Finger Poke Of Doom

[The One]

I liked it. Fuck you all, cause I know I'm in line for like 10 million "It killed the crediblity of the title" speeches, but I don't care. I liked it, and if the fallowing remergances of the nWo was better handled, I think it would have been viewed as one of the most incredible moments in history. Does it measure up to Foley winning the title, no, but it was an incredible way of reestablishing that the nWo, in all their glory, was bigger than WCW. And frankly, let's be real here, the nWo was bigger than WCW could have ever hoped to be. That's my truth, that's my confession, it's out there now, and fuck all those who oppose. Spray painting the title and having Hogan air guitar it for years on end did more to take away from the idea that the belt was WCW's highest prize than the Poke ever did. The fact is, WCW was a joke, nWo was a theat, they needed the nWo back in full force, and it showed both in kayfabe and in real life that the "Band" being together was more important than any peice of gold.

[Nowhere Man]

WCW was a joke because anyone who wasn't on the nWo lineup was continually buried. Bischoff spent three years telling everyone that the WCW brand sucked, making sure that his promotion looked like crap compared to Hogan and his cronies. So by the time the nWo angle finally went under, all they had left was the roster that had been made to look like losers. So yeah, it did "kill the credibility of WCW," because that's exactly what it was intended to do.

The 'Finger-Poke of Doom' was just making public what everyone already knew: Hogan and Nash always get what they want, and fuck everyone else on the show. nWo beats WCW. Again. Yawn.

[The One]

Yeah ok, here's the problem with that, if you didn't have the nWo, WCW would have never been worth mentioning in the same breath as WWE, nevermind topple them in ratings. What made WCW big? Nash and Hogan. Sting was really only over because of his role in counter to the nWo, and Flair by that point had been so piss poorly handled, it is hard to even fathom. Goldy was really only WCW's true hope to be stable without the "Band" and post streak, he wasn't worth jake shit.

[M-A-G]

Yes, the nWo helped. Yes, it was popular. Yes, Hogan turning heel was a great idea to make money. So why not turn into WCW Nitro this Monday? Oh, wait, that's right. YOU CAN'T!

[The One]

I love how people blame AOL buying out Turner's companies on WCW. :lol:

[Nowhere Man]

Yeah ok, here's the problem with that, if you didn't have the nWo, WCW would have never been worth mentioning in the same breath as WWE, nevermind topple them in ratings. What made WCW big? Nash and Hogan. Sting was really only over because of his role in counter to the nWo, and Flair by that point had been so piss poorly handled, it is hard to even fathom. Goldy was really only WCW's true hope to be stable without the "Band" and post streak, he wasn't worth jake shit.


So, what are you suggesting? That they should've just continued burying the WCW roster when the 'Finger Poke' incident only gave their competition a massive ratings spike and drove away viewers?

Yes, the nWo was a huge money-maker, and business-wise it would make sense to push a successful stable. But stables don't last forever, and if you bury the entire roster for the sake of that stable, then what do you do when the stable's gone? "Oooh, those guy who got the shit kicked out of them for the last three years are doing another show! Let's go buy a ticket!"

[The One]

The finger poke didn't drive people away, the fake that they spoiled Foley winning the title did.

And my suggestion, nWo Nitro was one of the best Nitros ever.

[Nowhere Man]

nWo Nitro? You mean the one where they spent the first half-hour of the show going through the entire building tearing down logos instead of doing matches or promos? Yeah, that was captivating television right there.

[The One]

I'm saying, that episode finally spoke the truth. WCW was made on the back of nWo, truthfully, you could have officially changed the name of the comapny, and it would have been better.

[Mr. JL]

I actually liked the 'finger poke of doom' as well.

[The One]

Why am I arguing this with you. I don't care, this is a place to come and air out opinions of wrestling, and I've done such. Trust me, I know almost everything anyone who disagrees with me will say, and I don't care. I enjoyed it.

[Nowhere Man]

I'm saying, that episode finally spoke the truth. WCW was made on the back of nWo, truthfully, you could have officially changed the name of the comapny, and it would have been better.

They tried that with Souled Out '97. It was a disaster.

I do agree that WCW's success rode on the nWo invasion, but the long-term problem with that is that the main product is still the WCW promotion, not the nWo stable. Telling everyone that WCW sucks and completely ruining the WCW roster's chance at getting over was absolutely suicidal, because it made people not want to watch WCW.

Why am I arguing this with you. I don't care, this is a place to come and air out opinions of wrestling, and I've done such. Trust me, I know almost everything anyone who disagrees with me will say, and I don't care. I enjoyed it.

And I'm airing out my opinion as well. Expressing an unpopular opinion on a public forum is pretty much begging for an argument. After all, that's how James Steele keeps getting attention.

