Remember how Chris Jericho said that in a perfect world, he would have loved to have stayed in WCW? Well, with the recent departures of Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Eddy Guerrero, and Dean Malenko from WCW, I figured I would wait until it was 100% confirmed where everyone would end up (even though it is more than obvious right now). Since it is clear that nothing will be 100% confirmed until later this week at the earliest (in terms of contractual finallizations), there is no point in waiting. Lets start with Vince Russo.
I hate to say it, but the fact of the matter is that Vince Russo, from day 1 in WCW, was basically damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Why? Well, for one thing (to quote Don Callis), Vince Russo was a victim of his own hype. When Russo jumped to WCW, everyone was foolishly expecting him to make WCW win the ratings in a matter of days. To make things worse, ever since he came to WCW, he would take criticism for EVERYTHING he did from the large group of WWF marks, who consider him the official enemy, because he left the WWF. You know, all those pro-WWF who cried foul about how WCW "stole" Vince Russo from the WWF.
Well, I'll tell you what. Now that Russo is gone and Sullivan is booking again, WCW is going to go back to sucking the way they used to. If its going to take for WCW to suck the way they used to for people to appreciate the quality of Russo's product when he was booking, so be it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Russo's booking was 100% PERFECT, especially considering that he only had 3 months to booking, starting literally from scratch (since WCW was in the ashes when he started booking there), plus, I wasn't too high on seeing WCW become too much of an adult oriented program. However, the improvements that Russo made to the WCW product far outweigh the bad points. Just forget about those damn ratings for a minute. Russo did say that he needed 6 months to turn WCW around. Funny, but the last time I checked, it took the WWF EXACTLY 6 months to get the fans to catch on their product after they switched formats.
Remember, it was a little before November of 1997 that the WWF went all out with their "Attitude" format (while WCW was beating them in the ratings), and the WWF only started winning the ratings again in April of 1998 after Wrestlemania. So, do you see how utterly ridiculous it was for people to jump down Vince Russo's throat just because WCW was still losing the ratings even 2 weeks after he started booking? That is exactly what I mean when I talk about a certain group of pro-WWF fans who would have blasted Russo, no matter what he booked.
And to think, these are the same fans who spent the last 2 years rightfully protesting and complaining about how all the washed-up hasbeens like Hogan & Savage were stealing the spotlight in WCW and how should be removed from TV (and they should have been). Russo made it happen. These are also the same fans who spent the last 2 years rightfully protesting and complaining about how dumb WCW for misusing Bret Hart, and how Bret deserved to have that World Title around his waist (which he did). Russo made it happen. These are the same fans who spent the last 2 years protesting and complaining about the way WCW raped, pillaged, and plundered the career of Chris Benoit, drowning him in mediocrity in the sickest way possible. One of the first things Russo did when he started booking was ensure that Chris Benoit would immediately get the push he deserved. On top of that, Russo took one of the most misused and abused WWF talents in Jeff Jarrett, and finally gave him the ball and let him run with it, resulting in Jeff becoming one of the top heels in the entire industry and finding himself a place in main event status, where he always deserved to be. Yet, all those fans turn the blind eye to this, and continue nitpicking for more and more things to complain about. They are never satisfied. And why? Because they wanted Russo to fail from the start, because he's in "enemy territory" (WCW).
"Out with evolution, in with Revolution!" That statement had never been more true. Vince Russo had everything in the right direction. WIthin the timespan of 3 months, he had turned WCW into a very watchable product, created 3 great new WCW main eventers in Bret Hart, Chris Benoit & Jeff Jarrett, while grooming other young quality talents like Shane Douglas, Perry Saturn, Billy Kidman, Vampiro, and the rest of the Revolution & Filthy Animal members for future main event status. WCW was on its way to becoming one of the purest combinations of sports and entertainment on cable TV.
