The Piledriver Report 05.23.13: The History of Vince McMahon’s Wrestling Empire: Part Eighteen

TIME TO PLAY THE GAME

On January 20th at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA, Triple H would be true to his word, as he won the Royal Rumble battle royal. Earlier in the card, WWF Tag Team Champions Tazz & Spike Dudley defeated the Dudley Boyz. William Regal pinned WWF IC Champion Edge to win the title. WWF Women’s Champion Trish Stratus pinned Jazz. Ric Flair defeated Vince McMahon in a streetfight. WWF World Champion Chris Jericho pinned The Rock.

Since coming back from his injury, the heel Triple H was being cheered uncontrollably. The early months of 2002 were used to make Triple H a full-fledged babyface during his run for the WWF Championship. While that was going on, Vince McMahon was embattled in a war against Ric Flair over control of the WWF. Vince even vowed that if he couldn’t get Flair to relinquish his share in the WWF, then McMahon would destroy it from the inside.

On the January 20th taping of SmackDown!, Vince McMahon was shown sitting in a chair talking to himself about injecting poison into the WWF, and giving the federation cancer. As he spun the chair around, the fans were able to read the message that was written on the back. The message was just three letter letters: nwo. On the next week’s RAW, Vince McMahon confirmed to the fans what he was thinking. Either Ric Flair sells his shares of the WWF to Vince McMahon, or Vinnie Mac brings in the New World Order.

The next SmackDown! began with Ric Flair agreeing to sell his shares of the WWF to Vince, as long as McMahon does not bring in the New World Order. At the end of the show, Flair was about to sign over his shares. However, Steve Austin interrupted the proceedings. By the time Austin was done, Flair tore up the contract, and punched out Vince McMahon.

While all of this was going on, Jim Ross had a sit-down interview with Stephanie McMahon to talk about her marriage problems with Triple H. Stephanie claimed that everything was fine between herself and Triple H. On February 4th’s Monday Night RAW, Stephanie wanted to prove that the love the two share was stronger then ever. She asked Triple H to renew their wedding vows on next week’s RAW. Triple H said no, because it’s a dumb idea. Stephanie started to cry. She then told Triple H that she was pregnant. An angry Triple H was suddenly beaming as he went up to Stephanie and gave her a giant bearhug.

Earlier in the show, Vince called out Ric Flair to get an explanation on why Flair wouldn’t sell McMahon his shares of WWF stock. “The Nature Boy” said that he refused to sell because of the fans. Vince told Flair that the New World Order would arrive in the WWF at No Way Out.

SmackDown! continued the Stephanie/pregnancy storyline. A doctor showed Triple H and Stephanie a sonogram of the baby. Later, Kurt Angle joined in the celebration. He put a stuffed gorilla in a baby carriage. He named the baby gorilla “Triple H Junior,” and then started to feed it bananas. Triple H hit the ring, and attacked Angle.

On the February 11th edition of Monday Night RAW, Triple H received a Fed Ex package and phone call from Linda McMahon. She told Trips to watch the tape. As he was watching the video, which featured Stephanie’s “doctor” in an infomercial, Linda explained to Triple H that he was not a doctor, but an actor. She also told Triple H that Stephanie was no pregnant. This infuriated Triple H, who was about to renew his vows to Stephanie. During the ceremony, Triple H said “no” when asked if he would take Stephanie’s hand in marriage. He then went crazy. He tore up the set, threw down Stephanie, and pedigreed Vince McMahon.

No Way Out from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI on February 17th opened with Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash returning to the WWF. The founding members of the New World Order made their way into the ring, where they explained that they weren’t in the WWF to make trouble. They wanted to be friends to the WWF. During the show, they aired backstage clips of them meeting several WWF wrestlers. They gave Steve Austin a six-pack of beer, which he threw away. They saw The Rock, and Hogan asked him to take a picture with himself because The Rock is Hogan’s son’s favorite wrestler. Hogan made a snide comment on The Rock, and then “The most electrifying man in sports entertainment” cut a promo on all three men. The Acolytes defeated Scotty 2 Hotty & Albert, Lance Storm & Christian, Matt & Jeff Hardy (w/ Lita), the Dudley Boyz (w/ Stacy Keibler), and Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo in a tag team turmoil match. Due to pre-match stipulations, the Acolytes earned a tag team title shot for WrestleMania X8.

