The Cornette Call: A Pro Wrestling Timeline

Megafighter3

Megafighter3

June 24, 1996

Nash v. TitanSports goes to court, leaving Hall and Nash tied up in a court battle and off WCW television for months. Speculation by Dave Meltzer is that Vince is gonna try and drag out the case as long as he can to keep Hall and Nash off the competitor's show.
 
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Megafighter3

Megafighter3

Bash at the Beach 1996

8000 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach for another eight match card.

WCW Main Event Pre-Show

  1. The Public Enemy d. The Nasty Boys. No big stip for this match, but we do give Public Enemy a win over the Nasties.
  2. Scott Norton d. Ice Train. Fire and Ice explode and Norton wrecks Ice Train.

PPV Main Card

  1. The Steiner Brothers d. Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri and Col. Rob Parker) We give these guys the opener, letting both teams bring the noise to start off the show with a bang. Steinerline to Stevie Ray.
  2. John Tenta d. Big Bubba Rogers (w/Jimmy Hart) Hoss fight! Hoss fight! Two big hosses duke it out with Tenta winning it out. No stipulation here either, just big on big.
  3. Rey Misterio Jr. d. Psicosis. Same match as OTL.
  4. Konnan d. Diamond Dallas Page. Both men are fighting for a shot at the World title for Hog Wild (a name that would be changed within the time between when Harley Davidson threatened to sue) with both men putting on a good match. Konnan gets Page in the Tequila Sunrise, tapping him out.
  5. WCW Cruiserweight: Dean Malenko d. Eddie Guerrero. Give them fifteen minutes to show their stuff. High-flying lucha-libre vs. technical masterwork. Malenko puts Eddie away with the Texas Cloverleaf.
  6. WCW Tag: The Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit/Steven Regal) d. The Rock 'n' Roll Express. The veteran babyface team meet against the younger Horsemen, trying to take the tag titles but are beaten by the Horsemen who have the advantage of youth, tehcnical prowess and the occasional interference by Arn and Flair. Crossface to Ricky and Regal Stretch to Robert. The Horsemen keep the tag titles.
  7. WCW US: Arn Anderson d. Lex Luger. Luger gets a shot at Arn's United States title, but falls to the numbers game, taking the Spinebuster fall here and getting stomped out.
  8. WCW World: The Giant d. Sting. The heels are running the roost while Hogan has been taking a bit of time off due to the crowds cooling off on him. The Giant dominates Sting, shutting down most of his efforts to gain offense before wiping him out with the Chokeslam. Can anyone topple the Giant?
 
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Megafighter3

Megafighter3

Heat Wave 1996

Another packed ECW for the follow up PPV, both of which did pretty good buyrates (not save the company big, but the door's will be open for an extra two months ITTL thanks to these back-to-back successes)

  1. The Samoan Gangstas (L.A. Smooth/Sammy the Silk) d. Louie Spicolli/Mikey Whipwreck. The Samoans utterly wreck these two to kick off the show. Poor Mikey...
  2. New Jack d. Mustafa Saed. And the Gangsta's explode! These two put on a wild match, with New Jack falling off something high to get the win.
  3. Sabu d. Little Guido (w/Big Guido) Not the best mix of players here but Big Gudio helps make this a challenge for Sabu. Arabian Facebuster to Little Guido wins it.
  4. Tarzan Goto d. Axl Rotten. Same from OTL, Goto makes his ECW debut.
  5. Brian Lee (w/Raven) d. Terry Gordy. Raven sends Brian Lee to finish Bam Bam off, Gordy putting Lee over here with some help from an Evenflow from Raven.
  6. ECW Tag: The Eliminators d. The Dudleys (Bubba/Devon) (w/The Dudley Family) We get a Total Elimination to Devon and then the rest of the Dudleys get destroyed by Bubba and Devon, wiping out Sign Guy, Chubby and Dances with Dudley with 3Ds. We now get Bubba and Devon as a package on their own here.
  7. ECW TV: Shane Douglas d. Paul Levesque d. Chris Jericho d. 2 Cold Scorpio in a Four Way Dance. ECW won't have Levesque for long, so we have him put on a good showing here before Uncle Eric waves the big money for him. Paul takes out Scorpio with the Pedigree, Jericho falls to the Franchiser and then it's down to Douglas vs. Levesque to determine the new Television Champion and Shane gets his win back with help from the Pitbulls. They'll have one more match in August before Paul heads down south.
  8. ECW World: Raven (w/Stevie Richards) d. Tommy Dreamer (w/the Sandman) in a Steel Cage Match. Tommy gets a shot at the title in the build and Sandman does get a chance to beat down on Stevie as a proxy fro Raven but Dreamer fails to take the World title from Raven, ending off the show with a triumphant Raven looming over Tommy.
 
