Mid 20th Century
146-564: Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler , manager , and promoter , better known by his ring name Shane Douglas . He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Martin held
292-699: A Pittsburgh Plunge . On May 15, Douglas was scheduled to represent ECW on the interpromotional Break the Barrier event. However, after a disagreement with Paul Heyman , Douglas delivered a controversial shoot promo at the event which ended with him quitting ECW one day before its Hardcore Heaven pay-per-view. After quitting ECW, Douglas made a surprise return to WCW on the July 19, 1999, episode of Nitro , where he joined with former Triple Threat members Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko and fellow ECW alumnus Perry Saturn to form The Revolution and pledged to cut
438-539: A Tazmission . Douglas' fourth ECW World Heavyweight Championship reign was the longest reign in the title's history, lasting 406 days . Douglas faced Taz in a rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship at House Party , where he lost. On February 12 at Crossing the Line '99 , Douglas allied with his long-time nemesis Tommy Dreamer to feud with Impact Players after both men claimed to be
584-507: A WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping using his real name. He also wrestled "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in the debut episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge , once again using his real name. Later that year, he began wrestling as a fan favorite for the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) using the name Shane Douglas, which was given to him by "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt (the "Douglas" last name
730-400: A belly to belly suplex . At Heat Wave , Douglas won his second World Television Championship by defeating champion Chris Jericho , 2 Cold Scorpio and Pitbull #2 in a four corners match , after Francine turned on them and aided Douglas in winning the match. With Francine by his side, Douglas continued to feud with Pitbull #2 and retained his title against the latter in subsequent rematches for
876-435: 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
1022-403: A college dean character under the ring name Dean Douglas , making his first appearance on the July 29 episode of Superstars . To establish himself, he filmed several vignettes with a chalkboard , lecturing wrestlers and fans. He would also be shown taking notes of his opponents at ringside during some matches, and frequently carried a paddle (dubbed the "Board of Education") with him to
1168-522: A handicap match . Douglas quickly rose to the top of the roster, winning the promotion's Heavyweight Championship on the September 14 episode of Eastern Championship Wrestling , after champion Tito Santana forfeited the title. Douglas successfully defended the title against The Sandman at the UltraClash event. At NWA Bloodfest , Douglas retained the title against J.T. Smith before dropping
1314-580: A no disqualification match at As Good as It Gets . Douglas lost his title to Bam Bam Bigelow on the October 24 episode of Hardcore TV after Rick Rude chose Bigelow as Douglas' challenger. As a result, Bigelow was kicked out of Triple Threat and replaced by Lance Storm . After failing in a rematch at Ultimate Jeopardy , Douglas regained the title by defeating Bigelow at the November to Remember pay-per-view, beginning his fourth reign as champion. Douglas
1460-552: A one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion , a one-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion . Martin was also the first to hold a championship in all three major U.S. promotions of the 1990s , after he was awarded the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1995. Martin achieved the greatest success of his career in ECW, where he debuted in 1993 and captured
1606-415: 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
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#17327908806511752-415: 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
1898-548: A second chance match , resulting in Daniels retaining his spot on the TNA roster. Following the match, Douglas left TNA once again, although asked by TNA to participate in their ECW reunion show Hardcore Justice , he refused the invitation. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
2044-528: A steel cage match for a title shot at the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championship at Slamboree , but was replaced by Tom Zenk in a mask. Martin debuted in the upstart ECW during its formative years on the August 24, 1993, episode of Eastern Championship Wrestling and solidified his status as a villain by joining Hotstuff International . In his first match, Douglas defeated Don E. Allen and Herve Renesto in
2190-402: A steel chain . The following week, Douglas defeated Dreamer via disqualification by hitting Dreamer with a steel chain and handing over the chain to Dreamer, which fooled the referee to believe that Dreamer had hit him with the chain. This strategy would be adopted by Eddie Guerrero a decade later. Douglas defeated Dreamer at Holiday Hell to end the feud. Douglas developed a gimmick of
2336-496: A tournament for the vacated United States Heavyweight Championship on the July 18 episode of Monday Nitro , where he defeated Billy Kidman in the quarter-finals but lost to eventual winner Lance Storm in the semi-finals. Douglas would begin a rivalry with Kidman, who had previously been aligned with Torrie Wilson. During this rivalry, Kidman notably displayed footage of a supposed sex tape between Douglas and Wilson, in which Douglas suffered erectile dysfunction . This led to
