To all of you wrestling fans, please please please say some prayers for Steve "Mongo" McMichael. He was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease which is incurable. He may not have been a mat master, but his enthusiasm alone was worth watching him wrestle back then and he is a genuinely great human being.
@theReelPhilLeotardo It would have been easy to Google “how much is spent on ALS research” to realize what a complete ass you’d make out of yourself with that comment before making it.
@@jackjackson6355 That dude had commented (which he now deleted) saying that Mongo could have cured Lou Gehrig’s disease if he hadn’t spent his money on drugs. I’m dead serious he actually said that.
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That should’ve been one of the biggest payoffs in wrestling history: Sting beating Hogan clean and putting an end to the nWo but hey......”that doesn’t work for me brother”
@@christhornycroft3686 well maybe not put an end to them for good because atleast we got Red & Black in 98 but have them take a break for awhile after Sting’s victory
Putting an end to them would have been absolutely insane, BUT they could've used Hogan's clean loss as a catalyst for restructuring, trimming the fat and possibly making things seem fresh overall. But instead it was the start of WCW's run of booking finishes terribly. (really, it'd been an issue there for years, but this was the kind of huge match bs finish that kills fan interest long term)
They could have put Sting over clean without ending the NWO. That would have put the group in a position fans hadn't really seen before: on the back foot. That makes for some interesting and moneymaking storytelling opportunities.
@@gst013 Ironically, I sometimes feel like the nWo had the issue of, at the same time, being booked too strong and too weak at the same times. On the one hand, they were utterly declassing WCW and even c-list wrestlers would do that after joining... even when those guys basically had nothing from their wins. On the other hand: They basically never won clean. They needed interferences etc. to win, making them look weak at the same time, because rather than using them to make it look like the interference was the tide turner in a tight match... it just made the nWo members look as if they couldn't win on their own, in hindsight... Yes, the nWo was cool, but even as cool guys, they were the heels... and villains that are portrayed as too invincible (even when that's archieved by constantly cheating) also get stale, especially when utterly overused like Pelant from the Show "Bones"...
@@christhornycroft3686 the NWO shouldn’t have ended here, but this should have been a catalyst for better stories revolving around Hogans ego to win the belt and Sting defending against the top NWO talent that would eventually lead to a coherent split with the NWO. You had enough top level talent in the group that Sting could have feuded with throughout the year, but his momentum was killed starting here
The mental image you gave me of Sting defeating Hogan clean as a whistle, vanquishing the nWo once and for all, and then Bret Hart comes out to stare down Sting as the PPV cuts to black... I got goosebumps just thinking about it, then a great sadness washed over me as I remembered it's 23 years too late for that. It's wild to think that at that moment, that of their single greatest on-paper success, WCW had 3 years and 3 months to live.
Man I feel exactly the same way. Imagine what a booking that would've been. The masters of the sharpshooter which they would go on to do a few years later would've have been huge if it had begun this way. As if hogan would've let that happen tho
That would have been an amazing finish, it really does almost seem like Bischoff didn't know what to do with Bret, like he signed him as just a way to stick it to Vince and then buried whatr= was the hottest wrestler in the business at that time....and on the other hand Vince then essentially did the same in buying and burying WCW 4 years later
Steve McMichael has been diagnosed with ALS. McMichael's might not have been an ideal wrestler by any means of the imagination, but he did put himself and body on the line for our entertainment (and laugher). Send a small token of well wishes and appreciation to the former Chicago Bears great.
I was really taken aback by his appearance, not having seen him in a number of years. He announced that he's no longer making any public appearances. Best wishes to him.
You really summed up what’s so frustrating for those of us who watched WCW from the Bischoff era on. Everyone wants to take credit for the successes, but when it comes to failures it’s always one person’s word against another’s or “I don’t know what happened.”
You’re right. It’s amazing how they all remember to a T all of the great ideas but have amnesia when they are asked about the mistakes. Never thought of that. Good call
Paul Wight was reportedly livid that Nash no-showed after weeks of making him look silly. You have to give Hall credit for going out there and letting the big guy put his hands on him that night.
@@planescaped I'd argue moreso. Because everybody recognised that Hogan was just in it for himself. But people saw it and either accepted it or hated him. Everybody likes Kevin Nash, because very few saw what he did. If you weren't directly affected by it, you'd never know.
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I was there, and still have my ticket stub. It was a mess, but that crowd was absolutely 100% for Sting. I wore my nWo shirt I got there til it literally fell apart while wearing it! Great vid!!
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This just makes you appreciate Vince even more...he could keep so many egos in check and usually do what's best for business in the 90s and early 00s. The problem with WCW is all the egos ran wild!
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I actually had no idea about Dean Malenko's situation around Starrcade. Thats nuts WCW did that and no wonder he ended up leaving. Also Steve McMichael just announced he has ALS and thats really sad. Show some love and support for Mongo when you can :)
I'm hoping for a Mongo tribute/mention on Reliving the War. I assume he hasn't had the opportunity to make/edit/render a video for him yet. Even if he wasn't known for being the smoothest wrestler, he certainly did everything he could to entertain the fans. My condolences and well-wishes to Mr. McMichael and his family.
They really dropped the ball in the main event in my opinion. Just a simple paint-by-numbers babyface win would have been just fine considering that the build was so epic.
Yeah. And Bischoff constantly proclaiming Hogan never pulled the “doesn’t work for me brother” while also constantly telling the story of Hogan doing just that the first time he tried getting Hogan to turn heel. Also when the Bash at the Beach 2000 topic comes up with the Russo thing, he also claims this was the only situation Hogan used his creative control clause. But it is clear he is being disingenuous with that statement. It was the only time he had to get his lawyers involved because Bischoff always gave Hogan his way without argument so of course he didn’t have to activate the legal clause any other time.
@Corn Pop Good god, I've just seen video of him, he's almost unrecognisable, didn't think much of him as a wrestler but I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
@Bold One Why? It's your biggest match you could do, and Starrcade was the biggest event they had. Why would you give that away free? Granted 7 months later they did that for Hogan/Goldberg, but...that was as shortsighted as this woulda been. Even worse actually because unlike Hogan/Sting, there was no rematch afterward ever.
