one of his most recognizable trademarks) and adopt a Roman gladiator gimmick by the name of Spartacus in order to "change with the times". Creative committee member Kevin Sullivan was quoted as saying, "After we change Flair's gimmick, why don't we go to Yankee Stadium and change Babe Ruth's uniform number?". During contract renegotiation, Flair refused to take a pay cut, be moved away from the main event position, or drop the title to Lex Luger as Herd wanted. Flair instead offered to drop the title to fellow Horseman Barry Windham. Herd's other ideas were seen by many as a poor attempt to mimic the WWF's gimmick-oriented style. Stan Hansen was so insulted by the Desperados gimmick, a stable of bumbling cowboys, that he left WCW outright when he was asked to be part of the group. Jim Cornette and Stan Lane would also depart from the promotion after having conflicts with Herd, thus breaking up the Midnight Express, and the Road Warriors would also leave in July 1990 because of conflicts with Herd. Herd was fired in January 1992 and was succeeded by Kip Allen Frey. Frey's tenure running WCW was brief, and he would be replaced later in the year by "Cowboy" Bill Watts, who had formerly been the promoter for Mid-South Wrestling (later known as the Universal Wrestling Federation) and was the first head executive of WCW to have prior experience in the wrestling business since Jim Crockett left. Watts would controversially make top rope moves – which were commonly performed by stars such as Brian Pillman and the Steiner Brothers – illegal during wrestling matches among other changes. After clashes with management over a number of issues, as well as feeling pressure from Hank Aaron over a racially sensitive piece of correspondence, and accusations of anti-semitism from Paul E. Dangerously and Scotty Flamingo (both of whom are Jewish), Watts resigned. He was subsequently replaced by Eric Bischoff. Final split with the NWA During the period that WCW operated with its own World Heavyweight Championship, while also recognizing the NWA's world title, Flair left the WWF on good terms and returned to WCW, regaining the NWA title from Barry Windham in July 1993. The title was later scheduled to be dropped by Flair to Rick Rude, a title change which was exposed by the pre-taping of matches at the Disney-MGM Studios, known as the Disney tapings. The