Just S'pose 7.04.07
Posted by Ron Gamble on 07.04.2007
Twenty-five years ago today, what were you doing? I was marching in two parades, myself...
I don't know about you, but I am Benoit-ed out right now. I don't care anymore what his motives were, or whether or not his son had a mental disorder, or whether or not his wife tried to leave him. All I know is, they are all dead, and there is overwhelming evidence that it was his fault. I can't talk anymore about the end of their lives. I just can't.
What I feel I have to talk about, however, is Vince McMahon's complete denial that he ever hired anyone named "Chris Benoit." The information about the particulars of the crime came out sometime Monday night, after Raw had begun live, so no intelligent person who knows the facts can rightfully complain about that. But after that night, everything he has done, in my opinion, has been overreaction.
Eradication of all mentions of "Chris Benoit" from any merchandise sold on their website, elimination of all his matches from the 24/7 Online section of the website, no mention of his name on all programming – all of that paled to Vince McMahon appearing on "Today" and calling him a "monster." The message was as clear with this instance as it has been with everything else: if it doesn't work to his advantage, Vince McMahon had nothing to do with it. If it can be worked to his advantage (for example, Eddy Guerrero's death), Vince will beat that horse until the corpse is raw.
I watched the tribute show, and I taped ECW the next night. Those were special occasions. Goodbye, Mr. McMahon.
This is Origins week, and I will be going Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Next week, I'll let you know all I can, including what middle hole pair knocks me out of the poker tournament. Today, however, is something special. Let's take a look.
CONNECT FOUR (OR FIVE, OR SIX)
The two men locked in the middle of the ring after battling for almost 20 minutes. This was a match like very few before. Both men were representing their respective promotions, and neither one wanted to disappoint the fans in Atlanta.
Suddenly, the redhead bounced off the ropes and hit his opponent with a shoulder block. The blond man went down in a heap. The redhead went to the ropes again, but instead of the intended cross body block, he stopped. The blond was still down, holding his knee. The referee came over to him and looked at the injured joint. The redhead bent down to see what went wrong, when the blond reached up, grabbed his head, and rolled him up in a small package. Three seconds later, it was over.
In the world we know, National Wrestling Alliance World champion Ric Flair and World Wrestling Federation champion Bob Backlund met in a match at the Omni in Atlanta, GA, on July 4, 1982. It was the last interpromotional title unification match in American history. The match ended in a double-disqualification, meaning both Flair and Backlund left the Omni with their titles intact. But, Just S'pose Ric Flair won the match and became both WWF and NWA World champion. What might have happened?
Backlund jumped up immediately, stunned at what had happened. He fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it cost him his claim as world champion. Flair celebrated with the fans in Atlanta, who had truly seen history. The referee wrapped both title belts around Flair's waist, and Ric went over to shake Bob's hand. Backlund shook, and told Flair he would be back.
In the locker room, while many fellow wrestlers congratulated him for being a double champion, Flair simply looked down at his new title. He was in for a lot of traveling.
Five days later, on a Friday, Ric Flair was introducing himself to men in a brand new locker room. He had wrestled once or twice in Madison Square Garden in 1978, but for some reason, Hershey, PA, felt different. This was a television taping for the WWF. He was here to be introduced to the fans as their new world champion. At the appropriate time, he went to ringside for an interview with announcer Vince McMahon.
"Let me first say that I am very thankful to Bob Backlund, the former champion, for coming to Atlanta this past weekend. It was a special day for both the WWF and the NWA, and now that I am here as the world champion for both organizations, I will do my best to represent both organizations with grace and class. I will also defend both the World Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance titles against the top competition."
"But, let me say as the NWA champion, I have a large group of challengers to choose from. I have defended the NWA title in Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte, St. Louis, Detroit, Denver, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Berlin, Paris, London, Sydney, Tokyo, and every point in between. I have wrestled against the absolute best competition in the world. In the WWF, you have Bob Backlund, and… and… Vince, you're gonna have to help me here. I don't know who else you have here in the WWF!"
McMahon winced slightly. "Mr. Flair, we have Jimmy Snuka, Cowboy Bob Orton, Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, Pedro Morales, Pat Patterson, Don Muraco, Tito Santana, Dusty Rhodes, and many other top contenders here in the WWF, and I'm sure they will all be gunning for your titles."
Ric smiled a crooked smile at the mention of the last man on the list. "Dusty Rhodes! Did you say, ‘Dusty Rhodes!' Dusty Rhodes is one of your top challengers? Vince, you should have done your homework! Who do you think I beat to win the NWA World title? Why, if I knew Dusty Rhodes was one of the top guys here in the WWF, I would have won this title years ago!"
With the mention of his name, Dusty Rhodes walked to the ringside area. After a short discussion about Dusty's worth as a challenger to either world title, both men brawled from ringside to the locker room.
