Nottavictim

Dana White was on ESPN hyping up UFC 117 and even a casual fan like me is interested in what might happen. I'm not even remotely interested in Summerslam in comparison. Given a choice, I guess I'd choose the UFC even if Silva knocks the other guy out in 20 seconds, whatever his name is. However, I'm not so sure at 44.00 dollars. It might be more, I'm not even sure.

I'm guessing GI Joe is simply trying to be an action movie, ramped up with stupid gimmicks, like that suit deal. That idea looks awful. I'd say a covert military drama could be all kinds of fun, but it looks as if Michael Bay's brother is directing this one. They should take one of those Marvel comics and make a movie out of that, like the one where Cobra sets up in a smalltown.

You're actually looking at the guy who did Van Helsing and The Mummy movies.

Van Helsing is the only DVD gift I've thrown out.

I'm guessing GI Joe is simply trying to be an action movie, ramped up with stupid gimmicks, like that suit deal. That idea looks awful. I'd say a covert military drama could be all kinds of fun, but it looks as if Michael Bay's brother is directing this one. They should take one of those Marvel comics and make a movie out of that, like the one where Cobra sets up in a smalltown.

I don't get people who say "don't compare this to the original Halloween." What? Why the hell not? It has the exact same characters, title, and premise. Comparisons are inevitable. If Zombie didn't want comparisons, he shouldn't have made a remake. Zombie's remake is weak, but not simply because it is a remake, but because he tries to jam both Carpenter and his ideas together and that doesn't work. For example, creating a psychological monster and keeping him indestructible as Jason as Carpenter did. In fact, he has his own character, Loomis, disprove his original premise for Michael's origins. Not very good.

Holy cow, a perfect horror film? You must be joking. It certainly breathed new life into Michael Myers, but it was far from perfect and even confusing at times. My most major beef was that Zombie couldn't decide if Myers was pure evil or not. His original premise is that society created the monster, but apparently a society created monster is unstoppable and superhuman. And being pure evil, he killed everyone without much regard. Except for his sister that is, who he seemed to want to bond with, rather than kill. And don't get me started on the Loomis character, whose therapy was to carry on a one-sided conversation with his patient for 15 years. No medication in sight. In fact, Zombie disproves his original premise by the end of the movie, as Loomis concludes that he is the boogie-man, after all. In that case, his death means very little.

WCW August 1996 - The Austin Era Begins

There’s nothing like brainstorming ideas for something new and fresh. This was certainly the case with Steve Austin, who was the center of attention for The Booking Team. Dusty suggested a feud with Hulk Hogan himself, with a complicated series of attacks and run-ins. Tony Schiavone wanted a feud that focused on a battle of words, since Austin had been so successful previously in promos. Still further, Stu Hart suggested they pick somebody like Vader or Kevin Nash to test Steve Austin in the ring and do something different to allow the feud some originality. Eric Bischoff was not satisfied with any of these suggestions for the new push of Steve Austin.

Eric Bischoff decided to feud with only a minor member of the Public Menace while inserting Austin directly into their business. Sean Waltman was chosen and the feud was built slowly, while considering other things. Bischoff tried to implement all the suggestions from the other booking team members with this ideas. In accordance with Stu Hart, Austin began his feud in the ring. It was easy to build heat against the annoying Sean Waltman and his buddy, the grinning idiot, Mark Bagwell. Bagwell topped even Brian Pillman for his insane ability to look arrogant and cackle. After the first indecisive match, Austin cut a promo expressing his feelings about Sean Waltman, which were certainly not nice.

However, Eric Bischoff wasn’t getting the feeling that Austin’s feud was getting over as much as he wanted. It certainly wasn’t as good as the Harley Race feud, even though the promos are what carried the confrontations in the first place. It was clear that Austin, or rather, Austin’s character, needed someone to rebel against. However, when Eric Bischoff tried to explain this philosophy to the road agents, they didn’t catch on. Bischoff then decided to just do it himself and made himself an on-screen character, an evil heel businessman.

Like Vince McMahon or Harley Race, Eric Bischoff was an on-screen authority. He was announced as “President” of WCW and introduced by Tony Schiavone and several others, who welcomed him. Bischoff was all smiles, later commenting that he now knew why Vince McMahon enjoyed inserting himself into the storylines so much. Eric Bischoff immediately cut a heel promo explaining that he was out to congratulate The Public Menace on single-handedly changing the wrestling business. Unlike Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff said that he didn’t come out to make any changes because he already knew what worked. And that was The Public Menace.

That was Steve Austin’s cue. Like a voice of the everyday fan, Steve Austin came out and confronted Eric Bischoff. Austin cut a promo and explained that Bischoff was clueless about what the fans wanted, because it certainly wasn’t twelve guys patting themselves on the back for half the show. It was another classic rebellion feud, but this time it had an element of legitimacy, as Eric Bischoff really was an authority.

This legitimacy also helped the Public Menace. When Sean Waltman complained about Steve Austin, Eric Bischoff could stand next to him in the ring and give the stable that little edge of having an authority who thought they were good for business. During his feud with Sting, Kevin Nash played up his cocky side in a similar way. His favorite comment was that “majority rules,” saying it in a snide, irritating way.

Sting’s motivation far outweighed any majority rule, but not by much. Nash and Brian Pillman had a tag match early in the month against Sting and Davey Boy Smith. Nash and Pillman looked casual, patting themselves on the back as Austin said that they did. They also blatantly cheated whenever they could, so much so, that several fans were turning red from shouting at the referee. The casual manner ended when Davey Boy Smith powerbombed Brian Pillman and went for the pin, which was interrupted by Nash.

Nash took a little more serious attitude as he continued, especially when he slapped Sting. Sting just stepped back and put his hands on his hips as if to say ‘You want to get serious?’. He then clobbered Nash and the rest of the Public Menace had to run down to interrupt and make a save. Nash and Sting began to confront each other more often.

Meanwhile, Steve Austin cut one of most energetic promos during his feud. When Sean Waltman oozed compliments for Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Roddy Piper, Austin just couldn’t wait to interrupt. He grabbed a microphone and said that the only compliment that he had for Hulk Hogan was his skill at putting him to sleep. Austin added that The Public Menace should be proud to have included every single old guy in WCW. He actually said this on air. With heavy sarcasm, of course.

Austin had a lot of promos and vinettes in August, showing that again he could carry a feud. Meanwhile, once again Chris Benoit was handed a feud that typically showcased his in-ring abilities. When Eddie Guerrero made note that Benoit was a “yawn,” everyone was hoping fans didn’t think so too. Guerrero was certainly more charismatic, but lacked some of that in-ring intensity that Benoit possessed. It was this feud that flew under the radar during the month and showcased the contrast between the two wrestlers.

Schiavone and guest-commentator Larry Zybysko, actually made the feud. Schiavone learned the name of some of Benoit’s moves and Zybysko added commentary that expressed how Benoit and Eddie Guerrero hated each other. Therefore, the two wrestlers had to back up these comments in the ring. The first meeting ended in a no decision, but the second Benoit dominated with stiff chops and moves like he was the second coming of Vader. Guerrero showed his desperation when he kicked out his leg and low blowed Benoit, immediately receiving a disqualification.

The frustration continued at The Great American Bash at the end of the month. When Guerrero thought he was out-smarting Benoit, he grinned, turned to the crowd and pointed to this head as if to say ‘He may have the brawn, but I’ve got the brains.’ However, it was actually a woman who made the difference during the match. Tammy Lynn and Chris Candido visited the match in a casual manner, taunting Chris Benoit for some reason. Tammy Lynn jumped on the ring apron and began yelling at Benoit. This distracted him enough for Guerrero to get the surprise roll-up and the win.

The feud between Tony Norris and Vader certainly wasn’t as sneaky. It was a hard-hitting war that actually injured Vader legitimately. He got a few bruises during one backstage brawl, where Vader and Tony Norris were clobbering each other and taking out most of the backstage set. Vader worked through his bumps and bruises however. There was really no need for any more build up to this particular feud, unlike in Austin’s case. The past two months had made the Tony Norris character, which was a take no-nonsense type. When Harley Race tried to mediate Norris and Vader, Michael Wallstreet got a bit too cocky for his own good.

When Michael Wallstreet thought he could get up into Norris’ face, he got press-slammed up and out of the ring. Vader made a little more difference when he attacked Norris, but not by much. After trading some even blows, Norris closelined him out of the ring too. The Booking Team thought for a long time about how to book the finale to the feud at the Great American Bash. They paraded around several ideas and gimmick matches, but nothing seemed satisfactory.

It was actually Dusty Rhodes who suggested the match choreography that was eventually used. Tony Norris was to make a “Hulk Hogan” style comeback, without the gimmicky hulking up, that is. This meant Vader got the freedom to be a little more stiff than usual, proving that idea possible. This was suggested because Dusty wanted the match “to look realistic.” Norris followed what he was told to a tee, selling most of Vader’s moves with an average degree of skill.

However, the comeback occurred when Vader had him in a headlock. Norris powered out of the submission and even stood up with Vader on his back at one point, in what must have been a painful lift. Afterwards, Norris began his Hogan comeback, first by no-selling several of Vader’s strikes and second, by increasing the tempo of the match by bouncing off the ropes with a series of vicious clotheslines. A second clothesline took staggered Vader, but it took Norris’ final finisher to seal the match. It was a move in which Norris had to lift Vader up.

It was a modified spinebuster that Norris delivered rather quickly by grabbing and locking onto Vader. Ron Simmons had actually shown him the move. Afterward, Vader seemed knocked out cold and it was easy for Norris to get the final pin attempt. It was Michael Wallstreet who later had to help Vader out of the ring. After this match, the biggest bully in WCW seemed a bit less, now that he had met his equal.

This narrative would be quite incomplete without a few words about Shogun and one of his most remarkable feuds. As stated previously, Mister Fuji had double-crossed Shogun and joined Pat Tanaka as his manager, allowing for the easy transition for Shogun to a face. Tanaka and Shogun finally feuded head-on in August, where Mister Fuji was responsible for delivering a handful of promos tearing into his former protégé. This battle of words was mostly confined to WCW WorldWide.

The aspects of the brief feud that were included on the Nitro show included the final portions and the matches. Tanaka was quite a vicious character as a heel, surprising Ron Simmons with a loss, but also chopping Davey Boy Smith across the throat so thoroughly that he was unable to continue a match. He sold the injury to his throat so well that the medics and staff that rushed the ring caused the fans to stand up in wonder. It was just this type of man that threatened Shogun: a cold, calculating striker.

Being a charismatic striker and elaborate wrestling storyteller himself, Shogun enjoyed working the feud. His character was also well enough developed to succeed. Fans had seen him win the TV Title previously, but recently act quite honorably and heroic. For example, he would back off when it was clear that his opponents might deserve more punishment. Unfortunately, it was just one of those times that allowed Tanaka himself to take advantage himself.

Shogun was almost forced to stoop to Tanaka’s level, in a classic turn of the feud where the face has to match extremes with the heel. With all honor put aside, Shogun confronted Tanaka in a match at the Great American Bash and the two traded moves during the opening moments of the pay per view. However, despite Mister Fuji’s best efforts to poke his cane under the ropes, Shogun emerged the victor nonetheless.

The Great American Bash – August 1996

Dark Match: The Headhunter defeated Johnny Smith

Shogun defeated Tanaka w/ Fuji

Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit to retain the TV Title

6-Man Elimination: The Road Warriors defeated Pretty Wonderful & Harlem Heat to retain the WCW Tag-Titles

Tony Norris defeated Big Van Vader

Steve Austin defeated Sean Waltman w/ Eric Bischoff

Kevin Nash defeated Sting

Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper defeated Mean Mark & Bret Hart by count out

A word should be said about the ending to the Sting versus Kevin Nash match. The feud had gotten Nash more over than he had ever been previously in WCW. This match perhaps even topped his confrontations in ECW, which initially gained him his fame. After trying to cripple Sting by attacking his knee and legs, Nash tried to pin him, but with no success. Sting kicked Nash in the kneecaps, but Nash reversed an irish whip and sent Sting chest first into the turnbuckle. It was then an easy matter to gather Sting for a roll-up and then win. Afterwards, while the two gathered themselves, Nash and Sting shared a stare but then surprisingly shook hands briefly before departing without a word. In the commentary, Mike Tenay wondered how Sting could shake the hand of such an underhanded foe like Kevin Nash. Quite a question.

Lastly, a word about the main event. Mean Mark called on Bret Hart to return the favor which Mark had paid him by participating on Team WCW at last month’s War Games. In a rather classic biker fashion, Mark asked Bret Hart to stand in for the injured Ron Simmons, who was injured by Tanaka, as explained earlier. Mark explained the challenge of Hogan, which was elaborated on in several shows. Why Hogan had to challenge anybody was quite unusual, until the interview segment aired, which was hosted by Roddy Piper.

It was actually Roddy Piper that began the feud, betraying his personal rule to have on only Public Menace members. He had on Mean Mark, but did so only to insult him, calling him out for his uselessness during the previous month and during the War Games. This was certainly true, however Mean Mark did not like it pointed out right to his face in perhaps the most arrogant way possible. As Mark snatched and seemed ready to strike Piper, Hogan showed his face in an interruption.

With just an appearance, Hogan was able to help his pal and direct Mark’s attention to him. In fact, it was Hogan who put his hand on Mark to push him away from Piper, but such an obviously irritating move only made to pin him as a target. Mark twisted the invading arm of Hogan, but Piper stepped in to slug Mark and attack him. Well, being outnumbered, Mark was disposed of and the challenge seemed concluded early. That is, until Mark recruited Bret Hart as stated earlier.

The match itself was rather unremarkable, except for one fact. Mean Mark had recruited the enormous wrestler named The Giant to be special enforcer for the match. He broke up and stepped in when a melee almost broke out on the outside, for example. However, the numerous members of The Public Menace would have no mere giant thwart their chances to win. Brian Pillman received a chokeslam on the hard mats around the ring when he tried to interfere. So too did Hogan himself receive a chokeslam, but this caused more harm than good. The Road Warriors and Mark Bagwell ran down to avenge their boss, attacking Bret Hart, The Giant and Mean Mark and causing all kinds of chaos.

Apologies for the length of this narrative, but August was also notable for its wrestling business news. Several wrestlers came and went from WCW. Haku signed from Mexico, while Chris Adams left for good, as stated in July. Barry Windham surprisingly left WCW, citing increasing family problems and burn out.

Elsewhere, Shane Douglas resigned for ECW, surprising just about everyone with an unannounced appearance on ECW TV and at the PPV. He had somehow resolved his arguments with Paul Heyman and others in the locker room, although how was never reported. What was reported however, was that ECW TV was cancelled after only beginning in June. USWA TV was also cancelled by a similar, local television station.

The Philadelphia station that removed ECW TV cited the increasing violence as a motive. For example, the No DQ match between Balls Mahoney and The Sandman was especially bloody and was certainly censored. By the end of August, the WWF and WCW were once again the only two American wrestling promotions with television programs. The problems in the wrestling business were becoming so obvious that it was polarizing fans to either of the two major companies and against small promotions. The larger and more extravagant the two became, the less appealing independent promotions looked. Even ECW, who had solid matches and a strong fan base, had little success in the TV market.

Two other depressing facts of the wrestling business occurred in August. First, the drug problems of Art Barr landed him in the hospital and in rehab. If you can recall, Art Barr was the best friend of Eddie Guerrero when he wrestled in Japan. The two were the most well known party-goers, even exceeding Kevin Nash levels of drunkenness and indulgence. However, Eddie Guerrero did not visit his friend when he returned to the US for rehab. WCW would frown on such a thing, if it were ever to occur. The second depressing fact of the month was the push of Sid Vicious by the WWF.

As stated in July, Sid Vicious had returned to wrestling. He began with a small feud against Mankind, but shortly moved onto a series of matches with Shawn Michaels in August. Michaels and Vicious fought to a time limit draw at Summerslam, which was held on the same weekend as the Great American Bash. Summerslam gained more pay per view buys, but by comparison, the Bash only sustained the usual levels for WCW. It was perhaps the main event that made the difference for each. The WWF headlined their new arrival against their number one star, while WCW promoted a mere tag-team match.

Perhaps not news, but a remarkable thing repeated itself in August. Woman aka Nancy Sullivan agreed to pose nude for Playboy a second time, again bringing some publicity to ECW as the magazine appearance had in January of 1995. The publicity was perhaps less this time, but no less remarkable. Woman was becoming a noted commodity.

The last portion of this narrative shall be spent on the sad story of Ric Flair. As noted previously, Flair saw a doctor in California for his steroid problem. It was painful for him to not to be able to receive instant relief for his aching bones and muscles. It was just this type of pain that Flair put himself through, even when offered an alternative. He abandoned steroids cold turkey, which many an addict can tell, is not very effective.

