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Ron Simmons

Ron Simmons

Ron Simmons (a.k.a. Faarooq Assad or simply Faarooq) is a professional wrestler who wrestled for WCW and later the WWF (now the WWE). Ron spent much of his wrestling career as a tag team specialist. He is currently residing in Warner Robins, Georgia. He was also a former All-American football player at Florida State University under Bobby Bowden. In 1988, Florida State retired Ron Simmons' jersey.

Career

jersey

WCW

Ron Simmons teamed up with Butch Reed to form Doom. Doom defeated the Steiner Brothers for the NWA Tag titles, which would be later renamed to WCW Tag titles (making them the first WCW tag team champions). Simmons is also considered to be the first ever Black man to win a World Heavyweight Championship, when he defeated Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on August 2, 1992.

WWF/WWE

Simmons joined the WWF in 1996 as Faarooq Asad and feuded with Ahmed Johnson briefly before dropping the Asad from his name, and was known as Faarooq until the WWF brand extension in 2002 where he briefly competed under his real name before reverting to Faarooq upon reuniting in the APA. Simmons was the leader of the Nation of Domination and the former best friend and tag team partner of Bradshaw a.k.a. John "Bradshaw" Layfield. The two were known collectively as the APA (Acolyte Protection Agency) - perhaps one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. The APA gimmick was about two tough and mean wrestlers who love brawling, smoking cigars, fighting and especially drinking beer. The team of the APA captured the World Tag Team Championship on multiple occasions. Faarooq is also a former member of the Ministry of Darkness, an old wrestling faction led by The Undertaker. In December 2002, Ron retired from professional wrestling but on June 2003 he returned to SmackDown!. In his last WWE storyline, he was fired by former SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman after he disrespected Heyman (due to the WrestleMania XX issue between Heyman and Stone Cold Steve Austin during that night). At first the APA would be fired, but it turned out to only be Faarooq. Ron left the WWE with hatred against Bradshaw because of him not being a faithful friend. During that event, Heyman told Layfield that it was time for him to break out on his own again. This made Layfield turn heel again. Ron Simmons retired from wrestling after this incident but continues to make appearances for the WWE in a promotional capacity. He was one of JBL's best men during Bradshaw's wedding to Meredith Whitney.

Profile


- Height: 6'2"
- Weight: 275 pounds
- Birthday: 15th May 1958
- Hometown: Perry, Georgia
- Trained by: Hiro Matsuda
- Pro debut: October 1986
- Previous identites: Faarooq, Faarooq Assad, "The All American", Ron Simmons
- Previous manager(s): Theodore Long, Sunny, Clarence Mason, Jacqueline, Woman, Iron Sheik, The Jackyl
- Quote / Catchphrase: "Well, I'll be damned!"; "DAMN!"

Finishing and signature moves


- The Dominator (Inverted front powerslam)
- Spinebuster
- Scoop powerslam
- Shoulder block

With Bradshaw


- Aided powerbomb
- Backdrop, neckbreaker combination
- Double spinebuster

Titles and accomplishments

World Championship Wrestling


- 1-Time WCW World Heavyweight Champion
- 1-Time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Butch Reed)
- 1-Time WCW United States Tag Team Champion (with Big Josh)

World Wrestling Entertainment


- 3-Time WWF World Tag Team Champion (with Bradshaw)

Memphis Championship Wrestling


- 1-Time MCW Southern Tag Team Champion (with Bradshaw)

Ohio Valley Wrestling


- 1-Time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion (with Bradshaw)

National Wrestling Alliance


- 1-Time NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Butch Reed)

Florida Championship Wrestling


- 1-Time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion

Pro Wrestling Illustrated


- PWI ranked him # 108 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. He was also ranked # 91 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Butch Reed.
- Simmons won the PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler Award in 1992. Simmons, Ron Simmons, Ron Simmons, Ron Simmons, Ron Simmons, Ron Simmons, Ron Simmons, Ron

Professional wrestling

:For the Nintendo Entertainment System video game by Nintendo, see Pro Wrestling (video game). Pro Wrestling (video game).]] Professional wrestling is a form of performance art where the participants engage in simulated sporting matches. Originating in the days of travelling carnival shows, professional wrestling's humbler beginnings include strongman feats, hook wrestling, and other acrobatic performances. It should be noted that in the earlier parts of the 20th Century, "professional wrestling" was at times, just that, a professional contest of amateur style wrestlers competeing for a purse with similar league structure to professional boxing. However, these contests disappeared from the sports world with the advent of television, due to their extreme length and lack of drama. It was found over the years to be much more profitable when contests were arranged for both length and dramatic effect. For over a century, professional wrestling promoters and performers claimed that the competition was completely real and vehemently defended secrets of the trade (a situation known as kayfabe). Any pretense of sporting competition was dropped in the late 1990s, when Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation began to frequently describe its events as "sports entertainment," along with a formal change of moniker to World Wrestling Entertainment. (Although the name change was in response to a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund against the World Wrestling Federation over the rights to the initials "WWF" in the United Kingdom, the increasing use of the term "entertainment" leading up to the suit's resolution seemed to explain McMahon's willingness to change the name.)

Reality and fantasy

Professional wrestling is "simulated" in the sense that the outcomes are predetermined, the maneuvers rehearsed and executed cooperatively, and their effects upon the opponent exaggerated. Some treat the performance as a form of entertainment or drama, and would not use the term "fake" in describing it. Various pro-wrestling moves cause genuine pain and can cause serious injury if performed incorrectly. The moves may involve knowledge and skill in gymnastic sports such as weight lifting and tumbling; these can be seen as a form of stunt work performed live and without benefit of backup safety devices such as those used in filmmaking. The vast majority of the matches have pre-determined results and are said to be "worked". The results are determined by "bookers" to maximize "heel heat" for the bad guy and "(baby)face heat" for the good guy, often in the context of a long-running "feud" or storyline. Typically the wrestlers will work out some signature "spots" marking key moments in the match in advance. During the match, the move sequences and transitions are improvised with the participants "calling spots" to each other to inform them of their next up-coming move. The referee is also often involved in executing the match to schedule and dealing with unforeseen circumstances. The vast majority of bleeding incidents in wrestling are "real", and are typically induced by using hidden razor blades to cut oneself on the forehead; the act of cutting is known in the business and among fans as "blading", and bleeding is known as "juicing". If a wrestler bleeds without being cut, such as due to an accidental broken nose, he is said to be "juicing hardway". If a wrestler hits another wrestler harder than he should on purpose, that is called "stiff," "being stiff," a "potato" or "potato shot." Besides the somewhat real violence however, there have constantly been times where the division between reality and fantasy has been blurred, especially when it comes to who should win the matches. See the Clique as an example of this. On occasion, although increasingly rarely in recent decades, a wrestler will shoot, or ignore the script and attempt to win legitimately. This is also known as "going into business for yourself." In the past, promotions' World Champions were often intentionally-chosen "hookers" such as Lou Thesz who could defend themselves if the fight became real.

Rules

Lou Thesz] The simulated nature of professional wrestling is only one of the many differences it has with traditional wrestling. Other differences can be found by looking at the supposed rules of pro wrestling. The referee has ultimate control in any match, and has so much authority that a decision reversal can only be made by the referee involved in the match; even the promotion owner has no influence over this decision. Of course, even this "rule" is subject to modification, depending on current storylines within the promotion. A common means of this is a promotion owner or other high official modifying the stipulations of a match to invalidate a referee's decision. A "motto" in the pro-wrestling world used to describe the interpretation of the rules (actually more like loose guidelines) is: "You can't call what you don't see", implying that anything is justified as long as the referee doesn't see. This is often used as a plot twist to drastically change the momentum in a match. One of the better-known occurrences has a referee getting "accidentally" knocked senseless or thrown outside of the ring. While he's stunned, one wrestler, usually a Face, will suddenly have the match won, only to then have it robbed from them via outside interference, a foreign object, or some other unfair means. The referee, unaware of what happened, will recover just in time to notice a pin that reflects the new situation, and make an effortful three-count. In addition to pinfall, a match can be won by submission, count-out, disqualification, or failure to answer a ten count. Punching is permitted as long as the wrestler's fist is open (this is known as a "chop"). You may only kick with the flat part of the foot, and "low blow" only refers to actually striking the crotch. If either wrestler is in contact with the ropes or if any part of the wrestler is underneath the ropes, all contact between the wrestlers must be broken before the count of five. This strategy is used very often in order to escape from a submission hold, and also, more seldom, a wrestler can place his foot on the ropes to avoid losing by pinfall.

