JerryvonKramer Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 One thing I've been trying to put together for years now is a definitive list of who the main WCW booker was and when. Here's as far as I've got, help me out here: Executive VP pre-88: Jim Crockett 1988-92: Jim Herd Early-1992: Kip Allen Frey Mid-1992-3: Bill Watts 1993: Bill Shaw 1993-1999: Eric Bischoff Late 1999: Bill Busch (Time Warner man) 2000-1: Brad Siegel (Time Warner man) Head booker: 85-8: Dusty Rhodes 1988: Jim Crockett Jr. (Dec only) 1989: George Scott 1989-90: Booking comittee (Ric Flair, Jim Cornette, Jim Ross, Kevin Sullivan and Eddie Gilbert) 1990: Ole Anderson 1991-4: Dusty Rhodes (& Ole Anderson with Jim Ross) 1994-5: Ric Flair 1995-8: Kevin Sullivan (with Terry Taylor) 1998-99: Kevin Nash 1999: Kevin Sullivan and Terry Taylor (+ committee) 1999-00: Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara 2000: Kevin Sullivan, Terry Taylor and Ed Ferrara (+ committee which included JJ Dillon) 2000: Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff 2000-01: Terry Taylor, Johnny Ace and Ed Ferrara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Not sure exactly what the timeline was for Herd leaving. I had always heard it happened in the fallout to the Flair firing, but I've also heard it happened months later. So I'm not sure if it was '91 or '92. Frey definitely didn't come on until Jan of '92, but I'm not sure if there was a transition period where there was no Executive VP or not. I want to say there was a transition period between Watts and Bischoff too. Bischoff gained power when Watts left, but wasn't The Man In Charge immediately. Bill Shaw ran things during the interim I think, but I'm not sure how long of a time period that was. As far as head bookers go, Flair controlled the world title as part of his deal with Turner, but I'm not sure if he was actually booking the shows at this point. I've heard everyone from Cornette to Sullivan to Gilbert to Jim Ross as part of the mix. I know Cornette and Sullivan were assistants to Flair, but I also know Jim Ross and Eddie Gilbert had a say in the direction at certain points throughout the year and I'm not sure if they reported to Flair or not. I know Flair and Ross supposedly butted heads a few times during this time period, and before Flair returned to the WWF and had to make amends, he went on a rant once on the old WCW Live show where he said Ross was constantly burying him to Herd, and saying Flair was too old to be on top. That seems to have been forgotten. Not sure if Ole was on through '94 or not. Flair was actually on as head booker through the first half of '95 and seemed to clash with Hogan and Savage quite a bit. I think at some point in July, he was swapped out for Sullivan, who initially wanted there to be "two WCWs" -- one focused on the Hogan/main event stuff, and one focused on the in-ring guys like Benoit and Malenko. I could never figure out if that was literal or figurative. The Sullivan run lasted through the end of '98. Terry Taylor was a co-head booker during that time, but Sullivan tends to get credited more for most of the big ideas that were successful. Nash was head booker from the end of '98 (Right after Hogan left following Havoc, although to hear Nash it didn't happen until after he ended the streak ... he's lying) through the summer of '99 in one of the worst booking runs of all time, only surpassed with the ones that followed it. Nash didn't book in 2000. In late '99 through 2000, Russo and Ferrara were in, then in January they were replaced with Sullivan and JJ Dillon. A few months later, Russo was back in with Bischoff, then Bischoff left with Hogan. Russo was in charge through the end of the year and Johnny Ace closed up shop. Sullivan didn't book in 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Dusty was still booking during the Watts tenure. He just answered to Watts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 Great idea. I don't think I've seen a decisive timeline of the WCW bookers before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 September 1999 - Sullivan/Taylor/committee October 1999 - 1/16/00 - Russo/Ferrera 1/16/00 - 4/1/00 - Sullivan/Taylor/Ferrera/committee 4/10/00 - a week after Halloween Havoc (I think) - Russo/Bischoff 11/00 - 3/26/01 - Ace/Taylor/Ferrera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchReedMark Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 Bob Mould was on the 1999 booking committee wasn't he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 4/10/00 - a week after Halloween Havoc (I think) - Russo/Bischoff Russo was in a strange roll prior to that as he did a lot of work at home selling PCS while being worried about his job. He was officially out at the 10/23 Nitro/Thunder tapings when Terry & Ace took over. Eric... he wasn't really involved a ton for quite a while prior to that. Eric had some big picture stuff, but I suspect by the time of the Bash (i.e. shoot on Hogan), he was fading and instead was focusing on lining up money marks to buy WCW. I would tag it as "Russo" through all of that period. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Also on the point of getting to granular: there often were people on the booking staff/committee. It would get to be overkill to list them all. Key thing would be to tie down the Heads, both in terms of Booking and also the company in general. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Morris Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 1989 after Dusty Rhodes left is kind of hard to pinpoint, but I do know Sullivan and Ross were both part of the mix. Rhodes came back in 1991 and was the main booker under Frye. There was a transitional period between Watts and Bischoff with Shaw in charge and Ole booking along with Rhodes. Bob Mould did come on board in 1999 and left shortly after Russo and Ferrara arrived, but Mould was part of a committee that included Rhodes, Sullivan and Taylor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted September 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Keep this info coming guys (great post btw Loss!), I'll edit the OP to include as much stuff as possible. Will make first edits tomorrow. Can someone explain to me Ole's involvement in the early 90s and when it ended? