All language subtitles for S04E09 Dark Side of the Ring

[Cheering]

Are you ready?

[narrator]
As the new millennium dawned...

Oh!

The once industry-dominating
World Championship Wrestling...

Bischoff!
Damn it all!

...was struggling to keep
pace with their rival,

the World Wrestling
Federation.

You are lookin' at
the next WWF champion,

and that's the bottom line!

In many ways WCW's
fortunes and future

hinged on one key event.

Bash at the Beach 2000.

Candidly, one of the biggest
disasters of my entire career.

Bash at the Beach was one of
WCW's biggest annual

pay per view events,
and in the year 2000,

it was the stage for an
epic clash between two of

wrestlings most controversial
creative talents.

And I promise you will never
see that piece of shit again.

I think Vince Russo is
motivated by attention.

I don't know why.

I don't know if he
didn't get enough

when he was a little kid.

Eric represented
everything I despised

in the wrestling business.

And bro, I'll tell ya, you're
never gonna out work me

because I'm better than you.

[Laughing]
If he believes that,

he's got a problem
with reality.

The incident at Bash of the
Beach 2000 is one

in which every participant
has their own version of

what actually took
place that night.

And I said, "Hulk, you're
not walking out of here

the WCW champion.
That is not happening."

What's Jeff doing?

Now it was script's out the
window, what's gonna happen?

And it's like, nobody wants to
watch wrestling and see that.

It was one of the dumbest
things I ever saw.

And Hogan, you big bald
son of a bitch, kiss my ass!

That was never my plan.

Hogan was pretty sensitive
about being called bald,

even though he
doesn't have any hair.

Did I know that Hulk Hogan
was gonna take legal action?

How could you not?

There will come a time,
there will come a place,

when I will tell the entire
story of what happened

at Bash at the Beach.

The legacy of
Bash at the Beach,

the single biggest black
eye in WCW history.

♪

♪

I despise the
wrestling business, bro,

I despise the people in it.

You cannot be a
good person and

exist in the
wrestling business.

You can't bro, because
you enter a shark tank.

And unless you
become a shark,

they will eat you alive.

My name is Vince Russo.

I was in the wrestling
business since 1991.

So, I'm going
on 32 years now.

[Cheering]

You can boo all you want,
that doesn't change

the fact that I'm
better than you!

What I'm looking for tonight
is ratings, big ratings!

And we're gonna deliver,
you son of a bitch!

Vince, we've gotta know,
who is the WCW

World's Heavyweight
Champion?

-Question?
-Question.

-There is no question, Mike.
-There is no question?

Who is here with the belt?

Um...

Harm.

Yeah, I'd say, long-term harm.
Yeah, yeah.

In the 1990s, professional
wrestling is bigger and

hotter than it has
ever been before,

as industry leader Vince
McMahon's World Wrestling

Federation faces a serious
challenge to its popularity

by an aggressive challenger-
billionaire Ted Turner's

World Championship Wrestling.

WWF would have been the
dominant company

from '84 through,
I would say, '96?

In '96 it flipped over
and WCW was dominant.

My name is Dave Meltzer
and I'm the editor of the

Wrestling Observer
Newsletter, and

I've been covering pro wrestling
since the early 1970s.

The flaw of Vince McMahon
is the only thing

so certain thing works.
That's it.

And there's a million things
in wrestling that

when done well can work.

As both companies engage in
a fierce ratings war pitting

their Monday night shows
against each other,

the rise of WCW is led
by it's ambitious

young president,
Eric Bischoff.

I decided the only way I was
gonna be successful

was to be different.

I listed all of the things
that made WWE successful,

and I decided to do
exactly the opposite of

what they were doing.

I'm Eric Bischoff.

Former president of WCW.

I'm the first one that
created a weekly

live television format for
professional wrestling.

I looked at the WWE and they
were taped and I thought,

you know, wrestling
needs to be live.

When it's live the
audience has to watch it.

WCW before Nitro was
just a really bad

cheap imitation of WWE.

It was just silly,
silly, childish stuff.

-The Shock Master!
-Alright!

-The Shock Master.
-[Laughing]

They were
ignoring men 18 to 39.

So, I thought, okay,
there's my opportunity.

You know,
I began wondering,

how can I transition into
more reality based product?

Eric produced a different
kind of a television show

than had ever
been done before.

He was just ahead
of the game and

Vince was behind
the times.

