BY WADE KELLER

If you thought last night's TLC PPV was crazy, you should have seen WWE's In Your House PPV 15 years ago this weekend. More blood, plus chairshots and other weapons were used. Okay, other than the blood, it wasn't more "extreme," as the tables and ladders had yet to gain traction, but it is fascinating to read about WWE in its earliest stage of transition from being self-proclaimed "whole some family entertainment" to the yet-to-be-named "Attitude Era."

As crazy as it sounds, Bret Hart was the initial on-air leader of the Attitude Era in WWE, not Steve Austin. As far back as late 1995, WWE reintroduced blood and amped up chairshots and brawling at an In Your House PPV event. The following is the cover story I wrote detailing those signs of change, instigated by Vince McMahon's concern with the emerging WCW competition led by Eric Bischoff.

COVER STORY HEADLINE: Bret keeps belt in new hardcore WWF style
SUB-HEADLINE: Chairshots and blood contrast Santa and slop matches as the WWF goes in two directions
PWTorch Newsletter #366 - Cover-dated December 23, 2010

Sunday night at In Your House, the WWF continued to move in several directions at once. In a very good finale to an otherwise mediocre card, Bret Hart defeated British Bulldog to retain the WWF Title. During the match Bret bled which was the first time in years that blood has been part of a storyline of a match. The blood is surprising in light of the WWF's strong statements against what they referred to as outdated, barbaric "geeking." It appears though that Bret may have actually used a blood capsule rather than actually cut himself since he bled heavily early, yet didn't bleed a lot afterward. If it was just a capsule of fake blood, it would qualify as an effective special effect rather than a dangerous step back in the evolution of wrestling.

Some real blood was spilled by Hunter Hearst Helmsley in his victory over Henry Godwinn as Hunter cut his back against the metal door of the hog pen. Jeff Jarrett returned to the WWF and used a chair against Ahmed Johnson in a key angle of the program while also breaking a plaque over Ahmed's back.

That hardcore approach was contrasted by the introduction of an evil Santa. Although the very hardcore ECW has incorporated Santa into their shows, they never actually billed him as a wrestler. Santa, who is played by former SMW wrestler Boo Bradley, is actually an added member of the Million Dollar Corporation.

The WWF is also going in two directions at once when it comes to talent acquisitions and pushes. While their champion is the mid-sized Bret Hart and their biggest push heading into 1996 is for the relatively small Shawn Michaels, they have been negotiating to bring Ultimate Warrior back to the promotion.

As of late last week WWF officials apparently felt confident enough that Warrior (real name Jim Hellwig) would be returning that they plugged the possibility at the end of their WWF Superstars program. On their on-line service they plugged that Gorilla Monsoon may have an "ultimate announcement" and openly speculated it could be related to Ultimate Warrior. By the time Action Zone aired Sunday, there was no further mention of him nor did they drop any more hints on the pay-per-view or on Raw.

Whether Warrior returnes for a special appearance or as a full-fledged comeback, it would be a step backward to a past era of the WWF, before the "New Generation," but also before buyrates crashed and WCW became viable competition for the crown of being "number one."

Besides the return of Jarrett, who is a main event caliber addition, they further helped their heel roster with the debut of "Ringmaster" Steve Austin. Austin is indeed the Million Dollar Champion as speculated last week. He shaved his head down to a crewcut for the role looking a lot like Bruce Willis did in Pulp Fiction.

Within the industry the changes in philosophy (blood and chairs), attempts to add to the roster, and their public admissions that they are getting more hardcore is being seen as either a positive sign that the WWF sees decreasing business and isn't too stubborn to change or a sign of directionless desperation.

Vince McMahon lashed out against WCW on a Dec. 18 appearance on America On-Line, taking shots at Hulk Hogan, WCW Nitro, Eric Bischoff, Ted Turner, and WCW's booking. Usually McMahon stayed above the fray, but now in a different forum has come out swinging. (For excerpts, see "WCW Newswire," pg. 3.) McMahon even said he would be willing to "blink first" by changing the time or day of Monday Night Raw if he felt it was best for the WWF and its fans.

All of this comes around the time that the New York Post brought to light an FBI investigation that involves alleged improprieties by one of McMahon's attorney's at his 1994 trial, allegations that were reiterated and added to in an extensive article in New York's Village Voice newspaper last week.

If the WWF were to add Ultimate Warrior to recent additions of Steve Austin and Jeff Jarrett, plus soon feature the return of Shawn Michaels, and combine that with the repackaged Diesel and rejuvenated Bret Hart, they would have a fresh batch of wrestlers to work with. Add that to a new philosophy of being more hardcore and adult-oriented in their approach to storylines and matches, and the WWF is entering 1996 with a vastly different product than it appeared they would just three months ago, before the Monday Night Wars brought the level of self-evaluation to unprecedented levels.

What hasn't been tested yet is what the fan response will be to the changes that are becoming more and more apparent every week. Will blood, brawling, chairshots, and more adult characters bring an enthusiasm for the WWF product on a national scale that compares with the loyalty that ECW elicits? The WWF hopes so.

Yet the confusing part is the WWF product still involves a mix of approaches. Can the Goldust character becoming more and more "homosexual" in nature each week really mix with angles targeted at kids, such as slop matches and Santa? Or will each offend the audience the other approach is trying to attract? The WWF wants the best of both worlds, but may confuse everyone, including themselves, in the process.

[Bret Hart photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch]

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