On this date 25 years ago, World Championship Wrestling figuratively and literally rebooted its entire creative direction.
On September 10, 1999, Eric Bischoff, who had turned around WCW’s fortunes as Executive Producer beginning in 1993 and ultimately moved up the ladder to become President of the promotion in 1997, was sent home by Dr. Harvey Schiller, the head of Turner Sports, due to a multitude of reasons, primarily falling ratings and the company beginning to lose money.
To try and turn the company around, new WCW Senior Vice President Bill Busch hired Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara, the two main creative architects behind the “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s World Wrestling Federation, on October 4, 1999.
Russo and Ferrara began implementing their creative “Crash TV” formula, and by mid-January 2000, the ratings began to tick upwards, thanks to the reformation of the New World Order and rededication to building young talent.
However, due to a combination of issues with Standards and Practices, Time Warner executives, creative issues with talent, and backstage politics, Mr. Busch removed Russo from his head writer position days before the WCW Souled Out pay-per-view on January 16, 2000.
Shortly thereafter, Kevin Sullivan and JJ Dillon became the main creative forces of the company. After the ratings dropped to dismal levels due to boring creative, combined with Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko leaving the company to join the WWF in dramatic fashion, the “Taskmaster” and Mr. Dillon’s time was up after the March 30, 2000 Thunder.
Brad Siegel, the new President of the Turner Networks, decided to host secret meetings with Bischoff and Russo to put them together as the new creative force of the company. After a top secret meeting at a restaurant, the figurative “shotgun wedding” came to fruition on the March 27, 2000 Nitro, when Tony Schiavone addressed and confirmed the rumors.
Two weeks later, Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo came together at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado for Nitro. With the Spring Stampede pay-per-view six days away, the duo needed to make an immediate impact.
April 10, 2000 was truly “The Night The World Changed”.
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Here are the results from that night’s event.
WCW World Title Tournament Quarter-Finals: Diamond Dallas Page defeated Lex Luger due to interference from Buff Bagwell
WCW World Title Tournament Quarter-Finals: Sting defeated Sid Vicious by count-out when the Wall put Sid through a table
“The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett pinned Curt Hennig after interference from Shawn Stasiak
“Nature Boy” Ric Flair defeated a returning Shane Douglas by disqualification when Vince Russo interfered
WCW World Title Semi-Final: Diamond Dallas Page pinned Sting after his Brother in Paint Vampiro turned on him.
The results only tell half the story.
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Here were some major takeaways for the evening:
THE OPENING SEGMENT: Within fifteen minutes, WCW’s reboot began with a DDP-style “BANG!”
For starters, the entire WCW locker room was standing at ringside in their business attire to start the program. Then, a select group of talent came down the ramp, including Vampiro, Booker, Billy Kidman, VAN F’N HAMMER, and Ernest “the Cat” Miller, finally ending with the WCW United States Champion Jeff Jarrett. “The Chosen One” then took the microphone and started in on “the good old boys”, who played the political game and brought down The Powers That Be’s master plan. Jarrett then got Vince Russo to make his way down to the ring, appearing on camera for the first time.
Mr. Russo went on a rant, discussing how he wanted to beat Vince McMahon at his own game, and how “the New Blood” was changing the game. After, like Double J, going at “the good old boys network”, Russo brought some realism into it, referencing how “the change in direction” led to Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn, Malenko, and Shane Douglas leaving the promotion. He then wanted everyone to “seize the opportunity”.
“Are you done yet?” bellowed through the PA system. Eric Bischoff was here.
Following several moments of uneasy tension, Russo and Bischoff shook hands, showing off their new alliance. Bischoff then went on his own rant, discussing the good and bad things he was associated with, including the Outsiders, Sting, DDP, Lex Luger, and Sid “Thinks That He’s” Vicious. His biggest vitriol was dedicated to his former best friend Hulk Hogan, who blinded “Easy E” with that red-and-yellow light.
Thankfully, Sting, Luger, Miss Elizabeth, DDP, Kimberly, and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious made their way to the top of the ramp. Bischoff, unfazed, continued to run down “the Millionaires Club” one-by-one, promising to make an even-playing field. Mr. Russo took it one step further, stating that ALL championships were considered VACATED, with new champions to be crowned at Spring Stampede. US Champion Jarrett, World Tag Team Champions the Harris Brothers, and Hardcore Champion Brian Knobbs handed off their belts willingly; World Champion Vicious was not as gracious.
