The Story of the WCW Fingerpoke of Doom

If you would like to support the channel and my work, please visit Patreon: / wrestling_bios
Official Website: www.wrestlingbios.com
Twitter: / wrestlingbios
The "Fingerpoke of Doom" refers to an infamous incident that took place on WCW Nitro one week after Starrcade 1998. On January 4th 1999, Hulk Hogan challenged nWo Wolfpac leader Kevin Nash to a WCW Championship match. When the bell rung, Hogan poked Nash with his finger, Nash took a bump, and Hulk Hogan captured the World Heavyweight Championship.
The Finger Poke of Doom has become the stuff of legend over the years. The story truly begins back in the Georgia Dome back on the 7.6.1998 episode of Nitro. At this event, Bill Goldberg defeated Hulk Hogan in what was a historic night in WCW history. At the end of 1998, Kevin Nash was able to end Goldberg's winning streak at Starrcade 98, a booking decision that still raises questions among wrestling fans. When Nash "lay down" for the Hulkster on Nitro after the Fingerpoke of Doom, those same questions surrounding Starrcade became more prominent. This video looks at the entire WCW Fingerpoke of Doom incident between Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan, we try to understand why it happened, and we also look at some of the misconceptions regarding it's effects on WCW's ratings.
Topics covered include:
00:00 - Goldberg's WCW winning streak ends at Starrcade 98
06:02 - Nash offers Goldberg a rematch on Nitro
08:07 - Hogan vs Nash "Fingerpoke of Doom"
10:18 - Who booked Nash to beat Goldberg?
14:57 - The cancelled NBC WCW Specials
18:08 - Mick Foley winning the WWF Championship on Raw
21:49 - Eric Bischoff takes ownership for "The Fingerpoke of Doom"
Much More!
#WCW #Wrestling #Documentary

[@TrustInDustin85]

Nobody can remember who came up with the finish = nobody wants to say it was all Hogan

[@martinfawkes595]

Either that or nobody wants to admit it’s their idea.

[@anticharlie1]

In my opinion Eric remembers who came up with the idea. It just happens that it was him or one of his buddies. Do you think if, for example, Sullivan came up with it Eric wouldn't throw him under the bus??

[@TrustInDustin85]

@@anticharlie1 I just think they don't want to throw Hogan under the bus

[@NextGenesis88]

Just think about that, such a big moment being booked and nobody can remember?? My ass.

[@pussydestroyer87]

That's one thing I can say about Russo, he's willing to take credit for an idea no matter how stupid everyone else thinks it is.

[@erisi236]

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan

[@vedantmanjrekar1246]

But a man who accepts both sucess and failure is the real man

[@JawsVader1970]

I remember the finger point of doom and hogan n nash hogan poled nash fell for the 3 count and the crowed was crazy i loved it it was nwo humor it was just to shocking and loved it some of the stupidity is gold and that was genius and stupidly all at once

[@32alltheway]

kind of like using a beaten down cliche to make your point?

[@JawsVader1970]

@@32alltheway that was a example aas the storylines are under par the beat they jave going oa Bray and Alexea better than the worn out story of reigns

[@UnexpectedWonder]

Truly.

[@TheKiid810]

Bischoff is full of it too. He always remember the good ideas he came up with. Never remembers the things that dont go well

[@johnrobbins4496]

Damn, that sounds like Donald J Trump haha

[@MrBrianGonzalez]

Bischoff is based #83weeks baby!

[@JBalderas1990]

@@johnrobbins4496 Eric bischoff doesnt remember the things hes done or said....sounds more like Joe Biden

[@SegaDream131]

He's a fisherman, tall tales abound...

[@Trustme77]

He's willing to take responsibility for the Fingerpoke, but when it comes to WCW dying he insists that it wasn't even slightly his fault. I don't get why people trust him to give us the straight dope about what happened with WCW more than they trust Bryan Alvarez. One of them was in charge of WCW when it died and has an interest in shifting blame so that he can be remembered as the guy who revolutionized wrestling instead of a failure. It's why he named his podcast "83 Weeks". That's all he wants anyone to remember. Not the weeks before. Not the weeks after. Just that relatively brief period when everything was going his way and he was able to take credit for it.

[@kaiserrino8774]

Hogan was WCW's biggest blessing and curse at the same time.

[@kenrickeason]

To think about it he was WWE's too!

[@djm5687]

You could also say that about the NWO in general as well.

[@anwjuice]

The curse was not having someone as the ultimate authority like WWF had with Vince. Eric Bishoff was just a fan boy wanting to hang with those guys and be their friends not their boss

[@anwjuice]

@@kenrickeason please do explain how he was in wwe?

[@richardmercer8823]

@@anwjuice he was extremely big draw and made wwe popular and mainstream however he was very egotistical and selfish as he refused to put younger stars over at the time such as Bret hart

[@johnfalcetta5431]

Best bump Nash ever took

[@theamericanbrotha]

Facts

[@Makainternational]

It was a big sexy bump

[@Kas58223]

I’m surprised he didn’t injure his quads

[@tranor87]

@@Kas58223 tear

[@Thor-Orion]

Nash bumped his ass off in his prime. You can criticize his limited moveset, but dude bumped well.

[@solascripturaPR1517]

"You're dealing with Hulk Hogan politics, brother". Killed it.

[@hellionsentinel]

The finger poke of doom was literally the titanic hitting the iceberg. After that, it was a slow, agonizing journey to its sinking

[@Thor-Orion]

I believe it started when Hogan forced the Outsiders to split up.

