Brooklyn Brawlin 5.20.09: The Matches That Changed the Wrestling Industry Forever

Posted by Dan Torkel on 05.20.2009

I wrote this right after waking up... from Randy Orton's last match! OOOH SICK BURN!!!

Before we start - CONGRATULATIONS TO FRIENDS ADAM AND ALANA COHEN on the birth of their son ZACHARY MORRIS RAYMOND COHEN - 5/19/09

Space… the final frontier... Oh wait, sorry, I'm just feeling very "trekkie" after seeing arguably the best movie of the year so far Saturday night in Star Trek. This is without a doubt the best thing J.J. Abrams has ever done and I am a fan of both Lost, and Fringe. This was just perfect, taking something that has been done and is known by EVERYONE and making it completely fresh and new with perfect casting. Not to mention, without ruining anything, that the plot actually ties up most loose ends any original fan can have.

Movie review over, wrestling column begin:

So the WWE Judgment Day was Sunday night and from the results and reviews I've read, it was exactly as I predicted in the Roundtable: a preview to another ppv, with many of the feuds remaining intact and open to be repeated and completed at the Extreme Rules ppv in a few weeks. Question: Why are so many people upset at Punk losing? This was the easiest call for me doing predictions. Umaga was once booked in main events with Cena, Triple H and Batista. He is making his ppv return and this is his first major feud. He is NOT a jobber to be quickly pushed aside. I think there is a residual effect since Punk so obviously should have beaten Kane at Backlash since Kane IS a jobber-to-the-stars and hasn't done anything since. Plus this sets Punk up well since he should get a rematch at Extreme Rules and win some type of crazy gimmick match that makes him look super strong. As far as MITB, they have the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands waiting for it at any time, which shows some strong booking from the SD crew. I still attest however, Punk should not cash it in on the spot, but use it to build a feud with Edge throughout the summer.

People complained about my Super-Cena column two weeks ago. I am fine with criticism, but ahem… CASE AND POINT! You have got to be kidding me! I won't even go into it, but really? REALLY? I guess the logic was "give Cena a fluke win here, so he can get killed at Extreme Rules and leave to film a movie." But Big Show and everyone else here looks really dumb. Speaking of dumb and Raw, see the WWE Title match between Orton and Batista. OK, WWE, I have to officially announce that the whole Orton experiment is now a ridiculous failure. I mean the WHOLE Orton experiment. It's not his fault entirely. Triple H cut him off at every turn. The bookers cannot determine what they want from him (crazed psychopathic evil heel, or pussy heel who can't beat Shane McMahon and needs his jobber posse to protect him). But in the ring, the blame lies with Orton. He is just a BORING wrestler. He does not have half the in ring acumen of his father, who was a classic technician who pulled out big moves and made cheating and cheap heel antics an art form. He won the Royal Rumble and main evented Wrestlemania, and yet I and many others just don't care when he wrestles.

Speaking of just not caring, how about Lex Luger… errrrr… I mean Batista. Perhaps Triple H and Flair just are not the best teachers. I had a Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian as a professor in college and he was awful! Maybe great wrestlers just aren't great teachers of the craft. Johnny Rodz was never considered a great wrestler, but he taught a ton of good workers. The same goes with Killer Kiwalski who was famous but never a very good wrestler. Batista was fun when he first turned on Triple H, but he has essentially wrestled the same match now for 4 years without changing his move set. It is stale and boring and pushed down our throats.

The bottom line with Judgment Day is that SD and ECW were good, and Raw sucked. Come to think about it that can describe WWE television since the draft. SD has the great athletes who put on great matches. Raw has big names that bore the hell out of me. That brings me to some advice for WWE. If you are going to run a ppv that so blatantly sets up another ppv (3 WEEKS LATER) than at lower the price. I'm not saying go crazy. But the economy sucks, and you are asking your fans for $40 a pop 12 times a year; plus $55 for Wrestlemania. That is $535 a year for serious fans. How about charge us $40 for the big events (Rumble, Summerslam, and Survivor Series)? Wrestlemania; we'll splurge and give you $55, but the other shows we want a break. $25. If monthly non-big name ppvs were $25 a pop, I might be tempted to buy them just to see a few matches. That is No Way Out, Backlash, Judgment Day, Extreme Rules, Night of Champions, The Bash, Unforgiven, Cyber Sunday, No Mercy, and Armageddon. How many more people would buy the shows? It would increase the buyrates and thus increase viewership to TV. But hey, I'm not the head of a multi-billion dollar enterprise. I'm just a fan.

