The Bash At The Beach 2000 Embarrassment (Dark Side of the Ring Season 4 Review)

Solomonster has a full episode review for the Dark Side of the Ring season 4 episode on WCW Bash at the Beach 2000 including Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo each telling their version of what happened that night, Hulk Hogan exercising his creative control clause, the decision to put the WCW championship on Booker T and what the original plan was for a tournament and Hogan return at Halloween Havoc, the promo that upset Hogan and the lawsuits that followed. What a mess. But then again, those words best describe the dying days of WCW.
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#DarkSideOfTheRing #WWE #VinceRusso

[@kevinhenry4047]

WCW in 2000 as a whole deserves it’s own Dark Side episode.

[@williewest2998]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ninjacape]

Starcade 97-till the close of the company can be its own season.

[@FLoridianJoshua]

Episode or Season

[@aceitaliano88]

The finger poke of doom could be an episode

[@skippythealien9627]

there was that part where Dave Meltzer said something like he can't even remember most of 2000 because it was so awful. I died laughing honestly this whole episode had me losing it bc of how much of a trainwreck everything was lmao. i admit that it was kind of nice to have an episode like this after all the stories of drug overdoses, physical abuse, career ending injuries, and premature death

[@connor9829]

Best quote was from Lance Storm "Hogan is pretty sensitive about being called bald...although he doesn't have any hair" 🤣

[@skippythealien9627]

I have no idea why they included Lance Storm in this but man he was hilarious the shit he was saying haha

[@michaelsinger4638]

To give the perspective of someone who was in the locker room at the time. And how those guys reacted to this mess. Also Lance has been on multiple episodes as well.

[@TheWinstonSlip]

@@skippythealien9627there’s not many WCW guys from that time left, not working for wwe, who are willing to talk to DSOTR

[@CraigSmithII]

That's the equivalent to what Cornette said back in 1997 about Hogan "Hulk Hogan you may be a household name...so is garbage & that gets old too!!"

[@c4662]

Even male-pattern baldness is not safe from "That don't work for me, brother!"

[@michaelsinger4638]

Russo, Hogan, and Bischoff being three pathological liars is its huge egos. Lance Storm bring, well Lance. Jeff Jarrett coming across surprisingly sympathetic. Dave Meltzer pointing out how monumentally stupid and ill timed it all was. I really enjoyed this episode.

[@vampirascoffin870]

Beautiful said💯

[@nwo2cool]

I felt that it was Brad Siegal and the higher-ups are to blame for that incident. They didn't have the guts to tell Hogan that they don't want him on the show anymore because he was too expensive. So, they had Vince Russo was doing the dirty work for them. That was Russo's main purpose, get rid of Hulk Hogan, and that's what he did at Bash at the Beach. Worst of all, Siegal told Russo not to call Hogan the next day after the ppv. WCW officials put Russo in an awkward position.

[@solomonaharris1807]

Russo isn’t a liar though 😤

[@lexkanyima2195]

Hogan knew he is smart

[@Slick5150]

Stuff like this proves That creative control is the purest example of why you DON'T give active wrestlers positions of power! cause it Always comes back to bite you in the ass

[@flyguy7825]

Not only that letting personal agendas affect business

[@Dud512]

I always say I wish I could get some of the Hogan or Nash style clauses in my contract. Imagine if you could tell your boss "that doesn't work for me" and you could get raises with no pushback no matter what

[@MrBlockice22]

And it sure did, my goodness LMAO

[@decepticonxhunter4850]

When WCW first courted Hogan, he was the one with the leverage to demand creative control because they needed him a lot more than he needed them. Ppl often overlook the context that WCW was basically an upstart product at the time, so Hogan was smart enough to protect himself from being booked in a way that would damage his star power.

[@Destino2493]

Hope Tony Khan learns that lesson

[@williamho7393]

Matt Riddle and Vince Russo should have interview together, to see how many 'bro' is said in every sentence

[@philiphunn194]

That would be a Bro-ception, bro.

[@DaleEarnshark3]

The add a random California Surfer Dude-bro as the host of the interview, then it'd be a bro overload, bro.

[@VicHD]

Bischoff giving Hulk Hogan creative control of his WCW contract was the stupidest thing he ever did.

[@rustykuntz94]

Agreed but he wanted to oversell Hulk on getting him to sign with WCW

[@nwo2cool]

WCW made the same mistakes when they gave Kevin Nash creative control, and having him being the booker. WWE made the same mistake with Bret Hart. Lesson to learn: Never offer a wrestler, especially the ones with an massive ego, a creative control clause. It will lead to a fallout, too many disagreements, too many politics, and too many last minutes changes. It'll cause too many frustration.

[@megamanxhunter]

​@@nwo2coolWWE gave creative control to HBK too.

[@rowdyroughman]

​@@megamanxhunter Mostly Vince, that was his sexy boy!

[@Prof_Tickles92]

What choice did he have? Bischoff needed big name stars to draw in viewers. But in order to get those big names they’re going to want a sweet ass deal.

[@constablekennedy7705]

WCW was in Self Destruct Mode at this point

[@AutoArtemAuto]

Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 2000: That's why this company is in the shape it is because of bullshit like this.

[@senorfish2503]

​@@AutoArtemAutolol it was 2000

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

​@@AutoArtemAutoWCW was gone in march 2001.

[@rayvenkman2087]

@@senorfish2503Actually, there was a Bash At The Beach 2002. In the previous timeline where Brock Lesner suddenly gained the powers of a Chaos God and brought on the pain to the entire universe which forced Owen Wilson to activate the Master Clock to reset the timeline to undo the events. But unfortunately it generated the ripple effect we’re still feeling now in this timeline including being stuck with EA buying up the Renderware Engine and getting Ezra Miller’s The Flash.

