Mid 20th Century
120-590: Elizabeth Ann Hulette (November 19, 1960 – May 1, 2003), best known in professional wrestling circles as Miss Elizabeth , was an American occasional professional wrestler , professional wrestling manager , and professional wrestling TV announcer. She gained international fame from 1985 to 1992 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and from 1996 to 2000 in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), in her role as
240-418: A hearing on a previous offense – driving with expired tags and having no proof of vehicle insurance . Miss Elizabeth appeared in four WCW video games: WCW/nWo Revenge , WCW Nitro , WCW/nWo Thunder and WCW Backstage Assault . She has also appeared in three WWE video games as an NPC and made a cameo in the 1989 arcade game WWF Superstars , WWE 2K14 , WWE 2K16 and WWE 2K24 as
360-446: 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 the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
480-413: 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
600-552: A beating, slapped Hogan in the face and, after having some choice words, left him to face the Twin Towers alone (Hogan went on to win the match single handed). Following the match, Savage and Hogan had a loud verbal argument backstage while Elizabeth was receiving medical attention, which culminated with Savage striking Hogan with the championship belt and beating him down, thus splitting the Mega Powers. The dissolution of
720-532: 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
840-519: 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
960-585: 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
1080-579: A critical point in the match. Elizabeth closed out 1989 managing Jim Duggan in his matches against Randy Savage and appearing on the Brother Love Show during house shows with Sherri Martel in November and December 1989. In addition to her appearances at ringside, Elizabeth also briefly co-hosted WWF Wrestling Spotlight with Vince McMahon . After Savage and Sherri began a heated feud with "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire near
1200-499: 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 . Slammy Awards The Slammy Awards , also known as the Slammys , is a concept used by WWE , where awards, similar to
1320-410: 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
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#17328022659031440-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has 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
1560-405: 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
1680-632: A live snake , which frightened her; newly turned-heel Jake "The Snake" Roberts and the Undertaker crashed the reception and attacked Savage. This started a feud between Roberts and Savage, where Elizabeth quickly figured prominently. The first high-profile Savage-Roberts match was on December 3, 1991, at the Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view event, where, after Savage gained a pinfall victory, Roberts beat down Savage, then forced Elizabeth to beg him to stop
1800-799: 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
1920-509: A match on July 30, 1985, in Poughkeepsie, New York , several managers were at ringside in hopes that he would name one of them as his new manager. After the match, Savage thanked the managers for their consideration and then asked that his new manager come to ringside. An attractive, unnamed woman then came down to the ring, and announcer Jesse Ventura remarked, "She must be some sort of movie star," referring to her glamorous sex appeal. It
2040-440: 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
2160-592: A selectable manager . On May 1, 2003, in Marietta, Georgia, Luger called 9-1-1 to report that Hulette was not breathing. She did not respond to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation , and paramedics rushed her to the WellStar Kennestone Hospital Emergency Room, where she was pronounced dead at the age of 42. A medical examiner listed the cause of death as " acute toxicity ", brought on by a mix of painkillers and vodka . Her death
2280-503: 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
2400-586: 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
2520-410: 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
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#17328022659032640-428: 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 is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
2760-667: The 1989 Royal Rumble when Hogan "accidentally" eliminated Savage. An angered Savage then confronted Hogan in the ring, causing Elizabeth to rush to the ring to play the role of peacemaker. After the match was over, Jesse Ventura interviewed Savage and claimed he could see problems between the Mega Powers, something Savage unconvincingly denied. Meanwhile, tension continued to build within the Mega Powers, and on The Main Event II , aired live on February 3, 1989, Savage could no longer contain his growing anger toward Hogan. The sequence of events began when Akeem threw Savage onto Elizabeth, who
2880-532: The Academy and Grammy Awards , are given to professional wrestlers and other individuals within WWE, such as commentators and managers . Introduced in 1986, there have been 13 editions of the concept. The awards are a mixture of "serious" and " tongue-in-cheek ". Winners of the award receive a statuette that depicts one wrestler holding another over his head. The awards were discontinued after 2015. The same year,
