Historically Speaking: The Original Rocker

Columns

“[History] is a closeout sale of new and old public myths.” – Anton Kaes

The Opening Chapter
This past month or so I have been completely immersed in wrestling history, which is a good thing since that is what this column is all about. Between my new subscription to WWE 24/7, my enjoyable leisurely reading of Bret Hart’s autobiography My Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling and the recent work I’ve done creating entries for the final installment of Pulse Wrestling’s Top Wrestlers feature (coming soon!), I’ve been reminded of many of the great characters that have come through the wrestling world in the past few years. Some of them have gone on to become huge stars, while others didn’t fair quite as well. But in an industry built on creating “superstars” not everyone can reach that higher level. Pro wrestling is like a play or like a sports team where everyone has their role, and they need perform their role for the good of the group.

In pro wrestling these role players have a lot of names. They are called undercard guys, enhancement talent or the affection term of “jobber.” For whatever reason, whether it be small size, a bad “look,” a lack of that “it” factor promoters are looking for, talent for making others look good or unreliability, many wrestlers find themselves in this unenviable position. Most will never get Hall of Fame recognition, a glowing write-up on a major wrestling website or publication or receive mainstream media attention when they die too soon. So as part of another recurring feature here at (or in?) Historically Speaking I will be on occasion looking back at one of these “journeymen” to give them their due. It’s a little thing I like to call “Standing Up For the Little Guy.”

For my first entry, I am going to look back at a man who has been floating through my wrestling thoughts a lot lately as I’ve read Hart’s book and worked on the Shawn Michaels entry for the Top Wrestlers feature. I am of course talking about the “original Rocker” Marty Jannetty. He drinks, he does drugs, he womanizes, but he’s damn fun to watch in the ring when he’s “on.” He’s a guy who’s probably been hired and fired more times than anyone in World Wrestling Entertainment history, yet he continues to get chances to succeed.

The Early Days
Jannetty started working in 1984 for NWA Central States. He initially paired up with Shawn Michaels during 1985 and formed “The Midnight Rockers.” They won the Central States Tag Championships quickly after pairing up. They soon ended up in the AWA and became one of the promotion’s top teams. In 1987 Marty and Shawn won AWA Tag Championship from Doug Somers and Buddy Rose that was the climax of a wild, bloody feud between the two teams.

WWF…Take One
As Champions they caught the eye of Vince McMahon “up north” and they headed to work for the WWF. However they came in with a reputation of hard partying, whether it was earned or not. After an altercation with Jesse Barr (Jimmy Jack Funk) on the night before a TV taping match against Funk and Jose Estrada, The Rockers were on thin ice. After the TV taping McMahon called them into his office, commented on Michaels’ cowboy boots and said they were made for walking.

Their initial WWF tenure lasted approximately two weeks.

The AWA…Take Two
They headed back to the AWA and also did some work in Tennessee, who had a working agreement with the AWA by this time. They picked up more tag titles for both the AWA World Tag Team and AWA Southern Tag Team Championships and had runs against Badd Company, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, The Original Midnight Express and The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs.

WWF…Take Two
By the summer of 1988 Vince came calling again and they were back up north for the WWF. This time they managed to last through their first TV taping. They dropped the “Midnight” part from their name and simply became The Rockers. They were mainstays in the WWF tag team mid-card, having feuds with all the teams of the day, including The Rougeaus, The Powers of Pain and a really fantastic series of matches with The Brain Busters.

As the ‘90s dawned, Jannetty and Michaels continued their tag ways, feuding with Power & Glory, Demolition and had a really great couple of runs against The Orient Express, who were actually their old AWA rivals Badd Company, now running a Japanese martial arts gimmick.

During this initial run two monumental things did happen to Jannetty and his career.

The Phantom Title Switch
In the fall of 1990 at a TV taping it was all set for The Rockers to defeat The Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Championships in a two-out-of-three falls match. The logic was that Jim Neidhart was going through contract negotiations and was probably on his way out of the company, while Bret Hart would go on to a singles push. Unfortunately during the second fall the top ring rope broke, putting the match into disarray. The match continued with The Rockers winning as planned, but by the time it was right to show it on TV Neidhart had re-signed with the company and the match was declared null and void, despite the footage showing otherwise. The match was never acknowledged in WWE canon until well into the “Attitude” era.

