Wrestling Is A Cycle

[Guest Daredevil21]

A few months ago, I took on the task of writing a book about the past 20 years in the WWF for my creative writing class.  I just finished yesterday, and I thought I'd post the entire thing (all 160+ pages) here.

 

Wrestling Is A Cycle

 

Foreword

 

Just like anything else, pro wrestling has its fair share of stereotypes. The most common of these stereotypes include the notion that only the most naive people enjoy wrestling, because after all, how can anyone with any intelligence like something that’s fake?  Another popular stereotype is that pro wrestling is nothing more than a bunch of sweaty guys in their underwear grabbing each other.  One last stereotype many believe that only “Hillbillies” watch wrestling.

 

Well, perhaps we should all take a closer look at these stereotypes, and see just how valid they are.   First of all, let’s examine the most popular stereotype, that being that wrestling is fake and you must be unintelligent for watching something that “isn’t real.” Is pro wrestling fake?  Yes, of course, most elements of pro wrestling are about as real as a three-dollar bill. Are the outcomes of the matches predetermined?  You bet.  So why is it that millions of people all across the country devote so much time to watching something that isn’t real?  Well, the most common answer seems to be the simplest one. “Because I enjoy it.”  Most of the things that everyone watches on TV aren’t real, even many of the so-called reality shows.  Yet, they are not criticized for watching all of this fake programming.  We all know that these characters in the TV shows that we watch aren’t real, and yet people begin to care for them and what happens to them.  With that thought in mind, how is it any different to like pro wrestling?  There are characters that people begin to care for and yet this is somehow different from caring about certain characters on a TV show.  Pro wrestling has not claimed to be real or even a real sport for years now.  They acknowledge it as a business and as sports entertainment. First off, in my many years of watching pro wrestling, I have seen That right there eliminates the credibility that only one particular group of people enjoy wrestling.

 

As for pro wrestling being just some guys rolling around in their underwear, it’s pretty safe to say that those days are in the deep past and they aren’t ever coming back.  Pro wrestling has evolved from two men fighting in the ring to a typical soap opera, in that it is never ending.  In the past couple of decades, wrestling has evolved into “sports entertainment.”  It offers athleticism, drama, humor, a bit of sex and yes, types of violence.  The bottom line here is, chances are good that if you watch one wrestling program, you will find at least one thing you like.

 

The belief that only “Hillbillies” enjoy wrestling is an absurd one as well.  In my many years of watching pro wrestling, I have seen diverse crowds of people, consisting of men, women and children of all ages and of all races.  That should be enough evidence to show that wrestling appeals to at least some people in every sex, age, and race.

 

So next time you are about to criticize pro wrestling for being fake, try to remember that those involved in the business aren’t hiding that anymore, and they haven’t been for a while.  After the shock that you’re not as smart as you thought you were, maybe you can find another pointless argument against pro wrestling.  Just remember that it’s all a show; that’s what they’ve been trying to tell you.

 

 

 

Introduction

 

The pro wrestling industry has a long and illustrious history that goes as far back as the late 1800’s.  Yet, just about every major event that has affected the business in any major capacity has happened in the last 20 or so years.  There was a time when wrestling was made up of different territories.  There was an unspoken bond among the promoters to not present their product outside of their respected territory.

 

When Vincent K. McMahon Jr. bought his ailing father, Vince McMahon Sr.’s company, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1982, he had a vision.  That vision was to take his newly purchased company to a national level and promote the WWF all across America, ignoring all territory lines.

 

However, McMahon had competition to deal with.  Of his many competitors, his two main opponents in the mid-80’s included Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Alliance (AWA) and Jim Crockett’s National Wrestling Association (NWA).

 

In later years, competition for the WWF included millionaire Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Paul Heyman’s Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

 

Despite the various ups and downs of McMahon’s company, his promotion stands tall today as the only major promotion in America.  He owns what many consider to be a monopoly over the American wrestling business, after purchasing his main competition, WCW, in March of 2001.

 

So what exactly happened to these several promotions that had at one time or another, given Vince a run for his money?  They all made several flaws, each company’s flaws a little different from the others.

 

The AWA at one time was a vibrant promotion.  In the early 80’s, the AWA along with the NWA and the WWF, made up what was known as, the “Big Three.”  The Big Three was basically the top three promotions in America and for a period of time, the AWA was very much in the race to become the number one promotion in America.  However, by the early 90’s, Gagne was running very few shows and the ones that he was running were put on in front of no more than 150 people.  By 1991, Gagne had filed for bankruptcy and the Big Three was no more.

 

Now, you may be asking what went so wrong here and how one of the top promotions in America went from having a loyal fan base, loaded roster, and TV deal, to being a resident of the wrestling graveyard.  Perhaps one of the biggest factors in the AWA’s demise was Gagne’s stubbornness to adjust to the times.  The wrestling world was being turned into sports entertainment over sport by the mid- 80’s, thanks to McMahon.  Despite this, Gagne stuck to his old ways of running matches that could go close up to an hour and consisted primarily of rest-holds and counters.  Another factor was Gagne’s refusal to develop and push new stars.  Young talent, such as Scott Hall, Ken Patera and one Hulk Hogan were seen as side attractions to the wrestlers who were seen as main eventers by Gagne, despite most of them being well past their prime.  Gagne’s reasoning for it all was that it had made him money in the past and it always would.

 

Gagne’s stubbornness cost him in the end, as McMahon began signing several of his wrestlers away, including Hulk Hogan, who was made the WWF champion almost upon his arrival.  By the late 80’s, only the AWA’s most loyal fans and wrestlers remained, as the rest had been lured away by McMahon. After a disastrous cross-promotion angle that caused more problems, more fleeting superstars and no TV deal, Gagne filed for bankruptcy and folded the AWA in 1991, after 30 years of business.

 

The NWA and its offspring, WCW, also provided McMahon with some serious competition at many points throughout the 80’s and 90’s.  The NWA was the alternative to the circus-like atmosphere that could be found in the WWF in the mid- 80’s.  The NWA also offered its own superstars like Dusty Rhodes, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger and Ric Flair, to compete against the WWF’s Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog, Roddy Piper, and Andre the Giant.  

 

However, by 1988, owner Jim Crockett was in financial trouble and ended up selling his company, Jim Crockett Promotions, to WTBS. The biggest stockholder of the wrestling company became Ted Turner.  Turner didn’t know much about the wrestling business; other than he knew he wanted to compete with McMahon and his company.  Changes were made, the most notable being the eventual name change to WCW. With the name change of WCW, many of the NWA titles were given the WCW name.  The last notable change was that of the head booker.  This was a position that many people took on throughout WCW’s short life, but in the end, nobody was ever quite right for it.

 

Business dropped heavily after superstar Ric Flair was fired/quit, headed for the WWF, and appeared on WWF TV with the NWA championship. Although WCW was strong wrestling-wise in 1992, business was still low and wouldn’t pick up again until Flair returned in mid-1993, after 18 months in the WWF.  WCW was pushing new talent and pushing Flair as their number one babyface (good guy).  Yes, business was getting better for WCW, but then in mid-1994, a force came through the promotion and changed everything seemingly over-night. What was this powerful force?  Hulk Hogan, who had ended his relationship with the WWF after nearly a decade of service, the previous summer.

 

Hogan was made the number one babyface, which didn’t play well for Flair, who was turned into WCW’s number one heel (bad guy) for no logical reason, other than it provided Hogan with an opponent. Hogan also brought back in several personal (and untalented) friends and made sure that they were put into the limelight alongside him. This action knocked several of the up and coming wresters, from their position (including a young Steve Austin, who would go one to become a WWF mega-superstar).

 

Business once again dropped for WCW, primarily because the fans were bored with Hogan’s tired act.  By early 1996, things were not looking great for WCW, with business remaining poor for the early part of the year.  Little did anyone know that the face of professional was bout to change once again.  Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, wrestlers who had found success as Razor Ramon and Diesel, respectfully, announced that they were leaving for WCW in mid-1996.  Although they had been successful in their WWF tenure, McMahon didn’t go out of his way to keep them, figuring that they were simple midcard wrestlers and nothing more.

 

After debuting in WCW just weeks apart, Hall and Nash proclaimed themselves to be the “Outsiders,” which led many fans to think that they were still with the WWF and that they had really invaded WCW.  After a lawsuit threat from the WWF, Hall and Nash were forced to admit on WCW TV that they were no longer with the WWF.  They then announced their intentions to take over and they promised to reveal a third member to the world at WCW’s July PPV.  In one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history, Hulk Hogan was revealed as the third member of the group, ending more than a decade as one of the most beloved wrestlers ever in pro wrestling.

 

The group named themselves the New World Order (NWO), and was immediately a hit with the fans, despite being a heel group.  WCW’s business began to increase once again and soon, their Monday night wrestling show, Nitro, was beating the WWF’s RAW in the ratings.  In what became known as the Monday Night Wars, Nitro would go on to beat RAW in the ratings an amazing 82 weeks in a row.

 

However, WCW’s momentum was slowed down once again, as a result of something that had always been one of their weaknesses, poor booking decisions.  As the NWO’s popularity began to wane in mid-1997, WCW made the mistake of not keeping it fresh or simply ending it.  Instead, they opted to change little about the storyline and soon, fans began to lose interest in the group, as well as the promotion.  Storylines within WCW also became more complex and nonsensical, which made it easy for even an intelligent viewer to become confused.

 

Making matters worse, the WWF was finding new life, as they had introduced a new edge, which they called “Attitude.”  By early 1998, many WCW viewers, tired of the same storylines, had switched over to WWF programming to watch fresh new ones, with new faces in the main event scene like Steve Austin.  Despite this, WCW changed nothing and soon the tables had been turned and the WWF was now winning the Monday Night Wars.

 

As 2000 rolled around, things continued on the downward spiral for WCW. The NWO was dead at the moment, after fans had completely lost interest.  In hopes of obtaining success similar to the WWF’s, WCW hired Vince Russo, who had been one of the main bookers (guy who books the outcome of the match) during the WWF's Attitude period.  Russo changed things, but not for the better.  Russo introduced the more mature angles that he had made notorious during his time in the WWF.  WCW was no longer the “clean” alternative to the WWF’s more mature content.  As a matter of fact, they got worse, in hopes of attracting a new audience. Also introduced by Russo, was an angle that was meant to give WCW a fresh start. It was called New Blood and it was successful for a brief period of time, before WCW shot themselves in the foot, by booking things in a complex and idiotic way.

 

The WWF was now in full control of the ratings war and by the end of 2000, Turner was looking to unload his failing promotion onto someone else.  Several potential buyers showed interest, but by early 2001, they had fallen though.

 

Then On March 26,2001, the new owner of WCW appeared on the final Nitro.  The buyer?  Vince McMahon.  Yes, McMahon now owned his competition and the real WCW, as most knew it was dead.

 

ECW for a time was thought as nothing more than just another independent promotion struggling to just to be noticed.  Based out of Philadelphia, ECW would end up being the reason that people viewed American wrestling.

 

ECW began as Eastern Championship Wrestling, a part of the NWA in 1992. The name change to Extreme Championship Wrestling came in August of 1994.  At the time, Tod Gordon owned the company and made wrestling manager, Paul Heyman, a booker.  Soon Heyman gained full ownership of the company, while Gordon still occasionally helped with the booking.

 

What made ECW stand out from the smaller promotions was its hardcore nature.  Traditional "illegal foreign objects," such as chairs and tables, became a staple among many of the matches that was offered by the promotion.  ECW also had a stellar roster of misused talent from the Big Two, as well as their own homegrown talent. Extreme wrestlers such as Sabu, Cactus Jack (Mick Foley), Tommy Dreamer, Raven and hardcore legend Terry Funk, became instant hits with the fans.

 

ECW was also the place where the lesser-known wrestlers of the future could come and display their skills.  Guys who had been barely making the opening match in the Big Two, could sometimes be found as high on the ECW card as the main event.  Some of the wrestlers became so popular that the Big Two noticed them and some were even lured away by them, with promises of more money.

 

Despite this, ECW continued to create new stars and utilize their roster to the fullest extent.  Their strategy was clearly working, as the small, once unnoticed promotion was know gaining fame throughout the country.

 

With that in mind, ECW decided to present their first Pay-Per-View in mid-1997.  The numbers for the show weren't great, but they were good enough to ensure more Pay-Per-View shows in the future.  ECW was also getting more attention from the WWF, as they worked a small cross-promotion angle around this time, giving more exposure to young ECW roster.

 

By mid-1999, ECW had gone national, gaining a TV deal with TNN.  However, this was the point where it all started to slowly move downhill. Several of ECW's top stars began to head for the greener pastures of the WWF.  The tag-team duo known as the Dudley Boys, as well as former ECW champion, Taz, left for the WWF within weeks of each other.  By mid-2000, other ECW superstars such as Lance Storm, Mike Awesome and Raven had left for either the WWF or WCW.  The promotion kept strong, pushing new guys and while it appeared to be working, it couldn't hide the fact that ECW was now in financial trouble.

 

When ECW had gone national, the workers had begun to get paid more.  Heyman however, could not afford to pay all of the wrestlers as well as his other costs.  Soon many of the top performers were owed thousands of dollars.  They however remain faithful to Heyman, basically wrestling for free.

 

By late 2000, the bottom had fallen out.  The TV deal with TNN, which had been a disastrous relationship, was not renewed.  ECW, the promotion that had been called by many the next big competitor for the Big Two, was now without a TV deal.  Add in the financial problems, fleeing wrestlers and the odd booking decisions that were suddenly being made and things for the company were certainly looking bleak.

 

The Pay-Per-View scheduled for March of 2001 was cancelled and many considered that to be one of the final nails in ECW's coffin.  The roster was now almost entirely depleted, as just about any wrestler in the company with any name value left, had headed for the WWF.  Even Heyman was in negotiations with the WWF, to become a booker as well as one of the commentators on WWF programming.  In April of 2001, just weeks after the real WCW had died, ECW officially shut down, as they claimed bankruptcy. The WWF was now the only remaining promotion of the so-called Big Three.

 

So what does all of this have to do with the history of the WWF?  Well, this was just a way of showing that the WWF is perhaps the strongest American wrestling promotion of all time, as they have for the time being, beat all of the competition.  All of these promotions that have been mentioned in this introduction, gave McMahon many sleepless nights at one time or another, but in the end he ended out up on top and stands tall today as owner of the WWF, hypothetically the only game in town.

 

 

Chapter 1- The WWF Golden Age (1984-1990)

 

As 1984 came to be, Vince McMahon had already begun to lay the foundation of his vision of taking the WWF to a national level.  In the later part of 1983, he had begun to raid territories of much of its talent.  Gagne’s AWA was a big victim of the raid, losing such wrestlers and announcers as Rick Martel, Sgt. Slaughter, Jim Brunzell, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund and Hulk Hogan.

 

With new talent from all over the country arriving every week, Vince made the decision to slowly phase out his father’s WWF and bring the “new” WWF into the spotlight.  The best example of this was Vince’s decision to remove the WWF title from Bob Backlaund, a wrestler who although had been champion for six years, was now viewed as too dull.  He took the title off Backlaund in December of 1983, during what was suppose to be a routine title defense against the Iron Sheik, a hated villain from Iran, whose shtick was that he hated America.  During the match, Backlaund’s manager Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel as the Sheik had Backlaund in his finishing submission hold, the camel clutch.  The towel was interpreted by the referee as a form of submission from Backlaund and the Iron Sheik was the champion.

 

Although the title switch confused fans, (as well as Backlaund, who claims that he was never informed of the title switch) it was, in reality, part of Vince’s plan to bring in Hulk Hogan and put the title on him.  Hogan won the title from the Sheik in roughly five minutes in front of a rapid Madison Square Garden crowd in January of 1984.  And thus, Hulkamania was born. It became the phenomenon that would lead the WWF to new heights for the next several years.  Business would reach all time highs and wouldn’t slow down until 1988.

 

 

 

Wrestlemania

 

Easily the most recognizable wrestling event of all time, Wrestlemania continues to gain notoriety each year not only among wrestling fans, but the mainstream media, as well.  Over the past 17 years, Wrestlemania has gone from being a vision in Vince McMahon’s head, to an event compared to the Super Bowl and the World Series.  

 

Vince himself has stated many times that he believes that had Wrestlemania been a failure, the WWF would not exist today. While that may seem like an overblown statement, one must remember that at the time, the WWF had yet to become the highly successful company that it is today, and therefore, did not have the room to make any serious financial mistakes.  Additionally, Vince had been spending great sums of money on investments that had not given much back in return. These factors had caused the WWF to be in complete financial shambles, which led to Vince taking the biggest risk that he had taken at the date: Wrestlemania.  If the show were a success, then the WWF would live on, but if the show were a bust, it would spell certain doom for the company.  Vince was willing to take the risk however, well aware that it was his only chance to keep the company alive, and make it a viable contender among other North American promotions.  

Vince made sure to pull out all the stops, bringing in such celebrities as Billy Martin, Liberace, Muhammad Ali, Cyndi Lauper, and others to take various roles in the show. Martin was the ring announcer for the main event, while Liberace played the guest timekeeper.  Ali served as the special enforcer in the main event, as well. The venue of the show was Madison Square Garden, an ideal place for a show of such importance, and to little surprise, the show sold out almost immediately.  

 

Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura served as the commentators for the show, while the WWF’s own Mean Gene Okerlund sang the National Anthem to kick things off.  The lights dimmed over the excited MSG crowd, who were set to witness nine matches that comprised one of the biggest wrestling extravaganzas of all time.

 

While most of the matches were average at best, the event was not without several memorable highlights.  Some of the highlights included King Kong Bundy defeating S.D. Jones in nine seconds (actually more around 23), Andre the Giant won a bodyslam match against Big John Studd, and Hulk Hogan and Mr. T beat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.  

 

With the overall success of the event, Vince decided to run Wrestlemania 2 the following summer, and thus was born an event that has become larger than life in the past 17 years.  The past 18 Wrestlemania’s have been filled with images and memories that will live in the mind and soul for years to come, which just goes to show that sometimes, a huge risk can be the best option that you have. Thanks to Wrestlemania, we have seen attendance records set, champions crowned, classic encounters, rivalries settle, new ones born, legends pass the torch, and new stars born.  Had Vince not taken the risk of putting on a huge show known as Wrestlemania, then the WWF as we know it, may cease to exist.  But thankfully, Vince did take the big risk, and now we can sit back every spring, and be guaranteed a show of epic and memorable proportions.

 

 

 

Hulk Hogan

 

It cannot be denied that Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest, if the not the biggest names in pro wrestling history.  Everyone, whether they be a fan or not, has heard of Hulk Hogan.  He has been one of the most important figures in wrestling for the past 20 years.

 

Born Terry Bolloea in August of 1953, Hogan spent his early years in Venice Beach, California hoping to one day become a musician or a bodybuilder.  Although there are several stories on just how Hogan got into the profession of pro wrestling, it is certain that in 1978, he debuted in Memphis, under the name of Terry Boulder.

 

Although he was lacking in actual wrestling ability, his unique charisma overshadowed it and it was the latter that caught the eye of the WWF in 1979.  He made his WWF debut under the name of “Sterling Golden,” a heel managed by “Classy” Freddie Blassie.  The character left much to be desired, so in the early 80’s, he was repacked as “The Incredible” Hulk Hogan, which was clearly based on the comic book character, The Incredible Hulk.

 

Hogan played a cocky heel in the midcard and often battled Andre the Giant.  Despite the character change, his first run in the WWF was quite forgettable and soon his was on his way to the AWA in 1982, in hope of finding more success.

 

He entered as a heel, but this time something was different.  The fans weren’t booing him anymore. As a matter of fact, they cheered him.  This was the result of his role in Rocky III, where he played an evil wrestler, “Thunderlips.”

 

Hogan was wisely turned babyface, after the cheers became too much to ignore and Gagne had his next big money maker.  However, as stated before, Gagne was a stubborn man and although he put Hogan in a feud with AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel, he didn’t see Hogan as a true main event wrestler or as a moneymaker.

 

In his title matches with Bockwinkel, Hogan would usually win the match and the title, only to have the ruling overturned later on.  This was a continuous cycle created by Gagne where he would use Hogan’s name to draw thousands of fans, seemingly have him win and send the them home happy, only to have his personal favorite Bockwinkel, champion at the day’s end.

 

Although it would eventually have made sense to put the title on Hogan and abandon biased booking decisions, Gagne continued to do this until finally Hogan as well as the fans, had had enough.  The straw that broke the camel’s back came in April of 1983, when the AWA promoted Super Sunday, a wrestling supercard to say the least. The card featured another Hogan- Bockwinkel match and just about everyone was sure that they would leave the arena with Hogan as their new AWA champion.  Alas, it was not to be, as Hogan was screwed out of the title once again and this time, the normally understanding fans nearly rioted, filling the ring with garbage.

 

Hogan took this a sign of something big and began a campaign to become the champion or be allowed to go somewhere where he could have a world title.  Gagne told Hogan that he did not see him as world championship material and so, in mid- 1983, Hogan headed for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he found much success and saw his name gain even more notoriety.

 

In late 1983, Hogan made his return to the WWF, saving world champion Bob Backlaund from an attack by the Wild Samoans (a beastly tag team).  This action immediately made Hogan one of the top babyfaces in the company.  Although it may have not seemed like it at the time, this would prove to be the undoing of Backlaund’s success in the WWF.  As stated before, Backlaund was seen as a bland, technical wrestler, with little else to offer.  In the eyes of Vince McMahon Jr., Backlaund was yesterday’s news and Hulk Hogan was the next big thing.  Backlaund dropped the WWF title to the Iron Sheik in December of 1983 and departed the WWF immediately following, with claims of never knowing that he was going to lose the title that night.  The Sheik’s title reign would last a mere month, which in those days was a very brief reign, as he would lose the title to Hogan on January 24, 1984 in roughly five minutes.

 

Hogan’s popularity after winning the title was unbelievable, despite the fact that after the title win, he did very little of note for the remainder of 1984.  While he wasn’t having rematches with the Sheik, he was doing tag team matches with friend Andre the Giant or battling Big John Studd (one of the few threats to Hogan’s title at the time) in various gimmick matches.

 

However, things picked up in the early months of 1985, as the WWF began to heavily promote the inaugural Wrestlemania.  Hogan began a feud with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, a relative newcomer to the company, who was quite the unique heel for the day.  As opposed to the large evil heel that was a common fixture within pro wrestling at the time, Piper was cocky, with a witty sense of humor and an acid tongue.

All the elements combined made Piper one of the most hated men in pro wrestling.

 

Hogan and Piper met in a match during the MTV special, The War to Settle the Score, which ended in chaos as Piper’s cornerman Paul Orndorff and Hogan’s celebrity cornerman Mr. T, got involved.  In light of those events, the main event for Wrestlemania was made a tag team match pitting Hogan and T against Piper and Orndorff.  The match was a success and not surprisingly, Hogan and T emerged the battle victorious.

 

In the spring of ’85, the WWF aired a first in a series of wrestling specials known as Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME).  The late-night wrestling special would air on the NBC network on weeks that a rerun of Saturday Night Live would be scheduled to air.  The whole program was basically created to capitalize on Hogan’s booming popularity and further give his name national exposure.

 

Hogan’s lack of opponents around this time had become more noticeable, as his feud with Piper was in its waning stages and there were no other viable threats to his title.  The WWF then created a formula to create challengers for Hogan.  It would end up working so well, that it would be reused for him several more times in later years.  The formula was actually quite simple: evil heel attacks and injures Hogan; he returns and defies the odds by beating him.  Its success proved that it is indeed the simplest things that make the most money in the wrestling business.

 

The formula was first put to the test on the March ’86 edition of SNME.  Hogan was battling the “Magnificent” Don Murraco for the title.  Hogan had things well in hand and as he was about to put Murraco away, King Kong Bundy, a near 500-pound behemoth, ran in and attacked Hogan.  With Murraco holding Hogan down, Bundy delivered several “avalanche” splashes  “breaking” Hogan’s ribs, as a result.

 

This set up the main event for the upcoming second installment of Wrestlemania, known simply as Wrestlemania 2.  They met within the confines of a steel cage, where Hogan appeared with taped ribs, to add an extra bit of drama to the match.  Hogan won the match without much trouble though, and was on his way to his next big feud, soon thereafter.

 

It was at this time that another formula for giving Hogan challengers was created.  Much like the first formula, this one was quite simple.  It involved Hogan establishing a friendship and then having it fall apart and evolve into a bitter feud.

 

After breaking ties with Roddy Piper shortly after the original Wrestlemania, Paul Orndorff had formed a sort of alliance with Hogan.  They became a quasi- tag team, but fans were becoming tired of Orndorff’s uninteresting babyface character and it soon became clear that the only logical thing to do was have the two of them split and feud.

 

They began the slow burn towards the split by dropping subtle hints that there was tension between the two of them.  Orndorff would state in several interviews that Hogan wasn’t giving him enough credit as a member of the team.  Hogan replied by saying that that simply was not the case and that Orndorff was simply being paranoid.

 

Things came to a shocking climax on an episode of Superstars of Wrestling, one of the WWF’s syndicated shows.  Following a victory over the Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy in a tag team match, Orndorff celebrated with Hogan briefly, before turning on him.  Following a clothesline that shocked the entire crowd, Orndorff used his patented finishing move, the piledriver, on Hogan.  The fans were stunned by the sudden series of surreal events, as they watched Orndorff headed back to the dressing room once again a member of Bobby Heenan’s stable, the Heenan Family.

 

The two would go on to have several matches in the following months, the biggest one being in front of a said audience of 74,000 fans in Toronto in the main event of the Big Event in August of ’86.  Although the matches were usually unspectacular, wrestling wise, the heat the two got from the crowd always made them seem better.

 

The final match of the feud came in January of ’87, on an episode of SNME.  The match was cage match and the ending is still remembered by many today.  The object of a WWF cage match is to simply escape the cage.  The ending saw both combatants leave the cage at the same time and seemingly touch the floor simultaneously.  There was much confusion as to who touched the floor first, with a rigged stop clock during the replay making it seem as if they both really had hit the floor at the same moment.  Since no clear-cut winner could be decided upon, the match was restarted and Hogan would go on to win the match, in a somewhat anti-climatic ending.

 

Following the match, Orndorff turned babyface once again, but fan interest in him was gone and he slowly faded away from the WWF, never seeing such success again.

 

Hogan however, was still drawing thousands of fans to the arena and was getting set for an even bigger feud. Wrestlemania III, set to take place in the Pontiac Silverdome, was in need of a main event of epic proportions.

 

Vince McMahon made sure to deliver, as he took the “Hogan-formula” and made it a little more intense.  In December of ’86, Hogan’s longtime friend Andre the Giant appeared on a Piper’s Pit interview segment.  On it, he received a trophy for all his years of loyal service.  The following week, Andre was present as Hogan was given a noticeably bigger trophy for his three years as champion.  Suddenly, Andre seemed upset, which was odd for the normally laid back giant.  He only made the comment: “Three years to be champion; it’s a long time.”

 

Hogan was puzzled as to what was upsetting Andre and when in search of the reason why, he was confronted by heel announcer, Jesse Ventura, with a challenge to meet Andre the following week on Piper’s Pit.  Hogan accepted and was shocked the following week when Andre appeared alongside not only Ventura but Hogan’s longtime enemy Bobby Heenan, as well.  Andre accused Hogan of ducking him for three years.  Hogan pleaded with Andre, saying that they were friends, but Andre’s response was a challenge for the WWF title.  He then ripped Hogan’s shirt, the true symbol of Hulkamania, off of his chest, along with the cross from around his neck.  It appeared that Andre had been brainwashed by Heenan into thinking that Hogan was nothing more than a coward who had been ducking him for years.  The crowd was in total shock, as this was groundbreaking stuff for the time.  Hogan was left with no other choice, than to accept Andre’s challenge.

 

As the match was made official, the WWF unleashed a barrage of media coverage for Wrestlemania III.  The PPV itself drew huge ratings, with 10 percent of the available market ordering the show.  The live event drew 78,000 people, which later was said to be 93,173.  Regardless, the Silverdome was packed and the it seemed to be the perfect setting for what seemed to be the biggest match in pro wrestling history at the time. T he actual match was 14 minutes of terrible wrestling, but that was nothing shocking, as Hogan was not a very good wrestler and Andre’s best years has been behind him for several years.  The heat for the match however, was incredible, with the fans completely into in the entire time.  The ending of the match involved one of the most incredible visuals in ever in pro wrestling, as Hogan bodyslammed the 500-pound Andre, which was followed with Hogan getting the pin fall moments later, ending Andre’s supposed 15 year undefeated streak.

 

Following the match, Andre took several months off for back surgery and would not return to action until late November.  Hogan did little of note, during Andre’s absence, but following his return, the two resumed their feud.  They met for the first time since Wrestlemania III, along with four partners each, in the main event of the inaugural Survivor Series.  The five-on-five tag team match was elimination rules and surprisingly, Hogan was counted out halfway through the match, and thus eliminated from further action.  Andre would go on to be the only remaining member on his team and for the time being, he had gotten a small measure of revenge for Wrestlemania.

 

At the inaugural Royal Rumble event in January of ’88, Andre and Hogan met for a contract signing, for a title match on a February TV special, known as The Main Event.  By this time, Ted Dibiase, a newcomer to the WWF, had gotten involved in the feud and had become of the of the most hated heels in the company, as a result. Dibiase’s gimmick was that of a millionaire, who could afford anything he wanted and who’s motto was, “Everyone has a price.”  In early ’88, Dibiase tried to put that particular theory to the test as he offered to buy the WWF title from Hogan.  Hogan of course refused and Dibiase then made it his personal goal to get the title off Hogan. He purchased Andre’s contract from Bobby Heenan and Andre made the promise that he would win the title and deliver it to Dibiase.

 

The match on The Main Event was about as bad as their Wrestlemania encounter, but the heat was still there.  Near the end of the match, the referee got distracted while Hogan had Andre covered for what was sure to be the deciding fall of the match.  Hogan confronted the referee and Andre took that opportunity to sneak up from behind and suplex Hogan.  He made a cover and the referee counted to the three making, ending Hogan’s four-year title reign.  The pin fall was suspicious, as Hogan had clearly had his shoulder up as the three count had been laid down.  In a shocking moment, a second referee came out and looked exactly like the first referee.  As it turned out, the referee who had officiated the match had been a phony and paid off by Ted Dibiase to ensure victory on Andre’s part.

 

Andre kept his promise and quickly surrendered the title to Dibiase.  However, figurehead president of the WWF, Jack Tunney, overruled it as he stated that you could not hold any WWF title unless you had won it via pin fall or submission.  As a result, Dibiase was stripped of the title, but it was not given back to Andre or Hogan.  Instead it was decided by figure-head president of the WWF Jack Tunney, that the title was vacant for the first time in WWF history and that a one night, 14-man tournament would be held at Wrestlemania IV, with the winner being declared the Undisputed WWF champion.

 

Although the idea was a new one, the tournament matches ranged from bland to downright awful, as most of them were very short due to time constraints.  Being the last two men to officially hold the title, Andre and Hogan were given a bye to the second round, where they would face each other.  They put on an awful match, even by their standards and when the match was finally over, both men had been eliminated from the tournament after being disqualified for using a chair in the match.

 

Randy Savage would go on to win the tournament with the help of Hogan in the finals.  The two became best of friends in storyline terms, and were dubbed the Megapowers.  The idea was to create a new main event babyface (Savage) to give Hogan some time off, as he wanted to try acting in movies.

 

Unfortunately, the WWF never really backed Savage up as champion, never being fully confident that he could draw in the main event alone.  This was evident by the fact that Hogan was never very far away whenever Savage was on screen.

 

The Megapowers faced off against Ted Dibiase and Andre at the inaugural Summerslam in August of '88.  The match was more or less the blowoff for two long-running feuds (Hogan-Andre and Savage-Dibiase) and of course, the Megapowers won fairly easily.

 

Soon after Summerslam, the Megapowers began a feud with a new tag team known as the Twin Towers.  The duo consisted of WWF newcomer the Big Boss Man and Akeem (formerly the One Man Gang). Akeem was one of the more politically incorrect gimmicks ever to be used in the Big Two.  It was decided in mid-'88 that the One Man Gang was in need of a new gimmick, despite the fact that his current one was very successful.  He was repackaged as Akeem, a wrestler who claimed to be a black man trapped inside a white man's body.  He wore African style wrestling attire and was even known as Akeem the African Dream, which was an obvious cheap shot at the NWA's Dusty Rhodes, who was known as the American Dream.  Despite the racial undertones of the character, the WWF was going to push him into the main event scene, regardless of what the fans thought.

 

The angle involved one member of the Megapowers wrestling one of the Towers in a singles match, only to have it turn into a two on one beat down, as the other Tower would interfere.  In the case where Savage saved Hogan, he would show gratitude, while Savage would not.  Savage, who was becoming increasingly paranoid of Hogan, would claim that he had everything in hand and was not in need of Hogan's help.

 

There was dissension among the Megapowers, as they got set to take on the Towers on an edition of The Main Event in February of '89.  The match was lackluster, but became important as Savage finally snapped and left Hogan to face both 400-pound monsters by himself.  Hogan won of course, but that was quite trivial as later on, Savage attacked Hogan in the back later in the show.

 

A match was set for Wrestlemania V between Hogan and Savage, with Savage's title being on the line.  The Megapowers exploded, in what turned out to be a surprisingly good match and to little surprise; Hogan left Atlantic City that night the current WWF champion.

Savage became a full-fledged heel following Wrestlemania, firing his manager Elizabeth and hiring Sheri Martell as his new manager.  The change did little for Savage, as he lost to Hogan in countless rematches for the title, losing a little more credibility each time.

 

As Savage continued to fall down the card, Hogan was to begin his next main event feud.  Hogan had recently made a movie titled No Holds Barred, in which he starred in, playing a wrestler opposed by a large black wrestler, Zeus.  The WWF made the foolish decision to sign Tony Lister (the actor who played Zeus) and bring him in as a real wrestler to face Hogan in "real life."  There were several problems, the main one being that Zeus had no formal training as a wrestler and as a result could do very few moves and had little idea on how a wrestling match should be paced.

 

The WWF figured that Zeus would be a great opponent for Hogan, as he possessed an intimidating figure and just flat out looked like a bad guy.  The movie (not surprisingly) flopped at the box office, but the WWF was determined to play out their previous plans of a Hogan-Zeus feud.

Zeus first made in intentions known, as he attacked Hogan on an edition of SNME, right before he was to compete against the Big Boss Man in a steel cage.  Hogan won the cage match, with little problems, but it could not be ignored that Zeus had made him look so vulnerable.

 

A tag team match was signed as the main event for Summerslam '89.  Hogan would team with longtime friend (lackey) Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake and Zeus would team with Randy Savage.  The match was terrible wrestling wise, as Savage was the only decent wrestler involved and of course, the combo of Hogan and Beefcake won the match.

