83 Weeks - Spring Stampede 1998 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today we’re celebrating the 5th year anniversary of 83 Weeks!

To catch everyone up where we’re at in WCW at the time, we’re coming out of Uncensored 1998 where the main event was a cage match between two nWo members, Hollywood Hogan & Randy Savage which ended in a no-contest, Sting defended his WCW title over Scott Hall, DDP retained his US title over Raven & Chris Benoit…

But the biggest stories were what was going on backstage it seems like in WCW.

From the Observer:

“It's been more of the same with World Championship Wrestling, filled with turmoil behind the scenes and setting records in front of the camera and at the box office.

The situation regarding Syxx (Sean Waltman), if anything got hotter over the past week with no explanation as to his firing other than Eric Bischoff was trying to send a message to Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Waltman, who had approximately 18 months left on a three-year contract, was given his termination notice in a fed-ex letter from WCW Vice President Nick Lambros on 3/9, and immediately his agent Barry Bloom opened up negotiations with the World Wrestling Federation.”

Eric - when you make this decision - you had to know the fall out would be heavy and fast from Kevin & Scott. Did you take that in to your decision making process?

Was anyone else involved in letting Sean go?

“As the week went on, there was no contact between the front office at WCW and Waltman, although Waltman had been told by Nash that Bischoff had agreed to "make everything right." But this brought up another situation far larger than the situation with Waltman and a reality to the fantasy many people have over the short-term future of the business in this country among all the turmoil. Waltman's firing, with no apparent reason given other than he had the wrong friends (who ironically were the right friends when it came time for him to get the job) at the wrong time, combined with the fact Bischoff had fired him last year for about one hour after being mad about him pulling Ric Flair's tights down during a match, made him not only open negotiations with WWF but ready to go as a free agent.”

Did you ever tell Kevin you would make it right?

Was Sean’s issues too much to keep - considering him being injured and issues in the past?

“Many wrestlers, including some who would have been on the opposite side of the fence as him politically, recognized the problem with firing a wrestler with a wife and two children who is rehabbing a broken neck suffered in the ring working for the company for no apparent reason other than his friends were in a political struggle with the boss. And this was being done apparently to send the message to Nash and Hall, the latter of whom is in the midst of giving depositions in the WWF vs. WCW lawsuit.”

Were you in a political struggle with Kevin & Scott at the time and Sean was part of the fallout?

If Kevin & Scott hadn’t helped bring Sean in - would he had been let go sooner?

You made some headlines last week when you talked about how Sean was as important to Raw getting the advantage over Nitro in the ratings to end the streak…looking back how much of a regret is it that you let Sean go?

For what you’re dealing with at the time…business is still booming…

From the Observer…

“At the same time, and as expected, WCW broke nearly every company and many cable records going unopposed on 3/16 with the much-hyped Spring Break-Out episode of Nitro from Club Lavela on Panama City Beach.

The show drew a 5.58 rating (4.83 first hour; 5.60 second hour; 6.30 third hour) and 8.48 share, shattering the previous record of 5.10 set on 2/16. Rounded to a 5.6, it ties the modern day rating record for any WCW broadcast set on March 27, 1988 for the very first Clash of Champions, which did a 5.6 rating headlined by the famous Ric Flair vs. Sting 45:00 draw which catapulted Sting to stardom.”

We discussed in great detail ratings and share and all that last week - but this is some rare air we’re in if we’re comparing this to Ric Flair vs. Sting isn’t it?

“The entire final hour of Nitro became the four most watched wrestling matches in the history of cable (Booker T vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. with 4,587,000 homes; Diamond Dallas Page vs. Ron Reis and Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera both at 4,555,000 homes). And this is coming off the momentum from a week where, since the specific hours of Nitro and Thunder are broken down as separate shows for Neilsen rating tricks, that the three hours of Nitro and the second hour of Thunder were the four highest rated cable television shows of any kind for the week.”

Who makes that call - to split the shows up in specific hours? Is that a Turner call? That’s pretty ingenious Eric.

From the Observer

“Nitro on 3/16 in Panama City Beach, FL before a sellout 2,000 fans (making it 16 sellouts in a row) besides setting ratings records was very close to a perfect presentation of today's illusion or version of pro wrestling. That is, pro wrestling is the hip thing on college campuses and people come to spring break to see wrestling as a main attraction.”

This is everything isn’t it? Pro wrestling being hip and cool - getting the right age involved and it growing in popularity. What was it about this time do you think that the product appealed to high schoolers & college kids so much?

There’s an interesting promo where Raven brings up the Snake regarding Jake Roberts - was there ever any talk of bringing him in or was that Raven just being Raven?

“Scott Steiner beat Ray Traylor with the camel clutch in 8:25 of a pretty good match. Both worked very hard, the highlight being Traylor clotheslining Steiner into the pool. That called that spot themselves and the people backstage were freaking because the pool deal was supposed to be saved for Hall & Nash. Steiner came out of the pool all wet and got into the ring and wrestled, leaving water spots everywhere.”

Does Scott get punished for something like this?

“Hall & Nash did an interview challenging Giant. Giant came out but Nash escaped doing the cannonball into the pool. Giant then threw Hall into the pool.”

They just had to enjoy themselves didn’t they?

“Finally Sting made his entrance coming out of a helicopter for the main event. Unfortunately, then they had the match. Same horrible wrestling. Luger looks like a Greek statue except a Greek statue has more wrestling moves. Sting is great as a Greek myth but nothing as a reality. And with the exception of Mongo and Ahmed Johnson, you don't find anyone who is worse in the ring now than Hogan. And what a finish. After Savage and Hogan argued throughout, Ed Leslie interfered for the DQ in 6:48. NWO sans Hall & Nash came out but Sting & Luger beat all of them up at will.”

The entrance is just one of those things that WCW was doing at the time that was working. Then the bell rang…

From the Observer:

“Almost exactly one year after checking himself into rehab, Scott Hall, 38, again checked himself in this week. He is expected to be out of action until around the 4/27 Nitro taping in Norfolk, VA. Unlike last year, where Hall was still pushed on television as if he were still around and promoted as being in a PPV main event match that the company knew full well in advance he wasn't going to be able to participate in, this year his name wasn't mentioned once on television on the 3/23 Nitro.”

How does this come to be Eric? Did you go to Scott? Did Kevin go to you? Or did Scott come to you and say - I need to go in.

