It's a simple question with a not-so-simple answer: who killed WCW? Was it former executive Eric Bischoff or any of the many other possible culprits like wrestlers Hulk Hogan and/or Kevin Nash, or possibly network big wigs like Ted Turner ... or former writer Vince Russo??
It's time to get to the bottom of the decades-long question.
In pro wrestling history, only one competitor has truly gone toe-to-toe with the all-powerful WWE and won. From June 1996 through April 1998, the WCW was the “big dog,” besting the WWE for 83 consecutive weeks in television ratings.
How did they do it? Simply put, they were cooler than the competition.
WCW's star power included household names such as Sting, Goldberg, and the Nature Boy Ric Flair. There was also a little-known faction called the New World Order — maybe you've heard of them —consisting of Hogan, Nash and Scott Hall.
Along with a bustling cruiserweight division and a storytelling that embraced adult themes, the WCW was the pace setter in the wrestling world.
But how on God’s green earth did it fail? The answer is not as clear as some think.
Seven Bucks Productions has partnered with the creators of Dark Side of the Ring on a new docuseries aptly titled, "Who Killed WCW?" and it features new interviews with a slew of wrestling legends such as Bischoff, Bill Goldberg, Bret Hart, Booker T and even executive producer, and former WCW Champion (yes, look it up), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — among others.
With the first episode now debuted, and new episodes set for release every Tuesday evening, we kick off The Sporting News’ weekly series where each episode is reviewed and rated.
Josh Rodriguez
I’m a huge fan of the WWE-produced docuseries, The Monday Night War: WWE vs WCW, a 20-episode chronicle of the heated rivalry between the world’s two most popular wrestling organizations through the the late 1990s and early 2000s. That said, I don’t think that series ever gave Ted Turner his due.
Turner was depicted as a network-tycoon caricature who didn’t really understand the wrestling business. An outsider. Who Killed WCW? gives Turner his flowers from the jump. The man created a multi-billion dollar television empire with wrestling as just one of his many ventures.
It’s nice to see respect being given to the guy who put his chips on the table to go one-on-one with Vince McMahon at his own game and won the battle over a lengthy period of time.
The show then introduces Eric Bischoff, who takes over quickly as WCW’s executive producer with a big splash, the acquisition of the biggest name in wrestling, Hulk Hogan, signing him to a lucrative contract that included creative control over his character.
To separate him from his roots, WCW made the necessary decision to turn Hogan heel, a move that would go down in the annals of pro wrestling history as arguably the greatest heel turn of all time.
The producers get a lot right in this first episode.
I marked out over the inclusion of the WCW production crew depicting backstage fights with amazing realism while battling budget constraints and experimenting with cinematography and camera movements never before seen on wrasslin’ television programs.
With an emphasis on reality storytelling, WCW became more than just serious competition. As Nash put it, “we were pro wrestling. [The WWE] was playing catch-up.”
I appreciated the producers not using much of the same WCW footage that’s been seen before. Much of it is mandatory to include, but this didn’t feel as repetitive as other WCW chronicles have.
The episode ends with the blame being for the eventual downfall of the product being placed on the team of Bischoff and Hogan, hands coated in nitroglycerin. If it were only that simple.
A sneak peek at Episode 2 gives other possible culprits (Goldberg, Kevin Nash, TBS). I guess we’ll have to find out NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBA— wait that's not it…
Rodriguez’ Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Patrik “No C” Walker
Let me tell you something, brother. This is the era of wrestling that took my childhood to the next level and, as such, there will never be another era that I am as emotionally invested in — no matter how much I can’t get enough of the current state of affairs in the sport.
The Monday Night Wars set the world on fire and not simply because of what was happening in the each of the two rings, namely WWF and WCW, but also the political chess being played behind the scenes and that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the first episode in this series pulled back the curtain on so masterfully.
Buckle up, folks.
The episode began by laying a solid foundation of the level of talent that existed on the WCW roster at its zenith, and even before, with legendary eventual Hall of Famers like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Sting carrying the mantle long before the reins were tossed to Eric Bischoff with the hopes of saving the company from not only its own promotional shortcomings, but also from infighting at Turner Sports between Ted Turner and his supposed Knights of the Round Table.
Bischoff explained how he went from a basic salesman trying to earn a commercial spot for a toy during nightly airings of the failing AWA (American Wrestling Association) to third-string broadcaster at WCW to executive producer and, ultimately, the vice president that knew the only way to finally unwrap Vince McMahon's fingers from around the throat of professional wrestling was to poach the biggest and most powerful name in all of wrestling: the immortal Hulk Hogan.
It was a master stroke that sent shockwaves throughout the industry, and finally getting all of the tea on how it went down could not have been more satisfying because, let's be real here, fans such as myself have literally been waiting almost 30 years for what this new documentary is freely spilling.
The only way for Bischoff and WCW to continue their ascent was to constantly outdo themselves though, with the added weapon of live TV at their disposal, and a decision was made that would change wrestling forever.
Hulkamania, positioned perfectly to step in and destroy the outsiders that were Scott Hall and Kevin Nash instead pulled off the most infamous heel turn ever as their secret third guy (what was originally planned to be Sting) — a stunner that will never, and I mean never, be equaled.
With that, the NWO was born, the greatest and most heinous faction in any generation of wrestling, but what goes up must inevitably come down and with equal expediency, metaphorically making Hogan and the NWO one of the biggest reasons for WCW's meteoric rise and 83-week streak of wins over his former outfit at WWF, as well as the one that helped lead to the extinction level event of Turner's product.
Did Bischoff allowing Hogan to operate unchecked strike the first of a thousand cuts that bled WCW dry?
One could argue that is exactly what happened, but it's clear there is more than one truth to the demise, as the teaser for Episode No. 2 hinted at unapologetically.
"Do you want the real story? Or do you want the bullsh-t?" Nash asked in the teaser.
YOU KNOW WHY WE'RE HERE, KEVIN.
GIVE ME WHAT I WANT. *Batista voice*
Walker’s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars