Worst in the World: The Matches That Killed WCW

Special thanks to Frost for suggesting three of the matches covered here. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.

WWE has been the undisputed powerhouse of professional wrestling for well over two decades now and nowhere is that better exemplified by how many people watch Monday Night Raw weekly. Even as the overall quality of the show has dipped over the years, and seeing a report that Raw posted a new record-low rating is becoming less and less rare, Raw still brings in more viewers than any other wrestling show every week. Even AEW Dynamite, a show that is generally well-received weekly, comes up well short in ratings compared to Raw. WWE has been the biggest titan in professional wrestling for so long that it's crazy to look back and see that, for quite a while, there was a company that had a more popular wrestling show than Monday Night Raw. That company, of course, being World Championship Wrestling.

WCW would premiere Monday Nitro in late 1995, directly competing against Raw in what is now known as the Monday Night Wars. After regularly trading wins in the ratings, by mid-1996, WCW had pulled ahead in a big way, at one point out-drawing Raw for 83 weeks straight. Even after the then WWF would regain their footing, snapping the streak in mid-1998 and even beginning to win the ratings battle more often than not, WCW was still able to hold their own in the fight, even winning the October 26th battle. Nitro would never beat Raw again, and within three years of outdrawing what is now the most popular wrestling show in the world, WCW went out of business. How did this happen? Well, the downfall of World Championship Wrestling can be traced back to four matches...

OK actually, it has more to do with the AOL-Time Warner merger, a change in management at Turner Broadcasting, and a breakdown of negotiations between Turner and the Eric Bischoff-led Fusient Media Ventures, but frankly, it's a lot more fun to talk about bad matches than it is to discuss Jamie Kellner's role in the death of WCW. So yeah, this is more the downfall of WCW's reputation, but that downfall can still be traced back to four matches...

Match #1

Our journey through the WCW trip to the bottom begins on the January 4th, 1999 episode of Monday Nitro, just over two months after their final ratings win. Nitro would be held live from Atlanta, Georgia and WCW had a trick up their sleeve to try and ensure another victory in the Monday Night Wars. While it's incredibly uncommon now, Monday Night Raw (then called Raw is War) regularly would tape an additional episode the night after a live broadcast around this time, with the taped episode airing the next week. The latest of those taped episodes would be going head-to-head with the live Nitro. When this would happen in the past, it wasn't uncommon for WCW to have their announcers read off the results of Raw in an attempt to persuade viewers not to switch over to the competition. January 4th was no different, as Eric Bischoff instructed Tony Schiavone to read out a big spoiler for Raw's main event. It went like this:

"Fans, if you're even thinking about changing the channel to our competition, do not. We understand that Mick Foley, who wrestled here at one time as Cactus Jack, is gonna win their World title. Ha! That's gonna put some butts in the seats, heh."

He was right, that did put some butts in the seats...seats that were set in front of TVs tuned to Raw is War. As it turns out, finding out that a talented, well-respected wrestler is going to win a major championship made A LOT of people want to watch that talented, well-respected wrestler win that major championship. A reported 600,000 people, to be specific. The plan backfired spectacularly, and Raw beat Nitro in the ratings by 0.7. And for the fans who didn't care to watch Foley win the WWF Championship and stuck with Nitro, what were they given in return? This...

The main event of the January 4th Nitro was set; Kevin Nash defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg. This would be a rematch from the Starrcade main event held eight days prior, where Nash not only won the title from Goldberg but also ended his 173-0 undefeated streak, thanks to an assist from his former tag partner Scott Hall. The following night on Nitro, Nash condemned Hall's interference and offered Goldberg a rematch for the title due to the controversial finish, setting up the main event next week. However, Goldberg wouldn't make it to the main event, as he was taken into custody after being accused of stalking Miss Elizabeth. Needing an opponent for tonight, Nash challenged Hulk Hogan, who was making his return to WCW after "retiring" back in November to...run for President of the United States. This was around the time Jesse Ventura was elected the governor of Minnesota, so that's where that storyline came from. So, instead of Nash vs Goldberg, we got Nash vs Hogan. The leader of the nWo Wolfpac facing off with the leader of nWo Hollywood for the first time. Even with the change, this match was a big deal. And what did WCW do with this huge first-time match-up...

