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Post by sfvega on Aug 2, 2020 6:32:15 GMT -5
I was just thinking of how much they were killing it in their PPV sets this year in particular, and how much I miss seeing stuff like that. WWE has given up on most PPVs having a different set at all, and in general most promotions seem to (probably rightly) see spending money on elaborate sets outside of WM as imprudent. But Halloween Havoc's set is iconic, and I was watching Superbrawl VIII and that set is amazing with the entranceway, the short video board, and the fans in the background. Somewhat reminds me of Royal Rumble's recent set-up, but not as minimalist.  Terrible pic, but that's the best I could find.  |
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Post by jason1980s on Aug 2, 2020 7:53:04 GMT -5
The Halloween Havoc's were pretty great, the Eric Bischoff years. The earlier Havocs looked like something a kid tried putting together with some cardboard, paint and markers but the mid 1990s were a lot more professional. I also always the ramp on the Clashes and PPVs.
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Post by THE FVNKER on Aug 2, 2020 9:19:51 GMT -5
I always thought most of WCW's sets, both TV and PPV were miles above WWE's just about every year they were competing. WCW's may not have been as grandiose as WWE's but I always thought they looked more like big time sporting event whereas WWE's really looked kind of gaudy most of the time.
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Post by Pure Fusion Jesse Walsh on Aug 2, 2020 10:24:19 GMT -5
Strictly speaking in terms of production values, WCW was miles ahead of the WWF in the mid to late ‘90s.
It’s funny how the tables turned in just a few years. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the WWF looked way better.
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Post by sfvega on Aug 2, 2020 11:09:01 GMT -5
I always thought most of WCW's sets, both TV and PPV were miles above WWE's just about every year they were competing. WCW's may not have been as grandiose as WWE's but I always thought they looked more like big time sporting event whereas WWE's really looked kind of gaudy most of the time. WWF at the time was very dark and dingy. WCW was very clean and bright in their presentation, which Vince would go on to adopt. WCW, as Bischoff would note, went digital very early. The producers would cut away at inopportune times, but their camera work and the caliber of production value was usually very high. |
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Aug 2, 2020 12:09:28 GMT -5
It's part of what made their downfall production wise so sad. They had basically the same set for every show by the end of 2000.
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Post by THE FVNKER on Aug 2, 2020 13:02:20 GMT -5
Strictly speaking in terms of production values, WCW was miles ahead of the WWF in the mid to late ‘90s. It’s funny how the tables turned in just a few years. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the WWF looked way better. See, I've always thought this too.. but I've seen tons of shoots with both Nash, Hall, Sullivan and a few others talking about how much better WWF was production wise. I never saw that. I know the Attitude era was sort of "dressed down" for awhile but to me WCW always looked so much more legitimate. Even small stuff like having interviews at the entrance, Bruce Buffer doing Hogans main event ring announcements. I guess its apples and oranges in the sense that one looked and felt like a sport and the other one was clearly designed to be just a TV show. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2020 14:01:33 GMT -5
Even though I grew up more of a WWF fan, NWA/WCW always had a more of a big sporting event feel to me. The wrestlers seemed more legitimate and the way they presented it felt more 'big' and important to me. For me there's several reasons for this.
1. TBS regularly advertised WCW programming throughout the day. You could be watching an old western or Three's Company reruns and there was likely to be a 20 second spot during the commercial break for Clash of the Champions or Saturday Night, and it wasn't just a "there's going to be wrestling at this time" spot it was "this epic match is going to happen omg you can't miss it". I don't recall WWF getting that type of promotion on USA.
2. Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross were like sports announcers. WWF announcers were personalities. Much different vibe.
3. It wasn't always obvious who WCW was pushing or who they were going to push. Sometimes it seemed like they didn't know either, but it made things more unpredictable. With WWF you knew who they were building up to be the next big thing and who was on their way down. WCW would bring in guys who you never expected to see again like Chris Adams or Rick Martel and give them respectable winning streaks and leave you wondering what they were planning.
4. WCW worked openly with other organizations. They had NWA champions defending their belts on WCW television. They had wrestlers from New Japan beating WCW wrestlers for WCW belts. They had joint cards with New Japan that they actually talked about on the air rather than it only being something we learned about on Youtube.
5. WCW acknowledged wrestler's histories to some degree instead of trying to repackage it and pretend you never saw them before. Rick Rude talked about being the WWF I-C champion on WCW programming. They acknowledged Flair's WWF title wins as legit World title reigns on par with his WCW/NWA title reigns. International talent's histories and accomplishments were brought to light. WWF was like its own universe where nothing outside it was real.
Yeah WCW was very 'wtf is this' a lot but dammit, I really miss that in my rasslin. We didn't realize how good we had it.
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Post by David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 on Aug 2, 2020 14:56:20 GMT -5
Some of their sets were spectacular, however I actually really liked the downgraded look they used in late 2000, especially the big jumbotron.
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Post by Phosphor Glow on Aug 2, 2020 22:32:27 GMT -5
It's from a year earlier in 1997, but man I absolutely LOVE the nWo Souled Out set. I know most people aren't hot on the PPV itself but damn that set was so cool.  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 8:11:49 GMT -5
I always loved the classic WCW Nitro set. When they changed the logo they changed the set and they lost me, in that respect (and soon SO many others).
The mid '90s Halloween Havoc set was great.
