WWF 1996

Random thoughts on WWF 1996.

Well, I was primarily an ECW fan at the time and Bret Hart was the main thing keeping my interest long enough to follow WWF still. When Bret lost the title to HBK at Wrestlemania, I was very pissed and paid much less attention to WWF from that point on. I totally saw Michaels winning beforehand, since they were making such a huge deal about it.

I was hoping they'd do something cool with Vader, but realized they weren't doing crap with him.

I was disappointed when Cactus left ECW and became Mankind. I didn't see the need for a gimmick change when the Cactus Jack character was already so dynamic, as seen in ECW.

I caught some of the stuff with Austin and Pillman, late in the year, as well as Austin calling out Bret. When he came back, I started giving it a little bit more attention, but really just watching during Nitro's commercial breaks or just lame matches.

I disliked Goldust getting pushed over Razor Ramon, and I liked how Piper beat his ass at Mania. That backlot brawl looked very convincing...except for the dumbass chase scene with OJ's white Bronco or whatever that was.

Early in the year, Diesel was getting kind of entertaining since going back to his heelish ways. Purple Taker got on my nerves. I never gave much of a damn about him, after he disappeared at the 94 Rumble.

I thought Sunny was hot and Sable was alright as well. I preferred her when she debuted, rather than the following year and beyond.

I was annoyed that HHH got jobbed out to the Ultimate Warrior so quickly, at Mania. Just seemed like a worthless match, after so much hype. Warrior didn't last too long, either. Funny to see him not even able to win the IC Title from Goldust.

I was sorry that Furnas and Kroffat, as well as Scorpio, left ECW for WWF. I had a lot of respect for all of them, and expected big things. The fact that they did absolutely nothing really disappointed me. Why bring in such a great tag team, only to misuse them so badly? And Scorpio was far too talented to get saddled with such a dumbass gimmick.

Ahmed Johnson, Farooq, Savio Vega and Rocky Maivia all annoyed me.

When the Ringmaster debuted, I was pissed that they were giving such a good wrestler such a stupid gimmick. I was really glad when he became Steve Austin, once again.

Jake Roberts seemed to age about fifteen years since I'd last seen him, in WCW, about four years earlier. I wanted to see him like he was before, but he came off as really washed up, boring and out of shape. The Jesus angle got on my nerves as well. I guess it served to give Austin his big catch phrase.

The Billionaire Ted skits were stupid. Then again, WCW was just as petty when they showed the commercials of WCW guys beating the hell out of WWF guys that had once worked there, for those "Where the big boys play" ads. It's funny, because they showed the Diamond Studd getting his ass kicked by Sting, then Hall showed up a month or two later.

Shawn Michaels would have been a little better as a heel champ. As a face, they made him seem really weak. Especially with the father-figure, Lothario, having to accompany him everywhere. It was a mistake to drop the title to Sid, instead of Vader or even Mankind.

Vader could have been HUGE if they let him. The matches he could have had with Hart would have been big money, I think.....

Understanding ECW

Whenever I see younger people, online, talking about ECW, I wish they'd actually been there. A lot of wrestling fans, today, know nothing more about the real ECW than what was in the Rise and Fall DVD or what they read on the internet or saw on youtube. The thing is, if you weren't a wrestling fan in the 90s, being fed silly nonsense like what WCW was doing with these Dungeon of Doom skits, you'll never really understand how revolutionary ECW was. If you grew up with wrestling that had already been heavily influenced by ECW, you won't ever be able to truly appreciate how different it was, at the time.

I compare it to Black Metal. Today, someone can use the internet to download thousands of albums, from every corner of the earth. They hear all of this 'Extreme Metal' stuff and then they hear some old Venom and crap all over it because it's not heavy enough or something. They're comparing it to current music (that was influenced by Venom) instead of comparing it to Venom's peers in the early 80s.

Unless you had to suffer through the cartoonish crap that WWF and WCW gave us in the early to mid 90s, it's probably impossible to feel the true impact of ECW. Even if you like what you see, it just won't have the same effect.

I don't say this to be elitist. I'm actually sorry that not everyone was able to see ECW in its prime or to attend the shows.

My thoughts on WWECW

In the last few years, those of us who truly cared for ECW have witnessed nothing short of the total raping of its memory. In 2004, WWE released the "Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD. On the one hand, it was a decent tribute. However, Vince and Co. like to rewrite history. While this was no big deal to those of us who lived it, it misrepresented the company for those just being introduced to it through this DVD. And that brings me to my next point.

