WCW in 2000

[DiBiase is Good]

God, it really was shite wasn't it?
(And yes, I know, in other news, water is wet.)

So I've been working my way through all the Nitros and PPVs from 2000 and it's just absolutely f***ing awful. But yet, I can't stop watching. I'd seen a couple of PPVs from this year before, one of which was Slamboree which actually isn't the worst show (even with David Arquette being in the main event, it's still not a bad match) but I'd never watched the Nitros before. I'm actually wishing the network had Thunder, as I've read they set a new standard for crap wrestling TV.
Some of my key findings (yes, I'm calling it "findings" as its a way of justifying putting myself through this ordeal) from watching the first half of the year.

Jeff Jarrett as the #1 guy.
He's awful. A decent worker but was he really believable as the "chosen one"? Especially for his variations on "slap nuts", "slap ass". He was booked as THE guy in this period, but anyone but him would have been better.

More turns than the Big Show.
I can't keep up with the amount of alignment changes. Yeah I know, Russo was around but it's just exhausting. Some guys seemed to change allegiances on a weekly basis.

Sting and Vampiro.
Even though he was getting on a bit, Sting could still go and Vampiro was pretty good too. But this feud just went on and on forever.

The amount of swearing.
I'm no prude, far from it, I'm barely able to string a sentence together without a f*** or two. But it seems we got a "shit" every Nitro. I can remember every time the word "shit" was uttered on WWE to over the years (deliberately anyway), and it's so infrequent it makes an impact every time.

The New Blood vs The Millionaires Club
This actually could have been a decent feud, in that it was pretty representative of the locker room at the time. But it turned into a gigantic clusterf*** and didn't get anyone ever. In fact, anyone who did get over during this time weren't really featured in this storyline (Norman Smiley).

The Harris Brothers.
Why were they positioned as the definitive tag team around this time? To my knowledge, they had never been anything more than a lower-ranking team in any company they had worked for. Yet here they are laying waste to half the roster. Then again, the tag competition around this time wasn't stellar (Mamalukes, Harlem Heat 2000, 3 Count, Lenny and Lodi) until Kronik came along and it was their turn to be pushed, when this happened, The Harris boys were gone.

WCW Champions for a day
I think I'm up to four Jeff Jarrett reigns and I'm only half-way through the year. Sid had a decent run with the belt in the early part of the year. However by WCW 2000 standards, a decent run was ten weeks. The four Jeff Jarrett reigns were all within a six week period. Arquette winning the belt didn't kill the title, it was already dead.

Mark Madden.
Need I say any more?

They did actually bring in some talented guys around this time. Candido, Mike Awesome, Lance Storm to name a few. And I know they were unlucky with injuries to Goldberg and some of the undercard guys (Konnan, Rey) but in classic WCW style, they had decent guys on the roster, they just never used them.

I know that this is nothing that hadn't been said a thousand times before and a lot more eloquently than I ever could. But for years I had read just how bad it was, now I've seen it.

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Don't forget them turning Goldberg heel for no f***ing reason other than trying to shock people, and nobody getting a decent World Title run till Steiner at the end of the year.

[DiBiase is Good]

Sept 17, 2016 19:54:24 GMT -5 Jedi-El of Tomorrow said:

Don't forget them turning Goldberg heel for no f***ing reason other than trying to shock people, and nobody getting a decent World Title run till Steiner at the end of the year.

I haven't actually got to that yet as I'm up to a week before The Great American Bash but I know it's coming.
I missed out the paragraph on the WCW title for some reason, so I've put it back in.

[Toilet Paper Roll]

I think they had like 25 title changes in 2000, by that point the title meant nothing and in 2000 it meant less than nothing. Half the storylines were nonsensical, the matches were bad and seemingly thrown together during the commercial break.

WCW in that time was like an artist trapped in a "5 album deal" and trying to get out by album 3. Going through the motions, putting a product out there but not investing time or energy into it,

[evenbroddt]

I recently rewatched some WCW and there actually are some gems. Booker T had some great matches with Jarrett, Nash, Steiner, and Lance Storm.

[N E O G E O B O Y S]

Bro, guys are still talking about it after 16 years, it was a huge sucess bro

[魔界5号]

I've tried to watch late 90s WCW but I just can't. There's always something about it that's just terrible. Even the highlights like the Cruiserweights and guys like Jericho, The Horsemen and Goldberg can't outweigh garbage like the Fingerpoke Of Doom and David Arquette: WCW Champion. I've watched every Raw from January 1997 up to St Valentines Day Massacre too, and I can easily say that I've got no idea how WCW made it past 98 with the garbage they were putting out week to week.

