Top 15 Greatest Promoters in North America

[ONTheRopesShow]

Where is the World's Greatest Promoter, Col. Robert Parker?!?

[WeAreProWrestling]

@HulkHoganfan89 it's all cool

[WeAreProWrestling]

@HulkHoganfan89 Under Stu Hart's ownership, Stampede Wrestling ran from 1948 until 1984.

[ChrisGary92]

I like this list, I really do. But, why wasn't Paul Boesch on this list? I mean, I may be a 1990s kid, but back in the 1960s, 1970s, and up until 1989, when WCCW was selling out the Dallas area, Boesch was selling out the Houston area, and brought wrestling to that area by showing his Houston Wrestling show on KHTV (now KIAH-TV) from 1969 to his retirement and death in 1989! Case in point, I think that if it wasn't for Boesch, wrestling would not have been shown in South Texas, PERIOD!

[HailedJunk]

where was heyman? he shuld be given credit to have hardcore wrestling in the u.s. and bringin lucha libre there to the u.s. as well which not many ppl knew about back thn

[JMcauley211]

@HailedJunk Hardcore wrestling goes far beyond ECW, it had been around the 50's with people like Freddie Blassie, Terry Funk, etc. so he shouldn't be credit for hardcore wrestling. However, ECW brought it the near front.

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

I agree with ballsrotten. Bischoff does not deserve to be on this list. Having the nWo temporarily push back McMahon does not equate a great promoter with all that we know about WCW's mismanagement and incompetence in the late 1990's.

As for Paul Heyman, while I love his mind for the business and the way he could think of ways to use guys in booking, I am okay with him not on the list.

The 15 who are deserve to be here most of all and this is as great a top 15 for promoters as there is

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan No one in wrestling has ever made the WWF shit their pants when WCW was beating them in The TV&PPV buyrates because Nitro had everything for everyone. That's why he should be giving credit.

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

@JMcauley211 Yeah because Bischoff's grand idea was taken nearly verbatim from an NJPW idea, worked initially for a year or so and then tanked hard.

I'm going to be completely honest. I've been watching the Nitro episodes on WWE Classics and except for the wrestling in the ring I don't see what was so great about a lot of it

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan Maybe so but it's the way it was done, people had never seen anything like this before and of course the biggest shock in wrestling when Hogan turned heel. I think Tanked is too strong a word as NWO wolfpac was success but after Sting won the belt that should have been the end of them. You're Entitled to your opinion but Nitro had everything, old stuff, new stuff, wrestlers we'd never seen before and mature Storylines that WWF wasn't doing.

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

@JMcauley211 Well what WCW did with the nWo from 1996-1998 was stuff the WWF wasn't doing, but while the nWo was running around throwing people around like lawn darts and engaging in true gang warfare, I've got Pillman 3:16, Goldust being himself, the rise of DX and other stuff.

My biggest problem with WCW was Hogan constantly putting himself on top, the near non-promotion of PPV's, the matches while being good never feeling connected to storylines in any way and people turning face and heel

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan Of course but what about the new persona of Sting? DDP a becoming a bigger star and The Start of Goldberg's Undefeated streak in 1997. 1997 was overall the best year in wrestling, wwf, wcw and ecw was hot. After Sting beat Hogan at Starcade that's when the NWO should have ended and Sting should have held the belt for a while. True but you could say a lot of these things about wwf as well. 1999 was the downfall of wcw but at least wcw was themselves unlike TNA.

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

@JMcauley211 DDP getting the push he did now feels so blah because of the fact he lived next to Bischoff.

Also Sting in WCW was and will always be the best thing they ever produced. Whether it was the old NWA territory that WCW was or the standalone company, Sting was a great wrestler to have on their side.

WCW could have done so much more with what they had, but they blew it and blew it hard

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan Maybe so he was super over and made the transition of turning face but not a cheesy babyface. Like with Austin or Rock, they didn't exactly turn face but the crowd made him into a face. He had everything. Just a embarrassment in what they did to him in WWF.WCW produced many great things and Sting is definitely one of them, he could have been on the same level as hogan in the early/mid 90's if they stuck with him. Fair enough but Give me an example of what they had and blew it?

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

@JMcauley211 Curt Hennig leaves the Fed and goes to WCW. He's not promptly wasted but I never felt he was used correctly and his US title reign felt forced.

Bret Hart leaves the fed, and is promptly misused by the company. He does things in WCW that make no sense after seeing him so long in the WWF, and I partially blame Vince's idea for making him a heel in the US but not in Canada with this but more on Hogan once again not moving aside to do what might have been smart for the company.

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan Fair enough I guess Curt Henning shouldn't have held the title it should have been newer stars but he had a good run. Same with Rick Martel who could still go and had a good run in wcw.

AGREED! Bret Kept on changing heel/face every week and people can't buy into that. Also Bret wearing a Hogan T-shirt?wtf. Well it was more the audience was changing rather than Vince. I thought it was fantastic as I you were a Bret hart fan you felt you were on the right side.

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

@JMcauley211 Not only that with Curt, but only in WCW could you take Curt Hennig and Bret Hart, who in the Fed had squared off multiple times in simply amazing matches, and turn it into such a bland match.

