The WBF-what went wrong
Dec 22, 2017 12:31:02 GMT -5
burdette25159, Squirrel Master, and 1 more like this
Post by Sephiroth on Dec 22, 2017 12:31:02 GMT -5
With all the buzz about Vince trying again with the XFL, I thought it was worth retouching this topic. I wrote a thread about it a few years ago about the general history of the WBF, but since then I’ve done a bit more reading on the topic and found out some of the really specific things that went haywire, and its actually highly ironic how much of it really does reflect Vince’s history with wrestling and the XFL-and how he honestly hasn’t learned a thing from any mistakes he’s made. I apologize for the length of this one, but it bares some fleshing out. Here we go...
In 1990 Titan Sports, then the WWF parent entity, announced they would start publishing a bodybuilding magazine and would produce a supplement line called Icopro. To help both ventures they signed a fellow named Tom Platz, a former Mr Universe and associate of Ahnold. At the 90 Mr Olympia contest Titan Sports rented a booth to hawk the magazine and Icopro. During the closing ceremonies Tom Platz got up onstage and announced the formation of the WBF and taunted Joe Weider, owner of the IFBB which staged the Olympia contest, saying “We’re going to kick Mr Olympia’s ass.” When all the competitors got back to their hotel rooms they found contract offers slid under the doors. To a showman like Vince this probably seemed like a great idea-announce the new venture with a big splash, and at the same time start the kind of big rivalry between promotions that he had in the 80’s. Well, actually it turned ou to be a huge mistake because, not unlike what would happen with the XFL years later, the IFBB basically had a monopoly on the bodybuilding audience; if you liked bodybuilding, you watched the IFBB, and by taunting the established promotion as heavily as he did in an attempt to spark interest Vince actually alienated the fans. What’s more, he also pissed off Joe Weider something fierce, and Weider proceeded to play some hardball. Remember how Vince stomped all over Jim Crockett’s PPV’s by threatening to blackball any providers that aired them? Weider did the same to Vince by threatening that any fitness publications that covered the WBF shows would be banned from all future IFBB events. Since the IFBB was the established game in town, the majority of fitness magazines gave the WBF the cold shoulder. So Vince’s efforts to promotore his new venture were off to a rocky start already.
At a big press conference in Atlantic City the WBF was officially launched and Vince unveiled the “bodystars,” 13 bodybuilders signed for the first WBF show to be held in 1991. Now, remember that one of the big problems with the XFL was how they simply didn’t attract any really decent players, resulting in lousy football on the field? Well, the same thing very much happened at that point in the WBF. Despite the kind of huge money Vince was tossing around, none of the top names in bodybuilding chose to sign with the WBF. Vince apparently failed to appreciate that when he was signing all the big stars from the other territories in the 80’s he benefited from the fact that a lot of those name wrestlers had issues with Vergne Gagne, Jim Crockett, and others, who they felt weren’t paying them fairly. By contrast, none of the top bodybuilders really had much of a grievance with Joe Weider and how he treated them. What’s more, because they were so well established with the IFBB jumping ship to a totally untested rival, run by a guy with no history in bodybuilding, seemed like way too much of a gamble to risk-especially with how peeved off Weider was over it. So the 13 guys Vince signed as his bodystars were largely unrecognized names with little fan following in bodybuilding, and thus did not help draw much in terms of audience. It turned out to be a good decision on their part, because even though Weider welcomed most of the WBF bodystars back after it folded none of their careers ever recovered, and some outright quit.
Fast forward to the first WBF show, held in Atlantic City. Just like the XFL, Vince had promised he would not put elements of pro wrestling into what was supposed to be a competitive sport-and just like the XFL, out turned out to be bull. He had the bodybuilders wear costumes and act out skits onstage rather than just genuinely compete, which confused actual bodybuilding fans an lead many to believe the whole thing was storylined like the WWF/E. Vince did himself no favors by going apeshit over Gary Strydom, with the most homo-erotic and over the top announcing you could imagine, which lead many to believe Vince had Strydom earmarked to win the contest before it even took place. Whatever else you can say about bodybuilding, it is supposed to be a sport, albeit a niche one, where its all about competition-and Vince shot himself in the foot with his antics by damaging his own credibility on that front. Vince promptly added to the damage by signing Lou Ferrigno, The Incredible Hulk himself, to appear at the next show for an unheard of multi-million dollar deal. He apparently thought that having a living legend like Ferrigno challenge Strydom for his prize would rev fans up and help his next show do better than the last, sort of like when Vince tried to encourage a rivalry between Jesse Ventura and one of the XFL coaches. It ended up being the biggest humiliation to date though, because when Titan Sports came under federal investigation for steroid distribution Ferrigno quit-literally only a week or two into his deal. And it was ultimately the steroid investigation that really dealt the biggest blow, because Vince declared all the WBF competitors had to be 100% drug free by the time of the next event. But just like how the XFL’s first game gave the teams virtually no time to practice and organize, this announcement came so soon before the next show that it gave none of them competitors time to really detox, and as a result they all took to the stage looking terrible. At least, terrible by bodybuilding standards-think Kurt Angle style HGH gut and you get the idea. The WBF officiallly went under not long after, and Vince ended up having to pay a personal phone call to Weider to beg to be allowed to promote Icopro at IFBB events. You can just imagine how smug Weider must have been-probably did a power strut to put Vince himself to shame.
