Major
Players: Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart
John: One of the biggest reasons why the WWF was so good
during these fifteen months is because they featured three of
the best main eventers of all time and in my opinion the three
best wrestlers of this decade. To me what makes a wrestler great
is his ability to work a crowd in all aspects of the business as
either a face or a heel and that’s something these three men
could do. Another factor that is important is the wrestler’s
workrate, which exemplifies the ability to make any match you
are in somewhat enjoyable. What makes a great wrestler even
greater is the way he can draw attention to himself by working
the crowd and his opponent over with the microphone. There
aren’t that many main eventers who had it all: the ability,
psychology, charisma, the "look," the drawing power
and most importantly the natural talent needed in order to
become THE MAN in this business. In 1997 the WWF had three men
who filled that role, two of them were already at that level
while one of them was evolving into a character who would turn
out to be the most popular wrestler ever. Here’s a look at
these three fantastic performers who no doubt are three of the
best ever and easily three of my all-time favorites.
"Stone
Cold" Steve Austin
John: If one man can be credited with the WWF’s rise to
prominence it would have to be the rattlesnake himself, Steve
Austin. His rise started as he won King of the Ring ’96 in
convincing fashion destroying everybody in sight and giving the
infamous "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass"
speech. On that night in June of 1996 a superstar was born but
the beauty of it all happen in the months following that night
as Austin saw his chance to be a star and never looked back.
Austin’s
career catapulted in mid-1996 after winning the KOTR and later
as he challenged the "retired" former WWF Champion
Bret Hart which resulted in Austin losing to Bret at Survivor
Series 1996. At Royal Rumble ’97, Austin dominated at times
often being the only man in the ring and as the Rumble ended it
appeared as though Austin had won. Of course that was not the
case because the refs did not see when Austin was eliminated by
Bret so a "Final Four" elimination match happened at
the February PPV to determine the WWF champion. That match,
which was fantastic, was won by Bret Hart but the next night
Austin got his revenge by causing Bret to drop the belt to Sid.
It will be remembered as Steve Austin’s first chance at WWF
gold but the biggest moment of his career happened the next
month at WrestleMania 13. During his brilliant "I
Quit" match with Bret, the WWF realized that Austin was
getting cheered more than he was supposed to and ended up
turning face while Bret turned heel in what will be remembered
as the WWF’s most famous double switch. The I Quit match was
one of the best matches I’ve ever seen and the entire feud
with Hart, which didn’t see Austin "go over" Bret,
is probably the best feud I have ever seen. The best memory I
have of Austin is when he attacked Hart in a street fight the
Raw after the April ’97 PPV which left Hart in a wheelchair
but what I remember most from that night is the huge pop Austin
was getting because of this attack. Prior to that moment, you
would have never seen a crazed man yielding a chair getting the
pop that Austin did but amazingly that’s exactly what
happened. I think if I could pinpoint one moment that was my
absolute favorite moment of this time period it would have to be
the way Austin transformed from a hated villain to the most
popular wrestler of all time, it was just incredible to witness.
After his
feud with Bret subsided somewhat in mid 1997 he went after
Bret’s brother Owen who was the Intercontinental and Tag team
champion at the time. After Owen pinned Austin at the Canadian
Stampede 10 man tag match the heat was there and it resulted in
a match at Summerslam 1997. During the match, which again was
excellent, Owen was set to deliver a tombstone piledriver but he
mistakenly left Austin’s head unprotected and Austin was left
paralyzed in the ring. He was able to barely roll Owen up for
the pinfall and the title but Austin’s career was never really
the same again. Gone were the chair shots to the head, the
DDT’s on the floor, going head first into the ring steps and
anything else that can cause damage to his badly injured neck.
People wondered what he’d be like after the injury, if he’d
still be the same worker or would he go down a few notches.
Austin was at the crossroads of his career and as usual he
conquered adversity. He went on to win the WWF World title for
the first time at Wrestle Mania 14 in March of ‘98 and
unofficially became the most popular wrestler in the history of
wrestling.
There are
a lot of people who don’t think Austin is a good worker; they
say all he does is punch and kick and how he has no style in the
ring. The truth is, the Stone Cold persona is meant for a
brawler and not a technical wizard so in retrospect his style
was the brawler that we all saw in the ring. I’ll admit that
offensively he has his weaknesses but how many people can go out
to a ring and garner as heat as Austin or how many wrestlers
have the psychology of Steve Austin? During his feud with Hart,
Austin sold his knee injuries magnificently always giving the
fans an excellent match to watch no matter who it was against.
