Recently WWE Raw turned 1,000 episodes old, you may have noticed. Sometimes you don’t really take in how something is progressing, especially something you love. You take it for granted that it’s always there and that it’s always going to be there no matter what happens in your life. The one stable rock that you can always count on to be there when nothing and nobody else is. As much as we sit here and complain about what happens with John Cena and how they’re not pushing Dolph Ziggler or Jack Swagger correctly, I think that we take the focus off of what was great about wrestling and put it too much on what it bad.
I’m not going to stop criticising WWE or TNA or ROH for their dumb booking choices because people have to know the difference between what’s good, what’s right and what needs to happen in order for our great business to continue in the future. For now though, forget John Cena, forget WWE burying ever new face through the doors because all of that is just trivial cogs that are part of a bigger machine.
As Raw turned 1,000 episodes old and this blog turned over 1,000 readers strong, I began thinking not about the mess that WWE finds itself in with its talent in 2012, but of the times that made me a wrestling fan. The times that I sat in front of my television as a child, a teenager and an adult, watching the wrestlers I despised, the wrestlers I loved and despite what category they were in, the wrestlers that I respected and was inspired by. The moments in time that will forever stand still before us and the moments that allowed to us to boo our heels, to cheer our faces, to fight with our heroes and to fall with our legends. And on the odd occasion, to cry with those that were leaving us.
That’s the whole reason for this particular blog and the new background. To do the one thing that no one in wrestling does these days. To step back, put everything else on hold and to remember the times that made us love the business. The times before we knew how a wrestling match was worked. Or the times before we knew that the competitors in the ring were friends outside it. Even the times before we knew that everything was worked out in advance.
I am fully aware that I could be talking to people who have just discovered this business. Wrestling virgins. People who don’t really know much about the business or much about the wrestlers or the pageantry and history that went before. People who don’t know much about the lineage, the history, the golden age of wrestling that those of us who found the calling in the late 80’s endeavoured to discover. The word ‘Golden Age’ has been thrown around a lot in the past few years. People talking about how WWE and wrestling today isn’t the same as it was in the ‘Golden Age’. And they’re right, it’s not. It’s nowhere near.
What I have come to realize is that different people have their own different ‘Golden Age’ And as I don’t know what yours is, then the broad canvas on which I have to work on can now cover the times that others who have just stepped through the door may not be aware of. And the times that we never want to let of.
There may be disagreements and arguments, but if you can find me a better time in wrestling than when Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat were feuding over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, or when Macho Man Randy Savage turned on Hulk Hogan then I’ll gladly listen. That’s a challenge that I doubt anyone can accomplish.
In the eighties there was one man who changed the face of wrestling as we know it. No, it wasn’t Hulk Hogan, the Hulkster was just a cog in the machine. It was Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Vince wasn’t the architect for the grand stage on which so many perform today. When we applaud Vince McMahon junior for all he’s done for the wrestling industry, then we must also applaud the man that taught him everything he knows, Vince McMahon Senior. It was the Senior McMahon who changed the territories for the better. Who brought into the board of the NWA and had partial control over where the NWA World Championship went. If it wasn’t for Vince Senior then Ric Flair would never have been NWA World Heavyweight Champion. And wrestling might not have been what it is today.
True though, it was his son Vince McMahon junior, our Vince McMahon that changed wrestling for the better. Vince learnt from his father and then he took everything he knew and got better, until he built and empire and raided the territorial system for the best talent around. Of course Vince McMahon wasn’t the only the wrestling promotion to fight for the number one spot. In the years that followed there were two more. WCW and ECW. And because of those two companies and Vince McMahon’s foresight, we have memories that will stand the test of time. We were given the Golden age of wrestling.
The 1980’s
A time when everything was easier, when wrestling was simpler to follow and not as hard to understand. There were no complicated matches or rules that you needed three weeks to follow. In the eighties, WWF changed for the better and so did the face of wrestling all together. As men and women were plucked from territories we were given great characters like Macho Man Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, The Bushwhackers, The fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Earthquake, Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, Jake ‘the snake’ Roberts, King Kong Bundy, the Hart Foundation, the Rockers, Demolition, Lex Luger, Big Van Vader, Sting, Doom, The Midnight Express to name but a few. Plus the rock n’ wrestling connection.
The nineteen eighties will always stand as a torch bearer for what it gave wrestling. Most of which is still evident today. The Royal Rumble, King of the Ring which had it’s first ever tournament in 1988 and was won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan. SummerSlam, Survivor Series. All of these with the exception of the King of the Ring tournament are evident in WWE today. It’s a testament to the times that these great pay per view events which have given us numerous memories are still alive and kicking. Undeniably though, the greatest thing the eighties gave us, was Wrestlemania.
Memories such as Mr. T teaming up with the uber popular Hulk Hogan to defeat Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania 1 stand alone as golden and cherished nuggets from a time that came without a fanfare and left far too quickly. Moments in time like Macho Man Randy Savage coming out on top at Wrestlemania 4’s WWF Championship tournament. Lifting the gold aloft as the arena roof was secured after the rapturous ovation that proceeded the bout. Or Hulk Hogan being turned on by Randy Savage thus signalling the end of the Mega Powers.
When you look at the eighties, two main events stand out for me. One was at Wrestlemania 3, when Hulk Hogan took on Andre the Giant in a truly epic encounter that wasn’t much to look at wrestling wise but left us with the image of Hogan body slamming Andre. And the SummerSlam 1988 Main Event pitting the Mega Powers (Hogan and Savage) vs the Mega Bucks (Dibiase and Andre). With the exception of the Rock vs John Cena at Wrestlemania 28, no main event in history received as much media coverage as these two main events did. And I doubt any will again.
The great memories of the 80’s don’t stop there in WWE history. We bore witness to Zeus crushing Hulk Hogan’s skull in the build up to the massive tag team match at SummerSlam 1989. It was such a momentous occasion that it made the news. Pushing Hogan like a freight train, this was the first time that WWE allowed Hogan to show any real weakness against another opponent, especially one like Zeus who wasn’t a wrestler: the Ultimate Warrior defeating Honky Tonk Man at SummerSlam 1988 for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in just thirty one seconds. From there the Warrior would go on to have an epic reign as Intercontinental Champion: Sergeant Slaughter and Iron Sheik ripping each other apart at Madison Square Garden in a brutal and bloody boot camp match: Jimmy Superfly Snuka, taking flight from the top of the steel cage in Madison Square Garden in one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history: Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3, one of the greatest wrestling matches to ever take place.
WWF’s in ring antics in the eighties were also heralded as some of the greatest of the time and maybe any time. Macho Man Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat (Wrestlemania 3): The Mega Powers vs The Mega Bucks (SummerSlam 1988): Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake vs Macho Man and Zeus (SummerSlam 1989): Rude Brood vs Roddie’s Rowdies (Survivor Series 1989): Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage (Wrestlemania 5):The Dream Team vs The British Bulldogs (Wrestlemania 2): The Ultimate Warrior vs Ravishing Rick Rude (SummerSlam 1989): Randy Savage vs Bret Hart (Saturday Night’s Main Event 1987): Don Muraco vs Jimmy Sunka (October 17th 1983): Sgt Slaughter vs The Iron Sheik (June 16th 1984): The Brain Busters vs The Hart Foundation (SummerSlam 1989).
