10 Dumbest Decisions In Wrestling History
9. WCW Hires Jim Herd
Much like spiritual descendent TNA, WCW was cursed forever by piss-poor management.
Its antecedent, JCP, was badly mismanaged, which is why it became WCW under the auspices of Ted Turner. The 1980s product was pure fire, boasting the hottest matches and the most incendiary angles, but it couldn't compete with the rampant mainstream success of the WWF. And so regional Pizza Hut manager Jim Herd, serving as Executive Vice President because he knew somebody, steadily reimagined WCW as an ersatz version of the competition.
His reign coincided with one of the greatest artistic years in the history of the industry, but even in 1989, omens rumbled. It was in 1989 that the Ding Dongs first appeared. They each wore bells on their gear, which they rang to encourage their partner, because the kidz apparently like bells. Ric Flair was deemed old hat by Herd, who had the idea to repackage him as 'Spartacus', a gladiator born before Christ depicted in a 1960 historical Hollywood epic. This WWF lite, proto-Russo approach manifested not as warped meta bullsh*t but totally risible gimmicks even Vince wouldn't have deemed Such Good Sh*t. Herd didn't kill the promotion, but his reign divorced it from its traditions.
And, through subversion or pathetic imitation of the WWF, it never again retained its true identity.