Raw Memories: #4 Vince Buys WCW

Raw Moment #4:
The Monday Night Wars End

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

No doubt that March 21, 2001 changed the course of history forever.  It's the night that WCW, a wrestling company rich in history, was bought by its competitor, Vincent Kennedy McMahon.  I had been in Dallas for the week and was away from the computer and had no idea this was going down.  We arrived back home Monday afternoon and I logged in to the usual wrestling sites I frequented.  They were all reporting that Vince had bought WCW.  I couldn't believe it.  I knew the company was likely going to be sold, but the last I'd heard Eric Bischoff and some investors were interested.

I must admit I marked out a bit when Monday Nitro opened and fans were greeted by McMahon who made the announcement that he'd bought the company.  It was one of the most surreal moments in wrestling history.  What would this mean for the future of the business?  Were the WCW guys and gals going to all go to the WWF?  No one knew for sure.

As both shows chugged along and WCW put on matches like Scott Steiner vs. Booker T for the heavyweight title and Ric Flair vs. Sting the anticipation grew.  It all came to ahead when Shane McMahon showed up in Panama City Beach where Nitro was broadcasting from.  He and Vince sparred via satellite and Shane laid it out that WCW had been sold to a McMahon, but Not Vince.  Shane had somehow bought the company out from under Vince's nose.

This immediately took the focus off the pending WCW vs. WWF war in my opinion and became more about the McMahon family feud.  Things escalated when ECW returned only under the ownership of Stephanie McMahon.  So while the initial announcement and Vince appearing on Nitro was an awesome memory, the rest of the booking for the invasion angle feel flat.  It had some moments as you can go back and read in some of the other Raw Memories blogs.

Honorable mention:
The kid is good!
Photo courtesy: WWE

Honorable Mention:  I'm not sure how I let this one slip under my radar, but I did.  I had forgotten about the Lightning Kid's match on Raw that made him a house hold name until Chad brought it up on a recent From the Rafters Radio show.  Lightning Kid (aka Sean Waltman) had been a star in Global Wrestling Federation and was now wrestling in the WWF.  Kid looked just like a kid.  He was about 21 years old at the time and looked like he weighed about 160 pounds soaking wet.  To say he was not the a typical WWF meat head wrestler would be the understatement of the year.

But out of no where the Kid pinned a cocky and confident Razor Ramon.  It was a huge upset; one that earned the Kid a new moniker.  He became the 1-2-3 Kid and soon gained confidence and started climbing the ranks of the WWF.  Of course he would eventually become Syxx in WCW and X-Pac when he returned to the WWF and joined Degeneration X.  Had it not been for that initial match back in 1993 in the early days of Raw, who knows what would have become of the Lightning Kid...

Jeff Hardy Speaks Out

Jeff Hardy
Photo courtesy: TNA

My friend and colleague with All American Pro Wrestling and From the Rafters Radio, Adam Testa writes for the Baltimore Sun Ring Posts Blog.  He recently had the opportunity to interview Jeff Hardy.  Click here to find out who Hardy would like to wrestle.  You can click this link ti read Hardy's candid thoughts on the "second chance" he's received from TNA and the fans.

Here is just part of what Jeff had to say when he spoke of his return to TNA after taking time off to battle personal demons.

By Adam Testa
Baltimore Sun Ring Posts Blog


"When I did return, wow, talk about being nervous," Hardy said. "I pretty much admitted I hit rock bottom, and I said that in front of the world. I think that was good for me. After that was over, I said to myself, OK, now I can start; I have my second chance, and I can roll with this.'"

Now, Hardy's a part of the Bound for Glory Series, a competition featuring 12 of TNA's top performers vying for the opportunity to headline the company's biggest annual pay-per-view and wrestle for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in October.

"I just want to go out there and have the best matches I possibly can," Hardy said. "Twelve is my favorite number, and 2012 has been a good year, so far, so I hope to continue the roll and go out with a bang."

This is just a small sample of what Hardy had to say.  You can read more about this road to recovery and who inspired him to get help.  Click here for the full article.

Raw Memories: #5 May God Have Mercy on Our WWF Souls!

Raw Memory #5:
Shane & Stephanie take over

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I know it's easy to criticize the way Vince McMahon and company booked the WCW and ECW "invasion" angles.  I've talked about it before.  But one of the most memorable nights during that time period came in July 2001.

