The ESPN WWF "Hatchet Job" - Pro Wrestling's Hold on America 

Happy New Year to you all thanks for another great year loved every video u put together best wishes to u all and looking for to another great wrestling bios year to come

Happy New Year! 🍻🍻

Hny from vancouver canada

Happy New Year My Friend

Happy New Year to you too. Hope to enjoy more of the War. Thanks to your contribution to wrestling history.

Was Bruno holding the sign?

LMAO

I know...my mind is blown

God damn how could they destroy everything I believed to be true?

Wait, Mr. Rock’s first name isn’t really “The?”

@@tims4502 You too must admit that "Bulging" is not really a Pg First Name. But don't be fouled, this is his stage name, every body have a stage name, no?

There have also been numerous incidents in the NFL of players having severe brain damage from concussions and even some murders similar to what happened with Benoit.

lol i was scrolling through your comments right when he said this

Shouldn't that actually be what his wife's making? XD

Puntang pie

How old are you?

@@DopeyDetector Me? I'm 39 years old. I was making an off-color joke riffing on "the kind of pie Rock serves", because "Poontang" IS slang for a female vagina, so it's obvious what "Poontang Pie" is made from.

And yet ESPN thinks it's the babyface in all of this

This made me literally LOL

Dave Meltzer took what ESPN did and dialed it up to a million

Except he lies about the ratings. Raw never came close ever to beating Monday night football

@jabron.destoroyah I went throught that list multiple times. Raw never came close

@@jamesgentry13He never said they did?

Reminds me of a bloody Spike Dudley quoting Shakespeare in Beyond The Mat

When is Rock gonna be asked about being GOP?

Takes you back to good times when the world was an amazing place good memories!

@@scottpearce771 Yep it does.

Rose tinted glasses, these wrestlers were used and abused and dropped dead like fruit flies, exploiting Pillmans death on air to cover themselves, yeah, amazing place so different 😂😂

geedee1264 Aw xD let ‘em have it haha

@geedee1264 Workers around the world get exploited and used everyday in a lot of work places for centuries. Wrestling is nothing new.

Dude, we use to tailgate out in the parking lot several hours before the show and also catch the wrestlers coming into the arena.

@@firewalker1372 those were the days.

yea a rock t shirt or something it was crazy especially compared to now

As if it was our soap operas

whats more insane is its biggger now and it doesn't feel like it

@@carlos_herrerabs

Blame it on Hogan

In the United States, the NFL is by far the # 1 sport by a wide margin. Basketball and Baseball come in at semi-distant 2nds and 3rds (which is crazy since Baseball use to be # 1 in the U.S before the 1994 / 1995 baseball strike. That strike backfired in a huge way). That's very significant since the U.S is the 3rd most populated country in the world AND it's the # 1 biggest country when it comes to revenue spent on entertainment (while China and India have much, much larger populations, India's spending power on entertainment is NOT good at all as most people there don't have enough money and people in China are limited to the amount of entertainment they are allowed to consume per week because of the social credit nonsense). HOWEVER, If we are talking WORLDWIDE, then soccer (futball) is by far the # 1 sport (it's hands down the most popular worldwide by an incredibly wide margin and it makes the most money on a WORLDWIDE scale). Then there are sports that are SUPER popular in certain regions (Hockey is SUPER popular in Canada as it's the # 1 sport in Canada and it's also popular in some parts of Australia and Europe, Cricket is insanely popular in the UK, other sports like tennis, golf, and volleyball are super popular in various specific regions, etc).

If you only knew how carried the NFL, NBA, and NHL have been. The NFL would not have survived the 40's if it wasn't for the gov. Going after other sports more popular than it, and again in the 80's. The MLB wouldn't be here if the gov. Didn't go after video games and pool. The only reason why sports-ball is popular is because the government and t.v. companies have and will go after anything that threatens the "N's". Remember "Ultimate Freesbi"? Remember how popular it got in the 2k, to the point of a talk of a league? Remember the gov. Came in and "talks" happened with the three possible seeders, and then the taxes and regulations made it vanish. Remember X-games and how the gov. tried to shut them down?

The funny thing is that it isn't true... neither WCW or WWF ever once beat Monday Night Football in the ratings, but they were taking away a massive chunk of their audience and caused advertising rates to drop

I agree whataboutism tends to weaken an argument. Buy in the context here--ESPN trying to use steroid use as evident of some sort of moral bankruptcy while at the same time pushing the hell out of the home run race--it absolutely should be on the table. Not for excusing WWE's own actions, which is why whataboutism is a fallacious argument, But in terms of ppinting out the hypocrisy.

A lot of the MLB was juiced. He had a major point. Plus, they had no testing program setup to make sure the players aren't. And the just shrug "oh well".

They had years of history going on big time tv programs especially with Hogan, Macho, and Ric Flair.

How about that

How is London now???😅

😂 Thanks for your backstory! Can't tell you how many times I was suspended for my fandom. Used to bash my head on the desks lol😅

Why do you solicit criminals?