Bruce Buffer does the ring announcing as the crowd is hot. Hogan is out first, not dressed to wrestle, but in street clothes, accompanied to the ring by fellow nWo Hollywood member Scott Steiner. He is followed by Nash, who has the WCW-staple absurd amount of pyro for his entrance.

That GIF doesn't even do it justice, this pyro display goes on for well over 40 seconds straight. Insanity. Also, it's worth noting just how crazy over Kevin Nash was at this time. It really makes what happens in this match even worse. Nash isn't alone, however, as he points to the stage and outcomes...Scott Hall. They've made up, and the Outsiders are back together, with the two hugging on the entrance ramp. This earns even more pyro. WCW probably spent more money on pyrotechnics than they did on some wrestlers. You can't convince me Emory Hale's contract was more expensive than the pyro bill, I refuse to believe that. Even with the replacement of the Atlanta-born Goldberg, the crowd is red hot for this. Let's see how WCW fucks this up.

The bell rings, prompting Nash to mock Hogan by ripping his shirt. Hogan circles Nash, who stands in the middle of the ring. After over a minute of this, Nash shoves Hogan into the corner. Hogan cocks his fist and...you already know.

Hogan gently pokes Nash in the chest. Nash bumps, Hogan covers. 1...2...3. It's the Fingerpoke of Doom. Hulk Hogan has won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and WCW has all but lost the Monday Night Wars. Hall & Steiner enter the ring and celebrate with Hogan & Nash, the nWo is whole once again.

Suddenly, we cut to outside, where Goldberg is sprinting into the arena, the charges obviously dropped against him. The crowd erupts as Goldberg sprints down to the ring, taking out Steiner with a spin kick and Hall with a butterfly suplex. Goldberg follows up with a mule kick to Nash before Hogan smashes the title across his back. Hogan punches away at Goldberg, only for Goldberg to reverse an Irish whip and catch him with a spear. Suddenly, Lex Luger appears as Goldberg sets up Hogan for the Jackhammer...but SWERVE! Luger hits Goldberg from behind, allowing the rest of the nWo to beatdown Goldberg. Luger puts Goldberg in the Torture Rack before the nWo handcuffs Goldberg to the bottom rope. Hall pulls out the taser that he used to cost Goldberg the championship at Starrcade, repeatedly tasing Goldberg as the fans throw trash into the ring. Buff Bagwell & Miss Elizabeth both come down to the ring as Hogan & Steiner both spray paint Goldberg with the black & red spray paint as Eric Bischoff makes the most annoying sounds possible on commentary. Finally, Hogan spray paints "nWo" in red on the championship.

