Post by DTP. on Apr 20, 2008 14:01:42 GMT -5
World Wrestling Federation vs. World Championship Wrestling
In the early years of the 90s, the World Wrestling Federation reigned supreme among several promotions across America. They had dominated the wrestling industry since the mid eighties, ever since they had broken off all preverbial ties with the National Wrestling Alliance and turned into a gigantic empire, a global phenomenon. However around the beginning of 1991, the promotion that had been on the Federation's tail for all of those years, World Championship Wrestling had broken off of National Wrestling Alliance.
But the World Wrestling Federation remained strong, thinking that the arrival of their rival promotion into the single promotion league wasn't going to pose as a threat to Vince McMahon's empire. And so the WWF continued to do what they did best and that was to wrestle and make up their infamous little soap opera promos and angles. However somewhere along the line, they lost two big time names, as Hulk Hogan drifted away and joined WCW in early 1994. Randy Savage also soon went off to WCW as he left in winter 1994, WCW from that point began to take advantage of the game, making the World Wrestling Federation look extremely foolish, stealing some more talent and eventually gaining a primetime show on Monday nights on TNT, officially going head-to-head with WWF's Monday Night Raw. Nitro was the name and it debuted on September 4th, 1995, shocking millions around the world with the bombshell that was Lex Luger betraying the WWF and joining World Championship Wrestling.
Nitro continued to show glory as in December 1995 they swiped WWF Women's Champion, Madusa who took the prestigeless WWF strap and dumped it in a garbage can live on the show. However Nitro began to slump in ratings during May 1996, causing the dirtsheet writers to believe that it had already gone stale. That was until when Nitro stole the ratings by a landslide and gave the WWF a run for its money in fall '96.
Closing into 1997, the WWF was smoking, as was WCW. The WWF on one hand was about to walk into Royal Rumble in San Antonio, Texas. There, among 60,000 fans in the Alamodome, Shawn Michaels won back the WWF Championship for a third time as he defeated Sycho Sid to regain the title for a second time as Bret Hart and Steve Austin made history as causing a controversial finish in the Royal Rumble match.
Shawn Michaels had lost his smile, causing alot of controversy in the locker room area. Michaels then vacated the WWF Championship on Thursday RAW Thursday. At this time, Stone Cold Steve Austin was still not getting along with Bret Hart, as wasn't Undertaker and Big Van Vader, sparking a fatal-4-way match for In Your House #13, cleverly entitled 'Final Four'. Vince McMahon and the management then put the WWF Championship up for grabs at the pay-per-view three days later. At the actual show, Bret Hart won the WWF Championship once again as he eliminated Undertaker last in a hard fought battle also featuring Steve Austin and Vader.
Then came along the thought of the Attitude Era in the WWF, WrestleMania 13 was coming up and it was expected to be a fantastic card. However one or two weeks prior to the big event, Monday Night Raw got a makeover, gaining a more vile red and more untraditional style to the set. The show was renamed WWF RAW is WAR and was split into two one hours programs entitled WWF RAW for the pre-watershed part for more family activities followed up with WWF WarZone for the post-watershed program featruing a more adult style approach. Another thing to note prior to WrestleMania 13 is that Sycho Sid won the WWF Championship from Bret Hart on RAW the day after Final Four. This then set up for Undertaker and Sycho Sid to take each other on for the main event at the grandaddy of them all. At the actual show, Undertaker picked up the win and became a two time WWF Champion as he took out Sid, but in other big news is that during a submission match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin, Bret Hart suddenly turned heel and Austin became the babyface during the 22 minutes they fought in the ring. This made a gigantic leap in the WWF as they began to a gain a little momentum in the Monday Night Wars.
