wrestling / Columns
Ask 411 Wrestling 12.21.11: NWA Deaths, Move Lists, Russo Leaving, More!
This is Ask 411 Wrestling, and I’m Mathew Sforcina, the guy who nearly managed to nail Daniel Bryan’s MITB cash in on the most recent edition of the Tom Tom Club. Sadly, I was only half right, and worse still, my Fantasy Football team fell over at the end, apparently. Ah well. Still, to cheer me up, go listen to 411mania’s podcasting goodness, as well as the Wrestling PodClash. And go here and donate so I can get my characters into a video game..
Or just watch banner. I can’t control what you do.
Yet.
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Backtalking
Nothing really came up (outside of Cena/Big Show at WM, good catch people). And yes, I am fully aware I sucked at being a heel back then. I look worse now, yes. I have the hair for it.
Your Turn, Smart Guy…
Who am I? I appeared on Raw this week. I’ve been a world champion, albeit of a company not considered world class. I’ve been managed by 3 different women in my career. Of the three tag teams I’m best known for, one of my partners works for TNA, one for WWE, and one’s on the Indies. A man who once had trouble spelling his own name (sorta), a member of a wrestling gamily, and someone known for their music, I am who?
Guest#9859 went all out.
Who am I? I appeared on Raw this week. I’ve been a world champion, albeit of a company not considered world class.
WORLD WRESTLING ALL STARS
I’ve been managed by 3 different women in my career.
CHYNA, ROXXI LAVEAUX AND TORI
Of the three tag teams I’m best known for, one of my partners works for TNA,
JEFF JARRETT
one for WWE,
R-TRUTH
and one’s on the Indies.
BILLY GUNN
A man who once had trouble spelling his own name (sorta),
JAMMES INSTEAD OF JAMES
a member of a wrestling gamily,
THE ARMSTRONGS
and someone known for their music,
WITH MY BABY TONIGHT
I am who?
OHHHHH, YOU DIDN’T KNOW?????? YOUR ASS BETTER CALL SOMEBODYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
IT’S THE FORMER WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPION OF THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD, THE ROAD DOGG!!!!
Who am I? I once won a title off Xanta Claus. I once won a title off The Christmas Creature. And I’ve been Santa myself. I’m white, although I once nearly injured the Golden Child. I nearly gave the American Cancer Council and my mother a big gift, I am who?
Questions, Questions, Who’s Got The Questions?
I’m writing this a day earlier than I usually do due to day work, so if something shocking happened on Raw, just imagine I’m discussing it here.
Wow. I can’t believe that happened. Like, wow.
So onto the questions!
Keith gets us rolling.
Hi Mathew,
To my knowledge it has been documented, or rather made sense, the reason why Randy Savage came back to the WWF in late 1991 to feud with Jake Roberts (the Warrior leaving and blowing the whole Roberts / Undertaker Feud) and also why he ended up trading off the belt with Flair in 1992 and stayed until September (because after that he took time off after his divorce with Liz), but why did he agree to leave after Wrestlemania VII?
I know that he broke his wrist or his hand sometime before Wrestlemania, but that seems like a strange reason to leave. Going into the Rumble and then Wrestlemania, he was right back at the top of the mid-card / main event with Warrior, so I never understood why the WWF wrote into the story line that he was going to retire. Any inside thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Not as such. I couldn’t find a solid, they did that because of X reason. However, he had been going for a while, and I believe that Vince did feel he was best suited to head behind the desk, which is where he did go, up until they needed all the names they could get, so they brought him back for Roberts. After all, after the title runs, Vince again put him behind the desk. And to be fair, although he didn’t like it, Savage was actually a pretty good announcer. But that’s what ended up driving him to WCW, which is a whole other matter.
But nothing beyond logic, sadly. I’m sure someone below will claim it was because he wanted to spend time with Stephanie or something…
Oz is about to be disappointed.
Watched your link with Chewbacca & Fat Momma. Just wanted to assure you that someone noticed the horrified shrug you give when Fat Momma’s weight is announced. Great stuff.
OK well why not – since I’m already emailing you I may as well ask a question. Luckily, I already have one that I prepared earlier.