Three weeks later, in Madison Square Garden, Flair successfully defended the titles when Rhodes was disqualified. In between the television taping and MSG, Flair had defended both titles in Florida, Virginia, and Missouri. After the match, Flair began his first tour of the WWF territory as champion, wrestling in Boston, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, as well as throughout New England and southeast Quebec and Ontario. He finished the tour with a defense in Washington, DC, beating Tito Santana, then went on a European tour.
In October 1982, Flair lobbied Vince McMahon to hire Roddy Piper. McMahon agreed, and decided he would be perfect as the host of "Piper's Pit," an interview segment to replace "Rogers' Corner," hosted by the retiring Buddy Rogers. Before Flair, Rogers was the only person to hold both the NWA and WW(W)F World titles, and Rogers was the first "Nature Boy" in wrestling.
Rogers invited Flair onto the interview segment, and the two compared careers. Rogers mentioned his accomplishments, and Flair countered by saying he was holding both belts simultaneously. After a few minutes of back-and-forth conversation, Flair stood up and slapped Rogers, sending him backwards over his chair. He then jumped on him and punched him repeatedly in the forehead, busting him open. Flair then picked Rogers up and threw him off the set, and threw a chair at him. He then announced he was hijacking the broadcast, and as champion, he was going to bring in a good friend of his. Just like that, Roddy Piper and Ric Flair became the most hated men in wrestling.
Piper and Flair took over WWF television, and "Piper's Pit" was circulated not just on all WWF programming, but on all NWA programming, as well. Piper was asked to bring his segment to NWA territories for live shows, and after some swift negotiations, Roddy Piper became the most recognized man in wrestling. His segment was seen on almost every NWA and WWF territory, with the exception of World Class (which tried its own segment with Gino Hernandez) and Portland (where Piper's image as a monster babyface did not mesh with his image on the Pit).
Meanwhile, Verne Gagne in the AWA began to feel left out. He negotiated to get Flair to wrestle his champion, Nick Bockwinkel, for a match to unify Flair's NWA and WWF titles with Bockwinkel's American Wrestling Association World title. The match happened in Minneapolis, MN, and on February 6, 1983, Ric Flair united all three American-based world championships, beating Bockwinkel in 27:17.
In exchange for allowing the match and the title change, Verne Gagne was allowed to show "Piper's Pit," and AWA wrestlers began appearing on the segment. Soon, Piper's segment became too big for syndicated wrestling programming, and "Piper's Pit" became a weekly show on the USA Network. Roddy Piper and sidekick Bob Orton interviewed and insulted guests for an hour every week, and even hosted a weekly match. Each week, Piper would interview both men or teams, then do commentary during the match, along with the usual play-by-play announcer of the home area for all wrestlers involved in the match. Occasionally, there would be an interpromotional match, such as when AWA's Jim Brunzell beat Mid-Atlantic's Greg Valentine to win the NWA United States title.
Meanwhile, Flair continued defending the United World title, as it became known, around the world. On August 17, 1983, after over one year, Bob Backlund finally got a rematch, and won the title in Madison Square Garden. He beat Flair in a rematch in Charlotte, and defended the title around the world, taking over Flair's schedule.
Meanwhile, the governing of the AWA, NWA, and WWF came to an agreement. The United World title would remain, and one man would defend that title around the world. However, all three groups would be allowed to have its own promotional champion, separate from the United title. Instead of each having its own "world champion," they would simply be known as AWA, NWA, or WWF champion. Also, each territory's champion would be considered the number one contender in that area for the United World title.
Backlund defended his United World title around the world, incorporating the IWGP title into the mix by beating Hulk Hogan on December 5, 1983. It was now agreed by all organizations that, because of the travel demand, the United World champion would defend the title no more than three times a week. Backlund lost the title on November 29, 1984, losing to Rick Steamboat in Charlotte, NC, at Starrcade '84.
Steamboat held the title until April 19, 1986, losing it to Antonio Inoki in New Orleans, LA, during the 1986 Jim Crockett, Sr., Memorial Cup. The lineage of the title continues today, as United World champion Edge defends the title on WWE, TNA, ROH, AJPW, NJPW, and Pro Wrestling NOAH shows.
But, what of the other main player at the beginning of our tale? Roddy Piper stopped hosting "Piper's Pit" in 1991, when he was offered the lead in a television show about a private detective, "Working Class Hero." "Hero" was an instant hit, and ran for eight years on NBC, and the final episode was the second-highest-rated program for the 1998-99 season, with over 48,000,000 viewers (Super Bowl XXXIV was the highest). He now appears in movies, earning over $15,000,000 per movie when in a starring role.
CIVILIZATION
Next week, you'll get my third annual report on the Origins International Game Expo 2007. Until then, build your settlements on the 2X Sheep docks, build your coffee roaster early, and build windmills throughout the Midwest.