Pinfall

In order to win by pinfall, a wrestler must pin both his opponent's shoulders against the mat while the referee slaps the mat three times. This is the most common form of defeat. Since the 1990s, however, the "both shoulders on the mat" condition has been overlooked, if not outright ignored. It is, most often, illegal to use the ropes to secure oneself or gain leverage while pinning, and is therefore a popular cheating method for heels.

Submission

To win by submission, the wrestler must make his opponent give up, usually, but not necessarily, by putting him in a submission hold (i.e. leg-lock, arm-lock, etc.). Passing out in a submission hold constitutes a loss by knockout. To determine if a wrestler has passed out, the referee usually picks up and drops his hand. If it drops three consecutive times without the wrestler having the strength to stop it from falling, the wrestler is considered to have passed out. This has been largely ignored since around 1995, although it is still used when an "old-school" wrestler is working a match. Today, a wrestler can indicate a submission by "tapping out", that is, tapping a free hand against the mat. The tapout is not a traditional part of professional wrestling; it was introduced during the mid-1990s in response to the increased popularity of mixed martial arts competitions, where the tapout has always been accepted. Rarely, some promotions have used the option of a verbal submission, in case of the wrestler's arms being inactive due to the submission manouever.

Count-out

A count-out happens when a wrestler is out of the ring long enough for the referee to count to 10 (in some promotions it can be a 20 count). If both wrestlers are outside the ring, the count is broken if either one re-enters the ring. If not both wresters will be disqualified, aiso known as an "double count-out" or "impossible draw". If both of the wrestlers are lying on the mat and not moving, the referee may issue a ten count. One wrestler reaching his knees will break the count. If neither wrestler reaches his or her knees or feet, it is considered a draw, also known as an "in ring count-out." It should be noted that the count out rule indicates that a wrestler cannot win a match while any part of his opponents body is not in the ring. This allows pinfalls and submissions holds to be escaped by grabbing hold of one of the ring ropes, thus indicating to the referee that they are partially out of the ring and forcing him to break the hold or stop the count. This is also why the referee will start a count once a wrestler has reached the top rope, he is out of the ring area.

Disqualification

Offenses punishable by disqualification include:
- Performing any illegal holds or maneuvers, such as refusing to break a hold when an opponent is in the ropes, choking or biting an opponent, staying on the top turnbuckle, and repeatedly punching with a closed fist, for more than a referee-administered five count.
- Any outside interference involving a person not involved in the match striking or holding a wrestler. If someone attempts to interfere but is ejected from the ring by a wrestler or referee before this occurs, there is usually no disqualification.
- Striking an opponent with a foreign object (unless the rules of the match specifically allow this).
- A direct low-blow to the groin.
- Laying hands on the referee. In practice, the "rules" of the fight are often violated without disqualification due to the referee being "distracted" and not seeing the offense, or the referee seeing the offense but allowing the match to continue. Almost always, a referee must see the violation with his own eyes to rule that the match end in a disqualification and the referee's ruling is almost always final. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the referees themselves to get "knocked out" during a match. While the referee remains "unconscious," rules are often violated at will.

Title matches

Unless specifically noted, a wrestler cannot win a championship title from his opponent by defeating him by count-out or disqualification; in the event of a count-out or a disqualification, the champion retains his title even if he loses the match. A wrestler must pin his opponent or force him to submit in order to win a championship.

Variations

The rules for a one-on-one pro wrestling match have not always been the same. For instance, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) had a rule that your opponent couldn't be thrown over the top rope. The now-defunct WCW or World Championship Wrestling, an offshoot of the NWA, formerly had a rule stating you could not jump off the top rope onto a prone opponent. Both instances would have caused a disqualification. The World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) once disqualified wrestlers for pulling their opponent's ringwear or tights while covering for a pin. The move is still illegal in most promotions, but only breaks the hold or pin.

Pro wrestling as entertainment

See Commedia dell'arte for an artistic predecessor to this style of entertainment. The commedia dell'arte influence can be seen in a number of non-match related elements of professional wrestling. Some examples of these include storylines, gimmicks, interviews, and angles. These "non-wrestling" elements – used to build excitement and interest in professional wrestling matches – have been referred to as "sports entertainment". While professional wrestling moved increasingly to fixed matches during the late-1800s and early 1900s, for most of the 20th century professional wrestling was promoted as a legitimate sport. It is from this tension between performance and athletic reality that the concept of "kayfabe" originated. As the 20th century progressed, promoters spent less time focusing on believable sports action, and more time presenting it as a "sports entertainment" spectacle. For a brief time, comedian Andy Kaufman began wrestling women during his act and was the self-proclaimed "Inter-gender Wrestling Champion of the World". Another major step in this direction was taken when Vince McMahon took control of the WWF, now known as WWE. Besides taking his federation into the territory boundries of the NWA, marking the first truly national pro wrestling promotion, and his national WrestleMania pay-per-view shows, McMahon also came up with the "Rock and Wrestling" concept. In fact, a key distinction between McMahon and competitors like Jim Crockett Promotions (the forerunner to WCW) and the American Wrestling Association was the carnival atmosphere created by the promoter's gimmicks and angles. Indeed, if the term "sports entertainment" was not invented by McMahon, WWE has certainly popularized its use. A popular myth within professional wrestling fandom suggests McMahon adopted the term because staged entertainment insurance premiums are lower than for those for live sporting events. Another suggested reason is to give his business a sense of "legitimacy" in the business community as a form of entertainment, rather than as a "fake" sport. Similarly, McMahon "educated" his fan base, through the 1980s, that they weren't witnessing an improvised sporting contest, and instead that they should tune in for the sports-entertainment aspect; in other words, at least implying that the event was bettered, not diminished, by the very fact that it was being "worked." This was a cunning move, especially given that his competitors were still often presenting themselves as being legitimate sports (WCW commentator Tony Schiavone continued to use the phrase "Greatest moment in the history of our sport" well into the 1990s). The WWF's "Rock and Wrestling" era has been derided by critics, and professional wrestling "purists", as presenting "cartoonish" characters, interviews, and slapstick skits as opposed to "real" wrestling. Others, however, point out that—aside from cable television and video—McMahon's focus on entertainment was key to pro wrestling's 1980s revival in popularity. This debate is still ongoing within pro wrestling fandom, especially within the "smark" community. Since then, Extreme Championship Wrestling, WCW's nWo gimmick, and the WWF / WWE's "Attitude" era further progressed the development of the non-wrestling aspects of professional wrestling.

Promotions

The organizations that schedule and produce professional wrestling performances and known as wrestling promotions. Currently, the only major wrestling organisations left in North America are the United States promotions of World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a former NWA member that is still loosely linked to that organization; and the Mexican lucha libre promotions Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Of these, WWE is by far the largest and most influential throughout the world. While these organizations are the most prominent and popular, there are many other smaller, regional promotions known as indies, many of which are, like TNA, official territories of the NWA. Other major independent promotions include Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling. Outside North America, there are other federations throughout Europe and also in Japan, Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean. See also: List of wrestling promotions

See also

Terminology


- Professional wrestling aerial techniques (e.g. Shooting Star Press, Moonsault)
- Professional wrestling attacks
- Professional wrestling double-team maneuvers
- Professional wrestling finishers
- Professional wrestling holds (e.g. Boston crab)
- Professional wrestling match types
- Professional wrestling schools
- Professional wrestling slang
- Professional wrestling throws (e.g. Suplex, Powerbomb, Piledriver, DDT, Backbreaker, Neckbreaker, Brainbuster)

Professional wrestling worldwide


- Professional wrestling in Japan
- Professional wrestling in Mexico
- Professional wrestling in United Kingdom

Lists of wrestlers


- List of professional wrestlers
- List of professional wrestling stables

Types of professional wrestling


- List of professional wrestling styles
- Real Pro Wrestling

External links


- [http://dmoz.org/Sports/Wrestling/Professional/ DMOZ]
- [http://www.wrestlingblog.com/ Wrestling Blog: submit your own Wrestling Blog]
- [http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com ProWrestlingHistory.com]
- [http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/home/index.html Obsessed with wrestling - biographies, results, title histories, etc]
- [http://www.wrestlepower.com WrestlePower News and information pertaining to WWE and TNA]
- [http://www.geocities.com/wisereborn The Wrestling Follower]
- [http://www.mediaman.com.au/profiles/wrestling.html Media Man Wrestling Directory]
- [http://www.wrestling-dungeon.net Warned.net - Wrestling News and Articles]
- [http://www.wrestling-caricatures.com Wrestling Caricatures] Information, rumors, and trivia
- ja:プロレス th:มวยปล้ำอาชีพ

World Championship Wrestling

: For the Nintendo Entertainment System video game, see WCW Wrestling. :There was also a World Championship Wrestling circuit in Australia from 1964 to 1978. This article is about the U.S. promotion. World Championship Wrestling or WCW, was a professional wrestling promotion that was based in Atlanta and existed from 1988 to 2001. Originally known as Universal Wrestling Corporation, the company was formed when Turner Broadcasting System acquired control of the wrestling related assets of Jim Crockett Promotions, at the time the flagship of the dissipating National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) for $9 million (the Crocketts continued to own a minority stake in the promotion until selling out altogether a few years later). In March 2001, the company's assets were purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, who continued to use the name as part of a storyline until November, when the promotion officially ceased. WCW was also a member of the NWA until September 1993.

