a.) For starters, the breakup of the Rockers was a huge surprise and reaffirmed that you never knew what was going to happen by tuning in to wrestling. AH, the good old days.
But in this belief you're saying the split of the Rockers, a Tag Team that didn't hold any Tag Team Championships (due to a error, mainly) overshadows that of Hulk Hogan, the W.W.F.'s top guy from Wrestlemania 1-9, once again claiming glory in winning another World Heavyweight Championship.. Proving doubters wrong, that he wasn't beyond his prime, and he still had it.
b.) Furthermore, it established Shawn Michaels as a self-important heel with nuclear heat on him. EVERYONE hated Shawn for what he did by throwing Jannetty through the window.
Shawn Michaels made his name off of turning on Marty Jannetty, that much is very true. However the debate isn't the Jannetty/Michaels feud in general, its one match. The one match focused on Jannetty (the face) overcoming the odds and gaining a piece of revenge on his former partner, Michaels. (the heel.)
Shawn didn't gain anything from losing to Jannetty, who at that point had been written off as a nobody anymore. When Jannetty returned, it sparked the fans into a fire.. but for Shawn Michaels to lose, it hurt his build slightly because people had already considered Shawn better and far above Jannetty. The only thing this match did, was help Jannetty, not Michaels.
c.) It also gave the WWF another dimension for creating feud dynamics - the popular tag team breaking up. It's worked for many teams since then.
While the Rocker's split was arguably one of the best Tag Team turned single's splits in history.. what other teams truly broke away into big names, off of turning on each other? You can't claim the Hardys, because they still team to this day. Edge and Christian are roughly the only thing you can go off of.
I'm sure I'm missing some teams, but what teams have done the Rocker'isque split and had it work in a similar way?
d.) Moving on, the quality of the matches - the Rumble match was the BEST match of the night, with Hart vs Razor 2nd - showed everybody that the Intercontinental Title remained relevant and exciting without being in the hands of a Hart or a Henning. VERY important for the career of Shawn Michaels.
You're basing their match as being one of the best next to a great technical athlete and a big man. Razor Ramon wasn't the greatest athlete around, and he was still pretty raw in W.W.F. at that time. Plus, that was Hart's first true big man opponent (to my knowledge) so it was more the W.W.F. testing the waters of how well Hart could do.
Meanwhile, you put that up against a red-hot feud and rivalry, with the first meeting between Jannetty and Michaels, and of course they're going to win out. They'd be absolutely horrible and boo'd out of the building if they didn't.
I also agree that the match match the Intercontinental Championship look just as solid, just as needed and just as relevant. However, the W.W.F. Championship will always be the top title.. so regardless of how well over the I.C. matches are to the World title matches, it all comes down to where the match is taking place on the card.
Finally, I agree that Shawn showed the world the title could be exciting without it being in the hands of Hart or Hennig, however I don't give his feud with Jannetty that full credit. Again, it was a well known fact people wrote Marty off almost instantly. So for him to come back and win, was roughly the only thing he could do to keep his head above water. Meanwhile, Shawn went on after their Rumble match, and before their next encounter to have several great matches in between.
e.) Next, it did take Jannetty to the next level, which he regrettably wasted.
Agreed. Marty Jannetty's biggest career moment was winning the Championship from Shawn Michaels. That, however, was not bigger than Hulk Hogan, even in name-sake alone.
f.) Finally, the Michaels vs Jannetty feud, coupled with the Michaels vs Perfect feud, gave the WWF an avenue to introduce Diesel as Shawn's bodyguard, resulting in one of the most entertaining and dominant twosomes in a LONG TIME.
While the "Two Dudes w/ Attitudes" era was a great one, and their team was one of the very best. How is that relevant to discussing H.B.K./Jannetty being M.O.T.Y.?
Thats like me saying while Hogan/Yokozuna at Mania was shit, it set-up Yokozuna to ultimately end what we thought was the end, anyways, of Hulkamania and that rivals, and tops any storyline going ever. Anyone who can end Hulkamania, even in theory, like Yokozuna did from 1993-2002 (in the W.W.F./E.) will set atop the best storyline ever.
Hogan vs Yokozuna
a.) On the flip side, Hogan's win over Yokozuna was TERRIBLE decision, because it diminutized the accomplishments of Bret Hart having just been screwed out of the WWF Title.
