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00:00While they're shooting this Neanderthal, sexually assaulting a goddamn fake corpse,
00:06they've got a real funeral going on across the hall.
00:09I don't even think Jerry Springer would have done necrophilia.
00:17In 2002, the WWE's ratings and attendances were declining.
00:22There was nothing more outrageous they could do than what they had already done.
00:25Or was there?
00:27I'm Jim Cornett.
00:28Today, I host the most popular pro wrestling podcast in the world, The Jim Cornett Experience.
00:33But in 2002, I was one of the millions and millions of people who stopped watching WWE television after Katie
00:41Vick.
00:42One of the victims in the Katie Vick storyline was a WWF superstar named Kane.
00:50The Undertaker's brother Kane was burnt in a fire at the funeral home and scarred and disfigured and locked away.
00:57If you've seen Halloween and you know who Michael Myers is, you kind of get the picture.
01:05Kane was seven feet tall, was over 300 pounds, was all dressed in red with a mask to hide his
01:12disfigured face from that fire.
01:14That was a fearsome opponent for The Undertaker, somebody that the fans could believe could stand a chance against the
01:21dead man.
01:22Whoa, whoa!
01:23Kane just ignited, apparently, the lightning trunks!
01:27Kane immediately shot to the top of the cards and the gimmick was successful.
01:31Kane was the big red machine, he was a monster, he was a giant, he was a box office attraction.
01:43All the reasons why he should not have been involved in this.
01:48By 2002, the WWE ratings were falling.
01:52This is the point where, normally, you would implement some hot shotting to get the fans to come back.
01:58But they've been doing it for the past five years.
02:00It's me, Austin!
02:02Oh, son of a bitch!
02:03What?
02:03It's me, Austin!
02:05It was me all along!
02:08Hot shotting is when you give the people more of everything.
02:12More matches, more wrestlers, more violence, more mayhem, more blood.
02:17More of anything that you can.
02:19Throw it all at them.
02:20If you do, and it's successful, then you draw back on the hot shotting.
02:24If you don't, and it's unsuccessful, you've burned your territory out and you've gone out of business.
02:30In the old days, in broadcast television, you couldn't use profanity.
02:34You couldn't be sexual.
02:36You couldn't show nudity.
02:37You couldn't show bad taste.
02:39But now, with cable television, with the modern era, with standards relaxed, everything was on the table.
02:46You could do anything you could dream of.
02:48Oh, my God!
02:49Oh, my God!
02:51Oh, my God!
02:52And they did, week in and week out, for years.
02:56By 2002, they've done everything.
02:59Almost.
03:00Enemy's dichotomy!
03:01They did a segment on Monday Night Raw, where when Kane was in the ring, Triple H came out and
03:08accused him of being a murderer.
03:11Let me ask you a question, Kane.
03:15How happy is Katie Vick?
03:20Listen to people.
03:22What?
03:22Katie Vick.
03:23That's right, Kane.
03:27You are a murderer.
03:30No response.
03:32People are, what?
03:33What is he saying?
03:35Then Kane, who's now able to speak perfectly in a normal voice, he's trying to explain himself.
03:42Come on, Kane.
03:43Tell us the truth.
03:44Katie Vick was a friend of mine.
03:46And they start whutting him.
03:48She was probably the only one that cared when I was getting beat up.
03:51I didn't kill her.
03:53What?
03:53That's a sign that it's bullshit.
03:55They're not accepting this.
03:56The idea that Kane had had a high school girlfriend named Katie Vick, and that one night after a party,
04:07these kooky kids, they'd gotten in a car, but Katie, she'd had too much to drink.
04:13So Kane offered to drive.
04:16I didn't know that Kane got a driver's license in the insane asylum where he'd been hooked up in.
04:20The road was slick because it was raining, and an animal jumped right out in front of us, and I
04:26swerved to avoid it.
04:28What?
04:29The car's been out of control, went off the road, and Katie was killed instantly.
04:34Katie was killed instantly, and so was the business.
04:40Let me explain something.
04:41When you've been telling people for five years that this big son of a bitch is from hell and wants
04:47to drive everybody to hell and is a heel and wants to kill everybody and lay waste to the entire
04:53roster, it's not a good idea to give him an excuse that he swerved to miss a fucking squirrel.
04:59Oh, boo-hoo, Kane!
05:03So now, Triple H comes out and goes on and on and on in an unconvincing way, telling this story
05:12how before he was Kane, when he was at that party, it was him that was drunk, it was him
05:19that was driving, and it was him that caused the death of Katie Vick.
05:23But not only that.
05:25And more importantly, Kane, why don't you explain to the world how when doctors did the autopsy on Katie Vick's
05:36body, the doctors found your semen.
05:42That was the first time in 125 years of professional wrestling that the word semen was used on a pro
05:52wrestling program.
05:53Not only that, but Triple H followed it up with,
05:57Did you force Katie Vick to have sex with you while she was alive?
06:04Or did you do it after you killed her?
06:07Or did you just wait and do it to her when she was dead?
06:12It wouldn't end.
06:14Kane speaking like a goddamn contrite 12-year-old, humming a humming a humming a humming, trying to apologize.
06:20This big-beaked son-of-a-bitch Triple H is up here droning on for 20 minutes about necrophilia, semen,
06:27and assaulting dead corpses.
06:30Where's the goddamn wrestling?
06:32It was an amateurish exhibition of dribble on everybody's part.
06:37But it didn't compare to what they followed it up with.
06:40Now I gotta warn you, this is not for the squeamish.
06:46Roll the footage.
06:47It's a one-camera shoot in a funeral home.
06:51And Triple H, dressed like Kane...
06:53Hello, it's me, Kane.
06:56...peaks in.
06:56Is anybody here?
06:57Is anyone here?
06:58Anybody around?
06:59I'm gonna do something I don't want nobody to see.
07:01And then he goes over to the casket, where there apparently is the lifeless body of Katie Vick, and he
07:09starts talking to her as if he was Kane.
07:12Katie, you might look better dead than you did alive.
07:16I don't want to repeat any of it because I don't even believe in God, and I'm afraid if I
07:20do, I'll go to hell.
07:21You like that, huh?
07:23Shh.
07:23It was the most embarrassing five minutes, it seemed like five days, that I've ever seen on television.
07:29It went on and on with him making suggestive remark after blatant remark, taking its bra off, taking its panties
07:39off.
07:40Oh.
07:42I love the smell of formaldehyde in the morning.
07:47Mounting the corpse.
07:49Yeah.
07:50I'm gonna give you what you always wanted, Katie.
07:54Tell me how bad you want it.
07:56And just as he looked down and said, you really want me to?
08:00Okay, I will.
08:01Then here's how I know that Vince McMahon was all over this.
08:05The camera pans away.
08:07You see a blurred shot of a flower, very artistic.
08:11You see the figure of Triple H looming over the corpse, and you can just see Vince sitting there, off
08:18camera, directing it.
08:19Yes, and then the waves will crash along the beach.
08:22And we've got the scene.
08:24And when Triple H comes up, my God, I did it.
08:29I really did.
08:29I really screwed your brains out.
