WWF Year One

[Highway61Revisited]

OOC: Life has finally calmed down and I can return to "throwing the dice", I've decided I want to it this time in the form of an "old-school" WWF setup.

WWF SCHEDULE
Monday - WWF Championship Wrestling
Saturday - All-Star Wrestling
Sunday - Arena Show

The WWF will tour in the northeast, Canada, and on the west-coast. West-coast tours will happen three times a year and SummerSlam will take place annually (the first few years) on the West Coast.

WWF ROSTER[/u]
Shawn Michaels
Stan Hansen
The Rock
Bret Hart
"Superstar" Billy Graham
Bruno Sammartino
Bruiser Brody
Bob Backlund
Hulk Hogan
Nick Bockwinkel
Ivan Koloff
Masked Superstar
Jimmy Snuka
King Kong Bundy
Ted Dibiase
Randy Savage
Barry Windham
Freddie Blassie
The Crusher
Iron Sheik
Killer Kowalski
The Sheik
Don Muraco
Antonio Inoki
Steve Williams
Brutus Beefcake
Jim Duggan
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Greg Valentine
Rick Rude
S.D. Jones
Cowboy Bob Orton
Missing Link
Curt Hennig
Larry Zbyszko
Koko B. Ware
Bad News Brown
Ray Stevens
Nikolai Volkoff
Kamala
"Chief" Jay Strongbow
Al Costello
Roy Heffernan
Afa
Sika
Jim Brunzell
B. Brian Blair
Animal
Hawk
Jimmy Valiant
Johnny Valiant
Moondog Spot
Moondog Rex
Butcher Vachon
Mad Dog Vachon
Rick Martel
Tony Garea
Toru Tanaka
Jesse Ventura
Adrian Adonis

PART-TIME WRESTLERS
Andre The Giant

[Highway61Revisited]

THE WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION PRESENTS:
THE WWF WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE TOURNAMENT
Baltimore Civic Center
Baltimore, MD
January 6th

ROUND 1
Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Ted Dibiase
Randy Savage vs. Ivan Koloff
Jimmy Snuka vs. Masked Superstar
Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen
Bruiser Brody vs. The Rock
"Superstar" Billy Graham vs. Bret "Hitman" Hart
Bruno Sammartino vs. Shawn Michaels

[Highway61Revisited]

OOC: This fed will not be historically accurate, even when it can be. The story is based on reality, but several creative liberties will be taken in order to tell the story in the manner I want it to be told.

INTRODUCTION

When I first heard that Vince McMahon, Jr. was going to be the primary owner of the WWF, I had mixed feelings. We'd seen this kind of thing before. Offspring who'd been bred into the wrestling business, only to fail shortly after taking the reigns. Those early years of the WWF sure felt like a story that had been told countless times before. But it started to change. Noone believed in Vince's ambitions of taking his company national and when the huge bombshell that he had national television deal on the same day as Georgia Championship Wrestling, I knew we entering an atmosphere the wrestling world had never even dreamed of before.

When Vince McMahon, Sr. decided to stop promoting, he met with the NWA board for prospective buyers. The original deal--one that included Lou Thesz and Bruno Sammartino, two of Vince, Jr.'s staunchest rivals--fell through at the last moment and made it seem that the senior McMahon would promote for one last year. Little did he know that Vince, Jr. had already been planning his little coup. A group of buyers that included Robert Marella (Gorilla Monsoon) and two brothers from Ontario, Canada (The Tunneys) through in their offer with Vince pitching it to his father. His father bit, wanting to spend his twilight years away from the hectic business.

At the time, it was World Wide Wrestling Federation. Vince halted shows that December after a memorial show to his father. He announced that the first show back would be held at the Baltimore Civic Center and they would crown the first ever WWF champion. He had several hold-overs from his father those first few years and it was like reading novel--or, watching a daily soap opera to cover those days.

This book explores--through my newsletters--what happened during those years. Vince McMahon was a visionary and he was driven by money. But he was also driven by his fans and putting out the "greatest wrestling federation" the world had ever seen, as he would write to Marella during his final days in 1997. There's an amount of hubris in McMahon that makes him a detestable human being.

But it's that same hubris that brought us the World Wrestling Federation.

