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140-518: The WCW Power Plant was a professional wrestling school in Atlanta, Georgia , owned and operated by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a subsidairy of Time Warner . The school was founded by wrestler Jody Hamilton , who opened the training center in 1989 in Lovejoy, Georgia . In 1991, it became the official school of WCW and relocated to Jonesboro, Georgia . By 1995, the school became known as
280-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
420-483: A deposition in which he claimed African American trainees had fewer opportunities within the company as compared to their Caucasian counterparts. Whatley recalled telling African American trainees upon entering the Power Plant that they would have to put in twice the effort as Caucasian trainees to get ahead. According to Whatley, J. J. Dillon prevented the careers of African American trainees from advancing within
560-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
700-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
840-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
980-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1120-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1260-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1400-411: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ( AJC )
1540-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
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#17327975104061680-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1820-506: A greasy breakfast and pushed myself to the point of 'blowing chunks' — that's the term they used. And what was funny was Sarge, the head wrestler who was shouting at me, and who had been totally unimpressed by my physical efforts, was equally disappointed in my puking. He seemed to think it was too watery. He kept saying: 'That ain't nothing, blow chunks'." As part of a racial discrimination lawsuit filed in 2000 against WCW by wrestler Ricky Reeves, former Power Plant trainer Pez Whatley gave
1960-509: A large physique or had already been trained in the fundamentals of working a match. Hamilton told Jeff Gelski of the St. Joseph News-Press in 1991 that he asked applicants just three questions to determine if they were worth training; their size, their age and their previous wrestling experience. Kevin Nash , who trained under Hamilton, described the training facility as "half of a quonset hut where
2100-576: A lease on 21,000 square feet of newsroom and studio space in the Promenade Central building on Peachtree Street, planning to complete its relocation by the end of the year. In 1996, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was the first newspaper to report on Centennial Olympic Park bombing hero Richard Jewell being accused of actually being the bomber, citing leaked information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation . Even after Jewell
2240-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2380-498: A lot [...] It was tough, though, though—but [...] I was probably [...] in the best shape of my life. You had to be just to survive there." Bob Sapp , who is best known as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist , trained to be a wrestler at the Power Plant shortly before WCW folded. During an interview with Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Radio , Sapp said WCW provided him with a rental car and hotel room complimentary for 90 days during his training. Sapp reflected positively on his time at
2520-430: A lot of tight close ups of me. It's not important for me to interview or even see anyone from the Power Plant. But get all the shots of me." Heenan is ultimately unsuccessful in his search as the camera operator locks him within a chain link barricade in the studio warehouse. As he's signing off, announcer Tony Schiavone quips, "What a dummy." The stable Natural Born Thrillers , which was made up of Power Plant alumni,
2660-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2800-522: A month in Nashville, WCW recalled their trainees to the Power Plant for an evaluation by Keiji Muto , who was scouting talent on behalf of New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Dusty Rhodes ' promotion Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (TCW), which was founded in 2000 and based in Marietta, Georgia , used a number of former WCW wrestlers and Power Plant trainees at their early events. Ray Lloyd , who trained at
2940-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
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#17327975104063080-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
3220-413: A northern suburb of Atlanta. In November 2010, the company donated its former downtown headquarters to the city of Atlanta, which plans to convert the building into a fire and police training academy. In February 2024, the newspaper announced it would return its headquarters to midtown Atlanta after nearly 14 years, citing a desire "to be at the beating heart of the city" it is named for. The company signed
