wrestling / Columns

Ask 411 Wrestling: Can Kane Main Event Again?

August 5, 2015 | Posted by Mathew Sforcina

Howdy. As you already know, assuming you read last week’s column, I am not Mathew Sforcina. Nor am I the stalwart substitute Ryan Byers. I am Jed Shaffer, alumnus of 411 and editor/writer at Wrestlecrap, and on-rare-occasions guest writer for Ask411 Wrestling. I’ll be subbing for Sforcina today, as h’se off looking at a brand new Hyundai.

Yes, that’s an inside joke. That all of three people will get.

RIP Roddy Piper. It’s not that you were taken too soon … it’s that you were taken at all.

For question submissions, please send to [email protected] and Lisa Your Time-Life Operator (played by Sforcina) will be with you in 7-185 business days.

I like new BANNER. You should too.

Zeldas!

Check out Sforcina’s Drabble blog, 1/10 of a Picture!

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The Trivia Crown

Sforcina gave me the answer, and I’m feeling froggy, so I think I’ll do this for him.

Who am I? I’ve wrestled He Who Must Not Be Named 2: Named Harder (Brother) in at least one ‘famous’ match. I’m one of only four men to do one thing but not another (and only one of two after an obvious changing point). I was champion of a island nation for just under a month, losing the championship in a tag match despite it being a singles title. Each of my (admittedly few) tag title reigns came with a different partner, all of them future world champions (albeit with one of those being… questionable). I’m a Slammy winner, an American, and a swerve victim, I am who?

DarthDiver has the answer … although I have no idea if he got each individual clue correct. If Sforcina wants to clarify/correct, that’s his lawn to mow.

I’ve wrestled He Who Must Not Be Named 2: Named Harder (Brother) in at least
one ‘famous’ match (Tower of Doom Steel Cage Match). I’m one of only four men (along with Jim Duggan, John Studd and Roman Reigns) to do one thing but not another (Win a Royal Rumble match, but not a main WWF/E title) (and only one of two after an obvious changing point) (Just him and Reigns, as Hacksaw and Studd never received a title shot). I was champion of a island nation for just under a month (NWA Florida Bahamian Championship), losing the championship in a tag match despite it being a singles title (to Tyree Pride). Each of my (admittedly few) tag title reigns came with a different partner (Barry Windham, Sting, The Giant), all of them future world champions (albeit with one of those being… questionable (Not sure what this refers to)). I’m a Slammy winner (Most Patriotic – 1994), an American (Made in the USA!), and a swerve victim (Involved in the Bash at the Beach 1996 Hogan heel turn), I am who? You are Lex Luger.

Now I’m going to attempt a trivia question. Be kind. It’s my first (and possibly last, if it sucks) attempt.

I am a pay-per-view event. The result of my main event is not the first time this has happened at me, but it is the first time it happened in the last match of the night. I featured the second comeback of the year for one wrestler, although he didn’t wrestle on my card. I had consequences-of-winning stipulations on four of my matches, but only one came to pass. My subtitle is shared by no less than thirteen albums, seventeen songs, four books and two movies. I am the earliest edition of me to ever take place in the calendar month, and the second edition to take place in a specific city (but the first time in this arena). What event am I?

Getting Down To All The Business

To start, Sforcina asked me to chime in on a question he already addressed, mainly because it’s a question for which rampant speculation is required. Differing opinions make for fun discussion and all. It comes from Raza Ali, who has a couple others that I’ll tackle after Sforcina’s favor. Take it away, Raza!

We are fast approaching Summerslam 2015 and there are no rumors/speculations (majority of which turned are usually turned out to be true) as to who will be your pick as the winner of Royal Rumble 2016 and what will likely to be main even to Wrestlemania 32?

Please remember: this is all opinion. Strictly conjecture and speculation, based on absolutely nothing but where WWE is right now. I have nothing to back up anything I say. Only time will prove me right or wrong. That said … I have two answers: an optimistic/crowd-pleaser outcome, and the cynical outcome.

And both involve Roman Reigns winning the Rumble.

