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WWE’s Greatest Moments - Season 3 Episode 4 - Debuts of the '90s
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00:01Tremendous newcomer here to the World Wrestling Federation, making his debut!
00:05I never heard of him!
00:06Holy cow!
00:09There's nothing like a first impression.
00:10To go from a nobody to a somebody.
00:13In an instant.
00:14What a debut for Bill Goldberg!
00:16From a unique presentation.
00:18This is the greatest day that professional wrestling has ever seen.
00:23To a startling entrance.
00:24Wait a minute! My God, King! My God! That's Paul White!
00:28To a harrowing display of power.
00:31Oh, my God! He just ripped the door off its hinges!
00:34Today, we look back at some of the most dazzling debuts of the 1990s.
00:39Unbelievable!
00:40This is WWE's Greatest Moments.
00:45He's your son of a man!
00:48Oh, my God! What the hell are you doing?
00:52Absolutely unbelievable!
00:53Oh, my baby, I'm in Israel!
01:02Welcome, everyone, to WWE's Greatest Moments.
01:05I'm Michael Cole.
01:06And on this edition, we're taking a look back at the most spectacular debuts of the 1990s.
01:11Look at that! Who is he?
01:13There was no decade more distinctive as the 90s ushered in some of the most celebrated icons WWE has ever
01:20seen.
01:22And our first moment is no exception.
01:24The grandson of Peter Maivia.
01:26The son of Rocky Johnson.
01:28Rocky Maivia was Sports Entertainment's first ever third-generation superstar.
01:33This guy could be the standard bearer for years to come.
01:37With such a deep wrestling pedigree, Maivia had big shoes to fill in his debut at the 1996 Survivor Series,
01:44taking place at Madison Square Garden.
01:46I just want to give 110% effort, and I don't want to let my teammates down, and hopefully I
01:50can do something tonight that would really make my family proud.
01:56Rocky Maivia!
01:58There's gonna be the man right there! That's Blue Chipper, right there!
02:01When you think about debuts, there are only a few that you really think about being, like, a huge deal
02:08when it happened.
02:09Rocky Maivia, it stood out. It jumped off the page.
02:13Oh! He's 6'5", 275!
02:16Where's Rocky Maivia?
02:17Good-looking kid. Good physique. Athletic.
02:22That's now the rookie. Rocky Maivia is left with two men on one.
02:27Flying mighty pass. Take off. Woo!
02:31Survivor Series was more than just an event. It was a hell of a learning experience.
02:35And, yeah!
02:38One, two, I can't believe! Rocky!
02:42And, on top of that, I win the whole thing.
02:49The Nature Boy, Ric Flair, had spent nearly two decades wrestling all over the world for various promotions, becoming one
02:56of the biggest names in professional wrestling.
02:58You see, I wrestle the top guys! Night in and night out!
03:02In 1991, Ric Flair was an eight-time and current, that's right, current, WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
03:09There is only one World Heavyweight Champion.
03:15A dispute with the company brought the Nature Boy to WWE and led to one of the most controversial debuts
03:21ever.
03:24I have here the belt that belongs to the greatest World Heavyweight Champion in the history of wrestling.
03:30The real World Champion, Ric Flair.
03:33I talked to Vince McMahon and said, I will come if you want me. He said, I don't believe you.
03:38He said, I got the belt. He said, send it and I'll believe you. I overnighted it to him.
03:43The man that has made everyone in the World Wrestling Federation shake.
03:49The audience for Primetime at that time, which was cable on USA Network, was larger than our syndicated audiences. So
03:58we did it to the largest audience first.
04:00The real World Champion, Ric Flair.
04:07To people that were wrestling fans, not just like WWE fans, it was huge.
04:15The real World Heavyweight Champion was going to be coming to the WWF.
04:25Well, lo and behold, did you think it wasn't going to happen?
04:28That was really huge. That could be one of about three moments when I come here.
04:32I'm Ric Flair and I'm the real World Champion.
04:39In 1996, American Kurt Angle shocked the world when he won the Olympic gold medal as a freestyle wrestler.
04:46Angle then became the most sought after athlete in professional wrestling.
04:50Finally, three years later in 1999, WWE signed the most coveted athlete in the nation.
04:56I do respect the athletic ability of the superstars in the WWF.
05:00And I'm sure some of them could have competed on the Olympic level.
05:03But I believe you have to have a little extra something to win the Olympic gold.
05:07Angle would make his official in-ring debut at Survivor Series,
05:10where he'd teach us all a little lesson about respect.
05:17Making his World Wrestling Federation debut,
05:20the most celebrated real athlete in WWF history, Kurt Angle!
05:30He knows championships. He knows Olympics.
05:33Being a legitimate Olympic gold medalist, you can really do anything.
05:38I don't believe when I started that WWE was looking for Kurt Angle to have a huge connection with the
05:44fans.
05:46Uh-oh, wow! Nice waist-lock takedown by Kurt Angle.
05:50I think they were thinking that I was going to be more of a wrestler that would get in the
05:54ring and have some great matches.
05:56This is a different style of WWF competition than we're used to seeing, King, quite frankly.
06:02They're showing you that this guy can do the wrestling aspect of it.
06:06A lot of these people, they're probably not exactly with this style of wrestling that Kurt Angle does.
06:12This was a time where breaking the rules was cool.
06:16Me being a baby-faced gold medalist, I said, there's no way in hell they're going to boo me.
06:21You do not boo Olympic gold medals! I'm the best in the world!
06:27I came here for you! You do not boo me!
06:32It was the right time to initiate what would be perhaps the top heel in the business eventually.
06:39Angle with a modified slam, a fall away.
06:42Oh, beautiful!
06:44You do not boo an Olympic gold medalist! You have respect for an Olympic gold medalist!
06:49There is no better storytelling device in all of professional wrestling than that of the vignette.
06:54Oh, dust!
06:56A vignette is a video segment used to build excitement outside of the ring,
07:00showcasing a wrestler's persona and background.
07:04Throughout the 1990s, nobody's vignettes were as dark, chilling, or mysterious
07:09than the character known as Mankind.
07:13Holy Mankind!
07:15Could be this evil?
07:17The WWE Universe had never seen a superstar as eerie and complex as the deranged one.
07:23Coming down the aisle, Mankind!
07:27The impact of his first night on RAW would send shockwaves throughout WWE.
07:35Look at this! Look at this! Look at this!
08:02Incapacitating him with the mandible claw, it was a big deal,
08:05but not as big a deal as coming out later in the show.
08:13The Undertaker character, it was so strong,
08:17and they'd line him up, and I went through him,
08:19but this guy's willing to hurt himself just to hurt you a little bit.
08:24Look out! Down below! Look out!
08:26Oh, my gosh!
08:28Then Mankind puts the claw on me.
08:31It definitely made an impression
08:33because it was something that people really hadn't seen a lot.
08:37The Undertaker, big hand hammered by Mankind!
08:40To vanquish Bob Holly and then put The Undertaker
08:44on his back with the mandible claw, that was a big night.
08:47We knew he'd be deranged, but not this sick!
08:54The 1990s brought us heartbreakers, rattlesnakes, and even Amazons.
08:59But there was only one sports entertainer who brought the total package.
09:03This is the total package, Lex Luger!
09:08Nobody had a physique quite like Lex Luger.
09:11At the 1993 Royal Rumble, silver-tongued Hall of Famer Bobby the Brain Heenan
09:15would introduce the WWE Universe to the Narcissist.
09:22The greatest specimen walking on Earth!
09:26It's an honor to introduce and to unveil
09:31Narcissus, Lex Luger!
09:35On my actual debut at the Royal Rumble, it was nerve-wracking, but at the same time, it was exhilarating.
09:43Oh, yeah! Look at that! Look at that! You have a reason to love yourself! You have a reason! You
09:51are truly the Narcissus!
09:52Lex never met a mirror he didn't like, and had a very narcissistic personality.
09:59I didn't even know what the hell a narcissist was until we met Lex Luger.
10:03Everybody here, which is Betty looked like Lex Luger!
10:07Yeah, he was full of himself, and he had every right to be. He was the total package.
10:12I truly am incredible! This is history in the making!
10:21That whole, I'm perfect and in love with myself, I guess you asked a lot of rushes back then,
10:26it fit my personality back then pretty well.
