10 Ways World Class Championship Wrestling Changed The Business

1. Legacy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JiXmmrBVzg WCCW was ground zero of the eighties wrestling boom. Its successes are often overlooked due to the tragedies that followed. Take a look at some of the old footage, however, and you will see many of the hallmarks that make wrestling what it is today. Storytelling, technical wizardry and theatricality are all well and good, but WCCW also sported great in-ring action and a rabid fan base, two things that can make or break a promotion now. ECW fans cheered and chanted for an indie revolution. Ring of Honor fans pined for a return to wrestling's roots. WCCW wasn't about giving the competition the finger or trying to take over anyone's business. The territorial system thrived on diversity of product. Fritz Von Erich wasn't being an old fuddy-duddy when he refused to leave Dallas. He was respecting "the business." WCCW went away, but its legacy remains. WWE's The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling is one of the company's better documentaries, but it's not the only history of the promotion. Brian Harrison's Heroes of World Class, from Big Vision Entertainment, goes more in depth. Neither are as cool as having seen the real show when you were a kid, but nothing could be.