83 Weeks: "The Finger Poke of Doom"
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- On this episode, Hulk Hogan has said the "Finger Poke of Doom" was the "beginning of the end of WCW," and no one really disagreed with him... or did they? Find out what Eric Bischoff thinks of this angle with the benefit of nearly 20 years hindsight. We address the rumor that Goldberg shot down the first idea for his angle with Liz and how Eric thinks Goldberg and Liz did in their acting roles that night. Plus Conrad presses Eric to defend the silliness of a "Hogan running for President" angle, clarification on Kevin Nash's role behind the scenes, why Eric put him in that position, when the plan was in place to hand Hogan the title, who got Goldberg a 1000% raise from WCW, an incredible story you've probably never heard before about a huge mainstream deal Turner turned down, and a tidbit about a word you couldn't say on WCW TV that you just will not believe! Of all the things on this episode to discuss, only one decision made that night really mattered and it led to 600,000 folks changing the channel. Conrad breaks down "butts in the seats" in detail and makes Eric has to own it. Oh and Eric buries two legends in the business to the point it leaves Conrad speechless. Eric is fired up and ready to breakdown the FINGER POKE OF DOOM!
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I love this age if shoot interviews! Its like reliving the glory days of wrestling from a completely different perspective
😊😊
LOVE this podcast! Love that Eric seems to be loosening up compared to the first episode.
Bri Beezy Eric had his funny moments in episode 1
So glad to hear Conrad take Bischoff to task on Wrath. He and Goldberg were virtually the same character, except that Wrath could actually wrestle without hurting people. They should've run with him and his own win streak and eventually put them against each other.
Goldberg eventually became a safe wrestler Undertaker.....
Except the fact that everyone knew Wrath was really Brian Clark who was Adam Bomb in WWF and Goldberg was actually Goldberg who couldnt be beat.
Having grown watching wrestling post Attitude Era, this is a great podcast to go back and visit that time period. Very entertaining stuff, especially the banter between Eric and Conrad.
I’m sorry. You missed something special.
@@dickhandy8514 Thank you for your opinion, DickHandy.
"You covered a lot of ground there"
- Eric Bischoff 2018
Great podcast Eric is seriously interesting to listen to.
true, guy should have been used more. vince likes to say to keep business business but he clearly still has emotional issues over wcw
Ernie Chambers I would of disagreed with you originally BUT then sting vs triple h at wrestlemania happend... Yeah Vince clearly still has issues with Wcw even though he won and he owns it still has to remind everyone that he won and made sting look shit.
JURASSIC DANGEROUS DINOSAUR J. D.D.
While I agree that Vince still holds a grudge over WCW, the reason Sting lost to Triple H was Sting's decision. He thought he was retiring after that match and wanted to go out on his back. I heard Sting, himself, say so in an interview
Derek Anthony Suddreth II really? Well il have to look that one up but if it's true then I can't argue really still sucks stings run in the Wwe sucked.
Lol right? This dude thinks he's so smart, and such a good podcaster, but if it wasn't for Bischoff, he had under 1000 listeners
Feels like there isnt enough ads in the first half of this vid...
Too many in the second half tho.
Use UA-cam vanced app, no adds 😂
The first episode was ok, but wow, this episode is awesome. Conrad grilling Bischoff in the prosecutorial moments are fantastic. Kudos to Bischoff for a) agreeing to do this and b) being able to intelligently defend his positions. This is my new favorite podcast. Can't wait for next week. Amazing job guys.
John Dion WhatHappenedWhen is way better.
Robert Dayton i'm not as much of a fan of that one. Tony tries too hard to be funny and it falls short for me.
John Dion What? Tony is funny. I have to disagree with you there. But I agree about Bischoff and I love him defending his ideas to the mark Conrad who really comes off like the dick in this episode.
So u betrayed STW ? SMH 🤦♂️
I respect bishoff for doing it as well but he was lying and wasn't really truthful about anything
The skirted the bigger thing-- They advertised a Goldberg- Nash match, 38,000 people showed up, and they screwed the fans.
paul k that's exactly it. They stole money from the fans. That's why WcW lost ratings.
I would have booked the finger poke, but then I would have had Goldberg come in, have a match with Hogan for the title, with no one in Goldberg's corner and all the clique guys in Hogan's...with Hogan cheating to go over and Goldberg beating everyone up. I mean half of every Raw from 1997 until like 2007 or so was like this. How many times has Rock or Austin or Angle or Taker or HHH or Cena or JBL defended their WWE titles on Raw only to have their matches end in DQs or count outs? Happened quite a bit during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras.
Twist it in the ass more Uncle Eric! ^^
@@jasonthompson6800 Sullivan drove Chris crazy? HOW!? By pushing him to the moon, putting the title on him, and not taking advantage of him in the ring while he was fucking Nancy? Are you dense? Literally every fucking shoot with Sullivan from then until now shows him being mature and essentially saying "Nancy and I were already on the rocks...etc" - you're pulling information out of your ass, which must be difficult since you're also full of shit. No wonder you make a mess out of every fucking sentence you attempt to type.