The Observer had this to say:

“And to best illustrate the growth in popularity of pro wrestling over the past year, one year ago this week, when Nitro and Raw went head-to-head with the Academy Awards, Nitro drew a 3.0 rating and Raw drew a 2.5.

This year, Nitro drew a 4.63 rating (4.90 first hour; 4.65 second hour; 4.35 third hour) and 6.60 share, while Raw did a 3.58 rating (3.50 first hour; 3.65 second hour) and 5.04 share, numbers that on the surface would be considered good, but considering the competition being what is generally one of the two or three highest rated television shows of the year, they are nothing short of phenomenal. The combined head-to-head rating of an 8.08 (because the WCW first hour has to be factored out of the equation) represented an amazing 47% increase on total wrestling viewing over the same week with the same calibre competition as last year. Nitro replay did a 1.1 rating and 4.8 share.”

Does Ted Turner call you up at this point in time and talk about how the viewership of wrestling was increasing in the way they were?

This isn’t just that you’re going up against each other, but major TV events and you’re still growing the audience…

Eric you’re invited to go on TSN’s “Off the Record” show with Michael Landsberg, coming off a Vince McMahon interview.

Before we get into what you said - did you go on the show because Vince was just on the show?

From th eObserver

In a lot of ways, the interviews showed in the two mens' respective personalities what the general feeling within the industry is on each. McMahon came off at times as a confident promoter, charming, vindictive, a little out of touch and at times like a politician tangled up in a web of lies. Bischoff was clearly in touch and far more open and honest about himself, his product and the business itself, but while being so came off as less charming, and a little more defensive of his position (although that was more because the host was grilling him more consistently and not praising him at all while the same host alternated between grilling and heavily praising McMahon) and maybe even arrogant to some in regard to his company's success in comparison with the WWF.”

Do you think Lansberg took it easier on McMahon compared to you? Do you think the WWF got a better of it with their relationship with TSN?

“A common theme among wrestlers who have worked for both is that Bischoff comes off as someone who doesn't care about them and will say things that hurts their egos, whereas McMahon will do the opposite, even though the belief is that it may be more a charming facade. Bischoff at this point in time appears to be less liked by his employees because he's more blunt with them and with most everyone. McMahon is still the one who is least trusted although not as disliked.”

I don’t know that this is wrong - but seems to be the MO for both of you does it not?

“ And there are wrestlers on both sides have the grass is greener mentality, with those in WWF envious of the money the WCW top stars make and the easier road schedule, and those in WCW envious of the fact that WWF wrestlers seem to have upward mobility and that with the exception of very few guys who are either giants in size or in political connections, that the only way to get a push in WCW is to come from WWF and not be "home grown."

That’s just the way the business was at this point where guys are always looking for more and better spots right?

“If there was a fault that both shared in their interviews, it was the inability to admit even the most obvious mistake. McMahon refused to admit that in hindsight putting Melanie Pillman on the air live one day after Brian died was a mistake and tried to defend it. Bischoff refused to admit that in hindsight the firing of Steve Austin was a mistake and tried to defend it, although Bischoff did gain credibility points by admitting that when he tried out with the WWF as an announcer in 1990 that at the time he wasn't a very good announcer.”

I mean…trying to defend firing Austin wasn’t a mistake is one thing but at least you knew you were the shits in 1990 right Eric?

“Bischoff's main points were to dispute the reputation McMahon has in some circles, and certainly Landsberg believes as he proclaimed him as being more in touch with his market than any sports promoter of this generation, as being a promotional genius. Bischoff claimed that much of McMahon's success came due to the talent he had working for him, and the packaging of the talent in most of the cases came either from characters they came into the WWF with (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage who came into the WWF with their characters and in the case of Hogan was already one of the biggest international superstars in the business from the AWA and New Japan) or characters conceived by the wrestler themselves and not McMahon (Razor Ramon in particular was noted).”

Why do you think the thought process is that Vince McMahon created stars and leaves out the success of the people he signed?

“Bischoff also disputed McMahon's claim that WWF was kicking Ted Turner ass in everything with the exception of television ratings. Bischoff's response was that television ratings between the two companies aren't even close anymore, which is undeniably true. He said that Tuesday at 4 p.m. (when the ratings come out) used to be an exciting time at the office and now the results aren't even that big of a deal. He said that WCW has a large edge now in PPV, which is the major revenue stream in the industry, which is also true. And that in arena business, that WWF did outdraw WCW by a 5,800 to 5,400 margin per show (actual numbers were 5,826 to 5,472) in 1997, that thus far this year WCW was outdrawing WWF (which was the case through mid-February although at this point with WWF playing larger buildings, the overall numbers are probably very close even though WCW sells out a far greater percentage of its shows).”

This line about how it was an exciting time in the office when the ratings were put out not being a big deal anymore came back to bite you didn’t it?

“ He also claimed to Landsberg that WCW, which draws slightly lesser ratings than WWF in Canada on TSN, would by the end of the year have that ratings competition turned around.

"Numbers don't lie, but wrestling promoters do from time to time," said Bischoff, who said that McMahon's interview on the show was filled with b.s., lies and distortions of the facts.”

Do you think being a heel hurt you in that you could’ve been out in the media promoting the company compared to others when Vince - who still hadn’t came all the way out as a heel owner - was able to do these types of PR things.

“Among the other statements Bischoff made in the interview were:

In regard to Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, neither of whom were stars originally in WCW but became superstars in WWF, Bischoff said that the truth was McMahon wanted Hall to play a G.I. Joe character and the character of Razor Ramon, largely taking WCW's Diamond Studd gimmick and adding a Spanish persona to it, was all Hall's idea. He said that McMahon should be recognized for giving Nash his break but that Nash deserves the credit for what he did once he got the break.”

We’re still sticking with this story right?

In regard to Austin, he noted that when Austin first went to the WWF that they didn't know what to do with him (in his original Ringmaster gimmick that went nowhere. From most accounts, Austin's new persona was not a creation of the WWF, but of Jeannie Austin, Steve's wife, although when it started getting hot, WWF does deserve the credit for pushing it to the moon). Bischoff said that Austin would be a mid-card performer if he was still in WCW, and described him as being "a big fish in a small pond." Bischoff, in regards to his firing of Austin, said that he was injured a lot and "we got the impression we weren't being told the truth" when it came to the severity of his injuries and again said that Austin "couldn't be at the top in WCW."

