OO Column: Timeline by Hatter X (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Steve Austin, RVD, Undertaker, Triple H)

TIMELINE
Starrcade Gives Birth to Hulkamania!
December 24, 2001

by Hatter X
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

On January 23, 1984… in front of a sold out MSG crowd in New York City, Vince McMahon set the ball rolling on what would become the most successful period in the history of the pro wrestling industry, up to that point. On the date in question, Hulk Hogan, a superman baby face with all the charisma in the world, defeated the evil Iranian World Champion, the bane of every red blooded American wrestling fan, The Iron Sheik, for the WWF World Title. At this moment in time, Hulkamania, a phenomenon the like never before seen by wrestling fans, was born unto the masses. McMahon's WWF would becomes the hottest property in wrestling for many years to come, riding a wave of mainstream acceptance unparalleled to anything wrestling had ever witnessed before. But what many fans do not realize is this… Hulkamania didn't begin with the WWF. Hulkamania actually began all be it quietly, in the Verne Gagne owned Minnesota based promotion the AWA, in early 1983. Hogan was also touring Japan frequently and had managed to capture the IWGP title in a tournament to crown the first titleholder, defeating Antonio Inoki in June of '83. To add even more intrigue to how much Hogan's star presence was growing; Hogan had been approached to compete on the first ever Mid-Atlantic super card, Starrcade. Starrcade was to take place on November 24th of that year, hosted by Jim Crockett, and would have consisted of numerous matches featuring performers from all over the NWA wrestling territories, such as Mid-Atlantic, Georgia National, Florida Championship and World Class. Hogan was scheduled to be the loan AWA appearance on the show, facing Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell, a top AWA nemesis. Hogan cancelled that appearance when he made a deal with Vince McMahon to jump from the AWA to the WWF in January of '84. The rest was history as we know it… but what would have happened if Hogan had turned down McMahon's offer? How would the fans of a territory built on longer matches, better work rate and smaller builds have reacted to the mammoth superman known as Hulk Hogan? That is the question before us today… what would life be like today, had Starrcade gave birth to Hulkamania?

Timeline: November 24th, 1983
Location: Greensboro, NC

Having just followed the Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood vs. Bob Orton Jr. & Dick Slater match with a fast paced power match, Hulk Hogan's star power began to shine in the eyes of Jim Crockett. Crockett met with Hulk Hogan the next day and managed to sign the future superstar away from the AWA while offering him less money, but more opportunity to work in Japan. Crockett further enraged his already hostile competition, Vince McMahon with the signing, because McMahon had a long-term plan on the table for Hogan. It turns out that the key to getting Hogan was to offer him the thing McMahon wouldn't allow… access to Japan and the opportunity to work across the NWA spectrum. Crockett saw major money in Hogan and set the ball in motion to program Hogan similar to his AWA tenure… as a heelish brute, fighting other heels. Hogan began making a string of appearances for Crockett along the East Coast, building a following on his power moves and charisma. However, he was also building a long line of enemies who saw him as a threat to the area's old school legacy.

Through out 1984, Hogan worked predominantly in the Mid-Atlantic and Florida areas. However, he did make an appearance on the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions in Dallas, Texas, on May 6, 1984, facing "The Ugandan Giant" Kamala. Hogan also made a strong showing against Kamala on the 1984 Starrcade card. In early 1985, Hogan was given the Mid Atlantic Championship and faced a barrage of power players such as Krusher Khrushchev, Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, Superstar Graham, Konga The Barbarian and Abdullah the Butcher. Wrestling on such major shows as The Great American Bash and Starrcade '85, Hogan quickly became a popular staple of the Crockett territory. Then in early 1986, Jim Crockett began to quickly consolidate the areas of Mid-Atlantic, Georgia National, Central States and Florida Championship Wrestling into the main body of the NWA. Although World Class chose to secede from the NWA and form their own major promotion, Crockett had the bulk of the NWA under his control. No longer would the NWA World champion tour the country defending his belt in numerous promotions… now the Crockett territory was second only to the WWF.

