Chuck Taylor's Grenade
Guest
Spiralshock presents: 2000-2009 A decade in review Part One
As the first decade of the new millennium draws to a close I thought it would be nice to take a look back at an interesting and historic decade in pro wrestling. We saw some promotions fall and rise, several tragic and untimely deaths, oh yeah we also saw some wrestling too. So with that in mind let's take a look at the top 11 biggest events, stories and headlines of this decade. Why top 11? Because I like to go one step beyond. These are events that changed wrestling. Some are unique, some tragic, but all unforgettable. Let's jump right in.
Number 11. Stone Cold Steve Austin walks out on WWE
Frustrated with the writing and direction WWE was going in Steve Austin left WWE. Packed his bags, got on a plane and went home. Sources say he was upset about WWE wanting him to job to Brock Lesnar. He had briefly walked out after wrestlemania for basically the same reason (WWE wanted him to lose to Scott Hall). Although Austin had good points about his frustrations with the company in the end he only came out looking selfish. This combined with a highly publicized domestic disturbance hurt Steve Austins standing with fans. Eventually WWE and Austin came to an agreement in 2003. From there Austin wrestled his retirement match against the Rock and spent the better part of 2003 as Raw Co-GM or Raw Sherriff. From then on his appearances became more and more sporadic as Austin concentrated on his acting career. In 2009 Austin was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Austin made his final appearance at Wrestlemania 25 in a beer bash. (He originally left WWE because of bad writing. I wonder what he would think of WWE now)
Number 10. Shane McMahon and Linda McMahon resign from WWE
Although both of these events happened in 2009 they have to be mentioned for the sheer fact that half of the McMahon family parted ways with World Wrestling Entertainment. Linda McMahon left to concentrate on her campaign for the US Senate. The fact that she was running for Senate and had also been appointed to the Connecticut Board of Education led to several noticeable changes in WWE most notably the move to PG. Her campaign has attracted negativity both from her opposition as well as from wrestlers. In addition to Linda leaving Shane also announced his resignation from the company. No specific reason was given other than Shane wanted to pursue other ventures. With Shane McMahon meeting with UFC President Dana White perhaps we might see Shane McMahon working with the UFC come next year. What does the future hold for Linda and Shane? Only time will tell but I wish them the best in their future endeavors.
Number 9. Eric Bischoff signs with WWE
Perhaps the last person anybody expected to see sign with WWE. For eight years Eric Bischoff led WCW and single handedly tried to destroy WWE. Eric did this by signing away top WWE talent, giving away results of WWE shows, and creating the NWO angle. However changes backstage to Turner Broadcasting led to several events including Eric Bischoff being removed from power, WCW's ratings plummeting, Eric being brought back alongside Vince Russo and the eventual buyout of WCW by WWE. Considering the fact that Eric Bischoff had tried to put Vince McMahon out of business nobody expected Eric Bischoff to show up on a WWE show. But in 2002 Vince McMahon named Eric Bischoff the on-screen general manager on Raw. The most surreal part of it was the fact that Bischoff and McMahon actually hugged on Monday Night Raw. People who grew up watching the monday night wars unfold couldn't believe what they were seeing. Eventually Eric was "fired" as Raw General Manager, wrote the book Controversy Creates Cash and developed several reality shows along with Jason Hervey. Now that Eric Bischoff is associated with TNA who knows what will happen.
Number 8. WWF becomes WWE
For 23 years two WWFs existed-The World Wrestling Federation and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Both companies had used the same initials since 1979 and even reached an agreement in 1994 that would allow both companies to use the same initials in certain situations. However, in 2000 the World Wide Fund for Nature sued the World Wrestling Federation claiming they violated this agreement. A British Court ruled in favor of the World Wide Fund for Nature which forced World Wrestling Federation to stop using the initials WWF. This led to the World Wrestling Federation to change its initials to WWE. To drive home the change they created a marketing campaign telling people to "get the F out". It was a cheesy marketing ploy but it worked for WWE in terms of driving home the letter change. The only confusing thing is do you refer to champions before 2002 as WWE Champions or WWF Champions?
