As the calendar turned from December 31, 1998 into January 1, 1999, there was still a lot of optimism in World Championship Wrestling. After all, 1998 had been a spectacular year, and even though Vince McMahon’s WWF had managed to catch back up with the company, it was still doing monster business across the board.
Pay-Per-View buyrates were relatively high, attendance and merchandise sales were through the roof, and – perhaps most crucially to Eric Bischoff – the all-important TV ratings had managed to stay competitive. In fact, WCW was competing heavily on all fronts against Vince McMahon, and it was pretty much expected that the promotion were here to stay. Besides, the only thing that could kill WCW would be WCW itself, right?
As history would later dictate, that would pretty much be the case. That said, as 1999 shot into view, nobody could have expected that just 2 years later, WCW would be bought out by none other than Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Incredible stuff, but in ’99, things were heating up in Atlanta. The promotion needed something new to help launch it back to the top of the industry once more, and it was clear that the nWo idea was starting to flag somewhat, but things looked bright.
Here are 10 things many fans might not know about WCW in 1999. As always with WCW, hold onto your hats, it’s a bumpy ride!
10. WCW Were Still Financially Viable
The year 2000 would be a disastrous one financially for WCW. Losing a rumoured $60-$70 million (depending on the source) during just one calendar year can never be good for any company, even one with money to burn like those folks in Atlanta had, but many people forget that 1999 wasn’t anywhere near as bad.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. In 1999, World Championship Wrestling still had a lot going for it. As aforementioned, TV ratings were still pretty high, and the company was struggling to keep merchandise in inventory, such was the demand for t-shirts, teddy bears, key rings, VHS tapes, video games and posters.
In addition, WCW’s top stars still had a lot of sway with the buying public, something evidenced by the awesome numbers the company were pulling in on Pay-Per-View. Yes, in 1999, wrestling fans – casual and hardcore – were willing to pay to watch the likes of Sting, Hulk Hogan, Bill Goldberg and Kevin Nash, something which would change just one short year later. The latter part of the year started the downward slide, but as 1999 began, WCW was as hot as it had been for years.
9. Thought Master P Would Equal Ratings
Eric Bischoff looked on with envy at the way Vince McMahon had used celebrities to rub off some of the mainstream magic on his product over the years, but what he really should have been paying attention to was exactly how McMahon booked those celebrities. Very rarely did the WWF make mistakes with famous people, they usually enhanced the show, rather than detracting from it, but the same can’t really be said for WCW.
Never was this more glaringly obvious than with how WCW booked the rapper Master P to show up. Throwing oodles of cash towards the man without any real evidence that he could affect ratings, the company shot themselves in the foot by allowing Master P to bring some hangers on with him, hangers on who were paid up to $400,000 for no apparent reason.
Aligning himself with the likes of Rey Mysterio and Konnan, WCW thought they were being hip by bringing in Master P, but the predominantly Southern audience of the promotion weren’t digging it, meaning WCW lost a lot of money for pretty much little in return. Quite how on earth management thought a rapper throwing a birthday party for his brother on wrestling television would spike ratings is anyone’s guess.
8. Signed An Agreement With Gene Simmons
Looking back now, it’s clear that WCW were a company running thin on bankable, money-making ideas when they started throwing a ton of moolah at various music acts to appear on their shows. Bands like Megadeth tanked horribly when playing live on programming, which should have been obvious – wrestling fans didn’t want to see a concert when tuning into Nitro, they wanted to see wrestling. Imagine that.
Somewhere along the line, likely through desperation, Eric Bischoff decided to sign a deal with rock megastars KISS. Whilst KISS, led by Gene Simmons, are assuredly one of the biggest music in the history of music, they don’t mean much in a grappling context, something WCW found out to their cost.
Inking a contract with Simmons, Bischoff planned to put on a massive crossover bash towards the end of 1999, possibly one to celebrate the New Year festivities. This would have included a 3-hour WCW show followed up by a full-length KISS concert. Hey, maybe The Demon – a wrestler commissioned by Simmons to use the KISS image on WCW TV – would have finally been in one of those main events the band were promised?
7. Chris Jericho Could Have Said Anything He Liked During Promos
Eventually, Chris Jericho would escape the combustible environment of WCW and make his way to the WWF in August, ’99. Just reading any of the man’s books makes it clear that he felt stifled by his career for the Atlanta promotion, as though he’d gone as far as he could with the group. Pitching a feud with top star Goldberg, Jericho was knocked back, and decided to try his hand elsewhere.
Before leaving, Jericho attempted to keep his name on WCW television, shooting a series of promos that involved him basically talking gibberish. The reason for this was simple, the future ‘Y2J’ had carte blanche to do pretty much whatever he wanted in the segments.
Incredibly, according to Jericho himself, WCW production staff didn’t really care what was on the videos, they just wanted something to fill up a few minutes of air time. It’s mind-blowing to think that a major pro wrestling company was being run this way, especially with regards to someone fans considered a future main event talent.
6. WCW Were Interested In Pushing David Flair
Whilst the company was seemingly more than happy to let the likes of Chris Jericho go, they elected to focus instead on a wrestler who didn’t really have quite as much potential. Confusingly, WCW seemed intrigued by the possibility of pushing David Flair to the top of the card, more than likely simply because he was the son of ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair.