Before launching
Monday Nitro,

Bischoff aims to
legitimize WCW

by head hunting
major talent,

poaching Vince McMahon's
biggest star

to be the new face
of his company.

We're the number two
wrestling company

in the world.

We're a fraction of
the WWE's ratings.

And bringing in Hulk Hogan
changed the perception of WCW.

It was a seismic shift.

I mean, I remember
Eric telling me,

"Where Hogan goes, goes the
money." That was his saying.

And all of a sudden my phone
rings one day and

it's my buddy Diamond
Dallas Page, and he said,

"Eric." You know, "Scott Hall
wants to leave WWE."

He was
Razor Ramon then.

So I do the deal with Scott Hall
and about a week

after that I get a call
from Kevin Nash.

Same thing.
Bam!

The lightbulb went
off in my head.

There's my storyline.
There's my reality.

[Announcer]
Here they come!

They've got baseball
bats in their hands.

[Eric] The NWO,
the New World Order.

-Oh, oh, oh!
-What is he doing?

-Oh my God!
-Is he the third man?

He's the third man!

What the hell
is going on here?

We left WWE in the dust.
In the dust.

We weren't just
beating them,

we were
beating them badly.

But the WWF isn't
down for the count,

as fans eventually begin
gravitating to a new

generation of superstars,
and a radical new approach to

wrestling storylines
introduced by a brash

young writer,
named Vince Russo.

Writing a wrestling show
is not rocket science,

and one of the things I said
to Vince when I first

sat down with him, "Vince,
that wrestling handbook

gets thrown out the window."
And I said,

"Vince, from now on they
think we're gonna go left,

we're gonna go right."

Now all of a sudden
week to week to week,

they don't know
what's going to happen.

The idea of crash TV is

I am writing
that TV like the

viewer at home

is sitting there with the
remote in his hand,

begging me to give him
the opportunity to see

what was going on on
the other channel.

[Yelling] Look out!

So it would be short match,
backstage segment,

vignette, short match,
fight in the locker room,

vignette,
boom, boom, boom!

And you are not giving that
viewer the opportunity to,

"Ah, let's see what's on Nitro."
That's crash TV.

Russo's concept of crash TV
plays a key part in turning

the tide, and soon the
WWF is back on top,

beating WCW every
Monday night.

Towards probably the middle
of '98, certainly in '99,

that had reversed again.
Now WWE was on top.

And that was a
magical period.

I don't want to dismiss
Vince Russo's,

you know, contributions...

but, they had
Stone Cold Steve Austin

and The Rock at
the same time.

And that's like, you know,
the Yankees with

Babe Ruth and,
uh, Lou Gehrig.

WCW, by the end of '99
they started losing money.

They were the Titanic
heading to the iceberg.

[Horn blaring]

My budgets were
becoming slashed.

-Oh!
-Oh!

Eventually I got
let go in '99,

because I was fighting that,
I was struggling,

I was fighting it.

Turner executives relieved
Bischoff of his

creative duties, while
rumours emerge that Russo is

overworked and frustrated
in his role at the WWF.

Well, WWF added a
second show, Smack Down,

and did not give
Vince Russo a raise.

So they went from doing
one show a week

to two shows a week.

I went into Vince's office,
I said, "Vince,

I want to be able to move my
family closer to my

wife's family, so my wife
isn't alone and

she has help
raising the kids.

Because Vince,
I'm never home."

And he turned around, bro,
without missing a beat,

and said, "You make
enough money.

You should be able
to hire a nanny

to take care
of your kids."

You don't tell a proud
Italian man who loves

his family to hire a nanny
to watch his kids.

Bro, at that moment,
it was over.

And they had me up
to WCW that weekend.

I was shocked when WCW
brought him in.

It was a match made
in heaven...

or hell, depending
on who you talk to.

I know I'm going into
this thing

with a target on my back.

This is the first time

I am going to be working
with these veterans

that have been at
WCW for a long time.

From day one, Hulk and
Eric were like this.

I can actually remember
locking eyes with Hulk

for the first time.

And what I read from Hulk
immediately was mistrust.

Vince Russo was smart enough
to know that

you couldn't build around
Hulk Hogan anymore

if you wanted a future.

So, yes, I think he was
trying to figure out a way to

remove him, because Hulk
Hogan had so much power,

because he was
Hulk Hogan.

And I've heard the
critics ask the question,

"Well, is Hulk Hogan
getting older?" Well yeah,

Hulk Hogan's getting older,
and so is every other

damn wrestler
in the back too.

