Pro Wrestling in the 1990's !

[Legato]

I think the best part of the final years of WCW was it's cruiserweight division. You can say what you want about WCW during it's last years but their cruiserweight division was handled a little better than say WWE's Light Heavyweight Division. It even evolved to the point that they formed a tag division with cruiserweight tag belts and everything

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I think the best part of the final years of WCW was it's cruiserweight division. You can say what you want about WCW during it's last years but their cruiserweight division was handled a little better than say WWE's Light Heavyweight Division. It even evolved to the point that they formed a tag division with cruiserweight tag belts and everything

Well they only formed a tag team division due to Bischoff who was buying the company then (which we knew was doomed) and he was essentially rebuilding the biggest draw of WCW then... the Cruiserweight division. I will post what really was pretty bad soon and something many have forgotten over time.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

When you think of WCW Nitro great matches usually hit your mind. Great ones featuring Jericho , Beniot , Rey Mysterio Jr , Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. Mix in the luchas and Japanese talent WCW would import in and you had some great moves and matches. The division was a harbringer of TNA's X-Division which people point to for great matches with smaller wrestlers and put TNA really on the map. Its likely WCW would have used the same exact talent and the Cruiser division would have evolved into that under Eric Bischoff running things.

So its no shock for years even when WCW was going down in flames the biggest , best part of the company was... the Cruiserweight division. Even when the company was losing to the WWF and the main event was stale as hell. Even with horrible PPV matches like "Age in a Cage" between Piper/Hogan , the Cruisers would constantly put on great matches and make fans happy.

Then this would change in 1999. Oooohh boy would it change...




In 1999 Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera were hired to try and save the company. With talent losses , a stale main event scene and money losses expected in the millions , WCW was needing a creative jolt. Russo was given the job and while some of what he had planned could have worked , what he needed was an editor like Vince McMahon over him. For you see ...Russo is a creative guy. Its just you have to pick the better ideas or you get what you see above. Which is where things for the Cruiserweight division went into the shitter.

Russo had views that some fans hated. He felt that the titles were basically "props" and used to sell to fans. With this thinking the company would go in a direction that stunned quite a lot of people. Russo did make one creative decision and held a WCW World title tournament and made Bret Hart his champion. Because it was long overdue really. Bret had been one of the key signings of 1998 and Russo felt he needed to be Champion. Also Russo sent Hogan and Flair home awhile with plans to build a new Main Event scene with guys like Benoit , Jarrett and others on the roster.

It was the decision to basically make the Cruiserweight division a mockery that pissed many off. Oklahoma (Ed Ferrera) was basically a mean spirited rip on Jim Ross and one so horrible done that it made a lot of people angry. Ross to his credit never seemed to publicly call Russo out for it . But the character started out annoucing then moved to being a manger ...then finally won the Cruiserweight title in a joke match. Fans were stunned ...in disbelief that this comedy character was champion and the credible division that many cited as a key thing for WCW was going into the crapper.

But this wasn't the last damage. Nooo ...a outta shape joke character played by the co-writer should be the death. But the company had more unique plans for its Cruisers. Before this Madusa (a female wrestler) was actually the WCW Cruiserweight champion and beat Evan Karagias in a match for the title. Due to help. Then there was the La Parka decision.

Which was funny as hell. I admit I laughed so hard when they did the voice over for him. The character clearly was inspired by Russo's decision to do the voice over for Taka in the WWF and coined the phrase "INDEED" . Here though it was just too freaking insane to see and Russo got heat for it.



I admit the voice over and guy calling himself the "Skull Master" and all was funny. Then the time he called himself Skeletor as well. But the fact was fans didn't like it. They didn't like what Russo did to this division in 2 years. I won't even mention the TV title...which was at least tossed in a dumpster and defended on WCW Saturday night.

[Legato]

And that my friends is among the many reasons why Russo has the rep that he has. I remember when I once posted on another wrestling forum a poster made a theory that Russo was sent to WCW by Vince McMahon to destroy the company.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

And that my friends is among the many reasons why Russo has the rep that he has. I remember when I once posted on another wrestling forum a poster made a theory that Russo was sent to WCW by Vince McMahon to destroy the company.

Its a good theory but I don't see it like that. McMahon really was pissed Russo left and took Ferrera with him. When Russo left he had basically left an outline for the whole McMahon/Helmsley storyline but Vince was still pissed. Because he leaned heavy on Russo . To not get in that spot again if a head writer left , McMahon basically would place his daughter there knowing she would never leave.

In 2002 before he signed with TNA , Russo was close to returning to the WWF. In fact as he said McMahon told him there was some resistance from him coming back and taking the same job as he had last time. Vince offered him to send in notes and suggestions now to the creative team. Russo was doing that for awhile before Jarrett called him and had him join TNA.

[Alex]

Its a good theory but I don't see it like that. McMahon really was pissed Russo left and took Ferrera with him. When Russo left he had basically left an outline for the whole McMahon/Helmsley storyline but Vince was still pissed. Because he leaned heavy on Russo . To not get in that spot again if a head writer left , McMahon basically would place his daughter there knowing she would never leave.