[@AutoArtemAuto]

@@senorfish2503 I tried putting 2000, but for some reason, autocorrect made it 2002.

[@thecharmcityplayerbrandona8827]

That's probably the one thing you could respect about Vince Russo is the fact that he wanted to push younger talent and make new stars to see what they can do. Look at the early days of TNA it's pretty evident when he made young aj styles world champion at the time.

[@WrongedSports]

They really need to do an episode on Starrcade 1997. That whole mess was the real start of wcw downfall

[@skippythealien9627]

i would actually point it at the Fingerpoke of Doom. I understand what WCW was trying to do, but they flopped hard and buried Goldberg in the process basically

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

@switchbladeserenade1732 Agreed. Not to mention that the match itself was good and it did what it needed to do, which is having Sting become WCW World Heavyweight Champion

[@vincesmith2499]

​@@lancethefilmguy9392No, the match was NOT good. It was a total dud and made Sting look weak.

[@nwo2cool]

Hogan will never admit that he told referee, Nick Patrick to do slow smooth count. Hogan will never admit he sabotaged the match. You can't always believe what Hogan says anymore. He can't get his stories straight.

[@BzaafiedTheFerocious]

I would actually pay for Bischoff, Russo, Meltzer, and Cornette to be stuck in a room together for a few hours to get all that hostility towards each other out of their systems.

[@skippythealien9627]

My guess is Bischoff doesn't give a flying fuck what the other guys think of him. Cornette is the one with the most baggage because he quite frankly is addicted to drama. He is a carny at his core after all I know Russo is not a saint, but i get the sense Russo just wants to move on. I didn't like his hysterics over how much he "despises" the wrestling business (he despised it so much he almost took a job with wwe lol) but other than that he never really struck me as a really toxic guy vs. Hogan who came off absolutely terrible in this, as he should

[@flyguy7825]

No I would pay good money for them to get there mouth Sewed shut

[@nm7358]

Cornette would be bringing a knife to that meeting.

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@@skippythealien9627We still using the word carny?

[@Destino2493]

@@skippythealien9627 Cornette dedicated his entire life to wrestling therefore he despises anyone who’s made a mockery of wrestling which is what Russo, Bischoff, and Melzter have all done to varying degrees, Meltzer use to have higher standards for his match ratings ( Kurt Angle never got a 5 star match in his career, now every AEW PPV gets a 5 star+ match) and enables a lot of the stupid shit that happens in modern wrestling and kisses the elites ass, Bischoff thinks he’s a genius, he lies about a lot of shit and is still living off the 83 weeks when he beat Raw in ratings for fuck sakes his podcast is called 83 weeks, in reality he had 1 good idea which wasn’t even original he took it from Japan, the NWO, and when that wasn’t working anymore he couldn’t right the ship, spent a fuck ton of $ and lost a fuck ton of $. Russo is the worst because not only does he not know fuck all about wrestling he never cared to learn anything about it, he admitted himself he hates the wrestling business and everyone in it yet he begs for jobs, he had probably the stupidest ideas anyones every had in wrestling and embarrassed the fuck out of the business, and contributed to the downfall of 2 different companies. I don’t agree with everything Cornette says and alot of his opinions are stupid but the man has done pretty much every job there is in wrestling, worked for every major promotion in the US, and worked with and saw some of the greatest talent the business has ever seen. And let’s be honest if more people in wrestling thought and cared about it like Cornette then wrestling would be far better, Cornette sees the business through the lens of when wrestling was far more popular, more respected, and was way more lucrative for everyone involved

[@nate_thegreat313]

Much as I disagree with Russo & his ideas, I can completely understand and feel the frustration having to deal with Hogan having to have second thoughts last minute and sending the fax without Vince even knowing. As a writer that has to be a major headache to put up with

[@lexkanyima2195]

But this could have been avoided if Hogan would retain it

[@rowdyroughman]

​@@lexkanyima2195 True, Hogan putting new guys over, Doesn't work for him brother!

[@Jrh-rp7np]

He put Billy Kidman over once lol

[@mina319]

Vince Russo is far from a saint but if you know how Hogan operates, I feel most of what Russo did is atleast somewhat understandable and Hogan absolutely is the catalyst for a lot of bullshit that happened here and he’s known for pulling off similar antics and Eric shares blame for being an absolute simp for Hogan, I honestly think Vince shockingly looks atleast slightly better than Hogan and Eric in this story atleast to me

[@AJDaniels99]

"You cannot be a good person and exist in the wrestling business" I guess Russo doesn't know Mick Foley exist

[@DR3ADER1]

Mick Foley and Owen Hart are exceptions to the rule of consistency, which ironically includes Russo in the list of shitheads.

[@Hillthugsta]

Mick had a brief brush with assholery in TNA when dealing with Daffney.

[@JCOdrjones]

​@@DR3ADER1I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people in the business that aren't the biggest shit heads in the world. Especially with each new generation of people being aware of the sins from previous generations

[@DR3ADER1]

@@JCOdrjones That's the thing, they aren't the biggest shitheads, but they're shitheads nonetheless.

[@JCOdrjones]

@@DR3ADER1 I get being cynical, but when your ideology is close to Vince Russo when it comes to pro wrestling in any sense, then you gotta step back and go "Hmm, maybe I'm going to far"

[@TheIrishdriveby]

I’d personally like to see an episode based on Hulk Hogan and Bischoff’s reign over TNA, because damn that show was beyond bad.

[@kanedasrifle]

The Lapsed Fan podcast recently did a deep dive into Hogans TNA run ,it was so so so so funny.

[@richardbrown-gt3dq]

Changing the ring and losing their identity. Only watched TNA for about a year. Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Sting, Matt Morgan on top.

