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March 23rd
On this day in history in ....
1992 - Brian Christopher defeats Jimmy Valiant for the USWA Southern
Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. This would be the first of 25 runs with
the title for Christopher.
1997 - Wrestlemania XIII takes place. Mike Johnson penned the following:
WRESTLEMANIA XIII
March 23, 1997
Location: Chicago, IL
Location: Rosemont Horizon
Announced Attendance: 18, 211
*The Headbangers defeated The New Blackjacks (Barry Windham and the debuting
Bradshaw), Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon and The Godwins to win a WWF Tag Team
championship bout on Raw the next night.
*WWF Intercontinental champion Rocky Maivia pinned The Sultan with a rollup. The
crowd isn't into Maivia at all, which is amazing to watch seeing how things
change in a few years. The Sultan is longtime WWF performer Fatu (now Rikishi)
and was managed by Bob Backlund and The Iron Sheik. Maivia's father Rocky
Johnson saves his son afterwards from a beating.
*Hunter Hearst Helmsley (with the debuting Chyna and wow she looks different)
pinned Goldust with the Pedigree
*WWF Tag Team champions Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith fought Vader &
Mankind to a double countout. The Vader/Mankind duo was to build to a WWF feud
between the former WCW rivals but it never happened. Paul Bearer managed the
Foley-Vader duo. This would be Foley's first Wrestlemania appearance as well. .
*Bret Hart defeated Steve Austin in a No Holds Barred I Quit match with Ken
Shamrock as the special referee. An amazing must see match and the match of the
night. Austin bleeds a gusher here, which runs down his face as he struggles to
get out of the Sharpshooter in one of the most famous scenes in Wrestlemania
history. He blacks out and Shamrock stops the match. A great brawl around the
building with the excellent storyline of anti-hero Austin being cheered while
Bret Hart, the bastion of integrity for the company for years, turns heel as the
crowd rejects him. This was the match that saved the company.
*The Legion of Doom & Ahmed Johnson defeat The Nation of Domination, Farrooq,
Crush & Savio Vega in a Chicago Street Fight. The inspiration here is ECW as
there are tons of weapons used and tables broken. A fun brawl.
*The Undertaker pinned Sid to win the WWF championship. Shawn Michaels, who
"lost his smile" during the build to the PPV, does commentary. Bret
Hart shows up before the match and cuts promos on everyone, upset about earlier.
Sid powerbombs him for his troubles. This would be Sid's last Wrestlemania
appearance.
Celebrities: Nada.
Kevin Kelly on Wrestlemania 13: WrestleMania 13 was my first with the company
and to be quite honest, I was underwhelmed. It didn't feel like a bigger show
than normal and certainly not what I had imagined a Mania to be like. Maybe it
was the venue... The Rosemont Horizon was quite a dump and still is today. That
being said, the Austin-Bret Hart match still gives me chills when I think about
it. That match was so perfect, as Austin was made as a top guy and a babyface in
one night. Whiny babyfaces like Bret and Shawn never did well with smart crowds
who loved the heels but this was different. Bret and Austin turned
simultaneously without doing a thing. That is when a turn is special. That
Chicago Street Fight nearly meant the end of the French announce team as a
chemical fire extinguisher was used as a prop instead of a CO2 style. The powder
flew everywhere and Ray Rougeau and his partner got choked by the stuff.
Notes: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross, and Vince McMahon were the hosts. It would end up
being the last Wrestlemania McMahon would host as his Mr. McMahon character
would take off soon enough....In the Free-For-All match on the PPV countdown,
Billy Gunn pinned Flash Funk (2 Cold Scorpio) with a tornado DDT in a decent
bout....Brian Pillman made his only Wrestlemania appearance here, hosting 900
line segments backstage....The promotion did another Slammy Awards as well as a
fashion show with talent at a local mall as Wrestlemania weekend events....The
Undertaker plaque that was issued for this PPV is pretty hard to find. It has
rarely, if ever, popped up on Ebay.
Mike Johnson: The most important Wrestlemania ever, although one of the worst in
terms of the actual show. I say most important because this was the night Steve
Austin turned the corner and took off. "WWE Attitude" was built on his
shoulders and the company went to heights it never before reached. The show also
featured the debuts of The Rock (who was completely hated by the fans while
working as Rocky Maivia) and Mankind, who would be responsible for being three
of the major building blocks for the company as it rose to take on and defeat
WCW. Without Austin vs. Bret Hart though, all would have been lost in a matter
of time. This was an interesting show as well because it was at a point the
company was beaten down so low in the Monday Night Wars, that there was no way
to go but up and up they went. As a show itself, this is a skip beyond the I
Quit match.
Dave Scherer: Mike is absolutely right here. The show itself wasn't anything to
write home about, but they turned the corner as far as the overall tone of the
company. They finally showed that they were going to lay there and get beaten up
by WCW, and that was the most important part of the show for me.
Jess McGrath: In many ways this was the low point for Wrestlemania. It did the
worst, in terms of PPV buys, of any Wrestlemania. Starrcade later that year with
Sting vs. Hogan crushed it. And the company was badly losing the Monday Night
Wars. All the star power was in the other company. Hence, we have Rocky Maivia
as Intercontinental champion. Not to mention, with Shawn Michaels walking out
and killing off the anticipated Bret vs Shawn match, we had for the main event -
The Undertaker vs. Sid. Steve Austin and Bret Hart's match was so excellent, it
would just about make you forget all that. This is the model match for the
double turn. I haven't seen anybody since come close to pulling it off like this
one did. If you haven't seen this match, you are doing yourself a disservice to
not track it down. Just fast forward through everything else.
Buck Woodward: If ever there was a "one match Wrestlemania" this was
it. Hart vs. Austin is easily one of the greatest WWF matches ever, and arguably
in the top three Mania matches. The double-turn, the way the match was worked,
the visuals of Austin bleeding in the Sharpshooter. This match made Steve
Austin's career, and was the beginning of Bret Hart's heel run. ... I liked that
the winner of the opening tag match got a title shot the next night. It gave an
otherwise throwaway match meaning. ... Boy, was The Rock anything but
"electrifying" at this point. If it wasn't for his dad doing the
run-in, I think the fans would have been happy to see Sultan squash him. ...
Chyna was such an Amazon at this point. The footage of her swinging Terri around
in a bearhug that lead to this match was wild. ... The heel vs. heel tag title
match seems to just leave the fans without anyone to cheer. ... The streetfight
was cool because of the LOD being in their gimmick hometown of Chicago, so the
fans were really into it. ... The Undertaker vs. Sid was cool in that Taker went
"old school" and finally got to headline a Mania, which he deserved,
but the circumstances surrounding it was the real story. Shawn Michaels was
supposed to return the favor to Bret Hart for Mania 12, and he instead
"lost his smile" and set into motion the chain of events that would
eventually result in the Montreal incident.
2001 - The announcement that shook the wrestling world is made:
STAMFORD, Conn., March 23, 2001 - World Wrestling Federation Entertainment,
Inc. (NYSE: WWF) today announced its purchase of the World Championship
Wrestling (WCW) brand from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS Inc.), a
division of AOL Time Warner.
The purchase of WCW creates a tag team partnership with the World Wrestling
Federation brand that is expected to propel the sports entertainment genre to
new heights.
In keeping with the company's strategic alliance with Viacom, new WCW
programming is anticipated to air on TNN in the near future. The possibility of
cross-brand storylines and intrigue, however, may start as early as Monday night
during WWF Raw Is War on TNN and the final performance of WCW Monday Nitro Live
on Turner Network Television (TNT).
The binding agreement provides World Wrestling Federation Entertainment with the
global rights to the WCW brand, tape library, and other intellectual property
rights.
"This acquisition is the perfect creative and business catalyst for our
company," said Linda McMahon, Chief Executive Officer of World Wrestling
Federation Entertainment. "This is a dream combination for fans of sports
entertainment. The incendiary mix of World Wrestling Federation and WCW
personalities potentially creates intriguing storylines that will attract a
larger fan base to the benefit of our advertisers and business partners, and
propel sports entertainment to new heights."
"The acquisition of the WCW brand is a strategic move for us," said
Stuart Snyder, President and Chief Operating Officer for World Wrestling
Federation Entertainment. "We are assuming a brand with global distribution
and recognition. We are adding thousands of hours to our tape library that can
be repurposed for home videos, television, Internet streaming, and broadband
applications. The WCW opens new opportunities for growth in our Pay Per View,
live events, and consumer products divisions, as well as the opportunity to
develop new television programming using new stars. We also will create
additional advertising and sponsorship opportunities. In short, it is a perfect
fit."
Following that, WCW head Brad Siegel, who had become hated amongst WCW employees
for essentially not letting his employees know what was going on, issued the
following memo.
Today, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. is announcing that we
have reached an agreement for the sale of WCW. This agreement with WWF holds
tremendous potential for the WCW brand and assets. The press release announcing
the news is attached.
As we told you last week, WCW programming will not appear on TNT and TBS
Superstation after March 27. We will share more information with you about the
WWF's immediate plans for WCW in the all-staff meeting scheduled for Wednesday,
March 28, at 10 a.m. at the Power Plant. Thank you.
Linda McMahon did a press conference later that day, although no real details
were uncovered that hadn't been mentioned in the press release. It was mentioned
that they did intend to keep WCW as a separate entity, although many had their
doubts (which would later be proven correct). Ric Flair summed up the feelings
of most when he said that he never thought he'd see the day that WCW didn't
exist, although he would later admit to being happy about seeing the company
sold to the WWF. The WCW meeting would see the staff let go, although they
were allowed to submit applications for work with WWE.
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