WCW gave us Starrcade, which produced iconic main events such as Harley Race vs Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1983. The sight of Ric Flair covered in blood, clutching the gold for dear life is still one of the most iconic shots in wrestling history. The following year Flair and Dusty Rhodes beat the hell out of each other for the same championship. In the years that followed Ric Flair had classic matches with Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff and Ron Garvin to cement his legacy as one of wrestling’s greatest in ring performers. One of the greatest ever Starrcade matches and moments came in 1989, when Sting finally climbed the mountain and toppled Flair to capture the WCW Championship. Every Starrcade WCW held in the eighties, Ric Flair was in the main event.
The Chi Town Rumble was where it all started for me as a fan. The very first match I ever saw on February 20th 1989. The moment I saw Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat go at it I knew this was the business for me. And twenty three years later my opinion hasn’t changed one bit. I was right to get hooked on this drug. I’m thankful for every great match I have ever witnessed, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Whether it was Ric Flair and Rikcy Steamboat contesting incredible matches over the WCW or NWA World Heavyweight Championship, or the the most boring match which had no substance or meaning.
WCW played their hand early in the 1980’s coming out strong with not only Starrcade but also Clash of the Champions and The Great American Bash: WCW’s great matches of the eighties came via matches such as: The Road Warriors vs Krusher Khruschev and Ivan Koloff (Great American Bash1985): Ric Flair vs Nikita Koloff (Great American Bash 1985): Lex Luger vs Ric Flair (Starrcade 1988): Dusty Rhodes vs Ric Flair (Great American Bash1986): Lex Luger vs Ricky Steamboat (Great American bash 1988): The Rock N’ Roll Express vs Arn and Ole Anderson (Great American Bash 1986): Ric Flair vs Terry Funk (Clash of the Champions 9, 1989): The Rock N’ Roll Express vs The Midnight Express (Great American Bash 1986): Barry Windham vs Ric Flair (January 20th 1987): Sting vs The Great Muta (Great American bash 1989): Ricky Steamboat vs Lex Luger (Great American Bash 1989): Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WrestleWar 1989): Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (Chi-Town Rumble 1989): Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (Clash of the Champions 6, 1989).
Wrestling boomed in the nineteen eighties. Because of the matches and memories above and thousands that there is no room to mention, there was no way that the business could follow it into the nineties. And so as the year turned from nineteen eight nine to nineteen ninety, the wrestling boom ceased to exist, yet the nineties was possibly the greatest decade for wrestling ever.
The 1990’s
It was the decade of the colourful and larger than life wrestler. WWF had to change course and do it quickly. As comic books and pop culture became more popular, Vince McMahon realised he had to change with the times. And it’s a good job he did. Otherwise we’d have never have had wrestlers like Repo Man, Papa Shango, Doink the Clown, The Natural Disasters, Adam Bomb, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker, Triple H, The Rock, The Nasty Boys, Legion of Doom, Shawn Michaels and the list goes on and on. The early nineties were the stuff of legend in WWE. Yes, some of the wrestling was poor. Yes, some of the storylines were bad, but week in and week out, however bad the matches were we were always entertained.
The nineties are a time every fan should see. There are certain things that have to be experienced in the here and now, things that can’t be replicated by watching DVD’s or video tapes of the era. It was a truly momentous time to be a wrestling fan in and I really do feel sorry for all those that never got to experience it. Because this era, this is my era. This is when wrestling became a phenomenon for me and I’m privileged to have witnessed it and to have lived through it. I'll never forget going to the shops on the day the new wrestling action figures came out and buying them, or unwrapping them at Christmas. It was almost like a religious ceremony, the unrapping and then the removal from the packets of Yokozuna or Bret Hart or the British Bulldog, Sting, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons.
My overriding memory of the early nineties are of one man. Not Bret Hart, not Shawn Michaels, but in 1993, WWF brought a clown onto the scene, a clown named Doink. You’ll be familiar with the clown I speak of as he’s resurfaced recently in WWE around the Raw 1,000 celebrations. In 1993 though, he was an entirely different clown. He wasn’t full of laughs, he was evil. You could have been forgiven for mistaking him as a character from a horror film. He had sharp pointed teeth, the scary gloves and the clown’s mallet. As a child it was terrifying. Especially the way WWF used to distort the picture when it zoomed in on his face.
Doink, for me anyway, is a WWE legend. I doubt he’ll ever be in the WWE Hall of Fame and that’s a shame. Because when he wasn’t clowning around he was a damn fine wrestler. As proven when he took on Bret Hart at SummerSlam 1993 in a very respectable match. It was in his feud with Crush in the beginning of 1993 when Doink really made the WWF fans stand up and take notice. It was frightening for a small child to see a dangerous, scary clown ground and injury a man the size of Crush. That’s what WWF did brilliantly back then, the ability to surprise and shock. Doink the Clown might have been another WWF attempt to draw in young children to their programme, but to this day i still by the opinion that when he first made his debut in WWF, Doink the Clown was the scariest character in WWF history. Yokozuna could be beaten, but there's something about fear that cannot be beaten.
Doink is just one of a thousand memories I have of the Golden Age of wrestling. In WWE alone, and not in chronological order, there was: Ric Flair defecting to WWF with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the real life war that went on between the companies over the belt. WCW didn’t want it to be shown on WWF programming but to get viewers, Vince McMahon insisted Flair parade the championship around on camera calling himself ‘The Real World’s champion’. A little double standard there, when Vince screwed Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1997 because he didn’t want Hart taking the WWF Championship to WCW. People may argue that it was born out on insecurity on Vince McMahon's part, not trusting a loyal employee such as Hart, but when you consider that Madusa took the WWF Women's Championship and dumped it in a bin live on WCW Nitro then you can understand Vince's worries. Although he though it was fone to let Flair parade the WCW Championship on WWE T.V.
Whilst we’re on the subject there’s the Montreal screw job. I’ve never seen anything so intense, infuriating and sad all at once, before. To treat a legend like Bret Hart like that was unimaginable at the time and Shawn Michaels wasn’t welcome in Canada for a long time. Harking back to the early nineties, there was Wrestlemania nine. It was a terrible pay per view but it will live long in the memory for the great scenes of Bobby Heenan trying to ride a camel and the ending to the Bret Hart vs Yokozuna match. Speaking of Heenan, one of the best partnerships on WWF television was Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan. It was a sad day when Bobby Heenan left WWE. You could see the pain in both Monsoon and Heenan in those final seconds, as Monsoon had to throw Heenan out of WWF. The moment Heenan turns to the WWF and gives a quick salute goodbye still brings a tear to my eye today. Especially when you know that Heenan would never return to the WWF again until the end of his career and his battle with throat cancer which he has bravely fought through.
Hands up those of you old enough to remember Survivor Series 1993 and the four Doink’s, not one of them was the real Doink. The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission. The sight of Mabel with a white face trying to ride a scooter, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Headshrinkers and Bastian Booger slipping around the ring on greasy animal bones and carcasses is one of my favourites of the era: the year after, Doink was back in gimmick mode when he brought Dink, Wink and Pink to take on Jerry Lawler and his midget kings. It wasn’t a great match but the sight of Lawler getting his arse kicked by midgets was hilarious at the time and depending on what mood you’re in now, still is. It was ridiculous fun but fun all the same. Today WWF would get slated for doing something like that, the difference is that in 1994 WWF knew how to get wrestlers over, they knew how to make main event wrestlers, so little distractions and clowining around like the example on offer here, were both excusable and welcome. When you have a wealth of talent on hand you can have a few moments of light relief.