In the Beginning: The NWA Years

By 1986, Jim Crockett, Jr. controlled key portions of the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) under the name Jim Crockett Promotions, including the traditional NWA territories in The Carolinas, Georgia, and St. Louis. Crockett merged his various NWA territories into one group, and began promoting under the name "NWA World Championship Wrestling." A simmering feud between Crockett and Vince McMahon's WWF sprang up, and both companies attempted to outmaneuver the other to acquire key TV slots. In the same year, he also purchased Heart of America Sports Attractions Inc (HASA), which owned the rights to promote wrestling shows through several central states (Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa). HASA was known to many fans as NWA Central States, and ran a TV show called All Star Wrestling. In 1987, Crockett's buying spree continued, with the purchase of Florida Championship Wrestling, and the Universal Wrestling Federation (which covered Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana), which was not an NWA member. The Florida & UWF (and its wrestlers) were absorbed into Crockett Promotions. Crockett had almost accomplished his goal of creating a national federation. Between his purchasing several NWA territories, World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas leaving the NWA in 1986 (and later merging with Jerry Lawler's Championship Wrestling Alliance in Memphis to create the United States Wrestling Association), and the once highly viable Portland territory going bankrupt (it closed in 1992), he was the last bastion of the NWA, and the last member with national TV exposure. Since it was all they now saw, many people began to believe that World Championship Wrestling was the NWA. World Championship Wrestling and the NWA were still two separate entities, though, with Crockett as NWA President, they were very much on the same page. By this point, the NWA was effectively an on paper organization funded by Crockett, and allowed Crockett to use the NWA brand-name. However, it takes a large amount of capital to take a wrestling federation on a national tour, and Crockett's territorial acquisitions had seriously drained WCW's coffers. He was in a similar situation to that of the WWF in the early 1980s: a large debt load, and the success or failure of a federation hinging on the success or failure of a couple of PPVs. Crockett marketed StarrCade '87 as the NWA's answer to WrestleMania, however neither it, nor Bunkhouse Stampede, drew enough money to keep Crockett's promotion afloat. On November 21, 1988, Crockett's struggling firm was purchased outright by billionaire media mogul Ted Turner, the Atlanta-based owner of the cable TV networks TBS and TNT, among other interests. Crockett remained NWA President until 1991. Originally incorporated by TBS as the "Universal Wrestling Corporation", Turner promised the fans that WCW way would be the athlete-oriented style of NWA, as opposed to the cartoonish and simplistic exploits of the WWF. 1989 proved to be a huge year for WCW, with Ric Flair on top for most of the year both as World Champion and also as head booker. Flair drafted in two genuine pro wrestling legends in Ricky Steamboat and Terry Funk, and his PPV matches with both were hugely successful, financially and especially critically. Young, hot stars such as Sid Vicious, Sting, Scott Steiner, The Road Warriors, Brian Pillman, The Great Muta and Lex Luger were given big storylines and equally notable championship opportunities. Despite this influx of talent, WCW soon began working to gradually incorporate much of the glamor and showy gimmicks for which the WWF was better known. Virtually none of these stunts, such as the live cross-promotional appearance of RoboCop at a PPV event in 1990, the "Chamber of Horrors" gimmick and the notorious "Black Scorpion" storyline, succeeded. Behind the scenes, WCW also becoming more autonomous and slowly started separating itself from the historic NWA name. In January 1991, WCW officially split from the NWA and began to stand alone, recognizing its own WCW World Heavyweight Champion and WCW World Tag Team Championships. Confusingly, both the WCW and the NWA recognized Ric Flair (who was by now no longer the head booker) as their "World Heavyweight Champion" throughout most of the first half of 1991, but WCW, particularly recently-installed company president Jim Herd, turned against Flair for various reasons and fired him just prior to the July 1991 Great American Bash PPV. In the process, they officially stripped him of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. However, according to Flair's autobiography, they refused to return the $30,000 deposit he had put down on the (physical) belt, so he kept it and took it with him when he was hired by the WWF at the request of Vince McMahon. Flair then incorporated the belt into his gimmick, dubbing himself "the real World's Champion" (a jab at then-WWF Champion Hulk Hogan). WCW later renegotiated the use of the NWA name as a co-promotional gimmick with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and sued the WWF to stop showing Flair with the old NWA World title belt on its programs, claiming a trademark on the physical design of the belt. The belt was personally returned to WCW by Flair when Jim Herd was let go and he received his deposit back, and it was brought back as the revived NWA World Heavyweight Title. During the brief, complex period that WCW operated with its own World Champion while also recognizing the NWA's world title, Flair quit the WWF and returned to WCW, regaining the title from Barry Windham in July 1993. Immediately, the other, now much smaller, member organizations of the NWA began rightfully demanding that Flair defend the title under their rules in their territories, as mandated by old NWA agreements. The title was later scheduled to be dropped by Flair to "Ravishing" Rick Rude, a title change which was exposed by the months-in-advance taping of WCW TV shows at Disney-owned studios in Florida. The NWA board of directors, working separately from WCW, objected to Rude, therefore forcing WCW to finally leave the NWA for good again in September 1993. However, WCW still legally owned and used the actual NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt (Rick Rude even defended it as "The Big Gold Belt") but they could no longer use the "NWA" name. The title thus became known as the WCW International World Heavyweight Title. WCW knew that the title belt, because of its rich in-ring history and visual impact, was highly sought after and respected over in Japan and as such created a fictional subsidiary dubbed "WCW International" to inject some credibility back into the belt. WCW claimed that their subsidiary still recognized the belt as a legitimate World Title. Sting eventually won the WCW International Championship and lost the belt to then-WCW World Champion Ric Flair in a unification match in May 1994 when the experiment was jettisoned. To make things more confusing, the WCW title belt, as introduced in 1991, was dropped and the old NWA Championship belt was revived and officially replaced it as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. It was used as such until WCW's closure in 2001. The belt (in a slightly altered design) is still seen today in WWE as the World Heavyweight Championship on their SmackDown! brand (previously on RAW), and WWE has claimed on various programs that the World Heavyweight Championship is a continuation of the World Heavyweight Championship lineage from WCW.

The Bischoff Era Begins

SmackDown! No matter how technically amazing and athletic WCW's action could be, it did not make as much money as the WWF. The creative product of the company sank very noticeably in 1992 and 1993 under the presidency of Jim Herd and, subsequently, Bill Watts. There were signs of gradual recovery in late 1993 when former commentator and American Wrestling Association (AWA) booker Eric Bischoff joined WCW. Bischoff, originally brought in as a secondary commentator behind Jim Ross after the AWA became defunct, was desperate to give WCW a new direction and impressed Turner's top brass with his confrontational tactics and business-savvy. Bischoff did not disappoint, declaring open war on McMahon's WWF in the media and aggressively recruiting high-profile former WWF superstars such as Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage in 1994. Using Turner's superior monetary resources, Bischoff placed his faith in the established, WWF-made stars with proven track records. Because of their high profiles, however, Hogan and Savage were able to demand and get several concessions not usually allowed to wrestlers at the time, such as multi-year, multimillion dollar guaranteed contracts and significant creative control. This problem only became worse during subsequent years of competition with the WWF, as other wrestlers were able to make similar demands, and contract values soared out of control. Hogan, in particular, was able to gain considerable influence through a blossoming friendship with Bischoff. Another problem Bischoff failed to consider was the fact that many WCW fans watched it as an alternative to the cartoony product of the WWF in the early 90s, and many NWA fans saw the hiring of former WWF talent as an attempt to copy its success, as opposed to being a high-quality alternative product with an emphasis on in-ring action. However, WCW's first major event since Hogan's hiring, Bash At The Beach, saw the former WWF mainstay cleanly defeat longtime WCW stalwart Ric Flair for the WCW Championship in a genuine dream match. Interestingly enough, the two had worked for the WWF at the same time from 1991 to 1992, and a feud was teased between them, but the big-money match originally planned for WrestleMania VIII was changed to Flair/Savage and Hogan/Sid. When WCW delivered the match, the PPV drew a high buy rate by WCW standards due to mainstream intrigue and hype if nothing else, but the hoped-for long-term effects on ratings and buy rates simply did not materialize. Hogan was, to an extent, still a definite draw and celebrity, but his style was not as suited to the Southern NWA audience. This was not lost on Turner management, however, and Bischoff's bold, expensive steps didn't quite meet their expectations when they came to check up on things in mid-1995. Thus, Bischoff called Turner and requested a private meeting, which he was granted.