That night turned me off WCW. From then on I'd just check in every now and then and it looked worse and worse every time.
"What are you booking these days buddy?" That was savage considering Conrad going in with AEW. Still much respect to Bischoff. All good things eventually end. Those 83 weeks were fun
Yes, the 83 weeks were indeed fun & could had been 583 weeks......had Eric Bischoff not mismanaged WCW. The finger poke was just one & obvious element, the larger picture was Eric using Ted Turner for an ATM machine while making bad decisions (example(s), ending Goldberg's streak far premature & moving from the CNN center to another location). Then Vince Russo gets involved.
While the creation of the NWO was a large part of WCW getting out of the red, that alone was unsustainable. Keeping the streak of Goldberg intact for as long as possible could had boosted ratings (worked for Undertaker at Wrestlemania), a lot of the weird drama (created by Russo) & not utilizing Bret Hart properly, given his salary, certainly didn't help. During the last couple of years, especially the last, the NWO was non-existent.
Of course, one of the original members of the NWO in Kevin Nash later proved a bad choice for booking, really it was a miracle (or Turner's deep pockets & his loyalty to WCW) that kept the outfit around once it was in a deep sea of red again.
Fast forward a little over a decade later, Eric Bischoff & Hogan would be a part of another promotion's downfall, TNA. Of course it wasn't 100% on their backs, as it's owner mismanaged profits. Yet at the same time, TNA didn't need any of the NWO members (nor Ric Flair or Brooke Hogan) to help drag the promotion into the ground. Going for someone like Jim Ross in the early goings would had been a far better option, a well known, proven commodity to the pro wrestling industry. By the time they explored that idea, there wasn't enough cash flow to offer a contract suitable for his resume.
In the end, it was 100% mismanagement of the resources (cash & talent) that would be the demise of WCW. Once Ted Turner sold his shares of Time Warner, the promotion was no more. Even if Bishoff had obtained financing & a network for WCW, still would not had survived, as the damage was done. No amount of cash could fix all that was screwed up during the last 2-3 years of their existence.
@@unlimitedayoproduction2452 what exactly Conrad do in aew!!I m knowing this for 1st time
14:32 HELL HAS FROZEN OVER! CONRAD THOMPSON SAID THE WORD 'RUMOR' BUT HE DID NOT SAY THE WORD 'INNUENDO'! I REPEAT: HE DID NOT SAY 'INNUENDO'! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THERE IS HOPE FOR US ALL! THE IMPOSSIBLE CAN HAPPEN! :D
NicholasMollison HELL FROZE OVER!!!!
Well.. You know
This is almost as groundbreaking as Stone Cold not saying "discombobulated, snug, gimmick, dubba bubba eeee and cunt hair" !!!
Bella Banana 😂 Austin is the goat.
@@tylerxxyz8621 You forgot "the drizzlin' shits".
I really love the podcast scattered into all these ads. 😁👍
I was one of the 600,000 people to change the cancel when tony said that ...
With this topic, Eric still thinks we are morons. With this episode, it felt like I had stupid written across my forehead. Eric and Turner were over confident that they could pretaped Raw. Boy were they wrong. Plus this was also the start of Turner slowly killing WCW. I still say the whole reboot where they brought Vince Russo into creative was the ultimate that broke the camels back.
I was 8 when this happened. Goldberg was my favorite, I was there the night he beat Hogan, but I also loved Nash, he was the coolest thing I ever saw. The night of the finger poke of doom I cried and my dad asked me what was wrong, he knew how much I loved wrestling he was a huge dusty fan from way back, and I said to him "I hate Nash, I hate Hogan." 27 year old Zach can appreciate the angle and I as a kid reacted the way they wanted. I dont know what that adds to the legacy but that's how I remember it that Monday night.
Zachary Hardy lol 😂
They should have just had Hogan vs Goldberg and Nash screws goldberg at starrcade instead of the dumb fucking tazer would have accomplished everything without the bullshit rape storyline, and fingering
I was 10 or about to turn 10 when it happened, and i saw nothing of the goofieness. The nWo reuniting was a big deal and them giving electroshocks to goldberg drew major heat from me and my brother, like real heat like they talk about in podcast where people jumped into the ring to help the babyface. So basically it wasnt a bad show i was surprised that this show gets such a bad rep. I think a lot of it is smark revisionist history and WWE revisionist history. But smarks werent the majority of fans back then. It was 90% casual fans and 10% smarks not the other way around. In 1999 barely anybody in my town had internet.
There’s no justifying it. It’d be like saying you respect hhh for his reign of terror from 02-05. No it made watching miserable. I will not give him props lol
To quote George Costanza, "it's not lying, if you believe it."
That sounds like something fucking STALIN would come up with. lmao
@@fuzzydunlop7928 it's Trump's motto
@@snoopyfod1807 oh wow. A Trump joke. Very original...
@@kevinbushracing58 .....are you thick?
People who swerve for a living.. Bischoff cupping Trumps balls and vice versa 😱
I saw the "Death of WCW" panel. It was a squash match. Eric did to RD what Red Rooster did to Terry Taylor's in-ring career.
i still don't get fans that thought nash was overselling an offensive wrestling move.. he was just taking a dive.
