Pro wrestling is full of iconic gimmick matches from annual ones like the Royal Rumble to ones that materialize when the circumstances demand it like Ladder Matches, Strap Matches, Street Fights, and so on. For many old school gimmick matches, it’s nearly impossible to credibly trace their origins, but for newer ones or ones that had a particularly legendary first iteration, it’s easier to know how things got started. Moreover, there are those times when it was the quality of the first go-round that facilitated the match becoming a fixture in pro wrestling lore. Only a handful of original gimmick matches remain, to this day the greatest version of all time.

Elimination Chamber, Survivor Series 2002

In 2002, WWE introduced the Elimination Chamber. The impressive structure merged elements of Hell in a Cell for its impressive structure, War Games for its staggered entries, and an old school Survivor Series sensibility for eliminations en route to a true finish.

The first go-round happened in no less mythic setting than Madison Square Garden with a star-studded field of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Booker T, Kane, and Rob Van Dam. It’s telling that all of them but RVD had already been a world champion, whereas Van Dam himself was arguably at the peak of his abilities, if still a few years from winning his first world title.

The action was predictably excellent, culminating in an ultra-satisfying conclusion as Shawn Michaels beat the odds, winning his first and only world title of the final act of his career, after returning from his back injury. While most Chamber matches have been at least good, none has eclipsed this original classic.

War Games 1987

WWE rejuvenated the War Games concept, with Triple H first bringing it to NXT, and since making it a Survivor Series staple three years running on the main roster. Each WWE edition has been at least good, if not great, in ways that erase how many lackluster variations on the match WCW staged in its later years.

The original War Games occurred in 1987, an organic development that came out of The Four Horsemen terrorizing babyfaces, before the top babyfaces of the day banded together to go to war against them. During the Great American Bash 1987 tour, the face squad of Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering  went on to defeat Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger, and JJ Dillon inside the double cage. The inclusion of managers feels a bit lackluster in hindsight, but offered a clear way of protecting the regular wrestlers from taking the submission loss.

WWE has staged some excellent editions of this match, and there’s a case in favor of WCW’s 1992 edition featuring The Dangerous Alliance as the best ever.  The original 1987 one quite arguably ekes out the GOAT title though for novelty, brutality, and the satisfaction of seeing the good guys finally get one over on the villainous Horsemen and seeing Dillon get some comeuppance was, in and of itself, a pleasure for fans.

Hell In A Cell: Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker

Hell in a Cell has, in many ways, become the definitive blow-off gimmick match for WWE. The enormous steel cage structure is undeniably impressive and moments like Mick Foley taking not one, but two bumps from the top of the Cell in a single match cemented the gimmick’s place in WWE iconography.

While The Undertaker vs. Mankind is the most famous Hell in a Cell Match, and there have been quite a few excellent bouts inside the Cell over its twenty-five-plus year history to follow, the original match still takes the cake as its very best version. The storyline around the Cell’s construction was that it would be a structure to keep DX from helping Shawn Michaels as he tried to survive The Undertaker’s bid for revenge against him and earn a world title shot.

The match was every bit the classic one would expect from these two all-time great wrestlers who had all-time great chemistry between them. Even the finish was unique and satisfying as it saw the much-anticipated debut of Kane who arrived on the scene and cost his brother the match in truly epic fashion.

Blind Fold Match: Jake Roberts Vs. Rick Martel

The Blind Fold Match is one of pro wrestling’s more inherently silly gimmick matches, as the idea of two performers wearing hoods over their heads to wrestle is borderline comical and doesn’t exactly invite exciting bell-to-bell action.

When Jake Roberts faced off with Rick Martel at WrestleMania 7, however, a truly unique spectacle was at hand. The blind fold gimmick fit their feud perfectly, as The Model had previously blinded Roberts with his Arrogance cologne. From there, The Snake demonstrated his absolute mastery of pro wrestling psychology as he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, pointing around the ring to let their cheers help him find his rival. For his part, Martel more than played his part, trying the pointing gimmick too, while also playing the cowardly heel.

The match itself had a low ceiling, but the men involved made it incredibly entertaining at its time. Blind Fold Matches to follow thoroughly exposed the gimmick, though, including Triple H vs. D-Lo Brown, Drew McIntyre vs. Santino Marella, and James Storm facing Chris Harris in TNA. Each of these matches was poor, highlighting that the gimmick really demanded the right story and right performers, not to mention that it was probably best left in the WWE Golden Era that was a little hokier on the whole.

Empty Arena Match: Terry Funk Vs. Jerry Lawler

Pro wrestling feeds off live audiences with fan participation often adding a palpable sense of excitement and way for wrestlers to read what is and isn’t working in the ring. So it is that Empty Arena Matches are a bit counterintuitive, but can work in the right circumstances.

When Jerry Lawler blew off his Memphis feud with Terry Funk, the storyline at hand was Funk blaming all the biased fans and personnel in the arena for his previous failures against The King. What followed was a wildly entertaining novelty match with these two legends engaging in a brutal battle that was impossible for fans to look away from (through their TVs, of course—not in the arena).

WWE did a reasonable follow up with a Mankind vs. The Rock Empty Arena Match nearly two decades later. From there, WWE and other promotions that persevered through the pandemic were forced into other Empty Arena Matches—even an empty arena WrestleMania—during the pandemic. The unfortunate circumstances were no one’s fault, but highlighted that it took the right wrestlers and angle to get them into the vacated arena for this gimmick to really succeed.

While this year’s Survivor Series War Games match was, on its surface, a battle between two different versions of The Bloodline, the last minute addition of CM Punk to the team captained by Roman Reigns reframed the narrative. The story largely came down to Punk and Reigns as uneasy partners, bound by being two of the most successful Paul Heyman Guys.

The unlikely duo did wind up successfully coexisting, but it nonetheless returned a spotlight to the concept of Paul Heyman Guys and who among the celebrated cast of elite stars The Wise Man has helped along the way really is the best. We’ll never have a definitive answer, but it is interesting to compare the top contenders.

Bully Ray

Bully Ray is probably the most surprising act to appear on a list of the most successful Paul Heyman Guys, but when one stops to think about it, it’s both pretty remarkable what the former Bubba Ray Dudley has accomplished and how unlikely his story was had Heyman not put him in a position to succeed.

Though Bully Ray never had a main event singles run in ECW, he was nonetheless one of the promotion’s top stars, a heatseeking missile who drew nuclear reactions from the live crowds. Moreover, the opportunities afforded to him in ECW laid the foundation for his legendary run with D-Von Dudley as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, across ECW, WWE, TNA, and elsewhere.

It was in TNA where Bully Ray realized his full potential, booked as the leader of the Aces and Eights faction, world champion, and the definitive top heel in the promotion for the better part of the year. While he never broke out in WWE, this run proved what he had inside of him as a talker, worker, and wrestling mind, making good on everything Heyman had seen in him from back in their days in Philly together.

CM Punk

CM Punk was an indie darling but ran into a brick wall after signing with WWE. Upper management didn’t see a lot in him, but Paul Heyman did.

Heyman’s role running developmental at that point set him up to work closely with an eager Punk who sat under Heyman’s learning tree while further honing his craft. Against the odds, The Straight Edge Superstar did rise to prominence on the main roster in time. He did some of his best work as a long-reigning WWE Champion, with Heyman serving as his Advocate. Though Punk never needed a mouthpiece, Heyman certainly added to his presentation.

Punk’s resume since first collaborating with Heyman speaks for itself. He is, to date, a two-time WWE Champion, three-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, WWE ECW Champion, rare two-time WWE Money in the Bank winner, and two-time AEW Champion. It’s a record that places him among wrestling’s most accomplished stars of his generation.

Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns was Vince McMahon’s final hand-picked face of WWE, but it wasn’t until Reigns dropped the white meat babyface persona The Chairman had saddled him with and turned heel alongside Paul Heyman that he broached God Mode.

His positioning as the top babyface placed Reigns as a regular rival to Brock Lesnar, which gave him his first opportunities to collaborate with Heyman. Things went to an entirely new level when Heyman and Reigns formalized their partnership though, with the duo collaborating closely behind the scenes just as Heyman played The Wise Man on screen for Reigns and his Bloodline faction.

Since partnering with Heyman, Reigns enjoyed a historic three and half year reign as WWE Champion that cemented his place as the face of the company and probably the tip-top star of his generation. That’s not to mention that Reigns just won his second Survivor Series War Games main event and the smart money has more world title glory, WrestleMania main events, and other elite accolades in front of him.

Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar was an exceptional amateur wrestler and one of the few talents to succeed at the highest levels of pro wrestling and MMA alike. While The Beast’s real life combat credentials have little to do with Paul Heyman, his WWE journey was largely molded by his relationship with his advocate.

The generally accepted story is that most of the people advising Lesnar early in his career encouraged him to work like a standard big man who worked a slow pace, hit power moves, and never left his feet. Heyman saw bigger things in taking advantage of Lesnar’s natural speed and agility to lead to The Next Big Thing he’d become. Add in Heyman as a necessary mouthpiece and Lesnar became one of the biggest stars WWE has ever seen.

Stone Cold Steve Austin

The year was 1995 and nobody believed in Steve Austin. Austin had been let go from WCW out of a combination of his attitude issues and injuries, combined with a new focus on established imports from WWE. As for WWE, while they would end up signing Austin, it was for the explicit purpose of being a mechanic who could put over stars they were actually invested in in good technical matches.

It was Heyman who put a live mic in Austin’s hands and, in so doing, paved the way the way for the Texas Rattlesnake fans would come to know and love as Stone Cold Steve Austin. Like he did for many others, Heyman gave Stone Cold an opportunity to experiment and spotlight his strengths. Yes, Heyman would also manage Austin in WCW for a spell, and back him up as part of The Alliance in 2001, but it was Austin’s ECW run that permanently branded him as a Paul Heyman guy, and he went on to some of the most explosively successful years in pro wrestling history.

In 2005, WWE introduced the concept of Money in the Bank, and in 2017 the company introduced a women’s version of the very same concept. While its history is shorter, the women’s briefcase actually has a stronger track record for success than the men’s, as every single cash-in has yielded a new champion. By contrast, men’s cash-ins only have a seventy-six percent success rate to date.

To be fair, the first unsuccessful men’s cash-in didn’t occur until 2012, meaning the men’s briefcase was just about equally established as the women’s the first time it didn’t lead to a title change.

Despite the facts and figures at hand, history is quietly being made right now with one of the best Money in the Bank reigns of all time. Tiffany Stratton has absolutely thrived in her role holding the briefcase, waiting for her ascension to world championship glory.

Tiffany Stratton’s Coronation Feels Inevitable

Not all Money in the Bank briefcase holders are created equally. We’ve seen Mr. Money in Banks like John Cena (as the first person not to capture gold when he cashed in) and Drew McIntyre (as the most recent man to suffer the same fate)—established main eventers who didn’t need and thus didn’t feel so electric with the briefcase, and who wound up weathering big setbacks.

In contrast, there were winners like Damien Sandow or Nikki ASH—talented performers who nonetheless didn’t feel like they made a lot of sense winning the top prize in the company, such that it was disappointing but not exactly shocking when Sandow’s cash-in failed, and similarly not exactly shocking that while Nikki took the title, her ensuing reign was brief and forgettable.

Tiffany Stratton follows in a tradition of Ms. Money in the Banks like Carmella and Liv Morgan, not to mention Mr. Money in the Banks like Edge and Big E whose talents felt worthy of winning the big one, who are believably positioned to do just that in terms of their booking.

Even more so than Carmella and Morgan when they won  their ladder matches, Stratton has a certain air of inevitability around her. She’s truly the total package in combining athleticism, raw power, and technical ability with charisma and the look of a star. She’s been well protected too, such that as fans watch her carry around the briefcase, there’s a real sense of watching history—that it’s less a question of whether than when she’ll have convert that luggage to a championship belt around her waist.

Tiffany Stratton Has A Strong Storyline Going With Nia Jax

Money in the Bank runs can go all sorts of different ways. The history of the women’s briefcase has been littered with very quick cash-ins. In particular, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, and Liv Morgan each cashed in the same night they won the ladder match. Nikki ASH waited less than a week, and Iyo Sky was  a relatively patient Ms. Money in the Bank for waiting thirty-five days.

Only Carmella had a Money in the Bank run that could, by any measure, be considered long as two hundred eight-seven days passed before she cashed in on Charlotte Flair.

Tiffany Stratton is on course for a long briefcase run herself, as she’s already held onto it for over a hundred-fifty days. More so than idly waiting in the wings or randomly getting thwarted when she tries to cash-in at sporadic intervals, Strattons’ run has been largely defined by her angle with Nia Jax.

The duo are allies who superficially seem content to reign in their respective roles, with Tiffy even teasing cashing in on Liv Morgan instead so they could both, simultaneously be world champions. The possibility of their two-women power trip looms, though it feels more likely we’ll eventually see a betrayal. The angle has been patiently built enough that it’s conceivable it will run all the way to WrestleMania, perhaps with Stratton calling her shot in advance to finally take her title opportunity.

Tiffany Stratton’s Cash-In Teases Have Been Creative

Part of the fun of Tiffany Stratton’s Money in the Bank run has been the creativity of the scenarios in which she looks poised to cash-in. Yes, there have been some standard issue occurrences of her teasing she might cash-in when a champion is down. There was much more intrigue, though, wrapped up in Crown Jewel this year, with Nia Jax and Liv Morgan locked into a champion vs. champion match and tons of speculation ran rampant online about whether Stratton would or even could cash-in on both women simultaneously mid-match.

