World Championship Wrestling 2002: Rebuilding the Empire

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

Yes, bring in the women, but bring in the real wrestlers, none of that eye candy crap.

[randomfreeze]

One of my favorite parts of WCW was that it never placed any emphasis on a woman's division. I don't have any interest in woman's wrestling and would prefer not to read about it. This is my favorite thread here so even if you go the way of the woman you aren't gonna lose me, I'll just skip over that section.

[BHK1978]

One of my favorite parts of WCW was that it never placed any emphasis on a woman's division. I don't have any interest in woman's wrestling and would prefer not to read about it. This is my favorite thread here so even if you go the way of the woman you aren't gonna lose me, I'll just skip over that section.

 

It is not that I am a fan of Women's wrestling or that I am against it. However, I agree with randomfreeze. I don't recall their ever being Women's wrestling in the Jim Crockett NWA which this ties its legacy to. Therefore, I just don't see WCW haivng a Women's division.

[Hashasheen]

Thanks Hashasheen.

I live to bloat egos.

 

Now, another question for your fine readers... I kind of hinted at it in the editorial piece, but I am curious about how people feel about the possibility of adding a women's division to WCW. Its something they had in the past but clearly never really featured at all. I won't give away names of who it would include, but it would certainly be far from the contemporary WWE Diva approach. A mix between Shimmer and the TNA Knockouts division really. It wouldn't be immediately, but probably in early 2003. The thought process woudl to be add a 2nd "A" show - one A show would feature the cruiser-weights and the other would feature the women's division. No brand split or anything, and the rest of the show would be the same "heavyweight" workers and tag teams. Thoughts?

With Cruiser-weights on one show and Women's division on another show, it would be interesting and its actually similar to what I have planned. If you like, I've got a good set of names (9) already active from 2001 real life in professional wrestling that you could cross check with the database. My plan was to keep them in the developmental until Early 2003 before raising them up en masse and starting up more recruitment of female wrestlers.

 

For everyone saying it's not WCW, I think that would be a plus. While there would be claims of them imitating WWF, a Knockouts style division would silence the claims with the still tits and ass women's division the WWF had for the most part. Plus, since Bischoff and Heyman want to improve and change the product, a viable women's division would seperate it from the old WCW.

[Bigpapa42]

I figured the response on this one would be varied... pretty much why I asked! Thanked the responses far, guys and gals. This isn't something I'm going to be deciding on right away, so feel free to add thoughts, concerns, issues, etc, down the road as well.

 

Would not have a problem as long as its not eye candy match. "Legit wrestling" as a focus, I could buy it in a WCW product.

 

Yeah, definitely not eye candy. No "Bra and Panties", "Evening Gown", or "Housewares Hardcore" matches here. They would be presented as legit wrestlers, similar to the way that ROH does it with the women's wrestlers they feature (mostly from SHIMMER). I imagine a few might pull double-duty as managers and wrestlers, but only if they have skills for both. So Torrie Wilson becoming a wrestler... probably not...

 

Yes, bring in the women, but bring in the real wrestlers, none of that eye candy crap.

 

Actual in-ring talent would be the first consideration. I won't say that looks won't matter at all. Sex Appeal, like Entertainment skills, is a way for a worker to get over and stay over, obviously. So a slightly less talented worker with one of those in their favor might still find themselves a key part, but only if they have a decent degree of in-ring ability.

 

One of my favorite parts of WCW was that it never placed any emphasis on a woman's division. I don't have any interest in woman's wrestling and would prefer not to read about it. This is my favorite thread here so even if you go the way of the woman you aren't gonna lose me, I'll just skip over that section.

 

That's fair enough, and I doubt you are alone in having little interest in the women's side of the "sport". Glad it won't chase you away if I do decide to go through with the division,t hough.

 

It is not that I am a fan of Women's wrestling or that I am against it. However, I agree with randomfreeze. I don't recall their ever being Women's wrestling in the Jim Crockett NWA which this ties its legacy to. Therefore, I just don't see WCW haivng a Women's division.

