Getting down to the nitty-gritty! If you haven’t read Part 1 & 2, go back and read them.
PART 3
#20. THE ODDEST COUPLE
There has been a fair share of famous couples in wrestling. Macho Man & Elizabeth. Matt Hardy & Lita. Edge & Vicki Guerrero…eww! But there is one couple that makes everyone’s stomachs turn: Mark Henry & Mae Young.
Before he was “The Silverback”, he was Sexual Chocolate. Mark Henry was a member of the Nation of Domination in the late 1990s. Mae Young was a wrestler back in the 1950s-1970s. For some reason, her and the Fabulous Moolah kept showing up on WWF Raw during the Attitude Era. I remember when Bubba Ray Dudley put her through a table! Mae Young was hardcore! Then she flashed her titties once on TV. Hmm, maybe she was TOO hardcore?
Anyway, for some reason the World’s Strongest Man and some drunken old hag ended up as am on-screen couple. It was downright disturbing to see them make out on television. I hope Henry was getting paid good money for this!
Their relationship came to a climax (I wish I didn’t have to use that word), when Mae Young became pregnant. Keep in mind that she was about 75 at the time. A month later (that was a quick pregnancy), she gave birth. I remember her being in stirrups with her back to the camera while Tony Garrea & Pat Paterson were telling her to “push”. Mark Henry is standing by cheering on his love as she gives birth to their beautiful baby…hand. Yes, she gave birth to a severed hand.
This was an angle that was odd from the very beginning; it only got odder and ended in the oddest possible way.
#19. DX INVADES WCW
In the late 1990s, WWF & WCW took shots at each other during the Monday night war. Triple H & crew decided to fire one back, in a make-shift tank.
In 1998 WCW was doing Nitro live in Norfolk, VA. On the same night, WWF was doing Raw live in Washington D.C. So D-generation X decided to cross the river and pay their rivals a visit!
Driving a military vehicle were Triple H, X-Pac, Road Dogg Jesse James, “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn & Chyna dressed in army fatigues. HHH was armed with a megaphone and declaring war on WCW by showing up to the arena and talking with fans outside. The fans were shock that DX had arrived at a WCW show. Triple H shocked the Raw viewers by asking those attending Nitro how much the paid for their tickets. Many said they got their tickets for free. Apparently to give the impression that the show was sold out, WCW would give out many free tickets just to fill seats left vacant in the arena.
DX was eventually shut out of the venue by WCW security and they returned back to D.C. But this was a major shot fired by WWF during the Monday Night War.
#18. THE BREAK-UP OF THE ROCKERS
Tag-teams break up all the time. One guy turns heel, one guys turns babyface. One guy goes to Raw, one guy goes to Smackdown. Etc. Over the last 25 years, I’ve seen a lot of great teams come and go. But this was the most memorable tag-team break-up I can remember.
The Rockers, Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty, were called “Tag-Team Specialists”. They brought a look that made the girls scream and the guys cheer. They brought tag-team wrestling to a new level with their incredible double-team moves. The Rockers paved the way for numerous tag-teams such as The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian to the Motor City Machine Guns and Generation Me.
The Rockers were from what I call “The Golden Age of Tag-Team Wrestling” and they feuded with everyone from The Brain Busters, The Bolsheviks, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Demolition and the Hart Foundation just to name a few. By late 1991, the duo began having arguments in the ring which led to miscommunication and losing matches. Many rumors were swirling that the end was near for this great tag-team.
On an episode of The Barbershop hosted by Brutus Beefcake, he asked the question to them if they were splitting up. After a brief interview, they shared a handshake and hug as fans cheered. When out of nowhere, Michaels blasted Jannetty in the face with a kick in what would later be called Sweet Chin Music. Michaels then picks up Jannetty, talks some trash to him, and then throws him into the Barbershop’s glass window. Immediately, Jannetty was covered in blood from going through the glass.
This was crazy because this was before the days of hardcore wrestling and blood was rarely used in the WWF during this time. It was extremely violent for its day and way ahead of its time. Blood was used so sparingly, that you rarely saw it on pay-per-view, let alone on free TV.
The former partners had an on-again/off-again feud for a while, till Shawn Michaels went on to become one of the greatest wrestling superstars in history. Although he beat Michaels for a brief reign as Intercontinental Champion, Marty Jannetty never achieved solo success in the WWF.
In 2005, the duo reunited for one night only against La Resistance on an episode of Monday Night Raw.
