The Crystal Ball 8.02.06: Madison Square Garden
Posted by Steve Sullivan on 08.02.2006
If I'm going to be on TV to talk about wrestling at the Square, I guess I better take some notes! Plus, 3 OVW guys are on Smackdown this week, find out what I think about it and more!
Welcome one and welcome all to 411's favorite Crystal Ball. Ok so it's the only Crystal Ball but that's beside the point. Maybe you figured it out this week or maybe you haven't so let me make sure you know what's happening this week.
First off, 411mania has been receiving a lot of publicity as of late, including 411's own Larry Csonka, who was quoted on a news site after the cancellation of an ECW show. Now, yours truly is on my way to New York City this Friday to be a part of a TV taping to talk about wrestling in Madison Square Garden. Ahhh, it's all making sense to you now. Regardless of how you look at it, 411mania is making news waves in many forms of the media.
You as a lucky and loyal reader, get a sneak peak this week of everything I'm going to talk about when I'm in the Big Apple this weekend. For many reasons, but mainly because I need the practice and need to kind of put my thoughts on paper to make sure that I don't get up on camera and be like, uh, what's Wrestemania?
To any long time wrestling fan, when you think of Madison Square Garden, you think about classics. You think about firsts. You basically think, this is the home of the WWF/E. And that's all but true. Some of the greatest moments in WWE history happened in the World's Most Famous Arena.
You may automatically be thinking about Wrestlemania, which is a good place to start, but wrestling in Madison Square dates way back. There were many matches within the Square that took place before Wrestlemania that basically paved the way for professional wrestling.
Obviously I can't go through every single match that ever happened in the Square, but I can point out some of the more significant matches that lead up to Wrestlemania 1.
Perhaps one of the most forgotten events in WWF history took place in July of 1984. It was the Brawl To End It All. This was basically the early 80's edition of "Saturday Night Main Event". Some of the best the WWF had to offer all under one roof in the heart of the WWF's fan base, New York City. Some of the best showed up to this event. Guys like Paul Orndorf and Bob Backland. Hulk Hogan defended his title against Greg Valentine. Tito Santana, who made his Hall of Fame career debut at the Square wrestled another future Hall of Famer Bob Orton Jr. But one of the most important matches of all time took place in the main event, and it was a woman's match.
Many wrestling fans today remember The Fabulous Moolah as the old nasty pervert that makes appearances backstage every now and then. But what many wrestling fans don't know about her is the that Moolah held the Women's Championship for almost 3 decades! She was a pioneer in women's wrestling and had VERY slowly paved the way for women to get involved in a sport that was mostly dominated by men.
On this day, Moolah was defending her title as she had for the past 30 years against fan favorite Wendi Richter. In Richter's corner was the WWF's new biggest fan Cyndi Lauper, who at the time, was the top pop icon. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it coming, but Moolah's 30 year reign ended on this day to Richter, as the 22 thousand strong blew the roof off of Madison Square Garden. This was probably the biggest day in Women's Wrestling History.
Of course, most will feel that the biggest day in Wrestling History happened on March 31, 1985 when Wrestlemania 1 made waves across the world. But another piece of Madison Square Garden history that many fans may have forgotten is the show that lead up to Wrestlemania. And that show, was The War To Settle The Score.
This show was televised live on MTV and for those who don't think MTV likes wrestling, think again. Take a quick guess as to what this show reached in the Neilson ratings. Ignore Raw's normal 4.0 draws and Smackdown's 2.8's. The War To Settle The Score drew a 9.1. All eyes were on Madison Square Garden.
This show saw some of the more remarkable stars of the 70's and 80's. Guys like Nikolia Volkoff, who was pulling off a Soviet gimmick in the middle of the Cold War. Wendi Richter, who had just made history by winning the title, lost her title to Lelani Kai. Two future Hall of Famers collided in Paul Orndorff and Tony Atlas and Jimmy Snuka, who was making wrestling more "extreme" defeated Bob Orton. But the main event of this show would be one of the most memorable build ups in wrestling history.
Hulk Hogan was to defend his WWF Title against Roddy Piper. There was plenty of star power in this match. Hogan was with Lou Albano and Cydni Lauper, who had recently helped Wendi Richter win the Women's Title just months before. Piper had Bob Orton, his long time friend. In the crowd was Mr. T, one of the biggest names of the 80's.
