IN DEFENSE OF...The WCW Television Title Reactivation in 2000

Back on November 29, 1999, a true legacy in the history of World Championship Wrestling came to an abrupt halt.

It was the unofficial end of the WCW Television Championship.

At Mayhem on November 21, 1999 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Scott Hall, who was already the WCW United States Champion, was awarded the TV Title, due to Rick Steiner being injured and unable to compete for their title-for-title match on pay-per-view. Hall, for 8 days, was recognized as a double champion.

However, on the 29th, during an episode of Nitro, the unthinkable happened.

During an interview with resident Amway salesman Chavo Guerrero, Jr, Hall was asked about defending the Television Title. Hall made note that, as champion, he never got free TV dinners, never met Ted Turner, and didn’t meet television stars.

Seeing no use for the belt, he tried to pawn it off to “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash, his cohort in crime, but Nash denied it. Instead, the Outsiders mocked a game of basketball, and Nash slammed the Television Championship hard into the trash bin.

The Television Championship was vacated and retired, never to have been seen again after being literally discarded as a piece of garbage.

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My belief in the initial end of the Television Championship was due to a matter of logistics. People forget that at Mayhem, the promotion introduced the WCW Hardcore Championship to combat both the WWF’s popular division and the revolution that was ECW.

Also, in my opinion, with Mr. Russo and Ferrara trying to streamline and modernize the product to their vision, the Television Championship was obsolete. At least with the Hardcore Championship, it presented more entertainment value for the television product, which I, as a fan, can understand.

However, the history buff inside of me was demoralized.

It was gone. All gone. The complete burial of a championship made famous by Arn Anderson, Lord Steven Regal, and Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat. The end of a legacy, going back to the days of Jim Crockett Promotions and the National Wrestling Alliance. The disrespect given to the Best-Of-Seven Series between Booker T and Chris Benoit over the right to become the number one contender in 1998. The disregard shown to the aspiring wrestlers who saw the title as an opportunity to bigger and better things, as well as being considered to be the “wrestler’s wrestler” title.

OK, maybe I’m being a little too dramatic, but the way the Television Championship was written off WCW programming bothered me. Even now, I felt as if it could have been handled better, but what’s done was done. It was the end of an era…

Until February 19, 2000.

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WCW Saturday Night was a staple of the Turner Networks, beginning in 1971. It ran through multiple generations of the wrestling industry, from Georgia Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, the National Wrestling Alliance, the World Wrestling Federation (Black Saturday), and to the Turner-owned WCW.

Ted Turner has been quoted as saying that Saturday Night was one of the main reasons his “Superstation” succeeded.

By 2000, the program was a C-level program, thanks to Nitro and Thunder taking top priority on the networks. With less emphasis and focus brought to it, one man had a vision to try and bring a different objective to the program. 

That man was “the Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart.

Jimmy Hart was truly a renaissance man in pro wrestling. A legendary manager and musician, Hart made himself very versatile in every promotion he’s ever been in, from the Memphis territory to the WWF. After working both in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes in WCW for five years, Hart, according to the Pro Wrestling Torch in 1999, made a play to take over the booking duties of Saturday Night.

"Jimmy Hart proposed to management that he be put in charge of booking WCW Saturday Night,” stated Wade Keller in the July 10 edition. “There has been talk of overhauling the show. Hart wants to book it Memphis style by pushing some of the younger wrestlers with potential in weekly storylines.”

In the August 21 edition, Keller confirmed “the Mouth of the South’s” takeover, but listed an exception to his role, as "he will not be given any of the top names to work with but will instead try to get over the younger stars and mid-carders that are already appearing on the show." (Credit to Wrestling Inc for the information.)

With that exception, Saturday Night under the reign of Hart began.

For the next few months, the table began to be set. Underutilized talent like Lord Steven Regal, Dave Taylor, the Villanos, Bobby Eaton, and Brad “Buzz Kill” Armstrong were mixed alongside young Power Plant students such as Lash LeRoux, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O’Haire, Mark Jindrak, and John “Johnny the Bull” Hugger. The product began becoming more emphasized on single show-long storylines.

