January 11, 1993-- I remember it well. I was a sophomore in college and ten years into my wrestling fandom. Over Christmas break, I watched the last of the Prime Time Wrestling shows, a program I had enjoyed for about a decade. Now it was time for something new, Monday Night Raw.
It's hard to believe that was 30 years ago. Now, at 49 years old, I am still a fan, but I still need to become more committed to watching each week. Having cut the cable cord years ago, I have only had a few opportunities to watch Raw live. However, I located a feed of the special anniversary show via TikTok.
From the opening segment, featuring the face of 80s wrestling, Hulk Hogan, to the final bell with long-time attraction Brock Lesnar, the show was packed with everything a nostalgic fan like me craves. Ric Flair, DX, Kurt Angle, Undertaker, and others. Memories from the past three decades flooded back. My favorite current storyline featuring The Bloodline provided even more entertainment. I can't wait to see how it all plays out, as I've seen plenty of conflicting theories.
Sometimes fans of the current product frown upon the dusting off of Legends and allowing them to 'humiliate' the existing talent that's there week after week. That was the case with Raw is XXX (30, not pornographic). The Legends were used appropriately and helped give the rub to modern Superstars like Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, the Street Profits, and even LA Knight.
Sure the latter was choke slammed by the Undertaker, but I still believe that being in the ring with someone the caliber of the Deadman (or Biker in last night's case) goes a long way. These moments provided feel-good moments for fans (I especially enjoyed it after a not-so-great day).
Even though The Rock, 'Stone Cold,' nor Vince McMahon were there, as many had speculated, I believe Raw is XXX was a great show that flowed well. I'm even more stoked now for Saturday's Royal Rumble and the unpredictability that event will bring.
It's WrestleMania Week. I'm celebrating the Hall of Fame newcomer Billy Gunn this week. I met Billy in 2005 and got to interview him for the news. While he was here, I asked for his autograph on an action figure that is still in the package. Check out the episode and please subscribe:
There has been some criticism online about Chyna going into the WWE Hall of Fame with the group DX instead of as an individual. I find these arguments silly and just another reason for fans to whine about something. I share more specific thoughts on DX going into the 2019 Class of the WWE Hall of Fame in this Facebook video.
On the Oct. 8 edition of Monday Night Raw, the rumors of Shawn Michaels returning to the ring were confirmed. The Heartbreak Kid along with Triple H announced Degeneration X is back and will face the Undertaker and Kane at the upcoming Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 2. My 1-2-3 Cents on the announcement can be seen in the video below. Thanks for watching and please subscribe.
It would be hard to argue that during the Monday Night Wars the nWo was the biggest faction going. But WWE's Degeneration X was a close second. Once founding member Shawn Michaels retired, Triple H and Chyna recruited Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and X-Pac. The group helped turn the tide in the Wars and took the business to the next level.
Gunn & Rotten on News 3 This Morning
Gunn was my favorite member of the group. Years later when he was released from WWE, I was disappointed. But that actually lead to the time I was able to meet Mr. Ass. He had been signed to wrestle for Ian Rotten's IWA: Midsouth April Bloodshowers show in Herrin, Illinois. I'm a morning news anchor in southern Illinois and we were able to schedule Billy to be on the show. Chad was working at the station too, as a director, and he had the idea of Billy and I having a match his PlayStation.
So during News 3 This Morning, I battled Billy with my own character. He whooped me as I tried to play the game and stay focused on interviewing him. I was still pretty new to the anchor desk, and my nerves clearly got the best of me. On the way out from the station that morning, Ian asked if I would ring announce that night. Of course, I said yes.
"We've got two words for ya..." Courtesy: IWA Midsouth
Other than doing a news report a few years earlier on pro wrestling in Alabama, I had never been inside a wrestling ring. My nerves were out of whack as I introduced the men and women that night. Then when Billy got in the ring, he put his arm around me and after his promo he said "We've got two words for you..." and in a move that is should be out of character for a news anchor I joined Billy in a crotch chop and yelled, "SUCK IT!!!"
After the interview
This was in an era before Facebook and Twitter and even smartphones. But I was nervous it would get back to my boss that I made the move. Again, I was a young journalist at the time and thought I might get a lecture, but nothing was ever said. Since that night I've gone on to do more ring announcing, color commentary and even stepping into the ring and wrestling. I believe Billy Gunn helped boost my confidence that first night and laid the groundwork for who I am today as a ring announcer for Stride Pro Wrestling.
Billy Gunn, by the way, is the guest for the next Cape Championship Wrestling show. He's in a tag team match with former CCW champ Brandon Barbwire. They battle current CCW champ Hollis Giroux and current Stride Pro Wrestling champ Matheus. That show is this Saturday, July 29 at the AC Brase Arena in Cape Girardeau.