Number 7. Mike Awesome jumps ship to WCW
Normally a wrestler jumping from one company to another wouldn't cause a second glance. The Mike Awesome situation was very unique for several reasons. The major reason being that at the time he was still under contract to ECW (albeit on a handshake deal) and was the ECW World Champion. Although Awesome never appeared on WCW television with the belt he was referred to as the ECW Champion. ECW eventually filed an injunction and threatened to sue WCW (with good reason). A deal was eventually reached where Awesome would return to ECW for one night to drop the belt. Which leads us to the other unique aspect of this story. Tazz, wrestling for WWE, was brought in to be the person Awesome dropped the ECW Championship to. That meant that for the first and only time in the history of professional wrestling a WWE wrestler defeated a WCW wrestler for the ECW championship. Tension surrounding Awesome dropping the belt was high as Awesome wasn't allowed in the locker room out of fear of people wanting to kill Awesome so Awesome had to get ready outside the ring and entered and exited through the crowd surrounded by security. There were alot of wrestlers jumping between WWE, WCW and ECW but the Mike Awesome situation stands out as the most unique and controversial.
Number 6. The launch of Ring of Honor
In 2002 the East coast wrestling scene saw the launch of Ring Of Honor. Originally founded by Rob Feinstein to fill the void left by ECW Ring of Honor was unique for its code of honor, focus on actual wrestling and minimal use of gimmicks and skits commonly found in WWE. ROH started humbly enough promoting shows primarily in Philadelphia and the East Coast eventually building a cult following very similar to ECW. In 2004 Rob Feinstein was busted in an Internet sting operation to find people trying to solicit underage individuals. Rob Feinstein sold ROH to Cary Silkin who remains owner and chairman to this day. Despite this embarrassing setback Ring of Honor continued to grow primarily due to the booking of Gabe Sapolsky, the near two year title reign of Samoa Joe and putting on incredible matches. ROH eventually grew enough to expand to areas outside of the East Coast including a tour of Japan which featured two joint shows with Pro Wrestling NOAH and Dragon Gate. In 2007 ROH struck a deal with G-Funk Sports and Entertainment to host 6 taped payperviews. The deal was not as successful as originally hoped and eventually was dropped. In 2009 ROH partnered with HDNet for a one hour weekly show. In its existence ROH has gone through many changes including the firing of Gabe Sapolsky but for the most part it has remained true to its roots of being focused on the sport of professional wrestling without the flashy gimmicks, stupid skits and crash tv elements of other wrestling promotions.
Number 5. The Fall and Rise (sort of) of ECW
In 2001 ECW officially filed for bankruptcy. Paul Heyman, while widely regarded as a genius when it came to booking wrestlilng, was a horrible accountant. Rumors circulate that Heyman gambled away profits. The bottom line is ECW couldn't afford to pay their bills or their talent which led to several wrestlers seeking employment elsewhere. When ECW went under and after the invasion angle bombed bigger than The Adventures of Pluto Nash the name ECW only remained a memory. That is until 2005 when WWE hosted a tribute PPV show called One Night Stand. Several WWE wrestlers with ties to ECW as well as former ECW wrestlers not under contract appeared on the event, Rob Van Dam and Paul Heyman delivered shoot promos and overall the event was regarded not only as a success financially but from a critics standpoint. The show was so successful it was turned into a yearly event. 2006 saw RVD defeat John Cena in the main event to capture the WWE championship and along with it was awarded the ECW championship. From there things took a downward turn. ECW was officially launched as a separate brand with its own show the same year. The hope that the originally ECW was back was crushed after it was found out that Vince McMahon decreed the original ECW dead and that no one cared about it anymore. The ECW brand held it's only payperview under the WWE banner in 2006. December to Dismember was widely regarded as a huge failure and led to Paul Heyman being relieved of his on and off-air duties. Now the ECW brand is recognized as the C brand with ECW on SyFy ratings hovering in the .8 to 1.3 range. ECW's future remains to be seen.