-Day by day.
-[Cheering]

So there was this narrative
that Hulk Hogan couldn't

wrestle in the ring anymore,
or he had no value,

he should retire, blah blah
blah, blah, blah...

where in reality, the
business side of the

wrestling business
still thought

very highly
of Hulk Hogan.

Taking the reins of
WCW in October of 1999,

Russo begins reshaping
and reimagining the

company's flagship show,
Monday Nitro.

Vince Russo
believed, you know,

the more extreme and
shocking you make it

the more they will like it.

We are just
gonna hump you

like the dogs that we are.

Sometimes that's right, but
you also run into a thing

where once you've
done it, it's...

you desensitize
the audience.

And then there's
nothing you can do.

[Cheering] Yeah!

I don't know, I didn't
watch his shit.

I couldn't watch it.

[Vince]
I was there for three months.

The ratings went up
in those three months.

Well, he'll tell you
they were improving.

But no,
they weren't up.

Artificially it looked good,
but every month,

if you'd do the month rating,
the October, the November,

the December,
every month it was down.

Slightly.

[Vince] Next thing I know,
management tells me,

"We're going in a
different direction."

Then I said, "Okay, fine,
just, I'll go home.

Send me my money."

Now that both Bischoff and
Russo have failed to turn

WCW's ratings around,

the network lands
on a new idea-

both men working
together.

Brad Siegel is the
head of TNT and TBS.

"Vince, I want you to meet
somebody for lunch."

I know immediately he's
talking about Eric Bischoff.

And now my job is to
oversee Vince Russo.

You know, between
Vince and Eric,

I never felt that there
was a power struggle.

My name is Jeff Jarrett.

Some call me JJ , some
call me The Last Outlaw.

1, 2!
New champion!

[Bell ringing]

I just think philosophically
those two guys view creating

and producing wrestling
content entirely different.

A philosophical difference
as opposed to

a personality difference.

Is Lance Storm
officially in WCW now?

Yes!

I negotiated my contract with
both Vince Russo and Eric,

and I much more preferred
dealing with Eric.

Russo was the
creative end of it and

he was, um, different.

Vince Russo sat down
with, alright well,

he's the guy that's going
to be in charge of creative.

He's looking at me
and he's like,

"Just off the top of my head,
the first thing I think of is,

like, maybe making you
Eric's illegitimate son."

And I look at Eric and
Eric has the same look

on his face,
what the hell?

Like isn't Eric like
ten years older than me?

How is he my
illegitimate dad?

[Eric] I did go into it
with an open mind.

And, initially it was
kind of fun,

but it became
apparent to me that

Vince Russo is void of any

creative instincts
or talents.

[Vince] You could not
have put two of

the most opposite
people together

and said, "Go."

♪

With WCW in trouble,
the company's survival

hinges on reversing its
downward spiral.

Eric Bischoff and Vince
Russo devise a storyline

designed to play off the
real life backstage drama,

and the tensions between
Bischoff's veterans and

Russo's desire to
push younger talent.

There's new sheriffs in town.

The idea of the program was
The Millionaire's Club

versus the Young Blood,

where all these young
guys that were held down,

now they're going to get
an opportunity to shine.

Little bit of a civil war,
creatively speaking.

Between young and old,
because that's, like,

part of life, right?

Get that damn
camera out of here!

Bischoff and Russo's
storyline fails to

win over fans or
improve the ratings.

Hmm... man.

That whole year of 2000 has
kind of like blanked out of

my mind because
it was so bad.

[Cheering] Oh!
Good God!

It was destined for
failure from the beginning.

Vince Russo, I was done with
him creatively because

I knew he was
a bullshitter.

Eric wanted to be in charge.

So I call Brad Siegal
and I say,

"Bro, put Eric in charge
of the show."

Brad Siegal said to me,
"No, no, no, no, no, Vince,

we want you to
write the show."

Okay, fine.

The next time I see
Eric Bischoff...

Bash at the Beach.

In the week leading up to
the pay per view event,

Russo prepares the show
with a focus on

who will emerge the next
World Champion.

That week I walked into our
creative meeting and I threw

a question out there at
the very beginning of the

meeting, and the
question was,

"If you could put the WCW
title on anyone in the

company right now,
who would it be?"

And I went
around the table.

"Booker T, Booker T,
Booker T."

And unanimously
everybody said Booker T.

I said, "Well, then that's
what we're gonna do."

