The War Revisited

[blackHEART]

Chapter 24
"The Youth Shown"
Scene: 2007 WCW

Aside from the ongoing legal battles WCW was facing, and discontentment in the locker room, they had another nice year in the ring because of their talent. It was taken over by a lot of the youth on Mondays while the veterans were still there to help. Aside from Scott Hall, who departed from the company in early January and cited retirement for doing so.

ISH's Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal won the tag titles at Starrcade, but the stable would break in half as Orlando Jordan and Tomko would turn on them and eventually play hot potato with the tag belts. And with Scott Hall's retirement, the Endless Hall came to an end as well. Low Ki and Sonjay Dutt entered the tag team division as well, but didn't have much success, while Mabel was briefly used in the main event scene, but never captured the world title.

Randy Orton held onto the WCW World Heavyweight Championship a couple more months until losing it to Brock Lesnar. Lesnar would outlast the Orton rivalry until he dropped the belt to Sting in a Fatal-4 Way, where Lesnar was not pinned. Lesnar was about to get his rematch against Sting when Lesnar tore his bicep, and this is when they placed Mabel in Sting's way. Sting was able to get past Mabel, then AJ Styles, and Triple H came by for his sixth reign. Triple H would hold onto the title through Starrcade, defeating Randy Orton.

Triple H was apparently paired with the world title because of his continuous threats of leaving the company. There's no confirmation of this, but he has been irate with the company since letting Shawn Michaels walk. It's said to have gotten worse since Scott Hall retired at the beginning of 2007.

Since the contracts of Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall were unloaded, they put most of that money into helping with the legal concerns. WCW also brought in some new youth, such as Nigel McGuinness, Austin Aries, Kaz, Eric Young, and Ron Killings. They also brought back Scott Steiner and he played a significant role in putting AJ Styles over at Starrcade.

With WCW signing some young talent, they are hoping to bring fresh air into the locker room headed into the 2008 year.


WCW World Heavyweight Championship Title History

Holder	Reign	Date won	Date lost	Days held
Ric Flair	4	February 11, 1996	June 16, 1996	126 days
Hulk Hogan	2	June 16, 1996	September 15, 1996	91 days
Lex Luger	2	September 15, 1996	December 29, 1996	105 days
Sting	3	December 29, 1996	April 14, 1997	106 days
Roddy Piper	1	April 14, 1997	July 28, 1997	105 days
Ric Flair	5	July 28, 1997	September 14, 1997	48 days
Scott Hall	1	September 14, 1997	October 26, 1997	42 days
Dean Malenko	1	October 26, 1997	December 28, 1997	63 days
Scott Hall	2	December 28, 1997	May 17, 1998	140 days
Chris Benoit	1	May 17, 1998	July 12, 1998	56 days
Scott Hall	3	July 12, 1998	October 25, 1998	105 days
Sting	4	October 25, 1998	December 27, 1998	63 days
Roddy Piper	2	December 27, 1998	March 14, 1999	77 days
Cactus Jack	1	March 14, 1999	July 19, 1999	127 days
Scott Hall	4	July 19, 1999	September 12, 1999	55 days
Chris Benoit	2	September 12, 1999	October 25, 1999	43 days
Roddy Piper	3	October 25, 1999	December 19, 1999	55 days
Lex Luger	3	December 19, 1999	February 21, 2000	64 days
Scott Steiner	1	February 21, 2000	April 24, 2000	63 days
Owen Hart	1	April 24, 2000	July 9, 2000	76 days
Chris Benoit	3	July 9, 2000	November 26, 2000	140 days
Sting	5	November 26, 2000	April 15, 2001	147 days
Triple H	1	April 15, 2001	January 14, 2002	274 days
Owen Hart	2	January 14, 2002	March 24, 2002	69 days
Triple H	2	March 24, 2002	September 15, 2002	175 days
Chris Benoit	4	September 15, 2002	December 22, 2002	98 days
Shawn Michaels	1	December 22, 2002	April 27, 2003	126 days
Scott Hall	5	April 27, 2003	July 20, 2003	84 days
Triple H	3	July 20, 2003	October 6, 2003	78 days
Sting	6	October 6, 2003	March 22, 2004	168 days
Shawn Michaels	2	March 22, 2004	April 25, 2004	34 days
Sting	7	April 25, 2004	July 4, 2004	70 days
Brock Lesnar	1	July 4, 2004	October 30, 2005	483 days
Triple H	4	October 30, 2005	February 20, 2006	113 days
Booker T	1	February 20, 2006	April 9, 2006	48 days
Triple H	5	April 9, 2006	August 27, 2006	140 days
Randy Orton	1	August 27, 2006	December 10, 2006	105 days
Rob Van Dam	1	December 10, 2006	December 11, 2006	1 day
Randy Orton	2	December 11, 2006	February 25, 2007	76 days
Brock Lesnar	2	February 25, 2007	July 9, 2007	134 days
Sting	8	July 9, 2007	September 23, 2007	76 days
Triple H	6	September 23, 2007

