WWE Network
Unsurprisingly, Vince McMahon has a whole lot in common with Ted Turner, his self-selected nemesis during the nineties. Both McMahon and Turner took their father’s names and, later on in life, their businesses, and each man transformed that business from a success into a massive corporate leviathan.
Turner and McMahon clashed for the first time in the 1980s when the WWF was in the throes of trying to go national. McMahon bought a controlling interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1984 specifically to gain access to their two hour Saturday evening timeslot on TBS, Turner’s cable network. That, plus his own USA Network deal, would have given him control over all nationally televised wrestling.
Unfortunately, McMahon reneged on a specific promise to air original programming, sending in shows culled from matches already shown in syndication (also known as repeats). The event, pivotal in the history of the era,...
Unsurprisingly, Vince McMahon has a whole lot in common with Ted Turner, his self-selected nemesis during the nineties. Both McMahon and Turner took their father’s names and, later on in life, their businesses, and each man transformed that business from a success into a massive corporate leviathan.
Turner and McMahon clashed for the first time in the 1980s when the WWF was in the throes of trying to go national. McMahon bought a controlling interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1984 specifically to gain access to their two hour Saturday evening timeslot on TBS, Turner’s cable network. That, plus his own USA Network deal, would have given him control over all nationally televised wrestling.
Unfortunately, McMahon reneged on a specific promise to air original programming, sending in shows culled from matches already shown in syndication (also known as repeats). The event, pivotal in the history of the era,...
- 1/26/2016
- by Ben Cooke
- Obsessed with Film
wwe.com
In the 1980s, Vince McMahon and his World Wrestling Federation were untouchable. With the assistance of the phenomenon known as Hulkamania, they’d won the race to go national, beating the Nwa and the Awa down in the process and stealing so much of the latter’s talent that the one-time biggest wrestling promotion in America was forced to close down.
The 1990s, however, saw creative stagnation and some of the worst wrestling television in history… until World Championship Wrestling began to beat the WWF in the ratings, turning a skirmish into a full-fledged Monday Night War. Revitalised by a newfound Attitude, Mr. McMahon and his pet Rattlesnake saw off the competition once again. Riding high, with an indomitable market share and no rivals left in the wrestling business, they’d never be so complacent as to drop the ball like that again… right?
Rewind. In 1976, 20th Century...
In the 1980s, Vince McMahon and his World Wrestling Federation were untouchable. With the assistance of the phenomenon known as Hulkamania, they’d won the race to go national, beating the Nwa and the Awa down in the process and stealing so much of the latter’s talent that the one-time biggest wrestling promotion in America was forced to close down.
The 1990s, however, saw creative stagnation and some of the worst wrestling television in history… until World Championship Wrestling began to beat the WWF in the ratings, turning a skirmish into a full-fledged Monday Night War. Revitalised by a newfound Attitude, Mr. McMahon and his pet Rattlesnake saw off the competition once again. Riding high, with an indomitable market share and no rivals left in the wrestling business, they’d never be so complacent as to drop the ball like that again… right?
Rewind. In 1976, 20th Century...
- 1/10/2016
- by Ben Cooke
- Obsessed with Film
Copyright: The History Of The WWE Blu-ray
The great Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme a lot.” That’s a nice way of putting it… another way is to suggest that there’s nothing new under the sun: everything’s a rehash of a Xerox of a reboot of a copy, especially in the cheerfully plagiaristic world of professional wrestling.
Then there’s the times that life simply hiccupped and ran the same piece of bad luck all over again, because life’s like that sometimes. Or there are the weird coincidences that plague us all – like the fact that in the entire state of Ohio in 1895 there were only two motor cars, yet they still managed to hit each other.
Plagiarism, bad luck voodoo, bizarre coincidences – these are the times that, in the screwed up world of pro wrestling,...
The great Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme a lot.” That’s a nice way of putting it… another way is to suggest that there’s nothing new under the sun: everything’s a rehash of a Xerox of a reboot of a copy, especially in the cheerfully plagiaristic world of professional wrestling.
Then there’s the times that life simply hiccupped and ran the same piece of bad luck all over again, because life’s like that sometimes. Or there are the weird coincidences that plague us all – like the fact that in the entire state of Ohio in 1895 there were only two motor cars, yet they still managed to hit each other.
Plagiarism, bad luck voodoo, bizarre coincidences – these are the times that, in the screwed up world of pro wrestling,...
