Johnny Swinger Talks WCW's Rapid Collapse, WCW Not Using Talent Under Contract
Johnny Swinger worked for all of the top promotions during the 1990s and 2000s including WCW, ECW, WWE and Impact Wrestling. He was with WCW in the early days of the Monday Night Wars until departing for ECW in 1999.
Swinger reflected on that time and if he wished WCW gave him more of an opportunity when he spoke with Interactive Wrestling Radio.
"Well, I was under contract; that was exciting enough for me," said Swinger. "I was not even 22 years old when I signed my first Turner Broadcasting contract for guaranteed weekly pay. I was on TV every week. I was blown away and lucky to have that. I was on the same shows as Macho Man, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair? All these guys I grew up watching. For me, every time I went out on TV, if it was a minute or nine minutes, that was an opportunity."
While Swinger had some appearances on Nitro and Thunder, he was prominently featured on WCW's weekend programming including WCW Saturday Night. Even though it wasn't WCW's main show, it still had a significant reach and Swinger even compared the ratings to those of Raw today.
"The show you're talking about, WCW Saturday Night. That was considered the B or C show. But, I remember the TBS ratings were 2.5, 2.7, 2.8! Now, compare that to RAW's rating today? There is not that much of a difference there in viewership," stated Swinger. "We really had a lot of eyes on us. That period there, that was the biggest exposure I ever had. I remember when I would go out in public, that is when I got recognized the most – more than when I was with ECW, more than when I was with TNA, and even more than when I was with WWE. Our lower rated shows were between a 2.5 and a 3. That is a great rating today!"
Swinger was a part of the most-watched Nitro episode ever in July 1998. He was, of course, on the undercard where he faced Chavo Guerrero, but he can always boast being a part of that historic episode.
"I just heard recently that? I did this Nitro in 1998 in the Georgia Dome where Goldberg beat Hogan for the belt. At that time, that was the most watched wrestling show on cable ever. It may have been beaten since then but that is quite a record for someone to boast. I think I may have heard Bischoff say that on one of his podcasts. 1997, 1998, and 1999 was really big time," said Swinger.
"I do a lot of independent shows today with Buff Bagwell and people are still talking about the nWo and Sting coming down from the ceiling? So many people were watching! I don't know if it will ever be that big again. At that time, I had friends up north, Edge and Christian. They were doing that Brood thing. Both sides were doing fantastic during that time period."
As Swinger said earlier, he had guaranteed pay and that was the norm for WCW wrestlers during the 1990s. However, those that were being paid weren't always used and he talked about seeing random guys backstage and not knowing who they were.
"We were at syndicated TV one day at Universal Studios, this was probably 1998 or 1999. I was standing there with Lenny Lane. When we did those TVs, almost the entire company was there for those three or four days," revealed Swinger. "I saw this guy? He looked like he was about 6'5, 320 pounds. He had a beard like Santa Claus. I said to Lenny, 'God, who is that guy? He's a monster!' Lenny said, 'Swinger, that's Nailz!' I said, 'What do you mean, Nailz? Like, Kevin Kelly from WWF, Nailz?' He said, 'Yep.' I said, 'Wow, when did he sign?' Lenny said, 'He's been under contract here for about 3 years.'
"That was the first and only time we saw Kevin! We saw guys we didn't even know were in the company. Then Lenny said, 'You don't want to even know what he's making either [laughs].' He was a Minnesota guy. Curt Hennig was a super guy and took care of all of his friends. They were all there – Wayne Bloom, Mike Enos, John Nord, Barry Darsow? They were all there!"
Things started going downhill when WCW Thunder premiered and there was a risk of overexposure. Swinger said that then led to live events suffering as fans could just watch the stars on TV and skip the house shows.
"There was so much TV that, to me, the guys became lesser stars. They were too available. Then, our live events tanked. It was like, who wants to go to pay to go see a live event when you've got Hogan and Goldberg on Monday night for free," asked Swinger. "We can throw a party and not have to pay anything. Think about it. July of '98 was the most watched show ever. Then, three years later, it is gone? That was the free fall. We couldn't do anything bigger than that. So, everything was downhill from there."