Angle v Austin, Unforgiven 2001. Super-hot build up, what I consider some of the best vignettes I’ve seen – the milk truck, throwing the medals into the river, throwing Austin into the “river”, making a completely dominant heel at the very top of his game cry & beg – the whole thing was just intense. Angle makes Austin tap out, wins title in home town of Pittsburgh, family storms the ring, other wrestlers come down to all congratulate him, hoist upon shoulders like Bret at WMX, all signs point to “this is our guy – you deserve this”. First time Austin has been beaten since turning heel at WM X-7 6 months ago – widely considered greatest WM in history etc etc. Then, just 2 weeks later – only on Raw, no less – Austin wins the title back & then only 2 months later HE loses it to Jericho on the way to giving it back to the boss’ son-in-law Most Deserving Man In Wrestling History. Angle doesn’t even make the final of the unification match.
So my question is – why? Why did they give Angle the win & the payoff & the celebration they did, only to have it end up one more meaningless short-term title change? I’ve been watching wrestling for a while now & that particular change sure felt like they were trying to make it something big – it’s pretty rare to have the entire locker room come out & hail the new champ (last I remember was Bret at WMX). The leadup vignettes seemed (to me) a far higher intensity than those building up to the average PPV title match. I’ve always wondered what was the point if the plan was always to take it off Angle again just 2 weeks later? (I assume giving the title back to Austin must have already been planned by that stage) I sincerely hope it wasn’t just an overly patriotic attempt to send the crowd home happy given that September 11 had happened just 12 days prior. Or a cheap way to say “WWF is better than WCW” with the invasion going on (WWF-aligned Angle wins WWF title from WCW-aligned Austin, WWF-aligned Rock retained WCW title in handicap match vs WCW-aligned Booker T & Shane-O-Mac earlier on the same card). Or because it was Angle’s hometown – not like THAT hasn’t happened before. Or, ?????????????
Thanks man – keep up the awesome work.
Sadly, this was 100% totally due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was Kurt Angle, All American Hero, in his home town, in front of his entire family, less than 2 weeks after 9/11, in a title match. No booker on Earth would have not put Kurt over there.
Well, Dusty would have used the hand under the ropes to reverse it next night on Raw.
And Russo would have had Karen Angle jump the barricade, pull Austin to the ropes then spray mist in Kurt’s eyes, turning heel to help Austin keep the title.
And Bill Watts would have had Angle give up his place to Dr. Death Steve Williams since he’s just ALL MAN.
And Eric Bischoff would have had the nWo run in and WE’RE OUT OF TIME FOLKS!
And Kevin Sullivan would have had Austin make a deal with the Devil, as played by Kevin Sullivan.
And EWR would have had Austin refuse to put over Angle because of his Creative Control clause.
And Jim Cornette would have had them go 60 minutes and end with a handshake.
And Paul Heyman would have ended the match with Spike Dudley pinning Stephanie McMahon.
And Dixie Carter would have still be gushing over having the Six Million Dollar Man on her show.
And Vince McMahon would have… Oh wait.
Anyway, the simple fact was that Angle’s reign was due solely to the fact that they couldn’t not have him win for the feel good moment. They couldn’t book themselves out of the corner, so they had Angle win then cheated him out of the title two weeks later. And then had Angle join the Alliance, but that’s another rant for a whole other time. The title win wasn’t in their plans, but with the world change, they had to do it. Flexibility and all that, as I said last week.
TNT_Brian has a few questions. Which, this being a question and answer column, I will now answer.
Hey Mathew,
Long time reader, second time writer (though first time i missed the
deadline to join in the Muhammed Hassan discussion) Anyway, still
loving the column as much as ever and I’ve got a couple of questions
to throw your way.
1.I’ve been watching old TNA matches on Explosion here in Scotland and
recently caught a Steel Asylum match, not sure which one but Suicide
was in it. Anyway, i’ve noticed in this and some other TNA matches
around the time that some of the wrestlers and even a referee or two
are wearing a pink arm band and was just wondering why?
That’s an armband for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Basically those wearing the pink armband were saying that they were against Breast Cancer and were all for finding a cure.
Going out on a limb there.
But I really shouldn’t make jokes about Captain Obvious Aesops here since the reason TNA were promoting that was because Jeff Jarrett’s first wife, Jill, was diagnosed with the disease in the 90’s and died of it May 23, 2007. So since their friend was a suffer, they all were happy to help promote it.
2. What do the dates on AJ Styles’ tattoo signify?
Those three dates below the giant letters are the birthdates of his three children. Which is sweet.
Even if the thing is still ugly as sin.
