@@kokotheclown2588From what I understand, Vince McMahon was able to get it approved due to the way Rey lost his mask in a forced tag team bout with an insane Mask vs. Hair of a valet stipulation.
@@exilhamburger4802it was a few things, I think, iirc... 1) everyone hated it, including thr Commissione for that in Mexico 2) they used a loophole. Rey Misterio, jr. lost his mask. Not Rey Misterio/Mysterio. Rey asked senior to change his ringname to Rey Misterio, sr. he agreed, Rey went with Misterio/Mysterio and the commission waved it through. The tag team thing might have also played into it though.
Superbrawl outdrawing Valentines Massacre in buys 485k to 450k showed that WCW still had a bit of time left of goodwill with the paying audiences after the “poke.” Enjoy it while it lasts, the downward spiral will be upon us very soon.
I always saw it as people getting bored with Austin vs Vince and not taking Vince as a serious threat to Austin as a ppv challenger. It would have been smarter to do that match on free tv.
@@jonwolfendenwell also Hogan v Flair one on one hadn't been done since right when the nwo formed so it was a semi fresh match up plus wwf February ppvs have always suffered from being sandwiched in between royal rumble and wrestlemania. And as fun as it was for Austin to finally get Vince one on one the eventual outcome was never really in doubt
Maybe st valentine's day massacre drew less because it was on a holiday. I remember at the time being very interested in the outcome for DDP vs Steiner, Goldberg vs Bigelow & the mask vs hair match. Hall vs Piper for the U.S. title & Hogan vs Flair as the main event world title match was baffling & embarrassing though. It was 1999
A big issue wcw had was every match having run ins and referee distractions. It became ridiculous that no referee ever kept their eye on the action. A distraction becomes unbelievable when it happens every match
It honestly makes the referees look like they've just taken a crash course in officiating while having the attention span of a 5 year old seeing a set of keys jangling in front of their faces, especially with WCW like for 4 years these refs have had to put up with NWO running roughshod over the company, you'd think they'd wise up and take initiative to prevent these run ins and the constant rule breaking that have been common in NWO matches but no, let's ignore the match we're officiating right now because fake John Travolta keeps climbing on the apron like an unruly child.
One thing to note about this show: the set. It looked plain and wasn't at all like last year's Superbrawl. But you might also notice that it's a bit of foreshadowing for what we were about to see in a month (yeah, this WCW PPV has similar bit of history that the WWE PPV one week earlier had; don't get used to seeing that WCW logo for too much longer). Just two screens on either side and a steel light structure type entranceway. Wonder if that was a bit of a test for what we will be seeing soon. I didn't mind the unmasking as much. Maybe it's because it did lead to a rather interesting stable being formed later this year. But once more, each promotion has the "opposite problem". WWE didn't have a completely stable lower card, but they had a red hot main event picture, while WCW's mid and lower card was as strong as concrete but the main event picture just could not keep pace with what preceded it. Very interesting that both companies had the same problem just at different ends of the card, even if the WWE didn't have the worst lower card in the world.
I’m a big WWE fan and I absolutely loved the attitude era, and at the time really enjoyed the lower and mid card but re watching the war I’ve realised the WCW definitely had a stronger lower/mid. But not long from now WCW lost a lot of them to WWE and that really was the end
Comments about the old guys and Rey losing his mask aside, seems like a good show. The thing I’m getting from this is that they really should have pushed Scott Steiner to the main event at this point. Maybe have him lead the disgruntled Black and White as his toadies to just overwhelm the wolfpac Elite. It would fit his “Jock Bully” persona. Suddenly the top of the card looks a lot different even if you’re technically still doing NWO storylines.
they did start to push him but he, along with basically every other member of the nWo Elite, all got hurt shortly after this and they wouldn't be healthy enough to wrestle again until the fall or so. i agree with you though. they could've gotten so much more mileage out of the nWo if they let scott steiner be the new leader of the black and white and trimmed some of the fat. i would've had scott be the leader with only like brett hart, norton, bagwell, giant, hennig and rude with bischoff as the manager. hall should've still defected to the wolfpac.
looked decent overall. i found myself rooting for DDP and it was maddening to watch the referee to allow Steiner to use the exposed buckle. the ref's became useless, more than usual in this era. Got to agree...David Flair...
i can't believe it outdrew any WWF PPV especially one where Austin fights Vince in a cage, maybe because Super Brawl was always one of their biggest PPV's
@@LordDeBahs Are we sure it was Hogan, Flair & Piper that sold this ppv? Because for me it was the stipulation with Rey Mysterio's mask, the heated DDP vs Steiner feud & Goldberg vs Bigelow
@@VictorFerri-g7e 1000% yes we are sure. there was like 5 people that cared about the little guys back then. EVERYONE was there for Hogan, Sting, Flair, DDP, Nash, Hall, Piper, Hart, etc. Not a single person in the crowds were there for any of the smaller guys.. Check the signs. That's usually a good indicator. listen to how they get booed until they put on "match of the night" only to get a tiny pop at the end. Im sad to say i was kinda one of them. I loved the highflying action. But i really just wanted to see powerbombs, piledrivers, german suplex etc, from my favorites at the time.