The optimistic track goes as follows:

Sheamus is holding the MITB case until who they really want conveniently liberates it from him. That person? Dean Ambrose. Couple the fact that they are obviously trying to use Cena to give Rollins the rub … let’s say Rollins not only makes it past Cena, but gets all the way to Wrestlemania still champ. Meanwhile, you’ve got Ambrose as Charlie Bucket, and he announces he’s cashing it in for the main event of Wrestlemania. And then Roman Reigns goes and wins the Rumble. Boom. Your main event of Wrestlemania is THE SHIELD EXPLODES.

The cynical side? Cena beats Rollins, becomes the longest transitional champ in history, all to give the rub of all rubs to Reigns.

I wish somebody else made sense, I really do. But I just don’t see it. Wyatt seems to be a lost cause, Owens just got Lashley’ed, Sheamus generates as much heat as a Slurpee, Ziggler is doomed to spin his wheels, Rusev was sacrificed at the alter of Cena, if Bryan comes back he’s literally damaged goods, Orton is played out, they won’t commit to Ambrose, Brock will be busy with Brock/Taker VI … who’s left? Nobody as I see it.

Secondly, sorry if you have already covered in previous columns, why Shawn Michaels was not roped in by WCW back in 1998 after WM 14? Obviously Kevin Nash was in the thick of things in WCW back then and Michaels too was not doing any thing back then.

Well, I haven’t covered it in previous columns, so you’re good there.

Michaels wasn’t doing anything because he was convalescing with what, at the time, was believed to be a career-ending back injury, not to mention nursing a rather problematic substance abuse issue. Even though WCW was in the habit of scooping up every active non-contracted wrestler under the sun (see Poffo, Lanny), snatching up a retired wrestler with known behavioral problems, a career-ending injury and substance issues to do absolutely nothing … yeah, not a sound investment, even by WCW’s standards.

Why WWE/F allowed many wrestlers the like of Hogan, Machoman, Bret Hart, Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Bam Bam Bigelow, Jim Niedhart to carry their WWE/F monikers to WCW while others, the likes of Big Boss Man, Diesel, Razor, Crush, Earthquake, Tugboat, Mr. Perfect, Brutus Beefcake, 1-2-3 Kid were not allowed. What was the difference?

The former group you referred to, those were established names (or the performers’ real names) used by the wrestlers prior to coming to WWF/E. The latter group were wholly created by WWF/E, and thus, they owned the copyright. WWE isn’t in the business of giving away money, let alone giving it to another promotion, and letting somebody walk with a gimmick they created, they nurtured and they got over is as good as writing a blank check to the competition. But guys like Bret Hart and Jake Roberts made those names (or were born with them) long before coming to Stamford, and back in the day, they didn’t rechristen everyone who came through the door so they could control the copyright. You see that now – Kevin Steen becomes Kevin Owens, Tyler Black becomes Seth Rollins, Jon Moxley becomes Dean Ambrose. But back then, letting Jake Roberts come in with Jake Roberts gave him some possible name recognition without having to actually acknowledge his previous employment elsewhere, and they could still market him in their own way.

Hey, look at this, somebody sent me questions directly! How do you like that! Marco Larusso has a trio just for me!

I remember the Bushwackers being pretty over back in the day, why hasn’t the WWE pushed them? They were basically just jobbing, despite getting good reactions…

Despite what parents tell their kids, not everybody can be President or a movie star or a starting pitcher for the Yankees. Somebody’s gotta flip my burger at Wendy’s or mop the floors in a junior high or file the TPS reports on a Saturday.

The Bushwhackers were the burger-flippers of the WWF late-80’s/early 90’s tag division.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was 12 when the Bushwhackers hit WWF, and I loved them. How could you not? That music, the march … it’s damned infectious …

But then you look at their competition: The Hart Foundation, Demolition, The Brain Busters, The Rockers, The Nasty Boys, The Road Warriors, The Colossal Connection, Money Inc. … and those are just the teams that had championship runs during their tenure. There was no room for them to hold gold, not with that line-up. Plus … did they really need the championships? They were over enough without them just doing that march and licking people’s heads. I’m sure they moved a lot of merch without hardware. If holding a title wouldn’t help them, then it only makes sense to put it on someone it can help.

In the 80s and 90s, WWE did a pretty good job booking their monster heels… Yokozuna, Natural Disasters, Vader, even Giant Gonzales to an extent. Even when their big pushes came to a halt, they were still presented as serious threats. Then, at some point, WWE started bringing in monsters, gave them a push, then dropped them into midcard comedy stuff… Khali, Tensai, Koslov, or they ridicule them, like Big Show or Big Daddy V or most recently Rusev… Why do they do that?