#17. A SAVAGE SNAKEBITE
One of my favorite wrestlers growing up was Jake “The Snake” Roberts. I thought he was so cool even though he was very different from many of the big stars of the day. He didn’t have Hulk Hogan’s arms, Ultimate Warrior’s chest, Jimmy Snuka’s agility, or Andre The Giant’s size. But there was a charisma with Jake that when he spoke, looked in the camera, or was in the ring just entranced me. It was almost like he would come through the TV and touch you. Plus he had Damien the python in his corner! All that plus the live snake I always thought was cool. When he turned heel, those same characteristics actually scared me. To add to that, he replaced the python with a king cobra. And one day on WWF Superstars, he really freaked me out.
Jake was feuding with Macho Man Randy Savage. Savage, had lost a career ending match to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania that year. He then became an announcer and got “married” to Miss Elizabeth at Summerslam that year. During the reception, Jake attacked Savage & frightened Elizabeth as he unveiled his cobra. Because of the danger, Jake also began wearing a snake handler’s glove to protect him from being bitten. One day in the ring, Jake called out Savage. He responded and was beaten down by Roberts and tied in the ropes. With Macho Man helpless, Jake went for the small bag in the corner. He unveiled a 6 foot long king cobra. He began teasing Savage with it eventually bringing it very close to him. Then suddenly, the cobra clamped down on Savage’s left arm and began biting him. The snake then began gnawing on his arm quickly drawing blood. Throughout Jake’s entire WWF career, he had always carried a snake to the ring. This was the first time it had ever actually bitten anyone, and here it was intentional. The stunned crowd began to scream in terror.
For some reason, Savage apparently agreed to have the snake bite him because it was devenomized so he had no fear of being poisoned. There was only one problem; once the snake bit Savage, Jake couldn’t get it off him. The cobra’s bite was so strong that Savage’s arm began to bleed profusely leading the network to censor the broadcast while the snake was on him. Jake tried everything to get the cobra to release its bite without breaking character. The last thing anyone would want is for Jake to show emotion or concern while generating so much heat. Finally, he got the snake to release its bite. The segment went on for a LOT longer than initially planned.
Jake Roberts and Randy Savage had a lengthy feud that lasted until February of 1992. Jake then began feuding with the Undertaker and after Wrestlemania VIII, left for WCW. On that same night, Savage became WWF Champion for the 2nd time by beating Ric Flair.
In an even stranger twist, the king cobra actually died not long after the incident. Savage later joked that the snake died from HIS venom! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YYYYYYYYYYYYEAAH!!!!
#16. THE TRAGEDY OF THE VON ERICH FAMILY
One of the first families in pro wrestling was the Von Erich family. Fritz Von Erich (real name: Jack Adkisson) was a wrestler and promoter who had 6 sons Jack Jr., Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike, & Chris.
Tragedy came early to this family when at the age of on 7, Jack Jr. was accidently electrocuted and drowned. The remaining 5 brothers all followed in their legendary dad’s footsteps and got into the wrestling business.
The Von Erichs’ became huge stars in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in Texas. They had many memorable feuds; their most famous being with the Fabulous Freebirds. But sadly this legendary family is known more for tragedy more than triumph.
In 1984, David Von Erich passed away. How he died is debatable. Some say it was of natural causes while some wrestlers claim it was drugs. Mike took his own life in 1987 by overdosing on tranquilizer pills. In 1991, suicide also took the life of Chris Von Erich.
The most successful of the brothers was Kerry Von Erich. In both WCCW & the NWA, Kerry was known as the “Modern Day Warrior”. In 1984, at a tribute show to his brother David, Kerry Von Erich defeated Ric Flair to become the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. In 1986, he had a very bad motorcycle accident that nearly ended his life. Because of the accident, his right foot had to be amputated. He was fitted with a prosthetic and actually was able to continue wrestling. A month after making his debut in the WWF as the “Texas Tornado”, he defeated Mr. Perfect at Summerslam 1990 to become the Intercontinental Champion. At Survivor Series that year, Mr. Perfect teamed up with the three members of Demolition to take on The Ultimate Warrior, Kerry Von Erich & the Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal). So on one team you had the Ultimate Warrior, Kerry who used to be known as The Modern Day Warrior, and Hawk & Animal who were the Road Warriors!
Sadly in 1993, like his brothers Mike & Chris, Kerry committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart.
After having to suffer through the deaths of 5 of his sons, Fritz Von Erich himself died of cancer in 1997.