Monday Night Wars

Bischoff's largest impact on the North American pro wrestling landscape was the launch of the weekly show WCW Monday Nitro in September 1995. In the aforementioned top-level meeting that summer, Turner asked Bischoff how WCW could conceivably compete with McMahon's WWF. Bischoff, not in his wildest dreams expecting Turner to comply, said that the only way would be a primetime slot on a weekday night, possibly up against the WWF's flagship show, Monday Night Raw. Turner, impressed by Bischoff's candor, gave him what he asked for: a live hour on TNT every Monday night, which specifically overlapped with Raw. This format quickly expanded to two live hours in May 1996, and then later three. Bischoff himself was initially the host, alongside Bobby Heenan and ex-NFL star Steve "Mongo" McMichael. McMahon later admitted to being hugely bitter about Turner's decision to air Nitro live on Monday nights, saying that Turner and Bischoff's only reason for doing this could be to hurt and damage the WWF. Turner and McMahon certainly had something of a personal history: in the early 1980s, when McMahon began buying up local organizations in order to create a nationwide wrestling system, one of the promotions he took over was Georgia Championship Wrestling; thus he was in the position of providing a Saturday night show for Turner's TBS station. When viewers tuned to WTBS on July 14, 1984 (a date known as "Black Saturday" in the wrestling community) and saw WWF programming instead of the GCW wrestlers they were used to seeing, many called the station and demanded the NWA's return; two weeks later, GCW returned, albeit on Saturday mornings. Turner quickly grew tired of the personality-driven glitz of McMahon's product and was upset at the fact that McMahon had gone back on his earlier promise not to dump second-rate stars and matches onto TBS. Turner therefore axed McMahon's show and turned to Jim Crockett to fill the Saturday night pro wrestling slot. Furthermore, on the very same day that Turner later acquired Crockett's territories, he famously called McMahon personally to say "Vince, I'm in the rasslin' business!" In 1995, Turner (as sole head and owner of both TBS and TNT), could air Nitro whenever he wanted. The WWF on the other hand was constrained by having to deal with the USA Network, whose executives were pleased about the viewers Raw brought to their network, but were also weary of the stigma associated with being the "wrestling channel." WCW Monday Nitro made its debut in September 1995 live from the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and featured the surprise appearance of then-WWF wrestler Lex Luger, who had been working on a handshake deal with WWF after his most recent contract expired, on a week when Raw was pre-empted by the US Open Tennis tournament. In the first head-to-head ratings the following week, Nitro managed to convincingly defeat Raw, seeing WCW beat the WWF for the first time ever. For most of Nitro's first year, the ratings battle between the two promotions were close. In the end, Nitro ended up beating Raw in the Nielsen ratings for 84 straight weeks between 1996 and 1998. Raw and the WWF in general was at a creative nadir from 1995 to 1997, thus helping WCW's meteoric rise. The WWF tried in vain to fight back in early 1996 with the infamous "Billionaire Ted" sketches, which occasionally starred an unbilled Vince Russo and viciously parodied Turner, Hogan ("The Huckster") and Savage ("Nacho Man") in particular. Only when stars such as ex-WCW wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin began to emerge, and when McMahon swallowed his pride and selected Russo, a New York DJ and WWF magazine writer, as his head booker, did the WWF begin to pick up steam. Siphoning off the WWF's talent and airing Nitro on Monday night was not the end of WCW's less-than-honorable tactics to defeat the competition. In the early days, as Raw was only live once every three weeks at that point, and as hours of upcoming shows would be taped in one arena on one night, announcers on Nitro could (and would) often give away the results of that week's Raw to keep viewers tuned to Nitro. Much later, with the WWF firmly back on top, this tactic memorably backfired on January 4, 1999, when WCW announcer Tony Schiavone was instructed by Bischoff over his headset to announce that Mick Foley (wrestling as Mankind in the WWF), would win the WWF Championship that night on the USA Network. Schiavone then sarcastically remarked, "That'll put a lot of butts in the seats!" Ironically, the comment became true. Nielsen ratings for that night showed that almost immediately after Schiavone's comment, more than 600,000 viewers switched from Nitro to Raw in a matter of seconds. This startling ratings switch was a true testament to Foley's dedication to wrestling and the WWF's ever-growing popularity, and "Mick Foley put my ass in this seat" signs were seen in crowds for years afterward.

WCW vs. nWo

Everything changed in 1996, when WCW became the hottest promotion in North America. It did this with the groundbreaking WCW vs. nWo storyline that was masterminded by Bischoff. It was based on an idea of two warring promotions that he had seen in Japan. The storyline kicked off with Scott Hall, who was recently seen on WWF TV as Razor Ramon, walking into the ring unexpectedly during the middle of a match, 'declaring war' on WCW. At the end of a Nitro episode a few weeks later, he was joined by Kevin Nash, another former WWF wrestler who was recently seen on WWF TV as Diesel. The two wrestlers named themselves "The Outsiders" and sent out a challenge to any three wrestlers on the WCW roster, against them, and their mystery partner. Many wrestling fans were confused, thinking that Hall and Nash were still WWF wrestlers. McMahon himself took notice and said during a Raw telecast that they were no longer WWF wrestlers. Hall and Nash's attitude and similarities to their WWF characters also sparked a copyright infringement lawsuit against WCW by the WWF. At Bash At The Beach '96, Sting, Lex Luger, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage took on The Outsiders but the third man never showed up for the Outsider team. When Hall and Nash began to get the upper hand, Hulk Hogan ran in to seemingly make the save for Team WCW. Hogan threatened The Outsiders but turned around and dropped his patented legdrop finishing move on Savage instead. The fans and the announcers went crazy wondering what was going on. Hogan had shockingly "defected" from WCW to The Outsiders. In his post-match speech, Hogan revealed that he, Hall and Nash were the "New World Order of professional wrestling." The crowd was so incensed by Hogan's turn that many of them threw garbage at the ring, and within minutes it was literally covered with refuse. Bischoff was ecstatic, knowing that this meant the crowd was truly shocked by Hogan finally turning heel after years as a babyface. Hogan, as a bad guy, leading the (fictional) nWo (or New World Order) faction in their attempt to "take over" WCW and run the WWF out of business was a compelling and original storyline. Fueled by this new scenario, WCW Monday Nitro managed a string of wins against WWF Raw that lasted from June 10, 1996 to April 1998, and included a popular feud between nWo leader Hulk Hogan and WCW leader Sting. The nWo was so wildly successful that Eric Bischoff entertained the thought of branching them off as a separate promotion. There were some experiments to see if such an idea would hold. The first PPV event of 1997 for WCW was nWo Souled Out which saw radical departures from the WCW formula. The entire set, the ring and every banner was a shade of black with scattered white nWo logos. The show itself was both a critical and financial disappointment. The matches more-or-less spent more time playing-up nWo members than providing quality matches. One segment, featuring Bischoff hitting on biker chicks caused a "boring!" chant to echo from the crowd. In late 1997, Bischoff decided to see if a separate nWo show would work instead. The newly branded nWo Nitro aired in December 1997 and was a complete dud both in terms of quality and ratings. The first hour was nothing more than nWo tearing down WCW sets while more time was spent celebrating the career of Hulk Hogan in an extended segment. Ratings for that show dropped nearly a full point on the Nielsen Ratings causing the idea to be scrapped. It was later re-designed in 1998 as WCW Thunder and was a complement to WCW Monday Nitro.