2482-614: A " Viagra on a Pole" match, which Douglas won. At the New Blood Rising pay-per-view, Kidman defeated Douglas in a Strap match . However, Douglas and Torrie Wilson defeated Kidman and Madusa in a scaffold match at Fall Brawl . In the fall of 2000, Douglas became allied with the Natural Born Thrillers , during which he helped their leader Mike Sanders win a kickboxing match against Ernest Miller at Halloween Havoc , which lead to Douglas facing Miller in
2628-705: A " dead promotion ". Douglas raised the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt and declared it to be a world championship belt, renaming it the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. WWE recognizes this moment as the beginning of ECW Championship and Douglas as the first ECW Champion. According to the Forever Hardcore DVD, Douglas only decided to throw down the NWA belt after NWA president Dennis Coralluzzo buried Douglas on Mike Tenay 's radio show. On
2774-413: 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
2920-532: 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
3066-470: 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
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#17327908806513212-585: 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
3358-640: A dark match at the SummerSlam '90 PPV. On the September 17 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, Douglas wrestled Haku to a draw, and he was largely undefeated against low level competition throughout the fall. At the Survivor Series '90 PPV Douglas defeated Buddy Rose in another dark match, and on January 3, 1991, at a house show in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he scored the biggest victory of his nascent WWF career when he upset Dino Bravo . Four days later on
3504-433: 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 . WWF Wrestling Challenge WWF Wrestling Challenge is a professional wrestling television show that
3650-404: 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
3796-461: A dozen championships between ECW, WCW, and the WWF and is a six-time world champion : a four-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion , a one-time XPW World Heavyweight Champion , and a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion . As ECW Champion, he holds the records for most combined days as champion (874) and the longest single reign (406 days). Martin is also a two-time ECW World Television Champion ,
3942-410: 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
4088-630: A few independent bookings. Douglas returned to television on the May 18, 2006, episode of Impact! , appearing on the entrance ramp as Andy Douglas (no relation) made the save for his tag team partner Chase Stevens after a brutal squash match against Samoa Joe . He would scout The Naturals again on the May 25 episode of Impact! , when Andy Douglas lost his match. A few weeks later, on June 15, Shane confronted them on their recent losing streak and their squandered talent, referring to their former manager and Douglas's ex-Triple Threat teammate Chris Candido in
4234-495: A finish changed to make him look stronger. Cornette, who was part of the booking committee, washed his hands of working with them afterwards. Shane argued that they had been repeatedly promised a big push and were instead being booked to lose all of their big matches, then getting criticized for not getting over as a top team. The Dudes would last wrestle together in March 1990, and Douglas soon left WCW after broken promises to give him
4380-655: A foul-mouthed, incredibly arrogant villain (an attitude that would define him permanently and give him success), and gave himself the nickname "The Franchise". His best friend Sherri Martel became his valet . Douglas gained notoriety when he wrestled Terry Funk and Sabu to a one-hour draw in the company's first-ever three-way dance for the ECW Heavyweight Championship at The Night the Line Was Crossed . Douglas dethroned Funk in an Ultimate Jeopardy steel cage match to win his second Heavyweight Championship at Ultimate Jeopardy . Since its founding, ECW had been
4526-706: A house show series in late June against Haku and suffered his first loss on June 28 in Denver, Colorado. He remained without a win in subsequent rematches. He made his syndicated television debut on the August 26 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge , teaming with jobber Mark Thomas in a loss to The Orient Express . In August 1990, he received his first break when he was tapped as the temporary replacement to an injured Shawn Michaels in The Rockers tag-team. Douglas teamed with Jannetty six times in matches against The Orient Express. On August 27, he defeated Buddy Rose in
Shane Douglas - Misplaced Pages Continue
4672-405: 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
4818-742: 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
4964-626: A match against KroniK, which KroniK won. Douglas received an opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship against Jeff Jarrett on the May 31 episode of Thunder , where he failed to win the title after the WCW Commissioner Ernest Miller delivered a Feliner to Douglas. Douglas competed against The Wall in a Best of Five Tables match at The Great American Bash , which Douglas won by driving Wall through three tables. At Bash at