08:33I screwed your brains out.
08:41What the fuck is happening?
08:43Compounding this, and I'm not sure how that's possible, they were in a real funeral home with a real funeral
08:50service going on in the room next door.
08:52So while they're shooting this Neanderthal, sexually assaulting a goddamn fake corpse, they've got a real funeral going on across
09:01the hall.
09:02I quit watching WWF television entirely because I was afraid that that would sour me on the entire business.
09:09And I advised all the OVW wrestlers, while you're here, you're going to learn how to wrestle.
09:15When you go up there, then you can learn how to fuck dead people.
09:20I did.
09:21I quit.
09:21I didn't.
09:22The only time I would watch the program from then on is if one of our guys debuted.
09:26And I would see that, and then I'd get mad at that and not watching it.
09:28Now, from what I understand from little birds that may have been on the scene, everybody else didn't want to
09:34go this far.
09:35They wanted to make it a little more humorous, maybe a little lighter.
09:38But Vince said, well, just let's shoot one just my way and see how it works, and then we'll do
09:43another take.
09:44That's Vince's oldest line.
09:46When he wants something, well, just shoot one my way, and then we'll do something else.
09:50That's the only one that's ever shot.
09:52Who was this for?
09:53Or it was for Vince McMahon, and nobody had the balls or the guts or just the common sense to
10:00tell Vince McMahon that he was out of his mind,
10:02and he was going to destroy one of his major characters, and that he was going to piss a bunch
10:08of his fans off.
10:09But with Vince, it's all about controversy.
10:12Fortunately, the feud between Kane and Triple H ended pretty much as quickly as it got started because nobody wanted
10:20to see any more of that.
10:21I don't know if there's a lesson to be learned from this.
10:24When you put the wrestling tool of hot shotting into the hands of writers who have no wrestling background
10:31and a billionaire who has absolutely no self-restraint,
10:36what you get is an endless 100-mile-an-hour stream of drivel until finally they hit the wall.
10:43But folks, here on Cornette's side of the ring, we often teach you lessons.
10:47We also inform you, we enlighten you, we give you words to live by.
10:51Kids, when you're out at a party with a seven-foot guy that's been in a funeral home fire,
10:57don't drink and drive.
11:04The World Heavyweight Championship wasn't just a prop.
11:07It graced only the best wrestlers, making that person the face of the company.
11:12But a writer named Vince Russo trashed the tradition.
11:16Russo's got the WCW title, doesn't he?
11:20Tell you what, Vince, you've had nothing but failure after failure after failure.
11:24You know why?
11:25Because you suck.
11:33I can't say that Vince Russo single-handedly killed WCW
11:37because there were so many murderers involved, it looked like an Agatha Christie novel.
11:41I'm Jim Cornette.
11:42I've been involved in pro wrestling in every facet for over 40 years.
11:46I'm the host of the Jim Cornette Experience,
11:48the planet's most popular pro wrestling podcast.
11:51And for 30 years, I've been Batman to Vince Russo's Joker.
11:55I've said before, I've made public statements on television that I would live long enough to piss on Vince Russo's
12:01grave.
12:01I still intend to do that, even if I need a walker.
12:04It's a symbol of what I feel like that Vince Russo has done to the entire pro wrestling profession
12:10since he'd first darkened its doorstep.
12:12Vince Russo, the editor-in-chief of the WWF publications.
12:15At that point, he was editing the WWF magazine because he had allegedly studied journalism in college
12:21and also because nobody else wanted the job.
12:23Part of my job is to come out here, predict, forecast, and to go out on the limb.
12:32The Monday night ratings were nip and tuck between WCW and WWF.
12:37WCW started pulling ahead, and for a period of 83 weeks, they actually beat the WWF in the ratings.
12:44Mr. McMahon, Mr. McMahon, a quick word, please?
12:46When Vince McMahon was desperate because he had started losing the ratings war,
12:51he decided to change everything and gave Vince Russo a job in creative.
12:56We need more action from our stars.
13:00You think you could pull the oil pots up?
13:02No way.
13:02He wanted to write Crash TV.
13:05He sat and watched Jerry Springer all day.
13:08He wanted paternity reveals and mysterious affairs and all kinds of bad taste put into the wrestling program.
13:15Does Mother's Little Hairy beaver want some of mother's milk?
13:22Russo's favorite line was,
13:23You guys, you're stuck in the past, bro.
13:26We got to get with the program.
13:28It wasn't just that Vince Russo didn't care about tradition and history and wrestling.
13:33He disrespected it and the people involved in it.
13:36He thought they were complete morons.
13:38That was our fans.
13:40Russo spent about two and a half years in his reign of terror on the WWF creative team,
13:45taking credit for the invention of everything from Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock to water and air.
13:50What's this all about?
13:52And then he went to WCW with absolutely no notice.
13:57Russo convinced the Turner Broadcasting executives that he was the one responsible for the WWF's success during the Attitude Era,
14:04and they believed it.
14:06Russo, while at the same time complaining that everyone else was stuck in the past,
14:11did the same thing over and over.
14:16One of the main problems that Russo had with wrestling was he figured that the championship belts,
14:21just like costumes, robes, everything else, it was just a prop, bro.
14:24All titles will be stripped tonight.
14:28It'll be a brand new playing field.
14:32New beginning.
14:33We have no champions.
14:35The World Heavyweight Championship in WCW traced its lineage back 50 years to the NWA,
14:41National Wrestling Alliance World Champions, like Harley Race, Jack Briscoe, the Funk Brothers.
14:46May I just say congratulations.
14:48Thank you very much, Gordon.
14:49It's the proudest day of my life, naturally it is.
14:51In WCW, major names like Ric Flair and Sting and Goldberg, Ron Simmons, the first black WCW champion,
14:59they'd all held the World Championship all the way up to Hulk Hogan.
15:03They were all considered the top of their profession.
15:06For the fans, the World Heavyweight Championship was how they judged a promotion.
15:11If a wrestling promotion shows to its fans that they're not taking anything seriously,
15:16then why should the fans care?
15:17Why should the fans spend money?
15:19Beth, bring your cute little ass in here.
15:22That's a man's wife he's calling out.
15:24Do it!
15:25No, don't do it.
15:26Do it!
15:27She wasn't done.
15:28He whacked him in the head.
15:30Tradition is the passing down of a way of doing things from generation to generation.
15:35And the heart of pro wrestling is a conflict between two sides that you want to pay to see resolved.
15:41And that's timeless.
15:41But if you treat it like a phony joke, nobody gets emotionally invested enough to spend money on seeing that
15:49resolution.
15:50By 2000, WCW's winning streak was over.
15:55WWF had overtaken him in the ratings, and WCW was on track to lose $60 million.
16:02Russo was flailing, trying to find anything that would attract some attention.
16:06He always wanted publicity, and he wanted to suck up to D-list celebrities.
16:11WCW was involved in the production of the movie Ready to Rumble, which was starring David Arquette, who's a wrestling
16:18fan and nothing wrong with that, until they decided to put him in the ring.
16:24So they went so far as to book a match with Jeff Jarrett teaming up with WCW Vice President Eric
16:31Bischoff against Diamond Dallas Page and David Arquette.
