Nobody Wants To Talk About WCW
As you may or may not know WWE will finally be releasing there WCW retrospective DVD but the only problem is the people with the best perspective on WCW want nothing to do with Vince McMahon or the WWE. Of course they could count on Good Ol' J.R. who said via his blog that he's already sat down for a long interview about his time with the company. But Eric Bischoff has declined WWE's interview request saying "I Chose not to participate in WWE's latest revisionist history initiative for many reasons". And Bischoff's not alone he revealed via his Twitter page that former TBS president/WCW executive Bill Shaw and former WCW owner Ted Tuner have also declined to be apart of the project. This is not surprising seeing as WWE has complete control of how the documentary will be edited and could(and probably will) make Tuner and Shaw look like idiots. Not to mention WWE will be using the very footage they acquired during there WCW buyout and rumor has it that in his rush to dump the company Tuner sold WCW complete back catalogue of tapes for far less then it's worth.
Bischoff has already given his thoughts on what happened in WCW in his book "Controversy Creates Cash"and he seems to point the finger of blame squarely at Vince Russo and a few others. Russo has yet to respond to Bischoff and since he is currently working for TNA he wont be apart of WWE's DVD but that doesn't mean he's gonna be unheard. In his new book "Rope Oprea: How WCW Killed Vince Russo"Russo will give his perspective on his years with WCW. Here's the slightly hilarious blurb from Amazon.com:
Highlighting the athlete renowned as the savior of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and the man who destroyed World Championship Wrestling (WCW), this behind-the-scenes autobiography documents the astonishing career of Vince Russo. Chronicling the rise, fall, and eventual rebirth of professional wrestling, this engrossing account answers questions such as How did Vince McMahon win the war between the WWF and WCW? What was Eric Bischoff really like? and Why did Hulk Hogan threaten lawsuits?Penned by a winner of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, this memoir details the author’s historic face-off with Hulk Hogan in Daytona Beach as well as the legendary Monday Night Wars. Exploring the inner workings of the sport’s most turbulent era, this memoir speaks from the center of the maelstrom, delivering a fresh and informed perspective on the current pro-wrestling scene. From the death of WCW to the rise of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling—the world’s fastest-growing and most cutting-edge wrestling promotion—this remarkable narrative demonstrates how a grown man can find peace within the insanity of the squared circle.
Russo's book is currently slated for a February 2010 release and WWE's"Rise & Fall of WCW" DVD is expected later this year. I have a feeling that in order to find out what really happend you have to check out both along with Bischoff's book and try to decipher the truth which probably lays somewhere in the middle.
-sideshowRaheem on twitter
After the debacle that was the Monday Night Wars DVD, I’m not suprised that Bischoff, Shaw and Turner all refused to contribute to this new DVD. Unfortunately without any former WCW executives to defend the promotion this could end up being on the scale of Self Destruction of Ultimate Warrior burial. It’s just going to be filled with biased and bizarre points from the likes of bitter ex-emloyees like Michael Hayes or company stooges like Gerry Briscoe and I bet that the positives of WCW are completely ignored. Bischoff’s book was also full of revisionist rubbish and I have no doubt that Russo’s will be defending awful decisions like burying the foreign talent and his pointless swerves whilst overemphasising his impact in the WWF.
It’s a shame because WCW was a massive part of wrestling history, with the wrestling oriented NWA product including matches that WWF never had a hope of matching like Flair-Steamboat, to the wrestling boom created by the nWo, but history is written by the winners and WWE love revising their history to make the McMahons look like geniuses and WCW look like a small-time hick promotion full of evil executives trying to take their jobs. So, what should be a must-watch DVD will just be another disappointment like the Monday Night Wars, only even more biased with Bischoff not there to defend WCW. The only good part will be the Russo and Jim Herd bashing.
Yea this DVD will suck
This farce is the reason why WWE is loosing face with older fans
History is written by the winners, that’s the way it’s always been.
Hopefully we can at least look forward to a decent collection of matches on disc 2. The doc will definitely be the WWE side of the story.