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Post by PJ on May 23, 2024 5:24:11 GMT -5
I liked more wrestlers from WCW so I watched WCW live and recorded WWF and fast forwarded to the wrestlers I like/found entertaining when both were on. (Although the year Russo joined WCW it was hard to watch.) But when WCW closed I just went to watching the WWF and not recording it.
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Post by MKSavage on May 23, 2024 8:53:08 GMT -5
I think a lot more fans watched both programs at the time. I know I flipped back and forth between Raw and Nitro back then. However, in 2000, and 2001 especially, WCW was really hard to watch. By that time, I was already watching Raw more than Nitro. I imagine a lot of fans just continued watching WWF. If they were just WCW fans, I could see them tuning into Raw and Smackdown that first year during the NWO invasion storyline, but when it was becoming clear that the biggest stars were not going to be coming (Hogan, Hall, Nash, Steiner, Goldberg, Sting, Macho, etc.) I think a lot of hardcore WCW fans just stopped watching wrestling all together, or they moved on to another company like TNA.
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Post by OTC Waxbender on May 23, 2024 9:01:21 GMT -5
I think a lot more fans watched both programs at the time. I know I flipped back and forth between Raw and Nitro back then. However, in 2000, and 2001 especially, WCW was really hard to watch. By that time, I was already watching Raw more than Nitro. I imagine a lot of fans just continued watching WWF. If they were just WCW fans, I could see them tuning into Raw and Smackdown that first year during the NWO invasion storyline, but when it was becoming clear that the biggest stars were not going to be coming (Hogan, Hall, Nash, Steiner, Goldberg, Sting, Macho, etc.) I think a lot of hardcore WCW fans just stopped watching wrestling all together, or they moved on to another company like TNA. Part of me wishes we got a true invasion with those big names but part of me is glad we didn't since WWF at the time was more keen on burying them instead of treating them like stars i.e. DDP and Booker T
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Post by MKSavage on May 23, 2024 9:14:46 GMT -5
I think a lot more fans watched both programs at the time. I know I flipped back and forth between Raw and Nitro back then. However, in 2000, and 2001 especially, WCW was really hard to watch. By that time, I was already watching Raw more than Nitro. I imagine a lot of fans just continued watching WWF. If they were just WCW fans, I could see them tuning into Raw and Smackdown that first year during the NWO invasion storyline, but when it was becoming clear that the biggest stars were not going to be coming (Hogan, Hall, Nash, Steiner, Goldberg, Sting, Macho, etc.) I think a lot of hardcore WCW fans just stopped watching wrestling all together, or they moved on to another company like TNA. Part of me wishes we got a true invasion with those big names but part of me is glad we didn't since WWF at the time was more keen on burying them instead of treating them like stars i.e. DDP and Booker T Yeah, the WWF should have waited until 2002 when a lot of the bigger stars' contracts were coming up. Without the big names, the invasion angle didn't stand a chance. Had they integrated the lesser-known WCW wrestlers onto the WWF roster in 2001, then started bringing in the bigger names throughout 2002, then by 2003, a true invasion angle storyline could have been huge. Also, it's a lot easier to bury the lesser-known wrestlers, even Booker and DDP who seem to just go with the flow. It would have been a lot harder for even the biggest WWF stars to bury guys like Hogan, Goldberg, Hall, Nash, Sting, Savage, Flair, Steiner, etc. Those guys seem to know how to play the politicking game as well as anyone. Plus, losing to those guys might not have been a big deal to guys like Austin, Rock, Taker, Kane, and other WWF guys like it would have been to lose to Mark Jindrak, Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo, Sean Stasiak, etc.
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legend
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Post by legend on May 23, 2024 10:43:48 GMT -5
I loved WCW growing up, and also watched WWF when I couldbut by early 00 I had already mostly stopped watching other than shows here and there. I checked out the last nitro live, but was already into the WWF product almost weekly. Invasion was such a huge fumble and missed opportunity to really do something great
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Post by OTC Waxbender on May 23, 2024 12:20:37 GMT -5
Part of me wishes we got a true invasion with those big names but part of me is glad we didn't since WWF at the time was more keen on burying them instead of treating them like stars i.e. DDP and Booker T Yeah, the WWF should have waited until 2002 when a lot of the bigger stars' contracts were coming up. Without the big names, the invasion angle didn't stand a chance. Had they integrated the lesser-known WCW wrestlers onto the WWF roster in 2001, then started bringing in the bigger names throughout 2002, then by 2003, a true invasion angle storyline could have been huge. Also, it's a lot easier to bury the lesser-known wrestlers, even Booker and DDP who seem to just go with the flow. It would have been a lot harder for even the biggest WWF stars to bury guys like Hogan, Goldberg, Hall, Nash, Sting, Savage, Flair, Steiner, etc. Those guys seem to know how to play the politicking game as well as anyone. Plus, losing to those guys might not have been a big deal to guys like Austin, Rock, Taker, Kane, and other WWF guys like it would have been to lose to Mark Jindrak, Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo, Sean Stasiak, etc. I LOVED the Invasion Angle personally as a kid but it could have been so much more which is saying something. I agree that the likes of Flair, Hogan, Savage and a few others would have probably been alright. Hogan especially since he was originally Vince's hand picked mega star. WWE could have made a fortune in just Sting masks being sold. Prime Goldberg would have been insane. Nash and Hall being back would be fun as well. It really could have been the greatest storyline of all time if they waited. Shame.