16:34And the stipulation was the person who won the fall would be the new world heavyweight champion.
16:39Day of the show, Tony Schiavone, one of the announcers, says to Russo as a joke,
16:43Hey, you ought to put the belt on Arquette.
16:46And dipshit had an epiphany.
16:51Not only is Arquette the new world heavyweight champion, and look at the puzzle on his face, but the people,
16:57they're laughing.
16:59This match equals piss break, right?
17:03The entire internet community, all the wrestling fans, everybody let out a collective fart.
17:10World heavyweight champ, baby.
17:13Yeah, right.
17:14Winning or losing a singles title in a tag team match is kind of fucking stupid to begin with.
17:19But what Russo has done is sacrificed one of the most important tools to draw money by making the world
17:26championship irrelevant and a joke just for the sake of marketing a B-level movie.
17:31But then they released the movie.
17:33Actually, it may have just escaped.
17:35It was a box office bomb.
17:36It was a critical disaster.
17:38And it caused people to bring back the tickets they bought last week to the movies for a refund.
17:45In 1998, WCW was breaking records.
17:48Hogan and Goldberg drew nearly 40,000 people to the Georgia Dome.
17:53But just two years later, Vince Russo's creative had decimated the numbers.
17:57And Russo suddenly had the idea that, well, none of these guys can perform my brilliant writing well enough to
18:05get the ratings up.
18:06So I'll just do it myself.
18:08What I'm looking for tonight is ratings.
18:10And we're going to deliver, you son of a bitch.
18:13And he believes that he can restore the ratings to their former glory with his ability to get heat and
18:20stir the fans up.
18:22You got to wonder what's going to the mind of Vince Russo.
18:25And, of course, it wasn't a far step to actually thinking he could get in the ring.
18:29I want to see somebody stop me.
18:31If you've never seen Vince Russo, he's got eyes like pie plates.
18:36He's got buggy whip arms and the muscles look like a mosquito bite on a strand of spaghetti.
18:40And he talks like this, accentuating every syllable, bro.
18:48I would have kicked your sorry ass myself.
18:51It's enough to make you want to slice your wrists in a meeting for six hours.
18:55Relax.
18:56Relax.
18:57From the control.
18:59Anytime Vince Russo tried to do anything physical in a wrestling ring, it looked like a deflated truck stop novelty
19:06condom flapping in the breeze.
19:08He's booked in a cage match.
19:10And in the match, the first person to leave the cage will be declared the WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
19:19Goldberg, who is also mad at Vince Russo because Russo stuck himself in the middle of everything.
19:26Goldberg needs to come into the cage match.
19:29Just come on in.
19:31What the fuck is going on here?
19:34Here comes Russo, and here you see Goldberg and Boob.
19:37And not only does he get speared out through the cage and lands on the floor and wins the match,
19:42but he went all the way to the guardrail and gave himself a concussion.
19:46You know what a concussion is, don't you?
19:48It's brain damage.
19:49You know why at first they couldn't tell with Russo?
19:51Because it was Russo.
19:52I left the cage before Booker T, therefore, mystery over, I am the WCW Champion.
20:00Since he's the biggest genius in wrestling, he thought everybody was out to get him.
20:04It ain't ballet, dipshit.
20:06The doctors say that I shouldn't even be standing right here tonight.
20:11After he wins the title, he vacates the title because he can't defend it.
20:15He's against doctors' orders.
20:17So the whole thing just fell in the toilet.
20:20I can't believe it.
20:22It just made everybody remember that, oh yeah, that WCW belt, that's the one that actors and goofy writers carry.
20:30In the glory years of the NWA and WCW, the champions held the belts for two and three years at
20:37a time
20:38and built up goodwill in order when they lost it, the next champion would be seen as an even bigger
20:43deal.
20:44Russo changed the title 25 times in one year.
20:49If everybody can have something, how special is it?
20:52What does it mean when somebody wins something that somebody wins every two weeks?
20:56This belt's yours.
20:58In less than a year, the company was sold to Vince McMahon at fire sale prices.
21:04By the time it was over, Vince Russo and the TBS executives, they'd all had a hand in killing a
21:10wrestling promotion
21:11that traced its roots back for almost 60 years at that point.
21:19For the most devoted fans, devaluing the world title was a big deal.
21:25Russo didn't care.
21:27I don't care who the father was, Vince.
21:29I don't want to see your women fighting in the bathroom and all the other dreck and effluvia
21:34that you have foisted off onto wrestling fans for the past 25 years.
21:38You're the shits and you've helped ruin wrestling for a lot of people
21:42and you've damaged a lot of wrestlers' careers.
21:45It's done.
21:46Maybe the bottom line of the whole thing is just that everything Vince Russo touches dies.
21:51Because you know the old saying,
21:53the worst day in a child's life is not when he finds out Santa Claus isn't real,
21:58it's when he finds out Vince Russo is.
22:08I think it's kind of a given that TV hosts are not trained to take advanced wrestling moves.
22:17Sometimes these appearances can go drastically wrong
22:20with the TV host on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.
22:24Richard was hurt.
22:25It was an accident.
22:26Hope didn't mean to do it.
22:27You gotta think Hogan was shaking like a dog shit in peach seats.
22:35Through the history of wrestling,
22:37some media appearances had gone right and others had gone drastically wrong.
22:41It depended on the host of the show and the wrestling talent that was asked to appear.
22:47I'm Jim Cornette on my award-winning podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience.
22:52I don't insult my guests, but sometimes cranky TV hosts do and insulted wrestlers take issue.
22:59One of the safe spots for any wrestling talent to appear was the Regis and Kathie Lee show.
23:05When I was managing Yokozuna, when he was the WWF champion and we appeared on Regis' show,
23:11he kept it light, he kept it fun.
23:13Tell me about Yokozuna.
23:14Well, I'm so excited.
23:15The audience had a good time.
23:17It wasn't bad television.
23:19Regis understood you don't insult your guests' line of work.
23:25Good luck, Yokozuna.
23:26Don't get the wrestler in and then call him a fake in front of a television camera
23:30and expect there not to be some kind of response.
23:34There was the incident with the British wrestler Giant Haystacks,
23:38who was well over 500 pounds, one of the big names in the British wrestling industry.
23:44TV host named Jackie Fullerton, who was a middle-aged British guy
23:48that looked like a tiny, meek librarian named Casper.
23:52The host said something to the effect of,
23:54well, show me some of this wrestling stuff of which you speak.
23:57I think it's called the slam, and I hope he's not actually going to fall on me.
24:01And Haystacks picked this poor son of a bitch up
24:04and slammed him right on the studio floor with no padding
24:09as hard as he possibly could.
24:18And up and down!
24:21That thing!
24:22I don't know how he thought he was going to get away with that
24:26or was in the right to do it,
24:28but the guy ended up with broken ribs.
24:31Oh, give me football or anything.
24:33And he wasn't bad.
24:35I think he was stunned, shocked, bum-fuzzled even.
24:39Thanks very much, Mr. Haystack.
24:42My pleasure.