10:28You have been part of history! This is what it's all about!
10:32The Narcissus Lex Luger!
10:38The 1990s brought us one of the most heated rivalries in all of sports entertainment.
10:43Stone Cold Steve Austin and the boss, Mr. McMahon.
10:48You can kiss my a**!
10:53But it was at St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1999 when they clashed inside a dreaded steel cage
11:00that would truly remain unforgettable.
11:03The boss would do just about anything to win, including enlisting the help of a giant.
11:13Mr. McMahon has insane hatred for Stone Cold.
11:16Stone Cold versus Mr. McMahon was the best of all time.
11:20Into the steel cage!
11:23Oh my God!
11:24Don't worry, this ain't over yet!
11:26Can we go now?
11:27He's gotta be 20 feet off the floor cap!
11:29No!
11:30No!
11:31Mr. McMahon!
11:32How much more can the boss take, King?
11:35You couldn't possibly get any more eyeballs on that ring than right then.
11:42Oh no!
11:43No!
11:44Stunner!
11:45Stunner!
11:45Stunner!
11:46He made me dead!
11:48Wait a minute!
11:49My God, King!
11:50My God!
11:51That's Paul White!
11:53When I came in in 99, I gave Stone Cold Steve Austin the run for his money.
11:58King!
11:59He's huge!
12:00This guy's gonna be over seven feet tall!
12:02Big Show came straight up, like, from hell.
12:05You knew the boss had to have something up his sleeve!
12:09This is the largest athlete in the world, now a part of world wrestling entertainment.
12:18Look at that!
12:20He's colossal!
12:25Money is power.
12:27Sentiment that the Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, had been preaching his entire charmed
12:31life.
12:32Money isn't everything!
12:33It's the only thing!
12:35In 1990, when it came time for the Million Dollar Man to find a tag team partner at Survivor
12:39Series, he went all out, purchased one of the biggest, strongest, and otherworldly
12:44superstars WWE had ever seen.
12:49We got an ace up our sleeve.
12:52He's the mystery partner, and I promise this to be a big, very big,
12:56surprise!
12:57Survivor Series, 1990.
12:59Nobody knew what to expect.
13:02I will introduce to you now my mystery partner from Death Valley.
13:08I give you The Undertaker!
13:11The Undertaker!
13:12The mystery partner is now revealed!
13:15I never heard of him!
13:16Oh, take home!
13:17Holy cow!
13:18Look at the size of that ham hock!
13:22His entrance, watching that from the ring is just impressive, especially the first time.
13:29320 pounds!
13:31Looks to be 6'9", 6'10", somewhere in that neighborhood, Rod!
13:36Those slow, methodical movements, the composure, and everything was by design when he made his
13:43debut was very powerful.
13:45The hardest thing to do is to walk that slow and be that ominous character when on the inside,
13:52man, I am just bouncing off my internal walls.
13:55The Harts and Rhodes and Coco gotta be just trying to figure out what's going on here.
14:03It was a different vibe hit the arena as soon as I came out.
14:08You knew that it was gonna have a major impact in WWE.
14:12How on earth are you gonna stop this guy?
14:17In 1999, the global public grew worrisome with the Y2K bug, a feared computer glitch that
14:25had the potential to crash all processing systems when the calendar changed to the new millennium.
14:30So when a mysterious countdown clock began appearing throughout WWE programming, it sparked
14:36wild speculation throughout the world of sports entertainment.
14:39What was it counting down to?
14:41And what would happen when the clock finally hit zero?
14:45It's counting down! Tonight, we're finally gonna unravel the mystery!
14:49We're gonna find out the significance of the new millennium clock!
14:55Tonight, in front of all The Rock's fans, you will go one-on-one with the Great One!
15:03The Rock is in the ring.
15:05Tonight, the Big Ten count comes on.
15:07Two!
15:08One!
15:09The lights go out!
15:17One!
15:20One!
15:21One!
15:22One!
15:24Two!
15:27One!
15:28One!
15:30One!
15:30...light, spotlight, arms out, and Chicago loses it!
15:37People go crazy. I went crazy. I remember watching it at home.
15:41Welcome to Raw is Jericho!
