9 People Most Responsible For The Death Of WCW
3. Ed Ferrara
During his time as a writer in the WWF, Ed Ferrara worked diligently with Vince Russo to overturn WCW's grip on the TV ratings. Writing in a cliffhanger-based episodic format, Ferrara helped make Raw Is War must-see television during the 'Attitude Era'. Sadly, he couldn't replicate that on the other side of the fence.
There are conspiracy theory pieces wondering if Russo and Ferrara were sent from the WWF to ruin WCW, and from their output they're understandable. Watching some of the programming from their time with the pen is enlightening; it's almost like those in charge of writing shows didn't want Nitro or Thunder to succeed.
A classic example of this, Ferrara's distasteful Oklahoma character was a crystal clear shot at the health issues suffered by Jim Ross. Contorting his face to mock JR's woes with Bell's Palsy, Oklahoma was there to do little other than poke fun at someone on another show.
This was hardly going to help WCW, and the situation worsened when Oklahoma became WCW Cruiserweight Champion. Ed Ferrara should be ashamed of himself for publicly making light of Ross's misfortune, but he should also be red-faced for some of the TV he penned.