12/11/2003 2:12:00 PM

A Look Back at Smoky Mountain Wrestling

By Todd Martin

In the decade of the 1990s, there were two major league professional
wrestling companies in the United States. WWF and WCW had resources no other
companies did. Of the independent promotions, ECW got all the credit. It was
clearly the most influential independent promotion of the period. It also
received more attention because of its urban base in the northeast. However,
that does not mean ECW was the only important independent promotion from
that period. From 1991-1995, Jim Cornette created the little wrestling
company that could. Much like Paul Heyman, Cornette had problems with what
had become of professional wrestling. Both had acrimonious splits with WCW,
and so they founded their own wrestling promotions based on the visions they
had of professional wrestling. Cornette was not able to reverse history, and
his company went out of business. But in its brief time, Smoky Mountain
Wrestling provided many great memories for wrestling fans.

The idea of Eastern Championship Wrestling had not even entered into Tod
Gordon’s mind when Jim Cornette was setting up Smoky Mountain Wrestling. SMW
was one of the last old school territorial promotions. While Cornette had a
great appreciation for wrestling history, he had not fallen behind the times
the way Bill Watts did at approximately the same time. Cornette’s promotion
did not have delusions of grandeur. In fact, it had relatively humble goals.
It ran in the rural south, and rarely promoted in cities of any real size.
SMW was primarily centered in Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, and it did not venture too far out of
that region. It also took on the flavor of that region, for better or worse.
The southern feel was pronounced by very conservative values. Tracy Smothers
was one of the company’s top babyfaces as the “Wild Eyed Southern Boy” who
carried the Confederate flag to the ring. While this aspect of the promotion
was a turnoff for many tape traders, it was more than made up for by solid
booking and matches over the years.

SMW had an inconspicuous beginning. With little advance notice, it held its
first taping on October 30, 1991 in Greenville, South Carolina. Jim
Cornette, Sandy Scott and Tim Horner were the primary founders of the
company. Sandy Scott would help the company for most of its existence, while
Tim Horner would part ways with the company a few years later. Many other
people would play important roles behind the scenes. Les Thatcher helped out
Cornette, and was an announcer for the promotion. They would continue their
relationship later as the heads of WWE’s two primary developmental systems.

Another person who played a pivotal role in SMW’s success was Brian
Hildebrand. Hildebrand was diminutive bow-tied referee Mark Curtis in front
of the camera. Behind the scenes, he helped to run the promotion in a
variety of ways. Of course, he passed away a few years ago, but people still
have nothing but the best things to say about him. He was another important
player in Smoky Mountain. Also significant to SMW was its consistently
excellent announcing. Dutch Mantel, now booker for NWA TNA, did a fine job
announcing early on. Bob Caudle always brought professionalism to the job,
and SMW also had the opportunity to use Lance Russell and Jim Ross at
various points. Cornette surrounded himself with people that understood
wrestling very well.

Music executive Rick Rubin provided the primary economic backing for the
promotion. The first few Smoky Mountain shows were primarily put together to
tape for television. SMW was build under the traditional formula of using
television to get people to come to house shows. Much of the SMW crew was
there from the very beginning. Bob Caudle announced matches. Ron Wright was
a heel manager. Bob Armstrong was the babyface commissioner. Wrestlers
included Paul Orndorff, Stan Lane, Brian Lee, Robert Gibson, Jimmy Golden
and the Fantastics (Bobby and Jackie Fulton).

Jim Cornette was easily the most important asset for Smoky Mountain
Wrestling. He provided the creative direction, but he also played a very
important role in front of the camera. He played the role a manager would
play years ago. He was one of the promotion’s most important stars, and he
played a major role in getting over every top act. The promotion’s top feuds
flowed through him, and he got tremendous heat managing the Heavenly Bodies,
amongst others. Also, unlike WWE’s current non-wrestling characters,
Cornette was there to get over matches and feuds, not himself. He needed to
get people to come to shows in order for the promotion to survive. He was
wise enough to not use the promotion as a vehicle to get himself over. He
likely recognized that if he focused on building up his wrestlers, he would
be all the better for it.

The company from the very beginning had a traditional feel. The lines
between face and heel were very clearly drawn. Rules were important, and
firmly established. The piledriver was a banned move, setting limits for
violence. I think limits are great in that context, because then it actually
means something when the line is crossed. The piledriver was of course used
on numerous occasions, but it was always a big deal. SMW also paid tribute
to many of wrestling’s great names. Cornette featured older legends, such as
Bob Armstrong, Ron Wright, Jos LeDuc, Mongolian Stomper, and Dick Murdoch.
Some of the company’s biggest events featured tributes to wrestling’s past.

Smoky Mountain put a heavy emphasis on its titles. It had three major
titles: the singles title, the tag title and the “Beat the Champ” television
title. The former two titles had almost equal billing in terms of
importance. That is one lesson WWE could learn from Smoky Mountain. WWE has
always treated its tag titles as secondary to its singles title. Smoky
Mountain showed that if you bill the tag titles as being equally important,
you can have two drawing matches on every show. In fact, the tag titles were
more important to the promotion than the singles title for most of the time,
with the Rock and Roll Express the face of the promotion. The Beat the Champ
title was a way for the promotion to make television shows feel important.

While ECW is always given credit for grooming stars, SMW also featured many
wrestlers that went on to future stardom. Jim Cornette planned to use
Hardcore Holly in a prominent role early on, but Holly at that point was
contemplating quitting the business. Bill DeMott competed in Smoky Mountain
as Crash the Terminator, and Tazz wrestled there as Tazmaniac. Louie
Spicolli wrestled in SMW before his time in WWF and WCW. Mick Foley went to
SMW after leaving WCW, prior to his time in ECW. SMW was the first major
opportunity in the United States for Chris Candido, Chris Jericho and Lance
Storm. Jim Mitchell was given an opportunity to showcase his talent as
Darryl Van Horn, the manager of 4,000 year old Prince Kharis. To say the
gimmick didn’t take would be an understatement, but it was hardly the
eloquent Mitchell’s fault. Likewise, Tammy Sytch first came to the wrestling
world’s attention in Smoky Mountain Wrestling as a privileged, young
feminist who idolized Hillary Clinton.