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Megafighter3

Megafighter3

In Your House 9: International Incident

15,000 in the General Motors Place in Vancouver. It's a big Canadian crowd, so you know they're gonna be cheering the heels tonight. Eight matches on the card.

  1. Vader (w/Jim Cornette) d. The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) Vader is angry. He's angry and he needs Vader Time to let off steam. He completely demolishes the Godwinns in a handicap match to start off the show, stacking both pig farmers on top of each other and Vader Bombing them. Vader Time.
  2. Justin Bradshaw (w/Uncle Zebekiah) d. Savio Vega.
  3. Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Marc Mero (w/Sable)
  4. Mankind d. Owen Hart. We got a nice little mix of Owen's technical prowess and Foley's wild brawling. Mandible Claw finish.
  5. Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) d. Shawn Michaels (w/Jose Lothario) The winner of this match will be facing the world champion at SummerSlam, HBK looking to reclaim his title, but he falls to the Deadman here. Taker might be working a bit stiff, Shawn's probably not cooperating to Undertaker's liking. Shawn still eats a Tombstone (pepperoni and sausage) with Undertaker taking the title shot.
  6. WWF Tag: The Bodydonnas d. The Smoking Gunns (w/Sunny) The tag titles are getting hotshotted a lot here, but you know what? Fuck it, Chris Candido deserves it. Sunny turns on the Gunns here, tripping up Bart at a crucial point and getting the tag belts back to the Bodydonnas.
  7. WWF IC: Goldust (w/Marlena) d. Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed goes down with an injury just before SummerSlam, so we have Goldust retain here. Final Cut to put away Johnson as Dustin continues his run.
  8. WWF World: The British Bulldog d. Sycho Sid. We get big on big here as Davey Boy gets huge cheers, slowly bringing him to the face side. He hits the Running Powerslam on Sid to end the night.
 
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Megafighter3

Megafighter3

August 5, 1996

The court finds in favor of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, resulting in TitanSports paying damages to the plaintiffs to the tune of $250,000 for each of them. (Author's Note: That might be a bit much, up to you guys if I should lower that number.)
 

Cyniclone

Megafighter3 said:
August 5, 1996

The court finds in favor of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, resulting in TitanSports paying damages to the plaintiffs to the tune of $250,000 for each of them. (Author's Note: That might be a bit much, up to you guys if I should lower that number.)
Click to expand...

I could see it going a good bit higher, because a) we haven't established what their WM payouts were, and b) I would imagine there's going to be punitive damages. If McMahon tried to breach contract without a viable reason why, the court might be tempted to teach him a lesson. Because I'm Vince McMahon, DAMMIT! works a lot better in Titan Tower than the courtroom.
 

Unknown

Cyniclone said:
Because I'm Vince McMahon, DAMMIT! works a lot better in Titan Tower than the courtroom.
Click to expand...
Tell that to the jury that acquitted him in his steroid trial...

In all fairness, though, a big reason why the prosecution lost was because they had Kevin Wacholz as one of their star witnesses. If you remember, he played Nailz in the WWF and had been fired after choking McMahon over a perceived low payment for a SummerSlam 1992 match (he then called the police and claimed that McMahon tried to sexually assault him.). He seemed like a credible witness...until he admitted, on the stand, that he hated Vince McMahon's guts. This caused the jury to discount his testimony, IMO, and led to his acquittal...

OTOH, Vince might lose more than 250k here, for the reasons @Cyniclone mentioned...
 