Back in the day, Wrestlemania’s gave you a feeling of satisfaction rather than frustration at what you know should have happened, that actually didn’t. Will any of us forget the host of wrestlers hoisting Bret Hart onto their shoulders at Wrestlemania 10 after ‘The Excellence of Execution’ had defeated the great Yokozuna to capture the WWF Championship and exact revenge on the real life Samoan for the previous year: then there was Wrestlemania 14, Stone Cold Steve Austin finally touching the summit and defeating Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship in what would prove to be Michaels’ final match for four years. And the following sucker punch from Mike Tyson after the bell: the kick heard around the world, as Shawn Michaels’ boy hood dream came true with one, hard, swift Sweet chin Music to the jaw of Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12. A moment which I witnessed personally and am thankful for it: Wrestlemania 13 when a heel Stone Cold Steve Austin did something no other heel dared and showed an amazing amount of guts against a face, passing out from blood loss, locked in the Sharpshooter. Then the following assault that changed two men’s roles in the space of three seconds, when Hart reapplied the sharpshooter to an unconscious Austin and refused to let go. If a heel wants to get over in WWE today, they only need to look at what Austin did at the end of that match. Even though he was beaten, losing blood, a heel in the fans eyes, he wouldn’t tap out. It was the kind of grit and character that would have won the harts and minds of any audience in any era.
The moments that have shocked us with their actions. Moments we never expected to see. Yokozuna continuously delivering the banzai drop to Hacksaw Jim Duggan on T.V, supposedly crushing his chest. I remember watching that as a child, being speechless. After that angle, I saw Yoko as a monster heel. The angle did its job: Yokozuna again, with a group of about fifteen wrestlers at Royal Rumble 1994 demolishing Undertaker and the following moments when Undertaker supposedly rose from his coffin on the titan tron screen and the green smoke poured from the casket: Jake the Snake allowing his snake to bite Randy Savage as he was tied to the ropes: Bob Backlund trapping Bret Hart in the crossface chicken wing submission hold at Survivor Series 1994, and refusing to let go. The sight of Hart refusing to give up even thought he supposedly couldn’t breathe was an inspiration to children all around the world: Stone Cold Steve Austin being run over at Survivor Series 1999: The Undertaker and Jake the Snake crashing Macho Man and Elizabeth’s wedding at SummerSlam 1991, 
giving them a snake in a box as a present: the Rock and Mankind at the nineteen ninety nine Royal Rumble when The Rock brutalized Mankind with several steel chair shots to the head. Chair shots that Mick Foley didn’t know were coming – seriously: Shawn Michaels collapsing live on Raw from what we were told at the time was a brain tumour, after a wicked inzaguri kick from Owen Hart. I don’t think I was ever as concerned for anyone as I was HBK: Lex Luger defecting from WCW to WWF. We’d all watched him in WCW for years, I knew of him as a child. When he rocked up in WWF it was the first real incident of cross brand action I’d seen: the biggest one that will stick with me for a lifetime will be Bret Hart and Lex Luger going over the top rope together in the 1994 Royal Rumble Match. We’d never seen that before. It was so successful that it’s been repeated time and time again, to diminishing effect: Owen Hart breaking Stone Cold Steve Austin’s neck at SummerSlam 1997 with a botched, reverse tombstone piledriver: Bret hart being a hero in Canada and a heel in America: the Undertaker throwing Mankind off of the Hell in a Cell through and announce table at ringside and then choke slamming him through the roof of Hell in a Cell at King of the Ring 1998: finally the greatest Golden Age feud of all time. Austin vs McMahon and all the memories that come with it. The firings, the buried alive matches with the Undertaker, Austin dressing up as a member of the corporation and then turning on McMahon, the stunners, the feud with the zamboni truck, the hospital visit where Vince recieved more than he bargained for.
Then there were the moments that filled you with real joy. When something happened that you’d been waiting for, for a while. Razor Ramon winning a battle royal on Raw in 1993 and then beating Rick Martel for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels winning the 1995 Royal Rumble match entering number one. What a moment that was: Sid defeating Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1996. We’d all seen enough of Michaels as Champion by then and WWF listened to the jeers Michaels was getting and correctly made the change. As a child I thought it was the wring decision, I was adamant that Michaels should have won. Looking back on it now though, knowing what I know, it was of course the right result on the night, even if I, like every other child watching was enraged when Sid nailed Jose Lothario in the chest with a camera: D-Generation X forming and becoming bigger, huger, more outrageous as the attitude area stormed forward: the Godwins slopping anyone and everyone with their slop buckets: DX invading WCW in a tank and not being allowed in: Stone Cold Steve Austin soaking the corporation in a beer bath: Stone Cold Steve Austin filling Vince McMahon’s car with cement: Legion of Doom and Paul Ellering riding to the ring on their motorbikes with their puppet Rocco: Lex Luger body slamming Yokozuna on board the ship WWF put on exclusivley for WWF fans to cruise with the WWF wrestlers. The sight of Luger flying in by helicopter is one of the great sights of the early nineties. After coming off the huge Lex Express tour which went around America, Luger was riding high going into SummerSlam 1993. It was obvious he wasn't going to win but it was a great build.
The moments that are neither here nor there. But will live long in the annuls of time thanks to their uniqueness, the memory that they will leave behind of the match or the wrestlers that made it. Stone Cold Steve Austin trying to get at Stu Hart at In You House Canadian Stampede because he thought Hart threw his drink at him: the overtly camp Goldust: Survivor Series 1993, Owen Hart walking out his brother Bret Hart, when Owen was elminated because of Bret. The British Bulldog defeating Bret Hart at SummerSlam 1992 in London, England for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: having SummerSlam 1992 in Wembley Stadium – the greatest SummerSlam in history: the British Bulldog becoming the greatest British wrestler in history: the debut of the Rock at Survivor Series 1996, Triple H the night after Wrestlemania 11 and The Undertaker at Survivor Series 1990. Who could have known how far they’d all go?: Shawn Michaels vs Rick Martel at SummerSlam 1992. The match never got going but the stipulation that neither was allowed to hit the other in the face caused Sensational Sherrie to comedic-ally pass out on the ring apron when the two men who she couldn’t choose between pulled their punches. Even funnier was when each tried to carry her back to the locker room, the other attacked from behind, sending Sherrie flying up the aisle several times, before Martel doused both Michaels and Sherrie in water: ‘Double J’ Jeff Jarrett singing ‘With My Baby Tonight’ at In Your House 2 and then the Roadie being the real voice behind the song: Owen Hart winning the 1994 King of the Ring Tournament: Stone Cold Steve Austin winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, then standing in front of the world and giving the now immortal speech ‘Austin 3:16, said I just whooped your ass!’: the very first episode of Monday Night Raw. Looking back now, as we’ve just passed the thousandth episodes it was unimaginable to a young boy back there, that nineteen years later and countless matches, this is where we’d be today: the Hart brothers feud which was one of the best in wrestling history. Can anyone forget Bret Hart suplexing Owen Hart from the top of the steel cage at SummerSlam 1994 or their blinding match at Wrestlemania 10, which Owen won?: the debut and the career of the Undertaker. I doubt anyone at Survivor Series 1990 would have put a dollar or a pound on that man in the long draped coat and dodgy eye make up becoming one of WWE’s greatest assets and superstars. We still remember to this day Undertaker eliminating the entire opposing team and then one year later defeating the ever annoying Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels losing his smile and becoming the man. The classic speech he gave on Raw when he lost his smile stands as one of WWE’s greatest and his ascension to the throne of greatest wrestler ever is well deserved. His matches in the 90’s against men like Hart, 123 Kid, Diesel, British Bulldog weren’t just a fluke: the 123 Kid defeating Razor Ramon for his first ever victory in WWF on Raw in 1993, was there a more emotional moment than that at the time?: Vince McMahon standing in the ring at Wrestlemania 1 and proclaiming ‘Welcome to Wrestlemania!’ A moment that is played at the beginning of every Wrestlemania and will be until the end of time.