While the company ran its first show in 1991, it did not start running a
regular touring schedule until spring of 1992. The Heavenly Bodies (Stan
Lane and Tom Prichard) were the first tag team champions, beating the
Fantastics in the finals of a tournament on April 23, 1992. The Heavenly
Bodies were the company’s top heels for the next two years. Initially the
pairing of Lane and Prichard, managed by Jim Cornette, was meant to
recapture the magic of the Midnight Express. Eventually Prichard and new
partner Jimmy Del Ray would create a legacy of their own. The promotion
crowned its first singles champion at Volunteer Slam on May 22. The show
drew 1,000 fans to see Brian Lee capture the SMW Title. He defeated Buddy
Landel, Tony Anthony and Paul Orndorff in a tournament. An attendance of
1,000 fans does not seem like much now. However, you have to remember that
WCW averaged 1,850 fans per show in 1992, 960 in 1993 and 1,620 in 1994. For
Smoky Mountain to draw a comparable number of fans to WCW was a remarkable
feat given their respective resources. In fact, Smoky Mountain would outdraw
WCW in its territory for a period.

With its champions set, Smoky Mountain would begin to lay the foundation of
its future. Brian Lee was the company’s babyface champion, and he feuded
early with “Dirty White Boy” Tony Anthony. Anthony was an ornery heel,
managed by Ron Wright. He was one of SMW’s top stars until the end, and went
onto somewhat ignominious fame in the WWF as T.L. Hopper. The Heavenly
Bodies feuded with the Fantastics early on. After the Heavenly Bodies got by
the Fantastics, they were met with a new challenge.

Ricky Morton had come to SMW. He reformed his team with Robert Gibson, and
SMW had the beginning of its most successful feud: Rock and Roll Express vs.
Heavenly Bodies. Dirty White Boy won the SMW Title from Brian Lee, and the
company set up three primary feuds for the fall of 1992. Dirty White Boy
defended the SMW Title against Tim Horner, the Rock and Roll Express feuded
with the Heavenly Bodies for the Tag Titles, and Kevin Sullivan had a bloody
feud with Brian Lee. Kevin Sullivan was initially billed as the mysterious
Master, who had put out a bounty on Lee. When he surfaced he played a role
most similar to the Satanic one he played a decade earlier in Florida.
Sullivan’s most infamous incident in SMW saw him carve up Yukihiro Kanemura
with a spike in a truly disgusting scene. Kanemura end up hospitalized after
massive blood loss.

It was the Rock and Roll Express vs. the Heavenly Bodies that built the
promotion. It was a classic feud between the humble, good guys against the
nasty, obnoxious heels and their reprehensible manager. Rock and Roll
Express no longer had the youth that defined them in the 80s, which made
them draw an entirely different demographic. The feud between the two teams
changed in nature over the years, but it never ceased providing great
matches. The Heavenly Bodies and Jim Cornette vs. Rock and Roll Express
along with Ron Garvin and Tim Horner vs. Dirty White Boy and Paul Orndorff
drew Smoky Mountain record crowds in Knoxville December 25 and Johnson City
December 26.

In 1993, Smoky Mountain Wrestling reached separate agreements with WCW and
WWF. The WCW deal came first, when Bill Watts was in charge of the company.
It led to Paul Orndorff, Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson working for both
companies. It also led to an SMW match of the Rock and Roll Express vs. the
Heavenly Bodies at WCW Superbrawl 1993. This ended up an interesting
footnote, as the Rock and Roll Express and Heavenly Bodies (different
version) also wrestled that same year on a WWF pay-per-view, Survivor Series
1993. It was a unique byproduct of talent trading that has little parallel
in the WWF/WCW era. The closest thing was when All Japan Women provided
wrestlers for WWF at Survivor Series 1995 and WCW at World War 3 1995 in the
same month.

This arrangement was also very useful for Smoky Mountain in the short term,
as it allowed Bobby Eaton to join Stan Lane and Tom Prichard as a trio of
Heavenly Bodies. Cornette had always wanted to bring in Eaton, and the
promotion teased that Eaton and Lane would break off from Prichard and
reform the Midnight Express. The Rock and Roll Express was feuding with the
Heavenly Bodies at that point, and they evened by solicited the help of Arn
Anderson.

This feud culminated at the Bluegrass Brawl 1993 in Pikeville, Kentucky,
where there was a 3-way street fight featuring Bobby Eaton, Stan Lane and
Tom Prichard against the Rock and Roll Express and Arn Anderson against the
Stud Stable of Robert Fuller (Col. Robert Parker), Jimmy Golden (Bunkhouse
Buck) and Dutch Mantell. On the same card, Dirty White Boy faced Tracy
Smothers for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Title. The angle leading up to the
match was that Dirty White Boy had moved to the north, which of course
angered southerner Tracy Smothers. The angle was quite humorous, because
Tony Anthony is about as southern as you get. I was reminded of this angle
two years later when Bobby Eaton joined the Blue Bloods and became Earl
Robert Eaton. The show also had Kevin Sullivan vs. Brian Lee.

Right around this time, the relationship with WCW fell apart. When Watts was
ousted from power, the new decision makers didn’t want to interact with SMW.
Paul Orndorff went full time to WCW, and Eaton and Anderson returned there.
It was at this point that SMW really began to develop its own identity and
direction. SMW’s second big feud began to take shape in mid-1993. After a
War Games style match at the Volunteer Slam May 9 in Knoxville in front of
1,100 fans, the heels gave a serious beat down to Bob Armstrong. This would
be one of the opening salvos in the long feud between grizzled veteran
commissioner Bob Armstrong and Jim Cornette. Meanwhile Stan Lane finished up
with the company. He lost the fall in a loser leaves town match against the
Rock and Roll Express. SMW honored the stipulation and that was it for Lane.
It is important to remember this, as SMW would do a much worse job of
fulfilling stipulations in later years. SMW replaced Lane with excellent
worker Jimmy Backlund, who took the name Jimmy Del Ray.

Smoky Mountain built its summer cards once again around both tag team feuds
and singles feuds. The top tag feuds featured the debuting Bruise Brothers
(Ron and Don Harris) against the Rock and Roll Express and the Heavenly
Bodies against Scott and Steve Armstrong. Meanwhile, Brian Lee turned heel
and joined Tammy Fytch (Sytch). Cornette realized what he had with Sytch,
and she was immediately involved in important issues. She was attractive,
but she could also really play a character and communicate what she had to
in a way few women in the business ever have been able to do. Brian Lee won
the SMW Title from Tracy Smothers, and they feuded over the title.