In 2002 before he signed with TNA , Russo was close to returning to the WWF. In fact as he said McMahon told him there was some resistance from him coming back and taking the same job as he had last time. Vince offered him to send in notes and suggestions now to the creative team. Russo was doing that for awhile before Jarrett called him and had him join TNA.

The story Russo told is that he went to one meeting and didn't like that it was a team or writers and he didn't have complete control.
So, either you got that wrong or Russo lied in his last shoot.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The story Russo told is that he went to one meeting and didn't like that it was a team or writers and he didn't have complete control.
So, either you got that wrong or Russo lied in his last shoot.

In one of his earliest shoots , Russo claimed that he was told it was a team now...Creative team and to send in ideas and suggestions from home. Because Vince McMahon wanted him there (the others ...not so much) and he did that for awhile. But was bored by it and eventually when Jarrett called him about coming to TNA he did that.

[Alex]

In one of his earliest shoots , Russo claimed that he was told it was a team now...Creative team and to send in ideas and suggestions from home. Because Vince McMahon wanted him there (the others ...not so much) and he did that for awhile. But was bored by it and eventually when Jarrett called him about coming to TNA he did that.

He changed his story then, not shocked, he's a pathological liar

[XPac]

Though in a lot of ways I wasn't a big fan of Russos overall philosophy of booking, I will give him credit for essentially trying to push the whole lockeroom instead of 3-4 top guys on any given time. He'll try to give everyone some sort of storyline or angle. And that helped you to care about everyone from the top guys to the curtain jerkers. Course, that essentially equated to a lot of screw job finishers and skits which arguably hurt the in-ring wrestling product... but it had it's upsides.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Though in a lot of ways I wasn't a big fan of Russos overall philosophy of booking, I will give him credit for essentially trying to push the whole lockeroom instead of 3-4 top guys on any given time. He'll try to give everyone some sort of storyline or angle. And that helped you to care about everyone from the top guys to the curtain jerkers. Course, that essentially equated to a lot of screw job finishers and skits which arguably hurt the in-ring wrestling product... but it had it's upsides.

Well Russo apologized to Jim Ross years later for Oklahoma. So lets get that one outta the way. Been forgetting to add this.

Ed Ferrera himself claims that , and I mentioned this months ago ...he called the run in/screw job finishes "surprises" . That they are to surprise the fans and shake them a bit. In the WWF he claimed Vince McMahon would do it only a few times and not so often. However Russo and him had no Vince and they would do them too much. Because as he explained , you can "surprise" an audience to a point they won't care. Because they have seen it so much.

[XPac]

Well Russo apologized to Jim Ross years later for Oklahoma. So lets get that one outta the way. Been forgetting to add this.

Ed Ferrera himself claims that , and I mentioned this months ago ...he called the run in/screw job finishes "surprises" . That they are to surprise the fans and shake them a bit. In the WWF he claimed Vince McMahon would do it only a few times and not so often. However Russo and him had no Vince and they would do them too much. Because as he explained , you can "surprise" an audience to a point they won't care. Because they have seen it so much.

To a degree, I don't mind screw job finishes on TV matches. I think they should be VERY limited on PPV matches that people actually pay to see. Ideally PPV matches are the pay off. But for a free TV match, I won't complain too much about screw jobs. I won't say there weren't times in WCW where they were sort of overkill (with the nWo in particular doing a run in essentially every match), but it's free TV so I'm cool with it. And in a lot of ways the big TV matches are designed to build up towards the PPV ones anyways.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

To a degree, I don't mind screw job finishes on TV matches. I think they should be VERY limited on PPV matches that people actually pay to see. Ideally PPV matches are the pay off. But for a free TV match, I won't complain too much about screw jobs. I won't say there weren't times in WCW where they were sort of overkill (with the nWo in particular doing a run in essentially every match), but it's free TV so I'm cool with it. And in a lot of ways the big TV matches are designed to build up towards the PPV ones anyways.

There was a line in the Death of WCW where its claimed on one PPV WCW had , they had a run in and DQ finish in almost every match. It was just that freaking insane then.

[XPac]

There was a line in the Death of WCW where its claimed on one PPV WCW had , they had a run in and DQ finish in almost every match. It was just that freaking insane then.

Yeah, I think they started to overdo it a bit in WCW.

But I suppose to a degree that comes with the territoriy when you've got an uber heel stable. It's not like the Horsemen didn't do the same thing when they were on top. WWE usually didn't run with stables for too long (DX being a rare exception), so it was less of an issue for them. But WCW at times were more centered around heel factions, and by design heel factions do run ins for their top guy.

But again, I think that should be left mostly to the TV stuff. PPV's I think deserve a real pay off. That's where they sort of dropped the ball IMO.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

Though in a lot of ways I wasn't a big fan of Russos overall philosophy of booking, I will give him credit for essentially trying to push the whole lockeroom instead of 3-4 top guys on any given time. He'll try to give everyone some sort of storyline or angle. And that helped you to care about everyone from the top guys to the curtain jerkers. Course, that essentially equated to a lot of screw job finishers and skits which arguably hurt the in-ring wrestling product... but it had it's upsides.

also russo liked to push the young guys, something smarks around the world constantly yearn for.

