For the Austin 3:16 promo, though, it was an instant hit with wrestling fans. Immediately, “Austin 3:16” signs were all over the arena for Monday Night RAW. Then, when WWE made “Austin 3:16” t-shirts, they sold out quickly. YET, it took the WWE about a year to fully embrace Steve Austin as their top star, as WWE would spend the rest of 1996 and most of early 1997 clinging to the idea that Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were their top stars. Though both men are great, neither man had the drawing power of what Austin would eventually obtain thanks to the personality that was beginning to hatch in 1996.

Why was “Austin 3:16” such a great promo?

For one, it’s a play off one of the most known Bible passages, John 3:16. It reads, and I quote: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Going to sporting events, many fans held up a “John 3:16” sign or placed it on a wall at football stadiums. It was very common to see a sign at literally every sporting event. From every ranking service that I could find, John 3:16 appears to be the most known Bible verse ever as many publications suggest that this one verse spells out the meaning of Christianity as a religion. In other words, believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God and you’ll get into heaven. It’s efficient, precise, and right to the point and it’s an easy phrase to memorize as well.

Now you can see why Austin “struck a nerve” by declaring what “Austin 3:16” says.

During 1996, Jake “the Snake” Roberts returned to the WWE and he was pushing a “sober” gimmick while often citing that Christianity helped him become sober. Roberts would quote bible verses or other Christian themes in his promos, including one after winning an earlier match in the night during the King of the Ring tournament. Steve Austin defeated Jake Roberts in the final and before he cut his famous promo, Austin asked the interviewer Michael P.S. Hayes (then “Doc Hendrix”) what Jake has said earlier. Hayes mentioned that Roberts mentioned stuff about religion and that was all that Austin needed.

And here’s the famous promo cut on this day in pro wrestling history, 6/23/1996: “The first thing I want to be done, is to get that piece of crap out of my ring. Don’t just get him out of the ring, get him out of the WWF because I’ve proved son, without a shadow of a doubt, you ain’t got what it takes anymore! You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn’t get you anywhere. Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16. Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”

Instantly, the fans in Milwaukee, host of KOTR 1996, popped! They knew that they heard magic and the reaction from Michael P.S. Hayes also sold the boldness of the phrase.

From there, a star was born… Austin even said his “and that’s the bottom line cause Stone Cold said so” during this promo, too. Steve later said he hit “two grand slams” on creating 2 copyright phrases in one night.

For many who watched Steve Austin for years, we all knew he was great. His run in WCW as “Stunning” Steve Austin gave WCW the perfect midcard heel as he proudly defended the TV Title and later the United States Title. During 1993, he teamed up with Brian Pillman to form the Hollywood Blonds, which was a stupid tag team name, but the two were a perfect and very effective tag team. That team ended abruptly with a promise of Austin receiving a singles push. With Ric Flair back in charge of creative for the first half of 1994, that seemed to be happening… But then, WCW made a massive signing of Hulk Hogan and with Hogan, all of his buddies like Brutus Beefcake, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Honky Tonk Man, and others soon joined. Austin was the odd man out and formed resentment against WCW Executive Producer Eric Bischoff and later cursed out Tony Shiavone when Tony called Austin to inquire about his status when Austin was out with an injury. WCW promptly fired Austin, via Fed Ex letter, after that incident.

Austin went to ECW where he wrestled some, but was more inspired to cut promos freely by Paul Heyman. There, the “Stone Cold” character was born, as he was real, authentic, and had a personality that fans wanted to believe in and live vicariously through. HOWEVER, that character was muzzled briefly when WWE signed him and made him the “Ringmaster” as a protégé of Ted Dibiase. After that gimmick failed, WWE actually gave Steve Austin some creative freedom to change his name and change his look. Austin said that he watched some documentary on a serial killer and from that, he changed his look and personality as a really focused and diabolical character. His hair was balding anyway, so he shaved his head and grew out a goatee. Went with the all black tights for intimidation, kind of like Johnny Cash embraced the color.

But then, Stone Cold’s wife said that if he didn’t drink his hot tea immediately, it could become “stone cold”. Boom, just like that, Austin had his new name: Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Great question: If Steve Austin didn’t win King of the Ring 1996 to cut this “Austin 3:16” promo, would he get over?

To us astute fans who watched Austin for years in WCW, I’d say eventually YES. The talent was always there and the promo cutting ability was unleashed in ECW. The “Austin 3:16” promo just rushed his appreciation with the WWE fanbase, who didn’t see him in WCW, and many younger kids looking for something cool to watch. “Austin 3:16” expedited the inevitable, as Shawn Michael was going to eventually crash out, anyway, and maybe Bret Hart’s contract would be deemed too expensive by late 1997 anyway.

You know, that’s an interesting conundrum… If there’s no “Austin 3:16” and Austin has to keep working on his character throughout 1996-1997, would WWE have opted out of Bret’s 20-year contract? The momentum of Austin’s character allowed him to obtain that Wrestlemania 13 spot in place “lost smile” Shawn Michaels. Maybe without Austin 3:16, he doesn’t get that match at WM 13? Maybe Austin doesn’t obtain that Survivor Series 1996 match, either? Oh boy, major can of worms has just been opened!

Point being, you see the IMPACT of Austin cutting this promo.

And here’s a BIG POINT that I really want to make with “Austin 3:16” back during June of 1996. No WWE script writer handed that to Austin and ordered him to say it, word for word. No, Austin 100% came up with that on his own. If this same Steve Austin worked in today’s WWE environment, he would never get a chance to freely cut such a promo. For one, the script writers of the WWE would give him something else to say, word-for-word, and there’s no way in today’s corporate or political environment that he’d be even allowed to poke fun at Christianity in a promo. Not a chance! If Austin cut that promo now, here in 2026, WWE and TKO would reprimand him, release a statement, and you’d see a thousand apologies being thrown out.

But in June 1996, WWE was a different environment. Nothing was scripted. The Creative Team led by Vince McMahon gave general ideas on what to do, but then the wrestlers would work within that space to make it happen. Everything was on the wrestler to succeed because after all, if they do terribly with a segment or a match, they’d lose money. No guaranteed money back during 1996, so if you fumbled on a promo, they’d use you less in the future. Have a bad match, you’d get depushed down the card. Used less or be lower on the card, less of a payout from a particular event. You didn’t get paid!

Let’s go further into this story, for many of you younger fans who don’t know… Steve Austin was NOT the WWE’s choice to win the King of the Ring 1996 tournament. In fact, Triple H was set to receive the big push that year and eventually be built up into a big heel for babyface champion Shawn Michaels to wrestle later during 1996. WWE management liked HHH’s work, liked his character, and felt that he had potential to do big things. Plus, Shawn Michaels was heavily vouching for him and Vince listens to his top stars.

However, the famous “Curtain Call” incident from May 1996 happened at Madison Square Garden.

The Curtain Call involves Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), and Kevin Nash (Diesel) doing a salute to the New York City fans after the main event of a houseshow at Madison Square Garden. This houseshow was both Hall and Nash’s LAST WWE event before they were going to join WCW to begin the New World Order invasion angle. During the show, Triple H (heel) wrestled Razor (babyface) on the midcard while the main event was Shawn Michaels (babyface) versus Diesel (heel) in a blue steel cage match. After Shawn and Nash’s match, Triple H and Hall both ran into the ring and all 4 guys saluted each other like buddies.

Now, again, we’re in a different era… While many fans knew wrestling was scripted, the promotions themselves were advertising it yet. After the main event, you had 2 babyfaces with Shawn and Razor (who had their own rivalry) fraternizing with 2 heels with Triple H and Diesel. While the fans in Madison Square Garden popped because they never saw characters breaking like this before, backstage management and wrestlers in the locker room erupted. Reportedly, the Clique (group name given to HHH, Nash, HBK, Hall, and Sean Waltman) asked Vince if they could do the salute and he green lit it. However, with all of the road agents and wrestlers showing outrage backstage, Vince likely joined in on the chorus.

Shawn Michaels was WWE champion, so there was no punishing him for this incident. Madison Square Garden’s houseshow was Scott Hall and Kevin Nash’s very last date on their WWE deals. Thus, you couldn’t punish wrestlers no longer under contract. That left Triple H to feel the full force of Vince McMahon’s wrath, as Vince wanted to make an example of him to disallow any other wrestlers from trying something similar to the “Curtain Call”. As Triple H has put it, Vince said “you’re going the eat a crap sandwich and start liking the taste of it” or something to that effect.

If you look at the rest of 1996 for Triple H, he went from winning consistently for the first 5 months to losing often. Right after that MSG event May 19, 1996, he is constantly losing the Marc Mero… 8 straight losses! Just non-stop losing on the houseshow circuit and on Monday Night RAW, with occasional wins for jobber matches on syndicated shows. It wasn’t until October 1996 when HHH turned his fortunes around and gained the trust back with WWE, defeating the “deadly” Marc Mero and winning the Intercontinental Title. And you know where the story goes from there.

IN MY OPINION, a slower push for Triple H was needed for him and a rushed push during 1996 could have harmed his character, long-term. Plus, the “Curtain Call” incident gave HHH’s character nightmare fuel to yell about during 1999 as a main event character. It also gave Degeneration X something to laugh about, as well, when they were mocking Vince McMahon in a segment.

Isn’t that amazing how the WWE seriously lucked into Austin 3:16?

It took a while for Steve Austin to be seriously pushed as the #1 wrestler, though, as Vince McMahon wasn’t a fan of his new character and in-ring work. He’s the one resisting pushing Austin during 1996 and during early 1997. Austin lucked into that Wrestlemania 13 match because Shawn Michaels, again, “lost his smile” and that caused panic mode to rebook WM 13. This caused Sid vs. Undertaker and Bret vs. Steve Austin as the newly booked matches for possibly the weakest drawn Wrestlemania of all time. WWE is at the bottom of the barrel during the Spring of 1997, as all of that capital spent on pushing Shawn Michaels goes down the drain.

However, Bret Hart and Steve Austin saved the WWE… Their PERFECT match and idea of a double turn (Bret becomes heel, Austin turns babyface) set the WWE on a path to glory. Austin didn’t give up from the Sharpshooter, despite losing gallons of blood, while Bret Hart soured on American fans not giving him respect. Austin now had the handcuffs removed and the push was on, while Bret Hart formed the heel Hart Foundation stable. WWE was now set right and now Austin had a heel group to overcome. Shawn Michaels found his smile and briefly paused that Steve Austin push, as he formed DX and feuded the Undertaker and Bret Hart.

Again, LUCK drives the wrestling industry! With WWE focused on Bret vs. Shawn or Shawn vs. Undertaker, that gave Steve Austin the opportunity to have a run as Intercontinental Champion (broke his neck winning it, too). Guess who he feuded with as “something to do” as he awaited his turn at main eventing? The very young Rock, who found his character as a heel operating within the Nation of Domination. Their late 1997 was MAGICAL and planted massive seeds into the ground that would create one of the greatest rivalries of all time. Rock was made into an instant star while Austin won over fans when he disregarded the Intercontinental Title by tossing it into a freakin’ river.

AND THEN, Steve Austin gets to shove Mike Tyson on the RAW following Royal Rumble 1998. HOLY COW! Kaboom!

So, Wrestlemania 14 is massive and a big shot in the arm, but what was there to do afterward? Who would Austin feud with?

Well, as MORE LUCK would have it, the fan perception of Vince McMahon SOURED after he “screwed” Bret Hart at WWE Survivor Series 1997. Bret Hart’s escape clause was enacted after 1 year from his 20-year contract signed with WWE and thus his match with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1997 was supposed to be his last before heading off to WCW. Bret refused to put over Shawn Michaels, however, citing personal problems and not willing to let an unprofessional jerk defeat him in Canada. WWE wanted him to put over Shawn, no substitutes… Bret’s contract stated that if WWE opted out of it early, he had “creative control” over his last 30 days.