[Cheering]

I had had the belt at this time,
uh, a couple of months.

And so my overarching
creative was for

"The Chosen One"
Jeff Jarrett

to face multiple legends
and be victorious,

until it was time to switch
the title to Booker T.

I'm gonna tell you
like this here,

we gon' turn
this mother out!

Now can you dig it?

A lot of significance,
a lot of upside,

and I saw Vince Russo's
vision and bought into it.

So, the main event of the
evening was Jeff Jarrett

versus Booker T for
the WCW title

with Booker T going over.

He's one of those guys where
you knew he was really good.

Wrestling had not been kind
to African American wrestlers.

Give somebody else a chance,
at least it's something new.

To add more intrigue
to the event,

Russo makes the decision to
give Jeff Jarrett

one last win before losing
the belt to Booker T.

A win over Hollywood
Hulk Hogan.

When I wrote the very
first version of the show,

it was Jarrett
against Hogan,

and I wrote Hulk Hogan
very strong.

However, he was not going
to win the WCW title.

Why?

Because you just
had an entire room

agree on Booker T.

Vince Russo had his idea,
what he wanted to do

at Bash at the Beach.

Hulk Hogan and I were on a
completely different page.

What Vince Russo wanted to
do didn't freakin' matter.

Hulk Hogan had 100% creative
control over his storyline

and how his character was
presented on television.

Back in 1994, Bischoff
had lured Hogan to WCW

by offering him one of the
most generous contracts

in wrestling history.

I think the technical
wording was

he had control
of his finishes.

It was like, if he
didn't want to lose,

he didn't have to lose.

It's easy to sit here
and say, "Unprecedented",

but to that date, someone
with no ownership,

but to have complete
creative control,

that is a conflict
of interest.

When a talent has
creative control,

it sort of comes down
to the simplicity.

Are they worried about
their bottom line?

Or are they worried about
the company's bottom line?

It's radically different.

So I wrote the first script
where Hulk Hogan looks

very strong, but he does
not win the WCW title.

Hulk Hogan poo poo'd
that first script.

So now I re-write the script,
and I really make

Hulk Hogan look
like King Kong.

Not only does he wind up
killing Jeff Jarrett,

he winds up killing
Scott Steiner.

He literally winds up
wiping everybody,

but he does not
leave with the title.

Hulk says he's good
with the second version.

So now I walk into Bash
at the Beach that Sunday

thinking everything's fine,
and Hulk is gonna do

what the second
script says.

♪

Eric Bischoff comes
up to me and says,

"You better go in the trailer
and talk to Hulk Hogan

because he's not gonna do this."
Who's in the trailer?

Me, Hulk Hogan,
and Eric Bischoff.

So if you wanna
break that down,

it is clearly
two against one.

Did Vince Russo and I
discuss it several times?

Yes, we did.

It was my job to
oversee him.

It was my call,
not Vince Russo's call.

He didn't get to vote.

He thought he did,
but he didn't.

Eric informs me that they
came up with a scenario,

and that scenario is
Hulk winning the title.

He wants to win
the WCW title.

Eric's idea is to blur the
line between reality and

fiction, with a story
angle where Hulk flexes

his creative control clause
to win the belt.

As Jeff Jarrett throws the
match in disgust,

Hulk, angry at Jarrett's
refusal to fight,

is then scripted to
storm out of the ring.

The idea was for Hulk
to leave in a state of

frustration and anger
as a result of the

finish of the match.

The important element of
it was that once the WCW

realized that Hulk Hogan
wasn't coming back and

he wasn't giving the
belt back,

that would force WCW to
then vacate that title,

and create a
tournament for a new

World Heavyweight
Champion.

And finally at
Halloween Havoc,

which was our big
October pay per view,

the two finalists
in that tournament,

before it physically
took place,

Hogan was gonna make a
surprise appearance

and say, "Ah-ah-ah,
I still have the belt,

and if you want this
you've gotta beat me."

Boom.
There's your story.

[Vince]
I was pissed.

Bro, you're pulling this
bullshit the day of a show.

I re-wrote the show twice.

This show is
starting in an hour.

It got to the point
where I said, "Look,

we're gonna get on the phone
with Brad Siegel and

we're gonna lay it out,
and we'll let Brad choose."

And Brad said, "Go with
Eric's idea." That's it.

Now you've got the
president of the network

who's the tie breaker.

It was over and done.

[Vince]
Eric wanted to be in charge.