Great. Now I'm picturing those brutal chair shots to the head during the I Quit match being the Hogan style and I'm making myself laugh. Thanks for that haha
So was David Flair filming himself with Torrie in the hotel room, getting the taser from Scott Hall, and then sending it to the WCW production truck? Or did he have his own cameraman that was always standing directly in front of him?
yeah thats what i hate about prowrestling . just do exiting promos and in ring story telling not stupid reality show in hotels ,hospitals , bars unless its direct promo from these places acting like there is no camera man is pretty stupid
Everyone points to the Fingerpoke of Doom, but in a lot of ways this was the point WCW began its steady decline. Ratings & PPV buys held up post-fingerpoke until here, but the fact that this was just more of the same old nWo story, no comeuppance for Hogan, David Flair now randomly a key figure, nothing for fans to feel good about other than maybe Goldberg's win: all just became too much. That + wwf continuing to be on a hot streak quickly turns the war into a massacre
I would argue that the FPoD set them on a path where this NWO stagnation was the only way things could go, given the same people being in charge of creative. A complete retread because they didn’t have any new ideas to complicate the interpersonal relationships within the organization. The B team plot was DOA because they had been nothing talents for too long, and creative had no patience to actually build any of those dudes up, because they were B teamers in the first place due to careless writing and perceived undesirability as featured talents. And after nearly 3 years of putting the NWO well ahead of everything else going on, how does anything else gain ground while the NWO remains whole?
@@press_x_tojasonThis is my thought as well. The Poke wasn't the "end of WCW" but calling it "the *beginning* of the end" is accurate - that moment was the turning point in terms of it being an eye opener into WCW's stale booking, coinciding perfectly with the Fed kicking into high gear in terms of storylines and characters.
WCW's decline started all the way back at Starrcade 97 with the botched finish in the main event. After that was the debut of Thunder that spread everything out too thin. The Fingerpoke of Doom, while dumb and annoying, did not lead to an immediate collapse; they still did fine in the ratings. Imo, the true final nail in the coffin was the loss of Jericho and the Radicalz. Without them, WCW had NOTHING going for them in the midcard. WCW would become a nearly unwatchable mess in 2000 while WWE had its greatest year ever. 2000 also saw the well-deserved push of Booker T into the main event, further weakening the midcard.
If only they'd had the likes of David Flair and Horace Hogan have some feuds with the likes of Fit Finlay or Norman Smiley on Thunder, would've guve them some legitimacy and given the nwo more legs....
When I initially read your comment, I assumed it was sarcasm, then I realized how much sense that actually would've made. Damn, man, you should've been given Vincce Russo's job! 😃👍
Have to say I really enjoyed this one, aside from decent action and a genuinely shocking swerve, Barry Windham looks 10 years younger than when he was in the wwf, would love to know what his experience of wcw was like.
I watched this video this morning and thought the same, how much younger and better windham looked, compared to his 1996 run as the stalker, and even though apa was one of my favourite teams
David Flair getting to do anything with Torrie Wilson should get him into the Hall Of Fame 😂 Seriously, made sense to see it happen as on the other channel, Vince vs Shane was and still happens
You know he dated Stacy Keibler in real life about a year after this right? Yes, David Flair, the deer in the headlights, somehow managed to date the one and only Stacy Keibler! Now that's HOF worthy lol.
@@namikstudios So, Stacy Keibler went from dating the one and only David Flair to that slouch George Clooney? Talk about trading in a Ferrari for a Ford Pinto, am I right! 😆
this pay per view brings back some memories as i attended the event when i was a kid. still remember the crowd chanting for austin during the Goldberg match lol
@@VictorFerri-g7e True. At least he lost it in a one on one match for Chris Jericho’s Cruiserweight Championship. Having Rey Mysterio lose his mask in a tag team match against Miss Elizabeth’s hair when she wasn’t even in the match was just stupid even by their standards.
@zachsmith1634 Rey should have defected to WWE after losing the Mask and WWE would have let Rey keep his Mask on, Imagine Rey Mysterio in the Attitude Era
Bischoff gave his reasoning wasn't marketable in the US and WCW didn't have merchandising connections to make and sell lunchador masks like the WWE does.
To me, Superbrawl 9 is sort of like watching Killers Of The Flower Moon: starts off really good in the first 2 thirds, but the last third really dragged. But still, this PPV is pretty good (Rey losing his mask and David Flair's heel turn aside).
The tag team ending was pure genius honestly. Choking your opponent with the belt, and then hiding that you are still choking him with the belt by having your arm in the way of it while pinning him? Good stuff.
There were 2 back to back. “Superbrawl” and “Uncensored”. The cage match between Flair and Hogan was a classic. Now I might have to watch it again. Standing on the ropes, holding the cage, chopping each other. Complete bloodbath. And give it up, Hogan fights his ass off! He never phoned it in with Flair. Others? No comment.
We are entering the era of WCW when I am completely hazy about what happens. Booking like this completely turned me away and I wouldn’t bother channel flipping on Monday nights. Looking forward to seeing how things go down in the final years of WCW. I know it’s not pretty, but thanks to this channel, at least it will be a fun ride!
Right! Im curious because Booker T winning the title, david arquette, the bash at the beach 2000 are all I remember. The WWE parts to this point are recaps but I remember most of the good parts, but WCW Im curious for.