5110-503: A match at CyberSlam after performing a drop toe-hold onto an opened steel chair after Jack's partner Mikey Whipwreck betrayed Jack. Upon his return, Douglas also targeted the World Heavyweight Champion Raven and received several title shots but came up short due to heavy interference by members of Raven's Flock. After failing in his attempts to regain the World Heavyweight Championship, Douglas won
5256-488: A match at Mayhem , which Miller won. Douglas would then enter a rivalry with Misfits in Action leader General Rection over Rection's United States Heavyweight Championship. He faced Rection for the title at Starrcade , but lost by disqualification after Chavo Guerrero Jr. informed the referee that Douglas was trying to use a chain to hit Rection. In 2001, Douglas defeated Rection in a first blood chain match to capture
5402-602: A match at November to Remember , where Triple Threat lost. After the match, Bigelow left ECW and Chris Candido abandoned Douglas, resulting in Triple Threat being disbanded. Douglas continued his feud with Taz , which culminated in a match between the two at Guilty as Charged in 1999, where Douglas lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to Taz after Douglas was attacked by former teammate Chris Candido , allowing Taz to win with
5548-692: A match between Douglas and Razor at In Your House 3 , which Douglas won after interference by the Kid. He was set to wrestle Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship at In Your House 4 , but Michaels forfeited the title due to injuries incurred after being attacked and beaten by a Marine in Syracuse, New York . Douglas, however, immediately had to defend the title against rival Razor Ramon. Ramon would go on to defeat Douglas, ending his reign at only twenty minutes . Douglas
5694-467: A match between Taz and Sabu . Douglas defended his title against Taz, with the stipulation that Taz would not be able to compete in ECW for sixty days. Douglas lost the title in under three minutes after Taz made him submit to the Tazmission . Douglas' reign ended at 329 days . He then turned his attention on capturing the World Heavyweight Championship from Terry Funk and challenged him for
5840-558: A match, thus becoming a fan favorite . His televised return aired on the January 9 episode of Hardcore TV , where he confronted Stevie Richards and Blue Meanie , denounced his Dean gimmick and declared "the Franchise is back!". During this time, he had a memorable feud with Cactus Jack as Cactus was getting ready to leave for WWF and cutting promos encouraging Tommy Dreamer to side with him, deriding ECW's hardcore style and promoting clean wrestling. Douglas eventually pinned Jack in
5986-420: A member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He retained his Shane Douglas ring name and was put into a tag team of skateboarders known as The Dynamic Dudes with Johnny Ace (John Laurinaitis, the younger brother of Road Warrior Animal ). Mick Foley has opined that since neither Ace nor Douglas knew how to skateboard, the fans saw through the character and refused to buy into it. Jim Cornette , who
Shane Douglas - Misplaced Pages Continue
6132-485: A member of the NWA. Douglas was instrumental in the development of " extreme wrestling " when he defeated The Tazmaniac, Dean Malenko and 2 Cold Scorpio to win a tournament to become the NWA World Heavyweight Champion on August 27. In an angle which only he, Tod Gordon , and Paul Heyman knew about, Douglas threw down the NWA title belt and stated that he did not want to be champion of
6278-424: 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
6424-440: 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
6570-606: A pair of house shows and was defeated by Colonel Mustafa . He made his final televised appearance on the June 15th episode of Prime Time Wrestling, losing to Dino Bravo in a match taped at Madison Square Garden. Douglas closed out his first WWF run with two victories - a win on July 29 in a dark match at a WWF Superstars taping against Bob Bradley, and a victory over The Orient Express on August 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when he teamed with Marty Jannetty. Douglas returned to WCW on
6716-486: A promo, in which he announced his injury. Douglas has been very outspoken about how Vince paid him much less than what was agreed upon, and because of his treatment before he refuses to ever work for Vince again. After leaving the WWF, Douglas made his surprise return to ECW at the House Party event on January 5, 1996, where he briefly reprised his Dean Douglas character, correcting Buh Buh Ray Dudley 's grammar after
6862-541: A push, and wrestled on the American independent circuit . In 1990, Douglas signed a deal with the World Wrestling Federation and made his debut on the June 18 episode of Prime Time Wrestling , defeating Bob Bradley, in a match taped in Toronto, Ontario, on May 27. Douglas remained undefeated in his first month, defeating Bob Bradley, Paul Diamond , and Steve Lombardi in a series of matches. He then moved up to begin
7008-504: A second chance in TNA like Daniels received, after the latter was, in storyline , fired from TNA. He was granted a second chance on the June 11 episode of Impact! , where he was given a match with A.J. Styles which he lost, only to attack Styles after the match. Daniels would come out to help Styles, only to have Douglas hit him with a towel containing a pair of handcuffs. At the Slammiversary pay-per-view, Douglas lost to Daniels in
