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Post by Jindrak Mark on Jan 17, 2023 14:14:26 GMT -5
What were your thoughts on their final few months?
I think there were some improvements. The Cruiserweight title was being treated with some respect for the first time in 2-3 years with Chavo/Helms/Rey/Kidman. Scott Steiner was at his peak, character wise if not in-ring, and the perfect choice to be world champion. Stories were pretty basic but not really dumb like they had been under Russo.
A bunch of TV time was being taken up by completely washed guys though like Lex Luger, Rick Steiner, Shane Douglas, Konnan, Road Warrior Animal and Dustin Rhodes (who would surprisingly end up returning to form multiple times in the future). Guys who fans actually wanted to see like Goldberg/Sting/Nash were taken off TV. Match quality was mostly poor outside of the few people who put effort in. The were trying to force the Natural Born Thrillers over despite most of them having no character and the crowd not caring about them. Things were still clearly a mess backstage with the likes of the Steiners and Animal shooting on guys in the ring and receiving no punishment for it. Or Luger and Bagwell literally laying down and making a mockery of a PPV match when they were asked to put over O'Haire and Palumbo.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Jan 17, 2023 14:35:58 GMT -5
Honestly WCW was solid if unspectacular at the time. It seemed like acts were naturally getting over. While angles weren't the greatest, they clearly had ideas on who they wanted to make look like big deals.
Would have been interesting if the Bischoff purchase went through because the plan was to move WCW to Vegas and focus on the west coast more
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Post by chronocross on Jan 17, 2023 14:44:30 GMT -5
I felt like they were starting to gain some stability with Steiner as champion and Booker.T hot on his heels.
Some new acts were getting over like EZ Money but too bad WCW got sold when they did.
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Post by smokinvokoun86 on Jan 17, 2023 15:29:44 GMT -5
The best thing WCW ever did in its last months was put the World title on Scott Steiner. For those months, he was a dominant champion when the World title desperately needed someone who would be a strong champ that held the belt for awhile.
Having watched WCW at that time, it did seem like it was getting somewhat compelling without it being stupid. And yeah, certain guys were actually starting to get over. Hell, I remember not liking most of the Natural Born Thrillers during that run, but that brief two month run of Sean O’Haire and Chuck Palumbo as tag champs, they were awesome. And that’s the brief period where I actually thought Palumbo and O’Haire could be major stars in the future.
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dpg
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WCW 2001
Jan 17, 2023 16:10:39 GMT -5
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Post by dpg on Jan 17, 2023 16:10:39 GMT -5
They stabilised things, gave talent proper storylines and cut out a lot of crap. Unfortunately the production quality was awful and the crowds had dwindled.
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WCW 2001
Jan 17, 2023 16:32:23 GMT -5
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Post by Cyno on Jan 17, 2023 16:32:23 GMT -5
It did feel like the product was getting through the other end of the absolute garbage of 1999 and 2000. But it was just reverting back to the old problems it had in 97 and 98. So I wouldn't say they were turning a corner or anything. But maybe approaching the turn?
But yeah, production took a huge step down. Especially compared to WWF at the time. The crowds also got depressing.
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Post by carter 15 on Jan 17, 2023 16:46:45 GMT -5
Anyone else remember how over Shane Helms was suddenly getting?
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dpg
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WCW 2001
Jan 17, 2023 16:52:53 GMT -5
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Fade likes this
Post by dpg on Jan 17, 2023 16:52:53 GMT -5
Anyone else remember how over Shane Helms was suddenly getting? The whole 3 count and Jung dragons storylibe was very confusing. Then Helms goes solo and he's given a push and is over.
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tirtefaa
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WCW 2001
Jan 17, 2023 17:24:12 GMT -5
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Post by tirtefaa on Jan 17, 2023 17:24:12 GMT -5
Steiner was such a breath of fresh air as champion, and it's always too bad he was given the title so late in the company's history, given he was more deserving than most of the guys who were getting the belt from 2000 onwards.
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The Gallus Mark
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WCW 2001
Jan 17, 2023 17:44:09 GMT -5
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Post by The Gallus Mark on Jan 17, 2023 17:44:09 GMT -5
I remember watching a little bit of it a few years ago and being pleasantly surprised
Steiner was amazing. Helms had my favorite move set ever and I loved O’Haire/Palumbo as a team.
It’s just too bad that it was completely the end.
