The Death of WCW Deluxe Author Company: Ecw Press Category:
The Death of WCW Deluxe 4 stars (WCW Simply Shot Themselves In The Foot) - Mr. Reynolds and Mr ... File Size: 10.67 kB OS: Windows 98 / NT / 2000 / ME / XP / VISTA License: Paperback - Time Limit, free to try, 12.89 to buy. Software Developed by Ecw Press Download now (10.67 kB) Click to buy with discount via Amazon (12.89$) Description : The Death of WCW - 4 stars (WCW Simply Shot Themselves In The F The Death of WCW review:4 stars (WCW Simply Shot Themselves In The Foot) - Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Alvarez do an excellent job in providing a succint and informative chronicle of what wrestling observers could analogize as a classic Shakespearean tragedy - the rise and fall of a "wrasslin'" promotion. The mid 1990's until 2001 was really an exciting time in professional wrestling, as good competition can bring out the best in all participants. And that is what we had, and what is well-chronicled in this excellent read.
The book is well-written, and a quick read. Frankly, I was hoping for a little more "behind the scenes" or "shock value" information, but then in the internet age that is now probably next to impossible. However, the insight provided is applicable to any business: do not rest on your laurels, and find a way to incent the employees to strive to achieve new levels of success. WCW came crashing down due to selfish egos - pure and simple. Not uncommon in any area of business. But in WCWs' case,it was very public. It was unfortuante that the players who helped initiate its rise did not seem to care about extending the legacy and making it better for generations to come. So we are now left with a virtual monopoly and as a result, an unimaginative product. Should people purchase this book? Yes, most definitely. 4 stars (The Death of a Once Great Wrestling Promotion) - On the one hand, "The Death of WCW" is just the story of the rise and fall of a professional wrestling promotion. On the other hand, the book almost reads like a modern day moral fable where men who get consumed by the vices of greed, arrogance, egotism and delusions of grandeur end up getting their just deserts.
The book covers the entire history of WCW, from its early years as the perennial distant number two wrestling company in the country behind the WWF, through its rise under the surprising leadership of Eric Bischoff (surprising because Bischoff's only previous notoriety in the wrestling business came as a third-string announcer) to the position of not only the top wrestling promotion in the country, but into a company so incredibly successful that it actually appeared for awhile they might run the once-powerful WWF right out of business. Of course, the book then covers WCW's tailspin where they not only lose the position of top wrestling promotion in the country back to the resurging WWF, but end up going out of business altogether just a few short years after their greatest success.
I enjoyed "The Death of WCW" overall -it was easy, fast reading, often funny, an interesting trip down memory lane and I feel the authors were fair and accurate in their analysis of what factors led to the promotion's amazing success as well as what led to its shocking downward spiral. If I have any constructive criticism for the authors it would simply be to better decide on who your audience is prior to writing. The book doesn't really offer any new insights or uncover any previously unknown information regarding the demise of WCW, making it slightly disappointing for long-time wrestling fans like myself who are already familiar with the story from following it in real-time through newsletters and wrestling news web-sites. Yet alternatively the book would often drop names and insider wrestling terms without giving a whole lot of description as to who the people were (or their significance in the industry) or explanation as to what the terms mean, leading me to believe the book may be somewhat hard to follow for the more casual wrestling fan. Otherwise, a very good effort that is easy to recommend.5 stars (Required Reading For Any Wrestling Fan) - I've read a lot of wrestling books but this has to be 2nd only to Mick Foley's "Have A Nice Day!" (the bible of wrestling books). R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez recap the life and death of WCW from 1996-2001 in the kind of detail that you wouldn't expect in a 'wrasslin' book, and do they ever deliver.
From the birth of WCW winning the Monday Night Wars, the picture is painted as a driven Eric Bischoff suprisingly is elevated to the #1 man at World Championship Wrestling, and he has a sound approach to building his wrestling show. Get proven talent and don't be afraid to pay for it. While this formula worked alright for 2 years, WCW really took off with the creation of the new World order angle in 1996. Like Goldberg later on, WCW lucked out with the success of this creation, a creation that would ultimately take WCW to the highest highs and lowest lows.
From the creation of the nWo to the push of Goldberg, to the laziness and shoddy booking that started this deathspin to the lowest moment in wrestling history (title-wise) when David Arquette became the World Champion, everything you ever wanted to know about why WCW eventually was bought by Vince McMahon for a paltry sum is all in this book... and I mean EVERYTHING.
The thing I found so fascinating about this book is how cutting edge and good WCW was from 1996-1997. I started watching wrestling again in late 1997 and rarely ever watched WCW, but it's quite clear from this book that Eric Bischoff really was a brilliant hire for the time (especially considering there were many more senior people that could (should?) have been chosen). I can only imagine the kind of presentation he must have given to get this gig, it must have been similar to when Peter Jackson pitched his vision of Lord Of The Rings (Peter Jackson was for the most part nothing but a B movie director at the time).
It's really quite clear that WCW was very, very close to putting the WWF out of business, and if it wasn't for the misuse of Bret Hart (I do agree with Bischoff that if used properly, he might have put the WWF six feet under) and total mismanagement in WCW as a whole, Nitro would most definitely still be on today.
No question that the gem of this book is the recap of WCW's fall from grace. With extremely humorous writing, nearly every page has something to laugh about, for if the reader does not laugh they would most surely cry reading about the pathetic way WCW was turned into a laughing stock.
If you are even the SLIGHTEST wrestling fan you owe it to yourself to pick up "The Death Of WCW" as soon as possible. This is a marvelous read even if you didn't watch WCW back in the 90s, and it's a perfect example of how poor management can ruin ANY organization.
***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION This is the Paperback version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "Buy Now" button below for around $12.89 USD. Click to buy with discount via Amazon      |