[@knottheory79220]

I agree but it's important to remember nobody realized it at the time. I think it was only obvious after the fact that this particular junction in the storyline was particularly important. At the time we were all just like "Um... okay. Why? So the last like few years have just all been for nothing then?"

[@danielrierson6683]

I feel wcw lost its spark after Halloween havoc 98

[@str.77]

@@knottheory79220 True. And the Bischoff statement quoted in the video is still denialism. Why anyone would take Bischoff's word for it is beyond me.

[@SpeedChamp467]

@@danielrierson6683 yes its so funny too when you think about it in 2002--2003 or so was the year when ROH and TNA began....just a couple years after WCW went out of business

[@alanguages]

Hogan was directly involved and had his input in Starrcade 97, Halloween Havoc 98, and the Finger Poke of Doom 99.

[@attiepollard7847]

You ever think maybe this is a good thing that Vince McMahon was controlling him so he didn't have that creative control?

[@alanguages]

@@attiepollard7847 Probably, as apparently Bischoff allowed Hogan to get away with everything.

[@Thor-Orion]

Attie Pollard i think Vince is the reason Hogan got a big contract and creative control. I also suspect he sent Hogan to wcw to kill it.

[@attiepollard7847]

@@Thor-Orion nawww Vince man is a genius but he's not that of a genius. What's funny what you just said is arn Anderson thinks the same thing about Vince Russo. He believes Vince sent Russo to kill wcw

[@Vaga-Bard]

@@Thor-Orion yep. Bischoff included. They dropped the value intentionally knowing Vince would buy WCW out and contracts would be paid regardles. No one lost except turner. It was all planned, there's a reason the group was called NWO. 2 into 1.

[@ericgonzalez5000]

This is one of the last times I remember watching wrestling with my dad as a kid. After this he really wouldn't watch with me anymore.

[@Dewaynesite1]

Damn that sucks.

[@kennethflaglerjr3843]

@Zee Dee damn same thing with my dad

[@zacharythomason7359]

Why is that?

[@danielrierson6683]

Lol my dad met my stepmom shortly after this

[@CheezusChrist1776]

My dad was also pissed by this but it was later in year with Austin getting "ran over" and removed from the main event of Survivor Series the literal night of the event after my dad had already paid for it (working a very blue collar job at the time) that truly did him in. I tried and tried but I never really got him back in. Other than maybe Hogan-Rock at Mania it was never the same

[@merces47letifer4]

The pop when Mick Foley won that title was unreal. I can't imagine a bigger rise from a live wrestling crowd will ever be recreated.

[@knottheory79220]

I was a very active fan at the time. This thing had serious energy, up until the poke actually happened. At that point it was like a balloon popped.

[@Max_Super]

he poked the balloon!

[@FrantiC119]

The annoyance I felt at this event was unreal. Bischoff says something at the end of this video about how people don't really understand the business attribute WCW's downfall to the finger poke the way someone says what should've been done in an NFL game. Thing is, the point of what players do in an NFL game isn't directly for the sake of entertaining fans. They're not throwing a hail mary that the other team is going to allow to be caught because that makes for a good story. I as one person am not the end all be all on what makes for a story that people are going to enjoy, but I can say I absolutely despised this moment and never watched WCW after this. I'm sure Bischoff has some incredible insights about the wrestling industry that I couldn't possibly understand, but he has a motive to downplay something like this and it seems disingenuous to me for him to act like he has the final say on why storylines he crafted didn't work when I'm one of the people he was attempting to make that storyline work for. I was also very active and loved WCW up until this point. It certainly wasn't this event alone that killed it, but it was no small thing, in my view.

[@asurlybarber3620]

This really was the night that the Monday Night War was decided once and for all. Not long after this, WCW went in to one of the most spectacular free falls you will ever see out of an entertainment company. I still say the "Fingerpoke Of Doom" was the catalyst.

[@michaelreich4827]

Only to be topped by Frosk and G4TV.

[@FUGP72]

They were done before this. The last 8-9 months of 1998 were not kind to WCW.

[@insomniacbritgaming1632]

WCW struggled after that Austin Promo...

[@vincentprice9156]

WCW stopped being competitive after the FOD but more specifically after everyone realized the NWO B Team angle wasn't gonna go anywhere after being wronged so badly even though they teased like it was even making Stevie Ray the leader of NWO white like it mattered lol..

[@NeverBeNormal]

The beginning of the fall was Sting Vs. Hogan at Starrcade. Ruining a huge buildup AND the debut of Bret Hart did so much damage.

[@chrishollister80]

The fact that the nWo lasted well into the year 2000 says so much about Eric Bischoff having no idea what to do beyond the damn nWo.

[@micahjohnsonboxing6409]

He had 1 idea he borrowed from Japan and nothing else.

[@Ai14106]

I always thought when Bischoff joined the nWo it was like your dad trying to be cool with your friends but just looks dorky and embarrassing

[@Thor-Orion]

He and Hogan both, that’s why they were so tight and were responsible for everything that wasn’t cool and didn’t get over in the NWO.

[@KitanaiharE]

Yup, that's how it felt fr, lol

[@insomniacbritgaming1632]

@@Thor-Orion the NWO got over massively and is still talked about to this day... they were bigger than DX

[@Thor-Orion]

Tiny Table Wargames i agree, and it was mostly due to Hall Nash and Waltman. I say Waltman because his ideas were the ones everyone remembers about NWO. The hand gestures, the Too Sweet, the For Life, those were all from Waltman.

[@alanguages]

@@planescaped Bischoff effectively replaced and wiped out Ted DiBiase's role in the stable. The NWO should have been the Mega Powers, three Kliq members, the Giant and DiBiase as managerial role. IMO.

