Greg Gagne In Depth on Why Pro Wrestling USA FLOPPED

[@Narrate918]

Greg actually gave me the idea to watch this video. Thanks Greg.

[@Mike_Norris]

Greg gave me the idea to read your comment.

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Greg give me a idea to tell the truth on this comment section that everyone stole & “lied” about their ideas.

[@SartorialisticSavage65]

Greg invented memes.

[@lonewanderer82]

No worries ;)

[@billleonard7089]

😂😂😂

[@swfcocs1]

Greg Gagne " i rang Tony in Jacksonville and said " book wembley, youll get at least 80,000" ...

[@shorsbigmouth]

Greg actually went up to Alexander Graham Bell and said "Hey Al...I know you got a full plate here, but I think you should move forward with this telephone idea, might be going somewhere with this..."

[@edwardfarnsworth5915]

You know what would have worked better and been much, much simpler? Giving Hulk Hogan his share of his t shirt money

[@patrickperalta59]

Edwardfarnsworth5915... I agree Hogan should have got his share of the T-Shirt Money. Hogan might have stayed.

[@robertpeacock894]

In shirts Hogan was making and printing to bring to Japan to sell how carny was it that Verne wanted that money😅

[@EyeSeeSports]

Let me guess, this video has a ton of Greg ideas where people screwed him in the end. Greg once found 5 million dollars, left it there, told Hogan, next day it was gone. A week later he had another idea for Hogan.

[@doubles7533]

You can't steal happy employees. If they were happy and paid well, they wouldn't have left to work for Vince.

[@robertpeacock894]

You totally can when you put an extra zero or two at the end of the contract and offer a signing bonus.

[@stevewhitney7037]

Dusty books Dusty. How many times was Vern world champ 16 17 times. Vern booked Vern.

[@TimBowen-sh6pe]

It's because we don't have the TEAM CHALLENGE SERIES anymore!

[@benjaminmartin9073]

Greg trained Abraham Lincoln to be a pro wrestler then gave him a top hat and said go be president.

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

😂😂 and was there at the last supper, made the wheel and inspired Alexander Gresham Bell

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Oh oh oh one more thing I forgot, applying for a council estate housing due to lack of working, wait I’m not joking.

[@michaelsnelling9875]

Wat 😂😮 in the AWA HELL? 😭

[@robertmoore8821]

It looks like 'bean pole" Greg will never accept accountability on his father's behalf.😂

[@laurenceamspoker782]

Daddy said sell.

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Bean Pole, bit hash to say about the founder of the NWO, had a conversation that got leaked about the rock n roll connection & if Vince wasn’t responsible for the territories demise, wouldn’t another son of a famous promoter done the very same thing? A bitter sad broke old boy.

[@Koolazzmike]

That's cold what Vince did to them in St. Paul! They definitely had a lawsuit! And the building manager in St. Paul should have informed them immediately after Vince came in!

[@gtf2584]

agreed

[@robertpeacock894]

AWA spent so much money trying to go into WWF’s territory where they had no clue about the AWA, and working on shows in San Francisco and other dead markets such as Chicago after 85. AWA should’ve hunkered down and tried to keep the areas where they were doing good. Seriously when things were bad in 87’ they still had over 10,000 in Utah, decent gates in Colorado, and 20,000+ in Minnesota.

[@perfectblindguy]

The superclash 3 match between Kerry Von Erich and Lawler was dumb. KVE hit the ringpost and his hand is gushing blood. KVE put Lawler in the claw and had Lawler's shoulders on the mat. The ref, instead of counting the three, called for the bell and stopped the match because KVE was losing too much blood which gave Lawler the title. And people wonder why the AWA went to hell.....

[@ggallin2011]

Cocaine is a hell of a drug

[@stephenjones1488]

​@@ggallin2011you think Verne Fucking Gagne was doing cocaine? Lmfao. The "those damn Marijuana pills these young folk are on today!" type old man wasn't on anything..he was just losing touch and made poor business decisions in a ever evolving wrestling landscape.

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Not all a failure because at the end of the night, Verne said he had a great time. AWA wasn’t in trouble if the owner had fun, Tony Khan might need to have a think about things.

[@SartorialisticSavage65]

That's because Kerry accidentally cut his arm backstage and they were trying to cover it. Lawler confirmed. 😊👌

[@OaktownABQ]

They never came CLOSE to selling out the Cow Palace.

[@gabesmith8450]

"So I said to him....Jesus, you got all these people around, you can heal, why don't you pick 12 guys and...."