[@thehorrorhound6575]

Bischoff is such a massive POS that when he was in charge of TNA he constantly buried or punished smaller wrestlers he didn’t like, he and hogan made fun of the fans and called them cry babies for not liking them getting rid of the 6 sided ring (TNA’s whole identity at the time) and bischoff booked himself to appear in EVERY..SINGLE..SEGMENT OF THE DAMN SHOW. All while trying to push his lame son. It got so boring and so repetitive and so ego stroking. The fans hated every single sycophantic simpering second of it. It was the bischoff show and no one else’s. And then that POS when asked “how would you do TNA differently?” Had the balls to say if given the chance to do it all over again he simply wouldn’t go because TNA was a joke that he knew from the start didn’t have what it took to survive long term. This puke of a man made the show all about him and his friends and killed the show in its tracks, reputation and ratings dead on arrival. And then blamed the show for not being good enough to survive his reign of terror.

[@thehorrorhound6575]

Bischoff is such a massive hypocrite that when he was in charge of TNA he constantly buried or punished smaller wrestlers he didn’t like, he and hogan made fun of the fans and called them cry babies for not liking them getting rid of the 6 sided ring (TNA’s whole identity at the time) and bischoff booked himself to appear in EVERY..SINGLE..SEGMENT OF THE SHOW. All while trying to push his lame son. It got so boring and so repetitive and so ego stroking. The fans hated every single sycophantic simpering second of it. It was the bischoff show and no one else’s. And then that puke when asked “how would you do TNA differently?” Had the balls to say if given the chance to do it all over again he simply wouldn’t go because TNA was a joke that he knew from the start didn’t have what it took to survive long term. This scum of a man made the show all about him and his friends and destroyed the show in its tracks, reputation and ratings exhausted by the time he was gone. And then blamed the show for not being good enough to survive his reign of terror.

[@donypaddy6859]

As much as i was dreading another Dark Side Of The Ring with Russo it was a nice break from the constant tragic subjects of the show.

[@happyChappy96621]

Vince Russo saying these no good people in the wrestling business, when there’s people like Mick Foley,Owen Hart, Bobby Eaton, John Cena. And many more, Russo sure loves talking about the business that he hates so much.

[@bigjoeofthe707]

Yeah. Like Russo if you hate the wrestling business so much why do you stay involved in it? Always talking about it in his podcast and always talking about it on his social media and trying to give his bullshit 2 cents.

[@happyChappy96621]

@@bigjoeofthe707 same as Cornette if you don’t love wrestling anymore and can’t accept it’s evolved over the last few decades stop watching and move on.

[@OofmanRulz]

Gotta feel bad for Jarrett and Booker. More Booker cause his moment was ruined.

[@radioVHS149]

Booker T in July 2000 was like Bret Hart in 1993.. both suffering the consequences from the whole Hogan leaving both promotions around the same time.. but under very different circumnstances..

[@nwo2cool]

Hogan is to blame for using his creative control clause. That's WCW biggest mistake for giving him creative control on his contract. Brad Siegal is to blame too for not telling Hogan in his face that Siegal and his people do not want Hogan on TV anymore because he was too expensive. They had Russo do the dirty work for Siegal and the WCW higher-ups.

[@AlejandroRamirez-rx1py]

At the end of the day, the fault fall squarely on all of their shoulders. Hogan for his overall use of creative control and ego, Bischoff for backing Hogan always, Russo for his decision to cut that promo without giving clarification behind the scenes, and, overall, for WCW that destroyed it in the end.

[@benespinosa6725]

This was a great episode of dark side of the Ring about Bash at the beach 2000 I felt so bad for Jeff Jarrett in this episode lol when solomonster said Eric Bischoff is so far up Hogan's ass I'm surprised his nose hasn't turned into a permanent shade of brown I can't stop laughing well played 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

How old are you?

[@skippythealien9627]

Bischoff honestly came off the worst in this episode. I remember thinking Russo for sure was going to look like an idiot coming into this episode, but Bischoff looked far worse

[@ChrisWolff2013]

He's always been Hogan's bitch

[@benespinosa6725]

​@@JohnKobaRuddy22-years old just turned 22 last Saturday

[@benespinosa6725]

​@@skippythealien9627I Agree 100%

[@kimymarie596]

I liked this episode. But Bischoff’s version of what was supposed to happen didn’t make any sense to me. So Hogan would leave with the belt and magically reappear after a new championship tournament? Wouldn’t that just put them back to basically where they were in the beginning? I guess it’s been done before, but it seems silly. Edit: actually no one’s version of events makes any sense lol

[@nwo2cool]

I believed there were going to do the impromptu match for the World title at Halloween Havoc, but the plans were scrapped by Brad Siegal and the WCW officials because they were the ones who didn't want Hogan on TV anymore because he was getting too expensive. They didn't have guts to tell Hogan to his face that they don't want him, and they made Russo do the dirty work for them. Russo was put in a tough position. He was ordered to get rid of Hogan. And that's what he did at Bash at the Beach. What made more worse is that Siegal told Russo not to give Hogan a phone call after the ppv. Russo claimed he promised to give Hogan a call to talk about what they'll do next with him. Overall, Brad Siegal and the WCW officials are to blame for that mess.

[@drfever99]

Bischoff and Hogan's idea made absolutely no sense whatsoever if it was true. Russo's idea wasn't much better. A true embarrassment for Pro Wrestling. None of those people have given back anything positive to the industry, just taken from it.