And the moments that made us cry. Owen Hart’s tragic death at WWF Over the Limit 1999, when he plunged to his death and the proceeding Raw tribute show which to this day ranks as the greatest Raw episode in history. If you didn’t shed a tear when Stone Cold Steve Austin toasted the memory and the picture of Owen on the big screen, and then left two beers in the middle of the ring then you too were already dead.
The memories never leave us. They’re there forever, in the grey matter in our brain somewhere. The 1990’s wasn’t just the Golden Age for memories. There are matches that will also stand the test of time, not necessarily for the wrestling but in some cases for the ending and for the nostalgia. Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania 6): The Hart Foundation vs Demolition (SummerSlam 1990): Ultimate Warrior 
vs Rick Rude (SummerSlam 1990): Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect (SummerSlam 1991): Undertaker vs Hulk Hogan (Survivor Series 1991): Bret Hart vs Ric Flair (1992: Bret Hart wins his first ever WWF Championship): 123 Kid vs Razor Ramon (Raw 1993): Bret Hart vs Yokozuna (Wrestlemania 10): Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (Wrestlemania 10): 123 Kid vs Bret Hart (Raw 1994): Undertaker vs Undertaker (SummerSlam 1994): Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (SummerSlam 1994): Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart (Wrestlemania 12): Mankind vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (In Your House: Canadian Stampede): Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Bret Hart (Wrestlemania 13): Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart (Survivor Series 1997): Alundra Blaze vs Bull Nakano (Wrestlemania 10): Bret Hart vs Roddy piper (Wrestlemania 8): Doink the Clown vs Crush (Wrestlemania 9): Macho Man Randy Savage vs Crush (Wrestlemania 10): The Rock vs Triple H (SummerSlam 1998): The Rock vs Mankind (Royal Rumble 1999): Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Goldust (Wrestlemania 13): The Rockers vs The Hart Foundation (October 1990): Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam 1995): Bret Hart vs The British Bulldog (In Your House 5): British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels (King of the Ring 1996): British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels (One Night Only 1997): Owen Hart vs British Bulldog (Raw 1997 – European Championship Tournament Final): Bret Hart vs Razor Ramon (King of the Ring 1993): Jake the Snake Roberts vs Randy Savage (This Tuesday in Texas 1991): Bret Hart vs Diesel (Royal Rumble 1995): Razor Ramon vs Bret Hart (Royal Rumble 1993). Macho Man Randy Savage vs The Ultimate Warrior (SummerSlam 1992): Bob Backlund vs Bret Hart (Survivor Series 1994): Owen Hart vs Shawn Michaels (In Your House 6): Owen Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (SummerSlam 1997): The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (Backlash 1999): Mankind vs The Undertaker (King of the Ring 1998): 123 Kid vs Owen Hart (King of the Ring 1994): Jean Pierre LaFitte vs Bret Hart (In Your House 3): X Pac vs Chris Jericho (Unforgiven 1999): Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Savio Vega (In Your House: Beware of Dog): Vader vs Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam 1996): Bret Hart vs Diesel (Survivor Series 1995): Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels (King of the Ring 1997): Ric Flair vs Macho Man Randy Savage (Wrestlemania 8)
Whilst WWF were more bothered about catering for children and young teenagers, across the waters at WCW, they saw an opportunity to pounce on what WWE weren’t doing enough of. Good wrestling. As where WWF went down the comic book era alley, turning out memorable characters taking their eye off of the best wrestling they could get out of their real life cartoons, WCW filled the gap in the market for decent, hard hitting wrestling action and as the nineties gained momentum they churned out memorable pay per view names such as the aforementioned Starrcade and Great American Bash. Following on from the success of these WCW gave us Superbrawl, Bash at the Beach, Fall Brawl, Halloween Havoc, Road Wild and Slamboree, to name but a few, to slot in between their regular television pay per view event Clash of the Champions.
WCW’s memories belong up there with WWF’s, the Golden Era wouldn’t have been the same without Ted Turner and his wrestling company. To have WWF without WCW would be like having Doctor Who without the Daleks, or Batman without the Joker. They hated each other with a vengeance, but in reality, they couldn’t have done without each other. Without WCW, WWF wouldn’t have taken the risks it had to, to survive. Without WWF, WCW wouldn’t have been half of successful or interesting. You need competition to bring out the best in yourself and these two gave it to each other. WCW knew they had to match WWF on both lasting memories and great wrestling. 
WCW’s most shocking memories included: the Monday night wars between WWF and WCW, which produced some of WWF’s finest material even if they did lose in the ratings. WCW giving away the results on air was unheard of at the time. I was watching the night they announced Mick Foley would win the WWF Championship on the taped Raw show. I don’t know about you but it just made me want to watch Raw more to witness the title change: Madusa binning the WWF Women’s Championship live on air for the world to see. Some people called that payback for Vince giving Ric Flair the green light to parade the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on WWF programming: WCW giving away pre-taped WWF Raw results on their live broadcast of Nitro was something I’d never seen before. It was also something that no one else in the history of wrestling had ever done. WCW gained many viewers because of brave and bold decision like this: Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan pulling of two of the most shocking defections of all time, taking their trade and their fans to WCW for an unimaginable amount of money. In the end it was the right the decision for Hogan, his time in WWF was well and truly up and there was nothing more he could offer them: Curt Henning turning on long time friend and partner Ric Flair, slamming the steel cage door into the Nature Boy’s head in one of the most violent acts of betrayal I’d seen in wrestling up to that point. The sight of the medics carrying Flair out of the arena with a towel covering his bloodied and supposedly broken face still sticks in mind to this day: Eric Bischoff leaving the announce desk and joining the NWO: Brian Pillman ditching his ‘Flyin’ Brian gimmick and beginning his loose cannon phase which would be his final gimmick in wrestling before his tragic death. When Brian Pillman grabs the microphone in his match with Kevin Sullivan, looses his cool and then walks out of the ring and quits WCW has to be one of the most shocking and unexpected moments in wrestling history: the Giant, the man we know now as Big Show, falling from the edge of a high storey building in a match with Hulk Hogan. We know it wasn’t real, but at the time, to a child watching, it was very real: finally, for WCW, the greatest shocking memory they ever gave us and possibly the greatest moment in wrestling history period. Bash at the Beach 1996, when Hulk Hogan – the man who had been a hero to all in the late eighties and early nineties, waving the flag and hugging children, turned heel on his friends and the New World Order was born. If not the greatest faction in wrestling history, then certainly one of the top two. The birth of the NWO is a moment in time that will outlive us all.
WCW’s emotional memories, the ones which made us sit up and take note. Which made us thump the air in victory and maybe even brought a small tear to our eyes were few and far between, but when they came, they were worth waiting for: Ric Flair defeating the mammoth Big Van Vader at Starrcade 1993 for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was a moment that I’ve gone back to in recent years and it doesn’t lose any of its magic: possibly the most popular rookie in the history of wrestling, Goldberg, pinning Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and ascending the mountain proved to everyone who ever wanted to be something, that nothing is impossible. I’ve never heard a reaction quite like the one when Goldberg’s arm was raised that night: in the same vein comes Ron Simmons shocking the world and defeating Big Van Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The first African American WCW Champion in history and a moment worth holding onto.
