Between the Ropes: Wrestling's Greatest Triumphs And Failures - Softcover

Fritz, Brian; Murray, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1550227262 ISBN 13: 9781550227260

Verlag: ECW Press,Canada, 2006

Inhaltsangabe

The power players behind the wildly popular and often controversial world of professional wrestling are examined in this chronological look at the past 10 years of wrestling entertainment.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Brian Fritz is the lead host of the Between the Ropes wrestling radio show. He is a host and producer for various live talk shows and sporting events for WQTM 740 AM and covers professional wrestling for The Orlando Sentinel. He lives in Orlando, Florida. Christopher Murray is a cohost of Between the Ropes. He lives in Staten Island, New York.

Brian Fritz is the lead host of the Between The Ropes wrestling radio show. He has a degree in communications from the University of Central Florida and has hosted and produced live talk shows and sporting events for WQTM 740 AM The Team for a decade. He has also been a pro wrestling columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Christopher Murray is a graduate of Pace University, and an integral cog behind the scenes with Between The Ropes since its inception. A professional wrestling fan for nearly two decades, Chris currently resides in Staten Island, New York.

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Between the Ropes

Wrestling's Greatest Triumphs and Failures

By Brian Fritz, Christoper Murray, Michael Holmes

ECW PRESS

Copyright © 2006 Brian Fritz and Christopher Murray
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-55022-726-0

Contents

Acknowledgements, 
Foreword — Steve Corino, 
Introduction, 
Between the Ropes, PART 1, 
WCW, 
Between the Ropes, PART II, 
ECW, 
Between the Ropes, PART III, 
WWF/WWE, 
Between the Ropes, PART IV, 
TNA, 
Between the Ropes, PART V, 
The Future, 
Between the Ropes Audio Index, 

CHAPTER 1

In any industry with roots that can be traced back more than 100 years, it is virtually impossible to consider any one event as more important than any other. Pro wrestling has seen it all. From Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt, to Gorgeous George, to Hulkamania, to Austin 3:16, wrestling has constantly reinvented itself to adapt to the ever changing world around it.

Yet, the biggest industry transformation in recent times produced negative results for the business as a whole. It was early 2001, and the monstrosity known as professional wrestling was finally slowing down, after experiencing its greatest popularity surge in the United States. The world of "sports entertainment," Vince McMahon's favorite euphemism for avoiding the negative stigma associated with wrestling, had dominated cable television, network television, pay-per-view, the Internet, and even music and publishing. Pro wrestling had become firmly entrenched in the mainstream fabric of American society.

Three companies — the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling — battled for their piece of the extra-large pie. But as the boom period waned, one company's slice grew larger at the expense of the others, until it ultimately controlled the entire pie. That company was the WWF, and just as it became comfortable leading this three-car race, the checkered flag came out. The competition was over.

Along the way, WCW and ECW offered some memorable moments. For a brief time, WCW dominated the business by rein-vigorating older stars and introducing fresh talent from around the world to a new audience. ECW, while never reaching the level of its resource-laden counterparts, made a profound impact with its more aggressive, more athletic brand of wrestling that was eventually copied on a larger scale by the "Big Two." Unfortunately, WCW and ECW, for all the good they gave their fans, also had their share of problems, both on and off camera. In just a matter of weeks in early 2001, two companies guilty of a laundry list of sins were finally sentenced to death, leaving one man, arguably the most sinful of them all, in charge of the only game in town.

CHAPTER 2

Complicated. If there was one word to describe the legacy of World Championship Wrestling, that would be it. From the original purchase, to the final sale, to the thirteen years of ups and downs in between, WCW rarely traveled the simple road. To this day, former wrestlers, referees, and office workers alike recite identical tales of chaos and turmoil that permeated the WCW infrastructure. And with the only man who could save the company he'd already rescued once no longer in the picture, WCW's shoulders were finally pinned to the mat.

The common belief among wrestling fans is that Ted Turner created World Championship Wrestling out of the ashes of the National Wrestling Alliance. While there is a modicum of truth to that notion, the actual origin of WCW is, in a word, complicated.

Jim Crockett Promotions, the preeminent NWA territory thanks to hours of national programming on Turner's Superstation WTBS, attempted to challenge Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation empire in the late 1980s. Major attempts to promote on pay-per-view and run live events in traditional WWF markets failed miserably, in part because of underhanded McMahon sabotage.

By 1987, the WWF had transitioned to pay-per-view television for its major events and made a killing. WWF WrestleMania III garnered 400,000 pay-per-view buys, which represented an incredible eight percent of a market still in its formative years. Crockett was ready to put his annual year-end extravaganza, Starrcade, on payper-view on Thanksgiving night and reap the same rewards. Vince McMahon had other ideas. To ensure a calamity for Starrcade '87, McMahon scheduled his own pay-per-view, the Survivor Series. Using his leverage with the cable and pay-per-view communities after several profitable broadcasts, he issued an ultimatum. Any cable company carrying Starrcade could not air the Survivor Series and would not have access to the next Wrestle Mania. It was a dirty trick, but McMahon held all the cards. Nearly 200 cable companies sided with the WWF, leaving only five companies willing to air Starrcade. Instead of the millions he expected to rake in, Crockett drew only 15,000 buys on his biggest night.

Still fuming over McMahon's devious tactics, Crockett sought revenge. His next idea was to invade McMahon's home base, New York City. He couldn't book Madison Square Garden because of the McMahon family's exclusivity with the arena, so he chose Long Island's Nassau Coliseum instead. The Bunkhouse Stampede was scheduled for pay-per-view on January 24, 1988. McMahon had another trick up his sleeve. To counter the Crockett show, the WWF aired a free special the same night on the USA Network called The Royal Rumble, from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The show drew an 8.2 Nielsen rating, a record for a WWF show on USA that stands to this day, while the Bunkhouse Stampede fell flat with the pro-WWF New York audience and consumers at home.

With his balance sheets deep in the red, Crockett saw the handwriting on the wall and sought an exit from the wrestling business. With bankruptcy looming, Crockett made the decision to sell. He found a buyer in Ted Turner, who wanted to keep wrestling on his network. Months of negotiations ended on November 21, 1988 when Crockett sold the assets of his company to Turner's corporation for approximately $9 million and guaranteed employment in wrestling for members of his family. Turner renamed the company World Championship Wrestling Inc. and soon followed with a phone call to nemesis Vince McMahon to let him know, "I'm in the rasslin' business."

Turner's purchase of Jim Crockett Promotions was met with guarded optimism within the industry. Early on, the organization experienced little turnaround under the new regime. Over the next several years, Jim Herd, Kip Frye, and Bill Watts oversaw the WCW operation while George Scott, Ole Anderson, and Dusty Rhodes tried their hand at creative booking. None of the combinations bore fruit. Bill Shaw from TBS huddled with fellow members of the Turner hierarchy to choose a new leader for the wrestling division. Senior employees like Tony Schiavone, who had worked as a commentator dating back to the Crockett NWA days, and Keith Mitchell, head of WCW production, appeared to have the inside track. But Shaw and the Turner vice presidents shocked everyone by promoting C-level announcer Eric Bischoff to the top of WCW ladder. Bischoff, whose previous wrestling experience came as an advertising salesman, announcer, and then booker in the dying days of Verne Gagne's AWA, impressed Turner officials with his flashy presentations and forward thinking about invigorating a company that was averaging $6 to $7 million in losses per year. With his Ken-doll good looks, ambitious...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: ECW Press,Canada
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2006
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1550227262
• ISBN 13: 9781550227260
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 302
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
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