Unfortunately for those in charge, young David didn’t appear to have a shred of the talent that his father possessed. Worse yet, the man didn’t even have a particularly awe-inspiring body, nor was he actually any use on the microphone. In fact, when looking at David’s career in WCW, he didn’t really have a lot going for him, so why were the promotion so interested in pushing him ahead of others?
Was it nepotism? Perhaps, but that can’t be the only reason. Even after the man had tanked when appearing alongside his significantly-more-skilled dad, WCW continued to feature him, albeit in a more-reduced role as a tag-team performer. Let’s not forget, this was the same company who put their World Title on an actor, and considered Tank Abbott for a top line role, so it’s remarkable that David Flair didn’t hold the big gold belt at least once.
5. Sting Was Pinned By A Dog
Sting finally made his way to WWE in 2014, making his first in-person appearance on a major show at the Survivor Series Pay-Per-View in November. Rightly presented as a big deal, the iconic star had long been associated with nobody but WCW and TNA, so it was considered quite the awesome moment to finally see him walk down to a WWE ring.
Back in 1999, Sting’s star had fallen somewhat. Just a few years before, he’d been the talk of the entire industry, set to battle Hollywood Hogan in the main event at Starrcade. Shaking up his look dramatically, Sting was reborn and ready to lead WCW towards the new millennium. Sadly, terrible booking meant he was reduced to a lifeless feud with Rick Steiner by ’99.
In one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments of the entire year, Sting found himself overwhelmed by dogs during a backstage skit with Steiner. Confusingly, the match between both men at The Great American Bash PPV didn’t actually end, yet Steiner was proclaimed the winner upon making it back to the ring. This is one segment which really has to be seen to be believed, the production is truly awful.
4. Sable Appeared On Nitro
There have been arguments put forth online that Vince McMahon was interested in making the team of Marc Mero and Sable like Randy Savage and Miss. Elizabeth for a new generation. Upon their debut in the federation, Mero and Sable had an altogether more suggestive vibe to their outfits and demeanour, but that wouldn’t last long. Pretty quickly, Sable gave up the leather and started wearing classier dresses, whilst Mero began donning robes.
It may be coincidence, but even listening to McMahon on commentary gave the impression that he liked the concept of a more distinguished and classy couple on his broadcasts again. Before too long however, Sable would start to outshine her man, becoming a much bigger star in the WWF than Mero would ever be. Suddenly, the sex appeal was back, and the woman even later posed for Playboy.
Departing the WWF in 1999 over a sexual harassment lawsuit, Sable would shockingly show up on an episode of Monday Nitro in June, and was mentioned on-air. There were never really any serious talks about a run for the Diva in the company, but it would have been quite the coup had WCW been able to convince Sable to join them, it’s hard to reinforce just how big a name she was in the late-90’s.
3. Vince Russo Was Considered The Saviour
The name Vince Russo comes with some serious baggage nowadays, but there was a time when the man was considered one of the brightest minds in all of wrestling. It’s common knowledge that Russo played a major role in shifting the goal posts for the McMahon family in their war against WCW, helping create some tremendous characters and writing some incendiary television.
Of course, that was under the watchful eye of Vince McMahon, a man who has since went on record as saying he heavily edited a lot of what his chief writer came up with, shaping it into something suitable for his audience. Whether true or not, Russo’s later run in WCW seems to prove that, without a filter, he was more prone to sinking rather than swimming.
Some of the TV Russo booked in WCW was horrendous, but it’s important not to forget that he was considered the man who could save the company. Not only that, but he represented the kind of ideas that could freshen up WCW and allow them to pull back ahead of the WWF.
2. One Advert Totally Undermined The New WCW Logo
In 1999, WCW were in the midst of trying to liven up their brand by creating a new logo and entrance set for their flagship show, Monday Nitro. To this day, many fans are split on the ‘new’ WCW logo, one which was quite the departure from the clearly defined branding of before.
Taking out an advert in USA Today, WCW wanted to advertise the fact that the April 5, 1999 episode of Nitro would be somewhat of a rebirth for the program, and for the company as a whole. In typical WCW fashion however, the ad was inconclusive, not even the most ardent of wrestling fans could have known it was about WCW.
1. The Undertaker Held Talks To Jump From The WWF
The Undertaker is one of the biggest and most-loved stars in the history of WWF/WWE, and with good reason. Having played a major part in the company since 1990, ‘Taker is an institution, and it’s impossible to imagine him working under anyone other than Vince McMahon.
Incredibly, wrestling fans nearly witnessed such a thing. In 1999, Undertaker had taken some time off to heal various injuries sustained over the years, and was looking to come back under somewhat of a radical new guise for his character. It’s unknown whether or not it was McMahon or Undertaker who made the final call, but ‘Taker was a different animal by the time he re-appeared at the Judgment Day show in May, 2000.
Before that, Kevin Nash told during a recent interview that The Undertaker held talks with WCW about making the jump from the WWF. Clearly, all was not well between Mark Calaway (the man behind The Deadman gimmick) and McMahon, otherwise why would he be talking with the competition? Imagine Calaway had shown up in WCW in 1999, wrestling history could have been so different to what it is now.
The new logo was shown, but there was no mention of WCW. Instead, the advert simply encouraged fans to tune into TNT at 7pm on April 5, and had a quite baffling choice of slogan to accompany that text. Overlapping the actual WCW logo, ‘Looks like something a bird left on the hood of my car’ was written in plain white text, completely undermining the new choice of logo and destroying credibility right out of the gate. Who made these decisions!?
Subject: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About WCW In 1999 
