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00:00I had no idea how big it was going to be.
00:13I didn't know what the NWO was about to become.
00:16That leg drop was WCW's liftoff into the future.
00:21If you want surprises, this is where you come.
00:24Our show is live and you never know what's gonna happen here.
00:27We were the number one cable rated show forever.
00:30The NWO!
00:32We already knew that we were running thin.
00:35And I think it showed.
00:37Did I like it?
00:38Fuck no.
00:40Throw 40,000 people and that's what you're giving them?
00:43You can't pretend that people weren't mad.
00:47Idiots everywhere.
00:48It's just mind boggling.
00:51Whenever you're leading a night and now you're not leading a night,
00:55there's reason for concern.
00:57WCW is literally unraveling here.
00:59My wife, she looked at me like, what are you doing here?
01:01And I said, I got fired.
01:04Before our very eyes, it's falling apart.
01:06Ted Turner hired idiots to run a billion dollar company
01:09and that was his mistake.
01:10You can not sweep this under the rug.
01:14This is a fucking television show.
01:17The real reason men come in lies.
01:26A lot of changes, ladies and gentlemen, at World Championship Wrestling over the last 36 hours.
01:32WCW was one of many things that I was responsible for and it was the thing that I liked the least.
01:41Eric is not, is not there anymore.
01:45You know, he was the glue that held it together.
01:48I was running it at this point.
01:50I didn't want to run it and I wanted somebody to run it for me.
01:54And Bill Bush was the guy who was sort of in place as an interim when Eric was no longer there and he was the acting COO in a sense.
02:07About a month after Eric had departed, Bill Bush makes his first major move in running the day-to-day operations of the company,
02:15which is securing the services of the WWF's creative team.
02:19Bush, and he called me and said, we've made the best hiring decision ever.
02:25He said, we hired Vince Russo.
02:29Bischoff was gone and I remember Bill Bush telling me they're going to bring Vince Russo in.
02:34He supposedly was some kind of genius and now we've lured him from WWF and now we've got their genius.
02:43When Vince Russo made the jump to WCW to run that entire ship, I remember thinking, good for him, great.
02:51This is the world of professional wrestling.
02:54This shit happens all the time.
02:59I was excited when I heard Vince was coming in.
03:04Good, finally, like, something new here.
03:08I heard that he was a genius.
03:12Why would Vince Russo want to leave the WWF and come here?
03:19I had a degree in journalism and I started freelancing for the WWF magazine where I started writing maybe about two articles a month.
03:28I would sit in while they were writing the television and it was so bad that I started writing my own angles in the magazine that had nothing to do with the TV show.
03:40And I get a call from Vince McMahon's assistant.
03:42Vince wants to see you up in his office immediately.
03:46It wasn't even 9 o'clock yet.
03:49He had the WWE Raw magazine in his hand and said, this is what our television show needs to be.
03:58I was absolutely shocked.
04:01It got to the point where I was the head writer of the show.
04:05Then I got to work with Ed Ferrara, who was a bona fide television writer.
04:12If you were flipping the channel over to WCW, what were they doing that was different?
04:18Just, it was real.
04:20It was real.
04:21You believed it.
04:23There was a sense of danger, like you almost had to watch it because you didn't know what they were going to do next.
04:33I was definitely influenced by what WCW was doing at the time, without a shadow of a doubt.
04:39We were head to head and you had a lot of people switching back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
04:45So the idea is, you do not give them the opportunity to change that channel.
04:51Because once they change that channel, if something good is happening on Nitro, they're never coming back to your show.
05:00It's hard to argue with the objective data, which show that the WWF actually enjoyed a tripling of its revenues.
05:07The television ratings went from being anemic to skyrocketing to levels people didn't think of before.
05:12The company was selling out arenas left and right, and Vince Russo was the head writer of the WWF during that time frame.
05:23Vince McMahon was starting another show, SmackDown, and he had pushed me creatively beyond my limits.
05:31I had three small kids.
05:33I wasn't seeing them at all.
05:34I honestly believe I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
05:38He just expected Ed and I to write a second show, never offered any more money.
05:45And, bro, it's like I was building such a close, tight, bond relationship with Vince that I started asking myself the question,
05:56does this guy care about me as much as I do about him, or am I the cash cow that's writing his show?
06:03I was so burnt out, I broke down and I cried in Vince's office, okay?
06:09And right then and then, I went right to my office and called my WCW connection.
06:16He made the decision, what's best for him and his family, and he went after an opportunity to go down to WCW and you're handed the entire book.
06:24Write the story.
06:25There was an awful lot of enthusiasm at that time that this could be what's needed to give WCW the shot in the arm that it needed.
06:33It's a brand new Monday Nitro!
06:36I looked at WCW as a great challenge, and what I saw here was I saw a whole breed of a new blood that was stuck somewhere in the middle
06:45because for whatever reason, they couldn't break that establishment.
06:49And listen, man, the day I walked into that locker room, I had every Ben Carter coming up to me.
06:55I had never met them before, bro. I'm talking about like the Malenkos, Ben Waz, and the Conan.
07:03I'm settling. Here he comes Ben.
07:06Moving dudes and all these great people.
07:09Man, those guys, the Rey Mysterios, Ultimo Dragons, all those lucha guys that came in, they're pushing each other to be the best, pushed me to another level.