It was around this time that SMW reached a surprise agreement with the WWF.
Jim Cornette making a deal with Bill Watts in WCW was no surprise. The two
had a lot in common, and got along well. Cornette had never spoke very
highly of WWF, however. Their vision of wrestling in many ways did not mesh
with his. While not as surprising as Jerry Lawler joining WWF earlier that
year, Jim Cornette’s entrance was not expected. He reached a deal with the
WWF that should have ultimately helped both parties. Whether it did is up to
individual interpretation. WWF made Cornette Yokozuna’s American
spokesperson. While he did a good job, he never had the impact he could have
given what a great talker he was. WWF clearly appreciated the deal, however.
WWF acknowledged Smoky Mountain Wrestling explicitly on WWF television,
which was unheard of at the time. Moreover, WWF put the promotion over. The
Heavenly Bodies faced the Steiner Brothers at SummerSlam 1993 and the WWF
got an advantage over WCW in signing talent from SMW.

As far as SMW’s side, they had to balance a line between using WWF talent to
boost attendance, and not have that talent overshadow the local talent. This
was obvious from the very beginning. Dave wrote in the Observer when the
deal broke through in 1993, “Bringing in WWF talent to SMW under the right
circumstances can help business. But it has to be done carefully and in a
manner where the WWF talent isn’t portrayed as being superior major league
talent, because that will then make the SMW wrestlers minor league in their
own territory which will kill them, but certainly Cornette is smart enough
to avoid that obvious pitfall.” While Cornette knew the danger in that, it
was a temptation that was hard to avoid, since bringing in WWF business
provided a needed boost when problems arose. In the short run, SMW got big
name talent to come, but it ended up backfiring in the long run. Many of
WWF’s stars would wrestle for Smoky Mountain, including Undertaker, Shawn
Michaels, Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Steiner Brothers, Sean Waltman and Owen
Hart.

The feud between Bob Armstrong and Jim Cornette was a big focus for Smoky
Mountain Wrestling in late 1993 and early 1994. Armstrong lost his spot as
commissioner, and then on September 17, 1993 he lost a loser leaves SMW
match. This would be the first of a series of unfulfilled stipulations by
SMW, as Armstrong returned as the Bullet in the old Midnight Rider angle.
This led to mask vs. hair matches at Smoky Mountain’s Christmas Chaos shows
between the Bullet and Dick Murdoch. Once again, the stipulations weren’t
truly followed through on. Bullet took off his mask after losing only to
reveal another mask. While the babyface was the one outsmarting the heels,
it sent a negative message to the fans that stipulations didn’t mean
anything. However, the company did strong business for the Christmas Chaos
tour, which also featured newly turned babyface Tony Anthony against Brian
Lee against Tracy Smothers for the SMW Title, plus the Bruise Brothers
against the Heavenly Bodies and the Moondogs against the Rock and Roll
Express.

The Bob Armstrong-Jim Cornette feud climaxed on February 13, 1994. At a card
entitled Sunday Bloody Sunday, SMW broke its all time records by drawing
3,950 fans and a $31,800 gate in Knoxville. The main event was the Bullet
against Terry Funk in a Texas Death match. The stipulations were that either
Armstrong would unmask and be banned forever, or Armstrong would regain his
spot at commissioner. Bullet emerged triumphant and all was well in SMW
again. Also on that card, Tony Anthony won the SMW Title back by defeating
Brian Lee, and the Rock and Roll Express beat the Heavenly Bodies by
disqualification. The conclusion to their feud would come less than two
months later at the April 1 Bluegrass Brawl. The Rock and Roll Express beat
the Heavenly Bodies in a loser leaves town match. The Bodies were going full
time to the WWF, although they would make appearances now and then for SMW
in the future. One might label these shows the turning point for SMW. The
company was never able to regain the consistent success it had during this
period, and the pattern of business growth reversed itself.

In trying to replace two of his most successful feuds, Cornette took some
risks. These weren’t bad risks, as they were calculated gambles. However,
they did not pay off. Cornette brought in Lance Storm and Chris Jericho as
the Thrill Seekers. Despite the fact they were basically unknowns in the
United States, Cornette expected big things from them. In fact, he paid them
more than anyone else on the roster. The idea was that the company would get
their merchandise sales, which would be huge. The Thrill Seekers got music
videos and were pushed huge. Unfortunately, they just never got over as
expected. There are a number of explanations for that. Jericho had frequent
trips to Japan, and it broke up the momentum of the team in SMW. The style
of the Thrill Seekers was different than what the fans were used to. They
were used to a brawling main event style, and the Thrill Seekers were high
flyers. Finally, they never did the one big feud or angle that would have
really gotten the crowd behind them. As a result, the Thrill Seekers did not
become the phenomenon Cornette had hoped.

At around the same time, Jim Cornette brought in Jake Roberts for a main
event program. Roberts was still an incredible talent, but his personal
demons were winning the battle for his soul. Jim Cornette frequently took
flyers on talent with similar problems, such as Buddy Landel, Terry Gordy,
Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich. Sometimes it paid off, and sometimes it
didn’t. In this case, it backfired. Jake Roberts was programmed with Tony
Anthony, and he won the SMW Title early on. Roberts-Anthony worked as a
program, even if it didn’t do great business early on. Roberts gave great
interviews in one of his last headlining gigs in the United States. However,
he left the company unexpectedly and the company was forced to put the title
back on Anthony. The company would then go with White Boy vs. Bruiser
Bedlam, who brought little to the table other than strength. Using Roberts
backfired on Cornette, and not too many promoters would ever pin their hopes
on Roberts again.

Cornette’s next gamble would be the biggest and most controversial of all.
He put together the Gangstas, and played the racism card. His feeling was
that the audiences in his territory were racist, and he could exploit that
to make money. It was a flawed idea on a number of levels. Of course, it was
in the worst possible taste. It took everything that is wrong about La
Resistance and raised it about ten levels. But the gimmick didn’t set fire
to the promotion business wise either.

One would hope the fans weren’t as racist as Cornette had anticipated. One
interesting note looking back is to observe the reaction to their first
television appearance. Before they began to speak, they got no reaction. SMW
was clearly trying to play on the fears of the crowd, as this gang of black
men dressed up like thugs came out to hip-hop music. Yet, the initial
reaction was not hatred from the crowd. Most simply wondered who these
people were. Even more telling, they actually got some cheers. This should
have been evidence right off the bat that this wasn’t going to work.
However, New Jack can talk, and after invoking O.J. Simpson, Tupac Shakur
and every other perceived symbol of African-American aggression, the
Gangstas didn’t kill business either. Their feud with the Rock and Roll
Express was quite entertaining, and filled with wild brawls.