And then we have the misfit moments. Just because they don’t fit into any category, doesn’t make them any less special to us. Those who witnessed them, those who lived vicariously through them: WCW’s annual Starrcade assuming the moniker of Battlebowl – Lethal Lottery. Where wrestlers would be drawn out of a hat at random and forced to team with each other in a tag team tournament. The winning team of each match would move forward into the two ring Battlebowl main event. Most of the tag matches in the Lethal Lottery Tournament were rotten but at least WCW tried to put up and comers with established stars to make their light shine brighter in the months proceeding the pay per view. As fans old and young, you can’t deny that seeing wrestlers like Sting, team with people like Abdullah the Butcher – a man he was feuding with at the time – was both thrilling and left a different taste in your mouth: Goldberg ending Bret Hart’s wrestling career with one hard, careless kick to the head. That kick gave Hart a massive concussion which ended his active career as a wrestler. Hart even acknowledges that the kick contributed to his stroke three years later: Sting and Vader feuding for years. You would never see that now. What was so good about it was that almost every match they had was wither excellent or good. There wasn’t a dull match to be had with these two. The feud showed the world that Sting, even though he’d already been NWA / WCW World Heavyweight Champion, could take a big man like Vader and make magic with him. It showed Sting had heart and that he was a fighter. People could believe in Sting during and after that feud, that he wouldn’t bow down in the face of tyranny: can we ever forget the Shockmaster falling through that wall, with the glittery Darth Vader helmet on that made him look like Louie Spence’s birthday present and whacking his head on the floor? And do we want to? It might have been a rotten angle, but it was a classic moment in our lives: Sting and Lex Luger feuding was a highlight of the early nineties. It didn’t matter that they co-owned a gym outside the ring, between the ropes both men have never looked better than opposing each other. Only three men in the world could ever make Luger look good in the squared circle, Sting, Flair and Steamboat: Curt Henning and his band of country singers with their song ‘Rap is crap’. I still have the opening words to that song in my head. ‘I like country music...’: Sting being broken out of a cage by Robocop. I loved that moment as a child and it still brings back memories that are cherished for me: Chris Benoit and Kevin Sullivan in their brutal falls count anywhere match at The Great American Bash 1996. They fought in the toilets, pinned each other on urinal floors. Classic match and great memories: Sting turning from his colourful makeup and donning a darker gimmick, that of ‘the Crow’: Chris Benoit defeating Sid Vicious for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and then vacating the championship and quitting the company: The four horsemen. Need I say anymore on that matter?
The Golden Age wouldn’t have shone so brightly on the shores of WCW if there weren’t some cracking matches to go with the memories of the decade. With their huge check book and almost unlimited resources, Eric Bischoff and WCW brought some of the worlds greatest stars to go with their home grown talent. Some of the greatest matches in WCW history are under this banner because they were exceptional bouts that even today, stand as an example to anyone looking to break into the business. Some have snuck in because of the ending to the match or a memorable moment that happened before during or after. I couldn’t possibly list every great match in WCW history because surprisingly there were tons. I’ve done my best to search out at those which represented what WCW stood for at the beginning of the nineties, what they were trying to achieve in the mid nineties and what could have kept them afloat as they decade turned to a new millennium if they hadn’t have handed over control to Hogan and Bischoff. I will not that there are more that WWF had at the time, as WWF concentrated more on comedy characters whilst WCW focused more on the wrestling aspect.
Sting vs Sid Vicious (Halloween Havoc 1990): Lex Luger vs Sting (Superbrawl 2, 1992):
Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (Spring Stampede 1994): Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero (Halloween Havoc 1997): Brian Pillman vs Jushin Thunder Liger (Superbrawl 2, 1992): The Steiner Brothers vs Sting and Lex Luger (Superbrawl 1, 1991): Ron Simmons vs Vader (WCW Main Event, August 2nd 1992): Sting vs Nikita Koloff (Great American Bash 1991): Stunning Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (Clash of the Champions 28, 1994): The Hollywood Blondes vs Ric Flair and Arn Anderson (Clash of the Champions 23): Lex Luger vs Ron Simmons (Halloween Havoc 1991): Stunning Steve Austin vs Dustin Rhodes (Halloween havoc 1991): Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan (Great American Bash 1996): Sting vs Big Van Vader (Superbrawl 1993): Sting vs Big Van Vader (Starrcade 1992): Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio Jr (Great American Bash 1996): Sting vs Cactus Jack (WCW Worldwide 1991): Randy Savage vs Diamond Dallas Paige (Great American Bash 1997): Big Van Vader vs Sting (Fall Brawl 1994): Rey Mysterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera vs Psicosis vs Blitzkreig (WCW Monday Nitro 1999): Big Van Vader vs Dustin Rhodes (Clash of the Champions 29, 1994): Stunning Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (Bash at the Beach 1994): Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman (WCW Saturday Night 1990): Chris Jericho vs Eddie Guerrero (Fall Brawl 1997): Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbyszko vs Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes and Nikita Koloff (WCW Saturday Night 1992): Sting vs Big Van Vader (Great American bash 1992): Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit (WCW Monday Nitro 1999): Lex Luger vs Ric Flair (WrestleWar 1990): Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza and Lizmark Jr vs La Parka, Psicosis and Villano IV (Bash at the Beach 1997): Ultimo Dragon vs Rey Mysterio Jr (World War 3 1996): Psicosis vs Rey Mysterio Jr (Bash at the Beach 1996): Dean Malenko vs Ultimo Dragon (Starrcade 1996): Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko (Uncensored 1997): Chris Jericho vs Ultimo Dragon (Bash at the Beach 1997): Big Van Vader vs Cactus Jack (Halloween Havoc 1993): Chris Benoit vs Dean Malenko (Hog Wild 1996): Ricky Steamboat vs Rick Rude (Beach Blast 1992): Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson (Fall Brawl 1995): The Steiner Brothers vs Terry Gordy and Steve Williams (Clash of the Champions 19): Stunning Steve Austin vs Brian Pillman (Clash of the Champions 25): The Great Muta vs Arn Anderson (Pour Hour 1990): Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero (WCW Monday Nitro 1995): The Midnight Express vs Tommy Rich and Rick Morton (Halloween Havoc 1990): Juventud Guerrera vs Billy Kidman (World War 3 1998): Chris Benoit vs Jushin Thunder Liger (Starrcade 1995): Chris Benoit vs 2 Cold Scorpio (Superbrawl 1993): Diamond Dallas Paige vs Sting (WCW Monday Nitro 1997).
ECW was a little known company when WWF and WCW were breaking new ground in wrestling. They had a few years start on the company that would be christened Extreme Championship Wrestling, yet ECW would prove to the world that just because it was the so called number three wrestling company in the world, that didn’t make it any less important. ECW, headed by Paul Heyman gave just as much to our Golden Age of wrestling as WWF and WCW did. Much that is overlooked today as it was back then. Delve deep into the land of extreme and you’ll find a hidden plethora of gold just waiting to be discovered.
