KTID

Thats right. Russo is now an honest man cos Jesus said so.

You're right that he gave several wrestlers creative control causes, which was one of the reasons for WCW's death. But thats only one of the many reasons. He can't be blamed 100%.

It really wasn't as clear cut in WCW as it is in WWE, where Vince McMahon is the one man in charge and all decisions are ultimately his. In WCW, Eric Bischoff, or anyone else for that matter, was never in *complete* control of the company. He was probably the nearest thing to a figurehead they had, but he still had to answer to superiors, had Turner people with no wrestling knowledge hanging around, and even had wrestlers like Hogan and Flair going over his head to have decisions made. So while Vince McMahon accepts all credit/blame for WWE's successes/failures, Eric Bischoff cannot do so for WCW.

This is absolutely hilarious. Russo is so full of shit. I bet he doesn't even know truth from lies. Comedy gold, i say.

While the hummer angle was indeed stupid, its got nothing on Sid's winning streak! From The Death of WCW... "The next main event feud was to feature Sid versus Goldberg. In order to promote the eventual encounter, Sid came out on Nitro one week and claimed that he was 55-0. Never mind that he hadn't had fifty-five matches on WCW TV since coming back. Or, while we're at it, the fact that he'd lost several times on TV over the past few weeks alone. By midway through the show, he was at 59-0 despite not having won any matches. Bobby Heenan explained this by saying he'd already beaten up nine men. Nobody was sure how 55 plus 9 equalled 59. The next week, despite losing at every house show the company ran, he was suddenly up to 68-0. Then he pinned Juventud Guerrera, Lenny Lane and Lodi. This made him 70-0. Again, do not ask how 68 plus 3 equals 70. Three days later, on Thunder, Sid said he couldn't wait to get six more wins so he could break Goldberg's 176-0 streak. And, ummm...yeah. Once he did this, Sid explained, he was going to "shake all over." Sid, at 176-0, lost to Saturn via DQ when Rick Steiner ran in. On Nitro the following Monday, however, he was billed as being 177-0. So yes, losses were now counting as wins in this streak. Shockingly, the Sid winning streak didn't stop the downward spiral."

Thread bumped for those interested in the article.

Thread bumped for those interested in the article.

IV. THE TALENT The following is an overview of the main talents that constituted Mid-South’s ranks at the beginning of 1984. To say it reads like a “who’s who” of wrestling in the decade would not just be a cliché; it would also be a gross understatement. Junkyard Dog - The gilt was starting to flake from the golden goose as 1983 drew to a close. In addition to losing steam as a drawing card, the Dog was starting to feel the ill-effects of his famous substance abuse problems, stemming from a nasty divorce and the death of his infant child. His weight had ballooned out of control, and although Watts explained the excess tonnage by claiming the Dog was simply bulking up to face superheavyweights like King Kong Bundy and Kimala, it was clear that the Dog had lost his edge. His interviews ceased to be as inspired, a feud with Butch Reed in late-1983 failed to draw the expected returns, and Watts could only figure out ways to maintain the Superman-type appeal for so long. Jim Duggan - Cut from the same cloth as Watts -- big, rugged, and a charismatic talker -- Duggan was fast emerging as Mid-South’s biggest draw as 1984 began. In fact, his popularity had by that point already surpassed the Junkyard Dog’s in some areas on the circuit. A young, Bruiser-Brody-influenced Duggan had joined Mid-South in 1982, at which point he was immediately plugged into a fearsome three-headed stable known as the “Rat Pack,” with Ted Dibiase and Matt Borne. He frequently served as Dibiase’s tag team partner over the next year-and-a-half, comprising one of the most famous tandems in the history of the territory, before splitting with the Million-Dollar-Man-to-be in late-1983 out of “disgust” that Dibiase had commiserated with United-States-antagonistic manager Skandar Akbar. Thereupon, Duggan adopted his now-familiar American patriot role, albeit in a form much less obstreperous than that which he would later assume in the WWF and WCW. “Hacksaw” possessed enormous babyface charisma at the time, with perhaps only Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair being his superiors in that regard, and was on the brink of the greatest run of his career as 1984 dawned. Ted Dibiase - One of the premiere performers in the business at the time -- if not ever -- Dibiase had been one of Mid-South’s top five stars for well nigh half a decade by the time ‘84 rolled around. Exceptional in some aspects of the business and very good at all others, Dibiase was, like Watts, almost a reflection of Mid-South itself: A great worker who cut very good promos and had exceedingly few frills, but who never quite got his rightful due. Unfortunately for Dibiase, the one wrestler who was better-rounded than he at the time, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, invariably prevented him from winning the NWA World Title for which he had once been earmarked. He actually plied his wares alternately in Georgia and Japan, as well, in late-’83 and early-’84, but his presence remained felt in Watts’ group, and it was not long until he returned on a full-time basis. Mr. Wrestling II - Real name Johnny Walker, the masked Wrestling II was one of the business’ true legends. As the tag team partner of Tim Woods -- aka Mr. Wrestling I -- in Georgia Championship in the 1970s, he achieved his greatest career success. The 5’9”, 215-pounder continued to wrestle primarily in Georgia until 1983, before going to work for Watts, and immediately getting over based on his still-top-flight interviews and name value -- which he was, at this time, lending to Magnum TA. Mangum TA - Blessed with matinee-idol good looks and a wealth of physical charisma, TA was one-half of the Mid-South Tag Team champions as 1984 began, and he was starting to catch fire in the role of venerable partner Mr. Wrestling II’s protege. Real name Terry Allen, TA wrestled from 1979-1981 as a lower-mid-carder in various Southern circuits, before receiving his first career break in 1982 upon arriving in Florida, where Dusty Rhodes took him under his wing. But it was in mid-1983, when TA arrived in Mid-South, that he developed into the business’ newest mega-star-to-be. His interaction with Wrestling II provided him the rub necessary to develop into one of the two top babyface in Mid-South, and the Atlanta-area legend even went so far as to say that TA was capable of becoming the greatest wrestler who ever lived. Wrestling II even put him on a stringent diet and training regimen -- which was ironic, given that II himself was hardly a model of physical conditioning at the time. But the proof in the pudding, as II would say, came in October of ‘83, when the duo wrested the tag straps from Butch Reed and Jim Neidhart, thereby establishing them as one of the hottest acts in the company. The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette: In late-1983, Watts packaged together a 23-year-old mama’s boy named Jim Cornette and two talented but under-appreciated veterans of the Southern wrestling belt named Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton. The dynamics of the union worked to perfection: Cornette was one of the three best orators in the business by that juncture, while Condrey and Eaton -- particularly Eaton -- wore the tag as the two best workers nobody had ever heard of. As 1983 came to a close, the Midnights had several weeks of squash match victories under their belts, and their innovative quick-tag, high-risk style broke new ground in the territory. Meanwhile, Cornette’s tawdry attire (replete with head-to-toe polyester and a tennis racket), sissified Body English, and liberal references to spending his mother’s money were starting to get under the skin of the mostly-rural-class Mid-South faithful. He was the first manager without a past as a wrestler in the history of the territory, and his heat-drawing skills were unparalleled. The stage was set for the Express to explode as the hottest tag team in the business, this side of the Road Warriors, in ‘84. Rock ‘n’ Roll Express - By 1984, 23-year-old Ricky Morton and 26-year-old Robert Gibson had already forged solid names for themselves on the Southern wrestling circuit, but it was not until Memphis booker Jerry Lawler had put them together as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express -- in hopes of attracting young female fans to his cards -- that they demonstrated signs of becoming drawing cards. Watts previously had shied away from the developing trend of featuring his wrestlers in rock ‘n’ roll music videos, but with the Express, he made a notable exception. Morton and Gibson were first introduced to Mid-South followers through cheesy montages set to such popular hits as “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, “Rock ‘n’ Roll is King” by the Electric Light Orchestra (which was their entrance theme for the better part of the next three years), and, later, “Jump” by Van Halen. Before, they had just been great workers without the benefit of a gimmick; now, they had found a persona that complimented their real-life personalities perfectly, and they immediately became one of the biggest-drawing acts in the entire industry. ”Hacksaw” Butch Reed - Long before he become known nationally as the blanched-haired “Natural” in the WWF from 1986-1988, Reed was one of the ten best workers -- and possessed one of the five best bodies -- in the industry. He had owned a premiere physique and been tremendously agile for his size ever since breaking into the business in the late-’70s, but major promotions were reticent to push him, largely due his skin pigmentation. That said, he did gain a modicum of nationwide celebrity early on, partially stemming from a photo that became widespread in the Apter magazines in 1980 that depicted Reed press-slamming the even-more-massive Hulk Hogan. Reed got the first big push of his career when he went to Florida in 1982, and he got an even bigger break in 1983 upon arriving in the more broad-minded Mid-South, where the color of his skin actually worked to his advantage. He was introduced on-camera as the Junkyard Dog’s storyline protege, but it was only a matter of weeks before he turned heel out of coveting the Dog’s North American championship belt. Reed had a good run as the promotion’s top heel at that point, but it was one marred by the fact that his big Superdome showdown against JYD drew a sparse 8,000 fans. “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel - Always a very talented worker, the not-yet-bleached-blonde Landel lacked the charisma to warrant a push early in his career. But he donned the “Nature Boy” guise while on tour in Puerto Rico in the early-’80s, and before long he was a break-out heel-superstar-to-be. As with so many young wrestlers at the time, Landel got his biggest career break from Watts, who gave him a big push in late-’83 and made gave him an agreeable slot as Butch Reed’s tag team partner. Thereupon, he was even involved in one of the most heated angles in Mid-South’s history when, in 1983, Reed and Ernie Ladd had held JYD down on the mat during a Superdome show, allowing the lily pretty-boy “Nature Boy” to paint a yellow stripe across his back. Terry Taylor - Taylor -- he of the simple blue trunks, olive skin, and sun-bleached hair -- had floated around between several territories since 1979, but none of the major offices ever saw in him the potential to be a major name. Watts did, however, and gave him a major push upon his arrival in Mid-South in 1984. It would be wrong to label Taylor a major gate attraction at any point, but he settled comfortably into a consistent niche as one of the top six or seven stars in the territory for most of the rest of its existence. His workrate was one of the 20 best in the industry, and his understated promos were straightforward but effective. What’s more, he was a favorite among the promotion’s suddenly-blossoming female demographic. Nikolai Volkoff and Krusher Kruschev - An arrant xenophobe, Watts legitimately despised Russia, and he frequently preyed on area fans’ nationalistic zeal with his heel creations. Kruschev -- formerly known as Barry Darsow, later known as Demolition Smash, the Repo Man, and the Blacktop Bully, amongst other aliases -- was little more than a large but nondescript, albeit talented-for-his-size, worker when he arrived in Mid-South in 1983. Watts repackaged him as Krusher Kruschev, an American turncoat, and his progress was immediate. Volkoff, on the other hand, had employed the Russian gimmick dating back to the ‘70s, but it was “Cowboy” Bill who invented the gimmick of singing the Russian National Anthem before his matches, which “The Russian Menace” parlayed into the greatest stardom of his career. Steve Williams - A four-time All-American wrestler and football standout at Watts’ old stomping grounds of the University of Oklahoma, Williams was one wrestler for whom “Cowboy” Bill had a natural affinity. The Mid-South owner-operator liked his babyfaces large, sturdy, and athletic, and the mighty Williams fit the prototype better than anybody else in the industry at one point. He had broken into Mid-South in the summer prior to his senior season at OU, and Watts had always taken great pains to protect his credibility, including having him adopt “Cowboy” Bill’s old Oklahoma Stampede powerslam finisher. By late-1983, several months after he had graduated and taken up wrestling full-time at the age of 23, Williams would soon develop into a worker commensurate with his push. Kimala - One of the great character heel creations of the decade and the brainchild of Jerry Lawler, Kimala arrived among the influx of new talent to Mid-South in 1983. He was managed by long-time Watts in-ring-rival-turned-manager “General” Skandar Akbar, a heel of fictitious Middle-Eastern descent. Tommy Pritchard - The vastly underrated Pritchard -- now commonly known as the co-host of “Byte This” and a WWF trainer -- was no more than a jobber when he arrived in Mid-South in 1983, but he benefited greatly from being in the presence of Watts and his bevy of great workers. Among other famous area “enhancement wrestlers” included Lanny Poffo, who was Randy Savage’s brother and would be known six years later as “The Genius” in the WWF, and, later in 1984, an 18-year-old Shawn Michaels. Rick Rude, King Kong Bundy, and Jim Neidhart - Although all three had greater things in store for them, Watts made a shrewd move when he “traded” them to the Memphis circuit. Bundy and Neidhart had emerged as future stars due to Watts’ nimble involvement of them in his product, but they had both run their course in Mid-South and desperately needed a change of scenery. The late Rude, for his part, was on the verge of superstardom, but he had yet to get over in the LA-MS-OK-TX-AK area, and he, too, stood to benefit from changing residences. V. OTHER TRAPPINGS Mid-South Announcing One of Mid-South’s greatest strengths was its first-rate team of broadcasters -- Jim Ross, Boyd Pierce, and Bill Watts -- and, later, Bill’s step-son, Joel Watts. Ross had become acquainted with Watts while doing odd jobs for Leroy McGuirk in the ‘70s. His first tour of duty as an announcer was for McGuirk, which was an especially valuable experience because the blind McGuirk also served as the color commentator; thus, Ross learned to paint explicit verbal portraits of the action he saw before him in the ring. He joined Mid-South after Watts bought out McGuirk in 1982, at which point he worked predominately as a referee and a ring announcer. His first full-time break into Mid-South’s announcing booth came in 1984, when Watts went with an alternating three-man announcing team of himself, Pierce, and Watts. Even then, JR had a knack for making wrestling seem like a sporting event, thereby greatly enhancing its believability. What’s more, he had a unique command for when to let the action speak for itself and when to project his announcing onto the action. The late, then-58-year-old Pierce was a veteran announcer of several Southern circuits, but the promoter whom he held in the greatest esteem was Watts. Known for his loud outfits, smooth and homely announcing style, and great respect for the business, Pierce was a tremendous asset to Mid-South telecasts until his departure in the middle of ‘84. Bill Watts himself was also an excellent commentator, which is no surprise given the great verbal skills he demonstrated throughout his in-ring career. He did a bang-up job of describing the intricacies of every storyline and the personality quirks of his performers, largely because he, as the mastermind behind them, understood said nuances so well. He was especially fond of discussing the performers’ athletic backgrounds, a trait he passed down to Ross. The gangly, then-20-year-old Joel Watts was not nearly the level of announcer as his step father, and he was barely even passable when he first entered the booth, but he developed into quite a solid commentator in his own right within a few years. His first on-camera position for Mid-South was as a referee in 1983 (he was known as “Joel Armstrong” at that point, because Watts was initially reluctant to divulge his true identity), but his greatest impact on the operation was as its lead producer. He produced every music video the promotion featured starting in ‘83, and he remained the man in the truck until its dissolution four years hence. Oftentimes, Ross and Watts -- particularly in 1985-1987 -- would speak out on the air against the abscess of the “macabre cartoon wrestling,” as they were wont to put it, of rival promotions. In the April 1986 edition of Inside Wrestling, Watts did credit Vince McMahon with being “very smart, very brilliant in his gameplan,” but he neither liked nor respected the type of product McMahon promoted, and he sought to rouse the passions of those loyal to the Mid-South brand of wrestling by directing pejorative statements at the competition. The Superdome Prior to the accession of pay-per-view as wrestling companies’ preferred means of netting a huge pay-day, most promoters based their operations around a single large facility at the hub of their territory. The WWF had Madison Square Garden, Mid-Atlantic had the Greensboro Coliseum, GCW had the Omni, etc. Mid-South’s unrivaled local popularity, though, afforded it the opportunity to book a much bigger facility for blow off matches of major feuds -- the 60,000-seat Superdome in New Orleans, LA. Leroy McGuirk was the first area promoter to capitalize on the proximity of the Dome, which opened in 1975. New Orleans was one of the largest cities in the region, but the local Municipal Auditorium only seated around 8,000, which was not enough to meet the ticket demand of a hot promotion. When NWA World champ Terry Funk came to town to defend his belt against local hero Watts on July 17, 1976, McGuirk stood to gain from booking the new, larger facility. The result was a crowd of upwards of 20,000 and one of the biggest gates in the history of Southern wrestling up to that point. McGuirk would book three more Superdome spectaculars -- invariably with Watts as the headliner -- before “Cowboy” Bill siphoned off from him in 1979. At that point, Watts assumed the mantle as the Superdome’s wrestling superintendent, and the facility would house all but a handful of Mid-South’s biggest cards and matches over the next seven years. Drugs and Travel That drugs have always constituted a prevalent, if unsavory, element of wrestling is an irrefutable truth, but they reared their ugly head in Mid-South more than in most promotions. The travel schedule on the circuit was absolutely brutal, including regular seven-day weeks with two cards on both Saturdays and Sundays, and Watts was an extremely demanding boss. In particular, there was Junkyard Dog’s aforementioned cocaine addiction, and several other mainstays suffered the ill effects of chemical dependency during the period. “Matchmaker” Grizzly Smith It was customary for promotions at the time to employ figurehead “matchmakers,” many of whom, in actuality, had little to do with the booking process in their given promotion. A one-time superstar of the Southern scene, Smith filled that role for Mid-South and appeared frequently on-camera to make official proclamations regarding the group’s administrative activities. He also had two sons in wrestling -- Sam Houston and, of course, Jake Roberts. VI. STARTING WITH A BANG -- FROM A TENNIS RACKET Mid-South’s second TV show of 1984 could not have been more apt. It was marked by the first of many salvos Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express would fire at Mid-South Tag Team titlists Magnum TA & Mr. Wrestling II, as well as a confrontation between Cornette and the still-retired Bill Watts. Speaking in his trademark machine-gun style, firing off debasing one-liners at will, and interrupting the legendary and respected Watts at every turn, Cornette was incredibly effective at getting under the skin of those he antagonized in the following segment, which opened that telecast: (Jim Cornette, decked out in red-and-white polyester, stands in contrast beside Bill Watts, dressed in a simple gray suit and a cowboy hat to match. They are stationed in the blue Mid-South interview area.) Bill Watts: I’m standing here with Jim Cornette, the manager of the Midnight Express. And, Mr. Cornette, I’ve watched Skandar Akbar manage his troops, and Skandar Akbar was a former North American champion himself, a tough athlete in his own right. I’ve been against Gary Hart and his armies, and Gary Hart was a pretty good-sized street guy from Chicago. Rock Hunter, who was formerly a great athlete, managed the Assassins. You’re the first athlete I’ve ever seen -- or, first non-athlete -- who is arrogant, audacious, flamboyant, rude, and a mama’s boy that brags about how you use your mother’s capital to accomplish what you want. Jim Cornette: Well, Bill Watts, first of all, let me just say one thing: People with money do not have to sweat. Why should I work for something when all I have to do is call my mother and she buys it for me. Do you understand? Do you comprehend? Watts: Well, short sleeves and two generations, you know, or whatever, I still respect the people who earned on their own right. Now, last week Reeser Bowden was interviewing Magnum TA and Mr. Wrestling II, congratulating them on winning Christmas night the Mid-South Tag Titles, and you came out and interrupted that interview. Let’s go to the footage of that… (Footage airs from the previous week’s program.) (Mr. Wrestling II): Well, like I told you before, it was just a matter of time. When you stuck with me, you obeyed the things I tried to pound into your head, and it all came true. Right here is the proof in the pudding, man… (II pats his half of the Tag Titles; TA pats his belt, as well, and grins.) Let me just explain one thing to ya’… (Cornette walks onto the interview set.) (Cornette): Hold up just a second; could I interrupt here for just a minute? I heard a lot of names being bandied about out here a minute ago about top competition, but one name that was conspicuous in its absence was the Midnight Express. Now, can you explain just what the problem is? We’ve been trying to get a title match with you two for a long time, I’ve offered any amount of my mother’s money that you want, and we can’t get the contract signed. What’s the problem? Could either one of you happen to tell me? (Wrestling II): Hey, pal, there is no problem. Anytime you feel you’re qualified, we’ll be ready for you. The Mid-South is the one who determines that. (Cornette): Well, I feel like I’m qualified, and I feel like my men are qualified; I don’t feel like you two are qualified. What you done: This guy (points to TA), he was a frustrated sex symbol, (motions to II) and you were just frustrated. You’ve taken him from a frustrated sex symbol and turned him into a coward (TA and II take a menacing step toward Cornette). And I think I’m just gonna’ back up here just a step… I think what the problem is in getting you two in the ring is that you are chicken. Both of you are chickens, both of you are cowards, and if you don’t give us a title match, what we’re gonna’ have to do is prove to all these people who love you so much, is prove to them in a way that they’ll never forget exactly how chicken you are (leaves). (Wrestling II): (pauses) Can you imagine that pip-squeak calling men chicken? (Magnum TA): I think that man would be very at home in a hen house -- and not as a chicken, either. (Wrestling II): No, he’d probably be sitting on a nest, warming the eggs. (Return to the interview set with Watts and Cornette.) Cornette: I like to watch myself… (giggles) Watts: Well, I think at that point that they thought you were just another smart-aleck with a lot of rhetoric. I think they didn’t realize that when you were talking about them being chicken that you were going to take such drastic action to make a visual reminder about something that I think went out when the Ku Klux Klan was riding roughshod over a lot of scared folks, and -- Cornette: I’ve heard rumors of that group, but I am a man of integrity; I warned them, Bill Watts. I warned them of what I was going to do, and nobody can say no different. (More footage of the previous week, when TA and II were wrestling a squash match. Cornette enters the ring, carrying a burlap sack.) (Cornette): You know, I believe I told everybody that Mangum Ta and Mr. Wrestling II are a couple of chickens, because they won’t defend the Mid-South Tag Team belts against the Midnight Express (the crowd heat swells)!. Well, my mother and I have gotten together, and we’ve gotten a little surprise for you; we’ve got something to make an example out of you, and to show you that we don’t tolerate cowards around here at all… (The Midnight Express ambush TA and Wrestling II from behind with a foreign object. With II unconscious, the heel team holds down TA face-first on the mat. Cornette reaches into his bag and pours a dark, adhesive substance across TA’s back. Cornette pours a bag of chicken feathers across TA’s back, until he is completely covered in them. The crowd appears on the verge of a riot. Steve Williams and Rick Rude run in for the save as the Express and Cornette flee the ring. Cornette derisively flaps his arms like a chicken as he walks back to the dressing room.) (Back to Watts and Cornette at the interview set.) Cornette: Hahahaha. Bach, bach, bach. Hahahaha. Watts: Well, you know, I can say I’ve been in wrestling some twenty years, and I’ve been proud to be called a professional wrestler, and I’ve had a lot of beefs with a lot of people. But I always thought that there was something about the king of sports that you always should have a certain amount of honor, that you took on your opponents head-- Cornette: --The only honor that I have, Bill Watts, is that when I want something, I get it one way or the other! That’s the only honor I have: What affects a Cornette and what affects my men, the Midnight Express. That’s all I care about, that’s all I think about, that’s all I wanna’ hear about (slams his racket down on the podium.) Watts: Well, we kept the camera’s running, and we wanna’ see back as the wrestlers were helping Magnum-- (Footage roles of Rick Rude and Lanny Poffo helping a fuming TA, still saturated with feathers, to his feet and to the backstage area. Cornette and Watts provide running commentary this time.) Cornette: --Hahaha! That has got to be the single funniest thing I have seen in a week or two. Look at TA there, he looks like the big chicken that he is, wallowing around in a puddle of feathers. Look at this Rick Rude, that guy trying to help him up. There’s “Limpin’” Lanny right there. This is the greatest thing that I think I have ever done. You know, Bill Watts, I can match you, by the way, multi-syllabic term for multi-syllabic term -- and that, right there, is a “masterpiece.” What do you think? Watts: There’s a man in agony, in turmoil right th-- Cornette: -- There’s humiliation, right there! And I told him, I warned him; like I said, I am a man of integrity. I warned him what I was gonna’ do; he didn’t pay attention to it, he wouldn’t pay heed to it, so he paid the price for it. And where’s Wrestling II? I believe he might be back in the back someplace with an ice pack on his head by this time, because he (laughs)… he took a blow. Watts: You know, that’s right, on a hot night, it only takes a small spark to ignite a whole forest fire, and you may have just lit something that you can’t put out. Later on, we had Wrestling II and Magnum TA, and we got ‘em out to say a few words. And you were right, they were humiliated; TA thought he’d been made a total fool of. Let’s listen to their words. Cornette: (laughs) Okay… (More footage of last week’s program, with Watts interviewing Wrestling II and TA at ringside.) (Wrestling II): Let me tell you something right now, Bill Watts… They pulled a trick -- this time! But let me tell each and every one of you out there: There’s gonna be some plucking go on around here! You talk about chicken; when we through with ya’, we’re gonna’ pluck everything out of ya’! We’re gonna pick, until you can’t be picked anymore! TA (In a low, earnest tone) I’m here to tell each and every one of you right now: You might find something remotely humorous about this. But to me, this is the most degrading, humiliating thing anybody could have possibly done to me. (Becoming more impassioned, his voice quivering) And this will not be the end of this. Midnight Express, Cornette, this… If you wanted me attention, you got Magnum TA’s attention! And now that you got my attention, let’s see what you’re gonna do about it! Where are you now?! I’ll be up anywhere you wanna’ be! I can’t put up the Tag Team Titles; Mid-South’s gotta’ do that! But I’ll wrestle you anywhere, any time, under any conditions! Don’t walk the streets and turn your back! Because this is some old medicine that should have been forgotten a long time ago (motions to the feathers covering his body). Tactics like this should never, never, ever be used on any human being on this earth! And I’ll make you regret the day you ever thought about feathering Magnum TA -- mark my words! (Returns to Watts and Cornette in the interview studio.) Cornette: Wrestling II want s to talk about plucking somebody? Why don’t you pluck your partner; he’s the one wearing feathers -- I don’t have any. You know, you drew an interesting analogy about a forest fire. Well, Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton, the Midnight Express, are about the best candidates I can think of to play Smoky the Bear on Mr.Wrestling II and Magnum TA. Now I can tell you one thing right now: Up until now, we’ve been having a little fun. We’ve been playing around, just trying to get a title match. But if they want to get serious, let me tell you something: We can get serious. And if you don’t give us a title match before long, we’re gonna’ do something that we won’t regret… but you probably will. Watts: Well, Mr. Cornette, I’ll say one thing about Grizzly Smith and Mid-South Wrestling: You can’t come in here with your back-alley tactics and force title matches -- that’s up to Grizzly Smith and Mid-South. So, you’re gonna’ have to prove that you have the right in another manner. But, I will tell you something that you have earned: Grizzly Smith has placed probably the largest fine ever in Mid-South. You have been fined five-thousand dollars for that action last week! Cornette: Oh, is that right? You’ve probably bankrupted a lot of these ordinary, run-of-the-mill people in Mid-South with fines, but you know what $5,000 is for me, Bill Watts?… A phone-call home to mother (laughs and walks off the set). Watts: (pauses for several seconds and casts a brooding stare in the direction of where Cornette once stood) I am at a lost for words. You know, that’s the kind of guy… that your hands just get kind of sweaty and clammy and itchy… to backhand him! We’ll be back after these messages from Mid-South. The angle drew remarkable heat -- particularly Cornette’s performances. Later in the broadcast, TA and II were performing color commentary during a match involving the Midnight Express. A fine for leaving the broadcast booth to attack an in-ring performer was $2,500 in Mid-South, but Cornette was so belligerent that they he still provoked them into charging the ring -- and receiving a welt-inducing beating from James E.’s “loaded” tennis racket for their troubles. It was one of many angles -- many of which were even better -- that would set Mid-South’s box office ablaze like never before.