Number 4. Jeff and Jerry Jarrett Launch TNA
Out of the ashes of WCW launched TNA. In 2002 Jeff and Jerry Jarrett launched TNA. Originally based around a weekly payperview broadcasting strategy eventually TNA secured a deal with Fox Sports Net for a one hour show called Impact. Bad time slots led to poor ratings and their contract with Fox Sports Net was not renewed. Eventually they were picked up by Spike TV and eventually settled into their Thursday Night spot we're all familiar with. TNA started out as a major affiliate of NWA and actually controlled the NWA World Heavyweight Championship until 2007 when NWA withdrew their recognition of TNA's champions and TNA created their own championships. Also during TNA's lifespan Panda Energy bought a controlling stake in the company and served as the financial backing. In it's existence TNA established itself as the number two promotion in the United States. It did this originally by putting on incredible matches. Now TNA tries to expand and grow its audience by signing any big name it can. Recently TNA signed Hulk Hogan in the hopes of reaching a larger audience. Whether or not they succeed remains to be seen but for now TNA remains one of the major alternatives to WWE that wrestlers can go to and still be seen on a national level.
Number 3. Gone too soon-a decade of tragedy and loss
From 2000-2009 thirty wrestlers or people involved with professional wrestling died before reaching their 50th birthday. Some died of legitimate causes such as cancer but a majority were related to drugs in some way or another either through heart attacks caused by prolonged usage or overdoses. Among the most shocking was the death of Eddie Guerrero simply because he was under contract to WWE at the time. The repercussions of these deaths led to WWE stepping up their drug testing policy and adapting a safer ring style. The contributions of these individuals will not be forgotten and hopefully the next decade will see a decline in the number of wrestler deaths.
Number 2. The Chris Benoit Murder Suicide
Still a touchy subject for some but the Chris Benoit murder suicide shook wrestling to the core. Not only because of the nature of the events but because of the fact that prior to the events Chris Benoit seemed totally normal. Loving husband and devoted father. We all know what happened so I won't go into detail but I will talk about how WWE practically erased him from their history books. I can understand why they did it. Benoit was under contract at the timem and was actually scheduled to wrestle both at a house show and a PPV that fateful weekend and WWE wanted to do everything they could to distance themselves from the events. WWE already has a bad enough reputation with the media and the Benoit situation only made things worse. Then came the revelation that Chris Benoit had the brain of an 80 year old alzheimer's patient. This was caused by the numerous chair shots and concussions. While his actions will never fully be understood and completely condemned by many his contributions in the ring cannot be ignored.
And the number one biggest story of the decade is...
WWE Purchases WCW
After 13 years of fighting including several talent switches, low blows and the Monday Night Wars WWE purchased WCW. The amount they paid for it was paltry compared to what WCW what worth just a few years earlier. Say what you will about WCW in their later years but there was a time when WCW could do no wrong. The monday night wars, NWO, bringing the cruiserweights to national attention, and other things made WCW the hottest ticket in town. Unfortunately for everything WCW did right they did just as much wrong. Giving wrestlers creative control, not pushing young talent when they should have, the fingerpoke of doom, numerous backstage staff changes and other blunders sealed WCW's fate. The purchase of WCW led to several events including the invasion, brand extension and the launches of ROH and TNA. When it was first announced many wrestling fans salivated at the thought of the dream matches we would be able to see like Hogan vs. Rock/Austin, Undertaker vs. Sting, Outsiders vs. DX, and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately bad booking and alleged spot hording by WWE wrestlers led to the invasion angle flopping big time. But in any event there's no questioning the fact that the purchase of WCW was the biggest news story of the decade.
That's it for part one, stay tuned for part two where we'll be counting down the top 11 biggest flops of the decade. I'd be interested to see what events you would put on this list and where.
