Professor Chaos
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Bringer of Destruction and Maker of Doom
Posts: 16,332
|
Post by Professor Chaos on Mar 6, 2015 23:15:30 GMT -5
Definitely. If it didn't already happen between 2002-2004 it definitely would have in the Cena era.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2015 23:57:52 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised if Nitro reruns could beat Raw at this point.
|
|
schma
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,805
Member is Online
|
Post by schma on Mar 7, 2015 1:16:42 GMT -5
I stuck with Nitro until the end. At the time I didn't know any backstage news so when I heard Nitro was finishing I was shocked. I was fortunate in that TSN allowed me to follow both Raw and Nitro (one after school on Tuesday and the other after school on Wednesday). WCW was heading in the right direction when it ended. Bischoff was in the process of getting ownership (so there'd be fewer bosses and it'd be more stable, regardless of how people felt about him), some of the older talent were dropping out of the spotlight or eyeing retirement, they had a lot of great up and coming talent and the Cruiserweight division was the highlight of any wrestling show at the time.
If AOL hadn't been so horny to get out of the wrestling business, WCW would still exist. The question of whether both companies would still air their flagship show on Mondays is another matter entirely. Hard to imagine the Monday night wars lasting another 10-15 years. Just a matter of who'd blink first.
|
|
|
Post by Ryushinku on Mar 7, 2015 7:16:44 GMT -5
I'd say it's possible, nothing can be ruled out. But it would've taken a lot of rebuilding and patience.
Which is a problem as there it feels like it's tough not to imagine WCW being their own worst enemies again and blundering.
And yeah, I watched WCW 2000 at the time. I still have the thousand-yard stare to prove it.
|
|
Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
Posts: 6,847
|
Post by Reflecto on Mar 7, 2015 9:09:40 GMT -5
I think the better question is, would TNA have ever beat RAW if TNA was under the WCW brand name with the same roster and booking it had through the 2000s. This is really the best question- with how TNA has gestated from its beginnings, it's probably not a stretch to say "If WCW survived past 2001, it would look pretty much exactly like TNA." And if that is the question, then I think adding the WCW brand name- and presumably the WCW TV deals- would have helped TNA beat Raw a few times- likely as early as 2003 during the SEX/NWA war (one of TNA's hottest times coinciding with one of the biggest nadirs in Raw), then beating Raw again around the time Christian jumped ship in 2005 and not losing the lead until 2007 (the low point of the Cena hatred coinciding with TNA getting enough big names that they could legitimately fight them). Heck, TNA with the WCW brand may have been able to compete in the second Monday Night War in 2010.
|
|
|
Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Mar 7, 2015 12:58:17 GMT -5
Between three and five million wrestling fans disappeared when WCW closed its doors. Millions more hopped between the shows for years. If WCW had got its shit together and taken a slow buildup to the top once more, they could definitely have won again. But then it wasn't WCW who killed WCW at the very end, it was Jamie Kellner.
|
|
Professor Chaos
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Bringer of Destruction and Maker of Doom
Posts: 16,332
|
Post by Professor Chaos on Mar 7, 2015 17:45:18 GMT -5
In 2005 I could see a lot of people turning on Nitro when Christian debuted and discovering a WCW roster of CM Punk, Brian Danielson, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels and never turning back to Cena and friends.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2015 17:47:11 GMT -5
Would WCW have stuck with TV-14 and tried to be hardcore while WWE went PG? Would WWE have gone PG if they still had WCW to fight against?
|
|
|
Post by thegame415 on Mar 7, 2015 18:04:16 GMT -5
I think both companies would've had lower ratings from 2001-2005. Wwe rises in 2005 with Cena and WCW creates a star who competes with them. The benoit incident still happens, hurts both companies and one of them goes out of business when MMA rises.
|
|