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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: THE INFAMOUS HEROES OF WRESTLING PPV

October 10th

On this day in history in ....

1982 - Nick Bockwinkel defeated Otto Wanz for the AWA World Heavyweight Title in Chicago, Illinois to start his third reign as champion.

1998 - ECW ran at the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the following results:
- Danny Doring defeated Chris Chetti.
- Tommy Rogers defeated Little Guido.
- Chris Candido defeated Jerry Lynn.
- Masato Tanaka vs. Balls Mahoney ended in a no-contest when the Dudleys attacked both men, leading to the next match.
- Balls Mahoney & Masato Tanaka defeated The Dudley Boyz.
- ECW World Television Champion Rob Van Dam defeated Lance Storm.
- Tommy Dreamer, New Jack, John Kronus & Spike Dudley defeated Justin Credible, One Man Gang, Rod Price & Jack Victory.
- Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Sabu.

1999 - The infamous Heroes of Wrestling Pay-per-view was held at Casino Magic at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Here are the results:
- The Samoan Swat Team (Samu & Samoan Savage) defeated Marty Jannetty & Tommy Rogers.
- Greg Valentine defeated George Steele.
- 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Julio Fantastico.
- The Bushwhackers (who were called "Luke & Butch" due to WWF owning the name) defeated The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff.
- Tully Blanchard defeated Stan Lane.
- Abdullah the Butcher vs. One Man Gang ended in a double countout.
- Jimmy Snuka defeated Cowboy Bob Orton, Jr.
- Jim Neidhart & King Kong Bundy defeated Jake Roberts & Yokozuna. The match started as Roberts vs. Neidhart, but Bundy and Yokozuna, who were advertised for the main event in a singles bout, joined in to make it a tag match.

Buck Woodward reviewed the main event here on PWInsider.com, calling it the "Worst PPV Main Event Ever". His article is reprinted below.

There are some wrestling bouts that are classics, matches that you remember as if they took place yesterday.

Then there are the matches that, no matter how hard you try, you can't forget. Why? Because they are HORRIBLE! They are the bouts that cement themselves into your psyche just because you can't believe how bad they were.

Recently, I was asked, "What's the worst PPV main event you have ever seen?" That question stirred memories of a horrible match, memories I had tried to bury deep inside, but had them brought back by this simple question. So, since misery loves company, I am going to make you suffer through my memories as well (provided you keep reading). Today, I review the worst PPV main event I have ever seen (yes, even worse than Curt Hennig vs. Dennis Rodman from that I-Generation PPV). It is the infamous main event from the 1999 "Heroes Of Wrestling" Pay-per-view!

History

The year is 1999, and wrestling fans have a variety of wrestling options thanks to cable television. There's something like nine hours of WCW, seven hours of WWE and two hours of ECW on television every week. And that's not including PPV's! Toss in a helping of lucha or indy shows (depending on where you live) and you've got plenty of action to provide your wrestling fix. Looking to make a mark in the wrestling game, the first "Heroes Of Wrestling" Pay-per-view looked to capitalize on a nostalgia factor, bringing in old NWA and WWF stars for a show at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis.

Now, let's clear up a common misconception about this show. The whole event did NOT suck. Was it Wrestlemania? Nope. But I can think of a few WWE and WCW PPV events that left me feeling a lot more ripped off that this show did. There was a few redeeming qualities to this show, they have just been overshadowed by the fiasco of a main event and a few less than stellar undercard performances. So, I won't say the whole show was worthless ... just large parts of it.

To briefly review the undercard. ... The Samoan Swat Team (Samu & Samoan Savage) defeated Marty Jannetty & Tommy Rogers. One half of the Rockers and one half of the Fantastics (two of the best teams of the late-80's) did the best possible job they could in carrying the once-solid SST here. Samu pinned Rogers with a Stunner out of a fireman's carry. ... Greg Valentine defeated George Steele. Okay, this was not a good match. It was built around the idea that Sherri Martel tricked George Steele into thinking she was in love with him, and then she turned on him. Seriously. Sherri hit Steele with a chair so Valentine could get the pin. ... 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Julio Fantastico (Dinero). I didn't quite see where this match fit into the whole "legends" concept they were going for. For some reason, Scorpio wore one of those NWA World Title replica belts to the ring. Not an impressive match either, won by Scorpio with a badly missed Tumbleweed. ... The Bushwhackers defeated The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff.  Sheik did the Iranian Clubs bit before the match. That was the highlight of this one, which ended when Volkoff accidentally hit Sheik with a foreign object and Butch got the pin. ... Tully Blanchard defeated Stan Lane in one of the two matches that actually saved this PPV from being total dreck. They did a angle during the pre-show where Stan Lane attacked Blanchard as he was arriving at the building, and Tully then cut a great promo about how Lane rode on Bobby Eaton's coattails in the Midnight Express. Actually, the promo was probably the best thing on the whole show. Tully and Lane put on a good seven minute match, which ended with the old "both men's shoulders are on the mat" back suplex spot, with Tully lifting his shoulder for the pin. ... Abdullah The Butcher vs. One Man Gang ended in a double countout after spilling a few pints of plasma around the ring. From what I understand, Casino Magic didn't want to see blood on the show, but hey, it's ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER! What did they expect? It was your classic Abdullah bloodbath, which made it a thumbs up for me. Anytime you can watch a bloody Abdullah stab a fork into One Man Gang's head, you're watching something special. ... Jimmy Snuka defeated Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. with a flying bodypress. At ten minutes, this match was just too long, and couldn't follow the previous two matches.