 

I do believe the NWA World Women's title was defending in JCP, though I am not certain on that. As well, WCW did have both a Women's title and a Women's Cruiserweight. They were both only active for a bit in the mid 90s before they were abandoned. Most of the women's matches took place on shows like Worldwide, but you did have Madusa and Bull Nakano on PPV. So there is a bit of a history there, even if there was never much emphasis on it.

 

I live to bloat egos.

 

With Cruiser-weights on one show and Women's division on another show, it would be interesting and its actually similar to what I have planned. If you like, I've got a good set of names (9) already active from 2001 real life in professional wrestling that you could cross check with the database. My plan was to keep them in the developmental until Early 2003 before raising them up en masse and starting up more recruitment of female wrestlers.

 

For everyone saying it's not WCW, I think that would be a plus. While there would be claims of them imitating WWF, a Knockouts style division would silence the claims with the still tits and ass women's division the WWF had for the most part. Plus, since Bischoff and Heyman want to improve and change the product, a viable women's division would seperate it from the old WCW.

 

I would be curious to see who you have. I've been looking at almost any women's competitor included in the data who has anywhere near the talent to be used.

 

Separation from the "old" WCW is indeed a prime motivator for the idea. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of women's wrestling. I don't dislike it at all, but I also don't mark out or seek it out. Indifferent, I guess. But the idea intrigues me because I see WCW going forward as an evolution. Its pro wrestling becoming more modern. Not "modern" in the product sense, but in the way it integrates things. Athleticism and work-rate are key, and no style of match is really out of place. If the promotion is truly evolutionary, forward-looking, and modern... not looking toward the women's side of wrestling feels like I'm intentionally excluding something.

 

It would be a way for the Bischoff-owned, Heyman-booked version of WCW to further distance itself from the WCW of the Turner era. Its also, oddly, a way to differentiate itself from the WWE... by doing something that the WWE also does, but by doing it so differently.

 

That's the thought process that lead me to considering it, at least...

[BHK1978]

I do believe the NWA World Women's title was defending in JCP, though I am not certain on that. As well, WCW did have both a Women's title and a Women's Cruiserweight. They were both only active for a bit in the mid 90s before they were abandoned. Most of the women's matches took place on shows like Worldwide, but you did have Madusa and Bull Nakano on PPV. So there is a bit of a history there, even if there was never much emphasis on it.

 

You are right, I can't believe I forgot about that. I remember when Madusa threw the WWF's Womens Title in the garbage. JCP I am not sure about because I didn't watch NWA/WCW until after Ted Turner took over. So they very well could have had a title as well, I just never recalled any talk about it.

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

Well, I can give you three names right now that were around by 2003 and have become some of the best women in the United States: Sara Del Rey, Sarah Stock, and Cheerleader Melissa. There are others obviously, but those three come off the top of my head. I think Mercedes Martinez was already around, too. Most of SHIMMER made their debuts in the early 2000s, I'm pretty sure. Remianen could tell you better.

 

That said, poach from Japan like no tomorrow. Mariko Yoshida (who I consider the best female wrestler in all of history), Mima Shimoda, Manami Toyota (I think she was still around in 2003), Mika Akino (usually simply AKINO, but I put both because the data could have either or as the name), the list is bigger than the American list for sure. Paying relocation costs for them would definitely be worth it if you want a divsion that commands respect and can put out quality matches. Assuming the data you're using didn't gimp the women, the Joshi wrestlers should (eventually, once their popularity is up) be able to put on matches that are as good as those put on by the men.

 

I say go for it. Women get so little respect in wrestling. It'd be nice to see a revamped WCW with a division that is respectable. I would love to see your take on it.

[BoomKing]

A womens division would be a great addition to WCW BPM (My new suggestion for your new A show!) Whilst I agree that it should be mostly talent orientated, there's always room for a little eye candy! Some would argue that it is necessary. Like you say, Sex Appeal is a good way to get a lady over and keep her over.

 

I trust you to include a good mix of both. Afterall, where would TNA womens wrestling be without its beautiful people? WWE without Trish, and before her Sunny and Sable? WCW without miss Hanc0ck? I suppose what I'm saying is that some of the best feuds in womens wrestling have been built around one womans supposed sexiness as opposed to her opponents apparent lack. When used as a tool to start feuds and the such, sexiness is a great tool to utilise.