I never seen it like he was mocking a wrestling move, but now I do when Conrad said that.
Because that’s literally what it was. No different than the HBK/HHH Euro title “match” a year earlier
I got the idea of the finger poke. But how badly the fans wanted this face off, they should have did an audible and had a real match. The pop both Hogan and Nash got, especially when Hall came out, and they just sort of ruined a good moment. And not to the extent that fans felt 'swerved'. They were just pissed and felt they were ripped off. You can only do so many NWO 'swerves' before people get tired of it. It's even worse when you have a main event that was so red hot. Bischoff calls that good heat. Fans paid money to come to that event for a big match of some sort at the end, and got the fingerpoke. If he doesn't believe that did ruin the fans trust that shows would be worth the time and money going forward, I think he's misguided.
I started watching WCW when Scott Hall walked out of the stands three years before and stopped watching WCW after this Nitro and the FPOD. I doubt I was alone.
Lol.. I probably watch a fee more weeks.. I loved the nWo. I don't know why I stopped. I can't remember. I was in high school. Think I just grew out of it.
Raw had a better show even during those next few weeks. Hell The Rock and Mankind’s empty area match was way more entertaining. Jesus, I watched WCW religiously, but when I seen Taker, Kane, and Austin the. The Rock, it was over for WCW for me. WCW did have stars, Eddie, DDP, Booker , Benoit, Mysterio. Jericho Amongst others and besides DDP and Booker it was 2 late they wasted them completely. Raw was Clearly better in 1999 by a mile. WCW had everything. Even if they changed the finger point and it worked having Goldberg destroy the NWO, they wasted all that other great talent. It got stale.
@Andy Parker I remember this episode vividly. Being from Canada, I had to wait until Wednesday afternoon to see it on TSN (they showed RAW monday nights). I had been into wrestling for just over one year, watching WCW and had started also following WWE during the lead up to the Survivor Series 98. The Nitro after Starrcade 98 was awesome. The Ric Flair promo, and match with Bischoff was well done. Nash had promised a rematch with Goldberg for the next week (Jan.4,1999). I was dying to see that match, being a big Goldberg fan. I was disappointed off the bat, when Goldberg was "arrested" and Hulk Hogan returned to take his place, but I was still going to watch it. When the FPOD happened, I actually felt WCW had wasted my time, and could not believe they would pull something like that, in such a highly anticipated match in front of 40,000 fans. That was the day I permanently switched over to WWE for good. I tried to follow Nitro for a few weeks, but I lost interest in February, and would only turn in on occasion. The FPOD is the moment when WCW jumped the shark.
I hung on till souled out stun gun ladder match Hall v Goldberg and goldberg was made to look like a chump w bam bam fucking bigelow lol
How did you know Hall was going to come out? Or was it just a coincidence? Youre full of shit
46:20 .... Epic Kevin S rant
Paul Pothier I was laughing anyway, but hearing Conrad’s “goddamn!” in the background made me pop.
That was great
I picture Kevin pleading his case with the Boston accent...this was classic
1:45:30
I love Conrad´s reaction here :)
Its absolute sacrilege to him.
1:00:00 Love how Eric diverts the question to "why would you put yourself at the top of the show". That wasn't the question. The question was why wouldn't the NWO people be talking about Goldberg losing? It's like aliens blew up Paris and London, and McDonalds announced a new burger - the news opens with a big breaking story about new burgers at McDonalds.
Eric diverting skills
That thumbnail is absolute GOLD.
I know I wasn't there and such. Hindsight. Etc.
But WCW should have booked blockbuster PPV main events of Goldberg v Macho Man Randy Savage and Goldberg v Ultimate Warrior. Work rate be damed they would have made millions!
Conrad honestly has the best gimmick in the business right now. His busting on Bischoff is better then anything on WWE.
Conrad tells it the way it is just to get an arise out of Eric Bischoff some is informative and some of it is bull shit. With all of that said I enjoy the history of Wrestling. My other problem with Wrestling is breaking kayfabe. I have been watching Wrestling since the Mid-70's and I miss those days.
@@jrtjonathanwinchell3955 Just to be clear… You miss the days when a carnival roadshow treated you like an imbecile and played up the fact that you and your imbecile friends thought that it was real. The only reason people started breaking Kayfabe was because everyone who watched it was smart enough to realize it wasn’t real. You being upset the wrestlers act like themselves in their real life is like being upset that people from your favorite TV show don’t act like that in their real lives. I can guarantee you the wrestlers are just fine with not having to worry about idiot fans trying to stab them in bars after their performance.
Really glad Eric agreed to do this. I enjoyed the first episode but this is great.
I love Conrad for calling out Eric on his bullshit. This is the greatest pairing of hosts on an entertaining wrestling podcast.
"This is good shit, pal!".... Might be a new Network show in the making!
Who else here watched Nitro live and taped RAW? Life would have been much easier back then if there were DVRs.
Better than today's crap
Man I can listen to these 2 all day!!!
