Simple question. WCW in early-mid '92 seemed to be doing fine. What was the reasoning behind getting rid of Frey just as quickly as he came in? I've never heard of any stories of him being a Herd type, a guy with no wrestling knowledge who thought he had some. His idea of "workrate" bonuses seemed good even. So what ultimately was the reason?
Just money, as in WCW was losing a shitload of it and Bill Watts promised to bring the losses to a minimum. Frey was a great guy but WCW was still millions into the red and Turner wanted immediate results.
Jesse Ventura goes on a rant during one of the PPV broadcasts, completely at random, "Who is this Kip Frye guy? Who does he think he is making all these rulings?" or something to that effect. TOny's just like, "Well, he's the boss, Jes!"
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure when the transition happened from Frye to Watts but I know Watts was definitely in by Beach Blast. That was a great show by the way but there were some awesome shows under Frye as well. Bill Watts old school style was outdated by the early 90s and I was glad when his time was up.
ReplyDeleteKip was sexy in a shy kind of way.
ReplyDeleteIt's always kind of amazed me how many critically acclaimed eras of wrestling nearly bankrupted their companies.
ReplyDeleteDA era WCW, Late-80s JCP, 97 WWF and the entirety of ECW.
It seems like the only good and profitable eras were Hulkamania, 98-00 WWF and nWo WCW.
Interesting thoughts: if Frye had remained in WCW and Watts hadn't showed. And if the WWE had kept the storyboard dude from 2000. I imagine quite the differences.
ReplyDelete97 WWF doesn't quite fit there because it set the table for the 98-00 boom period.
ReplyDeleteWell, sadly, the storyboard dude still would have died of cancer.
ReplyDeleteKevin Nash may be the funniest man in wrestling.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but wasn't that many years later? Or was that the reason he really left?
ReplyDeleteThat's it. We need another one of those blog tournaments for funniest wrestler!
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, Stephanie replaced him as head writer in November 2000 and he stayed with the company until 2002. He left to pursue other opportunities before passing away in 2005.
ReplyDeleteSadface.
ReplyDeleteFrye was in charge during the Dangerous Alliance angle, right?
ReplyDeleteI still think Frey's idea of giving bonuses to those who have the best matches is a great idea that should be used today. Probably not for the TV show, but definitely for PPVs.
ReplyDeleteKip Frey is now a venture capitalist / entrepreneur / CEO-for-hire in the Durham, NC, area. I briefly consulted at a company he was heading up, and he couldn't have given less of a shit about his time running WCW. He framed it as a "favor for a friend", which made it seem like he never intended to be there for very long. He definitely had some good ideas and had short term success at WCW, but he truly doesn't strike me as the type of guy who likes to spend very long in any particular executive job. He'll stay with board positions, directorships, etc., but I think he gets bored.
ReplyDeleteWhen I asked him about his time at WCW, it was weird how he completely couldn't have cared less. Whether or not you're a "wrestling guy", it's still an incredibly unique position to find yourself in. I wasn't looking for wild stories about how he did coke off Scott Steiner's dick or anything, but any kind of acknowledgement that he'd experienced some sort of emotion or gained an insight into the human condition during that brief time dealing with an atypical (to say the least) group of employees and customers. Nope. Favor for a friend.
The majority of it, yes. Watts hated haymen and killed it off,
ReplyDeleteNovember 2000 is pretty much the Ralph Wiggum's heart breaking pinpoint of when the storylines stopped making sense and started to suck. HHH getting murdered and returning without a scratch, Jericho and Kane's coffee feud, etc...
ReplyDeleteIs he aware that he has his own Wikipedia page with a ton of wrestling stuff in it? Highly unusual for someone with that job. Also googling him turns up lots of wrestling stuff. Seems like he'd at least take issue with it and ask to get some of it taken down.
ReplyDeleteThe UFC has used it for a decade now.
ReplyDeleteWWE would never want the midcard to outshine the main event. It's a good idea in theory, but there are some potential legitimate issues with rigging it (you couldn't possibly be in contention for it if you worked a 5 minute match, for example.)
ReplyDeleteActually its an awful idea. Lets say you're on a card with Flair/Steamboat. Why even bother, you're not going to win.
ReplyDeleteWas he the guy that did all the movies?
ReplyDeleteI'd say until late 93/early 94
ReplyDeleteGuess the next square on the storyboard was empty by then.
ReplyDeleteIt is but can you imagine the bitching from guys like Kevin Nash if that was a policy?
ReplyDeleteNo matter how much JR blows Watts, he sounds like a collossal jackass as a booker.
ReplyDeleteI kind of agree. Certain guys would never be in the running. Besides, its not like guys are told to go out and have whatever match they want. Bookers/agents laying out a match for, say Cesaro vs Ziggler, is going to produce something different than those two are probably capable of if give carte blanche
ReplyDeleteTheir fights are legit though
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of ways to dog "workrate" in a real fight too. It encourages people to take more chances and go for a finish instead of point fight or smother an opponent.
ReplyDeleteAnd the cause and effect aren't quite the same, as WWF wasnt nearly bankrupt in 1997 because of all the awesome shit.
ReplyDeleteWell to be fair, that isn't really any different than Ventura bitching about Jack Tunney during his WWF heyday.
ReplyDeleteNash worked a hell of a match for Frye at Superbrawl II under this policy.
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I think it is human nature to downplay parts of your career that weren't seen either by yourself or others as particularly successful.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, Jack wasn't really the boss.
ReplyDeleteThat was Bischoff wasn't It.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, ratings were inching upward during 97.
ReplyDeleteMy point was that it was a recognizable part of Ventura's act.
ReplyDeleteYea by all accounts he's a bully and couldn't evolve with the times.he had some good ideas though in his day
ReplyDeleteUgh don't remind me of those stories that hhh thing was stupid. it's funny because austin never beat him hhh to get revenge from being ran over.
ReplyDeleteThe commentary on thunder still makes me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI thought 93 WCW was pretty awful. Not necessarily offensively bad but just really boring. I agree that 94 was good until Hulkie came in.
ReplyDeleteI was gonna suggest he wouldn't care, but business types are rather notorious for obsession about "appearances", and his name showing up mostly in wrestling stuff for a short assignment he once had would probably look silly.
ReplyDelete