Jeanie Buss went into her first women's wrestling match with low expectations.
“My only experience with women in wrestling was in jelly wrestling or mud wrestling,” he said. “I thought it was something I wouldn’t like.”
Buss attended that WOW — Women of Wrestling show in 2000 primarily to please her close friend David McLane, a businessman and promoter who started WOW as a successor to his successful Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling show from years earlier.
And she was impressed.
“As soon as I saw it, all the lights went on for me,” said Buss, now majority owner of the Lakers, “because I was a kid [who grew] I ended up collecting comics, tying a towel around my neck and wanting to be Supergirl.
“And this is where these comic book characters come to life, fighting each other, not running to a man to save them, but standing up for what they believe in. Whether their opinion is wrong or not, they were willing to stand up for something. I found it very empowering and fell in love with it.”
WOW ended in late 2001 as the market changed following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, McLane said. But more than a decade later, Buss still hadn't forgotten how WOW had captivated her.
David McLane, left, and Jeanie Buss call a Women of Wrestling match in 2001.
(WOW Television Enterprises, LLC)
“One night, Jeanie and I were having dinner and she was talking about the growth of women’s sports,” McLane said. “She saw the future of women’s sports and thought there was going to be a shift in the market, so she said, ‘Why don’t we relaunch WOW, Women of Wrestling?’”
And so they did. After years of various formats on different platforms, WOW landed a distribution deal with Paramount Global Content Distribution in 2021. The third season of the resulting weekly TV show, which airs across the United States (including Los Angeles, on KCAL-TV on Saturdays at 11 p.m.) and in several other countries, premieres this weekend.
Pluto TV also recently launched a 24-hour streaming channel dedicated to the show.
And, in a full-circle moment for Buss this summer, she, McLane and a handful of WOW superheroes, as the wrestlers are now called, spoke as part of a panel at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con.
Buss and McLane spoke with The Times on Thursday about the past, present and future of WOW. And with the Lakers set to begin training camp in a few weeks, Buss also answered some questions about LeBron James, Bronny James and the rest of the team after an interesting summer.
(Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)
2024 has been a big year for women's sports. What has it been like for you as co-owners of an all-female league?
WOW co-owners David McLane, left, and Jeanie Buss arrive at their panel at San Diego Comic-Con on July 26.
(Francis Specker / CBS Studios / Paramount+)
Bus: Yeah, it feels like women's sports just happened overnight, even though it took 40 years to get here. So I'm enjoying the moment. I love seeing what's happening… And of course Women of Wrestling is my passion project, my contribution, because it takes women in positions like mine to invest in women's sports to make these things possible. And it's just creating more opportunities to showcase talented women, and that's what I love about WOW.
Tell us about WOW’s journey to where it is today.
McLane: When we rebooted the series, Jeanie said we had to do it right, we had to take the right steps, we had to invest in it so that it would be a long-term success that would outlast us. She didn't see it, and neither did I, as just a TV show or something to put on TV. We want to build a franchise that will endure.
Bus: I didn't really want to do something that would last a year and just disappear from the scene. We had to find the right partners, find the fighters, find all the pieces that fit together to give us the show that we could build on and continue to grow the product. And here we are, on the eve of the launch of Season 3, which is very exciting to me because we're achieving that longevity, that we're now part of the discussion.
How has the project evolved over the years and how do you see it continuing to do so in the future?
Bus: I think in professional sports it's always about the distribution platform: how are you going to deliver your product to your fans? That's changed over the decades… What hasn't changed is the ability, the talent of female athletes, that they deserve to be in the spotlight. That's a belief that I've held and will continue to hold, and that's what Women of Wrestling has done. It's just about finding the right way to deliver it to our audience, and having Paramount Global as our partner and finding the syndicated package and creating something that made sense for our fans to find us and we could build from there.
Who?and Are wrestlers called superheroes?
Bus: For me, it's clear: that's who they are. They are extraordinary characters, some good, some bad. I think it's important for young women and girls to see in their role models people who are willing to fight for what they believe in. That's what superheroes are.
McLane: Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes, and we have the most diverse cast of wrestlers of any professional wrestling organization, and we're proud of that. … We tell the stories and backstories of our superheroes outside of the ring, not just in it, and I think that connects the audience to the performers.
Jeanie, are you a fan of comics?
Bus: Yeah, I think I went to my second or third Comic-Con ever, and it was at the El Cortez Hotel. I was 12, and I harassed my mom… She drove me there, left me there for four hours. So I'm a 12-year-old kid dealing with comic book dealers trying to get Wonder Woman, Supergirl, the whole Superman family, Lois Lane… that's what I collected. So this was like 1974. I'm one of those crazy people who loves superheroes.
Pictured, from left: WOW Co-Owner David McLane, WOW Co-Owner Jeanie Buss, panel moderator Kevin Frazier, WOW Superhero Trainer Campanelli, and WOW Superhero Genesis at Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego.
(Francis Specker / CBS Studios / Paramount+)
What was it like for you to speak on a panel at Comic-Con decades later?
Bus: I'm a fan, I should be in the audience, not on stage. For me it was a dream come true. It was a great honor for me to be part of Comic-Con on any level.
Moving on to the Lakers, LeBron James He said that his son, a novice Bronny James is not allowed to call him “dad” at workAs someone who has been in a similar situation, did you offer any advice?
Bus: You know, I never had that conversation with LeBron or Bronny, but in business situations, I would address my dad as Dr. Buss. I wanted to keep that boundary clear because that helped us — we didn’t bring work home to the table. So I think LeBron and Bronny are very prepared for this. And I’m excited just for them to get this opportunity. But Bronny’s a good player. I’m excited to see what our new coach JJ Redick has in store. It’s definitely going to be an interesting season. I mean, LeBron, the way he played in the Olympics? He could be the greatest of all time.
LeBron will be turning 40 this season. What do you expect from him this year and in the future?
Bus: He always delivers, he always puts in the effort. Not only is he a world-class brand, but he's our leader. He's the captain of our team and he sets the tone, he sets the pace with his hard work. Nobody can complain about the job if you look at someone with his resume and his career longevity, nobody can complain about having to practice if they're willing to do it. And he does. It just blows my mind. I don't know what else to say.
As far as my expectations for the team, I can tell you that the Lakers are always playing for a championship, as we know, between Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley and Dr. Buss. That's who we are. But I'm just talking about myself. What I really want is for the games to start so we can see what these guys are going to do. I'll let them tell the story because they're the ones who are really going to show us what they've got.
He The Lakers have been criticized A lot this offseason. What should the team do to silence the critics?
Bus: In reality, you have to play basketball and win games. I know there are critics. I know that social media is a turbulent sea for everyone, there are always controversies that arise there. That's why it doesn't help me to exaggerate everything. You just have to do the work. And that's how our organization works. We do the work. We care about what we can control and we let the work speak for itself.
