2. CHOOSE FROM THE BIG THREE
There are many wrestling promotions, but we're not going to go into all of them. We're just going to talk about the three biggest and most popular promotions -- the WWF, WCW, and ECW -- and let you pick which one you're going to watch. The two biggest, the WWF and WCW, are in fierce competition with each other, and it's difficult not to pick a side in the struggle and watch that one exclusively. ECW doesn't demand the same allegiance, so you could, conceivably, watch it in addition to one of the other ones, but just how much wrestling do you wanna watch?
World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
The WWF is the king of the wrestling world right now, and we won't even try to hide our belief that this is appropriate. The WWF is known as being the most creative wrestling promotion with regard to its characters and storylines, and this happens to suit our tastes in wrestling. Run by the iron will and creative innovation of Vince McMahon, the WWF combines colorful stories with entertaining wrestlers. If you want to experience good quality in both the creative and athletic aspects of pro wrestling, the WWF is probably the choice for you.
The WWF is one half of the Monday night wars. Its main show is "RAW is WAR" on Monday nights, and it has wrestled for wrestling ratings with WCW's "Monday Nitro" since WCW started airing its rival program in 1994. WWF also has a primetime show on Thursdays called "Smackdown," and many pay-per-view events.
World Championship Wrestling (WCW)
WCW has experienced a bit of a downturn lately, as the WWF has begun to win the war for ratings on Monday nights and to capture yet more of the wrestling audience with its "Smackdown" show. Time-Warner and WTBS own the WCW, so it has all the billions of Ted Turner behind it, but it consistently fails to match the creativity of the WWF. Where WCW does excel, though, is in its wrestlers' ability to make it happen in the ring. WCW wrestlers are well known for being, throughout their ranks, better wrestlers than WWF wrestlers. The WWF has some great wrestlers, of course, but WCW does more to emphasize and promote wrestling talent. WCW might not develop their wrestlers' characters as much when they get them, but they can still afford to recruit the most talented and athletic wrestlers available. If your top priority is to watch high-flying, acrobatic, talented wrestling, then you should probably check out WCW.
WCW competes with the WWF for Monday night ratings, and also presents many pay-per-view events throughout the year.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)
ECW wrestling is just what it claims to be: extreme. This smaller federation has been around since 1992, and has made a name for itself with its amazing stunts and aggressive style. If you like to see blood and painful-looking moves executed by fearless lunatics, ECW might be the choice for you. ECW has a TV show on Saturday nights and some pay-per-view events (not as many as WWF or WCW) throughout the year. The great thing about ECW is that it doesn't enter into the wars between its bigger cousins, so you can easily watch it in addition to whichever of the other two you've chosen. Of course, you might find, after watching ECW, that all other wrestling is too tame for you, and you'll be a hardcore ECW fan.
