Old School WWF tidbits

[HeenanGorilla]

Just a few things I noticed while watching older PPVs on the network...

1) From 1988-2003, only Shawn Michaels retained the IC title at SummerSlam. Otherwise, there was a new champion or a couple instances of it not being defended.

2) The tag champs, unless a 3-man team was involved, lost at every WrestleMania up until IX.

3) Mr. Perfect, whose line at the time was "Nobody beats Mr. Perfect...nobody." never won on PPV in 1990 OR 1991 (0-7 including Rumbles).

Just a few that I found interesting and never really thought about before. You guys know of any others?

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Another one I forgot to mention in my original post (facepalm, since this was the one that got the ball rolling in my mind on interesting old school tidbits) is, in kayfabe, very interesting.

The WrestleMania IV tournament had 14 competitors for the WWF title. Now, there are different ways to interpret this. You can say these are the Top 14 competitors for the title, but that leaves out Honky Tonk Man, who was IC champ, and Beefcake, who was the No. 1 contender for the IC strap. But, generally--at least in kayfabe--these were the most deserving competitors to be given a shot at the WWF title. Hogan and Andre had already been champion and Savage won the title that night. The interesting tidbit is that NONE of the other competitors in this tournament ever won the WWF title. Given the way the belts went through their hot potato phase after this era, I thought this might be an interesting note for some younger fans, who enjoy old school tidbits, of course.

In fact, Rude (IC belt) and DiBiase (Tag belt) were the only ones to win a sanctioned WWF title at any point after this tournament (aside from Hogan and Savage, who had already done so by this point--Rude and DiBiase had not yet).

 

[THTRobtaylor]

There was somewhat of an IC title curse which was at its worse from 1987 until late 1993... Almost Everyone who held that belt during that period from Honky Tonk Man to Davey Boy Smith were either depushed or out of the WWF within 3 years. It lessened later on as it became a mechanism to promote people to the World Championship, but there is still a scary amount of IC champions who have had issues.

Honky Tonk Man - reduced to a Commentator by the end of 1990
Ultimate Warrior - Won it in 88, gone in 1991...and again in 1992, passed away aged 54.
Rick Rude - Gone within a year of dropping the strap and severely injured in 1994, passing away at 40.
Curt Hennig - as mentioned above in HeenanGorrila's post, never won a PPV match in either 1990 or 91... Had 2 opponents withdrawn through injury for Summerslam 1990 (Brutus and Davey, before Von Erich stepped in) and was on the injured list with a "career ender" by Summerslam 1991 before properly retiring for several years...and died aged 44.
Kerry Von Erich - Depushed and took his own life less than 3 years after winning the title.
Roddy Piper - Left the WWE months after winning the IC title and faced cancer before passing away a few years back.
Bret Hart - Won the World Title but was depushed twice in 1993 and 1995 to face Doink, Lawler, Yankem and the like. That's before Owen...the screwjob, Goldberg and the Stroke...
Davey Boy Smith - Released in 1992 and depushed into The Allied Powers in 1995 - Died aged 39.
Marty Jannetty - Major drug and alcohol problems along with legal trouble after his 1993 run and an unfair dismissal, which was rescinded in one of the few "Billy Martin's" WWE has ever given. The damage was done...
Owen Hart - First wins the IC title in 1997 and dies as the Blue Blazer just over 2 years later.
D.Lo Brown - Wins IC and European titles but is depushed and leaves after the Droz injury


Other names on the dead IC champ list include Test, Eddie, Benoit and Chyna...

The IC title really isn't the best thing to hold for one's life or career historically.

 

[WWFan79]

Another one I forgot to mention in my original post (facepalm, since this was the one that got the ball rolling in my mind on interesting old school tidbits) is, in kayfabe, very interesting.

The WrestleMania IV tournament had 14 competitors for the WWF title. Now, there are different ways to interpret this. You can say these are the Top 14 competitors for the title, but that leaves out Honky Tonk Man, who was IC champ, and Beefcake, who was the No. 1 contender for the IC strap. But, generally--at least in kayfabe--these were the most deserving competitors to be given a shot at the WWF title. Hogan and Andre had already been champion and Savage won the title that night. The interesting tidbit is that NONE of the other competitors in this tournament ever won the WWF title. Given the way the belts went through their hot potato phase after this era, I thought this might be an interesting note for some younger fans, who enjoy old school tidbits, of course.

In fact, Rude (IC belt) and DiBiase (Tag belt) were the only ones to win a sanctioned WWF title at any point after this tournament (aside from Hogan and Savage, who had already done so by this point--Rude and DiBiase had not yet).

I agree in general as to how they chose those wrestlers. But it was more of a filler to make Savage's title win seem more legit as he never went over the guy that beat Hogan illegitimately. And those 2 got disqualified from the tournament. Also, Jesse correctly pointed out some of the contenders were former champs (IC - Steamboat, Muraco, Savage, Hammer) and want the gold, but also pointed out, none had the Big Gold belt before and how they would love it as an opportunity of a lifetime. That's what I loved about Jesse's commentary. Very astute and very real within the context of the 'work'.