Shane McMahon was the "owner" of WCW at the time.  During the course of the show, Kane and Chris Jericho were in a match against Lance Storm and Mike Awesome when the WWF stars were attacked by ECW notables Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer.  WWF guys like Taz, the Dudleys, and Raven came down to make the save, but it was a set up. Paul Heyman left the commentary desk to announce that ECW was back and several former members of the roster hit the ring.

Now through the night, fans were lead to believe that ECW was there to fight both WCW and WWF.  Even though the WWF guys didn't get along with WCW stars, the two teams attempted to put their differences aside and unit.  It worked briefly.  But eventually things came to a head again and when Shane explained to Vince that ECW had a new owner, Vince nearly lost it.  You see, more of his flesh and blood was out to get him.  Stephanie McMahon sauntered past daddy and joined the WCW and ECW guys and gals in the ring forming the Alliance.

Jim Ross was solo on commentary for the match and most of the night.  His colleague, Heyman, was busy with the storyline in the ring.  This was the time when Jerry Lawler was away from the WWE.  So the emotion that JR puts into the announcing comes through and helps illustrate the dire straights that the WWF was facing.  The show ends with him uttering the famous phrase "May God have mercy on our WWF souls!"  I don't know why but that quote has stuck with me and really punctuated the helplessness JR and the other WWF stars were feeling at the time.  For a period of time it felt like WCW and ECW might actually get one up on Vince and company.  Unfortunately that quote and JR's telling of the story is one of the few highlights of the whole "invasion" angle in my view.

Honorable Mention:
Edge says goodbye

Honorable Mention: The end to one of the greatest careers in the history of the WWE came on April 11, 2011 when the Rated R Superstar said goodbye to wrestling.  Edge's retirement wasn't a total surprise to me, as I figured he'd start winding down his career.  I think what shocked me was how quickly it was over.  Literally, eight days prior he was defending the world heavyweight title (successfully too) against Alberto Del Rio.  As far as I can remember I think Edge is the first reigning World heavyweight champion to retire.

Edge gave an emotional and honest account of why he was hanging up the boots.  It's something that I respect.  I enjoyed the Edge character, especially when he was a heel and teaming with Christian.  But he was one of those guys who fans really got to see grow and evolve into one of the company's all time greats.

It was bitter sweet seeing him go.  He's a great performer on one hand, but on the other Edge's retirement opened the door for others waiting for a chance in the spotlight.  I think it's fair to say that in 2011 CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Mark Henry climbed up the food chain in the WWE hierarchy.  Plus Christian finally got (a brief) run as the world champion.

Raw Memories: #6 Nexus Forms

Raw Memory #6:
The Nexus Forms
Photo from WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents

The summer of 2010 saw the formation of one of the best angles in recent years in the WWE.  The rookies from the newly created NXT show rallied together to take on the entire locker room.  The main event of Raw was coming to the closing minutes (it was CM Punk vs. John Cena) when the rookies hit the ring.

Not only did they hit the ring, they hit everyone in it too.  Luke Gallows, who was in Punk's corner got assaulted as did Punk.  The group of eight then focused their efforts on Cena.  Not one to fall victim, Cena struck first, but was quickly overpowered and beaten.  Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler did a great job selling the assault.  In fact, members of the super group headed outside the ring and beat down the King as Cole scurried away.  That move lead some to believe Cole was the brains behind the group, but thankfully that never turned out to be the case.

Justin Roberts gets choked up.

Ringside officials were also attacked.  Ring announcer Justin Roberts was choked with his own tie by Daniel Bryan.  It's a move that allegedly lead to Bryan's brief termination from the company.  The members of Nexus tore about the ring, the barricades around the ring, and the announce tables.  It was probably the most destructive and damaging attack in the history of the WWE.  I thought that night couldn't have been done any better.

Of course in the weeks and months that followed, I think the WWE creative team dropped the ball.  That's a topic for another time, but I wanted to focus on the moment this group formed and how well their destructive behavior came across that night.

