Pick an event

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

Pick an event that, in your mind, changed the landscape of the biz.

[Guest Tony149]

I voted for Montreal. There's a lot of "what if's" if Vince lets Bret keep the title. Although, Foley winning the WWF Title on Raw had a huge impact, as that was the night, IMHO, WCW shot itself in the foot for the last time, as the made a joke of Foley winning the Title on a taped Raw show only to have a lot of it's own viewers leave to watch Raw and of course, THE FINGER-POKE OF DOOM! happened with Hogan & Nash. The nWo also had an impact, since it would start the HUGE wrestling boom.

[Guest Hoyakillah]

I think I'm probably the only person so far who voted for Foley's title win on RAW.  But let me explain why.

 

I've done a lot of thinking about what was the turning point.  The point when it all went downhill for WCW, and made it possible for WWF to dominate so completely that they'd even buy WCW, and therefore remake the entire business.

 

The gut reaction as to where it entirely turned around was Survivor Series 1997.  However, I disagree with this.  Because there were two more chances for WCW to come out on top.  First, the Sting-Hogan feud that kicked off in mid-1997.  Culmination was at Starrcade, which I'll note was after Montreal.  Had the Sting-Hogan feud been booked properly, WCW, I think, could have kept up with WWF.  As we know, it wasn't.  The second chance they had was Goldberg.  Say what you will about him, but the crowds really popped for him.  And for something like a year, he was THE THING in WCW.  When did that end?  Simple.  When he was pinned thanks to the "shock stick" at Starrcade 1998.  This was also where they screwed up the Flair/Bischoff match BRUTALLY - another obvious booking move which could have really helped WCW, but instead was BUTCHERED.

 

And what was the night where it all "came together"?  The night Foley won the title.

 

I'll note that WCW had a shot the week before, because they did have Flair go over Bischoff in what was really a wonderful markout moment, but at the same time one has to note that at this point, they were craving ratings so much that they went for ratings in lieu of buyrates on PPV.  Not a smart long-term strategy, but I digress.  Anyway, it was the next week where Flair tried to dominate Bischoff... and then we had the FINGERPOKE OF DOOM.  WCW also shot its credibility by basically giving viewers to WWF.  Before that night, WCW could have tried to have appealed to WWF fans by drawing them in with their product, saying that they were better at this stuff than Vince.  And they wouldn't have been too far off at the time.  But they decided to go for the low blow.  And that night, the night that Foley won, was the turning point.

[Guest Daredevil21]

Well I voted for Flair wins RR 92. I don't it changed the biz THAT much, but it was the first time that it was obvious that Hogan was no longer loved by the majority. Until then it had been a few people who hated Hulkamania, but when Flair won the RR, the cheers were mixed with the boos and when Hogan was eliminated, one can't ignore the unsually large pop it got. That win set the standard for the year that the WWF would go on to have. There momentum would not die down until the end of 1992.

 

Montreal comes in a close second, as shortly after that, the WWF unleashed what was know as, "Attitude," which would truly change the way big promotion wrestling ran.

 

[Guest JAMES900]

I'd say rr 92 as an event changed the biz as finally the people booed hogan, this of course started the demise of hulkamania.

[Guest MARTYEWR]

I disagree on the theory on Hogan surrounding Royal Rumble 1992, as I heard a lot of people cheering the Undertaker against Hogan before that.

 

I voted for Montreal. No way the overall wrestling landscape would be the same if that hadn't occurred.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Of the choices given...I'd say Montreal.

 

But I think that the formation of ECW should get some credit.

 

They brought in talent like: Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, Misterio, RVD...and so many others...and gave them there first major US exposure.

 

The whole idea of ECW was tamed down and called Attitude by the WWF.  That Attitude eventually put WCW out of business.

 

Austin drank his first beer...Foley cut his best promos...

 

ECW changed the course of proffessional wrestling.

[Guest Daredevil21]

I disagree on the theory on Hogan surrounding Royal Rumble 1992, as I heard a lot of people cheering the Undertaker against Hogan before that.

 

Well I must agree with you there, because when Hogan lost the title to Undertaker at Survivor Series '91, there was a pop for Taker. I still think though, that the pop for when Hogan got eliminated in the RR, it was the biggest pop yet and a wake up call to most that Hulkamania had not been killed by a big scary heel, but by the fans that had created and supported it all those years before.