[@mina319]

@@drfever99 I think Vince’s version atleast would have Jeff Jarret being champion and being a lot more willing to push younger talent like booker and more willing to give a good match and have booker look strong, I can absolutely see Hogan screwing that up to either keep the title or make Bookers win seem questionable

[@marcbarhausen8132]

I think Solomonster is right, Jarrett was a poor bastard, who really wasn't going to do anything right, no matter what he did. Would like to see a table of four with Russo, Bischoff, Hogan and Meltzer arguing on that incident 😂

[@nwo2cool]

I felt bad Russo because he was doing the dirty work for Brad Siegal and the WCW officials. It was they who didn't want Hogan on the show anymore because Hogan was getting too expensive. Siegal didn't have the guts to tell Hogan in his face, but they made Russo do it for them. And that's what Russo did at Bash at the Beach. Worst of all, Siegal told Russo not call Hogan the next day after the ppv, which Russo promised to Hogan, and it made it worse. Russo was put a tough position.

[@user-ys9fg4ol9s]

I wouldn't feel bad for Jarett...remember Jeff was a "Russo" guy. After this he even helped to bring Russo into TNA. So ,nah, I don't believe Jarett either.

[@user-ys9fg4ol9s]

I wouldn't feel bad for Jarett...remember Jeff was a "Russo" guy. After this he even helped to bring Russo into TNA. So ,nah, I don't believe Jarett either.

[@nwo2cool]

@@user-ys9fg4ol9s True. Jarrett was a Russo guy. The reason Jarrett left WWE was never going to get a chance to be a main-eventer because Steve Austin didn't want to work with him. That's why he jumped ship to WCW again, thinking he can be a main-eventer there. He broke 6,000 guitars, never drew a dime, and thought he was the man. Lol. Jarrett himself also had an ego when he was the founder on TNA, always put the NWA World title on himself multiple times, which doesn't deserve. Russo also followed Jeff Jarrett to TNA, and hired him as the booker.

[@GalacticWrestlingFederation]

Interesting how Turner bosses never saw a conflict of interest between Hulk and Eric and their "relationship". Maybe bc Eric was never technically Hulk's boss.

[@Dud512]

My favorite part was Lance Storm saying "Hogan is sensitive about being called bald even though he doesn't have any hair" lol

[@erisi236]

Who do you believe when so many liars are in the same room

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

I always say that if you are looking for the truth in wrestling, then you are only deceiving yourself. Remember what Kayfabe means? It doesn't mean Truth Teller I can tell ya that. 😂

[@misterelom]

To this day, I find this whole situation fascinating. It's like the icing on the cake of the ridiculous Vince Russo era of WCW.

[@skippythealien9627]

i don't even think this was really all Russo's fault honestly. Bischoff came off like a total asshole

[@anticorporatists9959]

​@skippythealien9627 Eric Bischoff has always been a kiss ass so that's not a surprise

[@vampirascoffin870]

​@@skippythealien9627it was all their faults

[@TromaDogg]

Bischoff allowing Hulk Hogan to effectively run the show at a time when he should have been working closely with Russo to push the younger talent and help come up with better creative decisions did the most damage. Russo certainly has his faults but he was at least doing what he thought was best for business (even though it wasn't, lol) whereas Bischoff seemed quite happy to prioritise Hogan's wishes over what was best for the company. Something he repeated years later in TNA.

[@CamSTL]

I like how towards the end, Jarrett and Lance Storm say things heartwarming about Russo and you think to yourself "I guess Vince isnt that bad." But then the very last scene Vince talks and all that just goes out the window

[@maxacorn]

because the little success he had went to russo's head and he thinks he knows more about wrestling than anyone.

[@jwnj9716]

Russo lives rent free in Cornette's head. Cornette lives happily in Russo's nightmares.

[@KingKidGoku32794]

Cornette talked about this on his podcast and bashed everyone except Jeff

[@thecharmcityplayerbrandona8827]

to be fair, Jim cornette can't stop talking about Vince Russo

[@skippythealien9627]

@@thecharmcityplayerbrandona8827 yeah again i feel weird for defending Russo lol because he is an idiot too but this feud is very one-sided. Russo doesn't really talk about Cornette. Cornette on the other hand will probably give himself an aneurysm if he keeps talking about Russo again and again

[@flyguy7825]

@@KingKidGoku32794More like he bashes Russo so 90% of the time in the 10% it was Eric Bischoff I didn’t see what he said but I already know how he is going to say it

[@flyguy7825]

More like Russo lives rent free in Cornette’s head Russo does his best not to ever bring the man up

[@Varone26]

Someone correct me if I’m wrong on this. How was Russo responsible for the death of WCW? Wasn’t the company already in bad shape when he came in? How was he able to write good television when Kevin Nash was head booker at the time, Eric Bischoff was allowing talent to run amok, and spend money they didn’t have? And allowing Hogan to have creative control? I just think Russo gets to much hate when he only had so much to work with.

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@switchbladeserenade1732To be fair, it is hard to find the truth when it comes to the wrestling business

[@johnmcnamara8741]

@switchbladeserenade1732Russo was just gasoline on the fire, they were dead before him

[@bryanfahey3144]

I agree - I think Russo was a roll of the dice to see if he could turn around a dying company. Starrcade 97 was the first small nail…The AOL merger was the first major nail. Then it was a bunch of awful mistakes and wcw becoming wwe lite.

[@uttermanbo]

I rarely think Vince Russo is in the right. But when I do, it usually concerns his views of Hogan and Bischoff running WCW into the ground post 1998. I just can't understand how Russo ever got into wrestling. He has an open disdain for it. I agree with him about the toxicity of the fans though. TNT officials openly had a big part in helping to ruin wrestling imo. WWE fans who want AEW to go out of business clearly don't understand the rules of monopoly to the paying customer. Just dumb "BRO" .