[mauled]

Sept 18, 2016 1:19:41 GMT -5 魔界5号 said:

I've tried to watch late 90s WCW but I just can't. There's always something about it that's just terrible. Even the highlights like the Cruiserweights and guys like Jericho, The Horsemen and Goldberg can't outweigh garbage like the Fingerpoke Of Doom and David Arquette: WCW Champion. I've watched every Raw from January 1997 up to St Valentines Day Massacre too, and I can easily say that I've got no idea how WCW made it past 98 with the garbage they were putting out week to week.

The Bret/Benoit Owen tribute match was fantastic but I wouldn't want to rewatch that now after what happened

[mauled]

Sept 17, 2016 19:32:24 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

God, it really was shite wasn't it?
(And yes, I know, in other news, water is wet.)

So I've been working my way through all the Nitros and PPVs from 2000 and it's just absolutely f***ing awful. But yet, I can't stop watching. I'd seen a couple of PPVs from this year before, one of which was Slamboree which actually isn't the worst show (even with David Arquette being in the main event, it's still not a bad match) but I'd never watched the Nitros before. I'm actually wishing the network had Thunder, as I've read they set a new standard for crap wrestling TV.
Some of my key findings (yes, I'm calling it "findings" as its a way of justifying putting myself through this ordeal) from watching the first half of the year.

Jeff Jarrett as the #1 guy.
He's awful. A decent worker but was he really believable as the "chosen one"? Especially for his variations on "slap nuts", "slap ass". He was booked as THE guy in this period, but anyone but him would have been better.

More turns than the Big Show.
I can't keep up with the amount of alignment changes. Yeah I know, Russo was around but it's just exhausting. Some guys seemed to change allegiances on a weekly basis.

Sting and Vampiro.
Even though he was getting on a bit, Sting could still go and Vampiro was pretty good too. But this feud just went on and on forever.

The amount of swearing.
I'm no prude, far from it, I'm barely able to string a sentence together without a f*** or two. But it seems we got a "shit" every Nitro. I can remember every time the word "shit" was uttered on WWE to over the years (deliberately anyway), and it's so infrequent it makes an impact every time.

The New Blood vs The Millionaires Club
This actually could have been a decent feud, in that it was pretty representative of the locker room at the time. But it turned into a gigantic clusterf*** and didn't get anyone ever. In fact, anyone who did get over during this time weren't really featured in this storyline (Norman Smiley).

The Harris Brothers.
Why were they positioned as the definitive tag team around this time? To my knowledge, they had never been anything more than a lower-ranking team in any company they had worked for. Yet here they are laying waste to half the roster. Then again, the tag competition around this time wasn't stellar (Mamalukes, Harlem Heat 2000, 3 Count, Lenny and Lodi) until Kronik came along and it was their turn to be pushed, when this happened, The Harris boys were gone.

WCW Champions for a day
I think I'm up to four Jeff Jarrett reigns and I'm only half-way through the year. Sid had a decent run with the belt in the early part of the year. However by WCW 2000 standards, a decent run was ten weeks. The four Jeff Jarrett reigns were all within a six week period. Arquette winning the belt didn't kill the title, it was already dead.

Mark Madden.
Need I say any more?

They did actually bring in some talented guys around this time. Candido, Mike Awesome, Lance Storm to name a few. And I know they were unlucky with injuries to Goldberg and some of the undercard guys (Konnan, Rey) but in classic WCW style, they had decent guys on the roster, they just never used them.

I know that this is nothing that hadn't been said a thousand times before and a lot more eloquently than I ever could. But for years I had read just how bad it was, now I've seen it.

2000 was also the year Bret Harts career ended. He did a match with Tank Abbot (Bret in his book is pissed with WCW for putting him in with Abbot, known for his stiffness in the ring, after his injury) couple of promos like burying Goldberg in the desert. Then he gets the results of the full extent of his head injury from the Doctors, WCW then end his contract and that's that. What a sad end to a great career

[Rumble McSkirmish]

Sept 17, 2016 19:32:24 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

More turns than the Big Show.
I can't keep up with the amount of alignment changes. Yeah I know, Russo was around but it's just exhausting. Some guys seemed to change allegiances on a weekly basis.

In some cases they would have people turn face then heel again in the exact same show. The Nitro Swerve: In which two heels would argue at the start of the show. (EX. Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett) Nash would then challenge Jarrett to a match and then get the top baby face (EX. Booker T)to be the special guest referee...But when the match happens instead of going after each other both Nash and Jarrett would beat up Booker T. Making the top face look like a complete knob.

And of course since LOL WCW2000 they literally did that exact scenario more than once.

