Who here watches Wrestling?

[Dre2g]

I used to, but have recently lost interest in it.

[lmanchur.]

The is nothing "professional" about "professional" wrestling (e.g.: the WWF, etc.). The guys that play wrestling in the Olympics should be considered professional... the WWF is a discrase to my sports channels who should be showing the XFL at the very worst... not the WWF.

[Marc]

Wrestling is purely entertainment. Staged entertainment, everyone, including myself, will readily admit that. It's the same as a sitcom with it's storylines and drama, but with a twist to it: athletism and athletes performing. I still watch wrestling, although not as much and in die-hard fashion as a year or two back. It has gotten kind of stale, but the WWF is still thriving.

[Wedge231]

I don't really see any reason to stay up that late to watch it. I am tired as it is without staying up until 11 PM to watch WWF.

[Marc]

The rumors that started up a few months ago and died down, have now come true. The WWF has bought WCW, it's biggest competitor and the company that used to beat it regularly in ratings and popularity, as a matter of a fact.

Is this good or bad for wrestling? One one hand, the WWF can help make WCW a respectable promotion again with solid backstage leadership, but on the other hand, the WWF pretty much has no more competition with ECW recently folding and you know when there's no competition, you don't push yourself to be better.

Special Announcement: WWFE Acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting

Cross-Brand Storylines To Create Intriguing Possibilities for Fans Expected to Increase Television Ratings, PPV Buys
STAMFORD, Conn., March 23, 2001 - World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWF) today announced its purchase of the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) brand from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS Inc.), a division of AOL Time Warner.

The purchase of WCW creates a tag team partnership with the World Wrestling Federation brand that is expected to propel the sports entertainment genre to new heights.

In keeping with the company's strategic alliance with Viacom, new WCW programming is anticipated to air on TNN in the near future. The possibility of cross-brand storylines and intrigue, however, may start as early as Monday night during WWF Raw Is War on TNN and the final performance of WCW Monday Nitro Live on Turner Network Television (TNT).

The binding agreement provides World Wrestling Federation Entertainment with the global rights to the WCW brand, tape library, and other intellectual property rights.

"This acquisition is the perfect creative and business catalyst for our company," said Linda McMahon, Chief Executive Officer of World Wrestling Federation Entertainment. "This is a dream combination for fans of sports entertainment. The incendiary mix of World Wrestling Federation and WCW personalities potentially creates intriguing storylines that will attract a larger fan base to the benefit of our advertisers and business partners, and propel sports entertainment to new heights."

"The acquisition of the WCW brand is a strategic move for us," said Stuart Snyder, President and Chief Operating Officer for World Wrestling Federation Entertainment. "We are assuming a brand with global distribution and recognition. We are adding thousands of hours to our tape library that can be repurposed for home videos, television, Internet streaming, and broadband applications. The WCW opens new opportunities for growth in our Pay Per View, live events, and consumer products divisions, as well as the opportunity to develop new television programming using new stars. We also will create additional advertising and sponsorship opportunities. In short, it is a perfect fit."

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with sale offices in New York City, Chicago and Toronto. The company is an equal partner with NBC in the XFL, a new professional football league. The company can be found online at wwf.com and wwfecorpbiz.com

[iFroggy]

I don't watch any wrestling, sorry. :)

[lmanchur.]

I was going to post something about this, but the run to 1000 posts doesn't mean enough to me to post about something that's not a sport... I guess I could have posted about this in the Lounge since it doesn't deal with sports... that forum has been kinda quiet recently...

[iFroggy]

Do you mean that Wrestling is not a sport?

I agree that the stuff we watch on TV isn't, but what do you think about the Olympics?

[lmanchur.]

Originally posted by iFroggy
Do you mean that Wrestling is not a sport?

I agree that the stuff we watch on TV isn't, but what do you think about the Olympics? I think I said this before, but I see nothing "professional" about the WWF, which is considered "pro Wrestling".... Olympic-style is what should be called "professional" -- I don't really like the sport, but at least it's a sport... the WWF is just "sports entertainment" that eats away time on my cable sports stations when I could be watching highlights or an actual SPORT.

[Peck]

I still watch WWF and still think its pretty cool.......and i think that WWF should get Stone Cold back....he really boosts up their ratings........

[Marc]

Originally posted by Peck
I still watch WWF and still think its pretty cool.......and i think that WWF should get Stone Cold back....he really boosts up their ratings........
What? Stone Cold has been back for months, he's facing The Rock at WrestleMania...

[Wedge231]

I don't watch wrestling. I think the merging will be bad and the WWF will get worse and worse.

I think Olympic style wrestling should be a sport. We have a big wrestlng team at my school and it is pretty cool.

[Brandon]

I used to be in wrestling a few year ago, and when I have time, I'll still watch the occasional broadcast. In fact I got to see the last WCW Nitro on TNT last Monday, that was the best one I've seen out of the couple I've watched in the past year.

The whole WWF buying WCW seems like almost like a monopoly to me. It should be exciting at first, becasue the impossible has happened, you're seeing WWF on WCW and vice versa. But in the end, I think the quality will be going down the drain.

Another whole thing out of this situation I was was the workers in wrestling. Surfing around, I saw a couple things on the wrestlers that used to be in WCW being picked up by WWF. So if Vince McMahon doesn't like a certain wrestler, he's out of a job, period. Maybe it's time wrestling became a little bit more like a real sport and introduced a Union?