Now, that much needed direction has been derailed. To make things even worse, they are bringing back the crappy old bookers like Kevin Sullivan, who were the reason WCW sucked so much in the first place. The difference is already starting to show in the product quality. Worst of all, because of these choices, WCW has also lost some of the single best talent not only on their roster, but in the world too. Even if they do smarten up and let Russo book again, it is going to be 10 x harder to turn WCW around again after losing that kind of talent. It was bad enough that WCW lost guaranteed future main eventers like Chris Jericho & Raven before Russo was hired, but to lose Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Eddy Guerrero, and Dean Malenko leaves the company with very few options, when it comes to elevating new talent to main event status. Maybe they should count their blessings that Shane Douglas won't be going to the WWF and bring him back, ASAP. Shane is truly one of the most underappreciated talents in the history of this sport, and WCW can certainly benefit from giving a guy like him the break he deserves. Same goes for Billy Kidman, who has thankfully been getting a big push, since returning to WCW. There is still a lot of great talent in the undercards, but WCW has lost too many key performers.
As for Chris Benoit, what can you say? For him to spend the last 5 years thanklessly busting his ass for no reward in WCW, and to end up having to leave the company the day after he FINALLY wins the World Title just doesn't do justice to him. It really sucks. And its not his fault either. Its WCW's fault. Imagine what it must be like for Chris, to finally get the respect he deserves when Russo takes charge, only for WCW to suddenly putr Sullivan (a man who has legitimate heat with Chris, and is probably a key reason why he never got the push he deserved) back in charge. What is Chris supposed to do, let WCW keep walking all over him? In some ways, it reminds me of Jeff Jarrett's situation in the WWF, where the top draw of the company (Steve Austin) also held some sort of grudge against Jeff, which resulted in certain WWF management turning the blind eye to Jeff's ability (are you listening, Ross?) which resulted in Jeff not getting the main event push he deserved, leaving him to seek opportunity elsewhere (and its a very good thing that he did).
Well, it doesn't matter what WCW writes (or doesn't write) in their record books. Chris Benoit will always be the uncrowned champion of WCW. It really ticks me off that things had to turn out this way. I was really loving the WCW product a lot, until they made these stupid changes. To reflect Chris Jericho's statement, it is pretty obvious that in a "perfect world", Chris Benoit would have loved to have stayed in WCW. Why else did he re-sign with them last year, even when his career still seemed in limbo? Everything was finally going his way when Vince Russo was booking.
You know what I'm going to miss? I'm really going to miss seeing Chris Benoit, Jeff Jarrett & Bret Hart together in the same federation, being pushed as three of the top stars in WCW. Heck, thats one of the main reasons I started getting back into wrestling again. I was really looking forward to seeing the three of them exchanging the World Title with each other many times over the next few months. Its just too bad that the WCW management won't allow WCW to be a "perfect world". Some things never change, huh?
"Meet the new boss. He's the same as the old boss. We won't get fooled again." ------- Bret Hart.(borrowing a line from The Who)
I just can't believe it! Chris Benoit has FINALLY won the World Heavyweight Title. I have been waiting so many years for this to happen, and here we are! Year after year of hard work and endless dedication, and it has finally paid off. I am just so thrilled for Chris right now, and its almost hard to put it into words. Chris Benoit was an underdog who busted his ass for so many years, and for him to ultimately be rewarded with not only the World Title, but the distinction of being a WCW Grandslam Winner (having held the World Title, U.S. Title, Tag Titles, and T.V. Title) truly does justice to him.
I have been watching Chris Benoit since I was barely 7 years old, growing up in Alberta watching him every week on Stampede Wrestling. He was a hometown hero, and through the years I've continued to idolize him along with Owen, Bret, and Brian Pillman even after Stampede Wrestling folded. The last four years that WCW has held Chris down and drowned him in mediocrity have all paid off, and Souled Out was the ultimate milestone for Chris and all his fans, especially the ones who have been there since the beginning. We're very proud of you, Chris.
On another note, its a real shame that after butchering the careers of Bret Hart and Chris Benoit, WCW picked the time period between midterms and finals for the first semester of my senior high school year to FINALLY give Bret and Chris the World Title pushes they deserve. Unfortunately, I just haven't had as much time to update this page as often as I used to. 3 months ago when I last updated this page, I told you that I needed a break, and this vital time during my high school senior year was obviously the logical time to take that time off. It really does suck that I haven't been able to maintain this site regularly at the time when Bret Hart and Chris Benoit, my 2 remaining idols in wrestling of the last 11 years, finally break out of midcard hell and reach the pinnacles of their careers.
