WCW Empire 2007: A New Chapter

[Bigpapa42]

2003 Recap

When examining the big picture of World Championship Wrestling throughout the first decade of the 21st century, 2003 stands out as a year where a great deal of progress was made. The wrestling promotion made significant steps in recovering from the low point that nearly saw it shut down in early 2001. That progress is perhaps easier seen with a 'big lens' rather looking at things on a month by month basis. While the first half of 2003 was very much about building Sean O'Haire from a star to a superstar, the second half of the year was about building another new star...

It is ironic the first half of the year was all about building “The Bad Boy” Sean O'Haire, despite 44-year old veteran Sting holding the World Heavyweight championship. That was a fact that seemed to frustrate many fans at the time, yet its purpose is more readily apparent in retrospect. In chasing the world title, O'Haire would be elevated to the kind of iconic heel that WCW had often boasted throughout its long history (Ric Flair, Vader, and “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan). In fact, O'Haire would draw some comparisons to the legendary “Nature Boy” Flair. Not in terms of in-ring ability (despite showing significant improvement in that regard, O'Haire remained several steps behind Flair at his peak) but rather in terms of his arrogant heel demeanour and ability to draw heat from fans. Any heel can only be as good as the babyfaces he is aligned against, however. And there was the problem for WCW.

After losing the belt to O'Haire at Great American Bash 2003, Sting was shown in a video promo on the following Nitro. He told fans that he could be knocked down but never kept down, would never be broken, and that he would return. But “The Icon” would be out of action for an extended period of time. In fact, his title reign through the first half of 2003 would mark the end of Sting's career as a regular, full-time roster member for WCW. He would return, but it would only be for short periods of time before taking periods of leave once again. In the WWE, both The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels would end up following similar patterns, and the approach is considered to have extended the in-ring careers of all three men. As the creative was well aware of Sting's plan to take time off, the intended plan was to have O'Haire move into a feud with Scott Steiner. “Big Poppa Pump” continued to be a tweener – acting heelish but getting a babyface reaction – and he also remained one of the most popular members of the roster. The intent was apparently for a long, slow-burn feud that would run through until the end of the year at least – there was already a bit of history between the two and WCW creative felt things could be carefully drawn out enough to make it work. The planned feud would never get off the ground, as Steiner would suffer a serious injury in the form of a torn thigh muscle at a house show in early July. The injury would require surgery and keep Steiner out for a long time.

The WCW creative team had some options who really didn't need to be elevated into the main event scene, such as Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T, and even head booker Lance Storm. Page already had some history with O'Haire, but creative was keen to avoid pitting the new WCW World Heavyweight champion against another veteran in a primary feud. Booker T was continuing his feud with D'Lo Brown, with the pair pulling off a double-turn at Bash at the Beach. As for Storm, he remained reluctant to push himself heavily and there was zero chance he would book himself to win the WCW World Heavyweight championship. In the short-term, WCW turned to the returning Curt Hennig. The belief was that his hyped return from his near-death experience would provide for a big babyface return, and that bore out. Hennig ended up facing O'Haire in the main event of Bash at the Beach, but the feud would be short-lived – to the annoyance of some fans who felt that Hennig deserved the world title win that had eluded him through a long and distinguished career.

So the plan for the creative team became to elevate someone into the main event. A babyface who could draws the cheers while O'Haire grabbed the heat. There had apparently had been plans to elevate a new babyface to the main event level through the fall but with the injury to Steiner, it became a bigger priority. There were a number of options on the roster – Colt Cabana, Mike Awesome, Mark Jindrak, Hugh Morrus, Chris Kanyon, and a few of the cruiserweights. There were also some workers who had been primarily heels who might be able to work as a top-level babyface, but the question there removed them from consideration. Mike Awesome was the reigning United States champion but he was nearly 40 years old and working a “silent badass” gimmick that limited the entertainment value he provided. A similar concern plagued the likes of Morrus and Jindrak. There was no such concern with Cabana, who was one of the most charismatic wrestlers on the WCW roster, but he was still only 23 and while he was definitely considered a future star for the promotion, some felt it was a bit too early to push him to that level. According to insiders, it essentially came down to Kanyon, Awesome, or Jindrak. Awesome feuded with Lance Storm over the US title through the summer, while Kanyon and Jindrak teamed up and in early July, then won the WCW World Tag Team belts from Pure Southern Pride, had a short run, then lost them back. Quite simply, the fans took to Kanyon moreso than Awesome or Jindrak and that was the deciding factor.

The decision to push Chris Kanyon as a main event star was a somewhat surprising one but perhaps not a truly shocking one. Kanyon had joined WCW back in 1995, making him one of the longest-tenured members of the roster, behind the likes of Sting, Booker T, and DDP. Yet those who claim that Kanyon was pushed simply due to tenure are overlooking a great deal. The reason that Kanyon stuck with the promotion so long is that he brings a lot to the table. He was solid and reliable in the ring, had good size and a solid overall look, charismatic enough and capable of cutting a good promo, not to mention he had a great finisher. His intense but slightly unpredictable character was pretty over with fans, and as a former member of the Filthy Few, he had a history with O'Haire already. Despite not truly being great in any one given area, Kanyon was not a bad choice as a main event level talent for WCW. Yet because he didn't truly stand out in any one area, he also wasn't an ideal choice. It was also still very questionable whether he would make a good world champion for WCW, should they decide to push him that far.

Kanyon was pushed toward the top through July, August, and September. The feud with Sean O'Haire began before the August tour of Japan, as the two sniped at each other in promos, but it didn't go much further than that. It would get more intense in the fall, but the pair would not directly face each other until Halloween Havoc. Kanyon scored a big win at the August pay per view, now titled Evolution, when he defeated Booker T. He also co-captained a War Games team, along with Diamond Dallas Page, with the match headlining Fall Brawl in September. At Halloween Havoc, the WCW World Heavyweight champion retained when he took advantage of a knocked-out ref to fell O'Haire with a chair. Kanyon got another chance at the belt in the main event of Starrcade, but once again fell short. The champion got an assist this time from his new manager, the legendary NWA World champion Harley Race. The finish meant the feud was not yet over.

O'Haire continued to excel in his role as WCW's primary heel. At Bash at the Beach, he defeated Curt Hennig. He then feuded with the legendary Keiji Mutoh on the tour of Japan in August, with Mutoh making the trek to America to headline the Evolution pay per view against the WCW World champion. O'Haire would triumph in what was one of the best matches of his career. With a War Games match on tap for Fall Brawl, O'Haire had to assemble a team of his own, which became a difficult task after the way he had isolated himself in chasing the belt. The champ did manage to put together a team but they lost the match. At November's Mayhem 2K3 pay per view, O'Haire faced and defeated Lance Storm. The Mayhem main event was another fantastic match.

There was plenty going on in World Championship Wrestling in the second half of 2003 beyond the rise of Kanyon and the run of Sean O'Haire with the World title. There was a tour of Japan, a tag team tournament, and plenty of great matches. The overall wrestling quality was perhaps the greatest aspect to WCW through this period. Which is not to say that every second match was a 5-star classic, but short, forgettable, and/or throwaway matches were more than exception than the norm. WCW continued to emphasize in-ring storytelling and athleticism above the Sports Entertainment approach of the WWE.

WCW spent most of August 2003 in Japan. The tour was a messy success. Footage for all of the Nitro's in August was taped right after Bash at the Beach, then most of the roster jetted across the Pacific. Only a few workers stayed behind - those who had no interest in working in Japan and those who were not allowed entry got time off. In less than three weeks, WCW ran some fourteen shows, all of them co-promoted with some combination of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and All Japan Pro Wrestling. Matches and footage from those events was worked into the Nitro broadcasts back home, which didn't make for the most coherent episodes but there was some top quality wrestling. It also allowed bit of build for O'Haire versus Mutoh. A large part of what made the month messy was the monthly pay per view. When plans came together in Japan for a tour-ending super-show, WCW looked at cancelling the planned pay per view less than a week later, but the cable companies were not pleased. Broadcasting the super-show created time-zone issues and doing it on a tape-delay didn't please the cable companies either. In the end, WCW streamed the Rising Sun Super Show on their website (which was a disaster as the stream was poor, but the subsequent DVD releases of the show and tour were more than solid) and ran the monthly pay per view as normal, albeit with less build than normal for most of the matches. The August pay per view Evolution didn't do great numbers, according to estimates but that probably should not be surprising when considering the circumstances.

Despite the "hiccups", the Japan tour was considered a resounding success and something that WCW was keen to repeat. Something else that the promotion was keen to repeat was the success of the W1 tournament. Dating back to when that was still just a rumor, there were rumblings that WCW was looking at doing a tag team tournament. There was some history to build on, as Jim Crockett Promotions had run the "million dollar" Crockett Cup from 1986 through 1988. The idea was also seen by some as a further "Japanese influence", as both New Japan and All Japan ran annual tag leagues (G1 Climax Tag League and Real World Tag League, respectively). With the W1 "King of the Cruisers" tournament, a combination of hard-working, planning, and a bit of luck had created a smooth and successful tournament. The same cannot be said of the “Global Domination Tandem League”.

According to WCW insiders, the idea of the tag tournament was first discussed during the planning stages of the W1. The idea was to have an annual tournament and that the first one would be held sometime in late 2003. All three primary Japanese promotions were made aware of the idea. The problem was that ideas were never solidified into actual plans. As the fall rolled around, WCW management realized they were running short on time. The window shrank if they wanted to include talent from New Japan and All Japan, as NJPW ran their league through October and All Japan ran theirs in December. November became the target date, with the finale being at November's Mayhem pay per view. Yet no one had any clear idea about what the tournament should be. Would it be a resurrection of the Crockett Cup? Would the format be single-elimination (as the Crockett Cup had been) or a points-based league similar to what the Japanese promotions did? Would it focus only on regular tag teams or be open to any tandem? Should it be focused on cruiserweights or an open-weight approach? When Beasley Burrows Sanford became President of World Championship Wrestling in late 2002, reorganizing the promotion internal management structure was a primary goal. The goal was to have clear lines of decision-making authority and even clear lines of communication. By most accounts, he succeeded in that goal. Yet there was reportedly failure in this regard with the tag team tournament, as management and creative both seemed to wait on the other to decide on everything. When everything ground to a halt and November loomed, Tully Blanchard recognized the situation and began to force things through.

It is unclear where the Global Domination Tandem League (GDTL for short) name came from. One story suggests that it was nothing more than a random name given to the then-rumored tournament by a wrestling dirt sheet website, which somehow fell into common usage. It was also dubbed the "W2 Tandem". The full name of the tournament would never really fit as it was never a league, but rather a tournament. A single-elimination format was selected for the first edition of the league simply as this would mean fewer matches. They decided to bring back the Crockett Cup to award to the winners (well, a replica of said cup) and a kayfabe "million dollar purse". The tournament would feature 16-teams, be open in terms of weight-class, and be truly global by featuring teams from all three of the main Japanese promotions. There were reportedly negotiations with AAA and CMLL of Mexico but both decided at the last minute not to send talent, perhaps as the smaller luchadores would not be featured in a predominantly-heavyweight tournament.

The W1 tournament had kicked off with a Nitro segment to introduce all the talent and make sure fans were clear on the tournament layout. The W2 featured no such kickoff, and the full 16-team roster had not been finalized yet when the first tournament matches were held. There were issues with getting some of the talent in from Japan. The second round of the tournament began before the first was entirely concluded. Despite the messy logistical nightmare that the W2 was for WCW, it did manage to provide some good action and fun stories. Between Nitro and the B-show Breakout, all the tournament matches were broadcast on TV.

Of the five-and-a-half teams that were brought in from Japan, two were made of legends. Keiji Mutoh and Toshiaki Kawada came in from All Japan Pro Wrestling (where Mutoh was still President), and given that Mutoh had challenged for the WCW World Heavyweight championship in August, the pair were considered strong favorites. Also considered favorites was the hard-hitting tandem of Kensuke Sasaki and Shinya Hashimoto, both of them New Japan Pro Wrestling legends and former IWGP World champions. In late 2003, however Sasaki was working for Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling and came to WCW as a "freelance independent talent" while Hashimoto ran his own promotion, Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE. Coming in from Pro Wrestling NOAH were the teams of Wild II (Takeshi Morishima and Takeshi Rikio) and KENTA& Naomichi Marufuji, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura from New Japan, and Eddie Fatu from All Japan. Some of the WCW-based teams were relatively random pairings - such as Lance Storm and Mark Jindrak. The most random pairing was world champion Sean O'Haire with sleezy cruiserweight Joey Ryan, who was the only person in WCW who would team with the hated champion. The team was eliminated in the first round, defeated by Lance Storm and Mark Jindrak in a short match where O'Haire never made it into the ring.

The two teams of puroresu legends would both do well in the W2, with Mutoh-Kawada losing out in the semi-final to Pure Southern Pride in a fantastic match. Sasaki-Hashimoto made it to the final, but also lost to Pure Southern Pride. The win by James Storm and BJ Whitmer was a surprise to some fans. Already the primary tag team in WCW, the win confirmed as one of the best teams in the world. The commentary throughout the tournament put much emphasis on the advantages that Pride had - not just significant experience as a team but also a manager at ringside. Those factors were worked into the psychology of many of the matches, including the finale. The fans at the Mayhem 2K3 pay per view popped pretty big for the unexpected win by the home team, despite PSP's status as heels. Another WCW team that did very well was Team Widow-Maker, with the hard-working cruiserweight duo of Bryan Danielson and Low Ki making it all the way to the semi finals before they lost to Sasaki and Hashimoto. The 2003 edition of the W2 also marked the WCW debuts of the Briscoe Brothers, a young team that had been developing well in the AWA and who would go on to make an impact down the road for World Championship Wrestling.