"The National Promotion That Never Was" “(Bill Watts is) the brightest mind in wrestling.” -- Vince McMahon, introducing Watts for a three-month run as the WWF’s new head-booker, at a personnel meeting in October 1995. “(Mid-South was) what pro wrestling should be when everything makes logical sense and it click on all cylinders, by Professor Watts.” -- Dave Meltzer, June 15, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It came so close. In its mere seven and-a-half years of existence, spanning from 1979-1987, Mid-South was a veritable phenomenon within its own time. Tucked away in the relatively small pocket of its eponymous homebase, it drew more crowds in excess of 20,000 than any other wrestling organization in the world during the first half of the ‘80s. Its TV shows were populated with fresh-faced, well-rounded performers, crackling with front-man “Cowboy” Bill Watts' brilliant booking, and steadfastly serving up deep-grilled smoky Southern goodness -- washed down with some of the greatest interviews and matches in the country. At its height, the weekly “Mid-South Wrestling” drew unprecedented 50-plus shares on bleary UHF stations in its hotbeds in the greater Louisiana and Mississippi regions, and it was the highest-rated syndicated programming of any kind in the country during one point in the mid-’80s, according to Arbitron syndication analysis. In late-1984-early-1985, during its sole stint on a nationwide TV station -- a 13-week run on Superstation WTBS, in a graveyard post on Saturday mornings -- Mid-South Wrestling matched the Hulk-Hogan-led WWF’s ratings in more fortuitous time-slots within a matter of weeks, was completely obliterating the Federation’s ratings within a month, and was easily the top-rated show on cable by the end of the ephemeral run. In the ‘80s, nobody reared and developed even a third as many nationally-known stars as Watts; a gaggle that includes the Junkyard Dog, Ted Dibiase, Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Mangum TA, Terry Taylor, Sting, the Ultimate Warrior, the Midnight Express and Jim Cornette, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, Paul Orndorff, the Fabulous Freebirds, Butch Reed, Nikolai Volkoff, “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, Rick Steiner, Shane Douglas, Jim Ross, and numerous others owe the greater part of their early success to “Cowboy” Bill’s vision and creativity, without which they likely never would have achieved a fraction of the even greater fame they would enjoy elsewhere. What’s more, a staggeringly-high percentage of the business’ most fertile creative minds of the past decade studied under Mid-South’s resident owner, operator, and wrestling folk-hero, including current WWF bookers Bruce Pritchard, Michael Hayes, and Ross; former WCW-WWF creative guru Terry Taylor; Eddie Gilbert, who is roundly credited as the early mastermind behind the ECW approach and was the head booker under Watts in 1986-1987; and even Paul Heyman himself, who has emulated numerous aspects of Watts’ approach. Nobody ushered in as many new concepts in a shorter period of time as Watts, either. TV programs featuring nothing but competitive matches on a weekly basis, topped off by a main-event-caliber bout? “Cowboy” Bill was doing that long before Eric Bischoff conceived the brilliant stroke for Nitro in 1995. Lucrative employee vs. promoter storylines? Mid-South had them in the early-’80s. The first black heavyweight champion? A Watts innovation. Watts formulated the blueprint for many of the most enduring tenets and storyline prototypes in the business, and he did it all while toiling hard within the albatross of relative obscurity. By 1984 -- at the very height of the WWF’s promotion-killing juggernaut, spearheaded by Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, and WrestleMania -- the then-four-year-old Mid-South Wrestling was going so strong that, not only was it able to withstand McMahon’s bold-faced expansion into its territory, but it actually realized record levels of prosperity during the period, at which point its peer promotions were dying out at a record pace nationwide. Even after McMahon poached Mid-South’s main cash cow, invaded the area full tilt, and attempted to compete head-up with Watts’ established syndicated programs throughout the region, it was “Monopolist” Vince, rather than “Cowboy” Bill, who was reeling early in their war. At the time, although his failed booking run in WCW in 1992 would later tingle on his until-then-unalloyed creative repute, Watts’ status as a wrestling visionary was unquestioned. Having built from the ground-up what at one point was the most successful territory on the planet, and having identified from early on that the advent of cable was about to alter the nature of the wrestling beast, he was one of the first promoters to examine the feasibility of expanding nationally. Nevertheless, in attempting to obtain adequate funding for the project, he was rebuffed at every turn, and the sustained cable exposure he needed proved elusive as well. However, it gave Watts considerable satisfaction -- and imbued him with greater confidence -- to have beaten McMahon so decisively during Mid-South’s brief stint on cable. He realized that the dynamics of the industry having changed irrevocably, to where regional promoters were part of a dying breed, and -- as his track record will attest -- he had never been one to back down from a challenge. Thus, although he did remain somewhat disinclined toward the decision, “Cowboy” Bill decided to take his promotion national, in early-1986. Accordingly, he changed the promotion’s sobriquet to the more widely-skewing “Universal Wrestling Federation” (UWF) in March of that year; had his syndicated programming director, Jim Ross, shop UWF programming to stations nationwide; shored up his talent roster; and thereupon set out to conquer the world -- or, as it were, the “universe.” It was a decision he would live to regret. In many ways, the timing could not have proved any worse for the erstwhile Mid-South’s expansion. The WWF was no longer vulnerable by that point, and whatever chinks the Federation had in its armor were now being powdered by Jim Crockett’s equally-ambitious Mid-Atlantic wing of the NWA. Many of Watts’ top stars -- Dibiase, Duggan, Taylor, the Freebirds, and the then-47-year-old “Cowboy” himself -- had been in the territory for too long and, therefore, were past their primes as drawing cards. The other core members of Mid-South’s stable -- the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, the Midnight Express, Buddy Landel, and Jake Roberts being chief among them -- had departed for the big-money opportunities provided by McMahon and Crockett in late-1985, and “Cowboy” Bill’s herd of replacements -- the One Man Gang, the Fantastics, and other, even less noteworthy, long-forgotten names -- proved incapable of filling those voids. In fact, the massive outflow of talent was one of Watts’ main impetuses for expanding his reach and revenue streams in the first place; he could no longer compete with the major bankrolls of his two chief competitors, so he needed new means of padding his payroll. Moreover, the economy was in shambles in the UWF’s native soil, and, as a result, the company’s attendance was down across the board, in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arknasas. The promotion still drew strong ratings nationwide, but the brand at first failed to catch on in regions outside of its immediate homebase; as a result, house show tours in California, Illinois, Minneapolis, Georgia, and Florida in ‘86-’87 were significant money losers. Worst of all, expanding its syndicated network -- 100 markets strong, by the end -- entailed paying exorbitant fees for weekly time slots in key markets; without any intake coming in at the other end, this sizable overhead was impossible for a house-show-based wrestling operation to maintain for long. So, only one year after embarking on the period that would bring his promotion its greatest nationwide prominence, a burnt-out Watts came to the realization that his run, at long last, was up. The NWA bought out the UWF on May 1, 1987; unfortunately, though, in the hands of incomparable and incapable booker Dusty Rhodes, it quickly devolved into a pale imitation of its former self and had to be assimilated into the NWA, rather than continue functioning as a separate circuit, by late-’87. Sadly ironic was that the UWF had just emerged from its only extended run on cable at that point -- while owned by someone other than Watts. Today, pro wrestling history -- such as it is -- is characterized mostly by a given entity’s participation in two agencies: cable TV and pay-per-view. Of today’s fan-base, only a minority even know the version of history propagated by Vince McMahon, fewer know anything but a smattering of facts regarding the origins of the now-defunct WCW, and still fewer know anything substantial about the dozens of promotions that never participated in the aforementioned two mediums. The UWF never made it to pay-per-view -- that genre had only just established its viability at the time of the promotion’s closure -- and it never got the cable exposure it coveted. But if a combination of a blow-away product, an ardent fan base, innovation, relative influence, and unparalleled regional popularity were to be the measure of a promotion’s success -- as opposed to, say, an extended period of visibility -- the Mid-South/UWF would be perhaps the most successful wrestling company of all-time. To the scattered multitude who viewed it, Bill Watts’ wrestling forged many lasting memories and remains a shining beacon of how pro wrestling ought to be done. A little less than twenty-three years ago, Watts formed Mid-South; seven and-a-half years later, it was gone. In between, it came oh-so-close to its clarion-clear aim of national prominence numerous times. But, more importantly, it presented the best damned pro wrestling on the planet. If you’re not yet familiar with Bill Watts’ wrestling, you can count yourself among the decided majority of today’s fan-base; in fact, even during its prime, -- for all the gaudy ratings and attendance figures it enjoyed within its domain -- only a minority of the wrestling fan-base followed the promotion. However, with the WWF struggling as much as it is and no genuine alternative existing, any self-respecting hardcore fan deserves to discover Mid-South -- The National Promotion That Never Was -- now, in all its Southern-basked splendor. After all, it’s not always the size that counts; as Watts learned between 1979 and 1987, notwithstanding his 300-lbs. frame -- it’s what you do with it... I. WATTS’ WRESTLING WEANINGS Wrestling promoters -- as with entrepreneurs in any field -- are invariably wont to construct their promotions as a reflection of their own images, as outgrowths of their own personalities and propensities, and in manners informed by their own backgrounds in the industry. Hence, to understand the offing of “Cowboy” Bill Watts’ life is to understand the sum and substance of Mid-South Wrestling. Much like the promotion he would found later in life, Watts was one of the best in the business -- possibly the very best, at one point -- but at every turn, there was that one stumbling block preventing him from achieving the greatest of prominence. Having possessed a hulking, powerful figure his entire life, Watts doubled as a star wrestler and stand-out football player at the University of Oklahoma -- where he was a friend of fellow grappling legend Wahoo McDaniel -- from 1957-1960. At the time, prior to the advent of steroids, he topped out at a 500-pound bench press, a fact which belied the considerable agility he displayed throughout the early part of his in-ring career. In 1961 he played a season at offensive tackle for the Houston Oilers, the off-season after which he sought to supplement his income by embarking on a pro wrestling career, at the behest of McDaniel. Fortunately for fans in the Mid-South region, Watts made too much money in wrestling ever to return to the grid-iron. “Cowboy” Bill oozed natural charisma within the context of the histrionic pro wrestling realm, quickly mastering its aspects of showmanship, to augment his natural advantages vis-à-vis size, dexterity, and athletic background. He forthwith became one of the biggest stars in the industry, often earning a six-figure salary -- enormous by the standards of the time -- with his earliest and most enduring success coming in Leroy McGuirk’s Oklahoma-based Tri-States promotion. He ventured to Vincent J. McMahon’s Northeastern World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the mid-’60s, where he initially gained enormous popularity as the partner of local mega-drawing-card Bruno Sammartino, before turning heel on Bruno and participating in perhaps the most lucrative feud of either man’s career. In 1965, a Sammartino vs. Watts main event drew the biggest gate in the history of Madison Square Garden; however, in what would become part of a recurring theme of his career, “Cowboy” Bill soon realized that he could never outstrip Bruno’s status in the Northeast. On that account, Watts sought out another mountain to climb -- and one that he hoped would be less obstructed -- only to find similar impediments at every turn. Over the next five years, he alternated between stints in the AWA, Japan, California, and St. Louis; he was the foremost heel drawing card everywhere he traveled, but he never caught on as the top star overall in any major office. In 1969, he even wrote a strongly-worded letter to the NWA Board of Directors, importuning that he be rewarded the next World Title reign; he was unable to scare up the support necessary from the member promoters, though, and the belt instead went to the equally-qualified Dory Funk, Jr. Feeling frustrated and no doubt disillusioned, Watts actually quit the business briefly in the early-’70s, before returning to wrestle as the top babyface once more for McGuirk. By then in his mid-’30s, in 1973, Watts affixed himself to facets of the business at which he proved even more adept than those inside the ring: booking and promoting. First, he studied for several months under vaunted NWA promoter Eddie Graham, whose Florida territory was the hottest in the business at the time. Because of his legitimate tough-guy reputation, Watts was known as a virtual backstage “enforcer” for Graham. One man with whom he had frequent run-ins -- philosophically, if not physically -- was the promotion’s top star, Dusty Rhodes, who remained “Cowboy” Bill’s friend many years later, regardless of the two’s early grievances. In fact, Watts is credited with orchestrating what was, up to that point, one of the most profitable ideas in the history of the business -- “The American Dream’s” babyface turn in late-’73. Having thusly garnered a reputation for his deft booking cognition, Watts assumed the role of head booker for Georgia Championship Wrestling in late-1973, at which time GCW was in the preliminary stages of emerging as the first bona fide nationally-recognized organization in the country, due to its Saturday timeslot on Ted Turner’s upstart WTBS cable station. In 1975, fresh off a successful run both as head booker and the top heel in Georgia, the Oklahoma-born Watts returned to work for McGuirk, thereafter focusing exclusively on his efforts in his native Mid-Southern region. McGuirk abdicated considerable booking and front-office responsibilities to “Cowboy” Bill after this point, but the two men’s approaches grew increasingly distant from one another as time wore on, and Watts factioned off from Tri-States in 1979. Within a matter of weeks, he had pooled his capital into launching Mid-South Wrestling. Even then, Watts was bucking the odds with his newly-hatched project. Mid-South’s base of operations was the sparsely-populated Louisiana and Mississippi -- one of the most difficult regions in the country in which to draw money. Laden with creativity, inculcated with six years of hands-on booking knowledge and experience, and now free for his ideas to flourish unfettered, it did not take “Cowboy” Bill long to defy the odds against him. II. ’DAT DOG It is said that great art transcends cultural differences. From its outset, Mid-South was a certifiable breeding grounds for the business’ future stars. Watts had no other choice: He lacked the financial capital to import wrestlers of any other type. Thus, other than he and a few of his closest friends, all of the new-sprung promotion’s were, after a fashion, home-grown -- constituted by such notables as Ted Dibiase, Paul Orndorff, Jake Roberts, Jim Garvin, and the then-18-year-old Fabulous Freebirds of Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes. To a man, they were young, fresh-faced, awash with the type of untapped potential which mirrored the nature of the promotion itself, and would go on to achieve lasting stardom in the profession. By far “Cowboy” Bill’s most notable coup during Mid-South’s infant stages, though, was that of a strapping, raw-boned, 27-year-old black man named Sylvester Ritter. The wrestling industry being as mercurial as it was, it was more imperative than ever for territories to showcase a charismatic babyface superstar. A main attraction who possessed a dynamic personality were capable of bringing hordes of kayfabe-imbued locals flocking to regional auditoriums through their regional matches and interviews, oftentimes spelling the difference between groups that drew 1,500-2,000 and those which consistently attracted 7,000-12,000. Some promotions were more immune to this fickleness than others -- such as the WWWF, since its homebase was the metropolis of New York, the biggest city in the country -- but it was an undeniable, and often unpleasant, reality for the vast majority of them. For instance, in the Midwestern AWA from 1982-1983, Hulk Hogan set the box office ablaze for his elusive Hvt. Title chase, to the tune of 10,000-18,000 fans; however, cards on which he didn’t appear failed to draw half as many. For its part, the Mid-Atlantic was lucky to boast three of the biggest drawing cards in the business -- Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, and Ricky Steamboat and thereby set gate records throughout the early-’80s. Likewise, Florida had Dusty Rhodes, Memphis had Jerry Lawler, Dallas had the Von Erichs, and all of those groups thrived throughout this time period. But, for all of them, their attendance figures would have suffered precipitous drop-offs without the allure of these major names in their main events. Others who lacked any sort of a drawing card -- like the now-Watts-bereaved Tri-States, Bob Geigel’s Central States, the Roy-Shire-helmed San Francisco promotion, and Don Owens’ Pacific Northwest, to name a few -- understood this precept only too well, as they were struggling mightily at the gate. It stands to reason, then, that Watts desperately needed an alluring front-man if he was to make his promotion a go for any sustained length. He depended on himself to fill that role initially, of course, but his in-ring career was on the verge of ending by this point, and, again, he lacked the wherewithal to replace himself with an existing front-line drawing card. Thus, ever the non-conformist at this stage in his life, he went entirely against the grain of what was then -- and still is, now -- a dogmatic industry: He rolled the dice on a black man, Ritter, as his lead babyface. Although large and with backgrounds in college football and amateur wrestling, Ritter’s pre-Mid-South track record hardly suggested that he was on the cusp of greatness. He had turned pro two years prior to arriving in the territory, wrestling -- and doing so extremely poorly -- for Jerry Jarrett in Memphis and Stu Hart in Calgary, respectively, in 1977-78 and 1978-79. When he arrived in Louisiana -- notably, in tandem with his friend Jake Roberts -- Ritter received a complete character make-over and charisma graft from Watts, who dubbed him the “Junkyard Dog” (after the character of the same name in Jim Croce’s most famous ditty, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”), with the premise being that he owned a junkyard. Many of Watts’ peers no doubt looked askance at the gimmick, but in this case, the “Cowboy” would ultimately -- in keeping with his now-prevalent early-career catch-phrase -- laugh all the way to the bank. Even before Watts propelled the Junkyard Dog into a headliner role, JYD had quickly became one of those rare organic phenomena that takes hold only every so often in wrestling. Upon arriving in Mid-South, he took to carting a wheelbarrow full of “junkyard debris” to the ring, then would convey his felled opponents to the backstage area in the ‘barrow following his matches. Somehow, through this act, he formed an instant, palpable connection with the preponderantly-rural area crowds and was soon garnering the biggest pops in the territory. It was in accordance with this surprisingly tumultuous reaction that Watts made the intrepid decision to push the Dog as his top star -- instead of a mid-card “character” black babyface, as per the established wrestling orthodoxy of the period -- and withdrew himself from regular in-ring duty. To coincide with his intensified push, the Dog -- as prescribed by Watts -- ditched the wheelbarrow, instead adopting what would become his character staples: a dog collar and Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” as his entrance theme. Suddenly-- despite all the flak he was catching from local politicians and his bourbon, lily white peer promoters -- Watts’ box office caught fire, not more than six-eight months after Mid-South had opened. Few onlookers comprehended this astonishing turn of events then, and even fewer remember or understand why it happened now. JYD’s instantaneous box office appeal disproved many of the insular business’ fundamental tenets. White fans simply weren’t supposed to support a promotion whose feature attraction was black, whereas it was considered impractical for black fans to comprise a significant part of any promotion’s patronage. JYD’s unusual appeal spanned all demographic barriers, though, and white children actually comprised one of his biggest support bases. This trend made his popularity particularly hard to swallow for the Strom-Thurmond-esque political delegates who ran amuck in Louisiana and Mississippi at the time, and they constantly came down with severe pressure on Watts to remove the Dog from his cards. The “Cowboy,” of course, refused to yield. JYD possessed several characteristics that made him particularly marketable, beyond the fact that he played well to the heretofore-untapped heavily-black Southern market. He was one of the earliest steroid abusers in the business, and from the first, he looked the part of the veritable black superman he portrayed. To facilitate the image, he disposed of his opponents on TV apace -- always in under three minutes, effectively concealing his notorious lack of in-ring aptitude. Perhaps his greatest attribute, though, was his exceptional verbal skills. Speaking in his patented gruff, stentorian voice; exuding self-conviction and confidence; and blessed with a wry sense of humor, he was one of the best promo men in wrestling, despite his relative lack of experience at the point that his rise to prominence commenced in earnest. By March 1980, the Dog was already packing the Municipal Auditorium in downtown New Orleans every Monday night, with crowds that consistently ranged from 5,000 to 8,000. He was also attracting strong turn-outs in other regular Mid-South posts like Shreveport, Jackson and Biloxi. However, it was when he was involved in one of the most successful angles in wrestling history that he suddenly, shockingly, and enduringly established himself as the unlikely biggest territorial drawing card in the entire industry. In mid-1980, the Fabulous Freebirds -- a trio that included 19-years-old Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy, in tandem with their new, Watts-assigned partner, rugged veteran Buddy Roberts -- were fast becoming the top heels in the territory. Hayes was one of the most charismatic speakers of the era, and even as a teen-ager, his chafing promos were a cut above anybody else’s in the territory. Gordy, on the other hand, mainlined the group with the essential ingredients of size and workrate, and he was among the best 280-pound-plus workers in the history of the industry -- despite his youngness. Roberts, for his part, was one of the most accomplished tag team wrestlers of his era, a seasoned pro, and -- above all else -- a complete goofball. Gordy and Roberts handled the bulk of the in-ring activities at this stage, whilst Hayes worked his magic on “the stick.” On an early-spring episode of Mid-South Wrestling, JYD and area mainstay Buck Robley were doing battle with Gordy and Roberts, and Hayes interfered by spraying his patented “Freebird hair remover cream” (an instrument which, considering his recent trouble with hair-loss, is woefully ironic) in the Dog’s eyes. The assault “blinded” JYD, and Watts and co-announcer Boyd Pierce ruefully speculated that his career might be over. In subsequent weeks, Hayes and his comrades gloated over the heinous deed as only they could, while the announcers struck every emotional chord imaginable -- even hyping that the Dog would be unable to witness the impending, real-life birth of his daughter -- in an effort to tug at the heartstrings of the locals. It worked: Hayes and the ‘Birds drew incredible heel heat, often to the point of starting miniature riots, and Hayes even decided to wear a bullet proof vest during many of his live appearances, as a necessary precaution. The Dog’s fans were so stirred in their empathy that they treated the situation as though it was a personal friend -- and, to them, perhaps it was -- who had endured the plight, collectively mailing him several hundred dollars a week throughout the duration of his “recovery.” Indeed, to the rabid kayfabe-cleaving faithful in Louisiana and Mississippi, this was no storyline, and the rabidity of their emotions has rarely been duplicated at any other point in wrestling history. Naturally, JYD shocked everyone -- the Freebirds in particular -- when he returned to TV several months after his visual impairment. Now only “partially blind,” he challenged Hayes to a dog-collar match, at a Superdome spectacular in New Orleans on August 2, 1980. The gathered throng of approximately 30,000 fans, paying an enormous $183,000, that congregated on the event sent shock waves reverberating throughout the industry. To that point, the number of legitimate 30,000-plus attendance figures in the history of North American wrestling could be counted on precisely two hands, and those which had had been headlined by such world-renowned mat monarchs as Lou Thesz, “Stranger” Lewis, Buddy Rogers, and Bruno Sammartino. For a one-year-old promotion to attract a crowd of that magnitude, on the strength of a match involving two relative unknowns like JYD and Hayes, combined age 46, was completely unheard of. The entire wrestling establishment was utterly aghast when they got wind of Mid-South’s monumental success, and the legends of Watts’ genius and JYD’s massive appeal spread rapidly. Shortly after this formidable box office accomplishment, JYD took to wrestling with goggles while his eyesight “recovered.” In addition, he soon ran the Freebirds out of the territory, after which they set up camp in Georgia and continued to wax their resume with the plaudits of sell-out crowd after sell-out crowd. Although his first major rivals had departed, the Dog’s appeal did not falter one iota, and his remarkable recovery from his bout of blindness actually served to augment his fast-spreading repute. It was during this period, starting in late-1980, that Mid-South Wrestling often drew the aforementioned 50 shares on often-tiny stations in LA and MS. JYD was now entrenched as a local cultural icon, the most popular athlete in all of Louisiana, and the Superdome cards became quarterly occurrences, not failing to draw in excess of 20,000 until 1983. In late-1980, Watts made another ground-breaking personnel decision, this time bringing Ernie Ladd in to be his co-booker and, for a time, top heel. As with today, at the time there was a woeful dearth of African American front office employees in the business, and Ladd was the first black man ever to book in a major office. The Dog thumped several notable rivals over the course of his then-unparalleled romp. Many of them were part of an assembly line of his tag team partners who inevitably turned heel due to reasons of avarice and/or jealously. One such traitor was Paul Orndorff, a great performer who would remain a top star in Mid-South until 1982, turned on JYD in mid-1981, and consequently drew a 25,000 house on July 4, 1981. Other rivals during ‘81-’82 included Bob Roop, Len “The Masked Grappler” Denton, and Jerry “Mr. Olympia” Stubbs. Without question JYD’s most successful opponent -- except, perhaps, for the Freebirds -- over the course of his career was Ted Dibiase. Up until mid-1982, Dibiase had been the Dog’s tag team partner and, accordingly, one of the top babyfaces in the region. He was a redoubtable in-ring performer -- Ric Flair and the Dynamite Kid, and perhaps Ricky Steamboat were the only North American workers who were of his caliber at the time, -- but, for a long time, he lived entirely in the capacious shadow cast by the Dog. An angle in 1982 changed those circumstances entirely. Because Watts realized that the greatest box office value he could derive from the Dog would be through a protracted North-American Title -- Mid-South’s foremost championship -- chase, rather than immediately winning it, it was not until June 21, 1982, in the Superdome that JYD won the elusive strap. He downed Roop, a legendary area heel, in the match. The very next week on TV, the Dog granted his friend Dibiase a shot at the newly-won gold. It was supposed to be characterized by friendly competition; nevertheless, by the end of the match, the wily Dibiase was displaying subtle heel tendencies. In a shocking turn of events, with the referee’s back turned, the future “Million Dollar Man” donned a coal miner’s glove, pickled the Dog across the face, notched the tainted, and won the championship. By virtue of the incident, the glove would be a Dibiase trademark for almost four years hence. The Dog’s long-awaited title run had ended after less than a week, the fans were outraged, and Dibiase was remain as hot of a heel as existed in wrestling for a long time to come. The ensuing feud was even more lucrative than JYD vs. the Freebirds, partially because Watts had bought out McGuirk in early-’82 and was now running cards in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and East-Texas. After sell-outs around the loop, with Dibiase always narrowly escaping with his belt in toe, the rivalry built to a Loser Leaves Town (but only for 90 days) match on television shortly thereafter, though, JYD carried out his sweet and definitive reprisal while under a mask as “Stagger Lee,” regaining the title in April 16, 1983, before a raucous crowd of nearly 30,000 in the Superdome. In all, JYD would enjoy four NA Title reigns and would attract nine different crowds of 22,000-plus in a three-year span. Up to that point, nobody -- not Hogan, not Flair, not Rhodes, not Sammartino, not Thesz, not Lewis, not Rogers -- could boast of anywhere near the same accomplishment. Fittingly, given Mid-South’s lot until the day it checked out, exceedingly few fans at the time were the slightest bit aware of this parcel of information. III. 1984 The product qualities of every major wrestling office invariably experience quite a few ebbs and flows as they gain in years. At times, bookers become mired in creative ruts, causing the box office to lose its sizzle; at others, their creative efforts will meet with great approval. In short, it has always been a cyclical business. Mid-South, however, was unique in that it largely eschewed the type of creative tailspin that was afflicting so many of its peer promotions in the early-’80s, and when it finally did ebb, the ebb was exceedingly brief and followed by the greatest of all its flows. Golden ages of NWA member promotions have been numerous over the years. The early-’70s in Florida, the late-’70s in Georgia, the early-’80s in World Class, and the late-’70s-’early-’80s in Mid-Atlantic -- when Flair, Piper, and Steamboat ruled the roost -- are foremost among them. In fact, Mid-South’s 1980-1982 “Camelot,” as Watts once described it, compared in every respect -- perhaps favorably -- to any in that foursome. Quite dualistically, however, Mid-South reached a zenith of product quality perhaps more lofty than any in the history of the industry in 1984, of all years -- when more promotions died out than any other. Watts’ superlative output that year represents the collective efforts that were possible only for a promotion which boasted a bevy of fresh, young, marketable who commingled with a few still-relevant veterans and were complimented by top-notch announcing and the best booking in the world. It is also where this Chronicle picks up in greater detail. As 1983 drew to a close, Mid-South was bogged down in a mini-rut. Both Ted Dibiase and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan were in the midst of several-month runs for other promotions -- Georgia and Florida, respectively -- and the Junkyard Dog was finally starting to lose steam at the box office. Attendance had taken a decisive plunge across the circuit, particularly in New Orleans. For the first time in his career as a promoter, Watts was operating in the red -- not to the point he was on the verge of going out of business, but enough to cause him to rethink his approach. Meanwhile, Watts’ northerly neighbor -- the Memphis promotion fronted by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry “The King” Lawler -- was riding a crest of box office success. The Memphis Coliseum was selling out on a near-weekly basis, to the tune of 11,000 Lawler-loving fans, and major attractions like “The King,” the Fabulous Ones, and Bill Dundee had captured the imagination of fans in Tennessee, Kentucky, and parts of Mississippi like never before or since. In response, Watts prudently put his ego on the back-burner -- which was certainly a novel concept for a wrestling promoter -- and asked the Memphis promoters to venture to a few Mid-South cards and cast a discerning eye over what they saw. He had already formed a pact with them so as to fortify their turf for when the WWF made its inevitable invasion, and this measure was only a natural extension of it. Not surprisingly, Jarrett and Lawler advised that Watts should incorporate a few of the signature elements of Memphis wrestling into his product. This approach entailed hiring a young, belligerent heel manager (or a “blowjob,” as the Memphis promoters called it); incorporating the fast-paced elements of rock ‘n’ roll and aerial wrestling; and introducing a measure of sex appeal to some of his male wrestlers, to attract young female fans. At the time, Memphis actually possessed a surplus of all of these trappings and was looking to broaden its horizons by adding some larger, more rugged wrestlers to its mix. As a result, the two promotions opted to make a trade -- perhaps the biggest out-and-out talent swap in the history of the industry. In exchange for King Kong Bundy, Jim Neidhart, and a greenhorn Rick Rude, Jarrett and Lawler sent Watts Jim Cornette, Bobby Eaton, Dennis Condrey, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, and Terry Taylor. Incredibly, all nine of the principals involved would go on to enjoy national superstardom within the next few years. Most importantly, though, Memphis lent the creatively-burnt-out Watts Bill Dundee to assume the reigns of his booking. One of the most prolific booking minds in the industry, Dundee spelled Watts while he recharged his own creative batteries and would also double as one of Mid-South’s top heels.

