The Wrestling Doctor 05.20.08: Building A Better Monster Part I

Posted by W.S. Thomason on 05.20.2008

Make sure the buffet is well-stocked, boys.

THE WRESTLING DOCTOR: THE PRESCRIPTION FOR WHAT AILS

Welcome to The Wrestling Doctor, where the troubles of professional wrestling will be thoroughly examined and then offered a practical prescription. You may not agree with the assessment, but hopefully the column will open up a new dialogue on the state the business that consumes far too much of our time.

THE SECOND OPINION

There has been a lot of dispute this week regarding the spelling of Roxxi Laveaux's name. The official TNA web site spells her name as L-A-V-E-A-U-X. The spelling of L-A-V-E-A-U that many assert is correct comes from Marie Laveau, the nineteenth-century Voodoo Queen of New Orleans that likely inspired the Roxxi character. TNA may have added the final X as a means of making the name appear cooler on graphics, and possibly as a nod to the Marie Laveau legend. Popular myth has it that Laveau will grant a wish to those who draw three X's on the side of her (disputed) tomb in New Orleans' St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. I have no idea what Roxxi will grant you if draw three X's on the side of her head, but I imagine it will raise you an octave or two.

Or maybe TNA is hinting at another Triple X reunion with Laveaux in Senshi's spot.

The spelling of L-E-A-V-E-A-U-(X) is an understandable error that will quickly disappear from the IWC after Sacrifice. A lot of people feel that the head shaving went too far, but Roxxi certainly made a name for herself as a performer willing to give it her all for the fans.

Some good news for TNA is that the WWE did not deliver on its May pay-per-view, either, as Judgment Day fell flat. The bad news for TNA a week off of Sacrifice is that no one has been discussing World Champion Samoa Joe. The pay-per-view main event has been discussed in the context of Kaz and whether or not he will get a sustained push, but Joe's win has been overlooked. While not many people thought that Joe would lose at Sacrifice, the show has weakened the momentum that he had coming out of Lockdown, which is not what a company wants when it comes to sustaining a champion with monster qualities. That bleeds well into…

THIS WEEK'S PATIENT: BUILDING A BETTER MONSTER – PART I: THE MASTODONS AS CHAMPION
This week begins a three part series in which I will examine how major companies have booked monster characters as champions. The series may run consecutively, or it may be spread over several weeks, depending on what transpires in the world of professional wrestling over the next month. Here's hoping that this summer is more uneventful than last summer…

The year 1993 rarely comes to mind when one recollects classic periods in wrestling history. Major events occurred that year that had significant impact on the boom of the Monday Night Wars era: The WWF debuted Monday Night Raw; Eric Bischoff became the Executive Producer of WCW; and Paul Heyman took over the book in the fledgling Eastern Championship Wrestling.

However, the year was largely a disappointment wrestling wise. The two biggest shows of the year – Wrestlemania IX and Starrcade 93 – were garbage (except for the Flair-Vader main event). There was not one really great pay-per-view, despite several excellent matches. Flair returned to WCW, Shawn Michaels and The Hollywood Blondes emerged as major threat to the future, and Bret Hart maintained an impressive top-tier pace the entire year, but overall 1993 lacked both a sense of coherence and a feeling of significance.

Both major companies ran parallel in 1993 by going against the wrestling grain and booking monsters as their world champions: Yokozuna in the WWF and Vader in WCW. These champions were wrestling monsters in the classic sense: they far exceeded 350 pounds; possessed tremendous power and size; were brutal and merciless; and were managed by devious villains. They approached their promos in traditional monster style: Vader punctuated his with growled yells, while Yokozuna spoke hardly at all except to yell, "Banzai." I am going to classify this type of character as Mastodons, a term often used to describe Vader.

Major companies had always been wary of booking Mastodons as world champions. The most celebrated monster of all, Andre the Giant, only got a 30 second run with the WWF title as a means of ending Hulk Hogan's first reign. King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, Abdullah the Butcher, Haystacks Calhoun, Jerry Blackwell, Kamala, and other such big men were never seriously considered for a significant world title stint. Even The Undertaker – who was over almost immediately – had only one six-day WWF title reign on his resume in 1993 (The Undertaker will be dealt with in detail later in the series).

Both Yokozuna and Vader were superior in the ring to many of their giant predecessors. While not technical masters, they understood how to work well within the context of their characters.

Fans unfamiliar with wrestling before the Monday Night Wars have little memory of Yokozuna; his North American career effectively ended in late 1996 when he failed a New York state physical due to his enormous weight. More contemporary viewers may recall Vader's less-than stellar 1996 – 1998 WWF run or his embarrassing entrance ramp fall on Raw in October of 2005.

These depictions are not accurate representations of what each wrestler could do in their peak year of 1993. Neither Yokozuna nor Vader were lumbering blobs who won matches simply by girth. They actually had move sets. Yokozuna was the more limited of the two, but he could move well (not just at all!) for a man heavily-traveled on the road between 500 and 600 pounds. He possessed a great martial arts side kick, a wicked belly-to-belly suplex, and a leg drop that demanded to be sold. His finishing Banzai Drop was legitimately terrifying in a time still very much kayfabe.

Vader was a solid performer known for his stiff work. He clotheslined as hard as anyone, and his corner avalanche was more believable than that of most big men. His Vader (power) bomb was devastating, but his secret weapon was his amazing agility. He could hit a moonsault of off the top rope, a remarkable move for a 450-pounder. The moonsault meant even more at the time as very few people other than The Great Muta had used the move in the United States.

