• OLD SCHOOL HISTORY (March 19, 2001) – WWF RAW IS WAR
On this day in 2001, the World Wrestling Federation aired another LIVE episode of their weekly TV show ‘WWF RAW IS WAR’.
It was broadcasted from the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York and featured matches, interviews & segments, on the road to the ‘WWF WrestleMania X-Seven’ PPV.
Here’s the card:
1. WWF Hardcore Title: Raven vs. The Big Show
2. WWF World Tag Titles: Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz
3. Steven Richards vs. Tazz
4. WWF European Title: Test vs. Triple H
5. Justin Credible & X-Pac vs. Grandmaster Sexay & Steve Blackman
6. WWF World Tag Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. Christian & Edge
7. Handicap Match: Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle & William Regal vs. Chris Jericho & The Rock
• Real Reason Why King Kong Bundy Isn’t In The WWE Hall Of Fame
During a recent edition of House of Hardcore Podcast, ECW Legend Tommy Dreamer talked about King Kong Bundy’s issues with WWE and Vince McMahon.
Below is what Dreamer said:
“I’m working in Talent Relations for WWE. This is when Randy Orton was doing the ‘Legend Killer’ and he is going into a feud with The Undertaker. For Atlanta, Georgia, they wanted someone out of the Undertaker’s past to do something and show up. So, it had to be a heel.
So we are all thinking and they ask, creative would shoot an e-mail to Talent Relations for suggestions. So, I’m going through my Rolodex brain of all these guys. I was like ‘Ted DiBiase, King Kong Bundy, Jimmy Snuka’ I don’t remember the rest. It came back ‘Man, King Kong Bundy would be a great idea, do you have information for him?’ I said ‘I could get it.’
Now, I gotta explain something to you in WWE. When you are behind the scenes like that, sometimes, this was on a Thursday, when they come up with a creative idea, and they ask you to contact this person. It feels like if you’re the person doing that job, and you have whole different departments, it’s like the stock market will stop. The WWE will shut down until you hear back from King Kong Bundy.
So I make the call and 15 minutes go by, 30 minutes go by. Then you start getting texts, ‘Anything?’ so, I got nothing… Now John [Laurainitis] is like ‘Anything, Anything?’
I was like ‘Dude, I left him a message.’ He’s like ‘you have his cell phone number?’ I was like ‘I have one number, that’s how I got him.’ Next day, I come back to my office, I sit down and I see my thing is flashing.
Then I get the message. ‘Hey Dreamer, it’s Chris Bundy man. How are you doing?’ I have to backtrack and tell you the message I left him. I was like ‘Hey Chris, it’s Tommy Dreamer. I hope you are doing well. I work in WWE now with talent relations. We have a creative idea for you, if you’re interested.’ and I left my number.
Fast forward to the next day. ‘Hey Tommy, it’s Chris Bundy man. How are you doing? Congratulations on the spot. Hey man, this is not on you. I’ve always been cool with you, always been friends with you. I need you to relay this message to WWE. Especially to Vince McMahon. Number one, you need to tell him that he needs to pay me the money that he owes me. Number two, unless there is a creative idea for me winning the title, I have no interest in it, because he promised me the title when I put over Hulk Hogan, and he never delivered. So please go tell him to go f*ck himself. Tommy I love you, remember when I wanted to be your brother? Take care brother.’
So, I’m not the most politically correct person, so I send out an email that is copied to everyone in WWE. This is to Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, Michael Hayes, Stephanie McMahon, John Laurinaitis. I said ‘King Kong Bundy has reached out and declined the offer.’ and I get ‘what did he say?’ and I say ‘he was not too happy with the current climate of WWE’ and then I got ‘what did he say?’
Then I was like alright. I said exactly what he said. Number one, he wants the money he was owed. Number two, unless we have the idea to put the title on him, he has no interest and to tell Vince to go f*ck himself.
Within four minutes of sending that e-mail, here comes John Laurinaitis who is my boss. He goes ‘What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you send that?’ I went ‘What? they kept asking.’ Johnny said “You just told Vince McMahon to go f*ck himself!” I said, ‘I did not tell Vince McMahon to go f*ck himself I said King Kong Bundy told Vince to go f*ck himself.’
Then the reply was from the Chairman, a man’s man. He just wrote back ‘moving forward.’
So that was my King Kong Bundy story. For a lot of people who inquired about why he isn’t a WWE Hall of Famer, apparently, he has some behind the scenes issues.”