IV. "Black Saturday" and the Mainstream Furor If his sudden change in creative direction, his relatively-new-sprung cable TV exposure, and his numerous talent raids hadn't roused the ire of his fellow promoters, Jr. McMahon's next maneuver certainly did. He had purchased the local time slot and broadcasting rights to the NWA St. Louis program -- called "Wrestling at the Chase" -- for $2,100 a week, and, on December 27, 1983, the WWF's "Superstars of Wrestling" emanated from the famed Chase Hotel. Hulk Hogan was there, Roddy Piper was there, newly-arrived ex-AWA broadcaster "Mean" Gene Okerlund was there, and so were most of the Fed's other stars -- both new and old. It was McMahon's first significant strike in the TV marketplace since purchasing the USA Network slot, and the remainder of the NWA promoters were now hyper-aware of this new, undeniable threat to their very survival in the industry. The impact of this incursion cannot be overstated. St. Louis had been the epicenter of the NWA for decades. The city's one-time promoter, Sam Muchnick, had been the most powerful man in the business since the middle part of the century. And, although the recent incarnation of the local promotion -- fronted by the collective of Verne Gagne, Bob Geigel, Harley Race, and Pat O'Conner -- was struggling at the time, it was still considered one of the most sacred (and profitable) markets in the country. McMahon now had control of it, and when he began running regular cards at the Kiel Auditorium, he dealt the NWA a major financial and psychological blow. For its part, the Alliance didn't back down and continued to send all its big guns (Ric Flair, Race, etc.) to its own Kiel cards in an effort to compete with the WWF. Nonetheless, Hogan, Piper, and company consistently managed to outdraw the competition there for the remainder of the "War of '84" -- largely due to the Federation's superincumbent TV exposure. Next, McMahon made another brilliant strategic move when he employed ex-GCW promoter Jim Barnett as his new right-hand man in attempting to expand his nationwide syndication network. Barnett, who had promoted in Georgia for nigh on two decades before Ole Anderson ousted him from power, was bitter at his fellow NWA promoters and shared in Jr. Vince's expansion-at-any-cost ambitions. The newfound allies went to work in haste, foisting the WWF's product on one market after another across the country. When possible, they bought out the timeslot of whichever regional promotion was already entrenched, and they often paid more than $100,000 a year to broadcast in pivotal locations like Los Angeles, Chicago, and the aforementioned St. Louis. "Superstars of Wrestling" and, generally, this was the centerpiece of the syndication package, and, generally, the program on which the company's major angles took place. Initially, these broadcasts were taped from the old Felt Forum, which was adjacent to Madison Square Garden, before they moved to Glen Falls, NY. Of all the outlets which the company acquired during this period, L.A. may have been the most important. By wielding almost total autonomy over the market, McMahon was able to win over the extensive local media, which was second only to New York's in terms of size and influence. When the WWF began its full-throttle media blitz, its leverage in the "City of Angels" became especially important. In fact, the general public had already begun to take notice of the WWF's success, and, in early-1984, the promotion had already garnered a reputation for running the hottest programming on cable TV. In actuality, as impressive as the Federation's numbers were at the time, Ole Anderson's Saturday night Georgia Championship Wrestling broadcast had actually been the highest rated cable program in the country for three of the previous five years. However, numerous print articles, radio programs, and TV newscasts had been propagating the notion that the USA Network wrestling shows were the number one ratings juggernauts in the country, so McMahon received virtually all of the credit for the business' staggering TV success. GCW was still every bit the national powerhouse the WWF was at that point, though, and, as evidenced by his previous plundering, McMahon was bent on eliminating it. For McMahon, the timing of his onslaught on Anderson could not have been more auspicious. GCW had been reeling throughout 1983 and 1984, thanks to a string of incompetent booking decisions, the defections of Piper and (to a lesser extent) Orndorff, and a stale and/or paling batch of remaining stars -- including Ole himself, Buzz Sawyer, and former NWA World champion Tommy Rich. During the period, the company's only saving grace was a muscular, face-painted, and highly-charismatic rookie duo, the Road Warriors, who became the group's top stars virtually from the first moment they set foot in the promotion. However, the Roadies were unable to carry the promotion single-handedly, and its house show business was fading -- even if its ratings were not. Jr. McMahon sensed that Anderson was struggling regardless, but he also knew that if could somehow undermine Ole from within, he would be able to eradicate his threat that much more efficiently. On that account, while everyone's back was turned, Vince undertook a hostile takeover and began buying out one GCW minority shareholder after another, while also purchasing the shares still held by Jim Barnett. It's almost unfathomable to think that McMahon was able to continue an appropriation of a private company for so many weeks, without Anderson's having the slightest inclination of what was going on, but he succeeded in doing so nonetheless. By May, he was poised to gain majority control of the promotion, but, in order to do so, he needed to persuade the legendary Jack and Gerald Brisco to sell him their own sizable allotment. The Briscos Brothers were the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions at that point, and they strongly represented the tradition of wrestling every bit as much as any of their contemporaries. Jack was a former NWA champion, and both men (Jack in particular) were stand-out NCAA collegiate stars. However, Jack was the older and more famous of the pair, and, after some 25 years on the road, he was burnt out on the business. Moreover, McMahon offered him and his brother $750,000, which would have been nearly impossible to refuse, especially since GCW was faltering as it was. So, although both men were no doubt somewhat hesitant to accept the proposal, the opportunity for a decent measure of financial security outweighed whatever qualms they had otherwise, and they promptly dumped their shares off to Vince. Afterward, they even briefly joined the WWF, but the fatigued Jack retired only months into his Federation tenure. Gerald followed suit, before cropping up as a member of the WWF front office in 1994 and attaining arguably his greatest stardom as "Mr. Mac-Mahon's" dutiful on-air associate in 1998. Almost immediately after completing the purchase, McMahon flew to Georgia to inform Anderson in person that he had been outstripped. Interestingly enough, Vince brought the late Gorilla Monsoon along to serve as his "bodyguard" during the encounter. The shocked Anderson managed to obtain a restraining order against the WWF, but he didn't possess enough resources to sustain what would have been a protracted legal battle against Vince, who was steeped with financial backers and the millions of dollars he had borrowed over the previous few years. In late-June, Anderson conceded his fight, McMahon folded GCW, and a handful of the promotion's wrestlers accepted jobs in New York. The next, almost inconceivable step: The WWF was about to start airing in the vaunted Saturday night timeslot on WTBS. To this day, July 14, 1984, lives in infamy to diehard wrestling fans nationwide. It came to be known as "Black Saturday," and its impact -- much of which was psychological -- was so far-reaching that it definitively merits an "AW Chronicle" all of its own. Gene Okerlund opened up the show, instead of legendary long-time host Gordon Solie, and the matches were not taped in the studio in Atlanta -- but, rather, in an auditorium in the northeast. Almost immediately, fans across the country inundated TBS with phone calls and letters demanding that GCW be reinstated to the station, although it took quite a while for their influence to be felt. The quality of the WWF's shows on WTBS themselves left much to be desired, and, to McMahon, his position on the station became little more than an afterthought. The Atlanta-based program was mainly a vehicle for him to claim credit for running four of the top ten programs on cable, as well as a means of ensuring that he received all of the commendation for wrestling's nationwide success. "Superstars of Wrestling" and his USA Network broadcasts ("TNT," "All American Wrestling," "Special Wrestling Events") remained his primary concerns, and they also remained the locus of the Federation's principal TV angle and match efforts. By this time, McMahon's product was already starting to take on more family-friendly overtones, but his most dramatic attempt to strip away the vestiges of the old-style pro wrestling image came with another new television venture, "Tuesday Night Titans (TNT)." The wrestling-talk show hybrid program, which debuted in May 1984, aired on the USA Network every other Tuesday night. Vince himself was the host and star and assumed a mock Johnny Carson role, while long-time Federation announcer/ex-wrestler-manager "Lord" Alfred Hayes acted the part of Ed McMahon. The WWF's performers themselves acted as guest (Hulk Hogan was a very frequent one, of course) and also participated in a number of goofy skits which attempted to portray the jovial side of the industry. Hardcore fans, along with numerous long-time wrestling employees, chafed at the program; to them, it was a disgrace to the profession and made a mockery out of the "sport" whose integrity they had championed so tenaciously over the years. They weren't the only ones who rejected the show, either: The show alternated weekly in its Tuesday slot with a program called "Special Wrestling Events," which aired recent house show matches from arenas like Madison Square Garden and the Meadowlands. Lo and behold, TNT's ratings were appreciably lower than the more traditional, wrestling match-oriented format, and this would-be revolutionary concept in wrestling TV was actually a Titan-sized disappointment. However, one of the most common adages in pro wrestling is that "perception is reality," and to the general public, the program was nothing short of a resounding success. And, although the ratings were somewhat disappointing, it served its intended purpose extremely well. McMahon had embarked on a year-long campaign to convince NBC President Dick Ebersol that pro wrestling could take on a fun, family-friendly form, and TNT was his main means of doing so. Doubtless, Ebersol was even more impressed by the WWF's now-full-fledged mainstream media campaign. In mid-1984, it had become a la mode to run wrestling stories, and, to the masses, the terms "pro wrestling" and "WWF" were synonymous. Thanks to the Federation's brilliant manipulation of the New York and Los Angeles press outlets -- which was every bit as important as any other facet of its expansion -- the great multitude began to view McMahon's brainchild as the latest fad, and the numerous still-thriving regional NWA pockets seemed like the "minor leagues" of wrestling. Gradually, Vince became an eccentric genius and the "Walt Disney of Pro Wrestling," Sgt. Slaughter became a modern American hero, and Hulk Hogan was a pop culture celebrity on par with Michael Jackson, Mr. T, and Madonna. Everyone from Newsweek to People to Time to Forbes ran these token fluff stories. The company was even the focus of the first wrestling article in Sports Illustrated, and, with Hogan on the cover, that issue was the publication's second best seller of the year -- trailing only the swimsuit edition. Indeed, McMahon's application of his monopolistic plans had worked to perfection, but he didn't succeed merely because he was a shrewd, aggressive businessman. The rest of the time, he doubled as a nimble promoter and booker. V. "Rock 'n' Wrestling" is Born Vince, Sr. finally succumbed to Cancer in early-May, 1984, in the midst of the WWF's full-scale national invasion. Before he departed, he left his son with a list of people whom to take care of for the rest of their lives -- including Gorilla Monsoon, Arnold Skaaland and former Philadelphia promoter Phil Zacko -- and, naturally, he was also sure to leave Vince Jr. himself in good hands. The WWF's head booker from 1984-1986 was a gentleman named George Scott, a legendary Carolinas wrestler whose greatest previous booking success had been as the foreman for Mid-Atlantic during its late-'70s, early-'80s Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Wahoo McDaniel, Greg Valentine heyday. Scott first came to the WWF because of the importuning of long-time friend Sr. Vince, and had been involved in brokering the deal with TBS in July. As inconceivable as it sounds today, the WWF planned out all of its matches and storylines six weeks ahead of time at that point, and Vince was involved in the storytelling and matchmaking on only a fringe basis, save for the main event feuds. With Vince and Scott at the helm, Hulk Hogan roared on in feuds with Paul Orndorff, John Studd, Nikolai Volkoff, and others. However, unquestionably the hottest program in the WWF in early-mid 1984 involved Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka. Piper had just completed a feud with Rocky Johnson when Snuka appeared as his guest on Piper's Pit for the second time, and what ensued was an angle so potent that it still carried enough weight nearly 18 years later to warrant a snippet in the "Lonely Road of Fame" WWF "Desire" video two months ago. Piper opened the famous segment by addressing complaints that he hadn't been cordial enough to many of his guests, including Snuka; so, to make up for it, he was now going to do his utmost to be an accommodating host. He then pulled out a brown burlap sack, which included "gifts" like bananas and, of course, coconuts. "The only thing I didn't get for you was a tree so you could climb -- up and down, up and down," he said. Snuka, who was generally a man of few words, did an excellent job of conveying a kind of brooding irritation. When finally given an opportunity to speak, the "Superfly" asked slowly, "Are you making fun of me?" "Am I making FUN of you? Oh, no!" was the reply, at which point Piper smashed a coconut over Snuka's head, sending him hurtling into the set. He then daubed a banana in his helpless rival's face, before putting his finger against his own nostril and blowing his nose on Snuka (a trick that Chris Benoit revived for a short time in WCW about 13 years later). Finally, the "Superfly" recovered, started wailing like a banshee, and went after Piper like a madman. Several members of the babyface locker room came out to restrain Snuka, and, with that, one of the hottest feuds in wrestling was born. The two men drew huge gates throughout the Northeast, both for singles matches and for Snuka & Tonga Kid vs. Piper & Bob Orton tag team matches. As great as Piper vs. Snuka was -- and it was arguably the hottest feud in wrestling that year, behind the Von Erichs vs. the Freebirds in Texas -- its impact paled in comparison to that of the "Rowdy One's" next major rivalry. The first angle in the history of the WWF that truly transcended pro wrestling was the fabled "Rock 'n Wrestling Connection," and it, more than anything else, catapulted the company to its heretofore-unattained level of mainstream acceptance. It's a fairly well-known fact that, when he first formulated his plan to dominate the industry, Jr. McMahon was fixed on fashioning a wrestling-rock 'n roll hybrid entertainment form, such as that had existed in Fritz Von Erich's World Class promotion in 1982-84. Ironically, though, the last time he and his father had been presented with an opportunity to incorporate celebrities into their product, they had chafed at the very notion. Only two years earlier, the late, eccentric comedian Andy Kaufman -- of "Taxi" and "Man on a Moon" fame -- had pitched the Vinces the idea of using him as part of a worked-shoot storyline that would, in theory, generate them a deluge of media publicity and lead to his defending the Intergender World Title throughout the Northeast. When the McMahons balked, Kaufman went to Memphis with his concept, and it was a few weeks later that he and Jerry "The King" Lawler performed a legendary worked-shoot on the "David Letterman Show." Following the success of the famed Memphis angle, McMahon apparently had a change of heart. In 1984, he opened negotiations with David Wolff, the manager of one of the hottest pop music stars on the planet at the time, Cyndi Lauper, via "Captain" Lou Albano, who was a good friend of the singer's. By then, McMahon had was fixed on landing a spot on the now-three-year-old MTV, which would be the most chic and easiest access route to the hip audience he craved, and, with one of the most famous pop divas in the country in his corner, the odds were great that he would be able to do so. The WWF first planted the seed for Lauper's appearance when Albano appeared as her curmudgeonly father in the MTV video for her number one hit single, "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun." Soon, rumors abounded that Albano was actually her business manager, and publications as venerable as Rolling Stone printing this misinformation as fact. Next, the company made its first attempt to capitalize on the publicity when Albano appeared on a mid-1984 edition of Piper's Pit. There, Piper engaged the "Captain" in a discussion of his relationship with Lauper and asked -- without the slightest hint of irony -- whether he might be able to book her as a guest on his "show." Initially, Albano told the "Rowdy Scot" he would have to wait and see, but, over the next few weeks, the prospects seemed to brighten as the "Captain" came back with more and more favorable reports of the negotiations. One week, he even vowed that he would, in fact, deliver Lauper to the "Pit" the very next week -- much to Piper's delight. Albano failed to produce as promised, which, naturally, vexed Piper to no end. On the installment of the Pit on which Lauper had been scheduled to appear, an exasperated Roddy did a boisterously entertaining parody of the "Captain," replete with moussed back hair, squalid attire, and multi-colored clothespins and colored bands plastered all over his body. Much to Piper's surprise, though, Lauper finally did show up on the Pit a few weeks later, at which point she finally revealed that Albano wasn't really her manager. An enraged Albano, apparently feeling betrayed, stormed the set and began rattling on about how ungrateful Lauper, because it was he who made made her a success. Piper, of course, sided with Albano -- the heel. Not one to back down, Lauper got into a shouting match with the "Captain," ripped Piper's shirt, and fumed off the set. The next week, Lauper appeared once again -- this time to lay down a challenge. She propped up Wendi Richter as her charge and demanded that Albano answer her dare by delivering a female wrestler of his own, so that the two women could meet in the ring. Albano selected the Fabulous Moolah, the WWF Womens champion, and so the match was made. Dubbed the "Brawl to End it All," it would air on July 23, 1984, live on MTV, as a one-hour special. Accompanied by Lauper and entering to "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun," Richter won the match -- and the title -- thereby briefly time sparking a female wrestling renaissance of sorts. The match itself was actually quite poor and featured a terribly botched finish, but it garnered the WWF tremendous crossover publicity, and Hulk Hogan -- who had successfully defended his own championship against Greg Valentine on the undercard -- even turned up for the backstage celebration. The broadcast drew a tremendous 9.0 rating, and the "Rock 'n Wrestling Connection" had begun in earnest. In an effort to keep the momentum alive, Lauper and Wolff continued to make regular appearances on WWF TV for the next several months, and Richter continued to have successful almost-weekly title defenses against the likes of Judy Martin and Velvet McIntire. However, the best was yet to come for this storyline, which reached its zenith on December 28, 1984. Then, at a Madison Square Garden card which was taped partially for MTV, Lauper, Richter, and Wolff came to the ring to accept a gold record. Lauper took the house microphone and invited Albano out to "bury the hatchet," and the tuxedo-clad "Captain" came out and embraced the "classy gesture." One of the company's longest-running heels had just turned babyface, and all appeared right with the world, except to one man: Roddy Piper. Piper promptly hit the scene, and, initially, he also appeared to be undergoing a change of heart. At first, he assured everyone involved that he came in peace, gently grabbed the plaque, and claimed, "I just wanted to personally present this record to Ms. Lauper." With that, Piper turned and smashed the record over Albano's head as the crowd let out a giant "oooh." Lauper dove headlong after him but got a kick in the face for her efforts, and the Rowdy One also laid out Wolff. It was a groundbreaking storyline, and the crowd was in shock -- genuinely speaking, the last thing they expected was for the WWF's two honorary celebrities to become physically involved. Of course, who else but Hulk Hogan should show up to make the save, and the legendary Hogan-Piper rivalry was born. Not only was this segment plastered all over WWF programming for the next several weeks, but it also aired in full on MTV, where it drew a massive response. It was apparently several weeks prior to this angle that McMahon conceived WrestleMania. As legend has it, Vince was on a rare vacation with his wife, Linda, somewhere in Florida, and he suddenly announced his idea to stage a Madison Square Garden spectacular which he would beam across the country via closed-circuit, in addition to hosting several major celebrities and resolving numerous of the company's major feuds. Vince was not the first man in wrestling to attempt to capitalize on the burgeoning closed-circuit market; in fact, the WWF itself had featured an ill-starred CC venture in 1976, the headline attraction of which was a famously-wretched Antonio Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali match. Most recently, Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic had held a pair of Thanksgiving night extravaganza known as "Starrcade," in both 1983 and 1984. However, McMahon would be the first to hold such an event on such a massive scale. With his promotion's business faltering (as we'll see later), this was to be his make-or-break card, and the "Rock 'n Wrestling" saga was to be its central storyline. The next major RNW progression was the "War to Settle the Score," on February 18, 1985, which was to feature Hulk Hogan against Roddy Piper live on MTV. Madison Square Garden was abuzz that night, sold out to the tune of 22,000 fans, with 4,000 more watching on closed circuit in the Felt Forum. Gene Okerlund and Gorilla Monsoon handled the play-by-play for the historic broadcast, and the added energy in their voices was unmistakable. It was the most important card in the history of the WWF up to that point, and, for once, Monsoon's familiar appeal to the audience to "feel the electricity!" did not seem the slightest bit out of place. A cadre of celebrities was on hand, including Danny Devito, Andy Warhol and Mr. T The opening four matches did little to sate the crowd's appetite for top-shelf excitement. In a triumvirate of unannounced bouts, Moondog Spot quickly disposed of Rick McGraw, Johnny Rodz topped the feckless Jose Luis Rivera in a battle for jobber supremacy, David Sammartino bested Moondog Rex, and Nikolai Volkoff overpowered Swede Hanson. Next up, though, was Hillbilly Jim, who got a big rise out of the crowd in toppling petulant-looking veteran lower-carder/jobber Charlie Fulton. Next, the audience had its first genuine mark-out moment -- as well as the first major booking WrestleMania angle primer -- when out popped Wendi Richter and Cyndi Richter received a tumultuous babyface reaction, but her opponent, Lelani Kai, managed to scratch, claw and hairpull her way to victory -- thanks to the Fabulous Moolah's interference. The Womens Title had changed hands, and the feud would be settled in a rematch at WrestleMania. Paul Orndorff vs. Tony Atlas followed, and Orndorff continued his destructive path to WrestleMania main event superstardom by quickly dispatching Atlas, who played the part of a veritable jobber in the match. Another mismatch followed, as Don Muraco topped Salvatore Bellomo in a short match, thanks to the piledriver, before Roddy Piper surrogate Bob Orton took on Jimmy Snuka in the best match of the night. Snuka received the largest pop on the show up to that point, then proceeded to tear the house down against "Ace" Bob, winning with the Superfly Leap. This bout also served as a prelude to a larger issue that was to be resolved at WrestleMania. Tag champs Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo anchored the undercard by beating the Assassin and the Spoiler, without a great deal of trouble. Then came the main event... After months of build-up that brought the tension between them to a crest, the WWF's two top stars, Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper, squared off in front of the electric MSG crowd and two million viewers on MTV, which cut away from its regular programming and joined the card in progress prior to the introductions for the main event. Orton accompanied Piper, who was bedecked in his customary kilt, a now-familiar yellow "Hulkamania" T-shirt -- which he mockingly tore to shreds upon reaching the ring -- and an electric guitar -- which he smashed to smithereens on a ring post, in an affront to the musically-inclined audience watching at home. With the crowd now thoroughly riled by Piper's antics, Hogan stormed the ring to a huge reception -- flanked by Lou Albano, Cyndi Lauper, and Lauper's boyfriend -- and stopped to greet Mr T at ringside. After a period of stalling, the match got underway, following a familiar pattern for the two men: Hogan opened up early with a bodyslam, a clothesline, and a succession of punches, before Piper resorted to underhanded tactics to gain the advantage and locked on the sleeperhold at about the three-minute mark. This was the Hulkster's opportunity to "hulk up," as he suddenly began trembling with adrenaline, shaking his fists around frenziedly, and no-selling everything the "Rowdy Scot" threw his way. Hogan set up for the big boot, bodyslam, legrop combo; the crowd was geared up to witness the emphatic conclusion of the feud; and the MTV executives were hoping that the WWF was about to deliver an ending that was commensurate with the massive hype. However, Vince McMahon had a closed-circuit extravaganza to sell, and he wasn't about to job Piper out for free. Instead, the referee took a bump, Orton hopped into the squared circle, followed by several wrestlers from the undercard, and the match ended in a DQ. In the middle of the ruckus, Mr. T hopped the guard rail, assailed the ring, and got into it with Piper, before "MSG security" and WWF officials broke up the melee. As trite as such an angle would seem today, its impact was immense. Because of his legitimate tough-guy credentials that stemmed from the hard-ass characters he played in movies and on TV, T caused a lot of hitherto-skeptical fans take stock in the credibility of "fake pro wrestling." The old-line of promoters was furious and fearful that the likes of T and Lauper would bring ruin to the business if they ever divulged its true, predetermined nature to the public. Many veteran wrestlers felt similarly and considered it a personal slap in the face that, after years of arduous road trips, an outsider like T would receive main event treatment. Even many long-time WWF fans were adverse to these unconventional proceedings and cheered for heels who maintained that "rock 'n roll don't belong in pro wrestling." What's more, the Hogan vs. Piper match itself, which clocked in at just over four minutes, was a major disappointment and left a number of fans -- not to mention MTV management -- feeling burned. Ultimately, though, T's involvement in the post-match may have been the single most important angle in the history of the WWF. It had to be. Otherwise, the WWF, which was limping along on a hand-to-mouth basis by that point, likely would have gone extinct. VI. The Rocky (III Stars') Road to WrestleMania An all-new swarm of publicity resulted from the "War to Settle the Score" angle, and the WWF reached even more dizzying heights of pop culture awareness. For those in the company, who only two years earlier had placidly plied their trade in the relative obscurity of the decidedly-nonmainstream pro wrestling business, this level of attention was almost surreal. Suddenly, their names and faces were plastered all over the pages of magazines, newspapers, and television broadcasts across the country. To them, it was almost like they weren't pro wrestlers anymore. Vince McMahon had done away with the industry to which they had dedicated their professional lives and transformed them into "sports entertainers" -- a term which had an almost entirely different connotation from that of "pro wrestlers." Of course not all of the WWF's mainstream publicity painted a rosy picture of this unique, le dernier cri business; in fact, many media pieces centered around the "phoniness" that characterized it, and they chaffed at the sudden popularity of what they perceived as a categorically low-brow entertainment form. None of these features did the industry any real harm, however; nor did they really intend to cause any substantive damage to the Federation's aspirations. However, one piece which certainly did strive to sabotage the company's momentum leading into WrestleMania was ABC's 20/20. On February 21, 1985, the popular nightly newsmagazine program attempted to "expose" wrestling in a piece which, to this day, remains every bit as notorious as Vince McMahon's famous escapades on Bob Costas' show sixteen years hence. Long-time ABC consumer reporter John Stossel hosted this expose and, as part of his three months of WWF research, had ventured backstage at the "Brawl for it All" card at Madison Square Garden, where he hoped to interview several of the company's most famous wrestlers. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of attempting to strike up conversation with David Shults, who was legendary within the business for his temperamental, neurotic behavior. Shults, having just returned from his match against Antonio Inoki, was drenched in sweat, high-strung, and clearly resented the presence of the "intruder," who was attempting to expose the business. The shocking scene that ensued aired in full at the end of the "20/20" piece: Stossel: Is this a good business? Shults: (Curtly) Yeah, it's a good business. I wouldn't be in it if it wasn't. Stossel: Why is it a good business? Shults: Because only the tough survive; that's the reason you ain't in it. And this punk holding the camera, (that's) the reason he ain't in it, (that's) the reason these rednecks out here ain't in it. Because it's a tough business. Stossel: That's terrific. Shults: Why, is that all you got? Stossel: I'll ask you the standard questions, you know. Shults: The standard question... Stossel: I think this is fake. Shults: (incredulously) You think this is fake?! (hits Stossel on the left side of his head, knocking him to the ground) What's that, is that fake?! Huh?! What the hell's wrong with you?! That's an open-handed slap, huh? You think it's fake, you -- (hits Stossel on the other side of the head). Background voice: Easy, easy. Schuls: Huh, what do you mean, fake?! What the hell is the matter with you?! Stossel was understandably enraged by the abuse and was dead-set on "embarrassing" the WWF leading into its monumental, make-or-break card -- particularly because McMahon, Jr., failed to fire Shults in connection with the incident. As a result, the reporter spent the majority of the piece focusing on the farcical "real vs. fake" issue and airing footage of ex-wrestler (including in the WWF and the AWA) Eddy "The Continental Lover" Mansfield demonstrating how to execute basic moves like body slams, arm drags and punches. Mansfield even went so far as to say, "If somebody believed that (wrestling is real), they'd be stupid." In addition, Stossel provided a forum for an ex-wrestler of far less repute, Jim Wilson, to levy allegations of homosexual coercion against a promoter. Ultimately, Stossel's attempts to smear the WWF backfired, and the company actually benefited from the publicity of the piece -- which was one of the highest rated in the history of "20/20." The legitimacy of the athletic competition in the Federation at that point was about as much in doubt as the innocence of a prostitute, and while the company certainly did have a seedy underbelly that, if exposed, could have caused it real harm, by harping on the real vs. fake debate, ABC wasn't revealing something that most wrestling fans didn't already realize. Consequently, the general public only became more curious regarding this unconventional sports-entertainment hybrid product following the "20/20" piece, and "Dr. D's" indecorous outburst may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The Schults saga didn't end there, however. He was more vocal than anyone in his umbrage over celebrity involvement in wrestling. In an apparent attempt to "prove" that wrestlers are legitimately tough, he attacked Mr. T backstage at a house show in Los Angeles, less than two weeks before the "War to Settle the Score." This time, of course, McMahon fired him. Even with the glut of publicity, the WWF was in dire financial straits by the time the big MTV angles arrived. As unbelievable as it sounds, Hulk Hogan's drawing power was floundering after his ultra-successful first few months as champion. Traditional fans were not yet conditioned to his brief, formulaic, brawling-style matches, and many of them left house shows feeling gypped when he disposed of his heel foes so quickly. As a result, gates waned every time the WWF returned to a given market with Hogan as the headliner. When the company attempted to invade the Mid-South, the Mid-Atlantic, and Texas, it met with disaster. Despite losing his main cash cow, the Junkyard Dog, Bill Watts had the greatest run of success in his promotion's history in 1984, and he handily outdrew the Federation's cards in Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and East Texas. Dallas' Fritz Von Erich was also . Mid-Atlantic, which remained NWA World champion Ric Flair's homebase, was going strong, thanks in part to the run-away success of new booker Dusty Rhodes, and McMahon's cards in the Carolinas largely flopped. The Federation did manage to draw well in Canada, California -- both in Los Angeles and the Bay Area -- and a few other pockets throughout the country, and shows in St. Louis and Hogan's old mid-west stomping grounds drew reasonably well. However, of the company's northeastern strongholds -- including New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh -- were also drawing inordinately poorly. Shockingly, even ticket sales at Madison Square Garden were the most sluggish they had been in years. The promotion only managed to sell out the building four times all year in 1984, and one of those was on the strength of the drawing power of Roddy Piper vs. Jimmy Snuka, rather than Hulk Hogan's. The August attendance figure at the historic building of 14,500, which was only two-thirds of capacity, was the lowest in at least several years and an outright embarrassment for the company. Even the "Brawl for it All" in December only managed to draw 15,000, which was an atrocious figure for the time. The Rock 'n Wrestling phenomenon had helped business rebound in early-1985, but the fact remained that the WWF wasn't drawing very well, and it was losing a substantial amount of money. Because the company was now running substantially more cards than ever, it was, in fact, grossing more money than ever, but McMahon's self-imposed enormous payroll, exorbitant syndication package, expensive production values, and added travel costs combined to wreak havoc on the company's bottom line. He was losing money hand-over-fist, and if he hadn't been able to secure a couple of new, emergency investors at the last minute, he may have never made it to WrestleMania. To compound the already-tense situation, McMahon had Ted Turner breathing down his neck because TBS had been inundated with viewer complaints regarding the quality of the WTBS show. In addition, Turner was upset with Vince for taping the shows in the northeast -- instead of the more traditional, southern-friendly Atlanta studio, as the agreement between the two sides dictated. By late-1984, McMahon probably already wanted to sell the rights to TBS slot, if only to wash his hands of the entire situation, but he still held down the fort to ensure that the WWF was the only game in town in the eyes of the mainstream. Much to the Federation's chagrin, though, Turner proceeded to make a moot point out of McMahon's stubbornness, first by giving a short-lived Ole Anderson restart promotion a new early-Saturday morning timeslot, then by passing it over to Bill Watts' flourishing Mid-South. To the added discomfiture of Vince, even in the discommoding timeslot, the Watts promotion soon wrested away the WWF's stranglehold on the top of the cable ratings chart. McMahon's other primary source of stress was that his competition had finally formed a strong (and ultimately short-lived) united front, called "Pro Wrestling USA." First, they pooled their resources to put on as strong of cards as possible in close proximity to WWF shows in a given area. When that tactic succeeded fairly well, they were making preparations to invade New York, if only to make Vince's life as difficult as possible. In fact, Jim Crockett had even managed to draw a crowd of upwards of 10,000 in New Jersey the previous April, with a trusty old Flair vs. Steamboat match as his main event, and Mid-Atlantic was starting to draw strong houses in the Federation's old Baltimore stronghold. McMahon's desperation reached its apogee in the month leading up to 'Mania. He had booked WrestleMania in over 200 large closed circuit locations across the country, and he anticipated an initial upswell of interest in the show in connection with the WWF's massive "War to Settle the Score" exposure. Conversely, early ticket sales were alarmingly poor -- even in the northeast -- and the event was rapidly shaping up to be a disaster. The company's front office was mystified -- as well as quite dejected, presumably -- and, with less than two weeks to go, live events coordinator Ed Cohen went to work canceling the venues that were showing the most cataclysmic returns. It's no exaggeration to say the WWF was in a state of unadulterated panic at this point, and Vince even caved in and sold the coveted TBS timeslot, to Jim Crockett, for a much-needed $1 million. Tensions were running high throughout the entire industry in the days preceding the big show. Throughout 1984, the "Pro Wrestling USA" promoters had scoffed at McMahon's audacious business practices, and several of them had even held a meeting ostensibly to plot strategy to counter the all-out assault on their territories. However, by all accounts, the rendezvous degenerated into little more than excuse to whoop it up at Vince's expense. By that point, it almost appeared as though they wanted Vince to cherry-pick their top stars at exorbitant prices, simply because they felt doing so would work against him in the end. Following the MTV specials and the Mr. T angle, though, they were no longer so convinced. Most of them were flabbergasted by the WWF's unparalleled level of mainstream acceptance, and they were at a loss for how to counter it. One promoter even attempted to convince Bruiser Brody, pro wrestling's ultimate outlaw, to buy a ticket to Madison Square Garden and attack T during his ring entrance, just to embarrass the Federation and ensure that its big show was a major embarrassment. Brody declined the offer, but such outlandish notions were surely not uncommon, and they only served to underscore the high-strung disposition that diffused the industry at the time. Even when absolved of the pressure from Turner and his audience, McMahon's situation really was more hopeless than ever before. If WrestleMania was a huge failure, not only would he lose a huge amount of money at a time when he was already on the brink of insolvency, but he also possibly stood to lose his agreement with NBC. His empire was crumbling, and he needed something -- anything -- to bail him out of the frantic situation. Luckily for the WWF, it had one last media surge remaining -- and this one turned out to be the most fruitful of all. Hogan and Mr. T embarked on a promotional tour de force, making countless TV and radio show appearances and taking full advantage of the company's NBC connection. In the week leading up to the big show, it was impossible not to notice the two: Most notably, they appeared in tandem on the "David Letterman Show" on comedian Richard Belzer's "Hot Properties" talk show, on which Hogan demonstrated a front-face lock on Belzer and accidentally dropped him to the floor -- resulting, amazingly enough, in a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Then, on the night before the card, the original host canceled out of a scheduled appearance on "Saturday Night Live," and Hogan and T -- who, naturally, were near the program's New York taping site at the time -- were major successes as the last-second replacements. The last-moment hype was phenomenal, and the Federation was riding a crest of mainstream prominence heading into the big card, on March 31, 1985. Partially because of the quality and sheer preponderance of Hogan's and T's promotional jaunt, and partly because closed-circuit patrons -- unbeknownst to the WWF at the time -- almost always buy their tickets at the last minute, the nearly-200 remaining closed-circuit auditoriums were beginning to sell much more briskly, in most locations. Still, tensions remained at peak levels for Crapshooter Vince and his colleagues on the day of the show, and, to the very moment the card when on the air, it remained uncertain whether the show would be a financial success. One overriding fact was clear, though: Madison Square Garden was sold-out, the crowd was spirited, and New York's privileged few celebrities and press corps were out in full force. To mint a phrase, if the WWF was going down, it was going to go down in a blaze of glory -- and with all eyes fixed upon it. It certainly wasn't the Federation's most aesthetically-pleasing fare, but to the new, chic audience it was only starting to attract, the quality of the in-ring action was of secondary importance. In the opener, Tito Santana downed the masked Executioner (Buddy Rose) in a decent match that got the crowd sufficiently acclimated to the historic proceedings. Santana had just recently lost the Intercontinental Title, and, at that point, he certainly stood to regain it down the road -- if the belt still existed by then. Next, King Kong Bundy continued his new-sprung monster push and demolished SD Jones in all of nine seconds -- a WrestleMania record. The next bout pitted newcomers Ricky Steamboat and Matt Borne against one another. Borne had been a top star in Georgia, and, although he never achieved anywhere near the same level of success in the WWF, he'll always be able to boast that he was involved in the best match at WrestleMania I. Although it was relatively short, he and Steamboat threw a bone to fans of strong in-ring action by putting on a quality athletic bout -- which should have come as no surprise, given who was involved. In the end, "The Dragon" won with the bodypress. Although the in-ring quality of the next match was abortive, it provided the MSG throng with some of its favorite moments of the night. Brutus Beefcake, accompanied by Johnny Valient, battled David Sammartino, but the unquestioned highlight was extracurricular: Bruno Sammartino -- then the most revered performer in the history of the promotion, evened the odds by throwing down with both of his son's enemies. The bout ended in a double-DQ after an unsightly gaggle of moves, but, for New York wrestling diehards, it was a rousing several minutes. Next, Greg Valentine defended the Intercontinental Title against the Junkyard Dog. Once again, the ending was disappointing (Valentine walked out, earning JYD a count-out win), and so was the match, despite Valentine's best efforts. The card then got a healthy dose of old-fashioned nationalistic fervor -- and the match didn't even involve Sgt. Slaughter. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo attempted to wrest the Tag Team Titles from the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, who were accompanied by Freddie Blassie. After a decent match -- the majority of which saw the heels methodically work over Rotundo -- the malfeasance of Blassie's cane came into play, and Volkoff pinned Windham after the Sheik had struck the babyface with the foreign object. The famous $15,000 "Bodyslam Challenge" was next, involving Andre the Giant and "Big" John Studd. The incensed Andre had suffered through the indignity of having his locks trimmed at the hands of Stuff and his manager, Bobby Heenan, about a month before the bout. After a short match, in which Studd made several failed attempts to lift Andre, the Giant wielded "Big" John into the air like the proverbial "sack of potatoes" -- as color commentator Jesse Ventura observed -- and slammed him to win the big purse. Much to everyone's disappointment, Heenan filched the money from Andre, right as he was throwing it out to the crowd. "The Brain" would get his comeuppance later on. It was all "Rock 'n Wrestling" from there. Wendi Richter, with Cyndi Lauper by her side, then attempted to extract revenge against Leilani Kai, with the Fabulous Moolah, in a Womens Title match. The "Girls Who Just Wanted to Have Fun" got the biggest reaction on the show at that point and, of course, there was only one logical way to end this match: Richter regained the title, after rolling through on a Kai flying bodypress. The best was yet to come -- at least as far as the audience at large was concerned. With the crowd sufficiently atwitter, the pre-main event ceremonies got underway. First, long-time company ring announcer Howard Finkel introduced multi-time Yankee manager Billy Martin as the guest ring announcer. Liberace, meanwhile, served as the guest timekeeper and the guest co-referee was Muhammad Ali -- who had played such an integral role in MSG's only other closed-circuit divertissement nine years earlier. The New York Rockettes also partook in the festivities, and they even took a moment to kick their legs up in the air in center-ring with Liberace, in an oft-replayed moment on newscasts throughout the country. By this point, every single one of the main event wrestlers were celebrities in their own rights, though, and the heat for Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, Bob Orton, Jimmy Snuka, Mr. T, and Hulk Hogan dwarfed that of the others. Hogan's presence stole the show, and he made T -- whose Hollywood reputation was that he had unmatched size and muscularity -- look comparatively puny, as the press noted in their coverage of the event. MSG was agog with the proverbial nuclear-level of heat, and the match itself was surprisingly passable -- mostly because Hogan, not T, handled the bulk of the in-ring activity for his team. In the end, Bob Orton's interference backfired when he accidentally smashed Orndorff across the head with his cast, the Hulkster made the cover, and special co-referee Pat Patterson made the pin. The Piper feud had ended relatively unresolved (largely because the "Rowdy One" legitimately refused to do any jobs for the entirety of his WWF tenure), but it was of no matter. Live, the event had been a major success. All that was left was to see if, somehow, the business side of the event had been commensurately fruitful. VII. The Aftermath Several well-worn cliches apply to WrestleMania's overwhelming prosperousness. It succeeded in the face of adversity. It overcame the overwhelming odds against it. And all things good to know are difficult to learn. Between closed-circuit, video tape, live, and merchandising sale, the event drew over $5 million in revenue, which was more than five times the record for any previous single-event wrestling gross. The last-minute rush of closed-circuit customers had been enormous -- and absolutely imperative. The mainstream media reported the success of the card en masse, serving further to solidify the WWF's faddish popularity and officially marking Hulk Hogan's arrival as a household name. Two months later, the Federation achieved even greater success when it embarked on its "Saturday Night's Main Event" era on NBC. Several licensing deals, a Saturday morning WWF cartoon show, and still more newspaper and magazine stories were to follow. In 1985, the company grossed an unheard-of sum of $90 million. Its next-closest competitor barely pulled one-sixth as much. In retrospect, Vince McMahon succeeded largely because he contrived a brilliant sleight-of-hand in regard to the media. The press picked up on the WWF's boom in popularity long before it even took place, which, ironically, was what created the company's resonant popularity. In a sense, Hulk Hogan became a superhero for millions of children before he really was, and McMahon proved his mettle as an ingenious promoter long before he actually had. Even though he was relatively inexperienced as a promoter at that point, even then, Vince was a master manipulator. The wrestling war wasn't officially over at that point, but, for all intents and purposes, it became a two-horse race after that point. Now solvent for the first time since he embarked on his expansion, McMahon conducted even more raids and gained even greater syndicated exposure, and, now, the WWF really was the hottest draw in the country in almost every market. Trying to combat the WWF was like standing in the face of hurricane winds at that point: Territory after territory was obliterated over the next few years, and even Bill Watts' Mid-South/UWF failed was unable to delay the inevitable for long. Over the next three years, the Ric Flair-bolstered Mid-Atlantic, with its new TBS timeslot, was the only true obstacle in Vince's path toward a total monopoly over the business. One of the most exciting periods in the history of the wrestling industry was about to commence. But that, of course, is another Chronicle altogether.