3360-406: A separate racial discrimination lawsuit against WCW) said Orndorff used racial slurs to describe African American wrestlers. Former Turner Broadcasting human resources manager Timothy Goodly identified a lack of diversity among WCW wrestlers and brought it to the attention of company president Eric Bischoff , who Goodly said assured him would be addressed by bringing in more minority trainees to
3500-516: A show in Cornelia that featured Power Plant trainees Sam Greco , Bob Sapp and Robbie Rage . Inland Productions , who served as the video game developer for WCW Nitro and WCW/nWo Thunder , used the Power Plant to shoot the motion capture for the games as well as the promos featured on the character select screen. WCW briefly assigned some Power Plant trainees (including Sonny Siaki and Kid Romeo ) to NWA Nashville in 2000. After
3640-679: A single morning paper under the Journal-Constitution name. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has its headquarters in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, Georgia . It was formerly co-owned with television flagship WSB-TV and six radio stations, which are located separately in midtown Atlanta ; the newspaper remained part of Cox Enterprises, while WSB became part of an independent Cox Media Group . In 1868, Carey Wentworth Styles , along with his joint venture partners James Anderson and (future Atlanta mayor) William Hemphill purchased
3780-530: A small newspaper, the Atlanta Daily Opinion which they renamed The Constitution , as it was originally known, was first published on June 16, 1868. Its name changed to The Atlanta Constitution in October 1869. Hemphill became the business manager, a position he retained until 1901. When Styles was unable to liquidate his holdings in an Albany newspaper, he could not pay for his purchase of
3920-588: A trainee along the way. They make entry to the office and huddle around Orndorff, who is standing behind his desk as the group approaches. After a brief argument, Orndorff charges towards them and a melee ensues that spills out of the office where security is alerted, who break up the scuffle. At Fall Brawl on September 17, 2000, the Natural Born Thrillers faced the Filthy Animals in an elimination tag team match . Paul Orndorff entered
4060-597: A trainer that had a 'drill sergeant' gimmick, an underneath wrestler named Dewayne Bruce [...] The Power Plant was also known for turning out very few actual star wrestlers who stood the test of time and ever worked anywhere but WCW." WCW Power Plant founder Jody Hamilton wrote in his autobiography, Assassin: The Man Behind the Mask , "The Power Plant was one of the highlights of my career. I lived for that school." According to Hamilton, WCW management often ignored his input when it came to Power Plant trainees. Bret Hart , who
4200-707: A trainer when the school became the WCW Power Plant and worked there until its closure in 2001. Two early students of Graham were Marcus Bagwell and Van Hammer . WCW sent Hamilton and former wrestler Blackjack Mulligan to scout talent at promotions around the United States. In 1993, the pair went to scout Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) wrestlers and hold tryouts at the Tampa Sportatorium in Tampa, Florida for developmental contacts with WCW. In 1993, WCW put on matches for small audiences at
4340-485: A tryout, but it's three days of hell [...] The training school—it was designed to break you down. You couldn't pass the first day unless you were physically in shape and then the second two days was [sic] just mentally, because your body already broke down after the first day [...] you have to physically keep pushing yourself to make it. [...] that's Buddy Lee Parker , that's the way he pushed us and years later he explained why [the trainers] did what they did [...] to weed out
WCW Power Plant - Misplaced Pages Continue
4480-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
4620-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
4760-412: A whole hell of a lot, except for size and experience. We get photos, we get videotapes. If I like them, they'll come in for a tryout." The interview was unique in that Hamilton partially broke kayfabe to explain the cooperative nature of professional wrestling maneuvers. The Power Plant was in operation as early as 1995. That year, WCW began charging students $ 2,500 in tuition. Prior to 1995, WCW covered
4900-459: A year. Its equipment was donated to what was then known as Georgia School of Technology , which used it to help launch WBBF (later WGST, now WGKA AM 920) in January 1924. In late 1947, the Constitution established radio station WCON (AM 550). Subsequently, it received approval to operate an FM station, WCON-FM 98.5 mHz, and a TV station, WCON-TV, on channel 2. But the 1950 merger with
5040-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
5180-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
5320-408: Is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta , Georgia . It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution . The two staffs were combined in 1982. Separate publication of the morning Constitution and the afternoon Journal ended in 2001 in favor of
