10 Things We Learned From Kevin Nash's 1997 WCW Timeline
Find out why the idea of there being any heat between Nash and Goldberg is ridiculous...
Eric Bischoff showed remarkable restraint throughout 1997, perhaps more than any promoter in wrestling history. Knowing he had that year's biggest match in his hands, Bischoff elected against pushing Sting into the ring early for a showdown with Hollywood Hogan. The situation instead built towards a crescendo at Starrcade in late-December.
Shown hanging out in the rafters on a week-to-week basis, Sting's new 'Crow' character would occasionally rappel down and physically beat the nWo. It was great television, leading to a monster buyrate said to be the 1.9 region for Starrcade. To put things into perspective, that year WrestleMania 13 only managed to draw around the 0.77 number.
WCW was a hot product, something Kevin Nash knows only too well. In the middle of it all that year, Nash reflected on '97 during a recent chat with Sean Oliver for Kayfabe Commentaries.
Together, the pair dissected that 12 month period, Nash's first full year back in WCW. In the process, he revealed some crucial information, showing what kind of a place the promotion was back then.
Let's look at what can be gleaned from Kevin Nash's latest shoot interview, focusing on WCW in 1997...
10. He Hated The Souled Out Pay-Per-View
Almost as soon as it formed in the Summer of 1996, the New World Order began dominating the WCW product. There was good reason for that, since the faction proved to be undeniably successful, something Eric Bischoff realised quickly. Due to that popularity, the stage was set for an entire pay-per-view banking on the nWo branding.
Kevin Nash was not a fan of the set-up. As soon as the show opened, nWo members were shown bizarrely riding on garbage trucks. This had been taped the night before, in the freezing cold January air of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The show's location also irked Nash.
As the ultra-cool nWo, he believed the show should have been held somewhere more befitting. Las Vegas was a suggestion, but the Five Seasons Center had already been booked in Cedar Rapids.
A 'Miss. nWo' beauty contest was held, but the girls on hand were hardly model material. The whole thing just failed to make the New World Order look cool whatsoever, something Nash didn't enjoy.