10 Ways World Class Championship Wrestling Changed The Business

3. Like Wildfire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzJr2wv3Xo What began as a regional promotion reached far more eyes thanks to syndication. By the mid-eighties, other promotions were asking to book the Von Erichs. WCCW became a million-dollar corporation. The wrestlers would travel around the world and see their influence firsthand. The Von Erichs in particular were huge in Japan. This being the days of kayfabe, heel manager Gary Hart had to go out at night so as not to be recognized. WCCW continued to innovate, giving fans old standbys like steel cage matches, as well as new ideas like handcuff matches and country whipping matches. The weekly show was already popular, but WCCW's biggest events were their quarterly Star Wars of Wrestling events. Like Starrcade and WrestleMania would prove later on, nothing culminates a feud like a third and final act. Much like the WWF's early Survivor Series, Star Wars would take place on a holiday afternoon. Fritz opted for Christmas. According to many who were there, WCCW's success wasn't welcomed by many within the NWA. Kerry Von Erich was World Heavyweight Champion for a brief period, but the belt soon went back to NWA stalwart Ric Flair. WCCW and the NWA publicly split ties, long before Shane Douglas threw down the NWA belt to do the same to ECW. WCCW became an independent promotion. It didn't work out in the end, mainly due to old attitudes. While Vince McMahon was ignoring the old rules and entering other promotions' territories, Fritz had little interest in leaving Dallas. WCCW was later sold to Jerry Jarrett, who renamed it the United States Wrestling Association, or USWA.