You didn’t really believe this at the time did you?

“When asked whether it was his ego that was putting him on camera so much, he said that with all the hard work running the company, that he gets to have fun every Monday night.”

Was that how you looked at it and would you had changed anything looking back?

“In regard to the creation of the NWO gimmick, he said that he came up with the interpromotional concept eight months before it was implemented after traveling to Japan and seeing how successful the concept (at the time the New Japan vs. UWFI feud) was. He said that he wanted to take that concept and introduce it to WCW. He said that Lex Luger was originally supposed to be the third member (along with Hall & Nash), but it was changed because it would have been too predictable. He said the choice was then for Sting to be the third member, but he said four days before the event Hogan asked to do it. That's basically the story we had heard at the time although the time frame was different, as we knew it was Hogan about ten days before the show.”

No mention of Mabel Eric…

“In response to Hogan's reputation for not doing jobs (has anyone been paying attention the last year?) and his rep within the industry, Bischoff stated that Hogan cares more about the wrestling business than most people in it and he's "one of the least selfish people that I know."

Is that accurate - do you think Hulk wasn’t selfish back then?

“He said that he knows what to do with Bret Hart, but isn't sure of the timing of when to do it. But he said when the time comes, that Hogan vs. Hart would make a tremendous amount of money and that he has no plans to play up the U.S. vs. Canada angle.

When Hogan's age was brought up as if he's too old to be on top, Bischoff stated that Hogan still draws more money than anyone else in the business.”

Was this Bret’s fault at the end of the day or was it the inability to get the timing right?

“When the host said that all his top stars were over 40 and questioned the company's future due to that, Bischoff brought up names like Rey Misterio Jr., Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Diamond Dallas Page (who is actually 42???) as young stars. When the host tried to dismiss them all as "lightweights," Bischoff said that Page is no lightweight and that Benoit and Jericho can wrestle with the big guys, and said that today's audience wants more of an athletic contest and not just big guy slugging each other.”

Were you thinking at this time you did need to start looking towards the future?

“He said that Ted Turner's involvement in WCW is highly overstated but McMahon uses the Turner name to somehow make himself more important as to be in this promotional feud with Turner rather than Bischoff. He said that he may actually talk to Turner maybe twice a year.”

You think Vince did that on purpose all the time right?

From the Observer

“There was nothing new at press time regarding the contractual situation with Syxx although many in the company were talking as if they expected he would be brought back. There apparently was an agreement reached between Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash to try and use the real heat, probably including the firing of Syxx, and try and work a wrestling angle out of it which would enable Nash to headline against Hogan which pacifies him somewhat.”

When do you get all these guys together and make it work that money can be drawn instead of all the issues? How tough was this to navigate?

It’s also reported that you were going to Japan for the Antonio Inoki retirement show and help mend fences with New Japan. There is a belief going in that as long as Bischoff takes Sonny Onoo out of the picture, that New Japan would be willing to continue the relationship. How tenuous was that relationship? Was it always up and down?

With all the issues with Hogan & Nash - Piper & Giant are going to be teaming up to take on the two at Spring Stampede in a baseball bat on a pole match. Was Vince Russo booking this?

Were you expecting any issues with Hogan & Nash considering all that was going on?

“Sting retained the WCW title beating Diamond Dallas Page in 10:59 with the scorpion death drop after blocking the diamond cutter. Hogan came up with the finish. Best match of the show and probably Sting's best singles match in years.”

First off - Meltzer reporting that Hogan came up with the finish tickled me.

Second is - DDP IS THE SECOND HOTTEST BABYFACE IN THE COMPANY ERIC. WHY DID HE HAVE TO WRESTLE AND LOSE TO STING?!?!?!

“Giant beat Hogan & Nash via DQ in 6:22 when Ed Leslie interfered. Giant's weight is now up to a legit 493 pounds. You'd think he'd want to lose weight, not be trying to put on five pounds a week. And you haven't seen small until you see Brian Hildebrand in the ring next to Giant, Nash and Hogan. In the ring, Hogan gets worse by the week. It's amazing to see a bout where it improved 200% when Nash tagged in. Nash's height this week was varying between 6-11 and 7-0, I guess depending on what he's been eating, or is it what the announcers have been drinking? Leslie went for the stone cold stunner on Giant, who wouldn't go down basically exposing the move. Giant wound up choke-slamming Bischoff.”

I don’t even know where to go with this - but how was the choke slam?

“Davey Boy Smith beat Curt Hennig via DQ in 5:38. Rick Rude handcuffed Smith to the ropes and they destroyed him until Hart showed up and cleaned house on not only Hennig and Rude, but also Brian Adams, Vincent, Konnan and Norton. He then did an interview where he said something about someone saying Bret screwed Bret. Finally Doug Dillenger came out with a key, unlocked the handcuffs with a key. Hey, how did Dillenger have a key to Rude's handcuffs? I smell a conspiracy. How come not one announcer noticed this? Dillenger must secretly be a double agent.”

Rude takes a bump in this which was crazy as no one thought he was allowed to - but this Bret screwed Bret gimmick - why was it so hard to book Bret?

“Kevin "Nailz" Wacholz, the original Latrell Sprewell, is expected to join the NWO and get a big push.”

Obviously the Latrell Sprewell reference is regarding Nailz choking Vince McMahon - but was there ever any talk of him getting a big push or joining the nWo?

“At the 3/23 Nitro, they debuted a deal as an experiment on DirecTV. They had one channel on DirecTV for the regular TNT feed, and another that would air Nitro without commercials. I don't understand the logic of this because the whole idea of drawing big ratings for the station is to be able to sell commercial time. On the second feed, they had Lee Marshall host segments while the show was in a commercial break, and they'd show the matches in progress while they broke. At one point during the commercial break, Marshall got into an argument with Bischoff and Bischoff actually took a bump from him, which is weird since he was taking the choke slam later in the show. The working idea is to do this every Monday after a PPV.”

Why take the bump for Lee Marshall here?

“On Thunder on 3/26, they continued the Hogan- Nash angle with Nash asking why Syxx no longer had a job and why Scott Hall wasn't allowed on television, and Hogan replied that Syxx couldn't hang with the big dogs and then asked Nash since he was Hall's best friend, he wanted to know where Hall was and Nash weakly answered that he wasn't here. This interview was replayed all weekend, almost as a lead-in to Waltman's interview on Raw four days later.”

