Great episode. I was 8 years old in 1996 and my older brother (11 at the time) and I were OBSESSED with Rey, ultimo dragon, dean, eddie, benoit. etc. The cruiserweight division in WCW was our absolute favorite thing in all of wrestling at the time, over nWo or anything else happening in WWF at the time. We had WCW vs nWo revenge for N64 and would always play as the Cruiserweights. Thanks for some of the best shit we experienced as kids Eric!
The mid 90’s WCW roster till this day is the best wrestling roster in the history of the business, just the cruiser weight division had at least 5 hall of fame wrestlers in it (Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean malenko , and even Benoit if we’re just talking about wrestling
It’s just unfortunate that they had so many blunders creatively, egos that that hindered development of younger talent and an ownership group that couldn’t care less about the company.
@@timhart910 those rosters were pretty good but WCW at its best had the luchadores from Mexico and they had at least 10 different wrestlers that could pull off the types of moves than Rey Mysterio could, guys like La Parka, Juventud Guerrara, Phychosis and Ultimo Dragon all routinely would do the most amazing fast high flying moves in their matches and these wrestlers would be in WCW Saturday night and wouldn’t even be on Nitro because of how loaded that roster was, WWF/WWE never had wrestlers that were talented in that way as far as their smaller wrestlers from that era, they countered WCW with ladders, tables, and hardcore matches and the hardy boys as guys that did things off the top ropes but that WCW roster in my opinion at it’s peak was the best
To answer Conrad's question Malenko actually defended the Cruiserweight title against Liger on Nitro either the week before or two weeks before Slamboree 96 which was an incredible match
90s WCW cruiserweight division. Best roster of all time. Best matches of all time. Rey Mysterio Jr, Eddy Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, Billy Kidman Juventud Guerrera, Dean Malenko, Psychosis.
Back in the day the Cruserweight Division was like the flyweight division of UFC back in 2012-2015 people only wanted to see big guys fight not technique or whatever, people just wanted to see MEAT ! can't blame them.
Loved this episode. Much anticipated. Too much of the product now is all meat and no potatoes. Eric saw that the audience wanted a full meal when they ate, so to speak.
I think there could have been more direction with the TV title. For example, in order to qualify to compete for the TV title, Turner Network determines which wrestlers have action-packed good-for-TV matches. A fun scenario like that would have been cool. Rather than just "if you're on TV, you are eligible." The TV title needed more intent. I wish the same amount of effort had been put into this as the cruiserweight division.
Interesting you Brian and Eric discussed about Otani. He was injured a few years ago and has been paralyzed since. He hasn't been in the spotlight for quite some time.
Pretty much, because even in 2000 when WCW had hit rock bottom, that is the one thing left that they had going for them. It clearly wasn't enough to do anything for them at that point, but at least it was something.
@@JediGamingX Rey stayed in WCW. The others you named did go to WWF, but WCW had plenty of cruiserweights to fill the void. I wish some of them would have gotten a shot in WWF/WWE, but they could only take in so many guys. The buyout created quite the mess for a few years, and it instantly killed off that wrestling boom period as things got a whole lot less interesting.
Conrad: Asks a question. Eric: Finds a way to go on a rant about Dave Meltzer or Tony Khan for fifteen minutes even though the question has nothing to do with either. Jesus Christ.
I thought it was funny how Eric just got done complaining about Jim Ross always trying to plug products when he was his co-announcer, and immediately after he tells the story, Conrad comes in talking about some Fume product that you need to buy so that you know your oxygen levels at all times of the day.
@hyperchord wait! I've never watched an episode of AEW in my life. I haven't even watched WWE in over a decade! Speaking for myself, it's hard for me to get into a show about modern wrestling. The Conrad empire was built on nostalgia, and that's the stuff I love!
WCW Had Cruiserweights Better Than AEW & WWETop Stars Today. I Am Ready To See Reaction To AEW Embarrassing Record Low Ratings, 329,000 Viewers. Cruiserweights Was One Of 20 Plus Things That WCW Did Better Than The WWE.
@@chico1680 I think what bothered me most was when he literally stole the belt from Dean Malenko. He took it while Dean was wrestling. That made me mad (I get very emotional about WCW stuff).
Eric didnt create the "cruiserweight division", Paul Heyman did! Eric just signed those guys to his roster. He never pushed them he never even wrote real storylines for them. He just told them how much time they had and sent them out the curtain. Those guys MADE themselves with a clear glass ceiling that eventually made most of them leave WCW for WWF. Eric cant take any credit for any of it.
That's not true at all. Rey/Malenko, Rey/Eddie, Jericho/Malenko, Kidman/Eddie among others were all top feuds in the cruiserweight division that were given story and time to develop. Malenko and Eddie also won the the US title, Rey got pushed in the tag division and got wins over main event talent, so did Kidman. You can say what you want about Bischoff's missteps in WCW but the way he booked and utilized cruiserweight talent was solid and shouldn't be downplayed just because he didn't make them main eventers or whatever point you were trying to make.