Another particularly fun cash-in tease materialized at Survivor Series as, mid-War Games, Stratton extracted her briefcase from a trash can. The moment was genuinely surprising and electric, as no one meaningfully saw it coming in, and immediate questions arose about what a cash-in in such a crowded pair of rings would look like. Would someone interrupt it? Would War Games resume after a cash-in, and, if so, would Stratton still have the faith of her teammates after stealing the title from one of them?

The cash-in didn’t actually go down, but the fun moment and big crowd response further indicated that the actual cash-in is going to be awesome.

Tiffany Stratton Herself Has Excelled At Every Turn

Despite steadily playing a heel throughout her main roster run, Tiffany Stratton has grown hugely popular for her propensity for delivering highlight reel high spots, her sex appeal, and her overall talent. Case in point, she’s lived up to just about every opportunity to date with no signs of slowing down.

Long time wrestling fans have seen their share of flashes in the pan—talents who get pushes and fizzle whether it’s due to their own shortcomings or fickle management. With everything Stratton brings to the table and Triple H representing a steadier hand at the creative helm of the company, there’s a real sense that patience surrounding her Tiffy’s Money in the Bank run will pay off in an incredible future. We all have the privilege of knowing we’re probably watching a Hall of Fame career get built before our very eyes.

As unlikely as it may seem in the late stages of 2024, New Day is suddenly one of the most buzzworthy acts in wrestling once again. Indeed, a decade in, the team far surpassed what anyone could have expected when Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Big E first assembled under an ill-defined gospel gimmick Vince McMahon tried to foist upon them.

New Day went on to enjoy a meteoric rise before struggling over most of the last four years as injuries, bad luck, and sheer duration all caught up to them.

The prevailing belief was that the team was going to split up for good as Kingston and Woods arguing with one another paved the road to their advertised ten-year celebration on Raw. The two men rallying and collectively turning on Big E was a sharp turn, officially marking the start of a new chapter. At this inflection point, it’s worth looking back on some of the unit’s greatest accomplishments in its first ten years together.

New Day Facilitated KofiMania And Big E’s Cash In

With two out of three members of New Day winning the WWE Championship, they have a valid claim to be in the conversation among the most successful factions ever in WWE. Kofi Kingston’s surge of popularity in 2019 that carried him to WrestleMania 35 was very much linked to New Day—the team that had kept him relevant and working featured matches. Indeed, while Kingston earned his moment, it’s telling that Xavier Woods and Big E winning a tag team gauntlet was the angle chosen to finally get their partner to his ‘Mania title shot.

Two and half years later, Big E would have his crowning moment as he, too, won the WWE Championship, arriving at the big win via Money in the Bank cash-in. New Day was less involved in this triumph given E had been separated from his teammates via a brand draft, only to briefly reunite when he won the title. Just the same, there’s reason to believe E may not have been in this position—or perhaps even under WWE contract anymore—without the successes he’d enjoyed with New Day protecting him from getting lost in the shuffle.

New Day Had The Longest WWE Tag Team Championship Reign Of All Time

While world title glory was the high-water mark for New Day in its first decade, the team also enjoyed the single longest WWE Tag Team Championship reign of all time at 483 days, surpassing a record Demolition had established twenty-eight years earlier.

More than reigning by default when there wasn’t a strong division around them, New Day elevated their titles, putting on excellent matches and entertaining fans with their antics. While reigns to follow shored up their spot as an all-time great team, this was the one that immediately put Big E, Xavier Woods, and Kofi Kingston in the conversation among WWE’s greatest tag teams ever.

New Day Was Part Of The Best Non-Singles Hell In A Cell Match Of All Time

Hell in a Cell has an uneven history. For every classic like Mankind facing Shawn Michaels or The Undertaker, there are throwaway encounters in the Cell like The Undertaker vs. The Big Boss Man at WrestleMania 15, Triple H’s slog with Kevin Nash, or CM Punk trying to pull a decent Cell match out of Ryback.

There have been good tag team Hell in a Cell bouts like DX vs. Legacy and good multi-man affairs like the main event of Armageddon 2000. The best of the best of these non-one-on-one matches, though, has to go to New Day vs. The Usos in 2017. The two teams were creative, brutal, and had a long, compelling feud to pay off.

New Day Hosted WrestleMania 33

At WrestleMania 31, New Day was a new tag team, and the component members filled totally forgettable spots in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. It’s telling that just two years later, they were tasked with hosting WrestleMania 33.

The record of WrestleMania hosts has grown a bit checkered and increasingly random, but at that point, it was an honor that had only previously been bestowed upon The Rock at WrestleMania 27 and Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 30.

New Day hadn’t achieved the legendary status of their predecessors, but trusting them with this role bespoke that they were one of the most popular acts in the company and WWE trusted their abilities as entertainers on the mic enough to make them the recurring stars of the show. Needless to say, they delivered.

New Day Turning On Big E Was An Instant Classic Moment

While there’s a bit of recency bias in ranking such a new moment in the top five, there’s little question Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston turning on Big E represented one of the greatest things the New Day crew has ever pulled off.

The trio tapped into all the emotional investment they’d built up from fans during the preceding ten years to create an incredible emotional charge. Fans watching one of wrestling’s most special bonds crumble before their eyes was truly one of the most heartbreaking scenes in WWE history and has charted a new course for Kingston and Woods as a genuinely special heel act.

MVP has made his presence felt in AEW in recent weeks. An impressive in-ring debut for Shelton Benjamin only further reinforced their collective potential as individual talents and, all the more so, as a unit.

All too often, though, fans have seen acts start out hot in AEW, only to get lost in the shuffle. While the easy critiques on MVP, Benjamin, and other talents who may or may not joint them—particularly Bobby Lashley—is that they’re WWE alumni and that they’re relatively old, there’s still plenty of potential for them to change the game in AEW.

The Hurt Is Back In Business

WWE’s Hurt Business was a landmark faction. They were one of the coolest parts of WWE programming in the pandemic era and the group succeeded in finally getting Bobby Lashley all the way over as a WWE Champion after stop-start pushes and never quite reaching the mountain top throughout either of his WWE tenures prior to that point.

The Hurt Business experiment fizzled, though, with Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander fading further and further into the background and MVP on the outs. Lashley enjoyed some successes, including fans seeing a lot of potential in him teaming up with The Street Profits, but it never went anywhere and The All Mighty’s final months in WWE were conspicuously quiet.

Now, MVP and Benjamin have shown up in AEW, launching The Hurt Syndicate. WWE has done a nice job of slow-playing this act, including creating initial intrigue between MVP and Swerve Strickland, before rolling out Benjamin and immediately establishing him as far more of an in-ring threat than he got to play for most of his WWE career.

AEW Can Push Black Talent To The Moon

While WWE has been on fire under Triple H’s creative leadership, one critique that’s only gaining momentum is that The Game hasn’t done enough to push black talent. Fans have noticed an absence of black men in particular from PLE cards. Moreover, Helmsley’s attempt at quieting the haters in the Bad Blood post-show press conference came across as uncharacteristically tone deaf and outdated as he claimed not to see color.

It doesn’t seem fair to actually think of The Cerebral Assassin as actively racist, but he has nonetheless left an opening for AEW to distinguish itself by more overtly pushing black stars. Swerve Strickland’s celebrated run as AEW Champion laid some strong groundwork. MVP and The Hurt Syndicate have the tools to take things to the next level.

A Swerve Strickland Vs. Bobby Lashley Feud

Swerve Strickland and Shelton Benjamin look as though they’re on a collision course right now in AEW, but between Benjamin’s age and the damage his credibility took in WWE, this wouldn’t feel like a satisfying end game for the story AEW has been rolling out. Rather, things really feel as though they ought to be building toward Strickland vs. Bobby Lashley.

Lashley is an awesome physical specimen and with WWE world title credentials under his belt (not to mention a history as the world champ in TNA), he’s a suitably credible opponent for Strickland. Moreover, The All Mighty represents a worthy mountain to climb. Though Strickland should ultimately have his sights set on reclaiming the AEW Championship, winning a feud over Lashley and The Hurt Syndicate could do a great deal to further solidify Strickland as a bona fide main event fixture.

The Hurt Syndicate Vs. The Blackpool Combat Club

The Blackpool Combat Club has been one of the most compelling parts of AEW programming for much of the last two and a half years. The recent tonal shift, with Jon Moxley turning heel and recapturing the AEW Championship, intrigue around their mission to fundamentally change AEW, and the additions of PAC and Marina Shafir have brought the group right back to the spotlight as one of the most buzzworthy acts in the promotion, if not all of wrestling.

Feuding with The Blackpool Combat Club would be a great place for The Hurt Syndicate to land, offering a formidable, fresh challenge and series of matchups, up to and including the possibility of an AEW Championship reign for Bobby Lashley. At minimum, one of the most important parts of a modern faction’s success is having other credible factions to feud with, and this is where these two groups could help one another significantly.

In the end, only time will tell what AEW has planned for MVP and his Hurt Syndicate. Early signs have been promising, though, and there’s a real chance for the creative to follow to end the mainstream careers of MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Bobby Lashley on a high note, while also bettering AEW and the careers of several of its other stars.

At Bad Blood, Triple H unveiled the Crown Jewel Championship belt, and in so doing announced that the November Crown Jewel PLE from Saudi Arabia would feature head-to-head matches between both the men’s and women’s world champions of each main roster brand. While the belt itself looks impressive, the response from fans has been underwhelming.

The concept ostensibly seems to revisit the brand warfare days of Survivor Series or the Bragging Rights PLE, each of which produced some good matches over the years but tended to fall flat from a storytelling perspective because of the lack of stakes. After all, no one’s title reigns were actually at risk, and by the nature of separate brands, talents typically didn’t continue their storylines past the one-off show at hand, making them almost feel like non-canon, house show-style events.

Is it possible, however, to make the Crown Jewel Championship mean something, both this year and on an ongoing basis—the foundation for a new WWE tradition? There is some potential.

Cody Rhodes Makes The Crown Jewel Championship Credible

Ask any casual fan who won the first two Royal Rumbles, and the odds are they won’t know. That’s because the victors were perennial mid-carder Jim Duggan and then Big John Studd, who never wrestled another PLE match after his Rumble win. In each of these cases, the Rumble finish was a crowd pleaser, but carried no consequences.

That narrative changed the following two years when Hulk Hogan became the first back-to-back Royal Rumble winner. Even though it would be another year before the Rumble had stakes—with the world title or a world title shot at WrestleMania henceforth on the line—Hogan winning elevated the match to be something the tip-top stars in the company cared about. It’s little wonder the Royal Rumble victory started feeling like one of the most prestigious things a wrestler could accomplish from that point on.

As the most recent back-to-back Royal Rumble winner, the most recent WrestleMania main event winner, and the reigning WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes is now the de facto face of WWE. As such, being the inaugural Crown Jewel Champion marks an opportunity to immediately lend credibility to that title. In contrast to Braun Strowman winning the Greatest Royal Rumble and its symbolic championship belt, then getting released a few short years later, only to return as a mid-carder, The American Nightmare is a bona fide marquee star. There’s no gamble around whether this victory will be an effective stepping stone for him. Rather, he’s the man who can make the championship.

Gunther Winning The Crown Jewel Championship Stands To Elevate Him

WWE finds itself in a win-win situation, in which either man who might win the Crown Jewel Championship already has marked credibility. Cody Rhodes could legitimize the title. There may, however, be even greater mutual potential in a Gunther victory.

Gunther has been one of WWE’s most consistent performers since arriving on the main roster and, particularly in terms of match quality, he has thrived as World Heavyweight Champion. Crown Jewel could mark a unique opportunity, though, for him to beat one of the few undeniably bigger stars than himself, without disrupting The American Nightmare’s WWE Championship reign.

A victory for Gunther and a closing shot of him holding the Crown Jewel Championship over his head, while defeated Rhodes lies on the mat, can sell the idea that he truly is WWE’s top champion and mark one of the final pieces in the puzzle of pushing him forward from world championship status to the kind of guy who could credibly main event a WrestleMania. Moreover, this victory, more so than Rhodes winning, could plant the seeds for WWE to revisit this feud with either world title on the line, properly, down the road.

Tiffany Stratton Cashes In

There’s only one Money in the Bank briefcase currently in play. Given Tiffany Stratton’s immense talent and potential, it looks as though there’s a good chance she will ultimately become a champion when she chooses to cash in.

Some folks online are getting a little carried away in prognosticating that she might cash in on both Liv Morgan and Nia Jax and win both their titles as well as the Crown Jewel one. The logistics are quite fuzzy on whether that would canonically make sense (could cash-ins really happen on two champions at once on a whim?). WWE can always fudge the rules, but if Stratton were to cash-in, it seems more feasible she would do so on one champion or the other post-match.

Another unconventional possibility, though, would be for Stratton to cash-in for the Crown Jewel Championship itself, either by turning the match for that title into a Triple Threat, or by claiming it off the winner immediately post-match. While, on paper, this choice wouldn’t make much sense, it would be a way of immediately establishing this prize in not just ceremonial, but rather is desirable enough for a Money in the Bank holder to think it was worth a cash-in.