Following the release of the "Rise and Fall of ECW", suddenly, thousands of 'experts' sprang up out of nowhere. You couldn't get within a hundred yards of a wrestling message board without seeing these children talking about the subject as if they were the authorities. One idea that was expressed within the DVD, in particular, seemed to take hold with these marks; especially since it was a common mistake already. Many seemed to believe that ECW was simply a niche promotion; that it was all about blood and guts. This was something that true ECW fans had to deal with, even back in ECW's prime. Somehow, the barbed wire, tables and chairs took precedence over everything else. In reality, "Barbed Wire City" only ever promoted about half a dozen barbed wire matches. ECW was not a garbage promotion. That's one reason these other wannabe organizations, like XPW or CZW, can never hope to achieve what ECW did. They focus on one aspect: the violence. Even worse, these imitators strive for violence for the sake of violence, with no regard for telling a story or having a decent match. Sure, Ian and Axl Rotten did this, but that was the exception, rather than the rule. Raven was one of the most brutal wrestlers in ECW, yet what he did mattered and worked toward telling a story.

ECW was more than blood and guts. Anyone that was watching, in the mid 90s, can tell you that the best wrestling action in the US was taking place in ECW rings. Yes, ECW had Terry Funk, Sabu and Cactus Jack. However, great technical wrestlers made their home in ECW as well, including Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddy Guerrero, 2 Cold Scorpio, The Steiner Brothers, Taz, The Eliminators, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffatt, etc. Many wrestlers got their first exposure in the US, thanks to ECW, thus allowing them to be noticed and offered jobs with the Big Two.

ECW was hardcore, yet many fans don't seem to know what that means. Hardcore doesn't just mean swinging chairs or putting people through tables. It's a state of mind. Hardcore is going out there, night after night, busting your ass for the people that paid to see you. It's getting in the ring and wrestling, despite being injured, for the good of the business. It's about giving 100% whether there's a thousand people in the audience or ten thousand. Shane Douglas, Mikey Whipwreck, Perry Saturn and countless others sacrificed their bodies and wrestled through the pain of injuries. It doesn't take a body covered in scars to prove how hardcore you are.

But I have digressed for too long. After the DVD, there was renewed interest in ECW. Most of this must have been from fans that had never really been exposed to it. There was also a wave of nostalgia. In 2005, WWE promoted an ECW reunion PPV, called One Night Stand. This served as a decent nostalgia trip and was a fitting goodbye to the most revolutionary wrestling organization of the 1990s. It even inspired the Hardcore Homecoming tour and the "Forever Hardcore" DVD (a good companion piece to the "Rise and Fall..." DVD).

With the success of One Night Stand, the McMahons saw that there was more money to be made off ECW's legacy. In truth, that's the real motivation behind the DVD and the PPV. No one gave a damn about paying tribute to ECW. They simply knew that there was money to be made off the memories. However, by 2006, it went from exploitation to pure rape.

Some of my thoughts, at the time:

"First of all, this is a bad idea. What I mean is, for anyone that actually cares about what ECW meant, this is terrible. To dig up a rotting corpse and parade it around as if it's alive... This is a disgrace. But, on the other hand, let's assume that the idea isn't lame. The time to have done this was back in 2001 when WWF first acquired all of the ECW and WCW guys; before they completely buried each and every one of them. They had Raven, RVD, Dreamer, Snow, Storm, Taz, Credible, Awesome, the Dudleys, Jericho, Saturn, Rhino, and by early 2002 Benoit and Guerrero were back in as well. If Vince had plans to rape the memory of ECW, the timing would have been much better back then. Not to mention the fact that the casual wrestling fan would have been more likely to remember it. WWE fans have short attention spans and limited memory. Many probably don't have a clue as to what ECW was. The timing is off on this one. But it doesn't matter since it's a bad idea, anyway."

"There is no new ECW. This is not a return, it is sacrilege. I miss it like hell, but this will be a disgrace. A McMahon-owned ECW will be about as extreme as elderly Japanese women knitting sweaters..."

"Let's see how long it takes for Heyman's optimism to be crushed by the final word of Vince McMahon...He has the final say. I can't see Heyman putting out a great product and making the other shows look bad for long. Vince's ego would never allow that. And am I the only one who thinks that, good idea or bad idea, the timing for this would have been much better back in 2001 when they had so many former ECW stars on the roster, such as Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, (an active) Taz, the Dudleys, Justin Credible, Raven, Rhino, Dreamer, RVD (before being squashed all to hell), Jericho, Tajiri, etc.? Instead of the dumbass Invasion angle, they could have put more time and planning into it and given this idea half a chance back then....."

"Another thing to consider is the dedication of the wrestlers. Back in the day, the wrestlers would give their all and break their bodies because they believed in ECW and what it stood for. How many are going to be willing to sacrifice their bodies for McMahon? ECW was the perfect stage for these men to come in and prove themselves and showcase their talent. How neutered are they going to be? I certainly don't expect to see Dreamer being chokeslammed from a balcony, for example. I don't see any of the former ECW wrestlers falling for this and actually caring about the product the same way that they once did. For what purpose? To line Vince's pockets with their blood and sweat?"