Were these two ever unprofessional during this segment on Thunder?

“Bischoff spoke to the wrestlers recently, in an apparent attempt to have a reason for Waltman being fired since the entire situation internally has been considered by most as a black eye for the company, saying that any wrestler out of action for more than six months due to an injury might be let go. This contradicts, at least in several wrestlers' opinion, what Bischoff said shortly after the death of Brian Pillman where he claimed that no wrestler would ever be fired for taking time off for a legitimate injury or to go into rehab to take care of addictions. Waltman had explored suing WCW since he still had about 18 months left on his contract when he was terminated for what on the surface appeared to be reasons that wouldn't hold up. A lot depends on Georgia law, because the fact he was able to get a new job for more money means that he actually wasn't financially

damaged by the unfair termination, which could limit or result in no damages being

assessed in court even if WCW was found to have wrongly terminated him.”

Did you ever say that after Brian Pillman’s death?

Were you worried about any legal ramifications regarding Sean’s release?

Nitro on March 30th is in Chicago drawing another sellout paying $305,253 - and they did $12.88 per head in merchandise for the show and Meltzer would point out there’s still no Goldberg merchandise at this point.

How long was the process to get things merchandised in WCW? Was that something you think the company could’ve done much better in?

The Main Event:

“Nash & Savage beat Sting & Luger in 6:26. At least Nash suited up as on Thunder he took it so seriously he didn't even get into his gear. He ripped his t-shirt to mock Hogan. Finish saw Luger rack Nash but Hogan was there and distracted the ref allowing Leslie to give Luger the stunner and put Nash on top for the pin. Fairly bad. Sting suffered a legit hip injury during the match.

Piper showed up and he Hogan and Leslie started brawling while this match ended. After a commercial break, they showed back up and Piper beat Hogan via DQ in 5:05 of a match that was horrible. Leslie was all over the place. This was as bad as watching Crusher and Bruiser in the 80s, and they used to pack Chicago as well. Piper got the sleeper and Leslie interfered for the DQ.”

Too much Brutus wasn’t it?

“Bobby Walker and Virgil, who were originally fired, have been re-hired. Walker is related to Claude "Thunderbolt" Patterson (I believe he's his nephew), a noted Atlanta black activist who was a major wrestling figure in the city in the 70s.

WCW has always been careful to keep a few black wrestlers on the payroll for no reason other than to keep Patterson quiet because he's caused other wrestling promoters in Atlanta lots of trouble at various times, some of which may have even been justified. So a lot of people were surprised WCW would get rid of Walker, and it didn't last long. Virgil wasn't saved by skin color, but simply by going to Hogan and getting his termination revoked.”

Do you know why Virgil was let go and then Hogan’s role in his return?

Chat me up about Bobby Walker.

“Randy Savage apparently suffered a torn Anterior Cruciate ligament at the 3/31 tapings in Madison, WI doing a dark match with Sting. The two had just started their match and were brawling on the floor when Savage went down in great pain and couldn't get up. They did an angle to explain his absence on the 4/6 Nitro from Miami where they showed him lying on the ground outside the Miami Arena writhing in pain and a red Viper, which both Roddy Piper and Kevin Nash alleged was driven by Hulk Hogan went driving off while Edward Harrison Leslie sexually harassed poor Miss Elizabeth right in front of a slew of dumbfounded police officers.”

How big a blow is this to Randy at the time considering he’s working on top with Hulk and then Sting?

Randy will put off the surgery until after the main event…but…from the Observer:

“Although nothing is truly decided here until the moment before it happens, the odds were very good that the original plan was for Savage to get the title on this show. There are all sorts of rumors as to who Sting will defend against on the show but nothing can be finalized until Eric Bischoff, who was in Japan all weekend (for Inoki’s retirement show), returns and okays it, but the belief is the final decision will be made on 4/9.”

You were unhappy with Sting in December - still put the title on him - vacate the title - have him go over Hulk again - beat Scott Hall - and now he’s going to lose to Randy Savage and drop the title. Did WCW fuck him?

“Scott Norton blew out his knee and Davey Boy Smith also blew out his bad knee on the 4/6 Nitro working a tag team match.”

Was there just nothing there with Davey Boy at this point?

“There was actually tremendous backstage heat late in the week because of the feeling that Sting wasn't really hurt and was trying to take time off, citing that he played 18 holes of golf when he was supposed to be hurting so bad.”

Do you remember this and any issues from it?

“Scott Hall didn't go into rehab after all, but instead is supposed to be doing three hours daily of outpatient counseling, although nobody knows whether or not he's doing it. Nash & Hall have supposedly gotten informal word that if they can get out of their contracts, which have 45 months to go, they'd find a $1.5 million per year deal on the other side waiting for them.”

Were you supportive of this decision?

Do you think the WWF would’ve really taken Hall & Nash for that number at that point in time?

Did it ever run through your head to let them go?

“It is expected that Ric Flair on 4/9 would announce the new four Horsemen as himself, Bill Goldberg, Lex Luger and Dean Malenko managed by Arn Anderson. Chris Benoit was then expected to join a Canadian group with Hart, Neidhart and Smith. The Horsemen this time are more of a vehicle to both move Goldberg up to the top while protecting his limited ability from being exposed. The best move would be to forget the Canadian group entirely because it's not going anywhere and Benoit isn't going to be able to save them, and create a Flair, Goldberg, Benoit and Hart foursome which pretty well would guarantee all four of them getting over and at least position Hart in a spot where people would care. They may feud Goldberg with Steve McMichael over getting the Horseman spot.”

Chat me up about Bill Goldberg as a Four Horseman…

“4/6 Nitro from the Miami Arena drew a sellout 13,646 (12,448 paying $284,334). With all the knocks Bischoff gets, a lot of which are deserved, this show really showed how valuable he is.

With Bischoff in Japan, the entire show was a mess, largely because with nobody making final decisions, most of the key guys are arguing over what they wanted and didn't want to do right until they got on TV and then when they were on TV, they had no idea what they were going to do because they had their minds on arguing with the bookers.”

Shit Eric - I think that’s a compliment!

When you’re in Japan for a show like this - and back in 98 the communication is a whole lot different - who’s in charge?