The most likely scenario in which this solution would work would probably be if Morgan were to either win or be very close to it, only for Stratton to take that prize from here without rushing her brewing issue with Jax.

WWE Can Stage Classic Matches For The Crown Jewel Championship

Without getting too complicated around the booking, one of the most surefire ways to make the Crown Jewel Championship feel important would be for the matches for it to be great in and of themselves.

That doesn’t necessarily seem like a likely outcome on the women’s side. Liv Morgan has done outstanding character work and is a good in-ring performer. It nonetheless seems unlikely she can compensate enough to pull a great match out of Nia Jax (who has shown improvement bell-to-bell, but still isn’t someone anyone’s expecting match of the year candidates out of).

By contrast, on the men’s side of things, Cody Rhodes and Gunther are both talented enough, with enough investment from management that an instant classic does feel possible. If both these marquee stars go all out and have the time put on a classic, they could go a long way toward putting this championship on the map.

In the end, the Crown Jewel Championship probably isn’t going to become a profound part of WWE lore, though. There are opportunities to make it feel meaningful in the short term, or for it to at least be at the center some fun action in November.

At All In 2024, Bryan Danielson defeat Swerve Strickland to, for the first time, capture the AEW World Championship. The victory was sensible enough both from the perspective of being one of the best all-around professional wrestlers in the world and, as many pundits framed it, as a lifetime achievement award.

Indeed, Danielson has lost many more high profile matches than he has won since signing with the company, but this victory and the subsequent announcement that he plans to retire from full-time performance when he loses the title have compelled fans to think more about his career and legacy.

One prime question about Danielson comes down to how one should compare his efforts in WWE with his time elsewhere. He was active in WWE from 2010 to 2021 as Daniel Bryan, though nearly four years of that time was lost due to what appeared to be career-ending injuries. Despite sporadically appearing in WWE, mostly as an enhancement talent, from 2000 to 2003, he spent most of his first decade of his career on the indies, though, arriving at a reputation as one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. He’s added onto that legacy with these past three years in AEW.

So which version of Danielson left the bigger mark? There’s a lot to consider.

Bryan Danielson Achieved Fame And Respect Independent OF WWE

When Daniel Bryan arrived on WWE television in 2010 as a “rookie” to be mentored by The Miz in early NXT, he garnered an unusual reaction. He was a rare star—particularly for that era—who had built a real name for himself without WWE exposure, considered by many at the time to be the best wrestler in the world not to have ever been signed with WWE. The fact that The Miz—a hated performer whose aesthetic was very “sports entertainment,” and as such the antithesis of Bryan’s ethos, only piled on the heat.

This reception was all a testament to what Bryan Danielson accomplished on the indies and, in particular, in ROH as an in-ring virtuoso with a deceptive charisma that had allowed him to connect with fans at a high level.

Danielson has only added to this legacy in AEW, including instant classic matches with Kenny Omega, MJF, Swerve Strickland, and plenty of others. Few and far between are the wrestlers who’ve gotten over at the highest level in absolutely every environment they’ve set foot in. Danielson is that guy.

Daniel Bryan Was A WrestleMania Main Eventer

There are a lot milestones that define the most successful wrestlers in the world. Winning a world title anywhere—but particularly where the lights are on brightest in WWE—is an accomplishment. Winning a world title in the final match of a WrestleMania is on the next level, though—a very specific feat only eighteen performers have ever accomplished. Indeed, there’s a real case that this feat is what separates the defining characters of WWE lore from more experimental world champs like Jinder Mahal or Jack Swagger.

Bryan is on that list with a showing that arguably belongs on the Mount Rushmore of greatest WrestleMania main event performances. That’s not to mention that he also main evented in a losing effort seven years later, and worked two other ‘Mania world title matches across his tenure.

While, as Bryan Danielson, he also worked and won a historic All In main event in front of over 80,000 people, it remains difficult to put that kind of accomplishment on part with headlining WrestleMania given how iconic that show’s brand has grown over the last four decades.

Bryan Danielson And Daniel Bryan Have Both Had Great Matches

One consistent factor for Bryan Danielson and Daniel Bryan is that, across the board, he has produced great matches. In WWE he more than held his own in some of the best matches stars ranging from John Cena to Triple H to Randy Orton to Roman Reigns ever had.

Before signing with WWE, though, Danielson built a reputation on classics with the likes of Nigel McGuinness, KENTA, and Takeshi Morishima. In AEW, his best bouts include outings with Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay, and Adam Page.

There’s a case to be made Danielson’s greatest ring work, from a purist’s perspective, came outside WWE, but his ability to bring a more technical and stiff style to the masses in WWE—including opposite some opponents less known for work rate–represents an accomplishment all its own.

Daniel Bryan Reached A Larger Audience

At the end of the day, evaluating whether Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson has the greater legacy comes down to personal opinion given both were great and, of course, it was ultimately the same performer responsible for both, and it’s impossible to completely disentangle one from the other.

Nonetheless, at the end of the day it does matter that Daniel Bryan performed in front of a larger sustained audience. That’s important for his reach and accessibility. It also matters for just how impressive it was for an undersized “work rate guy” with an non-traditional personality for wrestling to get over at the highest level in WWE, and particularly when it was still under Vince McMahon’s creative leadership with his more specific vision for what a superstar should look like.

Call him Daniel Bryan. Call him Bryan Danielson. At the end of the day, the man belongs in the conversation among the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, and it’s fitting that fans of different aesthetics, who follow different promotions, all have large bodies of work to appreciate from him.

One of the wildest stories from the WWE over the last three years has been the rise of Logan Paul. Wrestling fans were quick to dismiss him as a B-list celebrity WWE was wasting its time with early on. However, his in-ring performances escalated, from a startlingly good tag team debut at WrestleMania 38, to an even better singles performance opposite The Miz at SummerSlam 2022, to holding his own challenging Roman Reigns for a world title in Saudi Arabia.

Paul has gone on thrive on athleticism in the ring and playing the heel brilliantly on the mic. However, his real life persona has raised eyebrows, up to and including some fans suggesting that, even if he is quite good at wrestling, he’s not worth keeping under WWE contract. There are real questions regarding how much of his persona may be a work versus a shoot.

He’s Uniquely Polarizing

Even before he got involved in wrestling, a significant part of Logan Paul’s public persona has been about being outspoken, a little arrogant, and willing to poke at sensitive topics. Recent months have seen a major uptick in Paul grabbing headlines via comments on his podcast, social media and elsewhere.

In June, Paul hosted former president and current candidate Donald Trump on his podcast Impaulsive. The choice to have this guest at all drew strong responses (positive and negative), and things only escalated when Paul advertised the interview on social media with theatrics of him and Trump having a face off, as well as smiling together. From there, the interview itself took a pretty strong partisan stance in favor of Trump.

Paul’s summer was just heating up at that point, though. One of the bigger stories coming out of the 2024 Summer Olympics was that of Algeria’s Imane Khelif competing in women’s boxing after a controversial previous test had ruled her ineligible to fight women. Paul espoused hateful rhetoric that misidentified Khelif as a man. While he walked it back a little after learning more context, critics still pointed out that even his apology arguably had transphobic undertones.

These two high profile instances, amidst a controversial career in the public eye seemed to rattle the good faith Paul had built up among wrestling fans, as public sentiment started to veer away from him.

He’s a Firebrand

Logan Paul hosted Hulk Hogan on his podcast in September. The two got along famously during the interview, which itself raised some eyebrows for a sect of wrestling fans who have grown increasingly-disenchanted with The Hulkster. One of the headlines coming out of the interview, though, was Paul bashing Bret Hart, as he accused The Hitman of “talking sh*t on everyone that he used to work with and work for because,” and saying Hart’s commentary left a bitter taste in his mouth. Rather than slow down, Paul embraced a war of words with Kevin Nash afterword.

Big Daddy Cool knocked Paul on his own podcast, which sent Paul to social media to cut a full-on promo against the former WWE and WCW Champion. Therein, The Maverick identified himself as a top five WWE talent and went on to claim he was better at pro wrestling as a part timer than Nash ever was, before finishing off by directing an expletive his way.

Can’t Look Away

While there’s a substantial body of fans who’ve soured on Logan Paul, a very real question arises. Is is it possible that, just as Paul has demonstrated unexpectedly strong instinct and aptitude for the in-ring elements of wrestling, might he also have an unconventionally old school and effective approach to getting heat.

Paul plays a heel in WWE and there’s a case to be made that the way he has alienated a significant portion of wrestling fans has been strategic. Heck, maybe he’s even transcending wrestling and willingly playing the heel in larger pop culture, embracing not only controversy but down right venom toward him if it courts attention.

Paul targeting Bret Hart and Kevin Nash in recent comments may denote his actual opinions, but it may also mark an unconventional take on the old “legend killer” gimmick, most famously used by Randy Orton, with variations on it used by others including Rob Conway and Heath Slater at different points. The playbook is simple—for a young talent to get heat by disrespecting legends who are well past their prime and can’t shut him up in the ring. A gimmick like this would be a near perfect fit for a brash, not-quite-30-year-old heel around his physical prime.

Time will tell how much heat Logan Paul is drawing intentionally, or more organically based on his real personality. Regardless, he remains a lightning rod for attention and it will be especially interesting to see what happens if he does commit to his stated goal of starting up wrestling full time in the near future.

In 2012, WWE transitioned to airing Raw for three hours every week. The move was a clear business decision. As streaming services started finding their footing and television viewer became less reliant on cable, there was drive to fill a lot of hours with live TV that ran year round and had a loyal following. Three hour Raws were very good for WWE’s business.

The move was controversial from fans’ perspectives, though, with some already complaining about a high volume of three-hour Raw specials, only to see the issues of bloated shows exacerbated by three-hour broadcasts every week. WWE recently announced a transition back to two hours, with early rumblings suggesting that change will hold into the move to Netflix in 2025. This transition is ultimately the best thing for the show and its viewers.

Three Hours Always Felt Too Long

Wrestling fans will readily consume a three-hour super card, as has often been the standard for the pay-per-view or Premium Live Event models. When these events only happened a few times a year, or even when they ballooned to monthly occurrences, it was nonetheless fun for fans to come together, order some pizza, and enjoy this occasional experience.

A three-hour weekly television show is a much tougher sell. Whether it’s for working adults, younger people in school, or a variety of other demographics, it can be hard for a viewer to dedicate that much time to their TV in a sitting, and to do so on that regular of a basis.

A two-hour block is much more natural fit for the average fan’s weekly schedule and viewing habits. While the occasional longer special episode can work, a transition from three, back to two hours marks a potential end to the days when watching Raw feels like a chore or a slog to endure, but rather scales things back to more moderate, consistently enjoyable viewing experience.

WWE Can Tighten Its Focus With Two-Hour Shows

It’s a matter of personal opinion which era of Monday Night Raw was the best and factors like nostalgia as well as individual preferences around in-ring action, storytelling, and character work all coming into play when people pick favorites. It is difficult to deny, however, that the hottest period in Raw’s history—when the product had the most eyes on it and was subject to the most water cooler talk, roping in casual fans–came during The Attitude Era.

There were a lot of factors that contributed to the Attitude Era’s success, but it’s no coincidence that the roughly five-year stretch that encompasses this period saw Raw air for two hours. Two hours was enough time to tell stories and include compelling matches, but also a short enough time that it hardly ever felt as though there was filler dragging the product down or testing viewers’ patience.

WWE has been on a hot streak since Triple H took over creative and there are justifiably some concerns that fewer minutes will result in fewer opportunities for a wide swathe of talents to shine. While there is some legitimacy to this concern, there’s also a real case to be made that the cream will always rise to the top. Moreover, if having just two hours of TV times makes talents step up their game to earn their minutes or leads to unexpected partnerships for talents to share TV time, there’s a lot of potential for great TV ahead.

The Netflix Platform May Afford WWE The Best Of All Worlds

One of the selling points of Raw on Netflix that has already been established is a no-commercial model, which will open up a lot of storytelling possibilities, including big matches airing without interruption and opportunities to have one match or promo flow into another in ways that are traditionally pretty challenging to pull off.

The move to Netflix also opens the possibility of more flexible timing. A two-hour standard baseline makes sense for Raw. But what if a match or a promo segment runs long? While WWE will surely have to work within reasonable parameters for the sake of the live audience and venue, it looks feasible an episode could run two hours and fifteen minutes when it needs to. By contrast, if everything were to occur within an hour and fifty minutes, that would probably be fine as well. Just as Netflix shows like Stranger Things have famously had episode run times ranging from around the forty-five-minute mark in season one to the season four finale that clocked in at two hours and nineteen minutes, Raw may well be able to organically expand and contract according to the needs of the show as opposed the constraints of a cable television broadcast.

Only time will truly tell if two hours is the better fit for WWE Raw, but this is a change that entails plenty of reasons for optimism in watchability, focus, and the potential for flexibility that a streaming platform affords.

Call him Sid Vicious, Sid Justice, Sycho Sid, or just plain Sid. Wrestling fans of the 1990s couldn’t avoid one of the most eye-catching and prolific attractions of the era. Sid Eudy had an incomparable look for a wrestling star and went on to play a major role in WWE and WCW alike, with stopovers in ECW and other smaller stages. While there are parts of his legacy that haven’t aged as well as others, he remains the subject of a great deal of nostalgia from some of wrestling’s hottest periods. Moreover, late in life, he role-modeled what life after wrestling perhaps should look like. Sadly, the world lost Eudy on August 26, 2024, but his legacy will remain for quite some time.