"Vince is playing the nostalgia card. Period. He's USING the name and legacy of what once was to make a buck. It's not a bad idea for him to make money, but it's a bad idea for anyone who ever truly cared for what ECW stood for. And I guarantee, yeah 'new ECW', whatever; it will be a far cry from what it once was. So again, why bother using the name for something that is admittedly going to be quite different? And I'm sorry to those too blind to understand, but Big Show, Orton, etc...these people do not belong in ECW or even being on an ECW show. So, think back to what it once was, and why people like me might think that what is currently going on is a god damn disgrace. Why couldn't they have just come up with another (un)clever name for the third brand? Why rape the memory of something important? I don't think I want to see ECW become what it always hated, sports entertainment...."

"The Smackdown environment is really killing any potential for this to be enjoyable. I mean, I have to sit through the utter bullshit of Big Show being ECW World Champ and now lame people like Hardcore Holly (Hardcore, my ass) and Matt Striker coming in to join with Test and Mike Knox in the "let's be as anti-ECW as possible" group. And, personally, I find Holly's presence on here to be very insulting. There is nothing hardcore about that guy, period. Anyone that approves of this just shows how little they understand... While I knew this wasn't going to be ECW, only in name, I thought it would at least be an alternative to their regular, hard-to-watch, programming... Instead, it seems to be the 99 cent bin for WWE's reject wrestlers..."

"I am trying to judge this on its own merit, as I do with TNA. I have seen some positive things, not by true ECW standards, but I'm not holding this to those standards. A standard response to those of us who are disgusted with this is, "Don't watch!" "It's not supposed to be like the old ECW!" No kidding. I don't think any true ECW fan expected this to be like the real thing. My inital problem is that they were whoring out the name and even some of the talent but, make no mistake, I'm clear on what this is. Now, all of the advertising has indicated that this is supposed to be somewhat different from the regular product. At times it is. But, more often than not, it seems like the same old shit, as the Hammerstein fans noticed as well. Now, they proved that they could put on a decent wrestling program, and those are the standards I am holding them to. I've been watching this, putting the ECW part out of my head. The show in front of the Hammerstein crowd was actually enjoyable, and CM Punk's debut match was nice as well. I was hoping for something at least as good as that, not old ECW. They gave me a decent show or two, and now they don't seem to be doing so."

"I understand that they want to put these "new" guys over by giving them wins over all of the "ECW Originals", but why do they feel the need to totally bury the real ECW people? RVD and Tommy Dreamer, for example, don't need to be jobbing to put over Big Show and Bob Holly. Anyone that has been watching WWF/E for the past 5 years know that the old ECW guys have already been jobbing to these guys anyway. The "ECW Originals" have been buried for years, and it doesn't seem to make sense that they're still being buried. It doesn't matter for, say, Big Show to beat up Tommy Dreamer in an "ECW" ring, because to WWE fans, Dreamer is nothing but a jobber anyway. I thought, maybe, they'd take the time to showcase these guys and build them up a bit, first, before feeding them to make new stars, or to establish their vision of ECW.

If it was important enough to start a new show and call it ECW, then to showcase some of the old ECW guys, it would also make sense to me for them to undo the damage of the last several years (burying the ECW guys that were on the WWF/E roster) before using them to build the guys that are new to WWECW. It doesn't make a star out of anyone to get a win over somone who hasn't won a match in ages.

I realize that RVD beat Holly. Really, Rob Van Dam did a lot to hurt this project show. His irresponsible actions cost him and all of us. The show seems to have made an abrupt shift since his trouble with the law and subsequent suspension.

In his short reign, Big Show has already beaten all the major ECW guys (Sabu, RVD, Sandman, Dreamer) so it makes them all seem lame. When one of them does defeat him for the title, it seems that it will make less sense since he already decimated the whole roster. If he destroys everyone, then who will be a believable contender? They want these old ECW guys to lend credibility to the new guys, by jobbing, but they haven't established them (in my view) as anyone worth beating anyway.

Sabu is probably getting more exposure than he's gotten in years. The matches aren't really doing much to cement his legacy or to show any newer fans why he is/was such an innovator, but it is good to know that after busting his ass for years, he's finally going to make a few bucks. I hope that he can save enough to make his life more pleasant in the future. He certainly deserves quite a bit, in my opinion, after all that he's contributed. I hope he finally gets the recognition he deserves from mainstream fans.