[@watchsilverback]

I remember watching the finger poke of doom live. I had gone from a die hard wcw fan to a channel flipper to a die hard wwf fan when this happened. I literally said yep that's it I cant watch this no more and never looked back...

[@thetaxman5998]

If i had a penny for everytime I saw somebody say what you've just said. Go look at the ratings the week after the finger poke. They didn't lose any viewers. January 1999 is one of the best months in the history of the company for viewership - 2nd best in fact. Your ancedotal claim is worthless.

[@watchsilverback]

@@thetaxman5998 that's fine I dont really care. My point is I was so into the wolf pack and felt so betrayed by the whole thing that I couldn't watch it anymore. Idk about viewer trends or whatever I just remember being 10 years old and switching to wwf from then on

[@wce05308]

@@thetaxman5998 he was talking about himself not everyone. So his anecdote was fine. But whatever suits your narrative champ.

[@deantoth1899]

@@thetaxman5998 100%, as I remember watching it as an 11 year old and having my mind blown. I was the target audience. People try to act like it didn't work for TV at the time.

[@bumpnscore]

Same here, for me, this was the moment WCW jumped the shark. I was starting to really enjoy WWF and stopped channel surfing after this.

[@TaliaIGhul]

Hogan did in WCW what he did years later in TNA, he made it about himself.

[@iampoe824]

HHH learned well

[@davidkosiba624]

@@iampoe824 And he finally gets his reward for it aka good old Vince in NXT 😂

[@AyaanKhan-bz1ei]

@@iampoe824 thankgod for the brand split imagine 2002-2004 hhh burying Lesnar

[@lanceryderwilson8252]

@@davidkosiba624 what happened

[@benrichardson8099]

Agreed he was never about what was best for the company or the boys in the back...

[@IR17171717]

Hogan: Hey so wouldn't it be funny and fool everyone if you gave me the belt? Nash: Yes but why? Hogan: It'd totally fool everyone! Nash: Yes but why? Hogan: Well it'd bring the belt back to the NWO Nash: Yes, but I'm in the NWO

[@sithsoldier98]

That so sounds like something Nash would say 🤣

[@stevelowe2647]

That's pretty much my take on it.. I'll drop the title so you can have it.. Not as if I worked my entire life to get to this point..

[@nick56677]

Hogan: "Look brother, I want to be in the cool NWO and wear Jncos and talk gangster" Nash: "You in the Wolfpac will kill it No" Hogan *cries to bischoff* : "That doesnt work for me brother." Nash: "Whatever🙄 im getting paid regardless. Youre in" Scott Hall *In the background pissing on himself drunk* : "Hey yo"

[@aegisofhonor]

Hogan: "because that's the only way it works for me brother."

[@thecausalgamer7916]

Macho Man: “don’t bet against me you’ll go broke overnight!”

[@johnepants]

I think the Fingerpoke makes the ending to Starcade 98 look worse by association. If Nash actually defended the title as champion and had a nice little run with the belt, it would have probably been looked at more fondly.

[@markfroman738]

Yeah it made him beating Goldberg so pointless.

[@yashbspianoandcompositions1042]

What would have been done was nash beating hogan successfully defending the belt and finish off the nwo black and white with nwo wolfpac gaining the final victory.

[@michaelvaughn8864]

That very well may have happened, Mr. Jufko

[@nicholaszeman4045]

Or if they had planned on putting the belt back on Hogan all along, I would have had them do an angle where Kevin Nash fakes an injury for Starrcade 98. Hogan jumps in to take Nash's place. Then Nash comes to ringside seemingly to help Goldberg and then double crosses Goldberg allowing Hogan to get the pin and regain the title. That would have made more sense in my book.

[@franklinmardy8171]

@@nicholaszeman4045true but still

[@DaManEX1983]

The problem is that the angle went nowhere. Goldberg never became champion again and instead they did the Hogan-Flair feud that ended with a double turn and now Hogan was the babyface because Flair was a corrupt President. So in effect, the nWo were good guys and that just can't work.

[@insomniacbritgaming1632]

Goldberg should've done the Flair storyline... all they tried to do with Hogan/Flair was copy Vince/Austin...

[@outis439-A]

The Wolf Pac were the good guys

[@TraceVandal]

My friends and I were massively into WCW at this time and we especially loved the NWO Vs Wolfpack storyline. After this I literally NEVER watched another episode, it completely killed our love of wrestling in one night.

[@Mephiston]

Same. The next nitro episode I watched was the last one ever, when the WWE bought out the WCW.

[@HereIsWisdom1318]

Why? I never really understood what ppl didnt like about it.

[@TraceVandal]

@@HereIsWisdom1318 troll?

[@HereIsWisdom1318]

@@TraceVandal Im not trolling.

[@TraceVandal]

@@HereIsWisdom1318 did you watch the video? It pretty much explains in perfect detail why everyone hated it.

[@darkerknight7010]

Bischoff at the end insisting that what was needed was MORE nWo…hilarious

[@williamhild1793]

I like to think this conversation took place.. NASH: Hey Hulk, since I'm already champion how about I poke YOU in the chest, and YOU go down like you're shot? HULK: That doesn't work for me, brother.

[@attiepollard7847]

I just don't know why didn't Eric bischoff work out a new contract with him telling Hogan look here I'm taking creative control from you. If Hogan would have done that then everything would have been good and WCW may have still been here

[@attiepollard7847]

@Damien Jones did that happen before the merger or after?