24:43And the people say it's play-acting.
24:45Oh!
24:45Maybe Haystack's got up on the wrong side of his barn that day.
24:49I think we need go no further than the famous episode on ABC
24:54when John Stossel, in preparation for WrestleMania,
24:58went to Madison Square Garden to interview many of the WWF wrestlers.
25:03Here's the deal.
25:04John Stossel was coming off as a prick.
25:07This isn't really wrestling.
25:08This is wrestling.
25:09I was a high school wrestler.
25:11That's wrestling.
25:12So that made enough of an impression
25:14that someone, probably Vince McMahon,
25:17told John Stossel,
25:18you ought to go talk to that guy over there.
25:20What?
25:20Is this a good business?
25:21Yeah, it's a good business.
25:22I wouldn't be in it if it wasn't.
25:23Why is it a good business?
25:24Because only the tough survive.
25:26That's the reason you ain't in it.
25:27David Schultz was known in the wrestling industry nationwide
25:30as the one guy that would lose his shit
25:33and beat the fuck out of you on a moment's notice.
25:37John Stossel asked David Schultz the question,
25:40I think it's fake.
25:41I think it's a fake.
25:43You think it's fake?
25:45What's that?
25:46Is that fake?
25:46Oh, you think it's fake?
25:48How about that?
25:49He staggers up.
25:50How about this one?
25:51You think it's fake?
25:54He's six foot six.
25:56He's 270 pounds.
25:58And he is filled to the gills with anger.
26:01And you think that you're going to walk up to that guy
26:03and call him a bullshit artist.
26:08That's terrific.
26:09Wait, is that all you got?
26:10Boom.
26:12And it's all over.
26:13That's what happens.
26:15It's always a risk that that question might get popped
26:18or that there might be some type of confrontation
26:21between guest and host.
26:23But of all the incidents between television and radio
26:26personalities and wrestlers over the years,
26:28the one that most people probably remember
26:30was leading up to WrestleMania.
26:33In the spring of 1985, Vince McMahon's WWF was about to present the biggest wrestling spectacle of all time,
26:42WrestleMania.
26:43Coast to coast on pay-per-view and closed circuit,
26:46it was going to be the mega extravaganza in the history of the squared circle.
26:50To achieve that, there needed to be plenty of publicity and Vince McMahon was noted for being able to get
26:57his wrestlers on talk shows, interviews,
27:00everywhere the public could hear and see them.
27:04A comedian named Richard Belzer had a talk show on the air called Hot Properties.
27:10When Hogan and Mr. T went into this thing, their mission was simple.
27:14It was to tell people about the show to promote the event.
27:18We're getting ready for March 31st, WrestleMania.
27:21I'm in training.
27:22Richard Belzer didn't seem to be a wrestling fan.
27:25He didn't seem to be very respectful.
27:28It did make me mad, you know.
27:29I get so tired of going on these shows.
27:31These are reporters asking these stupid, dumb person
27:33telling my show is violent and all that mess, you know.
27:35The most violent show on TV is the 6 o'clock news.
27:38Belzer didn't want to have fun with this.
27:40I think he was getting a little smart, Alec.
27:42This ain't no joke.
27:43I find it amusing.
27:45Maybe he didn't like wrestling.
27:46Maybe he didn't like Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
27:48Maybe he was just cranky that day.
27:50Now, let me interrupt you.
27:51I'm making a statement.
27:51I know you're making a statement, but you're not answering my question.
27:54But he kept needling.
27:55He kept poking the bear.
27:56I'm talking to him, man, okay?
27:58You want to see the moon?
27:59He's like, show me some of this wrestling.
28:00Show me something.
28:01All right, we're going to show you something.
28:03It's an age-old practice in wrestling
28:06that if somebody in public presses you to show them some of the wrestling,
28:13you don't give them a vertical suplex.
28:15You don't put them down and do a knee drop off the top rope.
28:18Well, I'm going to have to stick to the basic because the floor is a little hard here
28:20and I don't want you getting hurt.
28:22You put a simple, easy, effective, and legitimate wrestling hold on them.
28:27And when they go, ah, then you let them go.
28:31A front face lock, it's going to cut the flow of blood off to your brain.
28:36In wrestling, sometimes they call it the sleeper.
28:39In UFC, it's a choke.
28:41You're compressing the carotid arteries.
28:43The brain doesn't get blood.
28:45You go out.
28:46Well, that's what Hogan tried to do.
28:48It's called a front shin lock.
28:53How about it, T?
28:54Keep it like that for a little while.
29:01The problem was it cut him off like that.
29:05And when Hogan let go,
29:08Belzer's dishrag body flopped out to the floor
29:13with the back of his head hitting the studio stage.
29:19Everybody went, ah, shit.
29:21He's sleeping.
29:22That was a sleeper hole.
29:23He'll be all right.
29:24Anybody in combat sports will tell you,
29:26once you've been put out,
29:27when you first wake up,
29:29you don't know what the fuck is happening
29:31or where you are.
29:34When Belzer looked up and saw the lights
29:37and saw the studio audience and everything,
29:39his natural inclination was to pitch to break.
29:42We'll be right back.
29:44And now, we'll be right back.
29:45After this word from you-know-who.
29:48And then he turns around
29:49and you can see blood pouring out of the back of his head
29:52down the back of his shirt.
29:54He was busted wide open.
29:56He had no idea
29:57because he was still in La La Land.
29:59See, you have to remember,
30:00this was Hulk Hogan's first year
30:02as the leader of Hulkamania.
30:04He was not yet an icon.
30:06She was hurt.
30:07It was an accident.
30:08Hulk didn't mean to do it.
30:09Days before WrestleMania,
30:11and this is on television,
30:13you gotta think Hogan was shaking
30:14like a dog shit in Peach Seeds.
30:16When somebody asked me to show him
30:17a professional wrestling hold,
30:18especially when they sit here and laugh in my face
30:20when I'm talking to him,
30:21I just showed him the simplest hold that I knew,
30:23and I thought he would at least be able to, you know.
30:25And we hope everything is all right.
30:26I hope he's all right, too.
30:28I really do.
30:29All right, we're just gonna take a commercial now.
30:31When we come back,
30:31we'll try to figure out what we're doing.
30:33Thank you.
30:33Hogan could have been a prick
30:35and done that on purpose,
30:37and I would believe he did
30:39if he'd have held it for 10 seconds,
30:42but he didn't.
30:43See when the arm goes under,
30:44and now there's the cinch up,
30:46and boom, he's done.
30:49Three seconds.
30:51The faster your blood is pumping,
30:53the faster your heart's racing,
30:54the faster you go unconscious.
30:57Now, I'm not saying Richard Belzer
30:59had just run a marathon
31:00or fought Muhammad Ali for 15 rounds,
31:03but the same effect can be engendered
31:05by some of the substances
31:07that were floating around
31:09the entertainment business in the 1980s
31:11that may or may not,
31:13according to our legal department,
31:15have had Richard Belzer's heart beating
31:18like a fucking drum.
31:24Well, we're back in the 80s, ladies and gentlemen,
31:26and I think this whole panel
31:28has made a stop in Colombia or Peru
31:31before they've gotten to the set.