Sid Eudy Looked the Prototype of a Pro Wrestler

Though Sid Eudy famously had some real-life hard feelings with Arn Anderson (more on that later), Anderson nonetheless articulated what so many people who followed wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s thought: that Eudy had one of the greatest looks for pro wrestling of all time.

Indeed, billed at 6’9” and 317 pounds, Eudy was jacked to the gills, coming across as an absolute monster every time he walked to the ring. Accordingly, he was a key figure in popularizing some of the most over, fundamental big man offense of his generation and the ones to follow, delivering powerbombs and chokeslams with fiery authority.

Sid Eudy Wrestled in the Main Event of WrestleMania and Starrcade During the Monday Night War

Only a select few wrestlers have been entrusted with working the main event match at WrestleMania, and similarly, only a select class has had the chance to close WCW’s rough equivalent, Starrcade. The number of wrestlers who headlined both of these major shows is even smaller, and those who main-evented both Starrcade and WrestleMania during the white-hot period of the Monday Night War are limited to just two names: Bret Hart and Sid Eudy.

Eudy may seem like a less obvious name to have achieved this dual accomplishment and, in fairness, he was on the losing end of less-than-stellar main events in each instance. Nonetheless, his positioning to headline opposite some of the most iconic stars of the time in The Undertaker and Scott Steiner (not to mention main-eventing ‘Mania opposite Hulk Hogan at the tail end of the Golden Era) reinforces that Eudy was a consistent draw whom fans were eager to see working under the brightest spotlights in wrestling.

Sid Eudy’s Lows Don’t Overshadow the Way He Captured the Imagination of Wrestling Fans

The rise of the Internet wasn’t altogether kind to Sid Eudy. First and foremost, he wasn’t a “work rate” wrestler known to stage five-star classic matches. Moreover, he had some famous blunders during live promos and a weird reputation for allegedly feigning injury so he could play softball each year.

On top of all that, Eudy was involved in an infamous hotel room brawl that purportedly saw him stab Arn Anderson repeatedly with scissors in 1993. The incident wasn’t exactly a secret but exploded into fans’ consciousness online. Additionally, the last image many fans have of the big man was him incurring a horrifying leg injury in the ring during the main event of the Sin PPV in 2001.

There was plenty of reason for Eudy to become the subject of criticism and the butt of jokes following his retirement. Nonetheless, for fans who watched him live—especially as children—it’s hard to erase the aura the man once had. Indeed, for a certain generation, he was quite arguably the defining monster heel (or babyface) of wrestling and captured the imagination like few before or since.

Sid Eudy’s Life After Wrestling

One of the aspects of Sid Eudy’s life that will age quite well is that in a business in which so many people died young, often estranged from their families, or after making regrettable public comments that threatened to “cancel” their legacies, that was not Eudy’s story at all.

Eudy only appeared sporadically in wrestling post-WCW, working a bit on the indies and having a one-off appearance for WWE, taking down Heath Slater on Raw. More notably, his late-in-life social media posts were highlighted by loving photographs of him spending time with his grandchildren, looking content in a quieter life, away from the bright lights of wrestling.

Indeed, one of the sadder parts of Eudy’s final chapters of life is that he had openly written about his desire to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, citing that he thought he had a better shot with Vince McMahon no longer calling the shots. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t live to see this goal come to fruition before succumbing to cancer at the age of 63.

Sid Eudy lives on in the hearts and minds of professional wrestling as an influential star with an awesome look and prominent placement for some huge moments in wrestling history. It’s with a heavy heart and condolences to his loved ones that fans say farewell to The Master and The Ruler of the World.

Judgment Day has had its ups and downs, but it’s telling that this faction’s show-long angle wound up threading its way through SummerSlam, one of the biggest events on the WWE calendar. Indeed, in the men’s and women’s divisions alike on Monday Night Raw, Judgment Day has been a huge force, holding its own with the World Heavyweight Championship scene and drama between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk as one of the most buzzworthy parts of the brand.

One of the more interesting aspects of the creative success surrounding Judgment Day is that their history is in many ways repeating itself. That’s not only in having the Women’s World and Raw Tag Team Championships on lock—a familiar position for the group over the last year—but also in a number of specific choices around their booking that are playing out more successfully the second time around.

Judgment Day Has Ousted Its Longest Standing Members Again

One of the defining elements of Judgment Day as a unusual wrestling stable is that they kicked out their founder and first leader Edge just a couple months into the group’s run. That choice certainly appeared to hurt the group in the short-term, as they lost their lone bona fide main eventer and undisputed biggest name.

Nonetheless, Judgment Day rallied, particularly after Triple H took the reins of creative. Rhea Ripley came to dominate her show’s women’s division, while Dominik Mysterio found unlikely success as a heel fans loved to hate. JD McDonough is a talented hand who got a nice rub from joining the group and an immediate sense of identity, as opposed to getting lost in the main roster shuffle like he otherwise might have. Finn Balor was a steady de facto top name for the group, and Damian Priest grew into a role in which he arguably superseded Balor for star power. R-Truth injected some comedy, and working in a big-bodied lackey role wound up being a pretty perfect role for Carlito at this stage of his career.

Judgment Day started when Damian Priest helped Edge beat AJ Styles at WrestleMania 38, and Rhea Ripley was the next recruit. So it is that, in the group exiling Priest and Ripley at SummerSlam, they are staying true their history. They’ve booted their longest standing members and again reinvented themselves around their newer participants, not least of all including Liv Morgan enlisting in their ranks.

Dominik Mysterio Is Disloyal Again… And It Cuts Deeper This Time

It can be difficult to remember now, but in 2022, Dominik Mysterio was a white meat babyface and he floundered in the role—showing little personality and facing fan backlash for the sense he only had a featured spot on account of who his dad was. His heel turn and betrayal of his father, culminating in a showdown at WrestleMania 39, completely changed fans’ perspectives of Dirty Dom.

On one hand, betraying one’s father is without question a more profound act of disloyalty than betraying one’s girlfriend. However, it’s worth noting than in terms of Mysterio’s full-time, on screen work with WWE, his partnerships with Rey and with and Rhea Ripley weren’t actually so disparate in length, each running around two years.

More important than sheer time, there’s the matter of heat. When Dominik turned on his father it was a welcome change because their partnership felt stale and fans didn’t really buy into the younger Mysterio as a face. By contrast, there’s a real case to be made that the love triangle angle Dominik worked with Ripley and Liv Morgan was the single hottest storyline WWE had to offer from the spring through the summer.

There were certainly a fair share of fans who saw it coming when Dirty Dom turned on Mami. Nonetheless, the sight of him making out with Morgan in the aisle way while a beaten Ripley seethed was positively electric. Whether it’s good creative, good performances, or a simple matter of fans being along for the ride for the entirety of the couple’s kayfabe relationship, there’s little question that instance of Dominik’s betrayal hit even harder than his first.

Judgment Day Will Get Its Comeuppance

When Judgment Day kicked out Edge, it became the focal point of both the group’s and the rest of The Rated R Superstar’s WWE run that they’d get into each other’s business. It all culminated in Edge besting Finn Balor inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania 39.

There are plenty of permutations for WWE to run through in the current feud between Judgment Day and The Terror Twins. However things play out, though, it seems very likely things won’t be over until Rhea Ripley destroys Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio—probably getting her title back in the process. Meanwhile, at least one high-profile one-on-one showdown between Balor and Damian Priest also feels like an inevitability.

Whatever happens, Triple H has demonstrated a strength for booking factions who get heat, but also get what’s coming to them in the long term. Judgment Day looks set to move through that cycle once again.

Rumors Of Judgment Day’s Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

When Judgment Day booted Edge, the naysayers were quick to jump on them, suggesting the group would never last. Indeed, it did feel like they were on life support for a while as the subsequent feud with The Ultimate Opportunist got stretched thin and the stable’s successes were few and far between.

The faction bounced back with a vengeance, though, becoming one of the most provocative parts of WWE programming, particularly from WrestleMania 40 to the present moment. Coming out of SummerSlam , rumors flew again that with Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest splintering, the stable might be over, or the remaining heels might rebrand under another name. Once again, the group wasn’t done quite yet, with Judgment Day vs. The Terror Twins really clicking in these weeks to follow.

It appears that this last piece—of fans sticking a fork in Judgment Day only for their part of WWE programming to reemerge, stronger than ever–has been the most defining part of the stable’s story. Who knows how much longer they’ll carry on, but the audience should understand by now never to count them out.

On August 9, the world lost Kevin Sullivan. While casual fans may not remember him as well for never having a WWE run and not being as featured on screen in WCW by the time the Monday Night War heated up, he was nonetheless a deceptively important figure. His influence as a performer and his contributions to creative were hugely important in their time and had a ripple effect that has been felt to this day. Indeed The Taskmaster may well have been one of the greatest wrestling minds to have ever lived.

Kevin Sullivan Was An Ahead Of His Time On-Screen Character

Kevin Sullivan first carved out a spot in the consciousness of wrestling fans en masse wrestling in Florida, where his Prince of Darkness persona captured by he imagination of
fans and made him a heel who transcended the his regional territory to grab attention
in national wrestling publications and lead to his work with WCW.

Sullivan’s work as a cultish figure was so memorable that it led a number of fans
to actually think he’d had something to do with the death of his ex-wife and
family in 2007. More importantly, Sullivan was among a small cohort of
wrestlers working more overtly sinister, borderline supernatural characters
that paved the way for characters like The Undertaker and, down the road, Bray
Wyatt to break the mold of wrestler as athlete or cartoonish character to
inspire real fear in fans and offbeat storylines.

In the shorter term, a toned version of Sullivan’s personal also became central
to WCW programming during Hulk Hogan’s initial babyface years in WCW. Rebranded
as The Taskmaster, he became a player-coach type leading the polarizing Dungeon
of Doom faction.

Kevin Sullivan Knew How To Book Heat

To have heard Dusty Rhodes tell the tale, when he took over booking for WCW, one of his first orders of business was to get Kevin Sullivan on his payroll. The premise was simple: Sullivan knew how to book heat.

The art of getting fans truly invested in hating the heels is deceptively tricky, and Sullivan was deservedly well respected in this very specific domain. He was a complement to Rhodes in this way, and he continued to be a valuable contributor as things got rolling in the days of the New World Order. While Eric Bischoff typically gets credit for masterminding (and ultimately fumbling) the nWo concept, Sullivan’s influence is easy to detect in some of the faction’s earlier brutal beat downs of the babyfaces and other dastardly deeds.

Kevin Sullivan Navigated Tricky Waters Booking WCW

As a booker behind the scenes, one of the items Kevin Sullivan didn’t get enough credit for is doing his job amidst competing political factors and considerations. WCW was notorious for having to kowtow to the whims of a larger bureaucratic management structure, not to mention having a revolving door of leadership.

More specifically Sullivan was in charge of creative when Hulk Hogan signed on, with his infamous creative control and political stroke. It’s well documented that, when fans were lukewarm on The Hulkster, Sullivan pushed for a heel turn long before the nWo storyline started up and Hogan was ready. On top of that, Sullivan had to find something to do with an influx of talents Hogan wanted with him in WCW, or whom WCW opted to hire to recreate the feel of 1980s WWE. While a lot of fans had maligned the often hokey Dungeon of Doom concept, Sullivan capably explained late in life that his idea was to get as many of the associated talents on one segment to still free up TV time for the rest of the roster.

Sullivan also booked his way through one of the diciest situations imaginable as he wrote his own feud with Chris Benoit, which included Benoit taking Sullivan’s real life wife, Woman, from him in a wild situation of life ultimately imitating art, given she actually did ultimately leave Sullivan for Benoit. Sullivan was also a key figure when Brian Pillman’s Loose Cannon gimmick took off, including a memorable worked shoot moment in which Pillman called him “booker man” mid-match.

Kevin Sullivan’s contributions on screen and, all the more so, behind the scenes made him a hugely important figure in wrestling history. It’s very sad to see him go at the age of 75, but he won’t soon be forgotten.

WWE recently announced the return of the Bad Blood brand for a PLE to occur this October from Atlanta. The first one—formally titled In Your House: Badd Blood—occurred in 1997, featuring the first ever Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, culminating in the debut of Kane. The show returned in 2003 and 2004, headlined by Triple H working Hell in a Cell matches first with Kevin Nash, then Michaels.

After twenty years, Bad Blood is back. There’s no guarantee we’ll see the Cell, but it does feel like a natural choice given the history of the event. Moreover, WWE’s been building precisely the kind of feud that would warrant a big-time Hell in a Cell main event: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre.

CM Punk Vs. Drew McIntyre Is The Hottest Feud In WWE

CM Punk’s return to WWE was one of the biggest stories in wrestling at the turn of the year. There was a real risk of it fizzling just as it got started, though, as Punk went down to injury in his first televised match back—the men’s Royal Rumble—and had to miss WrestleMania.

WWE pivoted very nicely as Drew McIntyre took credit for the injury. The months to follow saw Punk three times directly cost McIntyre the World Heavyweight Championship–at WrestleMania, Clash at the Castle, and Money in the Bank–in addition the Scotsman beating Punk bloody on an episode of SmackDown.

