for Starrcade. It wasn't a traditional power base for the promotion but the state had a long traditional with professional wrestling. Houston was the city, and the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston was the location. The huge convention center was under the process of being renovated, but it was still usable. A few within World Championship Wrestling reportedly would have preferred to see Starrcade take place in the promotion's home base of Atlanta, but there were apparently concerns over the poor attendances at the August tapings there.

Part of the reason for choosing Texas was that it allowed WCW to work with the Texas Wrestling Academy, a school and promotion that was part owned by WWF legend and former world champion Shawn Michaels. Based out of San Antonio, the school was happy to make the trek to Houston, including several graduated wrestlers returning. The wrestlers brought in were Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Shawn Hernandez, Todd Sexton, Michael Shane, Milano Collection, and American Dragon. Kendrick and Dragon (as Bryan Danielson) had already been under WWF developmental deals but both were terminated when Memphis Championship Wrestling was dropped as a developmental territory. Shawn Michaels was present throughout the tapings, but politely declined repeated requests from WCW to appear in any type of on-screen role. Though he was not under contract to the WWF, Michaels had no intention of ruining his relationship with Vince McMahon.

The key feud of the December tapings was, obviously, Sting and world champion Goldberg. Their match scheduled for the main event of Starrcade 19 was being hyped as WCW's biggest in years. The problem was that there really was not that much of a feud to build toward the pay per view.. Both men were babyfaces and both were looking to prove themselves – Goldberg that he was truly worthy of being the new figurehead of WCW and Sting that he was still a top wrestler, even at 42 years old. It was clear that both men respected each other... and that was really the problem. Due to the overt respect they displayed, the feud seemed to lack intensity. Some fans blamed the babyface versus babyface nature of the feud, but that has worked in previous feuds, so long as the intensity is there. But that was notably lacking in this feud. It was ironic that two of WCW's more intense individuals could not bring that key ingredient to this feud.

While the primary feud seemed a little lacking, that was not the case for all the feuds that were going on. Although it had been ongoing since The Great American Bash, the Storm-Douglas-Awesome feud still had legs. The November 28th Nitro had another great vignette promo by the new United State champion. He was in a small gym, wearing street clothes and seated with the belt across his lap. Lance Storm talked about he was now a 4 time WCW United States champion but he had never taken the time to really enjoy the previous ones because it was such a chaotic time. He spoke about how this win had taken so much and how it felt like such a vindication for all the hard work he that he had put into his career. He also stated that he felt “The Franchise” Shane Douglas deserved a rematch, but he would gladly face his ex-partner Mike Awesome if they preferred. The promo once again reinforced the value of the US title and some felt that it now regained a large portion of the prestige it had lost through the past few years. Whether it was what Storm had intended or not, his open rematch offer created tension between Douglas and Awesome, who argued with each other during their response promo, with Francine quickly getting between them to make sure it didn't turn nasty. After taking some time to decide, the rematch was given to Mike Awesome, who would face Storm at Starrcade.

On the December 19th Nitro, Storm defended his belt against Dustin Rhodes in a really good 12-minute TV match. Immediately afterward, the Extremists showed their renewed solidarity by coming down to ringside to attack Storm. While such attacks had once been the norm in WCW, they had become rare in the post-sale period, which of course gave it more impact when one did occur. Storm seemed to be expecting this one – he fought back valiantly for a few moments, and before Douglas and Awesome could inflict much damage, they were chased away by DDP and Booker T coming down to ringside to help the US champion. Storm grabbed a mic and called Awesome a coward. The following week, he cut another promo on Awesome, saying the only thing that would be more satisfying than a win at Starrcade would be making him submit or quit. In a response promo later on the show, Awesome claimed he would never quit. And thus, the United States title match between them was made an “I Quit” match.

Diamond Dallas Page inserting himself in that feud was interesting, as the New Jersey Triad was still feuding with the “Filthy Few”. There was clearly some tension growing between the Triad members, though, and DDP involving himself elsewhere just seemed to make that worse.

The WCW World Tag Team champions were, interestingly, put in a feud with an imaginary team. Or so it seemed. It was all part of a rather unique angle that seemed to have its genesis amongst the Internet Wrestling Community. Shortly after Kronik won the tag titles back in November, threads were started on a large number of the most prominent wrestling-related forums, including WCW's own forum. Though the user names of the thread starters varied, it seemed to be the same individual. The threads were not all identical the theme was all the same – comparing Kronik to some of the legendary WCW tag teams of the past. The list of teams was long – The Outsiders, The Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Rock n' Roll Express, the Horsemen (Anderson and Blanchard), the Road Warriors, and even Youngblood & Steamboat.... The assessment of the series of posts was that in becoming 4-time WCW World Tag Team champions, Kronik had become greater than every one of those teams. The threads were received with various degrees of denial and bemusement, but the original poster was persistent. They returned to each of the forums to defend their assessment with obviously faulty logic but no lack of conviction or passion. By late November, Kronik themselves (though manager Kiebler, for the most part) were making similar claims themselves. They proclaimed themselves not just the greatest power tag team in WCW history but simply the greatest tag team ever. They continued to take the arrogance to new levels in December (matched week after week by Sean O'Haire's proclamations about himself). In mid December, Arn Anderson was again called upon by WCW to make an announcement, this time reading a statement that “worthy” challengers had been found for the WCW World Tag Team titles at Starrcade, and Kronik would have an opportunity to prove themselves to be what they proclaimed. The team was not announced, which lead to endless fan speculation about what great historical team would make a return at Starrcade 19. Many have come to regard the series of web posts that started the angle – or were very coincidentally timed – as done by a WCW plant, but several key insiders have denied having any knowledge of it. If it was a WCW insider, they managed to keep it quiet.

