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Post by warriorlynx on Aug 2, 2018 14:37:40 GMT -5
 Backstory:Wendi Richter is a former two-time WWF Womens World Champion. She was featured in Hulk Hogan's Rockin' Wrestlin Cartoon series and had huge potential to be pretty big especially with the WWF's partnership with MTV, where a demographic that didn't really exist before (female 13-18) in wrestling was now involved. The Brawl to End it All in 1984 became the highest rated MTV program in history with a 9.0 Neilson rating. The ONLY match televised on MTV was Wendi Richter vs. the WWF Women's Champion Fabulous Moolah. With pop sensation Cyndi Lauper and David Wolff by her side, Wendi goes on to win the title for the first time. The event did better on MTV than the following year's "The War to Settle the Score" event featuring Hulk Hogan vs. Piper. Wendi lost the title to Leilani Kei who was "Moolah's protege" at the War to Settle the Score event. She retains the title at Wrestlemania 1 with Cyndi Lauper once againby her side. Since Vince McMahon was looking for more exposure than a cable channel like MTV, a partnership was established with NBC when the first Saturday Night's Main Event was launched on May 11th, 1985 (taped a day before). Hulk Hogan was featured, taking on Bob Orton, however Wendi Richter with Cyndi Lauper by herside defeated the Fabulous Moolah. The first show did an impressive 8.8 rating. The "Original" Screwjob:At the height of her popularity, in November '85 at an MSG show, Wendi would lose the title to "The Spider", however this was never planned. Fabulous Moolah who was masked as The Spider wasn't booked on the show and oddly showed up that night. Wendi thought she was going over, but the ref pulled a fast-count on her giving the title to Moolah. Vince's side of the story is that "Wendi screwed Wendi" (okay he didn't say that). The claim is that she didn't want to resign with the WWF. Wendi's story is that there was obvious argument over money (which she probably deserved), and that is why Vince screwed her over. She left New York later than night and the WWF for good till the 2010 Hall of Fame. Vince's Attitude toward the Womens Division:If Vince paid attention, perhaps Wendi's run could've been bigger especially if he kept the title on her longer. Imagine the merch that could've potentially emerged for young girls. However it seems that he may not have cared a whole lot if you think about the history of the Women's Division. Take the Federette's, Vince always felt that the WWF needed "cheerleaders", after all besides the Federettes, you also had the RAW girls. Even though he brought in Madusa in the 90s, he didn't do a whole lot with her and broke his promise for bringing in more talent resulting in the title going into a WCW trash can. He started to pay a lot of attention with the rise of Sunny and Sable (and later the Attitude Era), seeing that eye candy and bras and panties matches down the road is what sold. The "What if":
What if Vince didn't screw her? Wendi claimed she still have a five year contract, so it wasn't like there was a contract to be renewed, but let's assume there was a new contract in the works, what if she did sign? Would "Wendimania" be running wild in the Women's Division for the rest of the 80s? There could've been some great feuds down the road I'm sure. Velvet McIntyre and Sherri Martell come to mind. What do you think? |
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Post by The Brain on Aug 2, 2018 14:54:10 GMT -5
I can see her being the big babyface of the division for those few years with her feuding with Sherri,Judy Martin,Leilani Kai etc. In 89 Vince killed the division so most likely she would've been released then like Rockin' Robin was.
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Post by warriorlynx on Aug 2, 2018 15:13:46 GMT -5
I can see her being the big babyface of the division for those few years with her feuding with Sherri,Judy Martin,Leilani Kai etc. In 89 Vince killed the division so most likely she would've been released then like Rockin' Robin was. Rockin' Robin was still feuding with Queen Sherri throughout '89, so "officially" was defunct in 1990. It's like why didn't they just give Sherri the belt and thereafter retire it fitting Sherri's attitude where she can claim "a Queen is better than a champion" or something. Vince could've brought in other talent from JCP/AWA in the 80s like Misty Blue Simmons, Baby Doll and Madusa (instead of in 93). Would've kept it all fresh. |
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Post by The Brain on Aug 2, 2018 15:25:07 GMT -5
I can see her being the big babyface of the division for those few years with her feuding with Sherri,Judy Martin,Leilani Kai etc. In 89 Vince killed the division so most likely she would've been released then like Rockin' Robin was. Rockin' Robin was still feuding with Queen Sherri throughout '89, so "officially" was defunct in 1990. It's like why didn't they just give Sherri the belt and thereafter retire it fitting Sherri's attitude where she can claim "a Queen is better than a champion" or something. Vince could've brought in other talent from JCP/AWA in the 80s like Misty Blue Simmons, Baby Doll and Madusa (instead of in 93). Would've kept it all fresh. I honestly don't remember seeing Rockin' Robin much after her WM 5 cameo. On PTW during the spring they aired interviews with her but no title defenses. It was officially defunct in 90 yeah but realistically Summer of 89 is when it was done.
