83 Weeks - The Big Bang [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This week on 83 Weeks we’re discussing the pay-per-view from WCW that wasn’t...The Big Bang!

The story of this pay-per-view really begins when you & Fusient Media are going through the process of purchasing World Championship Wrestling from Time Warner. It was Time Warner at the time of your negotiations still, correct?

You did an interview with WWE.com that covered this very subject almost 5 years ago and there were some interesting tidbits in there I found when doing my research. You said, “Toward the end of 1998, around August, it started to become very apparent to me that the Time Warner conglomerate really didn’t want WCW to survive.”

In August of 1998 in WCW we’re coming off Karl Malone & Dennis Rodman main eventing a WCW pay-per-view, Goldberg is heavyweight champion and Jay Leno will be in the next pay-per-view main event. What happened at the end of August 1998 to make you think that?

It would be almost a year later when you & WCW have your original parting of ways and not long after that the Time Warner - AOL merger is starting to be negotiated. Before you left in the fall of 1999 how many discussions did Time Warner have about selling WCW that you know about?

You said in that same WWE.com interview you talked to then-president of Turner Entertainment Brad Siegel and told him, “You don’t really want to fix it (WCW), so why don’t you sell it while there is something left to sell?” How serious were you when you told Siegel that and is that when in your mind it clicked that you needed to find money and backers to get WCW out on its own?

Siegel eventually lets you shop WCW as the Time Warner - AOL merger is starting to reach the final stages. How do you come into contact with Brian Bedol and Steve Greenberg of Fusient Media Ventures? They reach out to you or vice versa?

Bedol & Greenberg’s major media move previously was starting the Classic Sports Network in 1995 then selling it to ESPN for $175 million. Were they just the money or did they actually seem to be interested in getting into the professional wrestling business?

During the negotiations who was doing it for both sides? Was it yourself, Bedol & Greenberg talking to Siegel or were there other players involved?

TBS is to retain a minority interest in the company and also secure the long-term programming rights for the next 10 years. Is that how you remember it?

You’ve talked about the FX negotiations you had in the past...were they serious players or just enough interest to get a longer type of commitment from TBS?

The talk of setting up the production and taping from Las Vegas’s Hard Rock Cafe - was it a more cost conscious thought process or was it “this is how we re-define the brand?”

Why move the offices to Los Angeles if you’re going to be doing the tapings in Las Vegas?

The Big Bang idea of “re-launching” the brand is yours or someone else’s?

How quickly is the idea of the re-launch to be a gigantic pay-per-view event?

What’s the timeline for you to begin to shape the creative towards a shut down and re-launch?

The creative is so bad at the time when this deal is starting to form and take shape and really since the Vince Russo - Hulk Hogan “shoot angle” at the Bash at the Beach it’s just a mess. How confident were you that you could fix it?

You’ve determined at some point that the re-launch will be on May 6th, 2001. When did you come to that point and did you know you were going to name it “The Big Bang?”

You’ve said before your goal was you had to plan this six months - at minimum - in advance for the creative for it. Why 6 months?

From the Observer…

“The anarchy that is the dressing room at World Championship Wrestling totally destroyed the last live Nitro show for three weeks on 12/18 in Richmond, VA. A series of incidents resulted in three wrestlers walking off the show, Sid, DDP and Kevin Nash, all of whom had key roles in the show, resulting in both Nitro and Thunder shows literally put together on the fly and finishing with a Nitro main event of Jeff Jarrett vs. Lance Storm TV main event before a largely dead crowd.”

Were you at this show and what do you remember about Sid, DDP & Nash walking out?

Did anybody reach out to communicate to you what was going on?

Steiner cuts a shoot promo on DDP and they get into a legit fight backstage. You’re obviously close friends with DDP and Steiner is the WCW Champion at the time. How much of a mine field is this to navigate this?

From the Observer…”Page & Nash told people on the way out that they weren't coming back until there was new ownership.”

DDP and Mark Madden are even having issues at this point. How fucked up is everything in WCW and was it even worth it for you to deal with this type of childish behavior?

WCW returns to tapings and you fly to Atlanta on 12/21 at the request of Brad Siegel according to the Observer and you got “everyone to work out their problems.” Did this meeting happen and what do you remember about it?

It is odd that a man who’s attempting to purchase this company is the one brought in time and time again to save it for the company who’s trying to sell it to him. Is this not the most unconventional business deal of all time?

