Hogan/Flair Uncensored 1999

[cjh]

The thing I remember most about this was the fact that WCW Live debuted the night after Uncensored, and the hosts, Bob Ryder and Jeremy Borash, would take calls from the listeners.  That night and maybe even into the Tuesday episode, it seemed like every caller was pointing out that Hogan and Flair had done a double turn, just ignoring the fact that the previous caller and the one before that and the one before that said the exact same thing.  It was like they weren't actually listening to the show even though they were calling into it and talking to the hosts.

[TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out]

Feb 24, 2024 20:21:56 GMT -5 cjh said:

The thing I remember most about this was the fact that WCW Live debuted the night after Uncensored, and the hosts, Bob Ryder and Jeremy Borash, would take calls from the listeners.  That night and maybe even into the Tuesday episode, it seemed like every caller was pointing out that Hogan and Flair had done a double turn, just ignoring the fact that the previous caller and the one before that and the one before that said the exact same thing.  It was like they weren't actually listening to the show even though they were calling into it and talking to the hosts.

Yeah, it was 1999. People calling in couldn't listen to the show because 99% of the country's internet was dial-up.

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

Feb 23, 2024 11:06:33 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Feb 22, 2024 23:09:35 GMT -5 Cry Me a Wiggle said:

It bulldozed everything. The Fingerpoke didn’t kill WCW. It was the Fingerpoke being made irrelevant with this double turn that did it.

It was clear the plan was for the reunited nWo to run roughshod, but a more unified WCW under Flair to fight back. Meanwhile, Goldberg would pick off the Wolfpack one by one until he got his match with Hogan. And sure, injuries derailed the heel Wolfpack, but you’re really just going to upend the moral arc of your fictional universe and also let the overarching storyline of three years just fizzle out until only Nash and Hogan are wearing nWo shirts?

WCW was still somewhat watchable, if not stale and frustrating. But Uncensored 1999 heralded everything awful that was coming in the promotion in the summer of ‘99.

Yeah, they clearly pivoted to a plan 'B'. The problem is that the plan B made no sense for a variety of reasons.

Between March and the end of 1999 they KILLED the WCW title and it never recovered.  People can shit on WCW 2000 and how it hurt the title, but the damage was way  beyond done.  Feel free to fill in the blanks, but I've got:

DDP turned heel and won the title in April about 6 months past his peak popularity and momentum, oh and he turned heel because....reasons.
DDP he lost his title to Sting a week later for about an hour only to win it back at the end of the same show because.....reasons.
Nash who was a face now because.....reasons....won the title from DDP like a week after that
Nash then dropped to a recently returned Savage 2 months later
Savage dropped it the next night to Hogan who was a face.
Red and Yellow Face Hogan "retires" Nash, now a heel again because.....reasons in August.
Sting wins the title in October and turns heel. yadda yadda reasons.
Hogan lies down for Sting at Havoc. Goldberg wins the title in an impromptu match. 
Just kidding. Title Vacant. AWFUL 32 man tourney takes place. 
Tourney finals: Bret beats Benoit in a clear MOTY candidate. 
Bret does Montreal reenactment, screwing over Goldberg to keep the title. 
Rematch the next night. Bret retains over Goldberg by pinning Roddy Piper (I know, I know....) and reforms the nWo to the delight of nobody. 

Russo, for the record, only showed up in mid October. 

And then, WCW 2000 happened. YEESH!!!!

[cjh]

Feb 24, 2024 21:59:43 GMT -5 TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out said:

Feb 24, 2024 20:21:56 GMT -5 cjh said:

The thing I remember most about this was the fact that WCW Live debuted the night after Uncensored, and the hosts, Bob Ryder and Jeremy Borash, would take calls from the listeners.  That night and maybe even into the Tuesday episode, it seemed like every caller was pointing out that Hogan and Flair had done a double turn, just ignoring the fact that the previous caller and the one before that and the one before that said the exact same thing.  It was like they weren't actually listening to the show even though they were calling into it and talking to the hosts.

Yeah, it was 1999. People calling in couldn't listen to the show because 99% of the country's internet was dial-up.

I don't think so because I listened regularly, and there was nothing that would indicate that was the case besides that one example from the very first 1-2 episodes.  In fact, if you were just asking a quick question, you were expected to ask it, hang up, and hear the answer by listening to the show.

[TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out]

Feb 24, 2024 22:53:37 GMT -5 cjh said:

Feb 24, 2024 21:59:43 GMT -5 TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out said:

Yeah, it was 1999. People calling in couldn't listen to the show because 99% of the country's internet was dial-up.

I don't think so because I listened regularly, and there was nothing that would indicate that was the case besides that one example from the very first 1-2 episodes.  In fact, if you were just asking a quick question, you were expected to ask it, hang up, and hear the answer by listening to the show.

But that was after asking the question. How were you supposed to listen when you were on hold?

[cjh]

Feb 24, 2024 23:32:09 GMT -5 TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out said:

Feb 24, 2024 22:53:37 GMT -5 cjh said:

I don't think so because I listened regularly, and there was nothing that would indicate that was the case besides that one example from the very first 1-2 episodes.  In fact, if you were just asking a quick question, you were expected to ask it, hang up, and hear the answer by listening to the show.

But that was after asking the question. How were you supposed to listen when you were on hold?

Two separate phone lines, probably.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Feb 22, 2024 23:01:15 GMT -5 Oh Cry Me a Screwball said:

In a vacuum, the idea of newish President of WCW starting to get drunk off his power, and using it to essentially steal the title from Hogan and the nWo, using a crooked referee and First Blood rules makes complete sense with what they were going for.

The problem is, this was the same wrestling company that would have main events of Nitro where a match featuring Goldberg and Kevin Nash vs. Hollywood Hogan and The Giant ended with Goldberg pinning Curt Hennig. So people were already accustomed to match stipulations meaning nothing and finishes that made no sense. So of course people would be confused when they try to use match stipulations and a crazy finish to facilitate a double turn.

It's a great way to convey how a wrestling promotion can be selective abotu which tropes or concepts of pro wrestling as a whole it chooses to convey its stories through, and that the worst thing it can do is unexpectedly deviate too strongly from that in ways that go against how the audience is conditioned to understand them. They booked a normal shock twist in WCW '99 and thought the audience was just gonna get it. Giant mistake. You can do a lot of wild shit and carve out your own whack-ass identity, but you have to be consistent with it, and when you throw it off for something this huge, it's bound to be a headscratcher.