The year was 1999. I was a 13 year old avid watcher and a big fan of WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and had completely zero interest in its competitor company, WWF (World Wrestling Federation). WCW was my weekly ritual. The show was like a movie crossed into real life - an immersive cinematic world where anything is possible, but everything felt very grounded (for the time). It wasn't just a brawl between long haired musclemen in speedos like modern wrestling is, or WWF was. WCW had everything from music stars to actors and star athletes, and when those weren't around, the one and only Hulk Hogan and his storylines were always a thrill to watch. Late 90s WCW was like walking into Blockbuster video - you had sport stars, actors, horror, action, comedy and sometimes even fantasy.
For a huge, huge comic book and movie fan like myself, it was quite a treat. I mean, at the time in the late 90's, WCW had characters straight from dark 90s fantasy/scifi films like The Crow (Sting) or Dark City (very brief, but still), had characters representing bands, and all kinds of celebrities from actors (David Arquette from Scream movies) to big sport stars and even talk show hosts (Dennis Rodman, Jay Leno)
To this day I applaud the late 90's WCW even thought it is then that it started losing ground against WWF, and many people say that in their opinion it was declining in quality. But for me this was it. It was the best entertainment on TV and "sport". I watched it religiously. It was a terrific entertainment with immersive characters that never failed to catch my attention and imagination, until the new millennium where it completely lost its flash
THE DEMON - BACKGROUND
Most wrestling fans, and Kiss fans especially, are familiar with the WCW wrestler who represented the classic rock icons and Rocnk'n'Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, Kiss. In recent years there have been plenty of articles online talking about how that character had flopped and it made some "worst WCW gimmicks" online lists. It's true to a certain extent that the character was mishandled, and it definitely got the short end of the stick, but it's not as bad as what some of these articles make it out to be. Some say the character was cheesy. Really? So, anything other than oiled up guy in an underwear is cheesy? Give me cheesy then! The character was a dark type of fantasy, Spawn-like, rather than colorful circus-looking type so I’d definitely disagree with that sentiment. If someones not into fantasy and comic books though, this character isn’t for them. A fantasy character handled well can be really cinematic and grand. If the character is handled self consciously and with a wink, then it can indeed be silly.
I was witnessing The Demon's birth and evolution as it happened, and to this day I'm fascinated with the character. Why?
Well, first, I find it very interesting and intriguing that the character had two different people playing him, that he had openly two different identities. I know it wasn't the first time it happened in wrestling, but in this instance, it was especially interesting to me. It goes back to my comic book fandom, as it mirrored some of my favorite comic books of the 90's - unexplained changing identities of Hobgoblin. Second, as far as behind the scenes stuff goes, I also find it interesting how the character and his storyline evolved from being an A list blockbuster to a straight to video flick so to speak, like Starship Troopers, or 90’s Mortal Kombat, or Darkman. Third, I absolutely love the character's Spawn-like design and everything about it...well, at least about his initial concept.
Most who know about The Demon, know his story, but for those who maybe don't, here's the whole thing in a pill.
WCW's chairman Eric Bischoff outbid WWF to license Kiss and have a wrestler based on them. The deal was insanely expensive (reportedly Half a Million Dollars plus as cited in articles, but recently said to actually be $250,000 by Bischoff) and the merchandise deal also sided heavily with Kiss, so other suits from WCW were really against it. Bischoff got his wish and got Kiss, planning for the Demon to be an A list character with a main storyline that would culminate in a special, major Millenium PPV Stadium event on New Years Eve! So those were some really grand plans. Right after that character was introduced, portrayed by giant Brian Adams, Bischoff lost his power and the Demon immediately disappeared. Months later the character reemerged as a C storyline, with a newcomer Dale Torborg portraying him instead, and the suits in power downplayed him and tried to embarrass him to rub off on Bischoff, who was an unpopular shrewd businessman among the other WCW suits.
So here is a place dedicated to The Demon. I'll be chronologically following the earliest seeds, birth and evolution of the character, completed with screencaps, facts, magazine and online articles, and my reactions to each episode, the way I felt at the time seeing it all unfold