Vince McMahon Strikes Back

After WrestleMania XIV in March 1998, the WWF regained the lead in the Monday Night Wars with its new WWF Attitude brand, led in particular by rising stars Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Mankind. The classic feud between McMahon (who was re-imagined and re-branded as the evil company chairman character Mr. McMahon) and Austin (who, ironically, had been released by Bischoff in the summer of 1995 for not being marketable) caught the imaginations of fans. The April 13, 1998 episode of RAW, headlined by a match between Austin and McMahon, marked the first time that WCW had lost the head-to-head Monday night ratings battle in the 84 weeks since 1996. WCW attempted to counter this by dividing the nWo into the Hogan-led heel nWo Hollywood faction and the Nash-led face nWo Wolfpac faction, but many felt that it was a poor rehash of the original WCW vs. nWo storyline. Undeterred, WCW also launched a new Thursday TV show, WCW Thunder, around this time. WCW's next big attempt at ratings supremacy was marketing ex-NFL newcomer Bill Goldberg as an invincible monster with a record-breaking winning streak. Goldberg was indeed incredibly popular from the outset, with chants of 'Gold-berg, Gold-berg' heralding his approach to the ring, but business still quickly fell off for WCW, especially as the list of stars ready to be destroyed by Goldberg grew shorter. One of WCW's last big genuine wins in the Monday night ratings war was on July 6, 1998, when WCW gave the long-awaited World Title match in Atlanta between Hogan and Goldberg (which Goldberg won), away for free on Nitro. By doing this, they indeed 'spiked' and inflated their TV ratings for a week, but flushed away millions of possible PPV dollars in the process, as Hogan vs. Goldberg was a clear PPV main event. On September 14, 1998, WCW won the ratings war once again with a memorable moment that featured Ric Flair's return to WCW and the reformation of the legendary Four Horsemen. On October 25, 1998, WCW's Halloween Havoc PPV ended up running longer than the time allowed due to the last-minute addition of a Tag Team Title match. As a result, several thousand people lost the PPV feed at 11pm which was during the World Title match between Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg. The following night, WCW decided to correct the problem by airing the entire match for free on Nitro and thus winning the ratings war for the final time. WCW slowly slid into a period of extravagant overspending and creative decline; why this happened and who let it happen is a matter of debate among wrestling fans and historians. Some attribute the slump to the overuse of celebrities (such as employing Dennis Rodman and Jay Leno) to wrestle PPV matches. Others blame the stale, pointless, and at times self-serving storylines concocted by inexperienced bookers such as Nash, while still others claim that the top-level stars had no motivation to excel in the ring due to their long-term guaranteed-money contracts, and only gave their utmost when it suited them to do so. As mentioned above, people were growing suspicious of Nash's questionable storylines, which were dominated by his on-screen persona. After booking himself to win World War 3 in November 1998, he went on to end Goldberg's winning streak on the StarrCade PPV just one month later. Then came the infamous 'fingerpoke of doom' match with Hogan. The World Heavyweight Championship changed hands when Hogan knocked Nash to the ground by prodding him in the chest with one finger and then pinning him, further damaging the credibility and perceived value of the title. It was the same episode of Nitro that Tony Schiavone announced the Mick Foley WWF Title win. Also in 1998, The Ultimate Warrior, a former WWF star, was recruited to feud with Hogan. Their October 1998 encounter at Halloween Havoc was subpar, and Warrior vanished soon after. The Ultimate Warrior also insisted on a number of elaborate and costly apparatuses such as a trapdoor in the ring, which badly injured The British Bulldog when he landed on it. In addition, no matter who was in charge, WCW did not like promoting its younger stars to the company's top slots. Despite having many talented younger wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Billy Kidman, Chavo Guerrero, Jr., the late Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Raven, and Booker T (just to name a few) on its roster, they were kept away from the main event scene. WCW's poor talent decisions combined with the massive popularity of the new, hip and edgy WWF Attitude Era, likely began WCW's rapid demise. Bischoff was eventually removed from power by the Turner higher-ups in September 1999, the last straws perhaps being a mystifying and expensive on-screen push for the 1970s rock group KISS through WCW shows, a storyline involving rapper Master P and The No Limit Soldiers that saw Master P last only two weeks (the No Limit Soldiers flopped so badly that the West Texas Rednecks heel stable that they were feuding with was cheered by the Southern WCW fans); an announced million-dollar contest that was later cancelled; a planned Nitro animated series that was scrapped, as well; and Bischoff's long-standing desire to put on a huge, outdoor rock 'n' wrestling concert on December 31, 1999.

The Death of WCW

Bischoff was unexpectedly replaced by former WWF head writer Vince Russo and his colleague Ed Ferrera. Russo and Ferrera had been the head writers for the WWF at the beginning of the Attitude Era, subordinate only to Vince McMahon himself. WCW offered them lucrative contracts to jump ship in October 1999 in an effort to revitalize their own flagging product and weaken the product of the WWF. Russo and Ferrera tried to push the younger WCW talents straight away, and phase out aging stars such as Hogan and Flair. However, Russo was thought by many to be incapable of recreating the intriguing and cutting-edge TV he had produced while working for McMahon. Russo and Ferrera struggled to gain approval for their near-the-knuckle ideas from the conservative WCW management, such as the introduction of an effeminate (and possibly incestuous) tag team called 'The West Hollywood Blondes' (Lenny Lane and Lodi; their name spoofed the Hollywood Blondes, an enormously successful early 90s tag team of Steve Austin and Brian Pillman), and 'Piñata-On-A-Pole' matches between Mexican wrestlers. In late 1999, Russo and Ferrera hired their friend Jeff Jarrett from the WWF and revived the nWo storyline, this time with Jarrett and Bret Hart at the helm. They next targeted WWF announcer Jim Ross with a tasteless parody character called 'Oklahoma', who was played onscreen by Ferrera (Ross had been suffering from Bell's palsy, and the character lampooned his resultant facial defects). Bad luck struck in December 1999 when Hart suffered a genuine (and ultimately career-ending) concussion at the hands of Goldberg, who severely damaged his own hand less than a week later while punching through a limousine window in Salisbury, Maryland as part of an storyline that was written by Russo. Russo himself became an onscreen character during this period, though one whose face was never shown on camera, in a manner not dissimilar to Doctor Claw from Inspector Gadget. Only his hand and the back of his chair were ever actually seen, as he called wrestlers into his office to receive their marching orders for the night. Both Russo and Ferrera were suspended just three months later amid rumors that they wanted to make former UFC fighter Tank Abbott the WCW Champion (Abbott, despite his legitimate fighting background, had little wrestling experience and had utterly failed to connect with WCW audiences). Kevin Sullivan, who had been an on/off booker over the course of several years, was placed in charge in the interim. The new writing team attempted to appease the demoralized wrestlers and fans by making Chris Benoit the WCW Champion at the Souled Out PPV in January 2000. However, after learning he'd be quickly stripped of it, and because of the real-life personal issues between himself and Sullivan, Benoit handed the belt back the next day and left WCW. He signed with the WWF along with his similarly frustrated friends Perry Saturn, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. On February 11, 2000, black wrestlers Bobby Walker and Harrison Norris and Japanese manager Sonny Onoo launched racial discrimination lawsuits against WCW, claiming that they had not been pushed as a result of their ethnicities, had not been paid as well as other wrestlers and personalities, and had been given offensive gimmicks. Some speculated that the charges of racism brought against WCW (and the resultant bad publicity for the company, which had been dogged by accusations of racism for years), were partially responsible for black wrestler Booker T winning the WCW Championship later that year and his brother Stevie Ray being made a color commentator, with Ray himself acknowledging that it might have been a factor. In April 2000, with ratings hitting new lows, both Russo and Bischoff were reinstated by WCW. They formed an on-screen union that stood up for the younger talent in the company (which they dubbed the "New Blood"), claiming they had been held down for years by the establishment. Russo and Bischoff led the New Blood against the "Millionaire's Club," which consisted of the older, higher-paid, and more visible stars such as Hogan, Sting, and Diamond Dallas Page. Though initially well-received, the storyline quickly degenerated into yet another nWo rehash, with the heel nWo recast as the New Blood and the face WCW embodied in the Millionaire's Club. As well, the unorthodox and often controversial storylines continued. These included making actor David Arquette the WCW Champion in order to promote a WCW-themed movie, Ready to Rumble; Russo himself winning the WCW Championship in September 2000 (Russo, like Arquette, was not a trained wrestler); a botched (and, in the eyes of many, completely unnecessary) June heel turn for Goldberg that greatly diminished his drawing power; and a shoot speech by Russo at Bash At The Beach 2000 aimed at Hulk Hogan which led to Hogan resigning and filing a defamation of character lawsuit against the company (which, in 2002, has been dismissed). Bischoff vanished once more in July 2000, and Russo was gone from WCW completely by late 2000, leaving Terry Taylor holding the reins. It was later revealed in 2005 that Russo's shoot promo had actually just been a storyline between Russo and Hogan, meant to set up Booker T's winning the WCW World Title and Hogan's departure from the company without a loss of face. Meanwhile, when Time Warner bought out Turner's cable empire in 1996, it also purchased WCW. Even though Turner was a big fan and faithful to the professional wrestling shows on his stations (a professional wrestling program had helped get Turner's very first TV station, WTBS, off the ground, and WCW was, in fact, the modern incarnation of the promotion that Turner had run on WTBS back in those days) regardless of whether it was losing him money, Time Warner did not share his loyalty, especially when accounts showed that WCW was losing between $12-$17 million a year because of its decline. However, Turner was still the single largest Time Warner shareholder, and WCW was supported at his behest. When AOL merged with Time Warner in 2000, Turner was effectively forced out of his own empire. The new AOL Time Warner finally had the power to auction off WCW, which they saw as an unncessary drain on resources. In late 2000, Bischoff and a group of private investors, calling themselves Fusient Media Ventures, enquired about buying WCW but backed out when Turner networks head (and The WB founder) Jamie Kellner formally cancelled all WCW programming from its TV networks. With no network to air its programming, WCW was of little value to Fusient, whose offer was dependent on the Turner networks continuing to air WCW programming. On March 23, 2001, WCW, along with virtually all of its trademarks and archived footage, was sold to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. for a paltry $7 million (although the book The Death of WCW said it was $3 million). McMahon did not employ all of the WCW wrestlers and staff, though, passing over proven draws such as Goldberg due to contractual compensation reasons. A gloating McMahon then opened the last-ever episode of WCW Monday Nitro simulcast with RAW on March 26, 2001 with a self-praising speech. Sting vs. Ric Flair (won by Sting) was the nostalgic final match of the final broadcast, ending affectionately with a respectful embrace. March 26 When Vince came on RAW after the Sting/Flair match to declare victory over WCW, Shane McMahon appeared at the Nitro event, declaring that he had bought WCW. This set up a storyline with Shane leading the WCW Invasion of the WWF (a highly anticipated storyline that most considered as a huge missed opportunity), which lasted from March to November 2001 and marked the end of WCW. Despite aborted attempts to run WCW-branded events, the WWF only ran a handful of matches on RAW and SmackDown! under the WCW banner. The WCW World Heavyweight Championship (which was renamed the World Heavyweight Championship) would continue to be used in WWF until it was merged with the WWF Championship into the WWF Undisputed Championship when Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the respective titles on December 9, 2001 on the PPV, Vengeance (the current World Heavyweight Championship, despite the fact it uses the old WCW World Title belt, is generally considered to be a new title that does not share lineage with its WCW namesake).