Vince didn’t want Bret to join WCW as WWE Champion, so he ordered and threatened referee Earl Hebner to call for the bell during the spot where Shawn Michaels had Bret in a Sharpshooter (which Bret was supposed to reverse). Afterward, Vince McMahon tried to paint himself as the babyface by insisting that “Bret screwed Bret” but none of the fans bought it. Vince was booed anywhere he went, and thus a lightbulb went over his head and other creative team member’s head. They now had the ultimate heel to face Steve Austin after Wrestlemania 14.

Thus, Austin vs. Vince drew tons and tons and tons of money as the feud after Wrestlemania 14.

Funny how luck can just change the industry… COVID happens and Roman Reigns has to sit-out because of the danger it poses to his immune system. As he’s out, the WWE Creative Team and Vince figure out a better way to use him. Roman returns and has Paul Heyman by his side. Boom, industry grows! Vince McMahon gets exposed during June 2022 for his NDA stuff, steps down, and Triple H returns only to give Sami Zayn a chance to work with the bloodline.

Pro wrestling is nuts, man… Opportunity is always knocking and anytime someone goes down, the next man up has to seize that opportunity.

On this day in pro wrestling history, Steve Austin did indeed seize on an opportunity.

30 years ago, I’m old…

I remember chipping in with friends to buy the Pay Per View, as we’re like 20-30 people deep and huddling around a 30 inch television to watch this Pay Per View. We legitimately popped when we heard it, as all of us were church going kids and knew full well that John 3:16 was plastered everywhere at sporting events.

We were also very impressed at the GUTS that Steve Austin showed at that event. Marc Mero (eventual “owner” of Triple H) busted open Austin’s top lip during the event, requiring him to get stitches as the show is happening. If you look at Austin’s upper lip during that promo, it’s all mangled from taking a potato by Mero.

Watching it live, you just FELT IT… Steve Austin just made a lasting impression and I remember all of us marking out on the next few Tuesdays after RAW when those “Austin 3:16” signs began appearing. And then they appeared at the next Pay Per Views we watched. The shirts were everywhere.

But damn, you had to be patient because there was a metric ton of BAD WWE to watch between June 1996 and Wrestlemania 13 when WWE refused to push him hard. However, that Survivor Series 1996 stuff was absolutely great between Bret and Austin, as was the match.

Then, Wrestlemania 13 happens and it’s sweet vindication… As a longtime WCW fan and loving “Stunning” Steve Austin, I was always of the belief that he’d be a big star. It pissed me off when Jim Duggan had his way with Austin, repeatedly, but I was overjoyed when the “Ringmaster” appeared in WWE. I knew who that was, insert Leonardo DiCaprio meme here…

You know, I always feel blessed to witness wrestling when I did… I got to see the peak years of WWE and NWA, and then see the rise of WCW with their New World Order angle. Then, I saw WWE’s epic regrowth thanks to Steve Austin and the new cast & characters surrounding him during 1997-1999.

NOTHING was better than the late 1990s for wrestling fans. WCW peaking, WWE’s rebirth, and ECW gave you that additional, yet crazy, alternative.

Nothing was scripted, either, or influenced by corporations… Well, WCW became more corporate and that helped drive nails into their coffin, along with Eric Bischoff’s eventual incompetence. And then WWE became a corporation itself and becoming increasingly corporate with time. Here we are today, and another corporation, TKO, owns them.

Anyone who says that 2020s era WWE is better than late 1990s era WWE is completely wrong. Austin made his character, while everybody in today’s WWE is told what their character shall be and when.

30 years ago to this day, Steve Austin cut the Austin 3:16 promo at WWE King of the Ring 1996

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post On This Day in Pro Wrestling History – Stone Cold Steve Austin Delivers the Famous Austin 3:16 Promo at WWE King of the Ring 1996 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

The match at Wrestlemania III could have gone a lot of ways as we know. Andre could have said the hell with everything and no sold Hogan and done whatever he wanted. But that didn’t happen and we got one of the more memorable matches in Wrestlemania history. I’m not a star person so I wouldn’t rate it high anyway, but that bodyslam was monumental in the lore of Hulkamania. We didn’t have the internet back then so when they said that was the first time anyone slammed Andre, we believed them.

The official rematch on The Main Event, which was on a Friday night in prime time on NBC drew an astronomincal 33 Million viewers. People complain about ratings never being in the heights they were during the Attitude era, well 33 Million is a number no one will ever see ever again. Of course that match gave us the double referee angle with The Hebner brothers. Gotta love the lengths The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase went to for the WWF Title at the time. Did he pay to have someone have plastic surgery so they could look like referee Dave Hebner? See, it’s little things like those that are missing from Wrestling today. In reality Hogan had to be protected in a loss so not only was there the referee angle, but Andre pinned him when his shoulder was clearly up at two.

This all lead to Wrestlemania IV and Macho Man Randy Savage winning the title over Dibiase in the main event of the tournament. In retrospect perhaps The Million Dollar Man should have been champion. He technically held the title for two weeks after buying it from Andre. But the WWF has always been a company where the face is the super hero and the bad guy has to get what’s coming to him eventually. Hogan had all the qualities of that super hero in the 80’s and into the early 90’s. Terry Bolea the man is a different issue. Ah well, I said what I had to say about Hogan. Read last weeks column for more in depth on my memories of Hogan. Right now I say goodbye to the dearly departed and come back to the living.

So I was trying to write this column the other night and I figured I would wait for Summerslam to end and see where the dust settles. At first I was really upset at Seth Rollins winning the world title. I just can’t stand Rollins and I really cant stand MITB cash in’s. This one really irked me the wrong way (never mind how upset it got my father). I suppose in retrospect that’s just a heel doing his job. I hate Rollins and I want to see him lose so in theory I will tune in to see him get beat up and lose. Granted he won’t lose for a while, but when he does it will be worth the wait.

I could write more about my hate for Rollins, but the second night of Summerslam kinda blew that out of the water so who cares about that. We got a really good John Cena/Cody Rhodes street fight. I guess Cena read my column on him being a bust as a heel (one can dream) and realized that it was time to just put a stop to that and just be John Cena. I mean Peacemaker season 2 is coming out and this whole heel thing wasn’t really working so a drastic change was needed. Cena loses the WWE Championship in a really good match though.

But that wasn’t the change. Oh you see no one expected that change to be in the form of BROCK LESNAR. Now to be fair, my brother read rumblings that Lesnar was spotted in New Jersey and said that earlier in the show. I dismissed it though because I believed Daniel Cormier from the UFC and others when they said Brock Lesnar was persona non grata in the WWE. Brock is a touchy subject. On the one hand WWE legal cleared him about a month ago according to some reports. Others say John Cena requested Brock for his farewell tour.

I’ve seen reactions all over the spectrum for Brock’s return. Everything from this is awesome to “I’LL NEVER WATCH AGAIN”. The Janell Grant lawsuit is obviously a bad thing for the WWE and I’m glad it was the thing that got Vince McMahon finally out of the company. But from what I’ve read of it, a few things are clear. Brock Lesnar isn’t named in it. Yes, supposedly Brock requested a disgusting video from Ms. Grant and she sent it to him. This is a family friendly site so I’m trying to avoid typing the details (plus they sicken me). Despite that though, Brock never engaged in any relations with her. Is he unethical and a potential adulterer? Yes. But for all I know Brock and his Mrs have one of those open relationships.

So if Brock isn’t named as a defendant and the victim herself has said he’s done nothing legally wrong (morally is a different issue)…why are we so upset over Brock’s return? For all we know it’s probably one match with Cena and that’s it. Now if suddenly he’s in the title picture and were to win said title, okay now you have something to be upset about.

But, if you really want to be upset about something, be upset with how the WWE is screwing over Karrion Kross for daring to reach for the brass ring. He’s gotten himself over. He’s selling merchandise. So of course (as of this writing) the WWE have not offered him and Scarlett a new contract. The old one is due to expire this weekend. That’s just one thing to be upset about.

Ah well, it’s going to be interesting with Brock back. I personally won’t get upset unless Brock is suddenly WWE Champion again. What are the odds of that happening with Homelander Cody as champion right now?

On that note I am done for this week. As always you can leave me feedback down below, on twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com

The post The Phantom Rant: Remembering Hulkamania part II & Brock Lesnar’s Return appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

I’m old enough to have lived through the entirety of Hulkamania. One of my earliest memories is watching television with my father and seeing Hulk Hogan beat The Iron Sheik for the title. Hulkamania was indeed a phenomenon. Now granted I didn’t have all the merchandise that Hogan was shilling, but I was hooked on the WWF and now here I am some forty years later still riding with them. ..for better or worse.

Hulk Hogan for better or good was a huge chunk of our collective childhoods and on Thursday a part of that childhood passed away and it’s hard to believe that Hogan is now in the past tense as a person. At the start of the column, I said he put Wrestling into the mainstream. Vince McMahon took a huge gamble on Hulk Hogan because had the stars not been aligned right, Hulkamania could have easily failed. That fails and there’s no Rock n’ Wrestling on MTV, No Wrestlemania and if you go deep enough down the rabbit hole we would not be here today.

That’s a bold statement to make, but it’s true. Yeah the WWF had New York locked down as a territory. But they were going national at the time Hulk Hogan was the reason it worked. Now I will not go as far as to say he didn’t have help. He had many great “dance partners” along the way. First it was The Iron Sheik. Then “Rowdy” Roddy Piper helped take it to another level with the Rock N’ Wrestling thing on MTV. MTV back then was a big deal and they could have easily laughed at the idea of involving themselves with rasslin. With the involvement of Cyndi Lauper and her teaming with Wendi Richter as a manager, Wrestling looked very cool at the time.

I know I am condensing some things for time here, the second event on MTV was a match between Piper and Hogan and with the involvement of Lauper and Mr. T it took off to the stratosphere leading to the first Wrestlemania. Hulk Hogan was everywhere. He was on Saturday Night Live. He was on The A-Team. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. You had to be there to really experience it.

Hogan’s next great dance partner was “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorf. Much like Piper, Orndorf was a great villain to Hogan’s super hero. I still remember watching WWF Superstars on a Saturday when Orndorf did a “Pearl Harbor Job” on Hogan as Gorilla Monsoon would say. Of course in retrospect, some of us might have booked Hogan to lose the title sometime in 1986 to Paul Orndorf…but the fact is Hogan was making so much money that it would have been stupid to take the title off of him. Wrestling is a business and when it comes down to it…money talks. The Hogan/Orndorf feud sold out Exhibition Stadium in Toronto and also led to probably one of the best WWF Steel Cage matches ever with the double climb down angle with the duel referees. Of course Hogan would win like he always did.

The next big thing with Hogan was of course The Mega Powers. That whole angle on Saturday Night’s Main Event starting with a standard Bret Hart vs. Macho Man match led to Honky Tonk Man shoving Ms. Elizabeth. She runs to the back and he gives the ol El Kabong to Savage with the guitar. As the heels are gloating, Liz returns with Hulk Hogan and a new friendship was born. Hogan took a backseat to Savage for a bit as Savage would end up winning the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania IV (with Hulk’s help), but the seeds would be planted over the next few months into 1989 for a Mega Powers EXPLOSION.

Wrestlemania V was the culmination of the Mega Powers exploding and with Ms. Elizabeth in a neutral corner because she was going to support both men, Hogan ended up winning his second World title and over the summer, Ms. Elizabeth would be in the corner of Hulk Hogan as he defended against Randy Savage (who had a new manager in Sensational Sheri) around the states and the world.

The next few years, you could say that Hulkamania was cooling down. Truth is all the little Hulkamaniacs were getting older. What was cool when you were five or six is not so much at ten or eleven. Hogan eventualy went to the competition in WCW and Hulkamania didn’t have the same feel it used to. For starters, Hogan was in Flair Country. Hogan and Flair had good matches together, but the old formula of Hulking Up was wearing thin. He also brought in a lot of his old contemporaries like Kamala, Jim Duggan, Earthquake (who became The Shark) and not least Brother Brutus himself so he could have matches with people who knew how to put Hogan over best.

