On a 1996 WCW Main Event, La Parka comes out from behind the trademark smoke.
Dusty Rhodes: "Woah! A ghost!"
Lee Marshall: "No, no. That's La Parka."
(Click here for an example. Of course, it would have been nice if they got General Rection's name correct.)
And, unless you missed Nitro and Aldo's report, it seems that WCW will is seemingly slated to become an "nWo" to the WWF, although it is implied that WCW may actually be somewhat of a "good guy nWo" run by Shane McMahon. But, that remains to be seen.
As for my opinion on the booking of the last Nitro, I thought it sucked. All the matches seemed perfunctory and rushed. It seemed like the booking was "dotting the i's and crossing the t's" rather than really doing any storytelling. I thought they could have done a lot more to recognize WCW over the years and close out some angles. I can't really say I was "angry" like many of the rest of the DDT Digest staff, but I was very disappointed, but no more disappointed than I expected to be.
On the flip side, one of the writers on Wrestleline did have a point that really hit home with me. He said that the WCW purists really don't have a legitimate beef on the subject of there being a "lack of closure" in WCW because, if there was, it would kill the heat on the new WCW vs. WWF angle. I have to admit...that's a good point. There's not a lot of room to "retire titles" or anything like that if the promotion is going to continue in any way. So, as much as I emotionally would have wanted some big send-off and/or retrospective, I understand the business reasons.
However, I will say one thing. As far as Tony Schiavone worrying about his paycheck...welcome to the world the rest of us live in...if you're not competent, you're out of a job. And showing arrogance to the competition and their CEO doesn't really work in your favor when the competition buys you out. Maybe you'll figure that lesson out standing on the unemployment line over the next few months with all the humbled ex-dot-com weenies. Hopefully, you won't get another chance to call the fans that are responsible for your paycheck "marks".
By the way, here's an interesting take on Monday's show, Greg S. sent the following link from Lance Storm's official site: Click here
Well, one thing's for sure...we're not going to be writing recaps of Pretender 2001. The reality is that with WCW no longer being an independent organization, there's really nothing left for us to cover. It's as if we followed the ABA back in the 1970s. Once they were folded into the NBA, there was no ABA to follow anymore, much less the red, white and blue basketball.
DDT Digest will stay on-line indefinitely. The site, and the (imho) incredible history we have of a wrestling promotion going from the very top to the very bottom in 4½ years is too good to let disappear from the Internet. Also, I am and will remain on the lookout for any cool WCW stuff out there...PPV histories, stories and the like. Probably, I will sit down someday and do a complete history of WCW, titles, angles, whatever. However, that's down the road someday. When I do it, it will be on DDT Digest, I can assure you. All I ask is that you continue to check DDT Digest every couple of months to see if anything's up. No need to check us every couple of days like you may be doing now. But, it will be worth your time to check us every so often. Also, if any of our old writers are up to any Internet projects, I'll put a link on DDT Digest so you can find them. (It should be noted that any episodes of Worldwide taped before the takeover will likely still be covered.)
So, we are not dying. The links page, tributes pages, Buddy Landel page, any updates from Nicolas Seafort on Win/Loss records, etc. will all continue to be updated. There'll just be no more new show reports. Our e-mail addresses, like the site, will remain around indefinitely. Think of us like your grandparents in a nursing home...we're sitting here waiting to hear from you, and you'll just ignore us because you're too busy getting on with your lives.
And, note, we will go out with a bang, not a whimper. We will be presenting a pictorial history of the downfall of WCW and our truly grand finale "DDT Digest Books The Last Nitro". It will be a really fitting end. Look for those features on April 1st, after our monthly traffic counter resets.
And, I feel the need to give the rub to Mel's schwah.com, the quirkiest website on the 'net. As an added bonus, The Slayground's new home will be there.