@@dontreldontrel416 man those NBA Finals were intense. You are either too young or never seen those two going at it in the finals and a storyline happening at wcw at the same time
@@timshaver996 true but when Tyson and Stone Cold went at it, nothing topped that. I'm actually almost 40 been watching wrestling when it came on Saturday only. So young... Not so much
I remember being disappointed with this Starrcade back in 97 & I was a huge WCW fan. Thanks for this Sunday afternoon awesomeness to entertain me while we are back in Lockdown here in Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦 Cheers
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That build up though, with the NWO and Sting was IMO The greatest build up in wrestling history! What a great time to be a kid with the Monday night wars going on.
Incredible time to be a kid. Monday night wars and with the NWO, Sting, Goldberg etc. You made sure you did all your homework Monday evening so you can at least appeal to your parents to stay up and watch wrestling
Starrcade 97 had the potential to be the greatest PPV of WCWs history and they ruined multiple matches with odd booking. Not to mention that they made it look like Bret Hart could basically make the rules up he wanted not only in the match he was involved with but the main event because of how it was botched it made it look like he was screwing Hogan.
Sting vs Hogan had such a long build it should of been WCW's most important match and it was ruined due to mainly Hogan but a few other things. 1997 was such a important year the id say the year where things began to change like a prelude to 1998 and what would that offer
@@Venemofthe888 i wouldn't say it was ruined just because of Hogan but from what I understand there were multiple people telling those involved different finishes of the match and there was poor communication.
@@kevinlee9929 Strike while the Iron was Hot... it was literally 7 weeks removed from Montreal... Everyone knew Bret was out of WWE and Where he was going... not using him would have been every bit the Elephant in the Room as what happened
@@lexkanyima2195 except that the Internet was in it's infancy and Everything 'relevant' had happened on PPV/TV to be 'smarky' would have implied someone having inside information and/or proof of a Deeper Work - ie had Vince trusted Bret at the PPV... but then pulled the Screwjob at the next House show where the alleged screwy-ness of the Screwjob had remained 'alleged' and then WCW played the 'screw job card'... that would be "smarky"
I think the reason the Luger vs. Bagwell match went so long was because of Hogan vs. Sting being changed. They had to plan for the main event to go somewhere around 15 or 20 minutes long, but when Hogan started bickering, they had to scramble to fill up the time slot.
It's like this: When WCW did great someone wants to take credit for that one idea. When it fails like it did here on the creative side, it was a group effort and no one can remember all the details of what went down.
Bingo. Starrcade 1997... The Fingerpoke of Doom... Bash at the Beach 2000... Everyone's memory gets really cloudy when it comes to incidents like those.
@@jasonmccrank4981 In the ratings, yes. But despite that, the WWE's viewership was rather solid. Low, but a solid low. WWE's growth didn't come as much at the expense of WCW, as it was luring in mainly a whole new audience. Would a clean Sting victory have given WCW much better chances? Yes. Would better booking HERE have changed the outcome of the war? We don't know.
Ive been watching the Monday night wars from 96 to october 2000 where im at now. You can watch the WWE crowds slowly transform to a point where there are frat boys and other demographics you would never see at a wrestling show today
They've missed such a big opportunity with Bret Hart's debut. The booking team could've had him debut on the night after Starcade but no, they've messed it up.
Wrestling bios coming through again. I have been sucked in by reliving the war. You sir have gotten quite comfortable and hilarious in narration. My favorite youtube channel is W.B.
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@@JesusSaves80 Move on dude, seriously. Didn't your parents teach you manners growing up? You made your request and it may or may not be fulfilled. Accept it and move on. Hijacking every single top rated comment to spam your request is rude and completely unnecessary.
I just watched this the other day and from the opening segment and everyone being confused about whether Nash was gonna show up was a clear indication of how the rest of the show was going to go. Just utter chaos and a lot of stalling up until the final match
This is what got me to start watching Raw. The main event was a debacle and just so many top stars not on show. It had the biggest hype I can remember.
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@@JesusSaves80 You've been reported for spamming this same reply everywhere in the comment section. Give it up. You're not owed anything. Make your request once and move on.
@@MR.__G I wasn't his biggest fan myself but his peak was before I was even born (1989) so I got him on his way out of the WWF and at the start of his WCW run
Bischoff hated Raven. He didn't get the gimmick at all. Bischoff thought the only thing that was cool was middle aged leather clad biker dudes or guys like Glacier and The Cat who could throw karate kicks. He was extremely narrow-minded and should've listened more to those around him as to what was cool and relevant in pop culture.
I dont know why but your delivery is perfect for taking in info. I could listen to you read stereo instructions. Thanks for reinvigorating my love of wrestling
@@gerhardschulzy well yes you r right the only difference is the shins and calfs are exposed when wearing shorts or basically from the knees down and seeing as tho not many actions touch that part of the legs there really isn't that big of a difference imo
All those heads working together and none couldnt do any better than they did. Wrestlers in shoot interviews said they would be about to go live for nitro on tv and guys would be back stage trying to figure the night out and what they were going to do at the last minute.
So true, absolutely NONE of the decision makers or big lazy “bookers” would take responsibility for anything. It’s was quite pathetic and sad because WCW had do much potential.
@@planescaped Great in-ring wrestling will always have a limited audience in the US of around 1-2 million people. When wrestling tapped into the mainstream in the late 90s it reached an audience of 11-12 million people.
I wonder if talents not showing up was a some kind of boycott or show of frustration, knowing what was going on behind the scenes of the Sting-Hogan match?
With Hart, the only thing I can think of is perhaps a 90 day physical no compete clause? When Flair returned to WCW in 1993, he hosted Flair for the Gold for a bit since he couldn't physically wrestle per the release agreement. But yeah there were a ton of mistakes made.
I was at this show as like a 10 year old! I remember being so insanely hyped that the show was going to be in DC since it was only 30 min away from where I lived. My dad surprised me with tickets for Christmas. It was awesome as a kid.
Off topic but I love the fact you got a still shot from The Giant's entrance at this show at the end of the video, with a sign visible in the background that reads: "Please Retire". Poor Paul Wight was being taunted already about that just 2 years into his career lol.
Idk man, the look in Sting's eyes. Instead of looking to determined and ready to finally kick ass, he looks...ashamed. I can't help but think maybe Sting showed up to the show messed up.
I remember being stoked watching this ppv and then being disappointed in not only the sting vs hollywood hogan matchup. But the handling of bret hart and a few questionable booking decisions. But wcw did get one thing right ddp winning the u.s title from curt henning that was the right call.