I will say this about Hulk Hogan. He could wrestle when he wanted to. Problem is he wasn’t being paid to “wrestle” in the traditional sense. Watch some stuff of Hogan in Japan. He could do moves that would blow your mind. But here in the states he wasn’t paid for that. He was paid for the Hulk Up, come back, leg drop and pose. By 1996 though, the crowds were turning on him and the act had worn out and something had to change. In May of 1996 something did change when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash showed up in WCW. A month later Hogan turns heel joining up with them and a revolution in wrestling is born. That revolution was the n.W.o.

The n.W.o is a column in of itself. I will just say they were very cool. Well, Hall and Nash were cool. Hogan and his ego got out of control and just ended up ruining the whole thing. The worst part about the n.W.o. Was them going over EVERYONE all the time. WCW very rarely…if ever got a win over them. The biggest moment i’d say was when Lex Luger got a title shot against Hogan on a Nitro and he won the title. But it was short lived as Hogan won the title back a week later at Road Wild. This is the point where Hogan and his creative control went into overdrive. I mean he always must have had creative control, but it wasn’t as bad as it was in this period.

After the what I think was the disastrous n.W.o Hollywood vs. Wolfpac feud, Hogan did have a comeback in him with the red and yellow. By this point though the WWF and Attitude with Austin vs. McMahon was just killing WCW in the ratings. In June of 2000, Hogan’s run in WCW came to an abrupt end when Vince Russo (who was in the middle of the WCW reboot) had Jeff Jarrett lay down for Hogan so he could win the WCW Title. Now people debate was this a work or a shoot to this day. It was a work that turned into a shoot depending on who you asked. Either way Hogan was done in WCW and well, we know what happened to WCW not even a year later.

Many thought Hogan was done with wrestling. WCW was bought by the WWF and guys like Hogan, Nash, Flair all were being paid by separate contracts from the WCW deal and they were making more money sitting at home than what the WWF was willing to pay any of them. But eventually Ric Flair did turn up and that was the start of a Flair vs. McMahon angle that led Vince to want to “kill” the WWF and what better way to do that than the thing that killed WCW. Vince brought back the n.W.o. Hogan, Hall and Nash came back to a hero’s welcome even though they were the bad guys. Hogan got into a feud with The Rock, but the reborn n.W.o never really clicked with audiences no matter what they did with Rocky.

That didn’t stop them from having a Hogan vs. Rock match at Wrestlemania 18. Hogan was the heel, but something strange happened. The Toronto crowd started cheering for Hogan. So much so that Hogan reverted the Hulk of old and did a Hulk Up and it almost blew the roof off the old Skydome. It was on this night that the WWF would coin the term “Bizzaro World” when the crowd did the opposite of what they were expected. Hogan lost the match to The Rock, but that didn’t matter. The next night on RAW, Hogan got a huge standing ovation from the crowd that went on for minutes. Hulkamania was back once again.

I think his final title run in 2002 is a good place to end the reminiscing on Hulkamania. Hogan would come back a few more times over the next few years. I won’t even go into Hogan in TNA. That was just a train-wreck in every sense of the word. But as I said, the man changed Pro Wrestling. If there was no Hulkamania, almost everything in the last 40 or so years would have never happened.

Terry Bolea was a complicated man. All I can say is we know all of the bad stuff. I was just looking back at the Hulkamania that I lived through. In retrospect, things should have been different. But as I said Wrestling is a business and if Hogan wasn’t pulling in money than he wouldn’t have been on top like he was for all that time.

On that note I am done with this edition of The Phantom Rant. I’ll be back to mop up AEW or something next time. Before Hogan passed on, I was working on a column about AEW and how The Death Riders just won’t well die. We’ll see what happens on Dynamite this week with the Hangman vs. Moxley rematch.

Can’t believe Hulk Hogan is dead though. I guess @HulkHogan won’t unban me now.

As usual you can leave feedback down below, on twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com

The post The Phantom Rant: Remembering Hulkamania appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

For this column, I’m NOT going to get deep into any of Hogan’s transgressions. While he’s said many dumb things (including slurs on video), sort of stretched the truth on his stories, and had a few failed relationships, the only real illegal thing that he did was take illegal substances that Vince McMahon was alleged (but was acquitted) to be looking the other way when it occurred. Again, the guy who has enriched many lives with his wrestling performances or took care of friends and family who are hurting today just died.

To me, Hulk Hogan easily fit that “larger than life” mold that is needed at the top of a wrestling promotion for main eventers needed. Yes, he was certainly borrowing a ton from “Superstar” Billy Graham, but Hogan was more dependable and reliable than Graham. From 1983 through 1993, Hulk Hogan was a consistent figure that the WWE could present as their spokesperson and was perfect for merchandising and the family-friendly atmosphere that WWE pushed during the 1980s. With Hogan being the perfect character for Vince McMahon’s vision, WWE easily overtook other promotion’s territories to become a national company. With Hogan, WWE grew exponentially during the 1980s and events like Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble became regular staple events as must-see TV or to attend in-person.

Many have tried to argue that anyone else could have fit Hogan’s system… I disagree. Go watch American Wrestling Association (AWA)’s shows during the early 1980s before Hogan jumped ship to the WWE. Hogan was over and fans damn near rioted when finishes were reversed against Hogan during title matches. Hogan had the size, the look, the ability (yes, he could wrestle contrary to what others may say), and he could cut amazing promos.

The wrestling ability criticisms make me laugh… Hogan had the special ability to do MORE WITH LESS… He didn’t need to cram in multiple move, as all he had to do was bodyslam someone and then look at the crowd. That’s it… Rather than taking a pounding from many moves inside the ring, he used babyface psychology and gestures towards the crowd that could engulf parts of the match. Thus, he was able to take less punishment and never endured long times out with injury. Why? Because he did MORE WITH LESS and didn’t allow himself to take unnecessary punishment if he already had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Look at the epic match-ups that Hogan gave us… Always feuding with Roddy Piper, Mr. Wonderful, Andre the Giant, and Macho Man Randy Savage… Ohhhhhh yeah! Any question about Wrestlemania 3, folks? Packed that dome in Detroit and made everyone want to see Hogan vs. Andre. I always laugh at the criticisms of “Macho vs. Steamboat was a better match”. So? Hogan vs. Andre packed that crowd and drew mainstream attention to Wrestlemania 3! Hell, it was so popular that Hogan vs. Andre drew millions of viewers to NBC’s The Main Event show, was the focal point of early Survivor Series and SummerSlam events, and helped hype Wrestlemania 4. I didn’t see Macho vs. Steamboat creating additional money like that!

What Hulk Hogan did with Macho Man Randy Savage was special. The Mega Powers was completely awesome and made Macho into a massive star as WWE Champion, along with Miss Elizabeth. Yes, Wrestlemania 3 gets all of the popularity, but it is a FACT that Wrestlemania 5 was the #1 sold Pay Per View and its record held until WCW Starrcade 1997 occurred. Why? Because Hulk Hogan and Macho Man headlined that show, brother. And that 1989 feud, alone, made the wrestling business exponential money because Hogan and Macho’s tension carried on for years. WCW reaped the benefit of how massive the Mega Powers exploding was during 1988-1989.

While it is a proven fact that Hulk Hogan had some creative power, nobody can deny what he did for the Ultimate Warrior. Hogan CLEANLY put over Warrior at Wrestlemania 6, period. It’s not Hogan’s fault that WWE fed Warrior weaker heel opponents to work with afterward… Hogan put over Warrior cleanly, and the Hulkster would do great business later putting over Bill Goldberg as well. That match with Sting at WCW Starrcade 1997… Ehhhhh, OK, you’ve got a point, but I’m guessing Hogan didn’t feel like his run, at the top, was over and just personally protected it. I’m not saying he was right, and Eric Bischoff lacking balls should have corrected Hogan, but that’s my guess as to what happened.

Come on, guys… Hulk Hogan single-handedly defeated Iraq at Wrestlemania 7. What more can you say?

From there, Hogan’s WWE career winded down… He did everything and won multiple WWE Titles. WWE tried to recapture that magic at Wrestlemania 9, but it was too late. Plus, Hogan looked very thin during 1993, as WWE was being investigated for allegedly distributing performance enhancers to its wrestlers.

Between leaving WWE and joining WCW, Hogan tried to get more into acting gigs… In my opinion, he was too typecast based on his look. Every character he did looked like Hulk Hogan with no differentiable features. Hence, why he didn’t mind returning to wrestling 1994 with World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

WCW ran the red & yellow character into the ground until diminishing returns set in… But then, Eric Bischoff had a stroke of genius through 1996. In addition to padding WCW’s roster from talent raids of Mexico, Japan, and ECW, he signed Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to WCW contracts after big years as Razor and Diesel in WWE. Not only that, Bischoff wanted to push “reality based” storylines that could give the impression that they weren’t scripted and he admired an invasion angle conducted in New Japan. Thus, Hall and Nash appeared nameless in WCW and were portrayed as if they were “invading” WCW with Hall’s famous quote of “you know who I am but you don’t know why I am here”.

The tease of the third-man for the NWO was done perfectly… So much speculation and with Hulk Hogan taking time off after the Uncensored 1996 PPV match debacle, nobody really suspected that it could have been him. Hogan reportedly waffled at the idea at first, but then he saw how much heat Hall and Nash were getting. Hulk wisely agreed to join him and I’m glad, as Sting wouldn’t have been effective as the mystery man. Hogan was PERFECT because he was an ex-WWE guy tagging along with two wrestlers who just jumped from WWE.

Hogan renamed himself as “Hollywood” Hogan, grew a black beard to surround his trademark mustache, wore black & white, and began coming out to Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix. A complete 180 change for Hogan, along with cutting vicious heel promos on wrestlers and fans along with working like a heel. WCW grew exponentially with the NWO angle and Hogan on top again, and thus proved Hogan to be the “Babe Ruth of Wrestling” because he now made lightning strike twice.

So yeah, Starrcade 1997… That’s the peak of the NWO angle and the NWO ran on fumes after that… BUT, as I mentioned, Hogan deserves his due for putting over Bill Goldberg. The rest of Hogan’s WCW run from 1999 to 2000 isn’t worth mentioning and in hindsight, especially that Bash at the Beach 2000 debacle involving Vince Russo.

After a bad ending to his WCW run, I really thought Hulk Hogan redeemed himself with his 2002 return to the WWE. The NWO debuted in WWE, but many longtime fans wanted red & gold to return. Go watch Wrestlemania 18 and how the Toronto fans literally turned him babyface during his match with the Rock. Kudos to the Rock, by the way, for recognizing this and playing up to that crowd. Hogan leaves the NWO and we get red & yellow babyface Hogan once again and pretty match had that for the rest of Hogan’s WWE career. The massive response to his Wrestlemania 18 match with the Rock proves how massive Hogan was to the business.

I could get into other things with Hogan for the rest of his 2000s WWE career. Many will laugh at the SummerSlam 2005 stuff with Shawn Michaels, but I always say that “revenge is a dish best served cold” as Shawn Michaels’s 1990s version of himself could be difficult to work with. I LOVED his match with Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 19. Not technically the best match in the world, but that match defined what “sports entertainment” is always about. In my opinion, Hogan should have put over Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2006, but I give credit to Hogan putting over Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle cleanly during this decade along with the Rock twice.

For the rest of Hogan’s life, he had some major changes in his personal life, fought through some challenges caused by the leaked sex tape, and many are upset with his political affiliations (hence the boos at him during the very first Netflix RAW during 2025). But again, and I keep stressing this, he did nothing illegal during his life other than taking illegal substances to increase the size of his 24 inch pythons. You could argue the merits of immorality, but we’ve never seen him behind bars is all that I’m saying and many family members and friends liked him. Hence, be considerate of that, especially since he just passed away.

As a wrestling fan, I actually rooted against him as a kid… I thought that Macho Man Randy Savage, along with the very beautiful Miss Elizabeth, and the Ultimate Warrior were cooler than Hogan. Even with that, Hogan made me interested in the WWE product for someone to root against. I more appreciated Hogan’s talent when he was the third man in the New World Order and was such a great heel. I speak fondly about WCW during 1996-1997 often, in case you didn’t notice, and Hulk Hogan’s heel run was a massive part of that.

