Random Questions from WWF Pay Per Views: 1988-2000 Quiz

Answer: Bad News Brown

"Summerslam" is one of WWE's most important Pay Per Views, known for a long time as one of the "Big Four" events (along with "Royal Rumble", "Wrestlemania", and "Survivor Series"). The success of the latter three Pay Per Views pushed McMahon to keep coming up with new and exciting events. The inaugural "Summerslam" took place on August 29, 1988 in New York City's Madison Square Garden. The first match of "Summerslam" 1988 was a tag-team match between the British Bulldogs and Fabulous Rougeaus, which ended in a draw. It was followed by a short singles match where Bad News Brown defeated Ken Patera.

Bad News Brown, who first appeared in WWE programming in 1978 when the promotion was still known as WWWF, was a professional judoka before wrestling. He even won two gold medals in the Pan American Games of 1967 and 1975.

Answer: Dusty Rhodes

The "Survivor Series" Pay Per View is an event many wrestling fans look forward to because of its signature type of match. Though the modern editions of the Pay Per View feature both singles matches and elimination matches, the early "Survivor Series" events exclusively had elimination matches.

One of these 4-on-4 matches took place at "Survivor Series" 1990 between The Visionaries (Rick Martel, The Warlord, Hercules, and Paul Roma) and The Vipers (Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, Shawn Michaels, and Marty Jannetty). The match ended somewhat embarrassingly for the latter team, since its members were all eliminated and The Visionaries emerged victorious without a single elimination.

Dusty Rhodes, an iconic American wrestler, did participate in this Pay Per View with the team of Koko B. Ware and the Hart Foundation. Rhodes was eliminated by The Undertaker in that match, which ended with Ted DiBiase as the sole survivor.

Answer: Randy Savage

The 1993 "Royal Rumble" took place in Sacramento, California on January 24. Given that neither championship in dispute (the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Championship) exchanged hands, the crowd was hoping to see an exciting main event. Unfortunately for them, many critics believe the signature match was underwhelming. The match ended after Savage hit his Flying Elbow Drop but inexplicably went for a meaningless pin. Yokozuna then threw him over the top rope, winning a WWF Championship match at that year's "Wrestlemania".

Randy "Macho Man" Savage was one of WWE's most beloved superstars. He was married to his on-screen manager and partner, Miss Elizabeth, between 1984 and 1992 and passed away in 2011. This was perhaps the closest Savage ever was to winning the "Royal Rumble" match, with other highlight-worthy appearances in 1989 and 1994.

Answer: The Undertaker

"In Your House 6" was held in Louisville, Kentucky on February 18, 1996. Despite not being the main event bout, the Steel Cage match between Bret Hart and Diesel for the WWF Championship was highly anticipated. At the end of the match, The Undertaker (who was hiding under the ring) ripped the mat and dragged Diesel under the ring. This allowed Bret Hart to escape the cage and retain the title.

The Undertaker is arguably one of the greatest wrestlers in WWE history, having won multiple championships over the years and accumulated achievements like his famous "Wrestlemania" streak. He also competed at "In Your House 6" and won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Goldust.

Answer: Fake Razor Ramon

Crush and Ahmed Johnson were the first entrants in the 1997 "Royal Rumble" match. Fake Razor Ramon was the next entrant, though many in the crowd didn't notice when he was coming in because the arena was having issues with the clock. Fake Ramon was able to hit Johnson with a few blows but Johnson quickly reacted and threw Ramon over the top rope. Ramon was the second-fastest elimination in the match, with Jerry Lawler being the first after only four seconds.

The wrestler who competed in this match was really Rick Bognar, who was impersonating the real Razor Ramon when Scott Hall left to join WCW. Following this "Royal Rumble", Bognar never had any other significant appearances on WWF/WWE television.

Answer: Hell in a Cell

"Badd Blood: In Your House" took place in St. Louis, Missouri on October 5, 1997. The event is well-known in wrestling circles for a number of reasons: it was Vince McMahon's last Pay Per View as a commentator, the match between Dude Love and Brian Pillman had to be canceled when the latter was found dead, and the Hell in a Cell match was first introduced.

The Hell in a Cell match stipulation is similar to the regular Steel Cage match, where competitors face each other inside a metallic structure. The difference is that not only are there no disqualifications, but the only way to win is by pinfall or submission (as opposed to a Steel Cage match when one may escape to win). At "Badd Blood" 1997, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker faced off in the inaugural Hell in a Cell match, which is considered one of the greatest matches of all time. Kane debuted in this Pay Per View and helped Michaels defeat The Undertaker.

Answer: The Midnight Express

"Unforgiven: In Your House" took place on April 26, 1998 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Pay Per View featured exciting matches like Undertaker v. Kane and Dude Love v. Stone Cold Steve Austin. One of the tag team matches of the night was between The Midnight Express and The Rock 'n' Roll Express for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, which the former team quickly won to retain their titles.

The staple known as The Midnight Express had many members throughout its history, though the team was almost invariably managed by Jim Cornette. In this case, The Midnight Express was composed of Bodacious Bart (also known as Bart Gunn) and Bombastic Bob (better known as Hardcore Holly).

Answer: Ken Shamrock

"Breakdown: In Your House" was held on September 27, 1998 in Hamilton, Ontario. In the second-longest match of the night, The Rock, Mankind (Mick Foley), and Ken Shamrock fought inside a steel cage for the opportunity to be the number one contender for the WWF Championship. The exciting triple threat match ended when, while Mankind was attempting to escape the cage, The Rock managed to pin Shamrock before Foley's feet could hit the ground.

Ken Shamrock was involved in several notable feuds during his time in WWF/WWE, and once held the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship with Big Boss Man. After leaving wrestling, Shamrock pursued a mixed martial arts career with Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships.

Answer: Faarooq and Bradshaw

"Summerslam" 1999 was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on August 22, 1999. The second match of the night was a Tag Team Turmoil Match featuring Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz, The Acolytes, The Holly Cousins, Mideon & Viscera, and Droz & Prince Albert. The #1 contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship would be the team that survived the elimination match. The Acolytes won by last eliminating the team of Hardcore Holly and Crash Holly.

The Acolytes, later known as the Acolytes Protection Agency or APA, were a stable composed of Faarooq (Ron Simmons) and Bradshaw (also known as John Bradshaw Layfield or JBL). The team was mostly active between 1998 and 2002, though they made several sporadic appearances together in later years. They both have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame: Ron Simmons in 2012 and JBL in 2021 (though he was part of the Class of 2020).

Answer: Kurt Angle

"Survivor Series" 2000 took place on November 19, 2000 in Tampa, Florida. The Pay Per View had three championship matches. That final match was a No Disqualification match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H, which ended in a "no contest".

Earlier in the night, Kurt Angle retained his WWF Championship against The Undertaker, with some help from Edge, Christian, and Eric Angle (Kurt's brother) who distracted the referee during the match. Angle surprised Undertaker with a roll-up pin to retain his title. Kurt Angle is a decorated professional wrestler who won several WWE titles throughout his career. He also won an Olympic gold medal for freestyle wrestling at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.