Take a shot everytime Conrad says "let me aak you this" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I find it very strange that people thought the FPoD was somehow making a mockery of the 'fake' nature of the business. I never took it as them wanting us to believe that the finger poke actually hurt, or that Nash's bump was him trying to make it look like the poke had force to it or caused him to fall. In storyline land, the NWO was pulling a fast one, and the poke/fall was never meant to appear as a legitimate match that insulted the fan's intelligence and shat on wrestling.
They pushed Wrath for months and months squashing guys then had him get beaten easily by Nash. I thought that sucked.
Jeffrey Riley wrath had no charisma
They built him to make Nash look good co.e in you really think wrath was gonna get over lol
@@jordanwillett8456 I thought he was on his way..had some killer moves...
Yah. Loved kronik too.
Jordan Willett Nash already looked good. The win wasn’t needed.
The Henry Homes/Foreman Grill story was tremendous!
Loves hearing all the stories about the good old days of wrestling when I was 13 we used to play wrestling in a field after wcw was on Ild be hogan my mate was Goldberg now no of us talk to each other these days just like the real wrestlers 😂😂
The whole thing made Nash look stupid. Why would anybody give up the world title to somebody else? They should of had a actual match on a PPV between the two with Hogan winning a 15 or 20 minute match
Nash, who was a very popular babyface at the time, should have demolished the older, weaker, heel Hogan
So, a couple of things.
1. The college on Techwood drive is Georgia Tech. UGA is in Athens, not Atlanta.
2. IIRC, they said the police station was at the CNN center(which is literally across the street from the GA dome) but I guess most people wouldn't know that.
3. I stopped listening at the point where Bischoff said he would do it all again. Even watching this as a 15 year old kid I knew it was ridiculous.
How is the "Finger poke of doom", turned into a near 2 and a half episode lol.
Bischoff is full of it in this episode and the interviewer is calling out his BS. Good.
I think Eric's premise of doing this to make that NWO nitro, WCW thunder split actually makes sense. It was goofy and dumb. But it wasn't even close to the worst thing they did with the belt. However, it would've been a lot easier to just have a hogan v Goldberg rematch and nash come in and screw goldberg. Him and hogan hug, nwo is reformed, and we don't have all this silly fake stalking claims, fingerpokes, or bait and switch with the main event. Again though, I think Bischoff's fundamental flaw was trying to make the nwo a "brand" and give it its own show every week. It was a storyline, that's it. It probably sounded cool at the time, but there's usually never enough infrastructure to give a stable its own show. It was Eric's biggest flaw. Well second biggest. The biggest wasn't his, but the time warner acquisition of turner was the biggest because they never wanted wrestling in their portfolio. Had it been in a better place creatively and financially, maybe someone else could've swooped in before Vince got to it. I don't know, so many what ifs. Ohh lol
I agree after dey added syxx dey should've left it like dat n wen syxx left jus add Konnon 2 replace em n NWO angle could of ben mo special
WCW 4 LIFE!! it's so soooo good.
83 Weeks and 83 commercials in this episode alone.
I actually enjoyed Eric's points of view this week. I didn't feel like he lied to me.
Also I thoroughly enjoyed him burying Kevin Sullivan.
devil worshiper and he killed chris.n
Sullivan was the best booker of the bunch in the latter days of WCW - he wasn't fantastic, but of all the turds he was the least-smelly.
He lies. He just does it in a convincing way.
It is very reall asshole benoit stole his wife
It was an unexpected angle for sure, but also kind of stupid. Why would Nash, who's all about money and power and supposed to be smart too, give up the world title, the most coveted thing in the whole company, to Hulk? Couldn't they just get together otherwise? I mean it's a knock on Nash's character, doesn't really make much sense...He's supposed to be a top star, yet he does Hogan's bidding just like that. Kind of a disconnect on many levels.
How the fuck is it a disconnect?? The nWo took the title from WCW and put it back on the leader of nwo. Why?? Because when ur nwo....ur nwo 4 life. Not dumb, makes sense
Damien Jones I agree. They just follow the narrative that’s been out there
@@machosavage4194 yea but Nash put up his own team within the nWo and they were over like Rover. Nash was a huge babyface. No reason for him to bow down to Hogan again. It's not like he was afraid of guys like Horace and Vincent and had to join them...
@@ROCKNINJA777 bro logically this storyline did make sense. Nash and Hogan had beef with each other but decided to squash it when they realized Goldberg was an unstoppable Superman. Lol then you say "the most coveted title in the company" 😭🤣🤣. The nWo didnt give a shit about that. It all pieces together storyline wise bruh . Oh and Vincent plus the other jobber....they were not apart of nWo elite.
Here is the problem with the "heating back up Goldberg and him running through the NWO" defensive logic. Hogan first title defense was against...Ric Flair. Meanwhile Foley and Rock were battling it out for the title and Mania was Stone Cold vs. Rock, WCW was still doing Hogan vs. Flair, why would anyone prefer WCW at this point?
I always found weird that they didn't go with the Goldberg vs nWo angle after that.
I want see hulk Goldberg payperview. Match
I agree they should've gone straight to the goldberg/nwo elite feud right after the finger poke, but when they had hogan going against flair and Turing face in the process while nash was busy with Rey Jr of all people didn't make any sense AT ALL!