The feud between Steve Austin and Bret Hart intensifyed even more at In Your House 14 as the two rivals battled to a disqualification only thanks to Hart's brother-in-law British Bulldog as he ran in and assaulted Steve Austin. At the same pay-per-view, Undertaker made the first pay-per-view title defense of his WWF Championship as he took out Paul Bearer's newest method to take him down as Undertaker defeated Mankind. As In Your House #15 came closer, things got a little unique as the Undertaker got set to take on Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship, however the unique thing about it was that both men were fan favourites. Both men brawled but when it was all said and done, Undertaker came out victorious. Then there was a little slump as around this time, there was a controversial faction, they were all predominately black and believed that everybody was a racist. The leader was a former WCW Champion himself, Faarooq. And Faarooq was the number one contender to the WWF title. At King of the Ring the two fought and Undertaker once again came out victorious with his apparently changed manager-turned enemy-turned manager, Paul Bearer. Also on the card, Steve Austin battled his tag team partner Shawn Michaels to a double disqualification and Hunter Hearst Helmsley won the King of the Ring tournament.
Following that, the Nation of Domination disbanded as Faarooq threw caucasion members Wolfie D, JC Ice, Crush and Savio Vega to the side to bring in D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry and Kama Mustafa with eventually Ahmed Johnson however Johnson ended up being injured. Savio Vega went on to introduce the Los Boricuas and they began a war with Crush's newly formed stable, the Disciples of the Apocolaypse [the DOA]. And to add to all of these introductions of teams and factions, the Tag Team Championships were vacated and a new team was formed in Undertaker and Vader. Eventually though, Paul Bearer and Vader turned on the Undertaker, and a match was signed for In Your House #16 for the WWF title. In other action, Steve Austin and Bret Hart was feuding once again, however Austin had brought his own friends as Hart did with his family from Canada, the Hart Foundation. At In Your House: Canadian Stampede, Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock and the Legion of Doom were the heels as In Your House hit Canada, and the team fell to Bret Hart's team of Brian Pillman, Jim Neidhart, Owen Hart and British Bulldog. Also on the show, Undertaker defeated Vader and Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Mankind's match ended up turning into a full scale brawl.
At Summerslam, the feud between Austin and the Hart Foundation was still raging on, however now Austin had turned his attention to Bret's younger brother, Owen Hart and the Intercontinental Championship. But in other action, Bret Hart was now setting up to challenge the Undertaker for the WWF Championship but with Hart's enemy Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. And in other action, Hunter Hearst Helmsley was looking to end the feud with Mankind in a steel cage. On the actual show, Helmsley fell to Mankind in the blue bar cage as Steve Austin won the Intercontinental title but hurt his neck after an inverted Tombstone Piledriver. And in the main event, Shawn Michaels nailed Taker in the head with a chair and counted down Taker, leaving Bret Hart as the WWF Champion.
Coming out of Summerslam, there was yet more controversy, Steve Austin against his own will was forced to vacate the Intercontinental title. But in the WWF Championship, all was not well, Bret Hart was the new WWF Champion and had a new contender by the name of the Patriot, a name who bled and swet the USA name. And as for Undertaker, he wanted Shawn Michaels' heart on a sword after what went down at Summerslam. The two fought at In Your House: Ground Zero with both men fighting to a no contest battle. In other action, Bret Hart retained the WWF title from the Patriot as also, in the first ever triple threat match in WWF history, Savio Vega defeated Faarooq and Crush and WWF crowned new Tag Team Champions as the Headbangers defeated Owen Hart and British Bulldog last thanks to Steve Austin.
Midway between In Your House #17 and In Your House #18, there was another stepping stone in the jump from the New Generation to the Attitude Era as Degeneration X was formed in England at One Night Only on pay-per-view as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna and Rick Rude all assisted Shawn Michaels in winning the European Championship. Back in the States, the feud between Michaels and Undertaker had gotten so bad that the two wanted each others blood, and so at In Your House: Badd Blood it would be thosetwo men in Hell in a Cell. As for the WWF Champion, Bret Hart, he and British Bulldog got heavily involved in a feud for USA and Canada with Vader and the Patriot. And in the Intercontinental Championship tournament finals, it would be Faarooq and Owen Hart, two heels fighting for the gold. At the actual show, it was Owen Hart who won the gold, thanks to Austin, thus setting up a title match at Survivor Series the next month. And Bret Hart and British Bulldog defeated Patriot and Vader as Michaels defeated Undertaker in Hell in a Cell thanks to Paul Bearer and the debut of the Big Red Machine, Kane. This set up for Survivor Series, also in Canada between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart...
