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What is every one's postion in the WWF?
What was the "Wrestling Album"?
The WWF infused rock and roll into the business in 1982, thanks to Vince McMahon Jr. There were matches on MTV once in a while, way before Heat. The WWF decided to do an album, and had wrestlers do the singing. (Yes, they really sang.) Jessie Venture and Mean Gene Okerland commentated on the first album, which contained two Hulk Hogan theme songs, and Mean Gene's singing debut with his version of :Tutti Fruiti". The WWF released "Piledriver: Wrestling Album 2" a few years after, with less wrestlers singing, and Vince McMahon's singing debut. (On a Raw in 2000, Benoit and Jericho had dug up a video of him singing the song from the album.) Since then, very few wrestlers sing their own themes, with K-Qwick and Shawn Michaels being exceptions. The Wrestling Album was recently released on cd, with the popularity of Jesse Ventura, but 'Piledriver" has yet to be released.
Why did Jim Ross jump ship from the WCW to the WWF in 1993?
Ross was the best commentator at the time, and he's contract was up. WCW was going to offer him a renewal, but the new political surroundings made him leave. (Namely, Venture as commentator and Bishoff behind the scenes.) So, he jumped ship.
Was he fired from the WWF?
No. But he was off tv for a while. The WWF didn't give JR the top play-by-play spot and gave him duties on WWF radio. He was stricken with Bells Palsy (a facial paralysis that plagues him til this day). Fate would turn around when Vince McMahon left the play-by-play position due to the steroids trial. He took the position and used it in an angle, bring in the fake Diesel and Razor Ramon. He has been the number one play man ever since.
Who was Jack Tunney?
Jack Tunney was the figure head president of the WWF in the '80's and early '90's. He was initially the head of a Canadian territory, which he also had control of the arenas in a certain capacity. He gave exclusive rights for the WWF to wrestle in the territory, and as a token of their esteem, the WWF made him figurehead president. Whenever a story line needed a big decision from someone, it was Jack Tunney. Tunney did a lot of promotion work for the WWF and eventually retired in the mid-90's.
What were the WWF sex scandals?
Between 1992-93, Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, and ring announcer Mel Phillips were all accused, but not sued, for various indiscretions. Rita Chatterton claimed Vince forced himself on her in a limo in early '87. Patterson supposively made advances at WWF jobber Barry "O" Orton. Patterson left the WWF for a while until the heat cooled. Phillips was accused of groping the ring crew, and Tom Cole, a former ring boy, made the accusations. Phillips would leave the WWF to get the heat off, and would return when Patterson, and left two years after.
Why are piledriver now outlawed?
Two words: Steve Austin. After suffering a piledriver from Owen Hart at SummerSlam '97, Austin was temporarily paralyzed and was out a year recovering. Other wrestlers were getting injured, but not as severe, so the WWF decided to ban them, with certain exceptions. (Austin's return match in 1998 and the Right to Censor's attack of Chyna in 2001 as examples.)
Isn't the Hardcore title the old WWF title belt smashed?
Yes. For the story, go to Curt Hennig's section under Individual wrestlers.
Who had the longest I-C title run?
The Honky Tonk Man held the title for 15 months.
Who had the fastest match in WWF history?
The fastest on tv was Uncle Elmer defeating Jimmy Valient on October 5, 1985 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. On the same night as his wedding, Elmer won in 6 seconds. The fastest non-televised match was Montie vs. Bret Hart before the Royal Rumble '92, with the Mountie rolling up Hart, the bell rining, and a three count administered. Three seconds is all it took.
The fastest world title match was Kevin Nash beat Bob Backlund for the WWF title November 26, 1994 in 8 seconds at Madison Square Garden.
What was the shortest WWF title reign?
It's debated between two incidents. When Andre gave the title to Dibiase in 1988, and WM 9 with Yokozuna losing to Hulk Hogan after Yoko beat Bret Hart.
What is "WWF Attitude"?
When the WWF decided to change directions in 1997, they had commercials on the Super Bowl to commemorate the new look. "WWF Attitude" was announced to the world. Shortly after the Montreal Screwjob of Bret Hart, Vince has did a commercial on WWF shows, stating that he would be doing a smarter and more extreme show, pushing the limits of wrestling, as a show and as a sport. It was a response to the growing number of smart wrestling fans.
Who was Bill Watts?