To being the memories that ECW gave us we look back on the land of extreme and the classic memories that Paul Heyman and company gave us. From the feuds that will never die, to the moments which proved ECW was always a major player:
‘The Night the Line was Crossed’. ECW’s greatest memory of all. The triple Threat Match that started out as just a normal encounter yet when it ended one hour later, everyone watching and everyone in the arena knew they had just witnessed a classic. Terry Funk, Sabu and Shane Douglas gave us one of the greatest ECW matches in history: Taz and Bam Bam Bigelow going through the ring at Heatwave 1998 as they beat the hell out of each other for the ECW Championship: Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn, if you’ve never seen these two go toe to toe in their ECW prime then make it happen and soon. The image of RVD and Jerry Lynn tumbling from the top rope, to the outside performing a DDT will always be there: Heatwave 1998, the pay per view that proves to the world ECW had more in its tank than just fumes. A classic pay per view with a solid line up of matches and one which comes highly recommended: Tommy Dreamer and Raven. The feud which Tommy Dreamer seemingly could not win. None of us will forget them tearing each other apart over years, until Dreamer finally scored the win he had been searching for at Wrestlepalooza 1997: Beulah and Bill Alfonso. The bloodiest match in ECW history was contested by a man and woman and neither of them were wrestlers: the defining moment of ECW, the moment it became really extreme, Shane Douglas takes the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and throws it to the ground, taking the ECW Championship ushering in the extreme era: Sandman and Raven embroiling in one of the most personal feuds in wrestling history. Raven took the Sandman’s family, supposedly brainwashing his son and turning them against Sandman. An iconic moment when Sandman’s son does the Raven pose in front of his father and then turns up weeks later dressed just like Raven. This all led to one of the most heated memories in wrestling history. Raven and his flock crucifying the Sandman on television: the insane ECW fans storming the ring en mass causing the ECW ring to collapse under their weight.
Every company has its different set of memories. In the end they are what they are. Next up are the ECW memories that are quite different to anything else you’d see in any other company. Memories that set ECW apart from the rest of the heard: The Loose Cannon goes of on ECW. After his exit from WCW Brian Pillman came to the land of extreme for a short time leaving his mark before joining WWF. It was a great memory because at that time in wrestling, no one swapped brands and then went on to speak of how badly they were treated in their previous place of employment: Steve Austin was the other guy to do the same as Pillman. After Eric Bischoff told Austin that he’d never be anything in wrestling, Austin left WCW and headed to ECW, turning up in full Hulk Hogan wrestling attire, shooting on the egomaniacal NWO leader. It truly was unlike anything else going on anywhere: the time Jerry Lawler invaded ECW it was a shock to everyone. The WWF announcer and wrestler was one of the first cross brand invaders to ever step foot on another territories soil in the 90’s: as far as the fans were concerned ECW invaded WWF because they could. In reality Vince and Heyman had struck a deal to showcase some ECW talent on WWF television. This lead to ECW matches on Raw and the infamous memory of Sabu falling off of the Raw sign above the entrance: Bam Bam Bigelow body pressing Spike Dudley above his head and throwing him into the crowd. Instead of parting like the red sea, the ECW faithful caught Spike and crowd surfed him around the arena: Super Crazy living up to his name, delivering moonsaults from balconies up to thirty feet off of the ground: I’ll never forget New Jack leaping from a balcony and plummeting down onto his foes who were laid out on tables below: ECW fans always had a lot of respect and time for the high flyers and lucha libres who gave their time to showcase their skills in the ECW arena, more so I think than WWF or WCW fans ever did. Which is why Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko’s 2 out of 3 falls farewell match wasn’t only a classic ECW encounter and something you weren’t really seeing anywhere else at the time, it was a sad sight to see them walking away from ECW and the fans reciprocated that feeling with their thanks and applause: Joel Gertner spouting his wonderful rhymes: Hat Guy, always at ringside. The ECW fans were maybe the most loyal of all.
Finally for ECW comes the most fitting set of memories. The memories of the nineties, that were the most extreme: in an angle which no one could have predicted, after Terry Funk and Cactus Jack ha strutted their hardcore stuff in the ring, the fans were encouraged to throw their chairs into the squared circle. So many people took up the challenge that Terry Funk was almost buried under the mountain of chairs that came flying through the air towards Cactus Jack and ‘The Funker’: in a long standing storyline, rookie Mikey Whipwreck was always an underdog of epic proportions. He portrayed heart and courage and it was both an extreme and heartening moment when he finally pinned the Sandman for the ECW Heavyweight Championship on October 28th 1995: an ECW legend, Tommy Dreamer was earmarked for special things from the word go. Showing an unparalleled amount of courage and determination Dreamer would fight for his place under the ECW banner. The moment fans took Dreamer into their hearts was when he voluntarily allowed the Sandman to cane him over and over and over again until his back was bleeding. That ECW moment remains one of the best and heartiest, for the courage Dreamer showed and for the fact that the fans took him in as one of their own: Terry Funk setting a fan on fire was extreme and cringe worthy. Mistakes happen in wrestling, this is one that should never have taken place. As Funk was contesting a brutal match, his towel was set alight. In ensuing madness, it got thrown into the audience and set an innocent bystander ablaze: Sabu was once labelled with the words ‘homicidal, suicidal, genocidal’. This was one whacked out son of a gun. Sabu’s loyalty has never been questioned since he tore open his bicep in a barbed wire match with Terry Funk and then taped it back together so he could complete the match: For a true ECW fan the term ‘Mass Transit’ will be something they may want to forget or something they’re proud of. When Axel Rotten no showed a match ECW drafted in a last minute replacement. A man who called himself Eric ‘Mass Transit’ Kulas. The dickhead falsified his identification to make it say he was older than he actually was. Kulas was underage and did not know how to cut himself. In his match with New Jack, ‘Mass Transit’ allowed New Jack to cut him, but because his skin had never been cut before New Jack had to make the wound extra deep or lose the reality when ‘Mass Transit’ didn’t bleed properly (When a wrestler cuts himself so many times it creates a blood bag effect on his forehead made by the scares from previous cuts (just look at Ric Flair’s forehead in 2012) making it easier for a wrestler to cut himself and the more he’ll bleed). Making the cut extra deep so it looked real and ‘Transit’ bled properly, New Jack had to use his machete type weapon. Unfortunately the wound became a gusher and ‘Mass Transit’ bled like a pig in a slaughter house. When footage reached the outside world ECW lost their PPV spot and the fans had to campaign to get ECW back onto pay per view. Eric ‘Mass Transit’ Kulas passed away on May 14th 2002 at the age of 22. His passing was to complications due to gastric bypass surgery stemming from his weight and nothing to do with the aforementioned incident: the final hardcore memory comes from two brothers, Axel and Ian Rotten, who, for the business, taped up their fists, dipped them in glue and then put them in a buckets of broken glass and slugged it out in a Taipei Death Match. Punching each other with fists covered in glass. That my loyal disciples is hardcore. 
For a company that thrived and prided themselves on hardcore wrestling, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it would be damn near impossible for a company like ECW to produce any half way decent matches. You’d be wrong. ECW was packed with great feuds and wonderful matches that deserve every inch of the spotlight that WWF and WCW had. As well as hardcore matches ECW produced some outstanding wrestling matches. Matches that left an impression on us and would forever cement ECW as a golden player in the Golden Age. 
Chris Jericho vs Pitbull Number 2 vs Shane Douglas vs 2 Cold Scorpio (Heatwave 1996): Taz vs Bam Bam Bigelow (Heatwave 1998): Taz vs Shane Douglas (Guilty as Charged 1999): Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn (Hardcore Heaven 1999): Rob Van Dam vs Balls Mahoney (Anarchy Rulz 1999): Beulah McGillicuty vs Bill Alfonso (As Good as it Gets 1997): Steve Austin vs The Sandman vs Mikey Whipwreck (December to Dismember 1995): The Sandman vs Raven (Holiday Hell 1996): Raven vs Tommy Dreamer (Wrestlepalooza 1997): The Sandman vs Mikey Whipwreck (October 28th 1995): Axel Rotten vs Ian Rotten (Hardcore Heaven 1995): Raven vs Sandman (Cyberslam 1996): Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka (Heatwave 1998): Taz vs Sabu (Barely Legal 1997): Rob Van Dam vs Taz (November to Remember 1999): Rob Van Dam vs Sabu (Hardcore Heaven 1996): Rob Van Dam vs Bam Bam Bigelow (House Party 1998): Taz vs Masato Tanaka vs Mike Awesome (Heatwave 1998): Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn (Living Dangerously 1999): Sabu vs Terry Funk (Born to be Wired 1997): Sabu vs Sandman (House Party 1998): Cactus Jack vs Sabu (Holiday Hell 1995): Sabu and Rob Van Dam vs Hayabusa and Shinzaki (Heatwave 1998): Tajiri vs Jerry Lynn vs Super Crazy (November to Remember 1999): Justin Credible vs Jerry Lynn (Heatwave 1998): Lance Storm vs Chris Candido (Heatwave 1998).