Beyond the phantom feud for Kronik, the tag team division continued to thrive. Dubbed The Perfect Nightmare, Dustin Rhodes and Curt Hennig looked to be very dangerous together. Pure Southern Class also continued to do well, though they had yet to really receive a push. The two primary cruiserweight teams were The Sweetness (Chavo Guerrero and Shane Helms) and the Shooting Star Express (AJ Styles and Jamie Noble), both of whom continued to do well and look good. With the Jung Dragons still around, Kidman teaming up with Tajiri a few times, and Christopher Daniels tagging with Elix Skipper, some fans though the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team belts should be brought back. It seems a valid thought, as the teams consistently put on great matches against each other but never made much headway against the bigger heavyweight tag teams.

The “special friend” of Jamie Noble was finally identified. In a short promo with the tag team, she said that her name was “Lacey” and that she was a wrestler herself, but she was leaving behind a promising career to be with Jamie. Her continued presence at ringside for the young tandem seemed hinder them as often as it helped them.

What should have been a big moment for the cruiserweight division somehow morphed into another problem for World Championship Wrestling. In late November, the WCW website began hyping the return of a “former WCW cruiserweight star”. It was mentioned several times during the commentary of the Mayhem pay per view as well. A few hints were dropped – a former multi-time champion and a “fan favorite”. There were a number of former talents it could have referred to, but the biggest possible name was Rey Mysterio Jr. The fans began to hope it was Rey Mysterio, and the hope became belief, and belief became expectation. It was not Rey Mysterio. So when Juventud Gerrera appeared at the Nitro tapings, it should have been a pretty good moment for WCW. Instead, it disappointed a lot of fans, which probably left poor Juvi confused. The worst part is that it was not hollow hype or over-selling it in this case – it was deserved hype for a wrestler who had been a key part of the division for some time. At least the poor reaction was only really notable on his return match – for the remainder of his matches during the tapings, the fan support seemed to return. Juvi did well enough to stick with WCW, but he was doing okay back with AAA in Mexico and had just returned for the tapings and likely the pay per view.

For those wondering, Rey Mysterio Jr was amongst those former WCW talents who were still under contract to AOL Timer Warner and sitting out the remainder of those deals. He was still wrestling sporadically, including some appearances for CMLL in Mexico and WWC in Puerto Rico. It is unclear whether WCW had reached out to Mysterio about returning after his deal expired, or possibly having the remaining deal bought out. It is believed that WCW did make contact with some of the other remaining talent still sitting out – Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Kevin Nash – but no big return seemed imminent for any of them.

In December, Nitro began showing vignettes for the return of one wrestler who had been out of action for awhile – Mark Jindrak. The vignettes showed Jindrak training in mixed martial arts in a dingy gym. He wore MMA gear while he worked over punching bags, worked on takedowns with a training partner, and pounded on a ground bag to simulate ground and pound. Through all of it, an unseen trainer berated and encouraged him from off-screen. It seem that perhaps WCW creative had finally found a gimmick for Jindrak.

The talent brought in for the tapings – beyond Juventud Gerruera – did almost as well as the talent for the Chicago tapings had. Both Brian Kendrick and Paul London fit in quite well with the cruiserweight division. Though he was a bit green in the ring, the powerful Hernandez acquitted himself decently in a TV title match with Hugh Morrus, earning himself a rematch at the pay per view. The standout was Bryan Danielson. The youngster was intending to work under a mask, using the name “American Dragon”. After having a conversation with Lance Storm, Danielson changed his mind and dropped the mask, working under his real name. Danielson was just 20 years old, and at about 5'10” and 175 pounds, he clearly lacked the size that was expected in a pro wrestler. There was no denying his talent in the ring, however. He managed to have a really good match with Hugh Morrus, then a shocking good match with Juventud Guerrera. Near the end of the tapings, word came down for management that none of the “locals” would get signed. Lance Storm reportedly found this unacceptable and tracked down John Laurinaitis, and the two of them went to talk to Eric Bischoff. The feeling from management was that Danielson was clearly talented, but while his size made him a cruiserweight, he was a bad style match for the division since he worked a more mat-based style. Storm, backed by the head booker, argued that Danielson should be seen as something of a prodigy and his combination of work ethic and love the business would see him continue to develop. Storm sold the WCW President on the youngster by explaining that the “American Dragon” could do for the cruisers what Dean Malenko had once done. In the end, Bischoff agreed and Danielson was offered a similar “open” contract to that which Christopher Daniels had signed, which he accepted.

There are rumors – unconfirmed by any parties involved – that Bischoff did make another contract offer during the tapings. The story is that Bischoff heard from some of the Texas Wrestling Academy students that Shawn Michaels had rehabbed from his career-ending back injury and was looking to make an in-ring return in the near future. So Bischoff cornered “The Heartbreak Kid” and made a contract offer if he could indeed return to the ring as a full-time wrestler. Not just any contract offer, though – it was supposedly a very similar deal to what Goldberg had scored. If true, Michaels politely declined a contract that would have made him amongst the top paid wrestlers in the business at that point.

