@@AFMountaineer2000 I had no idea who it was gonna be. I was so pumped on the angle, it would've been really hard to let me down, but alas WCW. As soon as I saw that chin though, I definitely knew it was Flair. Me, my friends and cousins were all super disappointed.
We all were. It was such a great story that even my mom was curious and she didn't watch that much. According to ole anderson dusty Rhodes messed this angle up.
You mean a special place in your arse mate. That was lame asf..... the first 2 msgs from black scorpion was cool but then it fell into a bowl of lemon and shet that got fed to ric flair to deal with...
I was 8 and I was thinking about this storyline. I kept on trying to figure out who the black scorpion 🦂 was. All I remember him talking about that one time on the beach 🏝️. That was the only clue I remember. Turned out it was Flair!! Lol 😂
This angle was doomed the moment they said “California 86”. With a more plausible, harder to prove history and a shred of planning, they could have gotten someone over with this in my opinion.
11 year old me was completely wrapped up in the Black Scorpion angle. I remember my mom letting us get the Halloween Havoc with Sting and Sid. Then we were all disappointed when it ended up being Flair at Starcade.
if you just look at what happened on TV and not behind the scenes, you might say it actually came together. Strangely, you might say that Flair's strategy worked. He wound up with the belt in the end. You could say all the false information was just to confuse and distress Sting. And I guess it worked. Ric saved the whole thing... sorta.
Black Scorpion: Stinger, remember me from '86 Cali? No? Well, remember me from '88 Mexicali, sweet grass on the beach, tequila, I introduced you to pink. We hit piñatas together all night? Then you betray me with some Warrior. I thought when i said I'm coming Sting, it wouldn't have meant this....
Awesome video dude, wasn't expecting one tonight but so happy it's here. I've been having a pretty tough time lately and, as corny as it sounds, just wanted to let you know your content really helps me keep going! Thanks a tonne
I absolutely LOVED the whole Black Scorpion story-line. When I was a kid, this was the best thing ever. I don't care what everyome else thought, this was the best thing ever to a kid who loved wrestling.
I understand. I'm younger than you bc I was a kid in the late 90s watching wrestling and I was all into the hummer angle from WCW summer 1999, and in retrospect it wasn't a good angle lol.
Ric Flair adored Sting and the guys around him. He did what was best for business. If The Black Scorpion was Rick Rude then it would've been much better. But Rude would show up later as The WCW Phantom.
Would have worked out perfectly and given WCW the perfect long term alternative to Flair as top heel but Vince kept Rude under contract in some form whilst never using him so he couldn’t go anywhere else until the contract ended in early to mid 1991.
LEGEND! Stinger is in my top 3 all time favorites with Macho & Bret Hart. From white meat Surfer Sting babyface to the darker Crow & Joker, all eras I love of his,
@@redauerbach2753 he is definitely going a lot stronger than we all figured he would. I think him being with Darby is the best thing they could have done for him.
The 'dark past' angle can be done well, but I think going the supernatural route hurt it. Done right, this could've given Sting another dimension to his character, but it just ended up being silly. Squandered potential, if you ask me.
@@anthonytucker8913 Undertaker was a gimmick of a dead man with a mortician controlling him with a magic urn from pretty much the start. Sting was a fiery babyface who wore facepaint. The magic tricks and Sting having to pretend he was "in awe" and "astonished" by a woman appearing on another part of the stage made him look like an idiot.
Great video! As a kid I always remembered the vignettes more than the Flair reveal. One of the “WrestleCrap” building blocks that got me on their site back in the day! RIP Blade Braxton, miss you.
I might be in the minority but I actually really liked this storyline as a kid and I also thought the reveal was good too lol. To me as a kid it made sense that it was The Nature Boy because he lost his world title and probably didn’t have a re-match clause so Ric did that to get his shot at world championship again. Anyway that’s what I thought as a kid. 😎
See but if Ric doesn’t say that in a promo then it doesn’t matter. Although you’re awesome for putting pieces together like that especially as a kid. I applaud you
Bro this was absolutely awesome back then..It had me hooked.I was only about 9,but I remember everything about it..It passed the test of time so far guys,and my son is 6 and we watch all the old stuff from AWA to AEW..💪🤣💯
Personally, the only way I think this could have worked was if it actually was Warrior. Impossible of course but the way they were booking it, that was the only satisfying conclusion that could have come from it. Black Scorpion was a WWF character anyway, so it would make sense if it were a WWF guy. And I'll give props to WCW for actually hiring a proper stage magician to do the tricks, better than getting Ole to do them.