"If WrestleMania I hadn't succeeded, there would be no WWF today." - Vince McMahon In preparation for the 18th-annual installment of WrestleMania, Vince McMahon made a calculated, yet monumental, gamble. By hiring the aging, potentially-virulent impetuses of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash, the WWF head not only risked upsetting his company's meticulously-constructed, scrupulously-protected locker room harmony, but he also imperiled the future of his promotion itself. After all, two-thirds of the NWO troika are notorious political masterminds, and since all three are inked to exorbitant two-year contracts, they will almost certainly be long-term fixtures at the top of the Federation's cards, where they have the potential to do as much harm as good. Thus far, the results of this hazardous plunge into the unknown have been mixed, to say the least. WrestleMania X-8 almost certainly brought home a larger buy rate than it would have without the three men's involvement, and Hogan's appearance -- athletically-limited though it was -- was positively show-stealing. However, the remainder of the faction's early returns have not been promising, and as locker room morale continues to deteriorate amidst ebbing ratings and swirling rumors regarding contract reductions and roster cuts, it appears that, six months to a year from now, this is one gamble that will turn out to be ill-fated. McMahon, though, is nothing if not a gamester, and, as risky as his latest role of the dice was, it was not nearly as iffy as one in which he participated seventeen years ago. In the spring of 1985, McMahon was locked in a bitter fight to keep his upstart wrestling empire afloat. As a result, he opted -- in a case strikingly similar to that of his NWO signing decision -- to take an enormous, yet carefully-contemplated, risk. This time, however, there was no middle-ground, and his caution-to-the-wind maneuver was either going to be a complete boon or a complete bust. If it succeeded, the promotion would survive well into the future. If not, the WWF would almost surely meet with a dramatic end. This high-stakes promotional poker match was not without its scary moments, and there were times when McMahon's co-players mistook him for a defeated man. Much to their amusement, the WWF was in shambles leading up to Vince's desperation, all-or-nothing wager, and the then-new-sprung owner was drowning in a sea of red ink and employee unrest. In April 1985, industry-wide domination was the name of the game, and, after seventeen months of priming and posturing, McMahon's very existence as a promoter was highly precarious. Among the other participants in this decisive, if unruly, battle for wrestling supremacy included eminent promoter linchpins like the Mid-Atlantic's Jim Crockett, Georgia's Ole Anderson, the American Wrestling Association's Verne Gagne, Southwest Championship Wrestling's Joe Blanchard, and Mid-South's Bill Watts. To many of them, Vince was somewhat of a joke, and he seemed destined to fall flat on his face, a victim of his own effrontery. At one point, in the late winter of 1985, most of them ever went so far as to gather together for the expressed purpose of snickering at the naivete of this relatively young social climber, who had been spending money hand-over-fist for a year and-a-half and getting comparatively little in return. According to their line of thinking, there was no way he could succeed with such a rash business plan, and it was only a matter of time before his unconventional methods exploded in his face. Make no mistake about it: McMahon could felt the precision of their scorn, and, although the odds seemed stacked imposingly against him, he was determined to get the last laugh. Finally, when the upshot went down on April 1, 1985, there was, in fact, still plenty of chortling reverberating throughout the industry. However, all of it was now emanating from Vince's side of the table. Much to the shocked outrage of his co-players, McMahon had just plunked down a royal flush. Its name was "WrestleMania," and on Sunday, it celebrated its 17th anniversary. Perhaps it's an exaggeration to say the WWF might have died had that climacteric Madison Square Garden card not been such a resounding success. McMahon did still have a couple of other aces up his sleeve, not the least of which was a remunerative agreement with NBC that was scheduled to kick in two months later. Nevertheless, there can be no doubting that the blow-away success of his New York closed-circuit extravaganza entirely changed the face of the wrestling industry, and it also officially heralded the arrival of the Federation as the preeminent wrestling franchise in the country. Of course, McMahon's ultimate success, while admirable from a capitalistic business standpoint, far from made him heroic. At best, he was acting as a shrewd entrepreneur who was simply looking out for his own best interests and doing nothing that the United States' social system didn't allow. At worst, he was an avaricious megalomaniac who cared little for the lineage of the industry which had made him so successful and felt even less remorse for the dozens of hard-working wrestling employees he put out of work during his rise to prominence. However, this story is not so much about the content of McMahon's character as the wrestling renaissance he created. In 1983 and 1984, the northerly winds of change were blowing steadily. And, when they momentarily settled in the spring of 1985, the course of wrestling history had been irrevocably altered. I. A Tale of Two Vinces When 1983 began, the terms "pro wrestling" and "mainstream notoriety" were about as mutually exclusive as any that existed in contemporary North American culture. At the time, some twenty regional wrestling offices (known, collectively, as the National Wrestling Alliance) dotted the U.S. and Canada, and, while most of them were extremely popular local institutions, few had ever conceived of expanding outside of their regional spheres of influence. Among this coterie of affiliated promotions was the Connecticut-based World Wrestling Federation, formerly the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which had been owned and operated for the previous two decades by Vince McMahon, Sr. Arguably, it was the largest and most well-known territory of them all -- largely due to its proximity to the country's epicenter, New York -- and drew the biggest gates in the business for its regular monthly stops in Manhattan, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore. Nonetheless, relatively few fans outside of the Northeast had so much as seen a WWF match, let alone knew of the local repute of the famous McMahon family. The company's "World" champion at the time was Bob Backlund, who, while a household name in the Federation's homebase, was hardly the type of performer capable of capturing the imagination of the American public at large. Dubbed the "All American Boy," he was a fairly colorless -- albeit technically very proficient -- wrestler who had been a major draw for the better part of his then-five-year title reign, thanks in part to the enormity and/or flamboyance of heel opponents like "Superstar" Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, Greg Valentine, John Studd, Jimmy Snuka, Pat Patterson, Ken Patera, and Peter Maivia. However, the once-hearty gates he drew at all of the company's monthly stops were beginning to dwindle, and it was clear to all involved that a changing of the guard would soon be in order. Just how dramatic that change would ultimately be, much less who would reap its ample benefits, was a matter completely unbeknownst to all but two men. By the fall of '83, the McMahons -- Vince Sr. and Vince Jr. -- had already begun formulating plans to transform their family-owned business from a locally-favored entity into a national and, eventually, international powerhouse. Jr. had actually purchased the company from Sr. and his minority stockholders in 1982, but Sr. -- who was in poor health -- remained an integral decision WWF maker. However, 38-year-old Jr., who had been involved with the company in various capacities for 13 years -- most of them as an announcer -- certainly was the head honcho at this point. In truth, the Vinces were not alone in their expansionist aspirations. Over the previous 15 years, several wayward promoters had attempted to go against the established grain of the NWA by creating national promotions, including Ann Gunkel of Atlanta in the early-'70s and one-time basketball promoter Eddie Einhorn in the mid-'70s. In addition, Joe Blanchard's Southwest Championship Wrestling had been making rumblings about invading other territories' groups for several years now, and, because of his national cable exposure on the USA Network, several of his peers were wary of his threats. So, while what the McMahons' designs were certainly nothing new to this often-ruthless business, they initially did a masterful job of keeping their intentions a secret. They did such a nimble job of concealment, in fact, that the vast majority of the old guard of wrestlers and promoters who have since spoken out regarding this historic period have emphatically asserted that the WWF's monopolistic aspirations belonged solely to McMahon, Jr. -- a theory which Vince himself has since propagated on many occasions. However, as much as this entire period is open to interpretive judgements, several basic facts demonstrate otherwise. It's not clear exactly to what extent McMahon, Sr., was involved with the plan, and it's entirely likely that Jr. contrived the majority of the expansionist blueprints. However, it is clear that Sr. was also very much implicated in the scheme, and it likely never would have worked without his cooperation. When the McMahons embarked on their first notable strategic front, it was so well formulated that none of their competitors even recognized it for the offensive strike that it was. In late-1983, the WWF purchased Blanchard's slot on the USA Network at the cost of $3,000 a week and also agreed to pay off the debt SCW had accrued in its three years on the station. The network had been disillusioned with Blanchard dating back several months, not only because he was often tardy with his payments, but he relied on a violent, bloody brand of wrestling that didn't square with the station's standards of acceptability. Conversely, the McMahons' product was becoming increasingly family-friendly, and Jr. Vince had several investors lined up that allowed him always to make his payments on a timely basis. The McMahons -- with Jr. making the majority of the day-to-day decisions by this point -- dubbed their new cable program "All-American Wrestling," which was a highlights-based show which featured arena matches involving both the WWF's top stars (Backlund, Sgt. Slaughter, Jimmy Snuka, Andre the Giant, Don Muraco, etc.) and select big names from other territories. In this way, the other promotions were actually grateful to Vince and believed he was doing them a favor by giving their big cash cows national exposure. In reality, although he obviously never let on as much, McMahon had something far different in mind. The non-Federation tapes he chose to air showcased the matches of wrestlers he had marked as potential acquisitions when it came time to consummate his plans more fully, with Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, the Von Erich brothers, Paul Orndorff, Barry Windham, Roddy Piper, and the Junkyard Dog being only some of the immense talents he opted to showcase. The McMahons' next maneuver, which also went mostly unheeded, was to initiate the several-month-long process of undermining Ole Anderson's Georgia Championship Wrestling, the WWF's chief competitor due to its exposure on the WTBS cable station. Suddenly, in October '83, several of Anderson's top stars started disappearing from view, only to resurface on tours for New Japan Pro Wrestling later that month. The remainder of the NWA promoters were dumbfounded by this occurrence; since the WWF had a working relationship with NJPW, they suspected that the wrestlers had all signed contracts with New York, but Sr. McMahon, whom they respected greatly, quickly reassured them that his promotion had no intention of extirpating GCW, much less attempting a monopoly on the entire business. And, because the group -- which included the aforementioned Piper and Orndorff, along with the Masked Superstar and Brian Blair -- had yet to wrestle on any Federation cards, he actually did have a fairly convincing case. Finally, on December 26, 1983, in Madison Square Garden, all of the competing promoters had their worst fears confirmed. The exact nature of what transpired that night remains shrouded in mystery to this day, but what was very much apparent was that the wrestling business was about to undergo rapid and distinct changes. The Iron Sheik had ended Bob Backlund's near-six-year run atop the WWF, and while a World Title change was very significant unto itself at that time, what it represented -- a changing of the guard -- was of far greater consequence. For several years afterward, Backlund claimed he was double-crossed in the match, and that he had no inclination that his manager, Arnold Skaaland, was going to throw in the white towel to signify that he had submitted to the Sheik's camel clutch. Many of Backlund's contemporaries were skeptical of his lamentable tale and figured it was nothing more than a way for him to cope with the disgrace of being phased out of the company, and they point to the fact that he remained in the Federation for another eight months, before quitting in disgust when McMahon insisted he die his hair black and turn heel. However, in light of several of Jr. Vince's other infamous actions during his near-twenty-year run as the Federation's head honcho, Backlund's version of the incident has gained credence over the years. The Sheik, for his part, was an accomplished 12-year veteran, a former Olympic wrestler, and had been a headliner in several territories in the South for the previous four years. However, it was clear that he was little more than a transitional champion, and his reign was to serve the primary purpose of setting the stage for something much bigger that was about to come roaring along. McMahon wasted little time in allowing that something to manifest itself. Immediately after that the infamous post-Christmas Madison Square Garden show, the flood gates opened, and a torrent of marketable talent stormed New York, leaving numerous once-thriving, now-dying promotions in their wake. II. The Torrent of Talent The WWF had always predominately been a big mans' territory, and it's clear that -- 20 years later -- Vince Jr. is a product of his upbringing in the business. For McMahon, the prototype of the ideal, marketable wrestler was 1970s heel powerhouse , the self-denominated "Man of the Hour, the Man with the Power, Too Sweet to be Sour!" and the owner of the original "22-inch pythons." Graham was a well-sculpted, flamboyant, ultra-charismatic bleached-blond and owns the second-longest heel WWF Title reign in company history, from 1977-1978. More importantly, he was Jr. McMahon's favorite wrestler at the time and, as such, became the archetype for the Federation mogul's new vision of the business. McMahon felt that, to market his product to the general public most effectively, his performers should resemble bodybuilders more than traditional wrestlers, and that their personalities are more important than their in-ring skills. The wrestlers he pursued during his numerous talent raids from '83-'85 (and beyond) reflected this preference: In were hulking musclemen (many of whom were loaded with charisma and lacking in actual wrestling ability); out, with a few notable exceptions, were talented technical wrestlers with mediocre physiques. Hulk Hogan: Unfortunately for McMahon, he was unable to enlist primo "Superstar" Graham himself, who, with his marketability waning, jumped ship to Mid-Atlantic as a mid-carder in late-1983. Luckily for Vince, though, he was able to attain the services of the next best thing: a 6'4", 290 lbs. Graham-inspired performer named Hulk Hogan, who was billed as 6'8" and over 300. Wrestling lore will likely forever hold that, prior to his pixilated appearance as "Thunderlips" in the box office smash "Rocky III" in 1983, Hogan was a relative unknown in the business. However, the truth is that he had been the biggest, most consistent drawing card around since his early-1982 babyface turn in the AWA, and the mainstream rub he received from his cinematic efforts alongside Sylvester Stallone only augmented his burgeoning success. The "Incredible" Hulk possessed dynamic physical charisma, which perfectly complimented his unique, chiseled, and steroid-fueled physique. What's more, his ear-cupping, power-fueled, posing-and-posturing live act; garrulous rap on promos; long, corn silk (and thinning) hair; chestnut tan comprised a package unlike any fans in the Twin Cities had ever seen before. It, combined with his "Rocky" notoriety and the national reputation he had amassed as Andre the Giant's frequent WWWF rival in 1979-1980, made him the most marketable performer in the business -- not even with the exception of the vaunted Andre. The future "Hulkster" set numerous box office records in feuds with Jesse "The Body" Ventura (below), the late "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell, and -- briefly -- AWA champ Nick Bockwinkel. Before long, fans throughout the Midwest were clamoring to see their favorite star realize his World championship aspirations. However, company owner/operator/wrestling demigod Verne Gagne had other designs, and it wasn't long before Hogan justifiably became disillusioned with his incommensurate push and salary (estimated at $5,000 per week). Two promoters who certainly did realize Hogan's potential value were the McMahons, who had helped boost him to national prominence in the WWWF during his 1979-1981 tenure in New York. As fate would have it, it was while the he was on one of his frequent tours as the top foreigner in New Japan Pro Wrestling -- a McMahon family ally -- that Vince, Sr., approached the "Incredible" Hulk with promises of an appreciable raise and an elusive, sustained World Title run. Hogan clearly found the woos to his liking, because in December, 1983, when he landed down in the United States, it was not in Minnesota, but in New York. Only one week after Backlund's title loss to the Iron Sheik, Hogan made his WWF return in typical dramatic fashion. On an edition of "All-Star Wrestling," the "All-American Boy" was in the midst of a ruthless beat down at the hands of the treacherous quartet of the Wild Samoans and "Captain" Lou Albano. Before long, Hogan emerged from the back and, as the crowd greeted him with a huge reaction, proceeded to lay waste to four of the the heels (four of the tops in the Northeast) in one fell swoop. Hogan's dominating display, while impractical, was like few in the history of the promotion, and it was immediately clear that he, not Backlund, was now the promotion's number one babyface. The Hulk's massive push continued the next week as he and Backlund met and defeated Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee. Naturally, Backlund played the part of the weak link in the tag team, and every time Hogan entered the ring, he contiguously and thoroughly cleaned house. "Hulkamania" was born, and the next step in the now-yellow-and-red-clad Hogan's dominating path seemed inevitable. For the next month's Madison Square Garden card, the WWF eschewed standard World Title rematch protocol by granting the Hulk next crack at the champ, while Backlund -- as the storyline went -- had a severe shoulder injury and was unable to accept the bout. Hence, on January 23, 1984, the company's changing of the guard took place, and shockwaves promptly reverberated throughout the industry. The bout ushered in a new era of brief title showdowns which were characterized by Hogan's overpowering presence, and, in this particular match, he even forced his way out of the heretofore-unbreakable Camel Clutch before winning the title at just past the 7:00 mark with a bodyslam and legdrop combo. The response to the match was overwhelming; not only did it earn one of the biggest pops in the history of the hallowed Garden -- replete with Hogan's new theme song, "Eye of the Tiger," from Rocky) -- but the show drew a sell-out of approximately 22,000 fans, with 4,000 more watching on a closed-circuit broadcast at the adjacent Felt Forum. Few onlookers were aware of the historical magnitude of what took place, but it was clear that Hogan was marked for an extended title run, and his status as the business' premiere attraction was more secure than ever. Roddy Piper: The new-look WWF was branded by the time-tested struggle between good and evil, and for superhero Hogan truly to achieve any kind of long-term success, he would need a nearly-as-charismatic foil. Ironically, when "Rowdy" Roddy Piper first entered the company in December 1983, at age 32, he figured to be one of the last people to whom the McMahons would ultimately assign that role. At a legitimate 6'1" and 230 lbs, and without the unwieldy mass that suited the penchant of the Vinces, the native of Scotland seemed as though he would be a role player -- and nothing more -- within the confines of this new form of wrestling. In fact, one well-known story in the business at the time told of how Vince, Sr., having heard of Piper's drawing prowess in Portland, had flown him in for a WWWF card in the late-'70s, only to get one look at the then-200-or-so-pound wrestler and tell him to board the next plane back to Oregon. Piper had, at various times during his 13-year career, been one of the top two drawing cards in four different regions, including the Southern California, Pacific Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Georgia territories. It was while working for Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic and Ole Anderson's Georgia Championship Wrestling promotions that he had achieved his greatest notoriety, by way of classic feuds with the likes of Ric Flair, Greg Valentine, and "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer. He had also achieved great success as Gordon Solie's color commentator on GCW's WTBS show, which alone made him one of the most recognizable performers in the entire industry. However, when Piper arrived in the WWF, he did so not as a wrestler and not as a commentator, but as a manager. His charges included two other Federation newcomers, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and "Dr. D" David Shults, and, initially, he very seldom set foot in the ring. The "Rowdy Scot" took his depiction in stride, however, and was such a phenomenal (and hilarious) manager and was so highly endowed at drawing attention to himself at ringside that the Vinces quickly caught on. Within weeks, they began slotting him more interview time, and Piper -- arguably the premiere mic man in the business at the time -- instantaneously got over like gang-busters. Ultimately, his rollicking "loose cannon" act proved to be more than bullet-proof enough to overcome the McMahon Family's big man fetish. It was less than two months into his WWF tenure that the WWF assigned Piper his own weekly talk show segment, called "Piper's Pit." Naturally, these exhibitions were a major hit and, before long, made the "Rowdy Scot" the most over personality in the company, with the possible exception of the Hulkster. Whenever a babyface would visit (Jimmy Snuka, Tony Garea, Rocky Johnson, etc.), Roddy would hog nearly all of the mic time, and on the rare occasions that he would hold the microphone out for his guest, he would either snap it away or click it off. On several occasions, he would even attack the fan-favorite guests, before standing above them and, invariably, spouting his famous catch-phrase, "Just when you think you know the answers, I change all the questions." Conversely, whenever a heel visited (Lou Albano, Shults, Orndorff, etc.), the two parties would spend the entirety of the segment joking, commiserating, and devising hilarious rationalizations for the most unscrupulous of dirty deeds. In other instances, Piper would even interview himself. No doubt about it: Piper was steadily gaining heat, and as the winter came to a close in '84, he was the McMahons' most entertaining act. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff: One of the wrestlers who suddenly disappeared from Georgia Championship Wrestling in late-1983, only to turn up in the WWF months later, was "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Ironically, "Paula," as he was referred by the company's hostile patrons, debuted the same night Hulk Hogan won the WWF Title from the Iron Sheik in Madison Square Garden. He would go on to become one of the Hulkster's top three rivals throughout the next two years and, in fact, was on the losing end in Hogan's first title defense at MSG the next month. Orndorff was a well-built, athletic, and -- above all else -- arrogant performer who, in addition to headlining in Georgia in 1982 and 1983, had also been a top star in Mid-South in the early-'80s. Although he was not nearly as charismatic as his ally Piper, he had a well-earned reputation as one of the top workers in the country (he was certainly one of the top five in the WWF) and cut solid -- though not extraordinary -- promos. As such, although he never received an extended run on top in the Federation, he was a solid draw whenever plugged into the main event slot, and, of course, he would ultimately go down in history for his integral involvement in WrestleMania. Wendi Richter: An attractive, shapely 23-year-old, Richter arrived in the Federation in early-1984 after honing her craft in the Southern promotional belt and in Japan. Although her tenure only lasted two year, she went on to become one of the most important performers in the entire business during this period. The athletic commission had actually enforced a ban on women's matches in New York for a number of years in the '60s and '70s, but not for long. Not only were Richter and her division a central component of Jr. Vince's early marketing efforts, but her feud with her real-life trainer, the Fabulous Moolah, was the second most heavily-pushed issue in the promotion for a period of several months. Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham: In 1984, two of the most promising young wrestlers in the business were real-life brothers-in-law Mike Rotundo, 26, and Barry Windham, 24. Fresh off a Tag Team Title run in Florida at mid-year, they arrived in the WWF in September, at which point Jr. McMahon christened them the "All-American Boys" and gave them a huge push right to the top of his tag division. Ther, they promptly won the titles from the ultra-talented heel tandem of Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch, before laying on an even more syrupy coat of heartthrob-flavored patriotism in their feud with the Iron Sheik & Nickolai Volkoff. Windham, with his long, blond bangs and premium athleticism, was considered especially talented at the time, and many observers already had him pegged as a future World champion. He had already cleaned up as the top star of the Florida territory for the previous year, and, in an interesting bit of trivia, was Dusty Rhodes' first choice for the role Magnum TA eventually got in the Mid-Atlantic: the dominant, All-American pretty boy. Instead, he opted for the big money of the WWF, like half the other big-league talent of the period. Rotundo, meanwhile, was also considered a first-rate talent and had demonstrated as much as a frequent titleholder the previous two years in both Florida and the Carolinas himself. Greg "the Hammer" Valentine (John Winiski, Jr.): Fresh off of legendary feuds with Ric Flair and Roddy Piper in the Mid-Atlantic, Valentine (who had actually had a famous feud with Bob Backlund three years earlier) was also one of the influx of WWF arrivals in early-1984. Initially, he was a protege of "The Guiding Light" Lou Albano, whose promo ability, combined with Valentine's very strong working ability, made the "Hammer" one of the Federation's top-five heels during the expansion period. Not surprisingly, he won his first Intercontinental Title just four months into his run, by beating Tito Santana . "Ace" Bob Orton: Once Roddy Piper had effectively riled up 90% of the WWF's babyface roster through his antics on "Piper's Pit," he found himself in dire need of a bodyguard (or, so the storyline went). That was the cue for the re-arrival of "Cowboy" Bob Orton, who re-debuted with much fanfare by sitting in on a "Pit" segment involving jobber Aldo Marino. After Marino upbraided Piper for needing a "henchman" to protect him, the "Rowdy Scot" had Orton punk him out, setting the stage for a series of Piper & Orton main event tag team matches throughout the summer of '84. Orton had actually been a WWF mainstay throughout 1983, but he apparently burnt out and disappeared for several months before once again cropping up as Piper's accomplice. At the time, "Cowboy" Bob was a top-flight worker and, arguably, one of the top 10 in-ring performers in the country. He had had several runs on top in other territories -- including Memphis, the AWA, Mid-South, and Mid-Atlantic -- and, in another bit of trivia, had even been Randy Savage's tag team partner for a brief spell. After his Federation re-debut, he would remained one of the McMahons' top heels for the next two years -- and a well-deserved one, at that. "Dr. D" David Schuls: A noted hot-head who became more (in)famous for his outside-of-the-ring exploits than anything he accomplished inside of it, Schuls jumped ship from the AWA to the WWF in early-1984, at the behest of his good friend Hulk Hogan. "Dr. D" had actually been exiled from the country at one point, in connection with an out-of-the ring scrape with the law, but because he was a large, effectively obnoxious heel, he was always able to find work in various territories. His pairing with the Roddy Piper stable immediately made him a top star in the Fed, but, as we'll see later, his tenure proved short-lived. The closest comparison to him among today's wrestlers might be Scott Steiner, although Schults obviously wasn't nearly as well-muscled. Jesse "The Body" Ventura: A veteran heel with major stints in Oregon, Minnesota, and New York under his belt, Ventura was one of about a half-dozen wrestlers to jump ship from Verne Gagne's operation in early-1984. Although he received a big push initially -- mostly due to his superlative promos and physique -- and was scheduled to headline a Madison Square Garden match against Hulk Hogan in mid-'84, he was hospitalized with blood clots in his lungs just a couple of days before the match. As a result, he was sidelined for the next several months, before attempting a comeback, then ultimately retiring because of the health conflict. Ventura landed on his feet, of course, and went on to achieve his greatest fame in wrestling several months later. He became the WWF's primary color commentator and instantly gained a huge cult following. The heel announcer act had actually been perfected by Roddy Piper in GCW, but "The Body" was so successful in the role that, without it, he never would have achieved anything resembling his recent meteoric heights of non-wrestling success. Junkyard Dog: JYD was actually just removed from a four-year run as arguably the top drawing card in the United States when the WWF cherry-picked him from Bill Watts' Mid-South in late-1984. And, while he never displayed the same form in the Federation, he was a very popular mid-card fixture there for nearly four years, stowed with his familiar entrance theme ("Another One Bites the Dust"), dog collar, head butts, and wry promos. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat: Steamboat had been one of the top stars and best workers in the business dating back to the late-'70s, when he entered Mid-Atlantic and commenced his legendary rivalry with Ric Flair. By late-1984, however, "The Dragon" had grown disenchanted with the Crockett territory, whose new booker -- Dusty Rhodes -- refused to push him because he abhorred being on the road and only agreed to work 8-10 cards per months. As a result, while on a temporary "retirement" from the business in early-'85, he was only too happy to defect to the WWF when the inevitable call came from Jr. McMahon. Although the workload in the Federation would be demanding, and he would regularly have to travel all over the country, the ample salary (rumored as $5,000 per week -- or $260,000 per year) was too enticing to turn down. In addition, with former Mid-Atlantic friend/booker George Scott now handling the majority of Titan's booking duties (as we'll see below), Steamboat suspected he might actually be used more befittingly in New York. Steamboat never really did fully realize the vast promise of his working relationship with the WWF, but, for the time being, he was arguably the premiere worker in the company, and his karate-inspired gimmick helped make him a very popular mid-carder. At the very outset, he assumed a role as Jimmy Snuka's tag team partner in a tandem called the "South Pacific Connection." Hillbilly Jim: A scant two-year pro when the WWF signed him in late-1984, the strapping, thickly-bearded, overalls-clad Jim was one of the promotion's top mid-carders in the mid-'80s, despite his want for actual wrestling ability. Following a stint in Memphis as "Harley Davidson," he was actually introduced to Federation audiences as part of a "fan out of the crowd" gimmick, then through a series of "training videos" with Hulk Hogan himself. Naturally, his persona was that of a big, convivial country bumpkin. Partly because he was one of Vince, Jr.'s pet projects, and partly due to the rub from his association with Hogan, he got a big push and ran through much of the company's mid-card corps in 1985. Nikolai Volkoff: The imposing Volkoff had been a headliner in the Midwest and was, like so many of the wrestlers on this list, plying his trade in Georgia when the WWF came calling in mid-1984. After jumping to the Federation with his Russian xenophobe gimmick in tow, he became one of the company's top heels, challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF Title, before settling in as the Iron Sheik's tag team partner in 1985. King Kong Bundy: Following tenures on top in World Class and Memphis, Bundy joined the WWF in 1984 and almost immediately got over strong by virtue of his size (billed at 6'5" and 450 lbs.) and insistence that referees count to five, instead of three, during his matches. However, the best for him was to come at WrestleMania II. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan: Having already demonstrated himself as one of the greatest managers of all-time through his near-twenty years of service to the AWA, Heenan joined the tidle wave of defectors from Minnesota to New York when he signed a contract with McMahon in September, 1984. Initially, he lent his considerable comedic and verbal abilities to John Studd, King Kong Bundy, and others. Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart: After a legendary stint in Memphis, Hart came to the WWF in mid-1984 as the manager for Greg Valentine, and then Brutus Beefcake. Many of those who regularly viewed his work in Tennessee in the early-'80s contend that he had the greatest single managerial run in the history of the business, but, unfortunately, he never had sufficing opportunity to display the full range of his talents in the WWF. He was, however, a very valuable component of the promotion's mid-card for over nine years. III. The Mainstays Sgt. Slaughter (Robert Remus): One of the many facts about the period leading up to WrestleMania that history has obscured is that Sgt. Slaughter, not Hulk Hogan, actually achieved the greatest mainstream notoriety of anyone in the industry in 1984. The Sarge was the focus of nearly all of the budding number of newspaper and magazine write-ups regarding the WWF's unique success around this time, and, although much of the attention stemmed from the fact that descriptions of the flag-waving patriot gimmick made for good copy, Slaughter's renown was very well-deserved. After all, his feud with the Arabian Iron Sheik was the hottest ticket in wrestling in the spring of '84, drawing strong gates around the horn -- and producing several very good matches, to boot. Also, he was a strong big-man worker who took great bumps for his size (around 270 lbs. legit -- billed as 310); cut money-drawing, craggy-voiced promos; and executed his nationalistic persona to perfection. Unfortunately, though, he soon fell into the common trap of believing his own press and, by the end of 1984, had begun complaining loudly about his salary, which he believed was inequitably low. On one fateful night in 1984, after failing to make good on several vows to quit the company if Vince, Jr., did not capitulate to his demands, Slaughter gathered the entire locker room together and attempted to unionize them. This maneuver proved to be ill-advised: Hogan ratted him out to management -- a fact which only came out several years later -- and Vince wasted no time in firing him, temporarily ending his relationship with the company that had first brought him to national prominence in 1980. Ultimately, he was little more than an afterthought when the WWF embarked on its greater period of success four months later, when he just as easily could have been one of its centerpieces. Andre the Giant (Andre Rousemoff): Although the late Giant was several years removed from being the top drawing card in the industry, he remained a valuable entity in the WWF, which had been his primary homebase for the past several years. In addition, Vince, Sr., had been his booking agent since 1973 (at which point he emerged as the biggest attraction in the industry, in more ways than one), which made his relationship with the McMahon family an especially amenable one. In particular, the Giant had never fully recovered -- both in terms of mobility and drawing power -- ever since sustaining a broken ankle during a 1981 match against Killer Khan. By 1984, he was limited to remaining relatively stationary while his opponents (usually similarly-hulking men) did their best to sell his now-feeble offense. However, because of his size and vaunted reputation, he was a valuable role player, and his rivalry with "Big" John Studd was one of the central feuds in the company in the years immediately preceeding WrestleMania. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka (James Reiner): The legendary Snuka had been one of the top stars in the business ever since enlisting the legendary "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers as his manager in 1980, and his career especially blossomed while under the guidance of Lou Albano in the WWF in 1982. He was the first authentic top-rope wrestler in the history of the northeast, with his Superfly Leap (top-rope splash) having inspired the awe of many an MSG fan for several years by the time 1984 rolled around. Unfortunately, by that time, Snuka was also beset by numerous personal problems, not the least of which were his well-known substance abuse and the unaccountable death of his girlfriend in a hotel room in Pennsylvania. Not coincidentally, as soon as Hogan arrived, the McMahons made the executive decision to phase the "Superfly" down their cards slightly, but he remained one of the promotion's top three babyfaces for several more months, and he went on to participate in the company's hottest feud of the year in 1984. Don "The Magnificent" Muraco: A multi-time Intercontinental champion, the heel Muraco had been one of the top two or three wrestlers in the WWF for the previous three years, in addition to possessing ample charisma and mic skills. He was only one year removed from a violent, bloody, and entertaining big-money feud with Jimmy Snuka when the expansion hit full stride in 1984, and he was rewarded for his years of service with a big raise. However, his push wasn't quite what it once was, due to the roster depth charts' having grown, and he never regained his headlining spot after losing the IC strap to Tito Santana early in the year. With Mr. Fuji as his manager, he did remain a central part of the company, but he was still one of several performers whose choicest years were behind him when the new generation of fans discovered the business. Tito Santana: A WWF mid-card pillar on-and-off since the late-'70s, Jr. Vince continued to give Santana an ample push, casting him as the company's IC champ and token Latin star throughout 1984 and up until WrestleMania. McMahon particularly favored him due to his natural attractiveness, although he was a solid worker and slightly-above-average interview as well. "Big" John Studd: The gargantuan Studd (billed at 6'10" and 380 lbs, although he was legitimately closer to 6'7" and 330) had several stints with the Federation, with the concurrent one dating to 1982. In addition to his now-legendary feud with Andre the Giant -- which raged throughout 1984 and 1985 -- he was one of Hulk Hogan's earliest WWF Title challengers and drew big money against the Hulkster ala carte in mid-late-'84. Of note is that Studd is culpable for the bad knees which plague Hogan to this very day, stemming from a Madison Square Garden match during their feud. Fabulous Moolah: Moolah had held the World Womens Title (such as it was) for nearly thirty years between several different reigns by the time she dropped the title to Wendi Richter in 1984 and, of course, remained a centerpiece of the division throughout the next several years. Now well into her 50s, she was actually a poor worker by this point and owned ill-repute in some circles for her subordination of other female performers. Regardless, she did achieve the greatest celebrity of her career at this stage. George "the Animal" Steele: An old-time favorite, the turnbuckle-chomping Steele was wrestling only sporadically by 1984 and 1985, but he remained a viable heel throughout the period in his pseudo-retarded role. He had always been a poor worker, but he had been an on-and-off main eventer in the company for the previous 12 years, nonetheless. "Captain" Lou Albano: The "Guiding Light" and the manager of over a dozen different Tag Team championship combination, Albano was one of the most indispensable components of this period, for reasons extending outside his vast talents at ringside and behind the microphone. As it was, his gravelly-voiced portrayal of a slob was top-notch, and he cut great, comedic promos. "Classy" Freddy Blassie: In pop culture, his greatest influence was as the originator of the phrase "pencil-necked geek." In wrestling circles, however, he is one of the all-time legendary performers and went on to become a terrific manager after retiring in the '70s. In '84 and '85, he was most notable for guiding the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Mr. Fuji: Many of Fuji's co-workers resented him because he lacked talent, yet received a push -- both as a wrestler and a manager -- for nearly three decades in the WWF. By 1984, the cane-wielding native of Hawaii (not Japan, as labeled) was best known for managing Don Muraco. Assorted Others: Tony Atlas (muscular former World title contender and Tag Team champ, the bloom had fallen off his rose by 1984 and 1985, at which time he became a glorified jobber); Brutus Beefcake (journeyman wrestler, long-time Hogan comrade, got over as a pseudo-male stripper when arrived in the WWF in late-1984); B. Brian Blair (low-mid-card babyface, defected from Georgia in late-1983); Matt Borne (former Tag champ with Arn Anderson in Georgia in early-'80s, joined McMahon for a brief time in 1985); Dino Bravo (lower-card babyface at this point, though positioned strongly on cards in his native Quebec); the Freebirds (three of the top heels in the business, had a very brief run in 1984, though you'd have missed it if you'd blinked); Charlie Fulton (large, mid-card heel); Rene Goulet (lower-card babyface, WWF mainstay for the previous 15 years, long-time Federation road agent); Swede Hanson (recently deceased former main eventer was now an aged, glorified jobber); Bret Hart (Came to the WWF in 1984 as part of Jr. Vince's buy-out of Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling and was already one of the best workers in the business, but he would not have his opportunity to shine for two more years); Rocky Johnson (The Rock's father, one-time upper-card babyface throughout the country, career was winding down in 1984 and was out of the company by "WrestleMania"); S.D. Jones (long-time jobber, almost like a predecessor of Barry Horowitz); Lelani Kai, Velvet McIntire & Princess Victoria & Judy Martin (Four female Fabulous Moolah trainees); Tonga Kid (A 19-year-old rookie in 1984 but did get a brief push as Jimmy Snuka's lunatic cousin, as we'll see later); Rick McGraw (solid performer, little more than a jobber at this point); the Moondogs (Large, ivory-colored mid-card tag team mainstays with zany heel tendencies); Dick Murdoch (Top-notch performer but was lost in the shuffle in '84 and switched over to Mid-South in '85); Jim Neidhart (brawny 29-year-old, jumped from Florida and Mid-South to the Federation in early-'85); Ivan Putski (long-time WWF Polish powerhouse with limited working ability, was out of the company by WrestleMania); Johnny Rodz (future WWF Hall of Fame inductee, though he was only a non-descript lower-mid-carder) David Sammartino (son of legendary former WWWF kingpin Bruno, never amounted to much outside of occasional tag matches with his dad); "Chief" Jay Strongbow (Another long-time WWWF star, was also out of the picture come 'Mania); and the Masked Superstar (another Georgia-to-WWF defector from late-1983, but he was out of the Fed within months, only to resurface as one of the "Machines" in 1986, then "Demolition Ax" in 1987).