[juggaloninjalee]

I say do a womens division but don't go into long details about it in your write ups. Personally it isn't my thing and I hate watching women wrestle. Never got into it and have tried.

[FlameSnoopy]

I have no problem with Womens wrestling. In fact, it can be way better than men's in some occasions. And my vote goes to: Yes, bring in a Womens division. And Trish Stratus when she gets available.

[James Casey]

I'll second Lindsey on bringing in Toyota or Yoshida - not sure which one of them'd get my vote for best of all time, though.

 

The obvious drawback in introducing a whole new division is building the interest for it. Of course, there are ways of doing that, but suddenly throwing out ten new names for fans to care about has crashed in the past. Indeed, when WWF re-debuted the Women's title in the late 90s it was done to allow Sable to give the rub to the other women, and when she left the division all-but crashed until Lita, Trish and Chyna brought more interest to it (even being vacant for six months after Chyna left).

 

I'm obviously a big fan of women's wrestling, but I'd be cautious about having too much differentiation. Mixing the men and the women, in tag matches if not in singles, gives the fans reasons to care about the women. it works better in the game than in real life, as well.

 

Oh, and sign Lufisto. She'd fit well into ECW, and her and Mickie James could always do a slightly alternate version of the Gathering as it played out in TNA a few years back.

[juggaloninjalee]

If you do a womens division... bring in Aja Kong, Lufisto, and Jazz for sure. Aja Kong is a big shoot fighting woman who is awesome. Lufisto is a super talented wrestler, and Jazz is another big woman who can go in at least a brawling type of match.

[Hashasheen]

I would be curious to see who you have. I've been looking at almost any women's competitor included in the data who has anywhere near the talent to be used.

Sending it to you in the PM.

 

Separation from the "old" WCW is indeed a prime motivator for the idea. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of women's wrestling. I don't dislike it at all, but I also don't mark out or seek it out. Indifferent, I guess. But the idea intrigues me because I see WCW going forward as an evolution. Its pro wrestling becoming more modern. Not "modern" in the product sense, but in the way it integrates things. Athleticism and work-rate are key, and no style of match is really out of place. If the promotion is truly evolutionary, forward-looking, and modern... not looking toward the women's side of wrestling feels like I'm intentionally excluding something.

I see what you're talking about, and it would feel good to go like "Yeah, we've got men's wrestling and women's wrestling. And guess what? They're both better than WWF!"

 

It would be a way for the Bischoff-owned, Heyman-booked version of WCW to further distance itself from the WCW of the Turner era. Its also, oddly, a way to differentiate itself from the WWE... by doing something that the WWE also does, but by doing it so differently.

 

That's the thought process that lead me to considering it, at least...

Same line of thought, except I was watching a Knockouts match on Youtube and I was like "I've already taken most of Jarrett's best male rookies, why not take the Knockouts as well?"

[Bigpapa42]

You are right, I can't believe I forgot about that. I remember when Madusa threw the WWF's Womens Title in the garbage. JCP I am not sure about because I didn't watch NWA/WCW until after Ted Turner took over. So they very well could have had a title as well, I just never recalled any talk about it.

 

They never actually had Madusa hold the WCW Womens title, oddly. A couple Japanese wrestlers did.

 

I don't think JCP had their own womens title. It was the NWA title, so like the other major NWA titles, the champion traveled promotion to promotion to defend it. I believe it was defended in JCP. Not certain but based on what I can find, at least...

 

Well, I can give you three names right now that were around by 2003 and have become some of the best women in the United States: Sara Del Rey, Sarah Stock, and Cheerleader Melissa. There are others obviously, but those three come off the top of my head. I think Mercedes Martinez was already around, too. Most of SHIMMER made their debuts in the early 2000s, I'm pretty sure. Remianen could tell you better.