He wanted things to go
back to the way they were.

Bro, I'm not an idiot.

So, Hulk lays out
this elaborate story,

and I know the story ends
with him winning the title.

While he's laying out the
story, this ear is listening,

this side of my brain is

figuring out another story.

Because he's, I'm not,

he's not walking out
with the title.

[Jeff] Pay per view show time
starts at 8 o'clock.

7, 7:30, somewhere
in that window.

Vince comes to me and says,
"Bro"- In his great

New Yorker accent-
"This is what we're doin'."

"Jeff, Hulk doesn't want
to do the job for you.

'F' Hulk.
Lay down for him.

Let him leave with
his freaking belt.'

We wanted everybody
to believe it.

Jeff was not in on it.

We wanted everybody in
the back to believe this,

that was the goal.

Vince was pretty clear,
"Go to the ring,

we'll get the bell
to start the match.

Just make it very clear
you're taking a dive.

You're laying down for him."
And I was dumbfounded.

And I said, "Vince, this
story is not well thought out.

It doesn't make any
logical sense and-

for a babyface to
capture gold this way."

There's a real bad
taste that if a champion

is gonna
be a champion,

don't you really
wanna beat somebody?

And this was the
opposite of that.

And there's a million
other options, I felt,

that the audience would say,
"This is the best you guys

could come up with?"
I told Vince this.

Everybody loses in this
scenario, everybody loses.

♪

As Bash at the
Beach 2000 begins,

a storyline is in place for
current WCW champion

Jeff Jarrett to take a
dive for Hulk Hogan.

Everyone is ready to
put the plan in motion,

until Jarrett begins
having second thoughts.

When it came down
to match time,

I had a real
overwhelming sense of,

"Do I really wanna do this?

Do I really wanna be
a part of this mess?

Do I really wanna
walk the aisle and

be a part of this finish?"

Those thoughts
went through my mind.

Because my father,
my grandmother,

my outlook on the industry,
that you really only have

one boss and
that's the fans.

[Cheering]

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the year 2000

WCW Bash at the Beach,

and the main event
of the evening...

When they hit my music,
I stayed in the back.

Where's Jarrett?
I mean,

his music has been playing
for well over a minute,

there's no sign of him.
What's going on here?

This is not like
The Chosen One

to stand us up on
a pay per view.

So my music played
quite a while,

I think it looped
two or three times.

And I stayed over in the
little tunnel and

really just
thought through it.

I could take matters into
my own hands and say,

"I'm not doing the dive."
I could, you know,

jump in and make him
punch me around,

and make him give me
a big boot.

What are my real options?

What is gonna protect my
family and my career best?

So much at stake here.

I can't say that I was
legitimately angry.

I can say,
thoroughly disgusted.

And when I finally said,
"Let's get this over with,"

that was where
my head was at.

-Here he is.
-[Cheering]

By the time I headed
down the aisle way,

everything in my
mind was, "Hogan,

you want your creative
control so bad, take it."

You know somethin',
Jeff Jarrett?

You are The Chosen One,

because I have chosen you to

power bomb your ass
through this mat,

so come on down and get
your ass kicked, Jarrett.

Looking across the ring,
and looking at Hulk,

and knowing that he
orchestrated all of this...

I never, ever looked
at him the same way.

[Cheering]

What's Jeff doing?
What's Jeff doing?

[Fans cheering &
shouting]

Russo's talking to him,
what's he saying?

Russo I think told Jarrett to
lay down, what is going on?

Look it, Russo is
holding the belt up like,

"Do you want the belt?"
Pin the man, Jarrett's down!

I don't, and Hogan is
as shocked as we are.

What in the world?
Jeff Jarrett!

There's confusion.

Like, they really don't
know what's going on.

The essence of professional
wrestling through the

generations has been the
ability to blur the lines

between what's not fiction
and what's fiction.

But the old promoter adage,

"You confuse them,
you lose them."

We confused 'em,
and we lost 'em.

This can't be Jeff Jarrett,

a man that grew up
in this sport!

Is there-
what is going on?

He just threw the
world title to Hogan.

What the hell?
Now Russo.

I'll be honest with ya.

All I wanna make sure is
this plan carries out the

exact same way I laid it
out in the trailer.

Jeff laid down,
Hulk Hogan,

you're going home
with your belt.

This is all
part of the story.

Is this your deal, Russo?

[Commentary]
Wow...

That's why this company is
in the damn shape it's in

because of bullshit like this.