31:33You can't tell me that Belzer
31:35is not impaired in some fashion
31:37if you just watch him a little bit here.
31:39Did you bend over?
31:39Ah!
31:40No, I'm sorry.
31:41I'm sorry.
31:42No, that's fine.
31:43Nobody's ever figured that out.
31:45I was in Dallas.
31:45I saw it as it aired.
31:47Fuck, he must be fucking high
31:48as a goddamn giraffe pussy.
31:53So what turned into a,
31:55oh, you want me to show you a hold, kid?
31:57Here.
31:57Ah!
31:58Turned into a goddamn major lawsuit,
32:01which Belzer won,
32:03bought a home in France,
32:04and named it Shea Hogan.
32:06If it had been anybody else,
32:08he would have been fired.
32:10David Schultz got fired
32:11for smacking the shit out of John Stossel,
32:14and Stossel deserved it more than Belzer did.
32:16The only reason that it wasn't that
32:20is because Vince McMahon needed Hulk Hogan.
32:22Hulk was his gravy train,
32:24his bread and butter,
32:25and his main event star at WrestleMania.
32:27WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan,
32:29Mr. T, Superfly, Jimmy Snuka,
32:31we reign supreme.
32:33Can you dig that?
32:34But of course, in modern times,
32:36the 21st century,
32:37things like that don't happen again
32:38because in this case,
32:40it would be the wrestler
32:41arguing with the TV host,
32:43saying, no, I'm a fake.
32:44I'm bullshit.
32:45Of course, that's a good thing.
32:48Maybe it's not a good thing
32:49that pro wrestling has lost
32:5175% of the audience
32:53that used to watch it
32:54when they thought
32:54there was something real to it,
32:56but hey, these are little details.
32:58The most important thing is
33:00Richard Belzer is safe.
33:03Isn't he dead?
33:04Well, he's either safe or dead,
33:06one or the other.
33:13Turner Broadcasting bought Crockett out in 1988,
33:17and they needed to name a new boss
33:18of the newly formed
33:19World Championship Wrestling.
33:21Who did they choose to lead
33:22the world's second largest wrestling promotion
33:24in its national cable television coverage?
33:27A regional Pizza Hut manager
33:29from St. Louis.
33:30Jim Hurt has become legendary
33:32inside the wrestling profession
33:34for pitching the worst, stupidest,
33:37most outlandish gimmicks
33:38in the history of pro wrestling.
33:40Jim Hurt was the perfect example
33:42of why you should stay in your fucking lane.
33:50In late 1988,
33:52there were really only two major promotions
33:54in the United States,
33:55the World Wrestling Federation and WCW.
33:58The last promotion standing
34:00in Vince McMahon's way of a monopoly
34:02was WCW.
34:04I'm Jim Cornette.
34:05Today, I have the world's most popular
34:07pro wrestling podcast,
34:09The Jim Cornette Experience.
34:10But 35 years ago,
34:12I was one of the talents victimized
34:13by Jim Hurt's reign of terror
34:15over World Championship Wrestling.
34:18By the summer of 1988,
34:20Turner Broadcasting purchased
34:22Jim Crockett Promotions
34:23and they renamed the company
34:25World Championship Wrestling.
34:27But when they needed somebody
34:28to run WCW,
34:30they didn't hire from within
34:31the wrestling industry.
34:32They hired based on
34:34who the executives' wives
34:35were friends with.
34:36There was a TBS executive
34:38named Jack Petrick.
34:39His wife was friends
34:41with the wife of a guy
34:42in St. Louis named Jim Hurd.
34:44Jim Hurd was a regional
34:46Pizza Hut manager in St. Louis.
34:48But his wrestling experience
34:50had been 20 years before that.
34:52He had been the director
34:53for the local television station
34:55in St. Louis
34:56that aired the wrestling program.
34:58And with that sum total
35:00of pro wrestling experience,
35:02he was hired
35:03to run the whole damn thing.
35:05It was doomed from the start.
35:07The gap between WWF and WCW
35:11in 1988 was large,
35:13but it wasn't insurmountable.
35:14The stars were some of the biggest
35:16in the business.
35:17Ric Flair, the Road Warriors,
35:18the Four Horsemen.
35:19It was a murderer's row
35:21of talent in the ring.
35:22And the gates for the arenas,
35:24the television ratings,
35:25the pay-per-view buys,
35:26everything was on the rise.
35:28As soon as Hurd got there,
35:30he looked at Vince McMahon's WWF
35:33and he said,
35:33well, they're successful
35:34and they get the kids.
35:35So he began trying to inject elements
35:38of what he believed
35:40was a WWF-style product
35:42into WCW
35:43to make it more kid-friendly,
35:45to make the merchandising easier.
35:48What Jim Hurd didn't realize
35:49was the very reason
35:51why WCW was Vince McMahon's
35:53only competition
35:54is because it was different.
35:56It was more violent.
35:57It was more gritty.
35:59It was more realistic.
36:00Instead, Hurd tried to make it
36:02a low-budget rip-off
36:04of WWF
36:05with kid gimmicks
36:07and stupid characters
36:08and silliness.
36:10From Belleville, USA!
36:12This was one of the most
36:13embarrassing debuts
36:15in the history of pro wrestling.
36:16Look at this.
36:17The Ding Dongs!
36:19Hey, I want a tag team.
36:20The kids will like.
36:21So he took these two guys
36:22that had been doing jobs
36:23on Atlanta TV,
36:24puts them in full body suits
36:26and masks
36:27with little bells,
36:28little Christmas elf bells
36:30all over their bodies.
36:33They've got the bells
36:34and the bracelets.
36:36It's just insane.
36:37So bear in mind,
36:38he's pitching this
36:39to half a dozen
36:40industry professionals
36:42that have been in wrestling
36:43for up to 40 years
36:44in this room.
36:45And he's talking about
36:45bell puns.
36:47They're from Belleville, Illinois.
36:49And they have bells
36:50on their outfits.
36:50And they ring the opponent's bell.
36:52And the ship's bell
36:54in the corner.
36:54And the people are like,
36:56what is this?
36:58Look, they can't even
36:59do the high five.
36:59They couldn't fucking
37:00synchronize the high five.
37:02Then when they start wrestling,
37:04they found out
37:04these little bitty bells
37:05would just fall off
37:07their outfits.
37:07Those bells are all
37:08over the ring now.
37:09Now, you've got four guys
37:11trying to have a tag team match
37:12in a ring filled
37:13with little marbles
37:14that they have to walk on
37:15that they can't fucking
37:16stand up straight.
37:17Oh my, oh my God.
37:19Yeah, cut away from the guy
37:21that can't do a sunset flip.
37:23Another time,
37:24I was in the room
37:25when he pitched
37:26the hunchbacks to everybody.
37:27Yeah, and here's the thing.
37:28They're hunchbacks.
37:29They've got big humps
37:30on their back.
37:31And you see,
37:31they've got this big hump.
37:32So when you try to pin them,
37:34well, both their shoulders
37:35won't go down
37:36at the same time.
37:37So they're unbeatable.
