Would a WCW Brand Split in 1998 have worked?

[Reality Check]

The Hogan's contract thread got me thinking. I know Bischoff mentioned that at one point they were looking to do some sort of brand split with an nWo Nitro and a WCW Thunder, but that obviously flopped due to the one episode of nWo Nitro they tried in December 97, but if they wound up doing a split later in 1998, say when the nWo actually split up, would that have been a better method? Given how top-heavy the roster was with older Main Event talent (Hogan, Flair, Piper, Hall, Nash, Hart, Sting, DDP, Savage, Luger, and eventually Goldberg and Scott Steiner), a split would have allowed those who were on the undercard (Raven, Booker T, Saturn, Eddie, Benoit, Regal, Jericho, Kidman, Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Bagwell, etc.) to potentially have a higher ceiling than become fodder for the nWo wars and Goldberg's streak.

Keep in mind, WWE in 1998 would not have had the talent to be able to pull off a brand split and Smackdown didn't debut until nearly 2 years after Thunder did.

 

[Big Jo]

Nah, a brand split wasnt really in the wrestling vernacular in 1998 and really only made sense after the WCW acquisition by WWE

And really, the appeal to NWO was the tension & disruption it caused in WCW kayfabe, NWO as its own separate entity would have failed quickly as seen in 1997

 

[Elim Garak]

No they basically did a soft brand split, Thunder was pure struggle.

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

 

[Mr. Manhattan]

Thats exactly what Thunder was supposed to be bruh failed miserably

 

[Reality Check]

Thats exactly what Thunder was supposed to be bruh failed miserably

They never truly executed a split due to the massive flop of the episode of Nitro with the "hostile" takeover by the nWo

 

[dh86]

Even the best case scenario of that would have went wrong

 

[TheGreatShowtime]

I've never liked the brand split in any capacity. There's a reason why some of these mufukkas don't get on TV in the first place.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

They really already kind ahad a brand split. It was nWo vs. everyone else. Then when the Wolfpack came about it was nWo Hollywood vs. nWo Wolfpack with the rest of the roster in its own universe.

 

[thaKEAF]

When Bischoff says he wanted nwo to have its own show, what would it have been exactly? All nWo guys just beating up jobbers?

 

[El Poyo Loco]

No they basically did a soft brand split, Thunder was pure struggle.

Most of the big money guys didn't want to work Thunder and they didn't know how to book for Thunder it was stuck in the mud from the get go

 

[Love Sosa]

I’ve never been a brand split fan ever. 2 world title shyt just never feels right

 

[Hey_zeus]

If the NWO made any sense and had any sort of conclusion planned, yes it could've worked theoretically. The story was there to tell. Too man chefs in the kitchen though.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

TBF WCW tried their hardest to separate the NWO from the actual program and yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

The problem with WCW at the time was the same thing that was making them money. NWO became a bloated cancer that the fanbase started to get bored with the act, and once the "split" happened ala Thunder, the damage was already done:

• Thunder was a struggling fukking turd that would make Rampage look like Smackdown
• Half of the roster never got a proper storyline to draw the crowd (remember, these were the times when wrestling had to have a story on the level of crash TV which WWF was thriving in thanks to Russo)
• Their hot commodity (Bret Hart) got treated like Frank Grimes
• Hoegan fukked the entire idea of a brand split because everything was gravitating to the NWO and their stupid ass split
• Too many egos and not enough guidance easily would have killed the split (hence Thunder having B-tier weed carriers and a few gems who ended up going to the WWF)

WCW had so many chances to murder WWF/E, but failed to deliver. Hell, the Melenko/Jericho feud should have kicked off the Thunder movement.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

If the NWO made any sense and had any sort of conclusion planned, yes it could've worked theoretically. The story was there to tell. Too man chefs in the kitchen though.

NWO should have dissolved into the Orlando shows (ala WCW Saturday Night/Main Event). Imagine Starrcade 97 being the downfall of the NWO to the point where the split up spilled all the way to a minor show. It would have been revolutionary as hell.

Sadly, Bischoff is a fukking smooth brained Ken doll looking dork with no idea to run a show without resorting into biker fantasies like an absolute mark.

WCW should have never died