During the match, Paul Orndorff would emerge and attack Hogan, leading to a 3 way beatdown. Finally, Mr. T couldn't take it anymore as he jumped the guard rail and came to Hulk Hogan's rescue. Roddy Piper would knock Mr. T down and chaos broke lose. This of course lead up to the main event and the birth of Wrestlemania 1.
Wrestlemania 1 was on the minds of many professional wrestling fans for the next month. Could Mr. T wrestle? Could Hogan hold back Orndorff and Piper? Wrestling fans were crazy about Hogan and the fact that he was going to be on a TV show you had to pay to see must mean that this event was going to be huge. The world was watching Madison Square Garden.
Watching Wrestlemania was like watching the Academy Awards for movie fans. The best of the best were at last all under one roof. The most famous roof of them all. Madison Square Garden. Some of the biggest spectacles in sports culture were all crammed into one building and ready to show every wrestling fan something they had never seen before. No commercials. Nobody holding anything back. To many wrestlers, this was like making it to the Super Bowl.
Guys like King Kong Bundy made their appearances. Bundy actually won his match over Special Delivery Jones in just 24 seconds, starting his dominating and terrifying reign as a big man wrestler. Ricky Steamboat, one of the most exciting wrestlers of all time was there. A Soviet and an Arab defeated two American's for the Tag Team Titles, which brought down the house. But the best was yet to come.
Many remember Andre the Giant as a bad guy, mainly for his rivalry with Hulk Hogan. But at Wrestlemania I, the 8th Wonder of the World was just as good and just as popular as the Immortal One. And this time, he was facing one of the biggest bad guys of all time. And when I say big, I mean big. So big, he called himself the Unslammable Big John Studd. Two titans, one on one. Who could slam who first? This wasn't just a friendly competition, this was worth 15,000 bucks. Both men looked unslammable but of course, Andre the Giant managed to get underneath Big John Studd and slam him down to the mat that sent the 22,000 crazed New York fans into a great cheer. Andre grabbed the bag of money and started tossing some of the money into the crowd until Bobby Heenan took the bag away from him and ran off with it. This is my most memorable moment of Wrestlemania.
Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for. Nobody had ever seen this kind of starpower at a wrestling show before. Everyone wanted to be a part of the history that was happening at Madison Square Garden. Liberace came down with The Rockettes to be the guest time keeper for this show. Even "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali came down to be a part of the event as a guest referee on the outside. Billy Martin came down to be the guest ring announcer. This was going to be huge and the world could feel it.
The Hulkster and Mr. T would of course go on to win the 13 minute match after Bob Orton, who was in Piper and Orndorff's corner, nailed Orndorff with a cast, knocking Orndorff out and allowing Hogan to pin him. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, two of the most popular men of the 1980's, stood side by side in the center of Madison Square Garden, holding each other's arms up in victory. Wrestling was never going to be the same.
Wrestlemania returned to Madison Square Garden 10 years later for a show remembered by many of today's modern wrestling fan base. Wrestlemania 10 saw a new breed of wrestling among its fans. And once again, history was about to be made in Madison Square Garden as a night of many firsts were in the making.
It started off with a Civil War of sorts. Brother versus Brother. Owen Hart versus Bret Hart. This was a very highly anticipated and bitter match which saw the younger Owen Hart pin Bret Hart for the 3 count. This would not be the last time we'd see Bret as we'd find out later in the show.
There would end up being two main events this day for the very honest Madison Square Garden crowd. The very patriotic Lex Luger was scheduled to fight WWF Champion Yokozuna for the title halfway through the card. Unfortunately for Luger, longtime heel Mr. Perfect was the referee for this match. A lot of hype had been put into this rivalry, following Luger slamming Yokozuna on the U.S. Intrepid the previous summer. It would end in disappointment as Mr. Perfect disqualified Luger, giving Yokozuna the DQ victory. But again, this would not be the last time we'd see the champ.
One of the most memorable matches of all time did not happen for the WWF title however, it was for the Intercontinental Title, which had become disputed. Razor Ramon, who was deemed the true IC Champion was being challenged by Shawn Michaels, who claimed to be the champion and even carried a fake championship with him. This feud became so bitter that both men decided to put themselves through extreme conditions to become the Undisputed Intercontinental Champion, and the end result was the birth of the Ladder Match.
