July 14th, 1984 - Black Saturday. The usual World Championship Wrestling (Run by Georgia Championship Wrestling) program starts, but unusually absent is Gordon Solie leaving his co-host Freddie Miller all by himself. Miller then introduces Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWF, who welcomed WWF fans to TBS. Rewind to months earlier where this story begins. McMahon, wanting to expand his power and own BOTH major cable timeslots for wrestling, contacts Ted Turner to purchase GCW's slot. Turner near-instantly rejects Vince's offer, but Vince tries to find a way around this. McMahon goes to GCW themselves and makes an offer to purchase the company. Now, although GCW provided good entertainment and a solid product, backstage they were in total disarray. McMahon contacted Jack and Jerry Brisco as well as Jim Barnett, and they agreed to sell their stakes in the company to McMahon for money and guaranteed WWF jobs. This gave McMahon a majority stake in the company, and control over its assets.
This event (The demise of Georgia Championship Wrestling.) is often considered a turning point in wrestling history. It led to the end of the territories, and began to push wrestling into a more national spotlight. It signaled the beginning of a war to come for the next two decades between the WWF and WCW, where the WWF(E) would eventually prevail. That being said, would you agree or disagree with the following statement:
The acquisition of Georgia Championship Wrestling by Vincent Kennedy McMahon, owner of the World Wrestling Federation, changed wrestling history forever.
Personally, I would have to agree. Like I said before, it signaled the end of the territories. Wrestling was starting to become the product that we know today. It was thrust into a more national spotlight, and although the WWF would eventually sell their slot to (what would eventually become) WCW due to the fans of the old GCW programming generally hating the WWF's program, it was more than enough to begin a "revolution," so to speak. Had GCW remained alive, who knows what could have happened. That single event gave McMahon his first taste of what it would take to succeed in a predominantly Southern area, where the style of wrestling was far different. They were used to more realistic gimmicks and more athletic matches, whereas the WWF and Northern wrestling was largely cartoonish gimmicks and squash matches. It gave Vince his first stinging failure, and it motivated him to someday take the wrestling world over, although he had already begun that plan earlier by squashing territories after purchasing the WWF from his father. This move also began the tumultuous relationship between Vince McMahon and Ted Turner, which would come in key in the mid to late 1990s, when the Monday Night Wars were rampant and the WWF and WCW were facing off in a ratings war.
Thoughts?
This event (The demise of Georgia Championship Wrestling.) is often considered a turning point in wrestling history. It led to the end of the territories, and began to push wrestling into a more national spotlight. It signaled the beginning of a war to come for the next two decades between the WWF and WCW, where the WWF(E) would eventually prevail. That being said, would you agree or disagree with the following statement:
The acquisition of Georgia Championship Wrestling by Vincent Kennedy McMahon, owner of the World Wrestling Federation, changed wrestling history forever.
Personally, I would have to agree. Like I said before, it signaled the end of the territories. Wrestling was starting to become the product that we know today. It was thrust into a more national spotlight, and although the WWF would eventually sell their slot to (what would eventually become) WCW due to the fans of the old GCW programming generally hating the WWF's program, it was more than enough to begin a "revolution," so to speak. Had GCW remained alive, who knows what could have happened. That single event gave McMahon his first taste of what it would take to succeed in a predominantly Southern area, where the style of wrestling was far different. They were used to more realistic gimmicks and more athletic matches, whereas the WWF and Northern wrestling was largely cartoonish gimmicks and squash matches. It gave Vince his first stinging failure, and it motivated him to someday take the wrestling world over, although he had already begun that plan earlier by squashing territories after purchasing the WWF from his father. This move also began the tumultuous relationship between Vince McMahon and Ted Turner, which would come in key in the mid to late 1990s, when the Monday Night Wars were rampant and the WWF and WCW were facing off in a ratings war.
Thoughts?