Was there a reason Goldberg/Hogan happened on Nitro?

[Rammsteinmad]

Besides WCW being dumbasses.

I think I may have heard/read somewhere they did it to get a spike in ratings. Can't remember though.

Discuss.

[The Naitch]

Yeah it was like a desperate move or something like that.

Plus it had to do with it being in the Georgia Dome. A huge venue, giving it a big match feel

[JimmyMess]

And Goldberg was always billed from Atlanta, hometown boy-type thing

[whiteyford]

On July 6, 1998, airing from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, Nitro defeated Raw in the ratings when Goldberg pinned Hulk Hogan cleanly to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match drew a 6.91 rating for the quarter-hour, the highest rating recorded in the ratings war up to that time. It was widely speculated, however, that the match would have made millions of dollars had it taken place on pay-per-view instead of Nitro. After this episode, Raw immediately took back the lead.

All about the ratings...and Hogan still didnt lose clean.

[The Naitch]

something I found from another forum

Monday Nitro
Date: July 6, 1998
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 41,412
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay

So I found a website where I can download every episode of Nitro. This is very helpful since there are some individual episodes I want to review but can’t do because it would take months if not years to get up to them going from the beginning like I’ve been doing. This show is important for multiple reasons. There are 12 matches here on a 3 hour TV card. For one thing, this is one of the very last wins for Nitro. Other than the Warrior weeks of all things and the night after Halloween Havoc 98, Nitro never won again, which was due to more idiocy and cost them millions of dollars but that’s another story.

The reason this show is something I’ve wanted to do is because it has the loudest pop and one of the coolest moments ever. Tonight is the night the Goldberg faces Hulk Hogan for the world title. Now there is a backstory here. Since this is WCW’s home area, a lot of the big shots from Turner were going to be there. Hogan thought to himself that if I’m in the main event and we draw a record crowd (they did) then the executives will think I caused it. The idea was to announce a POST show NON title match between Hogan and Goldberg. Somehow this got changed to a TELEVISED TITLE match. This was announced a mere FOUR DAYS before the show. Now let’s take a look at why this is very stupid.

Number one: It’s HOGAN vs. GOLDBERG. That’s the main event of Starrcade, not a Nitro in July. This was 1998. It’s not like the company was completely dead here or Hogan didn’t mean anything. This was still Hulk Hogan and he was still a huge draw. Goldberg was undefeated here and had broken 100 wins and was US Champion so he was a huge deal. This is a PPV main event at minimum and the biggest match of the year more than likely. That probably cost them millions and millions of dollars.

Number two: This was announced 4 days before the match happened. With the internet being a very limited factor, if you didn’t see Thunder, there’s a very good chance you didn’t know this match was happening at all. On Rise and Fall of WCW, they tried to make it sound like all the tickets were sold the day the match was announced. In other words, WCW would like you to believe that NO ONE bought a ticket to Nitro until they knew about this match.

Number three: This shows how obsessed Bischoff had become with beating Vince, even for one night. The ratings streak had come to an end and Nitro had lost like 5 or 6 weeks in a row. Bischoff decided that it was worth giving away all that money for a surefire win. The problem was that only diehard fans and the people working for the companies would know this and it wouldn’t bring in much money at all. This became a trend for Bischoff as he became obsessed with a quick solution to WCW’s problems when there simply wasn’t one anywhere.

Number four: This is the last one I promise. This threw off all creative plans for WCW. Keep in mind that Hogan was world champion at this point and all of a sudden Goldberg was going to be. Any plans they had for Hogan, which included matches with Nash and Hart likely coming by the end of the year including Hart at Starrcade, were now being thrown away in favor of Goldberg being world champion. Since there were very few upper midcard/main event heels other than Hogan, this made limited sense. In other words it was perfect for WCW.

Now with that all being said, let’s get to the 11 preliminary matches to get to the reason I’m reviewing this.

We open with a video from Thunder of James Jay Dillon making the announcement of the match, four days prior to this. I actually got a chill when he said Goldberg was the challenger. Make no mistake about it: WCW could do drama when they had to.

The place is PACKED as this is where NFL games are played, making this a major PPV size crowd. Wrestlemania 27 will be held there. If I remember right at the time this was the 4th biggest American crowd ever. This is a three hour show and oddly enough the commentators change each hour. The listed ones are the openers.

The Nitro Girls dance us into the show. They were like cheerleaders and would almost all become TV characters eventually. Larry as always does a salute to the crowd.