I understand that Dreamer lost quite a bit, in ECW. Most of those losses were to Raven, but he did manage to beat others. See, losing to Raven didn't make him look like a jobber. He still got in plenty of offense, during the match, and put a hurting on Stevie and Beulah when he got the chance, as well. He still carried himself a certain way, and was perceived as a top guy in the company, regardless of wins or losses. Since joing WWF/E, in 2001, he has been reduced to a joke. He was buried, in my opinion, and they never did anything to really change that. They didn't even bother building him up for this WWECW thing. It seems to me that they could have established him a little better, before feeding him to Big Show and Test. Hell, give him a few wins over Little Guido and Stevie Richards first...

And I think Sandman should have been kept away from Big Show. I thought they were trying to build him up a bit, but they killed it already by jobbing him out already and making it seem like all of his offense comes from the cane, in the process. As if he couldn't get a win without it. I wasn't happy about him only being used to get rid of the gimmick people each week, anyway, but he should have been kept in reserve. I feel that they already jobbed all of the main talent to new people, at one time or another, and now their credibility (which has been damaged for the ones already in WWE for the last few years) is suffering from it. For mainstream WWE fans, Sandman is still relatively unknown. They should have built him up a lot more before jobbing him out to the champ. A few video packages of his accomplishments in the real ECW wouldn't have hurt. They might as well make some use of all that footage.

As for Justin Credible, I feel that he was overrated in ECW and I never agreed with Heyman's decision to push him to the moon at the expense of the older ECW wrestlers. I'll just say that he's one guy that I wouldn't mind to see get put in his place. I could care less if he got buried, since he didn't belong in the first place.

Kurt Angle as the "Wrestling Machine" is very nice to see. His match with RVD was one of the best I've seen from WWE, in years. However, and it hurts to say this, he has no business in a ring with the letters E-C-W on it. Kurt Angle opposed ECW in 1996, making a big deal and ruining the crucifixion angle, between Raven and Sandman. Despite his wrestling acumen, it's a further insult to have him associated with this in any way, despite the good matches he's capable of having."

The summer of 2006 was a painful time for true ECW fans. The few remaining ECW alumni were jobbed out and buried even deeper. However, after several months, the complaining began to die down. Many simply accepted it for what it was. Vince got what he wanted. He killed the memory of ECW, for a lot of people. Now, casual wrestling fans associate those letters not with the revolutionary Philadelphia-based independent promotion that took the wrestling world by storm, in the mid to late 90s, but with this mediocre abomination on Sci Fi. He shaped it to what he saw it as and most don't notice the difference. In 2007, he even put the ECW World Title on himself. In the last couple years, even the most argumentative of us became desensitized to what was going on. I stopped watching, around September 2006, only tuning in again, a year later, to see CM Punk win the title.

Really, the only worthwhile things to come out of this were RVD's reign and Punk's rise to the top. All the hype from 2006 was wasted. "A new breed unleashed" really meant, "Watch us job the ECW Originals out to our developmental talent and neuter the name ECW as much as possible." The Heat and Velocity concepts seem to have failed, but with name ECW, they seem to have accomplished several goals... much to the disappointment of fans of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

nWo 2002 - Random thoughts

So, as many may remember, the nWo was brought in to WWF, in early 2002. Here are some brief thoughts on why it failed and how it could have been done better.

- I think enough time had passed that this idea could have seemed somewhat fresh again, especially in a different promotion. All the extra members and other nonsense had been removed. In WWF, they began with the core members: Hogan, Hall and Nash. This was a good thing.

- They way they were brought in was probably the first strike. The storyline with McMahon using them as his own way of destroying the company was weak, in my opinion, and they should have come in on their own.

- Once Hogan was turned face, by the fans, it would be hard to keep the nWo as heels. The only natural thing to do was cut him out. That was a decent choice.

- I'm a bit unclear as to when, exactly, Scott Hall screwed himself up and disappeared. This was another serious blow to the group.

- Nash and his superior ability to get injured just by stepping through the ropes wasn't much help, either.

- When Shawn Michaels returned and joined the nWo, things seemed to be going in a decent direction. Many fans probably hoped for HBK to appear in WCW and join, years earlier.

- The angle where Shawn was calling HHH out, demanding that he join the group seemed kind of interesting, yet it got dropped. It became something different, once the nWo thing was cut short. In an odd way, it would have been cool to see Hall, Nash, Michaels and HHH as the nWo. It seemed appropriate.

- Allowing Booker T to join was just wrong. The group wasn't even re-established well enough, yet they were already taking on midcard losers, just like in WCW.

- I think it would have been interesting for Hogan to have continued insisting that he was the leader of the nWo, and then HBK could make his return by superkicking him out of the group and setting up a big match, a few years earlier than they did.

- It would have made much more sense to drag the Invasion storyline out longer (for MANY reasons) so that the nWo could have come in and led the charge against WWF. Timing is everything.