I feel an underlying problem with the modern wrestling business, especially with the saturation of the product (4 weekly shows, 13 annual ppvs) is the lack of any long term importance and historical significance of what is happening. John Cena, Triple H, Edge, Orton, Batista, all these guys have resumes that should have them listed as all time greats. Just count the World Titles. But what made it all the more important years ago was the value of these titles, and the product was not EVERYWHERE. I remember how shocking it was when Honky Tonk Man beat Ricky Steamboat on a Superstars taping for the IC Title because Ricky fought so hard to get it and how could a chump like Honky just cheat and get it so easily? But today, we expect title changes every week. It is a shock when with a ppv like Judgment Day we see three "World" Title matches without a change. Many writers for this site have jokingly referred to the World Titles as "hot potatoes." Even more than the titles, is just the feeling of malaise we have as fans because we have seen it all before. Orton/Batista, Orton/Cena, Cena/Edge, nothing feels new and fresh anymore. With this in mind, I compiled a list of some of the most important matches in wrestling history. These matches include title changes, book altering injuries, and moves that shook the walls of professional wrestling, whether for the better or worse. These are the matches we will always remember, matches we don't see enough of today.

THE MOST IMPORTANT MATCHES OF ALL TIME – (Broken up by category)

*The Birth of a Company & the Demise of Another *

- AWA Title – © Nick Bockwinkle vs. Hulk Hogan (12/83) – Here it was. The missed opportunity that cost Verne Gagne's AWA a chance of ever competing with Vince's ever growing WWF. Hogan had chased heel champion Bockwinkle and his manager, Hogan nemesis, Bobby Heenan. Now it was time for good to conquer evil. However, Gagne changed him mind. After an inadvertent ref bump, Hogan dropped Bockwinkle over the top rope. Back in, it was big boot and Leg Drop and 1, 2, 3… NEW AWA Champion! However, a second ref came down and explained the toss over the ropes was a DQ, and the dusty finish screwed Hogan. The fans pelted the ring and everyone in it with garbage. Coincidentally in that same month, the Iron Sheik ended the 6-year reign of Bob Backlund as WWE Champion. Vince leapt at the opportunity to grab a hot new superman babyface.

- WWE Title – © Iron Sheik vs. Hulk Hogan (1/23/84) The match that launched Hulkamania and the WWE into the stratosphere is basically a 5 minute squash where Hogan takes the title and brings Vince millions.

*Golden Age of 80's WWE*

- Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (3/85) – The main event of the first Wrestlemania was what people paid to see. If this match and event overall failed then Vince and the WWE might not be around today. But this match and the event persevered and 25 years we are still watching.

- WWE Title – © Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (3/87) – Wrestlemania III: the biggest show ever. 93,000+ fans pay to watch the event featuring the two larger than life stars battle. It was a shitty match, but find me a more historic single move than Hogan slamming Andre. From this moment on, the WWE was an empire.

- IC Title – © Honky Tonk Man vs. Macho Man Randy Savage (late 87) – This is match that served as a catalyst for 2+ years of WWE programming and booking. Macho drops the big elbow but before the 3-count, the Harts break the pin. HTM retains via DQ, but it's after the match where it gains its importance. First HTM shoves down Elizabeth (something unheard of during the 80's) and then deliver a guitar shot to Macho. Elizabeth runs to the back to get help and brings back… HULK FREAKING HOGAN! The faces clear the ring, and suddenly the two once hated enemies shake hands, and the MEGA POWERS are born. This leads them straight to WM IV where Hogan helps Macho become Champion, a year of feuding with Dibiase and Andre, and finally the split that sets up Wrestlemania V. 2 years of storyline from one match on SNME! By the way, was there ever a tag match between the Mega Powers and Hart Foundation because that could've ruled as a SNME match?

*Monday Night Wars *

Some of the most important matches ever took place during the stretch from 1996 and 1999 which were the glory years of the MNW. Certain matches bare varying levels of importance to one company's ascension, and another decline.

- Outsiders vs. Macho Man, Sting, & Lex Luger (GAB 96) – The match that launched the MNW and made WCW an unstoppable (until they stopped themselves) force in the ratings. Hogan comes down, and then BAM, heel turn, NWO forms and WCW makes millions. It was without a doubt the biggest angle in wrestling history when it happened, simply because Hogan was the most beloved figure in wrestling since 1984 and after 12 years of prayers, vitamins and minerals (and "demandments") he is suddenly the most over heel in the world, spray painting wrestlers' backs and causing carnage. This angle nearly wiped Vince and company out of business in a terrible 1996 for them.

- "I QUIT" – Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – Wrestlemania XIII, the single most important match in WWE history as Stone Cold goes from angry tweener to fully fledge top face in the company, all in a match where he loses. Austin's refusal to tap and passing out in a pool of his own blood made him a hero to millions and Austin 3:16 would carry the WWE and Vince on its back out of the mid 90's slump and make things competitive again with WCW. So much so in fact that a year later, the WWE won its first ratings war against WCW. This was the match that brought me back into being a wrestling fan as I had stopped watching from around mid 91 through early 97. The Attitude Era, and everything we see in wrestling today was born out of this match. For my money, this is the most important match in wrestling history.

- WWE Title – © Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (11/97) – The infamous Montreal Screwjob. After all, doesn't infamous mean "more than famous." You're not just famous; you're "IN famous." Somebody get that please!!! We all know the story, but suffice to say this was where the WWE changed forever, as DX was basically given carte blanche and WCW snatched up Bret and had the chance to make millions, but instead wasted him right off the back. Plus the ending of this match led to the ridiculousness that occurred at Starrcade.

