Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

The Old School Questions thread


Recommended Posts

I know the answer is probably Because JCP, but why did they book such large venues? Did they at least think they'd draw enough people to warrant renting such a huge place or did they just think it'd look cool?

If I remember the story right Dusty sold Crockett on the idea that they'd do big houses at all of them which really didn't happen. They sold out at traditional JCP venues like the Scope in Norfolk or the Greensboro Coliseum but drew small crowds to the stadium shows.

 

From histroryofwwe.com

Philadelphia, PA - Veterans Stadium - July 1, 1986 (10,900) - Featured a concert by Joe Ely and Delbert McClinton - that's around what they drew at the Civic Center.

Washington DC - RFK Stadium - July 3, 1986 (6,300) Featured a concert by Joe Ely and Delbert McClinton

Memphis, TN - Liberty Bowl - July 4, 1986 (1,900) Featured a concert by Waylon Jennings - I think this was the show that had the Jerry Lawler and Friends free softball game running in opposition.

Charlotte, NC - Memorial Stadium - July 5, 1986 (23,000) Featured a concert by Waylon Jennings - I think this was a sell out since it was a Minor League stadium.

Cincinnati, OH - Riverfront Stadium - July 9, 1986 (3,900 paid) Featured a concert by George Jones - Their normal venue held over 10,000.

Jacksonville, FL - Gator Bowl - July 12, 1986 (10,000) Included a concert from Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter - 82,000 seat venue.

Atlanta, GA - Fulton County Stadium - August 2, 1986 (12,000) The end of the Great American Bash tour - all kids tickets bought that day were $5; the Road Warriors, Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson signed autographs before the show; included a concert by Joe Ely, Delbert McClinton, and Ricky Morton - The Omni held 16,000.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10,900 at the Vet was a success. In no way did they expect to sell the place out. Huge stadiums didn't sell out nor were they expected to.

Now, booking Ely and Delbert for a Philly wresting show was kinda weird.

How is it a success? Their venue in Philly held around 12,000 and they were averging around 10,000 for shows there. They spent way more money on rent at the Vet and drew what they always draw in the city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also worth noting the Charlotte show probably made all its money back because Crockett owned the AAA team there at the time and probably rented his own stadium out to himself for free.

After looking it up Memorial Stadium is a football stadium owned by the city that holds 21,000, the Charlotte Hornets of the WFL played there in the 70's. The minor league baseball stadium the Crockett's owned held only 5,000.

 

Had there been more stadiums that size in JCP's Carolina/Virginia hot towns the Bash tour could have been a success. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also worth noting the Charlotte show probably made all its money back because Crockett owned the AAA team there at the time and probably rented his own stadium out to himself for free.

After looking it up Memorial Stadium is a football stadium owned by the city that holds 21,000, the Charlotte Hornets of the WFL played there in the 70's. The minor league baseball stadium the Crockett's owned held only 5,000.

Had there been more stadiums that size in JCP's Carolina/Virginia hot towns the Bash tour could have been a success.

Good to know. Thought it was the Baseball stadium. My apologies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As to the question of "why did Crockett run big stadiums that they had no shot at selling out?" remember that these guys were pretty fucking crazy as far as overspending and acting way too big for their means went.  This was just before Crockett bought out Watts for no real benefit (and paid too much in the bargain), moved their offices to a much more expensive location in Dallas just for appearance purposes, and took private jets everywhere.  Crockett was ballin' out of control before ballin' out of control was cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Was there a reason Bob Holly and the Kid won the tag title tournament after replacing the Smoking Gunns in 95 only to lose the titles the next night...to the Smoking Gunns?

Bob Holly mentioned it in his book. And no, there was no given reason. When he asked why they were dropping the belts they had no real answer. I would guess the Gunns were originally scheduled to win the tourney and Billy's injury made them unable to compete, so the Gunns winning the next night just returned to the status quo.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As to the question of "why did Crockett run big stadiums that they had no shot at selling out?" remember that these guys were pretty fucking crazy as far as overspending and acting way too big for their means went. This was just before Crockett bought out Watts for no real benefit (and paid too much in the bargain), moved their offices to a much more expensive location in Dallas just for appearance purposes, and took private jets everywhere. Crockett was ballin' out of control before ballin' out of control was cool.

And the funny part is that King of the Ring the same summer that, which Harley won and thus picked up the "King" gimmick, drew about 12k to the Patriots' old stadium with only local advertising.

Then of course there was Toronto that blew away everything.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, was looking at old Observer awards listings (at this very helpful site put together by Chris Harrington: https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharrington/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wo_awards_history#TOC-1992

 

I was shocked at how poor WCW did across the board. I mean, I watched the NWA tag tournament at COTC and GAB recently and enjoyed it, that year was the rise and fall of the Dangerous Alliance, and Vader was wrecking people. As a an 11 year old, 1992 is one of my fave years in wrestling for WCW. I recall there just being great wrestling across the board. 

 

I understand business sucked and Watts was divisive but a few results really stand out, though I'm looking back from 23 years: 

 

Vader not being in Top 5 for Wrestler of the Year

War Games with Stinger's Squadron against the DA being 7th in MOTY (It might be one of the most North American matches of the decade)

WCW finishing second in Worst Promotion

 

I know business was rough and Observer awards can be finicky but that just strikes me as odd. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm getting Mania fever right now and have some questions if anyone can answer:

When was the last legit Mania sellout? 20,21,22?

Was Mania 4 and/or 5 a sold show for Trump or was it a WWF show and Trump cut him a good deal on the venue and bought a inch of the seats to give Trump Plaza people for comps?

Anybody attend the Mania 5 brunch or Mania 10 fan fest and have any good stories?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm getting Mania fever right now and have some questions if anyone can answer:

When was the last legit Mania sellout? 20,21,22?

Was Mania 4 and/or 5 a sold show for Trump or was it a WWF show and Trump cut him a good deal on the venue and bought a inch of the seats to give Trump Plaza people for comps?

Anybody attend the Mania 5 brunch or Mania 10 fan fest and have any good stories?

 

Manias IV and V were both near-sellouts with A LOT of the seats set aside for the casino crowd and that's partly the reason the audiences were so lackluster for both shows since a decent amount of them didn't know what the hell was going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...