5460-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
5600-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
5740-588: Is named after the training facility. After WWF (now WWE ) purchased certain WCW assets in 2001, the Power Plant was shuttered. Former lead trainer DeWayne Bruce opened a wrestling school known as the Super Power Plant in Jasper, Georgia , which was operated in conjunction with James Adams' Superior Wrestling promotion. Some of the WCW Power Plant trainers, including Jody Hamilton and Paul Orndorff , joined
WCW Power Plant - Misplaced Pages Continue
5880-527: The Constitution ' s Doug Marlette . Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich received Pulitzer Prizes in 1995 and 2006. Cynthia Tucker received a 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary . The Atlanta Journal was established in 1883. Founder E. F. Hoge sold the paper to Atlanta lawyer Hoke Smith in 1887. After the Journal supported presidential candidate Grover Cleveland in the 1892 election, Smith
6020-648: The Daily Intelligencer , the only Atlanta paper to survive the American Civil War . In August 1875, its name was changed to The Atlanta Daily Constitution for two weeks, then to The Constitution again for about a year. In 1876, Captain Evan Howell (a former Intelligencer city editor) purchased the 50 percent interest in the paper from E. Y. Clarke and became its editor-in-chief. That same year, Joel Chandler Harris began writing for
6160-715: The AJC headquarters were in Downtown Atlanta near the Five Points district. In August 2009, the AJC occupied less than 30 percent of its downtown building, becoming outdated and costly. Later that year, the AJC consolidated its printing operations by transferring the downtown production center to the Gwinnett County facility. In 2010, the newspaper relocated its headquarters to leased offices in Dunwoody,
6300-476: The Constitution . He was forced to surrender his interest in the paper to Anderson and Hemphill, who each owned one half. In 1870, Anderson sold his one-half interest in the paper to Col. E. Y. Clarke. In active competition with other Atlanta newspapers, Hemphill hired special trains (one engine and car) to deliver newspapers to the Macon marketplace. The newspaper became such a force that by 1871 it had overwhelmed
6440-468: The Journal required major adjustments. Contemporary Federal Communications Commission "duopoly" regulations disallowed owning more than one AM, FM, or TV station in a given market, and the Atlanta Journal already owned WSB AM 750 and WSB-FM 104.5, as well as WSB-TV on channel 8. WCON and the original WSB-FM were shut down to comply with the duopoly restrictions. The WCON-TV construction permit
6580-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
6720-613: The Sunday Atlanta Journal-Constitution was available. Due to the downturn in the newspaper industry and competing media sources, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contracted distribution dramatically in the late 2000s to serve only the metro area. From Q1 of 2007 to Q1 of 2010, daily circulation plunged over 44%. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has its headquarters in Perimeter Center , an office district of Dunwoody , Georgia. Previously
6860-543: The United States Marine Corps , likened the Power Plant to a military boot camp . Trainees reported to the Power Plant at 9am and began the day with a half-hour of warm-up exercises consisting of squats, push ups and sit ups. They would then get in the ring for three hours of bumps , break for lunch and return for three more hours of bumps, practice matches and test promos . In the May 17, 1999 edition of
7000-506: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter , Dave Meltzer wrote, "The Power Plant, for all its hype, has been a total flop. How many stars have come out of the Power Plant? The Giant , who didn't become a star because he was taught to be a skillful performer or a good interview, and Bill Goldberg. They both had an incredible can't miss physical look and, for their respective sizes, exceptional athletic ability which overcame
7140-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
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#17327975104067280-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
7420-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
7560-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
7700-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
7840-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
7980-722: The Canadian Wrestling's Elite eighth anniversary show as a tag team partner of Omar Amir and Danny Duggan . On the September 22, 2000 episode of WCW WorldWide , the Natural Born Thrillers ( Reno , Chuck Palumbo and Mike Sanders with Sean O'Haire) defeated a team billed as Power Plant trainees (Steve Sharpe, Robbin Rage and Kevin Northcutt ). To succeed at the Power Plant, a trainee was required to display an abundance of strength and stamina rather than basic wrestling skills. Trainee Craig Pittman , who previously served in
