15 WWE Matches You Didn't Know Featured Landmark Firsts

By Tom Gibbs /

2. The First Commissioner - August 1997

Listen up, maggots! If you haven€™t heard, there used to be a time when WWE had a Commissioner who would make in ring appearances and schedule matches. Similar to the role of President, the Commissioner role allowed for an authority figure to be present without the actual authority having to be involved. On the August 4th, 1997 edition of Monday Night Raw, good ol€™ JR introduced the notorious (at the time at least) Hart Foundation to the first ever Commissioner of WWE, Sergeant Slaughter. Simply put, he made the rules, and he was quick to book Bret Hart to defend his WWE Championship against The Patriot at Ground Zero. They weren€™t too happy about that, and they especially weren€™t happy when Steve Austin showed up to announce he was going to whoop some ass. Since that time, other Commissioners have come and gone in WWE. Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and William Regal have all held the title of Commissioner, and who knows, maybe one of these days a Commissioner spot will be wide open for another authority figure. But none of them can say that they were the first. Only the Serg himself gets to have that prestigious honor. Now drop and give him twenty!