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/wrestling /guests /Turner |
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/wrestling /guests /Turner |
| Guest Columns | Brian Turner |
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HELL WEEK FOR WCW Mark you calendars. This week, the week of August 23, 1999 is possibly the most significant time period in recent wrestling history. This week is the week that WCW's condition was downgraded from stable to critical. Not since Vince McMahon Jr. began syndicating his programs to nationwide TV audiences has wrestling seen such a state of flux. Three events make this week significant. First, starting tonight, the WWF will begin airing Smackdown. This event is significant for two reasons. It plants the flag in modern network TV for pro wrestling, and it plants the stake in the heart of WCW's Thunder program. Thunder has been on life support almost since it's inception. After three hours of disjointed, incoherent programming on Monday nights, who has felt strongly compelled to go back to the trough for another two-hour helping just days later - of WCW's second string? I'm often unaware that the show is even airing, let alone tuned in for more than a 15 minute stretch. Now that there will be counter-programming available, Thunder is a dead issue. The second significant event of the week is Friday's premiere of ECW on TNN. Bear with me for a moment here. Entertainment, particularly television, is a very sensitive product. It's impossible to please everyone. Initially, WCW was successful because they targeted the WWF's audience, and presented a product that appealed to that particular market segment in a more satisfying fashion. The WWF did their homework, found out who their customers actually were, and took better aim. Faced with superior firepower, WCW changed their focus from the rabid, hungry, young adult male audience, and chose a scattergun approach, with less stopping power delivered to any single target, but more targets hit. Unfortunately for them, no audience segment is more drawn to wrestling than the one the WWF targets, and a throwing us a bone occasionally isn't going to generate any kind of interest, let alone loyalty. WCW's greater appeal to families, younger people, and much older people, vis-à-vis their "G-Rating", just couldn't produce the viewing audience to counter the massive WWF following. ECW has taken direct, focused aim at the almighty young male demographic, and is about to fire a massive broadside into it. Rather than looking to "take anyone on", or "put anyone out of business", they see a successful strategy, and are looking to follow the same approach. By running on Friday nights, they are not forcing anyone to choose between two products. They are simply adding more product for the current audience to "buy". The WWF has always recognized ECW's appeal, and has worked talent exchanges, a cross-promotional angle, and basically used ECW as a proving ground for it's own stars and concepts. WCW's abject failures with Raven and the Sandman (among others), have proven that it's not the name which draws viewers, it's the product. And now the product will be available "in stores everywhere". There is also a saturation level in television viewership. We can only watch so much of a given thing. Starting this week, between Raw, Smackdown, and ECW, wrestling's largest audience will have four hours a week of top-shelf, balls to the wall programming. How much attention span will be left for WCW's additional five hours of watered down 'rasslin? From my own experience, once ECW became available to me (and I had to buy a dish to get it!), WCW and the WWF both became unwatchable. The WWF has since updated their product, and once again has my attention. WCW went the other way, and, well, they're WCW. Long story short, if this were WWII, WCW is Germany, the WWF is Europe and Russia, and ECW is the Americans about to enter the war. Check your history books for how that one turned out. The third major event of the week occurred Monday night. Eric Bischoff decided to get tough. Unfortunately, there's nothing funnier than a weak punk trying to act tough. He's left with a no-win situation, now that his athletes have begun calling his bluff. If Raven, Kidman, Konnan, and Rey Jr. all leave, it may not be a big loss to his massively overloaded talent roster, but it will be a big gain to whoever can pick them up. True, no one anywhere will pay them as much right now as Turner can. But over time, ECW, the WWF, and Japan can all make these men into long term major names. This gives them greater career viability over the long term, and ultimately, more money. If I were Bischoff right now, I'd start encouraging more and more wrestlers to take me up on my offer, and hope that the money drain, along with the additional egos sharing locker room space will do some damage to one of his competitors (a real longshot, actually). If he tries to limit their options, he will be proving himself a liar, and blowing any credibility he ever had with his performers (HA!). WCW has taken a three-fold hit this week. The WWF, ECW, and even WCW itself have all played their cards for this round, and every one of them has turned up bad for the Atlanta promotion. All that remains is to watch the repercussions. My guess is that ECW and the WWF will wind up splitting the pot. Brian Turner [slash] wrestling Mail the Author |
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