8120-615: The Crystal Chandelier, a country western bar in Kennesaw, Georgia . The events gave students at Hamilton's school the opportunity to get in-ring experience before appearing on WCW television. The school relocated near Atlanta, Georgia in 1994. That year, Hamilton told Mark Binelli of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he received hundreds of phone calls a week from aspiring wrestlers. Hamilton explained his screening process, telling Binelli, "I really don't look at résumés
8260-413: The May 27, 1996 episode of WCW Monday Nitro , Eric Bischoff mentioned on commentary that "Hardwork" Bobby Walker was a trainee from the Power Plant. Walker beat Brad Armstrong in four minutes and twenty-six seconds. During the October 13, 1997 episode of WCW Monday Nitro , Diamond Dallas Page cut a promo from the Power Plant. As part of his gimmick at the time, wrestler Lodi would appear in
8400-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
8540-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
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#17327975104068680-513: The Power Plant and was known best as Glacier in WCW, was the first TCW Heavyweight Champion . Power Plant trainees would often appear on WCW programming as jobbers . They would sometimes feature prominently on the c-show WCW Saturday Night , as was the case with Chuck Palumbo in 2000. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , trainees were required to work security at WCW Monday Nitro events and train at
8820-571: The Power Plant before appearing on a WCW broadcast was Midnight , who began her training in September 1999 and made her television debut two months later. Veteran female manager Miss Elizabeth and valet Kimberly Page were reportedly asked to train to wrestle at the WCW Power Plant, but both refused believing the storyline written by head writer of WCW television Vince Russo could irreparably damage their careers. In 2008, Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun asked wrestler Daffney about her experience at
8960-434: The Power Plant five days a week. They could sometimes be seen on-camera during Bill Goldberg's entrances. The Power Plant was not only used by WCW to train new talent, but it also gave management the ability to bring veteran wrestlers in to rehab while contracts were negotiated. Wrestlers who regularly appeared on WCW programming could go to the Power Plant to test new maneuvers and use the training equipment. The Power Plant
9100-419: The Power Plant in 1999, praised the school in his autobiography, Walking a Golden Mile . In 2000, syndicated sports columnist John Allen reported that unnamed male WCW wrestlers were discontent with the quality of the women's training at the Power Plant and felt they were being fast tracked from the training facility to television before they were ready. An example of a woman wrestler who spent limited time at
9240-479: The Power Plant, saying, "I'm in there with Sam Greco , Tank Abbott and other professional wrestlers [...] It was great, they were wonderful men and leaders to look up to." Wrestler Elix Skipper claimed that Power Plant trainees were seen as threats to veteran WCW wrestlers, who feared new talent would take their airtime and eventually cause them to lose their job. On the Power Plant itself, Skipper told IYH Wrestling in 2005, "I don't know what you guys heard about
9380-433: The Power Plant. The predecessor to the WCW Power Plant was a wrestling school founded in 1989 in Lovejoy, Georgia by former wrestler Jody Hamilton . It became the official development school of World Championship Wrestling in 1991 and was relocated to Jonesboro, Georgia . Hamilton was employed by WCW until the company's dissolution in 2001. There was no tuition for the school. Hamilton would only train wrestlers who had
9520-423: The Power Plant. Goodly did not believe that any effort was subsequently made by Bischoff or WCW management to bring in more diverse trainees. Wrestler Harrison Norris , who trained at the Power Plant and wrestled in WCW as Hardbody Harrison, also sued the company for racial discrimination. He alleged he paid the tuition and graduated from the Power Plant, but was not offered a long-term contract with WCW. Instead he
9660-471: The September 30, 1999 edition, writing, "The Power Plant in its current form has clearly been a failure." Pro Wrestling Torch columnist Bruce Mitchell was critical of the Power Plant in 1999, writing, "Dump the management of the Power Plant since it’s great at putting out muscleheads who never get over. As a publicity magnet, the Plant has been great, but for making new stars it’s been a failure. Again, check
9800-496: The WCW Power Plant and if it was difficult training under instructor Debrah Miceli . Daffney responded, "[Miceli] was hard on us because you had girls there who really had no experience and training, like a lot of the Nitro Girls that were professional dancers. It was difficult to train with girls that didn't have much experience, and they were kind of thrown into it — poor things, it was kind of thrown at them all at once, so it