Cause Stone Cold is a wife beater.. Dx was the poor mans nWo. Foley Overrated. Should I keep going..
while your statement is misleading; I still agree with your point that basically reverting back to a Hogan v Flair feud in the main event at this point,was rediculous but mostly given their age. Flair definitely should not have been ppv main event at this point, let alone world champ for several months running. And Hogan was really over used.
The "finger poke" itself is not why this was such a damaging moment. The finish was just another screwy finish no different than the finish at Survivor Series 98 just 2 months earlier. What was more damaging was that it hit the reset button on the nWo storyline, essentially wiping away 2 1/2 years of progression. They were admitting the nWo plot had become too convoluted. Rather than give the nWo a much needed rest, they doubled down on what worked 2 years earlier and tried to recreate the success of 96. Proved they were going in circles. Killed the stable. No point in investing in anything nWo related because you knew they would just hit the reset button every time they found themselves booked into a corner.
Exactly. No one confronts Bischoff here that his basic great idea was to reset what had worked two and half years earlier and try to get back to that. It was already over and dead by that point. To me you don't even have to use Meltzer or Alvarez commentary to address this faulty mindset.
No wonder TNA under Hogan and Bischoff's regime was also garbage.
The Nash beating Goldberg and how they beat him was more of a problem. Bad timing, bad finish. They should have waited a bit longer, and then had Nash or whomever beat him either cleanly or with a better cheat finish than the dumb cattle prod. The Finger Poke was genius and done well, but not the right time, not the right place. You needed to merge the NWO back together at some point but why such a hurry? You have 52 weeks a year, you need to book for an entire year at a time and obviously make some changes as guys get injured or whatever. But still, thinking was too short term.
I think it would have paid.off and worked provided they let Goldberg go through everyone in the new nwo throughout the year and then have Goldberg beat Hogan at starrcade a month before the millennium and get the belt back which means the nwo disbands by the end of 1999, have Goldberg squash Hogan this then means disbanding nwo for good. I know Goldberg got injured in may but it still could have worked around this, they got rid off this nwo faction to early and started fucking with it and turning Hogan face to soon
They had already given away Goldberg Vs Hogan by this point on nitro in 1998 but let's say if they built it up properly in 1999 from the start of year with the fimgerpoke to the end at starrcade , that starrcade could have been incredible and finally have Goldberg destroy Hogan after going through everyone else in the nwo from the b team (Adams, Henning, Vincent etc) to luger to Steiner to hall, Nash, and then finally Hogan, to get his belt back that he was cheated out off a year before this could have been fucking incredible if planned out properly Goldberg destroys Hogan, and takes the company into the new millennium and the nwo are finally forced to disband for good, some people might bitch and think it means Hogan stays as champion in 1999 he's to.old , that's besides the point with a proper laid out storyline which make perfect sense it wouldn't have made any difference and I am convinced if done properly wcw would have been more or less on tie or better than raw that year , the Goldberg Vs nwo story of 1999 could have been epic
And people still think Nash booked this and the end of the Goldberg streak
i was 13 years old when the finger poke of doom happened. and I wasn't happy when I saw it. with the bts info, I'm still trying to put it together. still in wonderment. Still believe it never had to happen.
not sure if it was the death knell for wcw, but I remember tuning out of nitro for good shortly after. wcw had built up this whole wolfpack vs black&white angle. Finally we’re gonna see Hogan vs Nash. Nash was possibly the biggest Baby Face at the time. Everyone wanted to see Hogan Jacknifed 1-2-3. And then the Finger Poke. . suddenly Nash is gone as a baby face. The new NWO wolfpack elite sucked. It was over.
It went to shit so fast.
Didnt help tony schiavone decided to drop that mick foley won the wwf title the same day. I was one that flipped the channel to see him win it
It's not enough ads in this podcast.
Lol
Crazy how it was 20 years ago today
The "Finger Poke of Doom" as it has been christened in recent years, was panned by any wrestling fan I knew at the time as a horribly stupid move. Slowly, week by week, people got tired of the nWo angles in general, and that put a lot of people off of it permanently. As much as Mr. Bischoff is responsible for the boom in professional wrestling at that time, and responsible for the most successful years WCW ever had, he was also responsible for company's ratings drop, and the poke of doom.
This was so much fun! You guys are great
I really like this Show! Completely different from the Tony Schiavone show, which is awesome in another way
Andi T It's the show they wanted Tony's to be initially
Yeah i thought so too. But he doesn't remember shit :D
Tony is so funny. None of the other podcast are nearly as good as what happened when. But Conrad is always prepared and makes the shows interesting. To be honest I actually think something to wrestle with is the least interesting
Martin ward Something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard is probably a little bit better but both are great!
First time listener, love the other two which are different from each other but both great! Love them for what they are.
Kevin saw flair as a booker ...
And did the same thing
The ratings went up when Flair had the book lol
I just found out about this show since I have been so busy where I've been up to date with STW Bruce Prichard. Honestly, I wasn't fan of Bischoff old podcast, but I give it to Conrad. He can bring the best out of people.