Charles Austin
It only got better for Marty as during a preliminary match in early 1991 against Charles Austin and Lanny Poffo, Marty delivered his patented “Rocker Dropper” leg drop across Austin’s neck. Unfortunately Austin took the bump wrong, tucking his chin in rather than taking the move flat on the stomach. Austin was severely injured and ended up suing Jannetty, Michaels and the WWF. When the case was finally settled in 1994, Austin was awarded over $25 million in damanges.

The Split
In the fall of ’91 seeds began being sown on television for a break-up between The Rockers. They were costing each other matches, arguing after losses and just generally not working well together. In the early days of 1992 the pair appeared on The Barber Shop interview segment to patch up their differences. Instead, Michaels turned on Jannetty, hitting him with a superkick and then throwing him through the set’s plate glass window.

Jannetty was supposed to sell the injury and was removed from the 1992 Royal Rumble (where he was replaced by Nikolai Volkoff). The plan was for him to return and set up the big blow-off between him and Michaels at WrestleMania VIII. Unfortunately for Jannetty he was released from his contract in March ’92 and the angle never came to pass.

The Return
He returned at the tail end of 1992 and challenged his old rival Michaels, who was now Intercontinental Champion. The pair had a Title match at Royal Rumble ’93, which Michaels won due to Sensational Sherri’s botched interference. He was released once again after showing up under the influence of something the next night on RAW.

The Return…again
Jannetty then made a surprise return on a live May 1993 edition of RAW and challenged Michaels to an impromptu Intercontinental Title match, which to the surprise of everyone, he won. Personally this episode of RAW still ranks up there as one of the best as it was the same show where The Kid pinned Razor Ramon. It was almost too much for a nine-year-old mark like me to handle.

Jannetty didn’t last long as Champion, and he dropped the belt back to Michaels three weeks later thanks to Michaels’ new bodyguard Diesel. Fortunately Jannetty was able to keep his nose clean this time and was able to remain active on the roster. He formed an underdog tag team with the 1-2-3 Kid in the fall of ’93, and the pair ended up beating The Quebecers for the WWF Tag Championships just weeks before Royal Rumble ’94. They lost the belts back in a return match just days later.

He remained a fixture in the mid-card and was booked to be in a ten-man tag at WrestleMania X, but according to Bret Hart’s autobiography he was released shortly before the show during an overseas tour.

1995
He made an unheralded return in the fall of ’95 and picked up where he left off as a mid to lower card face. He began feuding with 1-2-3 Kid, who had now turned heel. The pair were the final two in their eight man Survivor Series ’95 elimination match and then they met again in a tag match at the next month’s In Your House where Marty teamed with Razor Ramon against Kid and Sycho Sid.

Despite the fact that he and Michaels were both faces at this time, it was still played up on TV that there was bad blood between the two men.

In early ’96 he formed “The New Rockers” with Al Snow, who was working as “Leif Cassidy” a send-up of ‘70s teen icons. The pair was primarily low-card comedy heels. Michaels, then WWF Champion, beat Cassidy on a spring ’96 edition of RAW to win the final battle of The Rockers war. Jannetty left the company after Survivor Series ’96 because he was unhappy with his standing in the company.

WCW
In 1998, at a time when WCW’s talent roster had ballooned to over 100 wrestlers, Jannetty was signed to the company. He worked primarily as a primetime TV jobber and was a mainstay on WCW Saturday Night. His only notable appearance was in the cruiserweight battle royal at Slamboree ’98. He was gone before the year was out.

After his WCW stint he remained primarily out of the spotlight, working independents and trying to stay out of trouble. In 2004 he reconciled with Shawn Michaels, who led him on the path to become a born-again Christian.

2005
During the build-up to the Shawn Michaels-Kurt Angle feud for WrestleMania 21, Angle announced that he would re-create Shawn’s entire career in just three weeks. One of the steps Angle took was to challenge Jannetty to a match on SmackDown! The night before his match with Angle, Marty and Shawn reunited to form The Rockers and beat La Resistance in a tag team match. The pair came out The Rockers’ old theme music, and was a highlight of another memorable RAW for yours truly as Jake “The Snake” Roberts also appeared on the same show to confront Randy Orton.

