10 Worst WCW ‘On A Pole’ Matches

4. Shane Douglas Vs. Billy Kidman - Nitro (July 31, 2000)

WCW Viagra
WWE Network

Object atop: a bottle of viagra.

Mark Madden had a whale of a time (sorry) lacing his preamble with innuendo. "I tell you what: you can't come out limp in a match like this. You've gotta get it up right away, and keep it up."

He needn't have bothered. The story and execution was as broad as the broad art of pro wrestling gets - not that the descriptor truly applies here - as neatly symbolised by the bottle itself, which couldn't have featured larger "VIAGRA" lettering if it tried. The love triangle centred around Torrie Wilson, the virile Billy Kidman, and the impotent Shane Douglas, who was probably looking around backstage for his chalkboard before the show - either to beg the WWF for his job back, or to etch his career suicide note on it. Miserably failing to grasp its traditional wrestling audience for the umpteenth time, WCW made a mockery of the industry both in the ring and at the booth. This wasn't the first Viagra On A Pole match in history, apparently; Lou Thesz and Buddy Rogers mastered the genre decades ago. It was pure, infuriating arrogance. Those guys were dinosaurs by 2000, but they drew. Bullsh*t like this helped kill the organisation which presented it.

The actual work wasn't that bad. It was just impossible to take seriously, given the context, or invest in, given that it was all incidental to the gag. The finish, naturally, was botched; Kidman retrieved the bottle, but with the referee distracted, Douglas took it off him, breaking it and lacerating his shoulder in the process. The commentators made clear that the object of the match was to retrieve the bottle to use it as a weapon.

The referee wasn't important enough to communicate this to, so simply awarded the match to Douglas for having used the weapon - even though he was covered in his own blood.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!