Hi,

Second (shorter) question: was there anything to the story about Vince wanting to get Nikita Koloff to headline WM2 against Hogan, but Nikita didn’t want to come in just to job to Hulk? Was this actually in the works at any point, or is this just a wishful "might have been" story passed around by fans?

​The Quake thing definitely seems to be "don’t argue with success". Hogan obviously knew what he was doing, and yeah, if he destroyed Quake at the PPV then there would little left for the house shows, which also did big business for them. Maybe he was even saving something for the NEXT run of shows, because Hogan-Quake matches I’ve seen from December-ish are pretty much Hogan wiping out Quake by that point.

As for the second one, there’s no definitive evidence that the Nikita jump was a viable thing. I’ve heard many times that Vince WANTED it to happen, but I don’t think a concrete offer was ever made. The timeline just wouldn’t work out. It would certainly have been an awesome WM2 main event, however. ​

Good topic! To carry it on, when do you think these guys became tippy toppy guys

Hi Scott, been meaning to ask these since mania and never got around to it:
Brock's bleeding – blade job or genuine? I assume a blade job as it was so perfectly timed, fit the story and looked great… But having watched it back a couple of times I can't see any opportunity to blade. Unless the ring post was gimmicked in some way but that seems ludicrously dangerous. Orton. I gather an element of the build to his match was that he used to be the Rollins of a decade ago. He seemed to play this up with a throw back outfit (elbow pads) and busting out his old crossbody finisher. Am I reading too much into this? And a really belated Wrestlemania 9 question. Why introduce JR, a new face, at the biggest show of the year when people won't know him yet? Was WCW a big enough deal that he was familiar to all? Or were the prior announce team just that bad? Ta Gareth WWE's official position is that the blood was hard way.  With no firm evidence to the contrary, that's what we've gotta go with.

Good Morning Mr. Keith, for WM Weekend I have just some random questions while thinking about past events: 1. Michaels turned on Janetty not too long before Rumble 92, and they still feuded after their match at Rumble 93, so how come the appropriate blow-off wasn’t at one of those years respective Manias?  Or is it the obvious answer of Janetty being unreliable to behave in time for the big show? 2.  Was someone planning a Papa Shango/Hogan program after WM 8 or was there a Harvey Wippleman connection that I can’t remember for him coming to Sid’s aid at WM8 and that was just supposed to be it?  Or was it Warrior bleeds-oil-from-hands angle the plan all along? 3. With Hogan/Andre being done with early on at the WM4, and knowing it would steal the show, why rob of us Savage/Steamboat II and go with Valentine instead? Lastly, how do you feel as a fan of hockey, what my team, the Sabres are doing, with regards of the organization, not the players, tanking for the #1 or #2 draft pick in this years lottery?  I think its a result of the system the NHL has set up anyway, and its going to happen regardless of what team is aiming for last.  And, with all do respect, I really don’t want Edmonton to win the lottery, they’ve wasted too many top picks. ….and fuck Arizona too!  Why is hockey even down there? Thank you, good day, #ReignsoverGedo 1.  Yeah, Marty had some run-ins with the law and drugs, basically.  That was the general plan, however.  2.  Warrior-Shango was the plan and that’s how they decided to set it up.  3.  Because Vince is a petty, petty man.  It’s hard to really say an entire organization is tanking, but they’re certainly not trying very hard.  But then look at how bad the Oilers have been since 06, and they’ve been actively TRYING.  On the other side, I had actively accepted this as a rebuild season for the Canucks, and they’ve way overachieved, so getting a big draft pick isn’t necessarily a guarantee of success. 

