Why Did Hak Fizzle In WCW?

[wrestlingrecap]

Recently wrote an article about The Sandman's failed attempt to get over in World Championship Wrestling after a successful run in Extreme Championship Wrestling... What do you think was the reason for his failed run in WCW? 

Was it the lack of entrance? Lack of beer? He just sucked in the ring anyway? 

wrestlingrecaps.com/2016/01/18/why-did-hak-fizzle-in-wcw/

[kingoftheindies]

A bit of everything. Got lost in the shuffle, but in WCW pretty much everything that was interesting about him was taken away. Also the gimmick he did was kind of already done when they signed Raven a year older.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Because if you take away the Sandman character, he's just not very good.

[Joe Neglia]

The "spoiled rich kid" Raven vignettes that debuted him as "Jim" did him in before he ever got to the ring, and then to instantly retcon all of that confused people. Also, rubber barb wire.

[Deleted]

A) He wasn't very good

B) Paul Heyman wasn't editing his WCW matches to make him look good, as was the case in ECW

C) Wasn't in the same atmosphere, with the same gimmick

[Blindkarevik]

Because his name was Hardcore Hak. He's being buried with his own name.

Also, as was said... Paul E was a master of hiding the negatives and accentuating the positives. Sandman's entrance was more well-known than anything he did in the ring, granted.. he had a great feud with Raven but Raven carried 90% of it. He eventually became that enforcer who did hardcore matches so all he had to do was swing objects, then occasionally do the White Russian Legsweep and the Heinekanrana. You throw that in WCW where he's not a main focus to micro-manage, and he gets lost in the shuffle and exposed as not a great talent pretty quick.

[auph10imitated]

What worked in ECW wasnt always going to necessarily work elsewhere, especially WCW. Wrestling didnt matter with Sandman in ECW, he was protected by outlandish storylines, big entrance and music, props such as beer and singapore cane. He didnt have a chance in hell of getting over in WCW. It just wasnt a good mix

[Deleted]

Yeah, ECW was a VERY singular environment where certain guys could get over in a way they couldn't any where else. Same with Sabu, Justin Credible, bWo, etc. A lot of them were characters that really only worked within the ECW environment.

Raven made the transition but that was also because his character was non-ECW specific enough to work pretty much anywhere they could use an enigmatic cult leader type.

RVD got over on athleticism alone. The Dudleys - I'll never figure that one out, I never understood the appeal there.

[Deleted]

He was Dollar Store Sandman

[AtomSmasher]

Who'd a thunk a shockingly bad worker without a cool entrance would bomb in the snake pit that was late 90's WCW??

[chazraps]

Good article, but I think a big part that gets overlooked is that those first few weeks of Hak in front of a live crowd were in areas that ECW was never, at any point, broadcast on television. Had he surfaced during more of the company's East Coast dates (can you imagine the ovation if he debuted in Philly?) he would have probably been seen as a much bigger deal. But making his first in-ring appearance in Minneapolis that had no access to ECW whatsoever was just a dead in the water idea.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Jan 20, 2016 15:02:22 GMT -5 @personman01 said:

Yeah, ECW was a VERY singular environment where certain guys could get over in a way they couldn't any where else. Same with Sabu, Justin Credible, bWo, etc. A lot of them were characters that really only worked within the ECW environment.

Raven made the transition but that was also because his character was non-ECW specific enough to work pretty much anywhere they could use an enigmatic cult leader type.

RVD got over on athleticism alone. The Dudleys - I'll never figure that one out, I never understood the appeal there.

Dudleys got over putting women through tables.

The late 90s/early 2000s were weird.

I'd say the tables were more over than they were, given how lackluster everything else they tried to do with them was until Bully Ray's TNA run.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

Pretty much everything said. When you take away just about everything that got him over to begin with, it's hard to walk in and be over. The Sandman name, The Metallica music, and the beer was all gone. All you had was a guy with a kendo stick wrapped in Barbwire walking to the ring with reused Steve McMichael theme.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

It didn't exactly help his cause that WCW had corrupt authority figure Ric Flair ban Hardcore matches, taking away the one think Hak actually had going for him, and then whatever half-assed plan they had for the Hardcore trophy that Fit Finlay won in that awful Junkyard match died when Finlay's leg got shredded by a table.

[auph10imitated]

Unless you was a pure athlete like Malenko, Benoit, Guerrero and Jericho then any ECW character was going to be a better fit for WWF than WCW during that time, I think Sandman would have been better off in WWF. I do recall that I was quite fond of Hak's WCW theme though.

I always wondered why on earth WCW picked up Chastity, she could take a good bump but she wasnt specifically a valuable pick up for WCW, they didnt know how to utilize females at the best of times let alone mediocre ones.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Jan 21, 2016 6:17:24 GMT -5 auph10imitated said:

Unless you was a pure athlete like Malenko, Benoit, Guerrero and Jericho then any ECW character was going to be a better fit for WWF than WCW during that time, I think Sandman would have been better off in WWF. I do recall that I was quite fond of Hak's WCW theme though.

I always wondered why on earth WCW picked up Chastity, she could take a good bump but she wasnt specifically a valuable pick up for WCW, they didnt know how to utilize females at the best of times let alone mediocre ones.

Chastity had a role at least, as a hardcore woman. If this had been a year later, they would have probably put Daffney in there. It's not the worst idea in the world.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

They realized that a sober sandman sucked. Watch shoot interviews by other ECW guys, sandman needed to be drunk in order to perform

[Milkman Norm]

You know how every says Heyman's greatest ability as a booker was exploring the strengths of his talents? Sandman is the perfect example of this.

[Doogie Bowser, MD]

Jan 21, 2016 14:11:04 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

You know how every says Heyman's greatest ability as a booker was exploring the strengths of his talents? Sandman is the perfect example of this.

Example #2: The Public Enemy.

[tigermaskxxxvii]

Jan 21, 2016 13:25:32 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

They realized that a sober sandman sucked. Watch shoot interviews by other ECW guys, sandman needed to be drunk in order to perform

This reminds me of the episode of Titus in which they have an intervention to get Ken Titus to resume his drinking.