07:19We're gonna turn this mother out. Now can't you dig it?
07:23There wasn't anybody better in terms of ring skills than the mid-carters, so, you know, I think that there was more talent there than people gave him credit for.
07:34And I remember locking eyes with Hogan the first time.
07:39The Red Yacht!
07:41You gotta understand, when you're a New Yorker, there's like a sixth sense, like you just know.
07:47He did not trust me, bro, as far as he could throw me, and he was not gonna believe one word that I said.
07:55And I'm gonna come out and say it, and I've never said this publicly before.
07:58No doubt in my mind, Bischoff was responsible for a little of this.
08:02I am partially responsible for costing Eric his job.
08:06Eric is gone, but Eric's boys, the people that he took care of and made rich, were not in tune with what Russo wanted.
08:15Don't wake a sleeping giant.
08:16I was always a fan of Vences.
08:19I just told him, like, you ain't in Kansas anymore.
08:23Like, this ain't WWE.
08:25One, two, three, Kansas City!
08:28This is some fucked up shit.
08:30Go back! Go back!
08:33I had an absolute great plan, and if you go back and watch the first three months, you'll see it.
08:39And at that time, Jerry Springer was so hot.
08:44So we always had that on in the background.
08:47And what was Jerry Springer?
08:50It was controversy with characters and storyline.
08:54That's what the show was.
08:57And basically, that's what we needed to do.
08:59Miss Russo's program, everything was quick.
09:03Boom, boom, boom, boom.
09:05I tried to stay positive.
09:07I was very hopeful.
09:08But it definitely was a shift from a more laid-back sort of atmosphere, and it's more electrified and louder, faster, that sort of thing.
09:17It definitely was a shift.
09:19I know the numbers.
09:23The numbers are on the Internet.
09:26And in those three months, the numbers went up slightly, but they went up.
09:32To me, it wasn't about wrestling at that point.
09:36It was lots of T&A.
09:37It took us in the direction of even corporate, didn't it?
09:44Like...
09:44Watch it, Billy.
09:46It's his family hour.
09:48It had a little positive effect on the ratings, but not much.
09:51Certainly made it not advertiser-friendly.
09:54My job was to make this show the absolute best that I thought it could be.
10:04And to make this show to not just please wrestling fans, but to be appealing to an entire wrestling audience.
10:13His thing was like, we already have a wrestling audience.
10:16Let's get the audience that isn't watching wrestling.
10:19But, bro, if you're a casual fan and you're watching Judy Bagwell on a pole match...
10:23She is hoisted high above the ring on the forklift now.
10:26Why would you want to watch that or a piñata match or whatever?
10:30He's got the piñata!
10:32This is not WCW.
10:36This is a comedy act.
10:38I don't think it was for the fans.
10:44It seemed like, you know, he was entertaining himself.
10:47Hey, boys!
10:48Hey, boys!
10:49Let's do this!
10:51Who's saying Tony help me out of this kid?
10:54Vince Russo was just another idiot.
10:57He was a shit-stain.
10:58And I always thought in the back of my mind that he was there to lead to our ultimate demise.
11:03When does our journey begin?
11:07On the Seventh Night.
11:09It may be good theory that Vince Russo had decent success at WWE because Vince McMahon was there to figure out what was good
11:17and keep that and throw away what was bad.
11:23And then Vince Russo comes in
11:26and he doesn't have that buffer.
11:29He doesn't have that person telling him no.
11:31Never do that!
11:33The whole group of people in the office
11:36thought he had gone too far down the road
11:40away from where WCW was.
11:43Listen, man, the one thing
11:45I really started noticing was
11:48every time I turned around,
11:49J.J. Dillon and Kevin Sullivan
11:51were having sidebars.
11:53And as soon as I looked at them,
11:55boom, now the politics are rearing their ugly head.
11:58So Bush calls me into his office.
12:01He said, Vince, we're going to go in a dark direction.
12:04We're going to go more into a committee
12:06and we want you to be part of a committee.
12:10And bro, without missing a beat,
12:11I said, Bill, I got a contract.
12:15The contract states that I am head of creative.
12:19I am not interested in any of your committees.
12:23I said, so I am going to go home
12:26and you guys can figure out how you're going to pay me.
12:29And that was the end of it.
12:31And I went home and they continued to pay me.
12:35Who took over for you then in creative?
12:37Sullivan.
12:39I just thought it was such a complete change.
12:42When he first left, I said, we're going to get back to wrestle.
12:45Benoit, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero.
12:51When those guys showed up at TV and I wasn't there,
12:56the undercard, they went absolutely ballistic.
13:00Because they knew.
13:01They went to work one day and Vince isn't here.
13:03They knew.
13:05They knew what had happened.
13:08They were such an intricate part of the show.
13:13But they weren't Nash Hall, Hogan, Macho Man.
13:18They could have been, but they weren't.
13:22So in an effort to try to make it up to those guys
13:26and calm everybody down,
13:28Sullivan made the decision to put the belt on Benoit.
13:31Let's get the official word as I can!
13:33I remember that TV taping.
13:35They asked for their release.
13:37And Bill Bush said, yes, you can go.
13:39Not realizing exactly where they were going.
13:42It was a Monday night.