I was not a fan of Rey unmasking, it was a part of his identity as a character and history of the mask for Mexican wrestlers and what it means for them.
I just gotta say this...I understand the importance of Rey's mask. But I still loved Rey without his mask. And thankfully Vince and WWE wanted Rey to use his mask when he came over to WWE.
Sources say Disco had "Annoyince with semi creative control." Was the only reason he couldn't be let go. And he was probably the successor of the booty man.
“So I want you to take your mask off” “It’s a big part of my cultural identity as a luchadore, it’s also 1999 and I look 12 years old underneath. I’d prefer you write me literally anything else to do” “Take it off we have a good reason” “What’s that” “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”
@arostwocents I like the detail but if you are more a YT shorts or TikTok quick and fast entertainment type of person, I can understand not liking it.
Torrie was never named Samantha in WCW. Those videos aired for 2 weeks and the announcers never once acknowledged her till she came out during the main event of superbrawl with no name. The next night she was named Torrie Wilson by Disco.
I think that was just an internet rumor as she didn’t have a name on tv for a couple weeks. It might have even been wcw’s plan but she was never called that on wcw
@@cabutler1 Me failed english. Sorry I was meant to say, that he would do that in Rey retirement match. In my defense he done that on last Royal Rumble (backstage)
Another great video thank you sir 💪 😎 I was a WWF fan growing up but occasionally I would watch SuperBrawl or Starcade with my buddies, what a great time to be a kid 11/11/23
Samantha was very popular when she debuted. And her mystery man was quite a swerve! But the real value was how it setup the next PPV and the rare double-turn.
IMO the downward spiral of WCW started when Hogan couldn't put Sting over. Honestly that made that whole year long buildup feel wasted. Secondly the NWO overstayed it's welcome. One by having too many WCW guys join should've been just former WWE guys. Lastly they didn't really put the younger talent in the main event enough. WWE had Austin Rock Taker being the oldest Foley then HHH later. And one person didn't hold the belt for years straight they traded it making star's that can walk without the belt. Hogan needed the title to be relevant. All of this plus Eric not putting some of the cruiser weights in the main event spot even the semi main. Too many overpaid guys in big spots.
You can see Dominik's looks in Rey's face after the unmasking. Speaking of, could David Flair in the nWo be considered a prototype for Dirty Dom decades later, only with Dom taking the ball and running with it unlike David here (even if I did like David's eventual team with Crowbar)?
That unmasking haunts Rey to this day. Should have been a last act in his career. One of the very situations that proves Bischoff isn't the businsss man he thinks he is. Poor Rey.
The fact that Rey was more over unmasked and that it was far from the last act of his career proves that Eric was right all along. Maskless Rey is easily the best version of his character.
27:00 Pretty sure this chair shot is what split Ric, the bottom edge of the curved back plate catches him towards the top front of his head. Unless Ric is just slick enough to cut himself that deep in the spot the chair hit. 😄👍
Eric Bischoff not liking masked wrestlers is insane to me, like I'm sure there was money to be made with those masks and plus, WCW had a majority of them in the Cruiserweight division.
Yeah this isn't true. It was due to wcw having too many masked guys and having many one shot masked guys on nitro. The matches had no heat as all the masks blurred into one. Rey was not popular so he was best choice to lose the mask and was a lot more popular afterwards. Rey saying it went down a certain way to benefit him does not mean it was the truth. Rey is hardly gonna admit he wasn't popular and it was the right decision, as he hated having to lose the mask
People complaining about him losing the mask are imagining it like WWF with him as the only mask guy, but you would get like 3 matches with mask Vs mask guys and they were boring and had no heat, despite the amazing action, as you could not have enough charisma on show with both wrestlers masked
It's going to be really interesting to see how exactly WCW decided that the next logical step from "Hogan got Ric Flair's son to betray him & join the nWo" would be "Ric Flair turns heel & mad with power which, in turn, turns Hogan & the nWo into the babyfaces" once we get to the main event of Uncensored '99.
It would have worked really well if David wasn't completely out of his depth. Feel sorry for him TBH. Impossible shoes to fill and he just didn't have the "it factor" that made his dad the legend he is.
@@arostwocents That is because they allowed him to cut more promos and started a feud with the outsiders. He could've done the same thing with the mask.
I was there at age 13; it was a good show overall and looking back now it was a show filled with legends. I forgot it was a Tag Team match where Rey lost his mask to Nash because I remember Scott Hall vs Piper as Hall’s match of the night but I remember Scott Hall doing the Outsiders Edge to Rey and placing him with the Nash for the win. Only thing missing was a Macho Man but he was gone with knee injuries and no Sting was out too.
I don’t know how I miss this one! I Was going to all the PPV!s at the time! Both Royal Rumbles Nitro in Sacramento! Elimination Chamber! Can’t believe I missed this one!
I'll never agree with the decision to take off Reys mask. Bischoff was insane for thinking that the mask covers up the emotion on the face, Reys eyes told a better story than half the roster and that mask is obviously merch gold.
We have officially entered the David Flair era of Reliving The War baby. Talk about excitement.
That means we're getting Crowbar and Daffney soon ❤ (I know their storylines sucked, but at least there was talent)
**swirling in the toilet intensifies**
i dont have idea why david was pushed . he offered nothing outside fact he can work matches
@@LordDeBahs Nepotism
@@sandyakabatteriehuhn Can't wait. Two complete legends of the later Monday Night War. Those two deserved so much better than what they got.