I could see them bringing in ladies from other promotions but to be honest I highly doubt Vince would've put much effort in building the division than what he already had. WM 3,4 and 5 had no ladies matches at all so that speaks volumes on how he felt about the division as a whole.
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Post by warriorlynx on Aug 2, 2018 15:31:59 GMT -5
Rockin' Robin was still feuding with Queen Sherri throughout '89, so "officially" was defunct in 1990. It's like why didn't they just give Sherri the belt and thereafter retire it fitting Sherri's attitude where she can claim "a Queen is better than a champion" or something. Vince could've brought in other talent from JCP/AWA in the 80s like Misty Blue Simmons, Baby Doll and Madusa (instead of in 93). Would've kept it all fresh. I honestly don't remember seeing Rockin' Robin much after her WM 5 cameo. On PTW during the spring they aired interviews with her but no title defenses. It was officially defunct in 90 yeah but realistically Summer of 89 is when it was done.
I could see them bringing in ladies from other promotions but to be honest I highly doubt Vince would've put much effort in building the division than what he already had. WM 3,4 and 5 had no ladies matches at all so that speaks volumes on how he felt about the division as a whole.
Yah you're right that Robin's last match was in the Summer of 89. Funny how Vince invested in Sapphire so much the following year to be a "wrestler" throughout the year. |
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Post by The Brain on Aug 2, 2018 19:20:10 GMT -5
I honestly don't remember seeing Rockin' Robin much after her WM 5 cameo. On PTW during the spring they aired interviews with her but no title defenses. It was officially defunct in 90 yeah but realistically Summer of 89 is when it was done.
I could see them bringing in ladies from other promotions but to be honest I highly doubt Vince would've put much effort in building the division than what he already had. WM 3,4 and 5 had no ladies matches at all so that speaks volumes on how he felt about the division as a whole.
Yah you're right that Robin's last match was in the Summer of 89. Funny how Vince invested in Sapphire so much the following year to be a "wrestler" throughout the year. Ventura ripping on Sapphire during WM 6 was gold. |
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Post by JokerFC on Aug 4, 2018 13:28:24 GMT -5
Until you folks told me that the Women's division was around in 1989 I would never have known....whoa. I thought it dies totally around 86/87.
I find the Richter screwjob (can we say that LOL) fascinating.
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Post by warriorlynx on Aug 4, 2018 13:39:19 GMT -5
Until you folks told me that the Women's division was around in 1989 I would never have known....whoa. I thought it dies totally around 86/87. I find the Richter screwjob (can we say that LOL) fascinating. It kind of did with Richter gone and Vince wanting to bury the division, but it was still active. Velvet McIntyre won the championship in '86 but only kept it for six days, which was ridiculous since she could've been huge in the WWF and could've been the next Richter. Thankfully Sherri won it off of Moolah the following year. Plus the Women's Tag titles were kind of around with the Jumping Bomb Angels winning it off of the Glamour Girls at the first Royal Rumble in 88. Edit: Forgot to add that Survivor Series 87 hosted an all-womans elimination match, talk about talent Vince had and just threw around. The Fabulous Moolah, The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno), Rockin' Robin and Velvet McIntyre vs. Dawn Marie, Donna Christanello, The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) and Sensational Sherri (with Jimmy Hart) |
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Post by JokerFC on Aug 5, 2018 4:59:46 GMT -5
Until you folks told me that the Women's division was around in 1989 I would never have known....whoa. I thought it dies totally around 86/87. I find the Richter screwjob (can we say that LOL) fascinating. It kind of did with Richter gone and Vince wanting to bury the division, but it was still active. Velvet McIntyre won the championship in '86 but only kept it for six days, which was ridiculous since she could've been huge in the WWF and could've been the next Richter. Thankfully Sherri won it off of Moolah the following year. Plus the Women's Tag titles were kind of around with the Jumping Bomb Angels winning it off of the Glamour Girls at the first Royal Rumble in 88. Edit: Forgot to add that Survivor Series 87 hosted an all-womans elimination match, talk about talent Vince had and just threw around. The Fabulous Moolah, The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno), Rockin' Robin and Velvet McIntyre vs. Dawn Marie, Donna Christanello, The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) and Sensational Sherri (with Jimmy Hart) Totally forgot about RR88!!! |
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