| General questions | SummerSlam | Crockett Cup | |
| WrestleMania | In Your House | Clash of Champions | |
| King of the Ring | Survivor's Series |
Why always on Sundays?
Before the late '90's, WWF ppvs were mainly Sundays, with exceptions made for Survivor's Series (It usually was Thanksgiving and then changed to Thanksgiving eve for a while), SummerSlam (which used to be a Monday night ppv) and others scheduled around conflicts and were not normal ppvs. WCW would mainly air ppvs on Saturdays. Then came the one a month ppv format. Since they would schedule ppv so frequently, it was easier to simply use one day a week. It also established that Sundays were wrestling ppv nights.
What was the WWF's first ppv?
The first WWF ppv was "The Wrestling Classic" on November 7, 1985 at the Rosemont Horizon. It featured a tornament, which was won by the Junkyard Dog (defeating Randy Savage by countout) and the only non-tournament match was WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeating Roddy Piper via DQ after Bob Orton interfered.
When was the first Royal Rumble?
The first Royal Rumble was held on January 24, 1988 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The first Rumble was broadcast on the USA Network (and not coincidentally, was opposite the NWA's Bunkhouse Stampede PPV). It was won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan.
Royal Rumble 1998
Who was suppose to be the 22nd man in the Rumble?
Skull of DOA. He wasn't present to help the possibly unable to compete due to injury "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who was #24.
WreatleMania 1
Who was the Executioner who faced Tito Santana in the opening match?
"Playboy" Buddy Rose, a jobber for the WWF until the early '90's.
WrestleMania 4
Why was the WWF title put in a tournament for WM 4?
Hogan and the WWF wanted to shoot "No Holds Barred" and back then, they couldn't take their champion off the road for that long. So, Hogan lost the title to Andre, thanks to Earl Hebner (his twin was suppose to ref the match, but he was tied up back stage) and Andre got the title, giving the belt to Ted Dibaise. President Jack Tunney interceded and vacated the belt. Savage would end up winning the tournament, thanks in part to Hogan, and Hogan shot the film. He was back in time to set up a tag team match at Summerslam.
WrestleMania 7
Why was it moved from the L.A. Coliseum to the L.A. sports arena?
WWF had stated security concerns, due to bomb threats because of the Iraq angle. The real reason was that ticket sales were lower than expected, and the arena made it look like there was more people.
Who was the Japanese tag team did Demolition face?
Tenryu and Kitao. They won the match as a thank you from the WWF to a Japanese promotion for promoting some WWF shows.
How did the blindfold match work?
Jake Roberts and Rick Martel could both see through the mesh masks.
Wrestlemania 8
Wasn't it going Hogan/Flair?
Yes, but some things came up that the WWF and the participants weren't expecting. A investigation into steroids use was being conducted, and the WWF & Hogan mutually agreed to part ways. Hogan wanted to leave on top, but the WWF didn't want to have to vacate the belt. So, it was decided Hogan would face Sid Justice aka Sid Vicious, and Flair would face Randy Savage.
WrestleMania 9
Why did Hogan win the belt that night?
Seeing a decline in ratings, the WWF decided to give the belt back to Hogan. However, Bret Hart, a face, was champion. So, a plan was implemented in which Bret would lose to Yokozuna, and Hogan would win the belt almost immediately. Sidenote: Hogan had mentioned he would be champion weeks before the event on English TV. Hogan would drop the belt to Yokozuna, not wanting to job the belt to the face Bret Hart.
WrestleMania X
Wasn't Luger supposed to be champ?
Yes, but his big mouth fowled it up. Luger was taped as champion a week before the event, to be broadcast in the weeks following. However, this was a swerve. Luger was going to win the belt that night, only to lose it to Bret Hart an hour later. Luger mouthed theplan in front of a reporter, who printed the results the day of WM X. The WWF decided to skip Luger's reign all together, and Yoko defeated Luger in his first match.
Why was the 10-man tag scrapped?
The Headshrinkers, Jeff Jarrett, Rick Martel and Irwin R. Schyster vs. The Smoking Gunns, 1-2-3 Kid, Sparky Plugg (Bob Holly) and Tatanka was scrapped due to time constraints. (The heel team couldn't decided on a leader was the explaination given to the fans.) It was held two weeks later on Raw.
WrestleMania 13
Was Undertaker vs. Sid supposed to be the main event?
No, thanks Shawn Michaels. It was suppose to be Michaels vs. Bret Hart, with Steve Austin facing Brian Pillman. However, Michaels gave up the belt in January for reasons never clear (he said he "lost his smile") and Bret Hart ended up winning the title in a fatal four way at the February ppv, only to lose the title to Sid the next night on Raw. Brian Pillman's recovery from ankle surgery was going slowly and the WWF didn't want to rush him, so they put Bret and Austin together in a submission match, which made Hart a hell and Austin a face. This would ultimately make the main event sub-par.
