Wrestling Observer Rewinder

January 22, 2001

After nearly a year of rumors and questions, it was officially announced this week that Time Warner will sell WCW to Fusient Media Ventures, a company owned by Brian Bedol and Stephen Greenberg, with Eric Bischoff being put in charge as WCW President and head of creative. Coincidentally (or not), literally hours after the WCW sale was announced, it was also announced that the Time Warner/AOL merger had been completed. Fusient Media Ventures is a company best known for starting up the Classic Sports Network, which was later sold to ESPN and became ESPN Classics. The actual sale is expected to take 30-60 days and in the meantime, changes in WCW will be gradual. But there is already an emphasis being placed on better matches, clean finishes, and less crash TV. Wrestlers were also told to tone down the language, with Bischoff saying WCW's attempt to compete with WWF by sinking to their level has been a failed experiment. In regards to Russo blaming his failures on Turner's standards & practices department, Bischoff called it "a crock that Russo peddled" and said his excuses were "a load of crap."
Time Warner will retain a minority interest in WCW in order to keep the television rights. Terms of the sale have not been revealed publicly, likely because the number is thought to be embarrassingly low (ha! Just wait until the price Vince paid for it is revealed). Someone close to the sources say Fusient bought WCW for "pennies." Just a year ago, SFX was interested in buying WCW and that deal fell apart because Time Warner wanted $600 million for it. And now it's sold for probably less than a fraction of that. There's some concern about Fusient as a company because a lot of their resources are heavy investments in internet start-up companies, an economic sector that has been struggling lately (yeah, this was right about the time that the dot-com bubble was bursting. Which makes one wonder, even if this sale had happened and Bischoff got WCW, how would it have done when all that dot-com money dried up a year later?).
Bischoff has done a lot of interviews since the sale was announced and while he's been vague on a lot of stuff because the details haven't been finalized yet, he's started to give some insight into his future plans for the company. Hulk Hogan is expected to return but probably not until all the lawsuit stuff over the Russo incident is settled. Hogan's existing WCW contract expires in 2 months, so WWF is always a possibility and he's got a lot of offers outside of wrestling as well. The company has no plans to run house shows in the immediate future, but Bischoff hinted that they would eventually return to that. He wants to go back to filming Thunder separately because the combined Nitro/Thunder tapings kill the crowd. He also wants to keep Nitro on Mondays and plans to continue the once-per-month PPV schedule. They're expected to run all tapings out of one location (long rumored to be Las Vegas, but possibly Orlando or Los Angeles) but haven't decided on that yet.
The short-term plan is to shut down WCW temporarily, probably for 3-4 weeks, and then do a full relaunch. Bischoff also made it clear that he's aware that they need to create new stars. He also said no more active talent will be working as bookers. He admitted spreading himself too thin in the past by being an on-screen performer and the backstage boss and Bischoff apparently plans to stay off-screen this time. Many of the wrestlers' contracts are expected to be renegotiated when they come up, so everybody should probably expect paycuts soon. Bischoff is also interested in keeping WCW's relationship with NJPW and has spoken with Masa Saito about keeping it going. In regards to Scott Hall, Bischoff said there's no spot for him in WCW unless he can get his life straight. Same with Juventud Guerrera, who Bischoff said would have to prove himself outside of WCW before ever being given a chance again. In regards to Mark Madden, he seemed unsure if he would bring him back, saying Madden is very talented but needs to know his role and has a tendency to try and get himself over on commentary. Fusient CEO Brian Bedol has apparently been excited about the idea of doing an inter-promotional show with WWF, figuring that McMahon might be open to the idea if the Ted Turner connection was no longer an issue. But Bischoff understands Vince McMahon a little better than Bedol and doesn't see it happening.
WCW isn't the only company being sold, as just a few hours later, it was announced that UFC is being sold to a Las Vegas-based company called Zuffa, which is owned by a Nevada state athletic commission member Lorenzo Ferititta and other members of his family. While they own the company, the day-to-day operations will be ran by Dana White, a former manager for Tito Ortiz. It's believed Zuffa's connections with the athletic commission in Nevada will go a long way towards helping UFC gain a foothold in Vegas, which would be a major stepping stone for rebuilding the promotion. UFC co-founder Bob Meyrowitz called the sale great news for the company but a sad day for him, but guaranteed that UFC would be back on PPV nationwide within 6 months. For now, Zuffa doesn't plan to change anything before their next big show, but they will be taking charge of the company effective almost immediately.