[blackHEART]

Chapter 25
"Setting Us Apart"
Scene: 2008 WWF

While rival company WCW continued to struggle, the WWF went into its peak. WrestleMania 24 was one to remember. Kane won the fifth annual Money in the Bank Ladder Match, defeating Bob Holly, Carlito, Kurt Angle, Matt Hardy, and Shelton Benjamin. There was a triple threat tag team match, as America's Most Wanted won the titles up against One Body and the incumbent champions Bobby Rude and Jeff Jarrett. We saw the return of "Mankind" for one night as he defeated Mr. Kennedy, topping off a great feud by them. Eddie Guerrero's in-ring career came to an end as a result of losing to Rey Mysterio, one who is reluctant about doing so. Shawn Michaels would top Chris Jericho in perhaps the best match of the evening. Johnny Nitro retained his Intercontinental Championship in a Fatal-4 Way against Batista, Edge, and Raven. And after his return in February, The Undertaker avenged Abyss for taking him out and extended his record at WrestleMania to 17-0. While for the main event, John Cena would capitalize on his Royal Rumble victory and defeat The Rock for the WWF Championship, marking his first world title since 2006.

The celebration was short lived, however, for John Cena. After Cena topped The Rock one more time, The Undertaker set his sights on him. In one of the more remarkable runs in WWF history, Cena's wins over The Rock (twice) and The Undertaker, he was immediately dethroned by Kane, who cashed in Money in the Bank immediately after his match with Undertaker. Kane's reign would survive John Cena's rematch, but would eventually lose it to Batista. Batista had a decent run before a torn quad would force The Animal to relinquish the belt.

The depth on this roster is at an all-time high. After WrestleMania, the company would sever ties with Foley and in addition to Eddie Guerrero's retirement, the product didn't suffer much with the return of CM Punk and Christian from their respective injuries, as well as the debut of Kenny Dykstra. We saw Rude and Jarrett split, as tensions flared and the two feuded for the next couple of months. Guys like Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Edge contributed to the main event scene while contributing in the mid-card range as well. And paying dues in the mid-card scene, Kurt Angle finished 2008 on top, thanks to Stephanie McMahon forcing Cena to put the WWF Championship on the line in a battle royal on the final episode of Raw.

As far as the women, they took another role. The WWF opted to make a women's division and this is when Christy Hemme broke things off with Eugene to pursue an in-ring career. The WWF would sign talent such as Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Gail Kim, and independent long-stay Lita. They wrestled for a couple months before announcing the inaugural champion being crowned at Survivor Series, in which Johnny Nitro aided Melina this honor.

No matter what went on in the ring, 2008 will always be remembered in wrestling history based on the magnitude of one announcement that would shock the world forever.