15:47I was standing in a post office.
15:50Had this sign that said, Countdown to the New Millennium.
15:53It'd be a great way for me to come in the WWE.
15:55Chris Jericho has come to save the WWF!
16:01Grafted it so beautifully.
16:04Has there been a better debut?
16:06I hate to sound egotistical, but I don't think so.
16:09And now that the Y2J problem is here,
16:13this company will never, ever be the same again!
16:22WWE's greatest hero throughout the 1980s was none other than the immortal one, Hulk Hogan.
16:27Train! Say your prayers! Eat your vitamins! And believe in yourself, brother!
16:33In 1994, the Hulkster decided to leave WWE and join rival promotion WCW.
16:39Red and yellow still ran through the veins of millions of Hulkamaniacs around the globe.
16:43And what better way to welcome in wrestling royalty than with a parade fit for a king?
16:53Fans all over the world. Thousands of them here at Disney MGM Studios as Hulk Hogan makes his way for
16:59the official signing of his contract with WCW.
17:03When I moved our syndicated shows to the Disney MGM lot, we had access to the back lot.
17:10We knew that bringing Hulk Hogan, we wanted it to feel as big and as important as we possibly could.
17:15So we came up with the idea of staging a parade.
17:18This is the greatest day that professional wrestling has ever seen.
17:23We were able to put it together with Disney and make it look good.
17:25All those people that were there, they weren't hired extras or anything else.
17:28They were part guests.
17:31Welcome Hulk Hogan!
17:34I didn't know how powerful Hulkamania was at the time.
17:37It made everybody look in Mount Lithoway.
17:40So you could feel people were interested in what we were going to do.
17:43Well, you know something, Mean Gene? I told you!
17:46Hulkamania was going to run wild in the WCW, brother!
17:49For Hulk to make that move and leave WWE and come to WCW was one hell of a big statement.
17:57And we wanted to squeeze every ounce of energy that we possibly could out of it
18:02and make it feel like a bigger deal than it already was.
18:05And what you gonna do, Mean Gene, when hot maniacs run wild on the WCW, brother?
18:11It's now time for our number one moment.
18:14And it's one that the WWE Universe will never forget.
18:17There was no force in all of WWE quite like The Undertaker.
18:22The dead man overpowered his opponents with supernatural strength
18:25and struck fear into awe with his intimidated exposition.
18:29But did you know that The Undertaker had a brother?
18:33The Phenom's former manager, Paul Bearer, revealed to him
18:36that his long-lost sibling was coming to attack him.
18:40He is alive, Undertaker!
18:43The only questions left unanswered were when and how.
18:50We're just about ready for Hell in the Cell.
18:54So Bad Blood was gonna be the, kind of the blow-off match between Shawn and I.
18:59The Cell itself just came, again, as an idea of wanting to have something bigger than just a regular cage
19:06match.
19:06This is truly Hell in a Cell for Shawn Michaels!
19:10Oh, and by the way, the blow-off was, you know, the introduction of Undertaker's brother.
19:14It's all over!
19:16Now we'll come to Tombstone!
19:18No.
19:22Oh my God!
19:23Wait a minute!
19:24It's Paul Bear!
19:25That's gotta be...
19:27That's gotta be Kane!
19:28That whole match was actually built around my debut.
19:33Oh my God!
19:34He just ripped the door off its hinges!
19:36You can see it in my eyes, like, holy crap.
19:40This is my brother that I thought was dead.
19:44The Undertaker!
19:45Looking into the eyes of that giant who stands in front of him!
19:50Probably one of the coolest debuts I've seen.
19:53Undertaker!
19:54Set up for the tombstone!
19:56Driven down to the canvas!
19:57It was almost like, wow, you just hit a home run in the World Series.
20:03Paul Bear said that Kane was alive, and now we know he is!
20:08It just had to be Kane!
20:10That's gotta be Kane!
20:12This countdown just goes to show you never know who might walk out on that stage at any given moment
20:17and make professional wrestling history.
20:20Well, that'll do it for this edition of WWE's Greatest Moments.
20:23I hope you've enjoyed this look back at some of the biggest debuts
20:26from one of the most exciting times in professional wrestling,
20:29the 1990s.