Mid 20th Century
124-680: Michael Paul Shaw (May 9, 1957 – September 11, 2010) was an American professional wrestler who was best known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Norman the Lunatic , and as Bastion Booger in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Mike Shaw started wrestling in 1980 in Vancouver 's NWA All-Star Wrestling using the ring name Klondike Mike . In 1981, he wrestled in
248-503: A bodyguard for Shawn Michaels in a match between Michaels and Jannetty. Diesel's interference in the match helped Michaels to defeat Jannetty and win the WWF Intercontinental Championship . Diesel was also at ringside to help Michaels when Michaels faced Mr. Perfect for the title belt at SummerSlam 1993 . Diesel attacked Perfect on multiple occasions during the match and ultimately caused Perfect to lose
372-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
496-437: A diving elbow drop on Diesel before getting the pinfall to eliminate Diesel from the match. Ramon was attacked by his opponents but eventually tagged Savage back into the match. Savage got distracted when Crush appeared in the aisle, however, which allowed Schyster to eliminate him from the match. Ramon then performed a Razor's Edge on Schyster and pinned him. Ramon attempted the same move on Martel, but Schyster snuck back into
620-478: A kayfabe injury during the match, which forced the referee to stop the match. Owen blamed Bret for the loss and attacked him after the match. They faced each other at WrestleMania X, where Owen defeated Bret. The rivalry continued, however, and the brothers feuded throughout 1994 and into 1995. Bret's feud with Lawler remained, but the two did not face each other again until In Your House 1 in May 1995. The feud
744-429: A leg drop on Booger and pinned him. Down four wrestlers to two, Bigelow's team appeared to be making a comeback when Fatu began taking down his opponents with the carcass of a turkey that Afa had been eating from the entire match. He then performed a top rope splash onto Mo. Fatu got distracted, however, and examined a banana peel with curiosity. Butch entered the ring with a bucket and faked out Fatu by making like he
868-552: A mixed tag team match . Bigelow and Vachon won the match to settle the feud. The Steiner Brothers continued to challenge The Quebecers, but they were unable to regain the Tag Team Championship. As a result of their confrontation at Survivor Series, The Undertaker and Yokozuna faced each other at Royal Rumble 1994 in a casket match for Yokozuna's WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Mr. Fuji , Yokozuna's manager, recruited several heel wrestlers to help Yokozuna win
992-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1116-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1240-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1364-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
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#17328023463151488-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1612-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1736-485: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Survivor Series (1993) The 1993 Survivor Series was the seventh annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by
1860-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1984-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2108-594: A few minutes. Meanwhile, Michaels provoked Stu Hart into punching him. Inside the ring, Owen forced the Blue Knight to submit to the Sharpshooter, which left Michaels by himself. While Bret was standing on the ring apron, however, Owen ran in to him and got distracted. This allowed Michaels to pin Owen and eliminate him from the match. Bret dominated the rest of the match against Michaels until Michaels walked back to
2232-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2356-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2480-424: A match and caused him to lose to jobber P.J. Walker . Adam Bomb was not involved in any feuds with his opponents at Survivor Series, but there was animosity between Bomb and his teammate Rick Martel. Bomb's manager , Harvey Wippleman , was at ringside to help Martel in a match against Ramon. Wippleman was standing in the way of the match, and Martel ran in to him. While Martel was distracted, Ramon pinned him to win
2604-501: A match for the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble 1994 . Despite interference from Shawn Michaels, Ramon pinned Schyster to retain the title. Michaels and Ramon then faced each other at WrestleMania X . Diesel got involved, but Ramon won the match. Ramon then defended his title against Diesel on April 13, 1994. Diesel won the match and became the new WWF Intercontinental Champion. Ramon regained
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#17328023463152728-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
2852-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2976-545: A rematch the following week. Booger achieved only marginal success, primarily serving as a jobber to the stars . Booger's biggest victory in the WWF was a clean pinfall over Owen Hart. Booger's only WWF pay-per-view appearance was at the 1993 Survivor Series , teaming with Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers in a loss to Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers . He feuded with Bam Bam Bigelow after "falling in love" with Bigelow's valet, Luna Vachon . While teaming with Bigelow on