Megafighter3

Megafighter3

Cyniclone said:
I could see it going a good bit higher, because a) we haven't established what their WM payouts were, and b) I would imagine there's going to be punitive damages. If McMahon tried to breach contract without a viable reason why, the court might be tempted to teach him a lesson. Because I'm Vince McMahon, DAMMIT! works a lot better in Titan Tower than the courtroom.
Click to expand...

So, spitballing at around $450k for both of them?
 
Megafighter3

Megafighter3

Road Wild 1996

5000 at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. They changed the name due to potential legal issues with Harley-Davidson, but Bischoff still gets to indulge in his biker fantasies at the cost of the company.

WCW Saturday Night Pre-Show

  1. The Public Enemy d. Dick Slater/Mike Enos
  2. The Renegade d. Hugh Morrus
  3. Alex Wright d. David Taylor (w/Earl Robert Eaton)
  4. High Voltage d. The Nasty Boys
  5. Chavo Guerrero Jr. d. Jerry Lynn
  6. Scott Norton d. Ice Train
PPV Main Card

  1. Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri and Col. Rob Parker) d. Sting/Lex Luger. Big opening tag match. Everything seems to be going well when two men in street clothes suddenly burst out of the crowd and start attacking Sting and Luger. The announce team freaks out at this, demanding to know who these two are. We get an answer when Lex gets hit with a Crucifix Powerbomb. That's Scott Hall! Then the other man hits the Jacknife on Sting. Kevin Nash! The Outsiders have arrived and laid waste to Sting and Luger. Booker pins Sting to win, then Harlem Heat get beaten down after the match. Jacknife to Booker, Edge to Stevie.
  2. Madusa d. Bull Nakano. Maybe give this match an extra five minutes, but otherwise the same as OTL.
  3. WCW Cruiserweight: Rey Misterio Jr. d. Dean Malenko. Little Rey wins the Cruiserweight belt here in another fantastic display of high-flying lucha action.
  4. Diamond Dallas Page d. Ultimo Dragon (w/Sonny Oono) A bit of an odd match-up, but one that gets Page and Ultimo on the card. Maybe go with the idea that DDP is offering a big cash prize to anyone who can beat him, Oono takes up the offer and has Ultimo Dragon try to win the prize money, but he falls short of the Diamond Cutter.
  5. Hulk Hogan (w/Jimmy Hart) d. Kevin Sullivan (w/The Faces of Fear) Hogan gets right back into business with the Taskmaster. You've seen a Hogan match, you know how this goes.
  6. WCW Tag: The Steiner Brothers d. The Horsemen (Chris Benoit/Steven Regal) (w/Arn Anderson) The Outsiders jump in again, this time going after Double A. Benoit and Regal roll out to help but they get beaten up to for their troubles, with Benoit getting thrown back in to take a beating from the Steiners. The Steiners win the tag belts, but they're also jumped by the Outsiders. Edge to Scott, Jacknife to Rick. The Outsiders are running roughshod over Road Wild! They've taken out Sting, Luger, Harlem Heat, the Steiners, Arn, Benoit and Regal! Who's gonna stop them?!
  7. WCW US: Eddie Guerrero d. Arn Anderson (w/Ric Flair) In spite of the previous attack, Arn insists on defending the United States title and pays for it when the Outsiders make one last appearance tonight, going right after Flair on the outside first, then jumping Arn again and powerbombing him through the table. They leave Arn in the ring to take a Frog Splash, Eddie winning the belt and then getting double-teamed by the Outsiders. It's Chaos Night for WCW. Flair, Arn, Sting, Luger, Benoit, Regal, Eddie, Harlem Heat and the Steiners.
  8. WCW World: The Giant d. Konnan in a Biker Chain Match. Adding the biker chain because 1.) It's a biker rally, you gotta play the biker gimmick up somewhere and 2.) it'll add some credibility to Konnan trying to take on the Giant. Konnan's the underdog babyface here, fighting from underneath, both men get color here to really sell the match. The Giant wins, big Chokeslam to Konnan. The Giant cannot be stopped.
 