3000-519: The Civic Center in Baltimore , and aired live on MTV . Martha Quinn served as an interviewer. Gene Okerlund , Jimmy Hart , Hillbilly Jim , and Junkyard Dog performed their songs from the album. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The Slammy Awards returned a year later, now honoring the events and individuals involved within the professional wrestling aspect of
3120-810: The NXT brand debuted its own exclusive awards, the NXT Year-End Awards (also rewarding the NXT UK brand since 2019), with wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown being instead rewarded by the WWE Year-End Award in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, it was announced that WWE would be reviving the Slammy Awards for their Raw and SmackDown brands, with the winners announced live on the WWE Network . The ceremony aired on December 23, 2020 following
3240-624: 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
3360-593: The New World Order (nWo) alongside Hulk Hogan, but seemed to still care deeply for her ex-husband, and eventually joined his side when he too joined the nWo in February 1997. During much of 1997, Randy Savage and Elizabeth feuded with Diamond Dallas Page and Kimberly Page . In May 1998 at Slamboree , Elizabeth joined nWo Wolfpac . In June 1998, she parted ways with Savage once again by joining nWo Hollywood . Then, she accompanied Eric Bischoff on his way to
3480-737: The Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia . The awards were presented on Raw , with additional awards given on WWE's website. The "Superstar of the Year" award was decided by a fan vote, which were cast through WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 17, 2012, from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia . Awards were presented on Raw , on WWE's website, and on
3600-745: The TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pre-show the day before. Votes for several categories were cast through the WWE App during the live broadcast; over 583,000 votes were tallied. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 9, 2013, from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington , with over 13,000 people in attendance and was hosted by Booker T and Jerry Lawler . The awards were presented on Raw , its pre-show, and on WWE's website. Votes were cast through
3720-776: 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 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
Miss Elizabeth - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-606: The WWA World Heavyweight Championship in matches with Sting during the tour. On April 19, 2003, Elizabeth was involved in a domestic dispute with Luger, who allegedly struck her in the garage of their townhouse in Marietta, Georgia . Cobb County police found Elizabeth with two bruised eyes, a bump on her head, and a cut lip. Luger was charged with a misdemeanor count of battery and released on $ 2,500 bond. Two days later on April 21, Luger
3960-615: The Westin Hotel in Chicago . It aired live on USA Network, and there was two celebrity presenters were Cindy Margolis and Walter Payton Nominees in some categories included celebrities with no connection to the WWF or even to professional wrestling at all. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The Slammy Awards were brought back in 2008 as part of a strategy to air more "special episodes" of WWE Raw and revive
4080-615: The manager to wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage , as well as other wrestlers of that period. She died as a result of an acute toxicity on May 1, 2003, in the home she shared with wrestler Lex Luger . Hulette was born in Frankfort, Kentucky . She graduated from Franklin County High School and the University of Kentucky with a degree in communications. While working at a gym, she met Randy Poffo, who wrestled under
4200-536: The " Mega Powers " - teamed up against the Mega Bucks (André the Giant and Ted DiBiase) with Jesse "The Body" Ventura . Most of the pre-match build-up centered on Elizabeth, who by this time was at the peak of her popularity. The tease for the match was that if things got bad, Elizabeth, billed as the secret weapon of The Mega Powers, was going to wear an "itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikini" under her fancy clothes. Towards
4320-584: 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
4440-400: 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
4560-543: The 1987 Slammy Awards , Honky named Elizabeth "Woman of the Year," but the honor was only to harass her and anger Savage; Savage quickly ran Honky off. In February 1988, Hulk Hogan, who had been the champion and the foundation upon which the WWF's popularity was built, lost the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to André the Giant . André then sold the belt to the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase due to an arrangement that they had prior to
4680-460: 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
4800-411: 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 the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
4920-481: The 2020 awards the slammys were not awarded again until 2024 at WWE World via fan vote. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker hold the record for the most Slammy Awards won by a WWE superstar at fifteen each. The Slammy Awards was initially conceived to commemorate the release of The Wrestling Album , a music album featuring various professional wrestlers from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). The ceremony took place on March 1, 1986, from