In spring 1992, "Cowboy" Bill Watts was introduced as the new booker for WCW. Bill was an NWA/WCW employee for years, and had owned the UWF, a successful promotion that was bought out by the NWA in 1987. Bill wasn't a well-liked booker, as he implemented several changes. (Mick Foley would call these "Watt's Commandments" in his book "Have a Nice Day".) He banned top rope moves, disallowed mats on the concrete floor, and told mid-card wrestlers to wrestle badly in order to make the main-eventers look better. He also pushed his son Erik, who was a lackluster wrestler at the time. There were good things that happened during the Watts era. The color barrier was broken, with Ron "Farooq" Simmons winning the WCW title. He also pushed Vader into the spotlight. However, with low attendance and the company losing money, Watts was fired, and replace by Eric Bishoff. Watts works in the pharmaceutical industry now.
Did they have the first black world heavyweight champion?
Yes. Ron Simmons accomplished the feat on August 22, 1992.
Who is Jason Hervey?
Hervey is better known as the bullying older brother on the tv show "The Wonder Years". He was a wrestling fan and WCW was looking for main stream creditability. He was dating Missy Hyatt at the time and the connection gave Hervey an occasional announce position. Missy and him split, and Hervey parted ways with WCW, but maintained a relationship with Eric Bishoff. They did some side projects for WCW. Hervey popped up in wrestling news again in 2000, as he helped Bishoff find a company interested in buying WCW with him at the helm.
What happened to the TV title?
It was deactivated, but when is up to what you want to believe. Scott Hall won the TV title in December 1999 from Rick Steiner, and simply threw it in the trash. (Russo, think there were too many singles titles, had the title deactivated.) It was presumed deactivated until February of 2000, when Jim Duggan declares himself champion. (Russo had gone and the interim booking committee reactivated the title.) The title is deactivated in April, when Russo returned and vacated the title.
What happened to cause Lenny Lane to lose the cruiserweight title in October 1999?
Lenny Lane, with Lodi, were doing a controversial gimmick, which involved homosexual overtones, was stirring up a lot of trouble from special interest groups. So, in what amounted to a phantom title change, Lane "lost" the title to Psychosis. Lenny and Lodi left for a while, until things cooled down.
Who was the shortest reigning WCW champion?
Back in 1999 Sting won the world title belt at the beginning of Nitro against DDP and lost it that night in a main event 4-way bout. The shortest reign out of all the titles would be Steve Austin. After receiving the belt from Ricky Steamboat, who had to forfeit due to injury, he was give "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan as an opponent. It only took 9 seconds to win the belt.
Who was Todd Gordon?
Todd was the person who created Eastern Championship Wrestling, later Extreme Championship Wrestling. He made his money though the jewelry business and was a huge wrestling fan. He helped financed Tri-State Wrestling out of Philly, which eventually closed and Todd opened ECW. Eddie Gilbert was the original creative force and Paul Heyman came into the fold a short time later. For 5 years, the company would grow into the biggest indie promotion in the U.S. Heyman eventually bought the promotion from Gordon. Gordon would become figurehead commissioner after that, and left after he was suspect of scout talent for the WCW.
What was "The Night The Line Was Crossed"?
February 5, 1994 at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA featured an incredible 60-minute ECW title match with Shane Douglas, Terry Funk and Sabu. It went to a draw, but was considered the night ECW broke away from the independent promotions and became a major player in wrestling.
When was the first ECW invasion?
In 1996, some ECW wrestlers showed up at the Mind Games PPV and the following night's Raw. There was a short run-in, but the next year would see ECW getting its first ppv, and the WWF needing something to spark the fans up after losing Hall and Nash. So, the WWF and ECW did an invasion angle. (Paul E.,as Bruce from Connecticut, lambasted WWF Livewire from his cell phone, claiming they stole everything from ECW.) ECW had matches on Raw in '97, which fueled a Lawler/Tommy Dreamer feud and several USWA vs. ECW matches. The invasion would stop, but the ECW and WWF still had a working relationship. The WWF would send talent down to develop, while the WWF would pick up stars from ECW.
Who was 911?
Paul Heyman had found the 6'5 Al Poling working the indie circuit, but the guy couldn't wrestle. So, Paul E., who had problems with long matches fatiguing the fans, brought in 9-1-1 (Polings) to pop the crowd. He would usually clean house with a series of chokeslams during boring matches, or whenever someone need their clock cleaned in the mid-card. (He is sometimes credited for creating the chokeslam, after Paul demanded him to dunk a guy's head like a basketball.) Poling was snatched up by WCW, but being an average sized wrestler (the ECW guys were a bit smaller) Poling never caught on, went back to the ECW for a couple of shows, and is now on the indie circuit.
Who is Bill Alfonzo?
