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Dave Hanna

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WCW'S LAST STAND
or how WCW lost the ratings war

October 26, 1998.

Anyone know what happened that night? For those of you don't, it was the last night Nitro defeated Raw in the ratings battle. Since then Nitro has lost every head to head match up. On January 4, 1999 WCW officially surrendered and conceded the 10pm hour to Raw. In addition, WCW will move Thunder to Wednesday's in the face of WWF's Smackdown.

Looking at the ratings today, it's difficult to believe that Nitro was ever competitive. Raw consistently doubles and in some cases triples Nitro's ratings in the head to head hours.

The truth though is that Nitro was still competitive for the first quarter of 1999. Nitro's first hour (the 8-9 hour) was banging out fives up until March 8, 1999. The first hour scored a 5.0 exactly that day. The first hour (and for that matter any of the three hours) has never rated higher than a 5 since.

What happened?

We are rapidly approaching the one year anniversary of Nitro's last competitive show ratings wise. It was the night of January 25th. Nitro's third hour scored a 5.1 Raw's second hour a 5.2. So close! Yet this would be the last time a competitive hour of Nitro would score in the fives. Also, they would never come this close again to passing Raw.

Even with many of the same workers many smarts decry now, and with Bishoff at the helm, Nitro was still fighting the good fight.

This column will examine the shows, angles and booking decisions in this, what would be come, the final battle between the big 2.



Setting the Stage

In the Summer of 1998 the ratings went back and forth. Each show battled hard to stay on top.

WCW - Goldberg was WCW's champion. Anyone who watched Goldberg defeat Hogan (they replayed the match on the Best of The Millennium show) saw a very loud and hot crowd. (His US title win was also red hot). This crowd was as hot as any WWF crowd for an Austin or Rock match. Goldberg won clean and defeated the hated Hogan. I do want to note that Hogan played the heel role very well in this match. Acting cowardly and not playing to the fans. Goldberg even kicked out of the leg drop! For anyone watching it seemed that the torch had been passed. True, WCW blew a money PPV match for free, but it was a way to tell all the fans that a knew era was about to begin.

Unfortunately Goldberg was de-pushed. His first title defense on a PPV was against Curt Henning (Mr. Perfect). While Hogan went on to feud with the Ultimate Warrior. What is reminiscent of this was the just ended Big Show title reign, or how Mike Awesome is used in ECW. Despite being the champ, Goldberg was not the top man in the company.

Perhaps right after Goldberg's title victory this was the beginning of the end. Finally the politics and cliques in the lockeroom would do WCW in. The WWF was not competitive in 1995-1997 that the antics of the various movers and shakers in WCW did not hurt the company. Remember in 1997 it was Austin and Hart. No Rock, Mankind, Kane, HHH etc. (that is to say they were not the stars they are now). But, these WWF stars were able to move up into the top spots. And guys like Mark Mero we depushed. Hogan, Nash, Hall and the rest were not going to give up there top spots. Not even to the one man who could have stopped the bleeding. There were two men actually.

I already covered Goldberg briefly. Let's turn to the other man. He is no young hungry worker. But he is WCW's only true legend. Yes, I am talking about Ric Flair. His return on Nitro on September 14, 1998 beat Raw 4.5 to 4.0 Hard to imagine isn't? But, like Goldberg, Flair took a back seat to Hogan and company.

WWF - Meanwhile, the WWF was grooming it's third cross over star (Hogan and Austin being the first of course) in the man known today as The Rock. The Rock was the people's Champion over the summer. They also were lucky that a 13 year old veteran found it himself to make one last big run. A run that continues to this day and makes him the #3 babyface in the Fed. Mankind's bumps in the famous (or I should say infamous) Hell in the Cell match will forever be remembered. These two stars, one young another old would, along with Austin, made the WWF unbeatable. Not since Hogan, Savage and Warrior were together did the WWF have the luxury of having the top draws in the business.

Going into the Fall of 1998 the seeds were planted. The WWF had planted seeds that would lead to heights unknown for a wrestling promotion. Meanwhile the seeds of destruction had been sown by WCW. Two PPVs, one by each show, would set in motion the events that lead us to where we are today.