Dave Meltzer
Editor, Wrestling Observer

Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true…I was made for you

I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby I broke them all for you
Oh, because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
Yeah you do and I was made for you

You see the smile that’s on my mouth
Is hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess
No, they don’t know who I really am
And they don’t know what I’ve been through and you do
And I was made for you…

The Story, by: Brandi Carlile

[Highway61Revisited]

WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament
Baltimore Civic Center
Baltimore, MD
Card #1

ROUND 1
ROUND 1
Hulk Hogan defeated King Kong Bundy
Nick Bockwinkel defeated Ted Dibiase
Randy Savage defeated Ivan Koloff via DQ when Koloff hit Savage with a chain
Jimmy Snuka defeated The Masked Superstar
Bob Backlund defeated Stan Hansen
The Rock defeated Bruiser Brody
Bret Hart defeated “Superstar” Billy Graham
Shawn Michaels defeated Bruno Sammartino

ROUND 2
Hulk Hogan defeated Bob Backlund
The Rock defeated Nick Bockwinkel
Randy Savage defeated Bret Hart via DQ when Hart refused to let go of the figure-four around the ringpost
Jimmy Snuka defeated Shawn Michaels

SEMI-FINALS
Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage
The Rock defeated Jimmy Snuka

FINALS
The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan to become the first WWF World Heavyweight champion!

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWS AND NOTES
Billy Graham was initially booked to win the tournament, but wouldn't break off his prior obligations to Florida in order to work exclusively with Vince McMahon. This is the biggest problem facing Vince because there are several wrestlers who won't sign exclusive contracts because of money being in other territories or in Japan. Vince sent a stern message to Graham, jobbing him out in the first round to Bret Hart, that if he doesn't change his mind, Vince will have little-to-no use for him.

A very interesting first round, specifically with Bruno Sammartino. Bruno has been a vocal critic of the new "administration" since the word of the USA show has been leaked. He believes that wrestling should remain a territorial product in order to avoid all federations becoming "assimilated" to one particular style. Bruno knows he can't leave because his name is only big in the Northeast. Vince can't chance losing him because he could hook up with a group of NWA promoters and attempt to take the Northeast from Vince.

Vince wants to use him in an upper-midcard spot but wants him nowhere near the WWF Title. Bruno, after years of being Vince, Sr.'s top guy is obviously upset with this plan and just keeps to himself backstage. Putting Michaels, a young cocky kid of the variety that Bruno detests, over Sammartino was a powerplay by McMahon to tell Bruno who the boss is. This isn't over and could get very ugly by the time it is.

Having The Rock and Hulk Hogan go over Nick Bockwinkel and Bob Backlund was another powerplay by Vince. The final four men in the tournament (Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and Jimmy Snuka) are all expected to play a major role in the WWF and Vince is setting the tempo early.

The WWF is working on a plan with USA to have a televised special from Madison Square Garden on Feburary 18 and a closed-circuit television special from the same venue the first week in April. With the unstability of the federation, these two events could make or break Vince, Jr. in his first year of promoting. Sources tell me Rock/Snuka is expected to headline the 2/18 show, but all information regarding the closed-circuit show is being kept to the highest of WWF officials. I do know original plans included a Graham/Hogan feud into the summer, but that's most likely canceled as of now.

Bockwinkel's second round loss isn't a sign of things to come. Nick still sits in on booking meetings as he did under the first McMahon administration and--as of right now--is going to headline some shows during the August west coast tour. His role within the fed will be decided as the year goes on.

CREDIT: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

[Highway61Revisited]

Wrestling Oberver News & Notes

A few notes on the debut of Championship Wrestling: it's going to be an introductory show for those who don't have the WWF on syndication in their area. This will turn All-Star Wrestling into a b-program showcasing mid-card talent and featuring developments in upper-midcard feuds. Championship Wrestling will air from 8-10 on Monday nights with a replay at one in the morning. The show will still be taped in Hamburg, PA since Vince has a nice deal worked out with them, but no-one knows for how long. Vince wants to turn the show into a studio event with matches from different venues being aired as to avoid newsletters like this leaking out the taping results. Not a bad idea, really.