While I completely and definately agree that Hulk Hogan's selfishness was a horrible move and mistake on the W.W.F.'s part, and it hurt both Bret Hart and Yokozuna on that very night.. I'll debate this by saying..
It reconfirms what W.W.F. has ALWAYS wanted you to believe in. That being, "Anything Can Happen." And they proved it. That was the first, and to my knowledge, ONLY time anyone has up and challenged a newly crowned Champion, directly after winning at Wrestlemania's Main Event.. then over-throwing them and winning themselves.
Hogan defeating Yokozuna was a horrible move, but a shocking development that out rivals that of Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Jannetty. (especially since Rick Martel turned on Tito only a few years back, which was all the Rocker's split was to me, was a repeat of the Strike Force break-up.)
b.) The move temporarily killed Yoko's heat, losing in 128 seconds to Hulk Hogan, who'd also wrestled early that night. They made up for it at KOTR, but barely.
Again, I completely agree with you that it was a horrible mistake and misuse of great talent that'd go on to carry the company.. to put over a guy that was ultimately leaving the company within the next several monthes.
However, the debate to this is that they didn't have an alternative for Yokozuna to feud with anyone, while waiting on Lex Luger's face turn. (keep in mind, Luger was heel at Mania IX, and that meant the biggest challenger for Yokozuna would've been a Hart rematch, or possibly the Undertaker, who still had his own issues.)
Logically, Hulk Hogan was the only option they truly had to go with, unless they had Hart retain in fluke fashion, by a disqualification.
None the less, as you said they barely made up for it, but made up for it none the less at King of the Ring, when Yokozuna killed Hulkamania in the W.W.F. from 1993-2002. That, as said before, HAS TO out-rival anything of a Tag Team splitting up.
c.) It also took Royal Rumble down a peg, since the Rumble winner DID go on to win the WWF Title (remember, this was the first year the Rumble winner got the Wrestlemania Shot awared to them automatically) and then promptly dropped it back.
While I'm half and half on this. I'll agree that it was a slap in Yokozuna's face for all he'd accomplished to lose so quickly. However, since it was the first time the winner got a guaranteed Championship match, how can you say it took the Royal Rumble down a peg?
Never before had the winner received a Championship match off that victory. Yokozuna did exactly what he promised he would, off of winning the Rumble. He became a World Champion. It was his cocky attitude that lead to his downfall against Hulk Hogan, not anything to do with the Royal Rumble.
d.) Any match that lasts 128 seconds builds NO relevance, NO significance, NO psychology whatsoever.
While typically I'd agree, on this note I have to debate it. (since thats what I'm doing
)
Hogan defeating the undefeated mammoth monster, sent Las Vegas into a frenzy. That entire Mania blew hard, and there wasn't a single match on the card that sparked excitement. Until the ending, when the heel won the title and people officially hated and dispised the night.. then Hulk Hogan (still everyone's favorite hero at the time) came out to aid Hart to the back, was goated into an "un-planned" match, defeated the undefeated, and reclaimed the World Heavyweight Championship for not only his fans, but for America.
I'd say that was very psychological, with great significance.
e.) It created no momentum for the WWF title. What took place between March's Wrestlemania and June's KOTR? I don't remember either. Because Hogan was the champ, and at the time he rarely appeared or defended. Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji were the ONLY reason that feud had ANY build-up at all!
It would've been a dead point in time regardless of whether Hulk Hogan carried it or Yokozuna carried it. At least having the Immortal Hulk Hogan holding it, it gave the company the direction to go in, which they did, by reconfirming Yokozuna as a mammoth threat and upon having him KNOWING he'd face Hulk Hogan.. destroy the Immortal legend.
Hogan no-showing several events and never defending the Championship was a disgrace and it just goes to show you how horrible of a Champion he was. However, the alternative would've been Yokozuna doing what he did anyways, which was destroy random jobber and undersized 'named' opponent in his path, on his way back to glory.
Again, either way, that point during the year was dead, regardless of who had the Championship. However, at least it gave Yokozuna the added pleasure of killing Hulkamania and that was a huge career notch. Definately, out doing Marty Jannetty's fluke win over Shawn Michaels.
Irish, thank you for the debate. I eagerly await your rebuttal.
