IN DEFENSE OF...The "Fingerpoke of Doom"

We all know what happened next. Hogan and Nash, after minutes of stalling, finally went to lock up. Hollywood poked "Big Sexy" in the chest, which he sold like he was shot with a gun. Three slaps of the mat later, and we had a new World Heavyweight Champion. Then, Hogan, Nash, Hall, Buff Bagwell, and Scott Steiner celebrated in the ring, while Mr. Bischoff, who just lost his WCW Presidency the week before to his arch-nemesis "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, celebrated at the commentary table.

Goldberg made his way down to the ring from outside the Georgia Dome in record time and began taking out the reunited New World Order one-by-one. Just as "Da Man" went to Jackhammer "Hollywood", Lex Luger, member of the Wolfpäc, leveled Goldberg from behind. In front of his hometown fans, the nWo then embarrassed Goldberg with a taser, spray-paint, and attacks while handcuffed to the ropes.

Documentaries, critics, and fans all look at this moment as the beginning of the end and why WCW fell into a deep slump they'd never recover, almost immediately from a rating standpoint.

I actually have to disagree. In fact, for at least a month, the ratings maintained in the very high fours. In fact, the following week, WCW went up .03 points in the ratings for Nitro from a 4.96 to a 4.99. Not only that, but WCW's ratings also remained in the fours consistently until the end of April, combating the juggernaut that was Monday Night Raw and the Road to WrestleMania XV. (Credit Gerweck.net for the ratings chart from that time period.)

Also, many people don't remember that there was a long-term plan in place post-"Fingerpoke" creatively.

Once the "Nature Boy" became WCW President on December 28, 1998, he began preaching bring "tradition" back to World Championship Wrestling almost immediately. He reinstalled the vacant WCW World Tag Team Championships, removed the "nWo" label from future WCW pay-per-view promotional material, and began to put the emphasis back towards WCW. The reunited nWo, rebels and invaders in every sense of the word, would fight that tradition at any means necessary.

After the attack on Goldberg on January 4, 1999, the long-term plan in motion was for Goldberg to run through the nWo one-by-one until he had the rematch with "Hollywood" Hogan inside the Georgia Dome on July 5, 1999 for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

Initially, everything went according to plan. Goldberg, for the first few months, began taking out nWo members. He defeated Scott Hall in a "taser" match at Souled Out 1999, where once you gained access to the shock weapon via climbing a ladder and pulling it down, you would gain the victory. Then, he defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in a fight at SuperBrawl. Although "the Beast from the East" was not an nWo member, he had been a thorn in Goldberg's side for months.

Also, WCW's own war with the nWo was taking shape. Ric Flair took revenge on Curt Hennig and Barry Windham at Souled Out, defeating them in a tag team match alongside his son David, who was competing in his first ever wrestling match. Immediately afterwards, the reunited nWo took out the Flairs, handcuffing Ric to the ropes and whipping the life out of David with Hollywood Hogan's weight-lifting belt. The following month at SuperBrawl, Hogan beat Flair when David shocked the world and turned on his father, costing him a chance at the World Heavyweight Championship.

Furthermore, on the battle with tradition, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, replacing an injured Lex Luger, defeated former Wolfpäc member Konnan and former Latino World Order member Rey Mysterio, Jr at SuperBrawl in a "hair vs mask" match. Rey Jr, as per the stipulation, was forced to remove his mask. A major piece of Lucha Libre tradition was taken away via the nWo.

To top it all off, Hall defeated Rowdy Roddy Piper for the WCW United States Championship and "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner retained his Television Championship over Diamond Dallas Page. The nWo were besting WCW. Revenge was surely coming.

Then, things got a wee bit squirrelly.

At Uncensored 1999 in March, "the Nature Boy" and the Hulkster did a double turn. Inside of a first-blood barbed wire steel cage, Flair's taste of power ran deep into his soul and inflicted so much damage to Hogan that he turned into a villain. Ric Flair not only became WCW World Heavyweight Champion, but, thanks to the stipulation, became WCW President for life.

Shortly thereafter, Hogan got hurt at Spring Stampede in April and had to get a serious knee surgery. Then, thanks to Flair's return to the dark side, the New World Order was quietly phased out. Finally, after an attack from the reunited Steiner Brothers at Slamboree in May, Goldberg was taken out for a few months.

The angle died a slow death. WCW, creatively, was in free fall. The ratings dropped under a 4 rating by the end of April and never reached it again. The mismanagement of the booking in the Spring of 1999. What was even more confusing was that Eric Bischoff, who left TV in March, returned with power from within Time Warner at Slamboree, which didn't make much sense.

It is always believed that the "Fingerpoke of Doom" began the beginning of the end of World Championship Wrestling. It wasn't. It was the aftermath following January 4, 1999, that caused that beginning. The fans wanted Goldberg to rid the world of the New World Order once and for all. When that didn't happen, combined with inexplicable character switches, injuries, and the nWo's phase-out, the fans finally stopped caring.

I implore you to revisit the "Fingerpoke of Doom" and the following months. You will see for yourself that maybe it was a case of revisionist history. It's deeper than you think.

#BANKONIT

Bankie Bruce