PWT0rch [28th November 1998] Kevin Nash has been WCW's "back-up quarterback" for the past couple of years. He is the type of quick-witted, brash, hip leader that everybody wants on his team - unless you fancy yourself a leader. If you're a leader, Nash is the type of guy who threatens you & must be stopped. Hulk Hogan, a former wrestler by the time you read this (yeah, right) was threatened by Nash & worked hard to hold Nash back. Hogan might argue he tried to co-exist with Nash, but Nash insisted on being "top dog" & was difficult to work with. No matter what the spin, the conclusion by both men was the same: "There ain't enough room in this town for the both of us." Nash has made it clear. He has been miserable in WCW & was counting down the days until his WCW contract expired. If you asked him, he knew down to the day how much time he had left before he could return to the WWF. The safest thing Eric Bischoff has done is cling to Hogan. No matter what went wrong with WCW, Bischoff could always count on one thing. He could say he wasn't stupid enough to get rid of Hogan or downplay Hogan. Because Bischoff knew if he downplayed Hogan & the gamble didn't work out, Hogan would tell Bischoff's higher-ups (who are marks for Hogan's name value & star power) that Bischoff made a mistake. Bischoff would be out & Hogan would retain his power. Hogan came to WCW & gave WCW instant credibility with advertisers, licensees & Turner higher-ups. He gave WCW an identity as a major league national group, replacing their image as a Southern based WWF wannabe. But soon Hogan as a babyface began to run out of steam. His matches were terrible, his rehashed feuds from his WWF glory days were stale & WCW trailed the WWF in every major revenue category despite his presence. Then along came Scott Hall & Kevin Nash. Vince McMahon has said outright had he known the impact Hall & Nash would have on the WWF vs. WCW battle, he would have offered enough money to keep them. Nitro began winning the ratings over Raw as soon as Hall & Nash arrived. Hogan saw them as his chance to resurrect his career. So Hogan, who is considered one of the smartest businessmen in the history of the industry when it comes to pure self-preservation, hitched his wagon to Hall & Nash. Of course, he reframed it as Hall & Nash hitching their wagon to him but in reality he knows his career got a huge renewal by associating with the brash, hip, hugely popular Outsiders. WCW needed Hogan until they arrived. Once they arrived, Hogan may have soon be seen as expendable. He also knew that by putting Hall & Nash on his team, he could better control them. And control them he did. It wasn't always easy but Nash didn't have the clout to push Hogan out of the top position. On the surface it seemed smart for Bischoff to continue to ride Hogan. Nash put up a fight & at times seemed to make head way with Bischoff but in the end Bischoff stuck with the safe route. Hogan continued to make a strong case for keeping his enormous power. He subtly worked to sabotage PPVs that he wasn't on so he could point to diminished buyrate figures. He skipped appearing on Nitros that would be poorly rated (during NBA timeslot shifts, for instance) & he placed himself on quarter hours that would also draw strong ratings. All of Hogan's backstage maneuverings wouldn't have meant a thing if Bischoff didn't keep bringing in big name stars to keep the WCW juggernaut rolling. The latest spending spree didn't produce numbers. Ultimate Warrior was going to give Hogan another burst of life. It was a legendary feud that consisted of only one match. Hogan thought with that fresh opponent he could generate interest that would justify his remaining atop WCW. When the PPV buyrate flopped, he saw the writing on the wall. Recently, despite his repeated appearances on Nitro, WCW continued to lose to Raw in the ratings. He got off the sinking ship before he could be known as the captain who steered WCW into the iceberg. He left just soon enough that he can blame his replacement - in this case, Nash for running WCW into the iceberg. In the meantime, Bischoff has to repair a damaged relationship with Nash & survive for the first time without the security blanket of Hogan. Nash has more power now than ever. But Bischoff hasn't decided yet that Nash should get all of the power. Nash is part of a loosely organized "creative team" that has no central authority figure, differing agendas, no credibility with the wrestlers & a history of lacking any organization. Hogan knows the mess Nash is inheriting. Bischoff doesn't know of any alternative. He has outright told people if he knew of one person who could handle WCW's "creative duties," he'd fire everyone else. Nash might be out to prove he is that man. He's got his work cut out for him but unlike Hogan, Nash wants to build his legend by being an architect to success, not just building his mainstream celebrity status at WCW's expense.

• published: 01 Sep 2015
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