
The death of WCW has been autopsied dozens of times by wrestling fans and insiders. In fact, there are whole chunks of programming on the WWE Network dedicated to how the 2nd biggest wrestling company in America rose and fell so quickly. But there have been few honest and unfiltered descriptions from insiders that demonstrate how poorly WCW dealt with talent. Jim Cornette provides some good commentary, but he never worked with the company during the Attitude Era. Canadian legend Lance Storm, did, however. He laid out what really killed WCW in a tweetstorm. It started with how they treated guys who got “over” on their own.
1) Been watching all of the WCW Nitros in order. The sabotaging of Babyfaces that get over is astronomical
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) August 2, 2017
How they buried Lex Luger
2) Luger, Super Over, wins title from Hogan with the Rack on Nitro losses it back 6 days later. Never as over again.
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) August 2, 2017
The confusing build and “return” of Sting
3) Year long Build to Sting return at Starrcade he wins the title, sort of, and is completely buried with Booking.
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) August 2, 2017
Their inability to take advantage of Bret Hart’s defection
4) Bret Hart jumps to WCW on heels of Montreal He's hottest things in business and is a guest ref, left in mid card, joins NWO
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) August 2, 2017
Turning Buff Bagwell heel for no reason
5) Buff Bagwell returns from a broken neck, is super over as a face and immediately turns heel in swerve style promo.
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) August 2, 2017
Letting Jay Leno main event instead of Goldberg
6) Goldberg hottest thing in WCW, wins the title, is barely on Nitro and is working undercard to celebrity tag Main Events
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) August 2, 2017
This isn’t some arm-chair internet fan. Lance Storm has 20+ years experience. Not only that, but he’s one of the most renowned trainers going. So, it is safe to say he understands wrestling and knows what he’s talking about.
Why we need WCW
WCW rose and fell faster than most people believe. Constantly on-the-verge-of-collapse TNA has lasted longer than Turner’s WCW. Hard to believe, but true. WCW wasn’t just too much too fast. It was too much bad too fast. There were no real builds. Everything was all the time right now.
I miss WCW. I wish WWE had genuine competition. It only makes wrestling better. Even the little competition WWE received from indies here and in the UK force them to up their game. Can you imagine if the Monday Night Wars never ended? If WCW had worked on building new talent, wrestling could have continued its time at the top of the cultural zeitgeist.
Is Lance Storm Right? Share your thoughts in the comments below.