@@jessecorah7982 Eddie WWE Champion, Jericho WWE Champion, Rey WWE Champion but were never pushed in WCW. Your talking about titles that to this day are nothing but mid card titles so compared to what WWE did for those guys its nothing and they left WCW for WWE because they felt they were not pushed. Dean himself said "I felt I was never going to get past a certain level" and Chris said "they never encouraged you to get over and if you did nothing ever came of it". And you completely ignored the fact that PAUL HEYMAN pushed ALL those guys in ECW before Eric even signed them anyway. Your just wrong. Also in this very video Eric clearly states he put cruiserweights in their own division and they were never being moved around regarding why Benoit was not considered a cruiserweight. He never saw them on the same level as Hogan and storylines like getting squashed by the NWO is not story, its doing a job to guys half as talented but twice their size. Bottom line is Eric never saw those guys as main event talent and THEY to this day say the same thing. I am simply posting what those talents said themselves.
I'll be convinced of Lumen if Conrad could drop his weight using it. Pay him. Do it. Get Lumen, thru Conrad, prove that it works and in return, Lumen *pays* Conrad to be reviewed by a 3rd party to prove that Lumen's ass got him anywhere near results.
![Kodak Black - Catch Fire [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A4ch-olIuZo/mqdefault.jpg)
Great episode. I was 8 years old in 1996 and my older brother (11 at the time) and I were OBSESSED with Rey, ultimo dragon, dean, eddie, benoit. etc. The cruiserweight division in WCW was our absolute favorite thing in all of wrestling at the time, over nWo or anything else happening in WWF at the time. We had WCW vs nWo revenge for N64 and would always play as the Cruiserweights. Thanks for some of the best shit we experienced as kids Eric!
That magic spoon ad read is longer than an episode of Nitro.
The mid 90’s WCW roster till this day is the best wrestling roster in the history of the business, just the cruiser weight division had at least 5 hall of fame wrestlers in it (Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean malenko , and even Benoit if we’re just talking about wrestling
It’s just unfortunate that they had so many blunders creatively, egos that that hindered development of younger talent and an ownership group that couldn’t care less about the company.
The late 90s and early 2000s wwf roster was way better
@@timhart910 those rosters were pretty good but WCW at its best had the luchadores from Mexico and they had at least 10 different wrestlers that could pull off the types of moves than Rey Mysterio could, guys like La Parka, Juventud Guerrara, Phychosis and Ultimo Dragon all routinely would do the most amazing fast high flying moves in their matches and these wrestlers would be in WCW Saturday night and wouldn’t even be on Nitro because of how loaded that roster was, WWF/WWE never had wrestlers that were talented in that way as far as their smaller wrestlers from that era, they countered WCW with ladders, tables, and hardcore matches and the hardy boys as guys that did things off the top ropes but that WCW roster in my opinion at it’s peak was the best
@timhart910 not a chance.
@@timhart910 They were top heavy, in 99 like 1/2 of a ppv card wasn't worth watching.
To answer Conrad's question Malenko actually defended the Cruiserweight title against Liger on Nitro either the week before or two weeks before Slamboree 96 which was an incredible match
44:00
Eric "We don't have to plug every frickin thing we do"
Conrad "So anyways, buy this stick that tells you what kind of gas you're exhaling"
90s WCW cruiserweight division. Best roster of all time. Best matches of all time. Rey Mysterio Jr, Eddy Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, Billy Kidman Juventud Guerrera, Dean Malenko, Psychosis.
Eric, that is MN highway 61 that runs along the Mississippi River. Great views
Hope you waved when you drove right by my place of employment
I went to Alcorn State University off of Hwy 61.
83weeks awsome podcast
Cruiserweight division was absolutely awesome stuff, I always thought mike tenay had involvement in organising the lucha wrestlers to wcw 😂😅
Back in the day the Cruserweight Division was like the flyweight division of UFC back in 2012-2015 people only wanted to see big guys fight not technique or whatever, people just wanted to see MEAT ! can't blame them.
Loved this episode. Much anticipated. Too much of the product now is all meat and no potatoes. Eric saw that the audience wanted a full meal when they ate, so to speak.
Tremendous show gentlemen 👏🏻👏🏻
I think there could have been more direction with the TV title. For example, in order to qualify to compete for the TV title, Turner Network determines which wrestlers have action-packed good-for-TV matches. A fun scenario like that would have been cool. Rather than just "if you're on TV, you are eligible." The TV title needed more intent. I wish the same amount of effort had been put into this as the cruiserweight division.
Interesting you Brian and Eric discussed about Otani. He was injured a few years ago and has been paralyzed since. He hasn't been in the spotlight for quite some time.
The Cruiserweight division is what marks like Tony are dying to replicate with today’s product. These guys just don’t have the magic though
The Cruiser Weights were the back bone of WCW.
Pretty much, because even in 2000 when WCW had hit rock bottom, that is the one thing left that they had going for them. It clearly wasn't enough to do anything for them at that point, but at least it was something.
