WWE Confidential Preview: 12/6

masterragu · 12-06-2003, 05:41 PM

Confidential preview for Dec. 6, 2003

This week on Confidential, take a stroll down memory lane with Mean Gene Okerlund when he takes us back to 1996 – a year that would change the face of sports entertainment forever.

Before the year began, the world barely knew who Stone Cold Steve Austin was, and The Rock had never set foot in a WWE ring. Back then, Triple H was Hunter Hearst Helmsley and his eight different reigns with a World Championship were not even a thought. Before 1996 began, Shawn Michaels was not quite the Showstopper and the Undertaker had never before squared off with Mankind. And, if you’re a fan of the WWE Divas, when 1996 first began, the Divas were non-existent.

Believe it or not, 1996 changed all of that. In a mere 12 months, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble and established Austin 3:16 as the creed for millions of fans around the world; Rocky Maivia made his WWE debut; Triple H won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time; Shawn Michaels won his first World Wrestling Federation Championship; the Undertaker and Mankind met for the first time; and Sunny and Sable graced WWE arenas to begin the era of the Divas in WWE.

Indeed, 1996 will always be remembered as a year that would forever change WWE and Confidential looks at the events and Superstars that made it such a memorable year, including the Match of the Year – Shawn Michaels against Mankind from Mind Games. It all happens on Confidential this Saturday at 11/10 CT on Spike TV!

Speed Demon · 12-07-2003, 01:19 AM

I saw it tonight

They had some good stuff this week. The look back to 1996 was great. Like when Austin first made it big, when Rocky first came out, Triple H minus 150 pounds of muscle, Mankind, Undertaker, even that loser Ahmed Johnson.

They also focused a segment on of all people Sunny, and even brought up Sid. There was a lot of talk about Shawn Michaels through out as well.

abztrakt · 12-07-2003, 03:47 AM

I like how they barely mentioned Bret Hart, and when they did, they totally buried him.

Speed Demon · 12-07-2003, 08:47 AM

Ya the 2nd coming of the canadian screw job.

Triple H with his Chris Jericho frame is always good to see too though

Mick Foley · 12-07-2003, 06:18 PM

WWE Confidential Report

December 6, 2003
Report by: Chris Grant, rajahwwf.com reporter

Well, here we are again to recap the happenings from Confidential. This week we take a look at 1996 and what happened for the WWF(E) during those 365 days. I think that WWF(E) had problems that year with attendance and ratings, so that is why I think 96' was a weird year to recap. But hey, Stone Cold and the Rock showed up, so I guess it wasn't all for the worse.

Mean Gene is your host, literally. Instead of only seeing him before and after segments, he is the narrator for the entire show. He tells us that WWF(E) had a competitor in the mid 90s, when WCW debuted Nitro and the "Monday Night Wars" began. Vince was losing many of his already established stars ( Diesel and Razor Ramon) to WCW for guaranteed contracts, so he knew that, to stay a big boy in wrestling, he had to make some new stars. 1996 was the year that many of these stars first broke out.Basically, the show will be focusing on six who became major players in the business.

First, clips of Shawn’s second straight Royal Rumble win in January are shown. Next, we look at the hype leading into the Iron Man match with Bret Hart at Wrestlemania, with Bret saying that “Shawn can’t lace my boots” and “Shawn is very good, but he isn’t, and will never be, the best.” Now clips of the match itself are shown, where Shawn won his first WWF(E) Title. That win made Shawn one of the key players for WWF(E) in 96'.

1996 Sidenote: Before Kevin Nash left for WCW, he had an insane match with Shawn at In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies. Of all of the weapons the two could have used, trash cans, tables, ladders, chairs, etc. they had to knock down Mad Dog Vachon, rip his artificial leg off, and beat each other with it.

- Commercials –

In May, the WWF(E) planned to do the In Your House PPV entitled "Beware of Dog". It should have been called, "Beware of Technical Difficulties" because a storm knocked out power to the . They had the matches in a darkened arena, anyway, and power was restored for the main event between Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog. To make up for the problem, the WWF rescheduled the PPV the following Tuesday, redoing all the matches the PPV audience missed in a different arena. It was at this PPV that Stone Cold Steve Austin kicked Ted Dibiase to the curb, along with the Ringmaster gimmick.

At the King of the Ring, Austin had his mouth busted open in his first match, but went to the hospital, got sewn up, and came back to win the KOTR title. Alot of think that this is a feat of superhero strength, but, Dr. Death Steve Williams once took an elbow to the eye which caused him to have over 120 stitches. By the way, Dr. Death came back and wrestled again that night as well. After beating Jake "The Snake" Roberts for the King Of The Ring crown, Austin quoted what would be one of his most famous lines:

“You talk about your psalms, talk about your John 3:16. Austin 3:16 says, 'I just whipped your ass!"

