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McMyths


JaymeFuture

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For our podcast this week, we're going to be talking about WWE's revisionist version of history and stances on different wrestlers and events, and in particular the ones we disagree with, and want to get some feedback from you guys - what myth that WWE propagates do you disagree with the most, or in particular bothers you when they try to force it on the general public? I saw a similar thread that pertains to the entire business elsewhere on the forum, but thought this would be good to narrow it down to WWE's.

 

Whether it's something small on a DVD or documentary that strikes you as bullshit, or just a WWE/Vince trait that rattles your cage, what WWE company line or mentality annoys you the most, and most importantly, why?

As always we'll be reading the best nominations on the show and crediting you accordingly, so what do you think?

 

EDIT - The show discussing your nominations for McMyths is now online and available to listen to at the following link:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/8awtz6/SCGRadio49-BustingMcMyths.mp3

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"This Is Your Life, Rock" was the highest-rated segment in Raw history. It certainly did a monster rating, but I think it's worth noting that even at the height of the Russo Era, the highest quarter hour in Raw history belonged to...a wrestling match (Austin regaining the title from Undertaker).

 

Also, DX's WCW invasion was the turning point in the Monday Night Wars. It's not even the most DX-centered turning point (X-Pac's debut was a bigger deal), much less the most company-centered.

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Tournaments don't draw.

 

I'm honestly not sure if this is wrong. Wrestling companies have always had trouble selling the paying audience on hypotheticals. And that's wrestling companies everywhere: WrestleMania 4, the Crockett Cup, the Champions Carnival in the 1980's when Baba abandoned it entirely...there seem to be way more disappointments in tournaments than big successes.

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Tournaments don't draw.

 

I'm honestly not sure if this is wrong. Wrestling companies have always had trouble selling the paying audience on hypotheticals. And that's wrestling companies everywhere: WrestleMania 4, the Crockett Cup, the Champions Carnival in the 1980's when Baba abandoned it entirely...there seem to be way more disappointments in tournaments than big successes.

 

 

Add Survivor Series '98.

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"This Is Your Life, Rock" was the highest-rated segment in Raw history. It certainly did a monster rating, but I think it's worth noting that even at the height of the Russo Era, the highest quarter hour in Raw history belonged to...a wrestling match (Austin regaining the title from Undertaker).

 

Also, DX's WCW invasion was the turning point in the Monday Night Wars. It's not even the most DX-centered turning point (X-Pac's debut was a bigger deal), much less the most company-centered.

I think the distinction is that Austin-Taker was an overrun number, while "This is Your Life" was the highest rated full quarter that went up against Nitro.

 

I was watching that Sting/HHH interview with Renee Young on the Network. Renee asked HHH when he thought the momentum really turned in the Monday Night Wars. I was prepared for something to roll my eyes at, but HHH said it was when Austin and Tyson had their pull-apart. Which is exactly the right answer. So that was a nice.

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The "butts in seats" line/Mankind's title win being some kind of huge, tide-turning moment - it was big, but the WWF was clearly in the lead by that point. That line's also become maybe the most dominant image of Tony Schiavone, even though the "greatest night in the history of our sport" phase of his career was really just those last few years in WCW.

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I was watching that Sting/HHH interview with Renee Young on the Network. Renee asked HHH when he thought the momentum really turned in the Monday Night Wars. I was prepared for something to roll my eyes at, but HHH said it was when Austin and Tyson had their pull-apart. Which is exactly the right answer. So that was a nice.

 

There's being in denial, and there's being at Hogan level insanity. Really, there's no way they can rewrite history to *this* extent.:)

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The "butts in seats" line/Mankind's title win being some kind of huge, tide-turning moment - it was big, but the WWF was clearly in the lead by that point.

 

Yeah, but the combination of this and the Fingerpoke of Doom at the exact same moment really was the point where there would no be looking back. The triomphant moment of Mick Foley over the new young megastar and Steve Austin getting one of the biggest pop ever. Meanwhile, you had Hogan killing dead the remainders of WCW's last ray of hope, who already had been damaged by losing the title, and by forcing a reboot two years in a row and erasing whatever good the Sting angle and the Goldy push had produced. So yeah, in a way, that moment really was the turning point, also WCW would win one last battle with, oh irony, Hogan vs Flair on PPV a few months after.

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Yeah, but the combination of this and the Fingerpoke of Doom at the exact same moment really was the point where there would no be looking back. The triomphant moment of Mick Foley over the new young megastar and Steve Austin getting one of the biggest pop ever. Meanwhile, you had Hogan killing dead the remainders of WCW's last ray of hope, who already had been damaged by losing the title, and by forcing a reboot two years in a row and erasing whatever good the Sting angle and the Goldy push had produced. So yeah, in a way, that moment really was the turning point, also WCW would win one last battle with, oh irony, Hogan vs Flair on PPV a few months after.