Rob Van Dam pinned Goldust. WWF Tag Team Champions Tazz & Spike Dudley defeated Test & Booker T. WWF IC Champion William Regal pinned Edge in a Brass Knuckles on a Poll match. The Rock pinned the Undertaker. Kurt Angle pinned Triple H. Due to pre-match stipulations, Angle won Triple H’s world title shot for WrestleMania X8. WWF World Champion Chris Jericho pinned Steve Austin

On RAW the next night, Triple H earned his WrestleMania X-8 title shot after beating Kurt Angle.

During the build-up to WrestleMania, it was obvious that the Triple H/Chris Jericho World title match would NOT be the money match for that year’s event. The Rock called Hogan out into the ring, and issued a challenge for the two to main event one more WrestleMania. His challenge put an nWo-sized bull’s eye on The Rock’s back. At one point over the next few weeks, the New World Order destroyed an ambulance that The Rock was in with an 18-wheeler truck.

WrestleMania X-8 took place at the SkyDome in Toronto, Canada on March 17th. Rob Van Dam pinned WWF IC Champion William Regal to win the title. WWF European Champion Diamond Dallas Page pinned Christian. Spike Dudley pinned WWF Hardcore Champion Maven to win the title. Immediately after the pin, Spike was chased into the crowd by Crash Holly, Goldust, and Maven. Later in the show, the Hurricane pinned Spike backstage after Spike avoided attacks from Al Snow and Crash Holly. In later segments showed the Hurricane hide in the Godfather’s dressing room until he was chased out. Molly Holly pinned the Hurricane to win the title after hitting him with a frying pan. Christian pinned Molly for the title after slamming a door in her face, and Maven pinned Christian with a roll up to win the title as Christian attempted to leave in a taxi. Kurt Angle pinned Kane. The Undertaker pinned Ric Flair in a No DQ match. Edge pinned Booker T. Steve Austin pinned Scott Hall. WWF Tag Team Champions Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo defeated Matt & Jeff Hardy, the Dudley Boyz, and the Acolytes in an elimination match. The Rock pinned Hulk Hogan with two Rock Bottoms and the People’s Elbow after avoiding the legdrop. After the bout, Hogan extended his hand to The Rock, with The Rock accepting. After The Rock left the ring, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash came out, confronted Hogan, and double teamed him until The Rock returned to help make the save. This was voted Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Match of the Year. WWF Women’s Champion Jazz defeated Trish Stratus and Lita. Triple H pinned WWF World Champion Chris Jericho (w/ Stephanie McMahon) to win the title.

The next night on RAW, Hogan was officially kicked out of the New World Order. Hogan teamed with The Rock to defeat Kevin Nash and Razor Ramon by count out. Vince McMahon appeared on the show to proclaim that the WWF needs a shake-up. He was going to be the one to shake things up. Ric Flair, the WWF’s “co-owner” would run RAW, and Vince would control SmackDown!. Each “owner” would draft wrestlers to be exclusive to their show. The inaugural WWF Draft Lottery was going to take place on the following week’s RAW broadcast.

THE INAUGURAL DRAFT/GET THE F OUT

The first stages of the draft lottery took place on March 25th at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA. The roster was divided in half over RAW and SmackDown!. The WWF World Champion Triple H, and the Women’s Champion Jazz were exempt from the draft since they were the two World singles champions. The two champions would bounce between shows defending their titles. Once they drop the strap, they would be positioned as a wrestler for the brand where they dropped the title. Steve Austin was also exempt from the draft, due to a contract stipulation in which he gets to choose which brand he wrestles for.

After the draft, the RAW roster included the Undertaker, the New World Order of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, X-Pac, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, the Big Show, Bubba Ray Dudley, Brock Lesnar, William Regal, Lita, Bradshaw, Steven Richards, Matt Hardy, Raven, Jeff Hardy, Curt Henning, Spike Dudley, D-Lo Brown, Shawn Stasiak, Terri, Jacqueline, Goldust, Trish Stratus, Justin Credible, Big BossMan, Tommy Dreamer, Crash, and Molly Holly. The SmackDown! wrestlers included The Rock, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Hulk Hogan, WWF Tag Team Champions Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo, Edge, Rikishi, D-Von Dudley, Mark Henry, Maven, Billy Kidman, Tajiri, Chris Jericho, Ivory, Albert, the Hurricane, Al Snow, Lance Storm, Diamond Dallas Page, Torrie Wilson, Scotty 2 Hotty, Stacy Keibler, Christian, Test, Faarooq, Tazz, Hardcore Holly, Val Venis, and Perry Saturn.