The saving grace of the gimmick is that watching the TV show from somewhere
else in the country, you could just root for the Gangstas to beat the
Confederate flag waving good old boys. The Gangstas were babyfaces in ECW,
and they didn’t act all that differently than they did in SMW. There was
talk of putting Tammy Sytch with them, but she turned it down. That could
have been a real heat getter, but then again it didn’t mean much when they
tried it with her and Faarooq in WWF two years later. I think by and large
younger generations can’t understand why anyone would object to interracial
dating. Aside from the fact the Gangsta gimmick didn’t turn around business,
it created serious backlash as well. Wrestling fans and writers, like Bruce
Mitchell of the Pro Wrestling Torch, took SMW to task for the angle. The
NAACP threatened to picket the event. The company got a vehemently negative
reaction from many people, even if most of the loyal fans didn’t openly
protest.

In the midst of this turbulent time, Smoky Mountain Wrestling ran one of its
best and most successful shows. The Night of the Legends was held August 5,
1994 in front of 5,000 fans paying $40,000. It was an excellent show
featuring solid wrestling and tribute being paid to local wrestling greats.
The show is available on DVD in the Wrestling Gold collection, and I believe
it includes the original commentary track with Jim Ross and an added
commentary track with Jim Cornette and Dave Meltzer. Road Warrior Hawk
joined Bob Armstrong and Tracy Smothers in the main event, as they beat
Terry Funk, Dory Funk Jr. and Bruiser Bedlam in a Coward Waves the Flag
match. The show also featured the Rock and Roll Express facing Brian Lee and
Chris Candido. The two teams had been feuding largely based on the actions
of Tammy Fytch, who was managing Lee and Candido. The Thrill Seekers
wrestled against the returning Heavenly Bodies, who had jumped the Thrill
Seekers in a parking lot. Dirty White Boy took on Terry Gordy for the SMW
Title.

The next evening at Fire on the Mountain in front of 1,800 fans, SMW once
again violated a match stipulation. This time they were more explicit in
violating that stipulation, and the fans reacted negatively. A featured
match saw Ricky Morton putting up his hair against Tammy Fytch’s when the
Rock and Roll Express took on Brian Lee and Chris Candido. Fytch signed the
contract thinking she was putting Candido’s hair on the line, but instead
the contract put up her own. After the Rock and Roll Express lost, they
didn’t shave Ricky’s head. The feeling was the fans wouldn’t want to see the
babyface humiliated, but the fans wanted to see the stipulation carried
through. As a result, even more damage was done to the credibility of
stipulations in the company. Brian Lee left shortly thereafter to become the
fake Undertaker. His replacement was Boo Bradley (Balls Mahoney), who teamed
with Chris Candido. This would end up creating a role for Cactus Jack. Mick
Foley came in as a protector of sorts for Bradley, who received poor
treatment from Fytch and Candido.

This feud, along with others, were all just background as the Rock and Roll
Express vs. Gangstas drew the focus of the promotion. It didn’t do as well
at some smaller cards, but they had success for major shows. The
Thanksgiving Thunder and Christmas Chaos shows in Knoxville and Johnson City
all drew between 1,250 and 2,315 fans for Rock and Roll Express vs.
Gangstas. In a twist to the story, Jim Cornette would end up joining the
Rock and Roll Express to go after the Gangstas. It was set up to make the
Gangstas such a menace that even Jim Cornette wanted to get rid of them.
This led to good business for Super Saturday Night Fever on January 28,
1995, which featured Jim Cornette bringing in the Heavenly Bodies to take on
the Gangstas. Also on that card, Dirty White Boy took on Jerry Lawler for
the SMW Title. Lawler would win the SMW Title. He would drop it to Bobby
Blaze in a surprise upset, and Blaze would then drop it to Buddy Landel.

Debuting in early 1995 was the tag team of Eddie Gilbert and Unabom. Unabom
would of course go on to much greater fame as Kane. Gilbert and Unabom were
going to be a top tag team, but Gilbert left the promotion very quickly. He
was apt to do such things, which made his death less than two months later
not all that surprising. SMW would fill Gilbert’s role with Al Snow. Snow
would quickly in SMW show incredible promise that has never fully been
capitalized on. As a cocky smart-aleck heel, he was captivating. He could
wrestle as well, and Unabom and Snow became a high ranking tag team in the
company.

In 1995, both SMW and USWA were struggling Southern independent promotions.
They decided to work together and do an inter-promotional feud. That led to
a unique SMW vs. USWA feud where the USWA guys were heels on SMW TV and the
SMW guys were heels on USWA TV. It was in a lot of ways similar to the U.S.
vs. Canada feud in the WWF two years later, with the babyface and heel
depending upon the location. This made for confused fans given that many
could get both shows. It was a good angle for business, but it did better
for USWA than SMW. USWA sent in Randy Hales, PG-13 and others as its
representatives against SMW. What was perhaps most interesting about the
feud is what a fantastic heel Brian Hildebrand was in USWA. It became hard
for SMW to explain to its fans why the promotion’s top faces were acting
like heels on the other show.

The May 20, 1995 Volunteer Slam drew a crowd of 1,550 to see Bob Armstrong
and Terry Funk against the Gangstas. Cornette promised to refund the fans’
money if he or Funk turned on Armstrong during the match. Armstrong and Funk
won, and Funk and Cornette attacked Armstrong after the match. This led to
an entire episode of SMW devoted to Jim Cornette explaining how he had
planned out getting revenge on the Gangstas and Bob Armstrong. The Gangstas
would leave shortly thereafter.

One of the final major feuds of the company was Jim Cornette’s Militia
against the company’s babyfaces. After Cornette turned on Bob Armstrong, he
formed his own group featuring all the promotion’s top heels. Buddy Landel,
Al Snow, Unabom and Punisher (Barry “Bull” Buchanan”) were featured members.
The primary opposition consisted of Brad Armstrong, the Rock and Roll
Express and the Thugs (Tracy Smothers and Dirty White Boy). In one of
wrestling’s not-so-classic catch phrases, the Thugs reminded fans time and
time again that “T is for terrible, H is for hell, U is for ugly and G is
for jail, because a thug can’t spell.”