December could have been and perhaps should have been a celebration of sorts for World Championship Wrestling. The promotion had survived a year that very nearly killed it. There was still plenty of talent on the roster, there was a TV deal, and there was hope for the future. But these positive points do not seem to be the dominant outlook amongst the talent. Rather, there was still an overriding sense of frustration and cynicism, which perhaps contributed in keeping the biggest show of the year from feeling like the biggest show of the year. It would simplistic and incorrect to just blame the talent for this outlook, as it was prevalent throughout the entire promotion. Both Shawn Michaels and Bryan Danielson have commented on the situation in later interviews. Despite another solid month of Nitro, the prevalent feeling amongst fans and talent alike was that they were building toward what was just another show rather than what was supposed to the biggest WCW show of the year and a true celebration of survival. No movement at all in the TV tapings seemed to reinforce the growing mentality within WCW that something had to work, and soon.

[Bigpapa42]

WCW Starrcade 19
Sunday, December 30, 2001

There is a story told about Starrcade 19. About how Eric Bischoff, while trying to convince some of the "free agent" talent to return to WCW in May of 2001, talked about how the summer was going to be hard times for everyone but he was certain they would be back in a "good spot" by Starrcade. He supposedly claimed that Starrcade 19 would be one of the biggest ever, a spectacle that would proclaim to the wrestling world that WCW was back!

Not so much.

The decision to hold the December tapings and the pay per view in Texas was made in October. The expectation was that the pay per view would be held at the Toyota Center, or perhaps a slightly smaller venue in Houston. Starrcade ended up being held at the same George R. Brown Convention Center as the tapings. The seating capacity was increased for the pay per view, but attendance was nowhere near the 8,000 - 10,000 that Bischoff had been optimistically hoping for just a few months prior. The final attendance ended up being around 3,600 people. Which was the best house draw WCW had managed since the sale...yet it was still a disappointing figure. Especially when one considers that WrestleMania X-Seven had drawn nearly 70,000 for the WWF just nine months prior. If anything further was needed to reinforce the existing gap between the two promotions by that time, that was it.

A common criticism of Starrcade 19 is that it lacked a 'big" feel. WCW had consistently faltered in making the pay per view events feel "big" and "important" since the sale - and prior to that, too, though that period is not really our focus here. Starrcade was among the worst in this regard, as both fans in attendance and those watching at home felt like the show had the overall feel of just another Nitro. The WWF effectively made every WrestleMania into a massive spectacle, but WCW did not manage that and really didn't even attempt it. There was no special set and no pyrotechnics, no giants screens or big lights. The hope from WCW management was that quality in-ring product would supersede the lack of any of those other aspects.

The show opened with a tag match but it was not the cruiserweights. The "Perfect Nightmare" duo of Curt Hennig and Dustin Rhodes faced the former tag team champions, Chris Kanyon and Bam Bam Bigelow. The two impressive teams went to war for fifteen minutes. Though the Triad duo were more experienced as a team, they had to contend with two talented, motivated opponents who seemed willing to break every rule they possibly could. Hennig and Rhodes managed to isolate Bigelow and worked him over, using an oft-distracted referee their continual advantage. Kanyon eventually did make it into the ring legally but his offensive flurry came up short and Hennig perfectly timed an intervention as Kanyon went for a Kanyon Cutter on Rhodes. The heel duo ended up scoring the win - a victory that clearly established the pair as a top team in WCW.

The second match was the rematch between Shawn Hernandez and Hugh Morrus, with the WCW World Television title on the line. The match was an intriguing brawl, but it was really just a slightly longer version of their match from Nitro. It doesn't really feel like a pay per view caliber match but its certainly watchable. Morrus retains, as expected.

The Sweetness - "El Chavo" and Shane Helms - faced off against their rivals, AJ Styles and Jamie Noble. The foursome had put together a few solid matches already, but this one elevated their feud to a new level. Quite simply, the match was excellent. Another true show-stealer for the cruiserweights. The match went nearly twenty minutes and was exciting for every second. Rather than the typical babyface-in-peril match story, the teams just went back and forth. It wasn't a mere spot-fest, though there were some exciting and risky moments - rather both teams seemed to be feeling each other out, looking for any real weaknesses in each given partner. As the match closed in on the twenty minute mark, the ref slowly lost control and the match became more of an outright brawl than a tag match. When the ref finally regained control, Lacey accidentally caused a distraction when she tried to point out to the ref that Shane Helms - who was not the legal man - was climbing onto the top turnbuckle and apparently about to assert himself illegally into the action again. The shouted warning from Lacey got the attention of the ref, Styles, and Noble, and Chavo took advantage to grab Styles and deliver a lightning-quick Death Valley Driver, then rolled him into a pin. Noble desperately dove through the ropes and across the ring to make the save but it was too late. The Sweetness stole the win, but the method of victory ensured there would be a rematch.

The Cruiserweight championship match between Christopher Daniels and Billy Kidman was next. It had a lot to live up to, but it came close to managing that. This one went about fifteen minutes and was more notable for its big risks and spots than the story it told. It was an exciting, fast-paced, fun match that the Houston fans were clearly enjoying. The heel Daniels came close to winning several times, but Kidman persevered and prevailed. After the match was over, he offered his hand in respect to Daniels, but the challenger just glared at it then symbolically turned his back on the champion. The statement was clear.

Booker T and Scott Steiner had another rematch next. Similar to their match at Mayhem, it was decent but not spectacular. The babyface Booker T fared better this time, but Steiner had a trump card – associate Jeff Jarrett at ringside. “The Chosen One” was not chosen to get a match for the biggest pay per view of the year, but he helped ensure that “Big Poppa Pump” triumphed in the match. Booker T was clearly frustrated after another loss to Steiner.