@@Mujanggapimping ain’t easy

LEGEND!!! 😂

I think 😆

Well to be honest it’s kind of hard to ask the opinions of those it didn’t go well for ☠️

@@trippytradingcards7852 Degenerate junkies & gamblers only tell you about the 10% of wins...not the 90% of their losses.

I didn't,..and I didn't even watch much Wrestling

Nahhh we didn't... but who cares! It wasn't their job to parent us!!

Yet now they are in business with WWE to get views for their products.

It wasnt really a documentary. It was a sports investigate journalism show called "Outside the Lines". It covered more serious topics surrounding sports, usually off the field issues. It tried to be an unbiased, professional news program.

@@L_Train Except, because it aired alongside 20/20 on ABC, which also aired Monday Night Football & as "The King" stated, the WWF was at the peak of its mainstream success, whereas Monday Night Football was in the dull drums (so much so that the Empty Arena Match between The Rock & Mankind in 1999 was the literal halftime show of that year's SuperBowl), it couldn't remain unbiased due to ABC trying to jump on the pro wrestling bandwagon.

@@TherealRNOwwfpooh because what? You didn't finish your point. Wwf was up and football was down(kind of) but what does "except, because" have to do anything. If you want a hit piece watch John stossel not otl

@@L_Train 20/20 journalist John Stossel got ear-smacked by "Dr. D" David Schultz at the urging of chairman Mr. McMahon (who encouraged David Schultz to remain in-character after being grilled with the "I think it's fake" accusation, which led to Stossel getting smacked around); However, the questionable journalist was eventually paid through settlement court. My point was, with MNF being down & the WWF being up, ABC was trying to use OTL to jump on the pro wrestling bandwagon, even if detractors still tried to wring the business through the proverbial mud due to its seedier & more salacious elements.

​​@@L_TrainUnbiased?!?!? Not at all, rewatch the last 2 minutes of this "expose". ESPN's Bob Ley is essentially encouraging you the viewer to stop watching wrestling. It's like calling Op-Ed Articles "journalism", just because it's loaded with tons of factual information. Opinion Articles isn't real journalism. They're still covering the story with a slant or an overall agenda.

NYPD Blue as well

NYPD Blue yes, the rest no. We are talking late 90’s, not now. Law and Order came on late at night back then.

Last point. ESPN Outside the Lines had nearly 30 seasons. Why target wrestling? Because it is a ratings magnet. Wrestling fans would watch it. But this series also covered OJ, politicians, Hurricane Katrina, and other topics around sports. This was the first version of 30 for 30. So, I don’t think this was a hit piece. It was a topic to get people to watch. Also wrestling never beat 14.8 ratings on Monday Night Football in 1998.

...but THEN Vince has a pay per view the following month where he KILLS one of his wrestlers!

highly likely they were fed to him by Vince in gorilla

@@lutherheggs451 For sure. Vince was great at hitting back.

Monsoon?

@@nicktaylor2657Gorilla is the area between backstage and the stage entrance. It’s usually Vince, Vince’s right hand man, and typically the person who produced the match getting ready to happen. There are usually a couple of TVs, Vince is on a headset telling Jerry and good ol Jr. what to say.

Sounds like your coach was a hater

D D P... Bang!

I use to do that cross face 😂😂😂

You mean he wasn't feeling the bang?

That's awesome 😅

I always found conventional sports boring. When I was in basic training we were allowed to go to a Spurs game. I was so bored I was wishing I was back on based getting yelled at for something stupid.

It’s even crazier that everyone blames NFL and NBA for low ratings nowadays. That’s how you know it’s not the sports, it’s the product that’s responsible for the low ratings. If people cared they’d watch WWE but they don’t because they fail to draw.

Wrestling was not beating the NFL. The ratings comparison was against cable shows, not network. NFL was on ABC, not cable. And the NFL then, as now, was far more popular and had far higher ratings,

Certain segments beat NFL. It's Meltzer type stuff.

*WWF

When I was quoting this in 2014, it was 5 Is this progress? Lol

Monday Night Football or no, it was a cynical ploy to hop on the wrestling bandwagon for ratings. See also: Wrestling’s Greatest Secrets Revealed.

Why do you hate agreeing with Vince?

@@MarkDaddy69world renowned massive cyunt vince mcmahon?

he wasnt right and you know it

Hardly. Exposing wrestling shitty side is good. And raw never came close to beating Monday night football

I asked the same thing, curious what ol Corey is getting up to now days. Edit: he is on Facebook, still over in Semi Valley Ca.

Simi* ​@@firewalker1372

I remember her scowl at some of his questions

Vince will do ANYTHING to cover his own behind.

@@coreyhall1150There was nothing to cover though. Brian took the drugs on his own and was taking them before he joined WWF. VInce was trying to get ahead of the press that was going to blame him when it actually wasn't his fault this time.

@@chriskay1449 WHAT DO U THINK covering his ass means? You literally just described Vince COVERING HIS OWN ASS by doin what he did. Think before you speak honcho.

Jesus Christ people will justify anything

Yeah but obviously if you're telling teachers to suck it in school, you're going to get in trouble

I use Mr.MacBio as a respectful pronoun.

No chance, heh that's what I've got...to not watch all this man's stuff.