9940-550: The WCW Power Plant and relocated again, this time to Atlanta where Turner Broadcasting (the parent company of WCW) was headquartered. The school closed in March 2001 when WCW's assets were sold to the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE). While the school had several successful trainees—including Bill Goldberg , Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page —it was not a highly regarded training center in
10080-629: The WWA4 Pro Wrestling School staff in Atlanta following the WWF purchase. Bruce joined the training staff of WWA4 after his school closed. WWA4 is still in operation today. In 2013, WWE opened the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, replacing its former Florida Championship Wrestling training facility. Frustrated by the lack of bookings he was receiving as a manager in WCW, Diamond Dallas Page — who
10220-635: The West Coast and served as editor of the San Francisco Examiner . Celestine Sibley was an award-winning reporter, editor, and beloved columnist for the Constitution from 1941 to 1999 and wrote 25 fiction and nonfiction books about Southern life. After her death, the Georgia House of Representatives named its press gallery in her honor as a mark of affection and respect. From the 1970s until he died in 1994, Lewis Grizzard
10360-455: The accusations and claimed that Smith held racist bias against caucasians. Hamilton wrote in his autobiography, Assassin: The Man Behind the Mask , that Smith "thought that every black person in the world should have the same attitude, especially towards white people." Former WCW referee Randy Anderson supplied a deposition in which he alleged Power Plant manager Paul Orndorff "hated" African Americans. Anderson, Carr and Sonny Ono (who had
10500-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
10640-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
10780-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
10920-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
11060-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
11200-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
11340-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
11480-487: The company. WCW production staffer Moses Williams also claimed to observe bias against African American trainees. Power Plant founder Jody Hamilton's alleged racist conduct was cited in the lawsuit as part of the institutional barriers African Americans faced at WCW. Hamilton's former assistant Brenda Smith, retired wrestler Thunderbolt Patterson , trainee Tony Carr and Whatley supplied depositions in which they claim Hamilton held bias against African Americans. Hamilton denied
11620-500: The contracts of Chuck Palumbo, Allan Funk , Elix Skipper , Reno and Johnny the Bull were effectively voided and they were put back on development deals. WCW also sought to recoup Power Plant tuition from the wrestlers. The Power Plant was advertised on WCW Monday Nitro . Once a month open tryouts were held for applicants aged 18 to 29. If the applicants made it through the three day try-out phase they would earn an invitation to join
11760-561: The cost of training for wrestlers they wanted to develop. A segment for the television show Good Morning America on ABC was filmed from the Power Plant on June 18, 1995. WCW filed for the service mark for "Power Plant" on March 21, 1996. Paul Orndorff began managing the Power Plant in February 1998. WCW formed a development deal in 1995 with the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), which
11900-430: The crowd of WCW events holding signs. On the March 2, 1998 episode of WCW Monday Nitro , Lodi can be seen with a sign that reads, "U Want 2 Wrestle? 404-351-4959". The number was for the WCW Power Plant. On the February 5, 2000 episode of WCW WorldWide , announcer Bobby Heenan left the studio desk to go search for the Power Plant. After asking unidentified members of the production staff for help, Heenan says, "I need
12040-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
12180-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
12320-505: The experience was good. I had a great time, I have memories. People want to say that we were green, we weren’t ready. Well, we were. We were green. We probably weren’t ready. I don’t feel like I really started learning how to work until I got to the system in the WWE." Wrestler Shane Helms , who was briefly assigned to the Power Plant, claimed trainers told more senior trainees to be rough with new try-outs. Wrestler William Regal , who trained at
12460-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
12600-438: The fact that neither were anything close to complete packages when they were put out in front of the public. [...] Is the answer to find some young tall guys with some genetics and a little athletic ability, gas them to the gills, and push them to the moon? The Power Plant is filled with guys like that, almost all of whom are exposed as stiffs in their rare appearances on WCW Saturday Night ." Meltzer put his views more bluntly in