[@stes9336]

Greg saw a young George Washington - gave him a powdered wig and said “go defeat the British kid” Which was great hindsight as he wasn’t drawing a dime at the time

[@williammitchell4417]

Kevin must be on vacation. Sean is replaying this stuff.

[@Bazzeboy]

Decent replay, though

[@studbourbon798]

But it's Greg. So far better than the cool stories of Big Sexy .

[@rodzor]

AFAIK this isn't Sean's channel...? This guy just posts shoot interview clips. Sean is at Kayfabe Commentaries KC Vault.

[@JGD185]

"I remember when WCW started beating WWF in the ratings. I called Vince and said what the hell are you doing over there? You need to change things quick, you need to bring some attitude to Raw. Sure enough next week Vince did the Attitude Era promo, and the rest is history." -Greg Gagne

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Greg was ahead of his time clearly, I mean he is the embodiment of the 90s, fresh cool and can pull any lady by showing his dad’s credit card.

[@costasspartan1894]

Id rather listen to greg gagne interviews which are always enjoyable to listen to, most of the other guys put you to sleep.

[@BadNewsDave]

Gagne was behind the times and notorious for not paying his talent well. Which is why Heenan and Ventura left. Cornette recently did a scenario where Hogan stays with AWA amd he questions if Gagne would be giving better paydays. That’s why Vince and Crockett could just take whatever talent they had. At this timeframe. WPIX was a superstation (because of Yankees games) and was owned by the same people that owned the Knicks, Rangers, and the Garden. The WWF paid local station to carry their programs at first, but they drew great ratings and stations started paying the WWF. Wrestling was so hot, WPIX had GLOW on it. Read The Death of the Territories. It goes into detail how other promoters were trying to do what Vince was doing and how he won the war the moment he took Detroit and Buffalo. Because, unlike everyone else, he,surrounded himself with people that helped him succeed. It’s why AEW will ultimately fail.

[@jeyDsixx18]

Aew will fail because of that but also because they operate at a loss of tens of millions every year…how long will Tony’s dad allow him to play wrestling promoter before the money being lost starts to get crazy and is too much to ignore?

[@MrPotatoesLatkie]

Where did you read that? Gagne was apparently one of the better pay off guys, and he had a much lighter touring schedule. Heenen and Ventura left because Vince was offering them even more money. along with national TV exposure.

[@BadNewsDave]

@@MrPotatoesLatkie Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura. Jim Cornette even mentioned it when talking about if Hulk Hogan stayed in the AWA.

[@robertpeacock894]

AEW can’t really fail. When it’s backed by the son of a billionaire many times over. They’ve yet to have a single year they’ve made money, but that doesn’t matter when you’ve got an endless piggy bank. That’s not a bad thing mind you, just how it is.

[@kar5431]

If Vince paid more for talent to join him, it not stealing. Greg also said he help get Hogan to join WCW and he told Bischoff that he wanted a percentage of Hogan pay and merchandising.

[@jamesmiller5331]

Greg wanted something for exercising his friendship with Hogan to get Hogan to the negotiating table because he had been fucked out of a contract that would pay him incentives based on performance with his role in the company. He overplayed his hand for sure but I don't blame him for trying to chase the money he had already lost in exchange for trying to recoup the money he already wasn't getting.... which was about to become significantly more money lost if Hogan came in because the ratings were going to go up from there.

[@unclestinky6388]

While Vince is not forthright when he says he didn't want to put anyone out of business, Greg is describing competition. Competition stinks for the people who lost, and Vince complained about it when Turner started to eat Vince's lunch a decade later. Greg described that the promoters thrived when they all honored an agreement not to compete with each other. In that example, the TV exec should not have gone back on this word, but, the promoters should have had a TV contract that outlined the obligations. It's understandable, but people just don't want competition. Lack of competition is a main reason why so many people want to work for the government, even if those people don't realize why.

[@robertpeacock894]

Agreed almost 100% not talking about the AWA, but Vince did make deals to buy other companies and in the end never paid them. That’s pretty lousy. You are right though. He was 100% the better promoter and took all the old dogs behind the shed.

[@tzarro]

I didn't realize Creed Bratton was is the wrestling biz...

[@unclestinky6388]

"Once they (WWF) *got* Hogan". It was a terrible error to let Vince *get* Hogan. And it likely lead to a cascade of events that cost Vern his business.