3. Did RVD ever get a shot at regaining the TNA world championship
after being stripped of it due to injury around the time of EV2.0, and
if not, why not?
He has had title matches since then, yes. He was in a three way steel cage match at Lockdown April 17th, 2011, against Champ Sting and Mr. Anderson, and he got a straight one on one match with Sting the following month at Sacrifice, May 15th. So he did, nominally, get matches for the title, hell between those two the only match he had on TV was a loss to Abyss.
4. Was said injury to RVD legit or storyline?
Storyline. RVD’s contract said he only had a certain number of dates he had to work, and at the time he was stripped he was almost out of them. But by the time he came back, they had signed a new contract so it all became meaningless. However, at the time, they weren’t sure, so they ‘injured’ him and stripped him so that he wouldn’t end up as champ with no more dates.
5. Why did Teddy Long stop being a referee and start being a manager?
Thanks in advance for the answers.
… You want the storyline or the actual?
In Storyline, Teddy had been doing a good job as an NWA referee until he began to make… Questionable calls. He’d not see heels cheating, he’d be up in faces’ grills all the time, culminating in his blatant fast count to give the Varsity Club the tag titles from the Road Warriors.
Eventually, Long’s blatant cheating led to him being fired as a Referee. And thus, he became a manager.
The actual is a case of nepotism. Long began as a gopher for a couple of wrestlers, before working ring crew for NWA, and then finally getting brought in as a referee. Most non-wrestlers got in like that, they would start as some meaningless scrub then slowly get chances to do stuff.
Anyway, as a ref, he would travel with some of the wrestlers, namely Eddie Gilbert and Kevin Sullivan. And in their travels, they’d chat and talk and Long would play DJ. And hearing him speak and talk, Gilbert and Sullivan thought he had a talent, so they pitched to Jim Ross to make him a manager. So they ran an angle lifted from Championship Wrestling from Florida, except this time Long ended up as a manager.
The end.
D is… Well just take a look.
Why arent more monsterheels put in submission moves? It makes sense that other wrestlera could catch them off guard and focus on a body part Anytime Big Show is put in one he has a guttural yell that makes it seem like he is in believable pain, paeticularly the ankle lock.
It just makes sense to me. @lthoygh I am very drunk.
So you’re asking why men and women who are pushed as being unstoppable bastards with no weakness and who are the pinnacle of evil aren’t put in more positions where they look vulnerable and have to show weakness? Really?
To clarifiy, if you have a monster heel always getting caught in submission holds, even if he gets out of them, he’s no longer a monster heel. He’s now just ‘heel who is a pansy for getting tied up into knots’ or, if you’re lucky, ‘heel who’s weak against submissions’.
Kinda runs against the whole ‘monster heel thing’. I mean, I don’t have a problem getting caught in one myself, but I don’t play monster, I play slimy stupid bully. Difference.
Also brings us this:
But hey, there’s also this:
And this… Is unrelated.
Evil Jeff asks is Scott Norton was a bad man.
Hi Matt,
I was pretty big into WCW around the Bill Watts era, and was always pretty disappointed that the hyped Scott Norton vs Sting match never occurred (I was a big Vader fan, and Norton of course has/had a similar style).
Anyway, a long time ago one of your predecessors on this column (got a feeling it might have been Scott Keith – what happened to him..?) told me that Norton bailed because he held the company up for more money at the last minute an they said “no”.
This has never sat quite right with me – pretty much everywhere you look/read, no one seems to have a bad word to say about Scott Norton, he always come across as pretty sound bloke. Is there more to this story?
Thanks,
I tried to find this ‘Scott Keith’ but I couldn’t find a trace of him.
But anyway, Scott Norton did have a short run in WCW in 1993, leading up to a match with Sting at Slamboree 1993.
And then after the two had a match in Japan, Norton was gone from WCW, and was replaced by Nailz The Prisoner.
Anyway, what happened? I’ve seen a few theories, but the most credible seems to be about money.
But not that he held them up automatically, but more that there was a payroll issue. I don’t have details, but for some reason Norton had an issue about how he was being paid, not the amount. Possibly. I agree that Norton doesn’t seem like the sort of guy who would hold up WCW. But I can also see him being the sort of guy who expects to paid promptly for his work. So if Bill Watts said that he’d pay him later or delay payments or not pay him the full amount now or something, I can see Norton telling him where to go and what to do when he gets there.
Mr. Bathurst asks one of those really difficult questions.