Coming into the summer of 1986, the NWA had a heavy roster of baby faces, with Dusty Rhodes leading a pack that included The Rock & Roll Express, The Road Warriors, Magnum TA, Ron Garvin and Hulk Hogan. During the summer of 1986, Crockett held his annual Great American Bash super show, but this year there was a twist. Instead of having two shows on the same night in two different territories, Crockett would hold a 30-day tour. Ric Flair, the current NWA World Champion, defended his belt 13 times in 30 days. One of those title defenses would be against Hulk Hogan. Although he would win the match when Flair's stable mates in the fearsome heel group, The Four Horsemen, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson and Tully Blanchard interfered, Hogan wouldn't win the title. That would all change after a tragic accident that took the career of a top NWA superstar Magnum TA. TA was to be the next major company focus, backed strongly by booker Dusty Rhodes and titleholder Ric Flair. With Magnum out of the picture, the NWA needed a top star to take TA's spot against Ric Flair at Starrcade '86. Originally, Dusty Rhodes lobbied for returning superstar Barry Windham, who had just come off a mildly successful stint in the WWF. However, Jim Crockett was extremely high on Hogan, as was NWA World Champion, Ric Flair. As Starrcade drew near, Hogan was programmed into a partnership with Dusty Rhodes, taking on the Four Horsemen. This would be how the Flair/Hogan match came about. Dusty was advertised as Magnum's replacement, but then Dusty was "taken out" in an angle to get Hogan into the Main Event. Hogan would go on to win the match and defeat Ric Flair for the NWA World title, his first in the business, in a grueling 30-minute encounter. Hulkamania was born on that evening.

Meanwhile, on the WWF front, Vince McMahon used 1986 to raid the talent pools of as many promotions as possible. From the AWA he took Curt Hennig, the Rockers, Scott Hall, Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, Kamala & Rick Martel. From Mid-South he took the One Man Gang, Ted DiBiase, Koko B. Ware, Terry Taylor, Butch Reed, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and The Sheepherders. And from the NWA he took the Russian's Ivan & Nikita Koloff, Krusher Khrushchev, The Midnight Express, Jim Cornette and Jimmy Valiant. Vince McMahon was on a mission, not only to stock pile the WWF in a continuing effort to expand, but also on a mission to cripple the industry at the expense of its promoters… namely Jim Crockett.

In March of 1987, the WWF held it's 3rd Annual Wrestle Mania in the Pontiac SilverDome. In 1985 at the first Wrestle Mania, Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff and teamed to face Bob Backlund and Jimmy Snuka in a tag team Main Event that saw MSG sell out. 1986, the WWF didn't quite follow through as they brought Wrestle Mania 2 to the fans from 3 separate locations, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The three Main Events, respectively were Roddy Piper vs. Jimmy Snuka, a 20 man Battle Royal featuring wrestlers and NFL football players and Paul Orndorff vs. Bob Backlund for the WWF Title. However, this year, McMahon decided to turn things up a bit. During 1986, McMahon realized the huge potential of Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage. McMahon took a chance and built Wrestle Mania 3 under a triple Main Event premise. The three big matches were to be Savage/Steamboat for the Intercontinental title, Andre the Giant vs. Bruiser Brody and champion, Bob Backlund vs. Roddy Piper. Only this time, Backlund was not going to be the Main Event. Vince was losing confidence in Backlund's appeal to the mainstream audiences. McMahon decided to put the World Title match in the middle of the card and have Steamboat/ Savage headline the show. Wrestle Mania 3 only drew a modest 60,000 fans to the Silver Dome, a huge feat, but not what the WWF had hoped for. Bob Backlund dropped the WWF Title to Roddy piper and left the promotion in disgust. Piper was then programmed as the top heel champion, while McMahon took a chance and handed the mantel of top baby face to the once hated Randy Savage. Savage had lost clean to Steamboat in the Main Event of Wrestle Mania 3, a match still regarded to this day as a classic. By doing so, Steamboat became a huge baby face. However, Steamboat was not long for the promotion as his wife had just delivered their first child and he wanted time off from the business. Steamboat was granted the time off and dropped the IC belt to Randy Savage in a classic mat wrestling match on Saturday Night's Main Event, passing his torch of popularity to Savage. Savage was then programmed as the top baby face to Piper's number one heel and the WWF was poised to finish the year on a high note.

Meanwhile, down south, summer '87 in the NWA saw a concept of Dusty Rhodes come to fruition, in the form of The War Games. Rhodes, along with Champion, Hulk Hogan and The Road Warriors fought The Four Horsemen inside the double-ring steel cage event throughout that summer drawing huge money, enough money for Jim Crockett to pull a "Vince" on an unsuspecting McMahon. In August of 1987, Jim Crockett contacted WWF referee Tim White, a friend and handler to Andre the Giant. Crockett inquired about the contract status of The Giant, who unfortunately for McMahon, was working on a pay-per appearance basis. Jim Crockett offered Andre the Giant a fat contract, said to be worth 6 figures for a 2-year stint in the NWA as a top heel. This would be the first time in the history of Andre's career that he would work as a heel and the first time he would work in a major, high profile program for the World Title. Up until then, Andre was a special attraction for McMahon, working battle royals and gimmick matches based on his huge size. Crockett was offering Andre a completely different career.

On the first Saturday afternoon in October, on a live edition of the NWA's World Championship Wrestling, Ric Flair and Horsemen manager James J. Dillon challenged NWA World Champion, Hulk Hogan and a partner of his choosing, to a match on that show against Flair and a mystery partner. Hogan accepted and chose best friend and confidant, Dusty Rhodes. Later on in the show, which also included the NWA debut of Lex Luger, Hogan and Rhodes fought Flair and his huge surprise partner, Andre the Giant! Andre attacked and viciously beat down Hogan, all the while, announcers, David Crockett and Tony Shiavonie put over the fact that Hogan and Andre, both frequent visitors to Japan, were great friends behind the scenes. After a massive beat down, Andre and manager JJ Dillon confirm to the announcers that Andre was indeed here to take the NWA World Title from Hulk Hogan as a paid hit man of The Four Horsemen. Almost immediately the eyes of the World turned to the NWA as Jim Crockett announced the first ever "Dream Match" to headline the 1987 Starrcade, as Hulk Hogan takes on Andre the Giant!

With 3 weeks until Starrcade, the NWA's first foray into PPV, Jim Crockett had sold out the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL with thousands of people turned away from the event. Being a man who knew the art of self-promotion and having a good feel for the money side of the business, Hogan talked Crockett into moving the venue to the Pontiac SilverDome in Michigan, which had housed the WWF's Wrestle Mania 3. Crockett took a chance and with in a week ended up selling over 65,000 tickets. Starrcade was on par to beat the record previously held by the WWF. Not being one to be defeated easily, Vince McMahon chose to hold his own Thanksgiving Day Super Card, the Survivor Series. But McMahon would not stop there; he too would take the show live on PPV. With McMahon being an established draw on PPV, and while the NWA was unproven, most cable subscribers chose to air the Survivor Series, while Starrcade was available in less that 30% of all cable homes. When the day finally came, while the WWF drew huge numbers on PPV, Starrcade smashed the WWF's previous record of 60,000 by packing 72,145 into the Silver Dome to see Hulk Hogan defeat Andre the Giant and retain the NWA World Title. With the enormous success of Starrcade credited to Hogan's influence, Jim Crockett put more trust and political powers in Hogan than any wrestler had ever been accustom too. While Hogan's star and influence rose, the power once wielded by territory staples such as Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair dwindled. Headed into 1989, Hogan became the head booker for the NWA.

The WWF began 1988 with the acquisition of Rick Rude and the rise of 2 huge names in Demolition and The Ultimate Warrior. Meanwhile the main story line revolved around Ted DiBiase's quest to buy the WWF Title from Randy Savage and the subsequent hiring of Bruiser Brody by "The Million Dollar Man" to take the belt off Savage for him. Down south in the NWA, Hulk Hogan begins 1988 with pitching an idea to Jim Crockett for a major PPV, called The Royal Rumble. The concept works well with Lex Luger winning the inaugural Rumble and Hogan teaming with Dusty to defeat Flair and Andre. Crockett makes enough money off the show to purchase a floundering promotion, Bill Watts' UWF, bringing an influx of new talent into the NWA. Of the new talent, the hottest prospects are Steve Williams, The Freebirds and Shane Douglas. As the WWF moves towards Wrestle Mania, Dusty Rhodes spearheads another huge blow to McMahon, by convincing Crockett to schedule a free show, The Clash of
Champions, head to head with Wrestle Mania 4. This would be a veiled attempt by Rhodes to usurp power from Hogan and regain the confidence of Crockett. The scheduled Main Event of Hogan dropping the belt to Flair doesn't sit well with Hogan. Instead, Hogan proposes dropping the title to Andre via a screw job by NWA ref Earl Hebner's twin brother, another recent WWF acquisition, Dave Hebner. Crockett goes with Hogan's idea and a split in creative direction begins what would eventually lead to the exit of Dusty Rhodes from the NWA.

