The
Rise of WWF - 1
Rise
of the WWF: Introduction, Timeline and World Title Plans (Part 1)
John: At the end of August as I
was talking to my good friend Matt Spence I told him that he and I
needed to work on some sort of project together other than the PPV
previews. Matt agreed but, as usual, did not have an idea as to
what we should write about. Later that day I popped in a tape of
Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker at Hell in a Cell #1 back in October
of 1997. I watched that match, a true classic, and thought to
myself how the hell was the WWF losing money when they put on
matches like this? How could they not have more fans while having
such stars as Austin, Bret Hart, Michaels, Taker, Foley, Vader,
Owen Hart, The Rock all under the roster at the same time! I do
admit that WCW was pretty good back then too but I can’t think
of a time that the WWF was better. Although they were much better
financially in ’99 the product was not at the level it was back
in ’97 and even to this day it amazes me that WCW dominated for
so long. I shared this theory of mine with Matt and once I learned
that he felt the same way we decided to put together this five
part series on the "Rise of the WWF."
Those of you who are familiar with my
work know that I spend plenty of time in my columns making fun of
wrestlers, gimmicks, angles and everything else but this will be
totally different. What you will be reading from Matt and I are
plenty of facts about the WWF’s rise as well as many opinion
pieces on a plethora of topics surrounding the WWF during this
time period. I graduated from Eastern Michigan University in the
summer of ’97. I spent the first half of ’97 in Ypsilanti,
Michigan (that’s where EMU is) as I earned my journalism degree
before moving back home to London, Ontario in the fall of ’97. I
did not pay attention to wrestling as much as I should have (due
school and other things) but I definitely remember many of the
highlights during the WWF in ’97. I have a pretty large amount
of wrestling tapes from this period as well (I will NOT sell or
trade so don’t ask) so I watched all of them in the last two
months to help with this article. I could not have done it myself
though as I "borrowed" plenty of tapes from my lifelong
friend Scott Miller who has the largest collection of wrestling
tapes that I have ever seen. Looking back I would have to say that
‘97 was the best time to be a wrestling fan as WCW was very big,
the WWF was definitely closing the gap and ECW was making a name
for itself with plenty of fans throughout America. As you read
this five part series we would like to ask that you read the
entire article before sending your emails because the question you
ask may be answered later on in the article. For those that
don’t know, I’ve known Matt for about eleven months now and
he’s probably the best friend I’ve made in the online
wrestling world. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we
enjoyed writing it because it was a great time to look at a
company that is the target of so much criticism today.
Matt: Well, how about that, this
is my 200th article since joining the Big 3 Oratory and it’s
also John’s 24th birthday. I guess it’s only appropriate that
we unveil the largest article in Oratory history today, and
hopefully you’ll enjoy it.
Most of you probably can’t remember the
last time it was when I wrote something positive about the WWF.
However, here, with my usual partner in crime, I’m actually
going to have quite a few good things to say about the WWF
product. Of course it wasn’t the product of today, but the
product of January of ’97 through March of ’98. This was the
time when the WWF really came on strong, and is what led to them
regaining the top slot in the wrestling world. It was a very good
time for wrestling fans in the US, WCW delivering a very solid
product, and although their main eventers were the same old dogs
that were always being paraded out, the midcard featured some
incredible action. Meanwhile, in the WWF, there was the right mix
of storylines and wrestling that the fans love and is what drew
them back towards the promotion. Unlike in WCW, however, it was
the main eventers and top stars who were delivering the highest
quality matches in the promotion.
Personally, in ’97, I was somewhat
similar to the type of fan I am today, as I have been for the past
four or five years. However, while wrestling was definitely most
important, I did enjoy the storylines more then and tolerated the
"sports entertainment" aspect far more than I do today.
So now that you know what to expect, let’s not waste anymore
time, and we’ll get right to it…
Note: The period we are discussing is
January 1, 1997 to March 31, 1998. Everything before and after
those dates are not a part of this article.
A Timeline of
the WWF’s Most Important Moments
John: Here’s a look at the WWF every month from January
1997 to March 1998, a span of 15 months. We will be doing a more
detailed analysis of the events that happened but here’s a
generalization of everything. What you’ll get in here is
basically a run down of who was holding what title and so on, this
is not too detailed but in future parts of this article we’ll go
into much greater detail. Big thanks to the Pro Wrestling
Illustrated 1999 Wrestling Almanac for a lot of this information.
January 1997
- Shawn Michaels pinned Psycho Sid to begin his second reign as
World Champ. Sid was out of the WWF for good in June.
- Owen Hart and the British Bulldog were the tag champions, a
reign that lasted 8 months.
- Triple H was the Intercontinental champion to end ‘96.
- The Royal Rumble match ended in controversy so a 4 way over the
top rope elimination match was signed for the February PPV called
"Final Four."