See, I would disagree with the idea that the guys you say were booked well actually were. Yokozuna, sure, to a point … except for having his run cut off at the knees by a once-more-around-the-block glory run for Hogan. And after he lost to Bret, he became Undertaker’s bitch and Owen Hart’s human shield. But I’ll give you Yoko.

The rest? Not even. Natural Disasters were hardly unstoppable; they looked unstoppable, but their lone 85 day title reign was notable for having started at a house show, and that’s it. Gonzalez is most remembered for the body suit and the worst match in Undertaker’s streak. Vader’s run is considered a failure, not a success, despite the couple of months he threatened Shawn Michaels. So I wouldn’t say, in my opinion, that they ever lost the ability to market true killer heels … because killer heels have never been how WWF does things. Up until the Attitude era, their philosophy was to have a strong face champ defend against all comers. Building strong monster heels would’ve been antithetical to their business model.

Nowadays, though, they have another good reason, although they go and apply it to almost everybody: Bobby Lashley. Since he got the rocket-to-the-moon push and then bailed, they’ve been gun-shy to do it for anybody. Notice how Bray Wyatt came in like a house ablaze, and then got cooled off? Rusev, now Kevin Owens … yeah, Lashley. Can’t push a monster if you aren’t going to sustain it and pay it off, and they won’t do that last part. Not if they can help it.

Fantasy Booking Question: Lets say Kane has to get one last, major push before he retires, completely with a strong world title run. How would you try to get Kane over with the fans again, how would you make him world champ, and how would you retire him, imagening this would lead to his career end? Who would you book to end his.career and take the title from him?

Why not just ask me to build the Empire State Building out of toothpicks?

So, again, an up-front disclaimer: I don’t know that, in the real world, Kane can be pushed to a strong world title run without the audience turning into a lynch mob. So, what follows is just the best idea to come to mind. I’m not going into full detail, because I tend to get very intricate with my fantasy booking. You should’ve seen my EWR diary … events could be 15-20 pages long. Anyway …

I’d start off by having Bray Wyatt not only bring back The Family, but have it expand, to 6-8 members. And I’d book them like the BDK were in Chikara: heels who would attack faces and heels alike. People who threatened everyone in the company. I’d have them run amok for a few months, and I’d have Kane join the Family. Eventually, their anarchy would get so out of hand, Triple H would step in to try and take out the Family by way of defeating Bray Wyatt (a lose-and-you-break-up stip), but Kane would assist in the win.

From there, at Survivor Series 2015, The Wyatt Family would dominate the card; win the tag titles, win the Divas title (Paige seems like a good fit, or maybe repackage Emma), and in an elimination tag, Kane leads the Family to victory against Sheamus and a squad, winning the MITB contract … but the sitp is that anybody in the Family can use it. So now, you have a new dynamic of the briefcase is not only a ticking time bomb, you don’t know who will set it to blow up. Wyatt goes for the WWE Title but gets screwed by Trips, setting up a rematch. Kane starts to question Wyatt’s focus as he wants to terrorize Trips and the Authority; he even sends the Family’s Diva after Stephanie, just because.

Come Royal Rumble, The Family is in it, and while Wyatt is trying to eliminate someone, Kane dumps the both of them, furthering the discord. This leads to a “trust-building exercise” where the two go after the tag titles at whatever February’s event is called. Kane turns on Bray Wyatt here … but so do the rest of The Family! Kane has been playing Wyatt from day one, looking to take control of The Family from Wyatt so the demon could rise once more and not be sabotaged by young fools like Rollins or hoodwinked by the front office.

Sometime after Wrestlemania (May, perhaps), Kane cashes in and becomes champ. Wyatt returns at the MITB event as a surprise entrant, but The Family prevent him from winning. Having caused so much havoc and hurt so many people, Wyatt has no allies in the locker room to stand with him against Kane’s Family. Wyatt knows he can’t face them alone, though, so he calls the only person he can think of who can help: Undertaker. With Taker’s tutelage, Wyatt becomes a much more fierce competitor. It builds to a match at Hell In A Cell 2016, where Wyatt beats Kane for the title.