The feud was not quite yet over though, as another tag team match with the same teams, was signed for a special PPV shortly after Christmas.  The PPV was titled No Holds Barred, and it was nothing more than the movie of the same title, with the aforementioned tag team match following.  The match took place in a steel cage and was somehow worse than their Summerslam match.  The team of Hogan and Beefcake won again with about as little trouble as at Summerslam. Thankfully, Zeus disappeared from the WWF shortly after the match, and the fear that they would run a Hogan/Zeus match as the main event at Wrestlemania VI was erased. As the decade was coming to a close, Hogan was becoming less and less attached to the wrestling business in general, which would lead to several near-retirements, and several big angles as well.  That part of Hogan’s career will be looked at later on.    

 

 

 

Roddy Piper

 

 

The man you love to hate.  That is perhaps the best way to describe Roddy Piper, the rowdy wrestler from Scotland.  A man, who was once one of the most hated men in professional wrestling, eventually became one of the most beloved.  Although Piper dreamt as a teenager of one day becoming a boxer, professional wrestling intervened and soon he was working in small Canadian promotions.

 

Piper soon gained a reputation as a guy who was willing to do anything to get over with the fans and that included upsetting them.  His unique style of dress, which included a Scottish kilt, and his witty and sarcastic personality, made him an instant villain to the fans.  Piper was so hated, that he was even stabbed on his way to the ring by a crazed fan in the early 80’s.

 

This scared Piper, and soon he was looking for a way to change his character a bit.  He became a face in an angle where he defended aging announcer Gordon Solie from being harassed by Don Murraco.  The two former allies began a feud, but before it went too far, Piper headed to the NWA where he faced U.S. champion Greg Valentine as a huge babyface.  The feud culminated in a “dog-collar” match at the first Starrcade, in which both men were attached at the neck with dog collars that were connected with a long metal chain.  The match was bloody and brutal, with Piper actually losing much of his hearing in one ear as a result of the match.

As 1984 rolled around and Vince McMahon came calling, it was now time for Piper to return to his old ways as he was brought into the WWF.  Piper was left with little choice but to once again become a heel, since Vince already had enough brawlers (which Piper was).

 

Piper was given his own interview segment, entitled Piper’s Pit and it soon became a highlight of WWF programming.  Some very famous moments came from the Pit, including one that ignited Piper’s first WWF feud.  Jimmy Snuka, one of the more popular babyfaces in the WWF at the time, made an appearance on the Pit, which was quite odd since heels were primarily guests.  After several minutes, Piper grew irritated of Snuka’s poor English and dismal reaction to insults, and responded by smashing a coconut over his head.  A wild pull-apart brawl ensued and Piper had found a new rival.  The two faced off several times in the following months, with Snuka bloodying Piper up on most occasions.  However, Piper emerged the feud the bigger star, as he was getting more exposure every week with Piper’s Pit.  

 

The WWF decided to take a risk and put Piper in a main event feud with Hulk Hogan in early 1985.  Piper was even given Bob Orton as a bodyguard to assist him in the feud.  Piper teamed with Paul Orndorff in a losing effort against Hogan and Mr. T at the first Wrestlemania.  After Wrestlemania, Piper and Orndorff engaged in a short, but memorable feud, before moving onto other things.  After Mr. T returned to the WWF in late 1985, a feud between him and Piper was born.  The two faced off at Wrestlemania 2,in a boxing match.  The idea of a boxing match in professional wrestling was a bit odd, if not stupid, to say the least, as the match ended with Piper getting disqualified for bodyslamming Mr. T.  

 

Following Wrestlemania, Piper decided to take some time off to try acting in Hollywood.  He was cast in a wrestling movie titled Body Slam.  Although the movie was sub-par, critics and fans were impressed with Piper’s performance.  When Piper made his return to wrestling after six months off, he was greeted with a reaction that he had not experienced for a long time; cheers from the fans.

 

All was not well however, as some things had changed during Piper’s absence.  Piper’s Pit had been replaced with a new segment called the Flower Shop, which was hosted by Adrian Adonis.  Adonis had at one time, been quite successful with a “New York tough guy” gimmick in the early 80’s.  However, Adonis suddenly gained roughly 100 pounds and became unmarketable with the tough guy gimmick.  As a form of punishment for the weight gain, the WWF repackaged him as a stereotypical gay character.  Adonis’ black hair was replaced with golden blonde hair and plenty of make-up; his leather biker jacket with women’s clothing and pink garments.  

After trying to get his interview segment back, Piper was shocked to learn that Adonis now employed his former bodyguard Bob Orton and former ally Don Murraco.  The three of them attacked Piper, breaking his leg in the process.  

Piper, not one to let things go unsettled, returned to the interview set and destroyed it with a baseball bat.

 

Piper was now a huge babyface and the feud between the two raged on, with most of the matches having inconclusive finishes.  In early 1987, Piper was once again offered a role in a movie, this time of the sci-fi genre.  So, a match that was billed as Piper’s retirement match was set for Wrestlemania III, where he would face Adonis for the final time.  Piper asked for and received one final stipulation:  loser gets his head shaved.

 

In a match shortly before Wrestlemania, Piper and the British Bulldogs took on Adonis and the Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) in a six-man tag team match.  During the match Adonis, hoping to give a taste of what was in store for Piper at Wrestlemania, attempted to cut his hair, but inadvertently cut the prima donna Beefcake’s hair.  Beefcake, who had always been stuck on his looks, was clearly upset with Adonis.  The match at Wrestlemania was intense and the end saw Adonis nearly win with a sleeper-hold, but to no avail, as he let go of the hold too soon and while the referee was out, Beefcake (who had cut ties with his partner earlier in the show) came and revived Piper, who then won with a sleeper-hold of his own.  Beefcake proceeded to cut Adonis’ hair and his most successful gimmick of his entire career (that of a barber) was born.  Adonis left the WWF shortly there after and sadly died on July 4, 1988, after a van containing him and several independent wrestlers, slid off the road and off of a cliff.

 

Piper went into retirement and did not return until mid-1989, at which point he engaged in a feud with Rick Rude.  He did little of note and then became semi-retired once again in mid-1990.  He made another full time comeback to wrestling in late 1991, becoming involved in a bitter feud with Ric Flair (just in from WCW).  At Royal Rumble ‘92, he won the Intercontinental championship from the Mountie.  He would go on and lose the title to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania VIII, at which point he once again retired.  He left the WWF for a period of time, but returned in 1994 and once again in 1996 as a semi-active competitor.  He spent his final years in the wrestling business in the WCW, during which point many felt he tarnished his legacy by being involved in several failed angles and feuds.  Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that Piper has accomplished a lot in the business and that he created many memorable WWF moments during the 80’s.

 

 

 

 

More coming soon.

[Guest Daredevil21]

Randy Savage

 

Although professional wrestling was not part of future career plans for a young Randy Savage (Randy Poffo), when it was all said and done, he was a legend in the business.  Savage got his athletic start as a baseball catcher playing for such teams as the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox during the 70's.  However, following a severe knee injury that forced him out of the game, Savage decided to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a professional wrestler.  He was trained by his father Angelo Poffo and made his debut alongside brother Lanny in Memphis in 1973.  They didn't impress many, so Savage decided to take on a less technical wrestling style.  The name change from Poffo to Savage came after a match with Ole Anderson, who gave him the name.  Savage traveled around the Southern states, often doing battle with Jerry Lawler.  

 

In the early 80's, Savage and business manager/love interest Elizabeth Hewlett (Miss Elizabeth) were married and soon signed by Vince McMahon, who saw potential in the duo.  Shortly after debuting in the WWF in 1985, Savage was in the process of choosing a manager.  After weeks of leading on several managers, he debuted Elizabeth as his manager.  Savage's character traits soon became clear as he treated Elizabeth like dirt, but was quick to defend her against anyone who mistreated her.  

 

Savage was instantly a major heel, which meant one thing; a showdown between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and him was inevitable.  Despite this, the WWF tried to delay it so that they could promote it properly and subsequently, make more money off of it.  To sidetrack him from that particular match, the WWF put Savage in a feud with the unorthodox George "The Animal" Steele, who had just become a babyface weeks earlier.  The reasoning behind the feud was quite simple really; Steele was in love with Elizabeth and Savage would take any opportunity to destroy him because of that.  

During the middle of the feud, the WWF put on their first PPV event, titled the Wrestling Classic.  The main attraction of the show was a 16-man tournament, which Savage was involved in.  Scattered among several short and worthless matches, were Savage's show-stealing matches, as he fought Ivan Putski, Ricky Steamboat, Dynamite Kid, and the Junkyard Dog.  Although he lost to the Junkyard Dog in the finals, Savage impressed everyone by putting on four solid matches in one night.  

 

As Savage's popularity continued to rise, the WWF responded by putting the Intercontinental title on him.  He beat Tito Santana for the title in early 1986 in the Boston Garden.  Although the victory was tainted, Savage was able to plow through the competition in the months that followed.  He defended the title against George Steele at Wrestlemania 2 and won with little trouble, although the victory was once again tainted.  Finally, after months of putting it off, the WWF could hold off the Hogan-Savage showdown no longer.  The match was signed for a show at Madison Square Garden and tickets sold out immediately.  The WWF decided to sell 5,000 more tickets for the Paramount Theatre, for a closed circuit showing.  The match did not disappoint, as it turned into a wild and bloody affair that saw Savage manage a countout victory.  They ran a couple of rematches, before the WWF decided to put the feud on the shelf and save it for a truly special event.

 

In the meantime, Savage was becoming a fighting champion, defending against such guys as Tito Santana, Ricky Steamboat, and Jake Roberts, just to name a few.  

Steamboat had been a part of the NWA until 1984, when he was snagged away by the WWF, where he became a popular superstar.  Although he was popular among the fans, he wasn't on the level of the muscular wrestlers that were the big craze at the time.  The WWF decided to try a sympathy angle to simultaneously boost Steamboat's popularity and out Savage over as a ruthless monster.  The two faced off with the Intercontinental title on the line, during an episode of Superstars of Wrestling.  Steamboat came too close to winning the title for Savage's liking, so Savage threw him to the railing on the outside, draped Steamboat's throat over it and delivered a double axe-handle from the top rope to Steamboat's neck, crushing his throat.  Steamboat sold the injury incredibly, but Savage added to the drama by jumping off the top rope with the ringside bell and driving it into Steamboat's already damaged throat.

 

In reality, it was an excuse to give Steamboat time off so he and his wife could have a baby.  Following the match, Savage was interviewed by wrestling great Bruno Sammartino.  Sammartino soon attack Savage, disgusted by Savage’s boasting over what he had done to Steamboat.  This gave Savage something to do while waiting for Steamboat's return.  Savage and Sammartino fought on the house show circuit several times in the weeks that followed, which was also meant as a way for the veteran Sammartino to put over the young Savage.

 

A match between Savage and Steamboat was inevitable, and the venue for such a showdown could only be at Wrestlemania III.  They began planning out the match move for move months before the show.  The two squared off several times at house shows leading up to Wrestlemania, all of them ending with Steamboat getting disqualified.  During the matches, they tested out various parts of the match that they planned to run at Wrestlemania, hoping to perfect each one.  All of the vigorous planning paid off as Steamboat and Savage put on a 15-minute wrestling classic.  At the end of what many call one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history, Steamboat stood the new Intercontinental champion, after reversing a slam attempt by Savage for the pin.  The two were actually punished for having "too good" of a match.  The reality of the matter was top stars like Hulk Hogan, who held little actual wrestling ability, felt threatened by the match since it had been a hit with the fans.  Steamboat would only hold the title for mere weeks before losing it in a controversial match against the Honky Tonk Man, a much-hated wrestler with an Elvis impersonator gimmick.  Savage was also sent on a lengthy losing strength, which many believe was an attempt to bury him.

 

However, it had the opposite effect, as Savage began a feud with Honky Tonk for the Intercontinental title.  The reason was quite simple really.  In his short time in the WWF, the Honky Tonk Man had become one of, if not the most hated men in the promotion.  Despite Savage being a heel, the fans did not hesitate to cheer for him as he fought Honky.  Near the end of 1987, Hulk Hogan let the WWF know that he wanted to take some time off to film a new movie.  This would end up leaving an open space for the number one face in the company and Savage seemed like the best candidate.  So on an edition of SNME, Hogan saved Savage from a three-on-one attack by Honky Tonk, and the Hart Foundation (Bret "Hitman" Hart and Jim "Anvil" Neidhart).  Savage and Hogan shook hands afterwards, in what today is a fairly famous WWF moment.  

 

With Hogan now "on his side," Savage continued his chase after Honky Tonk and the Intercontinental title.  The two were scheduled to meet on the inaugural The Main Event program on NBC.  This was the same show as the infamous Hogan-Andre the Giant WWF title match.  The program would end up changing the WWF's direction as Savage had originally been slated to win the title from Honky Tonk.  However, Honky vetoed it at the 11th hour and threatened to jump ship with the title to the NWA if the end of the match wasn't changed to him retaining the title.  A champion jumping ship with a title was a major concern for every promoter at the time; so to keep that from happening, they changed they ending of the match to Savage winning via disqualification.  This would also affect the WWF championship tournament at Wrestlemania IV, as Ted Dibiase had been booked to win the tournament and the title.  This was changed to Savage winning the title and the tournament, as a type of peace offering for the incident with the Honky Tonk Man.  Dibiase, being the company man that he was, agreed to the booking change and settled for making it to the finals and losing to Savage.  

 

Now as the new WWF champion, Savage should have been on top of the world, but the truth of the matter was that the WWF never fully got behind Savage, with ended up making him look like a less credible champion.  Lacking believe in Savage's ability to draw as the top guy, the WWF threw Hogan out there with him most of the time.  Personally, Hogan saw Savage's rising star and wanted to latch onto it, so he had no problem being out there with him.  In the months that followed Wrestlemania, Savage and Dibiase engaged in dozens of matches, all of which were excellent from a wrestling standpoint.  The culmination of the feud came in the form of a tag team match at the first Summerslam.  Savage and Hogan teamed up to take on and defeat Dibiase and Andre the Giant.

 

By this point, Savage's drawing power as champion had been greatly affected by Hogan.  Many fans now saw Savage as a man unable to stand alone as the WWF champion, but this was only the case because of the WWF's lack of faith in Savage.  The WWF felt that the only logical thing to do was to turn Savage heel and have him feud with Hogan.  And so, on the February 1989 edition of The Main Event, Savage officially turned heel as he left Hogan during their match with the Twin Towers (Akeem and the Big Boss Man) and attacked him in the dressing room following the match.

 

After weeks of tension between the two, the split had finally happened and the Megapowers were set to explode at Wrestlemania V in Atlantic City, with the WWF title on the line.  Even less surprising was that Hogan left Wrestlemania the new WWF champion.  The most surprising thing of the night was probably the great match that the two had, which as mentioned before was all due to Savage's great ability to carry someone to a good match.  Following Wrestlemania, Savage introduced Sherri Martell as his new manager and began a forgettable feud with Brutus Beefcake.  During the summer of '89, Savage became "King" of the WWF, by defeating Jim Duggan in a match for the crown.  Although Savage teamed with Zeus to take on Hogan and Beefcake at Summerslam '89, and once more in December, he was now primarily feuding with Duggan.  In early 1990, Savage began a feud with Dusty Rhodes that would last the better part of a year and involve them meeting at Wrestlemania VI and Summerslam '90.

 

By the end of his feud with Rhodes, Savage was becoming more and more vocal about his displeasure of his place in the promotion.  The WWF finally listened and at Royal Rumble ‘91, Savage cost the Ultimate Warrior the WWF title against Sgt. Slaughter.  This action immediately relieved Savage of his midcard duties and put him back near the top of the card.  A retirement match was signed for Wrestlemania VII between Savage and the Warrior.  The match was a classic and by far the Warrior's best match in the WWF.  After 25 minutes of action, the Warrior defeated Savage, ending his career supposedly forever.  Sherri turned on the beaten Savage after the match, which led to Elizabeth emerging from the crowd and saving him.  As a confused Savage stared at his former manager Elizabeth, no one was quite sure what was going to happen.  What followed was another famous WWF moment, as the two embraced and were finally reunited.

 

After all of this, there was still the issue of Savage's wrestling career.  Following the rules of the match, Savage became an announcer for WWF TV, although everyone knew that it was really only a matter of time before he would return to the ring.  But before that came Savage and Elizabeth's "wedding," at Summerslam '91, where Savage would finally marry his longtime love interest, despite the two having already been married for six years in real life.  It was at the wedding reception that the seeds for Savage's eventual return to the ring were laid.  Newly turned heel, Jake "the Snake" Roberts sent the couple a cobra in a box disguised as a wedding gift.  This was admittedly pretty stupid, but as the events unfolded, the feud became quite enthralling.  On an episode of WWF Superstars, Savage was lured away from his commentating position and into the ring by Roberts, only to be attacked and tied up in the ropes.  Roberts then revealed a snake and let it gnaw on the helpless Savage's arm.  The event was very graphic, especially for the time, with Savage bleeding heavily from the arm.  Perhaps in hope of making the whole thing more believable, Savage allowed a real snake to be used in this attack.  Although the snake had been defanged and devenomized, there were reports of Savage experiencing several dizzy spells in the days that followed.

 

In light of what had happened, Jack Tunney felt that it was only right to reinstate Savage as a wrestler and sign a match for an upcoming pay-per-view in December of '91, Tuesday In Texas. Fans didn't seem to care that Savage's retirement had lasted less than eight months; they were just happy to see him back in the ring.  The match was solid and the heat was incredible, but a bit short, with Savage beating Roberts in roughly 10 minutes.  The events that followed the match would last longer and have a bigger impact on the feud than the actual match ever could have.  Following the match, Elizabeth ran down to the ring to celebrate with Savage.  Roberts was soon back on his feet however, and quickly delivered several DDT's (his finishing move) to Savage, leaving Elizabeth in the ring all alone.  As he mocked Savage, Elizabeth tried to intervene, only to be punched in the face by Roberts as a result.  The fans as well as the announcers were in shock by this and a post-match interview where he boasted about the pleasure he had gotten out of what he had done made him one of the most hated men in the WWF.  

 

As 1992 rolled around, the feud was still going strong.  The WWF felt it would be wise to end it soon however, and they felt that the February edition of SNME would be the best place to have the big payoff match.  The match, like the entire feud had a ton of heat, which was a good thing, as the actual match was average at best.  Savage won the match and the feud that night, finally getting his revenge on Roberts.

Immediately following the match, Roberts was thrown into a feud with former ally, the Undertaker.  Meanwhile, Savage took Hulk Hogan's place in his feud with Ric Flair, for reasons discussed earlier.  The WWF was able to create a storyline in which Flair claimed that Elizabeth was his before she was Savage's, going as far as to provide photographs of the two together.  It was later revealed that the photos were doctored, but it was too late as a bitter feud between Savage and Flair had already begun.  Their WWF title match for Wrestlemania VIII became one of the most anticipated matches on the card.  Not surprisingly, the fans were not disappointed, as Flair and Savage wrestled in a 25-minute classic that saw Savage capture his second WWF title and once again, had defended the honor of his wife.  Sadly, the two soon divorced in real life mere months after the show.

 

Things between Savage and Flair simmered down a bit throughout the summer, as it was announced in July that Savage would be defending his title against the Ultimate Warrior at Summerslam '92, which was to take place at Wembley Stadium.  Flair, upset that he was not chosen to face Savage for the title, soon became involved in the events that led up to the show, as did his Executive Consultant, Mr. Perfect.  Perfect claimed that one of the two men had acquired his managerial services for the show, but no one would find out which one had done so until the show.  This caused a great amount of paranoia among the Warrior and Savage, as well as the fans that felt that either man could be the one with Perfect in their corner.  The match came and after both men had made their entrance, Perfect was nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, Savage and the Warrior engaged in a great match that almost matched their Wrestlemania VII classic.  Perfect, along with Flair eventually made their way down to the ring, and ended up turning on both men and causing Savage to get counted out.  Following the match, Perfect and Flair revealed that it had been a plan all along and that Perfect never intended to be in the corner of either man.  The final phase of their plan was to see that Flair regained the WWF title.  And just weeks later, Flair defeated Savage for the title with help from WWF newcomer Razor Ramon (Scott Hall).  His title reign would be short-lived however, as he dropped the title to Bret Hart less than two months later.

 

As Survivor Series '92 neared, a tag team match pitting the teams of Savage and Warrior against Flair and Ramon was signed.  The Warrior messed up plans though, as he quit the WWF just 11 days before the show over a contract dispute.  This left the WWF with little time to find a suitable replacement.  And so on an episode of Primetime Wrestling, Savage shocked everyone by asking none other than Mr. Perfect to be his partner.  Even more shocking was the fact that Perfect accepted, but not before ending his relationship with Bobby Heenan, who had insulted and slapped him for considering the offer.  This meant that Perfect was a babyface for the first time in his WWF career and that Survivor Series would be his return to the ring after a 14 month absence due to back problems.  Although the match was very good, the disqualification ending was quite unfulfilling.

 

By this time, Vince McMahon was trying to establish new talent and wanted Savage to step out of the main event scene.  He complied, and soon became an announcer/wrestler.  As time passed, he wrestled less until he began a feud with former friend Crush.  The feud lasted several months and culminated in a falls count anywhere match at Wrestlemania X, which Savage won.  Although Savage was past his prime, he still felt that he deserved a high place on the card.  When McMahon told him that it was out of the question, Savage ended his decade of service for the WWF and signed with WCW.  In WCW, he once again became a main event wrestler.  Although he won several major championships and was involved in many high profile feuds in WCW, many felt that he tarnished his legacy by not retiring while he was in his prime.  Regardless of what happened in WCW, Savage’s career in the WWF remains one of the most impressive of all time.

 

 

Ted Dibiase

 

It’s not often that a wrestler who has the natural ability to be hated by millions of people comes along, but when they do, it’s something truly special.  Ted Dibiase is one of these rare wrestlers and no matter where he went; he always got the attention of everyone around him.  

 

Dibiase was born in January of 1953 into a wrestling family.  His stepfather “Iron” Mike Dibiase and his mother were both active wrestlers, which naturally had an influence on Ted.  When Ted was 15, his father died of a heart attack in the ring causing Ted to become a wrestler himself as his way of paying homage to his late father.  

 

Early in his career, Ted Dibiase wrestled primarily in the southern states promotions, and it didn’t take long for people to see that he was very gifted in his chosen profession.  Dibiase became a top heel in Bill Watt’s Mid-South promotion, often teaming with Jim Duggan and Steve “Dr. Death” Williams.  By 1986, the promotion, which had been renamed the UWF, was being seen by Vince McMahon as a threat to the WWF.  This prompted McMahon to conduct one of his famous talent raids, picking up such top stars as Duggan, the One Man Gang, and eventually Dibiase.

 

When Dibiase entered the WWF, McMahon presented him with a unique idea for his gimmick: an on-screen version of himself, the cocky multi-millionaire with few morals.  The gimmick would end up being on of the best in wrestling history, due in part to Dibiase’s mastering of the gimmick in the years that followed.

 

And so in late 1987, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase made his debut on WWF TV, becoming despised by fans almost immediately.  He employed a bodyguard named Virgil (a cheap shot at WCW star Virgil “Dusty” Rhodes), and insisted that everyone had their price.  It was that last saying that would become Dibiase trademark quote, as he proved it to be true time and time again.  In his first several appearances on WWF TV, Dibiase used a simple, yet effective shtick in which he would pay an audience member to perform some sort of degrading task.  The true genius of the whole thing is what really got the fans to hate Dibiase.  Just when the audience member was getting close to completing the goal, Dibiase would interfere, thus causing them to fail.

 

In order to make the gimmick as believable as possible, Dibiase was given spending cash by the WWF to throw around when out in public in “real life.”  He was also flown first class, while others on his level flew coach.  This would end up nearly ruining his life, as he became a drug addict and almost destroyed his marriage.

 

However, back in the wrestling world, things were just taking off for Dibiase.  In a rare occurrence, he skipped the midcard almost entirely within weeks of his debut, and began a program with WWF champion, Hulk Hogan.  Staying true to his character, Dibiase offered to straight-up buy the title from Hogan for any price.  Hogan of course refused, which led to Dibiase purchasing the contract of Andre the Giant from manager Bobby Heenan to use as a weapon against Hogan in his quest to get the title.  

 

Now with Dibiase behind him, Andre decided to take on Hogan again for the title, one year after their epic encounter at Wrestlemania III.  The match took place on the first The Main Event program, and as you already know, would become quite infamous in years to come.

 

They did their typical horrible match, and soon Hogan was looking to put Andre away with the big boot and the legdrop.  Everyone thought it was over, and after four years of the same routine during Hogan matches, that was to be expected.  However, on this night things were anything but routine.  As referee Dave Hebner was distracted by Virgil, Andre had the time to recover from the boot and the legdrop and followed with a poor looking suplex on Hogan.  Andre went for the cover and in a shocking moment, Hebner counted for three, despite Hogan’s shoulder clearly being up.  To say that the fans were in shock would be a huge understatement, as many found it hard to believe what they had just seen.  Before anyone could take in what was all happening, Andre got on the microphone and surrendered the title to Ted Dibiase.  But the biggest twist of the night was still to come.  Moments later, Dave Hebner, the real Dave Hebner, ran to the ring from the dressing room and confronted the man in the ring posing as him.  The fans didn’t know what was happening, as both men were identical twins.  The explanation behind this was none to complex however.  The imposter was Dave’s twin brother, Earl, who is now the senior official of the WWF.  Just days before the show, Vince had hired Earl away from the NWA to pull the angle off.  No one thought much of it at the time, so confusion was still running high when two twins stood in the ring claiming to be the same person.  In any case, it was now obvious that Dibiase had paid off the imposter, but it was too late, as Hogan’s four-year title reign was over.

 

The following week on WWF TV, Jack Tunney made a somewhat famous announcement in which he had inspected the (non-existent) rulebook of the WWF, and noted three particular rules.  The first was that the referee’s decision is always final so Hogan was not champion.  The second was that a champion could surrender a title at any time, which Andre had done, so he was no longer champion.  The third and final rule was that a wrestler could only win a title via pinfall or submission, which Dibiase had not done, so therefore he was not champion, either.  The last two rules seem to contradict themselves, but regardless, Tunney felt that he had no other alternative than to declare the title vacant and announce a tournament to crown a new champion at Wrestlemania IV to take place.  The tournament would involve 14 men and be single elimination.  In the first two rounds of the tournament, Dibiase squared off against Jim Duggan and Don Murraco respectively, and was victorious in both matches.  Hogan and Andre both did battle in the first match of the second round and due to their match being a no contest, Dibiase automatically advanced to the finals, where he would take on Randy Savage.  Savage would go on to win the match and title, with help from Hogan.  Savage’s quest for the WWF title had come to an end, but his feud with Dibiase was just beginning and it would rage on in the months that followed.  

 

Over the course of the summer, the two met in countless matches, neither one ever truly getting the upper hand.  Despite the duo working great matches night after night, revenues were down, so the WWF felt it was necessary to bring Hogan back into the fold.  By the first Summerslam in August of ’88, the feud had run its course, as had the feud between Hogan and Andre.  With these factors in mind, a tag team main event was set for Summerslam, with the team of Savage and Hogan facing Dibiase and Andre.  The team of Savage and Hogan won quite easily, and with that two long running feuds had ended in with one match.  Andre would go on to feud with Jake Roberts, which resulted in some of the worst matches of ’88 and ’89.  Hogan and Savage would begin a feud with the Twin Towers that would eventually be the end of their alliance.  

 

As for Dibiase, he was soon demoted and found himself working in the WWF midcard pretty much for the first time in his year with the promotion.  Within the closing months of 1988, Dibiase began a feud with perennial midcarder, Hercules, in a tasteless angle that involved Dibiase trying to obtain Hercules as his personal slave.  After that fizzled out, Dibiase was given another unique angle in which he decided to create his own championship belt.  Made of gold and diamonds, the Million Dollar belt, would briefly put some life back into Dibiase’s now lackluster career.  He would go on to have a memorable feud with Jake Roberts for the latter part of 1989 and half of 1990, before feuding with Dusty Rhodes until early 1991.  By this time, Dibiase’s longtime bodyguard Virgil had grown tired of Dibiase’s constant emotional abuse.  He soon rebelled the two feuded over the Million Dollar championship for the better part of 1991, with Virgil even winning it at one point.  

 

By 1992, Dibiase was no longer seen as a major player in the WWF and had been reduced to a tag team role with I.R.S. (Mike Rotundo).  The duo would win a handful of tag team titles in the next year and a half, before Dibiase decided to completely retire from the WWF following Summerslam ’93.  He would take a short hiatus from the WWF, before returning as a commentator and a manager in 1994.  He brought in a fake Undertaker that he passed off as the real deal in the summer of ’94.  The real Undertaker would face Dibiase’s Undertaker in a terrible match at Summerslam ’94.  In the next two years, Dibiase formed a wrestling stable known as the Million Dollar Corporation.  The faction consisted of several talent-less wrestlers, with a somewhat big name here and there.

 

Finally, in 1996, Dibiase left the WWF for good and headed for WCW, where he would become one of the original members of the NWO.  In the late 90’s, Dibiase was “born again,” and renounced pro wrestling all together.  At the moment, he is not affiliated with any wrestling promotion and is a man of God, preaching his word.  So while it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing Dibiase involved in pro wrestling again anytime soon, we are still able to look back and appreciate the career and accomplishments of a true wrestling genius.

 

 

More to come

[Guest Daredevil21]

Chapter 2 The Dark Ages (1990-1997)

 

Business had been booming for the WWF since 1984, but by 1989, things had cooled down considerably.  Revenues had been on a slow downward slide for several months, and as the WWF entered into the new decade; many were in high hopes that things would turn around.  Things got worse however, as Hulk Hogan was losing his interest in professional wrestling by the day, and a suitable replacement for him could not be found.  Although the WWF thought that they had the next big thing, in the form of the Ultimate Warrior; they would soon find out that the Warrior’s popularity could only go so high.  Many of the wrestlers who had played a part in the WWF’s success had either disappeared or been moved to a reduced role in the company.  Several big events would be the culprit behind the downfall of the WWF, one including Vince McMahon himself.

 

Although several new faces got pushed throughout the WWF Dark Age, it did not come without a price, as things were looking so bleak by 1996, that many were predicting the fall of the WWF.  WCW had become a big competitor, and by the end of 1996, the dominator.  As you will see, backstage politics played a heavy part in the biggest down period in WWF history.  While the company faced many major problems during this time, they were able to hold on and eventually come back with a new campaign that would not only save them, but also make them number one in the business once again, and take them to new heights, previously unseen.

 

 

 

Steroid Trial

 

It seems like just about everyone has tried to take a shot at Vince McMahon at one time or another, even the U.S. government.

 

It isn’t exactly known what started the investigation into the WWF, but there are three categories that the reasons fall into: sexual abuse and harassment (of both minors and adults), illegal drug sales and use (mainly steroids, but possibly some cocaine), and illegal business practices.  Wrestlers such as the Ultimate Warrior, Marty Jannetty, and the Honky Tonk Man were known to be talking to the government about these cases.

 

The trial of Dr. George Zahorian in 1991 almost certainly caused much of the legal trouble that Vince would face later on. Zahorian was convicted in a Pennsylvania court for selling steroids and other controlled substances to pro wrestlers and to a college strength coach, for which he was sentenced to three years in a federal prison.

 

Before being charged with selling steroids, Zahorian was an attending physician for WWF matches in Pennsylvania. When word of a federal investigation into Zahorian's activities leaked, the WWF warned Zahorian of the investigation and attempted to distance themselves as much as possible from him.

 

During his trial, Zahorian testified that between November ‘88 and March ‘90, he sold steroids to Vince McMahon and to many professional wrestlers, including two of the WWF's then-top draws: Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper.  To back up those claims, evidence was presented during the trial that showed hundreds of shipments from Zahorian's office to wrestlers and others.  Prosecutors claimed the shipments contained steroids, 37 of which were sent to WWF and Titan Sports headquarters.  In addition, nine of them had Vince McMahon's name (presumably as the recipient).

 

It’s believed that the evidence and testimony gathered during this trial provided ultimately led to the beginning of an investigation into whether Titan Sports and Vince McMahon had distributed steroids illegally.  The indictment followed soon after.

 

In November of 1993, Vince was indicted on several counts, and faced jail time if he were convicted.  The first charge was against McMahon and Titan Sports Inc. for conspiracy.  The second charge was against Titian for possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids.  The third charge was against McMahon and Titan for possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids.  The final charge was against McMahon and Titian for possession.  It was on the final charge that the government sought to seize Titian’s assets.  

 

As the indictment was originally written, Titan and McMahon faced fines of up to $1.5 million. McMahon himself faced a maximum 5 years in prison on the conspiracy charges and 3 years for his personal distribution charges. In addition, the government also sought to seize Titan's assets, including Titan Towers, the WWF's $9.5 million headquarters. In December 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that made it nearly impossible for the government to seize Titan's assets.

 

In April 1994, the government amended the indictment and dropped the claim to Titan's assets and added two new counts. The new counts, one against McMahon and one against Titan Sports, were similar to other counts in the indictment, and charge McMahon and Titan Sports with possession with intent to distribute steroids on April 13, 1989.  Because of this, the worst-case scenario for Vince and Titian Sports went from a maximum prison time of eight years to 11 years, and increased the potential fine to $2 million.

 

In late May 1994, U.S. District Court Judge Jacob Mishler, dropped two of the five counts against McMahon and Titan. Judge Mishler reasoned that because McMahon owned 100% of Titan, McMahon could not be charge with distributing steroids to Titan (in essence the government had charged McMahon with distributing steroids to himself). When the case finally went to

trial, McMahon and Titan were left with three counts to defend against.  These included:  Conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and the Food & Drug Administration, to "deliver into interstate commerce" prescription drugs, to knowingly distribute drugs (steroids). McMahon & Titan;

Possession w/intent to distribute anabolic steroids. McMahon & Titan, and Possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids. McMahon & Titan.

 

Following the initial indictment, McMahon's initial statements denied any wrongdoing.  He pointed out that had dealt with steroids when they were legal, even though the charges were not based on those grounds.  He said very little about the charges that were brought against him, and instead, focused on charges that hadn’t been brought against him.  In the end, Vince was found innocent on all charges.  Many felt that he had been found innocent because the only ones to testify against him were disgruntled former employees.  

 

And so with that, Vince McMahon proved that he was able to take on a challenge from anyone, even the government.  It should be noted that while this was all happening, Vince was very much negligent towards the WWF in general, which accounts for the lack of quality that it featured at the time.  Things would get worse after he put his focus back on the WWF, but all of that will be covered in this section.

