From: ag725@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Rick Scaia) Subject: [INFO] Dayton Daily News EXTRA! Date: 1996/01/25 Message-ID: Sender: ag725@freenet3.carleton.ca (Rick Scaia) Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Reply-To: ag725@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Rick Scaia) Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling As promised -- and only 4 days late -- here is the lead story for Section C (Entertainment) of January 21's Dayton Daily News. It was written by Alex Marvez (who also authors the weekly wrestling column that I summarize each week here on RSPW) and takes an in depth look at the Monday Night Wrestling Wars. [Hmmmm... here's a brain teaser: Why did this lead story appear in "Entertainment" when Marvez's column appears in "Sports"?] Note that I checked, re-checked, and double re-checked this article. It exactly matches what appeared in the DDN; I only mention this because it seemed to me that there were a couple sentences that read wrong in the article itself; those are Marvez's and his editor's.... not mine! There are several points in the story that I'd like to address at some point, if I have time, since I'm not really all that sanguine about some of Marvez' logic and/or sources (mainly the way he quotes Meltzer/Keller as some kind of experts and how he doesn't examine the facutality of any of Bischoff's quotes). But maybe I'll leave that you you loyal readers. Here goes: Corporate Wrestling Match ------------------------- Rival organizations locked in a bitter battle royal over cable television viewership by Alex Marvez "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for our main event! This bout is for nothing less than the control of professional wrestling, and will be fought to the death. In this corner is the challenger from Atlanta, GA, the mustached media mogul who owns World Championship Wrestling and is master of the tomahawk chop! Introducing "Terrible" Ted Turner! And now, the defending champion. Based in Stamford, CT, his World Wrestling Federation transformed rasslin' into main stream sports entertainment. He's big! He's brash! He's "Vicious" Vince McMahon." If only it were so simple to determine the winner of the bloodiest grappling war this side of a steel-cage match. Turner and McMahon are locked in a no-holds-barred battle to become king of professional wrestling, a multi- million dollar industry and ratings giant on cable television. The major skirmishes happen every Monday night, when both groups air hour-long shows and hurl insults that are often more amusing than the predetermined matches. After almost five months of head-to-head competition, ratings are dead-even for Turner's WCW Monday Nitro (9pm, TNT) and McMahon's Monday Night RAW (9pm, USA). Both groups are among the top five rated shows on their respective networks, being watched by approximately 1.556 million viewers a week. So far, the only decisive winner is the wrestling fan. Armed with a remote control, grappleholics in the Dayton area often switch between the two shows or watch RAW live and then catch the popular Nitro replay at midnight. In hopes of reducing channel surfing, both groups have greatly improved their product's quality. "Sometimes on the WWF, they have boring matches with nobodies fighting," said 15-year-old fan Jeff Ziegler of Fairborn. " Usually, Nitro has a lot of main-event matches. But by having both at once, you can see the best of both." Or the worst -- depending on how one feels about the frequent indignities pitched between the groups. The first salvos were fired by WCW, which began airing Nitro in September opposite the WWF's long-standing RAW. Long-time WWF stars Lex Luger and Alundra Blayze made surprise WCW debuts on Nitro, with Blayze dumping the WWF women's title in a trash can. Because Nitro is aired live almost every week while RAW is usually taped, WCW announcer/executive producer Eric Bischoff will frequently reveal outcomes to WWF matches in hopes viewers stay tuned to Turner's network. Bischoff even watches RAW on a monitor while announcing Nitro so he can insult the WWF's product. The WWF finally retaliated with skits featuring "Billionaire Ted," "The Huckster," and "The Nacho Man" -- unflattering impersonators of Turner and WCW headliners (and ex-WWF stars) Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. McMahon's characters have painted WCW as stale and ripped the promotion's anabolic-steroid testing policy. Turner is portrayed as a country bumpkin with a cheap suit, while Hogan and Savage are shown as old and passe. "I think the comments from both are childish and unnecessary," said fan Mike Brewer, 25, of Dayton. "Sometimes it's funny because of the way they say things about each other. But sometimes it takes away from the matches." The WWF declined interview requests for this story, but Bischoff revels in the fact WCW got McMahon's goat. "I'm a little surprised they responded," Bischoff said, "because people who work for us who worked for Vince in the past say he always espoused the theory of never acknowledging competition. But in a different way, I'm not surprised. Desperate people do desperate things." The WWF isn't the juggernaut it once was, with a troop of about 80 full-time wrestlers in the late 1980's having shrunk to about 45 and live shows decreasing from 85 a month to 18. McMahon also has told WWF wrestlers that the company lost $4 million in 1994, according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer. "You can see signs of desperation, but the WWF's business is not horrible," Meltzer said. "Their television ratings on cable are competitive, but they are not like they once were. Their pay-per-view buy rates have gone way down, but their [live] show business since they have consolidated to one show a night is not that bad. They are taking in far less money, but they also have far less employees." But can McMahon, whose WWF still has greater name recognition than WCW, compete against the wealthier Turner? Since both shows began airing head-to-head, orders for WWF and WCW pay-per-view shows -- the leading source of revenue for both groups -- are down at least 40%, according to Meltzer. The promotions offer a combined 18 shows a year at costs ranging between $19.95 and $34.95. One reason for the decline may be too many good matches are being aired on cable. "I don't order pay-per-views that much, because they cost too much," Brewer said. "It used to be the only way to see a good match was to order a pay- per-view." Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter gives WCW a better chance of surviving the wrestling war, because McMahon's revenue comes solely from the grappling business -- but only comprises a minuscule part of Turner's empire. While WCW turned a slight profit for the first time in 1995 (estimated at $250,000 by a company source), what's more important for Turner is that grappling delivers standout ratings and fills five hours of original programming on TBS and TNT. That's why WCW remained in business despite an estimated $30 million in losses during its first six years. "In a war of attrition, the WWF could go out of business," Keller said. "The WWF is not in this fight to become more competitive. WCW is in the fight to humiliate them and put them out of business." That's largely because of a long-running personal feud between Turner and McMahon. The WWF aired on TBS in 1984, but Turner terminated the agreement because most matches were also being repeated on rival cable channels. The two sides have despised each other since. Meltzer says Nitro originated because Turner was insulted last March by an unflattering personal letter about WCW McMahon sent. Bischoff says that isn't the case. "Vince can't win the battle, but that's not because we have an empire behind us," Bischoff said. "It's because we have people here committed to the product. He's living off the fat of the success created for him by people like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage years ago." Let's get ready to rumble. -- Rick Scaia | "Barkeep... All of a sudden, I'm relatively sane | Another whiskey!" ag725@freenet.carleton.ca | - The Notorious BlueKid ------------------------------------------------------------------------------