Typical that a genuinely hard worker who had a good reason not to be there was forced to yet Nash was able to just drop out last minute with the heart attack story ending up being false.
I would have booked Starrcade 97 so that if Sting won, Hogan would leave WCW and disband the NWO BUT if Hogan won, the NWO would take over WCW. I would make it so that Sting won cleanly and Hogan left. In the aftermath, WCW's higher-ups would appear to give preferential treatment to him for saving the promotion, annoying the other wrestlers e.g. Bret Hart. This would slowly alienate Sting to such a degree that Ted DiBiase would reach out to him offering him even better money than he's already getting at WCW to launch another coup. Eventually, though, Sting would discover 1. that DiBiase is planning on selling WCW while it's still solvent and making the wrestlers unemployed and 2. that he is a financial criminal. The storyline would culminate with Sting appearing to turn heel for DiBiase's money only to then reveal that he has emailed proof of his criminal activites to the IRS and bankrupted him. This would earn the respect of Bret Hart and and the rest of the WCW roster
I did not remember that six man tag match with Konan being part of the promotion at all. I recalled this like most PPVs only have 4 promoted matching involving the nWo, Nash v Giant, Henning v Flair, Bishcoff with Zbisco and the Main Event.
Would love to see you do a dream card and booking of this event... I know its not your normal thing, but I would be interested to see how you would have done it, what talent youd have used and how you would fix these problems.
You summed this ppv up perfectly. This should have been the end of the nWo. This should have been WCW prevailing over them. But too many stars with too much creative control ruined that. They were afraid of their meal ticket ending. Even though it's been proven nWo stuff still sells. To much short sighted not enough future insight
Your videos are very well edited and you do great narration 👏👏💯 Real good videos for people who are new to wrestling but still interested in the topic lol 💪✅
Bret should've been the ref of the Sting Hogan match. And no excuse for how the main event went down in a worked business. A lot of unfortunate absences too.
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Mongo at that time they were trying to make him a big deal. But after his match fell flat that’s when they decided to stop focusing too much on his character. That was WCW biggest Achilles heel they had all the talent in the world on that roster but didn’t know how to use them and often pushed the wrong people too early or not at all.
To put it politely. The man had a rough 2001-02 due to burning bridges with everyone. He messed up his WWE run in the early 90s and it left an aftertaste, Promo Azteca dead since 98, WCW dead, ECW dead, TNA over a year away, CMLL blackballing since he jumped to AAA, he didn't reconciled with Pena and came back to AAA until 2006.
Please Make Videos On: 1. Kaientai (1997 - 1999) including yamaguchi san mrs yamaguchisan and that famous fued they had with val Venus 😃 2. The Oddities ( Kurrgan Golga Giant silva) 3. Mordecai Aka. Kevin Thorne 4. The Mean Street Possie Fued With Patt Patterson Gerald Brisco 5. Mae Young And Mark Henry Love Triangle 6. Crush Aka. Brian Adams 7. Nicole Bass 8. Doink The Clown Fued With Jerry Lawler 9. The Undertaker Fued With Yokozuna (1994-1996)
In the defensive of Kevin Nash and hes not the only one I've heard of this happening too including people I've known, they thought he had a heart attack initially based on blood proteins that are easy to test, unfortunately people who work out heavily also show the same proteins because their associated with torn muscle tissue. Do I think he was being over cautious, yeah, but I prolly would have been too.
Yeah heart problems is nothing to play both my dad and grandpa died of heart attacks if I every feel like something like that's happening to me I'll leave work too
I didn't know that Starcade 1997 had all these problems, wrestlers not showing up when advertised and of course the disappointing end to the main event. The build was there, I remember it because I watched it unfold week after week, and everyone and their grandmother wanted to see Hogan lose that title and see Sting victorious and while that did happen, it wasn't a clean finish. I heard that Sting was going through a rough time and Hogan probably didn't wanna do business probably, and the fans went home disappointed, what a shame.
Another huge mistake was giving Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger SIXTEEN minutes to work with. They really needed like eight to ten at the most. Hell, maybe even five.
Regarding the Hogan/Sting finish, I think it's a simple as a Patrick botch. He got lost in the moment, forgot and did a regular three count after that Hogan legdrop. You can see it in his face immediately after that he knew he messed up.
I don't believe Nash's BS excuse. He just didn't want to put over the Giant. He never would have gotten away with that in WWE. I was so angry that that match didn't take place. Plus no Raven vs. Benoit. Plus Hall didn't have a match. Macho Man only wrestled as a last minute replacement for Konnan in a throw away match. No Rey Mysterio. No Booker T. No Flair. Just an atrociously booked PPV for what was supposed to be their premier PPV of the year. Why not Savage vs. Luger instead of Buff vs. Luger? And of course the main event was trash even without the botched ending. It was a TERRIBLE match, and it was a terrible PPV.
It would be great if pro wrestling still cared about storylines, storytelling and larger than life characters like they did back during the Monday night wars but nowadays all they care about is highspots, no selling, false finishes, and pushing agendas.. it's sad to see how far pro wrestling has fallen
"Success has many Mothers, Failure is an Orphan"... From what I recall the Logic behind Bret as Referee for Eric v Larry was such 1. It gets him on the Card w/ minimal booking/story so they can Advertise his arrival 2. being an official Ref, means he's got the on Screen 'authority' to "Stop another Screw Job" and his inserting himself in the Finale is more than just proving the size of his appendage 3. It puts him in the Main Event Scene without locking in a booking Decision now WCW booking being what WCW Booking was, they managed to screw this all up within 3? weeks ... but a logical extension of his actions, had they played out right, could have saw a Sting v. Bret as a Face v Face match as a 'thanks for having my back'... or a straight Hogan V Bret "you cost me the belt' revenge match at Souled Out
I remember actually buying this on Pay Per View, which I only did a few times since I really hated spending that much for a show I was afraid would get screwed up. When Hogan beat Sting not only for the 3 count, but the entire match until the ending, I said never again. This was the First and last WCW show I ever bought because of just how sad the booking got. Gone were the great NWA type fights of old and now you would have 3 hour shows with under 15 minutes of in ring wrestling!