What if Bret Hart went to WCW in 1991?

The year is 1991, the Hart Foundation loses the WWF World Tag Team Title to the Nasty Boys at Wrestlemania VII. Bret goes on to win the IC Title from Curt Hennig at Summerslam. I wonder, though, what would have happened if he had gone to WCW at this point, right after WMVII? Whereas it was shocking to some that he eventually got the WWF World Title, due to him being considered small, in WCW a man of similar stature was doing just fine; Sting.

Here's my take on how this could have worked out:

August 1991 - defeats Steve Austin in tourney final to win WCW U.S. Heavyweight Title. This establishes him as a singles wrestler and a contender for other belts. Loses it to Rick Rude, a few months later.

Early 1992 - feuds with the Dangerous Alliance. Defeats Steve Austin for the WCW World TV Title in April. Quickly becomes one of the top stars in the company. Classic matches with Arn Anderson.

August 1992 - vacates the TV Title for a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Title. Loses first match, then goes on to defeat Big Van Vader to win the WCW World Title.

December 1992 - loses the title back to Vader, despite an impressive showing.

May 1993 - regains the WCW World Title from Vader. Turns heel shortly thereafter and feuds with Ricky Steamboat and Sting. Forms a stable with Austin and Pillman.

December 1993 - defeats Ric Flair, one-on-one, then loses the World Title to Flair at Starrcade.

March 1994 - wins WCW International Heavyweight Title, from Hiroshi Hase, in Japan and loses it to Flair in a unification match a couple months later.

July 1994 - returns to WWF...

***

I think he could have been a big deal, in WCW, in the early 90s. Pure wrestlers were more appreciated in WCW, and size wasn't nearly as important. Add your comments or just book it your own way. I think this would have been very interesting...

Hart almost went to WCW in 1991 when Jim Herd was in charge. In the era that Herd was firing Ric Flair...they tried pretty hard to steal WWF mid-to-upper midcarders like Bret Hart, The Rockers (...and supposedly, Janetty gave Vince his notice that they were leaving for WCW, Shawn Michaels balked last second...and that's one of the main reasons Vince broke them up), Curt Hennig, and Ted DiBiase.

Those were the days when Vince worked essentially on handshake contracts, guaranteed very little money (with huge upside as you moved up the card), but you could jump to WCW and be on their TV in a few weeks...and WCW was paying guys like Luger & Sting $700,000 a year, even though their TV ratings and house show gates were in the crapper.

From 1990 all the way to 1997 or whenever Curt Hennig actually left WWF, he was almost seasonally reported to be close to jumping to WCW when he wasn't injured. And right after Herd fired Flair in 1991, WCW offered Randy Savage a guaranteed contract of like $750,000 or something to jump and be the top star...that was in one of Meltzer's latest archived 1991 Observers.

Bret Hart would've been high on the card in 1991 in WCW. At the time, he & Hennig were two guys who everyone thought would be the stars of the 1990s. If you think Hart wouldn't have been a main eventer during that time in WCW...remember that The British Bulldog was. Davey Boy Smith was good in his prime, but Bret Hart was heads above.

Plus, it would've been neat to see Hart, Hennig, and The Rockers work in WCW with guys like Sting, Vader, Luger, Steamboat, Pillman, Rude, Steve Austin, Windham, Gordy & Dr. Death, and The Steiners during their athletic primes in 1991-93-ish WCW....WCW was SO far behind the WWF juggernaut in those days, but they usually had really cool matches, and Bret Hart obviously would've excelled in that environment.

Credibility

Tonight, I wish to comment on something that seems quite common among internet smarks. It seems to be commonplace to question the validity of certain sources when there is a disagreement. The problem is that when the topic of conversation is wrestling, rarely are the wrestlers, themselves, seen as credible. Somehow, smart marks have gotten it into their heads that they know more about the business, especially behind the scenes, than the people that are actually involved.

Whether it be an outspoken wrestler, such as Shane Douglas, or one of the many wrestlers that have actually written books (Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, etc.) this evidence is usually treated as completely meaningless when compared to some teenaged fan that, more than likely, just started watching wrestling three or four years ago. Somehow, it's acceptable to completely disregard anything that a wrestler says or writes because, magically, the fans know better than the people that were there and lived it.

For example, if Bret Hart or Raven says something happened a certain way, until someone else can offer proof to the contrary, take it for what it's worth and don't try to second guess these people just because you have these preconceived notions based off of unreliable sources.

Let's call a spade a spade, here. Most are nothing more than internet marks, usually, not as smart as they like to think they are. What it comes down to is that there will never be a time when a pimply-faced fifteen year old mark is more of an authority on the subject of wrestling than the wrestlers, themselves. Period. I've been watching since the early 80s, and I still wouldn't dare to say that "The Franchise" is full of it and that I know his actions and motivations better than he does. It's asinine. So, just as a reminder: it doesn't matter how many newsletters you've read, you will never be an expert when compared to the people living it. That goes for so-called wrestling journalists, as well.