 

 

 

Hulk Hogan Part 2

 

When we left Hogan, he was becoming less attached to the wrestling business, and in the years that followed, he would make several retirements, none of which lasted.  As 1990 rolled around, the WWF was already thinking about the main event for Wrestlemania VI.  With Zeus gone, the likely candidate to be Hogan’s opponent was Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig).  The two would meet up during the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble ’90.  Hogan won the match, despite the fact that Mr. Perfect had been scheduled previously to win the match, but a certain backstage influence (Hogan) ensured that the outcome was changed.  Near the end of the match, Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior, who was easily the second most popular wrestler in the company, second only to Hogan, were the only two people in the ring.  The crowd was going crazy, despite the fact that their encounter consisted of nothing more than a shoving and a double clothesline.  The thought of the two biggest stars in the WWF facing off was enough to get the crowd pumped up and a Hogan-Warrior title match became the most likely main event for Wrestlemania, which pretty much took Perfect out of the running to be involved in the main event.

 

Hogan let it be known that he wanted to retire from wrestling to focus on acting, but wasn’t sure if he wanted to give wrestling up for good.  With this in mind, the WWF made sure to get the fans’ support for the two wrestlers to go 50/50.

 

On an edition of The Main Event before Wrestlemania, Randy Savage was set to challenge Hogan for the title in which boxer Mike Tyson would appear as the special guest referee.  However, fellow boxer Buster Douglas in a match leading up to the show knocked out Tyson, instantly ruining his star power.  Douglas was inserted into the match as the referee, replacing Tyson, which affected the originally planned outcome for the Hogan-Savage match.  Savage had been slated to win the title from Hogan, but the WWF thought it would be foolish to have an unproven boxing champion like Douglas, in such a prominent role.  As a result, the ending was changed to Hogan winning the match, after Douglas knocked Savage out.

 

So, the Warrior-Hogan match for Wrestlemania became official and was title for title (as Warrior was the Intercontinental champion at the time).  The WWF went to great lengths to keep the ending of the match a secret from the media.  The match was actually quite good, considering the actual wrestling abilities (or perhaps non-abilities) of both men.  It’s said that both men spent weeks planning out the entire match, and it was quite evident that April night in front of 60,000 plus Toronto fans.

 

The match was meant to be a passing of the torch, as Hogan was ready, for the time being at least, to let the Warrior be the top man in the company.  The Warrior was suppose to be the man who would lead the WWF into the next decade, but it was not to be, as the fans soon let it be known that they were not ready to give up Hogan as their hero.  Warrior’s popularity plummeted and his reign was a failure, but more on that later.

 

Getting back to Hogan, who was ready to start an angle where he was injured by newcomer John Tenta, known as the Earthquake, after he delivered for a lack of a better term a BUTT-splash.  The incident put Hogan on the shelf until Summerslam ’90, where he was slated to face Earthquake in the main event.  Hogan would go on to win the match via a count out, which was quite the unsatisfying finish to say the least.  It is still somewhat of a mystery as to why Hogan never beat Earthquake in a decisive matter.  Many assume that the WWF had plans to have another Hogan-Earthquake match, where Hogan would win in a decisive matter to end the feud, but it never happened, as Hogan was moved into one of the most controversial angles in wrestling history in early ’91.

 

The U.S. was involved in the Gulf War as 1991 came around and the WWF made the tasteless decision to capitalize.  Sgt. Slaughter, well-known patriotic wrestler, was brought back to the WWF in mid-’90, but was now an Iraqi sympathizer.  He was pushed to the top of the card within months, and defeated the Ultimate Warrior at Royal Rumble ‘91, to become the WWF champion.

 

It seemed only natural that the only opposition for Slaughter could be the “Real American” Hulk Hogan.  A feud was started and Vince planned to sell-out the 100,000-seat L.A. Coliseum for Wrestlemania VII, with Hogan-Slaughter for the title being the main event.  However, after three months, only 18,000 tickets had been sold and to make matters worse, the Gulf War was suddenly over and Slaughter was now nothing more than a joke.  Vince came up with a “bomb threat” story and insisted the event had to be moved to the smaller L.A. Sports Arena for “security issues.”  In any case, the show bombed, despite the announcers saying throughout the telecast that it was the most watched Wrestlemania of all time.  This simply was not true as such a thing could not even be known until weeks after the show.  The numbers showed that it was in fact the least watched Wrestlemania ever at that point, proving that the WWF was losing its fan base.  As for the title match, Hogan defeated Slaughter in a brutally bad match to win his third WWF title.

 

Following Wrestlemania, Hogan began to once again lose interest in wrestling, as he continued to simply go through the motions not only in his matches, but his interviews as well.  He was thrown into a handicap tag team match for Summerslam ’91 that would be featured as the main event.  His partner for the match was the Ultimate Warrior and they were set to face Slaughter, Col. Mustafa (the Iron Sheik with a new gimmick), and General Adnan (their manager).  The match was significant for several reasons. One, it introduced former WCW star Sid Vicious to the WWF fans. He was given a name to change to Sid Justice and was brought in as the special guest referee of the match.  Two, it was the last appearance of the Warrior for over half a year, as he left the WWF right after the match.  Finally, it marked the end of Slaughter’s Iraqi sympathizer gimmick, as he was turned face shortly after the match.

 

With the feud with Slaughter out of the way, was moved into the feud that would finally reveal the cracks in the phenomenon that was Hulkamania.  A match for Survivor Series ’91 was set, where Hogan would meet the Undertaker.  The Undertaker had made his debut at the previous Survivor Series and had impressed the crowd since then, as his character was something new and interesting.  He was becoming more and more popular with the fans, despite the fact that he was a heel.  During the match, the Undertaker dominated Hogan and Hogan as usual, made his big comeback.  However, on this night, Hogan’s foe did not go down for the count after Hogan’s big legdrop. Ric Flair, who had just come to the WWF after ending his relationship with WCW ended, came down to the ring and found himself involved in the match.  While the Undertaker’s manager Paul Bearer, had the referee distracted, Flair laid out a steel chair in the ring and the Undertaker proceeded to deliver his finisher the Tombstone (a reverse piledriver) to Hogan on the steel chair.  This was enough to get the Undertaker the win and subsequently, the WWF title.  Although fan were upset about the finish, it couldn’t go unnoticed that much of the crowd seemed happy by the outcome.

 

Hogan would regain the title just days later in a controversial manner and in a move that didn’t quite upset fans as much as it would have in previous years, Jack Tunney stripped Hogan of the title.  He declared it vacant for the first time since 1988 and announced that the winner of the upcoming Royal Rumble match would become the new WWF champion.  The Rumble match was hyped extensively for the next several weeks and the point that 30 men had the chance of winning the title was stressed very much, as well.

 

The Rumble match turned out to be one of the best of all time, as it was jammed pack with star power of the time.  Hogan was of course in the match and dominated after entering near the end of it.  It came down to Hogan, Flair (who had been in there for an hour after drawing number three in the match), Sid Justice and Randy Savage.  After Justice rid of Savage, the focus turned to Hogan and Flair.  As Hogan was on the verge of eliminating Flair, Justice came from behind and eliminated Hogan from the match.  Hogan stood on the outside complaining about the perfectly legal elimination, while Flair tried to eliminate Justice.  Hogan being the good sport that he was, helped by pulling Sid out of the ring from the outside, giving Flair the win and the WWF title.  The crowd was clearly in support of Justice, although the WWF edited it to make it sound like the crowd was in favor of Hogan since Sid was suppose to be the bad guy.

 

As Wrestlemania VIII approached, a Hogan-Flair title match was announced.  This was the definition of a wrestling dream match, as fans had always dreamed of seeing the two biggest icons in wrestling clash.  The match had been done a couple times in late ’91 and early ’92 on the house show circuit.  It was unknown why they gave their first meeting away at such an unimportant venue, but this was Wrestlemania, the perfect event for such a match.  Hogan however, threw a wrench in the spokes by letting the WWF know that he wanted to retire after the match.  Since Flair couldn’t possibly beat Hogan in his final match and there was no way Hogan could retire as the champion, a double main event was created for Wrestlemania.  Flair would now defend the title against Randy Savage and Hogan would take on Sid Justice.  While Savage and Flair put on a classic, there were some glitches in the Hogan-Justice match.  The match had been booked to end in a disqualification with Papa Shango (known today as the Godfather) running in to assist Justice.  Shango missed his cue to head to the ring, so Justice and Hogan were forced to create a new finish on the spot.  Justice had no choice but to kick out of Hogan’s legdrop (hurting Hogan’s credibility even further) while Justice’s manager Harvey Wippleman had to cause a disqualification.  Shango finally made it to the ring and the Ultimate Warrior made his return to the WWF by saving Hogan. And that was that, right?  Hogan was retired and gone for good right?  Yes… for a little bit.

 

Hogan had just finished making another movie in January of 1993 and decided that he wanted back in to the WWF main event scene.  Things had changed significantly during Hogan’s absence, though.  After Flair had regained the WWF title from Randy Savage in September of 1992, he had begun to have health issues and decided to pass the belt onto Bret Hart, who had experienced much success in the WWF midcard Hart began a feud with Shawn Michaels.  Both men were excellent technical wrestlers and suddenly matches for the WWF title went from a lot of punching and kicking, to actual wrestling.  The fact that both worked for less money combined than Hogan did, didn’t help his fate in the WWF.

 

In the meantime, an angle was shot on Monday Night RAW (the new show that replaced Primetime Wrestling) in January of 1993, in which Brutus Beefcake got attacked by the tag team champions Money Inc. (Ted Dibiase and Mike “IRS” Rotundo).  Money Inc.’s manager at the time Jimmy Hart pleaded with them to stop, but to no avail.  The following week on RAW, Hogan returned to defend his friend’s honor.  With Hart as their new manager, Hogan and Beefcake became the Mega-Maniacs and challenged Money Inc. to a title match at Wrestlemania IX.  Although the Mega-Maniacs were booked to win the titles, Hogan was not satisfied.  He convinced Vince at the last minute to put the WWF title back on him.  Vince was not completely behind the idea, but reluctantly agreed and changed the end of the tag team title match was changed to Money Inc. winning by disqualification.

In the main event, Bret Hart defended the WWF title against the 505-pound Yokozuna.  Bret had been told that he would be winning the match and moving onto other things.  However, the ending was changed to Yokozuna winning the title with help from his manager, Mr. Fuji.  After the match, Hogan rushed to the ring and argued with the official over the decision.  Fuji then challenged Hogan to face Yokozuna for the title on the spot.  Hogan refused at first, insisting to help his “friend” Bret Hart back to the dressing room (Hogan and Hart hated each other in real life).  Bret insisted that Hogan go face Yokozuna.  Hogan rushed back to the ring and ended up defeating him for the title in 30 seconds.  Vince approved all of this based on Hogan’s agreement to do one thing:  Face Hart at Summerslam ’93, drop the title and put him over as the leader of the new generation of the WWF.

 

Hogan changed his mind almost immediately following Wrestlemania, as he informed the WWF that he would not longer being doing the job to Hart at Summerslam, and that he was taking two months off to film another movie.  This was the final straw in the eyes of Vince McMahon, as he had what he believed to be two good WWF champions in Bret Hart and Yokozuna, sitting on the side.  He ordered Hogan to drop the title to Yokozuna in their rematch at the inaugural King of the Ring in June of ’93.  Although the match was you typical bad Hogan match, there were some key events about it that should be noted.  First, the match was placed in the middle of the card, which was almost unheard of for a Hogan match, which should have been taken as a sign that he was not leaving with the WWF title.  Secondly, Hogan was unable to slam Yokozuna, something that he had been able to do to even his biggest foes in prior years.  Finally, although the main cause for Hogan’s lost that night was a phony photographer’s camera “exploding” in his face blinding him, it was Hogan’s own legdrop that put him away and made Yokozuna the new WWF champion. Announcer Bobby Heenan declared Hulkamania dead and this time it seemed as if he were right.  Directly after the show, Hogan, Beefcake, and Jimmy Hart were fired from the company.

 

Hogan took a year off to heal his wounds before signing a huge contract with WCW in the summer of ’94.  However, Hulkamania was not running wild, as fans were clearly tired of Hogan.  Attitudes in the WCW locker room were not good either, as many of the younger guys who had been getting a shot in desirable places on the card, knew that that would be coming to an end, as Hogan brought all of his friends into the company and made sure that they were given a comfortable place on the card.  Hogan, to no surprise, won the WCW title, just months after his arrival in the company.  Business began to drop and in reality, it was all Hogan’s fault.  As the time passed, the fans began to downright hate Hogan, and it was becoming too hard for WCW to ignore.

 

So, in the summer of ’96, Hogan made a move that ended up saving his career.  Eric Bischoff, junior vice-president of WCW, convinced Hogan to turn heel, with a guaranteed run as the WCW champion, as his reward. Hogan finally agreed and at the Bash at the Beach PPV in July of ’96, Hogan officially turned heel, joining newcomers Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, forming the New World Order.  The angle rejuvenated Hogan’s career and for the next year and a half, Hogan and WCW were on top of the wrestling world.  But as we know, all good things must come to an end and the NWO angle was no exception.  As the WWF made a comeback in the ratings, WCW began to fall and by the end of 1998, Hogan was supposedly ready to retire.  

 

In January of ’99, Hogan reminded fans just why they hated him so much, as he made his return to the ring to face former partner, Kevin Nash for the WCW title.  Nash proceeded to lie down for Hogan following a finger-poke.  It was revealed that the NWO was once again back together, with the new WCW champion, Hollywood Hogan leading the way.  It didn’t go over well and by mid- 2000; Hogan was supposedly on his way out of the sport again. At Bash at the Beach in July, Vince Russo, who had become WCW’s head booker, proceeded to “shoot” on Hogan, which lead to another hiatus from pro wrestling for him.  Hogan stayed away from wrestling until mid-2001, as he was involved in the start up of a new wrestling promotion, known as the XFW.

 

In early 2002, Hogan began negotiations with the WWF, as they hoped to bring him back, along with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.  Vince McMahon announced that he was bringing in the trio (the original NWO) to destroy the WWF.  Although the storyline made little sense, the fans were excited to see the three men back in the WWF, several years after their departure from the company (although Hall would only last a couple of months before being fired, after he began drinking once again).  They returned at the February PPV, No Way Out and were a factor in the main event, as they cost Steve Austin his title match with Chris Jericho.  The following month at Wrestlemania X-8, Hogan took on the Rock, in a match that was viewed as two icons from different era’s battling.  The match itself was average, but the heat it garnered was incredible.  The Toronto crowd was clearly in favor of Hogan, but on the fateful night, Hogan suffered his second Wrestlemania loss, as the Rock cleanly pinned him.  After the match, Hall and Nash attacked Hogan for losing the match and then shaking the Rock’s hand.  Following Hall and Nash’s exit from the ring, Hogan and Rock posed in truly great Wrestlemania moment.  The following month at Backlash, Hogan beat the odds and won the Undisputed WWF title from HHH in the main event.  And so it seemed that Hulkamania had been reborn.  The enthusiasm and love that the crowd exhibited for Hogan, proved once and for all that he is truly a legend and that there will always be a place in the hearts’ of wrestling fans for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to come

[Guest Daredevil21]

Ultimate Warrior

 

Seemingly destined for wrestling superstardom, the Ultimate Warrior would fall short and just as quickly as he had risen, he would fall out of sight of the wrestling eye.  

 

The Ultimate Warrior was born Jim Hellwig in June 1957, and trained for years to become a bodybuilder.  When those dreams seemed to be just that after losing a bodybuilding competition in 1985, the Warrior was set to return home to get his degree.  However, faith and wrestling promoter Rick Bassman intervened, as he made a call to the Warrior and asked him to become a pro wrestler and a part of a stable called “Power Team USA.”  Out of the men chosen for the team, only Warrior and Steve Borden (later known as Sting) survived the training process and soon moved onto Memphis.  There they became known as the “Freedom Fighters” and later the “Blade Runners.”  Sting was soon signed by Bill Watt’s UWF, and Warrior was left with no other choice than to move on.  

 

He made the move to Fritz Von Erich’s World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he adopted a new gimmick that involved him wearing face paint and armbands.  Being dubbed the “Dingo Warrior,” he took the promotion by storm, winning the Texas Heavyweight title.  Despite his lack of wrestling skill, the Warrior was over with the fans, due to his unique characteristics and unorthodox style.  Seeing the Warrior’s potential as serious draw, the WWF decided to snag him away from WCCW.

 

Upon arrival, he became the “Ultimate Warrior,” and became even more animated with his off the wall personality.  The Warrior plowed through jobbers in no time and soon found himself in a feud with Hercules over who was the stronger of the two.  The reasoning behind the feud was quite clichéd in the WWF during the 80’s, yet the fans got into it.  With the Warrior’s stock rising every week, they decided to put the Intercontinental title on him, as he ended the Honky Tonk Man’s 15-month reign in less than 30 seconds at the first Summerslam.  He would go on to destroy Honky in numerous rematches for the remainder of 1988, before moving onto something a bit different.  

 

In early 1989, the Warrior began a program with “Ravishing” Rick Rude over who had the better body.  At least that’s how it started.  At Royal Rumble ’89, the two competed in a pose-down that ended with Rude attacking Warrior.  This set up a match for the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania V, in which Rude won in a shocking upset.  It didn’t matter that Rude’s manager Bobby Heenan had assisted in the victory, the Warrior’s eight-month title was reign was history.  The fans were still behind the Warrior however, as he pursued Rude in the months that followed and at Summerslam ’89, he got his shot to regain the title.  The match was surprisingly good for the two, and in the end, the Warrior stood the Intercontinental champion for the second time.  Rude would go into a feud with the returning Roddy Piper (who played a key part in Rude losing the title), while the Warrior began a dreadful feud with Canadian Strongman, Dino Bravo.  This lasted for a brief time, before Warrior began a feud with Andre the Giant, who was so deteriorated by this point, that most of their matches lasted 30 seconds, and consisted of three clotheslines by the Warrior, who would then get the pin on Andre.

 

Despite the bad feuds, the Warrior was still as popular with the fans as ever, and the WWF decided to take a huge chance.  It would end up being one that they would soon regret for some time.  As mentioned early, Hogan was contemplating retirement at this point and the WWF felt that they should try to elevate someone into the number one babyface spot that Hogan had occupied for years.  The obvious choice was the Warrior, who was easily the second most popular wrestler in the company, and some would argue that his popularity even rivaled Hogan’s.  Although fans loved the Warrior, not to many of them could actually relate to his odd character, which was not the case with the American loving Hogan.  There was also the factor that Hogan was still loved by millions, and was still supported after losing his title to the Warrior.  This cut the Warrior’s potential fan base into a significantly smaller number.  

 

The WWF also made the mistake of not having a top heel to face the Warrior.  Whereas Hogan had always had a top heel to feud with, the pickings were slim for the Warrior.  Possible candidates such as Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect were ruled out since the WWF felt they couldn’t draw money in the main event scene.  When all the candidates had been looked over, the only one that the WWF had any confidence was Rick Rude.  Rude dropped the whole playboy image and adapted an assassin character, with a new short haircut and more serious attitude.  This worked somewhat, but the WWF had neglected the fact that Rude hadn’t won a match of any true significance in quite some time, so the fans didn’t exactly buy Rude as a serious contender for the WWF title.  Making matters worse, the Warrior for some unknown reason, absolutely destroyed Rude in short fashion on an edition of SNME in the spring of 1990, making Rude look even less threatening.  Nonetheless, a cage match for the WWF title was signed between the two for Summerslam ’90.  The crowd heat was lacking, as it wasn’t really in doubt as to who was going to win.  Things got worse, as the Warrior’s popularity dropped over the following months, with crowd noise often having to be inserted in his matches, to make people think that his matches were getting good responses.  Finally, with things not looking to get any better for the Warrior, the WWF decided to pull the plug on the Warrior’s title reign once and for all.  

 

At Royal Rumble ‘91, the Warrior was slated to defend the title against Iraqi sympathizer, Sgt. Slaughter.  After 15 minutes of horrible in ring “action,” Randy Savage began to get involved in the match.  A feud had been subtly brewing between Savage and Warrior in the weeks before the show, but Savage went over the edge when he was denied a title shot against the Warrior, and decided to assist Slaughter as payback.  Anyway, back to the match.  As Warrior was up against the ropes, Savage snuck up and broke his scepter over the Warrior’s head.  Warrior was now easy pickings, and Slaughter took advantage and got the pin moments later, becoming the new WWF champion in the process.  Warrior was now out for revenge against Savage and at Wrestlemania VII, he got his opportunity, as the two were signed to a retirement match.  As noted before, the match was surprisingly great and easily the best match of the Warrior’s career.  Warrior was able to defeat Savage after nearly 30 minutes of action, and gain his revenge once and for all.  

 

With his feud with Savage done and over with, the Warrior was set to take on his strangest opponent yet: the Undertaker.  The Undertaker had been in the WWF for only a matter of months at this point, but was already becoming a big star.  His presence alone often sent many of the younger audience members into tears of fear.  Needless to say, he was just the right opponent for someone like the Ultimate Warrior.  They engaged in several mediocre matches, but the WWF knew that they had a potential money feud on their hands, despite the actual match quality.  The high point of the feud came in the spring of 1991, during an episode of WWF Superstars, when the Undertaker managed to lock the Warrior in a casket.  WWF officials spent several minutes trying to open the casket, and although they finally succeeded, the Warrior that emerged from the casket was not the same one who had gone in.  In the weeks that followed, the Warrior attempted to recover from the emotional damage that had been done, and soon looked to another strange wrestler for assistance- Jake Roberts.  For several weeks, vignettes of Roberts trying to help Warrior cope with his fears aired on WWF TV.  After many weeks of putting the Warrior through many odd “therapy,” sessions, Roberts led him into a mine where he told the Warrior he would face his biggest challenge.  Roberts then locked the Warrior in a dark room filled with hundreds of snakes.  The Warrior opened a small casket in the room at Roberts’ request and was horrified to find a king cobra waiting inside.  The snake bit him and as the Warrior struggle to get to his feet, Roberts stood tall above him with- the Undertaker.  Yes, the snake-biting angle was a bit exaggerated, but it was able to turn Roberts heel in a memorable way.  

 

During this time, the Warrior had been inserted into the main event of the upcoming Summerslam ’91, teaming with Hulk Hogan to take on Sgt. Slaughter, Col. Mustafa, and General Adnan, in a handicap tag team match.  Amongst all of this, Vince McMahon had asked the Warrior to take a role in the midcard following Summerslam.  Warrior refused and decided that to leave the WWF.  So near the end of the match, Warrior chased Mustafa and Adnan back to the dressing room, not to be seen again for nearly a year.  

 

It was during his hiatus from the WWF, that the numerous rumors of the Warrior being dead began.  Warrior was in fact, alive and well, and at Wrestlemania VIII, made his return by saving Hogan in the main event from an attack by Sid Justice and newcomer, Papa Shango.  With Hogan gone now, the Warrior was elevated to main event picture once again, and a feud with Sid seemed to be forthcoming.  However, Sid left the WWF shortly after Wrestlemania, and instead, the Warrior was put into a feud with Shango.  Shango, whose gimmick was that of a voodoo master, was another strange character, and subsequently, a logical opponent for Warrior.  To give the angle more excitement, the Warrior felt that Shango should possess actual magic partners.  And soon enough, Shango was “magically” setting parts of his opponents’ body on fire, and causing a black substance to run down the face of others.  The most outrageous of these happenings involved the Warrior.  On an episode of Primetime Wrestling, Shango “cursed” the Warrior, leading to the Warrior vomiting in the back.  Not surprisingly, the feud never really got over with the fans, and the WWF decided to elevate the Warrior to the WWF title scene.  

 

A title match was set for Summerslam ’92, pitting champ Randy Savage against the challenging Warrior.  As mentioned in the section on Savage, in the weeks leading up to the show, Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect involved themselves in the match, causing paranoia amongst Savage and Warrior.  The original plan for the match was for Warrior to turn heel, win the title, and side with Flair.  This is obvious by the fact that the match was placed in the middle of the card, since the WWF felt that the heel turn of a big fan favorite wasn’t a good way to end such a big show.  However, the Warrior vetoed the decision right before the show, and as a result, was denied the title.  

 

As mentioned before, a tag team match was set for Survivor Series ’92, between the teams of Warrior and Savage against Flair and Ramon.  McMahon once again asked the Warrior to take a demotion to the midcard and feud with newcomer Nailz (Kevin Wacholz), following the show.  The Warrior once again let his ego get in the way, refused and left the WWF before the show, leaving them in quite a bind.  They had an ace up their sleeve with Perfect becoming Savage’s partner for the show.  In an ironic twist, Nailz was fired just weeks after the Warrior’s departure, after he choked out McMahon over a contract dispute.  

 

From there, the Warrior seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth, until 1996, when the WWF came calling once again.  By this time, the WWF was rapidly falling behind WCW in ratings and revenues, and with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall leaving for WCW themselves, the WWF got desperate and offered the Warrior a contract.  He made his return at Wrestlemania XII, and squashed a young Hunter Hearst-Helmsley (HHH) in just over a minute.  From there, the Warrior was married into terrible feuds with Goldust and Jerry Lawler, both of which produced awful matches.  As the July PPV neared, Warrior was teamed with Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson in the main event, where they would face Vader, the British Bulldog, and Owen Hart.  Once again, the Warrior became enticed in a contract dispute with the WWF, and this time they did not hesitate to let him walk.  A returning Sid quickly replaced the Warrior in the match, and that was it for the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF.  

 

He would disappear once again and resurface in WCW in 1998, simply known as “the Warrior.”  He feuded with Hulk Hogan and a rematch to their Wrestlemania VI match was set.  The less said about the match, and the Warrior’s WCW stint in general, the better, as calling it bad would be putting it kindly. So for now, it seems as though the Ultimate Warrior, a wrestler once labeled as the next big thing, has fallen into obscurity once again, with his status fading a little more as time passes.  He is the perfect example of how brutal the wrestling business can be; being a star one day, and being all but forgotten the next.

 

 

 

The Undertaker

 

You would never know it by looking at his work in WCW in the 1990, but Mark Calloway was destined to be a star.  WCW didn’t see it at the time, and when they did, it was far too late, as the WWF had created a character that would become a staple on its product for years to come.

 

Mark Calloway was born in March of 1962, and despite his size, he was surprisingly denied a position in the WWF.  After working several smaller promotions under different names, Calloway accepted a short contract in WCW.  He was brought in as a temporary replacement for Sid Vicious, who had suffered a punctured lung during a match.  Sid and partner Dan Spivey made up the team know as the “Skyscrapers,” and with Sid out, Calloway was brought in to team with Spivey.  The fans did not greet the team well, and after Spivey headed for Japan, Calloway was given a chance as a singles wrestler.  He acquired the services of Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) and soon found himself in line for a shot as the U.S. title against Lex Luger at the Great American Bash ’90.  Unfortunately for Calloway, he was booked to lose and was soon let go by the promotion.  The WWF wasted no time in picking him up, as they now had a gimmick for him that would end up being one of the most well recognized gimmicks in wrestling history- the Undertaker

The WWF had decided to create the biggest larger than life gimmick ever, which could be described as a comic book character come to life.  The Undertaker had great powers, and felt little or no pain.  The WWF actually gave Calloway the basic outline of the character, and from that point, allowed him to have creative freedom with the rest of the character.

 

The Undertaker was introduced to the public for the first time at Survivor Series ’90, in which he was revealed as Ted Dibiase’s mystery partner in one of the matches on the show.  The Undertaker was accompanied by Brother Love (Bruce Pritchard), and grabbed the attention of the crowd immediately, as he was dressed in black and gray, and sported a hat and long black coat, much like the undertakers from the old west.  He quickly proved that he was just as effective physically in the ring, as he was mentally on the outside, making short work of Koko B. Ware and team captain, Dusty Rhodes, but was counted out of the match after chasing after Rhodes.  That didn’t matter though, as the Undertaker left his mark on that night, and it was just a sign of things to come.

 

In the weeks that followed, the Undertaker underwent some slight modifications, as it was pushed more that he might not be living, as he seemed to feel no pain.  It was also decided that the over the top Brother Love didn’t really go with the Undertaker’s dark, and gloomy character.  William Moody had just entered the WWF at this time, and the choice was soon made to give him a black hair-dye job, rename him Paul Bearer, and make him the Undertaker’s new manager.  It was a perfect idea, as Bearer jelled much better with the Undertaker.  There was also the matter of the urn that Bearer carried with him everywhere he went.  It was rumored that it contained a loved one of the Undertaker.  Regardless, the urn seemed to give the Undertaker strength during his matches.

The Undertaker made his Wrestlemania debut at Wrestlemania VII, easily defeating veteran Jimmy Snuka in short order.  Following his impressive showing there, he went into a feud with the Ultimate Warrior.  The two had several matches on the house show circuit, most of them having “body bag rules.”  As said before, the wrestling was sub-par, but the money being made from it was good enough for the WWF to continue the feud.  Despite the Undertaker being pegged as a heel, he was starting to get cheered more and more by the fans.  He was granted a title shot against Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series ’91, and in somewhat surprising moment, beat Hogan for the title (with help from Ric Flair).  From a storyline perspective, the Undertaker really didn’t care about winning the title, as much as he cared about destroying Hogan, as well as Hulkamania.  He for the most part, achieved these goals, as he dominated Hogan during the entire match, and even though he didn’t destroy Hulkamania, he had put some cracks in the foundation of it, as he had gotten a loud face reaction when he won the match.  He would only hold the title for a week, before losing it back to Hogan, after having ashes from the urn thrown in his face by Hogan.  Many people argued over Hogan’s tactics to regain the title, causing Jack Tunney to declare the title vacant, and put it up as the prize for the winner of the upcoming Royal Rumble.  Neither the Undertaker, nor Hogan was successful in winning the match and the title, as that honor went to Flair.  By this time, the face pops that the Undertaker was receiving from the fans was too much for the WWF ignore any longer.  And so, following an edition of SNME in early 1992, the Undertaker officially turned face, assisting Randy Savage in fighting off a sneak attack from Jake Roberts.  

 

Although, little changed about the Undertaker, he was now a babyface, and soon enough he would be one of the top ones in the company.  The Undertaker met up with Jake Roberts at Wrestlemania VIII, and completely destroyed him, which was no surprise, since Roberts was on his way out of the WWF following the show.  

 

From there, the WWF started a trend for Undertaker feuds that would last for years to come, as any big man or freak who came into the WWF was paired up with him.  This wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as it the Undertaker wasn’t a very good wrestler, nor was most of the guys he was paired up with in feuds.  The first of these types of feuds involved the Undertaker taking on Kamala, who hailed from Uganda, and was well over 400 pounds.  Their first meeting came at Summerslam ’92, which ended in a disqualification win for the Undertaker.  As the feud evolved, it became obvious that Kamala was actually frightened of the Undertaker.  With this in mind, the first ever casket match (dubbed a coffin match in this case), was signed for Survivor Series ’92.  The match was quite lackluster, but the fans were excited to see Kamala locked in the coffin at the end of the match.  

 

From there, the Undertaker was moved into a feud with newcomer, Giant Gonzalez.  Formerly El Gigante in WCW, Gonzalez was nearly eight feet tall, which most would argue was the only thing mildly impressive about him, as he spoke little English and was a terrible wrestler.  As their feud continued on and off throughout 1993, they met in matches at Wrestlemania IX and Summerslam ’93.  In these matches, the Undertaker was actually the one who carried them, which needless to say, meant that the matches were awful.  Gonzalez was soon let go following Summerslam, and the Undertaker was without much direction for the remainder of 1993.  

 

A rivalry between the Undertaker and Yokozuna began near the end of 1993, and a casket match for Royal Rumble ’94 was signed, with Yokozuna’s WWF title being on the line.  The actual match was bad, as was expected, but it was the events following the match, that would make it one of the most memorable moments in WWF history.  Unfortunately, it would be memorable for how terrible and idiotic it all was.  In a casket match there are no countouts or disqualifications, and the bookers were sure to take advantage of this rule, as they had more than 10 of the promotion’s top heels come down to ring and assist Yokozuna at dismantling the Undertaker.  In the process, the mystical urn had its top knocked off, followed by a green mist being emitted from it.  This supposedly depleted all of the Undertaker’s powers, and the heels were then able to put him in the casket.  One would think that this extreme case of over-booking is the reason that it was regarded as such a terrible moment.

 

However, the worst was still to come, as on the way to the back the lights went off, and the Undertaker (who was still supposedly in the casket), appeared on the video wall and delivered a lengthy soliloquy.  He then began rising from the video wall and levitated above the crowd, accompanied with cheap thunder and lightning effect.  In actuality, it was Marty Jannetty dressed as the Undertaker, but the announcers played it off as being the Undertaker who was “floating,” above the audience.  This despite the fact that wires were clearly attached to his arms.

 

This entire mess was a complex way of giving the Undertaker a couple months off while he recovered from injuries and spent time with his new wife.  During his absence, there were several reports on WWF TV of Undertaker sightings all over the country.  Near the end of the summer, an angle took place where Ted Dibiase supposedly brought the Undertaker back.  He was now a heel, and was driven by money.  Of course it was an imposter, although fans weren’t really suppose to know that at first.  Internet fans soon referred to the imposter as the Underfaker, and soon Paul Bearer returned to TV with claims that Ted Dibiase’s Undertaker was a fake.  He promised the return of the real Undertaker at Summerslam ’94, where he would battle Ted Dibiase’s Undertaker.  The real Undertaker made his return after a seven-month absence at Summerslam, and had replaced the gray portion of his outfit with purple.  The match followed a classic Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart cage match, and unfortunately it would end up being just the opposite.  The match was a bust, and the two Undertakers looked even less alike face-to-face, as the Underfaker was a good six inches shorter than the Undertaker.  The Undertaker put the Underfaker away with little trouble, and thankfully, the Underfaker was gone from the WWF soon after.

 

The Undertaker was finally able to get payback against Yokozuna, as he defeated him in a casket match at Survivor Series ’94.  From there, the Undertaker moved into a significant down period in his career.

 

As mentioned earlier in the Ted Dibiase section, Dibiase created a Million Dollar Corporation after becoming a manager.  The stable consisted of several wrestlers who were in career limbo, and hadn’t done much of note in quite some time.  This was not how the WWF wanted the faction to be viewed by fans, so they spent most of their time trying to put them over as a threat.  Seeking revenge from Summerslam, Dibiase sent each Corporation member after the Undertaker, one by one.  This resulted in nearly a year of bland, and even downright terrible matches between the Undertaker and various Corporation members.  At Royal Rumble ’95, the Undertaker defeated I.R.S. in a terrible match that saw the Undertaker’s urn get stolen by the Corporation.  The angle of stealing the Undertaker’s urn was clichéd by this point, as this was not the first time that the WWF had run a similar angle.

 

At Wrestlemania XI, the Undertaker soundly beat King Kong Bundy, in another bad match.  Soon after Wrestlemania, the Undertaker became entangled in a bad feud with Corporation member, Kama (yet another character played by the man now known as the Godfather).  Kama was billed as being a “Supreme Fighting Machine,” despite the fact that he wasn’t too dangerous at all in the ring.  Kama had taken the Undertaker’s stolen urn and melted it, making a gold necklace in the process.  This single act triggered a painful (for the fans) couple of months of Undertaker vs. Kama matches.  The final match of the feud came at Summerslam ’95, where the Undertaker beat Kama in a casket match.  Fans may have been grateful for all of the Undertaker vs. Kama matches, had they known what was up next for the Undertaker.