“Goldberg pinned Hammer with the jackknife in 1:37. After the match Saturn put Hammer in the RINGS. Apparently the plan is to remove Hammer from the Flock and he'll be replaced by Michael Bollea (Horace Boulder), the nephew of Hulk Hogan. Can't wait till Hogan's kid Nicholas turns 17 so he can win the cruiserweight title.”

I don’t know why but that tickled me…

Eddie & Chavo in recent weeks have been given ample TV time and they’re taking full advantage of it. How good were these two together?

“There was a 4/2 house show in Tampa called Malice in the Palace which drew 9,408 paying $179,270. Merchandise for the week was $239,289 or $9.10 per head.

The Tampa event was a pay-per-listen show which only attracted 700 buys on the Internet so it was a money loser.

It was headlined by Sting beating Hogan in a cage match for the title, Hart beating Adams (scheduled as Savage, there was no real negative reaction to the announcement of Savage missing the show due to his knee injury, but a huge negative reaction to Adams as the sub) and Flair beating Hennig. The opener on the show had local d.j. Big Bubba the Love Sponge, said to be about 5-9, 450 pounds, learning with Jim Duggan to beat Disorderly Conduct. As bad as that was, it got worse. At the end of the show, Bubba got in the cage and turned on Sting, who made his own comeback, but Bubba froze and forgot to sell for Sting, which made Sting look like an idiot. Giant, who didn't work the undercard, showed up and gave Bubba a choke slam.”

Bubba the Love Sponge - first time meeting him?

“Bischoff did a Prodigy chat this past week. Among the highlights were strong denials that Jim Hellwig would ever work in WCW (he could have been lying but the general feeling we've heard is that his meeting with Hellwig didn't go well and Hellwig isn't coming in although nobody seems to know for sure); but he was brutally honest when the subject of Wallman came up: "I hired Sean Wallman because of Hall and Nash. And I basically terminated Scan Wallman because of a combination of Hall and Nash, and Wallman's neck injury. Both Scott Hall and Kevin Nash have a track record, both in the WWF and here in WCW of being fairly disruptive in the locker room. I made it clear to Scott Hall on the very first day he came back that one of the things I was most proud and protective of in WCW was that the locker room and the production team was a pretty positive environment. Not to say there weren't problems from time to time, but by and large our locker room is a positive place to be. I pointed that out to Scott Hall because of his track record in the WWF and told him I didn't want him to bring that over to WCW. I brought Sean Waltman in more as a gesture to Kevin and Scott in an effort to create a positive environment and to make them as comfortable as possible.”

God damn Eric you went on Prodigy and buried Sean to Japan!

You continued:

“I thought that might be a way to help achieve that. Because of what I consider to be negative and disruptive behavior on their part, it became clear to me that there was nothing I could do to create a positive environment for them, and in light of the fact that Waltman was down with injuries more than he was able to work while with WCW, it no longer made sense to carry one of their friends under contract when it served absolutely no purpose. Had Sean been healthy and able to perform, I probably wouldn't have cut him loose. In light of his neck injury, it was a decision I felt it was time to make." He denied any interest in Kimo, Tank Abbott or Buddy Landel, and said that he has never at any time in his life been in contact with All Japan (Baba himself and the Japanese press never mentioned Bischoff specifically but talked about WCW offering talent for the Dome show). Bischoff said that he did tell Waltman's agent (Barry Bloom) about the termination on the Friday before the Monday that Waltman got the Fed-Ex termination letter and said he had a meeting before the termination with Hall & Nash telling them that he had put a bullet in Sean Waltman”

Were you looking forward to moving on from this news and Waltman conversation?

Well more things change - the more they stay the same…

“WCW announced the previous Monday that Ric Flair would be on Thunder on 4/9 in Tallahassee, FL to make an announcement concerning his career. The idea was for Flair to announce the reformation of the Four Horseman, which the plans at the time were to include Bill Goldberg, Lex Luger and one other individual (not Chris Benoit) whose spot wasn't completely finalized with Arn Anderson returning as the manager for the group. However, Flair, who worked house shows on 4/7 and 4/8 in Fort Myers and Fort Pierce, FL and when given tickets for the tour, was given tickets to fly home late Wednesday night, had already made plans to go to Detroit the next morning where his nine-year-old son Reid Fliehr was going to compete in his age group AAU freestyle wrestling nationals from 4/9 to 4/11. His son ended up winning at the Pontiac Silverdome in the 9-10 age group and 112 pound weight class, capturing the championship match by a 9-3 score. There were problems all week as Flair claimed he had asked for the time off to accompany his son to the tournament long ago and it wasn't until Monday that he was given any kind of word he was expected at television. Flair's new contract stipulations did call for him to be at every television taping. It was touch- and-go until Thursday, when Bischoff returned from Japan and Flair wasn't in Tallahassee and a make-shift angle with Anderson, Bischoff, Scott Steiner and Luger was thrown together. Bischoff was livid and openly talking about either firing Flair, which would be the irrational move given the lay of the land today, or suspending him, which appears to be the most likely alternative. Flair had already received legal threats from WCW regarding being under contract for three-years with a nice sized raise but allegedly having business negotiations with the WWF. Still, Bischoff was prepared to turn this situation into an angle, seeing the success WWF was having with the McMahon/Austin angle, an angle that was supposed to start on 4/13 in Flair's former home town of Minneapolis.”

Eric - walk us through it all - was it something you had in the back of your mind that it could be an angle…

How mad were you?

Was it different because it was Flair?

“The Target Center had sold out for the Nitro tapings just hours after tickets had been put on sale, with it being declared Ric Flair Day--the biggest advance ever in the city, the second largest gate in the long and storied history of wrestling in the Twin Cities market and the first sellout of a major arena in that market in nearly 15 years. But there was no

Flair. Before the show, Bischoff had a meeting with the wrestlers, largely to get his side across to the boys over a real tense situation, coming just a few weeks after the debacle which wound up with Sean Waltman needlessly becoming a free agent and signing with the WWF. Bischoff had been the subject of tremendous heat among most of the top wrestlers with his bluntness with them about their positions in the company and with his unwavering belief that it was Hogan that brought WCW to its new position. Bischoff's tremendous success has, many would say, has resulted in an equal amount of arrogance and that he hitched himself too closely with Hogan and many feel Hogan all by himself is not what got WCW to this level. He said that he was going to try and be nicer to everyone at the tapings and that he was told by Diamond Dallas Page that he'd become an asshole and he would try and change. He then began talking about Flair, claiming that when they had made the new deal, he said that Flair's agreement was to appear at all live television tapings, and if he ever needed a night off, he was to contact Barry Bloom (his agent) who would have to submit the request in writing with ten days notice.”