[St. Jimmy]

I actually liked the 'finger poke of doom' as well.

It was entertaining, what can I say. When I saw it I went "WHAT THE FUCK?!". I obviously fell for the swerve.

[The One]

And I'm airing out my opinion as well. Expressing an unpopular opinion on a public forum is pretty much begging for an argument. After all, that's how James Steele keeps getting attention.

Actually, JS speaks the truth, minus his opinion of Orton's future.

As for the rest of this, WCW was always second to WWE. When they began to disband the nWo, WWE began toppling them in ratings, so they resorted to what put them on top. And quick frankly, it was a damn fine move. Goldy couldn't hold the audiences, and simply put, the rest of the WCW roster couldn't top WWE's. WCW was in an unique place in that they were subject to the ratings opinion of people not involved with the company. They needed ratings. Seeing as how the nWo was the only thing to get ratings over WWE, they went back to what works. And mind you, it was after the complete collapse of the nWo that WCW's ratings went to second to WWE's to simply tanked. And while I love the likes of Jericho and Benoit, they couldn't, they COULD NOT hold the fans over WWE's Austin and Rock. The nWo was their only chance, they took it, and if they had fallowed it up with something worthwhile, I'm saying it would have been historically viewed as brilliance, instead of the IWC's 20/20 hindsight view of the worst thing ever.

[Mr. JL]

I think the problems more arose not because the nWo made the WCW guys look bad...

But more because a great deal of the WCW undercard and top stars left for the WWF or ECW (Chris Jericho, The Giant, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Raven, Sid, Saturn, etc), or wrestlers who were fired (Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, William Regal), or wrestlers out with injuries (Goldberg, Sting as major ones I can think of right now) or wrestlers who were forced to retire (Bret Hart, Ultimo Dragon) between 1999 and 2000 that really killed the company.

That left huge holes that could not be covered up with washed up, aging wrestlers who go half assed in the ring. Add into the equation of piss poor booking and raw confusion of angles, feuds and matches bewteen that time frame and all those are all MUCH bigger factors for what killed the company.

[Mr. JL]

^^^This goes with what I just said up there, lol

They tried that with Souled Out '97. It was a disaster.

I do agree that WCW's success rode on the nWo invasion, but the long-term problem with that is that the main product is still the WCW promotion, not the nWo stable. Telling everyone that WCW sucks and completely ruining the WCW roster's chance at getting over was absolutely suicidal, because it made people not want to watch WCW.

[Rammsteinmad]

I actually remember the "finger poke" episode being one of the only WCW episodes I missed at the time. I was away that week, and when I got back and read the results on wcw.com I was like "oh what the fuck is this?".

[311]

I think the problems more arose not because the nWo made the WCW guys look bad...

But more because a great deal of the WCW undercard and top stars left for the WWF or ECW (Chris Jericho, The Giant, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Raven, Sid, Saturn, etc), or wrestlers who were fired (Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, William Regal), or wrestlers out with injuries (Goldberg, Sting as major ones I can think of right now) or wrestlers who were forced to retire (Bret Hart, Ultimo Dragon) between 1999 and 2000 that really killed the company.

That left huge holes that could not be covered up with washed up, aging wrestlers who go half assed in the ring. Add into the equation of piss poor booking and raw confusion of angles, feuds and matches bewteen that time frame and all those are all MUCH bigger factors for what killed the company.

The NWO brought new fans to WCW, and the great matches the low and mid-card kept them there as far as I'm concerned. Every single fan I knew would say that they loved the first hour of Nitro, then they'd spend the second flipping back and forth. Hogan was 'not' a draw, as far as I'm concerned. Not all heat is good heat, and Hogan made alot of people just want to switch the channel, rather than stay there and hate his guts. Hogan stole so much of the NWOs heat it makes me ill thinking about it, really.

Edit: More accurately, Hogan WAS a draw at the BEGINNING of the NWO storyline, as he had just made the biggest heel turn in the history of the business. But, well, everyone knows the story.

[6to1]

Yeah ok, here's the problem with that, if you didn't have the nWo, WCW would have never been worth mentioning in the same breath as WWE, nevermind topple them in ratings. What made WCW big? Nash and Hogan. Sting was really only over because of his role in counter to the nWo, and Flair by that point had been so piss poorly handled, it is hard to even fathom. Goldy was really only WCW's true hope to be stable without the "Band" and post streak, he wasn't worth jake shit.
i don't know booker ddp raven benoit eddie and goldberg were never nwo and they were pushed good.

[Pepsi Man]

I thought you were gonna go on a rant against it. I mean you do remember that the beneficiary of the Finger Poke of Doom, and following World Heavyweight Champion was...Hulk Hogan, right?

*gulp*

[Xero]

Personally, I thought that the DX Finger Poke of Doom was done with more finesse making it better than the nWo one by a little bit.