I think the fingerpoke and what it represented meant a whole lot more to WCW than Mankind winning the title did to the WWF. They already had the title on a new star that the fans wanted to see on top. If Rock had retained in that match I don't see how anything really changes for the WWF that year.

 

On the other hand, if as many people switched channels on that line as WWE lore says, then it's a good thing that it wasn't the night they chose to do the awful finish from IYH: Rock Bottom.

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I was watching that Sting/HHH interview with Renee Young on the Network. Renee asked HHH when he thought the momentum really turned in the Monday Night Wars. I was prepared for something to roll my eyes at, but HHH said it was when Austin and Tyson had their pull-apart. Which is exactly the right answer. So that was a nice.

There's being in denial, and there's being at Hogan level insanity. Really, there's no way they can rewrite history to *this* extent. :)

 

How's he wrong? The Raw rating that week jumped an entire half a point from the week before, from 3.48 to an even 4.0, the highest number they'd scored in six months. They fell again the next week and wavered for a while, but immediately following Wrestlemania the ratings leaped higher and higher than they'd ever been before. It's pretty widely agreed that the whole Stone Cold/Mike Tyson angle was what drew new fans to watch the WWF in large hordes.
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Yeah, but the combination of this and the Fingerpoke of Doom at the exact same moment really was the point where there would no be looking back. The triomphant moment of Mick Foley over the new young megastar and Steve Austin getting one of the biggest pop ever. Meanwhile, you had Hogan killing dead the remainders of WCW's last ray of hope, who already had been damaged by losing the title, and by forcing a reboot two years in a row and erasing whatever good the Sting angle and the Goldy push had produced. So yeah, in a way, that moment really was the turning point, also WCW would win one last battle with, oh irony, Hogan vs Flair on PPV a few months after.

I think the fingerpoke and what it represented meant a whole lot more to WCW than Mankind winning the title did to the WWF.

 

Agreed.

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There's being in denial, and there's being at Hogan level insanity. Really, there's no way they can rewrite history to *this* extent. :)

 

How's he wrong? The Raw rating that week jumped an entire half a point from the week before, from 3.48 to an even 4.0, the highest number they'd scored in six months. They fell again the next week and wavered for a while, but immediately following Wrestlemania the ratings leaped higher and higher than they'd ever been before. It's pretty widely agreed that the whole Stone Cold/Mike Tyson angle was what drew new fans to watch the WWF in large hordes.

 

No, my post was confusing, that's what I meant. HHH is usually in denial about his own importance, but the Austin/Tyson deal is just too historicaly significant for him to deny *that* one. That would be insane.

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The "butts in seats" line/Mankind's title win being some kind of huge, tide-turning moment - it was big, but the WWF was clearly in the lead by that point.

 

Yeah, but the combination of this and the Fingerpoke of Doom at the exact same moment really was the point where there would no be looking back. The triomphant moment of Mick Foley over the new young megastar and Steve Austin getting one of the biggest pop ever. Meanwhile, you had Hogan killing dead the remainders of WCW's last ray of hope, who already had been damaged by losing the title, and by forcing a reboot two years in a row and erasing whatever good the Sting angle and the Goldy push had produced. So yeah, in a way, that moment really was the turning point, also WCW would win one last battle with, oh irony, Hogan vs Flair on PPV a few months after.

 

 

I think the Fingerpoke of Doom gets a little overstated in hindsight. It was really bad and probably the worst move either promotion made during the Monday Night Wars. But ratings stayed strong after that and they popped a huge buyrate for Hogan/Flair at Super Brawl. The massive amounts of injuries in the early part of 1999 and how badly they botched Hogan/Flair seems to have damaged the product more than the Fingerpoke did.

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Still. It's like Goldy had never existed and they went back Hogan like the previous year when they basically erased Sting from the top spot after a 14 months build (with the amazing evil Hogan promo). The Flair/Hogan deal was a last drop of nostalgia. It couldn't be sustained. Really, in term of symbolism, the Fingerpoke was it.

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Things turned south for WCW a lot more after the Hogan/Flair double-turn at Uncensored '99 than after the Finger Poke.

 

Yeah, watching the 99 set WCW still had some momentum after the Fingerpoke. The weeks after the Hogan/Flair double turn and then going into Nash's real title reign, that was where things crashed and burned.

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For me I would list the fact that WWE won't acknowledge that they put other promoters out of business in a very aggressive manner for the time. They act like it "just happened" but Vince was offering talent loads of money to get on the Rock-N-Wrestling train. There's nothing wrong with what he did but he always portrays WWF at that time WAY more sympathetic than it was.

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