 

Mabel had been one half of a tag team known as “Men on A Mission.”  The team had never been over, and so the WWF decided to finally turn them heel.  Soon after the turn, the King of the Ring tournament took place.  Mabel was entered in it, and in a shocking turn of events, actually won the tournament.  Now known as King Mabel, he received a push that fans were unreceptive for.  In late ’95, the Undertaker and King Mabel crossed paths.  On an episode of Monday Night RAW, Mabel attacked the Undertaker after a match, and ended up breaking his eye socket for real with one of his leg drops.  The WWF incorporated this into the story line, as the Undertaker returned with a Phantom of the Opera-like mask, at Survivor Series ’95.  He eliminated King Mabel’s entire team single-handily, with little trouble.  The feud culminated at the December In Your House PPV.  They faced each other in a casket match, in which the Undertaker was victorious.  Mabel would leave the WWF immediately following the match, and wouldn’t return until 1999.

 

Some how, through all of these bad matches, the Undertaker was granted a WWF title shot against Bret Hart at Royal Rumble ’96. The match was decent at best, as newly turned heel Diesel prevented the Undertaker from winning the match.  The Undertaker would repay the favor at the next In Your House, as he appeared from under the ring during the Diesel/Hart cage match for the WWF title, causing Diesel to lose.  This set up a match between the Undertaker and Diesel at Wrestlemania XII, in which the Undertaker easily defeated Diesel, who was soon departing for WCW.  Soon after, the Undertaker was thrown back into the midcard, as he battled the bizarre Goldust over the Intercontinental title.  The two met in numerous matches, but the Undertaker was never able to win the title from Goldust, thanks to a new problem.  The problem’s name was Mankind.

 

Mankind was an alter ego of Mick Foley, the man who had competed in WCW and ECW as Cactus Jack.  The Undertaker put his feud with Goldust on hold, as he shifted his focus on the odd Mankind.  The two met at King of the Ring ’96, and Mankind shocked the crowd by beating the Undertaker, who had been knocked out with an inadvertent urn shot from manager Paul Bearer.  The first ever Boiler Room Brawl took place between the Undertaker and Mankind for Summerslam ’96, and was 25 minutes of intense brawling.  The object of the match was to make it out to the ring, where Paul Bearer would be waiting with the urn.  The first man to get the urn would be declared the winner.  Just as it looked like the Undertaker had the match won, Bearer refused to give him the urn.  Bearer then severed his longtime relationship with the Undertaker, by crushing the urn over his head, and then presenting the urn to Mankind.  

 

The Undertaker and Mankind would eventually meet again at the October PPV, dubbed Buried Alive, in a Buried Alive match.  This was another first in the WWF, and the rules of this unusual match were quite simple:  Get your opponent in the “grave” that was set up near the entrance way, and bury them with the soil surrounding it.  The Undertaker was victorious, but shortly following the match, the Executioner (Terry Gordy under a hood) made an appearance and helped Mankind attack the Undertaker, and put him in the grave.  Nearly a dozen other heels came out to assist Mankind and the Executioner in burying the Undertaker.  Typical shoddy WWF special effects were used moments later, as a lightning bolt struck the headstone of the grave, and the Undertaker’s hand shot out of the grave.

 

The whole deal may have been a bit much, but regardless, this marked the end of the undead  “purple and gray” Undertaker character, as he returned the following month at Survivor Series ’96 to face Mankind once again.  His trademark appearance consisting of long trench coat, hat, and black and purple ring attire, had been replaced with a new leather outfit.  This incarnation of the Undertaker was also vulnerable to attacks, and displayed some actual wrestling skills, as was evident during his match with Mankind, in which he was victorious.  The following month, he defeated the Executioner at In Your House: It’s Time.  At Royal Rumble ’97, the Undertaker dropped a match to Vader, in attempt to make him look more human, and Vader more like a monster heel.  

 

In the early months of ’97, the WWF title scene was a complete mess, as Shawn Michaels who had been the champ for nearly a year, faked an injury to get out of having to drop the title to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13.  He was forced to forfeit the title, and a fatal four-way match was set for the February PPV, appropriately titled Final Four.  The match included Hart, Vader, Steve Austin, and the Undertaker.  The Undertaker and Hart were the final two men in the match, and Bret would end up eliminating him to win the title.  Bret dropped the title the next night to Sid, and a match between the new champion and the Undertaker was set for Wrestlemania.  The Undertaker showed up to the match wearing his old black and grey outfit, the same outfit that he had worn when he beat Hogan for his first title, some six years earlier.  The match was sub-par, but in the end, the Undertaker was victorious, finishing off Sid with his tombstone.  

 

The Undertaker defended the title several times in the months that followed, but an intriguing story soon surfaced, as Paul Bearer began to make claims that the Undertaker had a brother.  In the weeks that followed, it was revealed that the Undertaker had a brother, but had thought that he had perished in a fire years before.  In the meantime, the Undertaker lost the title to Bret Hart at Summerslam ’97, thanks to an inadvertent chair shot from special guest referee Shawn Michaels.

 

The Undertaker blamed Michaels entirely for the loss, and soon the two began a hot feud that spanned over the next several months.  The two met in another first ever match at the Badd Blood PPV.  The match was called Hell In A Cell, and involved a roofed cage surrounding the ringside area, making escape impossible.  After 20 minutes, the Undertaker had turned Michaels into a bloody mess, and it looked like he was well on his way to victory, when suddenly the lights went out, and a now familiar organ tune played over the arena.  Paul Bearer appeared in the aisle, leading a large man decked out in a red and black outfit known as Kane.  Kane ripped the door off of the cage, and attacked the Undertaker, which let Michaels score the upset victory moments later.

 

As Royal Rumble ’98 neared, a casket match for the WWF title was announced between the Undertaker and Michaels (Michaels by this time had won the title in the now infamous Survivor Series ’97).  Shortly before the match, Kane had seemingly joined forces with his story line brother, but appeared just as the Undertaker was about to win the match, and turned on him.  Michaels once again, had managed to score an upset win over the Undertaker.  In another unrealistic moment, Kane lit the casket containing the Undertaker on fire.  Of course, the Undertaker was unharmed, as he appeared the next night on RAW.  The Undertaker was now willing to fight his brother in a match at Wrestlemania XIV.  The Undertaker would go on to win that match, as well as many of the ones that followed over the next several months.

 

By the end of 1998, the Undertaker was becoming unmotivated once again, after working two years of solid wrestling matches.  He suffered an injury at the end of ’98, and when he returned a month later, he had once again had a character makeover.  He was now wearing a hooded robe, and speaking in tongues.  He formed the Ministry of Darkness, and over the next several months, he was involved in several questionable angles on WWF TV, some of which caused some sponsors to break ties with the WWF.  The Undertaker would beat Steve Austin for the WWF title at the ill-fated Over the Edge PPV, but would drop it once again shortly thereafter.  

In September of 1999, the Undertaker was once again dealing injuries, and was forced to take an extended period of time off.  He was set to return at Royal Rumble 2000, but he suffered another injury just days before the show.  The injury set his return back five months, as he didn’t return until the Judgment Day PPV, during the WWF title Iron Man match between HHH and the Rock.  

 

This incarnation of the Undertaker was the furthest away from the original character as anyone seen, as he now dressed like a biker and rode his motorcycle to the ring accompanied by popular theme music by the likes of Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit.  And now it seems that one of the most intriguing gimmicks in wrestling history has run its course, and while the Internet community has more or less turned against him, the Undertaker remains one of the most popular wrestlers of today, and of all-time.

[Guest Daredevil21]

Bret Hart

 

Born into a large wrestling family, it was only a matter of time before Bret Hart, son of wrestling legend Stu Hart, gave into the influence, and became a wrestler himself.  No one however, could have predicted the impact that Bret would have on pro wrestling.

 

Bret was born in July of 1957, and although he had no desire to become a wrestler growing up, faith would end up intervening.  After failing to accomplish his career goal of becoming a director, Bret joined his father’s Stampede Wrestling, and soon became one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion, despite his small frame.

 

Bret made the move, along with brother-in-law Jim Neidhart, to the WWF, after they bought out Stampede in the early 80’s.  Bret started out wrestling as a jobber, and was even going to have a cowboy gimmick.  Thankfully, they decided to team him with Neidhart, pair them with Memphis manager Jimmy Hart, and dub them the Hart Foundation.  Although they were battling top teams like the British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) and the Killer Bees (Jim Brunzell and Brian Blair), they were losing more times than not, which in the eyes of the fans, made them non-contenders for the tag team titles.  Bret was clearly the superior technical wrestler, but was considered the weak link of the team, since this was during the time that the big men were considered to be the best, regardless of actual wrestling ability.  The duo made their WWF PPV debut at Wrestlemania 2, competing in the wrestler-football player battle royal, and lasting until the end, at which point, they were eliminated by the winner of the battle royal Andre the Giant.  They spent most of 1986 chasing after the British Bulldogs and their tag team titles, but came up empty every time the two teams met.  

 

As 1986 came to a close, Dynamite Kid’s deteriorating health was becoming too severe for the WWF to ignore, and thus, it was decided that the Bulldogs would drop the belts to a heel team, who would in turn get a lengthy run with the titles.  Although they hadn’t been viewed as serious contenders for the titles, the Harts were chosen as the team to win the belts from the Bulldogs.  A match between the two teams took place in January of 1987, on WWF TV, and thanks to crooked refereeing by Danny Davis, the Harts shocked the masses by winning the titles.  

 

The win wiped away the image that the Harts were simply a joke of a team, and suddenly put them atop of the WWF tag team mountain.  Immediately following the match, Davis was “suspended for life,” as a referee, resulting in him becoming a wrestler, as well as a lackey to the Hart Foundation.  Davis actually teamed with the Harts at Wrestlemania III, as they faced the Bulldogs and Tito Santana in a six-man tag team match.  The shocker came when Davis actually scored a fluke pin over Davey Boy Smith.  

The Harts continued to impress everyone, as they managed to hold onto the titles for 9 months, beating all of the top teams in the process.  Despite still being one half of the tag champs, Bret was becoming a well-recognized singles wrestler, even wrestling Randy Savage in a memorable match on a SNME.  All of these singles matches finally made it clear to the fans that it was in fact Bret who was the strong link of the team.  

 

Surprisingly, the Harts’ popularity began to grow, and the WWF decided that a babyface turn would be appropriate.  Before they could do this however, they felt that it would be wise for the Harts to drop the belts to the top babyface team in the promotion at the time, the Can-Am Connection, which consisted of Rick Martel and Tom Zenk.  Before that could happen though, something happened that would force the WWF to modify plans somewhat: Tom Zenk left the WWF.  The story behind this was that Zenk and Martel actually hated each other in real life, and were constantly trying to stab one another in the back.  The time came for their contract renewals, and of course, each man thought that they were the star of the team, which lead to each one thinking that they deserved more money than the other.  Martel ended up getting more money because of his seniority, but that wasn’t good enough reasoning for Zenk, who quit the WWF in disgust.  Longtime WWF resident Tito Santana quickly replaced Zenk, and the new combination of Santana and Martel was dubbed Strike Force.  Before they had even established themselves as a team, Strike Force received a title shot against the Hart Foundation, on WWF TV.  Strike Force scored a shocking upset over the Harts, as Martel was able to make Neidhart submit to his Boston Crab submission hold.  

 

The fans were unhappy over the Hart’s loss of the titles, and quickly turned on Strike Force as a result.  This led to Strike Force dropping the titles to Demolition (Ax and Smash) at Wrestlemania IV.  Strike Force would float around aimlessly the WWF for the next several months, before Martel suffered a neck injury at the hands of Demolition in a rematch for the titles.  Martel did not return until 1989, and actually competed as a singles wrestler his first couple of months back in action.  Santana and Martel reunited as a team for Wrestlemania V, where they would face the Brainbusters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard).  The reunion was short however, as Martel abandoned Santana halfway through the match, after Santana inadvertently hit him with a flying forearm.

 

Getting back to the Harts- they were becoming more popular by the day, despite still being heels.  The WWF decided to officially turn them face, and the process began at Wrestlemania IV, as both men were entered in the 20-man battle royal that opened the show.  The final three men left consisted of Bret, Bad News Brown, and the Junk Yard Dog.  Bret and Brown formed a makeshift alliance, and were successful in eliminating the JYD with little trouble.  As the two celebrated, Brown turned on Bret and eliminated him, to win the battle royal himself.  Brown was presented with a large trophy for his win, but was quickly destroyed by Bret, who was angry over being double-crossed.  This only put Bret more over as a babyface, and in the weeks that followed the Harts made the full turn, by firing manager Jimmy Hart.  Hart would later retaliate by selling one half of the Hart Foundation’s WWF contract to his new team, the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Raymond and Jacques Rougeau), which gave them control over the Harts bookings for the next several weeks.  

 

During this, Bret was still taking on Brown in numerous singles matches.  Their only significant match took place at Wrestlefest ’88, which Brown walked away as the victor.  Although Bret had been promised by the WWF that he was going to be pushed only as a singles wrestler, it was soon decided to put him back with Neidhart full time.  The duo received a shot at the tag team champs Demolition at Summerslam ’88, but lost after Jimmy Hart interfered.  This led to a best 2-of-3 falls match with the Harts and Jim Duggan taking on the Rougeaus and Dino Bravo at Royal Rumble ’89.  Their next challenge was against the Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine at Wrestlemania V.  They were victorious in both encounters, but it did little for their team status, as they were without direction for the remainder of 1989.  As 1989 was nearing an end, the WWF decided to try another Bret Hart singles run, but that was soon aborted, and by early 1990, the Hart Foundation were once again back together.  Many thought that the Harts would receive a title shot against the new tag team champions the Colossal Connection (Andre the Giant and Haku) at Wrestlemania VI, but when Demolition was chosen as the challengers, the Harts were quick to make a challenge to winners of the match.  Demolition would end up winning their third tag team titles, in what turned out to be Andre’s final match.  Elsewhere on the card, the Harts won a worthless match against the Bolsheviks (Nikolia Volkoff and Boris Zuhkov), which lasted less than 30 seconds.  

 

Following Wrestlemania, Demolition turned heel for no other reason than the WWF was in need of a heel tag team.  They introduced a third member to the team Crush (Brian Adams), to supposedly compete against the Harts.  The real reason for the introduction of Crush was that Ax (Bill Eadie) was suffering from heart problems, and would in all likelihood have to retire within a matter of months.  The combination of Smash and Crush became the more common Demolition team, as Ax was slowly phased out.  Although the new Demolition had the factor of age on its side, it was not really welcomed by the fans.  For one, they weren’t really ready to boo Demolition, yet at the same time many of the fans didn’t feel comfortable cheering them either.  This resulted in the majority of Demolition’s matches having dead crowds.  Fans didn’t really buy Crush as a legitimate member of Demolition, either, which didn’t really help their ultimate fate as a team.  At any rate, the Smash/Crush version of Demolition was chosen to take on the Harts in a best 2-of-3 falls match for the titles at Summerslam ’90.  Although Demolition won the first fall, the Harts came back to win the final two, and win the titles in the process.  New WWF arrivals the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) had actually played a role in the outcome of the final fall, as their presence at ringside had distracted Smash long enough to get pinned.  

 

The thought of a LOD-Demolition feud was a bit ironic, as Demolition had actually been based on LOD when they had been created years back.  Nonetheless, the fans were eagerly awaiting a match between the two teams, as it had become a “dream match” over the course of several years.  Surprisingly, although the teams would meet eventually, it was only at house shows or in dark matches (matches not taped for TV).  Demolition would end up quietly disbanding midway through 1991, and the hopes of a LOD-Demolition match on a card of any magnitude, were forever erased.  

 

Getting back to the Harts; the WWF began to make major roster cuts following Summerslam, and even though the Harts had the titles, it was felt that Jim Neidhart was no longer needed, and rightfully so.  Bret didn’t object to this, as he realized that with Neidhart gone, he could finally be elevated to the singles ranks.  There was still the matter of getting the titles off of the Harts, before they could send Neidhart walking, and the Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) were chosen as the team to win the titles.  A 2-of-3 falls match took place between the two teams at a SNME taping, with the titles being up for grabs.  In the early going of the match, the bottom rope broke off, which at the time only meant that they couldn’t use the ropes as much.  So now the Rockers are champions, when suddenly the WWF decides that they won’t be getting rid of Neidhart after all, and that they will be putting the titles back on the Harts.  They decided not to air the match with the title change, and to use the bottom rope incident as reasoning for taking the titles off of the Rockers.  

 

Yes, the reason was lame, but nonetheless, the Harts were still champions, and would remain so until early 1991.  Early in the new-year, Bret got word that he was once again going to be receiving a push as a singles wrestler.  But before this could happen, there was once again the matter of getting the titles off of the Harts.  A match between the Harts and Jimmy Hart’s latest team the Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags and Brian Knobs) for the titles was announced for the upcoming Wrestlemania VII.  In the weeks that led up to the show, Bret competed in several singles matches in dark matches and at house shows, in an attempt to rebuild his credibility as a singles wrestler.  As Wrestlemania came, many felt that the Nasty Boys were no serious threat to the Harts’ titles, as they were still relatively new in the WWF.  The Nasty Boys would surprisingly win the titles with help from Hart, who after three-years, had gotten his revenge against his former team.

 

The Hart Foundation broke up for good shortly after the match, but Bret was none too torn up about it, as he was now ready to be a singles star.  After several singles matches on TV, it was obvious that Bret was over enough to be elevated to the next level.  The next level was against Intercontinental champion Mr. Perfect.  Perfect had been a stellar champion, but nagging back problems were forcing him into an early retirement, which meant that he would have to drop the title soon.  Bret was the top candidate to be the next Intercontinental champion, and before anyone knew it, a title match between the two was set in stone for Summerslam ’91.  In the weeks that led up to the match, Bret plowed through all of his competition, soundly beating each of them with his new finisher: The Sharpshooter.  The Sharpshooter was a painful submission hold, that put extreme pressure on the back- just the area where Perfect was vulnerable.  Although it was clear that Perfect was in severe pain during the entire match, he was able to put on a classic with Bret, and put him over in the finish, as Bret won the match and the title with the Sharpshooter.  

 

The push for Bret continued for the remainder of ’91, as he soundly beat the Mountie (Jacques Rougeau) in numerous title matches.  Bret’s rising star was being acknowledged by more than just the WWF; it was being acknowledged by the competition- WCW.  They began making offers to Bret in early 1992, and although the WWF felt that Bret was loyal enough to stay, they weren’t about to take the chance of Bret jumping ship with the title, much like the Honky Tonk Man had threatened to do years earlier.  And so, at a house show just days before Royal Rumble ’92, Bret dropped the title to the Mountie, in what could only be labeled as a major upset, as few took the Mountie seriously anymore.  To explain the win, the WWF created a story where Bret had had the flu on the night of the match, and as a result, was not 100% in his title defense.  Days later at the Royal Rumble, Roddy Piper beat the Mountie for the title, pretty much solidifying the Mountie’s status as a fluke champion.  Soon after, the WWF signed Bret to a new contract, and were once again ready to put the title back on him.   A match between Piper and Bret for Wrestlemania was a given, making it the first ever face vs. face match for the Intercontinental title in Wrestlemania history.  The match was a wild brawl, and when it was all said and done, a bloodied Bret stood tall as the new Intercontinental champion.  

 

Bret continued to become more over with the fans with his excellent wrestling skills, and his desire to give it his all in every match.  Bret became embroiled in a feud with Shawn Michaels, who wanted to snag the Intercontinental title from Bret.  The two had several matches during the summer of 1992, the most notable being the first ever ladder match in the WWF, which was not surprisingly, a smashing hit with the fans.  Bret defended his title in another face vs. face match at Summerslam ’92, as he faced brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith (who by this time was using the moniker “The British Bulldog”).  The near 30-minute match was a wrestling clinic to say the least, and is still today considered as one of the best matches ever in North America.  The Bulldog would end up winning the match by reversing a sunset flip attempt by Bret, and reversing it into a pinning combination.  

 

Bret didn’t have much time to think about the loss, as he was informed at a TV taping a couple of months later, that he would be winning the WWF title from Ric Flair, who was on his way out of the WWF.  He was also informed that the WWF was going to be changing its direction by featuring the younger wrestlers, and phasing out the aging ones.  Soon after the title win, Bret began to defend the title against anyone who asked for one, and quickly became known as one of the most fighting champions in WWF history.  At Survivor Series ’92, he defeated Shawn Michaels in a very solid main event match, and soon moved onto a feud with Razor Ramon.  He faced Ramon at Royal Rumble ’93, and dispatched of him without much trouble.  

 

Bret was now set to take on (and defeat) Yokozuna at Wrestlemania IX, before moving onto other things.  However, if you’ll recall, the whole Hulk Hogan thing changed that, as Bret was now booked to drop the title to Yokozuna, who would quickly lose it to Hogan.  Bret agreed to this since he was a team player, and figured that he would see a title shot from Hogan somewhere down the road. But as we all know, none of them ever came, and Hogan was gone from the WWF after the inaugural King of the Ring, the same show that Bret won the 8-man tournament, for which was the basis of the PPV.  Although Bret had won a King of the Ring tournament at a house show years earlier, he was considered the first ever King of the Ring because of this tournament, in which he beat Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect, and Bam Bam Bigelow.  During the ceremony to crown Bret the King of the Ring, WWF commentator Jerry Lawler interrupted, and attacked Bret, since he felt that he was the only King in the WWF.

 

This sparked what would turn out to be one of Bret’s most intense feuds of his WWF career, as Lawler verbally harassed Bret in the weeks that followed on WWF TV.  Eventually a match was announced between the two to take place at Summerslam ’93.  Although Lawler had questioned Bret’s talent in the weeks that led up to the show, when the match finally came about, Lawler came out with crutches, and claims of a broken leg.  He sent out his replacement in the form of Doink the Clown, whom Bret beat without much trouble.  Finally, Jack Tunney came down to the ring, aware of the fact that Lawler was lying about the injury, and ordered him to wrestle.  After being forced into the ring, Lawler attacked Bret with the crutch, revealing that he had indeed been lying about the injury.  Bret finally got Lawler into the Sharpshooter, forcing him to quickly submit.  Bret however, wasn’t satisfied with just a win, as he refused to release the hold.  Bret would keep him in the hold for over three minutes, during which time; the referee reversed the decision, making Lawler the undisputed King of the WWF.

 

As Survivor Series ’93 approached, a match featuring teams led by Bret and Lawler seemed likely, and sure enough, it was soon announced that Bret would be teaming with brothers Owen, Bruce, and Keith, while Lawler teamed with three masked Knights.  Barry Horowitz, Greg Valentine, and Jeff Gaylord, would end up playing the three masked knights, by the way.  However, just weeks before the show, trouble arose.

 

Lawler was accused by a 13-year old girl of rape, which led to his immediate removal from the match.  Lawler’s name was cleared some time later, but in the meantime, Shawn Michaels was inserted into the match.  The match was quite uneventful, as the Harts easily took apart Michaels’ team, but not before Michaels was able to score a pin over Owen, who had been distracted by Bret.  Owen was visibly upset, but left calmly anyway, only to return after the match and confront Bret.  In the weeks that followed, Owen said that he was sick in tired of living in Bret’s shadow, and challenged him to a match.  Bret refused, stating that he would never fight his own brother.  Bret and Owen appeared together on WWF TV on January 1, 1994, apparently having reconciled, and were now ready to compete as a team, and go for the tag team titles that were held by the Quebecers.  

 

The Quebecers were scheduled to defend their titles against the Hart Brothers at Royal Rumble ’94, and the Harts were the favorites going in.  The match was excellent, featuring great teamwork from the Harts early on in the match.  Near the end of the match, Bret went for his Sharpshooter, despite having injured his knee during the match.  Bret held onto the hold for a short time, before falling over and clutching his knee in pain.  The referee immediately stopped the match and awarded it to the Quebecers, dashing Owen’s hopes for the titles.  As Bret struggled to get to his feet, Owen circled him, yelling at him for not tagging him into the match when he was hurt.  When Bret finally was able to make it to his feet, Owen kicked his leg out from under him, instantly turning his heel.  Owen cut a great promo following the match, despite messing up his big payoff line.  Later on in the show, Bret and Lex Luger would both win the Royal Rumble match, as they were eliminated at the same time, and no clear cut winner could be decided on.  Because of their win, both would get a shot at the WWF champion Yokozuna at Wrestlemania X.

 

Bret was no longer against the notion of fighting his brother, agreed to fight him at the earliest possible date.  For the WWF, that date was Wrestlemania in Madison Square Garden.  Bret was scheduled to face Owen in the opening match, and would also compete against the WWF champion later on in the show.  The opener between Bret and Owen turned out better than anyone could have expected, as they put on one of the best matches in WWF history, and even more surprisingly, Owen won the match cleanly.  Bret was not affected by the loss however, as he would defeat Yokozuna for the WWF title in the main event of the show.  

 

Owen’s new push began at King of the Ring ’94, in which he was entered into the tournament and would end up winning with the help of a returning Jim Neidhart.  The tournament win unofficially got Owen a shot at the WWF title at Summerslam ’94 against Bret.  The match was made a cage match, to prevent anyone interfering in the match.  The two were somehow able to almost duplicate the excellence that they had had in their Wrestlemania match, which was even more impressive considering that it took place in a cage, which tended to take the match quality down a notch.  Bret came out victorious, but just barely, which convinced Owen that he could still beat him.  

 

The feud between the two Harts soon expanded with the addition of Neidhart and the British Bulldog to the mix.  The four competed in several tag team matches in the later months of 1994, most of them being taped for the WWF’s video series.  Bret defending the title at the upcoming Survivor Series ’94 was a sure thing, but the WWF decided to pick someone other than Owen, to keep the feud from getting stale.  Surprisingly, Bob Backlaund was given the title shot.  The story behind this was that Backlaund had snapped in a title match with Bret that past summer, and had replaced his bland image with that of a psychotic madman.  The match was made a submission match, in which the only way for the person to lose was to have their chosen cornerman literally throw in the towel.  Backlaund not surprisingly, chose Backlaund, while Bret chose the British Bulldog.  The match went over half an hour, and after the Bulldog had been knocked out on the outside, Owen decided to put his plan into action.  Backlaund had gotten Bret in the Cross-face Chicken Wing, a painful submission hold, and with the Bulldog knocked out, he had no one to throw in the towel (although Bret wanting someone to throw in the towel is highly unlikely).  Owen, who was suddenly concerned for Bret’s safety, began pleading with his parents, who were sitting at ringside, to throw in the towel for Bret.  Stu Hart was on to Owen from the start, and refused, but Helen Hart was more easily fooled, and threw in the towel for Bret, making Backlaund the new champion, 10 years after he had lost the title in the same fashion.  Owen immediately revealed that he had been faking his concern over Bret, and that he had simply wanted to cost him the title.  Backlaund would lose the title just days later in about five seconds to the newly turned face Diesel.

 

Bret gave chase to the title, as he was granted a title match with him at Royal Rumble ’95, but the match ended with too many outside interferences, and Bret was still without the title.  While Diesel went on to defend the title against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XI, Bret was determined to settle his issue with Backlaund in an “I Quit Match,” on the same show.  Bret was victorious in the sub-par match, and was soon put into another feud with Jerry Lawler, which was nowhere near as good as their original feud.  As 1995 progressed, Bret became more settled in the midcard, and more displeased as a result.  He was stuck in dead end feuds with the likes of Hakushi, Jean Pierre LaFitte and Isaac Yankem D.D.S. (Glen Jacobs who is known as Kane today).  His placement on the card was actually due to the Clique, a small group of wrestlers who had become good friends backstage, and eventually had a great deal of influence over the booking decisions.  The Clique included Shawn Michaels, Diesel (Kevin Nash), Razor Ramon (Scott Hall), 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman, known today as X-Pac), and HHH.  The group soon became infamous backstage, as they managed to convince bookers to put them in the top matches, while the wrestlers that they held personal grudges against (like Bret), were buried and put in embarrassing feuds and angles.  

 

Despite the Cliques attempt to bury Bret, he remained one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster, and was eventually granted a WWF title shot against Diesel, who’s year-long title reign had been anything but successful.  After being the main supporter behind Diesel’s title reign, Vince McMahon was finally willing to admit just what a failure Diesel had been as champion, and was now ready to put the title on Bret.  The plan was to put the title on Bret, and then have Shawn Michaels win the title from him at Wrestlemania.  Bret was set for a title match against Diesel at Survivor Series ’95, and was actually the favorite going in.  After nearly 30 minutes of action, Bret pinned Diesel with a small package, after he had tricked him into thinking that he was hurt.  Diesel, who was upset to say the least, responded to the loss by putting Bret in his finisher, the Jackknife powerbomb.  Diesel began a slow, but steady heel turn following the match, which would be completed some months later.  

 

Bret in the meantime defended his title against the Undertaker at Royal Rumble ’96, and against Diesel in a steel cage at the February In Your House.  Being successful in both encounters, he moved onto Wrestlemania XII, where he was slated to defend his title against Shawn Michaels, who had earned the shot by winning the 30-man Royal Rumble match.  To add some intrigue to the match, it was made a 60-minute Iron-Man match by interim president of the WWF, Roddy Piper.  The wrestler who had scored the most decisions in his favor (pinfall, submission, count out, or disqualification) would be declared the winner.  The idea was wise, since Bret and Shawn were probably the only two men on the WWF roster who could do such a match, but problems soon arose, when both men made it clear backstage that they didn’t want to be the first one to lose a fall.  The end result was a 60-minute Iron-Man match that ended with the score being 0-0.  Gorilla Monsoon, who had returned to his position of WWF president, came out and ordered that the match be sent into sudden death.  Although this completely contradicted the entire point of the match, the match was restarted, and Shawn was victorious moments later, after he had connected with his super-kick that he called Sweet Chin Music.  While Shawn celebrated in the ring, having just fulfilled his childhood dream, Bret quietly walked away, and would not step into the ring for another seven months.  In interviews that Bret gave following the match, he promised to return, and never once put over Shawn as the champion.  

 

Months passed with little to no mention of Bret from the WWF, as it was rumored that he would soon be jumping ship to WCW.  As the later part of 1996 rolled around, the WWF began contract negotiations with Bret, and they soon settled on a long-term contract for a huge amount of money.  During Bret’s absence, his brother Owen and Steve Austin, who had become known as “Stone Cold,” had begun to mock him, and call him a coward for leaving after Wrestlemania.  Upon Bret’s return to the WWF, he made it clear that he was looking to take out Austin, who had been the leader in the insults against Bret.  Bret’s return match was scheduled for Survivor Series ’96, where he would meet Austin for the first time.  The match was better than anyone had anticipated, as the two jelled instantly, and put on a classic as a result.  Bret emerged the victor, but the feud had just begun, as it gained intensity as 1997 unfolded.  

 

At Royal Rumble ’97, Bret and Austin were both entered into the Rumble match, and were among the last several men remaining near the end of it.  Bret eliminated Austin from the match, but all of the referees at ringside had been distracted on the other side of the ring, and had not seen the elimination.  While Bret celebrated thinking that he had won the match, Austin snuck back in and eliminated him from behind, and the referees declared him the winner.  Bret was outraged, and began to make claims about being screwed.  Bret complained until finally, a fatal four-way match was signed for the upcoming February PPV, dubbed Final Four.  The winner of the match had been scheduled to get the WWF title shot at Wrestlemania, but champion Shawn Michaels had forfeited the title days earlier, and now the winner of the fatal four-way would now be the WWF champion.  Bret would end up winning the match and the title, only to lose the title the next night on RAW, against Sid.  

 

The main event for Wrestlemania ended up being Sid vs. the Undertaker for the WWF title, but it was another match on the card that stole the show.  Bret had become more obsessed with taking out Austin, than actually being champion, so a submission match was set for Wrestlemania.  The match was another classic, and the end of the match had reversed the roles of the two reversed, as Hart had become the heel, and Austin had become the face.

 

In the weeks that followed, Bret reunited with his brother Owen, and his brother-in-law the British Bulldog, cementing his heel turn.  After Brian Pillman and a returning Jim Neidhart joined them, the faction become known as the new Hart Foundation.  The Foundation made Austin their main target over the course of the next several months, costing him a WWF title match against the Undertaker at the May In Your House.  One of the most memorable highlights of the feud came at the July In Your House, at which the Hart Foundation took on Austin, LOD, Ken Shamrock, and Goldust in the main event of the show.  Because the show was in Canada, the normally heel Hart Foundation was cheered.  The Foundation won the match, and the entire Hart family would join them in the ring afterwards to celebrate.  As it turned out, the happiness would only be temporary.

 

As Summerslam ’97 approached, Bret was in line for a WWF title shot against the Undertaker.  Shawn Michaels was added in as the special guest referee for the contest, and would end up playing a key role in the finish.  Shawn ignored Bret’s taunting of him for the majority of the match, until Bret spat at him, which Shawn reacted by trying to hit him with a chair.  However, Bret was quick to get out of the way, and the Undertaker ended up being the recipient of the chair shot, enabling Bret to get the easy three count.  As the Undertaker began a heated feud with Michaels in the weeks following Summerslam, Bret was challenged by a new arrival in the WWF, the Patriot.  Although the Patriot was a heavy favorite to win the title, he suffered a serious injury, just months after his arrival, ending his WWF career.

 

By this time, Vince had already come to Bret and asked him to take a pay cut, which Bret of course had refused.  Now Vince had come to him and told him that he could no longer pay him, and that he should take the first offer from WCW.  This would lead to the famous incident at Survivor Series ’97, which would become known as the “Montreal Incident.”  A detailed account of the story can be found later in the book, so all that needs to be said here is that Bret was swerved by Vince that night, and felt so betrayed that he knocked him out for real backstage following the show.  With that odd occurrence, Bret’s illustrious WWF career had been ended in such an unorthodox manner.  

 

Bret left for WCW right away, and would debut in early 1998.  Things however, didn’t go too well, as Bret quickly became lost in the shuffle, and finally, had his career ended in late 1999 by Bill Goldberg, who inadvertently gave him three concussions in one match.  Nowadays, Bret spends most of his time preaching against Vince, and wrestling in general.  It is sad to see a man who once had such a bright career, enormous fan base, and success, become so jaded because of the very business that he loved.

 

 

 

Shawn Michaels

 

Although he competed in the tag team division for five years, Shawn Michaels would find true success only after breaking free and branching out as a singles wrestler.  

 

Born in June of 1956, Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) broke into the wrestling business early on, as he had his first professional match at the young age of 19.  While competing in the smaller Texas promotions, Shawn met Marty Oates, who used the ring name Marty Jannetty, and the two soon formed a team.  The duo caught the attention of the AWA in 1986, and soon they were brought in as the Midnight Rockers.

The team would find success, but not before working the bottom of the card as jobbers.  After winning the AWA tag team titles, the Rockers were approached by the WWF, who offered the team a tryout match.  Although their performance briefly earned them a WWF contract, an incident at a bar where the duo got heavily intoxicated, and caused a scene, got them fired after mere days with the company.  They returned to the AWA, and after putting on some mass, the Rockers were offered another tryout match from the WWF, which this time got them a contract.  The Rockers dropped the “Midnight” portion of their name soon after the arrival in the WWF, and became simply the Rockers.