Scott Steiner's Reign of Terror

In the autumn and winter months of 2000/2001, in WCW, there was nothing finer than Scott Steiner. "Big Poppa Pump" steamrolled his way through the competition and earned a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Title. At Halloween Havoc, he brutalized Booker T so badly that he got himself disqualified. However, a few weeks later at Mayhem, he destroyed the paper champ, in a steel cage, to claim his first World Title. Steiner then went on a path of rage that would make Taz proud. He defended his title against all of the top stars in WCW, destroying them in the process. By early 2001, Steiner was joined by a group of hangers-on called the Magnificent 7. After each PPV, following the total destruction of another of his challengers, the stable would have a small in-ring funeral for the fallen adversary. One by one, all of WCW's big names fell to the man with the largest arms in the world. Sting, Goldberg, Sid Vicious, Kevin Nash, Booker T and DDP all felt the wrath of Scott Steiner.

Say what you will about latter-day WCW. During much of 1999 and all of 2000, the company was going down the proverbial tubes. In particular, the World Title was treated like a toy, being passed off every other week or put on people that had no business being near it (Booker T, David Arquette, Jeff Jarrett, etc.). However, they did do something right. Though it was later than it should have been, they finally gave Scott Steiner the chance to run with the ball and they booked him very well. So rarely do we get a dominant heel champion. Usually, even a dominant wrestler has to change his ways upon becoming a heel. Nevertheless, "Big Poppa Pump" conquered everything in his path, during WCW's dying days.

Sadly, he'd never be booked in such a manner again. However, he does have the honour of being the last true WCW World Heavyweight Champion, before the company was purchased by Vince McMahon. He did have to job the belt off on the final Nitro, but this was because his contract wasn't being picked up and they needed the belt on someone that was going to be working for them. He's not nearly the wrestler he once was, back in the days when he and his brother, Rick, dominated the tag team scene from WCW to WWF to Japan. Still, it would be nice to see him get one last World Title run, possibly in TNA. It's not like he's inferior to the majority of TNA's champions...

Wrestling's 'drop the ball' moments

There have been many times, over the years, that various wrestling promotions dropped the ball with an angle or a particular wrestler. Here, I'll mention some of them and give my take (which will likely include some fantasy booking).

The Four Horsemen in 1995/96.

In late 1995, the Horsemen were reformed, once again, with Flair, Anderson, Pillman and Chris Benoit. They did alright, as Flair won the World Title from Randy Savage, a couple times. However, the feud with the Dungeon of Doom just seemed lame and pointless. Once Pillman left WCW, they had a chance to bring in someone that would have fit in, perfectly; Dean Malenko. He'd already been teaming with Benoit in ECW and when they arrived in WCW. He had the mentality and the reputation to blend in (which he did, in 1998). Benoit and Malenko could have been World Tag Team Champions in early 1996, bringing more gold to the Horsemen. They worked very well together and, later on, Malenko's Cruiserweight Title reigns could have meant more success for the Horsemen. Instead, they chose an ex-football player, Steve McMichael. This guy sucked, in every possible way. Malenko was the natural choice. Furthermore, the Horsemen had until Bash at the Beach and the birth of the nWo to be the top heels in the company. Had they been built up more, earlier in the year, they might have seemed like more of a threat when time came to defend WCW. By late 1998, when they brought the Horsemen back (with Malenko), they still didn't get behind them the way that they should have. Flair was in charge of things and had the World Title, yet his own stablemates were treating like garbage so he could align himself with...DDP? WCW dropped the ball with the Four Horsemen, like many times before.

Hogan v. Sting, Starrcade 1997.

This was, possibly, the most highly anticipated match in WCW history. Bischoff did very well with this, as the angle built up for a year and a half. This should have been the moment for WCW to, finally, get a big win against the nWo. However, this was ruined long before Starrcade happened. Hogan's title loss to Lex Luger took a lot of steam out of this, as Luger became the man to draw first blood against the nWo, and he did so in a rather meaningless fashion, dropping the belt back a short time later. As for the Hogan-Sting match, itself, this was the beginning of the end for WCW. Instead of Sting getting the big win over Hogan, he was pinned cleanly. To make matters worse, Bret Hart then demands that the match be restarted, more or less, screwing Hogan out of the title. I think, without the Hart element, they wouldn't have even attempted to claim a fast count for Hogan and things would have gone as they should have. People cite the Fingerpoke of Doom as the moment when the WCW World Title became meaningless, but I think it lost a lot of credibility as a result of Starrcade 1997. This leads into my next issue...

