411’s ‘Never Forget: WWE Returns After 9/11’ Report

-Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the Sept 11th attacks. I was in college at California University of Pennsylvania and was heading to the Student Center after my 8 AM and 9 AM classes. I walked in the building and there were big screen TVs set up in the lobby. I quickly looked and saw smoke on the screen and below it read Washington and for whatever reason I was thinking it was something that happened in Washington state. I went to the Commuter Center and more TVs and then it started to sink in what had happened. Shortly after, the news spread through campus that everyone was to go home as classes were cancelled. I made the 20 minute drive home and didn’t really know what to do with myself. I was off from work, but made the drive to see what they were doing. They all had the same confusion, but we remained open because as a vet hospital you still have sick patients to see. Still not knowing what to do, a co-worker and I went and played 9 holes of golf on a local Par 3 course. It was always open even if nobody was on site as all you had to do was put $5 in a box by the office to play. As we played, a small plane flew low overhead as it was landing at a nearby airstrip. From golf we kind of wandered to the local mall and nobody was there other than store employees. Finally, I went home once my parents and sister were home and we consumed as much of the news as possible. Those are my memories of that day and then I have the memories of the days that followed with sports being cancelled in some cases and other cases games still being played. As it relates to our world of wrestling, the WWE opted to hold SmackDown from Houston and now we get a documentary covering that night. Let’s get to it!

-Run Time: 34:45
-Air Date: 09.10.21

-Sept 10, 2001: San Antonio TX: We hear JR say they are live in San Antonio, TX. Steve Austin comes out with his WCW shirt and WWE Title. We see him stun Tazz and RVD drop a frog splash. Austin talks about how they were firing on all cylinders and it was just another normal day. Stephanie McMahon talks about it being another night of madness and mayhem. We see The Rock get introduced as he is WCW Champion at this point. Trey Wingo, ESPN anchor, says that all sports leagues were aware of the WWE’s popularity at that point. Bruce Prichard says it was a good show and they were getting ready for another day of work. Lillian Garcia thanks the fans and we see the arena clearing out.

-This is Never Forget: WWE Returns After 9/11.

-Whoa, they broke out the big guns as Tom Rinaldi is the narrator for this. That’s awesome as he is always great doing narration for serious sports stories on ESPN and Fox. WWE personnel were preparing for show on Sept 11 for that night in Houston, TX. Paul Heyman (listed as former WWE writer) says he was on the creative team on Sept 11, 2001. He had flown on the corporate jet the night before to Houston as the writers were meeting with Vince to discuss SmackDown.

-Then it happened. Bruce talks about watching a morning show and news broke that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. They show some of the footage and then we see a second plane hit the other building. This still gives me chills and Vince McMahon pops in with “oh my god, how could this happen?” That nearly broke me there as Vince doesn’t look as well as I am used to seeing and for some reason it just got to me. He talks about how you didn’t know if it was an invasion and if you were in any kind of danger. Austin couldn’t believe this was happening to our country and he breaks a bit as he talks about the smoke pouring out of the towers.

-Lilian Garcia was woken up by a call from her friend who had gotten away from the towers. We hear the news that a plane was hijacked. She then lost communication with her friend and she watched as the Towers crumbled. In all there were 4 coordinated attacks that took nearly 3000 lives. It is the deadliest foreign attack on our soil in our country’s history. HHH (get well sir) talks about watching people scared and running. He says it was hard to put into words what you were seeing. Kurt Angle talks about trying to call people back home and Steph echoes the same sentiments.

-Heyman talks about how WWE was known as New York and MSG was their home. Vince talks about what the New York fans mean to the WWE and Hulk Hogan talks about the greatness of being a wrestler that gets to work in MSG. He calls it the high point on his check list and credits that to the fans. Sean Waltman calls New York their home and the fans embraced them. Heyman says it was devastating to all New Yorkers as it showed they were vulnerable, and it can happen here. It did happen here!

-SmackDown in Houston was put on hold and all flights were also grounded. The WWE told talent to stay in place as they felt that was the safest thing to do. D-Von talks about the wrestlers going out to find food and there was nobody on the streets. Edge calls it post-apocalytpic as there was no traffic on the streets and no noise.

-They show the SportsCenter feed as Trey Wingo pops up again as MLB started cancelling first and then NCAA started cancelling that weekend’s football games. The NFL was next and everyone else followed in line as it was the first time ever the NFL postponed a full week of the season other than for a work stoppage. They didn’t even postpone when Kennedy was assassinated which I believe was one of the regrets Pete Rozelle had as NFL Commissioner.

-Vince talks about President Bush and the address he gave to the Nation and part of it is shown here. Vince felt like he wanted to fight back in a way. Heyman can’t imagine the pressure that was on Vince for every micro-decision he had to make. Prichard talks about how everything on TV was tragedy, tragedy, tragedy and the thought was could they be something to offer other than tragedy. Vince: “Hell with it. Let’s go do it for all the right reasons.”

-Within 24 hours the WWE had decided to stage a Thursday night show in Houston, which is the 4th largest city in the US. Vince says the building manager was all for it and the television producers were all for it. Edge calls it a strange time and he felt they should be home with their families, but he understands you want to bring some normalcy. Austin had similar thoughts and wondered if they had paused long enough to respect those that lost their lives. He heard from Vince who told him somebody must send a message and we have to do what we do. They aren’t paramedics and doctors, so they can’t help on that front.