After two attempts to rid himself of the problem, Flair accepted more of the doctor’s help. By the end of August, he was practically in the same spot he was when he began. Flair returned to WCW a sad, depressed man, with his doctor in tow. With a physical injuries dating from 1975, Flair had somewhat of an excuse for his addiction, but the stigma was no less painful. A wrestling magazine began dogging him for pictures.

With a handful of pills, Flair swapped prescriptions for steroids. He sat alone, withered by frustration, age and drugs. Reportedly, it was his good nature that kept him going, but not for very long. With great reluctance, he announced his retirement. He did not make a case of it and certainly never appeared on Nitro to tell the public. However, everyone in WCW urged him for a comeback.

WCW inadvertently was a catalyst for that comeback when they published a book of wrestling stories by author, Jesse Ventura. He had quickly finished the book to counter sales of the previous book that had so tarnished the wrestling business. One of these stories was about Ric Flair, complementing him and painting him in such a good light that it instantly became the most talked about story in the book. So touched, Flair got his second wind. The Nature Boy was coming home.

Most Important Points of August (MIPs)

1. Ric Flair returned, planning his comeback

2. Steve Austin began his push against Sean Waltman and his buddies

3. Eric Bischoff made himself into an on-screen character.

4. Tony Norris concluded his feud against Vader with a win

5. Jesse Ventura published an actual book.

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WCW July 1996 - Blackmail is Good Literature

Ratings were a concern in July, as competition with the WWF heated up. The WWF highlighted and continued the Shawn Michaels versus Razor Ramon feud from the previous month. Meanwhile, early on in July, Sid Vicious returned to wrestling, coming back into the fold after his failed experiment at acting in Hollywood. He signed with the WWF and arrived as a surprise opponent for the masochistic Maxx Payne, partner of Mankind. Sid crushed him in only a few minutes and drove off Mankind rather easily. The group would feud for the rest of the month.

Not to be outdone, Eric Bischoff tried to give WCW fans a surprise when he began pushing Tony Norris. Norris began crushing opponents in a Sid Vicious manner, easily plowing through Lance Storm, Diamond Dallas Page and Dr. Death Steve Williams. Lance Storm scratched his head and began to wonder why he had been called up, if the only opportunity he was going to get was jobbing to Norris. Lance Storm preferred the more casual atmosphere of ECW to WCW’s hectic backstage. Despite Storm's complaints, The Booking Team gave a feud to Norris, not Storm.

WCW wrestlers had to be aware of what was going on and be on their game, especially considering the high-energy style Eric Bischoff preferred. He boosted ratings with the help of solid in-ring work from a combination of matches featuring either Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero or new Georgia Wrestling graduate, Johnny Smith. But what really boosted Nitro was the hype of a high-profile Hulk Hogan match each week, which included a brief feud with Davey Boy Smith. This culminated in a cage match live on Nitro, which was rarely done.

Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan had to prepare The Public Menace for July’s War Games pay per view. The War Games main event was featured at the pay per view as a five on five steel cell match. The entrants would be selected random to enter the cage at timed intervals and the match ended only in submission. To defend the promotion from these dozen men, Team WCW was led by Bret Hart.

While Bret Hart was cutting a promo about Team WCW, an unexpected interruption occurred. The lights dimmed and up came some rather hard rock music announcing the arrival of Mean Mark. Mark walked out with his biker buddy Ron Simmons and went into the ring with Bret Hart. Mean Mark looked serious and focused, but then removed his dark sunglasses and offered a handshake. Bret Hart and Mean Mark shook hands, then Mark took the mic and cut a slow, intense promo. With a coy smile, he said that he was going to “bury them,” referring to the Public Menace.

Ric Flair continued his feud with Tully Blanchard. Blanchard enjoyed going around with the Public Menace, while Flair and Arn Anderson began walking around together to watch each other’s backs. This was tested when Barry Windham and his pals, The Road Warriors, attacked them backstage. It was well-conceived vinette, again highlighting some of the backstage brawling that had become closely associated with The Public Menace angle.

Steve Austin’s feud with Lord Steven Regal surprisingly continued into July, despite a decisive Austin loss the previous month. The loss did two things. It made Regal appear like a superior challenge to Austin, who had gone without a loss for months. It also created a moment for Austin where he could come out and say that now that Regal beat him, the only thing that he wanted to do is beat Regal right back. This motivational angle was actually Austin’s own idea.

And so, Austin set about proving that he was worthy of beating Regal. He poured a beer on the ground without drinking it, in a rather humorous moment, where Austin tried to look pained. Austin defeated Scott Norton and then Saturn during his “tune-up” matches for beating Regal. He defeated each of these two men in a more intense manner, instead of the more casual “Stunner” that fans were used to.

In comparison, Regal also began preparations. He changed his name, saying that now that he was “a champion,” the British people had pronounced him a hero. During one promo, he brought out a picture of the Queen which stood on a stand with him in the ring as he endlessly complimented her for “knighting” him. Regal explained that because he had captured the championship for Britain, the Queen had “knighted” him for his tremendous efforts. Therefore, he demanded to be called “Sir” Steven Regal.

When he was speaking to the picture of the Queen, Austin interrupted, on cue. He strolled to the ring casually, but then turned up the intensity once in the ring. Austin snatched the mic from Regal before any complaints could be heard, then simply said that what Regal had said was making Austin sick. He said that him holding the "United States" title was making him sick and the picture of the Queen was making him sick, most of all. As Regal tried to interrupt, Austin took the picture and broke it in half, shattering the frame. Regal was incensed by Austin’s treatment of the Queen. He then gave Regal the finger.

At War Games, this intensity culminated in a good match. It was arguably one of the best matches on the card, next to Ric Flair versus Tully Blanchard, depending on who you speak to. The Ric Flair match had a remarkable workrate put in by both workers, despite Blanchard’s comments prior to the show. He had said that he wasn’t sure if he could wrestle twenty minutes, as requested by WCW.

Not only did Blanchard wrestle the required time, but did so with enthusiasm and intensity. Ric Flair won the match with the figure-four, which Tully Blanchard was later proud of selling so well. He actually tried to claw towards the ropes and when he couldn’t, tried to turn the hold. But Ric Flair turned the hold right back on him and applied that strong pressure for the tap out.

Tony Norris continued his powerful show of strength against Vader and Michael Wallstreet. During the feud, Wallstreet tried to calm his friend with assurances that they were much smarter than Norris and could anticipate anything he could do. Norris cut his first promo with the company when he said that Wallstreet could put that to the test any time he wanted. His comments were short and sweet. With that challenge, Wallstreet did put what he said to the test, although avoided a confrontation at first.

Meanwhile, Vader did most of the physical work. Vader actually made the Tony Norris’s character and got him over, a first for him in WCW. Norris was actually shorter than Vader, at 6’2 compared to 6’5, but not by much. Norris was much stockier and physically built however. A staredown was inevitable, which allowed announcers to illuminate fans on how physically strong Norris looked and how vicious Vader was. Michael Wallstreet actually tried to separate the two of them when they confronted each other, but a brawl ensued anyway.

During the brawl, Tony Norris picked up Michael Wallstreet this time and press-slammed him over the top rope of the wrestling ring. This seriously incensed the two of them, although Vader was the aggressor. Wallstreet had to do everything in his power to restrain him. At War Games, Wallstreet could make no headway against the powerful Norris, even after ten minutes of trying to gain an advantage. Vader got up on the apron once and was yelling at the referee, so Norris merely walked up and shoulder-blocked him off the apron onto the ground. Well, Vader’s patience could only go so far and had finally come to an end. He slid in and attacked Norris, causing an immediate disqualification. It certainly was looking like Norris and Vader were going to go head to head.

War Games – July 1996

Eddie Guerrero defeated Shogun for the TV Title

Tony Norris defeated Michael Wallstreet w/ Vader by DQ

The Road Warriors defeated Harlem Heat to defend the WCW Tag-Team Titles

Steve Austin defeated Sir Steven Regal for the US Title

Ric Flair defeated Tully Blanchard

War Games 5 x 5: The Public Menace: Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Brian Pillman, Mark Bagwell and Sean Waltman defeated

Team WCW: Bret Hart, Sting, Ron Simmons, The Giant & Mean Mark

The main event was good, improving the pay per view’s workrate and critical acclaim over last month’s PPV. This was not much of an accomplishment, however. The ten man match was long and not much of a spotfest, as earlier matches such as the fast-paced TV Title match and Tag-match. It did however, rely heavily on Bret Hart. Several hours before the show, Hogan reportedly argued for Hart to give up during the match. However, no one seemed to agree. Another ending was worked out between the wrestlers, who were supervised by Stu Hart.

The ending was made for Sting to be the one to give up, as Kevin Nash was pummeling him with a weapon. Dusty had suggested the two feud in August, so it seemed appropriate to actually feud them about something, so Nash was given a bit of the spotlight here.

The fast-paced TV Title match that was mentioned earlier, opened the show. It was surprisingly good, despite Jinsei Shinzaki not being known for matching up well against lighter competitors such as Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero made the match work however, ending it with a frogsplash off the top rope. The two had been following the “Chris Benoit” method of feuding. The locker room began this nickname whenever two wrestlers would wrestle more than once during a month for the purposes of carrying the feud and there would not be a decisive ending each time. Chris Benoit had done this himself the previous month against Sean Waltman. Waltman did have a few more mannerisms, however, to add. To his credit, Eddie Guerrero tried to develop some, but seemed to enjoy his cocky demenor, most of all.

As way of news, Jim Herd went to Japan. This was like Nixon going to China. When he arrived at New Japan, Herd was already out of his element. But, Herd was responsible for designing a new mask for El Samurai, if nothing else. His other suggestions were easily dismissed, such as his usual, horrible gimmick ideas. He did suggest pushing Wahoo McDaniel, who had been working as a manager in New Japan since 1993. The result was disastrous and physically draining for the 58 year old McDaniel, who had to be taken to the hospital after wrestling.

It should be noted that a piece of wrestling literature gained some fame in July. It was a book called “Wrestling Exposed,” a title which highly disgusted anyone in the business or closely associated with it. It was written by newsman Mark Bierman. Bierman’s book had a forward by Jesse Ventura, the legendary Hogan-hater and aspiring writer in his own right. It had quotes and interviews by various wrestlers, most notably, Paul Wight, Brian Pillman, Billy Gunn and Ric Flair. Gathered into an investigative format, Bierman used these quotes and numerous stories to expose some of wrestling’s secrets and backstage turmoil.

Very little of the book effected the WWF. The company had already discarded most of the kayfabe foundations of their product, so were left with very little to expose. However, Bierman did write several stories about Kevin Nash’s wild days in the WWF and Billy Gunn’s conflicts with him. Gunn really laid into Nash in one quote, but the true selling point of the book was its revelations about the WCW leak.

The book began to describe the leak by detailing its long history. Bierman correctly explained that the first leak was the NWA title change back in 1993, a change that was leaked by the new main eventer, Hulk Hogan. Not coincidentally, Hogan later won a unification match for the NWA title which Ric Flair held at the time. He also explained in detail why Ric Flair had been forced to cover-up and lie for Hogan, even going so far as to name Hogan as uncontrollable by WCW authorities. He insinuated that Ric Flair was a steroid abuser, supplied by his wife Beth, a nurse. This was what Hogan had blackmailed Flair with.

Ric Flair did not admit he was a steroid abuser in the book, as doing so would certainly mean the end of his career. However, he aptly dodged most of these insinuations by generalizing and saying that Hogan had threatened his wife. Ironically, Bierman did not name Hogan himself as a steroid abuser, instead naming other wrestlers as drug users, most notably, Marc Mero. A personal quote from Flair revealed further information that Hogan’s blackmail had cost him his job with WCW for a short time. Lastly, Flair revealed that he confided only in one man, and that man was Greg Gagne.

This was how Flair got his job back. Gagne lied and manipulated the facts so he wouldn’t have to reveal what Flair told him about Hogan’s blackmail, but could still award Flair with his old job. However, Gagne was forced to follow The Booking Team’s original plans to form the Public Menace with Hogan as its lead. Although not quoted directly, Flair said that this angered Gagne, as he was forced to book Hogan in a positive manner.

This was certainly the revelation of the year. Hogan immediately denied blackmailing Flair, his wife or anyone else for that matter. In fact, he went so far as to say that he had “picked up” and sustained the company while Ric Flair was absent because Greg Gagne had asked him to. Eric Bischoff did not seem to have an immediate reaction to this, as he normally would. He actually was calm, perhaps enjoying someone else getting a bunch of heat for once, especially Hogan. However, he did not like the insinuations about steroids, although he was certainly not surprised.

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair never worked together again. The Jesse Ventura audio tape that Eric Bischoff had discovered in June was now worthless thanks to the revelations of the book, but no other revelations were needed. Ric Flair told friends that he actually felt relieved that his family was free of Hogan’s blackmail. If Lance Storm thought the backstage atmosphere was stressful before, it more than doubled in intensity by the end of July. Storm was well-known for his criticisms of the locker room antics of Kevin Nash and the politics of other main eventers.

During one of these antics, Lance Storm was thrown into a dumpster by the Public Menace during a backstage brawl vinette, an unplanned portion of the melee. Storm was irate at being treated in such a manner, especially when he was never scripted to be thrown into a dumpster in the first place. Sean Waltman found the whole incident hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing and joking about it.

Reportedly, Ric Flair’s steroid abuse would have to be answered sooner rather than later. Flair was confronted by Eric Bischoff and explained that years ago, he became addicted to a steroid after a plane crash that shattered his back in 1975. This steroid was a medical Corticosteroid, an anti-inflammatory drug prescribed to help during Flair’s healing. However, Flair became addicted to its ability to immediately take away his pain, especially in his aging joints.

His use extended far beyond his prescribed 1975 recovery period. Doctors told Flair in 1975 that he would never wrestle again, but thanks to this controversial drug, was wrestling again after only a year of healing. However, the drug never did return Flair to his original wrestling style, but inspired the current “Nature Boy” style of flashy submission wrestling. Once again, Flair had come to a crossroads in his life in 1996. But instead of chastising him, Eric Bischoff had grown an understanding side.

Bischoff told Flair to take August off and let the public scrutiny die down. He also advised that he should see one of Eric Bischoff’s personal doctors out in California. This may help with his problem. Hulk Hogan came under similar scrutiny. Many critics called him a bully, a “dirt-dealer,” and a weasel. For bullying Beth Flair, several critics called Hogan one of the lowest men in wrestling today.

Although it was suggested, Hogan did not take August off. Hogan planned on being active in July, August and for months on down the road after that. With the absence of Ric Flair, there was an opening for a new main eventer. WCW had already tested out either Bret Hart or Steve Austin in May for this role, but there had never been a spot open until now. Eric Bischoff had to pick one of them that would not only do a could job, but could stand up to Hogan’s politics and bullying.

Bret Hart was a loyal, company man. He had good support in the locker room, especially from Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman and his brother, Owen Hart. On the other hand, Steve Austin also had strong support, especially from Mean Mark, Chris Benoit and Booker T. Eric Bischoff prevented the locker room from splintering, thanks to a well-timed speech. He called for a new direction for the Public Menace angle, one which could actually highlight a face as the centerpiece for his new direction.

He called for the push of Steve Austin.

Most Important Points (MIPs) of July

1. Eric Bischoff decided to push Steve Austin in August.

2. A published book revealed Hulk Hogan’s blackmail of Ric Flair’s steroid use.

3. Sting and Kevin Nash planned a feud thanks to a change in the War Games main event.

4. Ric Flair decided to take a month vacation to let scrutiny die down.

5. Jesse Ventura wants to be an author. Of an actual book. Imagine that.

Scouting with Cornette - On Feuds

"Jim Cornette is one of the highest rated scouts in wrestling today. Each and every week he is going to bring us the latest scouting reports about wrestlers in WCW," a narrator says, "Who is who? How do they wrestle? What kind of character do they have? Those questions and more will be answered by Jim Cornette Now...here he is...James…E… Cornette!”

Jim Cornette says, “Some would say that the War Games match is the most gimmicky thing ever conceived in the history of wrestling! And I would say, hey now, settle down. It’s the main event for today’s WCW! And showcases one of the main feuds. Let’s look at it a little deeper, how ‘bout it?”

A narrator says, “The War Games was created by Dusty Rhodes to be used in a brutal feud between the Four Horsemen and other top wrestlers in the NWA. These eight man matches in 1987 and 1989 are regarded as some of the best produced by WCW and the NWA."

Jim Cornette says, “WCW brought back the War Games in 1993 and today, it’s a ten man match! Look out, folks. Talk about packing on the superstars. But there’s plenty of drama, if you like your drama bloody, that is. I’m not sure if I’m ready to hear a grown man scream, actually. But let me tell you something, blood is gonna flow faster than ketchup on a hot day. ”

“This year, it’s Team WCW versus The Public Menace in a grudge match to end all grudge matches. Yeah right! The only thing that this match is gonna end is my patience. But maybe Team WCW can pull out a shred of dignity with Bret Hart was team leader. Hart is gonna whip our boys into shape faster than a fat man chasing a donut!”