There's still grumblings with Bruno, but Vince has put vice-president Robert Marella (Gorilla Monsoon) on Bruno-watch considering the good rapport the two have. Bruno has also been promised a program with Shawn Michaels stemming from the tournament loss, which should keep Bruno occupied at current time. As I've stated earlier, Bruno is not an asset anywhere except the Northeast, but he's so valuable there that Vince really has no other option but to keep him. If Bruno left the WWF and opened an opposing territory there Vince would be losing serious money in his homebase. So until the WWF can go "national" and afford a cut in the Northeast, Bruno has to kept. But that idea is so far away, that Vince is handcuffed right now.

Everyone backstage loves The Rock and are really glad that he's the man who's leading them into the "nationalization" period. He's a handsome, bright, articulate young man and connects well with the "MTV Generation", which Vince is working hard to seal up.

There are some who feel that The Rock is an inside joke on Ric Flair, who refused last summer to sign with Vince. The Rock is younger and has more marketability value than Flair, specifically with the generation that Vince is aiming for. Though Vince, who the least you can say about him is that he does acutely understand the psyche of pro-wrestlers, is going to use The Rock as a bargaining chip with Flair if the discussions ever do pop-up again.

Gorilla Monsoon met with upper-officials from Mid-South Wrestling and Memphis Wrestling officials last week in order to up those markets to the WWF. New York wants to send the WWF World champion to the two markets spoardically to raise attention for their company. Mid-South has a television block on TBS prior to Georgia Championship Wrestling, whom Vince considers his real competition. Bill Watts, President of Mid-South Wrestling, wanted talent exchanges, which Vince doesn't know if he's quite ready to do. Considering the pay in Mid-South can at-times triple what one's going to make in the early stages of the WWF. Especially mid-carders and lower mid-carders. Though Vince would risk losing a few men to open up the Southern market to his product. His ultimate dream is to host a supercard from the Omni within the next two-to-three years.

The negotiations on the 2/18 MSG show being televised on USA have hit a halt. USA wants to look at the ratings of the first few weeks of Championship Wrestling and see if it's worth it. The officials are also pushing for Bruno Sammartino to be involved in the head-line match, which Vince is clearly against. But the closed-circuit deal hinges on the success of the 2/18 show, wherever it ends up being televised (or if it does), so Vince may be pushed to put Bruno up against The Rock.

Billy Graham is still holding out due to his program with Dusty Rhodes making TONS of money in Tampa. Word is going around the offices of the WWF that Vince is ready to cut loose all connections with Graham, but most top officials fear that he would go to Georgia and make a mockery of the federation he came from up-north. It's probably not the best business decision, but if Graham isn't playing ball with Vince then Vince may not have any other options.

[JamieOD]

Interesting and unique presentation for the fed you're running.

[Highway61Revisited]

WWF Intercontinental Title Tournament
Portland Civic Center
Portland, ME
1/8
CARD #2

Round 1
Larry Zbyszko defeated The Crusher
Bad News Brown defeated “Cowboy” Bob Orton
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan defeated Ray Stevens
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper defeated Curt Hennig
Barry Windham defeated Greg Valentine
Antonio Inoki defeated Rick Rude
Steve Williams defeated Killer Kowalski via DQ
The Iron Sheik defeated Don Muraco

Round 2
Barry Windham defeated Larry Zbyszko
Antonio Inoki defeated Bad News Brown
Steve Williams defeated “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
The Iron Sheik defeated “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Semi-Finals
Barry Windham defeated Steve Williams
The Iron Sheik defeated Antonio Inoki

Finals
Barry Windham defeated The Iron Sheik to become the first WWF Intercontinental champion!

Wrestling Observer News and Notes
Well, this one surprised pretty much everybody. I thought for sure that Inoki, Williams, Sheik, or Piper were going to walk away as the Intercontinental champion, but instead Vince opts for Barry Windham? Barry is Florida star Black Jack Mulligan's son and perhaps Vince is sending some kind of odd signal to Florida about how he's going to use their wrestlers, I'm not sure. There's a lot of bad blood between the two companies, especially during this Billy Graham mess, so for Vince to give his Intercontinental Title to someone so closely associated with Florida leaves us all scratching our heads.