He also debuted the “And that’s the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!!” line in that promo. We get clips of Austin’s heel act, being a complete anarchist, not caring what anyone thought about it.

1996 Sidenote: The Gun Angle. The thing is that Austin and Brian Pillman are feuding, and Austin bust out a window to Pillman's house. Austin walks into the room where Pillman is at,and Flyin' Brian pulls a pistol out and the goes black.

- Commercials –

We come back and take a quick look at some other wrestlers who were big in ’96: Goldust , Ahmed Johnson, the Nation of Domination, and Owen Hart (who was “the Slammy Award winning” Owen Hart at this point).

Next, a feud that showed WWF(E) fans that, no match was to crazy to try, at least once.

Undertaker and Mankind first met at the King of the Ring in a match where Mankind came away with the victory. A few months later at Summerslam, we got our first look at the Boiler Room Brawl, and Mankind again won after Paul Bearer turned on Taker. In October, the Buried Alive match debuted. Taker finally got a win, but, somehow, still got buried. The feud would escalate two years later at the King of the Ring, when Mankind was thrown off the Hell In A Cell, and through the Hell In A Cell.

1996 Sidenote: Yokozuna gets his leg broken by Vader, and needs a forklift to get him to the back. I do believe this is the last time big Yokozuna was seen on WWF(E) television, but I could be wrong.

- Commercials –

WWE Rewind: Sunny slaps Phineas Godwinn, but gets slopped as a result.

We take a look at Livewire, the WWF’s attempt at a live call-in show, hosted by Todd Pettingill and Sunny. They started with actually putting real people on the air, but when things began to get out of hand, they switched to screened callers. Now on to clips of Sunny. She was the main female that year, definitely the WWF’s first bonafide Diva. Of course, later in the year, Sable tried to take over as the top Diva, leading to a mini “feud”.

1996 Sidenote: Terri first came to the WWF as “Marlena”, Goldust’s “Director”.

- Commercials –

At Survivor Series, Sid beat Shawn for the WWF title, and ended the year as champ (Shawn won it back at the ’97 Rumble).

Clips of Austin vs. HHH at IYH are shown, HHH wins the IC title from Marc Mero after Mr. Perfect screwed Mero (Perfect left soon after). They also showed the Pedigree where HHH dropped the guy on top of his head.

Rock speaks in an early promo, talking about “giving 110%”. Clips of his Survivor Series debut are shown. Jim Cornette speaks about the Rock throughout the segment.

1996 Sidenote: Kurt Angle wins his Olympic gold medal in wrestling at the Atlanta games.

- Commercials –

Match of the Year for 1996

WWF Title match: Shawn Michaels (C) vs. Mankind (w/ Paul Bearer)

We join it in progress with Mankind hitting a back body drop on Michaels, and then hitting a clothesline, sending them both out. Mankind lifts the mat on the floor, but Shawn dropkicks it on top of him and jumps on it. He goes up and hits a crossbody and slams Mankind’s head into the concrete. CLIP to Shawn hitting an elbow, but Mankind bails, sitting on the floor and grabbing the urn for comfort. CLIP again to Shawn suplexing Mankind on the floor, his knee slamming against the steps. CLIP yet again to Mankind doing the hanging in the ropes spot, but he manages a Mandible Claw on Shawn. ANOTHER CLIP and Shawn grabs a chair, smacking the Claw hand with it. CLIP to Mankind rolling Shawn into a casket (Mankind was rolled to the ring in it before the match. Don’t ask me why.), but Shawn fights back, hitting a flying forearm and a crossbody for 2. He goes up again, but Mankind crotches him and goes up himself, looking for a suplex, but Shawn shifts his weight and they both go crashing through the Spanish announce table!! CLIP, and Mankind is on top with a chair, but Shawn jumps off a chair and kicks Mankind’s chair back in his face. We skip the finish (Vader ran in for a DQ on Mankind) and go to Mankind slapping the Claw on Shawn, and then ordering Paul to open the casket. He does, but Undertaker is already in there, Taker then beats up Mankind.

I liked the show and I think they should do a show like this for different years every now and then.

Xero Copy · 12-09-2003, 07:29 PM

word^ i saw it..

