The Story of Taz leaving ECW and debuting at the Royal Rumble

 

“It was the worst kept secret in the business.” Michael Cole recently said that of Penta’s Raw debut, but it could also be said of another debut that took place twenty five years ago this month. At the 2000 Royal Rumble from Madison Square Garden, Chad Ga- I mean Kurt Angle, stood in the ring waiting for his opponent. The sound of flatlining was heard playing throughout the world's most famous arena, and the fans quickly knew who was coming. The man who had wrecked his way through ECW, a part of one of the most famous visuals from that company’s history. A former ECW World, Tag and Television champion. This would be the debut of Taz. In this video we’ll look back though the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and a bit of the PW Torch, to see what was public knowledge and when. We’ll look at the timeline from him leaving ECW, to his arrival at the Royal Rumble.


In truth, Taz had been on his way out of ECW since August, but his departure had actually been a while coming. Taz as well as a few other wrestlers had become essential to the daily running of ECW. As described in WWE's Rise and Fall of ECW documentary in 2004, Tommy Dreamer, Bubba Ray Dudley and others would run the office and send out merchandise orders. Taz designed the t-shirts and ran the House of Hardcore training school. Stevie Richards also talked about he and Gape Sapolsky selling tickets and answering the phones. Pretty soon Dreamer would be left all alone in that office, as Stevie was already in WWE by mid-99, and the Dudley boys were on their way out as well. The July 26th ‘99 Wrestling Observer outlines how some talents had employees contracts quote, “as opposed to the independent contractors which gives full medical benefits to the employee and their families.” Taz is named as having one of these deals. This shows just how essential Paul Heyman’s main eventers had become, that he had to sign them to stronger contracts than his top stars previously had, the likes of Raven and Sandman who had previously left for WCW. Taz was also at the time the current ECW World Champion, and his most protected talent, someone Heyman clearly felt that he couldn’t afford to lose.


In the August 16th Wrestling Observer, it was mentioned for the first time that “Taz was negotiating with the WWF over the past week but by the end of the week was said to be leaning toward staying put.” No more information is provided here, but one week later a lot more was reported. The August 23rd edition tells us that at one point the previous creative plans were for Jerry Lynn to defeat Rob Van Dam for the Television championship, ending what would become a twenty three month reign early by nearly a year, so that Van Dam could win the World title from Taz. RVD’s television championship reign was one of the top selling points of ECW at the time, and Taz’s run as World champion had been long built to as well. A main event level match between the two would surely be a huge deal when it eventually happened. Dave would then go into more detail about Taz’s negotiations. “Brad Small, who said he was representing Taz, had called both WWF and WCW. He asked for $450,000 per year and a maximum number of dates. WCW never even responded. WWF responded with a no thanks, but eventually did counter with a low-ball $200,000 down side guarantee offer and that was where it ended.” Dave references an article in Daily Variety that had claimed that Taz had a “seven figure three year contract” offer from TNN to stay with ECW, but denies this. He notes that “Top money in ECW is $3,000 per week. Taz was earning in that range, and may have gotten a raise out of this but the idea there was an aggressive bidding war for his services is pure fantasy.”

The next week Dave corrects some of the things written about Taz’s contractual status. He notes that “Taz was given offers from WCW, although didn’t strongly pursue him. He was basically left with the impression that they’d sign him to keep him from going to WWF, but it wasn’t a priority to sign people from ECW.” Around this time Raven had just quit the company, Mikey Whipwreck had just had a very brief run, and Sandman was soon to be released. The idea of going to WCW probably wasn’t as appealing, but him talking to them may have gotten him more interest from WWE. Dave also adds a comment from Paul Heyman, saying that “the seven-figure pub in Daily Variety was totally inaccurate but made for good ink for the company”.


On August 26th ‘99, ECW taped episodes two and three of their new show ECW on TNN. On the following day episode one airs, which serves as an introduction to the product using mostly pre-aired footage and video packages. After Joey Styles introduces a list of former ECW World champions such as Raven, the Sandman and Sabu, we see a World title match that originally aired on the June 26th ‘99 episode of Hardcore TV, where Taz would face a man that Joey Styles would refer to as the rookie monster of Steve Corino. That rookie monster was Rhino, who Taz would beat in just a couple of minutes. Knowing the absolute killer Rhino would become in ECW, it’s crazy to see him as essentially enhancement talent in this match with Taz, his first on ECW television.


TNN episode one closes with a promo from Taz, who says that above all the violence that ECW is known for, he stands as the World champion. They show footage of him choking out Chris Jericho who had just debuted with WWE, and Shane Douglas who was rumoured to be WCW bound after quitting ECW in May. On Episode two which airs on September third, Taz has another ECW World title defence, this time a match from the recent Heat Wave pay per view against Yoshihiro Tajiri. While the two had a ten minute match on pay per view, this one lasts nearly five, as Taz wins with the Tazmission cleanly. The next time Taz would wrestle on television would be the Anarchy Rulz pay per view. His last time as ECW World Champion. In the Rise and Fall of ECW, Taz said that once he had been World champion for a while, and had main evented multiple pay per views defending the title, he started to want new challenges. While money was obviously a motivating factor, it sounds like there was also a part of Taz that knew he had done everything there was to do in ECW, and sought greener pastures and new opportunities. Before he could do that though, he had to drop the world title on the way out.


On September 19th at Anarchy Rulz, Taz would be set to defend his ECW World title against Masato Tanaka. Right before that match however, Tanaka would begin shouting at someone in the crowd, who turns out to be his rival Mike Awesome and Mike’s manager Judge Jeff Jones. After a back and forth between the two, Taz gets on the microphone and demands that Awesome be added to the match, and Paul Heyman comes out to make it official. Within a couple of minutes Taz, who was booed on his entrance and met with “you sold out” chants, is pinned, leaving Tanaka and Awesome to battle over the World title. Word had gotten out, possibly from the Observer reporting it, but they managed to turn the crowd with what happened after the match. The ECW locker room would empty onto the ramp, as Taz would kiss the World title belt, then hand it to the new champion Awesome. Before he could leave, Axl Rotton led the crowd in thanking Taz for his efforts. As Wade Keller described it in the Pro Wrestling Torch, “Despite the controversy behind the scenes between Taz and Paul Heyman in recent weeks, his departure was handled with class.” Taz has in the past had a reputation for being over-protective of his character, but it seems like him letting go of this a bit led to him and Paul Heyman getting past issues they had recently had leading up to this night. “Taz and Heyman got along well at the PPV, although friends say there is an underlying tension over circumstances that led to Taz’s WWF agreement. Taz was said to be leary that Heyman might book the match to make him look bad, but once he heard the plans, he agreed to do anything he could to get the ECW Title over.” Going back to that reputation, in Taz’s own words speaking on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast in 2018, he described ECW as the best time in his career, but also the hardest, and he attributes this to being why he was so protective of his persona. “I was getting a really strong push, and it took me a lot of years to get that push. And once I got it I didn’t want to lose it, and I got very at times immature ‘cos I didn’t know how to handle the push. So I kind of pushed everyone out of my world in that locker room for the most part.”


That tension was clarified more by a summary of all of the events leading to Taz leaving in the September 20th Wrestling Observer, as Dave Meltzer notes that “Apparently, after a preliminary discussion where Small had contacted the WWF once again, Taz himself apparently had a discussion with Russo on 8/31 which led to a secret meeting the next day with Vince McMahon. It is believed Paul Heyman found out about the meeting from Taz the next day, which led to a blow up and Heyman pulling his contract offer.” Dave also writes that “After a lengthy discussion with McMahon, who was insistent that it was Taz who came to them and not the other way around, McMahon agreed to not start Taz until the new year.” Taz explained more about this to Sam Roberts in 2018. “The long and short of it is Paul thought that we had an agreement and then I kind of was reneging on the deal, the verbal. But I really felt like, knowing some stuff that was going on felt like at that time he was not going to be able to do right on that Financial end of the agreement.” When asked by Roberts if Paul ever owed him money, Taz said he didn’t, but there were times that Paul would ask him to wait until a certain day to cash his cheque to make sure the money was there.


Before we move on with the timeline, it’s worth addressing the crowd chanting “you sold out” at Taz. In the Rise and Fall of ECW documentary Taz pointed out that wrestlers would move on for many reasons, among them to provide for their families. In June ‘99, the Observer made note that “Taz, who has only worked a few dates in recent weeks since his wife just gave birth, is expected to be back full-time from this point forward”, and so you could say that he had more of a reason to think about his family than he had before. In the November 15th Observer writing about Taz’s last ECW match, Dave would write that “there were a lot of “You sold out” chants at Taz during the match. He should take solace in knowing that those same people chanting obscenities will be the loudest ones to chant “welcome back” if for some reason he doesn’t make it in the big leagues.” Nobody really expected this to be put to the test, but it’s safe to say that when Taz returned for a couple of dates to help clear up the mess made by Mike Awesome leaving for WCW as ECW World champion, the fans were indeed happy to see him back, even just for a couple of shows.


On September 30th, the Observer gives a little more detail about the future plans for Taz before he leaves. “Even though the PPV would make for a fitting exit for Taz, the plan is still for him to wrestle here until the end of the year, although WWF will start pushing him on television before that time and probably use ECW footage to do so, which, if so, indicates a continuation of the cooperation between the two companies.” Remember that reputation I mentioned that Taz had to protecting his character? Well according to reporting “Heyman said he wanted Taz to cry on camera to get the belt over but Taz was afraid it might hurt his image.”


So Taz was due to stay for a little while longer, and would wrestle three final televised matches before he left. On the October 29th episode of ECW on TNN from Poughkeepsie New York, he would lose to one of his fiercest rivals, Sabu. On commentary Joel Gertner in a rare moment of seriousness, points out that Taz and Sabu debuted in ECW on the same night, October 1st 1993, and wrestled on that night against each other, which Sabu won at an event called NWA Bloodfest. Sabu would again defeat Taz with a leg drop through a table, but he wouldn’t be able to celebrate as he would be jumped from behind by the Impact Players. Taz would quietly skulk into the corner of the ring, so as not to be just another victim. See what I did there because his WWE theme was called- never mind. Rob Van Dam would make the save for Sabu, but would find himself in the Tazmission, leading to a match between the two on Taz’s final night in the company.


Meanwhile in the Observer, On October 11th a passing note was made that “WWF officials told Taz they want him to do and play the same character he played in ECW.” That’s lucky really, because he’s one of those wrestlers who I can’t imagine in any other gimmick than the one he got famous with. Can you imagine him being anything else? No, me neither. Old one gimmick Jones over here. On October 18th plans for the teasing of his debut are revealed, as well as another interesting note. “It’s expected that WWF will start airing Taz vignettes in November to build up for his January arrival. His biggest supporter in the company was Russo, as there were those who thought in the WWF, his height would be an issue especially since he doesn’t sell well and his gimmick is being almost a bully tough guy.” What’s most interesting about this, is that Vince Russo and his writing partner Ed Ferrara signed with WCW on October 3rd ‘99, meaning that Taz’s greatest champion creatively had already left the company months before he would even debut in a WWE ring.


