There's a saying that we all learn in Social Studies class as young adults, "History often repeats itself". At the time, so many of us think "who cares" or "how does this apply to my life", but of all the things you learn in school, this is often the greatest lesson. It applies to your own life, it applies to the generation you live in, and it applies to things you are interested in. In this case, I think it's important to look at that statement in relation to professional wrestling. As of this Monday, March 8th, the wrestling fan will have to make the sometimes difficult decision of which program to watch as TNA will be officially shown live at the same time as the WWE on a biweekly basis (it will be on every Monday but only 2 out of every 4 shows will be live, the others will be pretaped). This decision from TNA comes just 2 months after the debut episode of TNA Impact featuring Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, the men signed on to bring the company to new heights. While those men have been in this position before, I must warn them to remember the lesson they learned as kids, because ignoring that lesson may just lead history to indeed repeat itself.
It was 1995 that a young Eric Bischoff, still in his infancy as president of WCW, made a quick, perhaps snide remark to WCW financier and overseer Ted Turner. The question "Billionare Ted" asked his young president was "how can we better compete with the WWF?" Without thinking, Bischoff spouted out "give me prime time". That simple answer led to the creation of WCW Monday Nitro, a combatant on Monday Nights to WWF's Raw. From the very beginning, WCW knew it was the underdog due to lack of previous national exposure (though it had a solid following in its base in the South), but with a seemingly unlimited talent budget, WCW already employed many of the biggest names in the business such as "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Sting, and of course, Hulk Hogan. With this arsenal combined with WWF going through a transitional period, the initial ratings favored the WWF, but WCW made an immediate impact with major WWF player Lex Luger appearing on the first Nitro after appearing just one night prior in WWF programming. With that one event, it was clear that WCW's intent was not to survive and propser, but to become the top product and run Vince McMahon's WWF out of business.
At first, this didn't seem that likely, but nearly a year after Nitro's debut, that very idea started to seem like a reality. WCW had secured the services of Razor Ramon and Diesel from the WWF and presented them as invaders from the WWF under their real names of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. With Hulk Hogan joining their side in what is regarded as the biggest swerve in professional wrestling history, this new group, dubeed the New World Order (NWO) stole the spotlight of the professional wrestling world and gave WCW the advantage in the "Monday Night Wars" for an astounding 84 weeks. Over that time though, WCW began to make critical mistakes that eventually led to their demise. Booking became so focused on the NWO that the group became so large that its significance was extremely diminshed. What should have been the biggest main event in WCW history between Sting and Hogan and Starrcade 1997 became known as one of the biggest jokes in wrestling history due to questionable booking and eventually, booking became such a joke that viewers began switching allegiances over to Vince McMahon's increasingly rauncy WWF product. Perhaps a desperate tactice by a man brought the brink, McMahon coupled nudity, sexual innuendo, and storylines questionable in taste with a main event of new stars that were stealing the hearts of the wrestling world. Perhaps an early sign of throwing in the towel was the beginning of 1999 when WCW was started to lose the ratings war and Tony Schiavone, as instructed by Eric Bischoff, announced that Mick Foley would win the WWF championship that night and "that ought to put asses in the seats". Because WWF at the time taped half their episodes as TNA will do now, that information was available to them, but the act of desperation, taking pot shots at the competition, led to a mass exodus of fans watching WCW programming to make sure to see fan favorite Foley win his first ever title. After terrible booking and desperate measures led to significantly reduced ratings and even worse Pay Per View buys, WCW became a victim of the AOL/Time Warner Merger of 2001 (Time Warner owned Turner Broadcasting by this time). As a business decision, executies from AOL saw a sinking ship and refused to continue to invest in it, and WCW's top supporter, Ted Turner, was now essentially powerless. After realizing that Turner's lack of power meant no TV contracts, Eric Bischoff's attempt to buy WCW went to the wayside and WWF's Vince McMahon bought what was left of the once great WCW for pennies on the dollar, ending a 6 year war in perhaps one of the most anti-climactic ways possible.
While anyone in 2010 knows that the WWE under Titan Sports, Inc. is a billion dollar operation and should have the necessary means to compete with any competitor, 1995 was a different story. Wrestling would hit its peak a few years later, but 1997 brought Vince McMahon to a realization that a richer man had brought him to the brink of extinction. The very wealthy Ted Turner had infinite resources to take down McMahon, but in the end, McMahon won the war. While many wrestling fans argue (usually without too much factual information) the reasons for WCW's demise, it is clear that lack of financial support and ability to lure talent was not one of the reasons. Any logical fan would be able to point to an increasingly chaotic product controlled more by the talent than by those in charge as at least part of the problem, if not the whole thing. Many have pointed to the "creative control" in top players contracts as reasons why younger talent wasn't pushed, leading to a repetitive main event scene, especially given the longevity of the NWO angle and the same players consistently involved in it. This led to young talent such as Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and others jumping ship to the WWF and getting pushed more than they could ever imagine in WCW. Even as far back as 1994 when Eric Bischoff took over, he and his management were unable to indentify future talent due to their focus on wrestlers who already had fame. Their goal from the beginning was to GET the biggest stars, not CREATE the biggest stars, and this strategy led to short term success but long term failure. However, it seems that 2001 was not the end of this logic.
