The last couple of years in the life of WCW was a rough time to sit through for fans. Questionable decisions, terrible booking, and panic in the face of losing the Monday Night Wars to WWE led the company on a downward spiral that they were unable to escape from. One of the decisions that had gone down as one of the worst in wrestling history, was crowning David Arquette as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. However, his one and only PPV match was actually pretty good, contrary to belief.

Arquette Was A Hollywood Star Who Found Himself In WCW

David Arquette is best known for being a Hollywood actor, famous for roles in Scream and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. In the year 2000, he starred in the wrestling-inspired WCW film, Ready To Rumble, which featured many famous names from the WCW roster, such as former world champions like Goldberg, Sting, and Randy Savage, in addition to a very young, uncredited cameo of John Cena.

RELATED: 10 WCW Feuds That Were Completely One-Sided

To promote the film, Arquette appeared on WCW television, in what initially seemed like a simple segment in order to get people talking about Ready to Rumble. He would confront Eric Bischoff in what should have been a throwaway segment and just a bit of fun. However, Arquette would continue to return to TV, week after week, forming a partnership with Chris Kanyon and reigning champion, Diamond Dallas Page. He would then defeat Bischoff in a singles match, which should have been kept within the realms of a comedic feud.

Arquette Shockingly Became WCW World Heavyweight Champion

On an episode of WCW Thunder, Arquette wrestled his second-ever wrestling match – and it was for the World Title. It was a strange match, one which fans hadn’t expected, which saw Arquette team with DDP to take on Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff. The stipulation of the match was that whoever scored the winning pinfall would walk out WCW Champion. In a truly shocking moment, Arquette pinned Bischoff, walking out as the world champion for America’s second-biggest wrestling company.

RELATED: 10 WWE Wrestlers Who Signed With WCW (& Flopped)

To all of the wrestlers in the back, this would have been a huge slap in the face. Many have worked their entire careers to just get a shot at championship gold, but Arquette walked in as a celebrity and was gifted a huge prize. In many ways, it was a mockery of professional wrestling, one which Arquette himself wasn’t on board with, but went along regardless after pressure from management. Arquette was a comedic champion, and certainly something WCW didn’t need when trying to survive as a company. His reign, albeit very short at just 12 days, represented the state of WCW at the time.

Slamboree Hosted The Obscene Structure Of The Triple Cage

Slamboree 2000 marked his one and only PPV match. He defended the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against both DDP and Jeff Jarrett in a Triple Cage Match. The match stipulation was taken right out of the Ready to Rumble film, and it was a sight to behold. In making the Triple Cage cannon in wrestling, they put together a truly terrifying, intimidating structure, which looked very unsafe.

RELATED: 8 Things In WCW That Should Have Failed (But Didn't)

Three cages were awkwardly stacked on top of each other, with competitors needing to climb through trapdoors on each cage to reach the top level. Each cage had different weaponry and gimmicks, with the title belt hanging from the ceiling of the arena. It was so high up and dangerous – but this added big stakes to the contest, producing a riveting match at times, despite Arquette’s reign being a poor time for WCW.

Arquette’s Title Defense Exceeded All Expectations

The match, with all the pitfalls surrounding it, was actually good. Jarrett and DDP did all the heavy lifting, of course, and put in hard work to elevate the match. Arquette played his role as the scared, cowardly, comedic champion well, adding to the match his unwillingness to compete. There was certainly a unique dynamic to the contest.

The structure itself was something to behold, and it felt like a big deal, with camera work and production heightening the scariness and scale of the match, with the camera above the cage showcasing just how high up the competitors were. The crowd was super into it too, largely because of the absurdity of the cage, as it was like nothing ever before seen in wrestling. The ending of the match also featured a huge swerve, as Arquette turned on DDP, allowing Jarrett to win the title, relieving Arquette of his painful reign. The match certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty darn good for what it was. In recent years, Arquette has returned to wrestling to try and redeem himself for the poorly received title reign, and many fans have shown respect to the hard work he has put in.