It was with this basic talent roster that Smoky Mountain held one of its
biggest successes in Knoxville on August 4, 1995. The company drew 3,000
fans paying $17,000 for the Super Bowl of Wrestling, featuring matches with
wrestlers from a variety of promotions. The opener featured Brian Armstrong
(Road Dogg) vs. D’Lo Brown, and the talent was strong from top to bottom
with Al Snow, Dan Severn, Terry Gordy, Tommy Rich, Brad Armstrong and Billy
Jack Haynes. The top two matches were the Rock and Roll Express against the
Thugs, and Shawn Michaels defending the WWF Intercontinental Title against
Buddy Landel. The most interesting match on the card however, was third from
the top. The Super Bowl of Wrestling featured the first matchup between Kane
and the Undertaker. Undertaker came into Smoky Mountain to take on Unabom in
what would be a preview of a major WWF feud two and a half years later.

The Super Bowl of Wrestling was one of Smoky Mountain’s last hurrahs. The
SMW roster really thinned out around that time. It had already lost the
Gangstas and Cactus Jack, and Al Snow and Unabom joined them on their way to
the WWF. Smoky Mountain just didn’t have the talent to replace them. Buddy
Landel turned babyface, and while he did a good job as the top singles face,
he did not draw good crowds. Brad Armstrong won the Smoky Mountain Title
from Landel, and did not do much better himself. He had been treated as a
loser in WCW for too long. The company found itself with a thin roster of
mostly older local wrestlers with little upside. The company’s final feuds
with the Heavenly Bodies vs. the Thugs, and Buddy Landel and Brad Armstrong
vs. Jim Cornette’s Militia did not inspire crowds. Worse, major roles were
given to the likes of Sgt. Rock (Jacqueline), midget Butch Cassidy and
jobber Wolfman. SMW’s positive momentum was gone, and the company’s primary
financial backer pulled out. As such, Jim Cornette decided that November 26,
1995 would be the promotion’s final show. In an appropriate conclusion, the
entire roster beat down Jim Cornette at the end.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling experienced a lot during its short lifespan. It
featured many up-and-coming wrestlers, many legends of the past, and many of
today’s biggest stars. It played a valuable role in providing a fine
wrestling product during a time period when there was a lot of bad stuff
being produced. It deserves to be remembered and credited for what it
accomplished. However, SMW went out of business. It did not survive. The
question then becomes what we can learn from SMW’s demise and apply to
today’s wrestling product. Since SMW had both its strong points and
weaknesses, here are three positive lessons taught to us by SMW, followed by
three negative lessons.

1. Managers are valuable. WWE has gotten away from the concept of a manager.
Instead, it focuses on general managers, owners, CEOs and so forth. The
difference is crucial. Managers are there specifically to get over their
wrestlers. General managers or similar power roles are much more ambiguous
in their goals. Thus, they frequently have the effect of doing nothing but
getting themselves over. Without Jim Cornette as a manager, SMW simply would
not have been the same. He was invaluable in getting faces like Bob
Armstrong and the Rock and Roll Express over, as well as heels like the
Gangstas and Heavenly Bodies. If they gave Eric Bischoff or Paul Heyman the
same amount of air time, but instead made them the manager of a heel stable,
the company would be so much better for it. Their motivation would always be
about helping their wrestlers and hurting their enemies, so they would
always be building up the company. Not all the heat would go directly to
them, because they would be redirecting it towards their wrestlers. I much
prefer SMW’s model of non-wrestler usage to WWE’s.

2. Tag team titles should be utilized. I don’t understand why WWF has always
shied away from making tag titles mean something. They have had teams that
could have had such impact, like the Legion of Doom and the Steiner
Brothers. It doesn’t take too much effort. Just teach the fans that the tag
titles are very important. Stick tag team title matches in the main events
of some cards. Then when you have a weak world title main event, the tag
title match can back you up. Another easy trick is to put together dream
combinations of singles wrestlers and have them lose to the tag champs. It
sends the message that there is a special art to tag team wrestling. There
is no way anyone is going to consider Armageddon’s Tag Team Turmoil as
important. That could change if the belts were treated with more respect.
Smoky Mountain always made the tag titles very important, and it led to
money drawing tag title feuds.

3. Nostalgia and history work if you show respect for the past. WWE has
waged war against wrestling history for over two decades now. I can’t figure
out why. It helps sell the present. SMW was able to draw its best crowds by
bringing in legends from a different period. Its formula was simple. Prior
to the shows they aired all sorts of clips to give you a feel for the person
they were talking about. Then when that older wrestler showed up, it was a
big deal. If WWE spent more time referring to its history and building up
its legends, they would mean something. WWE has access to just about every
major name in the business. If they want to bring anyone in, with the
possible exception of Bruno Sammartino, they can. Moreover, they have a
gigantic video library. So pay respect to wrestling history and let fans
enjoy and remember the past. It certainly won’t hurt to have more DVD sets
sell like the Ultimate Ric Flair Collection.

1. Your fans have to believe your stars are the best. ROH and WWE have done
a good job of this. WWE fans are convinced WWE wrestlers are the best,
because they are the only game in town on that level. ROH provides for its
fans exactly what they want, and nobody does that better. The company that
could really learn from this lesson is TNA. It is a hard enough sell to
convince people Raven is one of the best after the way he was treated in
WWE. Jeff Jarrett is even harder, because he doesn’t have the charisma and
has always had troubles when given the ball. SMW ran into real problems when
its fans started to believe the real stars were in WWF. They just waited for
those stars. TNA has played the same game by building around surprise
guests, and bringing in major stars for cameos. While in the short term it
brings attention to the product, it teaches fans that the regulars like AMW
and A.J. Styles aren’t on the same level. That’s highly problematic. Every
promotion should try to come up with a concise answer to the question, “why
are you the best wrestling company in the world?”

2. You have to pay off stipulations. SMW drew big for stipulations
throughout its history. However, it received major backlash late in that
timeframe when it didn’t pay them off. That frustration reflects a fan base
that wanted to believe in the stipulations. That belief is what is going to
get them to pay to see the match. WWE has killed off its stipulations much
worse than SMW. All too often they have stipulations that last for only a
short period of time. Fans won’t buy tickets for a loser leaves town match
if they don’t think the loser is going to leave town. WWE should take it
easier on the stipulations, but if it needs to have them, it should always
follow through.

3. Don’t purposely limit your audience base. This was one of SMW’s problems
from the very beginning. Cornette created a very niche crowd, and it hurt
the ability for the business to grow. Don’t create gimmicks that are going
to run off a large group of potential fans, such as all women, all
Hispanics, or all liberals. WWE has risked doing the same thing with the way
it acts in Canada. SMW emphasized a very conservative set of values, which
was undoubtedly a turn-off to many. Moreover, SMW limited its potential
attendance by only running in smaller areas. It should have occasionally
tried larger locations. SMW further dug itself in a hole with the way it
created characters like the Gangstas. There is a point where people just
don’t want to be associated with a product. Don’t risk going down that
route. SMW did what it did well, but it should have been more open to
creating a broader audience. It might have led to more long term success.
This lesson applies very clearly to ROH. It has marketed towards a very
small market of wrestling fans. That is fine. Those fans have a lot to
offer. But the company should also include the little things that will build
a larger audience.