“That’s right, fans. But you’ll just have to watch Nitro in July to see who he picks for the team. But one thing is for sure, The Stunner Steve Austin won’t be part of that team. He’s hot and continuing a feud against the supposed Lord Steven Regal. The only thing he’s “Lord” of is the amount of crap coming out of his mouth. He has diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain, fans. Let’s count the minutes until The Stunner kicks some regal ass and drinks a beer to celebrate.”

“By the way, could WCW have old men wrestling? It’s not a shock to me, fans. If Tully Blanchard or Ric Flair move any slower time’s going to stop. Oh I know, I know, you have to keep the die-hard fans happy with old-school feuds. But hopefully this feud dies hard sooner rather than later. Now I’m not saying it’s that bad, but we certainly need an actual surprise or two, don’t we?”

“The last feud I want to talk about is the undefeated Tony Smith against Vader and his pal, Michael Wallstreet. Apparently, this Tony Smith guy is a rather large guy with a large amount of strength. He picked up Vader over his head and slammed him onto the mat rather easy. And for his next trick, Tony Norris promises to end global hunger. No, just kidding, fans. But that bodyslam looked effortless, didn’t it? These three are sure to get it going in July!”

“Here’s your champions…

The World Champion is Hulk Hogan, of the Public Menace

The United States Champion is Lord Steven Regal

The TV Champion is Shogun, the Japanese Warrior

The Tag-Champions are the Road Warriors, of the Public Menace

Thanks for joining me today for Scouting with Cornette. The pleasure was all yours."

Jim Cornette says, "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't book that feud."

--

June 1996 - The Conspiracy Thickens

The beginning of June in WCW seemed ideal, but there was nowhere to go but down. Greg Gagne was a structured booker, but also relinquished many tasks to others. For example, the development of many gimmicks usually went to Dusty. When he was booking, Gagne could set up these wrestlers for success by organizing the roster in a flexible way where even developing wrestlers from Georgia Wrestling got an opportunity. In comparison, Eric Bischoff crowded Georgia Wrestling with these developmental or rookie wrestlers, such as Fit Finley. Finley did not give up however, nor did anyone else. That was hard to do in a successful company.

The company had been succeeding lately because of The Public Menace angle, a stable which now exceeded eleven members. Brian Pillman and Kevin Nash were especially good at the video vinette, a segment which would plaster the WCW’s airtime. Chaotic angles and matches began to become the norm on WCW Nitro. A backstage attack featuring the Horsemen and the Public Menace was also the norm, a feud that was extending into its third month. A disqualification or no clean ending began to become more common too, as WCW tried to stretch out this feud for a bit longer. Ratings began to suffer.

Unlike the first month that featured Hulk Hogan as a heel, June was not quite on that level of success. Ratings actually peaked seven Nitro’s prior to the end of June, but descended sharply afterward. Nitro attained a 5.5 at that peak, but only attained a 4.8 at the end of June. This was still a solid number, but not enough to make those in charge happy. This was partially attributed to the Tully Blanchard angle.

Tully Blanchard returned at the beginning of June to much fanfare. He cut a ten minute promo recapping most of what had happened the previous two months to “his” Horsemen and was disgusted. He then said that he had to endure watching this and invited the Horsemen to the ring. Every one of them came out, but in typical fashion, Ole Anderson announced he was not going to take any lip from Tully. Tully countered by saying that he didn’t call out the Horsemen to run them down, but to join them. Tully said that if there was any time that they needed to be united as Horsemen, it was now.

Eric Bischoff was scratching his head over how ratings could decline because of this angle. It reinforced exactly what fans were used to, surprises and exciting revelations. Perhaps the Tully angle and his sudden inclusion in the main event in the June pay per view contributed, but others argued that the WWF had more to do with it. At King of the Ring, Shawn Michaels had an excellent match and feud against Razor Ramon. James Townsend, last year's King of the Ring winner, also had a great singles match. Still others argued that the wrestling business was declining due to oversaturation of the product.

Unlike 1993, wrestling had a solid product in which to rebound with, no matter how saturated it got. Bret Hart did not help these problems by going on a wrestling radio show to admit he was “off his game” the previous month at May’s Slamboree in a match against Kevin Nash. Nash and Hart reportedly had a decent match, but Bret Hart panned it for twenty minutes on the show, even going so far as to say Nash was “off his game” too and “wrestled like an amatuer.” Nash and Hart had a heated argument over these comments, but never spoke to each other again afterwards.

The Gilbert Brothers, the perpetual opening act of WCW, were terminated after both coming to work intoxicated. Both reportedly had been boozing it up at dinner, then when Nitro rolled around, were laughing it up and making a scene together. They were immediately asked to leave the venue and received their dismissal in a phone call from Eric Bischoff. Tammy Synch broke down and begged Bischoff to allow Lance Storm to come up to try-out for this spot. Bischoff surprisingly allowed it and Storm was given an opening spot.

WCW Uncensored was a bit of a mess which started with a below average match from Harlem Heat, the team of Booker T and Stevie Ray. Both had been doing the same babyface act for months, but for some reason were just off here. Perhaps it was their opponents, Hardcore War, the team of Dr. Death and Scott Norton. Critics attributed it mostly to a lack of a storyline, a grudge some might have missed. Three teams actually brawled backstage against The Public Menace during one Nitro, after Kevin Nash started an argument with them. Somewhere in the melee, fans were supposed to catch Booker T fighting Dr. Death, but the camera never picked this up until it was time to cut away to the next match.

WCW Uncensored – June 1996

Dark Match: Eddie Guerrero defeated Shogun by count out

Harlem Heat defeated Hardcore War

Chris Benoit defeated Sean Waltman

The Road Warriors defeated The Allied Powers for the WCW Tag-Team titles

Mean Mark defeated Kevin Nash by DQ

Lord Steven Regal defeated Steve Austin to retain the WCW US Championship

Vader & Michael Wallstreet defeated Sting & Bret Hart by count out

Hulk Hogan & Brian Pillman defeated Ric Flair & Tully Blanchard

Something positive did happen in June, fans. A man named Tony Norris made an impact like no other rookie wrestler had before. He actually picked up Vader over his head and bodyslammed him in what looked like an effortless move. Norris was large, standing at 6’2” and weighing in at over 300 pounds. And not Vader pounds, mind you, but a muscled, well-defined body. WCW began selling the fact that he had played college football but was not allowed to go to the pros because of his unpredictable attitude. An uncontrollable force like him was more than enough to intimidate the heels and start to get him over with the fans.

Vader paid Morris back however, when Vader and Michael Wallstreet attacked him during a match. After being pummeled, Sting and Bret Hart ran down to make the save and began a feud of interfering in Vader’s business. Vader cut a promo and of course said that these two men had no right to do such a thing and would pay.

Although critics focused on how Vader’s promos or the main event could improve, Steve Austin flew under the radar once again. Austin began feuding with Lord Steven Regal, who began carrying around the British Flag to taunt Austin with. He also began working more solo matches to defend his United States title. This complicated matters with his sidekick Squire Chris Adams, who grew unhappy after being told to stay home for a while. Chris Adams would not be heard from again in WCW, although many fans did not take much notice.

Austin swiped Regal’s flag one time after he wouldn’t vacate the ring to allow Austin’s match with Owen Hart to go on. Austin tore the flag in half and scattered its tattered remains over the ropes, then turned around and gave Regal the finger. He had actually not been told to give Regal the finger, but Austin’s improvisation made for a good catalyst. Regal immediately tried to attack Austin and both men had to be separated by security.

The next week, Regal demanded an apology from Austin because he had “besmirched” the honorable British colors. Austin said that the only thing Regal was going to get was an “ass-kicking” if he kept it up. Both men confronted each other and a match was set for Uncensored. Regal then began to back down, realizing that the match had been booked for the United States title and had to cheat to win because he couldn’t beat Austin clean.

Harley Race returned in June in his usual commissioner role. He was happy to see Lord Steven Regal trump Austin, but happier to give his old “pal” Ric Flair all the hell he deserved. In fact, Harley Race said that the two of them had never been “old pals” at all, and that the friendship had all been made up by Ric Flair, during his tenure as “stand-in” commissioner. Harley Race said that the only reason he allowed Flair to stand-in for him was that he wanted to see Flair dig his own grave. Race gave opportunities for the wrestlers Flair had screwed the previous month to get even and even allowed Hulk Hogan to choose which match he wanted against Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard.

Hogan chose a weapons match, but Harley Race added onto this stipulation, saying that if Flair and Blanchard lost the match, the Horsemen would be disbanded from WCW forever. A strong statement. Race began conspiring with Hogan and Brian Pillman, who were all pictured backstage together on numerous occassions. However, someone else also pitted himself against Ric Flair, that of Tully Blanchard himself. During the main even of Uncensored, Blanchard refused to tag-in and forced Flair to wrestle the match himself, get double-teamed and even cheapshotted him at one point. After Flair was pinned, Tully shook the hand of the evil Hulk Hogan and joined the Public Menace, live on pay per view.

Come to think of it, June was actually depressing and the Uncensored main event just reinforced that. Furthermore, The Road Warriors, now aligned with the Public Menace, rather easily defeated the Allied Powers at Uncensored for the tag-titles. This was actually their forth reign with the titles and this added to the depressing feeling of the pay per view. Even Chris Benoit, who made Sean Waltman tap-out in his match on the pay per view, was smashed over the head with a glass bottle by Mark Bagwell.

Chris Benoit and Sean Waltman had been engaging in battle of ring prowess, instead of a war of words. It was actually a simple headbutt that started this intense in-ring rivalry. Waltman had purposefully headbutted Benoit during their first mach, when they were in the clinch. Benoit returned the favor, dropping Waltman to the mat thanks to the ferocity of the blow. Waltman retaliated by kicking Benoit in the groin rather hard. Of course, he was disqualified but the two wrestlers had to be separated to stop them from fighting. This small rivalry would be decided at Uncensored.

Lastly, Mean Mark was finally squeezing up into a good amount of airtime, although his feud was mostly featured on WCW WorldWide. This show was experiencing less of a drop, but never had the drawing power of Nitro. Luckily, Mean Mark’s feud was started on Nitro and only elaborated on WorldWide. It began during a tag-match featuring the usual team of Ron Simmons and Mean Mark versus the Public Menace grouping of Kevin Nash and Mark Bagwell.

Nash actually began to get frustrated during the match, as his two opponents would efficiently tag in and out to attack Nash. Nash apparently grew tired of fighting two men, but instead of tagging out himself, Nash tossed Ron Simmons over the top rope purposefully. He kicked him back outside a second time and attacked Simmons on the outside. Now Mean Mark was frustrated. Bagwell rushed the ring when Mark punched Nash from the corner and the match turned into an all-out melee.

Nash would later confront Mean Mark, but after some heated words, Mean Mark said that he was free to kick Nash’s ass at Uncensored. Mean Mark coolly said that he had nothing better to do. Narrowing his eyes at Mark, Nash accepted that challenge with a point of his finger. He then smirked and in a cocky fashion, said that Mark would have to call on some hokey powers to get even close to a victory. Later, critics began to wonder what Nash meant by “hokey powers,” which was an allusion to Mark’s time as The Undertaker.

When Mark and Nash finally met in the ring, the battle was on. Nash was finally not dominating a match outright and sold some of Mark’s moves. Mean Mark actually did something unplanned during the match that Dusty suggested, so it was not all his idea. After Nash bodyslammed him, Mark sat up after a moment in a spot that was reminiscent of his days as The Undertaker. Nash became frustrated again and was disqualified after using a chair on Mean Mark, but Mark again sat up suddenly after being dropped by the chair. However, there weren’t any hokey powers.

Eric Bischoff did not attend Uncensored or watch it backstage, as he usually did. Bischoff put on his lucky ballcap and went hunting for incriminating Hogan evidence. Yes, the conspiracy had escalated, at least in Bischoff’s mind. He hadn’t even actually confirmed Hogan was the WCW leak, until this trip, that is. He traveled to New York, the home of his source. This was a source who had actually received a call from Hogan in January 1995 about Paul Orndorff’s injury and other inside information that was being leaked.

The journalist, Jake Vedder, still had the tape of the phone conversation, which he swore was him talking to Hulk Hogan. However, Hogan never mentions himself by name, although the scruffy voice did say the word “brother.” Bischoff was understandably upset at his disappointing evidence. He took the tape down to Georgia Wrestling to show to Jesse Ventura, another public Hogan-hater.

Georgia Wrestling had a surprisingly good amount of audio equipment that the Armstrong Family used to create tapes of wrestling performances and clean them up. Ventura cleaned up this phone tape, but they still weren’t able to hear much on the recording. However, they were able to isolate someone talking and laughing in the background of the tape. It was obviously the voice of Ric Flair.

First of all, conspiracy-crazy Eric Bischoff went completely over the top with his reaction. Jesse Ventura calmed him down, because he believed Flair’s voice may have gotten on the tape in any number of ways. Bischoff wanted to hear none of these explanations and reminded Ventura how big of a revelation it was that these two men could be working together. Ventura reasoned that Hogan must have paid Flair to cover up for him, knowing that later Flair could easily take it back or change his story.

But Bischoff wondered why Hogan needed to draw attention to a WCW leak and involve Ric Flair in such an elaborate manner. Ventura assumed that the reason Hogan did that was because he had the goods on Flair. Several sources confirmed this. Blackmail had become the number one method of trying to cover up something or trying to get someone to do something for you. Now Bischoff had to discover what this blackmail was and what that would cause Flair to risk his family and his career to cover up for Hogan. This was his new mission.

Most Important Points (MIPs) in June of 1996

1. Flair and Hogan were working together

2. Mean Mark and Steve Austin flew under the radar with solid feuds.

3. Tully Blanchard turned on The Four Horsemen and joined the Public Menace.

4. Tony Norris debuted in WCW by slamming Vader.

5. Jesse Ventura could edit wrestling tapes. Who knew.

--

There is no autobook in TEW

This must take ages to do then, thinking that TEW is considerably longer to book than EWR. Its amazing you've kept going for like three years to be honest.

Another point, I actually didnt watch that much WCW and as a result, dont have much knowledge of it so theres the fear I might start blurring this into reality and asking people if they remembered when Austin fought Harley Race in WCW

Just read through this from midway on page 4 to catch up and I'm still enjoying it.

Has Public Menace reached double figures of members yet?

Just wondering though. When you're actually doing this on TEW, do you autobook the TV shows and just do the PPV events yourself? Or do you book it all yourself?

[Apologies for the length, but a lot happened in May. All events are true from TEW.]

May 1996 – The Final Month of a Wrestling Booker

There was no worse ending to a month for Greg Gagne than May, because it ended in his abrupt termination. Abrupt, because he arrived at the office Monday morning after a long plane trip from Washington D.C, and was shocked in seeing Eric Bischoff sitting in his office, comfortably sipping a cup of coffee and having a danish. Turning to Gagne, Bischoff furrowed his brow in confusion and then apologized, he was supposed to send a memo explaining certain changes. Bischoff explained that these changes made it clear that Greg Gagne was out and Eric Bischoff was in, once again as operating president of WCW.

Before Greg Gagne would reach the end of his job, a lot happened to him and WCW in May. First, wrestling itself changed somewhat. Vince McMahon had not seen the payoff that he expected at Wrestlemania the previous month, however that did not deter him. It was actually The Ultimate Warrior versus Lex Luger match that may have frustrated a normal man, but not Vince McMahon. The Warrior even arrived late at the site of Wrestlemania, in Boston at the Fleet Center. He did not seem very worried about it though, preparing himself to wrestle in the most superficial manner possible. The Warrior defended his title, although it was a sloppy match.

This prompted McMahon to think about the progress of his company. Usually, he would turn to dependable people to carry his shows, such as Bret Hart. But Hart was now with WCW and the dependable guy became Shawn Michaels, almost by default. Since joining forces with the Smoking Gunns, Michaels was more popular than ever. Vince McMahon cut a promo on WWF Wrestling Challenge stating that the WWF wasn’t going to insult fans anymore with silly gimmicks that were aimed at kids. The new WWF attitude was going to be adult, where sports entertainment was the norm. To prove this, Shawn Michaels turned face, beat The Ultimate Warrior for the World Title and started a feud with the boss himself. This was the WWF in May.

Elsewhere, people took notice of the announcement. The WWF had done edgy angles for a few years, but now were promising an edgy program with those angles as the centerpiece. Paul Heyman and ECW did not react much to this announcement, as they already had edgy angles dominating their program. Perhaps Heyman did agree with the announcement's premise, as he jobbed out most of his gimmick wrestlers. This was true of The Superdestroyer John Nord, who played The Berzerker in the WWF. A young man named Rocky Maivia defeated The Superdestroyer, but a real grudge match came when Balls Mahoney took on the champion, Taz. Balls actually defeated Taz, much to the dismay of the Philadelphia fans.

