Formerly Creative Preview – Joe Franciosi

Launching tomorrow is the latest episode of Formerly Creative featuring Joe Franciosi.  Joe was on the WWE Creative Team in 2010.  Covered in this episode is Joe’s background in So Cal wrestling including UPW, NWA and New Japan Dojo, how he got hired in WWE, his cameo in WWE that NO ONE will ever forget, the pitfalls of producing backstage and more.  Below are two previews.  Catch up on any episodes of any of our podcasts here.

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Get caught up on our latest podcast for Press the Press with Sam Ford here.

David Lagana / IWantWrestling.com

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The SuperBowl of Wrestlemania

Every year, the number one most watched event on television is the NFL Superbowl.  The entire NFL season builds to one game.  This year, the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Green Bay Packers to decide who is the best team in football. Simple, easy to understand concept where everyone will gather, have a party, and witness a spectacle everyone will be talking about tomorrow. In two months, it’ll happen for the world of wrestling…. Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania has many taglines but the most fitting for today is the Superbowl of Wrestling. Of all the pay-per-view events held every year, it’s the biggest.  The biggest matches, the biggest attractions and hopefully the biggest audience of the year.  Like the SuperBowl, fans travel from all over the world to see this event.  It’s kinda a big deal.  I had one goal when I went to work for WWE – to work ONE Wrestlemania.  I ended up working six and the memories created there will live with me forever.

What if there was a “SuperBowl of Wrestlemania”.  Imagine one show that featured all of the best of every Wrestlemania in one event!   All the top stars in the matches that made them famous.  I sat down and looked through all the Wrestlemania shows to try and put together one nine match card.  Your list might vary and I am hoping it does.  Please comment below with your card.

SUPERBOWL OF WRESTLEMANIA

Edge & Christan vs. Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz – Wrestlemania X7

The forerunner for the “Money In the Bank” match and upped the ante from the ladder match at Wrestlemania 2000.  This was a “star making” moment for Edge who went on to be the break out star of this group including  wrestling in the main event of Wrestlemania 24 vs. Undertaker.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle – WWE Championship – Wrestlemania XX

A year earlier, no one would have guessed the late, great Eddie Guerrero would have been WWE Champion let alone main eventing Wrestlemania.  Eddie and Kurt created magic that night in Madison Square Garden.

Chris Jericho vs. “The Wrestler” Mickey Rouke – Wrestlemania 25

Jericho had headlined Wrestlemania 18 with Triple H, wrestled HBK and competed in Money in the Bank.  After his confrontation with Mickey Rouke on Larry King Live everyone wanted to see them go at it as a “special attraction” at Wrestlemania 25.    While it wasn’t the “promoted” match, it did happen.

The Battle of the Billionaires – Hair vs. Hair – Wrestlemania 23

Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga with Donald Trump & Vince McMahon’s  hair on the line.  While not a “five-star” classic, this match propelled that Wrestlemania to the biggest buyrate in WWE history.   It had all the combustible elements that create buzz.

Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage – Wrestlemania 3

On a card headlined by Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, this match captured the imagination of every wrestling fan with the drama and excitement it created.   I watched it on closed-circuit at the Philadelphia Spectrum and everyone there reacted as if they were there live.

John Cena vs. Triple H – Wrestlemania 22

Big production entrances.  An electric Chicago crowd that was pro-Triple H.  Cena having to prove himself in his first real Wrestlemania Main Event.  Even the hype videos added to the big fight feel.

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 25 & 26

It was the match of the year in back to back years.  Last year, the match signaled the end of the great career of Shawn Michaels.  As far as impact on the legacy of Wrestlemania, these two matches will stand the test of time.

Hogan vs. The Rock – Wrestlemania 18

Two of the biggest stars in the history of the business going face to face for the first time.  Yep that is a match that feels like Wrestlemania.  The fans in Toronto added another level to the match and it still a moment I’ll never forget being there live.

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart – Wrestlemania 13

This might be the most important match in the history of Wrestlemania. Austin and Bret Hart swapped places as who the fans loved and hated.  The match cemented Austin as the anti-hero of the WWE Attitude era.

Disagree with my list?  Feel like there is a better combination for your own Superbowl of Wrestlemania card?  Post your card in the comments below.

David Lagana / IWantWrestling.com

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The Royal Rumble Changes Everything!

The NFL has a playoff system that leads to the SuperBowl.  The WWE has the Royal Rumble that leads to Wrestlemania.  It’s a chance for everything in WWE to change in one night.  Fans can really “expect the unexpected.  It’s the match that allows a new course, a new direction to be set.  Everything that makes wrestling amazing in one match.