Earlier today (Feb. 15, 2017) I had the pleasure of being on hand for the announcement of a huge concert here in southern Illinois. Ozzy Osbourne will be performing at Walker's Bluff's MoonStock 2017 on Aug. 21. It's part of a HUGE celebration for the total solar eclipse. For those of you not from southern Illinois, this area will be one of the best spots in the country to view the eclipse this summer.
The official announcement Courtesy: Ashley Smith
Walker's Bluff is a winery that is celebrating with a four-day festival. Ozzy is the main event if you will. After breaking the news on News 3 This Morning on WSIL, there have been hundreds of shares of the story and thousands of people have seen the post. Ozzy is a legend and people here wanna see him perform.
Growing up, I was well aware of Ozzy. My uncle had plenty of Black Sabbath albums. My younger brother was a superfan and attended an Ozzy Osbourne concert in the late 80s. However, I never became obsessed with his music. I liked hits like Mama I'm Coming Home, Crazy Train along with Randy Rhoads and his duet with Lita Ford, Close My Eyes Forever. I know hardcore Ozzy fans are probably screaming at the screen right now.
The British Bulldogs, Capt. Lou & Ozzy Courtesy: WWE
Here's something else I know and love about Ozzy. He was a guest at WrestleMania II. The Prince of Darkness donned a pink suit (maybe it was salmon) and was the guest cornerman for my favorite tag team The British Bulldogs. Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid were managed by Capt. Lou Albano, but with Ozzy in their corner they ended up capturing the WWF Tag Team Titles from Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine. I don't know the reason, other than they wanted celebrities there and both Ozzy and the Bulldogs are from England.
DX & Ozzy Courtesy: WWE
Ozzy and his family became household names years later with their reality show. In 2007 he performed on Friday Night SmackDown. And two years later, he and wife, Sharon were guest General Managers of Monday Night Raw. Ozzy is a wrestling fan and that gets points with me.
But I digress... If you want to learn more about MoonStock, Ozzy's performance and the special Solar Red wine to commemorate the event, click here.
Coming up with an X for the A to Z idea was a no brainer. Other than X-Pac, I don't know who or what I could have written about. So thanks Sean Waltman for the name change in 1998. Speaking of, I'd say was his biggest or at least most memorable SummerSlam match for me.
Hair today...
Courtesy: WWE
It was 1998 when he'd returned to the WWF and joined D-Generation X. The group had recently turned good and leader Triple H was busy with the Rock and X-Pac had his hands full with "Double J" Jeff Jarrett. The match was hair vs. hair and I'm glad X-Pac won because it finally meant an end to Jarrett's mullet. The match was good and proved to me that the former 1-2-3 Kid was going to be a star.
1-2-3 Kid vs. Hakushi
Courtesy: WWE
I personally liked the Kid character especially in the early days before signing with WWF. Kid wasn't nearly as successful as he was after changing his name, look and attitude, but he had an excellent match against Hakushi in 1995.
Unified champ
Courtesy: WWE
The other big win for him at SummerSlam was against Tajiri in 2002 when he unified the WWF and WCW light heavyweight championships. But until I started doing my research, I'd forgotten this match existed. I've mentioned before there's a big blur in my wrestling memory bank from 2000 until about 2007. Coincidentally I became a father for the first time in 2000...
He lost the tag team titles with Kane as the duo faced the Big Show and Undertaker in 1999 and then beat former DX buddy Road Dogg at the event in 2000. Love him or hate him, X-Pac or the 1-2-3 Kid is a part of SummerSlam history, giving fans some great matches through the years.
I think it's safe to say I would not be doing the SummerSlam A to Z blogs if it weren't for the letter V: Vince McMahon. He revolutionized wrestling/sports entertainment as we know it today, first starting with the Wrestlemania pay-per-view. Then came Survivor Series and third of the "Big Four" ppvs, SummerSlam. It's the highlight of the summer and has been going strong since 1988.
JR, Vince & The King Courtesy: WWE
Vince was behind the scenes for the first couple of years. In 1990, he was on commentary, sat out a year and was back behind the mic for several years to follow. He worked the booth with everyone from "Rowdy" Roddy Piper to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to Jerry "The King" Lawler. Vince did that until 1997, months before adopting the evil Mr. McMahon character on screen.