 

In their early months in the WWF, the Rockers were used primarily to put over other teams, until they crossed paths with the Brainbusters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard).  The two teams had a serious of great matches, one of which aired on Saturday Night’s Main Event.  Although they were in a hot feud, the Rockers were still on a losing streak, including a loss to the Twin Towers at Wrestlemania V.  

 

As the team continued to put over bigger teams such as the Twin Towers and the Powers of Pain throughout 1989, they gained a reputation backstage as being big partiers and drug users.  Despite this, the Rockers continued to have some of the most impressive tag team matches, which was all the WWF cared about.  In the early months of 1990, the Rockers feuded with the first team in their WWF run that were actually smaller than them, the Orient Express (Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato).  The teams traded wins throughout the majority of the feud, but most would argue that the Rockers got the better of the Express in the end.  

 

After Paul Roma turned on the Rockers, and formed a new team with Hercules, known as Power and Glory, the two teams began a heated feud that would last for the remainder of the year.  A match between the two duos was set for Summerslam ’90, but Shawn injured his knee before the show, which lead to Power and Glory “attacking” him on the outside before the match began, forcing Marty to wrestle the match alone.  

 

When Michaels returned for action, he was given surprising news that he and Marty would be winning the tag team titles from the Harts in the near future, as Jim Neidhart was on his way out of the company.  This of course led to the match on SNME where the bottom rope broke off.  After the WWF decided to keep Neidhart and erase the Rockers‘ title reign from the records, the duo continued their feud with Power and Glory as if nothing had happened.  

 

The Rockers started out 1991 on a hot streak with a win over the new Orient Express in a great match at Royal Rumble ’91, followed by an upset win over Bobby Heenan’s team of Haku and the Barbarian at Wrestlemania VII.  The sudden string of wins could be explained by the fact that the Rockers had paid their dues, and were now one of the more established teams in the WWF.

 

The success wasn’t meant to last however, as there began to be real life friction between the two backstage.  The WWF decided that it was wise to split the duo before things between them got anymore heated.  The slow burn for their breakup began on WWF TV in the fall of 1991, as the two began having communication problems in the ring, which lead to a losing streak.  The eventual plan was to give Marty the coveted heel spot, while Shawn became the face.  By this time though, Marty’s drug usage had spun out of control, which resulted in Shawn having to wrestle most of the time in their matches.  With this in mind, they decided to give Shawn the heel spot, fearing that Marty would be too unreliable.

 

Things came to a shocking climax on the Barber Shop interview segment in January of 1992.  The duo had apparently put aside their differences, when suddenly; Shawn turned on Marty, and threw him through the window of the Barber Shop set.  Marty was let go by the WWF soon after the incident, as he had bladed after being thrown through the window, after he had been told not to do so.

 

Shawn on the other hand, was just getting going, as he debuted a new arrogant attitude, as well as a new look.  He also acquired the services of Sheri Martell, and the two soon began an on-screen romance.  

 

Shawn had a string of impressive wins in his first several months as heel, including a win against veteran Tito Santana in the opener of Wrestlemania VIII.  He then set his sights on Bret Hart and his Intercontinental title, which led to several great matches between the two during the summer months, including the first WWF ladder match.  Although these matches made both men look good, they were especially beneficial to Shawn, who came out looking like a threatening singles wrestler, as he had come close to winning the title many times.  

 

When the Bret Hart and British Bulldog Intercontinental title match was signed for Summerslam ’92, Shawn was quickly thrown into a mini-feud with Rick Martel.  The focal point of the feud was over the affections of Sherri.  The two had a forgettable match at Summerslam, and they went on their respected ways soon after.  As the months passed, Shawn’s star was rising more and more, and by the fall of 1992, it was felt that he had deserved a run with the Intercontinental title, which was currently held by the departing British Bulldog.  The title match was set up for the final edition of SNME in October of ’92.  Shawn surprised many of the casual fans when he actually walked away from the match the new Intercontinental champion.  Weeks later, Shawn got a WWF title shot against champion Bret Hart at Survivor Series ’92, but fell victim to Bret’s Sharpshooter.

 

During this time, Shawn’s former partner Marty Jannetty had made a surprise return to the WWF before one of Shawn’s TV matches.  Jannetty had hoped to get a small measure of revenge by smashing Shawn with his own mirror that he always brought down to ringside.  Shawn however, pulled Sherri in front of him as a shield, and escaped as Marty attended to her.  The long awaited one-on-one match between Shawn and Marty was finally announced to take place at Royal Rumble ’93, with the Intercontinental title being on the line.  Marty showed up for the match clearly drunk, but was still able to have a great match with Shawn, which just proved his natural talent as a wrestler.  Marty looked like he was on his way to victory, until Sherri unintentionally hit him with one of her shows, which knocked him out long enough for Shawn to get the pin.  

 

As Marty disappeared from the WWF once again shortly after the match, Shawn moved onto a program with Tatanka, a wrestler with a Native American gimmick.  As stupid as the gimmick sounded, Tatanka was quite popular with the fans, and had a supposed one year undefeated streak going at this point (he had lost several matches at house shows in his early days with the WWF, but since house shows were rarely recognized, they acted as if the loses didn’t happen).  Tatanka had managed two pinfalls over Shawn in early 1993, neither of which had been for the title.  A title match between the two was finally set for the upcoming Wrestlemania IX at Caesar’s Palace, and Tatanka was actually the favorite going in.  The match ended with Shawn getting himself intentionally disqualified to retain his title, a most displeasing finish to say the least.  

 

Over the next several weeks, Shawn had a series of title matches with Jim Duggan on Monday Night RAW, in which Shawn just barely retained the title in each case.  On an edition of RAW in May of ’93, Shawn came to the ring, boasting his greatness as the Intercontinental champion, and laid out an open invitation to anyone who wanted to challenge him for the title.  Moments later, a man in a hat and sunglasses emerged from the crowd, and was soon revealed to be Marty Jannetty.  Shawn immediately tried to back out of the match, but it was already set to take place later that night.  The two had a classic encounter that spanned nearly 20 minutes, and involved several near finishes.  Marty was getting too close to the title for Shawn’s liking, prompting Shawn to head towards the exit, but was stopped by Mr. Perfect and forced back to the ring.  Shawn was distracted by Perfect long enough for Marty to roll Shawn up for the pin and the title.  

 

The title reign was short lived however, as Shawn would debut his new bodyguard Diesel (Kevin Nash), who helped him regain the title from Marty just weeks later.  Marty would never reach that status again, as he would be fired and rehired by the WWF several times more, and would never be given a major push again, as he was viewed as being too unreliable.  Shawn now had someone to assist him in his matches, which led to a nice winning streak for him.  Shawn and Nash immediately hit it off in real life, and soon, the two of them seemed to be inseparable backstage.  Mr. Perfect was now the next challenger in line for Shawn’s title, and was granted a title shot at Summerslam ’93.  The match was built up as pitting the two greatest Intercontinental champions of all time, but the actual match was less than spectacular, and ended with Perfect getting counted out.  

 

Shawn’s contract was now up for renewal, and he believed that he was entitled to a significant pay raise.  The WWF however, did not share similar opinions, and Shawn ended up quitting the WWF, and planned to jump ship to WCW.  The Intercontinental title was declared vacant, and a 20-man battle royal was scheduled to take place on RAW, with the final two men remaining, wrestling for the title the following week.  Razor Ramon and Rick Martel turned out to be those two men, and in a match the following week, Ramon beat Martel to become the Intercontinental champion for the first time.  Shortly following this, Shawn and the WWF finally came to terms on a new contract that would keep him around until mid-1994.  Shawn returned to WWF TV with his old Intercontinental title, claiming that he was still the champion, since no one had ever beat him for the title.  This naturally led to a feud between Shawn and Razor over who the real Intercontinental champ was.  En route to their big meeting on PPV, Razor engaged in a small feud with I.R.S., while Shawn briefly feuded with the Hart family.  

 

Shawn and Razor were set to meet for the first time on PPV, as a match between the two was signed for Wrestlemania X in Madison Square Garden in March of 1994.  Seeing as how the focal point of the feud was who the real Intercontinental champion was, the match was made a ladder match, and both titles would be suspended above the ring, with the first man to get both of the belts being declared the Undisputed Intercontinental champion.  The match turned out to be one of the most memorable matches in Wrestlemania history, and would set the standard for future ladder matches.  The two had spent the weeks leading up to the show having several ladder matches on the house show circuit, making note of the best spots, and being sure to incorporate them into the match at Wrestlemania.  The fans sat in awe for 18 minutes, as they witnessed things that they had never seen inside a ring, and when the smoke cleared, Ramon stood the undisputed Intercontinental champion.  

 

Shawn was now free and clear to head to WCW, but the arrival of Hulk Hogan in WCW quickly convinced Shawn to stay put in the WWF.  Throughout the spring of ’94, Shawn took on a lighter ring schedule, and more of a managerial role, accompanying Diesel (who had once again become an active wrestler during Shawn’s hiatus from the WWF the previous fall) to the ring for his matches.  The duo eventually made it their number one priority to take out Ramon and snag his title away from him.  Diesel was granted a title shot against Razor on an episode of WWF Superstars in May, and with the help of Shawn, won the title in a shocking upset.  

 

Shawn finally returned to the ring in the latter part of the summer, teaming up with Diesel in the tag team division every now and again.  The Clique’s power backstage became even more evident when the duo won the tag team titles for no apparent reason against the Headshrinkers at a house show right before Summerslam ’94.  Speaking of Summerslam ’94, it was on that show that Shawn mistakenly cost Diesel the Intercontinental title against Ramon, which planted the first seeds for the eventual Shawn and Diesel split.  Tension between the two built until Survivor Series ’94, when Diesel finally snapped, after being the recipient of Shawn’s patent super kick.  The two split, and the tag team titles were declared vacant, which would lead to Diesel winning the WWF title from new champion Bob Backlaund in mere seconds days later at a MSG show.  

 

While the two had split on WWF TV, and were now about to embark on a bitter feud, they, along with other Clique members, were still inseparable backstage and wreaking political havoc.  Shawn’s career got a nice shot in the arm when he was victorious in an abbreviated Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble ’95.  The match was made shorter supposedly to make the action even more intense, but the truth of the matter was that the list of participants in the match was so pitiful, that a 60-minute Rumble match (the usual time for previous Rumble’s) would be too hard for even the biggest fan to stomach.  Regardless, Michaels had earned himself a shot against former best friend, and current WWF champion Diesel, at Wrestlemania XI.  In order to make Shawn seem like an actual threat to Diesel, he was put over several of the company’s big men.  In addition, he was given a new bodyguard, the returning Sid, who was now being billed as “Psycho” Sid.  If that were not enough, Shawn’s super-kick, which he had used as one of his trademark moves for years, was made his number one finisher, and renamed Sweet Chin Music.   All things considered, it was no surprise that once the match finally came around, Shawn the favorite to win the title.  Their match was easily the best of the atrocious card, with Diesel winning, but Michaels emerging the more impressive of the two, thanks to his outrageous selling of Diesel’s offense.   Although Diesel had been pushed as the face, Shawn was clearly the more popular with the fans, which was nothing new, as he had been getting babyface pops for several months.  The WWF was left with little choice but to turn Shawn face.

 

This took place the following night on RAW, when Sid snapped, and turned on Shawn.  In a surprising turn of events, Diesel came to Shawn’s aid, and the two had seemingly patched things up.  Shawn took a couple of months off, and was set to return just in time for King of the Ring ’95.  After securing his place in the tournament, Shawn became the odds on favorite to win it, and if logic had prevailed, he most likely would have.  However, as most of us know, logic seems to be obsolete in most aspects of wrestling, with the WWF pounding that fact home heavily around this period.  Shawn was eliminated after the first round, when he and Kama wrestled to a time limit draw.  As you already know, Vince, in an attempt to swerve the “smart” (internet) fans, decided to make the overweight, untalented, and newly turned heel Mabel, the winner of the tournament.  Fans were very unreceptive to this and the whole thing would eventually blow up in his face.

 

Michaels didn’t fret over it too long though, as he was next in line for a shot at Intercontinental champion, Jeff Jarrett at the July In Your House.  The two had perfect chemistry together, and put on an old-school (mat wrestling) classic, with Shawn winning the title, and Jarrett quitting the WWF immediately after the show.  The title was another feather in Shawn’s cap, but his political maneuvering would grow significantly from that point forward.  

 

But before any of that came, Summerslam ’95 was set to go, and to say that the card was looking to top the King of the Ring show from months earlier in terms of awfulness, would be quite the understatement.  In an attempt to put one guaranteed solid match on the card, the second Shawn vs. Razor Ramon ladder match was signed, just weeks before the show, replacing Shawn vs. Sid for the Intercontinental title.  The match was nearly as good as their epic Wrestlemania X showdown, with the only flaws being Shawn blowing the finish two times before finally grabbing the belt to retain.  The following month at the September In Your House, Shawn and Diesel teamed to win the tag team titles from the British Bulldog and Yokozuna (filling in for Owen Hart, who would appear near the end of the match), only to have them taken away the following night on RAW.  

 

Several weeks later, Shawn, the British Bulldog, and the 1-2-3 Kid were visiting a nightclub in Syracuse, and were approached by a group of men as they were leaving.  Shawn was supposedly surround and severely beaten by the posse, which was said to only consist of 3 men, while Shawn claims it was more like 12. Regardless, Shawn was in no condition to defend his title at the upcoming In Your House, where he was set to face Shane “Dean” Douglas.  Shawn had no choice but to forfeit the title over to Douglas at the PPV, who lost it only 15 minutes later against Razor Ramon.  Douglas saw this as a great injustice, since he felt he was deserving of the title, and felt that the only reason he had had to lose the belt to Ramon was because he was Shawn’s fellow Clique member.  Even though this was most likely the case, nothing was changed, as Douglas was one of the few brave enough backstage to be vocal about his distain for the Clique.  Douglas would eventually depart the WWF months later, after it became clear that because of the Clique’s power in the back, his career was going to be going nowhere anytime soon.

 

Upon his return in November of ’95, the WWF decided to play up Shawn’s attack by running what is known as a worked-shoot (an angle that seems to be real, and not part of the show).  Shawn was taking on Owen Hart on an episode of RAW, and following an enzuigiri (kick to the back of the head) from Owen, Shawn stumbled around and fell unconscious.  The announcers acted concerned, and broke character as the show went to a commercial.  To add another dash of reality to the matter, Shawn even spent the night in the local hospital.  This fooled most people into thinking that Shawn’s career was in serious jeopardy, when in reality, there was little to worry about.  

 

Shawn made his big return to the ring at Royal Rumble ’96, as one of the 30 wrestlers in the Rumble match.  It became fairly obvious to most Internet fans that the whole worked-shoot had happened to build suspense as to whether or not Shawn could beat the odds, and win the match.  With that in mind, it should come as no real surprise that Shawn won the Rumble match and became the number one contender for the WWF title at Wrestlemania for the second straight year.  With the WWF now backing Shawn for a reign as WWF champion, it became obvious that Bret was nothing more than a transitional champion in this case.   Shortly before the match, Shawn introduced his mentor Jose Lothario, who soon became his manager.  In addition, the match between the two for Wrestlemania XII was made an Iron Man match to create some more interest in it.  The egos of both men soon got in the way of plans however, as both made it clear that they did not want to be the first one to lose a fall in the match.  The end result of this was the match ending after 60 minutes tied 0-0.  The match was sent into overtime, and Shawn was able to pin Bret about five minutes in with 2 of his super-kicks.  

 

While Bret to time off from wrestling to evaluate his career following the show, Shawn began his first WWF title reign.  His first assignment was to face Diesel in a WWF title match at the In Your House PPV Good Friends, Better Enemies.  The match was easily the best of Diesel’s career, and Shawn went over in the match, not surprisingly, since Diesel was leaving for WCW almost immediately after the match.

 

In the months that followed, Shawn had a poorly booked feud with the British Bulldog, with the focal point being that Shawn had supposedly made passes at the Bulldog’s wife.  He then met up with the monster known as Vader.  Well actually, thanks to Hulk Hogan in WCW, Vader was no longer seen as an invincible monster, but that’s another story entirely.  Vader was still over as a heel however, and posed a threat to Shawn’s title.  

 

A match for the WWF title was signed for Summerslam ’96, and the original booking had Vader going over and winning the WWF title.  This wasn’t to Shawn’s liking, so he vetoed the decision, something he would do several more times as WWF champion.  Rather than seeing Vader go over in the match, the fans were treated to some odd booking, as Vader actually won the match twice, (once via disqualification and the other via countout) with Vader’s manager Jim Cornette rejecting both decisions, and insisting that the match be restarted.  Vader would have to settle for the two cheap decisions, as Shawn would eventually win the match.  

 

The following month as In Your House: Mind Games, Shawn took on WWF newcomer Mankind for the WWF title, in what turned out to be a great technical match.  Once again, Shawn was booked to lose the title, but got it changed to a DQ ending instead.  Shawn’s popularity among the male audience was beginning to drop, as they were becoming tired of his pretty boy image, and relationship with Lothario.  The WWF finally decided to move the title over to someone else, namely Vader.  Vader won a title shot and was set to face Shawn at Survivor Series ’96, in which he would win the title.  Shawn once again opposed, as he didn’t want to drop the title to Vader.  He did agree however, to drop the title to Sid at the show, and so a story of Vader suffering an ankle injury was created to explain his pulling from the match.  Sid won the match and the title at the show, which received a loud pop from the crowd, despite Shawn being billed as the face.  

 

Sid however, was a total failure as champion, and the WWF decided to put the belt back on Shawn at Royal Rumble ’97, in his hometown of San Antonio.  Shawn had been displaying heel characteristics in the weeks leading up to the show, but all signs of that vanished when match time came.  Lothario had apparently been phased out, and Shawn’s popularity had been saved somewhat.  It was short-lived however, as Shawn was informed that he was going to be dropping the belt to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13, as payback for his win the year before.  He decided that he didn’t want to do this, so he came up with a fake knee injury that he claimed could be career threatening.  He chose to forfeit the title on a special Thursday RAW during a tearful interview in which he claimed he had “Lost his smile.”  The whole thing was an obvious lie, but regardless, this meant that Shawn was now free of having to job to Bret at Wrestlemania.  This lead to weeks of confusion as to who was going to be in the WWF title match, and things were obviously thrown together at the last moment, as it turned out to be Sid defending the title against the Undertaker, in one of the worst Wrestlemania main events of all time.  

 

Shawn eventually returned to the ring about a month after Wrestlemania, showing absolutely no signs of any knee problems.  He quickly won the tag team titles with the unlikely partner of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.  Things were getting pretty heated between Shawn and Bret in the back, which eventually led to a fight backstage, after Shawn had made a comment about Bret and Tammy “Sunny” Sytch having an affair (which was a complete lie).  Although Shawn and Bret had been slated to wrestle each other at King of the Ring ’97, the true hatred between them was thought as too big of a risk for things possibly getting out of hand in the ring, leading to the match being scratched.  Shawn was thrown into a match with partner Steve Austin instead, which ended in a no contest.

 

Shawn began showing heel characteristics once again, which only promised an eventual heel turn.  Bret (who had recently turned heel himself at the request of Vince McMahon) was upset by this, since Vince had promised him that he would be the number one heel in the WWF.  With Shawn slowly, but steadily turning heel, Bret was becoming more concerned of him stealing his heel heat, and felt that Vince had misled him.  Shawn completed the turn after Summerslam ’97, (where he had inadvertently aided Bret in winning the WWF title from the Undertaker) on an edition of RAW, where he lashed out at fans for all of the blame that they had put onto him.  Later on in the show, Shawn solidified his placement as a heel, by smashing the Undertaker with a chair, which caused him to bleed for the first time in his WWF career.  

 

This of course, led to Shawn and the Undertaker facing off at back-to-back PPV’s, one being in the infamous Hell in a Cell match.  Shawn was now in line for a WWF title shot against Bret at Survivor Series ’97, which is where the “Montreal Incident” took place.  As said before, a detailed account of the whole incident can be found later in the book.  After Shawn had left Survivor Series the champion, he had a forgettable match against Ken Shamrock at In Your House: D- Generation X.  

 

All wrestlers adjacent to the Hart family had left following Survivor Series, with the sole exception of Owen Hart, who quickly dubbed himself the Black Hart.  A feud with Shawn would have been logical, and most likely would have happened, had Shawn not felt that he was above Owen, and rejected the idea of the feud.  

 

With nothing else to do with him at the time, the WWF quickly threw Shawn back into his feud with the Undertaker, with a casket match at Royal Rumble ’98 being on the horizon.  The match would turn out to be one that Shawn would not soon forget, and not for good reasons, either.  One spot in the match called for the Undertaker to back-body drop Shawn onto the casket.  He did so, but Shawn came up short of his target, and ended up hitting his lower back on the edge of the casket.  Although Shawn finished the match, the injury was much more serious than anyone expected, and he was informed that he was going to have to retire.  This was all quite all ironic, seeing as how just one year before, Shawn had lied about a career threatening injury, and now karma had caught up to him, and handed him a real career ending injury.  

 

Before Shawn could retire however, he needed to lose the WWF title, and unlike before, he was going to have to actually lose it in a match, as opposed to forfeiting it, as he had done with so many titles before.  The obvious man to fill Shawn’s shoes was Steve Austin, who’s popularity had exploded in recent months, and he had won the Rumble match, earning himself a title shot at Wrestlemania XIV.  Shawn did not wrestle at all in the weeks leading up to the show, and was forced to progress his feud with Austin through interviews.  To add a little bit of intrigue to the match, Mike Tyson was added as a special enforcer.  The heat for the match was incredible, as Shawn and Austin had had great chemistry in their mic work leading up to the show.  Despite Shawn being barely able to move, the two had a very good match, with Austin winning his first WWF title with his finisher, the Stone Cold Stunner.  With that, Shawn Michael’s active days as a professional wrestler had come to an abrupt end.  

 

He took some time away from the WWF, and would return in a non-active capacity several times in the years that followed, never really having as much of an impact as he had had as a wrestler.  Although Shawn’s career was cut short, it can certainly be said that he had more than his fair share of experiences in the wrestling business, some of them famous, and others, infamous.  Regardless, Shawn’s name remains highly regarded as one of the true legends in the profession.

[Guest Daredevil21]

Chapter 3- The Attitude Era (The Resurgence of the WWF: 1997-2000)

 

With the departure of Bret Hart, and the retirement of Shawn Michaels, the WWF was in dire need of fresh talent at the top of the card.  Luckily for them, they had a new pack of future superstars on the horizon, as well as a new company direction, which put them on the top of the American wrestling industry once again.   Steve Austin was more than ready to move to the main event scene, as his popularity was now challenging that of Hulk Hogan’s from the mid-80’s.  Duane Johnson put his hated Rocky Maivia gimmick to rest, and became the Rock.  D-Generation X was quickly becoming one of the most popular factions in wrestling history, winning fans over with their off the wall shenanigans.  They also had the talents of the Undertaker, Mick Foley, Kane, Owen Hart, and others at their disposal.

 

Vince McMahon himself got the era that would become known as “Attitude” started with a famous speech on RAW, where he discussed there being no clear cut good guys or bad guys, and everyone showing shades of gray.  In addition, he noted that the fans’ intelligence would no longer be insulted with silly gimmicks and situations.  The product now was targeted towards an older audience, with more storylines dealing with adult situations, many of them of a sexual nature.  While this made the shows inappropriate for the younger audience, ratings boomed, merchandise moved, and everyone was now hooked on the WWF’s new edgy product.  Despite most of the aspects of the era were ripped off from ECW, who had been doing the same thing for years, Vince was able to take it to a national level, and make it accepted among the masses.   Yes, things were certainly good, and they wouldn’t slow down until mid-2000. Nevertheless, until that time came, the WWF was once again the hottest ticket in town.  

 

 

 

 

 

The Montreal Incident

 

Throughout the course of this book, there has been several references to what has become known as the Montreal Incident.  You may ask why this is such a key event in WWF history, and while the story is much deeper than just that one night in Montreal, without it, the WWF would have never taken the new direction that led to the Attitude Era.

 

The story spans back to late 1996, when Vince was desperately trying to get Bret Hart to re-sign with the WWF, after he had been offered ludicrous sums of money to go work for WCW.  Having just recently lost Kevin Nash and Scott Hall (who led one of the biggest angles of all time), Vince felt that he couldn’t afford to lose Bret as well.  Vince matched WCW’s offer, but spread it over the span of 20 years, with Bret retiring after a few years, and then settling into a WWF office job.  

 

Bret had been promised the number one babyface spot in the company, but soon enough, Vince was asking Bret to make a heel turn.  Vince felt that by Bret turning heel, he would automatically have a wider group of face wrestlers to feud with.  Bret finally agreed, and came up with a “Canadian Hero” gimmick, where he was a heel in the States, but a face everywhere else.  Bret began the slow turn at Royal Rumble ‘97, where he was cheated out of the victory in the Rumble match by Steve Austin, who had snuck back in after being eliminated by Bret.  Bret whined about the loss excessively afterward, causing many fans to already turn against him.

 

Bret enjoyed a brief one-day WWF title reign, as he won the “Final Four” match at the PPV of the same title, after Austin (who had been slated to win the title) got injured mid-match.  He lost the title to Sid the following night, after Austin interfered, leading to a submission match between the two at Wrestlemania XIII.  By the end of the match, Bret had officially become heel, and Austin had officially become a face.  

 

That Monday on RAW, Bret officially began his Canadian Hero gimmick, blasting the American fans for turning on him, and praised fans of other countries for remaining loyal.  Bret and Austin went head-to-head for the next several months and soon, Bret found himself becoming more comfortable with the heel role.  

 

Bret received a title shot at Summerslam ’97 against WWF champion the Undertaker, and with Bret being so over as a heel, the WWF felt that they had no choice but to put the belt back on him.  The real-life Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels feud backstage was becoming more intense by the week, with each man trying to outdo each other as the heel on TV.  Shawn managed to end up in a main event feud with the Undertaker, while Bret was stuck in the midcard feuding with the Patriot.  Bret saw his heel heat disappearing more and more as time passed, and it was all going to Shawn.  

 

Vince then surprised Bret by telling him that the WWF was in more financial trouble than they had been the previous year, and that he would need to defer some of the money promised to him.  Bret, being the trusting and loyal guy that he was, went along with it.  The following month, Vince approached him again, and told him that he would now need to cut Bret’s contract in half, and that he would reimburse him later.  Bret refused, which led to Vince telling him that they could no longer afford his services, and that he was free to take WCW’s offer.  

 

There was still the matter of getting the belt off of Bret, and the plan was to put it on Shawn at Survivor Series ‘97, where the two were set to go at it.  Bret was becoming more and more paranoid however, as Shawn was now telling people that he wouldn’t job to anyone.  

 

Bret decided that he didn’t want to drop the belt in Canada (where the show was set to take place), and noted that his “creative control” clause in his contract that gave him reasonable control over his character 30 days before his termination, should he leave the promotion.  This more or less meant that Bret would be able to choose who he dropped the belt to, and the number one guy that he didn’t want to job to: Shawn Michaels.  Vince offered up the scenario where Bret would lose the title in Montreal, get it back a month later, give it up on a RAW, and depart the company.  Bret was quick to point out that he had no guarantee that Shawn would job the title back.  In a later meeting, Shawn broke down in tears promising to job the belt back.

 

With WCW now making a huge money offer with a deadline, Bret called up Vince and asked for some sort of reassurance for his position in the company to convince him to stay, at which point, Vince presented another scenario for Bret’s final months in the company that would weaken his position before jobbing to Steve Austin at Wrestlemania.  Bret rejected it, and bid farewell to the WWF, and signed a $3 million a year contract with WCW.

 

But there was still the matter of getting the title off of Bret.  Vince insisted that he drop it to Shawn in Montreal, to which Bret made a counteroffer in which he agreed to drop the belt to anyone in the promotion other than Shawn.  Vince’s response was job in Montreal or we’ll sue you.  After several hours of arguing, the two agreed to have the match end in a DQ, with Bret surrendering the title the next night on RAW.  

 

Eventually, word broke out about Bret’s departure from the company, and soon, the WWF was promoting the match at Survivor Series as the last match ever between the two.  Weeks before the show, Vince gave a memorable speech where he insisted that the intelligence of the fan would no longer be insulted, and that there were no longer good guys and bad guys, but that everyone showed shades of gray.  

 

In the weeks that led up to the show, the WWF had several chances to take the belt off of Bret, but did not act upon any of them.  They wanted the match at Survivor Series to have the title on the line for maximum impact.  

 

In the days that led up to the match, Bret became increasingly paranoid about the possibility of Vince trying to screw him over.  Just to play it safe, Bret went to the one referee that he thought he could trust- Earl Hebner, and asked him to officiate the match and give his word of honor that he wouldn’t double-cross him.  Earl promised, even swearing on his kids’ lives that he wouldn’t screw the Hitman.  

 

A secret meeting between several WWF officials and Shawn was held just 24 hours before the show, and it has been reported that everyone emerged from the meeting looking unhappy about what had been discussed.  The day of the show came, and both men were put in dressing rooms on opposite sides of the arena, but were able to maturely discuss their match.  Bret had no real solid idea of the finish would be, assuming that it would just involve a DQ.  Shawn insisted on several occasions since then that he had no idea of what the finish would be either, but he was clearly lying.  

 

The two brawled for over 10 minutes, before they actually got in the ring for the match.  Oddly, Vince was not in his regular announcing position, a position that he would never be at again following this show.  As the match progressed, Vince made his way down to ringside, along with several security guards and WWF officials.  Near what was suppose to be the finish of the match, Hebner was knocked unconscious, at which point, Shawn put Bret in his own finisher- the Sharpshooter. That’s when Vince’s true plan for the match took effect.

 

It was at this point that referee Mike Chioda was suppose to run down to the ring, followed by members of the Hart Foundation, which would all lead to a DQ finish.  If that had actually happened, there is a chance that the bridge between Bret and the WWF would not have been burned that night.

 

What happened instead was Hebner getting up just moments after taking the bump, jumping back into position.  Chioda and the Harts immediately knew something was wrong, and tried to run down to ringside to prevent anything from happening, but were held back by security.

 

Bret was in his own submission hold, and with Earl now in the right position to check for the submission.  After Bret gave none, Vince moved from his position at ringside, jabbed the timekeeper and yelled, “Ring the bell, ring the fucking bell,” leading to Earl calling for the submission.  Bret was still unaware of what had happened, but realized that he had been double-crossed as he heard Shawn’s music being played.

 

Shawn was quickly escorted away from the ring, and Hebner followed and was put into a taxi bound for the hotel to escape from Bret.  Although Bret tried to restrain himself, he eventually spat on Vince and drew the “WCW” in the air with his finger.  Bret attempted to leave ringside in a calm matter, but was unable to fight his anger, and smashed several ringside monitors and equipment.

 

Vince apologized to Bret in the back, but Bret would hear none of it, and knocked him out with one shot.  The WWF locker room came the closest it ever has been to walking out on Vince that night, with several wrestlers promising not to appear the following night on RAW.  However, only Owen Hart, the British Bulldog, and Mick Foley missed the show in protest.

 

Many figured that this would finally be the WWF’s undoing, and that WCW would soon be in full control.  Shockingly, the ratings for that RAW were up a full point higher than the week before.  This was due to many tuning in to see what would go down to follow up the controversial Survivor Series, leading many to believe that the ratings would soon fall again.  The ratings didn’t fall however, since the WWF had a strong product already, and all they had been missing was the viewers to watch.  Once many of the viewers tuned in, they were hooked, and the ratings continued to rise as a result.  

 

Even though Shawn had promised Bret that he would never accept the title under those circumstances, he not only accepted the title on the following RAW, but cut down Bret as well, going as far as to introduce Bret to the crowd, at which point a midget dressed as Bret came down to the ring.  

 

As for Vince, he revealed to everyone that he was the owner of the WWF (most fans at the time were unaware that he was anything more than an announcer), which would ultimately lead to Vince undergoing a complete character makeover.  While most of the smarter fans had held a grudge against Vince for turning the business into what it had become, the average fan only formed a hate for him following a segment involving Steve Austin (where it was revealed that McMahon owned the company).  The segment ended with Austin delivering the Stone Cold Stunner to Vince, much to the delight of the fans.  

 

Even though Vince had always tried to come of as the nice guy on WWF TV, he decided to try something new, and that required him to trash the Mr. Nice Guy image that he had tried to convey for several years.  On an episode of RAW, Vince presented his side of the Bret Hart story, in which he blamed Bret for it all, and finished with what would eventually become a popular phrase from the Montreal Incident: “Bret screwed Bret.”  The fans were unwilling to buy any part of McMahon’s story, and they began to boo him incessantly as a result.  Vince McMahon, the happy go lucky play-by-play announcer, soon morphed into Mr. McMahon, evil and heartless owner of the WWF.  It the end, Vince got the better end of the whole ordeal, as he was about the embark on one of the biggest feuds in wrestling history along with Steve Austin, which would turn the company around, and send them back to the top of the mountain.  Bret on the other hand, headed to WCW, where his stay would be full of misuse by management, as well as injuries, one of which would eventually end his wrestling career.  

 

The Montreal Incident may not be a pleasant memory for most, but one has to wonder, just how much different the WWF would be today, had it not taken place.  In all likelihood, the WWF would not have reached the levels of success that they would experience in the years to come, and it’s unsure as to how the entire Attitude era would have panned out.  Some would argue that the Attitude era did as much damage to wrestling as it did good.  The raise in sexual and violent content increased heavily during this time, which eventually caused many sponsors to pull away from the product, which eventually left another negative stereotype on pro wrestling as a whole.  At any rate, the Montreal Incident undoubtedly influenced the direction of the wrestling in the years that followed.

 

 

 

D-Generation X

 

Wrestling stables can be found throughout much of pro wrestling’s history, as well as all of the different territories that have come and gone.  Once in a while, a stable will break the mold, rise above the average wrestling stable stereotype, and have a major impact on the profession. Groups like the Four Horsemen, the NWO, the Dangerous Alliance, and the new Hart Foundation have all had some sort of impact on the business, but D-Generation X was at the front of the line as far as pushing the envelope is concerned, and would end up being remembered for being responsible for some of the most outrageous moments during the Attitude era.  

 

The original DX was formed shortly after Summerslam ‘97, when Shawn Michaels officially turned heel, and joined forces with HHH, Chyna, and Rick Rude.  One of the first actions the group took was to assist Shawn in winning the European title against the British Bulldog at the UK PPV, One Night Only.  The original finish had the Bulldog retaining the title, but before the show, Shawn refused to do the job.  