WCW's latest PPV Sin is in the books and it saw Sid Vicious suffer one of the most physically horrifying injuries in the history of sports. It was even worse than the infamous Joe Theisman leg injury, with Sid's leg bending sideways at a 45 degree angle. Sid suffered a compound fracture of the lower leg, snapping both his fibula and tibia. The injury required a 2 hour surgery during which a steel rod was put in his leg. He's expected to be out of action at least 6-8 months (waaaaay longer). During the PPV, the cameras missed the injury when it happened, but they aired the footage the next night on Nitro. Eric Bischoff went back and forth on whether or not to show it, but finally decided to do so. It was a sickening scene and as he was going to the hospital, Sid was in incredible pain (as you can imagine) and his leg had to be held in place to keep it from flopping around. Sid also reportedly went into the match with a serious back injury that they didn't know about either. The match ended early because of Sid's injury, totally screwing up the main angle which was Road Warrior Animal being revealed as the mystery man. It was originally supposed to be Rick Steiner, but they changed it because they felt too many people already knew. Dave says changing your booking plans because a small group of hardcore fans know about the big surprise is bad booking and the kind of Russo-esque shit they need to stop doing. There was no pop whatsoever for the reveal of Animal as the mystery man and the crowd just seemed kinda confused by the whole thing. There was also the obvious fact that Sid was injured, as blood was getting all over the ring (because the bone stabbed through the skin) while he was taken out on a stretcher. The planned finish of the main event was for Sid to be making a comeback during Animal's entrance and then Animal would turn on Sid so Steiner could pin him, but they obviously had to improvise. Even if things had gone according to plan, Dave can only shake his head at WCW pinning their hopes on yet another washed up 80s star to play a key role in the main event scene.
So....here's the leak break. Most of us have seen this before I'm sure. But if you haven't, watch at your own risk.
WATCH: Sid Vicious breaks his leg (NSFL)
Other notes from the PPV: because of the impending sale, everyone had their working boots on, figuring their job probably depends on how hard they work. As a result, a lot of the matches were good and for the first half of the show, it felt like the 96-98 glory days again. The show also drew 4,600+ paid which is better than they've been doing, so that's a positive. Dave thinks Kaz Hayashi is an incredible talent and says WCW is stupid if they don't do something more with him in the future. The tag match he was in was the show-stealer (4.25 stars) but not a single one of the guys in the match was even mentioned on Nitro the next night, so....same ol' WCW so far. They did an angle with Goldberg losing his match and therefore being forced to retire, which of course nobody takes seriously in wrestling anyway and especially not in WCW. It's just another stipulation that they're going to eventually go back on and further erode the trust of their audience. And the main event was terrible even before Sid was injured and Dave gives it -2 stars.
Oh fuck me, Dave decides to do an in-depth dive on the issue of guaranteed contracts in wrestling and whether guaranteed money makes wrestlers lazy and unmotivated as opposed to incentive-based deals. Dave disagrees and points out once again that wrestlers are actually still way underpaid compared to the revenue a company like WWF makes or what WCW was making a few years ago. Now, of course, many of WCW's wrestlers are overpaid because they don't have the revenue coming in anymore. But in 2000, even if every single wrestler in the company had worked for free, WCW still would have had tens of millions in losses. In WWF, they're still underpaid, but that's their fault. Management in any company is never going to just give away money to be nice. If wrestlers want to be paid what they're worth, they should unionize. But they won't, so moot point. As for whether wrestlers are lazier or work harder depending on what they're paid, Dave thinks it's deeper than that. Look at ECW. For years, they've been paid less than anyone in the other two companies, but you won't find a roster that works harder than ECW's. Even when the checks aren't coming, they have a roster motivated to try and steal the show because Heyman makes them feel appreciated and has always rewarded people who got over with more opportunities to move up the card. What killed WCW morale was a lack of discipline, favoritism and double-standards for top stars, and everyone feeling like there's no upward mobility and no appreciation for hard work. Guys who came into the company hungry to prove themselves eventually had the passion beaten out of them after years of being held down and eventually just started going through the motions to collect a check. He talks about how guys would have show-stealing matches on PPV and then aren't even on the show for weeks after (see Kaz Hayashi as mentioned above). In WWF, you have someone like Jeff Hardy who can't cut a promo to save his life, but he's one of the most popular stars in the company because of his exciting in-ring skills. If WCW had Jeff Hardy, he'd still be killing himself in opening matches, being ignored by commentary, and never pushed. But in WWF, as soon as he started getting a reaction, they got behind him and pushed him. This just goes on and on and doesn't really make a point, it's mostly just an examination of how WCW killed the morale of its own locker room and that's why the inmates running the asylum don't give a shit anymore. But nothing particularly newsworthy.
