Celebrities: Eric Esch, VinnyPazienza, Kevin Rooney, Pete Rose, Boyz II Men,
Arguably, this was the absolute hottest time in pro wrestling in the history of the business. We are in the core of the Attitude Era, and we are now at the grandest show of the year, Wrestlemania 15 live from Philadelphia, PA. Earlier in the year, Monday Night Raw once again shifted the power of influence and the power of product, but reclaiming the throne as the top wrestling company in the world, by knocking out WCW from the top of the mountain. The WWF at this time had the touch of Midas and could not do any wrong. The poster of WM 15 just boldly showed it all. The poster of the show has Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind, Triple H, The Rock, The Undertaker and The Big Show. When you have a roster of that kind of talent, the only thing that you can do is win.
The road to Wrestlemania15 really started at the 1998 Survivor Series. The PPV had a tournament to crown a new WWF Champion after the title was vacated. The outcome of the tournament saw The Rock winning the title, but at the same time, joining forces with the chairman of the WWF; and joining the “Corporation” by aligning himself with Vince McMahon. The Rock and the rest of the Corporation run rampant through the WWF and he has back n forth battles with Mankind for the title. The tile went back n forth between him and Mankind, but both were not short in giving us quality in the ring. The 1999 Royal Rumble occurs Stone Cold enters at #1; Mr. McMahon comes in at #2. They were the first two in the ring, and the last two in the ring and Mr. McMahon wins the 1999 Rumble. McMahon is going to Wrestlemania! By the looks of this, it makes you wonder why would occur at Mania. At St.Valentines Day Massacre in Feb 1999, Vince faced Austin in a steel cage. If Austin wins, Austin gets McMahons title shot, and Austin wins. Austin is now going to Wrestlemania to face the Corporate Champion, The Rock.
The Event started with Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett, the WWF Tag Team Champions faceing off against D’Lo Brown and Test and retaining those titles.
One treat of the night was the conclusion to the WWF’s experiment, “Brawl for All” where there have been a series of “shoot fight” Boxing style matches on Raw. Many wresters were involved in these matches, such as Marc Mero, JBL, Tiger Ali Singh, etc. This match would pit the man who won the WWF Brawl for All tournament; Bart Gunn. Bart Gunn would face Boxing’s #1 competitor, Butterbean. The prep for the match was longer than the match itself, because Butterbean knocked out (cleanly) Bart Gunn in less than 40 seconds. Wow. The one part of this match that I wanted to make note of was that this would be Gorilla Monsoon’s last wrestlemania and last public appearance before passing. Gorilla was a judge at ringside for the boxing match. Gorillas was at Wrestlemania 1-10; on tape for 11, there for 12 and took absence 13-14 and came back at 15. An emotional standing ovation Gorilla received from the sold out crowd in Philly.
Taker Note: The Undertaker faced The Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match. The Undertaker defeats Boss Man to go 8-0.
The Main Event was for the World Wrestling Federation Championship in a No Disqualification match; The Rock vs Stone Cold. The birth of what is to be (arguably) the greatest rivalry in pro wrestling. The build that was created for these two, had bad blood written all over it. The Rock is looking to defend the honor and the strength of the Corporation and Austin is looking to win his 3rd World Title and hopefully put an end to the Corporation. One piece of the puzzle that was a pleasure was that this would be Jim Ross’s return, and return he did, to call the main event along side with Jerry the King Lawler. Originally, Mankind would be assigned to ref the match, due to the match that he won earlier in the night against The Big Show, but The Corporation made little work of Mankind after his match to send him to the “hospital”. Vince McMahon took the liberty to referee the main event. However commissioner Shawn Michaels had a word to say to that, and removed McMahon from his ref position and told him to beat it, and Mike Chioda took over as ref. The two enter the ring and the match is hot instantly. Both men went back n forth and even took the match into the crowds, and even threw Austin into the WM structure.
