Give me a good rundown...

[JoeDirt 0]

I've seen some stuff from this time period. I've seen Survivor Series 97, and know more than enough about the whole Bret screwjob. I've seen the 98 Rumble and No Way Out and Wrestlemania 14, so I know the main stuff going on there. But I have some other little stuff I'd like to know, like:

 

How was the Taker/HBK Hell in a Cell match was set up?

 

Why the hell did Vince talk to Brian Pillman's wife the night after he died?

 

How did WCW handle Bret Hart coming over there?

 

What were WCW's major storylines at this time, other than the Sting/Hogan storyline? And how did they build to the big Hogan vs. Sting at Starcade match? Why the hell did they wait until Superbrawl 8 to have the Hogan/Sting rematch for the title?

 

What was the buildup to the Degeneration-X IYH, Royal Rumble 98, and No Way Out PPVs? (As far as major incidents on RAW, angles, feuds, storylines, etc)

 

Was the HBK vs. Owen title match at the end of 1997 any good?

 

How was the whole Tyson at Wrestlemania buildup done? Was it ever explained why he counted the pinfall for Austin at Wrestlemania instead of sticking with DX?

 

Was the Austin vs. Rock match on the last RAW before Wrestlemania any good?

 

Why in the hell was SAVIO VEGA added to the No Way Out main event to replace Shawn Michaels? And how long before that match did they realize that HBK wouldn't be able to participate in it? If he HAD been in it, what would the booking have been?

 

Also, any other interesting facts or memories of great moments or anything would be very cool.

[Guest Staravenger]

I'll try and field a few of these...

 

UT/HBK HIAC - We all know the group d-X. They were constantly doing three on one attacks against people, especially the Undertaker. Undertaker had beef with HBK (in storylines) starting at Summerslam 1997. They fought at Ground Zero, but that ended in a No Contest. So to keep the wrestlers in and interference out, they created the cell.

 

Sting/Hogan I think was pretty easy to know. Sting was full blooded WCW. He was hanging out in the rafters because his friends didn't trust him, and thus he turned his back on them. His sole purpose was ending the nWo, and more specifically, Hulk Hogan. But that got ruined at the PPV and Sting became a chump again.

 

The HBK/Owen match on the last RAW of 1997 was very good, maybe in the *** range, but of course, it had a jerky finish right when Owen seemed to be winning the title.

 

Savio Vega was an on-again, off-again ally of D-X. Michaels back had been hurting since right after Royal Rumble. It probably wasn't until the last minute when they knew he couldn't compete, since he wasn't even at the show, although he was on RAW during the buildup. Savio though still sounds like a weak replacement.

 

The PPV D-Generation X:

HBK/Shamrock - Filler Main Event.

NAO/LOD - NAO were the young punks making fun of the old lions for being past their primes and boring.

HHH/Slaughter: DX had been mocking Slaughter for weeks, so since HHH was the only available member, he filled the blank to face Sgt.

Boricuas/DOA: we all know the dumb Gang Warz

 

Everything else was filler.

 

Rumble 98:

Vader/TAFKA Goldust: At Survivor Series 97, Goldust turned heel completely by walking out on Vader. After that, he become more bizarre and adopted Luna as his manager, and they had been making Vaders life hell.

Shamrock/Rock: Shamrock had been feuding with the Nation for months, and went through all other members to get to Rock.

LOD/NAO: NAO put LOD out on a 4 on 2 attack with DX, and even shaved half of Hawks mohawk. Revenge Match.

HBK/UT: I have no clue. Felt thrown together to give HBK something to do and advance UT/Kane.

[deancoles 0]

What were WCW's major storylines at this time, other than the Sting/Hogan storyline? And how did they build to the big Hogan vs. Sting at Starcade match? Why the hell did they wait until Superbrawl 8 to have the Hogan/Sting rematch for the title?

The Hogan/Sting feud was basically:

 

Hogan turns on WCW and forms the nWo.

 

A Wargames match is made featuring Sting,Luger,Flair and Arn Anderson vs. Hall,Nash,Hogan and a mystery guy who the announcers thought was either the Giant or a new member of the group.

 

A fake Sting attacks Lex Luger on the nitro before Fall Brawl 96.

 

Luger and the Horsemen think it's the real Sting.

 

At Fall Brawl 96 Sting attacks all the nWo by himself(because the others don't trust him) during the wargames match and then walks out causing the nWo to win.

 

The next night he tells everyone who doesn't believe in him to stick it and announces that he's a free agent.

 

He is absent for a month and then the night after Halloween Havoc he shows up with white face paint.

 

He attacks some guys from WCW(Jeff Jarrett,Rick Steiner and Jim Duggan) who still don't know what side he's on and he also attacks some nWo guys(Michael Wallstreet and Big Bubba Rogers)

 

At Uncensored 97 he finally attacks Hogan proving he's on WCW's side.

 

From then until December he basically drops in at the end of most nitro's saving Luger,DDP and the Giant whenever they're on the receving end of an nWo beatdown.