I love Bret Hart, like uber love his work in and out of the ring, but watching him in WCW always makes me sad because once he got there he never seemed to be the same and never seemed to be as good.

Also, him being all buddy buddy with Hogan made me sick multiple times over. For shame WCW!

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan I suppose. Yeah it was a shame what they did to him, the only great thing he don in WCW was the owen tribute match with The Invisible man. It was so refreshing to see great wrestling again in an era that most matches needed weapons because of the attitude era. It didn't make sense at all that we was allied with Hogan. Although WCW done a lot crap, wwf done the same crap yet it gets praised,but wcw get's shit on, kinda unfair ):

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

@JMcauley211 How about I complain about things besides the norm?

The Nitro girls were a worthless part of Nitro, the fact the announce desk was so far away from the ring felt silly to me, and I never liked that Doug Dillinger and WCW security had to break up fights between wrestlers.

Also, I never liked Gene Okerlund having to hold the mic for interviews, and same goes for Bischoff. For crying out loud let a guy take a damn mic and run with it!

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan I don't get why people would complain about the Nitro Girl, would you rather sit watching Commercials or Watch the nitro girls? To make the fight seem more realistic I think. Well Nitro was the opposite of the wwf so things had to be different like where the announce table was. I don't think they were bad. Tons of bad shit could be said about wwf though, they done stupid shit but got praise for it while wcw got shit on.wwf loyalists I guess who believe any Propaganda by wwf.

[EvaIowaCubsFan]

@JMcauley211 What was the stuff the WWF did that you did not like? I can name angles and such but the technical details or the non-wrestling items are what I am interested in hearing about from you.

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan Basically all of 1999, When wrestling wrestling died. Television/PPV matches lasting a minute but there was talking for 20 minutes. A lot of people love the attitude era but I was not a fan of it and some things went over the line (Mae Young giving birth to a hand?). I loved 1997 but after 1999 they lost me. Also the meaning of the titles decreased like when Kane beat Austin then the next night Austin won it back, Imagine Hulk Hogan was beating by King Kong Bundy in his reign?

[JMcauley211]

@EvaIowaCubsFan I hate they way wwf used wcw stars in such a poor manner, I thought wwf was the place where they made stars wcw couldn't? Hmmm Lance storm? A guy who had an awesome run in wcw and a top heel, but they turn him into a joke in wwf. Let's not get started with the fucking Invasion lol. I just think ww..e have been stuck in the same formula and haven't done anything unique in a while as there's no real competition anymore. Mid carders can't get over as much as people could in WCW.

[JMcauley211]

Vince went against his fathers rules but it was smart business. Vince took guys who were already big stars like Hulk Hogan and put them on a national platform. Even though I despise what he's done and is a control freak. He's never been the same since Bischoff(who should be giving credit) took him down for a little while.

[britishhedgehog]

Just wondering at the lack of Paul E or Jim Cornette. Fair enough ECW failed but he made a credible third fed out of nothing. And Cornette ran SCW and OVW, producing watchable and entertaining wrestling on a shoe string budget. I think a lot of VM Sr's credibility comes from rose tinted spectacles and a hatred of VKM.

Good list though

[BrianRichterTV]

Vince for President & HoF

[ballsrotten1]

I was worried that Stu Hart wouldn't make the list for a second! Very good list! The common complaint is that there is no Paul Heyman, which I do have to agree with, but at least you didn't put Eric Bischoff on here! That was a sigh of relief!

[JMcauley211]

@ballsrotten1 Why shouldn't Bischoff be on this list? He has been the only person in wrestling to take down Vince Mcmahon for a temporary time. I don't know why you would put Heyman on the list but not Bischoff ?Bischoff accomplished so much more Heyman. I agree He should be on the list but so should Bischoff. Paul Heyman did create something special but there was no way ECW would even come close into competing with WWF OR WCW.

[ballsrotten1]

@JMcauley211 Three letters explain why Bischoff doesn't belong- TNA. With how badly that's bombed under his and Hogan's rule, it makes me believe that his success in WCW was a fluke

[JMcauley211]

@ballsrotten1 Okay then I'll give you that but Bischoff deserves some credit. He fucked up TNA(which was fucked up anyway) but people think if Paul Heyman took over TNA everything would turn to gold.

[ballsrotten1]

@JMcauley211 Gold, no, but I do believe it would be in at least SLIGHTLY better condition then it is now... then again, damn near ANYTHING would be better then TNA as it is now

[JMcauley211]

@ballsrotten1 Well it's too late now as the only place to become a Star is the wwe. I don't know why guys like Samoa Joe are still in TNA since he's not going anywhere. TNA will never compete with wwe unless they go live, get out of that stupid "Impact Zone"(What is this American Gladiators?), change everything about their format and give us something new or unique instead of all this Attitude era BS that's been around for more than a decade.

[ThePacmanClassic]

Nice, but I would have included Paul Heyman.

[nikoknighten]

I agree when you say that Jerry Jarrett is a very underrated promoter. He ran Memphis very well for years and he has a great mind for the business . . .

[SuperYungGunz]

no paul heyman?

[xCeRTiFiieDx]

I read the description and understand that it's your list, I agree with it except for one thing.. Paul Heyman? arguably the greatest mind for the business? well, I guess his financial wounds may have bumped him off, but he changed the business in the 90s. Good list though.