- 10/6/2015
- by Ben Cooke
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
For fourteen years now, WWE has tended towards burying World Championship Wrestling as often as possible, in a backhanded manner: after all, this is the promotion that almost killed the competition, beating and demoralising the WWF (as was) 84 weeks in a row, and no one holds a grudge quite like Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
That being said, when it comes to making money out of his ownership of WCW’s video library and trademarks, McMahon isn’t backward about coming forward – all of WCW’s pay-per-views, from Starrcade 1983 (before the company was even called WCW) to the very last one, Greed in 2001, are available on the WWE Network, along with (to date) the first 134 episodes of Monday Nitro.
But that presents modern fans who didn’t watch WCW (or who are too young to remember the era) with a dilemma… if WCW wasn’t worth watching back in the day,...
For fourteen years now, WWE has tended towards burying World Championship Wrestling as often as possible, in a backhanded manner: after all, this is the promotion that almost killed the competition, beating and demoralising the WWF (as was) 84 weeks in a row, and no one holds a grudge quite like Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
That being said, when it comes to making money out of his ownership of WCW’s video library and trademarks, McMahon isn’t backward about coming forward – all of WCW’s pay-per-views, from Starrcade 1983 (before the company was even called WCW) to the very last one, Greed in 2001, are available on the WWE Network, along with (to date) the first 134 episodes of Monday Nitro.
But that presents modern fans who didn’t watch WCW (or who are too young to remember the era) with a dilemma… if WCW wasn’t worth watching back in the day,...
- 10/5/2015
- by Ben Cooke
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
World Championship Wrestling did a lot of good for the grappling industry. Monday Nitro kick-started the ‘Monday Night Wars’ that hooked fans, and the promotion provided wrestlers with a genuine alternative workplace to the then-wwf. However, for all the good that WCW did, the last few years of the group’s existence proved to be a miserable failure.
Creatively, WCW was in the toilet by 1999. Bereft of fresh ideas, the writing team decided to keep plowing on with the tired New World Order shtick. Even as calendars turned to the year 2000, the organisation’s brain trust thought simply rehashing the nWo and calling it ‘nWo 2000’ would fix all their problems. The entire place was a mess, and parts of the product were unwatchable.
If (the second half) of 1996, 1997 and 1998 had been high points, 1999 into 2000 proved to be a crushing low. It’s those years which scoop most attention in this article.
World Championship Wrestling did a lot of good for the grappling industry. Monday Nitro kick-started the ‘Monday Night Wars’ that hooked fans, and the promotion provided wrestlers with a genuine alternative workplace to the then-wwf. However, for all the good that WCW did, the last few years of the group’s existence proved to be a miserable failure.
Creatively, WCW was in the toilet by 1999. Bereft of fresh ideas, the writing team decided to keep plowing on with the tired New World Order shtick. Even as calendars turned to the year 2000, the organisation’s brain trust thought simply rehashing the nWo and calling it ‘nWo 2000’ would fix all their problems. The entire place was a mess, and parts of the product were unwatchable.
If (the second half) of 1996, 1997 and 1998 had been high points, 1999 into 2000 proved to be a crushing low. It’s those years which scoop most attention in this article.
- 9/30/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
It’s been said before that the very nature of the professional wrestling industry allows for ego. There’s so much bravado prevalent in the business itself, that it’s only natural the men and women involved will be looking out for number one. That’s exactly what Vince McMahon did when he purchased his main competition in March, 2001. Self-preservation and rubbing the collective nose of World Championship Wrestling in the dirt was what it was all about for Vince.
That attitude was incredibly short-sighted however, because McMahon now owned the brand he’d been competing with for years. There was no ‘war’ to speak of in sight, the WWF had won it. Now, by controlling what happened with WCW, Vince could create something special, but his lust for power simply wouldn’t let it happen. In essence, such an approach directly hurt what McMahon was trying to achieve,...
It’s been said before that the very nature of the professional wrestling industry allows for ego. There’s so much bravado prevalent in the business itself, that it’s only natural the men and women involved will be looking out for number one. That’s exactly what Vince McMahon did when he purchased his main competition in March, 2001. Self-preservation and rubbing the collective nose of World Championship Wrestling in the dirt was what it was all about for Vince.
That attitude was incredibly short-sighted however, because McMahon now owned the brand he’d been competing with for years. There was no ‘war’ to speak of in sight, the WWF had won it. Now, by controlling what happened with WCW, Vince could create something special, but his lust for power simply wouldn’t let it happen. In essence, such an approach directly hurt what McMahon was trying to achieve,...
- 9/15/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
World Championship Wrestling remains a unique topic amongst professional wrestling fans. On one hand, there are those who miss the promotion. It cannot be denied, WCW played host to some of the biggest and best moments and matches in wrestling history. On the opposite side of the love/hate divide, there are those fans who feel the company offered very little in the grand scheme of things.