13:43Sitting in the restaurant, having dinner with my wife.
13:46And on the screens, I could see that Monday Night Raw was on.
13:50And I see Eddie, Dean, and Chris, and Perry Saturn.
13:53And I thought, wow, WCW, have you at rock bottom?
13:56And if those guys are jumping ship, it's inevitable.
13:59They won't go!
14:00They're out of the car, can't you take this shit?
14:02And I said to my wife, knowing Turner the way I do,
14:08how much you want to bet they're going to call me
14:10and ask me to come back?
14:18No, I cannot believe it!
14:20Fifteen days after Chris Benoit wins the WCW World Heavyweight title,
14:25he appears on Monday Night Raw in the front row
14:28with the heart of the WCW midcard.
14:31Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn.
14:34Keep in mind that those defections have been happening the other way
14:37for the longest time.
14:38Well, now the opposite is happening,
14:39but it's especially damaging to WCW because these are characters
14:45and these are wrestlers who have their best years ahead of them.
14:48It was a big deal.
14:50When those four guys walked out, ooh,
14:53the silent hush heard around the world.
14:56You knew that was big.
14:59You knew that was a big move.
15:02I think the office was like, fuck those guys.
15:05You know, we don't need them.
15:06And I was like, bro, if they would have let Eddie and Benoit
15:10and all these people do programs as the guys on top,
15:14we might still be in business.
15:16The ratings plummeted after I left.
15:20Sullivan's in charge.
15:22Boom.
15:23We hit rock bottom again.
15:25All the decisions went through me.
15:27And I think somebody suggested bringing Eric back.
15:30Since my relationship with Eric was always good
15:33and we had a successful formula that was working
15:36when we were working together on it.
15:39So I think the idea of bringing Eric back,
15:41be involved as either a consultant or whatever he was,
15:44seemed like a good idea at the time.
15:46So I went back to Brad, said, OK, here's the deal.
15:50Write me a new contract.
15:51I don't want to be an employee
15:52because you guys are crazier now than you were when I left.
15:55I'll, you know, report to you, nobody else.
15:58That was my deal.
16:00And they took it.
16:01And Brad said, do you think, would you mind,
16:05before we make a decision, meet with Vince Rousseau
16:08and decide if you think you can work with him?
16:11I never thought it would work,
16:13but Brad Siegel said to me, here's what he said,
16:18I want you to work with Eric Bischoff.
16:22Brad Siegel never said to me at any time,
16:26Eric is your boss, Eric is in charge with you,
16:29Eric has the final say-so.
16:31I don't know what he had to say to get Eric aboard.
16:33I have no idea.
16:34My job was to oversee Vince.
16:37That's what I was hired to do by Brad Siegel.
16:39My job definition was overseeing Vince Rousseau
16:42and the creative process.
16:46You know, my memories of exactly what happened
16:49were really sketchy.
16:50But if Eric came back, I had to approve it.
16:53Look, I have a pretty strong opinion
16:56about Vince professionally,
16:58but as a person, he's a charming guy.
17:01And I thought, I can make this work.
17:07What?
17:09No way!
17:11Vince Rousseau and I have more in common
17:14than anybody knows.
17:17When I got back to WCW,
17:19in many respects, it was worse.
17:21I'm going to show you just a couple of clips.
17:29You're going to be watching it
17:30and then just any commentary, reactions,
17:32memories, stories, anything that comes to mind.
17:35What was your thoughts on this?
17:37Kevin, I've got to ask you a question.
17:39How many brain cells have you burnt
17:42over the years, Kevin?
17:44I remember when they were trying
17:45to drop that blood on me.
17:47They missed like 19 times.
17:49Now what?
17:51You know what?
17:56Take that clip
17:57and show it
18:00after the finger-poked doom
18:02and then you tell me what killed WCW.
18:10Look at my face.
18:12Like, oh, shit, you've got to be kidding me.
18:15The new blood strikes again.
18:16The new blood's simple.
18:19And Nash is walking slowly,
18:22drenched in the red.
18:24Kevin Nash in pursuit.
18:25This was a monthly doing,
18:29that they did something.
18:31Russo running out of the building.
18:32The company was in worse shape
18:34than it was when I left.
18:35They are getting to their limousine.
18:37There was no hope.
18:38Get that damn camera out of here.
18:41The only way I knew how
18:43to turn that around
18:44was to kind of force a creative reset.
18:47And that reset involved
18:50the Millionaire's Club,
18:52which was the established top-level talent
18:55versus the young up-and-coming,
18:59the young guns.
19:00It's kind of a classic story.
19:02The Millionaire's Club
19:03fighting for their very careers!
19:05Bro, that was inspired by
19:07what has been going on
19:09in wrestling from day one.
19:11From day one,
19:13that's the wrestling business.
19:15And I'm a firm believer
19:16that if you're going to create a story,
19:18try to create one
19:20that's based on some sense of reality.
19:22The Millionaire's Club at WCW
19:25were the top guys
19:26that were making all the money.
19:28Okay, the, you know,
19:29the Hogans, the Savages,
19:31the Flares, the Lugers.
19:34You know, Sting fell in that category.
19:36The New Blood
19:38were the hungry, younger guys
19:41that were making a fraction
19:43of their salary
19:44because they were being held down
19:47by the Millionaire's Club.