One thing missing in all of this is how WCW built suspicion away from Flair - he and Arn had been in a feud with Doom, and scheduled for a championship title match at Starrcade. Then there was a report of an "attack and injury" that happened off camera that day (hey, they've legitimately done that before). Added to Flair wrestling a different move set and not speaking for the first half of the match, and this was fairly good suspension of disbelief! .... until it fell apart with the reveal.
Wouldn’t it been great if Jim Hellwig actually was the Black Scorpion when unmasked? All the clues would’ve matched pretty well. A man can dream, right? Lol
Late 80’s to late 90’s/a little into the 2000s are where it’s at for anything good for this kind of wrestling! The actual wrestling might be better and fancier now but that’s not really what people watch it for
So let's say the guy under the mask was that Angel of Death guy who originally trained with Sting. Do you think it could have built him up as a bigger star/heel than he was?
Back in 1992, when WWE signed Kevin Wacholz as ''Nailz'' and put in a feud with the ''Big Boss Man''. The concept of that story line was very similar to ''The Black Scorpion''.
I'm not sure if you had this planned out or not already before I made this suggestion in the WCW blunder video, but thank you so very much for doing this!!! This story line definitely needed the touch and description that only you give!!
What kind of fool do you take me for? He's the Black Scorpion, He's the Black Scorpion, you're the Black Scorpion, i'm the Black Scorpion!!! Are there any other Black Scorpions I should know about??
This was one of the only WCW storylines I can actually remember prior to the New World order and when it was revealed that the black scorpion was Ric Flair was one of the biggest disappointments in wrestling history right up there with the Gobley Gougar
Dude I remember this was so awesome to me until it was revealed to be Flair... I have recently been watching the Clashes and Halloween Havoc. Was such a cool Idea for 7 year old me anyway but they blew it in true Herd era WCW fashion. WRESTLING BIOS RULES
As a child watching this week to week, I was so into this program. I just knew it was going to be The Ultimate Puke, too. And even when it was revealed to be Ric Flair I didn't care. I just wanted to see my hero, Sting, to put this evil menace down.
As a kid I loved this storyline. To see Ric Flair under the mask shocked me and my dad. Looking back on it yes it seemed tacky but as a kid, some of wrestlings best work. Lol.
I have no problem with the supernatural elements. This is like a goofy storyline that I would write. There's definitely room for goofy, cartoon, antics in wrestling, including wrestlers doing black magic, and magic tricks. That said, if you're going to set up an angle like this, with a character like this, you really need to write the entire storyline well in advance, and have a clear ending set up. You can't just wing it with a storyline like this. A storyline like this needs time to build with a clear goal in mind. That was the problem. They had no road map. They were driving that car blind, without a map, and were just driving all over the place not even knowing what their destination was. I love angles like this. But this was absolutely NOT the way to do it.
I thought this angle was the GREATEST but I still had no idea who the Scorpion was at Starrcade. Watching the PPV with my Dad, as soon as Scorpy popped outta his spaceship, my Dad totally pegged the Nature Boy because of his schnoz! 👃
Probably would make the most sense to have David Sheldon (Angel of Death) be the black scorpion. With that being saying, the storyline would have probably ended poorly has it did in real life.
I remember being a kid at the time and thinking "Sting has beaten everyone, and he wrestled Ric Flair for a year it seemed, who else could it be?" They said it was from his past. Then it was Flair and I was exasperated for the first time in my life.
I missed out on a LOT of classic golden Age wrestling. I only learned about The Black Scorpion just last year. And I didn't know about The Schockmaster until just now. That glitter covered stormtrooper helmet is hilarious!
@@orinanime Searching for "shockmaster debut" should do it. The video itself is called "The unforgettable debut of The Shockmaster." The video is from WWE, since they now own all of the old WCW stuff. Then come back here and we can chat about it, if you like.
I have memories of the Black Scorpion story line. I remember calling it being Flair the whole time. I don't necessarily remember all the extra hokey stuff, but I was 9 or 10 at the time so it probably just wasn't hokey to me.
Sounds like this storyline was ghost-written by J.J. Abrams. You know how he LOVES setting up mysteries and never resolving them in a satisfactory way.
With the right wrestler to have portrayed Black Scorpion it could have been fantastic. Even Warrior, although impossible, would have made sense. Imagine if it had been Mark Callaway. Lol.
Instead of asking if it could have worked, the better question is when it became unsalvageable. It obviously could have become something big at the start while it was pretty much doomed by the end with Flair's reveal. People tend to cite the magic tricks as the point of no return for it being successful, just because they are so wtf for wrestling.