I’m terribly sorry that he passed away, speaking as a wrestling fan who has followed his antics inside the ring for almost 40 years now.

We lost the biggest pro wrestling star, EVER, today, and that’s a damn shame. THANK YOU, Hulk Hogan, for the many, many great years of entertainment. Also a special THANK YOU to his family for lending his services to us, as the pro wrestling business consumes so much time for each performer to be away from their family.

RIP Hulk Hogan.

Follow me on Blue Sky!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: Tribute to the Late Hulk Hogan (RIP) and His Many Contributions to Pro Wrestling appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Easter Sunday is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ after being killed on the cross. As the son of God, he’s resurrected and that’s why we celebrate Easter. Now, this is NOT a religious column, but to somewhat share in that experience, I wanted to talk about miraculous comebacks made by Professional Wrestlers who were thought to have ended their careers due to a bad mistake, bad career move, or was just written off entirely before making a big comeback.

I just watched British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith‘s A&E documentary, for example, and he had a tough time following SummerSlam 1992 and during his 1993 WCW run. While he beat Bret Hart for the IC Title at that big event, his push was short lived because he got busted with a shipment of human growth hormone (HGH) at a time when the WWE was heavily investigated for steroid distribution. Bad timing, but good timing because WCW paid him a ton of money as a free agent… But his WCW run sucked, to be honest. It was lifeless and he didn’t thrive in a bad environment.

Bulldog returns to the WWE during the mid-1990s and he was a much needed singles wrestler to strengthen the roster that was about to lose some major free agents (Hall & Nash). He had some nice feuds with Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart to help headline Pay Per Views, and I loved his tag team with Owen Hart. Then in 1997, forming the Hart Foundation stable with Owen, Bret, Pillman, and Anvil was a great experience for him. Surrounding yourself with a great support system helps you thrive, and he probably lacked that with WCW. Sadly, the painful toll of the wrestling industry and working in the “Pill 90s” era did him no favors, as his body broke down and he was often intoxicated by the partying atmosphere (side friend of HBK). Then, he loses the family support when Bret goes to WCW and the Hart Foundation is over thanks to the Montreal Screwjob. Takes a bad bodyslam on a trap door in a ring at WCW Fall Brawl 1998 and it messed him up badly.

Makes me wonder WHY IN THE HELL did neither WWE or WCW have healthcare options back then? Cheap bastards…

Then you have the story of Sid Eudy, also known as “Sid Vicious” in WCW and “Sid Justice” and “Sycho Sid” in WWF/WWE. The man’s WWE run during 1992 didn’t end well, as he disappeared immediately after Wrestlemania 8, while his WCW return right after that was much worse. He got into an altercation at a hotel with Arn Anderson and it go so physical that medical scissors got involved and Arn was stabbed multiple times. Now, those are major red flags for any promotion to consider, but WWE gave him a chance and we saw Sid back in the WWE during 1995 when he replaced Diesel as HBK’s bodyguard. That run built momentum, especially when Sid turned face during 1996, and he won the freakin’ WWE Title at Survivor Series 1996. LOVED IT.

Sid then headlined Wrestlemania 13 as WWE Champion (another run with the title after previously losing it at Royal Rumble 1997, as Sid benefitted most from Shawn “losing his smile”) and I thought that his 1999-2001 WCW run was good. Yeah, he shredded his leg to end it during 2001, but he was a stable main event force at a time when WCW needed it badly. LOVE me some Sid! He deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame, period, end of story.

Lex Luger has always been a controversial wrestler, as he certainly got by thanks to the amazing physique and received pushes ahead of many experienced wrestlers. But in WCW, Ric Flair towed the line on who would beat him or not (not Luger), while the WWE run as “All American” Lex Luger was a disaster. It was all made worse because Luger’s heart wasn’t into being a babyface and carrying the responsibilities of that. His character was more in the gray area, who could be a heel or a babyface at a flip of the switch. It just didn’t work in WWE.

But Lex Luger worked well in WCW… Returns on the first ever WCW Nitro and he presents himself as a serious performer by wearing basic black trunks and being mysterious as to where his intentions are… Sometimes he sides with Dungeon of Doom, sometimes he sides with his longtime buddy Sting. It worked… But then when the NWO arrives, he’s the perfect confident fit to push back against that stable. At first, he helps the Giant (Paul Wight, Big Show) get away from the NWO and becomes his friend, while Luger was the first to defeat Hogan for the WCW title while Hogan was with the NWO. That August 1997 win on Nitro was so inspirational, as you wouldn’t have predicted that big moment during 1994 if you tried.

Everyone thought Edge‘s career was over… Bad neck problems caused him to retire during 2011 following that year’s Wrestlemania. Then at Royal Rumble 2020, he made his surprise in-ring return during the Rumble match. Fans went bonkers… It truly makes me wonder how his WWE return could have played out, had COVID-19 not interjected itself and caused WWE to perform in am empty Performance Center and then arena (the “Thunderdome”) for a while. It definitely put a wet blanket on his return… But hey, he’s still wrestling to this day with AEW.

The Ultimate Warrior has had several comebacks, such as at Wrestlemania 8 when he returned after Vince sent him home, 1996 at Wrestlemania 12 that was short-lived due to more problems, and then during 1998 for WCW. Warrior then stirred up controversy by some of his political speeches during the 2000s and the WWE destroyed him with the “Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior” DVD hit piece. However, during 2013, the WWE and Warrior began working together again and by 2014, Warrior made the Hall of Fame. CRAZY thing is that Warrior died on the day following Monday Night RAW after Wrestlemania and he literally gave his own eulogy to the fans before he died on RAW.

Brock Lesnar made a HUGE comeback during 2012, and this came after years of bitter relations between he and the WWE. Lesnar just quit during 2004 in the middle of his contract and signed a non-compete to exit that WWE that would prohibit him from wrestling for other promotions or performing in MMA promotions. Well, he wrestled in Japan and joined the UFC. This put WWE and Lesnar in the courts for years, but they eventually settled… When UFC was no longer an option for Lesnar, after he was sick, he rejoins the WWE. A bit rocky at first during 2012, but by 2013, the BEAST had fully arrived and dominated the 2010s and was the #1 star for that decade. I believe that Lesnar is an all-time great WWE superstar, thanks to this run.

Ditto for Paul Heyman… He returned thanks to Brock Lesnar’s return, as Brock had limited dates in his contract to appear along with Pay Per View exclusive in-ring matches. When Brock couldn’t show, WWE used Paul Heyman as a proxy to speak on behalf of Brock Lesnar. It was PERFECT and Heyman sold Lesnar to the masses as his hype man. PRIOR to rejoining the WWE, Heyman had a rough ending to his WWE tenure. They relieved him of his Smackdown creative team duties, pushed him down to Ohio Valley Wrestling, and then limited him in the ECW brand comeback. Even when Heyman was managing Brock during the 2010s, there was always friction and Vince McMahon did NOT like him as Executive Director of RAW form 2019-2020. Then, WWE puts Heyman with the newly turned heel Roman Reigns and Heyman has truly helped to make Roman a better performer. Funny how WWE leaves him alone now and begins to praise him, as seen by the Hall of Fame.

What can you say about Cody Rhodes? They guy was Stardust and WWE refused to break him from that character. So he leaves them, travels the world as his own self as a character, and does so well at the All In 2018 show that Tony Khan is convinced enough to create the AEW promotion. While the AEW tenure could have gone better, his return to the WWE as a serious wrestler has created a great story to tell. Now, he’s out to prove the WWE wrong about his previous WWE run, out to prove AEW wrong for taking him for granted, and out to prove the Rhodes legacy as a great family dynasty by capturing the WWE Title.

How about Eddie Guerrero? He’s made some mistakes that lost him jobs, particularly losing his WWE job during 2001… But then he returns during 2002 and we witnessed the BEST run of his career. Latino Heat with Chyna, teaming with Chavo, and then going on the big singles push (dude beat Lesnar to win the WWE title!). To this day, people still get emotional about Eddie’s 2002-2005 run and if you ask most wrestlers backstage, they’ll tell you that this run was very inspirational to them becoming wrestlers.

LOVED Rey Mysterio joining the WWE during 2002… Things didn’t end well with WCW. They unmasked him and WCW was a trainwreck from 1999-2001. While Rey-Rey still put on great matches, it wasn’t the same… The guy was like a human Spider-Man out there and with the mask, it just wasn’t the same… Then, however, the WWE brought him in for 2002 and put the mask back on. Add to that, Rey got into the best physical shape of his life and the WWE production staff built a great entrance and theme song to pump up fans before his matches. The guy was instantly a superstar and even bigger than he was ever imagined during the peak Cruiserweight division years. Go watch some of that 2002-2003 stuff from Mysterio and have your head blown. Dude was ON FIRE!

I’m not going to lie, I get a tad emotional when I watch the 2018 Royal Rumble. Great show overall, but the first ever women’s Royal Rumble gets me… You were unsure about the match UNTIL entrant #5 arrives and it’s freakin’ Lita. Then your mind starts racing, “who else could be brought back?”. Then, Torrie Wilson comes out… Yes, I know, not the best wrestler, but she’s so beautiful and that smile is intoxicating. Molly Holly came out and for all of us who watched during the early 2000s and even during late 1990s/early 2000s WCW, we knew she could go and deserved more praise. Michelle McCool returning, as she doesn’t get enough credit for how good she once was. Kelly Kelly, same reaction as Torrie, but you loved her because she was part of the shows you watched. LOVED seeing Jaqueline coming back, as I always felt she was under-appreciated in both WCW and WWE. Tough as nails and looked great doing it! Then, Beth Phoenix comes out to confront Nia Jax! Holy cow! Then to top it all off at #30, Trish Stratus comes out and wrestles for the first time since 2006. She looked great and didn’t miss a beat, but then you get the Mickie James moment… THAT right there makes being a long-time wrestling fan worth it when you get callbacks like that.

I LOVED the Hardy Boyz return at Wrestlemania 33 as surprise additional entrants into the TLC match for the Tag Titles. They were gone from the WWE since 2009 and then came out and delivered another compelling TLC match to win the WWE Tag Titles. They made that match SUPER EXCITING and it seemed like they never missed a beat. Sure, their WWE run didn’t end as well as it could have, but you cannot take away this moment.

I always felt Goldust‘s multiple WWE comebacks were important… Always a solid hand when he returned and the BEAUTY of the Goldust character is that he never ages… It’s exactly like the band KISS, that damn make-up keeps them younger looking. The full bodysuit and paint keeps Dustin looking younger. The tag team with Booker T and then teaming with Cody to defeat the Shield are big moments for me. Then, for Dustin to kick off AEW well with his match against Cody at Double or Nothing 2019, my “match of the year” for that year, just added to Dustin’s highly underrated career. The guy is just a pure worker with absolute skill inside that ring.

Chris Jericho has been written off as a character often, but the guy constantly reinvents himself and proves everyone wrong. I thought that his comeback during 2007 was superb, following his 2005 break, and he had one of the best blood feuds of all time with Shawn Michaels. Jericho would take more breaks for his music and other projects, but then return to the WWE repeatedly as an asset. I still LOVE the dynamic he had with Kevin Owens and his “List” character. That was pure magic and I believe Owens has been riding on that momentum of that storyline ever since. “Why is my name on the list”, just tears you up when you watch it.

Lastly, and I believe this is the biggest comeback of them all… And on this Easter Day, this is a guy who is now big on the man upstairs… At Royal Rumble 1998, Shawn Michaels injured his back on a spot gone wrong when he was flipped to the outside and landed on the casket wrong. To Shawn’s credit, he sucked it up and fought through the pain to put over Steve Austin at Wrestlemania… However, what probably allowed him to wrestle through the pain was the many pills and other substances he was on. Michaels was a ticking timebomb before the back injury, and I often wonder if the time off between 1998-2002 from the WWE may have saved his life from pushing himself further? While HBK had continued struggles with substance abuse, he eventually kicks it thanks to his awesome wife Rebecca and gaining faith as a “born again” Christian. Michaels also gets his back surgically repaired.