WCW also had very little reaction to the WWF’s announcement, which was unusual because it seemed WCW would always react to everything their rivals did. For example, they created Nitro and put it up against RAW with malicious intentions, which ended in RAW’s cancellation. However, it seemed they proceeded on as normal and continued doing the same things. Dusty Rhodes even created a few more gimmicks for Nitro, as Greg Gagne organized the roster.

Since Paul Roma had rejoined Paul Orndorff as Pretty Wonderful, Jim Powers was left without much of a role. Powers was eventually terminated as the first casualty of Gagne’s organization. The next casualties were the Rock n’ Roll Express, who had become a victim of the changing time. So, there were a few spots now open, which wrestlers from Georgia Wrestling took upon arriving in WCW.

The first call-up was a man named David Heath, who was playing a supernatural vampire character called The Vampire Warrior in Georgia Wrestling. He was managed by Luna Vachon, a muscled, strong woman who tried to look at everybody in a mean way. Both were called up to continue doing essentially some of the same things they had been doing down south. However, Dusty changed Heath’s character name to The Headhunter, but kept his gross use of blood and props. Dusty also changed Fit Finley’s name to The Irish Pitbull, which was a vague concept about him being a tough-guy. Finley had been doing dark matches, but moved up to the rare Nitro match in May.

The last call-up Dusty gave direction to was a man named Pat Tanaka. Tanaka was not the former WWF star who had the red mohawk, but another man who formed a team called The Orient Express. Upon Mister Fuji’s recommendation, Gagne gave the man a chance and his fundamentals enabled him to get an opening spot, as Fit Finley had done the previous month. These new wrestlers, Fit Finley, Pat Tanaka and The Headhunter got very little reaction. But that may have been because the attention was squarely on The Public Menace.

After defeating Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan wore the World Title like a trophy. Roddy Piper’s interview segment called "In The Pit," became a Public Menace segment. Anyone who joined Piper that was not of the group was beaten up and tossed out of the ring most times. However, this policy was challenged when Michael Wallstreet joined Piper for a Pit interview. While not imposing, he challenged the Public Menace with a decisive promise. He could buy anybody’s loyalty for the Public Menace and even deliver them somebody monumental. Big Van Vader then walked out and Michael Wallstreet handed him a wad of money with a vicious smile. Of course, The Public Menace welcomed them both with open arms.

Barry Windham and his new pals, The Road Warriors also joined the Public Menace. Finally, Diamond Dallas Page joined the Public Menace, which was perhaps an excuse to get Kimberly more airtime. Either way, DDP was back to being a cocky egotist, as he had been in 1993, and WCW dismissed most of the development they had made on the character. As a result, WCW now needed a few more faces or at least storylines with faces.

The first face that they began focusing on was Shogun, the Japanese Warrior. He had gotten over thanks to two things, his strong fundamentals and Mister Fuji. If turning face, they certainly couldn’t have the evil Fuji around, so they instead switched him to Pat Tanaka. Shogun began acting with more respect as his anticipated face turn drew closer, but it didn’t happen until the final Nitro in May.

During this Nitro, DDP was taunting Shogun. DDP had been taunting Shogun for most of the month and a confrontation had been anticipated. It was one of the things that helped DDP get over as a new heel in May, as somewhat questionable Shogun even looked respectable against this guy. DDP would laugh and point out little things he hated about Shogun, but during one interview, Shogun decided to interrupt. He took to the ring and slid in, standing up to the cocky, laughing DDP. He stood there staring at him while DDP smirked and made a few more jokes.

Shogun kept standing there and kept staring at him, as if to merely stand up for his pride. DDP took a swipe at him, but Shogun ducked and returned his blows, then tossed him from the ring like a ragdoll. The TV Champion then turned his cold stare on Kimberly, but like a classic face, let her scurry from the ring unharmed. A match was made at Slamboree, but Mister Fuji did not seem to agree with Shogun’s new attitude, trying to interfere and causing a disqualification. Shogun would now have to do things on his own.

Lord Steven Regal defeated Ron Simmons for the US Title during Nitro, with a little help from his sidekick, Squire Chris Adams. Simmons was a bit frustrated by this loss, as his title reign came to an abrupt end. He began to look at Mean Mark, perhaps wondering why his friend did not help him out. During a backstage vinette, Mean Mark was actually the one calming down Ron Simmons and promised they’d get even. They’d do this by trying to beat up Regal and Adams backstage, a tactic not quite face, but perhaps more anti-hero. All the men were separated by security.

To reward him for his generosity, Hogan petitioned to get a match for Michael Wallstreet. Unfortunately, WCW had to change the storyline a little bit. Harley Race was still recovering from his exhaustion the previous month, so Hogan had to ask the temporary commissioner, Ric Flair! Yes, that’s right, The Four Horsemen couldn’t compete with The Public Menace in numbers so they needed a little something extra and Harley Race just happened to be Ric Flair’s old-school pal. Flair was happy to tell all this to Hogan, making for a few good vinettes. So with that little favor, Flair inserted himself back into a storyline conflicting with Hogan. Naturally, Flair would book himself against Hogan himself for the title at Slamboree.

The Public Menace did not respond nicely. A few weeks into May, they were booked solidly, taking out the Four Horsemen, beating up both Arn and Ole Anderson backstage. They even took a baseball bat to Dean Malenko and Dean Malenko’s car, in one of the first parking lot segments of the stable’s storyline. In response, Flair suspended the cackling duo of Sean Waltman and Mark Bagwell, but he had something special planned for the rest.

He booked Chris Benoit against Michael Wallstreet for Slamboree, then booked The Stunning Steve Austin against Brian Pillman. The two former tag-team partners had never met in singles competition until this match, which Pillman had a conniption fit about. He used Roddy Piper’s interview segment to threaten Ric Flair for this. Flair later reminded Pillman that Harley Race would be back next month, so he need only get his ass kicked for one match. The implication being, that Harley Race was giving the Public Menace soft matches.

Whether or not this was true was not addressed by Steve Austin. Austin declined to be interviewed about Brian Pillman, because Austin said that a piece of crap doesn’t deserve attention, he deserves an ass-whooping. Austin seemed to make the word ass-whooping his own, as he would drawl it out and even make it sound threatening, in that Steve Austin apathetic manner. Like Austin was going to kick ass, then drink a beer. And he did on one occasion, again saying that asking for comments about Brian Pillman was interfering with his beer drinking time. Although, he did put the beer down after some insistence from Ric Flair and addressed the subject in a more serious manner.

Barry Windham and the Road Warriors also became enforcers, as Windham would staredown his opponents and if he saw something he didn’t like, would call in the Warriors. Windham began wearing a Public Menace T-Shirt, which Sting ripped on one occasion. That seemed to deserve a beatdown in Windham’s opinion and The Warriors attacked Sting. Sting was able to fight them off however, until Michael Wallstreet and his pal Vader came down to add to the assault. Vader bloodied Sting, tossing him to the outside. Putting him on a table, Vader splashed onto it and collapsed onto Sting.

After missing one Nitro following this attack, announcers of WCW WorldWide spent a few shows speculating on the condition of Sting. WCW WorldWide perpetually ran a "Where's Sting?" segment for the injured worker. They then announced a Sting versus Vader match for Slamboree and even wondered if he would be ready for that. Sting said he would be ready, but wouldn’t appear until Slamboree, where he hobbled down to the ring on crutches. He carefully got into the ring to address fans and began to explain to them that he was too injured to wrestle. Vader and Michael Wallstreet interrupted to gloat and then trotted down to the ring to nudge and push the injured Sting. Wallstreet snatched the microphone and gloated to the fans some more.

Sting however, wasn’t laughing. When Wallstreet turned to smile at fans, Sting took one of the crutches and broke it over Wallstreet's head. Vader was shocked and immediately attacked Sting. Another crutch was broken over Vader. Wallstreet crumpled on the outside as Sting tossed out Vader. Sting had faked the injury and now wanted Vader. A referee then ran down the ring and joined Sting as he ordered for the beginning of the match. Apparently, this was Sting’s plan all along. With Wallstreet unable to help his larger buddy, Sting did away with Vader. This was one of the few bright spots for faces on Slamboree. There were no others.

WCW Slamboree

Dark Match: The Headhunter w/ Bull Nakano defeated Saturn

Shogun defeated Diamond Dallas Page via DQ to retain the TV Title

Lord Steven Regal & Squire Chris Adams defeated Mean Mark and Ron Simmons

The Allied Powers defeated Owen Hart + Chris Candido to retain the tag-titles

Michael Wallstreet defeated Chris Benoit by count out

Brian Pillman versus Steve Austin went to a no contest

Bret Hart defeated Kevin Nash by DQ

Sting defeated Vader

Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair

The final feud of May featured a returning Bret Hart and Kevin Nash. Hart was returning to competition, but while he wanted to wrestle, Kevin Nash wanted to play mind games. He would go to the outside and sit for a few moments, to take a drink of water as he overacted and tried to look tried. With a smile and a wink, Kevin Nash did not amuse Bret Hart. After trying to cheat and getting disqualified, Nash did not expect to see Hart again. He certainly did not expect to meet Bret Hart at Slamboree.

Nash thought he had a match against The Giant, but prior to Slamboree, WCW showed The Giant and Bret Hart talking about the match. Apparently, The Giant allowed to Hart to sub in for him and even tried to save Bret Hart when The Public Menace turned the match into a mosh. This was similar to the ending of the prior match, the Austin showdown with Brian Pillman.

Critics believed that by giving the two matches similar endings the company was gauging who to push against the Public Menace as the central figure. Austin had the confidence of Greg Gagne and had given consistently good work, in interviews and matches both. Bret Hart had also put in good work, especially in matches, which were clean and evenly paced. Whether or not WCW was trying to evaluate both wrestlers, was never revealed at the time.

Turning away from Slamboree, there were a lot of people arguing on the phone in May. Kevin Sullivan and his wife Nancy aka Woman, were the two most guilty of this. These arguments ended in Woman filing for divorce, perhaps establishing some independence, thanks to a large check from her Playboy shoot in January of 1995. Rumors began flying that the Woman was having an affair with one of the ECW wrestlers, but this was never established, although Sullivan did harp on it a lot to the media.

Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels were also guilty of arguing over the phone, although not to the intensity of the Sullivan’s. Michaels and Nash were still close, despite going in different creative directions, although it was the little things that ruined their friendship. Finally, Paul Heyman again argued with TV executives over the phone, but about his new show, ECW TV. Critics complained that Heyman should be happy to have a TV show at all, but he again wanted things done his way. USWA also got a TV contract, but it was for a syndicated show that few people saw.

Few people saw Greg Gagne after he was dismissed from WCW at the end of May. He disappeared, perhaps angry or embarrassed at being treated in such a casual manner. The reason for his dismissal was not known at the time, but was because of Hulk Hogan. Hogan lived up to his part of the bargain with Eric Bischoff, using a bit of his pull as WCW’s number one star. He did not even need to talk to Ted Turner to get Gagne removed. It was all a rather casual thing, as Hogan would say a few things, make a few requests and start the ball rolling.

Eric Bischoff also lived up to his end of the bargain, saying nothing more about Hogan being the WCW leak. This might have frustrated just about anyone, because it certainly frustrated Bischoff. He would stew over not being able to publicly fire Hulk Hogan for hours on end, but took out his frustrations in other ways. He began to throw darts at a picture of Hogan taped to a wall in his office.

To get out from under Hogan’s thumb, Bischoff contemplated a way to turn this situation to his advantage.

---

Was that the main event? I'm confused. If it was, I'm not sure who Pete Thomas was or why he gets a title shot. By the way, let's hear more about The Curse. How does it effect the show directly? Perhaps more injuries?

I enjoyed the run down on the gimmicks, And it's nice to see some of them actually getting pushed, And not being too out there. It's also nice to see McMahon try to start "Attitude" a little early on.

Scouting with Cornette – The Gimmicks of WCW

"Jim Cornette is one of the highest rated scouts in wrestling today. Each and every week he is going to bring us the latest scouting reports about wrestlers in WCW," a narrator says, "Who is who? How do they wrestle? What kind of character do they have? Those questions and more will be answered by Jim Cornette Now...here he is...James…E… Cornette!"

“Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for gimmicks? WCW has their share, but then again, so does all of wrestling. That is, until Vince McMahon came out on his show WWF Wrestling Challenge this week and announced to the world that they weren’t going to treat the fans like idiots anymore. Vince McMahon thinks we want something adult, where Shawn Michaels grabbing his crotch is par for the course and the fans are given performers who are sports entertainers first, and actors second.”

“Is this really what fans want? Either way, WCW has primarily ignored what the WWF is doing, but there is certainly more revolution going on in this company than you think, ladies and gentlemen! We have the number one anti-hero in wrestling, The Stunning Steve Austin. And he certainly stunned Harley Race! But what’s next for The Stunner? Stay tuned!”

“Lord Steven Regal. This guy wouldn't have a backbone if you shoved a flagpole up his keister, folks. But really, he’s just an arrogant Brit at heart. He’s got a puffy shirt, a ponytail and has a smirk that makes me think he’s got too much starch in his pants. He’ll even tell you to tie your shoes after stepping on your toes! He’s seen action in the past few months and seems poised for something new. His buddy is Squire Chris Adams, a real veteran of the ring and a great sidekick. Oh, by the way, he also has a puffy shirt!”

“Shogun. Well we’ve featured this guy before on the program, but he’s worth a second glance. He’s got a costume that just screams ‘Hey Everybody! I’m the BAD guy!’. Oh, we couldn’t figure that out, thanks. He dresses like a traditional Japanese warrior and yes, I looked it up fans! A shogun is a skilled military dictator. And Shogun certainly is skilled and dictates things in the ring! And since he doesn’t talk much, Mister Fuji is there to do it for him.”

“The Outlaws. The outlaw bikers are Mean Mark and Ron Simmons, but they’ve got a loveable, cuddily quality to them. If you like getting cuddled by a headlock and five knuckles to the face! Let me tell you, these guys are tough. They changed their look recently to some rough, black leather vests, but no lace in sight fans. Watch out for the kicks, because Mean Mark has a steel toe now.”

“Amadeus. This guy makes Elton John look normal. But he’s got Terri jumping around with him so he can’t be all bad. Wait a second, don’t listen to a word I’m saying, fans. Nobody is more annoying than this guy, no matter what hot mama he’s got chasing after him. He’ll take off his white leather gloves, smack his opponents with em’ and then bend over to show them the moon!”.

“The Wrestling COPS. Yes, Brian and Brad Armstrong make it their business to tell people how to throw a suplex proper. They say they’re the most respectable thing around, but apparently their version of justice is kicking a guy down and beating em’ up! But don’t worry, their mirrored sunglasses and boots broadcast to the world that they’re really serious about this. I think!”

“The Public Menace. I couldn’t leave it alone, I just had to say something about WCW’s most popular team. Now a six man group, they are led by Hulk Hogan, who lives up to their name. He’s a menace! And he’s got Brian Pillman and Mark Bagwell following him around like lapdogs, cackling all the time. And don’t get me started on how arrogant Sean Waltman is. I don’t think anybody has a better time beating somebody up than him. In contrast, I think Kevin Nash is all business, just cool and collected all the time. A veteran presence is Roddy Piper, Hogan’s bosom buddy. WCW better watch out for him too.

"The Public Menace participated in an eight man match at Spring Stampede that featured Kevin Nash, Brian Pillman, Sean Waltman and Mark Bagwell versus Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and Ole Anderson. Was it ever good. Oh did you want to know who won? Sorry fans, The Public Menace squeaked out a win."

"We will save you from the truly awful gimmick rundown, but then again, I can't help myself. Here you go...there's the Vegas Gamblers! Kevin Nash in green-checkered pants? Simply awful! The Diamond Studd, it's DDP with a goatee and a diamond earring. Awful! New Jersey Jim, the madman from the craziest place on Earth. The Hangman Terry Gordy, a man who carries a sickle for god's sake! Oh okay, I'll stop. I'll stop."

"Here's the rundown on the champions. The champions are..."

"Hulk Hogan is the WCW World Champion, defeating Bret Hart at Spring Stampede in April."

“Ron Simmons is the US Champion, having a nice reign."

"The Allied Powers are the WCW Tag-Team champions, getting a second straight PPV win."

"Shogun became the TV Champion in April, then defended against Diamond Dallas Page."

"Thanks for joining us today for Scouting with Cornette! The pleasure was all yours."

---

Jim Cornette says, "I can't believe we created that gimmick."

---

I think you're my only fan, Hewey! It's kinda funny. I thought everyone liked reading about the wrestling business, but I guess a traditional style is more popular. Your ideas are actually excellent, especially those about Mean Mark. Earlier, I was trying to think of a unique, supernatural type name instead of 'The Undertaker' or his generic Mean Mark, but couldn't think of any.

April 1996 - Eric Bischoff and Greg Gagne Clash

[All random events are true from TEW.]