[Cheering]

Referee counted 1,2,3.

And I rolled out to the ring
and went straight to the back.

[Cheering]

My God, this is
real life. 1,2,3.

[Bell Tolling]

Ladies and gentlemen,
that is not something

they go over with us at the
production meeting.

No, there are swerves
and there are swerves.

We've all been swerved.

And we went forward
exactly the way Hulk

wanted to go forward.

The audience believed that
Hulk Hogan was pissed,

and he took the belt
and he left the building.

It went according to plan.

We jump in the limo,

we leave the arena
with the belt,

we go to the airport.

We're on the plane,

we're high five-ing,
cracking a beer, laughing.

Everything went the
way we wanted it to go.

As Bischoff and Hogan
leave the arena

the show continues,

but what happens next will be
debated by wrestling fans and

insiders for decades to come,
as Vince Russo

takes matters into
his own hands.

Well,
here's Mr. Russo now.

What the hell is next?

30 minutes later
the plane lands,

and all of a sudden Hogan's
phone is blowing up.

♪

And so is mine.

Russo went out and

cut this scathing promo
and buried Hulk.

This was like their
big, great swerve,

that somehow turned real when
Russo does the promo

later and things end up
getting worse.

There's only one way for me
to do this and

that's for me to
tell it like it is.

You know, bro, again,

these are the things
people hate me for.

♪

As agreed upon before
the show even started,

after Jeff Jarrett
takes a dive,

Hulk leaves the
building with the belt,

enraging and confusing
the WCW audience.

Now, to the surprise
of everyone,

Vince Russo makes his
way out to the ring.

Well, here's
Mr. Russo now.

-What the hell is next?
-Now what?

I don't know.

Maybe Russo can explain to
the world what we have seen.

My entire life, every promo
I've ever cut...

There's only one way for me
to do this and

that's for me to
tell it like it is.

I don't know what
I'm going to say.

I am in the moment.

That's real, and that's
what people believe.

Here's where the story is.

Here's where my character is.

Go.

Let me tell you people what
happened out here

in this ring tonight.

All day long I'm playing
politics with Hulk Hogan,

because Hulk Hogan,
tonight,

wants to play his
creative control card.

And to Hulk Hogan that
meant that tonight

in the middle of this ring,
when he knew it was bullshit,

he beats Jeff Jarrett.

Because of Russo's
crazy booking style

we're all like,
"Is this the plan?

Are they working us?

If this was the plan,
it's stupid,

and if it's not the plan,
it's even stupider."

We're all just sitting
there going,

"What the hell is going on?"

And let me tell you who
doesn't give a shit about

this company, that goddamn
politician Hulk Hogan.

Hogan got his belt and
he went the hell home,

and I promise everybody or
else I'll go in the goddamn

grave, you will never see
that piece of shit again.

Adding to the confusion
of the moment,

Russo shocks the crowd by
announcing a new main event.

Hulk Hogan now
has the WCW belt.

That belt don't mean shit!

Jeff Jarrett is still the
official WCW champion and

he will defend that title
tonight in this ring

against Booker T,

who for 14 years
has been busting his ass

in WCW and can't get
a goddamn break,

because of the
Hulk Hogan.

There were real emotions

being fuelled
during that promo

because I had it up to here
with the wrestling shit.

I really did, bro.

I was over and I
was done with it.

[Cheering]

And Hogan, you big bald
son of a bitch,

kiss my ass.

[Cheering]

♪

That was...
that was not on the formats,

that was not in the
production meeting,

that was nowhere to be found
anywhere until this.

We do have Booker T now
against Jeff Jarrett

for the WCW title.

That was just booked,
that's added to tonight.

My plan for the main event,
Booker T beats Jeff Jarrett

and becomes the WCW World
Heavyweight Champion.

Booker doesn't see Jarrett.

[Shouting &
cheering]

So, Hogan, congratulations
enjoy the title,

that's the fake title.

The real title is gonna
be represented

in the match with Jarrett.

Booker goes over.

We've got a new champion!
Oh my God!

Booker T is the
world champion!

Booker T is the champ!

Oh my God, bro, I knew Hulk
was going to be pissed.

Everybody is
believing this 1000%,

and all I'm reading is,

"Vince Russo finally put
Hulk Hogan in his place.

Vince Russo finally told
Hulk Hogan

what should have been
said to him years ago."

I'm reading this and
I'm saying,

"He is going to have

a severe problem with it."

