Who was the better promotion WCCW, AWA, WWF, NWA/WCW, Memphis Wrestling, GCW & ECW

[ECW Sandman]

This is for the Old School Fans its very simple what was your favorite promotion and why. For me I have to say WWF And NWA/WCW ( pre Monday Night Nitro and Thunder ) for WWF it was by far the most coolest thing in the 80's you had Hulkamania running wild all over the WWF, The Rock 'N' Wrestling Connection Wrestle Mania Andre and Hogan Wrestle Mania III Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC one my all time favorite wrestling shows WWF Prime Time Wrestling and I can't for get about ''JYD'' The Junk Yard Dog. now for NWA/WCW You had The Group The Four Horsemen Ole Anderson Arn Anderson Tully Blanchard Ric Flair JJ Dillon and Baby Doll then you had The American Dream Dusty Rhodes The man was a genius no pun intended to Lanny Poffo but he came up with some good PPV'S like The Great American Bash NWA/WCW also had there version of Saturday Night's Main Event With The Clash Of Champions/ The Clash Of The Champions NWA /WCW Saturday Night then they had NWA/ WCW Main Event On Sunday NWA /WCW Had The Road Warriors Sting Lex Luger and The Steiner Brothers.

 

[bigandpissed]

I have to say ECW. they are the only promotion I've ever watched that was sincerely in it for the fans. They always put on entertaining shows despite having a really low budget and only performing in front of the same couple hundred people night in and night out. They also always tried to put together dream matches that people want to see. On top of that, their wrestlers risked life and limb for damn near nothing besides entertaining the fans. I've never seen (or probably ever will see again) a locker room so passionate about the fans. Keep in mind im probably bias because im a huge mark for hardcore wrestling, but that is my opinion.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

I have to say ECW. they are the only promotion I've ever watched that was sincerely in it for the fans. They always put on entertaining shows despite having a really low budget and only performing in front of the same couple hundred people night in and night out. They also always tried to put together dream matches that people want to see. On top of that, their wrestlers risked life and limb for damn near nothing besides entertaining the fans. I've never seen (or probably ever will see again) a locker room so passionate about the fans. Keep in mind im probably bias because im a huge mark for hardcore wrestling, but that is my opinion.

I have to agree with you.

I loved ECW. They weren't just hardcore, which I love. But they were also a mix of everything. There was Luchadores, High Flyers, Technical, and even some Puro, all mashed up together. I never saw that in any promotions that were on my network.

The matches were great, the feuds were great, the PPVs were even better, I honestly didn't see why it could not draw more viewers, and the day it died, was the day wrestling changed for me. I wasn't a big WCW or WWF guy, I was an ECW guy.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

For me it has to be the run down company out of Philly Pa. and that has been raped sooooo many times. The company I'm talking about is E. C. FUCKIN W. That little bingo hall company out of Philly changed the game of pro wrestling, it was run by the Paulie Heyman. Like I said it changed the game on how wrestling was Vince can say all he wants about the attitude era but without ECW I don't think there would be an attitude era without ECW. It was the first company to look at the world not black and white, not good guys vs. bad guys just shades of gray as everything was. ECW made a lot of great superstars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Taz, hell Kurt freakin Angle almost joined ECW before going to Vince, Rob Van, Dam, Tommy FN Dreamer, The Dudley Boyz. Granted people will say "All ECW was, was just a hardcore company that also had hadcore matches" and yeah you would be right but no other company had the fans move involved then ECW without those fans ECW would have never made it out of Philly and would have never left its mark on the World of pro wrestling.

 

[Dre Guevara]

I had a variety of promotions 2 watch back in the day, the WWF, NWA, AWA, WCCW UWF & Florida Championship Wrestling. while the WWF had the better production & mainstream popularity, I have 2 say the NWA (Jim Crockett Promotions) while I was a Hulkamaniac during that era, I saw Ric Flair & Dusty Rhodes in action on TV more than I did Hogan, SNME made it seem more like a privilege 2 see the Hulkster, however, I enjoyed every single promotion that I had the opportunity 2 watch, because they all brought something different 2 wrestling @ the time. World Class Championship Wrestling kept me anticipating the following weeks with the Von Erich/Freebirds feud, with the AWA it was all about Curt Hennig & the Midnight Rockers, un4tunately, Greg Gagne wasn't believable as a wrestler IMO. but getting back 2 JCP, I have 2 agree, Dusty Rhodes was one of the GREATEST f*cking minds in professional wrestling @ that time coming up with Starrcade & the Great American Bash, but it wasn't just about Dusty, he had the right guys in that promotion 2 keep me glued 2 my seat every week, the Road Warriors especially. it was just sad 2 see the career of Magnum TA abruptly cut short B4 he reached his full potential. what I miss the most about the NWA was their World Championship Wrestling program on WTBS in the studio, that was as real as it got right there. FCW, while they had their own stars, was an extension of the NWA, nevertheless, it was non stop action as well, along with the UWF. as 4 ECW, what can I say? they were ahead of their time. I loved & deeply miss the territorial era of pro wrestling.