Good Morning Mr. Keith, just some random questions I have as this winter has me exploring a lot of shows on the network: The Network is indeed great.  ALL HAIL THE NETWORK! 1.  Did Eddie Guerrero have the ear/back/support of someone with a lot of clout?  Or was it just out of respect of the family name, because, sure, he wasn’t given world titles, but in the early days of Nitro and into the NWO, he sure got a lot of TV wrestling  time to show his skills, and quite a bit of offense on Ric Flair in numerous matches. It was the name and he really worked hard to impress people, which gave him a lot of support backstage. Especially his showing at When Worlds Collide, which basically was the catalyst for the whole luchador invasion in the first place.  People really loved the guy.  2. I don’t hear much about, if at all, these days Creative Control in big names contracts.  I know WWE is smart enough not to let happen what WCW happen, and we’re past the days of an HBK or an HHH not putting someone over when having a championship , but say, is John Cena just booked that way, and just goes with it?  Even in the overkill of Cena/Orton, i Never heard any stories of “them” being the reason they are on top so much, its just the way the writers keep putting them there. Oh yeah, those days ended with Montreal.  Vince is never going to allow that kind of control in a contract again, and I don’t even think he lets guys have agents anymore.  And yes, John Cena just kind of goes with it, although he turns down a LOT of crap, apparently.  Which makes me wonder what the stuff we DON’T see would be.    3. What made them not pull the trigger on Luger going over Yoko at SS93?  And if it was that they just decided it’d be better with Yoko keeping the belt, what was their next plans?  Taker didn’t get it, and I don’t imagine Bret Hart winning it back being planned that far in advance The plan was to stretch out Luger’s win until Wrestlemania, but of course by the time they got there it was too late.  It just goes to show the value of pulling the trigger at the right time. Summerslam absolutely would have been the right time.  4.  Tatanka:  The man had his undefeated streak, got some ppv wins, and they seemed to keep him strong at times, but there was never a payoff with any title, wtf was the point before the Corporation heel turn? Well the problem was that Tatanka was really green, so there was only so far you could go with him.  I think he was doing fine before the heel turn, actually.  He was a guy who booked strongly and had a name and fans liked, but wasn’t a threat to the World title.  You always need guys like that in the midcard.  The heel turn was a total fucking disaster of course. 

Hi Scott I’m still working my way through old WCW on the Network. Just up to the Sting / Vader strap match at Superbrawl 3. The prior few months up to that… What’s going on with the title? It’s not long since they separated out from the NWA. I assume to the general casual fan that was seen more as a mere renaming: That big gold belt that Flair has now just has a different name. But then Flair jumps, takes it with him. They debut a redesigned belt. All makes sense so far. But then they start bringing the NWA title back into it with the Japanese crossover stuff, as well as the WCW title. Isn’t that just needlessly confusing for the fans at that point? And diluting the status of the new WCW belt? Seems to hit a crescendo at this event – you have Sting and Vader (who I love, incidentally) doing the silly vignettes and fighting for a the new belt, while earlier in the show you have Muta and Windham fighting for the old belt with all the lineage, and then Flair himself fastens it on for him. How am I supposed to not think that title is the big deal, and the new one is the pretend title they made up because of Flair’s exit? Was this the perception at the time or am I being influenced by my condensed viewing schedule and years of seeing the Big Gold Belt as still being a thing that mattered. Was this a long term plan leading to a unification or just random WCW? Separate note, am I the only one annoyed by the original programming being so sporadic on the Network? How hard is an episode of Rivalries to put together, really? And yet you get a couple of weeks in a row and then nothing for ages. Thanks as ever I’d be just as happy with a bunch of uploads of old NWA TV, but you’re correct, it should be much easier to create and upload original content.  They do it for YouTube all the time and they could just upload a bunch of THAT to the Network and be done with it.  Shit, who wouldn’t die to have a Game Grumps-style show with Dolph Ziggler and Ryback playing video games and being funny?  How you can you tell me that wouldn’t be awesome?  Anyway, yeah, perception at the time was that the NWA stuff was very, very Mickey Mouse (and not just the Disney tapings, waka waka) and was clearly leading to a unification where WCW’s title would win in the end.  The NWA of course did not see it that way and thought people still cared about them.  The Chono/Muta/Windham run in particular came off as completely low rent and second-rate, even though Windham’s win got a surprisingly big reaction.  Really, the NWA title was a much bigger deal in Japan at the time.  Of course then once Flair got it things got REALLY silly, with the NWA actually thinking anyone gave a crap about their opinion on who should be champion, leading to the WCW pullout and all the idiocy that followed.  I’ll have to dig up the Observer stuff on it soon, because it’s pretty mind-boggling.

