|
Let's go back to November 9th, 1997 for WWE's annual Survivor Series event and the moment that changed pro wrestling history forever. After signing a 20 year deal before Survivor Series 1996, the WWE decided to exercise their 1 year opt-out clause on Bret "the Hitman" Hart to free up cash to sign younger wrestlers (or make a down payment for Mike Tyson for Wrestlemania 14, take your pick). However, Bret Hart was WWE Champion heading into Survivor Series 1997 and his opponent was his real life rival Shawn Michaels. On the night of Survivor Series 1997, Bret and the WWE agreed to a DX run-in finish that would cause a disqualification and then Bret Hart would handover the WWE Title on the following night on RAW. Bret would then presumably join WWE's rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), during late 1997. However, Vince McMahon REFUSED to let Bret Hart walk out of Survivor Series as WWE Champion and let WCW brag that they had the actual WWE Champon on their roster. Thus, Vince McMahon reportedly threatened referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell when Shawn Michaels applied the Sharpshooter to Bret Hart. Thus, the "screwjob" finish and since the event was in Montreal, it's known as the "Montreal Screwjob". Why am I bringing up Survivor Series 1997 or as it's commonly referred to as the "Montreal Screwjob" again? Because the WWE did NOT let Bret Hart capitalize on his WWE exit. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Following Survivor Series 1997, there must have been a brief no-compete clause in place because Bret Hart was unable to appear on WCW Monday Nitro for a few weeks. WWE and Vince McMahon pounced, almost immediately. Shawn Michaels and DX mocked Bret Hart repeatedly, even bringing out a midget version of Bret Hart to bait fans and to get in many jabs towards the Hitman. But the more damage was done by Vince McMahon, himself. He did sitdown interviews with Jim Ross where tore down Bret Hart and basically claimed he was selfish for forcing Vince's hand. Vince got the first word in and helped shaped the narrative to put a positive spin on Vince's actions and negatively portrayed Bret. Bret, meanwhile, wasn't able to debut with WCW until December 15th, 1997. Furthermore, Bret Hart actually punched Vince McMahon backstage at Survivor Series 1997. Any legal recourse that Bret had against Vince for creative clauses in his contract were gone. WWE had successful shaped the narrative and Bret Hart was damaged goods when he joined WCW. Things were made worse when WCW poorly used Bret. WCW had serious money in building actual WCW Title vs. WWE Title matches but WCW had other booking plans that were wasteful. OK - Why am I talking about something that occurred 17 years ago? Perspective on recent events... CM Punk, following Royal Rumble 2014, QUIT the WWE. He walked out of the WWE without any noticed and about 6 months left of work on his contract. What was WWE's reaction? They said NOTHING... In fact, instead of attempting to utilize their legal team to discuss terms with Punk for the remainder of his contract, WWE kept his contract open and seemed to assume that hey'd come back. This enabled Punk to earn royalties from WWE events and merchandise that Punk would later claim that he was owed. Then, the WWE actually terminated Punk from his WWE contract on Punk's wedding day where he was to wed actual WWE superstar AJ Lee (stay tuned, more on her in a minute!). WWE's inaction caused a legal settlement to occur to which Punk said that he "received everything he wanted" and Punk has fully severed ties with the WWE. But unlike Bret Hart in 1997, CM Punk is getting in the first word and has joined another promotion, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), to capitalize on the heat of his exit. CM Punk's Thanksgiving promo with Colt Cabana ripped the WWE HARD on how they treated pro wrestlers both with bookings and health. His prime target was Triple H who was set to wrestle Punk at Wrestlemania 30 and was blamed for ruining the 2011 momentum Punk built up. The Cabana interview has been heard by millions of people and the WWE has yet to respond... And then, CM Punk joins UFC and not only that, he has a photo opp with his wife AJ Lee (more on her in a moment, I promise) in front of UFC logos to rub it into the WWE's face. Dana White is LAUGHING because he gets at least 1 UFC event where he can capitalize on the many CM Punk fans who were pissed at the way WWE treated Punk. Better yet, Punk burned his bridge in the WWE so thus Dana doesn't care if he drops Punk after just 1 UFC event. This is the CLEAR difference between 1997 with Bret Hart and 2014 with CM Punk. In 1997, the WWE took control of the message and damaged Bret Hart before he could even enter WCW. In contract, CM Punk has been trashing WWE hard and without any response, he's going to bring his heat to the UFC promotion. WWE