Any memories of this meeting Eric?

“ There were reports Flair asked for the date off months ago, but those may not be true and those close to Bischoff were adamant in pointing out that it wasn't until recently that Flair would have even known his son would have qualified for nationals. What appears to have happened, although this would have to be called at best educated speculation, is that since Flair had been taken off television several weeks ago and been given no date of when he'd be brought back, he may not have felt the need to ask for the day off (since he wasn't booked on the weekend house shows), and then at the last minute they wanted him to return for the TV and that's where the problem came up. Bischoff said when Bloom, who is in a really weird situation now because he has represented both Flair and Bischoff (and so many others including Waltman), contacted Flair, the end result was Flair calling Nick Lambros and attempting to re-negotiate his contract. Bischoff told the wrestlers his plan was to reform the Horseman, calling Luger probable as one of the members and listing the final slot as going to Kevin Greene (the belief is that would be temporary and it would eventually go to Dean Malenko, although Malenko is trying to get out of his contract). Bischoff also brought up his plan to start a McMahon-Austin feud with he and Flair, although instead of comparing it to the WWF angle, said he got the idea from the problems with Jerry Reinsdorf and Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls. He then told the wrestlers that everyone that has ever known Flair knows that he isn't a man of his word, but said that people have always looked the other way because he's Ric Flair. He finished by saying he was going to set an example with Flair.”

How fucking messy is all this Eric?

Why were you ready and so quick to make an example out of Ric?

“Flair's future is hardly the only one in question in WCW. Over the weekend when ECW ran house show in Philadelphia, several WCW wrestlers including Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Meng, Scotty Riggs and Scott Hall all at one time or another for various reasons came to the show. The Hall situation may be the most talked about, but is in reality probably just a trivial story. Malenko and Guerrero were making it clear to the wrestlers and others backstage that they wanted out of their WCW deals, which, like Chris Benoit's, end in November of 1999. The remark Bischoff made about not putting asses in the seats rubbed all of them the wrong way. Malenko through his lawyer has been attempting since his hiatus to find a way out of his contract and doesn't want to go back. Jericho's deal ends earlier, but with him getting the big push right now, he appear to be less likely to leave than before although there has been attempts at putting a Benoit, Guerrero, Jericho package together. Because the situation with New Japan and WCW is unclear, the options of those wrestlers can't be certain.”

They certainly got their wish eventually didn’t they?

Were these guys coming to you with their issues or were you unaware of it?

On Thunder

“Raven did an interview and was about to say that Page got his break because he was living next door to Bischoff when a fan hopped the rail, grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the ring. He got back in and kept doing his promo, but was all flustered. The mic wasn't working and he kept talking. The entire segment was screwed up.”

Eric this clip has been replayed a million times - but you’re backstage I’m assuming - when you see this happens what runs through your head?

“Then came the moment of truth. All during the show they said that Flair hadn't arrived but they were expecting him. Schiavone came out and acted like he didn't want to be there, since he had to pretend the weather was bad and that's why Flair wasn't there as the live crowd booed and after they spent nearly two hours and much of Monday building to the interview. At this point they have to realize everyone is going to know so why even bother with the b.s. weather excuse? Bischoff and Scott Steiner came out. Bischoff ripped on Flair. They showed a clip of Hogan's new Ninja movie.”

That’s just a whole couple of sentences there Eric…

“Arn Anderson showed up and to show WCW's bad luck, delivered probably the worst interview of his career with the classic line, "it says marquee on the wrestling." Steiner acted like he wanted to attack Arn, like he has any right to jump a guy for delivering a bad promo. Luger made the save and somehow in all of this Rick Steiner suplexed Bischoff on the floor. Unfortunately Bischoff is taking bumps for no psychological reason so unlike last year when it was a big deal to see him bump, now it's like it was in ECW when Tod Gordon would get bumped and it's a midget comedy spot. And I'm sure that suplex on the floor had to hurt.”

Did it?

“They did the interview that was actually taped on 4/6 where Roddy Piper was being interviewed backstage and he was jumped by Hulk Hogan and Ed Leslie, and Leslie dropped him in the hallway with probably the worst looking stone cold stunner in history. Piper had announced a TV main event of Hogan vs. Nash. Hogan, Piper and Leslie weren't even in Minneapolis as Hogan was doing Jay Leno. It was really stupid in a sense because Gene Okerlund was wearing a different tie in the interview then in his next interview right after the commercial break, and later in the show they said Hogan was flying to Los Angeles to do Leno and anyone who has ever seen Leno knows that the show is taped at 5:30 p.m.”

This is the April 13th Nitro - which is the go-home for Spring Stampede and also the show that lost to Raw for the first time…IT’S ED LESLIE’S FAULT ERIC!

“Kevin Nash did an interview, trying to get back at Piper for the line about he and Hogan being lovers which I guess he didn't take kindly to, so he said some line about Piper being buddies with George Michael that didn't get over because he botched the line. I'm sure the idea was funny beforehand. He said Hogan had snuck out the back door and was gone when he heard he had to wrestle him, so he was challenging Sting. Sting came out, spoke a whole bunch of words, gave Nash the bat and accepted the challenge and told J.J. Dillon that he wanted the power bomb legal in the match so Nash would have no excuses.”

This creative is just all over the place Eric. Nash shooting on Piper, power bomb becoming legal again, were you frustrated at this point?

“Lex Luger beat Marcus Bagwell via DQ in 5:53 when Bischoff kept kicking Luger as he had Bagwell in the rack. Luger then racked Bischoff until Scott Steiner came out, and then Rick Steiner made the save.”

Why are you getting more and more involved as the shows go on? Are you trying to emulate what Vince was doing at the time?

“Bill Goldberg destroyed Rocco Rock by tackling him through a table and jackhammering him in 2:40. Goldberg totally brought the house down.”

Is this around the time you started to notice Goldberg could be a big deal?

