Still Bitter--Confessions of a WCW fan

[stompingground]

Its around the anniversary of the demise of WCW, and the internet is still bashing the company that brought about the last great wrestling revival of the 20th century. Are you happy now? What do you have to watch now on Monday nights? Take away the pyro and the cleavage and the bad acting, and what do you have left? Wrestling? I don't think so.

I read the report on Spartanburg from Saturday, and there was a description of the moment when George South said, "This is WCW country." The writer said that this got a lot of boos. I'm sorry, but I was there. Watch the tape. There were not a lot of boos. In fact there were cheers. The point is, why continue to trash WCW? Will no one stand up for WCW?

After all of this time I still don't watch the WWF, and I get so annoyed when I hear some moron in the crowd yell, "What?" during every announcement or interview at an indy show. Is this the genius that is the WWF machine: "What"? Is this your salvation?
God Bless Jim Crockett.

[VR]

Don't worry about it to much.

JCP Sports and WCW inc. were two totaly different brands, legaly. While JCP was "purchased" by the Turner group, they were apples and oranges. JCP Sports was not WCW Inc. While WCW did bring some promise in 1989 it was hit and miss until it's demise.

Overall I miss having an alternative. I tuned into WCW until the summer of 1994 out of habit for the most part. But it wasn't JCP Sports, the best of them all imo. I also found salvation in All-Japan. It's too bad that they have also slipped severely as a company.

That's what DVDs are for.

VR

[ssteward]

I always preferred WCW over the WWF....even when the WWF was clearly better at points during the 90s.

But by 1999, I couldn't stand to watch WCW anymore.

[JNance]

I agree totally; WCW is sorely missed, even with the Vince Russo disaster. WCW was a haven for the true wrestling fan, and yes, the product suffered greatly in 2000 - 2001, but with no competition, WWE is becoming worse by the week. Personally, I think McMahon sent Russo to WCW to do exactly what he did - eliminate the competition, and set the stage for the McMahonopoly.
I long for the days of Dusty, Flair, Tully & Arn, Sting, Lex, Nikita, The Garvins, Ricky and Robert, and the Midnight Express.

[zombie73]

I always preferred the NWA and JCP and I watched WCW for many several years but it got to the point where both the WWF and WCW were putting on horrible shows. I mean, I gave up on the WWF in 1986. I got sick and tired of all of the stupid characters and seeing wrestlers from the NWA repackaged with stupid costumes and even sillier gimmicks. And as much as we like to romanticize JCP, they had their share of bad gimmicks and bad business decisions--Lazer Tron, the muscle bound guys like Barbarian, Warlord etc, Starrcade 87 in Chicago--they were trying to keep up with McMahon because they felt like the mass public wanted that and ended up alienating their core fan base.

I realize the whole point was to make money and to make wrestling more palatable to the general public, but I just hated it. As much as we all hate to admit it, the WWF made a bazillion dollars and now stand as the only major wrestling company in the US. So, somebody really must have liked the product the WWF were selling. They started the whole merchandising craze and upped the production values on TV. Of course, I always felt like WCW (and JCP to a certain extent) doomed themselves by trying to "out WWF" the WWF.

Don't get me wrong. I can't stand the state of wrestling today. At least we have boards like this, the conventions and legends wrestling cards plus our tape/DVD collections. I really miss the good old days.

[WorldWideWilliam]

I think Zombie hit the nail on the head with the statement that WCW doomed itself by trying to "out-WWF" the WWF. I grew up watching Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and JCP World Championship Wrestling. By the time Turner bought out Crockett, the ship was taking on water anyway. But then the suits in charge of Turners WCW didn't make things any better. The gimmicks just got sillier and sillier as the years went on. Anyone remember Oz? A perfect example of WCW trying to be too much like the WWF.

[bobbyryates]

i've said for years that the reason so many indy groups, as well as wcw, FAILED BECAUSE THEY TRIED TO BE THE WW/E. you can't do it.
every group needs to makes it's own mark in it's own way. everybody thinks they need entrance music for every nobody on the show, they need pyro and crap, they need stage settings, they need lights at the entrance,.. all this is a waste of money. you can't make money if you spend it all on unneccesary crap like that. spend money on decent talent instead of smoke machines and lights.
doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it fails. only some commen sense.