The Match

"Heroes Of Wrestling" was promoted as having a double main event. Yokozuna vs. King Kong Bundy and Jake Roberts vs. Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. So, we kick things off with a Jake Roberts interview....

Now, Jake Roberts has always been highly praised for his interview skills. Roberts talks about how when you gamble, you lose (get it, because they are in a casino), yells at the cameraman to focus on him instead of the snake in the bag, and then tries to start a "DDT" chant, all while slurring his words. Not a promising start.

Neidhart comes to the ring first, and other than his ever-present gut, looks in good shape. Roberts comes to the ring, carrying his snake bag over his shoulder and wearing a T-Shirt. Roberts puts the bag in the corner, then walks back up the ramp and through he curtain. Roberts came back out, having ditched his T-Shirt (and given his physique, he should have left it on). Roberts high-fives some fans, then takes the hands of a female fan and rubs them on his nipples. Why? I have no idea.

The bell rings, and the stalling begins. Neidhart takes a walk around the ring and tries to get some heat by yelling at the fans. Neidhart got back in and grabbed an armwringer, and Jake armdragged out of it. Then they got up. They locked up, and went to the corner where the bag was, so Neidhart backed off quickly. Another lock up, and Neidhart hit some punches in a corner, then bit Jake in the head. Neidhart applied an armwringer, and they went into some very slow reversals of a hammerlock. Roberts went for a front facelock, and Neidhart slid out of the ring to avoid a DDT. The camera wisely went to a shot of the snake poking out of the bag on it's own, rather than Jake trying to lead the crowd in chants.

Roberts, seeing the snake poking out, went and decided to pull it out of the bag. Roberts then staggered about the ring, pretending that the snake was his, well, his genitals. Neidhart stood in the aisle, and appeared to be thinking of leaving, while Roberts made more "creative poses" with the snake. They went to some crowd shots, while the announcers talked about his boots.

Suddenly, King Kong Bundy walked down to ringside and started talking to Neidhart. It appears that someone called an audible. Roberts put the snake in the bag, and Neidhart attacked him from behind. Neidhart put him in a chinlock and grounded Roberts for a bit. Neidhart switched to a front facelock, but Roberts broke it with shoulderblocks in a corner. Neidhart missed a charge in the corner, and Roberts hit a short-arm clothesline. Bundy got on the apron, and Roberts gave him a middle finger. Roberts went after Bundy, and pretty soon Neidhart and Bundy were stomping Jake in the ring.

Yokozuna (who was grossly overweight at this point) walked down to the ring. There was a lot of awkward pauses at this point, then Roberts rolled out of the ring while Bundy and Neidhart started double teaming Yokozuna. The ring announcer quickly declared that this was now a tag team match.

Bundy and Neidhart accidentally collided, then went to the floor to regroup and confer, while Yokozuna was in the ring, and Roberts was lying on the floor, eventually getting back into the ring. Neidhart pulled Roberts to the apron and bit his head, and Roberts started laughing. Neidhart hit Roberts with a chair twice, while Yokozuna and Bundy stood on the apron in opposite corners. Neidhart hit Roberts with two chairs at once, then got back into the ring. Bundy went to the floor and hit Jake HARD with a chairshot to the head. Bundy rolled Jake into the ring, and Neidhart choked him on the apron. Bundy tagged in and hit a knee drop on Jake for a two count.

Neidhart pulled off one of Jake's boots and hit Jake with it. Bundy came in and pulled off the other boot and hit Jake with it for a two count. Jake hit low blows on Neidhart and Bundy, then tagged in Yokozuna. Yoko hit chops on Bundy and Neidhart, then choked Neidhart in a corner. Meanwhile, Bundy sort of shoved Roberts to the mat, hit a big splash, and the referee counted a very fast three (despite Yokozuna having just been tagged in) at the 16 minute mark.

Bundy and Neidhart headed to the back, while Bundy's manager (a bald Bundy lookalike that the commentators called "Little Bundy") was given a Samoan Drop by Yokozuna. Roberts put the snake on him, and was about to thrust the snake into his pants when the screen abruptly did a quick fade to black. It faded back in to show Yokozuna leaving the ring and the closing graphic.

The Aftermath

There was never another Heroes Of Wrestling Pay-per-view again.

Now that I've purged my soul of that, let us never speak of this match again (until next year).

2007 - Krissy Vaine, who just debuted on the Smackdown brand on 9/28 in an angle where she laid out Torrie Wilson, was already gone from World Wrestling Entertainment.  The word going around within the company wais that Vaine and Ryan O'Reilly (who are involved) both asked for their respective releases because of the travel and distance apart while working the main roster. Vaine signed with WWE in January 2006 and had worked for Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling while under her developmental deal.  Ryan O'Reilly signed with WWE in August 2005 and at one point, was slated to be part of the revived ECW brand when it launched a year later as part of a tag team with Derek Neikirk.  He never made it to WWE TV as a regular performer but was a major part of DSW during its time as a WWE developmental area and was in FCW. O'Reilly had just been sent on the road in recent weeks for the Raw brand.  Vaine was set to be on the Smackdown side of the roster, so the reality of that time and distance apart is said to have prompted the couple's decision to approach the company and ask to be let go from their deals.

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