[@marcbasil]

Lolwut. There was no way that Hulk freaking hogan was ever going to be centred out of a place in freaking midwestern murica. The AWA failed because it wasn’t based out of NYC, the capital of everything & the only place that matters in murica alongside LA

[@AaronLesterMedia]

Dam Karma finally caught up to Vince. I bet all them old promoters who lost their empires are laughing from their graves.

[@shipwreckedpoet3]

Sounds like what every corporation in america does in a free market economy. Vince thinks like Wall Street the rest of these guys think like the 5 families of The Mafia.

[@joecortese1702]

Wrestling was so much better in the territory days: Vince McMahon single handedly destroyed wrestling in the US; today’s WWE sucks by comparison!

[@rondoughhowell6442]

Vince McMahon was playing Chess while everyone else was playing checkers,Watts, Gagne,Crockett, Fritz,,Graham, Owens,Jarrett, Ole,Checkmate

[@DonSmith2323]

Jarrett was playing 10 for him 1 for the boys and so were many others and thats the problem and that made it so much easier for vince to buy the whole show..

[@lrm215]

U right!!!

[@rondoughhowell6442]

@@lrm215 of course

[@stephenjones1488]

​@@DonSmith2323that definitely didn't help lol.

[@meherenow793]

vince was given "his" business by his daddy; a literal handout.

[@JohnnyLaps]

It and the AWA folded because guys like you Greg,and your dad.You were NOT a champion! Hogan would have stayed if your old man paid him and gave him the belt.You screwed Hennig too.

[@robertmoore8821]

Yep and Hogan was super over in the AWA and he was making moves in Hollywood and selling merchandise.Hogan also had a deal in Japan and Verne Gagne thought he could bully Hogan into giving him a percentage of all that,but Hogan and McMahon as we know had the last laugh.

[@jaimejaviergarcia3743]

@@robertmoore8821let’s not forget Lake Minnetonka!!!

[@wendyjohnson4189]

Wow,Bobby Heenan looks healthy here!What year was this video?

[@laurenceamspoker782]

Backlund should have been used better by the awa and nwa during this time, no excuse.

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

The high flyers was more over in 1970s. Fresh (at the time) & Bob Buckland couldnt cut a heel promo to save his life clearly.

[@laurenceamspoker782]

@@stephencatchdudeknight4623 True. However, Backlund preceded Sheiky Baby and Hogan as champion. Backlund should've got the NWA Missouri belt again at least or ve prominently featured in 1 of the gab 85 cards in a title shot against Flair for the NWA to try to stick it to Vinnie Jr.

[@mkl62]

The promoters wanted their own men to main event, even though they were not in their own territories.

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Overkill but this rumor could not be unnoticed. Forbidden Door was his idea, he told TK if he holds the door for his father, he pays him. Well Greg just sucked up because he never held a door open in his entire life, people keep letting him in for…… what? Being a son of a genius promoter?

[@battlestarmarc]

On paper, pro wrestling USA was a good idea to try and stop the WWF takeover. Vince's WWF production was awesome in 1984.

[@PatBrooks-u6w]

So much "he said, then the other guy said" in wrestling. But this is a fact; Bill Watts was never involved in Pro Wrestling USA. Some of his wrestlers appeared, mainly Reed & Duggan. That's it.

[@michaelsnelling9875]

He looks and sounds just like verne.

[@perfectblindguy]

awa got 22 million viewers a week? No way in hell....

[@doubledown0411]

I would just say that TV numbers were drastically different in the 80s. Most markets had 5-6 channels. Even after Cable started spreading, local TV got big numbers.

[@h.i.s.ministryhelpinginser31]

It's possible, back in the 70's and 80's wrestling was huge. There wasn't as many channels and streaming like today!

[@AmericanCombatAssoc]

What year was this?

[@trueyankee4767]

I honestly think Greg is so potectie of his dad's legacy and is the last flame of the old AWA that he has to tip all the stories in his/Vern's favor. There must be a lot of truth to what he says because his story always stays the same.

[@bbiscuit3000]

AWA at one point no matter how small of an amount of time was the greatest wrestling company in the world. Only problem is it was right before the giant boom of WWF. 70s and early to mid 80s AWA was the greatest wrestling in the world.

[@jd9119]

Mid South 1981-1985 was better.

[@asoncalledvoonch2210]

NwA in 1970 & 1980's: AM I A JOKE TO YOU?

[@bbiscuit3000]

@@asoncalledvoonch2210 Before NWA got onto TBS and before Vince McMahon went crazy to unite America under one wrestling company AWA was one of the most watched programs in America. It was the largest Territory in wrestling history. Covered a third of the country.