[VR]

True,

You can't out WWF the WWF, as the old saying goes.

VR

[WorldWideWilliam]

How true, VR, how true. The biggest mistake Jim Crockett ever made was trying to beat Vince McMahon at his own game. The thing was, he really didn't need to beat McMahon at that game. At the time, JCP had superior talent, superior matches and, to me at least, superior television. I hardly ever watched the Federation on tv back then. Heck, I was only a kid but I knew crappy wrestling when I saw it. Really, how do you compare Hogan, Hillbilly Jim, Outback Jack, etc. with the likes of Flair, the Andersons, the Road Warriors, R&R, Midnights, etc. Like comparing ice cream to cow manure.

[zombie73]

Exactly. Look how many years JCP filled the arenas,coliseums and gyms in the Carolinas, Virginia and North Georgia week after week after week. Just like printing your own money. They should have stuck to their own game in their own back yard.

They could have easily had the entire South to promote. I remember how pissed everybody around here was when McMahon took over Georgia wrestling's time slot on TBS. Even to this day, anybody who had any kind of exsposure to "the good stuff" back in the day knows that the stuff you see on TV is absolute crap and always will be--no matter what they call it or how they package it.

[WorldWideWilliam]

I still say the biggest mistake they made was moving Starrcade away from Greensboro and Atlanta. That was essentially a slap in the face to the fans that had made the company what it was. Basically Crockett was telling his core fan base that it wasn't good enough for a major event like Starrcade anymore. They tried to make amends by holding the show in Norfolk in 88, but by then it was too late. If they had kept the show in Greensboro or Atlanta, they may not have risked alienating the fans who had been there all along. But they tried to grow too big too fast.

[dogthruhoops]

StompingGround said:

Its around the anniversary of the demise of WCW, and the internet is still bashing the company that brought about the last great wrestling revival of the 20th century. Are you happy now? What do you have to watch now on Monday nights? Take away the pyro and the cleavage and the bad acting, and what do you have left? Wrestling? I don't think so.

I read the report on Spartanburg from Saturday, and there was a description of the moment when George South said, "This is WCW country." The writer said that this got a lot of boos. I'm sorry, but I was there. Watch the tape. There were not a lot of boos. In fact there were cheers. The point is, why continue to trash WCW? Will no one stand up for WCW?

After all of this time I still don't watch the WWF, and I get so annoyed when I hear some moron in the crowd yell, "What?" during every announcement or interview at an indy show. Is this the genius that is the WWF machine: "What"? Is this your salvation?
God Bless Jim Crockett.

Easy fella. lol

I miss JCP as much as anyone... but I do wish Jim Crockett had've played his cards differently.

It's obvious that the memories of JCP has influenced a lot of people. You see it in bits in pieces of other promotions and in other types of venues.

CWF-MidAtlantic with its logo, name and use of legends like Johnny Weaver and Don Kernodle.

You see it in Tony Hunters' Lenoir shows and the fact he's getting good crowds tells you the memories and love for the performers and the old days are still alive.

When you have young wrestlers in the back come out and watch George South and Brad Armstrong... they know they are watching The Learning Channel of professional wrestling.

You see it in Greg Lake's Legends board and his Legends shows... and how much effort goes into these things. Sure he wants to make money off of it, but it's a big undertaking and too much of one if you dont love what you do.

Baltimore Jack and Mac W Richmond, The MidAtlantic Tag Team Champions, show it with their awesome website...that I have spent many many sleeping hours awake reading and rereading the wrestling history I grew up with.

You see it with Shannon and his website, with BOdyguard and his work in the ring, Mark Ash -- who has retired more times than Ricky Steamboat -- his work in the ring and his work with promoting in wilmington. Count Grog who put in countless hours and sleepless nights working to recapture some of the magic of JCP with his SCW.

