“History is that which has happened and that which goes on happening in time. But also it is the stratified record upon which we set our feet, the ground beneath us; and the deeper the roots of our being go down into the layers that lie below and beyond the…confines of our ego, yet at the same time feed and condition it…the heavier is our life with thought and the weightier is the soul of our flesh.†– Thomas Mann
The Opening Chapter
In the world of professional sports, trades are part of life. Athletes in football, baseball and basketball are traded from team to team at a regular occurrence. Athletes come in to their respective league expecting it and often times anticipating it. The same thing can happen in business. An employee can be fired or may leave under his or her own accord to find their fortunes elsewhere.
Pro wrestling, a phenomenon unlike any other, essentially works in the much same way. The old territory system was essentially just a group of traveling salesmen moving from region to region trying to make their mark. In the modern era of contracted talent, the same principle holds true. A wrestler can be released from his or her contract, fired or leave when they want to move on. And just like in athletics, wrestlers may be promoted to the main roster or sent down to the “minors†to work on their skills or find their niche. It’s been happening since the early ‘90s when the WWF used to regularly send their talent to Smokey Mountain and USWA while WCW would trade to ECW or trade talent with athletes from Japan.
Now thanks to the advent of TNA, and to a much lesser extent Ring of Honor, professional wrestlers now once again have the ability to actually have some profitable choice in where they want to work in the United States, something that wasn’t available following WCW’s demise.
The point of all of this is the fact that a change of scenery can do wonders for a wrestler’s career and also greatly bolster his new surroundings. These “jumps†have all been noteworthy enough to cause at least a minor change in the wrestling business and set the stage for “dream matches†us fanboys always talk about.
The Opening Shot
Ric Flair to the WWF
By the early ‘90s the territories had pretty much all dried up and the WWF and WCW had established themselves as the two premier wrestling organizations in America and Canada. They all had their own distinct groups of talent and way they did business. Hulk Hogan epitomized the big muscled, bright colored, family friendly WWF while Ric Flair represented the scientific wrestling and more realistic based WCW. So when Flair walked out of WCW in the summer of 1991 to join the WWF it made an immediate impact. WCW’s southern fanbase that grew up with Flair instantly turned on the company’s direction. WCW tried to emulate WWF with goofy gimmicks like Oz, PN News, Big Josh and Bad Blood in the absence of Flair. Flair meanwhile brought a little edge and controversy to the WWF by showing the old NWA “big gold belt†on WWF television and was the catalyst for more realistic angles like the “I had her first†story with Randy Savage over Elizabeth. He also brought some wrestling credibility to the company that in turn allowed for the ascension of such scientific and technical wrestlers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.
WCW Starts the War
Hulk Hogan to WCW
The flipside was three years later when Hulk Hogan left his world of the WWF to join WCW. Rather than leaving the over-the-top gimmicks and plodding wrestling behind he actually brought it with him. Shortly after Hogan’s arrival other former WWF mainstays like “Earthquake†John Tenta, Hacksaw Duggan, Honky Tonk Man, Randy Savage and the “man of many names†Ed Leslie soon followed. It created a weird dichotomy of old WWF stars on top mixed in with WCW’s more technically skilled and un-gimmicked workers. Hogan’s arrival didn’t immediately signal a victory for WCW but it did show that WWF wasn’t the only game in town.
Lex Luger to WCW
If Hulk Hogan’s arrival to WCW was the declaration of war against the WWF, Luger’s sudden arrival on the inaugural edition of Monday Nitro was a victory in the war’s first battle. Literally just a day earlier Luger was working, without a contract, at a WWF house show and was telling the company he’d resign with them once the contract was ironed out. So when he showed up “unannounced†live on Nitro it was the declaration that WCW wasn’t here to just play around; they were going for the throat. Luger became an integral part on WCW’s side during the Monday Night Wars, but it was his return to the company after his failed stint in the WWF that set the wheels in motion for the constant talent jumping that would occur over the next few years.
