ASK WV (4/02/04): Bret Hart and nWo, Todd Pettengill, HIAC, HBK and IC title
On Friday, April 2, 2004 at 2:23 PM EST Send all questions to:
askwv@Wrestleview.com
The following questions were answered by Paul Nemer:I heard somewhere that Bret Hart was originally supposed to be the third man to aid Kevin Nash and Scott Hall when the nWo angle first started and then at the last minute Hogan became the third man. Is this true? Yes it is. In 1996, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had left the WWE and signed with WCW. Bret Hart's WWF contract had expired sometime after WrestleMania 12, which made him a free agent. WCW had an entire angle planned where Hall Nash and possibly a third man would try to invade and take over WCW. That third man was supposed to be Bret Hart, which was what WCW had in mind. But Bret Hart declined WCW's 9 million dollar offer and re-signed with the WWF. Now they were looking for a third man to join Hall and Nash on their PPV debut. WCW wanted to do something to shock the fans. What better way to do this than by turning one of your top baby faces heel? Hulk Hogan was somewhere filming a movie, so they went to Sting and they told him what they had planned. Soon enough, Eric Bischoff met with Hogan while Hogan was doing his movie and he explained to him what was going on with the third man being Sting. Hulk Hogan asked Bischoff if he can be the third man, it would be even bigger, and eventually that's what ended up happening. Hogan, Hall and Nash formed the nWo and later went to help WCW defeat the WWF in the ratings for over a year and a half straight.
What ever happened to Todd Pettengill?After leaving the WWF in 1997, Todd Pettengill went back in the radio business. He now co-hosts a radio show with Scott Shannon in New York. It's from Monday through Friday from 6:00 A.M to 10:00 A.M on 95.9 WPLJ. Todd also has his own website located at Toddscds.com.
When Mankind faced Undertaker in 1998 - Mankind was thrown off the top of the cage by the Undertaker. Can you tell me if that was planned or not?The first bump off the top of the cage was planned yes. But the second one when the Undertaker choked slammed Mankind, causing him to go through the cage wasn't planned at all. The top of the cage wasn't suppose to break at all. Foley said that the second bump hurt a lot more than the first one. On top of him accidently going through the cage, a steel chair fell and landed on his face, which broke his tooth and caused his tooth to come out of his nose.
How old is HBK now and what year was it when he first left the WWE? What was the injury?Shawn Michaels was born on July 22, 1965. He is 38 and will turn 39 in a few months. Excluding his hiatus from phoney injuries, forfeiting titles and such... He left the WWF in 1998 right after WrestleMania 14 due to a back injury. He suffered the injury at the 1998 Royal Rumble, when the Undertaker back body dropped him onto the casket.
I was reading the FAQ's for the WWE and noticed you mentioned the North American Title. Wasn't this the origional name of the Intercontinential title? If so, does that make Ted DiBiase the first IC champ instead of Pat Patterson?Ted DiBiase was given the North American Title when he was brought into the WWF. But then, Vince McMahon Sr. discovered that there was another North American title in another federation, so DiBiase dropped the belt to Pat Patterson. The WWF came up with this "fictious" tournament and claimed that Pat Patterson had won it. Then the belt was renamed to the Intercontinental title. That's why Pat Patterson was billed as the first ever Intercontinental champion. Technically, Pat Patterson is the first ever IC champion, because the belt was still known as the North American title until Patterson held it, which was later renamed to the IC title. But don't forget that it was Ted DiBiase who brought it in to begin with.