12-06-2003, 05:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
masterragu Panic/Disgust Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: definitly not nebraska Posts: 74,774	WWE Confidential Preview: 12/6 Confidential preview for Dec. 6, 2003 This week on Confidential, take a stroll down memory lane with Mean Gene Okerlund when he takes us back to 1996 – a year that would change the face of sports entertainment forever. Before the year began, the world barely knew who Stone Cold Steve Austin was, and The Rock had never set foot in a WWE ring. Back then, Triple H was Hunter Hearst Helmsley and his eight different reigns with a World Championship were not even a thought. Before 1996 began, Shawn Michaels was not quite the Showstopper and the Undertaker had never before squared off with Mankind. And, if you’re a fan of the WWE Divas, when 1996 first began, the Divas were non-existent. Believe it or not, 1996 changed all of that. In a mere 12 months, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble and established Austin 3:16 as the creed for millions of fans around the world; Rocky Maivia made his WWE debut; Triple H won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time; Shawn Michaels won his first World Wrestling Federation Championship; the Undertaker and Mankind met for the first time; and Sunny and Sable graced WWE arenas to begin the era of the Divas in WWE. Indeed, 1996 will always be remembered as a year that would forever change WWE and Confidential looks at the events and Superstars that made it such a memorable year, including the Match of the Year – Shawn Michaels against Mankind from Mind Games. It all happens on Confidential this Saturday at 11/10 CT on Spike TV! __________________ Feme Sole: you can work at subway Feme Sole: and give me free hoagies Last edited by Ragu; 12-06-2003 at 05:47 PM.

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12-07-2003, 01:19 AM	#2 (permalink)
Speed Demon Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Death Valley Posts: 3,287	I saw it tonight They had some good stuff this week. The look back to 1996 was great. Like when Austin first made it big, when Rocky first came out, Triple H minus 150 pounds of muscle, Mankind, Undertaker, even that loser Ahmed Johnson. They also focused a segment on of all people Sunny, and even brought up Sid. There was a lot of talk about Shawn Michaels through out as well.

12-07-2003, 03:47 AM	#3 (permalink)
abztrakt gone. Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 14,766	I like how they barely mentioned Bret Hart, and when they did, they totally buried him.

12-07-2003, 08:47 AM	#4 (permalink)
Speed Demon Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Death Valley Posts: 3,287	Ya the 2nd coming of the canadian screw job. Triple H with his Chris Jericho frame is always good to see too though