Hall & Nash to WCW
To anyone who’s even a casual fan of wrestling I don’t need to go into any detail on what makes Scott Hall and Kevin Nash’s jumps from the WWF to WCW so monumental. Their departure from the WWF, while they were still at the top of their games, to WCW ushered the biggest wrestling angle of the ‘90s. If I were ranking these based on importance and significance rather than chronologically this would be the easy number one choice for most influential talent jump from one promotion to another.
Bret Hart to WCW
When Bret Hart was “screwed†by the WWF and Vince McMahon in 1997 it kicked off the second biggest angle of the ‘90s. Hart’s departure from the WWF to WCW was also one of the very few times that the company who lost the talent benefitted more than the company who acquired the wrestler. In other words, the WWF gained a lot from Bret’s departure than WCW did from Bret’s arrival. With Bret gone the company played off the backlash surrounding his dismissal and created a whole new attitude (pardon the pun). The anti-heroes like DeGeneration X and Stone Cold Steve Austin rose to prominence and terms like the now clichéd “shades of grey†came into prominence. As for WCW, they didn’t know how to properly market and use Bret to the best of his and the company’s abilities. By the time he had arrived, the nWo had been running roughshod over WCW for a year and a half and it was already starting to get stale, and Hart could have been the key to break up the monotony. Instead, Hart’s time in WCW was filled with one misfire after another, both personally and professionally.
The WWF Fires Back
Paul Wight to the WWF
After WCW had taken control of the wrestling world thanks to the cutting edge nWo and influx of talent from around the world the company became complacent. Meanwhile young talent became restless and started to look elsewhere. “The Giant†Paul Wight, one of the very few homegrown stars that WCW had created since Hogan’s arrival, was the first of many to move on from WCW to what they thought would be greener pastures in the WWF. The WWF had a decent track record in promoting big men and Wight was a natural fit for the company. Plus he was still quite young and had a lot of years left on him when they signed him. Even to this day he is still reaping the benefits of his move.
Chris Jericho to the WWF
The opposite of the massive Big Show was the small Chris Jericho, who had also seemingly hit a ceiling in WCW. His size and stature didn’t make him seem like a good fit for the giant-filled WWF, but thanks to his overflowing amount of charisma he became an instant hit. It didn’t hurt that his first appearance put him nearly on par with The Rock, WWF’s second biggest star at the time. Jericho’s arrival showed the smaller guys that the WWF would be willing to take a chance of them, even if it didn’t ultimately work for them in the long run.
The Dudley Boyz to the WWF
By this point the WWF had retaken the lead in the war against WCW, but the unfortunate casualty during all the battles was Extreme Championship Wrestling. As both the WWF and WCW armed their troops they looked to ECW to find more men and women to add to their rank and file. Meanwhile Paul Heyman’s “land of extreme†was slowly on its downward slope despite its presence on national cable television and bi-monthly pay per views. So when Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley gave their notice to ECW, it looked like another nail in the coffin. The Dudleyz (now with extra hip “z†added!) headed to the WWF with a target on their backs thanks the reputation left by fellow ECW alumni Public Enemy during their brief stay with the company. Fortunately for them, The Dudley Boyz weathered their initial backlash and became one of the hottest acts in the WWF during one of its most profitable and visible times in history. They were a cog in the machine that revolutionized tag team wrestling for a new era and brought the “table bump†to legendary status.
