Dead Crow Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 This story was posted on WWFstyle.com. Ted Turner is actively seeking to buy into or start his own new wrestling company. Turner did not have power in AOL Time Warner at the time the decision was made to cancel Nitro and Thunder last year, and eventually sell scraps to the WWF. He is now interested in being part of a national competitor to the WWF. A timeslot on TBS or TNT would likely be part of the plan, but he may launch a group even without such a slot. Multiple sources confirm that Turner is serious about trying to get back into the wrestling game and is willing to spend his own money, as opposed to AOL Time Warner's as had been speculated. One of Turner's top assistants has already met with XWF officials in recent weeks and is planning this week to meet with a major start-up group (which is near an official launch announcement without Turner's involvement). Sources believe it was actually Turner and not AOL Time Warner that offered to buy 51 percent of the XWF. There have been rumors in the cable industry over the past few months that AOL Time Warner is interested in selling the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Thrashers, and Atlanta Hawks sports teams back to Turner, who owned them prior to his company's merger with Time Warner. The story is that AOL Time Warner is only interested in the programming rights to the sports franchises and wants out of owning the teams. If Turner were to purchase the teams, AOL Time Warner would presumably demand that they retain long-term programming rights to the franchises. If Turner were to start a wrestling company, he would likely strike some type of a television deal with AOL Time Warner. The fact that Turner is spending his time meeting with wrestling companies provides reason to believe he believes the networks are interested in airing wrestling programming again. Sources say the WCW purchase agreement did not include a no-compete clause, so AOL Time Warner is not restricted from airing wrestling on TBS or TNT networks. Because AOL Time Warner owns Time Warner Cable, one of the biggest cable companies in North America, it's also possible that Turner is being encouraged by the company to start a promotion with the idea of taking away some of the leverage Vince McMahon has in the pay-per-view industry. Credit: The Pro Wrestling Torch What are your comments on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsuMirren Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 No matter what you say about WCW, be it power games or people like Luger getting a push, you cannot deny that they gave the smaller guys their chance and their programming gave something to everybody. I would love to see XWF get a TV deal, if it's through Turner Broadcasting then all the better for it. America is far too large to only have one large wrestling promotion, hell look at how many have decent TV time over in Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kam Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 I would love to see XWF or WWA get a TV deal. They need a good backer though, and Ted has got the money! It would be cool to have the monday night rating wars again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jung Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 get xwf to join with wwa, mix of cruiser, some hardcore, and decent storylines and workers a plenty, hey presto ure done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMania Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 Plus Ted Turner is a huge Mark, the types of people that make wrestling worth watching- think about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 Bah, damn WCW to hell. Although i say give the WWA a TV slot, get Ted Turner out of the business, doesnt he know when he's beaten? They gave the smaller guys a chance eh? The fact that theyd rather have David Arquette as a main eventer (exaggeration maybe) than Jericho, says it all about that shambles of a company. The only period where they had a better product than the WWF was when the WWF was going through the bad period around about 1995, and WCW had the NWO stuff going strong. It might not have been good for the wrestling business, but I was damn happy when I heard that WCW had failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMania Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 Ted Turner was the financial backer, he didn't book the shows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seabass Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 I'm sick and tired of seeing the same thing every week...now what is it- Is it the rock comming out and laying the smackdown..nah, is it Y2J as the undisputed champ...well quite frankly...i like him as the Undisputed champ...HOLD ON i know what it is, it's no competition... If Ted Turner gets XWF on TV and make it a close rival...then a)i'll be a lot happy and B)Turner will get respect back from me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.J Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 I think it would be great for wrestling all round if this actually took off. The ratings wars have been missed in wrestlig and it's no coincedence in my opinion that he deterioration of the WWF product coincides with the demise of WCW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRM Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 yay why not, just as long as we can see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayden Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 with decent TV time, and a roster that comprises a good mix of big names, as well as good in ring talent there's no reason it wouldn't be a success. Essentially we just need one company, whether it be XWF/WWA/Turner's new enterprise/NWA/XPW etc etc to stand out from the rest and become a serious challenger to the WWF's thone. In reality that could take years but it will be extremely difficult for 5 or 6 different promotions to all pose any kind of threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRM Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Getting big names could be tougth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMania Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Originally posted by BRM Getting big names could be tougth. Why bring in big names when a wrestling company can do it by themselves. ECW,WWF and WCW made small names into big names, why can't a new company do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRM Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 The thing is they need to bring something that people would watch, you can go down to the pub and watch guys you don't know fight, you need something that will make people watch, why do you think people go watch those tribute shows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grapple Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Indeed, a promotion with ambitions like national TV needs a few established stars who a mainstream audience are likely to tune into see, so that the new guys can be groomed and developed in front of them. Is Goldberg still an employee of Ted Turner? If Turner was to launch a new national TV show, would he be able to tell Spear Boy to get off his ass and do something productive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMania Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Yeah they'll need some well known people but as soon as people see good wrestling and storylines they'll want to watch, they'd be better off building stars rather than paying the millons that the likes of randy savage demand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsuMirren Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Far too many people don't want to see stars born...10 years from now we're going to have a poll about whether Steve Austin should be brought back for Wrestlemania. The American Indy scene is full of genuine talent, it's just a shame some of them see the need to sell out and go work for XPW. XWF and WWA are fortunate in that they do have some names...afterall, the FWA used Guerrero and Christopher to get people in the door. Even if a new Promotion comes in and gets 1.8 or 2.2 each week in ratings it would be a good start. Admit it....you get sick of watching the same 20 guys, go on you can admit it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayden Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 yeah wcw made stars in the old days. they made stars of sting and luger, because they already had flair and rhodes pulling in the ratings. to get large viewing figures you have to have some big names. The big names will get people watching, and then the lesser known guys will start to become more recognised as they get seen more regularly. There's no reason why you can't create a product that gets ratings, and has great matches. WCW did it with the big name main eventers, and the Cruiserweights putting on the matches of the night week in week out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMania Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Originally posted by Jayden There's no reason why you can't create a product that gets ratings, and has great matches. WCW did it with the big name main eventers, and the Cruiserweights putting on the matches of the night week in week out And ECW did it too, look at what they managed to do within 3-4 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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