Bischoff literally suggests the only way to reunite the nwo was to do the finger poke of doom. He really is as stupid as he seems. He challenged everyone to come up with another way to achieve that result better. I could give him 20. He’s just brutal.
Eric is pretty much dead on. My friend and I reunited the nWo on WCW vs nWo Revenge on n64
Noel ComiX Same! I remember in the game you could change their costumes.
Great game!
He's not dead on at all. He's a spin master.
@@TheVileOne Not a very good liar though. It's obvious that he's trying to cover for both Hogan and Nash (and himself).
Download wcw feel the bang mod for no mercy instead nigga
“The Dungeon of Frickin’ Doom” is one of the funniest stables in wrestling history for all the wrong reasons. It’s one of those things you laugh AT rather than WITH
I watched the Fingerpoke as it happened and for me as a fan, it wasn't HEAT, it was HATE. One thing I really want to know is. the storyline 'why', Why would Kevin Nash the character allow Hogan the character to just have the title? That didn't make sense to me then, and it doesn't make sense now.
Bischoff wants to play the card of, "I was there, so anything I say is GOLD!" and that WCW would never have gone away if Time Warner hadn't looked down their nose at Pro-Wrestling. Well the fact Bischoff admits to okaying this and then even saying he'd do it again, just says that there would be no WCW today, even if he successfully took the property independently. Just to make some things clear, it wasn't having Goldberg lose or the matter of HOW they transitioned from Nash to Hogan. It was the fact they put the belt back on Hogan and that they wanted to bring back nWo. Do you realize that in between Hogan turning heel and Goldberg winning the title, that Hollywood held the title for 577 days across three reigns, vs the 73 days anyone not Hogan did combined? The nWo turned into a joke every other wrestler and their mother was in. Splitting off into Hollywood and Wolfpac--Jesus H. Christ! Did it ever occur to whatever is under that jet-black dye that people were tired of Hollywood Hogan and the nWo? The audience only got half a year of Bill Goldberg, and then you were back onto Hogan and nWo--I mean you idiots were too one track minded to compete in your circumstances.
Hogan for Pres. Was a hilarious take on Jesse Ventura.
WTF Eric said he'd do the finger poke of doom again
Andy Parker no it really wouldn’t have... a world title match? David Arquette winning the belt had more legitimacy
Monday, January 4, 1999 was the night the nWo main-evented on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. We had Hulk Hogan vs. Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, while in Japan, they had Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Both titles changed hands.
The Nitro this segment aired was the same night that Mankind won the World Title. What I don't understand is how management on Nitro could have allowed that segment to play out without any repercussions.
There were repercussions. WCW went down the toilet and practically gift wrapped the Monday Night Wars to WWE.
Does Eric really call everyone who buys a t-shirt??!
Starts at, 52:20
The Hogan president thing was because Jesse Ventura was just elected Gov of Minnesota
This is my take of, "The Finger Poke of Doom", as a 16 year old die-hard nWo Fan watching live tv in 1999. context: i didnt like Goldberg, or the Wolfpac, i was an nWo Hollywood Fan. but i liked Goldberg as the Hero-rival of the nWo. i wanted nothing more than to see the nWo, Hollywood & the Outsiders back together. 16 year old me didnt think the Finger Poke of Doom was all that bad. it got the Belt back on my Favorite Wrestler, Hollywood Hogan. my favorite faction that was once split up was back in the saddle again. Goldbergs streak ended but only technically. He lost because they cheated which was perfect for the dignity of his character, and also perfect for the nWo storyline. I didnt see any of it coming, 16 year old me was at home cheering! For me, it all worked out in my opinion for the present story arc and time in 1999.
Wolf Pac Elite was awesome. I loved the idea of Hulk joining Wolf Pac. Nash gets to lead, Hulk gets the belt.
Yeah people were pissed cause it worked. They got us all. The numbers were reflect that too. Plus that red and black look was just too sweet.
nash and hogan were pretty much co leaders in that 3-4 month run
Andrew Kruzienski 4 life
nwo 1996 right on
Noel ComiX Exactly, it was awesome! I remember getting a Hogan and Nash action figures on X-Mas of '98. DX and the Wolfpac were the hottest factions at the time. The Wolfpac Elite would've lasted longer if it wasn't for injuries, Hall going back to rehab, Hogan turning babyface, etc. As Nash said in several interviews, the Wolfpac Elite was going to be the heel factory for Goldberg to go against and chase the belt. Babyfaces are usually at their strongest when their chasing the belt.
I can see how this would be infuriating:
* Do something that's never been done before
* To turn a profit that's never been turned before
* To reach success that's never been reached before
* To have it all shit on by people you've never met before
* Who have never worked in your business before
...
That is the life of anyone successful in the public domain...get used to it
"Who have never worked in your business before"
Almost anyone who writes a history book is writing about businesses they've never worked in.
I remember the Mick Foley spoiler. I changed the channel as soon as Nitro went to commercial. I was a 2 month old wrestling fan so I was hype off Mick winning the belt AND being in WCW 6 years prior. I always think "if they woulda just kept quiet....."