You see The Iron Sheik made it to the finals of this tournament, that's the indicator that he and Nikolai Volkoff are no longer a tag team. Vince feels like he can utilize Sheik in areas where Volkoff is limited. Though he probably won't be seeing any top near of the top of the card, he will play a nice role in the Intercontinental Title division. Some reports also say that he will be managed by The Grand Wizard who, with Bobby Heenan now being under contract, is expected to see less and less of the upper-card and more and more of wrestlers like the Iron Sheik.

Nikita Koloff and Krusher Kruschev have both signed exclusive WWF contracts. This makes the likelihood of Nikolai Volkoff staying with the federation about zero. If he does, it will be in a reduced role or sometime down the line under a mask.

Antonio Inoki has agreed to work almost a full-schedule with the WWF, though at times it will be limited due to his NJPW work. Inoki has worked with the WWF when it was the WWWF, garnering the most fame during his feud with Bob Backlund. It's unknown if Inoki expects more than a shot at the Intercontinental Title, or if he thinks his time will be worth some WWF Title shots. If he thinks that, upper-management disagrees with him.

Another one of "Vince, Sr.'s" guys takes a fall in the first round due to DQ. We're assuming if they take falls in the first round this way it's Vince saying, "I have to prove a point, but I'm still going to use you to your fullest potential". Killer Kowalski, the mind under the microscope, is mulling retirement anyway and probably doesn't want to be part of this nationalizing plan.

Gorilla Monsoon and Bill Watts met again, this time discussing the final plans for a WWF/Mid-South agreement. The only detail that's come out is the two want to have an inter-promotional "war" start sometime in late-March and then the official thing start with Bill Watts making an appearence at the closed-circuit event in early April. It would give Vince the exposure that he wants, but he wouldn't have 100% creative control. Which, for those who know Vince, will be a very hard thing for him to do.

The WWF Tag Team Title Tournament is the final thing prior to the debut of WWF Championship Wrestling on Monday night. We will have coverage of Championship Wrestling, including a full review and viewer feedback. You can read the taping results by checking out the spoiler portion of this newsletter but the main event for Monday's show will be The Rock vs. King Kong Bundy in a non-title match.

[Highway61Revisited]

WWF World Tag Team Title Tournament
Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Pittsburgh, PA
1/10
Card #3

Round 1
The Moondogs defeated Rick Martel and Tony Garea
The Fabulous Kangaroos defeated The Wild Samoans via DQ when Afa charged the ring during a pin-fall and would not leave after the count of five
The Valiant Brothers defeated The Killer Bees
The Road Warriors defeated The Vachon Brothers

Semi-Finals
The Valiant Brothers defeated The Moondogs via DQ
The Road Warriors defeated The Fabulous Kangaroos

Finals
The Road Warriors defeated The Valiant Brothers to become the first ever WWF World Tag Team champions!

Wrestling Observer News and Notes
Nothing all that surprising here, everyone in the entire world knew Vince was going to put the belts on the Road Warriors. The only thing of note, really, was The Moondogs making it as far as they did. My sources tell me that the DQ finish to their match and the Wild Samoans match is going to lead to a Memphis-esque wild brawl feud. I don't know how reliable that is though .

Here's what everyone wants to see: the line-up for Championship Wrestling's debut show.

WWF Championship Wrestling (Debut Show)
Hamburg, PA
1/14

HOUR 1:
Shawn Michaels vs. The Brooklyn Brawler
“Classy” Freddie Blassie vs. Koko B. Ware
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. “The Duke of Dorchester” Pete Doherty
Tony Garea and Rick Martel vs. The East Coast Connection
WWF Intercontinental champion Barry Windham vs. The Missing Link w/ Bobby Heenan (non-title)
HOUR 2:
“Macho Man” Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth vs. Ted Dibiase
Bruno Sammartino vs. Kamala
Hulk Hogan vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton
WWF World Tag Team champions The Road Warriors vs. Mr. Fuji and Toru Tanaka (non-title)
“Superstar” Billy Graham vs. S.D. Jones
WWF World Heavyweight champion The Rock vs. King Kong Bundy (non-title)

It's completely jam-packed with action, but as the taping results show, it won't be like this from week-to-week. You'll notice that Jimmy Snuka is conspiciously missing. His push isn't being thrown to the wind, from what I hear the show will be packed with clips of him making it to the semi-finals, he was working in New Japan with Antonio Inoki the weekend these were taped.

