WCW = Blind and Blue

[MizMasta3000]

HHH
Austin
Undertaker
Big Show
Chris Jericho
Rey
Eddie
Benoit
Kane
Foley
.....

You see those guys. Well they are/were arguably pretty major big time guys of their time and of today. Not only do they have that in common but they all got a start in WCW. Now lets play "What if" here and you know where I'm going with this. What if WCW wasn't Blue and saw that these guys (along with their stars like Goldberg, NWO, Sting, Flair, etc.) are the forula for Ratings dominance? Would WWE really even be alive and well today?

 

[Klide]

I had no idea HHH and Undertaker started in WCW.

 

[MizMasta3000]

Paul Levesque and Mean Mark Callous

 

[Airfixx]

Kane???

 

[MizMasta3000]

Bruiser Mastino. Here is a clip of him fighting Sting in 1993 http://www.prowrestling.com/article/videos/200

 

[Montana]

Yep....wrestling is about making stars. WCW didn't put the time into certain guys in the mid 90's because they were catering to legends.

Also Mick Foley started in the WWF, and then moved to WCW, then back to WWF i do believe.

 

[Quintastic One]

If WCW capitalized on the superstardom of the guys they had, then WWE would of been shot out of the water. But also, I don't think we would of ever had Stone Cold around if he stayed in WCW as "Stunning" Steve Austin. And without that interaction with Rocky Maivea, I don't think he would of eventually became The Rock.

All in all there's too many variables to consider because we don't know how WWF would of reacted or gotten themselves out of the hole they were in. They would of probably used Ahmed Johnson or Ken Shamrock in place of Steve Austin as the WWF Badass against Vince McMahon though.

 

[Airfixx]

^^^Yeah, it's fair to say that like the Hogan gimmick, there's a fair few people that coulda run with that push for a fair while, just maybe not a long (and for that you gotta look directly at the worker).

If HHH could be considered a former WCW 'star' (in a lose sense) then surely Hall & Nash should be on that list too?

Peeps seem to be forgetting that AWA, WCCW & the Memphis territory (what became USWA) were a big deal and played a formative part in a bunch of the listed guy's careers. Also see Japan/Canada/Mexico.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

^^^ World Class is easily one of the top territories ever, if not the best. And it is certainly the most under rated and under appreciated promotions to ever exist. They were probably the only promotion in North American history to book and build success around young and fresh talent, not only in the Von Erich Boys, but the Freebirds, Ice Man King Parsons, Chris Adams and etc. And before Austin and Taker were WCW missed boats they were getting their breaks in World Class. Plus numerous legends such as Rick Rude, Kamala, Jake Roberts, Dingo (Ultimate) Warrior and so on gained national prominence in Texas. What people are unaware of is that the way wrestling is filmed today, with the multiple cameramen and various camera angles with sound coming from the ring and focus on facials was all pioneered and perfected in WCCW. And also people believe Raw achieved the highest ratings in wrestling history, that is not true. From 82-84, World Class' syndicated program was always running in the 12-14 ratings territory, simply amazing. Had Fritz wanted to expand its more than plausible to believe WCCW would be one of the top, if not the absolute top, promotions going today and good old fashioned "Rasslin" would be the precedent over "sports entertainment". Sorry for the history lesson, but I was exposed to my dad's Beta-VHS World Class recordings, being a Texas boy and all.

Also Mick Foley started in the WWF, and then moved to WCW, then back to WWF i do believe.

Mick started as a flat out jobber named Jack Foley during his first WWF stint. Once he realized he would never have a successful career if he had the stigma of a jobber, so he took off to the Memphis territories and some foreign adventures before taking a stab at the Dub.

But hands down the biggest missed ship in wrestling history is Verne Gagne screwing up the possibility of being the man to launch the Hulkamania ship. Everything was there, the fans, the heat, the draw. But his stubbornness to give way to sizzle over substance basically marked the end of the AWA's prominence. Vince didn't mind and the rest is history.

WCW was just terribly managed from it's very inception in 1988. After the Crocketts left the booking, Turner had idiots run his company. WCW had two profitable years. TWO in twelve years of business.They seemed to always be looking to the past to build for the future and it paid off for only a fraction of their existence yet it was that thinking that buried that company. And now this is the thinking of TNA's business model. History always repeats itself. And if they were smart they'd be paying attention to the way World Class was built, with young, fresh stars, instead of making the future "missed boats."

 

[The Rated R CMStar]

I still think WCW would have died. The problem wasn't the talent or what talent they had in their roster, it was management. There's no telling if all those guys, even if handled better or actually given a chance in WCW, would have become as big as they did with WWF, so maybe they wouldn't even be important in the grand scheme of things. WWF would have filled the void with other people anyways.

 

[The Rated R CMStar]

And I don't know if you all of you would actually bash WCW for this decision :shifty: but WCW also rejected Batista

 

[LadyHotrod]

I still think WCW would have died. The problem wasn't the talent or what talent they had in their roster, it was management. There's no telling if all those guys, even if handled better or actually given a chance in WCW, would have become as big as they did with WWF, so maybe they wouldn't even be important in the grand scheme of things. WWF would have filled the void with other people anyways.

Exactly. Everything in WCW was going perfectly fine until certain people started being bitches and screwing shit up. Once the higher ups lose control, the company will some crashing down, and that's what happened with WCW.

 

[Evil Austin]

WCW did actually push some stars, Benoit was a former champion which he gave up after beating Sid if I am not mistaken (I may be but I read it somewhere). But CMS hit the nail on the head, it was a civil war backstage with the management.

 

[straight_edge76]

Seriously, I've heard all kinds of crazy stories about the wCw backstage before events, like you would have 60 guys in the back even though only roughly 30 got TV time. You wouldn't know what was going to be the opening segment 10 minutes before airtime. It was simply chaos back there.

Plus Mysterio could have arguably been one of their most popular guys in the latter part of wCw.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

WCW did actually push some stars, Benoit was a former champion which he gave up after beating Sid if I am not mistaken (I may be but I read it somewhere). But CMS hit the nail on the head, it was a civil war backstage with the management.

Kevin Sullivan was booking at this time and had legit beef with Benoit, despite the fact this dipshit basically booked his own divorce and lost his old lady to Benoit, and Benoit didn't want the strap. So he books him to win it anyways, so Benoit wins the strap, throws it in the garbage and he, Eddy, Saturn and Deano all quit that very show and were on Raw the very next night.