[@asoncalledvoonch2210]

@@bbiscuit3000 McDonald's also sell the most burgers on earth, yet they a far from edible. Just because a ton of people watched aWa, don't mean it was the best wrestling. If it was so popular and great, why isn't it alove today? It's been dead longer than I've been alive and I'm 33. Just being honest.

[@bbiscuit3000]

@@asoncalledvoonch2210 It isn't around because of Vince McMahon going behind everybody's back and purposely putting everyone out of business by raiding talent after taking their television away by just buying it from the station. Everything post Vince is some of the worst wrestling ever. Attitude Era had zero main event workers. The whole main event scene was brawlers and entertainers. Austin after breaking his neck was a shell of himself.

[@KingRat71]

It would have been smarter for Vince to partner with them all. Vince gets 50% and is able to poach or rotate talent and use the regional propmotions as development markets. They coudl have persisted and fedhim talent that he didnt have to pay to develop. It would have kept more variety in the market too which creates a bigger asudience.

[@jonathanturbide2232]

Absolutely not, such nonsense. All these old promoters involved in Pro Wrestling USA were working together yet they all tried to backstab each other, Vince was incredibly smart to stay away from them and to do his own thing by himself. Vince won and made record profits throughout the mid to late 80's, questioning his strategy is nonsensical.

[@rict5878]

AWA did lose some good talent , Hogan being the biggest. Bill Watts lost Hacksaw Butch Reed ,JYD , Hacksaw Dugan, Ted DiBiase, Koko B.Ware, Jake Roberts and they later acquired One Man Gang . The NWA lost Roddy Piper, Steamboat. Billy Jack Haynes. WCCW lost Kamala, Missing Link , Rick Rude, Warrior .

[@SartorialisticSavage65]

However, Pro Wrestling USA needed a third party booker instead of 3 territories arguing about it with all the FuckFinishes

[@pasqualevella3174]

Greg told Cody to start crying and mention his dad in his promos to get himself Over

[@SartorialisticSavage65]

I understand people's issues with Greg. But HE IS RIGHT! McMahon was playing extremely dirty in the 80s.

[@mox19380]

so vince paid for talent. paid for tv. paid for marketing. paid, paid, paid. perhaps i'm the dummy but when you pay for something...is it stealing? Pro Wrestling USA didn't work for one simple reason. trying to combine 3 companies that are individually owned and still operating independently except for an occasional compilation show cannot develop a true program. 3 companies, 3 champions, 3 groups of bookers, 3 promoters, appealing to 3 different fan bases, etc etc....how was that going to work? I saw that meadowlands show. it was a dumpster fire. angles didn't work, no one really got over...watch the show and listen to the fans chanting boring the ENTIRE show. super clash 1 worked. once. but then verne didn't pay visiting talent. and consequences of that are seen in super clash 2.

[@roccoz2231]

Yikes! I just looked up SuperClash II on Wiki. 2,800 at the Cow Palace (which holds 15,000) and the main event was Snuka and Brian Knobbs?! 🤣😂 That sounds like the main event for a show at the local Veterans Hall that draws approx. 250 -- a number which includes the other wrestlers and the folks working the show.

[@juliodepierola297]

🕵️‍♀️

[@phillipstankey8881]

It failed because Greg touched it....

[@dwaynebrooks3812]

Never liked the AWA or the Gagne’s.

[@0089nyyankees]

So it would have succeeded only if they listened to him and his dad 🤣👌

[@jamiehaner1754]

Poor Greg. Nepo baby #1

[@CatsClaw44]

As you cheer and hype Shane and Stephanie. Nothing hypocritical there.

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

You are born in a family regardless of status.

[@pikkon899]

"steal talent" The wrestlers are independent contractors. It's simple math. You get offered more money, you go to where you can get that money. Greg claiming McMahon was stealing talent is laughable because Greg was notorious for not paying his guys very well. That's why Heenan and Ventura left.

[@rudistorm3348]

Exactly. He could of "stole" them back by just paying a little more.

[@joshkaid]

Greg pretending like Verne didn't have a huge ego as well is hilarious.

[@pikkon899]

"steal talent" The wrestlers are independent contractors. It's simple math. You get offered more money, you go to where you can get that money. Greg claiming McMahon was stealing talent is laughable because Greg was notorious for not paying his guys very well. That's why Heenan and Ventura left. Greg is describing competition and from the perspective of a guy who's bitter that he lost. If I'm a cable company and Vince offers me more money than Greg is to run his show, I'm running Vince's shows. It's what's been done in advertising for years on TV.

