David Arquette's WCW World Heavyweight Championship Run Explained
Looking back at the dying days of WCW, there is one monumental event that often stands out to fans, and not in a good way: David Arquette's WCW World Heavyweight Championship victory. Arquette won the title during an episode of "WCW Thunder" in April of 2000, and less than one year later, the company would be sold to WWE. While it's impossible to put the blame for the company's downfall on this one event, it is certainly emblematic of the bigger problems within WCW at the time.
During the height of the "Monday Night Wars," WCW consistently topped WWE in ratings. Even before that changed and WWE overtook WCW in the ratings once again, reactionary booking decisions became the norm in an attempt to keep WCW on top. "WCW Thunder" was introduced, diluting the TV product.
Controversial decisions, such as bringing Bret Hart only to utilize him as a guest referee on his first pay-per-view, or stripping Sting of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, began to take a toll on the company's popularity.
Ready to Rumble promotion
By the time April 2000 rolled around, WCW lagged far behind its competitor in the ratings. The upcoming film "Ready to Rumble," starring David Arquette along with WCW performers like Diamond Dallas Page and Randy Savage, was preparing to release.
In an effort to capitalize on the upcoming movie, WCW's head of creative Vince Russo came up with the idea of putting the company's top championship on Arquette — an actor with absolutely no wrestling experience. Arquette was unsure of the idea; as a wrestling fan himself, he knew what the fan reaction would be. However, he was told that the promotion of the film depended on him winning the title, so he agreed.
The fateful night was April 25, 2000. The main event was a tag team match that featured Arquette and then WCW World Heavyweight Champion Page against WCW Senior Vice President Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett. The stipulation stated that whoever picked up the pin would become the new champion — a rule that didn't make a whole lot of sense. Page had just won the title from Jarrett, with some assistance from Arquette, while Jarrett was aligned with WCW management to form the New Blood faction.
Arquette and Page vs. Bischoff and Jarrett
As the night's episode kicked off, it was revealed that David Arquette had apparently been kidnapped and was beat down by Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett before the show, leaving him in rough shape. Over the course of the episode, Diamond Dallas Page attempted to convince Arquette not to wrestle, but Arquette refused.
The main event finally rolled around — with Page's estranged wife Kimberly Page as the special guest referee — and it did not last very long. Arquette and Bischoff brawled on the outside while Page dominated Jarrett in the ring, only for Kimberly to refuse to count the pinfalls. After a few minutes, Jarrett had turned things around and Bischoff returned to the ring without Arquette.
Jarrett and Bischoff began double-teaming Page, only for Page to start making a comeback as Arquette limped his way down to the ring. Page kissed his wife, which apparently served as enough of a distraction to render her unable to act as the referee, while another referee was sent down to replace her.
Arquette wins the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
While the replacement referee made their way to the ring, Jeff Jarrett hit Diamond Dallas Page in the head with the championship after he finished kissing his wife, while David Arquette speared Eric Bischoff in the center of the ring. The new referee then arrived and, despite Arquette not being the legal man, counted Arquette's pin attempt as the official one, giving Arquette the victory and making him the WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
The show went off the air with Page and Arquette celebrating their victory together, despite the fact that DDP just lost the world championship to his tag team partner.
The reaction to Arquette's title victory went about as you'd expect — fans were not in favor while Arquette also revealed years later that WCW performers hated the decision. His title reign would be mercifully short, with Jarrett winning the championship back at WCW Slamboree just weeks later after Arquette turned on Page. In the aftermath of his brief WCW run, Arquette would become something of a joke in pro wrestling, before making a comeback in the 2010s on the independent circuit.