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 1989 after Dusty Rhodes left is kind of hard to pinpoint, but I do know Sullivan and Ross were both part of the mix. This is a kind of a tricky timeline. I thought at the Clash with Flair/Steamboat Scott was fired. A committee was put together. With Flair as the head along with Ross,Gilbert, and Sullivan. Eventually, Ross and Gilbert were either pushed out or quit and Terry Funk and Cornette joined the team. At or a little after GAB 89 Flair wanted control and the commitie was resolved. Though you could still see people having involvement in the booking. For example, Cornette was booking the MX and Dudes stuff. Sullivan was booking his programs with Cactus Jack and Buzz Sawyer etc. Eventually Flair resigned at Wrestlewar 90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I remember hearing at one time Tony Schiavone was being considered for the job Bischoff got after Watts left, anyone have more details on that. Why he didn't get it/how much if any power he had backstage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Tony said he only applied as a formality. He had no real plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Not true. He would have been the greatest booker in the history of our sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Guitar Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 I want to say there was a transition period between Watts and Bischoff too. Bischoff gained power when Watts left, but wasn't The Man In Charge immediately. Bill Shaw ran things during the interim I think, but I'm not sure how long of a time period that was. Not sure if Ole was on through '94 or not. Flair was actually on as head booker through the first half of '95 and seemed to clash with Hogan and Savage quite a bit. I think at some point in July, he was swapped out for Sullivan, who initially wanted there to be "two WCWs" -- one focused on the Hogan/main event stuff, and one focused on the in-ring guys like Benoit and Malenko. I could never figure out if that was literal or figurative. I think Bischoff became The Man in Charge after Clash 24, which drew a decent crowd and rating for the time. I thought Flair was the head booker throughout '94, with guys like Fuller and Dundee helping him. Didn't Bischoff make Flair the head booker after the meeting the guys had with Turner and Ric was the only guy that Ted actually knew ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 After going through WCW TV from 1989 to mid 1993, Ole Anderson gets the award of shittiest WCW booker of the early 90's, hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 I think at some point in July, he was swapped out for Sullivan, who initially wanted there to be "two WCWs" -- one focused on the Hogan/main event stuff, and one focused on the in-ring guys like Benoit and Malenko. I could never figure out if that was literal or figurative. Does anyone know exactly when Sullivan became the booker in 1995 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 July or August. Up until then, it's Flair as a figurehead, with Hogan and Savage vetoing pretty much every idea he came up with. Flair got the Alex Wright push through, but that was about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Ok, thanks. I'll never understand the relationship between Hogan and Savage at this point. There was some hostility dating back from his divorce with Liz which he partially blamed on Hogan and Linda, et Savage seemed to align with Hogan no matter what in WCW, and ended up playing the role of his bitch like he always has before. Why wouldn't Savage support a guy like Flair who was just much closer to himself in term of work ethic ? Savage vs Flair was the best thing Savage did in WCW next to his program with DDP. It's just bizarre to me why Savage would follow Hogan's lead, he was a big enough star on his own. Insecurity maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Ok, thanks. I'll never understand the relationship between Hogan and Savage at this point. There was some hostility dating back from his divorce with Liz which he partially blamed on Hogan and Linda, et Savage seemed to align with Hogan no matter what in WCW, and ended up playing the role of his bitch like he always has before. Why wouldn't Savage support a guy like Flair who was just much closer to himself in term of work ethic ? Savage vs Flair was the best thing Savage did in WCW next to his program with DDP. It's just bizarre to me why Savage would follow Hogan's lead, he was a big enough star on his own. Insecurity maybe. Money. Savage knew being programmed opposite Hogan he was going to get more money. Being Hogan's partner means a good pay day. Politically opposing Hulk would have cost him money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 This came up reading the Observers for the podcasts but in December 88 after Dusty was fired but before the booking committee headed by Flair took over, JIM CROCKETT JR. HIMSELF was booking. He was the booker for Clash 4 and Starrcade 88. The committee took over after that. I literally had no idea at all that Crockett ever booked any shows himself. ALSO, Jim Herd had quite an extensive wrestling background pre-Pizza Hut that is never ever and I mean EVER discussed, mainly in St. Louis but also working for Vince Sr. for a while too. The WONs from around November and December of 88 are a real goldmine of info I've never seen anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 George Scott came before the committee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 Jerry, you never made the edits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 Edits made with all the info in this thread. Let me know if anything is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 Edits made with all the info in this thread. Let me know if anything is wrong. Ric Flair "booked" until mid-95, from what Loss said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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