Honorable Mention:
Ho, ho, oh no!
Foley takes on Santa

Honorable Mention:  'Twas days before Christmas... and Mick Foley was booked in a match with Santa Claus.  But this was no ordinary match.  Stephanie McMahon and Triple H were running the show.  They booked Foley (or Mankind) into a boiler room brawl with the Jolly Old elf.  Before the match even started, the Mean Street Posse beat Foley and tossed him in the room.  That lead to the famous phrase "Did I just get my ass kicked by the Mean Street Posse?  That's embarrassing."

Foley asked Santa to just walk out of the room and win the match.  As he turned his back to let Nick when, he was jumped by several other Santas.  Foley fought them off, but eventually was confronted by more men in red and white.  Billy Gunn and the Road Dogg were among them.  Just when it looked like things were going Foley's way when he got nailed by one last Santa.  This time it was Triple H who whacked Mankind with a bag full of something.  Trips then walked out of the boiler room and was declared the winner by referee Teddy Long.

Raw Memories: #7 Vince Goes Boom!

Raw Moment #7:
Boom goes the boss
Photo from WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents

Wrestling is a soap opera for me.  How many times have you heard that expression?  It really is true though.  In addition to the struggles between wrestlers, there are love angles and sometimes a character on screen says goodbye forever.  That was the case (or so we thought) for Mr. McMahon back in June 2007.

I was on vacation in Mexico the night the angle originally aired.  I watched from my laptop the next day as WWE.com broadcast the highlights.  The night was set to be "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night", but no one expressed any love for the CEO.  In fact, stars put the boss down, which lead to Vince cracking under the stress of the job and the lack of appreciation from his employees.

In a stoic moment, he walked through the back locker room, focused on getting out of the building.  Superstars watched in awe (and Paul London laughing) as the chairman left.  He made it outside, reached for the handle of his white limo and stepped inside.  Moments later, BBBOOOOMMMMM, the limo lit up the night sky as it exploded right there.  Raw went off the air with the world assuming the boss was dead.

Me & the limo at Wrestlemania Axxess
Photo from: My 1-2-3 Cents library

It did lead to a lot of speculation as to what happened to McMahon.  The main stream media picked up on it.  But the events that happened a few weeks later put an end to the storyline.  In real life, Chris Benoit murdered his wife Nancy and their son Daniel and then took his own life.  The next night, Raw opened on Vince in the middle of the ring in an empty arena and broke the news.  The show turned into a tribute to Benoit and his family as no one knew at that time that the three died at the hands of Chris himself.  That night was supposed to be the memorial service for Vince.

Eventually the storyline got reworked and it was made that Vince had faked his own death.  This lead us to the "Vince, you are Hornswoggle's father (just kidding)" angle too.  A few years ago at Wrestlemania Axxess I got to pose for a pic near the charred remains of the limo.  It was pretty cool to see it up close.

Honorable mention:
Got milk?
Photo from WWE.com

Honorable Mention:  Yesterday my favorite memory was the beer bath by Stone Cold.  Today's honorable mention is the milk truck incident with Kurt Angle.  It's similar to Austin's soaking of the Corporation in 1999.  Angle, fed up with the Alliance and Steve Austin decided to interrupt Stone Cold Appreciation Night with milk truck.

The ECW and WCW wrestlers (including Stephanie McMahon) cheered on Austin as he ran down Angle and then started ripping into Taz for not wearing a Stone Cold tshirt.  Angle's music hit and the fans popped like crazy.  He parks the truck outside the ring and flings milk cartons at the Alliance.  Then he sprays the ring with the hose, sending everyone scrambling and falling down.  I love JR's quote on Steph.  "The Billion Dollar Princess has become the Dairy Queen."  (Man, I miss JR)

It all ends with Angle slamming a couple of milks just like Austin does with his "Steveweisers"  I'm typically not a fan of recreating or trying to do the same angle twice, but I really felt like everyone involved did a great job with this and created a great Raw memory.  Kudos to JR for putting his heart and soul into telling that story too.  You'll hear another memory where JR really paints the picture in the coming days.

Gone, But Not Forgotten: Bruiser Brody

Rest in Peace Frank Goodish
aka Bruiser Brody
1946-1988

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents

July 17, 1988 one of wrestling's greatest stars was taken away from us.  Bruiser Brody was one of the best big men in the sport, hands down.  He stood 6'8" and tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds.  He seemed invincible with his giant frame, long, black hair, furry boots, and that unmistakable "husk" chant.  But we learned that wasn't true after he was stabbed in the stomach in a locker room in Puerto Rico and died the next day.