37:40We're standing there
37:41looking at our mouths open
37:42staring at him
37:43like he's got a steaming turd
37:44hanging out of his mouth.
37:45The hunchbacks
37:46never made it to television.
37:47Thank God.
37:48At one point,
37:49they brought in Matt Bourne,
37:50who was a recognized name,
37:52but they renamed him
37:54Big Josh.
37:55Look at this.
37:57Look at this.
37:59Dancing bears.
38:00That used to be
38:01a rib in a locker room.
38:02Hell, they booked
38:03everything but the dancing bear.
38:05This stupid son of a bitch
38:06actually booked
38:07the dancing bear.
38:08Another thing he thought,
38:09well, you know,
38:09the kids,
38:10they like the comic books,
38:11but we don't want
38:12to pay for them.
38:13Oh, good Lord.
38:15There's Arachna Man.
38:16They couldn't even spell it right.
38:17The Chiron had an I
38:18instead of an A.
38:19He has Spidey webs
38:21that he can shoot
38:22and he can't get off
38:23his hands after he does it.
38:24And they stick everywhere.
38:26Look, he can't get rid of them.
38:27They ripped Spider-Man off
38:29so badly
38:30that Marvel Comics
38:31threatened to sue him
38:32and they had to kick
38:33the daggum character
38:34off television.
38:36Here's the big introduction
38:38of who and what.
38:39Ah, here we go.
38:40But here comes Robocop.
38:41Heard of Broadcasting
38:42had bought
38:43the Warner Brothers
38:44Film Library.
38:45And so Heard's like,
38:46well, hell,
38:46let's do some movie crossover.
38:48Wait a minute.
38:48The horsemen are already out.
38:49They just do
38:50Sting in the cave.
38:51But here comes Robocop
38:53to save the day.
38:54Look, that's as fast
38:55as he can go
38:55and he almost fell down.
39:00Fuck it.
39:01Well, you were turning pages
39:02on the calendar
39:02till he got to the ring.
39:04Oh, gosh almighty.
39:05He's pulling that door
39:06right off the hinges.
39:07I'm surprised
39:08we didn't just close
39:09the company at that point.
39:10The posters
39:11for the pay-per-view
39:12didn't advertise
39:13the main event.
39:14It was the return
39:15of Robocop.
39:16Nobody bought it
39:17because they thought
39:18it was a fucking movie.
39:20As 1990 wore on,
39:22WCW's TV ratings
39:23started dropping.
39:24Fewer tickets
39:25were being sold.
39:26It was so depressing.
39:28You could hear the echo
39:29of guys hitting each other
39:31in this empty arena.
39:33It was a ghost town.
39:34In 1990,
39:35Sting was one
39:36of the main event
39:37babyfaces in WCW.
39:39He was kind of
39:39the face of the company.
39:40and he needed
39:41a challenger,
39:43somebody to
39:43menace Sting
39:44so that the fans
39:45would get interested.
39:46Sting,
39:47how has your week been?
39:50By this time,
39:51Hurd had put
39:51Ole Anderson
39:52back in charge
39:53as Booker.
39:54And Ole,
39:54the grumpy old man,
39:55said,
39:56all right,
39:56you want some bullshit?
39:57I'll give you
39:57some bullshit.
39:58Ole just jokes,
40:00we'll bring in
40:00somebody from Sting's past,
40:02we'll put him under a mask,
40:03or however he phrased it,
40:05Hurd liked it.
40:06I said,
40:06yeah, do that.
40:07What?
40:07I was joking.
40:08Now I'll do that.
40:09So they came up
40:10with the Black Scorpion,
40:12a masked man
40:13from Sting's past
40:14who was out to get him.
40:16Problem was,
40:17they were committed
40:18to the idea
40:19without having any idea
40:20who was going to be
40:21under the mask.
40:22It's like trying
40:23to write a murder mystery
40:24and you get to
40:25the last chapter
40:25and the author
40:26never figured out
40:27who did it.
40:28So whenever
40:28the Black Scorpion
40:29had to appear
40:30in a wrestling context,
40:31they just put
40:32another wrestler
40:33under the mask.
40:33So the body types
40:35changed.
40:35It was never
40:36the same fucking guy.
40:38They even got
40:38a magician,
40:39an actual stage magician
40:41to come out
40:42and do tricks
40:43as the Black Scorpion.
40:44Stay where you are.
40:45Stay where you are.
40:46Stay where you are.
40:47God damn it.
40:48Black man.
40:49Just make me spill the stone.
40:51Like David Copperfield
40:52at the fucking palace.
40:54Within a month,
40:56the magician
40:56had also started
40:57possessing people.
40:59Whether it was a referee
41:00or just some bystander,
41:02he would somehow
41:02mentally possess them
41:04to attack Sting.
41:06And now we're expected
41:07to believe he's
41:08the only proficient expert
41:09in mind control
41:10in the world.
41:11Wait a minute.
41:12There are these guys.
41:13All of this glitz
41:14and glamour
41:15and showbiz
41:16and acting
41:16was completely antithetical
41:18to what their fan base
41:20had stuck with them for.
41:21They wanted to see gritty,
41:23hard-hitting,
41:24realistic wrestling action
41:26with adults mad at each other.
41:28So finally,
41:28at Starrcade 1990,
41:30the big WCW show
41:32of the year,
41:32the showdown was scheduled.
41:34The reveal was going
41:35to take place.
41:36Sting and the Black Scorpion.
41:38Can he overcome the Scorpion?
41:40Who is the Scorpion?
41:41Like a spacecraft.
41:42Hey, I wasn't briefed
41:43about this.
41:44This isn't right.
41:45Here comes the real
41:46Black Scorpion
41:47in a spaceship.
41:48There is only one
41:50true Black Scorpion.
41:52I swear to God,
41:53they spent more money
41:54on this
41:55than they paid
41:56most of the wrestlers
41:57on their pay-per-views
41:58that actually sold the tickets
41:59and drew the money.
42:01And finally,
42:01out of absolutely
42:03no reason otherwise
42:05than they had
42:05nothing else to do,
42:07they made Ric Flair
42:08the Black Scorpion.
42:09Here comes the mask!
42:11It's Ric Flair!
42:12The Black Scorpion
42:14is Ric Flair!
42:17You couldn't hide
42:18Ric Flair's body
42:20and movements
42:21to people who had seen him
42:22a thousand times
42:23as soon as he started wrestling.
42:25So the people
42:26were already going,
42:27it's Flair!
42:29Sitting in the fourth row,
42:30it's Flair!
42:31Before the big reveal.
42:32They spent months
42:33on this story
42:34every week on television
42:36spending money
42:37bringing in the magician
42:39doing the props
42:40going through all this
42:41hoo-ha.
42:42Yeah, it's Flair
42:43and it's gone
42:44and we're done.
42:46That's it.
42:46It was a waste.
42:47It was a fart.
42:48It was a turd
42:49in a punch bowl.
42:50There was no money
42:51to be made at all.
42:52Let's bring this back.
42:53Oh, people want to see
42:54this again.
42:55They didn't want to see
42:55it the first time.