could have easily did interviews where they stated that CM Punk QUIT the WWE and they could have sold it to fans that Punk walked out on them. Triple H could have had sitdown interviews with Michael Cole or even Renee Young and let CM Punk have it. Just as the WWE framed Bret successfully as being selfish, WWE could have framed CM Punk as a quitter who doesn't care about his fans. That simple... WWE had until June/July when CM Punk's contract ran out to frame that argument without any response from CM Punk (who was pretty much under a gag order after walking out of the WWE). WWE could have ripped CM Punk during the weeks before and after their settlement of Punk's contract. But they didn't... They are giving Punk the silent treatment. Meanwhile, he's ripping the WWE online and giving fans an insider view of the company and alleging poor company practices and healthcare. Now, Punk joins UFC unscathed. CM Punk is a lost cause for the WWE... Opportunity lost and Punk will help the buyrate for the 1st UFC event that he's on... However, the WWE has an "ace" up their sleeves: they employ CM Punk's real life wife, AJ Lee. WWE could successfully transfer any heat that CM Punk intended to take to UFC and transfer it onto AJ Lee for a MAJOR Wrestlemania 31 feud with Stephanie McMahon. That's right, baby! A simple, yet effectively Divas match of this magnitude could be a huge drawing component to Wrestlemania. In one corner, you have AJ Lee, the wife of CM Punk and in the other, the wife of Triple H whom Punk very much blamed for his WWE exit, Stephanie McMahon. Any "heat" that existed between Punk and Triple H could be alluded to and exploited for an AJ Lee vs. Stephanie McMahon feud. Say what you will about Stephanie McMahon, she's an effective talker (thank you Communications Major) and can actually draw heat. However, she goes over-the-top with her cruel heel antics towards male wrestlers who obviously cannot hit back in the 21st Century WWE. Thus, when she talks down Daniel Bryan as being a "B+ Player", he can't do anything to her. However, when there has been instances where Stephanie has gone up against other women, she has succeeded bigtime. Better yet, Stephanie is actually a decent female wrestler. See her Trish Stratus feud for No Way Out 2001 and the Brie Bella feud for SummerSlam 2014. Those were great feuds and were only scratching the surface on what Stephanie could do. The Divas Division needs some direction and what better way to give it direction by making Stephanie as "General Manager" of the Divas Division. There, she could give us a new take on the "heel boss" by having her go after Divas and being able to legitimately fight them from time to time. I hate to admit it, and I'm eating crow from many fans who told me this over the years... But AJ Lee is a superstar. She's probably the biggest WWE female personality and wrestler since the days of Trish Stratus and Lita. There's a ton of talent there and the WWE should build around her. There is legitimate potential of AJ Lee, the babyface, going up against heel after heel that Stephanie McMahon could throw at her as "revenge" for CM Punk leaving the WWE. Instead of CM Punk taking all of the "heat" to UFC with him, the WWE could re-route it to Stephanie McMahon vs. AJ Lee for Wrestlemania 31 instead. CM Punk won't be fighting in UFC until about 1 year as he gets ready to join a new career in UFC. The promos could be AMAZING with Stephanie taunting AJ Lee for being married to a "quitter" while AJ Lee could simply challenge Stephanie to a fight to convince Steph to enter a ring for a match. So much material here... Meanwhile, Stephanie could assemble her mini-Diva Corporation of heels to constantly attack AJ Lee on the way to Wrestlemania 31. It just writes itself. For the record, I was calling for AJ Lee vs. Stephanie to happen for Wrestlemania 30 for my September 8th, 2014 column. It made sense back then before CM Punk even left the WWE. Hell, the WWE could even encourage CM Punk to participate and even offer him a front row ticket to root on his wife at Wrestlemania 31. It might help out relations between Punk and the McMahons. After all, if the WWE can prove that they can treat AJ Lee like a professional, then maybe could help clear up any misunderstandings between Punk and the WWE for the past 3 years. You never know... But what I know is that AJ Lee vs. Stephanie McMahon is pure and absolute MONEY at Wrestlemania 31. It lets the WWE steal CM Punk's "heat" from exiting the WWE, badmouthing the WWE, and joining the UFC by channeling it through a simple cat fight. That, and it gives us a legitimate Divas match to look forward to for Wrestlemania. Win for everyone... Opportunity knocks, WWE... I just gave you a GREAT booking idea as a Christmas present. You owe me nothing other than putting it on and not screwing it up. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2014
|