At Survivor Series, the gangs ruled the house as the Los Boricuas, the DOA. the Nation of Domination, the Truth Commission and the Hart Foundation were in the house, the Hart Foundation defeating Vader. Steve Blackman, Goldust and Ken Shamrock. It all ended when Goldust turned his back on Vader and America and left Vader to drown. In other action, Steve Austin made his return to the ring as he destroyed Owen Hart to regain the Intercontinental Championship for a second time. And of course, there was the Montreal Screwjob, in which referee Earl Hebner rang the bell against Hart's own will, Hart's departure would enable the absense of Owen Hart and Mankind from WWF television.
Rowdy Roddy Piper was back on the scene as he got set to take on Hollywood Hogan for the WCW/nWo Championship. But something wasn't right with the finish as Macho Man Randy Savage turned on the fans and WCW as he nailed Piper with the brass knuckles to keep nWo alive. The nWo were at its peak, up onto the point where they had their own pay-per-view event, Souled Out, main evented by Hollywood Hogan against the Andre the Giant look-a-like, unfortunately though, Giant was not able to pick up the win and thus this led into Superbrawl VII. Around this point the WCW had had enough of the nWo and attempted to wipe them off the face of the planet by creating a three way dance match between Team Piper, the nWo and the WCW. Unfortunately Hogan and the nWo came out on top but Sting ended up scaring the hell out of the nWo, hyping up more for the future in WCW.
Hogan had everything in control, and he didn't even have a match scheduled for Spring Stampede, instead Diamond Dallas Page took WCW by the throat and shoved it into nWo, knocking it to the mat in the main event as DDP defeated Randy Savage and Lex Luger won a fatal-4-way match to gain contendership to the WCW/nWo Championship. WCW then tried to continue their badass streak against the nWo at Slamboree as they assigned Ric Flair, Kevin Greene and Rowdy Roddy Piper to take on Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Syxx in the main event. The WCW traditionals were victorious as they put a finish to the Outsiders and Syxx after a hard fought battle.
Unfortunately though, the battle between the heroic WCW and the evil nWo, all was not well as the Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash swiped the WCW Tag Team Championship belts back from WCW's Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ric Flair at the Great American Bash. And in the main event, Macho Man Randy Savage got revenge for his loss at Spring Stampede as he defeated Diamond Dallas Page in falls count anywhere rules. At Bash at the Beach, things got heated now involving celebrity basketball player, Dennis Rodman. However it wasn't the nWo's day as the Giant and Lex Luger beat Rodman and the WCW/nWo Heavyweight Champion, Hollywood Hogan in the main event as on the lower card, Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair.
Road Wild 1997 was heavily hyped as top WCW star, Lex Luger was getting hyped up for his WCW/nWo Heavyweight Championship shot against Hollywood Hogan. The match went back and forth until what appeared to be Sting made a run in and cost Lex Luger the match with a baseball bat shot to the head. Post match, it appeared that Sting was Dennis Rodman in disguise. The next pay-per-view, Fall Brawl was set to be a turning point in the war between WCW and the black and white invaders, the nWo as the Four Horsemen, Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Curt Hennig took on Konnan, Syxx, Buff Bagwell and the Outsiders, Hall and Nash in War Games. Everything looked well, that is until Curt Hennig turned on the Four Horsemen and joined the New World Order. At Halloween Havoc, a rematch was scheduled, in it, Rowdy Roddy Piper was going to get to take on Hollywood Hogan in a Superbrawl VII rematch. Only this time, the WCW/nWo Heavyweight Championship wasn't at stake and the whole thing was going to be trapped inside a steel cage. Piper put Hogan to sleep and won the non-title match.
And so the Monday Night Wars will continue, but will the ratings change now that Bret Hart has left the World Wrestling Federation? Or will the ratings change in WWF's favour due to hardcore fans wanting more of the action? Either way, there should be a hell of a lot of controversy on RAW is WAR and Monday Nitro on November 10th, as it is safe to say that the WWF has evolved over the space of a pay-per-view ended terribly, terribly wrong... And what's next for WCW? Their WrestleMania is set to take place on December 27th, will Starrcade make a difference?