3100-522: A team calling themselves the Four Doinks. After Bigelow's team was introduced, Doink the Clown's theme song began to play, but immediately switched to the theme of The Bushwhackers and Howard Finkel introduced the pair as Luke Doink and Butch Doink as they came down wearing clown wigs, with Luke riding a scooter and Butch pulling a wagon. As the fans waited to see who would be the other two Doinks,
3224-602: A teenage girl. Shawn Michaels, who replaced Lawler in the match, also had a rivalry with Bret Hart dating back to the previous year. Hart, who held the Intercontinental Championship for much of 1992, defended the belt against Michaels many times, including in the WWF's first ladder match . They had also wrestled each other in the main event of Survivor Series 1992 , when Hart defended his newly-won WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Michaels. The Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Championship
3348-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
3472-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
3596-578: A victory via countout but did not win the title. In the dressing room after the match, Borga, a Finnish wrestler, interrupted Luger's celebration by criticizing Luger and initiating a new feud. The Steiner Brothers spent the fall 1993 feuding with The Quebecers, a Canadian tag team. They had faced each other several times since The Quebecers had won the WWF Tag Team Championship from the Steiners on September 13. Since arriving in
3720-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
3844-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
Mike Shaw - Misplaced Pages Continue
3968-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
4092-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
4216-549: Is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble , and SummerSlam , which were dubbed the "Big Four", and one of the "Big Five", along with King of the Ring that was established in June 1993. The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches , which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 1993 event
4340-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
4464-631: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on Thanksgiving Eve on November 24, 1993, at the Boston Garden in Boston , Massachusetts. Six matches were contested at the event, including one dark match before the live broadcast. The event consisted of four tag-team elimination matches and a bout for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Championship . The main event match saw
4588-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
4712-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
4836-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
4960-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
5084-650: The 1990s as Aaron Grundy , the supposed brother of Solomon Grundy, in EMLL and on the Mexican independent scene. Solomon Grundy was an established wrestler in the promotion and in Mexico. In April 1993, Shaw briefly wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as (alternately) The Friar and Friar Ferguson , a "mad monk". The WWF received negative feedback from the Catholic Church of New York, so they dropped
Mike Shaw - Misplaced Pages Continue
5208-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
5332-694: The All-Americans, a team of face wrestlers from the United States , competing against the Foreign Fanatics, a team of heels that represented other countries. The All-Americans won the match when Lex Luger was the last man remaining. In an undercard match, four members of the Hart family competed against Shawn Michaels and a group of masked men. The original plan was for the Harts to face Jerry Lawler , with whom they were feuding , but Lawler
5456-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
5580-727: The Clown at Outaia Pro Wrestling in Arnprior, Ontario. Later that summer, he worked for Renegade Wrestling Alliance based in Hamilton , also worked in Burlington and Oakville, Ontario. Shaw retired from wrestling in 1999. On December 10, 2007, during the WWE Raw 15th anniversary special, he returned as Bastion Booger in the opening segment, in which Triple H jokingly suggested that Big Dick Johnson (another character whose unsightly physical appearance had been used by WWE for comic effect)
5704-477: The Clown had annoyed Bam Bam Bigelow throughout October and November with such pranks as throwing water and confetti on him and dumping a pail of water on Bigelow's on-screen girlfriend Luna Vachon . He also tied a tripwire across the aisle during one of Bigelow's matches; after Bigelow fell over the wire, Doink attacked him with a broom. Bigelow responded by coming to the ring during one of Doink's matches and destroying Doink's toy wagon. The character of Doink
5828-543: The Clown , but Bigelow's team ended up facing four other wrestlers wearing clown makeup instead. Matches from the Survivor Series also helped set up feuds for Royal Rumble 1994 , the WWF's next pay-per-view. Razor Ramon 's rivalry with Irwin R. Schyster intensified at Survivor Series and led to Ramon defending his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Schyster at the Royal Rumble. This event also marked
5952-583: The Harts. At one point, all four wrestlers brawled in the ring, but Owen was able to eliminate the Black Knight after performing a missile dropkick . Michaels and the knights regained control of the match, but Bret turned things around by eliminating the Red Knight via submission to the Sharpshooter . Bret sustained a kayfabe injury after being thrown out of the ring and sat out of the match for