- WCW Title – © Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting (12/97) – Starrcade's much anticipated (as in 18 months of build) blowoff match that just plain blew. First, Hogan dominates the match, and then the ref fucks up the ending and gives the slowest fast count ever. Sting looks like a tool, and Bret Hart looks like a bigger tool and complainer by restarting the match. Sting of course would win the restart, but it was forever damaged and Hogan was champ again a few months later. So it meant nothing. But the match is universally remembered for WCW blowing an opportunity to solidify Sting and curtail the NWO nonsense.

- WCW Title – © Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash/WCW Title - © Kevin Nash vs. Hollywood Hogan/WWE Title – © Rock vs. Mankind –

o These three have to get grouped as collectively they spelled the certain doom of WCW. First Goldberg's streak is broken by self booked Kevin Nash. Then instead of rebuilding the hottest face in the company to get revenge for only loss, they run the now infamous FINGERPOKE OF DOOM angle where Goldberg gets locked up and Hogan takes his spot only for Nash to willingly lay down for him. This well conceived elaborate plan is the intellectual equivalent of having 20,000 people show up and pay, have Goldberg lay down in the ring, send Hogan and Nash to go out, lay the title on him and just drop their pants and shit all over him and the belt. Better yet, why not just take millions of dollars and publically light them on fire. The company's top face, the fans, the World Title and basically everyone not named Hogan, and Nash were all made to look retarded, second rate and stupid. This is possibly the dumbest angle in wrestling history. And to top it all off, lets hit the trifecta. First you announce the biggest rematch in modern history as Nash will give Goldberg the rematch. Second, you screw everyone by changing to the FINGERPOKE OF DOOM, and finally you have your no-talent announcer tell everyone that Mick Foley will win the World Title on Raw. That sound you hear Tony Shiavone, is the sound of millions of TV remote buttons being pushed. Thanks for the tip dumbass. Everyone changed off Nitro to watch lovable loser Mick Foley as Mankind defeat the Rock for the WWE Title in a taped main event. Russo's crash TV style kept wrestling fans tuning in to Raw rather than Nitro as people had had enough of the NWO once and for all.

*Injuries*

- World Tag Titles – © Austin & Triple H vs. Benoit & Jericho (5/01) – The match that in my opinion most directly altered all plans for the Invasion angle of summer 2001. Austin and Triple H were the Two-Man Powertrip and dominating the WWE. They were Tag Champs, Hunter the IC Champ and Austin the WWE Champion. At Judgment Day Austin accidently cost Triple H the IC Title to Kane while Triple H helped Austin get by the Undertaker. Also at that event, Benoit showed up as Jericho's mystery partner and the former rivals became # 1 contenders to the Tag Titles. The next night on Raw the 4 men squared in a phenomenal old school tag match that saw Austin again accidentally cost Triple H the match and titles. The plan was most likely to have a heel Austin lead the Alliance vs. Triple H and WWE. Or, they could hold off the Invasion angle and just have a killer summer feud between Austin and Triple H over the World Title. None of this would come to be because more than halfway through the match; Triple H stepped wrong and tore his calf muscle sending him to the injured list for nearly 9 months. All booking was rewritten. Benoit and Jericho were pushed as the only legit Title contenders but neither could beat Austin in one on one matches. Then, to make everything worse, Benoit suffered a neck injury that would cost him over a year. With two of the top guys in the company out, Vince panicked and the Invasion began. The whole angle was poorly thought out, rushed, and designed to make WCW/ECW look pathetic. Look at their Survivor Series team. It was Austin (WWE), Angle (WWE), Shane McMahon (WWE – DUH), RVD (ECW), and Booker (WCW). So the entire Alliance was represented by 2/5 Alliance.

*Making Stars*

- NWA Title – © Ric Flair vs. Sting – This is the match from the first ever Clash of the Champions as Flair carried a still green Sting for 45 minutes and made into THE next major star in WCW. Sting would use this match as a catalyst to the TV Title, and many more battles with the Nature Boy later on.

- IC Title Ladder Match – © Rock vs. Triple H – Summerslam 1998 – While not as technically great as Shawn/Razor or Benoit/Jericho, this is the match that solidified these two as the future of the company. Rock would use the loss to turn face, gain ungodly heat and turn heel again to become the Corporate Champion. Of course as a heel he just gained even more heat. Triple H relinquished the title due to injury but led DX into war with the Corporation before going corporate and winning his first World Title in the summer of 1999. Since then, these two men, along with Austin and Foley carried the WWE into the new millennium and they are universally recognized as two of the all time greats.

Did I leave any out? Of course? But these are the ones that stuck in my head when I thought of important, historic, sport-altering matches. You will notice there is nothing past 2001. This rise of the internet and over saturation of the product makes things so repetitive at this point. I don't know if we'll ever see a match that carries incredible historical significance again. It is just the nature of the industry right now.

Hope you enjoyed this, and as always, have fun storming the castle!