To those folks, WCW is no real miss for the industry. However, the organisation went out of business in 2001, yet grappling enthusiasts still debate the merits of the Atlanta-based group. If nothing else, that should give at least some indication of how controversial a promotion WCW really was.
Both sides of the argument have been explored before, but this article aims to look at 20 of the most surprising moments the WCW product ever served up. Not all are necessarily bad, because...
World Championship Wrestling remains a unique topic amongst professional wrestling fans. On one hand, there are those who miss the promotion. It cannot be denied, WCW played host to some of the biggest and best moments and matches in wrestling history. On the opposite side of the love/hate divide, there are those fans who feel the company offered very little in the grand scheme of things.
To those folks, WCW is no real miss for the industry. However, the organisation went out of business in 2001, yet grappling enthusiasts still debate the merits of the Atlanta-based group. If nothing else, that should give at least some indication of how controversial a promotion WCW really was.
Both sides of the argument have been explored before, but this article aims to look at 20 of the most surprising moments the WCW product ever served up. Not all are necessarily bad, because...
- 8/19/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
When analysing the final full calendar year of World Championship Wrestling’s existence, it’s important to remember that few thought the promotion could feasibly go out of business – whilst the bubble was eerily close to bursting, there were millions who were under the impression that the company were simply one major storyline away from turning everything around.
A lot of the reasons for this attitude can be attributed to the advent of the New World Order, an angle which turned the fortunes of WCW around so dramatically that people truly felt it was only a matter of time before those and such as those in charge could come up with something so awesome again.
That excellent idea would never come back around again, and WCW would be bought over by Vince McMahon in March, 2001. Even though the end was nigh, it wasn’t plainly obvious, but WCW...
When analysing the final full calendar year of World Championship Wrestling’s existence, it’s important to remember that few thought the promotion could feasibly go out of business – whilst the bubble was eerily close to bursting, there were millions who were under the impression that the company were simply one major storyline away from turning everything around.
A lot of the reasons for this attitude can be attributed to the advent of the New World Order, an angle which turned the fortunes of WCW around so dramatically that people truly felt it was only a matter of time before those and such as those in charge could come up with something so awesome again.
That excellent idea would never come back around again, and WCW would be bought over by Vince McMahon in March, 2001. Even though the end was nigh, it wasn’t plainly obvious, but WCW...
- 4/21/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
Listen to any number of older grappling fans, and they’ll tell you that March, 2001 was the month when pro wrestling ceased to be as fun as it once was. A large part of the reason for this falls squarely at the feet of Vince McMahon, who couldn’t resist buying out his major competition, WCW, for a paltry sum of around $2.5 million. Few can blame McMahon for taking the plunge, considering there was a period in the late-90’s where WCW was giving him a bit of a kicking in the ratings war.
As if that wasn’t enough, Ecw also went out of business, which left WWF/WWE as the monopoly on mainstream North American wrestling – a lot of fans don’t feel the industry has been the same ever since. Regardless, at least people have their memories, and even though World Championship Wrestling was an...
Listen to any number of older grappling fans, and they’ll tell you that March, 2001 was the month when pro wrestling ceased to be as fun as it once was. A large part of the reason for this falls squarely at the feet of Vince McMahon, who couldn’t resist buying out his major competition, WCW, for a paltry sum of around $2.5 million. Few can blame McMahon for taking the plunge, considering there was a period in the late-90’s where WCW was giving him a bit of a kicking in the ratings war.
As if that wasn’t enough, Ecw also went out of business, which left WWF/WWE as the monopoly on mainstream North American wrestling – a lot of fans don’t feel the industry has been the same ever since. Regardless, at least people have their memories, and even though World Championship Wrestling was an...
- 4/10/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
When news spread that Vince McMahon had purchased World Championship Wrestling on Friday, March 23rd, 2001, it sent shockwaves through the professional wrestling world. In truth, a lot of fans were fully aware that WCW was floundering badly behind the scenes, just as they had been in front of the cameras for a few years.
It seemed for all the world that AOL/Time Warner simply wanted rid of the company, and couldn’t wait to ship it, which is exactly why McMahon was able to acquire his competition for as little as $2.5 million. Some further expense would see him grab the entire WCW tape library, which – let’s face it – is what he was really after.
Generally, people are right when they say the last year of WCW sucked, but there were some small chinks of light in amongst all the darkness. The last ever WCW Pay-Per-View, Greed,...
