thesquaredcircle

Buckethead July 7th in Frisco.

A huge nail in the territory's coffin was how they were never really able to expand from their base at the Sportatorium. Not knocking the venue as it was historic and should have been turned into a museum instead of being torn down, but there was too much competition then(WWF, NWA, AWA, smaller affiliated territories,etc.) and expansion was huge during that 80s boom. Crockett was buying up every little territory and swallowing it whole and WWF was untouchable. World Class just couldn't get past being "small potatoes" and it destroyed them. In the late 80's, AWA was reduced to bussing in senior citizens from retirement communities to fill a few rows at their events, and during that same time frame people stopped going to that Sportatorium.

In hindsight, Gagne and Von Erich should have considered merging in 87 when both were really struggling but still had a small chance. It would have created one big federation in midwest territory spanning Texas to Minnesota and this might have caused some smaller promotions to join. They would not have overtook WWF or NWA but could have maintained that third position and might have done something with it. Had this happened, could have entered a bidding war for UWF with Crockett which would caused a huge influx of talent in 87.

Downside to that scenario though.....they would have did exactly what Crockett did which was bankrupt himself trying to compete with WWF. I never understood the desire to overtake Mcmahon when you have a solid company with a massive fan base already. NWA was a success in the midwest, east coast, and south. Rest of the country watched on tv. I understand wanting to expand but not at the cost of losing your already established audience. Starrcade 87 a huge blunder. Not just because of Mcmahon making cable companies choose which almost destroyed Crockett overnight, but by moving the event to Chicago which pissed everyone else off. NWA never had the same "feel" to it after that fiasco.

World Class(and AWA) were losing their audiences in droves and definitely needed to be more proactive to the unfolding events.

You really romanticize the World Class era of the sport but there's nothing wrong with that. 80s was the greatest era and it'll never be topped. People grew up loving certain territories.


World Class was only one the map for a few years. Like AWA, they really benefited from being broadcast on ESPN in the early days of that network. Most of the federation's existence could only be read about in magazines. When ESPN dropped them both, it was the first nail in the coffin. Neither federation was willing to take a gamble and expand. AWA obsessed with an aging Bockwinkel, then its talent gets poached, forcing a Larry Zybsko title reign(when I changed the channel forever). Contrary to what you state, World Class revolved around the Von Erichs and they would never change course, causing all that talent you list to leave almost immediately. Sure, the Von Erich brothers could sell out that Sportatorium, but they had to move on from that small venue if they wanted to compete with the big boys.

The death of Gino Hernandez was a sign of things to come. He was a rising star and it deserved so much more coverage than it got. It was pushed under the rug, and less than 10 years later World Class doesn't exist and all the Von Erichs but Kevin are dead.

-There is some talk of trying to make up for the fact that the show won't be filled with great in-ring action by adding more interview content. One idea is doing a series of sit-down interviews with some of the former ECW wrestlers and airing them throughout the show in between matches.

Less wrestling? Great idea!!


Been waiting years for the NFL to stop broadcasting so many football games. A football league showing football is just too out of touch with my tastes.

One of the most shocking angles of the 80s. Its a travesty this played out at house shows and was relegated to a highlight on the Saturday show. They also buried it quickly when there was a ton of potential in morphing the Dusty vs Nikita, Flair vs Nikita, Dusty vs Flair feuds and a possible Andersons vs Ivan and Kruschev match up.

Major **** up.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Bv3ZjgvpE

Seriously, watch the whole clip.

Funny how the guy didn't even use the word wrestling.....

People have always known it was fake. Kids the exception until they reach a certain age, yet they continued to watch it. Wrestling requires the suspension of disbelief to truly enjoy it. Kayfabe played a huge role in keeping the illusion intact for the audience. In the mid 90s when it morphed into the Attitude/Nitro era, it stopped being wrestling. It was simply a soap opera, and not a very good one I might add.

I don't know how people enjoy it with spoilers, knowing wrestlers are friends in real life, crowd let in on the joke,etc. Everything that made wrestling wrestling has been stripped away. Now you're left with a bunch of garbage that even some current **** fans are sick of.

Back in the 80s, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and The Iron Sheik(who were feuding at the time) were arrested together in a car and charged with **** possession. The wrestling magazines kept the illusion intact by simply wondering why the two were together. End of story.

Today, the two would issue an apology to fans, admit they're friends, and you'd see a few skits in the ring where they're winking to the crowd and the skit would revolve around drug references while the crowd laughs.

That's NOT wrestling....

Yeah, Cornette definitely needs to step away from the old school crack pipe and just walk away from the business. I understand his frustrations, but to wish death on someone over how wrestling evolved is absurd.


I cant stand Russo either, but I just lost a lot of respect for Cornette.


Besides, Cornette was involved in WWE during the Attitude era which played a HUGE role in wrestling  morphing into its current state, so he's basically the pot calling the kettle black.


1986 isn't coming back. He sounds like a sociopath. Move on Jim. Just remember the golden age fondly and do something else with the remainder of your life.