For the WWF, Wrestle Mania 4 would be a minimal success. However, the outcome would unfortunately set the stage for a chain reaction of events that would crack the very foundation of McMahon's WWF. After defeating Randy Savage for the WWF Title and handing the belt over to Ted DiBiase, Bruiser Brody left the WWF over creative differences and began what would be his last tour of Puerto Rico. McMahon would then book DiBiase to be stripped of the belt and put the title up in a Tournament (the first ever for the WWF Title). The Tournament featured Ted DiBiase, Don Muraco, Hacksaw Duggan, Jimmy Valiant, Randy Savage, Butch Reed, One Man Gang, Bam Bam Bigelow, Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, Curt Hennig, Scott Hall and Stan Hansen, Terry Taylor and Kamala. The finals saw Ted DiBiase defeat Randy Savage for the WWF Title, which would be the precursor to fallout between McMahon & Savage. Savage took off in June of 1988 and signed with Jim Crockett in time to join the NWA for the big July PPV, The Great American Bash. With the help of the Savage, Hogan would regain the World Title from Andre at this show. Meanwhile Vince was gearing up for a new PPV, called Summer Slam, which would see the debuts of The Powers of Pain, Sting and Rick Steiner. The Main Event of Summer Slam '88 saw Ted DiBiase drop the WWF Title to Bam Bam Bigelow in a controversial attempt by Vince to recapture the tremendous face value he lost in Savage. The idea didn't work and the WWF fell deep into a recession. As September neared, the wrestling world was reeling from the death of Bruiser Brody in Puerto Rico, the surprise walk out on Jim Crockett by Dusty Rhodes and the impending sale of the WWF to keep it from filing for bankruptcy.

On September 10, 1988, Vince McMahon announced the sale of the WWF to Ted Turner. Turner was bailing McMahon out of a bad situation, but was still going to allow McMahon to run his own show. The purchase sent waves through the wrestling world, as Ted Turner now, in theory, owned a monopoly in the wrestling market. The AWA was not in any position to compete and World Class was slowly dying. With WWF wrestling on in the morning and NWA on in the afternoon, TBS shortly became one of THE most watched cable channels on the dial. However, this was all about to change. Jim Crockett used his money and Hogan's mainstream influence to work a deal with FOX, an upstart Network, owned by Ted Turner's business rival, Rupert Murdock, to bring the NWA to FOX. On Christmas day, the NWA made their debut on FOX with the Clash of Champions "Season's Beatings". The show saw Hogan drop the NWA Title to Ric Flair inside a Steel Cage when The Horsemen (Arn, Tully and Lex Luger, who replaced Ole) broke into the cage and helped Flair win. Hogan was once again saved by Randy Savage, which began the dawning of a partnership that would carry the NWA through 1989. The WWF would counter the NWA's Christmas show, with a show of their own on TBS, that saw Bam Bam Bigelow and the debuting Dusty Rhodes defeat Ted DiBiase & Curt Hennig. Rick Rude would also begin an IC Title feud with The Ultimate Warrior on the same show.

1989 saw Vince McMahon counter the NWA's Royal Rumble with another Dusty Rhodes creation, The Lethal Lottery. The Main Event featured Rhodes facing DiBiase for the WWF Title, which DiBiase had recently regained from Bigelow, who was on his way to the NWA. DiBiase retained his title after help from his new group similar to the NWA's Horsemen, which contained Curt Hennig, Rick Rude and Terry Taylor. The NWA's Royal Rumble featured Hogan meeting and defeating Flair for the NWA Title, setting up another long reign for Hogan. Hogan's backstage power was becoming a little much for some of the talent to handle. Some of the casualties of the new pecking order backstage consisted of The Road Warriors, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and Steve Williams. Even though the NWA is still out-drawing the WWF, Ted Turner's checkbook becomes invaluable to McMahon as he uses it to pick up a coven of new stars, including the aforementioned cast-offs from the NWA. As Wrestle Mania 5 approaches, McMahon begins planting seeds for a huge card, that just one-year prior would have been considered a dream card. The card featured 15 matches; here are just a few of those stellar bouts:
-For the WWF Title, champion, Ted DiBiase taking on Dusty Rhodes
-IC Title holder Rick Rude against The Ultimate Warrior
-Curt Hennig & Terry Taylor facing off with The Road Warriors
-The Midnight Express against Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson
-Rick Steiner taking on Sting
-Demolition facing The Road Warriors
-Nikita Koloff against Barry Windham
-Stan Hansen facing Steve Williams
With that line up, McMahon's Wrestle Mania 5 was the talk of the industry.