At SummerSlam 2002, Michaels wrestled his first WWE match since Wrestlemania 14 in 1998. You CRINGED as Triple H worked on that back, but were inspired when it appeared that Shawn hadn’t missed a beat. From there, HBK kept wrestling in increasing amounts of matches until he became a full-time wrestler again through 2003 (I think Chris Jericho inspired him at Wrestlemania 19) and we gifted many incredible matches throughout the 2010s against Kurt Angle, Triple H/Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, the Undertaker, John Cena, and so much more. His second career after we thought that he was written off due to injury and substance abuses was truly inspirational and proves that a second chance can do a pro wrestler some good.

I could be hear ALL DAY and list MANY more… Share some in the comments.

BUT here is the bigger point. Pro Wrestling is actually a very forgiving world. Guys like Ultimate Warrior and Bruno Sammartino were guys that you’d never think they’d do business with the WWE again, and they did. Hulk Hogan not only testifies in the WWE steroid trial, but he joins WCW to help them beat the WWE in the Monday Night Wars. By 2002, Hogan is back in the WWE. Hogan uses racial slurs and within a few years, he’s back in the WWE. Macho Man Randy Savage had lots of heat with the WWE, particularly his online heated response to Triple H. HHH called Randy a “dinosaur” and Savage replied with a promo cut that included threats to take his girl Stephanie (promo that started all of those Macho/Stephanie rumors). Took about 10 years to calm down from that, but in the year before Savage’s death, they were beginning to work with him again on Merchandise deals.

If you’re someone like Ryback and you’ve had a few bad years of getting into online fights, things can be forgiven… The wrestler just needs to calm down, relax, and show that he can be TRUSTED again to do business. Ronda Rousey, in case you haven’t noticed, Vince McMahon is gone. Why not give Triple H a chance to present you as the performer you believe is worthy of your talents?

For example, CM Punk returning to the WWE… That’s a BIG DEAL and a HUGE comeback because Punk had major heat with various wrestlers backstage and namely with Triple H. However, Punk appeared backstage at a WWE show while he was still with AEW to make amends with the Miz, one whom Punk had been bashing for YEARS, while actively trying to reach out to Triple H. After Punk was fired from AEW, he reaches out to WWE for discussions of a return. HHH and Punk had to discuss TRUSTING each other, and Punk has proven to be a model citizen. Some of the guys who had heat with him, such as Seth Rollins, have come around and Punk is thriving in a more comfortable environment set by Triple H.

Just don’t commit any heinous crimes, and promotions & fans will welcome you back with open arms if you have something to offer.

If it’s just a disagreement or if someone just had a bad attitude, you’re 100% allowed to forgive them. People can evolve and get better, with time. Time heals all wounds, as they say.

Have a great Easter, everyone! Thank you so much for reading!

CLICK HERE for the Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: Happy Easter & Celebrating the Best Pro Wrestler Comebacks of ALL TIME appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Back by popular demand! It’s Steamy’s rants bitches! First off, I want to thank all my Steamboats for the love, the praise and the constant support. I love y’all. Every time I post, I get flooded with emails, DMs, tweets and comments just telling me how great I am, how amazing my writing is and how it literally saves people’s lives. I talked to one man who was on the brink of ending it all because the ratings for his favourite show weren’t good and once he read my No Country For Old Men (Part 2), he understood how ratings are fantasy and immediately felt better. Ya boy is literally curing the world one column at a time.

And to my haters? I love y’all too. I love the fact that I’m so under your skin you’re pouring all these bottles of Hate-a-rade at me and I’m sending it back to you Golden Shower style, like Shawn Michaels in a hotel room full of more rats than the NYC subway. I know you are all reading this, already down in the comments section with your little half-assed attempts at flaming. The minute my name appears on your screen, your finger clicks. You have to read, because you know I’m right. You know you love me; your obsession is just so repressed that you can’t admit that Steamy makes your day. So, keep on commenting, keep up the lame insults, you’re just giving me more attention, more clicks and keeping Aaron in furs and jewels. He showed me his latest Pimp cup recently, 24K gold with conflict-free diamonds all around (because Aaron cares about the world). He’s sipping that Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grand Cru from 1945 sitting poolside in his mansion (it’s an indoor pool, what do you take him for a Nouveau Riche slob who can only enjoy his pool in the summer?) thanks to Uncle Steamy’s popularity. Hey Aaron, help a fella out?

I was thinking on what to write next after the smash runaway success of my last column, the critically acclaimed, Pulitzer-nominated “No Country For Old Men”. I know you all expect the best and I do not intend to disappoint, so I take my role as your wrestling sherpa, guiding you through the peaks and valleys of history, very seriously. I had started a new Steamy Files about The Death of WCW. I was about a quarter of the way through when I lost interest in it. I was going to do this whole shtick of a trial for the most commonly blamed suspects in the death of WCW (which was 23 years ago this week) but it felt like rehashing the past. What new light is there to shine on a story this old? People have posted columns, podcasts, YouTube videos and even books on the subject. While I had a twist ending in mind (Spoiler alert: it was Ted Turner in his office with a check book), I wasn’t feeling it.

Thank God for Twitter. While Elon may be many things such as a vapourware salesman, a liar, a conman, a bigot, a nepo baby and a low-key cult leader, but his stupidity led to him burning 44 billion dollars worth of cash to buy a toxic social media platform and somehow making it worse, and yet also better. Thanks to Twitter Blue and the priority placement, a lot of those marks paying 8$ a month for the “privilege” of having a blue check (never mind the fact that the reason the blue check was special is because it was reserved to only publicly known figures) are projectile vomiting their stupid takes and it lands right on my timeline. Writer’s block? Oh no you don’t, not when a revelation lands in my lap like so.

My last column talked in depth about ratings and why it’s bullshit. I knew it would probably fly over people’s heads, I even mentioned it in the column itself, but it fit into this idea I had of an obsession with arbitrary numbers. What I didn’t realize, is how selective Fed fetishists are with numbers. You see ratings=good number. Rating big? Good! Rating low? Bad! And if rating bad then show bad, rabble, rabble, rabble. If you try to bring an actual number to the table, though, such as the amount of time dedicated to in-ring action on a supposed pro wrestling show, oh then you’re a mark. Now it’s no secret that there’s a lot of dummies online, this comment section will probably feature a lot of them who didn’t even make it this far in the column (hi dummies!) and will go straight to hate in order to feed their little rage boners.

It got me thinking, however. Has wrestling itself become taboo? By wrestling of course I’m talking about the physical sport of professional wrestling. While wrestling is scripted and it’s not a competition, make no bones about it, it’s still a sport. Reading some takes online though, you’d swear some of these drones care about everything BUT wrestling. I asked myself why. When did it become taboo to like professional wrestling? Why is it that pointing out when a show that has “wrestling” in its name dedicates more time to everything but the wrestling, and it gets pointed out, all of a sudden it triggers an entire section of so-called fans? Well, I’m about to drop another truth bomb on your asses. I’ve dropped so many of those recently I should be on the FBI’s Most Wanted list at this point. It’s because of the Attitude Era.

The Attitude Era ruined wrestling. This might seem like a hot take, but hear me out. Some people will point out that the Attitude Era saw peaks wrestling never reached before and most likely never will again. That’s undeniable, but that’s exactly the problem. In order to reach that big of an audience, the WWF had to basically fill the air with non-stop segments, promos, angles and the likes, and the actual wrestling took a back seat. Go watch some episodes of RAW circa 97-98 and you’ll see that the in-ring action mostly sucks. The shows usually open up with a long promo segment and culminate in an angle to close the show. That’s why it reached the peaks that it did. It was a live-action soap opera that men could watch without having their manhood challenged. It had enough action and was edgy enough to seem cool and the larger-than-life characters drew people’s attention. When it came down to having these same characters actually fight and try to win matches? Nah, that was the phony stuff, they didn’t want that. Vince Russo pioneered crash-TV because it appealed to the lowest common denominator. People will watch anything that doesn’t require their full concentration or for them to use their brains. Just sit down with a beer, paint “Just bleed” on your chest and let the chaos ensue like you’re at a Monster Truck rally or Demolition Derby.

If you look at the most popular restaurants in the world, it’s fast food. Why? It’s not because McDonald’s produces the highest quality food with only the best ingredients. It’s cheap, it tastes good and it can be mass-produced. It’s also fast and since you don’t have to plan ahead, make a reservation or even think about the menu, the service or the atmosphere; it’s extremely convenient. You don’t even need to have friends, just get in your car, shout into the drive-through speaker for your Big Mac and fries (supersized!) and within minutes you can stuff your hole full of grease and salt and be on your merry way. The Attitude Era was exactly the same. Another issue with the Attitude Era programming is that it spooked WCW real bad. Eric Bischoff started Nitro with a philosophy of being different, I’ve mentioned that many times in the past. The very first match on the very first episode of Monday Nitro was Brian Pillman vs. Justin Liger. In the transition period before the WWF ended up taking the lead in the dreaded “ratings war”, WCW was putting on some of the best wrestling ever seen on American television with the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Psicosis and Rey Mysterio Jr. amongst others. The main event scene was very hoaky and relied heavily on nostalgia but given that at the time the cruiserweights were mostly unknown to anyone who had never popped in an ECW tape, it made sense to lean on the stars of the past to hopefully showcase the bright stars of the future.

Then WWF adapted, took the ECW formula, sprinkled in a heavy dose of Jerry Springer and reality TV and boom, off they went, skyrocketing to better and better business until WCW was caught with its pants down and tried to copy that formula in the hopes of getting back to the glory days of those 83 weeks of paper dominance. WCW even brought in one of the architects of the Attitude Era in Vince Russo, but left to his own devices and with no one to filter his ADHD riddled booking, it became too much too fast and WCW imploded. Then, wrestling fans were fed a steady diet of shit for 23 years and learned to like it. Y’all fetishists are so full of it, your entire eyes are brown. Not just the iris, but the entire thing, just two big brown spots right in the middle of your face.

That’s why y’all hate AEW. You complain that “there are no stories” or “I don’t know who that guy is”, but what you’re really saying is “get this wrestling stuff off my TV and gimme some angles, promos and video packages”. You’ve grown so accustomed to everything being spelled out for you, pre-chewed and spoon-fed that you don’t know what pro wrestling is even about. I’ll give you a hint, it’s in the name…wrestling. The true art of professional wrestling is making people care about who wins or loses a match, it’s about suspending your disbelief and buying into the concept that this is a “real fight”. We all know it isn’t, but when it’s good, you just don’t care, you’re sucked into that moment and when the bell rings, you know you just watched something special.

Does that mean that angles and promos have no place in the show? Of course not. Wrestling is part sports, part show business. You need time to catch your breath, time to cool down before the action continues. UFC is a legitimate competition, but even they don’t just shove the next match in the Octagon seconds after the last one is over. They’ll interview the winner, sometimes the loser, show highlights and you’ll even have cage-side commentary. A great storyline between two characters can take a good match and make it great because you’re more emotionally invested in the outcome. However, the goal of a promo, the goal of an angle should always be to lead to a match. You can try to tell whatever story you want, shoot tons of cinematic-looking angles and put together these slick video packages, if the match sucks, then it didn’t matter.

Would you watch a Marvel movie just to see how good the costumes look on screen? Listen to a song just because the Auto-Tune reverb is just the way you like? Eat anything put in front of you as long as it’s plated nicely and you can take a picture for the Gram? OK that last one is true for a lot of folks, but that’s not the point. If you care only about camera shots, TV ratings or anything other than the in-ring action, then you’re not a fan of pro wrestling. Meanwhile, those of us who actually enjoy pro wrestling will rightfully point out that it seems you care more about everything but the actual in-ring product. Unlike your fake Nielsen ratings, percentage of in-ring time is a fact. Wrestling doesn’t need to be complicated; you take the best wrestlers and you have them fight to prove who is superior. When you ask “where’s the story”, what you’re really saying is that you can’t just enjoy the art form on its own, you need a bunch of bells and whistles on top to grab your attention like a toddler watching its parents jiggle their keys in front of its face. The men and women who compete and risk their health and well-being for your enjoyment are not actors, they’re wrestlers. They don’t go to Juilliard; they go to wrestling school to learn how to work. They go wrestle for 20$ and a hot dog not because of the way the camera shot is set up, not because they want their names on a chart for their quarter-hour segment ratings, but because they want to get in the ring and wrestle.