In the early years of the 90s, the World Wrestling Federation reigned supreme among several promotions across America. They had dominated the wrestling industry since the mid eighties, ever since they had broken off all preverbial ties with the National Wrestling Alliance and turned into a gigantic empire, a global phenomenon. However around the beginning of 1991, the promotion that had been on the Federation's tail for all of those years, World Championship Wrestling had broken off of National Wrestling Alliance.
But the World Wrestling Federation remained strong, thinking that the arrival of their rival promotion into the single promotion league wasn't going to pose as a threat to Vince McMahon's empire. And so the WWF continued to do what they did best and that was to wrestle and make up their infamous little soap opera promos and angles. However somewhere along the line, they lost two big time names, as Hulk Hogan drifted away and joined WCW in early 1994. Randy Savage also soon went off to WCW as he left in winter 1994, WCW from that point began to take advantage of the game, making the World Wrestling Federation look extremely foolish, stealing some more talent and eventually gaining a primetime show on Monday nights on TNT, officially going head-to-head with WWF's Monday Night Raw. Nitro was the name and it debuted on September 4th, 1995, shocking millions around the world with the bombshell that was Lex Luger betraying the WWF and joining World Championship Wrestling.
Nitro continued to show glory as in December 1995 they swiped WWF Women's Champion, Madusa who took the prestigeless WWF strap and dumped it in a garbage can live on the show. However Nitro began to slump in ratings during May 1996, causing the dirtsheet writers to believe that it had already gone stale. That was until when Nitro stole the ratings by a landslide and gave the WWF a run for its money in fall '96.
Closing into 1997, the WWF was smoking, as was WCW. The WWF on one hand was about to walk into Royal Rumble in San Antonio, Texas. There, among 60,000 fans in the Alamodome, Shawn Michaels won back the WWF Championship for a third time as he defeated Sycho Sid to regain the title for a second time as Bret Hart and Steve Austin made history as causing a controversial finish in the Royal Rumble match.
Shawn Michaels had lost his smile, causing alot of controversy in the locker room area. Michaels then vacated the WWF Championship on Thursday RAW Thursday. At this time, Stone Cold Steve Austin was still not getting along with Bret Hart, as wasn't Undertaker and Big Van Vader, sparking a fatal-4-way match for In Your House #13, cleverly entitled 'Final Four'. Vince McMahon and the management then put the WWF Championship up for grabs at the pay-per-view three days later. At the actual show, Bret Hart won the WWF Championship once again as he eliminated Undertaker last in a hard fought battle also featuring Steve Austin and Vader.
Then came along the thought of the Attitude Era in the WWF, WrestleMania 13 was coming up and it was expected to be a fantastic card. However one or two weeks prior to the big event, Monday Night Raw got a makeover, gaining a more vile red and more untraditional style to the set. The show was renamed WWF RAW is WAR and was split into two one hours programs entitled WWF RAW for the pre-watershed part for more family activities followed up with WWF WarZone for the post-watershed program featruing a more adult style approach. Another thing to note prior to WrestleMania 13 is that Sycho Sid won the WWF Championship from Bret Hart on RAW the day after Final Four. This then set up for Undertaker and Sycho Sid to take each other on for the main event at the grandaddy of them all. At the actual show, Undertaker picked up the win and became a two time WWF Champion as he took out Sid, but in other big news is that during a submission match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin, Bret Hart suddenly turned heel and Austin became the babyface during the 22 minutes they fought in the ring. This made a gigantic leap in the WWF as they began to a gain a little momentum in the Monday Night Wars.
