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Fingerpoke of Doom
The nickname Fingerpoke of Doom refers to an incident in American professional wrestling which occurred on January 4, 1999, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, during a live broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship television program of World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
The incident occurred during the main event of Nitro, featuring WCW World Heavyweight champion Kevin Nash, who was the leader of the Wolfpac faction of the New World Order (nWo), and Hollywood Hogan, the leader of the Hollywood faction of the nWo, with whom Nash and his group had been feuding since April 1998 when the original faction split up and Hogan had retired from wrestling. The Wolfpac faction were babyfaces (heroes) while the Hollywood faction were heels (villains), as was the original nWo. The match saw Hogan poke Nash in the chest with his index finger, prompting Nash to theatrically throw himself onto the mat and allow Hogan to pin him; the victory marked the reunion of both nWo factions into one villainous group.
Earlier in the same broadcast, WCW commentator Tony Schiavone gave away the results of their Monday Night War rival World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s Raw is War (which was taped six days earlier, and aired at the same time Nitro was being broadcast live), revealing that former WCW wrestler Mick Foley was set to win the WWF Championship. Although this revelation was meant to deter Nitro viewers from switching to Raw is War, it instead reportedly prompted 600,000 viewers to change channels in order to see Foley's victory, with most viewers only tuning back in to Nitro when there were five minutes left in the broadcast, in which the Fingerpoke of Doom occurred.
The Fingerpoke of Doom was so named both for Nash's deliberate over-sell of the finger poke, and for the negative ramifications the incident had for WCW as a whole, with some wrestling journalists crediting it as the beginning of the company's ultimate downfall and loss of the Monday Night War.
The match was directly related to a controversial main event that occurred at World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s pay-per-view event Starrcade in December 1998, during which Kevin Nash pinned Goldberg to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. At the time of the match, Goldberg had been undefeated in his WCW career, and his defeat came about due to the interference of Nash's former tag team partner Scott Hall, who had used an electric cattle prod to incapacitate him, as well as interference from two other wrestlers, Bam Bam Bigelow and Disco Inferno.
On the subsequent episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Nash professed dissatisfaction with Hall's interference and offered Goldberg a rematch for the following week. However, Goldberg was (kayfabe) arrested halfway through the three-hour Nitro at the Georgia Dome and accused of "aggravated stalking" by Miss Elizabeth (Goldberg was originally to have been accused of rape, but refused to go along with that particular storyline). Although he was later released when Miss Elizabeth could not keep her story straight, Goldberg would not make it back to the arena in time to compete against Nash; it was noted in The Death of WCW by R. D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez that the entire skit was proven to be nonsensical after it was revealed that the police station was across the street from the Georgia Dome.
Meanwhile, Hollywood Hogan showed up for the first time since declaring his retirement from wrestling one month prior. Hogan and Nash had been in a feud since April 1998, when Nash became a fan favorite by breaking away from Hogan's New World Order (nWo) stable in order to form his own rival faction, nWo Wolfpac; Hogan remained a heel, leading his own nWo faction, nWo Hollywood. In Goldberg's absence, Nash offered the title shot to Hogan, who accepted the offer.
Hogan came out to the ring accompanied by Scott Steiner, who had taken over the leadership role in nWo Hollywood. Nash came out next, then revealed a surprise to Hogan and the crowd by stopping at the end of the entrance ramp and pointing backwards. The surprise was Hall, who had been a part of nWo Hollywood for most of the previous seven months and who entered wearing a Wolfpac T-shirt. This marked the reunion of The Outsiders, who had broken up as a tag team at Slamboree in May 1998.
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Fingerpoke of Doom
The nickname Fingerpoke of Doom refers to an incident in American professional wrestling which occurred on January 4, 1999, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, during a live broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship television program of World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
The incident occurred during the main event of Nitro, featuring WCW World Heavyweight champion Kevin Nash, who was the leader of the Wolfpac faction of the New World Order (nWo), and Hollywood Hogan, the leader of the Hollywood faction of the nWo, with whom Nash and his group had been feuding since April 1998 when the original faction split up and Hogan had retired from wrestling. The Wolfpac faction were babyfaces (heroes) while the Hollywood faction were heels (villains), as was the original nWo. The match saw Hogan poke Nash in the chest with his index finger, prompting Nash to theatrically throw himself onto the mat and allow Hogan to pin him; the victory marked the reunion of both nWo factions into one villainous group.
Earlier in the same broadcast, WCW commentator Tony Schiavone gave away the results of their Monday Night War rival World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s Raw is War (which was taped six days earlier, and aired at the same time Nitro was being broadcast live), revealing that former WCW wrestler Mick Foley was set to win the WWF Championship. Although this revelation was meant to deter Nitro viewers from switching to Raw is War, it instead reportedly prompted 600,000 viewers to change channels in order to see Foley's victory, with most viewers only tuning back in to Nitro when there were five minutes left in the broadcast, in which the Fingerpoke of Doom occurred.
The Fingerpoke of Doom was so named both for Nash's deliberate over-sell of the finger poke, and for the negative ramifications the incident had for WCW as a whole, with some wrestling journalists crediting it as the beginning of the company's ultimate downfall and loss of the Monday Night War.
The match was directly related to a controversial main event that occurred at World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s pay-per-view event Starrcade in December 1998, during which Kevin Nash pinned Goldberg to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. At the time of the match, Goldberg had been undefeated in his WCW career, and his defeat came about due to the interference of Nash's former tag team partner Scott Hall, who had used an electric cattle prod to incapacitate him, as well as interference from two other wrestlers, Bam Bam Bigelow and Disco Inferno.
On the subsequent episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Nash professed dissatisfaction with Hall's interference and offered Goldberg a rematch for the following week. However, Goldberg was (kayfabe) arrested halfway through the three-hour Nitro at the Georgia Dome and accused of "aggravated stalking" by Miss Elizabeth (Goldberg was originally to have been accused of rape, but refused to go along with that particular storyline). Although he was later released when Miss Elizabeth could not keep her story straight, Goldberg would not make it back to the arena in time to compete against Nash; it was noted in The Death of WCW by R. D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez that the entire skit was proven to be nonsensical after it was revealed that the police station was across the street from the Georgia Dome.
Meanwhile, Hollywood Hogan showed up for the first time since declaring his retirement from wrestling one month prior. Hogan and Nash had been in a feud since April 1998, when Nash became a fan favorite by breaking away from Hogan's New World Order (nWo) stable in order to form his own rival faction, nWo Wolfpac; Hogan remained a heel, leading his own nWo faction, nWo Hollywood. In Goldberg's absence, Nash offered the title shot to Hogan, who accepted the offer.
Hogan came out to the ring accompanied by Scott Steiner, who had taken over the leadership role in nWo Hollywood. Nash came out next, then revealed a surprise to Hogan and the crowd by stopping at the end of the entrance ramp and pointing backwards. The surprise was Hall, who had been a part of nWo Hollywood for most of the previous seven months and who entered wearing a Wolfpac T-shirt. This marked the reunion of The Outsiders, who had broken up as a tag team at Slamboree in May 1998.