Hi Mathew!
My question is about the triple threat match. Do you know when and where the first ever triple threat match happen? And also who was in that match and was it a big deal at the time?
Thanks!
…
I can tell you the first one in WWF… 23rd of June, 1997. Owen Hart defends his IC title against Goldust AND Triple H…
And then before that, ECW had a Three Way Dance on Feb 5th, 1994 for the ECW Title, Terry Funk defending against Sabu and Shane Douglas at The Night The Line Was Crossed.
But before that? No idea. I’m sure someone below will claim something about some obscure match they swear they saw in the 80’s…
Michael L wants to know why the hate.
I’ve been a fan of ROH on and off for the last seven years or so, and one question has continually nagged at me. Why does referee Todd Sinclair get so much heat from the fans? It doesn’t seem as if he’s any worse than every other ref, but he always seems to get dumped on whenever he is introduced. NYC crowds can be particularly vicious, as witnessed the “Twinkee” reaction at Glory By Honor in 2009. But this seems to be universal, at least at the various live shows I’ve been to (Detroit, Dayton, Chicago, Cleveland). So is there a specific reason for the anti-Sinclair heat? Or is it just the usual dickishness found in the ROH fan base?
Todd was asked this mid last year, and he gave this answer to why the fans hated him.
“To narrow it down to a specific match? I would say it started during a 6-man tag in Dayton, OH. I think the match was Generation Next vs. Walters/Stryker/Rave. Throughout the match, GenNext took advantage of the number of people in the ring, distracting me a bunch of time and cheating behind my back. The people in Dayton that night were none to happy about it and they let me know it. From that point on, the boos have kept on coming.”
It’s partly now more a meme, you have to hate Sinclair! That’s part of the show!
But in actuality it’s more a case of that some of the more… questionable booking choices in ROH history tend to be in the main event, and as they are in the main event, Sinclair’s been there. When Black and Aries had that 60 minute draw at Final Battle 2009, Sinclair was there. Whenever The Briscoes won, AGAIN, Sinclair was there. So on and so forth, since Todd’s been the guy in the ring for all the ‘Worst Bookings Ever’, he gets the hate. But it’s in jest.
Partly.
I hope.
Jason asks about a sign.
Back maybe 15 years ago or so a buddy of mine and I were watching a video taped episode of Nitro (I think), and during a Ric Flair match we saw a person in the crowd that had a sign that said “RIC FLAIR MAKE ME A SANDWICH BITCH.” We rewound and rewatched that probably ten times and laughed our asses off. Do you know if this clip ever surfaced on any WCW dvds or on the internet? Was this guy planted by WCW? I can’t imagine them letting this guy in with this sign.
Thanks!!
… Why the hell would WCW plant THAT as a sign?
I couldn’t find it in DDT Digest. And if they don’t think it worth mentioning, then I don’t think it ever made it as anything huge. But now everyone will, I’m sure, keep an eye out for it when they watch old Nitros.
Because people do that, right? Watch old WCW shows? Right? Right?
James has two questions.
Matthew,
As a lifelong fan of professional wrestling let me start off by saying I love your article. I once wrestled on the indy circuit in Kentucky as well, but those days are way behind me. I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me.
1: It seems like celebrities almost always go over on wrestlers in matches (albeit normally with the aid of tons of outside interference, but they win nonetheless). Why is this? To me it seems to make the wrestlers look weak by losing to people who have probably never set foot inside of a wrestling ring. I’m sure it’s a money thing and the boys don’t really mind as long as the matches are booked in a way that makes them look as though they got cheated but just wondered what your take was.
Because it tends to be the only way to get the celebs involved. Pitching an angle to, say, Snookie where she comes in and wrestles a match and loses is a hard sell. Coming in and winning a match is a much better sell.
It’s actually a good way to tell if someone’s a wrestling fan or not. If a celeb comes in and looks bad at all, be it because they get attacked (Mark Cuban taking an RKO) or they play along (Shaq acting like his wallet was stolen by Cryme Tyme) or they don’t want to go over generatally (David Arquette), they’re a fan. If they just come in and win, then they probably just view it as another gig.
Plus, WWE wants positive buzz with these things. Footage of Snookie getting beaten up won’t make the TV rounds, it won’t get replayed and shown over and over again and…
Wait, bad example, let me try again.