19:49So now they were going to have
19:50their day in court.
19:51Hey, Terry the Bolster Hogan!
19:55Maybe, maybe you haven't
19:57paid attention around here!
19:59A lot of tension at that time
20:01because, you know,
20:03the changing of the guard,
20:04that stuff was real too.
20:06You know, the stuff with Hogan
20:07and the older guys,
20:10you know, those guys
20:11didn't want to give up their spots.
20:13You're like, we're making money?
20:14Yeah, because we earned our spot.
20:17You know, and bottom line is
20:19now we're finally making money.
20:20When Hogan said, you know,
20:21he's getting older, but, you know,
20:23everybody's in that damn locker room
20:24is getting older too.
20:25You know?
20:27Well, yeah, Hulk Hogan's getting older
20:29and so is every other damn wrestler
20:31in the back too, day by day.
20:33That was a real statement.
20:35That's someone who doesn't want
20:37to let it go, man.
20:38I get it, I understand it,
20:41but for me, you know,
20:45nah, I always went as far
20:47as my talent could take me,
20:49not my politics.
20:51I knew there were going to be politics.
20:53I just never thought
20:54there were going to be politics
20:56to this extent.
20:58Bro, even with all these things,
21:00yes, I am going to go into this to win.
21:03I'm not going to go to work
21:04and go through the motions
21:05and just waste my time.
21:08I literally am still going to do
21:11every single thing I possibly can do
21:14to bring those ratings back up.
21:19Ready to Rumble was a major motion picture
21:22that they were going to do.
21:24David Arquette was going to be the star,
21:26and there were going to be
21:27multiple WCW wrestlers in it.
21:30I like wrestling.
21:31Are you going to be a wrestler?
21:34You got trouble wrestling
21:36your wee-wee out of your trousers
21:37to take a leak.
21:39It's not that I have trouble.
21:41I never really had an interest
21:43in becoming a professional wrestler
21:46except for the fact that
21:48when I was a kid
21:49and I'd look up at him
21:50and I'd be like,
21:51oh, it would be so great
21:53to be the champion, you know?
21:55It just, uh...
21:56But I never really thought
21:58of myself as a wrestler.
22:00Steel cage!
22:01Steel cage!
22:03Done!
22:03But part of the storyline
22:04in Ready to Rumble
22:05is that my character, Gordy,
22:07becomes a wrestler
22:08at the end of it.
22:09And I think that was part
22:10of the Germany idea
22:11in bringing me into WCW
22:13so that we could sort of
22:15have fun with those worlds.
22:18So we have our production meeting
22:19and the match is, um...
22:21Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff
22:23against DDP and David Arquette.
22:26We have a regular production meeting,
22:28boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
22:28everybody leaves.
22:30I'm literally there by myself
22:32and Tony Schiavone comes over.
22:35And Tony says,
22:35Vince, do you mind
22:36if I pitch you something?
22:37I said, Tony, absolutely.
22:39And I got the,
22:40what if David Arquette
22:43wins that match
22:45and becomes WCW heavyweight champion?
22:47I call everybody back in.
22:51Guys, Tony,
22:53pitch me this idea.
22:55What do you think?
22:56Bro, 100% of the people were for it.
23:00I don't remember
23:01how the idea generated.
23:03We'd done other things
23:04to help promote movies
23:05and specific television shows
23:07in the past.
23:08This was a rather elaborate way
23:10to promote the movie,
23:12but I didn't see the harm in it.
23:15I just laughed out loud
23:16and, oh, yeah, right,
23:18so what are we doing?
23:20And Eric goes,
23:21that's what we're doing.
23:24I go, no, we're not.
23:26He goes, yes, we are.
23:27I go, bro, come on.
23:28Stop fucking with me.
23:29We're not going to do that.
23:31I go, that's not a good idea.
23:33I was like,
23:34that's a terrible idea.
23:36You can't do that.
23:42Who can score the pit ball here?
23:44Spear by your kid.
23:46Oh, Jared's got the belt.
23:48You're getting one, two, three.
23:49What?
23:53What is him doing?
23:54What's going on in here?
23:56Save it up, kid.
23:57What's the world?
23:57I got this huge, like, reaction
24:00when they made me the champion.
24:02You know, people throwing stuff
24:03and spitting on you
24:05and calling you the worst things
24:06in the world, but, um,
24:08it really hit me
24:09when I was in the locker room
24:11and Booker T was there
24:13and he was, he was getting ready.
24:17He goes,
24:18Booker, man, this is so great, man.
24:20I'm a new world champion.
24:21I'm a new world champion.
24:22You know, and he goes,
24:23how many times have you been champ, Booker?
24:26He's like,
24:27I never won it, you know.
24:29And then he goes,
24:32he, his mood totally changed.
24:36And I was like,
24:37oh, whoa, okay.
24:39Like, that, like,
24:41that hit me, so.
24:43It was hard to see that.
24:44You know, you do have
24:45these guys who
24:47pretty much have given their lives
24:49for this sport,
24:50and then you have
24:52a Hollywood actor,
24:53even though it's David Arquette,
24:54who we know and love,
24:55come in
24:56and win that title.
24:58Yeah, that's,
24:59that's a hard thing.