Miss Elizabeth - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-653: 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
5160-578: The Mega Powers led Hogan to challenge Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania V in April 1989. In the build-up to the event, Savage appeared in a series of televised promos accusing Hogan of "lusting after Elizabeth" with video footage of past incidents, edited in a context to push Hogan as a jealous, sore heel. Hogan responded by defending his behavior (with more complete footage from
5280-408: 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
5400-488: 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
5520-534: The Savage-Honky feud, a key point was Honky's claim that Elizabeth secretly wanted him more than Savage. In several of their matches, Honky would try to corner Elizabeth, although Savage would always beat him back. In other Savage-Honky matches, a woman named "Peggy Sue" (usually Sherri Martel , or a dressed-up Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart ) would harass Elizabeth at ringside, creating an advantage for Honky. At
5640-538: The WWE App during the live broadcast; over 1.64 million votes were tallied. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 8, 2014, from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina . It was hosted by Seth Green . The awards were presented on Raw , its pre-show and on WWE's website. Votes were cast through WWE's website for
5760-476: The WWE App during the live show. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 23, 2020, and aired through WWE’s digital and social media platforms. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . On March 22, 2024, it was announced that the Slammys were returning and the winners would be entirely be determined by fans' votes. The voting ran March 22nd till
5880-538: The WWF television studios. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The fourth edition of the Slammy Awards took place on March 30, 1996, from the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, California . It aired live on USA Network , and was hosted by Todd Pettengill . Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The fifth edition of the Slammy Awards took place on March 21, 1997, from
6000-468: The World Wrestling Federation. The second edition of the ceremony (referred to in commercials and on-air as the 37th annual Slammy Awards) took place on December 16, 1987, from Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey . It aired in syndication on December 19, 1987. The ceremony was hosted by Jesse Ventura and Gene Okerlund . Musical numbers were performed by Vince McMahon (singing
6120-401: 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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#17328022659036240-418: 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
6360-561: 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
6480-641: The beating. Apparently dissatisfied with her begging, Roberts grabbed her by the hair and slapped her across her face. On the February 8, 1992 Saturday Night's Main Event XXX , Roberts, with a steel chair in tow, was waiting in the backstage area for Elizabeth and Savage to come through the curtain after a match. Roberts was about to strike Elizabeth with the chair, but Undertaker stopped him. This started Undertaker's feud with his former ally. In early 1992, WWF Champion Ric Flair began to brag that he dated Elizabeth before Savage met her. Flair's tagline was, "She
6600-604: The brand as well as boost ratings. The event took place on December 8, 2008, from the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia . Certain awards were also presented on WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 14, 2009, from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas . It was hosted by Dennis Miller . The "Diva of the Year" award
6720-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling 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
6840-424: 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
6960-418: 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
7080-423: 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
7200-512: 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
7320-468: 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 the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
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#17328022659037440-540: 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
7560-550: The end of 1989, Miss Elizabeth joined forces with Rhodes and Sapphire at WrestleMania VI in April 1990, where the two couples were engaged in the WWF's first mixed tag team match . When Sherri attempted to help Savage double-team Rhodes, Miss Elizabeth grabbed Sherri by the hair. While the two women faced off, Sapphire took advantage of the situation, kneeling down behind Sherri just as Miss Elizabeth pushed her. Sherri lost her balance and gave Sapphire enough advantage to pin Sherri for
