4/18/00

In the history of professional wrestling, the double-cross is about as old as the headlock or the half nelson. The annals of the ring are littered with tales of promoters and wrestlers screwing over one another.

One of the most famous dates back to 1925, when veteran grappler Stanislaus Zbysko (no relation to Larry) pulled a fast one on promoters Billy Sandow, Toots Mondt and Ed "The Strangler" Lewis (the so-called "Gold Dust Trio") by defeating their hand-picked champion Wayne "Big" Munn for the Heavyweight title. In reality, Munn couldn’t wrestle his way out of a paper bag, and Zbysko had agreed to lay down for the champ in a "worked" or predetermined match (which were already commonplace by that time.) The legitimately skilled Zbysko had other ideas, however, and scored an unscripted win over Munn to become World Champion.

Another well-known story involves the one and only Buddy "Nature Boy" Rogers, who in 1962 refused the demands of NWA promoter Sam Mushnick that he drop the World Heavyweight title to the legendary journeyman Lou Thesz. Rogers employed stalling tactics, insisting on facing only "performers" who were willing to "do business" with him. On January24, 1963, Rogers stepped into the ring in Toronto, expecting to be defending the strap against "Whipper" Billy Watson, one of the many wrestlers who, like him, were merely showmen and thus were incapable of double-crossing him. When he looked to the opposing corner, however, he found himself staring at none other than a thoroughly pissed-off Lou Thesz. Realizing he had been outsmarted, Rogers knew there was nothing he could do against the genuine grappling ability of Thesz, and he had no choice but to lose his coveted belt.

Most mat observers believed that the double-cross was a relic of the past. It is indeed true that as the sport became more and more thoroughly choreographed, and as its competitors became more "performers" than actual wrestlers, the likelihood of such a thing occurring decreased significantly. But in November 1997, it was proven that rumors of the death of the double-cross had been greatly exaggerated. In one of the most-talked about incidents of recent years, WWF promoter Vince McMahon screwed Bret "The Hitman" Hart out of the World title at the 11^th Annual Survivor Series in Montreal. Hart was on his way to WWF-competitor World Championship Wrestling (WCW), but had been assured by McMahon that he wouldn’t have to lose the belt in his home country to his hated rival Shawn Michaels. In reality, however, McMahon didn’t want to take the chance of the Hitman showing up in WCW with his WWF belt in tow, and so ordered the match stopped due to a submission on the part of Hart which in fact never occurred, and awarded the title to Michaels.

Well, it’s been almost two and a half years since the infamous Montreal Screwjob, and once again the wrestling world has been shaken to its foundations by a byzantine story of betrayal, conspiracy and intrigue. This time it involves all three major organizations, the WWF, WCW, and ECW.

We begin in Extreme Championship Wrestling. For the majority of 1999, the Philadelphia-based company’s World Champion had been Taz, a hard-assed tough guy from the streets of Redhook, Brooklyn. In the fall of ’99, however, Taz found himself at odds with ECW head honcho Paul Heyman, and the two could not come to an agreement on a contract renewal. Taz decided to explore other career options, and wound up signing a deal with Vince McMahon to work in the World Wrestling Federation. Before he left for the bright lights of the WWF, however, the man known as the "Human Suplex Machine" did the honor of passing the ECW torch to Mike Awesome, a towering mountain of a man whom Paul Heyman had decided to build his promotion around.

Now Mike Awesome was the ECW titleholder. Imagine Heyman’s shock, however, when he learned at the beginning of April that Awesome had secretly signed a contract with WCW. Whereas Taz had negotiated his new deal after his contract expired, with Heyman’s full blessing, Awesome had acted in complete breach of his active contract. Awesome was set to make his WCW debut on the April 10 edition of Monday Nitro, despite his continuing status as ECW World Champion. Looking to avoid any further embarrassment, Heyman insisted that the only way he would allow his champion to breach his contract without taking him to court would be if he agreed to lose his title in an ECW ring.

Awesome agreed, but the title loss would not occur until after he had made his first WCW appearance. And so the giant champion showed up on Nitro, setting up an angle with Kevin Nash, one of WCW’s top stars, by jumping him in the ring and laying him out. Most importantly, he was acknowledged by the TV announcers as the ECW Heavyweight titlist.

Now came the time for him to drop the strap as agreed. It occurred at an ECW event in Indianapolis on Thursday, April 13. The prevailing rumor was that the man Awesome would have to do the job for would be the Sandman, a logical choice as he is one of ECW’s top guys. However, Paul Heyman had something special planned. In a stroke of pure genius, he approached Vince McMahon with revenge against Awesome and WCW on his mind. Vince’s World Wrestling Federation has had dealings with ECW in the past and they are on relatively amicable terms, and so Heyman’s plan came to fruition.

When the unsuspecting Mike Awesome arrived at the arena, he was informed that the man he would have to lose to would be none other than Taz, ECW’s prodigal son officially on loan from the WWF.

And so, for the first time ever, a WCW wrestler faced off against a WWF wrestler–for the ECW title. And the WCW wrestler went down in defeat as obligated–and by submission, no less.

Brought together by the desire to humiliate a common enemy, Heyman and McMahon have pulled off an amazing coup. The very man who received a much-hyped introduction on WCW Nitro as the ECW World Champion, and who destroyed WCW superstar Kevin Nash, has been soundly thrashed by a WWF wrestler. That wrestler, Taz, appeared on the April 17 edition of WWF Raw Is War as the ECW Champion.

Clearly, since Taz is no longer an ECW competitor, he will not hold the belt for long, but the damage has been done. Mike Awesome and WCW have been embarrassed. Awesome in particular, who was supposed to get a gigantic push in Turner-land, has basically been shot down before he even left the ground. I’m sure that the hands of WCW creative director Eric Bischoff were tied, as well. He had to play along. After just being given back his job in WCW a few weeks ago, it’s clear the last thing he’d want is for the company to be dragged into a court battle.

The benefits for McMahon are obvious, with his main competitor made to look like fools. Interestingly, it’s ECW that doesn’t look to gain much from the situation. Heyman may have gained a bit of satisfaction against the people who screwed him, but the problem caused by Awesome still exists. The ECW title is now in the hands of Taz, a former company legend, no doubt, but still a wrestler who currently works for a competitor, the WWF. Essentially, because Awesome had been Heyman’s number-one man, he was allowed to run roughshod over everyone in the company, and on the way out lost to someone outside the company. Heyman is left with the task of building someone up to take his place. The greatest possible benefit ECW may gain from all this is that it may be just the scandalous story that will garner greater attention for the third-place promotion.

And thus, the latest chapter in the history of the double-cross has been written. As with most previous instances, the repercussions will be felt for quite a while, and there’s no way of predicting the long-term effect. There’s one thing I’m fairly certain of, however: somewhere in wrestling heaven, old Stanislaus Zbysko is enjoying a good laugh.