[Guest RetroRob215]

Montreal- After this incident Vince McMahon knew that he just let one of his top 3 stars goto to the WCW.  This is when he became serious about defeating WCW because otherwise his creation would die.  The next night Raw wins the ratings war for the first time in a while.  In the weeks to come the ratings continue to go up and the Attitude Era is born.  This all leads to the death of the WCW and the WWF's monopoly on professional wrestling.  Plus seeing DX abuse the Bret Hart midget was classic.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

RAW did not win the ratings battle the night after Montreal.  They didn't win until the RAW with Austin vs. Vince in the Main Event, which didn't happen, but it was enough for the ratings.

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

I went w/ "WWF vs. WCW", assuming you mean the head-to-head Monday night wars.  WCW (riding the nWo wave) was beating WWF every week, forcing Vince to change the WWF, bringing about the Attitude era & putting WWF back on top, leading to the eventual death of WCW.

[Guest Tony149]

The ratings for Raw went up the night after Survivor Series '97, but like Kahran Ramsus said, Raw would win beat Nitro in the ratings on April 13 (I think), 1998.

[Guest Dark Lotus]

I gotta go with Montreal, but for different reasons.  SurSer97 basically created the "evil" Mr. McMahon character.  Sure, they'd teased it a little with the Austin-McMahon antagonism before that, but once this happend, Vince was clearly over as a major heel.  Vince capitalized on that, and basically revitalized his company with a feud that, with some stops and starts, continues to this day.

[Guest J*ingus]

It's not on here, but I'd honestly vote for Eric Bischoff as "thing that changed wrestling most".  He began the Monday Night Wars by running Nitro up against Raw.  Although it's argued over exactly whose idea the nWo really was, it was ultimately up to Bischoff to decide to run the angle.  It was Bischoff's high-money contracts which started the trend of contracts with guaranteed money.  It was Bischoff who hired away 75% of the good workers in ECW at one time or another.  It was the level of competition that Bischoff provided that caused Vince to finally get off his ass and inject some attitude into his stale product.  It was the RIDICULOUSLY high salary that Bischoff offered to Bret Hart, possibly the highest guarantee in wrestling history, along with Bischoff's willingness to do absolutely anything to spite Vince (remember Madusa?) which set off the events which led to Montreal.  It was Bischoff's decision for Tony Schiavone to make the legendary "That'll put asses in the seat!" which caused the huge viewer switchover to Foley winning the title.  And ultimately it was Eric Bischoff's shoddy management which caused WCW to fall, and die.  

 

Like him or not (I don't), Eric Bischoff changed the wrestling business in the 90's more than any other single factor.

[Guest Tony149]

Yeah, Bischoff had a big impact on the business. The one time "Ken doll look alike" was the first to really use Turner's money. It worked at first, but blew up in his face later on. Bischoff or somebody thought of the nWo angle after seeing NJPW use an invasion angle or something like that.

[Guest theWCWRaider]

I've gotta go with the announcement that WCW Monday Nitro would take the air, September 4, 1995.

It brought a whole new audience to the sport.

If you need to see impact, just take a look at your average Raw from before Nitro was on the air, and then compare it to Raw of today.

 

But, if I have to pick one from the list, it would be Montreal. No question, but I think Nitro was more important.

Hell, I'm not even sure Montreal would've ever happened, had there not been a Nitro.

 

BTW, March 26, 2001 would be another business changer.

[Guest Tony149]

Hell, I'm not even sure Montreal would've ever happened, had there not been a Nitro.

 

Montreal probably doesn't matter if Nitro isn't around. Bret could of dropped the title on Raw and McMahon wouldn't have been so worried that Bischoff would announced they signed the WWF Champ. Since WCW flagship show wouldn't air until Saturday Night.

[Guest dreamer420]

Montreal as it turned Vince McMahon into the hated monster he still is today, ruined the career of the greatest WWF champion of all time, and started the wheels in motion for the great Owner vs. Champion feud.

[Guest Drury37]

I voted for Flair winning the WWF Royal Rumble 1992 because I didn't know what it ment after I voted.

Thanks.