Also, many were title challengers for the World or IC so it did add legitimacy to that. As a 9 year old then, the concept of a tournament was a bit lost on me, especially the whole Hogan and Andre bye, and I too agreed it was confusing. But at the end, it did feel epic and different.

 

[Starkist]

What is the era called during this time? Sounds like it was all over the place at the time or am I looking at it biased?

I know the Atittude Era and onwards, nothing from these times since I am not sure if they are good eras to watch.

 

[tdmoon]

What is the era called during this time? Sounds like it was all over the place at the time or am I looking at it biased?

I know the Atittude Era and onwards, nothing from these times since I am not sure if they are good eras to watch.

I've mostly seen it called The Golden Age(pre '90). You should check it out, it may have been the best era the WWF has seen, including the Attitude Era. As good as it was, there was even better wrestling going on in other parts of the country, imo.

 

[Starkist]

I've mostly seen it called The Golden Age(pre '90). You should check it out, it may have been the best era the WWF has seen, including the Attitude Era. As good as it was, there was even better wrestling going on in other parts of the country, imo.

Thanks for the reply. Okay, will check it out. I like solid wrestling for sure. I just grow up on wrestling at the end of the Attitude Era into I believe it was called the Ruthless Agression era.

Any good matches I can look into?

 

[tdmoon]

Thanks for the reply. Okay, will check it out. I like solid wrestling for sure. I just grow up on wrestling at the end of the Attitude Era into I believe it was called the Ruthless Agression era.

Any good matches I can look into?

So many great bouts it's almost overwhelming, I don't know where to start. For WWF matches, I think the popular choice might be Savage/Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3. Flair/Steamboat at Clash of the Champions 6 and Flair/Windham at the Crockett Cup are both brilliant matches. The sixty minute draw between Nick Bockwinkel and Curt Hennig is a terrific match featuring one of the all-time greats in Bockwinkel taking on Hennig, who had future superstar written all over him. For some really fun and insane territory action, check out the original Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl(Lawler/Dundee vs. Latham/Ferris-an important moment in wrestling history) and the Loser Leaves Town match between Jerry Lawler and Superstar Bill Dundee(June 6, 1983). If you enjoy violent matches, Valentine/Piper in a dog collar match at Starrcade '83 and Magnum TA/Tully Blanchard in an "I Quit" match at Starrcade '85 are true classics.

 

[WWEWrestleFest]

What is the era called during this time? Sounds like it was all over the place at the time or am I looking at it biased?

I know the Atittude Era and onwards, nothing from these times since I am not sure if they are good eras to watch.

They didn't officially name the eras until the "New Generation" in the mid '90s. Most fans call the '80s and early '90s the "Golden Era." But technically, wrestling already had a "Golden Era" in the 1950s, so it's a borrowed name. Some call it the "Rock 'n Wrestling" era, because of their partnership with MTV, but while that was huge, it only lasted a couple of years and doesn't really capture the essence of the whole era. In WWE 2K14, where they did a history of WrestleMania mode, they named this time period "Hulkamania Runs Wild" which I think fits. Hogan was by far the biggest star in wrestling back then, even when Savage or Warrior or someone else was the champion, it was still Hogan first, everyone else second. So I think the most fitting name for this time period is the "Hulkamania Era."

 

[HeenanGorilla]

They didn't officially name the eras until the "New Generation" in the mid '90s. Most fans call the '80s and early '90s the "Golden Era." But technically, wrestling already had a "Golden Era" in the 1950s, so it's a borrowed name. Some call it the "Rock 'n Wrestling" era, because of their partnership with MTV, but while that was huge, it only lasted a couple of years and doesn't really capture the essence of the whole era. In WWE 2K14, where they did a history of WrestleMania mode, they named this time period "Hulkamania Runs Wild" which I think fits. Hogan was by far the biggest star in wrestling back then, even when Savage or Warrior or someone else was the champion, it was still Hogan first, everyone else second. So I think the most fitting name for this time period is the "Hulkamania Era."

I agree. I think Rock n Wrestling referred to the early part of this era, when guys like Albano, Studd and Orndorff were stars. I think Hulkamania Era would include that era and also the "neon" era, where more colorful characters like Warrior and the Rockers came around. I would say the Hulkamania Era was from when he beat Iron Sheik until WrestleMania VIII.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Probably the best one to use is "The Titan Era" as TitanSports was the then parent company and they had Hogan/Andre/Warrior/Savage who you could argue were "Titans" of the business... they even had a show using the word in its title..

 

[Craig-O-Mac]

Jim The Anvil Neidhart never had a singles PPV match.

Scott Hall has never been in a Royal Rumble match but Razor Ramon has.