7154-537: A second. Of Kerry Von Erich . Of the fat man himself, Dusty Rhodes . This is it tonight, Dad. (looking at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt) God, that's beautiful. And Rick Steamboat , and they can all kiss my ass! (throws down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt) Because! I am not the man who accepts a torch to be handed down to me from an organization that died - RIP - seven years ago. The Franchise, Shane Douglas,
7300-499: A successful title defense against Windham and Pillman at Starrcade . Steamboat and Douglas began a lengthy rivalry with Pillman and his new tag team partner Steve Austin . Steamboat and Douglas successfully defended the tag titles against Austin and Pillman on the January 13, 1993 Clash of the Champions XXII , before dropping the titles to Austin and Pillman on the March 27, 1993, episode of Worldwide . Soon after losing
7446-460: A tirade about the lawlessness of ECW and brought in Bill Alfonso as a troubleshooting referee to restore order. After teasing a departure for the WWF, Douglas finally left ECW for the WWF in July 1995, making his last appearance during a world title match between Sandman and Cactus Jack at Hardcore Heaven , during which he attacked both men and left. In 1995, Douglas returned to the WWF with
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#17327908806517592-464: A top fan favorite tag team, but the turn backfired and made The Midnight Express more popular than they already were. The Dynamic Dudes broke up in 1990 after Ace began competing progressively more for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), which was breaking its ties to the NWA. Jim Cornette also states that the end of the Dynamic Dudes came when Douglas went over his head to Jim Herd about having
7738-503: 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
7884-586: 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
8030-637: A winning effort. While feuding with Pillman, Douglas formed a tag team with Ricky Steamboat to take on Pillman and Steve Austin in a tag team match on the October 24 episode of Worldwide . The following month, Steamboat and Douglas won the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championships from Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham on the November 18 Clash of the Champions XXI . Steamboat and Douglas made
8176-436: 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
8322-410: 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
8468-427: 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
8614-470: 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
8760-406: Is the man who ignites the new flame of the sport of professional wrestling! (taking the ECW title belt) Tonight, before God and my father as witness, I declare myself, The Franchise, as the new ECW Heavyweight Champion of the world! We have set out to change the face of professional wrestling. So tonight, let the new era begin: the era of the sport of professional wrestling, the era of The Franchise,
8906-624: 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
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#17327908806519052-538: The WWF World Tag Team Championship , with interference from The Headshrinkers . This title change was also aired on the October 31, 1992 Superstars of Wrestling with Wrestling Challenge commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan calling the action. The WWF treated the match as a simulcast on both programs. The hosts for the first three episodes were Gorilla Monsoon , Ernie Ladd , and Luscious Johnny V . After that, Ladd
9198-712: The World Television Championship from 2 Cold Scorpio at A Matter of Respect and eventually turned into a villain by showing disrespect to the title. After the match, 2 Cold Scorpio attacked him. A month later, Douglas was scheduled to defend the title against Scorpio at Fight The Power , but Scorpio was injured, which resulted in Douglas retaining the title against El Puerto Ricano , Don E. Allen, Devon Storm and Mikey Whipwreck in quick succession before losing it to Pitbull #2 after Douglas insulted The Pitbulls ' manager , Francine and gave her
9344-557: 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
9490-431: 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
9636-650: The "New Franchise" but Douglas elected Dreamer as his successor, turning Douglas face for the first time in nearly 3 years. After the face turn, Douglas would perform in a heroic role for the first since he disrespected the ECW Television title in 1996 and continued to feud with the Impact Players. At Living Dangerously , Dreamer and Douglas defeated Impact Players. Douglas wrestled his last match in ECW on April 15, where he defeated Justin Credible after
9782-583: The "cancer" out of WCW. This was a reference to Ric Flair , with whom Douglas had an off-screen grudge. Asya was later added to the group in place of Benoit, who left the team. The group wrestled other groups including West Texas Rednecks , First Family , Filthy Animals , and Varsity Club during its run. The group was rarely featured prominently and never really challenged the dominant wrestlers of WCW. This led to them never really getting popular as an idea, though both Benoit and Malenko were successful individually. The lack of success would eventually lead to
9928-584: 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
10074-400: 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
10220-460: 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
10366-653: 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