Bischoff making Rey Mysterio unmask proves he was an idiot
Truly a Car sells man who got lucky!
@@gatchywatchyentertainmentb2090Lucked in on stealing a New Japan gimmick so he could be successful for not even two years.
When Rey went to WWE, he put the mask back on, and they made a killing off of selling replica masks.
@@mangroveNgl, those masks is what made me a huge fan of the cruiserweights as a kid.
Well you're right there
The look of disappointment on Rey’s face when he unmasked said it all
For real!
The unmasked rey figure was kinda cool but too tiny to really be useful to play with lol
@@kokotheclown2588From what I understand, Vince McMahon was able to get it approved due to the way Rey lost his mask in a forced tag team bout with an insane Mask vs. Hair of a valet stipulation.
@@exilhamburger4802it was a few things, I think, iirc... 1) everyone hated it, including thr Commissione for that in Mexico 2) they used a loophole. Rey Misterio, jr. lost his mask. Not Rey Misterio/Mysterio. Rey asked senior to change his ringname to Rey Misterio, sr. he agreed, Rey went with Misterio/Mysterio and the commission waved it through. The tag team thing might have also played into it though.
It was a terrible decision by WCW to begin with... quite disrespectful, on top of that. To Rey Jr. and every other masked luchador in history.
Incredibly disappointing that the mystery man wasn't Norman Smiley or Alex Wright.
Or The Butcher…again.
DONT STOP MOVIN BABY
DONT STOP MOVIN BABY
WIGGLE WIGGLE
WIGGLE WIGGLE
Haha, Alex Wright woulda bin amazing!
Superbrawl outdrawing Valentines Massacre in buys 485k to 450k showed that WCW still had a bit of time left of goodwill with the paying audiences after the “poke.” Enjoy it while it lasts, the downward spiral will be upon us very soon.
I always saw it as people getting bored with Austin vs Vince and not taking Vince as a serious threat to Austin as a ppv challenger. It would have been smarter to do that match on free tv.
All that goodwill would be gone by the time Fall arrived
@@jonwolfendenwell also Hogan v Flair one on one hadn't been done since right when the nwo formed so it was a semi fresh match up plus wwf February ppvs have always suffered from being sandwiched in between royal rumble and wrestlemania. And as fun as it was for Austin to finally get Vince one on one the eventual outcome was never really in doubt
Maybe st valentine's day massacre drew less because it was on a holiday. I remember at the time being very interested in the outcome for DDP vs Steiner, Goldberg vs Bigelow & the mask vs hair match. Hall vs Piper for the U.S. title & Hogan vs Flair as the main event world title match was baffling & embarrassing though. It was 1999
@@VictorFerri-g7e Yes, yes and yes.
A big issue wcw had was every match having run ins and referee distractions. It became ridiculous that no referee ever kept their eye on the action. A distraction becomes unbelievable when it happens every match
It honestly makes the referees look like they've just taken a crash course in officiating while having the attention span of a 5 year old seeing a set of keys jangling in front of their faces, especially with WCW like for 4 years these refs have had to put up with NWO running roughshod over the company, you'd think they'd wise up and take initiative to prevent these run ins and the constant rule breaking that have been common in NWO matches but no, let's ignore the match we're officiating right now because fake John Travolta keeps climbing on the apron like an unruly child.
I gotta agree
Exactly what’s going on rn in present times as well. It’s way to predictable now a days
Sounds similar to some current Turner content.
It gets super annoying after a while. They really dragged out the faction wars to the point where it wasn’t fresh anymore
Three nWo heel turns in a row at Superbrawl. First Randy Savage then Scott Steiner and now David Flair.
agreed
It's like poetry, it rhymes
@@garygood6804that made me snicker
Smells like a swerve to me bro
And Elizabeth turned on Savage the one before that
One thing to note about this show: the set. It looked plain and wasn't at all like last year's Superbrawl. But you might also notice that it's a bit of foreshadowing for what we were about to see in a month (yeah, this WCW PPV has similar bit of history that the WWE PPV one week earlier had; don't get used to seeing that WCW logo for too much longer). Just two screens on either side and a steel light structure type entranceway. Wonder if that was a bit of a test for what we will be seeing soon.
I didn't mind the unmasking as much. Maybe it's because it did lead to a rather interesting stable being formed later this year. But once more, each promotion has the "opposite problem". WWE didn't have a completely stable lower card, but they had a red hot main event picture, while WCW's mid and lower card was as strong as concrete but the main event picture just could not keep pace with what preceded it. Very interesting that both companies had the same problem just at different ends of the card, even if the WWE didn't have the worst lower card in the world.
