Who Killed WCW? is an American-Canadian documentary television series produced by Vice Studios Canada and Seven Bucks Productions.[1][2][3][4] The series premiered on June 6, 2024 in the United States on Vice TV, and in Canada on Crave.[5]
Who Killed WCW? | |
---|---|
Genre | Documentary |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 4 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Production companies | Seven Bucks Productions Vice Studios Canada |
Original release | |
Network | Vice TV Crave |
Release | June 4 June 26, 2024 | –
Synopsis
editThe series explores the downfall of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), interviewing various wrestlers, staff members and exploring the Monday Night War and the eventual demise and purchase by WWE.[6][7][8]
The series features interviews with Dwayne Johnson, Bill Goldberg, Eric Bischoff, Bret Hart, Booker T, Konnan amongst others.[9] Chris Jericho declined to appear based on his view that as the narrator for Dark Side of the Ring, he was too closely associated with the producers.[10]
Episode list
editNo. | Title | Original air date | Viewers | Rating (18–49) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Where The Big Boys Play" | June 4, 2024 | 138,000 | 0.03 | |
Eric Bischoff is given control of WCW, working with Hulk Hogan to create a rival to the WWF during the 1990s. | |||||
2 | "The Streak Is Over" | June 11, 2024 | 117,000 | 0.02 | |
With WCW taking the lead against the WWF, the biggest stars begin to put their own interests and egos before the needs of the business. | |||||
3 | "New Blood" | June 18, 2024 | 148,000 | 0.06 | |
With the downward spiral of the company continuing, Vince Russo is brought onboard to help reinvent the product. | |||||
4 | "The Final Nitro" | June 26, 2024 | 124,000 | 0.05 | |
The cast gather for the last episode of Nitro after WCW falls victim to the AOL-Time Warner merger. |
Reception
editThe series received criticism from a number of former WCW employees, including Tony Schiavone.[11][12] Episodes 2 and 3 were criticised by Wrestling Observer Newsletter for poor fact-checking, lack of critique and a lack of pushback against narratives pushed by the featured talking heads. In particular, the narrative that WCW was ultimately driven down by Time Warner management rather than poor internal decisions by WCW itself was criticised.[13][14][15]
References
edit- ^ White, Peter (April 30, 2024). "Seven Bucks To Produce 'Who Killed WCW?' Docuseries For Vice TV". Deadline. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
- ^ Melzer, James (April 30, 2024). "Dwayne Johnson to Produce Who Killed WCW? Docuseries for Vice TV". MovieWeb. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 20, 2023). "Seven Bucks Productions Taps Scott Landsman As Head Of Television; Melissa Fried Joins As VP of Film Development & Production". Deadline. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ "WWE Hall Of Famer Kevin Nash Says He Was Stoned For Who Killed WCW Series". www.msn.com. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ "Dwayne Johnson's Who Killed WCW? Documentary Release Date Revealed". Yahoo Entertainment. May 2, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ "411MANIA". Jim Ross Shares Who He Thinks Is Responsible for Killing WCW. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ Philip Sledge (June 10, 2024). "Who Killed WCW? Ric Flair Just Pointed The Finger At 3 People In A Blistering Diatribe". CINEMABLEND. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ "Goldberg steamrolls through second 'Who Killed WCW?' episode - Slam Wrestling". June 12, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ "Who Killed Wcw? - VICE TV". Viceland. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ Chris Jericho (June 19, 2024). "Behind the Scenes of Who killed WCW?". Talk is Jericho (Podcast). Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ Rathi, Ishaan (June 13, 2024). "Tony Schiavone Goes Off at Producers of 'Who Killed WCW?'". Ringside News. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ Palmer, Sam (June 13, 2024). "AEW's Tony Schiavone Goes Off On Team Behind Who Killed WCW?". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ Bryan Alvarez, Dave Meltzer (June 13, 2024). "Eric Bischoff blames everyone else for WCW's demise - Wrestling Observer Radio 13 June 2024". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Podcast). Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ Bryan Alvarez, Dave Meltzer (June 20, 2024). "Between Bischoff and Russo, a lot of BS - Wrestling Observer Radio 20 June 2024". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Podcast). Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ Garrett Gonzales, Dave Meltzer (June 21, 2024). "Wrestling Observer Radio 21 June 2024". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Podcast). Retrieved June 24, 2024.