The inclusion of Eddie Fatu in the tournament was a bit of a twist in what would be a long-running saga for the promotion. Having worked in the WWE as Jamal, he was released in February of 2003 and the big Samoan was of interest to WCW then. He chose to spurn an offer from WCW to take a chance in Japan. With All Japan Pro Wrestling, Fatu would refine both his look and his ring-work toward the vicious, hard-hitting style he would later be known for as "Umaga". With the working agreement in place with All Japan, WCW management had been trying to find a way to bring Fatu in for at least a few matches. The belief in creative was that if he the wrestler was given a run-down of their hopes and plans for him, he would become more keen to join. When he came in for the W2, the intent was to team him with another big man from Japan, but when several options had to cancel at the last minute, the decision was made to pair him with cruiserweight Sonny Siaki. The two had teamed for a few matches in the NWA project TNA in the early summer, mainly as they were both Samoan, though they were not related. Siaki was a Power Plant trainee from the late 90s who had done little in WCW, but he had rejoined the organization as a developmental trainee in mid-2003. Umaga was made to look strong in the tournament even though the team only made it to the second round, with Siaki proving the obvious weak link. According to insiders, Lance Storm and Tully Blanchard sat down with Fatu to explain some of the plans they had for him if he did sign with WCW and there was apparently some interest from the wrestler. But for now, he would return to Japan.

Despite the mess that it was in many ways, the initial WCW W2 Tandem is still fairly well-regarded by fans and observers. One of the primary reasons that WCW management had difficulty in getting the tournaments plans in place and the logistics worked out was that a lot of focus through the summer and early fall was on the development and launch of a new "B" show. Negotiations with the HDNet network had been on-going through much of the first half of the year. It all came back to Mark Cuban being a minority investor in Perfect Storm Global Productions, and the eccentric billionaire was convinced that his all-HD network needed professional wrestling. And not just pro wrestling, but original programming. It was the entire reason he had invested in WCW in late 2002. So as Sanford would put it, the B-show on that network wasn't exactly something management could say no to. The network apparently negotiated a pretty fair deal with the promotion. There were still issues, however. There was some internal resistance to the addition of a second TV show, in large part due to the roster not being that big, at least not the point of a second show being required.

Given the title "WCW Breakout", the show was slated to launch in October of 2003. HDNet was content with it being a "B show" - that is focused on the mid-level and lower-level talents on the roster rather than the promotion's stars. WCW had used "Saturday Night" and even "Thunder" in a similar manner in the past, as had the WWE with "Heat", "Jakked", and "Shotgun Saturday Night". What caused immediate problems between WCW and the network was that HDNet wanted original programming and they wanted each weekly episode to run 2 hours. WCW wasn't really in a position to accommodate these two demands, not without putting themselves into a very tough position, and sorting things out actually pushed back the initial launch date from late summer to early autumn. Compromises were reached - the show would start at 60 minutes, move to 90 minutes in a few months, then eventually a full two hour run. Similarly, the content would be a mix at the start and move toward originally content over time.

From its launch in early October, Breakout was not exactly a smash hit. The network doesn't release ratings information and is not covered by the Nielsen ratings system, but the very limited availability of the speciality network in late 2003 meant there was a very small potential audience to begin with. A few fans have hypothesized that more WCW fans watched the early episodes of Breakout that were uploaded onto the Internet in some manner than viewers watched them broadcast on NDNet... and that may not be inaccurate. Those who did watch the first episodes, regardless of how they did so, were treated to a messy jumble of footage cobbled together. Some of the matches were unused matches from Nitro tapings, so they looked and felt like a match from Nitro, while others were taped at house shows. The house show matches looked much different - they used mostly static camera-work and had no live commentators, which was obvious. There were backstage promos and some hype videos but almost no other angles, so the flow of each show was very different from Nitro. As one observer stated, it felt more like a "wrestling variety show" than Nitro, Raw, Smackdown, or even Thunder.

The show stabilized a bit in November as it relied heavily on the Global Domination Tandem League. The show was used to broadcast any matches which were not shown on Nitro, and rebroadcast most of those that were. Since all the tournament matches were properly taped for TV, the November episodes felt far more uniform. WCW also introduced some analysis segments, with the commentary crew simply discussing the tournament and the match-ups. In December, Breakout went back to being somewhat spotty, but the improvement from the first episode to the final one of 2003 was notable. In a bit of good news for WCW, every indication is that HDNet were happy with the product being provided by WCW.

Through the latter part of 2003, there were some consistent rumors that WCW was going to bring in Paul Heyman. Given the prominent roles played by Lance Storm and Raven in ECW, it seemed possible. The parties have confirmed were even some very preliminary discussions. No deal was struck but some good did come of it. Heyman made a talent recommendation to the promotion. That talent was Josh Barnett. A mixed martial arts fighter known as "The Babyface Assassin", Barnett won the UFC Heavyweight title by defeating Randy Couture back in March of 2002 but he was stripped of the belt and kicked out of the promotion after testing positive for steroids following the fight. With the resulting suspension, Barnett was looking to get into pro wrestling, and he had a few matches in Japan in late 2002. He was signed up by the WWE on a developmental deal and while he was called "a natural" by some, he ended up getting released after butting heads with some of the WWE's bigger name stars before he ever got onto the main roster. WCW signed him in the late spring of 2003, gave him a couple of months in the AWA, and debuted him in September. He was indeed a natural at wrestling - still a bit raw in terms of the basics but he really understood the drama of a match and how to cut a promo. His history as a legit bad-ass fighter gave him a ton of legitimacy with fans, too. Besides being green in the ring, he also wasn't particularly "cut". Yet it was hard to deny his combination of size and charisma. He teamed with Booker T in the W2 tournament and the pair did okay. As 2003 came to a close, it was looking like WCW had another possible star on their hands with Barnett.

Nearing to the end of 2003, the consensus around the business was that WCW needed a strong Starrcade 21 to close out the year well and take another step forward. The perception within World Championship was apparently much the same. The show was highlighted by AJ Styles defeating Jamie Noble (the two had been feuding for the second half of 2003, with and without the Cruiserweight title), Lance Storm and Hugh Morrus re-united as Slow Burn for a grudge match against Team Widow-Maker (Bryan Danielson had called out the duo after their run in the W2), and then the solid main event that saw Sean O'Haire retain over Kanyon. The show was indeed considered pretty strong, though not fantastic. Perhaps the biggest gripe that viewers and fans had was not ending the show on a "feel good" moment of Kanyon winning the World Heavyweight championship. So the concerns that some had over whether Kanyon could be used as a legitimate main eventer in WCW seem unfounded.

When analyzing the year that World Championship Wresting had in 2003, one can focus on many different aspects. Yet most paths of examination will lead to the same conclusion – progress. It was not rapid and it was not major, but almost every step was a step forward. The negatives that WCW faced through the year were only able to slow that forward movement to some degree, rather than derail it completely.

Championships

WCW World Heavyweight Championships
Sting (4) – won December 2002 – lost June 2003
Sean O'Haire (2) – won June 2003

WCW United States Championship
Mark Jindrak (1) – won December 2002 – lost April 2003
Raven (2) – won April 2003 – lost May 2003
Mike Awesome (1) – won May 2003 – lost August 2003
Lance Storm (5) – won August 2003 – lost September 2003
Mike Awesome (2) – won September 2003 - lost December 2003
Raven (3) - won December 2003

WCW World Tag Team Championships
Slow Burn (1) – won December 2002 – lost May 2003
Pure Southern Pride (2) – won May 2003 – June 2003
Kanyon & Jindrak (1) – won June 2003 – lost August 2003
Pure Southern Pride (3) – won August 2003 – lost December 2003
Wild II - Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio (1) – won December 2003

WCW World Television Championship
Adam Pearce (1) – won December 2002 – lost July 2003
Hugh Morrus (3) – won July 2003 – lost September 2003
Johnny Hate (1) – won September 2003 – lost October 2003
Chris Harris (1) – won October 2003 – lost December 2003
Christopher Daniels (1) – won December 2003

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
AJ Styles (1) – won December 2002 – lost July 2003
Jamie Noble (1) – won July 2003 – lost September 2003
AJ Styles (2) – won September 2003 – lost October 2003
Low Ki (1) – won October 2003

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships
Team Widow-Maker (1) – Bryan Danielson & Low Ki – won May 2003 – lost November 2003
Kidman & Helms (1) – won November 2003

W1 Tournaments
Jushin Lyger d. AJ Styles

W2 Global Tandem Tag League
Pure Southern Pride d. Sasaki & Hashimoto

WCW Awards

Wrestler of the Year:
Sean O'Haire

Cruiserweight of the Year:
AJ Styles

Rookie of the Year:
Adam Pearce

Tag Team of the Year:
Pure Southern Pride

Match of the Year:
Jushin Lyger vs AJ Styles at Spring Stampede

[Bigpapa42]

Since I'm feeling loquacious, a few notes...

-I'm a touch worried about continuity. Not continuity between the old project and this but rather between the recap narrative and the titles information at the bottom. Please let me know if you spot something that seems incorrect - it may need correction or simply explanation. The issue is that my original intent was not to bother with the full title sequences, but I changed my mind. It turned out to be more time-consuming than I expected, especially consider I wasn't booking all the switches.

-I expect some will not see Kanyon as a legit main eventer for WCW. Which is fine - that's kinda the intent. He's not ideal, certainly, but simply at least adequate in all areas and that's why he works as a main eventer in a time of need for the promotion. At least in my opinion..

-essentially, the second half of 2003 is a bit bland. Not boring, I don't think, but you might not be able to see why I was hesitant to continue with the monthly recaps through the period. Sean O'Haire would have still be fun to book... though he had been a central focus for the six months prior. The rise of Kanyon and the messy W2 tournament would have also been interesting. But I just don't think it would have been that engaging, either to write or to read. Without making significant changes to my plans, I believe I would burned out and probably given up on the project entire if I kept pushing the remainder of 2003 with monthly recaps.

[KrisKatana]

Well I assume that the world title dates are typos (2003 not 2004) , but other then that nothing caught my eye continuity wise.

Also its awesome to see this up and running again. Can't wait to see what you do with 2004.

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by KrisKatana

Well I assume that the world title dates are typos (2003 not 2004) , but other then that nothing caught my eye continuity wise.

Also its awesome to see this up and running again. Can't wait to see what you do with 2004.

Yeah, typo. Corrected. Good eye - thanks.

Thanks Kris. Hope you enjoy.

Also, I've meant for awhile to throw some credit toward ajcrible, who gave me the idea for the tweener version of Steiner.

[PepsiPunk]

Lol, I know where to come for updates, first now. XD

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by PepsiPunk

Lol, I know where to come for updates, first now. XD

Glad to have you on-board and reading.

[Bigpapa42]

2004 Recap

Professional wrestling is a dynamic business. One that is hard to measure and define just by looking at a few numbers. Like any business, there are "key performance indicators” that are typically used to measure the success or lack thereof. Yet any accountant can tell one that numbers can be manipulated or spun to tell almost any story that is needed. What makes 2004 such an intriguing annum to examine for World Championship Wrestling is the variance in opinions on the year from a business perspective. At one end of the spectrum, you have observers and analysts who feel it was where the promotion managed the greatest degree of recovery from its 2001 low point. On the other end is those who feel that it was one of the damaging years since 2001. What makes these diametrically opposed points of view so unique is that both have some validity.

Those who feel that WCW had a really good year will predominantly point to key two factors. The first is those “key performance indicators” that are commonly used in the pro wrestling business. Typical measures such as TV ratings, attendances, and pay per view buy rates. World Championship Wrestling was doing pretty well in these aspects through 2004, especially when one compares those results to back to 2001, when the promotion was at a clear low point. The TV ratings weren't fantastic but they were consistently the top-rated show on Fox Sports Net. Attendances had notably improved over the preceding few years, with WCW able to draw a couple thousand fans to almost any house show and able to get close to the ten thousand mark for the biggest pay per view events. Its difficult to analyze buy-rates with any certainty, as the numbers are not publicly released as they are for the WWE, but the numbers are generally thought to be respectable. Again, especially compared to where WCW was in 2001. The other factor that is commonly pointed to is that WCW did a great job of building new stars.

Those who feel that WCW had a very poor year will also tend to point to two particular factors. Ironically, the first factor is the same performance indicators used by the opposite point of view. One does not have to spin the numbers but simply change the point of comparison. In comparing the numbers generated by WCW through 2004 against what World Wrestling Entertainment did for the same period, it simple to paint the WCW results as disappointing. The same result will be seen if one compares WCW in 2004 to WCW in 1997 or 1998. The second factor is the name talent that was lost. Ironically, it was those talent losses which caused WCW to have to build new stars, which is something that is seen as a positive by some. Its essentially looking at different sides of the same issue.

Losing talent was not something new to World Championship Wrestling, nor would it end after 2004. But that year presented a particularly painful combination of volume and level. They lost a lot of talent and some of them were very key guys. None were more key than Sean O'Haire, who saw his contract expire in the fall of 2004 and took up a massive offer from the WWE. WCW was apparently made aware early in the year that he would not sign an extension and this was the reason he was kept away from the world title scene through most of the year. The two time-world champion was the biggest name to depart, but amongst the others who left WCW in 2004 were Scott Steiner, Mark Jindrak, Josh Barnett, Dustin Rhodes, Chavo Guerrero, and Shane Helms. Non-wrestlers Randy Savage and Stacy Kiebler also left the promotion.

None of the departures were quite the same. Jindrak, Rhodes, Helms, and Guerrero all came to the end of their contracts and chose to take offers from the WWE. Given his creative role in the cruiserweight division, Chavo was a significant loss. He apparently felt restricted in WCW as he had never moved out of the cruiserweight division, though his frustration at that was a surprise to those in the promotion as he reportedly never voiced it while still with WCW. Barnett was an even bigger loss, as the former pro fighter had been pushed heavily since his arrival in mid-2003 and was looked upon as a potential future world champion. He chose to return to the world of mixed martial arts early in 2004, which was not a shock even if it was disappointing to WCW.

