What if the two top promotions had merged?
Well sorry to disappoint all you guys running in here to talk about WCW. Those getting a grip on the Gelgarin mindset may have come to terms with the fact that I like to deny anything after 1980 ever happened. The WWF will feature in this debate, but under a different name.
Now, I'm going to talk at you for a long time, so if you want to skip the tirade of really interesting facts, just scroll down to the italicized question at the bottom at read that.
First, because I can never resist the opportunity to give a history lecture, allow me to give a history lecture.
Let me begin in 1963, when Vince McMahon Sr and JR "Toots" Mondt, essentially in a sulk over the NWA literally forcing Buddy Rogers drop the NWA Heavyweight Championship to a returning Lou Thesz, split from the organization and founded the WWWF (later to become the WWF).
Now, the WWWF controlled quite a large territory in the North East, and whilst the company was nowhere near the size that we are led to believe these days, it was successful enough to have a degree of national exposure.
Anyway, after the foundation of the WWWF, McMahon Sr suddenly discovered that Rogers, without the backing of the NWA's talent, wasn't talented enough to draw. The upshot? A few months later, Rogers got jobbed out in 48 seconds to the WWWF's new golden boy. Bruno Sammartino.
Now I don't like Bruno very much, in part for the reasons outlined later in this post, but I'll say this... the man drew. Alot. The WWWF was still a poor second fiddle to the NWA, but with Thesz now getting on in years and insisting on taking wrestling overseas to Japan and Mexico (look how that turned out incidentally
), there was a hold in the market for a new big fish, and Sammartino was filling it.
So now we have to promotions, the big one with all the talent, money, resources and territory. And the second fiddle, which just so happens to have the fastest rising star in the business. The nest step is obvious, the two promotions get back together and Sammartino becomes the new face of the NWA.
Interestingly enough, in 1965 meetings did indeed take place regarding the companies getting back together. Obviously (at least I should hope it's obvious to all of you) this did not infact take place, and the reason why is possibly the most disputed topic of all time amongst a certain kind of wrestling fan. (Traditionally the older kind who struggle to get out of chairs and don't appreciate kids with their loud music and New Coke).
I'm not going to pretend that I know enough about the situation to say why the promotions didn't merge, so I'll just summarize a few different peoples opinions on the matter.
My verdict is that this is typical bullshit on Bruno's end. Hardly irregular if you read some of his interviews. It is a well document that Sammartino wasnt invited to the merger talks between the NWA and the WWWF, and from what I can piece together from other sources, the talks broke down before an offer could possibly have been made to Sammartino.
This seems feasible. Like many of Thesz's stories, he doesn't paint himself in the best light like most veterans do, so I tend to accept this as, at the very least, a contributory factor.
The NWA: I know jack all about the inner workings of the NWA, but I think Muchnick was in charge at the time, so I'll just use him as a personification for whoever was calling the shots for the NWA at the time.
Muchnick had some serious concerns about Sammartino's ability to draw on a larger stage, particularly when he was having to work with considerably more talented giants like Lou Thesz, instead of showmen like Buddy Rogers. Sammartino was a great entertainer, even Thesz, who never liked the man much, is the first in line to admit that, but for the traditional NWA crowd, Muchnick felt he lacked the stamina and technical ability to stay over.
As such, Muchnick insisted that, after six months, Sammartino drop the belt back to Lou Thesz, so that the NWA could weigh up it's option. Vince Sr wasn't happy with this, so the deal fell apart.
Once again, this seems feasible; I take it much like I take Thesz's version of events. That it was a contributory truth.
ANYWAY to get back on point, the deal never took place. But my question is, what if it had?
I've written approaching 1,000 words already which is the cut of point I try to enforce on myself, so I won't answer my own question at length, but I'll just offer a few theories.
Vince Jr would never have ended up in soul control of a wrestling company, so sports entertainment might never have been born.
The NWA might not have fallen apart. They'd have once again had total control on the industry, and America was entering a stage where one company could much more easily control a monopoly. It is very possible that the NWA would have become a WWE like body.
The product of the old days would not draw in the TV era, so the NWA would have had to evolve into something more.
So I guess that's my question. If it was the NWA calling the shots today instead of the WWE, what would wrestling be like?
Well sorry to disappoint all you guys running in here to talk about WCW. Those getting a grip on the Gelgarin mindset may have come to terms with the fact that I like to deny anything after 1980 ever happened. The WWF will feature in this debate, but under a different name.
Now, I'm going to talk at you for a long time, so if you want to skip the tirade of really interesting facts, just scroll down to the italicized question at the bottom at read that.
First, because I can never resist the opportunity to give a history lecture, allow me to give a history lecture.
