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[TEW 2013] [WIP] The Skummiverse: 1997


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For initial Skummiverse point of reference, see here:

1985 was a landmark year in professional wrestling - a year that saw Vince McMahon's WWF cement its stranglehold on North American wrestling, and make clear their claim for world domination when they launched their flagship event Wrestlemania.

Headlined by top star Kerry Von Erich tagging with Hollywood superstar, and Von Erich's Rocky IV co-star, Sylvester Stallone against the villainous duo of Terry Funk and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and featuring an undercard made up such WWF mega-stars as Andre The Giant, Tito Santana, Ricky Steamboat and Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Wrestlemania was far and away the biggest extravaganza professional wrestling had ever seen. It looked like Vince McMahon could do no wrong.

...so what went wrong?

How did a downward spiral of death, scandal and corruption nearly bring Vince McMahon's dream to its knees, and how did the WWF claw themselves back from the brink to once again having a fighting chance at becoming the world's biggest wrestling promotion?

Coming Soon:

Skummiverse Timeline '86 - '97

Spotlight on the World Wrestling Federation

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Skummiverse Timeline Overview #1:

The World Wrestling Federation

1986 – 1993

As the World Wrestling Federation entered the 1990s, it seemed like they were unstoppable. The success of the first Wrestlemania, and the crossover appeal of perennial WWF World Champion Kerry Von Erich, were a surefire recipe for success and garnered them a level of popularity hitherto not experienced by professional wrestling on a national, if not global, scale.

But, for both the WWF and their champion, it wasn't always plain sailing.

One year prior to Wrestlemania I, and shortly after Kerry Von Erich's arrival in the WWF, his brother David, the top star for the Von Erich clan's home promotion of World Class Championship Wrestling, tragically passed away during a tour of Japan. While this was common knowledge to the fans of WCCW, it was never explicitly mentioned by the World Wrestling Federation. Years later, the tell-all book The Von Erich Curse claimed that Vince McMahon felt that Kerry's appeal as an “everyman” hero would be hurt if the audience were “depressed” by stories of his tragic family life. So while Kerry was a flag-waving, all-conquering and smiling good guy on television, behind the scenes were often a very different story.

In 1987, Kerry's brother Mike Von Erich committed suicide at the age of 23, citing a combination of psychological and physical ailments, as well as a constant pressure to “be David”. With David Von Erich dead, and Kerry left for the WWF, the family patriarch Fritz Von Erich was left struggling to turn the ailing Texas territory's fortunes around. Not above exploiting his own family's tragedies for financial gain, Fritz resorted to often controversial and shocking storylines and, more often than not, attempted to mold his younger sons into the image of their older siblings in an attempt to recapture the old box office magic. Unfortunately, the pressure proved to be too much for Mike.

In the WWF, Kerry Von Erich was granted only a short period of time off to grieve for his brother, before being called back on to the road to promote that year's Wrestlemania, which was to occur later that month.

Also in 1987, the WWF lost three of its top heels to Hollywood as Terry Funk and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper – both of whom wrestled in the main event of Wrestlemania I – and Jesse “The Body” Ventura followed the lead of Kerry Von Erich – who had garnered mainstream success following his portrayal of Ivan Drago in Rocky IV – into the movies. Terry Funk took on a long term position as Sylvester Stallone's fight choreographer, as well as appearing in Stallone's arm-wrestling movie Over The Top, while Piper took the lead role in the John Carpenter sci-fi flick They Live, and Ventura played a major part in the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Predator.

With his three most frequent foils out of the picture, Kerry Von Erich spent the early part of 1987 facing a revolving door of top heels in inconsequential title feuds, placing yet more pressure on his shoulders to carry the programs himself. The lack of a credible challenger to Von Erich's belt at that year's Wrestlemania III lead Vince McMahon to convince André The Giant to come out of retirement to face Von Erich in the main event, in his first WWF match in almost two years. The Giant would turn heel upon his return to the promotion and, despite being barely mobile and clearly struggling to perform, did the unthinkable and actually defeated Kerry in the main event of Wrestlemania, in front of a record-breaking audience.