And so ended the greatest decade of the Golden Era of wrestling. As the world turned to a new year and indeed a new millennium, we couldn’t know just how much the wrestling business would change. We couldn’t know that two of three companies that had given us so much to remember and be thankful for wouldn’t be trading by the time 2001 reached August. The Golden Era doesn’t end in 1999 it carries on for three more years.
2000 – 2002
It all began to wind down after the millennium had passed us by. It was like WWF and WCW wanted to put what had made them successful behind them, forget it all and move on with something new. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it as the old saying goes. ECW were the only ones that stuck to their guns, even though by the end of 2001 it was clear that both ECW and WCW weren’t going to last much longer. Both ECW and WCW were unofficially dead for a long time before anyone excepted it.
Smelling blood and having just won the Monday night wars, Vince McMahon and WWF were determined to finish off all competition by giving seeing out the final years of the Golden Era of wrestling, with some damn fine matches and some moments that will live a lifetime in our minds: WWF changing its name to WWE in 2002: the debut of the elimination chamber at Survivor Series 2002: Eric Bischoff, Vince McMahon’s sworn enemy becoming Raw General Manager and that creepy hug atop of the stage between Bischoff and McMahon: Rikishi diving off if the top of the cage at Fully Loaded 2000 and landing straight on top of Val Venis, what a moment that was to behold. A four hundred pound man landing with all of his weight on man two hundred pounds lighter: the ECW / WCW Invasion of WWF. A moment that none of thought we’d ever see: Brock Lesnar’s debut in WWF the day after Wrestlemania 18 and his meteoric push to the main event which culminated in a brilliant match against the Rock at SummerSlam 2002: Rey Mysterio dropping the Jr from his name and coming to WWE where he has flourished since. His pay per view debut at SummerSlam 2002 was a terrific encounter against Kurt Angle: a truly momentous moment as Triple H back-dropped Cactus Jack through the top of Hell in a Cell and straight through the ring at No Way Out 2000: Triple H and Rikishi being uncovered as the drivers who ran over Stone Cold at Survivor Series 1999. A great move putting Rikishi in the spotlight and of course it led the infamous moment when Stone Cold lifted Triple H up in his car using a crane and dropped him twenty feet, roof first to the concrete floor at Survivor Series 2000: Stone Cold Steve Austin turning on the Rock at Wrestlemania 17 and siding with his arc nemesis Vince McMahon: The reformation of the NWO at No Way Out in 2002: Triple H ripping his leg muscle and being sidelined for the rest of 2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin blowing up the McMahon Helmsley / DX express.
As WWE did away with ninety nine percent of the real life cartoon characters like Doink the Clown and Duke the Dumpster Drose, it began to favour more serious, straight laced wrestlers as WCW had done, such as the Hardy Boys, the Dudley Boys, The Rock, Triple H and so on. By doing this WWE ensured that however long the Golden Age had left, the matches it would produce would be unforgettable. It was apparent that that golden age of WWF / WWE was coming to a shuddering close. The business was naturally changing as it had to, to survive. The wrestlers were getting bigger and the storylines were getting more adult. There was blood where there hadn't been any before and as the Golden Age drew itself to a tearful close we knew that we had to savour every brilliant moment we had left. With change comes uncertainty. Maybe we were never going to enjoy the post 2002 era of wrestling. How could we when we were spoilt so much before? The last dregs of the Golden Age gave us epic matches and memories.
Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (Backlash 2000): Brock Lesnar vs The Rock (SummerSlam 2002): Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (Royal Rumble 2001): Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho vs Kurt Angle (Wrestlemania 16): The Rock vs Triple H (Judgment Day 2000): Rikishi vs Val Venis (Fully Loaded 2000): Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (Judgment Day 2000): Triple H vs Cactus Jack (Royal Rumble 2000): The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (Wrestlemania 17): Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Triple H (Survivor Series 2000): Armageddon Hell in Cell Match (Armageddon 2000): Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Triple H (No Way Out 2001): The Rock vs Kurt Angle (No Way Out 2001): Chris Benoit vs The Rock (Fully Loaded 2000): WWF vs The Alliance (Survivor Series 2001): Chris Jericho vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (Vengeance 2001): Chris Jericho vs The Rock (Vengeance 2001): Edge and Christian vs The Hardy Boys vs The Dudley Boys (Wrestlemania 16): Kurt Angle vs The Rock (No Mercy 2000): Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit (Armageddon 2002): Edge and Christian vs The Dudley Boys vs The Hardy Boys (SummerSlam 2000): The Rock vs Triple H vs Kurt Angle (SummerSlam 2000): Chris Benoit vs Triple H (No Mercy 2000): Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit (Judgment Day 2001): Chris Jericho vs The Rock (Royal Rumble 2002): Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit (Wrestlemania 17): Shane McMahon vs Kurt Angle (King of the Ring 2001): Triple H vs The Rock (Backlash 2000): Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle (Unforgiven 2002): Kurt Angle vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (SummerSlam 2001): The Rock vs Hulk Hogan (Wrestlemania 18): Triple H vs Chris Jericho (Fully Loaded 2000): Edge and Christian vs The Dudley Boys vs The Hardy Boys (Wrestlemania 17): Triple H vs Cactus Jack (No Way Out 2000): Kane vs Big Show vs Raven (Wrestlemanian17): Triple H vs The Undertaker (Wrestlemania 17).
It was apparent for some time after 2000 turned, that WCW wouldn’t be able to keep up with WWE. Even with Bret Hart on board the company were losing massive amounts of money everyday and could barely afford to buy new talent to keep up with the demand. Which meant WCW were in the same rut WWE are in, in 2012. They had tired headline stars and tired headline matches. It did though provide a few memories before it closed its door: the triple decked cage match at WCW Slamboree 2000: David Arquette becoming WCW Champion: Vampiro throwing Sting from the top of the big screen, on fire, through the aisle at Great American Bash 2000: Vince and Shane McMahon both appearing on the final ever Monday Nitro, one in person one via satellite link. The first time Vince McMahon had ever appeared on a WCW show: WCW closing its doors on that final ever night. Ric Flair giving his goodbye speech to the fans at the final Nitro and finally Sting vs Ric Flair. The final match on the final ever WCW show. Fitting then that the final match of the WCW brand was the match that set the ball rolling for a new era of WCW in the nineties.
Even though the company was going broke and the doors were slowly closing, the wrestlers did they very best to leave a lasting impression. WCW managed to turn out some really good matches in those final fifteen months.
Sting vs Vampiro (Great American Bash 2000): Scott Steiner vs Goldberg (Fall Brawl 2000): Jamie Noble and Evan Karagias vs Yun Yang and Kaz Hayashi (January 14th 2001): Booker T vs Jeff Jarrett (Bash at the Beach 2000): Mike Awesome vs Lance Storm (Monday Nitro 2000): Booker T vs Lance Storm (Monday Nitro 2000): Chavo Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio (Superbrawl 2001): Diamond Dallas Paige vs Jeff Jarrett (Superbrawl 2001): Sting vs Ric Flair (The Final Monday Nitro).
