Robert Edward Turner III is an American entrepreneur,television producer,media proprietor,and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN),the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition,he founded WTBS,which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television,which later became TBS.
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988,after Turner Broadcasting System,through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation,purchased the assets of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP).
Jerry Colangelo is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA,the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA,the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League,the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League,and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He was also instrumental in the relocation of the original Winnipeg Jets team in the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2014,Grand Canyon University renamed its Christian based school of business after Jerry Colangelo,replacing Ken Blanchard's namesake. From December 2015 to April 2016,Colangelo served as chairman of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers,before serving as a special advisor to the team until December 2018.
Peter Victor Ueberroth is an American sports and business executive known for his involvement in the Olympics and in Major League Baseball. A Los Angeles–based businessman,he was the chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee which brought the games to Los Angeles in 1984. Ueberroth was named 1984's Time Man of the Year for his success in organizing the Olympic games.
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American television producer,professional wrestling booker,promoter,and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and subsequently,the on-screen General Manager of WWE's Raw brand. Bischoff has also worked with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) where he served as Executive Producer of TNA iMPACT!. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
WCW Thunder,or simply Thunder,is an American professional wrestling show produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) which aired on TBS Superstation from January 8,1998 to March 21,2001.
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises,Diamond Sports Group,Amazon,and The Blackstone Group,RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company,which each own 13%. Primarily serving New York City,New York and the surrounding metropolitan area,it broadcasts a variety of sports events,as well as magazine,documentary and discussion programs;however,its main emphasis is focused on games and team-related programs involving the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball,and the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.
Louis A. Lamoriello is an American professional ice hockey executive who is the president of hockey operations and general manager for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was formerly general manager of both the New Jersey Devils and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lamoriello's tenure as general manager of the New Jersey Devils from 1987 to 2015 was the third-longest by an NHL general manager with a single team,following those of Conn Smythe and Art Ross. Lamoriello resigned from New Jersey on May 4,2015,and became the 16th general manager of the Maple Leafs on July 23 of the same year.
This list brings together authority figures—people who hold on-screen power—in professional wrestling promotions or brands within North America. The North American wrestling industry portrays authority figures as responsible for making matches,providing rules and generally keeping law and order both in and outside the ring. The role can vary according to disposition as a face authority figure tends to give what the fans want and does what is fair while a heel authority figures tend to run their shows out of their own self-interest.
David W. Checketts is an American businessman and sports executive. Checketts has served in c-suite roles or been an owner of the Utah Jazz,New York Knicks,New York Rangers,New York Liberty,Madison Square Garden (MSG),Legends Hospitality,and the St. Louis Blues. He also advised on Tom Gores' purchase of the Detroit Pistons and of Joe Tsai's purchase of the Brooklyn Nets.
Billionaire Ted is a series of comedic sketches that ran on World Wrestling Federation (WWF) programming in 1996. They were created to parody media mogul Ted Turner,who owned rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW),and several WCW wrestlers,including Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. The skits consisted of mocking Turner and WCW by referencing the age of their wrestlers as well as bringing up concerns about steroids. The skits were viewed as gradually becoming more malicious rather than parody,as they were broadcast in addition to the WWF chairman Vince McMahon complementing them with anti-Turner press advertisements outside of WWF programming. The skits were ended by USA Network president Kay Koplovitz,who felt they had moved away from parody and towards mirroring McMahon's personal opinions of Turner and WCW.
Yankee Global Enterprises,LLC,formerly YankeeNets,LLC,is an American limited liability company (LLC) which owns the New York Yankees baseball team,along with a plurality stake in YES Network and a 20% and 10% stake in New York City FC and AC Milan soccer clubs,respectively. It was formed in 1999 and is controlled by the family of George Steinbrenner. Other investors,including Lester Crown,Jerry Speyer,and Marvin Goldklang own minority stakes.
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that existed from 1988 to 2001. It began as a promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that appeared on the national scene under the ownership of media mogul Ted Turner and based in Atlanta,Georgia. Prior to the launch of WCW as a separate promotion,the "World Championship Wrestling" name was used for a television program produced by NWA promotions Georgia Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions on TBS;the name came from an Australian wrestling promotion of the 1970s.
John B. Sams Jr. is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general and former vice president of the Air Force Systems business unit,part of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. He is a former chairman of the board of visitors at The Citadel and served as the school's interim president July–October 2018.
The Monday Night War or the Monday Night Wars,was an era of mainstream televised American professional wrestling,from September 4,1995 to March 26,2001,in which the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw and World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) Monday Nitro were broadcast opposite each other in a battle for Nielsen ratings each week. It largely overlapped with the Attitude Era,a period in which the WWF used the term "WWF Attitude" to describe its programming from November 9,1997 to May 6,2002.
Riccardo Fraccari is an international sports administrator who is the current president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). He was previously president of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) from 2009 to 2013.
John Michael Palms is an American military officer,nuclear physicist and college professor who also served as president of the University of South Carolina and Georgia State University.
James Leland Easton was an American businessman,archer,and philanthropist. He served as the chairman,chief executive officer and President of BRG Sports. He was the President of the World Archery Federation from 1989 to 2005,and he was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1994.
Derek Gordon Schiller is an American baseball front office executive. Schiller joined the Atlanta Braves organization in 2003 and has been president since 2016. Schiller was vice president of business development for the New York Yankees from 1996 to 1997.