I’m a big WWE fan and I absolutely loved the attitude era, and at the time really enjoyed the lower and mid card but re watching the war I’ve realised the WCW definitely had a stronger lower/mid. But not long from now WCW lost a lot of them to WWE and that really was the end
Comments about the old guys and Rey losing his mask aside, seems like a good show. The thing I’m getting from this is that they really should have pushed Scott Steiner to the main event at this point. Maybe have him lead the disgruntled Black and White as his toadies to just overwhelm the wolfpac Elite. It would fit his “Jock Bully” persona. Suddenly the top of the card looks a lot different even if you’re technically still doing NWO storylines.
they did start to push him but he, along with basically every other member of the nWo Elite, all got hurt shortly after this and they wouldn't be healthy enough to wrestle again until the fall or so. i agree with you though. they could've gotten so much more mileage out of the nWo if they let scott steiner be the new leader of the black and white and trimmed some of the fat. i would've had scott be the leader with only like brett hart, norton, bagwell, giant, hennig and rude with bischoff as the manager. hall should've still defected to the wolfpac.
Life is really hard right now, thank you for your continued hard work in making our days a bit better ❤
*Final days. 😬
Scott Steiner definitely deserved to be in the main event. By this point, he wrestled a lot of countries.
This is the best wrestling channel man. The nostalgia is real. Watching this channel grow has been awesome.
WRESTLING BIOS YOU ARE THE GOAT 🐐 🏆 🤴
looked decent overall. i found myself rooting for DDP and it was maddening to watch the referee to allow Steiner to use the exposed buckle. the ref's became useless, more than usual in this era. Got to agree...David Flair...
Pretty solid PPV for WCW honestly. Questionable booking aside, at least you had star power and a solid mid card. It gets a lot worse by late 99.
Yeah late 99 was the start of WcW demise
It gets worser by mid 99
No matter what anyone says about Hogan politics, the truth is he was still wcw's biggest star and they needed him
Yup. This was one of their last decent-good moments before they spiraled all the way down from about the middle of 99 on until they got bought in 01.
This PPV actually outdrew St Valentine's Day Massacre! Insane!
it seeems hogan ,flair and piper draw a lot in that time
i can't believe it outdrew any WWF PPV especially one where Austin fights Vince in a cage, maybe because Super Brawl was always one of their biggest PPV's
@@LordDeBahs Are we sure it was Hogan, Flair & Piper that sold this ppv? Because for me it was the stipulation with Rey Mysterio's mask, the heated DDP vs Steiner feud & Goldberg vs Bigelow
@@VictorFerri-g7e it was booker vs disco the dream match fans wanted to see
@@VictorFerri-g7e 1000% yes we are sure. there was like 5 people that cared about the little guys back then. EVERYONE was there for Hogan, Sting, Flair, DDP, Nash, Hall, Piper, Hart, etc. Not a single person in the crowds were there for any of the smaller guys.. Check the signs. That's usually a good indicator. listen to how they get booed until they put on "match of the night" only to get a tiny pop at the end. Im sad to say i was kinda one of them. I loved the highflying action. But i really just wanted to see powerbombs, piledrivers, german suplex etc, from my favorites at the time.
Bet Foley wishes Rock had studied and copied how Hogan did chair shots.
Great. Now I'm picturing those brutal chair shots to the head during the I Quit match being the Hogan style and I'm making myself laugh. Thanks for that haha
Nah mick enjoyed it
So was David Flair filming himself with Torrie in the hotel room, getting the taser from Scott Hall, and then sending it to the WCW production truck? Or did he have his own cameraman that was always standing directly in front of him?
The camera men don't exist like on any TV show
It was a special eye implant with an updated version of the Refer-eye camera from that one Halloween Havoc.
@@GMSpectreReefer alright. Lol.
He had the very first version of a Go Pro.
yeah thats what i hate about prowrestling . just do exiting promos and in ring story telling not stupid reality show in hotels ,hospitals , bars unless its direct promo from these places
acting like there is no camera man is pretty stupid
Unmasked Rey Mysterio means the eventual birth of the Filthy Animals.
🎶 Filthy, dirty, nasty 🎶 That's the way we like it🎶
Without Rey losing his mask we'd never have Filthy Animal heel Rey which was the best version of Rey Mysterio.
100%
David Flair, love him or hate him that was the most shocking betrayal since Marty and Shawn. And probably even since!
It wasn’t shocking it was just stupid and didn’t make sense.
Everyone points to the Fingerpoke of Doom, but in a lot of ways this was the point WCW began its steady decline. Ratings & PPV buys held up post-fingerpoke until here, but the fact that this was just more of the same old nWo story, no comeuppance for Hogan, David Flair now randomly a key figure, nothing for fans to feel good about other than maybe Goldberg's win: all just became too much. That + wwf continuing to be on a hot streak quickly turns the war into a massacre
I would argue that the FPoD set them on a path where this NWO stagnation was the only way things could go, given the same people being in charge of creative. A complete retread because they didn’t have any new ideas to complicate the interpersonal relationships within the organization. The B team plot was DOA because they had been nothing talents for too long, and creative had no patience to actually build any of those dudes up, because they were B teamers in the first place due to careless writing and perceived undesirability as featured talents. And after nearly 3 years of putting the NWO well ahead of everything else going on, how does anything else gain ground while the NWO remains whole?
@@press_x_tojasonThis is my thought as well. The Poke wasn't the "end of WCW" but calling it "the *beginning* of the end" is accurate - that moment was the turning point in terms of it being an eye opener into WCW's stale booking, coinciding perfectly with the Fed kicking into high gear in terms of storylines and characters.
Personally I felt it started before the Finger Poke. I guess it's different for each of us.