The situation with Scott Steiner was... interesting. In early 2004, WCW management added a drug use policy to its existing Talent Support Policy. They began testing talent for illegal drug use, including steroids. Steiner was still out injured but he was called in to the WCW headquarters in Aurora, then asked to provide a urine sample for testing. “Big Poppa Pump” refused. This lead to a verbal altercation with Tully Blanchard, which reportedly almost became physical. Steiner would provide a sample before he left but the things that were said were damaging enough that he would not be used even once healthy and no attempt was made to resign him when his contract expired just a few months after. Steiner would have short run in the WWE in the second half of 2004 and early 2005, then end up joining the TNA project alongside former WCW cohort Jeff Jarrett. What makes the whole situation a head scratcher is that he urine test that caused the situation reportedly came back clean...

The talent that was lost to the WWE were, realistically, not ones that WCW could avoid. They were still significantly behind the WWE in most areas. The McMahon empire could offer talent a bigger stage, a higher profile, greater overall exposure, and more money. There was even the slim possibility that they could cross over and become relevant in mainstream pop culture. The WWE had long been transitioning from a wrestling company to a diverse entertainment company and while The Rock had left for Hollywood, the WWE as a whole wasn't far behind, using “WWE Films” production company to try to develop projects for its own existing talent. The likes of Steve Austin, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan were all gone and Vince McMahon was looking to create new superstars that crossed over into mainstream popular culture.

An observation that has been made by fans is that WCW could have paid its top stars on the same level as the WWE and simply chosen not to do so. Some fans went so far as to claim that WCW was being cheap in doing so. With overall incomes levels far below those of the WWE, its rather absurd to expect them to pay top level talent at the same level. Under Eric Bischoff, WCW had given out one contract that paid equal to what the top WWE talent were paid and it had been an albatross to the struggling promotion. However, suggestions that WCW “underpaid” its talent as a whole are misguided. As one insider put it, “everyone in the company was paid well. Nobody was going hungry.” According to reports, even the developmental talent in the AWA was making more than most of them could on the independent scene.

Financial stability is one of the greatest legacies that Beasley Burrows Sanford managed to create with World Championship Wrestling. There are reports that the President of WCW was given absolute autonomy to run the company however he saw fit, contingent on only two factors – that the product was entertaining and that WCW did not lose money. The suggestion is that had Sanford not managed to make WCW financially stable, he would have deal with direct oversight and/or interference from the Perfect Storm ownership group. Whether this is entirely true or not, its clear that careful financial management was always a priority. And that meant that paying its top stars top-level money was not going to happen. So the WWE would continue to have that significant advantage over WCW, in addition to the others it enjoyed.

Any wrestling promotion must create new stars to survive. The WWE worked hard to do that through 2004, despite the talent they signed from WCW. Talent such as John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista moved up the card, and they also worked to elevate formerly mid-level talent like Edge, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Bradshaw, and Rey Mysterio. Beyond losing the likes of Austin, Rock, and Hogan in the preceding years, Brock Lesnar had retired in the first quarter of 2004. Kevin Nash and Bill Goldberg spent much of the year out injured, with indication that both were unhappy in the WWE. So in needing to build new stars, the WWE wasn't in that different of a boat from WCW.

Of the talent that the WWE signed from WCW, Vince McMahon chose to do precious little with most of them. Dustin Rhodes was reportedly promised that he would get to stick with the “bitter second generation veteran” gimmick he had used in WCW, yet he would be running around in the Goldust getup within a few months. Shane Helms has stated that he was told by WWE management that he would be a cornerstone talent, along with Rey Mysterio, in a new cruiserweight division. He would debut under a cartoonish super hero gimmick, called “The Hurricane” and would never wrestle against Rey Mysterio. Mark Jindrak was signed and then told he needed to develop more as a wrestler, so he was sent to Ohio Valley for that development. As for Sean O'Haire, he was debuted onto Raw as “The Devil Himself” Sean O'Haire to great fanfare. His character was charismatic and smooth talking but pure evil, a take-off of Al Pacino's character from “The Devil's Advocate”. It gained the well-spoken former WCW champion plenty of mic time but he didn't see the ring that often.

Those within WCW creative were not worried about what the departed talent were doing in the WWE, however. They were worried about creating replacements. The consensus seems to be that they were doing a good job with Josh Barnett, up to the point where he decided he wanted to return to fighting full-time as a mixed martial artist. There was other talent being elevated, as well. Kanyon had been given a hard push up to the top through late 2003. He failed to win the World Heavyweight championship at Starrcade 23, but he got a rematch at The Big Bang 2004. After O'Haire unceremoniously dumped his manager Harley Race in early January, the NWA legend was in Kanyon's corner at TBB and helped “The Innovator of Offence” surprise everyone by winning the Big Gold Belt. Ending O'Haire's reign of terror solidified Kanyon as a main event star, though not so much a true draw. He also wouldn't hang onto the belt for very long.

While Kanyon hit the pinnacle of success for WCW (at least for a short time), there were a number of other young talents who were moved up the card through 2004. That included Colt Cabana, AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, Doug Williams, Christopher Daniels, and the Briscoe Brothers. Cabana was consistently picked out as a ``future world champion``. He won the United States championship in early 2004, then lost it to Raven. He feuded with Raven throughout the spring, and that feud was actually a springboard to Raven winning the World Heavyweight championship. Though he would hold it for merely a month before losing it to Shinya Hashimoto.

``Phenomenal`` AJ Styles managed to win back the hearts of his fans as he won the 2004 edition of the W1 tournament, defeating the 2003 winner Jushin Lyger in the semi-final and defeating former friend Jamie Noble in a great match in the finale. The W1 victory marked Styles stepping up from the cruiserweight division, a move that WCW made some noise about so that it was clear and obvious. Styles would lay claim to the United States championship in the late in 2004 as he feuded with Christopher Daniels, who had also moved up from the cruiserweight ranks.

It would be difficult to categorize WCW pushing Shinya Hashimoto to the world championship as ``building a new star`` because, despite being relatively unknown to the average American pro wresting fan, he was a massive star in Japan. ``Shogun`` was one of the biggest draws in puroresu history. After first having been introduced to WCW fans as a participant in the 2003 W2 tag team tournament, he also appeared at Jushin Lyger's side during the 2004 W1 tournament. He made sporadic and dominant appearances, leading up to a world title match at Great American Bash where he defeated Raven. Although Hashimoto would hold the belt until Starrcade in December, he was in America only part-time so he wasn't part of any house shows and missed many Nitro tapings. The cost of flying Hashimoto across the Pacific was obviously significantly and there have been suggestions that aspect was subsidized for WCW in some manner, perhaps by the Japanese superstar himself.

The decision to elevate a superstar from Japan to the top of the WCW was a very deliberate and calculated one by WCW creative and management. They first began to explore the idea in early 2004 as a way to solidify the links between World Championship Wrestling and the promotions in Japan. According to insider accounts, creative recognized in the spring that they were running into a bit of a problem with having legitimate choices to hold the world title. O'Haire had already turned down a contract extension and management recognized he would likely leave. The consensus was that it was too early for the young talent being to get a run with the world title, and none of the other options (Sting, Page, Booker, Kanyon, etc) were really any better in terms of drawing power or potential storylines. The best option was probably Lance Storm, but the lead booker refused to entertain the idea. So an option from Japan was sought.

The preferred option from Japan was Kenta Kobashi. Big, powerful, charismatic and fantastic in the ring, he was the current GHC champion of NOAH. His value to Pro Wrestling NOAH meant they couldn't lose him for the required length of time. It was the same with NOAH owner Mitsuharu Misawa. All Japan's President Keiju Mutoh was another primary option, though he was loathe to have to travel as much as would be required. New Japan preferred to send one of its top young stars (Hiroshi Tanahashi or Shinsuke Nakamura) rather than a truly established superstar, and if WCW were going to create an entirely new star, they might as well do it in-house. Hashimoto was an interesting option in that he was not at that point connected to any of the big three. A huge star for New Japan in the 90s, he left there in 2000 and started his own promotion Pro Wrestling ZERO-One in 2001. He had worked for AJPW in 2003 and remained a big name. Despite lacking the look of a superstar – just under six feet and nearly 300 pounds, he was a touch on the pudgy side – he was a great worker and that had led to him being New Japan's biggest draw through their 1990s boom period.

The WCW World Heavyweight championship reign of Shinya Hashimoto was a moderate success. It did not lead to any boom in business but neither did it drive the fans away. Moreso than other recent reigns, it was about match quality over storylines and it delivered in that sense. “Shogun” had some really good matches against the likes of Lance Storm, Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Raven, and Samoa Joe. One of the few relatively disappointing matches of his title run was against Kanyon at Starrcade 24, where he lost the belt. It was not a poor match but simply less impressive than many expected. According to some insiders, the intent had been to end Hashimoto's run a bit earlier but well... plans change.

Although it has never been directly confirmed by a member of WCW creative, it has been strongly hinted that Eddie Fatu may have been a part of the plans that had to be changed. After participating in the W2 tournament in November of 2003, Fatu continued to work occasionally in WCW as he worked regularly in Japan for All Japan. WCW made repeated attempts to sign Fatu to a full-time deal. The belief was that his hard-hitting style and aggressive look would make for a strong monster heel. Yet he kept pushing back making a solid commitment, and it became apparent why in the early summer as he signed on with the WWE instead. While one can certainly understand the choice that Fatu made, there are indications that some withinin World Championship Wrestling were not impressed by the lack of direct honesty he displayed. Its unclear whether the intent was to push Fatu to the world title by sometime in later 2004 but that has been suggested as the intended creative direction. If it was, that plan obviously had to be changed. In seeking a new monster heel, WCW would look instead to a talent who had been on their radar for a long time – Samoa Joe.

Joe had a similar aggressive and physical style to Fatu and although he was a bit smaller, he was also younger and more athletic. There was already a bit history there as he had worked for WCW on their territorial tours. Management had kept a close eye on him. Its often been questioned since as to why he wasn't brought in earlier. As Tully Blanchard has explained, it was simply a matter of timing. “Timing is everything in this business and it just didn't work before that,” Blanchard stated in an interview. Back in 2002, Joe was still developing, plus the promotion had Goldberg. He was apparently offered a developmental deal in the middle of 2003 but the timing didn’t work for Joe, as he had just won the world title of Ring of Honor. The timing worked better in mid-2004, but there was still a complication – he was still the ROH World champion. The 25-year old took that as a serious commitment and would not prioritize WCW over ROH, despite the better long-term prospects. WCW management apparently respected that, although it meant he missed some tapings. In particular, he missed Starrcade at the end of December as he instead worked ROH's Final Battle event the same night. Joe lost the world title there to Homicide. The following night, Joe had a match against Japanese legend Kenta Kobashi, who was making a one-time trek to America and had decided to work a match for ROH over WCW – there were a number of factors involved in that snub, a major one being that the sojourn was arranged on short notice and WCW would have almost no time to promote the match for their biggest event of the year. So ROH benefited. The match was fantastic and earned a 5-star grade from The Wrestling Observer. It was a strong way for Joe to head into 2005 as he would be full-time and exclusive for World Championship Wrestling.

The WCW World Heavyweight championship moved around more in 2004 than in previous years – going from Sean O'Haire to Kanyon, then to Diamond Dallas Page, then Booker T, then to Raven, on to Shinya Hashimoto who had the only lengthy reign of 2004. “Shogun” then lost it to Kanyon right at the end of the year. The intent with moving the title around was reportedly to create a “level playing field” and elevate some guys... though its arguable about how much a month-long title reign can elevate someone. While the main event scene didn't make all fans happy, the WCW mid-card still offered plenty. Amongst the best on offer was the long-running saga between Lance Storm and Bryan Danielson.

Despite Danielson and Low Ki losing to Storm and Morrus at Starrcade 21, “American Dragon” kicked off 2004 by declaring himself the greatest technical wrestler that WCW had ever seen. He was still primary a cruiserweight competitor at this point. Lance Storm took umbrage with Danielson's declaration and the pair had a series of matches through the first third of 2004 where the youngster consistently failed to find a way to defeat the experienced Storm. Experience won out again and again. “American Dragon” had a strong showing in the 2004 W1 tournament, making the semi-final where he lost in a contentious manner to Jamie Noble. After the tournament, Danielson again challenged Storm. This lead to an exchange between the pair on Nitro where Storm explained to the obviously-obsessed Danielson that if he spent his whole career focusing on one opponent, he would fail to reach true greatness. Over the following months, the veteran Storm ended up mentoring Danielson, guiding him to a short run with the Television championship. They worked a few tag matches through the summer but it wasn't until the fall that they began to com really come together as a tandem. They took the name of “Slow Burn Dream Team” when they entered the 2004 W2 Tandem tournament. They would win the tournament, putting on great matches the whole way, and in the final they defeated the team of Adam Pearce and Doug Williams. Storm and Danielson would win the WCW World Tag Team championships in December at Starrcade.

The most impressive tag team of 2003 had been Pure Southern Pride and although they started the year strong, things were strained for James Storm and BJ Whitmer by the spring of 2004. The pair began to work as singles more frequently. Storm would win the United States championship and Whitmer had the Television championship later in the year, but the feud between them would kick off by mid year as the union dissolved. The ever-manipulative Edward Vander Pyle was still managing both and seemed to delight in setting them against each other. Despite the singles titles they each claimed and the intensity of the feud, their momentum seemed to wane and the thought was that the fans simply preferred them as a team. Both men would cut ties with Vander Pyle before a feud-ending match at Starrcade saw Storm triumph, followed by an emphatic and symbolic handshake between the men.