The Verdict

What a stupid fucking company. This is unapologetically terrible booking. Quite literally, no one came out of this looking good. Goldberg, one of the biggest babyfaces in the company, got his undefeated streak ruined just for this to happen the next night. Goldberg never gets as over as he was before this again. Kevin Nash comes out of this even worse, in my eyes. The man was crazy over as the babyface leader of the Wolfpac, and WCW threw that away just so he could look like an absolute geek and give up the world title. He went from the babyface leader of a hugely popular group to Hulk Hogan's giant lackey. The only person who got anything positive out of this was Hulk Hogan, but if there was anybody in WCW who didn't need this rub, it was Hulk Hogan. Because of how the "match" is quite literally one "move", it's not going to go too far down, but it's still some absolute bullshit.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
7. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
8. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
9. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
10. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
11. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
12. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
13. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
14. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
15. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
16. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
17. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
18. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
19. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
20. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
21. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
22. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
23. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
24. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
25. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
26. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
27. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
28. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
29. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
30. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
31. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
32. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
33. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
34. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
35. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
36. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
37. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
38. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
39. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
40. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
41. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
42. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
43. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
44. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
45. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
46. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
47. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
48. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
49. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
50. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
51. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
52. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
53. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
54. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
55. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
56. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
57. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
58. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
59. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
60. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
61. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
62. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
63. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
64. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
65. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
66. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
67. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
68. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
69. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
70. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
71. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
72. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
73. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
74. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
75. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
76. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
77. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
78. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
79. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
80. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
81. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
82. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
83. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
84. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
85. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
86. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
87. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
88. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
89. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
90. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
91. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
92. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
93. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
94. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
95. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
96. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
97. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
98. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
99. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
100. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
101. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
102. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
103. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
104. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
105. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
106. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
107. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
108. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
109. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
110. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
111.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
112. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
113. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
114. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
115. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
116. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
117. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
118. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
119. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
120. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
121. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
122. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
123. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
124. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
125. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
126. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
127. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
128. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
129. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
130. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
131. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
132. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
133. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
134. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
135. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
136. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
137. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
138. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
139. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
140. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
141. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
142. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
143. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
144. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
145. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
146. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
147. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
148. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
149. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
150. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
151. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
152. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
153. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
154. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
155. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
156. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
157. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
158. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
159. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
160. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
161. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
162. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
163. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
164. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
165. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
166. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
167. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
168. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
169. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
170. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
171. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
172. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
173. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
174. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
175. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
176. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)

Match #2

The second match of this story takes us to Halloween Havoc 1999. By this point, WCW is now heavily trailing the WWF in the Monday Night Wars, with Raw is War regularly scoring two whole points higher than Nitro in the ratings and frequently even doubling them, and it's clear WCW is getting desperate. Nowhere is that more clear in how much they hot-shotted the World Heavyweight Championship. Between the Fingerpoke of Doom and Halloween Havoc, the championship has changed hands 8 times. That's an average of under 37 days per reign. Hogan's reign after the Fingerpoke of Doom was the longest during this period...at 69 days. That is not getting a "nice..." But WCW has an ace up their sleeve, as they'd managed to pick up one of the professional wrestling's most prominent creative minds at the time. And not only that, they've poached him directly from the WWF...

That's right, Halloween Havoc is the first WCW pay-per-view with Vince Russo on the creative team. He & Ed Ferrara had departed the WWF after Russo's falling out with Vince McMahon, so we're now getting some unfiltered Russo in WCW. And because of that, we get this; Sting vs Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. However, unlike when they faced off at Starrcade in 1997, the roles would be reversed, as Hogan had shed the black & white for his old red & yellow, once again becoming a face. Sting didn't trust Hogan's face turn, only for him to turn heel when they faced off at Fall Brawl, with Sting winning the title. This did not work because Sting is awesome and nobody wants to boo him. The rematch was set for the following month's Halloween Havoc, and you know wanna know what's worse than booking a world title match to end with one guy laying down for the other? Booking a world title match to end with one guy laying down for the other and making people pay to see it.

Before I say anything, the Halloween Havoc stage set:

Elite. I miss when sets were cool & unique. Hogan's Jimmy Hart-specialty WCW knockoff of "Real American plays...but Hogan doesn't come out. On commentary, Bobby Heenan runs down Hogan for playing politics without actually saying it. This goes on for two whole minutes before Sting's music starts playing and he actually comes out. Hogan's music plays again and after another minute, Hogan finally comes out...once again, in street clothes. Zero showmanship from Hogan in this entrance as the two go face to face when Hogan gets in the ring. Suddenly, Hogan lays down in the middle of the ring. The bell never even rings before Sting covers Hogan for the three and the win. Are you starting to notice a pattern? Immediately after, a promo package starts playing for Goldberg vs Sid Vicious, with Sting's music playing over the beginning of it. When it cuts back, the crowd is loudly booing. Sting would later hold an open challenge in the main event which was answered and won by Goldberg. Commentary said it was a non-title match...only for Goldberg to be announced as the new world champion...and then the belt got vacated the next night on Nitro. Welcome to the Vince Russo era, everybody, it's going to be shit.