25:01I would say it was just
25:03another nail in the coffin
25:05of a company that was
25:06rapidly dying at that time.
25:08I thought it was a bad idea
25:10putting the World Heavyweight Championship
25:13on David Arquette.
25:15I mean, movie star or not,
25:17it's just not a good play.
25:18And when you do something like this,
25:20you go, okay,
25:21where do we go from here?
25:22Well, people were pissed
25:23at this actor
25:24that had never paid his dues,
25:25because that's a big thing,
25:26paying your dues, right?
25:28Who was a world champion?
25:29And Vince's rebuttal to that was,
25:31it got eyes on the product.
25:33I don't know how well
25:34it did in the ratings,
25:35but I go, yeah,
25:36but it got people talking
25:37for the wrong reasons.
25:39I don't think that was a good idea.
25:41Bro, I'll never forget.
25:42The next morning after that,
25:43I get up,
25:44I go downstairs to the front desk.
25:46What's on the front cover
25:47of the USA Today?
25:48That would have never,
25:50ever happened
25:51in a million years.
25:53And at that time,
25:55that's what we are after.
25:57And again, bro,
25:57I'm going to say it,
25:59I write a television show.
26:01If you think about
26:02the importance of
26:04the world title in wrestling,
26:07yes, it's predetermined,
26:08but it does carry with it
26:09a huge amount of value.
26:10And I think fans perceive this
26:12as another attempt
26:14to get the interest back
26:15in one day,
26:17rather than building
26:17for the future.
26:18The wrestling audience
26:19didn't appreciate it
26:20in the eyes of, you know,
26:22the hardcore wrestling fan.
26:24And I'm not dismissing them.
26:25I don't mean it derisively.
26:27But the really passionate
26:29wrestling fan felt
26:31that it really made
26:32a mockery of the title
26:33to use that title
26:35in that way.
26:36I didn't feel that way
26:38in that moment.
26:39I was looking at
26:40the bigger opportunity
26:41and felt like we could
26:43sustain a couple weeks
26:44of bad press.
26:46I think Eric put himself
26:47in a position where
26:49he stopped calling the shots
26:51and just started being a part
26:53of the shots
26:53that were being called.
26:55And I think that was
26:56perhaps the biggest problem.
26:58It is what it is.
26:59I didn't stop it.
27:00Let's put it that way.
27:02I supported it.
27:03And I participated,
27:04for God's sake.
27:06The world heavyweight champion!
27:09I would do the same thing today, bro.
27:12Without blinking an eye,
27:13I would do the same
27:14exact thing today.
27:15To this day,
27:16do you understand
27:17the anger around
27:18making Arquette the champion
27:19or not?
27:20Quite frankly,
27:20I could care less.
27:23Arquette goes out there
27:24the next day.
27:25He doesn't want
27:25the championship!
27:27Whoa!
27:28Bro!
27:30You know,
27:30we followed that up
27:32in the storyline.
27:32What did he have it, bro?
27:33For like a week?
27:34Pace, we could've got killed
27:35out there.
27:35We're going to the backstage jury.
27:36Listen, Pace,
27:37this has all been a big fluke.
27:38It's been a whole lot of fun.
27:39But I don't deserve
27:40to be the world heavyweight champion.
27:42And he went out on,
27:43you know, the next day
27:44and he goes,
27:44man, I shouldn't have the title.
27:45People like Booker T
27:46should have the title.
27:48Tonight,
27:49I'm going to relinquish the belt
27:51and give up the title.
27:54I don't deserve it.
27:55How about that?
27:56These guys deserve it.
27:58Maybe Booker T deserves it,
28:00but I don't deserve it.
28:02You know,
28:02I was like,
28:03wow, you know?
28:04So he might have been
28:05my biggest cheerleader,
28:06you know?
28:06He might have been
28:07the spark that lit the flame.
28:09I started at the bottom
28:10of that company
28:11and I had seen
28:13these guys on television.
28:14and now I'm in the same
28:15locker room with them
28:16and competing with them
28:18at the highest level.
28:20I was doing something
28:22that I had never imagined
28:24or dreamt of doing
28:25in a million years.
28:27I knew Booker was going
28:28to be a big star.
28:29When he was putting on
28:31Grease Paint one time
28:32and he was doing G.I. Bro,
28:35he said,
28:35I'm here
28:36and I'm going to keep
28:37doing what I'm doing
28:38and eventually
28:39I'm going to get there.
28:40And I'm like,
28:41you know what, bro?
28:42Oh, you're right.
28:42You are.
28:43I said,
28:44you got the best attitude ever.
28:46Thinking about winning
28:47the world title
28:48for me in this company
28:49is something that
28:50I never really thought about.
28:52When I first came
28:52in this company,
28:53it was a click.
28:54It was a good old boy click,
28:55you know?
28:56If you weren't in
28:56the good old boy click,
28:57you only went
28:58to a certain level,
28:59you know?
28:59Why do you say
29:00that you don't think
29:01you ever,
29:02like, never thought
29:02it was possible
29:03to win the world championship?
29:07Because I was black.
29:09To be honest.
29:10I knew how good I was.
29:13There was a doubt
29:14in my mind.
29:16But you still wonder
29:17if that company
29:18would be willing
29:19to accept a black champion.
