6. Pushing Guys In Their 40's As Headliners On A Regular Basis
When Eric Bischoff hired Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan in 1994, it was a great business move because both men had more to both WCW and wrestling as a whole. They were necessary to the growth of the company and, without them, it's doubtful that WCW would have become the powerhouse it eventually became. By the year 1999, however, the majority of the headline performers were guys in their mid-to-late 40's. The hiring and pushing of talent like Savage and Hogan had created a situation where they needed to be pushed in order to justify their large salaries (and also because of certain creative control clauses in their contracts). All the top stars of the 80's, from Flair and Piper to Hogan and Savage were still competing in main events as the Millennium approached, while the younger talent continued to hope they'd be featured more. In the end, when they realised that wasn't going to happen they left to go and work elsewhere. When TNA brought Sting into the fold in 2003 for a brief run and then back full-time in 2006, it made sense. Even though The Icon was in his mid-40's, they had an established star who would help legitimise them as a major wrestling company. As the years progressed, though, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair and many other guys who were in their 40s or 50s came in and took prominent spots. While younger stars were part of the show, they always were treated as inferior to the older, more established talents. In the end, guys like Daniels, Kazarian, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles all left the company to go and work in ROH, Japan or NXT where they felt they could progress more than they could in TNA.
Kenny is a successful podcast host with Inside The Ropes, promotes exciting Q&A events in the UK with the likes of Sting and DDP, has interviewed the big guns like Foley, Jericho, Bruno and Austin and enjoys cheese a great deal.