[berlynwright]

Kimberly was the highlight of that year

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Sept 18, 2016 1:19:41 GMT -5 魔界5号 said:

I've tried to watch late 90s WCW but I just can't. There's always something about it that's just terrible. Even the highlights like the Cruiserweights and guys like Jericho, The Horsemen and Goldberg can't outweigh garbage like the Fingerpoke Of Doom and David Arquette: WCW Champion. I've watched every Raw from January 1997 up to St Valentines Day Massacre too, and I can easily say that I've got no idea how WCW made it past 98 with the garbage they were putting out week to week.

The WWF were putting out garbage around that time too, ultimately the biggest difference is that in the WWF, the good guys won while WCW's priority was protecting the heel faction at all costs.

[Ted Sheckler]

WCW in 2000 was alright although the time period you're watching is the bad stuff. Random cage matches, title changes etc etc all in a desperate attempt to pop a rating. February and March were good months in my opinion although a lot of people disagree with them being good months.

It picks up in about August, Steiner turns heel and they instantly push him as the top heel and the dude is a magnificent heel. Some great matches with Booker T, Goldberg etc and speaking of Booker, his rise to the top is really well done as well. All of 2001 is really decent as well so if you can hang in there through the bad (If you're at GAB you've got maybe 8 shows left until it gets good) then you'll be rewarded.

[Deleted]

My two cents: the Harris Twins were rather bad-ass in early ECW & SMW. Just a couple of mountain men who would fight anyone.

The WWF...I don't think they got that memo. The Blu Brothers just didn't last long enough to matter.

They went back to ECW to join Raven in his feud with Dreamer.

Coming back to the WWF, shaving their heads pretty much sapped any interest people had in these guys. They were just tall Stone Cold wannabes on bikes.

Then WCW...shit, these guys were on the show more than people who actually drew fans.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

Sept 18, 2016 16:02:48 GMT -5 @sandman said:

My two cents: the Harris Twins were rather bad-ass in early ECW & SMW. Just a couple of mountain men who would fight anyone.

The WWF...I don't think they got that memo. The Blu Brothers just didn't last long enough to matter.

They went back to ECW to join Raven in his feud with Dreamer.

Coming back to the WWF, shaving their heads pretty much sapped any interest people had in these guys. They were just tall Stone Cold wannabes on bikes.

Then WCW...shit, these guys were on the show more than people who actually drew fans.

I never got into them or saw how they got jobs in any big wrestling company out there. They where not that good at anything. To big guys with basic big man moves.

[DiBiase is Good]

Sept 18, 2016 6:37:11 GMT -5 berlynwright said:

Kimberly was the highlight of that year

Each to their own but I nearly put her as one of the worst parts of the year. She couldn't wrestle, was terrible on the mic and yet had several segments on shows dedicated to her. A similar thing was going on with Elizabeth, all the while talented female wrestlers like Madusa and Mona were sat around doing next to nothing. Kimberly was easy on the eyes but that's about it really.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Sept 18, 2016 16:17:08 GMT -5 Can you afford to pay me, Gah said:

Sept 18, 2016 16:02:48 GMT -5 @sandman said:

My two cents: the Harris Twins were rather bad-ass in early ECW & SMW. Just a couple of mountain men who would fight anyone.

The WWF...I don't think they got that memo. The Blu Brothers just didn't last long enough to matter.

They went back to ECW to join Raven in his feud with Dreamer.

Coming back to the WWF, shaving their heads pretty much sapped any interest people had in these guys. They were just tall Stone Cold wannabes on bikes.

Then WCW...shit, these guys were on the show more than people who actually drew fans.

I never got into them or saw how they got jobs in any big wrestling company out there. They where not that good at anything. To big guys with basic big man moves.

They were good at being twins, that's it. Wrestling promoters love twins, it doesn't matter how terrible they are, and if no twins are available they're try and manufacture them from guys who look kind of similar.

[Mayonnaise]

Early on it was horrible. I think the stuff toward the end (2000 and the company) was solid but I am going on memory.

[JTG Fan]

Sept 18, 2016 18:07:32 GMT -5 Mayonnaise said:

Early on it was horrible. I think the stuff toward the end (2000 and the company) was solid but I am going on memory.

It's true, but only because they finally dumped Russo for good by fall 2000.

[Jake, The Jake, Jake]

Sept 17, 2016 19:59:37 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

Sept 17, 2016 19:54:24 GMT -5 Jedi-El of Tomorrow said:

Don't forget them turning Goldberg heel for no f***ing reason other than trying to shock people, and nobody getting a decent World Title run till Steiner at the end of the year.

I haven't actually got to that yet as I'm up to a week before The Great American Bash but I know it's coming.
I missed out the paragraph on the WCW title for some reason, so I've put it back in.

Dude Great American Bash is so bad...