Some analysis:

- Shawn Michaels leads off the show. He's fresh, young, and exciting the kind of guy who can "connect" with the MTV Generation. I'm not sure if the feud with Bruno is still on or if they're going to make him work his way through the IC Title ranks. If that's the case, the closed-circuit show could have a MOTYC with Windham/Michaels.

- You'll notice Fred Blassie and Roddy Piper in the first hour. Blassie is a hold-over but Vince likes his charisma and thinks he can fare well in the new WWF. Piper is ultra-charismatic and could main event or fare well in the upper-midcard. I'm not sure what there plans are for him, but Vince apparently likes him alot.

The rest of the first hour is your usual stuff, introducing Barry Windham, etc.

- Hour 2 kicks off with what I hear was a fantastic match between Randy Savage and Ted Dibiase. Vince doesn't take Dibiase seriously enough as he is and may end up shipping him to Mid-South with that deal goes through. He likes Dibiase on the mic and in the ring, but Dibiase's character fits Mid-South more than it does the WWF. If they can't get a good character on him, he may be gone. He does get a chance here to shine against Randy Savage, the man many consider to be the true future of the WWF.

- Bruno sandwich match in hour two. It's interesting when you look down a few notches and see Billy Graham there as well. Depending on how things flow, Bruno could be seeing more time in the main event than anyone expected (or Vince intended), he wants sell outs at MSG and no-one does that better than Bruno. A Bruno/Rock program is looking like more and more of a possibility.

- People love Hulk Hogan. Everyone expected Hogan to get the strap after Billy Graham refused to break ties with Florida. I'm sure the eventual plan this year is to get the title on Hogan. But that's almost a utopian dream. With the situation with Bruno escalating Vince is going to have to start making small power moves in order to get his company through year one. If that means Rock/Bruno as opposed to Rock/Hogan, then so be it. It's going to be the west coast tour (which early rumors indicate Vince opening up to the pay-per-view market during August) that we'll see how it plays out. Hogan or Bockwinkel would be the intelligent choice for an LA crowd, but if Bruno is still throwing fits Vince will be faced with an interesting case.

[Highway61Revisited]

WWF Championship Wrestling
Hamburg, PA
1/14
Network: USA

* Show starts with a sleek new video package which was Hogan, Rock, Savage, Michaels, and Bruno centric. After seeing this great video package and then the cut to Hamburg, PA it gives you a feeling that Vince doesn't want associated with his WWF: it's still bush-league professional wrestling.

* Vince runs down the card and welcomes the new USA audience to the fold. He plays clips from the three torunaments in the past week and informs that all three champions will be in action tonight.

* Shawn Michaels defeats The Brooklyn Brawler to lead-off the show. Good stuff from Michaels during the match and in his pre-match antics. Joins Vince by ringside after the match and says he has one thing on his mind, Barry Windham's Intercontinental Title. I guess that feud with Bruno is scratched after-all.

*Commercial Break.

Advertisement for All-Star Wrestling, this weekend's feature match is Bret "The Hitman" Hart" vs. The Iron Sheik.*

* We come back from commercial with the Hamburg crowd booing "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Blassie cuts his usual promo about them all being pencil-neck geeks. He then produces a mirror and begins ranting into that "Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the biggest pencil neck geek of them all? Hacksaw Jim Duggan?! Hahahaha, you heard it here, McMahon!"

"Classy" Freddie Blassie defeated Koko B. Ware.
During the entire match McMahon was ranting about how unfair it was to bash Jim Duggan like that when Blassie knows Duggan is in Japan and can't defend himself. Though we're sure we'll hear a response from Duggan when he gets back.

Great. Duggan/Blassie. That's the way to win a national audience, Vinny.

*Commercial Break.

Also on All-Star Wrestling, Chief Jay Strongbow!*

* "Rowdy" Roddy Piper defeated "The Duke of Dorchester" Pete Doherty.
Nothing special at all here. Piper was funny, but it was just a typical squash match. Afterwards, he cut a seemingly cocaine-feuled promo about being a celebrity on television and how all celebrities have celebrity friends and next week he's going to bring his celebrity friends on Championship Wrestling. He started calling Hulk Hogan, "Thunderlips" and told him to bring Stallone so that next week on Championship Wrestling there could be a tag team match between Hogan/Stallone and Piper/Mystery Celebrity.

