Original subtitles

As the new millennium dawned, the once industry -dominating world championship

wrestling was struggling to keep pace with their rival, the World Wrestling

Federation.

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

wrestling's 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 didn't know if he didn't get enough when he was a little kid.

Eric represented everything I despise in the wrestling business.

And, bro, I'll tell you, you're never going to outwork me because I'm better

than you.

If he believes that, he's got a problem with reality.

The incident at Bash at 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 the script's out the window.

What's going to 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.

Now I'm really pissed off. Hogan's pretty sensitive about being called

even though he doesn't have any hair.

Did I know that Hulk Hogan was going to 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

on 32 years now.

You can boo all you want. That doesn't change the fact that I'm better than

What I'm looking for tonight is ratings.

Big ratings.

And we're going to deliver, you son of a bitch.

Vince, we've got to know, who is the WCW World's Heavyweight Champion?

Question?

Question? There is no question, Mike. There's no question. Who's here with the

belt?

Overall, do you think Vince Russo?

then more harm or good for wrestling?

Harm.

Yeah, I would say long -term harm. Yeah, 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

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.

And in 96 it flipped over and WCW was dominant.

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

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

The flaw of Vince McMahon is he only thinks a 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 its ambitious young

president, Eric Bischoff.

I decided the only way I was going to 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.

They were ignoring

men 18 to 39.

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

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 aimed to legitimize WCW by headhunting

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 thing.

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 raising Ramon there. 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 light bulb went off in my head. There's my storyline.

There's my reality.

The NWO, the new world order.

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

out the window. And I said, Vince, from now on, they think we're going to go

left. We're going to 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.

So it would be short match.

Backstage segment, vignette, short match, fight in the locker room,

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

WWE was on top.

And that was a magical period.

I don't want to dismiss Vince Russo's 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 Lou Gehrig.

WCW, by the end of 99, they started losing money. They were the Titanic

to the iceberg.

My budgets were becoming slashed.

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 rumors emerged

that Russo is overworked and frustrated in his role at the WWF.

Well, WWF added a second show, SmackDown, and did not give Vince Russo

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

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 as 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

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.

So there was this narrative that Hulk Hogan couldn't wrestle in the ring

anymore, he had no value, he should retire, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

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 what's the worst thing that he's

done like that he watched i i don't know i didn't watch this shit i couldn't

watch it I was there for three months. The ratings went up in those three

months. How are the ratings doing? Are they improving?

Well, he'll tell you that they were improving, but no, they weren't up.

Artificially, it looked good, but every month, if you do the month rating, the

October, the November, December, every month was down slightly.

Next thing I know, management tells me we're going in a different direction.

And I said, okay, fine.

I'll go home, send me my money.

Now that both Bischoff and Russo have failed to turn WCW ratings around, the

network lands on a new idea.

Both men working together.

Brad Siegel is the head of TNT and PBS.

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

My name's Jeff Jarrett. Some call me Double J, some call me the Last Outlaw.

I just think philosophically, those two

guys view creating and producing wrestling content entirely different. A

philosophical difference as opposed to a personality difference.

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 different.

Vince Russo sat down with, all right, well, he's the guy that's going to be in

charge of creative, and he's looking at me, and he's like, just off the top of

my head, first thing I think of, I was 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? Isn't Eric like 10 years older than me? How is he my illegitimate

dad?

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. 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

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 Millionaires Club

versus the Youngblood, where all these young guys that were held down, now

they're going to get an opportunity to shine.

A 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! Despite their efforts, Bischoff and

storyline fails to win over fans or improve the ratings.

Hmm, man. That whole year of 2000 is kind of, like, blanked out of my mind

because it was so bad.

Oh, my God!

It was destined for failure from the beginning.

Vince Russo, I was done with him creatively because I knew he was a

Eric wanted to be in charge. So I call Brad Siegel and I say, bro, put Eric in

charge of the show.

Brad Siegel said to me, no, 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

a focus on who will emerge the next world champion.

That week, I walked into our creative meeting, and I threw a question out

at the very beginning of the meeting. And the question was, if you could put

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 going to do.

I had had the belt at this time 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.

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

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

of 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 freaking 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's 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

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 -pooed that first script.

So now I rewrite 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

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 going to 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 going to do this.

Who's in the trailer?

Me, Hulk Hogan, and Eric Bischoff.

So if you want to 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 claws 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

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 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

our big October pay -per -view, the two finalists in that tournament, before it

physically took place, Hogan was going to make a surprise appearance and say,

-uh -uh, I still have the belt, and if you want this, you've got to beat me.

Boom.

There's your story.

I was pissed.

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

I rewrote the show twice. This show is starting in an hour.

It got to the point where I said, look, we're going to get on the phone with

Brad Siegel, and we're going to 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 tiebreaker.

It was over and done.

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

story, this ear is listening.

This side of my brain is figuring out another story.

Because he's not walking out with the title.

Pay -per -view showtime 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 doing.

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

F Hulk, laid out 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 for Babyface to capture gold this way. It's a real bad

taste.

that if a champion's going to be a champion, don't you really want to beat

somebody? And this was the opposite of that.

There's a million other options. I felt 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

thoughts.

When it came down to match time, I had a real overwhelming sense of,

do I really want to do this? Do I really want to be a part of this mess?

Do I really?

want to 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.

