span of a fruit fly. He was far more interested in golf than he ever really was in trying to turn WCW around. He would go anywhere that had the slightest connection with wrestling—as long as there was a good golf course nearby.
Bob brought in a friend of his by the name of Don Sandefur to run the live events side of the business. Don had a pretty extensive background; I think he may even have been involved with the Harlem Globetrotters and the circus at one point. But I think the real reason Don worked there was so that Bob had someone to play golf and drink martinis with.
Ole Anderson was handling the booking at the time. Ole, who was born in Minnesota, started wrestling in 1966; his career in the ring included a stint as one of the Four Horsemen. He retired from the ring in the late 1980s.
Ole, Bob, and Don did their things, I did mine. I tapered off my announcing so I could focus on my day-to-day job.
We started making some changes. I put the ring mats back around the ring. I turned the lights back up. We developed some new graphics packages. In general, I tried to dress up the product to make it look like it belonged in the 1990s.
Mister Unpopular
Even though I’d been with the company for a while, I was viewed as an outsider by the dirtsheets and other media that covered wrestling.
84
CONTROVERSY CREATES CASH
I didn’t come from the old NWA territory, and I certainly hadn’t been around long enough to “pay my dues.” I didn’t lace up the boots—I wasn’t a wrestler. I was a young upstart. Plus, I was part of a regime that replaced people who, whatever the realities inside the company, had long histories in the business.
All of that helped make me instantly unpopular with the dirtsheets and the Internet community, which was still in its infancy at the time. No matter what I did, no matter how positive the outcome, the reaction was negative.
As far as the wrestlers themselves went, I had different relationships with different guys. To a lot of the old-time guys, I was an outsider, not a wrestler, and they resented that. But I had good relationships with some veterans. One of them, at least at first, was Ric Flair.
Ric came back to WCW in 1993 while I was executive producer. I went over to Techwood, the original Turner office building in Atlanta, with the other WCW department heads for a kumbaya moment where everyone welcomed Ric back. I wasn’t part of the decision to bring Ric back; no one asked me for my opinion or input. But that was the beginning of my relationship with Ric—
shaking his hand and congratulating him.
Firing People
One of the big misconceptions that’s been created is that Eric Bischoff went around firing a lot of people as soon as he got a management job. Nothing is further from the truth. The truth is, I should have fired a lot of people, but I didn’t.
If you go back and look at the people who claim they were fired by Eric Bischoff, there are some holes there.
Jim Ross is a good example. I had no more influence in the decision to let Jim go than the receptionist did. The truth is, the company didn’t fire him—Jim decided he wanted out after the change in management.
RUNNING THE SHOW
85
-------------------------------------------
------ ---------------------------
----
----
--
Jim Ross between Lawrence Taylor (L) and Paul Heyman.
Jim Ross
A lot of the changes that followed Bill Watts’s departure came about because of an internal audit by the international consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which had been reviewing WCW before Watts’s infamous racial remark. Besides all of the management and internal human resources problems—and there were a lot —the audit looked at the programs WCW was putting on.
86
CONTROVERSY CREATES CASH
Besides being WCW’s lead announcer, Jim was also vice president of wrestling operations. This meant Jim oversaw the production department, the announcers, and live event booking. He worked closely with Watts on talent
Bob brought in a friend of his by the name of Don Sandefur to run the live events side of the business. Don had a pretty extensive background; I think he may even have been involved with the Harlem Globetrotters and the circus at one point. But I think the real reason Don worked there was so that Bob had someone to play golf and drink martinis with.
Ole Anderson was handling the booking at the time. Ole, who was born in Minnesota, started wrestling in 1966; his career in the ring included a stint as one of the Four Horsemen. He retired from the ring in the late 1980s.
Ole, Bob, and Don did their things, I did mine. I tapered off my announcing so I could focus on my day-to-day job.
We started making some changes. I put the ring mats back around the ring. I turned the lights back up. We developed some new graphics packages. In general, I tried to dress up the product to make it look like it belonged in the 1990s.
Mister Unpopular
Even though I’d been with the company for a while, I was viewed as an outsider by the dirtsheets and other media that covered wrestling.
84
CONTROVERSY CREATES CASH
I didn’t come from the old NWA territory, and I certainly hadn’t been around long enough to “pay my dues.” I didn’t lace up the boots—I wasn’t a wrestler. I was a young upstart. Plus, I was part of a regime that replaced people who, whatever the realities inside the company, had long histories in the business.
All of that helped make me instantly unpopular with the dirtsheets and the Internet community, which was still in its infancy at the time. No matter what I did, no matter how positive the outcome, the reaction was negative.
As far as the wrestlers themselves went, I had different relationships with different guys. To a lot of the old-time guys, I was an outsider, not a wrestler, and they resented that. But I had good relationships with some veterans. One of them, at least at first, was Ric Flair.
Ric came back to WCW in 1993 while I was executive producer. I went over to Techwood, the original Turner office building in Atlanta, with the other WCW department heads for a kumbaya moment where everyone welcomed Ric back. I wasn’t part of the decision to bring Ric back; no one asked me for my opinion or input. But that was the beginning of my relationship with Ric—
shaking his hand and congratulating him.
Firing People
One of the big misconceptions that’s been created is that Eric Bischoff went around firing a lot of people as soon as he got a management job. Nothing is further from the truth. The truth is, I should have fired a lot of people, but I didn’t.
If you go back and look at the people who claim they were fired by Eric Bischoff, there are some holes there.
Jim Ross is a good example. I had no more influence in the decision to let Jim go than the receptionist did. The truth is, the company didn’t fire him—Jim decided he wanted out after the change in management.
RUNNING THE SHOW
85
-------------------------------------------
------ ---------------------------
----
----
--
Jim Ross between Lawrence Taylor (L) and Paul Heyman.
Jim Ross
A lot of the changes that followed Bill Watts’s departure came about because of an internal audit by the international consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which had been reviewing WCW before Watts’s infamous racial remark. Besides all of the management and internal human resources problems—and there were a lot —the audit looked at the programs WCW was putting on.
86
CONTROVERSY CREATES CASH
Besides being WCW’s lead announcer, Jim was also vice president of wrestling operations. This meant Jim oversaw the production department, the announcers, and live event booking. He worked closely with Watts on talent
Similar Books