Greg Gagne met with Eric Bischoff and the two had a short talk. Gagne had heard about a radio show Bischoff had done preaching his latest conspiracy theories. When Bischoff began in WCW, he was a rather grounded person, a down to Earth type guy who would never believe in long-winded conspiracies, much less spread them. However, perhaps it was the stress that got to Eric Bischoff, or maybe it was that he felt like he had to say something controversial to sell his radio appearance. Or maybe, as Greg Gagne said, Eric Bischoff had an axe to grind. Gagne did not make a secret of the fact that he disliked Bischoff a great deal.

The two men sat down at a table within WCW’s offices. There was no keeping either man quiet, as conversation erupted immediately, although polite at first. This was especially true of Greg Gagne, who complimented Bischoff on how he organized the payroll and other things at the office. With pleasantries out of the way, Gagne then began to speak more pointedly, telling Bischoff directly, to stop spreading negative rumors about Hulk Hogan. Bischoff had insinuated that Hogan was WCW’s leak and Gagne didn’t like that.

Gagne asked if Bischoff had any proof of his accusations, but Bischoff said that he didn’t. Without something to back up his argument, it was a rather short meeting. Bischoff agreed to stop spreading rumors to the press on one condition, that Gagne speak to Hogan himself about leaking information to the press. Well, that seemed reasonable enough and Bischoff departed WCW. Afterward, Gagne discarded Bischoff’s condition like yesterday’s garbage.

Gagne did not discard some other problems in WCW, such as Sting’s condition. The colorful Sting had a match at March Mayhem against Big Van Vader and emerged a bit worn out. Perhaps worn out is an understatement, as Sting was limping and holding his side after that match and making everyone backstage concerned for him. But Sting would not even let company doctors look at him for a week, but eventually relented. After a few tests, the verdict came back. Sting had cracked a rib. Just one, mind you, but one was enough to be altogether painful. Especially when he was moving around. So Sting was out for the whole month.

Another problem was that the number of heels had grown immensely in the past few months. The main heel group, The Public Menace, had become a large and dominant force. They had become so dominant that very few people on the roster looking threatening against this group, except perhaps The Giant or their current rivals, The Four Horsemen. First, The Giant was just one man and even though he briefly feuded, and dominated, Kevin Nash in the ring, he was horribly outnumbered.

Once, The Giant was again being attacked by The Public Menace during a match, however this time the bigger man was booked a bit stronger. Sean Waltman and Mark Bagwell both bounced off him and Kevin Nash found his clothesline completely ineffective against him. Brian Pillman even joined the fray and it took all four men to barrel The Giant over the top rope to the outside. The bigger man slapped the ring apron in frustration.

The Four Horsemen seemed a bit more of a challenge to this larger heel group and did not let any frustration get to them, as it had The Giant. The tag-team of Dean Malenko and Arn Anderson was back in action, which was a positive thing. However, it was a team of Ric Flair and Arn Anderson against Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper that lit up the Nitro ratings. WCW crippled WWF Wrestling Challenge on that particular night, but fans were lucky to have both shows on at different times, as they could watch both. Certainly, this helped the wrestling business, which skyrocketed.

Meanwhile, the WWF kept plugging The Ultimate Warrior. As said before, he was the WWF Champion and was feuding with Lex Luger. It was a safe risk at first. However, Luger was a hard sell on this feud, complaining at every opportunity. He even topped his good buddy Randy Savage in the complaints department for that month. Everyone was wondering if Luger and The Warrior were going to get through the month. But they did, thanks again to Vince McMahon’s professionalism and experience. However, it was Wrestlemania month and there were a lot of other things he had to do too.

To deal with WCW’s growing heel population, they created a few more faces. They pulled Paul Roma from his tag-team with Jim Powers and turned him face, reunited him with Paul Orndorff, who they also turned face. WCW called up Fit Finley from Georgia Wrestling, making him a face too. Finley was strong in all the fundamentals, so they had no worries. He could at least work a match, if nothing else. Bobby Eaton, one half of the Midnight Express, then began to question why WCW was building more face tag-teams when they had several serviceable ones already, like his own or the popular Harlem Heat. He got into a belligerent confrontation with his partner, Stan Lane and the two went at it for several minutes. The crew thought they might even come to blows, as they had exchanged pushes, before being separated.

Bobby Eaton disliked his time in WCW. He thought he wasn't being treated fairly. His original tag-team partner, Michael Wallstreet, went on to bigger and brighter things, such as a feud with US Champion Ron Simmons, while he got stuck into another tag-team. As Money Talks, Bobby Eaton and Michael Wallstreet were clever heels, but now Wallstreet was gone and Eaton was left just hating his new, annoying partner. There was very little reaction from the fans and that was all of a hint that was required. Bobby Eaton was pulled for retooling, but he didn’t stick around for that. He left WCW.

After signing his lengthy and expensive contract, Mark Callaway aka Mean Mark, was certainly getting used. His March feud with Owen Hart continued into April, but to liven things up a bit, some others were added to the mix. Owen Hart befriended likeminded Chris Candido and his valet, the annoying and sultry Tammy Lynn. They had befriended each other when Mean Mark had beaten them both, thinking that as a team, they stood a better chance. And they did, until Ron Simmons evened the odds.

Mean Mark was a solid wrestler, but had an aging gimmick. It dated back to 1990, when he first appeared as a fulltime wrestler in WCW. Years later, he would go on to form more successful gimmicks in the WWF. But here, in WCW, he was relegated to an old standby. The Booking Team sat around talking about this until Stu Hart just suggested that they ask Mark his opinion. And that they did.

While Mark was explaining one of his hobbies, Dusty Rhodes almost had a Jim Herd moment. Mark liked motorcycles, the louder, the better. He liked riding motorcycles in his spare time, a passion he coincidentally shared with former authority, Eric Bischoff. Dusty suggested that they dress up Mark in a whole bunch of leather, chains, a biker helmet, boots and give him spiked hair. Like a black leather bruiser, motorcycle guy. Mark did not know what to say to such a suggestion, but the rest of the booking team helped him. The idea was horrible, but on the right track.

They started simple, with just a leather jacket and sunglasses. But they slicked his hair back, gave him boots and had Ron Simmons wear a similar jacket too. Both tried to look tough in their leather jackets. But then Dusty went overboard again, arguing that WCW needed another gimmick to oppose these men, opponents they could beat up and look tough against. Stu Hart argued that they ought to continue focusing on the Owen Hart feud, but Dusty had another brief idea.

Dusty scrapped the Varsity Club team, which of its remaining members, Brad Armstrong and Brian Armstrong were active. He gave them matching jumpsuits, gloves, boots and jackets that were of a light grey color. These grey uniforms and mirrored sunglasses looked like they belonged to someone off the show ChiPs, the one featuring twin motorcycle cops. Dusty was pleased with how the two men acted out their “cops” role, enforcing the law of wrestling. For example, The Cops cut a promo saying that what they did was play fair, but what Mean Mark did was play dirty, and there was no respect in that. So The Cops 'taught' respect, apparently by beating it into opponents.

After Mean Mark and Ron Simmons demolished these ChiPs wanna-be’s, Owen Hart and Chris Candido attacked them after the match. They had weapons and slugged the heroes clean out of the ring, then cut a quick promo hyping a challenge for Spring Stampede. In this way, Mean Mark was shown to be strong, in that he demolished The Cops, and still continued his feud with Owen Hart, who now had the help of Candido. Two things at once, the mastery of Dusty Rhodes booking. But WCW had inadvertently evolved Mean Mark into a second anti-hero. Of course, the original anti-hero, Steve Austin, was still rebelling against authority.

Harley Race was just about as mad as possible because of Austin’s antics. He had been attacked and disrespected for most of March, but he said that April was going to deal Austin some consequences. Race stripped Austin of his TV Title again, then said that his new friend knew someone of capable of holding the title with more dignity. That man was Mister Fuji and Fuji cut a promo saying that the most honorable man in the whole of WCW was none other than his protégé Shogun, the Japanese Warrior. He didn’t attack anyone from behind, he didn’t drink beer and he certainly didn’t swear.

Shogun captured the TV Title in a short match, but Austin came out to attack him afterwards. The two men exchanged blows, until Austin was able to chuck Shogun from the ring. He tossed his title at him too. Harley Race was livid now. He said that Austin didn’t even respect a man who had character, perhaps twice as much as Austin had. Austin then said that if they were talking about honor, then it would be his honor to kick Harley Race’s ass.

Harley Race then took that barb as a personal challenge and told Austin that if he wanted to fight, he’d do it in the ring, against him! Harley Race booked himself into a match for Spring Stampede, but now like a classic face, Austin didn’t want to wrestle the older man. He said that he felt the 53 year old man might be just a tad over the hill, so to speak. But then Austin concluded by adding that he was happy to kick him down the other side of that hill. The Spring Stampede match was a short one on a rather long program and Austin dominated most of it. Harley Race seemed to be both authority and wrestler for the match, tossing out whatever rules he saw fit. For example, he would low-blow Austin but prevented the referee from calling a DQ. The referee later had no choice but to count a three count when Austin pinned Race.

WCW Spring Stampede 1996 - April

Dark Match: Pretty Wonderful (Paul Roma + Paul Orndorff) defeated The COPS (Brad Armstrong and Brian Armstrong)

Chris Benoit defeated Eddie Guerrero

The Allied Powers (Davey Boy Smith + The Patriot) defeated Hardcore War (Dr. Death + Scott Norton) to defend the WCW Tag-Team Titles

Mean Mark and Ron Simmons defeated Owen Hart + Chris Candido w/ Tammy Lynn

Shogun, The Japanese Warrior defeated Diamond Dallas Page to defend the WCW TV Title

Steve Austin defeated Harley Race

4 x 4 Match: The Public Menace defeated The Four Horsemen

Cage Match: Hulk Hogan defeated Bret Hart for the WCW World Title

There were two legitimate main events for Spring Stampede, one featuring an eight-man tag-match and another for the World Title. Four members of The Public Menace faced The Four Horsemen in the first, featuring the first fall to a finish. Again, the heels tried to cheat to win, but this time were successful in doing so. The tall Kevin Nash was able to roll up Arn Anderson and hold ropes to get the pin. However, The Horsemen cleared the ring, but were disappointed with the results, having dominated most of the match.

The second main event was the rematch between Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart. Harley Race cut a promo on WCW WorldWide once which explained the rules. WCW certainly got its vinette quota in that month. All members of either stable were banned from ringside and to make sure this rule was enforced, the two competitors would wrestle inside a steel cage. The winner would only be by pinfall, not escaping through a mere cage door. Inside, Hulk Hogan was able to showcase his new, more vicious persona, slamming Bret Hart’s head off the cage wall on numerous occasions. Hogan was then able to get the pinfall and become World Champion once again.

After Hogan won the title back, the backstage atmosphere was different. As champion, Bret Hart had the confidence of most of the locker room, and led by example. The same may have been said for Hogan until this World Title run. After Spring Stampede, Hogan personally paid for a large bash to apparently celebrate the pay per view. Bret Hart did not attend. As in his previous run, Kevin Nash enjoyed himself, as did Sean Waltman and others. They really went overboard with the partying this time.

Another notable thing to happen in April was Harley Race had to be taken to the hospital a few days after Spring Stampede. Never fear readers, it was nothing serious, Race was dianosed with exhaustion. He had reported feeling faint and downright tired after Spring Stampede, however like a true old school wrestler, reported that he was fine. He learned later that his body did not respond as quickly as it used to, but after leaving the hospital, took a week off and seemed fine.

Greg Gagne was upset over Harley Race’s medical prognosis. Imagine the hell he would catch if a future hall of fame wrestler had experienced a more serious problem. Dusty Rhodes, the voice of reason, tried to calm down Gagne with reassurances, saying that this kind of thing was a little more common than he realized. From all his experience, Dusty knew just what to say and how to handle the situation. Although he said otherwise, Greg Gagne was still not convinced that this problem had been a minor thing. Gagne did not blame himself for booking the Harley Race match, he blamed The Booking Team for insisting he book it.

On his fishing boat, Eric Bischoff received a call from Hulk Hogan. Hogan said that he could get Bischoff’s job back, but in turn, Bischoff had to do him a favor or two. Hogan said that Bischoff had to stop spreading rumors about him and drop the conspiracy because he wasn't the leak. Eric Bischoff hung up on Hogan, scoffing on his demands. He certainly wasn't going to let his guy "negotiate" with him, especially when he was guilty as sin and just wanted to bury it.

After a few days, Bischoff had time to think it over and called Hulk Hogan back. He said he would take the deal.

Scouting with Cornette - The new Midcard

"Jim Cornette is one of the highest rated scouts in wrestling today. Each and every week he is going to bring us the latest scouting reports about wrestlers in WCW," a narrator says, "Who is who? How do they wrestle? What kind of character do they have? Those questions and more will be answered by Jim Cornette. Now...here he is...Jim Cornette!"

“Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for new wrestlers? There are some new faces in WCW and we want to make sure fans know just who they are. Are they on the rise?” Jim Cornette says.

“Sean Waltman and Mark Bagwell. These two men started the Public Menace, which has become the largest group in WCW. Sean Waltman is a solid foundation for the group and a constant presence too. Some people have said he’s just too arrogant and casual about his job, especially when he shows off in the ring. Speaking of showing off, there’s nobody who does that better than Mark Bagwell. With his perpetual grin, Bagwell does about everything he can to get under the skin of his opponents. He exaggerates his style and sometimes mimics popular superstar Shawn Michaels, albeit badly.”

“Dustin Rhodes. Dustin is back in WCW and we’re all glad to have him, but he’s no cowboy anymore. He and Terri are hellbent on being just about as outlandish and perverted as they can. Dustin is calling himself ‘Amadeus’, a perverted musician, complete with oversized wig. His opponents like pulling it off or kicking him in the bright green britches.”

“The Patriot. The Patriot is a wrestler that everyone can relate to. Not too big, not too small and a hard worker. Everybody loves a patriot, especially a flag-waving one. But he doesn’t go overboard fans, he has a partner to keep him focused. A man named Davey Boy Smith. How can two strong patriots get along? Well, through winning! Together, they are the Allied Powers.”

“Scott Norton. Scott is Dr. Death’s new buddy and a stiff wrestler. Street-Fighter Scott Norton is legitimately tough too, spending many years over in Japan beating up just about everybody. In February of 1995, Norton, Art Barr and Eddie Guerrero all found themselves out of job after NJPW reacted harshly to a controversial situation that happened to them out of the ring. Needless to say, their loss is WCW’s gain as two out of the three men are now with the company.”

“Mean Mark. Mean Mark is back in WCW! Yes, that’s right fans, the big man looks more confident than ever and has a new outfit to boot. I’m just not sure fans knew how to react to Mean Mark back when he first came aboard. Was he hero? A badguy? Was he out for himself? Really, Mark is just about as serious as they come, but he’ll certainly do something heroic if it means bringing the pain to his opponents too. He’s just that mean.”

“Chis Candido. Candido is just about as arrogant and cocky as you can get, as a master of the ‘smirk before you smack em’ style of wrestling. But what fans don’t know is that he’s classically trained and knows about as many holds as Dean Malenko! He is joined by lovely Tammy Lynn, but don’t get on her bad side folks. She knows how to get even.”

“Shogun. Shogun, the Japanese Warrior, lives up to his name. He likes to plaster opponents with bodyshots and you might even see him take to the top rope. You may remember Shogun from before, fans. But this time he’s back with more purpose and he’s with Mister Fuji, a crooked manager who does whatever it takes to get his man the win.”

“The Gilbert Brothers. You’ll see the Gilbert Brothers opening many of our shows, fans, by trying to take advantage by cheating to win. Doug Gilbert says that cheating is just a way to cut a few corners. Everybody does it, right? Well, I’m not sure his opponents would agree! He is joined by his brother, Eddie Gilbert, a real prima-donna who doesn’t give much respect to anybody.”

“Lastly, I want to say a few words about the new personality of Ron Simmons. Ron Simmons used to be a brooding, stand-up tough-guy. But now he might even break a smile! He certainly has reason to, as he celebrates his latest US title defense in March over Michael Wallstreet. He’s a great US champion and fans certainly like to cheer for him.”

"Here's the rundown on the champions. The champions are...

"Bret Hart is the WCW World Champion, barely hanging onto the title at March Mayhem.

"The Allied Powers are the WCW Tag-Team champions, pulling out a much needed victory over the Road Warriors.

"Steve Austin regained his TV Title back in March, which the crooked Harley Race tried to swindel him out of. Commissioner Race isn't going to like that."

"Thanks for joining us today for Scouting with Cornette. Stay tuned for more scouting!"

March 1996 - Hulk Hogan wants the Title

There was nothing quite so galvanizing as Hulk Hogan’s turn. Except the influence of Ric Flair, there was also nothing quite so threatening to the WWF either. First, WCW Superbrawl in February acquired almost double the amount of buys as WWF Judgment Day, showing this in hard numbers. Second, fans had been clamoring for something different for a year now and they certainly got it with a new take on Hulk Hogan. Third, a push of some youngsters alongside this change was a change in itself, differing from the veteran foundation that Eric Bischoff built.