I feel like even if this would have gone off without a hitch, it still would have sucked. It's kind of hilarious to think about Ric Flair doing all of this in kayfabe as if it was all his idea from day one lol Also it would have been finny if he would have woooo'ed in the promos were his face was in the shadows (if that was supposed to be Flair from day one which is implied) lol
Talk about missed opportunities 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️😒I remember watching this as a kid with my friends and when it was revealed he was Flair me and my friends were like WTF!!!!!
When I first got the WWE Network (when it was good,not the Peacock B's) this was the 1st WCW storyline I looked up bc when I was kid I thought it was so cool but now in adulthood it's F'N HORRIBLE!!! Hahah
I remember as this was going down I was expecting Eddie Gilbert to be The Black Scorpion. The last clue about tag partnership had 8 year-old me convinced it was Gilbert. The supernatural/magic nonsense wouldn't have been as hokey either, considering Gilbert was known to throw fire. My Dad and all his friends were around 30 at the time, and they were really into the angle. We all justified the shenanigans as Black Scorpion hiring a magician.
This DEFINITELY could have been really cool if they had been able to come up with a more solid story to follow from the beginning. The playing off the cuff nature of the angle is what doomed it to become a cheesy mess.
I was fifteen when this storyline was happening,at the time I actually thought it was creepy. I remember the Halloween havoc but making the girl disappear,she looked scared to me. When it was revealed to be Ric Flair I thought it was a weak reveal just a ploy to get him another shot at the title. Now looking back it's crazy how little of a plan, WCW had.
I feel like all the clues always pointed towards the Ultimate Warrior but at the same time it also could have been Berry Windham or a returning Magnum T.A.
They could have just had him win and then keep whoever was him keep wearing the mask and the belt. They would have had somebody to portray him and create a new star by then. Plus really what could have hurt With hindsight being 20/20
Oh, and I think this could have worked if they had never hinted at it being Jim Hellwig. They should have gotten a complete unknown or at least so down the cards in previous exposure that people wouldn't remember him to play the character and claimed that he had only become a pro wrestler to get his Vengeance on sting because of whatever they were pretending happened in 1986, how they could have told people sting had killed his dad at a house show or sting bang his fiance not realizing she was engaged and ruined his life
Nope, it could have been Eddie Gilbert who was jealous that he took Sting under his wing in the early days and now he has left him behind. Hell, they had Muta at Starrcade 1990 so if it was him him it would have been a great reveal.
In the end was supposed to be Al Perez. Everyone thought was gonna be the Warrior the way the promos were going. I was at Starrcade 90 and as soon as he came out everyone new right away it was Flair. Was like letting the air out of a balloon.
It kinda would've been cool if the Black Scorpion turned to be this anti reverse Sting character. Like how Tiger Mask had Tiger Mask black. Reveal it's like Sting's half brother or something. And he feels Sting took the ideas took what he wanted. So he's back to take it all back. It's very cheesy ridiculous I know. But a lot of wrestling was at this time. So I feel it wouldn't have been all too out of place.
I first started watching NWA/WCW in the early hours of 1990 here in the UK. "Superstars of wrestling" international pro with Lance Russell. 1 hour of random mainly job matches with no back stories, interviews or PPVs to help continuity. I remember the Black Scorpion storyline and genuinely thought it was awesome at the time, but all we had to go on were a few Sting matches with Lance Russell giving brief references to help the story along. I vividly remember Sting Paying a jobber to take his place and wrestle Barry Horrowitz because the Black Scorpion would only appear during matches. I think that was the match when Sting was attacked by the female "fan" and the referee. (or it might have been against Buddy Landell) Anyways... I didn't find out who the Black Scorpion was until about 8 years later when I bought the Starrcade VHS and was massively disappointed to find out it was Ric Flair all along. You could tell it was Flair as soon as he came out of the space ship thing! Despit all that, I have fond memories of the storyline.
It could’ve been good. I actually like having multiple black scorpions. It gave it mystery. If pulled off better it would’ve been good. I think if they would have kept different wrestlers portraying the black scorpion like they did. Added more hints to it. Then the big reveal at the end. They had the idea overall but it was sloppy.
Why do people get on here and try to knock NWA/WCW because I’ve always loved their style of wrestling since I was 10yrs of age and now I’m 42 and I never liked the WWF style of wrestling it was always to cartoon or comic like!!!
Flair was a way better champion, wrestler and backstage person than Hulk Hogan. Flair never had a problem taking one for the team and helping someone get over. Hulk Hogan was way too concerned about his phony “Hulkamaniac” image and his backstage politics were atrocious!
This reminds me of the whole Undertaker "High Power" angle, when it was revealed that the High Power was Vince McMahon all along. Yea, seeing Flair as the Black Scorpion would have been a huge letdown for me. Especially since it made no sense.