Video of John Cena beating up Kevin Federline…
…
People don’t want to see Bob Backer getting beat up. Yeah, here we go. Bob Barker getting attacked will be viewed at as horrible and not for rebroadcast. But him beating up Chavo? That’s just good clean family fun and that will hopefully be replayed ad nausem.
2: Between his WWF (WWE) title win over the Iron Sheik until Andre the Giant defeated him, did Hulk Hogan lose any matches by pinfall or submission in the WWF/E? A friend of mine swears that he saw Hogan lose to King Kong Bundy, but since he demanded a 5 count (as was in his nature) Hulk kicked out at 4. I recal him losing multiple times by DQ and countout. Also, does the WWE recognize Andre’s victory?
Thanks!
I’ve seen that repeated a few times, the idea that Hogan once started the Hulk Up at a 4 count. But no-one has ever found video of it.
To go with the simple bit first, yes, the WWF recognised Andre The Giant’s victory. As tainted as it was, it was a WWF official (sort of) so the pinfall was legal (kinda) and Andre was WWF Champion. For all of 30 seconds. The WWF doesn’t recognize DiBiase as champ, they view it that Andre vacated the title at that moment.
So, in the WWE, was Hogan ever pinned or made to submit?
*fires up History of WWE*
In WWF?
Hmm…. Nope. Not once.
My Damn Opinion
Brian has 3 different topics.
Hey Sforcina, I’ve got three questions about repetitious offense, the modern NWA, and the logical or illogical reasons of expanding a promotion.
There’s been a lot of criticism of Bret Hart (among others) and his use of the same moves in his matches. Don’t get me wrong, I like guys who can do an encyclopedia of moves, but for the purposes of realism I can see the logic of a guy only having a handful of moves. 1st) It suggests that wrestler does each move with precision and expertise, making each one more meaningful. 2) In many sports, an athlete has go to moves (Kobe has a crossover, a spin move, a drop step, etc) so why should a wrestler be different. As somebody who’s been in the ring, do you subscribe to the theory of doing different moves in every match or do you see the logic in keeping your offense smaller and more consistent?
I admit to being somewhat biased here, in that my own moveset is tiny and stays that way, mostly out of laziness necessity laziness. But I do love wrestlers who are always trying something new and exciting. Bit of a paradox. But to be fair, it’s a case of balancing the sports and the entertainment.
From a sports perspective, having a set of clear moves makes sense. It’s what you’re good at, they’re successful moves, why wouldn’t you keep doing them? You train those up, those are your big hitters, of course you would keep them.
But from an entertainment perspective, you need to keep varying your offence, to make your matches exciting and unpredictable. The same guy doing the same moves over and over again is just boring. You have to keep changing your moves so you’re not dull.
That said, I think you need a balance. You should have a decent move selection, one you’re always adding to, slowly, but you should also have the big set moves you are known for. But they can change over time, but they should be there. You need the pop moves, but you also need to avoid being totally predictable.
But if I had to pick one over the other… Set moves. If only because one of my favourite things in wrestling is seeing two established moves/gestures/what have you interact. For example, my favourite People’s Elbow ever.
So yeah, I do tend to side more with the Bret Hart side here. Although the other side does have good points.
The NWA back in the day was really clear cut. You had Crockett in Carolina, Graham in Florida, Von Erich in Dallas, etc. All of these territories died and the NWA stayed with WCW until 1991. The NWA reappeared in 1992 in WCW and then in ECW, the WWF, and even TNA. Who had claimed the NWA mantle and how did they claim something that was really just a monopolistic alliance of promoters that was essentially dead?
Simple, the tiny companies that were left in the groups after the big ones left just stood up. Although the NWA World Title has been vacant for months at a time, the Alliance has never actually died. It’s just been on intense life support. The original goals of the NWA died when Vince McMahon began to expand rapidly and steamroller over the competition, sure. But the actual organisation remained. Hell, right now, there’s 40 companies within the NWA banner.
But as each major company would leave, the smaller ones would take over. When ECW withdrew, the 3 men in charge of the NWA came from Howard Brody (NWA Florida), Dennis Coralluzzo (CWA) and Steve Rickard (All Star Pro). Hardly huge names, but they were the men in charge of the NWA.
The chain is unbroken, as the NWA that exists now is the same NWA that existed in the 50’s, in terms of the group’s lineage and direct dissention. They don’t focus on the NWA ruling the smaller companies with an iron fist, they don’t talk about how the NWA would force things, they just refer to the ‘Glory Days’ of the territory system, and how it’s so much better…
Well it has advantages, sure, but it’s not all beer and skittles.