The Spanish announce table was taken out; nothing was safe when it came to these two. Even referee Mike Chioda was a casualty as he took a chair shot, Tim White comes out to take the place and to count the shoulders down. When Austin was building up momentum, The Rock, out of desperation, Rock Bottoms Tim White. This give Austin wind and hits The Rock with the Stunner. Earl Hebner comes out to count the Rock out, but The Rock kicks out. McMahon makes his presence back at ringside and both him and The Rock take out Hebner and put work on Austin. But the original ref comes down, Mankind, throwing McMahon out the ring and having the two really see who the better man is. Rock is hit with the Lou Thez press by Austin, but Rock retailates with the Rock Bottom. Going for the Peoples Elbow, Austin moves out the way and goes for the stunner, Rock catches it, spins him around, goes for another rock bottom, blocked by Austin and hit with the stunner and pins the Rock, 1-2-3 to win the WWF Championship
Celebrities: Mike Tyson, Pete Rose, Gennifer Flowers and Chris Warren.
This Wrestlemania was a loud and emphatic scream of “Welcome to the Attitude Era”. This would be the Wrestlemania to officially usher in the new day and age of the World Wrestling Federation. This was no longer your dads WWWF, this was OUR WWF. A WWF that was a mirror image of the current times where Alternative and Rap music were mainstream, where people, who at one time had no voice, could express themselves to the entire world via the world wide web. Where expressionism was not just a mere idea, but was a mandatory way of life. The new WWF would be immediately embraced due to the worlds youth movement. This came at the perfect time as World Championship Wrestling was continuing to blaze the television and wrestling world. But gone are the days where the WWF would just be regarded as a wrestling punch line, the boys were ready to fight. And if the Wrestling war between both companies was that, then this wrestlemania was a missile from a B-52 Bomber.
The background of Wrestlemania can be tracked back to the formation of Degeneration X in the fall of 1997. After Bret Hart left the WWF after the Montreal Screw job, the WWF was treated as a frat boy’s playground via the likes of Shawn Michaels (WWF Champ), Triple H and Chyna. Every week, Monday Night Raw would be graced with antics (some not suitable for television) by the 3. Although most of them inappropriate, they still drew people to their TV sets to see what else they would be up to (me included). At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels defended the WWF title against The Undertaker in a casket match. On hand to witness the main event was The Baddest Man in the World, Iron Mike Tyson. Tyson watched as HBK retained the title and also witnessed and celebrated as Stone Cold Steve Austin won the 1998 Rumble. The next night on Raw was supposed to be an announcement of some sort from the Chairman of the WWF, Vince McMahon with Tyson as his guest, but that was short lived as Stone Cold Steve Austin came unannounced and “ruined” the party, by getting into a scuffle with Tyson. As the weeks went on, the championship match at Mania was announced as it will be The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels defending the title against Stone Cold Steve Austin, with Mike Tyson as the special guest ref. When this was announced Shawn was irate and wanted to confront Tyson one on one in the ring. When Shawn confronted Tyson in what looked like it would be a heated verbal exchange between the two, Shawn grabs Tysons shirt, rips it off his back, just to reveal a “Degeneration X” T-shirt on him. Tyson was the newest member of DX. The odds were definitely stacked against Austin going into Wrestlemania.
Wrestlemania 14, live from Boston. The opener of the ppv, would show a 15 team tag team battle royal. This would be the purpose of the long waited return of the LOD (Legion of Doom). But with a new look. Not only a new look of half way shoulder spikes and a helmet, but also managed by Sunny. And on top of that, a new name LOD 2000. LOD 2000 would go on to win the match.
This would be the first Wrestlemania where the WWF European Championship would be defended. Triple H would defend the title against Owen Hart. Triple H defeats Hart to retain the title.
For the WWF Intercontinental Title, The Rock (for the 2nd year in a row) would defend the Intercontinental title against Ken Shamrock. Ken Shamrock and The Rock had a very hard hitting match, and Shamrock did in fact make the Rock tap with the ankle lock. Shamrock Wins! Not so fast. Shamrock, never relinquished the hold and it took a band of referees to make him unlock the move. Due to his insubordination, the decision was reversed, Ken was disqualified and the Rock retains the IC title.
The WWF Tag Team Titles were on the line as Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) would face The New Age Outlaws (champions) after dumping both the men in the trash, Funk and Jack win the match and win the WWF Tag Team titles.
Undertaker Note: The Undertaker faces his brother Kane in, at that time was The Undertakers toughest opponent to date. Kane was too strong and too much of a machine to be stopped. But the Deadman showed incredible resilience and with the tombstone, The Undertaker was able to defeat his younger brother Kane. The Undertaker is 7-0 at Wrestlemania.