“Raven began cutting a promo and he got flattened (second show in a row) by a fan who hopped the rail and nailed him after getting a running head start. The fan then got flattened by the Dillenger gang.”

Was there a concern for Raven at thi spoint?

“Main event with Sting vs. Nash had a screw-job finish, but at least it was a different and an exciting version of one. Elizabeth distracted the ref and Savage clocked Sting with his cast and Nash covered him, but Sting kicked out. At this point the fans started throwing the garbage from everywhere. Nash hit the power bomb and went for the pin but at the count of two, Bret Hart pulled the ref out of the ring. Hart got the scorpion on Nash while the NWO B team showed up to bump like crazy for him. There were really too many and it looked even sillier than it used to with Sting as

they were all standing there waiting to get tagged. They did in-studio interviews with Hart

that were shown throughout the show to build for him coming out at the end. At least they're positioning him with the A team. Segments were good, and they also allowed him to close the book on television about the Survivor Series.”

Did you know at this point you were going to turn Bret heel at the pay-per-view do you know?

Was he receptive towards it?

“Probably the biggest story of the show live, which never aired on television, was the appearance of Jesse Ventura, who is running for Governor. Ventura was never mentioned on television although there were banners for him all over the place. He was all over the building glad-handing people, and there were loud chants for him throughout the show. He brought a camera crew with him and there were arguments with WCW personnel about that.”

What do you remember of Jesse the Body visiting?

“The Hogan "Three Ninjas" movie was an incredible bomb opening over the weekend doing just $150,137 for No. 33 in the box office. It got fairly bad reviews as well, but the reviews were no worse than any of his other movies, but from a box office standpoint, none of his stuff has ever opened this soft”

Do you consider the movie a bomb?

We’re at the show now Eric!

Spring Stampede - April 19, 1998

PPV buys - 200,000

Last month Uncensored 98 buys - 325,000

Last year Spring Stampede 97 buys - 146,000

So you’re up from the year before but way down from Uncensored, almost 125,000 buys. Do you think WrestleMania being close to Spring Stampede hurt you?

“The WCW Spring Stampede PPV on 4/19 from the Denver Coliseum looked to be one of those shows that on paper was going to be a waste of time. After all, WCW had been presenting bad television for several weeks, and while a few of the undercard matches looked to have decent potential, none looked any better than normal Nitro fare, and the main events looked positively atrocious.

Well, you never know, and this was an example of that. Not only was it a very good show, but for the first time since September, WCW actually ended a show with a decent match. Even working with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Randy Savage carried Sting to his best PPV match in recent memory, capturing the WCW title before a sellout of 7,428 paying $235,251 and another $90,073 in merchandise.”

This is still a healthy crowd is it not?

“1. Bill Goldberg pinned Perry Saturn in 8:10.

This match had the most heat of any match on the card even though there were situations where if it had been anyone but Goldberg in there getting lost, the crowd would have died. At about 5:30 in the match fell apart momentarily, but Goldberg then hit his tackle and went for the jackhammer, but Saturn broke it using a low blow while Kidman distracted the ref. They tried what would have been an awesome spot with Goldberg press-slamming Saturn while standing on the middle rope, but he couldn't get Saturn up and just dropped him. Goldberg tackled Kidman but was attacked by Saturn who got him in the Rings of Saturn. Goldberg broke the Rings but powering to his feet and hitting the jackhammer, although the sequence reads a lot better than it looked, but still got the super pop. *½

Probably too long for a Goldberg match but still - he’s making quite the impact and Saturn wasn’t there to hurt him was he?

“2. Ultimo Dragon pinned Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 11:49.

Dragon was incredible and Guerrero stayed right with him. The stips here were that if Guerrero won, than he didn't have to listen to everything Eddie says, but if he lost, Eddie would ride him twice as hard. When Chavo was on the defensive, Eddie put a towel over his head as if he was embarrassed to be seen. All kinds of fast spots and reversals and the execution and timing was flawless. Chavo went for his tornado DDT finisher (I know he never wins, but if he was going to, that would be his finisher), but Dragon blocked the completion and turned it into a dragon sleeper for the tap out finish. After the match Chavo told Eddie that he refused to cheat to win. ****”

Such a great match - and one you should really go out of your way to see. Do you think Chavo gets the credit he deserves?

“3. Booker T retained the WCW TV title pinning Chris Benoit in 14:11.

Very stiff hard fought match. Toward the finish Benoit hit a diving head-butt more than halfway across the ring and followed with three rolling german suplexes for a near fall. T came back with a sidewalk slam hard and a flying forearm. T went for an Ax kick, but Benoit put referee Mickey Jay in the way and he got nailed. Benoit put on the crossface but there was no referee. T tapped the mat twice but it was an ambiguous tap as you couldn't tell if he was actually hitting the mat as he struggled to the ropes. Finally T reached the ropes and Benoit broke it. Benoit tried to get Jay back together, and this gave T recovery time and he went for a Harlem sidekick which looked more on target for Jay, but Jay ducked it and it hit Benoit, who was then pinned. ***½”

It was never bad when these two were put together right?

“4. Curt Hennig pinned Davey Boy Smith in 4:48.

In an unannounced stipulation, Rick Rude was handcuffed to Jim Neidhart. After the two previous great matches, not only was this time for a bathroom break, but time to leave your brain in another room. Now they're trying to explain the unexplainable. You see, the reason Rude has handcuffs every week and after the angle is over, Doug Dillenger always has the key, is because all handcuffs have the same master key. Okay, granted, Dillenger should always carry a handcuff master key because God knows what things these guys are doing on the road with handcuffs and what sort of emergencies might crop it, that much is understandable. But given all that, and because it happens to Smith and Neidhart every week, why don't they carry one of these secret master keys with them as well? At least thinking like that distracts you from having to wait until this match is over. Hennig had a big brace on his right knee. Neidhart began choking a uniformed police officer, who looked like the police officer who hooked Neidhart and Rude together (you know, all blacks look alike), and the second one turned out to be Vincent. Vincent gave Rude the key to the handcuff while being choked (how Virgil had it was another of those inexplicable deals but I guess the police and the NWO are working together with the evil spells cast by the WWF to destroy the former Hart Foundation which may also explain why Nash can get arrested 45 times but still never wind up with a criminal record). Rude unhooked himself, and hooked Neidhart up to the ring post.