12740-879: The first being held in Canton on April 27, 1996 in front of 125 people. Before his death in 1999, Tony Rumble was in negotiations to make his promotion, NWA New England , an official developmental territory of the WCW. The following year, WCW signed a developmental deal with Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA), which was an independent wrestling promotion based in Cincinnati , Ohio run by Les Thatcher . The deal allowed Power Plant trainees to get in-ring experience at HWA events before appearing for WCW. WCW signed another development deal with NWA Wildside, which an independent promotion based in Cornelia, Georgia owned by Bill Behrens. The deal officially began on November 18, 2000 at
12880-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
13020-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
13160-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
13300-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
13440-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
13580-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
13720-513: The match as a surprise tag partner of the Filthy Animals. While attempting to piledrive Mark Jindrak , Orndorff fell awkwardly and was immobile in the center of the ring. After conferring with referee Charles Robinson , Orndorff was pinned by Sean O'Haire . Neither team won since Robinson stopped the match on account of Orndorff legitimately suffering a neck injury. He would not wrestle another match until March 5, 2017 when he appeared at
13860-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
14000-462: The merger, both papers planned to start TV stations: WSB-TV on channel 8 for the Journal , and WCON-TV on channel 2 for the Constitution . Only WSB got on the air, beginning in 1948 as the first TV station in the Deep South . It moved from channel 8 to WCON's allotment on channel 2 in 1951 to avoid TV interference from the nearby channel 9. ( WROM-TV since moved, leaving WGTV on 8, after it
14140-651: The novel. In 1922, the Journal founded one of the first radio broadcasting stations in the South, WSB . The radio station and the newspaper were sold in 1939 to James Middleton Cox , founder of Cox Enterprises. The Journal carried the motto "Covers Dixie like the Dew". Cox Enterprises bought the Constitution in June 1950, bringing both newspapers under one ownership and combining sales and administrative offices. Separate newsrooms were kept until 1982. Both newspapers continued to be published for another two decades, with much of
14280-467: The numbers, in money and new stars, and you’ll get the point." Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Weekly wrote in 2001 that the Power Plant was "hardly renowned for turning out world-class workers". Wrestling manager Jim Cornette published a blog on his website in 2015, which read in part, "The Power Plant was another school notorious for their 'conditioning' drills where guys would do calisthenics until they puked and take lots of bumps, and they even had
14420-447: The other side of the building was carpet remnants". Nash has said that Hamilton's age limited the maneuvers he could teach, so much of his training focused on ring psychology . Early students of Hamilton include Nash, Jim Steele and Bryant Anderson . In 1991, Hamilton trained wrestler Mike Winner, who would later join the training staff of WCW Power Plant. Mike Graham began training students at Hamilton's school by 1992. He stayed on as
14560-399: The paper. He soon created the character of Uncle Remus , a black storyteller, to recount stories from African-American culture. The Howell family eventually owned full interest in the paper from 1902 until 1950. In October 1876, the newspaper was renamed The Daily Constitution before settling on the name The Atlanta Constitution in September 1881. During the 1880s, editor Henry W. Grady
14700-511: The people who loved it and didn't love it and to this day I still love wrestling." On his training experience at the Power Plant, Mark Jindrak told Neal Pruitt on the April 8, 2018 episode of the podcast Secrets of WCW Monday Nitro , "We did five hundred squats per day. We had Sarge [DeWayne Bruce]. Sarge drilled us every single day. No breaks, eight-to-four, but we were all athletes. We could handle it. We were hungry, we were all hungry. [...] So,
14840-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
14980-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
15120-417: The road. If you don't play guitar all the time, you don't get any good. If you don't get to wrestle all the time, you never get any good." When asked about his Power Plant training, wrestler Shark Boy told Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Radio in 2005, "It was tough [...] that was my job, nine to five Monday through Friday was to get up and go in there and get screamed at and take a lot of bumps and run around
