VICE TV premiered its highly anticipated “Who Killed WCW?” four-part series earlier this month. The series was conceived through a collaboration between the creators of the network’s hit show Dark Side Of The Ring and WWE legend The Rock’s production company, Seven Bucks Productions.
The first two episodes of the series provided an overview of World Championship Wrestling’s rise as a rating powerhouse, the formation of the nWo, and the, at times, tense relationship between Eric Bischoff and the executives at Turner Broadcasting.
In Episode 3, fans are introduced to one of the most controversial figures in professional wrestling, Vince Russo. The episode explored Russo’s impact on WCW’s creative direction and how the company was beginning to spiral from a creative and financial position past a point of no return.
While Russo’s involvement in the company initially inspired hope for those within Turner and the roster that things would change for the better, history doesn’t necessarily remember it as so. Today, let’s cover the Top 3 biggest takeaways from this latest episode, specifically reflecting on some of the biggest moments emphasized in the episode.
1) The Pure Chaos that is Bash at the Beach 200
Bash at the Beach was one of WCW’s marque pay-per-views during the company’s existence. While the 1996 edition of the event is remembered as one of the biggest nights in professional wrestling, the night when Hulk Hogan turned heel and officially formed the New World Order (nWo) with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, the event’s 2000 presentation four years later is considered by some to be one of the many cuts that would eventually cause WCW to bleed out.
As the docu-series explores, the event was plagued with issues. This is mainly due to the creative differences between Vince Russo and the duo of Erich Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. While the event’s details have been well documented, debated, and rehashed numerous times over the last two decades, one thing remains the same – Vince Russo and Erich Bischoff still can’t agree on what happened.
Tomorrow on #WWEBackstage, @RealJeffJarrett & @BookerT5x will look back at one of the most infamous events in WCW history: Bash at the Beach 2000! pic.twitter.com/OBPlH4NyEC
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) May 25, 2020
To cover it quickly, there was a significant disagreement about who should be the world champion at the night’s end. Vince Russo wanted to have Booker T, while Hogan and Bischoff disagreed with Russo’s plans to get the title off the Hulkster. The two sides were at a standstill with Hogan’s “creative control” clause in his contract. An eventual compromise was struck, which involved a complicated storyline involving a screwy finish to Hogan’s schedule bout with Jeff Jarret and Hogan leaving the building in “a huff” was made.
While everything seemed to go according to plan, Vince Russo would shock everyone when he came out to the ring unannounced and dropped his infamous “Politican Hulk Hogan” promo. Russo would take shots directly at Hulk Hogan and accuse him of holding company heritage from a creative standpoint, ending it by saying, “You will never see that piece of s*** again.”
While Russo claims this was all part of the storyline, with some venting of true frustration sprinkled in, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff did not take it that way. The incident would lead to Hulk Hogan never appearing on WCW TV again, with a defamation lawsuit to follow, and Eric Bischoff distancing himself from Russo even more than he already had.
One positive outcome of the evening was when Booker T would become world champion for the first time—defeating Jeff Jarrett in the main event. In the episode, Booker T expressed excitement and surprise when told he would be in the match.
“I found out about 10 minutes before I had to wrestle…Man I had so much energy! I remember before the bell rang, I jumped up so high – I was just like ‘let’s get this thing!’. It somebody like Vince Russo who was outside the box to push them to make a decision, and check their conscious for a second…I was totally out of the loop as far as what was going with Vince Russo, Hulk Hogan, and Eric Biscoff”.
The moment echos a recurring theme in the series: plenty of finger-pointing and unclaimed blame.
2) David Arquette Becomes WCW World Champion *sigh*
While pointing out bad creative ideas in WCW from 1999-2001 is about as easy as finding Braun Strowman in a haystack, some stick out well above the rest. One of those questionable choices was putting the WCW World Championship on around the waist of actor David Arquette.
The controversial move was made to help promote the actor’s upcoming movie Ready To Rumble, where a wrestling superfan finds his way into the squared circle and becomes champion. The film also featured several WCW talent and WCW-themed backdrops.
In episode 3, Vince Russo claims that the idea came from the mouth of WCW lead commentator Tony Schiavone. Russo said everyone on the creative team agreed that the plan was a good idea. Bischoff would even say in the documentary that he “didn’t see the harm in it.” While the powers at be didn’t see the negatives, wrestlers like then-champion Diamond Dallas Page did, with even Arquette having some trepidations about the idea himself.