29:21He was beloved.
29:26Everybody loved him.
29:28He was so easy
29:29to work with.
29:30He paid his dues.
29:32Booker, like,
29:32had completely thrown
29:34in the towel
29:35of ever thinking
29:36he was going
29:38to be a champion
29:38because he knew
29:39the political game.
29:41Everybody's fighting
29:42for the same spot.
29:45And especially, bro,
29:47when you're on top,
29:49you got everybody
29:51gunning for you.
29:52So when Hulk
29:54was on top,
29:55yes, did he do
29:57everything he possibly
29:58could to secure
30:00that spot?
30:01Bro, 1,000%.
30:04Hey, but where's
30:10the yellow thread?
30:11Halloween Havoc,
30:1299, I think,
30:13was the last time
30:14Hogan had appeared.
30:15Of course,
30:15I was sent home
30:16in September of 99.
30:17Hogan stuck around
30:18because he was
30:19obligated and advertised.
30:20But without me there,
30:23Hogan really wasn't
30:25too interested
30:26in working in any way,
30:28shape, or form
30:28with Rousseau.
30:30So when I came back
30:32to work with Rousseau,
30:34it certainly made it
30:35a lot easier.
30:36Eric is now treating me
30:39as I'm below him.
30:42And I had had enough.
30:44So I called Brad Siegel.
30:48And I said,
30:50Brad, if you want
30:52to make Eric head
30:54of creative,
30:55freaking make him
30:56head of creative.
30:57And bro,
30:58Brad Siegel said,
31:00no, no, no, no, no, no,
31:01no, Vince.
31:02I want you
31:03to write creative.
31:05Bro, two days later
31:06was Bass at the Beach.
31:08Bass at the Beach 2000
31:09was really the culmination
31:11point of the tension
31:12between Rousseau
31:13and what he wanted
31:14to do,
31:15me and what I was
31:16willing to do
31:16in the role I was in,
31:17and what Hogan
31:18was willing to do,
31:20given that he had
31:20creative control.
31:22I will say this
31:23up front,
31:23without a shadow
31:24of a doubt,
31:25if there was no
31:27Eric Bischoff,
31:29I would have had
31:30a great relationship
31:30with Hulk Hogan.
31:32And I don't think
31:33there ever
31:34would have been
31:35an issue.
31:36Hulk and I have
31:37a good idea
31:37of what we wanted
31:38to do
31:39with his participation.
31:40He and I
31:41are on the same page
31:41and Hulk Hogan
31:42has creative control.
31:43So that's pretty much
31:44the end of any
31:45dispute or conversation,
31:46right?
31:47But at the same time,
31:49Vince Russo had his ideas
31:50of what he wanted
31:51to do.
31:52And what he was able
31:53to do was take
31:55the original idea
31:55of Hulk and I's,
31:56which was create
31:57some kind of scenario
31:59where Hulk gets
31:59so frustrated
32:00or disgusted
32:01or pissed off,
32:02he grabs the belt
32:03and walks out
32:05of the building,
32:06presumably never
32:07to be seen again.
32:09That was the plan.
32:11I'm saying to myself,
32:12bro, no,
32:13you're not walking
32:15out of here
32:16with the belt.
32:17Now what?
32:18I don't know.
32:19Who's laying down
32:20in this one?
32:20But what Vince Russo did
32:21was jump in
32:22the middle part
32:23of our plan
32:24and decide
32:25that once Eric and Hulk
32:26left the building,
32:27which we did
32:28according to script,
32:29our script,
32:30Vince Russo jumped
32:31into the ring live
32:32and went into business
32:34for himself
32:35and implemented
32:36his own idea.
32:39Hey, let me tell you
32:41who doesn't give a shit
32:42about this company,
32:44that goddamn politician,
32:46Hulk Hogan!
32:46I remember looking around,
32:48talking to some
32:49of the other Nitro girls,
32:50like,
32:51is this what's supposed
32:53to be happening?
32:53Like, what's going on?
32:55Is this written?
32:56What is going on?
32:57Hulk Hogan tonight
32:58wants to play
33:00his creative control card!
33:03Holy shit!
33:06This is,
33:07he's shooting,
33:08you know,
33:08he's talking for real,
33:09this is not a work.
33:10But one thing
33:11I do want to point out,
33:12as much as this was a work
33:14and everybody was,
33:16you know,
33:16in on it,
33:18when I talk about reality,
33:20I really am this pissed off.
33:23Hogan got his belt
33:24and he went the hell home
33:26and I promise everybody
33:28or else I'll go
33:28in the goddamn grave,
33:30you will never see
33:31that piece of shit again!
33:33I didn't know
33:34that was coming
33:35and that promo,
33:37to me,
33:37felt as real
33:38as it possibly could be
33:39as far as two people
33:41having a venomous animosity
33:44towards each other.
33:45The point of this promo
33:47was not to run Hogan down.
33:49The point of it was,
33:50we need Booker
33:52to win the belt
33:53and I need to make sense
33:55of why this match
33:56is happening.
33:58For the WCW title,
34:01two deserving guys,
34:02Jarrett and Booker
34:05will compete
34:06for the WCW
34:07and they'll tear
34:08this goddamn outdown!
34:10I found out
34:11about 10 minutes
34:12before I had to wrestle.
