Tagged under: David Arquette, Eyes On WCW, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash, Sid Vicious, The Worst WCW World Champions, Vince Russo, WCW
By @TrueGodImmortal
WCW was never the best wrestling company and they didn't necessarily have the greatest main event roster either. While the undercard was usually full of talent, WCW stuffed their main event scene with older stars, random legends, and wrestlers way beyond their prime. From time to time, they would make the big mistake of putting an actual non wrestler in a position of prominence in the company. Sometimes, WCW would make those people champions. Sometimes, WCW would offer title opportunities to wrestlers who were below average. That's why I'm here today. I wanted to take a look at the worst WCW World Champions ever. Let's get into it.
5. Kevin Nash
-Years ago, in a galaxy far far away, I was a Kevin Nash fan. Still, despite being a fan of his antics and promos, he was horrible in the ring for the most part following injuries and he has some terrible title reigns to go along with that. He had multiple reigns which resulted in horrible feuds with DDP, Scott Steiner (who just missed this list), Jeff Jarrett, Sid Vicious, and more. His first WCW Title run came courtesy of ending the streak of Goldberg, a move that I am still surprised WCW went through with. Nash was entertaining, but he was never meant to be a World Champion.
4. Jeff Jarrett
-This is when the politics of the business lead wrestlers who don't draw money to the promise land. Why in the hell was Jarrett given multiple title runs in WCW? What purpose did it serve? Who did it help? Did business pick up as a result? Did this really help WCW in the ratings war as they were getting slaughtered by the WWF? I think not. Jarrett was a decent in ring performer, but the truth is that he was mostly boring and not true World Champion material. Through the year 2000, every time Jarrett won the belt, it felt like WCW was about to go out of business. It eventually did.
3. Sid Vicious
-Despite being a prominent wrestler and liked by a few sad fans (Phranchize), Sid was garbage. Simply put. A horrible performer in the ring and an interesting promo. That's it. So, I was shocked when in 1999 and 2000, Sid entered the WCW Title picture. At a time when Benoit, Eddie, Bret, Sting, DDP, and more were available then, it was a shock that the company went with Sid. I guess he was a proven name, but he didn't draw. His feuds with Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, and more did absolutely nothing for the company and the business, and his matches were horrendous. The fact is, Sid Vicious should not be a former WWE and WCW World Champion. Simple as that.
2. Vince Russo
-The only reason why Russo isn't no. 1 on this list is because he actually worked for a wrestling company for years. That's it. Really, this is just 1B to the 1A first choice, as they both are the most ridiculous champions ever in the wrestling world. I wish I could understand why this happened. I wish I could recall who the hell allowed this to happen besides Russo. I wish I gave a damn to discuss this more in depth to let you know just how bad this was, but I'm starting to block this out completely from my memory after I finish writing this. You should honestly do the same. If you ever run into someone who wants to discuss the Vince Russo WCW Title run or even brings this up, go very very far away from them and never return. Fuck Vince Russo.
1. David Arquette
-Do I really need to explain? Do I? No? Okay. Good. I won't. I will not. All I will say is that this was stupid and use to promote a fucking movie. They could have used a promo. A tag team match. Anything. They made David Arquette the WCW Champion. Why? I mean, seriously? WHY? WHY? WHY? Does anyone know? To make matters worse, after Arquette won the title, he ended up turning heel and helping Jeff Jarrett win the belt right after this. I mean, damn, it's bad enough that Arquette won the title, but to have him drop the belt to Jarrett and turn heel to help him win it? TOO DAMN FAR. Fuck WCW for even making this happen period. Arquette is the worst WCW Champion ever because not only did he win it for nothing, he wrestled and DROPPED IT TO JEFF JARRETT, who wasn't much better than he was (I mean Jarrett is an actual wrestler but still). WCW HAD to be ashamed of themselves. They had to be.
-True
Tagged under: EOTR Tag Team Tuesdays, Hall and Nash, Kevin Nash, nWo, Scott Hall, The Outsiders, WCW, WWF
By @TrueGodImmortal
As a fan of tag team wrestling, there are some tag teams that create something that cannot be replicated. When you take two top tier singles competitors and put them together, it has the chance to not work, but in the case of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, also known as Razor Ramon and Diesel, it was a no brainer. Close friends in the WWF while side by side with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and X-Pac (of course known then as the 1-2-3 Kid) in the Kliq, when Nash and Hall left the company, no one knew what to expect when they arrived in the WWF's biggest competition, WCW. As fate would have it, WCW would package these two together in what was seen as a takeover of the WCW by former WWF guys. They were called "The Outsiders", hinting at their past in WWF, and when they got ready to face three of the top WCW stars at Bash At the Beach in 1996, they created the biggest faction ever alongside another former WWF star in Hulk Hogan with the NWO.
The NWO took over the WCW landscape for 2 years and a big part of the success came because of Nash and Hall. Soon after the creation of the NWO, the Outsiders went on a mission to secure the WCW tag team belts to assert dominance as Hogan chased the WCW World Title. Their first WCW Tag Titles win came against the legendary Harlem Heat at Halloween Havoc in 1996, and from there, Hall and Nash would be involved in the title picture for a long time to come. The NWO dominance got annoying honestly, as the Steiner Brothers would defeat the Outsiders cleanly for the tag titles and then the decision would get reversed to protect them and make them champions again. The same would happen when Lex Luger and The Giant defeated them for the belts, and Eric Bischoff reversed that decision. Hall and Nash weren't unbeatable or unstoppable, they just had too much power and clout for other teams to really compete.