I believe in 1986, Sting was still in the UWF and was the protégé of Eddie Gilbert. At that time, I actually thought it was him making a mainstream comeback. But of course, Eddie wasn't a big guy and all of the other wrestlers that took the roll were much bigger than him.
My favorite part was how they barely got to show it was Ric Flair at Starrcade because it was going off the air and you see him walking away and JR goes “IT’S RIC FLAIR!” and the show goes off the air. They almost screwed this up even worse.
Thanks for listening and doing this review. Was 13 when this storyline was happening and at that age it was cool. Now grown I see the problems. Should of been Flair since the beginning and they could of made it better. Are Herd and Russo related?
![[Live] ศึกมหึมันส์มวยไทยสังเวียนเดือด เวทีมวยชั่วคราวสวนสยาม | จันทร์ 30 กันยายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pM1k6f7JXUc/mqdefault.jpg)
I swear I just watched the whole Black Scorpion saga yesterday! As a child, I LOVED this angle...until the reveal!
Did you know it was Flair before the reveal?
@@AFMountaineer2000 I had no idea who it was gonna be. I was so pumped on the angle, it would've been really hard to let me down, but alas WCW. As soon as I saw that chin though, I definitely knew it was Flair. Me, my friends and cousins were all super disappointed.
@@ZekeThePlumber86 I agree with everything that you said, man. My friends and I were also disappointed with the reveal.
We all were. It was such a great story that even my mom was curious and she didn't watch that much. According to ole anderson dusty Rhodes messed this angle up.
@@ajdavide2910 Even though Dusty was still signed to the WWF at that time.
I just want to take a second to marvel at the fact that at one point WCW had Jim Ross, Jim Cornette, AND Paul Heyman on staff
And they still didn't have a clue when it came to booking lol
They also at that time had Gary Hart, Terry Funk, Lance Russell & Gordon Solie and didn't use them properly.
If only these ppl knew enough to sit under Jim Herds learning tree like Ole WCW could have been a success
None of em compare to Pat Patterson alone. He beat all of them with his booking
They didn't have Vince McMahon
I was 10 years old and just started watching wrestling in October of '90. This angle will always hold a special place in my heart.
You mean a special place in your arse mate. That was lame asf..... the first 2 msgs from black scorpion was cool but then it fell into a bowl of lemon and shet that got fed to ric flair to deal with...
Same. I always loved it. It wasn’t until much later that I realized others felt differently.
I was 11 but it scared me.
I was 8 and I was thinking about this storyline. I kept on trying to figure out who the black scorpion 🦂 was. All I remember him talking about that one time on the beach 🏝️. That was the only clue I remember. Turned out it was Flair!! Lol 😂
I was 9 at the time
This angle was doomed the moment they said “California 86”. With a more plausible, harder to prove history and a shred of planning, they could have gotten someone over with this in my opinion.
Absolutely, if they had put any thought and planning into it anyways. Flair could’ve been a great red herring also.
If they didn't do that, they wouldn't have held the crowd. It would have been the Ding Dongs all over again
The angle was doomed when they started it without being clear who the BS was supposed to be. A mystery needs a proper revelation.
Who knew that Dr. Claw from inspector gadget also wrestled and did promos🤣
In a glittery lavender Stormtrooper helmet!
@@autobotstarscream765 thats why we never saw his face. 🤣 he knew we knew about the shockmaster
11 year old me was completely wrapped up in the Black Scorpion angle. I remember my mom letting us get the Halloween Havoc with Sting and Sid. Then we were all disappointed when it ended up being Flair at Starcade.
WCW should have shown Sting checking the closet and under his bed for the Black Scorpion
if you just look at what happened on TV and not behind the scenes, you might say it actually came together. Strangely, you might say that Flair's strategy worked. He wound up with the belt in the end. You could say all the false information was just to confuse and distress Sting. And I guess it worked. Ric saved the whole thing... sorta.
Black Scorpion: Stinger, remember me from '86 Cali? No? Well, remember me from '88 Mexicali, sweet grass on the beach, tequila, I introduced you to pink. We hit piñatas together all night? Then you betray me with some Warrior. I thought when i said I'm coming Sting, it wouldn't have meant this....
@@dingdong7610 AHAHA LOL
as a hardcore WWF kid growing up, this was the first WCW storyline that intrigued me enough to check out the rival brand.
I actively remember watching this storyline as a kid. It was awesome.....at first.