I remember by this point I was able to watch nitro, we didn’t get it for the longest time as we didn’t get tnt in British Columbia, I had to wait until TSN carried it to finally watch. I was waiting for starcade and when i heard what happened i was thinking wtf? They screwed up the “most important night in the history of our sport”
Speaking of kick-outs, you know what woulda REALLY been epic? Just thinking of it but......imagine if the first half of the match went like normal EXCEPT.....when Hogan hit the leg drop and went for the pin, Sting kicked out at like 1, and "Hulked Up" ala old-school Hogan, using his very own schtick against him.. He then would make the big comeback he essentially did when the match restarted and win. I can just HEAR the crowd going apeshit for that if they booked it that way. THAT is how you pay off an angle like that......not what they did.
One minor thing that bugged me about Sting/Hogan was that Sting came from gorilla like any other wrestler. The same guy who came from the crowd and the rafters. Had he came down from the rafters then struck that pose with the pyro, I think it would've been much more effective.
The more I think about it, the more I come to believe that the ending was less of a conspiracy and more of a perfect storm for some part of it to get screwed up. WCW likely already had the ending of this match planned out before Bret Hart was released by the WWF. Suddenly, someone decides it would be a good idea to inject him into the Starcade main event, probably with a screw job finish. So they change the ending. And, since a few of the parties involved seem to agree on at least this point, for some reason they change the ending AGAIN either the day before or that very day. And WCW was also know to make changes to matches at literally the last minute. My guess is that they had changed the ending so many times in the days leading up to Starcade that Nick Patrick lost track of which of the various screw job endings he was counting (probably one involving a foreign object.). If it was a conspiracy, one of the would’ve sold the others out by now. If it was a monumental screw up involving all of them, then you would still have people covering their own asses.
![Twenty One Pilots - “The Line” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/E2Rj2gQAyPA/mqdefault.jpg)
To all of you wrestling fans, please please please say some prayers for Steve "Mongo" McMichael. He was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease which is incurable. He may not have been a mat master, but his enthusiasm alone was worth watching him wrestle back then and he is a genuinely great human being.
@theReelPhilLeotardo It would have been easy to Google “how much is spent on ALS research” to realize what a complete ass you’d make out of yourself with that comment before making it.
Amen 🙏
@@gamingblowsofficial what did he do wrong?
@@jackjackson6355 That dude had commented (which he now deleted) saying that Mongo could have cured Lou Gehrig’s disease if he hadn’t spent his money on drugs. I’m dead serious he actually said that.
@@gamingblowsofficial ohh, I thought you were addressing the original comment
A PPV were wrestlers don’t show up is quite possibly the most WCW thing ever.
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
Lol very true...I mean the ECW wrestlers weren’t getting paid but they still showed up.
At their biggest PPV as well mind you
Ah i miss WCW...nobody really truly knew what the hell was going on
I don’t know, there was a lot of that going on in TNA as well.
That should’ve been one of the biggest payoffs in wrestling history: Sting beating Hogan clean and putting an end to the nWo but hey......”that doesn’t work for me brother”
@@christhornycroft3686 well maybe not put an end to them for good because atleast we got Red & Black in 98 but have them take a break for awhile after Sting’s victory
Putting an end to them would have been absolutely insane, BUT they could've used Hogan's clean loss as a catalyst for restructuring, trimming the fat and possibly making things seem fresh overall. But instead it was the start of WCW's run of booking finishes terribly. (really, it'd been an issue there for years, but this was the kind of huge match bs finish that kills fan interest long term)
They could have put Sting over clean without ending the NWO. That would have put the group in a position fans hadn't really seen before: on the back foot. That makes for some interesting and moneymaking storytelling opportunities.
@@gst013 Ironically, I sometimes feel like the nWo had the issue of, at the same time, being booked too strong and too weak at the same times. On the one hand, they were utterly declassing WCW and even c-list wrestlers would do that after joining... even when those guys basically had nothing from their wins. On the other hand: They basically never won clean. They needed interferences etc. to win, making them look weak at the same time, because rather than using them to make it look like the interference was the tide turner in a tight match... it just made the nWo members look as if they couldn't win on their own, in hindsight...
Yes, the nWo was cool, but even as cool guys, they were the heels... and villains that are portrayed as too invincible (even when that's archieved by constantly cheating) also get stale, especially when utterly overused like Pelant from the Show "Bones"...
@@christhornycroft3686 the NWO shouldn’t have ended here, but this should have been a catalyst for better stories revolving around Hogans ego to win the belt and Sting defending against the top NWO talent that would eventually lead to a coherent split with the NWO. You had enough top level talent in the group that Sting could have feuded with throughout the year, but his momentum was killed starting here
"This is the biggest night in the history of our great sport."
If I had a dollar for every time Schiavone uttered that phrase....
You'd be the richest dollaraire in the history of our sport....
wasn't that his 'Vintage' line for years in the NWO era
To be fair, Jim Ross called a lot of matches "The biggest match in the history of Raw."
You could have purchased WCW
The mental image you gave me of Sting defeating Hogan clean as a whistle, vanquishing the nWo once and for all, and then Bret Hart comes out to stare down Sting as the PPV cuts to black... I got goosebumps just thinking about it, then a great sadness washed over me as I remembered it's 23 years too late for that.
It's wild to think that at that moment, that of their single greatest on-paper success, WCW had 3 years and 3 months to live.
Man I feel exactly the same way. Imagine what a booking that would've been. The masters of the sharpshooter which they would go on to do a few years later would've have been huge if it had begun this way. As if hogan would've let that happen tho
I fear that WWE could have a similar fate
That would have been an amazing finish, it really does almost seem like Bischoff didn't know what to do with Bret, like he signed him as just a way to stick it to Vince and then buried whatr= was the hottest wrestler in the business at that time....and on the other hand Vince then essentially did the same in buying and burying WCW 4 years later
Yes they really dropped the ball. Hogan's selfishness ruined WCW
@@SKR-97 The WWF absolutely could have collapsed.
Thank Austin, McMahon, and Mick Foley for its survival.
Steve McMichael has been diagnosed with ALS.
McMichael's might not have been an ideal wrestler by any means of the imagination, but he did put himself and body on the line for our entertainment (and laugher).
Send a small token of well wishes and appreciation to the former Chicago Bears great.
I was really taken aback by his appearance, not having seen him in a number of years. He announced that he's no longer making any public appearances. Best wishes to him.
That's very sad news.
Mondo was awesome as a character. Mounds of charisma.
