Wrestling
Wrestling
The real benefit, in my opinion, of the territory system was that wrestlers got the chance to work 'the loop' meaning they were given the opportunity to ply their trade on a nightly basis in front of different types of crowd. For a young wrestler starting out, the opportunity to gain experience is paramount. In the days of the territories there were dozens of places to learn and gain that experience. Although there were territory stalwarts, the most successful wrestlers travelled from place to place while learning the nuances which differed from territory to territory. Styles were different and so were the crowds. Fans in Philidelphia have always had a reputation of cheering 'cool' wrestlers regardless of the heel/face divide. Fans in Memphis really get behind a sympathetic 'blue eye' like, for example, Ricky Morton of the Rock and Roll Express. A wrestler would sometimes have to change their act to get over in a different territory. Just because you were a big star in one territory didn't mean you were automatically guaranteed success in another. Sometimes, you have go back to basics and learn something new in order to be a success. This is, arguably, what is missing from wrestling these days.
However, wrestling has changed and if Vince hadn't of came along then it's likely someone else would have eventually created something similar. The territories would have eventually died, but it would have been a long, prolonged death in my opinion. Promotions running nightly would have probably reduced to just weekends, then to just once a month. They would've been no better than any other independent running today. World Class (Dallas, Texas) is a prime example of this. They were able to live of the legacy of the Von Erichs until the 1990s, but, except in name only, they were not the promotion drawing thousands of fans to the Sportatroium in the early 80s.