From there, mind games for the next few months … Kane loses the rematch, the Family start to abandon him, Undertaker costs Kane the Rumble … finally, he turns on his last follower, Luke Harper, who beats Kane in February 2017’s PPV. Kane tries to injure him after the match, but Wyatt makes the save. Undertaker appears shortly after and tells Kane that he has squandered everything, he has nothing left, and the only thing left to do is put Kane out of his misery. Undertaker/Kane, Last Man Standing, loser retires at Wrestlemania.

There. Best I got.

Moving on, there’s another question submitted directly to me! This comes from APgeneticgenealogy lover. Quite the name. He has me doing an actual fact-checking question. Guest hosts aren’t supposed to do work!

Hi, I read on 411 Wrestling that you answer questions? If yes, then I have one, I can’t find an answer for this: Was WrestleMania 3 the final time that Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat had a match against one another? I know they were on the same team at the first Survivor Series later in that year,1987? But did they have any more matches against one another after Mania 3?

I saw on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event like May 87 that Ricky Steamboat had a match against Hercules, and Savage was doing commentary and ragging on Steamboat, so it seams like Savage and Steamboat were still feuding after Mania 3, but I can’t find any information on any post-Mania 3 matches.

Well, the window of time to work with here is small, given that Steamboat took some time off in 1987, which is what led to his short IC Title reign, and he “retired” shortly after Wrestlemania IV. Given that, and the fact that there was only one pay-per-view between WM3 and WM4 and we know what he did there, and that towards the end of 1987 Savage turns face, that leaves house shows in the spring and summer of ’87. And to wit, I find thus:

April 25, 1987, Baltimore – Randy Savage gets a count-out victory over Ricky Steamboat
April 26, 1987, Indianapolis – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
April 27, 1987, Columbus – Steamboat, Jake Roberts and Billy Jack Haynes d. Savage, Hercules, and Honky Tonky Man in an elimination tag match
April 29, 1987, Syracuse – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 1, 1987, Long Island – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 2, 1987, Chicago – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 3, 1987, Detroit – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 4, 1987, Peoria – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 5, 1987, Cincinnati – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 6, 1987, Springfield – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 9, 1987, St. Louis – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 10, 1987, Kansas City – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 11, 1987, Oakland – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 15, 1987, Houston – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage
May 16, 1987, Landover – Randy Savage gets a count-out victory over Ricky Steamboat
May 24, 1987, Peterborough, Ontario – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage
May 26, 1987, Lake Placid – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 29, 1987, Winnipeg – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 30, 1987, Minneapolis – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
May 31, 1987, California, PA – Ricky Steamboat wins by DQ over Randy Savage
June 5, 1987, Richfield – Randy Savage wins by DQ over Ricky Steamboat in a lumberjack match (?!?)
June 6, 1987, Landover – Ricky Steamboat d. Randy Savage in a steel cage match
June 15, 1987, Phoenix – Randy Savage d. Ricky Steamboat
June 16, 1987, Albuquerque – Randy Savage d. Ricky Steamboat
June 18, 1987, Birmingham – Randy Savage d. Ricky Steamboat
June 19, 1987, Winston-Salem- Randy Savage d. Ricky Steamboat

Steamer wouldn’t be seen again on the house show circuit until late July, where he’d spend the bulk of those matches jobbing to Honky. His and Savage’s paths would only cross again as allies. So, there ya go. Don’t you wish you could see one of those steel cage matches?

Next up, Alan has a question about the WWE Hall Of Fame.

With the WWE producing an Owen Hart video, it seems like a foregone conclusion that he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next year. Do you agree? I think this would leave Rick Rude as the most deserving deceased wrestler to be inducted. My question is, who in your opinion, is the most deserving wrestler that is still living? I would think CM Punk but obviously that won’t happen anytime soon. My next picks would be Marty Janetty or Brutus Beefcake.

First, regarding Owen Hart. I think the chances are better than they used to be, but I wouldn’t go and make a bet on it. Martha Hart can’t do much about using Owen’s likeness on video besides pitch a fit and file extraneous lawsuits. But the Hall Of Fame still requires willing participation, be it from the person or the deceased’s surviving loved ones. I’d honestly be surprised to see Martha sign off on that.

As for the most deserving wrestler still alive? Yeah, I can think of a few people that’d come before Jannetty or Beefcake. Like this guy.