The article was from alternativewrestling.com which no longer exists. I also saved several articles from the site and will post them here.

January 1-7 -- WCW uses some bookkeeping artifices to turn a “profit” in 1995, for the first time in its seven-year history in the Ted Turner empire. In reality, the company lost roughly the same amount as usual -- $5-$6 million -- but amid rumors that Turner will soon merge with the Time-Warner conglomerate, the promotion’s accountants use their savoir-faire to position its finances in the most favorable light possible. These sleights of hand include transferring Hulk Hogan’s $4 million annual salary to the Turner Home Entertaiment, Inc., division of the Turner empire; having Turner Broadcasting, Inc. foot the bill for the production costs of its three weekly TBS programs; and earmarking the profits from “Halloween Havoc” ‘94 and “Starrcade” ‘94 to the bottom line fine 1995 while still crediting “Halloween Havoc” ‘95, “World War III,” and “Starrcade” ‘95 to the 1995 books. - WCW’s legal team forces Gene Okerlund to recant a WCW Hotline report asserting that Ricky Steamboat would be honored in a ceremony at the January 1 Nitro. After catching wind of this fabrication, Steamboat had threatened legal action unless Okerlund issued a retraction. - The WWF attempts to reach an agreement with Giant Baba’s All Japan Pro Wrestling, using long-time AJ star Dory Funk, Jr. as a liaison, with hopes of tapping into AJ stable members who it feels will be marketable in the U.S., including Steve Williams, Stan Hansen, Gary Albright, and Johnny Ace. Thus, as a favor to Baba, both Funk and young Takao Omori are given slots in the Royal Rumble. - Razor Ramon allegedly expresses umbrage to the booking team over the homophobia-geared direction of his feud with Goldust. In particular, he objects to ‘Dust’s habit of touching, fondling and kissing opponents. - After negotiating with both the WWF and WCW, Public Enemy sign a three-year deal with WCW. - New Japan’s annual January 4 Tokyo dome show draws a crowd of 64,000 paying a near-record $6 million gate. In the main event, Keiji Mutoh defeats Genichiro Tenryu: a rematch from the previous year’s Jan. 4 Dome show. Monday Night Wars, 1/1: Raw - 2.61 (RAW Bowl tag team elimination match); Nitro - 2.52 (Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair) Jan. 8-14 -- The WWF’s newest batch of “Billionaire Ted” skits plays the steroid card: The “Nacho Man” asks the “Huckster” what will happen should he be drug tested by WCW officials, and his red-’n’-yellow pal responds that they don’t need to worry about getting busted for that, “because we’re not in the WWF anymore.” Vince McMahon had faxed a letter to Ted Turner prior to these skits, challenging him to compare WCW’s steroid testing policy to the WWF’s with an independent drug policy advisor. He also claims that he adopted his own, stricter policy because the WWF “is concerned with the health and well-being of its talent.” In response, Turner threatens McMahon with a lawsuit but ultimately fails to follow through on it. Elsewhere, “Scheme” Gene tries to trick people into calling his hotline with the inducement of finding out whether the sun will come up tomorrow. - After doing a job to Bob Holly at a house show, Sid disappears from the WWF. He had recently expressed his misgivings over having to lose cleanly so frequently. - Mick “Mankind” Foley’s (excellent) introductory vignettes begin airing on WWF TV. MNW, 1/8: Raw - 3.04 (Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith from December PPV); Nitro - 2.81 (Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson) Jan. 15-21 -- The WWF holds its “Royal Rumble” PPV, a lackluster show featuring a Shawn Michaels Rumble win, Goldust over Razor Ramon to capture the Intercontinental title, and an Undertaker DQ victory over WWF champ Bret Hart. - Buddy Fuller, father of WCW’s Col. Robert Parker and one of the most noteworthy promoters in wrestling history, passes away on January 15 at his home in Pensacola, Florida from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 71. In addition to being a wrestler for over 20 years, Fuller had owned all or part of nearly a half-dozen territories at various times, including in Florida, Georgia, Memphis, Knoxville (TN), Arizona, and Pensacola. He was also instrumental in helping Fritz Von Erich form his famed World Class promotion in Texas in the ‘60s. In the ‘70s, Fuller also had a major hand in running Ann Gunkel’s outlaw promotion in Georgia, which aired on Ted Turner’s WTCG (which later morphed into WTBS), then backed Jerry Jarrett in helping to establish his Memphis-based promotion in a war against former partner Nick Gulas. - Eric Bischoff faxes a condescending letter to Vince McMahon’s office at Titan Towers as a response to the WWF’s recent legal threats against WCW. The Fed actually briefly broadcasts a still of the memorandum on its weekend programming (“Action Zone” and “Mania”), and it reads as follows: “Dr. Mr. McMahon: Your letter dated Jan. 3, 1996 to Mr. Ted Turner and your subsequent letter of January 10 have been directed to my attention. Although initially mildly amusing, the WWF programming that you refer to as ‘satirical vignettes’ has become defamatory and disparaging to WCW and its wrestlers. Accordingly, we have referred this issue to our legal counsel for review. In addition, Mr. McDevitt’s letter of Jan. 11, 1996 on your behalf to Mr. Lambrose of this office (WCW attorney Nick Lambrose) has similarly been referred to legal council for review. By copy of this letter, we are informing Mr. McDevitt of this referral and advising him that we found his previous letters wholly without merit and undeserving of a response. In light of WCW and WWF programming ratings, we understand your concern about the content of our programs. Your encouragement is duly noted, however WCW programming decisions are the responsibility of WCW and Turner Broadcasting. Finally, as you are aware, WCW has a comprehensive Substance Abuse Policy which includes drug testing. While we can appreciate your intent in combining the efforts of the WWF with certain facets of our program, we are not so inclined. Signed, Eric Bischoff, Senior Vice President, WCW.” - Public Enemy debut on Nitro, winning a poor match against the American Males and putting Marcus Bagwell through a double-stack of tables afterward. The show draws its highest head-to-head rating to date, largely on the strength of a great Ric Flair vs. Sting match. Many onlookers point to RAW’s off-putting “Billionaire Ted” as the reason for the high level of audience turn-over. MNW, 1/15: Nitro - 3.52 (Ric Flair vs. Sting); Raw - 2.4 (Undertaker vs. Isaac Yankem) Jan. 22-28 -- Randy Savage beats Ric Flair to win the WCW title in the opening match of the Jan. 22 Monday Nitro in Las Vegas. - WCW runs a “Clash of the Champions” TBS special on January 23 in Las Vegas, with Ric Flair & The Giant beating Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan in the main event when Flair pinned Savage. Also, Miss Elizabeth makes her debut in the company, in the corner of Hogan and Savage; Woman (Nancy Sullivan -- wife of Kevin Sullivan) re-debuts, also in the corner of Hogan and Savage; and the Road Warriors make their return, challenging Sting and Lex Luger to a Tag Team title match. In the most memorable incident of the otherwise-forgettable card, Brian Pillman slides out of the ring during his match with Eddie Guerrero and grabs color commentator Bobby Heenan from behind, causing Heenan to freak out and audibly utter “What the fuck are you doing?!” into his headset. From there, Heenan starts to decamp to the safety of backstage, but he eventually thinks better of it and returns to ringside. Pillman -- at the height of his worked-shoot “Loose Cannon” phase (see below) -- spends the remainder of the match toying with Heenan numerous times. Surprisingly, the show draws a terrific 4.5 rating, making it the most-watched two hours in the history of the promotion up to this point. Other Clashes have drawn equal (August 1994 -- Flair vs. Hogan) or higher (September 1990 -- Sting vs. Black Scorpion; November 1989 -- Flair vs. Terry Funk; March 1988 -- Flair vs. Sting) ratings, but because TBS is wired for so many more homes than at any of these previous points, the same ratings percentage now has a wider penetration. - The newest envelope-pushing “Billionaire Ted” skit features the Ted Turner character claiming he wants money and power so that when he dies and sees his father in heaven, he can tell his dad to “kiss this.” - In response to the skits, WCW begins airing commercial “bumpers” on its weekend programming that feature ex-WCW/current-WWF wrestlers like Mark “The Undertaker” Callous, Cactus “Mankind” Jack, and Vader losing matches to established WCW stars, accompanied by the tagline “WCW: Where the Big Boys Play.” - Texas independent wrestler John Hawk, aka “Justin Hawk” Bradshaw, debuts at the WWF’s TV tapings in California. - Gene Okerlund props himself up as a key witness in the ongoing sexual harassment suit against Hulk Hogan in WCW. Incidentally, the last two wrestlers for whom Okerlund had served as a defense witness, Ken Patera and Masa Saito, served two years in jail apiece. - Raven wins the ECW title at the ECW Arena, defeating Sandman in a typically wild, bloody brawl. MNW, 1/22: Raw - 2.93 (Bret Hart vs. Goldust); Nitro - 2.71 (Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair) Jan. 29-Feb. 4 Alex Marvez of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News conducts an interview with Eric Bischoff regarding myriad topics, including the use of blood in WCW. Bischoff claims, misleadingly, that there has never been a policy in place in the company vis-a-vis blading. Mike Tenay of the WCW Hotline also conducts an interview with Bischoff in which the WCW VP famously calls Vince McMahon the “Verne Gagne of the ‘90s.” - WCW runs its first non-televised house shows in some time, in Baltimore and Norfolk, and draws terrific houses of 8,000 and 6,500, respectively. The big turnouts prompt the company to explore the possibility of expanding its touring schedule, which has been limited to TV tapings and PPVs for the past year or so. Amazingly, the Baltimore card draws the promotion’s first $100,000 gate for a non-pay-per-view show since Ted Turner purchased it in 1988 -- an indication of the restorative effect the Monday Night Wars are starting to have on the business. - A Texas-based independent promotion called the Confederate Wrestling Association holds a forgettable (taped) pay-per-view, featuring such notables as Justin Hawk Bradshaw (now known simply as “Bradshaw”), Rod Price, Alex Porteau, and Scott Putski. - Paul Heyman threatens to file a lawsuit against Terry Taylor and WCW in connection with Taylor’s statements on the WCW Hotline to the effect that Sandman is a “drunken drug addict.” As usual, Heyman fails to follow through. - ECW’s “mascot,” 911, leaves the promotion after a dispute with Heyman regarding character direction. MNW, 1/29: Nitro - 2.82 (The Giant vs. Randy Savage, Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan); Raw - 2.41 (Shawn Michaels vs. Yokozuna) Feb. 5-11 -- WCW presents a highly memorable "Superbrawl" PPV in which Miss Elizabeth turns on Randy Savage, costing him the World title in a great cage match against Ric Flair; Hulk Hogan gets by the Giant in an execrable cage match (the show finale, controversially) and then lays out the entire Dungeon of Doom with chair shots; and Kevin Sullivan beats Brian Pillman in about 30 seconds of a “Respect Match,” in which the loser has to surrender by shouting "I respect you." It is that third match which is both the most notable and the most notorious; in a con that perhaps only Sullivan, Eric Bischoff, and Pillman are apprised of, Pillman comes roaring out to dominate Sullivan, only to drop his arms, drop his strap, and spit the phrase, "I respect you, booker man." As Sullivan stands in stunned silence in the ring -- ostensibly reacting to seeing more than a century of wrestling dogma being outed on a national PPV telecast -- Pillman storms back to the dressing room and starts to leave the arena. However, As part of the elaborate ruse, Bischoff stops him and gets him into a furious shouting match, then fires him on the spot, in front of a gathering of numerous awe-struck wrestlers. It marks the first "worked shoot" angle in the history of the business, spilling over not only onto the TV camera (ala ECW), but to the insider wrestling community as well; Pillman has spent the last month trying to convince wrestlers, dirt sheet writers, and smart fans that he is legitimately insane, and this incident is the denouement. As a result, he becomes the talk of the industry for several weeks to come, and the incident is used as a blueprint for numerous other wrestlers who try ill-fated versions of the stunt in the stunt in coming years. - Davey Boy Smith is found Not Guilt in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on charges of aggravated assault in connection with an incident that occurred in a bar there in 1993. The accuser, Calgary resident Cody Light, alleged that Smith had attacked and powerbombed him, causing brain damage that confined him to a wheelchair. Smith’s defense largely turns on the testimony of a doctor who ordains that Light’s injuries are more consistent with those of someone who had slipped and landed on the back of their head than someone who had been physically assaulted. In addition, several witness testimonies assert that it was , in fact, been Light who instigated the fight by making objectionable remarks about Smith’s wife, Diana, before attempting to headbutt Smith. According to them, Smith then responded by headlocking the assailant and calmly walking him over to be assumed by the custody of a bouncer. In addition, a few local wrestlers are called on to testify that it is virtually impossible to powerbomb somebody without their cooperation -- as anyone who’s ever backyard wrestled can attest. - Demonstrating that the buy rate success of the Royal Rumble was not a fluke, the WWF’s house show business goes on a dramatic upswing. Most within the company credit the remarkable turnaround to Shawn Michaels’ return to the road following the hot concussion angle in October. - WCW threatens more legal action against the WWF over the “Billionaire Ted” skits on Raw, this time in connection with the Federation’s usage of the “Huckster,” “Nacho Man,” and “Billionaire Ted” characters. Particularly, WCW attempts to have a restraining order instituted that would ban the Fed from running its planned Huckster vs. Nacho Man match at WrestleMania. The WWF counters on RAW, of course, this time by airing a still of a print ad that reads as follows: “Attention, Stockholders. Has Ted Turner lost $40 million of YOUR money in his personal vendetta against the World Wrestling Federation? Where are these losses reported in TBS financial statements? TIME-WARNER, BEWARE!” The ad, which, of course, is planted by the WWF itself, runs in major publications like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The $40 million figure refers to WCW’s cumulative losses since Turner purchased the company in 1988. Also, WWF attorney Jerry McDevitt sends yet another threatening legal letter to Eric Bischoff’s office, citing that the “Ted” skits are simply a response to the disparaging remarks WCW has deigned to make on the air against the WWF, as well as to WCW’s copyright and trademark infringements (referring in specific to the Renegade character), WCW’s tampering with WWF-contracted talent (Madusa and Lex Luger), and various disparaging remarks made about the Fed by WCW Hotline personality Mark Madden. - After nearly three years as a heel, Yokozuna turns babyface and starts a feud with ex-“Camp (Jim) Cornette” stablemates Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart. MNW, 2/5: Nitro - 2.9 (Sting & Lex Luger vs. Road Warriors); Raw - 2.72 (Bret Hart vs. Undertaker) Feb. 12-18 -- At the February 18 “In Your House” PPV, Bret Hart retains the WWF title against Diesel in a steel cage match, after the Undertaker pops up through a hole in the ring and drags the challenger into it. Elsewhere, Shawn Michaels downs Owen Hart in a four-star match. The show draws a 0.65 buy rate, one of the best ever for an IYH. - The annual Westminster Dog Show preempts RAW on the USA Network, giving Nitro the night to itself. In a legitimately shocking development, Hulk Hogan uses the increased viewership opportunity to lose via pinfall for the first time in his WCW career: Arn Anderson pins him after Ric Flair had walloped him in the eye with Miss Elizabeth’s shoe. Naturally, Hogan’s growing list of critics allege that Hogan’s decision to lose is a response to a recent batch of “Billionaire Ted” skits in which the “Huckster” character commented that “my contract with Billionaire Ted says that I never lose” -- a reference to the “creative control” clause in Hogan’s contract. - ESPN begins airing a promo for “Sportscenter” featuring several WWF wrestlers. MNW, 2/12: Nitro - 3.74 (Hulk Hogan vs. Arn Anderson) Feb. 19-25 -- Scott “Razor Ramon” Hall, 37, agrees to terms on a three-year contract with WCW, throwing the WWF into disarray. With the wrestler nearing 40, and with his pay-checks from Titan having decreased markedly in recent month, WCW uses the lures of a huge big-money guaranteed contract and a lighter schedule of house show matches to woo Hall. Upon hearing the news, Vince McMahon makes the questionably-timed decision to immediately suspend Hall without pay for violating the WWF’s drug policy. Also, McMahon orders all references to Ramon to be edited off of forthcoming editions of the Fed’s TV. - WWF attorney Jerry McDevitt grants an interview to Prodigy members, moderated by Bob Ryder, in which he discusses the slew of litigation issues currently implicating the WWF. “There was a series of attempts by Turner,” he says, “including from Ted Turner personally, to try to but the World Wrestling Federation or have interest in the company. All offers have been rejected. There were attempts in the late-’80s... up until ‘93’-’94. The WWF is a family-owned business and Vince is a third-generation promoter. He doesn’t want stock in TBS. He’s a wrestling promoter. When it became obvious that the WWF was not for sale we started hearing the statements that Turner was going to put the WWF out of business.” - Sure enough, Brian Pillman debuts at the ECW Arena, where he threatens to whip out his penis and piss in the ring. Apparently, Eric Bischoff really has granted him a full release from his WCW contract as an extension of their ongoing con game. This aspect of the artifice will come back to haunt Bischoff a few months later, though. - In a shocking turn of events, ECW temporarily bans blood on its cards as a PR response to the revelation that ex-heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison is HIV positive. Also, news-magazine show “A Current Affair” airs a negative piece on ECW, with footage culled from a card in Queens, NY. MNW, 2/19: Raw - 3.1 (Undertaker vs. Tatanka); Nitro - 2.91 (Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage) Feb. 26-March 3 The wave of bad news for the WWF continues, much to the delight of most WCW employees and fans: Kevin “Diesel” Nash gives his notice to Vince McMahon, announcing that he’s agreed to a three-year deal with Eric Bischoff under the same terms as his friend Hall. Unlike Ramon, Diesel maintains his presence on Federation and builds toward a match against the Undertaker at WrestleMania. - With two of its top babyfaces scheduled to be departing, the Fed rushes to fill the void, enlisting the services of both the Ultimate Warrior and Roddy Piper. Naturally, the Warrior forces Vince McMahon to capitulate to several special demands before agreeing to return; ultimately, though, a satisfactory agreement is reached by both sides, allowing the WWF to begins building toward the Warrior’s return -- slated for WrestleMania -- on its programming. As for Piper, he returns in the capacity of figurehead president, filling the role vacated by Gorilla Monsoon, who is still sidelined by “injuries” suffered at the hands of Vader. - Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko re-up with WCW for three years. - ECW runs its major monthly cards in Queens and Philadelphia. On the former show, Raven retains the ECW title against Sandman; on the latter, the Gangstas win a three-way dance against 2 Cold Scorpio & Sandman and the Headhunters of Puerto Rico. - The fierce competition in the Monday Night Wars continue to re-ignite the business: Raw and Nitro set a combined viewership record, with Nitro eking out its fourth win (vs. four losses) of the year. - On Raw, Roddy Piper returns to the fold as the WWF’s “interim president.” His first act is to rule the much-anticipated Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels WWF title match at “WrestleMania” a 60-minute Iron Man match in which the wrestler who scores the most falls in the designated time frame emerges as champion. MNW, 2/26: Nitro - 3.21 (Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, & Brutus Beefcake vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, & Kevin Sullivan); Raw - 3.13 (Yokozuna vs. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith) March 4-10 -- In what is considered a major transaction within the industry, Johnny B. Badd quits WCW and then promptly agrees to terms with the WWF. Badd had been working without a contract -- his previous one reportedly paid $300,000 a year, which is huge money by mid-’90s standards -- and, in the process of renegotiating, had a disagreement with Eric Bischoff over the terms of a prospective new deal. Badd had also disagreed with the direction of his on-air relationship with Kimberly Page; he cites that to be portrayed as being romantically involved with someone other than his real-life wife, Rena Mero, came into conflict with his Christian ethics. - In other WCW roster move, the Steiner Brothers sign huge guaranteed contracts, allowing them to make an unannounced return on Nitro, battling the Road Warriors to a non-decision. The Nasty Boys had originally been scheduled to take on the Roadies, but they had been released only days before. - Ric Flair is arrested in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, on charges of aiding and abetting underage DWI in his native. According to Flair, he, his wife, and two of his wife’s friends had attended a Charlotte Hornets basketball game that night and had stopped by a local bar for a few drinks afterward. Because he’s wary of driving after having even one or two drinks, he asked someone else to drive him home from the bar in his $100,000 Mercedes, and 20-year-old NC resident Collette Eileen McCune volunteered. During the short drive, local police pulled over McCune and found her to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 -- about twice the legal limit. “I would not have put a person I thought was drunk behind the wheel of a $100,000 automobile,” Flair tells a local paper. “She seemed fine.” Unfortunately, the local media turns the minor incident into a disproportionately-large scandal. - Mick Foley files a lawsuit against WCW in connection with the incident in which he lost his ear in a match against Vader in Germany in 1994, charging that the company created unsafe working conditions. MNW, 3/4: Raw - 3.62 (Bret Hart vs. HHH) March 11-17 -- The U.S. Supreme Court settles to uphold an original ruling ordering that the WWF pay former announcer/wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura over $800,000 in back royalties from 1980s videocassettes bearing his voice and likeness for which he was never compensated. In addition, the Fed must also pay $200,000, covering interest on the original order as well as Ventura’s legal fees. Ventura had original won the verdict in a court in his home state of Minnesota, before the WWF took its appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and then the Supreme Court. - Vince McMahon releases a statement through the WWF’s AOL site acknowledging Diesel’s departure. “Kevin Nash and I are friends. I think from my perspective, he didn’t make a good business decision (in joining WCW). Diesel could have become an icon here in the World Wrestling Federation, an icon which he would be able to derive great benefit from financially and aesthetically for the next 20 years, perhaps far outlasting his time as a wrestler in the ring. But, yes, it hurts and the people in Ted Turner’s organization know that it hurts. Athletes must have a love for the business they are in, a strong work ethic and a sense of loyalty to remain here in the WWF. Many performers (in the WWF) make very large sums of money, and those athletes that have confidence in themselves and in the company compete very, very well with Turner’s guaranteed contracts. Turner’s organization has no idea how to make a star. All they can do is buy them. The idea to acquire the services of Kevin Nash is so Diesel ceases to exist, thus hurting the World Wrestling Federation.” - Eric Bischoff does an interview with Bob Ryder of Prodigy, responding to the WWF’s charges that he’s tampering with its talent: “We haven’t tampered with their talent. I get calls all the time from their people (wrestlers). I’ve gotten a stack of calls just in the past few weeks. If one of their guys comes to me and tells me he’s ready, willing and able to talk to me about coming to work for us, I’ll listen. I don’t know what the specific accusations are about tampering, but I believe it’s just more WWF whining.” - WCW and the WWF both make a play to sign Rey Misterio, Jr., who has been drawing raves for his work in both ECW and AAA in Mexico. - “Diamond” Dallas Page’s wife, Kimberly Faulkenberg, appears nude in Playboy’s Book of Lingerie. - Brian Pillman briefly quits ECW over a dispute regarding the financing of his 900-line, but he and Paul Heyman smooth the issue over only a few days later. - Similarly, the Road Warriors briefly walk out on WCW, upset that Kevin Nash and Scott Hall have been signed to much more exorbitant contracts than their own. They return only days later. - The WWF’s house show business continues to show signs of life, as the company draws a sellout crowd of 17,000 to Madison Square Garden; Diesel & Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart & the Undertaker is the main event. It marks the first sell-out of the building for a regular house show in several years and also sets a non-PPV gate record of $300,000; even the heydays of Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund were unable to match. MNW, 3/11: Nitro - 3.2 (Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Kevin Sullivan); Raw - 2.91 (Yokozuna & Undertaker vs. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith) March 18-24 -- WCW’s second annual “Uncensored” PPV marks only a marginal improvement over the first installment. And therein lies the problem. In one of the worst main events in the history of the company, Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage beat Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Meng, the Barbarian, Kevin Sullivan, Lex Luger, Ze Gangsta’ (actor Tony Lister -- “Zeus” of 1989 WWF fame), and the Ultimate Solution (the late Jeep Swenson) in the Doomsday cage. Naturally, Flair is the one pinned in the match. - Friction begins to surface between Eric Bischoff, Kevin Sullivan, and Hulk Hogan in after Hogan’s makes several last-minute changes to the Uncensored card. - The WWF hires Dutch Mantell in a front-office capacity. He also lands an on-air roll -- as Justin Hawk Bradshaw’s manager, Uncle Zebekiah. - ECW runs the ECW Arena in Philadelphia and overcompensates for its ongoing ban on blood when Raven attempts to “kill” Beulah McGillicuddy’s “unborn child” by kicking her in the stomach. - Not surprisingly, the Ultimate Warrior threatens to no-show “WrestleMania,” forcing Vince McMahon to fly out to his home in Phoenix and placate him with several perks. MNW, 3/18: Nitro - 3.61 (); Raw - 2.9 (Bret Hart vs. Tatanka) March 25-31 -- At “WrestleMania” XII, Shawn Michaels wins the WWF title from Bret Hart in 1:30 of a sudden-death period, after neither man was able to secure a fall in the 60-minute regulation period. Also, the Undertaker beats the soon-to-be-departing Diesel, Roddy Piper beats Goldust in the “Hollywood Back-Lot Brawl,” and the returning Ultimate Warrior squashes Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 90 seconds. Allegedly, the Warrior makes several immoderate demands backstage prior to the match, including refusing to sell anything for Helmsley. Helmsley earns major stripes with management by playing the part of peace-maker in the face of the Warrior’s prima-donna antics and essentially consents to play the part of a jobber in the bout. In a sidelight at ‘Mania, Rena Mero (Sable) and Marc Mero (Johnny B. Badd) make their collective entree into the WWF. Sable acts as Helmsley’s “valet of the week” on the show; when Helmsley brow-beats her following his loss, Mero comes to her aid. MNW, 3/25: Nitro - 3.12 (Ric Flair vs. The Giant); Raw - 2.82 (Ahmed Johnson vs. Owen Hart) April 1-7 -- Discord continues to develop between Hulk Hogan and the Eric Bischoff-Kevin Sullivan camp in WCW. As usual, most of it centers on Hogan’s penchant for using his vast influence within the Turner hierarchy to alter booking plans at the last minute. Also, the Hulkster fails to win himself any friends after he no-sells a chokeslam by the Giant on Nitro, even though the move laid out both Sting and Lex Luger elsewhere in the program. Meanwhile, Hogan takes three months off to film his latest movie, “Santa with Muscles,” but not before refusing to a stretcher job for Sullivan and Arn Anderson to explain his absence. At this point, his future in the business seems to be in jeopardy. - In a TV commercial, the WWF teases its 900 line by promising to reveal what Davey Boy Smith and Magic Johnson have in common besides that they’re both superstars in the world of sports. The ploy “works”: The line generates an inordinate volume of calls that day. MNW, 4/1: Raw - 2.94 (Undertaker vs. Justin Bradshaw); Nitro - 2.8 (Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger) April 8-14 -- Brian Pillman, 33, is seriously injured in a single-car accident in Boone County, Kentucky. After taking a recreational ride in his new humvee to “clear his head” from the whirlwind series of events he’d experienced over the previous several months, he had allegedly fallen asleep at the wheel, causing the automobile to swerve off the road and strike a large tree trunk, catapulting him through the windshield; he flew 40 feet through the air, landing heavily and sustaining several injuries -- the most serious of which being a shattered ankle. Police estimate that he had been going between 60 and 70 miles-per-hour at the time of the collision. - Eric Bischoff grants separate interviews to the Miami Herald and the Charleston Post-Courier, making several incendiary statements about Vince McMahon. “Vince McMahon is an egomaniacal punk,” he tells the Herald. “McMahon’s ego would not allow him to sit down... first of all, Vince McMahon’s ego won’t even allow him to admit that I’m the one who’s kicking his ass every week. He’s out there trying to paint this picture that Ted Turner is beating him. Ted Turner has so many things he has to tend to. I don’t think Vince McMahon’s name flashes through Ted Turner’s mind more than once or twice a year... So, as long as his ego and his sense of reality is as distorted as it is, I don’t ever see the opportunity to sit down and discuss certain things... Vince McMahon cannot stand the fact that Eric Bischoff and Kevin Sullivan and Paul Orndorff and Jimmy Hart and a whole bunch of people who are working 16 and 18 hours a day are kicking his BUTT. He can’t deal with it because his ego is too large.” - Bret Hart does an interview on a Chicago-area talk show and relates a story regarding Hulk Hogan: “This was right after WrestleMania 8 -- just after I became the WWF champion, as I remember. Vince McMahon told me, ‘Don’t worry about Hulk Hogan coming back. He’s going to come back and do some tag teams to boost his movie career.’ It wouldn’t have bothered me anyway because Hulk Hogan was this tremendous hero to me. When I finally did get to see Hulk Hogan and meet him after all these months he was off, I always thought he would have been very proud and happy that I had the success I had. When I walked up to him in Florence, South Carolina, he was with Brutus Beefcake. I offered my hand, and he wouldn’t accept it. I stood there for a few moments in shock and dismay. Then I went down the ramp and did my thing (wrestled a match). But I always remembered it, and it always bothered me that from his side of it, I had the belt, so I was his enemy. To him, I wasn’t this guy who had busted his ass for so many years on his undercards and had worked hard and fought for every inch I could get and finally had this level of success. Instead, I was opposition for him. I think he sought me out to destroy me. But ultimately, it got him in the end.” Hart also explains his feelings on Razor Ramon and Diesel’s decision to leave the WWF. “It’s a personal thing. Everyone has a right to take care of themselves the best they can. I think some of them made the decision because maybe they were forced into it, like Randy Savage. He was a guy who was getting left on the back-burner until he finally jumped. I look at Randy as a guy who shouldn’t have had to do that. At the same time, there are other guys who have left that I think, even in the case of Diesel, I think he did it maybe for the money. If that’s the reason, I don’t think his career is going to go forward anymore. He’ll miss where he was. I think he’s going to digress. I think they’ll be miserable about two years from now because they’ll realize they went to a second-rate organization that is never going to take them to the heights they were at before. - In his first professional match, Duane Johnson -- son of ‘60s-’80s star Rocky Johnson -- gets a tryout with the WWF and shows so much potential that the company promptly makes plans to sign him to a contract. - The ever-slowly-growing ECW once again runs Queens and Philadelphia, drawing sell-outs both nights. In the Queens main event, The Gangstas beat 2 Cold Scorpio and the Sandman. On the undercard, Taz beats Chris Jericho in a “shoot match.” In Philadelphia, Raven retains the ECW title against Shane Douglas in the main event, and in a match of interest on the undercard, Sabu beats Rob Van Dam. MNW, 4/8: Raw - 4.73 (Shawn Michaels vs. Jerry Lawler); Nitro -- preempted for NBA Playoffs April 15-21 -- Coming off of its recent strong house show outings in Baltimore and Norfolk, WCW devises plans to begin touring full-time once again starting in the summer. MNW, 4/15: Raw - 3.12 (Goldust vs. Savio Vega); Nitro - 2.81 (Sting & Lex Luger vs. Giant & Ric Flair) April 22-28 -- At the WWF’s In Your House: “Good Friends, Better Enemies” PPV, Shawn Michaels carries Diesel to a ****3/4 match -- one of the defining bouts of HBK’s career. It makes entirely worthwhile an otherwise lackluster card, which also sees Razor Ramon lose cleanly to Vader in his final WWF match for the next six years. - WCW signs Kevin Greene of the Pittsburgh Steelers to a one-match contract for the “Great American Bash” PPV in June. - WCW begins running bizarre promos on its TV shows, including Nitro, touting that “Our World is About to Change. Blood Runs Cold -- Coming Soon to WCW!” - Madusa and Ron Harris of the Bruise Brothers get engaged. - Still trying to put his best PR face forward as he prepares to launch ECW onto PPV, Paul Heyman writes a strongly-worded letter to promotional rival Dennis Coraluzzo, urging him to ban blood from the NWA. MNW, 4/22: Raw - 3.3 (Goldust vs. Savio Vega); Nitro - 2.72 (Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair vs. Giant) April 29-May 5 -- With Hulk Hogan seemingly on the outs with the promotion -- or, so they would have everyone believe -- Eric Bischoff and WCW put their star-making machinery into overdrive on the April 29 Nitro. The Giant (Big Show), 24, becomes the fourth-youngest World champion in the history of the business, beating Ric Flair cleanly with the chokeslam, less than ten minutes into their main event bout. The title switch receives a huge reaction live, although it’s not enough to prevent the show from getting creamed by RAW once again, since it is moved to an earlier timeslot because of the NBA Playoffs. Widely regarded due to his incredible agility and fitness for his size, The Giant is the first rookie ever to win a World championship. - The WWF runs one of its token Foreign Tours from Hell. The main catalysts of the problems on this tour are Razor Ramon and Diesel, who fray a lot of nerves by showing up late for numerous bus rides, missing curfews virtually every night, and generally acting flippant toward agents and other wrestlers. The other “Clique” members take a lot of associated heat from the “boys,” with several wrestlers allegedly threatening to beat up both Michaels and Helmsley when the two stick up for their friends at various points. Michaels’ behavior in other instances all causes many of his co-workers to be working his last nerve, as he has run-ins with several of them for basically petty reasons. In fairness to HBK, he is booked to wrestle and make personal appearances nearly every waking hour of the tour and, naturally, is extremely stressed out the entire time. The other main problem on the tour concerns Sunny, whom the Boys ridicule mercilessly after some salacious rumors circulate throughout the locker room, culminating when Michaels stoops to putting a piece of human feces in one of her meals. Perhaps fearing a sexual harassment lawsuit is on their hands, the road agents decide to send her home from the tour the next day -- a full 10 days early. Upon returning home from the tour, Sunny’s boyfriend, Skip of the Body Donnas, loses the Tag Team Titles cleanly to the Godwinns. - Shinjiro Otani, who won a confusing tournament to crown the first-ever Cruiserweight champion a few weeks earlier, loses the title to Dean Malenko. - The 1-2-3 Kid takes a leave of absence from the WWF to deal with an addiction to painkillers. - Michaels does a photo shoot for Playgirl magazine, a fact which is played up incessantly on WWF TV. - New Japan draws 65,000 fans for a $5.8 million gate to the Tokyo Dome on April 29, making it the second most-attended show in the history of the company, trailing only the previous year’s October 9 card, which drew 67,000 to see the Great Muta (Keiji Mutoh) beat Nobuhiko Takada in an IWGP World title match. In the main event of this show, however, it’s Shinya Hashimoto who prevails in the IWGP title match, beating Genichiro Tenryu to win the strap. WCW is well-represented on the card: Not only is Eric Bischoff in attendance, but Randy Savage beats Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Masahiro Chono beats Lex Luger via submission, and the Road Warriors & Power Warrior (Kensuki Sasaki) beat the Steiners and Scott Norton. MNW, 4/29: Raw - 3.92 (Ultimate Warrior vs. Isaac Yankem); Nitro - 2.11 (Ric Flair vs. The Giant) May 6-12 -- In a decision with significant and long-lasting ramifications, WCW and TNT announce plans to expand Nitro to two hours every week, beginning with the May 27 broadcast, partially in response to the drubbing the show has taken since being moved to an earlier timeslot for the duration of the NBA Playoffs. The show is to air in the 8:00-10:00 EST timeslot. The philosophy behind the move is that the extra one-hour lead-in gives the program a chance to “hook” viewers who might otherwise watch the head-to-head hour of RAW. Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan are to serve as the second-hour announcers, while Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko are to handle the first hour. - The WWF signs Duane Johnson (The Rock) and former Smoky Mountain Wrestling star the Punisher (Ben “Bull” Buchanan) to the first two “developmental” contracts in the history of the organization. In particular, management considers Johnson to have great promise, while the Punisher is recognized as an excellent athlete for his size. - The WWF also signs Tony Anthony (“TL Hopper”), Johnny Gunn/Tom Brandi (“Salvatore Sincere”), Alex Porteau (“The Pug”), Tracy Smothers (“Freddie Joe Floyd”), and Jim Neidhart (“Who?”), ostensibly to serve as jobbers, and gives all of them offbeat gimmicks. - At the latest ECW Arena card in Philadelphia, Rob Van Dam notches an upset win over Sabu, his former training-school classmate. Also, the Eliminators & Brian Lee beat Tommy Dreamer & the Gangstas in a bout in which Dreamer bleeds heavily, signaling the return of blading to the company’s playbook. MNW, 5/6: Raw - 4.12 (Undertaker vs. Owen Hart); Nitro - 1.92 (Giant vs. Jim Duggan) May 13-19 -- At the May 18 Madison Square Garden show, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash work their final matches in this phase of their WWF careers. Hall loses to Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Nash loses to Shawn Michaels, respectively. It's their post-show antics which cause the greatest consternation amongst onlookers, however: After the Michaels-Nash match, Hall makes an impromptu appearance in the ring, and the three men engage in a group hug. Watching from the back, Helmsley makes his way to the ring and joins them. The breech of kayfabe infuriates Vince McMahon, who is watching backstage. Although he can no longer punish Hall or Nash, he gives both Michaels and Helmsley a major tongue-lashing, then makes the infamous decision to forgo plans to give Hemlsey a big push, instead burying him in lower-mid-card bouts for the next five months. - Diamond Dallas Page emerges as the surprise winner of the “Battle Bowl” battle royal at WCW’s Slamboree PPV, setting the stage for his big career break. Elsewhere, The Giant beats Sting to retain the WCW title in the main event. - Eric Bischoff delivers a pep-talk prior to the wrestlers prior to the show, extolling the merits of the new two-hour Nitro format. He says that the longer programs will relive pressure on the wrestlers to get their matches and interviews over with quickly to conserve time. Also, he promises to begin giving a greater number and variety of wrestlers exposure on the programs now that the company has more air-time at its disposal. - Sufficiently recovered from his car-accident-induced shattered ankle to travel long distances, Brian Pillman meets with Vince McMahon at Titan Towers in Stamford, CT, to discuss a possible entrance into the WWF. Pillman is impressed by McMahon’s offer to such extent as that he no-shows a planned negotiation with Eric Bischoff five days later. - The Road Warriors once again walk out on WCW -- permanently, this time. Their main bone of contention is, still, that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are being paid significantly more than they are. - The Hardy Boys, who have been working as jobbers at WWF TV tapings, receive a tryout match but are not hired. - Yokozuna checks into the Duke University weight-loss clinic in an attempt to shed some excess tonnage. To explain his absence, Yoko cuts a demoralized promo on Raw saying he needs to “go find” himself. MNW, 5/13: Raw - 3.54 (Shawn Michaels vs. HHH); Nitro - 2.32 (The Giant vs. Lex Luger) May 20-26 -- In what is immediately touted as the best national wrestling angle in years, Scott Hall debuts on the first-ever two-hour Nitro, interrupting a match between Steve Doll and the Mauler (Mike Enos) by entering the ring and saying “You know who I am” over the house mic. Retaining his fake latino accent but little else about his former Razor Ramon character, Hall then launches into an anti-WCW diatribe: “You wanna’ have a war? Where’s ‘Billionaire Ted?’ Where’s the ‘Nacho Man?’” From there, he accuses Eric Bischoff of being a “Ken doll look-alike” and a “weatherman wanna’-be.” The live crowd initially reacts to Hall with confusion but start to roundly boo him after a few moments. Hall returns at the end of the program -- after nearly sixty minutes of steady taunts from Bischoff, the second-hour announcer with Bobby Heenan -- and confronts the WCW VP face-to-face in the announcers’ booth. He vows that “We’re taking over” and challenges anyone in WCW to wrestle him in a match before the show goes off the air. - The WWF’s steady stream of misfortune continues as, for the first time in history, its pay-per-view is deep-sixed because it is unable to transmit its signal. Following a lightning strike, an electrical storm knocks out the power during the company’s “In Your House” PPV in Florence, South Carolina, interrupting the signal and causing the arena to go dark for those in attendance. As a result, all but two of the matches on the two-hour show fail to broadcast, with only Marc Mero over Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Shawn Michaels NC Davey Boy Smith coming off as planned. Also at “In Your House,” Shawn Michaels gets himself into more hot water with WWF management by allowing himself to be distracted by the taunts of a ringside fan. At several points in the match, Michaels can audibly be heard firing pejorative remarks back at the fan, causing every fan in her section to start booing him. In fact, HBK becomes so unraveled by this situation -- with the frustration caused by the power outage also playing on his nerves, no doubt -- that he winds up flipping out at a WWF official at ringside who fails to cue up his music to his exact liking after the match -- a scene which is captured on the live PPV in its entirety. Vince McMahon is so upset over Michaels’ tantrum that he orders it edited off the replay. However, because HBK’s title reign has coincided with such a surge in house show business, it isn’t in any kind of imminent danger of getting kaboshed. - In a dark match at the RAW tapings, the Ultimate Warrior squashes Vader -- whom the company is building to be its top heel -- in 10 seconds. MNW, 5/20 (Nitro reallocated by NBA Playoffs): Raw - 3.13 (Davey Boy Smith vs. Jake Roberts); Nitro - 2.31 (The Giant vs. Arn Anderson) May 27-June 2 -- Ted DiBiase, 42, gives notice to Vince McMahon that he will be joining WCW in August when his WWF contract expires, ostensibly to manage Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in their as-yet-to-be-christened faction. McMahon’s immediate response is to bury DiBiase in storylines; Steve Austin promptly wrestles Savio Vega on RAW in a match stipulating that DiBiase must leave the company if his charge loses, with Vega, of course, going over. Still collecting insurance from Llyod’s of London on a career-ending neck injury he suffered while wrestling for All Japan, DiBiase last wrestled in 1993. - On Tuesday, the WWF attempts to pick up the pieces from its aborted “In Your House” PPV, offering a free airing of rematches of the bouts that were preempted due to the power outage. The matches emanate from the WWF’s “Superstars” TV taping site and include Savio Vega over Steve Austin in the Ted DiBiase-leaves-town match, Vader over Yokozuna, and Goldust over the Undertaker. - In the second week of the “hostile takeover” storyline, the unidentified character played by Scott Hall gets into a face-to-face confrontation with Sting at the close of the broadcast, then promises a “big surprise” for the following week. The buzz surrounding Hall’s debut on the previous Nitro causes the ratings of this week’s edition to enjoy a huge pop against a lackluster Raw. - Chavo Guerrero, Jr. receives a tryout with WCW. - New Japan Pro Wrestling owner/legend Antonio Inoki’s latest attempt as part of a lifelong obsession/ambition to gain entry into the pantheon of American culture meets with disaster. His much-hyped “World Peace Festival” card in Los Angeles draws just 2,500 fans to the L.A. Sports Arena, which is especially scary since he originally planned to hold it in the 100,000-seat L.A. Coliseum and attract widespread attention from the U.S. media. He does manage to gain the cooperation of both WCW and Mexico’s AAA, however, with perhaps the most notable aspect of this collaboration being that Eric Bischoff attends and gets his first look at numerous future members of his talent roster. In the main event, Inoki & Dan Severn beat Oleg Taktarov (UFC star) & Yoshiaki Fujiwara (of Fujiwara Armbar fame); in WCW’s top representative match, The Giant beat Sting with the chokeslam; in the best WCW match on the card, Chris Benoit downs Alex Wright; in the best overall match on the card, Rey Misterio, Jr. & Ultimo Dragon beat Psicosis & Heavy Metal; and in an undercard match of note, Konnan beats Chris Jericho and Bam Bam Bigelow in a triangle elimination in Bischoff’s first-ever look at Jericho. - At the latest monthly ECW Arena show in Philadelphia, the crutches-ridden Brian Pillman creates quite a stir by referring to the Gangstas tag team as “niggers with attitude,” based on the late-’80s Compton-based rap group of the same name. Most onlookers don’t think twice about the remark, but one person who does is Nu Jack of the Gangstas. After Pillman finishes his promo and makes his way backstage, Nu Jack allegedly flips out at him. Pillman apologizes and claims not to have intended the remark as a racial slut, but that explanation fails to conciliate Nu Jack, who threatens Paul Heyman that he will quit ECW if he doesn’t have an opportunity to respond by giving an offensive promo of his own. Heyman is upset by Nu Jack’s conduct and allegedly strongly considers calling his bluff but ultimately consents. Thus, in his promo, Nu Jack alleges that Pillman was caught having sex with “Z-Man” Tom Zenk at a WCW Saturday Night taping several years ago. Elsewhere on the show, the Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus) beat the Gangstas -- who have a busy night -- in the main event. MNW, 5/27: Raw - 3.34 (Vader vs. Ahmed Johnson); Nitro - 2.8 (Scott Steiner vs. Sting) June 3-9 -- Ending one of the hottest free-agent hold-out periods in the history of the business, Brian Pillman signs a three-year deal with the WWF on a large downside guarantee -- the first guaranteed money contract in the history of the promotion. Rumors have it that Eric Bischoff’s final proposal was a three-year deal of his own, for an astronomical $340,000 per annum. Allegedly, Pillman would have accepted the WCW offer if Bischoff had not insisted on including a “90-day review clause” giving the promotion the right to review his performance every three months and terminate his contract if they so wish. - Upset over the direction of the Shawn Michaels-Diana Smith sexual harassment storyline that has been the focus of the company for the previous two months, Davey Boy Smith gives notice to the WWF that he intends to sign with WCW when his contract runs out in August. - In Buffalo for what is promoted as the “Legends of the Aud,” WCW breaks its all-time gate record for a regular house show, drawing a crowd of 14,082 paying $193,465. The company’s previous gate record was $190,000 for the 1989 Great American Bash PPV in Baltimore, featuring Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk in the main event. The Buffalo show is held professedly as a tribute show for the late Ilio DiPaulo, who was a beloved figure in the Buffalo wrestling scene in the 1950s and ‘60s and passed away in 1995. In that spirit, numerous area legends partake in a lengthy ceremony at the outset of the card, including Bruno Sammartino, who receives one of the biggest pops of the evening. MNW, 6/3: Nitro - 3.01 (Sting & Lex Luger vs. Steiners); Raw - 2.31 (Jake Roberts vs. HHH) June 10-16 -- Kevin Nash debuts on Monday Nitro, joining Scott Hall in badgering Eric Bischoff at the announcers’ table at the end of the show. “This show is about as interesting as Marge Schot reading excerpts from Mien Kamph,” he says, in a Dennis Miller-worthy opening salvo. “You couldn’t get a paleontologist to get some of these fossils cleared? You ain’t got enough guys off dialysis machines to get a team? Where’s Hogan? Out doing another episode of ‘Blunder in Paradise?’ Where’s the Macho Man, huh? Doing some Slim Jim commercial?” Nash then threatens to kick Bischoff’s teeth down his throat, which the crowd cheers heartily. Bischoff promises to try to get opponents lined up for Hall and Nash -- who still haven’t been referred to by any name at this point -- if they show up at the Great American Bash PPV in six days. Surprisingly, despite the excellent angle, Raw still scrapes by with a head-to-head victory over Nitro. It’s the last time that will happen for the next 95 weeks -- 83 of which are head-to-head. - To coincide with its suddenly-hot television product, WCW presents a blow-away PPV at the June 16 “Great American Bash.” In the main event, The Giant successfully defends his title against Lex Luger, while Dean Malenko’s Cruiserweight title defense against the debuting Rey Misterio, Jr. and Chris Benoit’s Falls Count Anywhere win over Kevin Sullivan furnish the card with a pair of workrate bonanzas. The show is much more notable, however, for a pair of angles: announcer-turned-wrestler Steve McMichael turns heel and joins the Four Horsemen in a great, self-contained swerve, at a time when they are still novel. Also, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall assault Eric Bischoff, with Nash powerbombing him off of the stage, through a table. - Brian Pillman’s signing is trumpeted during a “press conference” segment on Raw. - Taz beats former UFC star Paul Varelans at an ECW Arena show after interference from Perry Saturn of the Eliminators. Varelans had backed out of Paul Heyman’s original proposal which was to see him lose the match cleanly, and he had resolved to flake out of the card, but Missy Hyatt manages to convince him to follow the prescribed plan. MNW, 6/10: Raw - 2.74 (Undertaker vs. Davey Boy Smith); Nitro - 2.6 (Sting & Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson) June 17-23 -- The WWF (Titan Sports, Inc.) files a federal lawsuit in the state of Connecticut against WCW, Turner Broadcasting, and WCW Executive Vice President Eric Bischoff in connection with WCW’s alleged attempts to deceive its viewers into thinking Kevin Nash and Scott Hall are acting under the direction of Vince McMahon in attempting to eradicate WCW. The four-point suit’s claims cite that: 1) WCW violated the Lanham Act by using “false and misleading descriptions of fact which are likely to cause confusion in the marketplace and deceive consumers”; 2) WCW infringed on WWF registered trademarks by having Hall play a similar characterization (latino accent, toothpick, etc.) to his Razor Ramon gimmick in the WWF; 3) WCW violated the Unfair Competition Act by permitting both Mark Madden and Gene Okerlund of the WCW Hotline to continuously and falsely insinuate that the WWF is on the verge of bankruptcy and to insinuate that Hall and Nash remain employed by the WWF; and 4) WCW is guilty of defamation and libel for the remarks Eric Bischoff and Steve McMichael made on the February 12 Nitro when they implied none-too-subtly that the WWF was somehow responsible for the brief power outage that interrupted the live broadcast that night. As far as damages, Titan is seeking all profits WCW made off the June 16 Great American Bash, triple the profits WCW will make from the Bash at the Beach PPV in July, and other unspecified punitive damages. WCW does manage to notch an early victory in the court proceedings when Chief U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey refutes WWF attorney Jerry McDevitt’s request for a restraining order that would have severely damaged the progress of the “hostile takeover” storyline. The lawsuit will remain an unremitting source of headaches for various WCW personnel for the next three years. - The WWF delivers a strong card in its fourth annual “King of the Ring” PPV, highlighted by Steve Austin’s historic KOTR tournament win and a successful Shawn Michaels title defense against Davey Boy Smith. Austin in particular makes waves in his post-victory interview, in which he uncorks both “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass” and “And that’s the bottom line, ‘cuz ‘Stone Cold’ said so” for the first time ever. - WWF champion Shawn Michaels grants an interview to Mike Mooneyham of the Charleston Post-Courier, as usual holding nothing back. On WCW: “I’ve been made offers from WCW... right now what is important to me is performing, and you don’t get a chance to do that there. But WCW needs to be there. Competition is good. If one company were to get control it would be bad for us wrestlers because they would have control and could do anything they wanted.” Regarding the “Clique,” he said: “There was this imaginary thing that we had some kind of control over the promotion. I guarantee there is only one man who runs our promotion, and that’s Vince McMahon. There are a number of guys who have no idea that Shawn Michaels has put in a good word for them (with Vince)... The wrestling business in general better be aware of us, because we’re on top in both places now so they better be awful nice to us.” On the speculation that Bret Hart is waiting in the wings for Michaels’ title reign to fail, before swooping in and reclaiming the top spot: “I have the utmost respect for Bret Hart... that is something I don’t think is good for our company. But I can understand it. Bret did a wonderful job as WWF champion. If there are negative feelings toward me, that’s other people’s business, and I can’t control it.” Regarding Hulk Hogan: “Hogan was probably not as fair to fans as he could have been. Claiming to be a role model and a superhero is something that’s very dangerous, especially when you self-proclaim that... I don’t claim to be a superhero or a role model. I’m just a 30-year-old man doing a job he loves to do... I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the past, and I’ll probably make plenty more.” - Former WWF/WCW star Barry Windham, 36, contacts the WWF and is hired to a contract shortly hereafter. - The WWF hires Florida independent announcer Kevin Kelly to serve on its Sunday afternoon “Action Zone” program. MNW, 6/17: Nitro - 3.43 (The Giant vs. Scott Steiner); Raw - 2.32 (Goldust vs. Jake Roberts) June 24-30 -- The WWF continues its house show resurgence, drawing some of its biggest respective crowds in years in the cities of Indianapolis, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. - WCW makes overtures to ECW wrestlers Raven, Chris Jericho, and Mikey Whipwreck. Only Jericho demonstrates any immediate interest. - In the biggest singles match win of his career up to this point, Eddie Guerrero wins New Japan’s annual Top of the Juper Junior Tournament, beating Chris “Wild Pegasus” Benoit in the semi-finals and Jushin Liger in the finals. Jerry Lynn (then known as “Mr. JL” in WCW) also participates in the tournament, tearing his shoulder and being put out of commission for several months. - Hunter Hearst Helmsley does a chat room interview for the WWF’s AOL site and, in the same spirit of his “Clique” brethren, makes some controversial remarks regarding Brian Pillman: “They make a big deal out of his contract signing. I say, Big deal. Who cares? I’m sick and tired of this war with WCW allowing for guys to come in the door thinking they’re something because they made a little name for themsleves someplace else. If you’ve never been to the big dance and proven yourself there, then when you come in the door of the WWF -- which, no matter what anybody says, is the big dance -- then you start out on the ground floor just like everybody else. Until these people, including Brian Pillman, and we all know everybody else who I mean, prove themselves as main event draws that bring people to arenas, they have proven nothing to me. They should be forced to prove themselves.” - Bret Hart grants a very forthright interview to the Sasaktoon (Alberta) Star-Phoenix in which he carps on Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, and even the WWF. On Michaels: “I don’t respect (Shawn Michaels). I dont like the message he sends. The whole message is arrogance... too obnoxious, too cocky.” From there, Hart promises that he will retire “when the time comes,” unlike Hogan and Flair, and that he hasn’t embarrassed himself in his acting career, unlike Hogan and Piper. On the WWF, he says the company has “wiped out all the little guys like my dad and killed the breeding ground for the future.” On himself, he says, “There’s not a whole lot of difference between Bret Hart the wrestler and Bret Hart the person.” MNW, 6/24: Nitro - 3.24 (Sting & Lex Luger vs. Steiners vs. Harlem Heat); Raw - 2.71 (Undertaker vs. Steve Austin) WWF Title-holders (as of Dec. 31, 1996) -- Hvt. champion - Sid; Intercontinental champion - Hunter Hearst Helmsley; Tag Team champions - Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith WCW Title-holders -- World champion - "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan; U.S. champion - Eddie Guerrero; Tag Team champions - The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash); TV champion - "Lord" Steven Regal ECW Title-holders -- Hvt. champion - Raven; TV champion - Taz; Tag Team champions - The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus) Quote of the Year: "Vince McMahon is an egomaniacal punk." - Eric Bischoff, to the Miami Herald.