There is a lot to be learned from any professional wrestling organization.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling was not around for all that long, and it doesn’t
get the respect and credit it deserves. There is a lot to be learned from
what SMW did right, and a lot to be learned from what SMW did wrong. The
company made its mark, and it is a shame there aren’t more wrestling
organizations trying to make a go of it with similar determination and
intelligence.

Special Note

This is the one year anniversary of my first column for the Observer site. I
wanted to send out thanks to everyone who has made this a lot of fun. Thanks
to Dave Meltzer giving me the opportunity to write here. I hope I have
helped to sell the Observer and Figure Four by providing content that
reflects positively upon those publications. I believe very strongly in the
value of the Observer, which is a primary reason I spend the time doing
this. I have learned so much from it over the years that I want as many
people as possible to share in that. Thanks to everyone who reads what I
write. I enjoy the act of writing in and of itself, but I also enjoy
interacting with other people and talking about wrestling. Finally, a
special thanks to the people who deserve it. I wrote a list, but I was
paranoid I would miss someone because there are so many people I wanted to
mention. Thanks to the people who I have regular conversations with via
email. Thanks to the people who have sent particularly excellent letters
that raised points I had not considered and expanded my knowledge. Thanks to
the people involved with the business who have sent me feedback of various
types. Thanks to the people who make me feel appreciated for writing these
columns. All of those groups are very much appreciated. I have a very small
list of people who write about wrestling that I consider worth paying
serious attention to. I hope I have made your list.

Feedback on Last Week’s Column

Anthony writes:

I liked your ideas, but I hate the protective, interference style booking
you did for HHH/Goldberg/Kane. I think there's a really simple way to book
Goldberg-Lesnar at WrestleMania: champion vs. champion, non-title. I think
that match billed as an inter-promotional non-title match between champions
does not need to be a title for title unification match. Fans won't be
disappointed and they can get around it by saying the respective GMs don’t
want to unify the titles. They don't want to share their champion and title.
They don't want to have their title not on their show because their champion
did not win and the winner is exclusive to their respective show.

I know it’s Japan but some of the biggest drawing dome "inter-promotional"
shows were non-title matches, such as Takada vs. Muto in ‘95 and ‘96 in this
case champion vs. champion, Takada vs. Hashimoto, Hashimoto vs. Naoya Ogawa,
and Kawada vs. Sasaki. In the first and last two cases the New Japan guy was
the champion and it was non-title and still drew a sellout. So I think the
WWE could do this.

Gregory Bowen writes:

I just read your thoughts on WrestleMania and beyond and I agree with you
tremendously on the Goldberg/Lesnar match as the main event, with both being
booked as the unstoppable monsters they both once were. However, the one
scenario you didn't mention was simply ending the brand extension. Whoever
wins that match is truly the world champion again. It is my personal opinion
that this brand extension has been a complete and utter failure. Wasn't the
whole point of the brand extension so wresters from Raw and Smackdown would
compete at PPVs? The last time that happened was last year’s Royal Rumble
and this past Tuesday at the video game awards. The Raw after WrestleMania
is the most important Raw of the year, maybe the decade. I truly think
having champion vs. champion would be a great main event as well as a great
way to rebuild the company.

Jason Fitzgerald writes:

Been awhile since I’ve written since work is so busy I just don’t have a
chance but I had some free time today to write concerning your Mania
article. Just so you know I still read almost everything you write both on
WO and the WC forum and if you are headed in that direction I think you have
a real future in writing and journalism. You pretty much always present well
written, well researched pieces and it’s always something I look forward to
when I get the time.

I think you are 100% correct in mentioning what does and what does not draw
in the current era. As evidenced by last year just throwing an Austin or
Hogan in a match no longer is a big draw the way just throwing Hogan in a
match 15 years ago would have been. More so than ever fans seem interested
in a story leading into a match, the finish of a match, and where they go
following the match. While having the big stars involved in situations like
this will certainly do better than having Test in a good story, I think the
good story featuring a star is going to outdraw a match featuring far bigger
stars with no background to go along with it. In some ways I give the
company a pass on Angle/Lesnar last year only because of the uncertainty of
Angle's injury at the time, but once it was evident Kurt was going to
compete they missed a golden opportunity to do something for both Angle and
Lesnar, neither of whom came out any stronger than before.

The only thing is I’m not so certain the company can build around younger
wrestlers right now. The WWE is so filled with big stars I think it’s just
too hard for a John Cena or Randy Orton to break out, not even taking the
backstage politics into account. When you have a company with Austin,
Helmsley, Flair, Michaels, Undertaker, Kane, Goldberg, McMahon, etc. I just
cant picture a new direction going forward. They have only presented a
handful of shows that I think have had the "star creating" effect you are
trying for with Mania XX. Mania IV I think uplifted Savage and DiBiase and a
lot of that had to do with Hogan being only slightly in the picture. Mania
XIV lifted Austin to another level and he took off with both Michaels and
Hart gone from the company. Though they didn’t have the level of success of
Austin and Savage a case can be made for Hart and to a lesser extent
Michaels and Hall coming out of Mania X and again you had a company which
basically lost all its prior draws. Undertaker was out until the end of the
summer and Savage was being totally phased out. I'm not sure which
WrestleMania I would compare XX with, but outside of one guy maybe shining
through I don’t think they can, no matter how strong the effort, change the
direction of the company or more importantly the fans’ perception of the
company.

I think Lesnar, as you pointed out, is that one guy. I'm not a fan of Brock.
I don't like his character and am not a big fan of his work, but he
certainly shows big time potential. I think the scenario you painted to get
him and Goldberg into the ring is a good one. One way or the other the crowd
will be largely behind one guy and Lesnar’s win should really mean
something, especially if he is in line for a long run with the title. A push
behind a man who can lay claim to cleanly beating the top, or one of the
top, stars of Raw in a high profile match really cements Brock as the real
world champion. Nobody else in the company can lay claim to doing that and
it would add another dimension to the brand extension. Due to the balance of
talent Smackdown can certainly build much more than Raw and using Lesnar
that way will be a big bump to guys like Cena and hopefully Guerrero.

