Andreas Hale of Sherdog.com has published a new article comparing Bellator’s run at UFC to WCW’s run at WWE during the Monday Night Wars.
Below is an article excerpt, and you can read much more at this link:
Once upon a time, there was a wrestling promotion called World Championship Wrestling that was purchased by Ted Turner in 1988. The promotion had a few big names — Ric Flair and Sting immediately come to mind — but it struggled to keep pace with Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation. However, Turner had deep pockets and decided to make a run at the organization in the mid-1990s by throwing money at the WWF’s established stars. Aside from the money, Turner made the brilliant move of promoting an announcer and sales associate by the name of Eric Bischoff to executive vice president. This combination of Bischoff’s intelligence and Turner’s hefty bank account would drastically shift the balance of power in pro wrestling.
Bellator is utilizing a similar strategy. The hiring of Strikeforce founder Scott Coker as president parallels WCW bringing in Bischoff, a man that simply “got it.” Many are critical of Bellator’s use of fading talent — Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Kimbo Slice, Stephan Bonnar, etc. — in its main events, but if nothing else, these are recognizable names that draw in casual fans. Spike TV has deep pockets, and it appears willing to overpay for UFC talent. If the company is willing to pay Henderson more than the UFC, it’s a win because he’s still a name competing at a high level.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
