A Dangerous Game

Let's start this column by taking a trip down memory lane.

November, 2001: After the failed WCW/ECW Invasion angle was finally laid to rest, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair returns to the WWF, as the new co-owner of the company. From time to time, the 50+ Flair dons the wrestling attire, most notably against Vince McMahon at Royal Rumble 02 and against the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 18.

Shortly after Wrestlemania 18, Flair becomes the "owner" of Raw after the brand extension, while still continuing to pull on his wrestling boots from time to time. It isn't long before Vince McMahon returns to Raw to regain control of the entire company from Flair.

Deciding that he has one good run left in him, Flair becomes a full-time wrestler again, and engages in high-profile matches with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho, before turning heel and becoming the manager and occasional tag-team partner of Raw World Champion Triple H. At the time of writing, Flair is scheduled to team with Triple H and Jericho against Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Booker T at Backlash.

February 2002: With viewing and live audience figures down somewhat following the failed WCW/ECW Invasion angle, the WWF decide to revive the gimmick that essentially made WCW in 1996, and kicked their asses for nearly two years. Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, the founding fathers of the New World Order, make their WWF return at No Way Out, and are immediately thrust into high-profile storylines. While Nash helps Hall in his feud with Austin, Hogan engages in a feud with The Rock, a feud which catches the imaginations of the fans so much that their response turns Hogan from hated heel to beloved babyface. A brief feud begins between Hogan and the NWO before the brand extension which takes Hogan to Smackdown and Hall and Nash to Raw.

Hogan goes on to win the Undisputed Title from Triple H, a title he holds for just four weeks before dropping the belt to the Undertaker. He then moves on to high profile matches with Kurt Angle, a tag-team championship reign with Edge, and an encounter with Brock Lesnar which removes him from the storylines for a while.

He then returned this past January, has the obligatory rematch with the now heel Rock, before squaring off against the man he has supposedly had his eyes on for years - Vince McMahon. After defeating McMahon, the WWE owner fires Hogan the following night.

Things don't go as well for Hall or Nash though. Just three months after his return to television, Hall is shown the door as his demons return to haunt him. Nash suffers two serious injuries which sideline him for a combined total of nearly twelve months. After several stutters, the NWO angle is binned.

Having been on the sidelines for a long time, Nash returns to Raw this April to help out his old friend Shawn Michaels. Complete with dark hair and his old Diesel music, Nash is scheduled to team with Michaels and Booker T against Triple H, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho at Backlash.

August 2002: Having returned to the WWE as part of the failed New World Order angle, and despite having suffered what was considered a career ending back injury almost five years previously, Shawn Michaels wrestles his first proper match in years at Summerslam, going up against his old buddy Triple H in a street fight. Michaels wins, but Triple H extracts some revenge with his trusty old sledgehammer after the bell.

Three months later, in the Elimination Chamber match at the Survivor Series, Michaels shocks the world by pinning Triple H and winning the Raw World Championship. After successfully defending the belt against Rob Van Dam on Raw, Michaels drops the belt back to Triple H in a three stages of hell match at Armageddon.

Michaels continues to wrestle, engaging in a high profile feud with Chris Jericho which sees them clash at the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania 19. Michaels surprises many by putting in one of his finest ever performances against Jericho. At the time of writing, Michaels is scheduled to team with Kevin Nash & Booker T against Triple H, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho at Backlash.

November 2002: Having been absent from the national wrestling scene for almost a year, and having undergone stringent medical tests on a number of occasions to prove he is up to the job, Scott Steiner debuts at the Survivor Series, kicking the crap out of Chris Nowinski and Matt Hardy. Steiner eventually joins the Raw brand, and begins a feud with World Champion Triple H. The build-up to the match is excellent, as Steiner and Triple H take part in various non-wrestling contests, before finally hooking up at the Royal Rumble the following January.

However, the match itself is a distinct disappointment, as both combatants are virtually booed out of the building at the end of the contest. Undeterred by this, the WWE book a rematch four weeks later, a match which is only marginally better than their first outing. On both occasions, Steiner fails to win the World Title, and come Wrestlemania, he is overlooked, virtually forgotten. Steiner's next most notable contribution to Raw is a televised, in-ring debate with Nowinski, where they discuss the British/American military action in Iraq. Steiner ends the debate by giving Nowinski a beating.

March 2003: Despite the fact that he has been publicly critical of the company in the past year or so, Roddy Piper surprises the world by appearing at Wrestlemania 19, attacking Hulk Hogan during his street fight with Vince McMahon, almost costing him the match. A few days later, it is announced that the famed Piper's Pit interview segment is to return to WWE television on Smackdown. After two week's of interview segments, at the time of writing Piper is scheduled to wrestle Rikishi on this week's Smackdown.

April 2003: Despite the fact that she has been publicly critical of the company in the past four years, and despite the fact that she tried to sue the company for several million dollars shortly after she left in 1999, Rena Mero, the artist also known as Sable, makes a surprise return to WWE television on Smackdown. The first WWE Diva to pose for Playboy, Sable is thrust into an angle with Torrie Wilson, the latest WWE Diva to have posed for Playboy. What is most surprising is the fact that the angle begins to have lesbian overtones, something which Sable refused to partake in when she was last working for the company.

See what I'm trying to get at here?

About ten years ago, when the Eric Bischoff-led WCW began to hire high profile former WWF superstars such as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, adding them to the likes of Ric Flair and Lex Luger, Vince McMahon was publicly critical of his bitter rival. When other names who McMahon had made big, such as Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, jumped ship, McMahon gave his the now legendary Billionaire Ted skits, which saw Ted confer with the likes of the "Huckster" and the "Nacho Man".

As signs such as "WCW = Wheel Chair Wrestling" sprang up at WWF shows, McMahon continued to be critical of WCW's policy of hiring veterans, and pushing them over the younger talent. Stars like Steve Austin and Mick Foley were pushed to one side in favour of the older stars. They found new leases of life working for McMahon, as Stone Cold and Mankind became firm favourites with the WWF faithful.

Now, with ratings having been in somewhat of a downward spiral for over a year now, McMahon seems to have adopted the same practises he criticised Bischoff and WCW for, bringing back stars from the past in the hope that he will win back viewers with a dose of nostalgia. Has it worked so far? Not really.

Although wrestlers such as Victoria, John Cena, Charlie Haas, and Shelton Benjamin made their WWE debuts in 2002, only one "superstar" was created in that time, Brock Lesnar. Lesnar was the only wrestler to break through the proverbial glass ceiling in 2002, joining the regular crew of main eventers on pay-per-view.

Vince McMahon has a proven track record for making new stars, men who go on to great success not just in the wrestling industry, but in other fields of entertainment as well. By delving into the WWE's past and bringing back stars of yesteryear, McMahon is playing a dangerous game. He may be trying to win back the old viewers, but is he going to win new ones? Only time will tell.