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SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Wrestling |
Thursday, August 10, 2000
From WrestleMania to New Blood RisingA history of Canadian PPVsIt started with the Ultimate Warrior, and the tradition will continue at 'New Blood Rising,' a WCW pay-per-view set for August 13 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Ultimate Warrior won the WWF World title at the first pay-per-view held in Canada, WrestleMania VI in 1990. That day about 65,000 fans filled the newly-built Toronto SkyDome to watch the highly anticipated Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior main event. [Clip: Warrior gets a clean pin on Hogan, wins title! (2.8 MB)] The night also saw Andre the Giant, in what one of last matches, turn on his manager, Bobby Heenan, to a rousing ovation from the crowd. The pay-per-view success was overshadowed by the troubles of broadcasting an event outside the United States. The WWF did not return north for a pay-per-view till 1995. The October 22nd In Your House event took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The WWF started to keep Canada as an annual pay-per-view stop with July 21, 1996's card being from Vancouver, British Columbia. Steve Austin was building off his recent King of the Ring victory where he reinvented himself into 'Stone Cold.' The disappointment of the night came in the main event where the Ultimate Warrior was pulled from the card at the last minute for missing a number of WWF house shows right before the event. His going AWOL led to Psycho Sid making his return to the WWF to team with Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson. Their team went on to lose Owen Hart, the British Bulldog and Vader. With Bret Hart's popularity very high with Canadian fans but very low with American fans, the WWF headed to Canada twice in 1997. The first came on July 6th for a special Canadian Stampede event from Calgary, Alberta. The Hart family filled the front rows of the crowd as Bret, Owen, the British Bulldog, Brian Pillman and Jim Neidhart defeated the Legion of Doom, Steve Austin, Goldust and Ken Shamrock. The family filled the ring after the match to get a large ovation from the home town crowd. [SLAM! Wrestling's coverage.]
Also on the event, Steve Austin came back for the first time from suffering a major neck injury just three months early to win the WWF Intercontinental title from Owen Hart. [SLAM! Wrestling's coverage.] September 27, 1998 saw two men win the WWF World title from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario at In Your House: Breakdown. Kane and Undertaker simultaneously pinned Steve Austin to win the title, but the belt was taken by Vince McMahon who ended the show by screaming that Austin will never see the title again. [SLAM! Wrestling's coverage.] The WWF returned for a December 13, 1998 pay-per-view called Rock Bottom in Vancouver that saw Mankind defeat The Rock in a submission match. The title did not change hands as The Rock never submitted. [SLAM! Wrestling's coverage.] Also, Steve Austin won a buried alive match the Undertaker and Goldust (Dustin Rhodes) beat Jeff Jarrett where a pre-match stipulation stated if Jarrett lost, Debra would have to strip. She did. The WCW replaced the WWF as the WCW held their first pay-per-view battle outside the United States. The Toronto, Ontario, event took place in the Air Canada Centre in November 1999. [SLAM! Wrestling's coverage.] The event saw the crowning of a new WCW World champion when Bret Hart defeated fellow Canadian Chris Benoit in the finals of a tournament. Also, Scott Hall, who was then the United States and Television champion, defeated now World champion Booker T. On August 13, the tradition will continue. The WCW will invade Vancouver, British Columbia for 'New Blood Rising' with much anticipation for the organization who has recently changed their image. [SLAM! Wrestling's coverage.] More coverage of WCW New Blood Rising |