You begin the creative to start to take shape. Scott Steiner is to put down every big WCW babyface for them to disappear and return at the Big Bang. DDP, Kevin Nash, Sting, Booker T & Goldberg are all being written out. Any of these guys have objections to this or were they all in on the long term plan for the relaunch?

From the Observer…

“Eric Bischoff appears to have finalized plans for a several week shutdown which would take place immediately after the 2/18 Nashville SuperBrawl PPV. The belief is that some form of a major angle would take place at the end of the show, perhaps involving Bill Goldberg (many speculate Hulk Hogan as well), resulting in some sort of an announcement that the new owners are making changes and Nitro the next night would be announced as cancelled.”

How accurate is this and what was the original creative for it?

“Exactly what the time frame of the shutdown is uncertain. TNT and TBS would fill the Nitro and Thunder time slots for three weeks, and that time frame is not definite, with other programming. The original plan was to spend several million dollars in mainstream advertising to hype the return of Nitro and Thunder starting on 3/12 with a taping in Knoxville, which would include the reappearances of as many major stars as possible (Sting, Booker T, Goldberg as well as other surprises including possibly Hogan although that still requires the two sides reaching a new long-term contract as they aren't going to put Hogan on TV if he isn't locked up and would have the chance to jump although there is a working plan for him to do a program with Flair for the fictitious CEO job) to build for the Greed PPV on 3/18 in Jacksonville.”

Was the plan to go off air for months to build to this? How close was the Hogan deal to being done with his legal issues with Time Warner?

How was TBS & TNT with having to fill the time during the shutdown? Do you think this plan of having to make up air time led to TNT/TBS feeling the programming was expendable and could’ve started the discussion if they really wanted WCW still on the networks?

Meltzer would write about you being at Nitro…

“Before Nitro, Bischoff held a ten minute long talent meeting. His three main points were that if wrestlers have ideas for themselves or others, they can go to him, to Taylor or to Ferrara, but none of them have the authority to give them definite answers on whether or not the angle will be done. Taylor, himself and Ferrara will suggest the angle, but the guy with the authority on and to say yes or no is Ace. He said he was upset about the cardiovascular conditioning of the wrestlers and said that wrestlers who have bellies need to lose them. He also went individually to certain wrestlers outside the group and told them they needed to drop weight. He also was mad about how certain wrestlers dress while in public, like at the airports and wants the crew to dress and travel more professionally.”

Is this your real first attempt in talking to the talent about the changes you were looking to make going forward?

As the deal for the WCW purchase is being put together, Extreme Championship Wrestling is slowly and painfully wilting away. Losing TV, cancelling shows, lack of money and unpaid wrestlers. Going along with unpaid wrestlers are people that are soon to be available to WCW (and the WWF)...were there any talents you were looking at signing and bringing in for a shot in the arm in terms of talent?

In the same WWE.com story on The Big Bang Joey Styles talks about how you set up a meeting with Brian Bedol in Manhattan regarding his possible role if ECW would close. What about Styles made you interested in him?

Who else did you talk with about coming in (or back) to the fold? Were there any talents that were on the WCW roster that you knew you would not be using?

Speaking of talents in WCW that wouldn’t be continuing Mark Madden is let go. What was your role in Madden’s termination?

On January 11th, 2001 you and your business partners along with Brad Seigel held a conference call to announce the deal. Bedol makes a big statement that he wouldn’t be satisfied if WCW remained the number two wrestling brand in America. Did this finally put you at rest that the deal was going to happen?

Same day as this conference call the AOL - Time Warner merger is finalized and it’s a whole different ball game. Was the call scheduled that day to have it announced before the merger? What changed after January 11th in terms of the negotiations?

After SuperBrawl in 2001 the plans changed, is that correct?

From the Observer…”WCW may change its plans once again this week, this time with Eric Bischoff perhaps deciding against a shutdown in April.

Bischoff's thoughts were based on the idea that he didn't want to present a stale product and allow the fans to get more apathetic by basically struggling along with no storylines and no stars until the planned re-launch in May.

…

No doubt with TBS and TNT having to do make goods on advertising due to the declining ratings, the networks would also be adverse to shutting down for the same reason Time Warner vetoed Bischoff's original plan to shut down starting this week. Bischoff at press time said he would make the final decision later this week and another main factor would be based on exactly when the closing of the Fusient purchase of WCW in finalized since Time Warner nixed his previous shutdown plan.”

Why did the pivot happen here?

