10 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About WCW
4. 2001 - A Wrestling Odyssey
Pardon the cliché, but a bitter end encapsulated everything about how it felt to watch WCW capitulate so pathetically and cheaply in 2001. Hard to follow, hard to care and simply hard to watch, the product's downward spiral from the dull days of 1999 through to the hideous error-strewn 2000 saw most leap from the sinking ship long before it finally ran aground.
Something was happening in 2001, though. The feeling was palpable amongst the few that had stuck around for the nadir without realising that rock bottom had been reached, but WCW was gently on its way back up.
The company ran three broadly enjoyable pay-per-views before hitting the wall, all mostly devoid of the nonsense and sheer wrong-c*ckery of the prior two years. Anchored by a 'Magnificent Seven' angle featuring Ric Flair and his gang of heels attempting to rid WCW of all the heroes of the day, the company finally had a modicum of focus. Said storyline was a touch played out, but the writers were at least committing to the bit. Bill Goldberg and Kevin Nash inadvertently adhered to retirement storylines when the company went out of business before they could make their triumphant return!
'The Nature Boy' himself had got his swagger back as the boss of the bad lads, whilst lead heel Scott Steiner's 120-day reign with the WCW Heavyweight Title was the longest in nearly three years. The product hadn't felt as stable in half a decade, then just like that, it was gone completely.