Hogan actually starts us off with Disciple (Brutus Beefcake), Bischoff and Liz with him. We need to take a moment and honor the herd of cows that died to make all the leather they’re wearing. May you moo in peace. Damn now I want a burger. This is the go home show for Bash at the Beach, where the main event was Hogan and Dennis Rodman (basketball player) vs. DDP/Karl Malone (Hall of Fame basketball player who was inducted earlier tonight actually).

He talks about all the fans and the PPV on Sunday while saying exactly what you would expect him to say. Hogan says the name of his opponent tonight and says the match isn’t happening. It should be noted that Hogan says jabroni here, which may predate Rock saying it, but I’m not sure. Hogan says he has an NWO guy coming in that Hogan has to beat first. Cue the chant, which is deafening and might be legit given that it’s his hometown.

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan

Immediately you can see why the match with Hall was a bad idea as the pop is solid but nowhere near what it should be. The fans have already seen him once tonight so the excitement is limited. Hogan gets booed out of the building. Naturally we’re 6-7 months removed from Starrcade and Hogan has the belt again. He’s held it since late April so for about two and a half months. Sting’s reign was like two months or so. After the match tonight, Hogan would have it AGAIN in less than 6 months, which we’ll get to later.

The bell gets a pop. This is one of the hottest crowds I can ever remember as the people are salivating over everything. In a funny line, Tenay says WCW is the third biggest wrestling company on the planet. This stuns me, until he says “after the two NWO factions.” So in other words, 6 months after Starrcade, not only does Hogan have the belt again but there are TWO NWOs instead of the original one being gone. And you wonder why they went out of business.

Just basic power stuff here to start as they’re feeling each other out a lot to start. Hogan takes over with some punches and whips Goldberg with his weight belt. Goldberg gets a full nelson but takes a low blow. There’s a great energy here which is making this awesome. Hogan takes a clothesline and the place POPS. The match itself is pretty bad but much like Hogan/Andre, that’s not the point.

We hit the floor and Hogan gets a chair shot in but there’s no DQ called. There’s the chant and the legdrop is treated like any other move. Hogan hits two of them and here’s Curt Hennig. THREE legdrops gets a two count as Malone pops up to hit a Diamond Cutter on Hennig. Goldberg more or less no sells the leg drops and spears the hell out of Hogan. Heenan is LOSING it here. Jackhammer hits and the place goes NUTS. Goldberg is the world champion, and the image of him standing on the stage holding up both his titles is very cool.

Rating: A+. Like I said in the Hogan vs. Andre at Mania 3 review, this wasn’t about the match in the ring and if you think it was you’re an idiot and don’t get wrestling. Goldberg looked awesome here and Hogan put him over 100% clean. That was the key thing here: Goldberg didn’t have to have some screwy way to win the title. He hit his two big moves and pinned Hogan after kicking out of the legdrop. This is how you put someone over and amazingly enough, Hogan never got this one back, even though this was the plan. Hogan had made a deal that he got to beat Goldberg when the time was right, which is more bullshit but at least they would get this one night. The payback would evolve into the Fingerpoke of Doom, which we’ll get too soon enough.

[whiteyford]

I dont even remember the match, didnt realise it was Goldbergs only WCW world title either.

[BollywoodSingh]

WCW really screwed up with Goldberg. He could have been their answer to Steve Austin, and for a while he was. A simple gimmick that got insanely over: beating guys one-by-one and keeping count of the wins (although I don't think the win number was accurate).

Does anyone remember who Goldberg's 100th win was? I remember rumours that there were going to make a big deal about the 100th match and I remember that the Ultimate Warrior was a rumoured name for that match. But in the end, I don't think they made that big of a deal about it and it was just like any other match.

[Rammsteinmad]

I think his 100th win might have been Konnan, at the Great American Bash? Can't remember.

[Rammsteinmad]

With a 41,000 crowd, jeez WCW fucked up HUGE here.

[Emperor Smeat]

This is around the same time where the only major storylines WCW could come up with either involved the NwO splitting up and attacking each other or Goldberg's chase for the title. WWF on the other hand had Vince vs Stone Cold, The Corporation vs DX, and the Rock vs Foley feud that led to Foley winning the title with the giveaway by WCW.

The fact there was backstage plans for Hogan to take back the win and title as a stipulation for the match meant Goldberg vs Hogan wasn't their long term goal and money making feud. The biggest result from Goldberg winning the title ended up being the Finger Poke of Doom moment that gave Hogan his title back months later. It also occurred same night Foley finally won his WWF title on tv.