The WWF Championship Match is now on hands. Shawn Michaels comes in with a blaze glory (and a bad back), and then enters the challenger, Steve Austin. With fellow DX member, Mike Tyson on the outside of the ring, anything was possible in this encounter. Austin and Michaels went at it, just like two ring veterans. Just one year before, Austin was in the ring giving a clinic with Michaels’s #1 adversary, and now it was Shawn’s turn to dance with the Texas Rattlesnake.
The match went beyond the ring as Austin and Shawn brawled out by where the band was playing and even used some of their equipment as weapons. The match was brought back to the ring and slowed down a bit with a few submission holds and additional back n forth exchange. Eventually, Austin would be put in the figure four leg lock and then hit with Shawn’s flying elbow. But that wasn’t enough, Austin was ready for another comeback, when Shawn went for his sweet chin music, Austin grabbed the leg and reversed it, and hit Shawn with the Stone Cold Stunner. This would take Shawn out and due to referee Mike Chioda being knocked out; Mike Tyson came into the ring and counted HBK’s shoulders down for the 1-2-3. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the new World Wrestling Federation Champion, ushering in and leading the new Attitude Era.
Wrestling fans have encountered that conversation dozens and dozens of times through their lifetime. Aside from the outrageous cost to watch a live PPV, it’s almost the full price that we pay for being a fan of said sport. But my question is, are we alone? Are we the only ones who share the same category of fandom? Honestly, I don’t think we are. This may be a bold statement, however, I believe that the same ones who question why we are fans in the first place and enlighten us with that revelation of breaking news that its “fake”, may just be one rung under us hardcore fans in appreciating what we see every week.
Shhhhh, Elin knows about the hookers, but NOT the Royal Rumble DVD's
I really feel that there are 3 kinds of people in the world (in terms of pro wrestling) Those who are legit fans, those who are closet fans and those who honestly do not know and do not care for (not out of spite) what is going on. But I do not think that there are people that absolutely hate professional wrestling (besides wrestling fans, but that’s a whole another article, which I will speak about at a later date). I have 3 situations that I would like to speak about that helps my theory.
The Attitude Era.
Not your granddad's wresting!
Back in 94-96, I was in 8th grade/freshman year in HS. And it was very known that I was a pro wrestling fan. And on a daily basis I would receive the whole “you know its fake” gimmick from people. I didn’t know anyone who was publicly a fan of wrestling with the exception of one guy in 8th grade and then in HS, he ended up going to a different school, so once again I was all alone in terms of being a fan. I cannot stress the word ALONE enough.
Yes, I do have Lionel Richie playing in my head #Hello
No one but me was pulling for the WWE when they had the likes of Adam Bomb, King Mable, Sparky Plugg, The Portuguese Man O War Aldo Montoya, Duke The Dumpster Drose and Max Moon.
Yes, please take him seriously as a potential world champion
Yes, I sat through these matches that were 100% gimmicked up. And would be too corny for the ABC Family Channel.
That corny shit wouldnt fly here, prick!
But I did not care for a second at all. It was fine with me seeing these half rated matches because of my love of this product. And then, a year to two later, the WWF goes into a different direction and bring us “The Attitude Era”. This was a period in wrestling that paralleled with the current culture of young people and where we were in general from a society’s stand point. The Attitude Era gave you the cutting edge, in your face, party to the edge of death mentality that was currently revolving around music, TV and films at the time. It was a very alternative way of viewing the product and a success it was. So much of a success in fact, that I noticed that there were more and more people who had no shame in wearing “Austin 3:16” t-shirts to school.
"My Austin Shirt, can kick your Abercrombie shirts ass"
DX T-shirts, Chyna Shirts, nWo shirts were all in this mix as well. Constantly on a daily basis. But here’s the funny part. The people who were wearing these shirts were ones that never were public about their fandom in the first place and some where even people who would question my loyalty to it (questioning in terms of “why” do I like it?). Now, I’m not calling them banwagoners, but to me, you had to have been there during the transition period in order to understand what all was happening, in order for your to appreciate the product so much that you invested your dollars into said t-shirt that you wear on your back. I am convinced that you were always a fan of the sport, but you needed that push so that you would be comfortable enough to be out there with your passion for it. Sir, you are and always were…a fan.
Radio.
Video didnt kill a G*d Damn Thing!!!
Sunday April 2nd 2006. The morning of Wrestlemania 22, live in Chicago, IL at the AllState Arena. During this time my Sunday mornings normally consisted of me cooking a Sunday morning breakfast for my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) and cleaning the kitchen. Call it domesticated if you want, but to me it was my Zen.