The Verdict

Like I said at the beginning, the only thing worse than booking a world title match to end with one guy laying down for the other is to have that match be on pay-per-view. People paid money for this. Such a shame. From what I've read, Hogan was set to take time off (in his book, Hogan said Russo requested he do so) but that still doesn't explain why they did this. Needless to say, this is terrible booking, and while it's not as damaging as the Fingerpoke of Doom was, I'm putting it lower on the list because it somehow manages to be even less logical. At least the reasoning behind why the Hogan & Nash match happened the way it did existed. It's a bad reason, but it's something. This was just a confusing mess that went nowhere.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
7. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
8. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
9. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
10. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
11. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
12. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
13. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
14. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
15. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
16. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
17. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
18. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
19. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
20. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
21. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
22. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
23. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
24. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
25. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
26. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
27. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
28. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
29. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
30. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
31. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
32. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
33. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
34. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
35. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
36. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
37. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
38. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
39. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
40. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
41. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
42. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
43. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
44. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
45. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
46. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
47. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
48. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
49. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
50. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
51. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
52. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
53. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
54. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
55. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
56. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
57. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
58. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
59. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
60. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
61. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
62. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
63. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
64. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
65. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
66. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
67. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
68. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
69. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
70. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
71. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
72. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
73. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
74. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
75. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
76. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
77. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
78. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
79. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
80. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
81. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
82. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
83. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
84. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
85. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
86. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
87. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
88. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
89. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
90. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
91. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
92. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
93. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
94. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
95. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
96. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
97. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
98. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
99. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
100. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
101. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
102. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
103. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
104. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
105. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
106. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
107. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
108. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
109. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
110. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
111. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
112.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
113. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
114. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
115. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
116. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
117. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
118. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
119. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
120. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
121. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
122. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
123. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
124. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
125. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
126. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
127. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
128. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
129. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
130. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
131. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
132. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
133. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
134. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
135. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
136. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
137. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
138. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
139. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
140. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
141. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
142. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
143. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
144. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
145. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
146. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
147. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
148. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
149. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
150. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
151. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
152. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
153. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
154. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
155. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
156. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
157. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
158. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
159. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
160. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
161. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
162. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
163. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
164. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
165. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
166. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
167. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
168. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
169. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
170. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
171. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
172. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
173. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
174. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
175. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
176. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
177. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)

Match #3

We now fast forward six months to April 26, 2000, for our third match, and thankfully, this is an actual match and not someone laying down for someone else. We're actually venturing into new territory with this match as well, as it's the first match I've covered from an episode of Thunder, WCW's B-show. By this point, the WWF was completely dominating WCW in the ratings, with the most recent episode of Raw is War drawing a whole 4 points higher than Nitro. As for the World Heavyweight Championship, any credibility it had left was thoroughly trounced thanks to Vince Russo's crash TV booking. In those six months, the title had changed hands a total of 14 TIMES. This includes the six vacancies, only two of which were done for legitimate, non-storyline reasons. The average title reign during this time was under 18 days, a number that gets a boost from Sid Vicious' 76-day reign, the longest during this period. Yet still, things were about to get a lot worse for the World Heavyweight Championship, all because of one movie.

Less than three weeks before this episode of Thunder, Warner Bros. released Ready to Rumble, a wrestling-themed movie made in collaboration with WCW. It did not go well. Along with receiving largely negative reviews, holding just a 23% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it also bombed at the box office. An informal rule of film distribution is that a film needs to make at least double its budget in box office revenue for it to be considered financially successful. Ready to Rumble brought in only $12.5 million at the box office, just over half of its $24 million budget. Needless to say, both WCW and Ready to Rumble needed some publicity, A.S.A.P., Luckily for them, Ready to Rumble happened to star a recognizable face who had starred in Scream 3, a sequel in a popular film franchise that brought in over $100 million worldwide and had released just two months prior...

