In this weekly column, I will comment on the past week's goings-on in WOW, and whatever else it occurs to me to discuss :-) I also hope that a big part of the column will be printing and responding to your e-mails. So please send them in (the address is thatthing35@yahoo.com)!
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5/17/01: Stranded on Death Row
It's a good thing I got all those fantastic letters last week, because after three months of no original WOW programming, I'm running out of stuff to write about here. My first idea for this week's column was to list all the times since the Feb. 4 PPV that WOW and its representatives have misled the federation's fans. But that seemed a little bitter... at this point, it'd be like going up to someone in a coma and kicking them in the head. Then I was going to write about what WOW should do in a second season. But ultimately, it seemed pointless when we don't know if the show is going to be back at all, or which wrestlers will return with it. Oh, I guess I can mention that news... WOW referee/crash test dummy Josh Milton posted to the WOW web board a couple weeks back. Milton asked any females who were interested in becoming WOW wrestlers to contact him about a possible tryout this summer. This is certainly interesting, at least. I had never before heard of a national wrestling fed soliciting its fanbase for in-ring talent. Some folks got a little panicky about this, thinking that the tryout announcement might mean that WOW didn't want the first-season talent back. Well, I'm sure WOW does want to trim the size of the roster. And let's face it, the product has not gotten over, which means change is needed. But I suspect this is mostly about having insurance in case of a mass exodus. There are lots of reasons for the old wrestlers to jump ship at this point. Some will decide that wrestling isn't really for them... some will decide that WOW isn't a company in which they want to continue... some will get other jobs during the long layoff. You do need a certain number of wrestlers in a promotion, and if enough of the first-season wrestlers decide not to come back, WOW would be below that number. I guess they'll attempt to solve that problem by literally pulling people out of the crowd and putting them in the ring as wrestlers, which is... well, like I said, it's interesting.
Unfortunately, we still have very little concrete evidence to indicate that a second season is actually going to happen. Where is the white knight who is willing to bail this company out of debt and put up money to produce new shows? Where is the cable deal that is required if broadcasting the show is to have any hope of being profitable? No one at WOW is saying, which probably means that they don't know the answers to those questions either. And without positive answers to those questions, there cannot be a season two.
Some news broke recently that, if accurate, reduces the chances of a cable deal. Pro Wrestling Torch reported that USA Network is requiring wrestling promotions to put up $30 million up front if they want to be broadcast on their station. Fox (which owns FX and Fox Sports Net, as well as the Fox network) is also said to be asking for "millions of dollars weekly" to broadcast wrestling. (Other major wrestling sites later seconded this Torch report.) Obviously, WOW is not in a financial position to meet those kind of requirements, so those stations can be ruled out as possible WOW outlets.
I guess I can continue to fill out this column by doing something very unusual in this space -- acknowledge the contributions of other human beings besides myself. WOW fan CoolCraig did a terrific interview with Poison. Danger's biggest fans, Xyphon and Deadly Scorpio, have finally opened up the long-awaited Danger's World in tribute to their hero. Tons of good stuff there, and it looks snazzy too. And the indefatigable Phil continues to keep Junglegrrrl.net up to date with show recaps, terrific fanfics, and more Jungle Grrrl minutiae than you can shake a loincloth at.
We'll finish with the ol' mailbag. Marie Heller writes:
"I do agree with you on many of the issues about WOW's failures. I'm also a big fan of Riot. For a woman who is a newcomer to the world of Pro Wrestling, she is very entertaining both in the ring and on the mic. The failure to provide the needed exposure to the National Media was in my opinion the biggest mistake of WOW. McLane's failure to crown a new Champion just added to the downfall... also his lack of sight to see true talent such as: RIOT, DANGER, JUNGLE GRRRL, ROXY POWERS, THE DISCIPLINARIAN as the foundation of WOW. He choose to use TERRI GOLD and sadly LANA STAR and PATTI PIZZAZZ as the "FACES OF WOW", TERRI has talent but LANA and PATTI were at best on the same level as THE SOUTHERN BELLES (GLOW), very low in wrestling talent. If WOW should fold I hope that the talented wrestlers listed above find work in another organization."
Well, you pretty much took the words right out of my mouth there :-) Only thing I would quibble with: I don't think WOW had all that much say in getting more exposure for their product. As you can see from looking at their financial statements, it was expensive enough for them to get the show on the air in all the major markets. Asking them to be on more popular stations, or in better time slots, would probably be asking a lot. Since WOW was at least available in all the big cities, I think that if word got around that the show was good, people would have found it. The ultimate problem was that WOW failed to come through with a product that could create that kind of buzz within the wrestling fanbase.
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