Why Professional wrestling needs competition

The thing we have to remember about wrestling is that it is a business; people tend to treat it differently due to its athletic stand point. But it is still a business always was a business and always will be a business. And in businesses competition is an essential, it is needed the stronger the competition the better the product will be, competition is beneficial to wrestling. If a business has no competition then there is no effort or fight needed for that company to be number 1 anymore, competition is non existent right now which explains the decline in the wrestling market, because Vince McMahon may be a great businessman but if he has no reason to fight for the number 1 spot then why should he?

TNA aren't even close to competing with WWE. And with the ratings and gross revenue TNA achieve it is very doubtful that they will ever be competition. The best years of wrestling are the 80's and late 90's and if you look back there was some heavy competition there.

In the 1980's it was NWA vs. WWF, NWA a wrestling dynasty playing host to some of the most historic events in wrestling history. And the WWF boom had just begun; these 2 promotions did so well because they were constantly trying to one up the other. The competition was so strong because on both sides of the promotion had such a quality product, and that just wasn't by luck or anything like that. That was simply about because Jim Crockett and Vince McMahon couldn't afford to fail.

A much more updated version of a war was WCW vs WWF, which is deemed by many as the biggest promotion war in wrestling history and to this I would definitely agree with. Both promotions wanted to out live the other so much that it made for great TV. During the dying days of NWA the wrestling market went on a decline again because NWA may have been alive but were losing there marquee talent, the talent that brought in money for NWA. WWF won that war, and after that there was only one promotion left, and during the "Wrestlecrap" era that was a very bad time to be a fan. It was the same old crap we have seen before, like Hulk Hogan reigning supreme again, but Vince had no reason to change that who could possibly over take him? There was nobody left.

But then there was a shiny ray of light as WCW came onto the scene, and when they did it changed the world of professional wrestling Ted Turner was spending money like there was no tomorrow. WCW may have started out under very bad management with people such as Jim Herd and Bill Watts running the company. But a young visionary known as Eric Bischoff would provide WCW with some hope of competing with WWF.

And it certainly paid off, as the years went by and Bischoff was carefully adding certain talents that could make WCW a big deal. The WCW franchise became bigger and bigger with the acquisition of Hulk Hogan. It was only when, Bischoff using his creative genius and having Hogan go heel. That is when WCW became competitors to WWF, WWF felt threatened by WCW due to their innovative cruiserweights, star power and the nWo angle. All the pieces fit and it made for great TV.

The point is that wrestling needs competition. Vince McMahon needs that competition, its a must have for todays market in anything really. If a business feels threatened by another business then they will up their game to a degree that the product has no choice but to improve. Vince doesn't have to improve his product right now cause he has no competition. The best times in wrestling were the 80's and late 90's, and the similarities between that time frame is that a war between at least two wrestling promotions was occuring. Hopefully we'll see one again some day.

I gotta agree with you bro. Wrestling with competition is much more fun to watch, everyone ups their game and it gives wrestlers somewhere else to work for if they aren't happy. Great column, proving you're the best poster on the site right now.

Great post and a good read.

I completely agree WWE (WWF) was at its best during the period when WCW was breathing down its neck and at one point had overtaken the WWE.

However, there is a potential competitor TNA. However, for all TNA's good points and great moments it has just as many bad ones and even as a die hard TNA fan ill admit that.

More people should watch it as they do have good matches and they do have good segments but as ive realised by looking around on the internet WWE marks and WWE smark fans refuse to watch TNA for one reason or another.

I disagree.

TNA and WWE co-existing and not competing as they are now seems like the best its gonna get. In my opinion WWE is at its best since the early 90s. The only difference is the roster isnt quite as awesome, but not much can be done to change that. Anyway, why would they need to improve, when its almost impossible for them to improve?

TNA got a 1.8 recently, so it might become more of a threat in a few years if it keeps up. It has also been its best, since possibly ever in my opinion.

Companies dont need competition, they just need something new. Not many non wrestling fans are gonna be reached in this society unless something ridiculous and new happens.

Been awhile, but I will still reply to Bandits post anyway. WWE duting the early 90's was very dull, it lacked main star power, the star power it did have was the guys during the 80's doing the same thing for years now, it wasn't interesting at all. About your point almost impossible to improve, that is far from the truth, Smackdown is getting poor ratings as is Raw really. I won't even go into how poor ECW is.

But in business the attitude why improve when we are the top dog is such a lousy attitude to have. Business, any sort of business its unpredictable, you never know whats round the corner, this has become quite evident with the credit crunch. Thats why improvement is a neccesity, doesn't matter if you are the best at what you do, if your ratings aren't far from WCW's at the end of their existence you need to do something about it.

And TNA may have got a 1.8, which for TNA is good, ratings aren't all thats important when it comes to competition though. There is so much more involved, merchandise sales, PPV revenue, tours. TNA are falling well behind in all of them aspects, TNA may be the best show in your opinion, but statistically it isn't.

You say companies don't need competition, they just need something new, and my entire point was that it brings out the the new material that the product puts on display. Competition brings out the best in promoters so, they are forced to produce something NEW.

Kelevra wrote:

Been awhile, but I will still reply to Bandits post anyway. WWE duting the early 90's was very dull, it lacked main star power, the star power it did have was the guys during the 80's doing the same thing for years now, it wasn't interesting at all. About your point almost impossible to improve, that is far from the truth, Smackdown is getting poor ratings as is Raw really. I won't even go into how poor ECW is.

That is exactly right, as a matter of fact without WCW I highly doubt WWF would of gotten some of the big talent they did. Undertaker was just now taking shape and guys like Bret Hart were the technicians that could make the guys look good. So with Bret Hart and Undertaker you're trying to continue what started with the Hogans, Steamboats, Ultimate Warriors, and Savages, and then a couple of other of course.

What makes things really difficult for the WWF is they just got the cable broadcast of Raw in the early 90s and all these stars were going to WCW (see Hogan, Savage, and eventually Hall and Nash.) So you're trying to keep afloat and push new talent at the same time. Don't get me wrong I love Bret Hart, but him and Taker alone couldn't carry WWF. Enter Shawn Michaels.

Kelevra wrote:

But in business the attitude why improve when we are the top dog is such a lousy attitude to have. Business, any sort of business its unpredictable, you never know whats round the corner, this has become quite evident with the credit crunch. Thats why improvement is a neccesity, doesn't matter if you are the best at what you do, if your ratings aren't far from WCW's at the end of their existence you need to do something about it.

This is also true, can't say it any better so I'll just give an example. The Arena Football League has been coming on strong in America for the past 5 years. And this year they got canned because they didn't have enough sponsors. No matter what the budget Vince couldn't run Raw/Smackdown/ECW without sponsors, and if they pullout last minute he will have to make a business decision.

Kelevra wrote:

And TNA may have got a 1.8, which for TNA is good, ratings aren't all thats important when it comes to competition though. There is so much more involved, merchandise sales, PPV revenue, tours. TNA are falling well behind in all of them aspects, TNA may be the best show in your opinion, but statistically it isn't.

One of the major problems with TNA is, like WCW in the early days they aren't selling big venues. For example. WWE will do Atlanta, Nashville, and Charlotte. TNA will do Macon, Knoxville, and Asheville. Considerably smaller venues. Also keep in mind that ROH had some of the best wrestling out there...but it didn't get a cable deal at all, and now it would be to late.

Kelevra wrote:

You say companies don't need competition, they just need something new, and my entire point was that it brings out the the new material that the product puts on display. Competition brings out the best in promoters so, they are forced to produce something NEW.

Which we won't see until probably 2015 at the earliest.