10 WCW Fates Worse Than Death

No, not actual real-life death. Nothing is worse than that.

WCW has become a name synonymous with, 'What were they thinking?!'. The fallen company has been responsible for some truly awful ideas. It seemed like every good plan WCW had was followed up by at least 10 bad ones. Being fair, WWE has also come up with plenty of creative calamities that might've had talent wishing for a kayfabe demise instead.

Obviously, this is a lighthearted look at some of the harebrained schemes World Championship Wrestling bosses came up with between the promotion's formation from NWA ashes in the late-1980s until Vince McMahon's purchase (for a paltry sum in hindsight) in 2001. WCW asked wrestlers to put up with some pretty dreadful stuff, but admittedly did pay them incredibly well into the bargain.

Imagine wrestling on one show whilst being fired on another mid-fretting about your future. That happened to someone. So, mind you, did a humiliating first for the biz that told the watching world (or at least millions tuning into Nitro) that a few on the roster couldn't 'get it up'. All of that comes before analysing one of the most iconically embarrassing moments in industry history.

You might already know what that is. No, it isn't the 'Fingerpoke Of Doom'!

WCW was hoodwinked by one of McMahon's worst displays of arrogance, they didn't know what a yeti was, and they thought somebody's mum would make a fine champion. David Arquette was the least of their problems, and that's saying a lot.

Like on WWE's side, some onscreen mercy killings might've been preferable to this.

Booker T made the most of being thrust into the main event spotlight come Bash At The Beach 2000. He was handpicked late in the day to replace Hulk Hogan against Jeff Jarrett, and he ended the night by winning his first WCW World Title. However, if you thought it was all sunshine and rainbows for Book after that, you’re sorely mistaken.

He actually did the J.O.B to none other than Vince Russo on the 25 September Nitro. In fact, Booker lost to Russo twice in successive weeks. The authority figure became number one contender when Scott Steiner placed him on top of an unconscious Booker during a funky tag bout on the 18 September flagship. One week later, Goldberg speared Russo through the side of the steel cage on the following show, thus giving Vince the top prize in WCW.

Keep in mind that this happened mere months after actor David Arquette had been champ, so fans weren’t best pleased with everything that was going on. They'd viewed Booker's win at BATB as a soft reset for the championship, then Vinnie Ru ran roughshod over their hopes and dreams.

Oh, and Russo vacated the thing a week later, because of course he did. Spare a thought for poor Booker though - his very first World Title win (the same year he was bizarrely re-cast in his old G.I Bro gimmick!) was quickly snuffed out by Russo's bid to play Mr. McMahon in another company.

After that, he had to sit and watch the belt get vacated for the millionth time anyway.