[@attiepollard7847]

@Damien Jones if this happened after the merger then Eric should have told Hogan he's taking creative control out of his hands

[@therealrealSANDMAN]

Great job man! I am amazed at the meticulouness of your various documentaries 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 My idea about the fingerpoke of doom: Hogan + Bischoff

[@lordeli8866]

@@attiepollard7847 All you Hogan haters are pathetic, it happened the way they wanted it to get over it Hulk Hogan will always and forever be the greatest Wrestler who ever lived and put it on the map GET OVER IT!

[@chazt2249]

As a 13year old who was there that night, I can confirm a few things: 1. Scott Hall (RIP) coming out during Nash's entrance for the main event was one of the greatest moments of my life. 2. We were dancing because Disco made an appearance during the commercial break. 3. While I did continue to tune in because I wanted to see what would happen next, the Fingerpoke did strike a major blow to my enthusiasm for Wrestling at the time, and from a storyline and booking standpoint neither WCW nor my enthusiasm were able to recover. The sense of betrayal after this and the Austin heel turn/McMahon alignment really turned me off wrestling as a whole for a long time

[@TheChrisHype]

Can we just take a moment to acknowledge the comedic amount of handcuffs they used to arrest Goldberg? Still to this day, it’s one of the silliest visuals I’ve ever seen in wrestling.

[@joypadlad]

People don’t want to remember that Nash was super over with the Wolfpac

[@SegaDream131]

Nash been OVER since that epic Rumble match.... Whenever it was, it was...

[@Thor-Orion]

Wolfpack was positioned to be massive with Scott Hall finally coming out with a wolfpack t shirt accompanying Nash that night. This was a huge disaster.

[@knottheory79220]

Yeah people who weren't there at the time don't understand that Nash beating Goldberg was exciting. That was actually fairly well done, maybe Nash shouldn't have been the guy to end the streak but they actually made a decent effort to protect Goldberg and get rid of the streak gimmick. The thing is, they should have done a storyline to demolish the NWO at this point, and I have seen both Nash and Hogan say something like that was the original plan, with Goldberg basically destroying the faction so WCW could do something else, but that never happened.

[@joypadlad]

@Harvey McElroy Good thing, this was the last time they disgraced the title. Oh wait... :(

[@joypadlad]

@@knottheory79220 Yes, I never liked Goldberg and was happy that Nash won. I never liked Hogan either even though I loved the nWo. So when this happened, it was disappointing.

[@nm499x]

Watching this live in the GA Dome as an 11 year old, who was obsessed with the Wolfpack, I can safely say this was the final moment I watched anything related to WCW. Didn't even think twice. Stopped watching wrestling altogether when I was 13, but this was the kickstart I needed.

[@CSAccetura]

As a huge Bret Hart fan growing up the Montreal ordeal was my last bit of interest in wrestling being squeezed out but also being the same age as you maybe a few years older at that time my interests shifted from wrestling to girls so I never looked back

[@charliecrackers4643]

I was the same age, and did the same exact thing.

[@mikesanders5433]

When I was in my teens me and my friends was hooked on WCW, we watched WWE (WWF) too but without fail it was always Nitro every week. but even just being 13-14 years old at the time we could tell this was a watershed moment and not a food one. We had been enjoying to freshness of having two warring NWO factions, Nash (one of my favs) was riding high going into this but this, and then it happened. This farce literally was the catalyst for me and my friends to start steadily favouring watching Raw and by 6 months later we was barely watching WCW anymore. Looking back today there’s only one person to blame for that finger poke, the one who has a long history of doing things only for himself, having that creative clause and be damned for anybody else. Hogan.

[@gbody2617]

Awe, you poor little baby!

[@mikesanders5433]

@@gbody2617 come again?

[@MyPisceanNature]

The problem is they did it with the World Title. You can get away with it with lesser titles (See Shawn Michaels dropping the European Title to Triple H). But if someone is willing to drop the World Title in such a way, it not only devalues the World Title, but everything else as well.

[@jebedmondson6428]

To be fair, knowing Atlanta traffic Goldberg taking so long to get there from a police station just across the road makes sense

[@Buttington_Headerson]

Yeah the road was probably 8 lanes with 6 blind spots and nobody letting him in.

[@Darkwolfe73]

This is reporting and fact finding. No rumor, no 3rd party, no hearsay. Just direct quote and conversation. Great job on this video mate!

[@WarhawkBeyond2040]

To have Kevin Nash be the guy to end Goldberg's undefeated streak and win the world title but only to hand it to Hulk Hogan the next night made no sense at all, in my opinion it's still one of the dumbest decisions ever made. It's ironic that with 1 finger, the entire wrestling empire once known as WCW began to slowly crumple which would eventually lead to the company going out of business and be bought up by Vince Mcmahon just over two years later. Side note: the Wolfpac and Hollywood factions merging into one entity was absolutely stupid

[@Venemofthe888]

I just wish Hogan didn't have a strangle hold on the belt. Just let the nwo die at this point. I think it should of been DDP who beat goldberg

[@andrewmoore7927]

All Hogan's doing via creative control

[@Kas58223]

@@Venemofthe888 DDP was so over in the Halloween havoc main event and gave Goldberg his best match, It wouldn’t have hurt Goldberg for Page to beat him, Page becomes heavyweight champion then they build the rematch at Starcade

[@rollo-koster5338]

@@Kas58223 but that would make sense. We can't do that!

[@sacredsteeler]

@@Kas58223 That doesn't work for Hogan brother

[@ChrisMillerCrazyHouse]

I remember watching this live. I was pissed and thought it hurt the character Nash was buildings at the time

[@Thor-Orion]

And the reunion of Hall and Nash.