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on May 26, 2024 11:53:03 GMT -5
If done right, the Invasion would have been a huge draw.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2024 9:38:38 GMT -5
If done right, the Invasion would have been a huge draw. The problem was that all the super popular stars WCW had sat out their contracts. Really we had Booker and DDP and from what I gather they took pay cuts because they wanted to keep working. I fantasy book the invasion more than I should. Such a misfire.
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on May 27, 2024 10:55:20 GMT -5
If done right, the Invasion would have been a huge draw. The problem was that all the super popular stars WCW had sat out their contracts. Really we had Booker and DDP and from what I gather they took pay cuts because they wanted to keep working. I fantasy book the invasion more than I should. Such a misfire. It could have been the greatest thing ever....big money. Imagine it happened a year or two later...wow. Austin,Rock,HHH,HBK,Taker vs Hogan,Hall,Nash,Goldberg,Flair. Jericho,Kane,Big Show,Angle,Benoit vs Sting,DDP,Booker, Steiner, RVD
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2024 14:54:07 GMT -5
The problem was that all the super popular stars WCW had sat out their contracts. Really we had Booker and DDP and from what I gather they took pay cuts because they wanted to keep working. I fantasy book the invasion more than I should. Such a misfire. It could have been the greatest thing ever....big money. Imagine it happened a year or two later...wow. Austin,Rock,HHH,HBK,Taker vs Hogan,Hall,Nash,Goldberg,Flair. Jericho,Kane,Big Show,Angle,Benoit vs Sting,DDP,Booker, Steiner, RVD So you know how we talk about the invasion but not in a positive manner? If they could have gone this route, we'd be talking about one of the greatest events ever
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on May 27, 2024 16:30:57 GMT -5
It could have been the greatest thing ever....big money. Imagine it happened a year or two later...wow. Austin,Rock,HHH,HBK,Taker vs Hogan,Hall,Nash,Goldberg,Flair. Jericho,Kane,Big Show,Angle,Benoit vs Sting,DDP,Booker, Steiner, RVD So you know how we talk about the invasion but not in a positive manner? If they could have gone this route, we'd be talking about one of the greatest events ever It would have been amazing đź‘Ź
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on May 27, 2024 16:46:17 GMT -5
The problem was that all the super popular stars WCW had sat out their contracts. Really we had Booker and DDP and from what I gather they took pay cuts because they wanted to keep working. I fantasy book the invasion more than I should. Such a misfire. It could have been the greatest thing ever....big money. Imagine it happened a year or two later...wow. Austin,Rock,HHH,HBK,Taker vs Hogan,Hall,Nash,Goldberg,Flair. Jericho,Kane,Big Show,Angle,Benoit vs Sting,DDP,Booker, Steiner, RVD Back in the day, WWF Vs WCW only existed in figure feds, but to think that it eventually happened only to be a mega failure is a complete travesty. Leaving the Invasion until 2002 would've been better. Everyone thinks WCW is dead and buried, but on the anniversary of their demise they suddenly invade Raw and have joined forces with the nWo where they declare war.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2024 17:34:40 GMT -5
It could have been the greatest thing ever....big money. Imagine it happened a year or two later...wow. Austin,Rock,HHH,HBK,Taker vs Hogan,Hall,Nash,Goldberg,Flair. Jericho,Kane,Big Show,Angle,Benoit vs Sting,DDP,Booker, Steiner, RVD Back in the day, WWF Vs WCW only existed in figure feds, but to think that it eventually happened only to be a mega failure is a complete travesty. Leaving the Invasion until 2002 would've been better. Everyone thinks WCW is dead and buried, but on the anniversary of their demise they suddenly invade Raw and have joined forces with the nWo where they declare war. I like that
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on May 28, 2024 21:52:38 GMT -5
It could have been the greatest thing ever....big money. Imagine it happened a year or two later...wow. Austin,Rock,HHH,HBK,Taker vs Hogan,Hall,Nash,Goldberg,Flair. Jericho,Kane,Big Show,Angle,Benoit vs Sting,DDP,Booker, Steiner, RVD Back in the day, WWF Vs WCW only existed in figure feds, but to think that it eventually happened only to be a mega failure is a complete travesty. Leaving the Invasion until 2002 would've been better. Everyone thinks WCW is dead and buried, but on the anniversary of their demise they suddenly invade Raw and have joined forces with the nWo where they declare war. Endless dream matches right there!!