The feud between Steve Austin and Bret Hart intensifyed even more at In Your House 14 as the two rivals battled to a disqualification only thanks to Hart's brother-in-law British Bulldog as he ran in and assaulted Steve Austin. At the same pay-per-view, Undertaker made the first pay-per-view title defense of his WWF Championship as he took out Paul Bearer's newest method to take him down as Undertaker defeated Mankind. As In Your House #15 came closer, things got a little unique as the Undertaker got set to take on Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship, however the unique thing about it was that both men were fan favourites. Both men brawled but when it was all said and done, Undertaker came out victorious. Then there was a little slump as around this time, there was a controversial faction, they were all predominately black and believed that everybody was a racist. The leader was a former WCW Champion himself, Faarooq. And Faarooq was the number one contender to the WWF title. At King of the Ring the two fought and Undertaker once again came out victorious with his apparently changed manager-turned enemy-turned manager, Paul Bearer. Also on the card, Steve Austin battled his tag team partner Shawn Michaels to a double disqualification and Hunter Hearst Helmsley won the King of the Ring tournament.
Following that, the Nation of Domination disbanded as Faarooq threw caucasion members Wolfie D, JC Ice, Crush and Savio Vega to the side to bring in D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry and Kama Mustafa with eventually Ahmed Johnson however Johnson ended up being injured. Savio Vega went on to introduce the Los Boricuas and they began a war with Crush's newly formed stable, the Disciples of the Apocolaypse [the DOA]. And to add to all of these introductions of teams and factions, the Tag Team Championships were vacated and a new team was formed in Undertaker and Vader. Eventually though, Paul Bearer and Vader turned on the Undertaker, and a match was signed for In Your House #16 for the WWF title. In other action, Steve Austin and Bret Hart was feuding once again, however Austin had brought his own friends as Hart did with his family from Canada, the Hart Foundation. At In Your House: Canadian Stampede, Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock and the Legion of Doom were the heels as In Your House hit Canada, and the team fell to Bret Hart's team of Brian Pillman, Jim Neidhart, Owen Hart and British Bulldog. Also on the show, Undertaker defeated Vader and Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Mankind's match ended up turning into a full scale brawl.
At Summerslam, the feud between Austin and the Hart Foundation was still raging on, however now Austin had turned his attention to Bret's younger brother, Owen Hart and the Intercontinental Championship. But in other action, Bret Hart was now setting up to challenge the Undertaker for the WWF Championship but with Hart's enemy Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. And in other action, Hunter Hearst Helmsley was looking to end the feud with Mankind in a steel cage. On the actual show, Helmsley fell to Mankind in the blue bar cage as Steve Austin won the Intercontinental title but hurt his neck after an inverted Tombstone Piledriver. And in the main event, Shawn Michaels nailed Taker in the head with a chair and counted down Taker, leaving Bret Hart as the WWF Champion.
Coming out of Summerslam, there was yet more controversy, Steve Austin against his own will was forced to vacate the Intercontinental title. But in the WWF Championship, all was not well, Bret Hart was the new WWF Champion and had a new contender by the name of the Patriot, a name who bled and swet the USA name. And as for Undertaker, he wanted Shawn Michaels' heart on a sword after what went down at Summerslam. The two fought at In Your House: Ground Zero with both men fighting to a no contest battle. In other action, Bret Hart retained the WWF title from the Patriot as also, in the first ever triple threat match in WWF history, Savio Vega defeated Faarooq and Crush and WWF crowned new Tag Team Champions as the Headbangers defeated Owen Hart and British Bulldog last thanks to Steve Austin.
Midway between In Your House #17 and In Your House #18, there was another stepping stone in the jump from the New Generation to the Attitude Era as Degeneration X was formed in England at One Night Only on pay-per-view as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna and Rick Rude all assisted Shawn Michaels in winning the European Championship. Back in the States, the feud between Michaels and Undertaker had gotten so bad that the two wanted each others blood, and so at In Your House: Badd Blood it would be thosetwo men in Hell in a Cell. As for the WWF Champion, Bret Hart, he and British Bulldog got heavily involved in a feud for USA and Canada with Vader and the Patriot. And in the Intercontinental Championship tournament finals, it would be Faarooq and Owen Hart, two heels fighting for the gold. At the actual show, it was Owen Hart who won the gold, thanks to Austin, thus setting up a title match at Survivor Series the next month. And Bret Hart and British Bulldog defeated Patriot and Vader as Michaels defeated Undertaker in Hell in a Cell thanks to Paul Bearer and the debut of the Big Red Machine, Kane. This set up for Survivor Series, also in Canada between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart...
