MDIZZ
Bubba Ho-Tep
John Cena>j00
Posts: 573
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Post by MDIZZ on Sept 11, 2006 22:25:07 GMT -5
WWF nearly goes out of Business 1997
PLEASE EXPLAIN TO A GUY THAT WAS 4 AT THE TIME,
this too Teen Boy Sex Scandal Early 90's
thank you for all ur dedication.
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Post by warriorthug4edge on Sept 11, 2006 22:26:22 GMT -5
The WWF WAS nearly bankrupt around either 1996 or 1997. Plus, with WCW buying up all the talent the WWF had, as well as having a much better product, many thought the WWF was in deep doo-doo
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MichaelRBoh
Unicron
cowpee changed gimmick
Posts: 3,301
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Post by MichaelRBoh on Sept 11, 2006 22:45:36 GMT -5
WWF nearly goes out of Business 1997 PLEASE EXPLAIN TO A GUY THAT WAS 4 AT THE TIME, this too Teen Boy Sex Scandal Early 90's thank you for all ur dedication. i read once that in either 96 or 97 (i forget, likely 96) the WWF was losing over $50,000 a week. maybe this is what they mean by going bankrupt. it was in the book sex, lies, and headlocks. i'm not sure that this is really a scandal.
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Post by warriorthug4edge on Sept 11, 2006 22:48:47 GMT -5
I would, however, argue that the WWF going out of business would be bad news
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Post by I Graduated Warrior University on Sept 11, 2006 22:59:29 GMT -5
Steroids scandal. By the way how is the death of Eddie a scandal? Teen boy Sex Scandal= Pat Patterson: Ring Crew Groper!
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Post by destrucity on Sept 11, 2006 23:26:43 GMT -5
The Boy Sex and Steroid things happened at the same time and the usual band of WWE haters were going to every media outlet that would have them on (Billy Graham, Bruno, & Meltzer). Those media events got worse when Barry O discussed the casting couch. The combo of all these things led to an immediate drop in ratings and attendance.
The ring announcer in question was Mel Phillips. He is most remembered for getting beaten up by Terry Funk for putting on Terry's hat. Pat Patterson was also relieved of his duties at the time because his name was mentioned in the scandal. Patterson came back to the company rather quickly while Phillips never returned. Many years later, Billy Graham later retracted his implications of Patterson.
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bagsley
Samurai Cop
Demolition Bear is da king of Ruthless.
Posts: 2,139
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Post by bagsley on Sept 12, 2006 11:12:34 GMT -5
Owen passing away in the ring is by far the worst thing for the E, it was live, on the PPV, and just verry tragic
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General Zod
Samurai Cop
KNEEL!
KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!
Posts: 2,163
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Post by General Zod on Sept 12, 2006 12:49:49 GMT -5
From a logistics standpoint, the steroid trial in conjunction with the ring boy sex scandal is what wound up being the precursor to the WWF going nearly bankrupt in 97. The steroid trials and such happened in 93 or so, as I recall. The domino effect of that being WCW signing Hogan, who as we all know, testified at the trial and royally P.O.'ed Vinny something awful. Vince wouldn't have re-hired him, and WCW tossed a but-ton of cash at Hogan while the money tree was still growing lots of green. That right there might have been enough to kill the WWF. But we know that it wasn't.
Later, WCW reached into it's large pockets and got Savage, Duggan, John Tenta, etc. al., and then later Hall and Nash. Nobody at that time really wanted to be associated with Vince McMahon. Beating the feds in court may be a feather in his cap, but it didn't do wonders for his business. Wrestlers who chose not to come under scrutiny left for the safe harbors of WCW; an admitted more family friendly, smaller group that would let much of the drug abuse slip under the radar. Need proof? Look at Scott Steiner and Scott Hall.
The steroid trial started it all IMO. It didn't help matters that Owen died in the middle of the wrestling war, but that wasn't going to be the nail in the WWF's coffin. Even though it was a terrible accident that should have been avoided by not even having Owen preform the stunt, it did more to garner sympathy for the company than it did to hurt them.
Had WCW run itself like a company; a part of the wrestling industry, and focused on bringing the best product possible to the fans instead of catering to egos, paychecks, etc., Vince McMahon would be ladeling soup for WCW catering right now.
Vince McMahon didn't overcome adversity. He just happened to last long enough for WCW to beat itself.
Don't buy into Vinny Mac's revisionist history, folks. I think you're all smart enough to see things for how they really are instead of blindly accepting WWE propaganda.
In the end, I suppose the steroid trial kicked almost everything on that list off, so I would say that it's had the greatest impact on not only the WWE's history, but the history of the industry as well. IMO, the steroid trial really did shape the way this industry is run today.