Tazz to the WWF
It seemed like just moments after it was out that The Dudleyz (ECW’s premier team) would be heading up north, it was announced that Tazz (also with a new hip “z†added) would also be moving up and out of ECW. Tazz was ECW’s top singles star at the time and his departure, combined with Bubba and D-Von’s, would leave a large hole to fill. His debut got all the pomp and circumstance of a big name superstar, and he was treated like a big star for all of a month before someone (or some people) more important come along…
The Radicals to the WWF
When Jericho and Wight left WCW for the WWF, analysts were saying that cracks in the WCW ship were beginning to show. When four of its most talented mid-card wrestlers in Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn all walked out of WCW in unison protesting the company’s new change in direction and walked into the welcoming arms of the McMahon family the analysts were saying that the ship could sink at any time. It was evident that Benoit was the one that WWF coveted most from the beginning and it seemed as if the rest were just a package deal that came along for the ride, but all four men ending up finding varying degrees of success along the way, especially Guerrero, who became a “legend before his time†thanks to his untimely demise. Benoit has also since gained notoriety for a whole ‘nother reason, but that’s a different column. These four men’s arrival, in addition to men like Jericho, Tazz, Kurt Angle and a burgeoning tag team scene heading by the “TLC Three†changed the WWF’s direction short matches and “attitude†to arguably the most solid mid-card ever established.
Mike Awesome to WCW
With the WWF riding high and WCW looking for ways to regain their footing they looked to the old stand-by of ECW. What they found was the company’s new flagship player in the absence of Tazz – a 6’6, 300 lbs. monster named Mike Awesome. Going into their bag of tricks they signed Awesome up immediately to a high-dollar, long-term contract while he was still ECW Champion. It was meant to the shot in the arm that WCW needed, but they ended up looking foolish when the lawyers came after them to get the ECW belt back. The situation caused one of the most unique situations in wrestling history, when the WWF-contracted Tazz beat the WCW-contracted Mike Awesome at an ECW-sanctioned event for the ECW World Championship. Awesome never really recovered as he bounced through bad gimmicks during his run in WCW and ended up being buried during his eventual time in WWE.
Cross the Line
Sting to TNA
I’ve said it before but I think it’s worth saying again; Sting is greatest wrestler never to work for Vince McMahon. The fact that he held out on working for the WWF made him seem really unique, and kind of stand out as the last remaining bastion of the old World Championship Wrestling. So when he worked for TNA initially it was as a favor for Jerry Jarrett, who gave him his first break in wrestling. But when he signed with the fledgling company exclusively in 2006 it gave them a sense of credibility. Big stars had come in and out of TNA before but signing with TNA exclusively made them seem like a legit company, despite the fact that Sting really hasn’t had much of an impact overall on ratings or buy rates.
Samoa Joe to TNA
This really shouldn’t seem like a big deal but Samoa Joe working with TNA showed that there was a place for the uber-talented indy darlings of the country to ply their trade on a national level. Joe was brought in with prestige and respect and was allowed to be the same wrestler he was on the indy circuit. This was reminiscent of WCW back in ’95 when they allowed the top indy talent of the time, men like Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero and Jericho, to shine under their own accord. Joe’s arrival in TNA allowed for other top “unkown†talent like Austin Aries and Roderick Strong to be showcased on a national stage. While other big indy stars of the time like Styles, Daniels and Low Ki were or had already been in TNA, I really believe that Joe’s arrival and initial push showed that Ring of Honor was a viable place for both WWE and TNA to look for new wrestlers. While the old WWF-WCW-ECW war was dead and buried, this showed that a new WWE-TNA-ROH war could be on the horizon in the future.
Team 3-D to TNA
These are only guys to make this list twice, but I think both their organization moves were quite noteworthy. When they came to the WWF they brought tables and hardcore wrestling to mainstream. By the time they left WWE they were huge stars and established money makers. When they moved to TNA it gave the company a boost to their already impressive tag team roster. They seemed destined to win the NWA World Tag Championships so they could be the only team to win WWF, WCW, ECW and NWA gold. Their slight name change hasn’t hampered any of their momentum, as their past in the “bingo hall†is brought up constantly.