A referee for WCW for a long time in the '80's, Bill had followed Gorge Gonzeles (see Giant Gonzoles under "Where are they now?") to the WWF. After Gozeles left, Paul Heyman snatched Alfonzo up as an official that actually enforced the rules in ECW, something the bloodthirsty fans hated. He wound up becoming a manager, first with Tazz, then turning on him and taking Sabu and Rob Van Dam as clients. With Van Dam in the WWF, Fonzie is off in the indie circuit.
Why did they leave TNN?
The WWF had agreed to let ECW have their show on the air, but TNN had other thoughts. They didn't want to be known as "The Wrestling Channel" and decided to drop the programming. The final ECW on TNN was on Friday night, October 6, 2000.
When was the last ECW show in the ECW arena?
December 23, 2000. The main event featured ECW World Champion Steve Corino defeating Justin Credible and Sandman in a three-way dance.
How did it from?
Jim Cornette formed SMW in 1992 and gather some of the better talent at that time including the Rock 'n' Roll Express, the Heavenly Bodies (Tom Pritchard and Stan Lane),
Why were they courted by the WCW and the WWF?
The big two were in a slump in 1993, and needed fresh talent. They asked to borrow their talent on shows, with WCW having first crack. It didn't last long as the relationship broke down. (R'n'R vs. Bodies match at 93's SuperBrawl in February was about it.) The WWF quickly snatched the inter-promotional deal, seeing that they needed a fresh tag tem for the Steiners (The Heavenly Bodies) and a mouth piece for Yokozuna (Cornette). This inter-promotional relationship would last until the end of the year, which SMW name was dropped from tv. However, it became a developmental territory for the WWF until its closing in November 1995.
(Japan)Did New Japan Wrestling have the biggest outdoor arena event in history?
Yes. April 29, 1995 at Pyongyang Stadium in North Korea was host to a sports festival, including a wrestling card put on by AJPW. Approximately 185,000 saw Scott Norton and Shinya Hashimoto wrestle to a draw, and Antonio Inoki defeated Ric Flair. Other notable matches included Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) defeated 2 Cold Scorpio and Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Hiro Hase & Kensuke Sasaki. Several of the matches were shown on ppv in the states and a tape featuring highlights was released by New Japan, but the full show has not been released.
What was the Octuple crown championship?
June 17, 1996, at "Skydiving J" show at Budokan Hall in Japan, Jushin Liger challenged 7 other junior heavyweight champions to unite their titles in the Super J tournament. The champions threw their belts into the ring, to accept. The tournament was held in Tokyo between August 2-5, 1996. The participants were:
Great Sasuke would win the tournament, unifying the titles. After defeating Sasuke, Ultimo Dragon would win the WCW Cruiserweight belt, but it was not included in the Octuple crown. Ultimo would lose the Octuple titles to Liger, who would be the last to hold all 8 titles. Liger would lose the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Title to Yuji Yasuraoka, and the other 7 to Shinjiro Ohtani. Ohtani was forced to vacate the WWF light heavyweight title, since the WWF decided to have their own division, and vacated 5 of the other titles voluntarily, keeping the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title.
Why do some of the Japanese wrestlers capitalize all the letters in their name?
When a Japanese wrestler turns heel, they use western letters instead of Japanese hiragana (characters). To put more emphasis on their name, they capitalize all the letters of their first name, or the whole name.
What is the All Japan "Triple Crown"?
It consists of three belts, NWA International Title, the NWA United National Title and the Pacific Wrestling Federation Titles. They were unified April 18, 1989, when Jumbo Tsuruta, the NWA International Title defeat the NWA United National and Pacific Wrestling Federation champion Stan Hansen and never been separated.
What was GLOW?
Created by David McLane, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) was a precursor to his newest venture, Women of Wrestling (WOW). With cheesy storylines and commentating, the show is a cult favorite of wrestling fans, even though the wrestling was very lack luster. It launched the careers of both Ivory (billed as Tina Ferrari) and WWF's Tori.
When were the first WWF/NWA title matches?
The Backlund-Flair match took place on July 4, 1982 at the Omni, and ended in a double countout. It was the last time that the WWF champion and the NWA champion wrestled each other. Prior to that, WWF champ Superstar Graham fought NWA champ Harley Race to a draw on January 23, 1978 in Miami, FL at the Orange Bowl.
Who was the first WWF titleholder to defend his title at a WCW event?
The Ultimo Dragon, octuple crown champion, defended the championships on Nitros in 1996. Apart of the championships was the WWF light heavyweight title.
