10 Wrestling Myths Debunked
7. The Fingerpoke Of Doom Killed WCW
There are many reasons why WCW died: Vince Russo, the mishandling of Goldberg, Vince Russo, overlooking talent like Chris Jericho, Vince Russo, putting the world title on David Arquette, and of course, Vince Russo. WCW went for the 'Death By 1000 Cuts' approach to going out of business. However, many fans would point to the Fingerpoke Of Doom as the death knell for Ted Turner's promotion.
In the main event of Nitro, World Heavyweight champion Kevin Nash faced Hollywood Hogan for the title, but instead of a classic match between the leaders of the nWo's opposing factions, Hogan lightly tapped Nash on the chest who sold it like he'd been shot, Hogan pinned Nash to become champ and the nWo reunited as the crowd pelted the ring with rubbish.
When you couple this godawful storyline with the inexplicable decision to announce that Mankind was going to win the world title on Raw, reports claim that 700,000 switched from Nitro to Raw that night. Regardless, the Fingerpoke Of Doom wasn't the thing that finished off WCW or even began the downward spiral, it was simply one in a seemingly never-ending spree of bad booking decisions that did for them. Kevin Nash even has the stats to back it up...