  Hi Scott I’ve been acquainting myself with WCW on the network… got up to Flair’s jump to WWF (with Sid and Luger also switching teams) and started watching their old stuff too even though I’ve seen it before – just got to Wrestlemania 8. I still can’t get my head around them not running with Hogan vs Flair. Has Flair ever expressed any views on this, do you know? If part of his problem in WCW was not being booked at the level he thought he deserved, then wouldn’t being pulled from the main event program with Hulk rankle in the same way? But I never hear of any bad feeling on Flair’s part over this. I know Flair was having specific issues leading to his jump, but Luger and Sid coming over at around the same time; was this a concerted attempt to poach WCW talent? (Was Sting ever approached, being the other of their big three with Flair and Luger)? Or am I overestimating the significance of WCW at the time and this was just general Vince hiring some big dudes he liked for Hogan’s soon to be vacant spot?  Also, Piper’s match with Bret on that show is famously one of his few (only) clean losses in his career. How was he able to get away with refusing to job for so long? Was he really enough of a draw for people to put up with that?   Flair was always fine with it as far as I know because he loved working with Savage anyway.  And he wasn’t ever pulled from the program, as Sid v. Hogan was the plan all along.  Luger was never really supposed to be a WWF talent poaching, as Vince wanted him for the WBF and didn’t appear to care about him as a wrestler, and Luger himself was making noise even in WCW about wanting to get out of the business anyway.  So no, it wasn’t really a mass talent raid by standards you’d normally classify, just happenstance.  And yes, Piper was enough of a draw that he could make those kind of demands.  Plus, they let him get away with it, so they only have themselves to blame anyway. 

Hey Scott,

Scott, yet another Network philosophy question.

Secondary question first:  Because those shows are the only ones that are classifed as PPV broadcasts, where previous Bashes were just compilations of the tour.  Starrcades were always classifed as PPV or closed circuit and thus count.

Hi Scott Hi Gareth! I’ve recently got the Network, and started watching some old NWA stuff starting with Clash 1 (I’m up to the end of the Flair-Steamboat stuff). A few questions / topics I thought you might enjoy shedding some light on, as I understand you’re somewhat a fan of this period… they’re a bit rambling so apologies for that. 1. Was the NWA still an overarching umbrella for multiple territories? It seems that Crockett / Turner basically IS the NWA at this point. Was Flair still the visiting champ to World Class etc as he had been in previous years? Nope.  By the time the Clashes had begun, Jim Crockett had bought up all the competition and gone solo as a promoter under the Turner family umbrella.  By the end of the year, Turner had bought Crockett out completely.  For as much shit as everyone gives Vince for predatory practices (which is valid), Crockett squashed all the people he was supposed to be working with just as viciously.  The NWA might have existed in name, but you had to book the champion through Crockett exclusively.  2. Luger’s push didn’t go very well. If not for the Turner takeover was the plan for him to become a permanent Hogan-like face on top, replacing the territory-touring heel model of Flair? By the end of WrestleWar 89 the announcers are treating Flair like a face, and without the need to make the top guys in each territory look a million bucks not quite winning the belt from Flair, that model seems odd when Hogan is doing such big business for the competition. The plan was definitely for either Sting or Luger to succeed Flair as the top drawing card, and they of course tried many times to make that happen with little success.  3. Speaking of the Turner situation, I know they had problems with Flair soon after this for him to jump to WWE. But here they aborted Luger’s title win for Flair to retain. Was this a pro-Flair attitude or more just a negative Luger one? Do you mean at Starrcade 88?  It was pro-Flair in the sense that they wanted to build to the Steamboat match.  There was no issue with Luger aside from them feeling it wasn’t the right time.  4. Was Steamboat always coming back at this point or was this a Turner related decision and/or a panic reaction to Luger’s collapsed push? They’re some of the all-time greatest matches, but it does seem like a bit  of a stop-gap feud – have a few months of awesome bouts with a proven partner for Flair while they figure out what to do, then get the belt back on him. He was always coming back.  Once he was fired from the WWF they wanted to bring him in and make him champion as soon as humanly possible.  Original plans called for him to get it at Starrcade 88, in fact, but they couldn’t work out the timing.  Sorry if this is all common knowledge – this era of NWA / WCW is more or less all new to me. Praise be to the WWE Network (and to the PS3 for being so easily convinced it’s in America and not the UK). Glad to help.  It’s one of my favorite times to talk about.