Say WHAT...? Like, It's NOT- !? Since When?? (ProWrestling EXPOSED!)

**Dr Powerfun** · 04-03-2011

Twenty-two years ago this weekend, live from Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., the main event of WrestleMania V featured HULK HOGAN taking on WWF Champion 'Macho Man' Randy Savage in the culmination of what is considered by many to be the BEST wrestling storyline of ALL TIME.

Long story short, a friendship had formed between once-bitter enemies Savage and Hulk, resulting in them forming the "Mega-Powers." Although successful as a tag team, over time WWF Champion Savage started having doubts about Hogan, feeling the former champ was treating him like a "second banana" at best, at worst like a "third wheel" - and, even worse than the worst, that the Hulkster had more than a professional interest in their manager, Macho Man's long-time valet Miss Elizabeth.

At the first big event ever held at the new Milwaukee Bradley Center, the lid blew off the slowly building tensions. Due to mishaps with their match that night an insanely emotion-charged Macho claimed that Hogan 'lusted' for Elizabeth & went totally berserk in a postmatch backstage confrontation (Hi-Speed | Dialup) aired live on NBC's "The Main Event" Feb. 3, 1989, setting up Hogan's challenge for the WWF Championship.

With Miss Elizabeth in a neutral corner, the dramatic WrestleMania V "cat and mouse" game found Savage playing his 'dirty tricks' card early and often, pressing for advantage with eye-gouging, choking, and at one point resorting to pulling his estranged valet/manager in the way of a Hogan punch. Raging back and forth, the battle eventually spilled outside of the ring, leading to Miss Elizabeth becoming emotionally involved and ultimately ejected from the ring area.

Back in the ring, after damaging Hogan's throat and following with his patented elbow drop off the top rope Savage tried for a pinfall but Hogan, "reaching deep inside," hulked up and hit back with punches, a big boot and leg drop for the victory and his 2nd WWF Championship.

**Dr Powerfun** · 04-03-2011

Some WrestleMania V Fast Facts of note:

WrestleMania V marked the only time that the WWF's flagship event would be held at the same venue in consecutive years and the last time it was held at Trump Plaza - although Donald Trump was interviewed in the crowd at Wrestlemanias VII and XX and physically involved at WrestleMania 23 as part of a hair-vs-hair "Battle of the Billionaires" with Vince McMahon.

One of the most influential groups ever in rap music, Run-DMC performed a specially tailored song, the "WrestleMania Rap."

When Hogan beat Savage at WrestleMania V, it was the first of three times Hogan became WWF Champion at a WrestleMania (his other two title wins being against Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania VII, and Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX).

After facing off in a body slam match at the first WrestleMania, Andre the Giant and Big John Studd were again involved in a match at WrestleMania V, where Studd served as special ref for the match between Andre and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Roberts beat the Giant by DQ after Andre headbutted Studd.

When "Ravishing" Rick Rude beat the Ultimate Warrior to take the IC title at WrestleMania V, it marked Warrior's first pinfall loss in the WWF. Rude's manager Bobby Heenan had tripped Warrior on a suplex attempt and held his leg down for the pin.

The tag team of Strike Force - Rick Martel and Tito Santana - broke up at WrestleMania V after losing to Bobby Heenan's Brain Busters, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, with Arn pinning Tito after Martel walked out on the match. Tito went on to feud with Martel, who as a heel transformed into "The Model" (an arrogant, self-centered egomaniac).

Meanwhile both Shawn Michaels and the Big Boss Man made their WrestleMania debuts at WrestleMania V -- taking on each other! Shawn and his "Rockers" partner, Marty Jannetty, ultimately lost to the team of Boss Man and Akeem (with manager Slick) when Akeem pinned Michaels with a splash.

The guest for Rowdy Roddy's Piper's Pit segment was Morton Downey Jr. Known for shouting matches & blowing cigarette smoke in people's faces, the TV talk show host was a bit overbearing but the "Hot Rod" knew how to put him in his place.

WrestleMania V's shortest match was the last on the undercard, between Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and his former protege The Red Rooster, who had turned against Heenan due to his badgering and criticism. Rooster won in only 32 seconds.