It was a sad day when WCW closed. One third of the golden era was gone. Whilst the memories remain, there’s something humbling about watching a company who you’ve grown up with go out of business. It’s like losing someone you love. You know that life goes on, but everything that surrounded it changes a little. In the end I think it was best that WCW went out when it did. In truth it was suffering, we could all see that. It’s better than it went out leaving us with all those wonderful memories, rather than stagger along and ruin the memories by pasting over them with truly rotten ones.
ECW followed suit. When Paul Heyman turned up on WWF programming everyone knew that ECW was dead, there was no denying that. In the final months of its life, ECW gave us one or two final memories: Rob Van Dam valiantly losing the ECW Television Championship after such an iconic, epic and unforgettable title reign which spanned almost two years: and Rhino, the man that had fought his way through the ranks of ECW, finally becoming ECW Champion, just as the company closed its doors.
There aren’t many memories you can wring out of a company that is all but dead. Match quality though never dipped. Even though men were owed thousand of pounds which they never received. It was as though the wrestlers knew it was over, but if they were going to go out, then they were going to go out fighting.
Rhino vs Rob Van Dam (Anarchy Rulz 2000): Jerry Lynn vs Justin Credible (Anarchy Rulz 2000): Lance Storm vs Justin Credible (Hardcore Heaven 2000): Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn (Hardcore Heaven 2000): Tommy Dreamer vs C.W. Anderson (Guilty as Charged 2001): Mike Awesome vs Spike Dudley (Guilty as Charged 2000): Tommy Dreamer vs Justin Credible (Stairway To Hell 2000): Rob Van Dam vs Sabu (Guilty as Charged 2000): Rhino vs The Sandman (Hardcore Heaven 2000): Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn (Guilty as Charged 2001: ECW’s final pay per view).
Like WCW, ECW’s passing, as it were, was a sad occasion. Two thirds of the golden age are now gone. Even now, if you listen close enough in the corner of the arenas around the world, you can still hear it, the echo’s, the chants, the memories that will never die. E.C F’N W!
Just like anything that has made its mark on our lives WCW and ECW will never truly die. Not whilst we, the people who lived through it, experienced it, not whilst we remember them. It’s our job to pass it on to the generation who think John Cena is the greatest wrestler in history. Or those who think the entire history of wrestling began when John Cena defeated JBL for his first WWE Championship. We must educate these people to keep the memories and the Golden Age alive.
As we hurtled towards 2003, the Golden Age dwindled and ended. For me 2002 is where it all came to a shuddering halt. Yes, WWE provided some genuine classic matches after 2003, but they could never replicate what they used to have. We live in hope that they can re-find the spark that they possessed in the nineties at the height of the Golden Age. Maybe one day they will. If I had to pick one moment out of a decade and a half that truly defined the rise of the Golden Age, what it was all about, what we loved and what everything we held dear stood for it would be this speech from the mouth of Stone Cold Steve Austin at the 1996 King of the Ring:
“The first thing I want to be done is to get that piece of crap out of my ring! Don’t just get him out of the ring, get him out of the WWF, because I’ve proven son, without a shadow of a doubt – you ain’t got what it takes anymore. You sit there and you thump your bible and you say your prayers, and it didn’t get you anywhere. Talk about John. 3:16, Austin 3:16 says: I’ve just whipped your ass!! All he’s gotta do is buy himself a cheap bottle of Thunderbird, and try to dig back some of that courage, he had in his prime. As the King of the Ring, I’m serving notice to every one of the WWF superstars. I don’t give a damn what they are, they are all on the list, and that is Stone Cold’s list, and I’m fixing to start running through all of them.
As far as this championships match is considered, son, I don’t give a damn, if it’s Davey Smith or Shawn Michaels. Steve Austin’s time has come, and when I get the shot, you are looking at the next WWF champion, and that’s the bottom line – cause Stone Cold said so!”
As far as this championships match is considered, son, I don’t give a damn, if it’s Davey Smith or Shawn Michaels. Steve Austin’s time has come, and when I get the shot, you are looking at the next WWF champion, and that’s the bottom line – cause Stone Cold said so!”
Of course, that’s not the end. Because we still have one final part of the Golden Age of wrestling to respect and observe. Those we lost. The ones that got away. Our heroes in the ring above.
Owen Hart, the British Bulldog, Louie Spicolli, Hawk, Chris Candido, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Yokozuna, the Giant Gonzalez, Mr. Perfect, Brian Pillman, Dino Bravo, Andre the Giant, Macho Man Randy Savage, Umaga (Fatu of the Headshrinkers), Bam Bam Bigelow, Bad News Brown, Big Boss Man, Big John Studd, Kerry Von Erich, Gorilla Monsoon, Ravishing Rick Rude, Renegade, Junkyard Dog, Steve Williams, Captain Lou Albano, Steven Dunn, Test, Special Delivery Jones, The Fabulous Moolah, Johnny Kronus, Nancy Benoit, Sensational Sherri, Mike Awesome, Joey Maggs, Earthquake, Johnny Grunge, Lord Alfred Hayes, Marianna Komlos, Hercules, Jerry ‘The Wall’ Tuite, Crash Holly, Anthony Durante, Miss Elizabeth, Rocco Rock, Big Dick Dudley, Bertha Faye, Terry Gordy, Bobby Duncum Junior, Chief Jay Strongbow, Doug Furnas, Bastion Booger, Luna Vachon, Chris Kanyon, Ludvig Borga, Stu Hart, Eric ‘Mass Transit’ Kulas, Jack Tunney.
These are men and women that were just part of our Golden Age. I haven’t included the thousands that have died who weren’t part of the Golden Age. Men and women who might not have passed during the Golden Age, but have since left this realm leaving behind their memories that made our time with them so special. We will respect them, we will thank them and most of all we will remember them and the legacies they left behind. Legends never really die. They carry on forever, in someone’s life. In someone’s heart. In someone’s memories.
And that’s the whole point of this blog and the new background which now graces your very eyes. To remember. Remember the Golden Age of wrestling, our age, the time we hold most dear and to never let it go. It’s a symbol of the past, the present and the future. To remember those who gave us the memories. Those who are no longer with us, who went out to the ring and never came back. For the superstars of yesterday, be they present or gone. To the superstars of today and the champions of tomorrow. The canvas is theirs to create new memories on now.
Join me ladies and gentlemen in a toast. To our Golden Age. To our memories. To absent times. To absent friends.
I guess the Golden Age was so great because it was all simpler in the end. Pay per view events had a different feel to them, a more spontaneous feel when you really didn’t know what was going to happen. WWE weren’t afraid to take chances to further their product. A time when Royal Rumble winners actually did fight in the main event of Wrestlemania and not the first match. We know now how the matches are determined, how talent is pushed and who is next in line for a push or a title reign. There’s nothing to make a new generation believe anymore. I believed in our Golden Age and no matter how bad things get today or in the future I don’t think you ever really stop believing in it, and neither do you want to.
I was told numerous times as a child ‘It’s not real!’ People look on this business of ours as something to be ashamed of. It’s not. If you’re a wrestling fan then shout it from the roof tops, don’t hide it away. We didn’t during our Golden Age, I never hid away my passion. Because you know what? It doesn’t matter that it’s predetermined or worked out in advance, or all the storylines and promos are scripted...
...it’s still real to me!
Onwards and Upwards...