On April 1st’s Monday Night RAW, Steve Austin made his decision on which show that he would wrestle on. Austin chose RAW, and then nailed both Ric Flair and Vince McMahon with Stone Cold Stunners. Earlier in the show, Ric Flair presented Triple H with a new Undisputed World Championship belt.

Triple H’s first major title defense came on April 21st at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO at the Backlash pay per view. Tajiri pinned WWF Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman to win the title. Scott Hall pinned Bradshaw. WWF Women’s Champion Jazz defeated Trish Stratus. Brock Lesnar defeated Jeff Hardy. Kurt Angle pinned Edge. Eddie Guerrero pinned WWF IC Champion Rob Van Dam to win the title. The Undertaker pinned Steve Austin. Due to prematch stipulations, the Undertaker became the #1 contender to the world title. WWF Tag Team Champions Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo defeated Al Snow & Maven. Hulk Hogan pinned WWF World Champion Triple H to win the title.

May 5th was a landmark day for the World Wrestling Federation. After using the initials of W.W.F since the late seventies, it was time for a change. It was a forced change however. The World Wrestling Federation had an agreement with the World Wildlife Fund. Vince’s company was allowed to use the initials on a (U.S.) domestic basis only. However, when the World Wrestling Federation created the website www.wwf.com, Vince McMahon broke the agreement being that a website can be viewed world wide. A court ruled in favor of the World Wildlife Fund. On May 5, 2002, Vince McMahon officially changed the name of his wrestling promotion to World Wrestling Entertainment.

The first pay per view under the WWE umbrella took place on May 19th at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, TN. The pay per view was called Judgement Day. WWE IC Champion Eddie Guerrero pinned Rob Van Dam. WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus pinned Stacy Keibler. Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman defeated Matt & Jeff Hardy. Steve Austin defeated Ric Flair & the Big Show in a handicap match. Edge pinned Kurt Angle in a hair vs. hair match. Triple H pinned Chris Jericho in a Hell in a Cell match. Rikishi & Rico defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo to win the titles. The Undertaker pinned WWE World Champion Hulk Hogan to win the title.

The RAW that was broadcast on June 3rd was a memorable night for the WWE. Kevin Nash introduced the newest member of the New World Order. After last being seen on WWF television during the debut episode of SmackDown! in 2001, Shawn Michaels made his return as a member of the black and white. On this night, the WWE aired the first qualifying matches for the upcoming King of the Ring tournament. In the qualifying matches, X-Pac pinned Goldust. Booker T pinned WWE European Champion William Regal. On SmackDown!, they aired qualifying matches as well. Val Venis pinned Christian. Chris Jericho defeated Edge via forfeit when Edge was unable to compete due to a shoulder injury.

THE NEXT BIG THING

June 10th’s edition of RAW was another memorable show. The WWE had Brock Lesnar over Steve Austin on the booking sheet for the show. Austin saw this, and was upset. To Austin, this decision made absolutely no business sense. He questioned why the WWE would give away a big money match on free television with absolutely no build-up. Steve Austin decided that he wasn’t going to do the match, so he left the arena, and went home. During the show, Booker T, the Big Show, & X-Pac defeated Tommy Dreamer, Spike Dudley, & Shawn Stasiak when Booker pinned Dreamer with the Harlem side kick. After the match, Booker had the nWo music cut so he could do the Spinaroonie to his own music. Seeing Booker as a “I” and not a “we” teammate, he was kicked out of the group. Vince McMahon pinned Ric Flair in a no holds barred match when Brock Lesnar interfered. Due to prematch stipulations, Vince McMahon won ownership of the Raw brand and thus became the sole owner of the WWE. In the King of the Ring qualifying matches, WWE IC Champion Rob Van Dam pinned Eddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar pinned Bubba Ray Dudley. The results of the SmackDown! King of the Ring qualifying matches Test pinning WWE Cruiserweight Champion the Hurricane and Hardcore Holly pinning Tajiri.

The Monday Night RAW show on June 17th featured the first two King of the Ring Quarter Final match-ups. WWE IC Champion Rob Van Dam pinned X-Pac. Brock Lesnar pinned Booker T. On SmackDown!, Chris Jericho defeated Val Venis and Test pinned Hardcore Holly in two more Quarter Final matches.

The King of the Ring pay per view was held on June 23rd in Columbus, OH at the Nationwide Arena. The King of the Ring Semi-Finals matches, WWE IC Champion Rob Van Dam pinned Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar pinned Test. In the final of the Ring Finals, Brock Lesnar pinned WWE IC Champion Rob Van Dam. Due to pre-match stipulations which stated the winner of the KOTR tournament would earn a world title shot at Summer Slam, Lesnar was made the #1 contender
In other matches on the pay per view, Jamie Noble pinned WWE Cruiserweight Champion the Hurricane to win the title. Ric Flair pinned Eddie Guerrero. Molly Holly pinned WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus to win the title. Kurt Angle defeated Hulk Hogan via submission. WWE World Champion the Undertaker pinned Triple H.