Eat my chicken carbonara, or I'll kick you in the dick!
Not so much because of the dirty skillet meeting the suds, but because I would listen to this radio show on 92.3 (Power 92) called “Sports Talk”. Power 92 is an all Hip Hop/ R&B radio station, geared towards an urban audience in the Chicago/Hammond, IN area. “Sports Talk” was the only all black sports radio show that was on the radio at this time. It was a great show, not just because of its audience that it was trying to target, but because the commentary was just really good, and very honest. The show received a moderate amount of reception from listeners; they may’ve gotten about 6 calls within the two hour time span that they were on the air each week. So naturally in radio, when the calls aren’t coming in, you either elongate the current phone call or fill in the gaps with in studio discussion.
No wonder we cant get calls, we got Cowheard.
One of the hosts name was Leon Rogers, very well-known radio personality in the Chicago land area, so he would bring not only his veteran radio skills, but also the comedy of the show and input with current sports related topics. On this early spring morning, the main topic of discussion was the start of the new baseball season for both the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox organizations. Especially the White Sox, since at that time, they were the reigning world champions of Major league Baseball. So, needless to say, this was a pretty important episode.
I dare you to talk about anything other than us, ripping the leauge a new one!
Now, Leon is indeed an open fan of pro wrestling, and sometimes, he would drop little wrestling connections to the topic at hand dealing with sports, and the other guys would just (playfully) brush him off. 15 min before the show ended, Leon, mentioned that Wrestlemania 22 would be coming on that night and how much he was looking forward to seeing John Cena face Triple H for the WWE Title. The guys in the studio, once again, tried dismissing what he said, but he opened the phone lines up, for anyone who wanted to call in to talk about WRESTLING. The other guys in the studio joked with him, telling him not to text his mama to call into the station now since no one would call. The show went to a quick break, and when they came back, the LINES WERE FULL. Within that 15 min time frame, they took about 11 calls, with me being one of the calls (yay! Happy face!) In 15 min, they almost doubled their weekly average for a whole show.
I knew when they'd mention WWE, I'd have to actually WORK now!
Now, this is NOT me saying Wrestling> All Pro Sports. Not at all. But that once announcement, triggered an itch for callers to call in somewhat aggressive like to discuss pro wrestling on the radio, even if it was only for about a min-min and half, they embraced that immediate bond that was put on the table and once again when it was ok to be open about it, all inhibitions are taken down and the closet fan is no more. Chicago Sports talk Radio listeners…You were and are always a fan.
I'm looking at you Chicago
The Rock Returns.
Still...The Great One.
The night was February 14th 2011. For a week now, it was heavily announced that Vince McMahon would unveil the guest host of Wrestlemania 27, live in Atlanta, GA. The 2/14/11 edition of Raw, CM Punk defeats John Cena; Miz beats Daniel Bryan, R-Truth and Morrison def Otunga and McGuillicutty, Eve def Natalya and Randy Orton def Shemus. Pretty standard Raw, but it wouldn’t be the solid matches that would make this night memorable. It was how the show closed, when the host of Wrestlemania was announced by Justin Roberts. As we waited a good 1min and 7 sec in anticipation (and 1 min and 7 sec of anticipation does feel quite like an eternity) from out of nowhere we hear…
No one saw this coming, everyone was just side blasted by this announcement that The Rock returned to the WWE and would be guest hosting Wrestlemania. As the late great Gorilla Monsoon would say “The Electrically was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.” And indeed it was. We have gone almost 7 years without seeing The Rock in a WWE ring. Granted, we have seen small snippets and reminders of The Rock throughout time weather it would be a movie promotion, him inducting his father at the HOF or a video message for the Smackdown anniversary. We have been reminded of The Rock, but something about him being IN a WWE ring brings a certain spark, a certain degree of magic to it, that we have been without for the last 7 years. We got it that night and every reminder of why we loved this man in the first place all came back. Any reservations that we once had before about him, and him “turning Hollywood” on us, were suspended, and all that mattered in life was the 21 min segment we would receive of The Rock addressing his fans once again. All was right in not only in the world of wrestling, but in the world in general.
