For a few months from Spring to Summer of 2000, World Championship Wrestling did something bold and new. Playing off of the company’s tendency for faction-based warfare made famous by the New World Order storyline, WCW divided a majority of its roster into two groups. The veterans and stars were organized as The Millionaire’s Club, while the young upstarts were united as The New Blood.
While not the game-changing endeavor it was meant to be thanks to some errors in presentation, the storyline is an interesting case study of some of the dysfunction and wacky decision making that was characteristic of late-period WCW.
10 Eric and Vince
Before the storyline was implemented, WCW was in an odd state of turmoil. An attempt at reviving the New World Order as “nWo 2000” died on the vine thanks to Bret Hart sustaining a career-ending injury and other unfortunate factors.
To help resuscitate the struggling television programming, the promotion handed the reigns to Eric Bischoff -- who was responsible for WCW’s late ‘90s peak -- and Vince Russo -- who was partially responsible for contributing to Attitude Era WWE. The only thing is that the two men would need to collaborate.
9 The Reboot
With the April 10, 2000 edition of WCW Monday Nitro came a bold change to the promotion. Bischoff and Russo came out to talk about how their attempts to change wrestling for the better with new ideas were always sabotaged by aging veterans like Hulk Hogan, but now they were back in a position of power.
Amid confrontation with some veterans, Bischoff and Russo announced that all titles in WCW were being vacated, so the entire roster could compete for them on an even playing field.
8 The New Blood
With the big April 10th reboot came the division of the roster into two stables. The New Blood, led on screen by both Bischoff and Russo, came to encompass a majority of the younger talent on the roster. In addition to established wrestlers like Jeff Jarrett, Shane Douglas, Rey Mysterio Jr., Booker T, and more, the New Blood had recent Power Plant graduates like Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire.
While the New Blood had a staggering size, the big problem of the group would be that they were portrayed as heels. As a result, it was hard for fans to cheer for “lesser” talent when all the stars like Sting and Hollywood Hogan were considered the good guys.
7 The Millionaire’s Club
By comparison, the Millionaire’s Club was a much smaller group. In addition to the above-mentioned Sting and Hogan, the group had Ric Flair, Diamond Dallas Page, Sid Vicious, and other veteran main eventers.
The idea here is that they were rich and successful, and wanted to keep their spot at the top of the card so they could continue to be rich and successful. And again, for some reason, these guys were presented as babyfaces.
6 Spring Stampede 2000
The first PPV of this era was Spring Stampede, happening six days after the Nitro reboot, where the previously vacated titles would all be filled. The bloated card consisted of 14 matches, with only the main event going past nine minutes, and featuring lots of tournament matches to crown WCW’s new champions.
The ending of the show had New Blood standing victorious as Jeff Jarrett defeated Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW World Title via Page’s wife Kimberly betraying him.
5 Too Many Shoots
Late-period WCW, especially with Vince Russo anywhere near the helm, was rife with pre-scripted “shoot” moments that put precedence on the shock value of breaking kayfabe. There was a past real-life incident involving Sid Vicious wielding a pair of scissors, so Bischoff antagonized Sid on-screen by asking him where his scissors were.
Because Hulk Hogan said (in real life) that Billy Kidman wasn’t a lucrative draw, they got into an on-screen feud about it. These moments were targeted at the extremely devoted wrestling fans who kept up with the industry rumor mills but often did nothing for more casual fans.
4 Millionaires Reign Supreme
One of the myriad problems of the storyline was just how often it failed to get younger talent over. One of the best examples of this was Billy Kidman’s aforementioned feud with Hulk Hogan, with the obvious story of Kidman trying to prove that he could go toe-to-toe with the Hulkster never really landing as it should.
It didn’t help that the two men clashed in two consecutive pay-per-views, with Hogan beating Kidman both times before the feud was over.
3 “New York Rules”
Along with the above gripes, one of the biggest criticisms to lob at this era -- and a lot of wrestling shows involving Vince Russo -- is the poor, often nonsensical in-ring product. For the most concentrated dose of this, look no further than the 5/3/2000 episode of WCW Thunder, where the New Blood and Millionaire’s Club clashed in a series of matches contested under “New York Rules.”
This meant No DQ as well as no referees, which in turn meant a baffling, chaotic flurry of brawls where the wrestlers themselves had to count the pins.
2 The End of The Feud
The New Blood vs. Millionaire’s Club storyline came to an end three months after it began without very much fanfare. Because the angle was proving to be rather unpopular with fans, WCW quietly phased out the feud in the summer of 2000.
By the July pay-per-view, Bash at the Beach, both factions had dissolved and its members had moved on to new pursuits and interests. In the aftermath of Bash, both Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff would leave WCW.
1 The Generational Feuds Continue
In the years since the New Blood vs. Millionaire’s Club feud, Vince Russo would return to the generational conflict well. During his run working for TNA in the mid to late 2000s, Russo would rehash the storyline in the same exact way, but with the Millionaire’s Club reimagined as The Main Event Mafia and New Blood being renamed the TNA Front Line.
While not without its problems, at least in that iteration the rich old guys were the heels.