[BollywoodSingh]

With a 41,000 crowd, jeez WCW fucked up HUGE here.

That's just more of a reason to call it a fuck up for WCW. It was on free TV but should have main evented Starrcade.

[The Mackem]

Yep, WCW liked to throw money away.

[BizarroKing]

They wanted to beat Raw for just one night, instead of waiting until Bash at the Beach for the match. Instead they wanted to have the tag match with Rodman/Malone.

[Nicky Fives]

And Goldberg was always billed from Atlanta, hometown boy-type thing

:y: +1

[MoFo]

Hogan got a cut of the PPV revenue if it hit a certain number of buys, knowing WCW they probably thought "hey, we'll save money by having this on Nitro".

It was a great moment, but really, to waste yr biggest match possible like that is worthy of them going out of business. They deserved it.

[The Naitch]

beating guys one-by-one and keeping count of the wins (although I don't think the win number was accurate).



Yeah I remember that too

They counted victories (in his streak) even when they weren't televised

IE, one week on Nitro, let's say commentary said he was at 65-0. The next Nitro, it would be 68-0, implying that he managed to get 3 more victories during the rest of the week, let's say at a house show on Tuesday (66-0), a house show on Wednesday (67-0) and so forth

They gave Goldberg the streak gimmick, because although he wasn't ready (too green) to wrestle, Bischoff wanted him out there ASAP. So putting him in squash matches, he would slowly gain ring experience as he went along. Bischoff didn't want to wait for him to be fully ready (trained at the Power Plant.) He wanted him on television right away

[The Naitch]

Hogan got a cut of the PPV revenue if it hit a certain number of buys, knowing WCW they probably thought "hey, we'll save money by having this on Nitro".

It was a great moment, but really, to waste yr biggest match possible like that is worthy of them going out of business. They deserved it.

I read in Bischoff's book, by not having it on PPV, they lost millions

[Jeritron]

You guys are missing what happened.

Hogan wanted to impress Turner brass that was in attendance for the show. That's why it happened.

I recommend you all read Death of WCW. It wasn't just about ratings or Goldberg.

[Disturbed316]

I dont care about the reason behind it, but I marked big time when it happened.

[D Mac]

Yeah it was one of the best Nitros ever.

[MoFo]

Why did the fans throw all shit in the ring at the finish? I never got that.

It was in Goldbergs hometown, the crowd were hot for him and the Jackhammer got a huge pop, so why did they pelt him with cups at the end, was that just how WCW fans were?

[Xero]

Turn heel, throw shit at the ring.

Cut a promo, throw shit at the ring.

Win a title, throw shit at the ring.

[Jeritron]

I guess throwing shit in the ring was just more part of the culture in WCW. Maybe it's because there were more marks, or the wrestling fans were bigger "hooligans."

Just seems like it happened all the fucking time in WCW.
It never seemed to happen in WWF, no matter how hot the crowd was. The only time I can recall it happening was at the end of Wrestlemania 2000 when HHH retained the title.
I honestly think that was more out of distaste with what they got than actually being into the show. There had been far bigger upsets or heel turns.

I think fans just really wanted The Rock to win that year, and it was the first time Wrestlemania didn't go with the fan's ending.

[Jeritron]

The only time too. Wrestlemania 17 had a heel ending, but it was such a major shocker that everyone was more than satisfied, I think.

I hope this year's Mania ends with a mega heel turn.

[ooTin]

The only time too. Wrestlemania 17 had a heel ending, but it was such a major shocker that everyone was more than satisfied, I think.

I hope this year's Mania ends with a mega heel turn.

God I hope so or at least something really big like CENA HEEL TURN.... sheesh I am really starting to enjoy his "badass" persona ever since he was fired. Then I would not feel like a woman for enjoying his antics.:-\

[Savio]

I guess throwing shit in the ring was just more part of the culture in WCW. Maybe it's because there were more marks, or the wrestling fans were bigger "hooligans."

Just seems like it happened all the fucking time in WCW.
It never seemed to happen in WWF, no matter how hot the crowd was. They also did for the ECW show where RVD lost the title. I know before each show WWF will say not to throw anything in the ring or you will be kicked out. I went to a WCW show and don't remember them saying that.

[Loose Cannon]

remeber when HBK got pelted with a battery at that thing right before Mania 14 and he walked out :lol:

I think it was in New York City

[Xero]

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lmhGN0_a3iE?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lmhGN0_a3iE?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

[The Naitch]

I guess throwing shit in the ring was just more part of the culture in WCW. Maybe it's because there were more marks, or the wrestling fans were bigger "hooligans."

