Many new fans may not recognize these names or possibly only know Tommy Rich as the guy from the Full Blooded Italians from ECW. But this was THE feud that got me into wrestling. I lived in NJ and got the superstation WTBS so I was able to watch Georgia Championship wrestling. These guys had a feud that lasted years and was as brutal and vicious as anything today in my opinion. This was also the time I thought that wrestling was “real”. I still remember seeing Sawyer hang Rich from the ropes with a rope and thinking OMG someone has to stop this. Yes, some of this may be nostalgic on my part, but from then on I was hooked on wrestling.
Before Michael Hayes became one of the creative guys behind Smackdown, he was a member of the Fabulous Freebirds. Hayes was part of a tag team which also included Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy and was one of the first wrestlers to use entrance music on their way to the ring. Yes, wrestlers used to come to the ring with no music & no pyro. The Freebirds came into the Dallas area and were a much needed opponent for the popular Von Erich brothers (which is a tragic story that I won’t get into here – but Google it if you don’t know). The Von Erichs were so popular in Texas - think of John Cena (well if you’re a 15 year old girl) and then multiply it by 100. In Dallas it was the Von Erichs and then everyone else. Long story short, Hayes/Gordy turned on Kerry during a match with Ric Flair – and the next thing you know they were headlining and selling out arena after arena. It was an intense feud that finally introduced a worthy and believable opponent for the Von Erichs.
The Four Horsemen were IT! Without the Horsemen there would be no ‘nWo’, no “DX” no Fortune, no “Main Event Mafia” (OK I may be the only person who liked the Mafia). It was a band of stars (all champions) that came together to form the greatest stable in pro wrestling history. There were many iterations of the Horsemen (although I try to forget the Paul Roma era). My favorite is Flair, Arn, Tully & Luger (sorry Barry Windham you came a close second). Anyway, the horsemen feuded with all the good guys at the time - Sting, Nikita Koloff & most importantly a “pre polka dot” American Dream Dusty Rhodes. It was the common man vs. the jet flying, limousine riding…well you probably know the rest. My favorite matches were the “War Games” – although I always hated that the horsemen manager JJ Dillon was involved because you always knew he would be the guy who would submit.
You have to remember the context. The WWF was coming off cartoony characterizations and moving into the Attitude era. It lost two of its biggest stars to rival WCW (Hall & Nash) and was in desperate need of stars (and stars that wouldn’t leave). Enter the Ringmaster. Yes, Steve Austin, who was fired from WCW, entered the WWF as the Ringmaster managed by Ted Dibiase. Not only that, he was losing to Savio Vega - - -let me say that again, losing to Savio Vega. Coming off Austin’s King of the Ring win (and famous Austin 3:16 just kicked you’re a$$ speech) he started his climb to main event. It didn’t happen overnight, but once Austin got there, he needed a foil. Enter the evil Mr. McMahon. After the whole Brett Hart incident (Brett screwed Brett) McMahon embraced the villain within and was the perfect bad to Austin’s new version of good. What every day Joe didn’t want to flip off their boss? It was anti-authority and it was great. Austin vs. McMahon in my opinion (with a little bit of DX sprinkled in) was one of the main reasons that WWF finally overtook the sinking ship that was WCW.
Newer viewers to wrestling may not understand how intense the “wars” between federations were. I am not talking about “fake” invasions or even the nWo vs. WCW intra company battles. The most talked about & publicized was the WCW vs. the WWF Monday night war. Eric Bischoff was giving away the results for Raw’s taped events on Nitro in advance. At one point, Tony Shiovanne told the audience that Mick Foley was going to win the WWF world title before it happened on TV (which ended up having the opposite than desired effect). Most importantly, this feud brought about the “pillaging of talent” where wrestlers would go the highest bidder and also brought about the guaranteed contracts and dreaded creative control. What amuses me is how much Vince McMahon complained about Ted Turner raiding his talent pool and how Vince (and WWF fans) forgot that they did the exact same thing during his national expansion (Hogan, Piper, JYD, basically everyone not named Tito Santana). However, what I miss is not only the Monday night War (I got tired of the constant bickering and don’t get me started on the “Nacho Man and Huckster) but really the existence of the territories. Multiple companies around the country offered fresh starts for talent and a way to re-invent themselves and not get stale within one company. It also provided the ability to learn different styles of wrestling and avoid “cookie cutter” looks and moves. I fear without this competition the biggest loser is the fans.
Honorable Mention:
Brett vs. Shawn (Montreal Screw Job), Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (Ripping the cross off during Pipers pit) & Sgt Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik
