TS: Hello fans and welcome to Timeline! The History of WCW. Our new show found exclusively here on the WCW Worldwide Network! For those who are wondering why we are starting this show in the year 1992 it is because we wanted to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of what most fans consider to be the year that WCW took a step away from the NWA and became its own entity. It is also the anniversary of when this man joined WCW. He has worn many hats from Executive Vice President, to President, Head of Booking, on screen talent, and now, even the title of Owner of World Championship Wrestling. It is my pleasure to introduce His Honor, the esteemed Mr. John William Hugill III.
JH: Oh, give it a rest Tony, these fans are going to think that I am full of nothing but hot air!
TS: You’re right boss, would you rather I just call you the judge?
JH: Judge Johnny is just fine (said with a shake of the head and a wink as John takes a sip out of his mug).
TS: I think that if I want to continue to have a job we should probably just move on, but before we start to talk about wrestling perhaps you can tell us a bit about your namesake, John William Hugill I. It is my understanding that he was a bit of something up there in Calgary….Alberta, Canada?
JH: That is a bit of an understatement, my grandfather was a great lawyer and your definition of a man’s man. Big game hunter, mountain climber, lawyer, member of the government, and never one to back down. A big reason why he did not last in government for very long that, but I don’t know that I have ever looked up to anyone else quite the same. I get the feeling my father did not like living in his shadows, which is why he tried to push me to get into business when I was growing up. So, I decided to split the difference and get into business law, initially just in Alberta before going international.
TS: I believe that has something to do with how you got connected to the wrestling industry in the first place?
JH: That’s right. Growing up in Calgary I went to school with a couple of the Hart brothers, most notably of course the best Hart there ever has been, and that got me involved in wrestling on the side. Always studying, after all I graduated early and was looking at finishing my degree’s as quickly as possible. But I would put my books down to take part in my favourite pastime at the ol’ Corral, Pavilion or Ogden. I got to see Ed Whalen quit live in person, and I was there when Stu decided to sell.
TS: But it is my understanding you also played a part in him getting it back?
JH: Yeah, that was one of my earliest jobs in the legal field, “negotiating” to get Stampede back. Although there is a lot more to that story, involving payments not made, that I will not get into at the moment. Suffice to say, it wasn’t a difficult job, but it did get my name out there in the business field. Before you knew it I was getting involved in some big legal cases, and then as I said I decided to branch out into the international field thanks to my friend Hase.
TS: You mean the legendary Hiroshi Hase?
JH: That’s the one.
TS: He was another wrestler who came through Stampede correct?
JH: Yes, during the second incarnation when Bret and Davey and Dynamite had moved on. But during the late 80s, there was Owen, and Brian, Chris, and Hase under a mask. When he decided to move back to Japan he invited me to come and visit. Eventually I ended up over there on a business deal, and soon I was meeting with Mr. Inoki and the rest is as they say, history. I went with Hase when he trained in the Soviet Union, sort of a go between the government and NJPW, and Mr. Inoki was so impressed he brought me on as a permanent consul for NJPW. It was difficult learning a new language and a new set of laws, but I was always up for a good challenge.
TS: While you were over there though, you never lost connection with your friends over here, did you?
JH: Are you trying to ask me about Bret?
TS: Yes, it is my understanding you were a big reason that things ended up the way they did?
JH: Well, he had asked me to look over his contract and it’s a good thing I did. He had started to speak with the lawyers at Turner and almost missed a key date that would have resulted in his contract rolling over and ruining his chance to jump ship.
TS: Could you imagine what might have happened if he hadn’t left WWF when he did? I feel like he would have, and pardon my language here, ended up being screwed at some point.
JH: Bret definitely did not have the “look,” that they were looking for at that time, but I think more than that Bret just wanted an opportunity to wrestle against the very best in the world, and that wasn’t going to happen anywhere but in WCW.
TS: So, at this point you helped negotiate Bret’s contract with WCW, correct?
JH: I sure did, and I did not think I had made any friends with the negotiations, but it turned out that the impression I left got me noticed.
TS: You mean that is when you got a phone call from the North Tower in Atlanta?
JH: I may have been asked if I might be able to use my connections in Japan yes. At that point in time WCW was looking at leaving the NWA, but there was concern that by doing so they might alienate New Japan, so they wanted to mitigate some of the fall out which is where I came in.
TS: Which considering the legacy of the relationship between WCW and NJPW, it would seem you did pretty well.
JH: I’d say so, I don’t think we would have the World Cup of Wrestling without that intervention. Folks in Japan tend to take alliances pretty seriously, so it was something that certainly needed to be handled just the right way. And that took the better part of the final months of 1991 to get us to the point where we were able to pull out of the NWA at the beginning of 1992.
TS: There must not have been much turn around then from that being handled, and you being offered the role as Executive Vice President?
JH: No, that actually came together probably the quickest of anything. After the deal with NJPW was completed, I was invited to come and meet with Mr. Turner himself. I figured it was going to just be a quick “thank you” for everything, but it turned into a four-hour meeting. As I sat down, I was asked what I genuinely thought about WCW and what needed to be done in order to really bring WCW from being a “southern ‘rasslin’ promotion” into something more competitive on an international level. To say I was surprised, and a bit intimidated would be an understatement. But I thought about my grandfather and I laid it all out. I didn’t know that I was having a job interview at that moment, but a few hours later when I got the call it was an offer I simply couldn’t refuse. A dream job. To help elevate WCW to another level, to work with some of my best friends, and to really show the world what wrestling could be.
TS: I know you started to show up backstage near the end of 1991, and that you appeared on TV at Clash of the Champions in January 1992, but when did you actually take over?
JH: Officially I took over on January 1, although there was some plans in place that I sort of continued on into the first few months of 1992. I would say by the time Superbrawl II ended I was officially in charge of the direction of WCW.
TS: Well throughout this series we will take the opportunity to look at some of the memorable moments where you helped guide the ship in new directions. The way we are going to do this is I am going to go through the cards leading up to the big events and see if there is anything you want to add. When we get to the big events we will obviously take a bit more time to break things down. For fans who are following along you can go to wcw.com where we have posted the cards, or if you want to see the action you can check out the shows on the WCW Worldwide Network. Let’s begin with World Championship Wrestling from January 4, 1992…
JH: Before we go on to the next set of shows, can we take a moment?
TS: Of course, you’re the boss.
JH: Alright, I get asked about this a lot so I just want to explain for everyone to hear. If we were going to keep the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team belts around, why did we vacate them in the first place? So first of all, you asked me when I took over right? Well it was after those belts had been deactivated, so I had nothing to do with that. I will say that I am the one responsible for bringing them back as part of a plan with pairing them up with the WCW US Tag Team titles to get more Championship action going on our weekend shows. Second, if we were going to bring the belts back, why didn’t we just give them back to the York Foundation? To that…I can’t really say I have an answer. It certainly would have made sense, and would have saved us the need for a tournament. But when I saw the opportunity to have the tournament and wrap up a few storylines from before I took over, I guess I just jumped on it. And I think the fans were happy with the results.
TS: Alright, continuing on the road to Clash of the Champions XVIII….
TS: And those are all the shows before we come to WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII, looking back at these shows, any thoughts?
JH: I know others might not be able to tell, but I can tell that there were still some elements that had been introduced before I came along. The storyline involving Marcus Alexander Bagwell being an example. But I think that after Clash of the Champions is where it became clear that I was the one who was guiding the way.
TS: Well then, let’s get to the Clash. From the Kansas Expo Center, in Topeka, Kansas, this is WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII….
I should be posting Clash tomorrow, just in case anyone is reading and wants to predict. 
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