From: dkempste@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (David N Kempster)
Subject: The true state of WCW
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 17:00:09 GMT

 Thanks to everyone who wrote me and told me to ignore certain members of this 
group and post.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter in september ran a two part article on the 
true state of WCW.
"The day of reckoning is here. Despite some people rejocing when Bill Watts was
hired to take control of WCW, Watts wasn't brought in to take on Titan SPorts. 
Only with words, which have little meaning. They wanted him to cut back on the 
bullets. He was brought in to cut expenses."

In the past they had not been willing to spend the money to really take on 
Titan but they wanted to maintain some crediabiltity so they needed to keep 
their headliners from jumping. To do this they signed their big names to bigger
contracts then WWF wrestlers got. The big money given to Ric Flair, Lex Lugar, 
The Road Warriors and Sting were not justified by the gate they drew but they 
were to keep them jumping to the wiff.

Ric Flair and the Road Warriors were lost by trying to cut their pay. Lex Lugar
was lost because he doesn't like wrestling and saw the opportunity to make 
money in the WBF working on his hobby - bodybuilding.

"Jim Herd was replaced by Kip Frey, a lawyer with virtually no knowledge of the
wrestling buisness. But Frey was enthusiastic as hell an ready to fight the big
fight. He started spending money.... He spent big money to sign the talent, 
added incentive bonuses to increase their workrate, truely wanted to clean 
themn up from steriods as a real deal and not a pr. con, signed Jesse Ventura, 
one of the five biggest wrestling celebrateis in the country, and made big 
money offers to near the top WWF talent, althouh the only one his negotiations 
truely netted was Jake Roberts (who ultimately , his successor, Watts, is being
credit for bringing in. But after a few months of the fight, General Kip was 
recalled. The casualities were too high. The soldiers were happier but the tide
of the battle had not changed one iota. "

Watts was brought in to cut costs. " Watts probably convinced them with stories
on what he had done with his territory and how ridiculous it was to be paying 
wrestlers this kind of money and how horrible guarantees are. After all, Watts 
never payed that kind of money. He even convinced people who should understand 
better that guaranteed contracts ruin motivation and make for a worse product. 
... Of course, Watts before he started the guarantees lost most of his big 
talent to McMahon and to Crockett and his company didn't make it, a fact thos 
who choose not to remember history don't seem willing to comprehend..."


"    SO as these contracts come up, for the Steiners, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton
, Ron Simmons, Rick Steamboat, cactus Jack, and Barry Windham come due over the
next few months and for the rest of the guys except for sting ( who has the 
greatest deal of almost anyone in the business) sometime in 1993 and early 
1994, everyon will have to weigh their options and make a decision. BUt forget 
any talk of Ted DiBiase and Bret Hart or anyone else. That part of the game is 
over. There was nothing to that talk from the begining but ever less now. And 
unless somebody decides to screw with him earlier, or his deal, forget Sting 
going the other dirrection, unless he is completely miserable or out of his 
mind. "

Well those are the highlites form the first article. The second is even more 
disterbing and I will post it later today.
                                              David Kempster
                                               Fx