Bret Hart in WCW.

After the infamous Montreal Screwjob, "The Hitman" was hotter than ever. What better way to introduce him to WCW fans than by making him a guest referee. They did practically nothing with him, finally giving him the World Title after he'd been there for two years. Bret Hart should have been exploited as the hot commodity that he was. They were certainly paying enough for him. He should have come in and led the charge against the nWo (knowing that there was no chance he'd be able to just do his own thing on the side). They could have worked an angle, through most of 1998, where "The Hitman" pursued Hogan and then, finally, got his chance and took him out. This would have been the big blow needed to cripple the nWo and pave the way for something new. Instead, he was turned from face to heel and back, way too much. While Goldberg (a rookie) got a massive push and a World Title run, Hart was doing well to even keep the U.S. Title. It's not as if he was washed up or had been gone for a while. He left WWF as the champion, as far as most are concerned. They didn't need to build him up because the whole wrestling world was talking about him, already. Bischoff and Co. truly failed on this one.

After Sting beat Hogan, WCW should've immediately had Bret Hart challenge Sting for the World Title. This would've been (just like with Flair and Hogan back in 1991-1992) a perfect opportunity to promote a WCW Champion v. WWF Champion (since it could be argued that Bret never actually lost the title to Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series) match down the road. However, WCW screwing up Hogan v. Sting was the beginning of the end for WCW. They had the WWF in position to drop the final nail but, they never really recovered after 16 months of building him up as the guy, only to have him not win clean against Hogan. Adding on top of this, Bret should have came in and immediatly been a WCW tradition guy and been the catalyst in the death of the nWo. The money that WCW blew by not only not having Sting beat Hogan clean.....but never even having a Hart/Hogan feud, let alone a match on a PPV is completely ricockulous.

Mike Awesome defects to WCW.

With all the controversy surrounding Awesome, WCW could have capitalized and really pushed him. The WCW World Title was already being tossed around to anyone with a heartbeat, so it's not like they had big plans for it. They wasted so much time pushing Booker T as the poor man's Rock, yet blew a chance to push Awesome to the moon.

Raven in TNA.

In early 2003, Raven left WWE and joined TNA. In many ways, he seemed to really put them on the map. I know several people that only began watching TNA because Raven joined and they were waiting for him to get the NWA World Title. He was red hot and it seemed that, during 2003, his career was resurrected. Things had been winding down for him, since his second stint in ECW, yet it felt as if he'd been 'reborn' upon gaining his freedom from Stamford. He was insanely over with the crowd. I was in the building, one night, as he challenged AJ Styles for the title, and the whole building was ready to explode just as soon as he won the match. The support for Raven was deafening and there was a wave of disappointment as he was screwed over.

In 2005, when TNA no longer even had a TV show, then they put the title on Raven. There was no real build to it, other than the fact that he'd been talking about it for two years. It seemed that TNA did that for the sole purpose of keeping fans interested while they were off the air, since it was common knowledge that Raven had a huge fanbase online and would go the extra mile to keep up with things. Once they got a TV deal again, they screwed him out of the belt and put it back on Jarrett. Due to his deteriorating health, Raven wasn't anywhere near the title after that and has since left TNA. What a waste.

The Lex Express

Lex Luger received a massive face push, in the summer of 1993. He was the first man to bodyslam Yokozuna and secured a WWF Title shot at Summerslam. For some reason, WWF failed to really get behind his push and gave him a lame count out victory, at the PPV. It was from this point on that Luger was considered damaged goods. WWF dropped the ball by not putting the belt on Luger, at Summerslam 1993, and they did a lot of damage to his career as well. Certainly, he was no Hulk Hogan. He'd already come off as a poor man's Hogan, in WCW. But once things got moving, they should have gone with it. It would have been quite easy to turn him heel and have him work a feud with Bret Hart. Anyone that saw Luger's WCW World Title reign, back in 91-92, already knew he'd make a decent heel. He could have even, blatantly, come out and said that the whole red, white and blue thing was just an act to get the title shot. A child could have written a decent storyline for him. After promoting the hell out of him, especially with the Lex Express Tour, they dropped the ball by not capitalizing on it.

Vader in WWF.

Vader dominated WCW, in the early 90s. At one point, he held titles in Europe, Japan and North America. He was the epitome of monster heel. When he arrived in WWF, most people expected big things. He lost a bit of steam, in WCW, since Hogan totally no-sold his devastating powerbomb. Still, WWF could have easily re-established him as an unstoppable monster. Instead, he debuts by attacking Gorilla Monsoon and gets suspended. Then they waste time putting him in matches with Yokozuna, when he should have been taking out people like Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon and Bret Hart. HBK should have dropped the WWF Title to Vader, without a doubt. A Vader-Hart feud, after that, would have been epic. He still had several good years left in him, yet they jobbed him out and neutered him. Major 'drop the ball" moment for WWF.

