10 Greatest Things About WCW’s Final Year
6. A New Emphasis On Young Talent
Unequivocally it was too little too late, but there has to be some modicum of credit given to WCW for attempting to push numerous younger talent during its final year or so.
Stars like Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and even The Big Show all jumped ship to the then-WWF after becoming disillusioned with WCW's insistence of continuously spotlighting the same old faces in the same old roles. While Jericho, Benoit, and Guerrero would forever impress lower down on the card, it was Messrs Hogan, Nash, Savage, Sting, Goldberg, and Luger who would always be floating around in the main event scene and vying for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Even for The Big Show, who as The Giant became WCW Champion, he took umbrage with how his contract was a relatively low one in comparison to those around him in the main event picture. And then there's Benoit, who opted to leave WCW even after they finally put the Big Gold around his waist.
For 2000 and 2001, though, we saw WCW making a conscious effort to highlight fresh talent on its programming.
Whether that was looking from within with someone like Booker T or Billy Kidman, looking at another promotion with someone like Lance Storm, or looking at WCW's Power Plant facility for Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, Mark Jindrak, and Shawn Stasiak, WCW finally got its foot out of its ass to try and create new stars in its twilight year - even if that was ultimately too late to save the sinking ship.