Let's start with Survivor Series 1998. A lot of people will tell you SS 97 had a bigger impact. The Smarts site two reasons. One, Bert Hart behind the scenes was fighting the WWF's efforts to move to a more adult oriented show. Second, Vince McMahon's handling of the WWF title bout led to the creation of the most over heel the business has ever seen. Setting up the hottest feud ever in McMahon vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. I am not going to debate this. I will only say that SS 97 aired in Nov 1997. The WWF did not win a Monday night till April 1998. So how significant could the Montreal screw job have been? I leave how the WWF came back in April to others.

I will tell you how one reason SS 97 was important though. It led to SS 98. This is to me the best booked PPV in the last couple of years. The inspiration for the Rock's heel turn came from SS 97 of course. This heel turn made the Rock into the Superstar he is today. He generated tons of heel and face heat. His best line, "This isn't sing along with the Rock!", only made the fans chant his catchphrases more. This line probably is one reason fans chant along so loud as they were taught to by the then heel Rock. Rock's elevation to a world title holder is a good contrast to how Goldberg's elevation was being handled. The Rock went into a feud with the then #2 babyface of the company Mankind. The Rock didn't end up feuding with a Curt Henning. Austin of course stayed as the companies headliner, but unlike Hogan, was still drawing big. The Rock and Mankind would go on to feud over the title on the next three PPVs.

With the WWF building momentum for the knew year, WCW put on Starccade 1998. SC 98 featured the main event of Champion Goldberg vs Kevin Nash. Now some smarts will tell you that having Goldberg lose his undefeated streak contributed to the decline of WCW. I think that is way off base. Remember, Raw was starting to put together strings of ratings victories while Goldberg was undefeated. Mark Madden and others miss the point. The streak did not matter, hell, the Rock lost to Kurt angle last week, what mattered was how Goldberg was used. WCW's last ratings win occurred on November 2, 1998. DDP fought Goldberg the night before on PPV. This match was replayed and helped Nitro pull ahead for the final time. But, look at who Goldberg fought? DDP?! Who, despite what Steve Andersen and other say, is an upper midcarder at best. He is not perceived by fans to be a top guy like Hogan, Nash or Sting. The point is, until SC 98 Goldberg was feuding with the upper midcard, not t! he main eventers.

Finally, Goldberg was feuding with a main eventer. It didn't help they brought in the heatless Bam Bam to muddle the waters, but at least Goldberg had moved to the top now. We all know how it turned out. Goldberg lost to Nash after massive interference by the Wolfpac (or overbooking, you choose). Again, this really was not the problem. Austin, the Rock, Mankind, HHH they all lay down now and then. Remember Bossman's recent victory over the Rock? Could you imagine Hogan ever laying down for Shane Douglas?

What Starccade did was start the process of killing Goldberg's heat. Had Goldberg came back on Nitro or on the next PPV to get back the favor all would have been good.

January 4, 1999 marked the first Monday of the new year. Nitro was live from the Georgia Dome!! The advertised main event you ask? Goldberg vs Nash, the rematch! People keep looking for the one show or match that changed everything. You hear it said about SS 97 a lot. I have mentioned a few shows and moments all ready. This is another one. Goldberg never got to fight Nash that night. Instead Hogan and Nash went at it. Nash conspires with Hogan to reform the "elite" NWO/wolfpack by laying down to a Hogan finger poke. Poor Goldberg would have to wait till the Summer to even the score with Nash. By then it was far to late to matter.

Over on Raw they also had a title match. The Rock vs Mankind. I should note a couple of things. First, back then Raw was taped every other week. This show was taped a week ago. Like I have said, the ratings race was still competitive and with Nitro promising a big show at the Dome, the WWF booked a big main event of it's own. Many fans will remember Tony Shivones's infamous words, and I am quoting here from CRZ's transcript of what Tony said on 1/4/1999 "Like that will put butts in the seats". The irony of those words can not be overstated as today WCW house shows draw less than 1000 and Nitro's are lucky to be half full.