With the top tag team in World Championship Wrestling breaking up and feuding, it left the division in shambles to a degree through much of 2004. The great team formed by Lance Storm and Bryan Danielson didn't really come to fruition until later in the year. In part because of the lack of established quality teams, the Briscoe Brothers enjoyed a rapid rise. The two young brothers from Delaware looked similar enough that many fans believed they were twins but the were not. They had debuted in the inaugural WCW W2 tournament, losing their only match. The younger of the two brothers, Mark, was just 19 years old at the time. They returned to AWA for a time and then came back onto the main roster in early 2004 as WCW expanded the roster to make better use of the B-show. The Briscoe Brothers were mainstays on Breakout, winning the Cruiserweight Tag Team championships twice through the before moving up to the heavyweight tag team ranks late in the year as they came under the influence of Raven. They had a good showing in the 2004 edition of the W2 Tandem, making the semi finals. The young team had grown and evolved through 2004, and gave WCW fans hopes for a strong tag team division for a long time to come.

Beyond the talent losses to the WWE, the promotion also had to deal with some absences from one of its biggest names. After the intense and physical feud with Sean O'Haire through the first half of 2003, “The Icon” had remained out through the rest of the year. WCW management had hoped he would come back in time to develop a feud for Starrcade 21. He wouldn't return until March of 2004, where he would feud with Booker T until Bash at the Beach in June. Sting then took further time off, returning in September as a surprise member of Kanyon's team in the War Games match at Fall Brawl. Sting would feud with Raven through the end of the year, culminating in a match at Starrcade 22 between the two. The legend would continue on with this part-time approach, and it was similar to how the WWE would begin to use their own over-40 stars such as The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.

One of the biggest moments of 2004 was the return of another WCW legend. Ric Flair would make a dramatic return at Starrcade 22, getting a huge reaction from the fans in Chicago. An emotional “Nature Boy” cut an overwrought promo in which he broke down into tears, proclaiming he was home and would never leave WCW again. He also took the opportunity to bash former WCW President Eric Bischoff.

While Flair was clearly happy to be back “home”, he had actually enjoyed a very good run in the WWE. He spent much of it as part of a major four-man stable called Evolution. The stable came together in early 2003 (coincidentally, just a week after WCW had announced that their annual August pay per view would now be known as “Evolution”) and would run until the summer of 2004. Alongside Flair were Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton. The group was dominant and did a great job of building up Batista and Orton into true stars. When the group finally collapsed at SumemrSlam 2004, Flair was essentially moved into a manager role for Triple H. He would later say, “Their 'creative' guys kept coming to me with ideas... A feud with Trips, or HBK, or 'Taker, or Orton... and each idea ended the same way. With me being retired. I wasn't ready to retire.” Flair apparently quickly grew frustrated with what he saw as a direct attempt by the WWE creative to push him to retiring from in-ring action so he went directly to Vince McMahon and asked for his release. Just like some twelves years before, the WWE owner granted it out of respect for “The Nature Boy” and despite full knowledge that he would return to WCW. Flair had to wait out a 90-day no-compete clause before he could officially World Championship Wrestling and that was up just days before Starrcade, making the timing of the situation almost perfect.

Although not as legendary as either Flair or Sting, Curt Hennig's late-career renaissance had won him the heart of WCW fans. He was had returned from his near-death experience as a babyface and although he had slowed a bit in the ring, he was never more popular. There was actually quite a little push amongst fans for him to finally win the world title but it would not happen. He would feud with former stable-mate Sean O'Haire through the spring of 2004. After losing a hard-fought match to O'Haire at The Great American Bash, Hennig used the following Nitro to proclaim his retirement. It was no definitive goodbye for “Perfection”, as he stayed with WCW and took up a colour commentary role on the Breakout show on HDNet. He would also eventually become part of Lance Storm's creative team.

After a rough start in late 2003, WCW Breakout began to find its stride through early 2004. By mid-year, the show was really solid, especially once WCW brought up some talent from their developmental system, which were featured heavily on the show. Some fans considered the B-show the best that the promotion had on offer, though being on HDNet meant a continual limited audience. Those who did manage to tune in were treated to some great wrestling action. The “lower level” belts were frequently defended. The show made relative light use of angles and had its own storylines, rather than trying to advance main storylines off of Nitro. Raven did most of the booking for the show and he did a quality job. WCW still did not do specific tapings for the show although that was reportedly a long-term plan.

The 2004 edition of the W1 tournament was another success, with AJ Styles taking the win in the finale against his former friend and rival, Jamie Noble. Styles would defeat Jushin Lyger in the Semi-Final, a really good match that did not quite live up to their encounter from a year prior, which was named WCW's Match of the Year for 2003. Heading into the second edition of the W2, things didn't look quite as promising. The issue at hand was that the WCW tag division was in a rebuild process through most of 2004. Of the dominant teams of the recent past, Pure Southern Pride were split and feuding by late 2004. Teams like the Slow Burn Dream Team combo of Danielson and Storm, Doug Williams and Adam Pearce, as well as the Briscoe Brothers were just emerging as top teams. While some observers felt that made for a less interesting tournament, others realized that it was simply an opportunity for new teams to establish themselves atop the WCW tag ranks. Although the 2004 edition was more reliant on “random” pairings, cruiserweight teams, and teams from Japan, the tournament still delivered. There were some great matches. WCW did a nice job of getting the important matches on Nitro, while the less important matches were on Break Out, and all matches were made available as streaming media on the WCW website. It would be the trandem of Lance Storm and Bryan Danielson who would win but the tournament but it would serve to elevate a couple of teams, particularly The Briscoe Brothers and the duo of Doug Williams and Adam Pearce. Williams and Pearce, managed by Edward Vander Pyle and calling themselves T.O.S., made the finale against the Slow Burn Dream Team. And while it was never explained onscreen what TOS was an acronym for, fans would have plenty of fun trying to pick.

There is some debate as to the overall “health” of the pro wrestling industry as the first decade of the new century closed in on the halfway point. World Wrestling Entertainment would see its overall performance wane somewhat, at least in terms of those “key performance indicators” like TV ratings and pay per view buy-rates. Attendances remained about the same level and the global corporation certainly wasn't suffering financially. While some fans and analysts have tried to paint the decline in WWE business as being “picked up” or “taken” by WCW, that doesn't really seem to be the case. A detailed analysis of specific markets shows that where WCW saw its primary growth was not the same markets or demographics as where the WWE lost. Beyond the WWE and WCW, the United States managed to maintaining a strong independent scene, which included promotions such as Ring of Honor, Total Non-Stop Action, Chikara, Jersey All Pro, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. These promotions were mostly “surviving” moreso than thriving, but they were a key part of the overall industry and they helped to develop the stars of tomorrow.

That is perhaps the greatest indicator of the professional wrestling industry being healthy is the new talent that was being developed. WCW was becoming reliant on younger talent, and the AWA developmental system was stocked with some really good prospects. The same could be said of the WWE and their Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental system. The likes of Randy Orton, Batista, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Edge had all been made stars. The likes of Chrisitan, Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Fatu (as Umaga) and Shelton Benjamin didn't look to be too far behind. All of the independent promotions had some solid talent and though few used those talents exclusively, it showed that there was still new prospects of note coming into the industry.

The American Wrestling Association bears some examination at this point. The reason that WCW had decided to use the AWA name was in the hope that it would provide some immediate name value, perhaps allowing the expense of the developmental promotion to be offset somewhat. Throughout 2004, the AWA did more than that – it relatively thrived. The combination of good promotional work by Gagne, solid booking by Dusty Rhodes, and some great young talent allowed the developmental promotion to regularly draw solid crowds to weekly shows they ran throughout Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Although the promising talent that WCW stocked the AWA roster with was a huge factor, it was the Chi-City Trio of Ace Steel, Danny Dominion, and CM Punk that captured the fan's hearts. All three remained contracted to Greg Gagne's promotion company rather than WCW. Harry Smith had been brought into the AWA in the same way but was eventually signed up by WCW once they realized his young age wasn't a concern. To many industry observers, the AWA was the top independent wrestling promotion in the US during this period... which is contradictory as it wasn't independent at all.

Some of the key talents in the first eighteen months for the AWA included Antonio Banks, Austin Aries, the Briscoe Brothers, James Keenan, Brent Albright, and Alex Shelley. But CM Punk was the star of the show. A few WCW veterans spent some significant time working in the AWA with the young talent, and none spent more time than Raven. Thorough he first half of 2004, Raven feuded with Punk in the AWA. Built around the contrast between Raven's hard-living lifestyle and Punk's straight edge ethos, the feud grabbed the attention of fans. In the eyes of many, Raven turned Punk into a star. Yet despite that and some good work he was doing in ROH, he didn't gain the attention of either the WWE or WCW. At least not to the point where he was offered a full-time contract. Some WCW insiders admit that management just “didn't get” the the young worker at that point.

The AWA was not without some issues, though. The developmental promotion was capable of drawing some pretty solid crowds but it remained a bit inconsistent in that regard. Some of the weekly shows drew poorly enough that they lost money, meaning that the promotion wasn't always covering costs. There were some issues with the talent as well. Not every young wrestler was happy spending significant time in a small developmental promotion. Teddy Hart acted out regularly and was released before the end of 2003. In mid-2004, Homicide would walk out on the promotion and his WCW deal as he felt he had earned a call up that didn't come. Even with these issues, the AWA was considered a success by WCW management.

World Championship Wrestling would also essentially acquire a second affiliated promotion in late 2004. In a strange development that surprised most throughout the industry, WCW bailed TNA out of financial trouble. After doing pretty well through 2003, the primary NWA promotion began to falter financially in early 2004. The weekly pay per view format was a moderate success but had inconsistent results. TNA had essentially overextended itself on some contracts in its massively over-ambitious attempts at trying to be competitive with the WWE and WCW. The NWA could offer no financial assistance, and the two owners – Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler – were reportedly unable to secure further credit it. The promotion was in financial peril when WCW management made the offer. What made the assistance so shocking to most industry insiders is that TNA had never made secret of its goal of overtaking both the WWE and WCW. Both promotions got mentioned on the broadcasts regularly and never in a flattering light. Jeff Jarrett was particular scathing in his frequent attacks, and focused most often on WCW. The assistance was not a true “life-saver” for the promotion, but a temporary lifeline than allowed TNA some time to seek and secure better financial help.

It is impossible to know just how much trouble TNA was in. As a private company, there is no requirement to make such numbers public. The rumors about money troubles began early in the year, and throughout the summer, there were “sources” quoted by dirt sheet sites that the WWE was exploring financial support options. Nothing ever came of this and its impossible to know if there was ever any substance there. Some fans have postulated that McMahon was “working” Jarrett as payback over way that “Double J” had left the WWE back in 1999. Its enticing speculation, but merely speculation. What is certain is that WCW offered TNA financial support which allowed it to continue to do business. The support came in the form of an interest-free loan, which TNA reportedly used to pay off some key debts. In exchange, TNA would become an “associated” promotion to WCW. There is debate as to what exactly that entailed, but what the main interactions between the promotions was WCW sending unused talent “on loan” to TNA for short periods of time. In theory the talent could also move the other way in a similar manner, but it never occurred.

There are many who feel that it was questionable decision for WCW to assist another promotion which had specifically targeted it with some vicious comments on-air and on its website, but there is a simple reason – it was just business. According to Tully Blanchard: “We saw it as a smart business move. That simple, really.” Not only that, but WCW reorganized that an independent promotion going under was bad for the industry as a whole, as that meant one less place for young workers to develop and grow.

So was 2004 a success or failure for World Championship Wrestling? Which perspective is more accurate? Its clearly not an easy question and debate is likely to continue. But the undeniable fact is that the promotion left the year in a better position than it had entered it. The growth may not have been substantial but it was indeed growth. WCW continued to move forward.

Championships

WCW World Heavyweight Championships
Sean O'Haire (2) – won June 2003 – lost February 2004
Kanyon (1) – won February 2004 – lost March 2004
Diamond Dallas Page (4) – won March 2004 – lost April 2004
Booker T (5) – won April 2004 – lost June 2004
Raven (1) – won June 2004 – lost July 2004
Shinya Hashimoto (1) – won July 2004 – lost December 2004
Kanyon (2) – won December 2004

WCW United States Championship
Raven (3) – won December 2003 – lost March 2004
Colt Cabana (1) – won March 2004 – lost June 2004
Shane Douglas (3) – won June 2004 – lost June 2004
Mark Jindrak (2) – won June 2004 – lost July 2004
D'Lo Brown (1) – won July 2004 – lost August 2004
James Storm (1) – won August 2004 – lost October 2004
Christopher Daniels (1) – won October 2004 – lost November 2004
AJ Styles (1) – won November 2004 – lost December 2004
Christopher Daniels (2) – won December 2004

WCW World Tag Team Championships
Wild II (1) – won December 2003 – lost April 2004
D'Lo & DDP (1) – won April 2004 – lost June 2004
Morrus & Hate (1) – won June 2004 – lost August 2004
Jindrak & Douglas (1) – won September 2004 – lost December 2004
Slow Burn Dream Team (1) – won December 2004

WCW World Television Championship
Christopher Daniels (1) – won December 2003 – lost March 2004
Chris Harris (2) – won March 2004 – lost April 2004
Christopher Daniels (2) – won April 2004 – lost June 2004
D'Lo Brown (1) – won June 2004 – lost July 2004
Bryan Danielson (1) – won July 2004 – lost August 2004
Doug Williams (1) – won August 2004 – lost September 2004
BJ Whitmer (1) – won September 2004 – November 2004
Johnny Hate (1) – won November 2004 – lost December 2004
Billy Kidman (1) – won December 2004

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Low Ki (1) – won October 2003 – lost January 2004
Bryan Danielson (1) – won January 2004 – lost March 2004
Jamie Noble (2) – won March 2004 – lost July 2004
Kaz Hyashi (1) – won July 2004 – lost August 2004
Sterling James Keenan (1) – won August 2004 – lost September 2004
Hirooki Goto (1) – won September 2004 – lost November 2004
Austin Aries (1) – won November 2004

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships
Kidman & Helms (1) – won November 2003 – lost January 2004
The Jung Dragons (1) – won January 2004 – lost March 2004
KENTA & Marufuji (1) – won March 2004 – lost April 2004
The Briscoe Brothers (1) – won April 2004 – lost June 2004
Havana Pitbulls (1) – won June 2004 – lost August 2004
The Briscoe Brothers (2) – won August 2004 – lost October 2004
Havana Pitbulls (2) – won October 2004 – lost December 2004
Volador Jr & Mistico (1) – won December 2004

W1 Tournament
AJ Styles d. Jamie Noble

W2 Global Tandem Tag League
Slow Burn Dream Team d. T.O.S.