The SmackDown! show that was taped on June 25th, Kurt Angle issued an open challenge to any wrestler that he has never faced before. The wrestler who would answer the challenge was making his federation television debut. That wrestler was John Cena. Kurt Angle pinned John Cena with a double chicken wing into a roll up; prior to the bout. After the match, Cena offered to shake Angle’s hand in a showing of respect but Angle just laughed and walked away. In the lockeroom, Cena was congratulated by Rikishi, Farooq, Billy Kidman, and the Undertaker.

In what seemed to be a trend, RAW delivered another historic telecast on July 15th from the Continental Airlines Arena. Vince McMahon made a shocking announcement for the crowd. The RAW General Manager was going to be his former rival from WCW, Eric Bischoff. The two men met on the entrance ramp and exchanged a gigantic hug. For the first time ever, the three main players during the Monday Night Wars, Eric Bischoff, Vince McMahon, and Paul Heyman were all featured on the same television show.

Vengeance was held on July 21st at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI. During the show, Triple H, Eric Bischoff, and Stephanie McMahon met in the ring. The Raw and Smackdown! General Managers tried to convince Triple H to sign a contract to their brand. Triple H agreed to sign with Stephanie, because he would rather be with the devil he knows then the one he doesn’t. Shawn Michaels come out to talk Triple H into joining him on Raw. Trips agreed. After Bischoff began gloating, Stephanie slapped him in the face. Later in the show, Stephanie said Bischoff won a battle on this night but when the time was right she would steal talent out from under Bischoff’s nose and would rip the heart out of Raw. Bubba Ray & Spike Dudley defeated Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero in a tables match. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble pinned Billy Kidman. WWE European Champion Jeff Hardy pinned William Regal. John Cena pinned Chris Jericho. WWE IC Champion Rob Van Dam defeated Brock Lesnar via disqualification. Booker T pinned the Big Show in a No DQ match. Christian & Lance Storm defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Hulk Hogan & Edge to win the titles. The Rock defeated WWE World Champion the Undertaker and Kurt Angle to win the title.

The next night on RAW, Shawn Michaels and Triple H joined forces as part of their DeGeneration X reunion. However, the DX reunion would be shortly lived as Triple H turned on the “Heartbreak Kid.”

The SmackDown! telecast that week followed in the footsteps of RAW as “must see” wrestling TV. Stephanie McMahon was true to her word. She did steal a major talent from RAW. She stole the number #1 contender to the WWE World title; Brock Lesnar. Later in the show, a new wrestler made his federation debut for the SmackDown! brand. This wrestler was Cruiserweight sensation Rey Mysterio, Jr..

On the August 4th SmackDown! taping, Brock Lesnar showed his dominance that fans over RAW have known for months. Brock Lesnar defeated Hulk Hogan when Hogan blacked out while being caught in a bearhug after sustaining the F5. After the match, Brock hit a bloody Hogan in the head with a steel chair and smeared Hogan’s blood on his own chest.

SummerSlam took place on August 25th from the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY. Kurt Angle defeated Rey Mysterio Jr. via submission. Edge pinned Eddie Guerrero. WWE Tag Team Champions Christian & Lance Storm defeated Booker T & Goldust. Rob Van Dam pinned WWE IC Champion Chris Benoit to win the title. The Undertaker pinned Test. Shawn Michaels pinned Triple H in a streetfight. Brock Lesnar pinned WWE World Champion the Rock to win the title.

The WWE’s experiment with having one undisputed World Champion ended on September 2nd’s RAW telecast. As part of the storyline, Stephanie McMahon proclaimed that Brock Lesnar and the WWE Championship were the exclusive property of SmackDown!. As such, Eric Bischoff brought out the former WCW big gold belt, and proclaimed it RAW’s World title. Instead of holding a tournament or having two men fight for the strap, the WWE did none of this. They didn’t even hold a “fictious” tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Eric just simply handed the belt to Triple H, and proclaimed “The Game” as the RAW Champion.

The WWE wanted to create two separate brands with two separate shows and two separate sets of championships. On that September night, the WWE’s plan was completed. How will it succeed? Only time would be the judge.

Sources for this article include www.wikipedia.org