Still good times though
Awesome video dude, wasn't expecting one tonight but so happy it's here. I've been having a pretty tough time lately and, as corny as it sounds, just wanted to let you know your content really helps me keep going! Thanks a tonne
Love how this guy delivers the Black Scorpion promo better than the original recording 😁
No, the nit brit with his up talk doesn't deliver the promo better?
@@fjccommish he's not a nit. Perhaps that's what you call all brits
I absolutely LOVED the whole Black Scorpion story-line. When I was a kid, this was the best thing ever. I don't care what everyome else thought, this was the best thing ever to a kid who loved wrestling.
I understand. I'm younger than you bc I was a kid in the late 90s watching wrestling and I was all into the hummer angle from WCW summer 1999, and in retrospect it wasn't a good angle lol.
Ric Flair adored Sting and the guys around him. He did what was best for business. If The Black Scorpion was Rick Rude then it would've been much better. But Rude would show up later as The WCW Phantom.
Would have worked out perfectly and given WCW the perfect long term alternative to Flair as top heel but Vince kept Rude under contract in some form whilst never using him so he couldn’t go anywhere else until the contract ended in early to mid 1991.
That's funny you mentioned rude which him and sting would eventually have a rivalry in the early 90s I believe 1992
Crazy to think Sting is still going strong these days . A good last run for a legend of the buisness .
I wouldn’t say strong but the boy still going
Sting will live forever and wrestle until eternity
LEGEND! Stinger is in my top 3 all time favorites with Macho & Bret Hart. From white meat Surfer Sting babyface to the darker Crow & Joker, all eras I love of his,
@@redauerbach2753 he is definitely going a lot stronger than we all figured he would. I think him being with Darby is the best thing they could have done for him.
@@chrisbutler1668 Big Scott Hall doesn't get 1% of the credit he deserves
The 'dark past' angle can be done well, but I think going the supernatural route hurt it. Done right, this could've given Sting another dimension to his character, but it just ended up being silly. Squandered potential, if you ask me.
My thoughts exactly
Why it worked well with taker
@@anthonytucker8913 Cause supernatural is already in Taker's Gimmick. So a Demonic Pyromaniac from Taker's past is easier to swallow.
@@anthonytucker8913 Undertaker was a gimmick of a dead man with a mortician controlling him with a magic urn from pretty much the start. Sting was a fiery babyface who wore facepaint. The magic tricks and Sting having to pretend he was "in awe" and "astonished" by a woman appearing on another part of the stage made him look like an idiot.
@@arciks11 so ....I dug it
Great video! As a kid I always remembered the vignettes more than the Flair reveal. One of the “WrestleCrap” building blocks that got me on their site back in the day! RIP Blade Braxton, miss you.
Strange that Ric Flair never showed any magical abilities since then. Unless you count the magical ability to stay alive after his hard partying life.
I might be in the minority but I actually really liked this storyline as a kid and I also thought the reveal was good too lol. To me as a kid it made sense that it was The Nature Boy because he lost his world title and probably didn’t have a re-match clause so Ric did that to get his shot at world championship again. Anyway that’s what I thought as a kid. 😎
I applaud you and your younger self. I'm right there with you.
See but if Ric doesn’t say that in a promo then it doesn’t matter. Although you’re awesome for putting pieces together like that especially as a kid. I applaud you
Same!
Totally agree. Best thing to happen to WCW at the time.
Bro this was absolutely awesome back then..It had me hooked.I was only about 9,but I remember everything about it..It passed the test of time so far guys,and my son is 6 and we watch all the old stuff from AWA to AEW..💪🤣💯
Personally, the only way I think this could have worked was if it actually was Warrior. Impossible of course but the way they were booking it, that was the only satisfying conclusion that could have come from it. Black Scorpion was a WWF character anyway, so it would make sense if it were a WWF guy. And I'll give props to WCW for actually hiring a proper stage magician to do the tricks, better than getting Ole to do them.
One thing missing in all of this is how WCW built suspicion away from Flair - he and Arn had been in a feud with Doom, and scheduled for a championship title match at Starrcade. Then there was a report of an "attack and injury" that happened off camera that day (hey, they've legitimately done that before). Added to Flair wrestling a different move set and not speaking for the first half of the match, and this was fairly good suspension of disbelief! .... until it fell apart with the reveal.
Wouldn’t it been great if Jim Hellwig actually was the Black Scorpion when unmasked? All the clues would’ve matched pretty well. A man can dream, right? Lol
Rick Steiner would’ve been another guy that I’d like to see as B.S. too.
this is legit the best wrestling channel on youtube
Totally agree...guy is a LEGEND!
You know the irony about us watching this storyline and making fun of it is, id take this any day over anything WWE has done in years.