There you have it. Not the most detailed account fo the WBF, but this was more about the things that went wrong. And with all that said, does anyone have any real confidence Vince learned anything from either debacle as he apparently plans to relaunch the XFL?
In 1990 Titan Sports, then the WWF parent entity, announced they would start publishing a bodybuilding magazine and would produce a supplement line called Icopro. To help both ventures they signed a fellow named Tom Platz, a former Mr Universe and associate of Ahnold. At the 90 Mr Olympia contest Titan Sports rented a booth to hawk the magazine and Icopro. During the closing ceremonies Tom Platz got up onstage and announced the formation of the WBF and taunted Joe Weider, owner of the IFBB which staged the Olympia contest, saying “We’re going to kick Mr Olympia’s ass.” When all the competitors got back to their hotel rooms they found contract offers slid under the doors. To a showman like Vince this probably seemed like a great idea-announce the new venture with a big splash, and at the same time start the kind of big rivalry between promotions that he had in the 80’s. Well, actually it turned ou to be a huge mistake because, not unlike what would happen with the XFL years later, the IFBB basically had a monopoly on the bodybuilding audience; if you liked bodybuilding, you watched the IFBB, and by taunting the established promotion as heavily as he did in an attempt to spark interest Vince actually alienated the fans. What’s more, he also pissed off Joe Weider something fierce, and Weider proceeded to play some hardball. Remember how Vince stomped all over Jim Crockett’s PPV’s by threatening to blackball any providers that aired them? Weider did the same to Vince by threatening that any fitness publications that covered the WBF shows would be banned from all future IFBB events. Since the IFBB was the established game in town, the majority of fitness magazines gave the WBF the cold shoulder. So Vince’s efforts to promotore his new venture were off to a rocky start already.
At a big press conference in Atlantic City the WBF was officially launched and Vince unveiled the “bodystars,” 13 bodybuilders signed for the first WBF show to be held in 1991. Now, remember that one of the big problems with the XFL was how they simply didn’t attract any really decent players, resulting in lousy football on the field? Well, the same thing very much happened at that point in the WBF. Despite the kind of huge money Vince was tossing around, none of the top names in bodybuilding chose to sign with the WBF. Vince apparently failed to appreciate that when he was signing all the big stars from the other territories in the 80’s he benefited from the fact that a lot of those name wrestlers had issues with Vergne Gagne, Jim Crockett, and others, who they felt weren’t paying them fairly. By contrast, none of the top bodybuilders really had much of a grievance with Joe Weider and how he treated them. What’s more, because they were so well established with the IFBB jumping ship to a totally untested rival, run by a guy with no history in bodybuilding, seemed like way too much of a gamble to risk-especially with how peeved off Weider was over it. So the 13 guys Vince signed as his bodystars were largely unrecognized names with little fan following in bodybuilding, and thus did not help draw much in terms of audience. It turned out to be a good decision on their part, because even though Weider welcomed most of the WBF bodystars back after it folded none of their careers ever recovered, and some outright quit.
Fast forward to the first WBF show, held in Atlantic City. Just like the XFL, Vince had promised he would not put elements of pro wrestling into what was supposed to be a competitive sport-and just like the XFL, out turned out to be bull. He had the bodybuilders wear costumes and act out skits onstage rather than just genuinely compete, which confused actual bodybuilding fans an lead many to believe the whole thing was storylined like the WWF/E. Vince did himself no favors by going apeshit over Gary Strydom, with the most homo-erotic and over the top announcing you could imagine, which lead many to believe Vince had Strydom earmarked to win the contest before it even took place. Whatever else you can say about bodybuilding, it is supposed to be a sport, albeit a niche one, where its all about competition-and Vince shot himself in the foot with his antics by damaging his own credibility on that front. Vince promptly added to the damage by signing Lou Ferrigno, The Incredible Hulk himself, to appear at the next show for an unheard of multi-million dollar deal. He apparently thought that having a living legend like Ferrigno challenge Strydom for his prize would rev fans up and help his next show do better than the last, sort of like when Vince tried to encourage a rivalry between Jesse Ventura and one of the XFL coaches. It ended up being the biggest humiliation to date though, because when Titan Sports came under federal investigation for steroid distribution Ferrigno quit-literally only a week or two into his deal. And it was ultimately the steroid investigation that really dealt the biggest blow, because Vince declared all the WBF competitors had to be 100% drug free by the time of the next event. But just like how the XFL’s first game gave the teams virtually no time to practice and organize, this announcement came so soon before the next show that it gave none of them competitors time to really detox, and as a result they all took to the stage looking terrible. At least, terrible by bodybuilding standards-think Kurt Angle style HGH gut and you get the idea. The WBF officiallly went under not long after, and Vince ended up having to pay a personal phone call to Weider to beg to be allowed to promote Icopro at IFBB events. You can just imagine how smug Weider must have been-probably did a power strut to put Vince himself to shame.
There you have it. Not the most detailed account fo the WBF, but this was more about the things that went wrong. And with all that said, does anyone have any real confidence Vince learned anything from either debacle as he apparently plans to relaunch the XFL?
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