With Raw, I’m not so sure you can just throw the belt on a guy for the sake
of trying something new. I don't like the idea of Orton in such a match,
although I know you were just using him as an example, and I just don’t
picture anyone there breaking through with such a loaded star roster. If the
plan is for Orton to be the number 1 guy, and I can’t see him being remotely
ready, I think you need a much slower build than the one you mentioned.
Eventually it has to come to a point where Orton throws out Flair and HHH
from that group, maybe replacing them with someone like Cade and Jindrak
where Orton won’t deal with being overshadowed by Flair. The two veteran
guys from Raw who can be used to put people over are Michaels, who should
work a ladder match with someone at Mania, and Flair. We've already seen
Michaels/Orton and who better for the "legend killer" to kill than the
"Nature Boy". Let Orton avoid HHH for the time being. If HHH is going to be
champion again have him come up with whatever reason to stay away from Orton
other than at the house shows, much like HHH did facing Austin after Mania
XIV.

Can legends be involved at Mania? I like the idea of Hogan wresting a squash
match against someone like Rene Dupree, but I’d prefer that be it other than
Flair. Savage, Steamboat, Hart, whomever can all be involved in the way they
do in boxing or MMA where they announce the former champions in attendance.
The only time I remember the WWE doing that as at Survivor Series in 1996.
If they really want to work a match at some point, and we all know McMahon
is a mark for the old guys, give them the option to work matches in the
future provided they put over Orton. I don’t have a problem at all with
Orton really earning the nickname beating Savage, Steamboat, or whomever
every other month on PPV. Give him Austin or Rock come SummerSlam. It
integrates the old legend into TV to add to the program and leaves the door
open for the old guys to do nostalgia matches in the future much in a way
they have used in Japan. By November of 2004 he should be ready to defeat
HHH or whomever for the title as they lead into the newest legend Orton has
not beaten - Brock Lesnar in 2005. The story of turning Orton into a star
can happen at WrestleMania, but I don’t think he, nor anyone besides Brock,
can be made into a big star at this years Mania.

By the way, if you had to book a full card right now, allowing for some
inter-promotional matches, at Mania XX how do you think it should go? That
may even make a nice small follow up for your column in the future. As
always keep up the great job.

John Woolverton writes:

Your primary point about Mania putting over new stars is right on the money.
Nostalgia matches will definitely contribute to the show, but shouldn't rise
above mid-card status. Some possible examples might be Flair vs. Hogan or
Flair vs. Steamboat.

There might be another alternative to champ vs. champ at Mania. How about a
once a year "Mania Champion?” Have champ vs. champ be a tradition at Mania
and the winner be put over as Mania Champ throughout the year until he
passes it on to the new winner at the next Mania champ vs. champ match. It
will give Mania the Super Bowl feel and predictable competitive structure I
think it needs to draw big and it will give importance to brand
championships and a goal for the contenders of both brands to shoot for and
jockey for throughout the year with their eye always on representing the
brand in the prestigious champ vs. champ match at Mania. Having an
irremovable championship for a whole year will put the champ over forever
and even be the highlight of his career.

One last thing, I think that Kurt Angle will not be around that much longer.
Thus, I think he needs to be put over at Mania as one of the all-time
greatest because he really is. If my "Mania Champ" idea actually happens, I
think the choice is obvious for the first champ, and that is Kurt Angle. It
would put him on the same legendary level as Austin and Rock, and I think he
deserves that without question.

Luc Lewandoski writes:

I would like to throw one suggestion at you regarding the Brock/Goldberg
main event. I understand why you don't like the idea of unification. I for
one would be very much against that. However, I do like the idea of champion
vs. champion for Brock/Goldberg. It seals any doubt that match should be the
main event. Both champs will have held the belts for quite a while leading
into WM. Finally, I think the match will need every piece of mystique it can
get to really make WM XX special, and belt vs. belt does do that.

So how do you do it with both men champs going in, but only one man champ
coming out? Make it a title vs. title match where the man who loses forfeits
his title.
I actually like that idea for every WM with the brand split. Always make it
champ vs. champ with the winner and his brand getting bragging rights for
the year. They never have brand champs face off at any other PPV. The loser
forfeits his belt, which gets settled in a tournament that takes place on
the brand’s TV and at their next PPV.

Now even if you don't do this every year, I would really recommend it
this year and here's why:

1. I would put Brock over Goldberg. He needs it more. Which brand has the
first PPV coming out of Mania? Raw. That fits perfectly in the schedule
for a tournament.

2. By having Brock beat Goldberg, but not the guys from Raw, Goldberg keeps
his heat as a strong opponent for almost anyone on the Raw brand. After all,
he didn't lose his belt to any of them, so he stays a strong opponent for
future feuds.

3. Now this gets the belt off of Goldberg and you can handle the tournament
any way you wish to, with two new faces in the final of the tourney, or a
Goldberg reclamation. I prefer someone facing Goldberg and pulling off an
upset victory over the big man.

4. This also creates good heat for WM XXI as Raw will want to get its heat
back from Smackdown for beating them in the main event.

5. This creates heat between Bischoff and Goldberg because Goldberg losing
an embarrassed Eric.

6. This creates great promo fodder for guys on both sides.

Mike Garnier writes:

The one dream match that I haven't seen or heard discussed elsewhere is to
me the most obvious: Hulk Hogan vs. Steve Austin. Sure, it is technically a
weak match, but think of the build-up. Here is the set-up. Think of the
video promos they could put together. They air video highlights of Hogan’s
rise to stardom, the first ten years of Hulkamania. Then the glass shatters.
They follow that with video highlights of Austin’s rise to stardom, the last
ten years of Austin 3:16.

The build-up would be incredible. The stipulation should be that
WrestleMania XX would be the last match for either man. Here is the kicker:
Vince McMahon should be the ref. The final decision of who wins is
determined by Vince. Then you have a typical Hogan/Austin style match where
they each get their four moves in, but finally McMahon has to decide the
winner. Thus, he chooses the man he feels truly represents WWE and its 20
year history. I think, Hogan vs. Austin with McMahon as ref would truly be
off the chart. And really, the only dream match needed for Mania 20.

Rishi Malhotra writes:

First I'd like to say that I enjoyed your column, as usual. Next, while the
ideas you have come up with seem like a good way to get Orton and Cena over,
we both know that it won't happen in that fashion.