In the other matches on the card, Hercules def. King Haku... Brutus Beefcake fought Ted DiBiase (with Virgil) to a double countout... The Bushwhackers def. The Fabulous Rougeaus (with Jimmy Hart)... Mr. Perfect def. The Blue Blazer... Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) def. Ronnie Garvin... The Hart Foundation def. Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart)... in a handicap match for the tag team titles, champions Demolition def. The Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji... and Jim Duggan & Bad News Brown fought to a double DQ.

**Midnight 23** · 04-03-2011

Wow, 22 years sure has flown by. I was a grade school kid that year and I remember that show like it happened yesterday. I was a big Rick Rude fan and was the only one in the group watching who was happy about him beating Ultimate Warrior. Look how colorful and fun the characters were. Anyone who thinks it's simply "fake fighting" and talks about MMA in comparison is just missing the point entirely.

**Dr Powerfun** · 04-08-2011

Excerpted from headlineplanet.com:

The company previously known as World Wrestling Entertainment formally announced Thursday that it has changed its business name to WWE, Inc. These initials now carry no meaning, similar to a move Kentucky Fried Chicken once did when formally becoming KFC.

As has been reported, the move stems from WWE's continued desire to escape the stigma of the word "wrestling." WWE wants to be portrayed as a global entertainment business, and it has slowly been removing all references to 'wrestling' from its business items, merchandise and television shows.
...
"The new business model of the company better reflects what WWE is all about, being a global entertainment company," stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and CEO, WWE. "We will always be loyal to our core business that made WWE a globally known entity, however, the future of WWE will be the addition of new entertainment content opportunities beyond the ring."

In a press release on the change, WWE announced two key focuses going forward: "the active pursuit to acquire entertainment content companies and the outsourcing of WWE's core competencies - television and film production, live event production and licensing."

"As part of the new business model, the company will also focus on the development of new television products including scripted, non-scripted and animated programs, as well as the launch of a new WWE network in the next 12-18 months," added WWE in the statement.

WWE's new branding initiative includes the slogan "Bigger. Badder. Better."

---------------------------------------

Is the "Wrestling" stigma all there is to it?
Stay tuned to see if THE HEAD OF WWE
can escape the sitgma of something else...

**Dr Powerfun** · 05-19-2011

5/19/1946 - Andre Rene Rousimoff was born in Grenoble, France. Under his ring name of "Andre The Giant," he would go on to become, arguably, the world's most famous wrestler of all time.

See a biography, photo gallery, list of lifetime achievements and more at
http://andrethegiant.com

**Dr Powerfun** · 06-16-2011

6/16/59 - Jim "The Ultimate Warrior" Hellwig, now known as simply (and legally) Warrior, is born in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

A face-painted muscleman who ran to the the ring and spoke to his hands and the heavens about things we mortals can't understand, Warrior is remembered fondly by his fans. His power and intensity made him one of the world's most popular wrestlers for a time.

In 1987, Ultimate Warrior entered the WWF and within a few months took the Intercontinental Championship from the Honky Tonk Man, holding the title for 8 months before losing it to Ravishing Rick Rude. Regaining the belt a few months later, he went on to compete for the World Title then held by Hulk Hogan.

At WrestleMania VI, Warrior beat Hogan to become WWF Champion. His reign lasted for 9 months until he lost the title to Sgt. Slaughter due to Randy Savage's interference. He got revenge against Savage later by beating him in a 'loser retires' match. After that point, the story of the Warrior became very strange. He was locked in a coffin, buried up to his neck, and bitten by a cobra during an attack by Jake Roberts & the Undertaker. Then he was gone.

At WrestleMania VIII the Warrior returned to the surprise of fans. He then had a voodoo curse cast on him by Papa Shango that forced him to vomit and have an ooze come down his face. After winning his feud with Shango, he was supposed to main event Survivor Series '92 but was gone again. He came back almost four years later, had a feud with Jerry 'The King' Lawler and was gone once more.