Now we get to November 7th 1999, the November to Remember pay per view, and Taz’s last official night in ECW. I say that because his actual last match was taped before this and aired afterwards, so I’ll cover that on the date it aired. The pay per view took place in Buffalo New York, not far from Taz’s hometown of Brooklyn. Ah, well never mind. The ppv would open with Joey Styles and Cyrus the Virus, before his days as the evil network consultant for the dastardly TNN. Cyrus notes that if he worked in Buffalo, he would live in Toronto over the border and drive in. Ah, better. Welcome to yet another Geography channel. Styles and Cyrus who were interrupted by Joel Gertner, were about to wrap up the intro to the event, when Taz’s music hit. He is greeted by “you sold out” chants from the crowd, much like he was at Anarchy Rulz. It turns out that Taz is there because he didn’t like how Joey described he applying the tazmission to Rob Van Dam on TNN, and thought Styles made it sound like a cowardly act. He bully’s and threatens Styles into leaving. Joel Gertner however is not so lucky, as Taz allows him to leave, and applies the Tazmission when Joel turns his back. Taz then shakes Cyrus’ hand and leaves and the ECW intro video airs. All of this appeared to be to make Taz a heel before his match later, just in case anybody had the idea of cheering him before his match with the most popular man in the company, Mr. pay per view.


The match would take place in the semi-main event slot, and there was a big fight feel to it. Taz had been the ECW World champion for nine months of that year, and had run over a lot of opponents in his eight televised defences. Rob Van Dam was nineteen months into what would become a twenty three month reign as Television champion, and this match would be his thirty-second televised defence. Though this was the most high profile, it was actually the fourth time RVD and Taz had wrestled in a singles match. The first time aired on the December 3rd ‘96 Hardcore TV, where there would be no clear winner as Taz would apply the Tazzmission, but refuse to let go after a rope break until an army of officials came in to seperate the two. In their second match which took place on the December 17th ‘96 episode, Taz would win with his hold by choking Van Dam out. Match number three would take place nearly later in October ‘97, and would officially be a non contest, after the Pitbulls entered to pick a fight with Taz. Rob Van Dam had never gotten a victory over Taz, but he would on Taz’s final night. This match was nothing like a demolition derby like other RVD TV title defences the match played out a bit slower, and more to Taz’s pace. The Pro Wrestling Torch called it an “intriguing” match but said the styles of the two very different wrestlers didn’t mix, and the Observer said “the two didn’t work well together”, with neither rating more than three stars. Regardless of this, the match achieved it’s goal, as Van Dam got his victory over Taz, who would have one more person to lose to on the way out of ECW.


On November 12th ‘99 Taz’s final match on ECW Hardcore TV would air, though it was actually taped on October 30th in Dayton Ohio. It would also be his final shot at the World title, or so we thought. Taz Would challenge Mike Awesome, and the two would brawl all over the Hara Arena, and after a powerbomb through a table, Awesome would hit a splash from the top rope and pin the departing Taz. The last we would see of Taz on ECW television was him rolling out of the camera shot, while his successor held the World title up. That until a year later but nobody knew that at this time. With Taz out of ECW, the build up to his WWE debut could truly begin.


Teases for Taz’s debut would begin in December with strange imagery on the titantron. For example, on the December 27th episode of Raw while Al Snow was making his entrance, the lights in the arena would turn orange, and a number thirteen would show on the titantron, along with a beeping sound. Thirteen apparently being chosen because it was how many years it took Tazz to get to WWE. Over the following several weeks of Raw and Smackdown’s, this would happen seemingly at random, as Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross on commentary would question what was going on. The December 12th Observer would confirm that these happenings were to signify the arrival of Taz, and later in the month, Dave would note that his name would be spelled “Tazz with two Z’s moving forward, “apparently because Time Warner owns the name Taz”.


In another update from the January 17th Observer that you could possibly call a red flag, it seemed that in mid-January, a little under two weeks before his debut, it wasn’t clear yet what plans were in place for Tazz. Dave writes that “the Royal Rumble may not be the opportune place to debut him. The problem with Tazz in the Rumble is that Battle Royals due to visualization, fans are naturally drawn to the taller guys and Tazz would have a difficult time making a big impact unless he just throws a million people out.” What’s more worrying is that in the January 24th issue, which would have been published just days before the Rumble on the 23rd, Dave’s only note was that “Tazz’s debut is expected to be right after the Rumble.” As we know, this would not be the case. Perhaps this changed with the idea that Tazz didn’t have to debut in the actual Royal Rumble match, or maybe the idea that Kurt Angle needed something to do also brought the idea about?


On January 23rd 2000, Tazz would finally debut in the opening match at the Royal Rumble. Kurt Angle, only two months into this WWE tenure himself would come to the ring without a clear opponent. He would bash the New York Nicks, and proclaim himself New York’s champion. As Kurt begins to name his mystery opponent, chants can be heard in the crowd of “we want Tazz”. As the lights go down and Tazz’s music hits, there is a huge crowd reaction inside Madison Square Garden. The match itself is very short at just over three minutes, but both fans who had seem him before and not all knew that Tazz was not to be messed with, as he choked out your Olympic hero. Wade Keller of PW Torch wrote of the match that :”Tazz's debut was great. His entrance is right up there with Chris Jericho's. It's WWF moments like Tazz's debut that shine a spotlight on the separation between the WWF and WCW”, and Dave Meltzer bemoaned how short the segment was, saying “It was disappointing in that Tazz vs. Kurt Angle was on the verge of being really good, but was terribly rushed.” Reactions to Tazz’s debut though were overall very positive.


Tazz’s WWE career seemed to get off to a good start. After the Royal Rumble he found himself defeating the entire Mean Street Posse in one match. From there he finds himself in a triple threat match with Kurt Angle and the Rock. There is one problem though, one that isn’t directly linked to Tazz’s push dying, but it’s a big factor. On the January 31st 2000 Raw, just eight days after Tazz’s debut, four massive defections from WCW would happen, as the Radicalz would debut on Raw. That’s four top spots immediately given to even shinier new acquisitions. By Wrestlemania, Taz would be competing for the hardcore championship, which he would win three times, with two of those being within the same match at Wrestlemania 2000. It was a rather weird time. Tazz would then go on a long streak of either losing matches or winning by DQ. From the February 17th 2000 Smackdown where he defeated Gangrel, with the exception of Jakked which not everybody had access to, Tazz’s next televised victory would come at the Fully Loaded pay per view in July. That's five months. He would then win a few matches on his way to feuding with and losing to Jerry Lawler at Summerslam. Always a sign you’re doing well when you’re losing to the commentary team.


Another thing that seemed to dampen Tazz’s WWE career was his in ring style. While the Observer had reported in October that WWE had wanted Taz to play his ECW character, it turned out that this didn’t translate well to his matches. Speaking to Sam Robers in 2018, Taz said “when I first went to WWF at the time in early 2000, I started out for a couple of matches doing my same style I did in ECW. Suplexes, submissions, joint locks and rapidly I had to chill out because what I was told in a nice way was you're not going to have anybody who wants to work with you.” He goes on to explain that his size played a part in that too, to which he responded that “Mike Tyson’s not six feet and he’s knocking motherfuckers out left and right, so what does that matter?” He then went on to explain that nobody in the locker room said this to him, but it was a worry of management.


From 1987 to 2002, Taz’s in ring career wasn’t the longest, nor his in ring WWE tenure. He’s a very good example of Paul Heyman’s strategy for ECW, to accentuate the positives and hide the negatives of everyone on his roster, and that not really carrying on past ECW. There’s certainly nothing embarrassing or shameful about Taz’s career, nor the way he transitioned into staying relevant outside the ring, by becoming commentary Jones over here.


Sources:

Sam Robert Wrestling Podcast 123, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6syGcCvwCI

Wrestling Observer July 26th - employee contracts https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/july-26-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-governor-jesse-ventura/

Wrestling Observer August 16th - First sign of leaving https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-16-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-jim-ross-jushin-liger/

Wrestling Observer August 23rd - No bidding war https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-23-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-road-wild-review-njpw/

Wrestling Observer August 30th - Correction from prev week https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-30-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-summerslam-review/

Pro Wrestling Torch September 25th - Anarchy Rulz report https://vip.pwtorch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PWTorchNewsletter567PDF.pdf

Wrestling Observer September 20th Taz and Heyman fall out https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/september-20-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-eric-bischoff-fired/

Wrestling Observer September 30th Taz leaving plans https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/september-30-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-facing-uphill/

Wrestling Observer October 11th Gimmick note https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/october-11-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-vince-russo-leaves-wwf/

Wrestling Observer October 18th Vignette teasers and Russo note https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/october-18-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-death-gorilla-monsoon/

Pro Wrestling Torch November 13th N2R review https://vip.pwtorch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/PWTorchNewsletter575PDF.pdf

Wrestling Observer November 15th - You Sold Out chants at N2R https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/november-15-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-ecw-november-remember/

Wrestling Observer December 12th - vignettes quote https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-12-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-slightly-tones-down/

Wrestling Observer December 27th - two z’s https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-27-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-starrcade-review/

Wrestling Observer January 17th - Royal Rumble plans https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-17-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-death-gary-albright/

Wrestling Observer June 14th 1999 - Taz Newborn https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/june-14-1999-wrestling-observer-newsletter-sable-sues-wwf-140000000/

Pro Wrestling Torch January 29th - Rumble review https://members.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_9499.shtml


Wrestling Observer Jan 31st Royal Rumble review http://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-31-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-departures-wwf-royal/

The Timeline of Vader's Royal Rumble Debut

 

Well it’s January again, that means it’s nearly time for the Royal Rumble. For over thirty-five years the Rumble has guaranteed massive surprises and epic letdowns. Sometimes new faces make their debut for the company. As what usually happens when I write a video for this channel, what started as me looking at debuts of big stars ended as a deep dive into why Vader left WCW in the first place, and the timeline leading up to his arrival at the Rumble. We’ll get there, but it’ll be a while off.


It's not often that a main event level star just leaves a major company for another, especially having enjoyed the success that he had, especially as well get into, with the deal Vader had. By this point Vader was a three time IWGP champion, and three time WCW World champion, but it would all start to fall apart when would be suspended following a backstage fight with Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff that happened around early September, and as a result, he just barely missed out on being involved in the first episode of Nitro. While he could be seen in the opening video of the first show, he wouldn’t actually appear. According to the Pro Wrestling Torch at the time, Vader had been scheduled to face Hulk Hogan for the WCW World title on the second episode, but would be replaced on that night, and in his storyline leading to a War Games match by the returning Lex Luger. The Wrestling Observer would also note that Vader’s next pay per view opponent at Halloween Havoc was slated to be Meng. I can only imagine what a hoss fight that would have been. In the following weeks Observer there was even talk of Vader beating Hogan for the World title. This would be a way of making Nitro seem like a can’t miss show where big title changes could happen any week. Vader's last ever match in WCW would air on the September 9th episode of Saturday night, where he would destroy two enhancement talents, Bobby Starr and Scott D’Amore for future TNA fame in under two minutes.


