Q&A: Jeanie Buss is wowed by WOW wrestling — and LeBron James. ‘He might be the greatest of all time' (2024)

Jeanie Buss went to her first women’s wrestling match with low expectations.

“My only experience with women wrestling was like Jell-O wrestling or mud wrestling,” she said. “I thought it was something that I would not appreciate.”

Buss attended that WOW — Women of Wrestling show in 2000 mainly to humor close friend David McLane, a businessman and promoter who started WOW as a successor to his successful Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling program from years earlier.

And she was blown away.

“As soon as I saw it, all the light bulbs went off,” said Buss, now the controlling owner of the Lakers, “because I was a kid [who grew] up collecting comic books, tying a towel around my neck wanting to be Supergirl.

“And here were these comic book characters come to life, fighting battles among themselves — not running to a man to save them, but standing up for what they believe in. Whether their opinion’s misguided or not, they were willing to make a stand for something. I found that very empowering, and I fell in love with it.”

WOW ended in late 2001 because of a changed marketplace following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, McLane said. But more than a decade later, Buss still hadn’t forgotten how she had been wowed by WOW.

David McLane, left, and Jeanie Buss call a Women of Wrestling match in 2001.

(WOW Television Enterprises)

“Jeanie and I were having dinner one night and she talked about how women’s sports was growing,” McLane said. “She saw the future of what women’s sports was going to be and she thought there was going to be a change in the marketplace to which she said, ‘Why don’t we relaunch WOW — Women of Wrestling?’”

So they did. After years of various formats on different platforms, WOW landed a syndication deal with Paramount Global Content Distribution in 2021. The third season of the resulting weekly TV show — which is shown throughout the U.S. (including in Los Angeles, on KCAL-TV on Saturdays at 11 p.m.) and 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 starting training camp in a few weeks, Buss also answered a few questions regarding LeBron James, Bronny James and the rest of the team after an interesting summer.

(The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity)

2024 has been a huge year for women’s sports. What has it been like for you as co-owners of an all-women league?

WOW co-owners David McLane, left, and Jeanie Buss arrive for their panel at San Diego Comic-Con on July 26.

(Francis Specker / CBS Studios / Paramount+)

Buss: Yeah, it seems like women’s sports sprouted up overnight, even though it’s taken 40 years to get here. So I’m loving the moment. I’m loving just watching what’s happening. ... And of course, Women of Wrestling is my passion project, my contribution, because it takes women in positions like me to invest back 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 now.

McLane: When we rebooted this, Jeanie said we gotta do it correctly, we gotta take the right steps, we’ve got to invest in this so it has a long-term success that lasts beyond us. She didn’t look at it — neither have I — as just a television show and/or something to put on TV. We want to build a franchise that lasts.

Buss: I really didn’t want to do something that would last a year and just disappear off the landscape. We had to find the right partners, find the wrestlers, find all the pieces that would come together that would give us the show that we could build on and continue to grow the product. And here we are on the eve of launching Season 3, which is so exciting for me because we’re getting 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?

Buss: I think in professional sports it’s always the delivery platform — how are you going to deliver your product to your fans? So that’s changed over the decades. ... What hasn’t changed is the ability, the talent of — you know, female athletes deserve the spotlight. That is a belief that I’ve held and will continue to hold, and that’s what Women of Wrestling has done. It’s just trying to figure out 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 so that our fans could find us and that we can build from there.

Why are the wrestlers called Superheroes?

Buss: To me, it’s clear — that’s who they are. They’re larger-than-life characters, some good, some evil. I think it’s important that young women, young girls see their role models as people who are willing to fight for what they believe in. That’s what the Superheroes are.

McLane: Superheroes come in all forms and sizes, and we have the most diverse cast of wrestlers of any professional wrestling organization, period, and we’re proud of it. … We tell the stories and the backgrounds of our Superheroes outside of the ring, not just inside, and I think that connects the audience with the performers.

Jeanie, are you a comic book fan?

Buss: Yes, I think I attended the second or third Comic-Con ever in history, and it was at the El Cortez Hotel. I was 12 years old and I hounded my mom. ... She drove me there, dropped me off for four hours. So I’m a 12-year-old kid negotiating with the comic book dealers trying to get Wonder Woman, Supergirl, the whole Superman family, Lois Lane — that’s what I collected. So this was like ’74. I’m just one of those crazy people that loves superheroes.

Pictured from left at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con are WOW co-owners David McLane and Jeanie Buss, panel moderator Kevin Frazier and WOW Superheroes Coach Campanelli and Genesis.

(Francis Specker / CBS Studios / Paramount+)

What was it like for you to actually be speaking on a panel at Comic-Con decades later?

Buss: Like, I’m a fan — I should be in the audience, not up on the dais. That was a dream come true for me. I was very honored to be part of Comic-Con at any level.

Moving to the Lakers, LeBron James has said that his son, rookie Bronny James, is not allowed to call him “Dad” at work. As someone who has been in a similar situation, did you offer them any advice?

Buss: You know, I never had that conversation with LeBron or Bronny, but in business situations, I addressed my father as Dr. Buss. I wanted to keep that boundary clear because that helped us out — we weren’t bringing work home to the dinner table. So I think LeBron and Bronny are very prepared for this. And I’m excited just for them to have this opportunity. But Bronny is a good player. I’m excited to see what our new coach, JJ Redick, has in store. It’s definitely gonna be an interesting season for sure. I mean, LeBron, the way he played at the Olympics? He might be the greatest of all time.

LeBron will be 40 this season. What do you expect from him this year and beyond?

Buss: He consistently delivers. He puts in the work. He’s not only a worldwide brand, but he is our leader. He’s the captain of our team and he sets the tone, sets the pace by putting in the hard work. Nobody can complain about the work if you see somebody with his résumé and his longevity of career, nobody can complain about having to practice if he’s willing to do it. And he does. He just amazes me. I don’t know what else to say.

In terms of my expectations for the team, I can sit here and tell you — Lakers always play for a championship, as we know, between Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson and Phil Jackson and Pat Riley and Dr. Buss. That’s who we are. But it’s just me talking. What I really want is for the games to start so that we can watch what these guys are gonna do. I’ll let them tell the story ’cause they’re the ones that are really going to show us what they’ve got.

The Lakers have been criticized a lot this offseason. What does the team need to do to silence the critics?

Buss: Really, you gotta play basketball and win games. I know the criticism out there. I know social media is rough waters for everybody. There’s always controversy being stirred up on social media. That’s why it doesn’t really serve me to hype everything up. It’s just, you gotta do the work. And that’s how our organization operates. We do the work. We worry about what we can control and let the work speak for itself.