During the Monday Night Wars, he signed up with WCW after a legal battle with WWF that resulted in him being awarded the rights to the Warrior name. In his most memorable WCW appearance, Warrior and Hulk Hogan stunk up the arena in a match featuring Hogan not being able to light up a piece of flash paper.

A conservative with a successful speaking career, Warrior has appeared on C-Span and also tours colleges. In addition, he espouses his own philosophy on life with words he's created like destrucity and foke.

**Project** · 06-17-2011

Hey Dr. P. I remember a rumour that Ultimate Warrior died of a coke overdose at some point and was replaced... the "new" guy looked pretty different too, I assumed the Ultimate Warrior became a sort of franchise at that point... do you know anything about this?

**Dr Powerfun** · 06-17-2011

Originally Posted by Project

Hey Dr. P. I remember a rumour that Ultimate Warrior died of a coke overdose at some point and was replaced... the "new" guy looked pretty different too, I assumed the Ultimate Warrior became a sort of franchise at that point... do you know anything about this?

What I do know about it is that it's an infamous Urban Legend that lives on to this day, despite the fact 1) the Warrior is not currently dead, 2) the Warrior never has been dead, and 3) no one but he who was once known by the name Jim Hellwig has ever been the Warrior.

That all said, what I've gathered as to the rumor's origins is that when Warrior made his 'shocking' return to the WWF at WrestleMania VIII in 1992, besides sporting a shorter haircut and blonder hair, a big part of the shock to fans was his being not nearly as big and buff as he had been before his sudden 'disappearance' from the wrestling world in August '91.

With the noticeable physical change, rumors began to spread that this Warrior was a replacement, required due to the original's death; various theories arose as to his demise, among them illicit drug OD, liver failure due to years of steroid abuse, even that his arm bands had been too tight and cut off his blood circulation!

Another factor involved in the rumor-mongering was that after his WM VIII return, the Warrior's wrestling career was sporadic at best. Leaving WWF in late '92, he made only a handful of ring appearances for various lesser promotions until early '96 when he returned to WWF, leaving again after only four months.

His final run in the ring came in 1998, with Warrior participating in three matches for WCW. Interestingly enough during his debut on WCW Monday Nitro, a 'shocked' Hulk Hogan said, "I … I thought you were dead."

There were fans who had thought that too. Just as it was in 1995 Hogan played a role in WCW's unveiling of a character whose whole gimmick was impersonating the Warrior. Some fans felt "The Renegade", as he was called, was a comment by WCW as to the authenticity of the Warrior. Sadly, not long after his 1998 release from WCW the man who played Renegade, Rick Williams, fell into depression and took his own life.

All-in-all, considering the storied history surrounding the career of the Warrior, it's probably no wonder how the rumor of his demise and the establishment of a franchise formed and continues on; fact is, despite any and all evidence to the contrary, reality always tends to blur in the wake of a good story - and, in the end, stories are a big part of what pro-'rasslin' is all about.

**Project** · 06-18-2011

that must be it, I used to like the warrior and when he came back I thought he looked very different, different body especially (since his face was basically hidden anyways). It fit right into the rumours, maybe on purpose, any publicity is good publicity for wrestlers

**Dr Powerfun** · 08-25-2011

This Day in Pro Rasslin' History: ROAD WARRIORS Win Their First World Title

On 8/25/1984, The Road Warriors (aka The Legion of Doom) defeated The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke for the AWA World Tag Team Title in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hawk & Animal would hold the belts for over a year, dominating the AWA tag team scene.

Moving on from the AWA and after a series of overwhelming victories on the All Japan Pro Wrestling circuit in '85 and '86, the pair made their presence exclusive to the NWA where they won the inaugural Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, and beat The Midnight Express for the NWA World Tag Team Championship on October 29, 1988 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Also in 1988 came another "Tag Team of the Year" nod from Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the fourth time the magazine's readers bestowed the honor on the team since their 1983 debut.

But WAIT, there's MORE! At the Summerslam PPV seven years and a day after winning their first world title, The LOD defeated The Nasty Boys at Madison Square Garden to win the WWF World Tag Team belts, making Hawk & Animal the only team ever to have won world tag team titles in all three of the top promotions of the 1980s.