When news spread that Vince McMahon had purchased World Championship Wrestling on Friday, March 23rd, 2001, it sent shockwaves through the professional wrestling world. In truth, a lot of fans were fully aware that WCW was floundering badly behind the scenes, just as they had been in front of the cameras for a few years.
It seemed for all the world that AOL/Time Warner simply wanted rid of the company, and couldn’t wait to ship it, which is exactly why McMahon was able to acquire his competition for as little as $2.5 million. Some further expense would see him grab the entire WCW tape library, which – let’s face it – is what he was really after.
Generally, people are right when they say the last year of WCW sucked, but there were some small chinks of light in amongst all the darkness. The last ever WCW Pay-Per-View, Greed,...
- 3/13/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
Nowadays, the top companies in pro wrestling don’t really go near physical, printed magazines. In the Summer of 2014, WWE elected to shut down their magazine division, ending a run of almost 30 years of monthly publications for the promotion. Flagging sales were cited as the main reason, with Vince McMahon stating that the revenue simply wasn’t coming in as it used to for WWE Magazine, and that even WWE Kids Magazine was flailing.
Back in the day, both WWE and WCW produced monthly mags, detailing what was happening in the promotion. Before the late-90’s explosion of the internet, these were essential for wrestling fans who wanted to keep up to date with the latest stories, or just wanted a little more after they’d watched that week’s TV or Pay-Per-View shows.
When McMahon purchased World Championship Wrestling – his nearest competitor – for a paltry $2.5 million in March, 2001, the grappling industry changed dramatically,...
Back in the day, both WWE and WCW produced monthly mags, detailing what was happening in the promotion. Before the late-90’s explosion of the internet, these were essential for wrestling fans who wanted to keep up to date with the latest stories, or just wanted a little more after they’d watched that week’s TV or Pay-Per-View shows.
When McMahon purchased World Championship Wrestling – his nearest competitor – for a paltry $2.5 million in March, 2001, the grappling industry changed dramatically,...
- 3/12/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
Ah, World Championship Wrestling. Much has been written about what the Atlanta-based company did wrong, which makes for a lot of reading, especially when analysing the latter months of the promotion’s existence. Right before Vince McMahon snapped up his competition for a paltry few million dollars, WCW was a mess, from top to bottom – storylines sucked, few performers were over, production errors were happening with alarming regularity, and the overall atmosphere in the audience was dead.
It’s fair to say that WCW was never perfect, and much has even been penned about comparisons to Tna, but the fact is that World Championship Wrestling did a heck of a lot right. Vince McMahon’s WWF wasn’t firing on all cylinders themselves in the mid-90’s, but it still took a lot for anyone to take his juggernaut on, and that’s exactly what WCW did.
There were many reasons for such success,...
It’s fair to say that WCW was never perfect, and much has even been penned about comparisons to Tna, but the fact is that World Championship Wrestling did a heck of a lot right. Vince McMahon’s WWF wasn’t firing on all cylinders themselves in the mid-90’s, but it still took a lot for anyone to take his juggernaut on, and that’s exactly what WCW did.
There were many reasons for such success,...
- 2/17/2015
- by Jamie Kennedy
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
The blueprint for the success that carried the World Wrestling Federation from its “New Generation” doldrums to “Attitude Era” success and beyond involves numerous touchstones that for as much as they could be related to behind-the-scenes machinations, actually either were happy (or sad) in-ring accidents/tremendously executed in-ring moments that took these instances over the top and made them notable pieces of the folklore surrounding the very real evolution of the WWF from an also-ran competing with World Championship Wrestling to being a monolithic sports entertainment conglomerate.
The reasons for WWE’s success are as varied as Vince McMahon taking a more “hands on” role in the presentation of his product to the inclusion of grapplers never employed by the company (or without any pro wrestling background) taking on key roles that re-defined the pro wrestling industry. The players in WWE’s ascension are a unique cadre of characters who,...
The blueprint for the success that carried the World Wrestling Federation from its “New Generation” doldrums to “Attitude Era” success and beyond involves numerous touchstones that for as much as they could be related to behind-the-scenes machinations, actually either were happy (or sad) in-ring accidents/tremendously executed in-ring moments that took these instances over the top and made them notable pieces of the folklore surrounding the very real evolution of the WWF from an also-ran competing with World Championship Wrestling to being a monolithic sports entertainment conglomerate.
The reasons for WWE’s success are as varied as Vince McMahon taking a more “hands on” role in the presentation of his product to the inclusion of grapplers never employed by the company (or without any pro wrestling background) taking on key roles that re-defined the pro wrestling industry. The players in WWE’s ascension are a unique cadre of characters who,...
- 10/5/2014
- by Marcus K. Dowling
- Obsessed with Film
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