Awards

Wrestler of the Year:
Lance Storm

Cruiserweight of the Year:
Bryan Danielson

Rookie of the Year:
Samoa Joe

Tag Team of the Year
Slow Burn Dream Team

Feud of the Year:
AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels

Match of the Year:
Shinya Hashimoto vs Lance Storm at Halloween Havoc

[Bigpapa42]

2005 Recap

World Championship Wrestling once used the tagline "Where the big boys play". Given the WCW has its roots in southern wrestling and traditionally emphasized skill and athleticism over size and charisma, it is rather ironic that the "big boys" aspect of that tagline has typically applied to the men who have held the promotions top title. Going back to the NWA World Heavyweight championship used by JCP/WCW in the late 80s, the likes of Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Sting, Barry Windham, and even Ronnie Garvin were all 230-pounds plus. Outside of short reigns by Tatsumi Fujinami and Keiji Mutoh, the belt was held by wrestlers who were at least average by the business' standards. Throughout the 1990s and early part of the new century, most of the world champions in WCW were average or bigger (Flair, Savage, Hogan, Giant, Nash, Vicious, Page, Booker, Steiner, Hart, Jarrett). If one forgets about the reigns of Vince Russo and David Arquette (as everyone should), then only Chris Benoit can be counted as a champion who was "below average" in size, and he weighed only a bit less than Jeff Jarrett or Bret Hart. Even after the sale to Fusient and the subsequent sale to Perfect Storm, the Big Gold belt continued to be held by guys who were almost all 240 pounds or bigger.

So what is the point of this history lesson? Simply that when WCW pushed AJ Styles all the way to the WCW World Heavyweight championship, they were bucking a trend that has existed in the promotion for a long long time. It may not have been an intentional trend, at least under Lance Storm, but it was there.

By real world measures, Styles isn't a small man. He is billed by WCW as six-foot, 225 pounds. That puts him just slightly below the billed size of Shawn Michaels. But the billed numbers are generous, and Styles is probably closer to 5'10" and 215 pounds. That still makes him significantly bigger than the average American male. In the pro wrestling industry, it makes a "natural cruiserweight". And yet that "natural cruiserweight" would rise to become one of the top stars in World Championship Wrestling and hold the WCW World Heavyweight championship.

The world championship win by Styles was not the biggest moment of the year for World Championship Wrestling. No, the biggest moment would happen on the business side and it would be a network change. Although the support from Fox Sports Net had increased notably since the broadcasting deal extension signed by in 2003, WCW was still seeking other options. With the WWE's deal with Spike TV to broadcast WWE Raw expiring in early 2005 and Raw moving back to the USA Network, Nitro moving to Spike TV seemed a logical move. And sure enough, it did happen. WCW Nitro debuted on Spike TV on August 3rd, 2005, on Wednesday night at 8:00pm (EST).

Perhaps the only thing surprising about the move of WCW Nitro from FSN to Spike was how aggressively the network pursued WCW. A television network can be many things, but one thing that one wouldn't typically expect it to be is vindictive. Yet that is how Spike TV has been described after their break with the WWE. "They wanted wrestling and they went hard after WCW to get it," says one television insider. The network offered the promotion a very sweet deal and promised a lot of advertising, which they would deliver on. Given some serious hype by Spike TV, the debut of Nitro drew a strong 2.2 rating. This was well below what the WWE was managing on the network but well above anything WCW Nitro had managed while on Fox Sports. The ratings for Nitro would remain above 2.0 for the first couple of months, then gradually decline to a consistent 1.5 - 1.7 range.

Both Spike TV and World Championship Wrestling are said to have been content with the ratings, even when they dropped a bit in later 2005. That does not mean the new marriage was entirely smooth. There were apparently some moments of notable tension between the network and promotion. The first came before the switch ever occurred, with Spike TV wanting Nitro to switch to back to Monday nights to go head-to-head with WWE Raw. Sanford and all of WCW management saw the folly in that. It would almost be certainly kicking off a fight that WCW could not win. So Sanford was insistent that the show remain on Wednesday nights. The promotion won that fight. The other issue, which came up in August, was the production values of Nitro. Its not clear why it didn't come up sooner, as Spike TV executives had to be aware of what Nitro looked like in Fox Sports Net, but after the first few shows on Spike, they felt that the overall production values were lacking. Which was accurate but largely intentional as WCW had maintained the "gritty" feel to Nitro that had originally occurred out of need. Spike felt the show should be closer to the smooth, polished feel of Raw. This would remain an issue between the network and promotion for some time, but as Nitro didn't undergo major cosmetic changes, it would seem that WCW won out on that issue as well.

The switch over to Spike TV also saw World Championship Wrestling introduce a new logo. Or more accurately, a re-worked version of their logo used from 1999-2001. Internally, this was reportedly seen as a small change rather than any major attempt to rebrand. In typical fashion, the wrestling fans online would seek some greater "meaning" within the change, such as speculating that the logo change meant WCW was changing its product to appease Spike TV.

The roster losses continued in 2005 for World Championship Wrestling. The attrition was not as damaging as it had been in 2004, but a repeat of that would have been difficult. The WWE signed up Mike Awesome, Ryan O'Reilly, Johnny Curtis, and Chris Harris. None were significant losses. The veteran Awesome was 40 years old and it was difficult to see exactly why the WWE signed him, especially as he would be released before the end of the year. He would work in Japan afterwards. The remainder were lower-card talents who had some potential but were not seen as future star material by WCW. Some of the other losses included Shane Douglas, Jimmy Yang, Yoshihiro Tajiri, and Johnny Hate (aka Johnny Stamboli). Yang and Tajiri both saw their contract expire and turned down extensions to work in Japan for a time.

It is has seemingly become common to paint the signing of WCW talent by the WWE as an intentional and vindictive tactic by Vince McMahon. Given the history of animosity between the two promotions, its rather easy to see it that way. Yet the indication from multiple sources within the WWE is that this wasn't the case. “Vince didn't see WCW as competition” is the oft-repeated phrase. Those sources indicate that the WWE saw signing talent from WCW as no different from signing talent from any other promotion. The only real difference is that most WCW talent had experience working on TV and had a bit more name value. The thought of “hurting the competition” wasn't a factor. In reality, it would seem that very few within WWE management or creative paid any real attention to the WCW product at this point.

Perhaps the biggest losses for WCW were Hugh Morrus and former world champion Diamond Dallas Page. Morrus had moved down the card a bit in the year prior and at 39 years old, was unlikely to get a heavy push. Recognizing this, he politely declined a contract extension offer and accepted an offer to tour in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling beginning in the summer of 2005. Page had been dealing with constant nagging injuries, which shouldn't be a surprise as he was nearing 50 years old. In the late spring, Page would suffer a neck injury in a match against Raven. After trying to work through the injury for about a month, he listened to doctors and took time out of the ring. Facing surgery and a lengthy rehab, the veteran made the decision to retire from ative competition instead. There was no big send off. He was also back on WCW television soon after, as he was asked to take over the role of commentator on Nitro, replacing Arn Anderson in the booth. Diamond Dallas Page would excel in the role.

On-screen, World Championship Wrestling had several storylines that captured the attention of the fans through 2005. Those included the push of AJ Styles to the top, which coincided with the reformation of the Four Horsemen stable, as well as the rise of Samoa Joe and the feud between Bryan Danielson and Lance Storm. They were all connected in some way.

The build-up of Styles was directly connected to Raven, as was the reformation of the Horseman. After losing the World Heavyweight title in the summer of 2004, the manipulative and charismatic veteran began slowly forming a new Flock. He took Christopher Daniels under his wing, guiding the "Fallen Angel" from the cruiserweight division to the TV title and then the US title. He also mentored the young Briscoe Brothers. Raven was clearly using the talent to try to push forward his own agenda, but he masked it well and it was hard to argue with the success that they found. Sterling James Keenan would also fall under Raven's influence as he became a key cruiserweight talent. Through the latter part of 2004, Styles and Daniels feuded over the United States championship, but the again-beloved Styles found himself stymied by interference from Raven and his cronies.

At the start of 2005, Styles was singled out by Flair in a promo that "Nature Boy" cut about the future of World Championship Wrestling being bright. Styles responded positively and this lead to Flair asking Styles to be the opponent in his first match back in WCW since 2001. It was a sign of respect, and the pair had a pretty solid match (considering Flair's age) at The Big Bang. After this, Flair was clearly in a mentor role for Styles and the two tagged together a couple of times. The legend made the young man dubbed "The Phenomenal" understand that pursing the US title was beneath him and that he should be focusing on the WCW World Heavyweight championship. The belt was held by Kanyon, but Styles still had to go through Raven to get a shot, who was still trying to get "his" belt back too. Raven was willing to do whatever it took to become a two-time world champion in WCW but Styles took the high road, which was his failing. He lost a "number one contender" match to Raven at SuperBrawl, after which Raven and his followers attacked not only Styles but also Flair who was at ringside. The save came from Lance Storm, Bryan Danielson, James Storm, and BJ Whitmer. The two former members of Pure Southern Pride had ended their feud with a match at Starrcade 22 but showed each other respect with a handshake afterwards, the viciousness of the feud muted in the end as both wrestlers realized they were being manipulated be Edward Vander Pyle to his own ends. There was no real hint of a PSP reunion until both Storm and Whitmer came to the aid of Styles and Flair.

On Nitro a few weeks later, Storm (James, not Lance) and Whitmer would team with Styles and Flair in an eight-man tag against Raven and his Flock. Flair would drop the four-finger gesture of the Four Horsemen during the match, but the angle would continue as a slow burn. It was also established that there was also a lot of respect between Lance Storm and Ric Flair, so that Storm and his tag partner Bryan Danielson were also there to help "The Nature Boy" when needed. It made for an intriguing dynamic, as most fans recognized that thing were building toward a new version of the Four Horsemen, but it wasn't really clear who that would include. What was becoming increasingly clear is that AJ Styles would indeed require help to overcome the numbers advantage of Raven.

At the Hostile Intent 2005, Raven would claim the World Heavyweight championship for the second time, pinning Kanyon with some help from his friends. The same night, Styles defeated his long-time rival Daniels and was named the number one contender for the world championship as a result. The build toward a new Horsemen would continue for several months, and the newest incarnation of the greatest power stable in pro wrestling history would not be introduced until the June 1st Nitro. It was Arn Anderson who did the introduction and it was one of the longest individual segments on Nitro in a long time. The show was held in North Carolina, and "The Enforcer" got a huge reception. He talked about how great it was to have Flair back in WCW, and that with Tully in the front office, it felt just like old times. Arn told of how one of the reasons that Ric wanted to come back to WCW was because of all the great young talent the promotion had. World Championship Wrestling was as much about the future as it was about tradition. It was in that spirit, Anderson claimed, that Flair came to him recently with an idea. A truly great idea. A resurrection. Tonight, the greatest faction in pro wrestling history would be reborn. The Four Horsemen had returned! Arn then introduced each member of the faction individually and with some depth, starting with Ric Flair. Then James Storm. Then BJ Whitmer. Then finally the reigning WCW World Heavyweight champion, AJ Styles. The fans roared their approval with each name. The Horsemen were back in WCW at last.

The reformation of such a group is always going to bear some controversy with fans, especially when it required three new members. All of the choices would be questioned by fans, even if they made sense. Styles made sense as he had become one of the new young stars of WCW, dynamic and exciting in the ring. Despite being charismatic, he remained relatively unpolished on the microphone. But in many ways, he represented the new WCW athletic ethos. Being the world champion didn't hurt, either. Storm was an ideal inclusion - a charismatic hard-partying talent from Tennessee who already lived the Horseman way. Whitmer was a tough guy from Kentucky and reminded many of Arn Anderson, so he made sense as well. Oddly, there were some fans who did question Ric Flair being a part of the new group. Not that they felt he should be excluded, but rather take a side role, as Anderson would. The idea there apparently being that Flair was not really wrestling full-time. Most recognized that Flair had to be part of this group.

It did not take the new Four Horsemen long to begin collecting gold in addition to Style's world title, just like the days of old. At Bash at the Beach, the reformed Pure Southern Pride tandem took the WCW World Tag Team championships from T.O.S. An intriguing dynamic to the build of Styles prior to him winning the world title from Raven was the hints that Flair dropped about teaching “Phenomenal” all his dirty tricks. Despite being an undeniable babyface, Styles would need some of those dirty tricks to eventually cleanly pin Raven at Great American Bash and become world champion. The group remained beloved by fans, but they proved entirely willing to do whatever was necessary to win. That was “the Horseman way”.