I’ll remember Steve Austin in many ways after he retires
mainly because he’s helped wrestling so much. He’s one of
the major reasons why this business is so popular right now and
it’s not just because he’s a good character, he’s an even
better worker. The best wrestler in the WWF from January 1997 to
March 1998 was Steve Austin and the reason we went all the way
to March for this article is because that was the month in which
Steve Austin officially became the MAN. Steve Austin is one of
the hardest working wrestlers I have ever seen and is a fine
example showing that hard work can often make up for a lack of
natural ability. During Austin’s rise to prominence in ’97
you would be hard pressed to find anybody who did not enjoy the
rattlesnake as he was and is one of the coolest characters in
wrestling history. Now THAT is the bottom line because this
Stone Cold Steve Austin fan said so.
Matt:
When the WWF brought Steve Austin in, Vince McMahon saw a solid
midcarder, and gave him Ted DiBiase as a manager and the gimmick
of "The Ringmaster", a silent, but violent type heel.
As we all know, of course, he was repackaged as "Stone
Cold" after DiBiase was removed as a manager and the rest
is history. However, his real big break came during the
Clique’s farewell at MSG, where they all broke kayfabe and
hugged in the center of a ring. The reason this is Austin’s
big break is because, with Nash and Hall leaving, and Waltman
getting released soon after, there was more need for stars. The
WWF’s initial plan was to elevate Hunter Hearst Helmsley, by
having him win King of the Ring ’96. However, after the MSG
incident, Hunter was punished and Steve Austin was booked to win
the tournament. Now could you imagine the WWF without
"Austin 3:16" and everything that resulted from that?
Well, think about it for a second, and know that it could’ve
very well been the case had all things gone as planned.
Getting back on track, watching Austin’s rise to the top, and
his character and in-ring evolution during this time is really
quite intriguing. When his rise first started, he mixed a nice
combination of strong, solid technical ability and very strong,
realistic brawling. He used a lot more moves, and was more
mobile and versatile. However, even before his accident, as his
gimmick evolved, especially after his face turn, he became more
and more of a brawling based wrestler, but he maintained his
technical ability, as he showed in the final few months prior to
his injury against the likes of Shawn Michaels and Owen Hart.
However, even after his injury, he was able to keep his workrate
high, and fall back on his very strong grasp of psychology and
pacing to remain a good worker and continue to deliver good
matches. People complain that he doesn’t use enough
"moves", as John said, but in a day when Vince Russo
is pushing for wrestlers to use all highspots and forsake
psychology, I’ll take a Steve Austin any day.
Also, his
character greatly evolved through this time. While today he’s
largely just repeating his catchphrases and letting the crowd
play along, during the time period we’re reviewing, Austin’s
interviews were fresh and entertaining, as he constantly had new
material, with promos that always got his storylines over and
often had you laughing along because the man could be downright
hilarious. His involvement in the various segments and skits
that were done through this time were always excellent, too, and
that’s one thing I think that Austin has shown that he can do
as well as anyone else in the business. His interactions with
Bret Hart, Brian Pillman, and later Shawn Michaels were just
incredible.
Also, you
can’t give Austin enough credit for the turnaround of the WWF.
While it was his feuds with Bret Hart, Owen Hart and Shawn
Michaels that got things on the right track, it was Austin who
was there to really push the promotion over the top, as he
emerged as the most popular wrestler ever, along with the
biggest ratings, merchandise and PPV draw in wrestling history.
He’s already sold more merchandise than Hulk Hogan did in ten
years, and he’s made Vince McMahon someone who’s now worth
somewhere in the ten figures. Austin definitely has had more
impact on wrestling in this decade in just the 15 months that
we’re covering than anyone else we could name.
"The
Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels
John: If I were to pick one of these three men as my
favorite it would probably be Shawn Michaels. I’ve always been
a fan of heels and to me Shawn Michaels, along with Ric Flair,
plays the role of the heel perfectly. He was definitely the most
cocky, brash wrestler the WWF had and on the outside that seemed
like his character but in the backstage scene he was not the
most liked person especially in the eyes of Bret Hart. I think
it’s pretty safe to come right out and say that Shawn was not
the best company man in the WWF, not even close, but this is not
an article in which we’ll be chastising Shawn so look
elsewhere for that. Shawn Michaels the performer is probably the
best wrestler that I have personally ever seen in the WWF and
remains to this day the best wrestler of the decade in my eyes.