The surprise challengers for Kronik's World Tag Team titles were finally revealed, but not until after the champions were made to come down to the ring first. Then “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath began to play and the fans in attendance knew. Paul Ellering led out the Road Warriors and the crowd erupted. The two veteran tag team legends were in full regalia and they looked to be in good shape. The reigning WCW tag champions had an opportunity to prove themselves again one of those legendary teams... and they proved little. It was a prototypical Road Warriors match – six minutes of dominance, with the defending champions given little chance to get in any offense. A Doomsday Device later and there were new WCW World Tag Team champions. The crowd seem shocked yet they were clearly thrilled.

Diamond Dallas Page had his hands full in the next match, taking on “The Bad Boy” Sean O'Haire. This was a surprisingly good match, with O'Haire once again reveling in his role as the heel bully. DDP played the never-say-die babyface very well, without looking weak, and the pair battled for nearly twenty minutes. O'Haire triumphed once again, much as he had just two months before, but the battle they had made it entirely worthwhile.

The “I Quit” match for the United States championship promised to be a war. And a war it was. Lance Storm and Mike Awesome battled for some twenty-five minutes and they absolutely brutalized each other. Storm tried to keep it a technical match for the first bit, working to wear down his bigger opponent. Awesome wanted to make it a brawl, and he succeeded when he made Storm chase him outside the ring. When Douglas and Francine looked to get involved in the match, Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page both came down to ringside to chase them away and ensure the semi main event had a “fair” finish. Awesome used a chair to work over Storm's left knee, attacking it viciously and even going so far as to put the leg through a chair and then jumped off the top turnbuckle onto it in a nasty looking spot. The champion roared in pain but he refused to give up. He could barely stand he when had the opportunity, but even on one leg, he kept battling. The knee gave out when they were outside the ring, but it happened as the challenger was charging at Storm, so as he fell, Awesome slammed hard into the security barrier instead of the champion as intended. A short time later, back in the ring, Storm tried to put the Canadian Maple Leaf onto his opponent but his knee gave out. He tried again before long and he held on, despite the clear enormous pain he was in. It became a race to see how could hold out longer... As Storm's face contorted in pain at having to hang onto the hold, he persevered and it was Awesome who had to utter the words “I quit”. Afterward, Storm could barely stand on the knee and he had to hobble back up the ramp as the crowd cheer him on.

After some pretty good matches, it was up to the main event to bring things home and close out a solid pay per view for World Championship Wrestling. It was down to Goldberg and Sting to make Starrcade 19 truly memorable. In retrospect, it was not the babyface-versus-babyface nature of the match which caused problems nor was it a lack of intensity from the two wrestlers. Rather, why it ended up being a mediocre main event was the length. Goldberg wrestles a style best suited to short matches. He used powerful, high-impact offense, overpower and overwhelms his opponents, and no-sells most of his opponent's offense. As such, shorter matches simply work better as it becomes difficult to make the psychology of a longer match work. The approach taken by O'Haire a month before, where he stalled endlessly, worked but it was obvious that Sting would not take that approach. He tried to take the champion head-on, found himself overpowered and dominated. When Goldberg went for his vaunted finishing sequence, Sting avoided the spear and took over, getting in his own offense. But the champion no-sold a Stinger Splash and then took control back. The same sequence was repeated three times. On the third sequence, Sting hit the champion with not just one but two Scorpion Death Drops but Goldberg still kicked out. Sting looked distraught, clearly unsure of what he could do to win. The challenger locked in the Scorpion Deathlock out of desperation, but Goldberg powered out and responded with a series of elbow smashes that sent Sting reeling. A Spear was followed by a Jackhammer and Goldberg finally put Sting down for the three count.

After the match, the two men shook hands and embraced. It was a clear “passing the torch” moment, though Goldberg really didn't need it at this point. Even with the popularity of “The Icon”, the crowd still cheered the Goldberg victory. They cheered even harder when he once again took the American flag before he took the belt. The image of Goldberg standing on the second turnbuckle, holding up the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with the American flag draped over his shoulders is an iconic one for WCW.

There seems to be a tendency amongst fans to dismiss the main event of Starrcade 19 as a weak finish to a fairly strong pay per view. That is not really a fair assessment. It was a well-conceived match that was well wrestled. It featured decent drama enough to keep the attention of the fans. When compared to the pure intensity of Storm-Awesome or the athleticism of the cruiserweight tag team match, it is not going to live up but it was simply a different type of match.

WCW was counting on Starrcade 19 being a standout success. It was not. The match quality delivered, for the most part. Many fans regarded it as a very solid event overall. The problems were the attendance and the pay per view buyrates, which were both poor compared to expectations. Even during the event itself, well before the preliminary buy rate numbers were available, Eric Bischoff was already in damage control mode. He was reportedly telling talent backstage not to worry, as he “had a plan”... 2002 would be “theirs”.