If you can’t appreciate that, then you know what to do,

Steamy Out!

The post Steamy’s Rants: Is Wrestling a Taboo word? appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

All those stars who enter the stadium and cross that item off their bucket list. Their body language tells it better than any words could. 

You can be the cynics if you need to, but remember this. It’s guaranteed that Vince McMahon won’t mess things up. 

It’s ironic. During their most known era, they only really had one great WrestleMania. 

All those calls to bring the era back. What I miss most about those times was the simplicity. Cody Rhodes can get beaten down and bloodied on cable TV but we’re not allowed to hear “holy shit” chants anymore. Just turn the mics down people!

The Attitude Era had a must-see atmosphere that they’ve found hard to duplicate since then. Everyone felt like a star. The preshow Heats were worth tuning in to because they impacted the PPVs themselves. “Would this match still go on”? Take King of the Ring ‘99. Lousy show, but throughout there was uncertainty about Shane McMahon competing. Why can’t we have that back?

If we’re being honest, the American Bad Ass persons worked. It allowed Undertaker to be himself more.

WrestleMania XV 

My favorite opening vid and it’s made all the better thanks to Freddie Blassie. 

Steve Austin and The Rock had a very fun match which played to the strengths of the Attitude Era and the chemistry between its two biggest stars. A bit sloppy but still fun.

Give Russo credit, even he knew better than to mess with finishing moves.

Mankind won the right to referee the closing match, but as was often the case in ‘99, twists and turns happened. Vince inserted himself as the ref, but Shawn Michaels showed up, reversed his decision, and barred the rest of the Corporation from ringside. Very entertaining segment, but when is HBK not entertaining? 

WrestleMania 2000

This was the year they could do no wrong. They got away with a bad WrestleMania. You’d be forgiven for thinking Russo booked it.

The Tag Team ladder match with Edge & Christian, The Hardys and The Dudleys tore the house down. E&C nabbed their first tag titles. Oh, and crybaby Kurt Angle lost both his singles belts without getting pinned.

Imagine if they had gone through with Chris Jericho in the main event. They didn’t know what they had with him.

Steve Austin was missed, but he wasn’t really missed. He spent nearly two years outright dominating the WWF. The Rock’s star rose as high as his, if not higher. His star power was great enough they got away with a lousy ending. We wanted The Rock raising the WWF Championship up high, not Vince McMahon screwing him out of it.

WrestleMania X-Seven

The greatest WrestleMania of all time! No question.

I spend my weekends during ‘Mania season watching my favorite matches. I save X-Seven for last.

It was the only ‘Mania to have Paul Heyman on commentary. Just sayin’. 

Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were the biggest alpha dogs around. Their main event practically wrote itself. Limp Bizkit’s “My Way” somehow got turned into a fight song.

Austin said he needed to be the champion. That should’ve been a dead giveaway, but the idea of Austin “[selling] his soul to Satan himself” was unthinkable. The match kicked ass at any rate.

It followed a Street Fight between the McMahon’s, the greatest TLC match of all time, and an in spirit No Holds Barred brawl between The Undertaker and Triple H. How did the crowd have any energy left? 

Look at the humiliation conga Trish Stratus suffered: soaked in dirty mop water; stripping; acting and barking like a dog; and playing tonsil hockey with Mr. McMahon in front of his medicated wife. She got to retire as champion. No one could ever accuse them of not paying it forward. 

What came next? 

WCW was done. On the heels of the greatest PPV of all time, all those “What if’s” and dream matches were about to become a reality. 

Or not.

Don’t mess with the X.

The post The X-Factor: WrestleMania 40… with attitude appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16… Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass”.

VIDEO of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s “Austin 3:16” speech at King of the Ring 1996 in case you missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjWPoQWdmjg

It received an IMMEDIATE reaction from the live crowd (Hayes selling of the phrase was great, too) and instantly at Monday Night RAW shows, you saw “Austin 3:16” signs everywhere. Then, the WWE created the Austin 3:16 t-shirt and that sold like hotcakes and remains a top merchandise item on WWE Shopzone.

Why was Austin 3:16 so popular? What made it hit with wrestling fans? Well, if you’ve seen sporting events for years, especially the NFL, you’d see “John 3:16” everywhere. It’s one of the most famous and most quoted Bible verse which states about Jesus: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The CRAZY thing is that Steve Austin innovated the Austin 3:16 speech on the fly, with him not preparing beforehand and nobody writing for it. Yet, it’s a billion dollar idea when you combine the merchandise with the impact Steve’s character made on the WWE.

After winning the King of the Ring, Austin would continue to grow in the midcard during 1996. Reportedly, Vince McMahon wasn’t all the way sold on pushing Austin as his top guy, as he was still in “Bret & Shawn” mode for his top guys. Of course, that all changed during 1997 when Shawn Michaels “lost his smile” and helped usher in some changes to the top spots. Had Michaels been available for Wrestlemania 13, for example, that would have likely been Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels and not the famous Austin vs. Bret match that further cemented Austin as a future #1 guy. Crazy enough, the Austin push almost didn’t happen with the SummerSlam 1997 incident with Owen Hart breaking his neck. Austin somehow survived that and adjusted his working style to have an explosive 1998 where he shoved Mike Tyson to start it.

But we almost didn’t have this Austin 3:16 launching pad at King of the Ring 1996. There were some political events that caused Austin to win the tournament, as it was originally slated to be Triple H. That said, in my opinion, Austin would have eventually become “the man”. Many WCW fans would tell you that “Stunning” Steve Austin was one of the best things on WCW programming and many of us were excited when Austin signed with the WWE. There’s too much in-ring talent, personality, and promo cutting skills there with Austin and he’d eventually make it anyway. What I fear would have been if Triple H won the King of the Ring in 1996 and was pushed too early. Would wrestling fans be excited for a Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels feud during 1996? I don’t know about you, but Triple H wasn’t ready for that top spot.

So what happened to Triple H and why didn’t he win the King of the Ring tournament, as intended? Well, he messed that up thanks to his unscripted actions at the Madison Square Garden houseshow on May 19th, 1996. That show was going to be the final show worked by Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) and Diesel (Kevin Nash) before they joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW). As you may know, Hall, Nash, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H were close friends in real life and along with Sean Waltman (X-Pac, 123 Kid, Syxx), they formed the Clique as dirtsheets commonly called them. At this MSG event, it featured Razor Ramon (face) wrestling Triple H (heel) and it was main evented by Shawn Michaels (face) versus Diesel (heel). After the Diesel vs. Shawn match, both Razor and eventually Triple H came to the ring for an in-ring salute to New York City fanbase.

VIDEO of the MSG houseshow incident from 5/19/1996 in case you haven’t seen it before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exG-HzUnNhQ

Now, folks, this was 1996. Yes, many fans knew that wrestling was scripted but the wrestlers and promotions themselves kept it very quiet. Wrestlers still used 2 separate locker rooms, tried not to travel together, and their real lives were kept hidden from the public. That’s unlike right now where wrestlers spill everything on Social Media while the WWE Network advertises how scripted they are (“it’s just Sports Entertainment”). Reportedly, the Clique requested to do this with Vince McMahon (which I’ve never heard him confirm), but things got hotter after it happened. The Clique members insist that it was Vince’s management team and road agents, many former wrestlers or personalities, who got pissed about it and changed Vince’s mind.

Following the Madison Square Garden houseshow incident, now commonly referred to as the “Curtain Call”, punishment had to handed out. WWE couldn’t punish Scott Hall or Kevin Nash, as the MSG show was their last contractually and now they were joining WCW. Shawn Michaels just won the WWE Title at Wrestlemania 12 and with Bret Hart taking extensive time off, they couldn’t afford punishing him right now. And that left Triple H, who was a midcarder and had a shorter tenure with the WWE. They initially thought about terminating him, but opted to spare his professional career and depushed him instead. HHH went from winning the King of the Ring 1996 tournament to wrestling a dark match on the show against Aldo Montoya (at least Triple H won that match). In my view, this was the best medicine for him as it gave Triple H not only more experience, but fuel to burn that fire in his belly to really earn that Main Event spot. By 1999, he was obviously ready.

Getting back to Steve Austin, his King of the Ring 1996 night was rather interesting before he cut that famous promo. Earlier in the night, Austin wrestled Marc Mero in the semi-final of what appeared to be a lackluster tournament and by accident, Austin’s mouth was busted open during that match. Prior to Austin wrestling Jake Roberts in the Finals, and this was an older and heavier Jake Roberts who had just returned recently, Austin had multiple stitches added to his lip. If you think about it, Austin was shoehorned into this tournament to be the winner, gets busted open, and the delivers the most gamechanging promo in the history of wrestling on the fly. It’s utterly amazing.

And the Austin 3:16 promo makes this King of the Ring 1996 Pay Per View worth a damn. The semi-finals of the tournament was Roberts/Vader and Mero/Austin. Bear in mind, the WWE opted not to use the Ultimate Warrior to advance in this tournament, while also not letting Owen Hart (former KOTR winner) or Yokozuna (former Champion). Vader not advancing over Roberts was a joke at the time, but I’m thankful for it because it inspired Austin to come up with “Austin 3:16”. Roberts, by the way, defeated Triple H in the first round of this tournament during RAW tapings… The Main Event of this show was Shawn Michaels vs. Davey Boy Smith. Look, I love me some British Bulldogs, but it’s clearly a midcarder getting pushed against Michaels here. This was actually the 2nd Pay Per View in a row headlined by Michaels vs. Davey Boy, which followed the prior event losing power in the arena because of a storm and they did a follow-up Pay Per View immediately… Right after Wrestlemania 12, and you wonder why Shawn struggled as WWE Champion. The Mankind vs. Undertaker match is really good and worth checking out to see a sign of many great things to come.

27 years later, this “Austin 3:16” promo is still talked about and March 16th (3:16 Day) has become “Steve Austin Day” to many wrestling fans and it is celebrated annually online.

The CRAZY part is how it almost didn’t happen and how Steve Austin, despite the circumstances, came up with this amazing catchphrase on the fly. What a talent… Goes to show you what wrestlers can do if they are (a) experienced & well trained and (b) given some creative liberties and freedoms. This “Austin 3:16” promo couldn’t happen in today’s heavily scripted WWE environment, particularly for a midcarder like Steve Austin as he was on this day in pro wrestling history from 27 years ago. Today’s WWE writers would feed him a script and he’d probably lack emotion reading it. Instead, Austin owned this promo, was fully invested in cutting it, and just let it rip. The rest is history and here we are, 27 years later, STILL talking about this amazing promo.

Why? Because Stone Cold Said So! And that’s the bottom line!

*Glass Shatters*

Mr. Tito NoDQ Column Archive

The post On This Day in Pro Wrestling History… Stone Cold Steve Austin Delivers the Austin 3:16 Promo at WWE KOTR 1996 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

What happened? In short, Bret Hart’s contract was set to expire (WWE exercised the option) and he was supposed to have “creative control” for the last 30 days of his WWE tenure. Within that 30 days, he was set to wrestle Shawn Michaels at WWE Survivor Series 1997 and Bret was refusing to put over Shawn Michaels and especially not lose to him in Canada. Vince McMahon initially agreed to a run-in finish for that match, with DX and the Hart Foundation causing a disqualification or no contest. However, where Bret was going after this match caused concern for Vince, particularly if Bret wasn’t doing to lose the WWF Title on the way out. Thus, a plan was hatched to create a finish that Bret was totally unaware of and when Shawn Michaels applied Bret’s Sharpshooter submission hold (which Bret was supposed to reverse), referee Earl Hebner called for the bell as if Bret Hart actually submitted. Shawn Michaels was the new WWF Champion and Bret Hart spent the rest of his healthy wrestling career in WCW.