 

That said, poach from Japan like no tomorrow. Mariko Yoshida (who I consider the best female wrestler in all of history), Mima Shimoda, Manami Toyota (I think she was still around in 2003), Mika Akino (usually simply AKINO, but I put both because the data could have either or as the name), the list is bigger than the American list for sure. Paying relocation costs for them would definitely be worth it if you want a divsion that commands respect and can put out quality matches. Assuming the data you're using didn't gimp the women, the Joshi wrestlers should (eventually, once their popularity is up) be able to put on matches that are as good as those put on by the men.

 

I say go for it. Women get so little respect in wrestling. It'd be nice to see a revamped WCW with a division that is respectable. I would love to see your take on it.

 

There isn't a lack of promising young womens wrestlers by 2002, that's for sure. Some of them are a big raw, but a spell in development takes care of that quick enough. I also like that its a combo of names who, in reality, went on to work in either the WWE or TNA and some talented workers who stayed on the indy scene.

 

There also are some talented joshi workers. I have to admit that I am a bit torn on whether I would bring many of them in. It would certainly add to the in-ring quality, but in some ways, I think it would realistically make it tougher to get the the fans to care.

 

A womens division would be a great addition to WCW BPM (My new suggestion for your new A show!) Whilst I agree that it should be mostly talent orientated, there's always room for a little eye candy! Some would argue that it is necessary. Like you say, Sex Appeal is a good way to get a lady over and keep her over.

 

I trust you to include a good mix of both. Afterall, where would TNA womens wrestling be without its beautiful people? WWE without Trish, and before her Sunny and Sable? WCW without miss Hanc0ck? I suppose what I'm saying is that some of the best feuds in womens wrestling have been built around one womans supposed sexiness as opposed to her opponents apparent lack. When used as a tool to start feuds and the such, sexiness is a great tool to utilise.

 

The way I look at it, sex appeal definitely has its role. I just don't want a WCW Women's division to be similar to the Diva's, or even the Knockouts to an extent, in that the first question about a female worker is "are they hot?" Being "hot" is just a bonus, much like being entertaining is. Either one would be exploited (in mostly tasteful, non-risque ways)

 

I say do a womens division but don't go into long details about it in your write ups. Personally it isn't my thing and I hate watching women wrestle. Never got into it and have tried.

 

Well, I don't give much overt focus to the cruiserweights, or even the tag ranks. So the women's division probably wouldn't get any more "coverage" than those. I imagine the portion of the recaps devoted to the women's ranks would be fairly easy to skip over, should I end up going this direction.

 

I have no problem with Womens wrestling. In fact, it can be way better than men's in some occasions. And my vote goes to: Yes, bring in a Womens division. And Trish Stratus when she gets available.

 

Trish would be a nice steal... but she is under a long contract at this point.

 

I'll second Lindsey on bringing in Toyota or Yoshida - not sure which one of them'd get my vote for best of all time, though.

 

The obvious drawback in introducing a whole new division is building the interest for it. Of course, there are ways of doing that, but suddenly throwing out ten new names for fans to care about has crashed in the past. Indeed, when WWF re-debuted the Women's title in the late 90s it was done to allow Sable to give the rub to the other women, and when she left the division all-but crashed until Lita, Trish and Chyna brought more interest to it (even being vacant for six months after Chyna left).

 

I'm obviously a big fan of women's wrestling, but I'd be cautious about having too much differentiation. Mixing the men and the women, in tag matches if not in singles, gives the fans reasons to care about the women. it works better in the game than in real life, as well.

 

Oh, and sign Lufisto. She'd fit well into ECW, and her and Mickie James could always do a slightly alternate version of the Gathering as it played out in TNA a few years back.

 

Yeah, the question of "how to introduce the division" is the key to making fans care. I do have some thoughts on the process, which would probably be quite gradual. You need to give the fans a reason to care about the workers - positive or negative - before you just throw them in the ring. It would actually be the process I had started to put together when I was considering adding a women's division to Supreme.

 

As for mixed matches, I have to admit that I'm not a fan of them for the most part. But they do serve an obvious purpose, so its something I'd have to put some consideration into...

 

I don't want to give away possible names... but LuFisto certainly wouldn't be out of place...

