Jay Peas 42
El Dandy
Totally flips out ALL the time.
Is looking forward to a Nation of Domination Kwannza Special.
Posts: 8,329
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Post by Jay Peas 42 on Jan 24, 2011 22:10:42 GMT -5
Well, in all fairness, given that nobody in WWF or WCW really knew what was going on for about one year after the buyout, I can see why the rumor mongering took place. But the real shame was this, for a brief moment, XPW was the second largest promotion in North America.
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Post by lordkain316 on Jan 24, 2011 22:26:25 GMT -5
Must have been surreal being on the internet back in those days. Can only imagine what this place would be like these days if RoH and TNA folded within weeks of each other. Nothing against TNA or ROH but if those two folded tomorrow and the next day respectively it would be a ripple on the pond compared to WCW and ECW closing. The War between all three was bitter and full of twists turns and back stabbing. WWF winning in basically one fail swoop time-wise was huge. There were so many stories out there on wrestling news sites you didn't know what to think. I remember a story about Jim Ross supposedly going to Atlanta himself two days after the last Nitro to personally fire like a dozen people who had wronged him. This had zero basis in reality. There was no-one he could fire. The people who f'd him over at WCW were either named Bischoff and not employed or they were Turner employees and JR couldn't have gotten thru the front door at CNN center to even ask for a cup of coffe. Other such claims had Nitro replacing Raw alltogether right after the June PPV for WWF. There were stories about Goldberg being the first to debut or Hall and Nash being backstage at Raw. The internet was ripe with BS In other words. The good ole days. ;D
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Post by chunkylover53 on Jan 24, 2011 23:18:07 GMT -5
Must have been surreal being on the internet back in those days. Can only imagine what this place would be like these days if RoH and TNA folded within weeks of each other. Nothing against TNA or ROH but if those two folded tomorrow and the next day respectively it would be a ripple on the pond compared to WCW and ECW closing. The War between all three was bitter and full of twists turns and back stabbing. WWF winning in basically one fail swoop time-wise was huge. There were so many stories out there on wrestling news sites you didn't know what to think. I remember a story about Jim Ross supposedly going to Atlanta himself two days after the last Nitro to personally fire like a dozen people who had wronged him. This had zero basis in reality. There was no-one he could fire. The people who f'd him over at WCW were either named Bischoff and not employed or they were Turner employees and JR couldn't have gotten thru the front door at CNN center to even ask for a cup of coffe. Other such claims had Nitro replacing Raw alltogether right after the June PPV for WWF. There were stories about Goldberg being the first to debut or Hall and Nash being backstage at Raw. The internet was ripe with BS I'm going to have to stop you there. Despite what history revisionists say, only WWF and WCW were in the war, ECW was just a glorified indy promotion. They weren't a threat to either company.
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"Hollywood" Cactus Matt
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
You couldn't ask for a better custom title!
How do you spell "Goddess"? C-H-R-I-S-T-Y!
Posts: 15,300
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Post by "Hollywood" Cactus Matt on Jan 24, 2011 23:33:38 GMT -5
Nothing against TNA or ROH but if those two folded tomorrow and the next day respectively it would be a ripple on the pond compared to WCW and ECW closing. The War between all three was bitter and full of twists turns and back stabbing. WWF winning in basically one fail swoop time-wise was huge. There were so many stories out there on wrestling news sites you didn't know what to think. I remember a story about Jim Ross supposedly going to Atlanta himself two days after the last Nitro to personally fire like a dozen people who had wronged him. This had zero basis in reality. There was no-one he could fire. The people who f'd him over at WCW were either named Bischoff and not employed or they were Turner employees and JR couldn't have gotten thru the front door at CNN center to even ask for a cup of coffe. Other such claims had Nitro replacing Raw alltogether right after the June PPV for WWF. There were stories about Goldberg being the first to debut or Hall and Nash being backstage at Raw. The internet was ripe with BS I'm going to have to stop you there. Despite what history revisionists say, only WWF and WCW were in the war, ECW was just a glorified indy promotion. They weren't a threat to either company. A threat? No, you're right about that. An inspiration? A feeder system? Well ... probably.
