At the height of its fantastic success shortly before the fastest downhill slide in professional wrestling history World Championship Wrestling employed in the region of two hundred and sixty wrestlers, a fair few of whom never received the opportunity to perform for the company despite their contracts and often ridiculously high guaranteed salaries. With so many on contract, there were bound to be some casualties, even with the legendarily deep pockets that paid for everything: and erstwhile WCW executive producer and (later) president Eric Bischoff has always been very open concerning his belief that controversy creates cash. Keeping this in mind, weve ransacked the annals of WCWs history to find the most controversial firings in the companys chequered past. Some began controversially, others achieved controversy, while still more had controversy thrust upon them. The other thing that controversy creates is a good story. Heres a few of the very best.
Honourable Mention: Blood On The Rhodes
Before Bischoff, there was the Dream. Dusty Rhodes, also known as the American Dream, was WCW booker from 1985 to 1989, and no stranger to controversy himself. His rapid exit from the company, however, was in an effort to actually remove controversy from the equation. Following their purchase of the company, the Turner Broadcasting System laid down a number of guidelines for the management to follow, one of the most important of which was NO BLOOD. Dusty was incensed at this: the most old school of old school, the Dream a) genuinely believed that blood could often be vital to sell the story of a proper grudge match, and b) hated to be told how to book the promotion. To illustrate his contempt for both the message and the messenger, Rhodes booked an angle whereby Road Warrior Animal would jam a spike into his (Dustys) eye, causing display of the legit crimson mask. TBS would have Rhodes fired immediately afterwards. Weirdly, six years later Dusty Rhodes son Dustin (the future Goldust in WWF/WWE) would also be sacked from WCW for bleeding when he wasnt supposed to. In a match with Barry The Blacktop Bully Darsow at the Uncensored pay-per-view in March 1995, both men agreed to blade to heighten the drama of the match, despite the edict from on high. It was enough to lose both Dustin and Barry their jobs in one fell swoop.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