For the second straight year, The NWA featured a Clash of Champions for free up against the WWF. The Main Event saw Champion, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage facing Ric Flair & Lex Luger. The NWA is fast becoming a
4-man show.

The rest of 1989 is much of the same, with McMahon's WWF gaining more ground, thanks to Dusty Rhodes' southern booking style; while the NWA continues to lose steam as it is being labeled "The Hogan/Savage Show" by many insiders. The summer of 1990 sees the WWF begin to pull ahead of the NWA, as McMahon's new approach of letting Dusty Rhodes' knowledge of how Crockett and Hogan operate, works to his advantage. Rhodes convinces McMahon that Ric Flair is sick of Hogan's dominance and would be willing to jump if McMahon makes an offer. After continuous, embarrassing defeats to Savage at Bash '90, Hogan and Savage at Halloween Havoc '90 and finally Starrcade '90 which saw Hogan defeat Flair clean, along with Savage defeating Luger clean, Flair decided he'd had enough. 1991's Wrestle Mania 7 Main Event saw Dusty Rhodes, Barry Windham & The Road Warriors team to face and defeat the debuting Ric Flair and his Horsemen (Arn, Tully and DiBiase). With the top heel gone, Hogan decided to push Luger as the top heel and then convinced Crockett to bring in some new talent. Crockett was able to get Kerry Von Erich from World Class and Curt Hennig & Rick Rude to jump from the WWF. With new talent on board, the NWA coasted through the year and then played their trump card 3 years in the making by headlining Starrcade '91 with Hogan vs. Savage. The event was an amazing draw, and also gave the NWA the debut of Ted DiBiase, fresh off his WWF stint. But the year of 1992 would not be so fruitful for the NWA.

1991 was also a hot year for the WWF. Ric Flair took control by defeating Rhodes for the WWF Title and reforming The Four Horsemen with himself, Arn, Tully and the newly turned Barry Windham. Dusty Rhodes held the top slot, along side mega-faces The Road Warriors, The Ultimate Warrior and the up and coming Sting. Meanwhile as 1992 dawned, the NWA was gearing up for a Royal Rumble in which Hogan would team with Kerry Von Erich to face Randy Savage & Lex Luger. However, Hogan was beginning to have silver screen aspirations and decided to take time off. So the decision was made to drop the title to Savage, turn Luger face and pit him against the combination of Savage, Hennig, Rude & DiBiase. But what Crockett and Hogan didn't count on was the fact that Savage & DiBiase have too much bad blood from the WWF to co-exist in the same program. To make matters worse, the fans were not accepting Lex Luger as the number one face. Up north, the WWF was red hot as Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors and The Ultimate Warrior were facing The Horsemen on a monthly basis, and trumping the NWA each time by holding free shows up against an aggressive NWA PPV schedule. The only oversight on the part of Vince McMahon was letting Sting slip through the cracks. Jim Crockett took the opportunity and bought the young star, bringing him into the NWA in time for the summer season. Fast forward to fall 1992, Hulk Hogan returns to the NWA to find that Sting, who won the NWA Title from Savage at Bash '92, has usurped power from Luger and has begun a steady climb in gate receipts. DiBiase has checked out in seemingly no time at all due to his inside feud with Savage. Hogan makes sure that Sting immediately drops the strap back to Savage and Hogan then uses Starrcade to regain his gold from Savage. Hogan then pushes for a return to rule breaking for Luger and squashes another heel to end the year.

The WWF begins 1993, with Dusty Rhodes helping The Ultimate Warrior win the WWF Title from Ric Flair. WWF business is beginning to climb as McMahon continues to recycle talent, bringing new blood and letting go of the last remnants of the old Savage/Piper regime. Hogan uses the opportunity to surround himself and Savage with familiar faces in Jake Roberts, Hacksaw Duggan, Terry Taylor and others. Jim Crockett bucks a Hogan proposal to turn Kerry Von Erich heel and feud with him, in favor of elevating Terry Gordy and pushing Gordy as a top heel to Von Erich's growing face status. Crockett points to their success in World Class and wants to recapture that. Hogan refuses to job the World Title to Gordy and as a result, begins a rift with Jim Crockett that lasts until July when Hogan chooses to walk out on his deal. In late July, Hogan is seen in an airport talking to Vince McMahon. Rumors begin to surface through the wrestling world, and are subsequently confirmed when Hogan is named the special ref for the WWF World Title Match between the Ultimate Warrior & Ric Flair at Summer Slam '93. McMahon's risk to finally get the star he always wanted in Hogan, cost him dearly as his main booker, Dusty Rhodes and his top heel stable The Horsemen, walked the next day. The man who actually benefited the most was Jim Crockett, who was able to showcase a Rhodes/Horsemen return for Starrcade '93. The show also featured a Tournament for the NWA World Title, with Sting coming out on top against Ric Flair.