While this decision was apparently made in order to allow Von Erich some long overdue time off to recover from nagging injuries – many of them stemming from a motorcycle accident back in 1986 – WWF business flagged with their golden boy absent, and with the ageing André physically incapable of carrying the brunt of the work, and the decision was made to bring Kerry back early, ending André's title reign after only three months.

The Giant would stick around, however, as the enforcer for Von Erich's new biggest rival, as former Four Horsemen manager Ric Flair left Jim Crockett Promotions for the WWF in early 1988, with the new nickname of “The Million Dollar Man”, a gimmick Vince McMahon allegedly claimed he would have used if he had been a performer. With Flair as a vocal rival for the WWF Champion, the formula of Von Erich defending against a new heel each month took on a new edge, as “The Million Dollar Man” would pay for a succession of wrestlers to try and take down Kerry to get the title under his control. This booking strategy was a near instant success, and would run in one form or another into the early '90s, when Flair was transitioned away from the main event and towards more midcard feuds.

The Million Dollar Man's last attempt to take out Von Erich began at Survivor Series 1991, where he debuted The Undertaker – a spooky, supernatural character with a look inspired by Wild West movie morticians, and portrayed by Flair's former Four Horsemen client Barry Windham. While, according to The Von Erich Curse, some more knowledgeable fans were uncomfortable with the imagery of a spectre of death haunting Kerry Von Erich, and many critics claimed the gimmick was too outlandish to succeed, The Undertaker proved to be a hit and was eventually pushed to face Von Erich at Wrestlemania VII in 1992, a decision that was ultimately reversed when tragedy once again struck the Von Erich family. In September of 1991, Kerry's youngest brother Chris Von Erich took his own life. The decision was made shortly thereafter to move the character of The Undertaker away from Von Erich, and transitioned him into a match with King Kong Brody at Wrestlemania, while Von Erich defended the WWF Title against Jake Roberts. In what was becoming a disturbing pattern, at no point was it raised that Von Erich should be allowed time off to grieve for his brother.

As the WWF moved further into the '90s, the decision was finally made in late 1992 to have Von Erich step down from the main event, and he dropped the WWF Title to Sting at Survivor Series that year in a rare “face vs. face” match. For the remainder of the year, Sting was the Von Erich-endorsed “new face” of the WWF in the main event, while Von Erich would usually appear in tag team matches lower down the card.

In January of 1993, Von Erich was finally granted a leave of absence from the WWF, after being written out of storylines in a dramatic fashion when – at the Royal Rumble event – he was attacked and beaten down by the monstrous Loch Ness, with the intention being to allow Von Erich a short period of time off before he returned to face Ness at that year's Wrestlemania in a return to the classic format of Kerry Von Erich defying the odds against a larger, more vicious heel.

That match would never come to pass. The last televised appearance of Von Erich came one week after the Royal Rumble, in a pre-taped interview.

On February 18, 1993, while staying at his father's ranch in Denton County, Texas, Kerry Von Erich took his own life with a gunshot to the heart. According to The Von Erich Curse, Von Erich's worsening physical and mental state had become the best kept secret in professional wrestling, and he had talked to numerous wrestlers about his plans, as his marriage collapsed, and his drink and drug problems worsened. One source interviewed for the book, who wished to remain anonymous, also blamed Von Erich's suicide on the mounting pressures of stardom in the WWF – a pressure only recently alleviated in even the smallest of ways with his symbolic “passing of the torch” to Sting – and with his feelings of guilt for becoming a huge star in the WWF while his father's promotion struggled, and eventually closed down, without him.

The death of their biggest, most recognisable, star under such tragic circumstances put the WWF front and centre in a media circus, with many news outlets raising questions as to whether the WWF could have done anything to help, and whether they could even be held accountable for Von Erich's death. As news gradually broke of Von Erich's increasing dependence on alcohol and both prescription and recreational drugs towards the end of his life, several influential political and media figures suggested an investigation into the drug culture at the centre of the WWF.

With their golden goose gone, and scandal fast approaching, it looked like things could only go from bad to worse for the WWF....

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