Final champions

This is a list of the champions as they were at the end of the last WCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001 (though all these titles, with the exception of the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship, continued to be active in WWF until November of that year).
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion — Booker T
- WCW United States Champion — Booker T
- WCW World Tag Team Champions — Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion — "Sugar" Shane Helms
- WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions — Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio, Jr.

Books


- WCW: The Ultimate Guide by Bob Ryder & Dave Scherer, 2000, ISBN 0-7894-6673-2.
- The Death of WCW by Wrestlecrap and Figure Four Weekly, 2004, ISBN 1-55022-661-4.

See also


- List of WCW stars
- List of professional wrestlers
- List of professional wrestling stables
- List of WCW pay-per-view events
- The Alliance
- Nitro Girls
- WCW Monday Nitro
- WCW Thunder
- WCW Power Plant
- Jim Crockett Promotions

WCW Titles


- WCW World Heavyweight Championship
- WCW International Championship
- WCW World Tag Team Championship
- WCW World Television Championship
- WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship
- WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
- WCW United States Tag Team Championship
- WCW Cruiserweight Championship
- WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship
- WCW Light Heavyweight Championship
- WCW Hardcore Championship
- WCW Women's Championship

WCW Special Tournaments


- WCW Jesse "The Body" Ventura Strongest Arm Tournament (1992-1993)
- WCW King of Cable Tournament (1992)
- WCW/NWA Gauntlet Series (1990)

External links


- [http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/promotions/wcw.html Obsessed With Wrestling - World Championship Wrestling]
- [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185130/combined "WCW Monday Nitro" (TV-Series 1995-2001)]
- [http://www.wrestleview.com/info/faq/wcw.shtml WCW - FAQ]
- [http://www.sportztawk.com/thread9130/page1.html HISTORY OF WCW: The Beginnings]
- [http://www.ddtdigest.com/ DDT Digest, the resting place of WCW on the internet]
- [http://www.flagshipnews.com/archives_2004/feb262004_23.shtml Bischoff looks back at Monday night rivalry]
- [http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBiosH/hhh_mar01-can.html Triple H on the collapse of WCW and ECW]
- [http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBiosK/mar19_konnan-can.html Konnan: Politics killed WCW]
- [http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=20020722154905.06776.00000082%40mb-fc.aol.com&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain The Seven Deadly Sins Of WCW]
- [http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&selm=20010422221832.25059.00000347%40ng-cv1.aol.com When did Nitro JUMP THE SHARK?]
- [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.sport.pro-wrestling.moderated/browse_frm/thread/20ac03020df3c7b7/b301cfb0694d85fd?tvc=1&q=victims+of+hulk+hogan#b301cfb0694d85fd Why WCW went out of business and was bought by the WWF]
- [http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/columns/donaldgarner/01.html The Death of WCW: Who killed Who?]
- [http://mrtitopdc.tripod.com/march31_2001.htm Brief Recap on Why WCW Went Downhill]
- [http://www.gerweck.net/wwa040301.htm Monday Night Wars Dominated by Vince McMahon; Who is to Blame?]
- [http://www.wrestlinginformer.net/world_championship_wrestling_history.htm WrestlingInformer.net - WCW History]
- [http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=74063&page=1 WCW Late 1996-1999: Care to Reminisce] Category:Atlanta sports Category:Time Warner subsidiaries Category:World Championship Wrestling ja:WCW

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE, is a professional wrestling promotion, currently the largest in North America. The company was previously known as TitanSports, Inc. and has previously done business as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). World Wrestling Entertainment is a publicly-traded company, but 70% of voting shares are owned by Chairman Vince McMahon, his wife, CEO Linda McMahon, his son, Executive Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon, and his daughter, Vice President of Creative Writing Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. As of 2005, the headquarters of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. are located in Stamford, Connecticut at 1241 East Main Street.

Early history

In 1915, Roderick James "Jess" McMahon, grandfather of current WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, co-promoted a boxing match between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. In the fight, on April 5, 1915, Johnson lost his title to Willard in Havana. A decade later, in 1925, McMahon joined Tex Rickard in promoting boxing events from the old Madison Square Garden, in New York, starting with the December 11, 1925, light-heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach. Jess McMahon's enterprise focused on boxing and live concert/music promotion. It was not until 1935, coincidentally the same year Jim Crockett Promotions was formed, that the McMahon family moved into the wrestling business. His son, Vincent Jess McMahon, began to take an increasing role in the running of the business, especially on the wrestling side. However, the McMahon family was not able to promote wrestling matches at Madison Square Garden due to Rickard's dislike of the sport. This "no wrestling at the Garden" policy ended in 1948, when Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt, backed by millionaire Bernarr McFadden, managed to promote a wrestling show at the famous arena. Mondt's doing so was facilitated, in part, by the elder McMahon. Ray Fabiani, who helped Mondt take control of the New York territory after the death of Jack Curley, was influential in drawing the younger McMahon into an alliance with Mondt.

World Wide Wrestling Federation

In 1963, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and his bookings were controlled by Mondt. The rest of the NWA was unhappy with Mondt because he rarely allowed Rogers to wrestle outside of the Northeast, which led to Mondt and the CWC leaving the NWA, creating the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the process. Mondt and the WWWF wanted Rogers to keep the NWA Championship, but Rogers was unwilling to sacrifice his $25,000 deposit on the belt (titleholders at the time had to pay a deposit to ensure they would honor their commitments as champion). Rogers lost the NWA Championship to Lou Thesz in Toronto, Ontario on January 24, 1963. In mid-April, Rogers was awarded the new WWWF Championship following an apocryphal tournament in Rio de Janeiro. He lost the title to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963 after supposedly suffering a heart attack shortly before the match. After Mondt (born in 1886) died in 1976, the WWWF became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in mid-1979. The name change was purely cosmetic; the ownership and front office personnel remained unchanged during this period.

