R.D. Reynolds (the creator of Wrestlecrap.com) and Bryan Alvarez (editor of Figure Four Weekly) join forces to answer the question that has bothered wrestling fans for the past few years. Who killed World Championship Wrestling?
The Birth of WCW
The first section of the book details the events of 1988 - 1996. The first few years of WCW were a total mess until the arrival of Eric Bishoff and his willingness to spend money and produce compelling TV. For the first time in the company's history they were making a profit. With the birth of the NWO and the start of the Monday Night Wars, things looked really good for WCW.
The Rise
This section of the book details the years of 1997 and 1998, the 2 most profitable and popular years for the company. In 1997, they were crushing the WWF. By 1998, they kept using the same formula and the WWF caught up to them. With the exception of Goldberg, WCW was keeping their talented youngsters down. In particular, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Eddie Guerrero who would all go on to win world titles in the WWF. It was this lack of changing up the main event picture that was one of the reasons for their downfall.
The Fall & Death of WCW
These section of the book details 1999-2000 which could have been the worst years in the history of any company. The product was so bad that they lost 95% of their audience. No one knew who was in charge because of the constant changes in executives, they let their best young talent just leave for the WWF and worst of all destroyed the world title when they crowned David Arquette world champion. When the AOL-Time Warner merger occurred and Ted Turner lost his power in the company, WCW was one of the first parts of the company sold. A year earlier there was an offer of almost $500 million for the company. When they finally sold the company to Vince McMahon, it was only for a few million and WCW had to keep all their liabilities (ex: continue paying the guaranteed contracts and responsible for several lawsuits they had hanging over them).
Recommendation for the book
I highly recommend this book. It serves as both a history of WCW and a book of really funny stories. When WCW is at their worst, this book is at its' best. It is hard to imagine that there were real corporate executives of a major corporation that were so stupid so many times. This book does not just knock WCW though. It does give them credit for some of the innovations they brought to the sport which makes their fate so much sadder.