15260-434: The same content except for timely editing. The Journal , an afternoon paper, led the morning Constitution until the 1970s when afternoon papers began to fall out of favor with subscribers. In November 2001, the two papers, once fierce competitors, merged to produce one daily morning paper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . The two papers had published a combined edition on weekends and holidays for years previously. Before
15400-449: The school at a cost of $ 3,000 for six months training. Male applicants had to be at least 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) tall and 175 lb (79 kg) in weight. While researching professional wrestling for a BBC documentary , journalist Louis Theroux visited the Power Plant. He volunteered to take part in some training in an effort to show respect for the business, but when he asked DeWayne Bruce questions about kayfabe , he
15540-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
15680-518: The stories on banks and others had ruffled feathers in Atlanta and among corporate leadership, some of whom complained of a "take-no-prisoners" editorial approach. In 1993, Mike Toner received the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for When Bugs Fight Back , his series about organisms and their resistance to antibiotics and pesticides . Julia Wallace was named the first female editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2002. She
15820-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
15960-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
16100-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
16240-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
16380-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
16520-559: The wrestling industry. Wrestler Bret Hart , who was injured by Goldberg during a match, characterized the training at the Power Plant as dangerous to your opponent. Journalist Dave Meltzer wrote in 1999 that the school was "a total flop" because of their training emphasis on physical appearance over personality. In 2001, wrestler Molly Holly told Live Audio Wrestling , "the Power Plant focused on push-ups, running, sit-ups, squats, and people yelling at you." Other trainees, including William Regal and Bob Sapp , had positive experiences at
16660-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
16800-489: Was 35 years old at the time — decided to train to become a wrestler at the Power Plant. According to Page, both Dusty Rhodes and Eric Bischoff initially advised against it, but Power Plant manager Jody Hamilton encouraged him to pursue wrestling. Page told Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch in 2011, "I lived at the Power Plant. I was constantly practicing my wrestling because they would not put me on
16940-426: Was a popular humor columnist for the Constitution . He portrayed Southern " redneck " culture with a mixture of ridicule and respect. The Constitution won numerous Pulitzer Prizes . In 1931, it won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for exposing corruption at the local level. In 1959, The Constitution won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for Ralph McGill's editorial " A Church, A School... " In 1967, it
17080-434: Was a spokesman for the " New South ", encouraging industrial development as well as the founding of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Evan Howell's family would come to own The Atlanta Constitution from 1902 to 1950. The Constitution established one of the first radio broadcasting stations, WGM , which began operating on March 17, 1922, two days after the debut of the Journal's WSB. However, WGM ceased operations after just over
17220-487: Was accused. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has four major sections daily. On Sundays, it has additional sections. The main section usually consists of Georgia, national, international, and business news. The Metro section includes major headlines from the Metro Atlanta area . The Metro section usually reports the weather forecast. The Sports section reports sports-related news. Before social media became popular,
17360-578: Was also used by WLWA-TV, now WXIA-TV 11.) This was also necessary to satisfy Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules preventing the excessive concentration of media ownership , preventing the combined paper from running two stations. In 1989, Bill Dedman received the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for The Color of Money , his exposé on racial discrimination in mortgage lending, or redlining , by Atlanta banks. The newspapers' editor, Bill Kovach , had resigned in November 1988 after
17500-434: Was also where wrestlers could go to run through matches they had scheduled for television or pay-per-view . When WCW brought in celebrities to wrestle, they were often sent to the Power Plant for training, as was the case with National Basketball Association players Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman . WCW used the Power Plant to develop their cruiserweight division in 1999. In late 2000, Figure Four Weekly reported that