10512-415: The August 30 edition of NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling , Gordon announced he was folding Eastern Championship Wrestling, and in its place forming Extreme Championship Wrestling, a new promotion independent of the NWA. Capitalizing on the controversy that surrounded his literally "throwing down" the NWA belt and the promo following it, Douglas was encouraged to express his true feelings in interviews by
10658-483: The Beach , Douglas defeated his former tag team partner Buff Bagwell , by debuting his new finishing move called Franchiser and with assistance by Torrie Wilson , who turned on Bagwell. With Wilson as his manager , Douglas began using his ECW nickname "The Franchise" and began using "Cut the damn music!" catchphrase during his entrance to the ring and then delivered a promo on the microphone. Douglas participated in
10804-693: The December 21 episode of Impact! after The Naturals lost to Team 3D in a tables match, a fed up Douglas turned his back on them, claiming that his experiment was over. Despite the failed "experiment", prior to the departure of The Naturals from TNA, Chase Stevens was featured in a match on the pre-show of the Final Resolution pay-per-view in 2007. During the match, Stevens wore the gold-and-black "Franchised" Naturals attire. Douglas came out after his match to heatedly confront Stevens about wearing his colors, leading to an in-ring confrontation between
10950-520: The ECW bookers . This helped raise ECW's prominence in the eyes of wrestling fans and journalists and allowed it to become an alternative to WCW and the WWF and Douglas cemented a legacy in the history of ECW. Douglas closed 1994 with successful title defenses of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship against Ron Simmons . In early 1995, Douglas formed the Triple Threat faction , aligning himself with Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko . He started
11096-564: The ECW Heavyweight Championship twice in his first year with the company. He gained attention when he won a tournament for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, where he publicly rejected the NWA title belt and helped ECW in evolving from an NWA territory to a national promotion. Within ECW, he was dubbed "The Franchise" in reference to his status as the franchise player of the promotion. WWE, who purchased that organization, asserted: "Without Shane Douglas, there would have been no ECW." He headlined many events for ECW including three editions of
11242-705: The January 7, 1991, episode of Prime Time Wrestling he would pin Haku, and was strongly positioned as a rising young star. His most memorable WWF performance took place at the 1991 Royal Rumble , where he entered as the seventeenth entrant and lasted for 26 minutes and 23 seconds before being eliminated by Brian Knobbs . Shortly after, he left the company to take care of his ailing father. Douglas would make intermittent appearances in 1991, subbing for various wrestlers on house shows. He returned on May 8 in Youngstown, Ohio, and lost to Ricky Steamboat . In June he returned for
11388-408: 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
11534-488: 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
11680-729: The Night of Champions event. Douglas later helped expand the promotion from its base in Los Angeles to Philadelphia , and XPW held its first show in Philadelphia on August 31. Douglas would later become the final World Heavyweight Champion in XPW history, as the promotion held its final event on March 8, 2003, in his hometown of Pittsburgh . Following the closure of XPW, Martin signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in June 2003. Under his Shane Douglas ring name, he debuted in TNA on
11826-570: The September 12, 1992, episode of Saturday Night as a fan favorite , where he defeated Super Invader in his return match by using Magnum T. A. 's finishing move, belly to belly suplex , which was noted by Magnum, the following week on Saturday Night . On the October 17 episode of Saturday Night , Douglas had a match with Brian Pillman , which began a rivalry between the duo. He made his pay-per-view return at Halloween Havoc , where he teamed with Tom Zenk and Johnny Gunn to compete against Arn Anderson , Bobby Eaton and Michael Hayes in
11972-401: 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
12118-418: 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
12264-561: 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
12410-424: 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
12556-418: 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
12702-423: 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
12848-461: 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
12994-534: The company's premier pay-per-view event November to Remember in 1996 , 1997 and 1998 . Martin was born in New Brighton, Pennsylvania , one of six children of a veteran of World War II , who died in 1991. He graduated cum laude from Bethany College in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in history and political science . He is an alumnus of the Psi chapter of Beta Theta Pi . After earning his degrees, he
13140-545: The company's weekly pay-per-view on June 11, where he immediately reignited his feud with Raven by costing him an opportunity for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . The two ended up joining separate factions as Douglas became a member of The New Church and Raven formed The Gathering . Douglas made his TNA in-ring debut on July 2, where he defeated CM Punk in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match . Douglas and Raven clashed throughout