Mic Foley won his first WWF title that night. His title win beat the legendary Hogan's "victory" in the ratings. Final hour ratings; WCW-4.8, WWF-5.9. WCW was trying though. The formation of the elite NWO was an attempt to reclaim whatever magic the gimmick once had. The problem with the NWO from the beginning was that they never gave any heat back to there opponents.

This leads us to Nitro's last 5.0 rating in a competitive hour. The night was January 25, 1999. Fans were still willing to give WCW a try. WCW to there credit put on a good show that night. They started the 9:00 hour with a match that was already 10 minutes in. Scott Hall was fighting Bam Bam in a ladder match. Not a bad marquee match. PPV material I would say. Chris Hyatte once wrote that if he were booking Nitro he would have every hour start with a main event like match. You ever notice how Raw always puts on a good match around the 10:00 hour? Bert Hart fought Booker T in a great match. Goldberg took on Scott Norton in the third hour. Your main event featured Ric Flair, Chris Benoit and Steve McMicheal vs Hogan, Nash and Scott Steiner.

Over on Raw the main event was Triple H vs The Rock. The Rock is the champ at this point. Many may not remember this match, but if you ever watch it you might agree with me that is should have been nominated for MOTY. The ending saw Chyna turn on HHH, beginning Triple H's path to the dark side we see today.

Final score of the 10-11 hour; Nitro-5.1 Raw-5.2

One tenth of a point! You can imagine the shock in NY and the joy in Atlanta. Despite all the miscues sited above, WCW was still within striking distance. Bishoff could not wait for next week. Surely Feburay 1 would mark the return of Nitro's dominance.

Unfortunately for WCW, the WWF was aspiring for bigger heights. The company was planning on going public later in the year. Wrestlemaina was 2 months away. As the WWF has done in the past, they went all out promoting Mania and the brand name in general. Most smarts don't comment on it, but after that close call in the ratings war, 6 days later the WWF aired a commercial. Not just any commercial, but a commercial during the Super Bowl! Also, they put on a special half time show on the USA network, which drew a record cable rating at the time.

The exposure that this gave the WWF was tremendous. On the next night, Feburay 1, Raw destroyed Nitro.

Score;
9-10 hour; Nitro 4.3, Raw 5.6
10-11 hour; Nitro 4.2, Raw 5.9.

Raw would go on to consistently bang out 6s and even break a 7 now and then.

Feburay also marked the debut of the Big Show (aka The Giant). This was the WWF first major free agent acquisition from WCW, and showed fans that the big names were no longer going South, but North. Chris Jericho would be the next big free agent to make the jump.

Another interesting number to ponder is how well Nitro scored on Feburay 8th (a 5.7 average for the 3 hours). Raw was preempted due to the Dog show and were willing to try Nitro out. Unfortunately they did not like what they saw to stick around. This is what CRZ had to say about the show "RAW is live next Monday, and it actually SADDENS me to say that they have nothing to worry about because WCW couldn't turn me to their side tonight."

In most wars, the line between victory and defeat is small. What would have happened if Goldberg had beaten Nash at the Georgia Dome? What if Ric Flair was given one last run at top instead of being portrayed as a lunatic? What if Hogan and the rest of the NWO set aside there egos and jobbed now and then? Even if Nitro had been booked better it is unclear that the WWF jurrganant could have been stopped. What is clear is that Nitro used to score in the 4s consistently but now are lucky to break a 3. Certainly the poor handling of Goldberg and Flair hastened the demise of WCW.

Eric Bishoff never did realize what went wrong. He complained about not being able to do more adult oriented things. He hoped by April that advertisers would desert Raw. He hoped Hogan and Savage could lead the company back. In some ways Vince Russo is making the very same mistakes. He complains endlessly about being handcuffed by Standards & Practices (not the tag team!). He is relying on Nash, Hart, Sid and the rest of the old guard to lead the way. History would suggest he is doomed to fail.

That is the lesson to be drawn from this. That unless you learn from your mistakes, your doomed to repeat them. WCW has a lot of studying to do still.

Dave Hanna
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