That debate will continue at other times so I better get to the
issue at hand and talk about Shawn’s role in ‘97 in which
he, much like Austin, suffered an injury that would change his
career but in a much higher degree than that of Austin.
At the
Royal Rumble in ’97, Shawn Michaels regained the world title
that he held in 1996 for over 8 months. After learning that he
was supposed to lose the belt to Bret Hart at Wrestle Mania he
"lost his smile" meaning he refused to job to Bret and
was stripped of the gold. He was pretty much punished for the
next couple of months not appearing on several PPVs and not
really having a direction. After refusing to job as part of the
Canadian Stampede PPV in July, Shawn returned as the guest
referee for a match between The Undertaker and Bret Hart. The
WWF was really hyping the Hart/HBK feud especially after Shawn
"accidentally" drilled Taker with a steel chair giving
Bret the title and Shawn was left trying to take care of the
Undertaker. Shawn’s battles with Taker were very memorable
because of the excellent Hell in a Cell match these two were a
part of at the Badd Blood PPV in October. To me the HIAC match
was probably Shawn’s third best of his career following the
ladder matches although some say if Shawn was a part of HIAC
with a worker better than Taker it would have been his best
match. However, the reason the HIAC match happened in the first
place was because Shawn had been attacking Taker from behind and
with help from others so the cage was use to make sure Shawn
wouldn’t run away. That’s a fine example of what psychology
is in wrestling so if you don’t know what psychology is about
then please keep that in mind. He won that match to become the
#1 contender for the world title which was held by some guy
named Bret Hart.
You all
know what happened at Survivor Series so I won’t go over it in
detail but when all was said and done Shawn walked away as world
champ. I’ll jump ahead and discuss Shawn’s casket match with
Taker at Royal Rumble ’98. This was probably the most
memorable match in the career of Shawn because of the pain he
felt during and after this match. He suffered a serious back
injury during this title defense victory that caused him to
wrestle substantially less for the next two months than at any
point in his career. His last match ended up being at
WrestleMania 14 when he lost the belt to Austin in what was one
of the few times he actually got pinned to lose a title. If
Shawn was healthy one must wonder whether he would have passed
the torch but at that point in his career, his last match ever,
he realized that was his only choice.
When all
is said and done I’d like to think that Shawn, despite the
negative attitude, had a long lasting effect on the WWF because
without Shawn there would be no DX and without DX there would be
fewer people telling you to "Suck It." Wait a second,
maybe that’s not so bad? Anyway, I’ll always remember Shawn
as the guy who brought excitement and charisma to the ring to go
along with his outstanding ability in the ring and on the mic
that can be matched by very few people. Shawn’s best year was
not 1997 and it definitely wasn’t 1998 but he was still
fantastic in what turned out to be the last year of his
excellent and short wrestling career.
Matt:
Shawn Michaels, with the exception of Vince McMahon, is probably
the most controversial figure in WWF history. His backstage feud
with Bret Hart is legendary, his ruling of the promotion as a
part of the clique is well known, and his refusal to job on
various occasions earn him the reputation as one of the biggest
jerks the business has ever seen. However, his combination of
in-ring ability, personality, charisma, mic working ability, and
looks made him one of the most gifted and talented performers
that wrestling has ever been privy to witnessing.
Now while
his backstage feud with Bret Hart provided a lot of problems,
there were also many upsides. First off, since the feud was also
ongoing in WWF storylines, their execution of promos and angles
were just excellent, and extremely heated, and it could be said
that both men’s best interviews came during their showdowns.
Also, Michaels crossed the line on several occasions, once even
inferring that Bret was having sex with Sunny (Tammy Sytch),
which earned Michaels an ass-whooping in the back, courtesy of
Bret. Of course it was during this time that Michaels was being
as much of a "baby" as he ever had been, staying out
of active competition, and skipping several PPVs, all for the
sole reason of not wanting to job to Bret Hart. However, as John
noted, we’re not here to focus on chastising Shawn Michaels
for being an asshole, as I think both of us have done that a
million times already, but instead focus more on his good
qualities, which are his in-ring and on-air ability and persona.