OK, before I say anything about this storyline or this match, I need to say this; none of this is David Arquette's fault. It's well known at this point that Arquette, who is a lifelong wrestling fan, didn't want to win the title, but the threat of the film not getting promoted without his involvement. If there's anything positive to take away from this, however, it's that Arquette donated his earnings from his time in WCW to the widows of Owen Hart and Brian Pillman and the families of Bobby Duncum Jr. (who had passed away in January 2000) and Darren Drozdov. So now, onto the story. Due to his connection to Ready to Rumble, Arquette became involved in Diamond Dallas Page's feud with then-World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff. Arquette would challenge Bischoff to a match where if he won, which he did, Page would get a title shot. After Page beat Jarrett for the title on that same episode of Nitro, Jarrett & Bischoff would attack Arquette on the following episode of Thunder, leading to the main event, a tag match with Page & Arquette facing Jarrett & Bischoff and whoever scored the pinfall would be the world champion. Let's get into this.

Jarrett & Bischoff are out first, followed by Page, who had told Arquette not to come out due to his injuries. He is quickly followed by Arquette anyway. It's here we notice that there is no referee, only for Page's ex-wife Kimberly, who turned on DDP and sided with Bischoff & Vince Russo as part of the New Blood. Page & Arquette take the fight right to Bischoff. In what is probably the smartest decision of this entire storyline, Arquette & Bischoff immediately brawl to the back, leaving the two actual wrestlers in Page & Jarrett to do the majority of the work. Back in the ring, Page counters a hip toss and hits a nice swinging neckbreaker before making the cover. Unsurprisingly, Kimberly doesn't even feign impartiality, slowly counting to one before saying she broke a nail, allowing Jarrett to kick out. Page follows up with a sit-out powerbomb, but Kimberly once again screws Page, taking an absurd amount of time to get into position. Page goes for a sunset flip, but Jarrett blocks it and sits down, nearly scoring the win thanks to a Kimberly fast count. Page counters a rolls up Jarrett, but Kimberly doesn't count.

Jarrett follows up with a DDT, but Page kicks out at two as Bischoff makes his way back down to the ring. Bischoff tags in and karate kicks Page in the gut. Eric Bischoff kicks away at Page before tagging Jarrett back in to beat down Page in the corner. Bischoff tags back in for a double-team clothesline, but Page fights back with a double clothesline of his own before running wild on the heels. Suddenly, David Arquette comes limping back to the ring. Page calls for the Diamond Cutter, but Jarrett blocks it and sends him into Kimberly. Page responds to this by forcefully kissing her. That's assault, brotha. This kiss completely incapacitates Kimberly as Arquette spears Bischoff. Meanwhile, Jarrett has dipped out of the ring and grabbed the world title, clocking Page. Both men make the cover as a new referee runs down and, even though neither Jarrett nor Arquette are the legal men in this match, he counts the pin. He counts the pin...for David Arquette. David Arquette gets the three. David Arquette is the World Heavyweight Champion. Despite the fact that he just lost the top prize in the company (a title he'd never get back, by the way), DDP celebrates with Arquette in the crowd to close the show.