Now that the Observer awards for 2000 have been named, Dave decides to give his thoughts on the winners and what he agrees and disagrees with the voters on. Wrestler of the year was won by Triple H and Dave won't argue it though he might have picked Rock. Most Outstanding wrestler was won by Benoit, but Dave says Triple H actually had more in-ring great matches in 2000 and thinks he should have won. Dave knew Rock would win Best Interview, but thinks Foley should have won because his promos have more heart and depth to them, while Rock is all about delivery. Foley won the Best Brawler award for the 10th year in a row and Dave strongly disagrees. He had 2 matches in 2000 that everyone remembers (both of which involved Triple H) and that's it, then he was retired for most of the year. Dave thinks Triple H should have won that as well. He also disagrees with Match of the Year, saying he would have picked Otani & Takaiwa vs. Kanemoto & Tanaka. Tony Schiavone won worst announcer and Dave disagrees with that, saying Schiavone only comes across that badly because he's forced to call such a terrible product. He gives it to Women of Wrestling announcer Lee Marshall. Arquette winning the WCW title won Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, but Dave thinks putting the title on Russo later in the year was worse, because it proved they didn't learn anything from Arquette. David Flair should have won Worst Wrestler and Dave is befuddled that he didn't. Vince Russo won Worst Non-Wrestler and Dave thinks it should have gone to Debra, Major Gunns, or Judy Bagwell instead. Vince McMahon won Best Booker, which is obvious. But Heyman got 2nd place for that award and Dave doesn't understand why. Putting aside all the business problems, 2000 wasn't exactly a great year for ECW creatively either.
WATCH: Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs. Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Dave's personal pick for MOTY even though it didn't win the votes)
The turmoil surrounding the American wrestling industry is leading to an influx of American wrestlers looking for work in Japan. But the pickings are slim there also. NJPW is cutting back on foreign talent for budget reasons (it costs more to bring them in) and since the big money is with the homegrown talent and the NJPW/AJPW angle, there's no reason to bring in foreigners right now. A lot of guys are reaching out to AJPW also, but they're not really familiar with any of the new talent. Motoko Baba apparently ain't keeping tabs, so if you haven't worked for AJPW before in the past, she doesn't really know who anyone is and therefore, they're not really interested. Not to mention, AJPW has its own struggles right now. Same with FMW, which is working on a shoestring budget. NOAH can afford to bring people in, but Misawa only wants to bring in a select few foreigners that he knows well and feels comfortable dealing with (as you can see, the deaths of WCW and ECW are about to put a lot of people out of work).
There's been a rumor going around that Jim Cornette is planning to start up a new promotion in California using Japanese wrestlers. Dave says no truth to it at all and that Cornette is actually working his dream job right now in OVW. He works with hungry young wrestlers who are eager to learn, he gets to book television and house shows, and doesn't have to deal with the pressure of turning a profit. And best of all, it's virtually no travel for him since all the shows are in the Louisville area where he lives.
Sable is filming a role in an upcoming movie called "Corky Romano" starring Chris Kattan and Peter Falk.
WATCH: Sable in Corky Romano
XPW ran its first show in months, and it featured the debut of New Jack, who cut a promo talking about how he quit ECW. A lot of people were surprised to see New Jack work the show since he was so involved in the ECW vs. XPW brawl several months ago at the ECW PPV, where he attacked several XPW wrestlers and crew.
RVD appeared on the Observer Live radio show and talked about why he appeared at the recent ECW PPV. He said he and Heyman worked out a deal for him to be paid for that appearance as a one-time thing and that their other issues regarding past due payments are still unresolved. He said he has no interest in working an indie schedule and wants to sign full-time with someone. He would prefer to stay in ECW if their money situation ever miraculously gets worked out but he was realistic about that and says he knows it's probably never going to happen. His agent has had meetings with WWF but RVD himself hasn't met with them yet. As for WCW, he said he hasn't spoken with Eric Bischoff in a long time.
More bad news on the TV front for ECW, as their regularly scheduled show didn't air in Philadelphia either.
At the PPV, Rhino, who is the ECW TV champion, cut a promo saying he didn't want the TV title ("Why am I the ECW world television champion when this fuckin' poor ass company don't even have TV!" as he so eloquently put it) and wanted the world title instead. So even though he's the TV champion, he didn't have the belt. The reason is because someone stole the actual belt a few weeks ago so they don't have it anymore. (Fun fact, not only was Rhino the final ECW world champion, a lot of people don't remember that he was also the final TV champion. He was a double-champion when the company folded).
Missy Hyatt worked the ECW PPV because she has a new book coming out and is trying to get back into wrestling again to promote it.
ECW held two shows this week, the first in Poplar Bluff, MO in front of about 1,200 fans and they did bring cameras and the show was taped, though it's unknown if any of the footage will air (it didn't. Hey, u/RealWWE, 'sup on adding this to the Hidden Gems section?). A bunch of ECW's top stars missed the show. RVD only came back for the PPV and was never scheduled to appear, but Jerry Lynn, Steve Corino, Kid Kash, Dawn Marie, Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger, Big Sal, Chris Hamrick, Balls Mahoney, Mikey Whipwreck, Roadkill, and more all missed it as well. Word is Corino and Heyman had a falling out, with Corino asking for his release and was pulled from the show. There was also heat on Corino because Heyman wanted him to blade at the PPV but when Corino found out he was only getting a check for one week's backpay, he refused. A lot of the talent drove to these 2 shows because ECW couldn't afford to fly them out.