Arrived, Kicked Record Breaking Ass, Leave
This was obvious because on FB and Twitter, the Rock was blowing up. But it was Facebook that surprised me the most. No surprise from my fellow wrestling fans that I talk with on a daily basis on FB, but it was the people whom I always assumed that if they passed a wrestling ring on the street they’d have no idea what the hell it was. THEY were FB’ing about The Rock. People who never (and The Rock means NEVER) speak about that world, but now that world has become theirs, and they were loving every sec of it. My FB wall was filled of people who were asking about The Rock and asking me if he really was back. Twitter was going bananas and The Rock was instantly trending world wide.
Rock Killed Me.
My text inbox, same thing. And next week, the text messages, and FB Wall notes of people asking me “what time does Raw come on?” and “Is The Rock wrestling tonight.” One of the biggest names of all time in wrestling next to Hogan and Austin returns to the ring. Now Casual fans have a reason to tune in and embrace what they have always loved. Casual viewers, you will always…be fans.
But let’s go back to the word “Fake”. I think that word is not only harmful to pro wrestling, but also is offensive as well. I myself has trained a little bit to be a prowrestler. I have 1 Indy match under my belt and that is with a local figure by the name of Matt Longtime. I am a proud 0-1.
Yeah! It was I who made the Proffit, Stop It!
But to call what we did in that ring and how we prepared for the match to give everyone a great show as “fake” couldn’t be more insulting. I call professional wrestling a “Controlled Situation, with a premeditated outcome”. What happens in between those words hurts like hell (believe me). Now, I only have 1 match to show for it. But what about showing some respect to the men and women who do this constantly on a regular basis, night in and night out and leave everything in the ring. Risking their health and risking injury, just to not only put on a helluva show, but also to do something that they love doing? Ripping prowrestling with ignorance is just as bad as taking food off a man’s table to feed his family. I’m not telling you to go to Best Buy, buy a DVD and become an instant fan, but I feel that it should get more respect, and I would like to see that the description of professional wrestling, on a common basis, can fully abolish the word “FAKE” from its description.
"Fake" The New "N" word.
Give it some dignity, please. But if you want to take it an extra mile, let’s talk about how many dives are taken in professional boxing. Boxing promoters are one rung above criminals, you mean to tell me that everything that goes on behind the scenes with pro boxing is completely legitimate?
Only In America, can you get convicted of 2nd Degree Murder and end up a millionaire!
Man, please. Or what about the NBA? It was revealed a couple of years ago, that Tim Doungehey solely RIGGED the 2002 NBA Playoffs, to see to it that the Lakers would win the championship.
Lebron, get me out of jail and my job back, you will have 5 championships
What does that sound to me? From his angle, it sounds like a controlled situation with a premeditated outcome, but only he and whatever mobsters he was working with, knew that. So, why isn’t the finger on Boxing? Why isn’t it on Pro basketball? Why do they get the pass, but Prowretling, which embraces that its sports entertainment is the one that gets the shaft? Don’t be hypocritical, Lets…Be…REAL (not fake).
I think there is a strong amount of fandom in the majority of us. Some embrace it more than others. And that is absolutely fine. But I just want to say that there is no reason at all to shy away from what you have an interest in. It’s a great excuse to escape from the reality that we know that is life and to suspend disbelief for just a few hours a week to take pleasure in being entertained. For those who can appreciate this, I saw “salud” to you. To those who are a part of the 33% who don’t know a thing of what is going on…man are you missing out.
Your healthcare coverage should take care of FOMO symptoms…only if you’re in Canada.
Before I end this. Just want to show some love to a few SOLID bloggers that I am learning A LOT from (thank you gentlemen)
For your Baseball Fix, this man is a walking/living Wikipedia of anything dealing with Major League Baseball. Check out Matt Adams (Twitter: @2012WhiteSox) His Web sites are: http://ramblingsofbaseball.com and http://southsideshowdown.com
For your Premier English Football League fix, on opinions, topics, analysis and all that good stuff that deal with English Football, check out Ross Bell (Twitter: @RossBell1984 ) His Web Site is: http://www.johnnykashmirsrandomblog.blogspot.com/
For anyone that take an appreciation in commentary on computers, Video Games, Politics, other outlets of technology (of which i am completely clueless about but I envy the hell out of him) and other random yet relevent thoughts. Check out Sekani Wright (Twitter: @Sekani2 ) his Web site is http://www.sekani2.com
Maurice D. Proffit
proffitspiledriver 