At Survivor Series, the gangs ruled the house as the Los Boricuas, the DOA. the Nation of Domination, the Truth Commission and the Hart Foundation were in the house, the Hart Foundation defeating Vader. Steve Blackman, Goldust and Ken Shamrock. It all ended when Goldust turned his back on Vader and America and left Vader to drown. In other action, Steve Austin made his return to the ring as he destroyed Owen Hart to regain the Intercontinental Championship for a second time. And of course, there was the Montreal Screwjob, in which referee Earl Hebner rang the bell against Hart's own will, Hart's departure would enable the absense of Owen Hart and Mankind from WWF television.
Rowdy Roddy Piper was back on the scene as he got set to take on Hollywood Hogan for the WCW/nWo Championship. But something wasn't right with the finish as Macho Man Randy Savage turned on the fans and WCW as he nailed Piper with the brass knuckles to keep nWo alive. The nWo were at its peak, up onto the point where they had their own pay-per-view event, Souled Out, main evented by Hollywood Hogan against the Andre the Giant look-a-like, unfortunately though, Giant was not able to pick up the win and thus this led into Superbrawl VII. Around this point the WCW had had enough of the nWo and attempted to wipe them off the face of the planet by creating a three way dance match between Team Piper, the nWo and the WCW. Unfortunately Hogan and the nWo came out on top but Sting ended up scaring the hell out of the nWo, hyping up more for the future in WCW.
Hogan had everything in control, and he didn't even have a match scheduled for Spring Stampede, instead Diamond Dallas Page took WCW by the throat and shoved it into nWo, knocking it to the mat in the main event as DDP defeated Randy Savage and Lex Luger won a fatal-4-way match to gain contendership to the WCW/nWo Championship. WCW then tried to continue their badass streak against the nWo at Slamboree as they assigned Ric Flair, Kevin Greene and Rowdy Roddy Piper to take on Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Syxx in the main event. The WCW traditionals were victorious as they put a finish to the Outsiders and Syxx after a hard fought battle.
Unfortunately though, the battle between the heroic WCW and the evil nWo, all was not well as the Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash swiped the WCW Tag Team Championship belts back from WCW's Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ric Flair at the Great American Bash. And in the main event, Macho Man Randy Savage got revenge for his loss at Spring Stampede as he defeated Diamond Dallas Page in falls count anywhere rules. At Bash at the Beach, things got heated now involving celebrity basketball player, Dennis Rodman. However it wasn't the nWo's day as the Giant and Lex Luger beat Rodman and the WCW/nWo Heavyweight Champion, Hollywood Hogan in the main event as on the lower card, Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair.
Road Wild 1997 was heavily hyped as top WCW star, Lex Luger was getting hyped up for his WCW/nWo Heavyweight Championship shot against Hollywood Hogan. The match went back and forth until what appeared to be Sting made a run in and cost Lex Luger the match with a baseball bat shot to the head. Post match, it appeared that Sting was Dennis Rodman in disguise. The next pay-per-view, Fall Brawl was set to be a turning point in the war between WCW and the black and white invaders, the nWo as the Four Horsemen, Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Curt Hennig took on Konnan, Syxx, Buff Bagwell and the Outsiders, Hall and Nash in War Games. Everything looked well, that is until Curt Hennig turned on the Four Horsemen and joined the New World Order. At Halloween Havoc, a rematch was scheduled, in it, Rowdy Roddy Piper was going to get to take on Hollywood Hogan in a Superbrawl VII rematch. Only this time, the WCW/nWo Heavyweight Championship wasn't at stake and the whole thing was going to be trapped inside a steel cage. Piper put Hogan to sleep and won the non-title match.
And so the Monday Night Wars will continue, but will the ratings change now that Bret Hart has left the World Wrestling Federation? Or will the ratings change in WWF's favour due to hardcore fans wanting more of the action? Either way, there should be a hell of a lot of controversy on RAW is WAR and Monday Nitro on November 10th, as it is safe to say that the WWF has evolved over the space of a pay-per-view ended terribly, terribly wrong... And what's next for WCW? Their WrestleMania is set to take place on December 27th, will Starrcade make a difference?
RIP