In the September 11th ‘95 Observer, Dave Meltzer notes that Vader had been apologetic over what happened with Orndorff, and Paul also wasn’t against Vader coming back. It is also here where Dave first brings up the idea of Vader going to WWE, saying “If he were to go to WWF, which would be the almost certain end result if WCW wouldn’t take him back, he’d be working four times as much for a lot less money. He’d be far more recognized in airports and would almost surely get a lengthy run as the top heel in the company, but at 39 with a history of back and knee problems, I’m not sure that takes precedence over a guaranteed contract. Not to mention that at his weight and with the bumps he takes and type of matches he works on the big shows, he’s been very injury prone and has missed numerous house shows even on the relatively easier WCW road schedule.” In the following week's issue Dave goes further into Vader contractual status with WCW. “Vader has a contract through the end of March in 1999 at approximately $750,000 per year and obviously doesn’t want to blow the deal and has apologized to everyone involved. WCW has sent a cease and desist letter to WWF claiming Vader is under contract and that any contact with him they would consider tampering.” A bit rich from them given how they had only just brought Luger back one day after his final WWE appearance at a house show by the way.


Though it was thought that Vader had been fired, the October 9th Observer notes that this might not be the case. “Vegas indie promoter T.C. Martin was interested in using Vader and was told he’d have to go through WCW to get the date cleared, which means that he hasn’t been fired despite rumors going around to the contrary. He is suspended and he’s not being paid, but a final decision hasn’t been made. There is really no consensus right now one way or the other about what the ultimate decision will be but he clearly has his enemies.” In the same edition of the Observer though, Dave notes that “Tatsumi Fujinami is going to try and contact Big Van Vader for his first show on 10/29.” Fujinami having worked for WCW before might well have better connections, and so this might not be the contradiction it looks like.


In the October 30th issue, Vader’s release would be reported. “The official reason for the firing was that his 90-day review window had passed and that since he was medically unable to wrestle because of a shoulder injury, they were cancelling the contract on that basis, so officially the incident with Paul Orndorff was never specified probably for legal reasons since Orndorff, according to reports, egged on rather than quelled a messy situation.” Dave also notes though that every promotion is going to want to bring Vader in, but he will likely take time off to deal with the shoulder injury. According to the Observer the injury occurred in a cage match with Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach. In a somewhat bizarre part, Dave notes that Vader had wanted to try a shooting star press, a relatively new move at the time. Given how wooden and unpolished Vader’s moonsault looked, the idea of him trying an inverse flip off the top is a terrifying prospect. If you’re wondering as to how he was injured but still wrestling, the Observer notes that “He continued to work on heavy medication for the next two months until the Orndorff incident, at which point WCW suspended him without pay.”


The next time Vader would step in a ring would be on January 4th ‘96 for New Japan in the Tokyo Dome, pre the days of Wrestle Kingdom. Vader would wrestle one of his most famous opponents for the final time, Antonio Inoki. Years earlier on the same date, Inoki had made a star out of Vader by taking a beating from him, but this time Vader would do the honours, tapping out to an armbar from Inoki. In the January 15th ‘96 Observer it would be reported that “Inoki, who turns 53 later this month, allowed himself to absorb a Cactus Jack-like beating from Vader in order to get the match over as a classic. It was reported to us that this was the single greatest performance of Vader’s career, and if you factor in his age, probably of Inoki’s as well.” Later in the same issue Dave would report that Vader had been paid forty thousand dollars for the one match, surely making up for WCW not paying him since September. Vader’s next match would be the 1996 Royal Rumble match, but how would he get there?


In the January 2nd ‘96 edition of the Observer, it's first reported that WWE was looking to boost the buy rate for that year's Royal Rumble, by inviting some surprise entrants to appear. “The Vader name is the most intriguing. With the WWF short on heels, and he is a proven PPV draw, the two potentially could fit like a glove. However, Vader is used to big money, has the avenue of getting big money in Japan, is coming off a serious injury and hasn’t wrestled a schedule as grueling as the Titan schedule in years.” When Vader was announced for the Inoki match at a press conference in early December, it was made public that he had agreed to two appearances, the January 4th match and another in March. Vader did have other options on the table, but as Dave noted, Vader had other options. According to the Observer other names that had come up were the Ultimate Warrior, who would eventually return at Wrestlemania 12 later that year, Jake Roberts who would return in the Rumble match, Rick Martel whose last WWE match had been the ‘95 Royal Rumble, and former UFC champion Dan Severn, who would join WWE in 1998.


On the January 1st ‘96 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler run down the participants for the Rumble match, and they officially announce Vader. We then see a training montage that they would use in the weeks leading up to the event. In the following Observer it is noted that “The two sides haven’t signed a contract or even agreed to all details although they’ve come to an agreement that Vader will start at the Rumble and be in as a regular. He’ll continue to work major Japan shows.” This wouldn’t last long, as Vader wouldn’t make it to Japan for the March appearance he had agreed to. He would however wrestle a match in April for USWA, where he would team up with Brian Christopher to face Jeff Jarrett and Sir Mo in Troy Tennessee. There would be no further mention of Vader in the Observer and no public appearances until his debut in the Rumble.


On January 21st 1996, Vader would enter at number thirteen in the Royal Rumble, with the ring already full of bodies. Quite an interesting mix of names, like Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the returning Jake Roberts, Sparky Plug Bob Holly, Savio Vega and the 123 Kid from the active roster. Legend Dory Funk Junior was also in there, but most interestingly though, the very large Yokozuna was also in the ring. Having just thrown out Mabel by himself, what would happen when he and Vader would clash? We wouldn’t have long to find out, or would we, as Vader arrived with Jim Cornette behind him, who was also managing Yoko. Vader goes right after Bob Holly, which is funny when you think about both men’s reputations for stiffing people. He then dumps Savio back into the ring from the apron when he could have eliminated him, showing a slight misunderstanding of the rules, but not quite a Mil Mascaras level. Vader slowly plods around the ring for a while longer, until finally meeting Yoko. The two have a brief shoving match, before Vader turns his attention to Jake Roberts, eliminating him with a single clubbing blow. We then get two more debut in the Rumble, as Headhunter A and B of the Squat team would enter, and thankfully not last long, as one of them is thrown out quickly by Vader. As the other enters, both the legal headhunter and illegal one get in the ring, they are both pummeled by Vader and Yoko before being thrown out, in perhaps the most interesting thing Vader has done yet. He and Yoko start working together to beat on poor Savio, and the two clients of Jim Cornette are finally getting along.


When we get to number eighteen, out comes the eventual winner of the match, Shawn Michaels, and the crowd wakes up. Shawn goes right after Helmsley and 123 Kid, proving that it’s every kliq member for themself. Seemingly out of the blue, Vader and Yoko stop getting along, and start brawling in the middle of the ring, while Vince McMahon on commentary tries to get the Mastodon nickname over. As the two fight near the ropes, and Jim Cornette begs them not to, Shawn Michaels with a herculean feat of strength, dumps both out over the ropes. After being eliminated, Vader clocks Yoko outside the ring, and heads back in. He launches Shawn Michaels over the top, which Vince is quick to tell us doesn’t count as Vader is out. Wasn’t a problem in other years though. Vader then clears the ring including fellow Camp Cornette mate Owen Hart, with energy he frankly should have been using when he was part of the match, and then takes his leave. It takes WWE President Gorilla Monsoon and a flock of zebras to convince Vader to leave, and the match resumes. What started as a fairly unimpressive debut, got very heated towards the end, and foreshadowed his ill fated feud with Shawn Michaels later in the year.


On Raw the next night, Vader really gets to make an impression. He defeats Savio Vega in a short match where he lays waste to him. Savio gets very little in, and Vader ends with an impressive looking Vader bomb. What happens after the match though is more memorable. Vader continues the attack on Savio, hitting another Vader Bomb. He then attacks two officials and pushes Cornette, who doesn’t seem to be able to control him. This brings out President Gorilla Monsoon, and Vader goes way too far. Vader attacks Monsoon, hitting him with a splash in the corner and a Vader Bomb, which brings out Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon to stop him. Backstage Vader goes off on a rant after the ad break, threatening every wrestler and official, quote “including you Mr. McMahon and… AAAHHH”. I think Vader might have spotted his mistake there by nearly outing McMahon, who in storyline wasn’t the boss just yet.


Vader went from a pretty dominant debut and memorable night after, to calling himself a quote “fat piece of shit” following a pay per view loss in 1998. His record in broadcast matches over his run was 65 wins out of 110 matches, slightly more than half. He would win no titles in the company, with his next major achievement being the Triple Crown in All Japan in ‘99. Vader would have a pretty long career after leaving WWE, and after WCW closed. He would join Noah in 2000, working a pretty full on schedule for the promotion. He also managed to keep himself relevant, making WWE appearances when needed, and even wrestling Will Ospreay, one of the current top names in wrestling, back when he was cutting his teeth. Vader’s WWE career remains one of the ones that could have been more, but for lots of reasons wasn’t. It also remains one what excelled everywhere else. It’s always Vader time somewhere.



Sources:

1996 Royal Rumble Match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBpcLSDJUBY

WCW Saturday Night September 9th 1995 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoPTPJN6FEQ

Pro Wrestling Torch, September 9th 1995 - Vader’s WCW firing: https://members.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/1995PWTorchNewsletters/article_89764.shtml

Wrestling Observer, September 4th 1995: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/sept-4-1995-wrestling-observer-newsletter-downfall-uwfi-and-working/

Wrestling Observer, September 11th 1995: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/sept-11-1995-wrestling-observer-newsletter-nitro-debuts-luger-jumps/

Wrestling Observer September 18th 1995 Contractual Status https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/sept-18-1995-wrestling-observer-newsletter-monday-night-wars-day-one/

Wrestling Observer October 9th 1995 Vader still signed: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/oct-9-1995-wrestling-observer-newsletter-bill-watts-wwe-moment-more/

Wrestling Observer October 30th 1995 Vader official release https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/oct-30-1995-wrestling-observer-newsletter-promotional-war-mexico/

Wrestling Observer January 2nd 1996 Vader invited to Royal Rumble https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/jan-2-1996-observer-newsletter-wwe-bringing-surprises-royal-rumble/

Wrestling Observer January 6th 1996 Vader joins WWE https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/jan-6-1996-wrestling-observer-newsletter-guess-who-won-nwa-title-again/

Wrestling Observer January 15th 1996 Comment on Inoki match, https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/jan-15-1996-wrestling-observer-newsletter-world-championship-wrestling/

The Story of CM Punk Fighting in a Strip Club

Over the years there have been some pretty wild wrestling matches that spilled out of arenas. Generally these involve some kind of battered looking hardcore title, but what it a World title was on the line, featuring one of the future most famous stars in wrestling? In this video we’ll look at one such match that took place in of all places, Tampa Florida in 2004, for the prestigious Full Impact Pro World championship.