You really summed up what’s so frustrating for those of us who watched WCW from the Bischoff era on. Everyone wants to take credit for the successes, but when it comes to failures it’s always one person’s word against another’s or “I don’t know what happened.”
The fact that Giant vs Scott Hall didn’t take place as a substitution match still upsets me to this day.
Lol I mean why Scott Hall wasn't even booked in the first place at WCW's biggest PPV of the year is typical WCW
Whether he “wanted” to be there or not, Malenko put on a brilliant match with Eddie.
Unmotivated Malenko is still better than most of WCW's roster.
No charisma and not your prototype build but more wrestling ability in his pinky than most guys have all around, its ashame when you think about it
@@ericsohl1953 that's why they called him the iceman, no emotion
A true pro, he wasn't going to punish a paying audience for his personal annoyance.
I hope this “6 problems” will become a new series for your channel
Seems like a great concept.. I hope he does something with that.. *"Random Number of Problems"*
You’re right. It’s amazing how they all remember to a T all of the great ideas but have amnesia when they are asked about the mistakes. Never thought of that. Good call
Success has many fathers.
Failure is always an orphan.
Paul Wight was reportedly livid that Nash no-showed after weeks of making him look silly. You have to give Hall credit for going out there and letting the big guy put his hands on him that night.
...and not doing a match. Yeah, nah.
@@planescaped I'd argue moreso. Because everybody recognised that Hogan was just in it for himself. But people saw it and either accepted it or hated him. Everybody likes Kevin Nash, because very few saw what he did. If you weren't directly affected by it, you'd never know.
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
@@JesusSaves80 Wrestling Bios is not obligated to fulfill your request. Ask once and move on. Why are you being so rude and persistent with this?
Don't tell him how to play jackass ..
I was there, and still have my ticket stub. It was a mess, but that crowd was absolutely 100% for Sting. I wore my nWo shirt I got there til it literally fell apart while wearing it! Great vid!!
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
@@JesusSaves80 Stop posting this in every thread.
This just makes you appreciate Vince even more...he could keep so many egos in check and usually do what's best for business in the 90s and early 00s. The problem with WCW is all the egos ran wild!
HAH! Tell that to the klik
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
I actually had no idea about Dean Malenko's situation around Starrcade. Thats nuts WCW did that and no wonder he ended up leaving.
Also Steve McMichael just announced he has ALS and thats really sad. Show some love and support for Mongo when you can :)
Yea its sad
Ah man that's sad😢😢😢
That sucks.
I'm hoping for a Mongo tribute/mention on Reliving the War. I assume he hasn't had the opportunity to make/edit/render a video for him yet. Even if he wasn't known for being the smoothest wrestler, he certainly did everything he could to entertain the fans. My condolences and well-wishes to Mr. McMichael and his family.
That hits the hardest my man, epsecially somebody who was as strong as STEVE....
They don't call em MONGO for nothin.....
Was Raven's move really called "even flow" DDT? 😂 I thought he'd be more subtle than that with his gimmick.
It was. “Subtlety” isn’t really a wrestling thing.
It definitely arrives like butterflies
Yep. The "even flow" which i thought sounded cool! "What about ME? What about RAVEN!!!"
I love the name lol
His theme song was Come As You Are.
They really dropped the ball in the main event in my opinion. Just a simple paint-by-numbers babyface win would have been just fine considering that the build was so epic.
The main problem is "Doesn't work for me, brother"
Yeah. And Bischoff constantly proclaiming Hogan never pulled the “doesn’t work for me brother” while also constantly telling the story of Hogan doing just that the first time he tried getting Hogan to turn heel. Also when the Bash at the Beach 2000 topic comes up with the Russo thing, he also claims this was the only situation Hogan used his creative control clause. But it is clear he is being disingenuous with that statement. It was the only time he had to get his lawyers involved because Bischoff always gave Hogan his way without argument so of course he didn’t have to activate the legal clause any other time.
How the f*ck Mongo became a 4 horseman will always be beyond me!
If you've ever read anything about how much he partied backstage you would understand that's how he ended up as an onscreen horseman
Him and flair was good buddies
His personality, Partying and also being a enforcer strength type of wrestler for the Horsemen
@@mikescott8903 So basically every reason but his wrestling skills then lol :-D
@Corn Pop Good god, I've just seen video of him, he's almost unrecognisable, didn't think much of him as a wrestler but I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Luger winning the title 3 months before the event really watered down the outcome of this event.
I was waiting on someone to say this. I totally agree. 100%
@Bold One Why? It's your biggest match you could do, and Starrcade was the biggest event they had. Why would you give that away free? Granted 7 months later they did that for Hogan/Goldberg, but...that was as shortsighted as this woulda been. Even worse actually because unlike Hogan/Sting, there was no rematch afterward ever.
This basically started a domino effect. Once this happened, then more mistakes ended up happening afterwards. And it cost them greatly.
A new Wrestling Bios video means today is a good day.
Your right about that and on a Blessed Sunday
Think Ice Cube told us that
@@captainbaseballbatboy7915 W.
Also lol, the Rodman/Malone storyline capitalizing on the NBA'S success was the best use of cross promotion in wrestling history
I think Tyson and Stone Cold was probably the best
@@dontreldontrel416 man those NBA Finals were intense. You are either too young or never seen those two going at it in the finals and a storyline happening at wcw at the same time
@@timshaver996 true but when Tyson and Stone Cold went at it, nothing topped that. I'm actually almost 40 been watching wrestling when it came on Saturday only. So young... Not so much
Really, only 6? Always good to see another wrestling bios video
Ya gotta save some things for future content bro.....lmao 🤣
I remember being disappointed with this Starrcade back in 97 & I was a huge WCW fan. Thanks for this Sunday afternoon awesomeness to entertain me while we are back in Lockdown here in Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦 Cheers
@@christhornycroft3686
As a Rochester, NY native who (pre covid) travels to Toronto for work, Ontario doesn't deserve that lol 😂
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
That build up though, with the NWO and Sting was IMO The greatest build up in wrestling history! What a great time to be a kid with the Monday night wars going on.
Incredible time to be a kid. Monday night wars and with the NWO, Sting, Goldberg etc. You made sure you did all your homework Monday evening so you can at least appeal to your parents to stay up and watch wrestling
Starrcade 97 had the potential to be the greatest PPV of WCWs history and they ruined multiple matches with odd booking.