6076-541: The January 3, 1994, episode of Monday Night Raw , Booger kissed Vachon, causing Bigelow to get angry. Booger and Bigelow faced each other the following week, and Bigelow won the match after Vachon distracted Booger by blowing him kisses. Booger was scheduled to appear in the 1994 Royal Rumble match, but was unable to compete, and the on-screen explanation given was that he contracted food poisoning . He lost his final match on WWF TV to Koko B. Ware in April 1994 and he left
6200-739: The Maniac ). He feuded with Kevin Sullivan , and even received title shots against NWA World champion Ric Flair . He later adopted a trucker gimmick as Trucker Norm , ostensibly in memory of his late father, a long-haul truck driver. Shaw then wrestled in Memphis' USWA as Jed Grundy. In 1991, Shaw wrestled in the Global Wrestling Federation under his "Makhan Singh" gimmick, where he joined The Cartel with Cactus Jack , Rip Rogers , and Scott Anthony . Shaw wrestled in Mexico in
6324-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
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#17328023463156448-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
6572-909: The November 15 episode of Monday Night Raw , Luger defeated Pierre; as a result of a kayfabe injury in the match, the Foreign Fanatics had to replace Pierre with Crush , the sole American of the team. Crush was feuding with Randy Savage going into the event. They had been on-screen friends, but Crush was angry that Savage had not saved him from an attack by Yokozuna on the July 12, 1993, episode of Monday Night Raw . To make his injuries seem real, Crush did not appear on WWF television programming for several months. He made his return on October 18, accompanied by Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji , claiming that they sympathized with Crush's sense of betrayal by Savage. Savage tried to make amends with Crush, who then attacked Savage and announced that he had turned against Savage and
6696-402: The United States and was aligning himself with Yokozuna, Fuji, and Japan. Prior to the televised broadcast, Billy Gunn defeated The Brooklyn Brawler in a dark match . The first match on the pay-per-view event saw Razor Ramon, Randy Savage, the 1–2–3 Kid, and Marty Jannetty face Diesel, Irwin R. Schyster, Rick Martel, and Adam Bomb. Prior to the match, Ramon announced that Savage was taking
6820-542: The WWF as Mike Smith, in a losing effort against former world champion Pedro Morales on All Star Wrestling. In 1982, Shaw began wrestling under his real name for Stu Hart 's Stampede Wrestling in Calgary , Alberta . In 1984, he worked for All Japan and Montreal. A year later he worked in the Maritimes. Also in 1984, he connected with wrestler The Great Gama "Singh" and was bestowed the ring name of Makhan Singh , forming
6944-728: The WWF in August 1994. After leaving WWF, Shaw kept the Bastion Booger gimmick. He wrestled in the independent circuit in Michigan and Canada for Border City Wrestling . He feuded with Typhoon in 1995 in indy American promotions losing all the matches to Typhoon. On December 15, 1995, he returned to Calgary as Makhan Singh defeating the Gothic Warrior at the Stu Hart 50th Anniversary Show . On May 4, 1997, he lost to Doink
7068-408: The WWF's 1993 King of the Ring tournament, Lawler confronted him and claimed to be the only king in the WWF. Lawler then attacked Hart from behind, hitting Hart with the scepter and throne that had been set up for the coronation ceremony. The feud escalated when Lawler involved Helen and Stu Hart , Bret's parents, by insulting them while serving as commentator for WWF television programs. In what
7192-462: The WWF, Tatanka had been on a two-year winning streak. Borga ended the streak on the October 30, 1993, episode of WWF Superstars by pinning Tatanka after hitting him with a chair. After the match, Borga and Yokozuna attacked Tatanka, causing kayfabe injuries that forced Tatanka to withdraw from the match at Survivor Series. The All-Americans recruited The Undertaker to replace Tatanka. On
7316-497: The WWF, was the referee for the match and turned heel by disqualifying Luger during the match. Ludvig Borga was scheduled to continue his feud with Tatanka in a match at Royal Rumble 1994. Borga sustained a legitimate ankle injury, however, and never returned to the WWF. WWF writers had also planned to have Borga feud with Luger, but they were forced to drop the storyline because of Borga's departure. Crush and Randy Savage also continued their feud. They fought each other during
7440-538: The advantage after Prichard performed a powerbomb on Morton, which Del Ray followed with a moonsault . Del Ray and Morton fought back and forth, with Del Ray performing another moonsault and Morton executing a hurricanrana . After all four wrestlers brawled in the ring once more, Del Ray hit Gibson in the back with a tennis racquet. Prichard then pinned Gibson to win the belts for The Heavenly Bodies. The next match pitted Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger and The Headshrinkers (accompanied by Luna Vachon and Afa ) against
7564-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
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#17328023463157688-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
7812-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
7936-413: The beginning of The Undertaker 's feud with Yokozuna , and Yokozuna defended his WWF Championship against The Undertaker at the 1994 Royal Rumble. Survivor Series is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), produced every November by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987. In what has become the second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania ), it
