David Mantell Posted January 11, 2025 Posted January 11, 2025 Any ideas what numbers it was doing? I know Wrestling on ITV in 1988 was averaging 3 million in 1988. I'm wondering how things were 4-7 years later.
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 12, 2025 I’d like some answers here too, in particular if getting/losing Bulldog made much difference. I’m guessing it did.
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted January 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 12, 2025 I’d say it’s pretty hard to say. In the London region WCW wasn’t usually on Saturday Afternoon but overnight Friday. I’m sure I remember a mid afternoon run for a bit, but it definitely was a late night show too. Because of the regional model of ITV it was not often shown at the same time.
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 12, 2025 (edited) It was on Saturday afternoons a lot in the Midlands. Vivid memories of my dad sat glued to the horse racing on Channel 4 then switching over to WCW. Seemed like that was the ritual forever but was probably just a couple of years in reality. I must’ve started watching in 92 and my earliest memories are of, oddly, the Freebirds (Hayes and Garvin version obviously) making their way to the ring but I have zero recollection of the actual match. Also remember Ron Simmons squashing the fuck out of some poor weekend warrior who drew the short straw that week. And a Rick Rude vs Dustin Rhodes match. These probably weren’t all the same episode but they’ve been mushed together in my memory. I think the last thing I watched of WCW on ITV was in late 95, and they were showing the first ever Hogan vs Sting match from Nitro but with Chris Cruise dubbed over on commentary for Worldwide. That must’ve been right near the end of the ITV run because by March or April 96 we were getting Nitro on TNT. So maybe the viewing figures would vary depending on what part of the country you were in. I’ve heard others say they used to watch it at like 1am after Get Stuffed (weird late night cooking show not grot). Edited January 12, 2025 by wandshogun09
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted January 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 12, 2025 After WOS finished we got all sorts of wrestling not just WCW. We could get Central TV and they had some sort of Georgia Wrestling on that had Gordon Solie on commentary and Steve The Gator Lawlor as champion. We didn't get lots of that but we got some. Then we got WCW and Worldwide was a mixed bag. Both of them were on at about 2am and I would try and tape them, though not always successfully.
davertfnewman Posted January 12, 2025 Posted January 12, 2025 (edited) First Saturday afternoon episode we got in the Central region was this episode, which is a partial reboot of the show, possibly for Spring sweeps and a week before WWF Superstars of Wrestling became WWF Superstars. What we have is a new theme tune, Jesse joining Tony on commentary, a renaming from World Wide Wrestling to WCW Worldwide. Great episode that established Sting as champ and Vader immediately as a monster heel. ITV would edit the episodes for timing and content, though, meaning you didn't get as good as on these Sky Sports Classics reairings that replaced the first two years of Wrestling Challenge. Edited January 12, 2025 by davertfnewman
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 12, 2025 (edited) Sorry to keep straying from the original point of the thread but why did we never get WCW PPVs over here? It was so frustrating back then. I’d religiously watch Worldwide every week and they’d be constantly banging on about whatever the next big show was, I’d get into the buildup but then never get to see it paid off in the big match at Starrcade or Halloween Havoc or whatever. If you were lucky you might get a little highlights package or something, I remember watching the little snippet they showed of Vader beating Sting at Great American Bash 92 and that was probably the first time I wondered why we never got to see those shows. With how popular wrestling was in the UK in 1991/2, you’d think they’d wanna get in on that with more than just a one hour weekly recap and mostly squash match show. Obviously popularity fell off a cliff here within a couple of years so fair enough. But then by 96/97, with WCW getting so hot, it baffles me that we never ever got anything more than the weekly TVs. I guess I shouldn’t be shocked really, it’s WCW we’re talking about and I suppose the UK market wasn’t a priority for them. Thank fuck we had DSF back then. WCW PPVs and boobs all in one place. Who really won the war, us or the Germans? Edited January 12, 2025 by wandshogun09
davertfnewman Posted January 12, 2025 Posted January 12, 2025 I think it was just too complicated an organisational process back then. The best we got was SOME events on VHS on delay.