The second ECW show this week was a few hundred miles away in Pine Bluff, AR and it was weird because it seemed to many people that this might be the last ECW show. After it was over, all the wrestlers did a big farewell together in the ring and everyone backstage was said to be crying and saying their goodbyes. Tommy Dreamer, who was in charge of running the shows, said they still plan to hold their scheduled PPV in March, but no one seems to be buying that. If this was indeed the final ECW show, it's weird that it happened in a middle-of-nowhere town in a market that ECW has no presence in, with half the roster missing and Heyman not even there. If this really is the end for ECW, Dave wishes they would have a final show at the ECW Arena. Right now, since Heyman is still out wheeling and dealing with networks and investors and trying to save the company, no one wants to admit that this might be the end. Anyway, the main event of this show saw Justin Credible beat Sandman in a regular match. Afterwards, they restarted it as a hardcore match, and Sandman won. After the show was over, both men hugged in the ring, despite their feud. Tommy Dreamer then came to the ring with a trash can filled with beers and the entire locker room hung out together in the ring and drank beers and hugged and cried while the fans cheered.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was indeed the end of the road for ECW. I legitimately got goosebumps writing this. I grew up a wrestling fan, but unfortunately, I never got to experience the real ECW. I lived in Tennessee so I certainly never got to go to a show. I would have killed to be able to go to an ECW Arena show in the mid-90s. I knew about ECW. I saw pictures and read articles about them all the time in the wrestling magazines I used to obsessively buy, but I never had a way to watch them. The TV show wasn't syndicated in Memphis at the time. Then I would occasionally read about them on the internet, but this is late 90s, so it wasn't like I could just pull up Youtube and watch. Eventually they got the national TV deal on TNN but by then, ECW was past its glory days. And to be honest, I never watched that show either. I was 17-years-old and was dating my first real serious girlfriend. I damn sure wasn't staying home on Friday nights to watch wrestling like some kind of NEEEEEERD! So I only occasionally saw bits and pieces. I bought a couple of DVDs in 2000/2001-ish, mostly just "best of" stuff. It was great but I also hadn't followed along weekly so the storylines and stuff were lost on me. My point is, for the most part, I missed ECW's original run entirely and I've always regretted it. But doing these Rewinds has actually been almost like living through it all again. With this issue, I have now read and recapped every single day of ECW's entire run, learned more about the company than I ever knew existed, and learned to appreciate the absolute genius that is Paul Heyman even more. ECW was amazing and getting to relive it vicariously through the Observer has been an absolute pleasure.
Hulk Hogan was on the Bubba the Love Sponge show again and was joking about Mark Madden being fired. Hogan implied that Madden's firing decision was made by Bischoff but didn't outright say so.
With the WCW sale all but done (lol), the hiring freeze appears to be over. The company has reached out to Michael Modest, Christopher Daniels, and others this week to have talks with them. Word is they're also interested in ECW stars Tajiri, Super Crazy, Kid Kash and announcer Joey Styles.
In a staggering example of WCW's ability to continually kick themselves directly in the balls, there's bad news in Australia. Nitro is being moved to Wednesday nights. The reason this is bad news is because she show will have competition....from Thunder. Yup. Both Nitro and Thunder will now air on Wednesday nights in Australia, on separate channels, going head-to-head with each other.
Mick Foley's wife recently gave birth to their 3rd child, Mickey Jr. last week. Foley is also working on finishing his 2nd book which covers other parts of his career not covered in the first book as well as everything that's happened since the first book was published. It also is expected to defend the WWF against some of the PTC's arguments.
Jim Ross did an interview and was asked about RVD and Jerry Lynn. Surprisingly, Ross seemed totally dismissive of RVD, saying WWF only has mild interest in him and if he can get an offer elsewhere, he should take it. Ross said there's a perception out there about RVD having a bad attitude and said no one from WWF has actually met him yet, they've only met with his agent, so until they get to know him personally and see what they think about him, they're not in a hurry to bring him in. Dave mentioned an incident during the 1997 ECW/WWF angle when both RVD and Sabu refused to do jobs to WWF stars on Raw, which certain people in WWF haven't forgotten. As for Lynn, Ross confirmed they're definitely interested in him, but made it clear that WWF won't be signing either man until the ECW situation works itself out one way or another. Basically, until Heyman throws in the towel and says ECW is dead, they're not going to start poaching his stars. That being said, Dave thinks if Eric Bischoff starts offering contracts to these guys, he wouldn't be surprised to see WWF change their tune on that real quick.