“If there is no shutdown, most likely, either on that show, or perhaps on the Nitro the next night in Gainesville, FL, shoot the big angle that was planned for early April by having the new owners take over and foil Ric Flair's plans by bringing back all the stars (Bill Goldberg, Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T and possibly Hulk Hogan and perhaps others if deals can be made) and build seven weeks of television hype, more time than WCW has devoted for one specific show in years, for the 5/6 PPV show which would be something of a major coming out. Sting and Booker T are already healthy and ready to go, while Goldberg, after shoulder surgery, won't be able to wrestle until the PPV, but will likely be used on television from late March until that date to build for his return match.”

Did you feel creatively you would’ve been able to carry it all out with TV the whole time?

And very quickly afterwards you bring back Booker T after record law ratings beget Nitro & Thunder. Did you see the Big Bang PPV and the plan for the relaunch falling apart here?

Was the actual purchase falling apart as well? When Fusient opens the books and sees everything how quickly did this go from being buttoned up to you realizing this may not happen?

Was an arena ever even booked in Las Vegas for this show?

When did the concept art of the Big Bang come to be? Was it pure and simple for a particular reason?

Brad Siegel goes on vacation and so do you to Hawaii. Was the vacation to prepare you for the takeover of the company? How much communication did you have with everyone at that point on that vacation?

From the Observer...

“If the deal is to go through, the belief is that Bischoff will do his long planned out angle to shut down the company, perhaps as soon as Sunday's PPV or 3/26. However, one of those working the closest with Bischoff is under the impression there will be a show on 4/2. No site has been announced (there is a building on hold) and it's going to be difficult to get publicity out at this late date for a show, and if it isn't done by the weekend, it would be almost impossible, and there is no purpose in not making those announcements by this point.”

How are you supposed to re-launch this company at this point when the deal still isn’t finalized?

You do a phone interview on Nitro on 3/12 while in Hawaii (is that correct) where you say, ““Many of you may know that for the past six months, I’ve been working with a group of people whose goal it was — and is — to acquire World Championship Wrestling and to grow it once again to become a competitive, dominant wrestling organization worldwide,” Bischoff said with a defeated tone. “But recently we’ve hit a couple of roadblocks that may be, in fact, brick walls.” You announce next week the “season finale” where past champions will return and all the current champions will defend their titles at a Night of Champions which will be the final Nitro in reality. What did you know and when at this point?

Let’s get to March 16th, 2001. The day it all ended. Brad Siegel sends a memo to the staff.

“"In early January, we told you about an agreement that we had reached to sell WCW and its related assets. At that time, we said that we would apprise you of any changes to the way WCW operates. Effective Tuesday, March 27, WCW programming will begin a period of hiatus. During this hiatus, WCW will review its programming plans and determine the course of future WCW-branded entertainment events. On Wednesday, March 28, please plan to attend an all-staff meeting at 10 a.m. at the Power Plant, at which we will share with you further information regarding WCW plans. In the meantime, I hope that you will maintain the level of professionalism that distinguishes our organization, particularly as we prepare for the upcoming Panama City, Florida event. Thank you."

Jamie Kellner cancels WCW programming from all Turner Networks. Jim Weiss, TBS spokesman said to the New York Times, “Basically we’ve decided that professional wrestling, in its current incarnation is not consistent with the upscale brands we’ve built at TNT and TBS. Therefore we will not be carrying it.”

You’re called while on the beach in Hawaii from a business partner at Fusient regarding the cancellation. Who called you and what was your first reaction?

DDP has said that you didn’t want WCW on TNT or TBS moving forward and that you had said you just needed 3 months to get another network to pick up the show and not announce the cancellation. Do you really think you could’ve made that move?

Once the cancellation of WCW on the Turner Networks Vince McMahon and the WWF at the time purchase WCW’s tape library, assets and some contracts on that Friday, they hold the last Nitro on Monday and that’s it.

Let’s talk now about the concept of the Big Bang PPV that never happens. Fresh start for WCW...what exactly does that entail?

WCW had a couple resets in the last couple of years most notably when you & Vince Russo returned and you stripped all the titles and created the Millionaire’s Club and the New Blood. Would it had been based upon the same thought process and concept?

New Logo?
New Set?
New Ring?
New look?
New announcers?
Any groundbreaking concepts that you already had in your mind?
What’s the main event?
What’s something you had in your mind for the show that you never got to do at any future point in TNA for example?

Any regrets regarding not being able to do the show?