While one can debate whether or not having a champion who legitimately weighed under 220 pounds represented a change in mentality and product for World Championship Wrestling, Styles would end up being a solid champion for the promotion. Its somewhat difficult to measure whether he succeeded as a draw over his five month reign, as TV ratings saw a notable jump right in the middle but that was due to the network switch. Beyond that, WCW didn't really see any real deviation from its normal slow upward trend of results. There were concerns amongst some fans that Styles would be used merely as a transitional champion by WCW, perhaps moving the belt on to Samoa Joe. He would indeed lose the belt to Joe, but not until Halloween Havoc. In the meantime, “Phenomenal” would prove an exciting world champion and legitimate main event star for World Championship Wrestling.

As much as the first half of 2005 was about the build of AJ Style and building toward a new version of the Four Horseman, it was equally about the building of Samoa Joe. "The Samoan Machine" already had a bit of a history in WCW, with his first appearances dating back to 2001. Starting in late 2003, he had worked dates for WCW regularly but not exclusively. As Lance Storm already had an eye toward what would be done with Joe down the road, the big man was booked carefully and protected. As 2005 kicked off, Joe was finally exclusive to WCW. And he started the year out by losing two matches in a row.

It was an odd way to kick off a strong push but it was done very deliberately. The push had realistically begun through much of 2004. Although Joe wasn't pushed up the card much and didn't work most pay per view events, he mowed through much of the lower-level talent in WCW in a fairly domination fashion. He would do the same to guys in the middle of the card through the first half of 2005, then guys nearer to the top of the card. The reason that Joe lost two matches to start the year was simple: Goldberg. While that may not immediately seem like a direct correlation, it was for the WCW creative team. They recognized that Joe had not actually lost a televised match in WCW yet. There were some similarities between them as workers, too - both were intense big guys. Goldberg had a better build and more charisma, while Joe was clearly a better in-ring worker. Of greater concern, however, was that Joe would be pushed in a relatively similar manner as Goldberg had been - by smashing people. Wanting to ensure that the push of Joe would feel different, beyond the matches being longer and quite honestly better, the decision was made to remove the whole "undefeated" aspect right away. So Joe lost by disqualification against Colt Cabana when he refused to let go of a submission hold after "Captain Classic" reached the ropes, then lost in a tag team match against Cabana and Steel, with Joe's partner Booker T taking the pinfall. While Joe would lose in such a manner (never directly getting pinned or submitted) a few more times through 2005, he predominantly won and did so convincingly.

One of the reasons that World Championship Wrestling was able to find succeed and growth through the middle of the decade was the ability to build new stars. Given that the promotion still featured stars like Sting, Ric Flair, and Booker T, some fans will see that as an ironic statement. Yet it's tough to deny when you consider Sean O'Haire, Kanyon, Raven, AJ Styles, and Samoa Joe all becoming legit main eventers for WCW. Colt Cabana was getting close to that level by the spring of 2005. Having learned to better harness his goofy charisma and comedy elements had seen "Captain Classic" move up the roster. To the point where many had him picked out as a future world champion. There is some indication that Lance Storm and his team were considering Cabana as the man who might eventually take the belt from Joe, but any such plans were derailed when the WWE came calling.

"The offer came in at the last minute. Everyone was taken unaware, even Colt," Raven commented in a shoot interview. The WWE had given no indication they had interest in the youngster, even to Cabana. Yet just a few weeks before his existing contract expired, and when he had agreed an extension in principle that had yet to be signed, Cabana was contacted and offered a fairly lucrative contract. He did what was probably the "right" thing in that circumstance - he went and talked to Lance Storm, who brought in Tully Blanchard. An effort was made to talk Cabana into staying, but both Storm and Blanchard also recognized the opportunity that was being offered. In addition, WCW could not justify matching the financial terms of the contract. And so Cabana was gone, unexpectedly and with little notice. He is said to ahve been massively apologetic backstage for the situation but it still took a rising star from the WCW ranks. This is a move where it's easy to paint the WWE in a negative light, as Vince McMahon has used plenty of such dirty tricks in the past, but WWE insider's indicator there was no malice involved. They simply became aware of Cabana's contract situation at a late juncture and still decided to pursue their interest.

From struggle can emerge opportunity, and that was the case for World Championship Wrestling. When Cabana left in the spring of 2005, CM Punk was finally signed full-time. He had worked some dates for the promotion starting in late 2004, but was never given a full-time contract. The great work and popularity of the 26-year old in both the AWA and ROH was hard to ignore. While some have tried to paint Punk as being intended as a direct replacement for the departed Cabana, that's quite unrealistic. Punk was still relatively-unknown to WCW fans while Cabana had been on the cusp of main event status, so he would have made a poor direct replacement.

There are indications that Punk had been "on the radar" for WCW for some time. It would be difficult for him not to be, as he was the most popular wrestler in their developmental program, even if he wasn't actually contracted to WCW. It's been hinted, but never directly confirmed, that Punk was offered a developmental deal by WCW more than once but held out until he was offered a sure spot on the main roster. There have also been hints that some within WCW, particularly within the front office, did not "get" Punk. There were definitely some concerns on the creative side of whether Punk's unique charisma and appeal would translate on a bigger stage. Punk would get his chance in part because he had support within WCW. On man in particular felt Punk was going to be a star - Raven. The same Raven who had feuded with Punk in the AWA through late 2003 and early 2004, and turned him into a star there, was sure Punk would be a major player for World Championship Wrestling. When he debuted shortly after Cabana left, Punk was introduced part of Raven's Flock. It was an interesting way to do it, given the existing history between the two in the AWA, but WCW creative (well, Raven at least) ensured to maintain the continuity and subtly referenced their past history, so it was a nice touch for those few fans who followed both the AWA and WCW.

Raven's Flock played a key role for WCW, as it was used to introduce a number of new talents beyond Punk. The stable had moved away from the grunge-inspired, despondent group of social outcasts it had been and became more of a group of edgy individuals who questioned the traditions and "rules" of the business. It made the group a natural foil for the tradition-minded, "old school" Four Horsemen. Raven had evolved as a character as well, becoming something of a "dark prophet" who wanted to influence the present and future of the business by sharing his knowledge and experience. The membership of this new Flock included Christopher Daniels (who had become the clear second-in-command), Sterling James Keenan, the Briscoe Brothers, Low Ki, Amazing Red, Michael Shane, Frankie Kazarian, Johnny Devine, and Alex Shelley at different times but it was almost constantly in flux. The movement in and out of the group set up a lot of low-level feuds, especially in the Cruiserweight division. It was commonly used to introduce new talent onto the roster, such as the case with CM Punk.

The Flock also had an indirect influence on one of the more interesting feuds of 2005. The Slow Burn Dream Tag tandem of Bryan Danielson and Lance Storm was extremely talented and very successful, considered by some to be one of the top teams in the world during that period. Yet everyone expected that the "slow burn" would eventually lead to another feud between the two men, after they had come together through a feud in the first place. There were some hints at problems early in 2005, when “American Dragon” decided to take part in the 2005 W1 tournament, a decision that Storm was clearly not happy with. Danielson made the Semi Finals, but he and Storm were also offered a shot at the World Tag Team belts held by The Briscoe Brothers. At Spring Showcase, Danielson defeated Jamie Noble in the opener to make the Final, then helped Storm win the tag titles, and then defeated Austin Aries to win the 2005 W1 tournament. Three matches on one event and three wins made for one of the best individual nights a WCW wrestler had enjoyed in a long time, even if Storm did a lot of the work in the tag team match. The Slow Burn Dream Team would hold the tag belts for just a month before losing them to T.O.S.

Those first hints of disharmony between Storm and Danielson would bear out eventually, with a few additional hints through the summer. The Horseman were set to face the Flock in a War Games match at Fall Brawl and they needed someone to take the fifth spot. The search began in August and took most of September. Ric Flair was clear that not just anyone would suffice and the wrestler chosen was likely to be invited into the Horsemen afterwards to take the spot of "The Nature Boy". Not that Flair was retiring but as he didn't wrestle frequently, he felt that the group needed four fully-active wrestlers. So Flair would move into the "JJ Dillon" role. The search would come down between two members of the Slow Burn Dream Team. Neither Storm nor Danielson were really a direct fit as they didn't adhere to the hard-partying lifestyle of the Horseman but they certainly merited inclusion based on talent. The "American Dragon" was desperate to be picked, cutting an emotional promo about how he had grown up watching Flair and the Horseman dominate, thus how much it would mean to him be selected for the honor. Storm was less enthused with the idea, yet he was the man who would be chosen. The stage was set.

After the Horsemen were successful in the War Games match at Fall Brawl, Lance Storm was offered a permanent spot in the stable. Storm admitted he was hesitant and he had a good point - he really didn't fit the ethos of the group. Flair cut a promo where he compared Storm to Arn Anderson, saying that the uber-serious Storm could be the glue that held the group together. Storm relented and joined, giving the Horsemen two Storms. Danielson didn't take it so well, and when he was told that the Slow Burn Tag Team was done, he reacted by attacking Storm. That earned him a beat down from the Horsemen, which Storm tried to keep from being worse. "American Dragon" would aggressively stalk his former-partner. He was well behind in the numbers game and took further beat-downs because of that. It created an interesting dynamic, as Danielson was playing the heel yet he got some underdog sympathy for his dogged determination and undeniable courage in the face of superior numbers. The Horsemen were babyfaces yet certainly seemed heelish in using their numbers to overwhelm Danielson without remorse. Lance Storm did show remorse and clearly preferred to deal with the situation with Danielson himself. But that wasn't the Horseman way. Storm wasn't fitting into the group that well, as being the "straight man" in the group created a few awkward moments.

"American Dragon" would get a chance at Lance Storm at Halloween Havoc, but Storm triumphed when his stable-mates interfered. They would meet again in the W2 tournament - Storm teamed with AJ Styles while Danielson was reunited with his Team Widow-Maker partner Low-Ki. This time, Danielson would triumph as interference in the match by Ric Flair would backfire, allowing Danielson to score an upset pin on the former world champion Styles. At Utter Mayhem 2K5, Danielson would publicly challenge Lance Storm, going so far as to state that if he couldn't defeat Storm in a fair match with no interference, he would leave World Championship Wrestling forever. Flair would call him on that declaration, forcing Danielson to put his WCW career on the line to get a match against Lance Storm at Starrcade. Storm would have to do the same, but with an added caveat - at nearly 37 years old, Storm had no intention of leaving WCW to start over somewhere else. So if he lost, he would retire from professional wrestling.

The match would be the semi-main event of Starrcade 24, second only to the World Heavyweight championship match between Samoa Joe and Sting. In reality, the Storm-Danielson match probably the primary draw of the event. The Four Horsemen were banned from ringside. The match was brilliant spectacle, a forty minute technical battle that ebbed and flowed perfectly without ever dragging. Just past the half hour mark, Storm had the opportunity to win "the Horseman way" when a lovely fan at ringside - who would turn out to be the girlfriend of James Storm - slipped the Canadian an object, which turned out to be brass knuckles. Storm seemed to consider it but tossed them aside rather than used them. It was a decision that may have cost him the match and his career. After a great sequence of traded finisher attempts and near-finishes, Danielson locked in a LeBell Lock and forced Storm to tap out. The strong crowd in Toronto gave the match a huge reception, then chanting Storm's name as the fallen warrior shook hands with his former partner. An emotional Storm took a microphone and thanked the fans, then walked out of the WCW ring. The Four Horsemen were down a man and Lance Storm was retired.

The retirement was not a work – he was actually retiring. Which is not to say he would never step into the ring again, but he would no longer be an active competitor for World Championship Wrestling. Storm would retain his position as Head Booker, and that was at the heart of the retirement. The WCW travel schedule remained a bit lighter than the WWE, but it required being on the road 4 or 5 days per week. With his booking duties requiring regular meetings with management, Storm faced a heavier travel schedule than most. Even reducing the amount of house shows he worked only helped so much. So by mid-2005, Storm has said he realized that he had to give up something. For the sake of his family life and his overall health, he had to sacrifice either his in-ring career or his booking duties. Seeing better long-term prospects with his creative work (not that Storm expected to book forever, he admits, but working as part of the management team of a wrestling promotion looked better on a resume than just being a wrestler) he decided to focus on that side of his career. It also meant reduced travel. If strictly booking WCW, Storm had to be on the road just 2-3 days per week at most, which meant more time at home in Calgary with his family.

Although he never won a world championship, it is difficult not to view the loss of Lance Storm as a blow to World Championship Wrestling. Since 2000, he had been the most consistent in-ring performer in the promotion. He was over enough with the fans to main event a pay per view when required and certainly would have made a fine world champion. The decision to put over Bryan Danielson before he retired was a keen one by Storm, as Danielson was the most natural in-ring successor. Danielson would also replace him in the Four Horsemen in early 2006.

The rise of Danielson - and Styles before that - highlighted the degree of changes to the WCW roster by the end of 2005, as compared to what the roster had looked like back in 2001 and 2002. The roster was certainly larger, necessitated by the additional programming and allowed for by WCW being more financially secure. The promotion also carried a few more "luxury" talent, such as managers and valets. The American Wrestling Association showed its value as a lot of young new talent came through the promotion. Not all of them made an impact or lasted with WCW, but quite a number did. Rumors continued to plague WCW and the promotion was often linked with talent from the WWE who were said to be unhappy or nearing the end of their contracts. While WCW did add some talent who had recently been part of the WWE, they all fell under the "cast off" category and were all midcard additions to WCW at best. There were also regular talents from Japan on the roster, typically on loan from one of the “big three” puro promotions, or the upstart DragonGate.