Late 80’s to late 90’s/a little into the 2000s are where it’s at for anything good for this kind of wrestling! The actual wrestling might be better and fancier now but that’s not really what people watch it for
@@jackdough8164 exactly! As wwe has seen. Really goes to show how vital Vince Mcmahaon was when he had full cognition.
@@CalvinTennessee *Russo
I was hoping the black scorpion was Vince McMahon. It was him all along, Sting!
All i have to say is that Warrior was absurdly entertaining with his insane promos around this time so
So let's say the guy under the mask was that Angel of Death guy who originally trained with Sting. Do you think it could have built him up as a bigger star/heel than he was?
This angle started like kanes debut but ended like vince mcmahon being reviled as the higher power.
Back in 1992, when WWE signed Kevin Wacholz as ''Nailz'' and put in a feud with the ''Big Boss Man''. The concept of that story line was very similar to ''The Black Scorpion''.
I'm not sure if you had this planned out or not already before I made this suggestion in the WCW blunder video, but thank you so very much for doing this!!!
This story line definitely needed the touch and description that only you give!!
What kind of fool do you take me for? He's the Black Scorpion, He's the Black Scorpion, you're the Black Scorpion, i'm the Black Scorpion!!! Are there any other Black Scorpions I should know about??
This could have been an episode of WCW Blunder
This was one of the only WCW storylines I can actually remember prior to the New World order and when it was revealed that the black scorpion was Ric Flair was one of the biggest disappointments in wrestling history right up there with the Gobley Gougar
Who is Gobley Cougar?
@@str.77 Isn't she a porn star?
Saturday came fast, it seems we have another WCW Blunder episode already.
Nice...
How polite of him to ask how Sting's week was.
Hey, just because you're actively plotting a man's doom and plan to leave him a broken mess doesn't mean you can't be polite to him about it 🤣😂
Dude I remember this was so awesome to me until it was revealed to be Flair... I have recently been watching the Clashes and Halloween Havoc. Was such a cool Idea for 7 year old me anyway but they blew it in true Herd era WCW fashion. WRESTLING BIOS RULES
Badass intro music, bro!
As a child watching this week to week, I was so into this program. I just knew it was going to be The Ultimate Puke, too. And even when it was revealed to be Ric Flair I didn't care. I just wanted to see my hero, Sting, to put this evil menace down.
As a kid I loved this storyline. To see Ric Flair under the mask shocked me and my dad. Looking back on it yes it seemed tacky but as a kid, some of wrestlings best work. Lol.
i was 8 during the black scorpion angle, i thought it was amazing. i remember being totally disappointed when i found out it was just ric flair.
I was 5, and I do remember liking the parts I saw. Didn't see the payoff until years later.
@@JWS1985 yeah i didnt actually see the starcade match til years later. it was a whole different world back then before the internet
I have no problem with the supernatural elements. This is like a goofy storyline that I would write. There's definitely room for goofy, cartoon, antics in wrestling, including wrestlers doing black magic, and magic tricks. That said, if you're going to set up an angle like this, with a character like this, you really need to write the entire storyline well in advance, and have a clear ending set up. You can't just wing it with a storyline like this. A storyline like this needs time to build with a clear goal in mind. That was the problem. They had no road map. They were driving that car blind, without a map, and were just driving all over the place not even knowing what their destination was. I love angles like this. But this was absolutely NOT the way to do it.
Al Perez could have been Seth Rollins Uncle or Father by the looks of him ! Even as Tyler Black , that crossed my mind heh heh .
Herd telling Ole, "Now you're learning" is beyond hilarious.
Ahhh, sitting under the Jim Herd learning Tree is good
It was this feud that got me into watching wrestling.... WCW Saturday Night and Sting was facing one of the many fake Black Scorpions
I thought this angle was the GREATEST but I still had no idea who the Scorpion was at Starrcade. Watching the PPV with my Dad, as soon as Scorpy popped outta his spaceship, my Dad totally pegged the Nature Boy because of his schnoz! 👃
Probably would make the most sense to have David Sheldon (Angel of Death) be the black scorpion. With that being saying, the storyline would have probably ended poorly has it did in real life.
Big missed opportunity. It should happen glacier as the black scorpion. The icy scorpion
I remember being a kid at the time and thinking "Sting has beaten everyone, and he wrestled Ric Flair for a year it seemed, who else could it be?" They said it was from his past. Then it was Flair and I was exasperated for the first time in my life.
This reveal reminded me of the Higher Power angle in 1999. They had a different plan originally but the final product ended up being underwelming.
Sadly I have to admit as a 9 year old at the time this was captivating television
Seeing Flair I mean the Black Scorpion pull off a gut wrench suplex was amazing LOL
First angle I remember as a kid. Everyone craps on it but I thought it was great.