Megafighter3

Megafighter3

August 12, 1996

Paul Levesque, after another failed claim for the ECW TV title at The Doctor Is In signs with WCW, joining the Outsiders in running roughshod over the roster, dropping Pedigrees on anyone in the buildup to to Fall Brawl.
 
Megafighter3

Megafighter3

SummerSlam 1996

17k in the Gund Arena in Cleveland for eight big matches at the biggest party of the summer!

  1. Jake Roberts d. Jerry Lawler. We give Roberts the feel good win against the dastardly Lawler. Jerry has spent months taunting him for his alcoholism, but Roberts gets his revenge here in the SummerSlam opener. DDT, pinfall.
  2. Owen Hart d. Savio Vega.
  3. Sycho Sid d. Shawn Michaels. This is Shawn's breaking point. He's been in a foul mood since Hall and Nash left, since Vince fired Paul and with the lawsuit adding stress on top of that. With Waltman out on rehab, HBK's been a man alone in a political pool that hates his guts. Cornette is still hot at him over the Curtain Call, the Harts have stonewalled him, Undertaker is keeping his fists taped and Vince has been putting Michaels through the ringer. It all blows up when he's expected to lose to Sid at SummerSlam. After a series of heated battles backstage with Vince, Shawn decides he's done playing ball. He pretty much tanks the match (either by not selling or by going full on SummerSlam 2005 on this match) and when he goes through the curtain, he meets Vince looking absolutely red. The two getting into another shouting match and Vince decides he's had enough. He fires Shawn on the spot and with that, the majority of the Kliq is gone from the WWF. Shawn clocks Vince with a right hook as he storms out of the Gund Arena and the WWF.
  4. Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Yokozuna. We have the Free-For-All match, going a few minutes longer before Yoko snaps the ropes (which were loosened in advance) allowing Austin to roll him up.
  5. Mankind d. The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) in a Boiler Room Brawl. "But Mega, wasn't Undertaker the #1 contender for the world title? He beat Shawn to get the title shot?" Well, I'm not giving up this match, so we'll say that Mankind has been harassing Undertaker since International Incident and Undertaker decided that he had enough, risking his title shot just to get rid of this deranged sewer dweller. Same match as OTL, but with the added bonus of the early parts in the boiler room giving the crew time to re-tighten the ring ropes from Austin/Yoko. Mankind wins after Paul Bearer turns on the Deadman.
  6. WWF Tag: The Smoking Gunns d. The Bodydonnas (w/Sunny) d. The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) the New Rockers in a Four-Way Elimination Match. And the Gunns are now 4-time WWF Tag Team Champions! The New Rockers are the first to go out, Skip hitting the top rope powerbomb to Marty to send them out. A Sidewinder to Henry sends out the Godwinns, leaving the Gunns and the Bodydonnas. The match comes to an end when Skip suddenly turns on Zip, him and Sunny leaving him to eat another Sidewinder.
  7. WWF IC: Goldust (w/Marlena) d. Marc Mero (w/Sable) We get a match of the androgynous ex-WCW wrestlers with hot wives at their corner. We give them maybe a few more minutes than they got in OTL, because it's a title match. Final Cut to Mero keeps Goldust's second reign as Intercontinental Champion going strong.
  8. WWF World: The British Bulldog d. Vader (w/Jim Cornette) And you have this absolute hoss fight at the top. These are big boys and I love seeing big boys try to out-big each other, so I'm happy. Vader is nasty, just a beast in the ring, but Davey Boy can take what Vader dishes out and give it back just as hard. Big, stiff bois, aww yeah! Davey keeps here with a big Running Powerslam to Vader. JR sells that powerslam hard, expressing concern that after Yoko snapped the ropes, Vader and Davey Boy might just destroy the damn ring (have that be sell during Austin/Yoko too) but the ring stays strong and so does Davey Boy on top to end off SummerSlam.
 
