Quote:
Originally Posted by Noid
Every show in 2000 was a money loser. They were running the same sized arenas and getting much smaller crowds (1,800 paid seems to be the average). They had cut their third hour so television ratings would have needed to soar in order to compensate for lost ad revenue. They went down.
Everything was just as expensive, if not more (factoring in talent) and they were getting less and less back. $67 million in one year is nothing to sneeze at. On top of that there was the Hogan litigation. It was a headache.
I get kind of annoyed seeing Kellner portrayed as the villain. WCW was run incompetently into a wall. They were returning less and less and costing more and more. It’s a no-brainer.
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I only believe Bischoff cause his story has remained the same. Look at any other professional bullshitters, over the long haul they change details.
In 1999, WCW lost money, only a little, and that was their own fault. The whole Kiss demon gimmick was supposed to lead to a New Years Eve WCW/Kiss Concert PPV, which would have put WCW in the green for the year.
Then with the Merger, the big wigs got scared of putting on a live show because of Y2K fear. That actually happened, and they pulled the PPV off the table, along with turning a profit for the year.
WCW was still watchable at that point, but the decision makers got taken by the real used car salesman Vince Russo. WCW sent Bischoff home, essentially firing him while paying out the remainder of his contract.
Then in a few short months Vince Russo blew up everything WCW had built up for the last 3-4 years so quickly, including letting Benoit and company walk and show up on Raw. So WCW asked Bischoff to come back as a consultant and work with Russo, which lasted a few months until Russo went into business for himself with the whole Hogan thing.
The misconception about that is it wasn't the worked shoot of Jarrett lying down, it was the fact that after the match Hogan and Bischoff left, and then Russo cut a promo on Hogan and rebooked the title match, which is where the contract breach occurred in terms of Hogans creative control.
That was the year WCW lost that $67 or whatever it was million.
Russo and whoever put him in charge in combination with the merger as well as AOL/Time Warner not wanting wrestling in their channels is what killed WCW.
It wasn't one thing, just a combination of a bunch of bad circumstances. Of course WWE's narrative is they kicked WCWs ass out of business, but the victors get to write the history.