Buff Bagwell says WCW’s business was in dire straits before the formation of the nWo turned the company’s fortunes around, according to a report from Ringside News. Bagwell described a promotion that was struggling so badly to fill seats that it resorted to extreme measures just to create the appearance of a crowd.
According to the report, Bagwell claimed WCW was not simply dealing with a few empty seats here and there during this period. He said the company was literally begging people to attend events for free, and that during marathon tapings at Center Stage, WCW gave away bicycles as an incentive to get fans through the door.
Bagwell also claimed that WCW went as far as paying two specific fans to sit in the crowd, according to Ringside News. The account paints a picture of a company searching for any way to make its television tapings look viable before the nWo storyline, which reshaped WCW’s trajectory and eventually helped fuel the promotion’s rise during the Monday Night Wars.
The specifics of how long this period lasted, or further detail on the two paid fans, were not included in the available report.