 

In the weeks that followed the group caused tons mischief on WWF TV, starting fights between the Hart Foundation and the Nation of Domination.  Shortly after Survivor Series ‘97, Rude left the WWF and headed to WCW, leaving just the trio of Shawn, HHH, and Chyna to cause trouble.  In the weeks that followed, the trio pulled several stunts on WWF TV, some of which was groundbreaking stuff for the time.  Some of the stunts included Shawn pulling down his pants on live TV, HHH wearing a “Suck the cook” apron to the ring, the group playing strip poker in the ring, and opening up an episode of RAW with the “DX State of the Union Address,” where Shawn made reference to the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal.  The group also made the crotch chop (a gesture that is pretty self-explanatory) one of the most popular gestures in wrestling history.

 

With Shawn being forced to retire following his match at Wrestlemania XIV, DX was about to go through a makeover, as HHH named himself the leader the next night on RAW, making note that Shawn had dropped the ball.  That particular RAW turned out to be a big night for DX, as HHH reintroduced Sean Waltman (who was fresh off being fired from WCW, where he had worked as Syxx) to the WWF, where he had worked from 1993 to 1996.  He was renamed X-Pac, as a jab at his old WCW nickname “Syxx-Pac,” and was made a new member of DX. The show closed with the New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg Jesse James) joining DX as well, to complete the new version of DX.

 

Although the group was meant to be a heel faction, their actions in the following weeks gained them a growing fan-base.  They launched a “war” against WCW, going as far as to disrupt an edition of WCW Nitro on April 6th.  They also invaded WCW Headquarters at CNN One Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and “flew” over an arena where Nitro was taking place and skywrote "WCW Sucks" and "DX Says Suck It."

 

In an effort to put the group completely offer as faces, the WWF set up a feud between them and the Nation Of Domination that lasted the entire summer of ‘98.  One of the most memorable skits during this time period occurred on RAW, and involved DX coming down to the ring dressed as the Nation, and cut a promo, with each member of DX playing a member of the Nation.  

 

Shawn Michaels returned to the WWF in late ‘98, and ended up turning on his former group, only to rejoin them weeks later, before disappearing once again shortly after.  As the months passed, the WWF as a whole had adapted to the raunchiness that DX had made famous nearly a year earlier, and it was resulting in DX becoming just another faction, since they were no longer innovative.  They had seemingly pushed the envelope as far as they could, and now everyone in the WWF had joined them.  

 

Chyna turned on HHH and DX in early ‘99, joining Vince McMahon’s corporation in the process.  She would later rejoin HHH and the rest of DX at Wrestlemania XV, but only briefly, as HHH turned on his former partners later in the show, joining Chyna in the Corporation.  

 

DX, for all intent purposes was finished, and the Outlaws and X-Pac went their separate ways, with X-Pac focusing on Shane McMahon, while the Outlaws split and had an uninteresting feud against each other.  They would later team up again in September, and win the tag team titles.

 

The following month DX surprisingly reunited on Smackdown, but the magic was gone.  As stated earlier, the WWF had become raunchier as a whole, leaving DX with no distinctive qualities, and making their group essentially useless. DX was never about the wrestling, since half of them were mediocre wrestlers at best.  DX had been about pushing the envelope, and with the WWF having pushed it as far as it could be pushed without making it completely unacceptable, there was no reason for DX’s existence.  With these factors in mind, DX disbanded only a couple of months after the reunion, and all of them went on their separate ways once again, each one having various degrees of success.  

 

HHH has easily been the most successful one since DX, winning the WWF title on numerous occasions, and becoming a mainstay in the WWF main event scene.  X-Pac has basically gone unchanged since 1998, which isn’t a good thing in a business where being fresh keeps you at the top.  Billy Gunn was given a solid singles push, but his lack of true talent, as well as his weak mic skills, ensure that he will never make it past the midcard of the singles ranks.  Road Dogg’s personal problems got the best of him, leading to his dismissal by the WWF in late 2000.

 

Although any form of DX reuniting at this point would make no sense, and would only tarnish its legacy, the group will go down as being the innovators of the Attitude era, and being behind several firsts on wrestling programming, some in good taste, and even more in bad taste.  Regardless of how the group came to an end, they definitely played a role in creating the WWF TV that you see today, and without them, the WWF would not nearly have been as cutting edge on its rise back to the top, as it was with them.  Only one other person can make claims to making the WWF cutting edge during the Attitude era, and his name is Steve Austin.

 

 

Steve Austin

 

Pegged by WCW management as a guy who would never draw, Steve Austin would go on to prove them wrong, becoming one of the biggest superstars in the history of pro wrestling, in the process.  

 

Austin was born Steve Anderson in December of 1964, but soon changed his last name to Williams, which had been his stepfather’s name.  After being persuaded by a wrestler to give the profession a shot, Williams began his training, and made his pro debut in 1989 as a blonde haired babyface.  Williams soon learned that he was going to have to change his name once again; after he was booked at an Indy show by a promoter who thought that he had booked established wrestler “Dr. Death” Steve Williams.   Williams quickly chose the name Steve Austin, and began his first serious work in the USWA, where he befriended and eventually feuded with mentor Chris Adams.

 

After it became obvious that Austin had a bright future in the business, he was elevated to the big times, making his WCW debut on a Clash of the Champions show, with the nickname “Stunning.”  After finding much success as a singles wrestler, and as a tag team wrestler, Austin suddenly found his career set back when Hulk Hogan burst into WCW in 1994.  Austin, who had been separated from partner Brian Pillman, had been promised a World title run, as a way of making up for splitting the team.  All hopes of an Austin World title run were soon dashed, as Hogan quickly wedged his way into the title scene, winning it from Ric Flair, while Austin was demoted to the lower midcard.  After being jobbed out to Jim Duggan for the U.S. title, Austin was sent over to Japan so WCW could avoid his complaints about the way he was being treated.

 

While over there, he tore a bicep muscle, but failed to let WCW know about it.  This resulted in Austin no-showing several shows, and subsequently being fired from the company.  To give you an idea of how far down Austin had been put in the company; Eric Bischoff’s secretary left a message on Austin’s answering machine, informing him of the firing.

 

After rehabbing the injury, Austin made his way to ECW, where he mocked WCW every chance he got, and vowed that he would become one of the biggest superstars in wrestling, which was made possible by the WWF, who soon contacted him and offered a contract.  Upon his arrival, Austin was dubbed the “Ringmaster,” which was a silly, if not completely stupid gimmick.  Unaware at just how well Austin was able to cut promos, the WWF also gave him Ted Dibiase as a manager, and was also given Dibiase’s Million Dollar title, in hopes that it would all get him over.  Not surprisingly, it didn’t, and Austin was soon asking management for a new gimmick.  The WWF agreed, but had no ideas for a gimmick, and decided to let Austin create one on his own.  Deciding that he wanted something dangerous sounding, Austin came up with several names, none of which were any good.  While at home, his British wife actually made a comment that if he didn’t drink his tea soon; it was going to get “stone cold.”  With that simple comment, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was born.  

 

Despite the name change, Austin was still stuck in a heatless feud with Savio Vega, quite low on the card.  The two squared off at Wrestlemania XII in a surprisingly great match that was met with silence from the audience.  By this time, Ted Dibiase’s contract was just about up, and he had already made his intentions of leaving for WCW known.  With that in mind, a strap match was set up between Austin and Vega, in which, if Austin lost, Dibiase had to leave the WWF.  And indeed, Austin lost the match, and Dibiase’s lengthy tenure was over.  

 

In an attempt to convince the fans that he was truly a heartless man, Austin cut a promo the following night, in which he more or less admitted that he had lost the match intentionally in order to rid himself of Dibiase.  With Dibiase gone, the next logical step was to give Austin (who had been using Dibase’s own finisher, the Million Dollar Dream), a new finisher.  The WWF gave him a variation of the Jawbreaker that had been used in Japan, that Austin dubbed the Stone Cold Stunner.  

 

As King of the Ring ’96 was approaching, luck was clearly on Austin’s side, as the booking was changed from HHH winning the tournament (due to an incident at MSG that will be discussed later on), to Austin winning it.  In the semi-finals, he defeated Marc Mero, but not before getting his lip split open.  Austin quickly rushed to a hospital to be stitched up, and returned just in time to beat Jake “the Snake” Roberts in the finals.  Jake at this point was about six months into his comeback in the WWF, and supposedly a born-again Christian (both in character and in real life), which would last for roughly six more months, before he fell back into his drug habits.  Anyway, he had made a habit of mentioning passages from the bible before his matches, and Austin made sure to incorporate that fact into his now famous post-match promo, that he ended by saying, “You talk about your psalms, talk about your John 3:16; well Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!”  This got Austin even more over with the fans, which was surprising, since he was committing more heartless acts as time passed.  

 

Despite being over with the fans, he was not yet over enough to be put in a high profile feud, and so, he floundered around for the next couple of months, picking up wins at the July In Your House and Summerslam ’96, against and Yokozuna, respectively.  In the early fall months; Brian Pillman debuted in the WWF, but not in an active role, as he was still recovering from a serious leg injury.  Pillman and Austin rekindled their friendship from their WCW days, but in true stone cold fashion, Austin soon turned against his former partner and re-injured his leg.  This led to the infamous angle on an edition of RAW, where Austin visited the Pillman home, and was greeted by a furious Brian Pillman (who was armed with a gun), who took one shot that caused the lights to go out.  USA, the network on which RAW aired, was none to pleased with this incident, as the show had been aired an hour earlier than usual.  

 

The feud was quickly dropped however, as Pillman was still unable to compete in the ring, which put a damper on any possible matches between the two.  In addition, Bret Hart was finally set to make his return to the WWF, and was ready to take on Austin, who had been badmouthing Bret for months about being a coward.  Their long awaited showdown took place at Survivor Series ’96, and was a 30-minute classic, that saw Bret just barely get the victory by countering Austin’s Million Dollar Dream into a pinning combination.  

 

Austin didn’t let the tough loss slow him down at all, as he was one of the first men to sign up for the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble ’97.  Although he drew an early number, he was still in the match near the end, until Bret Hart eliminated him.  The referees however, were distracted, and missed the elimination completely.  Austin took advantage of this, and got back in the ring, eliminating the Undertaker, Vader, and finally, Bret to win the match and earn a WWF title shot at Wrestlemania XIII.  This was the first in a series of events that eventually turned the longtime fan favorite Bret, into a hated heel, as he whined excessively following the match, and even “quit” the following night, until a four-way match for the Final Four PPV was signed, where the winner would be the number one contender for the WWF title.  

 

The match included Bret, Austin, the Undertaker, and Vader- the final four men who had been in the Royal Rumble match.  Austin was originally booked to go over, and win the WWF title, but after he blew his knee out mid-match, the ending was changed to Bret winning the title.  Bret would go on and lost it the following night to Sid on RAW (Austin would have done the same thing had he not been hurt), resulting in Bret whining and complaining even more.  

 

The main event for Wrestlemania was made Sid vs. the Undertaker for the WWF title, an unappealing main event to say the least, while Bret and Austin were signed for a Submission match with Ken Shamrock serving as special guest referee.  The match ended up being one of the most memorable matches in Wrestlemania history, and changed the direction of the WWF as well.  Even though Bret entered as the face, and Austin entered as a heel, by the time they left the ring that night, the roles had been reversed, and the fans had chosen Austin, the anti-hero, as the new fan favorite.  This proved that the fans were tired of cheering for a good-doing, cheerful character, and were now ready to cheer for the complete opposite, which is exactly was Austin was.  Even though Bret won the match, after Austin had passed out from excessive blood loss, he continued to attack Austin following the match, as he struggled to get to his feet, drawing even more boos from the crowd.

 

Bret cemented his status as a heel soon after, as he reunited with Owen Hart and the British Bulldog to battle Austin.  Brian Pillman and Jim Neidhart soon join in to battle Austin, and the new faction was dubbed the Hart Foundation (a new version of the classic tag team).  Austin battled the Foundation in the weeks and months that followed, drawing more fans away from WCW programming, and back to WWF programming in the process.  During all of this, Austin reluctantly won the tag team titles with Shawn Michaels, a man he wanted nothing to do with.  The two squared off at King of the Ring ’97 in a solid match, with an unpleasing ending, as both men were disqualified. Austin and Shawn would drop the belts shortly thereafter, with neither of them feeling too bad about it.  From there Austin teamed with Goldust, Ken Shamrock, and the Legion of Doom to face the Hart Foundation at the Canadian Stampede PPV, in the July of ’97.  Although the Foundation was victorious, Austin left his mark, not only holding his own in the ring, but harassing several of the Hart family members at ringside, as well.  

 

Shortly thereafter, Austin set his focus on Owen Hart and his Intercontinental title.  Owen was set to defend the title against Austin at Summerslam ’97 in a match that would nearly put an end to Austin’s career.  The majority of the match was excellent, but in the closing moments, Owen executed a reverse piledriver with Austin’s head to far down, which caused it to bounce off the mat, leaving him almost unable to move.  Realizing that something wasn’t right, Owen backed off for a few moments, and then got caught up in a weak roll-up from Austin, losing the title, as had been the booked outcome.  Austin suffered spinal shock syndrome, and most feared that his career had come to an abrupt end.  Unable to compete, Austin was forced to relinquish the title, which Owen would eventually end up regaining.  Austin proved the critics wrong however, as he made his return to the ring several months later at Survivor Series ‘97, and recaptured the title from Owen in a brief and surprisingly mediocre match.  

 

Shortly thereafter, the WWF had plans for Austin to feud with the Rock, in which he would eventually lose the title.  Austin didn’t feel that the Rock was up to his level, and therefore, refused to do the job.  His reasoning was that he knew that at he would most likely be winning the WWF title at Wrestlemania, and felt that he would look weak jobbing to the Rock, which he thought would hurt his credibility going into Wrestlemania.  This led to an angle where Vince McMahon told Austin that he had to face Rock, or forfeit the title.  Austin chose to forfeit the title, but instead of giving the Rock the title, he threw it in the river, infuriating the Rock and Vince.  These were actually the first seeds laid for the Austin vs. McMahon feud, that would become one of the biggest grudges in pro wrestling history.

 

With the Intercontinental title out of the picture, Austin was now set to be elevated to the next level- the main event scene.  Austin entered himself in the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble ‘98, and was a heavy favorite to win it for the second straight year.  Austin would indeed win the match, last eliminating the Rock, and thus became the number one contender for Shawn Michaels’ WWF title at Wrestlemania XIV.  But before Wrestlemania came along, Austin was put in an 8-man tag team match at No Way Out in February, teaming with Cactus Jack, Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk), and Owen Hart. Their opponents for the match were HHH, the New Age Outlaws, and Savio Vega (who was a last minute replacement for Shawn, who was still hurt from the injury that he had sustained at the Royal Rumble).  The match was an all-out brawl, with Austin’s team eventually getting the victory.  

 

Even though Shawn was unable to compete in the ring in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania, he and Austin clicked during their promos, resulting in the match quickly becoming the most anticipated match on the card.  By this time, Shawn had been left with no other alternative, but to retire as soon as possible, which meant that in all likelihood, his match with Austin would be his last one.  Shawn let it be known to WWF officials that he had no problem jobbing to Austin, which shocked many, considering his past of not wanting to actually lose the belt to whomever he was suppose to job the belt to.  In typical Shawn fashion, he tried to back out of the match at the 11th hour with excuses about his back, but the Undertaker approached him, and more or less forced him to go out there and do the job to Austin.  Although it was clear that Shawn really was in pain, he put Austin over throughout the entire match, and passed the WWF title onto the next superstar of pro wrestling.

 

Shawn settled into retirement following the match, leaving Austin open to work his next feud, one that would eventually become the biggest of his career.  That feud of course, would be against Vince, who had shed his skin to become Mr. McMahon, evil owner of the WWF.  Vince soon became a sadistic, uncaring person on TV, and had two lackeys (Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco), to boot.  While it may sound corny, Vince actually played the role quite well, although some would argue that that shouldn’t be a surprise, since Vince is truly evil.  At any rate, Austin vs. McMahon soon became the WWF’s number one feud, and most of their central storylines were based around it.  

 

In a scenario that would become common in the months to come, Vince soon found someone to go after Austin, and try to take him out.  The first person he looked to- Mick Foley, or in this case, Dude Love, one of Mick’s alter egos.  The two squared off at Unforgiven in April with the title on the line, and Dude winning by DQ, after Austin had struck Vince with a chair, leading Vince to put Plan B into effect.  A rematch was quickly signed for Over the Edge, only this time, the odds were stacked against Austin, as Vince made himself the special guest referee, Patterson the special guest ring announcer, and Brisco the special guest time-keeper.  If that weren’t enough, Vince made sure that stipulations were added as the match progressed, in an effort to stack the deck even higher against Austin.  Even though it was over-booked, everything was executed in such a way, that it all seemed perfect, including the actual match, which was great in its own right.  The match came to an exciting climax, as the Undertaker (who had been at ringside, serving as a neutral enforcer) chokeslammed Brisco and Patterson through the announcer tables at ringside, while Austin had Dude Love covered, and forced Vince to count the three.  

 

Austin’s next obstacle was the monster known as Kane.  While Kane had only been in the WWF for a short time, and never talked, he had ascended the WWF ladder at an alarming rate, as he soon found himself rubbing elbows with the main eventers.  A First Blood match for King of the Ring ‘98 was announced between Kane and Austin, with the WWF title being up for grabs.  The only way to win the match was to make your opponent bleed first.  While the whole idea seemed a bit illogical (Kane wore a mask, which made it nearly impossible to tell if he was bleeding or not), fans were eager to witness the first showdown between the two.  The match itself was actually pretty bad, but the ending was simply surprising, as Kane won the match and the title, after Austin was busted open by a chair shot from the Undertaker (who had interfered on Austin’s behalf, after Mankind had interfered for Kane).  

 

Austin held the Undertaker responsible for his losing the WWF title (although he would regain it the next night), and soon, a feud between the two seemed inevitable.  Before they could have a one-on-one confrontation however, they were thrown into a tag team title match against champions Kane and Mankind at Fully Loaded in July, where they reluctantly won the titles.  The paranoia between both men eventually cost them the titles, and Austin was now accusing the Undertaker of being in “cahoots” with Kane.  Although the Undertaker denied the accusations, he and Kane appeared side-by-side one week before he was to meet Austin at Summerslam ‘98 for the WWF title at MSG.  Surprisingly enough, Kane did not get involved in the match, nor did anyone else for that matter, and as a result, Austin and the Undertaker had a solid match, that saw Austin retain with a clean pinfall victory.

 

Austin now had Kane and the Undertaker to deal with, much to the delight of Vince, who signed a triple-threat WWF title match between the three for Breakdown, knowing full well that it was more likely to be Austin vs. Kane and the Undertaker.  And indeed, the triple-threat match seemed more like a handicap match, than a triple-threat match, with Austin fighting for his life against the Undertaker and Kane.  Despite his best efforts, Austin fell victim to a double chokeslam, and was pinned to lose the title.  There was only one problem- both the Undertaker and Kane had pinned Austin, confusing everyone as to who the new champion was.  Vince added to the confusion by running down to ringside, grabbing the belt, and fleeing the arena with it.

 

Vince later announced that the Undertaker and Kane would meet at Judgment Day to decide who was the WWF champion.  Austin was added in as the special guest referee, with the stipulation that if he didn’t make the decisive three-count, he would be fired.  The match was quite dull, and Austin in typical Austin fashion, went against the stipulation, and refused to count for either man, ending the match in a no-contest.  This meant that there was still no WWF champion, and additionally, it meant that Austin was fired.

 

Of course, those types of stipulations never hold much water, as Austin soon found his way back into the WWF with the help of Vince’s son, Shane.  The story was that Shane was tired of doing everything his father’s way, and this was his way of rebelling.  As punishment, Vince made Shane a referee, which would end up being important later on.

 

Realizing that having no WWF champion was bad for business, Vince set up a one night, 16-man tournament at Survivor Series ‘98 to crown a new champion.  The first and second rounds of the tournament were nothing special, but the semi-finals and the finals ended up being where all the action was.  Austin made it to the semi-finals, and was set to face Mankind, who was being backed by Vince.  Following the referee getting knocked out, Austin seemingly had Mankind beat, but with no referee, there was no one to count the three.  Suddenly, Shane emerged from the back to count the three-count, but right before he counted the third count, he flipped Austin the “double bird.”  Austin had been had, and Shane and Vince had been the masterminds behind it all.

 

Following a quick feud with the Undertaker that resulted in a Buried Alive match between the two at Rock Bottom, Austin once again set his sights on Vince.   Royal Rumble ‘99 was quickly approaching, and Austin decided to enter and try to win the match for the third year in a row.  Surprisingly, Vince entered the match himself, determined to keep Austin from winning the match.  The entire show was pretty bad, as was the actual Royal Rumble match, in which Vince McMahon eliminated Austin with help from the Big Boss Man to win the match.  The only purpose of Vince winning the match seemed to be to stroke his own ego, as he would lose the title shot to Austin at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in a cage match that saw the debut of Paul Wight (later known as the Big Show).  

 

Austin was now on his way to Wrestlemania XV where he would face his old rival the Rock, who had become WWF champion at Survivor Series ‘98, and once more at the before mentioned Royal Rumble event.  Austin beat the Rock to win the title in a decent, if not unspectacular match.  They would have a rematch at Backlash the following month, and the result was a much better match overall than their Wrestlemania confrontation.  

 

The following month at Over the Edge ‘99, Austin was set to defend the strap against the Undertaker, who had become a bigger heel than he had ever been before, going as far as to perform satanic rituals.  However, this was the show where Owen Hart fell to his untimely death, which rightfully put everyone in a bad mood, and in no wrestling-watching mood.  They continued with the show anyway, and the Undertaker won his third WWF title in a very poor match.  

 

The string of forgettable matches for Austin continued throughout the summer, as he faced Shane and Vince McMahon at King of the Ring ‘99, and the Undertaker at Fully Loaded in a First Blood match.  The main event for Summerslam ‘99 was a triple threat WWF title match involving Austin (who had won the title back), Mankind, and HHH with Jesse Ventura serving as the special guest referee.  Mankind surprisingly went over in the match, even though most thought that HHH would, as he had been built up the most in the time leading up to the show.  HHH would win the title the next night on RAW, setting everything straight.

 

Austin would give chase to HHH and the WWF title for the remainder of 1999, until he got word that he was in need of surgery, as he was still having problems from the incident with Owen Hart at Summerslam ‘97.  The injury was going to put him on the shelf for some time, so instead of just taking Austin out of action, an angle was run at Survivor Series ‘99 where he was run over by a car driven by a mystery driver.  He had been scheduled to compete in a triple threat WWF title match against HHH and the Rock for the WWF title, but he was now out of commission, and was replaced by the Big Show.  Austin wouldn’t return to action until late 2000, and when he did, things had changed immensely, and he would have to readjust to the times.

 

Without the WWF, Austin would never have been given the chance to show the world all that he could offer.  He was a victim of politics in WCW, and had he not gotten fired, no one can say where he would be today.  Mick Foley is another man who was held down in WCW because of politics, despite being talented.  Much like Austin, Foley would only fully show the world all he had to over after signing with the WWF.

[Guest Daredevil21]

Mick Foley

 

Unlike many of the other wrestlers that have been covered throughout this book, Mick Foley always knew that he wanted to grow up to be a professional wrestler.  Foley was born in May of 1965, and a teen, he created a character by the name of “Dude Love,” and watched wrestling, idolizing Jimmy Snuka.

 

After being trained by Dominic DeNucci, Foley made his professional debut on June 24, 1983 under the name of Cactus Jack Manson, defeating Kurt Kaufman.  Mick was able to get a couple jobs in the WWF working as enhancement talent in 1986.  One of his most brutal encounters was against the British Bulldogs, in which Foley was clotheslined so hard that he had several teeth knocked loose, but this only made him more determined to make it in the business.

 

After wrestling for several promotions, including WCCW, and CWA, Foley landed a spot in NWA in 1989.  The run was less than successful for Foley, who was buried almost immediately, and was out of the promotion by mid-’90.  After working in UWF, Foley made his return to NWA (by this time known as WCW), and this time, he found much more success.  He had a very successful feud with Sting, and was turned face in 1993.  He engaged in a classic feud with Vader that was eventually messed up because of WCW’s idiotic booking decisions.  

 

During a match against Vader in Germany, Cactus got his head stuck in the ropes, which ended up tearing off a portion of his ear.  He was unable to save the ear at the hospital, as the nurse understood very little English, and ended up simply throwing the severed ear away.  

 

Cactus continued to be misused in WCW throughout 1994, and as the year was coming to a close, he decided to part ways with the company, and head for ECW.  He lost a loser leaves town match against Kevin Sullivan at Fall Brawl ‘94.  Ironically, this was the same show that saw Steve Austin lose the US title in 30 seconds to Jim Duggan in what turned out to be one of his last WCW matches, and Ricky Steamboat unable to compete because of an injury that turned out to be a career-ending injury.  So, in simple terms, three legends (one current, and two future legends) were bounced from the promotion in the same show.

 

He made his mark in ECW, capturing the ECW tag team titles, and becoming one of the top stars of the promotion.  During his stay in ECW, he made a venture to Japan, where he competed in and won a Death Match tournament.  

 

With his enormous success, it was only a matter of time before the WWF came calling, and indeed they did in late 1995.  Foley wrestled his last ECW match against Mikey Whipwreck, and said goodbye to ECW, as well as his Cactus Jack character, and headed to the WWF, where he would compete as Mankind.  Mankind made his WWF debut the night after Wrestlemania XII, attacking the Undertaker, putting him down with a move that would later be named the Mandible Claw, and was immediately seen as a threat.  

 

Mankind made his WWF PPV debut at King of the Ring ‘96, where he faced, and surprisingly defeated the Undertaker.  A rematch was set for Summerslam ‘96, and was made a Boiler Room Brawl.  The majority of the match took place in the boiler room, with the announcers saying little, in order to add some mystique to the match.  Finally, both men made it out to the ring, where Paul Bearer was waiting with the urn that one of them had to get to be declared the winner.  The Undertaker made it over to Paul, but Bearer then shocked the world, and turned on his longtime companion, leaving with Mankind.  

 

With two solid wins over one of the most dominant wrestlers in WWF history, Mankind had earned a WWF title shot, and he received one against Shawn Michaels at Mind Games in September.  Mankind was set to go over and win the title, but Shawn had one of his famous changes of heart, and decided that he didn’t want to job the title to Mankind, so the match was changed to Shawn winning via DQ.

 

Immediately following the match, Mankind resumed his feud with the Undertaker, with the two engaging in the first ever Buried Alive match at the PPV of the same name in October.  Although the Undertaker won the match, Mankind got the last laugh, after he, the Executioner, and most of the heels in the company tossed the Undertaker into the grave, and buried him dirt.  This was followed by the ridiculous lightening bolt striking the tombstone of the gravesite, and the Undertaker’s hand popping out of the grave.  

 

The Undertaker would not be seen for a month following the show, but was still put into a match with Mankind at Survivor Series ‘96.  The Undertaker debuted his new look, and defeated Mankind in one of their best matches.  

 

As 1997 rolled around, Mankind was without much direction, much like the rest of the WWF at that time.  He had finished his program with the Undertaker, and now had nothing else to do but be throw into a tag team with Vader, who was also managed by Paul Bearer.  They fought Owen Hart and the British Bulldog at Wrestlemania 13 in an average match that went to a double-countout finish.  

 

The Undertaker had won the WWF title at Wrestlemania 13, and since the two had proven that they could work well together, the WWF decided to have Mankind be the first to challenge the Undertaker for his newly won title at the Revenge of the Taker PPV in April.  Mankind lost the match, and did nothing until the WWF decided to try something new with the Mankind character.

 

Up until this point, Mankind had been a creepy masked wrestler that everyone was afraid of.  On several editions of RAW, Jim Ross interviewed Mankind, in which he revealed the reasons of why he was the way he was, and stories about childhood. Most of the information that he discussed was actually true, although some of it was a bit exaggerated for maximum impact.  The interviews let the fans see what was beneath the surface of Mankind, and as a result, they began to cheer him in the weeks that followed, until he was officially turned face.

 

He entered the King of the Ring tournament at King of the Ring ’97, and made it to the finals along with HHH, who was still a disliked heel, which made Mankind clear favorite.  Most fans thought that he would win the tournament, but Chyna intervened, and cost Mankind the match, giving HHH the King of the Ring win that he was suppose to receive the previous year.  

 

This began a heated feud between the two, and led to a match at Canadian Stampede in July that went to a double-countout.  Despite the official match being over, the two brawled all over the arena, as well as outside, while the other matches were going on.  

 

During this time, Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels were the tag team champions, but Shawn was soon suspended, leaving Austin to search for a new partner, a spot that Mankind desperately wanted.  Austin refused several times, and opted to defend the titles against the Bulldog and Owen Hart alone.  Halfway through the match a man looking like Mankind appeared on the Titan Tron, only he was decked out in tie-dye and was using 60’s slang.  Indeed it was the man who played Mankind, Mick Foley, but the man who appeared on the Tron was none other than Dude Love, the character that Foley had created as a teenager.  He came down to the ring and eventually helped Austin win the match.  Following the match, the two shook hands, and Austin offered Dude Love one of the titles.

 

Meanwhile, Mankind had a piece of business to take care of- his feud with HHH.  The blowoff match to the feud was set for Summerslam ‘97 inside a steel cage.  The two put on a very good cage match, with Mankind going over in the end to finish up the feud.  These two would cross paths later, but not until both of them had made it to the next level.

 

Summerslam was also the show that Austin broke his neck in his match with Owen Hart, and therefore, he and Dude Love were forced to vacate the titles.  Despite the fact that Mankind had finished his feud with HHH, Dude Love on the other hand, fought HHH for the first time in the opener of the UK PPV One Night Only, which he lost.  Two nights later, Foley reintroduced his Cactus Jack character to the world on RAW, where he beat HHH in a hardcore match.

 

Dude Love then interjected himself in the Goldust/Brian Pillman feud.  Dude and Pillman were set to face each other at the October PPV Badd Blood, but tragically, Pillman was found dead just hours before the show.  Dude moved on however, and soon crossed paths with the newly debuted Kane.  For his troubles, Dude received a chokeslam from Kane, which led to Mankind returning to face and lose to Kane at Survivor Series ‘97.

 

Legendary hardcore wrestler Terry Funk was signed in early 1998, and plans to put him and Foley in a program as soon as possible were set.  Funk had been Foley’s mentor during Foley’s Cactus Jack days, which logically led to the return of Cactus Jack.  Funk was given the moniker “Chainsaw Charlie,” and the two soon teamed up to make a run for the tag team titles.  On the way, they fought each in a friendly fight in the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble ‘98.  From there, they set their eyes on the New Age Outlaws, who were the reigning tag team champs.

 

On an episode of RAW, the Outlaws locked Cactus and Funk in a dumpster, and dropped it off the entrance ramp, leading to a tag team dumpster match for the titles at Wrestlemania XIV.  The match was an all out brawl that Cactus and Funk emerged the winners and the new champions.  However, the decision was overturned the following night on RAW because the Outlaws had been put in a dumpster other than the one that had been placed at ringside.

 

A match was set for later that night, pitting the two teams against each other within the confines of a steel cage, with the titles being up for grabs.  This of course, was the famous RAW where the most popular version of D-Generation X was formed, with HHH recruiting Sean Waltman (Syxx from WCW) and renaming him X-Pac.  Pac and HHH interfered in the cage match on behalf of the Outlaws, and it was soon obvious that they were the newest members of DX.  The four of them beat down Cactus and Funk, which left the crowd chanting for Austin, to no avail.  

 

It was the chant for Austin that would lead to a Foley heel turn, with him cutting an emotional promo the following week in which he scolded the fans for chanting for someone else, while he and Terry lay in a pool of their own blood.  He added that it would be a long time before anyone saw Cactus Jack in a ring again.  While this was indeed true, Foley returned the next week as Dude Love during the first ever match between Austin and Vince McMahon.  Dude proclaimed that he could bring peace to the “War Zone,” but quickly attacked Austin, and sided with Vince.  Dude was then named the number one contender for Austin’s title, and a match between the two was set for Unforgiven.  Dude won the match on a DQ, after Austin nailed Vince with a chair.  The following week, Foley came out and declared his disgust over himself, as well as Vince.  Vince was aware that he could trick Foley into coming back over to his side, quickly setting up a match between Foley and Funk (this was the first match that Foley wrestled under his real name).  Foley won the excellent falls count anywhere match, and soon accepted Vince’s offer to return to his side.

 

Foley was rewarded with a rematch against Austin at the Over the Edge PPV in May, with Vince himself playing the special guest referee.  This was the famous match where the rules were changed as the match progressed to assist Dude, to no avail, as Austin emerged victorious.  

 

Foley soon returned to his Mankind persona, and was put in a feud with the Undertaker, since neither one was doing anything at the time.  They were set to square off in the second ever Hell In A Cell match at King of the Ring ‘98, which was the now infamous match in which Foley was tossed off the cell, as well as through the top.  Despite those two huge bumps, Foley continued the match, and was defeated after he was Tombstoned into a pile of thumbtacks.  

 

Soon after, Mankind teamed up with Kane, and the duo soon won the tag team titles from the New Age Outlaws, only to lose them to the team of Austin and the Undertaker.  They would regain them back several weeks later, but friction soon arose between them, as Kane was now apparently signing with his storyline brother the Undertaker.  Mankind and Kane were scheduled to defend the titles against the Outlaws at Summerslam ‘98, but Kane didn’t show up, forcing Mankind to fight the match alone, and eventually lose.  Kane appeared after the match and took Mankind out with a sledgehammer, seemingly setting up a feud that never really panned out.  

 

His courage had won the fans’ respect for him again, and they soon began to cheer him.  In early September, he formed an alliance with Ken Shamrock and the Rock, which McMahon made sure to quickly break up by placing them in a triple threat cage match at Breakdown, with the winner becoming the number one contender for the WWF title.  The Rock won the match but never received a title shot from it.  Soon Shamrock and Mankind began a feud over who had the better submission hold, leading to a match for Shamrock’s Intercontinental title at Judgment Day.  Although Ken got Mankind in his submission finisher the ankle lock, Mankind applied the mandible claw to himself, which knocked him out, giving Shamrock the win, but only because of Mankind’s submission hold.  

 

Shortly thereafter, Vince came after Mankind, trying to pursue him to join his side once again.  Mankind foolishly accepted, going as far as to call Vince “dad.”  Vince presented Mankind with the first ever-Hardcore championship, but the fans were still unwilling to boo Mankind.  Around this time, the WWF title was vacant and a tournament to crown a new champion had been announced for Survivor Series ‘98, which Mankind quickly entered.  Vince was backing Mankind all the way, as he went passed the first two rounds with little trouble, won his semi-finals match against Austin, thanks to Shane McMahon, which landed him in the finals against the popular Rock.  The two were clearly exhausted, but put on a good much nonetheless.  The finish came out of nowhere, as the Rock put Mankind in the Sharpshooter, prompting Vince to call for the bell, confusing everyone in the process.  He then revealed that he and the Rock had been together the entire time, and that Mankind had simply been a pawn in it all.