7680-676: The end of 1999, Elizabeth became much more physically involved in the action than she had ever been. Her new vicious side would be ever so apparent at Starrcade 1999 when she struck Sting with his own baseball bat. In February 2000, Elizabeth managed the short-lived partnership between Lex Luger and Ric Flair. The three of them were known as Team Package. Shortly thereafter, Team Package went their separate ways as they fought various members of The New Blood . Elizabeth engaged in short-lived feuds with Vince Russo and Kimberly Page . On May 8, 2000, Elizabeth wrestled in her first official match against Daffney . Elizabeth worked with Kimberly Page for
7800-580: The end of match, André and DiBiase were in control, so Elizabeth got up on the apron and ripped her skirt off to reveal her panties which distracted André, DiBiase and Ventura, giving Savage and Hogan time to recover after being knocked out of the ring. Elizabeth became the catalyst in the uneasy – and ultimate breakup of – the Savage–Hogan relationship, particularly due to Hogan's overfriendly, overprotective attitude toward Elizabeth. At his behest, Elizabeth accompanied Hogan to ringside for several matches during
7920-405: 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
8040-603: 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
8160-560: The fall of 1988, including matches against King Haku , Akeem , and Bad News Brown that aired on Saturday Night's Main Event XVII . In the match against Akeem, Elizabeth's safety was endangered by Akeem and his allies, Slick and Akeem's tag team partner, Big Boss Man when they began stalking Elizabeth. During a climactic point in the match where Hogan was being brutally beaten by Akeem, Big Boss Man grabbed Elizabeth and placed her in handcuffs, stopped only when Savage ran out to make
8280-470: 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
8400-610: 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
8520-460: 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
8640-526: 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
8760-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in 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
8880-480: 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
9000-496: 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
9120-632: The line and Rey Mysterio Jr.'s mask on the line at SuperBrawl IX with Kevin Nash as his tag team partner. However, on the February 18, 1999 edition of WCW Thunder , at the E-Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, a limo pulled up and was driving along with Rey Mysterio Jr. with Lex Luger and Elizabeth inside. As Elizabeth and Lex Luger were getting out of the limo, Rey Mysterio Jr. grabbed the door and slammed it into Lex Luger's biceps , injuring him in
9240-478: The match . Elizabeth remained part of the New World Order until taking a leave of absence from WCW in April 1999. In September 1999, Elizabeth returned to WCW television as the manager of Lex Luger . Lex Luger, who was accompanied by Elizabeth at this time to ringside for single matches, was supposed to get ready for the tag team match against Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. with Miss Elizabeth's hair on
9360-706: The match on April 5, 1992, Elizabeth made her way to ringside, against the wishes of WWF officials. After Savage pinned Flair to win the WWF Championship, an angry Flair cornered Elizabeth and forcibly began to kiss her; Elizabeth slapped Flair away, and Savage began beating Flair until ring officials separated them. Elizabeth's final WWF appearance took place at UK Rampage on April 19, 1992, during an overseas tour of England; in that match, Savage pinned Shawn Michaels after Elizabeth, who had earlier been sent backstage, returned to prevent Sherri's interference on Michaels' behalf. The Savage-Michaels match from England
9480-496: The match. President Jack Tunney declared that the title cannot be forfeited to another individual. A tournament was held at WrestleMania IV to declare a new champion, which Macho Man Randy Savage won, pinning DiBiase in the finals. Throughout mid-1988, Elizabeth accompanied Savage to ringside for his lengthy series of title defences against DiBiase. At the inaugural SummerSlam event in August 1988, Savage and Hulk Hogan - dubbed
9600-498: 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
9720-603: The pre-show and website awards, while the main categories were voted through the WWE App during the live broadcast. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 21, 2015, from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota . Awards were presented on Raw , its pre-show, and WWE's website. Votes were cast for certain categories through Twitter , Instagram and Facebook , with voting for additional categories occurring on
9840-409: The process. Lex Luger was immediately replaced by Scott Hall as Kevin Nash's tag team partner for the tag team match at Superbrawl IX. She then took time off from the road to be with Lex Luger during his recovery from a biceps injury. After Lex Luger recovered from his biceps injury, Elizabeth would make her return to WCW programming on the September 27, 1999 edition of WCW Monday Nitro . Towards
9960-717: 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
10080-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise 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
10200-496: The remainder of 1989, Elizabeth's appearances were sporadic. She continued to mainly appear on the house show circuit managing Hulk Hogan in his matches with Randy Savage from April 1989 through October 1989. Elizabeth appeared at SummerSlam 1989 , managing Hogan and Brutus Beefcake as they headlined the show against Savage and Zeus (accompanied by Sensational Sherri); Elizabeth, who rarely became physical with other wrestlers beforehand, tripped Sherri to prevent her from interfering at
