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PWINSIDER Q&A: STEVE AUSTIN, RIC FLAIR, WCW, PILLMAN AND MORE

Answered on 5/9

Hello why do you think everyone blames the likes of Nash and the older guys like Hogan, Flair for the demise of WCW. I think WCW was excellent even when they were losing the ratings. They still had a high rating and the last classic Nitro with Hogan and DDP was great. They changed the logo, the set and Russo came in and ruined it all. It just turned into a joke with half filled arenas. Why didn't they just leave it as it was? It was obviously all the changes to get young that killed off the audience. In my opinion alot of WCW's audience were old school hard core fans who liked the older wrestlers and the type of company WCW was. WCW got a high rating AS WELL as the WWE which meant both shows had millions of viewers. Now WWE only gets its share and the WCW fans are all gone!

I think people blame different people involved in WCW for different reasons.  For example, Kevin Nash was booker at one point, and can take some of the blame for some of the storylines during his run in charge.  Guys like Hogan are blamed for invoking creative control clauses in their contracts and refusing to put over other talent.  Even Flair gets flak from some who feel he shouldn't have been a central figure in the company at that point due to his age.  Of course, the ridiculously large contracts Eric Bischoff signed contract to, and the nosedive in quality that came with Vince Russo's run as booker also can be blamed.  Did the radical changes to the look of the show hurt it?  Probably.  But at that point, it was like trying to put bandaids on a gunshot wound. 

Why do you think Ric Flair comes to the ring with slick wet hair which makes him look about 150? He looks much better with his normal hair he had his whole career. Does he think he looks younger?

From what I've seen, Flair wears his hair like that outside of the ring as well, so that is the style he has chosen to go with.  Personally, I don't think it makes that much of a difference. 

Why do you think Time Warner officials didn't offer WCW to people like Hogan who have more than enough money and could have easily bought it? Surely it would have been in better hands with anyone than Vince McMahon. How did Vince McMahon even know he was able to buy it? Rumors are he got it really cheap so why couldn't Bischoff or Hogan even of bought it?

When WCW was available for sale, only two entities ever had any interest in owning it.  One was WWE, who had the first change to purchase it due to a legal settlement, but passed on buying it initially.  Fusient Media Ventures was the other group interested, and Eric Bischoff was the man who got them involved.  It looked like Fusient would have purchased it, and in fact announced that they would be, but when Time Warner abruptly pulled WCW from TNT and TBS, Fusient backed out.  They were not going to buy a wrestling company that didn't have a television outlet.  This is when WWE reentered the picture, and with no one else in the running, purchased the name, logo, talent contracts and tape library for much less than it would have cost had the TV contracts still been in effect.  Bischoff (and Hogan too, probably) did not have enough money personally to buy the company, otherwise he probably would have. 

Why do you think that WWE won't accept that Austin isn't anywhere near over and he hasn't been for some time. He got a minimal reaction compared to Hogan at Wrestlemania 21, all people were chanting when he was at the Hall of Fame was Austin Vs Hogan and his movies don't generate the kind of numbers top guys like Cena have. WWE should just bite the bullet, stop trying to make Austin the new Hogan and bring back Hogan for that role. Austin was a top guy for a few years in a boom period WCW helped create. Hulk Hogan has been the biggest name in this industry for decades! Don't ovations count for anything anymore? I thought they proved who was in and who was out. I still haven't heard anyone get close to a Summerslam 2006 Hogan pop. Triple H tried his best to milk the crowd but they weren't having it!

I think WWE may be starting to get the message that Austin doesn't mean as much as he once did.  He didn't pop a rating for Saturday Night's Main Event, and his movie is a flop.  As much as I enjoyed Austin during his prime, I think the appeal of an Austin that just drinks beer, cuts promos and does the occasional stunner is pretty limited.  At the same time, Hogan may get the "pop", but it hasn't translated into substantial boosts in PPV buys.  Considering Wrestlemania 23 was the most successful PPV in company history, and Hogan was not involved, I don't see where WWE should be rushing to bring him back (especially when he expects to be the highest paid performer on a show) at this point.  I think it is well past time for WWE to stop looking at the past for a draw, and instead concentrate on creating new stars. 

This question is probably outdated but it came to me after watching the Brian Pillman DVD. What in the world was Vince McMahon thinking when he interviewed Melanie Pillman the day after Brian died? And more importantly, why in the world would Melanie Pillman accept the interview?

From what I understand, Melanie's reasoning behind doing the interview was to try and convince others to kick their drug habits and not suffer the same fate as her husband.  Remember, at the time of the interview, Pillman's cause of death had not been determined, and it was felt that it was a drug overdose.  As for McMahon's reasons, he would probably say the same thing, but I think we all know that it had more to do with ratings.  When Vince actually asked Melanie how she was going to support her children now without Brian, I recall a lot of fans (and wrestlers) being very angry. 

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