Not to mention that they made it look like Bret Hart could basically make the rules up he wanted not only in the match he was involved with but the main event because of how it was botched it made it look like he was screwing Hogan.
Sting vs Hogan had such a long build it should of been WCW's most important match and it was ruined due to mainly Hogan but a few other things. 1997 was such a important year the id say the year where things began to change like a prelude to 1998 and what would that offer
@@Venemofthe888 i wouldn't say it was ruined just because of Hogan but from what I understand there were multiple people telling those involved different finishes of the match and there was poor communication.
@@kevinlee9929 Strike while the Iron was Hot... it was literally 7 weeks removed from Montreal...
Everyone knew Bret was out of WWE and Where he was going... not using him would have been every bit the Elephant in the Room as what happened
@@TJ52359 but it's a smarky move
@@lexkanyima2195 except that the Internet was in it's infancy and Everything 'relevant' had happened on PPV/TV to be 'smarky' would have implied someone having inside information and/or proof of a Deeper Work
- ie had Vince trusted Bret at the PPV... but then pulled the Screwjob at the next House show where the alleged screwy-ness of the Screwjob had remained 'alleged' and then WCW played the 'screw job card'... that would be "smarky"
I think the reason the Luger vs. Bagwell match went so long was because of Hogan vs. Sting being changed. They had to plan for the main event to go somewhere around 15 or 20 minutes long, but when Hogan started bickering, they had to scramble to fill up the time slot.
WCW downfall started with this event
Fingerpoke of Doom is
It's like this: When WCW did great someone wants to take credit for that one idea. When it fails like it did here on the creative side, it was a group effort and no one can remember all the details of what went down.
Bingo.
Starrcade 1997... The Fingerpoke of Doom... Bash at the Beach 2000...
Everyone's memory gets really cloudy when it comes to incidents like those.
I mean, he literally says this in the video. So… thanks?
When WCW had the chance to end the WWF....and blew it with that ending
No stone cold was getting too damn hot around this time
@@ravensblm WCW was still killing Raw in the ratings here.
@@ravensblm That's just more reason for WCW needing Starrcade 1997 to be a home run and they blew it
@@jasonmccrank4981 In the ratings, yes. But despite that, the WWE's viewership was rather solid. Low, but a solid low. WWE's growth didn't come as much at the expense of WCW, as it was luring in mainly a whole new audience. Would a clean Sting victory have given WCW much better chances? Yes. Would better booking HERE have changed the outcome of the war? We don't know.
Ive been watching the Monday night wars from 96 to october 2000 where im at now. You can watch the WWE crowds slowly transform to a point where there are frat boys and other demographics you would never see at a wrestling show today
I love Dean Malenko's expression while he's holding his baby, kayfabe is strong brother
He looks like he's about to murder someone with a baby and I love everything about it
😆😆 I saw the picture and thought that and then immediately thereafter read your comment.
Another thing I enjoy about this channel is the wide range of different things covered in different promotions at different times.
They've missed such a big opportunity with Bret Hart's debut. The booking team could've had him debut on the night after Starcade but no, they've messed it up.
Big times and it felt botched how WWF did to Bret Hart
Wrestling bios coming through again. I have been sucked in by reliving the war. You sir have gotten quite comfortable and hilarious in narration. My favorite youtube channel is W.B.
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
@@JesusSaves80 Move on dude, seriously. Didn't your parents teach you manners growing up? You made your request and it may or may not be fulfilled. Accept it and move on. Hijacking every single top rated comment to spam your request is rude and completely unnecessary.
Correction: Goldberg was not the babyface in that match again Mongo. The storyline was that he stole McMichael's Super Bowl ring.
22:01 it’s nice to see The Giant/Big Show/Paul Wight was getting the “Please Retire” treatment back in 1997.
Glad someone else caught that too. I commented on it also lol, major pop from me seeing that.
that NWO B Team remix, awesome
I just watched this the other day and from the opening segment and everyone being confused about whether Nash was gonna show up was a clear indication of how the rest of the show was going to go. Just utter chaos and a lot of stalling up until the final match
This is what got me to start watching Raw. The main event was a debacle and just so many top stars not on show. It had the biggest hype I can remember.
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
And just a couple of weeks later WWF gave us "Tyson and Austin! Tyson and Austin" and never looked back
@@JesusSaves80 You've been reported for spamming this same reply everywhere in the comment section. Give it up. You're not owed anything. Make your request once and move on.
@@Bubba__Sawyer thanks I was just asking sorry
“That doesn’t work for me, Brotherrrr” ...
Hulk Hogan in any Political scenario ... 👀
Unless its "big boot , leg drop 1,2,3"
@@HarryOsborneAS31 dont forgot the comeback
@@stephonwilliams5232 Lets be honest, if Hogan could win every match with just the boot and leg drop, he would lol
@@HarryOsborneAS31 how boring would that be..... I never saw any entertaining in his ring abilities as a kid.
@@MR.__G I wasn't his biggest fan myself but his peak was before I was even born (1989) so I got him on his way out of the WWF and at the start of his WCW run
Hey Wrestling Bios, I was wondering if you’d ever do a Q&A on wrestling anytime soon?
Not until reviewing Hogan's Japanese excursions
Ravens flock was the most underrated stable in wrestling history
For real i wish they did more with them☹ Raven wearing a Dinosaur Jr. Shirt is badass.
I have heard that lodi=idol=god
@@Rhapsodies_In_Red dinosaur Jr is one of my favourite bands.
Bischoff hated Raven. He didn't get the gimmick at all. Bischoff thought the only thing that was cool was middle aged leather clad biker dudes or guys like Glacier and The Cat who could throw karate kicks. He was extremely narrow-minded and should've listened more to those around him as to what was cool and relevant in pop culture.
Naw....
They had VAN HAMMER for the sake of.....
I dont know why but your delivery is perfect for taking in info. I could listen to you read stereo instructions. Thanks for reinvigorating my love of wrestling
Diamond Dallas Page: the only wrestler I can respect for wrestling in jeans 😂
Not even Stone Cold?
Stone cold or john cena? No respect for either of them?
Billy Kidman......
Excuse you... Stone Cold Steve Austin
@@gerhardschulzy well yes you r right the only difference is the shins and calfs are exposed when wearing shorts or basically from the knees down and seeing as tho not many actions touch that part of the legs there really isn't that big of a difference imo
All those heads working together and none couldnt do any better than they did. Wrestlers in shoot interviews said they would be about to go live for nitro on tv and guys would be back stage trying to figure the night out and what they were going to do at the last minute.