[@TheAPTGamer]

Nash and Hogan would have been a money main event but they squandered it on an nWo reunion.

[@MadmanXXVII]

The Wolfpac angle was the best angle WCW never even realized they had. Nash/The Wolfpac were MAD OVER, then once Hogan joined, it ruined EVERYTHING. I thought when Nash got the strap, the Wolfpac was FINALLY gonna get their push and then THIS happened. It still sickens me...

[@raffarmenio6933]

Had Savage and Sting not got injured the Wolfpac would have had more of a presence by the end of 1998. It basically felt like Nash and Luger with Konnan in the background by the time Nash won the belt. A 5 man group has more relevance than 3. I dare say the writing changed once Sting was out of the picture and they planned to have both Nash and Luger unify the NWO. It was also when Goldberg was the man of the company. You had his mortal enemies in NWO Hollywood and the Tweeners on the side with the Wolfpac if you know what I mean. The idea behind it I think was to bring more prominence back to the NWO but they misread the room completely. Should have kept Nash as a Babyface champ with members of NWO Hollywood joining him instead. That would have kept things going a bit longer for WCW.

[@TheDrewThornton]

Gimme a break. Wolf pack was watered down and lame af.

[@MadmanXXVII]

@@TheDrewThornton Yeah, well, that’s just…like…your opinion man.

[@dmichael1172]

The beginning of the end for WCW. Hated this night when I originally watched it.

[@AntonioJCRM]

Looks like the Wrestlemania 15 aftermath with The Rock and Austin at Backlash officially manslaughtered WCW to no recovery. Ratings took a nose dive around spring of 99.

[@markbtelevision]

Take your mask off. Covid is a scam. Only brainwashed sheep wear masks.

[@benjones5929]

just removed my mask,thank you sir!!!

[@craigjonesISno.1]

No one wants to take credit for the Fingerpoke of Doom. Gee, what a shock!

[@bipolarminddroppings]

As someone who never watched WCW, these in depth looks at the events is really illuminating.

[@patrickschulz9936]

I like the way you went through the history around this "legendary moment" to check if the rumors are wrong or correct. Good work. Thanks for sharing.

[@taffysaur]

The fact that Nitro pulled so many viewers in the final segment is even more devastating for them; it means people were actually interested 8n their main event and STILL switched over to the Foley title win when informed of it by Schiavone.

[@kelvin19888]

It was a dark time in WCW when the finger poke of doom happened

[@freddy333ful]

David Arquette says hold my belt!

[@ADAMdinho1]

@@freddy333ful They were the walking dead by that stage tho.

[@insomniacbritgaming1632]

It was worse than David becoming champ because that genuinely was an accident...

[@MS-it9vv]

It was an even darker time when Jarrett laid down for Hogan and then stormed off.

[@manifestgtr]

One thing to understand about ridiculous pops and crowd reactions: Seeing something live with 10000 people and watching it at home/later on are two totally different things…especially in the 90s when people didn’t have such access to entertainment on demand. Judging audience reaction by a live pop is taking a really small, super “happy to be there” percentage of fans

[@Venemofthe888]

I always thought it was weird that sting joined the nwo at all. I feel like he should of been like goldberg and stayed away from it

[@Thor-Orion]

Retired Ancient Bret could have worked with Wolfpack is it was Hall, Nash, Henning Rude, Macho and Bret. A bunch of New Generation guys and a couple of older vets who were hugely influential and respected by the New Generation guys.

[@ericdemby4644]

Sting had no choice the fans just about demanded it

[@str.77]

@@ericdemby4644 "Sting had no choice" - what a silly comment. Everybody has a choice. Sting joining the group he had fought since day one made no sense at all. Bret is another matter. But him allying himself with Hogan also made no sense.

[@coyoteduster8919]

I would have liked to see sting as a punisher renegade type that fights for himself.

[@outis439-A]

@@str.77 He joined the wolf pac, that’s fake sting you are thinking of.

[@TheKiid810]

Fans did go crazy when nash beat goldberg but i watched a interview with schiavone and he said they booed afterwards

[@ColtSteele]

The crowd was mixed; Goldberg had a LOT of fans in the audience that may have not cared for the outcome but I don't remember hearing them boo afterward, the place was pretty electric for Nash's win(clean or not, I couldn't even see the jack knife from the floor ).

[@attiepollard7847]

@@ColtSteele do you know what Nash could have done with that power he could have became the man locker room hero and a leader until he dropped it to DDP

[@TheKillingJoker1980]

The match was in WWF territory, Nash was naturally more popular than Goldberg in DC

[@FRANK45CASTLE]

Hardest bump ive ever seen. Mans a hero.

[@rockstar450]

Your level of research and commitment to actually viewing sources is beyond anything I’ve ever seen from a wrestling channel. Simply brilliant

[@timbartschwolfman]

Schiavone--"huh that will put a lot of butts in the seats" Moments later Mick Foley wins WWE Title Michael Cole--"MANKIND DID IT MICK FOLEY DID IT" Moments later Fingerpoke of Doom happened Schiavone--"Well I'm going to be out of a job in 3 years"

[@undertakernumberone1]

@Strigorvious Dregorous From what I've heard, Bischoff wanted him to say it.

[@Trustme77]

@Strigorvious Dregorous Almost definitely. Eric himself would reveal Raw spoilers when he was on commentary in the years before this. That's part of how WCW was able to compete with Raw and eventually overtake it. It's something that, as Bischoff would say, "got him to the dance", so why would he not have had it continue after he left commentary?

[@btipton6899]

Hello AEW!!

[@NathanxLaMontagne]

This broke my 8 year old heart.

