Post by mikeykong1008 on Apr 1, 2024 17:58:02 GMT -5
Maybe unpopular but I don't think Vince killed the territories. In large part they killed them themselves. We live in a capitalist economy and the big stars went where they made the most money. No harm, no foul. A lot of the territory owners were very wealthy men who simply didn't want to invest the money, time, or effort to compete for that so they chose to fold up instead.
What I do think Vince did that was underhanded was go out of his way to harm other business' he felt were a threat (Crockett) by grabbing exclusive holds on arenas and forcing cable companies to boycott their PPVs. Hey if you're really all about competition let's play on an even field and let the market decide who's better (Monday night Wars anyone?). *shrug*
The internet was always going to put an end to territorial wrestling anyways but it A.) didn't have to happen as soon as it did before a modern group of guys were properly trained and B.) doesn't mean they can't still try to provide the illusion of a fight. I know the Sopranos is a show but none of the actors wink at the camera breaking 4th wall or do three somersaults across a parking lot to hit a guy when shooting him works much better. Also the victims of said shootings actually sell them when they're not fatal so I can put aside my cognitive dissonance that what I'm watching is a scripted show and go along for the ride.
I completely agree with the death of kayfabe. It had to happen and be acknowledged at some point but the modern trend of constantly just being as fake as possible is grating. Like even 12 year old little MOAB knew the Undertaker wasn't really a magical evil cult leader when the Ministry of Darkness angle was going on but I didn't need him to wink at the camera while trying to embalm Stone Cold alive.
No they were anything but lazy. I was more trying to say they were unwilling to invest into making themselves a national company as well. Verne Gagne lived on one of the biggest pieces of land in the entire state of Minnesota while the AWA was going out with a whimper after the team challenge series.
Yeah Vincent J McMahon left the NWA because he wanted to book Buddy Rogers exclusively without paying tribute to those other families you mentioned. He put more money into promoting his own cards by bringing in huge names and basically dared the NWA to stop him. In the end they didn't really have any power at all.