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Post by Flair Forever on May 31, 2024 8:05:06 GMT -5
As you may have noticed from my profile - I'm a huge Ric Flair fan.
So I followed Flair's journey to WWE after WCW and the Invasion failed.... I watched WWE with "WWE Owner" Ric Flair feuding with "WWE Owner" Vince McMahon... LOVED the WWE return of the NWO..... I was elated when Flair started wrestling again. And he actually was in pretty good shape still at that point! I followed Flair's WWE career up until Flair's glorious "retirement" match & ceremony on RAW in 2008..... it really was perfect.
I tried to stay with WWE after that. I was a huge Stone Cold Steve Austin fan.... but he soon disappeared. Summer of Punk (what was that, 2011?) was great. I enjoyed following CM Punk through his whole rise to WWE-fame! Then Punk left in 2014 (and his story had fizzled out well before that).... Coincidentally, that's when the WWE product really started to get BAD..... 2014, I was done. Couldn't follow it anymore. Nobody really interested me. Flair was retired. Punk was gone. Stone Cold was in hiding.
Also followed Flair's TNA run, and it was bittersweet.... great (to me) to still see him out there but he was really showing his age at this point.
I would tune in to WWE whenever they had Legends shows, or advertised a Flair or Hogan appearance, but beyond that I've never really been able to get back into WWE. I'll tune in for a few weeks, then just get bored with it and stop watching. I'd tune in around Wrestlemania time to see what The Undertaker was doing.... but that's about all that interested me. But his appearances became fewer and fewer.
I need a wrestler to catch my interest and that I can support & follow.... guess nobody has captured my interest quite like Ric Flair.
There aren't really any current wrestlers that I feel like I "can't miss" these days. I wish there were.
Coincidentally, it was around 2015-2016 that I started taking a big interest, and getting involved (with my photography) at independent wrestling shows. That's where you'll find me these days!
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Jun 5, 2024 13:42:43 GMT -5
Some of em WCW fans must have liked TNA & even AEW
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Post by Nivro™ on Jun 10, 2024 10:28:02 GMT -5
WCW was always my #1 choice. I watched WWF also so once wcw closed I didn't have to be loyal to the brand or anything I just watched WWF. I enjoyed early NWA-TNA at the Nashville Fairgrounds but once it moved to Orlando I lost interest. I watched a little when Hogan & Bischoff took over as it gave it a more WCW like feel but it didn't last.
ROH was spotty so never got into it cause I could never find it on tv. I've tried giving AEW like 20 opportunities to win me over but they just fail every time.
I still to this day watch a lot of NWA & WCW on the network. I'm currently re-watching the nWo Nitro run. Any time I get the chance to meet up with Ricky Steamboat I like to pick his brain on NWA-WCW stuff. It was probably by far my favorite "era" in wrestling.
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Post by Ohtimate Wahriah on Jun 14, 2024 7:54:41 GMT -5
I was ALL about WCW from 1996-1999. Before that I watched it but I was WWF all the way. For me personally, by the time they closed WCW I was back watching WWF again. I don’t know of anybody I grew up with that was just WCW from day 1. Most people either still hated it, even when it was on top, or switched back to WWF by the time it went out of business.
I remember hearing it was bought in 2001 and it was like, “oh it’s still around?”. It couldn’t have been less relevant to me even just 2 years later.
I remember vividly being on vacation with my family the week of Invasion & me and my brothers were begging my parents to purchase it in the hotel because we thought this was finally going to be the nWo and Sting, Goldberg etc, invading WWF haha. Really thinking back on that, we were most excited to have the WCW guys in the WWF video games because they were so much better made.
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Post by HandsomeHollywood on Jun 18, 2024 18:06:19 GMT -5
When I was a kid and young teen I was all in on the tribalism and was team WWF all the way. It made me sadly miss out on a lot of things. As a Canadian, I didn't have as great an idea of who Ric Flair or others were until I was a bit older and had the free use of the internet.
I was devastated when Bret Hart made the jump.
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Post by X-27 on Jun 19, 2024 0:29:44 GMT -5
I watched WCW, WWF and ECW all pretty equally but was definitely more of a WCW guy. When they went under I just kept watching wrestling.
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