Perhaps the most controversial creative move WCW made in 2000 was the decision to put the World Heavyweight championship on actor David Arquette, a ploy that was maligned by fans.
Who Killed WCW? Part 3: “New Blood” premieres Tuesday at 10PM on @vicetv. pic.twitter.com/WRbp6HkYK9
— Dark Side of the Ring (@DarkSideOfRing) June 16, 2024
Nevertheless, the plan was put into action, and on the April 26th, 2000 edition of WCW Thunder, Arquette pinned Eric Bischoff himself to win the title. While initially excited about the title win, Arquette would quickly have second thoughts on the decision after conversing with Booker T backstage.
As he details in the episode, Arquette sat next to the future WWE Hall of Famer in the locker room shortly after the match. While supportive of Arquette, Booker T revealed that he had never once won the world title during his tenure with the company. The moment would cause Arquette to pause, eventually making him regret the idea instantly.
The moment was universally panned by WCW fans, as many considered it the lowest moment in the company’s history. Despite this, Vince Russo, to this day, feels as though it was the right decision. Noting that it got attention on WCW, both from wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans.
“Bro, I’ll never forget it; the next morning after that, I wake up and go downstairs to the front desk – what’s on the front cover of the US Today? That would have never ever happened in a million years, and at that time, that’s what we were after. And again Bro, I’m going to say it, I write a television show.”
“I would do the same thing today bro, without blinking an eye…Quite frankly I could care less [when asked if he understood people’s negative reactions]”
In the long run, the move did little to help either WCW’s long-term ratings or the film at the box office. Instead, it cheapened the world championship, rendering it nothing more than a prop. As the famous proverb from St. Bernard of Clairvaux goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
3) Vince Russo’s self-reflection on his time in the spotlight
During the final stretch of as part of WCW, Vince Russo – much like Eric Bischoff had before him – became as involved in TV programming in front of the camera as he was behind it. Russo would become a key figure in the New Blood vs Millionaire Club storyline and had a feud with Goldberg. Russo even became the world champion in September 2000, much to the talent and fans’ chagrin.Despite criticism, Russo believes his role on WCW TV was not only necessary for ratings; he asserts that he was more talented at generating reactions than most of the talent on the roster.
“I’m just going to be one thousand percent completely honest with you: as far as an on-air character? I felt that I was better than 80% of that roster…I made the mistake of saying, ‘You know what? ‘F it, if you want ratings, I will go out there and get ratings myself. I almost got killed, bro. I almost got killed!”
As one could imagine, this line quickly spread across the internet in the days following the episode’s broadcast. Despite criticism, Russo remained steadfast in his stance and even reinforced his position.
Wow, some can't handle the "I was better than 80% of the Talent" Comment.
Remember—WCW had a VERY BIG ROSTER.
Am I sorry I said it? Not at all. I don't say anything I don't mean. It's all on Peacock—I'll let my heat Speak for itself.
Matter of Fact, I was so convincing… pic.twitter.com/h5c3z3DZ1Z
— Vince Russo (@THEVinceRusso) June 19, 2024
Vince Russo’s name will be forever remembered in pro wrestling history, albeit from a controversial lens. Some will argue that Russo’s crash TV approach to creativity helped lead to WWE’s boom period in the attitude era, and with the right amount of time and support, it could have done the same for WCW.
On the other hand, others will look back on Russo as a man who played a significant role in the ultimate demise of World Championship Wrestling—extinguishing what little prestige and legacy remained within the company.
But as the man points out, all the evidence one would need to draw to their objective conclusion is in WWE’s library.
The Final Episode of “Who Killed WCW?”
The 4th episode of “Who Killed WCW?” will air on June 25th and will mainly focus on the final edition of WCW Nitro. The outdoor event occurred in Panama City, Florida, during Spring Break.
The more intimate than usual episode of Nitro is most well-known as the moment Vince McMahon announced to the world that he had purchased WCW, leading to Shane McMahon to appear at the end of Nitro’s broadcast – firing the first shot of what would be WWE’s infamous Invasion storyline.
Missed the first episode? Watch it in its entirety for free on YouTube here: