Gene Okerlund - Main Reasons Why WCW Failed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มิ.ย. 2024
- Mean Gene Okerlund discusses why WCW ultimately failed, Eric Bischoff, the rise & fall of the nWo, Goldberg and much more. Stream New Shoot Interviews 📺 TitleMatchNetwork.com
RIP to the late-great Mean Gene. Mr Okerlund talks about his time in World Championship Wrestling. We hear Gene's most candid thought on the Monday Night Wars (Nitro vs Raw), how big the nWo got with Scott Hall & Kevin Nash and when Eric Bischoff started to lose control of WCW.
Plus Mean Gene mentions the ridiculous creative control wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Kevin Nash and Goldberg had in their contracts.
We also learn that Okerlund had signed a million dollar deal with Turner Broadcasting right before WCW went out of business and still got paid every penny of it.
Find out his thoughts on Vince Russo and the shoot promo at Bash of the Beach 2000 that put the final nail in the WCW coffin.
Originally produced by RF Video Inc in 2006. Licensed for exclusive distribution on Title Match Network.
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RIP to the late great Mean Gene Okerlund
Stream the Full Shoot Interview (2006)
➡titlematchnetwork.com/wrestling-shoot-interviews-results/
The voice of my childhood 😢just as important as the wrestlers…The Legend the late Mean Gene Okerlund
The monday night war was the greatest time to be a wrestling fan. Wwf and wcw both putting out weekly ppv quality shows. Ecw having crazy shows every weekend on a different random cable channel at 3am. What a great time, sad it had to end
It could have only happened during that particular timeframe too; the mid to late 90s.
There was a counter culture moment in society as a whole that was anti establishment, and politically incorrect. That's what lead to the rise of the anti-hero on a large cultural scale like we've never seen in American pop culture before. This was the perfect environment for the wrestling boom of that period. What we saw during the Monday night wars would never be able to happen in our current society.
Guess you just started watching wrestling because you are sooooooo WRONG it was the 80’s …the NWO was a storyline that just established wrestling was here to stay as it was outed as FAKE!
I try to explain this to younger generations. We just didn’t know how good we had it. Not to mention Mexico and Japan was great as well.
My god, I can't even imagine having a match like Goldberg and Hogan on a weekly syndicated show now. So many good matches, so many talented wrestlers on both sides. For that 2-3 year period it was just absolutely must see TV. They both were, although I was stuck to WCW until 1999 or so. Once it started really going downhill.
I often wonder how much longer WCW could have stayed on top had they not botched the Hogan-Sting finish @ Starcade. I was surprised to see that WCW still stayed ahead in the ratings for 4 more months.
mean gene was part of my childhood, always liked him. RIP
He was mean to my mommy
It was sad as hell hearing nobody showed up to honor this man I appreciate what you brought to my childhood R.i.p. Mean Gene
Seriously that's really fu#ked up
I heard DDP mention that. I'm still not really buying it.
@jeremyc9593 by all means of there are people coming out saying that wasn't so drop a link I'd very much like it to not be true even though I'd also like to not think of DDP as a liar either
DDP MUST'VE BEEN SO F#&KED UP AT GENE'S FUNERAL, THAT HE DIDN'T NOTICE IT WAS PACKED.
If Savage was alive at the time, im sure he would have showed up!
Even when Mean Gene is having a casual conversation it sounds like he is giving an interview
The interviewer should of asked him how the f**k he kept a straight face during Bookers dropping the n bomb on Hogan. The man has style and class
He was over it after dealing with the macho man and David Schultz for 15 years.
That Shultz I,ve been to San Francisco and I want a wuhman promo was funny as
I was shocked when I saw Mean Gene at WCW
And same when Heenan joined him at a Clash of the Champions. Couldn't believe it.
The greatest stick man in wrestling history. A HUGE piece of my life growing up. Sadly, we’ll never see his class again.
RIP Mean Gene! I liked when he said "my long time close personal friend". Gene was the best interviewer.
Gene is the older wiser intelligent down to Earth voice of reason missing in today's broadcasting.
Ooo yeah brotherrrr
Not to mention the golden voice.
Thats absolutely true.RIP Gene Sir.
He succumbed to chasing a bigger paycheck like what he likely did when he left Gagne for Vince, then for Turner. Thankfully the federation never made him do anything embarrassing aside from making out with Mae Young or Moolah upon his return.
Great insight from Gene, someone on the inside of WCW. No ego, just years of experience from working in the AWA, the WWF, and finally, WCW.
I always like Gene, he knew his place was to get over the talent, not himself. But he was SO good at doing what he should have done, he actually got himself over without even trying.
As I said, I always liked him but these clips of this interview made me like him even more.
When you look back on things, it’s amazing that wcw even managed to put out a weekly show given all the ego’s that had creative control.
I think if you go back and watch over again, its creativity wasn’t as strong as people remember in general and is largely held up by its strong work ethic from the midcarders. People remember the Attitude era for the wacky promos but remember WCW for its epic matches like Rey vs Eddie at Halloween Havoc. It really was the same “sports entertainment vs rasslin’” in the 90s as it was the 80s. WCW trying to be like WWE with Russo and the juvenile promos drove away its fanbase.
@@mikeg2491 They really did have some extremely good talent outside of the top guys. Even better on many accounts. Hell, look who moved to WWE and had tremendous success: Big Show, Jericho, Guerrero, Booker T, Benoit, Rey Mysterio to name a few. Those guys made their mark big time when they were given a chance.
I will say, the cruiserweight division in WCW will probably always be my favorite to watch. The Kidman and Rey(at least I think it was Rey)match at World War 3 where they used all the rings was magnificent. It may have been Juventud, but either way. That division was absolutely stacked with talent and was fun as hell to watch.
It was a mess from 1999 on. They were getting crushed in Monday night because they had no idea how to book a show. All the main event bait and switches and Hogan and his buddies randomly wasting time with promos with no direction really finished off wcw. They couldn’t perform a decent storyline by that point.
If Bret Hart had creative control in WCW, then Vince McMahon was right, Bret did screw Bret.
I’ve been a wrestling fan since the middle 80s. “Mean” Gene was just as big a part of it as the wrestlers were.
That’s what wrestling has been missing for 25 years….. there’s no mean genes, no Bobby Heenans. They were a show within a show
I miss WCW and Mean Gene
I know Mean Gene is an icon but I can’t still but feel he was under appreciated. He could really put a wrestler over during an interview.
Never have another Man like Mean Gene on the Stick.. Gene was the voice of the WWF and i give him All the Respect and Praise for having that Ability and being that Voice..
R.I.P. Mean Gene Okerlund
Funerals mean nothing when none of the wrestlers went to pay their respects to Gene
The Boys didn’t realize what Mean Gene did for them by putting them over with the mic. Just sad.
DDP was there. That should be no surprise
Yup. Pathetic. Truly sad
What is the reasoning though for that? Behind the scenes issues ? Vince power play ?
@@xancypillosi9497 people just forget others and just think for themselves
Gene Okerlund... the voice that launched a thousand matches. The guy could have been anything from an auctioneer to the next Walter Cronkite.
Several wrestlers got paid into 2002-2003 to sit at home with a guaranteed contract. Of those the WWE offered to pay half and then pay the rest if they came to work. I met Hogan in Key West Florida in November 2001 at Fast Buck Freddie's and asked him if he was coming back to wrestle. He said " when my contract is up." It was to their advantage to sit at home and wait. DDP and Booker T were the only prominent ones to comeback early, as if it was a paycut, just to get their foot in the door and get ahead of the others. Booker T admitted that on TSN's Off The Record show. It really worked out for him and he got a raise after 6 months and stayed for a long time. DDP just wanted to get into wrestling again but the injuries and time had caught up with him ( plus he was old by then). DDP was however one of the oldest ( when he appeared) to be in the Royal Rumble ever. I left out Buff Bagwell because he came to the WWF and didn't take it seriously and was shown the door.
DDP was done dirty. Booker did well, people say that he wasn't given the title runs he deserved but he went to WWE when they had Steve Austin, Rock, Triple H, and upcoming Champs Kurt Angle, Baptista, Brock, Lashley etc. I believe that he would of done great with his bro as Harlem Heat in the tag division.
@@roningarcia5771 The entire Undertaker stalker thing never fit DDP and pretty much killed his WWE run from the start. i remember being a huge DDP fan and was like REALLY thats the stalker?
Hogan told you an ounce of truth. Lol😅
@roningarcia5771 at least it wasn't Barry Windham. Lol
@@codybuckner9325 why?hes a known liar?
I remember Gene from the AWA days.Him and Joe Swizback and Geri-speed
omg the memories
Just listen to this right here shows how good his voice was he was the perfect man for wrestling he would have been great in football
I haven't watched wrestling since I was a kid in the 90's. Mean Gene will always be the voice of wrestling for me. RIP
The booking after 1998 was bad. When Russo took over it went down fast. Russo was awful.
Watching reliving the war you could see the end of 98 going into 99 wcw was toast. They couldn’t book a decent nitro. Useless promos and main event bait and switches with DQs. It was horrible and one of the reasons why wwe ran away with it.
That's the oversimplified viewpoint. There were points in 99-01 wcw where Russo had little to nothing to do with storyline. Yet the product was just as, if not worse when he wasn't there. Russo is just the easy fall guy. The guy to point to as an easy explanation. The fact is Russo becoming a writer for wwf(e) directly overlapped with the explosion of the attitude era. He deserves credit for his good, just like the criticism for his bad.
Its amazing how wcw went from. Greatness 96 97. 98. Then in 99 the wheels started falling off. By 2000 it was awful. 👋
because wcw was a tv show that showed wrestling and not a wresting company that was on tv. It was apart Turner Networks and not its own wrestling company. Bischoff had to answer to tv executives at turner. Where as vince didn't have to answer to no one and that was the major differences between wcw and wwe.
@@SteelRhinoXpress Bischoff had to answer to Ted Turner and Ted alone. WCW was its own division.
Yeah, that's when Russo became the booker. His work was just trash.
Completely off subject, but Mean Gene said Haku/Meng was the toughest shoot guy ever.
KING TONGA!!!
Most wrestlers from the 90s and early 2000s say that
you can tell gene is 12 scotches in and it doesnt faze him
And a couple of blunts
Mean Gene was always one of my fav parts of watching wrestling as a kid in the 80s-90s
8:19 “Wrasslin’” 😂
He was a part of my watching wrestling the whole time. I started watching the AWA with him. RIP Gene Mean.
Vince had good advisors, while Eric had Russo. That was the difference.
Things were going downhill well before Russo arrived. He just made it worse.
Eric was fired before Russo showed up
They only brought Eric back later on after Russo failed
@@shooter86-uw8ce that's right. The inmates were in charge of the asylum before that.
The Monday night wars were a great time to be a fan and alive in general.
The-fact-WCW-didnt-refer-to-Hall/nash-as-their-names-and-that-they-came-from-that-big-company-up-north-made-u-really-think-they-were-sent-by-Mcmahon-to-take-over...It-was-gold
I hadn't heard about bill and nash having creative control. Awesome still seeing all of us here still talking about such a awesome era it was.
Always loved Mean Gene Okerlund, and other announcers from back in the day.
RIP Mean Gene I can't think of wrestling without thinking of you
What a voice and legend. Rip
Mean Gene is a man of honour. So humble.
Mean Woooooooo Gene! Good old days.
Ric Flair
Very well said. This is just as good as the specials on it because he has much detailed inside info as anyone.
Just from my memory, it seemed like things got very erratic once Russo came in. Everything just had a very chaotic feel once he got there and started inserting himself in storylines. I'm not saying it was solely because of him, but just from what I remember, that's when the product really started to take a dive.
It was crashing beforehand. That's the entire reason why WCW went to Russo in the first place. They were diving downwards in quality, but most importantly for them, in ratings for months prior to Russo being hired. Many people misremember history and just want an oversimplified excuse and Russo is the perfect excuse. However, Russo was hired specifically because of the viewers giving up on wcw and turning to wwf which by the way was partly because of Russo, as he played a large part in the attitude era. Another thing people forget is Russo was only in charge for certain sections of that 1999-2001 period at wcw. There were large periods, for several months at a time, where Russo had nothing to do with wcw storyline. Nothing changed and in fact it got worse without him there.
I used to love it when Mean Gene shoot promos for the WCW Wrestling Hotline on WCW Saturday Night
Imagine being in the 90s and getting to watch Monday night football, Monday night raw and Monday nitro
80s and 90s forever
Mean gene wrestling national treasure miss him rip
Nice interview
Outstanding video post.
I never paid any attention to how much mean Gene and Jimmy Hart looked alike, the only difference is Jimmy Hart has a whole head full of hair and wear sunglasses
It was in Russo's contract that he got paid to increase the rating (which he did, slightly), not for "long term thinking". Anyone would be 'in over their head' coming in to that company at that time with AOL already at the door.
Best wrestling time. Remember switching back and forth from channels to catch all the matches
Wonderful discussion.
Mean gene was "the Walter Cronkite of wrestling"
Mean gene is the man. His voice reminds me of my childhood.
I miss Mean Gene's Burgers in Duluth, Minnesota...
I miss Mean Gene
Mean Gene was the greatest backstage and in ring interviewer ever.
Nice to hear mean Gene's take
I miss Mean Gene, he is a legend
LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING MEAN GENE! Rip good man, you are missed.
I grew up watching "Mean Gene" when he was doing interviews for the AWA. The was the best in the business.
Another fond part of my youth
Putting Nitro against Raw on Monday Night was a genius idea to make you switch channels back and forth from USA Network to TNT and make it exciting to see what's going on with both wrestling shows. Before that, the first Clash of the Champions in 1988 went head to head against Wrestle Mania IV which was on pay per view and Clash was free to watch on TBS.
Rip to a legend
Miss u gene best announcer ever❤😊
I cannot believe, no one thought to hire Jerry jerritte as the guy instead of russo or bishoff
Still had that voice. Love how he takes a second to think before answering.
If both raw and nitro were on different nights. It wouldn't have the same feel. And I doubt we would have gotten an attitude era
The BEST. R.I.P.
Gene Okerlund is a legend.🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠
Maybe I'm one of the only ones that wasn't asking that question...Hall and Nash..are they still with WWF..
scott hall died 2y years ago man
Gene must have pulled in a bundle for this shoot interview. I’ve seen very few out there beside RF & he was a shrewd businessman Gene was. Made a ton off that WCW Hotline.
RIP Legendary Mean Gene
Mean Gene was and will always be the MAN. The best.
God, Mean Gene had the perfect voice and delivery for an announcer.
Classiest man ever.
I miss you, Jean mean Jean
This interview is basically "Who Killed WCW?"
Mr. Gene Mean.
One reason Eric bischoff
I figured the reason that WCW failed was having a bunch of the guys in the locker room with creative control. And a bloated roster with big paying contracts, very light schedules and ultimately, not enough money coming in from the door and merch to sustain it. Anyone else drawing parallels with a more modern company? I sure as hell am.
That voice....take me back.
R.I.P. Mean Gean…….
Always wonder why the great Mean Gene Okerlund left Vince and WWF at the time to go to WCW. But if he hadn't, I don't think WCW would have been the same.
Further to add: When WCW failed and was bought by Vince, there was a deluge/wave of wrestlers that came to the WWE but also many that the fans were expecting to arrive. One was Sting. But he too was being paid to sit and we later found out he was insulted when the Rock said to Booker T " Who in the blue hell are you?". You may remember that when Booker T ( and yes I agree with the person who replied he wasn't booked right ) said " I'm the 5 time.." Rock cut him off and said " It doesn't matter who you are." I saw the interview on YOutube where Sting was concerned about his character and all he had worked for. Finally years later they got him for a little while although he was very late in his career. Ric Flair was another one people expected to show up. He was also on a guaranteed contract but when he was admitted to the WWE , Vince paid for his plastic surgery first. If you look at the last episodes of WCW and then the WWE episodes of when he returned, you'll see the difference. Also Ric was down in the dumps and lacked self confidence in himself. Later Ric would say " I was 56 and running on a full schedule." Goldberg: Another one with a huge guaranteed salary and collecting. Scott Steiner similar but he ( in my opinion) was not booked properly and I think the fans would of liked him if he was a bad guy. It seemed that something wasn't right. Here's a story: A co worker was in Vegas for a card show. Scott Steiner was at a Hotel ( don;t know if it was related to the card show or