Even if they had kept quiet that night, the WWF was so white hot that WCW wouldn't have had a chance. It was pretty much over when they decided to have a million nwo members.
The only issue I've got with the FPOK isn't the actual finish, it was silly but it was meant that way, it wasn't really meant to fool anyone into thinking a finger poke was enough for the pin but the fact it was a million dollar house and a main event and that's what the fans are served up? that finish to re-align him with Hollywood could have been done on any other TV taping instead.
This is two hours and 16 minutes of Eric Bischoff explaining why he had no business being in charge of a wrestling promotion. He was so in the picture that he couldn't see what the picture actually was. He may have been a good salesman, but the entertainment business is clearly not his forte.
He did a great job untill standards and practices got in his way and his work in wwe was great in 02
@@jordanwillett8456 Except he still defends WCW vs. NWO on Nitro and Thunder in 1999.
@@TheVileOne
Huh? I think he went home around that time and it was Russo running wcw Eric wanted to give thunder to wcw and make nitro a nwo show that's why the nwo split into black and white and red and black they were supposed to fued with each other but it just never happened because you had so many people with creative control clauses in their contracts and like I said when he came to wwe in 02 he made the show fun again he came up with the elimination chamber and a bunch of cool stuff I'm not saying he never did anything dumb but he did have some great creative ideas
Eric Bischoff actually did an amazing job in WCW. Where there some mistakes? Sure but that doesn't mean he didn't do a good job. Bischoff is one of the biggest reasons why WCW kicked WWE ass for such a long time
You pinned him to the wall Conrad!! I have always been a big Bishoff fan but you got him good!! And by the way, I’m a big Roll Tide fan from Bama...Love all your podcasts!!
Just that Guy they call CUMBISM. bischoff is a liar hulk and nash had genuine heat
Michael Rubin Yea I believe that had real heat. But Bishoff wants to take credit for everything great but kindof wants to pass the buck when it comes to the downfall of WCW...On the Time Warner/Turner merger!! Nevermind the horrible same ole same ole storylines that he thinks were soo great!!
hulk and nash had heat in the past yes but not now
That song that they played at the end of this podcast was a big hit in 1997 lol
i didnt know it as a kid but my step dad took me to wcw nitro on my birthday in '99 and i found out later that the show i attended was the week after the fingerpoke of doom and it was The Giant's last match in wcw (Knoxville TN)
I actually feel like Eric Bischoff came across as very likeable after hearing listening to this particular podcast
A lot of his other interviews come off as very calculated and careful like a fucking Nixon interview but ever since this podcast I love me some Easy E. Seems very honest and a good guy.
Conmen are always charming
Great podcast!!!
I've heard Bischoff mention on almost every podcast that there were plans to do nWo Nitro and WCW Thunder (with Ric Flair in charge) and I was wondering if you guys are planning to do an episode on the introduction of Thunder and the plan to turn each show into a different brand years before WWE did it? I'd love to hear the thought process on how that idea came to be and why it ultimately never materialized. I love the podcast and bravo to Conrad for busting Easy E's balls. Keep it going. #83Weeks4Life
It’s so fitting that announcing the results of Raw matches came back to bite him in such a major way because it’s a sleazy move.
Don't you worry, Vinny Mac pulled plenty of sleazy moves in his lifetime. He was no "gentleman", he was a ruthless as they come.
Another awesome video , thank you guys
This really took the excitement out of me as a fan of wcw. It felt like more of the nwo nonsense and I really feel it ran its course by that point.
For 21 years, I have been the only person I have ever heard defending the 'Nash over Goldberg' decision. Thank you, Eric Bischoff, for defending my logical viewpoint (and, for burying Kevin Sullivan... that was good, too). I should call all my old friends that cried like women over 'Big Willy' doin' the job, and leave them creepy voicemails filled with references to 'Big Sexy'...
43:05 This is exactly why I do not like significant winning streaks in wrestling. It is a detriment in three ways: 1) it makes the performer one-dimensional. Winning matches becomes their gimmick. The most recent example of this was Asuka and while she was winning her matches convincingly, I have no real insight into who she is and why I should care about her. When she lost to Charlotte, I just kind of shrugged. 2) It makes things predictable. Predictability is the scourge of wrestling. I'm reminded of Undertaker's Mania win streak and whenever he would "select" an opponent for Mania, I knew that the poor opponent was going to lose. 3) It cheapens the effort that goes into winning a match. This is why I never really took Goldberg seriously back in the day. He was beating guys in seconds. Not easy to take this seriously.
WWE's booking of Asuka was horrendous. In NXT she would win her matches convincingly (which is what you should do), when she joined the main roster, every female wrestler put up too much of a fight and usually her opponent ended up doing 90% of the offense. You can't successfully book someone as dominant when their opponents always come close to beating them and dominate them in the matches.
She should have lost right out of the gate. Then had a MASSIVE losing streak which would end with her winning the ladies' Royal Rumble then winning the title at Mania 34. Winning streaks in wrestling suck. At least with losing streaks you can feel bad about the performer (if they get good reactions).
Awesome.podcast. bischoff is a genius of the industry and deserves his chance to tell the truth of wcw under his leadership.
