By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

When Mike Tyson appears on WWE Raw tonight, there won't be mass speculation he could be fighting Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania. There won't be a built-in storyline with DX and Steve Austin. He isn't in the middle of a major controversy, unless you count getting into a fight with the paparazzi at LAX airport two months ago. (Video at the end.)

Tyson is a shell of his former marketable self. He's made a few movie appearances recently and has a DVD out that he'll be promoting on Raw, but this isn't 1998 when WWE grabbing Tyson led to the rise of the Attitude Era.

Looking back at January 1998, three major factors collided to give WWE a rocket boost when WCW was beating them in the TV ratings every Monday night.

First, Mike Tyson was the most-controversial sports figure in the world after his infamous 1997 fight with Evander Holyfield where Tyson bit off a part of Holyfield's ear. Tyson was the perfect pop culture figure to symbolize the Attitude Era.

Second, the Torch broke the story that there was a possibility Hulk Hogan was coming back to WWE after his WCW contract expired. There was speculation Tyson's WrestleMania 14 involvement would lead to Tyson vs. Hogan, which spiked serious interest in pro wrestling.

Third, there was strong anticipation for Tyson to make his official WWE TV debut. What resulted was a memorable shoving match and brawl involving Tyson and Steve Austin on the January 19, 1998 edition of Raw that was made for cable TV (at the time when Jerry Springer-style TV was on the rise).

The shoving match, the speculation over Tyson's WrestleMania 14 involvement, the Nevada Athletic Commission becoming involved as Tyson's boxing license and career were in limbo, and the rise of Steve Austin as the next major wrestling star collided to give WWE a serious boost.

Almost exactly 12 years later (sound familiar to last week with Bret Hart?), Tyson returns to WWE with little-to-no anticipation, no storyline involvement, nothing beyond a one-off appearance guest-hosting tonight's Raw, and no wrestling match to speculate about six months after biting off another man's ear during a boxing fight.

WWE set a very high bar for Bret Hart's return last week after three weeks of storyline build-up, anticipation of seeing Hart face-to-face with Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon, and 12 years of wrestling fans painting a picture in their minds on how Hart would look back on WWE TV.

After the excitement of last week's stroll down Monday Night Wars memory lane has faded, Tyson returns tonight on Raw 12 years after helping rocket-boost WWE. Now, the only controversy worth playing up is Tyson stomping around LAX. And it would be a role for Santino - a mid-card comedy act - to parody.

Torch VIP members can read up on all of the history of Mike Tyson's involvement with WWE in the 1998 Torch Archives. Find out how to sign up for a VIP membership now!.



[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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