One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every Year Of WWE History
You legitimately will NOT believe entry #33 - featuring John Cena, Roman Reigns, and more...
Researching this exhaustive list was a challenge and a pleasure. At times, though, “pleasure” was a grotesquely inaccurate description of the process.
Wrestling, as you’ll rediscover all over again, is a disgusting racket. The odds are heavily in favour of this “revelation” smashing you in the face on several more occasions throughout 2024.
The word ‘Secret’ here can mean precisely that. It also acts as a synonym for a little-known fact or an ultimately inconsequential - but very fascinating - slice of pro wrestling trivia. Hopefully, provided you haven’t spent every waking hour of your life online glued to the most in-the-weeds message boards, you’ll get taken aback.
However.
The name of the content game is to hook the reader with a slightly sensationalised title. A good writer with a degree of shame will make every effort imaginable to back that title up with an interesting read. Another part of the content game is to promise some truly shocking epiphany that, conveniently, the reader will only find buried halfway through the list after the requisite amount of impressions have been made.
The following actually applies here: you won’t believe one list entry in particular.
How it has escaped the lore of hilariously bad wrestling history is remarkable…
43. 1982 - Vince McMahon Played Along At First
Three months after purchasing the WWF from his father - with whose money, hmmm - Vince McMahon promoted an NWA World title match between Ric Flair and Playboy Buddy Rose on behalf of the Portland territory. This promo, which can be found on YouTube, is fascinating on multiple levels.
Firstly, it helps not to reduce and simplify history. Vince destroyed the territory system, of course he did, but he didn’t squat over the map and take a dump over it immediately. He took over the WWF with the pretence of upholding the old collaborative value system.
Also, his pained depression and stilted, insincere delivery is something to behold. It is as if, even when pretending to be nice, a team player, he is incapable of hiding his contempt and sinister motives. Further, it’s thoroughly bizarre for him to refer to Ric Flair as the “World’s champion”.
It wasn’t just that the WWF had for years booked its own World champion and wanted you to buy him as the undisputed real deal; “World’s”, with the possessive apostrophe, was very much the NWA way of putting it.