The fireworks behind the scenes in WCW hit a high point in the last week. The finger pointing and tension reached such levels that Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall had an extended closed door meeting before Nitro on Mar. 9 in Charleston, W.Va. When they came out of the meeting, there was believed to be an understanding that all could live with.
The next day, Hall and Nash received word that Bischoff, just hours before their meeting at Nitro, had sent a FedEx package to Sean Waltman, a/k/a Syxx, terminating his contract. Bischoff had alluded to “putting a bullet in Waltman” during the meeting Monday at Nitro, but didn’t specify what he did. Since the meeting was going relatively well, Bischoff said that he would “fix it,” without specifying what he was fixing. Bischoff apparently fired Waltman for no other than reason other than to get back at Hall and Nash.
Hall, Nash, and Waltman dubbed themselves The Wolf Pack and are known as inseparable on the road. They were three members of the original “Clique” that caused so much controversy in the WWF a few years ago. Along with Shawn Michaels, and later Hunter Hearst Helmsley, they gained power behind the scenes in the WWF, and exercised that power through private meetings with Vince McMahon regarding the direction of not only their characters and storylines, but also those of others. Their perceived level of power led to locker room tensions that at one point, in November of 1995, led to Vince McMahon making a rare trip to a house show in Cincinnati, Ohio to try to calm nerves and restore order.
When Hall and Nash, and later Waltman, jumped from the WWF to WCW, it didn’t take long for them to establish influence within WCW. But with Hulk Hogan around, there was always an underlying tension between Hogan and the Nash faction (he is the most outspoken member of the Wolf Pack). Bischoff’s reputation is that he pays close attention to his personal relationship with the top handful of wrestlers in WCW, but is otherwise often dismissive, if not outright disrespectful, with the rest of the roster. Bischoff has tried to juggle the egos of Hogan and Nash while staying friends with both of them, although when push comes to shove, Bischoff — for a variety of diverse reasons — always sided most closely with Hogan.
In recent weeks it had become obvious that Hogan maneuvered himself and his friend Randy Savage into being the focal point of WCW despite having just lost the WCW Title to Sting. At Uncensored this weekend, Hogan vs. Savage in a cage has received up to 95 percent of the hype on television compared to less than five percent going toward the WCW Title match between Sting and Hall. There is no question Hogan is a bigger star than Sting or Hall, but the disproportionate television hype has led to some unrest, not just by the Nash faction, but on the undercard as well.
As chronicled in recent weeks, WCW is overflowing with talented mid-card wrestlers who are frustrated with the perception that there is no upward mobility no matter how over they get with fans, how good their matches are, or how entertaining their interviews are. The belief, backed by ample evidence, is that if Bischoff doesn’t think you “put asses in seats,” he won’t give you the time of day (but he might throw coffee in your face). When Brian Adams joined WCW and immediately moved into a prominent position in the NOW, despite being regarded as an average interview and a way-below-average worker, it led to even greater frustration. The addition of Hogan’s real life friend Ed “The Mule” Leslie (a/k/a Brutus Beefcake) to a prominent on-air role only added to the perception that Hogan was running the ship. If you were in with Hogan, you got a push. If you weren’t, you were destined to be underutilized.
Hogan and Bischoff heard first hand and through the grapevine that there was unrest, but were able to ignore it until word surfaced that the Nash faction were now among those complaining. Hall and Nash have enough clout and star power to be seen as a threat, and they know where Bischoff’s vulnerabilities lie when it comes to info that would interest his superiors. Questions presented by WWF attorney Jerry McDevitt to Scott Hall in depositions last week (regarding the WWF’s lawsuit against WCW for their use of Hall and Nash) led to a virtual panic by Bischoff and Hogan.
The perception, perhaps overblown, was that Hall and Nash were trying to rally the troops against Hogan’s domination of television time and storyline focus. When a comment was made in passing to one of the top tier wrestlers, that wrestler went right to Bischoff and informed him of what the Wolf Pack was saying. That led to tension on both sides to the point that there were rumors over the weekend and especially Monday that there could be some sort of a major blow up.
Bischoff, though, clearly wanted to avoid a blow-up and placate all sides. Given that Hogan has yet to sign a long-term contract, and given that Nash and Hall are locked up for nearly four more years, ironically it is Hogan who Bischoff needs to placate. After all, Hall and Nash can’t go anywhere even if they want to. Several versions of what went on in the meeting were floating around Monday night and Tuesday, and all essentially said that both sides agreed to live with each other as peacefully as possible and make money together even if they didn’t like each other. Hall and Nash joked after Nitro that their meeting with Bischoff and Hogan reminded them of a visit to the principal’s office. As a sign of their so-called cease-fire agreement, Hall and Nash wore Hogan shirts to the ring on Nitro and all three teamed together in the Nitro main event.
Just when it seemed a major blow-up had been avoided, the next day Waltman received the FedEx notice that he had been fired, even though technically he was locked into another year and a half contract and didn’t do anything to breach it. Because his firing was on paper, not verbal like the last time Bischoff fired Waltman (a firing which was retracted less than an hour later), this time Waltman is apparently free to immediately negotiate with the WWF or protest his firing and work to get “rehired” or paid what he is owed. No reason was given for Bischoff firing Waltman, which could technically mean WCW breached their contract, opening themselves up for a lawsuit.
Waltman has been out of action for a few months after suffering a neck injury when a Gatorade jug landed on his head at Road Wild in Sturgis, N.D. last August. In a match against Lex Luger in Mankato, Minn. a couple of months later, he severely aggravated the injury. After informing WCW trainers and officials of his pain, he was still asked to wrestle several matches, including dropping the tag titles to the Steiners, taking a Scott Steiner DDT off the top rope in the process.
He ended up having surgery and has been rehabbing his neck. Although still two or so months away from being able to return to the ring (at which point doctors say his neck, because he had surgery and rehabbed properly, will be 100 percent recovered), he was ready to return to traveling basically any time. It’s possible he will return to WCW as if nothing happened, but it’s perhaps more likely he will end up returning to the WWF (where he wrestled as 1-2-3 Kid) and reunite with Clique members Hunter and Michaels as part of Degeneration X.
Bischoff firing Waltman without apparent justification will be seen by Hall and Nash as a direct shot at them. The firing of Waltman could undo whatever was accomplished in the Monday meeting. If Hall and Nash wanted to leave WCW and return to the WWF (which apparently is the case, and McMahon certainly didn’t close that door in his TSN interview), Bischoff would have to release them (and sources say he is dead set against that) or Nash and Hall would have to try to get fired (but a no-compete clause would probably prevent them from jumping to the WWF right away).
McMahon, meanwhile, may be able to add to his roster the 25 year old, 6-foot-1 Waltman, whose persona would fit in perfectly with DX. During his WCW stay, Waltman not only earned a solid rep for having successfully kicked his pain pill addiction, but he showed improved interview skills and developed a persona that justified his top tier position in WCW with the NWO.