To characterize 1995 as the year pro wrestling in the United States reached its '90s-era nadir might not be entirely accurate, but it certainly would not be far off. Throughout the year, the products of the WWF and WCW were slaves to convention, unable (and unwilling) to free themselves from their ‘80s-inspired focuses on size and gimmickry, and, accordingly, each group struggled as rarely before to fill arenas and draw adequate pay-per-view buy rates. The business fortunes of the WWF in particular took a tumble, reaching dangerous lows by year's end, while WCW fared little better, despite drawing some of the strongest pay-per-view buy rates of its 11-year history. There was ultimately a silver lining in the dark cloud, as each promotion’s travails only made the upheaval that began to happen at year’s end even more salient; but, for a time, the nay-sayers were forecasting doom for each group. The most prominent, influential star in wrestling in 1995 also just so happened to be the most prominent, influential star in wrestling in 1985, and therein lied much of the problem. As the year dawned, Hulk Hogan was fresh off co-headlining "Starrcade '94" against friend/flunkey The Butcher (Ed Leslie) and, in the process, was lording over nearly all aspects of WCW's on-air creative direction -- most often to the detriment of the quality of the product as a whole. As the year drew to a close, little had changed in that regard, but WCW had increased its ambition, and the fan backlash against Hogan was at its peak, finally causing the Ted-Turner-reared company to begin pursuing a change in direction. Nevertheless, while Hogan drew much-deserved criticism for force-feeding fans his myriad friends and pet projects throughout the year, WCW's business with the Hulkster on top was, in most respects, stronger than it would have been otherwise. What’s more, the credibility he gave the promotion -- the figurative red-headed stepchild of Turner’s empire -- opened doors that normally would have been shut; without him, Eric Bischoff might never have had the latitude to sell his corporate superiors on his historic Monday Nitro concept, and the successes of 1996-1998 might have been unattainable. That’s no excuse for the miserable quality of shows like Uncensored ‘95, though -- because holy mother of God, that was a bad PPV. Like WCW, the WWF battled an identity crisis throughout the year, struggling to find a profitable niche in the post-Hogan era. Its response? To call upon concepts that had served it well during its '80s heyday, natch. Although the Federation’s slogan touted the "New Generation," Vince McMahon showed little willingness to deviate from his tired business model of old, replete with a Hogan-inspired superman babyface champion, Kevin "Diesel" Nash, who vanquished a succession of monster heels du jour en route to the longest WWF Hvt. title reign since Hogan himself. Unfortunately, Diesel lacked the Hulkster's drawing power and charisma -- particularly in a watered-down form that stripped him of what made him one of the company's most genuinely popular performers the previous year -- and his title run flopped on all fronts; despite a mid-year ratings resurgence by Monday Night RAW, house show attendance and pay-per-view buy rates hit all-time lows during the reign. While Diesel wasn't entirely to blame for the struggles, a poor worker with a throwback gimmick as its champion was the last thing the company needed at that point; many fans found the WWF’s inability to change with the times off-putting, and, as we’ll see, a plurality of wrestlers did, too. In their quest for an alternative, tens of thousands of such fans banded together and threw the weight of their support behind Paul Heyman’s Philadelphia-based ECW territory. "Join the Revolution" was ECW’s tag line; from the perspective of its fans, though, "Gimme' Shelter" was perhaps the most appropriate epitaph. In 1995, where the Big Two's storylines were frequently stultifying and hackneyed, ECW was busy defying storyline conventions, often through its groundbreaking "shoot angles." In September, WCW fired Steve Austin; shortly thereafter, ECW hired Steve Austin and gave him the platform to mold together an early version of the "Stone Cold" character. Mick Foley abandoned WCW near the end of 1994; in 1995 he picked up the pieces in ECW, where he turned in arguably the greatest work of his career. The WWF's two most heavily-promoted heels for much of the year, Sid and Mabel, were also arguably the two worst workers in the company; ECW divvied up its biggest heel pushes between the massively-talented likes of Foley, Raven, and Chris Benoit, while also making making improbable main eventers out of Sabu, the Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Taz(z), Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, and Mikey Whipwreck. The WWF and WCW enforced strict bans on blood and excessive violence; ECW made wild, bloody brawls vogue again. After far too long a time, the devotion ECW inspired in its cult following -- they of the "E-C-Dub'" chants at Big Two shows and, at their own shows, the hottest per-capita crowd reactions ever in the U.S. -- finally forced the Big Two to stand at attention. In September, when WCW head Eric Bischoff unveiled "Monday Nitro" and was faced inexorably with the prospect of differentiating his product from that of the WWF, he thusly began the gradual process of adapting ECW’s signature concepts and marketing them to a national audience. With former ECW wrestler and idea man Kevin Sullivan in tow as a lead booker, Nitro used a string of ECW defectors and pay-per-view-caliber matches to establish itself on equal ratings footing with the already-entrenched Raw. By year's end, the company was still struggling, but little did it know that it was poised on the brink of usurping the WWF in the promotional war and turning a profit for the first time ever. There were other times in 1995, however, when the Big Two couldn’t have been much further estranged from profitability. And, to make matters worse, they seemed too set in their ways to do anything about it... January 2-8 -- The WWF heralds in the new year by restructuring the hierarchy of its booking committee. Vince McMahon re-hires Jim Ross to serve as his right-hand man in overseeing the promotion’s creative direction, and Ross immediately makes his influence known by placing a greater emphasis on clean finishes, athleticism, and internal storyline logic. New arrivals like Henry O. Godwinn, Mantaur, and Man Mountain Rock (formerly “Maxx Payne” in WCW), however, indicate that the McMahon gimmick-oriented philosophy remains indomitable. Immediately below Ross on the Titan creative totem poll are Bruce Pritchard and Pat Patterson. - Titular WCW head booker Ric Flair, who lost a “retirement match” to WCW Hvt. champion Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc ‘94 two months earlier, continues to grow disillusioned with his own front office position -- particularly because his rival, Hogan, is hoarding increasingly greater power. Feeling his oats in the wake of disappointing business in the two months subsequent to his retirement, Flair proposes an idea to return to the ring as Hogan’s babyface tag team partner, only for it to be jettisoned by the Hulkster and WCW Executive Vice President Eric Bischoff. - New Japan’s annual January 4 Tokyo Dome spectacular draws 60,000 for a then-record gate of $4.8 million and an incredible $2 million in merchandise concessions. - Northeastern cult promotion ECW conducts its second-ever tour of Florida, drawing crowds in the hundreds. Jan. 9-15 -- As part of its continued effort to establish a younger, hipper veneer (slogan: “The New Generation), the WWF gives try-outs to professional powerlifter Mark Henry, independent stand-out Chris Candido, stout Memphis-area mainstay the Spellbinder, and Texas- and Memphis-based wrestler-valet Miss Texas (now known as “Jackie”). None of them are immediately hired. - The WWF lures WCW rookie mid-carder Jean Paul Levesque (aka Hunter Heart Helmsley) into its camp with promises of a sizable push and the opportunity for greater career advancement. Eric Bischoff’s standing offer is a one-year, $78,000 contract, which is fair for someone of Levesque’s stature at the time, but the wrestler cites the Fed’s recent track record of turning ex-WCW mid-carders like Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) and Diesel (Kevin Nash) into headliners as the main rationale for his jump. Vince McMahon is said to be a fan of his look and presence. - The WWF draws an abysmal 5,500 to a Madison Square Garden card -- the Fed’s second smallest crowd in the history of the facility -- for a show headlined by Diesel over Jeff Jarrett in a Hvt. title match. Jan. 16-22 -- The WWF’s January 22 “Royal Rumble” is a strong show anchored by a very good Diesel vs. Bret Hart World Title match, a staged ringside confrontation between Bam Bam Bigelow and ex-New York Giant Lawrence Taylor (who had already signed to wrestle at WrestleMania, in April), and the first of two consecutive Shawn Michaels victories in the Rumble match itself. This time around, Michaels -- the Federation’s recognized top heel at the time -- last eliminates Davey Boy Smith. The cards draws a relatively strong 1.0 buy rate. - Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion, based in Tennessee, is in the throes of a rocky period. Now, the company’s lowlight du jour is Nu Jack’s being arrested for punching a teenage boy and shoving a police officer in a parking lot. Jack is a member of Cornette’s top tag team, the Gangstas, and has been a glutton for controversy ever since arriving in the company about a year prior to the incident. - Barry Windham files a lawsuit against WCW on grounds of Negligence, for forcing him to wrestle with a severe knee injury at the “Slamboree” PPV in 1994. - “Kama: The Supreme Fighting Machine” (a/k/a the Godfather, a/k/a the Goodfather, a/k/a Papa Shango, a/k/a Charles Wright) makes his (re-)debut in the WWF. Jan. 23-29 -- Jerry “Crusher” Blackwell passes away in Dawsonville, GA, from complications from injuries sustained in a car accident. The 400-pound-plus Blackwell had been best known for his extended main event run with the AWA from 1979 until the promotion’s demise in 1990. - The legendary Harley Race is involved in a near-fatal car crash in his hometown of Kansas City, just prior to WCW’s “Clash of the Champions” special on TBS. Race suffers a broken hip, breaks both hands, and sustains various other bumps and bruises after his car careens into a guardrail at high-speed. Eric Bischoff initially opts to fire the widely-respected “seven-time” World champion, so as to get his guaranteed contract off the books. Ultimately, though, Bischoff’s familiars within the company help him recognize the error of his ways, and WCW pays Race -- who has spent the past three and-a-half years in a manger role -- in full for the five months remaining on the contract. - Scrawny long-time NWA jobber Randy Hogan -- so named by Dusty Rhodes for his resemblance to coetaneous WWF champ Hulk Hogan -- passes away after suffering a heart attack at his home in Florida. Next to the redoubtable Mulkey Brothers, Hogan was arguably the most well-known jobber in the business during the mid-late-‘80s. - Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage defeat the Butcher & Kevin Sullivan in the main event of WCW’s Clash of the Champions card in Las Vegas. In an angle following the match, Vader -- who the company is building up as Hogan’s next WCW World Title challenger -- attacks Hogan from behind and drops him with a power bomb. Hogan no-sells the move, though, and quickly disposes with the 400-pounder, much to the chagrin of smart fans high and low. Elsewhere, Ric Flair makes his first on-camera appearance in three months, and Big Bubba Rogers turns heel and attacks Sting. The show draws a moderately-successful 3.5 rating. - WCW-contracted (but rarely-used) Swedish grappler Frank Anderson pleads guilty in his home country on charges of purchasing and using the steroid Geretropin, a form of Human Growth Hormone (HGH). In a decision that raises more than a few eyebrows within the industry, management neglects to discipline Anderson. January 30-February 5 -- After taking extended time off to nurse an injury, the late “Flyin’” Brian Pillman returns to WCW TV in squash matches at the Saturday Night tapings at Center Stage Theater. - Steven “William” Regal and Bobby Eaton form a new tag team in WCW, called the “Blue Bloods.” February 6-12 -- In a controversial decision, WCW announces plans to expand from 9 PPVs in 1995 to 11 in 1996. Feb. 13-19 -- The volatile life of precocious industry legend “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert meets with a premature end in Puerto Rico at the age of 33. Gilbert’s resume included various stints in the WWF, Memphis, the UWF/Mid-South, the NWA/WCW, the GWF, Smoky Mountain, Japan, and ECW, as well as critically-acclaimed booking stints in the UWF (1985-1986), the NWA (1988-1989), the GWF (1992), Memphis (multiple times), Puerto Rico (multiple times) and ECW (1993). He was noted dually for his erratic personality, having walked out on nearly every promoter he ever worked for, and his booking ingenuity, strong workrate, and strong mic skills. - Sid Vicious wrestles his final match for the USWA in Memphis -- where he has been plying his wares for the better part of the past year -- teaming with Jerry Lawler to beat Crusher Bones and Big Daddy Cyrus. The match draws 1,800, which is slightly above the average during Vicious’ very successful run in the area. Following his departure, the Jarrett-Lawler promotion’s attendance drops markedly. Feb. 20-26 -- WCW holds its annual Superbrawl PPV, drawing an extremely strong 0.95 buy rate -- the fourth-highest such figure in wrestling all year, trailing only WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and Uncensored. The card is headlined by the first-ever meeting between Hulk Hogan and Vader, with an appearance by Ric Flair also advertised and delivered. Hogan wins the main event by disqualification, setting up numerous rematches between the two men. The best match on an otherwise-poor show is a Randy Savage & Sting vs. Big Bubba Rogers & Avalanche tag bout in the semi-main-event slot. - Hogan makes a rare house show appearance the weekend of Superbrawl, in Chicago. He beats Vader in the match and, much to the surprise of those watching, does his first blade job in nearly four years. - On Monday Night RAW, Sid Vicious -- being labeled simply as “Sid” -- re-debuts for the WWF, as Shawn Michaels’ bodyguard. Also notable on the show is that Jim Ross’ influence is felt more profoundly than ever over the booking: The announcing team of Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette stresses athletic elements and realistic themes, such as Diesel’s history of knee trouble. This approach is a drastic departure from the philosophy McMahon has demonstrated over the previous 10 years. - ECW champ Shane Douglas makes waves by trying out for a color commentary slot in the WWF. Michael Hayes of Fabulous Freebirds fame also receives a tryout; he’s eventually hired on as the natty “Doc Hendrix.” - Former NWA front-man Jim Crockett, Jr. -- now with a new lease on his wrestling life, as the head of a regional promotion in Dallas -- lands a TV timeslot in the market of his adopted home. However, the venture ultimately fails miserably, and, by year’s end, Crockett is once again out of the business. Feb. 27- March 5 -- The deluge of media publicity surrounding Lawrence Taylor’s appearance at WrestleMania peaks, with attendant stories running in newspapers and on newscasts nationwide. The WWF holds a press conference revealing that Taylor will wrestle Bam Bam Bigelow at the show and also hypes the already-announced Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels Hvt. title bout. - The WWF inks to a contract Louie Spicolli of the still-hot AAA promotion in Mexico. March 6-12 -- On the heels of WCW’s similar announcement a month prior, the WWF reveals that it will hold 12 PPVs in 1996, up from 9 in 1995. Seven of these will be “In Your House” specials, a novel concept on wrestling on PPV. Each IYH is to be two hours long -- as opposed to the conventional three hours -- and priced at $14.95 -- as opposed to the more conventional $29.95. The first such event is to occur in May. March 13-19 -- “Big” John Studd -- a one-time main-event-level star in the WWF, Mid-Atlantic, Houston, and the AWA -- passes away at age 46, after a long battle with Hodgkin’s Disease. He is buried near his home in Falls Church, Virginia. - WCW presents its inaugural Uncensored PPV, a night marked by awful production, disobedient wrestlers, reams of negative-stars matches, and widely incomprehensible booking. Among the many highlights: Meng beats Jim Duggan in a “martial arts match” in which no martial arts are used until the very last move; Randy Savage wins a no-DQ match via DQ over John “Avalanche” Tenta when Ric Flair, dressed in drag, interferes; and Hulk Hogan beats Vader in a strap match by beating Ric Flair (no typo), during which Ultimate-Warrior-inspired greenhorn Renegade makes his debut. Appropriately, the show draws a 0.96 buy rate, making it WCW’s biggest financial success of the year. - Dustin Rhodes and the Blacktop Bully (Barry Darsow) are fired for blading in their “King of the Road” match to open Uncensored, prompting quite an internal stir. The match was pre-taped, so very little blood makes in to the air, despite the fact that the advanced advertising for the show promised copious violence. Road agent Mike Graham, who contributed to the devising of the bout, is also released, though Eric Bischoff re-hires him back shortly hereafter. - Vince McMahon faxes a letter to WCW owner Ted Turner concerning the gratuitous violence WCW advertised for Uncensored and WCW announcer Gene Okerlund’s deceiving inducements for his Saturday WCW Hotline reports. McMahon cites Okerlund’s promising to reveal details on the “death of a 46-year-old former World champion” -- which is in reference to Jerry Blackwell, who never actually held a World title, but is clearly worded to insinuate the death of Ric Flair -- as the most egregious of “Mean” Gene’s sleazy come-ons. McMahon exhorts Turner that the negative publicity that resulted from the incident meant that it was detrimental to the industry as a whole, before cautioning that “the inmates are running the asylum” in WCW. Notably, Okerlund’s stunt brings in $40,000 worth of calls in one sitting, making it the most lucrative single-day report in the history of the Hotline. The last time McMahon had written Turner was in regard to the bloody violence that characterized the Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan “Spring Stampede ‘94” match, which led to the WCW owner’s handing down sweeping curbs on violence that stood for the next couple of years. - Brian Adams (aka “Crush”), 31, is arrested in his native Kona, Hawaii, on illegal drug possession and illegal handgun possession charges. A search of his home had turned up several illegal handguns, as well as large quantities of marijuana and anabolic steroids. March 20-26 -- Lawrence Taylor’s WrestleMania participation garners publicity in USA Today, Newsweek, and virtually every other news magazine and newspaper in the country. - Behind the scenes, Ric Flair --still clinging to his roll as WCW head booker -- engages in a series of verbal spats with Randy Savage regarding Savage’s insistence on having Hogan-esque total creative control over his character. March 27-April 2 -- WrestleMania XI, though it draws a highly-disappointing-for-a-WM 1.5 buy rate, is largely an aesthetic success: Taylor defeats Bam Bam Bigelow in a shockingly good finale, while Diesel successfully defends the Hvt. title against Shawn Michaels in a very good match. A big group of celebrities appear at the show, including TLC, who close the show with their hit single “Whatta’ Man.” - The same day as WrestleMania, New Japan runs the Tokyo Dome and draws a crowd of 60,000, paying $5.6 million. Even without the benefit of PPV receipts, NJ’s spectacular grosses more than its WWF counterpart, before video sales. - Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan have a series of loud disagreements in the offices of WCW. By this point, Hogan has gained almost total autonomy over the creative direction of the company, while Flair has been almost entirely stripped of any creative power. Ironically, Flair expresses remonstrance over how WCW’s most promising younger wrestlers (Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, Johnny B. Badd, etc.) have been marginalized in favor of Hogan’s friends (Butcher, Jim Duggan, Avalanche, etc.) on the roster depth charts. Flair also complains about how WCW’s entire creative crew has to fly all the way to Hogan’s house in Florida to conduct booking meetings, instead of Hogan’s making the trek to WCW headquarters at CNN Tower in Atlanta. April 3-9 -- On the Raw the day after WrestleMania, Sid turns on Shawn Michaels, powerbombing him three times, after Michaels had ordered Sid to “take a day off” when an inevitable ‘Mania World Title rematch takes place. Despite the flimsy storyline explanation, it’s a highly-effective angle, highlighted by Diesel’s making the save for his fallen former partner -- thereby signaling the popular-for-a-heel Michaels’ long-awaited babyface turn. Elsewhere, Alundra Blayze recaptures the Womens Title from Bull Nakano in a great match, Lex Luger & Davey Boy Smith (the “Allied Powers”) beat Well Dunn, Hakushi beats Bob Holly, and Men on a Mission win a squash. The show is lauded in some quarters as the best hour of WWF programming since the May 17, 1993, Raw, which featured Marty Jannetty’s Intercontinental Title win over Shawn Michaels (which received “Match of the Year” honors from Pro Wrestling Illustrated) and the 1-2-3 Kid’s shocking upset win over Razor Ramon. - Paul Heyman fires Sabu, ECW’s top star at the time, for no-showing an ECW Arena card to appear instead on a card in Japan. Heyman promptly buries Sabu over the house mic at the Arena show and delivers Rick Steiner as a surprise replacement. - Tabloid The Star runs a story regarding a confrontation that allegedly occurred between “Motley Crue” drummer Tommy Lee and Shawn Michaels backstage at WrestleMania. According to the report, Michaels shot Lee a dirty look, prompting Lee to challenge, “Hey, pal, do you have a problem with me?” Michaels’ response: “No, but you know your girl (Pamela Anderson Lee) was mine before she was yours?!” According to the account, the two men then had to be separated. Anderson Lee’s take on the matter: “Tommy does this all the time. It’s so sweet!” April 10-16 -- USWA half-owner Jerry Jarrett agrees to a working relationship with Eric Bischoff. Jarrett is to act as a paid “consultant” to WCW, while the Turner-owned company is allowed the inducement of claiming the USWA’s 36 syndicated outlets as part of its own syndicated package. - As a cost-cutting measure, WCW fires veteran front office member Jim Barnett, one of the most important management figures in the history of the business. - Sandman retains the ECW Hvt. Title against Shane Douglas, 911 bests Ron Simmons (Faarooq), and Cactus Jack downs Terry Funk at ECW Arena on April 15. April 17-23 -- Brian Pillman is arrested on drug possession charges after police spot him engaging in suspicious behavior in a seedy part of town while searching for his estranged girlfriend, but he’s eventually cleared of any wrongdoing. - Legendary Japanese garbage wrestler Atsushi Onita “retires” for the first time. April 24-30-- The 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman), 23, suffers a serious neck injury at the WWF’s TV tapings in Omaha, Nebraska, including disc damage and a pinched nerve, thereby inducing numbness in his arm. Doctors advise the Kid to retire, but he makes a remarkable recovery and returns to action later in the year. - ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” magazine-style program airs an expose on steroid and drug abuse in wrestling, focusing in particular on the passing of Eddie Gilbert. The piece ruffles quite a few feathers amongst members of WWF and WCW management. - WCW devises early plans for a new “cruiserweight” division, with Brian Pillman and Sabu (with whom the company has begun negotiations) as the prospective showpieces. According to rumors, Hulk Hogan pushes for ex-WWF star Koko B. Ware to be hired as the division’s central figure. - ECW tours Florida again, drawing crowds of 1,200 and 800 in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, respectively. Sandman battles Cactus Jack in the main events. May 1-7 -- Sting openly expresses his displeasure with management over being shunted down into a role as the number-four babyface in WCW, behind Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Renegade. The company pacifies him by promising him a victory in its forthcoming tournament to crown a new US champion. - Both Hunter Heart Helmsley and Skip (Chris Candido) & Sunny (Tammy Fytch), the Body Donnas, make their debuts on WWF programming. May 8-14 -- The WWF holds its first-ever “In Your House” PPV on May 15. The card is a disappointment on all fronts, featuring main events of Jerry Lawler over Bret Hart and Diesel over Pscyho Sid via DQ, an awful Hvt. Title match. By far the best match on the show is the opener, Bret (pulling double-duty) over Hakushi. The event draws a 0.83 buy rate, making it only marginally profitable with the $14.95 price tag. - “Stunning” Steve Austin walks out on WCW after being asked to job on TV to the notoriously-awful Renegade. Booking committee members Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Arn Anderson all attempt to coax Austin into returning and cooperating with the plan as detailed, but to no avail. Eric Bischoff resolves the saga by calling an emergency meeting with “Stunning” Steve and promising to book a reformation of the critically-acclaimed Hollywood Blondes tag team of Austin and Brian Pillman. As a result, Austin ultimately agrees not only to do the honors for Renegade (in under 30 seconds, no less), but also for Randy Savage, in a separate match. - Legendary wrestler/manager/management figure “Classy” Freddie Blassie, 77, suffers a massive heart attack at his home in New York. He undergoes successful triple bypass surgery at Queens Hospital several days later, extending his life well, well into the future. - Jim Ross unsuccessfully attempts to ink All Japan’s Johnny Ace, formerly of WCW, to a WWF (wrestling) contract. - WCW publicizes its firing of the small-but-expendable Brad Armstrong for failing a steroid test. - Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), a wildly successful garbage promotion in Japan and an early inspiration to ECW, holds a “retirement show” for its number-one draw, Atsushi Onita. The show draws nearly 50,000 to Kawasaki Baseball Stadium in Japan, marking what proves to be the company’s zenith. May 15-21 -- On the heels of its abominable “Uncensored” card in March, WCW makes only modest strides with its “Slamboree” PPV on May 21. In the top two matches, Sting beats Big Bubba Rogers (Big Bossman) and Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage best Vader & Ric Flair (in the latter’s first match since October 1994). The Great Muta wrestles his first match in WCW in several years, defeating Paul Orndorff, and, operating on orders from company management, neglects to showcase many of his signature spectacular moves. The show draws a mediocre 0.65 buy rate. May 22-28 -- Vince McMahon leads the entire WWF roster on a guided tour of Titan Towers, the WWF’s headquarters in Stamford, CT, before sitting them down for a five-hour meeting. The highlight of the conference is an hour-long speech from Vince, who makes the then-shocking disclosure that the company is currently running a money-losing operation: It was $3.8 million in the red in 1994 and $5 million in the red in 1993. Federation Head of Talent Relations J.J. Dillon (Jim Ross’ predecessor in that position), Linda McMahon, and Ross also make extended speeches, discussing booking, hiring policies, and other administrative matters. In an effort to facilitate harmony between the office and the wrestlers, Linda airs a lengthy video detailing the day-to-day operations of all the separate departments at Titan Towers, which seems to serve it purpose. Many of those good feelings are negated, though, when management introduces a new, more stringent drug testing policy. However, several months later, with public interest in wrestling scandals at a several-year low, the policy is almost entirely abandoned. - Japanese wrestling superstars Kensuki Sasaki and Akira Hokuto announce their engagement. May 29-June 4 -- The WWF reaches an agreement to begin airing periodic prime time specials on NBC. However, Dick Ebersol, who heads up the network’s sports department, cancels the agreement only days later. - The May 29 Raw, featuring an Undertaker vs. Jeff Jarrett main event, ties its all-time high (set on April 24). Many onlookers, including the Turner organization’s top brass, take note of the program’s cable dominance on Mondays. June 5-11 -- WCW shocks the wrestling industry by announcing that it will begin broadcasting a Monday night program on TNT that will go head-to-head with the WWF’s established RAW broadcasts, starting September 4. The show is to air live every week -- at the cost of $4 million in annual production fees -- and, according to Eric Bischoff, will usher in a new, revolutionary era in wrestling. Observers immediately deem the decision suicidal. Bischoff ignores the criticisms -- something he would grow too accustomed to doing in subsequent years. WCW debuts a series of skits in which Kevin Sullivan makes treks to meet with a decrepit, hoary ‘60s wrestlers Curtis Iaukea -- covered with a mesh of spiderwebs, seated in a throne, and known only as “Master” -- in his glacial lair, which is replete with several icicles, a nearby pool of water, and various vermin prowling about. There, “Master” informs Sullivan that he “must destroy the man who goes by the name of ‘Hulk Hogan’” at all costs. In subsequent weeks, Sullivan uses similar scenes to introduce his “Dungeon of Doom” stable, whose members include The Shark (John Tenta, a/k/a Avalanche), The Zodiac (Ed Lesliee, a/k/a The Butcher), the One Man gang, and Kamala. June 12-18 -- WCW’s Great American Bash PPV is a great improvement over the company’s first three efforts this year but still leaves much to be desired. In a four-star main event, Ric Flair beats Randy Savage, who are locked in arguably the company’s best feud of the year. Elsewhere, Sting beats Meng in the finals of a U.S. title tournament, and in a notorious match on the under-card, Hulk Hogan pet project Renegade beats Arn Anderson to win the WCW TV title, setting up a controversial three-month reign with said belt. Hogan doesn’t appear on the show, and, consequently, its lowest buy rate of the year to this point, a 0.51. June 19-25 -- The WWF presents one of its worst PPVs of all-time, King of the Ring ‘95. The main event of Diesel & Bam Bam Bigelow over Sid & Tatanka falls flat, while Mabel’s victory in the KOTR tournament falls even flatter -- to crepe-like levels, in fact. Shawn Michaels, the favorite to win the tournament and arguably the company’s best worker, is inexplicably eliminated in the first round. The show draws a rather poor 0.65 buy rate. June 26-July 2 -- WCW announces the resignation of Ric Flair as head booker. His successor is named as Kevin Sullivan, who has already been acting as a creative contributor for the past several months and also served with Flair on the company’s booking committee in 1989. July 3-9 -- Long-time WWF front office staffer and figurehead “president” Jack Tunney resigns from the company. July 10-16 -- WCW continues its streak of critical disasters with the “Bash at the Beach,” which draws a strong buy rate of 0.82, along with a freebie crowd of 6,000 to a beach in Hunington Beach, California. The announcers claim an attendance figure of “100,000” numerous times during and after the show. In the main event, Hulk Hogan downs Vader in a steel cage match, with assistance from Dennis Rodman, while Randy Savage beats Ric Flair in a “Lifeguard Match.” - On WCW “Main Event” on TBS prior to the PPV, a hulking man who has been caught on camera in the crowd at a handful of prior events confronts Hulk Hogan during an interview segment. The unnamed man hands Hogan a poofy white shirt, then walks off, causing a