25 Crazy WCW Facts (That Get Progressively More Ridiculous)

9. A Study In Stupidity

Sometimes, the answer to a problem is very simple. 

If it’s raining outside, use an umbrella. If it’s cold outside, wear a coat. If your customer is telling you what they want, and enough of them are reiterating the message, listen to them. 

As was made the case, objectively, by cratering ratings and declining pay-per-view buy rates, WCW fans, those few that remained, were not enthused by the product in 2000. Of course, WCW 2000 is now shorthand for “the worst wrestling product that has ever been inflicted upon the public”. The worst wrestling moments and eras are compared to it - WWE in 2019, most recently - but the analogy can only be hyperbole, because nothing else will ever be as bad. This was no mind-blowing secret at the time, either. Everybody knew how awful it was. Luckily, WCW had a saviour. Nearly. 

Matt Williams was WCW’s Director of Research. Across 1999 and 2000, from when WCW started to really lose its ass, he spent a full year polling WCW fans, lapsed and present, on what drove them away from the product and what might tempt them to start watching again. The answer was resounding, and the sample size was strong. Williams spent ages on the project. WCW fans wanted to see more pro wrestling and less sports entertainment because there was a reason why they were drawn to WCW and not the WWF in the first place. 

Rosso guffawed at the study, thinking he knew better, and outright ignored it. An incensed Williams quit in protest and found a job in a different division of Time Warner. 

In July 2000, WCW lost $7m. In a month. The promotion had lost “just” $6m over the entire year of 1999. So what was Russo doing in July that was so much better than proper pro wrestling? 

On July 31, Russo of course booked the infamous ‘Viagra on a Pole’ match between Shane Douglas and Billy Kidman.