WCW's decline started all the way back at Starrcade 97 with the botched finish in the main event. After that was the debut of Thunder that spread everything out too thin.
The Fingerpoke of Doom, while dumb and annoying, did not lead to an immediate collapse; they still did fine in the ratings.
Imo, the true final nail in the coffin was the loss of Jericho and the Radicalz. Without them, WCW had NOTHING going for them in the midcard. WCW would become a nearly unwatchable mess in 2000 while WWE had its greatest year ever. 2000 also saw the well-deserved push of Booker T into the main event, further weakening the midcard.
And then Vince Russo came over. And by then, it was the point of no return.
If only they'd had the likes of David Flair and Horace Hogan have some feuds with the likes of Fit Finlay or Norman Smiley on Thunder, would've guve them some legitimacy and given the nwo more legs....
When I initially read your comment, I assumed it was sarcasm, then I realized how much sense that actually would've made. Damn, man, you should've been given Vincce Russo's job! 😃👍
@@Fluoride_JonesI don't know how I feel about David Flair going over Fit Finlay.
Have to say I really enjoyed this one, aside from decent action and a genuinely shocking swerve, Barry Windham looks 10 years younger than when he was in the wwf, would love to know what his experience of wcw was like.
I watched this video this morning and thought the same, how much younger and better windham looked, compared to his 1996 run as the stalker, and even though apa was one of my favourite teams
Windham and Bradshaw could have worked as the APA
One thing this series has taught me is that Disco's nWo run was a lot better than it's given credit for
David Flair getting to do anything with Torrie Wilson should get him into the Hall Of Fame 😂
Seriously, made sense to see it happen as on the other channel, Vince vs Shane was and still happens
You know he dated Stacy Keibler in real life about a year after this right? Yes, David Flair, the deer in the headlights, somehow managed to date the one and only Stacy Keibler! Now that's HOF worthy lol.
@@namikstudios So, Stacy Keibler went from dating the one and only David Flair to that slouch George Clooney? Talk about trading in a Ferrari for a Ford Pinto, am I right! 😆
😂 20:28 that fan in the jacket having the time of his life 😂
I totally missed that. What a dork! 🤣
this pay per view brings back some memories as i attended the event when i was a kid. still remember the crowd chanting for austin during the Goldberg match lol
Rey Mysterio being forced to unmask was even worse than when they had Juventud Guerrera unmask at SuperBrawl 8.
Lol it's SO wcw to have an unmasking at the same ppv one year apart
I thought Juventud became more charismatic & interesting without the mask
@@VictorFerri-g7e True. At least he lost it in a one on one match for Chris Jericho’s Cruiserweight Championship. Having Rey Mysterio lose his mask in a tag team match against Miss Elizabeth’s hair when she wasn’t even in the match was just stupid even by their standards.
i prefer Juvie without his mask in all honesty.
Juvi is the one exception. Psychosis, Rey, La Parker, they should always have their masks
I know this isn’t about the PPV but I recently got a limited Edition WCW NWO Fall Brawl Rey Mysterio JR Racing Champions car
David Flair dated Stacy Keibler. The man was not a failure with the ladies in shoot!
I honestly think in my opinion it was a mistake for WCW to have Rey Mysterio lose his mask
I’d say everyone agrees with you because WWE instantly put it back on him and never removed it ever again lmao
@zachsmith1634
Rey should have defected to WWE after losing the Mask and WWE would have let Rey keep his Mask on,
Imagine Rey Mysterio in the Attitude Era
@michaelsinger4638
WCW gave Rey that Gangsta Gimmick which honestly I still have mixed feelings about
Rey made it work without the mask. But....
Bischoff gave his reasoning wasn't marketable in the US and WCW didn't have merchandising connections to make and sell lunchador masks like the WWE does.
David Flair crawled so Dominick Mysterio could fly.
RIP WCW
Gone but never forgotten
Reliving the War will be a tough watch from now until the end
That unmasked rey mysterio run was legendary
To me, Superbrawl 9 is sort of like watching Killers Of The Flower Moon: starts off really good in the first 2 thirds, but the last third really dragged. But still, this PPV is pretty good (Rey losing his mask and David Flair's heel turn aside).
The tag team ending was pure genius honestly. Choking your opponent with the belt, and then hiding that you are still choking him with the belt by having your arm in the way of it while pinning him? Good stuff.
I was honestly thinking the same thing. And haven't seen it since.
There were 2 back to back. “Superbrawl” and “Uncensored”. The cage match between Flair and Hogan was a classic. Now I might have to watch it again. Standing on the ropes, holding the cage, chopping each other. Complete bloodbath. And give it up, Hogan fights his ass off! He never phoned it in with Flair. Others? No comment.
The birth of Rey mysterio jr as the GIANT KILLER
We are entering the era of WCW when I am completely hazy about what happens. Booking like this completely turned me away and I wouldn’t bother channel flipping on Monday nights. Looking forward to seeing how things go down in the final years of WCW. I know it’s not pretty, but thanks to this channel, at least it will be a fun ride!
We are getting closer and closer to the clusterfrick that is Russo's WCW 2000.
Right! Im curious because Booker T winning the title, david arquette, the bash at the beach 2000 are all I remember. The WWE parts to this point are recaps but I remember most of the good parts, but WCW Im curious for.
