One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every Year Of WCW History
8. 1994 | The 1980s WWF Revival Almost Got MUCH Worse
1994 was the year in which Hulk Hogan signed with WCW, and spent the subsequent two years turning the organisation into a parody of 1980s WWF wrestling.
That might seem like reductive oversimplification, until you recall that Hogan headlined Starrcade with his emotional support carny Ed ‘The Butcher’ Leslie. Actually, “a parody of 1980s WWF wrestling” is very unfair, since Vince McMahon wasn’t stupid or spineless enough to let Hulk Hogan, in writing, do whatever he wanted to do. Another thing Hulk Hogan wanted to do, which he did, was bring in Jim Duggan. Duggan infamously defeated Steve Austin in 35 seconds in his debut win at Fall Brawl 1994. Like Duggan, John Tenta was by all accounts a lovely guy - but Avalanche did not need to go 15 excruciating minutes with Sting at Starrcade. It’s not inaccurate to describe the WCW of 1994 as an army of fading vampires encroaching into the south to suck the young blood of virile, rave-reviewed hopefuls. That army almost had more tragic soldiers in its ranks.
Per the October 10, 1994 Observer, three stars of Hogan’s yesteryear visited WCW backstage: Tito Santana, Sgt. Slaughter and the Warlord. All were apparently looking for work, and can you blame them? WCW had basically repackaged itself as a WWF reboot, and Hogan mark Eric Bischoff was the pie on the windowsill that beckoned over the starving workers.
Santana at least got a gig at the seminal When Worlds Collide show. Warlord didn’t get a look; WCW officials felt he was insulting their intelligence by claiming he had not touched steroids in a year and a half. Naturally, since they aren’t intelligent, he was hired a year later.
Sgt. Slaughter obviously didn’t get the job, which was strange. Standards were so low at the time that it’s a wonder he didn’t go over Jean-Paul Levesque in 18 minutes at Starrcade. God, can you imagine how bad that would have been?