You see it when Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Dennis Condroy, Stan Lane, and Bobby Eaton put on a match. It takes you back to a younger day and simplier time.

Everytime Ric Flair cuts a promo on the old days or David Flair gets into the ring and fans cheer, because they want to see David succeed. David is a link to one of the masters of the game most of us grew up watching. When they see David... then they look and see their kid watching him in the ring... and remember what it was like watching Ric Flair. And as David has come into his own...new memories are being established...but they go back to one common denominator: JCP.

It's out there. You just have to see it. The buyout of JCP and WCW was like the death of a relative. You mourn, you miss the loss, then you see that relative's influnces in the world around you and it brings back some of the warmth.

The more people like those above and others put forth what they learned from the old school and JCP... the more chances of these memories and ways will go on for a long time to come.

Dog

[VR]

Well said, if u weeel!

VR

[stompingground]

Lenoir is huge because of Jim Crockett. How I wish that was entirely true. Why was the biggest crowd to have attended one of the Tony's shows the night a stuntman who pulls socks out of his pants shows up? You can see the mark of the WWF beast (did I just write that?) on the foreheads of all of the fans that screamed with joy when Foley put his hand down his pants.

My thrill was seeing Abdullah in person for the first time since 1977 at a High School Gymnasium in Damascus, VA when I was 5 years old.

I find out this morning tha Bret Hart will be at the Mid-Atlantic FanFest? Bret Hart? Bret Hart!!?? Why? Must everything that I love be tainted with the stink of the WWF? What's next; a tribute to Hulk Hogan?

[HardcoreHeroes]

StompingGround said:

Lenoir is huge because of Jim Crockett. How I wish that was entirely true. Why was the biggest crowd to have attended one of the Tony's shows the night a stuntman who pulls socks out of his pants shows up? You can see the mark of the WWF beast (did I just write that?) on the foreheads of all of the fans that screamed with joy when Foley put his hand down his pants.

My thrill was seeing Abdullah in person for the first time since 1977 at a High School Gymnasium in Damascus, VA when I was 5 years old.

I find out this morning tha Bret Hart will be at the Mid-Atlantic FanFest? Bret Hart? Bret Hart!!?? Why? Must everything that I love be tainted with the stink of the WWF? What's next; a tribute to Hulk Hogan?

Lenoir is huge because Tony has cultivated the town and provided them with a regular flow of top talent. The response Foley got had nothing to do with it being a WWE town. Of course, Foley is the man and EVERYONE remembers him from the Mankind days with Socko. But I'd bet a huge part of that crowd also remember his pre-WWE Cactus Jack days. Regardless, Foley is super-over and would've gotten the big pop because of who he is and not necessarily that people see him as a WWE guy.

I know that a lot of folks are crediting Dusty with Lenoir's recent successes. For me, I just don't believe that's the case. Tony has booked his cards in such a way that Dusty can CLAIM that he drew the houses, but I'd bet that Cactus and Abdullah were the draws last time, and that Terry Funk will be the draw next month. Dusty's weaknesses are well known and have definitely been exposed to the fans in Lenoir. Luckily, Tony has stacked the rest of the card so that Dusty isn't the "draw" and folks will go to see the others. At least, that's my 2 cents.

Now, as far as your last comment about Why Bret Hart at an NWA fanfest (and it is NWA and not Mid-Atlantic as you wrote) ?

I put a lot of stock into the feedback I receive from folks that buy tickets. There were a number of folks that expressed an interest in having a "BIG WWE NAME" at fanfest to spice things up a bit. While I didn't like the idea of a current WWE guy, Bret Hart is a legend in this business and he is Foley-esque in that his persona and contributions stretch well beyond the WWE promotion. His family's impact on wrestling is remarkable. Almost every NWA champion and former Mid-Atlantic great will share a story with you about working or training with the Harts in Calgary.

And Bret is a legendary "wrestler"; forget the Hogan crap. This guy is a bonafide wrestling legend and, on a weekend when we all come together to honor wrestling's legends, who better to include than the Hitman?

Again, my 2 cents.