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Pre-Show Stalwart
Full wording:
"WCW 1998: Would the nWo Wolfpac be much more presentable main eventers if Randy Savage didn't go to the sidelines after July 1998?"
When the nWo Wolfpac roster circa 1998 was formed, it was mainly composed of Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, Konnan, Lex Luger and Sting. Although we did get a glimpse of Miss Elizabeth, Curt Hennig, Rick Rude and Scott Hall representing the nWo Wolfpac colors for a very short time. One PPV outing for Hall, and two months for Hennig, Rude and Elizabeth in terms of representing the Wolfpac before eventually winding back up with nWo Hollywood.
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...but 80% of the central babyface Wolfpac quintet (except for Konnan) had been in position and had the opportunities in the world to try their luck as a top draw at least once or twice in their careers. So here goes:
1) Kevin Nash was a capable main eventer and appeared to be a capable top draw in the right situation, but he was presented as a midcarder after Scott Hall joined up with nWo Hollywood at Slamboree '98. A select group of fans like to knock on Nash's run as the WWF's top draw in '94-'95 as Big Daddy Cool Diesel (one that was miscast as a smiler when he should be a take-no-prisoners cool heel that he eventually helped populate in wrestling) for his supposed failed run when in reality, Nash's list of opponents were Nelson Frazier (aka Mabel), British Bulldog, Sycho Sid and Shawn Michaels, although Michaels was serviceable in the ring, while the other three flat out stunk up the matches and proved that they couldn't belong in the main event, so Nash cannot be blamed for the in-ring work flaws that hindered Mabel, Bulldog and Sid.
2) Lex Luger was a muscled bodybuilder who used to be able to do 30-60 minute matches in the 1980s NWA through The Great American Bash '91 PPV. After that, Luger gets blamed for being too lazy in the ring and coasting on his physique so bad there are a lot of fans who only remember post-GAB '91 Luger instead of the 1980s/early 90s Luger. Not everybody has to have a wide array of moves in a moveset imo.
Luger was most over with the crowd in the late 1980s/early 1990s, with his best overall work being his '89-'90 heel run with the WCW United States Championhip Belt feuding with the likes of Ricky Steamboat, Sting and Ric Flair, even adding his epic Terry Fu*k promo because that was when Luger actually had more intensity and delivery on the mic as a heel who didn't need a manager compared to his '91-'92 heel run when he started packing it in while being managed by Harley Race and Mr. Hughes. But as far as being a top draw is concerned, Jim Herd was grooming Luger to be WCW's top heel and wanted to send Flair down to the midcard ranks just because he was in his early 40s. In the end, Luger didn't do well as a WCW top draw (since heels were their top draws compared to WWF airbrushing faces as theirs).
3) The wrestling world first took notice of Steve "Sting" Borden when he worked his first major PPV match with Ric Flair in 1987 and took him to the 60-minute time limit to end the match in a draw. Along the way, Sting (in addition to his best friend Luger) was also groomed to be a future WCW top draw and face of the company should Flair retire from active competition in pro wrestling. However, plans were halted in 1990 when Sting tore up his knee ligaments by a botched basic spot where he jumped on the cage in one match. Flair vowed to hold off losing his NWA World Heavyweight Championship Belt until Sting was fully recovered long enough to handle it. The problem was, Sting failed to be a top draw because WCW was a distant second to a WWF still led by Hogan and Savage. To be fair, Flair admitted that the Black Scorpion angle really killed the oomph in Sting's first reign as WCW World Heavyweight Champion. And again, for a guy who was supposed to be the definition of WCW's "Franchise Player", he sure didn't look like a successful one in ratings and numbers, and his time as WCW's top babyface vs the nWo in '96-'97 and '97-'98 wasn't any better.
Randy Savage on the other hand (unlike Nash, Luger and Sting) proved to be a successful WWF top draw in '88-'89, while Hogan was out doing movies in Hollywood at a time when Hogan didn't have to see his movie career dry up because of steroid allegations crossfire he eventually had to go through in '92-'93 and '93-'94, leading to his eventual WWF departure. Even if Savage didn't last long as the top draw and had to go back to being a heel, his heel run as The Macho King in '89-'90 and '90-'91 meant he never sniffed a main event run until 1992 when he had another chance as the WWF's top draw when Ric Flair was better suited to the NWA/WCW way of working, Bret Hart wasn't even ready to be the top draw just yet, and Hulk Hogan was on hiatus for a year, plus Ultimate Warrior was on a short leash because of the way his first WWF run ended at SummerSlam '91 for demanding cash from Vince McMahon at gunpoint, so Savage was more trusted to take the reins until Vince forced him to the commentary booth. He even had a run as WCW's top heel in the Summer of 1999, but he was a totally different guy altogether by then due to a 1998 Torn ACL knee injury, yet I will give his 1999 heel run a pass, even though some of his four WCW World Heavyweight Championship reigns were limited to one day reigns.
But when Wolfpac were treated like midcarders by order of Hogan and Bischoff because of a heated backstage feud between Hogan and Nash, would Randy Savage (assuming he doesn't have the knee injury that put him out of action for the remainder of 1998, and subsequently had to change his look, overall in-ring game and attire to keep up with the times for the upcoming new millenium) be the Wolfpac's only hope in order for the nWo Wolfpac to look at least competent main eventers in storylines against nWo Hollywood? I think with a healthy "Macho Man" Randy Savage, the Wolfpac wouldn't be made to look like tackle dummies in typical nWo Hollywood beatdowns in the process, because although Nash has more clout in booking, I feel Savage is second to Nash in terms of booking clout, so I'm sure Savage would've been the only successful top draw the Wolfpac had to offer.