 

[czar76]

All of them had their strong points and weak for that matter. ECW was outstanding. I didn't get to see much as they were not often avaible on my local networks but what I did see was out of this world. NWA/WCW was the true WRESTLING fans choice in the 80's. WWF was fun and exciting. WCCW was hardcore before that was a term. AWA was a wrestling clinic every show.
It will never be that way again and for those of us who saw it first hand we are very lucky.

 

[Dre Guevara]

I almost 4 got, what put me on 2 the NWA was a syndicated wrestling show called S.M.A.S.H. that was my introduction 2 Rhodes, Magnum TA, Nikita Koloff, the Rock & Roll Express & the 4 Horsemen, although I was already familiar with Flair, there was also a show called "This Week in Pro Wrestling" hosted by Gordon Solie & Joe Pedicino which introduced me 2 some of the other promotions in the south, Puerto Rico as well as Stampede Wrestling in Canada which after seeing a young Owen Hart, I figured that he had 2 be related 2 Bret. I could go on 4ever reminiscing.

 

[UnBEARaBULLfan]

I know WWE and NWA/wCw were the better promotions but I used to like me some WCCW, with the likes of The Great Kabuki, The Von Erics, The Missing Link, Ice Man Parsons, The Dingo Warrior(Ultimate Warrior), The Freebirds, Chris Adams, and young unknowns like Shawn Micheals, Scott Hall, Steve Williams(Austin), and Mark Calaway.

The production wasn't that good but you had a whose who of wrestler that have been through that promotion at one point in time. It was a good promotion to pass the time watching as a young kid.

I loved the Von Erics, and The Great Kabuki used to amaze me with the whole mist thing, it was a good promotion and it doesn't get talked about enough, or credit for some of the stars that passed through or got their start there.

 

[Da Truth]

It's very hard to pick one out of this group; I've always loved watching wrestling no matter the organization. All of them had good and bad qualities. I was crazy aboutWWF when I was a little kid but as I grew older it began to look a little cartoonish. I like NWQ to a certain extent because of the great tag team wrestling. WCCW had great old school style wrestling and over the top storyline sometimes. ECW began the revolution of the mid 90's. GCW was ok at best. But people sleep on Memphis wrestling. Memphis wrestling of the 80's was just like ECW and If you really pay attention ECW got some of their ideals from the good ol' boys in Memphis. They were anti WWF, they were hardcore before anyone else, they had more of a cult following than the other organizations though. The 80's was a great wrestling era.

 

[UnBEARaBULLfan]

The 80's was a great wrestling era.

It absolutely was. On saturdays and sundays you could spend almost all day watching wrestling on like 5 different channels, it was great!

 

[jpickens]

Mid South/UWF NWA/JCP WCCW AWA Memphis/USWA and ECW were all great promotions especially Memphis/ Mid Southern/ USWA not only did you get allot of future stars out of their Jeff Jarrett Randy Savage Austin Idol and Sid Vicious came out of that area but you also had the perfect mixture of wrestling and hardcore wrestling as well as some of the most intense feuds in wrestling like Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee vs Austin Idol vs Tommy Rich the Moondogs and Robert Fuller and just about everyone who came to Memphis.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I’m going to have to go with the Big 3, WWF, NWA / WCW, and ECW, as those 3 promotions were the ones I was exposed to the most. I’ve seen some others, but not enough for me to follow them on a regular basis.