A couple of WCW legends made a return in 2005, though under very differing circumstances. After the rumor-mongering done by Hulk Hogan in early 2003, it seemed as thought World Championship Wrestling wanted nothing more to do with one of the men most responsible for the heights hit in the 90s. So it was something of a shock when Hogan was revealed as the "special ringside enforcer" for the World Heavyweight championship match between Raven and Sting at Clash of the Champions XXXVI. The whole situation was a bit odd and its tough to get much information from WCW insiders about what led to it. Common speculation has indicated that the promotion was pushed to use Hogan by HDNet, which was broadcasting the event. Did the network for WCW to use the "legendary" Hogan to build hype in the mainstream media, or even bankroll the signing? Possible but such things remain unconfirmed. Hogan made a couple of WCW appearances before the Clash, then played a big role in the main event as he accidentally interfered with his old rival Sting, allowing Raven to score the victory. Then he disappeared once again. The myriad of rumors that he would sign on long term with WCW, either as a personality or an actual wrestler, proved groundless. At least for the moment.

The second return happened in the fall. Since Randy Savage had left WCW in 2004, the promotion had lacked a regular on-screen authority figure. Not that WCW made constant use of an authority figure, compared to the WWE or even WCW themselves in the past, but the role certainly had its uses. Especially when it came to introducing the W1 and W2 tournament talent and such. After having used the likes of Arn Anderson and Ted DiBiase as Interim Nitro Commissioner when required, WCW management wanted someone they could use regularly in the role. The man picked shocked some fans, as Kevin Nash was revealed as the new Nitro Commissioner. A former world champion, he had a major legacy in the promotion as he had been a key player in the rise of World Championship Wrestling... and just as key in its fall. His history as a world champion and key figure made him a great choice as the new authority figure but that same history the perception that he was one of those who had damaged the promotion made him a polarizing figure to long-time WCW fans.

There seems to be a tendency amongst some fans to continually underestimate WCW management. Though to be fair, the same can be said of similar fans questioning the WWE front office regarding every decision. The front office of World Championship Wrestling was far from ignorant of Nash's reputation. The big man was brought in what can only be called “a very short leash”. He has admitted that when hired, he was essentially told that he was an entirely dispensable nostalgia act and that he would have absolutely no leeway if he went outside what he was told to do. Whether it was due to that threat or simply because his reputation was over-blown, Nash would be model employe for at least the first few months of his tenure as Nitro Commissioner.

Though he cannot legitimately be considered a WCW legend, Steven Regal (aka William Regal) returned as well. The English grappler had a good run in the WWE, but reportedly had some kind of falling out or even altercation with McMahon. Though neither man has confirmed, the rumors suggest that Regal was unhappy at his role in the promotion. He played a pretty key role in the “Eugene” story-arc, in which wrestler Nick Dinsmore played a mentally-challenged wrestler. Equal parts campy fun and moderately offensive wrestle-crap, being Eugene's tag team partner and mentor was hardly a glamour role for Regal. It is unclear whether Regal was promised a push or whether he felt he earned it, but it seems he was unhappy when he was told of the WWE's plans heading into 2006. The WWE was working to develop a new brand, one which would be specifically focused on bringing through younger talent. It would have a weekly TV show and title belts, like the other brands, but clearly be a "B" brand. Regal was intended to be one of the main talents on the brand, which was a nice thought until it became clear that meant he would mostly be putting over the young workers coming through. Whether Regal asked for his release or was simply fired is also not clear, as the company simply made the typical generic “wish him all the best in his future endeavours” notation on the website in the early fall. Regal himself has said he wasn't intending to return to WCW but rather looking to head back to England for an extended period, but that changed when he was contacted by Lance Storm with an offer. The whole situation with Regal leaving the WWE is vague and cloudy, which is odd in a business where such situations often come to public light eventually. Making things even more confusing is that Regal has been nothing but complimentary toward the WWE and Vince McMahon since he left.

Within weeks of debuting, Regal would win the WCW United States championship. It was clear that he would not merely be a midcard act for WCW this time, even if he might never win the world title. Regal would hold onto the US title for a short period of time, losing it in early 2006 to Bryan Danielson in a fantastic match, but he began to assemble a stable of talent around him that looked like a British version of the Flock. The group was dubbed Regal's Empire.

Another WWE wrestler who joined WCW earlier in 2005 was Matt Hardy. The older Hardy brother had been released in the early spring over a backstage situation where his girlfriend, Lita, cheated on him and then dumped him for fellow WWE wrestler Edge. The situation became public and the WWE turned it into a storyline but it started to get legitimately ugly, so Hardy was the one who was released. Hardy would debut with WCW in the early summer, winning the US title but not really winning over fans. His WCW run would last just a few months, as the possibility of returning to the WWE motivated him to ask WCW for his release. Given that management reportedly never saw Hardy as a potential star, they granted his request and he soon returned back to the WWE to feud with Edge and Lita.

The short tenure of Matt Hardy at least disproved the theory that some espoused that anyone from the WWE with at least a bit of name value would be a big star for World Championship Wrestling. Given enough time, it is possible Hardy would have won over the WCW fans but that isn't definite. There are some suggestions that WCW hoped to sign Jeff Hardy and re-team the brothers, although both brothers have stated they wanted to find success as singles wrestlers rather than teaming up again. Despite the younger Hardy brother being released by the WWE in 2003, there was no attempt to sign him by WCW. Having been released from the WWE over "personal issues" (reported drug problems, erratic behaviour, and overall unreliability), the feeling within WCW was simply that more charismatic and dynamic Hardy brother was simply not worth the trouble he would likely bring. So Jeff Hardy continued to work for ROH and TNA, giving both promotions a bit of a boost, until he would eventually get a second chance in the WWE.

One backstage loss suffered by WCW in 2005 was the departure of John Laurinaitis . The man who had two runs in WCW as Head Booker and who had been replaced by Lance Storm in early 2003 had surprised many inside the company by remaining with WCW for another two years. He worked as part of the creative team lead by Storm, with his specific focus being on match planning. While not the most popular personality backstage due to his occasionally-abrasive manner, he did his job well and that has to be respected. He resigned with WCW to take an offer from Vince McMahon which put him on the executive side of the world's biggest wrestling promotion. The departure was internally considered a loss for WCW but not one that fans would likely to recognize in the product.

Another legend made a return, in a sense. Between 1988 and 1997, World Championship Wrestling held 35 Clash of the Champions events. They were pay per calibre cards held on television. The first one went head-to-head with WrestleMania IV and was headlined by the memorable 45-minute draw between Ric Flair and Sting, the match which is considered to have made the then-young Sting into a star. In early 2005, WCW was in negotiations with HDNet for another issue and the idea of live, PPV-caliber events came up. After some negotiations, the Clash was resurrected. The agreement called for 2 to 4 of the events per year with flexible dates and to be broadcast live. The network compensated the promotion quite handsomely for the shows. In fact, some industry insiders have suggested that WCW made as much from the Clash of the Champions events broadcast on HDNet as most of their pay per views – although if true, that also had a lot to do with the “average” WCW pay per view during this era only drawing mediocre numbers, at least when compared to the WWE from the same period or to the WCW peak.

Despite an absence of 8 years, WCW continued with the naming convention for the Clash. So the first of the resurrected event was Clash of the Champions XXXVI: Genesis. It was held in early June and headlined by Raven defending the WCW World Heavyweight championship against Sting. WCW reportedly wanted to have Sting against against Ric Flair in a throw-back to the very first event, but HDNet wanted the event headlined by a world title match. All the titles in WCW were defended on the card. A rather strange aspect to the show was that while all the title matches were interesting and sellable match-ups, they were not based on any current feuds and therefore had virtually no build. Raven, for example, was feuding with AJ Styles and Four Horseman, while Sting was in the midst of a feud with Kanyon and would disappear from WCW TV again for several months when it concluded at the Great American Bash. Despite the random match-ups, the show was very solid and drew good ratings (by HDNet standards), making it a success all the way around.

The negotiations between HDNet and WCW that had lead to the Clash being brought back were actually over a new show for the promotion. For the 2004 W2 and the 2005 W1 tournaments, WCW had put together one-hour preview shows, which had been broadcast repeatedly on HDNet. WCW was able to use footage provided by outside promotions to help promote some of the on-loan talent for the events. The shows were seen as an effective way to introduce fans to some of the talent, as well as to highlight any stories that would be key to the tournaments. Both sides liked the concept and a deal was agreed in the late spring for the show to be developed. There were complications, as HDNet envisioned it as essentially a recap highlight show which would heavily feature footage for Nitro, but Spike TV wasn't so keen on that idea. WCW wanted it to be more of a variety show, though not in mold the Tuesday Night Titans. WCW wanted to model it on preview and recap shows produced by sports networks like ESPN. It would feature recaps, previews, analysis of feuds, hype videos, interviews, and even historical segments. It was another way to promote the product and, as one insider stated, a unique way to emphasize the strong continuity that WCW was trying to build around. WCW Fallout debuted on October 7th, 2005, hosted by Diamond Dallas Page. The show drew decent ratings (again, by HDNet standards) and would continue every Friday night from that point on. The show tended to bounce between thirty and sixty minutes in length, but was otherwise seen as a solid addition by fans.

With the first two editions of the W1 and W2 tournaments making both very popular events with fans, WCW ended up expanding both tournaments in 2005. Both were kept as single-elimination tournaments, at least for the time being, but expanded in terms of participants. The W1 included 21 wrestlers and the W2 expanded all the way to 24 teams, with both using preliminary round that many teams coming from outside the promotion had to go through. There were more outside talent than ever before. Yet it was Bryan Danielson defeating Austin Aries in the final of the W1 and then the young Briscoe Brothers taking the victory in the W2 Tandem tournament. For all the outside talent that these tournaments showcased, they remained a stage for World Championship Wrestling talent first and foremost. The W1 victory by “American Dragon” marked his final match as a true cruiserweight.

The world of professional wrestling suffered a trio of tragedies through 2005, two of them in the WWE. The first happened early in the year. Chris Benoit was wrestling Eddie Guerrero in the main event of a SmackDown taping. The Canadian went for a top rope move to the outside but something happened and instead of landing on his opponent, he over-rotated and slammed his upper back into the ringside barrier before landing on the back of his head. Losing feeling in his lower extremities, Benoit was put on a stretcher and taken to hospital while worried fans watched. Less a week later, Benoit would walk out of the hospital under his own power. But the damage he had done to his neck and upper back was severe. He would go through several surgeries and extensive rehab over the next year but because of degenerative nerve damage, there would be no comeback. With that one moment, the career of one of the greatest technical wrestlers in the world was over.

While a great wrestler having their career end like that is truly unfortunate, the consequences of that moment would be truly tragic. Eddie Guerrero was a close friend of Benoit and according to those close to him, always blamed himself for the injury. No one else did, and logically, it would be tough to expect Guerrero to recognize that Benoit had come off the top rope incorrectly and adjust adequately. The incident left Guerrero despondent and while those close to him encouraged him to take some time off the road, he took a series of medications to deal with the depression and insomnia. On November 13, 2005, Guerrero was found dead in a hotel room by his nephew Chavo. The cause of death was acute heart failure. While the circumstances would be debated, the series of medications Guerrero was on at the time of his death was seen as a contributing factor, as well as past issues with drug usage and steroids. An immensely talented wrestler who has beloved by fans and well-liked throughout the industry, the death of Eddie Guerrero rocked the pro wrestling world.

Although it may have flown under the radar of many North American wrestling fans, Japan suffered a similar shocking loss earlier in 2005. On July 11, 2005, Shinya Hashimoto was felled by a brain aneurysm. He had just turned 40 and was about to embark on a comeback with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Given that Hashimoto had spent the last half of 2004 with World Championship Wrestling as the WCW World Heavyweight champion, the loss was felt within WCW.

All three of the men had worked for WCW at some point in their careers and two were former WCW world champions. While all three losses were high-profile, the reality is that the wrestling business is a harsh one and it has taken many careers and even lives.

The world of professional wrestling is a harsh one, and positive change can come slowly. Since 2001, WCW had been continually moving toward “the future". While WCW had not forsaken the "today" in favor of the "tomorrow", some fans had begun to grow frustrated at the idea of always looking ahead. 2005 was where that "tomorrow" began to pay off for World Championship Wresting. And it was clear that the future was men like Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Christopher Daniels, and AJ Styles.

Championships

WCW World Heavyweight Championships
Kanyon (2) – won December 2004 – lost March 2005
Raven (2) – won March 2005 – lost June 2005
AJ Styles (1) – won June 2005 – lost October 2005
Samoa Joe (1) – won October 2005

WCW United States Championship
Christopher Daniels (2) – won December 2004 – lost April 2005
Adam Pearce (1) – won April 2005 – lost June 2005
Matt Hardy (1) – won June 2005 – lost July 2005
D'Lo Brown (2) – won July 2005 – lost August 2005
Kensuke Sasaki (1) – won August 2005 – lost October 2005
Antonio Banks (1) – won October 2005 – lost November 2005
William Regal (1) – won November 2005

WCW World Tag Team Championships
Slow Burn Dream Team (1) – won December 2004 – lost February 2005
T.O.S. (1) – won February 2005 – lost March 2005
The Briscoe Brothers (1) – won March 2005 – lost April 2005
Slow Burn Dream Team (2) – won April 2005 – lost May 2005
T.O.S. (2) – won May 2005 – lost July 2005
Pure Southern Pride (4) – won July 2005 – lost September 2005
The Briscoe Brothers (2) – won September 2005 – lost October 2005
Kidman & Helms (1) – won October 2005 – lost November 2005
Punk & Steel (1) – won November 2005 – lost December 2005
Bang (1) – won December 2005

WCW World Television Championship
Billy Kidman (1) – won December 2004 – lost January 2005
Antonio Banks (1) – won January 2004 – lost July 2005
Doug Williams (2) – won July 2005 – lost August 2005
Antonio Banks (2) – won August 2005 – lost September 2005
Rob Conway (1) – won September 2005 – lost December 2005
Doug Williams (2) – won December 2005

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Austin Aries (1) – won November 2004 – lost January 2005
KENTA (1) – won January 2005 – lost March 2005
Jamie Noble (3) – won March 2005 – lost May 2005
Kaz Hayashi (2) – won May 2005 – lost August 2005
Sterling James Keenan (2) – won August 2005 – lost October 2005
Elix Skipper (2) – won October 2005 – lost November 2005
Johnny Devine (1) – won November 2005 – lost November 2005
Low Ki (2) – won November 2005 – lost December 2005
Mistico (1) – won December 2005

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships
Volador Jr & Mistico (1) – won December 2004 – lost January 2005
Havana Pitbulls (3) – won January 2005 – lost February 2005
Greatest Men Alive (1) – won February 2005 – lost April 2005
Havana Pitbulls (4) – won April 2005 – lost June 2005
Amazing Red & Low Ki (1) – won June 2005 – lost October 2005
Greatest Men Alive (2) – won October 2005 – lost November 2005
Elix Skipper & Elijah Burke (1) – won November 2005 – lost December 2005
Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi (1) – won December 2005

W1 Tournaments
Bryan Danielson d. Austin Aries

W2 Global Tandem Tag League
The Briscoe Brothers d. Pure Southern Pride

Awards

Wrestler of the Year:
AJ Styles

Cruiserweight of the Year:
Austin Aries

Rookie of the Year:
CM Punk

Tag Team of the Year
The Briscoe Brothers

Feud of the Year:
Raven vs AJ Styles

Match of the Year:
Lance Storm vs Bryan Danielson at Starrcade 23

[Hashasheen]

Wow. That's a lot of recap....

