It Is Time for WCW to Pull the Plug on the Bischoff-Russo Experiment

WCW is showing faith, but must be running out of patience with the Bischoff-Russo combination.

After canceling a week of shows during the first week of April, including “Nitro” and “Thunder,” the new Bischoff-Russo creative force developed the New Blood vs. the Millionaire’s Club feud as the primary storyline. The angle quickly lost momentum due to a lack of long term planning.

The next “brain” child conjured up by the Bischoff-Russo alliance was to turn the most popular figure in the company, Goldberg, heel at the Great American Bash. It was an ill-advised decision with the company having no one to succeed Goldberg as the number one babyface. A very disappointing major “surprise.”

Rumors starting circulating that Russo had become frustrated with the company’s standards and practices vetoing some of his ideas, not to mention a very volatile creative difference with Lex Luger and Elizabeth. Luger did not want his real life girlfriend Elizabeth to wrestle, a view shared by the former “First Lady of Wrestling.”

Management became dissatisfied after a sponsor decided to pull their advertisements off WCW television. The end result was Russo’s removal from writing weekly television. After a three-week break, he returned in time to book the Bash at the Beach PPV.

The original plan for the event was for Hulk Hogan to defeat Jeff Jarrett for the WCW title, and take another run as the company’s top star. The decision was later changed to Jarrett keeping the title. Hogan invoked his creative control clause and insisted on winning the match.

Russo decided to cut a promo after Jarrett laid down for Hogan, and insulted him for his decision to use his creative control to win the WCW title. He went on to insist that we would never see Hogan in WCW again. Russo told the boys in back that he had come back for them, and ripped backstage politics. When Hogan does return to WCW, Russo will have some major explaining to do to the boys.

Bischoff is not exempt from criticism. He is the person behind the company’s financial problems. Reports indicate that WCW will lose between $60-80 million dollars this year. I personally have no idea why Bischoff was brought back into the fold. It is Bischoff that signed Hogan to his current money-laden contract, which also gives him creative control over his matches.

The backstage hypocrisy in WCW grew to heights under Bischoff’s leadership as the company’s president. Bischoff has always favored the company’s most established stars, and is noted for turning a deaf ear to the younger talent trying to catch a break.

In his second go around with the company, Bischoff is not privy to Turner’s astronomical bank account, or another NWO type angle to borrow from the Orient. Russo is missing one major ingredient from his success in the WWF, Vince McMahon!

WCW, it is time to pull the plug on the disastrous Russo-Bischoff experiment.

Tidbits: Buff Bagwell (Marcus Bagwell) will be in court on a battery charge August 18th stemming from a May 9th incident in which the 29 year old punched a WCW stagehand … The July 13th episode of Smackdown! earned a 4.0 rating (with a 7.3 share), its lowest rating of the year … ECW has booked its first Canadian show for September 9th in Toronto, Ontario … WCW has released Power Plant graduate Kid Romeo … Tickets for WWF Wrestlemania 2001 in Houston, Texas will go on sale, November 11th.

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