Джеймс Херд: WCW мансабы және күрес әлеміндегі даулар

American TV producer (b.1939)
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. However, his tenure received much criticism from wrestlers and fans alike.

Before beginning his role in WCW, Herd had been a station manager for the St. Louis TV station KPLR TV, which broadcast the then popular wrestling show Wrestling at the Chase. Later on, he served as a regional manager for Pizza Hut. During his run in WCW, Herd tried to compete with Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation by introducing the same kind of gimmicks that were a part of McMahon's WWF at the time, alienating the diehard NWA audience. For example, he once tried to come up with a tag team called The Hunchbacks (with the gimmick in which they could not be pinned because their humps would prevent their shoulders from touching the mats) and after that idea was rejected by the booking committee he came up with the bell wearing team, The Ding Dongs (portrayed by The Rock n Roll Rebels). After that, he came up with Big Josh, a lumberjack who was accompanied by dancing bears. Stan Hansen left the organization to return to All Japan Pro Wrestling after the idea was pitched to him to become a part of the comedic cowboy stable called The Desperados. Jim Cornette wanted the Midnight Express to become part of the Four Horsemen, which would give the established team a boost, but he and Stan Lane also left the organization in October 1990, breaking up the Midnight Express and leaving Bobby Eaton on his own, after Herd would blame his many failures on Cornette and others. Even The Road Warriors, as Animal has stated on WWE Home Video's Road Warriors DVD, had a fallout with Herd as well and resigned from WCW in June 1990. Herd also tried to talk down, as if to a child, 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." Herd got angry when Douglas, a man with two master's degrees in education, explained it back and showed Herd how little he truly knew about where they were against the WWF. Herd tried to bury Douglas into jobber status, which prompted Douglas to reach out to the WWF. In stark contrast to others, enhancement talent George South said that he and the other enhancement talent liked Herd because he would pay per diem to wrestlers to cover the cost of rental cars, which enabled low paid wrestlers to earn a little extra money.

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 signature bleached blond hair, and adopt a Roman gladiator gimmick by the name of Spartacus in order to "change with the times". This did not sit well with Flair and the committee (committee member Kevin Sullivan was quoted as saying: "While we're doing this, why don't we go to Yankee Stadium and change Babe Ruth's number?"). Herd believed Flair's time was over as a main event player and the big money was with Sting and Lex Luger. This backstage feud hit its breaking point when during contract renegotiation Flair refused to take a pay cut However, as Flair was planning to leave to wrestle Windham so he could lose the title, 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. However, Flair was still in possession of the physical championship belt. and was replaced by Kip Allen Frey. Flair returned to WCW in February 1993.