There's a difference in heat: "Oh shit, I gotta watch next week to see how Goldberg's gonna get them back" and hate: "this was bullshit, I might just have to tape Nitro and just FFwd through to the parts I care about, which this angle is not one of them". I, a WCW fan who watched since 1981 Mid-Atlantic days, was the latter.
For the first time, Raw was what I watched live and I basically caught clips of Nitro sometime after. I mean, on the bright-side, I was still watching Nitro (albeit taped), but not as much. The only show afterwards that I paid money for was Mayhem, which I thought was a great show and that the company had some hope left.
Mayhem 99 I'm assuming you're talking about. All the matches in the heavyweight title tournament that night were good. My only gripe was the run-ins. Boy were they big on run-ins by then. And the finish to the Bret hart-chris Benoit main event is one of my favorite finishes to a match. Its A little less considering what happened to the guy who lost that match. Still though, I loved it.
Id like to ask the fans here a question:
Going back to December 1998, if you had creative control of wcw, how would you have ended the war between nWo wolfpack and Hollywood? instead of reuniting the groups, what would the ending be like? and... Was it time to get rid of the nWo ? at least for a little while?
I would’ve thought a year about this storyline back to December ‘97 and included Hart. Wolfpack never should’ve existed. Enough said.
I remember a tornado tag where the WCW wrestlers tagged in Hall and Nash thinking they would be forced to fight. Hall laid down and the WCW wrestlers charged the ring.
Conrad, the king of wrestling podcasts. I'd love if you did an episode for Starrcade 1997 with Eric
They did, in case you didn't see
Does anyone remember that NASH WAS OVER at this point? Dude was leading the Wolf Pac and people cheered hin daily. I don't see an issue with him beating Goldberg. And when the finger poke took place, it wasn't as bad as everyone makes it seem to be today
MrMack1622 Amen man!
At that point Goldberg was being booed and becoming stale.
I was at that PPV, they cheered Nash’s entrance and booed the F outta Goldberg.
Somebody had to beat Goldberg, he couldn’t stay undefeated forever. WWF was kicking their ass, so they had to try something.
Word is they made the move to set up an elite NWO return with only top guys where Hulk carried the strap and they would build a heel machine to feed Goldberg but Goldberg injured himself hammering a limo window and was out for 9 months meaning the heel machine no longer had a super baby to work with. It would’ve worked if Goldberg stayed healthy. This is nothing more than people who hate Nash wanting to ignore fact to make him look bad.
Cant believe its been 5 years
The best Goldberg promo? It was where Goldberg knocked out Steve McMichael backstage, and started talking shit on him. As he was leaving, JJ Dillon told Goldberg that Steve had a match, put Goldberg in Steve's place... and Goldberg was liike "another victim? Thanks!"
RE Time Warner interference. Bischoff should read "Fools Rush In". The tech bubble was cresting and advertising was the first indicator and Time Warner was feeling it dry up. As Bischoff elaborates in his own book, those brown wing tips knew what Vince would need another 5 years to figure out: Wrestling only sells to TV advertisers as "family entertainment".
If Bischoff follows their dictates, WCW can thrive on the smaller, lucrative audience and they have a head start on WWE, who would continue chasing the mature audience until it evaporated. Had he not been so focused on beating WWE in ratings and instead wanted WCW to be a success, he'd have understood what he was being told in that meeting, and the landscape in this century is very different.
Instead he blames not being able to book a cool adult product for losing to WWF.
You know what would have worked alot better than the poke? Have Nash v Goldberg but have Hogan figure out a way to make it a 3 way for the title and then have Nash and Hogan double team him down in the last part of the match with outside help. Then have Nash Jackknife Goldy and invite hogan to pin Goldberg.
I think you do a better way to get the belt off of Goldberg. Then you do the Finger Poke thing BUT you have a plan to work an angle where someone else, say DDP or someone from the WCW camp, goes on a crusade to get the belt back and "Restore Credibility to the Storied Title belt" since the NWO keeps passing it around like it is meaningless. Maybe have a few weeks where Hogan takes a dive for Hall, Hall loses to Scott Norton, etc, etc, just passing it around so guys can say they were WCW world HW champ, and get kayfabe "big payday" or "big Contract" because they were champ for a short time. Then you have the old timers like Flair, Arn, etc get behind whomever you choose to be the chosen baby face to beat whomever to get the belt back from the NWO and make it mean something again.
Gregory Lewis that sounds horrible I’m sorry
elias generates actual heel heat. he does so with classic so called "outdated" tactics.
I was one of those people that changed the channel when they said Mick won the title.
That song 😂 when Eric used to come out to that I laughed so hard. His ego was crazy. Love how he spends 15 minutes talking about riding his Harley to work and the uniforms they wore to work. So trying to imitate Patrick Swayze/ Sam Elliott from Roadhouse was his uniform. I get it now! 😂 finally! I thought he was just an egotistical look at me look at me guy!
1:48:25,this jim cornette counter is amazing!!!
poor corny
Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Kevin, Nash and Scott Hall elevated WCW, and also destroyed WCW those are facts
Bischoff is great at deflecting.