One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY Month Of The WWE Attitude Era

30. November 1998 | WCW Knew It Was Over Shockingly Early

Kevin Sullivan
WWE.com

1998 was a bizarre year for WCW. 

It was enormously profitable. The promotion was so popular that it ran the Georgia Dome twice, drawing a combined 64,470 fans. Goldberg was such an attraction that he rivalled Steve Austin, one of the biggest box office successes in the history of the medium. And yet, the New World Order was faltering. Eric Bischoff lost his head altogether in fear of the resurgent WWF, bringing in celebrities and the Warrior in a state of sheer panic. You might think that the internal feeling - that the WWF was going to win - might have set in around when the WWF started winning handily every week, around February 1999. Nope. 

According to an old Kevin Nash shoot interview, even the infamously inept WCW was prescient. Kevin Sullivan said to Nash, on March 30, 1998, “we just hit an iceberg called WrestleMania”. 

This was before WCW ran the Dome for a second time. Before the Goldberg push really breached the main event level. And yet, the WCW booker knew that the WWF had the biggest star, and when that happens, that’s that.

Additionally, per the November 30 issue of the Observer, the boys knew it too. Nitro was starting to get really battered. Hulk Hogan was talking about bailing due to a fall-out with Kevin Nash, which nobody believed - look at what happened on January 4, 1999 - and against this backdrop of dread and paranoia, virtually everybody wanted to leave. Meltzer wrote in the November 30 Observer that “so many of the wrestlers whose deals are coming due are openly talking about leaving for the WWF”. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK 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 AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE 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!