Television: Lords Of The Ring

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The wrestler causing the most excitement right now is Stone Cold Steve Austin, 33, of the WWF. Sitting backstage at an event in Austin, Texas--his birthplace--Austin, who earns an estimated $2 million a year, spat tobacco juice into a Pepsi can while he talked about the development of his character. A couple of years ago, when he was known as the Ringmaster and fans were not much responding to him, he watched an HBO special on serial killers and got inspired: "I came up with the basic idea for the character. You know, someone who really didn't give a damn about what was going on. Not that I'm endorsing a serial killer--it was an attitude thing."

In the past 18 months, McMahon has added much more "colorful language" and "sign language," as he puts it, to the WWF events. The WWF even sells oversize foam hands with the middle finger pointing up. WCW avoids that kind of overt vulgarity, but it still strives for attitude. The organization's biggest star is Hollywood Hulk Hogan (formerly just Hulk Hogan), who made millions as a superhero good guy in the WWF during wrestling's previous surge. After leaving the game for a few years to do movies and television in the early 1990s, Hogan, now 44, joined WCW. He reportedly earns $5 million a year these days, but to stay popular he has had to change his character radically. "Now I'm the worst bad guy around," he says. "I can't win a match unless I cheat. And people love me."

The WWF and WCW are bitter antagonists. McMahon bought his company from his father in 1982, and with Andre the Giant and Hogan he lifted wrestling to a whole new level of popularity. WCW was created in 1988 by Ted Turner, who founded TNT and TBS, which also carries a WCW program. (Turner is the vice chairman of TIME's parent company.) McMahon complains, among much else, that because of his deep pockets, Turner was able to lure away the WWF's best talent. Talking to TIME, McMahon said, "Here's some sign language for Ted Turner," and made the appropriate gesture. A WCW spokesman says the company does not comment on McMahon. The WWF is suing WCW for misleading the public about the allegiance of two wrestlers; the WWF is charging trademark infringement, defamation and slander. Last month WCW responded with a countersuit, charging the WWF with trademark infringement and malicious business practices.

In fact the rivalry has of late helped both sides. When Turner created WCW's Monday Nitro nearly three years ago, he invaded a time period that had been occupied by the WWF's Raw is War for years. Result: the ratings for both shows went up, with a commensurate increase in ad revenues. "We created controversy," says Eric Bischoff, president of WCW. "We forced the competition to produce a better product. And we have to keep producing better product."