In March, Brian Pillman acquired a sizeable reaction too, dwarfing the other members of the Public Menace, except Hulk Hogan himself. Sean Waltman perhaps played his role a bit more understated than he should have, but the opposite was true of Mark Bagwell, the fake Shawn Michaels. Bagwell played, or rather, overplayed his impressionist role, although was useful to insult the competition and for cheap heat. However, regardless of the reaction of these men, WCW was determined to have them interact with the main eventers.

The first thing Hulk Hogan did as a heel was promote himself on Nitro. Certainly, no one expected any less. He came out with his friends, interrupted an opening match, beat up these men and took over the segment. Taking a microphone, Hulk Hogan bragged about his accomplishments and then said that there was nobody more important than him. He said that he joined the Public Menace because the way he saw it, the fans didn't want Hulk Hogan to work for them. They boo'd Hulk Hogan, after all. From now on, he said that he was working for himself and the fans could stick it. While Hogan went on, Roddy Piper interrupted. After he came out, fans stood up.

Piper had come into WCW with the purpose of re-introducing Hulk Hogan. He had been instrumental in this through interview segments that had now begun airing more regularly. Piper did not take a microphone and start blabbing however. He smirked, walked down to the ring, slowly climbed in and stared down Hogan. At just the apex of cheers, Piper then smiled and shook Hogan’s hand, apparently remaining his good buddy. After a few moments, he explained that Hogan had done something unique and should be rewarded for it. Piper wondered aloud if there was anything more powerful than a Hulk Hogan who knew what he wanted, was king of the mountain and had people to back him up. Piper then said he was ready to back him up.

While Piper shook the hands of the Public Menace, the segment stretched further with an interruption by Bret Hart. Like a classic face, Hart questioned what Hogan was bragging about and said that the only thing Hogan proved was that he was selfish and arrogant. After this segment, Nitro became about Hogan wanting to show up Bret Hart. He sat with the announcers during Hart’s match, for example. He had the Public Menace spray paint Hart’s car and other annoying things. That’s when Bret Hart recruited some troops of his own.

During a separate Nitro, Bret Hart came out and did a more genuine promo than he had done in the past. He talked about his time with the WWF and his run with the WCW World Title. He also complimented some WCW wrestlers, included one who taught him the submission move which helped him finish off Lord Steven Regal at Superbrawl. Hart said this man had helped him defend his title and he wanted to thank him personally. He then called out none other than Arn Anderson.

Anderson came out with his former tag-team buddy Dean Malenko and said that he couldn’t take credit for the submission hold. He said that he learned it from another man, a great man. A man who was his friend and hopefully still his friend, Ole Anderson. Ole Anderson then came out and confronted Arn Anderson, but perhaps not as hostile as expected. Ole stood against the ropes and looked at each man slowly and then took a microphone. He said that Arn Anderson was wrong again, that he couldn’t take credit for the submission hold either. Ole Anderson smiled and said that he knew how to fight, not lock legs or twist arms. What he knew was how to deliver a great spinebuster, but learned the fine art of submissions from another man. Ric Flair.

Flair seemed eager to come out and smiled at his old friends as he joined them in the ring. He even shook hands with Bret Hart. Now it was time for a Ric Flair promo and he complimented his friends as he began.

“Ole Anderson, you know what it is to be a wrestler. Before I showed you anything, you knew what it was to stick up for your friends. For your kin. I’ve never seen anybody carry himself with more nerve and more confidence than you. And sure, you’ve had conflicts. Hell, you’ve had conflicts with this man right here,” Flair said, patting Arn Anderson on the shoulder.

“This man is your brother. He’ll always be your brother, no matter what you disagree about. And sure, I might disagree with you, Bret Hart might disagree with you, Dean Malenko might disagree with you, but there’s nobody who knew how to be a Horsemen more than you. Arn Anderson, you are my friend, and I’m proud to call you one. And Dean Malenko, I don’t think anybody in the back has more respect. And you know what, that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Huh? This is about respect, isn’t it Bret Hart? You want to be respected, I want to be respected. All of us want to be respected.”

“This guy right here is clever. That’s right, I said it. Bret Hart is one clever son…of a bitch! Woo!” Flair grinned with exuberance, “He brought all out here and just knew we’d fall all over ourselves like good buddies. And he’s right, we did. I stood back there and thought about what I’d say and what I’d do if I saw each of you again in this ring. I was thinking about the twenty-five years I wrestled with some of you, and you know what, it’s been all worth it.”

Ric Flair turned and pointed to the crowd, “And I spent those years trying to gain your respect too. Oh yeah, I enjoyed every damn minute wrestling this man here Bret Hart, and this man here Arn Anderson. And every one of em! Every one of em’ I’ve wrestled! Woo! I don’t have any regrets. I’m not out here to apologize to these men. Because I have their respect and they have mine. Now, Bret Hart, somebody in the back told me you were calling out...the Four Horsemen! Woo! And lemme guess…you need some heavy hitters.”

As Bret Hart motioned for the microphone, Flair frowned and continued, “You don’t need to say anything Bret Hart, because I’m here to tell you something. There is nobody else you could call out. There is…nobody more …eager to fight than us! Woo! And we’ll do it. We’ll do it! Woo! We….are…the /most/ elite group in WCW, Bret Hart. We are the top of the food chain, and let me tell you something else. You better realize what you’ve done. You want the Horsemen? Well you’ve got em’! Woo! We do not go around bragging like Hulk Hogan, and we're not nice guys. Bret Hart, you‘ve got what you asked for. Let‘s hope you can handle it! Woo!”

The Four Horsemen reunited live on Nitro. They stood up for Bret Hart when the Public Menace later tried to intimidate him. Harley Race then came out and said that there was only one way to settle this, because the confrontations were becoming a mess. And he was right, in a way. The promos, confrontations and vinettes were beginning to become longer and more involved. Feuds also began to lengthen in the same way.

Steve Austin got saddled with a new feud after defeating Dr. Death at Superbrawl. However, he got a step up, as Lord Steven Regal began feuding with him. And again, mirroring the feud with Dr. Death, a secondary man was added to wrestle Austin while WCW lengthened the confrontations. However, Greg Gagne had learned from booking Austin in his previous feuds and booked this one differently. Gagne began to say that The Booking Team had to book Austin in a certain way. He said he wanted Austin booked like an anti-hero, whatever that meant. Also, Gagne said that Austin had to be involved in several backstage segments because he was strong there in the past.

Through these segments, Austin again became involved with Harley Race as he had before. Again, like Bischoff, WCW made Austin rebel against this authority to get over. When Regal got a match from Harley Race for the pay per view, he got it for the TV Title against Steve Austin. Of course, Austin had a few things to say about this and did so in a segment in Harley Race’s backstage office. After calling Race a few names, the authority got in Austin’s face and said that he wasn’t going to face Regal at the pay per view. The winner of a singles tournament was. Race said that Austin would never survive so long.

Harley Race booked Austin against Squire Chris Adams in the first tourament match, restarting the bout after Austin clearly won. However, Austin proceeded to get a second victory anyways. The next obstacle was a bit more challenging however. Race booked Austin against Big Van Vader and wrestling fans certainly could count on a stiff confrontation. Vader tossed around Austin, but even Vader couldn’t deter him. He still held onto his TV Title and moved on through a disqualification when Vader smacked Austin with a chair while they brawled on the outside of the ring. After Austin won, Vader stomped and continued beating on him until Sting rescued him. Sting ran down and clotheslined Vader, stopping the attacks dead.

The following week, Harley Race announced that the TV Title was no longer held by Austin, no matter what the outcome of the tournament. Race said Austin never pinned Vader after all and didn't have the right to hold it. But then again, Vader never pinned Austin either. Race said that the TV Title was now vacant and that it was going to be up for grabs at the pay per view in Lord Steven Regal’s match against the tournament winner. So Austin made it his goal to win the tournament. In the final, he took apart Paul Orndorff and won a shot at his title. Afterwards, Austin took a microphone and said that he was getting a little tired of Harley Race and called him out. He said that the only thing Harley Race was an authority of was getting his ass kicked. Austin then delivered a stunner.

During this announcement, the camera panned the crowd and someone surprising was spotted there sitting at ringside. It was Kevin Nash. Kevin Nash had gained quite a bit by his time in ECW. He single-handedly got Taz over as the ECW champion, but refused to go back to the WWF. Nash was spotted at ringside each week and hype for him began to get bigger, as he tried to attract attention by taunting several wrestlers from his seat. It was a dirty thing for WCW to swipe Nash from ECW though. Since Nash was never under a written contract from ECW, there was little ECW could do about Nash stiffing them. Critics began to speculate who he was going to interact with now that he was back with WCW.

Greg Gagne did not saddle Kevin Nash with a gimmick. If anything, fans of WCW thought Nash was with ECW when appeared on Nitro. ECW had little power to prevent announcers from running down ECW when they commented on where Nash had been. WCW kept the same gimmick Nash had while in ECW, that of a simple tough guy and arrogant speaker.

Greg Gagne was acquiring more problems with the corporate structure of WCW, but there were some upsides. When a top executive would call to lecture him about the expense budget, he would give Gagne some valuable market research. This was something the WWF lacked, although it was only a small advantage. Focus groups said that they wanted to see more spontaneous confrontations, especially those done by Steve Austin.

After passing most obstacles, a villain reemerged to threaten The Stunning Steve Austin. Dr. Death was named the enforcer of his TV Title match. Dr. Death was to keep the peace and keep the action in the ring, not on the outside where Harley Race was going to keep Austin in line. However, when the match came, the action did tumble to the outside where Austin and Regal brawled. Dr. Death pushed and shoved the two men apart. Austin certainly didn’t like that, but restrained himself.

When Austin was thrown to the outside a second time, Dr. Death again pushed him. But this time, Austin pushed back. Regal was able to take advantage and attack him by surprise. The action finally got back into the ring and Austin was able to finish off Regal, delivering a Stunner. However, Dr. Death pulled out the referee before a count. Well, now Austin was pissed off. He went to the outside and brawled with Dr. Death, then as he was going for a chair, Austin turned him around and delivered a stunner. He went back in the ring and finished off Regal for the win.

This match took place on WCW Mayhem, a pay per view which again acquired high buys. However, it was really sold by the main event with the Horsemen in one corner and the Public Menace in the other. Again, Kevin Nash was shown at ringside, sitting in his usual seat. When Hogan began to wrestle Bret Hart, Kevin Nash decided to interfere. He stood up and it looked like he was arguing with Arn Anderson and then Ric Flair. Then Brian Pillman and Sean Waltman jumped them and all hell broke loose on the outside of the ring.

Even Roddy Piper got involved.

Kevin Nash began throwing punches and clobbered Arn Anderson, dragging him over the rail. Taking a page from ECW, Nash beat up Anderson in the crowd and pushed him over several seats into some fans. Nash then climbed the rail and tripped up Bret Hart as he reached under the ropes, but was immediately jumped by Ric Flair for doing so. While Bret Hart was peering outside at Nash, Hulk Hogan attacked him from behind and rolled him up for a close 2-count. It wasn’t going to end like that. Bret Hart however, was clotheslined to the outside and into the brawl. Flair continued to fight with Nash and then bum-rushed him shoulder first into the railing, while Hogan pushed Bret Hart into a steel ringpost. The referee couldn’t make heads or tails of this insane action and called it a no-contest.

The WCW leak made public Kevin Nash’s dirty deed and deception of ECW. Gagne was surprised by this rumor, apparently not aware that it would get out in such a public way. Very few people knew of Kevin Nash’s negotiations with WCW. These people included the Booking Team and several of Nash’s friends. In any event, Nash resumed working for WCW fulltime and seemed to like his new role as part of the Public Menace. However, The Booking Team were a bit concerned that the group had gotten too big already. Gagne played down this concern and concentrated on booking.

Sting was scheduled for a Mayhem match. He was facing Vader, after originally the two confronted each other during the Austin feud. Sting was little more than a vehicle to get Vader over however, as this match was especially stiff. Sting did a blade job to illustrate it as such, in the middle of the pay per view match, not at the end. The punishment continued for a good ten minutes more, with Sting only starting a brief comeback at the end. Afterwards, Sting requested a few days off, as he was really beat up physically.

Mean Mark finally acquired a pay per view match and a feud that was intended to get him over. He was going to be wrestling Owen Hart at March Mayhem. It was easy to get Mean Mark over facing Owen Hart, but it was Dusty who was put in charge of booking this feud. Owen Hart was the quivering heel, arrogant one moment, then running scared the next. This was especially appropriate for Mean Mark, who was a tall, tough-looking guy.

Meanwhile, the Allied Powers finally got a win over the Road Warriors as their feud came to an end. Davey Boy Smith and The Patriot seemed to have gotten over their personal conflicts and overcame several obstacles to get this win. The flag-waving Patriot was especially happy, climbing to the turnbuckle to celebrate after the Mayhem match. This was probably the height of this patriotic team. The team had not begun all that well, despite stringing together a series of wins. They just couldn’t get a win over the Road Warriors until Mayhem.

Reasons for this lack of success varied. But Jim Cornette returned a few weeks before Mayhem to manage the Road Warriors and inadvertently lit a spark under his competition. They seemed like a new team, demolishing the cheating Stallions easily on one occasion and then going after Cornette while he was at ringside. When the Road Warriors stepped in front, the Allied Powers did not flinch. A gang of referees separated them to delay this confrontation until the pay per view.

WCW March Mayhem - 1996

Dark Match: Paul Orndorff defeated DDP

Ron Simmons defeated Michael Wallstreet

The Allied Powers defeated the Road Warriors for the WCW Tag-Titles

Mean Mark defeated Owen Hart

The Public Menace defeated Harlem Heat

Steve Austin defeated Lord Steven Regal for the vacant TV Title

Big Van Vader defeated Sting

Bret Hart vs. Hulk Hogan ended in a no contest w/ The Public Menace and The Horsemen at ringside

In other news, the WWF put the Ultimate Warrior over Scott Steiner and other faces on Wrestling Challenge in March while building the Lex Luger feud. Meanwhile, the Macho Man had fallen a great deal on the card and he began feuding with Earthquake, of all people. Over at the hardcore competition, ECW had to insert the part-time Marc Mero into a more active role filling Kevin Nash’s shoes. Another WWF wrestler signed part-time for ECW, a wrestler called Triple H. This signing seemed to be a little strange, as he was still building his small WWF career. It was also strange how the two companies could share workers in this way. It gave more evidence to Bruce Hart, who again began saying that the WWF and ECW were working together.

ECW also had Tito Santana on their staff, another former WWF wrestler. This retired wrestler was not competing however, but helping the booking team. ECW believed he added something extra and helped them get over the more diverse group of wrestlers they had, as they used a style different from many Americans. For example, Santana was instrumental in helping Puerto-Rican wrestler Miguel Perez script several matches against John Nord, whose character was the Super Destroyer.

Eric Bischoff’s issues with WCW were not resolved in March. After settling his financial dispute with WCW, he apparently still had hard feelings. He went on a radio show and explained that he now knew who the leak in WCW was. Being away from the company had given him a new perspective on this problem, which obviously bothered Bischoff quite a bit more than it did Greg Gagne. Bischoff explained that the leak was Hulk Hogan.

Hulk Hogan was the man in the know in WCW and everyone knew it. He could have known about Ric Flair’s conflict’s with the NWA , one of the original leaks. He could have also leaked the 1995 War Games conflict between Vader and Hulk Hogan because he would have personal knowledge about it. He could have also know about Greg Valentine’s conflict with the Honky Tonk Man because everyone knew Valetine was Hogan’s good friend. And lastly, Hogan could have leaked Dusty’s booking team issues in 1995 because Dusty was usually responsible for booking matches, like his own.

Bischoff named off an endless amount of legitimate reasons why Hulk Hogan could be the WCW leak. But it really did little good, except to start more rumors. Bischoff had little power to do anything about Hulk Hogan, a leak, rumors or anything else related to WCW. That is, until Greg Gagne called him up and asked for a meeting.

Most Important Points (MIPs) of March 1996

1 - Eric Bischoff made public his theory that Hulk Hogan was the WCW leak.

2 - The Four Horsemen reformed to assist Bret Hart

3 - The title match at WCW March Mayhem went to a no contest

4 - Roddy Piper and Kevin Nash joined The Public Menace

5 - Steve Austin was stripped and then regained his TV Title at Mayhem

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I like the comments, however it's difficult to top the original Hogan turn. Certainly this was the best angle ever done to that point. I apologize about the Japanese wrestler comment, but I thought it may have been a more common problem for second language wrestlers. Also, the contact amount must have been a typo, because Wilson is correct.