The next night at the SmackDown! tapings Jannetty battled Angle in an impressive twenty-minute match before submitting to the ankle lock. The superb showing earned Jannetty another full-time contract. Unfortunately (that word seems to come up a lot around Jannetty) he was arrested in July and sentenced to house arrest, preventing him from being able to travel with WWE. He was released on July 6.

2006
Almost a year later Michaels was embroiled in a feud with Mr. McMahon and The Spirit Squad. Jannetty ran into the ring during a 5-on-1 match with Michaels against all five Squad members and defended his partner. Mr. McMahon announced he would give Jannetty a contract if he could break Chris Masters’ Masterlock. The punch line involved Michaels and Jannetty battling with Masters and Vince & Shane McMahon. Marty was supposed to continue the program against The McMahons the next week on RAW but he was nowhere to be found. On March 3, WWE announced they had severed all ties with him.

On September 15 of the same year it was announced that Jannetty, along with Rodney Mack and Brad Armstrong, would be hired to work with younger talent on house shows. If that venture went well they would be offered full talent contracts. On September 29 it was rumored that Jannetty had been fired again, but he said the claim was false on his MySpace. The January 2007 issue of WWE Magazine also claimed that Jannetty had been released, which he denied again on his website. On December 24 on his blog, Jim Ross confirmed that Marty was once again gone from the company.

2007
Marty’s last appearance on the national wrestling spotlight was on the RAWXV special in December 2007. He appeared next to Michaels in an interview, and then ended up wrestling Mr. Kennedy, Michaels’ chief rival at the time, in the final match of the evening.

The Perspective
By my count Marty Jannetty has been hired and fired a total of eight times by World Wrestling Entertainment. Who says Vince McMahon doesn’t give second chances? Of the top of my head I can’t think of anyone who even comes close to that type of tenure. I don’t know if it’s through Shawn Michaels’ pull or Vince just having a soft spot for the guy. I know I wasn’t the only one hoping that his RAW XV appearance wasn’t a one-time deal. Something about Marty just brings out nostalgia in long-time wrestling fans. And hey he’s only one Championship away from winning that elusive WWE Triple Crown. Marty Jannetty for WWE Champion in 2009? I’m on board that train.

For this week the vault is closed…

Linked to the Pulse
Wheeler defends Triple H.

Kirschner informs us all that CHIKARA is bring back BattleBowl~!

P.C. does a fantastic job of breaking down Japan’s big summertime tournaments.

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.
1965 – Larry Hennig & Harley Race defeated Crusher & Verne Gagne for the AWA Tag Team title
1980 – Bugsy McGraw defeated Don Muraco for the Florida State Heavyweight title
1993 – Eddie Gilbert & the Dark Patriot defeated Sandman & Salvatore Bellomo in a tournament final for the ECW Tag Team title
1995 – Billy Jack Haynes defeated Brad Armstrong for the USWA Southern Heavyweight title
1995 – The Heavenly Bodies defeated PG-13 for the USWA Tag Team title
1996 – Jushin Liger announced at a Press Conference that he had a brain tumor
2001 – Chris Kanyon & Diamond Dallas Page defeated The APA for the WWF Tag Team title
2001 – Kane & The Undertaker defeated Sean O’Haire & Chuck Palumbo for the WCW Tag title
2002 – Ron Killings defeated Ken Shamrock for the NWA Heavyweight title
2002 – Low-Ki defeated AJ Styles for the NWA-TNA X title

1942 – Masa Saito was born.
1966 – Ed “Strangler” Lewis died at age 76
1999 – DLord Jonathan Boyd died of a heart attack at age 56

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”ve got about 100 pages of Bret Hart’s biography left. I should have a report up the next time we meet.

Mark was a columnist for Pulse Wrestling for over four years, evolving from his original “Historically Speaking” commentary-style column into the Monday morning powerhouse known as “This Week in ‘E.” He also contributes to other ventures, outside of IP, most notably as the National Pro Wrestling Examiner for Examiner.com and a contributor for The Wrestling Press. Follow me on Twitter here.