In 2002, former WWF and WCW wrestler Jeff Jarrett, along with his father Jerry, started a small promotion acknowledged by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that became known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Over time, this small promotion went from local shows and Wednesday Pay Per Views to securing Monthly Pay Per Views in the same format as the WWE as well as a television contract with Spike TV for Thursday evening programming. Since its inception, TNA has grown its following from local market to national internet wrestling community cult favorite. Early incarnations of the company featured high flying X-division matches as well as a burgeoning tag team and knockout (female) division. Its draw for a long time was being the "anti-WWE", giving fans who complained about many aspects of WWE programming an alternative product featuring a different form of wrestling. At some point, the product began to change slowly, as mainstream exposure and TV contacts led the company to bring in such big names as Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Christian, Booker T, Scott Steiner, etc. While the smaller, more athletic wrestlers were still featured, it became evident that TNA began to see itself as the emerging #2 product in American wrestling. Given that it rose above all the other independent companies and began garnering a national following, loyal fans began to envision a world where two major organizations could compete again. I was not one of those dreamers.
While I appreciate the idea of two major wrestling companies in America, I have never truly understood the value of direct competition. While I agree that competition can often bring out the best in the competitors, I'm not sure I understand how direct competition in the exact same timeslot can lead to anything positive. TNA has made the decision to go into direct competition with the WWE as of March 8th, the first time since 2001 that two wrestling programs will compete for ratings. Of course, the last time this occured, one program became so decimated that a company that once claimed yearly profits of over 60 million dollars was sold for less than 5 million dollars TOTAL. WCW had all the tools to compete: a great connection for television, a roster with a lot of name value, access to a Billionare's checkbook to invest in the product when need be, and the ability to shock due ot lack of litigation regarding talent contracts. Due to the latter point, WCW secured Lex Luger for their first Nitro, got Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to appear shortly after WWE appearances, and other talent like Rick Rude to appear literally the same night he appeared on WWF television. No restrictions existed then. They do now.
Vince McMahon has obviously studied history at some point in his life. I would guess that Eric Bischoff has not. McMahon, realizing that the ability of talents to jump ship at any given moment was a hinderance to his business, has made it a standard that all contracted talent have a 90 day no compete clause in competitive promotions. This means that the new competitor, TNA cannot simply pick up any talent looking to leave WWE and put them right on television. Even if John Cena were to leave WWE, he would be gone from wrestling television screens for 3 months before a "surprise" appearance on the rival promotion. Kind of takes the wind out of the sail, huh?
The other biggest hinderance to competition these days is the internet. It has already been confirmed due to internet leaks that Sting and Rob Van Dam will make appearances on Impact this coming Monday. While neither was currently working for any large promotion, their name value could be a draw to TNA programming. However, to keep those appearances a secret, it is increasingly difficult with the ability to transmit information in a moment's notice. Along with that, the exchange of thoughts within the internet wrestling community leave no stone unturned in terms of debuts and storyline development so that writers for wrestling television very rarely shock the audience anymore. The internet has forced wrestling writers to alter their focus to writing simply compelling stories that the fan can follow week to week, and keep the shocks for special occasions when the fans truly don't expect them. This is a negative for an underdog promotion, as TNA, even with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, simply don't have the exposure and name value to compete right away with WWE, and shocking stuff might have been the only thing to bring back the 90s generation type viewer. I'm not sure I buy that, but I've heard that argument and it's germaine to our discussion.
With all these roadblocks and the knowledge that one war lasted merely 6 years and ended embarassingly for the loser, you would think that it would be a bad idea for history to repeat itself, at least in terms of the losing side. You would think that, but you would be wrong. Two men who were driving forces in the first Monday Night Wars have joined the TNA side and within mere months, have thrown the first shot to declare wrestling's version of World War 2. Of course, I point to history again, as the victor in World War 1 also emerged victorious from World War 2. In this case, I think you could expect the same result. My question has consistently been, why war?
TNA had carved out a nice niche among the internet wrestling community and had a cult following of over a million fans. While their television rating and Pay Per View buys could in no way compete with WWE, it is entirely possible that if run properly, the company could make a profit each and every year and have a successful lifespan. I would argue that there is no shame in being a profitable company. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan might argue otherwise. These men have clearly targeted the WWE and in an attempt to rewrite history, are taking them on again. The difference is, this time, they don't stand a chance. When Nitro debuted in 1995, their initial ratings were behind WWF, but not by anything more than 1 rating point. It was a war from the start, and one where anything could tip the scales. WCW already had star power, but added more along the way, often within hours of working for "the enemy". In today's wrestling world, such occurences cannot and obviously will not happen. TNA has some star power, but nothing short of the WWE releasing Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Edge, Batista, and The Undertaker would tip the unbalanced scales this time around. It's more of an uphill battle than the ego-driven Hogan and Bischoff could imagine.
Some fans argue that the second Wrestling Wars will have one winner, the fans. I have disagreed with that and will continue to disagree as one promotion will inevitably lose. The fans would only win if another product gained popularity on a different day of the week with something different to offer than it's competition. This way, wrestling fans can sample both products and enjoy them for what they are. By putting them directly against each other, fans cannot enjoy both products fully as either TiVo or Hulu must be used along with the good old channel flip. I believe that true fans would benefit from more wrestling on more days of the week with different wrestlers and different stories for all to enjoy. Perhaps in this formula, other companies could emerge as well and wrestling woudln't have to be a 2 horse race. Maybe one day we'd live in a world where every day featured different wrestling companies on different channels, offering fans many different options. Unfortunately, because one war failed, a second has been launched, and history will repeat itself. A once promising young company will one day be a memory because two men desperate to overcome a previous loss took away a company identity and removed it from it's niche. They just couldn't understand that sometimes, it's okay to be successful in what you do, rather than to fail at what someone else does.
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