13286-540: 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
13432-640: The demise of the group after Malenko and Saturn left WCW. Following the disbanding of the Revolution, Douglas managed The Wall at the Souled Out pay-per-view in 2000, before taking a hiatus from television as the company did not have any plans for him at the time. Douglas returned to WCW television on the April 10 episode of Nitro , where he aligned himself with Vince Russo and joined The New Blood group run by Russo and Eric Bischoff , which feuded with
13578-429: The end of 2003 and beginning of 2004, as the two joined the company's tag team division. The duo were entered into a tournament for the vacated NWA World Tag Team Championship , where they lost to Christopher Daniels and Low Ki on March 24. The following week, Douglas and Shane participated in a four-way tag team match to receive a shot at the tag team titles, but came up short. On May 5, Shane turned on Douglas and
13724-405: 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
13870-528: The era of the ECW." Shane Douglas on August 27, 1994 - NWA World Title Tournament On the December 14 episode of NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling , Douglas substituted for an injured Johnny Gunn to defend the Tag Team Championship alongside Gunn's partner Tommy Dreamer against Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac , during which Douglas turned on Dreamer by attacking him with
14016-603: 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
14162-478: The first half of 1997, while Douglas continued his successful title defenses of the World Television Championship against Pitbull #2 . Douglas retained his title against Pitbull #1 , as well, in an "I Quit" match at Hostile City Showdown . During this time, a mysterious man began stalking Francine and displayed mannerisms of Rick Rude . After Douglas retained his title against Pitbull #2 at ECW's first pay-per-view Barely Legal , Brian Lee revealed himself to be
14308-470: 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
14454-610: 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
14600-460: 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
14746-526: 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
14892-480: 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
15038-496: 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
15184-496: The main feature was a podium interview featuring Gene Okerlund and a random WWF superstar until 1991. Starting in 1991, The Barber Shop debuted with host Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake , while The King's Court , hosted by Jerry Lawler debuted in 1993. While WWF Superstars of Wrestling held most title changes on national television, Wrestling Challenge only had one title change on November 1, 1992 (taped October 13, 1992), as Money Inc. defeated The Natural Disasters to win
15330-498: 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
15476-480: The mysterious stalker and delivered a Chokeslam to Douglas. As a result, Lee was removed from Triple Threat due to his betrayal and left ECW. Triple Threat gained Bam Bam Bigelow in Lee's place, who joined the group as Douglas' partner in a tag team match against The Pitbulls at Chapter 2 . At Wrestlepalooza , Douglas retained his title against Chris Chetti . Later that night, Douglas interrupted Taz 's promo after
15622-408: The older established The Millionaire's Club , which included his on-screen and real life off-camera nemesis Ric Flair. Douglas faced Flair for the first time on that same night in a match, which Douglas lost by disqualification. At Spring Stampede , Douglas was paired with Buff Bagwell in a four-team tournament for the vacated World Tag Team Championship , where they defeated Harlem Heat 2000 in
15768-437: 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
15914-652: The process. He offered to become their manager, which they accepted. During the promo when he offered his services, he spoke his true feelings on World Wrestling Entertainment's revival of Extreme Championship Wrestling , admonishing Vince McMahon for "exploiting the memory" of the company he helped build nearly 15 years earlier. After becoming their mentor, pre-recorded videos showed Douglas training The Naturals have been shown on TNA programming, though he doesn't stand at ringside during their matches like most other managers. Once they were deemed ready for competition, Douglas billed them as "The Newly Franchised Naturals". On
16060-751: The program to count as Canadian content . In the United Kingdom, the show aired on Sky 1 and a repackaged version was aired occasionally from 1987 until 1988 on ITV as a part of the final two years of ITV 's Saturday lunchtime Wrestling coverage. Certain ITV areas also screened a batch of 10 months' worth of episodes (covering the period August 1987-June 1988) in an early morning graveyard timeslot , erroneously announced in TV listings as Superstars Of Wrestling . The late night ITV slot would be replaced in 1990 by tapes of WCW . The Sky transmission continued to air in
16206-717: 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
16352-410: The remainder of the year. In the fall of 1996, Douglas reformed the Triple Threat with new members Chris Candido and Brian Lee . Douglas and Francine entered a feud with Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty , which culminated in a series of matches between the two pairs throughout late 1996 and early 1997. Triple Threat feuded with Douglas' enemies Tommy Dreamer and The Pitbulls throughout