[@merlotwilliams]

The irony of Jeff Jarrett lambasting Hogan and Shawn Michaels/Triple H for having creative control when TNA literally existed because he and his daddy made a wrestling promotion so he could be a world champion again. "He broke 6,000 guitars, never drew a dime, but he thought he was THE MAN. And in his little Tennessee brain he thought he was bigger and better and would draw more money than Hulk Hogan." - Mike Graham

[@skippythealien9627]

the only issue i have with this is...if Jeff Jarrett couldn't draw a dime, Mike Graham couldn't draw a fucking nickel Mike Graham was a deeply troubled and unpleasant human being. I'm STUNNED they didn't bring this up in the Vice episode but by the time he killed himself, he and his daughter were not on speaking terms. Gee, I wonder why. not trying to defend Jeff I just think that was such a stupid and shitty thing to say. Graham also buried booker t just out of nowhere in other interviews. Claimed Barry Windham drew more than him which is fucking asinine

[@merlotwilliams]

@@skippythealien9627 I just love the line because Jeff Jarrett is Jeff Jarrett's biggest fan. I knew that Graham took his own life and struggled with substance issues, I did not know about that other stuff.

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@@merlotwilliamsThis is why it's hard to sympathize with anyone in the business

[@sunsfan101981]

At least people know who JJ is, unlike Mike Graham.

[@merlotwilliams]

@@sunsfan101981 Fair, Jarrett is more well known than Graham. I wouldn't say people in general know who Jeff Jarrett is though. Wrestling fans know who Jarrett is. He wouldn't make the top 50 if you asked a rando on the street to name a professional wrestler.

[@JT82DETMI]

In all fairness, Russo actually had nothing to do with HH getting creative control. He just had to deal with it.

[@leesmith813]

Giving Hogan creative control and heaps of money was the best and worse thing for WCW. It helped sign him and make WCW number 1 in 1997, but then once WCW was failing it was the biggest burden

[@aggrodkreg4321]

This was the only episode of the whole show that left me more confused than when I went into it. This didn't make the people involved look as bad as the Plane Ride from Hell episode, but it came close.

[@skippythealien9627]

@switchbladeserenade1732 The Plane Ride from Hell made everyone look like either a rapist, a drug addict, or an overgrown manchild. Probably all of the above. And then you have Tommy Dreamer saying all that shit was fine and people are too sensitive or whatever this was considerably tamer lol. yeah Russo was obnoxious, Bischoff came off as an ass kisser, and Hogan came off as a delusional egomaniac....but we kind of already knew that about all three haha

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@switchbladeserenade1732Good point

[@kevinlee9929]

Russo has always had the same story. I think it also speaks volumes that Booker T gave props to Russo for him becoming a World Champion.

[@ROBken2654]

I couldn’t believe this shit went to court

[@skippythealien9627]

it's Hogan what do you expect? that jackoff is the reason Gawker no longer exists and why Peter Thiel gets away with so much

[@geraintthatcher3076]

One thing Russo did do was at least put the Belt on Bret if nothing else

[@johnenigma8506]

I would've killed to see the courtroom footage of the defamation lawsuit. Just image of grown men arguing about the finish of a wrestling match in court would be hilarious.

[@JC-zj7nv]

That sure would've been something alright. 😄

[@jaredjackson7526]

Solomonster calling Hogan on his Ish never gets old lmao

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

How many times does this make?

[@bdot187um]

Hulk was well with within his right to pull that shit, russo didn't know how to use him so it didn't work for the brother!

[@jaredjackson7526]

@@bdot187um in the words of the late iron sheik...... Blank the hulk Hogan!

[@bdot187um]

@@jaredjackson7526 sheik was workin ya ha!

[@jaredjackson7526]

@@bdot187um bro you're obviously hurt so continue to love Hogan I'm gonna continue to not care about him or you. You're working yourself. Whether sheik was working or not Hogan is of no worth to me. "ha".

[@sonicheroxd5767]

Bischoff in this episode exposed himself to be the biggest Hogan ball licker ever. He is a bigger ball licker than Jimmy Hart and Brian Knobbs combined. Also, it took CM PUNK of all people for Bischoff to unintentionally admit a few months ago how much of an idiot he was for giving Hogan so much power.

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

Geez tell us how you really feel 😂

[@joeynova9896]

​@@lancethefilmguy9392🤣💀

[@joeynova9896]

Yo leave Jimmy Hart out of it. I've met Jimmy and he's one of the nicest guys I have ever met.

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

@@joeynova9896 Agreed ✌️

[@sonicheroxd5767]

@joeynova9896 He may be a nice guy, but you can't deny how much Hogan has been his meal ticket, even outside of wrestling. Damn near everything Hogan is involved in, there's Jimmy Hart poking his head out in the background.

[@AndersonTenecela]

The more you watch Jim Cornette and Vince Russo and their thoughts on wrestling, they are the yin yang of wrestling. One that shows the dangers of taking wrestling not seriously and one that shows the dangers of taking wrestling TOO seriously

[@skippythealien9627]

man you pretty much nailed it on the head the funny thing is over time, i've grown to respect Russo more and my respect for Cornette has dramatically decreased. At the end of the day, it's wrestling. in the grand scheme of things, this shit isn't a big deal. Russo gets that. Do I wish he had more respect and appreciation for the industry that helped him feed and raise his family? absolutely. but again, who gives a fuck? WCW failing in 2000 doesn't prevent me from paying my bills or ruin my standard of living Cornette needs to let some of this shit go. He was entertaining to me when i was in college, but now that i'm out of that phase in my life, he comes off as sad pathetic fool sometimes

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

​@@skippythealien9627so you're still a child then? Believe me corny being "too seriously" into wrestling is a very good thing. Like Bret Hart taking it and himself too seriously also helped more than it hindered.