In 2009, Kevin Von Erich represented his late father and brothers as the Von Erich family was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. The Von Erichs’ were inducted by long time rival and Fabulous Freebird, Michael “P.S.” Hayes.
Kevin remains the only living member of the Von Erich family. Kerry Von Erich’s daughter Lacey currently wrestles for TNA Wrestling.
#15. HULKAMANIA RUNS WILD IN WCW
In 1993, Hulk Hogan returned to WWF after a yearlong “retirement”. When he returned, the landscape of the company was very different. In his absence, Bret “The Hitman” Hart became the top star.
He returned to aid friend Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake in his rivalry with Money Inc (I.R.S. & Ted DiBiase). They were set to have a match at Wrestlemania IX. Later that night, Bret Hart lost the WWF Championship to Yokozuna. For some odd reason, Hogan pinned Yokozuna 2 minutes later to win the belt himself. Many people anticipated a match between Hogan & Hart, but it never happened in the WWF for one reason or another. At King Of The Ring in June, Hogan then dropped the title back to Yokozuna and left the WWF.
For the next year and a half, Hogan testified in court as Vince McMahon was brought a federal trial for allegedly distributing anabolic steroids to his wrestlers. Hogan admitted to taking steroids but declared McMahon never gave them to him or forced him to use them.
Hulk Hogan spent his time off from wrestling and the trial trying to become a movie and television star. He was shooting a television show called Thunder In Paradise at the Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando, FL…the same place where WCW was filming their television programming.
Hogan eventually had a meeting with Eric Bischoff. Bischoff’s goal was to see if Hogan had any interest in getting back into wrestling; most importantly in WCW. Within a few months, they reached a deal and in summer of 1994, Hulk Hogan signed with WCW.
This was a major shock to WWF fans. In the past, many wrestlers have gone back in forth between companies. But now the biggest star in the history of wrestling was now in WCW. Hulk Hogan joining WCW is without a doubt the biggest free agent signing in wrestling history. His signing laid the foundation for WCW becoming a major player in the wrestling world. In the next few years, several of WWF’s top stars joined WCW.
#14. ECW MASS TRANSIT
ECW was always extreme. Many believed that they were too extreme for pay-per-view. After the company and fans fought to get ECW a pay-per-view event, they finally were going to be granted one in 1997. But at the tail end of 1996, a bloody incident almost cost them everything.
In Revere, Massachusetts, a tag-team match was scheduled between D-Von Dudley & Axl Rotten Vs. The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa). It is unknown why, but Axl Rotten was not able to make the show. Paul Heyman met a young man who was at the event with his father. The young man was 6’2”, 350lb Eric Kulas. Kulas said he was 20 and was an independent wrestler who was trained by Killer Kowalski at his local wrestling school. Kulas’s father had paperwork to prove it. He dressed like an MBTA train worker and went under the name Mass Transit. After his father talked with Paul Heyman, he became Axl’s replacement in the tag-team match.
While going over the match with the other participants, he was asked if he had ever bled during a match. Kulas said he never had and asked New Jack if he could “blade” him. Now, two points need to be made: 1). If you are going to “add color” to a match, ALWAYS do it yourself. You’re the one who can feel it, so you will know how much is enough. 2). If you are going to let someone else blade you (and you shouldn’t), NEVER let it be New Jack!!!!
The match takes place, and Mass Transit gets a huge response from the hometown crowd. It was the last good thing that would happen to Eric Kulas on this night.
New Jack beat the holy hell out of this poor kid. During that match, Kulas’s father can be heard screaming “Please stop the match! He’s just a kid!!!” His father was crying as he watched his son get beaten to a bloody pulp in the ring. It turns out Eric Kulas was not an independent wrestler named Mass Transit. He was never trained by Killer Kowalski. He was never properly trained. He also lied about his age as the 20 year old was actually only 17. He was just a kid with a dream of being a pro wrestler. Kulas received a concussion, required tons of stitches and sustained bruises all over his body from the beating New Jack gave him in the ring.
Because of the incident, ECW’s Barely Legal pay-per-view for 1997 was temporarily cancelled. Eventually the ppv was rescheduled to air in April instead of the initially planned February. The Kulas family took Paul Heyman, New Jack, and ECW to court. When it was revealed that Eric Kulas and his father lied about his age, falsified his documentation, and misrepresented that he was actually a professional wrestler, the case was throw out of court and all charges were dropped.
Eric Kulas, who had suffered with weight problems his entire life, died in 2002 at the age of 23 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery.
