Although this may seem a little far fetched, we are now hearing from several sources close to the situation that Ted Turner is seriously considering a return to the wrestling business.
When AOL merged with Time Warner, Ted Turner signed several documents as he was losing more and more power within the company. One of the documents signed was that he could not compete against AOL Time Warner in the wrestling business. We have been told that agreement ends in March of 2005.
In March of 2001, Brad Siegel and Jamie Kellner effectively killed WCW by canceling its programming off of TBS and TNT. The company was sold to WWE, which then gutted it.
We have been told there is a five year no-compete for wrestling programming between AOL Time Warner and WWE, which would expire in March of 2006.
Obviously with any wrestling promotion, you need a TV deal to really make it work. TNT has changed its image to the drama network so they are pretty much a no go. TBS though is wide open though and Kellner is no longer in charge. He was the main man behind getting rid of wrestling on the network.
The word making the rounds is that Turner may already be laying down the foundation for a huge promotion with a TV deal. One source has even told us he has sent out feelers to both Steve Austin and Goldberg about being involved in the company if all goes as planned.
This past weekend the story broke that billionaire and media tytoon Ted Turner has his sights set on the professional wrestling industry once again. Turner, a huge wrestling fan, was the man with the deep pockets behind Eric Bischoff's WWF-talent raid back in the mid-late 90's which allowd what was then World Championship Wrestling to become the #1 company in the world. A lot of things have drastically changed since then but one thing that has remained the same is Turner's love for wrestling and his drive to own the most successful promotion out there.
Turner has in fact put the wheels in motion on this new project. The following are several bits of information regarding his new promotion:
* Ted Turner and his representatives have had talks with NWA:TNA about purchasing a stake in the company. While there seemed to be moderate interest on both sides, the discussions were preliminary and the general sense is that Turner wants to start his own promotion from the ground up and not buy a company that's already trying to establish itself.
* At the moment, there is a tremendous pool of free agents available in the wrestling world. STone Cold Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sting, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are just some of the many names that would be top candidates for Turner's new promotion. Signing ANY of these men would add instant credability to his venture and you can be sure would put them on the map immediately.
It has been reported that Turner's camp has in fact contacted several of these stars about potential work in the upcoming years. While star power would be one of the big forces to make the company a prominant contender to WWE, Turner is all too aware of what doomed WCW - inflated guaranteed contracts, backstage politics and talent having creative control over their characters. He obviously does not want to make the same mistake twice and is said to be very high on cruiserweights and a more technical style of wrestling.
* There is an agreement between AOL Time Warner and WWE that prevents competition with WWE between the two parties until March of 2006 - the result of a 5-year No-Compete clause from the sale of World Championship Wrestling. To make this new promotion work they will need a television deal. TNT, the former home of WCW's Monday Nitro, has changed its image and now shows Drama programming. However, TBS would be wide open for a wrestling program. To top it off, Jamie Kellner, the man who was the backbone in eliminating wrestling off of the network, is no longer in charge. This opens the door for wrestling on TBS and is a huge step for the company.
Ted Turner's return to the pro wrestling world is a blockbuster story and you can be sure there will be plenty of more news regarding his promotion in the upcoming weeks and months. Stay tuned for the latest.
gangrel is a possibility, he is still working indepenents. The kat and Chyna won't, they have both long since exited the business, the Kat went into real estate after her divorce from jerry lawler, and Chyna has become obsessed with her music career. The Blue Meanie is now a promoter and runs 3PW with his wife, jasmine St. Claire, so its not too likely he would come in either. Sting is a definite possibility, though he has stated many times he is uninterested in wrestling full time, and hs talked to WWE on several occasions. Tori, Godfather and Viscera, I am pretty sure, all also left the business.
'Liberal: A Power worshipper without power.' George Orwell
Aw man i hope this comes in too play, They could get quite a roster...
Brock Lesnar: Once he realises his NFL dreams are too far away he should retern to the buisness but the chances are he will re-join the WWE
Stone Cold: His program in japan hasn’t been able to set its self off but i think hes finally made that jump, If he hasent i doubt he will go to Vinces rival
Goldberg: If they want him, They will get him
Scott Steiner: Never established himself in the WWE, And any true fan would like to see The Steiner Brothers reform
The Outsiders: I hope whatever writeing staff Turner hires dont make the mistake of trying to reform the NWO. Nash & Hall would be a great addition to a new promotion and putting them in as a super heel tag-team would there best option.
Ken Shamrock: Now i know he never worked in the WCW but he could work as a fan fave midcarder.
Theres so many free agents about since the demolition of the ECW & WCW.
Yeah that would be a good roster but I think they need to bring in the younger talent and lightweight division like Billy Kidman and Paul London who have fallen out with Vince who is looking to cut down the lightweight division in WWE. AJ Styles Abyss Rhyno and Lance Hoyt should be taken from TNA and Austin Aries and Colt Cabana from RoH would kill the WWE they are the future.
I heard this a couple years back too and it really got big in March when the clause ran out. Turner could put this show on either TNT (wrestling is story which is somewhat dramatic) or TBS, he's got HBO to showcase his big stars acting abilities (Arliss), CNN to act as the Donny Duetch that WWE & NBC have since capitalized. Turner could do its just when/if he decides to do it.
The global business climate is like... whatever, dude.