Vince's head meets the trash can Courtesy: WWE
Vince wrestled sporadically through the Monday Night Wars and beyond. His only match at SummerSlam came when he and son Shane tagged up against Triple H and Shawn Michaels, collectively known as Degeneration X. Considering Vince was just days away from his 61st birthday and had only had a handful of matches under his belt I thought he did pretty well in this contest. There was plenty of outside interference, but I am amazed at the bumps Vince (and Shane) took throughout the course of the match (including that trashcan shot to the head).
It appears his wrestling days are behind him, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him pop up again at the summer tradition somewhere down the road. As they say, you never know what's going to happen in the World Wrestling Feder... oops, my bad. In the WWE.
Terry Funk is a wrestling legend. In the 1970's he held the NWA world's heavyweight title. He wrestled all around the world, beating many of the all time greats in the business. By 1998, he was back in the WWF for another stint, but this time there was something different about the Funker...
You see the man from the Double Cross Ranch had an identity crisis. He traded in his cowboy hat, chaps, and branding iron for a chainsaw, thermal underwear top, and panty hoses over his face. Terry Funk had became Chainsaw Charlie. I don't know if this was based on the success that WWF alum Cpl. Kirschner enjoyed as Leatherface in Japan and on the indie scene or if something else motivated the character.
The highlight of the gimmick was seeing Funk and Mick Foley (who was Cactus Jack) team up. The two had a match on Raw, when the tag team champions, the New Age Outlaws interfered. This set up for a title match with the winners stuffing their opponents in a dumpster. The faces won the match and titles, but a weird ruling came down that the wrong dumpster was used, so the two teams faced off again on Monday Night Raw, this time in a steel cage. I'm pretty sure this is when Sean Waltman returned to the WWF and Degeneration X was formed with Triple H, the Outlaws, and X-Pac. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here.
Chainsaw vs. Cactus Jack
Photo courtesy: WWE
Funk aka Chainsaw Charlie didn't stick around too long, he had one last match with Foley on Raw and wrestled a few more times before heading back to ECW and WCW. Despite the mask, announcers did refer to Chainsaw as Terry Funk from time to time.
Nevertheless, Funk is a legend and whether Charlie adds to or detracts from his legacy is up for debate. Charlie was a fun alter ego that Funk seemed to enjoy. The fans responded well too, and I think at the end of the day that's what matters. Of course this was the Attitude Era and the fans loved just about everything, except Beaver Cleavage...
After watching WWE’s 1000 episode of Monday Night Raw, I found it to be a lot like “Prometheus” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” If I simply took it as three hours of entertainment it was a good show. If I started to really think about what was on the show and what was accomplished during those three hours I found the show to be a perfect example of what is wrong in today’s WWE product. Since I have this blog as a means of expression, you know I had to think about the show and not sit back and just be entertained.
Going into the show, I didn’t know what to expect. With the reports of past Superstars being there, I figured we’d get a lot of segments where they tried to shoehorn as many guys into one segment as they could. Really there were only two such segments. I also expected a lot of flashbacks and montages to recap the previous 19 years of RAW. There were only two such segments, the catchphrase montage and a look at the Austin/McMahon feud. I’ve heard conflicting reports about why “Stone Cold” Steve Austin wasn’t there. Given they didn’t even have a video of him commenting on RAW leads me to believe the public reason given isn’t the 100% accurate one.
With three hours and only two packages shown, the amount of wrestling on the show wasn’t much different than a normal episode of RAW. There were only five matches on the show for about 26 minutes of wrestling. That includes one match that went 2 minutes and one that went for 10 seconds. If that’s what we can expect from the new weekly 3 hour RAWs, I have a feeling fans who watch via DVR are going to do a lot of fast forwarding.
Getting into the actual content on the show I was once again reminded of one important wrestling truth, the only time wrestling was important was from 1997-2000. Michael Cole mentioned the Attitude Era at least 5 times when talking about former stars. I understand that without the Attitude Era, RAW most likely wouldn’t be 3 hours now because it most likely wouldn’t have gone to 2 hours in the first place if it wasn’t for WCW Nitro getting better ratings. We also wouldn’t be watching pay per view caliber match ups on a weekly basis if not for the Attitude Era. My problem is the Attitude Era ended 11 years ago and the WWE and fans alike refuse to let it go.