#13. KATIE VICK
This will go down in wrestling history as the worst storyline ever.
In 2002, Triple H was feuding with Kane. Triple H said that Kane had a secret that The Game would reveal to the world. The next week, to Kane’s horror, he mentioned the name Katie Vick.
The following week, the story revealed that Kane had a girlfriend named Katie Vick. One night they were driving and they had a little too much to drink. Kane was behind the wheel and crashed their car. Kane was injured but Katie was dead. Triple H called him a murderer.
This storyline was weird enough then it got more disturbing.
We cut to video of a funeral home allegedly dated from 1992. Triple H walks into the parlor wearing a Big Freakin’ Red Machine t-shirt and a Kane mask. Pretending to be Kane, he walks over to an open casket with a body in it. The body (presumable a mannequin) wearing a cheerleader outfit. Triple H begins talking to it and tells a story about how Katie would not let Kane fondle her and that is why he killed her. Triple H begins groping the body. He then taking his clothes off, and eventually climbed into the casket and pretended to have sex with the “corpse”.
This angle and the HHH/Kane feud was quickly laid to rest (no pun intended), and HHH began feuding with Shawn Michaels almost immediately.
WWE’s dip into necrophilia was the most disturbing, bizarre and overall worst storyline ever. Many who remember the incident are still scratching their heads as to why the hell Vince would ever touch this subject.
#12. THE BODYSLAM FELT ‘ROUND THE WORLD!
Wrestlemania III was an epic event. The tagline was “Bigger, Better, Badder”. 93,173 fans packed the Pontiac Silver Dome in Detroit, MI on March 27th, 1987. The main event: Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant.
While Hogan had been the WWF Champion for over 3 years at this point, Andre at 7’4” & 550 lbs was still THE dominant force in wrestling. Andre was in the twilight of his career while Hogan was quickly taking the position of the most dominant force in wrestling. As Gorilla Monsoon would call it, this was “the irresistible force meeting the immovable object”.
Going into the match, Andre The Giant had not lost a match cleanly in over 15 years. This was to be a “passing of the torch” for Hogan…if Andre wanted to do it. When Vince told Andre about the finish, he wasn’t sure he wanted to put Hogan over. Eventually he told Hogan he would do it.
The finish of the match shocked everyone. Not only did Hogan beat Andre clean, but he did the impossible: he bodyslammed him!!!! As a 6 year old boy watching this match, I fell out of my seat. Hogan had the 24” pythons (brother!), but this was Andre The Giant. Andre had seldom been knocked off his feet in his career, and Hogan scooped him up and slammed him!
Because of the win, Hogan’s career went through the roof. Hogan would go on to become the biggest star in the history of the business and Andre became the first wrestler ever inducted into the WWF Hall Of Fame.
#11. BRET FINDS CLOSURE
In wrestling they always say “never say never”. So and so may come back for one more match. “That” reunion may take place. Anything can happen in the WWF! Wrestling fans believed that to be true about just about anything. Except one thing. Bret Hart will never come back to Raw and reconcile with Shawn Michaels after what happened in Montreal.
In January of 2010, Monday Night Raw had been running with its gimmick of having a guest host every week. Mostly the hosts were various celebrities and the occasional wrestler from the past. On January 4th (a night WWE was going head to head with TNA Impact), Bret Hart showed up as the guest host on Raw. It was announced a few week previously, but everyone still wondered if he would actually showed up. He did.
The ovation was one of the biggest I have ever heard. The crowd cheered for a few minutes after he hit the ring. Everyone wondered if he would call out Shawn Michaels. But DX was deeply involved in buildup for the Royal Rumble. They would never interrupt that storyline to touch on something that happened at Survivor Series almost 13 years ago.
It didn’t take long for Bret to call out Shawn. Would he come out? HBK’s music hits, and out he comes. Here were WWE’s two biggest stars of the 1990s in the ring together; rivals in the ring with legit heat between them. Both men acknowledged what happened and they mutually agreed to bury the ol’ hatchet. A handshake seemed to seal the deal.
As Shawn Michaels walked out of the ring, he turned back to look at Bret. We’ve seen this look before; he was giving the body language he gives when he’s about to deliver Sweet Chin Music. He paused, the crowd rose to its feet in anticipation. Instead, he walked to Bret and gave him a hug.
This was one of those moments I thought I would never see, and am glad I did see it. Both Bret & Shawn found the closure they needed. This was also the soul good moment of 2010 for the WWE.
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