@@JMFSpike by 2000, Dean Malenko, Rey JR, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho i believe, jumped to WWF.
@@JediGamingX Rey stayed in WCW. The others you named did go to WWF, but WCW had plenty of cruiserweights to fill the void. I wish some of them would have gotten a shot in WWF/WWE, but they could only take in so many guys. The buyout created quite the mess for a few years, and it instantly killed off that wrestling boom period as things got a whole lot less interesting.
Yes, he mentioned the light heavyweight division, so people dont say ecw invented it
Conrad: Asks a question.
Eric: Finds a way to go on a rant about Dave Meltzer or Tony Khan for fifteen minutes even though the question has nothing to do with either. Jesus Christ.
The adds are a joke now- greed
Good job conrad
Anyone notice that all the products Conrad promotes he definitely doesn’t use?
No, do you know that for an absolute fact? No, you don't.
@@deepblue8143 he’s 600 lbs with a beard. Yes it’s true. Go sit down boy.
Deodorant for your bawls
@@AlbieAughtie I don’t think he can see or find them anymore
I thought it was funny how Eric just got done complaining about Jim Ross always trying to plug products when he was his co-announcer, and immediately after he tells the story, Conrad comes in talking about some Fume product that you need to buy so that you know your oxygen levels at all times of the day.
83 Watching
maybe they could take their own advice about advertising something every 3 minutes? like the irony is absolutely staggering
Finally, an episode not devoted to modern shit. Leave that stuff to Cornette
I know thank God
Look, I get it. It's cool to hate AEW, but give a rest. I like hearing about his experiences, not as a critic
@hyperchord wait! I've never watched an episode of AEW in my life. I haven't even watched WWE in over a decade! Speaking for myself, it's hard for me to get into a show about modern wrestling. The Conrad empire was built on nostalgia, and that's the stuff I love!
@hyperchord I'll still listen to 83 Weeks regardless, just prefer the old school stuff.
Agreed he was very wrong about aew and they got a massive deal. Hopwfully less obssesion with aew and more old talk which hes great at@hyperchord
Cruiserweight division heavily influenced the women revolution in wrestling as well
In a way yea because ther smaller
👍
nWo
WCW Had Cruiserweights Better Than AEW & WWETop Stars Today. I Am Ready To See Reaction To AEW Embarrassing Record Low Ratings, 329,000 Viewers. Cruiserweights
Was One Of 20 Plus Things That WCW Did Better Than The WWE.
I was offended when Syxx had the belt. It didn't feel right.
He barely defended it, at least on tv. From the time he won it in February and lost it in I think July, it was never defended once on ppv
@@chico1680 I think what bothered me most was when he literally stole the belt from Dean Malenko. He took it while Dean was wrestling. That made me mad (I get very emotional about WCW stuff).
Eric didnt create the "cruiserweight division", Paul Heyman did! Eric just signed those guys to his roster. He never pushed them he never even wrote real storylines for them. He just told them how much time they had and sent them out the curtain. Those guys MADE themselves with a clear glass ceiling that eventually made most of them leave WCW for WWF. Eric cant take any credit for any of it.
That's not true at all. Rey/Malenko, Rey/Eddie, Jericho/Malenko, Kidman/Eddie among others were all top feuds in the cruiserweight division that were given story and time to develop. Malenko and Eddie also won the the US title, Rey got pushed in the tag division and got wins over main event talent, so did Kidman. You can say what you want about Bischoff's missteps in WCW but the way he booked and utilized cruiserweight talent was solid and shouldn't be downplayed just because he didn't make them main eventers or whatever point you were trying to make.
@@jessecorah7982 Eddie WWE Champion, Jericho WWE Champion, Rey WWE Champion but were never pushed in WCW. Your talking about titles that to this day are nothing but mid card titles so compared to what WWE did for those guys its nothing and they left WCW for WWE because they felt they were not pushed. Dean himself said "I felt I was never going to get past a certain level" and Chris said "they never encouraged you to get over and if you did nothing ever came of it". And you completely ignored the fact that PAUL HEYMAN pushed ALL those guys in ECW before Eric even signed them anyway. Your just wrong. Also in this very video Eric clearly states he put cruiserweights in their own division and they were never being moved around regarding why Benoit was not considered a cruiserweight. He never saw them on the same level as Hogan and storylines like getting squashed by the NWO is not story, its doing a job to guys half as talented but twice their size. Bottom line is Eric never saw those guys as main event talent and THEY to this day say the same thing. I am simply posting what those talents said themselves.
I'll be convinced of Lumen if Conrad could drop his weight using it. Pay him. Do it. Get Lumen, thru Conrad, prove that it works and in return, Lumen *pays* Conrad to be reviewed by a 3rd party to prove that Lumen's ass got him anywhere near results.
aew gets less views than a WNBA game
Your muted your muted
thank biden for the disaster in north carolina
Barely started it's there Amy AEW topic talk?
After what it drew this Tuesday, probably not. That's why he doesn't talk about TNA much.