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Post by chunkylover53 on Jan 25, 2011 6:28:58 GMT -5
I'm going to have to stop you there. Despite what history revisionists say, only WWF and WCW were in the war, ECW was just a glorified indy promotion. They weren't a threat to either company. A threat? No, you're right about that. An inspiration? A feeder system? Well ... probably. I can believe that, but they were hardly part of the war.
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Jan 25, 2011 10:54:38 GMT -5
Yeah ECW was in Feb. Because Heyman was doing Color on Raw when WCW went under. It more amazing that as bad ECW was money wise. I don't know if it's true, just read that in some wrestling magazine, but wasn't ECW basically always bankrupt and only survived that long because Vince would support Heyman financially and i also read that Acclaim helped them financially when they had the license deal (propably to make sure ECW doesn't die before they puked out those 2 games) Vince only help for short period of time. Basicly to help get the first PPV going. ECW didn't have a show after Feb and Heyman was in King's spot on Raw just after King left because of Stacy before WM. Rhino was also in the WWE before Mania too. Who was his last champion.
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Post by Son of a Pregnant Dog on Jan 26, 2011 23:31:59 GMT -5
Must have been surreal being on the internet back in those days. It was something else. WWF was growing like goddamned Godzilla, destroying everything in its path and going absolutely thermonuclear in popularity. The countdown to the death of WCW and just what WWF would do with it had everyone electric with anticipation. We all know what happened.
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Post by Bald Bull on Jan 27, 2011 0:41:32 GMT -5
Must have been surreal being on the internet back in those days. Can only imagine what this place would be like these days if RoH and TNA folded within weeks of each other. Nothing against TNA or ROH but if those two folded tomorrow and the next day respectively it would be a ripple on the pond compared to WCW and ECW closing. The War between all three was bitter and full of twists turns and back stabbing. WWF winning in basically one fail swoop time-wise was huge. There were so many stories out there on wrestling news sites you didn't know what to think. I remember a story about Jim Ross supposedly going to Atlanta himself two days after the last Nitro to personally fire like a dozen people who had wronged him. This had zero basis in reality. There was no-one he could fire. The people who f'd him over at WCW were either named Bischoff and not employed or they were Turner employees and JR couldn't have gotten thru the front door at CNN center to even ask for a cup of coffe. Other such claims had Nitro replacing Raw alltogether right after the June PPV for WWF. There were stories about Goldberg being the first to debut or Hall and Nash being backstage at Raw. The internet was ripe with BS You also have to remember that back then, once ECW and WCW folded, there was no alternative. XPW took control of the #2 spot. CZW was around but nowhere near as known as XPW. Nowadays you have all of the indies that formed in 2002 to grow into those spots and they are all much more respected than XPW was.
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Madagascar Fred
El Dandy
TAFKA roidzilla and SUFFERIN' SUCCOTASH SON!
Posts: 8,784
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Post by Madagascar Fred on Jan 27, 2011 5:49:34 GMT -5
RIP :sad
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Post by Craig-UK on Jan 27, 2011 8:02:31 GMT -5
Heres the image I saved from WWF.com on the 23rd March 2001. I was on their website, refreshed the main page and that image appeared, I was like wtf!! Edit: Now bare in mind that 10 years ago screen resolutions was smaller, this took up half the screen.
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Post by Rolent Tex on Jan 28, 2011 0:57:31 GMT -5
Heres the image I saved from WWF.com on the 23rd March 2001. I was on their website, refreshed the main page and that image appeared, I was like wtf!! Edit: Now bare in mind that 10 years ago screen resolutions was smaller, this took up half the screen. That screen makes me sad. I can just remember my father and I sitting around as Nitro started and was just in awe to see Vince McMahon introducing the show. I might have a few drinks and sit around on 3/26 and watch some old Nitros and PPV's I have on tape.
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Post by Milkman Norm on Jan 28, 2011 12:54:56 GMT -5
I was shocked by that image. WCW was obviously in trouble but only a few weeks earlier Bischoff's Fusiant deal to buy WCW seemed imminent. Even when the initial deal stalled earlier in 2001 it still seemed like the most likely option. So Vince buying WCW for next to nothing was just a shock.
