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The nWo Professional wrestling has become sports entertainment. Sports entertainment is the act of keeping an audience captured by the art of wrestling. Mix in stunts, drama, storytelling and athleticism, the WWE does it better than anybody else.Not a lot of fans agree with that statement but look at the scoreboard. WWE drove WCW out of town and Indy promotions have a hard time competing with Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. Sports entertainment has pre-determined results. That shouldn't take away from the experience of getting to the ending of a match or storyline. Wrestlers work together to put on the best show possible.The programs are meant for the WWE Universe, or in this case, the WCW fanbase, to get involved in emotionally. If done successfully, it should feel real to the fans. Wrestlers are taught to make everything look as real as possible. 99% of the time, storylines in wrestling were just that. WWE superstars and WCW stars made it seem real with their raw emotion and charisma. If the fans are lucky, they’ll get a feud that provides a real-life chemistry.Trish Stratus and Lita is a great example of that scenario. However, that other 1% isn’t as successful. In what is called a “shoot” in wrestling, the participants in the feud break kayfabe and potentially ruin a storyline. Most of the time, a shoot is planned. On a rare occasion, the shoot is spontaneous and can lead to bad situations spawning. Unfortunately, WCW had a few-too-many instances of a program getting real.Here are the top-5 storylines in WCW that are too real:
#1 Dustin Rhodes Burning Goldust Attire
Dustin, the oldest son of Dusty Rhodes, has had a unique career in professional wrestling. During the Attitude Era, Goldust displayed his character with a different feel. He was animated, PG-13 and executed sexual innuendoes.
Goldust didn't cross the line, but he was certainly near it. As most people know, WCW was about taking the veterans away from WWE. Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, Scott Hall and Bret Hart were the notable jumpers from World Wrestling Entertainment. However, they weren’t the only ones to make an impact.
Goldust was getting tired of how he was treated in WWE. After making the jump to WCW, there were several vignettes of a man that was starting through the windows of children. Finally, Dustin Rhodes debuted as Seven. Instead of playing the character he was portraying, Rhodes ignored the standard practices of a pro wrestler and ripped the WWE for what happened to him.
Rhodes proclaimed that the “powers that be” thought he was boring and didn’t have respect for the Rhodes family. Seven didn’t last long, as he returned to the Goldust gimmick. The former-WWE superstar broke kayfabe, which wasn’t a practical thought at that time.
#2 William Regal Shoots On Goldberg
Before he was known as William Regal, the former-King of the Ring winner was known as Steven Regal in WCW. One night on Monday Nitro, Regal was scheduled to face Goldberg in a match that he wasn’t used to wrestling in. Those that watched Goldberg knew his in-ring work.
Goldberg came to wrestling for the money and worked squash matches most of his career. Regal is one of the most-gifted wrestlers in WWE and WCW history. His technical acumen still out-does WWE stars today. From the start, these two were a mismatch.
During the six-minute match, Regal was legitimately trying to wrestle Goldberg into holds. It’s visibly obvious that Goldberg wasn’t accepting what was taking place. Regal’s actions are presumably what led to his release from WCW. The true reason for Regal’s shoot isn’t confirmed. Some say that Regal disagreed with getting squashed by Goldberg. That or Goldberg didn’t want to work with Regal in that style of match.
When Regal returned to the WWE, he told the WWE Universe that Goldberg didn’t want to wrestle a long match. Regal knew that he couldn’t, so he got Goldberg into submission holds to help keep the match going. Like any competitor, Goldberg resisted. It became an infamous moment in WCW history that is still talked about today. Goldberg’s lack of wrestling skill was highlighted that night.
#3 Tony Schiavone spoils WWE results
Without knowing it, Tony Schiavone began the decline of WCW. Eric Bischoff ordered his play-by-play man to start spoiling WWE Raw.
As the competition, it was a brilliant play by Bischoff. WWE used to tape all of their shows. Bischoff wanted to get the upper hand and get people to not watch their product. If Schiavone gave all of his viewers the results to WWE Raw, nobody was supposed to tune into their product. It all backfired on one evening when a veteran realized his dream.
Schiavone was about to spoil the results of Monday Night Raw, like usual. This time, it backfired on Bischoff, Schiavone and WCW’s fate. Mick Foley won the WWE championship for the first time in his career. As soon as that happened, the ratings flipped and the WWE won for the first time in nearly 90 weeks.
Schiavone admitted himself that he would’ve changed the channel if he were watching that night. WCW countered with a rematch from Starrcade that pitted Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash. Not even that could defeat the WWE that night.
#4 Jeff Jarrett lies down for Hulk Hogan
Aside from the last situation on this list, Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett created one of the greatest works in WCW history. At Bash in the Beach in 2000, Jeff Jarrett and Hulk Hogan were wrestling for the World Heavyweight championship.
Earlier in the day, John Laurinaitis met with Hogan and said Russo wanted Hogan to get beaten by Jarrett. Being Hogan, he wasn’t in favor of the request by Russo. Bischoff and Hogan came up with their own idea. The plan was for Hogan to win the title and leave WCW. He would return later on in the year to take on Jarrett and find out who the real champion was.
Instead, Russo walked down the to the ring and threw the World Heavyweight championship at Hogan. Jarrett proceeded to lay down and Hogan got the pin. The Hulkster went on the microphone and said, “This is the reason this company is in the d*** shape it’s in, because of bull**** like this.” That wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. To this day, Bischoff is still frustrated about that call, because he and Hogan didn’t know Russo cut a shoot promo until hours later.
Jeff Jarrett commented on that night years later. “Hogan was in. He was out," Jarrett says in the clip. "It was a real unique thing. The Bash at the Beach experience took place and it was a complete disaster on all parts. The company was in disarray."
#5 The Fingerpoke of Doom
On January 4, 1999, WCW Monday Nitro showcased one of the worst moments in professional wrestling history. Kevin Nash was supposed to face Goldberg for the World Heavyweight championship.
Instead of Goldberg participating, Hollywood Hulk Hogan made his return to WCW. At the drop of a hat, the match didn't go as the fanbase wanted it to. Hogan poked Nash in the chest and the former-WWE champion went down swiftly. Hogan pinned Nash to reclaim the championship. Scott Hall, Scott Steiner celebrated with Hogan and Nash. That became the reincarnation of the nWo.
This was the same broadcast that saw Tony Schiavone spoil the ending to Monday Night Raw. Mick Foley won the WWE championship for the first time in his career. It was a huge moment in his career. Foley was picked up by other WWE superstars as they celebrated around the ring. From there on out, the Monday Night Wars flipped and the WWE began to win the ratings battle.
A lot of wrestling journalists consider that the downfall of WCW. Nash and Hogan cashed in their creative control, but it had a negative impact on the fans and the company as a whole.