Good way to generate buzz for the show. McMahon has to deliver with the celebrity because Stallone obviously won't be there. It's interesting to put Piper and Hogan in a program together and as charasmatic as Piper is, Hogan is a perfect fit for him. It also gives Hogan a "name" program if they choose not to put him in the title picture for the first few months.

*Commerical Break*

* The East/West Connection (Jesse Ventura and Adrian Adonis) defeated Tony Garea and Rick Martel
Good match, Ventura and Adonis were put over as a huge threat to the Road Warriors tag team titles. Adonis put Garea to sleep with Goodnight Irene.

* WWF Intercontinental champion Barry Windham had a highlight package shown and then came out to the ringside area and told Vince McMahon how proud he was to represent the WWF as Intercontinental champion. He plans on being a fighting champion and giving honor and respect to the belt. When asked about Shawn Michaels plans on taking the belt, Windham said he would cross that bridge when it came.

*Commercial Break*

* WWF Intercontinental champion Barry Windham defeated The Missing Link in a non-title match.
Bobby Heenan joined Vince on color commentary and said that huge surprises would be coming to the WWF in the weeks to come. When asked how he would combat managers like Lou Albano and The Grand Wizard, Heenan told McMahon to shut up and do what he's paid to do. Bobby dropping the inside funny there.

* Preview of hour two which leads off with Randy Savage and Ted Dibiase!

*Commercial Break.*

* "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth defeated Ted Dibiase
Match of the night by far. Dibiase can really go, but Vince hates how vanilla his character is. Vince loves Savage and so we see him go over here. Post-match, Savage made fun of Piper and his celebrity friend. Savage and Hogan pairing up? Interesting.

* Bruno Sammartino defeated Kamala
Nothing of note here. After the match, Bruno said he was tired of young punks taking advantage of what he had built. He built the Garden and on 2/18 he is going to take the belt right off of The Rock. There you go, folks. We just got the set-up for Bruno's title match. Vince did look uncomfortable throughout the interview so the backstage feud between himself and Sammartino is a long way from over.

*Commercial Break*

* Hulk Hogan defeated "Cowboy" Bob Orton
Hogan laughed off Piper post-match and said he would be in the Land of the Rising Sun next week, so Piper will have to debut his little celebrity with no Hulk Hogan around. Curious to see how they play that. They have given a lot of coverage to this feud on Championship Wrestling. We'll see if that continues next week or if the celebrity is just a ploy for ratings.

* WWF Tag Team champions The Road Warriors defeated Mr. Fuji and Professor Toru Tanaka in a non-title match.
Quick, easy, and painless. The Road Warriors are over like crazy with the WWF base and Vince hinted at the possibility of them having a "long, dominant run in a very competitive tag team division".

*COMMERCIAL*

* "Superstar" Billy Graham defeated S.D. Jones
Quick match. Post-match interview had Graham putting himself over.

No feud for Graham? We all know the situtation there and with almost every other match getting something booked for the next few months it makes you wonder just how long Graham is going to be around if he doesn't commit to Vince.

*COMMERCIAL*

* WWF World Heavyweight champion The Rock came to ringside accompanied by Captain Lou Albano and The Wild Samoans. The Rock said he needs protecton as WWF champion and these are the men who will give it to him. He absolutely massacred Bruno Sammartino and said some hilarious things about King Kong Bundy. Apparently, he's going to be on David Letterman's show and MTV this week. The country will love The Rock.

* WWF World Heavyweight champion The Rock defeated King Kong Bundy in a non-title match.
The Rock looks good in the ring and he posed with his belt after defeating Bundy. Lou Albano was yelling, "Greatest Heavyweight Champion in the World!"

* Vince thanked us for joining him on Championship Wrestling and not to forget All Star Wrestling, which you need to check your local listings for.

OVERALL: Good introductory show. Everyone got set-up in a program except Billy Graham, but we'll see how that plays out in the long-term.

Hype for the 2/18 show with the mentioning by Bruno that he would be getting a World Title shot. That should make USA happy and get Vince the special he wants.

Vince did really well this week, with keen booking like this every week perhaps the nationalization plan will work in the long-run.

[Highway61Revisited]

EDIT: Post will be made later.