17640-450: Was awarded another Pulitzer Prize for Eugene Patterson 's editorials. (Patterson later left his post as editor over a dispute over an op-ed piece.) In 1960, Jack Nelson won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting by exposing abuses at Milledgeville State Hospital for the mentally ill. The papers were published in independent editions even after newsrooms were combined in 1982. In 1988 the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning went to
17780-565: Was based in Memphis, Tennessee . Power Plant trainees, including Ron Reis , were sent to Memphis to get in-ring and television experience, as the USWA had a 36 station syndication deal. Reis and fellow trainee Bobby Walker were also allowed to work a match together for the small Georgia based promotion Peach State Wrestling on September 15, 1995. WCW occasionally ran house shows in small Georgia towns to give Power Plant trainees in-ring experience,
17920-572: Was canceled, and WSB-TV was allowed to move from channel 8 to channel 2. To standardize with its sister stations, WCON-FM's call letters were changed to WSB-FM. Ralph McGill , editor for the Constitution in the 1940s, was one of the few southern newspaper editors to support the American Civil Rights Movement . Other noteworthy editors of The Atlanta Constitution include J. Reginald Murphy . "Reg" Murphy gained notoriety after being kidnapped in 1974. Murphy later moved to
18060-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
18200-465: Was cleared of any accusations by the FBI, the AJC refused to issue an apology and remains the only paper to have not retracted their story by Kathy Scruggs and Ron Martz falsely accusing him of terrorism. The court case regarding this has been dropped after the death of both Richard Jewell and the initial reporter. Jewell died not long after from diabetes due to poor eating habits that escalated after he
18340-470: Was created in 2000 and were the kayfabe enforcers of Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff . During a segment on the September 6, 2000 episode of WCW Thunder , the Natural Born Thrillers returned to the Power Plant in a limousine . They then accosted trainer Mike Graham and trainee Danny Faquir, culminating in the group beating Graham in one of the training rings. The Natural Born Thrillers then move towards their former trainer Paul Orndorff's office assaulting
18480-421: Was forced to do a strenuous exercise routine. At one stage, Bruce encouraged the other trainees to call him a cockroach while Theroux was struggling to regain his breath. Theroux was later shown vomiting on camera. Theroux later recalled, "Yes. I vomited while interviewing some wrestlers at the WCW Power Plant training academy. They had pressured me into a workout that I was patently unequipped to handle. I had had
18620-509: Was forced to retire when a stiff kick from Power Plant graduate Bill Goldberg tore a muscle in his neck and gave him post-concussion syndrome , blamed the end of his career on the Power Plant training regime, saying "I don't think it was a priority to protect your opponent." Kaz Hayashi , who wrestled in WCW from 1997 to 2001, has a finishing move known as the Power Plant (a modified over-the-shoulder back-to-belly piledriver ), which
18760-516: Was kind of shocking. [...] I don't want to call them a wuss because they went home crying, because it's tough. There have been 400-pound football players that didn't last a day. So those girls tried. But [Miceli] is a tough lady and she was really tough on us because it's a tough business." Professional wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
18900-681: Was named Editor of the Year 2004 by Editor & Publisher magazine. Mike Luckovich won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning a second time in 2006. He had first received it in 1995 under The Atlanta Constitution banner. The paper used to cover all 159 counties in Georgia and the bordering counties of western North Carolina , where many Atlantans vacation or have second homes. In addition, it had some circulation in other bordering communities, such as Tallahassee, Florida , where
19040-530: Was named as Secretary of the Interior by the victorious Cleveland. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Margaret Mitchell worked for the Journal from 1922 to 1926. Essential for the development of her 1936 Gone with the Wind was the series of profiles of prominent Georgia Civil War generals she wrote for The Atlanta Journal ' s Sunday magazine, the research for which, scholars believe, led her to her work on
19180-475: Was occasionally used as a jobber and worked on the ring crew, the latter Norris said he was not compensated for. One of the first instances of the WCW Power Plant being mentioned in a wrestling storyline (known as kayfabe) was by wrestler New Jack , who cut a promo in 1995 during an Extreme Championship Wrestling event in which he claimed The Gangstas were not allowed to train at the WCW Power Plant because they were seen as dangerous by other wrestlers. On
19320-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
19460-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
19600-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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