8060-495: The belt in a rematch at SummerSlam 1994 , however. Meanwhile, the 1–2–3 Kid and Marty Jannetty continued with their push from the promotion and won the WWF Tag Team Championship on January 10, 1994. Owen Hart challenged Bret Hart to a match after Survivor Series, but Bret refused to fight his brother. The two reunited to face The Quebecers for the Tag Team Championship at Royal Rumble 1994. Bret sustained
8184-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
8308-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
8432-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
8556-411: The character. Shaw was then (allegedly as punishment for his weight) given the ring name Bastion Booger in June 1993, with the gimmick of an unkempt, slovenly and gluttonous man who wrestled in dingy, too-small, gray/beige singlets tailored to give him the appearance of a hunchback . Shaw's debut as Bastion Booger saw him lose to Virgil on the June 19, 1993, edition of Superstars , though he did win
8680-417: The closure, he received the opportunity to join World Championship Wrestling as Norman the Lunatic . He was managed by Theodore Long , who led him around with a giant key. This key was symbolic of Long's potential to recommit Norman to the insane asylum he came from if he did not follow orders. Norman carried a teddy bear with him. Norman eventually broke away from Long, and turned face (being renamed Norman
8804-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
8928-500: The corner. Bigelow fell, Mabel performed a splash on him, and the referee counted the pin as the other three Doinks piled on. After the match, the real Doink the Clown appeared on the video screen to taunt Bigelow. In the final match of the evening, The All-Americans, consisting of Lex Luger, The Undertaker, and The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner), competed against the Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Quebecer Jacques, and Crush). Scott Steiner and Jacques began
9052-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
9176-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
9300-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
9424-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
9548-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
9672-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
9796-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
9920-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
10044-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
10168-486: The intro to Doink's theme played again and the two Doinks were joined by Mabel Doink and Mo Doink with their rapping manager Oscar Doink; as they came to the ring they were referred to by Bobby Heenan as " Doinks on a Mission ". Headshrinker Samu was eliminated first after he bit several of the balloons being carried by his opponents. He was purposely offered one more balloon by the Doinks, which he willfully bit into. Samu
10292-640: The locker room. As a result, Michaels was counted out, and the Harts won the match. After the match, Owen returned to the ring and yelled at Bret, blaming Bret for causing him to be eliminated from the match. All four men began the SMW Tag Team Championship match in the ring. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) controlled most of the opening of the match with aerial maneuvers against The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Prichard). Del Ray tried to help his partner but superkicked him instead. The Heavenly Bodies gained
10416-528: The match began that summer when Yokozuna, a Japanese sumo wrestler, challenged any American athlete to bodyslam him on the deck of the USS Intrepid during an event on Independence Day . After several challengers were unable to lift Yokozuna, Luger arrived via helicopter and successfully performed what was termed "the bodyslam heard around the world". Luger was granted a match for Yokozuna's WWF World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. Luger got
10540-405: The match via countout . In September 1993, Michaels was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship by WWF President Jack Tunney . A battle royal was scheduled to determine the top two contenders for the championship. Ramon and Martel were the last two wrestlers in the ring, and they faced each other in a title match on the September 27 episode of Monday Night Raw . Ramon won the match and
10664-414: The match, but Scott soon tagged in his brother Rick. Rick knocked Yokozuna out of the ring, but he was unable to perform much offense against Borga. Rick attempted a crossbody , during which Borga was supposed to catch him. Borga botched the move, but he pinned Rick anyway to eliminate him from the match. Crush faced Scott Steiner inside the ring, but Randy Savage then appeared in the aisle trying to get to
10788-572: The match. Martel then yelled at Wippleman and pushed him. Bomb came to the ring to defend his manager, and an argument ensued until Diesel and Schyster came to the ring to calm their teammates. Jerry Lawler spent much of 1993 building a feud with the Hart family. Lawler had been using the nickname "The King" since defeating Jackie Fargo for the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship in 1974. After Bret Hart won
