Single worst booking decision of all time?

[mcmahonfan85]

the CHIKARA shutdown

[Mozenrath]

Feb 12, 2019 20:57:47 GMT -5 mcmahonfan85 said:

the CHIKARA shutdown

That was so stupid. Did we ever find out why it happened, or is it all still just rumor and innuendo?

[kingoftheindies]

Feb 12, 2019 20:59:11 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Feb 12, 2019 20:57:47 GMT -5 mcmahonfan85 said:

the CHIKARA shutdown

That was so stupid. Did we ever find out why it happened, or is it all still just rumor and innuendo?

Still rumors. Quack continues to insist that it was the plan all along, but people who know the ituation insist that Quack's infidelity almost cost him CHIKARA (his ex actually owned the trademark)

[Mozenrath]

Feb 12, 2019 21:01:51 GMT -5 kingoftheindies said:

Feb 12, 2019 20:59:11 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

That was so stupid. Did we ever find out why it happened, or is it all still just rumor and innuendo?

Still rumors. Quack continues to insist that it was the plan all along, but people who know the ituation insist that Quack's infidelity almost cost him CHIKARA (his ex actually owned the trademark)

More like snake-in-bush.

[THE FVNKER]

Probably doesn't qualify as a booking decision but does Bischoff not capitalizing on Austin count in any way? I dont see the Stone Cold character even happening in WCW, and with Turners more "family" (if you can say that) oriented direction, a watered down Austin probably wouldn't have clicked like it did in the WWF. Especially with the egos of the Hogans and all that.

More or less just answered my own question but still.

[Milkman Norm]

Andre not beating The Sheik clean in Toronto allegedly damaged the gates their for years.

[Mozenrath]

Feb 12, 2019 22:47:54 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

Andre not beating The Sheik clean in Toronto allegedly damaged the gates their for years.

It basically killed Detroit as a viable territory. The Sheik had a good thing going, but he didn't know when he had to lose.

[Natural Born Farmer]

Feb 12, 2019 22:42:22 GMT -5 THE FVNKER said:

Probably doesn't qualify as a booking decision but does Bischoff not capitalizing on Austin count in any way? I dont see the Stone Cold character even happening in WCW, and with Turners more "family" (if you can say that) oriented direction, a watered down Austin probably wouldn't have clicked like it did in the WWF. Especially with the egos of the Hogans and all that.

More or less just answered my own question but still.

It kind of barely happened in the WWE either though. I remember seeing him early on as Ted DiBiase’s.... protege, I guess? And having a pretty weak feud with Savio Vega. Dude seemed destined for the mid card forever. ECW really used him better than anyone before he really cut loose.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Feb 12, 2019 20:57:47 GMT -5 mcmahonfan85 said:

the CHIKARA shutdown

The weirdest thing about this is that they didn't even stop running shows; they just shifted to Wrestling Is. But they didn't advertise them as the new Chikara, which would have brought people in and kept people from perceiving a loss of momentum. It was not a terribly difficult problem to fix.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Has to be Starrcade 97, WCW's slide can be traced back to that point in time. Sting needed to win and finally send fans home happy then feud with the white hot Bret in a champion vs champion feud, the NWO needed to split and feud but no. Hogan wouldn't allow there ti be a plan B that wasn't more NWO.

[Milkman Norm]

Feb 12, 2019 22:51:42 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Feb 12, 2019 22:47:54 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

Andre not beating The Sheik clean in Toronto allegedly damaged the gates their for years.

It basically killed Detroit as a viable territory. The Sheik had a good thing going, but he didn't know when he had to lose.

I've read mixed things about that but it very well could be true. I've also read (and this may have been during that time)that Brusier was running opposition in Detroit with his loyalist so other promoters sent Sheik talent to keep the territory. After the hot shotting the territory died because there was no possible follow up.

[Zen411]

Not doing Hogan vs flair at mania 8.

Luger not winning at summerslam 93.

Lesnar beating taker at mania 30.

[clodhopper]

Maybe not the worst of all time but doing the Orton cash-in seconds after Bryan beat Cena at Summerslam was a terrible idea.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

CM Punk was their first mainstream star in more than a decade thanks to the pipebomb.

There was no need to feed him to Triple H and a crippled Kevin Nash. There was also no need to book him on the undercard and not the main event when he was the champion.