10320-580: The remainder of May 2000. Elizabeth's final WCW appearance was on the May 29, 2000 edition of WCW Monday Nitro and Elizabeth quietly left World Championship Wrestling on August 17, 2000, when her contract with WCW expired. Elizabeth briefly married Cary Lubetsky, a South Florida attorney, on December 6, 1997. The wedding was held at the Cuban Hebrew Temple in Miami Beach . The marriage
10440-413: The ring for the next few months, and derided Savage. Savage coldly reminded her that he "got over her a long time ago" and did not need her. On the January 4, 1999 episode of Nitro , Elizabeth was seen talking to police detectives. According to the storyline, she claimed that Goldberg was stalking her and that he even accosted her by the water cooler. She then filed charges against Goldberg. Goldberg
10560-471: The ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage . They married in December 1984. Later Hulette worked at International Championship Wrestling shows as a TV announcer where Poffo was employed. On June 17, 1985, "Macho Man" Randy Savage debuted in the World Wrestling Federation. At that time, the WWF featured an angle in which all the managers in the promotion competed to offer their services to Savage. During
10680-627: The same incidents, to push him as the face). After weeks of speculation as to whose corner she would stand in at WrestleMania V, Elizabeth announced she would stand in a "neutral" corner. During the Hogan-Savage match, Elizabeth got in the way of both wrestlers several times and was eventually sent from ringside; Hogan went on to win Savage's WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Following WrestleMania V, Savage ended his partnership with Miss Elizabeth, adopting Sensational Sherri as his new manager. For
10800-580: The save; although he checked on Elizabeth's well-being, Savage appeared to be unconcerned about Hogan. Concurrent with the Mega Powers' feud with the Twin Towers was Savage's feud with Bad News Brown. That feud started when Brown, during a guest appearance on " The Brother Love Show " talk segment, alleged that Elizabeth was "doing favors" for WWF President Jack Tunney (implying she wanted to protect Savage and his WWF World Heavyweight Championship reign from Brown). Savage quickly got revenge against Brown. The tension between Hogan and Savage continued to build at
10920-451: The song "Stand Back") and Jimmy Hart (singing "Girls in Cars"), with the entire WWF roster performing "If You Only Knew" as the show's closing number. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . Dormant for years, the Slammy Awards returned on a special edition of WWF Mania which aired on December 31, 1994. Todd Pettengill and Stephanie Wiand presented the awards from
11040-539: The spotlight for a few years. On January 23, 1996, Miss Elizabeth returned to wrestling as manager for Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan at Clash of the Champions XXXII . Only 3 weeks later, on February 11, 1996, Elizabeth turned on Randy Savage by helping Ric Flair defeat him at SuperBrawl VI and then became Flair's co-manager in the Four Horsemen along with Woman . In September 1996, Elizabeth joined
11160-440: 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
11280-526: The taping of WWF Superstars of Wrestling in an in-ring segment with Gene Okerlund announcing, Savage proposed to Miss Elizabeth, which she accepted. The couple then held a heavily promoted on-air wedding billed as "the Match Made in Heaven" in August 1991, at SummerSlam 1991 (in actuality, the couple had married on December 30, 1984). At the wedding reception, Elizabeth opened a gift package containing
11400-426: 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,
11520-561: The title to The Honky Tonk Man , whose insistence that he was "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time" instigated a challenge from Savage, the former champion. In their match, which aired on Saturday Night's Main Event XII in September 1987, Honky shoved Elizabeth to the mat before assaulting Savage with a guitar. Elizabeth ran backstage and persuaded Hulk Hogan to rescue Savage, running off Honky and his allies, Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart . Throughout
11640-519: 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
11760-471: 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
11880-405: 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 a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
12000-535: 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
12120-498: The win. Elizabeth continued to appear on the house show circuit with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire from May 1990 until August 1990 in mixed tag team matches against Randy Savage and Sherri Martel, with Savage and Sherri adding Brother Love to their corner to counteract Elizabeth. From August 1990, she took a hiatus from appearing at WWF events. Miss Elizabeth did not appear on WWF television until WrestleMania VII in March 1991, where she
12240-420: 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
12360-481: The years. The publication of Savage's statement marked, at the time, a rare acknowledgement of the wrestlers' private lives for both the WWF and its flagship publication. Savage continued with the WWF for two more years, and except for the statement in WWF Magazine , his divorce from Elizabeth was neither referred to nor figured into any of Savage's future feuds. Elizabeth retired from wrestling and disappeared from