Perfect Nightmare d. The Jersey Triad

Hugh Morrus © d. Shawn Hernandez for the WCW World Television Championship

The Sweetness d. The Shooting Star Express

Billy Kidman © d. Christopher Daniels for the WCW Cruiserweight championship

Scott Steiner d. Booker T

The Road Warriors d. Kronik © for the WCW World Tag Team Championships

Sean O'Haire d. Diamond Dallas Page

Lance Storm © d. Mike Awesome in an "I Quit" Match for the WCW United States championship

Goldberg © d. Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight championship

[Bigpapa42]

January 2002
The More Things Change...
Taping Location: Los Angeles, California

As the calendar turned from 2001 to 2002, it was a time of trouble in the United States of America. The predominant mood was a mix of anger, confusion, and uncertainty. This mood was reportedly reflected quite directly within the World Championship Wrestling roster at this time as well, though the sources of these emotions was different. As America and the world struggled to deal with the aftermath of 9/11, WCW also struggled with trying to find its place again. Trying to find its new place in a wrestle industry that had changed quite notably over the year prior. Never one to lack in confidence, Eric Bischoff was assuring anyone who would listen that he had the plan that would take them back to the promised land...

One would assume that by "promised land", Bischoff was not meerely referring to sunny California. Although that is indeed where the Nitro tapings took place at the start of January 2002. Los Angeles, to be exact. The tapings were held at Universal Studios Hollywood, with the Sin pay per view scheduled to be held at the Firestone Fieldhouse. Using the Universal Studios theme park was an interesting decision, as it meant WCW would receive no money directly from attendance. The park provided the tapings as a free "attraction" that could be attended as part of visiting the park. WCW did hand out quite a number of "direct passes" to local wrestling fans, which gave those fans free access to the tapings but not to any of the other park attractions. The approach made for a rather interesting crowd for the tapings. It seems likely that WCW did receive some revenues from the park itself, as the situation would otherwise make for a poor financial decision.

Southern California boasted a strong contingent of young wrestling talent to choose from. The names brought in included Kaos, Frankie Kazarian, Super Dragon, Joey Ryan, Excalibur, Ron Killings, Samoa Joe, and Mike Knox. A pair of former WCW talents were also brought in - masked cruiserweight Blitzkreig and former New World Order member Konnan. After a very promising start to his career, Blitzkrieg had left WCW and the business to pursue a full-time career. Konnan had been working for AAA in Mexico since the sale in March and was said to be hesitant about returning. Another name brought in for the tapings was Adam Pearce, who had been at the Chicago tapings and had done well. Its not clear if he impressed enough to get another chance or if he was brought back simply because he was in California at the time and available.

Eric Bischoff did indeed have a major plan for the January tapings. He had an idea that was good enough to revolutionize the professional wrestling industry (once), to get people talking about World Championship Wrestling, and to potentially change everything. That idea was... the New World Order...

Yes, again.

If merely reading that makes you cringe, imagine how much of the talent within WCW felt. By multiple accounts, there was a very negative reaction within WCW when Bischoff revealed his grand plan. John Laurinaitis tried to talk the WCW President out of using the storyline again, and the talent involved were not said to be very enthusiastic either. He would not be dissuaded. Bischoff apparently believed that WCW hitting on one big, hot storyline that captured the fans would undo all the damage done over the past few years. He was convinced that all it would take one be one worker or one story to catch fire and everything would be rolling again. Since Tony Schiavone had failed to manage that, and Laurinaitis seemed more concerned with creating simple and easy to follow feuds, Bischoff took it upon himself.

Regardless of what anyone within WCW felt about the angle, the important part is whether the fans responded to it. And simply put, they did not.

The actual reformation occurred on the January 16th episode of Nitro. WCW was teasing “something big” occurring on the previous episodes. With Jeff Jarrett scheduled to take on Goldberg in the main event, “The Chosen One” ended up getting in an argument with his long-time associate Scott Steiner. “Big Poppa Pump” was already set to face Goldberg for the world title at the WCW Sin pay per view. It was not quite clear what the source of the argument was, but it appeared their friendship/alliance was over. In the match between the WCW World Heavyweight champion Goldberg and Jarrett, Steiner came out to ringside. In a predictable swerve, the match ended in disqualification when Steiner jumped Goldberg. After a moment's hesitation, Jarrett joined the beatdown and the pair assaulted “Da Man” viciously. The commentators implored for someone to come down to help. Eventually, Goldberg was rescued by a group that included Sting, Booker T, and Diamond Dallas Page. But the damage was done. Jarrett and Steiner avoided the rescuers, racing around the ring and heading up the ramp, with Steiner grabbing a mic on the way. At the top of the ramp, someone from the crowd threw a shopping bag and it landed at the feet of the pair. Jarrett reached down and pulled out two black T-shirts, which unrolled to reveal the all-too-familiar New World Order logo. Both men put the T-shirts on, with Jarrett struggling to get his on for several comical moments. Steiner began to cut a promo while his associate still struggled. The promo was to the point – the pair were tired of getting kicked around in a WCW that had no identity and no future. So they were putting the most dominant group in wrestling history back together. And if you weren't with them... you were against them.

The promo was actually difficult to hear due to the boos from the sections of the crowd that were actual wrestling fans and not just tourists at the park. To most, it was clearly “bad heat” that was generated. To Eric Bischoff, it was a reaction and that great. Any hope he had that the angle would reinvigorate the promotion had to be short lived, however. It was obviously impossible to keep any big moments quiet using the taped approach that WCW was at that time, and word of the N.W.O. reunion hit the Internet wrestling communities nearly as soon as it happened. The reaction amongst those fans was overwhelmingly negative. Tthose who dismiss the opinion of those fans as not representing the rest of the wrestling fanbase were not correct in this case. Nitro saw a decline in ratings beginning with the January 2nd episode, and the decline took an even sharper dive after the N.W.O. reunited. Most insiders attributed the decline to that storyline. The ratings for the January 23rd Nitro were as low as those seen in September and any hope of drawing a strong buy rate for the Sin pay per view headlined by Goldberg and Steiner evaporated.