The Verdict

The thing about this match is that the actual match is fine. It's fast-paced and pretty exciting, which you can probably chalk up to the fact that Bischoff & Arquette had limited involvement and Page & Jarrett did just about all of the work. If Page had just won the match, this would probably be the best-ranked match of the series. But man...they put the world title on an actor. Look, I like David Arquette, he seems like a nice guy from everything I've read about him, and again, NONE OF THIS WAS HIS FAULT, but this DESTROYED the credibility of the World Heavyweight Championship. This was all done to gain publicity for both WCW and Ready to Rumble, and it accomplished neither, really. Ready to Rumble was already halfway through its theatrical run and only brought in around $1 million more after the title change. And for WCW, how many more people tuned in to watch the following Nitro after this episode of Thunder from the previous one? None. In fact, Nitro's ratings dropped from 3.1 to 2.5, over half a point lower. And to top it off, according to Dave Meltzer, Slamboree, the pay-per-view where Arquette would defend the title in the main event, posted the third-lowest pay-per-view buy rate in WCW history at the time. What a complete waste of time that did nothing but hurt WCW in the long run.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
7. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
8. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
9. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
10. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
11. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
12. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
13. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff
14. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
15. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
16. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
17. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
18. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
19. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
20. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
21. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
22. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
23. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
24. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
25. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
26. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
27. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
28. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
29. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
30. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
31. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
32. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
33. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
34. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
35. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
36. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
37. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
38. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
39. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
40. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
41. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
42. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
43. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
44. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
45. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
46. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
47. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
48. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
49. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
50. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
51. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
52. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
53. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
54. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
55. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
56. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
57. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
58. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
59. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
60. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
61. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
62. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
63. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
64. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
65. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
66. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
67. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
68. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
69. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
70. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
71. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
72. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
73. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
74. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
75. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
76. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
77. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
78. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
79. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
80. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
81. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
82. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
83. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
84. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
85. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
86. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
87. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
88. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
89. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
90. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
91. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
92. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
93. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
94. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
95. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
96. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
97. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
98. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
99. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
100. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
101. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
102. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
103. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
104. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
105. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
106. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
107. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
108. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
109. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
110. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
111. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
112. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
113.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
114. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
115. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
116. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
117. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
118. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
119. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
120. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
121. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
122. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
123. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
124. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
125. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
126. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
127. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
128. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
129. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
130. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
131. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
132. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
133. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
134. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
135. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
136. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
137. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
138. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
139. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
140. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
141. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
142. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
143. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
144. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
145. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
146. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
147. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
148. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
149. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
150. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
151. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
152. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
153. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
154. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
155. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
156. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
157. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
158. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
159. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
160. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
161. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
162. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
163. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
164. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
165. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
166. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
167. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
168. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
169. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
170. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
171. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
172. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
173. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
174. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
175. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
176. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
177. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
178. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)

Match #4

And finally, we come to match #4. July 9, 2000. Nitro is still heavily trailing Raw is War, with the most recent episode coming up a whole 3 points lower than Raw in the ratings. That's a closer gap than it was before Arquette's title win, but that's mostly because Raw was experiencing its lowest ratings in almost a year. In just over two months since Arquette won the title, the World Heavyweight Championship has changed hands seven times. The average title reign during this time was just over 10 days, a number that is once again inflated by one reign, the current champion Jeff Jarrett, who has held it for 41 days. The World Heavyweight Championship was basically the 24/7 Championship during this time. At this point, you're probably wondering "How could it possibly get any worse?" Well...

Jarrett was set to defend the world title against Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 2000. The plan was for Jarrett to beat Hogan and later lose to Booker T that same night, but if you know anything about Hulk Hogan, you'd know that that wasn't going to work for him, brother. Because Hogan had a creative control clause in his contract, he had the final say in what went down with his character on-screen, and he wanted to win the title. This led to a new plan. Let's see how that goes.

 Michael Buffer does the ring announcing as Jeff Jarrett music plays. However, Jarrett doesn't come out. Vince Russo ends up coming down to the ring before Jarrett eventually comes out. Hogan's out next, grabbing a mic as Jarrett has seemingly sprinted up the ramp to stand on the stage as Hogan cuts his promo.

Hogan says Jarrett is the "Chosen One" because he's the one he's chosen to powerbomb through the ring in honor of Kevin Nash. Jarrett makes his way back down to the ring. The bell rings and...Jeff Jarrett lays down in the middle of the ring. Russo tosses the title into the ring and starts to walk up the ramp, prompting Mark Madden to say we're "deviating from the script" on commentary. Because it wouldn't be a Vince Russo-booked WCW show without some pointless "working the smarks" schtick. Hogan grabs another mic and says this:

"Is this your idea, Russo? That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in, because of bullshit like this!"