Furthermore, I had the honor of being live and in person at WCW Mayhem to see Bret Hart win the World Title. Just imagine this: You grow up in Alberta watching Stampede Wrestling, and your idols (for more than a decade) are Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, and Bret Hart (although Bret was already in the WWF when I first started watching Stampede). 11 years later, after Owen Hart and Brian Pillman have tragically passed away in the primes of their lives and careers, making you less than half the wrestling fan you used to be, you get the privelege of being live and in person to see Bret Hart and Chris Benoit (two guys who were sickly misused by WCW to the point where it seemed as if they had no hope of ever getting the breaks they deserved) wrestling each other in the MAIN EVENT, which results not only in Bret winning his FIRST WCW World Title after an endless 2 year struggle, but Chris Benoit making his long overdue, richly deserved break to main event status. Imagine that. The electricity at the Air Canada Center with the Toronto crowd was just unbelievable and deafening during that moment, and that was easily my personal greatest wrestling highlight as a wrestling fan. What made it even more rewarding is not just the fact that they finally made it to the top, but the fact that they did it together. It was just an unreal experience.
This site has been up and running for almost three full years now, and its such a shame that this very moment had to happen at a time when I had virtually no time to talk about it on the site. By the time school had eased down a bit, and I had a little more time, it was obviously too late to capture that moment when writing about it, so I just never ended up doing it. But the fact is, I do want to keep working on this site whenever I can, because it would be such a shame if I just stopped doing it, right when Bret Hart and Chris Benoit are finally at the top of the wrestling world. We have all waited for years to see this happen, and now that it has happened, we're going to enjoy every minute of it. Still, its a pretty sad two-fold situation where Bret & Chris finally made it to the top, but Owen & Brian are still gone. My dream in wrestling was to someday see all four of them at the top, but that dream has literally been chopped in half. There is just too much sad irony to it, and that is why I sometimes need some time to get away from all of this, because it still is a sad concept to grasp, even after all this time.
However, I know there are still people coming to the site, because I have gotten quite a bit of recent feedback over the last couple of months, so I plan to keep this place going, and rebuilding it. I've been working on a new look for the site to make it easier to read. The current format is too messy and cluttered up, with my latest update on the top, and everything else cluttered down at the bottom. I bet most people have forgotten all about the other features of the site (to which I plan to expand too). So, I'll keep you posted on that.
Lastly, I am pretty saddened to say that my entire guestbook got deleted somehow. 215 entries all gone. That is almost 3 years worth of entires and feedback from fans, and just the thought of having to start from scratch is almost depressing. Luckily, I saved the fist 190 messages, so I may upload them onto the server in HTML format. Since I can't fix the guestbook up, I'm thinking of removing it altogether. Especially with low-life pieces of crap like "Jim Johnson" posting shit in there that I don't have time to deal with.
Thanks again for your patience, and I'll see you soon.
"QUOTE THE CRIPPLER....NEVERMORE!!!" ------- Chris Benoit
The Hart Foundation, is more than just an everyday stable in professional wrestling. It is a legacy of greatness. In the '80's, while growing up in Alberta, I was a big fan of Stampede Wrestling, a promotion owned by the legendary Stu Hart. Some of my favorite young stars were Brian Pillman, Owen Hart, and Chris Benoit. It is great to see the success that all three of them are achieving in the big leagues now days. During the mid-80's the original members of the Hart Foundation, Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart and the legendary Bret 'Hitman' Hart were tearing through the tag team division of the WWF. The British Bulldogs, Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith were one of the Hart Foundation's biggest rivals. Years later, the Bulldogs would return to Stampede Wrestling just before it folded. The tradition lives on in the Hart Foundation. It is very sad to see Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho being wasted in WCW. Everytime I see how underused those two are in WCW, I think about just how much they really belong in this stable. Those two hold up the tradition of the Calgary talent in WCW, while the Hart Foundation do the same as a unit in the WWF.
This page features everything a Hart Foundation fan could ever dream of having:
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