[@skippythealien9627]

@@JohnKobaRuddy there's a fine line between having passion for something, and letting it consume your life to the point you can't even function like a healthy human being talking about pissing on someone's grave and threatening family members...that's not something a stable mature adult does. Jim Cornette, as much of a genius as he is in the wrestling realm, strikes me as a very mentally unhealthy human being it's not just Russo. Just look at his interactions with Brian Zane. The guy needs a rest

[@thecharmcityplayerbrandona8827]

​@@skippythealien9627I kind of have to agree, Jim cornette really needs to calm down. I understand he doesn't like Vince Russo but keep his family out of this. You don't see Vince Russo saying stuff like that.

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@@skippythealien9627Same here. As much as I respect Cornette, he is known for holding a grudge and saying some heinous stuff over the years to put it mildly. Also, Russo might have been responsible for WCW downfall however he has moved on since then which is more than I can say for Cornette and other wrestling fans of him. When you call your own fan base the Cult of Cornette, then you know something is off

[@JOHNN01.82]

Russo has taken a huge amount of blame for the final collapse of WCW but he stated on Dark side of ring he was only there for three months, Russo been the fall guy IMO

[@kevinlee9929]

He was referring to his 1st 3 months there. Which I didn't think was that bad with him making Bret champ. And having Benoit make the Finals of the WCW Title Tournament. It's the New Blood stuff I didn't really care for.

[@TheJuliet316]

Knew there would be a Russo impersonation by Solomonster before I hit the link, and I was not disappointed.

[@S.Dot87]

when it comes crashing down and it hurts inside...

[@Jbgunner2024]

Lol I just spit my drink lol 😂

[@S.Dot87]

@@Jbgunner2024 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@luie78lp]

Lets not forget even though Booker T deserved to be WCW Champion, the next night he comes out dressed like The Rock and became The Book 😒

[@KingKidGoku32794]

I remember that 😂😂😂😂

[@TheWinstonSlip]

Gi Bro was better than The Book

[@Arkhaminmate-0801]

They should’ve called this episode “the dumb side of the ring.”

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@JoKa1013]

Vee Infuso already got that name and planning his first episode. If he does a second episode, he should talk about this.

[@Dr_1212]

I unfortunately saw & bought that ppv RIP WCW Gone but never forgotten

[@michaelsinger4638]

“You cannot be a good person an exist in the wrestling business bro.” Well that’s total BS Russo.

[@skippythealien9627]

for the most part, i think Russo comes off as a good guy. Is he a saint? No definitely not. But i couldn't watch that episode and say he looked the worst out of everyone involved but yeah that shit pissed me off. his melodrama over how evil the wrestling business is and how much he despises it was obnoxious as hell...especially when you think about how much he financially benefited from that industry he "despises" so much

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

He's half right. I mean name me a person in the business that doesn't have skeletons in his/her closet.

[@Deans-jm3uf]

Gotta wonder how Russo Bischoff/Hogan work together in TNA if this never occurs. It’s a miracle they were able to co exist after all of this but the well was clearly poisoned. Maybe they could have actually collaborated

[@johnenigma8506]

TNA/Impact could be its own season. At least the first 15 years.

[@Simouno]

I am 100% on Vince Russo side on this. Hulk Hogan was a narcisist and Eric Bischoff was a chump for giving him full creative control knowing how he abused his position in WWF already and how he screwed Sting at Starrcade 97. By 2000 Hulk Hogan wasn't moving the needle and he should have just accepted to take a step back and be used as a legend, instead he wanted to bully the company into giving him another useless title run when people like Booker and Scott Steiner was way more over than him but never got an opportunity up to that point. He was clearly in on the whole thing, but when he noticed that people was cheering Russo after the scathing promo he cut, he got in his feelings and wanted people to believe it was a shoot to protect his image. The storyline was clearly leading to a unification match down the line, but his ego destroyed the last chance WCW had to be relevant. I am just glad somebody had the balls to call him out on live tv after how the company was damaged by the decisions that led to Russo being hired in the first place. Hulk Hogan made WCW, Hulk Hogan ego killed WCW

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

Well there were more than one person that ended WCW

[@decepticonxhunter4850]

Russo was every bit the narcissist he accused Hogan of being. For all of his talk about putting over the young talent, Russo made himself the star of the show, put the world title on himself, and made the same young guys he talked about pushing his on screen stooges. If i sympathize with anybody, it's _those_ guys.

[@jaredjackson7526]

I personally dgaf about or respect Hogan or his legacy. He has told me all I need to know about him.

[@josephgana5746]

Why? Why? Please enlighten me, n i don't wanna hear the racist shit, everyone of every race talks, its called being human, im white, im not racist, i tell jokes n my pr friends make jokes, point is Hogan isnt racist, SO WHY THE HATE FOR THE 🐐

[@jaredjackson7526]

@@josephgana5746 smh idgaf period end of story waste of time writing that.

[@jaredjackson7526]

I don't hate him, I don't gaf enough to hate him. He's nothing to me never will be because..... life. Get over it. You shouldn't care this much bro he doesn't care about you trust me no need to defend him.

[@Wolf-pp4sm]

There is some truth to Russo causing more harm than good. Because I grew up watching the Attitude Era and Russo's crash TV style. It was exciting and some much stuff happened. Since that time, wrestling never entertained me that much again and I still watch wrestling. I get bored during long matches. Even the worst stuff of Russo was so hilariously bad it's memorable but I can't tell you what happened last week on Raw. Because nothing is crazy, or outrageously bad. It's adequate, paint by numbers and boring.

[@Dr-Alexander-The-Great]

I agree. When Russo left the WWF, you could tell very clearly, that it was not the same product. Compared to 97, 98, & 99.