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WCW 2001
Jan 17, 2023 18:35:48 GMT -5
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Post by Citizen Snips Has Left on Jan 17, 2023 18:35:48 GMT -5
Anyone else remember how over Shane Helms was suddenly getting? I remember his “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” knockoff entrance theme, probably the last of the great Jimmy Hart knockoffs.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 18, 2023 9:54:27 GMT -5
Steiner provided some stability that'd been lacking, but it was still pretty clear the damage had been done. The PPV sales in the last legs of WCW had dropped so hard because even many fans who had not left no longer felt the company had credibility to deliver on satisfying conclusions or respecting stipulations.
I don't think it's necessarily always a bad thing to save something big for TV. Many more people watch a show than watch even PPVs that sell well. But, they did it far too often and pissed off the customers who threw the most money at the promotion.
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tafkaga
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Post by tafkaga on Jan 18, 2023 10:04:09 GMT -5
To me it felt like a product that was going somewhere instead of trying to figure out how to get back to where they were. They seemed to be more focused on just doing a good wrestling show and getting talent over instead of clinging to what worked in the past with hope of scoring just the right combination to put them back in the glory days.
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Post by nickcave on Jan 18, 2023 14:17:52 GMT -5
Watching the final Thunder I think presents an alternate look into where the company could have went and it was alright! The only real bad stuff on that episode was the Magnificent Seven stuff.
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Fade
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WCW 2001
Jan 18, 2023 18:39:05 GMT -5
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Post by Fade on Jan 18, 2023 18:39:05 GMT -5
I dug it but it was sloppy. But, that was honestly part of the appeal WCW had at the time, for me personally. I dug a lot of the “younger” and new talents getting pushed. Felt leagues away from WWE’s product obviously.
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tafkaga
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Post by tafkaga on Jan 19, 2023 9:16:00 GMT -5
I dug it but it was sloppy. But, that was honestly part of the appeal WCW had at the time, for me personally. I dug a lot of the “younger” and new talents getting pushed. Felt leagues away from WWE’s product obviously. WCW was always kind of sloppy to me, and I agree with you, that was the appeal for me. It just felt more "raw" (pun intended), like anything could happen, and it might not make any sense, but the fact that it wasn't so polished and didn't feel like there was as much forethought put into everything made it more interesting to me.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Jan 19, 2023 14:24:47 GMT -5
Anyone else remember how over Shane Helms was suddenly getting? Shane Helms/Hurricane is very underrated when it comes to innovation in the wrestling industry. Much like Kannon and Nova he came up with moves that looked cool and made him stand out. So WCW really put a lot behind him late with the theme and entrance (complete with the Nitro Girls as his dancers) I still wonder how things would have been different if Corino and Sabu debuted in WCW like they were supposed to
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Allie Kitsune
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Jan 19, 2023 14:55:41 GMT -5
I dug it but it was sloppy. But, that was honestly part of the appeal WCW had at the time, for me personally. I dug a lot of the “younger” and new talents getting pushed. Felt leagues away from WWE’s product obviously. I was becoming a fan of Kid Romeo during that time period. With my luck, he probably turned out to be some kind of sex creeper, though... -.-
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Post by Psicofreak667 on Jan 19, 2023 15:06:53 GMT -5
Kid Romeo's one of those people who just never developed like we expected. He looked like he was going to be a pretty big star during his WCW run, and then WWF passed on him, he disappeard for a while, reappeared in TNA for a bit as a jtts, and then disappeared again.
As for WCW, as a mark at the time I can't honestly say that I even noticed "lower production values" or "dwindling crowds". To me, it felt like the whole promotion was stabilizing, that we were finally getting a new generation of legitimate main eventers, and - most importantly - you could consistently see good wrestling matches on WCW. The Cruiserweight Tag division was a particularly good thing because one thing WCW had going for it that almost everyone acknowledged was that it was much better with cruiserweights than WWF, and putting more focus on them was only a good thing.
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dpg
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WCW 2001
Jan 19, 2023 15:34:36 GMT -5
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Post by dpg on Jan 19, 2023 15:34:36 GMT -5
Kid Romeo's one of those people who just never developed like we expected. He looked like he was going to be a pretty big star during his WCW run, and then WWF passed on him, he disappeard for a while, reappeared in TNA for a bit as a jtts, and then disappeared again. As for WCW, as a mark at the time I can't honestly say that I even noticed "lower production values" or "dwindling crowds". To me, it felt like the whole promotion was stabilizing, that we were finally getting a new generation of legitimate main eventers, and - most importantly - you could consistently see good wrestling matches on WCW. The Cruiserweight Tag division was a particularly good thing because one thing WCW had going for it that almost everyone acknowledged was that it was much better with cruiserweights than WWF, and putting more focus on them was only a good thing. If they'd have stayed open and lowered costs they could have been ok, the show felt more structured and youngsters were properly pushed. The heel Ric Flair in charge was pretty bad though, just didn't work for me.
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