Hall and Nash would continue to feud with The Steiner Brothers for months and months and trade the tag titles until Scott Steiner turned on his brother and joined the NWO. Unfortunately for the Outsiders, they would experience the ultimate end when Scott Hall started to have issues of his own personally and it began affecting him on TV. It was weird to see such real life issues played out on TV, and when Slamboree 1998 approached, we knew the inevitable was coming. It was obvious. All the tension was leading into a match for the titles against Sting and The Giant, an unlikely team. When this occurred, we witnessed the breakup of the Outsiders, when Scott Hall turned on Kevin Nash and cost him the tag titles and they began a small feud.
Scott Hall's issues made it tough for their feud to really go on the right way, and eventually WCW put these two back together in 1999 for one last run and one final NWO movement. However, after winning the tag titles one last time in December 1999, Scott's issues had become too prevalent to really deal with. Eventually, Scott would drift away from WCW and the team would fizzle out for the most part. There was a brief reunion in WWF as a part of the NWO again, but it didn't last and didn't seem to make much sense honestly. Hall and Nash teamed a few times, but there was nothing exciting about this run of the Outsiders. After Scott was released from the WWF, we saw Nash and Hall resurface in TNA, but there was no consistency. Nash and Hall were on the same side, then they weren't, then the feud gets slowed down because Scott isn't there to be a part of it. It was a frustrating moment I'm sure for the TNA brass.
The final chapter of the Outsiders legacy was written in TNA in 2010, as a final tag titles run was given to Hall and Nash as they would feud briefly with the Dudley Boyz and try to hold onto the belts. They were quickly stripped of the belts because Scott hadn't gotten his demons under control. Say what you will about WCW, but the Outsiders were one of the most fun tag teams at the time overall. They weren't wrestling juggernauts and they weren't the best technical wrestlers, but the combination of Hall and Nash made WCW the must see show on Monday (and Thursday) nights. They are one of the best tag teams of the 90's era, even if they didn't have many classics or solid tag title reigns. Their impact solidified them.
-True
Tagged under: Bret Hart, Diesel, HBK, In Your House, Kevin Nash, Owen Hart, Review, WIRTB, WIRTB Review, WTF, Yokozuna
Oh, New Generation. I really wish that I didn't have to perform defecatory services upon your lifeless corpse. However, you just make it so easy. I'm Speed on the Beat and welcome to yet another WIRTB Review, the EOTR series where I make up my own acronyms and review the crap, so you don't have to. I've taken a break from my Game of Thrones binge-a-thon to cover an event that screams "my little brother booked this in WWE 2k15 because he thought it'd be a great idea to do to give John Cena and Roman Reigns complete reign over the WWE." I'm talking about, as mentioned, In Your House 3 a/k/a the one where we got three belts, one match, and a couple years of WTF afterwards.
If you ever had to make a case for "backstage politics," look no further than this match. And, yes, I'm anticipating Shawn Michaels to superkick the block button on Twitter to block me after this one. Strangely, I'm cool with that. Because this main event shouldn't have happened--video game or otherwise. Anyway, let's get into the matches. Let's run down the dark matches.
Goldust def. Bob Holly: Goldy is at his goofy cartoon stage, but still not completely at his weird sexually open self that we see in the Attitude Era.
Ahmed Johnson def. Skip: Uh,,,enough said. Next,
Fatu def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley: And Rikishi didn't even do it for The Rock this time.
Taker def. Mabel: Because the world asked for this feud, right?
Our first non-darkie (and that sounded so less racist in my head) pits Savio Vega versus Waylon Mercy. In other words, OG Sin Cara's push versus 2015 Bray Wyatt. Savio wins, because reasons that include Waylon (get it? Wailin' [for] Mercy? It's genius!) leaving WWF after this match. But, at least Waylon damn near kills Savio with a brainbuster, right? Because what's more important: not killing the guy in the ring or trying out something new to get over/piss someone off?
Fuck this next match. It's shit. No, literally, there's (kayfabe?) pig slop and shit just around the ring because it's everyone's 274th favorite hillbilly Henry Godwin versus Sycho Sid. First, how the hell did Sid go from being a major contributor to the Next Generation to...this? Well, people stopped giving a shit. That, plus injuries, and him joining the Million Dollar Corporation with...Tatanka. So, again. Fuck this match.
Owen Hart leaves the arena. Smart man, that Owen Hart.
There's something resembling a match between BBB and British Bulldog that they're hyping to come on next, but I'm already saying fuck this company. And that's usually reserved for WCW. BBB doesn't give a shit...at all. Why should I? BBB's big moves get countered and little to no pops. BB's moves get little to no heat. And I give little to no fucks.
Shane Douglas and Razor go up next. Something something punch, something something Razor's edge, something something 1-2-3 Kid run-in to advance his feud with Razor.
Bret Hart wrestles a pirate. No, I shit you not. Bret Hart wrestles Jean-Pierre LaFitte, a guy who was supposedly related to a real pirate. He wore an eye patch for his glass eye and everything. He also tagged with The Mountie at one point. The match was decent, but I couldn't care much considering what came before it and what came after it.
So, with that said, let's get into our main event. Owen Hart left because his wife was preggers. Guess who he's replaced by? The British Bulldog. So, in our main event, we've got Diesel and HBK (WWF and IC Champs respectively) versus Yoko and BB (Tag Team Champions) for a "one ring to rule them all" match. Whichever team won, they'd win all the belts. Or something like that. I watched it on the Network and I'm still slightly confused by it. Anyway, Bulldog spends most of this match getting destroyed. Yoko puts everything in a rest hold. All is lost for a dirty screwjobby finish until...OWEN HART COMES BACK!
And then gets pinned by Diesel.
Nothing about this PPV made sense. At all. It's like having sex with a woman made of barbed wire. The insanity doesn't hurt less the closer you get to the finish. If anything, it's made more insane that you'd put yourself through such stupidity.
