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Tony Schiavone is a former WCW commentator, and he recently spoke about Starrcade 1997 and the mistakes that WCW made after Starrcade 1997 which led to the company going out of business. Starrcade was WCW’s Wrestlemania equivalent.
Starrcade actually was the place where many great wrestlers fought each other. Starrcade 1997 was also very important for WCW as WCW was actually fighting WWE for ratings at that time. This was the legendary Monday Night Wars period.
WCW came extremely close to actually putting the WWE out of business, or may have made it difficult for the WWE to survive very well.
Tony Schiavone Speaks About Mistakes that WCW Made Which Led to Them Falling
During Starrcade 1997, Sting was set to make his in-ring return after about a year out of action.
He wrestled Hulk Hogan that night for the WCW Heavyweight Title. According to the original storyline, Sting was supposed to beat Hulk Hogan cleanly and it would be the Starrcade main event. However, Hulk believes that Sting was not actually well mentally and wasn’t focused enough.
He convinced Eric Bischoff to actually change the structure of the match. He wanted to get a fast count on Sting, which actually got botched during the match, and Sting would ultimately still get the win. Even though Sting won, many questioned Sting’s credibility, mainly because of the botched fast count.
This was one of the most horrible mistakes that WCW has ever made according to various experts. According to Tony Schiavone, that finish was a serious mistake and that wasn’t the only mistake that WCW made during that week.
WCW actually made Sting fight Hulk Hogan on the following Nitro. For those that bought the PPV, this was a massive turn-off. "It was a mistake for anybody who said, 'Well, I bought the pay-per-view,' right? They're giving away this for free." Tony said.
Sting was arguably one of the most popular wrestling stars in the world at that time. The NWO was also on the top of the wrestling world, and that is the reason why WCW was doing well during that time. The Nitro match was not planned very well.
Sting vs Hulk Hogan on Nitro lasted for about six minutes, and Nitro ran out of time. That resulted in a no-contest, which ruined WCW’s image even further. Sting’s reign also lasted for a total of 11 days, even though the original plan was to have him hold the title for a year.