There’s also Vader, Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Diamond Dallas Page, Chris Adams, Tommy Rich … they could do some ECW alumni like Tommy Dreamer or Shane Douglas or Sabu … Jim Cornette deserves to be in there, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens … and I’m not even scouring title histories or anything. And then there’s one guy who’s only active usually around Wrestlemania time … he’s far more deserving than Jannetty and Beefcake. Both of them, yeah, they’re notable, and with guys in there like Koko B Ware, Johnny Rodz and Junkyard Dog, I suppose Jannetty and Beefcake can get in, but … at best, they’ll filler inductees.

Connor is a frequent asker of questions. Let’s do a couple, shall we?

Do you think the WWF dropped the ball with Tatanka? he was pretty darn over as a face.

See my Bushwhackers response. Tatanka was over, but he wasn’t the main reason anybody was buying tickets. He was solid but unspectacular in the ring. He did his gimmick well, but he doesn’t have a single memorable promo or catchphrase. That is the very definition of a midcarder. Just being over isn’t enough to push a guy to the main event. I think he reached the ceiling of where he could go.

what was the real reason Tommy Rich won the world title from Harley Race in 1981? also why did Rich not get a bigger push when he returned to WCW in 1989/1990, he was treated almost as a jobber

Per a shoot interview with RF Video, Harley Race (whom Rich beat and then lost to four days later) said the title switch was because of an ongoing power struggle in the Georgia territory. Jim Barnett, a minority owner of the Georgia territory – and, interestingly enough, the booker of the NWA World Title at the time – strengthened his spot in the hierarchy in Georgia by putting the belt on Rich. Fan interest went up, gates increased, and Barnett came out looking like a rose, so he won the power struggle. Rich and his title run, therefore, were pawns in a backstage political showdown.

Sort of scuttles the whole “storied tradition” and “prestige” claptrap you hear about championships, doesn’t it?

Now, whether you believe Race or not is up to you. The only other stories I see about it by way of Google-fu veer towards tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories – Race forgot to raise his shoulder, or Rich paid off the ref to do a screwjob, or there was some quid pro quo arrangement between Rich and Barnett (be it simple favor or sexual favor … no, I’m not kidding). I think Occam’s Razor applies here. The simplest solution is the best one, and that solution is that it was a quick business move to jump-start an area with a troublesome gate by a promoter looking to solidify his power base. Several birds, one stone.

As for the comeback? Wrong place, wrong time. Flair was keeping the place together since half of the Horsemen and Dusty Rhodes were all gone, you had guys like Steamboat and Funk doing huge business with Flair, you had hot young talent like Luger, Sting, Windham, Muta and Pillman … there just wasn’t a whole lot of chances for upward mobility for a guy trying to make a comeback fifteen years deep in his career.

VIDEO INTERMISSION!!!

I hope this meme never goes away. It keeps getting better.

If that was the real movie, I’d see the shit out of it. Twice a week for its entire theatrical run.

Okay, back to the questions. Shaun takes us to TNA.

Where does EC3’s undefeated streak stand in the longest undefeated streaks in professional wrestling?

Let me get this out of the way: I love EC3. He is so much fun to watch. He may not be Christopher Daniels in the ring, but his ring work holds up his character’s personality, and to me, that’s important. The dude is a star.

That being said, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t see his undefeated streak having any value.

This isn’t blind TNA hate. I’ve actually found Impact quite watchable, for the most, part, this year. It’s just the state of the industry working against Mr. The Third. TNA’s profile could not be lower right now. If you’re lucky to have Destination America in your cable package, it competes with Lucha Underground and NXT, which have much stronger buzz with the portion of the audience that seeks out wrestling not shown on Monday nights.

And that leads directly to problem number two: the cachet of the promotion itself. TNA’s name value could not be lower. It got ambush-dumped by Spike, and is living in a perpetual state of limbo with DA. It can’t afford to do house show tours. It can’t afford to do more than two or three live PPV’s a year. It’s cutting talent left, right and center. The promotion, for all intents and purposes, an indie with a TV deal. Even non-televised indies like CZW, Chikara and PWG are given more respect than TNA at this point. And because of poor booking, it has left a sour taste in the mouths of most who’ve ever tuned in. So, what good is it to have an undefeated streak in a promotion that most people can’t see, many people mock, and the ones who can see it mostly choose something else?