Yokozuna won the WWF title from Bret Hart at Wrestlemania IX in Las Vegas on April 4, 1993, but lost the belt to Hulk Hogan minutes later in a special challenge designed to get The Hulkster back into the company fold. Hogan and Vince could not patch up their differences, however, and Yokozuna regained the title on June 13 in Dayton, OH, at the first King of the Ring pay-per-view. He held it for nine months until Hart retook the belt at Wrestlemania X on March 20, 1994, in Madison Square Garden. Throughout his reign he feuded with Hart, Lex Luger, Tatanka, and The Undertaker. Yokozuna was portrayed during this period as being nearly unbeatable. He was even able to defeat The Undertaker in a casket match (albeit with the help of an army heels at the 1994 Royal Rumble) in an age where The Dead Man simply did not lose.

Vader had a brief run with the WCW World Title in the summer of 1992 as a means of transitioning the title to Ron Simmons. He went back to Japan, and returned to WCW full time in the fall. He regained the belt from Simmons on December 30, 1992, at a Baltimore house show after the plan for Rick Rude to become champion fell through due to a neck injury. Vader dropped the belt to Sting on March 11, 1993, at a London house show before beginning his third run with the strap on March 17 in Dublin. He held the title for nine months until falling to Ric Flair at Starrcade 93 on December 27 in Charlotte. Throughout the year he got the better of Sting, Cactus Jack, and Davey Boy Smith in prolonged feuds, which set him up perfectly for his title vs. career match against Flair.

Vader and Yokozuna were not handover champions. Each peaked with a nine month reign on top of their companies. They defeated top faces in big matches as their promotions built auras of invincibility about them. The Mastodons would get disqualified to retain their titles or pinned in tag team matches, but it was a classic booking move for this type of character that gave fans hope that the monsters might be dethroned while instilling the idea that it could only be done so by a near-supernatural effort. It is a successful strategy for Mastodon champions, but once the monsters lose their titles, they quickly decline.

A look at the post-title runs for Yokozuna and Vader clearly illustrates this point. Yokozuna stepped out of the Wrestlemania X main event and into a feud with fellow giant Earthquake, who soon left and was replaced by his former partner Typhoon. Yokozuna was champion at Wrestlemania X, tagging with Crush against the Tag Team Champion Headshrinkers at , and was omitted from the Summerslam 94 card in an era where the WWF ran five pay-per-views a year. He was finished off at Survivor Series by The Undertaker in a casket rematch, and took a sabbatical before returning at Wrestlemania XI as Owen Hart's mystery partner in a Tag Team Title winning effort over The Smoking Gunns. They held the titles until September 1995, and then Yoko drifted from short-lived feud to feud until turning face and battling former allies Owen, The British Bulldog, and the newly-signed Vader. He was given time off to lose weight before returning at the 1996 Survivor Series in painful excess of 600 pounds. He flunked his physical shortly thereafter and was released from the WWF. He died in 2000 of weight-related heart failure.

Vader actually got a series of rematches with Flair before feuding with Ray Traylor in the guise The Boss. He then moved into a top-tier program designed to turn Rick Rude face, but the Ravishing One's neck ended his career before they could have a pay off. Vader had another brief turn with Sting before treading ground with Traylor again, this time known as The Guardian Angel (the WWF had threatened to sue over The Boss' clear infringement of The Big Bossman trademark). Vader won the U.S. Title from Hacksaw Jim Duggan at Starrcade 94 as a means of booking him into a formulaic big man versus Hogan feud in order to further establish The Hulkster in WCW. Vader joined forces with Flair during the Hogan feud before turning on the Nature Boy. Vader was on the verge of a face turn when he was fired for a (losing) locker room fight with Paul Orndorff. Vader went to the WWF in early 1996 and was used to put over Shawn Michaels. He was rumored to be the pick to win the belt off of Michaels instead of Sid Vicious, but his spot on the card and his performance in the ring declined rapidly before he left the WWF in the fall of 1998.

So how did these men go from headlining their company's biggest shows and dominating the title scene to being stuck in feuds with guys like Typhoon and The Guardian Angel within six months of losing their championships? A key element in sustaining traditional heel champions like Ric Flair or Nick Bockwinkel is the belief that they could realistically lose the title on any given night. A driving force behind their draw was the frustration that fans felt with the heels' continued ability to escape near defeat match after match. A Mastodon does not have this advantage; if the fans perceive that the giant could lose at any time, the air of fear and dominance that accompanies his size and comprises his persona is removed. Once he loses his title – and it almost always has to be to a smaller opponent – the fans no longer have reason to believe in the formidableness of the behemoth, so it is difficult to rebuild the character back to a level where he will be accepted as unstoppable. An average wrestler is not defined in terms of size; elements such as skill, cunning, and personality play a more central role. Perhaps this weakness inherent to the Mastodon character-type is why major companies steered away from booking them as long-term champions.

Following the descent of Vader and Yokozuna, the Mastodons became less of a force in wrestling. Changes in the market place, social climate, and business mindset dictated that a new breed of giants assume the role once occupied by Mastodons. Big men were successful, but the emphasis shifted from sheer size to slick power. The giants who won world titles after 1994 were characters like Diesel, Sid Vicious, The Undertaker, and Kane. Mastodons like Mark Henry and the many guises of Big Daddy V did not enjoy the type of success that they may have 15 or 20 years ago (despite their obvious in-ring weaknesses). Wrestlers such as The Big Show and The Great Khali are notable exceptions, but men with their unique physical properties will always have a spot in wrestling.

Part II of the series will look at how companies redefined monsters moving into Monday Wars and the contemporary era.