12480-425: 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
12600-495: Was advertised to make her first wrestling appearance on television since her departure from WCW in 2000 during the World Wrestling All-Stars tour of Europe in November 2002 and December 2002 alongside Luger. She accompanied Luger on the tour overseas, but did not appear on a single show. Elizabeth never made another wrestling appearance on television after she left WCW . Lex Luger ended up winning and losing
12720-407: Was aired on WWF Prime Time Wrestling in June; the publication of the actual Savage-Elizabeth photos in WWF Magazine came at about that same time. In August 1992, she and Savage divorced. After the decree was finalized late that summer, Savage issued a statement that was printed in WWF Magazine revealing that he and Elizabeth were no longer together and thanking the fans for their support through
12840-454: Was arrested for driving under the influence after rear-ending another car while driving his Porsche . According to the report on the arrest, Luger had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes and could not locate his driver's license . Luger had a 9mm Luger handgun in the car. Elizabeth was a passenger in the vehicle, and was sent home in a taxicab. Luger was also driving with a suspended license for not appearing in court on March 5, 2003, for
12960-399: Was arrested later that night for aggravated stalking and taken into custody by police. However, later that night, Elizabeth admitted that she was lying. As it turned out, Elizabeth was a pawn for the nWo so that Goldberg would be unable to have his scheduled title match with Kevin Nash later that night. Due to Goldberg's apparent absence, the returning Hulk Hogan took Goldberg's title shot in
13080-488: 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
13200-641: Was decided by a fan vote, with votes cast through WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 13, 2010, from the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans . The awards were presented on Raw , with "supplemental" awards given on WWE's website. The "Superstar of the Year" award was decided by a fan vote, which were cast through WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 12, 2011, from
13320-536: Was during Savage's feud with George "The Animal" Steele in 1986. In the angle, Steele fell in love with Elizabeth, angering Savage and leading to a series of grudge matches between him and Steele. Their feud was one of the WWF's most popular of the 1980s; it carried on for more than a year, thanks to the feral Steele's continued innocent crush on Elizabeth. After "injuring" Ricky Steamboat 's larynx , Savage lost his WWF Intercontinental Championship to Steamboat at WrestleMania III on March 29, 1987. Steamboat later lost
13440-493: Was in the audience for a retirement match between Savage and the Ultimate Warrior . After Savage lost the match, Sherri began beating and kicking the defeated Savage until Elizabeth entered the ring and defended Savage by grabbing Sherri by the hair and throwing her out of the ring. Savage punctuated the reunion by holding down the ring ropes for Elizabeth after years of her doing it for him. On June 17, 1991, during
13560-406: Was knocked unconscious from the force of the blow. Hogan immediately ran to Elizabeth's aid and, distraught and fearing the worst, carried her to the backstage area for medical attention; the match continued in the meantime, with Akeem and Big Boss Man working Savage over. Elizabeth eventually regained consciousness and asked Hogan to return to the ring. However, Savage, furious over being left to take
13680-569: Was later revealed that her name was "Miss Elizabeth". Elizabeth's WWF debut was taped on July 30, 1985, and aired on the August 24, 1985 edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling . From that point on, she was the manager of Randy Savage. On February 8, 1986, at the Boston Garden she was in Savage's corner as he defeated Tito Santana for the WWF Intercontinental Championship . Miss Elizabeth's first major angle
13800-532: Was mine before she was yours." He showed photos of himself with Elizabeth in casual situations, which were later printed in an issue of WWF Magazine . It was later revealed that the photos were in fact pictures of Savage and Elizabeth, which Flair had doctored. Flair, with Mr. Perfect as his "executive consultant", said that they were going to show a nude photo of Elizabeth on the screen at WrestleMania VIII , although this did not occur. Nonetheless, Flair's claims set up his WrestleMania VIII match with Savage. During
13920-571: 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
14040-427: Was ruled an accident. Hulette was buried at Frankfort Cemetery . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling
14160-483: Was short-lived, as the couple soon separated and were officially divorced on April 19, 1999. Elizabeth and Luger stayed together as a couple after leaving WCW in 2000. After her departure from wrestling, Hulette began working at the front desk at Main Event Fitness in Marietta, Georgia , a gym that Luger had owned for years after he and Steve Borden (Sting) opened it during their wrestling heyday. Elizabeth
14280-415: 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
14400-417: 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
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