Ed Ferrara worked for the WWF from 1998 to 1999, WCW from 1999 to the companys closure in 2001, and TNA a bit in 2002 and then in 2009-2010. Ferraras goal as a creative writer in the WWF was to keep fans guessing as much as possible; he didnt want anything to be repetitive. To this end, he was responsible for causing many swerves any turns in wrestler alignments; babyfaces became heels and vice-versa, and this occurred often and without much explanation. While this is good for keeping things unexpected, it devalued long-term storylines, making it difficult for any thorough or detailed angle to come to fruition. It also caused fans to become apathetic. If a wrestler is doing well in as a good guy, why change him to a bad guy without giving proper explanation? Wrestling is often seen as a male soap opera; stories have to make sense for people to believe them. Furthermore, Ed Ferrara has also demonstrated very poor taste/judgment in some of his creative decisions. The first of which was Beaver Cleavage which was some thinly veiled attempt at an incest angle. Even by Atittude Era standards (which also included Goldust), that was a strange direction. In WCW, Ferraras decisions were not that much better. While he did try to give more attention to WCWs middle card wrestlers, he also made the decision to mock Jim Ross and his Bells palsy with the Oklahoma gimmick, which led to outrage from the fans (as well as Jim Cornette spitting on him for doing so). Other questionable decisions on Ferraras part include him re-introducing the NWO, suggesting that Tank Abbott become WCW Champion, have Madusa win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, and then having Ferrara himself beat Madusa for the same title. These moments proved that Ferrara was an enemy of pro wrestling; he was making poor decisions that ultimately devastated WCW as a wrestling program.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