In the
ring, he was the best worker in the WWF during this time, and
one of the best ever. It’s hard to pinpoint his style, but he
was sound technically and really excelled in wild brawls, where
he could just bumps his ass off and make anyone look superb,
holding it all together with absolutely superb psychology. His
ability to make poor workers look great is what makes him truly
amazing in my book, having good matches with Sid, and carry both
the Undertaker and (in 4/96) Kevin Nash to their best matches
ever. He would put his body on the line without hesitation and
that’s what made him so great. His performance during the
first Hell in a Cell match was one of the most spectacular
single-man performances I have ever seen, and while the
Undertaker certainly gave it his all, there’s no doubt that
Shawn had that match completely on his shoulders and carried it
to classic status by himself. All in all, that is what Michaels
epitomized in the ring. The fact that he has had legendary
matches with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Undertaker, three
workers that nobody in their right mind should consider above
average, just shows how great he was. In the end, that’s what
he was all about. And, yes, they were gimmick matches, but even
with that as the case, I’d love to see anyone try to do what
he did with those three men on four separate occasions, and
that’s carry a match to classic status with very little help
at all. While he may not the technician that a Dean Malenko, the
flyer that Misterio was, or the all-arounder that Benoit is,
when you put him in a situation where he has to deliver a superb
match, despite the talent of his opposition, you can rest
assured knowing that HBK would do everything in his power to
deliver the goods.
"The
Hitman" Bret Hart
John: I am pretty sure that if you asked Bret what the
most forgettable year in his pro wrestling career is he’d tell
you that 1997 would be the year. At least that’s the year most
people would point to because it’s the year when the infamous
"Survivor Series incident" occurred. To me though,
Bret Hart was at his best in 1997 thanks in large part to Steve
Austin and the Hart Foundation who provided The Hitman with new
found love for the business even though his hatred for Vince
McMahon was greater than it have ever been.
Bret Hart
won the WWF title during the Final Four match in February 1997
and lost it the next night to Psycho Sid (I have other
adjectives to use but I’ll refrain from using them) thanks to
the rattlesnake Steve Austin. This led to the WrestleMania match
which we keep talking about cause it was so damn good and it
also led to return match at the April PPV which ended in a DQ.
With the Hart Foundation backing him Bret Hart showed that he
had what it takes to be the top heel or face in this business
because the heat he garnered throughout the spring and summer of
1997 was unbelievable. He won the WWF title from the Undertaker
at Summerslam on August 3rd and then embarked on a two month
feud with Dell Wilkes who you will all know as The Patriot
basically cause the guy walked around carrying an American flag.
Having Bret feud with The Patriot was nothing to get excited
about, it was pretty obvious that Bret would squash him and
that’s what happened so then he moved onto Survivor Series
against Michaels and you know the story. If you don’t know the
story you can read a detailed article about it by going HERE.
I’ve been explaining the situation for two years and frankly
I’m sick of talking about it.
I’ll
admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Bret Hart prior to his
feud with Austin and the Hart Foundation angle but once those
things happened I started marking out the guy as much as anybody
I have before. In the ring there are few wrestlers who are as
good as Bret technically and even on the mic, where he is
underrated, he showed that he is near the top of the list in
that area as well. To say Bret Hart had a bad year in 1997 is
probably true but to me for the ten months when prior to that
fateful night in November he was on a road to success that I was
enjoying every step of the way. I wonder if Bret used his hatred
for McMahon as a reason to his career revival because he was
definitely on top of his game and it’s a shame he may never be
at that level again. I’ve always been a fan of Bret Hart and I
always will be but during these ten months I was a full fledged
Hitman mark and it felt absolutely wonderful.
Matt:
During his feud with Shawn Michaels, which was intertwined with
everything else that was going on directly after WrestleMania
XIII, Bret was the one made to look like a complete asshole
on-screen, and he conveyed it perfectly, terrorizing everyone
after his heel turn at WrestleMania, just randomly destroying
people’s knees. This is when he was frequently using the
ringpost figure four, which is one of the most kick ass moves of
all-time.