 

If you do a womens division... bring in Aja Kong, Lufisto, and Jazz for sure. Aja Kong is a big shoot fighting woman who is awesome. Lufisto is a super talented wrestler, and Jazz is another big woman who can go in at least a brawling type of match.

 

I have seen a bit of Aja Kong's work. She is definitely talented in the game as well.

 

Sending it to you in the PM.

 

I see what you're talking about, and it would feel good to go like "Yeah, we've got men's wrestling and women's wrestling. And guess what? They're both better than WWF!"

 

Same line of thought, except I was watching a Knockouts match on Youtube and I was like "I've already taken most of Jarrett's best male rookies, why not take the Knockouts as well?"

 

Saw the list - not surprising, they are a lot of the workers I would be going with as well. The is some definite talent available, but its not the widest talent pool by any means.

[juggaloninjalee]

A way you could introduce it while also using your "farm system" would be to have ECW introduce it to have another thing better than WCW and WWF. Then say that WCW stole 2 or 3 of ECW's best women... storyline wise I mean.

 

Then ECW decides to bring up 3 more women to take their place. ECW is known to be able to replace guys spots because Heyman was a great booker.

[Hashasheen]

Saw the list - not surprising, they are a lot of the workers I would be going with as well. The is some definite talent available, but its not the widest talent pool by any means.

 

Meh. Like I said, keep them in development until 2003 where the rest of the female wrestler names I gave you primarily debut. Women's Wrestling in America isn't that big, but to start off in WCW, it doesn't have to be.

[mikemelling]

Then ECW decides to bring up 3 more women to take their place. ECW is known to be able to replace guys spots because Heyman was a great booker.

 

Shame he wasn't a better business man.

 

*Sighs* I can imagine the wrestling would be if WWE or TNA gave Heyman total control of storylines. It would be immense.

 

Anyway, I would definately include a Women's Division. Diversity is what this WCW needs, workers who can actually work as opposed to pose for playboy. You can afford the place because you have somewhere for it to go; ECW. Start off the Division on the "proving ground" and then when it works move it to the main show. I love the idea of having real wrestling on the show between women who can actually work.

[Greg McNeish]

I guess I'm in the minority in that I'm actually a fan of the Divas division, in the WWE. To each their own.

 

I'm completely in favour of adding a womens division to a second A show. For debuting purposes, I think the easiest way to get it off the ground would be to use a few of the girls as managers, through the fall and winter. Of course, that means that they aren't in development, so you'll want to do that with the ones that are already roster-ready.

 

Like a venture capitalist, this should help seed the division with some start-up Popularity. You'll need that, if you're not planning to do much cross-promotion between the genders.

[juggaloninjalee]

I guess I'm in the minority in that I'm actually a fan of the Divas division, in the WWE. To each their own.

 

I'm completely in favour of adding a womens division to a second A show. For debuting purposes, I think the easiest way to get it off the ground would be to use a few of the girls as managers, through the fall and winter. Of course, that means that they aren't in development, so you'll want to do that with the ones that are already roster-ready.

 

Like a venture capitalist, this should help seed the division with some start-up Popularity. You'll need that, if you're not planning to do much cross-promotion between the genders.

 

That could work with about 2 girls. Use them as managers/valets and then bring in the talented girls to leach overness off those girls.

[James Casey]

I guess I'm in the minority in that I'm actually a fan of the Divas division, in the WWE. To each their own.

 

The Divas have their place, but a lot of them don't have the training, talent or understanding necessary to work anything other than the most rigorously scripted of matches.

 

To see Natalya sitting out most of the last two years as a manager has been vexing, to say the least - albeit that she's been in house show matches and the like.

 

Using the new women as managers is certainly one way of bringing them in. There's nothing to stop BP using his dark time as off-the-radar training time for those women - Lufisto against Flair, for example, or Beth Phoenix against Sting. And although I'm loathe to advocate the women = romance with men must happen storylines, they do work, and could lead to a mixed-tag blowoff at a PPV a couple of times a year easily enough.