stunned Hulkster to stammer, “Oh my God, Jimmy, this was Andre’s!” July 17-23 -- Though largely unsuccessful, the second “In Your House” PPV boasts a near-five-star match: Shawn Michaels beats Jeff Jarrett to win the Intercontinental title for the third time, after a miscommunication spot between Jarrett and his second, Brian “The Roadie” Armstrong. In a poorly-received main event, Diesel pins Sid cleanly to retain the WWF Hvt. title. - Jarrett and the Roadie (a/k/a Road Dogg) walk out on the WWF during In Your House after a disagreement with Vince McMahon regarding character direction. The two had been scheduled to film an on-air break-up at the PPV, to which they strongly object, feeling that it’s too soon for such a denouement to their on-air relationship. Among their grievances also include low payoffs and a drug test the Roadie was forced to take prior to the card. July 24-30 -- Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the WWF fire Ricky Morton of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express for a pattern of unprofessional conduct, including tardiness and showing up “in no condition to perform.” - The Giant -- Andre’s “son” and the man who presented Hulk Hogan with the pirate shirt before Bash at the Beach -- debuts on WCW Saturday Night in a Dungeon of Doom segment, choking out Hogan. July 31-August 6 -- Using Jim Ross as an intermediary, Vince McMahon shockingly hires on former UWF/Mid-South and WCW front-man “Cowboy” Bill Watts to assume the reigns of the WWF’s booking. Remarkably, Watts is promised full autonomy over the Fed’s creative direction, a clear indication of McMahon’s wavering confidence in his own creative acumen. Management does not immediately acknowledge “Cowboy” Bill’s arrival to the wrestlers, although it is tacitly recognized by everyone in the promotion. Ross, a former Watts understudy, and Bruce Britchard remain on the booking staff as assistants. August 7-13 -- In a decision he would live to regret, Eric Bischoff releases the injured “Stunning” Steve Austin from his WCW contract. Bischoff’s rationale is that Austin has been injury-prone and uncooperative for the better part of the past year. - On the last -- and, arguably, one of the poorest -- “Clash of the Champions” special before Nitro debuts, the newly-babyface Vader beats Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a handicap match. - Gorilla Monsoon is named the new figurehead “president” of the WWF, replacing Jack Tunney. Aug. 14-20 -- Following several weeks of negotiations, ECW wrestlers Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko finally commit to entering WCW, to coincide with the debut of the next month’s “Monday Nitro.” The trio had initially been reticent to accept Eric Bischoff’s offers due to his poor track record for handling wrestlers whose appeal is workrate-based; they agree to sign, though, after New Japan’s Masa Saito intimated to them that NJ -- their primary source of income at the time -- would release them should they not sign with its Western business partner. The main behind-the-scenes proponent of hiring the three is Kevin Sullivan, whose latest concept is for WCW to differentiate itself from the WWF by featuring a flank of world-class workers. - At the Raw tapings, “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith turns heel for the first time in his WWF career, betraying Diesel in a tag match. Aug. 21-27 -- The WWF earns at least some critical marks for its Summer Slam PPV, largely due to the classic Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon ladder match, during which Michaels retains the Intercontinental title. In the main event, Diesel beats Mabel to retain the WWF title, which is largely blamed for its disappointing-for-a-Summer-Slam 0.9 buy rate. - Despite concerns over how his character will be portrayed in the company, Sabu comes to terms with WCW, setting him up to join Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko in Nitro’s nucleus of innovative workers. The ex-ECW star’s debut match against Alex Wright is set for the September 11 Nitro. - Meanwhile, WCW makes a play for ECW’s Taz, but he refuses Bischoff and company’s offer. Aug. 28-September 3 Friction between Shawn Michaels and Lex Luger comes to a head stemming from Michaels’ commentary to the effect that Luger “punches like a girl.” Meanwhile, Luger continues to wrestle for the WWF without a contract, which came due several weeks earlier. Sept. 4-10 -- The unopposed debut of Monday Nitro caps off one of the most eventful weeks in the modern history of pro wrestling. On the show, Brian Pillman defeats Jushin Liger in a fast-paced match, Sting beats Ric Flair by DQ, and Hogan pins Big Bubba Rogers. In one of the most memorable moments of the decade, Lex Luger makes a shocking, unadvertised appearance during the Sting-Flair match, watching from the aisle for several moments before returning to the back, setting the unpredictable tone that would characterize the show for years to come. At the end of the broadcast, Luger helps Hogan fend off an attack from the Dungeon of Doom, before the two have a confrontation setting up a singles match the next week. The show is a veritable success on all fronts, drawing a 2.9 -- slightly below Raw’s recent average. Meanwhile, during Raw’s timeslot on the USA Network, Andre Agassi is en route to his first U.S. Open championship. - Over the previous two weeks, Luger had convinced Vince McMahon that he had no intention of signing with WCW even though, which convinced Vince to allow him to work without a contract. However, Luger had been secretly negotiating with Eric Bischoff -- with Sting as the intermediary between the two -- the entire time; in fact, Luger had come to terms on a contract just three days before his appearance in Minneapolis. “The Total Package” actually wrestled on all of the WWF’s house shows the previous weekend, then flew to Minneapolis, where he was spotted at a backstage party by sidelined Federation wrestler Sean Waltman (aka the 1-2-3 Kid/X-Pac). Only one hour before Nitro was set to take the air, Waltman phoned a consternated Vince McMahon to inform him of Luger’s impending appearance for the competition that night. - Luger’s debut is made possible for WCW by the payroll space created by Eric Bischoff’s firing Vader in connection with a backstage tussle between the 400-pound and wrestler/agent/booker Paul Orndorff. One well-sourced version of what transpired is as follows: Just days before the first Nitro, at a WCW Saturday Night taping at Atlanta’s Center Stage Theater, Vader was putting on his ring gear in the dressing room. Orndorff approached him and got on his case about taking too much time to get ready to go tape promos in the facility’s interview area. The words between the two men were especially harsh, due to some sort of pre-existing tension from one or more incidents over the previous few months. Orndorff’s attempts to hasten Vader along only prompted the wrestler to become even more deliberate in his preparations, which in turn prompted “Mr. Wonderful” to hurl insults at him, like “fat prima-donna” and “fat ass.” Vader took exception, natch, and shoved Orndorff with enough force to send him to the ground. In response, Orndorff rose to his feet and floored Vader with a punch, mounted the prostate Vader, punched him some more, laid in a series of kicks for good measure, and left his opposition bruised and bloodied, before some other wrestlers stepped in to break up the fray. Several minutes later, Vader went into a flight of rage and scoured the halls of Center Stage looking for Orndorff. When the two met up again, Orndorff didn’t fare nearly as well as the first go-round but, by all accounts, still held his own until it was broken up. Because Vader commanded such a hefty salary (reportedly upwards of $600,000 a year through 1998) and Orndorff was in a position of power, Eric Bischoff fired Vader shortly before the first Nitro. One of the most notable aspects of the fracas is that Orndorff had had only limited use of his right arm since 1986, due to a nerve injury exacerbated by a botched suplex from Hulk Hogan that year. - Shawn Michaels grants an interview to Mark Madden of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette -- who, incidentally, is also a member of the WCW Hotline troupe by this point -- and delves into a number of behind-the-scenes topics. He claims that Vince McMahon has requested that he “tone down his act” on a number of different occasions, so as not to upstage all the other wrestlers. He further says that Ric Flair was overrated in his prime; ‘Naitch did almost the exact same match every week, so sayeth, Michaels, which is why he, HBK, is better than Flair ever was. - According to rumors, Hulk Hogan kvetches to WCW management that the “new guys” (Sabu, Chris Benoit, Dean malenko, Eddie Guerrero) are “too small.” - Monday Night Wars, Sept. 4: Nitro - 2.9 (Flair vs. Sting) September 11-17 -- The WWF’s established RAW goes head-to-head with WCW’s upstart “Monday Nitro” for the first time, and Nitro ekes out a surprise win, 2.6-2.5. Nitro offers a first-time Hulk Hogan vs. Lex Luger “dream match” for the WCW Hvt. title, while the Federation counters with a taped Shawn Michaels vs. Sid main event. Perhaps the most notable aspect of either program is that Eric Bischoff uses his broadcast booth bully pulpit to heap pejorative statements on the WWF. Not only does he claim on two different occasions that Lex Luger walked out on the WWF (even mentioning the company by name) to wrestle “where the big boys play,” but he also attempts to sabotage Raw by reminding viewers that it’s a taped show: “About the competition -- don’t bother watching. It’s three weeks old. Shawn Michaels beat the big guy with a superkick.” Elsewhere on the show, Sabu makes his long-awaited debut, beating Alex Wright and putting him through a table -- a first in WCW. - WCW holds a decent “Fall Brawl” PPV, drawing a poor 0.48 buy rate for Hulk Hogan & Sting & Randy Savage & Lex Luger beat the Dungeon of Doom in WarGames when Hogan makes The Zodiac submit, Arn Anderson beats Ric Flair (****), and Johnny B. Badd beats Brian Pillman (****). - MNW, Sept. 11: Nitro - 2.6 (Luger vs. Hogan), Raw - 2.5 (Shawn Michaels vs. Sid) September 18-24 -- - The WWF’s September 24 “In Your House” PPV is a strong show headlined by Bret Hart over Jean Pierre LaFitte and Shawn Michaels & Diesel over Davey Boy Smith & Yokozuna. Bill Watts’ booking fingerprints (heels gaining relatively clean wins, matches telling a story with one wrestler honing his focus on a single part of another’s body, numerous ref. bumps, and logical booking) mark the booking of the card. It draws a 0.7 buy rate, the exact same as the previous IYH two months prior. - Former member of the tag team “Quebecers” tag team Jean Pierre LaFitte (aka “Pierre Ouelette,” among other aliases), the WWF’s top ethnic French-Canadian draw in Quebec, puts up a stink over doing a job to WWF champion Diesel at a card in Montreal. In a phone conversation with a road agent prompted by LaFitte’s complaints, Vince McMahon agrees to change the finish to a double-countout, which raises the ire of both Diesel and fellow Shawn Michaels. As a result, LaFitte develops heat with the two Clique members. Naturally, during a rematch the following night in Quebec City, LaFitte catches Diesel with a “potato shot,” and the champ retaliates with two hard shoot punches to the head. Remarkably, the two men cooperate for the remainder of the match without further incident. LaFitte is de-pushed in the wake of these histrionics. MNW, Sept. 18: Raw - 2.5 (Razor Ramon vs. Sean "1-2-3 Kid" Waltman), Nitro - 2.4 (Ric Flair vs. Brian Pillman) September 25-October 1 -- The WWF releases Womens champion Alundra Blayze, without first having the foresight to have her return the physical championship belt. - Now a free agent, Steve Austin debuts in ECW, making an unannounced appearance at a card in Middletown, New York. He vows to win Mikey Whipwreck’s ECW Hvt. Title. In his first television interview, he does a raucous parody of Hulk Hogan which eventually makes it onto his first WWF home video release. - The WWF airs a “WrestleMania” special on FOX, featuring the Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel and Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow matches in their entirety, drawing a strong 3.8 rating. The Fed attempts to parlay this success into a greater presence on the network but is unsuccessful. - MNW, Sept. 25: Raw - 2.7 (British Bulldog vs. Undertaker), Nitro - 1.8 (Randy Savage vs. Kevin Sullivan) October 2-8 -- Vince McMahon conducts a meeting with all WWF personnel to announce his resignation as head booker -- ostensibly to focus more on his role as a corporate executive -- and officially usher in Bill Watts, whom he describes as “the brightest mind in wrestling.” Watts, who was ousted as WCW Executive Vice President in 1992, broadcasts several of his booking philosophies at the meeting. He decries the WWF’s lack of a top African-American babyface and announces that recent Texas independent signee Tony Norris (a/k/a “Ahmed Johnson”) will be enjoying a big push; he hints that Bret Hart is a strong candidate to become the next Hvt. champion; he asserts that the company will be toning down its excessive gimmickry; and he announces his new brainchild of each Raw’s featuring clips of the following week’s (taped) edition, to facilitate a “soap-opera-type atmosphere.” In other moments, both Watts and McMahon have harsh words for WCW’s promotional methods and roster, though McMahon professes that he would like to work with Sting, Brian Pillman, Johnny B. Badd (Marc Mero), and Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) in the future. - New Japan reaffirms its status as the unrivaled top promotion in the world, drawing 67,000 fans, a $6.2 million gate, and $2 million in merchandising sales (the latter two figures being all-time wrestling records which stand until the company breaks them again) for an “inter-promotional” at the Tokyo Dome. In the main event, IWGP champ Keiji Mutoh downs Nobuhiko Takada, champion of the UWFI shootfighting group. UWFI had achieved a great deal of success the previous year and very briefly challenged NJ’s hold as the top promotion in the world, before on hard times prior to this event. Hence, most of its wrestlers do jobs to NJ’s performers on the show. - MNW, Oct. 2: Nitro - 2.5 (Luger vs. Savage), Raw - 2.5 October 9-15 -- -- Not two weeks after Vince McMahon officially announces the arrival of Bill Watts as his head booker, “Cowboy” Bill is already gone. Watts quits the promotion in a huff, feeling that McMahon had gone back on his promise to cede full booking authority. Watts’ beef stems from several run-ins, but the main one surrounds the future course of the WWF Hvt. title: Watts feels strongly that Bret Hart should be the long-term champion, while McMahon overrules him and deems that Shawn Michaels will emerge as the Federation’s newest front-man come WrestleMania. In addition, Watts is dead-set on pushing “Psycho” Sid as the promotion’s new top heel; establishing several monster heels, as opposed to letting the babyface dominate virtually every encounter, as per McMahon’s convention; and instituting several archaic policies governing out-of-the-ring activities (babyfaces and heels shouldn’t associate with one another away from the ring; tardy wrestlers should be fined steeply; etc.). McMahon, though, chafes at all of these notions. - A bar altercation between a gaggle of Marines and Shawn Michaels, the 1-2-3 Kid, and Davey Boy Smith in Syracuse, NY, devolves into violence. Several conflicting versions of the story exist, but this one appears to follow the most plausibly: Following a quarrel within the bar’s confines, the wrestlers decamp and attempt to leave in a car. The Marines follow them, heckle them, and prompt Michaels to get out of the car and confront them. A few of the Marines brutally attack him, slam his head into the hood of the car, rip his earrings from his ears, and kick and punch him numerous times as he lies on the ground. Meanwhile, the other Marines try to hold the car’s doors shut to prevent the Kid and Smith from coming to Michaels’ aid. Once the two wrestlers finally pry a door open, the Kid bests one of the Marines in a brawl, while Smith batters several others. At this point, a police officer hits the scene with his gun drawn, sending the Marines limping away from the scene. Michaels winds up with both eyes swollen shut, his eyelid and ears partially torn, and his eardrum ruptured. A few months later, a Douglas Griffith, 23, is arrested and convicted on Assault charges in connection with the incident. - The beating outside of the bar isn’t the only lowlight of Michaels’ week. A day prior, the ever-controversial HBK is assaulted backstage by Jacob and Eli Blu (a/k/a Ron and Don Harris) during a house show at Madison Square Garden. The twin brothers corner him when the dressing room is empty, give him a mild roughing up, and throw him face-first into a wall, before locking the door so that no nearby wrestlers can rush the scene. No actual blows are exchanged, and the Blus eventually allow Michaels free without inflicting much further physical harm. The team had given notice to Vince McMahon only days before, so the WWF is not in a position to discipline them for the incident. It’s not the last time they will work for the company, either. - Mabel legitimately breaks the Undertaker’s orbital bone during a match, so the ‘Taker takes to wearing a protective mask for several months. - The Ultimate Warrior rips off Las Vegas independent promoter T.C. Martin. - MNW, Oct. 9: Nitro - 2.6 (AA vs. Ric Flair), Raw - 2.6 (Diesel, Michaels, Undertaker vs. Bulldog, Owen, Yokozuna) Oct. 16-22 -- The WWF holds its October “In Your House,” which draws an abysmal 0.4 buy rate and is the least profitable PPV in the history of the company up to this point. A disgusted Vince McMahon, who announces the show with Jim Ross, throws down his headset immediately after the show goes off the air and complained that it was “terrible.” He also expresses confusion over how the crowd so readily turned on Diesel in favor of Hart; the card emanated from Canada, but McMahon had spent the last year building up Diesel as his top ‘face. - Hulk Hogan teases a heel turn on Nitro, wearing all black during a vignette and drawing on themes from the OJ Simpson double-murder case: "My concerns this week have been a lot of things -- about what to do with the black gloves, the black bandanna, about what to do with the Giant's carcass... Everyone knows what a man with a pair of black gloves on and a black rag on his head is capable of doing, dude!" - MNW, Oct. 16: Nitro - 2.2 (Sting & Lex Luger vs. Harlem Heat), Raw - 2.5 (Owen Hart eliminates Marty Jannetty to win battle royal) Oct. 23-29 -- WCW holds its ludicrous-but-morbidly-entertaining Halloween Havoc PPV, which draws a tepid 0.6. The show is best characterized by the proceedings involving Hulk Hogan and The Giant: The two men first do battle in a monster truck showdown on the top of Cobo Hall in Detroit, where the PPV is held. After Hogan emerges victorious, they enter into a brawl, whereupon Hogan pushes his foe off of the roof of the ten-story building, presumably causing him to plunge to his death. Moments later, a dismayed Hogan makes his way to the ring and starts to apologize for what happened when, much to everyone’s bewilderment, none other than The Giant inexplicably follows him to the squared circle, somehow entirely unscathed. The two men once again battle, this time in a surprisingly acceptable match, with Hogan on the verge of winning when Jimmy Hart turns heel by beating up the referee and pickling his charge with the World title belt. Next, Lex Luger and Randy Savage do a run-in, and Luger turns heel on both Savage and Hogan. Finally, The Yeti -- a “mummy” who appears to be wrapped head-to-toe in toilet paper -- then emerges from the back and helps the Dungeon of Doom put the boots to Hogan and Savage. The match is ruled a DQ win for The Giant, since Hogan’s manager, Hart, had assaulted the referee, though it is revealed the next night on Nitro that the contract for the match stipulated that the title would change hands on a DQ, thanks to Hart’s clandestine tactics. - The infamous “fire incident” occurs at ECW Arena in Philadelphia, as Cactus Jack attempts to hit Terry Funk with a chair contain a burning towel on it. The towel flies off and lands on Funk, and the flames engulf his entire body for several seconds. Jack immediately breaks kayfabe and tries to extinguish the flame but is unable to corral the frenzied Funk, who eventually averts further disaster by disrobing himself of the towel. To make the incident even more bizarre, the lights go out in the building during the height of the panic so that Raven can “crucify” Tommy Dreamer at the “Eagle’s Nest” above the Arena. Ultimately, Funk and two fans are hospitalized and treated for second-degree burns, while ECW earns itself a new antagonist in the form of the local fire marshall. - MNW, Oct. 23: Nitro, 2.2, Raw 2.6 Oct. 30-Nov. 5 -- The WWF turfs its “B” shows, consolidating its heretofore-two-tiered house show touring troupe into 18 monthly A-shows. - Chris Benoit joins the Four Horsemen, joining Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman in the stable. - The WWF announces its plans to sponsor Olympic power lifter Mark Henry in the 1996 games. - MNW, Oct. 30: Nitro 2.5 (Havoc fall-out, Luger & Meng vs. American Males), Raw 2.2 (Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon) Nov. 6-12 -- Amid nightmarish locker room morale in the WWF, Vince McMahon conducts no less than three emergency meetings with his crew at house shows, in New Jersey, Columbus (Ohio), and Cincinnati, respectively. The primary reason for the poor esprit de corps is McMahon’s decision to do away with “B” shows, which the crew figures will lead to a drop in the amount of house show-generated income to go around. Another source of friction is the group of wrestlers that has come to be known as the “Clique” -- Shawn Michaels, Kevin “Diesel” Nash, Scott “Razor Ramon” Hall, Sean “1-2-3 Kid” Waltman, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. The Clique is unpopular due to their inordinate level of political influence and for their general behavior, which many of their peers consider childish. - Lex Luger complains loudly to WCW management about having turned heel and expresses general dissatisfaction with his current push. He’s also upset about being passed over in favor of Chris Benoit for a position in the Four Horsemen. As an outgrowth of his discontent, Luger intentionally ignores a cue to do a run-in during a live Nitro, leaving Eric Bischoff dangling and making spurious claims like “Here comes Luger!” for the next several moments. - Similar to Luger, Sid gripes to WWF management. - The WCW Hvt. title is held up due to the controversial Halloween Havoc finish. - Kensuke Sasaki beats Sting to capture the US Title as part of a combined New Japan-WCW card at Sumo Hall in Japan. The show draws only 7,500, the smallest crowd for an NJ show in that building since 1980 -- a clear indication that WCW’s wrestlers lack drawing power in the Orient. The most notable aspect of the tour is that The Giant displays incredible agility when allowed to wrestle an unfettered style against the NJ contingent, prompting rumblings that the company will groom him to be Hulk Hogan’s successor as its top star. - Sabu makes a dramatic return to ECW as part of the November 18 ECW Arena card. Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk beat Cactus Jack and Raven in the main event. - On Raw, the WWF does its first-ever ECW-style “shoot angle,” as Shawn Michaels “collapses” after receiving an enziguiri from Owen Hart, with the announcers speculating that his career might be over. In storyline, Michaels has been experiencing “concussion problems” in connection with the nightclub beating in New York. Notably, the angle had been suggested by WWF Magazine editor and ECW fan Vince Russo. It is arguably the most successful storyline run by either of the Big Two in 1995, as it effectively establishes Michaels as a mega-star upon his return to the ring two months later. - MNW, Nov. 6: Nitro - 2.3 (Sting vs. Ric Flair), Raw - 2.1 (Bret Hart & Hakushi vs. Jerry Lawler & Isaac Yankem) Nov. 13-19 -- The WWF’s Clique-related internal squabbles continue. This time, the source of said tension is that Vince McMahon charters a flight for the five men to meet with him privately at Titan Towers in Stamford. In addition to granting them free reign to use the facility’s gym, he caves into their demands that they receive higher payoffs for the frequent public appearances they make on off days. - On a related note, Bret Hart and Diesel develop heat with one another. Diesel accuses Bret, who invariably receives bigger pops than the more-heavily-pushed Hvt. champ, of trying to undermine his babyface heat in their feud. - MNW, Nov. 13: Raw - 2.6, Nitro - 2.0 Nov. 20-26 -- The WWF’s “Survivor Series” PPV in Washington, DC, draws a record-low 0.57 buy rate, grossing less than $1.5 million. In the main event, Bret Hart regains the WWF Hvt. title from Diesel, after which the latter turns heel and powerbombs Bret multiple times. Remarkably, the announcing team (Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Mr. Perfect) fail to acknowledge the title change one single time, instead focusing on Diesel’s sudden change of heart. - Prior to Survivor Series, McMahon has yet another personnel meeting and announces that the group will be gearing its product more toward adults, with more raunchy storylines and a greater level of violence. This direction had originally been encouraged by Bill Watts during his brief booking tenure with the company. McMahon also consents to give all contracted wrestlers a $400-a-week base salary on weeks they aren’t working, to quell the concerns of those performers most affected by the company’s cut-back in house shows. - WCW hot-shots a Sting vs. Hulk Hogan main event on Nitro, which wins them the day in the ratings war but fails to pop its numbers as hoped. The live crowd roundly boos Hogan throughout the bout, which is not an uncommon occurrence at this point. - MNW, Nov. 20: Nitro - 2.5 (Sting vs. Hogan), Raw - 2.3 Nov. 27-Dec. 3 -- Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling folds up shop after four years of existence. Cornette founded the promotion in October 1991 to fulfill his lifelong dream of running a traditional-style Southern wrestling territory, and it quickly garnered a devoted following in its Tennessee-Kentucky homebase -- which allowed it to draw crowds ranging from 1,000-5,000 in its top two monthly towns, Knoxville and Johnson City. However, it failed to attract enough interest to emerge as a viable entity, drawing average crowds of 200-300 in its dying days. The latest and most critical of the group’s recent string of hardships came when its main financial backer, Rick Rubin of Def American Records, pulled his funding from the promotion in August, after losing over $40,000 on the venture. Ultimately, Smoky Mountain’s most enduring legacy has been for breaking Chris Candido, Tammy Fytch (Sunny), Brian Lee (Chainz), Unabom (Kane), the Gangstas, and the Heavenly Bodies into the wrestling mainstream and providing Al Snow, Chris Jericho, and Lance Storm with their greatest U.S. exposure to this point in their careers. Cornette’s savvy booking also revitalized the long-dormant careers of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, who were arguably the top drawing tag team in the business at one point but were almost completely burnt out at the the time SMW formed. In hindsight, one of Cornette’s greatest miscalculations was inking a talent exchange agreement with the WWF, which made his promotion seem comparatively inferior and lost him the loyalty of a large portion of his patronage. - Randy Savage wins the “World War III” PPV battle royal to capture the vacated WCW Hvt. championship in controversial fashion. The originally-planned finish was for Sting to win the belt, but immediately prior to the match, Hulk Hogan exercised his booking autonomy within the company and changed the outcome. What’s more, Hogan personally calls out the order of elimination of the final ten wrestlers in the ring while the match is in progress. It draws a very poor 0.43 buy rate. - MNW, Nov. 27: Raw - 2.5, Nitro - 2.3 Dec. 4-10 -- The WWF signs Steve Austin and opens court with Cactus Jack, nee Mick Foley. - Bam Bam Bigelow gives notice to the WWF and starts accepting regular bookings in Japan once again. - ECW/AAA’s Konnan agrees to terms with WCW and is set to start wrestling there in January. - MNW, Dec. 4: Nitro - 2.6, Raw - 2.4 Dec. 11-17 -- The WWF holds its December “In Your House” PPV, which draws the lowest buy rate in company history -- a 0.33. In the main event, Bret Hart successfully defends the WWF Hvt. title against Davey Boy Smith in a match given ****3/4 by the Wrestling Observer. Hart goes against standard Federation protocol during the match and blades a gusher; later, when confronted by management, he avows that the juice resulted from a Smith “potato shot.” Also noteworthy on the show: Vince McMahon makes the ground-breaking decree that security not confiscate any signs, unless their content is too crude for television, as a way to facilitate fan loyalty and “freedom of expression.” Controversial signs that read “ECW,” “Diesel Sucks,” “Hogan,” “Hello ECW Fans,” “Mikey Rules,” “We’re Hardcore,” and “911” make the air, among others. In keeping with the theme established by the arrestingly large ECW contingent on hand, several different “E-C-Dub’” chants are audible during the course of the show. Elsewhere, Jeff Jarrett makes his unannounced return to the company on the card via an in-ring interview conducted by Jerry Lawler. - Alundra Blayze jumps ship to WCW, under her former sobriquet of Madusa Micelli, and throws the WWF Womens title in the trashcan live on Nitro. The incident will stick in Vince McMahon's craw for at least the next seven years. - The WWF attempts to woo the Ultimate Warrior in time for the “Royal Rumble.” This news meets with the disapproval of the Federation locker room, the morale of which is still at an ebb. - On the heels of Bill Watts’ abrupt departure from the promotion, Vince McMahon offers Jim Cornette a position as the WWF’s head booker. Cornette accepts the post, leading to a large influx of former Smoky Mountain wrestlers into the promotion, including Buddy Landel, Tom Pritchard, the Headbangers, and Boo Bradley (a/k/a Ballz Mahoney). - ECW holds its first-ever card at Lost Battalion Hall in Queens, New York, and draws a sell-out crowd of 1,100, paying a then-company-record of $28,000. The critically-acclaimed card is highlighted by the ECW debut of Missy Hyatt and a wild Sabu vs. Cactus Jack main event. Early in the card, Paul Heyman gets on the house microphone and runs down Steve Austin and Tom Pritchard for no-showing the card because of their recent signings with the WWF. - MNW, Dec. 11: Nitro - 2.6, Raw - 2.5 Dec. 18-24 -- MNW, Dec. 18: Nitro - 2.7, Raw - 2.3 Dec. 25-31 -- “Starrcade” takes a novel approach to PPV supercards, providing a best-of-seven series between WCW’s top wrestlers and an insurgent group of New Japan stars, but fails to generate much interest (0.36 buy rate). The WCW flank wins 4-3, naturally, after Sting downs Kensuki Sa

But you said they were the only good band to come out of the UK. Not just "the best".

Still doesn't eliminate The Music, The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Delays, Razorlight, Kasabian and Bloc Party.

One of the many great bands to come out of britain in the last 5 years.

G Money, you'll be glad to know that i've ammended my first response to this topic.

How nice of you to mention T In The Park. Despite my reservations about this list after seeing you mention the Download festival, I feel that it is overall a good list of the best UK festivals.

To keep discussion going....what's your favourite track on the album? Breakin' would happen to be my personal favourite.

I completely agree. I own both their albums and i've seen them live three times. Welcome To The North is in my opinion the album of the year (so far) and they are definitely one of, if not the, best band in the world right now.

We can only wish.

What killed grunge? The 14 year old kids that based their lives on it grew up, got a job and began living in the real world. I didn't want to say it but hey, there you go.