12-07-2003, 06:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mick Foley Cant Kill Me Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 261	WWE Confidential Report December 6, 2003 Report by: Chris Grant, rajahwwf.com reporter Well, here we are again to recap the happenings from Confidential. This week we take a look at 1996 and what happened for the WWF(E) during those 365 days. I think that WWF(E) had problems that year with attendance and ratings, so that is why I think 96' was a weird year to recap. But hey, Stone Cold and the Rock showed up, so I guess it wasn't all for the worse. Mean Gene is your host, literally. Instead of only seeing him before and after segments, he is the narrator for the entire show. He tells us that WWF(E) had a competitor in the mid 90s, when WCW debuted Nitro and the "Monday Night Wars" began. Vince was losing many of his already established stars ( Diesel and Razor Ramon) to WCW for guaranteed contracts, so he knew that, to stay a big boy in wrestling, he had to make some new stars. 1996 was the year that many of these stars first broke out.Basically, the show will be focusing on six who became major players in the business. First, clips of Shawn’s second straight Royal Rumble win in January are shown. Next, we look at the hype leading into the Iron Man match with Bret Hart at Wrestlemania, with Bret saying that “Shawn can’t lace my boots” and “Shawn is very good, but he isn’t, and will never be, the best.” Now clips of the match itself are shown, where Shawn won his first WWF(E) Title. That win made Shawn one of the key players for WWF(E) in 96'. 1996 Sidenote: Before Kevin Nash left for WCW, he had an insane match with Shawn at In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies. Of all of the weapons the two could have used, trash cans, tables, ladders, chairs, etc. they had to knock down Mad Dog Vachon, rip his artificial leg off, and beat each other with it. - Commercials – In May, the WWF(E) planned to do the In Your House PPV entitled "Beware of Dog". It should have been called, "Beware of Technical Difficulties" because a storm knocked out power to the . They had the matches in a darkened arena, anyway, and power was restored for the main event between Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog. To make up for the problem, the WWF rescheduled the PPV the following Tuesday, redoing all the matches the PPV audience missed in a different arena. It was at this PPV that Stone Cold Steve Austin kicked Ted Dibiase to the curb, along with the Ringmaster gimmick. At the King of the Ring, Austin had his mouth busted open in his first match, but went to the hospital, got sewn up, and came back to win the KOTR title. Alot of think that this is a feat of superhero strength, but, Dr. Death Steve Williams once took an elbow to the eye which caused him to have over 120 stitches. By the way, Dr. Death came back and wrestled again that night as well. After beating Jake "The Snake" Roberts for the King Of The Ring crown, Austin quoted what would be one of his most famous lines: “You talk about your psalms, talk about your John 3:16. Austin 3:16 says, 'I just whipped your ass!" He also debuted the “And that’s the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!!” line in that promo. We get clips of Austin’s heel act, being a complete anarchist, not caring what anyone thought about it. 1996 Sidenote: The Gun Angle. The thing is that Austin and Brian Pillman are feuding, and Austin bust out a window to Pillman's house. Austin walks into the room where Pillman is at,and Flyin' Brian pulls a pistol out and the goes black. - Commercials – We come back and take a quick look at some other wrestlers who were big in ’96: Goldust , Ahmed Johnson, the Nation of Domination, and Owen Hart (who was “the Slammy Award winning” Owen Hart at this point). Next, a feud that showed WWF(E) fans that, no match was to crazy to try, at least once. Undertaker and Mankind first met at the King of the Ring in a match where Mankind came away with the victory. A few months later at Summerslam, we got our first look at the Boiler Room Brawl, and Mankind again won after Paul Bearer turned on Taker. In October, the Buried Alive match debuted. Taker finally got a win, but, somehow, still got buried. The feud would escalate two years later at the King of the Ring, when Mankind was thrown off the Hell In A Cell, and through the Hell In A Cell. 1996 Sidenote: Yokozuna gets his leg broken by Vader, and needs a forklift to get him to the back. I do believe this is the last time big Yokozuna was seen on WWF(E) television, but I could be wrong. - Commercials – WWE Rewind: Sunny slaps Phineas Godwinn, but gets slopped as a result. We take a look at Livewire, the WWF’s attempt at a live call-in show, hosted by Todd Pettingill and Sunny. They started with actually putting real people on the air, but when things began to get out of hand, they switched to screened callers. Now on to clips of Sunny. She was the main female that year, definitely the WWF’s first bonafide Diva. Of course, later in the year, Sable tried to take over as the top Diva, leading to a mini “feud”. 1996 Sidenote: Terri first came to the WWF as “Marlena”, Goldust’s “Director”. - Commercials – At Survivor Series, Sid beat Shawn for the WWF title, and ended the year as champ (Shawn won it back at the ’97 Rumble). Clips of Austin vs. HHH at IYH are shown, HHH wins the IC title from Marc Mero after Mr. Perfect screwed Mero (Perfect left soon after). They also showed the Pedigree where HHH dropped the guy on top of his head. Rock speaks in an early promo, talking about “giving 110%”. Clips of his Survivor Series debut are shown. Jim Cornette speaks about the Rock throughout the segment. 1996 Sidenote: Kurt Angle wins his Olympic gold medal in wrestling at the Atlanta games. - Commercials – Match of the Year for 1996 WWF Title match: Shawn Michaels (C) vs. Mankind (w/ Paul Bearer) We join it in progress with Mankind hitting a back body drop on Michaels, and then hitting a clothesline, sending them both out. Mankind lifts the mat on the floor, but Shawn dropkicks it on top of him and jumps on it. He goes up and hits a crossbody and slams Mankind’s head into the concrete. CLIP to Shawn hitting an elbow, but Mankind bails, sitting on the floor and grabbing the urn for comfort. CLIP again to Shawn suplexing Mankind on the floor, his knee slamming against the steps. CLIP yet again to Mankind doing the hanging in the ropes spot, but he manages a Mandible Claw on Shawn. ANOTHER CLIP and Shawn grabs a chair, smacking the Claw hand with it. CLIP to Mankind rolling Shawn into a casket (Mankind was rolled to the ring in it before the match. Don’t ask me why.), but Shawn fights back, hitting a flying forearm and a crossbody for 2. He goes up again, but Mankind crotches him and goes up himself, looking for a suplex, but Shawn shifts his weight and they both go crashing through the Spanish announce table!! CLIP, and Mankind is on top with a chair, but Shawn jumps off a chair and kicks Mankind’s chair back in his face. We skip the finish (Vader ran in for a DQ on Mankind) and go to Mankind slapping the Claw on Shawn, and then ordering Paul to open the casket. He does, but Undertaker is already in there, Taker then beats up Mankind. I liked the show and I think they should do a show like this for different years every now and then.

12-09-2003, 07:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
Xero Copy Registered User Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 3,026	word^ i saw it..

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