Well, you can figure what happened there. He interfered and Smith was pinned. And then Rude and Hennig destroyed Smith and Neidhart including Rude choking both with Vincent's nightstick. Eventually one of the refs came out (the WCW referees are in on the conspiracy as well) with yet another master key and unlocked Neidhart. Bobby Heenan was hilarious through all this making jokes about just leaving Neidhart there all day hooked to the post and Klondike (former wrestler Klondike Bill who works on the WCW ring crew) could just set them both up tomorrow in the next city. DUD”

My goodness Eric…who booked this shit?

“5. Chris Jericho retained the WCW cruiserweight title beating Prince Iaukea in 9:55.

Iaukea was working the match with a sprained right knee. Fans saw this as the popcorn match and didn't care at all, but Jericho did such a good job that they were really into the match by just a few minutes in. All kinds of reversals by Iaukea into hot near falls before Iaukea hit his Northern Lights suplex finisher but Jericho made the ropes. Jericho, on his third attempt at a Lion tamer, got it in the middle for a submission. ***¼”

Did anyone tell you - you were wasting Jericho here?

“6. Rick Steiner & Lex Luger  beat Scott Steiner & Marcus Bagwell in 5:58.

Bagwell came out with the most pathetic looking wrap job of a cast saying that he couldn't wrestle. J.J. Dillon came out with a doctor who examined Bagwell and said he was hit to wrestle. Most of the match saw Rick beaten on until he hot tagged out. After Luger spent a few seconds in, he tagged a fresh Rick who clotheslined Bagwell and then chased Scott to the back. Scott's arms are freakish. I know, they've always been but for some reason they're looking more freakish than ever and he tore his bicep right off his arm a few years back. As someone mentioned to me, someone needs to get Scott to read Jeep Swenson's autobiography. Bagwell was on the top rope ready to do his Buff Blockbuster, but Rick ran back and shoved him off. Luger then racked him for the win. *¼”

Lex is just treading water just months after his big 100th Nitro episode. Was it hard to push him up higher on the card?

“7. Psicosis pinned La Parka in 6:59.

These guys had no chance late in the show doing an unadvertised match while fans were waiting for the main events. At one point Parka tried a power bomb, but Psicosis turned it into a huracanrana for a near fall. Geez, what was Parka thinking doing a power bomb and thank God for Psicosis reversing it. On his salary, he can't afford the fine and with his immigration status committing a felony could be grounds for deportation. And I'd hate to think how he'd get over in prison wearing that outfit. They might try to unmask him and then he'd have to return to Mexico and create some story about how the dirty Americans double-crossed him and stole his mask. Anyway, while Parka was having acid flashbacks to childhood seeing the movie version of "Midnight Express" while he thought about doing that power bomb, Psicosis was still thinking about wrestling and nailed him with a guillotine legdrop for the pin. **½”

I really enjoyed Meltzer’s write up on this match what say you?

“8. Hulk Hogan & Kevin Nash beat Roddy Piper & The Giant in 13:23 of a baseball bat on a pole match.

A lot better than it looked on paper. At this point Giant shoved Piper up the pole and he got the bat. Before he could get all the way down, Giant was thrown off the ropes, Hogan got the bat and then threw it to the floor (if you're asking why he did it, it's because he needed to a spot for Ed Leslie to shine). As Hogan and Nash, who worked together cohesively the

entire match, were beating on Piper, Leslie showed up with a new bat and gave it to Hogan who KO'd Giant with it. Nash held Piper and Hogan went to hit Piper, who moved and Nash got nailed. Piper got the bat and hit Nash and threatened Hogan. At this point Leslie grabbed the bat and distracted Piper, and threw another bat to Hogan, who used it on Piper for the pin. After the match, Hogan told Nash to powerbomb Giant, and as he bent over to do it, Hogan hit Nash with the bat. Giant got up and cracked the bat over his knee and Nash headed out as well. *½”

Yup. Moving on…

“9. Raven won the U.S. title from Diamond Dallas Page in 11:52.

A wild brawl all over the place with tons of interference. Sick Boy came out with a kitchen sink and nailed Page with it but Page kicked out of the pin. Page used a drop toe hold with Raven crashing on the sink, and then Kidman went off the top rope and when Page moved, hit Raven, but Raven kicked out of the near fall. Sick Boy hit Page with Lodi's crutch but Page kicked out. Page used an inside cradle for a near fall. Hammer came off the top rope and accidentally clotheslined Raven and Page hit Hammer with the sink and got another near fall on Raven. Raven came back with a low blow. Finally Lodi threw in the dreaded Stop sign but Page got it from Raven and hit Hammer and Reis with it and then used a diamond cutter on Kidman who tried to interfere. At this point Hulk Hogan’s nephew Mike Bollea (Horace Boulder) came out dressed as a stage hand and clocked Page with the Stop sign and Raven DDT'd Page onto the sink for the pin. ****

Another great match Eric - these two really had that chemistry in a ring together didn’t they?

“10. Randy Savage captured the WCW title from Sting in 10:08.

They brawled to the back early where Sting threw Savage into another wood fence and dropped his throat on the wood. Sting hit Savage with the dreaded bail of hay, that the poor announcers had to sell as something vicious. Savage then got to the top rope for his finisher, but Hogan and Leslie showed up and Hogan shoved Savage off the ropes. Savage tried to spin to avoid destroying his knee on the fall and it may not have worked. At this point Elizabeth was carried off, which may be the ado for her wrestling career as she was married in December and with Savage being out due to knee surgery, figured that would be it for her and apparently she, who is now 37, wanted to start living a real life (you know, a life apart from the boob jobs and starvation diets which are what too many women in this profession are strongly encouraged to live their lives going through to keep their figures at an age when doing such becomes going against nature). Savage was limping badly by this point and Sting used the scorpion death drop on him. At this point Nash showed up and power bombed Sting and put Savage on top for the pin. As the show was ending, Hogan and Leslie, who had left after thinking they had given Sting the win, came out and were furious about Savage winning the title. They ended up jumping Savage and Nash after the show went off the air with Hogan trying to take the title belt, until the rest of the NWO did a run-in and Scott Norton took the title belt from Hogan saying it was in the NWO family. **½”

Meltzer was wrong about Elizabeth - but man having Savage go over here just for him to drop the title the next night - looks really shitty doesn’t it?

What say you Eric, thumbs up on this show?