World Wrestling Federation

1979 In 1980, Vincent K. McMahon founded Titan Sports, Inc., and in 1982 purchased the WWF from his father, Vincent J. McMahon. After discovering at age 12 that the wrestling promoter was his father, Vince became steadily involved in his father's wrestling business until the latter was ready to retire. The elder McMahon had already established the northeastern territory as one of the most vibrant members of the NWA by recognizing that pro wrestling was more about entertainment than sport. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that would fundamentally change the sport, and place both the WWF--and his own life--in jeopardy. Leaving the NWA for a second time in itself was not that big of a step; the AWA had long ago ceased being an official NWA member, and just over a decade earlier the WWWF itself had rejoined the NWA. But in neither instance did the defecting member attempt to undermine, and destroy, the Territory system that had been the foundation of the industry. Other promoters were furious when McMahon began syndicating WWF shows to stations across America. McMahon also began selling videotapes of WWF events outside the Northeast. He effectively broke the unwritten law of regionalism around which the entire industry had been based. To make matters worse, McMahon would use the income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters. Wrestling promoters nationwide were now in direct competition with the WWF. According to several reports, Vincent Sr. warned his son: "Vinny, what are you doing?! You'll wind up at the bottom of a river!" In spite of such warnings, the younger McMahon had an even bolder ambition: the WWF would tour nationally. However, such a venture required huge capital investment; one which placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of not just McMahon's experiment, but also the WWF, the NWA, and the whole industry came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking sports entertainment concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a pay-per-view extravaganza (in some areas; most areas of the country saw WrestleMania available on Closed Circuit TV) that McMahon marketed as being the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of a wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been running StarrCade a few years prior to Wrestlemania, and even the elder McMahon had marketed large Shea Stadium cards viewable in closed circuit locations. However, McMahon wanted to take the WWF to the mainstream, targeting the general public who were not regular wrestling fans. He drew the interest of the mainstream media by inviting celebrities such as Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event. MTV, in particular, featured a great deal of WWF coverage and programming at this time, in what was termed the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection.

The Golden Age

Vince's marketing strategies became an almost immediate success. Touring nationally was seen as a much better idea to see a star-studded line-up rather than go to a local event and see one main attraction as NWA's territory system worked. Vince thought big, and it certainly paid off. During this era, everyone on the roster was well known. Anybody who wasn't was a jobber. Just about everyone on the roster could be in line for a shot at the world or intercontinental title. Success was driven by home-grown characters like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, among plenty of others. But the real story of the Golden Age was Hulkamania.

Hulkamania

On January 23, 1984, Hulk Hogan pinned The Iron Sheik to win his first WWE Championship. Vince McMahon's "Hulkamania" marketing strategy had been launched and gained almost immediate success. Hulk Hogan played the role of an honest and courageous hero, encouraging children to "train, say their prayers and take their vitamins". Hogan would remain WWF Champion for four years and 13 days, overcoming such challengers as André the Giant, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Rowdy Roddy Piper and King Kong Bundy, drawing record houses, PPV buyrates and TV ratings in the process. He co-hosted Saturday Night Live on March 30, 1985 and even had his own CBS Saturday morning cartoon during this lucrative run, titled Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling, in which he was voiced by Brad Garrett. On March 31, 1985, the inaugural WrestleMania took place at Madison Square Garden, featuring Hogan in a tag team main event, with Mr. T his partner. Hogan would go on to headline the first nine WrestleManias, from 1985 to 1993.

A decline in success

The new formula of what McMahon deemed Sports Entertainment was a resounding financial success at the original WrestleMania. The WWF did incredible business on the shoulders of McMahon and his All-American babyface hero, Hulk Hogan, for the next several years, creating what some observers dubbed a second golden age for professional wrestling. However, by the 1990s the WWF's fortunes steadily declined as Hulk Hogan's act grew stale, hitting a low point in the wake of allegations of steroid abuse and distribution against McMahon and the WWF in 1994; there were also allegations of sexual harassment by WWF employees. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but it was a public-relations debacle for the WWF.

Monday Night Wars

Under Eric Bischoff, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the new name for NWA superterritory Jim Crockett Promotions after its purchase by Ted Turner, began using its tremendous financial resources to lure established talent away from the WWF. Beginning in 1994, these acquisitions included Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Scott Hall, "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash, and many others. In 1995, Bischoff upped the ante, creating WCW Monday Nitro, a cable show on Turner's TNT network, to directly compete with the WWF's flagship show, WWF Monday Night RAW. Eventually, on the strength of its newly-acquired WWF talent and the groundbreaking nWo storyline, WCW overtook the WWF in television ratings and popularity. McMahon responded by stating that he could create new superstars to regain the upper hand in the ratings war, and at the same time tightening contracts to make it harder for WCW to raid WWF talent. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were elevated to the top of the card, gaining popularity based mostly on the excellence of their in-ring abilities, a far departure from the Hogan era. Despite this, the WWF was losing money at a rapid rate. WCW's reality-based storylines drew attention away from the WWF's outdated (and childish) rock and wrestling-era gimmicks. In 2004, WWE published a DVD entitled The Monday Night War, which chronicles the monumental battle between the two organizations for ratings supremacy.

The Montreal Screwjob

The WWF/WCW feud reached a new heights in 1997, when WCW offered a contract to Bret "The Hitman" Hart worth up to a reported nine million dollars over the course of three years. The WWF and Vince McMahon countered with an offer worth much less, but for a much longer period of time, with greater creative control. Bret Hart took the offer, but after several months of financial hardship and sharply falling profits, McMahon alerted Hart of the situation, and allowed him to re-open negotiations with WCW. Despite a great sense of loyalty to the WWF, Hart took WCW's offer and was set to appear on their programming by the end of the year. While Hart's departure was not a surprise, the WWF was concerned about the fact that the man about to leave was the WWF Champion. Earlier in the WWF/WCW feud, the WWF Women's Champion, Alundra Blayze, signed with WCW while in possession of the belt and threw it in a trash can on WCW Nitro (imitating a heavily-publicized act by heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe). The WWF's worst nightmare was for Hart to appear on WCW Nitro while wearing the WWF belt. Bret promised that no such thing would ever happen and put an agreement in place that the announcement of his departure would be delayed until the belt could be transitioned to a new champion. However, McMahon was concerned that the word would get out and he sought a way to get the belt off of Hart before the deal could be announced on WCW Monday Nitro. Hart used his contractual control over his booking in the last 30 days of his deal, which would end with that year's Survivor Series PPV in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He let it be known to WWF management that he would willingly drop the title, but not to rival "HBK" Shawn Michaels in Montreal. McMahon would deviate from the agreed finish of their match at Survivor Series to allow Shawn Michaels to win the title from Hart. During the match Shawn Michaels put Bret Hart in a Sharpshooter, which Hart was in the process of countering when the referee Earl Hebner, under instruction from Vince McMahon, told the timekeepers to ring the bell to end the match and announced Michaels the winner. Bret Hart was so infuriated at the fake victory he literally spat in McMahon's eye before leaving the ring. This event set the stage for the turning point in the WWF/WCW feud. McMahon used the backlash from the event to cast himself as the evil company owner "Mr. McMahon" in WWF programming, a dictatorial ruler who favored heel wrestlers who were "good for business" over "misfits" like Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, which was the cornerstone of the new WWF Attitude concept.