"WCW 1998: Would the nWo Wolfpac be much more presentable main eventers if Randy Savage didn't go to the sidelines after July 1998?"
When the nWo Wolfpac roster circa 1998 was formed, it was mainly composed of Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, Konnan, Lex Luger and Sting. Although we did get a glimpse of Miss Elizabeth, Curt Hennig, Rick Rude and Scott Hall representing the nWo Wolfpac colors for a very short time. One PPV outing for Hall, and two months for Hennig, Rude and Elizabeth in terms of representing the Wolfpac before eventually winding back up with nWo Hollywood.
-
...but 80% of the central babyface Wolfpac quintet (except for Konnan) had been in position and had the opportunities in the world to try their luck as a top draw at least once or twice in their careers. So here goes:
1) Kevin Nash was a capable main eventer and appeared to be a capable top draw in the right situation, but he was presented as a midcarder after Scott Hall joined up with nWo Hollywood at Slamboree '98. A select group of fans like to knock on Nash's run as the WWF's top draw in '94-'95 as Big Daddy Cool Diesel (one that was miscast as a smiler when he should be a take-no-prisoners cool heel that he eventually helped populate in wrestling) for his supposed failed run when in reality, Nash's list of opponents were Nelson Frazier (aka Mabel), British Bulldog, Sycho Sid and Shawn Michaels, although Michaels was serviceable in the ring, while the other three flat out stunk up the matches and proved that they couldn't belong in the main event, so Nash cannot be blamed for the in-ring work flaws that hindered Mabel, Bulldog and Sid.
2) Lex Luger was a muscled bodybuilder who used to be able to do 30-60 minute matches in the 1980s NWA through The Great American Bash '91 PPV. After that, Luger gets blamed for being too lazy in the ring and coasting on his physique so bad there are a lot of fans who only remember post-GAB '91 Luger instead of the 1980s/early 90s Luger. Not everybody has to have a wide array of moves in a moveset imo.
Luger was most over with the crowd in the late 1980s/early 1990s, with his best overall work being his '89-'90 heel run with the WCW United States Championhip Belt feuding with the likes of Ricky Steamboat, Sting and Ric Flair, even adding his epic Terry Fu*k promo because that was when Luger actually had more intensity and delivery on the mic as a heel who didn't need a manager compared to his '91-'92 heel run when he started packing it in while being managed by Harley Race and Mr. Hughes. But as far as being a top draw is concerned, Jim Herd was grooming Luger to be WCW's top heel and wanted to send Flair down to the midcard ranks just because he was in his early 40s. In the end, Luger didn't do well as a WCW top draw (since heels were their top draws compared to WWF airbrushing faces as theirs).
3) The wrestling world first took notice of Steve "Sting" Borden when he worked his first major PPV match with Ric Flair in 1987 and took him to the 60-minute time limit to end the match in a draw. Along the way, Sting (in addition to his best friend Luger) was also groomed to be a future WCW top draw and face of the company should Flair retire from active competition in pro wrestling. However, plans were halted in 1990 when Sting tore up his knee ligaments by a botched basic spot where he jumped on the cage in one match. Flair vowed to hold off losing his NWA World Heavyweight Championship Belt until Sting was fully recovered long enough to handle it. The problem was, Sting failed to be a top draw because WCW was a distant second to a WWF still led by Hogan and Savage. To be fair, Flair admitted that the Black Scorpion angle really killed the oomph in Sting's first reign as WCW World Heavyweight Champion. And again, for a guy who was supposed to be the definition of WCW's "Franchise Player", he sure didn't look like a successful one in ratings and numbers, and his time as WCW's top babyface vs the nWo in '96-'97 and '97-'98 wasn't any better.
Randy Savage on the other hand (unlike Nash, Luger and Sting) proved to be a successful WWF top draw in '88-'89, while Hogan was out doing movies in Hollywood at a time when Hogan didn't have to see his movie career dry up because of steroid allegations crossfire he eventually had to go through in '92-'93 and '93-'94, leading to his eventual WWF departure. Even if Savage didn't last long as the top draw and had to go back to being a heel, his heel run as The Macho King in '89-'90 and '90-'91 meant he never sniffed a main event run until 1992 when he had another chance as the WWF's top draw when Ric Flair was better suited to the NWA/WCW way of working, Bret Hart wasn't even ready to be the top draw just yet, and Hulk Hogan was on hiatus for a year, plus Ultimate Warrior was on a short leash because of the way his first WWF run ended at SummerSlam '91 for demanding cash from Vince McMahon at gunpoint, so Savage was more trusted to take the reins until Vince forced him to the commentary booth. He even had a run as WCW's top heel in the Summer of 1999, but he was a totally different guy altogether by then due to a 1998 Torn ACL knee injury, yet I will give his 1999 heel run a pass, even though some of his four WCW World Heavyweight Championship reigns were limited to one day reigns.
But when Wolfpac were treated like midcarders by order of Hogan and Bischoff because of a heated backstage feud between Hogan and Nash, would Randy Savage (assuming he doesn't have the knee injury that put him out of action for the remainder of 1998, and subsequently had to change his look, overall in-ring game and attire to keep up with the times for the upcoming new millenium) be the Wolfpac's only hope in order for the nWo Wolfpac to look at least competent main eventers in storylines against nWo Hollywood? I think with a healthy "Macho Man" Randy Savage, the Wolfpac wouldn't be made to look like tackle dummies in typical nWo Hollywood beatdowns in the process, because although Nash has more clout in booking, I feel Savage is second to Nash in terms of booking clout, so I'm sure Savage would've been the only successful top draw the Wolfpac had to offer.