The reveal of Ric Flair is what ruined it
Eddie Gilbert should've been The Black Scorpion. He made the most sense.
I missed out on a LOT of classic golden Age wrestling. I only learned about The Black Scorpion just last year. And I didn't know about The Schockmaster until just now.
That glitter covered stormtrooper helmet is hilarious!
You think the helmet's hilarious--wait until you see his grand debut entrance, if you haven't already.
@@martyklestadt6766 Shockmasters grand debut? Or something else? I'm not familiar. What should I search for to find it?
@@orinanime Searching for "shockmaster debut" should do it. The video itself is called "The unforgettable debut of The Shockmaster." The video is from WWE, since they now own all of the old WCW stuff.
Then come back here and we can chat about it, if you like.
Bro omg u have put so many of my favorite story lines . I love this many fans don’t but top 5 storylines for me . I gotta give u some patreon money
I have memories of the Black Scorpion story line. I remember calling it being Flair the whole time. I don't necessarily remember all the extra hokey stuff, but I was 9 or 10 at the time so it probably just wasn't hokey to me.
Sounds like this storyline was ghost-written by J.J. Abrams. You know how he LOVES setting up mysteries and never resolving them in a satisfactory way.
He should be working in wrestling, not movies. 😂
My first angle when I started out watching. The havoc reveal of two stings was epic. I was nine.
This storyline is one of the first wrestling memories I have as a 7 year old child. Thank you for bringing back memories, brother.
By the way! The Z Man! Thanks again for the memories from my childhood dude! ❤️
We need a Wrestling Bios Gordon Solie video.
The bump The Black Scorpion took @ 21:48 🤣🤣🤣
With the right wrestler to have portrayed Black Scorpion it could have been fantastic. Even Warrior, although impossible, would have made sense. Imagine if it had been Mark Callaway. Lol.
Instead of asking if it could have worked, the better question is when it became unsalvageable. It obviously could have become something big at the start while it was pretty much doomed by the end with Flair's reveal. People tend to cite the magic tricks as the point of no return for it being successful, just because they are so wtf for wrestling.
I feel like even if this would have gone off without a hitch, it still would have sucked. It's kind of hilarious to think about Ric Flair doing all of this in kayfabe as if it was all his idea from day one lol Also it would have been finny if he would have woooo'ed in the promos were his face was in the shadows (if that was supposed to be Flair from day one which is implied) lol
Talk about missed opportunities 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️😒I remember watching this as a kid with my friends and when it was revealed he was Flair me and my friends were like WTF!!!!!
When I first got the WWE Network (when it was good,not the Peacock B's) this was the 1st WCW storyline I looked up bc when I was kid I thought it was so cool but now in adulthood it's F'N HORRIBLE!!! Hahah
I remember as this was going down I was expecting Eddie Gilbert to be The Black Scorpion. The last clue about tag partnership had 8 year-old me convinced it was Gilbert. The supernatural/magic nonsense wouldn't have been as hokey either, considering Gilbert was known to throw fire. My Dad and all his friends were around 30 at the time, and they were really into the angle. We all justified the shenanigans as Black Scorpion hiring a magician.
This DEFINITELY could have been really cool if they had been able to come up with a more solid story to follow from the beginning. The playing off the cuff nature of the angle is what doomed it to become a cheesy mess.
It would have only worked if it ended up being the warrior and that was never going to happen, so it was doomed from jump street.
The music in the beginning sounds like mission loading music from The Warriors
I'm seeing double here. 4 black scorpions!
I was fifteen when this storyline was happening,at the time I actually thought it was creepy. I remember the Halloween havoc but making the girl disappear,she looked scared to me. When it was revealed to be Ric Flair I thought it was a weak reveal just a ploy to get him another shot at the title. Now looking back it's crazy how little of a plan, WCW had.
CLASSIC
Ric Flair being the Black Scorpion was so lame! Imagine the B.S. letting out a big "Wooo!" during his recorded promos!
I feel like all the clues always pointed towards the Ultimate Warrior
but at the same time it also could have been Berry Windham or a returning Magnum T.A.
They could have just had him win and then keep whoever was him keep wearing the mask and the belt. They would have had somebody to portray him and create a new star by then. Plus really what could have hurt With hindsight being 20/20
Oh, and I think this could have worked if they had never hinted at it being Jim Hellwig. They should have gotten a complete unknown or at least so down the cards in previous exposure that people wouldn't remember him to play the character and claimed that he had only become a pro wrestler to get his Vengeance on sting because of whatever they were pretending happened in 1986, how they could have told people sting had killed his dad at a house show or sting bang his fiance not realizing she was engaged and ruined his life
I thought that too ! At the time i thought it may have shaken out to be Eddie Gilbert from the UWF stuff
Nope, it could have been Eddie Gilbert who was jealous that he took Sting under his wing in the early days and now he has left him behind. Hell, they had Muta at Starrcade 1990 so if it was him him it would have been a great reveal.