Did you get all of that?

There’s much more to the story, which we’ll discuss in this column but we’ll also discuss the ramifications of this MAJOR decision by Vince McMahon and the WWE to screw over a very loyal and big wrestling star.

THE SET-UP

Through 1994, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) got their finances in order and made a major signing. Hulk Hogan left the WWF during 1993 and attempted to do movies & television full-time. While he had moderate success, the world wasn’t exactly going to see his films and his TNT show did alright. With Hogan already working for Turner, the question of “would you want to work for WCW” was posed and Hogan said “yes” or more like “YE$$$$$” in honor of the lavish contract that Bischoff gave the Hulkster. WWF’s biggest star was now in WCW and he’d start to lure other former WWF stars to WCW such as Honky Tonk Man, Brutus Beefcake, Jim Duggan, and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

Then, in 1995, WCW got bold and created WCW Monday Nitro to debut during September 1995 and go head to head with WWE Monday Night RAW. Many laughed initially at this, but when Lex Luger appeared on the first ever show, jaws dropped. WCW has risen to the occasion, finally, after many years of being a laughing stock. WCW, though, had some bumps in the road and ran babyface Hulk Hogan into the ground. This all came to a head during Uncensored 1996 with that embarrassing Doomsday Cage Match in its main event. Eric Bischoff took stronger charge of the Creative and wanted more “reality based” storylines. Thus, wrestlers fought with their real names and WCW was pushing to appeal more towards adult fans.

As luck would have it, Kevin Nash (Diesel) and Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) both had their contracts coming up after Wrestlemania 12. With WCW invested in WCW Nitro and wanting to become the #1 company, they threw a ridiculously generous financial number that was fully guaranteed with less dates at Scott Hall. Hall showed the number to Kevin Nash and he was shocked… Hall took the irresistible deal, as he was battling WWE on payouts, creative, and testing at the time. For Kevin Nash, it made him think and after a few disappointing creative moments himself, he inquired Vince McMahon for a bigger payout. Vince couldn’t match that fully guaranteed money, worried that all of the WWE talent would ask for it as well. As you may know, Nash and Hall would “invade” WCW and eventually form the New World Order (NWO) stable to help WCW achieve becoming the #1 wrestling promotion in the world.

But there was another guy whose contract expired after Wrestlemania 12. His name was Bret “the Hitman” Hart. After dropping the WWF Title to Shawn Michaels, Bret took a break from wrestling for his family and a few Hollywood opportunities. Reportedly, and this is in Bret’s book and other subsequent interviews, he was made a serious offer by WCW and Eric Bischoff to join WCW. If true, he could have joined Hall and Nash as the 3rd man of the NWO or later join the NWO to really make it a heavy “former WWF” star faction. Bret, however, is a loyal guy and he heard of bad experiences of other wrestlers who went to WCW. Instead, he just enjoyed his time off and during October 1996, he opted to sign a new deal with WWE instead.

Here’s the kicker about that new WWE contract for Bret Hart… In order for him to remain loyal and not jump to WCW, it was a 20 year deal for Bret that was front-loaded with higher guaranteed payouts (between $1 to $3 million for the first few years) and then for the later years as he got older, he’d possibly join WWE’s management team in some capacity. WCW reportedly offered Bret around $2-$3 million to join (or as Bret says), and so thus WWE offered Vince something very competitive to keep him. However, there was a clause in that contract that would spice things up for the Fall of 1997… Should the WWE desire to get OUT of his Bret Hart contract within 1 year, they may execute an “escape clause”. If the WWE used this clause, however, Bret had full “creative control” over the last 30 days of his contract.

1997 proved to be tough times for the WWE, as they were hitting their absolute low rock bottoms through the Spring of that year with TV ratings, attendance, Pay Per View buys, and merchandise. While many LOVE Wrestlemania 13, it was a poorly viewed and attended show. However, that show elevated “Stone Cold” Steve Austin significantly and WWE started to realize that they had a major star on their hands. The Undertaker also got significantly better inside the ring, too. In addition, many of Jim Ross‘s developmental talents were beginning to join the WWE and a serious youth movement was on their hands. Someone like Rocky Maivia who was struggling as a babyface but was very crisp inside the ring… WWE would start to see this kid move mountains later in 1997 when he returned from an injury and joined the Nation of Domination as a heel.

While Bret Hart was actually having the best time of his career with the revived Hart Foundation during 1997, the demand to keep an overpriced veteran was starting to decline. With Austin, a revived Undertaker, the Rock, Mick Foley making strides with his multiple characters, Triple H showing promise, and many other Jim Ross developmental talents about to be unleashed, the WWE started thinking about that out-clause in Bret’s contract. Bret just turned 40 in July 1997, too… If WWE lets him go, that would free-up around $2-$3 million in salary annually that could go to other talent investments or bring in Mike Tyson for early 1998 and Wrestlemania 14. Plus, Bret had major backstage issues with Shawn Michaels who was locked-in with his WWF contract. Furthermore, WCW was becoming a bit too crowded with their roster decisions and Vince McMahon probably remembers Hogan refusing to work with Bret during 1993.

Through October 1997, WWF and Vince McMahon executed their out-clause on Bret Hart‘s contract. The big mistake is that the WWE did so while Bret was still WWF Champion. Oh, and Bret had “creative control” over his last 30 days, too, which he could use to protect himself as champion.

THE PLAN

With the out-clause executed, WWE also had another problem… They really wanted Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels to headline WWF Survivor Series 1997 and it was set in stone, in Vince’s eyes. And Vince wanted Shawn to become champion at that event. However, Bret had that 30 day creative clause and vetoed dropping the title to Shawn. “Anyone but Shawn” is what he’d later say, but that was contrary to what Vince McMahon wanted. There were talks about dropping the title at houseshows before Survivor Series 1997, but that continued to cause friction because Vince wanted Shawn to become champion and Bret said “no” to any shows in Canada or near its borders (according to Jim Cornette).

So, the Surivivor Series 1997 match was set and the agreed finish, at least to Bret’s face, was to have the match end in a disqualification or no contest due to Degeneration X and/or the Hart Foundation running into the match. Then, on the RAW following Survivor Series, Bret Hart would hand over the WWF Title and say goodbye…

But you see, this was November of 1997 and the WWE was deep into the woods of getting their arse kicked by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the Monday ratings, on Pay Per View business, merchandise, and attendance. WCW was #1 and WWE was about to hand them their World Champion. If Bret doesn’t get defeated by a WWF wrestler, then Bret technically remains WWF Champion in wrestling fans’ eyes and whomever become WWF Champion will be a paper champion. Vince couldn’t let that happen…

As discovered in the Dark Side of the Ring series on Vice, it was in a meeting with Jim Cornette, Vince Russo, and Vince McMahon where Cornette reportedly came up with the idea to screw Bret out of the title with an unknown finish to him (Russo refutes or just doesn’t remember Jim saying this, FYI). Jim even came up with the idea of the Sharpshooter reversal spot, which Bret has used repeatedly on previous other matches. When Shawn Michaels had Bret in the Sharpshooter, the referee could call the bell as if Bret really submitted and then everybody runs to the back to avoid complete hell from the fans. Vince McMahon reportedly thought about this idea and then hatched it into motion with only Gerald Brisco, Shawn Michaels (who probably told Triple H & Chyna), and a few others very close to Vince (Sgt. Slaughter?). Jim Ross insists that he never knew. Gerald Brisco even reportedly showed a few “shoot” holds to Shawn, should Bret get upset at the finish and attack Shawn.

On the day of the event, Bret Hart had assurances from Vince McMahon that their agreed upon finish, the DX/Hart Foundation no-contest finish, was going to be what happens at Survivor Series 1997. Bret even had assurances from senior referee Earl Hebner that nothing screwy would happen. Hebner didn’t know of the screwjob plan until just before the Bret vs. Shawn match, where he was literally threatened termination of his WWE job if he didn’t call for the bell when Shawn Michaels applied the Sharpshooter on Bret. With a family to support, Hebner complied and would later call for the bell to screw Bret. When Hebner did that, he immediately ran out of the ring.

The big difference between the plan that Jim Cornette proposed, where everybody runs away after the Sharpshooter screwjob finish to what was actually executed was that Vince McMahon decided to be ringside for this match. This was a smart move by Vince because it likely protected Shawn Michaels from serious harm. After the match happens, Shawn acts like he’s throwing a temper tantrum over winning the belt and grabs it in anger to head to the backstage area. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon is there to own his decision to screw Bret.

THE SCREWJOB

The Survivor Series 1997 match was peculiar, as the two wrestlers started off brawling through the crowd and outside the ring. Then, when they got to the ring, it was your usual crisp stuff between 2 great workers. It’s really a shame that we were denied more matches between these two, as the are in their peaks in terms of in-ring work. But they hated each other and it created so much drama backstage. Shawn Michaels played politics and was on several substances while Bret Hart was rigid on creative, despite the WWE desiring to turn their creative into something that resembles Crash TV or what was seen on Jerry Springer. They should have had more matches, but Wrestlemania 12 and Survivor Series 1997 was the only real opportunities we saw both men as Main Eventers (they wrestled previously when Bret was IC Champ, I know).

Here comes the spot where Shawn Michaels applies the Sharpshooter and Bret would then reverse it to apply his own version of the Sharpshooter, which he’s done lately with other wrestlers. Once HBK was locked into the Sharpshooter, Degeneration X (Chyna, Rick Rude, Triple H) were supposed to run in and stop it while the Hart Foundation would run-in to counter them. Show should have ended with a big brawl between the 2 factions… But it didn’t. Referee Earl Hebner, who previously in the night “swore on his kids” to not screw Bret, called for the ring bell as Shawn Michaels locked in the Sharpshooter on Bret Hart, creating the appearance that Bret submitted.

Shawn Michaels grabs the title, as if he’s pissed off, and gets the hell out of dodge. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon is ringside and is standing up, looking right at Bret Hart. Bret immediately realizes what has happened and quickly sees Vince. Bret Hart spits in Vince McMahon’s face and that’s it for Survivor Series 1997. Later, off-camera (Wrestling with Shadows may have captured it?), Bret writes the letters “WCW” with his hands to the fans in Montreal.

Backstage, it became a different story… It was pure chaos, as the promoter just betrayed the wrestlers’ trust. You just didn’t force an unscripted moment without BOTH in-ring competitors knowing ahead of time. Things can change on the fly, but both wrestlers knew. However for Bret, he was clearly screwed and betrayed by WWE. Several wrestlers would not appear on RAW during the night after, with Mick Foley wanting to quit over the deal. Meanwhile, Rick Rude (who protected Bret on that night and informed Eric Bischoff on what happened) actually left WWE to join WCW because he didn’t have a deal in place. Undertaker demanded a closed door meeting with Vince McMahon immediately after it happened for answers and respected Vince’s explanation (he’d later talk with HBK, too).

But then, came the meeting between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon. By Bret already spitting on him, he could get accused of assault and lose any implications of what that 30 day creative clause could have mattered. Then, Bret slugged Vince McMahon backstage in their meeting. Bret insists that he hit Vince with an uppercut but Vince was selling a black eye for weeks. Regardless, Bret Hart punched Vince and that punch plus spitting would doom any courtroom battle Bret could have over his contract. Instead, he would just go on to WCW to work for around $2.5 million per year…

THE AFTERMATH

Unfortunately for Bret Hart, he had to wait out of the full final 30 days of his WWF contract. He wouldn’t appear on WCW Nitro until December 15th, 1997. Thus, it gave WWE weeks to capitalize on the “Montreal Screwjob” in which Degeneration X mocked him (famous “midget” Bret Hart segment) and Vince McMahon did weeks of on-screen interviews during RAW to explain his side while sporting a black eye. “Bret Screwed Bret” is what Vince McMahon insisted. However, what Vince didn’t realize is that he was planting the seeds of his famous heel corporate character who would harass Stone Cold Steve Austin throughout 1998 and 1999 that would draw serious money.