DX takes care of Sandow Photo courtesy: WWE.com
On Raw 1000 we saw DX beat up Damian Sandow, Lita and the APA destroy Heath Slater, Kane and Undertaker took out the Smackdown Job Squad and to a lesser degree The Rock verbally bitch-slapped Daniel Bryan. We also found out a guy who has wrestled two matches in the last 8 years gets a title shot at the Royal Rumble. Sure the fans were into it and cheered wildly as these former stars did their shtick but next week on the 1001 episode of RAW which of these people will be on the show and which will be a memory? Bringing back profanity, innuendos, hardcore matches and crash TV won’t make the current WWE as successful as the Attitude Era. What made the Attitude Era was the collection of talent and the way they were used. When “Stone Cold” or The Rock were on their rise from mid-carders fans couldn’t care less about to mega-stars, you never saw Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund, or “Superstar” Billy Graham show up and deliver a beat down. Austin and Rock were treated like rock stars and were given a chance to connect with the fans with unscripted promos. If both guys were new stars in WWE today, do you think either one would become the star they are with the way shows are booked and talent is used? Remember, it took Austin 3 years and Triple H being punished for the “Stone Cold” character to become popular. When he started his ascension he wasn’t being laid out by the champion on a weekly basis like Dolph Ziggler or being squashed by mid-card comedy acts like Jack Swagger is these days. If Superstars aren’t presented as Superstars the fans won’t treat them as such.
The Rev. Slick returns Photo courtesy: WWE.com
Lets get back to Raw 1000. One of my biggest disappointments was the former stars that showed up. I tried to avoid all spoilers so I would be genuinely surprised when someone from the past was shown. Other than Slick, Lita and the APA there were no real surprises. We got the standard legends that appear anytime they need legends, Jim Duggan, Roddy Piper and Sgt. Slaughter. And we got all the guys who have beat up Heath Slater for the past month. I don’t know why other guys weren’t there. Maybe there were a lot of scheduling conflicts. There was also the disappointment of having Jim Ross and Howard Finkel on the show yet not having them involved with the main event WWE Title match. Having The Fink do the introductions of John Cena and CM Punk and having JR call the action would have added to the importance of the match. Even if JR only speaks in sound bytes these days.
Not only did I feel the show lack in former stars, it lacked in current stars big time. On a three hour show the only current diva to make an appearance was the Diva’s Champion, Layla, who was used in a backstage comedy bit. Where were the other divas? At least Layla got to be in a segment. Kofi Kingston, one half of the Tag Team Champions, only made the show because he sent in a Tout video. Was the show really that crunched for time where a multi-team tag team match or a Divas match couldn’t take place?
New Raw GM: AJ! Photo courtesy: WWE.com
Overall, as I said in the beginning, RAW was entertaining for the most part but there was a lot of head scratching when it came to what made it on the show. I’m not even going to get into the AJ is the new General Manager of RAW. I am so tired of the authority figures in wrestling. WWE please get a new playbook and start thinking outside the box when it comes to booking the show.
What did you think of RAW 1000? Was it as satisfying as you hoped it would be or did it come up short? Are you excited for SummerSlam or should they cancel all pay per views until the Royal Rumble? Share you thoughts on our Facebook page, or on Twitter. Please don’t send us any Tout videos. It’s hard enough to keep up with two social media sites.
I'm doing a new feature each Friday here, based loosely on a segment we do on the newscast I anchor, called Friday Fail. In that weekly feature we look at stupid things that people (mostly criminals) do.
The Friday Fail here on My 1-2-3 Cents will of course feature something from the wrestling world. Yeah, it's similar to the WWE's YouTube show "Are You Serious?", but I plan to find stuff that they haven't done yet.
That being said though, the first one is actually one of my favorite bloopers of all time. The wrestler known as Tugboat and Typhoon in the WWF had jumped ship to WCW in 1993. His debut was much hyped as he was to appear with Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Davey Boy Smith in a War Games matchup against Sid, Vader, and Harlem Heat. "Shockmaster" was to make his debut during a "Flair for the Gold" talk show segment. He barrelled through the wall, but because he was wearing a storm trooper helmet spray painted with glitter paint, Shockmaster's vision was limited. He apparently got tripped up on the debris and came tumbling through, and his helmet bounced right off his head. He scrambled to get it back on and then got up quickly, but stood awkwardly for a few seconds. It was a site to behold.
This all happened live during a Clash of the Champions show. No retakes, and you never know what's going to happen on live TV. Shockmaster's momentum was killed before it ever really even started. I am going to assume that his fall from grace (if he had any at that point) was to blame. If you listen closely you can hear mumbling. I'm not sure if it's the commentators or the wrestlers on the set. Allegedly Booker T and Davey Boy Smith dropped the f-bomb after the incident, but it was edited out later.
Years later, WWE spoofed the incident with DX, Dusty Rhodes, Arn Anderson, and Santino Marella. It's obviously not as funny as the original. But really, what is.
What are some of you favorite fails in wrestling? Let us know here or on Facebook. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter. We're @my123cents, @kevinhunsperger, and @chadsmart.