42:57By the summer of 1991,
42:59Flair had had enough
43:00of Jim Hurd, period.
43:01So that's when Flair
43:02finally resigned completely,
43:05quit WCW
43:06as the world champion
43:07and decided to go work
43:09for Vince McMahon
43:10and the WWF.
43:11By January 1992,
43:13even Hurd realized
43:14he was in over his head.
43:15Something needs to change.
43:17Something needs to be done.
43:18Well, what changed
43:19was Hurd went in
43:20and said, I quit.
43:22I always called Jim Hurd
43:24the Grinch that stole wrestling
43:25because he and nobody else
43:28is the individual responsible
43:29for Vince McMahon
43:30having a six or seven year,
43:33almost complete,
43:34unmolested run
43:35at being the top wrestling
43:36promotion in the country.
43:37Jim Hurd was patient zero
43:39on what happens
43:41when a corporate businessman
43:43gets involved
43:45in an entertainment company.
43:47Whether it's rock and roll music
43:48or it's Hollywood
43:49or it's pro wrestling,
43:50you can't have some jack-off
43:52with gray hair
43:53and a suit and tie
43:54that was used to board meetings
43:56over how much sausage
43:57to put on the fucking pan pizza
43:59to come in
44:00and tell everybody
44:01that's been doing this
44:02their entire lives
44:03what the fuck's going on.
44:05And that's all
44:06that's happened since then.
44:07Jim Hurd was the perfect example
44:09of why you should stay
44:10in your fucking lane.
44:18For over three years,
44:20Stone Cold Steve Austin
44:20was on top of the WWF
44:22making more money
44:23for the company
44:24than anyone ever had.
44:26But then they made
44:26the fateful decision
44:27to turn everyone's hero
44:31into a dastardly villain.
44:34Why does Stone Cold
44:35sell his soul
44:37to Satan himself?
44:38And then it all went to shit.
44:45The legend of Stone Cold Steve Austin
44:47started out
44:48with a regular guy in Texas
44:49named Steve Williams.
44:51Steve was a natural
44:52for wrestling athletically,
44:54but he didn't have an image.
44:55He didn't even have a name.
44:56Steve Williams was taken.
44:57So Dutch Mantell
44:59gave him the name Steve Austin.
45:01It's Austin.
45:03Steve Austin.
45:04I'm Jim Cornette
45:05and on my podcast
45:06The Jim Cornette Experience
45:07we talk about the best
45:09and the worst of wrestling
45:10and the night they turned
45:11Stone Cold Steve Austin
45:12was definitely
45:13one of the worst.
45:14The wrestling folks
45:16over at WCW
45:17gave Austin a shot,
45:18but management didn't know
45:19what to do with him.
45:21In 1995,
45:22WCW boss Eric Bischoff
45:24fired him.
45:25Steve started telling people
45:27how he'd been mistreated
45:28and what he was going
45:29to do about it.
45:30You know, a couple of weeks ago,
45:31I called Eric Bischoff
45:33and he proceeded to fire me
45:35over the phone.
45:37It seems to me
45:38it's kind of a chicken shit
45:39thing to do,
45:39but that's the way
45:40that Bischoff
45:41and all of WCW
45:42did things in those days.
45:44And I'm going to show
45:45everybody here
45:47exactly
45:49what a true superstar
45:51is supposed to do
45:52because no one here
45:54can hold me back.
45:56In 1996,
45:57Steve Austin got the opportunity
45:59to come to the World Wrestling Federation.
46:01Vince McMahon decided
46:02to make him
46:03the ringmaster.
46:05Oh, he's great in the ring.
46:06He's a ringmaster.
46:08The ringmaster
46:09became Steve Austin
46:10and things started rolling.
46:13He had shaved his head.
46:14He'd changed his tights,
46:15but he needed
46:16a nickname,
46:17a gimmick,
46:18something that the fans
46:19would remember.
46:20look at those eyes.
46:22Stone cold this man is.
46:25The best wrestling gimmicks
46:27are the ones
46:29where it's a natural
46:30element of the personality
46:32that you have.
46:33It's just turned up
46:34to a volume of 11.
46:35He is stone cold.
46:36Heartless.
46:37Not getting the breaks
46:38that he had worked hard for
46:39had Steve angry
46:40and he was frustrated
46:41at the system.
46:42And he channeled
46:43all that anger
46:44into the stone cold character
46:46and the fans related to it.
46:47Now you saw
46:48stone cold Steve Austin,
46:50the take no prisoners attitude,
46:52the foul mouth,
46:53the flipping the bird.
46:54Steve Austin began
46:55morphing into
46:56the Texas rattlesnake
46:57just by being himself.
46:59In the summer of 1996,
47:01Steve was involved
47:02in the King of the Ring
47:03tournament
47:03and Austin defeated
47:05the former veteran superstar.
47:07You sit there
47:08and you thump your Bible.
47:10Talk about John 316.
47:12Austin 316 says
47:14I just whipped your ass.
47:16This was the last piece
47:18of the puzzle.
47:19By the following night,
47:20the fans had
47:21Austin 316 signs.
47:23It was instant.
47:24The fans had something
47:25that they could hang
47:26their hat on.
47:27It was the world's
47:28best-selling wrestling t-shirt.
47:30It became part
47:31of the vocabulary.
47:32He had made himself
47:33in five minutes
47:34and one promo
47:35the most talked-about
47:37guy in wrestling.
47:38Give me a hell yeah!
47:39Yeah!
47:41Wow!
47:42With all the gimmicks
47:43and the outlandish costumes
47:45and the strange personalities
47:46in the WWF,
47:48Stone Cold Steve Austin
47:49was as authentic
47:50and believable
47:51as you could get.
47:52He was the antithesis
47:54of what fans were tired of
47:55in pro wrestling.
47:57It was real.
47:58It was coming
47:58from his heart.
48:00Everybody started loving Steve,
48:02not as a wrestler,
48:03not even as an athlete,
48:05but as a hero.
48:06Most of wrestling
48:07is black and white.
48:09You have someone
48:10to cheer for.
48:11You have someone
48:12to root against.
48:14Nobody that saw
48:15Steve Austin could help
48:16but being caught up
48:17in what he was doing.
48:18It was all
48:19an anti-hero image.
48:22So gradually,
48:23the bad guy
48:24in the fans' minds
48:26became the good guy.
48:27As the fans
48:28are gravitating
48:29more and more
48:29towards Stone Cold
48:30Steve Austin,
48:31Mr. McMahon
48:32was becoming
48:33the most unpopular character
48:34on WWF television.
48:36Would you mind
48:37showing a little respect?
48:39They are.
48:40They respect
48:41the rattlesnake.
48:42Nobody likes
48:43an evil billionaire boss,
48:46especially
48:46not Stone Cold
48:48Steve Austin,
48:49the rattlesnake
48:50from Texas.
48:50I ain't gonna do
48:51things your way.
48:52Nobody,
48:54especially Vince McMahon,
48:56tells Stone Cold
48:57Steve Austin
48:57what to do
48:59and that's
48:59the bottom line.