Merzbow Posted January 12, 2025 Posted January 12, 2025 3 minutes ago, davertfnewman said: I think it was just too complicated an organisational process back then. The best we got was SOME events on VHS on delay. I don't remember ever seeing them in shops back in the day, only your usual WWF tapes but a few years back I found a whole bunch in a charity shop. I definitely didn't see them in the shops this old advert lists, although Woolies did have the WCW figures.
DavidB6937 Posted January 12, 2025 Posted January 12, 2025 Oh don't. I fucking loved going into Woolies and seeing all the amazing VHS covers. Every single bloody one looked great to me.
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 12, 2025 5 minutes ago, Merzbow said: I don't remember ever seeing them in shops back in the day, only your usual WWF tapes but a few years back I found a whole bunch in a charity shop. I definitely didn't see them in the shops this old advert lists, although Woolies did have the WCW figures. Yeah, they’re the first four I had I think. I only ever had them and Superbrawl 2. Don’t think I ever saw a WCW tape in any shop again until late 99 when I got this free with the WCW Mayhem game…
davertfnewman Posted January 12, 2025 Posted January 12, 2025 (edited) For those interested, I believe we got these tapes (edited and often not including the full card): Starrcade '89 WrestleWar '90 Capital Combat The Great American Bash '90 Halloween Havoc '90 Starrcade '90 WrestleWar '91 SuperBrawl 1 The Great American Bash '91 Halloween Havoc '91 Starrcade '91 SuperBrawl 2 WrestleWar '92 Beach Blast '92 The Great American Bash '92 Halloween Havoc '92 Starrcade '92 SuperBrawl 3 Slamboree '93 Beach Blast '93 Fall Brawl '93 Halloween Havoc '93 We were that close to getting Flair/Vader on tape! (This is of course during the era we're talking about, not the later run of videos during the Nitro era.) Edited January 12, 2025 by davertfnewman
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 12, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 12, 2025 (edited) 5 minutes ago, davertfnewman said: For those interested, I believe we got these tapes (edited and often not including the full card): Starrcade '89 WrestleWar '90 Capital Combat The Great American Bash '90 Halloween Havoc '90 Starrcade '90 WrestleWar '91 SuperBrawl 1 The Great American Bash '91 Halloween Havoc '91 Starrcade '91 SuperBrawl 2 WrestleWar '92 Beach Blast '92 The Great American Bash '92 Halloween Havoc '92 Starrcade '92 SuperBrawl 3 Slamboree '93 Beach Blast '93 Fall Brawl '93 Halloween Havoc '93 We were that close to getting Flair/Vader on tape! Come to think of it, looking at that list, I do remember borrowing WrestleWar 91 off a friend at school and being blown away by War Games and thinking Sid killed Pillman. Also recall being in Blockbuster with my dad and renting Starrcade 92. Never even saw the others anywhere though. Whereas with WWF tapes there always seemed to be too many to choose from. I remember spending ages reading the match listings on the back of them things and agonising over which one to spend my precious £12.99 on. Edited January 12, 2025 by wandshogun09
DavidB6937 Posted January 12, 2025 Posted January 12, 2025 Definitely interesting to look and see which ones I remember. https://worldwrestlingcovers.weebly.com/wcw-vhs.html I clearly remember seeing the ones up to 93 or so, then most of them look quite unknown until the grey border ones from 98 ish onwards. Not sure if we just didn't get some of them or they weren't as well stocked.
davertfnewman Posted January 12, 2025 Posted January 12, 2025 We had a local video store called Chaplin's (later Video Days) which stocked most of the WCW tapes. Can't remember any of them being particularly scarce and my mates and I got a decent amount of them between us. One mate got Fall Brawl '93 and was giggling himself to pieces when Jesse goes on a sexist rant during the Flair/Rude match, which is the only decent part of it. One of the worst, in a way, tapes they released was WrestleWar '90 (Wild Thing!), not from a match quality perspective, but because they included about three or four tag team matches on the trot (R&R/MX, LOD/Skyscrapers, Steiners/Andersons, possibly another), then Luger/Flair, but they cut about the first fifteen minutes off after introductions.
Recommended Posts