Vince Russo: 10 Reasons WCW Was Its Own Worst Enemy
It is a known fact that my critics love pointing the figure at me when it comes to the demise of WCW...
When the question of my next WhatCulture.com assignment came around, the Editor of this website asked me to discuss the Top 10 Reasons Why WCW Went Out of Business. After putting much thought into the subject, I explained to him that almost 15 years later, I STILL couldnt give a reason as to why WCW actually went out of business, because I was never privy to that information at the top. It is a known fact that my critics love pointing the figure at me when it comes to the demise of WCW, however, this is clearly another situation where nobody wants to look at the facts. Even though I had a two year contract with WCW that ran from October 1999, to October 2001, I only actively wrote for the company for 9 months. The first three months came from October 99 to January 2000, when if you go back and look, the ratings will tell you that Ed Ferrara and myself were starting to build them back up, slowlybut surely. When I went home in mid-January 2000 due to what elsePOLITICSI didnt return until April, when the ratings had already sunk to the same level where Ed and I began---and---I was handcuffed to Eric Bischoff. I knew at the time that we had already lost the audience, and that we werent going to get them again with yet ANOTHER re-start. From there I again went home in January 2001 due to mental and emotional fatigue and physical breakdown. So in retrospect I had one 3 month run with Ed, and then another 6 month run where Eric and I were at odds. So my involvement clearly wasnt what some might want to believe it was. Therefore, I wasnt close enough to the situation to know what was going through the minds of the higher ups. With all that, I told the WhatCulture.com editor, that I would be much more inclined to write a piece discussing why WCW was its own worst enemyso here goes. These numbers might not go in order of importance---but---rather in order of time.