Did WWE Purposefully Bury Former WCW Stars?
Once the Time Warner guaranteed contracts of top stars Flair, Hogan, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash and others expired, it was pretty much inevitable that they'd make their way to WWE. The Nature Boy was the first to make the move, the day after Vince and the mighty WWF won the Winner Takes All match at the 2001 Survivor Series, as a storyline 50/50 owner of the company.
One year later, Flair was a wrestler/manager of top star Triple H and was afforded ample television time and never made to do anything that he was dead set against doing (besides dropping to Rico). Flair was anything but buried in the the WWF/E and is still around today.
Following closely behind Flair were Hogan, Nash and Scott Hall, the original three members of the nWo. As per the storyline, Vince had brought them back as a 'lethal dose of poison' to take down the WWF from the inside (his dispute with co-owner Flair had caused him to crack). In reality, the WWF crew were wary of how Hall, Hogan and Nash would be backstage and wether they'd revert to their old tricks and political maneuvering in order to hold others down.
They didn't endear themselves to the rest of the roster initially when Scott Hall, still battling those dreaded personal problems, insulted the Dudley Boys by saying how he couldn't wait to kick out of their finisher. Nash made a big stink and turned up late to a Smackdown taping after The Rock had went off-script and called him 'Big Daddy Bitch' on the previous Raw. Supposedly, Nash complained to all and sundry about how disrespectful The Great One had been. Hogan, meanwhile, stayed quiet and collected that fat paycheque, brother.
All three were on shaky ground, but they weren't buried and Hogan and Hall got WrestleMania X8 matches against top stars Rock and Steve Austin. They looked at the lights in those matches, yes, but they were marquee matches nonetheless. A month following the event, Hulk Hogan reverted to the red and yellow and was WWE Champion, so convinced was Vince McMahon by the nostalgia-fuelled reactions to his appearances. s
2002 wasn't so kind to Scott Steiner, who debuted in November after recovering just about enough from a serious leg injury (he had dropfoot syndrome) and after a lengthy period of negotiation. The Big Bad Booty Daddy was one of WCW's biggest stars during the promotion's final days and his signing seen as being a big coup for WWE and a remedy to their falling business, something which WWE played up on television and in the media.
After a good start, though, things soon started to fall apart for Freakzilla...
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