This intense series of events, paired with the promo skills put on display by both participants have elevated this feud. Against the odds, it’s the hottest issue in WWE without the men involved working a single match together (aside from the Rumble).

Patience Has Been A Virtue In CM Punk Vs. Drew McIntyre Storytelling

While CM Punk’s injury has protected against rushing the CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre feud too much, WWE has also been shrewd in its storytelling. Punk and McIntyre have never entirely taken their eyes off each other even as McIntyre has engaged in other pursuits like chasing Seth Rollins and Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship. Moreover, they’ve built in some pacing like McIntyre pretending to quit the company, then getting suspended coming out of Money in the Bank.

Given the pace to date, it feels realistic WWE can carry forward without a match between these two until SummerSlam or later and, in any event, the pairing should still feel fresh enough to be a draw headlining Bad Blood.

The Promise And Pitfalls Of Adding Seth Rollins To The Mix

Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk looked like the clear direction for WrestleMania 40 before Punk went down to injury. WWE has nicely reignited the on-screen heat between them when Punk got in the middle of The Visionary’s business at Money in the Bank, going after Drew McIntyre.

Might WWE add Rollins more formally into the mix, including making this prospective Hell in a Cell showdown a triple threat? There are merits to the idea.

After all, one of the biggest questions surrounding Punk right now is his ability to deliver in a big match scenario. He looked a little sluggish in the Royal Rumble and got injured again, following an AEW run that was riddled with major injuries at all the worst times. If there’s anyone on the current WWE roster who can singlehandedly elevate match quality, it would have to be Rollins. The Visionary could enhance the existing match or be a key contributor if Punk were to get hurt and necessitate a change in plans on the fly.

On the other hand, Punk vs. McIntyre is hot enough that it’s more than worthy of its own epic blow off. Transitioning Punk into a feud focused on Rollins after he finishes his business with McIntyre makes all the sense in the world. As such, Rollins having some involvement with the finish or immediate aftermath of this match makes sense, but it may not be the best call to officially add him.

Alternatives Or Additions To CM Punk Vs. Drew McIntyre In Hell In A Cell

On a literal level, it’s overstating it to say CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre is the only match that could close Bad Blood 2024. It may well be the best choice, but world championships also offer obvious options. Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa probably isn’t going to be a “one and done” title program and could bleed into October. Meanwhile, Gunther awaits his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at SummerSlam and however things play out between him and (presumably) Damian Priest may dictate a feud that could warrant the Cell, too.

Perhaps the most intriguing option of all would be to put Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan in the Cell. Their storyline and involvement with Dominik Mysterio has been a focal point of Raw for months now, culminating in a major moment when The Eradicator returned to close the July 8 episode of Raw. Ripley and Morgan have the talent and the heat behind their feud that they could also justify this kind of spotlight—especially if the current or a future injury were to prevent Punk from headlining the show.

In the end, WWE reviving the Bad Blood brand is doing exactly what it should in tapping into nostalgia and creating buzz. One of WWE’s most buzzworthy feuds should get the chance to headline the show.

John Cena made a surprise appearance at last month’s Money in the Bank 2024 to announce his retirement. Cena is not an ordinary character and his retirement plan is fittingly unusual.

The 16-time World Champion is going out in a big way and has announced the John Cena WWE retirement tour spanning January-December 2025. He’s planning to make around 40 appearances next year and is still driven to a World Champion. Legends such as Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle have done big retirement angles, but Cena simply wants to wrestle in front of his fans all around the world before he calls it a career.

With those loose parameters, here are 5 things we want to see out of John Cena’s final year with WWE.

1. John Cena Should Put Over Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes is a bona fide superstar, and by most metrics the biggest babyface WWE has built since John Cena. Moreover, while the two had some forgettable matches against each other during The American Nightmare’s first WWE run, the matchup still feels fresh, given fans are now looking at a totally different version of Rhodes as a credible main event act.

Rhodes vs. Cena feels like a dream match, and given that one of each man’s greatest strengths is their promo skills, there’s every opportunity to make this feel like a match for the ages. Most importantly, though, Rhodes has, since returning to WWE, beaten Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, and AJ Styles. There’s every indicator that The Rock may well put him over, and an encounter with Randy Orton is heavily rumored. Cena is one of a small handful of truly meaningful stars whom Rhodes can still beat for the first time, and in so doing close the door on the past generation of WWE stars.

2. John Cena Should Avoid Long Feuds

Long-term storytelling has its merits as WWE has demonstrated with Cody Rhodes vs. The Bloodline, CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre, and Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan to name a few. However, there when time is a limited resource, there can also be a sense that a wrestler is squandering his time when he faces the same opponent over and over again.

As a key example, it was great to see Edge back in a WWE ring from 2020 to 2023. As good as Seth Rollins and Finn Balor each were, though, it was still hard not to feel like the company burned daylight by having The Rated R Superstar feud for so long with these particular rivals when there was a slate of fresher programs he never got to.

Hopefully, John Cena will have some rich storylines to sink his teeth into. Just the same, when he only has one year left, it would be a shame to see him linger too long on just one opponent.

3. John Cena Should Win The World Heavyweight Championship

One of the biggest question marks surrounding John Cena’s last year is whether he’ll break his tie with Ric Flair and win a record seventeenth world championship. There’s a case to be made in either direction.

On one hand, Cena certainly doesn’t need another world title for credibility, other talents would benefit more, and there’s a certain lame-duck quality to a champ fans know plans to retire inside a year.

On the other hand, it’s rare that there’s an opportunity to make history on this level, and Cena is one of the strikingly few legitimate franchise players WWE’s had who would make sense to accomplish this specific feat. While it wouldn’t be wise to mess with a WWE Championship picture that involves Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and The Rock, there is more leeway to squeeze in one last, brief title reign for Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship.

4. John Cena Should Put Over Uncle Howdy

WWE’s handling of Bray Wyatt was all over the place, but one of this greatest accomplishments was beating John Cena at WrestleMania. Cena won their first feud—including their first ‘Mania match in 2014. Wyatt beat Cena in a polarizing and unforgettable Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36, though, that, in many ways, was the perfect testament to Wyatt’s legacy in WWE.

One of the best ways to pay homage to the late Wyatt and give his brother, Uncle Howdy, a concrete push, would be for Cena to do the honors for this family once more. There’s a variety of ways to do this, but one relatively low stakes proposition that would befit the legacy they’re following in would be to stage one more Firefly Fun House match—or work a comparable gimmick—before Cena moves on.

5. John Cena Should Avoid Wasting Too Much Time On Nostalgia Feuds

From the post-Money in the Bank press conference alone, questions arose about John Cena wrestling The Rock one more time or feuding with CM Punk one more time. There is a certain appeal to revisiting these iconic matchups that fans never thought they’d have the chance to see again–particularly for a setting like WrestleMania 41. On the other hand, there’s also a point at which it’s better to move on to new things.

While one-off matches with Punk, Rock, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, The Miz, or Roman Reigns could be enjoyable nods to their histories together, these are also all matches fans have seen at least twice in high-profile, fully realized situations. With a fresher slate of prospective opponents like Cody Rhodes, Gunther, Drew McIntyre, Bron Breakker, LA Knight, Logan Paul, and quite few others awaiting him, it would be better for Cena to focus his retirement tour on matchups that haven’t already been over-exposed.

Major stars in professional wrestling all have certain matches that define their legacies. Sometimes they’re title matches or main events. Sometimes it comes down to match quality and two or more performers putting on a show that keeps fans talking for years to come.

In a lot of cases, fans can’t see these kinds of matches coming. After all, even with the most talented performers in the ring, questions of how much time they’re allotted, what kind of chemistry they’ll have with each other, or what the booking looks like can all color how the match comes across.

However, at AEW Revolution this weekend, the writing is on the wall. In their main event, world title Iron Man Match, Bryan Danielson may well have the most important bout of his AEW tenure. For MJF, this could be the most important match of his career.

MJF Must Prove Himself As An In-Ring Champion

It’s no secret that MJF rose to the top of AEW on personality and talking skills. Since before the company even launched, MJF cultivated his promos and a commitment to garnering heat, which included remaining a heel at every turn, never letting fans see him out of character.

MJF took his skills to new heights last year with a worked shoot angle fans still haven’t fully unraveled. That storyline saw him stay off television for a period of months only to come back and claim an AEW Championship shot, which he converted into his first world title reign at Full Gear.

MJF had some very good matches in 2022, including a brutal Dog Collar Match with CM Punk and his title fight with Jon Moxley. However, in the catalog of AEW Champions to date, there’s little doubt MJF remains the least proven commodity in the ring.

In facing Bryan Danielson, MJF clearly has a more than capable dance partner. Still, the pressure will be on for the champion to hold his own over a full hour, hanging with one of the best in the world for the longest match of his career.

Bryan Danielson Needs A Great Match To Solidify His AEW Legacy

Bryan Danielson garnered an electric response when he made his surprise first appearance for AEW at All Out 2021 and he followed it up with sensational time-limit draw match, going the distance with Kenny Omega.

A bit if the of the luster has worn off over the year and a half to follow, though. Danielson has yet to win a title nor a single PPV match since joining AEW. While many fans were excited for him to join the promotion to ride out his career putting on world-class matches with a fresh slate of opponents, he also hasn’t had many “all-timers” either—his run arguably peaking so far with that early Omega match.

Despite his less than sterling win-loss record, Danielson now finds himself in his first AEW main event and world title match. All the more notably, for a wrestler who has built a career on exceptional ring work and remarkable stamina, he has an ideal showcase in the sixty-minute Iron Man Match format.

So it is that—win, lose, or draw—Revolution marks an opportunity for The American Dragon to redefine his AEW legacy with a great, marathon match that helps further legitimize his younger opponent.

There Aren’t Many Great Iron Man Matches In Mainstream Wrestling

The Iron Man Match is an inherently epic gimmick. While lots of matches have the theoretical potential to go long, knowing that competitors will work for a full half hour or hour sets the stage for a number of twists and turns and the foreknowledge that the first person to pick up a pin, submission, disqualification, or count out fall won’t necessarily be the winner overall.

Despite the ways in which an Iron Man Match can be appealing, it also has its limitations. Particularly in the modern era, retaining fans’ attention for a full hour straight is no small feat. In addition, the gimmick requires heightened physical conditioning for both participants to ensure they can still deliver in the latter stages of the match—particularly for the kind of exciting conclusion fans will be waiting for to cap such a long match.

AEW has only hosted one Iron Man Match before—a free TV bout between Kenny Omega and PAC three years ago. Bryan Danielson and MJF are uniquely situated, then, to make the Iron Man Match work in AEW.

That’s especially noteworthy given the uneven history of the match-type in WWE, where a number of fans suggest iterations like Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels and The Rock Vs. Triple H haven’t aged well. There’s an opportunity for AEW to one-up WWE, and further their status as the company that delivers at the highest level in the ring, especially on PPV.

There will be no telling how Bryan Danielson vs. MJF plays out until AEW Revolution this weekend. Nonetheless, the pieces are in place for both men and their company at large to make a major statement if the Iron Man main event delivers.

This weekend, all indications are that Montreal will be positively electric for WWE Elimination Chamber. The Road to WrestleMania and the staging of two eponymous Chamber matches are, in and of themselves cause for excitement. What really elevates this event, though, is the main event confrontation scheduled between Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns.

This match will be pay off months of captivating storytelling around The Bloodline faction, but no less importantly, positions Zayn as the number one contender when he’s one of the most over babyfaces WWE has had in years, and all the better in front of a hometown crowd that doesn’t play host to major WWE events all that often.

As the wrestling world casts its eyes on Montreal, there’s no better time to look back at some of the biggest moments WWE has staged in this very same city across the years.

5. Breaking Point 2009

WWE has only staged one PPV branded under the Breaking Point name. That’s understandable, as it was a niche concept to focus on submission matches. Nonetheless, the 2009 event was a compelling one. It featured an excellent Falls Count Anywhere Submission Match between DX and Legacy, in which Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase Jr. made Shawn Michaels tap out to a tandem hold. That’s not to mention one of the better matches in the John Cena vs. Randy Orton omnibus, as they competed under I Quit rules.

Unfortunately, an otherwise solid PPV tends to get overshadowed by a poor main event. WWE booked itself into a corner with heel World Heavyweight Champion defending against The Undertaker. It seemed clear WWE both didn’t want to take the title off Punk less than a month after he’d won it from Jeff Hardy, but also wanted to protect The Dead Man—both on his own merits and because he would ultimately win the feud.

The powers that be opted for perhaps the least satisfying conclusion possible to the nine-minute match, with Punk scoring a phantom submission victory with the Anaconda Vice, in a finish that called back to the Montreal Screwjob. That ending might have been intended to read as poetic, but the consensus among fans was that it felt like lazy booking that rubbed salt in a wound WWE really should have left alone.

4. Shawn Michaels Trolls Montreal In 2005

Over the summer of 2005, the feud between Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels became one of the most fun storylines WWE had to offer. The two were set for a legitimate dream match at SummerSlam, and on the road there, HBK momentarily embraced his old heelish personality, much to the entertainment of the fans.

A climactic moment in the build came when Raw aired out of Montreal. The music for Bret Hart– who had been gone from the company for nearly eight years, last appearing in Montreal–rang out to the shock and exhilaration of the fans in attendance. The Hitman wasn’t coming, though. Instead, it was Michaels demonstrating an uncanny ability to draw nuclear heat, teasing Hart was there only to go on roasting the fans and Hogan alike.