After Bischoff went up the ramp and threatened Sid’s job, as well as asking if Sid “couldn’t find his scissors”, Sid handed off his belt.
In this writer’s opinion, this might have been one of WCW’s greatest opening segments. It painted the picture of a new day of the promotion. Bischoff and Russo challenging the locker room to step it up, as well as to Kevin Sullivan and JJ Dillon for their political games, was impressive. It also established that WCW’s main eventers were going to have to earn their way back to the top, while fending off all of “the New Blood” from taking their spots.
HIGH-IMPACT STORYTELLING: Off the bat, WCW laid the groundwork for the next month’s worth of angles and storylines, especially with the Millionaires Club.
Hulk Hogan would be locked into a storyline with Kidman, who Hogan had bashed in multiple media interviews he conducted months prior. Bischoff would align himself shockingly with Kidman, busting the Hulkster open with a steel chair.
Ric Flair would be locked in with Vince Russo, who recruited both Scott Steiner and Shane Douglas, making a shocking return, to try and take out “the Nature Boy”.
Sting and Vampiro, who were the Brothers In Paint during the Sullivan/Dillon era, began a bitter rivalry when Vampiro cost Sting his opportunity to go to the main event of Spring Stampede to face Jeff Jarrett.
Speaking of Jarrett, he and DDP had an immediate war on their hands after Jarrett walloped Kimberly, DDP’s wife, with a guitar. The WCW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament finals at Spring Stampede would have a little extra juice going into it.
And if you're wondering how Double J made it to the finals, Russo and Bischoff made it that way. He was "the Chosen One" after all.
Also, a few storylines from previous regimes were actually wrapped up in a neat bow on this program. Curt Hennig, who aligned himself with Russo during the Powers That Be in December 1999, wanted to realign with Russo. Instead, Hennig got screwed in a match against Jarrett when Shawn Stasiak, last seen as Kurt Angle’s debut opponent at WWF Survivor Series 1999, cost him a victory with the Perfect Plant.
Furthermore, the infamous White Hummer from the Summer of ‘99 made an appearance, ramming into Hulk Hogan’s limo. Who was behind the wheel? ERIC BISCHOFF.
Finally, Tank Abbott, the unorthodox bad-ass from mixed martial arts, began his streak of taking out random people until Goldberg would return from injury and fight him. His first victim: WCW commentator “the Best Big Man on TV” Mark Madden.
MIKE AWESOME DEFECTS: This might have been the biggest shock of all on "The Night The World Changed". Two-time and current ECW World Heavyweight Champion Mike Awesome came through the crowd and laid out an injured Kevin Nash. Nash, who was on crutches, was ranting about Russo and Bischoff's comments earlier in the show. Awesome then laid out the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion and said the following quote:
"When I heard Bischoff and Russo were back in the saddle, I knew it was TOO SWEET of an opportunity to pass up!"
According to many different sources over the years, Awesome believed that Paul Heyman, ECW Owner, had breached his contract via payment failure. Awesome, who had a connection with Hulk Hogan's nephew Horace, reached out to WCW, informed them of the situation, and signed with the promotion. The rumor was that Awesome was going to pull a "Madusa" and throw the ECW World Heavyweight Title in the garbage.
In turn, Heyman, who knew that Awesome missed that weekend's shows and wasn't answering anyone's calls, filed an injunction in court, stopping that from even happening. In turn, after a testy and fast legal situation, including new knowledge that Heyman would have 30 days to rectify any financial issues, the courts sided with ECW. Awesome would, in turn, drop the ECW Title in a very famous match (WWF's Tazz beat WCW's Awesome in an ECW ring), and begin his wild career in WCW. (Side note: I am very pro-That 70's Guy.)
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People can say whatever they want about WCW's final year. In my heart, 25 years later, I thought this was a Hell of an episode. The battle lines were drawn: the old-timers that didn't want to give up their spots against the New Blood who wanted it. Also, the battle of Russo and Bischoff attempting to take down the company that got rid of them. It was an episode that had a lot of potential.
Had WCW stayed the course, this could have been the foundation for the next chapter of the Monday Night Wars. The crowd was hot, the performers seemed energized, and so many opportunities for growth were on the table.
We all know what wound up happening.
However, no matter what way you look at it, this was a landmark and pivotal day in wrestling history. April 10, 2000 was truly "The Night The World Changed".
Bankie Bruce
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