Always did like the big elevated walkway from what I saw of the early '90s era. I liked how TNA, I think, brought that walkway in years later.
And yet meanwhile, I liked the minimalist look of the old WWF too. The simple tarped entrance with the WWF logo about or off to the side. The varied/sometimes angled entrance aisles. The rainbow neon lit entrances. They did start to lose me with the spotlight entryways in 94-95, since it was just that - maybe a video screen sometimes (did like the video screen usage back then), but I did like the circlular lit entryways they'd start using in 98 or so.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 12:11:33 GMT -5
Strictly speaking in terms of production values, WCW was miles ahead of the WWF in the mid to late ‘90s. It’s funny how the tables turned in just a few years. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the WWF looked way better. I don't know if you want to count video packages as production values, but that was the only thing WWF had on WCW ppvs. WCW almost never had video packages of a feud before the ppv match. |
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Post by sfvega on Aug 3, 2020 12:29:42 GMT -5
Strictly speaking in terms of production values, WCW was miles ahead of the WWF in the mid to late ‘90s. It’s funny how the tables turned in just a few years. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the WWF looked way better. I don't uknow if you want to count video packages as production values, but that was the only thing WWF had on WCW ppvs. WCW almost never had video packages of a feud before the ppv match. That is true. WWF at the time had great synopsis video packages before most PPVs. WCW saved them for big matches like BATB 96 or Sting/Hogan, and they weren't as good. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 13:48:40 GMT -5
I don't uknow if you want to count video packages as production values, but that was the only thing WWF had on WCW ppvs. WCW almost never had video packages of a feud before the ppv match. That is true. WWF at the time had great synopsis video packages before most PPVs. WCW saved them for big matches like BATB 96 or Sting/Hogan, and they weren't as good. WWF was better at hyping their PPV's too and going over the match lineup more and more as the PPV got closer. A lot of times WCW focused on the main event and neglected the other matches on the card so I wasn't even sure what the other matches were. |
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Post by THE FVNKER on Aug 3, 2020 19:51:40 GMT -5
Strictly speaking in terms of production values, WCW was miles ahead of the WWF in the mid to late ‘90s. It’s funny how the tables turned in just a few years. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the WWF looked way better. I don't know if you want to count video packages as production values, but that was the only thing WWF had on WCW ppvs. WCW almost never had video packages of a feud before the ppv match. I was going to mention that in my original reply to the thread but got tired of typing on my phone. I cant remember specifics about either promotions video packages but I do distinctly remember the WWF having a more cinematic feel in that regard, and it worked well. |
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Post by toodarkmark on Aug 4, 2020 0:15:07 GMT -5
Man, I loved me some WCW < 1999.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2020 6:42:33 GMT -5
Strictly speaking in terms of production values, WCW was miles ahead of the WWF in the mid to late ‘90s. Y'know, it's always made me curious whenever Bischoff talks about WCW production values, he always tends to diminish them and say that the WWF was miles ahead of them. Because most WCW shows looked BETTER than WWF shows. Watch a Raw and a Nitro at the same time (as I did quite often in the late '90s) and you're bouncing back & forth from a cheaper looking taped product (WWF) and a crisp product that just looked really good (WCW). I'll assume he meant the backstage culture, where the tales say that WWF seemed to run smoother while WCW was something of a shitshow? |
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Post by sfvega on Aug 4, 2020 12:06:39 GMT -5
Strictly speaking in terms of production values, WCW was miles ahead of the WWF in the mid to late ‘90s. Y'know, it's always made me curious whenever Bischoff talks about WCW production values, he always tends to diminish them and say that the WWF was miles ahead of them. Because most WCW shows looked BETTER than WWF shows. Watch a Raw and a Nitro at the same time (as I did quite often in the late '90s) and you're bouncing back & forth from a cheaper looking taped product (WWF) and a crisp product that just looked really good (WCW). I'll assume he meant the backstage culture, where the tales say that WWF seemed to run smoother while WCW was something of a shitshow? What time frame is he talking about though? Because when Bischoff started there and when he took over, they did look anywhere from ok to pretty bad. But around 96 and on, they looked amazing. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2020 12:41:08 GMT -5
Y'know, it's always made me curious whenever Bischoff talks about WCW production values, he always tends to diminish them and say that the WWF was miles ahead of them. Because most WCW shows looked BETTER than WWF shows. Watch a Raw and a Nitro at the same time (as I did quite often in the late '90s) and you're bouncing back & forth from a cheaper looking taped product (WWF) and a crisp product that just looked really good (WCW). I'll assume he meant the backstage culture, where the tales say that WWF seemed to run smoother while WCW was something of a shitshow? What time frame is he talking about though? Because when Bischoff started there and when he took over, they did look anywhere from ok to pretty bad. But around 96 and on, they looked amazing. He never seems to say, he just tends to speak in general about WCW production values. By the time Nitro debuted, WCW TV looked really good - and would look better as they show went on. Then again, I always figured they put much extra effort into the TNT show moreso than the TBS ones. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2020 13:19:04 GMT -5
There were some things about late 90's WCW that didn't look as good. When they started going with the drab gray ring with black posts and ropes. Then there was always this hazy/foggy look in the later years. Maybe it was from pyro, I dunno but Raw didn't look like that.
WWF also had far superior camera work, close ups on faces and really knew how to wring the drama out of things. WCW was shot like a traditional rasslin show and not nearly as good at capturing the drama.
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