Would WCW still be alive? (Hulk Hogan related)

It very well might be alive if Hogan hadn't arrived. Hogan was given too much creative power over not only his booking but the entire company. WCW went from Flair, Austin, and Regal holding the singles belts to Hogan, Duggan, and Honky Tonk Man holding them. That tells the story.

The transformation from a wrestling-centered product to a character-centered product didn't produce a substantial increase in attendance or PPV numbers. When that didn't work, Bischoff tried to beat Vince with in-their-prime stars but they were relegated to the role's of Hogan's henchmen. WCW took on more monster contracts but failed to make stars for the next 10 years. Thus, they died. Hogan isn't the only guilty party in the company's demise but the change of direction that started with him was the company's death knell.

Nice one.

And the answer is no, I think. It would've folded quicker without Hogan. Once Hogan was in there, it got popular, and more stars jumped on the bandwagon, and more eyes were on the product.

Especially once the nWo boom happened.

The NWO helped it but Hogan alone made little difference. WCW was routinely getting .50-.60 buyrates on PPVs. Once Hogan got there, his BATB entrance popped a 1.0 but they instantly reverted until the Monday Night Wars & the NWO.
Moreover, Hogan's inclusion in the group might have initial garnered interest but it was acidic in the long-term. Not only was the NWO gimmick done to death but Hogan continuing to be WCW's focal point for years was very detrimental.

I think WCW could have possibly died sooner and there probably wouldn't have been that exciting time with the Monday Night Wars that we had. The nWo concept worked but it got ridiculous at the end having too many members instead of making it like an elite group and staying with that.

Having said that, I do think they could have done better creatively and were the ones stupid enough to give out creative control in the first place. Blame WCW for giving Hogan creative control.

The AOL/Time Warner merger was the death of it without question.

I honestly think they would have hit the skids earlier without Hogan.they were in trouble before he arrived......and for a few years when he was there........

it brings us back to the nWo again really........its the "making it and breaking it" argument

Hogan and nWo did both.

then we have to talk about Hogans creativ power......the biggest night in their history-Stings return at Starrcade 97 had the crape killed out of it by Hogans creative control.......

when the nWo ceased to exist and had run its course they had nothing without it.......

so yeah I think WCW would have been doomed without Hogan.....even though he helped carry the coffin

I feel the same as a lot of people. Hogan brought forth some interest to the company and for that they should thank him. But without Nash and Hall and the formation of the nWo who knows what would have happened.

The problem with the company was the fact that there were too many old timers around. To me by lets say 1998...I was sick of seeing the same exact people on top. Which mainly consisted of Hogan. But it was always Flair, Savage, Luger, Nash and so on. I love all of those guys but it was just old (literally) by that point. It just got real boring. They mixed it up by having Sting change his character and by having DDP and Goldberg thrown into the mix.

But at the end of it all the same guys were still in there somehow. Instead of creating new stars (which is what was needed) they all would end up going to the WWF and making an impact. Like Benoit, Jericho, Giant, etc.

So to answer the question. I don't put full blame on Hogan as he really did help them and became the biggest heel of the 90's. He was just on top far too long. But either way WCW would've died if you ask me. Hogan just managed to get one last big run out of them.

I realize there are many aspects to this argument but here is why I don't buy the assertion that Hogan "helped WCW greatly". Here are the Halloween Havoc buyrates for 4 years in the '90s. I picked HH over Starrcade because Hogan missed SC in '96.

'93 (Cactus Jack vs. Vader) = .50
'94 (Hogan vs. Flair) = .97
'95 (Hogan vs. Giant)= .60
'96 (Hogan vs. Savage) = .70

Hogan got WCW a negligible bump in notoriety but that didn't translate into huge money for the company, especially considering his & his friends monster salaries. The WWF banner/marketing style was as much a part of the Hogan magic as the shirt-ripping and the hand-cupped-around-the-ear.

There is only one thing that could have kept WCW alive and thats if Jim Crockett would have kept his ass in the South.

If you want the best of WCW, that's where you look: Jim Crockett Promotions.

WCW/NWA was never better.