[@SonBlackHeart22]

Ah Bash at the Beach 2000 it gave us dissasters like the Wedding gown match that the clean up crew couldn't clean the mats with the cake thrown at them and a Graveyard match you couldn't see shit for all of it and the infamous Russo debacle that thanks to this episode shows how much of a idiot Russo is and how Bischoff is up Hogan's keester I feel bad for Jeff in this guy was thrown in a situation no one benefited from in the first place.

[@flyguy7825]

Oh and let’s not forget Goldberg versus Kevin Nash for Scott Hall’s contract when Scott Hall is never gonna come back because he was fired lol

[@jerryramey1849]

Owen, AJ Styles, Eddie Guererro (yes he had his flaws but Eddie was still a good man), Chavo, Sting, Monty Brown, (main eventer in TNA 2004-2006, Monty left wrestling to care for the kids of a family member) Booker T

[@garydevlin8178]

You knew you needed the popcorn ready for this one’s grand return of Vince Solusso…bro😆

[@PaulisVidal]

I’ve listened to all angles, 83 weeks, Russos brand, My world, and recently bubba interviewing Russo. On a unbiased point of view I believe Russo has more truth on this event specially when he makes a crucial point! Had this been a real shoot why didn’t Brad Siegel fire Russo for breaching Hogans contract and the authorized Bischoff script? Why did Russo remain a employee while Eric And Hulk were gone.

[@gaipontiff2]

Don't forget the classic match. Viagra on a pole match.

[@Riztastic1]

The Monday night wars was the best time in wrestling. I grew up golden age into new generation. Was all the Attitude Era good. No. But it was still the greatest time in wrestling history. That's my opinion. 🙂

[@alexmelendez6732]

Russo only wanted to use the legends to put over new talent. Hogan had creative control and he was not going to do it. As kevin nash has been saying lately - "you can't give someone creative control" hogan made the most momey ever in wcw & protected himself. The only people to blame is wcw who gave him that ridiculous contract renewal in '97 whem nwo was still white hot. Hogan can be blamed for killing wcw but it was wcw that really killed wcw

[@CraigSmithII]

Solomonster sounded just like Vince Russo LMAO. I wonder if he heard Jim Cornette's take on this episode?

[@tthomaselli2]

"That's why this company is in the shape that it's in: Bull-shit like this!...". --Hulk Hogan, 'WCW Bash At The Beach 2000'.

[@ren17x50]

Judy Bagwell on a pole...he's the Toots Mondt of the 1990s

[@TheWinstonSlip]

Nice reference

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​​@@TheWinstonSlipI tell you HWUT 😉

[@navy4181]

Bro Vs Brother!!!

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

A true bro down

[@skippythealien9627]

🤣🤣🤣

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

Matt Riddle vs. Vince Russo would be BRRROOO vs. Bro!

[@garyofox]

Russo said to the judge, “it is wres-a-ling, bro…”

[@SandmanGotBeer]

Vince Russo in TNA for Dark Side of the Ring? Hell of an idea, BRO

[@ststriker]

I always wondered what happened at BATB 2000. Now after watching this episode I'm more confused than I was before. I don't think anyone knows the full truth of what happened that night, including those who ran WCW at the time.

[@g-dub5272]

Like him or hate him, the attitude era happened under Russo’s watch

[@salamisumo2]

Yes, he was a contributor to it but the fact he’s never had success anywhere or anytime else proves he was a one-hit wonder.

[@kevinlee9929]

​@@salamisumo2But he did have success afterwards. TNA was fine till Hogan and Bischoff came.

[@decepticonxhunter4850]

It didn't happen under Russo's watch. Vince knew which of his ideas to filter out, and even then he didn't trust Russo with the main eventers. When Russo went to WCW, the ppl who were still watching saw the ugly truth when he tried to rehash his AE ideas. Not once has Russo ever built a decent main event scene that could draw viewers or money.

[@kevinlee9929]

@@decepticonxhunter4850 IWC False Narrative. Russo wrote for the main eventers just like he did the other talent. Guys from Stone Cold to The Rock have spoke on this.

[@diesel101raw]

All I Truly cared about this night is Booker T winning his 1st WCW Title. This was Easily My Mark Out Moment of 2000 Back Then

[@TruthWarriorB88]

My favorite episode from Season 4, so far. 🤣🤣

[@skippythealien9627]

the hilarious circus music had me in stitches multiple times

[@BIGM-gg9ln]

Jim Cornett is right. Vince Russo is everything wrong with wrestling.

[@tthomaselli2]

In fairness to what The Solomonster said around 32:56-33:06, I first heard that like because of Jim Cornette. He said it on an episode of his podcast, a few years ago when he was talking about something that went down between himself & Dave Meltzer, I believe... If Jerry "The King" Lawler said it, once in color commentary, it must've been so long ago, I literally don't remember it & I would have to try & find it on KZbin as a way on how to refresh my memory.

[@RGF91]

one of the final nails in the coffin for WCW

[@watersandblue6001]

wcw in 2000 was dead by long anyway. Fingerpooke of doom was the final nail in the coffin probably.

[@RGF91]

@@watersandblue6001 mmmhmmm after they ended Goldberg's streak, it was all downhill from there

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

​@@watersandblue6001nah Final nail was the TV deal falling through. That truly was final nail. The body was already dead and rigor Mortis had set in by the time bash at the beach 2000 came around.

[@BroWitGlasses8008]

My biggest issue with Russo was the need to place himself as on screen character. A featured character at that, taking up multiple segments in a show despite being hired as a writer and nothing more. Russo brought over a lot crappy gimmicks from WWE, but the last thing WCW needed was a bootleg Vince McMahon.

