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What went wrong with WCW?

In 1997, World Championship Wrestling was on top. It was the number-one pro wrestling company in the world, and the highest-rated show on cable television. Each week, fans tuned in to Monday Nitro, flocked to sold-out arenas, and carried home truckloads of WCW merchandise. Sting, Bill Goldberg, and the New World Order were household names. Superstars like Dennis Rodman and KISS jumped on the WCW bandwagon. It seemed the company could do no wrong.

But by 2001, however, everything had bottomed out. The company - having lost a whopping 95% of its audience - was sold for next to nothing to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. WCW was laid to rest.

How could the company lose its audience so quickly? Who was responsible for shows so horrible that fans fled in horror? What the hell happened to cause the death of one of the largest wrestling companies in the world? The Death of World Championship Wrestling is the first book to take listeners through a detailed dissection of WCW's downfall.

Reviewer: Peter Szymanski
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A fun read to recap and detail wrestling history
Review: A very easy and well structured read. The authors, for the most part, try not to speculate on the faults of WCW as a company, but rather present facts and historical examples of the business where WCW management didn't learn. This leads a reader to consider how a business is impacted, not just a wrestling business, by faulty management.While the authors most likely don't have business degree backgrounds (and why they probably didn't elaborate more on business theory) the book can be a good teaching tool for any company executive. With a small understanding of the inner workings of pro-wrestling, the book allows the reader to see how mismanagement of talent/employees, lack of cash reserve, short term v long term objectives, and failure to understand a customer base can ruin one's business at a rapid pace.Ultimately you see that a company who adopts a #1 or None mindset will eventually achieve the later part of that goal. To see how management could take a guaranteed successful property for several decades to come, provided the show minimal fiscal responsibility, and disregard that responsibility at ever opportunity, serves to remind how fast a fun thing like WCW can turn to tragedy.For a wrestling fan, this book is the ultimate recap of found memories and what could have been. So many sport books and documentaries focus on athletes that never lived up to potential. WCW is the ultimate example of this. No former #1 draft pick, All American, Collegiate Player of the Year who busted in pros can match how WCW went from being the most dominate name in the industry to the industry's biggest joke.

Reviewer: Patrick Ellison
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good book,very informative
Review: Loved this book,very informative. Could've done without the jokes though. But overall a great read. Wished TNA wouldn't be compared to the WCW so much. Any true fan of pro wrestling should realize that if TNA fails,wrestling as we know it won't be the same. Think WWF around 93-95. So let's hope no one makes the mistake of letting history repeat itself

Reviewer: Anthony Nagle
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Reynolds & Alvarez Give New 'Life' to 'Death'
Review: This is EXACTLY what I thought this was going to be.When RD Reynolds announced in early 2013 the original "Death of WCW", a book I long loved, was getting a "remastering" so to speak, my jaw dropped to the floor. How could a book that great the first time out be any better?RD, and his co-author Bryan Alvarez, proved it big time!The main text/chapters haven't changed. Heck, a lot of the old photos still have their old captions. A lot of the old asides in the original are still prominently featured. However, a neat little feature called "Lesson (Not) Learned" shows the reader little things that wrestling companies over the years either improved or just flat ignored. It's sad, humorous, and nonetheless ironic to read these.There are also new forwards and epilogues in addition to the ones in the previous tome. Not only do they drive home the fact that WCW's mistakes ultimately kill the promotion, but that other wrestling organizations (IMPACT Wrestling being the prime example) are following in those unfortunate footsteps.As a wrestling fan who LOVES these sorts of books, do yourself a favor and get this new edition. Yes, even to those people who had just recently purchased the old book.

Reviewer: King Awesome
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great! Anyone enjoys smart Professional Wrestling writing, this book is for you!
Review: This was a fantastic read for anyone interested in business history or for anyone who loves professional wrestling. It is a great book with effective themes that push the central narrative and thesis to help one understand the calamity of WCW. I have 3 college degrees, so I am not some stereotypical fan but I highly enjoy any fantastic writing on the art and business of professional wrestling. If you are from the South or were a WCW fan, this book has amazing insights and for those of you that just want to know why WCW failed, you will find your answer with this book. The book gives great behind the scenes details and the author identifies lessons that should have been learned during WCW's existence and how the WWF(E) currently is making the same mistakes. Great read!

Reviewer: Geoff Landtbom
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Awesome update.
Review: In this update of the Death Of WCW, which has about double the pages of the original book, many things are covered that weren't in the original such as various angles that weren't covered the first book such as the Black Scorpian angle, the monster truck battle between Big Show and Hulk Hogan, and several more and they all have a common theme, they make absolutely no sense, a WCW tradition.A real eye opener was Jim Herds comments. Herd, who famously fired Ric Flair in the summer of 1991 following failed contract negotiations, basically admits that firing Flair was a huge mistake and that he was the best performer in the entire company by far. It's amazing what hindsight does to people.Moving on, the book has new asides. These are titled Lesson Not Learned in which mistakes by WCW are stunningly repeated by the WWE and in some cases TNA in the coming years, long after the company dies. The staggering details of Hulk Hogan 's first WCW contract are also revealed.Lance Storm also talks about his first night in the WWE which is a good read.It's too bad Vince Russo was not interviewed for this book. I would have loved to hear his side of things as he's portrayed as a clueless baffoon throughout the first and second versions of the book. Jim Cornette, a sworn enemy of Russo, rips him for his lack of understanding of psychology in wrestling. Psychology in wrestling is extremely important so it's easy to see why Russo struggled so much in WCW as nothing he came up with made any sense.A key thing that was eliminated in this version was Bischoffs role in creating the confusing Team Challenge Series in the AWA. It was long accepted as fact but Bischoff said he had nothing to do with in his book and there's nothing else to back up the claim so out it went.At the end of the book is a long list, though I swear it's only a partial list of the general idiocy in TNA, with many mistakes eerily similar of the mistakes WCW made.Anyway it's definitely worth the money even though it's largely the same book.

Reviewer: Bdarkboonshine
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Exciting to read, Really written well.

Reviewer: Stephen
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Essentially just week-by-week descriptions of bad Nitro angles and matches, if that floats your boat. Problem is, everyone already knows WHAT happened to WCW; the purpose of a book like this is to investigate the HOW and the WHY. You won’t find that here. I love Brian Alvarez’s radio show but this book is pretty redundant.

Reviewer: Kris
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: My son loved it.

Reviewer: sonne
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Lieferung war sehr gut. und das buch verspricht was es hält. Der Leser ist begeistert. Das Buch ist auf jeden Fall weiter zu empfehlen

Reviewer: Sergio Lentini
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Semplicemente, il miglior libro mai pubblicato sull'argomento wrestling. Scritto con straordinaria competenza e senza alcuna presa di posizione pregiudiziale. Una vera manna per gli appassionati.