[@Handysoccersc]

So your 29 or 30 like me ha

[@NathanxLaMontagne]

@@Handysoccersc 32 in January.

[@steviecritiquenewby7874]

And Steve/Sting took a break at that time... Should have made DDP the man as the Babyface along with Bill Goldberg to compete with The NWO and The Stinger pop up as The Crow again a lot stronger and better than last time in 1996/1997...

[@Thor-Orion]

Retired Ancient Creative control. He refused to put Bret over ever.

[@DarkDestroyer98]

DDP, Bret, and Goldberg leading a renewed WCW charge against the remnant nWo factions.

[@MiSambra]

I'd have watched that. It was a crime that DDP didn't get pushed more as a top guy. He definitely had the charisma for it. Nash was dull as hell and looked like he didn't want to be there 90% of the time.

[@markfroman738]

@@MiSambra Dude was a total snooze fest. Just had a cool look and nice ring gear.

[@Robman0908]

Or Brett Hart. Have him finally end the group and win the title.

[@erokraider1690]

I remember watching this live and thinking yep WCW is done now.

[@Mephiston]

Honestly it became the last episode of nitro I watched until the very last episode where they were bought out by the WWE.

[@Mephiston]

@Strigorvious Dregorous I'm sure there was a fair amount of sunk cost fallacy and tribalist brand loyalty that kept people there too, kind of like how people stick with a politician or sports hero after they're shown to be deeply flawed and engaged in illegal or immoral behaviour

[@KitanaiharE]

​@Strigorvious Dregorous yup, that's what I'm saying. Majority of folks that watched it live understood it. Wasn't nobody thinking "this is the end". It was typical Hollywood Hogan scheming to get the belt back and being an asshole and everyone wishing Goldberg would turn into Goku and murder him. That's just what it was. But now, everyone's "clairvoyant" and "knew it was the end" and wants to rewrite history. LOL, Nah, Fingerpoke of Doom was great. Now the follow-up was what hurt it. But the actual nitro it happened on was dope and it made sense. Orton beating Benoit and Trips asking him to laydown for him was just a remix of the fingerpoke of doom storyline done a bit more right but it was the same concept. Triple H (Hogan) couldn't beat Benoit (Goldberg), so he had his right hand man do it. Made it seem like they were beefing and he was supposed to lay down for him. BUT, WWE flipped it and had Orton spit in his face and feud with him.

[@32alltheway]

Medium answer: they were all great minds, nothing was ever anyone's fault, they had everyone's best interests at heart. Short answer: 3 words: Hogan. Creative. Control

[@christianholbrook2686]

7:55 That has to be one of the greatest karma moments in all of wrestling.

[@bamabat8435]

What still gets me about the whole "NWO Elite" thing is that Buff Bagwell was considered elite but The Giant (The Big Show) was part of the b-team. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?

[@jimmybananahamok6903]

This was the first wrestling show I ever went to.

[@dalejennings2677]

I was just a kid. Wcw mega fan.... after that poke I tore off my Wolfpack shirt threw it away and then woke up my dad and said we are watching raw is war from now on. He said. " Bout time."

[@TG5455]

Smart move because the worst was yet to come for WCW.

[@edge1247]

Did you get to see Foley win the belt ?

[@TG5455]

@@edge1247 Yes, I did.

[@zacharythomason7359]

Smart move my man Smart move

[@chadkennedy7855]

It was the right thing to do.

[@steve_jackson9933]

It is a bit strange that the NWO was like a shot in the arm for for WCW, but in the end the WCW just got too big and annoying. They should have left it with Hall, Nash, Hogan. They should have also gotten rid of Hogan's creative control. It was rough watching Hogan wrestle.

[@JerryMeehanJr]

I have to tell you, you are the only channel that when you post a video, i watch it on my tv instead of my phone or computer. I love these videos bro.

[@mikegee6523]

Facts

[@johnbruce9792]

Thanks for using a Bischoff quote where he takes 0 blame for what happened and instead blamed Turner

[@reggie3819]

Wrestling bios is the best wrastling show in the internets. I live your work man!

[@PaxAnarx]

Great Video! I remember watching this live... Switched to Raw as soon as WCW said Mankind was getting the strap 🔥 real fans know that it was Turner taming the product, out of hate for wrestling, that sunk WCW

[@bluebagha162]

Nash avoiding Goldberg for 6 months could have really worked well.. damn that creative control brother

[@robertpeacock894]

Konnan noted that Kevin Nash was 100% booking and making choices back then. So it had to be a 50/50 arrangement by Hogan/Nash.

[@ironlift2275]

Your remixes are something else. You should really put them out on Spotify in full length.

[@jreed7125]

Oh brother, if I could use those theme remixes for WWE 2K Universe Mode...

[@proxyg4884]

I was actually at this venue in Atlanta in 1999. I was 7 at the time. I remember being so dissapointed and confused

[@shadowyshutterbug]

what a way for wcw to keep a fanbase huh?

[@jensrobertson470]

Finally a wrestling youtuber who brings up facts with good research. Like that fact that Nash was over big time at the end of 98 (fan reaction of his WW3 win is another big example), that the ratings didn't dropped after the fingerpoke and were still high MONTHS after that "infamous" angle. Sadly months of struggle in Spring/Summer of 99 created a lot of icebergs for the WCW ship....

[@maxdecphoenix]

That internet Q.A. with Nash you quote was totally kayfabe, and i wouldn't use it to argue that Nash is blaming Hogan legitimatly, even if he's saying it in character.. That played very much like he was a character putting over WCW as some kind of legitimate fighting guild, like NBA players after the game. Nash never talks like that in shoots.