-Prichard talks about Jim McIngvale, who is a businessman in Houston, and has helped them with their WrestleMania X-7 promotion. He is here as a talking head and he is a life long WWE fan that wanted to help. He talks about the logistics involved with doing the show.

-The city of Houston supported the WWE and the decision was made to hold the first public event since the attacks. Undertaker talks about the pride he had as it showed they couldn’t break the American Spirit. Law Bosse (WWE Sr Production Manager) talks about setting things up that day and how quiet everything was. We get some of the footage of them getting things ready and it is rather interesting. He mentions they weren’t sure how many people would attend the show.

-Robert Horry (7 Time NBA Champion) mentions he had tickets and decided to still go to the show as it was time for some normalcy. D-Von talks about the extra security and how everyone was nervous. JBL mentions you don’t know how much security you need because nothing every happened life this. They had military, police and dogs out. D-Von brings up how tight security was and normally security recognizes the boys and would let them in without badges, but that wasn’t happening this time. Angle thinks Vince made sure there was going to be a lot of security to make sure everyone was safe.

-Lilian says she was pacing backstage and she didn’t want to peak through the curtain, but she could hear the crowd and their energy. Steph talks about the USA chants that started the second the crowd started to pour into the building. Heyman found a stage hand from New York who was crying his eyes out in a corner and Heyman put a hand on his shoulder. The guy hug Heyman and asked him “we are going to get through this aren’t we?” Heyman asked if he meant everything or just tonight and the guy laughed and said either was fine. Heyman laughed and said let’s get through tonight and then we will see what we can do to fix the world. Awesome!

-The show starts proper with JR welcoming everyone to a very special edition of SmackDown. Vince is first to the ring and he is dressed down in just an untucked button down shirt. Current Vince talks about how one of our rights is Freedom of Expression and that is what they were fighting for that night. Vince talks about the Spirit of America being in Houston tonight. “We will not live our lives in fear.” “The citizens of Houston are not afraid. The citizens of Texas are indeed not afraid, and by God the citizens of The United States are not afraid. We will fight for our families, we will fight for our rights, and we will fight for our Great Nation. America’s heart has been wounded, but her spirit shines as a beacon of freedom. A beacon of freedom that never has been or will be extinguished.” Present day Vince says he wishes everyone could have experienced that as he breaks down and calls it the most humbling experience every inside or outside of the ring. Trey Wingo says the way the crowd reacted to Vince proved it was the right decision.

-The entire roster empties from the back and lines the ramp and aisle as the crowd loses it with USA chants. Booker says moments like that are bigger than anything we do in the ring. “We are all family.” JBL puts over the solidarity as Americans. Kane says that was a moment where you could feel it in your entire being.

-For the first time ever The National Anthem would be shown as part of the SmackDown broadcast. Lilian was asked by Vince and she says she was honored, but then had this giant weight on her shoulders. She then questioned if she would be able to do it. Steph talks about standing on the stage and having Lilian sing while fans stood with hands on their hearts and how it is hard to put in words. Lilian remembers Rock standing next to Vince and before the show he told her “you got this kid.” Lilian absolutely crushed it as Waltman says that may have been the most memorable part of the night. He tears up just thinking about it. Again, just crushed it and the chills are back now! Lilian starts openly weeping when she finished, and she cries now thinking about it. Now I am crying, as she talks about the fans and how incredible the moment was that everyone came together to heal. All you felt in that moment was love. Prichard puts over her performance and Heyman mentions he was a wreck. I forgot Heyman was part of the announce team at that point still. Vince was in Heyman’s ear and told him how wonderful that was, and now it was time to entertain people.

-We see highlights from the show as Molly Holly talks about the crowd and how that night they paused the storylines of good vs evil. Horry talks about needing a break from reality and he was thrilled to see Houston’s own, Booker T. It was a night for fans to escape!

-It was also a night for WWE Superstars to offer words and we see those from The Rock, Edge, and JBL. Prichard mentions JBL got a standing ovation for words. JBL says it was raw emotion that night. Angle talks about the real heroes that day being the officers, paramedics. Prichard talks about how over Angle was since he was an Olympic Hero. Angle talks about being in the Main Event and it being one of the proudest moments of his life.

-After the show ended there was one additional match as a thank you for the fans and it just happened to be Austin throwing out a challenge and it being accepted by The Rock. Okay, that is awesome! Horry wishes he had a cellphone with a camera back then to record it. Austin talks about being a proud Texan and how he was proud to be there that night. Vince can’t tell us how happy he was after the event was over and everyone was out of the building.

-Two decades later we still remember those we lost. They show the WTC memorial and Booker talks about visiting. You never want to forget! HHH says it is the proudest of this company he has ever been. Vince: “so proud to be an American.”

-On Oct 14, 2001: WWE returned home to Madison Square Garden. Angle talks about returning to MSG and we see police offers and firemen get honored. All this is shown while the credits play. Angle mentions they were invited to Ground Zero and Austin says it was still smoldering. Twenty years later he still has a hard time seeing NYC without the twin towers. “No one will ever forget that.”

-This was fantastic and a must watch. I know some will take shots at WWE over this or whatever, but not the time. This was well done and just full of emotion. Check this one out as the WWE documentary crew knocks another one out of the park. Thanks for reading!

-Sept 11, 2001: We Honor, We Remember, We Never Forget!