 

All this also goes to show how BP racks up the post counts, of course

[Bigpapa42]

A way you could introduce it while also using your "farm system" would be to have ECW introduce it to have another thing better than WCW and WWF. Then say that WCW stole 2 or 3 of ECW's best women... storyline wise I mean.

 

Then ECW decides to bring up 3 more women to take their place. ECW is known to be able to replace guys spots because Heyman was a great booker.

 

I am a bit torn on the possibility of using ECW for having the women to step into the ring for the first time. In terms of the "proving ground" aspect, it works ideally. I'm just not so sure how having regular women's wrestlers fits with the ECW dynamic. I know the women in the "real" ECW got involved in matches and angles a lot, but I don't know how often they had the women actually wrestler. Its definitely an idea I'm still playing with.

 

Meh. Like I said, keep them in development until 2003 where the rest of the female wrestler names I gave you primarily debut. Women's Wrestling in America isn't that big, but to start off in WCW, it doesn't have to be.

 

Yeah, its going to be a slow gradual process. And I'm not worried about how many decent workers are available - it was more the thought that almost anyone looking at the 2002-2003 talent pool available outside the WWE in American wrestling would probably end up with a very similar division. That's not a bad thing - but there just isn't enough names for real variety.

 

Shame he wasn't a better business man.

 

*Sighs* I can imagine the wrestling would be if WWE or TNA gave Heyman total control of storylines. It would be immense.

 

Anyway, I would definately include a Women's Division. Diversity is what this WCW needs, workers who can actually work as opposed to pose for playboy. You can afford the place because you have somewhere for it to go; ECW. Start off the Division on the "proving ground" and then when it works move it to the main show. I love the idea of having real wrestling on the show between women who can actually work.

 

Yeah, the whole "what if" with Heyman is so intriguing and, in a way, painful. What could we be seeing today if Heyman had kept running Smackdown on his own terms? Or if this Bischoff-Heyman scenario had played out, how could Heyman have done with WCW...?

 

Thanks for the feedback...

 

I guess I'm in the minority in that I'm actually a fan of the Divas division, in the WWE. To each their own.

 

I'm completely in favour of adding a womens division to a second A show. For debuting purposes, I think the easiest way to get it off the ground would be to use a few of the girls as managers, through the fall and winter. Of course, that means that they aren't in development, so you'll want to do that with the ones that are already roster-ready.

 

Like a venture capitalist, this should help seed the division with some start-up Popularity. You'll need that, if you're not planning to do much cross-promotion between the genders.

 

Sshhh, Greg... you're giving away all my plans!

 

That's exactly the way I plan to introduce the female wrestlers, should I go forward with it. I have no plans to put Torrie Wilson or Stacy Kiebler in the ring, but they've both had their overness shoot up by being associated with Kronik and Alpha, respectively. Having one or two of them on ECW, where female managers have a history of being inovlved in the business.... Taking a bump or two to show their toughness, leading them into the ring in some way, then bam, you have a couple of women wrestlers to form the basis. They step into the ring with some overness and established personalities, giving the fans a reason to care from the start.

 

As for the Divas, I just feel that the WWE really limits them in most ways - they aren't really given any time on TV to work decent matches, they don't really get to show much personality anymore, and they don't get actual storylines too often. Its more a feeling that they could be so much more if the WWE allowed them to be... but that's a lot of the WWE to me at this point...

 

That could work with about 2 girls. Use them as managers/valets and then bring in the talented girls to leach overness off those girls.

 

If I do things gradually, it could work for a quite few different ladies. They don't all have to have the same role - some could be actual managers, some could be old school valets, others could be relatives of some type... As I bring through more new talent on ECW, it will be easy to have some of them start out with a female in the mix in some way...

 

The Divas have their place, but a lot of them don't have the training, talent or understanding necessary to work anything other than the most rigorously scripted of matches.

 

To see Natalya sitting out most of the last two years as a manager has been vexing, to say the least - albeit that she's been in house show matches and the like.