I like the idea of Orton vs. HHH as a possible second from the top main
event, but my only real concern with that match isn't the story or even the
psychology potential of the match. The problem is the actual match, as Orton
hasn't really shown the ability to hang in big matches thus far and HHH
can't really work the way he could in the past. Asking him to carry someone
as inexperienced as Orton on a big time stage is asking a lot of HHH these
days, especially since this will be Orton's first Mania.

This is my take on how the WWE could get to HHH vs. Orton for the Raw title
and still keep Goldberg relatively strong and set up the Goldberg vs. Lesnar
Mania main event. I am more in favor of Goldberg vs. Austin, but that likely
won't happen. At Armageddon have HHH win the title back by pinning Kane and
obviously have some sort of screwball finish with Goldberg. It doesn't
really matter what the finish is because his focus for the next few months
should be getting at Lesnar despite the fact they will be on opposite shows.
Then at Royal Rumble have Goldberg win the Rumble to get his title shot at
Mania, but instead of going after the Raw title have him say that he wants
Lesnar at Mania.

In this sort of etch-a-sketch scenario, you have a method of getting the
title onto HHH to set up a lead-in to his feud with Orton and find a cop-out
way to get to Lesnar/Goldberg for Mania.

I guess in my scenario the best way to screw Goldberg is to have Orton take
him out and then the next night on Raw start the Orton/HHH turn by Orton
cutting a promo about how Evolution has evolved from HHH winning to HHH
needing “The Legend Killer” to win as he did the previous night when Orton
took out Goldberg to give HHH the title. Goldberg could get his revenge on
Orton by making Orton the last man eliminated at the Rumble.

As for Cena and Mania, if Angle is going to return to heel status that match
up makes a lot of sense and Angle could easily carry Cena to a good to great
match at Mania. The only concern I have is that while you are building up
Cena, Angle would appear to have no direction himself as he would
essentially just be a set up guy for potential main event status as he was
at Mania this year for Lesnar.

I'm interested to see what direction they go in with Benoit and Eddy as they
appear to have no real opponents lined up for the foreseeable future. In
addition it will be really interesting to see what happens with Edge once he
returns. I hope they keep Edge away until Mania at least and have him not
wrestle but rather just make an appearance and return to the active roster
following Mania.

Lastly, I know that WWE is pushing Mania as the 20th anniversary edition of
the show, but it is not the 20th anniversary but rather the 20th edition of
Mania. WrestleMania XXI will be the 20th anniversary.

Scott Ret writes:

Just letting you know that I loved your Mania XX article and you did a great
job setting up a booking scenario. You also explained perfectly why legends
matches drew in WCW and not WWE. In WCW, Hogan vs. Piper was hardly a
technical masterpiece, but at least it was the two leaders of the two
opposite sides of the greatest wrestling war ever: WCW NWO. Same thing with
Sting and Hogan and WCW ended up with its highest buy rate ever at Starrcade
‘97. The Hogan/Piper feud of this year was too obvious of an attempt to
hotshot ratings by just putting a call to two legends and it had nothing to
do with storylines or moving forward. It really bothers me that you and
other people on the Observer site are smarter than the people who are
working for the biggest wrestling company in the world. Doesn't make much
sense, does it? Loved the article; thanks.

Shilo Robinson writes:

I read your article posted today on wrestlingobserver.com and couldn't agree
more on how to book and elevate talent. Your scenario would make for a very
action packed and interesting WrestleMania.

I would like to throw some ideas by you regarding how to successfully pull
off the nostalgia matches at WMXX. In my opinion it is a financial waste to bring Piper, Hogan, or Savage back for even a one shot deal as none could
pull off an entertaining match with the possible exception of Hogan, who
looks to be out due to his knees. So of all the rest of the major players in
WrestleMania history who could feasibly pull off a good match? How about Ricky Steamboat and Terry Funk? OK, so neither of the two were in as many
WrestleManias as Hogan, Piper, or Savage. They could still pull off
entertaining matches. Funk only made two appearances, once at 2 and another
shot at 14 as Chainsaw Charlie.

They should utilize Funk and Steamboat along with Flair and Foley. A four
way match should emphasize in the buildup the history between Funk, Flair,
and Steamboat. However, that leaves no real place for Foley as he really
only had matches with Funk. So you could do a tag team match with Funk &
Foley vs. Flair & Steamboat. The most viable option though would be for
Terry Funk vs. Mick Foley, and Ric Flair vs. Rick Steamboat. Missing from
the nostalgia equation and a must in my opinion for WrestleMania XX needs to
be a final farewell to Bret Hart! Although he cannot wrestle and I would
assume the trip would be grueling it would be very emotional and memorable
for him to make a final appearance or sendoff if you will. Would it not be
great if before one of the nostalgia matches he is introduced to the fans
and then he takes a place at the ringside broadcast booth to do some
commentary on Flair vs. Steamboat or Funk vs. Foley?

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on what would make for some
effective and interesting nostalgia matches at WrestleMania XX. For the life
of me I can't figure out where to place Shawn Michaels and a possible final
match of Steve Austin on the card. At a four and a half to five hour show I
cannot see why WWE can't pull off a great show. Perhaps that is just wishful
thinking.

William Farr writes:

I read your booking plans to help build WMXX into a huge event and liked
your logic on emphasizing the future - pay respect to the past, but not to
the point of dominating the show. On a Lesnar-Goldberg match, I respectfully disagree with you about somebody having to drop a belt to make it feasible. The belts don't have to be on the line, because the current two-promotion
set-up makes the match both a non-title match (an inter-promotion match would have to be non-title to preserve the fiction of separate promotions) and a “true” title match (as the best of each promotion go at it to
determine the “true” world champion). The WWE teased this at the last mixed
PPV when Goldberg introduced himself to Lesnar as the “real world champion.” It's a wrestling version of “Who will win, Batman or Spiderman?” One
promotion gets bragging rights for a year. I think that if one of them
didn't hold the belt, then the match wouldn't be as compelling. The "best
vs. best" angle adds to the fans' curiosity and desire to see them fight.
It's a little simpler than your Orton/Cena scenarios as well. With the two
titleholders, WWE could just have Bischoff and/or Foley and Heyman start a
debate over who's got the better show. Or Vince McMahon could step in to
arrange it. The announcers for each show could start speculating on how no
one can touch their respective champion, and so on. Thanks for your hard
work, I look forward to your show reviews.

Next Week: 2003 Wrestling Observer Awards
In 2 Weeks: New Year’s Eve Showdown in the Land of the Rising Sun

Feedback: [email protected]