Hogan places his foot on Jarrett. 1. 2. 3. Once again, Hulk Hogan is the world champion. Jarrett immediately storms to the back.

The Verdict

...

Actually, we're not done here. This isn't part of the match but in regards to why this match is so infamous, it plays a huge part. Following a segment with Vampiro & Sting (something I admittedly forgot to cover when I covered the Graveyard match from this show), Vince Russo comes back down to the ring. Scott Hudson says that this is Vince Russo "the boss" and not "the character" and Tony Schiavone says this is real life. I hate this. Russo says he left WCW three weeks ago and wasn't sure he'd come back because of the backstage politics. He says he came back for people like Booker T, the Misfits Action, the Filthy Animals, Jeff Jarrett, and the people who bust their asses for the company, unlike Hulk Hogan. Russo reveals that Hogan played his creative control clause to beat Jeff Jarrett "when he knew it was bullshit." Russo promises we'll never see Hogan in WCW again and calls the title Hogan won the "Hulk Hogan Memorial Belt." He says that title doesn't mean shit anymore and announces that Jarrett is still the world champion with a new belt. Russo announces that tonight, Jarrett will defend the title against Booker T, someone who busted his ass for 14 years in WCW but never got to the main event because of people like Hogan. He ends by calling Hogan a "big bald son of a bitch" to kiss his ass. 

So this is where the story gets messy...well, messier. According to Russo, all of this was a work to set up Hogan returning at Halloween Havoc to face the winner of a world title tournament. Hogan and Eric Bischoff, however, say that the promo Russo cut was not part of the plan. This led to a legit defamation of character lawsuit from Hogan against Russo that was eventually dismissed in 2002. What a nightmare.

The Verdict (For Real)

Yeah, this is shit. Like the other sham title matches in this post, this benefits literally no one. Also, like with Halloween Havoc, the fact that you had to pay money to watch this is some bullshit if I've ever seen it. It's going lower than the Halloween Havoc match, however, because at least the Halloween Havoc match gets to the point and is over in three seconds. I don't need Hulk Hogan to grab a mic and tell me this match was bullshit, I have eyes.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
7. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
8. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
9. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
10. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
11. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
12. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
13. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff
14. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
15. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
16. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
17. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
18. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
19. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
20. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
21. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
22. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
23. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
24. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
25. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
26. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
27. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
28. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
29. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
30. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
31. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
32. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
33. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
34. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
35. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
36. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
37. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
38. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
39. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
40. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
41. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
42. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
43. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
44. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
45. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
46. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
47. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
48. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
49. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
50. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
51. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
52. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
53. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
54. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
55. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
56. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
57. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
58. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
59. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
60. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
61. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
62. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
63. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
64. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
65. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
66. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
67. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
68. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
69. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
70. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
71. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
72. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
73. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
74. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
75. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
76. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
77. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
78. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
79. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
80. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
81. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
82. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
83. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
84. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
85. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
86. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
87. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
88. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
89. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
90. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
91. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
92. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
93. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
94. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
95. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
96. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
97. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
98. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
99. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
100. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
101. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
102. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
103. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
104. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
105. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
106. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
107. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
108. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
109. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
110. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
111. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
112. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
113. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
114.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
115. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
116. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
117. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
118. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
119. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
120. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
121. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
122. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
123. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
124. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
125. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
126. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
127. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
128. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
129. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
130. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
131. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
132. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
133. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
134. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
135. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
136. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
137. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
138. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
139. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
140. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
141. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
142. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
143. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
144. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
145. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
146. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
147. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
148. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
149. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
150. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
151. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
152. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
153. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
154. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
155. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
156. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
157. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
158. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
159. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
160. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
161. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
162. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
163. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
164. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
165. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
166. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
167. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
168. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
169. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
170. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
171. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
172. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
173. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
174. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
175. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
176. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
177. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
178. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
179. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I'll be looking at a more light-hearted match that brings back some of the WWF's most ridiculous gimmicks. Until then.