|
Post by Milkman Norm on Feb 23, 2023 11:14:02 GMT -5
I don't see a scenario where Goldberg doesn't end up with the belt by the end of the year. So at some point Sting would have dropped it to a heel, probably Hogan, so they could drop it to Goldberg. Maybe they wait until June or July to do the switch but things were gonna head in that direction.
|
|
|
Post by HMARK Center on Feb 24, 2023 20:09:55 GMT -5
The match itself might be overblown but the fact it lead to a kayfabe story about a screwjob and having to justify it when there wasn't a screwjob, a rematch which lead to another regularly counted finish and the title being held up until February? If Sting just won, none of that happens. Because they had to justify everything that went wrong for what was their biggest match at the time. But I guess I'm saying I don't think it hurt business at all. Sure it changes the storyline going into SuperBrawl, but that was still going to be Sting/Hogan II. And it should have been. SuperBrawl VIII did a huge buyrate - their second biggest ever at the time behind Starrcade. And that likely was going to end in some sort of screwjob as well, because they wanted to do Hogan vs Savage again. Which sounds dumb, but Hogan vs Savage at Uncensored also did a monster buyrate. I don't think history changes at all if they do a different Starrcade finish. I don't think it would have hurt Hogan at all to lose clean, but I also don't think if Sting won clean he would've gotten any bigger than he was. If you look at the buyrates of 1998, Hogan is clearly their biggest draw until Goldberg gets going in the last part of the year. In the grand scheme of things, I don't think finish at Starrcade changes anything for WCW business wise. It might have changed TV in the winter months of 1998, but that's about it. Yeah, what I take from it is that there was still a lot of money to be made from Sting vs. Hogan, so some kind of ending that allows heel Hogan an out, even a BS one, to demand a rematch or something should've been fine - it's like how they booked Hogan/Andre at WM 3 to have the moment where Andre thought he got a three count, and Andre and Heenan used that to demand more matches and ended up extending the program in the process. It was just done in such a ridiculous way that it's hard not to look back on it with some serious regret. More than anything, the Starrcade match ending the way it did was probably just a message to people to never expect WCW to just do things cleanly in the main event; if they weren't going to do it then, when on Earth would they? But yeah, I do think it was a match where it didn't need to end with Sting squashing Hogan or anything, there was a good argument for keeping the program going, but like TNA in the future it always felt like a huge problem with WCW was that so much of the main event booking was flying by the seat of its pants and the big match finishes always seemed cooked up at the very last second for maximum confusion and awkwardness.
|
|
|
Post by johnnyk9 on Feb 25, 2023 19:04:10 GMT -5
Don’t know how to answer this
|
|
|
Post by willywonka666 on Feb 27, 2023 10:23:49 GMT -5
My wish at the time was Sting would revert back to the Surfer Sting since he came off with the win, finally dethroning Hogan-he would have come full circle. Instead, the new look became the defining version of Sting.
I did read a rumor at the time that Sting *might* show up as surfer Sting at Starrcade
|
|
|
Post by eJm on Feb 27, 2023 11:19:16 GMT -5
More than anything, the Starrcade match ending the way it did was probably just a message to people to never expect WCW to just do things cleanly in the main event; if they weren't going to do it then, when on Earth would they? But yeah, I do think it was a match where it didn't need to end with Sting squashing Hogan or anything, there was a good argument for keeping the program going, but like TNA in the future it always felt like a huge problem with WCW was that so much of the main event booking was flying by the seat of its pants and the big match finishes always seemed cooked up at the very last second for maximum confusion and awkwardness. I think that's just it. It sort of started this weird thing where WCW got more cocky with finishes for main events and caused some of the cynicism around both them and how the same faces stuck around to protect them and less of the fresher talent that could have helped. And by the time they did try and make those changes, it was too late.
|
|
|
Post by willywonka666 on Feb 28, 2023 9:18:53 GMT -5
What's crazy is if anyone had said at the time that WCW wouldn't last another 5 years, no one would have believed it
|
|
|
Post by nickcave on Feb 28, 2023 14:11:37 GMT -5
I don't think it really would have changed much, honestly WCW in 98 was still pretty hot. The Wolfpack and Goldberg were keeping things afloat as far as interest goes. I think Goldberg losing the title and the Fingerpoke of Doom were the real things that killed off major interest in WCW.
|
|
Renslayer
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
every time i come around your city...
Posts: 16,576
|
Post by Renslayer on Feb 28, 2023 17:48:36 GMT -5
I know hogan always took time off, but I'm struggling to see how I can stretch his tile run from when he gets it back (in say February as an example) all the way to goldberg in the summer where he drops it
|
|