Monday Night Wars and the progression of the industry

gimmick

Having just finished the booked Sex, Lies and Headlocks, it got me thinking - was WWF/Es victory in the Monday night wars the best thing that could have happened (aside obviously from the fact that WCW went bust) if one of the competitirs was to go to the wall?

Or put another way, would it have been better if WCW won out?

It could easily be a silly question, and I am not sure I have an opinion on it.

However, the way I look at is hence - WWE since taking over the North American mainstream has put a stranglehold on the industry (In America) not ever seen before. Upstart promotions have come and gone without ever making any real splash. Even TNA who has arguably the two biggest names in the history of the business, and some of the best young talent in the world on their books at present are struggling to thread water. WWE on the other hand are still a behemoth while standards, for the most part, are very very low.

Now, had WCW won out and it was Vince who was curbed would it have left a spot open for the likes of TNA to make a truly impressive mark on the business? Or would the backstage politicking of Hogan, Nash et al have eventually killed WCW therefore killing the industry in thre mainstream, or at least, set it back many years.

To put it yet another way, could any other company or person make an organisation the household name that Vince did with WWE?

Bounty Hunter

gimmick wrote: »

To put it yet another way, could any other company or person make an organisation the household name that Vince did with WWE?

I honestly dont think anyone who was in the position to do so could have done so at the time. i.e if WCW had won their would still be the same people running the show and same people who created many backstage problems be they politcking or whatever. However i do think there are others like Vince that could have done what Vince did with the WWE should they have had complete control of WCW and similar resources to Vince after defeating WWE in the monday night wars. Names dont come to mind atm as tbh people like Vince are freaks of nature but there are others like them. Similar I guess to the way in modern times some people believe that if Paul Heyman was given complete control of TNA he could make them real competition for the WWE.

Mr.Nice Guy

I think WCW still would have imploded. I could be wrong but wasn't their most profitable year in '98 when the wheels were starting to come off behind the scenes? I don't think the McMahons would have left the industry altogether, and doubt they would have sold out to Turner, so I suspect the company would have built itself up once again after WCW crumbled due to mismanagement. Overall I think it would have been bad for wrestling fans because WCW was getting worse creatively and not pushing the right people. Everyone would be looking to a newly formed WWE, the remnants of WCW (ie TNA) and probably a few more small scale companies who'd reckon they have a chance.

starviewadams

Wasn't the main thing that screwed WCW the fact that Time Warner were bought by AOL in 2001 and the new executives just started getting rid of anything that was losing money?
If that merger never happenned maybe WCW would have been given a few more years to get back on its feet and would still be in business today.

gimmick

The merger didnt help, but WCW was heamorraging money, so it could not have stumbled on for too much longer regardless.

flahavaj

It was undoubtedly a good thing for pro wrestling that the guy who knew what he was doing behind the scenes won out and continued in the business. I shudder to think what kind of crap wrestling we would have had to put up with if WCW had the luxury of a monopoly in the market. You can say what you like about Vince and how mediocre he has gotten in recent times, but his fundamentals are sound and he has consistently produced epic moments over the years that WCW would never have been capable of producing.

Garseys

flahavaj wrote: »

It was undoubtedly a good thing for pro wrestling that the guy who knew what he was doing behind the scenes won out and continued in the business. I shudder to think what kind of crap wrestling we would have had to put up with if WCW had the luxury of a monopoly in the market. You can say what you like about Vince and how mediocre he has gotten in recent times, but his fundamentals are sound and he has consistently produced epic moments over the years that WCW would never have been capable of producing.

QFT.

Anyway WCW wouldn't have lasted, AOL-Time Warner wanted nothing to do with Pro Wrestling. Bischoff's book covers their attitudes pretty well...

gimmick

Just to clarify, while I know WCW was not going to survive regardless, I was merely musing as to the direction the business would have taken had it been Vince would went bust.

Cactus Colm

WCW could easily have won the monday night wars as I understand WWF were very close to going bankrupt at one stage. If that had happened, well, I don't necessarily think that WCW would have survived long term as they seemed intent on piling mistake upon mistake, and even without competition from wwe I could see ratings drop lower and lower.

Competition would have cropped up, certainly if WCW kept on making mistakes. Whether it be from Vince being involved with a new promotion, or someone else. I think people don't appreciate just how well TNA has done for itself, making itself a viable international wrestling promotion, where the likes of Wrestling Society X and Jimmy Hart's XWF have fallen by the wayside.

ibFoxer

gimmick wrote: »

Just to clarify, while I know WCW was not going to survive regardless, I was merely musing as to the direction the business would have taken had it been Vince would went bust.

MAYBE this:

Every possibility that Russo would be the main man in "rasslin" :eek:........that makes me shudder .

Probably an influx of ex-WWE stars, which would have completely destroyed the little-nothing the mid-card had already. The backstage politics would have been taken over by a power struggle between Hogan & the clique perhaps?

However, i don't think WCW would have been capable of monopilising the market like WWE did, i would assume another orgaisation would have sprung up and challenged, possibly taking a lot of the mid-carders (like Eddie, Rey,Jericho, Psychosis etc) and we may have had another war.

Perhaps.

flahavaj

Can you imagine WCW trying to book the likes of HBK and Undertaker? They'd have had no f*cking clue. They'd probably have had him lose the streak to Konnan or something.:pac: