10 Things We Learned Jim Cornette's WCW 1989 Timeline Kayfabe Commentaries Shoot

4. Jim Herd Wanted WCW To Have More Wacky Characters

In 1989, WCW went from featuring the older style of wrestling favoured by booker George Scott (who brought in all his old pals who had drawn money a decade or so previously, but were never going to work in the late-80's), to Jim Herd, a man who thought the best way to capture the hearts and minds of wrestling fans around the country was to create a range of madcap characters. Ted Turner's media empire had just started to acquire a whole load of old MGM classic movies, and Jim Cornette says Herd infamously stated that he wanted to find a wrestler who could portray Long John Silver to perfection. Looking to debut a whole host of gimmicks based on old-time films, Herd also had a few other character ideas up his sleeves. One of those was The Ding Dongs, an irritating "babyface" tag-team that would ring a giant bell in their corner, attempting to rile up the fans and get them onside. Instead, those in attendance understandably hated the idea, but it was a damn sight better than The Hunchbacks, a pair of teaming wrestlers who couldn't be pinned. And people think WCW circa 1999-2000 was bad!