Mainstream wrestling fans had never really seen anything quite like a ladder match before. The fans at Madison Square Garden really seemed to enjoy it, and rightfully so, as both men started using the ladders as weapons. In the end, Michaels fell off the ladder and got traped in the ropes, allowing Razor Ramon to climb the ladder and grab his title and the fake one. Following this match, a Ladder match became a delicacy of sorts to wrestling fans, and we normally get a ladder match on Wrestlemania now. This match truly changed wrestling.
At the end of the show, Yokozuna would once again have to defend his WWF title. This because his previous opponent, Lex Luger and his new opponent, Bret Hart, had eliminated each other at the same time during the Royal Rumble, thus causing a double main event. Yokozuna had already won earlier in the night over Luger and Hart had already lost a match earlier in the night to his brother Owen. Eventually, the fatigue got to both men, but more so Yokozuna, as he passed out off the middle rope, allowing Hart to pin him and win the WWF Championship. An exciting ending to a huge crowd favorite as all the faces came out to celebrate and sent the rowdy Madison Square Garden crowd happy.
By the way, did you catch something missing from this Wrestlemania. Hulk Hogan was not a part of this Wrestlemania. It was the first time he had never been on the show. Yet another first for the Square.
Wrestlemania would once again return to the Garden to once again make history, and it did. And of course, more wrestling firsts would occur on the Grand Daddy of em all. This is where it was all supposed to begin again, and it would begin where it started at the place where wrestling became famous, Madison Square Garden.
Wrestlemania 20 became the highest grossing wrestling event in history. Any anyone who watched this pay-per-view certainly got their money's worth. This became literally the biggest Wrestlemania of all time, going on well over 5 hours. 5 hours of wrestling!
Wrestlemania 20 became another story of firsts. For the first time, the WWE showcased it's new Hall of Fame Class, inducting great superstars such as Bobby Heenan, Tito Santana, Big John Studd, the Junkyard Dog and many other WWE greats. They even inducted troubled Reds hitter Pete Rose.
Many wrestling fans will also recall the dream match that many dreamed of during the Monday Night Wars from the WWF and WCW. Many wanted to see Goldberg get in the ring with Stone Cold Steve Austin, it happened at Wrestlemania 20, sort of.
Goldberg and Brock Lesner had both decided they would not be returning to the WWE following their Wrestlemania match. Of course, the honest crowd of Madison Square Garden made sure their opinion on the move was heard. Stone Cold became the special guest referee between the two men, but never played much of a role in the match until after it was over. After Goldberg pinned Lesner, Lesner left to a chorus of "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" from the Square crowd and Lesner, feeling a bit angry, flipped off the crowd and then flipped off Stone Cold. Stone Cold of course took matters into his own hand and gave Lesner a stun to grow on. Stone Cold would eventually give Goldberg a stunner too, pleasing the millions of wrestling fans who had always wanted to see Goldberg catch a stunner.
Wrestlemania 20 also became the first time the World Heavyweight Championship had been defended in a Triple Threat Match at Wrestlemania. The champion Triple H defended his title against long time rival Shawn Michaels and Royal Rumble winner Chris Benoit. Benoit had worked his way through many years, and many injuries to reach this point, and would go on to make the champion tap out to win the title. Many people will remember his long time friend, the late Eddie Guerrero coming to the ring and celebrating with Benoit after the match to a shower of confetti. It was one of the more touching moments in wrestling history as the Madison Square Garden crowd once again managed to be a part of history.
Whether it's the birth of wrestling pay-per-views, or just basic house shows, Madison Square Garden has always and will always be the home to WWE. Many historic moments have happened inside the Square, but one really has to believe that when you think about "the biggest event to ever happen at Madison Square Garden", Wrestlemania has to be in your Top 5, if not your Top 3. You can guarantee, whether you are a wrestling expert, or just a fan, that when the WWE comes to Madison Square Garden, something big is brewing, and history is about to be made.