February 1997
- Shawn Michaels "loses his smile" on Thursday Raw
Thursday giving up the WWF title after he refused to job to Bret
Hart at WrestleMania 13 to return the job Bret did to Shawn the
previous year. Shawn claimed to have a knee injury but there
wasn’t much evidence to back this claim up.
- Bret Hart won the Final Four match over Austin, Vader and Taker
only to lose the belt on Raw the next night to Sid Vicious thanks
to Austin’s interference. Austin was originally scheduled to win
the match and lose to Sid the next night but that plan was later
changed because Austin had a knee injury.
- The British Bulldog became the first European Champion in WWF
history by defeating his tag team partner Owen Hart.
- A young, rookie babyface named Rocky Maivia won his first IC
title from HHH.
- Extreme Championship Wrestling "invades" the WWF after
Jerry Lawler continually berated ECW with verbal assaults.
March 1997
- At WrestleMania 13, The Undertaker pinned Sid thanks to Bret
Hart’s interference to become the World Champion.
- Shawn Michaels, still without a smile, missed WrestleMania as
punishment for his refusal to job.
- At WrestleMania 13, A face Bret Hart defeated the heel Steve
Austin in an epic I Quit match that had Ken Shamrock (in his WWF
debut) as the referee. They pulled off the double switch (Bret
went heel, Austin went face) during this match which made it all
the more brilliant. We promise there will be more on this match
and feud later.
- Two days after WrestleMania the heel group known as the Hart
Foundation was formed. The group’s members were Bret Hart, Owen
Hart, British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman. More on
this group later.
April 1997
- The Undertaker pinned Mankind to retain the World title at the
IYH PPV.
- Owen Hart defeated Rocky Maivia to capture the IC title, he also
was a tag team champion with the Bulldog at the time.
- Shawn Michaels did not wrestle for the third straight PPV as
punishment for his refusal to job.
May 1997
- The Undertaker pinned Steve Austin at In Your House 15 to retain
the World Title. Just thought I’d point that out since it’s
not something we are used to seeing Steve Austin do.
- Shawn Michaels did not wrestle for the fourth straight PPV.
- Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels defeated Owen and Bulldog to win
the tag team titles on Raw. This is quite possibly the best match
in the history of Raw, more on this later.
- Ken Shamrock has his first WWF match against Vader at the IYH
PPV and wins.
June 1997
- Triple H won the King of the Ring by defeating Mankind in the
finals.
- Shawn Michaels wrestled Steve Austin in a match that ended up
being a draw. Quite a good match put on by both men and the only
time they wrestled on a PPV without either man having an injury.
- Undertaker pinned Faarooq to retain the World title at KOTR.
- Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart have a legit fist fight with Shawn
threatening never to return.
July 1997
- Austin and Dude Love (Mick Foley aka Mankind) won a tag team
title tournament over Owen and Bulldog after Shawn vacated the
title he held with Austin.
- At the IYH Calgary Stampede PPV the Hart’s won a very exciting
10 man tag match which Shawn Michaels did not show up to because
he was scheduled to be pinned cleanly. Taking his place, adding
nothing to the storyline, was Goldust. Shawn was not a terrific
employee during this time period, more on the match later.
- The Undertaker pinned Vader to retain the World Title at the
PPV.
- Although not confirmed it is assumed that Degeneration X was
formed during this month. The group consisted of Shawn Michaels,
Triple H and Chyna along with Rick Rude who joined later, they
were heels.
August 1997
- Bret Hart defeated the Undertaker at Summerslam to capture the
World title. Shawn Michaels, the referee, struck Taker with a
steel chair giving Bret the world title to the dismay of Michaels.
- Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart at Summerslam to capture the IC
title. This was also the match in which Owen botched a tombstone
piledriver causing Austin to have a serious neck injury which
almost paralyzed him.
September 1997
- Bret Hart defeated the Patriot to retain the World Title at the
Ground Zero PPV.
- Due to Austin’s neck injury he and Dude Love relinquished the
tag titles. The winners of a four way tag match were the
Headbangers thus becoming the tag champs.
- Shawn Michaels wrestled the Undertaker to a no contest as a
result of Shawn smashing the steel chair into UT’s skull at
Summerslam.
- The British Bulldog lost the European Title to Shawn Michaels in
England because Bret Hart refused to job to Shawn Michaels at
Survivor Series 1997. Since Bulldog is Bret’s brother in law he
was punished although Bulldog did nothing wrong so this was a sign
that the relationship between Bret and Vince was dwindling.
October 1997
- Brian Pillman died in his hotel room on October 4, 1997. This
was the night before the Badd Blood PPV, he was scheduled to face
Dude Love.
- Owen Hart pinned Faarooq to capture the vacant IC title. An
injured Austin made sure Owen won by hitting Faarooq with the IC
belt.
- Hawk and Animal (LOD) won the tag titles from the Godwinns who
won them from the Headbangers a few nights earlier.