In the end was supposed to be Al Perez. Everyone thought was gonna be the Warrior the way the promos were going.
I was at Starrcade 90 and as soon as he came out everyone new right away it was Flair. Was like letting the air out of a balloon.
I remember this story line. I was entertained.
I think AEW can pull off another black scorpion angle if done right
Wait... Tag team partners and it's not Jim Hellwig... For the love of God do not let this be Lex Luger
It kinda would've been cool if the Black Scorpion turned to be this anti reverse Sting character. Like how Tiger Mask had Tiger Mask black. Reveal it's like Sting's half brother or something. And he feels Sting took the ideas took what he wanted. So he's back to take it all back. It's very cheesy ridiculous I know. But a lot of wrestling was at this time. So I feel it wouldn't have been all too out of place.
I first started watching NWA/WCW in the early hours of 1990 here in the UK. "Superstars of wrestling" international pro with Lance Russell. 1 hour of random mainly job matches with no back stories, interviews or PPVs to help continuity.
I remember the Black Scorpion storyline and genuinely thought it was awesome at the time, but all we had to go on were a few Sting matches with Lance Russell giving brief references to help the story along.
I vividly remember Sting Paying a jobber to take his place and wrestle Barry Horrowitz because the Black Scorpion would only appear during matches. I think that was the match when Sting was attacked by the female "fan" and the referee. (or it might have been against Buddy Landell)
Anyways... I didn't find out who the Black Scorpion was until about 8 years later when I bought the Starrcade VHS and was massively disappointed to find out it was Ric Flair all along. You could tell it was Flair as soon as he came out of the space ship thing!
Despit all that, I have fond memories of the storyline.
Sick remix. This angle could have so much been better
It could’ve been good. I actually like having multiple black scorpions. It gave it mystery. If pulled off better it would’ve been good. I think if they would have kept different wrestlers portraying the black scorpion like they did. Added more hints to it. Then the big reveal at the end. They had the idea overall but it was sloppy.
Why do people get on here and try to knock NWA/WCW because I’ve always loved their style of wrestling since I was 10yrs of age and now I’m 42 and I never liked the WWF style of wrestling it was always to cartoon or comic like!!!
Flair was a way better champion, wrestler and backstage person than Hulk Hogan. Flair never had a problem taking one for the team and helping someone get over. Hulk Hogan was way too concerned about his phony “Hulkamaniac” image and his backstage politics were atrocious!
The levels of stupidity and incompetence shown by people "in charge" constantly amazes me.
HOW ABOUT CALIFORNIA......IN 86, for some reason i say this to my mum whenever i want her to remember something
This reminds me of the whole Undertaker "High Power" angle, when it was revealed that the High Power was Vince McMahon all along. Yea, seeing Flair as the Black Scorpion would have been a huge letdown for me. Especially since it made no sense.
I believe in 1986, Sting was still in the UWF and was the protégé of Eddie Gilbert. At that time, I actually thought it was him making a mainstream comeback. But of course, Eddie wasn't a big guy and all of the other wrestlers that took the roll were much bigger than him.
Eddie was let go by wcw in the middle of 1990 and went back to the uswa
My favorite part was how they barely got to show it was Ric Flair at Starrcade because it was going off the air and you see him walking away and JR goes “IT’S RIC FLAIR!” and the show goes off the air. They almost screwed this up even worse.
Ok. I can't be the only one who sees the resemblance of Perez and Seth Rollins...right?? Lmiao. It's uncanny.
They teased Ultimate Warrior
The Al guy played his cards wrong, not saying he would've been a main event player but who know where the story would've went if he sticked around.
As someone who didn’t know about this storyline , finding out Ric Flair was the black scorpion popped me 😂😂😂
I wonder if who was behind this storyline also had a hand in the writing of Lost lol
I always believed that the Black Scorpion was former Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson.
I'd love for the WWE 2k games to do a career showcase mode for Sting or Flair. It would literally be a game within the game.
A couple years later the WWF did this angle the right way when they did the whole Big boss man vs Nailz angle..
Thanks for listening and doing this review. Was 13 when this storyline was happening and at that age it was cool. Now grown I see the problems. Should of been Flair since the beginning and they could of made it better. Are Herd and Russo related?