FIP, or Full Impact Pro was started in August 2003 and still runs today. It has always been based in Florida, running shows all over the state. It’s owner Sal Hamaoui has ties to former Ring of Honor booker at the time Gabe Sapolsky, and FIP served as a sort of sister promotion to ROH in the early years of both companies. From the start of FIP until around 2009, every FIP World champion was a current ROH roster member, with the title being defended frequently on ROH shows, even changing hands in Ring of Honor twice. FIP’s relationship with ROH fell apart around the time Gabe left the company, and when Gabe began working with Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, even booking their US expansion, one of their wrestlers Masaaki Mochizuki, would become the first non-ROH wrestler to be FIP World champion.


The match we’re talking about today was actually a rematch from a couple of months earlier. At FIP’s Emergence part 2 event on September 25th, Homicide defeated CM Punk in the finals of a tournament to crown the first ever FIP World Champion. By late 2004, CM Punk’s name was already well known in indie wrestling. He’s had a fourteen month run in TNA, most notably teaming with and later turning on and feuding with Raven as a member of the Gathering. He had also been with Ring of Honor since near the beginning, making his debut in November 2002. In 2003 he started wrestling internationally, working in Zero-One in Japan, and in 04 he would begin to work in Europe, for FWA in England and WXW in Germany. He had also already had a couple of WWE tryout matches for WWE, which I talked about in detail in an earlier video on this channel.


Punk’s opponent in the match is known as the “notorious 187”. Homicide is perhaps best known for his time in TNA, as one of the original members of the Latin American Xchange with Hernandez and Konnan. He joined TNA in January 2006, and by the end of that year he would also become the eighth Ring of Honor World Champion, defeating Bryan Danielson for the title at Final Battle 2006. The list of promotions Homicide has worked for over his over thirty year career just reads like a list of all the promotions there is, though never WWE. In a May 2024 interview with Piers Austin, Homicide tells of an opportunity he had in 2005 through Mick Foley, who he met while Mick was appearing for ROH in that year. He said that Mick gave him John Laurinitis’ phone number around the same time that Konnan pitched him the LAX idea, and ultimately he chose to work with Konnan in TNA. He also notes that part of why he never even received a tryout was likely to do with his name, but that he was always open to changing it, much like how in TNA he stopped calling his finisher the ‘cop killa’, renaming it the ‘gringo killer’.


The rematch between CM Punk and Homicide would take place at a venue called the Party Zone, in Tampa Florida, and multiple websites list the attendance for the show at just 20 fans, having drawn 30 the night before at the same venue. When FIP would return to the Party Zone in the following June the attendance would be listed as 100. For what it’s worth I actually tried to count the fans in view and I saw more than twenty for sure, and I actually find the hundred for the later show harder to believe.


On his way to the ring, CM Punk grabs the microphone and promises to take the fight out into the streets of Florida. Homicide comes out and says something something streets as well. The two start going at it with punches right away, and very quickly Azrieal, Punk’s stooge interferes to help him and the match quickly becomes a mugging. A wrestler known as Rainman who had defeated Azrieal in the previous match comes out to save Homicide. Also on this card by the way was a wrestler named Antonio Banks, that’s MVP in a past life. Punk and Homicide battle through the last people still watching NXT Level Up, showing off just how small the room is. They then make their way through a door and into the car park. They fight onto a truck that was backed up to the door which presumably the ring was transported in, and quite hilariously we hear random banging as the camera can’t see what’s going on up there. Once they get off the truck, the two walk and brawl around the side of the gentleman's establishment that this whole video is sort of about, and with a few awkward editing cuts, we then see Punk and Homicide fighting in the strip club.


The fight makes it’s way to the performance area, yeah, let's call it that, and Punk hits a rather impressive kick using the pole to his advantage. The two ladies on stage look none too pleased, and try to continue while Punk gets distracted from his match. He takes a moment to yell something pretty abusive at them, before he and Homicide make their way back out of the building. Homicide then hits Punk with a piledriver on the street, and pins him to win the match and retain his FIP world championship. Instead of caring for him, a few fans lean in to take a picture with Punk’s prone body, and we close with a shot of Homicide back in the strip club enjoying what he sees. The whole thing is unique to say the least, and it’s perhaps the most bizarre World title match I’ve ever seen.


For what it’s worth regarding the comment Punk makes at the performers, in a 2023 interview with Rewind Recap Relive, Homicide notes that they were very upset about this and demanded an apology from Punk. Looks like we can add them to the list of people waiting for that then. He also noted that as of ‘23 he and CM Punk have remained friends, so thats a cool thing to note also.


Following the match, Homicide would defend the title fourteen times throughout 2005, losing it to Bryan Danielson in an ROH ring in January ‘06. Six months after the falls count anywhere match he would again defend the title against CM Punk, this time in an anything goes match at an event called ‘Violence is the Answer’ on April 23rd 2005. The match was hardly the brutal affair you’d expect from a show called that, or a stipulation like anything goes, as there were too many kids in the crowd that night, but Homicide still won again to end their feud.


Let’s get into why this match might have taken the bizarre turn that it did. Before every promotion under the sun relied on a streaming service or their own online presence, and even before the beginnings of internet pay per view events which took a while to catch on, the major indies relied on DVD sales as their main source of income. Ring of Honor in particular stayed afloat through fans waiting a month or so after the events, and buying the DVD’s when they became available. This meant that there was a fair amount of time for word of mouth to build up following the latest shows, especially through discussion of them in places such as the ROH message board, and FIP definitely would have taken advantage of that in the time leading up to the event being available on DVD. This match occurred just a couple of weeks after the CM Punk versus Samoa Joe sixty minute draw for the ROH world championship, the second match in their famous trilogy, and so a lot of people would have been talking about him at this time. It was smart then for FIP to put on a match that CM Punk fans would want to seek out, if only for it’s novelty.


The other, less refined theory, is that Punk and Homicide saw that they were wrestling in front of a tiny crowd and thought fuck it! Let’s take em all to the strip club! Less refined, yet somehow plausible.


Sources:

Match - FIP Fallout Night 2 November 13th 2004: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mlj9vUEZhE

Show: https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=533

Homicide interview (May 2024) https://www.postwrestling.com/2024/05/14/homicide-i-might-have-a-bruise-on-my-brain-that-affects-my-speech/#:~:text=I%20was%20just%20happy%2C%20and,do%20it%20one%20more%20time%E2%80%A6

https://youtu.be/aH3Psq29smA?si=22UnwStpwPuvbqDc

2023 interview about match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAB_xucb2vIReview of third match: https://411mania.com/wrestling/bg-says-fip-violence-is-the-answer/

ECW and the Hammerstein Ballroom

Of all the famous wrestling venues in the US, few have a more iconic look than the Hammerstein Ballroom. Every arena in the world tends to look the similar after a while, but if a show has come from the Hammerstein, there is no mistaking it. The ballroom has hosted wrestling since 2000, and in that time only eight promotions have ran in it. In this video we’re going to take a look at the Ballroom’s history with pro wrestling. As in my video about the 2300 arena, I’m going to focus on the ECW years, or year.


In 2000 despite the company seeing better days financially, ECW toured all across the US, and even ran in Canada. Gone were the days of them only running in the ECW Arena, and occasionally elsewhere for bigger shows. They even had multiple venues in New York, with some events coming from Elks Lodge in Queens, and others coming from the Manhattan Centre.


The first time ECW ever ran the Hammerstein was a two night event on August 25th and 26th 2000, known collectively as Midtown Massacre. Parts from these events would air as episodes of Hardcore TV and ECW on TNN from the 1st to 15th of September. All together, five episodes of television came from these two events. As early as July the shows were being reported as tentatively happening in the Wrestling Observer. In the July 3rd 2000 issue Dave Meltzer reported that a tag team tournament was being planned for one of the shows. This would be for the vacant ECW tag team titles, as Justin Credible forfeited his title when he became ECW World champion, with his partner Lance Storm also soon to be leaving for WCW. Interestingly, in the same issue Dave noted that the ECW arena, now known these days as the 2300 Arena, had a “for lease” sign out front. The plans were confirmed a month later in the August 14th issue, along with scheduled participants for the tournament, and the plan for three title matches to happen on night two.


On the first of the TV episodes, which aired on TNN on September 1st, they begin the build to the World title match which would air in two weeks. The challenger Steve Corino would come through the crowd, along with Billy Corgan of the NW- Of the Smashing Pumpkins. This Steve Corino is a far cry away from the one that would confront Limp Bizkit and take a beating on stage in the previous year. To find out more about that change, I have a video on this channel about his entire feud with Dusty Rhodes. Billy Corgan would actually get physically involved too, attacking Justin Credible with his own cane, but he would get hit from behind by the Network’s consultant Lou E. Dangerously. The rest of the episode would feature semi final matches of the tag team tournament, including Jerry Lynn pinning ECW World champion Justin Credible, which would foreshadow Lynn beating Justin for the World title at the next pay per view, Anarchy Rulz in October. The main event of the show would be the tournament finals, in which The Unholy Alliance, featuring ECW mainstay Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri would defeat Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger, as well as Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lynn to win the titles. Simon and Swinger would use the Problem Solver to eliminate Dreamer, leading to Whipwreck pinning Simon Diamond to claim the titles.


ECW Hardcore TV airing on September 2nd opened with an in ring confrontation between the voice of ECW Joey Styles, and Cyrus, the evil representative of TNN, who ECW had a rocky relationship with to say the least. Cyrus is known to modern AEW fans as Don Callis. Here he would shove Joey Styles to the ground, but Joey, just like he fought back against JBL back in the day, chased Callis out of the Hammerstein. On the rest of the episode they would air matches from the tag tournament that they had already aired the finals of on the previous night on TNN. One significant thing though, is that in the main event they aired Jerry Lynn pinning Rob Van Dam, meaning that he pinned the ECW World champion and his most famous rival in the same night.