Now, don’t get me wrong, within the confines of TNA, it’s great. It’s made EC3 who is today. Whoever knocks him off – if the promotion lives long enough to have him dethroned – will look awesome for it, provided his loss is handled right. But once you get to the macro level, his undefeated streak is like being valedictorian of summer school.

Jon wants to ask about roster splits or brand extensions or whatever they’re called, and NXT.

So, by all accounts Vince was a huge fan of the brand split and fought its death for as long as he could.

Fast forward to 2015 and with no artificial packaging or finagling at all WWE very legitimately has a brand split again: NXT is now a totally unique brand with its own style, look, and schedule and on top of that it has a roster of performers who are far more separated from the other “brand” that at any time during the Raw/Smackdown split.

So my question is this: now that NXT is testing the waters on leaving Florida (with huge early success), do you think there is any chance the powers that be might consider positioning NXT as its own stand-alone company, separate but equal with WWE? Just give them a few underused guys on the main roster and one hour of Raw’s three and I think they are a legitimate competitor. Continue the Takeover specials and maybe even do 1-4 pay per views every year so they can cement their own answer to Mania, Summerslam, etc. Forget about drafts and lotteries- for story line purposes, guys would only move when their “contract” expired. I think you could create a real competition between the two brands that never truly existed during the brand split.

Is it possible? Sure. In a quantum universe, anything is. It’s therefore possible Alison Brie might knock at my door right now wearing nothing but a smile and holding a billion dollar check. But possible is a long way from probable. NXT has a major stumbling block, as I see it, and that is this: WWE has already told you, in plain, bold, unambiguous language, that NXT is where future WWE stars get their start. In no uncertain terms, they have labelled and marketed the brand as a developmental minor league, their AAA team. Leaving NXT for Raw is seen as “making it” or “coming up” or “getting the call”, not a lateral move. If you need evidence of that, the recent Owens/Cena feud has it in spades; Owens was NXT Champion, the #1 dog in the NXT yard. Did he target Seth Rollins, the #1 dog in WWE? Nope, he went after #2a (#2b being the Inter-cursed Championship). Once a consumer base’s mindset has been cast, it’s hard to reprogram them to accept something different. For instance, remember this?

No matter how much research Coca Cola did, no matter how many test groups and double-blind studies they performed (and they sank millions into the research), what they didn’t count on is familiarity and brand loyalty. It bit them right in the ass. Like Coca Cola had (however unintentionally) done with Coke, WWE has conditioned its audience to view NXT in a certain way; in this case, the niche product where you can see (possible) future stars. Reprogamming the fans to accept NXT as Raw’s equal would take a huge effort.

Maybe if the house tour became so successful that they had to move to venues that Raw normally is held in …

And if they let the booking style remain heavy on in-ring action and strong, logical characterizations, so it felt distinct from Raw …

And if they could buy or establish a new developmental territory …

And if they didn’t treat NXT guys debuting on Raw as scrubs with no history and no experience, so they could begin the reconditioning now …

And if they give NXT some time on the main shows and present it as equal to the current product … say, defending the NXT Championship at Wrestlemania, giving it 15-20 minutes and putting it in the last 3 matches …

And if they added perhaps 10 more wrestlers to the roster and an hour to the show …

MAYBE. Maybe.

Next up, Ace wants to examine the success or failure of a certain championship run. This is always objective and never debatable.

I know that the Macho Man drew well during his first reign as WWF Champion from 88-89, but was he considered a “success” during his second reign? I know that by 1992 wrestling was headed for a trough cycle, and the steroid scandal effected attendance and ratings and buyrates, but was he considered a successful champion as far as putting butts in seats?

I find the idea that the champion is 100% responsible for the gate – and therefore a success or failure – a bit disingenuous. Otherwise, halls of fame would only have world champions. So, strictly my opinion, I don’t think you can judge a reign simply on the gate; how entertaining it was, how well it was booked, I think those are also necessary factors.

But you want hard data, don’t you? Okay, here’s what I found.

