In similar fashion to Battlebowl, World War 3 was a limited concept. By the time WCW presented the event in 1998, it was feeling more than a little tired overall. Indeed, the '98 version of the battle royal was the shortest yet, only lasting a shade over 20 minutes. This rendered the idea pretty pointless, because it didn't feel nearly as epic as the announcers were instructed to tell fans it was. 1999 needed a change, and WCW decided it would come in the form of a rebranded November show. World War 3 was gone, and Mayhem was the replacement. The main idea for the '99 event was the culmination of the WCW World Title tournament. The inclusion of Sting, Bret Hart, Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett made the tournament a good one, but that wasn't the main issue with Mayhem. On the card, WCW presented 12 matches. That was at least 5 too many, because fans could have really lived without a 5-minute 'I Quit' scrap between Goldberg and Sid Vicious, or a short 'Dog Collar' bout between Vampiro and Berlyn. The 2000 event continued this overkill, making Mayhem a fitting name for the erratic presentation of the Pay-Per-View series.