Nice video, was at this event at the Oakland Coliseum at 22 years old. Time flies.
I was 12 watching this with my Dadon ppv.
4 Horsemen intro 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next week has my favorite Stiener line
"While your on your back screaming in pain your wife is gonna be on her back screaming my name"
I was not a fan of Rey unmasking, it was a part of his identity as a character and history of the mask for Mexican wrestlers and what it means for them.
No matter what is happening in my life I always look forward to wrestling bios uploads you always make the day a little better your a top man brother
they were deep into "these 5 guys always win no matter what" booking. Even as a kid I'd have grown tired enough of this to switch over by now
Thank you for all the custom intros! I love discos, Steve blackmans and the big wiggler 😂
Big wiggle caterpillar
I just gotta say this...I understand the importance of Rey's mask. But I still loved Rey without his mask. And thankfully Vince and WWE wanted Rey to use his mask when he came over to WWE.
Rey Mysterio losing his mask makes him just another Cruiserweight wrestler. I don't see how he could benefit without it.
Rey without his mask looks like Dominik when he was a little kid on Smackdown
Sources say Disco had "Annoyince with semi creative control." Was the only reason he couldn't be let go. And he was probably the successor of the booty man.
Explain?
@arostwocents he's trying to be funny but it ended up being cringe.
Great, now I'll have that WolfPac/Inferno mashup stuck in my head all day.
Man! I wanna hear, "BAM BAM CHINLOCK!"
Wood from the Hood 🤙That Works for me brother and Wrestling Bios on my Sundays
the unmasking was a very sad moment in wrestling history
I didnt realize David Flair joined the nWo so soon after his first match
“So I want you to take your mask off”
“It’s a big part of my cultural identity as a luchadore, it’s also 1999 and I look 12 years old underneath. I’d prefer you write me literally anything else to do”
“Take it off we have a good reason”
“What’s that”
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”
"I don't like masks"
It's amazing thinking it was a great idea to take the mask off the best luchador who can sell and express better than most of your main event scene...
This man makes my Fridays and Sundays complete
The recaps are too long, it's a bit boring I wish it was just one minute on each match rather than going by it move by move
@arostwocents I like the detail but if you are more a YT shorts or TikTok quick and fast entertainment type of person, I can understand not liking it.
One of the many life lessons that wrestling has taught me is: You can't put the mask back on.
But they did it to Rey Mysterio in wwe 2002?
But Rey did. I had actually forgotten he ever got unmasked. They booked him so strong in WWE. Made everyone forget about the maskless garbage.
KISS did it and it wasn’t the same if you were there the first time. Having no idea what they looked like.
@@JeffTullock-fs4de I still liked Kiss without the makeup
Ralfus deserves his own custom intro. He has earned his spot alongside Disco and Alex.
Torrie was never named Samantha in WCW. Those videos aired for 2 weeks and the announcers never once acknowledged her till she came out during the main event of superbrawl with no name. The next night she was named Torrie Wilson by Disco.
Aye I was thinking I remember her being called torrie
I think that was just an internet rumor as she didn’t have a name on tv for a couple weeks. It might have even been wcw’s plan but she was never called that on wcw
It's a shame about Rey Mysterio Jr. losing his mask. It's a good thing that never happened to Rey Mysterio! Could you imagine if he got unmasked?
Dumb
Dom would unmask him in few years
@@nikeneon3188 When did Dom do that? I'm not finding any information on that.
@@cabutler1 Me failed english. Sorry I was meant to say, that he would do that in Rey retirement match. In my defense he done that on last Royal Rumble (backstage)
Don't care what ANYONE Says Hogan And Flair were AWESOME and SUPERBRAWL Was a great PPV💯
Another great video thank you sir
💪 😎 I was a WWF fan growing up but occasionally I would watch SuperBrawl or Starcade with my buddies, what a great time to be a kid
11/11/23
Samantha was very popular when she debuted. And her mystery man was quite a swerve!
But the real value was how it setup the next PPV and the rare double-turn.
goldberg vs bam bam bigelow was underrated!!!!!!!!!!
I went to this ppv, I can tell you the energy for Hogan Hulking up and that match in general was crazy, everyone was talking about it after the show.
IMO the downward spiral of WCW started when Hogan couldn't put Sting over. Honestly that made that whole year long buildup feel wasted. Secondly the NWO overstayed it's welcome. One by having too many WCW guys join should've been just former WWE guys. Lastly they didn't really put the younger talent in the main event enough. WWE had Austin Rock Taker being the oldest Foley then HHH later. And one person didn't hold the belt for years straight they traded it making star's that can walk without the belt. Hogan needed the title to be relevant. All of this plus Eric not putting some of the cruiser weights in the main event spot even the semi main. Too many overpaid guys in big spots.
Wild Bill Goldberg is well aware that if he took 3 chinlocks his mystique and career would be over just like his undefeated streak
2:52 the Harlem hangover looked great smashed the infernos face
“SUPERBRAWL SUNDAY???” As how Lex Luger would say it 😂
It’s an Shame he has an Version 2
Oh dear, you had a perfect setup there around the 17:30 mark, the numbers game catch up with DDP.... and they spell disaster for him.
so El Dandy never got a US title shot? injustice, he was a jam up guy
You can see Dominik's looks in Rey's face after the unmasking.