On the second TNN episode which aired on September 8th, and it would begin with a major angle that took place on night two of the tapings. Cyrus would come out to interrupt the introduction of the show by Joey Styles and colour commentator Joel Gertner, and he would cancel ECW on TNN. While he does this, the ECW fans loudly chant USA. While I at first assumed they were heckling the Canadian Cyrus, writing of this angle in the Observer Dave would note that “the feeling in the company seemed very positive regarding securing a cable outlet after the TNN cancellation with the final show on 9/22. Most of the talk revolves a two-hour late Saturday night time slot on USA Network, although no deal has been finalized at press time and a favorable ruling by the court of appeals could be unfavorable for ECW.” It should be noted that Raw was at the time leaving the USA network and set to move to TNN on September 25th 2000 just days after ECW was set to go off the air. This was just one of the many things that caused bad blood between them and ECW, who would not get another major TV deal with any channel.


The angle then ends in spectacular fashion, as Cyrus claims that a New Yorker couldn’t stand up to him, leading Paul Heyman himself to come out and crack him on the back of the head with a cell phone, much like he used to do as Paul E. Dangerously in WCW. This brings Rhino out, who gores the owner of the company through a table. It then looked like a fan was trying to get into the ring as police swarm into the ring. I have no idea how real this was though, as Rhino then gored a police officer. The locker room then empties, and a wild brawl takes over. Kid Kash then makes his entrance, and body surfs over the crowd of wrestlers, and the television title match between he and Rhino begins. Just when it looks like the ring is clearing and the match might actually happen, the Sandman’s music hits. Sandman hits Rhino with multiple cane shots, but Rhino gores him too. Kid Kash does an amazing springboard dive into all the wrestlers brawling, and we get back to him and Rhino, who gores Kash. It’s still not over though, as Rob Van Dam comes out next. RVD hits a VanDaminator, then with the help of his manager Bill Anfonso, hits the Van Terminator into a chair, thats the move Shane McMahon nicked and called the coast to coast. He and Kash do stereo dives onto Rhino, and an official comes in to count three, and crowd Kid Kash the new Television champion. All of this madness happened in one flowing segment, and it was the intro to the show! In the main event, Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiris tag title reign would last just one day, and would be over before it even aired on TV. Taped on night 2, the Full Blooded Italians, little Guido and Tony Mamaluke would take the titles off the Unholy Alliance, though this would air on September 8th, so the reign in storyline would last a week.

Show four from the Hammerstein would be the September 9th episode of Hardcore TV. This show mainly acts as a recap for the highlights of the previous episodes, where they replay the entire wild segment from TNN the night before. Joey Styles repeatedly refers to it as “fourteen minutes that changed the course of ECW history.” In the main event on this one Rob Van Dam would defeat Scotty Anton, whose gimmick is that he will give you the clap. I’m not kidding. This was a rematch from the recent Heat Wave pay per view. Rather hilariously, Anton attacks and powerbombs Bill Alfonso before the bell, which Van Dam doesn’t even notice because he is too busy posing still. This makes for a different match, as Alfonso had grown to be a big part of RVD’s act in ECW, routinely throwing chairs in on request, and being annoying as hell with his whistle. Van Dam would beat Scotty Anton, and post match would get gored by Rhino, ahead of their upcoming match at Anarchy Rulz.


On the fifth and final episode to come from the Hammerstein, the September 15th ECW on TNN, Steve Corino would finally get his ECW World title shot against Justin Credible. On the night of the tapings, this actually happened third from the top, followed by the RVD vs Anton match, with the taped main event being the fourteen minutes that changed history, with Kid Kash winning to end on a high note. As best I can tell, the only match that didn’t air on tv at all in either highlight form or the full match was Psicosis versus Tony Devito, which was described in the Observer as “said to be an atrocious style clash that obviously will never see television”. On the September 15th show they start with a recap of the fourteen minutes segment, then a match airs from earlier in the tag tournament, with the Unholy Alliance defeating Julio Dinero and EZ Money. The rest of the show, more than half of the hour is dedicated to the Credible vs Corino match, which features run ins from Francine, and the returning Dawn Marie, and ends with Justin retaining the title.The show, and run of tapings closes with Styles and Gertner plugging Anarchy Rulz, where Jerry Lynn would challenge Justin Credible for the World title in his home town.


Prior to the events, in the Observer Dave would note that the shows were expected to sell out at approximately 2500 fans per night. This is according to many sources the capacity for wrestling in the Ballroom, though Game Changer Wrestling would claim to have broken the attendance record in 2022 with 2025 fans. To be clear, I’m not claiming that GCW didn’t sell out the Ballroom, but all of the reporting from the time claims a larger number than they did in 2022. I know what you might be thinking though, Paul Heyman by all accounts didn’t have the best track record with the truth back then, but Ring of Honor also claimed two thousand three hundred for their debut show in the ballroom in 2008. In the following weeks issue, Dave would claim that the shows were a complete triumph. “In what was described as the greatest weekend in the history of ECW, the promotion put on what was reported as two of the best shows in its history at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan on 8/25 and 8/26 so sellout crowds of 2,500 each night, and even got front page color photo coverage the first day and a follow-up article after the first show in the New York Daily News.” Dave’s final note on the weekend was that there were already plans to return to the Hammerstein. “The feeling is that the Hammerstein Center is almost the perfect building for ECW because of the look, the location and the crowd reactions and will likely host a PPV at some point in the next year.”


The next time ECW would run the Hammerstein would be December 3rd 2000, for the event called Massacre on 34th street. This would end up being the company's penultimate pay per view. In the September 18th edition of the Observer, Dave Meltzer would report that “The long talked about plan of moving from doing bi-monthly PPV shows to going monthly appears on the books as they are doing 10/1 in St. Paul, 11/5 in Villa Park, IL and 12/3 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan.” The October and November dates he listed would be the annual Anarchy Rulz, moved from September, and November to Remember events, and the December pay per view, would be added to the schedule. By the time we would get to December though, it was clear that ECW was in trouble. In the December 4th Observer Dave would report that “The house shows scheduled for 12/8 and 12/9 in Dallas and Houston were canceled.”


On the pay per view, which despite being near the end of ECW would draw over two thousand fans, the tag titles would change hands again as Danny Doring and Roadkill would defeat the FBI. Doring and Roadkill would hold on to the titles right to the end of the company, making them the last ever ECW tag team champions. In the other two title matches, first Rhino would retain the TV championship against Spike Dudley, which Rhino would win by choking Spike out. In the main event, Steve Corino would retain the ECW World title against Justin Credible and Jerry Lynn. Moments after Corino wins the match, the Sandmans music plays. He attacks Corino, and steals the world title belt. While he would leave with the belt on this night, he would win it officially the next time ECW was at the Hammerstein, but would he be able to hold on to it?


As well as the pay per view, the pre main show matches would also air on the December 17th Hardcore TV, featuring HC Loc defeating Danny Daniels, and New Jack beating Angel, both in short matches. The December 11th Observer leads with an overall positive review of the pay per view, although not ignoring the other problems ECW had at the time. “Amidst rumors of the company being down for the count, Extreme Championship Wrestling put on a strong PPV show on 12/3, but more importantly, everyone was paid for one pay period (meaning everyone is now five weeks behind in pay). Nobody quit the promotion, which some had talked about doing if they weren’t paid again.” Dave also noted that Paul Heyman told the talent that night that he was looking to make the Hammerstein their home base, presumably with the ECW arena up for lease as noted earlier, and he had two upcoming shows that were paid for by local promoters in Missouri and Arkansas. The latter from the Pine Bluff convention centre would end up being the last ever ECW show.


By this time, ECW looked like it might not be long for the world. The Observer throughout the entire time frame I’ve talked about in this video constantly refers to wrestlers not getting paid this week or that, or lower carders not being booked to save money. By the time of Massacre on 34th street, shows were getting cancelled and less and less were coming up. In the December 4th issue, Dave notes that with barely any shows booked for December, “There is a PPV on the schedule for 1/7, but there is no building booked and no new house shows are on the schedule.” This January show would be the Guilty as Charged pay per view, which would also be held at the Hammerstein, their last pay per view.



In the January 8th newsletter, it is confirmed that Guilty as Charged would take place at the hammerstein, as well as a full card. In the same issue *** Dave also notes that there are big plans for Rhino at the pay per view, and that he was set to be positioned as a top star in the company moving forward. It feels worth saying here that if you saw Rhino before he went to WWE, you’ve seen a very different Rhino. An unstoppable monster similar to what Brock Lesnar would become in WWE a couple of years later. I know that might sound like an odd comparison, but trust me. Part of this might be because Rhino was under six feet tall, and dwarfed wrestlers like Spike Dudley, but didn’t compare as favourable in WWE, long referred to as the land of the giants. Another former ECW World champion, Mike Awesome had a similar problem when he moved on to WCW. He was immediately put into a feud with Kevin Nash, and therefore already looked smaller with his new opponents than in ECW.***


The Guilty as Charged pay per view would go ahead as planned from the Hammerstein with another big crowd, however the reception wouldn’t be as favourable as the other shows. “Guilty as Charged on 1/7 before a sellout crowd of 2,500 fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York was the usual ECW show. It came across, with the exception of the return of Rob Van Dam, as more of a regular house show than anything special on PPV.” As Dave writes, RVD’s surprise return in the main event was a big deal, mainly because he had been writing about Van Dam holding out on appearing until he was paid money he was owed. The other major headline coming out of the show was despite him not being part of the ECW World title match, Rhino would leave the night as the new, fresh, world champion, taking the title from the Sandman which kept their feud going. Sandman would win a tables, ladders and canes match, taking the title from Steve Corino and also beating Justin Credible, but Rhino would attack afterwards, leading to a second title match and Rhino leaving as champion. This had actually had a pretty long build to it, as Rhino has attacked and hospitalised Sandman’s wife Laurie at Living Dangerously 2000, and piledriven her through a table at Hardcore Heaven. Rhino threatened to go after his family again if he did not agree to a title match despite not being physically able. A prone Sandman, lying on the mat yelled “ring the bell”. Clearly Paul Heyman had creative plans lined up, plans that sadly wouldn’t pan out. Word coming out of the show from backstage wasn’t good either, “Wrestlers received half pay at the show, leaving them seven weeks behind. The morale was said to be very bad, with the news getting around that, despite claims to the contrary early in the week, that ECW had lost its TV on MSG in New York, its key market and the show didn’t even air the night before the PPV in that market.” The final Hardcore TV would air on December 31st, with more still in the can that never made it to TV, and the New York fans would have to wait four and a half years to attend wrestling at the Hammerstein again.


The next time the Hammerstein Ballroom would feature in the Wrestling Observer would be in December 2004, when it would be discussed as a possible venue, and Paul Heyman’s pick, for the next wrestling event to be held in the venue, ECW One Night Stand 2005. WWE using the ECW branding would promote the reunion show to massive success, so much that the brand would return to television in the following year to, let’s say mixed results. The final of these three shows, the ECW television taping on August 1st 2006 is especially notorious, as it featured as it’s main event of all matches Batista versus the Big Show, to which the ECW fans would chant “change the channel” loudly. As you can probably imagine, WWE wasn’t happy with the crowd that night at all, “particularly the swearing chants where WWE production turned the crowd audio down super low because Sci-Fi doesn’t want that language on the air. The feeling was that the fan base there is smart enough to know that, but still did the dirty language chants not even caring.” Dave also noted that this likely led to the upcoming December pay per view being moved from the Hammerstein to Chicago. This would end up being the ill-fated December to Dismember which would be moved to the James Brown centre in Augusta Georgia. Besides that, I doubt they’d have got the Elimination Chamber in the ballroom anyway.