 

The Sting/Hogan rematch was made because of 2 controversial finishes at Starrcade and on the Nitro the night after. The title was vacated on the 1st episode of Thunder and the match was made for Superbrawl VII(becuase Souled Out 98 had Bret Hart's debut and didn't need Sting/Hogan to get a good buyrate)

 

There was a cool 3 way feud for the TV Title between Booker T,Saturn and Rick Martel(who had an amazing comeback) which was sadly ended at Superbrawl when Martel suffered a really bad injury.

 

Goldberg got repackaged as a face and his heel run from September to Starrcade was forgotten.

 

Chris Jericho started his tremendous heel run and began collecting "trophies" such as Rey Mysterio's Kneebrace,Juventud Guerrera's Mask and Disco Inferno's headband.

 

Guys like Marty Jannetty,British Bulldog,Jim Neidhart and some of Ultimo Dragon's students made their debuts at the time.

 

Bret Hart had feuds with Ric Flair and then Curt Hennig before his heel turn the night after Spring Stampede.

 

Chris Benoit and Raven had a feud before DDP came into it and basically took Benoit's place.

 

There was also other stuff such as Savage/Luger,Nash/Giant(Giant's neck was "injured" causing the Jacknife Powerbomb to get banned),Savage/Hogan and Hall/Sting during January-April.

 

For the WWF

 

If HBK had been in the 8 man tag at No Way Out then the ending of the match would have Stayed the same but instead of Austin giving a Stunner to Chyna then likely Austin would have been hit with a Superkick.

[JoeDirt 0]

Thanks so far, you guys are awesome.

 

Why did Sting not wrestle for all of 1997, instead just "dropping in" to help the babyfaces when they needed it?

[Robert 0]

I think WCW had him on a per match contract. If he didn't wrestle, he wouldn't get paid. Dropping in I think was making sure that he'd still be used so he wouldn't leave.

[JHawk 0]

I think WCW had him on a per match contract. If he didn't wrestle, he wouldn't get paid. Dropping in I think was making sure that he'd still be used so he wouldn't leave.

Not quite.

 

Sting had a clause written into his contract that he only had to wrestle so many times a year. Basically, with Nitro adding an extra show a week, Sting was approaching that number around Fall Brawl 96.

 

I'm not sure how accurate it was, but there were reports that Hogan-Sting was originally planned for Starrcade 96 before they were able to sign Roddy Piper. Why they made the decision to wait the full year is beyond me. My gues: probably to make Starrcade seem uberspecial, and had they not fucked up the entire angle with that lameass finish, it would have worked.

[JoeDirt 0]

I think WCW had him on a per match contract. If he didn't wrestle, he wouldn't get paid. Dropping in I think was making sure that he'd still be used so he wouldn't leave.

Not quite.

 

Sting had a clause written into his contract that he only had to wrestle so many times a year. Basically, with Nitro adding an extra show a week, Sting was approaching that number around Fall Brawl 96.

 

I'm not sure how accurate it was, but there were reports that Hogan-Sting was originally planned for Starrcade 96 before they were able to sign Roddy Piper. Why they made the decision to wait the full year is beyond me. My gues: probably to make Starrcade seem uberspecial, and had they not fucked up the entire angle with that lameass finish, it would have worked.

But isn't there a point where an angle goes on too long? I mean sure, having a slow burn is fine. But having Sting descend from the rafters from March to December without ever wrestling?

[JHawk 0]

You'll get no argument from me on that one. Hell, I remember a friend of mine holding an Uncensored 1997 party, and when Sting attacked the nWo, the reaction was "Finally!" It was getting tiresome at that point.

 

But the fact is most people bought it hook line and sinker, and Starrcade 97 did a monster buyrate.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

 

What happened with UT/Kane and loosely DX and Savio Vega:

 

As I'm sure you all remember, Kane debuted at Bad Blood in HIAC, ripping the door open in what was a pretty cool moment, and helping HBK win the match.

Undertaker stated the following night on Raw he would never fight his brother Kane, and Kane said he'd go on a rampge, randomly attacking superstars at will until Taker agreed to fight.

 

Come Royal Rumble time, Taker was set to fight HBK for the title. Two weeks before on Raw, a cocky HBK basically invited Kane to join DX. Didn't quite work that way. Kane stood atop the ramp while Undertaker snuck attack DX, and Kane extended his hand in a salute to the Taker afterwards.

 

But it was, as JR put it, dastardly by Kane. During the title match at RR, Taker had HBK beat, but with the help of at least 6 or 7 different guys, such as Savio Vega, HBK regained control of the match. But Kane, we thought, came down to help. The heels, including HBK, cleared the ring, but Kane turned on the Taker, much to the chagrin of a great reaction from Ross. What likely hurt Michaels was a tombstone into the casket.

 

Vega, since he played the most integral part of the casket match other than Kane or the two involved, was I guess a buddy of DX. More accurately, they needed a filler for a shabby match. Shabby, despite four of my all time five favourites on a team.....Only if Bret could replace Austin(foley, Funk, Austin and Owen vs HHH, Outlawz and Vega).