34:13It all came up
34:14as a surprise to me,
34:15I really don't know
34:15what's going on.
34:16Vince made the decision
34:18cutting that promo
34:19before I had to go out.
34:20Man, I had so much energy.
34:23Opportunity has knocked
34:24and I will be damned
34:25if I don't answer that though.
34:26I am gonna do
34:27what I have to do tonight
34:28to take that goal home,
34:30take it around my waist
34:31and take it into the next millennium.
34:32Can you dig that?
34:34I can.
34:35Totally back to you.
34:36I was ready to become
34:37the world champ.
34:42I remember before the bell rang,
34:46I jumped up so high,
34:47you know,
34:48and just because I was like,
34:49let's get this done,
34:50you know.
35:01Booker D is the champ!
35:02It took somebody like Vince Russo,
35:15somebody that was outside the box,
35:16to push them to make a decision
35:18and then, you know,
35:20check their clutches for a second.
35:22I came back for the Booker T's!
35:25I was totally out of the loop
35:26as far as what was going on with Vince Russo
35:33and Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
35:36Bro, the next day on the internet,
35:39everybody bought this hook,
35:41line and sink it.
35:42And, bro,
35:43what you got over and over and over again was,
35:47finally,
35:48somebody put Hulk Hogan in his place.
35:51Hulk is at home
35:52and he's reading this
35:54and he's seething
35:56and his ego is kicking in
35:58because now it looks like
36:00this jackass,
36:02Vince Russo,
36:03got one over on Hulk Hogan.
36:05That's why this company's
36:06in the damn shape it's in
36:08because of bullshit like this.
36:11My phone's just nonstop vibrating.
36:14Hulk's phone's blowing up
36:16and now we're starting to hear
36:17bits and pieces from different people
36:19about what Russo did
36:20and we're looking at each other
36:22like this can't possibly be true.
36:25Hulk Hogan,
36:25who is contractually
36:26entitled to have final say over creative
36:29and yet he throws all of that
36:31out the window
36:32and goes into business for himself,
36:34tears the script up
36:35and says,
36:35no, I'm going to do it my way instead.
36:37We couldn't believe that that happened.
36:39As far as Hulk was concerned,
36:41he's done.
36:42There's going to be a lawsuit.
36:43As far as I'm concerned,
36:45I'm done.
36:46Regardless of who did what
36:48and who says what,
36:50let's just look at it from
36:51the most important person
36:53in the equation
36:53which is the people
36:54paying money to come
36:55and see the shows,
36:56buying the pay-per-view,
36:57showing up to the live events.
36:58Why would I buy into the idea
37:00that the next pay-per-view
37:02is going to be the biggest event ever
37:03or the next match
37:04is going to be unbelievable
37:04when it seems like
37:05every time they hype something up,
37:07some nonsense like this happens.
37:09Ultimately,
37:10I think what this represented
37:11was the blowing up
37:12of this new creative team
37:14that many had predicted
37:15was inevitable
37:16and unfortunately,
37:17it played out
37:18not behind the scenes
37:19but in front of everyone to see.
37:21You could talk about angles
37:22and storylines
37:23and this and that.
37:24The fact that I was
37:25in a position
37:26to be able to do
37:28the right thing,
37:29Booker T becoming the champion
37:31and a man
37:32finally getting what he deserved
37:34and getting through
37:36all that red tape
37:37and all the BS
37:38was far and away
37:40my greatest moment.
37:42Russo's stunt
37:43made it impossible for me
37:45to A, trust Vince Russo
37:47or really the judgment
37:48of anybody else
37:49including Brad Segal.
37:50Brad had a choice.
37:52He could have sent Russo home
37:54following Bash at the Beach
37:56but he didn't.
37:58Eric and Hogan
37:59were partners
38:01in what they wanted
38:02to do with WCW
38:03and I was trying
38:05to do whatever I can do
38:07to get it back on track.
38:09I came back
38:13to the guys
38:13behind that curtain
38:14that give a shit
38:16about this company.
38:17Post Bash at the Beach
38:18now we have another
38:19creative shakeup.
38:20Eric goes home.
38:21Hulk is never to be seen
38:22on WCW TV again
38:24and for the next three months
38:25we have Vince Russo
38:26and a booking committee
38:27mapping out
38:28WCW storylines.
38:30So much had happened.
38:31There had been so many
38:32attempted restarts
38:34and reboots
38:35and changes of direction
38:36that the entire promotion
38:38was sort of
38:38in the state
38:39of shell shock.
38:40Once the bleeding
38:41started
38:42it was a consistent
38:43deterioration
38:44of WCW's business.
38:45It's Billy Kidman's
38:46got the battle biogra.
38:48It's got the...
38:49Oh, I broke that...
38:50Everything was very
38:51spontaneous in the moment
38:52what gets me excited now.
38:54Sure the meaning
38:55of the word discipline way out.
38:56You guys thought
38:57I was gonna happen.
38:58He was doing a lot
38:59of segments
39:00with himself involved.
39:02Well, he was brought
39:03in to be a rider.
39:05And then he'd write himself
39:07into the show.
39:08And write himself
39:10as one of the main
39:11characters in the show.
39:12This is my show.
39:14This is my house.
39:16And these are my people.