In 2008, Ring of Honor would begin promoting shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom with an event called ‘A New Level’. In that same year they would also have two of their most important events on the calendar there, Death before Dishonor VI in August and Final Battle in December. Ring of Honor would go on to hold twenty more events over the years, with the twenty fourth being the 2024 Final Battle event, the first there under Tony Khan’s ownership. I always wondered why, given how ROH ran many more events there, the venue is still so linked with ECW. I hope in this video, I’ve managed to answer that question. Even in ECW’s dying days, the few shows they had at the Hammerstein felt like successes. They felt like triumphant moments, where otherwise their TV was getting cancelled, their wrestlers weren’t getting paid and other events were dropping out of the diary. To watch any ECW show from the Hammerstein, you wouldn’t know any of that, even the very last one, with a young fresh face taking the ECW World title from a veteran of the company. In time I may come back and revisit more of the Hammerstein’s history, but for now, those are the ECW years.



Sources:

Wrestling Observer July 3rd 2000, 1st mention of HB: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/july-3-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-wins-lawsuit-go-viacom/

Wrestling Observer August 14th 2000, HB confirmation: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-14-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-turmoil-hall-fame/

Wrestling Observer August 28th 2000, sell out expected: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-28-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-hall-fame-issue-97206/

Wrestling Observer September 4th 2000, Midtown Massacre report: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/september-4-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-fantastic-wwe/

Wrestling Observer September 18th 2000, Massacre on 34th announced: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/september-18-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-rawnitro-ratings-war/

Wrestling Observer December 4th 2000, Trouble for ECW: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-4-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-ecw-turmoil-wcw-mayhem/

Wrestling Observer December 11th 2000, Massacre on 34th review: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-11-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-ecw-massacre-34th/

(money quote) Wrestling Observer December 18th 2000, Dudleys and Money troubles: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-18-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wwf-armageddon-reviewed/

Wrestling Observer January 8th 2001, GAC01 announced, Heyman considers selling: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-8-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-paul-heyman-considering/

Wrestling Observer January 15th 2001, GAS01 review: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-15-2001-wrestling-observer-newsletter-2000-year-end-awards/

Wrestling Observer December 20th 2004, plans for ONS 05: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/december-20-2004-observer-newsletter-brock-lesnar-returning-wrestling/ Wrestling Observer August 7th 2006: WWE not happy with ECW fans: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/august-7-2006-observer-newsletter-more-on-wwe-smackdown-roster-noah-budokan-hall/

The Story of Mankind fighting seven Santa Claus' in a Boiler Room

I think we all know that one person in our lives, that one insufferable person who loves Christmas just a bit much. That person in this story is Mick Foley, whose love of Christmas is well documented. This video isn’t going to be a deep dive of Mick Foley and Christmas, because I’m pretty sure it’d take me until Easter to research that alone. In this video I wanted to talk about a specific match that took place on the December 20th ‘99 episode of Raw. Why it happened and what happened next. It’s a not often talked about part of the long and violent history between all three of Mick’s wrestling personas, and one of his most fierce rivals, Triple H, and I also wanted to go over the feud to that point, as in my opinion, it’s overlooked when we talk about long running WWE rivalries.


Prior to late ‘99, Foley and Triple H had feuded through the summer of 1997. That time their dispute stemmed from the King of the Ring finals that year, where Triple H would finally get his win that he was meant to have the year prior. As I’ve talked about in an early video on this channel, Triple H has said over the years since that he hated being King of the Ring, more specifically, he hated wearing the oversized gaudy looking crown, and would break it whenever possible. Usually by hitting Mankind with it. The still blue blooded Hunter Hearst Helmsley would take the crown with the help of Chyna, and their grudge would lead to a steel cage match at Summerslam ‘97. This match took place in Madison Square Garden, where Mick famously hitchhiked to, to see Jimmy Snukka jump off the cage onto Don Muraco, and so Mankind paid tribute to this by dropping an almighty elbow onto Helmsley.


The feud would perhaps peak with a very famous Monday night Raw moment, which also took place in Madison Square Garden. On September 22nd ‘97, one of Micks other personas Dude Love Triple was supposed to face Triple H in a hardcore match, but Dude instead appeared on the titan tron. He explained that hardcore matches aren’t really his thing, and so would introduce Mankind. Foley would actually interview himself on the screen through editing magic, but neither of them wanted the match with Helmsley. They would finally introduce to WWE audiences, Cactus Jack, and Triple H would react like he’d just been told he was being sent back to development. Cactus and Triple H would then have a belter of a hardcore match, ending with a vicious looking piledriver on the stage. I wonder if thats where Triple H’s aversion to them comes from nowadays?


Foley and the Game would meet more over the coming years, such as in August ‘99, where Mankind would win the WWE title in a triple threat match with he and Steve Austin at Summerslam. On the next night, Triple H would threaten to break the arm of Jim Ross unless he was given a title shot against Mankind, which he would win later that night to earn his first world title. It would be at the end of the year though that their feud would really get heated again, starting with Santa Claus, kind of.


On an episode of Foley is Pod talking about his match at the 2000 Royal Rumble with Triple H, Mick Foley detailed that around this time his active career was coming to an end, but he didn’t yet know when or how. He notes that he had a meeting with Vince McMahon in early November where he described how his body was wearing down, and how he couldn’t even play sports with his kids. McMahon wanted him to retire right away. There is a world where realistically, Mick Foley’s last match could have been Mankind and Al Snow versus Hardcore and Crash Holly from the November 4th 99 Smackdown. Not exactly Sting’s retirement at Revolution is it? Better than Flair’s though.


By this time we were in McMahon-Helmsley era, which took over WWE in late ‘99 into the year 2000. On screen Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Helmsley were in charge, and they took great glee in punishing anyone who defied them, especially Mankind. They also took a great deal of joy in punishing us the viewers, as the regime seemed to come out on top week after week. Earlier in the night, Mick had come out to save Jim Ross, who Triple H was again threatening in the ring, much like he did in August. Mankind tells Triple H and Stephanie that the McMahon Helmsley era quote “kinda sucks”, then tells Stephanie off for disparaging the good name of Santa Claus by wearing a Santa hat. Instead of fighting Mankind himself, Triple H books him in a boiler room match, but doesn’t tell him who his opponent will be. Mick would find out who his opponent was moments before heading into the boiler room for the match.

To this point, this would only be the fourth boiler room brawl match, and Mankind had a winning record in them. In the first one he defeated the Undertaker at Summerslam 1996. In that match the two fought out of the boiler room, and took part in the slowest chase scene in history on their way to the ring. To win, they had to enter the ring and take the symbolic urn from Paul Bearer, but when Undertaker dramatically posed for Bearer to hand the urn over, he turned around, literally turning his back on him. Paul would laugh as Mankind applied the mandible claw, then hit ‘Taker with the urn, cementing his turn to the dark side. No pun intended there.


In the second boiler room brawl Mankind would defeat the Big Show, in a very violent match where Mankind would bleed profusely out of his hand, after smashing a glass frame over Show’s head. As you might expect from a hardcore match between these two, Mankind took an absolute beating, coming back with clever use of weapons, like hitting a pipe to make steam shoot out a Show, and in the end burying him under a stack of metal pipes. This might be my favourite of the boiler room brawls, because someone actually thought to turn the lights on.


Boiler room match three would take place on the September 23rd ‘99 edition of Smackdown, episode number six of over one thousand three hundred to this point. In this one Mankind would lose to Triple H, who was taking part in a five matches in one night, to try and earn his spot in the WWE championship six pack challenge at Unforgiven, a match he would win for his second world title. Being the fourth of five Triple H matches one a two hour show, and the second Mankind match as he would lose the tag team titles with the Rock earlier in the night to the New age Outlaws, this one is very short at just under five minutes. At the end Mankind wanted to dive off a roof, much like he did in the cage match against triple H at Summerslam, but a pipe would knock him off and through tables and debris, allowing Triple H to leave the boiler room and win the match. It was never explained who pushed mankind, but there are many theories, such as it was the same mysterious figure who raised the briefcase in Steve Austin’s ladder match for control of the company at King of the Ring ‘99, though I’m pretty sure this was explained to be the Big Bossman.


Right before the ad break before the match, Triple H would announce from his locker room, that Mankind’s opponent for the fourth boiler room match would be none other than Santa Claus. Though it’s been common knowledge for many years at this point, Mick’s fascination with Christmas was first made public in his first autobiography, Have a Nice Day. Back then the concept of a wrestler writing a book, never mind hand writing it himself, was so novel that it was even factored into WWE storylines. Michael Cole even noted this as he interviewed Mankind right before his match. To make sure that the reluctant Mankind entered the boiler room, the Mean Street Posse would attack him, and throw him into the room to start the match. That could quite possibly be the first and only time the Posse got the upper hand on anyone, and Mankind even quips this once in the room. Mankind, still not wanting to fight Santa attempts to reason with his hero, suggesting that he should just walk out of the door and win. Mankind’s attempt to convince Santa Claus are interrupted when he is attacked by three more Santa’s. It’s not clear who these are, though the wig of one of them kept falling off. Mankind made quick work of all three before being attacked by two more Santas, thats six now if you’re keeping count. Unline the last three, these two Santa’s had some pretty distinct mannerisms. At one point the beard of one slips, relieving Billy Gunn underneath, and the other moves a lot like Road Dogg. Despite them putting Mankind through a table, the New Age Out-Clauses are beaten up by Mankind, who picks up a frame with glass in it. As he goes to attack one of the Santas, a seventh and final Santa appears, swinging his sack and smashing the glass into Makainds face. Not a sentence I thought I’d ever write. The final boss of Santa’s starts berating Mankind, and from his voice it is clearly Triple H. He leaves the room and referee Teddy Long announces Santa to be the winner. The next time we see Triple H in his locker room with Stephanie, he is still wearing part of the Santa costume, just in case you didn’t recognise himah from his voicah, earliah.