3. Sami Zayn Challenges John Cena In 2015

John Cena spent a good chunk of 2015 in the United States Championship picture, highlighted by his fun weekly US Championship Open Challenge. This series of matches saw him take on a variety of fresh, often unlikely opponents. Moreover, it marked a high point for Cena’s career as he paid a decade of success forward. He made a number of less established talents look terrific when they held their own with, or even came close to beating the guy who had up until recently been the face of the company.

There may have been no greater moment in the US Championship Open Challenge series than when Sami Zayn—then, one of the most popular stars of NXT—made his surprise main roster debut and drew a huge pop from the Montreal faithful. Unfortunately, Zayn suffered a fluke injury on his entrance to the ring, but it’s a testament to his talent and composure that he toughed out the match just the same, putting on a star-making performance in defeat.

2. Brock Lesnar Debuts On The Raw After WrestleMania 18

The Raw after WrestleMania has a well-established history of being one of the wildest nights in wrestling on annual basis. With the biggest show of the year out of the way and a lot of eyes on the product, this is often an episode with big returns or debuts, or other momentous storyline developments.

In 2002, the Raw after WrestleMania went down in Montreal and featured a thread of The Rock and Hulk Hogan feuding with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. That’s not to mention the announcement of the original brand extension that would lead to Raw and SmackDown having totally separate rosters.

Perhaps most exciting of all, though, Montreal was witness to the main roster debut of Brock Lesnar. Now that The Beast is one of the biggest names in wrestling history, it’s hard to recall a tie when he was just a face in the crowd. That’s literally what Lesnar, was though, when he hopped the barricade and absolutely destroyed Spike Dudley, Maven, and Al Snow to make his presence felt. He’d spend that whole next year on a tear, culminating in main eventing the next WrestleMania.

1. The Montreal Screwjob

No list of major moments in WWE history in Montreal would be complete without a nod to The Montreal Screwjob. The events of Survivor Series 1997 have been discussed and dissected ad nauseam. The central takeaway that WWE, in real life, screwed Bret Hart out of the WWE Champoinship with a phantom submission loss to  Shawn Michaels.

That finish put an end to one of the most storied rivalries—on and off-screen—in WWE history and forever changed the course of The Hitman’s career. Moreover, the moment changed WCW history as Hart joining their roster fresh off Montreal caused chaos and contributed to a wildly over complicated main event to Starrcade 1997, blowing the climax of what was otherwise one of the best stories the company had ever told between Sting and Hollywood Hogan.

Perhaps most importantly, though, the Montreal Screwjob marked one of the starkest breakdowns of the kayfabe-reality spectrum ever. It was a key moment in ushering in WWE’s Attitude Era, as well as establishing Mr. McMahon as a heel character who’d define so much of the product for years to come, across one of WWE’s hottest periods.

While WWE hasn’t spent a lot of time in Montreal relative to other major markets in North America, there’s nonetheless significant history embedded there. Win, lose, or draw, it seems entirely possible Sami Zayn will add a very significant chapter to that story at Elimination Chamber 2023.

One of the more interesting elements of the creative process in professional wrestling is just how collaborative it can be. There’s typically either one person in charge of the creative direction of a promotion, or else a booking committee that works together. From there, though, fans can sway the direction of a character or storyline based on their reactions, like the times the WWE audience all but forced Vince McMahon’s hand by getting behind Daniel Bryan in 2013 and 2014, or the groundswell of support behind Kofi Kingston in 2019.

A wrestler has input, too, as a gimmick will only be as successful as the wrestler executing it. Often as not, that work doesn’t come in a vacuum as a wrestler’s peers inevitably offer their opinions or the chemistry between different performers as partners or opponents can be far greater than the sum of the parts at hand.

One of the more remarkable instances of one talent redefining another’s career trajectory came when Scott Hall offered a new perspective on Sting’s identity.

What Was Sting’s Crow Gimmick?

For the first leg of his career in mainstream wrestling, fans got to know Surfer Sting. The early version of the character was known for bleach blond hair, brightly colored face paint, and neon tights to go along with a loud personality on the mic and in-ring offense that included high-flying and high impact moves like The Stinger Splash. A seismic shift happened in 1996, though, when the New World Order ushered in a new era for WCW, defined by more realism and an edgier product.

Sting was a key rival for the nWo, standing up against them in their first official match at Bash at the Beach, and a part of a four-man team representing WCW for War Games at that year’s Fall Brawl. The heels planted seeds that Sting had actually joined their ranks, causing The Stinger’s teammates—including Lex Luger and Ric Flair, who had each betrayed Sting in the past—not to trust him. Sting hadn’t actually joined the nWo, but resented the implication enough that he abandoned his teammates for not only that fateful War Games match, but over a year to follow.

Sting retreated to the rafters, dressed in black with white face paint, no longer working televised matches or cutting promos. The eerie persona was a major hit with fans, elevating Sting to a new echelon of super stardom before he’d finally clash with Hollywood Hogan at Starrcade 1997.

Scott Hall’s Input On The Crow Version Of Sting

On a recent episode of Eric Bischoff’s 83 Weeks podcast, centered on the formation of the nWo Wolfpac, he took a detour to discuss the development of Sting’s Crow persona. The former WCW executive credited the concept to Scott Hall.

Bischoff explained that Hall laid out the idea to Bischoff himself and gave him goosebumps for how creative and off the beaten path it was. From there, Bischoff described Sting listening to the pitch and appearing pensive and engaged all the way through, excited about the new direction.

Bischoff’s account was consistent with what Hall had said when he visited 83 Weeks for a guest spot in 2021. He also talked about giving Sting advice on his new persona, including that he advised him, “I’m not saying to rip off Taker, but rip off Taker.” The idea was for The Icon to borrow from some of the more serious and cryptic elements that had made The Undertaker’s supernatural character so successful over the years in WWE.

Crow Sting’s Legacy In Wrestling

Sting’s efforts prior to his big character shift in 1996 had already made him an all-time great babyface and surefire Hall of Fame talent. The Crow persona elevated him, though, not only at the time in WCW, but for his work to follow.

Sting conspicuously worked much of his TNA run in black and white gear. It’s little wonder that he showed up in WWE as a variation on the Crow character as well, with his first appearances seeing him stalk Triple H and The Authority not so dissimilarly from how he’d gone after Hollywood Hogan and the nWo. Sting has maintained that look for his AEW run alongside Darby Allin, too.

Indeed, while memories of Sting as a colorful wild man live on for longtime fans, the Crow version of the man has become his defining gimmick that the wrestling world remembers best.

Sting has been open that his retirement is looming, though he hasn’t yet announced specifically when it will happen. Regardless, the work he did under his Crow persona in particular made him an absolutely unforgettable legend, not to mention a rare performer to work a starring role in Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW, WWE, TNA, and AEW alike.

When wrestling fans look back on the biggest icons from WWE’s Golden Era, there are a few usual suspects whose names tend to come up the most. People think of names like Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Ted Dibiase, and Roddy Piper. Another name on the short list is that of The Macho Man Randy Savage. Right alongside him, though, stands his too-often overlooked younger brother, Lanny Poffo. The world recently lost his underappreciated wrestling talent at the age of 68. It’s always sad to acknowledge a beloved wrestler of yesteryear’s passing, but the moment does offer an opportunity to look back at the legacy Poffo left behind.

Leaping Lanny Poffo Was Ahead Of His Time

WWE is notoriously a big man’s territory. The face of the company in most eras was a superhero of sorts, with guys like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, John Cena, and Roman Reigns each exceptionally muscular and strong. This preference was especially clear in the Golden Era as WWE staged a national expansion on the premise of appealing to as wide an audience as possible with visibly impressive stars, bolstered by an era when steroid use ran rampant behind the scenes.

Lanny Poffo didn’t fit the profile of a top guy in WWE. His brother, Randy Savage, was able to break through the glass ceiling despite a smaller frame, based on his intensity and charisma, but Poffo never quite could. Still, he earned his “Leaping” moniker based on his impressive athleticism. As a babyface, he regularly incorporated leap frogs and high dropkicks; perhaps most impressively of all, he was one of the earliest American wrestlers to adopt the moonsault into his offensive repertoire.

Lanny Poffo’s Genius Gimmick Was Inspired

There was a relatively low glass ceiling over a smaller-sized high flyer like Lanny Poffo, and it is to his and WWE’s credit that they ultimately pivoted his gimmick. As The Genius, Poffo enjoyed some success, culminating in a featured match against Hulk Hogan on a Saturday Night’s Main Event special.

Before too long, Poffo started to wrestle less on TV and lean more into managerial work under the persona. As The Genius, he used own original rhyming verses to anchor his promo work, much to the annoyance of the WWE audience.

The Genius gimmick pulled elements of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and foretold gimmicks like Damien Sandow’s as an elitist villain who thought his superior intelligence made him better than the babyface wrestlers of the day as well as the fans. He memorably served as a cornerman to Mr. Perfect before settling into a bit less auspicious role managing The Beverly Brothers.

Lanny Poffo Was Squandered In WCW

As an example of WCW’s bloated roster and tendency to squander resources, there’s a famous story of the company signing Lanny Poffo, but never actually using him. Eric Bischoff has been open in discussing this choice on his 83 Weeks podcast, explicitly sharing that Poffo was signed as a favor to Randy Savage—paid out of money that otherwise would have gone to The Macho Man—to take care of his family.

The general consensus is that this story speaks highly of Savage’s selflessness and loyalty to his brother. Despite Bischoff’s concession that he never really wanted to use The Macho Man’s little brother, the situation does also bespeak a failure to take advantage of the resources WCW had at hand. With the former Genius on the payroll, WCW had a recognizable manager they might have put to work. Moreover, given Poffo’s level of experience, he might have, at minimum, served as a valuable role player—mentoring and putting over younger wrestlers in a budding Cruiserweight division that was so entertaining for WCW during the Monday Night War.

Lanny Poffo didn’t enjoy all that much tangible success—never winning titles or high profile matches on a truly national stage. Just the same, his acrobatic offense was well ahead of its time, particularly for mainstream American wrestling. Moreover, his promo work bespoke a special talent who should have been better appreciated in his day. Word of Poffo’s death arose on February 2—The Genius is now gone, but will certainly never be forgotten.

Today, Brock Lesnar is both one of the most famous and most credible wrestlers in the world. Yes, he’s an eleven-time world champion and two-time WWE Royal Rumble winner, but his combat credentials go much deeper for a successful career in amateur wrestling that included an NCAA Division I Heavyweight Championship, as well as his past as a UFC Heavyweight Champion.

After main eventing WrestleManias, ending The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania, and so much more, it can be difficult to remember a time when Lesnar was a relative unknown. In 2002, the WWE machine got behind Lesnar like no talent before or since as he enjoyed a monster rookie year.

For most wrestlers winning the King of the Ring tournament marks a career highlight. For The Beast, it was just one milestone, often forgotten because he accomplished several bigger things in his first year in the business, not to mention his storied career to follow.

Brock Lesnar Defeated Four Established Stars To Win WWE King Of The Ring

Before the King of the Ring tournament, Brock Lesnar had already established himself as a force in WWE. His first appearances saw him decimate mid-card talents like Spike Dudley, Maven, and Al Snow in impromptu run ins, and his first major feud saw him single-handedly dispose of The Hardy Boyz. Winning the King of the Ring, however, marked Lesnar’s first formal accolade of his WWE career.

Lesnar won a tournament qualifying match on Raw, beating veteran Bubba Ray Dudley in under five minutes, and then handily defeated former WCW Champion Booker T in the quarterfinals to win his way onto the King of the Ring PPV. From there, Lesnar beat fellow big man Test and, most impressively at the time, Rob Van Dam in the tournament final. These victories shored up Lesnar as more than just another big guy who got an impressive debut, but rather someone WWE was positioning as a legit main eventer.

Brock Lesnar’s King Of The Ring Run Was Intended To Be Even More Epic

Three out of the four men Brock Lesnar beat in his King of the Ring run would go on to win world championships and wind up in the WWE Hall of Fame. That’s an impressive run for anyone. However, the plans were for Lesnar to pull off an even more shocking and noteworthy victory in his qualifying match.

Indeed, Lesnar’s first obstacle to qualify for the tournament was supposed to be Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin has discussed the matter at length, including on his podcast and WWE’s documentary Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time.

The match was presented an already discontented Rattlesnake at the relative last minute. He has consistently suggested he was fine with putting over Lesnar, but if he were to do so, it should have been in a heavily promoted PPV match, not a free TV bout that would damage Austin’s credibility without doing major business for WWE or even Lesnar himself.

Austin infamously walked out from WWE over this creative impasse—a choice that remains polarizing to this day. It’s nonetheless interesting imagine if Lesnar’s accomplishments in his first months had also included beating this additional all-time legend of the business.

Brock Lesnar’s King Of The Ring Run Was One Plot Point In A Sensational Summer

Though Brock Lesnar did not get to defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin on his road to becoming King of the Ring, The Beast did defeat two of the three other names that tend to come up most often in conversations of the biggest draws in WWE history. After winning the crown, it didn’t take long for Lesnar to be positioned as the number one contender to the WWE Championship.