 

This made Mankind an even bigger face, and he soon became the number one challenger to the Rock’s newly won title.  They faced off at the Rock Bottom PPV in a match for the title that Mankind won, but didn’t win the title on a technicality.  Despite being cheated out of the title, Mankind received another match for the title against the Rock on the first RAW of the New Year.  With the help of Steve Austin, Mankind won his first WWF championship, and celebrated with DX in the middle of the ring afterwards.  

 

The title reign wouldn’t last long however, as the Rock beat Mankind in an I Quit match at Royal Rumble ‘99.  It was later revealed that Mankind had not given up, and in fact, the words had been from a pre-match promo that he had cut where he had promised to make the Rock scream “I quit, I quit.”  He challenged the Rock to an empty arena match, and the Rock reluctantly accepted.  The match took place during halftime of the Super Bowl on the USA network, and was an intense brawl, that ended with Mankind winning the WWF title for the second time.  A Last Man Standing match for the WWF title was set for St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in February, but ended with an inconclusive finish, with both men being knocked out.  The finale of the feud happened the following night on RAW, with the two squaring off in a ladder match, with the winner going on to defend the title against Austin at Wrestlemania XV.  Paul Wight (who had made his debut the previous night) interfered on the Rock’s behalf, and cost Mankind the WWF title in the process.  

 

It was then revealed that Mankind wanted to main event at Wrestlemania before he retired, and since he couldn’t do it as a wrestler, he began a campaign to be named the special guest referee.  Vince threw many obstacles in his path, but Mankind got past them all, and looked to be ready to referee the main event between the Rock and Austin.  Earlier in the show however, he had sustained injuries during his match with Paul Wight (who by this time had been dubbed the Big Show), and was no unable to officiate the match.  Mankind surprised everyone by making it out to the ring to count the deciding fall of the match that gave Austin the win and the WWF title.  

 

Mankind took on the Big Show in a Boiler Room Brawl the following month at Backlash, and won after taking a huge beating.  Soon after, he formed a faction of wrestlers that had been shunned from Vince’s Corporation.  The group consisted of himself, Test, Ken Shamrock, and the Big Show, and was called U.P.Y.O.R.S. (Union of People You Oughta Respect, Shane).  Mankind was having knee problems around this time, and having partners almost always around allowed him to take it a little easier.  The group was victorious in a match against members from the newly formed Corporate Ministry at Over the Edge in May of ‘99.  Mankind was then taken out by HHH the following night on RAW, which gave Mankind a few months to have knee surgery.  He would return just weeks before Summerslam ‘99, and soon interjected himself into the WWF title picture.  Although the match was originally scheduled to feature HHH against Austin, by time the event rolled around, Mankind had been added into the match, making it a triple threat WWF title match.  Surprisingly, Mankind emerged the new WWF champion, but it would be another short reign, as he would lose it to HHH the following night on RAW.  

 

Around this time, the Undertaker and the Big Show, who had just won the tag team titles, had confronted the Rock.  They had offered a match for the titles if the Rock could find a partner.  The Rock’s journey to find one was unsuccessful until he came across Mankind, who offered to be his partner.  The duo won the match and the titles, and the Rock & Sock Connection was born.  Their popularity exploded over the next several weeks, during which, they lost and regained the titles several times.  Mankind would parade around as if he and the Rock were best friends, while the Rock dismissed him at every turn.  Finally, they lost the titles to the newly reformed New Age Outlaws in late September.  The two were a part of the Six-Pack Challenge for the WWF title at Unforgiven, where HHH won the title, but not before Mankind had almost won the match by putting the Rock out with the mandible claw.  

 

Afraid that he had almost hurt the Rock’s feelings, Mankind led a segment the following night on RAW that was titled “This is Your Life,” that ran for nearly 30 minutes.  The segment featured Mankind presenting gifts to the Rock, as well as bringing people from the Rock’s past into the ring.  The segment scored an 8.4 in the ratings, which was easily the highest rated segment in RAW history.  

 

The duo soon regained the tag team titles, and all was well again…briefly.  The night after No Mercy, Mankind presented the Rock with his new autobiography, only to find it in the trash later in the show.  Mankind cut a brilliant promo against the Rock right before their title defense against Crash and Hardcore Holly, in which he bashed Rock for only caring about himself. Mankind refused to tag in during the match, leaving the Rock for dead against the Crash and Hardcore, who easily won the titles.  

 

Mankind began to team with his true friend Al Snow shortly after, and the duo won the titles from the Holly cousins, only to lose them to the Outlaws just days later.  In the final weeks of the year, Mankind began to team with the Rock again, causing Snow to become increasingly jealous.  He then revealed that he had been the one who had thrown Mankind’s book in the garbage, and not the Rock.  This led to a brief feud between Snow and Mankind that didn’t quite go anywhere.

 

As the New Year was vastly approaching, Foley’s body was just barely holding up, and it was obvious that he didn’t have much time left as an active competitor.  With that in mind, he convinced Vince to let him go out with one last big angle, but only after he got himself into shape.  He was now ready to go out as the character that he had come in as:  Cactus Jack.

 

This was near the beginning of the McMahon-Helmsley Era, which was run by HHH and Stephanie McMahon, who had just gotten married in storyline terms.  One of the first orders of business was to put the Rock and Mankind in a “pink slip on a pole match” on the last RAW of 1999.  The Rock reluctantly won the match, and Mankind was apparently finished.  HHH and Stephanie mocked Mankind in the following weeks, until the Rock came out with the entire WWF locker room, and threatened to organize a walkout if Mankind were not reinstated immediately.  Left with no other alternative, HHH and Stephanie let Mankind back into the WWF, and he was even granted a WWF title against HHH at Royal Rumble 2000 in MSG.  Before that could happen however, Mankind and the Rock teamed with the Acolytes to take on HHH, X-Pac, and the Outlaws on RAW.  By the end, everyone but Mankind and HHH were left in the ring, and HHH proceeded to destroy Mankind, cutting him open, and delivering his finisher the Pedigree, to Mankind on the announcers’ table.  

 

Later that week on Smackdown, Mankind out and admitted that Mankind simply was not ready to face HHH in a street fight at the Royal Rumble.  Mankind added that he felt that the fans deserved to see a suitable replacement, and told HHH as he was removing his mask, as well as his bloodstained shirt,  “I think you know the guy, and I think you know him pretty well.  His name is…Cactus Jack!”  HHH put the announcement over by looking like he had just seen a ghost.

 

Foley came ready for the street fight in the best shape of his life, and preceded to put on a classic brawl with HHH, that finally ended with HHH winning following two consecutive Pedigrees.  Things were not settled between the two however, as Cactus made one last challenge to HHH.  He challenged him for the WWF title inside Hell In A Cell.  HHH agreed to put the title on the line and compete in the match, but only if Cactus put his career on the line.  Cactus agreed, and the two were set to go at it at No Way Out in February of 2000.  The match was even better than their street fight at the Royal Rumble, and Cactus took a huge bump through the top of the cell that sent him crashing through the ring mat.  HHH put him away shortly thereafter, ending Mick Foley’s career once and for all.  Cactus walked back up the aisle, and gave one last look to the crowd, holding back tears.  It was just the way Foley had wanted to go out.

 

Even though Foley had gone out the way he wanted to, the McMahons had other ideas.  They insisted that he wanted to main event a Wrestlemania one time before he retired, which led Linda McMahon to announcing that the main event at Wrestlemania 2000 was going to be a fatal-four way match for the WWF title with HHH, the Rock, the Big Show, and Mick Foley.  Foley would be wrestling under his own name, but it was clear that he did not want to be out there.  He had gained back most of the weight that he had lose earlier in the year, his promos were simply average, and to top it off, his performance in the match was sub-par.  He was eliminated second in the match, causing many fans to ask why he had been brought back in the first place.  And with that, Foley could now retire, although, not in the way that he had wanted to.  

 

The night after King of the Ring 2000, Shawn Michaels stepped down as the Commissioner of the WWF, and introduced Mick Foley as his replacement.  The role allowed Foley to take part in every WWF broadcast, entertain the fans, and not have to damage his body in order to do so.  Some of his most interesting moments as Commissioner were with Edge and Christian, as the trio had excellent chemistry and provided comedy every time they appeared together.  Vince McMahon fired Foley as the Commissioner in late December, but it was later revealed that Mick had signed several documents with Linda McMahon in case he were ever fired as the Commissioner.  Basically, this was an excuse to get him back on TV whenever they needed him.  He was able to referee a few matches, and make several main events for RAW and Smackdown because of these documents.  

 

After William Regal (who was currently the Commissioner) joined the Alliance in the during the Invasion angle in late 2001, Linda announced that Mick and Regal would now be sharing the Commissionership.  The duo mixed well, and the fans were treated to several entertaining segments involving the two in the month that followed.  However, during this time, Foley and Vince had begun to have several disagreements in real life about the general direction of the WWF.  It was soon agreed that they would part ways, and Foley’s last act as Co-Commissioner was to set up several title unification matches for Survivor Series 2001 the week before the show.  He also took the time to voice his distain for the general direction of WWF, and that he felt that he could no longer be a part of it.

 

The night after Survivor Series, Vince and Foley started the show with a segment taped on Vince’s private jet, where they officially parted ways.  Foley hasn’t made an appearance on WWF TV since, and it’s unknown if he ever will again.  Despite the fact that Foley felt that he could no longer partake in the wrestling business, fans everywhere owe him a large amount of gratitude for everything he brought to the business in his 16 years in the profession.  No matter where he worked, who he fought, or which character he was portraying, Mick Foley gave his blood, sweat, and tears to the world of professional wrestling, and he will be remembered as a true icon for doing so.

 

 

 

The Rock

 

Although Dwayne Johnson never though about becoming a pro wrestler, it was only a matter of time before he gave it a shot, if for no other reason than he was the son of Rocky Johnson, and the grandson of the late Peter Maivia- two wrestling stars of the past.  Although he had much success with the Miami Hurricanes, Dwayne was cut his senior year, after having suffered an injury.  It was then that he decided to give pro wrestling a chance, and made the move to Memphis soon after, where he competed as Flex Kavana for a short period of time, before the WWF came calling.

 

Upon his arrival in the WWF, Dwayne was given another bad gimmick, this one meant as a tribute to his father and grandfather- Rocky Maivia.  Rocky debuted at Survivor Series ‘96 at MSG, where he surprisingly was the sole survivor from his team, beating Goldust and Crush to win the match.  The problem with the gimmick became evident almost immediately.  The Rocky Maivia character was a pure babyface, which had been popular during the 80’s, but he was brought in at a time where the fans no longer had an interest in such a character, and were going for characters like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.  Add in the fact that the WWF had trained the fans not to care about history, and the Rocky Maivia gimmick became essentially pointless.

 

Things got worse, as the WWF soon began to shove the “Blue-chipper” down the everyone’s throat, going as far as to put the Intercontinental title on him just three months after his debut.  Soon, the fans began to show their distain for Rocky, by bringing anti-Rocky signs to live events, and chanting, “Rocky sucks.”  

 

In order to get the belt off of him for a while, the WWF planned a storyline where Rocky got involved with Marc Mero and his valet (and real life wife) Sable.  Soon after, Mero would accuse Rocky of trying to steal Sable from him, and would turn heel, challenge him to a title match at Wrestlemania 13, and win the title, relieving Rocky of all the pressures in the process.  Just two weeks before the show however, Mero blew out his knee, and the storyline had to be scrapped.  The injury was so bad that Mero would miss most of the year, and upon his return, he would be unable to perform any of his high-flying moves that had made him so popular.  

 

Mero was replaced by the evil Arabian the Sultan (known today as Rikishi), which made little sense, since he had never won a big match under the gimmick, which didn’t bode well for the crowd’s interest in the match.  Rocky retained the title, but that didn’t mean that the crowd was easing up on him.  In fact, the crowd’s hatred towards Rocky became so bad that the WWF finally had to have him job the title in a normal match against Owen Hart on an edition of RAW.

 

Rocky’s career was in a definite downward spiral, and things didn’t look any brighter, that is however, until he injured his knee in a match, and had to be put on the shelf for three months.  During this time, Rocky pleaded with management to let him change his gimmick before his career was permanently damaged.  He was told that they had nothing for him, but was given permission to come up with a new gimmick on his own, and try it out after his return.

 

Rocky made a surprising return in August on RAW, and promptly turned against Chainz of the DOA (Disciples of Apocalypse), and joined the Nation of Domination, a prominently all African-American group. The fans continued with their “Rocky sucks” chants, since it was now expected.  Rocky however, now encouraged it, and responded with animated poses, and began to refer to himself in the third person.  His ring style had changed as well, since he was no longer able to do any of his high-flying moves.  

 

As the weeks passed, Rocky, who was now calling himself the Rock, became the man that fans loved to hate, and he slowly began to take away the spotlight from the NOD leader Faarooq.  Even though this was clearly leading to a Rock vs. Faarooq feud, the WWF had other plans.  They were well aware that they would be able to cash in on the Rock, if he were marketed correctly, and decided to move him onto bigger things.  

 

Immediately following Steve Austin’s victory over Owen Hart for the Intercontinental title at Survivor Series ‘97, the Rock stepped up and became Austin’s newest challenger.  This didn’t please an already angry crowd, but it would turn out to be one of the factors that turned around the WWF’s fortunes.  The two fought at the D-Generation X PPV in December, and although Austin won, Vince McMahon announced that he felt that the Rock deserved a rematch that night.  Austin refused, and was stripped of the title, which led to a famous moment, where Austin tossed the belt into the river.  

 

The Rock was again had the Intercontinental title, but this time around, he was enjoying a higher spot on the card, soon engaging in a memorable feud with Ken Shamrock for the early part of 1998.  The two met several times for the title, including many PPV matches, where Rock used various ways to lose the match, and yet retain the title.

 

Soon after Wrestlemania, Faarooq was kicked out of the NOD, and the Rock made himself the leader.  This led to a 6-man tag team match at Unforgiven, where Faarooq got the win over the Rock.  Rock would have the last laugh however, as he won the long awaited one-on-one match between them at Over the Edge in May.  The Rock and Shamrock then finished their feud at King of the Ring ‘98, where they met in the finals of the tournament, which saw Ken finally get a clean, one-on-one victory over the Rock.  However, since it was a tournament match, the Rock’s title was not on the line, but the two moved onto separate feuds anyway, as the feud had run its course.

 

The Rock led the rest of the Nation into a feud with the “new” DX (HHH, X-Pac, Billy Gunn, “Road Dogg” Jesse James, and Chyna) that lasted the entire summer.  The respective leaders of the group (Rock and HHH) would feud with each other, while the rest of the two groups took turns squaring off against each other.  The original DX that had been led by Shawn Michaels had been heels, but following several skits where the new DX “invaded” WCW, fans began to cheer for them, and the feud with the Nation put them over the top as faces.  

 

The Rock and HHH faced each other in a 2-of-3 falls match with the Intercontinental title on the line at Fully Loaded.  The time limit expired though, settling nothing.  This led to a bigger match at Summerslam ‘98, this time being a ladder match for the title.  The ladder match ranked right up there with those between Shawn and Razor Ramon from years before, and in the end, HHH stood tall, the new Intercontinental champion.  

 

Despite the Rock being so hated by the fans during his entire WWF career, he was now beginning to receive face pops, and following his loss at Summerslam, he announced his intentions of going after the WWF title, which the fans surprisingly approved of.  He formed a brief alliance with Ken Shamrock and Mankind that Vince McMahon quickly broke up by putting the three in a triple-threat cage match at Breakdown, with the winner being declared the number 1 contender for the WWF title.  The match was easily the best one of the night, and the Rock was clearly the fan favorite, which was impressive considering the popularity of Shamrock and Mankind.  Although he won the match, he never got the title shot, and was quickly dumped by the Nation.  The following month at Judgment Day, Rock took on his former Nation partner Mark Henry, and surprisingly lost.  Of course, this was the same show where the WWF title was declared vacant, after the inconclusive match for the title between the Undertaker and Kane, which set up the tournament to crown a new champion at Survivor Series ‘98.  

 

The Rock entered the tournament, as was clearly the favorite going in.  Vince (the Mr. McMahon character, not the actual owner) however, was going to do everything in his power to stop that, since the Rock claimed to be the “People’s Champion,” and since Vince hated the people, he hated the Rock as well.  Although the Rock briefly lost his tournament spot in the weeks leading up to the show, he quickly won it back, and was now set to begin what would turn out to be one of the biggest nights of his career.  He beat the Big Boss Man in three seconds (he was set to face HHH, but he had a knee injury that kept him out of the show), and then Ken Shamrock, beat the Undertaker by DQ, and was now in the finals against Mankind, who had once again become Vince’s lackey.  If you recall, Vince and Shane had been feuding in the weeks leading up to the show, prompting Vince to make Shane a referee, which of course, turned out to be a master plan to cheat Austin out of winning his tournament match with Mankind earlier in the show.  Now, phase two of the master plan was about to be put into effect.  Both men were clearly worn out from their previous matches during the night, which kept their match from being too good.  As the match came to a climax, the Rock suddenly put Mankind in the Sharpshooter, at which point, Vince called for the bell, recreating the famous Montreal Incident a year after its occurrence.  And with that, the Rock was now the WWF champion, and revealed that he and Vince had been in on it all along, and that Vince had been merely using Mankind.  

 

The outraged fans could do nothing, but watch the man that they had become so attached to, turn into a corporate stooge, and once again, become a heel, joining Vince’s Corporation stable.  Austin and Rock had a match the following night on RAW, which drew great numbers.  Austin won the match via DQ, and both men soon went their separate ways once again, with Austin going into a quick feud with the Undertaker, and the Rock beginning a classic feud with Mankind.

 

The two were set to square off for the title at the Rock’s self-titled PPV, Rock Bottom in December, where Mankind won the match, but got cheated out of the title on a technicality.  Mankind got a rematch on an edition of RAW in early January of 1999, and won the match, as well as his first WWF title.  The title reign was short-lived however, as the Rock recaptured the title in an I Quit match at Royal Rumble ‘99, where he handcuffed Mankind, and delivered nearly 20 chair shots, which finally forced Mankind to say “I quit,” making the Rock the champ once again.  The following night on RAW, it was revealed that what had been believed to be Mankind giving up was actually a recording from a promo that he had cut, where he had stated that he was going to make the Rock scream “I quit, I quit.”  

 

A rematch was now set for a special edition of Sunday Night Heat, that ran during halftime of the Super Bowl on the USA network.  The match was an “empty arena” match, and after nearly 30 minutes of brawling all over the arena, Mankind beat the Rock to once again win the WWF title.  This led to another WWF title match between the two at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, which was a Last Man Standing match that ended inconclusively.  The long-running feud ended the shortly thereafter with a ladder match on an edition of RAW, where the newly-acquired Big Show assisted the Rock in winning the title.  

 

The Rock then rolled on to Wrestlemania XV, where he was set to defend the title against Steve Austin in the main event of the show.  Austin won the mediocre match, as well as the rematch the following month at Backlash, which led to the Rock being booted from the Corporation, which made Rock a face once again.  This had been inevitable however, as the Rock had been regaining popularity among the fans, who had begun to finish some of the Rock’s quotes in his promos.  He had been annoyed by this at first, but let it go after a while, and soon the Rock was one of the most popular heels around, which of course, meant that he had to be turned face again.  

 

The Rock was then put into a feud against longtime rival HHH, only this time, the Rock was the face and HHH was the heel.  Their series of matches didn’t really prove anything, and after feuding over who was going to be the one to go after the WWF title, HHH got the spot, and the Rock was tossed into a meaningless feud with Billy Gunn.  Although the feud had next to no redeeming qualities, one of the Rock’s most popular catchphrases was born during it.  The Rock cut a promo, telling a story about Gunn talking to God, and God calling him “Bob.“ When Billy corrected him God responded by telling him “It doesn’t matter what your name is!”  Soon all of the fans were using it, and to this day, it remains one of the Rock’s trademark sayings.

 

Following the Rock easily beating Billy at Summerslam ‘99, he moved back into the WWF title picture, but soon got sidetracked by the Undertaker and the Big Show, who had just won the tag team titles.  They challenged the Rock to a match, and offered to put the belts on the line if he could find a partner.  Since Rocky hadn’t made it a priority to make any friends, it didn’t look like he was going to be able to find a partner, that is, until Mankind offered to be his partner.  The duo won the titles, and the team that became known as the Rock & Sock Connection was born.  Despite the Rock not being happy with Mankind (who was playing the role of the dorky partner to a T), he put up with it, but they soon lost the belts back to the Undertaker and Big Show.  

 

Mankind soon began to become irritated that his good intentions were being ignored by the Rock, and it seemed that Mankind was going to be turning heel.  Before that could happen however, Vince Russo (one of the WWF’s head writers) left for WCW, and the entire storyline was abandoned, and the Rock reset his focus on the WWF title.  

 

After losing several WWF title matches on Smackdown, he landed a spot in the triple-threat WWF title match at Survivor Series ‘99, that was originally set to include Steve Austin and HHH as well, but after Austin was scratched due to injuries, and replaced by the Big Show.  With Austin out of the picture, the Rock was now the number one face in the company, and would strive win the WWF title, and become the company’s number one man, as the WWF entered into a new era.

 

 

Tribute: Owen Hart

 

Every once in a while, something happens in the world of pro wrestling that makes it come out of that little world of non-reality.  On May 23, 1999 the world of pro wrestling was yanked out of that little world, and faced with the reality of losing one of its brightest stars to a tragic accident.  While Owen Hart never made it completely to the top, he managed to etch his mark in the wrestling industry during his brief life.

 

Owen Hart was born on May 7, 1965 in Calgary, Alberta Canada, and was the youngest child of the large Hart family.  He began his wrestling career in May of 1986, and won crowds over with his great high-flying maneuvers.  After competing in Stampede Wrestling and Japan, Owen finally made the move to the WWF in 1988.

 

Upon his arrival in the WWF, Owen was put under a mask, and dubbed the “Blue Blazer.”  Despite the fact that Owen’s brother Bret was a WWF mainstay at the time, it was never noted that the two were brothers.  Although the Blazer put on exciting matches, he usually ended up on the losing end of them due to his small size.  He competed in his first Wrestlemania at Wrestlemania V, where Mr. Perfect defeated him in a short but solid contest.  Owen departed the promotion soon after, and spent the better part of two years touring Europe, Canada, and Japan.  

 

By the end of 1991, the WWF had come calling once again and this time, they wanted to sign Owen and use him under his own name.  Owen was teamed up with Bret’s old partner Jim Neidhart upon his return to the WWF.  The duo was named the New Foundation, but it was evident from the get-go that the team was destined for failure, with the fans being unwilling to accept the team over the Hart Foundation, who the New Foundation had replaced.  

 

The team was ended, and Neidhart left shortly thereafter.  The WWF still felt that Owen could be marketable as a singles wrestler, leading to a small push that was halted when it became apparent that their was really no division that he could compete in.  With that in mind, he was put in another tag team, this time with Koko B. Ware, and the two were named High Energy.  The team flopped just as badly as the New Foundation had, which eventually led to the disbanding of the team, leaving Owen as a singles wrestler once again.  

 

While waiting to be brought back onto WWF TV, Owen was sent down to Jerry Lawler’s USWA, where he found much success as a singles wrestler.  Just as he was about to be brought back up however, he suffered a serious knee injury that would sideline him, and ultimately signal the end of his high-flying days.  

 

Owen returned to action just in time to partake in the Hart Family match at Survivor Series ‘93, which pitted Bret, Keith, Bruce, and Owen Hart against Jerry Lawler and his three handpicked Knights.  However, just weeks before the show, Lawler was accused of rape, and briefly left the WWF.  Shawn Michaels was inserted in Lawler’s place almost immediately, and picked up where Lawler had left off with mocking the Harts.   During the match, Bret inadvertently distracted Owen long enough to get rolled up by Shawn, and eliminated from the match.  The Harts would go on to win, with Owen being the only Hart to not survive.  This infuriated Owen, who charged the ring afterwards, and confronted Bret.  This seemingly set up a brother vs. brother feud for the very near future.

 

An interesting side note on the whole matter is that before the Bret vs. Owen feud was brought about, Owen was on the brink of being fired, since the WWF officials felt that he served no purpose in the promotion.  Bret was able to talk them out of it, and suggested between Owen and himself.  The feud would end up saving Owen’s WWF career.

 

Although Bret resisted a feud with Owen, he was all game following Owen turning on him after their tag team title match (the two had reconciled and had begun to team as well) at Royal Rumble ‘94.  The long awaited match between the brothers finally took place at Wrestlemania X, where it was featured as the opening match.  The match surpassed all expectations, as it was a wrestling classic that many consider to this day as the best match in Wrestlemania history.  Owen surprisingly won the match, but Bret would go on and win the WWF title later in the show from Yokozuna, which made up for it.

 

Following the match, Bret refused to fight his brother again, so in an effort to get to him again, Owen entered the King of the Ring tournament at King of the Ring ‘94, which he would end up winning, beating Razor Ramon in the finals with the help of Jim Neidhart.  The stage was now set for a rematch at Summerslam ‘94, which was made a cage match to keep all Hart family members out.  The match was one of the best cage matches in WWF history, with Bret barely retaining the title.  

 

Since another rematch didn’t seem to be in the makings just yet, Owen sided with Bob Backlaund, Bret’s latest foe, in hopes of being able to help Bret lose.  A match between Bob and Bret was set for Survivor Series ‘94, in which the only way to lose was to have your cornerman toss in the towel.  Bret chose the British Bulldog as his cornerman, while Backlaund chose Owen.  Owen would end up costing Bret the title that night, adding more fuel to the already intense family feud.

 

The feud died down a bit as the WWF rolled into 1995.  Owen became focused on the tag team division once again, and soon, he had landed a tag team title match against the Smoking Gunns, who were the champions.  Owen promised a mystery partner, who turned out to be the enormous Yokozuna.  Victory came with ease for the new team that night, and Owen now had his first taste of WWF gold.  

 

The duo would hold the belts for several months, before losing them, at which point, Owen became focused on singles competition once again.  He was involved in the infamous worked shoot on RAW involving Shawn Michaels, which led to a match between the two at the In Your House PPV in February of ‘96.  

 

Owen suffered a broken arm shortly after Wrestlemania XII, which would keep him out of action until late 1996, at which point, he and the British Bulldog captured the tag team titles.  Soon after, a breakup between the two was teased, but it never led to anything.  During the height of this teased breakup, the Bulldog beat Owen Hart in a match to crown the first ever-European champion.  

 

Soon after Wrestlemania XIII, a newly turned heel Bret Hart reconciled with Bulldog and Owen, and soon the faction was preaching out against America.  Brian Pillman and Jim Neidhart soon joined the group that was eventually named the new Hart Foundation.  Owen found success within the group almost immediately, winning the Intercontinental title from Rocky Maivia in April.  The height of the Hart Foundation vs. Steve Austin feud that raged on for months came at Canadian Stamped in July.  The Hart Foundation took on Austin, the Legion of Doom, Ken Shamrock, and Goldust.  The normally heel Foundation were cheered heavily by the Canadian fans, and the team eventually won the match.

 

Austin then challenged Owen to an Intercontinental title match at Summerslam ‘97, and match that would ultimately affect not only Steve Austin’s career, but Owen’s as well.  Near the end of the match, Owen messed up a reverse piledriver, which temporarily paralyzed Austin.  Austin was able to finish the match, rolling Owen up weakly for the pin and the title.  

 

In October, Owen won the tournament to crown the new Intercontinental champion (since Austin had to forfeit it due to injuries), but lost the belt to Austin at Survivor Series ‘97.  That was the same night that Vince McMahon screwed Bret because of his refusal to job the belt to Shawn or in Canada.  The remaining Hart Foundation members sided with Bret, and left with him for WCW, with the exception of Owen, who could not get out of his contract.

 

He disappeared following Survivor Series, and returned at the D-Generation X PPV in December, attacking Shawn Michaels after the main event.  A feud between the two seemed to be in the cards, but Shawn would have no part of it, feeling that he was above Owen, and refusing to work with him because of that.  Nonetheless, Owen strived on, the only Hart left in the WWF, which led to him decreeing himself the Black Hart.

 

Owen was then tossed into a feud with DX member HHH over the European title, climaxing in a match for the title at Wrestlemania XIV, which HHH won.  Frustrated with the string of losses, Owen turned heel and joined the Nation of Domination.  After getting a win over HHH at Over the Edge in May, Owen became engaged in a feud with Ken Shamrock, which led to two PPV matches, with each man winning one.

 

On a RAW in late 1998, Owen took on Dan Severn in a match that finished with Owen using the same piledriver that he had used on Austin the previous year, which resulted in Severn lying motionless.  This time however, it was all part of a storyline, in which Owen felt so guilty that he retired.  Soon after his retirement, the Blue Blazer made his return to the WWF, but it was common knowledge that Owen had played the character before, which led the fans to believe that it was Owen portraying him once again.  

 

Soon, the whole Blue Blazer storyline was scrapped, and Owen returned from his retirement and began teaming with Jeff Jarrett.  The two found much success, quickly winning the tag team titles.  They would hold the titles for several months before losing them to Kane and X-Pac.  In April of ‘99, Owen donned the Blazer mask once again, this time to feud with the Godfather, who had just won the Intercontinental title.  

 

A match between the two was set for Over the Edge in Kansas City.  It was to be a night that no wrestling fan would soon forget.  Since Owen was playing the Blazer, they decided to have him make a superhero type entrance, and descend from the rafters on a cable.  It is really unknown what happened next, as they had gone to a video package showing highlights of the Blazer/Godfather feud, during which, Jim Ross announced that there were problems in the ring.  When they returned to ringside, Ross informed the viewers at home that Owen was to make a superhero type entrance from the rafters, when something had gone horribly wrong.  It was unknown whether Owen released the harness inadvertently, or if it malfunctioned, but whatever the case was, the result was still the same- Owen fell 50-feet to the ground, hitting his head on the turnbuckle of the ring.  Fans knew that something was wrong, and after medical technicians rushed to the ring, they knew it was not part of the show.  They rushed Owen to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.  About an hour after the incident occurred, Ross informed the viewers at home of Owen’s tragic passing.  

 

The show continued, which got the WWF mixed reactions.  The following night the WWF put on a special Owen Memorial RAW, where superstars shared their memories of him throughout the show.  Many of the wrestlers broke character to share their memories of Owen, and HHH was unable to fight back tears.  The night ended with a beautiful video package of Owen’s career.

 

While it’s a tragedy that we never got to see Owen reach the top like many had pegged him for, fans can still look back at his career, and know that he accomplished so very much, and asked for so little in return.  Owen was a company man, a great athlete, a loving family man, and so much more.  Owen achieved great success throughout the course of his career, none of which came easily, but Owen earned every single thing that he ever got from the business that he loved so dearly.  While it’s tragic that such a fine human being could be taken from us so soon, we are able to look back at all he accomplished and be proud of him, and take comfort in the fact that he is looking down on us from the skies, taking joy for making so many people happy, and entertaining millions during his brief life.

[Guest Daredevil21]

The Present Era (2000-Present)

 

It’s not secret that all good things must come to an end, and the WWF’s hot streak was no different.  The booming success that they experienced in 1998 and 1999 was bound to come to an end sooner or later, and as 2000 began, things began to slowly turn that way.  Although the Attitude era had been what brought the WWF back to the game, it could only stay interesting for so long.  As the WWF entered the new millennium, they were without the man who had led the Attitude era, Steve Austin, and were still without the Undertaker.  Add in the fact that Mick Foley was close to retirement, and the WWF had little choice but to say goodbye to the Attitude era, and try something new.  

 

With the exception of the Rock, a new group of faces were going to be given the ball to run with, and help keep the WWF popular.  Guys such as HHH, Chris Jericho, and the recently debuted Kurt Angle were among the top guys chosen to lead the WWF into a new era.  Ratings were up for most of 2000, but as 2001 neared, it became obvious that the WWF had cooled off immensely in the popularity department.

 

This led to several big angles being run throughout 2001 and 2002, in hopes of regaining their faded popularity.  However, most of them were failed, and to this date, the WWF continues its search for the thing to turn the direction of the company around.

 

 

Steve Austin Part 2

 

When we last left Steve Austin, he had just been on the shelf to undergo neck surgery.  In the time that Austin had been gone, the WWF had undergone several big changes.  HHH was now the number one heel in the company; he focus had gone from excessive T&A to actual wrestling content once again; and several new stars like Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit were now becoming the top players in the company, which meant that Austin would have to readjust to the times if he was going to fit back in.  Austin was not able to return to the ring full-time until September of 2000, at which point, he began a vigorous search for the man who ran him down.

 

Austin soon learned that it had been Rikishi who had run him down.  Rikishi being revealed as the mystery driver disappointed most of the fans, and made little sense, since Rikishi hadn’t come to the WWF until December of 1999, one month after the incident. Regardless, Austin made his return to the ring on PPV at No Mercy in October, defeating Rikishi in an unspectacular match.  The following month at Survivor Series 2000, Austin took on HHH, who had revealed that he had been the mastermind behind the entire incident.  The match was quite lackluster, and had no real official decision, since it ended in the parking lot, where Austin had trapped HHH in a car, picked it up with a forklift, and dripped it with HHH supposedly still in the car.  HHH missed all a week, before he made his return to WWF TV, showing no real signs of injury.  HHH then when down with a real injury that kept him out of action for several weeks.

 

In the meantime, Austin chased after WWF champion Kurt Angle, leading to a great match on the second RAW of 2001, that HHH made his return during, costing Austin the match.  This was all clearly leading to another HHH/Austin match, but en route, Austin won his third Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2001, to become the number one contender for the WWF title at Wrestlemania XVII.  Finally, at No Way Out in February, HHH and Austin met in a 2-of-3 falls match, with each fall being a different match.  The first fall was a regular wrestling match, the second fall was a street fight, and the third and final fall was a cage match.  HHH won the match, and seemingly put an end to the long-running Austin/HHH feud, once and for all.  On the same show, the Rock defeated Kurt Angle in the main event to win the WWF title, making the WWF title match at Wrestlemania Austin vs. Rock, the first face vs. face WWF title match since Hulk Hogan took on the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VI.  

 

The buildup for the match in the weeks that led up to the show, made fans even more eager to see it than they had been to begin with.  Although the two had met many times before, this was the first time that they would both be faces.  It was heavily rumored that one of them would be leaving the Houston Astrodome that night as a heel, and indeed that would turn out to be true.  Right before the match, it was announced that it would be no DQ/no countout.  The Rock and Austin engaged in one of their finest bouts, both of them nearly put each other away several times.  As the match passed the 20-minute mark, Vince McMahon made his way down to ringside, confusing most of the fans.  In a surprising turn of events, Vince handed Austin a chair, and assisted him in delivering numerous chair shots to the Rock, to secure the title win for Austin.  It was now safe to say that Austin had managed to fit back in, as he was putting on great matches, had won the WWF title, and was about to show off a new heel persona.  