This might shock you, but the Wrestling Observer nor the Torch covered Mankind’s match with Santa Claus in much more detail than recapping what happened on screen. Reading between the lines while listening to Foley talk about this time in his Podcast, and looking at the story between he and Triple H leading to the Royal Rumble, a lot of story was told outside the ring. In the Santa match Foley never actually leaves his feet until getting clobbered by Triple H at the end, and while he has twenty five matches between November and the Royal Rumble, they are all either tag matches with he Rock, or short singles matches. On Foley is Pod Mick also noted that “Triple H was operating with somebody in me, my self confidence had been eroded a little bit. I did my part to get into much better shape… …but I still needed somebody to push me, and thats what Triple H does”

Following the boiler room brawl, the McMahon Helmsley regime weren’t done messing with Mick Foley. On the December 27th episode of Raw, Mankind would be booked in a match with the Rock, a man who he had entered 1999 engaged in a bitter feud over the WWE title with, but since then a friendship had grown. An odd and sometimes turbulent friendship, but one nonetheless. This wouldn’t be an ordinary match though, as the two would be forced to battle in the first and hopefully last ‘pink slip on a pole match’ where the winner would retrieve the pink slip and keep their job, while the loser would be fired. Right after Christmas mind, thats a Vince idea if ever I heard one. While both fought hard to keep their spot, it would be the Rock who would keep his, and Mankind who would be fired.

In the coming weeks, the McMahon Helmsley regime would continue to humiliate Mick Foley, by hiring Mideon as a fake Mankind to make him look completely pathetic. On the January 6th 2000 Smackdown, this fake Foley, which I just learned was actually played by Mideon, thankfully with his clothes on, would sulk around Universal Studios Florida, while lamenting his life. In one particularly sad segment, Mideon is sat on the Jaws ride ranting about how he used to be someone when the Undertaker threw him off the Hell in a Cell, while the park visitors around him either look bemused or ignore him completely. If you've ever been on the Jaws ride as I did as a kid, you like me must have been wondering where the tour guide was. At least Jaws did make a cameo, looking more real that he did in the 1975 film.


While the fake Mankind was moping around Universal Studios, at Smackdown which was also in Orlando that night, police were stationed at the arena entrance in case the real Mankind showed up. Little did they plan for Mick Foley's well documented love of theme parks, as he actually showed up late in the episode at Universal to beat down Mideon. Foley destroys his doppleganger outside the Back to the Future ride, which by the way is sadly no longer there. Can you tell I have fond memories of Universal Studios? Sorry for the plug I have a video about wrestling at Universal Studios too by the way.


The December 20th Raw would really heat up Triple H’s feud with Mankind, and would eventually lead to one of the greatest Smackdown moments ever, when Mankind would become Cactus Jack again, but also one of the greatest matches in the history of the Royal Rumble, though I’m a bit biased as it’s one of my favourites of all time. The feud would come to an end at No Way Out 2000, where Cactus Jack would lose a title versus career match. Speaking of favourites, the Jim Ross call to close the show has stuck with me all these years. “Goodbye my friend, thanks for the great memories buddy.” Mick Foley would wrestle again a month later but forget that for a minut- Admittedly, this video strayed quite a long way from originally being about Christmas. Still, Happy Christmas from me, and happy new year.




Sources:

Summerslam 1997,

Raw September 22nd 1997,

Smackdown September 23rd 1999,

Raw December 20th 1999,

Raw December 27th 1999,

Smackdown January 6th 2000,

The Story of the USWA Christmas Creature

 

Wrestling’s had it’s fair share of holiday themed characters. The New Years Baby, the Easter Bunny, the Gobbledy Gooker and more. We’ve even had several Christmas characters, from good santa to bad santa to jaywalking santa to the baby Jesus himself. In 1992, Memphis based USWA might have booked the most fearsome, or the most hilarious one of all, with a famous face under the hood. Introducing the Christmas Creature.



The monster was actually created by Jerry Lawler’s son Kevin, who was a wrestler in his own right through the 1990’s, and he also promoted USWA shows in smaller towns for Jerry. According to his own social media, he’s still involved in wrestling to this day, working for Tommy Rich’s Wild Fire Wrestling.


The man under the mask has become a bit of a recurring character on this channel, but in this video we’ll be looking at the very early career of Glenn Jacobs, way before he became Kane. In his 2019 autobiography, Glenn Jacobs goes into more detail about how the Christmas Creature came about, and really puts into perspective how early in his career he was. He got into Memphis based USWA through training with Jeff Jarrett, who was running a class on Saturday mornings in Nashville at the time. He says he “drove the five hours to Nashville every weekend to train with around fifthteen others in the class.” “Getting in front of Jeff did help me establish a relationship with USWA management, which led to my first appearance on TV.” The management he’s referring to are USWA co-owners Jerry Jarrett, Jeff’s dad, and Jerry “The King” Lawler.


To give you an idea of what was going on in Memphis at the time, at the start of December ‘92 Jerry was in a feud with Koko B. Ware, who was defending the honour of the WWE. Koko would even defeat Lawler for his USWA unified world heavyweight title on December 7th, but the King would regain it one week later. If you’re thinking that sounds odd, between December 1988 and August 1997, Jerry would have twenty seven separate reigns as Unified World champion, with some lasting seven of those lasting less than a month. He’s also credited as a fifty one time AWA Southern Heavyweight champion, with many of those being very short reigns too.


Of the origins of the Christmas Creature gimmick, Glenn Jacobs is his book says “One afternoon after work, I arrived home to a message from Jerry Lawler, asking that I call him. Butterflies filled my stomach. I anxiously thought this is the break I’ve waited for. Well not quite. This big break was as generic and bland as it gets.” You see, the call Glenn got wasn’t to be the Christmas Creature, a dentist or any other of Glenn’s more famous gimmicks. “Jerry told me that he wanted me to don a mask, and team with another big guy from southern Missouri , and portray Russian wrestling champions, complete with gold medals.” That’s right, Kane’s first gimmick of note was a masked Russian. He is referring to the Russian Unified Team, consisting of two unnamed wrestlers who appeared to have wrestled a handful of matches in August 1992.


While this gimmick went nowhere in itself, it did lead to him getting a phone call later in ‘92 from Kevin Lawler. “Like his father, Kevin was a talented artist. He sent me a rendering, the picture looked like a cross between a christmas tree and a swamp thing.” Looking at the costume, it kind of reminds me of the swamp monster who was around in Chikara back in the day. According to Chikara roster member Chuck Taylor, many different people put that costume on over the years, but as best I can tell there’s only one dressed up for Christmas. In an episode of Table for Three produced for the WWE Network in 2022, Kane notes that he did the Christmas gimmick because he was doing nothing else at the time, but there was an important other reason to play along with Kevin’s creation. “It was all kinds of ridiculous, but it gave me the chance to wrestle against Jerry Lawler, which I knew was a big step in the right direction.”


On the December 19th ‘92 episode of USWA television, the show would begin with Santa Claus greeting the children in the TV studio when he would be interrupted by Bert Prentice. Bert would chase Santa away even attacking him, leading Jerry Lawler to come to his aid. The King would stare down the Christmas Creature, who would get into the ring for his match. In a very one-sided contest, the Creature would destroy his opponent Trey Keller. As Kane would note in an episode of table for three on the WWE network, he wasn't that good a wrestler at this time, moving awkwardly around the ring, and at one point trying and failing to lift Keller up. The creature would finish Keller off with a familiar move, lifting him up for a choke slam much like he would as Kane for many years.


A few days later on December 21st at the Mid-South Coliseum, early on the card Santa Claus would defeat Bert Prentice, getting his revenge for what happened on the previous Saturday. Also on the card, Jerry Lawler would defeat the Christmas Creature. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any footage of this match, but the it is listed on sites such as cagematch and wrestling data, and it was also advertised at the end of the December 19th TV show for the Mid-South Coliseum card on the following Monday. These events weren’t typically televised, though highlights would air on the Saturday television show, the idea being that the television show was meant to draw fans to the Coliseum on Monday. On the next TV episode, they would show the end of a six-man tag main event that also took place on the 21st involving the Moondogs and Lawler fighting the Harris Twins and Mike Miller. Mid match the Christmas creature returns to attack Lawler, along with what looks like a thousand other wrestlers in what becomes a wild brawl.


You might think then that this might be the end of the Christmas Creature, but you'd be mistaken. On the December 26th episode of Memphis wrestling television, the Christmas creature accompanied by Bert Prentice would get back in the ring against Ricky Hays. Much like in his previous match, the creature would quickly destroy Hays, finishing things with a chokeslam. Later on the same broadcast, the creature would be part of a drawing to determine entry numbers Royal Rumble style, for the Moondog battle royal which was taking place at the Coliseum on Monday December 28th. It's a fairly odd site to see the wrestlers all pulling out their numbers, especially the Christmas Creature politely waiting in line for his turn.


At the end of this show, we see another absolute brawl with all the participants in the battle royal. The Creature runs in and goes straight after Lawler, while the commentator's note that the two have an upcoming match where the Creature's mask will be on the line against Lawlers USWA world title. Lawler would win this title versus mask match which took place on December 28th, and presumably unmasking the Creature, maybe even revealing a Russian’s mask underneath. Sadly, again there appears to be no footage of this match available, and it also seems to be the last appearance of the Russian Unified Christmas Creature.


Speaking of masks, Jerry did actually manage to tie the Christmas Creature into the feud I mentioned earlier with Koko B. Ware and the WWE. On the December 19th show, Jerry talked about wanting to unmask the creature, because he thought an invading WWE star was under it. He even guessed that Sid was the man sent to go after Lawler. While Sid was a good guess considering the Creatures size, and arguably wrestling ability, he wouldn’t be in USWA yet. He would later become the Unified World Champion though, holding the title twice between 1994 and ‘96.


In the Table for Three episode that I mentioned earlier and in his book, Kane noted that his Mother made the Christmas Creature suit for him, which makes me think of Homer Simpson dressing Lisa up like Florida. Glenn said “it was extremely high tech because she integrated Christmas lights into it. We had a battery pack, so it was way ahead of it’s time.” Whether the lights don’t show up on TV of if they just didn’t work I don’t know, but they aren’t obvious in the two televised matches he had. If you’ve ever seen WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, you’ll have seen that its sometimes remarkable what items collectors have gotten hold of over the years. With that in mind I wondered what might have become of the Christmas Creature costume. According to an interview Glenn did with WBIR news in 2019, he thinks it’s in his parents attic. Not the investigative swerve I was hoping for but you can’t always find them.