Based on what I could find as far as house show attendance for his title run in 1992 – April 5 to September 1, so we’ll say April-August for this exercise – average house show attendance went like this:

April – 3200
May – 3650
June – 2610
July – 3100
August – 4620

Not good at all. Factor in the three months beforehand, where average attendance was in the mid-6000’s per month, right up until April, where it gets cut in half, and it’s fairly damning for Savage’s title run.

But, for the sake of context, let’s look at the rest of the year, from when Flair won it back to the end of the year.

September – 3280
October – 3310
November – 2840
December – 3210

Those numbers suck-diddly-uck, Flanders. Average house show attendance would crack the 4000 barrier three times in 1993, and then not again until 1996 … and it wouldn’t break hit the 6000’s that 1991 saw pre-Wrestlemania until 1997, and wouldn’t do that consistently until the very end of 1997 and into 1998.

So, based on the numbers … was Savage’s second run a box office success? No. But then again, neither was anybody else’s, for quite a few years. The market was just in the shitter.

Rahil Rajani wants to talk WCW and what might have been.

How would the card have looked for Spring Stampede 2001 if WCW was still in business, and storylines going forth ?????

Bischoff’s plan – prior to Jamie Kellner coming along and torpedoing all WCW programming and Fusient’s other financiers pulling out – was not to have Spring Stampede at all. His idea was to chug along with Nitro, where the main storyline would be the rule of The Magnificent Seven stable, with Scott Steiner systematically “retiring” or “injuring” all the top faces. This groundwork had already been laid over the course of the last three PPV’s – Sin was to be Sid getting put on the shelf (and it was, albeit not in a kayfabe way), Superbrawl Revenge was Kevin Nash’s retirement party, and Greed was the end of the line for DDP. Goldberg had also been sent to the showers back in February for failing to recreate the streak. Any remaining faces (Booker T, at this point, looked to be the only one) would be mopped up in between Greed and their next PPV.

And this next PPV was to be called The Big Bang, which would’ve happened on May 6. Bischoff’s plan was to have all the faces make their grand return and stand against the M7. It would serve as the beginning of the end of Steiner’s reign of terror, and also serve to relaunch/reboot WCW yet again. Fresh talent would be spotlighted – names such as AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Steve Corino had all either been on WCW TV or were in talks – there’d be a renewed focus on cruiserweights, guaranteed contracts wouldn’t happen anymore, and the entire promotion would get something of a housecleaning. It was to be a new WCW.

Nightwolf asks about protecting the permanently injured.

So we all know the story of Ric Flair. He broke his back in a 1975 plane crash. Kurt Angle broke his neck wrestling at 1996 Olympics. There is some thing I’ve always wondered for years. Knowing the severity of those injuries how did wrestlers go about protecting Flair and Angle to ensure they didn’t become permanently paralyzed? What about HBK when he broke his back in a casket match against the Undertaker?

Part of it is simply the wrestler themselves working with their opponents, saying “I’m willing to do this, but only this way” or “I can’t do this”. Wrestling, after all, is a cooperative effort, so there has to be some communication on the part of people like Flair or Angle to outline what they’re willing to do, what’s safe to do, and what’s strictly verboten.

Beyond that, though, you can see with Flair that he changed the way he bumped post-crash. Watch any Flair match where he goes to the top turnbuckle and gets tossed off … which, really, is any Flair match … and you’ll notice that he doesn’t do a flat-back bump like everybody else. He sort of falls to one side, on one of his hips. That’s how he took all his back bumps. Once you see it, you won’t be able to un-see it.

As for Angle, I don’t know if the dude ever took much in the way of precautions. He always seemed to wrestle like someone was holding his kids for ransom and only a five-star match would set them free. Maybe he had some never-do moves, I don’t know, but to watch his early WWE career, it sure as hell don’t look like it.

Michaels took the safe way out: he simply didn’t wrestle between Royal Rumble 1998 and Wrestlemania 14. Really.

I don’t know if this is the same person, but nightwolfofthewise has a question about how far is too far when it comes to content.

If you are the WWE, at what point do you realize you are pushing the envelope with storylines too far ( Katie Vick, Matt Hardy/Edge,Lita, Edge/Lita Sex Celebration, Muhammad Hassan)?

When sponsors bail, ratings plummet and/or networks threaten to cancel you.