And there ya go, I feel better now that I have my thoughts on paper. This was my way of figuring out what exactly I need to talk about when I get behind that camera and now I won't feel like I'll freeze up! At the same time, I hope you enjoyed this little piece, because it's not everyday I get to talk about mainstream wrestling! So let me know what you think and if you have any special memories about wrestling in Madison Square Garden, please pass them along to me!
Now onto what you like me for, OVW coverage. A bare minimum of it this week but I am working on some great stuff I think you'll enjoy. But I'm saving that stuff until after I return from this trip. Until then, note these thoughts.
- Elijah Burke made his WWE debut as a cornerman on Smackdown. I guess he's playing a heel but it's really good to see Burke on Smackdown! He can really be big there given the right opportunity and the right personality. Expect exciting things from him.
-In an email from a fan, I was told that KC James and Idol Stevens made their Smackdown debut at the Supershow taping this past Monday. Once again, good to see some deserving talent in Idol Stevens who has been working his ass off for the past few years in OVW to get his well deserving shot on a WWE TV Show. James is also talented and fairly new to OVW, so it's surprising to see him get called up so quickly.
- Seth Skyfire and C.M. Punk captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at the recent Summer Sizzler Series show at Six Flags in Louisville. This marks the first time that two men, as a tag team, have held all 3 OVW Titles. Skyfire is now a 4 time Tag Team Champion and is the current OVW TV Champion. It also only marks the second time in OVW history that someone has held all 3 titles in his OVW career. C.M. Punk, who is the current Heavyweight Champion, is now a tag team champion and a former TV Champion. Brent Albright was the first to accomplish this feat.
And now, for everyone's favorite segment, Steve-mail!
Justin was the first to write in this week:
Steve,
I was wondering, with all the talent being suspended, sick or hurt, which OVW guys can we expect to see start showing up in the WWE. In particular SD?
Who do you think will have success? What guys do you think will get the call who aren't ready? Who may get overlooked?
I really enjoy your column.
Thanks man,
Justin
Thanks Justin! I think the WWE has already answered this question for the most part. Elijah Burke, Idol Stevens, and KC James, all making their debuts in the last couple of weeks. All heels, as being a WWE heel seems to be a curse these days. Of those 3, Elijah Burke and Idol Stevens will be future stars. But in a more recent impact, I will go ahead and say your next WWE Tag Team Champions will be Idol Stevens and KC James. Mark it down for Summerslam.
I really don't honestly feel that many people need to come up for Smackdown. Smackdown has a lot of talent that was put on the shelf when Velocity was cancelled to make way for the new ECW. So in a way, all these suspensions have been kind of beneficial to the Smackdown roster, especially for guys who weren't seeing much action to begin with. But if I had to call up a couple extra guys from OVW, I'd definatly call up Seth Skyfire. Skyfire has impressed the hell out of me recently and has become my new favorite "not called up" OVW wrestler. Since writing this column, I've pushed hard for Ken Doane and Brent Albright, both of which made their WWE debuts since. I saw Skyfire win his TV Title in person, and ever since, I knew this guy was on his way up, especially when he's on his match. Skyfire would be an excellent edition to replace Matt Hardy or to give the Cruiser division a big boost. Heck maybe you could even team Skyfire up with Matt Hardy to form a new exciting, high flying tag team. Sure it's destined to fail but it would at least get Skyfire on TV!
Another boost for the tag team division would be the addition of Shad Gaspard and The Neighborhoodie. Shad Gaspard is your next big man to come up from OVW into the WWE. He's a veteran in OVW and has the size and power of what we see in Bobby Lashley. With Mark Henry out of the picture for the next 8 months, or probably forever, depending on if Vince McMahon decides to give him another contract after the 10 years he flushed down the toilet on him on his last contract, Shad Gaspard could be the next "menace". However, if it is felt that Gaspard needs more polishing before they release him on his own, then The Neighborhoodie, his tag team partner who just signed a WWE developmental deal would be an excellent way of getting Gaspard on the scene. I would love to see Gaspard and Bobby Lashley 1-on-1, but another new tag team, with a rap gimmick that for whatever reason seems to help get people over, would give a lacking tag team division a big boost.
