Gimmick Some Lovin': The Doomsday Cage Match

Changing of the guard

At least Flair got to ride INSIDE his fancy cars.

Two big changes in the mid-90s radically altered the face of WCW, which had grown out of the National Wrestling Alliance and saw itself as continuing a long tradition of old-school, more mature professional wrestling.

The first was the hiring of former WWF Champion and apparent retiree Hulk Hogan; upon turning real-life heel on his former employer Vince McMahon during McMahon's federal trial over steroid charges, Hogan seemed intent on leaving the world of sweat and spandex behind in favor of a different type of fake fighting: B-movies and cable television beach dramas.

WCW, however, and its billionaire owner, Ted Turner, wanted to wring the wrestling crown away from McMahon's WWF, and thought the perfect soldier to win the war was Hogan, the man whom McMahon had used to vault himself so far into first place. WCW enticed Hogan to come south with guarantees like near-total creative control, a lighter work schedule, and guaranteed jobs for Hogan's friends.

It's a decision they would never, ever regret for the rest of time!

WCW began to strongly resemble the WWF in the late 80s/early 90s (or TNA in the aughts), as respected veterans like Sting, Flair, and Vader gave way to Hogan, Savage, Mr. T, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, The Nasty Boys, and, yes, Beefcake. Determined to make lightning strike twice, WCW's formula for success was "sign the guys that used to be big up North, but older and fatter".

Further complicating matters was the promotion of third-string announcer Eric Bischoff to WCW president; Bischoff had an eye for media and flashy presentation, but detested nearly anything that too closely tied WCW to its southern roots. Starting with his debut match at Bash at the Beach 1994, Hogan would go on to beat Flair no fewer than four times on pay-per-view (including once for the WCW Title, once for Flair's career, and once in a match where Flair wasn't even booked).