1. Regal has pubicly stated he'd take a bullet to the head for McMahon, so I don't see him walking out on the WWE for much of anything.
2. Storm retiring was a nice emotional touch. The Benoit/Guerrero story, not so much.
3. Matt Hardy in WCW? Ugh...
4. New Horsemen, with Flair less active? Not quite ringing with me as creating a new faction that paid tribute to the Horsemen would have, but it's not bad...
5. The longevity of some of your workers astounds me. Booker T, Kanyon, Raven... You going to do anything with Kanyon and his closested homosexuality issues? And why is Booker T not closer into the main-event? I mean, with only a few short title-runs & focus he's had, you'd have expected him to jump to the WWE instead of Cabana...
6. The Flock rejuvenation. Rather nice, though your rebranding of it as a band of renegades kinda makes the Flock name less... fitting?

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by Hashasheen

Wow. That's a lot of recap....

1. Regal has pubicly stated he'd take a bullet to the head for McMahon, so I don't see him walking out on the WWE for much of anything.
2. Storm retiring was a nice emotional touch. The Benoit/Guerrero story, not so much.
3. Matt Hardy in WCW? Ugh...
4. New Horsemen, with Flair less active? Not quite ringing with me as creating a new faction that paid tribute to the Horsemen would have, but it's not bad...
5. The longevity of some of your workers astounds me. Booker T, Kanyon, Raven... You going to do anything with Kanyon and his closested homosexuality issues? And why is Booker T not closer into the main-event? I mean, with only a few short title-runs & focus he's had, you'd have expected him to jump to the WWE instead of Cabana...
6. The Flock rejuvenation. Rather nice, though your rebranding of it as a band of renegades kinda makes the Flock name less... fitting?

Yeah, it was a long one...

1. Regal has always felt like a WWE loyalist, given how willing he has been to take on different roles. Which is why I didn't want to have him leave the WWE for WCW. Rather, he just wants some time away and ends up getting an intriguing offer.

2. The Benoit/Guerrero deal was basically a way to try to deal with two issues I hate dealing with. Even if I'm just booking in TEW, those ones always give me pause. It was trying to find a way to not have to deal with the Benoit situation fallout. It was just a compromise, one that didn't feel disrepectful nor minimizing. I don't know if everyone who reads it will take it that way, but its the way intended. It sucks from a booker persepctive, as both were guys I would have loved to bring back to WCW.

3. I wasn't sure it would work. I think Jeff Hardy could work, though that feels a bit TNAish. But I still don't want things to be "perfect" and have every signing be ideal. So... WCW Matt Hardy!

4. Flair would have been pretty active during that first six months. Not wrestling every week, but getting in the ring reasonably often. To me that allows them to transition to having a Flair-less Horsemen, at least in regard to the primary four. Not perfect but beyond deciding to have Flair wrestling full-time every week at his age, I don't know how else you do it.

5. Kanyon and Booker will have their moments. Don't want to get into it too much as stuff will happen down the road. But as for whether Booker would be happy taking on a role that is essentially an upper midcard guy... Yeah and no. I could see him potentially getting unhappy but enough to walk out on the promotion, when he doesn't have a sure deal with the E? Booker is 41 by this point. I think he might be of some interest to the WWE but I don't know that they would want to main event like they did - that took 5 years of build within the WWE. Most people tend to rock the boat a bit less if they don't have a real backup plan. And TNA, given they are significantly smaller here, would probably not be the most appealing backup plan.

Raven is getting up there in age but his in-ring stuff is gradually decreasing. As for Kanyon, he's only 35 years old so he's a full step behind Booker and Raven in that regard.

6. Raven's Flock is not really intended as a direct resurrection, the way that the Four Horseman moreso is. It harkens back to the original Flock in that they are talent that don't really "fit in" directly for various reasons (although sometimes its just because they are new) and a way to introduce new talent. The original WCW Flock was more about social outcasts and misfits. I don't know if trying to do that in 2005 would work like it did in 1997, so I took those elements out. I considered going with a different name entirely, but I realized that Raven lead a stable of mostly young talent would feel like the Flock to some degree anyway, even if it was called something else.

[Hashasheen]

Originally Posted by Bigpapa42

1. Regal has always felt like a WWE loyalist, given how willing he has been to take on different roles. Which is why I didn't want to have him leave the WWE for WCW. Rather, he just wants some time away and ends up getting an intriguing offer.

Makes sense.

2. The Benoit/Guerrero deal was basically a way to try to deal with two issues I hate dealing with. Even if I'm just booking in TEW, those ones always give me pause. It was trying to find a way to not have to deal with the Benoit situation fallout. It was just a compromise, one that didn't feel disrepectful nor minimizing. I don't know if everyone who reads it will take it that way, but its the way intended. It sucks from a booker persepctive, as both were guys I would have loved to bring back to WCW.

I know what you mean, but personally speaking, that situation could have been made a lot more happy and I don't think anyone would have minded.

3. I wasn't sure it would work. I think Jeff Hardy could work, though that feels a bit TNAish. But I still don't want things to be "perfect" and have every signing be ideal. So... WCW Matt Hardy!

Not complaining that much, just saying it Matt Hardy in WCW. :P

4. Flair would have been pretty active during that first six months. Not wrestling every week, but getting in the ring reasonably often. To me that allows them to transition to having a Flair-less Horsemen, at least in regard to the primary four. Not perfect but beyond deciding to have Flair wrestling full-time every week at his age, I don't know how else you do it.

Do what TNA did with Fortune (except better). Have Arn come out and take about all the great young talents in the back, how they remind him of the original horsemen runs and the later younger additions like Sting, Benoit, Malenko, etc... Bring out Flair who says he wants to do for some talent what the Horsemen did for him and company, and announce your Fortune version.

I planned something similiar for an dead TNA 2010 idea myself, where Flair had Fortune slowburn into existence as the heel/tweener top group of TNA (AJ/World, Beer Money/Tag, Kazarian/X-Division & Daniels/Television), with Pope going Crow! Sting/World against them alongside Samoa Joe/Television, Matt Morgan/World, Motor City/Tag & Undecided/X-Division. That was meant to happen post-BFG 2010, though. I was more concerned with British Invasion/World Elite mid-card warfare + AJ Styles versus Samoa Joe + Beer Money versus Motor City + Knockouts on Xplosion on Spike.

5. Kanyon and Booker will have their moments. Don't want to get into it too much as stuff will happen down the road. But as for whether Booker would be happy taking on a role that is essentially an upper midcard guy... Yeah and no. I could see him potentially getting unhappy but enough to walk out on the promotion, when he doesn't have a sure deal with the E? Booker is 41 by this point. I think he might be of some interest to the WWE but I don't know that they would want to main event like they did - that took 5 years of build within the WWE. Most people tend to rock the boat a bit less if they don't have a real backup plan. And TNA, given they are significantly smaller here, would probably not be the most appealing backup plan.

Raven is getting up there in age but his in-ring stuff is gradually decreasing. As for Kanyon, he's only 35 years old so he's a full step behind Booker and Raven in that regard.

So is that a no on Kanyon and his IRL issues? Guy supposedly had self-image problems and the like for a long time before he died.

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by Hashasheen

Makes sense.

I know what you mean, but personally speaking, that situation could have been made a lot more happy and I don't think anyone would have minded.

Not complaining that much, just saying it Matt Hardy in WCW. :P

Do what TNA did with Fortune (except better). Have Arn come out and take about all the great young talents in the back, how they remind him of the original horsemen runs and the later younger additions like Sting, Benoit, Malenko, etc... Bring out Flair who says he wants to do for some talent what the Horsemen did for him and company, and announce your Fortune version.

I planned something similiar for an dead TNA 2010 idea myself, where Flair had Fortune slowburn into existence as the heel/tweener top group of TNA (AJ/World, Beer Money/Tag, Kazarian/X-Division & Daniels/Television), with Pope going Crow! Sting/World against them alongside Samoa Joe/Television, Matt Morgan/World, Motor City/Tag & Undecided/X-Division. That was meant to happen post-BFG 2010, though. I was more concerned with British Invasion/World Elite mid-card warfare + AJ Styles versus Samoa Joe + Beer Money versus Motor City + Knockouts on Xplosion on Spike.

So is that a no on Kanyon and his IRL issues? Guy supposedly had self-image problems and the like for a long time before he died.

See, I do think some readers would have minded me going other routes with the Benoit situation. Its a really touchy, emotional subject for a lot of fans. And its also about finding something that felt okay to me, as I didn't want to find a "solution" that would work for readers but bothered me. I was a big Benoit fan, and in some ways I still am, but I'd be hard-pressed to claim that what happened didn't significantly alter my perception of the man. Having him live and continue on seemed... wrong. Dismissive and direspectul to the victims. Having him pass away in some other manner still sorta felt direspectul to those victims. Having them all pass away in some manner - car accident, house fire, whatever - still felt that way plus it was kinda downplaying certain aspects of the real tragedy. I won't claim that route feels like I totally avoid those issues, but it feels less so.

As for Guerrero, he kinda became a victim of me trying to find a way to make the Benoit situation less awful. Becaus after having Hennig survive where he actually died and altering the Benoit situation, I didn't feel comfortable adjusting his circumstance that much.

Simply going for "happy" would have been easy. But it also would have bothered me. Much like simply having the WWE cut ties with a bunch of key talent who I'd love to see in WCW. Sure, some readers might love that. But it would be moving away from the relative connection to " feeling real" that I've tried to maintain.

As for the Horseman, I think doing a Horseman-like variation in WCW would have felt like a weak ripoff. TNA can't do a true Horseman stable as they don't have the name rights. If they had the name rights, I 100% believe TNA's "Fortune" would have been "The New Four Horsemen". But WCW is home of the Horsemen, they have the name rights, and they have a key figure in the stable. Having a four-man stable of talent who are close to the top of the promotion, holding belts, and include Flair in some manner is just going to feel like a ripoff of the Horsemen. That is always going to be held against the group. So why not head that issue off and just make them the new Horsemen?

The only way to avoid the direct comparisons would be to very intentionally make the group deviate from the Horsemen formula - five or six full members, and have them be super-focused on success (taking away the hard-partying element) or maybe have them all be uber-babyfaces. I think Evolution was able to avoid a lot of Horsemen comparisons because of the very nature of the group. But taking that approach would takes away part of the reason I wanted to resurrect the stable in the first place, which fits with one of my primary themes.

I've done some reading on Kanyon's issues and I will take such into consideration.

[Hashasheen]

Originally Posted by Bigpapa42

Snip

Fair enough.

As for the Horseman, I think doing a Horseman-like variation in WCW would have felt like a weak ripoff. TNA can't do a true Horseman stable as they don't have the name rights. If they had the name rights, I 100% believe TNA's "Fortune" would have been "The New Four Horsemen". But WCW is home of the Horsemen, they have the name rights, and they have a key figure in the stable. Having a four-man stable of talent who are close to the top of the promotion, holding belts, and include Flair in some manner is just going to feel like a ripoff of the Horsemen. That is always going to be held against the group. So why not head that issue off nd just make them the new Horsemen?

One of the biggest complaints about the Horsemen is all the lack-luster reincarnations that followed the few great ones. While yes, there could be a claim that it's a Four Horsemen rip-off, the fact that it's the same company would easily side-step it into a homage/tribute. But that's just me.

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by Hashasheen

One of the biggest complaints about the Horsemen is all the lack-luster reincarnations that followed the few great ones. While yes, there could be a claim that it's a Four Horsemen rip-off, the fact that it's the same company would easily side-step it into a homage/tribute. But that's just me.

The various incarnations of the Horseman does make it a bit tougher group to resurrect.

An homage or tribute would work, possibly, but only if you remove the direct involement of anyone involved in the original. I don't think you can be an homage to a classic group while still involving memebers of that group. So it would mean keeping Flair and Anderson far away. Which would be doable, but I wanted them involved for some thematic reasons. Flair, more specifically, as Arn has limited involved on-screen. The thematic stuff may or may not become a bit more clear down the road. Hopefully it will.

[KrisKatana]

I have to say that I am a little disappointing with you sidestepping the Beniot situation, I can see why you would but I was wondering how WCW was going to deal with the murders since Benoit did leave a decent legacy there. Also I doubt Benoit's mental condition would be that radically altered in the 2 years you gave him away from the ring, especially with Eddie still dying.