[@Trustme77]

I wouldn't automatically assume Eric Bischoff was telling the truth about everything if I were you. Just because he says things went a certain way doesn't make it so.

[@KitanaiharE]

The NBC situation was something that I didn't know about. That's an interesting tidbit with the NBA Lockout. Thanksfully, this vid isn't just backstage politics and fingerpointing. Great and well put together video.

[@garymaguire7467]

Imagine giving that Hogan Goldberg title match away on free TV. Should have been the Starrcade main event for sure.

[@Toast960]

Even as a teenager, the whole thing never made sense to me. It was like if Caesar came out at the end of the play to reveal he'd been plotting all along with Cassius and Brutus to fool everyone. And I know this is more Monday morning quarterbacking, but to me, they should've finished the whole Wolfpac vs Hollywood storyline because there was never a definitive finish to that. They could've spent a year setting up a rematch between Nash and Goldberg without the nWo. Nash could've faced, DDP, Savage, Flair, Bret, Booker, and Scott Steiner for the belt (maybe lose the title at some point and then get it back) while Goldberg went through Hall, Bam Bam, Disco, Bret, and a few others before winning the World War 3 battle royal to become number one contender. And both could've gone into the rematch with a purpose that fans could buy. Goldberg to get his win back and Nash to prove he could beat Goldberg on his own.

[@attiepollard7847]

Hogan: that doesn't work for me brother Eric: I need a major start to beat Vince McMahon and Nash is not one of them so I need Hogan back.

[@brianh2787]

These are among the best and well-researched wrestling stories I've come across. Bravo!

[@hottkrap1188]

Quickly becoming my fav KZbin Channel

[@pagangodx6890]

This was the end of WCW. I was and still am a huge Nash fan. And the ‘pac is still my fav faction

[@thetaxman5998]

It wasn't the end. They still did good business after this. Ratings went up also.

[@Tornado1994]

@@thetaxman5998 My Brother and I watched this in Early 1999. We sat there in Silence for about 3 minutes. I then turned to him and said "They just Cost Turner the Monday Night Ratings War. WCW is about to take a turn for the Worse".

[@Tearsheet]

I was one of the folks who switched channels to see Mick Foley win. Doesn't hurt that Nitro would be recast a second time later on in the night if you wanted to catch it again.

[@ducc764]

How to kill a wrestling empire 101

[@taylormademyself89]

Been waiting for ya to do this one for months and its finally here 😎🤟🤟🤟🤟

[@MrMDMPOfficial]

The wait is OVER. Thanks bro

[@Seraph89_]

Nash: Gets poked and tears a quad.

[@TheMisleduser]

The thing that got me about the fingerpoke at the time was I just thought they were ripping off hbk vs hhh for the European title. Yeah circumstances were a little different and it was a mid card title being held by hbk, who had all the titles. but it was the same thing. they get into the ring circle aggressively... lawl. and then one guy lays down.

[@danielrierson6683]

That’s like the Goldberg vs Bret Montreal screwjob rip-off.

[@attiepollard7847]

This is why Vince McMahon was the only person to control hogan when he was in WWF. Sure he may kiss hogan's ass from time to time but Vince would never give Hogan creativity control like Bishop did.

[@insomniacbritgaming1632]

Bret vs Yokozuna at WM IX... enough said

[@attiepollard7847]

@@insomniacbritgaming1632 that's why I say sure he kissed his ass from time to time but Hogan would never get away with creative control understand Vince.

[@screamrad218]

Bischoff acted like too much of a fanboy. He never really acted like a boss.

[@yehudafinkelstein7504]

@@screamrad218 Bischoff wasn't a boss. More of a bridge between upper corporate at Turner and the wrestlers who still ran the book and called the shots (At its peak WCW had a booking committee with people like Sullivan Terry Taylor). Bischoff had this weird skill set of looking and sounding like a corporate guy but actually knowing something about wrestling from his time working with Gagne in AWA. That's why he got the job over more established wrestling people like Jim Ross.

[@nathancardenas2719]

Idk about that. There are ALOT of instances of hogan playing politics in wwe, the difference was that Hogan was in his PRIME and the undisputed face of wrestling. The late 90s was a much different story

[@smallies7154]

Hulk was surely earning every cent of that 12 million a year contract. His workrate is still unmatched

[@dariandavis7228]

I turned to the mick Foley match And didn't regret it at all.

[@xtn5378]

This video definitely put my butt in a seat.

[@jmckdekalb316]

This was beginning of the end of WCW

[@thetaxman5998]

It wasn't. Rating went up. Business went up. You wouldn't know that though because you're just a dumb smark who parrots other dumb smarks without doing any reseach.

[@blackmantis3130]

@@thetaxman5998 chill dude

[@KEPA000]

@@thetaxman5998 if so then WCW would have been still here

[@thomasmuller546]

i appreciate your calm, collected way of talking about the real situation there, not trying to overdrama things, keep it up.

[@TheAaronetic]

The moment we've all been waiting for on Wrestling Bios!

[@dougdaniels1242]

Fantastic video. I hadn't looked back on the FPOD since it occurred, because I absolutely hated it. I was a big Outsiders fan, so seeing Nash literally give the belt away just left me scratching my head. Lots of information here I wasn't aware of, thank you!