For the moment, the New World Order was only Jarrett and Steiner. They were looking to expand, and their membership drive kicked off on the January 23rd episode of Nitro. The show started with the pair cutting a promo in the ring. They promised that they were not going to be like the groups earlier leadership, who allowed people to join who lacked the talent to be part of an elite group. Later in the show, the duo approached former member Konnan backstage, offering him a spot. He politely decline, and was savagely assaulted for his answer. Rumor suggested that the angle mirrored reality, and that Konnan had been offered a contract to return to WCW full time but chose to stay with AAA instead. The New World Order remained just Steiner and Jarrett, but with Sin on the horizon, how long would it remain that way?

Although the N.W.O. storyline gained most of the attention, there was still plenty going on in the rest of World Championship Wrestling. The January 9th Nitro saw Lance Storm defend his United States championship against Curt Hennig in a fantastic main event. The 17-minute match was called an early contender for Match of the Year. As he really wasn't put in a direct feud with anyone, Storm ended up challenging Jeff Jarrett to a match for Sin on the January 23rd Nitro.

The vignettes of Mark Jindrak training in mixed martial arts continued, leading to his return match on the January 16th Nitro. He faced Jason Jett and completely ran through him, tapping him out in about two minutes with a heel hook. The following week, the victim was Alex Wright, who tapped out even quicker to an arm choke. The faceless voice who was in each vignette, training Jindrak, was still yet to be identified, though it had fans speculating.

With newer talents like Christopher Daniels and Bryan Danielson beginning to really get integrated into the cruiserweight division, there was a feeling amongst WCW and fans that the division was heading toward a peak. There was a real core of great talent and a deep enough group of cruiserweights that it allowed for some diversity in terms of match ups. As John Laurinaitis and Lance Storm had predicted, Danielson added a dynamic element to the division. The fans were already making the comparisons to Dean Malenko. A key difference is that Dean Malenko had been a 35-year old veteran of the ring when he joined WCW in 1995, already having traveled the world to refine his skills. Danielson was still just 20 years old.

The tag team division was intriguing and a mess all at the same time. The decision to put the belts on the Road Warriors proved to be a mistake, as the team ended up walking out on WCW partway through the tapings. The problem was apparently money. In the mid 1980s, the tag team had become huge stars and they were paid on an equal level to some of the biggest names in the business. Even in 2002, they felt that should still be the case. The original intent had been to bring the Warriors in for a one-shot, just the pay per view match at Starrcade, where they would put over Kronik and be done with WCW. Paul Ellering had not been part of that deal, but had come with the Warriors regardless – and problems began at the PPV when Hawk and Animal expected Ellering to be paid, as well as his travel costs covered. Bischoff ended up relenting and giving the Warriors what they wanted. Although that should have been a clear warning sign, Bischoff was excited about the nostalgia of having the Road Warriors being part of WCW again and so he asked them to stay on with short term contracts, to have a feud with Kronik. They agreed and won the belts. When the time came for their first match at the Nitro tapings, Ellering then told Bischoff what the financial demands of the Warriors would be. The WCW President was not willing to pay Hawk and Animal individually more than the likes of Sting, Booker T, and Steiner were making and he bluntly told them that. The Warriors walked out, leaving the WCW World Tag Team belts behind in the locker room. The situation was not directly addressed on air, but merely mentioned that the Road Warriors had been injured in their pay per view match and thus, the tag team titles they had won were now vacant.

The decision to bring in the Road Warriors had other consequences. Bryan Clark had suffered a separated shoulder taking the Doomsday Device from the Warriors in the pay per view match and would be out for some time. Brian Adams had also hurt his knee, but attempted to work through it. He could not finish a match at the tapings against Konnan. The knee was given an MRI and that showed some serious damage. So Adams was out as well. The upside to WCW losing two top tag teams like that is it forced the elevation of other teams. The combination of Curt Hennig and Dustin Rhodes continued to impress, as did several of the cruiserweight teams. The vacant belts would be contested over at the pay per view, but one team that wouldn't be wrestling for them was the combination of Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon. Kanyon was still upset over losing the belts back in November, and he was even more upset at Diamond Dallas Page not focusing on their group. Kanyon walked out on the other two during a six-man tag match and it appeared that the Jersey Triad was falling apart.

One of the teams that looked to really benefit from the absence of Kronik was Pure Southern Pride. James Storm and BJ Whitmer also found themselves a manager. “Local” talent Adam Pearce had requested permission to bring along a friend of his to the tapings to function as his manage. Going by Mr. Vander Pyle, the manager's real name was Marty Lurie and he was a newcomer to the business who was being trained as an old school Southern-style heel manager by Pearce. Despite his inexperience, Vander Pyle did some good work and WCW decided to try him out with Pure Southern Class. The manager clicked with the tag team. He still was not that smooth on the microphone, but he was a definite improvement over having Storm and Whitmer trying to cut the promos. The manager was offered and accepted an open contract offer from WCW before the tapings were completed. With another piece in place for P.S.P., many expected big things from them in the near future.