Lastly, I'm sure Steve Austin would be unhappy in this current 1996, despite winning the TV Title. His former partner and some WWF guys get an immediate push, where he's been winning consistantly since going solo in 1993. I might hesitate putting him over Ric Flair or even Vader, because I'm not sure if that would be realistic. Back when I had a Bret Hart/Austin feud, Austin was a heel and finally got over, but I think I hit it when Austin himself said that a redneck like him could never get a clean win over a class act like Hart. I thought this was true, except now he's a face so it may be different.

Someone said that I'm just repeating things done in real life and I don't think that's the whole truth. Certainly some things would be the same, such as fans disliking so much Hogan. However, I do admit taking some comments and using them in a different way. For example, Paul Orndorff used to always talk about 'taking a guy to school' in reference to beating them, so I thought he might say that again when feuding with DDP. Also, when Bret Hart signed he feuded with Owen Hart, as he did in real life, however how can you not? On the other hand, I did have the two team up for a while and not feud right away.

Lastly, I just want to say how much I liked Tony Schiavone's comments putting over the Hogan turn and during the nWo reign. I just had to include a direct quote I heard once. Sorry about that. It's not an exact quote, however I really liked when he was so over-the-top during that Hogan turn.

February 1996 - "These men are a menace." -Mike Tenay

It’s not the easiest proposition to turn wrestling’s biggest hero until a villain. When Gagne told The Booking Team of this plan, they were confused and anxious. Dusty said that they couldn’t just have Hulk Hogan run down, attack Bret Hart and then next week be evil. No, they had to build such a thing and hype it. Bruce Hart asked how WCW was supposed to hype something that was better used as a surprise. It wasn’t that WCW could just say ‘Oh, by the way, tune into the pay per view and see Hulk Hogan turn into an evil bastard.’ Certainly not.

The first thing that WCW did was plant a seed of doubt in a fan’s mind about Hulk Hogan. Was he a hero? He would always show up to wrestle his match or fight his fight, but afterwards was another story. For example, he didn’t go out of his way to help Roddy Piper. Roddy Piper was another hero that had recently joined WCW to re-introduce Hulk Hogan, coincidentally. He also had a popular talk show segment on each Nitro to interview wrestlers or mediate confrontations. It was during these segments that the turn began to heat up.

Roddy Piper got the chance to interview the Public Menace. The Public Menace were the group of young men who had become just that, a menace to WCW. This group was the Two Seans and their cackling leader, Brian Pillman. They had dismantled another three-man stable at Clash of the Champions, the Triple Alliance to gain some recognition and were thinking themselves quite cocky. Looking strong, these men acted the part. Backstage segments highlighted the group’s ability to get under the skin of other wrestlers and even staff. Once, Brian Pillman wanted his match with Sting to go on later in the show, so began heckling and arguing with Harley Race. Compared to these three men, the serious Harley Race was a face.

Pillman did not get his way, so he put up his feet and protested with his friends in the back. Sean Michaels aka Mark Bagwell sat there with an annoying smile and fruity drink, like he was at a party. Meanwhile, Sting stood in the ring with his hands on his hips wondering what was going on. Sting was fed up with the protest vinettes and stalked backstage, over-turning their card-table as he confronted the group. They all jumped Sting and the backstage area erupted into a melee.

The following week, Roddy Piper interviewed The Public Menace and asked them just why they were making a mockery of wrestling. He said Pillman was asking for things he hadn’t earned and his two good buddies were mocking wrestlers they hadn’t beat, like Shawn Michaels. At that, Pillman grabbed the microphone and said that there was one man they were going to beat, or rather beat-down. The group then jumped Roddy Piper himself, stomping him into the mat. It was actually Sting to run down to make the save. All three men didn’t stay for a second party, but fled the ring. Piper thanked Sting but wondered where his "friend" Hulk Hogan was at.

After that, Roddy Piper just couldn’t wait to use a whole segment to run down the men who attacked him, inviting down his friend Sting to do the same. The colorful Sting was glad to, agreeing with everything Piper said. Sting cursed out the men who attacked Roddy Piper when Brian Pillman and his friends came out again. After trading comments, Brian Pillman grinned wickedly and revealed that there was a fourth man to their group. After that boast, Sting topped this comment by saying that there was a third man to his. Hulk Hogan. And he was going to show up to personally kick their butts at Superbrawl. But who was Brian Pillman’s fourth man? He said fans would have to tune in to Superbrawl to find that out. And fans weren’t disappointed.

It was ironic that both men were talking about Hulk Hogan, but the audience did not know the identity of The Public Menace’s fourth man until the end of Superbrawl. During the final match, Hulk Hogan was nowhere to be found. Sting and Roddy Piper actually were forced to wrestle much of the match handicapped. The announcers began to assume that Hogan had been ambushed backstage, but soon he turned up and made his way to the ring to join his friends. But as he slid in to save the crumpled Sting from a double-team, the Public Menace fled the ring. The hero had cleared the ring without any effort whatsoever.

Hulk Hogan saved the day, or so it seemed. After only a moment, Hogan turned around and gave the fallen Sting a big leg drop. Mike Tenay astutely pointed out that Hulk Hogan was the fourth man. He then cheapshotted Roddy Piper and pushed him off the apron, where his new pals clobbered Sting further. Tony Schiavone was good at emotional outbursts and sounding befuddled, which he certainly stretched over-the-top on this occasion. The heel group celebrated in the ring and added insult to injury as they assaulted Sting further. Hogan delivered another legdrop and then Sean Waltman picked him up so Brian Pillman could slap the colorful Sting across the painted face, then cackle annoyingly. Superbrawl went off the air as Tony Schiavone called out, “Let’s get everybody out here and kick their rear ends! Please! Somebody get off their butts!”

WCW Superbrawl - February 1996

Dark Match: Eddie Guerrero defeated Ron Simmons by DQ

Saturn defeated Shogun, the Japanese Warrior

The Road Warriors defeated The Allied Powers

Steve Austin defeated Dr. Death

Diamond Dallas Page defeated Barry Windham

No DQ: Big Van Vader & Ric Flair defeated Mean Mark & The Giant

Bret Hart defeated Lord Steven Regal

6 Man Match: Brian Pillman, Sean Michaels & Sean Waltman vs. Sting, Roddy Piper & Hulk Hogan ended in a no contest

There certainly wasn’t anything else going on of note to a casual fan. However, many other wrestlers plugged along as normal. Steve Austin was rewarded for his solid work and was given the TV Title, which he won in February. It was actually his second reign as TV champion, the first being way back in March of 1995. He was feuding with Dr. Death Steve Williams in February, who once cracked him over the head with a 2x4 during a tag-match, reportedly causing him to black out for several minutes.

Steve Austin finished the feud against Dr. Death competing at Superbrawl. In the meantime, Scott Norton tried to soften up Austin for his friend. Norton had the same type of style as Vader, hard-hitting power moves that were sometimes stiff. Austin actually had to clock Norton with a stiff kick once to reign him back in and get him to remember his wrestling basics. Wrestlers often struck opponents for real to express a nonverbal message and in Austin’s case, that message was: Wake up and pay attention.

Barry Windham woke up his fans in a feud with another rising star. The evil Windham feuded with Diamond Dallas Page and his annoying wife/valet, Kimberly. The feud began when Diamond Dallas Page was wrestling an opener against Brian Armstrong of the Varsity Club and Barry Windham decided to make an appearance at ringside with a baseball bat. He pointed it at DDP and smirked, but did not interfere in the match. His presence was enough to give Brian Armstrong an advantage, but DDP luckily pulled out a win when he hit an unexpected Diamond-Cutter, his match finisher. DDP and Windham shared a staredown before being separated.

Windham seemed to love his new prop, the baseball bat, and carried it everywhere. When he threatened Kimberly, he had the baseball bat and when he attacked DDP backstage, he had the baseball bat. Quite frankly, DDP had just about enough of this annoying baseball bat and at Superbrawl, made a point of retrieving it so he could break it in half over his thigh. DDP was quite wired by this point in the match, so did not feel the pain until after the pay per view but the bat was a real bat, made out of real wood. Some fans insinuated that the bat was fake, despite WCW zooming in on it during the match.

The tag division also saw attention. The Allied Powers established a winning streak on Nitro, except against The Road Warriors. The Warriors had again become Tag-Champs by beating the Midnight Express for the belts, which critics believed showed Gagne’s influence. Whereas Eric Bischoff counted the Midnight Express as a draw, Gagne counted them only as a dated gimmick.

Davey Boy Smith and The Patriot possessed a unique chemistry that no other tag-team seemed to have, not even close friends Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko. An added nationalistic element built the group as bigger faces. No heel could get away without being heavily boo’d when they faced The Allied Powers. After all, it was like facing and wrestling literal symbols of two countries. Although, there were some problems.

Again, The Allied Powers could not win against the Road Warriors. These teams wrestled three times, the last being on the pay per view. Each time, the faces would miscommunicate or there would be a disqualification. This caused an enormous amount of added conflict between the heroes. It began to get to the point that the American fans were screaming, trying to get The Patriot to beat up Davey Boy Smith. They just exchanged sharp glares though, perhaps while continuing a slow build to a confrontation.

In other wrestling news, the WWF gave their World Title to the Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior won a short match against his rival, Hacksaw Jim Duggan to gain the title. The company had been also doing a role-reversal, pitting Lex Luger as a face as he started a feud with the evil Ultimate Warrior in February. Reportedly, the great amount of attention given to the two wrestlers was building toward Wrestlemania. Another person due for some attention was Mean Mark.

Mean Mark returned from Georgia Wrestling in time for Superbrawl. He actually returned after WCW finally ironed out his contract, sealing it with a major raise. WCW had to overpay to convince Mark to stay, a contract reportedly over 15,000 dollars per month, a huge amount. Critics said that this was near Hulk Hogan levels and was way too much to begin with. Perhaps the reason for Mean Mark’s return was WCW didn’t want to waste their money. In any event, he returned as The Giant’s buddy in a battle against Vader and Ric Flair.

The Giant needed a buddy against Big Van Vader and Ric Flair, an oversized tag-team smorgasbord at Superbrawl. The brief feud began earlier that month when Flair recruited Vader to protect him from The Giant, because apparently the bigger man felt a bit insulted at being called a ‘slow wooly mammoth’. Everyone knows that The Giant isn’t a mammoth. In any case, the Superbrawl tag-match was actually a rematch from an earlier Nitro, one that ended in a no contest. During that original match, Vader and The Giant collided in the middle of the ring. It was actually a memorable spot, as neither one seemed to move the other. After violently colliding together, the two wrestlers fell backwards and were both stunned, selling the impact. The referee neared a ten count before Vader was able to use the ropes to haul himself up. Meanwhile, The Giant sold being stunned for a bit longer.

Vader showed he wasn’t going to back down. He hauled up The Giant and flung him over the ropes violently. The Giant actually grabbed onto the top rope as he was falling, but after colliding with the apron, his grip snapped and he tumbled to the ground. Vader stepped outside calmly and stomped The Giant viciously. When Ric Flair entered the fray, Mean Mark came over to even the odds and a brawl broke out between all of them. The referee couldn’t calm these wrestlers so called the match a no-contest. Harley Race later came out and said that the match was a disgrace to the fans. He made the rematch at Superbrawl a 'No DQ match', because he was sure the fans wanted a resolution to this one.

More contract disputes busied Greg Gagne, as at least four wrestlers came up for renewal. The only casualty was the Great Muta, a part-time wrestler who left WCW for the second time in his tenure with the company. Originally, WCW had scooped him up after a lawsuit with NJPW, but this time Muta showed his true colors. Muta was a unique attraction, however WCW had to spend an inordinate amount of time making him happy. They had to charter a special plane to fly him in from Japan every two weeks for a single match. He asked for a special dressing area. Muta also spoke very little English, which didn’t help him communicate backstage. He said very little or nothing at all because he was embarrassed of his skill with the language. A shame, because he could really wrestle.

Another person who could wrestle was Steven Regal. He had just about mastered looking arrogant and sold it at every opportunity. No one else in wrestling could match his over-the-top smirk. The Booking Team chose him to face Bret Hart because of his experience and because it seemed every other choice was taken. Regal did his best however, to make himself seem like a threat against Bret Hart, when the previous month, fans knew he couldn’t even beat Ron Simmons. WCW showed how you go from this loss to a title shot.

WCW actually realized that this was going to be the reaction of many fans, so they actually let Regal speak about it. This was unheard of by anyone other than Paul Heyman. Regal added that royalty always gets the breaks. And it certainly seemed like he was correct. Bret Hart came out to respond to his comments and Lord Steven Regal cheapshotted him before he could begin a retort. Another advantage the Booking Team wanted to give Regal was a Bret Hart injury.

Regal attacked Hart’s leg and stomped on the knee while holding the foot. He then placed it on the ropes and stomped it again. And again. And then again. The next week, Bret Hart sold this perfectly, as he could walk, but with a limp that seemed disabling. Regal questioned if an injured champion was even going to be a challenge and complimented himself on such fine strategy. He philosophized that in wrestling, you needed to be smart, but also cunning. Lord Steven Regal said he could be both.

However, this setup was just a vehicle for a comeback. Bret Hart did so during the match at Superbrawl, which pitted the injured champion against the confident challenger. Hart began the match limping quite a bit, limiting both his mobility and speed. The announcers questioned if Bret Hart could even lock in the Sharpshooter. Mike Tenay was quite detailed in explaining Hart’s injury and his reliance on his legs. Meanwhile, Regal worked over that injury further, stomping and kicking at Hart’s knee several times.

After the referee broke a short submission attempt, Bret Hart began his comeback. He whipped Regal into the corner chest-first and then collapsed in pain from his leg, but to show his resilience, Hart got right back up again. He walked over, grabbed the ropes to steady himself, then in delivered a few stomps of his owns. Hart reversed all of Regal’s moves and used many amateur style takedowns. He couldn’t stand the weight on his leg to lift Regal, but Hart was able to work many ground moves. To finish, Hart locked in a cross kneelock, a move that Hart could execute laying on the ground. But who taught him this move would remain a mystery.

One last thing happened in February that was of note. Greg Gagne got a call from Eric Bischoff saying that if he didn’t get his backpay, he was going to sue WCW.

Most Important Points (MIPs)

1) Hulk Hogan turned heel at Superbrawl and joined the Public Menace.

2) Eric Bischoff threatened to sue WCW

3) Bret Hart defended his World Title at Superbrawl after selling an injury

4) Steve Austin won the TV Title

5) There were no contract disputes unresolved except The Great Muta, who left WCW

--

Wrestling with Shadows - Eric Bischoff

"Welcome back to Wrestling with Shadows, the investigative show that looks deep into the latest issues of wrestling," he says slowly, "And on today's show, we're looking again at Eric Bischoff or rather, what Bischoff is doing now that he is free from World Championship Wrestling. Eric Bischoff was kind enough to give us some comments while he was vacationing down in Florida."

The screen cuts to a bright, sunny day. The location seems to be a boat on an isolated ocean. The calm waves whap gently back and forth against the sides of the large, white fishing boat as the motor slows and then dies away. Eric Bischoff walks out and grins at the camera, having cut his hair short. He wears sunglasses and looks in good spirits as he gives the camera a pleasant wave and grabs his fishing pole so he can cast off the back of the boat.

Peter Michaels sits next to Bischoff in a lawn chair and asks, “So Eric Bischoff, many wrestling fans would like to know if you miss WCW?”

Bischoff chuckles and says, “Do I miss it? Hell no! Do I miss a root canal?”

Peter Michaels chuckles uncomfortably and continues, “I’m sure some fans wouldn’t mind seeing you return. Critics claim you added an element that can’t be duplicated. And you certainly turned WCW into a profitable company.”

Bischoff leans back and puts his feet up, saying, “The corporate types don’t care about an ‘added element’ or what I brought to the table. I thought they cared about the bottom line, but even that wasn’t good enough. I guess.”

“It seems not. What do you regret most?”

“I dunno, a bunch of stuff. Letting Dusty Rhodes railroad me into some god-awful storylines and giving Hulk Hogan a barrel of money. Oh man, I regret not telling off Ric Flair sooner. He’s a son of a [beep]. I heard he‘s even got his job back. That piece of [beep].”

“Eric, don’t get excited. I thought you were past accusing him of being WCW’s leak.”

“You know what, I’m on vacation and I don’t give a [beep]. It wouldn’t surprise me if WCW made the whole ‘leak’ thing up. Oh, watch out, I might be giving away their next storyline! Is a leak? Isn’t he leak? Tune in and find out! [beep] them.”

"You really don't like Ric Flair, do you?"

"That guy just really gets under my skin for some reason. To be honest with you, I hate his guts."

“Did anyone earn your respect in WCW?”

“I respected Terry Funk, but that’s about it. Maybe Stu Hart. I worked with him. Everybody else can go [beep] themselves.”

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

Bischoff chuckles, “Well yeah, maybe it is. But you know what, I got put through so much crap you wouldn’t believe it. I don’t envy anybody in charge of WCW now, because that whole corporate thing just was horrible. You couldn’t do anything yourself! Ted Turner or the ‘random corporate executive of the week‘ could just wander on down to give me orders. Horrible.”