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Unknown

Megafighter3 said:
Sycho Sid d. Shawn Michaels. This is Shawn's breaking point. He's been in a foul mood since Hall and Nash left, since Vince fired Paul and with the lawsuit adding stress on top of that. With Waltman out on rehab, HBK's been a man alone in a political pool that hates his guts. Cornette is still hot at him over the Curtain Call, the Harts have stonewalled him, Undertaker is keeping his fists taped and Vince has been putting Michaels through the ringer. It all blows up when he's expected to lose to Sid at SummerSlam. After a series of heated battles backstage with Vince, Shawn decides he's done playing ball. He pretty much tanks the match (either by not selling or by going full on SummerSlam 2005 on this match) and when he goes through the curtain, he meets Vince looking absolutely red. The two getting into another shouting match and Vince decides he's had enough. He fires Shawn on the spot and with that, the majority of the Kliq is gone from the WWF. Shawn clocks Vince with a right hook as he storms out of the Gund Arena and the WWF.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I doubt anyone will shed a tear over Shawn's departure; I can see the Harts and Cornette, as he's leaving, mockingly singing this (this is from the song by Steam):
Na na na na, hey, hey-ey, goodbye
Hey, hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye (repeat)

With regards to SummerSlam 2005, the reason he did that was because Hogan had vetoed a rematch in which Shawn would win (along with a third match and stipulation to decide it once and for all) and Shawn was supposed to put Hogan over in the first match, so he decided to strike back at Hogan (from one egotistic politician to another); it was childish, but I can understand Shawn's frustration in this scenario...

Here, though, there is zero justification...

OTOH, this butterflies away the Montreal Screwjob...
 
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Megafighter3

Megafighter3

Unknown said:
Yeah, I doubt anyone will shed a tear over Shawn's departure; I can see the Harts, Cornette, and Undertaker, as he's leaving, mockingly singing this (this is from the song by Steam):
Na na na na, hey, hey-ey, goodbye
Hey, hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye (repeat)

With regards to SummerSlam 2005, the reason he did that was because Hogan had vetoed a rematch in which Shawn would win (along with a third match and stipulation to decide it once and for all) and Shawn was supposed to put Hogan over in the first match, so he decided to strike back at Hogan (from one egotistic politician to another); it was childish, but I can understand Shawn's frustration in this scenario...

Here, though, there is zero justification...

OTOH, this butterflies away the Montreal Screwjob...
Click to expand...

I'd say the justification would be that Shawn doesn't want to put Sid over on top of all the shit that's been heaped on him in the past few months and he decides to make a mockery of the whole match and oversell just to piss Vince off in the back. However, if that still isn't enough, then he just goes with no-selling Sid the whole way (getting up right after the three and all that) before getting into the blow-up.
 

Voice of The Empire

This..... this might backfire though. Eric has the brinks trucks ready to roll the moment he hears Shawn is free... though what the kliq does in WCW is gonna be interesting.

I think Bret finishes his career in the WWF, maybe goes out putting over either Steve or Owen as his replacement. I see him becoming the Pat of the next generation, being Vinces right hand and the primary matchmaker for the Fed.

Though the question is, without mister McMahon, what happens to the golden age...
 

Unknown

Megafighter3 said:
I'd say the justification would be that Shawn doesn't want to put Sid over on top of all the shit that's been heaped on him in the past few months and he decides to make a mockery of the whole match and oversell just to piss Vince off in the back. However, if that still isn't enough, then he just goes with no-selling Sid the whole way (getting up right after the three and all that) before getting into the blow-up.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the reason why Bret and Shawn came to hate each other personally is because Shawn Michaels delivered that infamous "Sunny days" promo in 1997, where Shawn Michaels alleged on air that Bret Hart was having an affair with WWF diva Sunny (aka Tammy Lynn Sytch); this pissed off Bret Hart big time (not to mention his then-wife) (1) and led to a fight between them that resulted in Shawn's temporarily quitting after a chunk of hair was pulled from his scalp (which is an interesting WI in and of itself) and triggered the Montreal Screwjob…

At this time IOTL, Bret and Shawn were still friends to some degree; I'm assuming Shawn's antics post-Curtain Call destroy whatever closeness they have (and Bret, like Undertaker, would probably get angry at Shawn after those antics, IMO; while Bret could be an jerk in his own right, he usually acted professionally in the ring (2))…

(1) It should also be pointed out that Tammy Lynn Sytch and Shawn Michaels had a relationship before he met his current wife, Rebecca; one wonders if jealousy fueled that Sunny Days promo...
(2) Part of the reason Bret wanted to leave the WWF was because of his being uncomfortable with the direction the WWF was going in 1997; that being said, he was friends with, among others, Mick Foley and Steve Austin, the leader of the Attitude Era...
 