[Eric] When Hulk gets really,
really angry...

he gets very quiet.

Like,
when he stops talking,

that's when you need to
start worrying.

And he got real quiet after
that, like, real quiet.

Russo claims he pitched this
entire storyline to Hulk and

Eric in the trailer,
and that they agreed.

Every single thing on
that show was

what was discussed
in that trailer.

Everything.

From Jarrett laying down,
to them leaving,

to me cutting the promo,

to Booker T winning the
title at the end.

It was exactly the way
I laid it out to

Hogan in the trailer.

That was never my plan.

I guarantee you it wasn't
Hulk Hogan's plan.

And, by the way, Hulk Hogan
had creative control,

and we certainly didn't know
that Booker T was gonna

walk out as the
world champion.

Because Hulk Hogan had that
world title and was going to

bring it back in October
at Halloween Havoc.

That was the plan.

Oh my God, that was
part of the plan!

This is a key point.

The reason you have to leave
the building is because

if I go out there and cut a
scathing promo on you,

and you're still
in the building,

you're gonna have
to come kill me.

Russo may believe it,

but that's where
the pathological part of

being a pathological
liar comes in.

None of that was
discussed in advance.

None of that was
approved by me.

None of it was
approved by Hulk Hogan.

It was just the most
unprofessional thing that

I'd ever seen in
30 years of television.

The next morning an incensed
Hogan calls in to a

local Tampa radio show
to rage at Russo.

His anger isn't for show,
it's for real.

Ha!

Did I know that Hulk Hogan
was gonna take legal action?

How could you not?
How could you not?

♪

Infuriated by the events
at Bash of the Beach,

Hulk Hogan takes legal action
against Vince Russo and WCW.

Because Hulk Hogan
tonight wants to play

his creative control card.

Hogan files lawsuits
for defamation and

breach of contract,
asserting that

Russo's off-script tirade
was a part of

the match outcome,

and violated his
creative control clause.

I believe Hogan
felt double crossed,

and whether Russo actually
double crossed him,

or he just got carried away
and said shit

he shouldn't have,
I have no idea.

But it's like, okay,
you don't file lawsuits

if this is just part
of a storyline.

It gets to a judge and
the judge basically says,

"Let me get this straight.
This is a wrestling show.

Vince Russo is in
a wrestling ring."

"He is cutting a promo
on a wrestling character,

where is the defamation
of character?"

Like, Hulk, you're really
suing him for this?

Shut up.

I would not have been a
good witness for that.

[Sighing]
Strange times.

[Laughing]

I am cutting my promo
on Hulk Hogan,

not Terry Bollea.
This is a story.

Vince Russo is a character,
Hulk Hogan is a character.

If Vince Russo takes the
position that because he was

performing it as a character
that took creative liberties

with another professional,
that that somehow makes it

legal and okay, is a reflection
of the man's ignorance.

He's got more than a problem
with facts and truth,

he's got a problem
with reality.

And the first judge
threw it out.

They appealed it, and it
went to a second judge.

First of all, I don't think
that it went to

multiple courts
to begin with.

It's not like they took it
to the Supreme Court

for crying out loud.

The sworn depositions reveal
a key piece of information-

That two days prior
to Bash at the Beach,

a fax was sent to
the WCW head office.

I found out after the
WCW office is closed,

Hulk Hogan's attorney

faxes a letter
to the WCW office

saying, "Hulk Hogan is not
approving that script."

I have no idea of this.

Here's why that
doesn't hold up.

It was never a discussion
or a debate

between Hulk and
me and Russo,

as to whether or not
we were going to do

something other than what
Hulk and I had laid out.

It wasn't up for debate,
therefore why would...

why would there be this
after hours fax excuse?

I mean, I'm trying to decide
between two dishonest people,

discussing something
from twenty years ago,

to do with a fax.

Yeah, I don't remember
a fax, but, you know,

I never heard the fax story.
I'll just say that.

♪

♪

The fax exposes Hulk
Hogan's real intentions

to maximize the full strength
of his creative control,

and refuse any storyline
Russo proposed.

Russo triumphs
in the courtroom,

as an appeals court affirms
that fictional characters

cannot be defamed.

However, it's Hogan who
emerges victorious

in his battle against WCW.

Hulk made the decision the
night of Bash at the Beach

that, "I probably
will not get renewed,

so how can I get another
paycheque from

AOL Time Warner?"
And that's through litigation.