To a degree, I don't mind screw job finishes on TV matches. I think they should be VERY limited on PPV matches that people actually pay to see. Ideally PPV matches are the pay off. But for a free TV match, I won't complain too much about screw jobs. I won't say there weren't times in WCW where they were sort of overkill (with the nWo in particular doing a run in essentially every match), but it's free TV so I'm cool with it. And in a lot of ways the big TV matches are designed to build up towards the PPV ones anyways.

i'm pretty much with you here, i just didn't like the pointless run ins, where the guy running in had nothing to do with what was going on. once in awhile that's OK like for a monster heel just to flex muscle but it happened too much.

watched Uncensored 99

kidman vs whipwreck for the CW title. very good debut for whipwreck. a completely random unadvertised match. this is a big part of what i miss about wrestling in the 90's, just never knowing when who was going to show up where. WCW is starting to get pretty heavy on the ECW talents.

stevie ray vs vincent for the leadership of the NWO black and white. MOTYC. not really, it pretty much sucked but was funny enough.

nash vs rey, pretty good actually. surprised how much nash bumped and sold for rey. non-clean finish protects rey.

jerry flynn vs the cat & sonny onno handicap match. not very good but funny. sonny was awesome and should manage every japanese wrestler that ever wrestles in the US.

sandman vs raven w/chastity vs bam bam hardcore match. fun stuff with some cool spots. chastity turns on raven for sandman.

windham/hennig vs malenko/benoit lumberjack match. very good. kendall windham & bobby duncum are among the lumberjacks so the WT rednecks are beginning to assemble. from a smark point of view i'm not fond of the finish as it does malenko/benoit no favors, but i was never a benoit/malenko/horsemen fan so it didn't bother me as a fan/mark.

saturn vs jericho dog collar match. good. saturn has went full marylin manson with his look and theme music now, gotta love the 90's!! lots of cool spots involving the collar/chain.

booker vs steiner w/buff. AWESOME. both guys are on top of their game and do some great work. they top the great TV match they had just had a week or so before. finish see buff miss booker with a chair and lay out steiner. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! buff & steiner are like chocolate & peanut butter at this time, it will break my heart to see them split.

flair vs hogan 1st blood barbwire cage match. at the time i HATED these main events, FUCKING HATED them. now i can at least laugh at them. still it's a 1st blood match that ends with a pinfall, WTF?? i can look past flair being busted open in the 1st 5min and the match not ending, flair's heel turn has been foreshadowed enough to buy charles robison being in his pocket, but why not end it when hogan is busted open?? also kind of weird to see holywood hogan playing the face in WCW, wrestling like old school hulk.

anyways overall i dug the PPV. all the matches good or bad were built for weeks xcept for kidman/whipwreck, which was very good anyways.

[XPac]

watched Uncensored 99

kidman vs whipwreck for the CW title. very good debut for whipwreck. a completely random unadvertised match. this is a big part of what i miss about wrestling in the 90's, just never knowing when who was going to show up where. WCW is starting to get pretty heavy on the ECW talents.

stevie ray vs vincent for the leadership of the NWO black and white. MOTYC. not really, it pretty much sucked but was funny enough.

nash vs rey, pretty good actually. surprised how much nash bumped and sold for rey. non-clean finish protects rey.

jerry flynn vs the cat & sonny onno handicap match. not very good but funny. sonny was awesome and should manage every japanese wrestler that ever wrestles in the US.

sandman vs raven w/chastity vs bam bam hardcore match. fun stuff with some cool spots. chastity turns on raven for sandman.

windham/hennig vs malenko/benoit lumberjack match. very good. kendall windham & bobby duncum are among the lumberjacks so the WT rednecks are beginning to assemble. from a smark point of view i'm not fond of the finish as it does malenko/benoit no favors, but i was never a benoit/malenko/horsemen fan so it didn't bother me as a fan/mark.

saturn vs jericho dog collar match. good. saturn has went full marylin manson with his look and theme music now, gotta love the 90's!! lots of cool spots involving the collar/chain.

booker vs steiner w/buff. AWESOME. both guys are on top of their game and do some great work. they top the great TV match they had just had a week or so before. finish see buff miss booker with a chair and lay out steiner. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! buff & steiner are like chocolate & peanut butter at this time, it will break my heart to see them split.

flair vs hogan 1st blood barbwire cage match. at the time i HATED these main events, FUCKING HATED them. now i can at least laugh at them. still it's a 1st blood match that ends with a pinfall, WTF?? i can look past flair being busted open in the 1st 5min and the match not ending, flair's heel turn has been foreshadowed enough to buy charles robison being in his pocket, but why not end it when hogan is busted open?? also kind of weird to see holywood hogan playing the face in WCW, wrestling like old school hulk.

anyways overall i dug the PPV. all the matches good or bad were built for weeks xcept for kidman/whipwreck, which was very good anyways.

The neat thing there is that I honestly think there's like 4 matches on that card which could have been main events for a secondary PPV at least.

If nothing else, I miss the depth that WCW in particular had in the 90's. That's probably something we'll never have again.