Bischoff-Russo Coalition - Not Evaluating Talent or Title

On April 10th, the Eric Bischoff-Vince Russo alliance took creative control of World Championship Wrestling. The outspoken Russo stated that all current storylines were horrible, and that WCW would follow a new direction.

The new direction finally included the much anticipated "new" vs. "old" angle. The "New Blood" consisted of stars that have been held down in the past. Kidman became a prominent member of the new group. Two problems immediately arose for the twenty-six year-old. One, he was put in a program with Hulk Hogan, and secondly, he was turned heel.

Kidman is simply not an effective heel, and his character cries out to be the under sized, underdog babyface. His current biggest obstacle in being evaluated is Hulk Hogan, who still has full creative control in his contract. Hogan is the same man who in 1993, refused to put over Bret Hart because he was "too small," and opted to job the WWF title to Yokozuna.

Bischoff openly spoke of rebuilding the at one time phenomenal Cruiserweight division. On the May 15th episode of "Nitro," Crowbar and Daffney defeated Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch for the Cruiserweight title. What? Two individuals holding a singles title? The following week, Daffney defeated Crowbar and took full possession of the title.

Daffney’s Cruiserweight title is the second time under Russo that a woman has held the men’s Cruiserweight Championship. Remember Madusa defeating Evan Karagias for the title? This of course from a company that recognized 3 Count (Karagias, Shannon Moore, and Shane Helms) as the Hardcore Champion.

One of the first moves made by the new creative team was to declare all titles vacant, including the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. If you recall back to October when the Russo-Ferrara partnership took control of the books, the same WCW title was declared vacant.

In the first six weeks under the Bischoff-Russo alliance, the WCW title has changed hands a perplexing seven times! Not exactly the way to bring back prestige to the "strap."

April 16 at the Spring Stampede PPV: Russo’s "Chosen One" Jeff Jarrett defeats Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW title. During the match, Page’s wife Kimberly turns against DDP and joins Bischoff and Russo’s New Blood. April 24 in Rochester: The third "Nitro" written by the Bischoff-Russo team saw Diamond Dallas Page dethrone Jeff Jarrett for the WCW title.

April 25 at a Thunder Taping: David Arquette, an actor, is declared WCW Champion when he pins Bischoff in a tag match involving Arquette and Page vs. Bischoff and Jarrett. May 7 at the Slamboree PPV: Arquette turns against DDP during the three-tier cage match and allows Jarrett to regain the title. May 15 in Biloxi, MS: Ric Flair pins Jarrett for his recognized fifteenth World Championship.

May 22 Nitro in Grand Rapids, MI: Russo strips Flair of the title, as the show features a "funeral" for the "Nature Boy." Jarrett, with Russo serving as special guest referee, defeats Kevin Nash for his third WCW title in five weeks. In a 36-day span, Jarrett claimed three WCW titles, but only kept the gold a grand total of seventeen days. The next night at the Thunder Taping, Nash relieved Jarrett of the title.

On WCW’s real audio show WCW Live, Russo justified his constant title changes; “The reality is that every Monday or every Wednesday a title could change hands. The days of a guy having a title for six months to make it mean something is absolutely ridiculous...Those are the old laws of wrestling.”

[ HOME | [ LEGENDS/FREE AGENTS | [ WWE ROSTER | [ WWA ]