The greatest man who ever lived.

 

Surreal it's been that long ago. Be like me first starting to watch wrestling with Hulkamania in 1984 and people talking about something that happened in 1949.

 

It never will sadly

If you watch wrestling shows from the Hulkamania period and Monday Night Wars on the network you can see how they have a certain energy, how the wrestlers and fans feed of each other and you can almost feel how euphoric the wrestlers are at performing during such a hot period for wrestling.

This energy really started to dissipate in the WWE around 2001/2002 and by 2004 WWE can barely sell tickets for half an arena. The wrestlers don't seem as enthusiastic anymore when you watch them. Something I noticed by watching different years of wrestling on the Network.

It makes your really wonder if the lack of interest in wrestling correlates with all the crazy stories regarding wrestlers alcoholism, deaths and drug abuse with how well the product is perceived because I don't remember crazy stories of wrestlers abusing themselves, being so depressed and then dying when the product was hot.

 

Worst thing that ever happened to pro wrestling was losing WCW.

It was a dark day, and I'm saying that as someone that pretty much gave up on WCW and watched WWF on Monday Nights exclusively by that point.

Its a shame that it happened, and I wish WCW had survived in some capacity. All artforms are better when there are other options. I don't want just Marvel. I want DC, IDW, and whatever other Indy brands are out there. I don't want just Disney films, but WB films to do well too. I don't want just Game of Thrones. I want Better Call Saul, Rick and Morty, Walking Dead, and various other shows as well.

Losing WCW just seemed to kill the spark that made watching Wrestling a euphoric experience. I'm not even really sure how to explain it, but something was missing. WWE became the overbloated and formulaic show that it is now, which certainly didn't help, but its why I encourage people check out the Indys, ROH, NJPW and whatever else is out there because variety is the spice of life.

However, nothing has quite been able to replace having a wrestling brand on par with WWF producing content on a rival network and going to head on Monday Nights. We'll never get that back probably, and I guess WCW is just too big a void for other companies to fill.

Still though, I miss having it around, even towards the end when the show was garbage. It was nice to know that if things didn't work out in WWF, the guys had somewhere else to go and vice versa. Now, that bargaining posture has been taken away from the talents and it is basically WWE saying "Take what we give you or there's the door". Hopefully AEW gives a little more power back to the talents in that regard, but we shall see.

 

I know a lot of WCW fans who quit watching wrestling altogether after WCW went under, some went to WWE but if they still watch, who knows. Got a guy who I work with who used to watch wrestling and he said he reason he stopped was because wrestling wasnt fun anymore after WCW was brought out, when I spoke about wrestling to him every reference he made was WCW related, he knew more about WCW than WWE. I think he stopped watching around 2003, so he obviously tried to get into WWE, which is around the time I stopped watching for a long time to (at least until 2010 when I started watching again)

 

While WCW was alive, even while it was struggling, it was there as actual competition to WWF/E. The lack of any real threat to WWE's position over the last 18 years has removed any reason for them to ensure that the product is exciting, unique and always evolving.

What we have been left with is a homogenized, dull and repetitive company, churning out the same formulaic episodes of RAW and SDL week in, week out, with no thought, or even attempt to be different or to push the envelope. It's too easy to play safe and complacent, pretending that the ratings, which are a fraction of what they once were, are still "good enough".

The whole product has become a delivery mechanism for adverts. Whether it's actual commercial breaks, shilling for WWE Network subs or trying to sell the endless merch. WWE isn't a wrestling company. It isn't even a "Sports Entertainment" company. It's an advertizing company that uses people's nostalgia for what used to be Professional Wrestling, to give them JUST enough to keep interest, while selling tickets and tee shirts.

As I often say, the ONLY reason that I continue to support what WWE does, is that so many of the performers whose work I enjoy are employed by them ... and as much as WWE work to screw up everything else regarding the product, the actual wrestling matches still deliver.

I truly believe that the whole plunge into this boring, annoying time in wrestling started the day that WCW was forced to closed it's doors. Not because WCW was some amazing entity, pushing wrestling to the heights. But because it was just there to force WWE to TRY.

 

Worst day of my life. The last time being in front of the TV on a Monday night was a priority for me.

 

I can't believe it's been that long. My brother and I used to be obsessed with both shows. Even in its dying days, WCW was there to push WWF creatively and challenge them to do better. Fortunately for us, they did. Back then, wrestling was an event where we gathered around and kept flipping back and forth from TNT to USA to try and catch everything going on. It was almost like a PPV every week and you just never knew what was going to happen.

Nowadays, it seems like a bunch of robots wound up backstage who come out and do a few choreographed moves, talk about titles, and have matches for no rhyme or reason. The in-ring work isn't bad at all, but outside of a select few, everyone's on autopilot. We're subjected to whims reminiscent of 1995 when Vince wasn't worried about competition and just broke out his "play toys" for everyone to see, but only to cater to his own amusement. I've drifted in and out over the years, but I've never been able to recapture the obsession. Hell, my brother doesn't even watch wrestling at all anymore.

 

Definitely the beginning of the end and the start of the road to the shitty product we have now. A damn shame it happened.

 

Been off air longer than the whole of WCW's existence. Time flies.

Echo many other thoughts, one of the worst things to ever happen to professional wrestling. I was a huge WCW fan in the 90s pretty much throughout the decade up until about 1999 where I officially moved over to just watching WWF more and not bothering with switching over or even recording Nitro. WWE really thought they'd get WCW viewers when they bought them, but those fans just simply flat out turned off and never came back. Probably moved over to the rising popularity of UFC.

I miss so many things from WCW - the fact it was competition, the sound of the ring when there was a bump, the smaller ring making the guys feel larger than life, the fact they treated the show like a sports wrestling event, Bobby Heenan, something different for all fans and different wrestling styles on one show, Lucha style, wrestlers from old school WWF, wrestlers from old school NWA etc.

I loved the presentation too. Not only did it have a sports vibe to it where it felt a bit real, it had a real smokey look to it with the fans close to the ring - just felt like anything could truly happen.

 

Wcw was no competition for WWE long before it closed up shop in March 2001.

Last starrcade drew 6,500 fans in an arena setup for 14,000 and 44,000 buys on ppv...I mean tna were doing similar numbers for their ppvs circa 2008-13 and nobody viewed them as serious competition then