WWF Attitude

Stone Cold Steve AustinRunning with the momentum from the Montreal Screwjob, McMahon, along with head writer Vince Russo, took the WWF in an edgier, reality-based direction he called WWF Attitude, and in the process created a new corporate logo. Borrowing many of the exciting wrestling and storyline styles from then-insurgent wrestling promotion ECW, the WWF Attitude Era was based largely on the growing popularity of the wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin. Popular with the fans ever since winning the King of the Ring tournament as a heel in 1996, Austin's rough-and-redneck style won over enough fans that the WWF was forced to turn him into a fan favorite at WrestleMania 13 in spring 1997 (in a rare double-switch in which Bret Hart turned heel after a legendary match between the two wrestlers). During the summer and fall of 1997, Austin enhanced his status as a rebel willing to challenge any authority by giving his Stone Cold Stunner finishing move to WWF announcer Jim Ross, then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter, and eventually WWF owner Vince McMahon himself. Hints of the Austin-McMahon feud in WWF storylines began after Stone Cold won the 1998 Royal Rumble to become #1 Contender for the WWF Title at Wrestlemania. McMahon said in a pre-WrestleMania press conference that it was not in the WWF's best interest to have Austin as champion. The relationship would deteriorate over the next few years of WWF programming. The Attitude era kicked off in earnest at WrestleMania XIV, when the controversial professional boxer Mike Tyson appeared as a special guest referee for the WWF Championship match between Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The highlight was the verbal confrontation between Austin and Tyson from the months leading up to WrestleMania which ended with Austin flipping off Tyson come to nothing as Tyson (who was supposed to be in Michaels' corner) counted the 1, 2, 3 for Austin to win his very first WWF championship. Michaels and Tyson then had an argument which ended with Tyson punching Michaels' lights out. Fans who purchased the pay-per-view were amazed by what they saw; this certainly was not the childish Rock and Wrestling era they still expected from the WWF. Despite putting on a great show at WrestleMania XIV, Vince's company was still behind in the ratings, but one month later, RAW finally overcame its rival in the ratings war. Over the coming year, the WWF would see new fan favorites. The Rock would become one of the most popular professional wrestlers in history. Mick Foley, as Mankind, became one of the most beloved figures in wrestling after the memorable Hell in a Cell match at 1998 King of the Ring, where Foley was thrown off the cage by The Undertaker, who remained one of the WWF's most enduring characters. D-Generation X, led by Triple H, had now taken the place of the nWo as the most interesting stable on television. Where earlier WCW's edgy WCW vs. nWo angle managed to almost lead the WWF to financial ruin, it was now becoming stale, and fans turned back to the WWF, drawn in by the popularity of Austin and the edgy nature of the television programming. This change was not without critics. Many family groups were outraged at the graphic violence employed by the WWF. They, along with feminist groups, found the regular use of scantily-clad women to attract viewers as offensive. One group, the Parents Television Council, waged a sustained boycott campaign against the WWF. However, the controversial new presentation made the WWF more appealing than ever to its core audience.

The death of Owen Hart

Tragedy struck on May 23, 1999, in Kansas City. Owen Hart, as his "Blue Blazer" superhero character, was scheduled to make a dramatic appearance on that night's Over the Edge pay-per-view telecast, "flying" into the ring by being lowered from a harness attached to the roof of the arena. As Hart was being lowered into position in preparation for this entrance, his harness suddenly disengaged, sending him plummeting 78 feet to the ring below. Those watching the pay-per-view telecast at the time were spared the sight because the director cut away to a pretaped interview just before the accident occurred. Hart was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. A stunned Jim Ross made the solemn announcement to the pay-per-view audience once word had reached the arena. The fans in attendance at the Kemper Arena were not informed of Owen's death. The decision to continue the event was (and still is) a controversial one. The following night, the WWF dedicated its entire two-hour RAW telecast to Owen's memory, as various WWF performers and employees broke character and shared memories of their fallen friend. Over the Edge 1999 was never issued as a video or DVD as a result of the death of Hart. In addition, many "Blue Blazer" action figures were removed from circulation. His brother, Bret, already having a bad relationship with Vince McMahon over the Montreal Screwjob, further attacked and blamed McMahon for Owen's death. Bret and Vince's relationship has warmed somewhat over the years, and in August 2005, Bret signed a contract with WWE to produce DVDs and other merchandise based on the Hitman's career. In an interview on his 2005 DVD, Owen's brother, Bret says that he wishes he had been with the company when Owen's accident happened.

Business advances

On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its terrestrial television debut by launching a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999. It has remained UPN's most successful program overall ever since. SmackDown! was moved to Friday nights with a one-hour special September 8, 2005, ending its Thursday night broadcasts since the first one in 1999. Off the back of the success of the Attitude era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (which is renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. at this point) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify into other businesses, including a nightclub in Times Square, film production and book publishing. Despite losing Steve Austin to injury, the WWF continued to dominate the ratings and become a pop culture sensation due to The Rock emerging as a pop culture icon and movie actor, and Triple H becoming a certifiable main eventer. The defection of WCW talent such as The Big Show, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero bolstered the talent roster, effectively killing off any chance WCW had of becoming a serious threat ever again. Head writer Vince Russo and his assistant Ed Ferrera were among the last WWF employees to "jump ship" to WCW, leaving the WWF in late 1999. They were replaced by the late Chris Kreski, known for his extensive use of storyboards to attain continuity. In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league, but the league had dismal television ratings and NBC pulled the plug after a year.

Introduction of ECW

On February 5, 2001 Jim Ross confirmed in his "WWF Ross Report" that Extreme Championship Wrestling stars Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn, and World Champion Rhino has signed with the WWF. Lynn and Rhino had verbal agreements while Credible signed a three year deal on January 26th. Bobby Eaton signed with the WWF on January 26th and will be used as an instructor in Memphis, Tennessee with Memphis Championship Wrestling to help develop talent for the WWF. Paul Heyman debuted as the new colour commentator on Monday Night RAW and Tazz on SmackDown! following the shocking departure of Jerry Lawler and wife The Kat. ECW went bankrupt in April that year.

Acquisition of WCW

With the massive success of Attitude, WCW's financial situation deteriorated significantly, and its newly-merged parent company AOL Time Warner looked to cut the division loose. In March 2001, WWF Entertainment, Inc. acquired WCW from AOL Time Warner for $2 million. During the final WCW Monday Nitro, Vince McMahon (as the character Mr. McMahon) took over the broadcast during the last half hour and Monday Night RAW was seen on TNT. Months later, McMahon and Bischoff reconciled their personal differences, and Bischoff signed with WWE to perform as the storyline General Manager of RAW, in a surreal moment that wrestling fans will remember for all time.

The end of the Attitude Era

The attitude era was believed to start declining at WrestleMania X-Seven. The writing team (led by Stephanie McMahon at this point) began to lose their creative originality, changing characters like Steve Austin from an anti-hero to a paranoid champion and Gregory Helms (though in need of a new character) to a superhero. In the meantime, Triple H and Chris Benoit, two of WWE's largest drawcards, were injured in May with a quadricep tear and in June with a nagging neck injury, respectively. In addition, The Rock left for a few months to film the movie The Mummy Returns. Some people think the Attitude era ended at the end of WrestleMania X-Seven and others say November 2001 once the Invasion was finished or even the brand extension in April 2002. It is still a debate amongst wrestling fans.

The Invasion

Main Article: The Invasion Since WCW's peak in the late 1990s, wrestling fans had dreamed about a feud between the two promotions. The original plan was to have WCW "take over" RAW, turning it back into WCW Monday Nitro. However, many big-name WCW stars such as Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Sting were still contracted to WCW's former parent company (McMahon decided not to buy them out), and all chose to sit out the duration of their contracts rather than work for McMahon for less money. The lack of major WCW star power, combined with McMahon deciding that WWF wrestlers generally should not lose to WCW wrestlers, ended the "InVasion" storyline quickly. Even the inclusion of ECW wrestlers and trademarks did not save it. Many people believe that the story would have gone much better if WWE and McMahon waited a couple of years, as many WCW and ECW superstars joined after the end of the era. It is believed that he would have waited, however long term booking was based largely around two men: Triple H and Chris Benoit. On May 21, 2001, during a Monday Night RAW tag team match with Benoit and Jericho battling the tag team champions Triple H and Steve Austin, Helmsley planted his foot wrong and tore his left quadricep muscle. Remarkably, he finished the match. Unfortunately, this injury would put Triple H out of action until January 2002. Chris Benoit, on the other hand, had been wrestling for some time with an injured neck which finally required surgery after King of the Ring 2001. Benoit would be on the shelf for the better part of a year. With two of the key characters in their long-term booking on the shelf, McMahon went ahead with the Invasion storyline prematurely. Ironically, Ric Flair, one of the major WCW names that would have helped the Invasion feud, debuted on RAW the night after the WWF defeated WCW at the Survivor Series 2001. The Invasion feud was a contributor to the company's decline in the ratings as well as in attendance and financially, although the company to this day still has a profitable quarter.

Undisputed Champion

Main Article: WWE Undisputed Championship Following Survivor Series, WWE now had the WWE and WCW world titles available, but all other titles had been unified at Survivor Series. Mr. McMahon announced that at WWE Vengeance the two titles would be unified to form an undisputed champion. Co-owner Ric Flair later suggested that The Rock faced Chris Jericho for the World Championship (i.e the WCW Championship) and Austin defend his WWE Championship against Kurt Angle and the winners face for the undisputed title. Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle to retain his title and Jericho defeated Rock in a big upset to win the World title, but the biggest upset was yet to come. Jericho managed to beat Austin to become the first ever undisputed champion in professional wrestling with some help from Booker T.

New World Order

Main Article: nWo After the WWF bought WCW in 2001 Vince McMahon brought back Hulk Hogan,