- Shawn Michaels defeated the Undertaker in the first ever Hell in
a Cell match in a #1 contender match. This was also the debut of
Taker’s evil brother Kane. Definite match of the year candidate,
more on this in the greatest matches list.
November 1997
- Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart to capture the World title in
what will probably be remembered as the most controversial title
match ever. This happened at Survivor Series and ended up being
the last match of Bret Hart’s WWF career.
- Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart for the IC title in his first
match back from the severe neck injury that sidelined him for 3
months.
- The New Age Outlaws, heels at the time, won their first tag
titles.
- Rick Rude appears on Nitro live and Raw on the same night since
Raw was taped the previous week.
December 1997
- Triple H defeated Shawn to become the European champion in a
farce. Shawn purposely laid down for HHH so that his friend could
have the title since HBK had the world title.
- HBK retained the world title at the DX PPV in a match against
Ken Shamrock.
- Taka Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher to become the first
ever WWF Light Heavyweight Champion. His reign would last for 10
months although the title never had enough credibility in the WWF.
- Steve Austin forfeited the IC title claiming he wanted to go for
the World title so the IC title was given to its #1 contender, the
man formerly known as Rocky Maivia who would forever be, and I
mean forever be, known as The Rock.
January 1998
- Mike Tyson signed a WWF contract to be the "special
enforcer" for the HBK/Austin WrestleMania 14 match.
- At the Royal Rumble, HBK retained the world title by defeating
the Undertaker in a casket match thanks to Kane’s interference
again. After the match, Kane lit the casket on fire while Taker
was inside. The really scary part of this match is that Shawn
Michaels severely injured his back around this time thus putting a
halt to his fantastic career.
- Steve Austin won the 30 man over the top rope Royal Rumble last
eliminating The Rock. WrestleMania 14 enforcer Mike Tyson watched
from a press box.
- The Mr. McMahon character, one of wrestling’s best heels, also
began appearing on WWF TV more frequently.
- Owen Hart became the European Champion by defeating Goldust.
Goldust impersonated HHH during the match cause HHH was scared of
Owen but the belt was given to Owen.
February 1998
- Not much happened here. Shawn Michaels was unable to compete at
the February IYH PPV due to his back injury so an 8 man tag match
was improvised. Austin, Foley, Funk and Owen Hart beat HHH, the
NAO and Savio Vega in the main event.
- Kane defeated Vader in his first match on a WWF PPV.
March 1998
- Mike Tyson appeared on Raw to hype the HBK/Austin WrestleMania
title match. In his first appearance he and Austin had a shoving
match that was memorable to fans who witnessed it. Prior to WM14
it appeared as though Tyson had joined DX as he and HBK fooled
most people during an "altercation" on Raw.
- At WM14, Steve Austin defeated HBK for his first reign as World
champion as Mike Tyson, who ended up being Austin’s ally,
counted the pinfall. This was Shawn’s last match in the WWF, he
was in horrible pain due to his back injury.
- Prior to WrestleMania, HHH once again held the European title
after winning it from Owen Hart.
- The night after WrestleMania, HHH claimed that he was the new
leader of DX now that Shawn had retired. He brought in Sean
Waltman (X-Pac) from WCW as he delivered a memorable shoot speech
to WCW. Later in the night the New Age Outlaws joined DX and the
group became the WWF’s top face stable soon after.
- Many purists say that WrestleMania 98 was the launching pad for
the WWF’s rise to prominence. Their first ratings victory in the
Monday night wars happened on April 13 when Raw beat Nitro 4.6 to
4.3
Plans for the World Title
Here is a look at how Vince McMahon had planned the way they would
handle the world title situation in the WWF from November ’97 to
March ‘98. This comes courtesy of Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling
Observer (as collected by Scott Keith) who chronicled the entire
Hart/McMahon saga which you can read about by going HERE.
This was the plan if Bret did not leave the WWF.
"Vince wanted Michaels to win the
title in Montreal. For the Springfield PPV, they would do a final
four match with Hart, Michaels, Undertaker, and Ken Shamrock, that
Michaels would again win. At the Royal Rumble, the two would have
a ladder match, which Michaels would win. On Raw, on 1/19 in
Fresno, Ca., Hart would open the show and say that if he couldn't
beat Michaels and win the title that night that he would retire
from wrestling, and in that match he would regain the title. And
then in Boston at Wrestlemania he'd drop the strap to
Austin."
That was the original plan for the title,
after Bret left things changed and Austin defeated Michaels for
the WWF title at Wrestlemania 14 and not the Hitman as was
originally planned. I don’t know about you but that ladder match
would have been fantastic to see.
Conclusion to Part One
That is just a brief look at some of the key things that happened
during the span of the time in which this article will be based
on. This is the section in which what you read above were facts
and are just a summary of events for you to use as you read the
rest of the article. We’ll go into greater detail for certain
issues as well so before you ask questions read the entire article
first because your answer may be answered in a future section of
the article.
John C. and Matt
Spence