Expanded to BlueChew now.

Not me. I miss the 2000's

@@alesitercrimson24 that's cool too especially the early 2000s

I never cared for Outside the Lines. They always seemed to create controversy for controvery's sake.

@@fka322 "Controvery Creates Cash", the subtitle for Eric Bischoff's autobiography, coincidentally enough.

​@@TherealRNOwwfpooh isn't the main title "grateful" lol?

@@L_Train I wasn't joking, even if though it seemed like it. Eric Bischoff's autobiography IS, quite literally, given the subtitle "Controversy Creates Cash".

@@TherealRNOwwfpooh I know, I find that funny because the actual title is "Grateful" isn't it? Grateful, controversy creates cash.

Saying they tested positive is in no way "career damaging". Hell, he doesn't even have to mention anyone. He can just give a number. He ducked the question because he didn't want to out himself looking the other way.

@@chriskay1449 I'm not referring to what's actually actionable, but I know how cautious corporate lawyers can be and no you cannot just give a number without knowing you are going to have a long session of being asked to name names

@@nicholashurst780 Then he can simply say HIPAA and that will shut them up.

That or college fb, NFL and College FB generate billions a year.

It's more like the NFL (and NBA) added their own "storylines"... Brady vs Manning was their answer to Rock vs Austin and it worked. Chiefs/Taylor Swift are pretty much a soap opera on turf. Plus their own element of backstage drama and yellow journalism. And like WWE, now that all the veterans who made it big have retired, the product is starting to become stale.

Wwe never beat the nfl. Just lawlor talking out of his ass

@@ELRIFLno they were doing that for decades before that. As did every sport

Ken Barlow refused to put over Roy's rolls brother

@@That_Guy- Rosie and Sophie refused to do a bra and panties pillow fight.

I saw that one, it was an excellent in execution

Comedian.

Because nobody in their press cared about drugs since they were in fear of the cartels.

every pro athlete is on something. nothing is clean.

He saw things. 😂😂😂

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday and Happy New year🎉🎉 I'll be turning 34 next month aswell Time flies!!

Happy birthday bruh

@@WrestlingBiosappreciate it!

Oh he definitely is responsible for that.

Like DLo predicted.

Maybe segment by segment. I.E. from 9:15 pm to 9:28 pm Raw had more total viewers then MNF, but I doubt they were beating them handily every week. I was around and remember how big wrestling was and also remember people tossing out that nugget that wrestling was beating MnF and never thought twice about it, but it does seem unlikely.

MNF definitely did see a big ratings decline. It’s why the Sunday night game has eclipsed the Monday nighter.

​@@joedee9811Monday Night football average ratings in 1998 was 13.9. Raw and Nitro were averaging a little above 4 million.

I believe the argument was not that they beat MNF, but that MNF's ratings were going down lower than they had been in the past because they were losing some viewers to WWF.

Yea you’re right raw never beat mnf in the ratings, I believe the caveat that was used was that wwe “meant total ratings for the entire year.” As in more viewers tuned into raw that calendar year than mnf. Which should come as no surprise to anyone since the nfl doesn’t play any Monday night games from January through the 1st week of September…

That is because they used videro footage from those entities. They have to credit them. to be able to use it

Wasn't it mainly because they went public?

​@@NoneofYabiz-rx3ziThat was in 99 iirc. They went PG in the summer of 2008

Thats bs

Everybody has that one kid in their family who did that.

I remember how they tried to cancel wwf and mortal Kombat

You have a big group who's really into pro wrestling and Mortal Kombat you're not going to cancel that especially in the late 90s . Now looks that were into the late 2000s and Mortal Kombat is just as popular and so is pro wrestling you're not going to change anything by telling people to stop watching it or not make it as violent people are going to go out their way to watch it and have and be happy doing it

haha I use to knew a few people what were told to flip there "hell yeah" shirt inside out and yes it was in 8th grade too lol

How to turn in side out my Austin 3:16 or hell yeah t-shirt same with my Metallica t-shirts that have anything like with the skull or spikes on it I had to do the same thing with my Svengoolie t-shirt

@@dalesanteford7432 that school must have really sucked mine was more just about profanity and gore if anything band shirts with skull and what not were common place along with the wanna be goths with spiked bracelets and chain wallets they were all fine

I watched WCW in 1998 through 1999, and WWF/E in 1999 as a kid through the present day as an adult. It was awesome back then, and I glad that I grew up watching that era from my childhood years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

​@@SSJ491Best wrestling era ever

there was no WWE back then and thats y it was so awesome

You mean the WWF

ECW did have tv deals with multiple stations across the country. Look up ECW Hardcore TV

My mom used to hate it when I watched wrestling, but she loved “The Days of Our Lives.” My dad told her that wrestling was my soap opera, but she just didn’t understand. She was convinced if I watched it too much, I’d turn into a serial killer or something. Parents were ridiculous in the 80s and 90s when it came to stuff they didn’t understand.

I’m sure it wasn’t running. That sounds exactly like what someone who dropped their “friend” into a running wood chipper would say.

Sounds like you grew up to be a great success