This of course wouldn’t be the last horrible gimmick that Glenn Jacobs would portray. He would return to USWA nearly a year later as Doomsday, the name he would also use in Puerto Rico wrestling for Dutch Mantell. Around this time in late 1993 there was a chance for Glenn to be brought up to WWE, and much like the Undertaker, his debut would have taken place at Survivor Series. According to Bruce Prichard on a 2018 episode of Something to Wrestle, Glenn was considered for the role of one of Shawn Michaels’ masked knights, in his elimination match against the Hart family, Bret, Owen, Bruce and Keith. Unfortunately Kane didn’t make the cut, as ultimately the knights would be Greg Valentine, Barry Horrowitz and fellow USWA wrestler Jeff Gaylord. Prichard noted that Glenn lost out because he was too young and quote, “greener than the Christmas tree outfit he wore.” He also noted that one of USWA’s owners, Jerry Jarrett was very positive on Glenn, and compared him to a young Sid. Maybe that’s why Lawler suggested that Sid was under the hood on screen during their brief feud. One other interesting this that Prichard said, was later on when Glenn was in WWE, any time a picture of the Christmas Creature costume might resurface, it would be posted up all over the locker rooms as a rib. As ribs stories from the attitude era go, thats at least a pretty tame one. From there he would be Unabom for Jim Cornette in Smokey Mountain Wrestling, while the real unabomber was still at large mind. Then we had Dr. Isaac Yanken DDS, the original wrestling dentist, and the fake Diesel. As you can likely tell, I’m no Tennessee resident, so I wouldn’t be the one to tell you if his current gimmick, mayor of Knox County is any better.




Sources:


Table for Three: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF_t1gOTRPU

Mayor Kane: My life in wrestling and politics, 2019,

Memphis wrestling December 5th, 1992, Koko picks a fight with Lawler

Memphis wrestling December 19th, 1992, Christmas creature debuts

Where the costume is: https://411mania.com/wrestling/wwe-news-kane-recalls-christmas-creature-gimmick-identity-of-santa-on-raw/ Knights: https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/12/kane-recalls-his-christmas-creature-gimmick-in-uswa-664012/

Who is Xanta Klaus? The Story of WWE's Bad Santa

This is a script for a video on my YouTube channel. The list of sources is below and the video can be found here: https://youtu.be/z4MPKA29OZQ

At In Your House 5 on December 17th 1995, one of the stranger WWE debuts in history occurred. As you can imagine, that covers a lot of ground. We start at ringside where Savio Vega and Santa Clause are throwing out presents to children in the crowd. Already in the ring though is the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, who goes on a rant about Christmas, and how anybody can be bought. When DiBiase specifically mentions Savio, he jumps into the ring bringing Santa with him. Ted gets Savio to tell us all that he believes in Santa, which turns out to be St. Nick’s que to attack Savio, ending with Santa and DiBiase putting the boots to him. The point of this was apparently to prove that everybody has a price for the Million Dollar Man.

If you were to go to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter from that week expecting a trashing of this segment as I was, you might be in for a surprise, a Christmas miracle even. In the Observer, Dave Meltzer actually praised the segment largely because quote “You could see this coming a mile away but for some reason I always enjoy Santa Claus angles.” Further proof that this mans opinions cannot be trusted.

On Raw the next night, Ted Dibiase would be interviewed by Brother Love. He would explain that the man who attacked Savio Vega wasn’t actually Santa, but Xanta Klaus. DiBiase claims that Xanta was from the South pole, and that instead of giving presents, he quote “takes everything he can get his hands on”, and that he is officially part of the Million Dollar Corporation, one of the less popular groups in WWE history even by mid-90’s standards. On the very same night, WWE would tape three more episodes of Raw including the January 15th ‘96 airing show, which would feature another new member to DiBiase’s group, Steve Austin making his WWE debut as the Ringmaster. The fact that DiBiase announced Xanta’s membership implies that there were more plans for him, which is an ambitious thought just one week before Christmas. Ted even tells us that Xanta “would claim victory after victory” over the other superstars, but that would mean he would have to have more than one match.

On the December 23rd edition of Superstars, which was taped on December 19th, days after the pay per view appearance. Xanta came through the curtain with a unique look you could say. Gone was the red and white, in favour of black and red jocks to further announce his heeldom. His Heeldom? His heelness? I dunno… On the back of his new costume was the name ‘Xanta Klaus’, spelled with an X, for some reason. If you know why please let me know in the comments because I couldn’t find anything. At these tapings Xanta would compete and be victorious in a one and a half minute long match with Scott Taylor, who was enhancement talent at the time, but would go on to become known as Scotty 2 Hotty. Xanta would win the almost entirely one sided match with a very high angle suplex, followed by a Camel Clutch for the submission victory. This would be Xanta’s only televised match, and he would not appear again on screen, not in this persona at least. He also wouldn’t appear on any of the Christmas to New Year house shows WWE held, with Savio Vega wrestling Triple H on those, not even a Million Dollar Corporation member.

On the episode of Ted DiBiase’s excellently titled Everybody’s got a Pod podcast that was released on December 22nd 2023, Ted and his co-host Marcus D’Angelo cover In Your House 5. When speaking about Xanta turning on Savio, Ted doesn’t offer much insight beyond saying “it wasn’t the greatest thing that the Million Dollar Man was involved with”, which is a bold claim given that he once hired an evil twin referee to end Hulk Hogan’s four year WWE title reign at The Main Event. Ted elaborates saying “I was just rolling my eyes. Not with the guys, but with the guy who was going to be producing that segment. I said whose Idea was this anyway and they would say well, Vince. And I said okay, you’re not gonna argue with the boss.”

But who was the man behind the white wig and beard as WWE’s bad Santa? He was played by a wrestler who had previously wrestled for WWE using his real name, John Rechner. Rechner had appeared a few years earlier on episodes of Superstars, in enhancement matches against the likes of Marty Jannetty, Papa Shango and the Nasty Boys. More recently than that he had been working in Jim Cornette’s promotion, Smokey Mountain Wrestling, there using the name Boo Bradley. Around the mid-90’s many talents came through SMW and made it onto WWE television. Most famously Kane who wrestled for Cornette as Unabomb, but other future WWE stars also such as Al Snow, Bob Holly, D’Lo Brown and the Headbangers among others. So many wrestlers came through SMW and appeared in WWE that according to the Observer wrestlers had to be told that Cornette was not involved in booking for WWE. He would be later, more notably in the attitude era where he would clash with Vince Russo, but not yet while SMW was still going. Before I move on from Smokey Mountain Wrestling, I have to show you this rather weird storyline, and take another chance to show you how much Jim Cornette loves his old school serious wrasslin. Boo was a simple character to put it delicately, and he was being bribed for his services by Sunny to help Chris Candido. At some point Candido apparently killed the cat in the ring the way Earthquake killed Damian Cactus Jack and Damian would hold a funeral for the cat on television, apparently burying it in a field somewhere. Aye, Jim Cornette’s booking there.

Speaking in an interview in 2002, Rechner noted that he got the gig through working for Jim Cornette in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. He spent a year there and described it as the “biggest turning point of his career”, because it “developed him into a complete worker.” According to Rechner, he was working at a gas station when he got a call from Bruce Prichard who had a gimmick in mind for him and wanted a meeting. He said Bruce told him “We’re gonna sign you for two years, we’re gonna give you this Christmas-like gimmick. It might last anywhere from three days (which it did) to three months. Maybe we’ll blow you off at Wrestlemania, then we’ll keep you under contract and keep you under a gimmick.” On the Xanta gimmick he says “They give me three dates, I see the outfit.” “Then three days before Christmas I get a phone call from JJ Dillon, ah well the character’s not working blah blah blah.” JJ goes on to tell John that they will keep him under contract, and he can work indies, but only if he uses the Xanta gimmick, which basically puts him out of work since nobody was going to want to book a Christmas character through the rest of the year. Because there was no guarantee of any work, Rechner requested and was granted his release with no ill feelings on either side.

So what happened after his very brief WWE stint? Where else might you have seen Xanta Klaus for the rest of the year? Throughout 1996 John Rechner would wrestle using one of his earliest gimmicks, Abbudah Singh. It was in fact, a very different time. According to Rechner speaking in 2002, “Larry Sharpe didn’t know what to do with me, but I learned how to breathe fire in college.” Sharpe then came up with the rest of the gimmick from there. Larry Sharpe was Rechners trainer at The Monster Factory, the same school that graduated wrestlers like The Big Show and Bam Bam Bigelow. John also describes the outfit he wore as “like Sabu’s outfit before Sabu.” Rechner would get a break in his career by the end of ‘96, ironically in December, where he would adopt a new name and persona. John Rechner would join ECW and become known as the hardcore chair swinging freak, Balls Mahoney.

Balls would debut in ECW on December 7th 1996 at Holiday Hell, where he would be victorious against Devon Storm, the wrestler later known in WCW as Crowbar. He would first appear on ECW television on the Christmas Eve episode, taking part in a seventeen man battle royal the would be won by Sabu. From here Balls Mahoney would become a mainstay in ECW until the bitter end, wrestling on 89 of ECW’s 94 shows in 1997. In ECW Balls would become a three time tag team champion, once with Masato Tanaka, twice with Little Spike Dudley, but never with his regular tag team partner, Axl Rotten. His theme song, a cover of Big Balls by AC/DC would always get the crowd hyped up as they sang along loudly.

The next time John Rechner would appear on WWE television would be on the June 6th 2005 episode of Raw. As Balls Mahoney, he would disrupt the show along with a crew of ECW originals in the build up to the ECW One Night Stand pay per view. On the night Balls wouldn’t have a match, but he and Axl Rotten would with many others run in during the main event of the show, attacking the Blue World Order. Balls and Axel would receive tryout matches with WWE at Raw tapings in July 2005, wrestling two dark matches but ultimately not being hired.

Balls would be brought back to WWE in 2006 for the build up to not just One Night Stand 2006, but the launch of ECW on Scifi. He would have his first televised WWE match since appearing as Xanta Klaus on the one off special show WWE vs ECW Head to Head, in a battle royal consisting of members of the Raw, Smackdown and ECW rosters. This match would be won by Raw’s Big Show, who would turn on his brand, relieving that he had joined ECW, a massive red flag for any fans of the ECW originals. Balls would have a near two year run with WWE, being released in April 2008, by way of the words every WWE wrestler dreaded seeing on the home page of WWE.com.

Had Balls not joined ECW in the following year, who knows if Xanta Klaus could have made an annual appearance, much like the Boogeyman still does at Halloween. Xanta Klaus went on to a very memorable rest of his career. Wrestling not just for WWE, but also for TNA, and all over the indie scene after ECW folded. While Xanta might have been short lived and forgettable, Balls Mahoney was certainly not.

Sources:

Wrestling Observer December 26th 1995 - In Your House 5 review: https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/dec-26-1995-observer-newsletter-madusa-throws-belt-trash-dan-severn/

PW Torch December 23rd 1995 - In Your House 5 review: https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues95/torch366/Torch366.shtml

DiBiase Pod Episode 33: https://open.spotify.com/episode/661tbD7a4emr3o4grsZ6C3

Superstars December 23rd 1995 - Xanta vs Scott Taylor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVwQd3k4Oos (1:41:42)

ECW Holiday Hell 1996: https://archive.org/details/ecw-dec-17th-1996

ECW December 24th 1996 - TV debut: https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=47377

WWE release: https://www.wwe.com/inside/news/ballsmahoneyreleased Balls shoot interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8m5TkS6az4