at the WCW Hotel there at the time) but he was signing autographs. He was huge, he posed for the women and did pictures ( for a fee I think) but his behavior was a little erratic. Later I read that some of the WWE talent were a little uncomfortable i n the locker room with him around. Already in WCW there were people who felt a little unsafe being around him because of his change in behaviors at times. .......I forgot to mention in my last comment a few days ago that many of the WCW top wrestlers had guaranteed clauses for pay and creative control. Meaning that they could not show up ( in WCW) and still get paid. Dusty Rhodes talks a bit about it in the DVD The Rise and Fall of WCW. Kevin Nash for one, according to Eric B., said that Kevin claimed to have heart trouble and couldn't show but in reality it was heartburn. VInce was concerned about bringing this talent in on their WCW contracts and risk they don't show (remember the Ultimate Warrior who didn't show up at times?) or make demands. In the book the Death of WCW, the author says who cares because you could of had dream matches on Pay Per View and made up for it. Also many of the WCW stars had expectations IF they joined WWE right away. In my view, I think that Vince did the right thing in waiting for the contracts to expire, sign them with the expectations and obligations for their fulfillment . True we didn't see Sting for several years but we got to see him there for a little while ( Blu Ray story is wonderful) In the past there were other wrestlers we saw or would of loved to see in the WWF/WWE like the MIdnight Express, a good run with the Fabulous Freebirds, a young & healthy Kerry Von Erich , even Nick Bockwinkel ( who was supposed to be the Million Dollar Man, but declined) but for various reasons declined ( like Midnight) due to travel,style of wrestling, story, glitz& glamour, $, or whatever, but at least we got to see some of them for a while. Side note to all: IF you ever get a chance to go to Indianapolis Raceway Museum ( I'm from Canada and it was a pleasure to be there) you'll see the story about how they tried so hard to get the European Legends to come over and race. Some of the Italian,German, and French finally made it over and raced ( this was many years ago) even though their best years were behind them. But at least people got to see them. It was kinda like the NASL who got Soccer Legends to play in their league like Cruyff, Beckenbauer, etc. The museum was great with all kinds of old cars, stories, and legends. This has nothing to do with wrestling but I thought I would put it in for anyone who is interested and NOT to miss it. The museum is currently being renovated so check to see when it is completed. Thank you.
Nobody got time to read all that 😅
im italian from italy id like to go there since im in the US right now
Gene Mean.
I said the same thing they should've went on different nights instead of making the fans choose one and NWO was a great idea but eventually it turned into an Overkill
Mean WOOOOOO Geeeeeene!!!!
The one thing Hogan did do that was true is he was the one who made the name Mean Gene a household name and there's never going to be another Mean Gene who was a true hard ass traditionalist of the business.
Elbow Pads|Knee Pads|Taped Wrists|MMA Style Gloves Past Present Future
I wish this Man👆🏼was shown the proper respect he Deserved. I can't believe how classless the "boys" were. Save DDP & others.
Why would they dump wcw when it was in top
Bash at the Beach @ 7:32
Finger Poke of Doom killed WCW.
David Arquette as world champion made the belt a joke.
Nash being a junk monkey almost deprived the fans of the Big Show who actually cared enough to learn how to work from being a big part of WWE
Pro Wrestling|Sports Entertainment on TBS|TCM|TNT Past Present Future
AWA was best league. People like The Crusher, Mad Dog Vachon and Nick Bockwinkle. Fun, professional and even family oriented. NOTHING EVER COMPARED TO THE AWA.
You know you scoff at the talents that sat back and got their cash cows doing nothing. In Gene's case...I cannot help but have a HUGE smile on my face and go, "Alright, GENE!"
Gene, Heenan, Monsoon. Back when even the non wrestlers were over.
A GREAT TIME IN LIFE
It showed in the later years of WCW they were winging it. It was awful. There was no flow to the shoes.
I liked WWF it was number 1, but my Heart & favourite will always be WCW 🔥
Everyone likes to blame Bischoff, Hogan, nWo, Russo, etc., for killing WCW. What killed WCW was the AOL/Time Warner merger, plain and simple. They didn't want wrestling on their platforms. That's it! It would've survived had that not happened.
it's funny how many people refuse to accept this fact. When a parent company wants to kill a product, there's no way it can survive