Let me begin in 1963, when Vince McMahon Sr and JR "Toots" Mondt, essentially in a sulk over the NWA literally forcing Buddy Rogers drop the NWA Heavyweight Championship to a returning Lou Thesz, split from the organization and founded the WWWF (later to become the WWF).
Now, the WWWF controlled quite a large territory in the North East, and whilst the company was nowhere near the size that we are led to believe these days, it was successful enough to have a degree of national exposure.
Anyway, after the foundation of the WWWF, McMahon Sr suddenly discovered that Rogers, without the backing of the NWA's talent, wasn't talented enough to draw. The upshot? A few months later, Rogers got jobbed out in 48 seconds to the WWWF's new golden boy. Bruno Sammartino.
Now I don't like Bruno very much, in part for the reasons outlined later in this post, but I'll say this... the man drew. Alot. The WWWF was still a poor second fiddle to the NWA, but with Thesz now getting on in years and insisting on taking wrestling overseas to Japan and Mexico (look how that turned out incidentally
), there was a hold in the market for a new big fish, and Sammartino was filling it.So now we have to promotions, the big one with all the talent, money, resources and territory. And the second fiddle, which just so happens to have the fastest rising star in the business. The nest step is obvious, the two promotions get back together and Sammartino becomes the new face of the NWA.
Interestingly enough, in 1965 meetings did indeed take place regarding the companies getting back together. Obviously (at least I should hope it's obvious to all of you) this did not infact take place, and the reason why is possibly the most disputed topic of all time amongst a certain kind of wrestling fan. (Traditionally the older kind who struggle to get out of chairs and don't appreciate kids with their loud music and New Coke).
I'm not going to pretend that I know enough about the situation to say why the promotions didn't merge, so I'll just summarize a few different peoples opinions on the matter.
Bruno Sammartino: Sammartino claims that the WWWF came to him with the offer of a merger with him becoming NWA Heavyweight Champion. This would have meant Sammartino would have had to work more gigs, so he turned it down. As such, the merger talks collapsed.
My verdict is that this is typical bullshit on Bruno's end. Hardly irregular if you read some of his interviews. It is a well document that Sammartino wasnt invited to the merger talks between the NWA and the WWWF, and from what I can piece together from other sources, the talks broke down before an offer could possibly have been made to Sammartino.
Lou Thesz: On account of having a cooler name, Thesz was invited to the negations, and his claim is that the merger never took place due the WWWF failing to meat a couple of his demands. As I recall, there were for him to receive X percentage of the gate for Thesz V Sammartino (which would have shattered all attendance records).
Now the problem here was that Sammartino was earning less than Thesz (on account of working for a smaller company), and wouldn't work a match with Thesz if he wasn't getting paid as much. Vince Sr wasn't willing to pay a wrester a direct percentage of a gate that large, so to deal fell apart.
Now the problem here was that Sammartino was earning less than Thesz (on account of working for a smaller company), and wouldn't work a match with Thesz if he wasn't getting paid as much. Vince Sr wasn't willing to pay a wrester a direct percentage of a gate that large, so to deal fell apart.
This seems feasible. Like many of Thesz's stories, he doesn't paint himself in the best light like most veterans do, so I tend to accept this as, at the very least, a contributory factor.
The NWA: I know jack all about the inner workings of the NWA, but I think Muchnick was in charge at the time, so I'll just use him as a personification for whoever was calling the shots for the NWA at the time.
Muchnick had some serious concerns about Sammartino's ability to draw on a larger stage, particularly when he was having to work with considerably more talented giants like Lou Thesz, instead of showmen like Buddy Rogers. Sammartino was a great entertainer, even Thesz, who never liked the man much, is the first in line to admit that, but for the traditional NWA crowd, Muchnick felt he lacked the stamina and technical ability to stay over.
As such, Muchnick insisted that, after six months, Sammartino drop the belt back to Lou Thesz, so that the NWA could weigh up it's option. Vince Sr wasn't happy with this, so the deal fell apart.
Once again, this seems feasible; I take it much like I take Thesz's version of events. That it was a contributory truth.
ANYWAY to get back on point, the deal never took place. But my question is, what if it had?
I've written approaching 1,000 words already which is the cut of point I try to enforce on myself, so I won't answer my own question at length, but I'll just offer a few theories.
Vince Jr would never have ended up in soul control of a wrestling company, so sports entertainment might never have been born.
The NWA might not have fallen apart. They'd have once again had total control on the industry, and America was entering a stage where one company could much more easily control a monopoly. It is very possible that the NWA would have become a WWE like body.
The product of the old days would not draw in the TV era, so the NWA would have had to evolve into something more.
So I guess that's my question. If it was the NWA calling the shots today instead of the WWE, what would wrestling be like?