Pearce impressed during the tapings, having another solid match with Hugh Morrus over the WCW Television championship and being given another chance at the pay per view. In truth, almost all of the local talent in Los Angeles did well. Super Dragon and Excalibur were a pair of exciting masked cruiserweights. Kaos and Joey Ryan both impressed as much with their character work as their in-ring skills. The big youngster who went by the name Samoa Joe didn't impress WCW management right off, as they felt he looked “soft” for a big guy... but he certainly impressed them when he stepped into the ring, putting on a solid match with Frankie Kazarian and then another one with Ron Killings. The returning Blitzkrieg looked really good as well, showing very little ring rust despite not being active as a pro wrestler much over the two years prior. Konnan also looked as good as ever. Despite how much the group of locals impressed, only Blitzkrieg was offered a contract. Admitting he was not ready to be wrestling regularly again at this point, he declined for the moment.

World Championship Wrestling had some good news from a business stand point. After being approached in late 2001 by New Japan Pro Wrestling, WCW came to an agreement with the Japanese promotion to again share talent. A similar agreement had benefited both promotions in the 1980s and early 1990s, but it came apart in the late 90s due to the machinations of Bischoff. In a circumstance where both promotions could potentially benefit from it, re-creating that agreement made sense. Before the month had ended, WCW had been contracted by both the desperate All Japan Pro Wrestling and the upstart Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion with similar requests. WCW would end up having agreements with all three. It was an odd situation, as such “double-dealing” would have once been seen as disrespectful by the Japanese wrestling promotions management, but the world of puroresu had changed and it was being challenged by a burgeoning Mixed Martial Arts scenes. There was cooperation like never before in Japan. WCW now had access to some of the most talented and exciting wrestlers in the entire world... but the question was whether Bischoff was willing to pay for the cost it would take to bring these talents over to America?

The return of the New World Order represented a trump card being put into play by Bischoff. Perhaps his last one. Despite the supreme confidence of the WCW President, the early returns indicated that the fans were not reacting to the group in the same manner they once did. WCW insiders apparently looked on the decision to reform the N.W.O. in much the same manner as they looked upon the ECW-heavy September tapings -a mistake from which there would be consequences. It was yet unclear whether this decision by Bischoff would have the same degree of repercussions, and the big question was who would take the blame this time?

[Bigpapa42]

WCW Sin 2002
Sunday, January 27, 2002

The WCW Sin 2002 pay per view had a definite air of negativity about it heading toward the end of January. The talent is said to have been as jaded and disappointed with the reformation of the New World Order storyline as the fans were. It took away from what should have been a fairly solid event for World Championship Wrestling, and the result was amongst the most disappointing for the promotion since it was sold just less than a year prior.

WCW would claim paid attendance at the Firestone Fieldhouse at just under 3,000 fans, but the actual attendance is thought to have been lower. Which means that not everyone who bought tickets for the show bothered to attend. Those who did bother to show up were treated to a pretty decent night of action.

Once again, it was the WCW World Television title that kicked off the show. "The S.O.B." Hugh Morrus got to face "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce and the pair put on a decent brawl that went back and forth before the champion overpowered the challenger and scored the win. It was a pretty typical PPV match for the TV title, which is to say that it wasn't much different from a Nitro match for the title except that it went a bit longer.

The second match of the night was Blitzkrieg taking on Elix Skipper, who was making a rare pay per view appearance. The exciting cruiserweight encounter was fast-paced but very "spotty" - the two men basically when through a sequence of aerial moves. This match in particular was pegged as one that really didn't seem like a PPV match but rather just a Nitro match.

The quest to crown new tag team champions had seen a four-time mini-tournament on the Nitro episodes immediately prior. Pure Southern Class were upset by the Shooting Star Express, while Perfect Nightmare defeated the combination of C.W. Anderson and Chris Harris. The two losing teams met at Sin, presumably to determine a new number one contender team. The combo of Anderson and Harris was new but they worked decently together. They turned out to be no match for the Pure Southern Class pair, who not only worked together very well but had the nefarious Mr. Vander Pyle in their corner. The rookie manager was in full effect in this match, jawing with the ref on several occasions. The younger manager probably over-shadowed his team in the match, but he was clearly learning the ropes quite quickly. He ended up helping his team win, even if they didn't really need the assist.

A cruiserweight tag match saw the combination of Bryan Danielson and Yoshihiro Tajiri face The Sweetness. The match was a show-stealer, an exciting display of athleticism and skill. The match was a back-and-forth sprint that went for a full 15 minutes without slowing down. The four cruisers gave everything they had and the action helped to draw in the crowd. Chavo scored the win with a roll-up pin while holding the ropes, meaning that both of these teams would likely face each other again.

Billy Kidman put his WCW Cruiserweight championship up next. It was a Triangle match, with the champion facing the dark-hearted Christopher Daniels and the impressive young Frankie Kazarian. The match was more than solid, with all three men coming close to getting the win. Kidman ended up retaining when he pinned Kazarian. Daniels once again refused to shake the champion's hand, and attacked when Kidman turned away. After hesitating for a moment, Kazarian jumped back in the ring to make the save. Kazarian did shake Kidman's hand.

The following match was a 6-man tag. According to insiders, the match had originally intended to be the Jersey Triad versus the Filthy Few, with the intent to be create dissension within both groups. Within the Filthy Few, O'Haire would force Kronik to give up their rematch with the Road Warriors, and with the Triad, Kanyon would end up turning on his partners. With Kronik out, the match underwent some serious changes. The split between Kanyon, Bigelow, and Page happened during the Nitro tapings. DDP would tag with Sting and Booker T to create something of a "dream tag match", at least on the babyface side. O'Haire remained their primary opponent, and he recruited the Extremists to help him, but indicated that only one would be his partner and the third man would be a "surprise". It turned out to be Kanyon, cementing his split with the Jersey Triad and turning "The Innovator of Offense" heel. The match itself was entertaining, more fun drama than intense action. The heels had Mike Awesome, Francine, and Stacy Kiebler all at ringside and they all managed to get involved. Despite their interference and Kanyon's obvious desire to destroy DDP, the babyfaces were triumphant when Sting made Douglas tap to the Scorpion Deathlock.