49:00Once that Austin
49:01and McMahon
49:02were introduced
49:03to each other,
49:04the evil corporate boss,
49:06and the
49:07take this job
49:07and shove it redneck
49:09sparks flu.
49:10You can kiss my ass.
49:15Oh God!
49:17Steve Austin
49:18had become a phenomenon
49:19that transcended wrestling
49:21and went into
49:22mainstream pop culture.
49:24Take this job
49:25and shove it.
49:26That was on
49:27everybody's mind.
49:28He was fighting
49:28his boss.
49:29He was doing
49:30what every man
49:32in America
49:33wanted to do
49:33and they were
49:34living vicariously
49:35through it
49:36like Michael Douglas
49:37in Falling Down.
49:38A lot of people
49:39wanted to take
49:40that rocket launcher
49:41and just fire it
49:42at the road
49:43construction crew.
49:47Steve Austin
49:48was the guy
49:48that would do that.
49:49He'd come out
49:50and he'd fill
49:51the boss's Corvette
49:52with concrete.
49:53He'd shoot the boss
49:55with a high-powered hose
49:56connected to a beer truck.
49:58Steve Austin
49:58was the most violent,
50:00biggest trash-talking
50:01Rattlesnake
50:02anywhere on television
50:03or in the action movies.
50:06By early 2001,
50:08the WWF
50:09was riding high.
50:10They'd won
50:11the wrestling war.
50:12They were making
50:12more money
50:13than they ever dreamed.
50:14The pay-per-views,
50:15the arenas
50:15were selling out.
50:16But an effort
50:17to keep things fresh
50:19spoiled the whole
50:20business' big run.
50:22If Steve Austin
50:23had a weakness,
50:24it was that he realized
50:26that nothing lasts forever.
50:28You've got to keep it fresh.
50:29You've got to keep
50:29changing things.
50:30So the idea
50:31was floated.
50:33What if the Rattlesnake
50:35turned heel again?
50:36They made a drastic decision
50:38that affected
50:39not only Austin's career,
50:40but the fate
50:41of the entire wrestling business
50:43for several years.
50:45It's not a good idea.
50:47So the stage was set
50:48and at WrestleMania 17
50:49was The Rock
50:51versus Stone Cold
50:52Steve Austin
50:52for the WWF Championship.
50:54The end of the match
50:55comes and Mr. McMahon
50:57of all people
50:58helps Steve Austin
50:59beat The Rock
51:00and win the match.
51:02I don't know
51:02what the hell this is,
51:03but this can't...
51:05Oh, no.
51:06Oh, my God!
51:08Oh, my God!
51:08What a viral chair shot!
51:10What the hell is this?
51:13It's a new champion!
51:15And here's the cover.
51:17One, two, three.
51:18Watch the people.
51:19Austin's won the title
51:20in Texas.
51:21They're going insane.
51:22And they probably think
51:24that Austin's going to turn around,
51:25boot Vince,
51:26and stutter him.
51:27And then,
51:28oh, boy.
51:30The idea
51:32that Stone Cold Steve Austin,
51:34the Texas rattlesnake,
51:35would shake hands
51:36with Mr. McMahon,
51:38the evil billionaire,
51:39when you take his character
51:41and you have him
51:43do something
51:45that the people
51:46in their hearts
51:47knew that if Steve Austin
51:48was real,
51:49he would have never done,
51:50it was a loss of faith.
51:51All those fans,
51:53they knew it's a show,
51:54but Steve Austin was real.
51:56We believed in that guy.
51:57They felt betrayed.
51:59The disbelief.
52:01That's the moment
52:02when they realized,
52:03my God,
52:04this has been a wrestling deal
52:05all along.
52:06They schnookered us.
52:07I was in the Astrodome
52:08that night
52:09when you do something
52:10that just slaps them
52:11in the face
52:12with,
52:12this is fake!
52:14We're doing this
52:15on purpose!
52:17Steve lost a fight, man.
52:19I stood up
52:20and grabbed my bag
52:21and told my wife,
52:22I said,
52:22well, let's go.
52:23they've killed it.
52:24The golden goose
52:25has not only been killed,
52:27but it's been roasted
52:27over an open spit.
52:29What was even worse
52:31is after the fact
52:32when they had
52:32no valid explanation
52:34as to why Austin
52:35would do this.
52:36All that Steve said
52:38was,
52:38well,
52:38Vince McMahon
52:39is my insurance policy
52:41against all these guys
52:42trying to take
52:43this belt from me.
52:44It's an insurance policy,
52:46Jim.
52:46How stupid are you?
52:51The effects
52:52of the Steve Austin
52:53heel turn
52:54weren't dramatic
52:56at first,
52:57but they were there.
52:58The TV ratings
52:59started dropping.
53:00The arena attendance
53:01started dropping.
53:02Now that they've lost
53:03their main attraction,
53:05it would continue
53:06to decline
53:07for several years.
53:11Meanwhile,
53:12Austin was degenerating
53:13further into a new gimmick
53:15away from his rattlesnake character.
53:18It wasn't things
53:18Steve Austin would say.
53:20It wasn't things
53:20he would naturally do.
53:22He was the boss's
53:23stooge, in effect.
53:25It suddenly looks like
53:26Vince has adopted
53:27Steve Austin
53:28in juvenile court
53:29and now he's his father
53:31trying to redeem him.
53:33Nobody wants to see
53:34Steve Austin
53:34with an acoustic guitar
53:36singing to Vince McMahon.
53:38Oh my,
53:39yeah, my lord.
53:40Nobody.
53:42There's a lesson
53:43in wrestling
53:43that a lot of people
53:44don't understand,
53:45even the ones
53:46who've worked in it
53:46for years
53:47and I don't know why.
53:48But the fans react
53:49to what they believe
53:51is real.
53:52They don't want
53:53to cheer a guy
53:54with personal problems
53:56and a miserable home life.
53:57They want to cheer a guy
53:58who's bigger than life,
54:00who's out there
54:01as a star on television
54:02kicking people's asses.
54:08Even Steve today
54:10realizes
54:11that he made a mistake,
54:12that it wasn't time
54:13to change,
54:14that it didn't need
54:15to be fresh.
54:16Austin was still red hot.
54:17He was still drawing.
54:19The most profitable rivalry
54:21in the history
54:22of pro wrestling,
54:23Austin McMahon,
54:25it all went to shit.
54:29Steve Austin is still remembered
54:32as a major superstar,
54:34but that's only because
54:35people made the willful decision
54:37to forget what he did
54:40before he left the WWE
54:41and retired.
54:4325 years later,
54:44the WWE has still yet
54:46to climb back
54:47to the heights
54:48that they had
54:49during the glory days
54:50of Stone Cold Steve Austin.
54:51I think the lesson
54:52to be learned here
54:53by wrestling promoters
54:54or anybody in any business
54:56is don't take
54:57your customers for granted.
54:59Don't feel
55:00that they'll swallow
55:01anything that you care
55:02to slide their way
55:03because there's a line
55:04you can cross.
55:06And when you're lucky enough
55:07to have a guy
55:09printing money for you,
55:12don't fuck with him.
55:21I'll see you next time.
55:24Bye.
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