10912-485: The match. The Undertaker supposedly died and disappeared from the WWF for several months, although, in reality, he was simply recovering from injuries. He resumed the feud with Yokozuna upon his return, however, and defeated Yokozuna in a casket match at Survivor Series 1994 . Luger also continued his rivalry with Yokozuna. As a co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble match, Luger was granted a shot at Yokozuna's WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Mr. Perfect, who had returned to
11036-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
11160-479: The place of Perfect, who was unable to appear. Martel and Ramon began the match in the ring, but Martel soon tagged out to bring Bomb into the match. Ramon performed a suplex on Bomb and attempted to pin his opponent. Martel tried to rescue his partner but ended up hitting Bomb instead and causing an argument. The 1–2–3 Kid entered the match but was overpowered by Bomb and Diesel. After the Kid tagged out, Savage performed
11284-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
11408-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
11532-547: The ring and hit Ramon with a briefcase. Ramon fell out of the ring and was counted out of the match. The remaining four wrestlers fought back and forth, but the 1–2–3 Kid eventually pinned Martel after a sunset flip . Almost immediately, Jannetty performed a sunset flip on Bomb to win the match for his team. The next bout was the "Family Feud" match that saw the Hart brothers (Bret, Owen, Bruce, and Keith) facing Shawn Michaels and His Knights. The knights wore masks to hide their identities, but it has been revealed that Jeff Gaylord
11656-486: The ring but was restrained by officials and The Smoking Gunns . Scott knocked Crush out of the ring, and Crush fought with Savage until being counted out of the match. Scott then turned his attention to Jacques before tagging Luger into the match. Luger eliminated Jacques with an elbow drop and a pinfall. Scott Steiner re-entered the match and executed a superplex on Borga. When he tried to pin Borga, however, Yokozuna entered
11780-451: The ring until both were counted out and eliminated from the match. Luger and Borga then fought back and forth until Luger performed a running forearm smash and pinned Borga to win the match. After the match, Santa Claus came to the ring to celebrate with Luger. The attendance for the event was 15,509, which generated $ 180,000 in ticket sales. This was the lowest attendance for a Survivor Series event since 1989. The pay-per-view buyrate
11904-496: The ring. Yokozuna performed a leg drop on Steiner and pinned him to even the match at two wrestlers each. Luger fought with Borga and Yokozuna before tagging The Undertaker into the match. The Undertaker gained control of the match, but Yokozuna turned the momentum around by performing his signature move, the Banzai drop , on The Undertaker. When he attempted the move a second time, The Undertaker sat up. The two men then fought outside
12028-524: The set during Bigelow's matches leading up to the event. The wall used a split screen to show multiple Doinks talking and laughing at the same time. In the main event , the team of the All-Americans, which consisted of Lex Luger , Tatanka , and the Steiner Brothers ( Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner ) faced the Foreign Fanatics, which consisted of Yokozuna , Ludvig Borga , and The Quebecers ( Jacques and Pierre ). The main storyline behind
12152-524: The stable "Karachi Vice" with Gama and Gary Albright as Vokhan Singh and managed by Judah Rosenbloom and following the rebirth of Stampede Wrestling in 1985, by Abu Wizal and feuded with the likes of Owen Hart , Davey Boy Smith , Bret Hart , and Chris Benoit . From 1986 to 1988 he won the Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship three times defeating Owen Hart and losing
12276-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
12400-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
12524-588: The title back to Hart. He dropped the title the final time to Don Muraco on December 9, 1988. On December 30, 1988, he and Vokhan Singh defeated The British Bulldogs for the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship . They dropped the titles to Chris Benoit and Biff Wellington on April 8, 1989. After the loss Shaw left Calgary. Stampede Wrestling closed in December 1989 and just prior to
12648-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
12772-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
12896-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
13020-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
13144-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
13268-443: Was 0.82, down from 1.4 the previous year, and was the lowest buyrate in Survivor Series history to that point. The event has been rated by several sources. Adam Gutschmidt, writing for Online Onslaught , stated that "many of the substitutions hurt the matches" and that "the main event was bland". The Other Arena opined that the Four Doinks match was the worst on the card and that the confrontation between Lex Luger and Ludvig Borga
13392-729: Was Booger's son. Jakks Pacific added Bastion Booger to the Classic Superstars line, series 25 in 2009. Shaw worked for various independent promotions in his final years while operating a wrestling school in his hometown of Skandia, Michigan . Shaw was married and had two children. Shaw died of a pulmonary embolism on September 11, 2010. He was 53 years old. He is survived by his wife Kelly and their two children, son Joshua and daughter Amanda. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