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 Jared? I mean, his music's 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 a 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 him and make him punch me around and make him give me a

big boot.

What are my real options?

What is going to protect my family and my career, Beth?

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.

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 something, Jeff Jarrett?

You are the chosen one because I have chosen you to powerbomb your

ass through this match. 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 it in the same way.

What's Jeff doing?

What's Jeff doing?

Russo, I think, told Jared to lie down. What's going on?

Russo is holding the belts up like, do you want the belt? Pin the man.

down. And Hogan is the shot. What in the world? Jeff Jarrett. How does the crowd

react when Jarrett lays down?

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 nonfiction and what's fiction.

But the old promoter adage, you confuse them, you lose them.

We confused them, and we lost.

This can't be Jeff Jarrett, a man that grew up in this sport.

What is going on?

They just threw the world title to Hulk.

What the hell?

I'll be honest with you. All I want to 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.

Wow.

That's why this company's in the damn shape it's in, because of bullshit like

this. Wow.

Referee counted one, two, three, and I rolled out to the ring and went straight

to the back.

My God, this is real life. One, two, three.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is not something they go over.

With us at the production meeting. Now, 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 -fiving.

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 fans and insiders for decades to come

as Russo takes matters into his own hands.

Well, here's Mr. Russo. What the hell is next?

Thirty minutes later, the plane lands, and all of a sudden, Hogan's phone is

blowing up.

So is mine.

Russo went out and cut the scathing promo and buried Hulk.

This was like a 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, and after Jeff Jarrett takes a

dive, Hulk leaves the building with the belt, enraging and confusing the

audience. Now, to the surprise of everyone,

Vince Russo makes his way out to the ring.

Well, here's Mr. Russo. 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.

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 in there going what the hell is going on

hey let me tell you who doesn't give a shit about this company that god Goddamn

politician Hulk Hogan!

Hogan got his belt and he went the hell home, and I promise everybody 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.

Good night 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 fueled 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.

And Hogan, you big bald son of a bitch, kissed my ass.

That was not on the format. 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

Book. That's added to the night.

My plan for the main event. Booker T beats Jeff Jarrett and becomes the WCW

World Heavyweight Champion.

Booker, no! It's me, Jeff!

So, Hogan, congratulations.

Enjoy the title. That's the fake title. The real title is going to be

represented in the match with Jarrett. Booker goes over. We've got a new champ!

Oh, my God. Booker T's the world champion.

Booker T's the champ.

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

Everybody is believing this.

One thousand percent. 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.

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

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 going to walk out.

as a 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

scathing promo on you and you're still in the building, you're going to 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, a furious Hogan calls into a local Tampa radio show, airing

his grievances for real at Vince Russo.

The reason Vince McMahon is home laughing his ass off is because of a

-off like Vince Russo. That idiot went out there and told the people that he

responsible for me and Jared not having a match.

He is a very stupid man.

But now I'm really pissed off. I don't know how I'm going to get even with this

Russo guy.

They can pass that stupid -ass belt to Booker T, but I'm the real world WCW

champion. Did you know Hulk was going to pursue legal action?

Did I know that Hulk Hogan was going to take legal action?

How could you not?

How could you not?

Infuriated by the events of Bash at 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 part of the match outcome and violated his

creative control clause.

I believe Hogan felt double -crossed, and whether Russo actually double

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 it was just part of a

It gets to a judge, and the judge basically says, let me get 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?

Mike, Hulk, you're really suing over there? Shut up. I would not have been a

good witness for that.

Strange times.

I am cutting my promo on Hulk Hogan, not Harry 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 as a character

that took creative liberties with another professional, that that somehow

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

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 there be this after -hours facts

excuse?

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

from 20 years ago to do with the facts.

Yeah, I don't remember facts, but, you know, I never heard the facts story.

just say that.

The facts exposes Hulk Hogan's real intentions to maximize the full strength

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 paycheck from AOL Time Warner? And

through litigation.

I'm trying to get out of our contract with these guys. And Brad Siegel's real

snug about not letting me out of the contract, but that's all I've got to

Well, Hulk Hogan was the 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.

And then you have scumbags like Dave Meltzer, who is nothing more than a

idiot. Even though he calls himself a journalist, Dave Meltzer to this day

Hulk Hogan.

What Hulk Hogan was trying to achieve that night remains clouded in

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 screwjob or his version 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.

This is fun because I sat with Hulk and his attorney, Henry Holmes, the 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 it bashed at

the beach, Hulk decided to start playing chess, and he had the patience, and he

cashed out.

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

It was the reality the night this happened. And it's the reality, as I sit

today saying this, in a business that gave him everything.

And that's what he gave back.

It's about the most self -centered, egotistical, power play move that only

benefited 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 have 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.

Hey, 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 the bash at the beach was the nail in the

coffin for WCW. You see what it 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

flattering 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 is for $67 million.

We buy all the assets and we get placement on Monday nights and Thursday

That was our deal.

And I got a phone call. They said, Eric, it's done. I thought he meant the deal

was done.

Like, we own a wrestling company. I'm about ready to jump up and start

I said, you may have 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.

was like $2 .5 million for the actual WCW, and I think there's $1 .7 million

more for the tape library.

It was definitely the equivalent of buying Manhattan for $25.

That's right.

I owe.

WCW.

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.

I have said this about Vince Russo.

Vince is a guy who's very passionate, like a lot of us, and does what he

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.