[Mercury Bullet]

Far worse than the finger poke was the era in WCW when EVERY goddamn wrestler on the roster was in some incarnation of the nWo. God, that was awful. It was in that time that I pretty much turned away from WCW. :nono:




But then I started watching it again near it's death just to say :wavesad:

[Mercury Bullet]

i don't know booker ddp raven benoit eddie and goldberg were never nwo and they were pushed good.

Eddie, Benoit, and I would go as far as saying Raven too, they were not pushed that good in WCW. All mid-level guys in the company. Booker T wasn't pushed big until it was too late. The only big non-nWo wrestlers in WCW were Sting, Goldberg, DDP.....you might could throw Flair in their though as previously stated he got crapped up pretty bad by WCW for a while.

[Pepsi Man]

Far worse than the finger poke was the era in WCW when EVERY goddamn wrestler on the roster was in some incarnation of the nWo. God, that was awful. It was in that time that I pretty much turned away from WCW. :nono:




But then I started watching it again near it's death just to say :wavesad:
Every god damn wrestler wasn't in some incarnation of the nWo. There were always about half the roster that weren't nWo. The Horsemen, Raven's Flock, the bulk of the cruiserweights, etc., etc., etc. were not nWo.

[Mercury Bullet]

The nWo vs. Wolfpac grew to the point that almost everyone on the roster was in one or the other. So yeh, some cruiserweights, 3 Count, etc. were left out but any body of the most remote significance (i.e. Disco Inferno even) were in the nWo.

[Pepsi Man]

The nWo vs. Wolfpac grew to the point that almost everyone on the roster was in one or the other. So yeh, some cruiserweights, 3 Count, etc. were left out but any body of the most remote significance (i.e. Disco Inferno even) were in the nWo.
I guess Goldberg, Flair, Piper, the Horsemen, Raven, etc. were all less significant than the Disco Inferno.

[Mercury Bullet]

Okay jesus, you're missing it, literally speaking every wrestler was not in the nWo. But ALMOST every wrestler. Goldberg wasn't. Booker T wasn't. Raven wasn't. Flair wasn't. Was Piper even wrestling at that time? Whatever, there is a handful of people who weren't but the two nWo's were ridiculously huge and almost eveyone of significance was in one or the other.

[Loose Cannon]

See, if The One wasn't posting this as a Nash mark, I would rip apart his post, but I know he's a Nash mark, so it's really pointless :)

[Loose Cannon]

but...in saying that I have to admit that I that night I marked out wayyyy more for the nWo reforming then for Foley's Title win. And...not only that but I liked WCW wayyy more then WWF around that time too. As a fan, I enjoyed WCW more.

[hb2k]

It wasn't as much that it killed the credibility of the belt as it was that the nWo, and the people in it, were stale. People wanted a change, and instead of their chosen guy, Goldberg, being at the forefront, he was beaten down like any other guy, the nWo reformed and continues down the path of Same Old Shit Street, and it was the final straw for WCW being a serious contender. Instead of taking things a new direction with hot new stars in front of a still impressive audience, they went with the thing fans desperately wanted WCW get away from - the past. It was the wrong move to make, bottom line.

[Pepsi Man]

literally speaking every wrestler was not in the nWo.
And done. :p

[Mercury Bullet]

:mad:

[The Show Off]

but...in saying that I have to admit that I that night I marked out wayyyy more for the nWo reforming then for Foley's Title win. And...not only that but I liked WCW wayyy more then WWF around that time too. As a fan, I enjoyed WCW more.

I totally felt the same way. I thought "The Finger Poke of Doom" was a fantastic heel move, and really made you hate Hogan at the time. I really can't speak properly of why the WCW failed becuase there were very few nights that I wanted to watch WWF more then WCW. I mean there are obvious reasons why the WCW was losing to the WWF, and I can see how others hated it but WCW was always and will always be my favorite promotion.

I really can't put my finger on why I loved WCW more then WWF I just did. It might have something to do with me growing up with WCW so it was always my favorite.

[FourFifty]

What The Fuck!?!?!
So Tovo likes the fact that Kevin Nash did the job to Hulk Hogan (who, mind you, is the biggest Hogan fan of all time) with a finger poke when they could have had a match, tease a feud, and then say they're on the same side two weeks later?

Tovo... likes the fact that Nash lost..... Hogan won..... Finger poke....

There is only one way to explain this. Tovo didn't post it. It was really CC, because if Tovo really started this thread then my brain will implode.

[St. Jimmy]

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Good Times :y:

[hb2k]

And boy did that good time kill business.

Skee-a-vone: "This is what World Championship Wrestling is all about".

Couldn't think of a more ironic line before a screwy finish, burying a hot star and going back to the past.