(2019 Note: You know, this was the 105th post on the original DTM Blog and yet it has graced this new unified site as the overall 100th post. In all honesty, I could not think of a better “landmark” posting to mark the occasion. For the record, I’m using the expanded version that was later posted on the Webstation and not the blog original, which is shorter.)
Sometime in March 2001, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) had purchased all related assets of World Championship Wrestling from AOL-Time Warner after the company had lost close to $60 million in the previous year.
I’m not going to tell the story of how the company, who had reinvigorated the wrestling industry with the creation of the New World Order angle, went from top of the world to the bottom of the comode, since that story is well documented in the book entitled The Death of WCW by RD Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez. However, let’s go on with the fallout of that purchase… based on various internet sources, said book, and my own (vague) recollections. Some of this might be inconsistent, but I’m not in possession of a time machine.
Prior to the airing of the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro, there were some speculation that a WWF superstar would appear on the show. The most common guess was Triple H for some reason or another, but I can’t say I remember for sure. As most of us know, that WWF superstar turned out to be Shane McMahon, who was revealed in WWF storylines as the new owner of World Championship Wrestling. And just like WCW had done to WWF in the past, Shane would kick Vince’s ass at Wrestlemania. In that one promo, the last WCW Nitro basically became a footnote and the purchase of the company was delegated to nothing more than a chapter in the on-again/off-again McMahon family feud, which most people are getting tired of.
Despite that, the bigger picture was realized. Now that Vince owned his competition, the wrestling fan’s wet dream of a WWF versus WCW supercard was going to be a reality. A lot of people truly believed – and yes, I swear to God they truly believed this – that there was no way in HELL that Vince could possibly screw this thing up. What do they know?
First off, the acquisition of WCW resulted in a massive tape library that never saw extensive use until 2002 or 2003, all the trademarks and copyrights, and the contracts of about twenty or so mid-level wrestlers, including the WCW champions who had held on to their belts on that final Nitro. Major stars, such as Kevin Nash or Bill Goldberg, were expensive and thus they sat at home collecting their checks from AOL-Time Warner. Of course, we got Diamond Dallas Page… but still.
Long story short – the WWF-WCW invasion ended up being a bust. Mostly because the WWF guys were always beating the shit out of the WCW guys. They threw in ECW as a means to make things interesting. And you know what? It could have worked, but on the same night, they killed that advantage dead when Vince McMahon’s other brat Stephanie was introduced as the new owner of ECW – yes, they brought in more McMahons. The WCW/ECW alliance became simply known as the Alliance, and had gained great stars such as Steve Austin (a guy who was screwed by WCW early in his career) and Kurt Angle, who had only worked in the WWF in his active career, thus watering down the Invasion to the point where it meant nothing. It was a bust when it should have been the biggest (not to mention the easiest) moneymaker the WWF could put together. And so after several months of the whole invasion fiasco, the storyline ended with the Alliance being put out of business.
Over the next couple of years, the WWF (later renamed WWE when they lost a court case against the World Wildlife Fund – yes, Vince McMahon got his ass kicked by a f***ing panda) would attempt all sorts of crazy stuff. Guys like Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, Goldberg were some of the WCW big names they couldn’t afford for the invasion…. and yet they were signed and in some cases, misused. Heck, they even managed to bring in Eric Bischoff and made him useless. They managed to get Shawn Michaels out of retirement and had Hulk Hogan wear a mask and call himself Mister America. They divided their roster pool into two brands. They tried obscene angles such as fake gay marriages, old guys dying from too much sex, necrophilia angles, and other ridiculous stupidities. They tried all these things and none of it worked.
So why am I recollecting about past times? Because the current product offered by World Wrestling Entertainment is boring the shit out of me.
Let’s just get a few things out of the way. I am not a wrestling expert or a reporter with inside scoops. I am not a dirtsheet writer or member of the IWC. I do not rate matches with stars or rants. I am just a fan of the entertainment called pro wrestling. I have been a regular viewer of this form of entertainment since 1998 during the peak of the real life feud between the World Wrestling Federation and rival organization World Championship Wrestling, where I had written a (now lost and better off) essay called “Why WWF is better than WCW” or something of that nature. I’ve sat through the best the form of entertainment had to offer and I’ve sat through the worst… and the worst they had to offer couldn’t drag me away. Not even Katie Vick.
These days, however, the shows aren’t all that exciting to watch. Oh sure, there are a few moments that I’ll get a kick out of and there will be a few entertaining matches here and there. These moments are so far and between that it’s almost sad to see things deteriorate so quickly that I would gradually (but not completely) lose interest in the product that they’re offering. I think the last time I truly enjoyed myself for the duration of a show was the ECW PPV that aired in June. It wasn’t a true representation of what Extreme Championship Wrestling was, but I’d like to think it came pretty close. The production team did a fairly convincing job of mimicking an ECW-style production and while the wrestling itself wasn’t all that great, it was still enjoyable.
Those kinds of shows are too far and between. Even Wrestlemania wasn’t all that great… although the trailers they showed were pretty funny. And when parody movie trailers are more entertaining the actual event they’re advertising, you’ve got a problem.
It’s almost similar to what’s going on with the Rangers franchise… and yes, I have to mention them too. I’ve stopped watching Power Rangers since the Ninja Storm run, which was the first time I’ve shut out the series since I first saw it regularly during its initial season. Dino Thunder brought me back into the fold for a while (mostly because of the return of one of the series’ former characters), but only watched some episodes through otherwise
And after watching SPD, I’m back to ignoring the eps and focusing mostly on the fanfiction aspect of the fandom.
dtm666 