[@user-py6sy4zm1v]

But according to Bischoff Hogan never used his creative control? Not for this match not for Starrcade 97

[@bdot187um]

I mean technically at the end he lost, they just had to make it about the Montreal screw job for some reason and what's worse is that it made the heel hollywood hogan the victim in all of this😂

[@tthomaselli2]

Talk about to-the-point & not sugar-coating anything around 17:35-17:41... Good job by The Solomonster!... My "Kudos!" to him.

[@danielwilliamson1577]

We need a dsotr on Arn vs Sid.

[@JoKa1013]

Ah, the Scissor Incident

[@SlipperyGoulet]

Solomonster's Russo impersonation is on point

[@freaky66]

Bischoff will always defend hogan

[@TheJSexton24]

Meltzer has done more harm to wrestling than Russo, Bischoff, Hogan

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

💯

[@bdot187um]

Agreed.

[@originalhuggies9740]

Can you imagine Mike Sanders getting a clean win over The Ultimate Warrior?

[@jadmantoura4483]

If there was ever a time to talk about being buried, it’s about a PPV that involved a Graveyard Match.

[@HughMorruus]

Eric needs to listen to his own show. On 83 weeks, he CONSTANTLY says Hogan gets a bad rap cuz "HOGAN NEVER USED HIS CREATIVE CONTROL". then on this show he says 3 times "that wasnt gonna happen cuz Hogan had creative control". Then the fax story. Eric on 83 weeks says "it was my idea. Create a paper trail ". Now he denies the fax existed. Only reason i watched this one was i wanted to see how both of them could claim victory in the lawsuit. So Russo got the defamation case against him thrown out, but the Turner folks settled with Hogan. Understand now

[@shawnmoney8055]

No the put Lance on ther to specifically criticize Russo, come on solomonster you’re not that slow. They could of interviewed anybody else.

[@TravelatorH8r]

If you are listening to this in the future Hogan has since retracted his statement that when Undertaker did his finish, his head hit the mat

[@user-ys9fg4ol9s]

Wait,so Russo wanted to be closer to his family, yet he was at every Nitro and Thunder as a Main Character?

[@Thebearwithnoname]

Russo is such a fascinating character to observe. One thing that Russo can always hang his hat on is that it was during his creative tenure that Stone Cold rose to power and became white hot(maybe the hottest he'd ever be once Russo left). Interesting to think about: would Steve Austin be as hot as he became if Russo was never part of the creative? Not saying he is the sole, or even the biggest reason, for Austin's success, but, we saw how slow wwf was on capitalizing Austin after hi King of the ring promo.

[@kevinlee9929]

I don't think he would have. Russo was the perfect writer for the "Stone Cold" character. All the over the top wacky ideas were just right for Austin. Austin also never complained about creative when Russo was there. Like he did in 2002. He's spoken about enjoying working with Russo multiple times as well.

[@Thebearwithnoname]

@@kevinlee9929 Good points added. Post Russo Austin was not written as strongly, but there were fun expansions on his character that let him be more expressive.

[@Dr-Alexander-The-Great]

Rick Flair has also defended Russo, saying he’s not as bad, as he’s made out to be. Where as, he hates Bishoff

[@xenoslayer360]

The Embarrassing Side of the Ring

[@PeteSanctions]

Sounds like Solomonster beat Sean Oliver for Best Russo Impression Ever

[@Centhar]

Russo’s promo was an all timer in my opinion.

[@syxxpoppin8830]

In 2000 I couldn't seem to view 1 whole match on WCW on Nan episode. It was that damn bad 😂

[@TromaDogg]

Say what you will about Russo, but TNA in the early days was actually a pretty entertaining show and didn't become really awful until Hogan and Bishoff arrived on the scene and started throwing their weight around. That also indicates to me what the larger factor in WCW's decline was, although Russo definitely wasn't blameless.

[@Christopher-nl2kb]

Lance storm is the only guy in the history of WCW to hold 3 titles simultaneously....

[@rockajabroni5975]

That's the WRE-SE-LING business broooo!

[@ajgonzalez8451]

Vince Russo: I don't like wrestling, bro. Also Vince Russo: Thse wrestling companies need to hire me, bro.

[@uncannycerebro]

Kanes Debut was orchestrated by Jim Cornette, not Russo.

[@rolliemosley]

Dave Meltzer is a Hogan hater. I know that. So ditto. And im probably the only one on these comments on here who's an actual Hogan fan. And to me Vince Russo killed WCW. WCW was never the WWE. Or meant to be. It was a Southern 'rasslin company. That being said, I side Russo on here. Hogan in 2000 was dead, at least in WCW. I can respect Russo wanting to put the belt on Booker. Them old cats were killing WCW. He did harm to WCW, but I side with Russo regarding the Bash. The fact that Hogan still wanted to be champion shows you how he insecure he was. Plus, he years later put over plenty of WWE young guys. Had he did that for WCW they may a survived.

[@seankinsellasean]

Lance storm was at fault for this whole thing and pretty much the downfall of wcw, then he went to wwe and the ratings imploded

[@angelzarate99]

I’ve rewatched this video like 5 times💀the situation is just clown show material

[@Celerott]

If they did one Russo in TNA they should bring in Jim Cornette to interview him. Then after the episode airs, release an extended interview with Cornette letting him go full shoot on Russo. The views it would get... Legendary. 😆

[@anticorporatists9959]

You still have to be careful with someone like Vince Russo the guy's a consistent lier weather Eric Bischoff, Hogan having a roll in helping destroying WCW

[@silveredgrunion7196]

Great video and good job! Solomonster does a great job and said everything great. Good video and thankyou! Well done😊

[@frenchmime1972]

Lance Storm was on it for Canadian Content to get higher tax credits need to have a certain amount of Canadians on it.