Just seems like it happened all the fucking time in WCW.
It never seemed to happen in WWF, no matter how hot the crowd was. The only time I can recall it happening was at the end of Wrestlemania 2000 when HHH retained the title.
I honestly think that was more out of distaste with what they got than actually being into the show. There had been far bigger upsets or heel turns.

I think fans just really wanted The Rock to win that year, and it was the first time Wrestlemania didn't go with the fan's ending.

I think it just has to do with there being a higher ratio of rednecks in a WCW audience, just throwing shit in the ring just for the hell of it. As Bischoff refers to them as "whinos with their liquor in a brown paper bag"

And security at WCW shows were probably lacking compared to WWE shows

ALSO, remember when someone threw a cup in the ring after The Rock turned heel for 1 minute when he "joined The Alliance" after Rock Bottoming Vince? I marked out for that

[The Naitch]

The only time too. Wrestlemania 17 had a heel ending, but it was such a major shocker that everyone was more than satisfied, I think.

I hope this year's Mania ends with a mega heel turn.

only problem I had with that was it was a gradual heel turn as the match winded down. All of a sudden he asks Vince to hand him the chair... (you ask yourself, what's going on here?) Then it progresses as the match goes on, and then you finally realize that Austin has joined McMahon

it should've been a more of a blink of an eye heel turn like when Hogan leg dropped (Savage, I think) at Bash At The Beach 96

[James Steele]

It was awesome when Austin when apeshit with that chair on Rock though.

[Aguakate]

Ratings. The Monday Night War was in full swing.

[SaskatchewanChamp]

Greatest Heel Turn Ever = Hogan, Bash At The Beach. PERIOD.

[ooTin]

Greatest Heel Turn Ever = Hogan, Bash At The Beach. PERIOD.

wow hogan sucks and always will suck
I'm really starting to not enjoy your presence.
But im not going to bitch and moan about it.
You can do what you want im just letting you know
YOU LOOK LIKE AN A REAL JACKASS

<a href="http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/ootin316/?action=view&amp;current=jackass-award.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/ootin316/jackass-award.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[DLVH84]

Greatest Heel Turn Ever = Hogan, Bash At The Beach. PERIOD.

I say the the 1996 heel turn of Hulk Hogan is one of the Greatest Heel Turns...alongside Barry Windham, Bob Backlund, Davey Boy Smith, Scott Steiner, and Cody Rhodes.

[Rammsteinmad]

Come on, the greatest heel turn ever was clearly Goldberg at New Blood Rising or whichever PPV it was. Everyone knows that.

[DLVH84]

Come on, the greatest heel turn ever was clearly Goldberg at New Blood Rising or whichever PPV it was. Everyone knows that.

The Great American Bash in 2000.

[VSG]

I say the the 1996 heel turn of Hulk Hogan is one of the Greatest Heel Turns...alongside Barry Windham, Bob Backlund, Davey Boy Smith, Scott Steiner, and Cody Rhodes.

What

[Rammsteinmad]

The Great American Bash in 2000.

Yeah I realised that after I typed it but couldn't be fucked to edit it or anything. :foc:

[Tom Guycott]

I guess throwing shit in the ring was just more part of the culture in WCW. Maybe it's because there were more marks, or the wrestling fans were bigger "hooligans."

Just seems like it happened all the fucking time in WCW.
It never seemed to happen in WWF, no matter how hot the crowd was.

Wasn't the ring littered at that one of those London PPV's where I think HBK won the European title from Davey Boy, referred to the crowd as a "bunch of limeys", and blew his nose with the Union Jack (and I don't remember if this was before or after picking his nose with Bret's Canadian flag)?

[DLVH84]

Wasn't the ring littered at that one of those London PPV's where I think HBK won the European title from Davey Boy, referred to the crowd as a "bunch of limeys", and blew his nose with the Union Jack (and I don't remember if this was before or after picking his nose with Bret's Canadian flag)?

It was before.

[Fignuts]

wow hogan sucks and always will suck
I'm really starting to not enjoy your presence.
But im not going to bitch and moan about it.
You can do what you want im just letting you know
YOU LOOK LIKE AN A REAL JACKASS

<a href="http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/ootin316/?action=view&amp;current=jackass-award.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa432/ootin316/jackass-award.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

No, he really doesn't. Regardless of your feelings on hogan, it was still one of the best, and most memorable heel turns of all time.

God forbid someone has a different opinion than you.