While the WWF is the subject of one controversial media story after another, Raw’s ratings continue to grow. WCW, meanwhile, is drawing healthy numbers, but the gap between Nitro and Raw has never been greater. Meanwhile, the morale behind the scenes may be at an all-time low. The unrest among the mid-card wrestlers who feel completely ignored by booker Kevin Nash is probably the worst problem, although all is not peaceful among the main eventers either.
Eric Bischoff spent the last week in France with his daughter, who won a contest that sent her there. That left Nash in charge and he did nothing to silence his critics who say he has no leadership skills and rules through bullying tactics. In the past when wrestlers have complained to Bischoff about Nash’s booking style, Bischoff said he promised Nash when he gave him the booking job that he wouldn’t intervene; he said he was going to keep his promise. Several sources in WCW say that Bischoff has given them indications he might be keeping his eyes open for other opportunities outside of WCW. He has told some wrestlers close to him that there are no more major acquisitions to sign. The complete crumbling of the suspect NBC deal also hasn’t helped his own morale, much less that of the wrestlers.
Bischoff is trying to keep morale up with a positive spin. In a speech to wrestlers last week, he said the content of Raw may draw viewers, but in the long run it will turn off sponsors. High ratings means little if no one is willing to pay premium prices for commercial time. He told wrestlers rather than end up like Jerry Springer – having to water down the product and lose ratings as a result – they’d concentrate on what they do well and look at the big picture over the long run. In one example of the media lumping WCW in with the WWF, when Goldberg visited a school in Fort Worth, Tex., the local paper criticized the visit saying eventually “he may rise above the scummy plotlines that will eventually ruin the family appeal of his profession.”
Without Bischoff around, Nash booked a controversial main event – the first-ever televised match between Ric Flair and Goldberg. The match did okay in the ratings, but WCW is long past being able to hotshot their way to a ratings win. The match did little to promote Sunday’s PPV main event. Barring a change in plans, Flair is expected to defeat Hulk Hogan for the WCW Title at Uncensored this Sunday.
Strong hints were given on Thunder last week that Flair will turn heel and Hogan will turn babyface as part of the storyline coming out of that match. Hogan wants to be a babyface again because he thinks that could spark a ratings resurgence for Nitro. Given Nitro’s G-rated format, Hogan is extremely limited in what he can do as a heel. Flair convinced Hogan that he would be able to turn the fans against himself and in Hogan’s favor. Flair, though, for years as a heel was always cheered by a large segment of the audience no matter what he did to turn them against him. And needless to say, there are many in WCW skeptical of whether Hogan will be able to connect with fans as a babyface at his age and in this “Stone Cold” era of professional wrestling. Flair getting the title would be a consolation for him participating in angles he was against, which included David turning on him (David liked the angle; Ric didn’t) and the helicopter gang attack. Flair has expressed a strong desire for one more title reign despite just turning 50 years old.
WCW cannot, because of TBS and TNT policy, mention on television the “first blood” stipulations on the Uncensored main event. They can say it’s in a cage with a barbed wire ceiling and no door, but rather than say “blood” on the air, they have told viewers to visit their website. While it seems hokey (what happens next time TBS airs the first Rambo movie, “First Blood”?), it does make the stipulation seem like it “must be really gruesome” and helps the WCW website get a boost. WCW wants their website to catch up to the WWF’s which is doing great numbers.
Nash and Hogan booked in a way that featured their friends, buried their enemies, and ignored the undercard. Now that Nash isn’t producing numbers or a product worthy of praise, he is the subject of harsh criticism from those he excluded from his booking efforts. For years he’s wanted power. Now he has it and his supposed honeymoon period has been a total mess – on-air and behind the scenes.