Punk managed to outsell Cena in merch. The wwe threw money away because they hated him.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Feb 12, 2019 20:59:11 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Feb 12, 2019 20:57:47 GMT -5 mcmahonfan85 said:

the CHIKARA shutdown

That was so stupid. Did we ever find out why it happened, or is it all still just rumor and innuendo?

Something something something Saturyne something...

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Feb 13, 2019 12:02:03 GMT -5 Zen411 said:

Not doing Hogan vs flair at mania 8.

Luger not winning at summerslam 93.

Lesnar beating taker at mania 30.

Not sure if it’s true but Flair and Hogan supposedly were not drawing in house shows so that’s why they went ahead and did something else.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Feb 12, 2019 22:42:22 GMT -5 THE FVNKER said:

Probably doesn't qualify as a booking decision but does Bischoff not capitalizing on Austin count in any way? I dont see the Stone Cold character even happening in WCW, and with Turners more "family" (if you can say that) oriented direction, a watered down Austin probably wouldn't have clicked like it did in the WWF. Especially with the egos of the Hogans and all that.

More or less just answered my own question but still.

Yeah I think you did answer your own question.

I've never understood the 'Bischoff let Austin go, what a prick!' narrative as if the Steve Austin of 1994 was even in the same universe as Stone Cold.

[Feargus McReddit]

Feb 13, 2019 18:39:17 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Feb 12, 2019 22:42:22 GMT -5 THE FVNKER said:

Probably doesn't qualify as a booking decision but does Bischoff not capitalizing on Austin count in any way? I dont see the Stone Cold character even happening in WCW, and with Turners more "family" (if you can say that) oriented direction, a watered down Austin probably wouldn't have clicked like it did in the WWF. Especially with the egos of the Hogans and all that.

More or less just answered my own question but still.

Yeah I think you did answer your own question.

I've never understood the 'Bischoff let Austin go, what a prick!' narrative as if the Steve Austin of 1994 was even in the same universe as Stone Cold.

Yeah, in heinsight, all of that stuff seemed really bizarre when they tried to play it in the Austin/Bischoff feud.

Also made the Invasion heel turn look worse when they talked about it because, if that was the case (and it wasn’t), why would Austin even want WCW back again?

It’d be like me saying “Man, WWE dropped the ball on Juice Robinson” when Juice Robinson wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t feel unfulfilled as CJ Parker.

[Mozenrath]

Feb 13, 2019 18:53:59 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

Feb 13, 2019 18:39:17 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Yeah I think you did answer your own question.

I've never understood the 'Bischoff let Austin go, what a prick!' narrative as if the Steve Austin of 1994 was even in the same universe as Stone Cold.

Yeah, in heinsight, all of that stuff seemed really bizarre when they tried to play it in the Austin/Bischoff feud.

Also made the Invasion heel turn look worse when they talked about it because, if that was the case (and it wasn’t), why would Austin even want WCW back again?

It’d be like me saying “Man, WWE dropped the ball on Juice Robinson” when Juice Robinson wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t feel unfulfilled as CJ Parker.

Reminds me of Leslie Jones talking about Oprah being fired in her 20s, and when the other person said that it was a stupid decision, Leslie replied that Oprah wasn't who she'd become yet, that she needed to be fired to become the Oprah who'd be a megastar.

Now, I don't want to entirely let WCW and Bischoff off the hook. Austin still had untapped potential even there, but he was a casualty of a shifting WCW, and definitely not the only one.

[Deleted]

Feb 15, 2019 5:46:37 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Feb 13, 2019 18:53:59 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

Yeah, in heinsight, all of that stuff seemed really bizarre when they tried to play it in the Austin/Bischoff feud.

Also made the Invasion heel turn look worse when they talked about it because, if that was the case (and it wasn’t), why would Austin even want WCW back again?

It’d be like me saying “Man, WWE dropped the ball on Juice Robinson” when Juice Robinson wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t feel unfulfilled as CJ Parker.

Reminds me of Leslie Jones talking about Oprah being fired in her 20s, and when the other person said that it was a stupid decision, Leslie replied that Oprah wasn't who she'd become yet, that she needed to be fired to become the Oprah who'd be a megastar.

Now, I don't want to entirely let WCW and Bischoff off the hook. Austin still had untapped potential even there, but he was a casualty of a shifting WCW, and definitely not the only one.

The backhanded "his secretary called her secretary to tell her to call me" nature of the firing of an injured wrestler who had been a reasonably large part of their programming played into theach narrative too.