13516-452: Was awarded the championship belt. Schyster had initiated a feud with Ramon in May 1993 after Ramon lost a match to The Kid (later the 1–2–3 Kid), who was competing as a jobber at the time. Schyster and his tag team partner Ted DiBiase made fun of Ramon for the loss and offered him a job as a servant . In response, Ramon teamed with the 1–2–3 Kid for a series of matches against Schyster and DiBiase, and he also distracted Schyster during
13640-445: Was billed as a "Family Feud" match, Bret Hart was joined by his brother Owen , who also worked for the WWF at the time, as well as his brothers Bruce and Keith , both of whom had also wrestled professionally. Lawler's partners were three masked wrestlers known only as the Blue Knight, the Red Knight, and the Black Knight. Lawler was unable to appear at the event, however, as he was indicted after being accused of raping and sodomizing
13764-537: Was boring. Scott Criscuolo and Justin Rozzero reviewed the event for The History of WWE . Both writers gave Survivor Series 1993 a "C" rating and viewed the Family Feud match as the worst on the card. Matt Peddycord, writing for 411mania.com , gave the event a 5.5 out of 10 rating. He pointed to the crowd's chant of "We want Doink!" as evidence that fans were upset by the Four Doinks match. Survivor Series 1993
13888-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
14012-470: Was defended at Survivor Series as part of a working agreement between WWF owner Vince McMahon and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) owner Jim Cornette . The Rock 'n' Roll Express , who held the belts going into the event, had been feuding with The Heavenly Bodies over the title for over a year. The rivalry had been violent at times, including a barbed wire cage match and a Texas deathmatch . Doink
14136-532: Was going to toss the contents of the bucket onto him. This resulted in Fatu slipping on the banana peel, and Butch pinned him to eliminate him from the match. Left by himself, Bigelow began brutally atracking three of the Doinks and seemed to get the upper hand when Mabel entered the ring and Bigelow was unable to do much to him. Meanwhile, Butch dumped a bucket of confetti all over Luna, which caused Bigelow to become momentarily distracted and Mabel and Mo sandwiched him in
14260-408: Was not able to appear at the event having been fired after being indicted for raping a 13-year-old girl. The Harts won the match, but a confrontation between Bret Hart and Owen Hart after the match led to Owen turning against the family the following year. The majority of the feuds remained unresolved and carried on to future events. Bam Bam Bigelow was scheduled to face his main rival, Doink
14384-404: Was played by several wrestlers, who occasionally appeared at the same time. The match booked for Survivor Series advertised Bigelow teaming with Bastion Booger , who portrayed an overweight and dirty glutton, and The Headshrinkers ( Samu and Fatu ), a team of Samoans who were portrayed as savages, to face four Doinks. To promote the match, Doink appeared on the video wall that was part of
14508-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
14632-488: Was reignited at that time, and they feuded at several pay-per-view events in 1995. Bam Bam Bigelow's feud with Doink the Clown remained unresolved for several months. They were in the ring at the same time during the main event of the 1994 Royal Rumble, which was a battle royal-style match. Bigelow attacked Doink and eliminated him from the match. The blow off match came at WrestleMania X, where Doink and his midget sidekick Dink faced Bigelow and his girlfriend Luna Vachon in
14756-748: Was released on VHS by Coliseum Video on December 15, 1993, in North America. It was released in the United Kingdom by Silver Vision ; the VHS version was released on March 14, 1994, and the DVD was released as part of the WWE Tagged Classics line (packaged together with Survivor Series 1994) on September 4, 2006. Razor Ramon continued with two of his feuds after Survivor Series. Irwin R. Schyster stole Ramon's gold chains, which set up
14880-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
15004-686: Was stunned to find out that the balloon was full of water, which caused him to stumble back in surprise and Luke rolled him up and pinned him. Later, Booger has a chance to pin Luke after he hit the Trip to the Batcave on him. However, Booger got off of Luke and went to the corner where Headshrinker Fatu offered him a banana. As Booger was looking to perform the move again, his teammates dragged him away and Booger landed on his knees. Luke and Butch performed their trademark battering ram on Booger. Mabel then executed
15128-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
15252-435: Was the Black Knight, Greg Valentine was the Blue Knight, and Barry Horowitz was the Red Knight. Ray Combs , then host of Family Feud , told jokes to insult Shawn Michaels prior to the bout and later served as guest commentator for the match. Michaels began the match by wrestling Bruce Hart. Although Michaels was able to go on the offensive against the Hart brothers, the knights were unable to achieve much success against
15376-452: Was the seventh event in the Survivor Series chronology and was scheduled to be held on Thanksgiving Eve on November 24, 1993, at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts . Several feuds surrounded the opening match, which saw the team of Razor Ramon , Marty Jannetty , the 1–2–3 Kid and Mr. Perfect face the team of Irwin R. Schyster (I.R.S.), Diesel , Rick Martel , and Adam Bomb . Diesel made his WWF debut on June 6, 1993, as
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