 

Using the new women as managers is certainly one way of bringing them in. There's nothing to stop BP using his dark time as off-the-radar training time for those women - Lufisto against Flair, for example, or Beth Phoenix against Sting. And although I'm loathe to advocate the women = romance with men must happen storylines, they do work, and could lead to a mixed-tag blowoff at a PPV a couple of times a year easily enough.

 

All this also goes to show how BP racks up the post counts, of course

 

I won't lie - romance angles are something I'm leery of in WCW. I get the value of them, but I just don't love em.

 

Honestly didn't expect very much response to this question intially. I saw the first couple of responses and was thankful that anyone took their time to provide their thoughts. Twenty or so posts later.... I'm consistently blown away by the response of people on here. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[Phantom Stranger]

A way you could introduce it while also using your "farm system" would be to have ECW introduce it to have another thing better than WCW and WWF. Then say that WCW stole 2 or 3 of ECW's best women... storyline wise I mean.

 

...Ugh.

 

Sorry, but that truly is my gut reaction. Introducing a women's division in a minor brand as a shot at your own major brand?

 

It's booking for smarks. It'd essentially be Heyman putting his old stuff over his new stuff, thus kicking WCW's brand in the teeth just as it's re-establishing.

 

(Sorry, lee; you've become the kickstand, it seems, for me finally going off on this rant)

 

There are a bunch of diaries out there where the behind-the-scenes stuff is played on in on-screen stuff; much as I like Eisen-verse's intent and ideas, I think the weakest part of his PSW was that the Greed/Naess feud that took center stage toward the end of the diary was one which had, until Greed revealed himself, been entirely backstage. In short, if you're a fan coming along to each show, you abruptly have this guy reveal himself as a long-term antagonist to this other guy and they're both talking about stuff which has never been shown for the audience.

 

That wouldn't be what is happening here, but it's the same book-for-smarks mentality. We as a group happily acknowledge that WCW and WWE ripped off ECW, but for WCW to then run an angle based around ripping off ECW is to make ECW look like the bigger deal to casual fans - or, to put it another way, to the majority of your audience.

[mad5226]

Can't say I'm a fan of female wrestling, but I think if you are to bring it back it should be on your B show at least for awhile.

[Hashasheen]

Yeah, its going to be a slow gradual process. And I'm not worried about how many decent workers are available - it was more the thought that almost anyone looking at the 2002-2003 talent pool available outside the WWE in American wrestling would probably end up with a very similar division. That's not a bad thing - but there just isn't enough names for real variety.

 

I think I also agree with with Phantom that they shouldn't debut on ECW. He makes good points about how it would appear to the casual fan, which is the base you're looking for since they're more numerous than the hardcore fan or us, and they're the ones shelling out the greenbacks.

Edit: I just realised something. You could give Full Throttle Wrestling Tazz's old championship from ECW, the FTW Championship.

[tristram]

In terms of a ladies division in WCW... firstly, NWA-WCW has some roots (Excuse the pun) in ladies wrestling. So it's not completely out of place. The main point though I would make is any division can be useful to a promotion set up like WCW provided they have diversity. The reason I actually like TNA's division, or at least have in the past, is because their 'gimmicks' and set ups are fundamentally diverse. Instead of bottle blonds at every turn, they had ODB with the hip flask, they had Amazing Kong enough said, they had the stereotypical Beautiful People, the wild Daffney etc. What that Knock-Out roster did for me was create different storylines due to the different perspectives. When I watch WWE, I figure I'm watching whoever they're trying to grease up for a playboy centrefold shoot, rather than a certifiably different character. The only man I like is the Glamazon, simply because she is not the timid bottle blond that the others seem to be.

 

I think it can work, particularly with your creative mind making interesting characters, and I'm sure you also have the audacity to finally make a well integrated divas division that can give new swerves and twists in storyline arcs. I'm all for it. I don't see it as NOT being WCW as there has been female wrestling in WCW... I also don't see WCW as not being a promotion that would go for 'difference'. Whether they imitated what ECW was doing, or whether they cultivated their own style, the lucha division in WCW was not really what you'd call a traditional style of theirs and it became a cornerstone that is often imitated, but never duplicated. WCW was always a promotion looking for a cutting competitive edge.