Wrestlemania 15
Was that a dummy, or did the Bossman actually hang in the cage match with the Undertaker?
It wasn't a dummy. The noose had a hidden hoop, which was easily connected to a harness the Bossman was wearing under his clothes.
What is the King of the Ring?
Originally, the 16 man annual tournament was a non-televised event. It was held starting 1985 and winners were Don Muraco, Harley Race, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, and Tito Santana winning in that order. Bret Hart would win the last non-televised one in 1991 (1990 didn't have a tournament) and it would start on ppv the next year. Savage and Race would use their crowns as gimmicks, but Haku and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan never won the tournaments, they beat/replaced the King at the time. The non-televised tournaments, for the most part, are not recognized by the WWF. (Kurt Angle had claimed he was going to be a two-time King of the Ring, the first one to do so. Bret Hart has that distinction.)
King of the Ring '95
Why was Mable given the crown?
The WWF, in its infinite wisdom, had made most of its top talent face, and they needed a top heel badly. They were also worried about the new "internet" friendly crowd and wanted to swerve them. Mable got pushed hardcore, but never went over as a top guy.
King of The Ring '99
Who pulled the briefcase up during Shane and Vince McMahon's ladder match?
It was never explained, but it was assumed that the stooges (Brisco and Patterson) were the ones to do so.
SummerSlam '89
What's "The Summerlsam slip up/blooper"?
Mean Gene Okerland was conducting an interview with Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan on his upcoming match with the Ultimate Warrior. Suddenly, the big "SummerSlam" logo on the back-drop fell to the floor, disrupting the interview. Rude and Heenan froze. Vince McMahon, offstage, said "Nice work," sarcastically. Okerlund shook his head and said, "Ah, f*** it." It was live on ppv, but the video release didn't have it.
Why was Survivor's Series created?
NWA/WCW always held a Thanksgiving Show, which was soon dubbed "Starrcade". It became thee card of the year, and eventually went to closed circuit, then ppv. The WWF decided to screw over the NWA/WCW in 1987 by creating "Survivor's Series" and putting it on the same night as "Starrcade". (In the '80's, they had several ppv channels, so people could select their ppv events.) Starrcade eventually moved to December, but the NWA/WCW got their revenge. On the same day as WrestleMania 4 -- in March 1988, the NWA decided to air the first ever Clash of the Champions on free cable. More people watched Sting battle Ric Flair on that day than Randy Savage win the WWF Title.
Survivor's Series '93
Why did Shawn Michaels replace Jerry Lawler vs. the Harts?
Lawler had been accused of statutory rape and the WWF suspended him until the matter was resolved. They brought in Michaels as his replacement.
Who were Shawn Michaels's Knights?
Horowitz (red), Greg Valentine (blue), and either Glen "Kane" Jacobs or Jeff Gaylord (black).
Why was it created?
The WWF wanted to bring ppv every month and on the months of non-major ppv, there were the more affordible "In Your House" ppv's. To cut cost, the card was shortened for time purposes. (The arena crowd got a full show, with several dark matches.) The IYH ppv's ended when the WWF went to full ppv every month in 1997.
In Your House 1
Did they give away a house?
More like lent it. The house was only the winners for two years.
Beware of Dog
What happened to the broadcast?
Due to inclimate weather in the Carolinas, the ppv lost its fed from the satellite about a 1/2 hour in. The last match was shown between the British Bulldog and Michaels, The middle three matches were shown to the fans in the arena under battery powered lights. (The arena was dark after the feed went dead.) Only notable thing was that Yokozuna beat Vader that night and Vader defeated Yoko in the rematch at the "re-do" telecast of the PPV.
What were Crockett Cup tournaments?
In memorial to wrestling legend and promoter Jim Crockette, an annual non-televised tag team tournament was held from ‘86-’88. (A commercial tape was released for each event, however.) The first was held in the Superdome in New Orleans, LA on April 19, 1986 and won by The Road Warriors The second was held at Baltimore Arena, in Baltimore, MD on April 10th and 11th, 1987 and won by Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff. The last tournament was held in two cities, April 22, 1988 in Greenville, SC and April 23, 1988 in Greensboro, NC. Sting & Lex Luger would be the last Crockett Cup winners. Complete results can be found here.
What happened to the “Clash of the Champions”?
The Clash of Champions was a WCW show shown on TBS. They used it as a tide over between ppv and were also considered an alternate to it. It had quality matches most of the time, and title defenses. Since wrestling shows changed from showing squash matches to two competent wrestlers going at it, the Clash of Champions wasn’t necessary, seeing that its basically a glorified Nitro.