16498-462: The ring. He would usually present a "Report Card" in which he would degrade the performances of heroic wrestlers after their matches. Douglas began a rivalry with Razor Ramon after grading him "MF" for miserable failure after Razor's loss to Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam . Douglas made his in-ring return to WWF on the September 9 episode of Superstars , where he defeated 1-2-3 Kid by disqualification after Razor attacked Douglas. This resulted in
16644-457: The semi-finals and the makeshift team of Ric Flair and Lex Luger in the finals, after Brian Adams and Bryan Clark delivered a High Times . Douglas resumed his feud with Flair, which culminated in a match between the two at Slamboree , which Douglas won, with the help of Flair's son David Flair in disguise of a masked man. On the May 15 episode of Nitro , Douglas defended the tag title alongside The Wall, who substituted for Buff Bagwell in
16790-661: The show promoted WWF event dates and house shows in local media markets . It was the 'B' show of WWF syndication, meaning it generally only aired in markets where WWF had two weekly slots, with the other taken up by WWF Superstars of Wrestling . Select episodes of Wrestling Challenge are available for streaming on the WWE Network . As of May 17, 2021, there were 23 episodes of Wrestling Challenge available for streaming on WWE Network, dating from its premiere to February 8, 1987. Wrestling Challenge premiered on September 6, 1986, replacing All-Star Wrestling . Following
16936-434: The show's debut, The Snake Pit , hosted by Jake "The Snake" Roberts , debuted as a feature of the show. The Snake Pit was an in-ring interview segment modeled after Roddy Piper 's Piper's Pit , which aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling . Wrestling Challenge also featured the similarly formatted The Brother Love Show . This segment, which debuted in 1988, was later moved to Superstars of Wrestling . After this,
17082-440: 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
17228-465: The summer of 2003, with both men trading wins in a couple of matches. When this feud ran down, Douglas broke away from The New Church on October 1 and began a quest to find "The New Franchise". He was joined by Tracy as his new valet after his match against Sandman on November 5 and Michael Shane was introduced as Douglas' protege and the trio formed their new group called "The New Franchise" on November 26. Douglas took him under his wing throughout
17374-580: The tag titles, Douglas began a rivalry with the World Television Champion Paul Orndorff , where he came up short against Orndorff in two respective matches in the Computer Contenders Challenge on the May 1 episode of Worldwide and the May 8 episode of Power Hour , before departing the company for Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW). Douglas had been scheduled to team with Steamboat in
17520-426: 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,
17666-457: The title at Heat Wave but lost by disqualification. Douglas received another shot on the August 14 episode of Hardcore TV , but lost. Shortly after, Sabu won the title but Douglas remained in the title picture. At Hardcore Heaven , Douglas defeated Sabu and Funk in a three-way dance to win the title for the third time. In September 1997, Douglas retained the title against Tommy Dreamer at Terry Funk's WrestleFest and against Phil Lafon in
17812-674: The title at the Sin pay-per-view. Douglas dropped the belt to Rick Steiner on the February 5 episode of Nitro . This was Douglas' last WCW match in the company and he sat out the rest of his WCW contract until it was purchased by the WWF on March 23, 2001. After WCW closed down, Douglas refused to return to the WWF because of paternity leave due to his wife's pregnancy . After the WWF purchased both WCW and ECW in 2001, Douglas Went to Xtreme Pro Wrestling in July 2002, where he won its World Heavyweight Championship after defeating Johnny Webb at
17958-591: The title to Sabu later that night. "In the tradition of Lou Thesz , in the tradition of Jack Brisco of the Brisco Brothers, of Dory Funk Jr. , of Terry Funk-- the man who will never die. As the real Nature Boy Buddy Rogers , upstairs tonight. From the Harley Races , to the Barry Windhams , to the (Douglas grimaces in a look of disgust) Ric Flairs , I accept this heavyweight title. Wait
18104-519: 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
18250-471: 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
18396-419: The two squared off in a match, which Douglas won. After the match, Traci joined Shane to abandon Douglas. When the grouping of Shane and Douglas broke up, Douglas went into a semi-in-ring retirement. He became an onscreen commentator and interviewer for TNA's new weekly television show, Impact! , and their monthly pay-per-views. In addition to this on-screen role, he worked backstage as a road agent and took
18542-444: The two. After the angle was dropped, Douglas remained completely unseen on TNA programming. On October 10, 2007, TNA announced that Douglas was released from his TNA contract. On the May 28, 2009, episode of Impact! , Douglas returned to TNA and attacked Christopher Daniels after his match with A.J. Styles . The following week on Impact! , Douglas again attacked Daniels during his match before subsequently stating that he wanted
18688-535: 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