Christian to TNA
While other “WWE cast offs†had come into TNA after being released from their contracts or fired, Christian Cage was the first guy to really turn down an impending WWE offer to go out on his own. It seems as if he felt like he had hit a ceiling in WWE’s upper midcard and didn’t really have anywhere else to go. When he arrived in TNA it made people stand up and notice that TNA is now a viable second option for wrestlers to go. Christian was treated to a hero’s welcome and instantly became one of their biggest stars. While it did make TNA look a little “small time†by having one of WWE’s mid-carders be treated as a main eventer upon arrival, Christian was and is still young enough to be one of those guys that TNA could build a brand around without it looking like they are relying on “has-beens.†Christian’s jump to TNA showed other who followed him (I’m looking at you Booker T) that there was life outside of Stamford.
Kurt Angle to TNA
Easily the biggest move to TNA so far has been Kurt Angle’s arrival in late 2006. No one had ever gone to the top of the wrestling world faster than Angle, and he seemed like he was destined to be a WWE guy for the long haul. He was the true utility player of WWE, filling in whatever spot they needed at the time, whether it was in the mid-card, tag ranks or as a main event guy. His shocking departure from WWE and subsequent debut in TNA was legit big-time news. He was easily the biggest star (besides an aging Sting and Kevin Nash) to make the move to the start-up company. Angle brought more instant credibility than anyone else before him or after him that has come into the company. TNA has wisely built the brand around Angle as he can still go when he needs to, despite his constant injuries. While it has become a running gag about WWE castoffs making a quick buck off of TNA while making the company look second rate, the solid core of Angle, Christian, Booker and Team 3-D provide a lot of valuable experience and maturity to a roster of young and hungry stars looking to make their mark.
The Perspective
It’s funny how a top talent’s move from one organization to another can change the face of both places. During the height of the Monday Night War, talent swapped places seemingly every week. New stars were shuffled in and out constantly to make up for the losses and gains. Since the War ended and TNA and Ring of Honor have slowly begun their rise to prominence the landscape of United States pro wrestling has changed. Now when a talent leaves WWE, the monster conglomerate barely misses a beat and just moves on with the “next big thing.†When TNA gains one of “big brother’s†stars it allows them to pound their chest and say they are a big deal while continuing their growth as a company. Meanwhile when Ring of Honor loses another one of their top guys to either TNA or WWE they just create someone new to step into their place, something I’m sure Gabe Sapolsky learned how to do from his time in ECW.
Competition is healthy in the wrestling business. Talent moving around keeps everything fresh and makes for new exciting match-ups. I know I can’t wait for TNA to finally put on that first-time-ever Booker T-Christian Cage match I’ve been waiting for…oh wait…
For this week the vault is closed…
Linked to the Pulse
DAVID!
This Day in History
I figured if we are talking history around here we should pay homage to what has happened on this very day in the years gone by. It will either make you long for the old days or be happy for what we have now.
1941 – Sandor Szabo defeated Bronko Nagurski for the NWA Heavyweight Wrestling title
1983 – Larry Zbyszko defeated Mr. Wrestling II in a tournament final for the Georgia National Heavyweight title
2000 – Eric Bischoff defeated Terry Funk for the WCW Hardcore title
2001 – Jeff Hardy defeated Jerry Lynn for the WWF Light Heavyweight title
1960 – Mr. Excellent was born
1965 – Mick Foley was born
1971 – Glen Osbourne was born
1972 – Super Nova was born
The Assignment
It’s important to know your history to know where you have come from and where you are going. Back when Nova was in charge of the WWE developmental system he implemented mandatory history assignments for the students of the developmental territories so they would know pro wrestling’s history and they would learn just how many moves Nova created and apparently the best ways to get on-line prescriptions. I feel Nova had a great idea there and every week I will assign a book or DVD for you to check out and learn from. They are not only educational, but very entertaining.
I’m currently in the middle of reading Slaphappy: Pride, Prejudice and Professional Wrestling by Thomas Hackett, where he examines pro wrestling from a critical and communication-based standpoint. So far it’s been entertaining and interesting to read from the point of view of someone who is clearly not a fan of the business, but I’ll be back in two weeks with a full review (hopefully).