If the six-man tag was a bit lacking in intensity, the match to decide the new WCW World Tag Team championship was certainly not. The veteran duo of Hennig and Rhodes were absolutely determined to take those belts. That Noble and Styles were competing by the belts was seen by most as an elevation for the team, as most cruiserweights had been kept amongst the cruiserweight division thus far, with ltitle cross-over. The youngsters acquitted themselves very well, taking a battering but persevering through it to keep fighting. Jamie Noble took a lengthy beating but he finally got the hot-tag to Styles, who showed off some incredible quickness and athleticism as he put the two bigger heels on their... well, heels. The ever-encouraging Lacey would prove the undoing of the plucky underdog cruiserweights once again, as she was menaced by big Dustin Rhodes going down to the floor. In the ring, Noble was distracted and that allowed Hennig to land a vicious series of forearm smashes, leading to a Hennig-Plex for the pin and the victory. The veteran duo celebrated their title win and basked in the anti-adoration of the crowd.

Lance Storm and the United States championship once again had the semi main event slot. The Canadian was facing Jeff Jarrett this time, who had his N.W.O. cohort Scott Steiner at ringside. It seemed only a matter of time before "Big Poppa Pump" got involved. In the meantime, what could have been a really good in-ring contest was more a display of stalling and taunting by the heelish Jarrett, with the stoic champion beginning to show his frustration. After nearly a quarter hour of this, the action finally got underway, with Storm punishing the challenger as the crowd got behind him. It didn't last long, as just past the twenty minute mark, Steiner injected himself into the match and assaulted Storm, causing referee Mickie Jay to call for the disqualification. The new N.W.O. looked set to inflict further damage on the US champion, but Booker T and Sting arrived at ringside to ensure it didn't happen. The two N.W.O. members were chased off and the crowd didn't seem happy to get a non-finish to what could have been a decent match.

Both New World Order members were back in the ring just moments later, in preparation for the main event. The flag-waving Goldberg came out to a big pop from the California fans. The staredown between the champion and challenger was long and intense. The fans seemed ready for the match, which had to be encouraging for WCW. Heading into the event, there seemed to be a fair degree of trepidation amongst both insiders and fans as to whether Goldberg and Steiner could put together a solid match, given that both men were pure power wrestlers and one of them had become very immobile. After the tense start, the two men laid into each other with heavy shots and it made some intense action. It didn't last long, however, as Goldberg began to overpower his over-inflated opponent and Steiner ended up taking a breather outside the ring to confer with Jarrett. Then he climbed back into the ring and they started it over again. While the stalling tactic had worked quite well in the Goldberg-O'Haire match, Steiner didn't pull it off as well. Whether the fans didn't buy Steiner taking a cerebral approach or just didn't like seeing the same approach repeated, they were vocally unhappy. That only got worse a short time later when Jarrett threw Steiner and a chair and he used it to bash the champion, throwing away his chance to win the WCW World Heavyweight champion. Jarrett came steaming into the ring, and they began to assault Goldberg. But "Da Man" battered both away, and he really didn't need the cavalry that came to his rescue, once again in the form of Sting and Booker, along with DDP and Lance Storm.

The pay per view ended with the New World Order duo standing on the small stage, looking down at the ring with looks of satisfaction, with the angry boos of the Los Angeles fans washing over them. While some within World Championship Wrestling may have tried to play off that crowd reaction at the end of the show as a positive thing, it was truly not a happy crowd. The five babyfaces in the ring apparently sensed that, and they took turns addressing the crowd after the broadcast ended.

The fans, both those in attendance and those who paid to watch it at home, were not particularly impressed with the Sin pay per view. Part of that was probably both the main event and semi main event ending in disqualifications. While such non-finishes were once standard for WCW, fans seemed to have grown used to most PPV matches having a relatively decisive conclusion. The N.W.O. twosome choosing to get disqualified in both matches by blatantly cheating, when they could have potentially claimed the top two belts in WCW, was also questionable. Given how well some of the locals had done during the Nitro tapings, the L.A. fans were apparently disappointed that only two of the locals plus one returning talent made it onto the pay per view.

If one chooses to look on the bright side, while most look at WCW Sin 2002 as a disappointing pay per view, not that many people saw it. The PPV buy rates are rumored to be as low or lower than the Fall Brawl event. It is rumored to be one of the lowest buy rates WCW had ever seen and that had to be highly troubling for management.

Hugh Morrus © d. Adam Pearce for the WCW World Television Championship

Blitzkrieg d. Elix Skipper

Pure Southern Class d. Anderson & Harris

The Sweetness d. Danielson & Tajiri

Billy Kidman © d. Christopher Daniels + Frankie Kazarian in a Triangle Match for the WCW Cruiserweight championship

Sting, Booker T & Diamond Dallas Page d. Sean O'Haire, Shane Douglas & Chris Kanyon

Perfect Nightmare d. Shooting Star Express for the WCW World Tag Team championships

Lance Storm © d. Jeff Jarrett for the WCW United States championship

Goldberg © d. Scott Steiner for the WCW World Heavyweight championship