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James Herd (born March 24, 1939) is a former television production executive, Pizza Hut manager, and professional wrestling executive. Herd was the Executive Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1988 to 1992 following Turner Broadcasting's acquisition of the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988.
Before beginning his role in WCW, Herd had been a station manager for the St. Louis TV station KPLR-TV, [1] [2] which broadcast the then-popular wrestling show Wrestling at the Chase . Later on, he served as a regional manager for Pizza Hut. [1]
Herd was hired as Executive Vice President of World Championship Wrestling in 1988, through his connections and friendship with Turner executive Jack Petrik. His tenure officially began on January 3, 1989. Enhancement talent, like George South, said that they liked Herd because he would pay per diem to wrestlers to cover the cost of rental cars; enabling low-paid talent to earn a little extra money.[ citation needed ] However, many other pro wrestling personalities and workers have criticized Herd for his lack of knowledge for the pro wrestling business and WCW's established talent. In The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, Ric Flair had stated that Herd "knew nothing about wrestling, other than the fact that the station he ran had a hot show". [3]
During his run in WCW, Herd tried to compete with Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) by emulating the gimmicks that WWF were known for. Such examples include "The Hunchbacks", a tag team that could not be pinned because their humps would prevent their shoulders from touching the mats; a bell-wearing team called "The Ding Dongs" (portrayed by The Rock n Roll Rebels) [4] ; and Big Josh, a lumberjack who was accompanied by dancing bears. [5]
Stan Hansen would leave WCW and return to All Japan Pro Wrestling after he was pitched an idea to become a part of a comedic cowboy stable called The Desperados. [6]
Jim Cornette wanted The Midnight Express to become part of The Four Horsemen, but due to his poor working relationship with Herd, Cornette and Stan Lane would leave WCW in October 1990. The move would break up The Midnight Express, as Cornette and Lane would leave behind Lane's tag partner, Bobby Eaton.[ citation needed ]
Animal of The Road Warriors has stated on WWE Home Video's Road Warriors, that he had a falling out with Herd which lead to him leaving WCW in June 1990. As a "middle finger" to Herd, the Road Warriors would clean job to the Midnight Express (which was also their way of "repaying" them for when they beat them for the World Tag Team Championships).[ citation needed ]
Herd tried to explain to Shane Douglas about the difference in ratings between WCW and the WWF, saying, "You probably won't understand this, since you're only a wrestler." When Douglas tried to explain in turn where WCW was in-comparison with WWF, Herd tried to bury Douglas' character into "jobber" status.[ citation needed ] Douglas would leave for independent wrestling and eventually the WWF in 1990. [7]
Herd regularly clashed with the then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion and booking committee member Ric Flair. According to Flair, Herd wanted him to drop his entire "Nature Boy" persona, cut his bleached blond hair, and adopt a Roman gladiator gimmick by the name of "Spartacus" [8] in order to "change with the times". Flair and the committee (committee member Kevin Sullivan was quoted as saying in-response: "While we're doing this, why don't we go to Yankee Stadium and change Babe Ruth's number?"). [9] Instead of Flair, Herd wanted to push Sting and Lex Luger.
During contract renegotiation, Flair refused to take a pay cut [8] and moved away from the main event position as he was the company's biggest draw. He also refused to drop the title to Luger as Herd wanted, saying that he had promised to drop it to Sting and Herd had previously agreed. Herd accused Flair of holding up the company, while Flair said he was "holding [Herd] to his word". Flair offered to drop the title to fellow Horsemen Barry Windham, as he felt that Windham long deserved a run as World Champion. [10] , but on July 1, 1991, two weeks before the Great American Bash, Herd fired Flair from WCW and stripped him of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Flair was still in possession of the physical championship belt. [8]
Upon notification, Flair called World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon to inform him of the situation. McMahon offered Flair a deal with the WWF in exchange for him sending McMahon the belt and Flair obliged. A couple of weeks later, promos were being shown of Bobby Heenan with Flair's belt on WWF television. [8] NWA and WCW officials expressed frustration at Herd's actions, which resulted in chants of "We Want Flair!" at WCW events.[ citation needed ] Despite offering him substantially more money to return to WCW, Flair refused.
The matter with Flair caused a lawsuit between the two companies that was eventually dropped. In the 2008 WWE DVD Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection, Flair said he kept the "Big Gold Belt" because he was never paid back his $25,000 initial deposit for the NWA title, plus interest, which totaled $38,000. Herd resigned from WCW on January 8, 1992, [11] and was replaced by Kip Allen Frey. Flair returned to WCW in February 1993.
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