Yes, The Next Big Thing officially lost to Rob Van Dam at the following month’s PPV, Vengeance, via disqualification. He bounced back, though, a couple weeks later when he not only defeated, but decimated Hulk Hogan in a match on SmackDown that saw Lesnar render him unconscious with a bear hug.

From there, Lesnar achieved new heights, becoming the youngest WWE Champion of all time—a record that still stands—when he beat The Rock in decisive fashion in the main event of SummerSlam.

WWE hardly ever pushes anyone the way they did Brock Lesnar over the summer of 2002. On one hand, one could read that as a knock on the company for not getting behind any stars like they did The Next Big Thing, but there’s also a legitimate case that Lesnar’s potential was truly unique and that he’s made good on it across two decades to follow.

It’s always hard for a wrestling legend to say goodbye. The business is such a specific esoteric community with its own set of norms and values that wrestlers themselves and their fans know and love. It’s hard to walk away after a long, successful life in that world.

The Great Muta was not only an all time great who earned the respect of his colleagues around the world, but also has had remarkable longevity as a wrestler. He got started in wrestling in the mid-1980s, before becoming a star to American fans at the end of that decade when he brought his ahead of its time aerial offense, martial arts-informed strikes, and—perhaps most iconic of all—his deadly green mist to WCW.

Muta is finally bringing his career to a close, nearly four decades after he first set foot in teh ring. A key step in his farewell process saw him wrestle WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura on New Year’s Day. The finish had unexpected parallels to an iconic moment between Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair from a decade and a half before.

How Shawn Michaels Ended Ric Flair’s WWE Career

In 2008, Ric Flair worked his final angle as an in-ring performer in WWE, with the storyline that Vince McMahon proclaimed The Nature Boy would have to retire the next time he lost a match. After getting the better of a series of younger opponents like MVP and Mr. Kennedy, not to mention beating McMahon himself, Flair challenged his friend Shawn Michaels for a bout at WrestleMania 24.

The match was extremely well executed with a poetic finish that saw HBK mouth “I’m sorry, I love you,” to a beaten Flair, before putting his career to rest with Sweet Chin Music. It was a unique, emotional moment that highlighted the real-life respect between the two men and the reverence so many held for The Dirtiest Player in the Game.

Though Flair would go on to wrestle his share of additional matches outside the WWE spotlight, this match was, for a wide swathe of fans, the truest farewell to the Flair they’d known and loved for so many years.

How Shinsuke Nakamura Beat The Great Muta

Shinsuke Nakamura got special permission from WWE to stage a huge match between him and fellow Japanese legend, The Great Muta at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s The New Year, an event staged on New Year’s Day.

In an instant classic moment, the bout culminated in Nakamura apparently kissing Muta right on the mouth. Functionally speaking, he was stealing away Muta’s signature green mist, so that the WWE Superstar could spray it in Muta’s face and set up his trademark Bomaye strike (known as the Kinshasa in WWE). The finish was creative and poetic in relation to Muta’s career up to that point. All the more so, that kiss could be read as its own illustration of love for a living legend of the wrestling business.

Parallels Between Shawn Michaels Vs. Ric Flair And Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. The Great Muta

The Great Muta and Ric Flair each performed at the highest levels, including wrestling one another in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  While Flair is the bigger legend, Muta holds his own—particularly for a Japanese audience—as another man with a decorated history and a great deal of nostalgia attached to his name.

Flair wasn’t wrestling Shawn Michaels for the first time when they clashed at WrestleMania 24. Rather than the revisitation making the matchup feel stale, however, it added to a sense of history between the two. Similarly, when Muta faced Shinsuke Nakamura, it was a match that had happened before, with a degree of familiarity and previously established chemistry added to the proceedings.

Most importantly, though, the closing moments of each match complemented one another, each cut from the same cloth. Michaels made a move wildly uncharacteristic of pro wrestling when he told his opponent he loved him before knocking him unconscious with his kick finisher. Nakamura arguably did HBK one better in not stating his love, but instead expressing it with a kiss. There was the added poeticism of turning Muta’s famous mist offense against him, before nailing his knee strike finisher to defeat him one last time.

The Great Muta’s match with Shinsuke Nakamura did not, itself, mark the end of his career, but that moment is on the horizon as he has other high-profile matches lined up before his official last bout on January 22. Moreover, Muta put a bit of a stain on the moment with Nakamura by referring to him with a homophobic slur in a press conference after the show. Just the same, the end of the match itself stands as an unconventionally beautiful piece of business, grabbing the attention of fans around the world to kick off 2023.

Though WWE’s retelling of wrestling history has not been too kind to the legacy of WCW, there are certain undeniable truths from that time. One of them is that 1997 was a white-hot year for the promotion.

The New World Order caught fire in 1996 and rode high into 1997 as WCW continued to tell a wide range of stories with one of the deepest rosters in pro wrestling history. Starrcade 1997 looked to be a crowning achievement with a star-studded PPV card that had enormous buzz around it.

Kevin Nash and The Giant would have a big man war. Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff would blow off their heated non-wrestler feud in a novelty match. Most importantly, Sting was set to blow off a year and a half long angle with Hollywood Hogan.

The fact that WCW signed Bret Hart immediately before this PPV should have been a crowning achievement that added more momentum going into 1998. However, there’s a real argument that it instead sabotaged the biggest event in company history and foretold WCW’s demise.

Bret Hart’s Involvement Contributed To Sting Vs. Hollywood Hogan Unraveling

There’s no two ways about it—the Starrcade 1997 main event match between Sting and Hollywood Hogan was a mess. Fans had waited through the launch of the nWo, Sting’s transition to his Crow persona that haunted WCW from the rafters, and Hogan’s reign of terror over the company. By Starrcade, the stage was set to pay it all off with Sting as the prodigal son, returning to the ring to take the title.

A variety of factors contributed to the match’s failings. Eric Bischoff infamously claimed that Sting didn’t show up ready—claiming that his failure to get a tan was just one sign he wasn’t in the right mental or physical place to become “the guy.” Something went wrong on a re-planned finish, too. Whether Sting or referee Nick Patrick were more at fault, Hogan won clean and decisively only for Bret Hart to nonsensically demand the match be restarted and officiate the do-over ending.

The execution certainly got botched, but even if it hadn’t, the idea of an unjust finish before Hart had to restart things (on dubious authority) was a huge mistake to muddy the waters of Sting having his crowning moment. The match should have been kept simple and straightforward to give fans the most satisfying moment possible, after which they could’ve allowed Hogan to get his heat back one way or another in the weeks to follow.

Bret Hart’s Involvement Hurt Larry Zbyszko Vs. Eric Bischoff Too

The story of Eric Bischoff vs. Larry Zbyszko at Starrcade 1997 should have been very simple and straightforward. This was a retired wrestler vs. non-wrestler match, which offered some intrigue and made reasonable sense in its creative context. It should’ve come down to Bischoff maybe getting in a shot or two, but mostly the Living Legend putting him in his place in a five-minute squash.

Instead, Bischoff mostly dominated with special referee Bret Hart seeming to help him at every turn. Finally, Bischoff went too far, using a steel plate to bolster a knockout kick at which point The Hitman nonsensically switched allegiances, beating up Bischoff and his corner man, Scott Hall. Finally, Hart proclaimed Zbyszko the winner by disqualification to put the confusing, ill-conceived farce of a match out of its misery.

How Bret Hart Should Have Been Used At WCW Starrcade 1997

There are two main ways in which Bret Hart may have been put to his best use at Starrcade. One would have been the delayed gratification of him simply having a presence, maybe cutting a short promo or coming out to celebrate with Sting to close the show to make his presence known without altering the course of the night.

Another option would’ve been to book Hart into a one-on-one match built to highlight his wrestling acumen and star power without distracting from the rest of the show. WCW had such a deep roster of fresh opponents for The Hitman who weren’t booked for the event like Booker T, Juventud Guerrera, or Chavo Guerrero.

Having Hart mix it up with one of these under-appreciated talents—making them look good before he submitted them with the Sharpshooter in a formula he’d used opposite mid-carders like Hakushi and Jean-Pierre Lafitte in WWE for years earlier —could’ve highlighted what Hart does best alongside the prestige of being able to say the event featured Hart’s debut match for WCW.

Signing Bret Hart should’ve marked a crowning Monday Night War moment for WCW as they welcomed a hot star who was arguably the most talented in ring performer in the world at that moment. Instead, he became a distraction, misused to the extreme in ways that neither he, nor WCW on the whole ever fully recovered from.

2022 was quite arguably the most tumultuous year in WWE history. Most notably, the unthinkable happened when Vince McMahon announced his retirement. While Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan took on shared responsibility as the co-CEOs at the tip-top of WWE, an even more immediate impact felt by fans saw Triple H take the reins of both creative and talent relations.

Helmsley’s presence was felt in a series of surprise returns from late summer through the fall. Moreover, Survivor Series saw the emergence of the first ever War Games matches on the WWE main roster after decades of the company owning that intellectual property. That’s not to mention the choice not to run a December PPV, not to mention canceling the Day 1 New Year’s show.

Between Triple H’s sensibilities as a wrestling traditionalist and the changes to the PPV calendar, the question arises—should WWE bring back Starrcade, the former flagship annual PPV of WCW?

The History Of Starrcade

Starrcade predates WrestleMania, with its first iteration going down in 1983, and immediately establishing itself as a truly top tier annual event. Over the years, the event saw main events like Harley Race vs. Ric Flair and Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes, as well as legendary undercard attractions like the Dog Collar Match between Roddy Piper and Greg Valentine and the I Quit Match between Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard. Later, Flair would represent tradition against monster heel Big Van Vader, and the year-and-a-half-plus Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan angle would come to a head at Starrcade 1997. Starrcade also infamously played host to the end of Goldberg’s streak at the hands of Kevin Nash, as well as the end of Bret Hart’s full-time wrestling career when Goldberg gave him a stiff kick to the head.

While Eric Bischoff has, on his podcast 83 Weeks, denied that he viewed Starrcade as the biggest show of the year (alternately putting more weight on Halloween Havoc and Bash at the Beach), the consensus among fans still placed Starrcade as The Grandaddy of Them All. As the longest continual running PPV under the NWA and WCW banner, it certainly earned its place in history.

WWE Has Revisited Starrcade

WWE actually has promoted its own Starrcade-branded events. Starrcade was a SmackDown house show in November 2017. The company did broadcast this show via the WWE Network in 2018 and 2019, but it was contextualized as more of a novelty show—largely inconsequential to ongoing storylines—than a proper PPV-style event.

Indeed, WWE seemed mostly concerned with tapping into nostalgia. In 2017, Goldust shed his garb and signature entrance music in favor of returning to his old school WCW gimmick as The Natural to callback to not only his own earlier WCW performances, but his family’s—and specifically his father’s—history with the event. Moreover, the 2017 edition emanated from WCW stronghold, Greensboro, North Carolina, and 2019’s happened in Duluth, Georgia, another area favored WCW and Jim Crockett Promotions.

A New Vision For Starrcade

Triple H finally bringing War Games to the WWE main roster seems to bespeak his commitment to wrestling history and his own past enjoyment of the traditional style Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, and others were historically known for. Reviving Starrcade would be a natural extension of representing that aesthetic.

More than a specially promoted house show or quietly marketed WWE Network special, though, the Starrcade brand deserves to be recognized with a proper PPV event. The PPV calendar is already crowded, and it seems The Game means to be more critical about promoting fewer events more soundly. Nonetheless, running Starrcade, particularly in its traditional spot around the holidays (it originally happened in November, then moved to December to not conflict with Survivor Series) would be a powerful way of tapping into old school wrestling nostalgia at a time of year when the general public is already predisposed to feeling nostalgic.

To offer Starrcade a distinctive identity, it would only make sense to focus on tapping into the past. WWE is no stranger to bringing back part-time legends to work matches here and there. Additionally, they could conceivably could tap into some of the ethos of another WCW PPV, Slamboree, by focusing its new vision of Starrcade on legends past returning to work matches with each other, or with current talents. There have been rumblings about WWE seeking to move its Hall of Fame proceedings away from WrestleMania weekend, given how crowded the two-night structure of the event has made the weekend. Starrcade’s history as a premium event and this focus on nostalgia could make it fitting new home for when inductions would happen.

The future of the Starrcade brand is unclear. The nostalgia-based smaller events WWE ran from 2017 to 2019 served a niche audience and casually took advantage of the intellectual property at WWE’s disposal. Like so many things, Starrcade’s continuity was disrupted by the pandemic in 2020. As the world continues to settle back into  sense of normalcy, there’s a real opportunity for WWE relaunch this event under a new vision.

Thanksgiving and the surrounding days have a long, storied history in pro wrestling. Jim Crockett Promotions wasn’t the first wrestling promotion to recognize the potential in family’s flocking to an arena or turning on the television together after a turkey dinner, but they did capitalize in a big way, promoting Starrcade on an annual basis, starting in 1983.

Before that, WWE promoted Bruno Sammartino vs. Stan Hansen in Madison Square Garden over the holiday, and a famed wrestler vs. boxer match pitting Antonio Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali was another Turkey Day draw. WWE changed the game in 1987, though, with Survivor Series. The PPV became the Thanksgiving standard, happening on the holiday itself or the night before, before settling into position on a weekend in close proximity to it, where it remains to this cay.