In early 1994, Jim Crockett sells his control of the NWA to Rupert Murdock and leaves wrestling a very wealthy man. Murdock places a young man named Paul Heyman, who was an assistant to Crockett after Hogan left, in charge of the NWA. Under Heyman, the NWA began to push younger stars such as Sting, Bryan Pillman, Marcus Bagwell, Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Cactus Jack, Shawn Michaels, Dustin Rhodes, Steve Austin, Shane Douglas and Bret Hart… as well as create a hot bed of new talent, with an edge. Heyman also brought back Ricky Steamboat and continued to utilize Rhodes & The Horsemen. In the mean time, McMahon had allowed Hogan to work his "magic" and place the World Title around his waist at Wrestle Mania 8, when he took the belt from The Ultimate Warrior. Hogan began helping McMahon stock the WWF with large power wrestlers such as Lex Luger, Sid Vicious, Mark Calloway, Vader, Yokozuna, Terry Gordy, The Natural Disasters, Papa Shango and a young star named Kevin Nash. These were in addition to Rick Steiner, his brother Scott, Stan Hansen, Scott Hall, Steve Williams, The Road Warriors and Big Bossman, all of which were already there. Hogan also succeeded in bringing Randy Savage back to the WWF. The face of wrestling had completely changed in less than 1 year.

1994 began as a quiet year for wrestling as both the WWF and the NWA were adjusting to their new rosters and new booking teams. The silence was broken in July of 1994, when the federal government indicted Vince McMahon and Ted Turner opted to sell his interest in the WWF. In July of 1994, Vince McMahon went to prison for 10 years on multiple counts of illegal distribution of steroids and the WWF, now under the control of Hulk Hogan and assistant booker, Jim Cornette, began a spiral downwards that lasted throughout 1995. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdock sold off his shares in the NWA to Heyman, making him the soul owner. Heyman used the opportunity to change the face of wrestling as he used Starrcade '95 to have his group of new, hip young stars humiliate the old guard of the NWA and throw down the NWA World Title to give birth to ECW, Extreme Championship Wrestling.

During 1996 Heyman's ECW would quickly become the scourge of the mainstream networks by taking a once wholesome family oriented product and turning it into a violent, cutting edge, sexy, adult oriented product. To make matters worse, it was such a success in the ratings; FOX backed it 100% and put ECW right in the family hour on Monday nights! The WWF was falling to pieces during this time with Hogan and Cornette at each other's throats. Hogan contacted Heyman and worked out a plan that would see Hogan and a select few jump from the WWF to ECW and form a group called the NWO, The New World Order. Hogan claimed to get the idea from Vader, who witnessed a similar gimmick first hand Japan. Heyman liked what he heard and on May 10, 1996, Hogan, Nash, Hall, Vader, Calloway and Sid made the jump as the NWO. Taking over a broadcast of ECW and starting what appeared to be an interpromotional war, the NWO was a revolutionary concept that drew major money and would captivate viewers for the next four years. Then in early 2000, ECW would lose it's TV slot due to declining ratings and what was fast becoming a watered down, repetitive product. That same year, Jim Cornette, along with Jim Ross would complete a move for the WWF from the Turner networks to Viacom's TNN. ECW would attempt to grab a time slot on the USA Network, but without Hogan, who finally retired from the business in 2000, USA would require a huge financial deposit from ECW. With the writing on the wall, Heyman would leave ECW, now involved in a financial crisis, in August of 2000 to accept a job writing for the WWF.

In late 2001, Heyman would sell his stock in ECW to Linda, Shane & Stephanie McMahon. Who took control and began to turn things around for ECW with the help of a former writer for WWF Magazine, who had a falling out with Ross and Cornette, named Vince Russo. With new blood at the helm of a product that was proven successful, and a family whose name was synonymous with the business, ECW looked to be on the verge of something big.

In 2004, Vince McMahon is scheduled for released from prison.

But that is another story…

E-MAIL HATTER X
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Amarillo, TX, is home to Hatter X, a wrestling fan for 25 of his 30 years. He enjoys pure wrestling, but its the edgy drama and quality storytelling that really frosts his donut. E-mail Hatter X at [email protected].

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