From day one when the duo first burst onto the pro wrestling scene accompanied to the ring by their manager, Precious Paul Ellering, no matter what sobriquet they went by Hawk (Mike Hegstrand) & Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) influenced the world of sports entertainment like no other team before or since.

Famously decked out in spiked shoulder pads and making their entrance to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", the fearsomely face-painted grapplers took the weekly TV "squash matches" of that era to a new level, their various hapless victims served up on a silver platter to be rudely and roundly massacred in short order, to the delight of fake violence lovers everywhere.

Both astonishing agile for their size, the furiously fast muscle men were intense competitors who gave no quarter and expected none; to punctuate this, they would tell the audience "We snack on danger and dine on death" - their answer to those detractors who would protest their extreme ways and maneuvers (such as their off-the-top rope finishing move, the 'Doomsday Device') being "You don't like it? We don't care!"

Despite displaying all the qualities of wrestling heels, the hard-hitting high-impact pair gained a fervent following among mock mayhem enthusiasts all around the globe as, beyond the squash (mis)matches, Hawk & Animal were no less merciless in their determination and drive to punish their opponents and come out on top against any and all main-event tag-teams such as The Koloffs, The Horsemen, The Varsity Club, The Steiner Brothers, The Samoan Swat Team, The Skyscrapers, The Brainbusters, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers and others.

So wildly popular did the duo become they've been often imitated (glaringly so, as evidenced by the total knock-offs The Powers of Pain and also to a somewhat less obvious extent Demolition) yet have never successfully duplicated here or abroad, then or since...

Although the team along with their manager Paul Ellering were finally inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame this year, you can be sure The LOD/Road Warriors Hawk & Animal had already had long gone down in the books of many an old-school wresting fan as the GREATEST TAG TEAM of ALL TIME!

100K WMV | Dialup

**Dr Powerfun** · 11-22-2011

11/22/1990: The Undertaker's Debut at Survivor Series

"Prior to the World Wrestling Federation's 1990 Survivor Series, a mystery partner for The Million Dollar Man's 'Million Dollar Team' was announced by Ted Dibiase Sr. himself. That mystery man would turn out to be none other than THE UNDERTAKER, and his introduction 21 years ago left a lasting impression in the minds of fans everywhere.

Arguably the most important debut in the entire course of WWF/WWE history, it was immediately apparent this huge, ghoulish figure was awe inspiring. Not just in the grim look of the reaper, but in his impressive in ring ability and flat out talent. There were many that felt a 7 foot dead zombie who not only beats you, but takes your soul was a ridiculous gimmick that was laughable at best and would never work long term.

Well, it's over two decades later now and the Undertaker is a pro wrestling legend. A future hall of famer and multiple time world champion. Arriving as a challenger from the shadows, the Undertaker has overshadowed all opposition he's come in contact with!"

**maryals** · 11-22-2011

Talk about some awesome blasts from the past! I was a big fan, as a teenager, in the early 1960's. One of my friend's mom would take us to matches in downtown Pittsburgh. I was a big fan of Bruno Sammartino.
Then maybe during the 1970s and early 80s there wasn't so much Pro Wrestling? Or I wasn't paying attention.
But by the late 1980s, when James was a teenager himself, I became a fan again. We'd spend every Saturday watching it on TV together.
There would be live matches, with some of the Big Stars, there in Tampa FL and I would take James and a couple of his friends.
I remember all those names you've named here, that is, from the 1980s.
But then there came WCW and WEW and RWA OK I'm making some of those acronyms up but anyway I couldn't keep up. Some rasslers went to the other Franchise and some had to change their name then they would go back to WWE or was it WWF? I got too confused so I havent' watched Pro Rasslin' since the early 1990s.

Oh, a couple of years ago "The Big Show" was on an episode of "Royal Pains", he's a pretty good actor. John Cena was on an episode of "Psych", he's also a pretty good actor. funny but I've never watched them wrestle!

Anyway, again, thanks DocP!

Mary and Baby