*1/100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000th of a Chandler*

Seriously, though, that’s it. It has to be an external pressure brought to bear. If the public keeps watching lurid programming and buying tickets, and the network doesn’t feel heat from sponsors … the only real line is what is permissible by broadcasting regulations. As long as you stay behind that line and it doesn’t cost anybody money, it’s all fair game.

Look at it this way: in 1997, Brian Pillman pulled a handgun on Steve Austin in the climactic moment of a sequence of segments that involved Austin committing a home invasion. USA Network lost their shit and threatened to cancel Raw almost on the spot. It took an immense amount of butt-kissing by Vince McMahon to keep Raw on the air. Two years later, we’d have more women in swimsuits than a Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant, Undertaker committing human sacrifice and “crucifying” people, and “choppy-choppy your pee-pee”. Are any of these more distasteful than the Pillman/Austin gun segment? Not in my opinion, but where once WWE was on the ropes and angering sponsors, two years removed it was delivering record ratings and was a money-printing machine for USA’s ad rates. The only thing that changed was profitability.

Last question of the day, and it comes to us from Andrea, who wants to explore the psyche of the IWC on a given day. Yipes.

How was the reaction of the 2002 IWC when Austin walked out compared to the reaction of the 2014 IWC when Punk left in January? Pretty much the same or different?

Before I answer the question, I think, in the interest of fairness – especially for those who weren’t around back then – to compare and contrast the situations. Context, yo, yo, context.

When CM Punk left last year, he was suffering from burn-out in general and nagging injuries. He had become disenfranchised with the grind of five-day-a-week tours, and a seemingly impenetrable glass ceiling that gave him the longest title run in 25 years but had him play second banana for much of it, and lose the title to a former wrestler turned Hollywood actor who hadn’t wrestled regularly in over a decade. He left after Royal Rumble, necessitating in a major card change to Wrestlemania.

When Steve Austin left, he had become disgruntled with the creative direction of his character; he’d refused to job to Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 18, got the lame-duck angle with Scott Hall, lost a #1 contender’s match to Undertaker, and was entered into another Austin-versus-authority storyline with Ric Flair. Finally, when asked to put over Brock Lesnar on Raw in a qualifier for the King Of The Ring, Austin decided he was done walked out, forcing a rewrite of that night’s Raw.

As for comparing the reactions?

Surprisingly, they line up pretty similar.

The IWC isn’t a hive mind, so there wasn’t a singular reaction. Hell, there isn’t a single thing it can agree on, despite some things seeming like universal truths. I’ve met people who find Flair/Steamboat to be a two-star match at best. Some people can still appreciate Chris Benoit matches. My Wrestlecrap cohort Blade Braxton’s favorite booker is Vince Russo. Individuality and dissenting opinions are the only constant among the IWC, and the Austin and Punk walk-outs produced equally differing opinions.

Those who supported Austin pointed out how he was the #1 draw from 1998 through 2001, and that he deserved better than to be shuttled down the card to feud with Scott Hall and a pointless feud with Undertaker. They pointed to the recycled anti-authority feud as the creative team running out of ideas, and that Austin’s face-turn post-InVasion was clumsy at best (like his heel turn). They point out that the proposed Austin/Lesnar match – a first-ever encounter – had absolutely no build or promotion to it (which is true), and that it wouldn’t serve Lesnar as well as a match with a longer build (a fair point).

Meanwhile, those who were not on Austin’s side pointed out he was a broken-down shell of his former self, hardly trustworthy to invest in long-term. His best use was in putting over the next generation of talent, something that was primed to do with both the Lesnar match – which would have given him instant credibility – and a feud with Eddie Guerrero, which was just beginning to take shape. They pointed out that, while not original, the Austin/Flair feud was actually booked in an entertaining way, including a compelling match where Flair forced Austin to have a match that allowed no punching or kicking (it showed he still had mat skills). They argued that he was quickly becoming an anachronism and that his character had failed to evolve in any way. And they pointed out the irony that Austin bitched for years about people like Dusty Rhodes and Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan telling him he’d never make it and trying to sabotage his career, only to walk out when he was asked to help put over fresh talent.

So, while the rationale behind Punk and Austin differ, the reactions then were pretty much the same as they are now: some supported the walk-out, some called him traitor, and never did the two sides agree.

Except that the Austin/Guerrero feud would’ve been awesome.

And with that, I shall return you to your pursuits, and the column to Sforcina.