The rest of OVW's talent needs some polishing before getting called up for any kind of successful term in the WWE. Guys like Boris Alexiev, who is an OVW rookie has a lot of potential. As I've stated many times, I love his intensity. He is a mirror image of a Russian Kurt Angle. But he has yet to put on a "WWE quality" match. Once Boris is able to get out of this squash streak he's been on since entering OVW, then maybe a very rapid callup to the WWE is in order, but for now, Boris needs to get into a good quality program with someone else that seeks a good quality program, and together hopefully create himself, and another WWE quality type performer. And hopefully this will happen soon with his upcoming feud with former Tag Team Champion Chet The Jet.
Deuce and Domino are another couple of guys who could burst onto the Tag Team Scene soon. I can see these guys more on Raw than Smackdown because there is a lot of promo ability behind these two, not to mention a pretty decent gimmick that hasn't really been tried. I know Smackdown is home for bad gimmicks but when you think about it, how can you resist the thought of having The Highlanders against a couple of guys straight out of "A Westside Story" doing impersoniations of The Fonz? Oooh! These guys are really starting to gel together but they still have a lot of work today, mainly Domino who can be very short in the ring. Deuce however, could be ready very soon, but I really don't want to see one come up without the other, so hopefully, Domino can get his stuff together soon and we can see these guys greasing up our television sets.
Hope that answers your question. That one took so long that I've only got time for one more and it's from Jim:
Hi Steve
Great reviews on OVW, it's just like being there… except, well, not.
I went to the Raw/SmackDown SuperShow last night, and I got to see some OVW guys for the first time. Of course, I missed Elijah Burke cause the concession stand woman was SO SLOW. But I saw Idol Stevens and KC James, and they looked pretty good. And they're managed by Michelle McCool, which should help them out. But the fans were asses and didn't even give them a chance… I think they both seemed very good. And James looks so much like Bobby Eaton I couldn't believe it. But the last thing we need is another James in wrestling, even if he's the only talented one. He should change his last name to "Missouri", just cause I would laugh, and that's enough. Or go with his looks and be KC Eaton.
Just wanted to share!
Jim Moore
Thanks Jim! I'm glad to hear these boys are finally getting their time on TV. Some of you may recall this time last year a new "flashy" tag team by the name of MNM came on the scene right out of OVW. This seems to be where the WWE is going and I'll bet you anything that James and Idol are your next WWE Tag Team Champions come Summerslam.
As for fan reactions, you have to ignore that, especially when a new HEEL tag team is performing. Fans are very finicky when it comes to new wrestlers. I'm curious to see what the reaction from fans were when C.M. Punk debuted on ECW last night. Some are going to love him, others are going to hate him. It's a matter of opinion. But what wrestling fans need to consider is that if you want the show to improve, sometimes you've got to give guys a chance. And by a chance, I mean more than 5 minutes, or 5 days, or 5 weeks, or 5 months. Give these guys time to adjust and create character and soon, you'll be able to appreciate them more.
It's hard to get new guys on the scene, especially tag teams where these days, tag team wrestling is a rare commodity unless it involves to "Big Stars" teaming up together. You don't see "legit" tag teams anymore and when you do see a new one, you usually see a crowd that could care less. People sort of cheered for The Highlanders when they came out, but do you think they were cheering because they knew they were going to be talented wrestlers? Not hardly. They cheered because they were funny. People cheered for The Bushwackers because they thought they were funny. And how many times did The Bushwackers hold the Tag Titles? Zip. Zero. Nada. Then there are guys like The Spirit Squad, who everybody immediatly hated. Now they've had the tag titles for about 4 months now and have been involved in one of the more entertianing storylines of the year.
As for James looking like Eaton, I thought the same exact thing when I saw him debut in a dark match against Elijah Burke last December. He is dead on Bobby Eaton. I would almost enjoy seeing Bobby Eaton manage these two guys. But I guess that kind of star power would take away from heel heat. As for his name being James, he's actually from Memphis, so if they ever want to pull some kind of "Elvis" gimmick with him, I think KC Tennessee would be a hilarious name.
Alright, that's going to do it for this edition of the Crystal Ball! What do you think? Send me your favorite Madison Square Garden moments. Send me your thoughts on the WWE's latest OVW callups. Send me my paycheck to P.O. Box 411. I'm off to New York. See you Monday with your favorite OVW report. Until then my friends...