WWF Championship Title History

Holder	Reign	Date won	Date lost	Days held
Shawn Michaels	1	March 31, 1996	June 23, 1996	84 days
Diesel	2	June 23, 1996	December 15, 1996	175 days
Bret Hart	4	December 15, 1996	March 23, 1997	98 days
Diesel	3	March 23, 1997	August 3, 1997	133 days
The Undertaker	2	August 3, 1997	October 5, 1997	63 days
Shawn Michaels	2	October 5, 1997	November 9, 1997	35 days
Stone Cold Steve Austin	1	November 9, 1997	April 26, 1998	168 days
Diesel	4	April 26, 1998	August 31, 1998	127 days
Hunter Hurst Helmsley	1	August 31, 1998	November 15, 1998	76 days
The Undertaker	3	November 15, 1998	January 24, 1999	70 days
Stone Cold Steve Austin	2	January 24, 1999	May 23, 1999	119 days
The Rock	1	May 23, 1999	July 25, 1999	63 days
Stone Cold Steve Austin	3	July 25, 1999	August 22, 1999	28 days
The Rock	2	August 22, 1999	October 2, 1999	41 days
Diesel	5	October 2, 1999	January 3, 2000	93 days
Kane	1	January 3, 2000	April 2, 2000	90 days
The Undertaker	4	April 2, 2000	September 24, 2000	175 days
Stone Cold Steve Austin	4	September 24, 2000	July 22, 2001	301 days
The Rock	3	July 22, 2001	November 19, 2001	120 days
Stone Cold Steve Austin	5	November 19, 2001	January 20, 2002	62 days
The Rock	4	January 20, 2002	April 21, 2002	91 days
Stone Cold Steve Austin	6	April 21, 2002	June 23, 2002	63 days
The Rock	5	June 23, 2002	September 30, 2002	99 days
Chris Jericho	1	September 30, 2002	October 20, 2002	20 days
The Rock	6	October 20, 2002	March 30, 2003	161 days
Bill Goldberg	1	March 30, 2003	June 15, 2003	77 days
Chris Jericho	2	June 15, 2003	August 24, 2003	70 days
The Undertaker	5	August 24, 2003	October 27, 2003	64 days
Kurt Angle	1	October 27, 2003	March 14, 2004	139 days
The Undertaker	6	March 14, 2004	July 11, 2004	119 days
Eddie Guerrero	1	July 11, 2004	October 5, 2004	86 days
Bill Goldberg	2	October 5, 2004	December 28, 2004	84 days
Kane	2	December 28, 2004	April 3, 2005	96 days
John Cena	1	April 3, 2005	May 1, 2005	28 days
Kane	3	May 1, 2005	May 22, 2005	21 days
John Cena	2	May 22, 2005	August 21, 2005	91 days
The Rock	7	August 21, 2005	November 27, 2005	98 days
Kurt Angle	2	November 27, 2005	November 27, 2005	<1 day
Edge	1	November 27, 2005	April 2, 2006	126 days
John Cena	3	April 2, 2006	September 19, 2006	170 days
Chris Jericho	3	September 19, 2006	October 15, 2006	26 days
Kurt Angle	3	October 15, 2006	December 5, 2006	51 days
Edge	2	December 5, 2006	April 1, 2007	117 days
Batista	1	April 1, 2007	June 24, 2007	84 days
Chris Jericho	4	June 24, 2007	August 26, 2007	63 days
Shawn Michaels	3	August 26, 2007	November 18, 2007	84 days
The Rock	8	November 18, 2007	March 30, 2008	133 days
John Cena	4	March 30, 2008	May 18, 2008	49 days
Kane	4	May 18, 2008	July 20, 2008	63 days
Batista	2	July 20, 2008	September 15, 2008	57 days
Vacant	-	September 15, 2008	October 6, 2008	21 days
John Cena	5	October 6, 2008	December 29, 2008	84 days
Kurt Angle	4	December 29, 2008