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Post by Macho Dude Handy Damage on Jan 28, 2011 18:54:02 GMT -5
WCW really died some time in 1997. Sadly the body was never discovered until 2001. How can you possibly even say that? 1997 was arguably WCW's greatest year throughout their entire existence.
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Post by Citizen Snips on Jan 29, 2011 0:10:18 GMT -5
Heres the image I saved from WWF.com on the 23rd March 2001. I was on their website, refreshed the main page and that image appeared, I was like wtf!! Edit: Now bare in mind that 10 years ago screen resolutions was smaller, this took up half the screen. I remember logging onto my roommate's computer in college and nearly falling off the chair when I saw that splash page. And that final Nitro was must-see TV in the dorms. Crazy times.
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Post by woodface on Jan 29, 2011 0:36:31 GMT -5
Don't be too sad, you can still watch Nitro on SpikeTV every Thursday night.
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Post by Jay Carroll on Jan 29, 2011 1:52:04 GMT -5
Yeah, March 26, 2001 was surreal as hell. Vince opening Nitro, all the faces going over, Sting/Flair for the last time, and Shane O'Mac "buying" WCW out from underneath Vince at the last minute...
I was still fully ignorant to smark life, so I thought this was all real. I also thought that WCW would find a way to survive, and that Survivor Series 2001 was really going to be won by The Alliance (VERY wishful thinking, I know).
Of course, in hindsight, I can see why WCW and ECW both ended up being bought out by Vince. That still doesn't mean I have to like it. I also don't think I would have liked how WCW would have ended up if Bischoff had bought the company as he intended to. Bischoff had 2 highly successful years running WCW, and 3 years of not understanding how to move on from the same formula, the same stars, and from putting himself on camera at every chance he got. WCW failing was a bad thing for the industry, but it was a good thing for the company itself. I just don't see a realistic way that the ship could have been righted, all the parties interested in the company had very negative approaches to how WCW should have been handled.
ECW on the other hand... ECW falling lead directly to ROH springing up, and even in their spot monkey/18 false finishes a match days ROH has always put a product out there that was about the wrestling in the ring foremost. Maybe it's because I've attended ROH shows and was too young to really appreciate ECW, but ROH is my favorite American indy of my lifetime, mainly because of it's approach to pro wrestling as a competition that happens to be predetermined as opposed to two guys pretending to fight.
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BorneAgain
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 20,316
Member is Online
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Post by BorneAgain on Jan 29, 2011 2:00:02 GMT -5
The saddest thing to me about the WCW buyout was the if you bothered to watch the last couple of months... it was getting better. Steiner was fresh heel champ, there was refocused attention on the cruiserweights, the Magnificent 7 angle helped stabilize a lot of the talent, and the show was moving away from the worked shoot insanity of the Russo era. There were times in the first three months of 2001 where I was enjoying Nitro more than Raw. Hard to believe, but its the truth. But it was too little, too late.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,308
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Post by agent817 on Jan 29, 2011 11:49:57 GMT -5
More input from me. I had no idea about Vince buying WCW until that very date. I was looking on websites like WrestleZone and StevesWrestling and noticing that the final Nitro was held that night and that Vince bought the company. I don't remember if I read the articles, but keep in mind, this was so long ago. I tuned into Nitro and was baffled at seeing Vince at the start. I was like "What the hell?!" and noticed that it was true that Vince did buy WCW. I do remember seeing Flair's emotional promo at the start. It was indeed emotional. Then when it came time to switch to RAW, I even noticed at the start that Vince had two TV monitors on with Nitro being shown and RAW on the other. It was very surreal. I kept on switching back forth between TNN and TNT. Then when Shane appeared on Nitro, it was still so surreal.
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percymania
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Percymania will live forever! Oh yeah!
Posts: 17,296
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Post by percymania on Jan 29, 2011 13:27:45 GMT -5
Folks, it's almost been ten years since the worst day in the history of our sport.
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Post by strykerdarksilence on Jan 29, 2011 17:24:04 GMT -5
Folks, it's almost been ten years since the worst day in the history of our sport. I didn't think Nash wrestled on the last Nitro?
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