39:17I'm just going to be
39:191,000% completely
39:21honest with you.
39:21As far as
39:22an on-air character
39:24I felt that I was better
39:26than 80% of that roster.
39:28They put so much pressure
39:30on me, bro
39:31that I made the mistake
39:32of saying
39:33you know what?
39:34F it.
39:36If you want ratings
39:37I will go out there
39:39and get ratings myself.
39:40I almost get killed, bro.
39:43I almost got killed.
39:46What I'm looking for tonight
39:53is ratings.
39:55Big ratings.
39:56And we're gonna deliver
39:57you son of a bitch.
39:59Like to this day
40:00people think
40:01that's who I am.
40:02That's why
40:03so many people
40:04dislike me
40:05hate me
40:06who don't know me
40:07because
40:07they think
40:08I'm my character.
40:09knock it off me
40:11blow your place.
40:12He put the belt
40:13on himself
40:14he became champion
40:15somehow
40:16which I just thought
40:17was kind of self-serving.
40:19I can't even imagine
40:20you know
40:21what brought that on
40:22except for
40:23childhood dream
40:24that every one of us
40:26have had.
40:27So I get Vince
40:28doing it
40:29I don't think
40:29it was a good idea
40:30but I get it
40:32and he had a lot of heat
40:33you know
40:34internal and external.
40:38Bro listen
40:38I never thought
40:40I was a wrestler.
40:41Again
40:42this is a
40:43television show.
40:45All I'm trying to do
40:47is entertain
40:48an audience.
40:51Bro I should have
40:52never gotten in the ring.
40:53I was really concerned
40:55about my health.
40:56They were hurting me
40:57on purpose.
40:59First of all
41:00with Goldberg
41:01he's supposed to spear me
41:02into the entranceway
41:04and I told him
41:06ten times
41:07bro I got a concussion
41:09like just please
41:10work me to
41:12the entranceway.
41:14What does he do bro?
41:15He spears me
41:16right into the iron rail.
41:21Come on man
41:22like no question about it.
41:24If I wanted to
41:25intentionally hurt him
41:26he'd be underground
41:27right now
41:28and anyone
41:29who doesn't believe
41:30that
41:30doesn't know
41:31anything about me.
41:32Do you think
41:33Bill was purposely
41:33trying to hit Kirkham?
41:34I think so
41:35without a doubt.
41:36Without a doubt.
41:37And that was it.
41:38That spear
41:39that was the one
41:40that put me away.
41:41That was it.
41:42Why am I putting
41:43my health
41:45on the line
41:45when obviously
41:47nobody gives a crap
41:48about this company?
41:50Russo!
41:51I'm here
41:52and I'm waiting
41:53and I'm waiting
41:53Vince.
41:53The last show
41:54that Vince Russo
41:55is credited
41:56to have written
41:57is the October 2nd
41:592000 edition
42:00of Monday Nitro.
42:02He gives an interview
42:03the next day
42:04on WCW Live
42:05lamenting
42:06everything that was
42:07going on in the company
42:08and then he's gone
42:09from the picture
42:09after that point.
42:11This is Russo
42:11in 2000, baby.
42:13Hulk Hogan
42:13I don't
42:15give a damn.
42:16You think
42:17I care about
42:18Eric Bischoff
42:19I could
42:20give a damn.
42:22Ratings
42:222.7
42:231.7
42:25.7
42:26I don't care.
42:27Vince Russo
42:28losing his job
42:29next week
42:30I don't
42:31give a damn.
42:34When I see this
42:35and I see that guy
42:36there
42:37it really reminds me
42:38of how much
42:39I hate the business.
42:40I mean I'm going
42:40to be honest with you
42:41and there's a lot
42:42of people
42:42that don't like
42:44me saying that
42:46that's the fact
42:47of the matter.
42:48It really brings me
42:49back to
42:50the damage
42:52emotionally
42:53that this business
42:55did to me.
42:57That's absolute
42:58truth
42:59God honest truth
43:00and then those
43:02same politics
43:03exist today.
43:06What is the fate
43:08of WCW?
43:10We're talking about
43:10a company that
43:11at its peak
43:12was generating
43:13in the neighborhood
43:13of $200 million
43:14a year
43:15and a huge part
43:16of pop culture.
43:18It's a hit
43:19every Monday night
43:19but it wasn't
43:20anymore.
43:21It was so bad
43:22the bickering
43:23the infighting.
43:25We're Time Warner.
43:27Is it that important
43:28to own a wrestling
43:29company
43:29that's losing money
43:31bleeding massively?
43:33I'll sit and watch
43:33the fucking thing
43:34sink from my fucking
43:35house.
43:36It didn't feel
43:36like a family anymore.
43:38You had to look
43:39out for yourself.
43:40What's going to
43:41happen here?
43:41Are they going to
43:42stick with this?
43:42Are they not going
43:43to stick with it?
43:44I said Brad
43:45why don't you
43:46let me explore
43:48selling WCW
43:49while it still
43:50has some value?
43:52We thought
43:54we were coming
43:54to work like
43:55a regular day.
43:55Do you know anything?
43:57No one knew
43:58until that night.
43:59Because the fate
44:00of WCW
44:02is in
44:03my hands.
44:05WCW
44:06is the
44:30of WCW
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