4. WCW Hardcore Title Was Born
In November, 1998, the WWF introduced the Hardcore Title. The beat-up belt was handed to Mankind by Vince McMahon, and went on to become an interesting addition to the mid card scene in the company. One year on, the exact same could not be said of the WCW Hardcore Title. At Mayhem 1999, Norman Smiley bagged the strap by defeating Brian Knobbs in a tournament final. From there, the Hardcore belt became quite the cartoon spectacle, and not in a good way. Over in the WWF, Crash Holly eventually garnered laughs during his reign as champion. The '24/7' ruling entertained fans, and led to many funny backstage segments during which everyone from other wrestlers to referees attempted to trick Crash out of the belt. WCW tried to do something similar, but it just didn't feel as entertaining. Perhaps this is more down to where WCW were as a brand at this point, they were swimming upstream in the eyes of fans by late-1999. Adding yet another title to the packed mid card scene was a poor decision, because it just created another belt fans weren't invited to care about. Even when respected grapplers like Bam Bam Bigelow and Terry Funk held the gold, it didn't mean a thing.