I had only been a wrestling fan a few years at the time of Brody's murder.  I had the honor of seeing him once in person as he took on Ric Flair for the NWA world heavyweight title in St. Louis.  The year was 1985, and Flair intentionally got himself disqualified.  Even though Brody never won the world title, he was well respected by the fans, writers, and wrestlers around this country.  The magazine Wrestling Superstars named him the best in the world one year (I think it was 1986), where he just edged out Flair for the top spot.

He wrestled all over the world, spending a lot of time in Japan and Puerto Rico.  I first took notice of him in World Class Championship Wrestling and Wrestling at the Chase.  He played a face in both companies, but when he showed up in the AWA he was a brutal villain.  Brody waged war with the Gagnes, probably doing more than he should have to help Greg look like a credible threat.

He teamed with the Von Erichs, and feuded with the likes of the One Man Gang, Kamala, and Abdullah the Butcher.  In fact, Abby was his last opponent when they wrestled in a tag team match.  Danny Spivey and the Butcher defeated Brody and Carlos Colon.

Brody in action

Brody was in his early 40's at the time of his death.  There didn't seem to be any signs of him slowing down, so I can only imagine what might have happened with his career.  He never wrestled for the WWF, I often wonder what Vince McMahon might have done with him.  I imagine he'd have a different character and would have likely been fed to Hulk Hogan.  Some dream matches I would have loved to see with Brody include him taking on Andre the Giant (in a WWF ring), Cactus Jack, and the Undertaker.

Hopefully one day this legend will take his place in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Raw Memories: #8: Beer Bath

Raw Moment #8:
Beer bath!
Photo from WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

 The year was 1999 and attitude was oozing from the WWF.  The Rock was the new "corporate" champion after defeating Mankind (again) and Vince and Shane McMahon were singing the praises of the Great One.  This was also about the same time that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was preparing for a Wrestlemania showdown with the Rock.  In fact, this happened six days before Wrestlemania XV.

Austin and McMahon were at the height of their own feud as well, with Austin recently defeating the chairman in a cage match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre.  I'm not sure of the order of events, but it seemed like it was becoming a habit for Austin to destroy one of Vince's cars or do something big with a vehicle of some kind.

On a fateful night in March, Austin raised the bar like never before.  The former champ drove a Coors truck into the arena from the backstage area.  He nearly took out the TitanTron as he made his way to the ringside area.  Of course, once he arrived he soaked the boss, his son, and the champ with an ice cold beer bath.  Before the spraying started though, Austin spouted off a great promo that got right under the skin of the heels in the ring.

Austin would go on to defeat the Rock at Wrestlemania that year.  This incident with the beer truck definitely put the exclamation point on one of the hottest rivalries in the history of the WWF (and in all of wrestling)

Honorable mention:
The Hart Foundation reborn
Photo from WWE

Honorable Mention:   1997 was a pivotal year for the WWF.  The world title had changed hands several times in the early months that year.  There was no conclusive winner to the Royal Rumble and fans were quickly growing tired of Bret Hart and his squeaky clean image.  Fans wanted more.  They wanted a bad guy to cheer for and they found that anti-hero in "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Owen Hart and the British Bulldog had been the tag team champions and were on the verge of a meltdown.  They battled it out on an episode of Raw shortly after Wrestlemania.  The two were going toe to toe beating each other up, when Bret showed up and break the two apart.  He then delivered a speech that lead to the reformation of the Hart Foundation.  Only this time, it was a bigger, stronger, better unit.  

Hart reconciled with his former Hart Foundation partner turned enemy Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart.  Owen and Davey came back into the loop, and Brian Pillman helped to round out the unit.  Collectively they were the best thing going in the WWF at the time.  It was that speech during the Owen-Bulldog match that brought them all together.

Sadly though it would not last.  Pillman would die later that year.  Then Bret fell victim of the "Montreal Screw Job" and Bulldog and Anvil would leave the WWF shortly after that.  But for the summer of 97, the Harts dominated the WWF and picked up key wins, including that big Canadian Stampede victory over Austin, the Road Warriors, Ken Shamrock, and Goldust.