Speaking of, could David Flair in the nWo be considered a prototype for Dirty Dom decades later, only with Dom taking the ball and running with it unlike David here (even if I did like David's eventual team with Crowbar)?
To be fair David just had those rosey red cheeks. He looks like he escaped a Disney cartoon.
@stevenmacaulay8807 Well, WCW did air shows at Disney related venues at times...
Also...a case of "To be Fair to Flair"? XD
I miss bam bam so much
If we are going to talk about eye pokes. The two wrestlers who give the best eye pokes, Piper and Flare.
24 years later, and unmasking Mysterio is still the stupidest decision ever made.
Hands down.
No questions asked
So disrespectful. Served zero purpose.
3 months later in KC was pretty stupid
@@stu9856 what’s KC?!
WCW made worser decisions than this, come on now
WILL SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR THE RETRACING THE STEPS THANK YOU FOR WATCHING AND TAKE CARE.
Roddy Piper with the eye pokes:
Vintage Moe Howard! - Michael Cole
He was no better in the ring than Nash and with about as much charisma too. Terrible signing who should have either been commentary or nothing
Wise guy, eh?
I appreciate they tried to do something with David Flair. The nWo joining was meh, I admit, but later on his "being insane run" was legit fun af.
That unmasking haunts Rey to this day. Should have been a last act in his career.
One of the very situations that proves Bischoff isn't the businsss man he thinks he is. Poor Rey.
The fact that Rey was more over unmasked and that it was far from the last act of his career proves that Eric was right all along. Maskless Rey is easily the best version of his character.
Idk what’s worse Rey unmasked or bam bam not getting a third chin lock. I wanted a “bam bam bigelow chin lock” thing
27:00
Pretty sure this chair shot is what split Ric, the bottom edge of the curved back plate catches him towards the top front of his head.
Unless Ric is just slick enough to cut himself that deep in the spot the chair hit.
😄👍
Eric Bischoff not liking masked wrestlers is insane to me, like I'm sure there was money to be made with those masks and plus, WCW had a majority of them in the Cruiserweight division.
Yeah this isn't true. It was due to wcw having too many masked guys and having many one shot masked guys on nitro. The matches had no heat as all the masks blurred into one. Rey was not popular so he was best choice to lose the mask and was a lot more popular afterwards. Rey saying it went down a certain way to benefit him does not mean it was the truth. Rey is hardly gonna admit he wasn't popular and it was the right decision, as he hated having to lose the mask
People complaining about him losing the mask are imagining it like WWF with him as the only mask guy, but you would get like 3 matches with mask Vs mask guys and they were boring and had no heat, despite the amazing action, as you could not have enough charisma on show with both wrestlers masked
These shows should be made by people who remember the time rather than just say what the hindsight opinion is
@@arostwocents gets it. Maskless Rey was the best version of his character for sure.
It's going to be really interesting to see how exactly WCW decided that the next logical step from "Hogan got Ric Flair's son to betray him & join the nWo" would be "Ric Flair turns heel & mad with power which, in turn, turns Hogan & the nWo into the babyfaces" once we get to the main event of Uncensored '99.
It would have worked really well if David wasn't completely out of his depth. Feel sorry for him TBH. Impossible shoes to fill and he just didn't have the "it factor" that made his dad the legend he is.
@@namikstudios David Flair had the "(sh)it factor," though. 💩😆
I loved Rey Mysterio with and without the mask.probably without the mask even more but looking back as an adult, it was a stupid short sided decision
Wow someone in the comments who was actually there and remembers Rey being much more popular after losing the mask, well done 😮
@@arostwocents That is because they allowed him to cut more promos and started a feud with the outsiders. He could've done the same thing with the mask.
So much better without the mask. Best version of his character for sure.
Rey Mysterio looked so weird without the mask.
I was there at age 13; it was a good show overall and looking back now it was a show filled with legends. I forgot it was a Tag Team match where Rey lost his mask to Nash because I remember Scott Hall vs Piper as Hall’s match of the night but I remember Scott Hall doing the Outsiders Edge to Rey and placing him with the Nash for the win. Only thing missing was a Macho Man but he was gone with knee injuries and no Sting was out too.
The razor Ramon elbow pad is a great find. Never noticed that and it’s hilarious 😆
This man does such an excellent job even on events I don’t care about I still watch because of his presentation
You don't need the comments but this really one of my favorite podcasts.
Wcw undercard awesome but the WCW main event sucks WWF undercard sucks but the WWF main events awesome 👊
The Yin and Yang for sure.
It won’t be to long until WWF is the only watchable one however
I don’t know how I miss this one! I Was going to all the PPV!s at the time! Both Royal Rumbles Nitro in Sacramento! Elimination Chamber! Can’t believe I missed this one!
David Flair got that Tony Khan cringe energy
This should be interesting! Got my popcorn ready here....
Would love a compaison of the wc2 wef ppvs and how they matched up eachonth ty wb for ur hard work
I'll never agree with the decision to take off Reys mask. Bischoff was insane for thinking that the mask covers up the emotion on the face, Reys eyes told a better story than half the roster and that mask is obviously merch gold.
Hell yeah brother!
Was there ever an explanation as to why Hall wore the Razor elbowpad?
Ray losing his mask is when I realized the WCW was over. Good night.