18834-432: The win. However, it turned out to be a ruse when she aided Sandman in defeating Douglas for the title at Hostile City Showdown . Douglas' lengthy reign ended at 385 days , which is the second longest reign in the title history. After failing to regain the title, Douglas began a rivalry with Cactus Jack , as each man wanted to capture the title from Sandman and saw the other as competition. During this time, Douglas went on
18980-420: 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
19126-402: The year with successful title defenses of the World Heavyweight Championship against Tully Blanchard and Marty Jannetty . He then entered a feud with The Sandman during a match at Three Way Dance , where Sandman's valet , Woman , seemed to have aligned herself with Douglas by helping him in retaining the title against Sandman by handing him Sandman's Singapore cane to attack him and get
19272-425: 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
19418-420: Was at Madison Square Garden where he was diagnosed with a severe muscle spasm in his back that if agitated could have paralyzed him. Despite doctors telling Vince McMahon it was a legitimate injury, Vince became angry at the news and tried to intimidate Shane into denying it, and was explicitly told by Vince McMahon to leave the company on January 1, 1996. However, Vince made him go out that evening and deliver
19564-488: 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
19710-457: Was injured in the match and was sidelined for nearly two months, making his return to action on January 30, 1998. At Hostile City Showdown , Bigelow rejoined Triple Threat by turning on his partner Taz during a match against Triple Threat. Bigelow's return lead to Lance Storm being kicked out of the group, which began a feud between Storm and the Triple Threat. At Living Dangerously , Douglas and Chris Candido faced Storm and his mystery partner, who
19856-558: Was inspired by Black Rain and The Jewel of the Nile film star Michael Douglas , who at the time had just appeared in the 1987 film Wall Street ). Douglas defeated Gilbert for the UWF Television Championship on August 3, 1987, but did not rise above mid-card status. Douglas lost the title on September 2 to Terry Taylor . In 1988, Douglas signed with the promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW), then
20002-419: Was managing The Midnight Express ( Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane ) at the time, decided to manage the duo to help them get over . When Eaton and Lane in storyline did not approve, they forced a match between the two teams with Cornette remaining neutral at ringside. He ended up turning on Douglas and Ace and the teams feuded for a couple of months. Cornette's turn was to have established The Dynamic Dudes as
20148-577: Was offered to join the Saba University School of Medicine but declined in order to continue wrestling. Martin was trained by Dominic DeNucci in the Pittsburgh suburb of Freedom, Pennsylvania , alongside Mick Foley in the mid-1980s. He had been wrestling professionally to earn money since 1982. When he started, he used the character of Troy Orndorff, the fictional nephew of Paul Orndorff . In 1986, he wrestled Randy Savage at
20294-438: Was on the December 9 episode of Superstars , where he defeated enhancement talent Tony Williams. His last appearance on WWF television was at In Your House 5 , when he was booked to wrestle Ahmed Johnson . According to the storyline , his back was not in wrestling condition, so he introduced Buddy Landel as his substitute, who was subsequently defeated by Johnson in just forty-two seconds . His very last day working in WWF
20440-523: 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
20586-473: Was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match interviews, and occasionally, summarized weekly events in WWF programming. Matches primarily saw top-tier and mid-level talent vs. Jobbers . At times, there was a "feature" match between main WWF talent. As with other syndicated WWF programming,
20732-529: Was randomly paired with Razor, Owen Hart and Yokozuna against Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson , British Bulldog and Sycho Sid in a Wildcard Survivor Series match at Survivor Series . Douglas was eliminated by Michaels after Razor attacked him. His team went on to lose the match. Douglas failed to recapture the Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon on the December 4 episode of Monday Night Raw . His last televised match
20878-402: Was replaced by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan while Johnny V continued to do commentary solely for matches where Heenan was managing, until Valiant would leave the WWF in late 1987. Other hosts included: In some parts of Canada, Wrestling Challenge was repackaged as WWF Cavalcade , with the only difference apart from the title being Canadian-produced interview segments. This repackaging allowed
21024-430: Was revealed to be Al Snow . Snow pinned Douglas following a Snow Plow . This earned Snow a title shot against Douglas for the world title at Wrestlepalooza , where Douglas retained the title. Douglas suffered an injury which prevented him from competing for a couple of months but he continued to appear on television, during which Triple Threat began feuding with Taz, Rob Van Dam and Sabu . The two teams squared off in
21170-415: 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
21316-417: 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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