PART 9
nWo History – Part 9
Despite WCW business continuing to reach record levels, unrest backstage continues to be a growing concern. The fallout from Eric Bischoff firing Sean Waltman (Syxx) last week included an angry Kevin Nash demanding a release from his contract. According to what Nash was telling others and what he said on a Prodigy chat a few days later, Bischoff refused to release him.
Said Nash: “In the heat of the argument I asked for my release. Bischoff said ‘Are you crazy, you’re not going anywhere. You’re locked for 4 years; I’ll send you to Poland before I send you to Vince.’ I replied, ‘They love me in Poland.'”
That conversation took place before Thunder. In fact, as soon as Nash walked into the arena in Baton Rouge, La. on Thursday, he declared, “Sh–‘s going down tonight.” He apparently cornered Bischoff and demanded an explanation for what happened with Syxx. Bischoff, according to Nash, admitted that he was mad at him and Scott Hall and let his temper get the best of him. Bischoff told Nash to tell Waltman to call him because he could have his job back if he wanted it. Nash indicated he thought it was Bischoff’s place to make the first move.
Waltman and his agent began negotiations with the WWF last week within hours of receiving notice of his firing. The talks continued over the weekend between Barry Bloom and WWF reps Ed Kauffman and Jim Ross. As of last word, no agreement had been reached, although it would probably be too soon for that to happen. The WWF likely isn’t interested in introducing Waltman until after Wrestlemania since all Wrestlemania storylines have been worked out and Vince McMahon always likes to save a few surprises to jump start the WWF after Wrestlemania.
It is also a possibility Waltman won’t end up in the WWF as part of DX, but will return to WCW. Bischoff might like to save face a little bit for his firing of Waltman and the best way to do that would be to rehire him, perhaps with a raise that had been discussed before his neck injury. Different WCW sources had spread different stories about why Waltman was fired. The Detroit News reported Friday that Waltman was fired for disciplinary reasons, although that wasn’t at all the case. Nash, at the start of his Prodigy chat Sunday evening even began with a company line, saying Bischoff had to answer to higher powers and that Waltman’s firing and his and Scott Hall’s tension with Bischoff was just a coincident of timing. Later Nash broke from that “company line” and made it clear it wasn’t a coincidence.
“You have to know Eric Bischoff to understand why he did what he did,” Nash said. “Eric was very angry at Scott and I and I feel that the firing of Syxx was to put us in our place. By the same token in retrospect Eric has kept the door open for Syxx [to return].”
While Syxx’s immediate future is still up in the air, Nash and Hall’s future isn’t. Nash admitted that he asked for his release, but also said that it’s unlikely the WWF could match his salary in WCW — his recent raise put him at an average of about $1 million per year for the next four years (or “three years, nine months,” as Nash specifically put it). Nash said he and Hall have agreed to do their best to make money with Bischoff and Hogan for the next four years even if they don’t always agree professionally with decisions that are made.
While Hall did the clean job to Sting in the WCW Title match, Nash wasn’t quite as cooperative when it came to his match with the Giant. Originally Nash was going to get pinned, then he was going to at least get powerbombed by Giant after a DQ ending. Ultimately Nash refused to be powerbombed by Giant when the scenario was laid out that Giant would no-sell a shot by Nash with a baseball bat before the powerbomb. The compromise was that Giant could no-sell the baseball bat shot, but Nash would flee the ring and Giant would beat up on other NWO members instead of Nash.
The political heat wasn’t reserved for Nash, Hall, and Hogan. Ric Flair is about as disgruntled as he’s ever been. The locker room perception is that Hogan wants to keep Flair and Bret apart as long as possible because Hogan realizes Bret could catch fire if associated with Flair, who is as over with crowds as anyone in WCW. Hogan has reason to fear that, since Souled Out, headlined by Flair vs. Bret (and without Hogan or Sting on the card), drew an estimated buyrate just over 1.0 while the Hogan vs. Sting rematch at SuperBrawl drew just an estimated 1.1 despite much more build-up. If Bret got hot, Hogan would lose leverage with Bischoff and might become expendable. He has yet to commit to a long-term guaranteed WCW renewal.
Also on the undercard, the finish to the TV Title match changed as Eddie Guerrero was originally scheduled to beat Booker T, but “because too many people knew the finish ahead of time,” Guerrero was asked to lose. The finish to the U.S. Title match was changed several times and Dallas Page is being painted as the villain in some circles. Originally Raven was going to win the title, but as a concession to an angry Benoit, he was promised the belt last week in exchange for his further participation in the angle. Over the weekend, Page lobbied to get the finish changed and in the end, he won out and got to retain the title.
Such political maneuvering and changes of finishes happen all the time (especially in WCW), but it’s been happening more than usual recently. The mentality is that with Hogan in virtual control of the company, unless you’re Hogan’s ally (i.e. Randy Savage, Ed Leslie, Giant, or Sting) you’re going to have to fight for whatever you can get even if you deserve more. That leads to more paranoia and backstabbing than normal among the others, which may be what Hogan prefers.
Meanwhile, WCW has had 21 straight shows sellout, Nitro set a record Monday with a 5.6 rating, and first-day ticket sales remain at record levels. Hogan is making sure he and his friends are on top of cards so they can claim primary credit.
With WrestleMania just days ahead, WCW held nothing back on the Mar. 23 three hour live Nitro from Louisville, Ky., hyping in the opening five minutes of the show that Nitro would be a PPV caliber show. The three main events announced were Roddy Piper vs. Randy Savage, Kevin Nash vs. The Giant, and Diamond Dallas Page challenging Sting for the WCW Title.
