DAN RASPATELLO's TOP FIVE

By Dan Raspatello, draspatello@rivalfish.com

"Here at the RivalRoom, we have been brainstorming for some new ideas. I decided to come up with a weekley Top 5. Every Friday I will pick a random topic that has something to do with sports (and sometimes it might not), and rank in my opinion, The Top 5. So for those of us in the working world, casual Friday just got a little more casual, because this article is not going to be founded in facts or comprised of a pool of experts. Oh you didn’t KNOWWWW!!!!" -Dan Raspatello

I spent most of my free time yesterday reminiscing about the WWF rivalries that I grew up on. Ross Frank did a great job recalling some of the WWF rivalries that gave us flashbacks to the days of wrestling buddies, and PPV events. I did, however, feel as if Ross left out some great rivalries from the annals of WWF history; especially from the area that saved the WWF from slipping behind the crappy WCW in popularity. This is that period in the late ‘90’s that Ross decided not to include on his list. I remember going through all of my pre-Teen years not watching a second of Wrestling. This was for two reasons:

1. I was shocked and permanently saddened at the age of 9 to find out that wrestling was fake

and

2. My previous heroes (i.e. Hulk, Macho Man, Warrior, Nash, and Scott Hall) were getting old or moving to the WCW.

Then, all of the sudden, in 8th grade WWF swept popular teenage culture all over again (’97-’98). For the next few years, the WWF was more popular to young teenage boys than dial-up internet porn. Due to Steve Austin, DX, and The Rock wrestling became popular for young men ages 13-25 once again around the turn of the Millennium. Without further ado, here are my Top 5 WWF Rivalries that Mr. Ross Frank Hack DiGreasydago IV left off of his list.


5. THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS v. Whoever Wanted to Challenge THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!! The New Aged Outlaws made tag team wrestling as popular as singles wrestling for the first time since Macho Man and Hulk parted ways. In the late ‘90’s they sold the third most merchandise, just behind The Rock and Triple H. They were made up of the “Bad Ass� Billy Gun and the “Road Dogg� Jesse James, and were two vital members of the second (and more popular) installment of Degeneration X. They were probably best known not for their wrestling, but for their lengthy entrance routine, which began with Jesse James uttering the words "Oh, you didn't know? Yo' ass better call somebody!" and culminated in Billy Gunn delivering the D-X catchphrase, "...And if you ain't down with that, we got two words for ya – SUCK IT!!� This was important because they started a popular trend in pro wresting. They showed that you could become increasingly successful and popular if you were great on the mic, but only sub-par in the ring.


4. HULK HOGAN v. THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR: I know I am supposed to be focusing on the late‘90’s, but this is one of the greatest rivalries ever. At Wrestlemania VI (1990) the Intercontinental Champion, The Ultimate Warrior, took on the WWF Champion, Hulk Hogan. This match is considered the greatest match of all times by many wrestling fans. Yet, somehow, DiMarco leaves it off his list of greatest late-‘80’s ,early-‘90’s rivalries. Essentially Hulk was getting old and the WWF wanted a new superstar to carry the franchise like Hulk had done in the ‘80’s. This was billed as the “Passing of the Torch� match. This match also marked the end of the “skullet� look being popular. With Hogan no longer being the most dominant figure in his domain, who was going to represent bald men who still wanted to have long hair? Now that look belongs to middle-aged hippies only. After this, the WWF went on a slow decline in popularity until Stone Cold and DX ushered in the Attitude era in 1998.


3. DX v. NATION of DOMINATION: Nation of Domination was a militant black group (tastefully modeled after the Nation of Islam) originated by Faarooq, and eventually led by The Rock. Essentially DX was the face (WWF talk for “good guy�) group and Nation of Domination was the heel (WWF talk for “bad guy�). Vince
McMahon (founder of WWF) knows his fan base, and knows how to capitalize on them. When your core fan base (not the middle-upper class teens that come-and-go) is White Trash, you need to market to White Trash. So Vince McMahon took a group of long-greasy-haired-rebellious-White Trashish guys, and had them make fun of militant black guys, who wanted to make the WWF "bigger and blacker." The bad guys were the group that wanted to diversify the WWF, and the good guys were the ones who poked fun at them. Only in a sport/entertainment were guys with two first names (i.e. Billy Bob) are more prominent then guys with the traditional one first name, would marketing this blatant racism make your enterprise more successful.

2. THE ROCK v. TRIPLE H: This rivalry stemmed from the rivalry above. As Stone Cold was the Main Dog in the late ‘90’s for the WWF, these two guys had to pick up the weight and make sure people didn’t turn the channel when Stone Cold wasn’t on. This rivalry lasted long enough for Triple H to start off as the face in the rivalry, and end as arguably the most hated heel ever. This rivalry turned The Rock from a moderate WWF heel into the biggest face since Hulk Hogan, now even too big for the WWF. During the prime of this feud, though, Triple H was the good guy and The Rock was the bad guy. After the Nation v. DX feud this rivalry ultimately led to a grudge over The Rock's Intercontinental Championship. Triple H defeated The Rock in a ladder match at SummerSlam ’98 to capture the belt. In 1999, the rivalry turned into gang war between DX and Vince McMahon’s The Corporation led by The Rock. By this time they had made each other big enough stars to be fighting for the WWF Championship belt.

1. “THE HEARTBREAK KID� SHAWN MICHAELS v. MIKE TYSON/ “STONE COLD� STEVE AUSTIN: Wrestlemania XIV (March ‘98) was the official affirmation of WWF retaking wrestling dominance over WCW, and its return to a position of Pop Culture influence. The event was deemed "dX raided" and was also considered the beginning of The Attitude era. This was back when DX was bad guys, and Stone Cold had just reached godlike popularity. At this Wrestlemania, HBK ducked out of the wrestling scene, Stone Cold became a Pop Culture Icon, Triple H became a star in the WWF, DX began life as a face with The Game at the helm. Prior to this event, Mike Tyson had begun to appear on WWF television as a member of DX, and an enemy of Stone Cold. Mike Tyson was the special guest referee for the Championship Match between his boy, HBK, and his enemy, Stone Cold.

This was a great marketing ploy by the WWF. What better way to show that DX is a bunch of badasses than by having them roll with a convicted rapist. Is it just me, or whenever the odds are 100% against a WWF face superstar, there is a 100% chance that he will somehow win the match? Well, of course, Stone Cold wins the match because Tyson turns on HBK and DX does not come to the ring to help out their fallen leader. The next night on Raw, Triple H declared himself the new leader of DX and the new group was comprised of The New Age Outlaws, The Guy Who F*cked Chyna in Real Life (X-Pac), and Chyna. After this epic match, Stone Cold made drinking beer and Stunning people cooler in the eyes of teenage boys than cigarettes and the game “Doorknob.� It feels like only yesterday I would ask my unsuspecting friend what was wrong with the hem of my t-shirt on my shoulder. As they came in for a closer look, BAM!! Stone Cold Stunner.