Back on
track, Bret was just "on" during this time period. His
character was completely different and refreshing from what we
were used to seeing from him, and the fact that a lot of what he
had to say regarding the state of wrestling and the state of
wrestling fans were true, he was able to convey everything with
a great deal of emotion and really put everything over. His
tirades against Austin, then McMahon, then Michaels were always
incredibly enjoyable, with his showdowns with Michaels being the
most memorable in my mind. Also, it’s interesting to look at
the parallel between real life and the storylines during this
time for Bret. He was frustrated, enraged that he saw his spot
slipping away, and didn’t know what to do about, so he
basically snapped. That’s both in real life and on-screen. Who
would’ve known that after feeling like he was "being
screwed" by Vince McMahon in the storylines, cursing him
out on live television and "punching" him out, that
seven months later, he would find himself doing the exact same
thing in real life.
In the
ring, Bret was also on top of his game during this time, despite
being past his physical prime. He and Austin had great chemistry
in the ring together, and the combination of technical and
brawling ability, coupled with each man’s excellent grasp of
psychology and timing, led to several excellent matches. Even
the short brawls they had to add heat to their feud were usually
top-notch.
All in
all, the combination of excellent in-ring ability, great mic
work and persona during this time period show why Bret is one of
the greatest wrestlers ever. It’s shame how things turned out,
as Bret is my choice for North American wrestler of the decade,
but I guess we can’t change what happened, we can only look
back.
The
Best Feud Ever?
John: You may be wondering what we have alluded to with
that title. Is it Austin/McMahon, Michaels/Hart, DOA/Boricuas (haha),
Austin/Michaels or is it Austin/Hart, the answer is the last one
and of course we are referring to Steve Austin and Bret Hart. We
have talked about this feud a lot in this column but I felt we
needed a special section just so you can realize how amazing it
was. It started in 1996 after Austin had won the King of the
Ring and Bret had left the WWF to ponder his future. After
signing a 20 year contract with the WWF, Bret came back and his
first match back was a memorable one in which he defeated Austin
at Survivor Series ’96. As we have mentioned earlier in this
column, the feud lasted till the summer of 1997 with the
memorable WrestleMania match followed up by the match at the
April PPV. The best moment of it all, as I mentioned earlier,
was the street fight on Raw which took place on April 21 in
which Austin viciously attacked Hart with a steel chair
crippling the Hitman. It was one of those moments that you’ll
never forget as a wrestling fan, the electricity in the building
and the psychology used by both men is something that will be
entrenched in my mind till the day I die. Steve Austin never did
pin Bret Hart to actually win the feud but when I look back on
it right now I can clearly say that when all was said and done
Austin came out on top. It’s the perfect example to show fans
that wrestling is not about winning or losing; all that really
matters is getting over. Both of these guys were over and it’s
part of the reason why it was the best feud I have ever seen in
WWF history.
Matt:
Well, I didn’t agree with John on the Hart Foundation being
the best stable ever, but I would certainly agree that the best
feud to ever take place in the WWF was the Bret Hart/Steve
Austin feud. First and most importantly, the in-ring work was
just great. From their first match at Survivor Series ’96 to
their final time in a match with each other at Canadian
Stampede, we saw the two men deliver five **** or better
matches, with several very good brawls on Raw in-between. Their
match at WrestleMania XIII is one of the best North American
matches of this decade, and of all-time for that matter, a
definite classic. They just had great chemistry in the ring
together, and their styles just perfectly complemented each
other and meshed extremely well. Secondly, the interviews and
angles were just superb throughout, and both men delivering some
classic promos and engaged in some great verbal showdowns. The
heat they generated was tremendous, and the backstory to the
feud, tied in with everything that was going on with Shawn
Michaels and Bret, just added to the whole thing. The
double-turn at WrestleMania really was the pinnacle, too, as the
two men managed to pull of one of the most difficult things you
can do in wrestling, delivering a ***** classic along the way.
Conclusion
to Part Two
I don’t know if there will ever be a wrestling promotion that
has three talented men such as these three at the top of the
company. People often ask me what is the one match that has
never happened that I would like to see most. I used to say
something like Shawn Michaels vs. Sting but now that I think
about it the match that I’d like to see the most would be a
triple threat involving Hart, Austin and HBK. Sadly that will
never happen for obvious reasons but I for one would shell out
any amount of money to see it because if there could ever be a
perfect wrestling match I think these three men could deliver
it.
John
C.
and Matt
Spence