[@USOEnjoyer]

Greg is so odd. He says a ton of wrestling bullshit and takes credit for everything in wrestling history, but the booking logic he had in this dvd was amazing. There is a tiny part of me who thinks he has spend the last 20 years planning this in his head to eventually prove to people how smart he is but the story with Flair vs Bockwinkle is genius.

[@jamiehaner1754]

Who cares about Crusher and Mad Dog?

[@DonSmith2323]

Maybe in 1975

[@perfectblindguy]

Pat Patterson said that Mad Dog Vachon was the toughest guy he had ever been around.....

[@kar5431]

They Could’ve been booking Hogan vs Brody matches.

[@shipwreckedpoet3]

This would have been something to see.

[@josephmiller9424]

People joke about greg but think Hogan didnt get over until AWA the night i stopped to watch Hogan VS sheik was because i saw in AWA in a small town and look the Brain , The Body. , Doctor D and Mean Gean .so greg could be telling the truth but Russo saying he invented the Rock , Stone Cold is more believable lol

[@mikeplumer7687]

Vince did alot of sleazy things which is why it was hysterical when he whined about Ted and Bischoff. But in Greg's world the AWA failed and it was everybody fault but Verne😂

[@MABMGuitar]

Reason #1: Greg Gagne

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Very important fella. I mean he speaks knowledge from his time as a backstage hand, I meant highest ranked jobber on the clock.

[@guislarcia6423]

Fetus Sean Oliver

[@DateTwoRelate]

A predator in business and in interpersonal relationships. Guess who?

[@tobysgamingworld1550]

Sean killed his whole story with one question “so if your ratings were so big why would they take it off the air for a few dollars?” Uh uh uh uh well uh some of them uh uh 😂 Lying ass Greg

[@markedly1013]

You only hear the bullshit ... from Greg.

[@wildscreenwriter]

Greg is just describing capitalism.

[@McElwainLovesSharks]

Gagne: “I told Judas that Mount Zion desperately needed a heel and he should double cross Jesus. 30 pieces of silver later and you’ve got the longest running and most successful angle of all time.”

[@jasoncutshaw8401]

Vince McMahon is the worst thing that happened to the name WRESTLING in 15,000yrs

[@rockinrj87]

He's both the worst and the best. From a purely business standpoint you can't deny his success he is the best promoter in wrestling history. You don't have to like how he got there but facts are facts. The truth is if it wasn't Vince somebody else would have gone national with the invention of cable television the territory system was going to die anyway

[@davidporter7051]

Must be a mouth breather. Pro Wrestling isn't wrestling and if it was bad WWE would not have sold for more money than you and your family will not witness let alone hold in your lifetime. WWE is a top 10 brand world wide. If things stayed the same there would be hillbilly wrestling with pig dung on TV.

[@jasoncutshaw8401]

@@rockinrj87 Anyone can steal someone else's plan or idea and make others think it's their own.. but your right Business has no real ethical feeling

[@jokerswank6082]

Imho, yeah he was good at building up an empire, but the thing is he didn't know how to keep talent (especially for the right amount of time). Only a few talents have been around long enough from my observation

[@rockinrj87]

@@jasoncutshaw8401 The thing is everybody says Vince killed the territories technically he did. Here's the thing that nobody brings up the way television was going with cable and everything becoming national it was going to kill the territories anyway. If it wasn't Vince McMahon it would have been Jim Crockett or the von Eric's somebody was going to go national if not Vince he was just the first one to do it as a result he gets all the credit and the blame

[@JRam1]

Vince ruined wrestling

[@JohnnyLaps]

I disagree.Vince just paid the guys what they deserved.This guy Greg Gagne and his dad screwed people out of money,hoarded every buck.Hogan would have stayed,Hennig would have stayed.. Pay them!Give them the belts,they are your best draws.Not Greg and jumping Jim Brunzel!

[@DonSmith2323]

Well he bought wrestling for pennies on the dollar and turned it into cartoon wrestling entertainment look at Raw and Smackdown today there's barely any wrestling at all its all story and gaga Raws 3 hrs long and theres a couple crappy unwatchable matches..Im happy with watching midsouth and SMW and Nwa

[@stephencatchdudeknight4623]

Yes he did but he created sports entertainment and we all must accept that.