The implications of this choice included WCW shuffling Starrcade to December as WWE dominated the fledgling PPV market. There have remained no shortage of Thanksgiving themed matches in wrestling history, though, many of which have nothing to do with WWE’s signature event.

Samoa Joe Vs. AJ Styles Vs. Chris Sabin In A Turkey Bowl Match, 2007

In its early years, Impact Wrestling broadcasted on Thursday nights. Having to put on a TV show Thanksgiving night each year wasn’t necessarily enticing, given the volume of prospective viewers traveling or tied up with their families for the holiday. Nonetheless, they made the most of the situation by starting a tradition: The Turkey Bowl.

Turkey Bowl episodes were built around qualifying matches, culminating in the Turkey Bowl Match in the main event. The stakes were low and objectively silly, but there was nonetheless some holiday spirit emblematic in a match with the stipulation that the person who suffered the fall to lose the match would have to face the humiliation of donning a turkey suit afterward. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin is a pretty electrifying lineup for a three-way match, and the men delivered a fun bout. Joe picked up the victory, and it was Styles who wound up dressed like a turkey.

The Rock Vs. William Regal For Thanksgiving Pride, 2000

As one of WWE’s most famous British heels, it’s little wonder William Regal would take up against the Thanksgiving spirit in the heat of the Attitude Era. A Thanksgiving episode of SmackDown saw him rain on the parade of his roster mates as they enjoyed a turkey dinner backstage, bashing the US and the premise of why the Pilgrims left England to settle in America.

The Rock took up for American tradition, laying a verbal beatdown on Regal that set up a match between the two later on. Against a backdrop of the newly heel Rikishi haunting The Great One from the stage, Rock beat Regal soundly, ultimately submitting him with a Sharpshooter.

Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, And Melina Vs.LayCool And Jillian Hall In A Mayflower Melee Match, 2009

The year was 2009, and a combination of sensitivity to indigenous cultures and respect for women probably meant WWE should have known better than to have booked the Mayflower Melee. Despite these factors, the company saw fit to book a Pilgrims vs. “Indians” match, in which the six women involved wore sexy versions of costumes appropriate to the holiday.

At least WWE did have the sense to book the wrestlers representing indigenous people as the babyfaces and to have them pick up victory. Melina pinned hall to secure the win, and to have an altercation with The Gobbledy Gooker (Maryse was in the costume) post-match.

New Day Vs. The Big Show And The Bar In A Thanksgiving Feast Fight, 2018

At the height of tensions between New Day and the short-lived three-man group of The Big Show, Sheamus, and Cesaro, the two units squared off in a Thanksgiving Feast Fight. The match saw New Day clad in Pilgrim costumes and contrived spots in which Big Show went through a banquet table full of Thanksgiving food, and later Kofi Kingston used a turkey-assisted double axehandle to drive Sheamus through another. Big E ultimately hit The Celtic Warrior with a turkey to the face to secure the pin for his team.

The match was as silly as it sounds, though at least the men in volved were talented and New Day in particular was nothing if not equipped to deliver in a comedic situation.

Ivory Vs. Jacqueline In A Gravy Bowl Match, 1999

The most famous version of the Gravy Bowl Match occurred in 2001, with Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler battling in the overtly sexualized equivalent to mud wrestling with the Women’s Championship on the line. The match actually originated two years earlier, though on a Thanksgiving SmackDown episode in which Jacqueline faced off with Ivory.

While this context was quite as overtly played for sexual content, the gimmick still was what it was, and certainly underserved the two tough, talented women involved. Nonetheless, it stayed mercifully short at just a little over a minute before Jacqueline picked up the pin with a DDT.

Titus O’Neil Vs. The Great Khali In A Food Eating Contest, 2013

In 2013, WWE let go of any pretense about staging a serious wrestling match in having heavyweights Titus O’Neil and The Great Khali simply compete in a food eating contest on SmackDown. Both men gorged themselves on Thanksgiving foods as other Superstars cheered them on. O’Neil was declared the victor after Khali fell asleep, presumably in a food coma.

O’Neil wasn’t exactly rewarded for this victory, instead given the task of facing Cesaro in the ring. Cesaro hit his signature Swing on O’Neil, after which Darren Young caused a disqualification. The match seemed mostly designed to get to its punchline—a food-stuffed and now dizzy O’Neil puking into color commentator JBL’s cowboy hat at ringside.

Thanksgiving themed matches in wrestling are rarely classics. However, they do have their place in providing some light-hearted entertainment in observance of the holiday, particularly for a smaller fans who probably aren’t looking for anything too serious after celebrating the holiday, and perhaps watching the shows with their families.

On Thanksgiving night, November 22, 2001, WWE broadcasted a pretaped episode of SmackDown. The show featured a star-studded main event with The Rock teaming up with Rob Van Dam against Chris Jericho and The Dudley Boyz, not to mention a Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker match and  Edge vs. Christian for the Intercontinental Championship in the undercard.

The most memorable part of the card, however, was a Gravy Bowl Match pitting Trish Stratus against Stacy Keibler.

Trish Stratus Vs. Stacy Keibler Wasn’t The First Gravy Bowl Match

The Gravy Bowl Match was little more complicated than it sounded—a match pitting two women in a pit full of what was ostensibly gravy, for what looked an awful lot like a mud wrestling match. The popularity and sex appeal of Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler made their Gravy Bowl Match instantly the most iconic iteration of the match. They weren’t the originators, though.

The dubious honor of kicking off the Gravy Bowl Match gimmick goes to Jacqueline and Ivory. Though Trish Stratus would grow into being a highly skilled in-ring performer, she was only starting to get there in late 2001. By contrast, Jacqueline and Ivory were about as legit as it got in the women’s ranks, both tough, highly skilled veteran performers who were more clearly above this gimmick in 1999. Nonetheless, they worked a one-minute match, with Jacqueline getting better of it.

A Food Fight Preceded The Match

When Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler clashed for their Gravy Bowl Match, they were less than a week removed from Survivor Series 2001, where WWE conclusively won its war against The Alliance. Stratus vs. Keibler felt like a bit of a coda. Though the action of the Invasion angle had clearly focused on the male performers, Stratus was a clear cut WWE talent whereas Keibler was one of the more consistently featured talents to come over from WCW and remain locked into her heel role with them for those first months under WWE contract.

The action got started with a food fight. Keibler made her entrance first and seated herself at a banquet table of Thanksgiving foods beside the Gravy Bowl. Stratus made her entrance second, wearing the Women’s Championship she’d picked up at the PPV. They both wore dresses and seemed set to eat before Keibler got things started, throwing a handful of mashed potatoes at Stratus and laughing at her. Sttratus got up close and personal, dumping gravy on Keibler’s head before a back and forth exchange covered them both in food, culminating in Stratus sling-shotting Keibler into the gravy to get the match properly started.

Trish Stratus Picked Up The Submission Victory

The action of The Gravy Bowl Match wasn’t all that technically impressive as the two struggled against each other with little rhyme or reason, alternately throwing the other down or dunking her head beneath the surface of the gravy as the momentum switched back and forth. Finally, Stratus hit something like and Alabama Slam, en route to applying a hold somewhere between a chin lock and camel clutch to make Keibler tap out.

In the aftermath, Keibler played the sore loser, kicking gravy up out of the bowl, before climbing out, complaining to the ref, and shoving him into the gravy. Meanwhile, Stratus celebrated on the entrance ramp, raising her title overhead.

There’s little doubt that the Gravy Bowl Match between Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus was designed to make the most of each woman’s sex appeal with a provocative match that left both women sopping wet, with the justification that the bout celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday spirit. Stratus commented on the match explicitly years later in a visit to Lillian Garcia’s podcast, and how it felt like a non-sequitur after the women’s division and Stratus personally had gained significant momentum at the time. She complained about it to trainer Fit Finlay at the time.

Nonetheless, with the benefit of hindsight, Stratus reflected on it as little more than a speed bump. She would go on to assemble a more than Hall of Fame-worthy career, earning the respect of wrestling fans around the world in a boom period for women’s division over a decade before the so-called Women’s Revolution.

25 years ago, The Montreal Screwjob presented one of the infamous moments in pro wrestling history. Yes, it was a pair of iconic in-ring and real-life rivals, main eventing Survivor Series–a PPV where they had significant history with one another. All the more so, it became the ultimate collision point of storyline and reality as management swerved Bret Hart on his way out the door to WCW, causing him to relinquish the WWE Championship via a phantom submission to Shawn Michaels, the one man he had refused to put over.

This moment in wrestling history has been discussed at great length over the last two and half decades and there remains a degree of debate over who was right or wrong and to what degrees or for what reasons. One point is undeniable: the Montreal Screwjob changed wrestling history. There were a handful of talents who wound up benefiting from this unlikely turn events either quite directly, or more circuitously in the long term.

The Rock

When the Montreal Screwjob went down, The Rock was still finding himself. Yes, he’d made major strides with a heel turn and adopting the Rock moniker, but he was still very much a mid-card act, working his way up the ladder. Although he was on good terms with and still speaks reverentially about Bret Hart, Rock was one of the parties who enjoyed the greatest benefits coming out of The Hitman’s fall from grace and departure from WWE.

Hart leaving WWE, followed by Shawn Michaels sitting out most of the Attitude Era from in-ring performance due to back issues left a major void at the top of the card. Steve Austin was already on a course to the tip-top of the business, but Rock and Triple H alike were two clearest cut main eventers in waiting who got a big boost from these openings.

Moreover, The People’s Champion became the man to benefit most directly in storyline, as one year after the Montreal Screwjob, The Great One applied the Sharpshooter on Mick Foley for planned finish that clearly paid homage to what happened to The Hitman. Vince McMahon called for the bell from ringside, gifting Rock his first world championship as WWE refused to shy away from the biggest controversy in company history, instead embracing it for storyline purposes.

Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon was an on-screen character for WWE since before he even took the reins of the promotion from his father. However, there was little to no acknowledgment of McMahon’s real life power, as he was instead portrayed as more of a straight-laced broadcaster. The Montreal Screwjob changed things, as there was a very public acknowledgment of who he truly was when Bret Hart literally spat in his boss’s face.

Fast forward to Survivor Series 1998, and the Montreal Screwjob was the premise off which the Mr. McMahon character screwed Mick Foley. In a single stroke, McMahon cemented himself as a kingpin heel authority figure, embraced the heat from what he’d done to Bret Hart, and set the foundation for he, himself to become a wrestler—most often portraying a conniving heel whom fans were all too eager to watch get his comeuppance.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan may seem like an unlikely pick to have benefited from the Montreal Screwjob, given he was in WCW when it happened and wouldn’t return to the WWE fold until over four years later. However, Bret Hart first appeared for WCW shortly after WWE screwed him, and his real life circumstances wound up feeding pretty directly into WCW creative.

As a riff off what had happened at Survivor Series, Starrcade 1997 saw Hogan and company screw Sting out of the WCW Championship. The execution was horribly convoluted and messy, but the net result was that, rather than Hogan dropping the title cleanly to Sting, a Screwjob premise, and Hart demanding the match restart created mass confusion and kept Hogan in the world title picture for months to come.

From there, while booking a babyface Hart vs. a heel Sting may have felt like one of the most natural first time dream matches WCW could’ve booked, they never really got around to it in more than a cursory way. So, Hogan remaining world champion and the top star of WCW after Hart had signed in many ways only enhanced his standing in the business.

Mick Foley

Mick Foley famously took a very strong, principled stand coming out of the Montreal Screwjob, condemning the way WWE had treated Bret Hart and almost walking out of the company before he got talked down. Foley’s ethics, which he laid out clearly in his first book, came across very positively to fans in shoring up his spot as a beloved and well-respected star of his era.

Meanwhile, Foley also enjoyed similar benefits to The Rock, in taking part in the Montreal-inspired storyline at Survivor Series 1998, and enjoying an ascent to the main event picture himself that it’s harder to imagine him getting had Hart or Shawn Michaels still been active on the roster.

Moreover, Vince McMahon was notoriously a bit arbitrary and eccentric about what behaviors would earn his respect. While neither McMahon, nor Foley has spoken directly to this point, it stands to reason that The Hardcore Legend’s willingness to take a stand coming out of Montreal may have also contributed to winning over the boss, and helping convince him Foley should eventually be a world champion.

Shawn Michaels

Perhaps the most obvious beneficiary of the Montreal Screwjob was Shawn Michaels himself. In many ways, he had already won his real life rivalry with Bret Hart after Vince McMahon reneged on The Hitman’s contract and all but ushered him out the door to WCW. There had to have been a bit of extra pleasure, though—petty as it may have been—in winning the last match the two iconic rivals would ever have, and in Canada no less.

HBK would only remain active with WWE for a few more months after hurting his back at the Royal Rumble PPV, and soldiering through just long enough after that to put over Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14. Nonetheless, wrapping the first act of his career as world champion after beating Hart set up Michaels to return as a top guy, too, when his body and personal issues allowed for a comeback in 2002. That follow up run would end up adding a great deal to his legacy, shoring up his spot as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time.

In the end, the Montreal Screwjob is generally looked at as a dark moment in WWE history. With their backs against the wall, WWE made regrettable choices around one of their top stars and their top title, dishonoring the business and fracturing a relationship with Bret Hart for a decade to follow. Nonetheless, there were a number of acts in wrestling who benefited from how things went down in the long term, regardless of whether they ever intended to.