There are many more examples, but this is enough for now.

The brilliance of Sabu

There seems to be a very misinformed consensus, among internet wrestling fans, that Sabu was the king of botches. Somehow, his reputation is that of a sloppy wrestler. This is most unfortunate, as this certainly isn't the legacy that he should leave behind. More importantly, it's completely false.

It seems very obvious to me, so I can't fathom how others can't see this. 90% of his so-called botches were done on purpose. Let me ask you this, dear reader; If Sabu is performing so many reckless moves, what would be the best way for his opponent to turn the tide and get in some offense? It would be for Sabu to 'botch' a move so that his opponent could take advantage of the 'mistake'. Much like a wrestler such as Chris Jericho, for example, might plan a spot where he goes for the Lionsault and misses, thus allowing his opponent to take control, Sabu did the same thing. Except for, in Sabu's case, it worked better to have him 'slip up' and give his opponent an opening. Since so much of his offense was so high-risk and extreme anyway, it was very believable that these were genuine mistakes and it made the match seem more realistic. It was so good that internet smarks are still buying into this illusion, years later.

Athletes like Sabu and RVD have very unorthodox styles that are as unique as they are risky. Yes, while attempting something rather insane (that 95% of other wrestlers could never even dream of pulling off) they might make a mistake; i.e. Sabu overshooting his target and moonsaulting from the ring to the guard rail, ribcage first. But the majority of the time, those 'slips' were planned as a way to allow the opponent the chance to take control. It wasn't incompetence, it was brilliance. You Johnny-come-lately smarks should learn to either respect Sabu (and ECW) a bit more, or refrain from these ignorant discussions altogether.

WWE Divas

This is not going to be a very politically correct article, so if you are easily offended it is best that you cease reading this, now. This is actually less of an article and more of an open letter to women in pro wrestling.

You are all a bunch of worthless whores. No, I'm not a misogynist. Back in the mid-90s, the eye candy was a little more rare and there was, usually, some reason behind its presence. In ECW, we had Beulah McGillicutty, Woman, Francine, Kimona and so on. I'm talking about the classic era, from 94-96. In WWF, there was Sunny and, later on, Sable. All of these women acted as managers, valets or girlfriends to the wrestlers. They served a purpose. They were eye candy, but they also interfered in matches or provided motivation for two men to fight. By 96, the wrestling promotions learned to exploit these women, doing photo shoots in their magazines and so on. This was fine, as the internet hadn't exloded yet and a lot of adolescent males had no other way of seeing photos of hot girls. The important thing was that TV time wasn't wasted on it.

By the late 90s, this had changed. Sadly, things have remained this way for a decade. Over the years, women have been given much more TV time, usually for no purpose. Rarely are they managers, valets or girlfriends. Sometimes, they pretend to wrestle, though 90% are terrible. Often, they have no purpose at all. They perform useless skits or have dance/bikini/nightgown contests that are bereft of any substance. It has nothing to do with pro wrestling. WWE has made the problem worse with the idiotic Diva Search, as if we need to waste more time on choosing among these talentless hookers. These stupid bitches possess little or no knowledge of the business and rarely do any of them have even the slightest bit of passion for it. At best, they're just there to keep the 14 year old, acne-ravaged losers drooling and hoping for a nipple slip. This really isn't necessary, as my next point arises.

I am not a very modern person, but even I have to remind these whores that it's 2009. The internet is overflowing with pornography. Teenage boys (or just loser assholes) don't need to waste time looking at scantily-clad twats on TV when they can see a wide variety of tits and asses with a few keystrokes. Of course, then they'll begin stroking something else. And right there; that's your only use. All of you silly cunts are on TV for one reason and one reason only: you're nothing but eye candy. You're there so sexually frustrated teens can jerk off to your photo shoots or your dumbass bra and panty matches. Every single one of you is the same as the next. All interchangeable, faceless cunts. It's your ass and your titties that these fellows want to see. No one gives a fuck what you have to say or about the lame ass matches you struggle through. Naturally, WWE is not about to stop wasting time on these tramps any time soon. While it would be nice to relegate these sluts to positions as valets and so on, it's not going to happen.

Let's just end the fucking charade. Parade the stupid cunts down there, in between the matches, to flash their tits and bend over and show their asses to all the guys so they can run to the bathroom and blow a wad all over the wallpaper, before the next match. Forego the nonsensical 'wrestling matches', the comedy skits and all the other dumb shit you fucking waste our time with and just expose this for what it is. Or better yet, go ahead and just kill yourselves. No one would fucking notice.