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Post by Cactus Jack on Sept 12, 2006 14:46:27 GMT -5
I'll also ask what the Teen Boy Sex Scandal Early 90's was.
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Post by acropolis619 on Sept 12, 2006 14:48:12 GMT -5
What the hell is the teen boy sex scandal???
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 12, 2006 14:53:16 GMT -5
Steroids, pretty much changed the whole roster around.
Also,
1000TH POST YAY ME!
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Sept 12, 2006 14:58:13 GMT -5
Steroid trial, no real contest.
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Post by 'Smart' Mark Poindexter on Sept 12, 2006 15:11:34 GMT -5
What about Snuka killing his gf and Vince covering it up? it seems a bit more a scandal then the Eddie and Owen moments. They were tragedies,and in Owen's case an obvious mistake but not scandals. I know some argue that still using Eddie in storylines is scandelous but it isn't, it's just stupid and in really really horribly poor taste.
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kevinhardy
Dennis Stamp
Because I can become a better Champion than this person.
Posts: 4,115
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Post by kevinhardy on Sept 12, 2006 15:18:48 GMT -5
death of owen hart and the steriod scandal
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General Zod
Samurai Cop
KNEEL!
KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!
Posts: 2,163
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Post by General Zod on Sept 12, 2006 15:51:13 GMT -5
What about Snuka killing his gf and Vince covering it up? it seems a bit more a scandal then the Eddie and Owen moments. They were tragedies,and in Owen's case an obvious mistake but not scandals. I know some argue that still using Eddie in storylines is scandelous but it isn't, it's just stupid and in really really horribly poor taste. I agree. The Snuka murder was more of a scandal than any of the aforementioned listed situations, but to be fair, it didn't really have that big of an impact on the industry. To this day, only three people know exactly what went on; Snuka, McMahon, and Snuka's dead girlfriend. And none of them are going to talk about it anytime soon. The truth is sort of a distorted perspective in this story, and I'm not qualified to handle the answer. Mostly because nobody can really give one that's acurate. But I digress. Oh, and to answer the masses questions, there were a couple of sex scandals that happned right around the same time. Pat Patterson was accused of asking sexual gratification in exchange for career favors. He supposedly approached both up and coming (no pun intended) wrestlers as well as ringboys who were looking to break into the business. Supposedly, Pat was looking to "give them a hand", as it were. The only hand some of these guys got was Patterson's down their pants. Eventually, some of the unwilling participants complained. This actually led to him departing the WWE for a short while in the 80's to avoid having it come back to haunt the company. I remember there being jabs at Patterson via commentary from Gorilla Monsoon during this time, in addition to his infamous "Terry Garvin" line. Years later, Bobby Heenan made a joke in an interview relating to the overt homosexual undertones in pro wrestling. Some felt this too, was a rib directed at Patterson. Then, there was also ring announcer Mike McGurk, who some consider to be the bland, worse version of Lilian Garcia. Mike McGurk was a ring announcer in the 80's who sometimes doubled as a commentator, and wore enough makeup to rival Tammy Faye Baker. If you ever heard her on commentary, you'd stab your ears with a #2 pencil repeatedly until the sound of her voice was finally eradicated. But that's a whole 'nother thread... There were allegations that Mike McGurk was sexually assaulted on an airplane ride (why do these things always happen on airplanes??), but like Nicole Bass before her, got her suit thrown out, mostly because if there was any evidence against those accused, Mike squandered it away by making her word completely worthless, contradicting herself at several turns. Hope that helps. I'm sure there are more sex scandals, i.e., the Lawler incident, but I think those are the two, being the closest together in time, that comprise the choice in the poll. Anyone else can feel free to add more to the list. I know I'm missing a few details, but for better or worse, what I've covered are the basics.
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Madagascar Fred
El Dandy
TAFKA roidzilla and SUFFERIN' SUCCOTASH SON!
Posts: 8,784
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Post by Madagascar Fred on Sept 12, 2006 17:01:30 GMT -5
no second doubt here...steroid scandal
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Post by mediamaven on Sept 13, 2006 12:06:16 GMT -5
Eddie and Owen's deaths were both great tragedies, but the steroid trial was really on the verge of closing the WWF and putting Vince away.
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Dean-o
Grimlock
Haha we're having fun Maggle!
Posts: 13,865
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Post by Dean-o on Sept 13, 2006 12:19:40 GMT -5
Steroid trails, hands down. The cat came out of the bag, so to speak, as Vince had to publicly state that the WWF is entertainment, not a sport.
The state of the WWF in 96-97 wasn't the worst...considering that they only really flirted with bankrupty, but they weren't anywhere near going under. It was just a very tough period for them.
No offense to the people who picked Eddie, but over the test of time this tragic event will be not as bad as you feel it is now. Owen, on the other hand was a lot worse, because he died in the ring in front of 15,000 people.
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