Megafighter3

Megafighter3

Fall Brawl 1996

12,000 fill the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (fuck me, that's a mouthful) as the Outsiders have promised a war on WCW and you all know what that means. Eight matches on the card.

  1. Dark: Scott Norton d. Ice Train in a Submission Match.
  2. Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri and Col. Rob Parker) d. The Nasty Boys. Winners get a shot at the tag titles later tonight as the brothers hit the Big Apple Blast on Knobbs.
  3. WCW Cruiserweight: Rey Misterio Jr. d. Super Calo.
  4. AAA Heavyweight: Konnan d. Juventud Guerrera.
  5. WCW TV: Steven Regal (w/Chris Benoit) d. Chris Jericho. Jericho makes his PPV debut in WCW to take on Regal. Regal, as in OTL, has the Television title. Jericho puts on a great showing, but Benoit interferes on Regal's behalf, handing him brass knuckles on the outside. Power of the Punch knocks the Lionheart out, Regal putting him in the Regal Stretch and making it look like Jericho passed out in the hold while the ref is distracted.
  6. WCW Tag: The Steiner Brothers d. Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri and Col. Rob Parker) And we have another top notch tag match between two experienced tag teams. They go for 15 minutes, ending with a Steiner Line to Stevie.
  7. WCW US: Eddie Guerrero d. Diamond Dallas Page. DDP gets a shot at the title, the two two putting on a good match ending with Guerrero hitting the Frog Splash.
  8. WCW World: Hulk Hogan (w/Randy Savage) d. The Giant. Hogan finally meets the Giant for the WCW title after time away from WCW, pushed on by the Giant giving Savage a kayfabe back injury, which is why he's at ringside. Hogan bodyslams the Giant, hitting the legdrop. Maybe gives Savage a revenge elbow to cap it off before Hogan gets the fall. Hogan wins his second WCW World title.
  9. WarGames: The Outsiders (Shawn Michaels/Kevin Nash/Scott Hall/Triple H) d. Team WCW (Ric Flair/Arn Anderson/Sting/Lex Luger) And we have the "4th man" hyped up in the build to Fall Brawl, the Hearbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. This is a huge match to main event the show. Eight men, two rings, the invading Outsiders vs. the WCW veterans. The finish comes with everyone getting put in a submission hold. Flair locks Michaels in the Figure Four, Kevin Nash gets put into Sting's Scorpion Deathlock, Scott Hall gets hoisted into Luger's Torture Rack and Triple H locking Arn into an Indian Deathlock. It's the sole Outsider submission that gets them the win, Arn tapping out here as the Outsiders stand tall over Team WCW. They're gonna take this company down piece by piece.
 
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Ventriloquist

Wouldn't Paul Levesque just start going by Triple H as soon as he left the WWF? IIRC Michaels just called him Triple H from the start, and I guess he would've grown to that name after a year of being called it behind the scenes. Wasn't like Vince had trademarked the name 'Triple H' or 'HHH' or whatever yet either.
 

DAv

Some very interesting changes here so far. Hogan not switching is going to have a bit of a cooling effect on the industry, since him going Heel helped kickstart a lot of its popularity. Although Shawn might be in for a few lessons about what a real political master can do backstage, especially since his persona issues are going to come to the fore with him and Hall really hitting the drugs hard. Nice to see Davey Boy get a run with the top title as well. Might have been a few years too late to really capture his top popularity. Still, his matches with Sid and Vader should produce some fun nostalgia for WCW fans.
 

Garbageman

Waltman's still in the WWF at this point, yes? Is he going to wind up being the analogue for Owen Hart during the Attitude Era?
 
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