Sounds like Raw today no?
We could've had a 2 out of 3 falls main event for the title at Starrcade 1998: Sting vs. Bret. What a missed opportunity.
So true, absolutely NONE of the decision makers or big lazy “bookers” would take responsibility for anything. It’s was quite pathetic and sad because WCW had do much potential.
And yet it's still better than 90% of WWE PPVs from the past 10 years. 🤣
Agreed
Wrong opinions are valid too.
@@planescaped Great in-ring wrestling will always have a limited audience in the US of around 1-2 million people. When wrestling tapped into the mainstream in the late 90s it reached an audience of 11-12 million people.
Nxt paper views are much better than this or the wwe ones in my opinion
@@Bubba__Sawyer That's true
I bought this ppv because i thought this was going to be the best show on earth and it fizzled...
Could've said the same for halloween havoc '98 the cut out part that was untimely
I wonder if talents not showing up was a some kind of boycott or show of frustration, knowing what was going on behind the scenes of the Sting-Hogan match?
6 problems with Glacier’s debut. 😆
With Hart, the only thing I can think of is perhaps a 90 day physical no compete clause? When Flair returned to WCW in 1993, he hosted Flair for the Gold for a bit since he couldn't physically wrestle per the release agreement. But yeah there were a ton of mistakes made.
That's different and Flair have to wait until April or May 1993 to compete in WCW
I was at this show as like a 10 year old! I remember being so insanely hyped that the show was going to be in DC since it was only 30 min away from where I lived. My dad surprised me with tickets for Christmas. It was awesome as a kid.
Off topic but I love the fact you got a still shot from The Giant's entrance at this show at the end of the video, with a sign visible in the background that reads: "Please Retire". Poor Paul Wight was being taunted already about that just 2 years into his career lol.
Fun video buddy 💯 ... The build up for this PPV was legendary 1997 was the greatest year in wrestling history 🤘
9 year old me really didn’t notice the disaster this show was. I loved DDP-Hennig and was a major Larry Z fan. So I loved the show.
All of a sudden I wondered what kind of match we'd have with dean and angle in their primes.
Idk man, the look in Sting's eyes. Instead of looking to determined and ready to finally kick ass, he looks...ashamed. I can't help but think maybe Sting showed up to the show messed up.
I really do remember how hyped this Starrcade was! If WCW did one thing right, it was the year build-up to Sting vs Hogan!
A damn shame it was the beginning of the end.
Was jus gonna say that but beat me... I do miss wcw
I remember being stoked watching this ppv and then being disappointed in not only the sting vs hollywood hogan matchup. But the handling of bret hart and a few questionable booking decisions. But wcw did get one thing right ddp winning the u.s title from curt henning that was the right call.
“And that brings us to problem number three.”
*Vincent and Scott Norton walk out*
I agree.
Typical that a genuinely hard worker who had a good reason not to be there was forced to yet Nash was able to just drop out last minute with the heart attack story ending up being false.
I would have booked Starrcade 97 so that if Sting won, Hogan would leave WCW and disband the NWO BUT if Hogan won, the NWO would take over WCW. I would make it so that Sting won cleanly and Hogan left. In the aftermath, WCW's higher-ups would appear to give preferential treatment to him for saving the promotion, annoying the other wrestlers e.g. Bret Hart. This would slowly alienate Sting to such a degree that Ted DiBiase would reach out to him offering him even better money than he's already getting at WCW to launch another coup. Eventually, though, Sting would discover 1. that DiBiase is planning on selling WCW while it's still solvent and making the wrestlers unemployed and 2. that he is a financial criminal. The storyline would culminate with Sting appearing to turn heel for DiBiase's money only to then reveal that he has emailed proof of his criminal activites to the IRS and bankrupted him. This would earn the respect of Bret Hart and and the rest of the WCW roster
I did not remember that six man tag match with Konan being part of the promotion at all. I recalled this like most PPVs only have 4 promoted matching involving the nWo, Nash v Giant, Henning v Flair, Bishcoff with Zbisco and the Main Event.
Would love to see you do a dream card and booking of this event... I know its not your normal thing, but I would be interested to see how you would have done it, what talent youd have used and how you would fix these problems.
Raven's t-shirt reminded me.. Dinosaur Jr just released a new album.
They're doing a tour too
Great work, maaaaan. Merci beaucoup! And a great concept for the next videos... Please do Halloween Havoc 98 too 🍻
You summed this ppv up perfectly. This should have been the end of the nWo. This should have been WCW prevailing over them. But too many stars with too much creative control ruined that. They were afraid of their meal ticket ending. Even though it's been proven nWo stuff still sells. To much short sighted not enough future insight
Another banger! Thanks for putting out such awesome content, brother!
instant like for Wrestling Bios always- you're the man dude
Why doesn't anyone ever talk about Starcade 1996? Remember when Roddy Piper BEAT Hogan, but for some reason the tittle was not on the line!?!?!
Your videos are very well edited and you do great narration 👏👏💯 Real good videos for people who are new to wrestling but still interested in the topic lol 💪✅
Bret should've been the ref of the Sting Hogan match. And no excuse for how the main event went down in a worked business. A lot of unfortunate absences too.
1. Sting didn't win clean
2. Sting didn't win clean
3. Sting didn't win clean
4. Sting didn't win clean
5. Sting didn't win clean
6. Sting didn't win clean
Coulda been so good god damn, now I gonna go back to the past and change history
Tell your boy from wrestling bios that we want a Jim cornette video Ive been asking for months please ask him or tell him we would appreciate it thanks
Only in our minds brother.
Mongo at that time they were trying to make him a big deal. But after his match fell flat that’s when they decided to stop focusing too much on his character. That was WCW biggest Achilles heel they had all the talent in the world on that roster but didn’t know how to use them and often pushed the wrong people too early or not at all.
To be fair Konnan is known to be a no show.
To put it politely. The man had a rough 2001-02 due to burning bridges with everyone. He messed up his WWE run in the early 90s and it left an aftertaste, Promo Azteca dead since 98, WCW dead, ECW dead, TNA over a year away, CMLL blackballing since he jumped to AAA, he didn't reconciled with Pena and came back to AAA until 2006.