 

The following night on RAW, Austin told the fans that they weren’t worth of an explanation for his heel turn, although most would assume that his desire to win the WWF title again was so strong that he sided with his longtime enemy Vince McMahon, who could ensure that he would walk out of the event as WWF champion.   Later that night, HHH joined forces with Austin and Vince to destroy the Rock, and put him out of action until Summerslam (Rock was actually going to film a movie, and needed time off to do so).  

 

In the weeks that followed, HHH and Austin became the owners of most of the WWF championships, with HHH winning the Intercontinental title from Chris Jericho, and HHH and Austin finishing off the month by beating Kane and the Undertaker for the tag team titles.  The result of all of this was the quality of WWF programming dropping significantly, with most of it featuring the Austin/HHH power trip.

 

Things would change the night after Judgment Day however, as Jericho and Chris Benoit teamed up to win the tag team titles from HHH and Austin, catapulting a month of high quality WWF TV.  During the match, HHH tore one of his quadriceps, putting him out of action for the remainder of the year.  

 

The focus then went back to Austin as a singles star, as well as his new heel attitude, which while refreshingly different, didn’t get over with the fans too well.  Austin defended his WWF title in a triple threat match against Jericho and Benoit, during which, Benoit injured his neck, putting him out of action for nearly a year, as well.  Almost immediately following, Jericho was demoted back to the midcard, where he would remain for several months.  

 

During this time, Austin and Vince had become close friends on screen, with the two even exchanging hugs from time to time.  Kurt Angle became a third man in this, resulting in some of the most humorous segments of the summer.  

 

As the Alliance formed and challenged the WWF at the PPV renamed InVasion, Vince was in need of the “old” Steve Austin, who had made his mark by being a bad-ass, who took on all comers, not the “new” Steve Austin, who was more about being Vince’s buddy and giving hugs.  The week before the show, the “old” Austin returned, taking out the entire Alliance.  It was all a set-up, as Austin turned on the WWF in the main event of InVasion, and became the leader of the Alliance.  

 

During this time, Austin developed a new catchphrase that would catch on as the months passed on.  Actually, the it wasn’t really a phrase, it was simply the word “What?”  He began to question Alliance members, immediately following each question with the “What?”  It annoyed the fans, but by the end of the year, they would be repeating it hundreds of times during WWF TV, even when Austin was nowhere to be seen.

 

Austin’s reasoning for turning on the WWF was that Vince had been giving Angle too much attention, and had joined the Alliance because they respected and appreciated him.  The reasoning was a bit weak, but it set up a classic feud between Angle and Austin, that would span to October.  Austin and Angle met in a great match at Summerslam 2001, with a cheap ending that set up a rematch for Unforgiven in September.  This was on the heels of the 9/11 attacks on America, and with Angle playing the patriotic role; he was given the win and the title.  Austin would end the reign shortly after, winning a title match on RAW weeks later, with the help of William Regal.  A triple threat match for the WWF title including Austin, Angle, and Rob Van Dam was set up for No Mercy in October, and ended with Austin barely retaining the title.  

 

Survivor Series 2001 was chosen as the place to blow off the Invasion angle, and a 10-man tag team elimination match was set as the main event, with the losing side having disbanded.  Angle had joined the Alliance weeks before the show, and had been added into the match.  It came down to Austin and the Rock, but Angle returned to interfere and turn on the Alliance, helping the Rock win the match.  The following night on RAW, wrestling legend Ric Flair returned to the WWF, and was revealed as the one who had bought Shane and Stephanie McMahon’s WWF stock at the beginning of the Invasion, which meant that he owned half of the WWF.  Austin’s heel turn was apparently ended on the show, as Flair took Austin’s side, while Vince took Kurt’s side in the dispute as to who should be the WWF champion.  Although the heel turn showed that Austin could do something different, looking back, it would be hard to say that it was a success, simply because the fans never wanted to boo him.

 

This is where Austin’s phrase “What?“ became a hit among fans, who would repeat the word after every sentence that a wrestler made. Weeks after Flair made his return, it was announced that at Vengeance, the WWF title and WCW title would be unified through a mini tournament involving Austin, Angle, Rock, and Jericho.  Austin would defend the WWF title against Angle, the Rock would defend the WCW title against Jericho, and the winners of those matches would meet in the finals, with the winner being declared the Undisputed World champion.  Austin made it to the finals, but lost the match to Jericho, after Booker T interfered.  

 

This set up a small feud with Booker T that ended up going nowhere.  Austin was unable to win the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2002 in January, but landed a World title shot the following month at No Way Out 2002 against Jericho, which he lost due to outside interference from the returning NWO.

 

In the weeks that followed, Austin was reluctantly put into a program with Scott Hall (who had played Razor Ramon during his first WWF stint).  Austin insisted that Hall was too unreliable because of his troubled past, but was put into a midcard match with him anyway at Wrestlemania XVIII, which upset Austin so much that he purposely missed several house show and TV appearances in the weeks after the show.  

 

Austin returned to WWF TV in April, but was still unhappy backstage about the way he was being used.  Throughout May, Austin feuded with Flair, who had recently turned heel for no real reason.  

 

While it’s hard to say just when Austin will hang the boots up, one would think that it won’t be long before Austin does so, as his best days are clearly behind him, and his actions throughout 2002 have foreshadowed him becoming jaded about pro wrestling.  While his best days are now behind him, Austin has proven that he can still go with the best of them, and the fact remains, that he led the WWF on its way back to the top during the Attitude era.  He has earned his placement among such legends as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, and so many others, and that is something that no one will be able to take away from him.

 

 

The Rock Part 2

 

With Austin out of the picture until late 2000, the Rock now had the opportunity to prove that he had what was needed to be the number one guy in the promotion.  During Austin’s absence, the Rock would not only prove that he could be a great WWF champion, but that he could be the number one guy in the company.

 

The Rock won the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2000, last eliminating the Big Show, but controversy soon arose, with the Big Show complaining that the Rock’s feet had actually hit before his had.  To settle the controversy, the two met the following month at No Way Out, where Shane McMahon made his return from his hiatus and turned on the Rock, giving the Big Show the win, and the Wrestlemania title shot.  

 

The Rock managed to work his way back into the main event of the show, and soon, it had become a fatal-four way match including the Rock, HHH, the Big Show, and Mick Foley for the WWF title.  Each man had a McMahon in his corner, and the Rock reluctantly had Vince.  That bond was soon broken however, when Vince turned on the Rock, to give HHH the win.  Vince’s reasoning was that the Rock had never said “thank you” for getting him the title in the first place, which showed that they were running low on excuses to turn Vince.  

 

HHH’s victory made him the first heel in Wrestlemania history to walk out of the main event the victor, which didn’t please the fans at all.  To make up for that, a HHH vs. Rock match for the title was set up for Backlash the following month.  Rock finally beat HHH for the title, but the feud was far from over, as they were now set to face each other in a 60-minute Iron Man match at Judgment Day.  The match exceeded all of the fans’ expectations, and ended with HHH going over, after the Undertaker (who had made his return) had come down to the ring and inadvertently gotten the Rock disqualified to give HHH the deciding fall.  

 

The Rock won the title back at King of the Ring 2000 in a 6-man tag team match that featured The Rock, the Undertaker, and Kane taking on HHH, Shane, and Vince, with the stipulation that whoever got the pinfall was the WWF champion.  

 

He was able to successfully defend the title at the next 3 PPV’s before losing to it to Kurt Angle at No Mercy.  From there, he feuded with Rikishi in a midcard feud for the remainder of the year.  

 

By 2001, the Rock was ready to get back into the WWF title scene, and entered the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2001, but came up short, being eliminated by Steve Austin, who won the match.  Regardless, the Rock received a title shot at No Way Out against Kurt Angle, and emerged the new champion.  The Rock lost a solid match to Austin at Wrestlemania XVII, who was aided by Vince.  The following night on RAW, the Rock took on Austin in a steel cage match, an looked to have things in hand, until HHH came down and assisted Austin and Vince in a 3-on-1 beat down of the Rock.  Vince suspended the Rock indefinitely following the match, but only in storyline terms, since the Rock really just needed time off to go film The Scorpion King.  

 

When the Rock returned before Summerslam 2001, the Invasion angle was at its peak, and the Rock immediately challenged Booker T to a match for the WCW title at the show.  The match had to follow the classic Austin vs. Angle match, which was no easy task, but they were still able to pull out a decent match, with the Rock winning the WCW title for the first time.  

 

From there, the Rock engaged in a lengthy feud with Chris Jericho over the WCW title, with the two exchanging the title over a period of several great matches.  The Rock was one of the four men involved in the mini tournament to crown the first Undisputed World champion at Vengeance, but lost his WCW title match to Jericho.  

 

The two fought again at Royal Rumble 2002, but Jericho escaped with an unclean win, pretty much ending the feud.  The Rock became one of the first targets of the NWO, and the Rock soon made a challenge to Hulk Hogan for a match at Wrestlemania XVIII.  Hogan accepted, and the world got set for a true icon vs. icon match, which in reality, was nothing special, but the fans were into it, and clearly behind Hogan, despite him being the heel.  The Rock won the match, leading to Hogan’s partners Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, turning on him after the match.  The Rock saved Hogan, and the two shook hands and posed in the ring for several minutes.  

 

The partnership didn’t last long however, as the Rock headed back to Hollywood just weeks after the match to begin other projects.  This began several rumors that he was planning on leaving the wrestling business for good.  Since the Rock has made plans to continue work in Hollywood, he will definitely be working a much lighter wrestling schedule, even if he ultimately decides to stay.  

 

So while the Rock’s future in wrestling is still a mystery, the things he has managed to do for the business are not.  He has become one of the few wrestlers to branch out into mainstream entertainment, and looks to have a very promising acting career ahead of him.  Whether he decides to stay in wrestling, working a couple matches every few months, or leave the business completely, it would be hard to say that the Rock isn’t one, if not the most electrifying man in sports entertainment history.

 

 

HHH

 

Born Paul Levesque, HHH would go down as one of the biggest players of the WWF’s modern era, but not before paying his dues.

 

Levesque debuted in 1992, and got his first big break when he was signed by WCW in 1994.  His tenure there wouldn’t last very long, leaving the company at the end of that year.  He was then signed by the WWF in 1995, and given the moniker Hunter-Hearst Helmsley, an American blueblood snob.  

 

His first few months with the company were quite uninspired, as he feuded with wrestlers with some of the worst gimmicks that the WWF ever presented.  These included feuds against a racecar driver, a farmer, and a garbage man.  HHH soon made friends with the infamous Clique, and was considered a member soon after, which many suspected was the reason for his sudden elevation.  He struck a deal where he would be squashed in under 90 seconds by the returning Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania XII, and would win the King of the Ring tournament that June.  

 

Things complicated that win from ever happening however, and HHH wouldn’t end up winning the King of the Ring tournament until the following year.  Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were heading for WCW around this time, and their last WWF show was to take place at MSG.  When the show was over, all Clique members (with the exception of 1-2-3 Kid, who had the night off) gathered in the ring and hugged.  This was frowned upon because, several of them were face and the rest were heels, and the two sides getting along was looked down upon, since the WWF had yet to break free of the whole heel vs. face thing.

 

Someone had to be punished, but with Hall and Nash being gone, 1-2-3 Kid on the verge of being fired, and Shawn being the WWF champion, there was really no one else to punish except for HHH.  He ended up jobbing to Jake Roberts in the first round of the tournament, was not booked on the next three PPV’s, jobbed in the opener when he did return to PPV in October, and jobbed at Survivor Series ‘96.  

 

Finally, the WWF decided that HHH had paid, and was now ready to be elevated once again.  HHH had won the Intercontinental title in the midst of his 6-month punishment, and spent the early part of 1997 feuding with young Rocky Maivia.  

 

Up until this point, HHH had been completely heatless, meaning he got no reaction, good or bad.  His feud with Mankind throughout the summer of 1997, gave HHH his first taste of crowd heat, but saw it vanish as soon as the feud was over.  Luckily by this time, he, along with Chyna and Shawn Michaels had formed D-Generation X, a group of misfits, whose forte was pushing the envelope as far as they possibly could.  HHH feuded with Owen Hart over the European championship in the early months of 1998, leading to a stellar match for the title at Wrestlemania XIV.  

 

The following night on RAW, DX got a complete makeover, with HHH naming himself the new leader, firing Shawn, and hiring new members X-Pac (1-2-3 Kid in the WWF, Syxx in WCW, where he had just been fired), and the New Age Outlaws.  This was easily the most popular version of DX, and the group soon won the fans over by launching a “war” against WCW in the spring of ‘98.  

 

The group began a feud with the Nation of Domination in the summer to fully get them over as faces, and it worked like a charm, with the fans eating up anything DX put out there.  During the feud, HHH had been facing the Rock, who was the leader of the Nation, and the two were set to battle in a ladder match for the Intercontinental title at Summerslam ‘98.  The ladder match was a classic, with HHH winning the title, but not without a price.  During the match he seriously injured his knee, and was forced to work a lighter schedule for the next several months, and even miss the WWF title tournament at Survivor Series ‘98.  

 

By time he returned, DX was losing steam, since the WWF had become as raunchy as DX ever had been, causing fans to care less and less about the faction.  HHH turned on DX at Wrestlemania XV, and joined the Corporation along with Chyna.  

 

It was now time for HHH to move up the ladder once again, and that meant that he was going to go after the WWF title.  He fought with the Rock during the entire summer of the number one contender spot, and in the end, HHH won the spot, and was set to head to Summerslam ‘99, and face WWF champion Steve Austin.  Several events occurred leading up to the match, which ended up including Mankind as well, to make it a triple threat title match.  

 

Mankind won the match and the title that night, but HHH managed to score a title shot the following night on RAW, and with the help of special guest referee Shane McMahon, he won his first WWF title.  HHH would lose the title to Vince McMahon on Smackdown several weeks later, but regained it in a Six-Pack challenge at Unforgiven.  

 

HHH then retained the title in a match against Steve Austin at No Mercy, with the inadvertent help of the Rock.  HHH would drop the title to the Big Show in a triple threat match that also included the Rock at Survivor Series ‘99, but he quickly moved on to a feud with Vince, which led to a no holds barred match at Armageddon in December.  Before we go any further, let’s backtrack a bit.  In early ‘99, Test had begun to date Vince’s daughter Stephanie, to which he objected.  However, Test won a “Love her or leave her” match at Summerslam ‘99 against Shane, which allowed him to freely date Stephanie.  The two announced their plans to be married in December of ‘99 on a special RAW Is Love.  Just before the marriage became official, HHH came down voicing his objection for the marriage, on the grounds that he had already married Stephanie.  As it turns out, he had bribed a bartender at Steph’s bachelorette party to drug her; then, HHH took her to a drive-through chapel in Vegas, and faked her wedding vows well enough to get a marriage certificate.  With this in mind, a stipulation was added to the match, where if HHH lost the match, he would annul the marriage.  

 

The lengthy match ended with Stephanie assisting HHH in beating Vince, and revealing her love for him.  And thus began the “McMahon-Helmsley” Era, where Stephanie and HHH more or less ran all of the shows (in storyline, of course), since Vince took a hiatus following Armageddon.  Now, for the first time, HHH was receiving the necessary heel heat that it took to be considered the number one heel.

 

As 2000 rolled around, HHH began a feud that would eventually put him over as “the Game.”  Mankind had lost a pink slip on a pole match weeks earlier, but the Rock had threatened to have the entire WWF locker room walk out if he weren’t reinstated.  After being reinstated, Mankind challenged HHH to a street fight for the WWF title at Royal Rumble 2000, and HHH accepted.  This led to HHH destroying Mankind, and putting him through the announcers’ table with his Pedigree.  Mankind later appeared on Smackdown, and told HHH that Mankind wasn’t ready to fight him.  He then introduced his replacement- Cactus Jack.  Cactus and HHH had an intense street fight that HHH barely won.  This led to No Way Out, where the two met again, this time within the confines of Hell In A Cell, and with not only the WWF title on the line, but Mick Foley’s career, as well.  Cactus lost the heartbreaking match, and his career was seemingly over.

 

He was brought back at the pressure of the McMahons to compete in the main event of Wrestlemania 2000, where HHH would be putting his title on the line against the Rock and the Big Show.  Mick reluctantly agreed, and the match was now a fatal-four way.  HHH surprised the masses by leaving Wrestlemania the victor, the first heel to ever win in the Wrestlemania main event.  

 

He would exchange the title with the Rock over the next several months, until losing the title to the Rock in the 6-man tag team match at King of the Ring 2000, at which point, he moved onto a feud with Chris Jericho.  The two met at Fully Loaded, and although HHH won, Jericho proved that he was going to be a major contender and a constant thorn in the side of HHH in the future.

 

From there, HHH moved into a love triangle feud involving Stephanie and Kurt Angle, which led to a triple threat WWF title match featuring HHH, the Rock, and Angle at Summerslam 2000.  The following month at Unforgiven, Angle and HHH faced off in what turned out to be the final match of their feud (the first one anyway).  

 

For months now, it seemed as though HHH would be turning face.  Any chance of that was eliminated after he was revealed as the mastermind behind Austin being hit by the car, which led a match at Survivor Series 2000, that had an inconclusive finish.  HHH suffered an injury shortly after the match, and was out of action until the 2001, when he made his return to interfere in the Angle vs. Austin title match.  Another HHH vs. Austin match looked to be in the making, but before that could happen, HHH had some business to take care of at Royal Rumble 2001, where he had a WWF title shot against Angle.  The match was solid, but lacked of crowd heat, mainly because both men were heels.  HHH came up short, and left that night without the belt.

 

He was now ready to take on Austin, in the much awaited blowoff match of the feud, which was signed for No Way Out in February, and was made a 2-of-3 falls match, which each fall being a different type of match.  HHH left victorious, and left the feud with Austin looking like the winner.  He then moved onto a feud with the Undertaker, and a match between the two was signed for Wrestlemania XVII, which the Undertaker won.  

 

HHH joined forces with the newly-heel turned Steve Austin the night after Wrestlemania, kicking off a month of them running the show, as they soon owned all of the major titles in the WWF.  The night after Judgment Day, they lost a tag team title match, and the titles to Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit.  The loss was the last thing that HHH was thinking about however, as he had torn one of his quadriceps during the match, which put him on the shelf for the remainder of the year.

 

Around December of 2001, the WWF began to hype HHH’s impending return, and when he made his return on the RAW in early 2002, he received a huge ovation.  The now face HHH announced his participation in the upcoming Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2002, which upset Kurt Angle, who had already guaranteed victory in the match.  Despite Angle’s guarantees, HHH won the match, and earned a title shot at Wrestlemania XVIII.  Angle complained about the match, until HHH put the title shot at Wrestlemania up for grabs in a match.  Angle won the match, and looked to be heading for Wrestlemania.  A stop at No Way Out put an end to that thought, as Angle lost the spot back to HHH.

 

HHH was now set to take on Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania for the Undisputed World title.  The build to the match could have been incredible, but instead the focus was set primarily on Stephanie McMahon, who had worked her way into the feud as Jericho’s business partner (she and HHH had ended their storyline marriage).  This and the fact that the match was at the end of a four hour show, ensured that the match was void of any heat.  Nonetheless, HHH left the Toronto Skydome that night with the WWF title.  He would lose it just a month later to Hulk Hogan at Backlash, however, causing many to wonder why he had even won it in the first place.

 

By this time, many of the fans had turned against HHH, who had put on much more mass and was now having sub-par matches as a result.  Add in the fact that he never seemed to job to anyone without getting the job back (beating the guy who beat him), and many even began to despise him.

 

Even though HHH has yet to return to his 2000 form, where he was at his best, there is still hope left that he will do so in the future.  If he does not however, his already decreasing popularity may continue to plummet, until the majority of the fans completely turn against him.  Only time will tell what will happen to the man who was able to make valid claims of being “the Game” just two short years ago.

 

 

Kurt Angle

 

Defying all odds, Olympic Gold medal winning Kurt Angle would break the “real athlete in pro wrestling” curse within his first year in the WWF, becoming a certified superstar in the process.

 

Although he was billed as a patriotic face upon his debut in the WWF in 1998, Angle soon discovered that fans were less willing to cheer for the typical patriotic gimmick like they had in the 80’s.  Shortly following his debut, he was sent to the Funkin’ Dojo in Memphis, Tennessee to work on both his in-ring skills and his mic skills.  

 

When he made his return to the WWF in late 1999, most fans had forgotten about him, and he was free to rebuild a new reputation; that being an arrogant and charismatic Olympian, who boasted frequently about his hard work, determination, and his accomplishments.

 

Angle made his PPV debut at Survivor Series ‘99 against Shawn Stasiak, and won with little trouble.  During the match, he received a steady chorus of boos from the fans, and it was quite clear that Angle was going to be a heel in the months to come.  

 

Over the next several months, Angle improved his mic skills greatly, and become one of the most hated heels on the roster.  He became so hated in fact; that anyone that he faced would get face pops.  Angle also boasted an impressive winning steak until Royal Rumble 2000 in January, where Tazz, who was debuting that night after leaving ECW, soundly defeated him.  The loss was tossed out however, after a whiney Angle declared that the submission move that had put him out was actually illegal.  The streak would be ended once and for all by the Rock just one week later.

 

February was a big month for Angle, as he won the European title from Val Venis on February 10th, and then won the Intercontinental title from Chris Jericho just seventeen days later at No Way Out.  This led to a triple threat match at Wrestlemania 2000 involving Angle, Jericho, and Chris Benoit, where both of Angle’s titles would be on the line in two separate falls.  Angle would lose both belts that night, even though he was never involved in either of the deciding falls.  

 

The next several months saw Angle involved in several midcard feuds that provided entertainment, but ultimately, never went anywhere.  During the spring of 2000, Angle developed a friendship with Edge and Christian, which would lead to several memorable segments.  This would also lead to Angle becoming involved with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, in what was one of his best storylines ever.

 

The booking for the storyline was well done, with the seeds being planted months before it actually went anywhere.  Stephanie would always make mention of how cute Kurt was, and usually was the one to get him out of any jams.  At King of the Ring 2000, Stephanie even assisted Angle in winning a crucial tournament match.  Angle would go on and win the tournament, adding to his impressive list of accomplishments in his short WWF tenure.  

 

During the summer of 2000, Angle became involved in a feud with the Undertaker, which ultimately led to a match at Fully Loaded in July, where the Undertaker made quick work of the Olympic star.  Many felt that Angle should have gone over, since he was being built up at the time, and the Undertaker had no real purpose for winning, other than to reinforce his dominant ways.

 

With that feud out of the way, Angle began to slowly build heat with HHH over Stephanie.  Things heated up right before Summerslam 2000, when Kurt laid a kiss on a dizzy Stephanie.  Angle did an amazing job at playing the whiney home wrecker, but it was thrown away when the feud came to an anti-climatic finish at Unforgiven in September, where HHH and Kurt put on a great match that ended with Stephanie turning on Angle and siding with her husband. It was a sloppy and unsatisfying finish to an otherwise stellar storyline.

 

Angle was about to move onto bigger and better things however, after he landed a WWF title match against the Rock at No Mercy in October.  Although Angle went in as the underdog, with the help of HHH and Rikishi, he left the event as the new WWF champion.  

 

Angle’s run as WWF champion was highlighted by his wins in several big matches including against the Undertaker at Survivor Series 2000, in the 6-man Hell In A Cell match at Armageddon, and against HHH at Royal Rumble 2001.  The title reign came to an end however, at No Way Out in February, losing to the Rock.

 

As Wrestlemania XVII approached, Angle was still without an opponent for the show, but was quickly put in a match against Benoit.  Despite the lack of background and reasoning for the encounter, the two put on a technical wrestling classic, which would lead to two more consecutive PPV matches in the following months.  Benoit would defeat Angle at Backlash, and then steal his Gold medals the following night on RAW.  This led to a 2-of-3 falls match at Judgment Day, which Angle won and regained his medals.

 

The night after Judgment Day, Shane McMahon interrupted Angle’s medal ceremony, and got an Olympic Slam (Angle’s finisher) for his troubles, leading to a brutal hardcore match between the two at King of the Ring 2001.  In the early weeks of the Invasion angle, Angle became buddy-buddy with Steve Austin and Vince McMahon, although Austin resented Angle’s presence.  After Austin turned on Angle and the WWF in the main even of InVasion, a heated feud between the two was born, and would rage on into the fall.

 

Angle would come close to winning the WWF title from Austin at Summerslam 2001, but came up short.  The following month at Unforgiven, Angle won the title from Austin in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, only to lose it weeks later to Austin on RAW.  

 

After a brief and illogical turn against the WWF, Angle rejoined them at Survivor Series 2001, costing the Alliance the main event match.  The following night, Angle returned to his favorable heel character, and began his quest to become the WWF champion.

 

He, along with Jericho, the Rock, and Austin, were placed in a mini tournament at Vengeance in December to crown an Undisputed World champion.  Angle was set to take on Austin for the WWF title, but lost in a great match.

 

Angle was not yet about to give up however, entering the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2002, in hopes of winning the match and a shot at the World champion at Wrestlemania XVIII.  Angle would nearly win the match, but the returning HHH would prove to be the better that night, eliminating Angle to win the match and the title shot.  Angle would bicker about the loss until HHH put the title shot up for grabs on RAW in a match that ended with Angle surprisingly winning, seemingly ensuring his placement in the World title match at Wrestlemania.  It was not to be however, as HHH won the title shot back from Angle in a match at No Way Out in February.  

 

In the months that followed, Angle remained a presence in the main event picture, even while feuding with such midcard wrestlers as Kane and Edge, both of which produced several great matches.  

 

In retrospect, it’s simply amazing just how much Kurt Angle has accomplished in his short two and a half years in the WWF.  He has already boasts a list of achievements that most would take an entire career to amass.  While the WWF is currently in one of its down periods, Angle remains a constant bright spot, providing great matches, as well as great promos.  Some have compared to Angle’s talents to those of Ric Flair.  While this may be a bit early to tell if Angle will one day become as big of a wrestling legend as Flair is, things look promising, and preventing any odd occurrence, Angle will one day be a legend.  And to quote Angle himself, “It’s true, It’s true.”

 

 

 

Invasion

 

With the WWF’s purchase of WCW in March of 2001, the dream of a WWF vs. WCW angle was now a reality.  While the angle was simplistic, it was perhaps the most wanted angle ever among fans in pro wrestling history.  Soon fans would be able to see such “dream” matches as Steve Austin vs. Goldberg, HHH vs. Scott Steiner, the Rock vs. Booker T, and so many more.  Amazingly enough, the angle, which was easily one of the simplest big angles to execute, was dead in the water mere months after it began.

 

While there is no one reason why the Invasion angle failed, there are several factors that accounted for its poor success.  First and foremost, Shane McMahon was made the owner of WCW in storyline terms.  Most would argue that it would have been wiser to have someone who had been heavily associated with WCW like Eric Bischoff, lead WCW in the Invasion.  Although Bischoff had caused his fair share of problems, the Invasion would have seemed more realistic had WCW been lead by someone who actually had ties to WCW, and not just the owner of the WWF’s son.  

 

The second problem was that many of WCW’s top stars were still under their Time Warner contracts that would still paying despite them doing nothing at all.  Most of them decided to sit at home, do nothing, and get paid for it until their contract ran out, rather than sign a WWF contract that would require them to wrestle for much less than they were making under their Time Warner contracts.  This proved that most of WCW’s biggest stars were in it not for the love of the business, but for the money.  Nevertheless, this put a major damper on the “dream” match possibilities, as Kevin Nash, Sting, Scott Steiner, and Goldberg were just a few of the names that decided to stick with their old Time Warner contracts, rather than compete for less in the WWF.  Some guys like Booker T decided to sign a WWF contract despite still having a Time Warner contract, proving that it wasn’t all about the money to everyone.  

 

Before the actual Invasion began, WCW would make a run-in appearance on WWF programming for several weeks leading up to the angle’s actual commencement.  Finally, near the end of June, it was announced by Linda McMahon that WCW would be given its own portion of RAW the following week.  It would be a decision that everyone would later regret.

 

The following week on RAW, WCW was given the last portion of the show, usually reserved for the main event.  The match was Booker T defending his WCW title against Buff Bagwell.  The fans seemed less than enthusiastic about seeing Bagwell, who had gotten a reputation as a lazy worker, but gave the match a chance anyway.  The match quickly went downhill just moments in, and soon the only noise from the otherwise dead crowd was chants of “This sucks,” and “Boring.”  And with that, all of the momentum that the Invasion had gained in one month’s time was lost in the span of about 15 minutes.  

 

In an effort to recover from the atrocious match, a twist to the Invasion was added the following week on RAW, when ECW reformed when many of the former ECW guys who were now working for the WWF and WCW, ran to the ring and attacked Chris Jericho and Kane.  Commentator Jim Ross who was in shock, asked Paul Heyman (who was working as a commentator as well) what was going on.  Heyman responded by getting in the ring, and cutting a promo declaring the rebirth of ECW, as well as their inclusion into the Invasion angle.  

 

Now, had it been left at WWF vs. WCW vs. ECW, all may have turned out well, but unfortunately, over-booking prevailed, as WCW and ECW joined forces at the end of the night to attack the WWF.  If that weren’t enough, Stephanie McMahon was announced as the new owner of ECW, a move that many felt was wrong for reasons similar to the case of Shane owning WCW, in that she had no previous ties with ECW, and the whole thing seemed like a way to get yet another McMahon on TV and involved in a big storyline.  

 

The coalition of WCW and ECW was soon dubbed the Alliance, and soon, another major event in the angle was announced, as the July PPV known as Fully Loaded, was changed to InVasion, and would feature all WWF vs. Alliance matches.  The main event would feature an “Inaugural Brawl,” which would pit five WWF wrestlers against five Alliance members.  The PPV was one of the most anticipated PPV’s in recent history, but in the end, it simply couldn’t live up to its expectations, with the show being fairly average with a few bright spots.  In the 10-man main event, Steve Austin turned on the WWF, assisting the Alliance with the victory.  This was another major problem in the long run, as a WWF guy was now running the Alliance.  In the weeks that followed, almost all of the Alliance members were made to look like uncompetitive jokes, with some of them even getting embarrassing new gimmicks.  The only ones who were being made to look serious were Austin, Stephanie, and Shane, who were in reality, three WWF people.  Whether it was Vince’s intentions to make the majority of the Alliance look like they couldn’t cleanly win a match or not is unknown, but the end result was the Alliance being viewed as a joke, with only the WWF Alliance members being taken seriously.  

 

Austin defended his title against Kurt Angle at Summerslam 2001, and although he retained the title thanks to bias Alliance official Nick Patrick, Angle came close to winning the title what was a great match, screwy finish aside.  Also on the card, the Rock won the WCW title from Booker T in the main event, Rob Van Dam won the Hardcore title from Jeff Hardy in a Hardcore Ladder match, and Edge won the Intercontinental title from Lance Storm in the opening bout.  

 

As the weeks went by, the Invasion that so many had had high aspirations for, was dying a quick death, as most of the angles had that were given any TV time featured the McMahon children, or Austin spewing out orders to Alliance members, who had become vigorous followers that answered to his every command.

 

As the year came to a close, it was clear that the Invasion angle had to be killed, before the fans started to backlash against the product.  Survivor Series 2001 was chosen as the place to end it once and for all, with most of the titles being unified, and the main event featuring a 10-man tag team elimination match where the losing side would be forced to disband.  The show was fairly uneventful, which was really no surprise seeing as how the main event was the only announced match a week before the show, meaning that the rest of them were just tossed out there at the last minute.  The WWF side in the main event consisted of the Rock, Chris Jericho, the Undertaker, Kane, and the Big Show.  The Alliance side consisted of Steve Austin, Kurt Angle (who had just recently made an illogical turn against the WWF), Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Shane McMahon.  The Alliance side was a representation of almost everything that was wrong with the Invasion angle, in that it feature only one WCW guy, one ECW guy, and three WWF guys.  Logic like that seemed to pass Vince by, since he was really putting two WWF teams out there, only one of them were billed as “invaders.”  At any rate, the lengthy match was good for the most parts, with the boring portions being kept to a minimal.  The finish saw the Rock and Austin left alone, which while an exciting match, was really a WWF vs. WWF match with no sign of a WCW or ECW guy.  One would assume that they would have put a WCW or ECW guy to be the last man out there, fighting for his side, but since they had done nothing to make any of them look credible, Austin and Angle were the only two real candidates for the spot.  Getting back to the match, Angle ended up turning against Austin to rejoin the WWF, and get them the victory, which made Angle’s whole turn seem completely pointless.  

 

And with that, the Invasion, a once promising, almost guaranteed moneymaking angle, ended on an illogical note, something that the angle had been filled with.  Within a month, just about all of the Alliance members had made their way back onto TV as part of the WWF, with the powers that be hoping that the fans would forget that the entire Invasion ever happened.  The Invasion was certainly a downer for fans, who had expected so much more, but in the end were merely disappointed.  One could argue that in pro wrestling, some angles fail and others succeed, and this one angle in particular failed.  While that’s certainly the case, it’s just too bad that an a “can’t miss” angle such as this one, will be now and forever remembered as nothing more than a failed project, and a blemish on the creative team’s track record.

 

 

Epilogue

 

The last 20 years has certainly been an eventful two decades for the WWF, who have outlived several promotions, began new traditions, created new stars, and entertained millions.  

While it’s certainly difficult to predict anything in pro wrestling, the future of the WWF is even less predicable.  The world of professional wrestling is constantly going through change, and the WWF is right at the core of it all.  This past May, the WWF was forced to change their name to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), after losing a court case to the “other” WWF (World Wildlife Fund).  Regardless, the promotion pushes on, and while it seems that the company is in a down period, it is unsure of what direction they will go next, for better or worse.  That’s always been one of the mystiques of pro wrestling.  It is constantly changing, and no one knows where it will all lead to, but it will keep you tuning in to find out.

After taking a look at the last two decades of the WWF’s history, it has been proven that no matter how high you are there is always that chance that the bottom could fall out.  After the WWF’s first Golden Age in 1984 began, many would have thought that nothing could bring it down.  That was proven wrong in the early 90’s, as the WWF was a victim of decreasing popularity and a lousy product for several years.  With the rise of the WWF once again in early 1998, many would have thought that nothing could bring it back down, but once again, that has been proven wrong, as we now find ourselves in a very low time for the product.  Who knows if they will bounce back again; no one can say for sure, but if history is any indication, it would not be out of the question.  The past 20 years of WWF history prove once and for all that wrestling is indeed a cycle.

[Guest]

Outstanding job with the entire book. It took awhile to read, but it was well worth it. Great job.

[Guest Mark4steamboat]

From what i skimmed over, its a great book. I will try and read the rest throughout the weekend. Awesome job.

[Guest Matt]

coolness man.

 

I actually have a somewhat less than half finished book on wrestling in the recesses of my hard drive.

 

Sure would like to finish that thing. If not for any other reason, than just so it wont be hanging over my head.

 

But so far, what I've read (through Chapter 3) is really good stuff.

[Guest nWoScorpion]

From the first 20 or so paragraph's I have read, it looks awesome.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

From what I read, it seemed pretty good, but there were times when I wished you would have gone into greater depth about certain angles.