“Some say you are the one who had Vince McMahon at the biggest disadvantage. Will it ever be the same way again?”

“I envy Vince McMahon. He doesn’t have to deal with twenty other people to get things done. I think we had him down but couldn’t close the deal. It wasn’t even my fault. Anyway, it’ll never get to be that one-sided again, Vince is too smart.”

“What’s next for Eric Bischoff?”

“Well, I’m going to sit here for a while, maybe fish some more. Do that for a couple of months.”

Peter Michaels nods slowly and says, “So there’s no chance you’ll be back in wrestling?”

“I wouldn’t say there’s no chance, but I happen to like fishing,” he chuckles.

The screen cuts back to the studio and Peter Michaels says, “Reportedly, Eric Bischoff is still fishing on his lengthy vacation in Florida. As we draw to a close on this man, there’s simply no one I’ve seen more burned out than Eric Bischoff. Good luck to you, Eric.”

---

Man, I spent yesterday reading this, And I gotta say, This is one of the best diaries going on right now. I enjoyed the little spotlight specials, And wish you could still do them, They were a good way to know who's who. What I'm really enjoying is Bischoff trying to find out who the leak was (well, Bischoff got canned, so we might not know). I also loved the part with Herd coming in and giving everyone some shitty gimmicks. You also kept this realistic, As far as the main event scene goes, With guys from the WWF coming in and getting killed by Hogan. Keep up the great work, I'll be reading. (Y)

January 1996 - Gagne takes the Reigns

Greg Gagne is a nice guy. Some would say he’s too nice of a guy, hence putting an extra disadvantage on himself. Since the job of organizing WCW was hard enough, there was no need for Gagne to be at a disadvantage from the outset. Still, he made many of the hard changes, but left their actual implementation to Tony Schiavone, the cutthroat. Yes, Tony Schiavone, the cutthroat. When he would carry out Gagne’s orders, Schiavone would never get any spots on his record because he would dismiss a wrestler or implement a storyline with so much class that it was hard to get upset at him. One wouldn’t think Schiavone was capable of such a stressful job, as he was so casual in the booth, but the wrestlers soon learned that appearances were deceiving. He was a success right from the start at his job.

The first casualty of Gagne’s changes were the Misfits. This stable really had been given every chance to succeed, but seemed to be slipping down the card with every failure. The Beast was the biggest failure of the group. His only bright spot was when he had a good match with Chris Benoit a few months back, else he was tripping over himself, missing moves and generally looking green. However, WCW didn’t have the money to develop such a man, so he was released. New Jersey Jim was released as well, and he rejoined ECW immediately as his old moniker, Balls Mahoney. The only one serviceable was Samu the Savage and he was sent down to Georgia Wrestling where Jim Cornette would hopefully work his magic on him.

Secondly, the midcard was reorganized. Greg Valentine was released as it seemed his age was beginning to catch up with him. Valentine went home and was not heard from in January, all news of the former Hammer disappearing to nothing. Elizabeth was surprisingly also released, leading some critics to argue that she was brought aboard to lure in Randy Savage. This rumor began when Elizabeth was originally signed but Randy Savage seemed to snub WCW at every opportunity, especially being so solidly involved in the WWF storylines. Both Bones (Jimmy Garvin) and Tracy Smothers joined Georgia Wrestling, making way for some youngsters.

The reasoning for bringing up or signing several younger wrestlers over veterans was a philosophical one. Gagne was certainly more flexible in this area than Eric Bischoff. The first two youngsters to seriously get over were named Mark Bagwell and Sean Waltman. Waltman had once been part of the WCW before, but had since gone his separate ways with his good buddy Kevin Nash, whom he teamed with. Waltman decided to try his luck again in WCW at the last moment. Mark and Sean were paired together and given the time during matches to get over, something Bischoff had not given the original Clique. For example, the infamous five minute Dustin Rhodes match last year was always the best example of Eric Bischoff’s determination to put veterans over youngsters, no matter what the outcome. The Clique's matches were also very short.

Mark Bagwell was given an interesting gimmick, close to being a Jim Herd candidate for being notorious. However, whereas someone else might have looked upon it like a curse, Bagwell played it with so much humor that he was successful. Bagwell was the ‘fake Shawn Michaels’. Literally, Bagwell dressed up in a bad wig and tear off pants in a gimmicky imitation of the WWF main eventer. It was hilarious. Bagwell’s name was Sean Michaels, changing his first name to 'Sean' not Shawn, to protect against lawsuits. The two Seans were a good heel group, being arrogant and cocky at every opportunity. They tossed opponents to the outside to frustrate them, stomped on hands or feet and generally upped the energy of matches.

Some other workers were given minor changes to try to lend them that energy too. Jinsei Shinzaki, the Japanese Shogun, was brought back to the main roster but his change was that he was given Mister Fuji as a manager. There’s simply no one else in wrestling better to get an oriental worker over than Mister Fuji. Fuji now wore a Japanese kimono, a black and white checkered robe which was exceptionally done. Gone was the suit, tie and black hat. Dustin Rhodes was also given a manager, his wife Terri Runnels. For the first time, Dustin was inspired to change his character thanks to Terri. His previous gimmick was a Texas cowboy, but to distance himself from Dusty Rhodes, he became the perverted musical genius Amadeus. Again, appearances were deceiving, as one would never figure Dustin Rhodes, the wholesome son of Dusty, was capable being a pervert. But nonetheless, he would get out there with his white wig and short pants, then make Terri bend over and spank her.

Before moving on, a word has to be said about Ric Flair, the hot topic of January. Certainly everyone figured he was the “leak” in WCW when he just came out and said so on the TV show, Wrestling with Shadows. However, he later retracted this confession and confused everyone. Was he the leak or not? As Gagne had reasoned, Flair was too classy to be spreading juvenile rumors and leaking information to the press like a politician. Flair wasn’t a politician and couldn't have done it. Flair was a WCW man and took everything he was given in stride, even more so than anyone on the roster, even Ricky Steamboat. His friend Ricky Steamboat had left WCW in December, so was left no reoccurring rivalry. However, Ric Flair was expected to wrestle no one but Bret Hart.

The calls came out of the woodwork once news of the reorganized roster was leaked to the public. Everyone and their brother was calling Greg Gagne. Praise the man’s patience. In any case, the only one brought back was Hulk Hogan, as the two of them somehow got along excellently. Hogan actually returned on Ric Flair’s episode of Wrestling with Shadows, but did not return to the ring a few weeks after that. They just had to hype the return. WCW even brought in someone special to add to the return, which was now an “event.” They brought in Rowdy Roddy Piper. Piper interviewed the returning Hogan on his new talk show segment, which of course, fans ate up. But then Vader and Barry Windham both interrupted. Windham began his comments by throwing insults at Hogan in a lengthy diatribe, but couldn’t hold Vader back when Piper cussed him out during a retort. All four men brawled as the show went to commercial.

A few more changes were done later in the month. Owen Hart returned to his original, annoying heel character and there was much rejoicing. This was even further complemented by the fact that he feuded with Steve Austin. It was easy to get over against Austin, the more annoying the heel, the easier it was. Austin had this way of getting his opponent’s over merely by his reaction to their comments, with a knowing smirk or a dark glare. When he delivered a stunner, fans knew that this heel was getting under Austin’s skin and Owen Hart twice got a stunner. Quite an accomplishment.

Seriously contrasting this was the face turn of Davey Boy Smith. He became an all-american hero, or rather an all-british hero. He saved The Giant from an attack by multiple wrestlers, including Michael Wallstreet. Although Wallstreet was perhaps getting the better of the brawl, Davey Boy ended it by clearing the ring, tossing out people left and right. The turn was successful, but Davey Boy was moved from interacting in The Giant’s feud to his own, although it was clearly on slow build. His opponents were an old guy and a new guy. The old guy was Dr. Death Steve Williams, who was the veteran, and the new guy was Street-fighter Scott Norton. WCW finally thought they had found a tough, stiff wrestler to match with Steve Williams. Gimmicks aside, they did match in style and were equal to Davey Boy’s challenge.

The British Bulldog then had to get a partner to help him at the Clash of the Champions to even the odds against these two foes. During Nitro, Davey Boy took the mic and said that he wanted his partner to be honorable and a man he could depend on, but also one of national pride, like him. There was nothing more to say as someone interrupted, to show Davey Boy Smith a partner with real national pride. The Patriot, the living USA gimmick, joined Davey Boy in the ring and shook his hand. They traded flags and seemed to trade respect as well, as the Allied Powers.

The Allied Powers took on both Scott Norton and Dr. Death at Clash of the Champions at the end of the month, but were surprisingly defeated. Dr. Death had a sadistic smile and lived up to his name, using a submission game that seemed to put his opponents off theirs. Davey Boy was forced out of the ring when the referee didn’t see a tag and this seriously put The Patriot at a disadvantage. Britain and America literally stared each other down after The Patriot was pinned, but Dr. Death tried to sneak attack them with a kendo stick. Both superpowers cleared the ring and celebrated with flag waving.

Another multiple man feud began with the formation of the Triple Alliance. This small stable was a powerful combination of Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit and Saturn. All three men had been partners sporadically throughout 1995, so it came as little surprise to anyone that they would watch each others backs fulltime. Chris Benoit actually cut a promo to mark the formation of this stable, a man not known for his microphone work. He played it intensely, demanding Brian Pillman come out to face him because he was going to tell him to his face what a piece of you know what he was. They beeped the you know what. Brian Pillman had cheated to win a match against Benoit earlier in the night and cackled in his usual fashion when he answered the challenge. As he walked down to the ring, Pillman brought with him not one friend to watch his back, but two. The two Seans had joined him and rushed the ring. The energy level shot up immediately on Nitro and the teams brawled, but not to a commercial. The show actually kept on the brawl until multiple people from the locker room had to run out to separate these men. The two Seans actually began to symbolize chaos in WCW, doing just about whatever they could to cause it or trip off a brawl.

Diamond Dallas Page, Arn Anderson, Ron Simmons and others tried to separate these men. Pillman was like a crazy man, throwing off those restraining him to try to kick at Chris Benoit. But Mister Hughes was able to drag him off and calm him down with a stare, tempered with a friendly pat on the back. The collision of these six superstars was perhaps the attraction of the pay per view, overshadowing even the main event. Certainly it overshadowed Hulk Hogan’s tag-match workrate and Roddy Piper’s reaction.

Clash of the Champions - January 1995

Dark Match: Ron Simmons defeated Lord Steven Regal

Dr. Death & Scott Norton defeated The Allied Powers

The Giant defeated Michael Wallstreet by DQ

The Road Warriors defeated The Midnight Express to win the WCW Tag Titles

Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart

Hulk Hogan & Sting defeated Vader & Barry Windham

6-Man Elimination: Sean Michael, Sean Waltman, Brian Pillman defeated the Triple Alliance

Bret Hart defeated Ric Flair

Fans were a little less inspired by the Steve Austin feud this time, as Greg Gagne showed his inexperience in booking it. Also, he didn’t realize that Austin had already wrestled Owen a year ago, becoming the then TV champion. He had since lost the championship, but the history remained. Both men seemed to avoid each other in the locker room since that match, perhaps both not happy with it back in the day. They actually talked in January, perhaps because they had to, in order to plan out their feud. It also offered an opportunity to reconcile some differences and plan the new match that should have been wrestled way back in March of 1995. The result was much better, saving the feud.

Two leaks occurred in January, that of the roster plans and Paul Orndorff’s nagging knee injury. Apparently, Ric Flair’s promise of no more leaks was going to get him in hot water. Avoiding attention, Orndorff sat out the last week of January because he had injured himself in a match against Hulk Hogan, during a TV main event no less. The cocky Orndorff just couldn’t be seen limping around, else his heel character would seriously suffer. Hogan was apologetic about the injury, calling it a fluke occurrence. Orndorff went to see a specialist in California and when he returned, it was not very good news. He could sit out for three months to recover or undergo a routine Chondroplasty, and be out for only a month. The procedure is not relevant to a wrestling report narrative, but needless to say, there were sharp knives and scraping involved. It was a tough decision that he took rather lightly, deciding his best solution was his own solution. He stayed off his feet most days and got up when he had to, such as for Nitro.

In wrestling news, Lex Luger won the Royal Rumble, which took place the day after Clash of the Champions. Verne Gagne bought up Stampede Wrestling, giving Stu Hart a healthy profit. Shane Douglas actually left ECW and went to USWA, perhaps an even smaller wrestling organization. His reason for doing so was that he wasn’t featured in enough main events, quite a shocker from the master politician. Paul Heyman said to him that his check was in the mail. But then, an actual surprise occurred in ECW. Woman cut a promo saying that she signed a deal to pose naked in Playboy. It was shocking that such a high profile magazine would feature her. Nancy Daus aka Woman was going through a divorce at the time, so many critics speculated that she needed money to pay off her ex-husband. At any rate, it spiked attendance for house shows and the large show, ECW Loud and Proud, in January.

Bruce Hart, of the WCW Booking Team, then pulled an Eric Bischoff. He began to speculate that ECW was working with the WWF. How else would Woman get so high profile a magazine appearance? The critics had a field day. They said the WWF got this high profile deal for her and was even taking a percentage. Certainly it was possible, but for both brands to just toss aside their philosophical differences was really not very probable.

Greg Gagne ran his first Booking Team meeting and revealed what he told Ted Turner. This was the information that got him the job. It was simply one thing, not any combination of things. Ted Turner just assumed he was going to make changes, but really didn’t care what they were. It was well-known by now that Ted just wanted his little wrasslin’ show to go on and stop taking up his valuable time. In any case, Gagne’s statement was a good enough statement of entertainment that he wanted to see it done immediately.

Greg Gagne was going to turn Hulk Hogan heel.

Top Five MiPS (Most Important Points) of January 1996:

1. Greg Gagne got his job by saying he was going to turn Hulk Hogan heel.

2. Youngsters are becoming a force, especially the two Seans

3. Ric Flair's promise that there would be no more rumors was false

4. Bruce Hart speculated that the WWF and ECW were working together

5. Bret Hart defended his World Title, which he won at the GAB in August 1995

--

Scouting with Cornette - At Georgia Wrestling

"Jim Cornette is one of the highest rated scouts in wrestling today. Each and every week he is going to bring us the latest scouting reports about wrestlers in WCW," a narrator says, "Who is who? How do they wrestle? What kind of character do they have? Those questions and more will be answered by Jim Cornette. Now...here he is...Jim Cornette!"

"Today I'm looking at wrestlers that are in training down in Georgia Wrestling. Perhaps they will be back up soon in WCW, but only if they work hard," Cornette says.

"Mean Mark. This guy has been through hell and I'm not afraid to say it. He can't use the most successful gimmick he's ever had because he might get sued, and recently WCW has been searching for a new one. Really he's just a bad-ass. Simple as that. Maybe that should be his gimmick?"

"Chris Candido. This youngster has wrestled all over the United States, but mostly on the east coast. His wife, Tammy Synch, was hired by WCW a while back and she keeps telling us how great he is. And he certainly is a hard worker, if nothing else. But he plays an arrogant character best and seems to have an edge like Chris Benoit. I think he's on the fast track to the main roster."

"Shogan. Jinsei Shinzaki is a great technician and wrestler. He boosts the workrate every single time he's in the ring. His look is unique too. He's got tattoos all over his damn body and he doesn't hide them anymore. We want to see these tattoos. They tell us that he's a badass and he's not afraid to endure pain, like the pain of all those tattoos. WCW has named him Shogun, making him a traditional Japanese warrior. We've taken that a step further in Georgia Wrestling when Mister Fuji was signed. Mister Fuji was able to carry Shogan on the mic and deliver that extra little bit he was missing. Fuji is also great at ringside."

"Bones. Mister Bones is Jimmy Garvin, a veteran of the ring. His gimmick is...well, it's a supernatural one that was supposed to match up with Dr. Death Steve Williams. At Georgia Wrestling, we've been working with Garvin on improving his look, giving him different props to try, like a hood or a dark robe. Never say Garvin doesn't do what's expected, because he'll go over-the-top to make Bones a fearsome voodoo expert."

"The Patriot. The Patriot is Del Wilkes, another veteran. His All-American gimmick gets over every time. He wears a colorful mask and carries the American flag with him to the ring. Really all his work is already done for him by the US of A and people love the US of A. He can also play the underdog role really well, as nobody wants to see a heel beating a patriot. At Georgia Wrestling, he's been working on his ring work."

"Mr. Hughes. A mainstay sidekick character and Curtis Hughes plays it well, I think. His size seems to be his biggest advantage and he focuses on power moves in the ring, like Davey Boy Smith. Teaming up with Brian Pillman lately has helped him develop and also get a brief feud with Steve Austin. He usually wears dark sunglasses and a scowl. He was only briefly with Georgia Wrestling to work on his technique, but is back with the main roster again."

"Thanks for joining us today for Scouting with Cornette. You'll be seeing these wrestlers again soon!"

--