It's pretty bad when you tell your viewers to click the remote and watch the competition that is kicking your ass in the ratings.

That has actually happened twice recently on WCW television and is a microcosm of the organization's problems.

Scott Steiner did that killer promo in which he ripped on Ric Flair but then dropped Stone Cold Steve Austin's name and told the fans to watch the WWF and see the guy that Flair got fired. Great. What that promo did was kill the New World Order. It got Steiner, one of WCW's few good heel talkers, suspended for two months and left the NW0 as basically Jeff Jarrett and the Harris twins. But don't just blame Steiner. What about the idiots in the back who didn't cut off his mic or at least abruptly cut to commercial?

Then on WCW Saturday Night last week, Jim Duggan "found" the World TV title belt in some trash can and proclaimed himself as champion. Duggan told us how he was to clean the belt. Announcer Scott Hudson interjected, "turn it sideways." Hey, Scott that's a portion of one of The Rock's catch phrases. And, Scott, oh you didn't know? The Rock is a WWF Superstar! That's just great. Just go ahead and tell the fans to watch WWF programming.

The Steiner thing is bad enough but WCW Saturday Night is a TAPED show. How on earth did the editors miss that little aside? And how did they miss the "Who Booked This Crap?" sign in the audience?

So they're practically telling us to watch the WWF.

And why not? Look at who's getting pushed in WCW. The freakin' Wall! This guy has no talent whatsoever and no heat. The Maestro is getting a push! Ugh. And worse, they are putting him in some stupid program with Ernest Miller. It's causing Miller to get a babyface pop, killing yet another heel mic talent. It's not because the crowds care so much about Miller. They just think the Maestro sucks.

The injuries, real ones and angles, are taking a heavy toll. Just look who isn't there: Sting, Goldberg, Bret Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, Kevin Nash and now Scott Hall. And those who have left: Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn and Eddie Guerrero. That's a double whammy because those four ADDED to the WWF.

What this means is a depleted roster and little heat. The Wall and Maestro belong on WCWSN. I mean they had the Wall wrestling Bam Bam Bigelow in the next to the last match on Nitro. They at least could have used Meng instead. The fans care about him. The Harris twins are being pushed as main event talent. They are mid-carders at best.

Is there any hope? As long as you are alive, yes. The current program involving Hulk Hogan and Flair/Luger may finally get Flair over as a heel. If that works, I would start up the Four Horsemen again and make them bad-ass heels like they were years ago. Rub faces in the concrete. Do all the old stuff. I would start the group with Flair, Luger, Jarrett and Dustin Rhodes. By the way, Rhodes did look good in turning against Terry Funk.

All the ref bumps and run-ins during main events are funny but since they usually benefit heels, the marks are getting robbed of seeing good triumph over evil. Jarrett does seem to have taken the Randy Savage role of Chief Referee Beater. It's funny but don't overdo it, WCW.

But the story telling has got to improve. The Dustin heel turn was so telegraphed that it was anticlimatic. Contrast that to the Radicals turning against Cactus Jack. No one saw that coming! Once upon a time, WCW could tell stories. I still remember when Barry Windham turned against Luger when they were defending the world tag team titles against Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Luger was left for dead, Arn and Tully got the belts and Windham became the newest Horseman. It was great theater. But that seems like such a long time ago.......