There are lots of reasons why WCW got the boot from Turner. Low ratings, huge losses, and a general disdain for what many within AOL/Time Warner consider a low-brow entertainment.
I have my own theory – one night, up and coming Turner exec Jamie Kellner flipped on his TV and saw Mark Madden’s gut invading homes across America.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Ah yes, kids, it’s time for us to talk about the infinitely horrible Mark Madden-Mean Gene Okerlund feud of 2000.
You want bad matches? You got ’em!
You want bad promos? You got ’em!
You want the return of Gene Okerlund, Pro Wrestler?
Well, no, of course you don’t…but WCW gave it to you anyway!
Even if they had just gotten in there and “wrestled”, it would have been bad enough, but leave it to Gene “Pottymouth” Okerlund to start the shenanigans off with some verbal fireworks!
Things got much worse than that, though, as Okerlund challenged Madden to the world’s worst posedown.
Madden responded to Okerlund’s taunts by lifting his shirt, and showing the world his big white belly.
*insert harpoon joke here*
And thus the “match” commenced, and Okerlund and Madden went through something vaguely resembling a wrestling match.
Gene punched Madden with all his might. Madden fell over, disproving the old adage that “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.”
Madden choked Geno with such ferocity that you’d think his place at the head of the line for the post-Nitro buffet was at stake.
The finish of the match saw Pamela Paulshock low blow Madden as he was attempting to give Okerlund the Madden Bomb.
Madden then collapsed in shock, as that was the first – and most likely last – time that a female ever came in contact with his crotch.
Okerlund pinned the “Fattest Looking Big Man on TV” to end the shenanigans once and for all.
He then celebrated with a group that made the Village People look positively hetero in comparison.
The WrestleCrap staff spent weeks trying to figure out why WCW really booked this feud. After much noodle scratching, we couldn’t come up with an answer. Therefore, we launched WrestleCrap’s first ever contest, in which you, the reader, explained the logic behind WCW’s decision.
The winning entry came from Jonathan “no_name” Cadle:
It’s simple, really, in an avant-garde way.
Inspired by Vince McMahon’s “cure for the common show” speech, WCW has been slowly but surely evolving itself into a form of absurdist art. Rather than abandon wrestling all together as the WWF has, WCW has instead opted to elevate its wrestling product to the level of post-modernist “high art”. The bulging lines of Mark Madden’s gut create a fascinating dichotomy against the sharp contrast of the reflection off of Gene Okerlund’s head. Adding in the supple shapes created by Buff Bagwell’s physique, and you have an artistic triumph for the purveyors of true post-modernist art.
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Gene Okerlund: “We’ve got a very short evening ahead of us, so you can blow it out your ass!”
Mike Tenay: “Yes he can!”
Tony Schiavone: “Yes yes!”
(Ed note: How do these guys know so much about Madden’s ass? Does that disturb anyone else?)
Stevie Ray: “Yes he could, but we’d all be in trouble if he did that.”
“Mean Gene”: Trained by the Best!