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WWE SHOULD TAKE HEED OF THE UNIVERSAL FIRE TO PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

Last week, Universal Studios Hollywood suffered a terrible fire in the wake of a blowtorch accident.  Several sets, including buildings from the old Back to the Future films that were still used for current productions (CBS series The Ghost Whisperer, among others) were damaged or destroyed, as was the last standing King Kong attraction that was part of the company's famous studio tram tour.  The Kong attraction will not be rebuilt, so since the one in Orlando has been long replaced by The Mummy roller coaster, it's history.

Gone to the annals of history as well are portions of Universal's tape library, which were destroyed in the fire.  Initially, it was claimed that none of the films and tape that were destroyed were irreplaceable. So stated Universal Studio head Ron Meyer.  However, the sad reality is that there was likely at least one piece of film history, no matter how great or small, that was lost in the blaze.  

Indeed, as Universal starts to sift through the damage, they are realizing that their early claims that everything could be replaced were likely incorrect.  They have canceled several planned screenings because Universal's 35 millimeter films that were to be used were ruined in the fire.  Some film negatives may be too old to reproduce new duplicates from while others had been originally created via Technicolor, a process no longer used.   It will be a long time before Universal truly realize what was actually lost and how much of it they'll be unable to recreate in the same quality. 

Universal's fire was an accident, yet it destroyed five acres of their property before firefighters could bring it back under control.  Planned or not, accidental or not, the fire last week wasn't the first one Universal has seen on their property.  It was actually the seventh major fire.  When a fire consumed the old Universal Monsters sets in the 1930s, the company set up cameras and began rolling to have it for future stock footage.  No word on if that stock footage was lost in any of the subsequent blazes.

In any event, this most recent fire certainly won't be the last one.  History has already proven that.  Universal official's claims are that nothing was lost forever and that there were duplicates, but can they truly be 100% sure when the estimates are that 40,000 to 50,000 originals were burned to a crisp?  Could every inch of film and tape have been 100% secured?  It's looking more and more likely not to be the case.

The Universal fire started to make me wonder...what would happen if WWE's Headquarters in Stamford was to befall such a fate?

World Wrestling Entertainment controls the history of the wrestling universe- WCW, ECW, WWE, WWF, WWWF, Mid-Atlantic, Jim Crockett Promotions, Stampede Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, World Class, Texas tapes prior to the WCCW era, AWA, and additional tapes and films that only those lucky enough to work in the vaults are aware of the existence of.  Promos and matches and raw footage and bloopers of generations upon generations of stars, great and small, in one place.

One place.  What if it that one place went up in smoke somehow?  What if one day there was an electrical fire or an unexpected occurrence and the most important matches of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Von Erichs, Sabu or the Gagnes were destroyed forever?

Does World Wrestling Entertainment have everything cataloged, duplicated and protected in a ultra-secret second location, just in case the former Titan Towers burns to the ground or explodes or is attacked by aliens?

I don't know, but I certainly hope they do.  The history and the legacy of the business they manipulate and control is far too important to be lost and even Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself can't prevent a natural disaster from occurring.  He can only protect himself from the unthinkable.

One would hope WWE has, but you can never know for sure.  If WWE hasn't backed up that vast video library, it's never too soon to start.  That preparation would not only the smartest business strategy, but their responsibility as the gatekeepers of the wrestling business, because the loss of even one original video in their company library is far too great.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

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