Saturday Night was becoming an experimental ground for ideas. In fact, a goal was in play to segregate it from the main WCW programs and run it as its own brand.

In spite of the creative turmoil happening during the Fall of 1999 through the beginnings of 2000, from Eric Bischoff being “reassigned” to Russo & Ferrara and then the Kevin Sullivan & JJ Dillon led tandem, Jimmy was left alone to his own devices.

Hart began to start taking his ideas to the next level. He felt that Saturday Night needed a flagbearer to represent the new direction of the program. He needed a championship.

Thank goodness “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan was a janitor.

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By the time The Powers That Be took over WCW, there was a complete overhaul of the creative, including characters. For example, as I alluded to earlier, Chavo Guerrero, Jr became a salesman on the side, a far cry from his crazy demeanor a few months prior.

“Hacksaw” Duggan was no different. A few months after returning from kidney cancer, Duggan was lost in the shuffle creatively. The Powers That Be, wanting to build the young stars of tomorrow, began to embarrass the legends of the past. Men like Hulk Hogan, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Ric Flair had already felt the pinch of that mandate.

Instead of removing him from television outright, The Powers That Be decided to humiliate “Hacksaw”, turning him into WCW’s “janitor”. He would be forced to scrub the toilets, throw out garbage, and clean up the arena each and every show, as well at WCW HQ in Atlanta, GA.

Unlike others that would have turned it down cold, “Hacksaw” accepted the offer and made it work. Fans actually started showing sympathy and getting behind him for his comeuppance. For his hard work, Duggan began a feud with the Revolution, who excommunicated themselves from the United States, and defended his country with honor. He became a modern-day version of the “American Dream”.

Even though The Powers That Be were removed from power in January 2000, Duggan remained a janitor for the company. 

Jimmy Hart, seeing a creative opportunity, took a chance. “Hacksaw” did as well.

On February 19, 2000, at the Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, PA, during a taping of Saturday Night, “Hacksaw” came out to the ring, cleaning gear on, and a garbage bag in hand.

After Hall and Nash threw the Television Championship in the garbage on 11/29/99, WCW management had brought the gold back to WCW headquarters in Atlanta, only to leave it again by the trash pile. Duggan, while doing his janitorial duties, found the belt covered in waste, and decided to restore it to active status.

With a bit of creativity, the WCW Television Championship was back, and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan was the titleholder.

Almost immediately, Duggan challenged anyone man enough to take it from him, and out walked Robert Gibson, one-half of the Rock and Roll Express. Gibson respected the history of the Television Title, and was willing to do whatever it took to win.

Later on in the night, “Hacksaw” defeated Gibson with his three-point stance clothesline, followed up with his Old Glory knee drop. Duggan had no chance to relish in his moment, as out walked former four-time TV Champion Lord Steven Regal.

Regal, horrified at how Duggan crowned himself champion, demanded a match on the following week’s Saturday Night, and if he lost, he would leave WCW forever. “Hacksaw” accepted, and the “Title vs Career” match was on the books.

Lord Steven had a strategy to work over Duggan’s arm throughout the match, but the TV Champion persevered, delivering a spinning body slam, nailing the clothesline, and dropping Old Glory for the three and retaining. LORD STEVEN REGAL WAS GONE FROM WCW!

However, waiting in the wings was the great Fidel Sierra. The former Cuban Assassin, a world-traveling journeyman, had, earlier in the evening, challenged the winner.

Once again, Duggan, not enjoying the opportunity to relish in the victory, prepared himself for war. On the March 4 Saturday Night, Sierra fell in defeat. But he wanted revenge. 

After Duggan’s successful defense against journeyman Frankie Lancaster on March 11, Sierra laid down the challenge for one more shot at the gold: this time, they would battle in a Flag match. The winner would not only be Television Champion, but would be able to fly their respective colors in the air. (“Hacksaw” representing the USA, Sierra with Cuba)