Suffice to say, there’s always been the little dog that now gets to play big dog as the huge dogs kept leaving.
I’ve heard both Bill Watts (UWF) and Paul Heyman (ECW) say that the only way they could survive was to expand. The guys doing the interviews never asked them to elaborate, but I would venture to guess that being able to offer competitive money to talent by trying to find new areas/arenas/TV to run shows without direct competition to increase your schedule and revenue. It makes sense and yet I’ve heard JJ Dillon (JCP) and Tommy Dreamer (ECW) say that expansion killed their business and had they stayed home both companies would still be around. I was curious to hear your take on expansion vs. staying where you already successful?
It’s a tricky thing, running a wrestling company. You need to maintain a strong core base for your company, but on the other hand, you also need to always been on the look out for new opportunities, for new markets, and more money.
But the main problem is that once you start expanding, you need to keep going.
See, there’s two ways a company can be profitable. One is to keep it small. You run only a few select venues, hell maybe even just the one, where you draw a consistent crowd. You watch the pennies, and you ensure you always draw a small profit. You won’t be a billionaire, but you’ll have a company that works.
The alternative is to go for the big money. So you start running new venues. You run bigger venues. You advertise more. You bring in more, bigger talent. You do everything you can t get more fans. But all that costs money. So you need those fans to come. And then you need more fans, so you need to go further and run more and do more, so there’s more costs… And you’re trapped in a seemingly never ending cycle.
Now, there is something to be said for playing it safe. If you’re very popular in the Mid West, why would you run on the East Coast? If you’re based out of Philly, why would you do a tour of Canada? If you focus where you are successful, you should be fine.
But fine may not cut it. And worse, you do run the risk of over saturation. If you only run in your home state, fans may eventually grow sick, and leave you. It depends on how loyal a fan base you have.
So what’s the best outcome? I can’t tell you, because I don’t know. Hell, no-one knows, outside of maybe Vince McMahon, and his answer is obvious. Yes, the vast majority of the big companies that died had overreaching as part of the problem, ECW, WCCW, UWA, Jim Crockett. But for every failure we know, there’s possible several companies that dried up because they didn’t expand, didn’t increase.
But there’s the added problem of Vince McMahon. If you become too much of a threat, he’s looming. Even if he leaves companies like TNA alone, there’s always that fear in the back of promoter’s minds that Vince will come in and ruin you if you get too successful. You have to be huge, you need to be on equal footing to hold him off… Insane, but there’s always that fear in some people.
To summarise, you need to expand if you wish to become huge. But to become huge, you need to expand. It becomes a vicious cycle unless you do it very well or are very lucky. Few companies have managed it. Sticking to your area is the safe option. But it’s unlikely to be very lucrative…
Joe K asks about Al Snow.
I was reading a Dunn PPV review a while back and he had mentioned that Snow was in line for a major heel push near the end of 1999 but several things ended up not working in his favor. I remember this, as he got to face The Rock several times over throwing Foley’s book in the trash & Rock taking the blame. But after a few weeks, he got shifted down to a program with the Hardys and finally teaming with Steve Blackman as “Head Cheese.” I want to say the whole Walmart/Al Snow action figure thing had something to do with it but I swear that was earlier in the year or maybe even late 98. Any idea on what these “factors” were?
There were a few things. The fact that he didn’t totally get over as a heel didn’t help, he still got some cheers. The fact that his chances at being a heel weren’t superb given the state of face/heel at the time. But the biggest thing, in my view? Vince Russo leaving.
I’m serious. Russo quit October 5th, 1999. While that eventually turned out to be a good thing for the WWF, it did mean that all the angles Russo had going now suddenly had no endings.
*waits for the inevitable “Russo NEVER has endings!” jokes*
But regardless, the fact is that the angles Russo had going all now had to be picked up by other people. And that means, for better or worse, things go left a bit as different people have different ideas. The angle Russo had going that seemed sure to get Test to the next level ended up giving Triple H heat. The angle Russo had with Mankind and Val Venis died. And Al Snow’s push got lost in the shuffle. Had Russo stuck around, he probably would have continued the push. But he left, and the push died.
Disagree with me below, and I’ll defend myself next week. Until then, remember.
Nothing specific. Just remember.