Well, Hulk Hogan was a key
to building the company,

and he obviously had
the biggest name,

but nothing is forever, and
he'd been there too long and

he became the
face of failure.

So, at that point he was
getting paid so much,

but he couldn't draw ratings
to a great degree anymore,

and people weren't going to
go and pay to see Hulk Hogan

matches that they'd seen
for all those years.

There was really nothing
left to do with him.

[Eric] And then you have
scumbags like Dave Meltzer,

who is nothing more
than a useful idiot.

Even though he calls
himself a journalist,

Dave Meltzer to this day
hates Hulk Hogan.

What Hulk Hogan was trying
to achieve that night

remains clouded
in uncertainty.

You know, I've asked
myself that through the years.

What was Hogan's vision?

What was the upside?
What was the ultimate plan?

Was it to create so
much controversy,

or to get eyeballs
on the product?

Was it to be his version of
a Montreal Screw Job,

or his version of a...

of a publicity stunt?
I don't know.

We certainly know
the results of it,

but I have no idea
what his vision was.

And Turner settled.
I mean-

[Laughing]
This is, this is fun.

Because I sat with Hulk and
his attorney Henry Holmes

they day that
they settled that.

They took me out to dinner
and told me what happened.

They never gave me
the amount,

that was confidential,
but I know it was

well, well into
seven figures.

Some folks play chess while
others are playing checkers.

The night at
Bash at the Beach,

Hulk decided to
start playing chess,

and he had the patience,
and he cashed out.

♪

What's Jeff doing?

Russo I think told Jarrett
to lay down, what's going on?

The facts of what actually
went down at

Bash at the Beach 2000
will forever be murky.

But what was clear
to fans that night

was that the chaos and
confusion only

underscored the disorder
and disintegration

at the heart of the company.

It was the reality the
night this happened,

and it's the reality as I
sit here today saying this.

In a business that
gave him everything,

and that's what
he gave back.

It's about the most
self-centred, egotistical,

power playing move,
that only benefitted Hulk.

And that's the reality.

But I mean as far as a
storyline based on

what they were
doing at the time,

it was something that
would get people talking,

and could've built
to something.

So I did like
Booker T being champion,

I thought that was cool.
You know,

it's not same old same old
Hulk Hogan champion, right?

So, I guess I did like that.

I do remember that.
You know thinking, "Ah."

You know, "At least it's
something new."

[Cheering]

And let me tell you who
doesn't give a shit about

this company, that goddamn
politician Hulk Hogan.

It was destined for
failure from the beginning.

At the end of it all,

I don't think that
Bash on the Beach

was the nail in
the coffin for WCW.

You see what is
says right here?

This is my ass,
if you will.

You know what I mean?
It was like

the gig was already up.

It was just kind of a
floundering company.

WCW was a star that
became a supernova,

and then burned itself out.

In its dying days, WCW is
snapped up by its longtime

arch-rival Vince McMahon
and the WWF,

despite having an attractive
offer on the table from

a venture capital firm,

spearheaded by
Eric Bischoff.

The deal for us to purchase
WCW was for $67 million,

we buy all the assets,
and we get placement

on Monday nights and
Thursday nights.

That was our deal.

And I get a phone call.

They said,
"Eric, it's done."

I thought he meant
the deal was done.

Like, "Pew!" We own a
wrestling company.

I'm about ready to jump up
and start dancing.

I said,
"You mean it's done?"

He goes, "No, Eric,
you don't get it.

It's over,
there's no deal.

Turner took it off the table."

It took a minute for
that to sink in.

It was a fire sale
at the end.

Time Warner wanted to
get rid of wrestling.

I think it was like $2.5
million for the actual WCW,

and I think it was $1.7
million more for, um,

the tape library.

It was definitely the
equivalent of, um,

you know, buying
Manhattan for $25.

That's right.

I own WCW.

[Eric]
I have zero regrets, man.

I have zero regrets.

You know, regret to me
is a negative thing,

it's like baggage.

I try not to carry any
baggage with me at all.

[Jeff] I've said this
about Vince Russo.

Vince is a guy who's very
passionate, like a lot of us,

and does what he thinks

the viewer wants...

to watch.

And he's had successes
and he's had failures,

like all of us.

Do you know how little
this shit matters?

It is a form of entertainment.

At the end of the day

I don't hate any of
these people, bro.

This was a job.

People ask me all
the time today,

"Vince, what is your advice

to get into the
wrestling business"?

And I tell them, "Don't."