My love affair with the Royal Rumble started when I saw it live for the first time.  In the winter of 1994 during my freshman year at Emerson College, I boarded a Greyhound bus with another passionate wrestling fan Chris Garcia and went from Boston to Providence, Rhode Island to see the Royal Rumble.  On that night, Owen Hart turned his back on his brother Bret, The Undertaker rose to the heavens after being destroyed by every bad guy on the roster, and a controversial decision in the Royal Rumble match left Bret Hart and Lex Luger “co-winners”.  Here we are nearly seventeen years later, I still remember three important things from that event.   It changed everything that year and set the tone for the WWE in 1994.

Eleven years later, I was lucky enough to be on the other side of the curtain.   And witnessed the power of the event and how everything in the WWE changed again.  I recently spoke about this event in detail with John Pollock of the LAW.  Hear it here.  The event featured one of the more unique commercials in WWE history.  Production note – the only superstar who didn’t wear a wig in the shoot was JBL.

This was a time back when certain things remained special in the company.  The Royal Rumble was one of the events that Smackdown and Raw talent could interact.  This is an example of that interaction when John Cena crossed paths with Christian.

The fate of the WWE for the remainder of the decade was shaped in one match.  You might call it hyperbole, but look at some of these things that happened during that match.

1. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.

Just a year after they both ascended to the top in WWE to stand in the middle of the ring as champions at Wrestlemania 20, they started this Rumble match.  It was an interesting idea that was exciting to the fan in me because the year before Benoit had lasted the whole Rumble to win.  Both had so much to prove to get back to the mountain top.  It was a great story and started the match beautifully.  Sadly we know the reality that happened in the future and how tragic it became.

2. Edge’s ascension

Edge broke through in 2005/2006.  Winning Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania 21 and then cashing it to kick off 2006.  He caused an immediate spike in ratings and became a top guy.  But it was here in this Royal Rumble match that he eliminated the most superstars and started his career year with a bang.

3. Cena and Batista

When WWE decides to go with a guy and stick with them, it usually pays off huge.  In 2005, WWE decided to captain both of its brands with two heros. RAW was going to be led by Batista who the fans were clamoring to break away from Triple H.  Smackdown was going to be led by the brash anti-hero John Cena.  This Royal Rumble match was to crown one of them and stamp his ticket to Wrestlemania.   Later that year, when UPN decided to switch Smackdown to Fridays a decision was made to switch John Cena and Batista on their respective brands.  They would both be “the man” but just in new homes.

But on this night, a late decision was made to have these two face off as the last two men in the match.  Could it split the audience?  Was it the best thing?  It was a moment though.

4. Mr. McMahon

The moment between Bastista and Cena lead to an appearance from Mr. McMahon.  This was supposed to be Batista’s night.  Speculation has it that Batista had his bell rung by a punch by Cena and when he went to throw out Cena, they both tumbled to the floor causing chaos. The PPV time window was expiring quickly.  There was a call for either Eric Bischoff or Teddy Long, the respective GMs, to go out and restart the match but due to the size of the arena in Fresno they were not close enough.  Vince McMahon got up from the production table where he had sat for nearly three hours.

We all had stopped and looked at the screen not knowing what had happened; I don’t think we were alone with anyone watching that day.  He hadn’t stretched, he hadn’t warmed up.  And here he sat in the middle of the ring; the main event of Wrestlemania hanging in the balance and time ticking down on the broadcast.  From that position, Vince McMahon was able to render his decision for the live house and restart the match.  Batista quickly threw Cena out of the ring to make sure the audience at home saw the conclusion.  But what the audience didn’t see was Vince McMahon, full of pride, walk to backstage area.

Vince had torn both of his quads and in an instant was gone from the on-site WWE creative process.    Stephanie McMahon,  with no warning and her mind on her father, had to jump right in.  The next day, we produced the first WWE Supershow without him and then boarded a plane to Japan where WWE taped television for the first time ever. It was the fast-forward button on a time when WWE would exist without Vince McMahon.  Six years later, people still speculate when that will be and what will happen.

The Royal Rumble can truly change the course for the WWE.  I’m excited to watch the event on Sunday.  I’d love to hear more examples of Rumbles in the past that changed the course of WWE.

Please send any feedback via Twitter or Facebook.  If you’d like to contact me please Email Me .  And don’t forget to voice your opinion on Twitter whenever you’re discussing what you want out of wrestling.  #IWantWrestling