 

[Whatsinaname696]

this topic makes me want to cry lol, makes me feel soooo old and my wrestlers (for the most part) are soooooo dead or retired, have to go with nwa, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here right now, simple as that

 

[emcsq29]

No comparison . . . MEMPHIS -- whether with NWA, AWA, USWA, whatever, they were miles ahead of everyone else. The first to use ring music and videos by mixing highlights of wrestlers with popular music. The first to really make hardcore matches -- ladder matches, hospital elimination, scaffold, bullwhip, etc. Lawler v. Terry Funk in an empty arena in '81 was a classic. They took the fight out into the concession stands (Tupelo, MS, in mid-70's, Kennett, MO in early-90's were fantastic). It seems like everyone who was anyone in the 60's, 70's and 80's came through Memphis, and most all of them feuded with The King. The Rock 'n Roll Express, The Fabulous Ones, and the Midnight Express all got their start in Memphis before making names for themselves nationally/globally, and there's too many individuals to count who cut their teeth there. Soooooo many stars came through either before their big break or during their prime it wasn't even funny. They crossed over with many other promotions -- all but WWWF/WWF it seems -- to bring well-known talent to town. Every Monday night the Mid-South Coliseum was the place to be, and Saturday mornings on WMC TV 5 was the best studio wrestling ever!

 

[wrestling89]

I personally really enjoyed the JCP/NWA/WCW promotion from the late 80's (I strated watching it around 1987) until the time Ric Flair left the first time in 1991.

For me, that era was the most exciting. I mean you had the original Horsemen, the Superpowers, The Road Warriors, Midnights, Rock N Roll, The Varsity Club, Steiners, Luger, Cactus Jack, J-Tex, DOOM, The Freebirds, Paul E, Jim Cornette, Jim Ross, Powers of Pain, The Skyscrapers, The Russians, etc, etc.

Great storylines, great gimmick matches.

 

[realoldskoolfan]

World Class from Dallas TX. I absoutley loved the Von Erichs as a kid. WCCW doesn't get enough credit for what it truly meant to the business. They were the first promotion to use multiple cameras. Go back and look at old footage of wrestling shows before around 1981-1982, its always a widepanned angle from in front of the ring. World Class introduced the concept of 2 or 3 guys around ringside with handheld cameras. They also put the announcers right down at ringside, which wasn't being done before that.
They were also the first promotion to really utilize entrance music. Now I know wrestlers had used music before, but you never saw every wrestler in the locker room come out to his own music every night before this. It was usually a real rareity before then.They really brought the rock concert feel to there shows, something you still get the sense of today in pro wrestling. And all of this while being taped at the small, outdated Sportatorium Arena in Dallas. They way that arena was set up was perfect. a sunken bowl type seating, very cramped and intimate feel. Watching the guys come from the locker room to the ring, fighting through the crowd. It was like watching The Beatles getting mobbed at an airport everytime the Von Erichs came out.
The popularity of the Von Erichs was not just in there own territory, but worldwide. Hell, Vince wouldn't even run shows in Dallas between 83-85 because he couldn't draw there. The Von Erichs would pack the Reunion Arena while Vince was lucky to get 2 or 3 thousand in it. They were at the time syndicated on just as many stations as the WWF and NWA and pulling similar ratings. They had alot of young talent at the time. Von Erichs, Freebirds, Iceman Parsons, Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, Fantastics, Midnight Express, and Rick Rude to name a few.
The two factors that led to there downfall were of course the Von Erich brothers dying, particularly David in 1984. After his death, it lost its magic and its one future star. David without a doubt would have been NWA Champion and the one bargaining chip Fritz would have had with the NWA board. The other factor is the fact Fritz refused to go national at the height of there popularity, even though his boys and the other wrestlers were pushing him too. They were so over, that its been documented that during the timeslots there show was shown in Israel, violence in the region actually dropped. If Fritz had lost the old school mentality of not promoting in another guys region, we might very well be talking about him today instead of Vince as the man who changed the way the business is.

 

[Hardcore Heathen]

Out of The ECW I have Seen ive gotta go with ECW. Heyman capitalised on our Hunger for Blood and Violenge from the Gladiator Times. It was one of a kind and its sad that i feel like i was born in the wrong time Period + time Zone.

 

[t619]

NWA/WCW

It was awsome. Plus they did get big crowds to nitro. im not talking 20k i'm talking 40k. WCW just had 4 major problems imo

1. TNT (They took wcw off the air)
2. Russo (Do i have to Explain)
3. NWO (Added too many people)
4. Jarrett (Should have never been signed. He is one of the worst world champs i've seen by far)

 

[Tequila Dave]

WWF, obviously. It's the only one that's still prosperous and financially successful.

 

[Santiman21]

NWA/WCW They had the best wrestlers, maybe WWF had better shows and all but the talent and real wrestling went to NWA/WCW