Still better than each and every WWE PPV today
Booo
Please Make Videos On:
1. Kaientai (1997 - 1999) including yamaguchi san mrs yamaguchisan and that famous fued they had with val Venus 😃
2. The Oddities ( Kurrgan Golga Giant silva)
3. Mordecai Aka. Kevin Thorne
4. The Mean Street Possie Fued With Patt Patterson Gerald Brisco
5. Mae Young And Mark Henry Love Triangle
6. Crush Aka. Brian Adams
7. Nicole Bass
8. Doink The Clown Fued With Jerry Lawler
9. The Undertaker Fued With Yokozuna (1994-1996)
I d like to see a Crush bio
In the defensive of Kevin Nash and hes not the only one I've heard of this happening too including people I've known, they thought he had a heart attack initially based on blood proteins that are easy to test, unfortunately people who work out heavily also show the same proteins because their associated with torn muscle tissue. Do I think he was being over cautious, yeah, but I prolly would have been too.
Yeah heart problems is nothing to play both my dad and grandpa died of heart attacks if I every feel like something like that's happening to me I'll leave work too
@@ravensblm Amen ✊✊✊✊
I've literally had the same problems in which big kev said he had that night and honestly I do believe him
I didn't know that Starcade 1997 had all these problems, wrestlers not showing up when advertised and of course the disappointing end to the main event. The build was there, I remember it because I watched it unfold week after week, and everyone and their grandmother wanted to see Hogan lose that title and see Sting victorious and while that did happen, it wasn't a clean finish. I heard that Sting was going through a rough time and Hogan probably didn't wanna do business probably, and the fans went home disappointed, what a shame.
Randy Savage is most definitely a huge upgrade from Konnan!
The cream of the crop 👌🏼
@@evolvedcopper2205 Especially with Elizabeth in that tight, sequin black mini dress!
Hall should have fought Zbyszko that night. Their feud was building for months, and instead they had Bischoff wrestle him. Lol.
Another huge mistake was giving Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger SIXTEEN minutes to work with. They really needed like eight to ten at the most. Hell, maybe even five.
Regarding the Hogan/Sting finish, I think it's a simple as a Patrick botch. He got lost in the moment, forgot and did a regular three count after that Hogan legdrop. You can see it in his face immediately after that he knew he messed up.
I don't believe Nash's BS excuse. He just didn't want to put over the Giant. He never would have gotten away with that in WWE. I was so angry that that match didn't take place. Plus no Raven vs. Benoit. Plus Hall didn't have a match. Macho Man only wrestled as a last minute replacement for Konnan in a throw away match. No Rey Mysterio. No Booker T. No Flair. Just an atrociously booked PPV for what was supposed to be their premier PPV of the year. Why not Savage vs. Luger instead of Buff vs. Luger? And of course the main event was trash even without the botched ending. It was a TERRIBLE match, and it was a terrible PPV.
It would be great if pro wrestling still cared about storylines, storytelling and larger than life characters like they did back during the Monday night wars but nowadays all they care about is highspots, no selling, false finishes, and pushing agendas.. it's sad to see how far pro wrestling has fallen
"Success has many Mothers, Failure is an Orphan"...
From what I recall the Logic behind Bret as Referee for Eric v Larry was such
1. It gets him on the Card w/ minimal booking/story so they can Advertise his arrival
2. being an official Ref, means he's got the on Screen 'authority' to "Stop another Screw Job" and his inserting himself in the Finale is more than just proving the size of his appendage
3. It puts him in the Main Event Scene without locking in a booking Decision
now WCW booking being what WCW Booking was, they managed to screw this all up within 3? weeks ...
but a logical extension of his actions, had they played out right, could have saw a Sting v. Bret as a Face v Face match as a 'thanks for having my back'... or a straight Hogan V Bret "you cost me the belt' revenge match at Souled Out
I remember actually buying this on Pay Per View, which I only did a few times since I really hated spending that much for a show I was afraid would get screwed up. When Hogan beat Sting not only for the 3 count, but the entire match until the ending, I said never again. This was the First and last WCW show I ever bought because of just how sad the booking got. Gone were the great NWA type fights of old and now you would have 3 hour shows with under 15 minutes of in ring wrestling!
Goddanm that DDT at 7:27 was vicious
Good Video Wrestling bios. Do a video like this on Survivor Series 97.
I remember by this point I was able to watch nitro, we didn’t get it for the longest time as we didn’t get tnt in British Columbia, I had to wait until TSN carried it to finally watch. I was waiting for starcade and when i heard what happened i was thinking wtf? They screwed up the “most important night in the history of our sport”
When you see what a mess WCW made of Starcade 97, it really is no wonder the company fell apart with 5 years.
Only 1 problem - Holywood Hogan Ego...
Hogans wrestling’s skills were never on par with his ego....
I heard about what happened to Steve, and It is very sad. I hope you make a video about him in the future.
Sting joining the nWo and kicking out Hogan would have been a cool swerve.
Speaking of kick-outs, you know what woulda REALLY been epic? Just thinking of it but......imagine if the first half of the match went like normal EXCEPT.....when Hogan hit the leg drop and went for the pin, Sting kicked out at like 1, and "Hulked Up" ala old-school Hogan, using his very own schtick against him.. He then would make the big comeback he essentially did when the match restarted and win. I can just HEAR the crowd going apeshit for that if they booked it that way. THAT is how you pay off an angle like that......not what they did.
One minor thing that bugged me about Sting/Hogan was that Sting came from gorilla like any other wrestler. The same guy who came from the crowd and the rafters. Had he came down from the rafters then struck that pose with the pyro, I think it would've been much more effective.
The more I think about it, the more I come to believe that the ending was less of a conspiracy and more of a perfect storm for some part of it to get screwed up. WCW likely already had the ending of this match planned out before Bret Hart was released by the WWF. Suddenly, someone decides it would be a good idea to inject him into the Starcade main event, probably with a screw job finish. So they change the ending. And, since a few of the parties involved seem to agree on at least this point, for some reason they change the ending AGAIN either the day before or that very day. And WCW was also know to make changes to matches at literally the last minute. My guess is that they had changed the ending so many times in the days leading up to Starcade that Nick Patrick lost track of which of the various screw job endings he was counting (probably one involving a foreign object.). If it was a conspiracy, one of the would’ve sold the others out by now. If it was a monumental screw up involving all of them, then you would still have people covering their own asses.