Bret Hart’s WCW run was a complete DUD. After weeks of hype, he appeared to just be a “special ring enforcer” for the Hulk Hogan vs. Sting match at Starrcade 1997. That match was supposed to be the blowoff match for Hogan and NWO’s run and to crown the homegrown Sting the WCW Champion. Well, it didn’t happen that way… The Hogan/Sting match SUCKED, as Hogan dominated most of the match against what appeared to be a weaker Sting than we saw who dropped from the rafters throughout 1997. Then, Nick Patrick counts a regular 1, 2, and 3 on the spot that was supposed to be a fast count. Bret Hart looked foolish insisting that it wa s a “fast count” and took over as referee. Sting then defeats Hulk Hogan in the most botched biggest match ever and Bret acted as the referee for that restarted match. Bret’s career in WCW was already off to a humiliating start.

Meanwhile in the WWE, they announced a major signing of Mike Tyson, who was fresh off his boxing suspension for biting off Evander Holyfield. He appeared in the skybox at Royal Rumble 1997 and was going to appear on Monday Night RAW afterward with a special presentation with Vince McMahon. However, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin appeared, talked some smack on Tyson to his face, and then gave him the double bird middle fingers to set off complete chaos in the ring when Tyson shoved him. This segment played EVERYWHERE on Sports channels and segments! The best part was the pure ANGER that Vince McMahon had for Steve Austin about “blowing” the segment. The Austin vs. McMahon feud was officially hatched that night and Austin was the one who would slay the dastardly Vince McMahon who screwed Bret Hart. WWE did nothing but explode from growth from here and eventually overtook WCW in the Monday Night Ratings in the weeks after Wrestlemania 14 when Austin became WWE Champion.

Meanwhile, Bret Hart was just there… He didn’t matter in a bloated WCW who still had Hulk Hogan hogging the spotlight and a highly impaired Eric Bischoff who cared more about his on-screen character than backstage matters. Bret had some success when Vince Russo took over creative duties during the Fall of 1999, but then a couple of bad spots at Starrcade 1999 (Figure 4 on the ring post, kick from Goldberg) gave Bret a severe concussion that probably got worse as Bret kept wrestling weeks after this injury. Then, he was done and has had some bad medical luck for the past 2 decades. What a shame, as WCW really botched his entrance and did nothing with him throughout 1998 to even remotely capitalize on the real victim of Survivor Series 1997.

WWE flourished. With Bret Hart gone and with Shawn Michaels exiting due to injury, guys like Steve Austin, Mick Foley, the Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, and Kane could all step and everyone fit within heel boss Vince McMahon’s schemes. Shane and Stephanie would soon join their father, as would many free agents trying to jump off the sinking WCW ship like Big Show, Chris Jericho, the Radicalz (Guerrero, Malenko, Benoit, Saturn), and others… ECW signings like Tazz and the Dudley Boyz were huge, too. Meanwhile, Jim Ross’s developmental system was pumping in new talent like Kurt Angle to thicken up the roster with young, quality stars. WWE was so successful that they became public in 1999 and that cemented them with liquidity to invest for many years to come.

WCW, meanwhile, peaked with their Hogan vs. Goldberg match during July 1998 but it was all downhill after that. NWO storyline was on fumes, Goldberg was struggling with match quality as WCW Champ, Sting was already irrelevant (he joined an NWO faction), and nobody new, besides Goldberg, was pushed as a top guy under the age of 35. WCW packed on too much high priced talent through 1997 and Eric Bischoff impaired himself when he became an on-screen talent. As the viewers, merchandise sales, attendance, and Pay Per View buys started to decline, the revenue just wasn’t there to justify the higher talent and production costs. Meanwhile, Time Warner kept revising itself and then merged with AOL during 2000, right when the dot com bust was about to cause a 2001 economic recession. With WCW losing a reported $70 to $80 Million during the year 2000, the new AOL/Time Warner executives wanted to pull the plug. That they did, and sold WCW to WWE for less than $4 million during March 2001.

THE LEGACY

WWE is still the #1 company, to this very day. Bret Hart and Vince McMahon/Shawn Michaels would later make-up, even with WWE killing Owen Hart during 1999. That said, Bret has harsh feelings of 1997 and he has often taken them out on Triple H. If you watch Wrestling with Shadows, there exists footage of Bret’s then-wife asking Triple H and Chyna if they knew anything and Triple H denied everything. In later years, Triple H has come up with a story that insisted that he came up with the idea of “screwing Bret” if he didn’t want to drop the title to Shawn Michaels. Bret has been constantly bashing Triple H as a worker ever since and that will probably limit Bret appearing in WWE with Triple H now fully in charge.

For WWE, it created on-screen persona of Vince McMahon and he ran that character into the ground and was a big part of Austin Theory’s character through Wrestlemania 38. It makes me wonder, though, if Vince McMahon became his own victim of his own success. If Montreal Screwjob 1997 didn’t happen and WWE didn’t explode in growth afterward, would the success have gone to Vince McMahon’s head? Granted, he did admit to cheating on Linda McMahon for years during the 1990s, so the horndog Vince was still around… But money always amplifies the worst habits in people.

The biggest part, in my mind, was “changing the guard” for the WWE Main Event scene. In 1997, it was Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels clearly at the top with an emerging and improving Undertaker joining them. Fast forward to the end of 1998, and it was Steve Austin, the Rock, Mick Foley, Kane, and the Undertaker with Triple H on his way up. Then, Jim Ross’s developmental system would unleash by adding all kinds of younger talents like Edge/Christian, Hardy Boys, Test, Val Venis, Kurt Angle, and others would freshen up the roster. Then, without traditional Bret, the WWE could run wild with adult themes and that’s where Vince Russo thrived. They could push sex, language, and violence and that drew eyeballs in both from WCW fans and also brand new fans who didn’t mind checking out Sable’s Playboy body. With Bret out of the way, WWE could do a lot more with other talent and the money once promised to him. Mostly, though, it created the on-screen heel boss character of Vince McMahon.

25 years ago, the “Montreal Screwjob” finish of Survivor Series 1997 is still talked about. It’s legendary on what happened that night and took pure balls from Vince McMahon to risk trying to screw on of the most beloved wrestlers in Bret Hart, both by fans and talent. Many documentaries, online discussions, and allusions on other wrestling shows have been made about this event. The sad part is that you can still see that it personally hurts Bret Hart, to this day, even if he had improved relations with Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon in the later years. His trust was betrayed and he never wanted to join WCW.

The scary part is that we’ve never seen a screwjob like this ever tried since. Yes, we’ve seen a few storyline based “screwjobs”, but those weren’t for real. While we have seen a few wrestlers break character or walk out of a match, it’s nothing in comparison to a promoter screwing a Main Event talent out of a match or championship. Vince could have started a full-scale riot in Montreal had things happened differently. For example, what if Bret Hart punched Vince instead of spitting on him in the arena? What if Bret encouraged fans to “get him” to Vince? I commend the Montreal fans attending that Survivor Series 1997 show for behaving despite the major event that just transpired on a fellow Canadian. Seriously.

What Survivor Series 1997 tells me is that CM Punk won’t work for AEW ever again, particularly as long as the EVPs (Omega & Bucks) and their clique remain employed. There are daggers everywhere and I would imagine Tony Khan would want to seek revenge, too, for being humiliated during that media scrum.

Furthermore, Triple H, the new WWE boss, lived through the Montreal Screwjob and had a front row seat to much of it. I’d be very careful crossing him, if I were any disgruntled WWE talent. As you can see, most wrestlers are very obedient in the WWE when it comes to Vince or Triple H. Even CM Punk, who had his issues with them backstage behind closed doors and kept silent about his WWE tenure for 10 months before doing the Colt Cabana Podcast.

The main thing is that the Montreal Screwjob was the turning point in the WWE vs. WCW Monday Night War. The move allowed WWE’s roster to get younger, fresher, and allowed their content to evolve. WCW was acquiring a 40 year old Bret to join a bunch of other 40+ year old former WWE veterans in a promotion that hit its peak. By not having Bret for weeks and then botching his WCW debut, it gave the WWE the momentum of the Montreal Screwjob by creating the heel Vince McMahon boss. Vince tried to act like the “good guy” in the situation, but what he didn’t realize is that his interviews pissed off fans more and created a demand to see anyone get revenge on the guy. Enter Steve Austin as his foil, the rest is history. Without Bret, the WWE could afford Mike Tyson and then start pushing newer names at the top for 1998.

What a major night in wrestling… Survivor Series 1997, holy cow. Wrestling hasn’t been the same since.

If you are a younger wrestling fan, go watch WWF Survivor Series 1997 and then go find Wrestling with Shadows. Bret’s book is a great read, as is Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer coverage. There are several other YouTube documentaries that explain it well, along with a few WWE produced shows on it it too. Lots of shoot interviews out there as well from wrestlers or personalities who were around it at the time.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane… 25 year ago, my gosh, where did time go?!?

For my money, 1996-1998 are the best years in Pro Wrestling as you had 2 companies battling and making major talent decisions in the heat of the moment. HUGE rolls of the dice by Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon during this era and we got to enjoy it weekly as viewers. Bischoff signing Hall and Nash was freakin’ huge and then nailing creative on how to use them… Then, Vince McMahon making the bold decision to use the out-clause on Bret Hart and then completely screwing him over on his exit. If only the Eric Bischoff of June 1996 was managing WCW during November/December 1997. As I keep saying, when he joined the NWO as an on-screen character during November 1996, that began to impair him as a manager of the WCW company. More eggs went into the basket of what his on-screen character could do instead of the visionary or pioneer that he once was during June 1996. THAT is what Bret Hart inherited when he joined WCW during late 1997 and had to deal with throughout 1998-1999.

What a great time to be a wrestling fan! The beauty of the WWE Network is that you can relive most of this excitement, so go watch it!

————-

So just chill ’til the next episode…

Mr. Tito NoDQ Column Archive

The post MR. TITO: 25 Years Later, the Impact of WWE Survivor Series 1997 “Montreal Screwjob” Remains appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

It finally happened.

What’s always bugged me about him was the constant narcissism. The Monday Night Wars series often talks about Ted Turner stealing stars from the WWF and then going on to beat him in the ratings. It was a “history is written by the victors” show, but it did make a lot of good points as to why WCW went down the tubes. Vince did win the war, but victory wasn’t enough. He threw away money just to stick it to the company that nearly put him out of business. I’m talking about the Invasion of course.

Vinnie Mac should’ve been more grateful. Pro wrestling was red hot again because Hogan, Nash, and Hall started the nWo and made it interesting to see. WCW backed him into a corner and he came out swinging. Yet, it wasn’t so much that the WWF beat them. WCW beat themselves.

Vince McMahon is petty. He’s also generous in regards to his former wrestlers who needed rehab. He’s vindictive yet willing to set aside past beefs for making money. WrestleMania 36 went on in spite of a pandemic for the sake of entertaining us. He’s either a great guy or a total dickhead depending on who you ask or what year it is.

Paul Heyman once said Freud would need 900 pages to describe how his mind works. Rob Van Dam has stated he doesn’t blame him for his actions because he sees how broken he is. Were you aware he was constantly beaten by his step-dad? Talked about it in a Playboy interview. Said that he wished he would’ve killed him. I read that interview.

So now that he’s out, will Michael Cole start using the word ‘hospital’ now? Will words like ‘strap’, ‘belt’, and ‘title shot’ be heard?

The future of WWE is very, very ambiguous right now. Maybe I would be more confident if it wasn’t Stephanie McMahon getting her daddy’s job. 

In some ways she’s even worse than dad. Steph went on her own “reign of terror” during the Authority years that did no one any favors. 

Well, I guess that’s all I can say right now.

Don’t mess with the X.

The post The X-Factor: The end of the beginning appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.