[@Thor-Orion]

The Outsiders being split at Slamboree was a massive mistake. Fans loved them together and hated Hogan. They wanted to see them turn on Hogan together. They just got Bret Hart who was just screwed by Vince (wcw fans saw Hogan and Vince as two sides of the same coin that had destroyed classic wrestling a decade prior) you put Bret with The Outsiders and Hennig to make the Wolfpack (four of the biggest New Generation stars) and use Bret’s pull to bring Syxx back and put him with them. You now have a massively over face team to take on Hogan and his “Hulkamania” era buddies in NWO Hollywood (along with the few wcw turncoats who made great heels in Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell and a few others).

[@theowinters6314]

One thing I've never really heard mention when it comes do the decline of WCW was the TNTs switch to a west coast feed. Before then TNT only had the East cost feed, it meant that if you were on the west cost WCW started at 5 and was repeated 3 hours later, and WWF and was at 8 (I think, it's been a long time and things may not be exact). It meant though that a good chunk of the country could watch both shows without having to pick. Then one Monday, Nitro wasn't on at the usual time, instead being head to head with WWF. There was no notice of this, so it came as a huge surprise. But after that you had to pick which show to watch. I honestly can't remember exactly when the change over happened, I want to say it was after the Fingerpoke of Doom, but I just don't remember. Still, I bet if you checked the ratings in the weeks after that, WCW would have taken a hit.

[@aghistorian763]

I can't stress enough how thankful I am for your work. I started watching wrestling in 2008 and many of these moments were basically these isolated snapshots in history to me. Now I finally get the whole picture with all important details.

[@321guyver]

I think why this moment killed it for me, is that in the lead up to their match, they had been playing on this " Hey, were actually kind of cool with each other." vibe between Nash and Goldberg. Then as you do in any wrestling relationship, some mistakes in the ring/accidental hits etc... started to throw a wrench in there. When Nash Beat Goldberg, and then gave him a rematch right away... I was totally ok with it. Then the poke happened. And then my Dad, my brother and I never watched WCW again. I still wish Nash would have done the poke, but then went to Hogan and said " The match tonight is the WCW champ vs Goldberg, not Nash vs Goldberg." and have Goldberg destroy Hogan again. I know that if Goldberg joined the Wolf pack, they would have been so OP... but I would have loved to see it.

[@JerBuster77]

"Screw the history of the world title" - Nash *Company puts the belt on David Arquette*

[@BurgerSliderMan]

*What a Pittance!*

[@kevinpayton2664]

Putting the belt on Arquette is one of the worst moments in wrestling history without a doubt.

[@Sev3nn20]

Also Vince Russo, R I P

[@markfroman738]

Hold my beer bro!

[@JBPlaysGames1]

I'd never heard about that NBC special before now! Its an even bigger deal when you think of the relationship WWF had with NBC for 15+ years at that point. Seems like it would have been a big deal to WWFs biggest competition on what was essentially their home network (since USA is owned by NBC.).

[@BirdGang6]

“And Hulk Hogan is going to win the WCW title by poking Kevin Nash to death, pffffft, that’ll put butts in the seats”

[@markmagician2471]

The Finger poke of Doom the ultimate finisher!

[@TheLandofObscusion]

A well done video, with some info that I certainly never knew of (specifically the planned NBC specials). The FPOD is obviously not a direct contributor to WCW's eventual fall, but it is a perfect example of the problems WCW had, both politically & creatively, & it would only get worse with over the next 2+ years. They could have recovered from the FPOD, and fans were obviously willing to see if WCW could for another four months, but by April it was obvious that the WWF was delivering the superior product. As for your theory that Hogan needing to be champ for the NBC specials, it would only reinforce one of the problems WCW had at the time. Really, Hogan vs. Savage wouldn't have needed to be for the title to sell the first special, just build it up using their long history, but WCW/Hogan likely wouldn't have been able to think of things that way.

[@kevinpayton2664]

I didn't know about the NBC deal either. That certainly would've been interesting.

[@addi543]

It would’ve definitely helped had Goldberg continued going through the nWo after Souled Out and not entered into a feud with a heatless Bam Bam Bigelow

[@LadyAstarionAncunin]

I think it was a direct contributor, being a "jumping the shark" moment, but it wasn't the sole reason, no.

[@theamericanbrotha]

I didn't watch WCW ever again after this

[@BlackStarGabusGaben]

Why is this one of the best channels? Because not only do you go over moments in a expert and entertaining fashion, but I learn something new. I had NO clue there was a book on Nitro history until you recommended it it. I've just checked it out on amazon and have now purchased it. Thank you for the great content and the excellent shout-outs.

[@manbeast_cs]

I was watching WCW this night over WWF and when Tony said Mankind was going to win the title I switched channels immediately. I missed the finger poke and did not even know until the next day at school when talking with my friends. It was for me what led to me making RAW as my main show on Monday nights.

[@maxcady360]

I remember the finger poke spot. It was the first time I really lost interest in wrestling. Killing off the Wolfpac was just too much for me.

[@Thor-Orion]

Hogan baby

[@kenrickeason]

The Wolf Pack was amazing..

[@robertlawrence4719]

The finger of poke of doom did not kill the Wolfpac. They came out with the hells angels the next week. 81 baby

[@shadowyshutterbug]

@@robertlawrence4719 who cares. they were looked at as weak after that. people were over hogan and the old nwo recycled bs

[@KAZ3EM]

Cool wolfpac remix! NICE,DUDE!!!!

[@thegman7523]

thanks so much for putting these videos together! you make working at home more entertaining!

[@fatdaddyeddiejr]

I also remember right before Hulk Hogan poked Kevin Nash. Tony Schiavone telling the viewers that "This is what WCW is all about." Oh you have no idea how those words would come back to haunt WCW.

[@shadowyshutterbug]

exactly. if they had fought it would have been awesome. instead they killed the company