Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including why Bryan presumes the Dynamite rating will be back to normal this week and also why there are still many red flags, Jamie Kellner and WCW, the new WWE Indianapolis deal, did the Wyatt Sicks kill everyone, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Tag: jamie kellner
Wrestling Observer Radio: Jamie Kellner death, new Smackdown writer, more
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the death of Jamie Kellner and what his role was in the death of WCW, the death of the first man ever to walk the aisle in UFC, Smackdown has a new writer, tons of other weekend news plus Smackdown and Collision reviews. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: 22nd anniversary of Frye/Takayama, deaths of Jamie Kellner & Teila Tuli
11:08: New SmackDown head writer, Kayla Braxton gone from WWE
15:35: Lineups for this week
17:10: More on the low AEW Dynamite rating, Jeff Jarrett promo on AEW Collision
28:23: CMLL notes on Fantasticamania, Mistico, Hechicero vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
36:44: AEW Collision recap
48:57: WWE SmackDown recap
Subscriber exclusive: Dave Meltzer on Jamie Kellner and the end of WCW
Dave Meltzer has an extensive article for subscribers on Jamie Kellner, who passed away on Friday. Kellner was the head of Turner Broadcasting who made the decision to cancel WCW programing on Turner stations in March of 2001, which allowed Vince McMahon to purchase the company.
Former head of Turner Broadcasting Jamie Kellner passes away at 77
Jamie Kellner, the television executive who ultimately put an end to WCW, has passed away.
Variety reported that Kellner died Friday at his home in Montecito, California at the age of 77. While his biggest contributions to television include helping launch both the Fox and WB networks, in the pro wrestling world he is best known as the man who canceled WCW programing on Turner networks after becoming head of Turner Broadcasting in 2001.
Shortly after Kellner succeeded Ted Turner as head of broadcasting, he canceled WCW programing on TBS and TNT. This caused Fusinet Media, who was initially set to purchase the struggling company, to pull out of their deal, allowing Vince McMahon and WWE to purchase the company and change the face of pro wrestling.
WCW went on to hold its final episodes of Nitro and Thunder in March of 2001. Although inital plans were to keep WCW as a seperate company, those plans were ultimately changed to WCW (and eventually ECW) becoming part of an invasion angle on WWF television. By November, the storyline had ended, with the WCW/ECW Alliance being written off.
During his run at the helm of both the WB and Fox, Variety’s article credited him for the likes of “The Simpsons,” “Married… With Children,” “Cops,” “In Living Color”, “21 Jump Street”, “Dawson’s Creek,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Gilmore Girls,” “7th Heaven”, and “Felicity”. He retired in the early 2000s.